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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He might think that, but Seifer can be really annoying when he's decided he needs to watch someone's back. At the moment he wasn't entirely convinced Nida was any more prepared to deal with this than he was, so he might as well hang around on the pretense of making sure Nida doesn't get himself killed. Perhaps a tiny part of him felt obligated in making an effort for someone he directly wronged.

Seifer didn't move until Nida had his back to him, then he got up to follow him back outside. Which was good, he'd rather be in neutral territory than some stranger's house who was apparently friends with someone who may or may not decide to stick a knife in his ribs later. Or a steak. Whatever. He's not a vampire it might just be what's handy. "Bad luck," He mused. Worse than his possibly. "Nevermind what?" He persisted. Might as well throw it out on the table. What was the crazy guy going to do with it? Not like he could let well enough alone anyway. Nosy bastard.

“The inn is pretty close,” Nida observed as he paused by the door to put his boots back on. Then he paused, frowning at Seifer. “Maybe we should take a moment, get you fully into your warm clothes from your pack. That room over there is mine, you can feel free to change in there if you want. I’d say use the spare room but I would want to talk to my housemate first, see if they would be okay with you possibly sharing space. Not that you have to. Just figure you might prefer people who wouldn’t pry into your past as much.” And look, between that and stooping to tie his boots he was trying to neatly dodge Seifer’s question. Probably better to just stay in professional mode here. Easier to not be... well, vulnerable if he treated the situation like a job. Think about what the mission parameters would be, in this case ensuring Seifer’s comfort and feeding. Find him a place to sleep tonight.

Eyes narrow suspiciously at Nida at that pause and his suggestion, Seifer still keeping enough distance between them he could react should the guy lunge for him. Despite Nida's best efforts he still didn't trust the guy, was just willing to hang around him without being fully hostile at all times. "I'm fine," He insisted, he'd rather save the clean clothing for a little longer. These were already ruined from crawling out of a damn fountain. "You didn't answer my question."

Cute suggestion, he doubted it would fly. He'd go find some halfway house to bunk down in. Do some cleaning or something for room and board if he could. Surely someone could give him a use. He wasn't a mission and he wasn't about to let himself be treated like one. He didn't need anyone's pity, definitely not Nida's.

Pity? Hardly. Nida didn’t have that for Seifer. But Nida and Rinoa were a bit of a team now, and if she resolved to help Seifer, Nida would definitely do so. And perhaps he wanted to as well. Garden had screwed Seifer over a bit. And whether Seifer knew it or Nida had recognized the sort of loyalty that had come with Seifer going to try and help SeeDs and Rinoa. Helped that it was his home town. “What question?” Nida asked, smiling in clearly faked innocence as he finished tying his second shoe and pulled on his coat.

He better not, Seifer would be furious. Once Rinoa really started in on him Seifer wasn't going to have a lot of options but to listen to her, she could be far too tenacious to deny. Not to mention the guilt he wouldn't be talking about. He owed her, a lot, and perhaps he owed Nida to in a less immediately direct manner. Yeah he'd lead the attack on Garden, but that wasn't the same kind of personal assault as throwing your ex at the feet of a crazed Sorceress. Frankly not his shining moment.

"You know what." He persisted, staring Nida down. Come on you can't half say something then wuss out of it. At least throw it on the table.

“Really, Almasy?” Nida asked as he straightened and pulled his coat on. “Does it matter?” Because Seifer didn’t care what Nida thought. Perhaps he didn’t shut down like Squall did, but Seifer had already thrown the touch of emotion Nida had allowed himself right back in his face. So no thanks.

Sorry, Princess, he didn't know you wanted a hug. Or that a raised eyebrow was so offensive. "Yes." It did matter, because Seifer was incapable of letting anything go. It was going to bother him endlessly that half spoken sentiment followed by a never mind. Like dealing with Squall, only this one he didn't know how to get a rise out of yet.

"Fine. Whatever. Let's just go." He wasn't here to make friends anyway. The further away from Garden representatives the better.

Fine. Nida gave an exaggerated sigh as if to say ‘why are you such a pain?’ “Easier to admit faults when someone already looks down on you. People with disdain for you are going to assume the worst anyway, so they aren’t disappointed when you aren’t at the top of your game.” With that he turned his back and opened the door, slipping out into the cold. Seifer probably wouldn’t even get that sort of sentiment, or so Nida thought.

Because Seifer, that's why. Being a pain was just the way he was. Besides, it usually worked out somewhat in his favor in the end. He'd get a laugh or find something out either way. And he didn't have to grovel or play nice with people he didn't give a damn about. Speaking of giving a damn. "The hell do you care what I think?" Really, the very idea just floored him. Even at Garden he wasn't exactly liked by any means, who the hell would care what he had to say? Sure he wanted them to, they weren't going to so what was the point in trying to please them? Seifer would work for himself and those handful of people that mattered.

Nida was right in that he didn't entirely get the sentiment, but not for the reason he probably suspected. "Wouldn't know the difference." He mumbled as he stalked after the man. Everyone had disdain for him. Easy for Nida to be bothered by it because he had a top of his game to show off. Seifer was ever at the just not quite good enough stage.

“You misunderstand,” Nida corrected, looking back over his shoulder at Seifer. “I don’t care what you think of me. But I know what you used to think of me, and I know there is no changing Seifer Almasy’s mind once he’s made it up. Which means I don’t have to impress you with my composure for my age. I don’t have to be ‘adult enough’ in your eyes or seem surprisingly put together for a trained child soldier or anything else. Which in turn means I can just say what I’m thinking rather than whatever will get me the best results. Around you I don’t have to play SeeD.” There, happy? Wait, scratch that, Nida doesn’t care. And yet... and yet that fumbling at his wristdevice again. Because he did care. Fuck him but he always cared about what people thought. He just knew, or thought he knew, that Seifer had already made up his mind. So wasting energy on proving that he wasn’t going to hurt Seifer, that he wanted to help, was just that. A waste. “Besides,” he said with a dismissive sort of tone as if this was the only reason he had for acting. “If Leonhart hadn’t disappeared a few days ago, he would have expected me to play nice.”

"Used to think of you? I barely even know who you are," He didn't think anything of Nida. Which wasn't really a compliment, not necessarily an insult either. Not directly anyway. Seifer just didn't care. Took too much energy to care so much what everyone else might think. However, Nida's little speech did get a slight smirk out of the guy. Most positive expression he'd put on since they bumped into each other.

"About time you said somethin' real," He actually sounds a little impressed. Good. Stop being a SeeD at him and they'll get along much better. "Good. Now take your own advice and stop playing SeeD." For all his bluster Nida was sure letting it slip very quickly that he wasn't nearly as uncaring as he'd like Seifer to believe, the fidgeting was a dead giveaway. Even so, he'd rather the guy say what was on his mind than what he thought he should say.

That particular name, however, derailed the entire thought process. Seifer froze, and again the fight or flight reflex clearly kicked in. Leonhart. "He was here?" That meant... Rinoa of course he saw Rinoa he knew she was there too. The panic was quickly replaced with his usual scowl, not before several beats of someone who looked about like a cornered animal ready to fight. "If Leonhart were here he'd have expected me in chains." He spits, his tone laced with venom. Seifer is. Not well.

"Maybe, but you were always vocal when you did notice me. Don't worry, Seifer, I don't care that you don't remember me. Because I remember you," Nida shrugged as he moved down the stairs of the porch. "Close the door behind you, okay?"

The rest of what Seifer said Nida ignored, at least until Squall's name was parroted back at him. Down on the path now he looked back, and of course up, at Seifer. There was no hiding the brief pain in his expression. Clearly he had seen it as a loss.

"Maybe he did once, but by my point in the timeline, he didn't. The war was a year ago for me, and you weren't hunted by Garden. As for Squall... he was twenty-three, and he'd been through a lot more. I don't think chains would have been his intention at all."

"I was vocal about everyone," He dismissed. Nida mentioning that he remembered Seifer only earned a dark look, fairly certain that was some kind of insult. He did close the door behind him, because it's polite, not because Nida told him to. Rinoa would kill him if he let her cat out.

A loss indeed, a large part of Seifer had wanted to see him as well. Despite the apprehension, he should at least... he didn't know. It was probably better this way. But he could hardly vocalize such things to Nida, a man who clearly hated his guts with plenty of reasons to do so. Couldn't risk too much with someone like him. And even if Nida didn't hate him, he still saw Seifer as an obligation. Not a good reason to stick around.

Though he did falter at those words, briefly the conflict clear on his face. A part of him mistrusting, another desperately hoping it was true. Another, grief, so much grief. Quickly shielded behind his usually scowling mask. Not worth dwelling on. They had a situation to deal with. Instead he just hunched his shoulders against the cold and trucked after Nida. Squall older than him, now that would be a sight to see.

"Yeah, you were," Nida agreed, more under his breath than for Seifer's sake.

Yet even he couldn't hide the momentary shock he felt at the conflict Seifer wore at his revelation. At first he didn't even push, just kept walking down the short path to the inn. Not that he could say quiet for long. Not by any stretch. Just before the door to the inn, and the building was clearly that, Nida paused and cleared his throat. He had little intention of going in with Seifer. Doubted the guy would want it. This time of day there would probably be someone in there to point him the right way. If not, Seifer could poke around. Not like the thick codex wasn't obvious.

"So you know, Seifer... Headmaster Kramer's wife, she talked about some things after the war. And Raijin told me a few things too, in the letters we sent back and forth. I... I think Squall was right, saying you should be left alone after the war. That things were, well, I guess saying complicated would be cliche, even if it is correct."

How exactly were you supposed to say 'I think you were probably possessed or something along those lines and while you probably deserve some of the blame for what happened I don't think it's nearly as much as it seemed'?

Perhaps there really wasn't a way.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you."

There was no chance Ultimecia was any better to Seifer than she was to anyone else.

Even if he did hear it, Seifer ignored it. He wasn't there to try to impress anyone. As Nida had said, once someone's mind was made up what was the use in trying to convince them otherwise?

The quiet was welcomed. He'd prefer it stayed that way. Nida may not realize it but Seifer now had a lot he needed to process. The news about Squall, the place they were in, how the hell he was going to survive. Not to mention the only thing he had left at home, Fujin and Raijin, not being there with him. Having to start over from nothing, not being able to escape his past for the trouble... it was going to take some thought to work through. Last thing he wanted to do was talk, much less about the war. Especially not about any of that.

Muscles tensed in his jaw while Nida spoke but he made no other outward sign that he was listening. Just looking away, scowling at the wall of the Inn like it had personally offended him. What do you say to that? What business was it of Nida's anyway? He wasn't in the mood.

"Thanks for the tour." Was all he said, moving to brush past Nida and into the building. He just... he couldn't deal with that right now. So he's just going to ignore it. At least he didn't lash out?

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(OTA) A not so warm welcome

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