[ OPEN ] "would you calm down a little bit"

[blitzcheer]

Who: Tidus and You!
Where: All over! Armoury, standard coach, training gym, sports gym, and games car
When: Merriment 16 - 20
What: Supplies moving, setting up games and exercise equipment, watching that sports game Tidus is really into and also catching a case of home lifesickness!!
Warnings: Last prompt has connections to death/disappearing, but nothing to do with suicide or negative thoughts.

[ DAY 16 ; armoury car ]

"Heyyyy. Uh, so it looks like the train added the lockers I was hoping for. Since Light left, and Tobes's been gone for a while...," Tidus adds with a mutter, already not sounding that pleased, "--I'm puttin' everything from the supplies into them, 'kay? The healing, shields and weapons. There's a tablet with a list of what everything does and how to use 'em. It's voice-automated too.

So...yeah. That's it. See ya."

It's far from confident, the usual casual-sounding that's Tidus been heard over the ICP, but it's on par to whenever he talks about supplies. Lightning's leave already has his mood down, which is an evident sight to anyone who comes to the armoury, where he made the call (and then switched off, not interested in holding a conversation over the thing). There's nothing exciting going on: just suitcases on the ground with their lids open, the array of healing and weaponry waiting revealed inside that's to be stuffed away.

Maybe you come because of the announcement; maybe you're just passing by. You might hear a "shit!" hissed when one of the finger-sized bottles go rolling towards the other side of the carriage from where Tidus is. His movements are sluggish, and he wears an unguarded, doleful look, uncharacteristically quiet. Unless he notices anyone lingering, or just catches someone's eye -- then he'll pull on a smile, and give a simple "Hey."

Or, he's just taking a second to look at locker and its supplies once it's filled, his back to another locker, sitting on the floor. And you might hear him say-

"Hope you kick that god's ass, Light."

[ DAY 17 ; training gym - standard coach ]

( a: treadmills cw cw inigo don't look )

But he's being better by the next day, or seems to be. In the early morning he's in the training gym, pulling odd square containers out by a wall, with what appear to be bars curled around the sides. To anyone whose attention he gets, he offers cheerily: "Hey, how about a go on one of these?"

It takes some pressing in the right places, and then, the 'box' stars to unfold, turning rectangular while the bars raise - and it turns into what's essentially a treadmill.

"Ever seen one of these?"

Or, he could already be running on one, while the second sits there, a spare waiting to be used. Hop on! Tidus won't stop you.

( b: standard coach - blitzball )

There's a few close CR he might push to join him, but if you're friendly with Tidus and you happen to passing through, he might usher a hand, stop you from where you were going.

"Hey, hey! Wanna see me in a blitzball match?"

He's at a table, a device rolled out and a picture taking up the entire 'screen' and an energy drink open. There's footage similar to this to behold (note: without city destruction), with Tidus perhaps present an outfit like this, and his hair blond. Or, you might even get a chance to see him a year younger, in an outfit the same the rest of his team -- and with his hair a brown.

"Oh man!" He says through a laugh. "I can't believe it got video of me like this! This was when I was starting off!"

[ DAY 18 ; sports gym/games car ]

( attempt a: whomp whomp )

Tidus has got a plan. He's had a plan for a while, thanks to Roland, but now is the time to achieve it. It starts somewhere around morning to noon, after breakfast. There's notices slapped on the outside of the sports gym doors, written in fat felt.

'USING THE SPACE 2 MAKE A POOL'

'SWIMMING POOL INSIDE'
One on one side, one on the other. You might get to read them, before the troubles, or after. What are the troubles? That would happen to be when a sound like the equivalent of a bomb going off sounds from inside the gym, and before the doors can be opened from outside, they slam open from within - and water floods out into the hallway, possibly knocking anyone out there off their feet.

The good of the situation: the water is only knee-high deep on an adult. The bad of the situation: ...the car is flooded, welcoming any unsuspecting person who welcomes through the sports car (and thank goodness someone moved the transgate back out). Tidus can be found inside the car - that's impressive flooded from one end to another, in swimming shorts and coughing up water, while a blue pal is floating on the water the opposite end, wiggling and squeaking 'hiiigle!! piggle!!' desperately. ( But, they're only visible to those with a good heart/of good intentions. )

A plan may have not gone off right here.

( attempt a: dingdingdingding! )

"I've got a pool going in the gym for an hour or two! Come join me if you want!"

But by some miracle, they finally get it right. This pool doesn't take up the full length of the gym but one half of one side, away from the walls and about half the size going up from the ceiling. Tidus might be seen inside the water, or just enjoying floating above it; his blue pal nowhere but to seen, but for those who sense energy, may be able to discern there being entities with the water, that is otherwise nothing more than fresh, natural water.

Grab some shorts from the spa car, come and gawk, complain about the room being used up or whatever you like. Tidus dives into the water and reaches out of the 'wall' of the water, to a large trunk homing pieces of coral, breaking it off and bringing it into the bizarre pool - where it shatters into pieces, and the water wobbles...in delight??

[ DAY 19 ; sports gym - standard coach ]

( a: dance dance dance!! or shoot shoot shoot!! )

Oh no, he's in the sports gym again.

But don't worry, there's no water. This time, there's a holographic figure being projected from a round disk on the floor. About as defined as a wii fit trainer, they stand idle as Tidus - dressed appropriately - flicks through a screen of settings.

"Wanna give it a go with me?" Tidus offers, always happy for company. The dance difficulties he goes for are simple to follow, and there's the option of finding him with Inigo for company, if you want to up the potential for dumery. Two guys just doing repetitive dance moves, and if Tidus happens to catch you staring (though, he really needs to keep his eyes on the coach!), he'll grin and challenge, "Think you can keep up!?", in all his usual daring nature.

( Warning: if Inigo notices a girl/woman looking at him them, the possibility of him shrieking is 90%. )

But when isn't Tidus like that? Always up to something, and willing to include another. There's a new addition in the games carriage that Tidus has been having goes on, aiming to raise his highscore. Look at this wonderful gameplay.

( attempt b: 3am thoughts )

But there's more than only his usual buzzing energy going on with Tidus. He can be found in the standard coach on some of the later nights; another energy drink opened, indulging in a fizziness a guy like him shouldn't be so late. The tablet device sits on a simple stand, while his head rests in his folded arms, watching the blitzball footage.

To some, he just looks focused on whatever he's watching - intensely so. But if he happens to notice anyone come in (a 50/50 chance), he pauses the video, or just brings the device down -- like a guy trying to hide his shame, head turned towards the window, his face a warm pink. He might look back with a not-trying-to-appear-awkward "Hey" if he recognises the person - but otherwise, just, you know. Acting like he didn't do that!

Nothing weird about him, bro.

[ DAY 20 ; sports gym (late) ]

( note: prompt has some allusions to death, may involve talk related to it; nothing negative/suicidal! )

It's late again, and Tidus has something he wants to find out.

Why? There's a few reasons in his head. A few thoughts have been in his head, leading him into the sports gym, out of the way. He could go somewhere more private like the quiet car, but Tidus likes the sports car, spends most of his time in it. He likes the space and silence, as empty as it is right now.

He has a device on him, and he's counting down the time; his SCA on the floor next to him, in easy reach.

Counting how long it takes for his skin and the rest of him to start to discolour, shimmering into greens and blues; until it becomes see-through, until it gets to a point that it scares him, and he can't countdown any more and needs to grab his SCA again, all he can grab at that point.

But as late a time as Tidus picks to do his experiment, maybe he ends up not the only one there, caught with his eyes on the tablet device, ears not picking up on the doors farther away from him when they open.

Unless the person is particularly loud - then he'll reach for his SCA, and scramble to get it on quickly, the colours across his body fading as a more solid form returns.

[ OTHER DETAILS ]

[ Want to do any of the above but on different days? Treadmills, dance exercise, and gaming are available on any of them! Inigo can also be a 3rd person for dancing. Feel free to message me for any questions/plotting!! ]

Comments

[blitzcheer]

Yes, Tidus has removed his hands from Inigo's cheeks; asking with a grinning interest: "Was the first Della?"

It was totally Della, right? Partner in crime.

But oh, right, Inigo is trying to get back at him here. Nevermind that Tidus can't stop smiling, tickled to the bone at these turn of events. His hands might be trying to come back to his face again, at his hair.

"Yeahh, but let's think about you. Little baby Inigo with big, teary eyes looking up at everyone, all cute? I bet you wore one of those dresses, right? That girls wear to sleep? I saw them in the movies, guys wear them too!" oh oh oh "Did you have a favourite stuffed toy?"

Cutie Inigo~ Baby Inigo~

[flatteries]

There's no answer to Tidus's earlier question.

But let's be real - the total lack of an answer is an answer in and of itself, right? Especially to a question like that. Yes, of course it was Della. Who else goes around pinching people's cheeks but the mommiest bird on this entire train?

When Inigo shakes his head though, it's to pipe up and say: "W-Why are you so interested in me when I was a baby?!"

B-Bro!

Usually this might be slightly flustering, but it feels even more awkward considering his crush on the other. Thinking of him as some cute baby is the last thing Inigo wants Tidus to do! H-He wants to be cool, manly crush material, not a chubby baby!

"You were a baby too! We were all babies!"

[blitzcheer]

It takes a moment for it to ding in his head. A moment where he's having fun watching Inigo get so flustered, and where else can he take this? Shrugging in the way of just canting his head, and that's when it happens-

Tidus gets a thought.

He gets an idea.

"Wellll..." He starts to rub the back of his head, looking off to the side away from Inigo, tone sheepish. "Actually... I spent most of my time as a baby in a sea-pod. We're not really born until we're about- five."

Five, yes. Got to say five. He brings his hands close together, making a rolling motion around each other.

"That's how it worked in my city! I used to think it was so normal, 'til I saw babies in Spira!"

[flatteries]

...

A lot of people might question this story, especially given Tidus's track record of teasing Inigo.

But Inigo, on the other hand, doesn't have much to question here. He tends to give Tidus the benefit of the doubt after all, thanks to their friendship, and then there is the fact that one of their close friends was born from a fruit.. so is the idea of babies being in some sort of pod for years really that weird?

.. okay, yeah. The idea is kind of weird. But it's not like Inigo wants to insult Tidus! So even though he looks completely baffled by this information, he's trying really hard to just accept it as-is.

"What.. did you do inside that pod..?"

[blitzcheer]

Tidus sputters, as if he can't believe Inigo's question (as if he wants to laugh, but he's got to keep it back!), throwing the guy an incredulous look that's amused.

"What else would you be doing in there? You're growing!" He spreads out his hands like, duh! Then they start making a gathering motion. "You're aging up to the age of five, taking in the knowledge of how to be a normal person. You learn the alphabet, language, maths, how to walk and taaalk... it's the easiest way to do all that!"

Tidus looks to Inigo, face confident with brows up and mouth smiling, nodding to him. It makes sense, doesn't it?!

[flatteries]

"You can learn all of that.. in a pod..?"

The only reason this idea doesn't sound totally weird to him is the fact that Spira seems to just have some really, really weird technology from what Inigo has seen. He guesses that if they could invent something that weird, it'd be there.

"But wouldn't you get lonely as a little kid in there, all by yourself? For years?"

[blitzcheer]

"Wellll, I'm not born yet!" Does Tidus start dragging out his words more, the more he lies and/or tries to convince someone of something? Experts have yet to find out. "So I don't need to be lonely. But I know there's a bunch of stuff I'll get to see soon, so it's exciting!"

A-ha! Pointing at Inigo.

"It's like a dream! I'm a dream baby!"

[flatteries]

...

Dream babies.

Fruit babies.

Inigo shakes his head. If he thinks about this too hard, it feels like he might just go crazy! So rather than contemplating this weird seapod baby thing too hard, he just says--

"But that still means there's got to be picture of you out there from when you were six!" AHA! LOOPHOLE FOUND. "Six year old kids are still cute too, you know! A fresh little Tidus seapod toddler!"

[blitzcheer]

Tidus nudges at Inigo with his elbow. "So that means we're getting pictures of you too?"

Is Inigo willing to take it this far? The exchange of his baby (ahem, not-baby) photos for Inigo's baby...paintings, which may or may not cost 150 points because Ye Olden Times loved their giant portraits of the royals.

And nevermind that Tidus already has a picture of a younger him around. Just, never viewed by Inigo...!

[flatteries]

"Are you sure you want it that badly?"

This question - that seems to come with a bit of resignation, judging by Inigo's tone - at least isn't because he's still protesting this over it being embarrassing. He at least figures Tidus won't actually make those pictures public.

.. probably.

"It's going to be really expensive. We could buy something much better with that many points!" Like that DDR arcade machine.

He is not giving up on that one.

[blitzcheer]

"Hmmmm." He's got to drag this out, just like he's got to drag out thoughtfully humming. "It would be interesting to see what you looked like as a kid after talking about it this much."

So much time dedicated to Inigo's baby paintings! Time that should have probably been spent on other things.

"What would you buy instead?"

...but maybe he can get Inigo to treat himself, this way.

[flatteries]

Inigo hums too, but definitely shorter than Tidus just did. As if this is something he doesn't really has to think about, and is more pretending to do so for appearance's sake.

"That dancing arcade machine would be a lot of fun.."

Even with how much trouble Inigo has with buying stuff for himself. M-Maybe it's okay since it means other people could play on it too..?

Or maybe he immediately has to say something else that's less selfish to make up for it, like: "Maybe I could see if there's something big that'd be good for those kids who are so interested in art.. you know, while the train still hasn't added an art car for them." And since Tidus seemed so concerned about it for their sakes.

[blitzcheer]

Pretend better, like Tidus does. Long, exaggerated hums only!

"Oh yeah, that one from the planet." They talked about it before, Tidus remembers, in the mess of everything else they got up to. Try and ask a simple question, still get up to multiple buffoonery with your best pal.

But he'll consider Inigo's next idea, even if... "Is there anything you know? Arty?" Big and...arty?! "We are putting together an idea to do a whole month of art, so you can help with supplies and paper," he offers, "but- you know, that dance arcade sounds like fun, too. The kids would love it!"

Romeo for sure. And Tidus would get Madoka trying it! She could have a game with her and Ple Two!

[flatteries]

"We?"

Inigo doesn't really sound surprised. No, this isn't something born out of shock - instead it's born out of amusement and fondness, a smile on his face as he looks at Tidus.

It's just cute, how much he's involving himself with the kids, trying to champion their cause.

"Sure, sure, I'll at least get that dance machine for sure. And then I will have to sit next to it and cry, as I watch my best friend being taken from me by a bunch of little kids." He's kidding, just kidding! Inigo sounds way too amused as he says it for it to be anything other than a joke. There's not even any dramatic waterworks.

[blitzcheer]

"Yeah!" Tidus huffs proudly. Yes, he said we, what of it? A chin raised to show he doesn't care what anyone thinks, despite Tidus knowing Inigo isn't judging him. But try and tease this, Inigo!!

Which yes, he is getting teased, 'cause of course he is. But he doesn't lose his smirk, tipping his head aside in a dismissive way.

"What can I say? Someone's gotta look out for them! They're gonna be part of my future blitzball team, you know! We're going to design the pool car together and show it to the train."

That's how close they are, Inigo. This is what you have to fight against.

[flatteries]

Please, dude! He's saying that hanging out with the kids and trying to help them is a good thing!

Not that Tidus's response is very surprising. After all, things often go like this with the two of them, right? It always inevitably tips into teasing somewhere down the line - even if it sometimes moves into the ridiculous, like the idea of Tidus having a blitzball team with a group of people who are two heads shorter than him.

"You're inviting them on your team, but not me?" Wow, bro! Leaving him out of all of this!

Though it's hard to seem offended when Inigo is still grinning so widely, huh.

"I'm hurt! What did I ever do to you!" Bro!!