Tabula rasa.
AN: A very delayed piece about a quick peek into when Sephiroth was still learning about the finer things in the world. Silly one-shot, but fun to write!
Everything had gone wrong that day.
From the moment the Cetra pounded their mission into Sephiroth's mind to when Aeris managed to trip and nearly got eaten by a monster. (Sephiroth saved her life with a nicely timed spell that caused the creature to explode, but while the former general remained spotless, she still had monster goo in her hair AND her boots made squishy sounds when she walked.)
Squishing her way through the doorway, the flower girl hid behind Sephiroth with a faint hope that the man behind the counter wouldn't see her.
"Two rooms, please," Sephiroth requested in a tired voice. It had been a long day even for him, leaving the silver haired man with a wish for nothing more than a shower and rest. Surely the Cetra had to allow him one night to recover?
"Uhm..." The innkeeper leafed through his book with an apologetic look. "I'm afraid we only have the King Suite left..."
Sephiroth calmly placed both hands on the counter and leaned slightly forward to tower dangerously over the unfortunate man. "What?" It had taken him years to place promises of broken bones and a violent death in that simple question.
The innkeeper paled. "I'm sorry, Sir, but with the festival... It's like this at all the inns."
Closing his eyes for a moment, trying to calm the rage building inside him, Sephiroth opened them again to glare daggers. "Are you saying there are no two rooms available in all of Junon?"
Swallowing hard, the innkeeper made a valiant effort at a smile. "I'm really sorry, Sir. But I can offer you the King Suite, which is our best room, after all." He noticed the girl peering over the scary man's shoulder as she stood on her tip-toes. "It's got a double bed."
There mere thought made Sephiroth stutter, torn between embarrassment and fury, and he was about to inform the innkeeper that he'd better arrange two rooms or Sephiroth would make sure he had no inn at all by morning!
"We'll take it."
Sephiroth stared wide-eyed at the slender arm reaching out for the key. "Aeris?"
The girl snatched the key from the nervous innkeeper and started squelching her way towards the stairs. "Sephiroth, I'm tired, covered in stuff I don't want to think about and I'm two seconds from falling asleep. Oh, and I trust you." Glancing back at him, Aeris smiled.
Sephiroth stared.
Then he realized he was staring at an empty staircase and darted forward to follow her.
The room itself was quite nice, though the conspicuously huge bed made Sephiroth want to go back down and murder the innkeeper most violently.
Ignoring his discomfort, Aeris merely beelined towards the bathroom and dragged her backpack with her. "Dibs on the shower." She knew he always had to do his cleaning and wooing ritual to the Masamune before he would even consider taking care of himself, and making the mistake of suggesting otherwise was a mistake she only intended to have done once.
Thirty minutes later, a freshly showered Aeris came back into the room with a relieved sigh.
It was amazing what soap and clean clothes could do! Tying her hair back into a pony tail, Aeris discovered Sephiroth sitting by the window. He'd removed his armour and coat and replaced them with a black shirt.
Aeris felt a weak sense of relief that he didn't walk around shirtless, like he sometimes did when discarding his battle gear, which in turn tended to make her trip and bump into things...
Letting her hands fall, the flower girl gave her companion a cheerful smile. "What's up with the grim look?"
His handsome face was clearly disgruntled, to say the least.
Sephiroth shrugged. "The bed is broken."
Raising her eyebrows, Aeris found that hard to believe. "Broken?"
"Broken."
Aeris gazed at the spotless bed and found nothing wrong with it. "Broken... how?"
Sephiroth snorted and glared at the bed as if it had somehow caused him mortal offence. "Just... broken!"
With a final odd look at the silver haired man, Aeris made her way over to the bed and inspected it. It sure didn't look broken. Reaching out a hand, she tested the surface and found the explanation. "It's a water-bed!" Aeris grinned excitedly and waved him over. "I've always wanted to try one!"
Sephiroth looked anything but convinced.
Gingerly climbing into the bed, Aeris eased over on her back to lie staring at the ceiling. Giggling at the gentle rocking, she finally glanced over at the sceptical man. "You got to try this!"
Crossing his arms, Sephiroth scoffed. "I think not."
She made her way out of the bed again. "Just try it."
"No."
Staring harshly at the man on the other side of the bed, Aeris put her hands on her hips and leaned slightly forward. "Try. It."
The battle of the glares went on for about five minutes before the silver haired man gave up with a huff. "Fine!"
Aeris clapped her hands excitedly.
Grumbling, Sephiroth considered the best method of approach before he placed a trying knee on the surface and made a face as it sank several inches.
Actually laughing now, Aeris shook her head. "It's not going to devour you whole, Sephiroth!"
"I wouldn't dismiss the idea entirely," Sephiroth grumbled and placed a hand on the bed as well. "If I have to be rescued by Junon Fire-brigade to get out of this thing, I'll never forgive you."
"Yes, yes," Aeris rolled her eyes benignly while he inched his way barely onto the edge of the bed. "But isn't it neat?"
Considering her question, feeling the gentle rolls of the water underneath him, Sephiroth blinked and replied in a utterly calm and deathly convinced tone. "No."
Aeris narrowed her eyes. "Are you disrespecting the water-bed?"
Sephiroth folded his hands on his stomach. "Yes."
"Really?" There was a threat in that word.
Sephiroth didn't care. "Yes."
Backing up a few steps, Aeris took a deep breath before running over and cannon balled onto the bed, causing a big wave that sent Sephiroth tumbling to the floor with a rather undignified squawk.
Scrambling up on all fours, he stared with utter disbelief at the girl rolling around on the bed while laughing like a three year old. "You did NOT just bounce me off the bed!"
Aeris curled up on her side, clutching her now aching stomach, and gazed at him through tears. "Yes, I did. You mean old grouch!"
Sephiroth snorted a incredulous laugh and slowly got up on his feet again. "Now you're sleeping on the floor tonight."
"Am not!" Aeris scoffed.
Raising his eyebrows and nodding, Sephiroth was not open for negotiations. "Oh, yes, you are."
Aeris eyed him suspiciously. "No. I'm not."
That's when Sephiroth charged.
It was a long battle, involving all kinds of dirty tricks; tickling, cutesy names, and colourful threats.
In the end, completely exhausted, they both ended up asleep on the bed, forgetting about water-bed hatred and any awkwardness about sharing it.
Maybe it was the day before that drained their energy, maybe it was the play fight, but Sephiroth and Aeris finally had one peaceful night.
(Or maybe, just maybe, it was how she'd curled closer to him in her sleep and he in turn had automatically wrapped his arm around her...)
When morning came, Sephiroth woke up to find Aeris asleep curled up on his chest and his own arms possessively around her. His first instinct was to flinch away from the closeness he wanted yet knew wasn't allowed, but despite his better knowledge, he remained motionless. Using the stolen moment to take in the sight of her, Sephiroth realized he'd never hated Cloud Strife as violently as he did right there and then.
Ok, so he was supposed be one of the good guys now, but a lifetime of finely honed anger was not that easily removed. The few good things in his life, Sephiroth had gained them by fighting and claiming them as his own.
Yet, fighting was the one sure way of losing Aeris.
The only thing he was any good at was the one thing she resented about him.
Sephiroth was no fool. He knew he would never be the flower-sniffing, puppy-eyed kind of guy she so obviously fell for and that knowledge burned like acid in the pit of his stomach. She was so perfectly wrong for him and he still pined for her approval.
How pathetic the great Sephiroth had turned out to be.
Sighing, he turned his face away from hers, unable to feel anger while looking at her angelic features, and he needed his anger right now. Anger made you strong...
Sephiroth didn't even notice how he lifted his hand to stroke away a lock of her hair from her face.
His salvation was his downfall... How poetic, he thought with a sneer.
Lost in his gloomy thoughts, Sephiroth did not notice Aeris' eyelashes flutter briefly before she opened drowsy and confused eyes. Blinking, she tried to banish the sleepiness from her brain and conjure up a credible reason as to why she was using Sephiroth's chest as a pillow. Huh. Her brain came up blank.
As embarrassment was about to send her bolting off the bed, Aeris noticed the grim look on Sephiroth's face. He was clearly thinking about something gloomy. Again.
Aeris made a decision.
Drawing a deep breath, she inched slightly higher up on his chest and gave him a trying smile as he quickly glanced back at her. "Good morning." The flower girl's smile turned shy. "I guess we fell asleep, huh?"
The anger left his eerie eyes and Sephiroth managed a faint nod. "Your powers of deduction never ceases to amaze me."
Aeris frowned. "This early in the morning and you're already making fun of me?"
"You're making it too easy," Sephiroth shrugged. "It would truly be crime against humanity not to."
Aeris' frowned deepened. "I see." Too slow to fend off the pillow, it smacked into his face with an impressive accuracy and left him dazed just long enough for Aeris to make her laughing escape to the bathroom.
Leaning against the door, she giggled softly at the sound of a pillow impact against the woodwork and the colorful threats emanating from the man failing badly to hide his amusement.
The Cetra would probably ram another mission into Sephiroth's mind soon, but they had the present all to themselves. And for now, that was enough.
As long as she didn't dwell on how safe it felt to wake up in his arms, or he didn't dwell on how perfectly she fit in his embrace, it was indeed enough.
For now.