Anniversary Event: Defying Fate

[eternitymods]

Who: Everyone
When: April 8th-11th
Where: Vaikuntha
What: The Heroes of Light relive the three days leading to the Apocalypse, again and again. With this come the chance for them to save the world, but also to explore opportunities otherwise out of reach. Will they find a way to save the world and prevent this terrible fate from coming true?
Warnings/Notes: Depends on the threads.

Comments

[topgun_textiles]

"Kupo Nut Bread..." He wanted to complain about how fucking unimportant it was, but he'd gotten to know enough moogles to know that of course they'd bitch about nut bread before the world would die.

"I heard about strikes and usually found the slates goin' dark. What day do they strike?" Slowly, he sat upright and rolled his shoulders.

He had some connections. Could he find a recipe for Kupo Nut Bread?

[pishirogane]

Placing a hand on Kanji's head, she gently smoothed his hair while checking her notes.

"The strike occurs Tuesday, shortly before 8:30 PM. The cult spreads its influence over two hours later."

Besides just getting a recipe, they would have to procure enough Kupo Nuts.

[topgun_textiles]

After countless knocks to the body in his line of work, especially with the loops ending in their destruction, a soft hand through his hair was... heavenly. He couldn't stop the loopy little smile and the lean of his head into the touch.

God, the loops had to stop. They had to beat this. He couldn't stand moments like these disappearing into nothingness just so they can get kicked back to the beginning of Monday.

Notes... notes, she was reading her notes, right?

"D-do we know how many employees work up in Mognet? May as well get that data down for consideration... good bread takes time, whole lotta nuts."

[pishirogane]

At least they remembered these moments, but it would be nice to move forward. Feeling him lean into her touch, she continued it.

"I'm not sure. I'll have to ask someone at the Curti Center and see if they have an exact number."

She figured it would take time. "... If we enlisted the Gourmands, it might distract them from going on this 'Great Devouring'."

[topgun_textiles]

The Great Devouring. Kanji'd only seen a bit of it himself. Fortunately he was a bit too distracted to not only, well, move... much less recall watching creatures of so many species eating everything. Horrifying.

"Yeah... yeah, it gives 'em purpose, they get to do their part and the moogles can keep on goin'!" Another connection, cause and effect. Kanji wasn't much for the academic, but he could at least think in circles. What could he learn in the 'future' that would help the past, so on and so forth.

"I know a guy who's Gourmand. I could hit him up."

[pishirogane]

"We'll try that this cycle then. See if the Gourmands will cooperate and if the moogles will be pacified enough to stop the cult's communication efforts."

And if that worked, she could attempt arresting them again later with the solution to the bread strike and Gourmands in mind, stopping the spread of their vitriol against the otherworlders.

"... Though, if we want to try dealing with the cultist again, we could stand our ground and deal with the scattered supporters that were attempting to find us."

[topgun_textiles]

He took that in. Perhaps some things would go to the wayside, but they were fairly early and examining their options. He never wanted to think of it like 'oh, we'll just loop again', but when everyone was confused, taking notes and dipping their toes in the water even Kanji knew they were gonna long haul it.

The cultists, however. He managed to turn many ears, but that didn't stop the leaders from getting away. Friends of theirs spread hate, and led to attacks upon Otherworlders.

"...Thus the filters n' stuff brought up earlier, right? If we get the Mognet back, but moderate it against those crazy death threats..."

[pishirogane]

"Exactly. We still need Mognet functioning for various other events, but limiting their ability to use it for their speeches will take away their power."

Idly, she began to touch his ear, touching one of his piercings while she considered the rest of her notes.

"Hm... another issue would be general motivations in a number of cities and key individuals..."

[topgun_textiles]

"Motivations," he iterated, more breezily than he'd intended. His ears... why his ears? They were sensitive. But she probably somehow knew that, didn't she? That's why she did that annnnnnnnd...

"Ch-cheering up, then. I could talk up a cult crowd but I dunno about cheering people up..."

He wanted to fall asleep again at this rate. But no! No, he had to relieve her, have her catch a nap, and...

[pishirogane]

She wasn't doing it on purpose, but idle hands do things...

"Well, there are issues with leaders being unable to motivate their citizens so if that's addressed, we don't have to handle a bulk of the work."

However, she wasn't very personable herself when it came to getting people out of a depression...

[topgun_textiles]

Shit. If a leader can't motivate their people, how would they do it? Maybe he needed to confer with some of the more... eccentric sorts. Like that Kuja guy. Big personality. Kinda reminds him of a cockatoo.

"Motivate the leaders, nab the cult, censor the network, save the expedition... ooh, l-little to the left, please..."

What?

[pishirogane]

"It might take a few more cycles to get everything right..."

But they were at least making progress. Naoto didn't comment on his murmuring... but she did move her fingers a little to the left.

[topgun_textiles]

"Yeah..." He hadn't meant to sound down about it, but it seemed whenever everyone mentioned cycles like it was nothing, Kanji felt that folks failed to understand that three days is a very short, yet a very long time. Still, he kept that to himself. He had to focus on helping, on getting everyone through this.

His head mildly spun, and he stifled a yawn. She kept that up, and he was definitely going back to sleep. But what if she was knocking him out cold to get more time?

"Here's hoping it's just a few. Your birthday is comin' up, dammit, and Ramaa and that stupid dragon's sittin' on the timeline like a couple of stubborn cats."

[pishirogane]

She didn't mean to sound nonchalant about it herself, but it was just their situation that they were dealing with and she was treating it as thus. Another day, another loop, another incident overall...

Blinking at his yawn, she looked away from her notebook and gave a faint smile. She wasn't doing it intentionally, but he seemed to like it.

"... Oh, you're right." She hadn't even been thinking about her birthday...

[topgun_textiles]

"P-pff..." He couldn't help but grin. Cheeky, he reached back and gave her side a little poke. Beep beep.

"Hell yeah I'm right! It's only a friggin' important day, ya dork! So let's kick the shit outta this loopy timeline; Reruns belong with the Phoenix Rangers."

[pishirogane]

"H-Hey..." She fidgeted slightly, managing to avoid letting out a laugh. Well, she did until his next statement.

"Haha, alright. That's fair... Hm, the time-travel episodes were always interesting. Not that I think all of them would've avoided resulting in a time paradox."

[topgun_textiles]

"Nah, the budget took a nosedive after that first time-travel arc, I don't think they could'a handled a paradox plot. Plus I was too busy gettin' weepy over the big Falcon origin reveal."

Man, how could he forget? What better way to reveal why Falcon wouldn't rejoin the group than with his origin story?

"At any rate... you're up for sleep. Got a couple hours before that whole cult meeting. Got a better pitch this time, too."

[pishirogane]

"No, they wouldn't be capable of that. New writers might be able to pull it off though if they try again."

Oh Kanji. She pat his head again, recalling the episode herself. It had been moving, but he would be emotional over it.

"Oh... I guess it has been ten minutes..." Maybe even longer.

[topgun_textiles]

He nodded thoughtfully. The show was picking up again among the kids today. Maybe he should peek back in for nostalgia's sake sometime. In the meantime, he thought he'd not like this stuff, but... he was always down for touches to the head. It was always okay if it was her.

Kanji turned and brushed back some of her hair with a thumb.

"Yeah. Sorry. But this'll all be right here when ya get up, don't worry." He shifted, and sat upright.

Then, after a moment of thought, he set up his jacket and one of the spare pillows. What followed was a small gesture of invitation. Come here.

"Down for an hour, then back to it. Fair?"

[pishirogane]

Closing her notebook with a sigh, she pocketed it and allowed Kanji to sit up, shifting away to give him space.

"It's fine, Kanji-kun. I understand."

She should attempt to get some rest. And with his jacket and the pillow all set up, she would settle down herself, curling up a little bit.

"One hour. No longer."

[topgun_textiles]

With everyone else scrambling to get their shit together elsewhere - and if he could help it - that hour may be exactly what she needed.

"I gotcha. No longer."

But to help her along, his fingers trailed through her hair. He thought about humming something, but he wasn't really the guy with the voice for it, he supposed.

[pishirogane]

"Mmm... thank you."

Settled in, Naoto closed her eyes... but then opened them again upon feeling his fingers in her hair. Hm... maybe that's why she'd done it to him. It felt so comforting.

[topgun_textiles]

"'Course."

He settled back against the back of the bench, his fingers busy with hair much softer than his own. Of course it was, after all, as hers wasn't chemically treated on a regular basis.

His position helped him mask a small sigh. They had to end the time paradox. Soon.

Kanji just hoped they'd find the means to finally come together as the supposed 'Heroes of Light'. If he was honest, they were all kind of a mess.

But he and his friends were a mess too, weren't they? And they saved Inaba. They'd just have to put some elbow grease into this, too, just the same.

...

For now, he had all the time in the world to contemplate birthday cake.