"My roots are showing," Sephiroth said succinctly.
Sephiroth still hadn't returned by the time Zack emerged from his very long, very hot shower. At first Zack grumbled uncharitably about that. He reminded himself that recon work took time, care, and effort. It wasn't fast, he knew, and so let the man's continued absence pass. He toweled dry his short hair and snuggled into a comfy pair of sweats. His stomach growled and complained, so he immediately dug into the cooler bag.
As he'd feared, the sandwiches were all gone. "Sephiroth, I want to kill you," Zack muttered over his stomach's increasingly loud grumbles. Sephiroth had eaten them all, the pig.
Fortunately, before he committed some inexcusable mayhem, Zack remembered that he could order takeout or even room service. The hotel was decently sized and boasted a small room service menu, and Pithole itself was big enough to have a number of takeout places. He just needed to make sure the delivery person didn't see Angeal's head.
It was easy enough to carry Angeal's container into the bathroom and throw a couple towels over it. Problem solved, Zack congratulated himself. He then busied himself with the room service menu, which listed several delicious looking choices.
He ordered two dinners, both for himself. Thick, juicy steaks cooked medium rare, with heaps of veggies and loaded baked potatoes. A jumbo-sized soda. Strawberry cream cake for dessert. The meal was amazing, and he wolfed it down in short order.
When Sephiroth returned almost two hours later carrying some large bags, Zack was sprawled on his bed, his hands clasped over his pleasantly full stomach, nicely relaxed and watching an inane comedy show on the television. He smiled benignly as Sephiroth stared at the dishes left out on the small table. Zack hadn't yet bothered to put them outside the door for pickup.
"I didn't know when you'd be back, and I was starving," Zack told him with only a hint of smugness in his tone. "There wasn't any food left in the cooler."
Sephiroth merely cocked an annoyed eyebrow at him and set his bags down next to the dirty dishes. His lips twitched downward as he said, "I got us takeout."
Zack sniffed and scented rice and meat from the bags, barely noticeable through the lovely smell of his steaks that still permeated the air. He immediately felt a little regret about his gloating, but not much. Sephiroth could eat it, and Zack could always eat more later on. He imagined Angeal chuckling at them—real imagination this time, not that disembodied laughter he'd heard before—and pointed out, "It won't go to waste, you know."
"I know." Sephiroth looked at the television and dresser, and stiffened. "Where's Angeal?" he asked sharply.
"In the bathroom. I didn't want the delivery person to see him." It was also kind of nice to not keep staring at a severed head in a jar.
Sephiroth's lips compressed, but he gave a curt nod. "Good thinking." He went into the bathroom.
He hadn't sounded terribly pleased, nor did he look happy when he returned with Angeal's container cradled in his arms. "You left him on the floor, Zack?"
"The counter's tiny. The floor was at least stable."
Sephiroth huffed, unimpressed, and carefully arranged Angeal back in his place of honor on the dresser and next to the television. He kept his back to Zack and switched the blathering TV show off.
Zack shrugged. He hadn't really been paying much attention to it, anyway. Despite the satisfying dinner, his nightmare and its aftermath still troubled him. "Sephiroth..." he began.
Sephiroth rested both hands on Angeal's container. "Zack," he said.
Zack wanted to ask about the reality of dreams—nightmares—and phantom, one-sided conversations with disembodied heads, but he couldn't make the words come out. "What did you find out in town?"
Sephiroth finally turned. He leaned back against the dresser, obscuring Zack's view of Angeal. "I located the hospital, a clinic, and the medical supply house. They were well stocked and have a good selection of chemicals."
"Makes sense." Zack nodded. "This town seems pretty prosperous, all things considered."
"Their oil industry serves them well. But the store was closing when I got there, and I only had a short time to look around. We'll have to visit when they open tomorrow to buy more supplies for Angeal. In fact, I'd like to stay here another day and spend more time investigating the red monsters."
"Did you find out anything new?"
"Not much more than your desk clerk told you. They have one black wing and usually wear black and red clothes. I also was told they were reported to be humanoid in shape, that most are masked, and that only fools believe they're real."
"Genesis copies." Zack nodded his head.
"I am certain of it." Sephiroth turned his head a little to one side, as though listening to a phantom voice. "Yes, that is true. They attempted to obscure their direction when they finished their raids, but witnesses outside Pithole reported seeing strange apparitions with one wing flying northwest."
Talking to Angeal again, Zack assumed. "Toward Rocket Town?"
"Probably." Sephiroth returned his attention to Zack. "It's still a long way to Rocket Town, though. Their base could be anywhere between here and there."
"Not really," Zack said. "You've said before that they need some sort of technology and a ready supply of power. Hollander's machines and lab need..." He hesitated, memories of Hojo's lab rising up. He forced them down again. "Hollander and Genesis can't be in a completely uncivilized area."
They spent a few pointless minutes debating the subject. Well, it probably seemed pointless to Sephiroth. He'd clearly formed his conclusions with his usual confidence in his own reasoning. To Zack, the discussion was a sane conversation with a real, solid person, not a ghost.
"No matter what, I need to talk to more people about red monsters and flying humanoids," Sephiroth added when their discussion dwindled. "I also want to find out more about the alleged kidnap victims. Everyone I spoke with has heard about them, says they are all young men in their teens and twenties, but no one admits knowing anyone who was taken. They then insist that it's all just hearsay and folklore. It was as though they were trying to warn me without implicating themselves."
"Just like Rich." Zack swallowed hard and picked at his thumbnail. "But he seemed so honest. Not uncomfortable at all."
"Your desk clerk, yes. He did make a point of cautioning you about the monsters before he claimed the stories were all nonsense," Sephiroth reminded him. "He described them to you very precisely, so you'd know what to watch out for. He must be a very good actor. I will speak with him myself tomorrow."
"Do you really think there's a cover up going on? But what would they have to gain by denying their own people were being stolen?"
Sephiroth shrugged his shoulders. "It certainly seems like a cover up. There are no official reports of missing people, nothing that would alert Shin-Ra. Perhaps the master of the red monsters has threatened the locals to keep them quiet about the kidnapped men."
Zack was silent a moment, digesting that unpalatable idea. He remembered Banora, and how Genesis claimed to have terrorized the Shin-Ra operatives there enough to send in false reports. He had called his threats "mild" but must have done much more than issue a few harsh words. "You think Genesis himself might have been here?"
"Unknown, but there must be some reason the townsfolk alternately warned us and then claimed the stories were absurd. They are attempting to protect both us and themselves."
"Kidnapping, plus theft of lab supplies. Do you suppose Hollander and Genesis are making more copies? They won't be as good as the copies they made from SOLDIERs."
"I imagine they will enhance any new copies."
Zack shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. I think that's why their base can't be too far out in the boonies. The enhancement process takes a lot of technology and mako, even if it's not SOLDIER-level enhancement."
"I will ask more questions tomorrow. I also want to pick out my own hair color this time."
Confused by the abrupt change in topic, Zack blinked and cocked his head. "Come again?"
"My roots are showing," Sephiroth said succinctly. He dipped his head forward, and Zack saw the narrow band of gray at the part of his mousy brown hair.
"You're so tall I never noticed."
"Let us hope most people haven't noticed."