lucetilogs | (no subject)

There is someone around, and he's just now getting off of his own shift. When Guy sees Zack enter Good Spirits with plenty of time to spare -and good Score, he's still in that uniform- he dries his hands off and circles around the bar with a smile.

"Hey," he greets Zack easily. "You're early, which is perfect. We can get you dressed up, come on." And he takes Zack's arm to try and pull him toward the door, knowing full well Zack won't budge if he doesn't want to.

Zack blinks at the comment, letting Guy drag him a few steps before it sinks in and he halts, eyes widening. "Wh- hey! What's the matter with the clothes I've got on?"

Wait, had Guy been serious about shopping the other day!?

Guy jerks to a stop when Zack plants his feet and he lets him go, folding his arms and giving Zack a look.

"It's the same uniform you always wear and I know you can do better. C'mon, this won't take long. Let's get moving."

Guy gets a brief, scrutinizing look for that, visibly wary. "No offense, Guy, but I don't want to end up in... that," and he gestures to Guy's outfit. There is no way in hell he can pull off tightpants. Figuratively and literally!

"Excuse me? Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Not that Guy's got plans to put Zack in anything like what he's wearing -Zack would look ridiculous in tightpants, he hasn't got the legs for it- but he is curious to know. This is actually pretty fashionable for servant's clothes, after all! Then again, servants of royalty usually did get to look good, even in uniform.

"Let's just say what looks good on you wouldn't survive on me."

He wasn't trying to be insulting or anything, but seriously, Guy. Tightpants. No.

"Oh please Zack, I would never put you in what I'm wearing."

First of all because they're servant's clothes. Second of all because exactly. Zack. Tightpants. No.

Guy starts to drag Zack again, heading out of the bar and to the clothing store a few shops down. "You want something a bit like what you're wearing, right? Relax, I've got a good idea of what you like to wear. I knew you for over a year after all."

Zack finally relents - the tightpants were the biggest issue, honestly - and follows Guy, sighing a bit dramatically. "I still don't see what's so wrong about what I'm wearing. All the SOLDIERs back home wore this, and nobody ever complained about it! ...Well, maybe the purple uniforms were a bit much..."

Guy suppresses a smile. It's like dealing with a larger Luke like this; he's reminded of all the times he had to force Luke into his dress clothes for dinner parties and the like. Zack would probably complain about being unable to lift his arms past his shoulders, too.

"Because you aren't back home, and if I recall correctly you don't really want to be associated with the company that gave you that uniform anyway." Guy's tone changes to something more lighthearted as he pushes inside of the clothing store. "And besides, you'll look good when I'm done with you. Trust me. You thought you were a lady killer before, wait until you actually dress like one."

Okay, he has a damn good point there. It's not like he wants to be a SOLDIER anymore - not after Shinra betrayed he and Cloud like they did - but... it's a matter of pride. A lot of it, actually. Angeal's words never seemed to leave his mind, so just discarding the uniform felt... wrong.

Maybe it's time to move on, though. Find a new Zack Fair, one not so burdened by all that junk he never wanted to talk about. It's not like trying is going to be the same as spitting on Angeal's grave, right.

...Yeah.

His expression is thoughtful for a moment before brightening up again, glancing back at Guy playfully. "Is that why you have so many lady friends? You're so well dressed?"

Guy didn't miss that first look but he wisely chooses not to point it out, and instead ushers Zack over to the men's section and starts flipping through button-down dress shirts.

"I can't say I've ever taken a poll to find out why, but that could be a deciding factor...ah. Here." Guy selects a long-sleeved shirt and drops it into Zack's arms, and then moves on to pull a pair of plain black slacks to add to the pile. A belt follows, and thankfully it looks like he's finished there although he's giving the shoes a few aisles away a thoughtful eye. "Put those on and then come back out and then we'll work on it."

What's funny is that Guy has taken a casual 'this is business' tone. Does that help you feel a little better about clothes shopping, Zack?

Zack gives the clothes a quick inspection, brows furrowing, before he finally shrugs and heads off for the dressing room. A bit of shuffling, some muttered curses - buttons, why did it have to be buttons? You should just pull your clothes on! - but after a few minutes, he steps out again, scuffing at his hair and looking kind of embarrassed.

"I feel like some Shinra bigwig." He doesn't usually like to complain, but come on. His experience with those guys aren't great. "Or a Turk. Does this get-up come with a nightstick?"

"No, but it does come with some class. Come here." Guy is going to ignore the commentary in favor of inspecting Zack carefully before stepping forward and unbuttoning the sleeves, then rolling them up to his forearms and fastening them.

Guy takes a step back to examine him again, kind of plucking at Zack's shirt to unwrinkle it, but he doesn't ask Zack to tuck it in or anything. He puts his hand on his chin. "Do you feel uncomfortable unbuttoning the top two buttons?" Guy's never seen the scars, but he remembers Zack telling him about them.

Edited 2011-01-09 08:50 (UTC)

Guy gets a bit of a weird look for that, then reaches up and tugs at the buttons. "Uncomfortable? Heck no, it'd probably be better that way. I kinda like it all or nothing, and if I have to give up my turtleneck, I might as well show some skin! Gotta impress the ladies, right?"

Also helps that he doesn't actually have scars there. Yet.

Zack gets an odd look at that until Guy catches sight of his chest and frowns. From the way Zack described it, he had scars all over his chest and stomach, but two buttons down and all Guy could see was smooth skin.

It dawns on him a little late. Zack is from before his death.

Guy turns abruptly to the shoes to pick out a pair, using the time to school his expression back into something more normal than horrified incredulity. Zack doesn't know about what's going to happen to him. He doesn't know that he's going to die.

Kind of like how Luke still doesn't know what's going to happen to him.

Oh Score. Guy can't tell Zack about this. Cannot. He turns back to Zack with a pair of shoes and a smile, handing them to him. "Here, this should complete the ensemble. You pull off the rumpled look really well, you know! It's that rugged face of yours." Rugged-ish. There's a scar but it's still pretty baby-smooth; Guy doesn't even know if Zack has to shave.

That odd look is equally puzzling, but Zack takes the shoes first, crouching down to pull them on, having removed his heavy boots earlier to get the pants on. After a moment he straightens up, standing tall with his shoulders back. He doesn't want to ruin the mood just yet with nosey questions, but that was some weird combination of questions and stares.

"Rugged, huh? So this is a good look even for a rugged guy?" Aaaand gonna even try a smooth-looking pose. Oh yeah, check out the cool guy in the fancy suit.

Edited 2011-01-09 09:50 (UTC)

Guy laughs, even though his stomach still feels like he swallowed a lump of lead. "No pose necessary. This probably isn't anything new to you, but you have really good posture."

He circles around Zack and brushes off his shoulders, fussing with the collar kind of like a mother would. He can't help it okay, years of dressing a spoiled noble boy has ingrained this shit into him. After he's sure Zack looks as good as he's gonna get he tugs him over to a mirror. "See? You look casual, but classy. The uniform look is good for whenever, but if there's one thing I've learned about this place it's that a good handful of the people who show up aren't too keen to associate with the military, no matter what world he or she is from."

Guy stands beside Zack in the mirror, inspecting his reflection and nodding with satisfaction. "This is good. Puts people at ease. You want people of all walks of life to feel comfortable in the bar; no need to intimidate anybody unless they're asking for it, and then I'll just let you crush some glass tumblers with your bare hands."

Zack follows Guy's gaze, brows lifting in surprise. Guy's right- about all of it, really. Experience has taught him that people back home didn't really like Shinra a lot of the time - memories come all too vividly of two particular girls, one announcing her hatred of them as she bleeds to death, the other explaining her fears of them - and between the military and the police, people living in the slums had a lot to fear. It's no wonder Avalanche had been such a prominent group back then. ...Heck, maybe even now. Not that he'd know.

...Guy knows something. A lot of something, from the expression Zack had spotted not too long ago. This might end up kind of tricky.

One thing at a time, though. "You know, I do look pretty stylish. If this is fancy, I think I can get used to it!"

Edited 2011-01-09 18:45 (UTC)

"That's not really fancy. That's just presentable."

Guy looks pleased with the results, though. He can mull over the moral implications of keeping what he knows from Zack later, in private. For now he'll just focus his attention on Zack.

"I'm not quite sure what passes for fancy in your world; I could dress you up like a prince easily, but something tells me it wouldn't quite be the same as what you're used to." Zack would look snappy in a Viscount costume though...

"I don't know if I could handle looking any fancier than this. I'm just a kid from a hick village, remember?" ...This is nice, though. It's comfortable but nice-looking, just what Guy promised. He really is good at this. "Though no promises that I'll be able to pick out my own stuff after this. Will I get scolded if I fall into old habits?"

"Yes. You'll be scolded terribly."

Guy ducks into the dressing room to gather up Zack's uniform and boots, folding everything neatly and hefting the pile into his arms to carry. He's so used to this, man, you don't even know.

"Anyway, why don't you keep that on? Since I believe you work in a couple hours anyway. Actually, we should find you a nice coat too..." Guy sets the clothes on a nearby shelf and noses around in a few racks for a coat or a blazer.

Zack watches Guy fuss with his clothes, baffled for a long moment before following him. He really is a servant, isn't he? Sheesh. "What's wrong with my coat?"

It's not bad, is it? Technically he doesn't even need it, so why fuss about it?

Guy just gives Zack this look before picking out something nice and leather and holding it up to Zack's shoulders to check the size. Not biker-leather. Sophisticated-leather.

...Sob. That look is not nice, Guy. That look says, "You're hopeless and thank god I'm here to save you from himself."

He likes the turtleneck and coat and FASHION IS STUPID OKAY. But fine, fine, he'll try the jacket. Even if leather is more Sephiroth and Genesis's thing.

We said sophisticated, not bondage-king. It looks nothing like what Genesis or Sephiroth would wear, thank you.

It looks like it'll fit Zack so Guy slips the coat off of the hanger to help Zack slip into it, then circles around and fusses with the collar and lapels again before stepping back, nodding. "That'll work."

It's comfortable, at least. Zack gives it a little tug, adjusting to the feet of it. "It's kinda hard to move in, though. Dressing up isn't all that practical, is it?"

Shirts designed to keep your posture up can be a little stiff.

"Well, of course it isn't. You're not supposed to fight in it." Guy tugs on the shoulders to loosen them up.

"But you'll break it in. Besides, you don't have to wear anything I'm suggesting. I just strongly advise that you do."

"Guess that's true." Zack fidgets a bit, moving his arms about to stretch the leather and get a feel for it. Even if he isn't going to fight while wearing it, he still has to work. "...Not bad. I kinda like it, actually. I don't think I'll be doing cartwheels at the bar, anyway, so it'll work."

"Well, you shouldn't wear that coat when you're working anyway. This is just for outside."

Guy gathers up Zack's clothes in his arms once again. "I'll put your uniform in a paper bag when we get back to the bar and you can take it home when you leave, all right?"

"Sounds good to me." Though he hadn't expected to bring home a doggy bag.

It sort of feels like their little shopping trip is done, so after a quick glance around to make sure no one else is in the shop, he glances back at Guy, expression abruptly serious. "Hey, Guy? I wanna ask you something."

Uh oh, a serious expression. Guy tilts his head to the side, pausing in juggling Zack's clothes and boots so that his own sleeves don't get dirty from the shoes. "Sure, go ahead. Anything."

Zack shifts a bit, lips pursing, then he narrows his eyes. "I think you already know what I want to hear, anyway."

It's a long shot - he's pretty sure that Guy won't explain anything without a fight - but may as well try to be nice about it from the start.

Guy smiles thinly and gestures to the collar of his own shirt. "The buttons thing, right?"

Setting down the clothes with a sigh, Guy shakes his head and folds his arms, leaning against the nearby wall. "There isn't much to tell. When you were here before...you were from further along in your life. You'd gotten some nasty scars all along your chest. You were pretty reluctant to show them, so I thought you'd rather keep buttoned up; it hadn't occurred to me that you'd be younger than before."

Nasty scars, huh? Zack's hand lifts slightly, then drops, stopping himself from brushing against the crossing scars on his cheek. SOLDIERs don't scar easily - he had some marks from the lab, sure, but nothing that he couldn't keep out of sight - so the knowledge that something had happened beyond Nibelheim was startling. Then again, maybe it was just a fluke accident, like that motorcycle ride. It could be all kinds of things.

What bothers him the most, though, is that Guy had been hiding it, just like Cloud was hiding something, and Aerith, too. So the real question is, was that the real answer?

He's probably not lying, but...

"I've never been that fussy about scars before." An offhanded remark- not really an accusation or anything, just... there. Like the suspicion that's been following him for a while now.

"You were fussy about these." Again, not a lie.

Just not everything. Guy supposed he should feel badly about keeping things from Zack, but not only was it not his place to tell him but it wouldn't do any good anyway. People who go back don't remember. It would just hurt.

Like it would hurt Luke.

"If you want more details on how you got them, well...you'd do better to time-travel and ask yourself in the future. I'm sorry."

That was probably as polite a "no" as he was ever going to get, so with a sigh, Zack nods and backs down, reaching out for the back Guy's holding. He can take his boots himself, Guy's not his servant, after all.

"Thanks for letting me know- maybe I'll try to pay more attention if I ever get home." It's a weird thing to say - first time he's actually considered the idea of never going back. He doesn't even really realize it until after it's out.

...How long do people stay here, anyway?

Zack reaches for his things and and Guy has to stop himself from insisting on carrying them, relinquishing the clothes and boots without a fuss.

...hm. Maybe Asch had a point after all.

However that leaves his hands free to clap Zack on the back, which he does with great gusto. "Glad to hear it! And thanks for letting me do this; you look good."

Such enthusiasm for a bit of fashion! Zack is briefly taken aback, then grins, shaking his head. "Nah, thanks for your help. If I'm going to be a bartender I might as well look good, right?"

Fashion, he does not comprehend it. But it is a pretty nice outfit, so he's not going to complain.