Hi Guys!

So, I took a small break from writing my other fic "Into The Fire", because I got a wave of inspiration to write this little "Tserith" interlude. It's pretty much non-canon, but I'm having a boat-loads of fun writing it =D I just love those Turks!

Anyway, please let me know if you like it. It's rated M for adult themes AND shameless sex scenes that I'll be posting awfully soon. So buckle up!

A few fun strip club songs that you can play to get yourself in the mood (like I did!) are:

1.) "Everywhere I Go" ~Hollywood Undead

2.) "Cola" ~Lana Del Rey

3.) "Meet Your Master" ~NIN

FFVII and its characters are property of Square-Enix. No money is being made from this work of fiction.

Enjoy!

Aerith tied her hair back while appraising herself in her faded mirror: She was currently sporting a skimpy red teddy made of satin, with pink lace trim. She huffed as she slipped her dress on over the suggestive lingerie, careful to hide any of the frilly edges with her red jacket.
If Elmyra saw her in this getup -or any of her other secret work outfits for that matter- she'd suffer an aneurism and die right on the spot. Subsequently, Aerith would die too -of shame and embarrassment.
Once she was satisfied with her seemingly normal outfit (with a secret surprise underneath), she transferred a few of her belongings in her flower basket; A makeup bag, a pair of black high heel shoes, wet wipes, vanilla body spray, and a spare bra and panty set (which was considerably more bland than what she was hiding underneath her signature pink dress). Once satisfied, she strategically placed lilies and tulips over the top to serve as a shield for the items underneath.

Tonight was going to be a long night: a double shift. She made sure to have a big meal at dinner, since she had no idea if she'd even get a moment to break for food or drink tonight. The Don had been working everyone extra hard these days, and it was only a matter of time before he put her to better use elsewhere. She shuddered at the thought.

~~Earlier in the evening ~~

"Sweetie, slow down! You act like you're a starving child in the ruins of Corel. Are you feeling okay?" Elmyra's playful laugh segued to serious questioning as Aerith shoveled lentil stew into her mouth, sopping it up with bread and butter, licking her fingers clean in a very un-lady-like fashion.

"I'm fine, mom," she smiled. "I've just been walking a lot lately between Sector Four and Sector Seven. I want to get a head start on sales tonight. A lot of couples will be out on the square after the First two showings of 'Loveless'," she lied through her teeth. Although it was date night and the Sector Seven square would certainly be busy, she was going to a much different destination to do work that was decidedly different from her typical flower sales job...

Aerith was so much better at lying these days, it seemed. "I have to push theses spring blooms while I can. They wither pretty quickly so I have to hustle. The more money I make, the closer we get to leaving Midgar, right?" She grinned at Elmyra before sipping some sweet tea from a straw.

"I suppose," Elmyra wiped her brow and placed her ladle on the counter before sitting down to join her lively, and seemingly famished daughter for dinner. "I just want to make sure you're in good health is all. One might think I'm not feeding you enough," she scowled.

"Mo-om," Aerith chided, rolling her eyes. "I'm fine, just hungry. And I don't feel like paying out the nose for a snack while I'm out and about."

"Okay, okay. I'll pack some dried apples for you before you go. I just wish you didn't have to do this so much at night anymore. It worries me. You're such a pretty girl, and men can be dangerous. And those awful Shinra agents are always poking around here. The tall one was here again yesterday. He came about an hour after you left. He's very persistent, even after all these years." Elmyra took one bite of her stew before standing up again to clean off the counter.

'The woman never stops bustling around. Or worrying,' Aerith smiled to herself as she shook her head.

"Tseng is harmless," she reassured her adoptive mother as she stood to clear her bowl from the table. "He just likes to be seen. He has to show Shinra that he's at least doing his job. Somewhat. He won't take me. If he hasn't already, why would he now all of a sudden?" She set her dishes in the sink and leaned against the counter. "Besides, Tseng is nothing but nice to me, to be honest," she lowered her head now with a soft smile, reminiscing on all of the times Tseng would collect her letters to Zack in a valiant effort to deliver them to her seldom-seen or heard-from Soldier boyfriend. She hadn't taken the time to write anymore letters lately –After a moment of clarity in the church a few months prior: Zack was gone. And he wasn't coming back.

Elmyra reached up to brush a strand of hair from her daughter's lovely face, cupping her cheek in admiration. When had her little girl become so tall and womanly? She took a deep breath, "He would do it for himself, my precious girl -Not for Shinra ...or anyone else. He would take you and keep you from me. I know that in my heart. So be careful, Lovey."

Aerith smiled warmly at her ever-vigilant mother, "I'm always careful mom," clinking her metal cuffs together for emphasis: "I'm tough."

Aerith knew very well that Tseng admired her. He always hovered nearby, just out of reach. He was a tall, intimidating man of Wutaian descent who had a very serious nature about him (Just as most men of Wutai were: stoic, reserved, respectable.) She surmised that Tseng was about 10-15 years her senior, and that he was a high-ranking employee within Shinra's special operations department -due to the fact that he could get away with failing to bring her into custody for far too long. As in: twelve or so years too long. He just ...meandered around her, and got away with it somehow.

The people of the Slums dubbed Tseng and his band of crack thugs and sharpshooters "The Turks", due to their ruthless intimidation, intel, and battle tactics. The nickname stuck and the small band of employees within Special Ops wore the name with pride -Even long before the current lineup of Tseng & Co.

Aerith first encountered Tseng when she was only about 7 years old, after she escaped Shinra labs with her birth mother. She was taken in by the kind woman who now stood before her: Elmyra. She reminisced to the days when she would hide behind Elmyra in an attempt to evade being captured and dragged back to the living nightmare that was Shinra Labs.

Tseng appeared to be in his twenties at the time when he and Shinra troops started showing up at their doorstep. After that, he remained a steady presence in her life; A sentinel who watched over her as she grew from a feisty little girl into an equally feisty, beautiful young woman.

~~Later…~~

"Mom, I'm headed out. I'll try not to be too late!" Aerith hollered over her shoulder, fully knowing that she would, if fact, be too late. As in 5 or 6am late. She glanced at the clock: 8:13pm. She had to hustle if she was going to get to Wall Market in time. If she was late again, that would really send the Head Mistress flying into a tizzy.

"Okay, Lovey! Be careful!" Elmyra's voice came from the washroom.

Aerith locked the door behind her and began her nightly trek to Wall Market.

The lovely flower girl started to make some better income since she started working at The Doll House Club in Sector 6 a little over a month ago. She somehow fell into the Adult entertainment industry after being approached by a cute teen girl with a chipped front tooth who had been wandering around the square recruiting newbies:

"You'll do fiiiine."

Shayla, the skinny, Chip-toothed, bleach blonde girl in fishnets and a short gold dress cracked her gum and smiled reassuringly at Aerith, "I rake in two K a month. A lot of it is hands off, too! If you stick to the viewing booths, you don't even have to look at the dudes. Or chicks. Whatever. You just have to chat and be nice and put on a little show."

After a particularly tough sales day for Aerith, Shayla convinced her to at least drop into the Honey Bee Doll House -the club that was attached to the infamous inn. It was more of a gentleman's club with bottle service, stripper poles, and private viewing booths. Shayla worked the pole, the floor, and the booths, and sometimes provided private "escort service" outside the club for extra cash. The Doll House was looking for fresh girls for the viewing booths and Aerith seemed to fit the bill nicely.

"It's easy," she explained, taking the prim and proper flower girl by the hands. "I'll show you the ropes, so you ain't gotta worry about nothin'. Sound good?" She shook the older girl's hands excitedly, as if she had done something right and was about to receive some form of praise, but not necessarily from Aerith.

Long story short, Aerith reluctantly agreed. She never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would ever become one of "those girls". Lo and behold, here she was, smudging eyeliner around her eyes to create a dramatic look –and to keep anyone potentially familiar from recognizing her. She sat in front of her vanity mirror, surrounded by women in scant clothing, preparing to entertain the myriad of clients who were about to fill the club.

"Here, sweetie," an older woman handed her an un-marked envelope.
Aerith looked up to see Savannah, the Head Mistress of the dancers hovering over her with a smirk.
"Seems like you've got an admirer." The Head Mistress appraised her newest peep show girl with a cock-eye ('Lily' was it? The girl always walked in with a basket of fresh flowers, for Pete's sake!), while leaning against her vanity to light up a cigarette. She blew the smoke out of the side of her mouth as she waited for Aerith to open the letter she had delivered.

Aerith set down her eyeliner pencil and proceeded to open the envelope, which revealed a folded note and five gil coins -which immediately dropped to the floor with a light tinkling noise.

Savanna whistled as she used her long red nails to scoop up the coins from the floor, slapping them down on the vanity before 'Lily', "Looks like a big night for you so far! Don't forget you owe a cut to the club, and the DJ, and the dear old Don, my pet." She patted Aerith on the shoulder roughly as she proceeded to walk off to bother the other girls who were dilly-dallying around the dressing room.

Aerith fingered up the Gil that was placed before her. She never actually saw this color and shape of Gil before: 500 Gil, five one hundred Gil coins in all. Slum-dwellers never saw such large amounts of cash at one time; only plate-dwellers did.

Still in shock, she turned her attention to the hand-written note:

"You don't have to do this anymore."

'That's it?' she thought to herself in annoyance.

But then her stomach lurched. Had someone out there discovered her secret?

"Oooh you gotta sugar daddy?!" Shayla had taken notice and snatched the note out from under Aerith's nose. Apparently she had been snooping over her shoulder the entire time. She hopped up onto the vanity to appraise the note. "How much?" she questioned as she peered over the note with her thick false lashes.

"...Five hundred," Aerith responded, still in quiet disbelief.

"YOWZA!" Shayla practically shouted, tossing the hand written note behind her as she stood. "I wish I could get that much from some sneaky booth creep. I don't even get that much after sucking ugly dick! This dude must really be into you," she snorted as she laughed.

Aerith wrinkled her nose at the "ugly dick" comment. She decided to brush this incident aside and just get to work. She placed the money in her wallet and locked it inside her vanity. She'd think about it later. She could honestly pack up and go home now, but more money was to be made tonight. She couldn't keep her customers waiting just because some dude took it upon himself to be her "savior". Also, if she slipped out now, she'd have both Don Corneo AND Shinra on her case. What a mess she had gotten herself into… but still, she continued to remind herself: the more money she made, the sooner she and Elmyra could leave this God-forsaken place.

Aerith AKA 'Lily' walked down the hall, her black heels echoing off the cement walls before climbing into her assigned viewing booth. The hot white lights came up while the familiar mirrored glass revealed to her a very unfamiliar reflection of herself, even after all this time. She wasn't the demure flower girl anymore. The alluring sexpot Lily had snatched her body and morphed her into something highly desirable and much more risqué. She heard the familiar whirring noise of the booth machine as the client entered coins from the other side. The sound of the window opening signaled her to start as she was now on display for a pair of hungry eyes that she couldn't even see.

She used to imagine Zack on the other side of the peep show viewing booth -that she was performing for him and only him. Her raw honesty in her acts of sexual self-exploration and expression must have been why customers kept coming back to her booth night after night after night. That, and her willingness to lend an ear to so many of the lonely business men and unhappily married men who came into the club out of desperation. Many of them just wanted a pretty female to talk to and confide in. Aerith, being the kind-hearted woman she was, happily obliged. Every time.

Slowly but surely, her delusion of Zack on the other side had faded. She knew he was gone. These days she was simply dancing and performing for herself. The people on the other side of the glass just got to watch as she pleasured herself out of loneliness and despair. Her dances were haunting, if her viewers had been so inclined to watch.

Her first few customers for the night had been "typical" for the most part. "Typical" as in: one particular customer wanted her to yell at him and threaten to cut off his balls, another just wanted to chat about politics and slum-life, and another was happy for her to just rub her breasts together for a while. A few others came and went, and Aerith catered to them by performing to the best of her abilities.

She felt a wave of relief when she was given a short break about three and a half hours into her double shift. She wandered back to her vanity station to sip on a bottle of water while munching on some of the dried apples that Elmyra had packed for her. Her ears perked up as Shayla and another dancer discussed a commotion that had taken place not too long ago: "…those types around here. They must be looking for someone. I heard gun shots when I was upstairs a little while ago. It came from next door."

"Is it Shinra?" another girl chimed in.

"I bet the Don did something shady to piss them off again."

"I hate when they come here."

"Yeah but they have money! I like when they come in!"

Aerith finished her snack and tidied herself up, unwilling to be sucked into the gossip going on around her. She just wanted to do her job and go home. She didn't need to get caught up in anything Shinra-related tonight.

Her second shift was uneventful, for the most part. One customer had been a giggling female who was probably sent into the booth on a dare. Aerith experienced at least two or three such customers in the past, so she was used to catering to them, too.

The hours ticked by slowly after her break. The booth became so constraining whenever she neared the end of her shift. Tonight she had to stay 4 hours longer than usual, due to the lack of workers. She figured it had to be close to 4am by now, and business had slowed down somewhat. As she sat and fiddled with her hair, she heard the whir of the cash machine signaling that another customer had come in. At the rate things were going, this was probably going to be her last customer for the night. She hoped to hold onto them long enough to fill her last hour.

She got into position sitting casually on her knees, leaning forward seductively. The window slid up, exposing her to whoever was on the other side.

"Hi, I'm Lily. What can I do for you tonight?" she shrugged a shoulder forward in an attempt to look sultrier.

No response.

"S'matter sweetie? Are you shy? I'm not gonna bite," she giggled. She was used to quiet customers by now. She became better at handling them after her first week of employment. She was given a crash course on how to be an exotic entertainer by Shayla, who was more accustomed to dirty talk, pillow talk, and all other manners of seductive flirtation. Before that, the only people who had ever seen Aerith naked as an adult were Elmyra and Zack. And of course the only person with whom she had ever been intimate was Zack.

Shayla told her that if the people on the other side of the glass were quiet, they just wanted to see tits and ass so they could "get off and get the fuck out." Aerith felt dirty to be used in such a manner, but Shayla reassured her it was better than being an escort, or working at the Inn, where you were more likely to be physically used and abused. Aerith certainly wanted none of that.

After the first half of her shift, she had worn out her red teddy and stockings by removing them and putting them back on so many times. So, she now donned a simple baby pink satin bra and panty set that was kept as backup in her locker. She was chilly wearing less fabric, but it was easier than dealing with the blasted complicated lingerie she had been wearing all night prior.

She returned to the matter at hand: "Okay sweetie, no problem. I'll just dance for you, and if you like it, I'll keep going. If you want me to do something else, just let me know," she winked as she began to undulate to the residual music that pumped in from the main dance floor. She placed her hands behind her neck to seductively play with her hair, pulling it all to the top of her head before fiddling with her bra straps as her fell down in chestnut waves. She decided to make this more of a teasing dance, unless the customer specified otherwise. She was also forming gooseflesh from the cold, and she was tired of completely exposing herself for the night. She went through the motions as she lie on her back to let her hands roam over her body, squeezing her breasts and rubbing her fingers over her panties. She shifted back onto her knees, opening and closing them as she undulated. She paused for a moment to rub her hands against her arms to create some warmth from the friction.

"Are you cold?" an unexpected, deep male voice came from the other side of the glass.

Aerith looked up in surprise and smiled. "He speaks," she giggled. "I'm a little chilly but I'll be alright." She leaned forward and sat directly in front of the glass. "How about you? Are you having a good night?" She tilted her head inquisitively. "Not too cold, I hope?" She smiled again.

No response.

The energy emanating from this person was affecting her somehow. She knew that he wanted to talk to her, but he was holding back.

She continued the session uninterrupted after that. No more words came from this quiet customer, and eventually the window slid shut.

Aerith had such a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach after her last session. It was like an internal alarm that was trying to warn her of something. She reached out to the planet for an answer, but only received white noise in response.

She deftly changed into more appropriate attire, gathered her belongings, making sure to pack her cash, including the 500 gil donation from her secret admirer, tightly in the bottom of her basket before heading out the back door of the club. She was greeted by the awful stench of the Sector 6 back alley. Securing her metal staff to her back, she trudged through the murky puddles and garbage of the alley to reach the main path of the market. Even though it was just after 5am, Wall Market continued to bustle with nightlife. This part of town never slept, it seemed. It was a perpetual playground for the degenerates of Midgar.

Aerith couldn't wait to arrive home and go to sleep, but she figured she could pop into the church to check on her flowers quick before sneaking back into her house. She hurried out of Sector 6 to avoid any unwanted attention and hopped on the path back to Sector 5. She was interrupted, though, when a familiar tuft of red hair came into view on the path ahead of her.

Reno of The Turks.

"Oi, Ancient!" he hollered to her from afar.

"Back off Turk," she warned as she approached, readying her staff in case he tried anything. She just wanted to walk by undisturbed. She didn't have it in her to battle with Shinra tonight.

"No need for the attitude, yo," he put his hands up in peace. "Where the heck are you headed to all gussied up at this hour?" he placed his hands in his pockets as he cocked his head in appraisal of her.

'Gussied up? What-Drat!' Her extended shift had really wiped her out, so, in her haste to get out of the club, she neglected to do one of the most important things she needed to keep Elmyra -or anyone- from questioning her whereabouts: She realized that she hadn't washed off her makeup.

"Orrrrr maybe I should ask where you're coming from?" Reno sniggered knowingly.

"Shut up!" she snapped. "My business is none of yours, Turk!" she spat.

"Whatever, chica," he laughed a bit more. "Maybe Don Corneo's got you turning tricks up in that big 'ol mansion of his, huh? Maybe I'll come visit you sometime," he wiggled his eyebrows.

She was seething as she brushed past him, but she was angrier at herself for slipping up. It was only a matter of time before her secret was completely exposed. She was so tired she could cry. She would not let Reno see her cry, though.

"You look good, Aerith!" he hollered after her. "Seriously, yo! Let me know when I can come on up and see you, sometime!" His laugh taunted her as she rounded the corner into her neighborhood.

"Never, you stupid ass," she mumbled as she continued on her way. The flowers could wait till the afternoon. She just wanted to go home and cry herself to sleep.

And that's exactly what she did.

To be continued...