Helena – Ch 1 – The problem with men...
She was stunned by the sudden revelation that they were, to all intensive purposes, married; but then again, now she looked back on it, it was only understandable.
I think to begin; I will tell you how I found my world. Small and broken though it seemed, it was in reality a large complicated web of events and feelings, all shakily held together by my fear of losing sight of something I no longer had.
The rain was a fine drizzle, hardly anything to call precipitation, more of a mist than anything, but it hung in the air as the black clouds that floated above the city blotted out the sunlight needed to dry its streets. The people who still marched its worn pavements, even in this unfavourable weather, were blissfully ignorant of the creatures that watched them from the shadows. Occasionally a person would go missing and posters would go up round the oppressing metal structure, but inconsiderate hands and unrelenting foul weather soon saw to it that none of them stayed up for more than a few days. And besides, no one who ever went missing was of any great importance.
It is possible to assume, from local legends, that the people of Midgar were aware that these were not simple 'lost and found' cases. It was common knowledge in the lower classes that anyone who went out into the dark at night stood a very high chance of never coming back. What really lurked in the shadows of alleyways and back buildings was left purely to speculation, as it was fairly certain that anyone who encountered these creatures was as good as dead from the moment they set foot into the darkness, and so no information was ever brought forwards.
Reno hissed at the pile of paperwork he had built up and scratched his chin ruefully. He knew that they were important and that he should probably get them finished sometime in the near future, but he was Reno, and he wasn't exactly a stranger to the term 'I'll do it in a minute'. He huffed, picking up one of the bits of paper and skim reading the first line, it read;
"There has been a spate of animalistic attacks to be looked into."
Rolling his eyes, Reno snapped the file shut and stuffed it into his desk drawer; he and work did not get along well, besides, if he did take the time to sit down and do something productive, he'd miss his scheduled drinking session, speaking of which...
Glancing at the clock that was bouncing around his screensaver, Reno rubbed his hands together and took his feet off the desk, making a noise at the dirty half circles he left there and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. Time to hit the turn-stalls. He would normally have gone to seventh heaven, if only to get a stare at Tifa's boobs before Cloud came in and scared him away (That man was so effing territorial!), but this time he turned the other way down the street. He didn't know why he did it; maybe he was just in the mood for a change.
The bar he stopped outside of was a veritable bird's nest of LEDs and strobe lights, filled the entire street with its music and was packed to bursting point with drunken, laughing bodies all rubbing together in the dark haze of the club. Reno nodded to a man who was vomiting by the door as he passed; yeah, this placed looked alright...
Taking a quick glance around for the exits, (he might be laid back, but he wasn't an idiot) Reno settled himself into a stool at the bar and ordered "What he's having". What he was having turned out to be scotch on the rocks, not something Reno was particularly resigned to but since it was only the beginning of the night, he thought it would do for now. He was in the process of scouting for some unsuspecting woman to hang around for the night before dragging her back to his flat for some 'fun', when he was jogged roughly from behind, sending his drink spilling over his arm and half the bar top. He turned to confront whatever arsehole had been so careless to spill his drink, when he stopped.
The girl that was standing sheepishly behind him was hardly what he had expected. He had been mentally preparing himself to have to beat the wotsits out of some big muscled guy with a big nose, maybe an ugly scar or two, utterly hammered of course, (as would only have been expected in a place like this) and then to make him cough up enough of his own blood (and hopefully some money) for him to get his drinks worth back. However, this girl was neither big, nor ugly. She had deep, swirling green eyes and a haircut that was only a bit shorter than Cloud's. She wasn't as tall as he was by quite a shot and looked about 20, but she must have been through quite a bit, if the well defined muscles in her legs and arms were anything to go by. She had a small scar on the corner of her jaw, which also suggested some measure of violence in her life; it made something inside of him twinge.
She mumbled what sounded something like an apology and he shook his head, "Uh, don't worry about it, why don't you sit down? Have a drink."
Looking somewhat reluctant she slid into the place beside him and ordered a honey and lemon. She looked for all the world like an innocent little girl, but anyone who hung around this part of town was anything but innocent; so what was she doing here? Reno dug into his jacket pocket, pulling out his fag packet and opening it. He made a noise of dismay when he discovered he was down to his last one. He noticed the girl was watching him from the corner of her eye, so he interpreted this and offered her the smoke. She shook her head, bringing the drink to her lips and sipping daintily, her lips colouring a deep red as she pursed them to the hot liquid. Reno found himself wondering – would he be able to taste her drink on her lips, and even – for the first time in a long time – would he be allowed.
He stuck out a hand, "Reno, first class Turk and shoulder to cry on at your service"
She shook the hand briefly, saying to her drink, "Helena, first class outcast and failure to life, nice to meet you."
A thin red eyebrow raised as Reno watched Helena sip at her drink again, his hand frozen where she had left it. Outcast? "Yes." She said, apparently he had spoken out loud, "I belong to a family who I do not love and they sure as hell do not love me, I am an outcast in my society and –it is for this that I fail."
Reno blinked, he hadn't expected that sort of answer, normally his 'friends' were as dull as ditchwater without any sort of background or plan for the future. Occasionally he would crop up with one who had some terribly sad childhood which he would do his best to seem interested in, but would invariably fail at. It was very rare that he would come across somebody who didn't seem to think the whole world revolved around them and who wasn't trying to get into his pants faster than he could take them off. He pressed her for more, "Your society?"
"Mm..." She seemed as though she was about to tell him more, but stopped, eyeing him suspiciously. "You're a Turk right?"
He nodded. She said, "Then shouldn't you have something important to do?"
He shrugged, "I'm talking to you. That's important I think."
She stiffened, "You wouldn't know - because we've never met- but I'll tell you now, I don't take kindly to being interrogated." And with that, she walked off into the crowd, taking her drink with her and leaving Reno slack-jawed, and confused. Then, snapping back to reality, he jumped from his seat and followed her into the crowd, trying to keep his gaze on the back of her head, which she was making very difficult indeed. This was someone he didn't want to lose, she was far too intriguing.