InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "i titally love you"

Zack Fair (herosheart) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-07-18 15:39:00

Entry tags:

!log, susan pevensie, zack fair

Who: Zack Fair and OPEN
When: Monday, July 18, late afternoon
Where: a conveniently deserted alley somewhere in Manhattan
What: Zack is confused and needs explanations.
Rating: TBD, probably some reference to recent intense violence
Status: Open, in progress

The truth was, it was pretty easy to confuse Zack. He was a fairly straightforward man, and while he was far from unintelligent, he didn't have much of a mind for intrigue or mystery. The trait came with being the sort of person who liked to give others the benefit of the doubt. Zack Fair, at the end of the day, wanted to believe in people. He wanted to believe in the intrinsic goodness of his fellow human beings.

So, really, it shouldn't have been a surprise that Zack was very confused at the moment. He could have sworn he'd just been in the middle of the worst fight of his life (which was saying something, considering he'd fought Sephiroth), and now he was standing in the middle of a deserted alley with no one else in sight.

"Huh. Weird."

Zack raised his free hand to check for head injuries, just in case, although if he were hallucinating, he probably wouldn't hallucinate the injury responsible in the first place. Nope. No headwounds. His arm hurt, though. He glanced down and scowled as he realized that he'd caught a bullet with it. That was the problem with SOLDIER enhancements. You didn't always realize you were hurt until well after the fact.

Still, his biggest worry wasn't how many bullet holes he might be sporting this time, or if everything around him was real or a figment of his imagination. His biggest worry was Cloud--specifically, where Cloud had gotten to. The kid hadn't been in any shape to go anywhere on his own when Zack had tucked him behind the shelter of some boulders, so where was he now?

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Re: good!

_believeinmagic
2011-07-24 02:51 am UTC (link)

"The other wizards here need wands to cast their spells," Susan said, trying very hard not to be cross with him.

"And it's different for me, you see, having never come across materia or wands before. Or much of anything, really. And there are some rather odd people here, some with ships, and regular time-travellers, and people looking for spacemen ... materia could be anything to me, you see?"

They had just a few blocks to go, and Susan was glad; the sun was setting, and she was going to have to bus back to her apartment as it was, but the sooner, the better. One it dipped below the skyscrappers, it got pretty dark on the streets, pretty fast.

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herosheart
2011-07-24 03:06 am UTC (link)

"I'm not a wizard," Zack immediately corrected. "I'm just a soldier. You don't have to be a wizard to use materia. You just need to practice."

He was a little taken aback by the different types of people she described. He'd never heard of any of this outside of fiction, the same as Susan.

"Are we getting close?" he asked, taking note of the dying sunlight and not liking the idea of leaving Susan alone on the city streets after dark. "If we are, you can just give me directions. I'm sure you had someplace else to be."

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_believeinmagic
2011-07-24 03:12 am UTC (link)

She nodded. All the new different rules each person had coming in! How would they all survive in New York? What if they all weren't meant to?

She pushed such horrid thoughts out of her head and nodded, "It's the building at the end of the next block. I've seen you this far, I suppose I'll see you to the Welcome Center as well; we've passed my apartment already. It's just ..." she gave a little laugh, more to reassure herself. "The monsters come out after dark. Most of them, anyway."

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herosheart
2011-07-24 03:17 am UTC (link)

"In that case, all the more reason for you to give me directions and me to walk you to your place. I can handle monsters just fine. It's kind of in my job description. You, though ... " Zack gave her an apologetic smile. "No offense, but you look kind of like you'd be lunch."

He really wished that she understood he was stronger than she thought, and his injuries were hardly debilitating.

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	_believeinmagic 2011-07-24 03:28 am UTC (link)
	"You're hurt," she protested. And besides, once upon a time hadn't she fought monsters of her own? Sometimes she woke up and it had all been so real, especially in light of all the people coming into the city. One of them might show up after all. "I can't just leave you. If you get fixed up with your materia, I'll permit you to escort me home, how's that?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	herosheart 2011-07-24 03:36 am UTC (link)
	"Deal." She reminded him a little of Aerith, with her stubbornness, and Zack felt a pang of loss at the thought. He hadn't spoken to his girlfriend in five years, and she still had no idea what had happened to him. Getting back to her and explaining was a priority, once he wrapped things up here and got home. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_believeinmagic 2011-07-24 04:10 am UTC (link)
	"That was easy enough,"she laughed as they reached the gym; she paid the two dollars for an hourly card and handed it to Zack. "Okay, I'll just wait out here while you clean up; you sure your spell can handle it?" There wasn't much reading material in the front, but she'd manage, she always did. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

herosheart
2011-07-24 04:20 pm UTC (link)

"Thanks. I'll pay you back when I get a chance. And yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine." Zack flashed her another smile and took the card. He disappeared into the back, glad that the gym's layout wasn't all that different from the gyms Shinra kept for their employees.

Once he found the showers, he checked to make sure no one else was around to remark on the blood or the glow of the Cure spell. Then, he stripped down and did his best to dig out the bullets. He'd left his Buster Sword outside, safely concealed, but he didn't want to leave it there for long. After he'd scrubbed himself clean, he grabbed the materia and was pleased to see that the spell took care of the worst. He turned off the water and toweled off, then pulled some bandages from his meager supplies.

Zack headed back out to the front once he was taped up and dressed. "All set," he said, knowing that he looked significantly better, even if he was still a little stiff.

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_believeinmagic
2011-07-24 07:46 pm UTC (link)

"Consider it a welcome gift," Susan said. She liked the kid, even if he was a bit ... alien. Foreigner. Off. Odd. But he walked back to the gym front looking ... like a whole new person.

She couldn't help but narrow her eyes and give him a careful lookover. No, he didn't appear to have gone in and just hidden his wounds. He looked a lot better.

"All right," she conceded. "My apartment's back this way."

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	herosheart 2011-07-24 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	"Lead the way." Zack made a quick detour to retrieve his sword. It was probably a good thing it was getting a bit dark. He hadn't seen anyone else walking around with weapons, and he didn't want to get in trouble, but he was definitely not giving up the sword Angeal had bequeathed to him. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_believeinmagic 2011-07-24 09:30 pm UTC (link)
	"So instead of a wand, you've got materia and a giant sword," Susan observed as they doubled back to her apartment. "And you're a soldier, not a wizard or magician. I'm pretty much convinced now that if someone can imagine it, it can pop up here." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

herosheart
2011-07-24 09:35 pm UTC (link)

Zack laughed and reached back to ruffle the spikes of hair over his neck in a nervous gesture. "Yeah, well, I'll believe that when I see it. I still have to get used to the idea that I'm not even on my own planet anymore. I'm kind of worried, to tell you the truth. I left a buddy back home, and he can't really take care of himself. So what happens to him? I'm kind of hoping he might have gotten picked up. Is there a way I can try to find him, do you know? Something faster than walking all over the city, I mean."

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_believeinmagic
2011-07-24 09:53 pm UTC (link)

Susan felt a pang in her heart for Zack. Her entire family had left her. Being left behind was the worst possible feeling in the world.

"Yes," she said quietly. "As soon as you drop me off, I'll direct you to the Welcome Center. You'll need to take a bus, but I have some tokens. There's also these ... odd bulletin boards." She didn't know how to describe them other than magic. "You write on them, and the writing shows up on every bulletin board across the city. It's a bit different."

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	herosheart 2011-07-24 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	"Huh." Zack blinked. "So, sort of like a text message, but with paper." He guessed that was okay. He'd try the boards, definitely. They might give him a few leads. "About the bus ... are they going to throw me off for having this sword? I noticed no one else is carrying weapons." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_believeinmagic
2011-07-27 05:02 am UTC (link)

"Text message?" Susan asked. "You mean like a telegram? Or Morse? I suppose one doesn't need a paper for Morse code."

He was definitely confusing.

"They might, they might not," Susan said. "We're coming up on my place; I'll give you a bus token, and if they don't let you on, you can just buzz me and ... we'll figure something out." She would rather pay for his hotel room than let him - mostly his sword - stay with her.

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herosheart
2011-07-27 02:13 pm UTC (link)

"Thanks. I appreciate all of this." Zack really did. He'd been on the run for so long that the simple experience of walking somewhere with someone who didn't have the potential to turn him over to Shinra for another four years in the lab was a relief, even if he was still worried about Cloud.

"If there's ever anything I can do to pay you back, let me know, okay? I mean it."

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