cloud ☁️

[unrecked]

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[skyagain]

[ he wished he had dispel, damn. he did not think it would be useful because he didn't think people would be assholes. he was a fool. where is esuna when you need it.

jason draws back and now cloud has to crane his neck up. stop being so tall. offensive. ]

Estelle got one and asked me to come with her. Mikazuki and Tsurumaru went on another. That's three out of eight so far.

[unrecked]

[Hehe. Smol boy. It's cute. Cloud hates it, but it's cute.]

She say whether anyone gave it to her or not? Rupert gave me mine. Said he just found it in his room on Sunday and thought I'd investigate better. [Jason was so paranoid.] Did he have all of them to hand out, or...?

We're pretty sure we were in Aquila's room. Well, Lup was. She recognized a lot of stuff in there. We didn't find a whole lot, though.

[skyagain]

[ stop enjoying him being cute, it's illegal. speaking of cute his fingers are kind of brushing Jason's side. don't notice that. ]

She just found it in her room, she said. Probably the same happened to Rupert. We ended up in Gemini's. [ there's a pause, then. ] I didn't ask Mikazuki where they ended up. I don't think that part matters. There's going to be one key for all of them.

[unrecked]

So Rupert was just too worried about going maybe. [Or Eli couldn’t idk. It’s fine.] So he passed it to me.

Guess it just solidifies that they’re like us. You think they’ll get in trouble if anyone found out we went in?

[He notices! The problem is he doesn’t mind at all… It makes him lean a bit into Cloud’s front.]

[skyagain]

Probably.

[ stop being distracted by plot by touching along jason's chest and side, cloud. you are not a whore. ]

We definitely shouldn't talk about it too much. But... I think the point was to see who'd realize... [ hmmm. he glances down as he thinks about it before looking back up ] You get any of their memories, last week?

[unrecked]

Realize…?

[He watches Cloud look down thoughtfully and up again. Cloud is also cute when he is being serious.]

Yeah, a few of them I did.

[skyagain]

Any of them feel off to you?

[ he is even cuter when he's looking straight in jason's eyes with his pretty mutant eyes and leaning forward into him a bit. don't perceive. ]

[unrecked]

[It just feels very natural to ease his arms up around Cloud's middle and hold him? It's fine. Don't... perceive...

He looks between Cloud's eyes, his brow furrowing.]

What do you mean? They felt off to you?

[skyagain]

... Compared to how they act. Yeah.

[ it's hard to explain without actually being explicit, and he's worried about being too explicit in a place where some asshole is constantly listening. this is terrible. clearly the solution is to lean into the hold jason has around him. clearly. ]

It's the same with their rooms.

[unrecked]

Oh. Yeah.

[This makes sense to him actually. His brows lower slightly. They are truly just standing here holding each other, chatting.]

They've always been pretty dodgy. Wouldn't answer me when I questioned them about having hostages here, but... it seemed likely how they talked. If not hostages, Nightman has something on them.

They were damn worried when the memories started popping off.

[skyagain]

They've got contracts for sure. Sheila got an item that pretty much confirmed it. Someone's journal.

[ he shakes his head because hostages isn't the point, so; ]

... This whole thing is just entertainment for him. One big show. We're the main one, left to see how we act. But the staff? They're more like... hired actors. Playing a specific role. And those memories and the shit in their rooms... it doesn't quite match that.

[unrecked]

[He frowns gently, not liking the confirmation. Not liking the rest of it either. He had asked them that too, he's pretty sure. Or talked to them about how they seemed like actors playing a part in this giant entertainment piece.]

They're people like us. [He glances away, then back.] They've been in these games before too.

I saw one memory from... another game. I knew it was because... I saw myself. But younger.

[skyagain]

[ ah. hm. he forgets about being cautious on wording for a second ]

Like... a different version of you?

[ but younger?? hello?? ]

[unrecked]

[His voice is a bit low, not that it matters maybe. They're close enough that it's fine.]

Mm. [A confirmation.] They knew me. Uh. A me.

[skyagain]

...

[ hmm. he doesn't ask for clarity on which npc or what memory it was, but he raises a hand to put on Jason's shoulder as he frowns a little. ]

... You good? [ he can imagine how weird it is, knowing an alternate version of yourself went through it ]

[unrecked]

Yeah.

[He sort of leans in to bump the side of Cloud's head with one temple, the only thing he can think to do to reassure he isn't bullshitting.]

Kind of fucked up, but... honestly not surprised.

[skyagain]

Yeah. [ they just keep moving closer to one another and it's stupid. ] Shitty way to find out, though. Doubt it was a good memory.

[ they usually aren't with their luck!!! ]

[unrecked]

[Their orbit can't be broken. I keep thinking about whether or not they are going to run out of plot and then fidget not wanting to leave and then end up banging.]

...It wasn't, but. That also doesn't surprise me.

[Haha...]

[skyagain]

[ STOP they probably will i hate you. speaking of banging adjacent, cloud's raising the hand that was on jason's shoulder to his face, cupping it on the side that isn't leaning against him. this seems like a normal thing to do when you are this close to a person and they feel sad. ]

... Yeah. [ he shakes his head minutely, because he doesn't want to dislodge jason ] Whatever their contracts are ... it includes a lot more messed up clauses than ours. Makes me wonder who gave out these keys and why?

[unrecked]

[Cloud learning to comfort... Character development. That may vanish instantaneously next week when nothing is urging him to be affectionate.

It doesn't matter, Jason tilts his head a little into the hand. Thank you... he's comforted.]

I know. [Thoughtfully quiet.] You think there's a mole among them? Or maybe... one of them has sort of... sorted themselves out? Unless one of us stole them somehow.

[skyagain]

... I think... [ he looks away, pensive, softly petting jason's face with a thumb. yeah none of this is going to be happening next week. ] It could be one of us. Could be the Nightman fucking with us. But. That thing Sheila's group found, it's a journal. It doesn't just talk about contracts. Mentions meeting the rest of the staff. Seven names dropped. Obviously, they think Aquarius wrote it, since theirs isn't in there.

[ ... ]

And as far as Aquarius is concerned, it's theirs.

[ he says it kind of pointedly. ]

[unrecked]

[He doesn’t mean to snatch his head away from the hand or anything, but he lifts his head back so quickly to be able to look at Cloud’s face.

He seems offended, but not at Cloud, then he seems pensively uncertain.]

Could have just said that from the start, jackass.

[(affectionate)]

[skyagain]

[ well the hand is taken away and cloud rolls his eyes, letting it drift back down to affectionately hit jason's side lightly ]

Walls have ears, jackass. [ right back at you. ] I don't know anything for sure. I'm trying not to jump to conclusion, here.

[unrecked]

[He bumps Cloud back with his hip because even this week, their bonding is beating each other up.]

…I trust them. [A pause.] Well, I… guess I do. As long as they are who they’ve been acting like.

But it seems like… [His brows furrow.] Are they acting like other people, or…? I mean aside from the obvious. I don’t get it.

Some of the stuff we found in Aquila’s room didn’t match them, yeah. But why… do that?

[skyagain]

They are acting like other people. Actors, remember? [ he was trying to hint so he didn't spell it out because he's paranoid, but it just made him too subtle. very funny. ] Whatever the reason, they can't drop it. Not really, and not fully. Which means it's got something to do with their contract.

That's why it's so weird to give us access to their rooms. Like spelling it out for as many people as possible who might not have gotten memories or noticed.