InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You are my sunshine."

☁ (onewolf) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-07-27 12:46:00

Entry tags:

!log, cloud strife, zack fair

ouija boards are useless
Who: Cloud Strife + Zack Fair
What: The good kind of a reunion, the kind where no one dies.
When: Lunchtime
Where: Starts at the Welcome Center
Rating/status: ~G/finished.

Cloud had been plagued by the effects of a mysterious chest box since it arrived yesterday. He was already closing shop that time when in his packing up, he'd passed an old chest waiting for him just beneath the window of his office without a note of any address. In recollection, he figured he should have already realized it to be a dangerous piece but then he'd had to crouch close and open it. And out popped a behemoth.

He hated monsters-in-a-box. The monster had left deep wounds against his walls, his windows had been replaced by plastic sheets, paper and scotch tape and he sustained some damage himself -- a cut on his cheek near his ear, a scratch on his left arm and several bruises for when he was sent flying to his desk.

He spent the entire morning cleaning up debris and replacing documents and his desk which was tedious tasks in themselves but it gave him something to do as he thought. In response to his PSA, a good friend -- his best friend -- had replied to him and he was someone he hadn't seen in about 8 years...because he had died. And now, he was alive in this strange city of New York. It was possible, entirely possible -- but then he had never expected it.

And now he realized...that all those people who died...could come back, again...

Cloud cleared his mind as he drove Fenrir out of his office building and towards the Welcome Center although he carried no parcels this time. It was not a very long drive, perhaps a little less than half an hour and when he got there...he waited. He didn't know what to do. He thought he could just wait outside until Zack came out but the lack of a cell network made it all more difficult. He could strut in, but he didn't know how he could find Zack in there and what if Zack was still getting ready? He didn't want to rush him, not when he had time, again...

When Zack does come out, Cloud will be there waiting for him -- this was his final decision. So he let Fenrir sleep for the moment as he straightened his back and went about fixing the strap of his riding goggles behind his head.

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herosheart
2011-08-03 01:33 am UTC (link)

Zack paused with a slice of pizza halfway to his mouth and stared at Cloud for a minute. He didn't mean to be rude. He was just surprised. Had Cloud just given him a job offer? Cloud? Of all people? It wasn't that Zack didn't expect Cloud to be that type of person so much as the fact that he'd never imagine Cloud being in that position. Zack had always been the one to look after Cloud, and not vice versa.

"Really?" he asked. "Are you sure?" It wasn't that he didn't want the job or think he could do it. He definitely wanted it, and knew he'd be decent at it, but he didn't want to cut into Cloud's livelihood. He had no idea how much Cloud was actually making, or if he could spare any of that money. "Not that I mind working with you. I don't." He grinned. "You're probably my favorite person to work with, I just ... You don't have to feel obligated."

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onewolf
2011-08-03 02:04 am UTC (link)

Cloud shook his head. "You're the only person I want to offer this to," he said honestly before he finished his pizza. "It makes sense. We're friends, we're both strangers here..." he paused for a bit... "...and you looked out for me, so now it's my turn to look out for you." Except that didn't sound very "right", Cloud realized after he'd just said it, no matter how right it all really is.

"You get what I mean," he said with a quick shake of his head as he took another slice of pizza.

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herosheart
2011-08-03 02:15 am UTC (link)

"Yeah. I get it," Zack said, grinning. "You've got a deal. Thanks, man."

What he didn't tell Cloud was that he had every intention of using the work as an excuse to keep an eye on him. Zack couldn't quite quell the urge to look out for his friend. It was just the type of man he was. He helped his friends in whatever way he could. Eventually, hopefully, that overprotective streak he had when it came to Cloud would ease off as he became more comfortable with the idea that the other man really was fine.

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onewolf
2011-08-03 04:42 am UTC (link)

Zack had accepted, and Cloud was content. The corners of his lips peaked up a little and he deemed the conversation finished as he began to eat his food, less voraciously this time.

"I'll send you the address later," he said. He had meant to ask Zack for his phone number when he realized that the cell network didn't exist for public consumption in this place so he added, "I've got a calling card." How primitive.

"What kinda stuff have you been doing, anyway?"

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herosheart
2011-08-03 05:14 pm UTC (link)

Zack nodded at Cloud's mention of the address and calling card, holding back a snicker at the idea of Cloud having the latter in the first place. He'd managed to demolish most of a pizza slice by the time Cloud brought up the question of what he'd been doing, and held a hand up to ask for patience while he finished chewing.

"Errands, really," he finally said. "A couple of deliveries. Helped a few widows move some furniture. Did a little construction work the other day. You know. Odd jobs that people need done but don't want to hire a professional for."

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onewolf
2011-08-04 01:07 am UTC (link)

Pretty much the same thing he had been doing before he began bombing places, Cloud thought. How nostalgic.

"It's hard to see you in the construction industry," Cloud shared as he continued with his food. "But...I guess it's not entirely strange either." If they could wield a ginormous sword, what was a puny jackhammer to them?

Still, it was sort of nice to know, Cloud felt, that Zack had done what he "wanted" to do still -- becoming a mercenary -- and it was like a dream come true, in a sense. Now all he had to be was a hero.

"...hey," he said almost suddenly as the thought struck, a faint wrinkle in-between his brows as he addressed his friend, "...but during your odd jobs...you weren't asked to fight things, were you? Monsters or anything."

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herosheart
2011-08-04 08:21 pm UTC (link)

Zack shrugged. "It's hard to be in the construction industry. I kept having to act like I needed machinery to move stuff around that I could have just picked up and thrown. That and be careful I didn't fall from anywhere high up. Don't think any of the locals would know what to do with me if I got up and walked away from a three-story drop, you know? The first person I ran into when I got here kept looking at me like I was nuts when I told her a few bullet holes weren't really a problem."

Susan had meant well, he knew, and he appreciated her concern and her help, but it felt good to finally be able to talk to someone who knew as well as he did a SOLDIER's abilities. Cloud wasn't likely to blow a gasket if he saw Zack take a header from a roof by accident and shake it off like it was nothing. At least, he hoped not.

"Monsters, huh? No. I haven't run into any. Didn't hear about any sightings, either. Why? Have you?"

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onewolf
2011-08-05 01:06 am UTC (link)

Cloud wanted to laugh at Zack's story -- and anyway, he might have. There was a happy smile on his face as images of Zack heaving cranes or plopping down to the ground, standing up, dusting himself and walking away flashed in his mind and he shook his head, dipping it a little as if to hide his glee. It was a funny vision and what made it funny was because it was real.

The part of the bullets, that wasn't funny. Cloud had then realized that Zack had come in just mere moments before he had died, and his smile might have faded but it was still there: because he was still happy that Zack had come in before he died...

He pointed to a red hued decoration near his ear. "Just recently," Cloud said to explain before he picked up his pizza and bit from it, again. "It was last week, I think, when the monsters began appearing. Several people died, there were a lot of attacks. It's better now." But the dead stayed dead...

He found himself looking at Zack at this thought.

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herosheart
2011-08-05 02:16 am UTC (link)

Zack raised an eyebrow at his friend. So there had been trouble, and Cloud had been dealing with it. Well, he shouldn't have been surprised, he supposed. Cloud had wanted so badly to be a SOLDIER, and now he was, or near enough to one from the look of him. Zack should have expected his friend to find a way to put those enhancements to good use. Cloud was a good guy, after all.

"Does stuff like that happen much around here, or was it the first time that you know of?"

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	onewolf 2011-08-05 02:30 am UTC (link)
	"I don't really know," Cloud said honestly and after a moment of thought. At least he wasn't sure if this had been happening in the past, before he wound up here. "It sounds like it's the first time," he said after another pause and another bite, "from what I've been hearing around me. You're lucky you didn't get an attack," but anyway, it's slowed down now. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

herosheart
2011-08-05 04:21 pm UTC (link)

"Sounds like it," Zack agreed. "At least now I know to keep an eye out for them. Might give me something to do during down time, except for that whole problem where the Buster Sword is really noticable and people here don't carry swords." He frowned in disappointment, the expression so close to a pout that it was evident why Angeal had taken to calling Zack a puppy during his mentorship.

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	onewolf 2011-08-07 03:25 am UTC (link)
	OOC: continued here! (Reply to this) (Parent)

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