sixthiterationlogs | (OTA) A not so warm welcome

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(OTA) A not so warm welcome

WHO: Seifer Almasy
WHERE: South Village Park fountain; Around town
WHEN: December 7th - 8thish
OPEN TO: Anyone
WARNINGS: Swearing. Usually lots of swearing.

Fountain Arrival:

One good thing about growing up near the ocean your entire life was that it's very uncommon to not know how to swim. The downside being the water was never this cold. It felt like a dream, no, worse, it felt like clawing through Time Compression all over again as he breached the darkness into blinding daylight with gasping breaths. The shock of icy air was in many ways worse than the water, chilling him straight to the core as he flopped gracelessly in a sopping pile on the ground, coughing water out of his lungs. Hyne, what a terrible way to wake up.

After spending a few moments laying on the ground spluttering water out of his lungs and wondering what his life had come to Seifer finally pushed himself up, shivering. Miserable. It was cold, he didn't know where he was, and he had no idea who he'd pissed off this time. Whoever it was he must have really done it to find himself tossed, presumably drunk, into a fountain in the middle of winter. Wait.

"...When the hell did it turn winter?" He glanced down at himself then, finally realizing that his clothing didn't feel right. "And why the hell am I dressed like this?" He looked like a mental patient. Did he have a psychotic break? If so, who the hell throws mental patients in fountains? Even giant assholes like Seifer. Not that he could blame them, but still! That's just screwed up. With no one immediately around to hear him talking to himself, he presumed, Seifer decided to shuffle off toward the nearest building he could find. Maybe someone would take mercy on him and give him a towel before he froze to death.

Out and about the town:

This place had a serious rodent problem. He'd never been anywhere with mice just running around out in the open like it was nothing. They could really use some of Timber's cats here, or a truckload of traps. So far in his wanderings Seifer had managed to dodge stepping on any of the bold little creatures though it was quickly becoming increasingly hazardous to explore. Everywhere he went was a minefield of mice darting around, chewing on things, skittering right at him as though he weren't large enough to step on them and make them into tiny mice pancakes. Although, something was weird, anywhere the mice went was covered in thick ice. Which didn't make much sense to him at all, were they that hungry they were trying to eat ice? Or was he missing something?

Wait, no, crazy, of course. Just one big hallucination that was the obvious answer to all of this. He never expected he'd go this crazy, and yet the evidence couldn't be denied. One such piece of evidence was a small evergreen shrub of some kind he'd just witnessed a mouse go skittering out from beneath that was now a very intricate ice sculpture. Idly he meandered over to tug at one of the frozen over branches in wonder. "Guess I have a vivid imagination." He mumbled to himself, now more certain than ever that he was just lost in his own delusion. Probably meandering down the street somewhere screaming at himself. Or locked up in an institution.

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That's the spirit. Live and let live. Some people just weren't very sociable. Granted he didn't know about the punching incident.

"I think most of 'em are cold resistant. Wouldn't hurt to see if anyone's got any ideas. Plenty of weird plants around, sure something can be made into poison." How risky would that be for their various cats, though? Was that an issue? Seifer honestly didn't know. Still he'd rather be rid of the menacing mice given they were actively capable of killing them. That wasn't a great way to live, wondering when you might find yourself frozen to death by an adventurous mouse.

"That's possible. And my power, if that's what it was, was kind of passive. Not really used to fight or anything." Rinoa couldn't think of a way she'd use that in a fight, so all it did was make someone feel better. Which was nice, honestly, but not what she'd call helpful if they actually got attacked.

"Yeah, experimented on us. The bunker's some space away. I guess you have to walk really far, but there's a pod that takes you immediately but you have to swim in the cold water." She went the latter way since she and Squall didn't want to spend 7 hours walking back when she was so exhausted. "I can show you where the pod is? We can go, if you want. I'm not sure you want to go alone, it's possible someone will need help down there and it's good to have a second person in an emergency." Squall was down there alone and she still didn't know why, but probably searching for answers the same way Seifer did.

Rinoa was a very social person so people thought that meant she was good at making friends, but being trained to socialize at events wasn't the same thing as making lasting connections. She was a lonely child and a lonely young woman, and she was trying to make friends here too. So far so good. She loved everyone from the SeeD team, but they all had connections to each other. The orphanage, the Garden. She often felt like the one left out, although she didn't say as much out loud. They were all so kind and welcoming to her. And they came and rescued her.

Her head picked up to look at him and almost wished he hadn't noticed that particular word. "They can do things. Hunt, fight, engineer weapons, carpentry, be doctors, garden, cook. People have a lot of skills here that are useful. I'm trying to learn some of them." So she can be useful. Because she wasn't useful, as she is.

"It’s worth a try," she agreed as they made their slow, cat-paced way to the door. She grimaced at one of the pretty little rodents.

"Not that it would be easy to tell if it worked, with numbers like these."

Seifer had the faintest idea that the cat was just taking her sweet time because she felt like it, as well. Like she knew they couldn't go ahead without her so she was basking in the power that gave her. Or maybe he was just assuming far too much of a peacat. Either way, they eventually made it to the inn, and thus relative safety.

"Unless we managed a big enough batch to take down a swath of 'em. Probably be too risky to try to send the cats after 'em." He wouldn't want the cats to die. That would be awful.

"Still might come in handy. Healing, or something?" Perhaps, for the first time in Seifer's life anyway, they could stop to consider things that didn't revolve around combat readiness. A strange concept that would certainly take some time to get used to. Rinoa, as well, had spent much of her life if not directly involved in war at least surrounded by it. Military, resistance movements, and the like. Not to mention the ever present threat of monsters.

"I'd like to see it. There might be some answers down there if we look around long enough." Why they're there, how they got there, the reason they were here at all. She knew them well enough to guess their motivations. Ever digging for answers. No matter the situation Seifer wanted to understand it. There had to be a purpose behind all this, and he didn't know about Rinoa but he wasn't exactly keen on being used by someone again. Had enough of a taste of all that.

Then that was something they had in common. While Rinoa was better at socializing, Seifer was still bad at making friends and overall rather lonely. He had his posse, and without them? He was lost. They were his family and only real connection. Unlike the others he couldn't really remember the orphanage. Only the bits and pieces that had been useful to Ultimecia. Enough to maintain her hold. Enough to twist. If Rinoa was left out, Seifer was the black sheep. Always had been.

She should know better than to expect anything would slip past his notice. He might not be world wise like some, but Seifer was sharp. He didn't like missing things. As she spoke, his shoulders slumped some with the realization of what she was saying. It dawned on him that as far as useful skills went his were very specialized. "...Don't suppose there's a monster problem around?" He could at least put himself to work there. Right? As it turned out neither of them were useful in normal ways.

"Yeah, Selina doesn’t seem too eager to actually pounce on any of them. She’d know better than we would." Which was just as well. She may have been adopted by the cat rather than the other way around, but it would break her heart to see anything happen to the pretty creature.

Inside the inn Steph could take off her coat and shiver, then head to the fireplace. The cat did seem disappointed to be left behind.

"Definitely warmer."

"Don't blame her. They can do that to a bush and a pile of boxes imagine what they'll do to any of us." Probably had done to some. Seifer was okay with not risking this one, he didn't have any ice resistance junctions.

Definitely warmer, Seifer kept his coat on but also trailed along after her toward the fireplace, glancing back to watch and see if her guard cat was following.

"Definitely fewer mice." He also agreed. Which was nice. Not being frozen to death would be ideal for his second day in the weird world of... wherever they were.

Steph dumped herself in a chair, relaxing in the gentle glow of the fire. The thing had been started every day since she'd been here, even in summer, and it was only now starting to be really pleasant.

The cat followed, of course. All of the attention was over there. She was rather sullen about it though, and made her displeasure known by jumping into Steph's lap and meowing loudly in the girl's face. Steph just started petting her. This was pretty typical behavior.

"Told ya. Lunch is ready in the kitchen if you want to go ahead. I'm gonna warm up a bit first."

"Maybe. I'd have to use it more to know." And Rinoa wasn't ready to do that yet. Maybe in a few more months, when the thought of magical abilities didn't make her think about the sorceress. She knew it was her own road block she had to get past, and she didn't want to be stuck in it forever. After a pause, she shrugged. "I guess healing is exactly what I would pick for a power if I could." It might be natural to who she was, to take care of people.

Rinoa hated the idea of being used for the purpose of someone else. Even before Ultimecia got a hold of her, she had a very controlling parent who would have picked everything she did, said, and wore if he could. She knew her father loved her, but he also wanted to call all the shots. This was to a higher level, yeah, but it was the same rebellious streak in her that fought back against that control that wanted to know why they were there. And how they could get home. "Then we'll go check it out, once you're settled in more."

Rinoa smiled thinly at him. "Animals seem to be for hunting, not needed defense against." So no, no hunting monsters. But Seifer always seemed useful to her. At least he and Nida were trained by the SeeD. It was easier to see the good and use in someone else than in herself. "I know they are working on some watchtowers to help protect the village? We can probably offer some help there. I've been organizing fountain arrival patrols, like you saw." She did something. That was primarily it. "You could talk to Mr. Stark, he's in the forge. He always seems to have projects he needs help with."

She glanced at him though. "We can talk about this tomorrow. Maybe you'd like to rest for now. It's a lot, coming here."

Edited 2018-12-31 22:50 (UTC)

The very same fire had been quite welcome after he'd pulled himself dripping and freezing from the fountain just a day prior. Might be less enjoyable in the summer.

Is the cat creature okay? Seifer just rose an eyebrow, he didn't entirely understand animals having never been around them much. Deciding that whatever it was looked normal enough he turned his attention to the fire, kneeling down and stretching his hands out to warm them.

"Is it? Might have to go check that out." The whole concept of a free meal was still baffling to him. That people just... pitched in. No payment. Granted if they wanted to survive here there really wasn't any choice. In a way it made sense, they were all stuck in the same situation together. Torn from their homes and dropped in this strange place, now struggling to make the best of it. "Warm up first." He insisted, with no gloves his fingers were cold.

"I hear that, she agreed with a satisfied sigh. Selina had curled up and begun to purr.

"So when did you get here? Can't be long, if you don't know where the food is."

Again he nodded his understanding. They both knew what she meant; That touching on the subject of her powers here was akin to touching on the subject of her newfound status as a Sorceress. Something neither of them could have anticipated during the events of the war. It's not a road block she faces alone. Seifer, out of anyone, would understand. Likely he knew the most about it out of anyone near their group, barring Cid and Edea. Not that he was any more comfortable with the subject matter.

She had a controlling father and Seifer had a military school. They made quite the unfortunate pair in that regard. Living for themselves was a far out of reach dream. More than they could have ever imagined. "Alright." He sounds satisfied that at least there's a course of action. Something to aim toward after he'd had some time to find his footing.

Her confirmation was met with a frown. No monsters, little active need for defense. What use was a mercenary without a weapon or a purpose? Much less a Knight. At least Rinoa had some experience in her brief stint leading the Forest Owls. Surely some skills came out of that that would be useful in a situation like this. Problem solving, unique planning methods, and all in all she's really good at keeping up morale. Maybe she didn't realize how important and difficult that latter task really was.

As for work he's going to have to have a look around. "The forge, huh? Yeah I could probably lift boxes or something." Undignified to think he'd be going into menial labor but... hell. His pride had taken enough of a beating why not a little more? Who knows, maybe he'll like forge work once he actually got in there and stopped being petulant. Pride wasn't going to keep him fed.

She must have read his face. All this worrying, thinking, and freezing had worn him out, and he looked it. Not to mention on top of everything else they'd just come out of, he hadn't even truly recovered from the war yet. Really wasn't prepared to handle any of this. Wearily he nodded, where he'd been lost at staring into the fire. "Probably a good idea. If I'm still here tomorrow, guess I'll know this isn't a delusion for sure." Which would mean really putting himself to work on sorting out what he was going to do with himself.

One step at a time. Right now sleep sounded like the best one to take. Slowly he gathered himself to his feet, offering Rinoa one final glance. "Goodnight." The weirdness of staying in a strange old house with Rinoa in the same building wasn't lost on him. Just another piece to add to the pile.

The fire was nice. Seifer wasn't used to having to fight the cold so much. His home was mostly pretty warm, and if not Garden was heated. How easily you forget the conveniences of technology until they're gone.

"Yesterday, brand new outta the fountain. Speaking of, is that how everyone shows up? Pretty messed up to spit a guy out through water in the middle of winter." He really wasn't amused by that. So cold.

"It's the standard," she confirmed with a shrug. "Some people end up in the bunker instead. I'd say you should check it out, but with the mice around it should probably wait."

"Right! The Bunker, friend of mine mentioned the Bunker I was gonna go try to have a search around with her sometime. Right now probably ain't the best idea."

Getting cornered in an unknown space with a bunch of freeze you to death mice? No thank you. He'd rather wait until the weather and the mice cleared out.

"I definitely wouldn't trust that they haven't gotten in there. You never know around here." You never really know anywhere, so you should never trust that the worst possible scenario isn't the right one. At least, that's how she feels about it these days.

"The bunker will still be there when the mice are gone. This kind of thing doesn't seem to last very long."

"With my luck I'd blunder into a nest of 'em and no one would be around to knock me outta the ice." Which would be a really awful way to die, especially given he really didn't like ice. More a fire guy himself. Not to worry, Seifer was always prepared for and expecting the worst case scenario. Made him kind of a buzzkill at parties.

"No? You think they'll just take off?" Huh, he had no idea. So he should take that to mean strange things just happen around the town then?

The thought makes her shiver, and she inches a little closer to the fire.

"Yeah, probably. It makes about as much sense as anything else that goes wrong around here."

Given that they aren't normally quite this brazen, Picard is mostly assuming that the Observers have something to do with the unusual habits of the mice. To say nothing of the fact that he hadn't been aware of there being mice capable of freezing things in the village before. Not least of all because it would have made storing food at least theoretically easier. Assuming the mice could be convinced to run over very specific things, anyway, and that might very well be easier said than done.

"You aren't imagining it. I wouldn't call it commonplace? But it's very much real."

Or at least, it is for the time being. He can't imagine the ice won't melt off sooner or later, but given the weather patterns of late, it's quite possible that it'll last until the weather starts turning warmer with the arrival of spring. Assuming nothing else particularly out of the ordinary happens, but he's not going to count on that being the case, either.

"Is this common?" He asks as he finally stands to stretch. About time to go see if food exists somewhere nearby. He's hungry now that he's warmer.

"So, how 'bout that lunch?" If she's not going to go he'll go find it himself.

"It’s not uncommon," she explains with a shrug. At the question she heaves herself out of the comfortable chair.

"I’ll show you where everything is."

Sorry to ruin your comfort Steph, he'll let you get back to it after food.

"Thanks." Said as he moves to follow.

Seifer is still far too new to know anything about the Observers. He hasn't exactly sat down and read everything there is to read, this barely being his second day out of the fountain. Nope, he just woke up to weird mouse phenomena happening.

"Good," He nodded, looking between Picard and the bush, brow furrowed in concern. Realizing that if that's the case he should maybe not be standing there playing with it. "Anything like this happen before?" He said it wasn't common, didn't mean it never happened.

Slowly he stepped away from the bush, keeping an eye out for any mice scampering too close to his feet. If they can do this to a bush they could theoretically do it to him. He'd rather that not be the case.

It's definitely an odd thing to arrive into the middle of, that's for certain. Even after having spent as long in the village as Picard has it's still unusual, truth be told. And has more than its share of potential danger besides, given that the mice don't seem to be particularly concerned about where they happen to be running. Admittedly, he doesn't think anyone would end up entirely encased in ice, but even without that there's a not insignificant risk of frostbite involved, to say nothing of the hassle involved in thawing out any affected limbs.

"Not quite like this, no. But it wouldn't be the first time that there's been something present that has the capability to affect the environment in unusual ways."

True, most of the other ones he's been aware of are... less immediately harmful. But that hardly changes the fact that there have been other things capable of generating a similar sort of effect, at the very least.

If the mice can cover an entire shrub, or crate, or whatever else they've been running around on there's a strong chance that they could encase a person or another animal. Hopefully everyone was keeping track of each other, lest someone be left out in the cold for too long unable to seek aid. Whatever the case may be, seemed dangerous just to have them running around like this.

"Like what?" He asks, watching as another mouse skitters off somewhere, something else slowly growing a fresh coat of ice. It's almost beautiful in the early morning light. Were it not so alarming.

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(OTA) A not so warm welcome

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wrap up?

Wrap up!

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