recolle | [closed] Tea Time at The Open Book

[closed] Tea Time at The Open Book

WHO: Cloud Strife, Genesis Rhapsodus (plurk if you want to tag in?)
WHERE: The Open Book
WHEN: Wednesday, April 4, 2pm
WHAT: Cloud being not okay about things
WARNINGS: None yet, will update if necessary

Cloud had arrived at work at the auto repair shop a couple hours earlier than usual today. The tracking information on his gaming books confirmed that they had been sent out for delivery early that morning. By the time Cloud had finished washing off today's layers of grime and motor oil, the package should already be there and waiting for him at The Open Book.

Resolutely ignoring the illusory envelopes littering the streets, Cloud pulled open the door to the bookstore to the sound of a soft chime. Everything seemed warmer, here, softer maybe, than in the chaotic world outside. The smell of old books and fresh tea eased a little of the tension in his shoulders that he didn't realize he was carrying there. He was about to go searching for Genesis when someone on the street interrupted him, handing him a cardboard box addressed to the store. Cloud was about to protest that he couldn't sign for it or anything, but the volunteer letter-carrier had already turned to leave. She had quite a bit more in her pack and was happy to get rid of the heaviest piece of mail she had.

Cloud shrugged, studying the box as he finished making his way inside. He recognized the book wholesaler's name, this was where Genesis had ordered Cloud's gaming books. Maybe they would be in this box?

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Genesis had heard the chime, he was a room behind the counter where he did the repair work for some of the books at came in. He was just finishing up rebinding, tightening the cord and letting it sit as he made his way out of the room. A pair of red-framed reading glasses were on his nose, lower as he didn't need them for anything other than up close. He pulled them off completely when he saw Cloud, folding them closed and putting them in the shirt pocket of his red vest. The sleeves of his button down shirt were rolled up to his elbows and the first couple buttons of the white shirt undone as it tended to get a little stuffy in that room.

He walked over and held his hands out for the box. "Let me check that in. Your books are in inside, but there are others I've ordered."

He should have known Cloud would be here today, the boy was incredibly antsy for the tabletop RPG books he ordered. What were they called again? He pulled out a box cutter as he thought. Ah, yes, Bunkers and Badasses. Some off-shoot of Dungeons and Dragons.

"How was your day?"

"Pretty boring, I guess."

Except for all the insane weird things that Cloud was definitely not actually seeing. If he ignored them then they would go away. Please let them go away.

He tried to hand the box over, but then it suddenly sprouted dragon wings and teeth and a tail, and started struggling vigorously. Cloud immediately dropped the thing (or let it go? Maybe it was flying now? That was worse) and scrambled behind the counter, wedging himself into a corner in a little ball with his hands clutching at his head.

No no no no no! Not real, not real!

He was rather thankful that he hadn't pushed the blade out of the box cutter yet because when the package suddenly sprouted dragon wings, teeth, and a tail, he prompted dropped it as he backed up from the package creature. It startled him pretty badly, but Cloud's sudden scrambling behind the counter had him distracted enough to ignore the flying box in favor of peeking over the counter.

"Cloud, I'm going to need your assistance," He said, feeling rather... calm? Should he be calm? His heart was racing a bit but the creature only flew about in a bit of a fit but so far was not really knocking anything over. Well, now it crash landed into one of his chairs and was flapping uselessly on its back now. He sighed. His books were in there! His hands balled into fists and his closed his eyes, taking another deep breath to calm himself. He was warned about this. Not just from the other residences on the app but by Andrew himself.

He was warned about this and was trying to prepare himself but how could you prepare for what was virtually unknown? That being said, it was hard to believe that he was totally unprepared given the warnings.

First things first, he needed to make sure the creature was under control for now. He took the fallen chair and rested it on one wing, the creature snarling at him but now it was trapped for now. The box itself probably still weighed the same, but its wings didn't seem too strong. For good measure, Genesis took a few of the textbooks a couple students left behind and also placed it on the chair. Next, Genesis made his way around the counter, kneeling down with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, unsure how exactly to help the young man.

"Cloud? Cloud, I'm really going to need your help, mate," He said once more. "Just one step at a time, alright?"

Edited (I fail at grammar) 2018-04-04 04:37 (UTC)

Cloud shook his head emphatically, hands still clamped against it, curling up into a tighter fetal position. His eyes were closed, he had his hands over his ears, and his knees were practically tucked under his chin now. He had to escape this nightmare, get a grip, find reality again before it was lost to him forever.

That didn't really just happen. What did happen, as any witness would testify, was that Cloud freaked out for no reason, suddenly threw a perfectly normal box to the ground, and cowered in a corner. That's what really happened. As awful as that was, it was at least better than the alternative. Cloud might be able to recover from a nervous breakdown. There was no possible going back from reality actually warping and coming apart at the seams.

Cloud couldn't look, because it might be still there.

Pain started skewering through his brain, a tension headache that was quickly getting out of control.

Genesis reached out and took hold of Cloud's arms. He didn't tug right away, suddenly recognizing this for something he used to do when his anxiety problems were a lot more severe (and asthma inducing, worse if he didn't have his inhaler around). It was mostly to get Cloud to realize he was there.

"Cloud. Cloud, I need you to listen to me, okay?" He said, hands sliding up to the hands over Cloud's ears to at least peel partly away so his words could be heard. They needed to be heard. "There is, indeed, a box with wings in the bookstore. It's real and it's currently trapped under a chair. So, I need you to stand up for me. You need to let go of your head and stand up. Can you do that for me, Cloud?"

It's real. Currently under a chair. Cloud needed to listen. It's an indeed-box, with wings. With Wings. And Genesis needed him. To let go of his head. And to stand up. Because it was actually real.

Genesis needed him.

Cloud's eyes opened and he looked up, hand dropping away from his head and no longer resisting Genesis' pull against his wrists. "It is?"

He leaned forward and pushed himself up to his feet with just the strength in his legs so he didn't have to tug free of Genesis' hands. Cloud had no intention of believing his own senses, but Cloud did believe Genesis. It didn't look like he was trying to make a joke.

Then the cardboard floundering sound finally registered. Cloud's head whipped around to stare at it like it was an aggressive alien invader. Which it technically was.

Then Cloud threw his arms out protectively, trying to get between the thing and the thin bookstore owner.

"Yes, it is," Genesis said, his voice still firm but also gentle. It's what Andrew has done for him countless times. He was glad Cloud was able to pull out of his own panic attack a bit easier than he thought and stood up with him. He didn't let go out Cloud's arms right away, although he didn't need to.

Cloud was suddenly in front of him, pulling out his Genesis' not really strong grip anyway and standing protectively in front of him as the box floundered about uselessly with its wing trapped under the chair. Although it didn't look like it would be trapped too much longer, its wriggling rather effective.

"Cloud?" He called out softly. "Why don't we head upstairs, it can wear itself out in here until this passes, you and I can talk over tea."

If they left now, they could get to the door that lead to the stairwell before the box freed itself.

Wear itself out? It was a box, not a living thing. It didn't seem possible that whatever was powering it could lose energy.

Besides, it was nothing but a cardboard box. What was it going to do, give Cloud paper cuts? Stub his toe? Cloud could probably tear it apart with his bare hands, but why would he attempt that if they already had the perfect weapon for the job?

Cloud's eyes narrowed at his target. "Where's your box cutter?"

Cloud, don't start with the semantics on whether it was living or not. Not that Genesis thought too hard on it anyway as he was a little distracted by the sudden spitfire before him. Hadn't he just been cowering in the corner?

Genesis was actually very impressed and not at all perturbed at the sudden switching of the roles, Cloud being suddenly protective. He was used to Andrew doing much the same. He did catch himself stuttering a bit, before simply pointing with his casted arm to the spot where he'd dropped it. "Uh... over there, somewhere."

Yes, Cloud had just been cowering in the corner. Over the very fabric of reality tearing apart, starting with his own brain. This was just a stupid box.

And it dawned on him, just now, that on top of everything else, the stupid box happened to be holding hundreds of dollars' worth of Cloud's gaming books hostage.

The floor in front of the counter, then? Good. Cloud could pick it up on the way over. He lunged sideways out into the open, bending his knees and leading with his boots, dropping a hand to the floor to catch himself when he started losing his balance. There it was, close to the counter too. Managing to push himself upright enough to stumble back up onto his feet, he dashed in the direction of the flapping cardboard dragon, scooping up the box cutter on the way.

Yeah, the thing almost had its wing free and was tugging away from the chair. It might have been able to take flight again, even with the stack of books inside it, but not with Cloud stomping on its back and resting his full weight on it. Pinned to the ground, the thing turned its head and chomped at Cloud's heavy boot. Good, that meant it would have trouble going for Cloud's wrist when he grabbed a wing and brutally severed it, tossing the limp cardboard flap aside. It did manage to sink its teeth in while Cloud sliced off the other wing, but that just made it easier for Cloud to grab its neck and saw off its head.

The entire thing stopped moving, then, but Cloud didn't take his foot off it until he'd cut all four sides open. Just in case.

He stood up, took a step back, and wiped a sleeve over his forehead absently while continuing to keep his eyes, and his weapon, on the scattered pieces of its paper corpse.

"Stay down."

Genesis had to admit, Cloud made a very impressive knight. Even with the box cutter. And, perhaps when looking back on this in a few hours, he will also advise to Cloud how hilarious he was as well. Jumping over the counter like that, even with the fumble, only to grab the box cutter and head straight for the cardboard dragon box.

The bookstore owner then sort of reeled back a little when the blade sliced off a wing, and then another wing, followed by its head. His hands were up by his chest in light fists as he clearly looked startled once more. He was exactly expecting this kind of brutality, lack of blood and guts notwithstanding.

"U-Uh..."

Well, not many could say they made Genesis O'Reilly outright speechless.

Cloud had a rough start, there, but in the end he was satisfied with the victory. After carefully retracting the blade, he flipped the box cutter up into the air so it spun around a few times before he caught it with a final flourish.

... Well, almost caught it.

After Cloud frantically juggled the thing in the air a little, it tumbled to the floor with a loud clatter.

For a moment, all Cloud could do was stare at it, slump his shoulders a little, and think about how utterly ridiculous he must have looked just now. But then he noticed the little blood droplets on the floor. Glancing at his hands, he saw a few tiny oozing rivulets slowly running down his left hand. Paper cuts. The ridiculous factor had just gone up even higher.

Slumping his shoulders a little more, Cloud shook his head. "Uh, yeah. I'll just clean this up, now."

It was the droplets of blood that finally had Genesis moving from his spot. He sighed as the tension practically ceased in the room with the clattering of the box cutter and he walked around the counter to take Cloud's wrist with his bad arm (his grip wasn't very strong but whatever) and tugged him toward the door in the back.

"Don't worry about that, come on."

He, however, make a brief stop at the front door to turn the sign to Closed and lock the door.

"We're going to my house."

Genesis didn't need a strong grip when Cloud was going along with whatever he was doing as meekly as he was. Genesis was so exasperated with the mess this time that he didn't trust Cloud to clean it up. Maybe he'd used up all the guy's patience with the bookcase fiasco.

"Sorry about that." Now Cloud was dropping speckles of blood all over the floor. He absently rubbed his free hand over the back of his hair, smearing dark red streaks over his blond spikes.

"It's fine," Genesis replied, stopping for a moment to take the blooded hand and raise it up to Cloud's chest. "Keep it raised."

He was going to have to clean up later, but it was fine. It only got on the wood floor, rather than any books or rugs.

Opening the door, he led Cloud up the stairs. Just one flight, and there was another door to which Genesis pulled out the keys for and unlocked the door. Pocketing the keys once more, he led Cloud inside his home. It was the living room first that they were in. It was large, like the bookstore, and filled with several bookcases almost filled to the brim with books. Several piles were already on the floor, with a large, cozy couch off to the side and two overstuffed chairs sitting across, there was a coffee table in between with a couple books scattered as well. To the left was the kitchen, separated by the long bar between the two rooms and a few stools on the living room side.

He motioned to Cloud sit there as he let go. "I'll get the first aid kit, stay by the kitchen." But before he went off to get the kit, he grabbed a couple paper towels and folded them, pressing them into the cuts to prevent anymore dripping. "Remember, keep it raised and press."

What does a person with a hundred thousand books, packed in from floor to ceiling, on the first story of their home keep on the second story? Looks like the answer was "tens of thousands more books, packed in from floor to ceiling."

Maybe Genesis' bed was made of crates full of books, too.

"Okay." Cloud was going to protest that they were just paper cuts and he'd be fine, but not after having flubbed the finishing move like that. If left to his own devices, Cloud wouldn't even bother bandaging them. He'd clean up the blood, wash his hands off, and move on with life. They had almost stopped bleeding already.

Maybe that was because he was keeping it raised, and pressing.

Close. There's a drawer that opens up under his bed with more books. Genesis has a problem with giving away books, okay? Only not really as he will shamelessly add his own books to the inventory if he's on a cleaning spree.

Genesis knew the cuts weren't really that bad, but they still needed to be cleaned up a bit. Especially because some were dripping blood. He was back with the blue metal box with a red cross on them and set it on the kitchen counter. Once Cloud had his arm on the counter, he pulled away the paper towel to see about the bleeding which, thankfully, was slowing or stopping all together. Good!

He still took out some of the rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball to begin cleaning.

"So," He started. "Not to question your fighting skills with a box cutter, but do you do that often? Fight weird creatures or the like?"

There might be a small grin forming as he dabbed the cuts.

Well, at least none of the cuts were from the box cutter itself? Cardboard teeth, though. But dragon teeth. Maybe that helped a little?

Cloud smiled and turned away so Genesis wouldn't see him trying not to laugh, even though it was obvious in the sound of his voice.

"Well, someone did bring a franken-car into the shop last fall. Trying to fix a Japanese motor with German cylinders and American spark plugs might qualify?"

He huffed a laugh through his nose, turning Cloud's arm a bit to see if any other cut was a mere scrape or something deeper. "I know nothing of cars, really. But I don't think I'd put parts of different brands like that inside my own car. I have a Honda, just give me Honda parts. Or aftermarket, since I think it's getting too old now."

Okay, so maybe not nothing, he knew a little. He's gotten into fender benders, so it was largely from that or his father.

They were all a little deeper than scrapes, but nothing that would require professional attention. "Well, don't. That's pretty much the moral of that story."

Cloud watched as Genesis put more attention into paper cuts than Cloud had bothered with when he lost an entire fingernail two years ago. It wasn't a big deal, he knew it would grow back. How often does Cloud fight weird creatures?

"I've never killed anything bigger than a mosquito." His face took on a half-smile. "Well, to be fair, the mosquitoes are huge in Alberta..."

Had Genesis known about that, he probably would have smacked Cloud. Just because it would grow back doesn't mean you just not care about losing a fingernail! Also, ow.

"Probably not as big as the ones in Japan or Australia," Genesis replied, placing a bit of gauze on the mass of cuts. One good thing about having it all be in one area was it made it easier to clean and bandage. He may not actually need the gauze, but honestly, just keeping it on for the day and then cleaning it at night would be best. Cloud could do what he wanted after that. Not that Genesis could stop him anyway. "But we used this bug killer spray in the house, so we were able to avoid being eaten alive during the horrid summers."

He finished taping it all up and gave Cloud's arm a pat. "Do me a favor and just keep that on until tonight. After that, clean it with soap and water. It'll heal faster that way."

Hey, Cloud was careful with it in the meantime! He wore a heavier glove on that hand when tinkering with stuff for a couple months.

The pat on Cloud's arm brought his attention back to the here-and-now. He looked up at Genesis, shoving aside the observation that his eyes were so kind and so gorgeously quietly gray at the same time. Eyes like the sea after a storm (where had he heard that one?).

"Huh? Yeah. Okay..." How could the mild-mannered bookstore owner take all this in stride? Cloud pressed his lips together, summoning up the courage to bring it up.

"How could that be real?"

Edited 2018-04-06 02:29 (UTC)

He hummed a little at the question, shutting the lid of the first aid kit and pushing it aside for now as he leaned his elbow on the counter top to think of his answer.

"Honestly?" He started. "I'm expecting to wake up tomorrow and realize this was just a crazy dream. I'll call you tomorrow to let you know the books arrived late, so sorry about that, and oh did we really fight a cardboard dragon? I dreamt you murdered it with my box cutter and then we'll have a laugh and you get your books finally."

A pause and then a sigh. "I've a feeling that won't be the case and I'm not sure what to do about it." So, he was completely blank at the moment.

Cloud studied the bandages. It looked like he had been mauled by an actual dragon instead of a piece of origami. Wasn't all that gauze going overboard?

"You've got a feeling that it won't just be a dream? But why? It can't be real, most people can't even see it."

It's was one large strip of gauze Cloud, not a cast. Hush.

"No, but we are apparently not 'most people' any longer," He said softly, his nail picking at a frayed edge of the red strip covering his cast, hilariously decorated by friends and family with a sharpie. "If what they say is true, we never were."

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