Ringing the Doorbell
By Kaj-Nrig
Final Fantasy VII is the sole property of Square Enix. I use these characters without permission.
The First Ring – The Brunette Starts it Off
"Cloud, how've you been? I hope you get back soon. Marlene's got a surprise in store for you, so you better come quickly. See you later." She flipped the phone in on itself and placed it in its clasp on her hip. The contents of the bag next to her rustled against each other noisily, and she switched them from one hand to the other, shaking out her now-free fingers. I wonder if Marlene's done with it? Oh, I can't wait to see her!
The entrance to the new Seventh Heaven suddenly appeared in front of her, and she smiled lightly. Before she could press the doorbell, though, she heard footsteps clattering on the other side and the door swung open. Marlene beamed at her, twirled around lightly, and struck a pose. "So? How does it look?"
For a moment, she was awestruck. She'd been expecting it to be good, but she'd never thought it'd be so... authentic. After a moment's consideration, she shook her head and smiled. "Now what did I tell you about opening the door?" she berated in a teasing tone, trying in vain to furrow her brows.
"Oops!" The door quickly slammed on her. Then Marlene's muffled voice inquired from inside, broken by chuckles, "Who is it?"
"Me."
"Okay!" It swung open again and Marlene repeated her stunt, spinning on the toes of her boots and letting the dress flair out around her. "So? How does it look?" she asked again, this time a bit more impatiently.
She laughed and scooped the young girl up in one arm as she stepped into the bar. "Perfect. Now where's Denzel?"
"Right here!" came the reply from another room, and the young boy came rushing out, one hand gripping the stick above his shoulder and the other desperately trying to keep the pants from falling down. "What d'you think? Does Cloud have any belts I can use?"
She placed Marlene down and tousled Denzel's hair around before taking a step upstairs. "Of course he does; he doesn't come home nearly enough to use them, anyway. Are you coming up, or are you afraid you'll trip on the way?"
Denzel shook his head and stuck a tongue out. "Just go and get it, quick," he said, instead.
"Marlene's got a surprise in store for you, so you better come quickly. See you later." The message was followed by a familiar "No more messages", and he quickly flipped the phone in on itself. Wonder what the surprise is, he thought to himself.
"Was that your girlfriend?" asked the young female nervously, putting the small white box to the side. He smiled at her, causing her to blush weakly.
"...If you need anything else, just give us a call," he said nonchalantly, and turned back to his bike. In the corner of his eye, he noticed her give a small, barely audible whine. When he stepped onto Fenrir and waved, her knees seemed to give out on her. I should get going. Two more deliveries, and I'll be done for today. With a quick flick, he started the bike to life and, after placing his goggles firmly over his eyes, sped off onto the nearby street.
As he turned to the highway, he suddenly remembered a message he had to send. Sighing, he turned around and searched the small pack he'd secured on the back of Fenrir. The bike took a sharp turn onto the highway, and he found the phone. Holding it with one hand, he dialed the numbers with the other.
"Barret, Marlene's got something special planned. I'm sure you're already on your way, but try to hurry. Tifa misses us a lot. That's all. Bye." Placing the phone back in its pack, he turned to face forward and put his hands back on the handles.
"I'm sure you're already on your way, but try to hurry. Tifa misses us a lot. That's all. Bye." With a loud snicker, he clicked the buttons with large, meaty fingers, cursing loudly until he found what he was looking for. A grin plastered on his face, he twisted the phone's top until the screen was no longer visible.
"Marlene, I'm gonna be there in thirty seconds, so you better be ready!" Laughing, he enthusiastically pressed the Send button.
"Message sent.
"To.
"Cid.
"And.
"Shera.
"Highwind."
The enthusiastic mood suddenly dissipated. "What!?" he shrieked into the little device, nearly swerving his pickup truck into an oncoming car in the process. The portable phone, so small in his huge mechanical hand, somehow managed to escape and cowered in the corner, its single eye staring hopelessly up at him. Damn these stupid new techno-craps! With a disgruntled growl, he clawed for it, his other hand haphazardly attempting to twist the wheel in every direction at once.
"Why you STUPID little turd! I SWEAR, I will CRUSH you, you little sh-"
"Message sent.
"To.
"Vincent.
"Valentine."
"I'm gonna be there in thirty seconds, so you better be ready!"
He blinked.
And blinked again.
As the phone's slightly off-kilter voice began speaking, he blinked one more time.
"I'm sure it was a mistake, honey." He blinked once again.
"Barret probably meant to send it to Tifa to show Marlene," Shera continued persuasively. He blinked for the last time.
"...Shera."
"Yes?"
"...take the wheel for a second."
"Okay.
"...Remember - no cursing. You're going to ruin your twenty-five day record."
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha."
Turning around, he steadily paced himself. One step, two step, one step, two step. Y'know, how's about we call somebody else? Yeah, that's a good idea. He calmly dialed the phone number, one step, two step out the large automatic doors leading out of the cockpit of the Sierra.
"We're sorry."
"Hey, it's ME, YuffieYuffie-"
"Is not available at the moment. If you would like to leave a message, press the Star key on your phone. If you would like to page-"
Beep.
"Please leave a message after the beep."
He sucked in a breath of air and reached for a cigarette. "Kid, I swear to GOD you better hope you get there before I do, because I sure as HELL don't want to see that again! Tell Barret his days are numbered!"
Sighing with relief, the old man placed the cigarette in its rightful place, and fiddled around in his breast pocket for the lighter. Ah, that felt so much better. Then he heard the door hiss open behind him and sighed again, removing the cigarette with a smile.
"Hi, honey," he replied lightly.
"...you know, I should've figured it was a miracle it lasted this long."
He turned around, his smile slowly turning into a wide smirk. "Hell, it was just too boring."
"Kid, I swear to GOD you better hope you get there before I-"
Grimacing to herself, she pulled the phone away from her ear and quickly closed it on itself. Sheesh, old man, what's wrong with you? she inquired inquisitively. "Hey, Choco," she said, snapping lightly on the reins of the chocobo. "Quit being so lazy. Let's get going. We should already be in Edge by now."
Choco answered with an agitated wark and flared out its large wings, lowering its head until it was parallel to the quickly-passing earth. Turning its head, it warked again, demandingly.
"Uh uh! Not until we get there! You already got half of one on the way across the ocean!" she chided, slapping the chocobo's hide with force.
Its eyes drooping, its beak twitching, Choco sighed to itself and returned to the trek. It gave off one final, defeated wark before becoming silent. She took the time to quickly punch in a series of numbers on the cell phone, laughing happily as the connection signal sounded.
"We're sorry."
"...I thought I told you not to call-"
"Is not available at the moment. If you would like to leave a message-"
She excitedly pressed the little key and began wailing into the phone, "Vinnie, your stupid chocobo isn't working hard enough! When we get back, I'm not gonna feed him anything, so you better get your sorry little butt here as quickly as possible!"
In front of her, Choco moaned mournfully to itself. As they scaled the final hill, she let out a loud holler of joy at the sight of the massive city of Edge.
"Your stupid chocobo-"
He clicked the phone shut. Why, why, why? he wondered as he stared passively at the small, pristine lake. The enchanted trees surrounding him cast a pale, moon-like light on his already pale skin, and he grudgingly lifted himself from the spot he'd occupied for the last forty days, next to the small lake.
In retrospect, it had probably been a big waste of time to sit there and watch the fireflies dance across the lake's surface for hours on end; he sure as hell didn't feel any more enlightened by the experience. Eternity's gonna be a bitch, he said to himself.
With a deep stretch, he looked up at the always-starry sky, and, after finding a star of navigation, began making his way south.
As an afterthought, he clicked the phone open again and scanned the list of new video messages. Curiously, he'd received one from Barret.
"Why you STUPID little turd! I SWEAR, I will CRUSH you, you little sh-"
"End of message."
He blinked once.
Then resumed walking.
-To be continued-