2nd Floor Common Room, Thursday Afternoon

[puppy_fair]

Well, Zack's trip back to Midgar certainly could have been better, but ShinRa had kept him busy enough after Angeal's disappearance to more or less get his mind off of the worst of it. There had been remnants of the Wutai forces to hunt down, after all, and then one of the ShinRa scientists had rigged up a simulation of Ifrit for Zack to beat up on once he was back in Midgar. He'd smacked that down a few times, until he was satisfied that he could take on the real thing again without needing Sephiroth to show up to save his butt, and then this morning, he'd gone summon-hunting.

Now, he was back on the island, with all of his swag from his assorted missions spread out on the floor for inspection. Mr. Winkles the gerbil, who had put on a little weight while Zack was out due to a precautionary over-feeding, was rolling about in his hamster ball, burning off all of that extra fall-break flab.

The bulletproof vest, he was totally keeping handy for his next mission. He was already wearing the earrings and fire armlet that he'd picked up in Wutai, and the Ifrit materia he'd gotten from his re-match was tucked away safely in his pocket. There were a few other assorted Materia for him to consider, and some potions and such that he was poking at now. Those three X-Potions were totally being put aside for a rainy day, with the two Elixirs...

He could be at this a while.

[Open, naturally, if there's anyone left alive out there on the island. I promise I won't Final Fantasy geek you to death if you drop in. Unless you want me to.]

Comments

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Zack!" Jennifer said, bounding in. Yes, she'd called in to work. She didn't think anyone would be around to need legal-ness.

"I thought you were gone all week."

[puppy_fair]

"Most of it," Zack clarified, smiling and sitting back from his mess-of-stuff with a little wave. "Some stuff kinda came up, but I got the work done more thoroughly than the Director had expected, so here I am while they deal with the messy stuff."

Mr. Winkles and his hamster ball of pain and destruction were going to roll on over and attempt to bump fiendishly and devastatingly into Jen's ankles. Fear.

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Oh, stuff at home?" Jennifer said, and then Mr. Winkles bumped into her.

"...well, that's a fine hello."

[puppy_fair]

"He likes you," Zack decided, grinning a little and reaching over to pick up the ball, peering inside at the little bundle of gerbil rage that was glaring up at him from inside.

Someday, Mr. Winkles would break free of his plastic prison and exact his revenge upon humankind for this humiliating captivity. Wait and see.

"But, yeah. Stuff at home. I mean, I think it's stuff. It might not be stuff. It could be... not-stuff. Stuff that isn't really stuff-like at all. You know?"

Actually, Zack wasn't entirely certain if he knew what he was going on about, by that point.

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"...I have no idea what you just said," Jennifer said, before she laughed.

[puppy_fair]

Zack laughed a little, too, putting the ball down and shaking his head.

"Angeal went missing on our mission to Wutai," he explained.

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Oh no," Jennifer said, her laugh and smile completely fading away.

[puppy_fair]

Zack shrugged, idly poking at one of the balls of materia that he'd picked off of an anti-SOLDIER monster.

"There one minute, and gone the next. But it's probably nothing. I mean, he's strong. Stronger than I am. And all about the honor and duty. He'll be back soon."

Denial and Zack were old friends. They went way back together.

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Wait, he... literally just vanished?" Jennifer said.

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"I think there's something wrong with me," Elena admitted, to the other girl. "I've kind of been enjoying everyone being gone."

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"...really?" Jennifer said. "You don't find it creepy quiet?"

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"Actually, no," Elena said. "It seems peaceful. I've been up on the roof, doing paperwork and relaxing. What have you been up to?"

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Homework, reading, and wondering why its so quiet," Jennifer said. "So... similar stuff."

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"It feels like we're just ... waiting around backstage," she laughed. "All the props are here, but everything's empty."

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Jennifer said. "Like all the other players went on a tour and took the audience or... something."

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"We should start ad-libbing," Elena said. "But I don't know where that bit of the metaphor takes us."

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"I think we lost the metaphor a while ago," Jennifer said.

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

Actual noises, from the common room! Elena had to admit, she was enjoying the Ghost Town aspects, but she was craving human interaction, too.

"Hey," she said, poking her head in. "I thought you were on the trip?"

[puppy_fair]

"I was on a trip," Zack reported, smiling a little at the familiar face. "Just, not the one that everyone else is on. Director Lazard has me back on active duty, now, so I'll probably actually get real work to do from time to time, now."

Hence the impressive spread of kinda impressive stuff that was laid out before him.

... Okay, the X-potions and the Elixirs were pretty awesome.

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"Are those Elixirs?" Elena asked, voice properly reverent. "Wow. Did you win those from some monster, or do they give SOLDIER way better equip than us Turks?"

[puppy_fair]

"Give them to us?" Zack almost laughed at that. "Noooo way. I took one off a Wutai troop, and the other from an infantryman in a training mission, actually. Looks to me like they're the ones that get the good equipment. The best I got from ShinRa was..."

He rummaged through the pile on the floor, and then held up a bronze bangle. A somewhat dinged up, cheap-looking one.

"This. Before I left on the mission."

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

Elena took the bangle, glancing it over. "This thing barely has any slots," she said, raising an eyebrow. "They wanted you to fight the war with this?"

After a moment's consideration, she raised her sleeve and began unfastening her own armor. "They didn't give this to me right away," she added, before handing him her Minerva Band.

[puppy_fair]

Zack had to spare a moment for an appreciative 'oooo' as he took the armor and looked it over. It was nice.

"Six slots, all linked? What kind of defense does this thing have?"

Because that bronze bangle there? Its defense stat was sitting on the piddly side of puny.

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"Mid to high end," Elena said. "A little better with physical than magic, and it nullifies a couple of elements -- fire, cold, gravity. I usually fight hand-to-hand, and there's not much room for anything on my gun, so at least this has me covered."

Also, it was apparently girls-only? Maybe that was just because it looked like a bracelet and the guys refused to wear it.

[puppy_fair]

"Wooow. Far better than anything I've got, then." Zack smiled and held it back out to her. "I picked up a pair of earrings in a chest on mission, and I had to take out an entire army contingent before the Director even considered handing me the Fire Armlet that I'm wearing. The bulletproof vest? That's Wutaian, too."

ShinRa was damn cheap with their SOLDIERs, yes.