I tried carrying the weight of the world

[due_reckoning]

WHO: Bakery Crew and Wedge
WHAT: Introductions and thank yous
WHERE: Annie's Bakes
WHEN:mid-late Jan?
WARNINGS: Canon typical tragedy?

SUMMARY: What it says on the tin

Comments

[due_reckoning]

Not Cloud he says and suddenly Wedge's face goes even redder than the cold had made it, blue eyes widening just a smidge. His gaze flicks back to where he knows Cloud is and then returns to Angeal with a sheepish laugh as he unwinds the bright red scarf around his neck so he can properly smile at Angeal.

Because that's absolutely who this is. The horns and scales are definitely not enough to hide the familiar features of a man Wedge had, for a long time, wanted to emulate. "N-no I uh..." Another glance toward the back, this time surreptitious as he moves closer to the counter with a shrug. "Don't imagine he'd want to be at the front counter." Nor would it be good for business if Cloud were the one at the counter. The idea of him doing customer service with his, at best, rbf is almost comical.

"I just didn't expect to recognize you? Or I guess..." He pauses, looks up (and up) at Angeal and then he's just chuckling to himself. "I shouldn't be that surprised that you'd start up something like this." Something down to earth and homey. Though Wedge is pretty sure, from what he remembers from magazines when he was a teenager, that he'd have more expected some sort of plant or flower shop from Angeal.

[firsteditionbfs]

Jeez. Just how does a sourpuss like Cloud attract such cheery people? Angeal has got to wonder, considering that besotted little look in this guy's eyes as he stares off to where Cloud disappeared, but he can't say it's a bad thing. A stubborn little hard ass like Cloud needs someone sweet like this. Help get his shit together. Not let him sink into his own fucked up little head.

"Well, he doesn't want to be baking either, but I've got him at it anyway," Angeal tells him, grinning right back. Honestly, he's all prepared to get into talking about the blond behind his back - and in front of his face if he makes a bad choice in timing.

Except... Then comes the part about recognition. And Angeal pauses in the middle of pushing forward the plate.

Hm. So. "Didn't think I'd get anyone who recognizes me around here," he says, slow and careful. It doesn't... look like the sort of expression of someone who knows him particularly well, no emotional impact to it - which is what he would expect if they were familiar with some alternate version of him in the same way that he knows another Rosie. And he knows for a fact that he never knew this man in person back in his homeworld.

And if he doesn't know him now, then he never knew him. Angeal is dead, after all. Technically. In at least one reality.

So. "Can I ask how you know me?"

[due_reckoning]

The question has Wedge's face flushing a little brighter, a nervous sort of chuckle in his throat as he glances down, not quite prepared to hold Angeal's gaze.

"I mean.. who doesn't know the SOLDIER First Class trio?" A shrug, it's no big deal really. Really. Please don't let it be a big deal. "Especially after all the rumors when you guys disappeared. It was all the papers could talk about for weeks."

"Not... exactly who I expected to be working in the bakery. Especially since Cloud didn't mention that you worked here too." Which would have come up, what with Cloud bringing home treats for him over the last few weeks. If Cloud had wanted it to, anyway.

[firsteditionbfs]

SOLDIER First Class trio... Now isn't that an old phrase he hasn't heard in a hot minute. But it's not wrong, really. Sephiroth was the original poster boy, of courses, but him and Genesis really pushed through the ranks faster than anybody else. Combine that with how no one else could ever really seem to match them for a damn long while...

Hell. They probably would have been known as a trio even if they didn't end up becoming such close friends.

Still, he keeps track of exactly what the guy says, how he's referred to. The timing. Spoken in the past tense, and how they were talked about for weeks... But that doesn't reveal too much, just that it's been a known quantity that they're gone. Still, he knows Cloud, doesn't he? So, so long as their times match, he guesses he knows the answer. Probably. Although you know what they say about assumptions...

He may as well make sure things are clear. "Well, he wouldn't, considering he's working here primarily to make up for the time he fried some things with his breath," Angeal comments wryly. "At any rate.... I picked this up from working with an old friend of mine, and I don't want her memory to fade." He'll be able to ensure this even better if he can ever get a proper picture set up. For now...

"I haven't been aligned with ShinRa for a long time... and I'd never go back either."