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[nimbuster]

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[nimbuster]

[Right. Another month, another warden, all over again. Cloud had been getting used to this process, but after Corvo left...yeah, he's not feeling it right now.]

Not really.

[There's a part of him that's annoyed with himself for being such a recalcitrant dick, but this guy's not Corvo. Cloud had started thinking maybe he might ask Corvo to be his permanent warden - the only person he's ever had even a hint of that thought about - and then just like that, he was gone. And it still sucks.]

[major_rawne]

All right. [Great, he's gotten one of these ones. The inmates who don't give a shit and don't want anything. He was one of those inmates, once, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.] Well, I'm around if you need anything. And if you find yourself at loose ends, I've always got maintenance shit that needs doing.

[nimbuster]

[Maintenance...Cloud actually seems to perk up just slightly.]

You work in maintenance? ...actually, you know what, I'll take you up on that.

[Maintenance and repair sounds much better than whatever it is they're supposedly doing in the engine room. Cloud used to think it was possible they weren't actually doing anything other than busywork, but having seen the impact of messing with stuff on the Narrenschiff's Orlop Deck, he figures that's unlikely. Still, he would rather work at something he understands.]

[major_rawne]

Great, we need more help now than usual.

[And it's a job that has obvious results!]

[nimbuster]

Yeah, I bet.

[It's sincere, not sarcastic.]

Don't suppose you got any permanent positions open? I'm pretty handy. Customized my own bike back home, been repairing and rebuilding all kinds of shit ever since the city got mostly flattened by a meteor.

[major_rawne]

We actually have an inmate position open. I'd be glad to help you transfer over.

[A bike? He likes bikes.]

[nimbuster]

Appreciate it. Engine Room ain't exactly a place to get shit done.

[A pause.]

So...what's your deal?

[major_rawne]

To bring back Tanith. My home planet.

[nimbuster]

[Whoops. Wording.]

...Meant in general. What's your deal, like what's your story. But...what happened to your planet?

[major_rawne]

The enemy blew it up. It was the same day as I joined the Imperial Guard. Military. I've been in the Guard ever since. For about a decade.

[nimbuster]

Shit. That really sucks.

[Despite the casual language, there's clear sympathy - empathy, maybe - on Cloud's face and in his tone.]

Used to be military myself. And my planet was about two minutes from a meteor wiping out all life on it, and we're still rebuilding, so...I kinda get it.

[major_rawne]

How did you prevent a meteor from destroying your planet? Those are usually fatal, from what I've learned.

[nimbuster]

Long story. Basically, the planet's own life energy was harnessed to cast a powerful protective spell that destroyed the meteor right before it touched down. But the biggest city in the world was ground zero, and just having that thing inside the atmosphere was destructive enough to crush most of what was left of it after everything else that happened.

[And they would never have needed to rely on Holy at all if Cloud hadn't let Sephiroth break him. But Rawne doesn't need any of those details.]

[major_rawne]

That's.... at least you're alive?

[He's guessing a lot of people in that city aren't.]

[sefirot]

Cloud, would you say our bond is as intimate as that of vampires?

[nimbuster]

Uh...what?

[sefirot]

There is someone talking about Vampires. He implied that the bond between them when they make another one is deep and that ours is not the same because I do not have your blood.

[nimbuster]

[There's so much to address here. Cloud has no idea where to begin.

--no, scratch that, he knows exactly where to begin.]

You didn't 'make' me. Why the hell do you wanna be compared to a vampire in the first place?

[sefirot]

I am just curious if it is similar.

[nimbuster]

Nah, pretty sure you're mad because you think a vampire has a...stronger connection to somebody they turned into another vampire than we do. Despite vampires not even existing on our world.

[sefirot]

Do you think they have a stronger connection?

[nimbuster]

How the hell should I know?

[sefirot]

Perhaps you should talk to the vampire and then tell me what you think.

[nimbuster]

No.

[And Cloud hangs up. What a dick.

Except like thirty seconds later he calls back.]

Wait a second, did you tell him about me?

[sefirot]

[That's so rude Cloud. But when Cloud calls again --]

Nothing that isn't true.