Day 56: Bus 3
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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"I guess that makes sense, yeah," he said as he glanced out the window, taking in the snowy landscape and remembering the first time he met Cloud. It was something that had been on his mind too much lately, though that was partly because he hadn't had the chance to really speak much with his friend since he'd returned. He hoped he could find him today.
"But hey," he continued, looking over to the man and offering a smile, "I bet that your friend is going to make sure he makes the most of this second chance. He probably won't be dying again so soon." He wasn't sure if he was being too transparent now, but he could handle that later. Right now, it seemed like the man needed some cheering up. The return of a dead friend should have been a good thing, but Zack understood how many complications came with it. He just hoped he didn't put his friends through too much grief. There had been enough of that already.
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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."
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Zack had at least been certain of his death; it was kind of hard not to be when he'd been shot the amount of times that he had. He'd felt his body giving out on him up on that cliff, and he'd known it was the end. The fact that this guy's friend was totally oblivious to his own death made the whole situation a lot more sensitive. "Have you told him about what happens to him, or...?"
What would be the better thing? To leave him blissfully unaware or to prepare him for what might come? Zack didn't know what he would have liked more, although he'd realized that his hike across a continent and a half with a near-comatose friend had been a suicide run almost from the start, so...
It seemed that the guy was pretty set on doing a coupon swap, though, and so after a moment Zack started flipping through the book he'd been provided. "I don't think I have one for the toy store," he admitted. "Looks like it's just for some food, a manicure, or a massage." Most of which didn't appeal to him, but at least they were being given a small stipend beyond that. It beat last week.
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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."
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"And hey, I'm only Class C. That means I've got... what, ten dollars?" And while he could have asked about how much that would be likely to buy him, Zack wasn't going to push his luck. The guy had come to believe that it was possible for people to come back to life here, but that didn't mean he was going to accept the idea of other worlds existing quite so quickly. Zack would just have to see the prices and work things out for himself when they got there.
Though the mention of this not-quite-dead friend having a daughter caused Zack to pause. At least he hadn't been leaving any children behind when he'd died. That was something he could barely even comprehend at his age, but he still felt for this man who he'd never even met. His parents had buried their child without realizing it, but the other way around had to be just as bad. Though it wasn't as if Zack hadn't left some people behind. He hadn't even been able to explain things to Aerith, for one thing. He'd at least gotten the chance to see her here and sort things out, but did that count for much when she'd disappeared again?
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"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.
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Then again, Zack wasn't looking to be judged or ranked by these people in the first place. He'd had more than enough of that. With a sigh, he cast a glance out the window, trying to keep track of the bends in the road as they made their way down. He still was pretty sure the only way to move such a far distance at night was with one of those rings, but that was neither here nor there.
"So, any other questions?" he asked as he leaned a bit further back into the seat and crossed his arms over his chest. His legs were getting cramped, so he did what he could to stretch them out, though they weren't really allotted much room on these things...
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