[b]Collaboration between Zero and Serah[/b]

When the group was dismissed Zim noticed that Serah quickly darted from the room. It was unusual for her, at least so far as Zim knew, to shoot off so quick. 'Bathroom, maybe?' He mused. He milled around for a moment to give the new leaders a congratulatory salute before he too headed off. He wanted to know about the new equipment that had been added. He did not expect Lorrenzo to actually agree to his request for more armaments, let alone already have plans in place for its advancements. So he headed to the hanger to meet up with Black Star's R&D team. He had worked with them all before, and knew them all by name. Herrick was the head of the team. Short by most standards of height, he still stood taller then Zim. He gave Zim a rundown of what the new equipment could do. Looking over he saw the massive hand that was intended to go over his left hand being fine tuned. The new armor wings too were hanging there being adjusted. They had changed shape slightly, providing a little more coverage for the Framewerks body. Black Star was yet to be returned from the field. 

It was then that Zim noticed Serah emerge from the women's locker room. Zim was normally pretty quiet, kept to himself. While, in his opinion, Serah was more outgoing, but perhaps from only the little interaction that they had had before some of that outgoing personality wore off on Zim. He called out to Serah. 

Serah had just finished getting dressed, neatly hanging the plugsuit up where it belonged. The fact she was now in regular clothes actually felt kind of breezy, but that wasn't a bad thing. Quite the opposite, it felt refreshing. She did a double-check to see if nothing was left behind before exiting, and almost immediately got confronted by Zim calling out to her when she did. [color=00aeef]"Oh, hey there!"[/color] she waved from a little ways away, jogging over to the older man. Funny, the first time they interacted it was [i]her[/i] poking [i]him[/i], not the other way around. Serah had to plant her feet firmly into the ground to avoid crashing into the more experienced pilot, having her usual beaming smile plastered across her face. 

[color=00aeef]"Whatchu doin' here? Getting changed like me? I thought people would be eating sweets right about now! Hey, I like sweets. I should probably go eat that parfait..."[/color] she rattled off, chattering away. Serah quickly realized she was overloading her sentences with too many words though, and probably also overwhelmed Zim's brain at the same time. [color=00aeef]"...But back to you!"[/color] she quickly changed gears, a little embarrassed about having already held an entire conversation by herself.

"I was eager to get more information about my new armaments," Zim responded, "But I was planning on changing soon. I was hoping that I could get a data pad with the specs so I could go over them and develop a strategy while I waited for Black Star to come back and get fixed up. I was surprised to see that the equipment was already here."

Zim gestured to the hand shaped weapon that awaited Black Star, "A pretty versatile weapon, actually. Has both melee and short ranged capabilities." He didn't want to bore Serah with the details if she wasn't interested. "I should get changed though, if you'll wait for me we can go get the parfait together?" Zim didn't wait for a response, he simply jogged off to the changing room. It didn't take long for him to emerge from the changing room. Though he was only partially clothed. His buttoned shirt still laid open over his scarred chest. He was actively buttoning it up as he re-greeted Serah. "Ready? Let's go."

Serah puffed up her cheeks when Zim didn't even give her a chance to respond to the offer, almost wanting to yell that he's a meanie at him. But she chose not to, and was instead actually considering it. Though it did sound a little off to her, even if he didn't mean it in that way. What kind of man doesn't know that 'Getting something together' usually meant taking a lady out on a date? Truly, he had no tact around woman. Though Serah had enough common sense to not think of it that way, the entire thing got put into question again when Zim walked out with his shirt unbuttoned. The girl was half-tempted to just bolt out of there.

Though, she could clearly see the circular scar and the burns that surrounded it on his stomach where he had been impaled during his first and only interaction with the Cruxi. Which promptly made her reconsider the entire thing once more. Nobody would really show that off willy-nilly, and especially not to pick up a girl. The entire thing was one giant fantasy Serah got lost in, only to be returned to reality when Zim asked her if she was ready. [color=00aeef]"...Eh?"[/color] she confusedly replied for a moment, freshly snapped out of her daydreaming. [color=00aeef]"...Oh, uh, right! Sure, let's go!"[/color] she cheerfully answered, this time going off ahead instead of Zim. Last time he ditched her, now she'd pay them back by forcing them to follow her tempo. [color=00aeef]"C'mon, let's hurry before the others eat them all!"[/color] Serah yelled back to Zim as she ran through the hallways, making her way to the mess hall.

Zim was forced to follow suit and followed after the younger girl. Once there they queued up in line until they could get served their Parfaits. Once served the odd pair found a table to sit at. After a few bites Zim asked a rather pointed question. "So, I noticed you were the first one out of the briefing room. That surprised me, to be honest. I would have expected you to stay and chat a little bit. Must have been in a hurry to get into regular clothes again?" There was suspicion on his voice, anybody could hear it that was listening. But it was all the pressure that he would apply to the conversation. 'If she wants to talk about it, she will,' Zim thought, 'I wont pry.'

He took another small bite of the creamy treat.

Serah naturally got her parfait earlier than Zim, looking back and sticking out her tongue with a giggle. She loved being earlier than people, and in turn also messing with them. Serah had been the one to pick the table, like a little child dragging their parent all over the place. She was also the first to truly munch down on it, shoving spoonful after spoonful into her mouth. She looked to be enjoying it greatly. There was even a little strawberry on top, and Serah put that in her mouth right as Zim asked his question. Serah choked on the thing and coughed a few times, patting her chest twice to make sure she was okay.

[color=00aeef]"H-Huh? *Cough!*"[/color] the girl choked out, a little confused at first. But then she let Zim finish his sentence and tensed up slightly when she realized what he meant. [color=00aeef]"O-Oh, right! Erm, no, I uh, had to go to the bathroom real bad..."[/color] she spoke, and it was part of the truth. She purposefully avoided saying why, but at least this way the girl didn't lie. [color=00aeef]"Though I did want to get changed back into my cute clothes, yeah. Could you imagine me running around in that plugsuit all day? I'd die in that thing!"[/color] she giggled, shoving another spoon of parfait into her mouth.

"Well," Zim said in response, "That is only natural. We are all only human after all, but that battle was more intense then we thought we would have to go up against. Or, at least it was for me. But, I don't really do sad emotions anymore. Floating nearly dead with a spike through your suit for a few days gives you time to think about things like that."

Zim took another bite of his parfait, he other hand absentmindedly went to the scar on his stomach as he continued, "Gives you time to realize that there are more important things about life then worrying about your past. We can only go forward in time, and so we should always keep your eyes forward in time. But, we are compatriots, we are squad-mates, and you and I are going to be a team on the front line, dodging between weapon fire and cover fire trying to make it to our opponents. You can trust me, on the battlefield and off. Certain burdens need not be carried alone."

Zim took a few more bites of his Parfait in silence. 'Perhaps I read the situation wrong,' Zim thought, 'Maybe she really did just need to go to the bathroom.'

[color=00aeef]"Ah, you shaid shomeshing about weaponsh?"[/color] Serah mumbled whilst still chewing down, apparently not bothered at all by the fact her mouth's full. She followed up on it after swallowing though. [color=00aeef]"Heardchu and the commander talking about it. The claw and wings, right? I'm amazed you think you can handle that... Not sure how I'd do with Atty if they suddenly mounted something extra on him, Ehehe!"[/color] Serah laughed, shoving anther bit of cream inside of her mouth. By now she was nearly done with the thing.

"Well, I am spent some time operating a lot of different equipment. I used to work on a Terraformer ship. I got used to operating all sorts of equipment, including Framewerks. Though nothing nearly as advanced or complex as these. Plus, prior to being sent to this facility with everybody else, I had spent innumerable hours in simulators. I understand how the machine moves, and I get how to manipulate the controls to make the machine do what I want it to do... but these Framewerks, there is something else going on that I don't get. Maybe it is just Black Star, but it seems like sometimes the machine fights against me," Zim explained casually as he took another bite. 

"But no, I don't really think I am going to truly be able to control these new weapons just as easily right off the bat. That is part of why I wanted these specs to look over before I even get into a simulator. I need to know what they can and cannot do, so I know how to use them appropriately and how to apply them to my style of combat," He cued up the spec sheet on the Wave Surger, the over sized hand, "This is something that I will have to get used to. See this has three functions to it. I can use it to grab a hold of something, like a limb or weapon and use extremely powerful microwaves to destroy it. I guess ideally I could use this to take out an opponents sensory equipment, or power supply, maybe a weapon, and incapacitate it. If we were commanded to capture a Cruxi to study it or something, for example, this could be useful. But beyond that, I have the ability to fire off a beam of sorts that I can sweep with to get moving targets, multiple targets, or put extra pressure on a single targets armor if need be. I've never had the range capability before, so I'll have to learn the new targeting controls for that. The third function allows me to more or less launch it like a rocket to clamp on and destroy something from a distance, too."

Serah listened carefully to Zim explaining both his weapon functions, and that Black Star somehow actively works [i]against[/i] him. That's a little confusing to the girl, who normally never had an issue with Atty. She and him were like the bestest of friends, or at least the girl liked to believe as much. [color=00aeef]"Whoa..."[/color] she replied in astonishment, before shoving the last spoonful of parfait left in the glass straight into her mouth. [color=00aeef]"*Gulp*, Wow, sounds complicated. Seems like you'd need to train for awhile to use those... And here I though managing two shields was hard enough!"[/color] Serah joked, looking down to see that nothing of the creamy delight was left in the glass aside from a few scrapes on the side. [color=00aeef]"...muuu..."[/color] she whined to herself, disappointed it was already gone. Then she perked up her ears when Zim started to talk again.

"Truth be told, if I hadn't spotted you coming out of the changing rooms back in the hangers, I would probably still be there in my plug suit, or getting into a simulator. Hey, when I finish these last few bites, do you want to join me in the simulators? I could use the practice with the equipment against another melee werk."

Serah froze up just a tad. This guy wanted to fight so soon after [i]that[/i] carnage? They were a stronger spirit than Serah, that's for sure. [color=00aeef]"U-Uh... No, sorry. I can't stand seeing even a simulation of Atty getting wrecked again..."[/color] she replied, averting her eyes a little. Which landed on a spectacle happening nearby, where two Sigma's and an Ariin were getting into some mischief. Was... Was Serah seeing things? [color=00aeef]"Uh..."[/color] she mumbled, raising an eyebrow when her focus was drawn to that. 

"Ah, well, some other time perhaps," Zim said as he turned his body to see what the younger girl was looking at. He shook his head as he turned his attention back to Serah, "Well, anyways. We are comrades. I wont treat you like some kid sister, and I wont treat you like an enemy, but we are never alone on the battlefield."

Zim took his last bite quickly then. "As you said, I am going to need a lot of practice with these new systems. So I am going to head back to the hanger for a simulator run. Enjoy the rest of rec time." Zim got up, excusing himself and headed out of the cafeteria, returning his dishes to the appropriate place along the way.