Cloud didn’t drink often, but whenever he did happen to indulge, he preferred something cold & bitter. Does this in any way symbolize the way he portrays himself to the world? Most definitely. Don’t tell him that, though. He prefers being a mystery, although deep down he does wish to be understood.
These are most definitely barstool thoughts, and here he was in the perfect place to be having them; Midgard’s more technologically advanced version of a dive bar. Really, the only advanced part about them are the automated machines brewing & distilling the drinks being served, as the bar he had chosen today was rundown in all of its other facets, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who took refuge in its dilapidated walls as it was located right in the heart of the red-light-esque, seedy Wall Market. Even though Cloud did in fact disdain most common criminals, (he found their forms of rebellion to be inherently self-serving), and he preferred to keep away from this district as much as he could, damn the bars around here knew how to make the stiffest drinks around, just how Cloud liked it. It was as if the struggle and restlessness in the air added a certain margination to the beverages the poor denizens here drowned their sorrows in, and Cloud just couldn’t resist.
Even though Cloud was light in stature, he had a strong stomach for his size, and it took a decent amount of liquor to make him feel out of the ordinary. Mostly it just gave him a pleasant, warm buzz in his stomach that he wasn’t accustomed to feeling in the slightest whilst sober. His heart had hardened and turned rigid from tragedy and war; so he used alcohol as a fleeting, but sometimes necessary respite from all that darkness.
He finished his drink and glanced downwards at the ground next to him as he fished in his pocket for Gil to pay the not so friendly barkeep. He had rare access to both his hands, he wasn’t gripping a weapon for once. He rested his buster sword against the vacant stool closest to him in a purposeful effort to ward others off, as he never really enjoyed talking to the various drunken sad souls that floated in through here, however, sometimes he was pleasantly surprised by some entertainment in the form of someone particularly idiotic or interesting. The city had a way of keeping him on his toes. Today was bland, though. At least it had been so far. Not helping with his unsatisfactory day was the fact that he had just dropped some coins on the floor! As his hand was digging in his pocket, he accidentally knocked loose a few spare Gil that he was planning on using to pay for his drink, causing an instant look of frustration to grace his features and some inflammatory mumbling began to escape his lips as the coins rolled to a stop against another bar patron’s feet. A woman. He turned himself in his seat to face her and cocked his head to the side, his piercing mako-ridden eyes gauging her body language to see if he would have to fight her for his spare change or not. He certainly didn’t want to scuffle over a shot’s worth of Gil, and if she was planning on grabbing it for herself his day was going to take a turn for the worst. He had just finished a particularly annoying hunt to earn his wages for the day and wasn’t planning on losing out on some scratch due to some bad luck and a petty thief.
He gave the stranger an almost instant look of disapproval like she had already wronged him before she even got to give a response out,
“You gonna steal that?”
Wow, Cloud. Quite the charmer you are.
@skywardxshadow
