_Traffic_
Zack snippet


The city rolled past behind tinted glass. He paid the parody of civilization little mind, still sorting out the details of the day. Three meetings and six Sectors later, the general couldn’t blame Zack for being fidgety. Having all his meetings on the same day was convenient, but it meant a lot of sitting and waiting. The dark man was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, remarkably quiet really, given that he had had to play ‘the shadow’ all day. Sephiroth blinked at his reflection in the glass, unable to remember actually speaking to his friend in more than monosyllables since early in the morning. It was a new record low for his sociability. Clearing his throat, he caught the man’s attention. Zack looked over to give him a guilty look.

“Sorry, was I tapping too loud?”

The pale-haired man shook his head, trying to understand. “… No?” He scrubbed his face, forcing himself to relax. It wasn’t until the tension started to fade that he realized his mouth hurt from holding the frown for so long. “… Shit…”

“Your mom never tell you your face would get ‘stuck like that’… did she…” The SOLDIER chuckled as he drove.

“Never knew her,” he sighed, stating what was already known. “But yes, I’ve heard the adage before.” Trying on a small smile for a chance, he decided it felt a little strange but acceptable. “… Never believed it until recently.”

“You’ve been glaring at the road ever since we left the factory, old man.” His aide smiled sympathetically. “Figured you were in need of some peace and quiet.”

“Thanks.” Rolling his shoulders, he winced to hear his joints pop. “…It was a dull day for you…”

“I don’t mind.” Lights changed and they crawled forwards. The streets were packed curb to curb with traffic as they hit the central block of Sector3. “You need /someone/ to keep you company on these little bitch sessions, otherwise you’d probably put one of those scientists through a wall…” Zack smirked. “Besides, you know how much trouble I get into when left unsupervised.”

“Indeed,” Sephiroth drawled, already feeling better. Traffic shuffled forwards half a block and stopped again. He tried not to sigh. Luckily he thought of something to distract him. Looking over, he caught his friend stretching, leaning against the steering wheel as he also shed some of his stress from the day. He waited for the man to finish before soliciting his opinion. “What did you think of the new equipment?”

“Honestly?”

The general smirked at the candid remark. “You were holding back during the demonstration. I doubt it was praise you were thinking…”

Shrugging, the dark haired southerner kept his eyes on the road. “First impression was that they weren’t /so/ bad. But I don’t care what Scarlet says… mass produced swords suck no matter how you look at it.” He made a face, “Stamp-cut kitchen knives are one thing… but combat blades? Come on.”

“Well they’d hardly be for specialists or SOLDIERs, Zack.” He disagreed mildly, “We’re talking abut a simple upgrade for our beloved rank-and-file. Some of the sabers they’re using ought to be in museum.”

“True that.”

“Heidigger’s incompetence knows no limit.”

“But there were so many more important things to buy with his budget, Seph!” His friend chuckled in an evil way. “You know… new carpet for that mansion of his…” Zack grinned even wider at his audience’s hiss of ire. “Which reminds me… when are /you/ going to get a mansion, old man…? I’ve been dreaming of better digs for years now.”

“An exercise in futility, I assure you.” Sephiroth leaned back in his seat to give the man an amused look. Traffic continued to crawl but he wasn’t in any particular hurry to return to Shinra’s tower.

“Heh. The lure of more privacy doesn’t tempt you?” Mako-enhanced eyes twinkled with mischief as they slid over to look at him before flicking back to the road. There was a fairly short list of what his friend could be thinking about. Privacy was an excellent reason to abandon his current housing, but the consequences were also high.

“It would be impossible to keep anything that large secure.”

“True, we’d have to fire the help once a week or Hojo would have his little leeches crawling everywhere.”

“Nauseating thought.” He agreed.

Zack cursed with fluid venom as the light changed without the long line of cars having moved an inch. “Come /on/ damn it… I’m /hungry/…”

“You’re always hungry.” The general shook his head in wonder. His dark haired aide gave him a long and rather annoyed look. “…What?”

“I just don’t get you…” Zack sighed, “I’ve been watching you all friggin’ day. I know exactly where you’ve been, and what you’ve been doing for the past nine hours straight… and I am willing to swear on any relic you happen to produce that /you/ haven’t eaten since that sandwich this morning… and you only ate /half/!”

“… So?”

“No lunch, Seph! We didn’t even stop for a damn pretzel… No snacks, no bagel, not even a single jellybean or cup of decent coffee for /nine hours/… You should be starving, or at least gnawing my arm off or something…”

“I am a little hungry I suppose.” He mused as they crawled another few car lengths down the street. His driver simply banged his head against the wheel at the absent minded reply. Sephiroth gave him another small smile. “… Truthfully, by the time I get back to my apartment, even the instant-ramen will look appetizing.”

Zack spared him a frustrated glance. “You’re not eating that crap. It’s disgusting.”

“You ate it in Wutai.”

“It was either that or the /dog/… and I don’t believe in being cruel to animals.” The southerner shook his head mournfully. “Unless they’re cruel to me, anyway. Would have eaten Leviathan if we could have held it down long enough. Good eating, dragons.”

“I don’t think summons count.”

“True, probably full of Mako… give me a nice stake over that any day… Aaaaaugh god damn it, talking about food is making me hungrier…”

His whining was amusing, but the man’s plight was real. The general shifted until he could fish his wallet out and checked the contents. “… Well, Mr. Thompson… I seem to have two-hundred gil in my possession. If you can find someplace that I won’t get gawked at between here and home, it’ll be my treat.”

“Surely you jest.” The SOLDIER grinned, energized by the challenge. “You know better than to dare me like that. Besides, freebies from /you/ are unthinkable, I may just collapse from shock.”

“You won’t.” He replied dryly. “You’re too hungry.”

“Too true.” Zack craned his neck, seeming to ponder their strategy for a moment. Sephiroth was more than willing to leave navigation of they urban labyrinth to him as he usually knew what he was doing. Whatever he was looking for was apparently all the signal he needed. He let out another dark chuckle promising mayhem to come.

Well familiar with the laugh, the pale officer took the precaution of grabbing onto the door handle just in time for the car to cut promptly sideways into a vacant left-turn lane and into an illegal high-speed u-turn. Several car horns complained stridently, but his driver paid them no mind, deftly maneuvering the vehicle through three new intersections and onto the loop highway towards Sector8. He would have complained, but Zack looked like he was having fun. The dark haired man was grinning like a kid.

“Chow time!”