Day 56: Twin Pines Restaurant (late afternoon)

[lookitmemama]

Window shopping--no, that was too lofty a word to be used with this quaint town. Looking at things all day (yeah, that worked much better) was all well and good until the chilly air became less than bearable. With the sun sinking into the earth, the shadows grew across the sidewalk and made pockets of frigid air. The redhead groused with each

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[bigdamnzero]

After parting ways with Zack, he'd hit up store after store in his search for Tifa, not really bothering to buy anything just yet. His first idea had been to go to every place they'd received a coupon for, even venturing a moment into the nail salon, but each try was met with no luck. In frustration, Cloud had shoved his hands in his pockets and noticed that he... still had one last unchecked slip of paper. Well.

So it was that he was now sauntering into some joint name of Twin Pines, eyes skipping from patron to patron lined up in the wait for a table. If anything, he could take a moment here to figure out the next area he would hit up next rather than just retrace his steps throughout Doyleton in the hopes that he and Tifa'd run into each other somehow.

His travelling gaze landed on a dark head of hair that seemed familiar before moving to the tables restlessly as his stomach clenched. Maybe he would get something to eat, too -- wait. He glanced back sharply, recognizing that the dark-haired girl was in fact--

"Tifa?" Shouldering his way out of the line-up, Cloud made his way over to her, repeating her name more audibly than his murmur before.

[36_24_35]

She straightened at the sound of her name, assuming her table was already waiting for her. What she found waiting was more than she expected. "Cloud!" Surprise melted into a warm smile as he moved closer to her seat. Words came to mind five at a time and lodged themselves in her throat, but the young woman kept her smile sealed shut until she felt she could talk without embarrassing herself.

"Want to have dinner with me?" She asked as casually as she could. "We've got cathin' up to do, I'm sure."

Thankfully, neither of them had wait in limbo much longer. A female voice called out "Tifa, party of one" and beckoned her back to the podium.

"Is it alright if I brought an extra?" Tifa pointed to the man behind her.

"Yeah, that's fine. Follow me..." They were sat at a small table for four, laminated menus set before them while the waitress got them two glasses of water.

"So--"Tifa wasn't sure where to start, but out of the two of them, the brunette knew she was the most likely to be the one to cave in and start these conversations. She did it with her best expression, though. "--You've been here three days, right?" Hopefully this would segue into something more productive than awkward silence.

[bigdamnzero]

"Dinner sounds good."

He returned Tifa's warm smile with a brief one of his own, part of him relieved to see that his worries that she might have been hurt or unwell the night before were unfounded, and followed her as the waitress directed them to their table, a window placement for four.

Cloud took his seat opposite her, glancing at the menus as he wondered what the place had. Tasty Burger had been obvious enough, what with the name. He looked back at Tifa as she broached the momentary silence, glad that he hadn't had to.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Around that. ... How about you, Tifa? When'd you get here?"

Tifa was right; they did have some catching up to do, not in the least because of the talking that they hadn't done (and should have) back home. Cloud knew this last was his fault, knew that their conversations had been strained as of late because of this.

Then there was the fact that they hadn't gotten a chance to talk that first night, either. He had gotten the impression then that she'd been at Landel's for a while -- longer than he had, for sure -- maybe around the same time Zack had. Or Yuffie. Zack had met the both of them before Cloud and he had spoken, at any rate.

[36_24_35]

"It's been almost two weeks for me..." It was hard to tell time in this place, which was probably what the staff wanted. This was her second time in Doyleton, however, and they only did it once a week so it was safe to say that nearly two weeks was a good estimate.

"It's funny--" She began softly, not sure where to put her eyes, so they just kept to her hands on the table, freshly manicured with an opalescent blue. "--When I got here, you were already at the institute for a long time, even though... Even though I had just seen you a day or so before coming here. Everyone had gotten here before me. But there's only the four of us now." Her face grew despondent as she thought of those they had lost, especially Red. Tifa felt like such a failure, unable to protect the kid when he had needed it most. The brunette couldn't say that Reno was her favorite anymore than the other ShinRa lackeys, but no one deserved to disappear without a fighting chance.

And now Cloud was back, which meant Marlene and Denzel were once again on their own. She could only hope Marlene could get a hold of Barret before something unthinkable happened.

"Well, with you here again, and Zack, we can figure a way out of here. We haven't met an obstacle we couldn't overcome with a little elbow grease." This hellish place was no different. They just needed to become more organized since their constant side-missions didn't exactly get a lot done, at least hers didn't. But Zack hadn't found a way out by himself so he couldn't have been faring much better in the escaping department than Tifa.

[bigdamnzero]

Two weeks?

A slow frown as he remembered that the last time he'd seen Tifa had been a lot less than two weeks. This bit of surprise was nothing to the one he received hearing her next words, however, and Cloud's eyes widened, lips parting to ask further -- and then closing the next moment, not wanting to interrupt just yet. But it didn't make sense, it was impossible, just like everything else about this place. How could he have been here before and not remember it?

His gaze, not having drawn away from Tifa, took in the way her expression went from pensive and unsure to morose. Downcast. Just the four of them left. What had happened to the others? His thoughts went back to what Lightning had said on the bus about prisoners who were gone, that there was a theory they'd either been "released", meaning made to think they were who the institute pretended they were, or... dead.

Cloud shook his head, eyes finally dropping from Tifa's to the table, resting on her hands. Her nails were blue. evened out. She must've been to the nail salon before he'd glanced in there, then. There were a lot of questions bubbling to the top of his mind, but there was one thing he had to make sure of first.

"Tifa, when you say I was here before, was I... myself? What happened?" He couldn't quite keep the hint of uncertainty out of his voice, recalling the last time his memory had been tampered with.

ack missed this notif /)_(\

[36_24_35]

With the onslaught of questions, Tifa wondered if it would have been better to have said nothing. Could he handle the truth--well, as Tifa told it? She was rather at a loss for what exactly was going on in this false institute herself. There were theories, sure, but beside random kidnappings throughout time and space, who knew what the staff wanted from them. It probably didn't matter in the end. People did diabolical things for no better reason than to prove that they could.

So what should she say? Was she afraid that Cloud might react badly? Maybe, but was there time for delicacy? If this continued, they would all disappear sooner or later. Tifa couldn't let that happen anymore.

"You were just like you are now. Nothing seemed wrong, like you were brainwashed or anything. It was you, and then... A few days ago you disappeared. Now you're back. Apparently, it's kind of common.

"Have--What was the last thing you remember before coming here?"

lj's been stupid /punts it also i'm so sorry for the late ;;;;

[bigdamnzero]

A quiet exhale as she confirmed that he hadn't been behaving anything other than his usual. It wasn't in relief, not exactly, not when the implication was that he'd been taken back by the staff or whoever was responsible for the mess they were all in, and had his memory meddled with. But at least he hadn't been, as Tifa was saying, brainwashed -- made to do something against his normal self.

... The last thing he remembered. Well, if Cloud hadn't already had his gaze averted to the table, he would've been looking down right about now. He did his best to keep his expression neutral, but he had a feeling Tifa'd be able to tell something of his hesitance.

"I was on a delivery," he started slowly, wondering what the last thing Tifa remembered, if he ought to mention the circumstances he'd left the bar. Namely, before going to deliver the bouquet to Elmyra. "On my way back from a delivery, I mean. Then Fenrir... must've had an accident, because the next thing I knew I was-- waking up back in the Institute."

He was saved further explanation by the re-arrival of the waitress, carrying two tall glasses of water and an expectant look as she asked them their order. Cloud glanced up at Tifa questioningly.