[Action]

[wingenvy]

[Okay, so. He'd been en route to Midgar with Cloud. With a motorcycle, it had been awesome. And they'd been making good progress! Sure, he wasn't all that certain about directions, but being underground for so long can screw with a guy a little. There's no helping it. He'd been in a pretty good mood, though.

So if things had been going well for the first time in ages, why did he wake up this morning and find himself in the woods, alone and unarmed, in a fresh pair of white pants that didn't belong to him? It meant he hadn't been captured, since he wasn't in the lab, so... what? Seriously, what?

More importantly, where is Cloud!?

There's a sense of panic he hasn't felt since the troopers in Nibelheim had first started dragging Cloud away from him, so he wastes no time getting up and heading off to get a look around. If the military isn't responsible for this, maybe Cloud just wandered off (somehow) after whoever it was had taken Zack out. Man, so much for life getting easier...

tl;dr Zack will be ducking around the village early-ish in the morning, trying to make the most of the late November sunrise by doing his best ninja impression. He's trying not to be seen, but how effective he is at doing so? Really depends. SOLDIERs are sadly not ninjas.]

Comments

[wingenvy]

Ah, Modeoheim... doesn't really exist anymore. It used to be up north by Icicle Inn, but it was abandoned way before we even went there.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

So it was snowy. [Cloud mulls this around; helicopter crash in the snow. That has to ring some bells, right?

...unfortunately not yet. He scowls a bit and scratches the back of his neck.] I don't remember any of it. What happened?

[wingenvy]

[Damn, his memory really is messed up.] It's... kind of a long story. We were looking for some SOLDIERs who'd abandoned Shinra and were causing trouble. We tried to rescue a scientist, but he got away when- [When Angeal changed...] ...When a monster attacked, and... yeah, it was kind of a mess. [He smiles faintly.] But I'm glad you were there.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Glad I was there? As what, a decoy? [He was just a trooper then, a new trooper at that. Possibly even fresh out of boot camp; he would've been completely useless in the face of a SOLDIER's might.]

[wingenvy]

No way, you were really helpful! You chased after the scientist. If you weren't there we might not have found the most dangerous area at all. [Not gonna say what the danger was, or that Cloud got knocked out, or anything else...]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Oh.

...well, glad I could help then. [Coolness. He wasn't so pathetic after all. Then again, Zack could just be trying to comfort him, but y'know what? Cloud's okay with that for now. He knows he was pretty sorry back then anyway.]

[wingenvy]

Yep. It's too bad we didn't get to hang out much after that.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

We didn't? [Though it shouldn't come as surprise. Vastly differing ranks and all.]

[wingenvy]

...Nah, not really. I mean, I saw you a few times! And I took you out to lunch, along with a bunch of other troopers. But things at Shinra weren't going all that well, especially in SOLDIER. I didn't have a lot of free time.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Oh. [That's...weird, but also a relief. So he isn't missing that much after all.] So I guess we didn't end up talking much then, did we?

[wingenvy]

[Zack shrugs. Most of their getting-to-know-you phase took place in Nibelheim, and... well, he wouldn't want Cloud to remember that anyway.]

Does it matter that much? I mean, we're still friends, right?

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Yeah...

[It's a lame answer and Cloud knows it, but he's reluctant to give away too much. How do you say "Not really we barely know each other," to the guy who died to save your life?

Exactly. You don't.]

Oh, uh- There's a grocery over there. Do you wanna go to a restaurant or just pick something up here? Since we've still got to look for a place to sleep.

[wingenvy]

I'm fine with just picking up whatever's there. If we really want something fancy we can wait until we're settled.

[Which is a weird thing to imagine- staying in one place like this. Especially a place where they're just experiments again. They'll definitely have to do some investigating soon.]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Oh yeah. They're probably going to share a living space, aren't they? Not that Cloud isn't used to it, it's just been a while since he's done so with a complete stranger.

His answer is a noncommittal hum; thankfully Cloud ate recently so he's not all that hungry, so once they collect whatever they plan on eating Cloud leads them over to the nearest apartment complex (C4) as per the map he lifted from the Welcome Center.]

This place should have empty rooms in it; that's what the girl told me anyway.

[wingenvy]

So we get our own apartment and everything? Man, Hojo needs to take notes from these guys or something. We were seriously gypped.

[It's kind of weird, mentioning such a sore subject with someone who was there but doesn't remember it at all. At least this way Zack can joke around a bit for his own sake without worrying about offending or upsetting Cloud. He's not sure how else to deal with it anyway- besides the obvious option of not dealing with it at all.]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Hojo needs to go to hell is what Hojo needs to do. [Nevermind that he's already dead.

Cloud flips the map over, where he'd scribbled a few things.] The apartments come furnished already, so that's good. Looks like we just have to keep trying doors until we find one that doesn't have anybody in it. There should be keys on the counter.

[wingenvy]

No argument here. [Zack would celebrate if he knew, but rather than dwell on the topic, he just heads right into the building, arms clasping together behind his head.] This is still so surreal. Are you sure we're not dead or dreaming or something?

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Urk.]

I asked and everyone said this isn't the Lifestream, so I'm going with "not dead" until someone proves otherwise.

[wingenvy]

[Huh, well. That works for him. He shrugs and keeps walking along the main floor, jiggling a few of the door handles as he goes. When he reaches the fourth, it clicks and opens, allowing him to peer inside.]

Hey, this one looks empty.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Great, let's take it.

[Map back into ear pocket. Cloud is totally fine with snatching the first room they come across.]

And let's turn on the heat, it's freezing. [Cloud isn't particularly cold but he's not comfortable either, and that is unacceptable when there's no mako bill to pay. He heads over to the thermostat and fiddles with it.]

[wingenvy]

[Zack nods, dumping the food they'd picked up on the counter and sifting through until he finds the sliced ham and some bread. Heck yeah, massive meat sandwich incoming.] Looks like we'll really have to stock up. This place is pretty barebones.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

At least the food's free, right? [The heat clicks on and Cloud throws himself onto the couch with a sigh, putting his feet up on the coffee table.]

[wingenvy]

Yeah, no kidding. [The words are a bit muffled; he's trying not to look it, but Zack's eating kind of ravenously. One doesn't eat very well while constantly on the run, and he can't really remember the last time he had a chance to sit down and have a nice, relaxing meal. Even with the wings and experimentation and whatever else people were talking about, he can't help but think about how peaceful it is.]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud knew he'd be hungry.

He watches Zack inhale the sandwich with a raised brow before leaning his head back and closing his eyes.]

Uggh...I need to sleep. I've been wandering around since I got here.

[wingenvy]

Well why the heck didn't you get an apartment sooner? [It's just a tease, and hopefully Cloud will pick up on that. He's not used to people not knowing how he acts.] I can see three rooms, so... probably bedrooms? If you wanna go ahead and sleep, I can keep watch.