fandomhighdorms | 2nd Floor Common Room, Thursday Afternoon

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.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"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."

"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.

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

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

"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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

"For all I know," Zack sighed, shaking his head. "No, he didn't just disappear into thin air or anything. Some guys attacked, and he stayed behind to deal with them while I took the Director someplace safe. When I came back to help, he was gone. But the guys who attacked were dead on the ground, so it wasn't as though they grabbed him or anything. They were pushovers."

Really. Zack had taken out three at once. Angeal only had two to handle.

"Oh, Zack," Jennifer said. She walked over to be closer. "You... want a hug?"

"A hug would be nice," he agreed, pulling himself to his feet and holding open his arms. He wouldn't turn down a hug at the best of times. Right now, he kinda needed one. He'd feel better after a hug. Hugs were awesome that way.

Jen hugged Zack tight. "It'll be okay," she said.

Zack was going to kinda just hang on for all he was worth for a moment or two. See? He felt better already.

"Well, of course it will be," he replied, smiling again. "He's Angeal. He probably went off chasing after remnants of the enemy army, or something, and hasn't had the opportunity to contact us about it yet. It's just kinda weird, that's all."

Anything that Sephiroth had told Zack was getting the 'la la la I didn't heeeear you la la la' treatment for a while, yet.

"Yeah," Jennifer said. "Kicking ass and taking names. Like my cousin."

"Your cousin?" Zack tilted his head a little as he eased slightly out of the hug. It was still a nice hug, so he wasn't backing off entirely or anything, but conversations were easier when you could look at who you were talking to. "Is your cousin, uhm... Kinda missing, too?"

Jennifer nodded. "But... I'm very sure he can take care of himself."

And then Zack was smiling again.

"Like Angeal, then. I don't think they've bred an anti-SOLDIER monster that can get the better of him. Your cousin's a fighter, is he?"

"He's... like me," Jennifer said.

"Oooooooooooh."

Well, that answered that, then. Zack chewed on his lip for a moment before speaking again.

"Is that why he's missing, then? I mean, he's not on the run or anything, is he?"

"...He is," Jennifer said, wincing a little. "I think he has more control problems than I do."

Zack winced a little, too, sorry he'd brought it up.

"If, uh... If you ever find out that he needs help, you know you can ask me anytime, right? I mean, for anything. I don't mind."

"If he needs help, I don't want to risk you getting hurt," Jennifer said. "I've found some newspaper photos. He's... he's huge when he's green."

And at that, Zack just kinda grinned.

"If he's anything like the two huge guys I took down the other day, or the fire deity I beat up this morning, then I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

He was only bragging a little. So it was okay.

"...you beat up a deity this morning?" Jennifer said.

Page 1 of 4

2nd Floor Common Room, Thursday Afternoon

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject