Day 48: Cafeteria (Breakfast)

[should_be_dead]

Luckily for Mele, the night had ended before Tenzen had changed his mind and deemed Mele appropriate for target practice. Even if the situation of who was mocking who had seemed to change into the Iga ninja's favor. Despite her behavior, perhaps the insolent woman could serve some sort of use nonetheless. He had been trapped in this place for a

Comments

[thatdamnedninja]

"Yuppers," said Yuffie. "We got him good. But," she stretched the word out, shaking her head, "seems like the sucker still had a thing about not dyin'. And a god-complex. That too." Finally, after one parting pat, she lifted her hand from his arm and dropped it down onto the table. Her fingers curled loosely. "I still don't understand it all. But that grossness disease was from him, and he had these things-they were like, I don't know, Vince called 'em larvae forms. They wanted a new Reunion."

Lucky for them, for AVALANCHE, that they'd never managed it. Lucky for the whole wide world; they'd only just started really picking themselves up off the ground again, and with Geostigma on top of it all, there was no way the W.R.O. could have been able to launch a successful counterattack. Nope. As usual, when the going got tough, AVALANCHE got roped into doing the dirty work.

Yuffie leaned back in her chair, bringing her knees up. For a moment, she was silent. "I didn't, didn't I?" she eventually said. "Well, lessee. There's me 'n you, Cloud, Tifa," she began ticking names off her fingers, "Zack Fair, Cissnei (a Turk girl), Rude, Loz (that's one of 'em bug-boys I told you about), and…" She stamped down on the urge to wince. "Sephiroth. Pre-crazycakes, apparently. And, um, Aerith."

[flamingfurball]

Nanaki was starting to get even more annoyed with this place. Nothing at all made sense and he still felt that anger coursing through him from before he blacked out, looking for an outlet. His eyes followed Yuffie's hand, wondering why she broke the contact. He was usually petting and scratching him some way or another. Or even resting her hand on his shoulders as they walked side by side....

He went through the people in his head. Zack was dead, he didn't like turks, he liked Sephiroth even less and.....

"Aerith...."

Dead. like Zack. only he cared about her. What if his Grandfather was alive too?! But Yuffie didn't mention him. but if this place brought people back to life.... Grandpa probably wouldn't want it... It would be selfish to wish him back, just to tell him all the things that had happened and see how proud he was.

[thatdamnedninja]

Yuffie's usually animate expression was still, her gaze briefly distant. She tipped her head in a kind of half-nod. Aerith. It was so, so good to have the flower girl back with them, living and breathing and, well, emoting. Laughing and teasing Cloud, worrying. And yet, somehow-

No. Not thinking like that. Yuffie wanted to hope, and so she hoped. The moment broke and so did her stillness, and she bumped shoulders companionably with the now-human Nanaki. Physical contact was a rare thing for her these days; it felt weird, now, after all this time. "It's a real trip, lemme tell you. One of these days, I swear we're gonna blink and find all of AVALANCHE fallin' on our laps. Cid, Barret, Reeve. Vince. Bunch of old farts," she added, lightly.

[flamingfurball]

Nanaki joined her silence and stillness for a moment. It was a lot to take in. perhaps Aerith had at least seen Grandpa...unless she was from the past, rather than revived. That made more sense. Nanaki let out a puff of a sigh and rested against Yuffie, chin on her shoulder for a moment, a comforting gesture.

"Maybe some other people too," he said quietly, hopefully.

[thatdamnedninja]

"Maybe," Yuffie said, evenly. 'Cuz Leviathan knew she wouldn't wish this place on anybody, except for maybe, oh, Shin-Ra. Senior and Junior.

Nanaki leaned against her, and Yuffie allowed herself a moment to lean back. The tension under her skin was still there, always was these days. Another reason for her to get out and get something done tonight. A good long run around, preferably with no monsters or horrific hallucinations, and she'd be peachy-keen! Maybe she really could run, literally run? It was worth thinking about.

"So, what'dya think 'bout this whole 'being human' thing?" she asked, curious.

[flamingfurball]

Maybe.

Nanaki could feel her tension. Yuffie was usually to completely relaxed she was more like a wind elemental than skin and bones. He inhaled and nuzzled her shoulder before sitting up. Maybe he'd think of a way to help her. He wanted to write a note to everybody too, determined now that he knew Aerith was....here.

"I don't like it," he grumbled. He was still a little ashamed at the attack on humans... still confused about his place in the world. Maybe moreso now. "I can't walk. Or get comfortable. Eat. Fight. But I want to try to write a note. How should I tell everyone what happened?"

[thatdamnedninja]

"I can help you," Yuffie assured him. "You already know the form of the letters, right? Just need to learn how to make your hands work." He was smart; he'd be able to pick it up. Hell, he could even work a phone! Without thumbs! "And all of the others, they'll chip in, too."

She swung her legs, kicking them back and forth in a steady rhythm underneath the table. Yuffie'd always been brimming with energy, practically humming from it, and the restlessness was only gonna grow the longer she stayed here. "What you 'should' tell 'em depends on who you need to tell," she answered, scratching her cheek thoughtfully. "And if you want it to go on the board, you've gotta be careful with the wording. They censor a lot of stuff. Loosely, but, yeah. It's mega annoying."

[flamingfurball]

"....yes of course I do." Honestly. He COULD read, he wasn't an idiot. He just never had thumbs before now. "W-wait. I... I don't want to cause a fuss. You'll do." This was a little embarrassing, but he wasn't going to admit that. He was too grown up for such silliness.

"Where can I find paper and pens? I just want them to know I'm here and human. And I want to say hello to Aerith. Does she know she's dead?"

[thatdamnedninja]

Yuffie quirked a grin. Teasing the (former) furball was still as easy as it'd ever been.

"I'll do?" She snorted. "Gee, thanks. Maybe I'll charge you for this after all." She hadn't been planning to in the first place, not seriously, but she could always change her mind. Quick as snap. "Hang on, though-I think I've… aha!" One quick flick of the wrist produced a pen, apparently out of nowhere, and a couple of seconds spent fumbling in her pocket produced some spare paper. She tossed the paper onto the table in front of her, twirling the ballpoint easily between her fingers.

The pen didn't falter at the mention of Aerith's death, but a flicker of darkness passed over Yuffie's expression. "Dunno," she said, nonchalantly. "Never asked." Never want to. "Anyway, just a quick note, right? 'Hi, bye', that kind of thing?"

'Dear AVALANCHE,' she wrote.

'This is everybody's favorite talking footrest, A.K.A Wiser Than Thou, Needs More Ribbons, or Mr. Fuzzywuzzles. Just calling into say hi, and that opposable thumbs are wicked cool. Double hi goes to Aerith, who I really want to give me a great big hug as soon as we see each other.

Love,
Nanaki. ♥'

"How's that? Perfect!"

[flamingfurball]

Again, Nanaki ignored a select choice of her comments. The letter, however, could not be ignored.

"Yuffie. As I have no tail, I feel I ought to inform you that I am not pleased." He snatched at the pen and tried to pull the paper closer.

[thatdamnedninja]

"Remind me to teach you about facial expressions," Yuffie chirped, gleefully yanking herself, the pen, and the paper out of reach. "Whoops! That was a close one. You just sit tight for a moment, Mr. Fuzzywuzzles. I'll get this baby posted for ya in no time."

With a sunny grin and a bounce in her step, the young ninja sauntered away. Nanaki was gonna be spitting mad, but it was so worth it. It'd make for a neat distraction, too, if only for a little while. A distraction that they could both use, even if he wasn't gonna see it that way. She tacked the note up, nodded her satisfaction, and skipped straight back to the table.

"There we go," she announced, falling dramatically back into her seat.

[flamingfurball]

Nanaki tried to grab Yuffie, leaping up and falling forward onto the floor. The wheelchair kept moving when he tried to sit on it, so by the time she came back, he was in her seat, her breakfast mangled, half of it hanging out his mouth. It wasn't childish. It was revenge.

"Ngf nger egih ung," he warned her.

[thatdamnedninja]

…. Huh. Teach her not to pay attention to where she was sitting, because now she was in a wheelchair. For the first time ever. Which was, Yuffie thought, a pretty damn good run. Not once on crutches, nope, not her. Relatively unconcerned that she might give somebody the wrong impression, because she totally looked the picture of health (ish), Yuffie let herself enjoy the novelty of a new experience.

She raised an eyebrow. "And people say I act like a toddler," she said, primly. Good thing she hadn't been planning to eat anymore, huh? She rocked the chair back and forth on its wheels, a self-satisfied, smug little grin playing across her lips. Ohhh, this was fun.

[flamingfurball]

There was too much food in his mouth and his teeth were too blunt to cut through it all sufficiently. He made a hacking sound and spat some out, head over the table so it could drop down. It tasted far too sweet, he tried to rub the taste off on the roof of his mouth, tongue brushing in and out of his mouth as he did.

"I was reestablishing dominance," he told her. He watched her on the chair and wondered if she was distracted enough so that he could find the note.....

[thatdamnedninja]

"You call hacking up my food all over the place re-establishing dominance? Pfft! Yeah, right." Yuffie's teasing smugness had quickly faded to her second grimace of the day. Had that really been necessary? Sure, it'd been food she wasn't gonna eat, but that little display had just been Grossness, capital G and all the trimmings.

Yuffie didn't look away, not wanting to give him the chance to slope off. Not over her dead body, nope siree, and definitely not before people'd had a chance to spot the note. 'Sides, she was the one with the wheels. What was he gonna do, roll to the sun room? Now, that'd be a sight to see.

[flamingfurball]

"No, that was survival instinct," he chewed, before lifting his head to knock some lumps back. "I think I'm getting the hang of this." It was going to have to be walking next. No point learning to write if he couldn't even get to that awful note.

Nanaki yawned. He was going to need a nap soon, after eating. But right now he was....happy. Well, in part. Things might not be going well but he was able to see some of his friends. Including one he never thought he'd see again. He hadn't been lonely in the forests, but there was nothing to return to there now....

"Yuffie. I dislike the note, but I am happy to see you again."