The park was shrouded in darkness. Eleven o'clock was approaching and again Firion had to attend this stupid meeting. IT ENDED EARLY.They did not make any sense, the result would always stay the same. Still he had to attend, in case there would be a major change included in the schedule. The lights began to dim as he entered a small group of trees, passing yet another bin, where he discarded the foil where he had kept his dinner. The meeting really did go to long for his liking, although it was really one of the shorter few. He ate at ten thirty and was tired. His way home, not even five minutes by train, would have been easy, if not said train was cancelled. Really, why did this had to happen now?
He sighed. Ruffling through his silvery hair, he kept walking. The trees were arranged in a way Firion would probably have liked if it was daytime. But in the night, they were disturbingly disfigured. Hurrying, he quickly thought of something else. He had enough of horror storys. Those guys in the Marketing Department had way to much fun scaring his co-workers with their scary tales. At least Terra. The young woman was so timid already, they didn't have to worsen it.
Eclaire was different though. The female nicknamed Lightning was tough and often bickering, not seldom using force with her workmates. Whacks on the head were always part of the program. Those two women in his department were like water and fire. But they still got along well. Must be woman things, or shared interests, Firion thought. They both liked their job after all, as well as he did.
But the meetings seriously sucked. He sighed again. What was Light thinking? The stoic male once more decided, it would be great if his department held an extra one. As if they didn't already have one every second workday. Though he was the only one complaining. Luneth, worshipping the Supervisor, says Yes happily with a wagging tail to everything his idol orders. The girls didn't mind, as long as they got enough vacations to fill it up. Cloud and Shantotto were also okay with it, granted they got a bonus. And Squall agreed with them. He was maybe even delighted to spend more time with Cloud.
And yet there was him, Firion ‚Rosebud' Kennsington, the only one bothered by these uncalled meetings. And yes, the Nickname Tidus from the Marketing Department gave him half a year ago still stuck to him like an old gum on a shoe. At first he didn't care that his friend called him that. But when it began to spread like a virus, he was not ‚Firion' anymore, but ‚Rosebud'. And he was sick of it.
He passed another group of trees and, already feeling enough fear, hurried forward. The next street light was shining on a bench. But, unlike the others, this one was occupied. A figure laid on it, stretched out over the whole thing. Firion tried to ignore the person. Maybe it was a homeless. As he passed the bench, he still threw a glance at the man.
The person was fairly well-dressed. He wore a grey suit with a golden-violet striped tie and a shirt of a fairer gray than the suit was. But the most catching thing was probably his hair. It was dyed yellow, the ends of the long strings were violet however; matching the tie. He was sleeping. Firion halted. The man looked quite peaceful, but the silverette didn't doubt he would have a cold the next day. After five seconds of pondering, he decided to wake the man up.
Shaking his shoulder slightly, then retreating a few safety steps, Firion sighed as no reaction came from the stranger. He shook the shoulder again, calling out : ‚Hey!' The sound triggered a reaction in the male. The eyelashes fluttered open and revealed some stunning violet orbs. A sigh from slightly parted lips and then the male was awake. Blinking, he waved his gaze around before those violet eyes settled on Firion. ‚Who are you? What are you doing here?' The voice was deep and demanding, He noticed. Smiling, he answered the question: ‚My Name is Firion, I was walking home when I saw you lying here. I thought it would be better to wake you, because sleeping here in the cold night would certainly not improve your health.' The other male stood up and looked at him in a tired stupor. ‚This is a park, no? The last time I was awake, I was still in the building... How the hell did that happen? They wouldn't have given me alcohol, would they?' The mumbling became a cry of rage: ‚How dare they? Do they know who I am? And now I have to be embarrassed by a stranger waking me? Argh! This will make some blood flow, I swear it!' Firion laughed silently as the man ranted on and on. He looked very regal, but somehow his fits of anger didn't fit. ‚I'm very sorry, how about you get a taxi or so to get home? I have to be going now, my next day starts early.' He nodded at the man who became silent after hearing his words. The other male nodded and waved his hand in a hurried manner. ‚Thank you for the suggestion, I'll do that right away. How about I pay the taxi fee for you too? You seem to be tired too.'
He smiled slightly but Firion shook his head. ‚I can't accept such a thing. I live quite far away and just for waking you isn't it a bit too much?' The other laughed. ‚Take it as gratitude for saving me from a cold. And don't worry about the money, I can register this as a working expense. They should pay that for getting me drunk!' He smiled a bit brighter and Firion laughed. ‚Then I have to accept, don't I?' Secretly he was glad. It would save him much time and driving in a taxi was much more comfortable than walking the entire way alone. The other male brushed some dirt from his suit and started walking. Firion hurried to tag along and he caught up to the blonde. Walking side by side, they started chatting. Firion talked about the prolonged meetings and how much they got on his nerves. The other was named Matheus, he was working in a grand company, but didn't reveal the name. He said that he too had long meetings and together they ranted about their superiors and what they were thinking. When they reached the next street, Matheus called a taxi and asked Firion for his address. But inside the vehicle, they stopped talking and only when Firion exited the car, he heard a quiet ‚Goodbye' from the blonde. He sighed and searched his pockets for the keys and unlocked the door.
The next day, he woke up to his phone ringing. He took it from the nightstand and was immediately shocked by two facts. First thing was, the caller was Light. His superior would rarely call, and if he did, it was not always a good thing. The next fact was that is was already half past ten. He should've been at work at eight! He forgot to set his timer! Firion didn't want to push the green button, because his tardiness surely was the reason behind Lights call. He stared at the display for four seconds and, bracing himself, pushed the dreaded button. And sure enough, Lights agitated voice was roaring through the speaker. ‚FIRION! What the heck are you doing! I've already called you four times, you are so late, now hurry up and get your ass here!' And with a beep the call was finished. Cold sweat formed on Firions face. This was only a small thing compared to the long rant he would surely receive when he went to work. Quickly he showered, dressed and put a toast in the toaster. When it sprung out, he put on his cloak and ran to the train station. Out of breath, he managed to catch the 10.50 train. Sitting on a free seat, he steadied his breath and calmed down. Matheus came to his mind. He surely woke up on time, at least he looked as if he did. He slept out his hang-over on a park bench after all. He would not need to sleep long anymore for sure. As he was thinking, the train halted for his stop and he left his seat to exit. As he walked the five minutes from the station to his workplace, he dreaded his entrance, Matheus almost forgotten.
When the yelling on Lights side ended, Firion sighed and sat on his workplace. Terra looked over to him, face bearing a worried look. He smiled at her, inclining that he was ok. A pat on the shoulder from Cloud and a smile from Lightning gave him some reassurance. Light was a tough cookie, but all of them knew that he was furiously defending them from any bad decisions the CEO made. Light watched out for his subordinates and he did a good job. The only thing that was hard to get used to were the meetings. Firion was lucky they hadn't got one today. He started up his computer and got to work. His job was securing the system against the attacks of hackers. And he was needed: in the last month, twelve attacks were barely prevented. A mysterious ‚Kotei' wanted to get entrance into the private network and data of his company. They developed and sold high protected security programs to big agencies. The only enemy they had was the Chaos Cooperation, a company with almost the same sales records as them. All the employees at Cosmos AG suspected Chaos C. behind ‚Kotei', but they had no evidence. ‚Hello~' A high pitched sound came from the door but only Terra turned around. Cloud, Lightning and Firion knew who was the culprit: Zidane, the cheerful young employee, under his superior Yuna, he worked in the marketing and publicity department. Tidus, his co-worker skipped in behind Zidane, a big smile on his face. Before anyone could greet the two, Zidane spoke up: ‚Guess what. We just got a big fish on our hook; the Shinra Company wants our service!' At first, it was silent. Then Cloud quietly said: ‚That is good news for you, guys. WE have to pay extra attention now.' Quickly, Tidus' smile faded. ‚Sorry Guys. Just, I mean SHINRA! Those people want US! Guess what that means for our sales! We'd at least double our monthly income with this one!' Firion smiled. Of course that was great news. Just, Cloud was right. Now they had to work extra hard on protecting the system. He, Lightning, Cloud and Terra were already at their limits with the recent attacks, so this would mean to work overtime at least four times in a week. And together with those meetings, he dreaded he would not be getting any sleep. But honestly, i fit increased the pay for everyone in the company, he was content. He'd be able to buy that TV he wanted and have probably enough money left to go out partying. When they finished the job of course. He smiled and the two cheerful men and they walked out, surely to spread the news over the entire company. Cloud leaned over. ‚That means a big paycheck after some harsh weeks, right? How `bout we all go out together after?' He motioned drinking and Firion nodded. ‚Count me in,' Lightnings voice came from behind him. She rarely smiled, but now a small tug at her lips betrayed her joy. Terra smiled brightly in contrast as an approval of their plans. ‚I'll go and invite the others,' Cloud spoke and disappeared. Terra laughed and continued working. Firion decided to do the same.
When he finished his work, he leaned back and stretched. He heard his bones crack and sighed in satisfaction. No one tried to hack into the system today and his working speed increased significantly because of this. He heard the door open and close, as the others stood up and went to eat something. He wanted to join them, but a tall figure stood in his way. ‚You work overtime today. And before you protest, it's your own fault for coming too late. Report to me when you have the basics ready. I want this project over fast!' He turned and left before Firion could say a word. ‚But... my food...?' As on cue, Terra stuck her head back in and smiled: ‚We've brought you something. Be careful that Light doesen't get you eating it here.' She handed him two bags and disappeared. ‚Thanks!' Firion managed to call out and she waved from the end of the corridor as a sign she understood it. Honestly, if anyone in his department was slow when it came to food, it was Terra and she walked so fast... He wanted to join them too. Sighing, he sat down and peeked in the first bag. Two triangles sandwiches and a salad box. The second bag was filled with three bottled waters. Those guys sure knew how thirsty he was when he was working long. Firion was glad they remembered, because he doubted that he would leave this room for some time. He unpacked the first sandwich and began working.
When he finished work, it was already dark outside. And he had looked forward to seeing his bed early today... He ruffled through his hair. As he stood up, walked through the door, he knocked at the next one to tell Light that he was finished. When no answer came, he opened the door only to find the silver haired male looking at the screen in deep concentration. Firion furrowed his brows and came closer. ‚Firion,' his superior managed to say, ‚Get the others here and go on your computer. We are under attack. Kotei is trying to break in our system.' Firion hurried outside. If Light was so concentrated, it was grave. He sent a quick message to everyone and sat back on the seat he was on fort he last hours. Starting up the machine, he got ready for a long night.
With the help of everyone, they managed to save the system of the hacker. ‚Kotei', they were sure he was the culprit. Firion was glad he had to stay longer. With only Light there, he doubted the attack would've been unsuccessful. ‚Now I need a drink', Lightning sighed and left to go home. ‚Wanna come to my flat? It's late already, there's no train going to your home anymore right?', Cloud asked Firion. The silverette nodded and together they exited the building. The cool night almost changed into morning and the whole staff was tired and beaten. Terra volunteered to stay until the others clocked in to tell them the situation. The males had all refused, but she stubbornly kept resisting until they gave in. She lived quite nearby, so it was no problem, she told them. Still, they were a bit concerned about the health of the young woman. Lightning however patted the shoulder of the female and nodded in approval. Firion suspected however it was that the pink haired could go home. He sighed and realized that he's been doing that often in the last few days. Stress was one of the things he didn't like. The two males walked the ten minutes to Clouds appartement and Firion prepared a light snack while Cloud showered. After rinsing himself of the dirt and sweat that had been collecting themselves on his body, he went straight to the sofa Cloud had prepared in the meantime. Snuggling into the blankets, he thanked the blonde male and after he heard a quiet ‚No problem' from him, he fell asleep in an instant.
Heya, I'm Ginkage
As for this fanfic, I don't own any of the characters. I own however Cosmos AG and Chaos C.
I guess if you know the japanese version of Dissidia, you'd know who 'Kotei' is. For everyone else it stays a secret XD
The pairings will be revealed later, also the M parts .