A/N: This ficlet was written for my friend Glaurung II and the song mentioned by Angeal somewhere at the beginning of this is "Hero" of Enrique Iglesias. For those who don't exactly get it what the heck is this ranting about, this idea came from the same source as the drawing called "FF7 Zoo in my loggia" that can be found in my devart gallery. Link to my devart page – in my profile here. That drawing I just made imagining how it would be to have the angels here on Earth, invading my 'vital space'. Mwahaha!
Disclaimer: To be short: me – zip, them (Square Enix that is) – all. But Iarba is mine, duh!
L I F E
Genesis:
The sky is high and the clouds here have shapes I've never seen on Gaia. We're off in the city.
Hair is blown in our faces by a rather strong wind and Seph's overlong strands fly in all directions, stunning the by-passers. He's wearing the black jeans we bought him these days and one of Iarba's green T-shirts that must look on her like a dress, but on him is just fine. I don't get it what possesses her to wear such large T-shirts, but heck! Why would I care as long as I can dig into the pile anytime and choose what I like to wear from them??
He looks downright beasty, the dumbass! I should be jealous on how he steals the whole darn limelight wherever he goes. Hardly does he set foot in the street and all eyes – not only female, geez!! – are glued on him. Right, after all, smashing guys with silver ankle-long hair don't exactly line the streets in no worlds!
I bullied the poor bastard to put on the sandals he got together with the jeans by pointing my sword at his neck and now he's walking as if he hopes to sink a few inches into the ground so nobody would get to see his bare feet. Gahaha!!
This is life.
Angeal:
There's a cafe on the other side with a few tables outside, colorful umbrellas protecting them from the sun, and music comes from there. It is a remix version of a song I know Iarba likes – and I watch her eyes narrowing a bit, then snapping open, large and taken away.
I know this look. She sees something and she's going to write it. She watches us, one by one, then moves on in a slow circle, everything around mirrored in her eyes. Sky, trees, street, people. Us.
This is life.
Sephiroth:
There is a little shop on the roadside. It's called ‚The Plush Universe' and its show window is stuffed with plushies of all kinds, all sizes, all colors, every single animal I can think of. They look funny. I stop to look at them and I can't help thinking that I've never even thought as a kid that such things could exist, that animals can be anything else than material for experiments. That they can be turned into toys to give joy to children. I didn't even know there were such things as toys.
Dozens of plushies stare back at me with eyes of shiny beads, behind the glass. Children pass me by on the street, lovingly squeezing such things at their chest.
This is life.
Genesis:
A few steps ahead, Seph is glued on the window of a plushie shop, with a mesmerized look all over him. The poor guy, he never had any of these when he was little. Me, I had more than I could count, of course. I still remember my froggie plushie, which I could never sleep without for years and would carry with me at Angeal's too when I ran to sleep at his place.
I grab Sephy by the sleeve and drag him inside the shop, while he squeals in panic: ‚No, nooo, noooooo!!' Rahaha, I had no idea he could actually produce such sounds, like a squeaking toy stepped on! He's all pink – alright, as pink as he can get, duh! – while I take my time looking intentionally at the largest toys that are almost as tall as he is. Just to torment him of course.
Finally I take mercy on him and only buy a phone charm with a chubby penguin, mostly black and white, that – sure enough – won't make him feel too embarrased. He attaches it to his too boring black phone, looking strikingly relieved and not uttering the slightest shread of protest, probably for fear of ending up with something much bigger, funnier or more colorful, mwahaha!! Iarba steps inside too and grins widely at the sight. ‚Ha ha, that's Chilly Willy!', she says pointing her finger at the gadget, while Sephy shuffles his feet and looks almost sweaty. I make a note to myself to find for him another fancier phone, something with black and silver at least. Better with some green too, if it's by me, hah!
This is life!
Sephiroth:
There are large stone flower stands on the sidewalks, full of rather big flowers shaped like trumpets. Iarba says they're called ‚petunias' and she chuckles, remembering a phrase they use around here. ‚Shy like a petunia'. I look at them trying to make the connection. Their color ranges from white to all tones of pink, red, magenta and deep purple. I like the purple ones. They remind me of the Banora Whites, which are not to be found here on Earth. Iarba says they close up at night, hence the shyness reference. So that's the thing!
This is life.
Angeal:
We're passing by a small place where various accessories for dancers are sold. Genesis stops in front of a blazing red tutu and assumes a ballet pose, tiptoe-ing a few steps with both hands held high above his head, while Seph steps aside with blank eyes and the ‚I'm not with this guy, I don't even know him' look on his face. It makes me laugh.
This is life.
Sephiroth:
We are in the hypermarket's gallery. Gen went into the book store and remained glued there of course. He always does that. Iarba rolled her eyes and went to retrieve him, with the obvious result of getting stuck there as well. Me and Angii stayed outside for a while, on a bench, then had no choice but to enter ourselves and try to kill our time browsing through the books. Iarba and Gen are seated directly onto the floor in the CDs area with a whole pile everywhere around them, regarded with a wary look by the shop assistant, but completely oblivious to it. Angii went on the other side of the store, where the books and music on spiritual subjects are placed, and sunk into a large tome on meditation.
I am left alone and I wander through the book racks and sweep over the titles, only half-attentive. Something finally catches my eye and I carefully remove the book from the shelf. It's called ‚No news from Gurb', by someone called Eduardo Mendoza. I skim through the pages. It seems to have been written in another language in original and somewhere it says that its real name is something like ‚Sin noticias de Gurb'. Apparently it's about two aliens that landed on Earth in a spaceship; one of them got lost and the other one keeps looking for him, interacting with the local culture along the way. The unlucky creature seems to encounter serious troubles in the matter. Hmm, on Gaia the space program is more a desire than a reality, but here on Earth it seems to be a lot more than that, so why not elsewhere too? I wonder if this account is true then. I take the book to the shop assistant and pay with my universal Square-Enix card. It seems this bank works on Earth too. As I get my purchase from the lady, Iarba and Gen come over to the desk with their own acquisitions and Gen drops them on the counter and snatches the book away from my hand.
‚What's this?', he inquires, looking at it. ‚Haha, look Iarba, Sephy reads scifi!'
‚What's that?', I ask. ‚Is this story true?'
‚True!? True!!' Gen doubles over, laughing, while Iarba comes closer too. She takes the book and browses it, then chuckles.
‚Oh boy, I gotta tell Linneth about this, she'll love it! Good choice, Seph! You're gonna have fun with this one.', and she gives it back to me, leaving me puzzled. So is the story true or not??...
I watch them having fun at my expense and I shrug.
This is life.
Angeal:
We are in a sort of urban train called tram. The car is almost empty and Genesis puts his feet on the back of the chair in front of him, leaning backwards and reading aloud from one of his new books.
Iarba doesn't seem to care and just watches the scenery going by outside the windows and from time to time she smiles to us, obviously with her mind elsewhere. Seph is seated in front of me, across from Gen, hands peacefully resting in his lap, behaving himself as normal people do in the public transport means. I put my hand on his shoulder and he turns to me a bit startled, then smiles. A few stops later a girl climbs on and seats herself not far from Gen, throwing him heated looks for being uncivilized. Then she notices Seph and her eyes practically pop out of her head, getting glued on him. Genesis sees it right away and goes promptly into a fit of laughter, warking like a chocobo while Seph, finally catching up on the development, goes pink again and suddenly becomes very interested by the trees marching past us beyond the window. Genesis meows: 'Shyyyyyy like a petuuuniaaaaaaa!'
This is life.
Iarba:
Packs of ragged clouds. The smell of grilled meat from the terrace across the street, mixed with the flowers' perfume and the vanilla scent of Seph's shampoo. He likes cinnamon too. A tiny dog propping himself on all four legs and barking at Genesis, who just grins and mimicks kicking him in the back. Children dragged by the hand, squeezing moogles with the other, invariably followed by Seph's dreamy gaze. Old people moving slowly, regarding everything with equally dreamy gazes, only for different reasons. The sound of the bells at the church on the other side. The sky again, beautifully colored in mesmerizing shades of red and orange and purple and dark blue. The moon is already rising and we stop at the terrace and order fruit juices for everyone, then just sit and enjoy the evening, while Genesis nags Seph about the best fruits on Earth to the point where they get bantering over the thing.
Life is this way, made of every bit of scent, sound and sight. We get to move through it and see it differently, but it is made of all our views, our thoughts, our moments of sadness and of joy. Of all our lives. Maybe most of us seem too insignificant to leave a mark on this great river, on this Lifestream. But the mark is there nevertheless. We come and go, some sooner than the others, some young, some old, some living at high speed and high intensity while others crawl like snails. It doesn't matter. Each day we fight our way through, each day we conquer, is a gift. I look at all my angels, my brothers and my friends. I know we'll live forever. I don't regret a thing.
Seph's secret passion for plushies, his care and softness and acceptance of the human ways. Genesis' need to laugh at everything, to tease and mock and shine. To prove his worth and always learn some more. Angeal's seriousness and determination to protect the ones he loves, to teach the young and help the others find their inner strength. Me, just happy to be here, with them; with all my friends. To live and give. To l i v e.
This is life.
A/N: This is also intended to be a part of Lioneh's challenge for xRedLeatherx to write 100 non-yaoi oneshots involving Genesis as a main character, or at least one of them anyway, cos I can't exactly write about him without mentioning the other two guys, OF COURSE!
And, of course, the yaoi-lovers can very well read this too. I hope you like it, all of you.