driftfleet | Can Any Of Us Even Get Drunk

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Can Any Of Us Even Get Drunk

Who: Space Bar staff and special guests
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Space Bar!
When: One fine night after closing

[The Space Bar staff made good use of the ever-replenishing alcohol supply at their last stop, and Nami and Remy got around to discussing the idea of testing various experimental mixes to come up with new additions for the menu. I mean, add to that Nami hasn't made a decision which one of the applicants should take the main bar job, so clearly the best idea is to shove them all into one place and ply them with alcohol while they talk to each other and work it out after that.

No, it's a good idea. Shut up.

...okay. It may just be a good excuse for a party. Sue her.]

((ooc: this is a mingle! It's open to job applicants and regulars who hold their liquor and their plus ones. If you think that might mean you, you're more than welcome here!))

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[Zack tilts his head to catch Cloud's expression, trying to determine how he feels about it. Their motives were honestly more or less the same, but it's not like Zack knows that for sure.]

You can't get better at being with people if you aren't around any. I think it's good to get out there! They're looking for more than one person, too.

Hey, that wasn't an invitation to babysit my ego, [Cloud drawls, though he does feel a little better for it. Against his will.] I'm just looking for something to do. Keep my mind off stuff.

[Zack lifts his hands in a "sorry, sorry" sort of gesture but has zero qualms about saying stuff like that again. Sometimes ego-sitting is a good thing.]

You should come by if I'm on shift, then. I'll keep you busy.

[Cloud pauses; there it is again. That thing, that weird tension that's been popping up more and more often between he and Zack. Cloud usually ignores it, even though if it were someone else (Aerith, Tifa) he'd have just gone with his instincts.

The pause is too long, but maybe...maybe he'll just do it anyway.] Do you promise?

[The pause might be long for Cloud, but there's none on Zack's end. Without hesitation he smiles and nods.]

Promise, SOLDIER's honour.

[Huh.] And what if I show up just for the company?

[Cloud. Buddy. You're as transparent as he is.]

Guess I'll find a way to endure it somehow. You'll make it worth my while, yeah?

[This is...VERY WEIRD.........but not entirely unwelcome. Cloud pinks a little, leaning against the counter and looking away with a cough, clearing his throat.] Obviously.

Yeah, obviously.

[Zack tilts his head, taking note of the pink on Cloud's cheeks, and debates for a few moments whether or not to comment on it, but by some miraculous providence finds the self control - or the self-awareness - to keep it to himself. Instead he turns and pours out two shots of some strong liquor, nothing that could floor a SOLDIER but enough to pleasantly burn. He slides one of the glasses towards Cloud and lifts his own.]

You remember the truck ride at all? To Midgar?

[The good stuff, before it all turned to hell.]

[Hears that glass slide and catches it almost entirely on reflex, half-turning, hand opening up to stop it from hitting his arm as he blinks down at it in surprise. ...okay.

The smile on his face is small and secretive as he takes a drink, half the glass in one gulp. He's gonna need it at that question; talk of the past always tends to get painful.] I uh... [y'know what just gonna drink the rest] Not like...things I saw, or heard. I remember feeling hot...sticky, like how the air gets before a bad storm. I remember someone moving around- you, moving around. You'd come closer, get further away, come closer and sit with me again, and then you'd be up and talkin' to the driver. Couldn't ever sit still, as usual.

[Zack grins, absently rolling his own glass between his hands.]

Sounds about right. I did a lot of shuffling around and talking- to you, to myself, to the driver- he kept yelling for me to shut up and sit down. I must've pissed him off so much by the end of it. Wish I'd gotten his name.

[He wonders, idly, if Shinra had hunted down and shot him to death, too. Poor old guy just trying to get by- he didn't deserve to be shot at just for trying to help a couple of fugitives go home.]

One thing he said stuck out to me when I was trying to figure out what to do with myself, and since you don't remember, I'll tell you: he said, "you're young, ain't ya? So you should try everything!" I thought it was too damn vague at first, but in the end it helped me decide- I'd try anything I got paid for. Big jobs, little jobs, boring jobs, dangerous jobs. Didn't matter. I'd be a mercenary who'd try everything.

[He taps his glass against Cloud's.]

And you, too. You were gonna be right there with me. We'd be the best in the business, partner.

[Cloud returns the toast, but absently. It does still hurt, to talk about it like this, the what-ifs and the could've-beens, knowing that the path he followed wasn't anything like the one Zack dreamed of, and that Zack had been stopped before he could even hardly begin.

There's no happy ending for Zack back home.]

...Why'd you bring that up? [It's not accusatory, but there's got to be a reason behind it. Not just pining for the few good moments they could scrape together.]

Because we're trying something new, duh.

[Zack leans over, giving Cloud a playful nudge. He's not sad or moping, despite the subject matter, despite the fact that the whimsical conversation about their future had been followed by something so terrible. It's weird, but he feels pretty damn great right now.]

I'm not about to stop dreaming just 'cause I'm here and not there. I've got all I need with me.

[He'd had Cloud with him, and they were going home to Aerith. Now he has them both again. What's there to cry about, really?]

[Zack always was a 'glass half full' kinda guy, but more and more often Cloud's discovering that despite his penchant to look on the bright side, he's not as simple as he looks. He must've thought about what would happen if he were forced to leave this place. He must have wondered if Cloud would opt to go home instead of stay here, with them.]

I might say weird stuff, [Cloud points out, like Zack doesn't already know. In the back of his mind he can see Tifa's face, pinched and pained, anxious as she listened to his stories. To his lies.] I'll misremember things. I'll creep you out. I might even make you question your own memories.

You really wanna deal with that? [Talk about things. Reminisce. Hang around Cloud, as long as he can manage.]

Sure.

[There's no hesitation- not even a second's pause to consider it. He's had weird friends before- friends who were wrong, friends who struggled against him, friends who had more issues than any one person could handle. Way too many of them are dead, and maybe they wouldn't be dead if they'd talked their shit out with someone who'd been willing to listen. Maybe if he'd been older, maybe if he'd thought to ask, he could've been that for them. He knows better than to take on the lion's share of the blame, but he also knows there are certain things he could've done better.

He's not gonna run away from it, not this time.]

I know me, and I know my memories. If yours are different from mine and you're okay with that, then cool, that's just how it is. And if you wanna figure the truth out together, we can do that too. I want to help you, Cloud. And I know you can help me too. Better if we do it together- we're friends, after all.

[And it's not a question this time.]

You really don't get how special that is, [Cloud says, a little awed though his expression is veering towards blank.

He knocks back the rest of his drink, tapping the glass back down onto the bar for lack of something better to do with his hands.] Okay, I guess. If you're all in then I can't really do anything else but pony up, right?

[Zack shrugs; he does, and he doesn't. He's never dealt with mako poisoning or the level of crazy that's been described to him. Never had an existential crisis or Jenova's ugly whispers in his head. It's still hard to remember sometimes that he even has her cells in him. If he could share whatever this unexpected immunity is around he'd do it in a heartbeat.

If helping a friend to suss out the truth from all of the lies from that alien bitch and her conspirators is what he can do, then hell yeah, he's doing it. It's not special to him, just the smallest of courtesies.]

That's the idea, yeah. But it's okay to go at your own pace too, so long as you're not bottling everything up too much.

But that's my only coping mechanism, [Cloud jokes, kinda not-joking at the same time but at least enough that it doesn't sound as painfully vulnerable as it should.] ...Zack, I- I get what you're saying. But I don't wanna add any more weight to your shoulders. You don't have to take care of me anymore.

Yeah, no shit. I'm not trying to babysit you, man- I'm sure you could totally survive without ever dealing with the stuff you went through. All I'm saying is, why would you do that if you don't have to?

[And it's a pretty terrible coping mechanism, joke or not. He's witnessed how poorly it works in the long-term.]

If you want the truth, I just... don't want to lose anyone else to their own stupid internal demons, or whatever. Made that mistake too many times already. You're too important for me to just stand by and do nothing.

Jeez, Fair. [FACE RED AGAIN.] Layin' it on kinda thick, don't you think?

It's only 'cause I love you.

[Zack ropes Cloud into a hugging headlock, casual as ever. Cloud's embarrassed, but he's not gonna be shy about it. He loves his friends, he loves the ones who are important to him, he loves people. Nothing's going to change that.]

[R U TRYIN TO MAKE HIM MORE EMBARRASSED, YOU BASTARD? Cloud ducks his head, face burning all the way to his ears as he digs an elbow into Zack's ribs (but not hard enough to push him away).] Zack. We're supposed to be working this place, y'know-!

[MAYBE A LITTLE BIT

Zack loosens his hold a bit, not letting go but making it easy for Cloud to slip out if he wants. Subtly.]

What? It's fine, Nami's not even paying attention.

[She's half-drunk across the bar by now, probably.]

I can't believe this. Haven't even got the job yet and you're already slackin'. [Shoves Zack off after a minute, just for the distance.] Make me another drink, Fair. Somethin' hard.

Hey, take it up with the boss. She's not paying me yet.

[He laughs, though, and goes to prep a proper SOLDIER drink- a nice, powerful mix using the special enhanced brew Nami gave him. Just a shot's worth, since their inventory is limited, but enough to feel the kick. He slides it over.]

Try that on for size.

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