⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ Strife

SOLDIER ; FIRST CLASS

[fragmentedfury]

SOLDIER FIRST CLASS

"Ex-SOLDIER. I quit."

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Cloud Strife ; ex-SOLDIER

mercenary and bodyguard.

| Starters | Prompts

" Learn to talk to her. "

[amanuesls]

[ Starter for @fragmentedfury - Check ]

  ' It's a ghost, it can only be a ghost. ' 

She told herself as she rushed towards the cafeteria in the Shinra building. After all, it has been 5 years since the Nibelheim incident happened; since Cloud and Zack disappeared, and the whole village was burned down and rebuilt by Shinra. . . There was no way that now, after so long and suddenly, he would show up there of all of the places. And yet, here was Ava, running as fast as she could with her office pumps; searching for the answer she for so long thought it was lost forever. If Cloud was here, as the infantrymen told her and Kunsel, then surely, he would be too, right? They had to be together. A few more steps and she is at the entrance of the cafeteria, coincidentally arriving as Cloud is the first to show as the door slides over to open. The secretary stands in place with her mouth ajar, eyes blinking slowly trying to understand what she was seeing. “ It's you . . . ” She let it out softly. With small steps she comes close to the blonde, reaching an arm out to touch him. " It's really you, isn't it, Cloud ? ”

[fragmentedfury]

" . . . " the only sound in response is a little noise of surprised confusion. he jerks back and away from the touch without meaning to, without fully realizing why he's doing it. he's not sure there's even really a reason, other than that she knows his name and he . . . has no recollection of who she is. he thinks he should, though -- there's some sort of hazy, static-filled memory in the back of his head that feels relevant, but when he reaches for it to try and assess the information, his head alights with pain. the memory shatters as quickly as it had come, and he raises one gloved hand to grip his forehead. " i . . . yeah, i'm cloud. " it makes sense that she knows him, he reminds himself, if she works for shinra ; he'd worked for shinra, too. there's nothing here that should set him on edge like this has, and yet . . . " do i know you? "

[fragmentedfury]

" someone should have said something, " cloud protests, because it's easier than admitting that he understands what eve is saying. there's something — a part of him, a shadow — that latches onto sephiroth when he's close. something in him is already twisted and fragmented, and the pieces of him that sephiroth can manipulate and command are already pieces that he cannot control....

would they be worse if someone had told him that his memories were lies? maybe they'd have splintered further, fractured him in a way incapable of being healed — maybe he would have done something worse.

though it's hard.... to imagine what worse could be.

" i did kill him, i think, " cloud says, looking down at his palms — in mind's eye, he sees it beyond the fog ; he presses his palm into his forehead and wills the haze to clear. " i don't remember a lot of what happened after . . . but he. . . "

his voice breaks ; he curls his hand into a fist, expression going stone cold. flat. " some warning. that what i knew wasn't true. maybe i could have changed things, maybe i could have stopped — "

stopped what? sephiroth's control over him? stopped himself from handing over the black materia? stopped . . . no. no, he's just angry. at himself, at everyone — demanding explanations feels easier than wallowing in guilt and grief.

[evecrescent]

“ just stop. “ eve’s voice is firm, even though it’s thick with shoved down emotions and regret, “ what could you have done? realistically, tell me. because i’ve been in your shoes, cloud. i told you - it’s why i left the reactor. it’s why i physically knocked myself out - that control… “

 she remembers again the way the icy tendrils seemed to crawl through her veins, the way it made her head throb in agony - the way she no longer viewed the world with her own eyes, but instead had her vision replaced with what it wanted her to see. she had fought it fiercely, low voltage shocks from her gauntlet as a safety measure every time she felt the voices whisper vicious orders in her head. And in the end, those little shocks weren’t enough - by the time she stumbled out of the reactor with Tifa’s bloodied body - unsure if her babbling to that man (Zangon?) was even understandable, or if she was speaking in some unknown tongue. And then with her last bit of sanity intact - using the most powerful thunder spell she could to completely knock herself out to a blissful silence.

 “ would saying anything have helped? would you have even believed me? ‘ hey cloud - that sword doesn’t belong to you. it actually belonged to Zack, your buddy. Before that, belonged to my friend Angeal. Why do you have it, swinging it around like that? Why is it you’re here, but Zack’s still MIA?’” she’s trying to conceal the bitter sorrow in her voice - the realization that Zack was truly gone was a pill she was still struggling to swallow - unwilling to accept it. He was gone, just like the others - and her last promise had been to protect Aerith. And she had fucked that up - broken her promise in ways that could never earn her forgiveness. 

 “ you did something, because you’re still here, alive, at least,” she says - and this time she can’t hide the resentment in her voice, “ whatever happened in that reactor - he did die in some manner. But he and I aren’t normal. Jenova’s entire existence, it’s purpose, is to survive. It only makes sense for that things…true progeny, to inherit its inability to just fucking die. “

 Her fists are clenched tightly, breath quickening as she sits there - hazy guilt filling the pit of her stomach- enough to make her feel nauseous and dizzy. 

 “ It’s not your fault… “ she says finally, her voice softened - head hanging down with silver sheets of hair covering her face’s weary expression, “ It’s mine- it’s been my fault before you ever entered the picture. If I hadn’t been so scared, if I had just… intervened with Sephiroth years ago- if I hadn’t been such a coward, and we had left Shinra when Angeal and Genesis did- things would have been different. But I was scared- I listened to Hojo’s lies… I kept thinking I could handle it- that I could handle Sephiroth, that he’d always listen to me. But I was wrong… and by the time I realized I was wrong, it was too late. And now… now you’re suffering even more because of it. It’s not your fault, Cloud. I told Zack I’d protect Aerith… but I can’t protect anyone, no matter how strong I am. “

[fragmentedfury]

" you're his sister. it's different. " and here they sit, defending each other from their own wrong-doings and worst qualities ; remarkably similar in spite of it all -- stubborn, angry, guilty. the fire of rage is a stark contrast to the oceans of guilt -- it's alarming that the two seem to mix so well so frequently. they're not even really friends, cloud thinks. they have similar end goals, they have similar methods, even similar histories if they delve into it too deeply ( what cloud remembers of his past, anyway -- he's far less linked to sephiroth than she is, but the tether is still there, still dragging him closer and closer ). but he wouldn't say they've become friends over their journey, and it feels even more strained now. " you didn't do anything wrong. you couldn't fight your brother. if everyone who'd ever hesitated in raising their weapon against someone they loved was blamed for destruction, a lot of innocent people would hold themselves over the fire for no good reason. it's not . . . weak. to care. " he stares out at the horizon ahead of them for what feels like a very long time ; he's not sure what to say. he's the least capable person of offering comfort in a time when he's angry and hurt himself -- he's not any good at it when he's feeling perfectly fine. " i don't know why it affects me like it does. i keep thinking . . . i should have been strong enough to resist. in some . . . fragments of the memory, i think i'm the one that did it. in others, i see myself moving fast enough that i can save her. and everyone knows -- i think everybody's known for a long time that there's something that's not right, but nobody ever told me. sometimes i just have gaps where the memories should be . . . not because of zack, because of sephiroth. i don't know, every time, what he's making me do. nobody is telling me the truth, and one of those times, somebody might not be able to stop me. " his gaze hardens, and he curls his hand into a fist. he can't imagine doing much worse than he's already done, but . . . it's only one step away from being just as bad ; he doesn't know how to avoid it.

[fragmentedfury]

@antiquamemoria

it's a quiet, early morning in the slums, and cloud is — inevitably and unavoidably, it seems — awake. he'd been roused from sleep before it really felt like he'd had any of the benefits of slumber, and had simply been unable to return to it. much of the slums is only just beginning to stir, lights flickering on in windows as people rise from their beds to begin the day.

cloud walks quietly down the dirt paths, through the winding streets that take him out of sector seven ; he has no end destination in mind. he is walking just to walk, ambling aimlessly towards — well, towards wherever his feet take him.

through the back paths of sector six, and then. . . he finds himself in sector five, standing outside of a familiar church, and he comes to a stop. maybe he hadn't intended to come here, but this is where he had ended up, and he doesn't see a reason he shouldn't stop by....

it's still early, and she's probably not here, but cloud let's himself inside anyway.

[antiquamemoria]

fragmentedfury " . . . "   for a second, his only response is the sound of his breath catching in his throat, quietly surprised — he shouldn't be ; aerith has always had a way of knowing things. he clears his throat and looks away.   " guess so, " he says after a second, when the silence has hung in the air a little too long, and answering the asked question becomes pertinent. he turns his eyes back to her, watching her as she kneels amongst the flowers in her church, fingers brushing against the grass. " shouldn't you be asleep? "   not that he's one to ask, clearly. he steps further into the curch, walking down the aisle between the pews. he stops at the very front row, hesitating to pass any further into the space — lest he damage the flowers she works so hard to grow. he crosses his arms over his chest, head tilting just so as he appraises aerith. the sun filters in through the hole in the roof, offering a dim halo over both her and the flowers. it seems . . . appropriate, somehow.

Finally, she looks up to him; green eyes shimmering, the light trickling down from the ceiling giving them the look of well polished gem. And despite the brief moment of tension, the complete stillness and silence that preceeded his approach, she found warmth in the way she smiled at him. Lips curling, brow creasing — movements so subtle, but inviting nonetheless.   

“Sleep? Nope! I’ve been here since dawn.”

An admission that was entirely true. She found no sleep the night before; far too restless, so she inevitably gave up trying. Instead, seeking out the one place that brought her true comfort. 

“I tried, though. I really did.”

There’s a soft laugh, almost awkward, with a little tremble as her voice trails off…

[fragmentedfury]

" are you okay? " the question comes out tentative. he's never sure how to engage with her ; truly, he's never sure how to engage with anybody. he's spent a very long time feeling like he's better off staying on his own, and leaving people out of his personal life -- that has meant that he's never truly probed into anybody else's. aerith is different, though, so the question is sincere ; not the forced politeness he might have bestowed upon someone else. he approaches the ring of flowers and sits, cross-legged, just outside of it. he's close enough that he could touch them if he wanted to, but he doesn't. ( things so delicate and fragile are so often damaged at his hands. it's best he keeps his distance.)

[fragmentedfury]

" Don't move, you're bleeding. "

@s0mmersault

it had happened faster than cloud had tracked ; they were doing a pick-up for one of tifa's friends, and it was supposed to be a relatively easy sounding job for a little bit of pay. so he and tifa had gone alone, typically more than enough for any threat that would come down on them.

a few fiends were never any trouble ; when a wave of them hit suddenly, cloud could feel the odds suddenly stacked against them — but they were capable ; they could handle it. until . . . one particularly quick fiend slipped around cloud with talons out, slashing aggressively at tifa's leg.

" tifa! " bringing the buster sword down hard, cloud dispatched of the creature quickly, gritting his teeth. he darted forward to catch tifa before she could fall, lowering her carefully. " don't move, you're bleeding. "

[s0mmersault]

 It was meant to be an easy job, and perhaps that was Tifa's mistake—underestimating how easy it would be. She was efficiently taking down her share of the monsters, delivering quick punches and kicks in rapid succession. However, her intense focus was shattered when she suddenly felt a painful, aggressive slash on her leg. Cloud was quick to catch the brawler, which she was thankful for; She inhaled a sharp breath trying to not cry with the pain, giving the blonde an apologetic smile.

 “ I'm sorry. ” A soft-toned apology, as she reached to touch her leg. It was a nasty cut, but not as deep as she thought it to be, yet the pain and the bleeding weren't helping to think otherwise. “ Are you okay ? It didn't hit you too, right ? ” She tried looking for any injuries on him.

[fragmentedfury]

" tifa. "

cloud's voice is gently chastising — not angry, though. he can never muster the ability to be truly mad at her, especially when the only thing she's done wrong is care too much about him and not nearly enough about herself. " i'm fine. you're the one who got hurt. sorry, i should have moved faster. "

he lowers the buster sword to the ground carefully and fumbles for a moment to find a healing materia, brow furrowed as he grips it in one hand.

" this might hurt, " he warns, before he focuses his energy on the materia, centering the restorative magics on the injury on tifa's leg. it's not perfect — it will probably require some real first aid skills that cloud just ..... isn't capable of giving. at least it should help enough that they can get back to the bar, so jessie or wedge can help with that.

[fragmentedfury]

@antiquamemoria

it's a quiet, early morning in the slums, and cloud is — inevitably and unavoidably, it seems — awake. he'd been roused from sleep before it really felt like he'd had any of the benefits of slumber, and had simply been unable to return to it. much of the slums is only just beginning to stir, lights flickering on in windows as people rise from their beds to begin the day.

cloud walks quietly down the dirt paths, through the winding streets that take him out of sector seven ; he has no end destination in mind. he is walking just to walk, ambling aimlessly towards — well, towards wherever his feet take him.

through the back paths of sector six, and then. . . he finds himself in sector five, standing outside of a familiar church, and he comes to a stop. maybe he hadn't intended to come here, but this is where he had ended up, and he doesn't see a reason he shouldn't stop by....

it's still early, and she's probably not here, but cloud let's himself inside anyway.

[antiquamemoria]

It’s pretty early, but that hasn’t stopped the Cetra before. At an hour where she should be at home, cozy in her bed and sleeping, she’s instead kneeling by the flower bed in her church. One hand extended, fingertips delicately brushing against a blade of grass.

“Good morning, Cloud.”

She greet him softly, humming, her voice melodious and sweet. A guess made regarding the identity of her early morning visitor, made without so much as a glance in his direction. It was a gut feeling, more than anything, but there was something about him… Something about the way he carried himself that lent to the sounds of his footsteps, causing a familiar sound to echo up the steps as he made his approach.

Besides that, though… She really couldn’t think of anyone else who’d be awake at this time, so she seemed quite confident in herself.

“Early riser today, huh?”

[fragmentedfury]

" . . . "

for a second, his only response is the sound of his breath catching in his throat, quietly surprised — he shouldn't be ; aerith has always had a way of knowing things. he clears his throat and looks away.

" guess so, " he says after a second, when the silence has hung in the air a little too long, and answering the asked question becomes pertinent. he turns his eyes back to her, watching her as she kneels amongst the flowers in her church, fingers brushing against the grass. " shouldn't you be asleep? "

not that he's one to ask, clearly. he steps further into the curch, walking down the aisle between the pews. he stops at the very front row, hesitating to pass any further into the space — lest he damage the flowers she works so hard to grow. he crosses his arms over his chest, head tilting just so as he appraises aerith. the sun filters in through the hole in the roof, offering a dim halo over both her and the flowers. it seems . . . appropriate, somehow.

[fragmentedfury]

" Don't move, you're bleeding. "

@s0mmersault

it had happened faster than cloud had tracked ; they were doing a pick-up for one of tifa's friends, and it was supposed to be a relatively easy sounding job for a little bit of pay. so he and tifa had gone alone, typically more than enough for any threat that would come down on them.

a few fiends were never any trouble ; when a wave of them hit suddenly, cloud could feel the odds suddenly stacked against them — but they were capable ; they could handle it. until . . . one particularly quick fiend slipped around cloud with talons out, slashing aggressively at tifa's leg.

" tifa! " bringing the buster sword down hard, cloud dispatched of the creature quickly, gritting his teeth. he darted forward to catch tifa before she could fall, lowering her carefully. " don't move, you're bleeding. "

[s0mmersault]

                                But it's Different . . .

                                            . . . From a memory locked deep within.

 Tifa Lockhart　―　Brawler & Barmaid. [ An Independent portrayal from Final Fantasy VII.]

                                      ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ʙʏ: ꜱᴏᴍɴɪᴄᴜʟᴏꜱᴜꜱ

Canon Compliant & Divergent. 　　―――― 　　Any timeline friendly.

[ rebirth/remake & original timeline. Mvrp/Multiverse Friendly. OC Friendly. ]

 MNDI +18 only. +21 writer, 10+ years of roleplay experience + new to tumblr roleplay.

     Carrd | Rules | Twitter

[fragmentedfury]

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

{ Send an ask with one and I'll send a starter! }

[fragmentedfury]

{ @evecrescent }

the fog that clouds his memories has not faded. he knows more now than he did before ; he can distinguish some aspects of the truth from where his mind had blended different realities, but there are still headaches that thrum right behind his temples. she is one of the biggest black spots, when he thinks about the past — of course he knows her, but does he really? and she knows more than he does ; it twists in his gut when he realizes she probably knows him better than he does.

it's either very late in the evening or very early in the morning, and he's awake. they're — somewhere, a small inn that had offered them up a room for the evening as they travel towards their ultimate goal. defeat sephiroth, save the world ; that, at least, is a truth that he does not need to second-guess, whatever the reality of everything else is. eve is awake, too, outside of the inn, and cloud is quiet when he joins her. sitting quietly on the step beside her, careful to keep space between them.

" you knew the truth. " the words are an accusation as much as they are a statement of truth ; eve knew him, knew the life cloud was claiming as his own. . . knew who's life he was impersonating, how poorly he was impersonating it. to be the legacy of someone who is so deeply good — cloud is doing a piss-poor impression. " you never said anything. "

neither did tifa. neither did — well, he supposes he understands why she never said anything. . . he doesn't understand why eve would allow the lies.

[evecrescent]

Eve  remains  quiet  even  after  Cloud  speaks  -  he's  asking  questions  she  knew  would  be  asked  someday  of  her.  Her  fingers  lightly  trace  the  lid  of  her  cheap  coffee  that  the  inn  provided,  lips  flattened  into  a  thin  line  and  brow  furrowed  as  she  continues  to  look  down  at  the  dirt,  scuffing  it  with  her  boot  in  a  repeated  anxious  moment.  What,  really,  could  she  say  that  would  make  it  all  better?  The  last  time  this  happened,  the  last  time  her  lying  by  omission  had  been  brought  up  -  it  had  spelled  the  end  of  her  brother,  and  his  words  still  haunted  her  in  her  sleep  every  night.  The  bags  beneath  her  eyes  were  a  testament  to  that.  And  he  hadn't  even  believed  her. 

“  More  lies…  if  you  knew  all  this  time,  why  wouldn't  you  tell  me?  Angeal…  Genesis-  I  could  care  less  about  their  secrets  and  lies.  But  you,  Eve?  You  stand  there  and  tell  me  you've  been  keeping  secrets  from  me  too?  After  everything  I've  done  for  you?  When  all  we've  ever  had  is  each  other…  and  you  chose  to  lie  to  me?  And  now  you  expect  me  to  believe  you…”

The  coffee  cup  crumples  in  her  hand,  what  little  liquid  still  inside  spilling  down  her  hand  in  small  black  rivulets,  and  she  watches  it  stream  down  as  she  finally  speaks,  “  Would  it  have  made  much  difference  if  I  had?  I  mean  -  really?  “  she  sighs,  reaching  a  hand  up  to  try  and  rub  away  at  the  exhaustion  in  her  eyes,  ”  And  truthfully,  I  didn't  know  what  was  going  on,  not  really.  I  was  told  you  were  dead.  You,  my  brother  and…  Zack-  that  all  three  of  you  had  died.  And  I  had  no  reason  to  disbelieve  that  even  despite  the  source  being  Hojo.  I  left  Zack  in  that  reactor  because  I  couldn't-  if  I  had  stayed…"

She  takes  in  a  shaky  breath  as  the  memories  fill  her  head  -  the  way  her  head  had  throbbed  with  whispers  and  delusions,  her  limbs  jerking  in  ways  she  hadn't  consciously  moved  them  -  eyes  blurring  over  until  she  could  wrest  back  the  tiniest  bit  of  control  back  from  the  parasite  trying  to  invoke  it's  maternal  heritage  over  her. 

“  I  thought  I  had  left  Zack  -  all  of  you  in  there  to  die.  But  if  I  had  stayed…  I  probably  would've  ended  up  being  another  obstacle.  I  didn't-  didn't  want  that…  so  I  left.  Better  chance  if  Zack  just  had  to  fight  Sephiroth  and  not  both  of  us.  But  still  -  it  didn't  seem  unlikely  for  you  all  to  have  died…  as  much  as  it  hurt  to  believe.  So  when  you  showed  up  -  alive  -  I  didn't…  I  didn't  know  what  to  think.  I  didn't  know  what  had  happened  after  I  left  the  reactor…  and  I  thought  of  asking  you-  but…"

But  why  hadn't  she?  Was  it  the  sight  of  the  buster  sword  that  had  caused  the  words  to  die  in  her  throat  before  they  ever  had  the  chance  to  be  asked?  The  legacy  of  Angeal,  entrusted  to  Zack,  now  on  Cloud's  back,  seemingly  unaware  of  the  heavy  burden  it  held. 

“  Honestly,  I  was  confused  at  first.  The  way  you  spoke  to  me,  the  things  you  said.  None  of  it  made  any  sort  of  sense.  And  then…  maybe  I  got  scared.  Scared  that  I'd  make  it  worse,”  her  brow  furrows,  and  her  jaw  tightens,  twitching  as  she  tries  to  keep  control  of  her  emotions,  “  The  last  time  I  tried  to  set  things  straight-  the  last  time  I  tried  to  explain  the  truth,  all  of  it.  Sephiroth  didn't  listen.  He  hated  me  for  it,  I  only  made  it  worse…  he  died-  or…  whatever  it  is  happened  to  him-  hating  me.  Just  like  Hojo  said  he  would.  I  didn't  want  it  to  happen  again,  I  didn't  know  what  had  happened  to  you,  where  you  had  been-  what  if  I  just  made  it  worse  again?  What  if  I  made  you  worse?  I  didn't  want  to  be  responsible  for  that  again!  I  didn't  want  to  hurt  anyone…  I  didn't  want  any  of  this…  not  again.  ”

[fragmentedfury]

" someone should have said something, " cloud protests, because it's easier than admitting that he understands what eve is saying. there's something — a part of him, a shadow — that latches onto sephiroth when he's close. something in him is already twisted and fragmented, and the pieces of him that sephiroth can manipulate and command are already pieces that he cannot control....

would they be worse if someone had told him that his memories were lies? maybe they'd have splintered further, fractured him in a way incapable of being healed — maybe he would have done something worse.

though it's hard.... to imagine what worse could be.

" i did kill him, i think, " cloud says, looking down at his palms — in mind's eye, he sees it beyond the fog ; he presses his palm into his forehead and wills the haze to clear. " i don't remember a lot of what happened after . . . but he. . . "

his voice breaks ; he curls his hand into a fist, expression going stone cold. flat. " some warning. that what i knew wasn't true. maybe i could have changed things, maybe i could have stopped — "

stopped what? sephiroth's control over him? stopped himself from handing over the black materia? stopped . . . no. no, he's just angry. at himself, at everyone — demanding explanations feels easier than wallowing in guilt and grief.

[fragmentedfury]

[ check ] for the RP prompt.

@amanuesls

[fragmentedfury]

@antiquamemoria

it's a quiet, early morning in the slums, and cloud is — inevitably and unavoidably, it seems — awake. he'd been roused from sleep before it really felt like he'd had any of the benefits of slumber, and had simply been unable to return to it. much of the slums is only just beginning to stir, lights flickering on in windows as people rise from their beds to begin the day.

cloud walks quietly down the dirt paths, through the winding streets that take him out of sector seven ; he has no end destination in mind. he is walking just to walk, ambling aimlessly towards — well, towards wherever his feet take him.

through the back paths of sector six, and then. . . he finds himself in sector five, standing outside of a familiar church, and he comes to a stop. maybe he hadn't intended to come here, but this is where he had ended up, and he doesn't see a reason he shouldn't stop by....

it's still early, and she's probably not here, but cloud let's himself inside anyway.

[fragmentedfury]

{ @evecrescent }

the fog that clouds his memories has not faded. he knows more now than he did before ; he can distinguish some aspects of the truth from where his mind had blended different realities, but there are still headaches that thrum right behind his temples. she is one of the biggest black spots, when he thinks about the past — of course he knows her, but does he really? and she knows more than he does ; it twists in his gut when he realizes she probably knows him better than he does.

it's either very late in the evening or very early in the morning, and he's awake. they're — somewhere, a small inn that had offered them up a room for the evening as they travel towards their ultimate goal. defeat sephiroth, save the world ; that, at least, is a truth that he does not need to second-guess, whatever the reality of everything else is. eve is awake, too, outside of the inn, and cloud is quiet when he joins her. sitting quietly on the step beside her, careful to keep space between them.

" you knew the truth. " the words are an accusation as much as they are a statement of truth ; eve knew him, knew the life cloud was claiming as his own. . . knew who's life he was impersonating, how poorly he was impersonating it. to be the legacy of someone who is so deeply good — cloud is doing a piss-poor impression. " you never said anything. "

neither did tifa. neither did — well, he supposes he understands why she never said anything. . . he doesn't understand why eve would allow the lies.