linkingup | post palace hot pot party (week 7)

post palace hot pot party (week 7)

[Yoon's Palace has faded away, but the fact the God of Conflict decided to show up and intervene again...

Well, that's! Not a good sign! To say the least! But there's nothing to be done about that right now, and Haruka isn't of the mind to really sit and wonder about divine conflicts and grandstanding and all of that, anyways. It's not his problem. The people who deal with that sort of thing on the regular can be in charge of all of that.

What he's in charge of (by virtue of being annoying) is... hot pot. Specifically rounding up everyone and dragging them out to a hot pot restaurant in the city.

He'll miss having money but... he'll just have to work hard to earn it back... Have fun, everyone. (Or maybe he can find a way to charge Mina for this?)]

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[ YOU SURE ABOUT THAT FISHY? YOU SURE??? ]

I say... grab me a beer!

[ She grins, brightening up almost immediately. It's not the beer itself, not really. Rather, Aerith recognizes what this is—a kind gesture from Aaron. To be on the receiving end of this from someone who seems to generally keep their kindness close to their chest, she feels honored. ]

[look he also enjoys gambling so CHECKMATE(??????????)]

Hell yeah, now we're talking!

[Aaron, of course, can only respond to Aerith's enthusiasm with plenty of his own, turning in his seat to wave over a server. Once the orders are placed, he turns back to Aerith, fishing out a piece of squid that he dips in chili oil before popping it into his mouth.]

You ever do this kinda thing before?

[The hot pot, he means.]

[ :worry:

She watches as he dips it in chili oil before grabbing a piece of potato and doing the same. It sure packs a bit of heat, but it's kind of a nice balance against her exhaustion. ]

I haven't. The undercity doesn't really have this kinda thing and we haven't had much of a chance to stop at anywhere other than random diners out on the road.

[ She looks over at Aaron. ]

What about you?

[He seems amused when he sees her try the chili oil with the potato, but he'll just leave it at that as he continues to pick out more seafood from the pot.

As for the question, well.]

You can find these places everywhere in my hometown, so I used to go with my bros whenever we felt like it. Haven't been to one since I moved to the capital, though.

[He pauses to take a gulp of water.]

You mentioned something about a metal plate blocking the sky before. That what you mean by 'undercity'?

[ This is a time for new experiences! And as such, she'll follow his suit and dip a bit of seafood in it too. Why not?

She's about to ask him more about his hometown, but... well, she can't leave "undercity" unexplained either. ]

Yep. Midgar is a big city that sits on a metal plate. It's really nice and well-built. [ She takes a bite, chewing thoughtfully and swallowing before continuing. ] Lots of people call the place underneath the plate home too, though. Including me.

But Shinra doesn't really take care of that part. It's full of metal and trash and monsters. It's... not the best place to live, but I love it anyway. That's home to me.

[While they chat and eat, the server comes by to place two bottles of beer at the table, one of which Aaron slides over to Aerith. As he takes a sip, he tries to imagine what a city like that would even look like -- although even beyond that, he has plenty of questions about the whys and hows for such a place.

Still, a sense of affection for one's home is something he can understand well, regardless of how different their backgrounds appear to be.]

Guess being underneath everything doesn't do wonders for its real estate value. Is that where you grew up?

[ She takes that bottle of beer and puts it to her lips, tipping it up for a small sip. It's not strong, but the warmth of the alcohol is nice nevertheless. ]

Pretty much, yeah. My mom lives in one of the only areas that gets some sunlight, so we grow flowers to sell in town. I'm sure you can imagine that flowers aren't exactly common in Midgar.

[That explains a lot about her chat username, actually. He'd just assumed it was because she liked flowers and didn't think much else of it.]

Heh. Yeah, if anything, I think they'd fetch a hefty price in your part of the city. You ever have to deal with any thieves or bandits that try to make off with your goods?

All the time! But all I gotta do is give them a mean right hook and they'll leave me alone!

[ She even balls her hands into fists, like she's about to punch the air. ]

I actually have some guys watching over me all the time. I think they take care of any thieves.

[ Even if "watching over" is a bit strong for what it actually is. The tone of her voice suggests she means more "surveilled" than anything else. ]

[There's a chuckle at her spunk, although there's an arch of the brow at the mention of those 'bodyguards'.]

At least that makes 'em more useful than the typical stalker. What's up with that, though? You that popular in your neighborhood?

[Obviously he assumes there's more to it than that, but.]

You could say that.

[ She smiles, her tone playful, but it's obvious there's more to it. ]

More like they were surveillance. The government kinda has an interest in me.

[Ah. Yeah, he can see why that would make whatever positives of that arrangement fall flat.]

Not every day you run into someone who can hear the planet, huh. They ever try to pull anything?

All the time. They actually kidnapped me for a little while before my friends got me out.

[ Her gaze settles on the hot pot in the center of the table, the soup still boiling. ]

I was put right back in the lab I grew up in.

[He clicks his tongue softly at that. That tracks, given what she's been saying, but that doesn't make it any less odious to hear about.]

At least they managed to bust you outta that shithole. That mean you're currently on the run?

That's right! We always manage to escape, but they sure are bothersome. It's like we can't enter a single city without something happening.

[ Ah, the JPRG life... ]

Can't say I don't know what that's like. Though I guess we were the ones chasing 'em from city to city instead of the opposite.

[So technically they were the ones looking for trouble but still. JRPG life!!]

Maybe you should think about what it's like to be on the other side of it.

[ Kidding! She even grins. ]

I can't blame Shinra for following us, but... they get in the way of the real lead we're going after. Saving the world sure is complicated.

Eh, if they think about not starting shit everywhere they go, I'll consider it.

[He says that lightly enough, although there's a hard light in his eyes that makes it clear that's not an option. However, it's only there for a moment, because he's soon blinking at the world-saving bit.]

But man, and here I thought going after the mafia was a pretty big deal. What's going on that's bad enough to involve the whole damn world?

[ Ah, so he's determined not to let them cause trouble, is he? It's kind of nice, seeing that sharpness in his eyes over something like that. ]

There's this guy, Sephiroth, who wants to destroy it for his own reasons. I don't know why just yet, but... we know that's what he wants to do.

[ Though it's more like she just can't remember why, the missing memory a block that she can't pass through. ]

Shinra is killing the planet too, just in a different way. Remember that lifestream I told you about? They're using it all up for technological advancement, and once it's gone... it's gone for good.

That dude's got way too much free time on his hands if he's wasting it on wrecking everything.

[In that sense, Shinra's motives are a lot more understandable to him even if what they're doing ultimately results in the same thing. Not that it takes away from how fucked it is to use dead people to power machines, but!!]

So you're trying to bring this Sephiroth guy down, and then you've gotta figure out what to do with these Shinra goons? Sounds like a lot for one group to handle.

It sure is, but I know we've got this one in the bag!

[ She grins. ]

We're all in it to the end, because we figured that if no one else is going to then someone has gotta... and besides, you never know if you'll win unless you try.

[He huffs out a laugh at the confidence, because you know what, sometimes you really just have to keep that attitude up when the odds are stacked against you.]

Well, you got a point there.

[Because if he was in a comparable situation, he'd definitely want to try -- or rather, he'd want to succeed no matter what.]

Still, I know the planet's in danger in all, but how'd you even get wrapped up in all this? Shinra I get, but I'm assuming Mr. Edgelord there didn't just come out and announce his plans to destroy the world.

That "edgelord" used to work for Shinra as one of their soldiers.

[ SOLDIER, specifically, but she's not going to get into the nitty gritty of all of that. ]

He's basically a science experiment... which he found out a few years ago and I think it made him spiral. So, he decided that he'd take the world down with him.

[It's hard not to see a bit of a parallel between her and Sephiroth, at least in terms of their background. While he doesn't have the details on what exactly was done to either of them, it would still be a point of commonality that most people couldn't exactly relate to, himself included. Still, that's where the similarities end, because he figures that even if Aerith discovered an unpleasant truth about herself, she'd never go that far off the deep end.

So maybe he's reading a little too far into this, but he'll toss the question out anyway.]

...You feel bad for him?

[ Hmm. Does she? Aerith takes a few moments to really think about it before eventually shaking her head. ]

Maybe if he didn't go so far, I would. But the way he is now? No, I don't. He could have done anything else and he chose to destroy everything instead.

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post palace hot pot party (week 7)

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