Alright, this is for my 'Valentine's Day' type story.
Er ... it doesn't have an actual title because I didn't want to give it one.
This goes for my other holiday-esque stories -- if you don't want people in FFVII-universe
celebrating something close to "Valentine's Day," then don't read it - simple as that.
So if you choose to read it, I hope you enjoy it.
... ... ...
He looked at the stuffed bear in his hands - it was white and fluffy, it's eyes made of little black beads and his nose sewn in a triangle formation. It's hands held a little heart in the middle, the words 'Be Mine' scrawled in a fancy, gold-color script.
Yes, it was cheesy, and yes it was kind of 'lame,' but it was cute. Or - well, Angeal thought so anyway. And for such a small holiday like this one - what was the harm in spending a few gil on something for someone you loved? He reached his gloved hand into his 'locker,' placing the bear there, securely on top of a spare set of pants.
Angeal placed a hand on his hip, after locking up the small container, and pulled his cell phone up to his eye level. Scrolling through the numbers in his contacts, he went straight to the letter "W." Pressing the 'send' button, he brought the phone to his ear, directing his eyes to ceiling while the other end of the phone began to ring. For a few moments he waited, only to be answered by the instant voice messaging system installed into each phone.
"The employee you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Leave a message at the tone."
Odd. Weiss usually answered - though Angeal simply assumed the man was in the training room or something along those lines. Obliging to the automated voice, Angeal smiled, speaking into the phone.
"Hey, Weiss. It's me. Just checking in. Give me a call back, alright?" With that, he hung up the phone, stretched his arms over his head, and smiled a little to himself. Today was going to be great - all he had planned was a bit of training for Zack, then he was going to 'hang out' with Genesis for a while until he finally found some time to meet up with Weiss again. To summarize his day, it was going to be 'easy.'
From the locker room, Angeal found his way to the training area, where he waited for his younger subordinate to show up. He assumed Weiss was elsewhere, for the training room seemed to be unused - but he didn't want to make assumptions. He decided to wait on some sort of response from the white-haired man. As his subordinate approached, Angeal let his subtle worry for Weiss be hidden by a relatively serious gaze toward Zack. "Ready?"
A few hours, perhaps four, passed by while Angeal worked on training with Zack, a few breaks in between. Having finished, the very first thing he did was check his cell phone for some sort of text message, or maybe voice mail, from the man he had tried to reach earlier.
Nothing.
The only message was from Genesis, and that he wasn't going to be around much - instead, he was heading out for the rest of the day. Angeal quickly waved to Zack, frowning at his phone and scrolling through the numbers. He reached "Weiss" again, deciding on texting the man the instead of calling him, so not to disrupt his schedule. From there, he chose to going back to the main SOLDIER floor, after taking a quick stop by his locker to grab that little stuffed bear. He took the elevator alone, up to the appropriate floor, taking a seat on the dark couch that rounded to make a half-circle, facing the large window overlooking Midgar.
An hour, or maybe a little more, seemed to pass and Angeal remained seated, patiently. Waiting for any sign of a response with that little, white bear on his lap. Suddenly, a vibration in his pocket jerked him from his day dreaming. He quickly slipped a hand to the phone in order to answer it - but saw all it said was "One New Voice Message." How could he have missed a call? His phone hadn't gone off … at least, he didn't think so.
He opened his phone, getting to his own answering machine, entering the correct code and picking the 'listen to voice mail' option. On the other end, he heard the sound of a helicopter in the background, but no one speaking - at least, not at first. Then a distant "Weiss!" seemed to chime in before the phone was hung up and the end of his message had been reached.
Without hesitation, Angeal looked at his phone, dialing Weiss' number and bringing the phone hurriedly to his ear, simultaneously standing up and beginning to walk toward the elevator. Not even a full ring seemed to finish before that automated voice came up again, however, with a different message.
"The number of the employee you are trying to reach has been deactivated. If this is your number, please contact the President for further details. The number of the employee you are trying to reach -"
He hung up the phone, almost worried. Deactivated? Why would Weiss' phone be deactivated?
Though he was able to contain a general, composed expression, Angeal truly was very curious on the inside. His mind raced over a few possibilities - the first being that Weiss had been Killed In Action. That wasn't possible … it just couldn't be possible.
Angeal opened up his cell phone again, holding that stuffed bear in his hand, he hit 'redial' to try and contact Weiss again.
"The number of the employee you are trying to reach has been deactivated. If this is your number, plea -" He hung up the phone again. He stepped inside the elevator, tapping a couple keys on the operator in order to go down to the ground floor. The entire way down, he continued trying to call Weiss' phone, however the automated voice was the only response he seemed to get.
Only a few things seemed to cross his mind. Weiss lost, or maybe broke, his phone and the number had to be deactivated. It could have just been as simple as that … a mass message hadn't been sent out saying that "SOLDIER First-Class Weiss" had been KIA. Then again, ShinRA wasn't so keen on getting these messages out very quickly… He shook his head. No, if Weiss had been killed, they would have told him by now - that was what he tried to convince himself. But it didn't stop him from coming to the conclusion that Weiss may have been injured gravely, if not just a minor wound. Any option he seemed to come up with was unpleasant, none very mind-calming, either.
As he reached the first floor, the doors sliding open slowly, Angeal stuffed his phone back into his pocket. With no hesitation, he left the elevator, looking around the near-empty lobby for some sort of hint as to where he should search next.
"Angeal?"
The curious call of his name caused the man to stop where he was, turning his head over his shoulder as he caught a glimpse of the secondary elevator doors closing and a SOLDIER standing with his arms crossed.
"What are you still doing he -"
The other SOLDIER stopped his sentence short as Angeal turned around entirely and wrapped his arms around the other man.
"Weiss." He said quietly, pulling him tightly.
"Yeah - what's wrong?" The white haired male squirmed, a little uncomfortable with the impetuous, though fervid, embrace from the man. "Did I miss something?"
"I thought something awful happened." He murmured, concealing his face in the younger man's neck.
"Uh … why?"
"I tried to call you earlier," Angeal began to explain, letting Weiss out of the hug, allowing a small smile cross his features. "Then I got a message from you - when I tried to call you back, it said your phone had been deactivated …"
"Hnuh. Already?" Weiss seemed to wave off the entire situation, pursing his lips together in thought.
"… What do you mean?"
"Look - I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but Nero and I are being transferred tomorrow morning to DeepGround." He started in a hushed tone, rubbing his neck, frowning a little bit as he looked at Angeal. "We've been preparing all day and -"
"… and?"
"Well, once we're there… we're there."
"What do you mean?"
"Once we're in DeepGround, we're there until we are told to leave."
"… That doesn't seem -"
"I was going to tell you about it later tonight - but seeing how they already shut my phone off, I guess it's pretty lucky I caught you before you left."
Angeal could only muster a frown for a response, shaking his head slightly and almost inviting the silence to join in to the conversation. It didn't last very long, of course, for Weiss found something else to divert the attention off his current situation.
"What's that?" He asked, making a momentary hand gesture at the white bear, still clasped in one hand.
"… It was just something for you." Angeal smiled slightly, offering up the little stuffed toy for the other to take. "A gift, really. I know it isn't exactly your sort of 'thing,' I just thought -"
Greedily, Weiss took the bear from Angeal, smirking as he brought a gloved finger to his lips. "It's fine. I love it - thanks."
"… right. Of course." He chuckled without much enthusiasm, gently grabbing a hold of Weiss' wrist. "When are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Sometime in the afternoon, I guess."
"Have you eaten yet?"
"No, I'm starving."
"Are you done for the day?"
"I was just about to head home."
The taller of the two smiled, wrapping his arms around Weiss again, who chose to stand semi-awkwardly in the embrace.
"I'm so glad you're okay …"
"Yeah, yeah, me too." Weiss laughed, almost trying to dismiss the fact he just admitted that he wouldn't be able to see the man again - save for "special circumstances."
"Would you like to have dinner with me? I suppose you could call it a 'farewell' dinner - of sorts." He let a half-hearted chuckle slip as he released his hold on Weiss.
Watching him with his teal-tinted gaze, the younger SOLDIER let one of his rare smiles show, nodding in agreement. "I'd like that."
Without a second thought, Angeal draped his arm over Weiss' shoulder, the two beginning to walk toward the building's entrance together.
"Weiss …"
"What?"
"… I love you."
Playfully nudging the other's stomach with his elbow, Weiss smirked, waving the little bear at Angeal. "I know you do, big guy."
Gently batting his elbow away, Angeal's smile returned to his lips as he ruffled up the younger's hair. "What would you like to eat?"
"Well … I can't cook, so whatever the hell you feel like making."