wallwalker

The inn at Ghost Square might look tacky as hell, but Barret couldn't say nothin' bad about their cooking. Pity he didn't have the stomach for it.

What was left of his breakfast - that is, most of it - looked and smelled amazing, nothing like the stuff he'd grown up eating. He oughta be grateful, and he could hear his momma's voice in the back of his head, tellin' him not to waste anything that good. But he had no appetite; he'd been pickin' at the steak and eggs for three, maybe four minutes now, and he'd barely even touched the fruit and cream that they'd wrapped in a pancake, or whatever it was.

He wasn't used to this kinda thing. He'd lived most of his life as a coal miner, and coal miners didn't get much in the way of fine food. Good food, sure, when his momma or his wife was cooking, but simple, not all served up with decorations and stuff on the side he wasn't even sure he was supposed to eat. That sorta thing was around, sure, but usually far away, and way too rich for his blood. And then after that he'd lived in the slums, and for a long time he'd survived on what he could find, not worryin' too much about what it was. Stuff sealed off in plastic was the best - tasted terrible but lasted forever, so he didn't have to worry about looking for somethin' to eat and findin' out it had gone bad on him.

He knew Dio was just tryin' to make up for what had happened, heaping gifts up on them - the buggy was waitin' outside, and Cloud was already itchin' to try it. But there wasn't much that could make up for havin' to fight his old best friend, then watchin' him dive off a goddamned cliff. They hadn't even been able to recover the body, for pity's sake. Barret was holdin' it together, cuz he had to - he wasn't gonna let Cloud be the only one who could take his lumps without fallin' apart - but not really by much, if he was gonna be honest. He needed rest. He needed somethin' that would remind him of home.

"Hey," Tifa said lightly, interrupting his brooding. "Are you going to eat those eggs, or are you just going to keep poking at them?"

Barret looked down at the ruined yolks, then shook his head. Couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Guess I'm done with 'em," he said. "You want 'em, Tifa?"

"I'll have one, if you're really finished." She was already trying to side the egg onto a spoon, though. She knew an offer when she heard one. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hate to let it go to waste."

She ate the egg quickly, swallowing it down; the rest of her plate was already empty, even the fruit and cake. She ate a lot to keep herself goin' after a tough fight, and she'd been right beside them when they'd hunted for Dyne. He'd had to stop her from joinin' him, when his old friend had raised a hand to him. He appreciated her, but sometimes a man had to deal with his own mistakes.

Tifa hadn't prodded him 'bout his state of mind since they'd gotten out of the prison. Aeris had been asking constantly, until Tifa had finally pulled her aside - sweet as the little flower girl was, she didn't understand him, not like Tifa did. She didn't realize that he just needed some time.

Tifa finished her egg, then reached over to grab one of the insulated boxes. "You'll feel more like eating once we're on the road," she said, as she started to pack his food away into the box, pushing the steak and egg to one corner and the fruit and cream to the other. It wouldn't matter - they'd get mixed together on the way anyway - but she always tried. "You always do."

He nodded. He probably wouldn't have bothered, but Tifa knew him too well. She was the one who ended up sharing whatever snacks she had with him on the road, if he'd run out. Lately she'd been trying to keep him well-supplied. "Thanks," he said awkwardly, rubbing the ridiculous ghost-covered cloth napkin between his fingers.

"Just trying to keep you happy out there," she said, and her grin turned a tiny bit impish. "You get grouchy when you're hungry."

"That's the only time I'm grumpy?" he asked, amused.

"Well. Grouchier, then." She finished packing up the food and took him by the wrist. "C'mon. Let's get washed up and make sure Cloud hasn't tried to flip the buggy yet. I'd hate to miss that."

He groaned. "Tifa, I really hope you're jokin'."