The Garden, Monday Early Afternoon

[flowering_mind]

Karla had let her pick the place for where the healing was supposed to take place and, while her hotel room had the advantage of privacy, Zack wasn't the only one of them who wanted to be out amongst nature for as long as possible before heading back to Midgar

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[puppy_fair]

It had been meant to be a casual stroll to see more things that were... well, were familiar to him. Once upon a time, Zack had spent a good many nights out in the garden. He didn't have it in him to put Angeal's sword in the weapons locker.

These days, not much was different, he supposed.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Funny, how they still tended to run into one another, even when they had a whole weekend to... well... to not.

[puppy_fair]

"Maybe not," Zack allowed. "But it... might buy us some time."

Which was more than they had right now.

[flowering_mind]

"Yeah," she sighed, looking down. "It should do that much, if it works."

IF.

[puppy_fair]

Which... was worth a try. If they had nothing left to lose, here.

"Then we can make the best out of it."

Which involved talking to him about this stuff, Ino!

[flowering_mind]

"We're sorta stuck for options," she said quietly. "On Gaia, anyway."

[puppy_fair]

Well... they did have options. They just sucked.

A lot.

"Well... have you got anything else in mind?"

Ditching Gaia to deal with horrible crushing Meteor doom didn't really sound like a great plan either.

[flowering_mind]

What about just for a break?

"Centurion offered me a job," Ino said carefully. "In his world. It might not be the worst choice we'd have."

[puppy_fair]

Well... that was earning a side-eye, anyway. Which was almost a thoughtful glance, right?

"... A job?"

[flowering_mind]

Not really, no.

"Mm." Which... wasn't an agreement. "Doing something 'long the lines of what I'm good at. He said, he said that he might have somethin' for you too."

[puppy_fair]

"And... and did he say how that would work? Us having jobs in another world? Would I..."

Would he have to leave Cloud behind? Because that was still a dealbreaker.

[flowering_mind]

"We ain't discussed the details," Ino said, looking at him, and then away. "I said that he was going to have to talk to you, and that I were going to have to talk to you."

But, hey...

"But he did say that he had places where someone in Cloud's position could be safe."

[puppy_fair]

Of course he did. Zack shouldn't have doubted that Ino would have taken Cloud into consideration. Especially if she wanted him to come along.

"That sounds almost too good to be true," he mused. "We would't be... be considering that a permanent solution or anything, right? Because I don't know how I feel about... you know."

Zack hated running.

[flowering_mind]

He probably already knew, but Ino had mostly taken Cloud into consideration because of Zack. Not on Cloud's own merits.

(Like, he'd been a cute kid, before this, but Zack was fixated on him.)

"I weren't considering it as such," Ino said vehemently. "Just... just as a break."

[puppy_fair]

Well, Cloud had been the only human contact Zack had that wasn't actively torturing him for years. For a guy who used to think eye contact meant friendship, that was a huge deal.

"... A break?" Okay, that sounded... better. "You mean until... everyone... is better?"

You know, until Cloud woke up, until she was healthy again. A break.

[flowering_mind]

It was, which was Ino actually bothered with Cloud and how he factored into their plans. It didn't mean she cared about Cloud though.

Ino told herself sternly that she'd grown out of fidgeting (as if that was a thing a person could grow out of anyway) and then gave in and fidgeted with her hair anyway.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "Just a while. Nothin' permanent."

[puppy_fair]

"With any luck, none of the tough stuff is going to be permanent," Zack murmured, watching her fidget, and then trying a little smile on for size. "So... I don't know for sure, and I probably need more details and all, but... it sounds... like maybe it's a good idea."

He looked up at the sky. Hey, sky.

"It sounds doable."