Day 51: Arts & Crafts (4th shift)

[notthistrain]

There were very few activity shifts, Cloud was sure, that could possibly make him feel more like he was being treated like a child. He took a seat at one of the tables and blankly examined the materials set out before him. A pair of the dullest scissors he'd ever seen were labeled 'ages 3 and up'. It was good to know where the patients stood in

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[zack_fair]

So, after his talk with Aidou and some coordination over the bulletin, it looked like he'd worked out a plan for tonight. Zack was glad for that; as much as he hated to admit it, Shin-Ra had made him accustomed to mission plans. He was used to going into something with some idea of the main objective and the way to obtain it.

It was a shame that Cloud couldn't come along, but he'd already stolen his friend for the previous night, and it was unfair of him to be too greedy. Besides, with Cloud and Yuffie trying out the ring, at least he would be able to hear the results the following day. And hopefully he'd have some information about the basement for them in return.

Picking up Tifa as their third person was a little unexpected, and Zack could only hope that he wouldn't regret it. He had to assume that she was a good fighter by now, but he still couldn't completely get over the image of her in her cowboy hat back in Nibelheim. She was a good person, though, and she probably wouldn't make a fuss as they worked their way toward the basement, so he was crossing his fingers on that.

So with all of that more or less taken care of, there was only one loose end to tie. It took him a while, but Zack eventually tracked down the nurse who he had spoken to that morning to check with her about Aerith. The look on the woman's face was enough to let him know that the news wasn't good for him. The nurse tried to assure him that she was in a better place now that her mind had healed, but he knew better.

It hadn't been healed; it'd been warped.

Still, the soldier forced a frown off of his face when he walked into the Arts and Crafts room, taking in the new area with only a mild curiosity. They were supposed to be doing some sort of paper folding. It sounded vaguely familiar, but Zack had never tried it himself. He saw that Yuffie and Cloud had already met up and considered joining them, but ultimately decided against it. He'd spoken with the ninja girl this morning and figured that the two might have stuff they wanted to discuss in relative privacy.

So he could give this origami thing a try on his own. Finding an empty table that had the materials and a how-to book laid out, Zack flipped to a page that explained how to make a dog (not a puppy, a dog) and started to fold.

[For Tifa!]

[36_24_35]

"Rachel, stop picking at your leg. It's going to get infected that way..."

"The skin's already closed..." It was more polite than telling the nurse she wasn't twelve anymore and didn't need to be treated as such. It was her leg, she'd pick at it if she wanted. Actually, it wouldn't surprise her if this woman was the one that sliced her open last night. Now she was worried about her actions.

"Well, not if you keep picking at it..."

It wasn't a fight worth picking, no pun intended. "Alright..." She'd be a good girl. Her limp had disappeared after breakfast once her muscle had gotten warmed up from walking, but now the bandage was itching and pulling at her skin. The ache was there, but negligible and not longer an impediment, and for that she was thankful since she was no longer fermenting really terrible alcohol tonight all by herself.

Brought back into the arts and crafts room, Tifa looked for a certain redhead, but she found other friends instead. Yuffie and Cloud were sitting together, making uhhh whatchamacallits, origami--ah well, Yuffie was. Cloud was making an avant garde pile of trash. She couldn't tell yet if Zack was faring any better.

"Would you like another box of crayons?" The older woman already had a tub picked out. Tifa took it without complaint and took her supplies over to Zack's table, hoping her winning smile would distract the SOLDIER from her healing black eyes and busted nose.

"Have a good night?"

[zack_fair]

The dog was going as well as could be expected. Zack was used to swinging around large swords with all sorts of reckless abandon, so something that required finesse was a little harder for him to manage. He was being persistent about it, though. It wouldn't turn out to be the prettiest dog ever, probably, but it would be something.

But he paused in his project when he realized that someone was approaching, and lifted his head to see the pretty face of Tifa Lockhart all beaten up and bruised. His mako-tinted eyes widened perceptibly. Even though he'd heard from Yuffie about the girl's wounds, it was a little harder to see in the flesh, so to speak.

Zack struggled to reclaim his expression, not wanting to be rude. Tifa was acting like nothing was wrong, which indicated that she was accustomed to a certain amount of pain. Nonetheless, he was worried about recruiting her for the basement; what if she wasn't able enough? Her wounds looked superficial, but it probably wouldn't give Aidou the most confidence in her ability, even if these things happened and it couldn't always be helped.

"Geez, that looks like it hurt," he said, ignoring her question for a moment. He would have to explain about Aerith and while that needed to be done, he wanted to check on Tifa first. She was right here, and so she was the one who he needed to focus on now. "What happened?"

It looked like one Cure spell hadn't done the job. How bad had it been originally? He winced at the thought. Even though Zack had been through his fair share of bad injuries (including some that were fatal), he was still completely sympathetic. Pain was pain, and you didn't necessarily get used to it no matter how many times you went through it.

[36_24_35]

"Still that bad?" Tifa self-consciously placed her palm over her nose, still able to feel some of the puffiness that remained after Yuffie's TLC. The skin under her eyes was still tender and bruised as well, but at least it didn't hurt to talk or eat anymore. Or smile; that had been rather frustrating. Well, she sure wasn't going to tell him about her new injury now. She didn't want Zack to feel anymore concern than necessary. Guilt-tripping was strictly allotted for Cloud only.

"Well, it's not as exciting as we'd both like..." If she was going to go down face first, she'd rather meet her end in battle, not from the back of a broad, hairy man. Life was cruel.

Taking a seat in front of Zack, the brunette absently began fishing for crayons. "It was... the night before last--the one where none of the doors were correct--and I met another patient heading the same way I was. Mmm long story short, I face planted into his shoulder when we suddenly crashed into the institute's kitchen pantry on his motorcycle..." It probably didn't help that they were drinking, but... "It doesn't hurt anymore, though..." She continued just to alleviate any worry. "Actually, it really only hurt the day after. Heard you guys had an exciting night too..." It was worth a shot to try and move the subject past her own clumsiness.

[zack_fair]

Of all the explanations Zack had thought up, what Tifa ended up telling him was not one of them. Crashing into someone else's back while riding on a motorcycle? It didn't make the most sense to him, but that whole night had been odd for a number of reasons, and so he chose not to question it too much. There was no reason to doubt Tifa's words, either, since that really wasn't something you could make up off the top of your head.

"Yuffie helped you out with a bit, right?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "That was nice of her." Surprisingly nice. But it seemed that Tifa and Cloud were on the ninja's good list, so that would explain it. Zack wasn't sure that he would ever quite make it there, despite his best efforts to make sure the girl didn't die when she'd been younger.

He'd also attacked her home and taken one of its forts down singlehandedly, so he couldn't completely blame Yuffie.

"Yeah, that night was pretty crazy for us. I'm sad you weren't there," he said sincerely. "We got a Thunder materia out of it, but you got something too, didn't you?" They'd had to be vague over the bulletin, but now he could finally find out for sure. Yuffie had guessed at it being an Ice, but he'd rather double-check.

[36_24_35]

Three crayons were pulled out of the bucket: a light blue, an obnoxious neon orange, and a white. Blue it was then! She began coloring in a big oval with two lines sticking out of the oval from below. "I'd have been pretty SOL without her..." She hadn't even asked for a reward. Yuffie was growing up so fast! Or she should be suspicious of what the ninja would want in return in the near future.

"Yeah, I wish we all could have gone back together... I heard you guys were on the Highwind though, right?" Her squiggly blue chocobo was forgotten for more interesting matters. "And got attacked by a Tonberry of all things..." It was a pity something so cute could be so goddamn annoying. Her visit on Gaia hadn't been very pleasant or nostalgic. The King Behemoth romping through Mt. Nibel had been the least of her problems that night.

At the mention of the materia, Tifa scooted closer and leaned over the table, so none of the nurses still circling could hear. "I wound up with an Ice materia and a pry bar. The pry bar's yours, since I don't need it. It laid the zombies in Doyleton out flat pretty well..."

[zack_fair]

It sounded like Tifa had already heard all about their own trip back to Gaia, probably from Yuffie. Zack was kind of glad that he didn't have to go through with it again, if only because he'd explained it to a bunch of people already. He wouldn't have hesitated to tell Tifa if she'd needed to know, but it was nice having it taken care of already. "Yeah, we started off on the airship. That was pretty interesting, especially since it was my first time on one." He'd seen the thing on the ground, but riding on it was a whole different experience. Especially when it was in the middle of crashing.

The moment that Tifa started to lean in toward him, Zack followed suit, nodding his head when what Yuffie had told him was confirmed. And it sounded like there was something extra tossed in for him. He raised his eyebrows at the girl. "It's not a sword, but that'll definitely work in the meantime. Where'd you find it?" He doubted that she'd picked it up back on Gaia, which meant it had probably been around here somewhere.

Even though he wanted to ask Tifa about her trip back home, he knew that would only distract him from what he had to tell her. "And about last night," he eventually spoke up with a sigh, "well, we couldn't find Aerith anywhere. And I asked a nurse today, and she told me she'd been released." He didn't know if Tifa had been aware of what that meant, but he would pass on the information if need be.