Day 57: Game Room (Third Shift)

[zack_fair]

Having already met two new people today, Zack found that his mood was slowly starting to improve, if only out of necessity. While he didn't like dumping his problems on his friends, he was even less willing to do so with a stranger. More than that, Rose had been very personable and he'd felt good about himself for being to help her with a few

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[zack_fair]

"Go Fish gets boring pretty fast," Zack replied with a strained smile. Luckily they had another option, seeing how Tifa also knew how to play poker. She was right about the fact that they couldn't bet, which took a lot of the fun out of it, but they could make do.

He frowned when she emptied out a pill onto the table, staring at it for a second or two before meeting the girl's eyes. "Shouldn't you be taking that instead of betting it?" It was in his nature to worry, even if Tifa wasn't and had never been his responsibility. He didn't know if she had it leftover from another time or if there was a wound hidden under her uniform, but either way, it wasn't something she should be tossing away.

"Look, we can bet with imaginary Gil." If they'd had a sheet of paper and a pen, they could have kept track that way, but alas -- they were just going to have to use their imaginations. Though man, now that Zack thought about it, he would have given a lot to have some Gil in hand again. Not because he needed the money, but for the novelty of it. Those magnetized cards just weren't the same.

[36_24_35]

"I don't like the way it feels... Makes me kinda fuzzy." Which was partially true. After that nice tear gas incident and the new regime change, Tifa wasn't so trusting in any of the medication they began handing out, especially if that rumor about their meal being drugged a few nights back. The bulletin board was chalked full of a lot of crazy ideas, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Regardless, Tifa took it off the table in case a passing "nurse" came along and saw it. She could be accused of selling drugs and then where would that put Zack? He had gotten in trouble once already for her, it didn't need to be repeated.

"That works! Want me to deal?" Tifa was rather certain which way this would go: Zack was going to rake her across the hot coals with that boyish grin of his.

[zack_fair]

"Fuzzy? I guess so, but better that than being in pain, I'd say. Are you all right?" Tifa was trying to pass this off like it was nothing, but they didn't even have a Cure materia here. Well, there was possibly one that was in Taura's possession, but he didn't have any claim to it, so that didn't help much.

Either way, the girl took the pill back, and while that wasn't a promise that she was going to take it, at least she wasn't trying to pawn it off anymore. When she asked about dealing, Zack quit shuffling and slid the deck across the table to her.

The room was still empty, giving them the perfect chance to talk. The question was how to bring it up, and in the end Zack settled on something else entirely -- something still important, and yet totally unrelated. "Have you seen Yuffie recently? She's usually all over the bulletin board, but not so much these past couple of days..."

[36_24_35]

"No, I'm fine!" she asserted with her usual serenity. A hand came up to brush the nice blueing bruise that painted her forehead. It was still a bit sensitive, but her nausea and blurred vision had vanished once she had a night's sleep. Now it was simply a headache, and Tifa was fine to let it simmer behind her eyes.

"Head just kinda hurts a bit. I ran into something last night, which will teach me not to forget my flashlight again." It was truth enough that she thought Zack wasn't likely to poke. If he did, well, she would tell him, but either way the deed was done. There was no point in concerning him over her own stupidity, so Zack's change of subjects was welcomed and was jumped on eagerly.

"Yeah I noticed too. Someone even wrote a note to her on the bulletin today and she hasn't responded. It seems hard to believe she would be... gone." Her eyes looked through Zack and quickly readjusted. There was no point in worrying over something that wasn't certain yet. "Maybe she got put in solitary? I mean, I can't see Yuffie just rolling over for these SOLDIERs. Once was enough for me, maybe she hasn't hit that conclusion yet..."

[zack_fair]

For a second Zack thought that Tifa meant that she had run into a monster and had been injured and he was about to ask for more details, but as she continued to explain he realized that she'd ran into something. That was bound to happen without a flashlight, and while he could have commented on it, he figured it was best to save the girl the embarrassment. He remembered his bad luck from a few nights ago and how he'd constantly been running into things and tripping over himself; he understood how it felt.

An unanswered note seemed even more worrisome, though Zack was willing to hear out Tifa's theory. The military seemed more harsh with their punishments, so if the ninja girl had really kicked up a fuss then it would make sense that she'd been out of contact for a while. "Could be," he said with a nod. "I'll put up another note for her tomorrow just in case."

He was going to try to not let it bother him too much, even though he was already fearing the worst. For now, though, he had Tifa here with him and he needed to focus on that. He waited for her to deal, leaning back in his seat. "Anyway, I wanted to let you know," he started, hoping that he could get the words out, "about what happened in Doyleton and all that... No hard feelings, all right? None of that was our fault, so..."

It hadn't been the best lead-in, but it was something. He'd at least brought it up.

[36_24_35]

"Sounds good," Tifa encouraged. She considered asking one of the nurses about her friend's whereabouts, but Tifa wasn't too confident in the answer she would be given. This place was one big conspiracy, and now with the military mutiny, it didn't seem likely she could trust anything they said. The senior officers seemed a bit more upfront about their intentions when compared to Landel and his ignorant cast of nurses; however, that didn't make her feel much better. It seemed their hopes would all be placed on Zack's note.

With little else to add to the sudden silence of their loud-mouthed comrade, the young woman finished shuffling the deck and began flinging Zack a set of five cards. Tifa felt fortunate to have something to focus her eyes on besides her friend now that he brought up the other order of business they needed to get off their chests and out in the open. Her heart beat a bit faster, but she kept her face peaceful, as usual.

Once both hands were dealt, Tifa carefully placed the deck in between them and finally acknowledged him. "Yeah... Yeah, no hard feelings. I'm... sorry we put this off so long..." she amended, knowing it was she who allowed this thing to sit between them. "It's just all the more reason we gotta get out of here, right? Anytime you need help, you know... I'll try not to freak out on you next time, okay?" Now, it was okay to laugh at it. Still, she shook her head, remembering how disturbed she had felt when that little girl pawed Zack. He was probably just as scarred by the sight.

[zack_fair]

It was really for the best that they were having this conversation while doing something else. It meant that it wasn't nearly as tense as if they had just been sitting there, staring at each other and trying to talk this out. Zack took the five cards that he was dealt, finding that he had no pairs but might be lucky and get a straight if he discarded two cards. He decided to think on it a little longer, though, especially since Tifa spoke up soon after and pulled his attention away from the game.

"Hey, don't apologize for that. Both of us were putting it off." Instead they'd decided to get into a food fight and put into solitary. Zack still had no regrets about what he'd done then, even if it meant he'd suffered the day after. Still, it did mean that they had let this go for far too long, and he was glad that they now had this chance, even if it was still kind of awkward.

"You didn't freak out on me," he said with a shake of his head. "I mean... considering the circumstances, I really can't blame you for how you reacted." He had barely kept his composure in response to the things that his shadow had said, after all. "Also, I never really got to bring this up with you before, but Cloud told me about how you helped him find himself again. You know, after I..." Died. Even though he'd come to terms with it as much as one could, it was hard to say the word right then. "What I'm trying to say is... thank you for being there for him when I couldn't." He offered a sad smile, as he'd never wanted Cloud to suffer that way and he wished he'd been there to help. It just hadn't been in the cards.

Speaking of cards, he pulled out two and set them on the table face down, nodding to Tifa to indicate that she could collect them.