driftfleet | shinra soldiers need not apply

Who: Zack Fair / OTA
Broadcast: Yes!
Action: the Caprine
When: Now!

( action; caprine )
[...Alright, so that was. Weird. He was totally just on the Marsiva, but now he's on another ship, apparently! With confetti, and... pudding, which gets set aside for now, because he's sure as hell not trusting random food thrown at him willynilly.

He's more interested in the new ship itself, so he'll be exploring the place, poking his head into whatever room he comes across unless it's locked. Apologies in advance?]

( video; fleetwide )

[Have a Zack! Pulling bits of confetti out of his hair. He looks about as confused as any newcomer, though perhaps not as disturbed. He has officially Seen Some Shit, as one might guess by the semi-glowing blue eyes.]

Testing, testing... okay, we'll pretend this works. It's kinda different from standard issue ShinRa PHS, but it doesn't look that complicated...

Anyway- hey there, fellow space people. Name's Zack. Am I crazy, or are the voices in my head legit when they say I'm on TV? 'Cause, uh. I'd kind of prefer that, at this point. Not really a fan of the random voices concept.

...Aerith? Where'd you end up?

[TRIES VERY HARD NOT TO BE WORRIED]

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...You know, I actually saved his life once? Ungrateful bastard didn't even care.

He probably complained about the nuisance of being interrupted, right? Slimy piece of... [ugh fucking hate hojo] The Planet's better off without him. He doesn't even deserve the Lifestream.

Yep. At the time he was droning on and on about how his great scientific mind would be a huge loss to the world and how meatshields are only good for protecting the smart guys like him. I used to help him all the time with his weird monster experiments during downtime at HQ, but I'm pretty sure he forgot who I was.

[It's hard to hear Zack say he'd helped that monster, though Cloud knows it's unreasonable. He doesn't remember anything of Hojo before the torment he'd subjected them both to; the idea of ever having worked for or under him is despicable, and he just can't marry it to the man he sees before him.]

...enough about Hojo. He doesn't deserve the reminiscing, either.

No objection here.

[seriously fuck that guy. may he rot and be forgotten by everyone ever.]

...So... Tifa? Did she track you down?

She found me in Midgar. I don't remember much about that either, but...I think I must've scared her. Looking back, she was awfully gentle with me.

Maybe she recognized that you'd been through a lot, even if you didn't know it yourself yet. She was a pretty perceptive kid.

She's a pretty perceptive adult, too. [Cloud adjusts his gloves idly, thinking about how Tifa's always doing that, tugging at the leather as she watches everyone with eyes that see a lot more than she lets on.] Without her, I'd be a drooling mindless wreck in Mideel. I owe her a lot more than I could ever repay.

[What the hell was he doing in Mideel as a-- no, you know what? He'll have to get the whole story. That sounds like an ugly can of worms they need to work up towards.]

Well... I'm glad she made it out of Nibelheim. I wasn't sure if she was gonna survive, and ShinRa did that clean-sweep in a weird way to cover things up. I was kinda worried about her.

Oh. Yeah, that. [Of course, Zack must've seen that on his way out.] Her martial arts master managed to get her out of there in time. [Thank goodness he did; if Hojo had gotten his claws into Tifa too, Cloud doesn't know what he'd have done.

Cloud runs a hand through his hair, look up at Zack again.] There's a lot to catch you up on...I honestly don't even know where to start.

Yeah, and I don't even know what to start asking about.

[It doesn't seem like that much time has passed, but so much has happened, apparently. What a mess.]

If it helps, we don't have to rush into anything. And it might go easier if Aerith was around for that sort of talk, too.

[Aerith. Holy, he still can't wrap his head around her actually being here. He can't even wrap his head around Zack being here, and he's staring the guy in the face.] ...yeah, [Cloud answers belatedly; does he want Aerith around for it? She can confirm what he says but at the same time, what happened...] Yeah, she...she can help explain things.

[Or... not? Zack wonders if that was the wrong thing to say for a long moment, and then- ah. Right, of course... Aerith must be as much a ghost to Cloud as he himself is.]

But first, you need to go see her. She's waiting for you.

[It's really weird to be equal parts eager and reluctant, and yet here he is, slowly climbing to his feet as he tries to sort himself out.] Yeah, I...shouldn't keep her waiting. [Though he's not sure about leaving Zack's sight. What if we finds out this didn't actually happen, like its some kind of Atroma mind game?]

[Zack glances sidelong at him, seeing that hesitation, and shakes his head, giving Cloud's shoulder a little shove.]

Go on, hurry up. I'll still be here. And you can call me any time, yeah?

[He gives the comm a little waggle. He doesn't want to be the one keeping Cloud and Aerith apart, much as he's loving this reunion.]

[Yeah still......still reluctant, but he really, really wants to check on Aerith, see if she's real, maybe have another emotional breakdown and go pass out facedown somewhere as he is wont to do apparently.

Cloud almost reaches for Zack, mostly to reassure himself that he's solid and there, but stops about halfway before adjusting his gloves instead in a poorly masked deflection. It would be weird to just grab the guy, wouldn't it?] I'll come back, too. Or you can come where I'm at, I'm on the Bloodsport.

[Y'know what? Fuck it. It's awkward, and it's gonna be awkward for a while, but Zack doesn't want them to tiptoe or hesitate or fuss the whole time.

In a single wide stride he closes the distance between him and Cloud, reaching up to pull the guy into a headlock, tugging him into more of a sidehug. Come here, you. Don't stab him.]

You got it, man! I won't be a stranger. We have a load of catching up to do!

[For a split second Cloud does that 'don't touch me' tense-up he always does when he gets grabbed unexpectedly, but it...goes away. Like practically melts off him, as if Zack's arm around him hit some kind of safety switch and killed his hostility instincts before they could even get going.

It takes Cloud a second to respond just because he's so startled by it, by the fact that someone -a strong, burly dude someone- is touching him and he's not annoyed by it. Maybe his body remembers this????

...don't wanna let Zack think he can get away with yanking Cloud around like a little brother though, so after a moment Cloud punches his side (lightly) and squirms out of his grip.] I'll hold you to that, Zack.

[Zack doesn't cling, letting Cloud go with a smile and a shrug.]

I'm counting on it. See you around, Cloud.

shinra soldiers need not apply

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