[ The shove does little to phase Zack as he pushes his torso upward, body weight now leaning into his forearms that were pressed tightly against the greenhouse floor. He blinked one... twice... and as the mask fell fully off of his face, the last remaining doubt that Zack had try to rationalize it wasn't him melted away.
No, there was no mistaking it. That was Cloud.
But... how? Nothing was adding up right now. He was with Cloud just a few moments ago. Zack had tipped an old man on the side of the road what little scraps of gil he had left in order to hop in the back of their pickup truck. It was a large stretch of nothingness; a dirt road with little cover from the pursuing Shinra military. But it was convenient, and the last ride that was needed before they finally reached Midgar. He remembered hosting Cloud's limp (light, he was so light) body into the back of the truck and chatting with him as they rode along. But Cloud never responded back- he never did recently, not after the experiments that were done to the two of them.
This Cloud though, the one staring back at him with a flight-or-fight expression was actually talking. He was speaking and moving and okay.
Did he... also look a little older? It was hard to tell right away, but the emotions swelling up in his chest and throat made any other thought hard to process. All he knew at the moment, all he was able to register, was that somehow... someway... Cloud was able to recover from all of this. ]
How? [ He's almost a little flabbergasted that Cloud didn't recognize him right away, but he could tell the man was clearly on edge. So cautiously, carefully, Zack will slowly begin to remove his own mask while lifting up his free hand in order to hold it out to Cloud. Giving a gesture that mimicked a sort of "hold on, wait a moment" movement.
Once it was removed he idly let it fall to the floor beside him before fully visible brows furrowed together in worry. He still managed to smile though, if not a little weary. ] It's me... it's Zack.
no subject
No, there was no mistaking it. That was Cloud.
But... how? Nothing was adding up right now. He was with Cloud just a few moments ago. Zack had tipped an old man on the side of the road what little scraps of gil he had left in order to hop in the back of their pickup truck. It was a large stretch of nothingness; a dirt road with little cover from the pursuing Shinra military. But it was convenient, and the last ride that was needed before they finally reached Midgar. He remembered hosting Cloud's limp (light, he was so light) body into the back of the truck and chatting with him as they rode along. But Cloud never responded back- he never did recently, not after the experiments that were done to the two of them.
This Cloud though, the one staring back at him with a flight-or-fight expression was actually talking. He was speaking and moving and okay.
Did he... also look a little older? It was hard to tell right away, but the emotions swelling up in his chest and throat made any other thought hard to process. All he knew at the moment, all he was able to register, was that somehow... someway... Cloud was able to recover from all of this. ]
How? [ He's almost a little flabbergasted that Cloud didn't recognize him right away, but he could tell the man was clearly on edge. So cautiously, carefully, Zack will slowly begin to remove his own mask while lifting up his free hand in order to hold it out to Cloud. Giving a gesture that mimicked a sort of "hold on, wait a moment" movement.
Once it was removed he idly let it fall to the floor beside him before fully visible brows furrowed together in worry. He still managed to smile though, if not a little weary. ] It's me... it's Zack.