testing testing

[abrightfuture]

[ For whatever reason today, you're out and about. It's nice enough, an alright time to just be and have a moment alone with your thoughts. ]

Hey!

[ Until a heavily accented voice presumably calls at you. ]

You there! Yeah, you!

[ It's a...cat? That's a cat. A cat standing on its hind legs with a little crown and cape is smiling up at you, waving you towards it. ]

Interest you in gettin' your fortune told? A bright future! A happy future!

Comments

[backwatertrooper]

Ugh. [Grimacing and hunching up a little further, Cloud frowns at the ground, watching the stuffed automaton out of the corner of his vision. And then looks up, staring. Even going so far as to tilts his helmet back a little, even if that's completely unnecessary since the extra lenses are meant to be where they are and add visual acuity.]

... What? [This is ridiculous. Someone's probably laughing at him right now, and for a moment Cloud considers just... turning away. Frown deepening, he looks around the square, but... there's still no one in view that seems to be particularly questionable. Of course, if this thing is controlled they might not need to be in view.] ... What does it matter, keeping your name a secret?

[And how the hell he's supposed to be able to call for this thing, he doesn't get. This is stupid, and he really should just do his job, but he's... curious. Despite the distinct feeling that surely someone's laughing at him. That's usually how these things go, after all.]

[abrightfuture]

[ Arms fold and its boots start tapping again, this time more in a 'tsk tsk' fashion than to any beat. ] Shinra take all your sense o' magic and wonder or what?

If I'm gonna trust you with it, I need you trustin' me enough to do that much. But no, guess it's too much, doin' a teeny tiny favor for a lil' one kind enough to give ya a free peek into your excitin' future.

[ Its ears flatten as its head lowers, completing the 'woe is me' look. ] Guess I'll jus' have to be content with visions, eh? No stories o' the outside from someone who been there, only dank an' dreary Midgar...

[backwatertrooper]

[Another beat of incredulous staring. Biting his lip and looking away, Cloud snorts, letting the helmet thump back where it's supposed to be. Wavers somewhere between suspicious annoyance and actual laughter for a little longer, then turns back, head cocked.]

Fine, okay. [This might be stupid, but he's... starting to hope that, if nothing else, someone's at least not laughing at him. This thing is kinda cute.] I promise I won't tell anyone your name.

[Why it matters, he's still not sure, but... fine, he'll play along. He's already done that enough now, so why not a little more?]

... Maybe you can go yourself, sometime, too.

[Or rather, whoever owns this thing taking it, if they travel. And if they own a robot that seems to have some rudimentary AI, he doesn't see why they wouldn't.]

[abrightfuture]

[ Just like that, it bounces back up as if it was a child promised the entire candy store. Is this part of the act, or does it really mean that much...? ] You mean it? Oh, you're a downright peach, you are!

C'mere, c'mere! [ Big gloved hands wave Cloud closer, and whether or not he actually complies and leans down he'll be getting another conspiratorial stage whisper. ]

Goin' anywhere m'self is a liiiil' difficult, but let's be leavin' that for now. M'name's Cait Sith. Y'made a friend today, my boy.

[backwatertrooper]

[He smiles a little against his own better judgement at the reaction, because some part of him is still sure this is an act and he's being stupid. It's... kinda cute anyway. And he does lean down, a little anyway.]

Okay, Cait. [Shaking his head and straightening up again, Cloud peers down at it.] I'm Cloud. And um, thanks for the fortune..?

[He still feels ridiculous, but so far he hasn't actually (no matter what it feels like must be going on behind the scenes) been made fun of...]

[abrightfuture]

Hey, deliver on those stories and I'll give y'even more for free! Maybe compatibility for who you'll be seein' the world with, eh Cloud?

[ All of the sudden, the cat starts, as if a mild shock was just sent through him. He takes a few looks around at the square, thankfully still as underpopulated as before, and he's already turned to leave when he gives a wave. ]

Oh, good timin'. If we're all tidied up here, then, I'll be leavin' you to your fate. Be good!

[ Faster than one might expect a cat with hands and boots to move, he's off. ]