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From:

Gym's handy. Already stocked with safely fakey weapons.

And, um. We were called soldiers, but it was more of a culty death squad. Our only real operation was called extermination for a reason.

From:

nimbuster

Damn. Least they weren't subtle about it. Shinra liked to dress up their death squads with fake operations and claim the deaths were 'accidents.'

Meet you there in a few.

From:

xangel

I'll tell you all about the brainwashing sometime you wanna be depressed. I'll be there.

From:

nimbuster

[That's his secret, Vaggie, he's always depressed.

Sure enough, it's not long before Cloud arrives at the gym. She mentioned fake safety weapons, and he's fine with those if that's what she wants - but he is also carrying what looks like six swords in sheaths that hang from a harness he wears on his back.

He gives her a nod of greeting when he spots her.]

Hey.

From:

xangel

[That is a normal amount of swords to have, but she is the gym supervisor and safety is a concern. There's a rack of plain, functional practice weapons, mostly either wood or padded plastic.]

You prefer swords? I'm a polearms girly, so I can manage, but I'm probably not a huge challenge if you're used to them.

From:

nimbuster

Yup.

[His head tilts.]

I am. Got a friend who's the same. Lotta aerial moves. Should be a good match.

[Assuming she doesn't have superpowers. Not that it would stop him if she did, but then if he lost he'd sulk about it a lot more.]

From:

xangel

Long stick for me, then.

[If flying is a superpower, she does, and she hits real hard for someone her size. But she's not gonna pop her wings with a new inmate who's clearly not sold on her. Feels like a weird power move.]

I'm expanding the repertoire a bit while I'm here, lots of time to kill in the gym, but I'm always gonna like my spear best.

From:

nimbuster

[Once Cloud finds out her "aerial moves" are more literal than Cid's, he's going to want her to stop holding back - but for now, he's just looking forward to seeing what she can do with a spear.

He nods.]

Maybe I should branch out more sometime, too.

[For now, though, he shrugs off his sword harness and sets it aside near the wall, then goes to pick out the biggest broadsword he can find among the wooden training weapons. At least he can still handle a blade the size of his full Fusion Sword when it's not made of solid steel, although the gym might not have any quite that big. If Fred were still here--

--well, she's not, so it doesn't matter. He turns back to Vaggie and nods - he's ready whenever she is.]

From:

xangel

[She leans on her long stick, watching his selection. She does not make a compensating for something joke, because he is her inmate. She thinks it, though.]

I got pretty deconditioned the last few years before I was here. This place'll drive you crazy with deadtime and setbacks, but at least you can always go hit a heavy bag about it.

From:

nimbuster

It's something. Though I prefer to hit fake opponents in the Enclosure about it, when I can.

[He has been doing more straight up training on the Barge than he had in years before that, but he still would rather actually fight.]

From:

xangel

Hang around here and you'll get plenty of takers. Well. Maybe I just goad everybody who walks in into wanting to fight me specifically, but.

From:

nimbuster

Heh. Yeah, maybe. Still working on unlearning a few habits that relied on my enhancements to work.

[And he'd better keep working on it, because who knows when he'll get another permanent warden? It took a whole damn year the first time.]

From:

xangel

That something you're doing because it builds character or because you don't have a choice?

From:

nimbuster

[He doesn't meet her eyes when he shrugs.]

Don't have a choice.

From:

xangel

Something you wanna fix or you'd rather live with?

From:

nimbuster

...something I wanna fix, but...it's not that simple.

From:

xangel

[Not an easy guy to get a lot out of, but neither was her poor disappeared dumbass inmate. He was more verbose, admittedly, but the information content was about the same.]

Barge reasons or big stupid life reasons?

From:

nimbuster

[At least he hasn't stopped answering entirely and walked away! Progress.

He gives her a small, rueful smile.]

Big stupid life reasons. It's...Fred offered to make the request for me, but I felt like maybe I needed to figure out some stuff about who I am without 'em first. Except then, she was just...gone.

From:

xangel

I get it. Admiral lost my fuckwit inmate a couple months ago.

[Eh, what the hell.]

And, well.

[She pops her wings.]

I lost these the same time as my eye. I think going without actually was good for me, in a weird way. But only long-term. Sucked shit at the time.

From:

nimbuster

[If the Admiral lost her inmate, then...they're truly gone, just like Fred. His expression falls in sympathy, but he's glad she goes on so he doesn't have to figure out what to say.

His entire reaction to the appearance of her wings is a curious tilt of his head - after all, his boyfriend does this daily, except Sephiroth only has the one.]

Huh. Yeah, guess that's about where I'm at. Sucks shit now, but I'm hoping it'll help...at some point. S'why I come here so much. Ethan tells me I work too hard, but...gotta try to get back as much of that strength as I can on my own.

[He glances down at his hand as it curls into a fist for just a moment before it relaxes again. His friends would say he's made some progress, but he really doesn't feel like he's learned much more about himself than he already knew, so far.]

Mind if I ask how you lost 'em?

From:

xangel

My commanding officer ripped them off after she cut out my eye. I think. Little hazy.

From:

nimbuster

That really sucks.

[Cloud's frown and tone suggest he has more empathy for that situation than his casual words might.]

Seems like a history of commanding officers betraying their soldiers is pretty common on the Barge, from what I've heard. I'm no exception.

From:

xangel

People who have good relationships with--

Actually, no, people who have a history of any good relationships are pretty rare here.

From:

nimbuster

Hm. Not sure I'd go that far. Does seem like nobody comes here from a boring, normal life, though. One way or another.

[No inmates who are here just for a little harmless shoplifting, no wardens who don't have strong opinions about existential or ethical questions. Makes sense to Cloud.]