Day 56: Bus 3

[rocksthecourt]

Waking carried a sense of disappointment along with it for the first time in a long time. Klavier actually sighed in irritation when he realized where he was. Damn it all. So they hadn't managed to move quickly enough to cover as much ground as they had hoped. It was a shame, really. Last night had actually proven to be relatively productive. If

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[tasteoftruth]

Badd's eyes fluttered open, and his first thoughts were of Byrne. Last night had been a miracle, an impossibility. Time travel did not exist and the dead did not come back to life, but it had felt far more real than any trauma-induced nightmare Byrne's corpse had ever wrought upon him. If it had all been a fantasy

[zack_fair]

Waking up in a warm bed was never something that should be cursed, though Zack realized even while half-asleep that he was just telling himself that

[tasteoftruth]

Hm? Oh, it was the soldier from yesterday, the Zack with no last name. He'd be a good place to start. "Didn't wind up needing it," Badd said, feigning interest in his bagged breakfast. "I had some things come up instead. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. You sound like you know a lot about this place." And about the time traveling weirdness that surrounded it.

At least he still seemed willing to talk. Badd wasn't sure how many potentially useful people he'd managed to alienate by yelling at them for their crazy beliefs, but once he got back to the bulletin board he had a lot of apologies to make. Skye's he'd say in person...she deserved more respect than he'd given her, she'd told him the truth even when she knew he'd dismiss it as nonsense.

The line inched forward and Badd mounted the bus, jerking his head to the side to encourage Zack to sit beside him.

[zack_fair]

He'd had "some things" come up?

Zack crossed his arms over his chest as he considered that. It was pretty vague, but this guy had been skimping on the details of his whole situation here since they'd first talked the day before, so there was no big surprise there. Still, the fact that he was now wanting to talk to him made it seem like he'd taken the time to think a bit harder on what they'd discussed

[tasteoftruth]

Badd flicked through his coupons. A free manicure? This place catered to all types, he supposed. Wonder if there was somewhere he could get a few decent suckers.

"Time travel," he said, casually rustling the little papers. "And the dead coming back to life. I've had a few things change my opinion on what's sane and what's crazy around here and I was wondering if you might have a few thoughts you didn't feel like sharing yesterday." There was an unspoken 'because you knew I'd think you were crazy' at the end of the sentence. From the way Zack had talked so cautiously and the way Badd had made it very, very blatant that he wasn't open to any talk that defied the laws of space-time, it was fairly obvious that Zack had at least some mild experience with Landel's oddities.

Badd got to the "Lil’ Tyke Toys" and noted a reference to a 'candy counter' hidden in the fine print. One eyebrow raised, as did the corner of his mouth. Jackpot.

"And if you want to trade coupons. I'll give you a burger lunch for the toy store one."

[zack_fair]

Zack had to admit he was curious about what could have changed the guy's mind so definitely and so quickly, but maybe that wasn't the sort of thing he could start prying into just yet. He'd probably get on the man's good side if he humored him at first, and then he could get around to questions later on. It seemed like the safest approach, although he couldn't help smiling to himself; everyone came around eventually

[tasteoftruth]

No answer on the coupon swap front. Maybe he could get one off Lana.

Zack's admittance was interesting, but not very informative. "Most of mine say they're from my past," he said, stacking the coupons together again. "I thought it was drugs at first, just messing with their memories. But even if they can make drugs to target memories of just a few years of your life, I don't think they can make them powerful enough to bring back a man who's been dead for the last seven years."

If Zack hadn't yet gotten that the mysterious guy-who-sees-dead-people he'd talked about yesterday was Badd himself, hopefully he'd get it now. Badd assumed a regretful pose, staring wistfully out the window as the bus continued to fill up.

[zack_fair]

So for this guy, it was basically the exact opposite of his own situation. Zack put a hand to his chin as he thought it over, though as the other man continued to explain, it became clear that he'd been referring to himself when talking about that situation yesterday. He'd already sort of suspected that, but it was good that the guy was being upfront about it now

[tasteoftruth]

It wasn't possible to put that sensation into words. The joy, the confusion, the aching regret, the intense urge to fall to him knees and apologize for failing him so badly or envelope him in a hug and never let him out of your sight again. Badd tried to keep himself toned down...he couldn't possibly be the only one at the institute who'd had this happen.

Definitely needed those suckers, when they hit town. Thinking this hard was even harder without the comforting feeling of hard sugar against his tongue.

"Hurts a little," he said, his voice quiet and graveling. "You spend seven years telling yourself that he's gone for good, that you need to move on with life and stop hurting, and then suddenly he's back again and all that pain comes rushing back. You don't want to believe it at first, because if they're back that means they can die again...that you can lose them twice in a lifetime." Geeze, Badd, is he your dead partner or your ex-boyfriend?

[zack_fair]

Even if that was toned down, Zack was still struck by the man's words. He'd imagined that it was something of a bittersweet feeling, but to hear it put into words so candidly was something that made him think twice as well. He remembered the way he'd felt when those rumors of Angeal still being alive had been going around -- how he'd almost been scared to believe it. Maybe he couldn't judge this guy so much for not wanting to accept it at first. If it had been some sort of fake-out, it probably would have hurt a lot more if he fell for it

[tasteoftruth]

Badd didn't return the smile. "I'm not sure he sees it that way. His memory ends about twenty minutes before he would have died, he thought I was the crazy one until I convinced him that I really was seven years on from him." You'd think the grey hair would have been proof enough, but Badd had done his own share of denial too. "To him, he's never missed a day."

It wasn't Byrne who had the second chance, it was Badd. With Kay out of the way and on the run there was literally nothing left to Badd that was more important than protecting Byrne. He would not fail his friend again, no matter what this place threw at them, his life was fully lived and far less important than making sure the most virtuous prosecutor who existed continued to stay that way.

Though again, a little candy would at least make his prison time easier. "Salon, maybe?" he offered, holding up another coupon. "Could get yourself a nice haircut."

[zack_fair]

Oh, well. That did make it a little harder, didn't it

[tasteoftruth]

"Grocery, maybe? I was hoping to get a little something sweet before we went back to pink goo, and I'm only a Class D." He'd have to figure out how this ranking system worked, probably by interrogating Javert again. Javert got special rights for some reason, even if he seemed to hate the institute as much as everyone else.

Badd sat back, fingers idly toying with the little stack of papers. "Of course he knows. I flipped out and treated him like a ghost when I first saw him, it would be impossible to keep anything from him now. I'd have told him anyway, he deserves to know the way things are, even if it makes things tougher."

The bus shuddered to a start and Badd looked out the window. He wanted to keep an eye on their route to town, in case he had a chance to walk the path later. Kay would have gone this way. "I think his biggest worry was that he never got to see his daughter grow up."

[zack_fair]

"Nope, nothing like that either," Zack replied with a sigh as he sent a glance out the window. It was good that they were getting moving, although the trip honestly didn't take that long by bus. It was trying to walk all the way to town that sounded like a suicide march. This weather didn't help, of course. It wasn't the snow that made it bad so much as the windchill

[tasteoftruth]

Looked like this guy wasn't interested in dealing. Badd had made a few prison negotiations in his short time in the pen (mostly with cigarettes, which he hadn't touched in years) but he was no good at making a hard bargain.

"Fair enough," he said, also checking their course. The road seemed pretty straightforward. It would have been cold that night but not unbearable, enough for Kay to still make a few miles' hike down an empty road. And that didn't discount other buildings in the area where she could have cowered down for a few hours of rest before she headed out again. "No idea what this letter system's about, by the way. I guess it's a military thing. All I know is that the S class get special treatment and the guards like some of us more than others." He hadn't thought to check what Byrne's status was, he'd been too caught up in just finding him alive. They'd put their heads together when they got back to the institute again and be more professional this time.

[zack_fair]

"Yeah, it's just a ranking system," Zack replied with a roll of his shoulders. It wasn't so different from moving from being an infantryman up into Third, Second, and First Class back home, except that in that case you actually had to prove yourself. Here it was simply a seniority system, it looked like. "Based completely on the length of time spent here, I think." It was true that more experience usually also meant more competence, but that was hardly the only way to judge someone's abilities