The next morning came slowly, edging gray clouds with gold and illuminating
the clean-scrubbed sky. Eiada woke to find Arin sleeping at the windowsill
and her entire body one giant ache. In the shadowy remnants of the night
before, she made coffee and woke the others.
Seven cups of coffee and four really bad continental breakfasts later, Eiada and Roen bundled what remained of their uniforms into a stripped down AT pack and set off. They sold all the practical gear (mostly extra AT supplies) for a grand total of 1695 gil in a trashy military supply outlet off the main streets, and went to find civilian clothes for the entire group.
There was something wonderfully normal about shopping on a Saturday morning, Eiada realized. Ignoring the facts that she was wearing a butchered SeeD trainee uniform cut roughly the same as Roen's and they both took great pains to stay away from the windows, she could have been bargain hunting in Winhill. She found herself lighthearted after the longest day and night of her life, smiling at the cashier and teasing Roen about his essentially colorblind methods of choosing clothing.
They shopped from eleven until three, together and apart, never on the main roads. Eiada came away from a thrift store with a pair of solid, serviceable jeans that were just a little too long in the leg, but had extra pockets. Roen insisted on pockets, his rationale being that three identical packs on four people made them look like a group as well as uniforms did. Therefore, as few packs as possible. They found Iyan a warm red greatcoat long enough to wear over his undershirt and Balamb G pants with pockets riddling the inside. Arin got a long, oversized tan vest and a pair of brown pants- more pockets. Roen settled on a loose blue flight jacket that more or less matched his Balamb uni pants. Eiada scrounged up a tight waterproof jacket that fell to the tops of her thighs and had a hood. It was a light silvery purple. She felt fairly guilty about having to buy two articles of clothing when all the others only had one, but she could hardly go traipsing cross-country in a skirt.
Their last stop was back in the military supply store to sell Roen and Eiada's Balamb uniforms, which brought in 200 more gil. As she changed into the civvies in the dingy gray bathroom, Eiada tried to figure out how much four boat tickets back to Balamb would cost. She had no idea- Uncle Wage always bought her tickets home every summer.
"How do I look?" she asked Roen as she stepped out of the bathroom, zipping up the from of the coat and striking a pseudo-model pose.
He looked her over carefully. "Normal," he pronounced.
"Such a sweet talker," she grumbled teasingly, picking up her shopping bags and nudging the door open with her hip.
"Back to the room, then?" she asked as they stepped out onto the street. "No birthday presents to buy? No window shopping you want to do?"
Roen gave her an odd look. "Eiada. Do you know where we are?"
"Come on, I'm trying-" she lowered her voice. "-to act normal. Like an everyday citizen who doesn't have anything better to do than shop on a Saturday morning. Besides, this is the first time in twenty-four hours I'm fed, rested, and not being shot at, slashed, chased, or assaulted in any way. Excuse me for being in a good mood."
"I'm just saying not to be too noticeable." he said as they crossed the street, narrowly avoiding a public bus seemingly on the rampage. "We don't want anyone to remember us."
"And I'm just saying people are more likely to remember us if we're silent and polite everywhere we go. We're teenagers, we're supposed to be loud and rude and self-centered. It's the way of nature."
He cracked a smile. "Point. I think I'm done. Do you want to get takeout for all of us for lunch? It's gotta be cheaper than room service."
Eiada's stomach growled at the thought of greasy fries and noodles. She hadn't eaten much at breakfast- food before a certain hour just made her queasy. "Absolutely."
They stopped in a pseudo-rural takeout joint, full of people and light and the scream of frying grease. It was just before three, and it seemed every other teenage shopper in Dollet had the same craving for salt and carbs. The line in front of the counter was practically out the door, which didn't do much for Roen's paranoia and Eiada's stomach- the fried food smell nearly had her knifing people to get to the counter.
"Look at that." Roen said as the line crept slowly forward, elbowing Eiada and jerking his chin at the television set into the corner joining roof and wall above the counter. The sound was off, but subtitles lined the bottom of the picture. Red, green, yellow, and blue fireworks exploded on the screen.
"Did they declare a new holiday or something?" Eiada wondered aloud. As far as she could recall the Galbadian calendar, there was nothing to celebrate for awhile yet.
"No. Read."
The line shuffled forward, and Eiada read. (...the commencement parade signifying the first day of a three-day national celebration welcoming the Sorceress Edea to the Deling Administration. Her role as Chief Advisor and International Relations Specialist is one never previously obtained by a woman, much less one with no outstanding political or military career.)
Roen frowned. "A Sorceress?"
"What the hell?" Eiada agreed. "Is that the Sorceress War type Sorceress?"
"I hope not."
Eiada went back to reading.
(The first day of celebration with conclude this evening with the Sorceress' first public speech and a parade through Deling City. Stay tuned this afternoon- in one hour, the President himself will introduce the Sorceress over the first televised radio waves to be broadcast in decades!)
"Hey!" Eiada exclaimed, startling the rest of the line.
"Hey!" Roen agreed in a very convincing stoned teenager voice. "They're having a rice sale!"
"Can I take your order?" An obnoxiously chipper young woman asked from behind the counter.
"Dude, yeah," Roen husked. "Rice. Hella rice."
"And some fries," Eiada added, catching the hint. "And a bucket of chicken wings. Four large sodas."
They paid in silence, took their plastic bags, and fled.
"Did you read that?" Eiada exclaimed as they double-timed it down the street. "They're using radio waves to broadcast a television announcement! That must be why they worked so hard to keep the radio tower working yesterday! That makes sense, I guess, the cable broadcasts are expensive and not many people can afford them- Oh! They're trying to use radio waves to access the public with their Sorceress thing! Duh!"
"Eiada."
Train of thought derailed, she turned to him. "Yeah?"
"Chill."
"Okay, okay. I'm just wondering what this is going to do for the getting- out-of-the-country thing."
Roen shrugged; an impressive feat given all the bags in his arms. "They'll probably up security on trains and boats."
"But we're gonna have to risk at least one of either to get home, right?" Eiada asked, starting to walk again.
"Well, yeah, but if we wait until things cool down security-wise it'll be easier. So, no mass transit for at least three days."
"Okay, right. So what are we going to do? Walk around the country until the soldiers stop looking at us sideways?"
Roen hiked up the bags in his arms, lengthened his stride to reach the hotel before it started to rain again. "That depends on where we're going."
Seven cups of coffee and four really bad continental breakfasts later, Eiada and Roen bundled what remained of their uniforms into a stripped down AT pack and set off. They sold all the practical gear (mostly extra AT supplies) for a grand total of 1695 gil in a trashy military supply outlet off the main streets, and went to find civilian clothes for the entire group.
There was something wonderfully normal about shopping on a Saturday morning, Eiada realized. Ignoring the facts that she was wearing a butchered SeeD trainee uniform cut roughly the same as Roen's and they both took great pains to stay away from the windows, she could have been bargain hunting in Winhill. She found herself lighthearted after the longest day and night of her life, smiling at the cashier and teasing Roen about his essentially colorblind methods of choosing clothing.
They shopped from eleven until three, together and apart, never on the main roads. Eiada came away from a thrift store with a pair of solid, serviceable jeans that were just a little too long in the leg, but had extra pockets. Roen insisted on pockets, his rationale being that three identical packs on four people made them look like a group as well as uniforms did. Therefore, as few packs as possible. They found Iyan a warm red greatcoat long enough to wear over his undershirt and Balamb G pants with pockets riddling the inside. Arin got a long, oversized tan vest and a pair of brown pants- more pockets. Roen settled on a loose blue flight jacket that more or less matched his Balamb uni pants. Eiada scrounged up a tight waterproof jacket that fell to the tops of her thighs and had a hood. It was a light silvery purple. She felt fairly guilty about having to buy two articles of clothing when all the others only had one, but she could hardly go traipsing cross-country in a skirt.
Their last stop was back in the military supply store to sell Roen and Eiada's Balamb uniforms, which brought in 200 more gil. As she changed into the civvies in the dingy gray bathroom, Eiada tried to figure out how much four boat tickets back to Balamb would cost. She had no idea- Uncle Wage always bought her tickets home every summer.
"How do I look?" she asked Roen as she stepped out of the bathroom, zipping up the from of the coat and striking a pseudo-model pose.
He looked her over carefully. "Normal," he pronounced.
"Such a sweet talker," she grumbled teasingly, picking up her shopping bags and nudging the door open with her hip.
"Back to the room, then?" she asked as they stepped out onto the street. "No birthday presents to buy? No window shopping you want to do?"
Roen gave her an odd look. "Eiada. Do you know where we are?"
"Come on, I'm trying-" she lowered her voice. "-to act normal. Like an everyday citizen who doesn't have anything better to do than shop on a Saturday morning. Besides, this is the first time in twenty-four hours I'm fed, rested, and not being shot at, slashed, chased, or assaulted in any way. Excuse me for being in a good mood."
"I'm just saying not to be too noticeable." he said as they crossed the street, narrowly avoiding a public bus seemingly on the rampage. "We don't want anyone to remember us."
"And I'm just saying people are more likely to remember us if we're silent and polite everywhere we go. We're teenagers, we're supposed to be loud and rude and self-centered. It's the way of nature."
He cracked a smile. "Point. I think I'm done. Do you want to get takeout for all of us for lunch? It's gotta be cheaper than room service."
Eiada's stomach growled at the thought of greasy fries and noodles. She hadn't eaten much at breakfast- food before a certain hour just made her queasy. "Absolutely."
They stopped in a pseudo-rural takeout joint, full of people and light and the scream of frying grease. It was just before three, and it seemed every other teenage shopper in Dollet had the same craving for salt and carbs. The line in front of the counter was practically out the door, which didn't do much for Roen's paranoia and Eiada's stomach- the fried food smell nearly had her knifing people to get to the counter.
"Look at that." Roen said as the line crept slowly forward, elbowing Eiada and jerking his chin at the television set into the corner joining roof and wall above the counter. The sound was off, but subtitles lined the bottom of the picture. Red, green, yellow, and blue fireworks exploded on the screen.
"Did they declare a new holiday or something?" Eiada wondered aloud. As far as she could recall the Galbadian calendar, there was nothing to celebrate for awhile yet.
"No. Read."
The line shuffled forward, and Eiada read. (...the commencement parade signifying the first day of a three-day national celebration welcoming the Sorceress Edea to the Deling Administration. Her role as Chief Advisor and International Relations Specialist is one never previously obtained by a woman, much less one with no outstanding political or military career.)
Roen frowned. "A Sorceress?"
"What the hell?" Eiada agreed. "Is that the Sorceress War type Sorceress?"
"I hope not."
Eiada went back to reading.
(The first day of celebration with conclude this evening with the Sorceress' first public speech and a parade through Deling City. Stay tuned this afternoon- in one hour, the President himself will introduce the Sorceress over the first televised radio waves to be broadcast in decades!)
"Hey!" Eiada exclaimed, startling the rest of the line.
"Hey!" Roen agreed in a very convincing stoned teenager voice. "They're having a rice sale!"
"Can I take your order?" An obnoxiously chipper young woman asked from behind the counter.
"Dude, yeah," Roen husked. "Rice. Hella rice."
"And some fries," Eiada added, catching the hint. "And a bucket of chicken wings. Four large sodas."
They paid in silence, took their plastic bags, and fled.
"Did you read that?" Eiada exclaimed as they double-timed it down the street. "They're using radio waves to broadcast a television announcement! That must be why they worked so hard to keep the radio tower working yesterday! That makes sense, I guess, the cable broadcasts are expensive and not many people can afford them- Oh! They're trying to use radio waves to access the public with their Sorceress thing! Duh!"
"Eiada."
Train of thought derailed, she turned to him. "Yeah?"
"Chill."
"Okay, okay. I'm just wondering what this is going to do for the getting- out-of-the-country thing."
Roen shrugged; an impressive feat given all the bags in his arms. "They'll probably up security on trains and boats."
"But we're gonna have to risk at least one of either to get home, right?" Eiada asked, starting to walk again.
"Well, yeah, but if we wait until things cool down security-wise it'll be easier. So, no mass transit for at least three days."
"Okay, right. So what are we going to do? Walk around the country until the soldiers stop looking at us sideways?"
Roen hiked up the bags in his arms, lengthened his stride to reach the hotel before it started to rain again. "That depends on where we're going."