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[nimbuster]

Kink Konnection

CLOUD STRIFE | 21

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[hardbargain]

Mmmm... Not that simple. It wasn't... It was sorta the other way around.

Lucis is ruled by a monarchy... My people were taken in as refugees when Niflheim started burning everything down. Not just Galahd but... They had a choke hold on all the outlying territories.

The Lucians hated us but the King gave us a chance to get back at the Empire. And it was my people that sold the Crown out.... To the goddamn Niffs.

[nimbuster]

[Cloud listens, and the details of Nyx's world - kings, territories, empires - are largely abstract to him, but the events are easy enough to understand...even if he almost misses most of what Nyx says when a sudden, sharp spike of adrenaline reflexively kicks up his pulse at the words when Niflheim started burning. He manages to push past it to hear the rest, and when the picture Nyx paints becomes clear, Cloud's quiet for a moment, processing.]

Shit. So you fought for the king against your own people. Takes balls to do something like that. ...did you win? Beat the empire?

[hardbargain]

[A snort of bitter laughter.]

Win? Hell no. There was never any winning against the Empire. They used us to infiltrate the city and offered a false peace treaty to force the King into letting the Emperor himself into the city. We were out-manned and out-gunned. But we had the wall.

Y'know that magic shield I threw up when you- [Okay that snort is a lot more genuine humor.] Busted through the godsdamned window? The wall? Like a stronger version of that over the whole damn city.... Didn't mean shit once they got their hands on the crystal. Even less with His Majesty dead.

Got the Princess out, kept her out of the Niff's hands so she could go see to her Destiny. Best I could manage.

Well and taking a helluva lot of Niffs out with me.

[nimbuster]

[A hopeless fight...Cloud wonders, for the first time, whether that's how the people of Wutai felt during the war. Against ShinRa and its SOLDIERs, what hope did they ever have of winning? And sure, ShinRa spun a nice tale about how Wutai were the aggressors, but Cloud knows better now than to believe any of it.

Cloud's glad they're on audio and not video when Nyx brings up that whole debacle at the wedding, because he can't help a brief wince at the reminder of his own dumbassery.

As for the rest...it sure sounds a lot like Nyx was killed pulling off that last mission. Taking a helluva lot of Niffs out with me. To protect someone, get her away from the enemy. An army of imperials--

--an army of ShinRa infantry, an endless barrage of bullets, the bloody battlefield in the aftermath, all the troopers dead, and Zack--

--shit, how long has Cloud been quiet?]

Sorry, just...uh...thinking.

[He's trying to figure out what to say, but then he figures--fuck it.]

Hey, you wanna get a drink or five?

[hardbargain]

[Cloud gets caught up thinking about his own past and Nyx is too lost considering what might have happened to Lunafreya and Libertus after he last saw them. If they really did get out. Surely they did. Surely... Libertus wouldn't let himself fail. But had he condemned his brother to death for it?

Cloud's question startles another bitter laugh out of him and that familiar smirk is audible in his voice.]

Now you're speakin' my language.

[nimbuster]

Meet you at Rosie's, then.

[Cloud hangs up with no further fanfare and wastes no time getting on the road. Hard to say who'll get there first; Cloud's bike is much faster than walking, obviously, but Nyx's apartment is much closer to the hub, so who knows?

Either way, Cloud arrives with his usual flagrant disregard for road safety and without little things like slowing down before he screeches to a drifting halt. In sharp contrast to what Cloud was wearing when Nyx met him, he's dressed simply this time.]

[hardbargain]

[It helps that Nyx is both closer and doesn't believe in silly little things like stairs. He might not have his kukris back but anything that can be thrown with some measure of accuracy can be used to warp.

Did he steal a single dart from the set at the bar?

What if he did?]

You sure know how to make an entrance, huh?

[Nyx is perched on the back of a bench outside the hub proper and flashes Cloud a shit-eating grin as soon as he dismounts his bike. For as "fancy" as his outfit was at the wedding Nyx is..... actually still wearing the same damn thing. Though the jacket is just slung loosely over his shoulders instead of buttoned fully up.]

[nimbuster]

[Cloud approaches Nyx's bench with a shrug.]

Just doin' my thing.

[He gestures with his chin to Nyx's jacket, still completely deadpan.]

You get dolled up just for me?

[hardbargain]

Dolled up?

[He cocks his head, questioning for a moment before he glances at his jacket as well, laughing and shaking his head.]

The uniform's warm and about all I got. Never been great about bothering with Lucian fashion. Glaives are fancy enough, my people are more practical.

[nimbuster]

Cloud nods; he’d been living in his uniform, too, until Genesis - and the Peacekeeper - insisted he needed more clothes. “Practical’s what I’m used to, too.”

He takes a few steps toward the door, but pauses to glance back, not quite looking directly at Nyx. “How’s the knee?”

[hardbargain]

Nyx shrugs, making a point of jogging to catch up with Cloud... only to then smack his arm playfully, tugging him along. "Knee's fine."

Which is bullshit. Even those few steps he jogged were slightly uneven and if one knows what to look for it's apparent in his gait as well that he has to favor that side. "'m lucky that's the only thing that really stuck." Y'know.... after he died.

[nimbuster]

Cloud lets himself be tugged, but he doesn't miss the slight limp as they make their way into the hub and over to the bar. "Uh-huh. If you say so."

That reminder of Nyx's fate has Cloud surreptitiously watching him as they find somewhere to sit. "...what happened to it?"

[hardbargain]

Considering the conversation that inspired their little trip to the bar Nyx, makes for one of the booths in a back corner where his broody ass isn't going to interrupt anyone's fun.

"Fell off a building with a mech on top of me. Dislocated it. About... 6? Hours before I showed up here." He huffs a wry laugh. "It was a rough night alright. What're you drinkin?"

The way he's standing next to the table he's clearly intending to go up to the bar to get their drinks himself.

[nimbuster]

"Doesn't sound like that's what took out all those bastards you took with you." Which is to say, that's not what killed Nyx, so there must be plenty more where that came from.

Cloud lifts his brows, eyeing Nyx. Considers insisting that he sit down and let Cloud handle it, but he's pretty sure that would go over about as well as it would if their situations were reversed and Nyx said that to him.

"I dunno...something hard and bitter. You stumble and drop the drinks, though, it's going on your tab."

Like there's any such thing as a tab here anyway. But his point stands.

[hardbargain]

Nyx rolls his eyes a little, head tilting away to follow the direction of his gaze. Away from Cloud. Definitely not the sort of thing he plans on talking about until he's got at least 2 beers in him.

"Drop it on your head you keep talkin like that~" Nyx quips over his shoulder even as he's turning back to the bar, grumbling over the selection for a moment before he sidles back over with a chilled mug of stout from the tap for Cloud and two light amber bottles for himself. He even makes a point of taking a long pull from the open bottle as he walks.

See? He's fine.

Though he might drop into his seat across the booth a little more heavily than he would have liked. Shut up.

[nimbuster]

"Like I'd let you," Cloud shoots back with a faint smirk. He'd be lying if he said he isn't curious about what kind of warrior Nyx is that he survived falling off a building and being crushed under a mech, and kept fighting with a dislocated knee.

Cloud's eyes follow Nyx's trip back to the table and into his seat, not fooled but also willing to let the matter drop for now. Particularly since he's recalling something Sephiroth once did for Lazard...hmm.

But that's for later. For now, he gives Nyx a nod of thanks and takes a sip of the beer. Not bad at all. And since Nyx avoided the topic of his own death a second ago, Cloud leaves that for now too and the first thing to come to mind next is the thing that just comes out of his mouth.

"Where'd you learn to suck cock like that?"

Cloud you can't just ask people that--

[hardbargain]

You can absolutely just ask people that. If you're rude as hell. And Nyx is at least as rude and rough as Cloud so he just laughs, a sudden startled bark of laughter and flashes him the widest most shit-eating grin imaginable.

"Trade secret~" He replies with a wink, taking another swig of his beer before shaking his head. "Nah, 's just good breathing control. Grew up on an island and all these?" Nyx lifts his good hand to show off the markings on his fingers, then taps one finger on his cheek below the crow's foot under his eye.

"Done with octopus ink. We hunt them, use 'em in a lot of our cuisine. And they like to stuff themselves in little hidey holes on the seabed so we learn to hold our breaths for free diving pretty young. Been doin it since I was a kid. Just found more interesting uses for it once I got older y'know?"

[nimbuster]

Cloud leans in a little closer to get a better look at Nyx's ink. "Huh. I'll say. Impressive, though. And what about the..." He holds up one hand, palm up, fingers slightly curled, and lets a bit of lightning magic spark over it for a second. "Learn that on your island, too?"

[hardbargain]

And just like that mischievous glint in Nyx's eyes dies, a hint of that haunted soldier there for a moment and shuttered away for something more neutral. It happens between one blink and the next and his smile never falters but there's something a bit more hollow about it. He takes another long draw from his beer, tipping his head back and when he looks back at Cloud the smile is nothing but the faintest upward tilt of one corner of his mouth.

"Nah... That kinda power is reserved for the Line of Kings..."

What strength you have is on loan from the king.

His gaze drops down to the table, something bitter twisting his lips into an even more lopsided smile. "'m just borrowing it."

[nimbuster]

Cloud takes another drink and watches Nyx closely over the rim of his glass as his expression changes. Huh. Touchy subject, apparently...but Cloud thinks he might get it. Maybe.

"...borrowing it. Feel like you haven't earned it for yourself?" His voice is low and his gaze has dropped into his beer. "Still just as weak as you always were, just...covering it up?" From the tone, it's pretty clear Cloud's not just guessing at something that's bothering Nyx.

[hardbargain]

Ah... a familiar sentiment it seems. Nyx sighs, shakes his head, pretends so very hard like that isn't also the truth.

"Mm-mn. It's more literal than that. All magic comes from The Crystal. The line of Lucis is the bloodline entrusted with its power by the gods. Usually, the Kingsglaive is... maybe half a dozen people they chose to share their power with. Their Shield and closest advisors." Nyx lifts a hand to scrub over his face, a sound, half sigh, half groan escapes him and he shakes his head.

"His Majesty knew we were fighting a losing battle. So- all us refugees, used to fighting and hunting and scraping our way through life. He let whoever wanted to get back at the Nifs join up, we weren't exactly a full army, more like... a few specialized task forces. Less than fifty. Sharing his power with us, all of us, oh it drained him something awful. The man aged 30 years in a decade." Then Nyx reaches up to grab his collar, tugging it down to show the crawling lines of scarring on the right side of his chest. "It took it's toll on us that used it too. Most of us-"

He stops abruptly, teeth clenched. "I thought most of us figured we were dead men walking already. What's a few years if it means paying back even a fraction of what those bastards did to our homes... Stupid, I guess." That last little bit of self-deprecation gets an eye roll and a little nod before he finishes off the first beer and immediately moves to pop the cap on the second.

[nimbuster]

Nyx pretends hard enough that Cloud finds himself regretting having said anything. Tipped his hand for no reason. Shit.

But he drinks his beer as he listens to Nyx explain. Frowns when Nyx shows him the scarring. "...not as stupid as believing the company propaganda machine's every lie your whole life until it destroys your hometown and everyone in it."