[open] just flippin'

[blitzcheer]

Who: Tidus & You! (and some closed starters)
What: Messing around, being a doofus. Being bored in the coach.
Where: The gyms, coach, w/e.
When: Throughout Fiddlesticks
Warnings: balls (none)

training gym

Oh, Tidus is here for climbing on things like a monkey, which he does on absolutely everything: pulling out the balancing beams, the giant cubes, all positioned to be accessible from one to another. He's dressed as appropriately as he can get in a polo shirt and pants, a water bottle and towel left by the wall for when he needs them.

But just walking along everything isn't enough, oh no--that is, not with his feet.

He balances by his hands on the beams, 'walking' with his legs held up above. When one beam meets another, he might consider righting himself, flexing at his elbows in preparation for a jump of irregular height; landing on the next one with a wobble now and then and arms coming out to help catch his balance. Usually, a fun laugh to go with it.

Other times, he puts two together to test his backflips on the narrow structure. Sometimes succeeding, and other times--

"Wh-whoa!"

--his foot catching on the edge, causing him to tumble off, knocking into one of the cubes set aside that he hadn't decided what to do with.

Catch him either with some pride, or in his embarrassment. Or even hanging from the climbing apparatus, where if he sees anyone come in with flipped facing out, he'll give a "Hi!", before jumping to catch hold onto the bar.

training gym: magic training

But other than stretching one's limbs, Tidus has plenty of good reasons to keep up his training. But for the times he doesn't have a partner, he has certain other skills he's trying to get better at.

With either his blade in one hand or put away, his left hand is free, balled into a fist and glowing, causing small swirls of lights that shimmer with the same colours of an aurora borealis. They come, then cut short--sometimes a brief golden flicker surrounding Tidus before cutting short, or from his hand, a small burst of energy that gets even Tidus to snap his hand back and wave it when it catches him, a small swear escaping under his breath.

The same glowing effect may also be attempted on his blade, a fist still held first to help concentration before it shimmers. Dusting the rust off a few spells, though doing this without any real stimulation does get him to sigh to himself, say to no one in particular:

"Sure wish we had some fiends to fight."

Man, never thought he'd be wishing for that.

gymnasium: BALLS

But the gymnasium doesn't get forgotten by Tidus just because there's a massively awesome new car to love.

After all, you can't take the ball games out of the sports guy. He's taken to putting the basketball hoops in use with a football/soccer ball (as you do), or whatever ball he gets his hands on first. It works though, seeing as he's only using it to throw into the hoop, testing his throw at different distances: in front of the goal, but also moving slightly farther and farther back when he wants to increase the challenge.

The more basketball-minded people can come and correct him if they so please. ...but it may be beyond this guywho at other times, when rather innocuously balancing a ball from the end of his foot, kicking it up and sometimes swapping feet...

Will kick it either close up or at a distance, with the sole intention of shooting a goal by the use of his feet.

Sometimes, he gets it--most times, he doesn't. A few of the times, the ball smacks the wall and goes flying--hopefully, not towards you!

standard coach

But he can't be training all the time. Now and then, he needs to just flop, which usually means disappearing into the standard coach and taking up one of the tables. Watching the kaleidoscope of colours out of the window with his head resting against a fist, until the fragmented hues get too hypnotic, and he has to break himself out of it with a shake, blinking away the hues clinging to his eyes.

Other times, he pretends to read, though the glazed half-lidded expression usually gives him away. A game of solitaire keeps his attention better, but otherwise most of the time, he's got his head propped on folded arms, looking close to drifting asleep. Now and then, holding the necklace he usually wears around his neck, thumbing the edges.

Maybe it's boredom.

wildcard

Feel free to mix up any of the above prompts a bit, to pick what your character witnesses or to have Tidus come in on your character doing things! He'll be happy to engage with people he's never met before or take an interest. For anything training related, he'll practice sword fighting with others, but also someone who can do with help with hand to hand or even leg work--guy has no experience and has been trying to get better on the train.

If you'd like to thread with Tidus but none of the above click with you, feel free to send me a PM or reach me over on blitzoff!

Comments

[blitzcheer]

"I can't imagine what you guys had to put up--or didn't have to put up with. How many carriages were there when you showed up?"

Has he been here since near the beginning? His sleeper car is right at the end. And hasn't Light been here since near the start of all this too?

[thebiggestguy]

"Ten, if I'm remembering correctly. It's all kind of blurred together just a bit." True enough, he and his wife and Lightning were all there together, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. "Only two sleepers, and I don't think the second one even had people in it back then."

[blitzcheer]

"Still sounds like a walk to and fro." But speaking of, they had finally reached the cinema car, the lights dimmed and some movie playing on the screen ahead. Tidus watches some of the action playing as he stands waiting for Dread, asking in a hushed voice as he nods to the screen.

"You have those where you're from?"

[thebiggestguy]

Dread shook his head.

"Theater, dancing, gladiatorial matches. That sort of thing. Eorzea didn't have a lot of magitek." Everything here was still magitek to Dread's way of thinking; the term was what he understood, and moreover, he sure hadn't seen much to disprove it!

[blitzcheer]

"You call it magitek? We call it machina where I'm from," Tidus says, totally understanding Dread correctly. Machines have all sorts of names, who knew?

He'll keep quiet going down the slope that leads into the next car, the smell of dirt and some plant life welcoming them. Tidus takes a moment to take in at least the fantasy of being outside, before piping up.

"So, what's it like being a team lead? You guys have anything planned for the rest of us?"

[thebiggestguy]

"Mostly it's looking out for everyone and trying to keep you all from going crazy or something." Dread grinned. He had Sarai to do all that for him, after all. "Everyone here is strong-willed. Independent. Sometimes you lead best by not leading much at all."

[blitzcheer]

"Sooo, 'go have fun unless you need something'?" Was that the basic idea? It couldn't be easy to lead with a train that had people coming and going, but it was curious, an odd surprise. Then again, this wasn't exactly like being part of a blitzball team.

It was being part of a world-helping cause. ...and an entirely different one from Yuna's pilgrimage!

[thebiggestguy]

"The teams only really count on missions." And even then, not much. "Otherwise, it's sort of like this. Answering questions, offering what knowledge we can. Stuff I'd be doing without any sort of position, but having one helps people know where to look."

[blitzcheer]

"You don't think it might be a good idea to prepare the new people for what the missions are like before they come up?" It's spoken like a thought than a judgment, thinking back on his own arrival to the train.

"I knew there were missions from that leaflet, but nothing really about what they'd be like. I had someone tell me when I was asking about some other things, but maybe it'd help people prepare? And knowing they can go over to other teams too. I know Blue and Red really needed the help in the last mission."

[thebiggestguy]

"It's hard for us to say, too. They've all been very different. Battles above planets. Escorting children. Trying to convince people to leave a dying world." He lifted his shoulders in a subdued shrug. "When it's so varied, and everyone's so different already..."

[blitzcheer]

"But it's better than nothing, right?" Tidus reasons. "Working with people and being ready to fight -- it's a better idea than just knowing there's going to be a mission at some point to help protect a world."

[thebiggestguy]

"If you train people to fight, they can think that's the only way to handle things." And they had plenty of people who might fall for just that trap, even if they didn't tend entirely towards being in purple. "Though I'm not sure we have many people who don't know how."

[blitzcheer]

It takes Tidus a second to figure out what Dread means, and then gives a short quick shake of his head, waving a hand.

"I don't mean you training people -- I mean, we've got the Fight Club around, right? But that's what most Purple missions are, aren't they? Helping people and fighting. Blue, too. And then I think Red focuses on fighting..."

[thebiggestguy]

"If not training people, what do you think would help most to spread around? I try to let people know about missions where I can." Formal team meetings, though, wouldn't fly. Not to Dread's mind, when there was no way to enforce them and putting them onto people would be more inclined to make them resent the oversight than view it as helpful.

[blitzcheer]

He wants to throw his hands behind his head as he walks, but the latter makes it a pain, especially with the stop before the next door he has to make right then.

"Do you reach out to the rest of the train? I've never actually heard from any of the team leads in the time I've bee here. I dunno if you guys do something later in the month or anything."

Everything he knew about missions or what happened on the train, it was from other people.

[thebiggestguy]

Look, Dread gets you on that. He had to turn sideways a little just to step through the doors, and thought the gesture was second nature by this point, it still underscored just how unsuited he was for these accommodations.

"Rarely, actually. It's more for the convenience of the Council and... everyone, in the case of missions. We can give reports, watch out for others there, and centralize the information."

[blitzcheer]

Well, he's not sure what convenience of the Council means, but--

"What if we did or had something like that then? Couldn't hurt, right?" But he's even getting the idea that if the team leads don't really seem to plan to do much else than what Dread just listed, does it even need to involve them? "I guess anyone could do it, or talk about it. Maybe get someone from each of the teams involved in case people have questions."

For a more interactive chat, anyway.

[thebiggestguy]

"So more of a formalized opportunity for people to ask questions, then?" Because he still wasn't sure what information he could share, except the most general sorts of things.

[blitzcheer]

"Sure! Or even...have a chat with everyone, and see what they think's good for new people to know. And we can put a leaflet together about it? Just so you can have the basics covered. We can't prepare people for everything," thanks to the way missions are, "but if you know some of what to expect, it helps, doesn't it?"

He's sure he's said that already, but it's the main gist of this idea.

[thebiggestguy]

"A second leaflet, beyond the one we already have for new arrivals?" That sounded like it might be a bit confusing...

[blitzcheer]

"Sure, why not? You don't want to tell them everything at once. That one was already a headache to get through when I got here." He pauses though, considers- "You could join the two... but why not just put it separate, for when people wanna read them? It's a lot to take in on a first day."