Writing is hard. I haven't done much in a while. My head hurts. Sorry about the chapter. I know it sucks, and it is super short. I wanted to write something though. I need to make some edits toprevious chapters. The other AVALANCHE is still around. Maybe more scenes and flesh some stuff out. Don't worry about the Whispers.
I ended up coming back and staying at the bar until night fell. My shop was closed up for the day anyways. This was more important. Getting Biggs to join us was a big deal. I didn't know much about him, but this city was much bigger than I thought it would be in the first place. Midgar was massive. Each of the sectors was like an individual city. I had hardly even left the sector since arriving here in the first place. Sure, I've been to Wall Market to meet with my suppliers, and I've fought monsters in sector 6, but I still haven't seen much of the city. I've gone plateside with Tifa too, but things need to change. I just don't seem to have enough time to do all the things I want in a day. Maybe I should give up the shop.
"GET THE HELL OUT!" a voice barrels through the doors as a giant of a man stamps inside, shoving the doors open wide. The patrons know this means the bar is closed. Barret has arrived. He swings his gun arm left and right, not once giving a fuck about what the people think. He's been raised tough, and it shows. Still, I don't leave my spot at the bar. I'm one of the exceptions to the rules. One of the benefits of fucking Tifa. I still can't get over that.
"Barret," I call out, "I have a new recruit coming in. He has a good reason to hate SHINRA as much as you do. His name's Biggs." And speak of the devil. Behind Barret, a voice drawls out,
"I guess this is the place, huh?" He walks in behind Barret. Honestly, most people in this world look exactly how I thought they would. It's crazy. Biggs looks just like I pictured him too if he wasn't a bunch of polygons. "You bunch are fighting those blue bastards, right?"
Barret shoves his gun arm in the man's face. "You damn right we are! Those motherfuckers are bleeding this damn planet dry, and who's going to stop them?" He paces back and forwards, "AVALANCHE! That's who! You stick with us and we'll kill all those sorry motherfuckers, every last one of them!" He grins and looks at me, Tifa, and then Biggs, "We've got plans, you see. Stick around and maybe you'll learn a thing or two, new blood!" He laughs. The rest of the night deals with getting Biggs acquainted with us. Jessie isn't here tonight, but he'll meet her soon, probably.
The next morning I wake up in Tifa's bed in the bar. My hand releases the soft flesh of her chest and the moans quietly, something too soft for me to hear. I slowly pull my arm out from under her, the friction from the sweat unpleasant. It's completely numb, and I feel irritable as I shower and get ready for the day. After I shower, my mood improves. Tifa slips past me with a kiss to shower herself and get ready as I leave the bar. It's time to get the shop ready.
Hours pass in my shop. There's plenty of traffic right now, and I make a decent amount of Gil. Today honestly seems like a lazy day. I guess exciting things can't happen all the time. Throughout the day, I've been tinkering with accessories when I can. Remember the badass gloves I had made? They failed. It takes time, but they don't last that long. The pull of mana from the materia damages the product. It's not because the work I did was flawed, but because the materials suck. I could make some badass items if I had better quality of supplies. Sadly, there's nothing like that here. I just need to find a decent balance for materia and slots with the cheap SHINRA guard dog leather I currently have.
Jessie brought Wedge in. Apparently, she's known him for years, and even if he's a bit hefty, he does good work. He's not a hacker or a bomb builder, but he has great aim with guns and can move fast for a guy that complains about food as much as he does. He makes me feel embarrassed, honestly. I'm pretty hefty too, but these months of hard work have slimmed me down. Still, that makes all the original cast except for Cloud, who is likely still unconscious and traveling with Zack. Less than 2 years remain.
I guess all I can do is keep preparing. I haven't been able to find a way to escape Midgar to look for Zack arriving, and I haven't seen Aerith in some time. I'm not too worried about her, honestly. The Turks will keep her safe. I'm more worried about these weird dementor-looking things I've been seeing lately.