The loud opening notes of one of *NSOMNIA's pop hits from yesteryear jolted Squall into a flurry of panic as he batted the pillow resting on top of his face sailing across the room, landing on the hardwood floor with a less than impressive dull thump. Looking down at the blanket – an inexplicably-adorable cartoon Ochu with hearts aplenty in the background – and his brain stopped time travelling and came back to the present where he remembered he was at Quistis's apartment and the whole discussion they had about Rinoa.
It didn't explain the switch in alarm ring tone but knowing that Quistis wasn't immune to the siren call of silly pranks, he figured that it owed to her actions on some level. He rubbed his eyes and blindly reached backwards for the offending object, only to realize it was not the source of the harmonized noise when the face of the phone was still black without the notification to dismiss the alarm. He twisted his upper body back and saw that the offender was the radio on the table on the dining room alcove.
Sitting upright, Squall hit the power button on his phone to see the time displayed was about a half an hour away from his alarm going off. Curiosity took hold as he got up to mute the boyband. Quistis was a light sleeper and one of the few people he'd met in his life who did not hit snooze ever. While she could be forgiven for not knowing he'd set an alarm of his own, it was an odd action when his earliest Saturday case routine was now hers and he was not a chronic oversleeper by any means.
Squall rubbed his eyes again - he was clearly overthinking this. Quistis probably set it as a well-meant gesture with no deep significance.
Before he hit the power button again, he looked at his reflection in the glossy surface. He looked largely presentable aside from the faintest stubble here and there, a reminder of one of the few things his father's genetics blessed him with - the inability to grow facial hair worth a damn. Hitting the power button again, he checked his text messages and predictably found three from Quistis, timestamped well over an hour ago.
Towels/toiletries are on the bathroom countertop. I laundered the jeans & sweater you left from the last time – it's in the washroom too.
The link to Rinoa's page is screencapped on the very first page in the file. Check to see if there are any updates.
Rinoa posted this morning about 'visiting her favorite cafe.' Try to be at RRC today if you can - thanks!
With the minor mystery was now solved, Squall went to go shower. Perhaps the spray of hot water would relax his mind and body enough to conjure up some ideas on how to approach Rinoa as he doubted the café made for a feasible place to pull the stuff guarding move Quistis had suggested.
He let out a long-drawn sigh.
This was well above his paygrade - men twice his size with behavioural issues were far easier to deal with than trying to figure out the best way to bait someone's attention. It went against his nature and skill sets to find ways to stand out than blend in.
Squall got to the café a little after noon and it was as dead as a doornail with the late breakfast rush all cleared out with a sparse amount of people dotting the booths and tables for lunch. The café was located around the outskirts of town in the entertainment district and not in the path of any major transportation lines so the paltry sales during the day was not really uncommon. Most of the surprisingly-devoted clientele was mostly made up of those came here to figuratively and literally unplug for long periods of time instead of grabbing food and hot beverages on the go.
It wasn't surprising as the anachronistic theme of the café went against every conceivable tenet of Estharian culture from the lack of shiny décor — the rustic hardwood-heavy interior looked more like the inside of a Winhill bar than the kitschy black-and-white checkerboard and chrome of Estharian past – to the lack of freely-available electrical outlets and WiFi, only offering connection of an interpersonal kind. It eschewed the ingrained standard of fast-paced convenience at every turn and its continued profitable operation never failed to simultaneously confuse Squall and instill the belief that his mother was nothing short of a savant for seeing opportunity that he never would have in her shoes.
"Yo Squall, when was the last time you set foot in here?"
It took everything Squall had not to flinch at the sound of Zell's loud voice carrying across the room and taking every customers' attention with it, dragging their line of sight in his direction.
He still flinched but recovered enough to stay the apex of the upward motion and delay the decent to make it look like he'd shrugged instead.
"Wouldn't know. When was the last time I did a cash float audit?" he shot back, walking up to one of the barstool seats near the front counter.
The blond busboy waved his dish rag at him from the other side of the counter. "Dude, not cool. I still have nightmares of that day when you nearly made me pay back 5000 gil because Raijin 'borrowed' my float cash for a day."
Squall shrugged for real this time. "You were the one who asked me when I was here last."
Zell sighed, slinging the rag across his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess I did left myself wide open for that one. In all seriousness though, I was starting to think something was up since there were a couple randos asking around for you lately."
"…Randos?" Squall repeated, "What did they look like?"
An ear-to-ear grin formed on the blond's face. "Naw, I'm just pulling your leg. It was your friend with the weird flippy hair and this girl with the retro outfits who your Ma ends up chatting with on the night shifts. You know the drill, moms talking about children and people they know and they end up becoming mythical Chocobos they want to see for their own eyes kind of deal."
Squall made sure to give him his best mildly-perturbed look on principle. "Not sure I like the idea of being a 'mythical Chocobo.'"
Zell shrugged. "Eh, you might - the girl is pretty cute. Erm, not my type since I'm, uh, not really into brunettes and because I have a girlfriend already."
Try as he might to maintain the façade, he couldn't keep the smirk at bay with that comment. "…Keep digging that hole Zell."
"No holes here, just a helping hand." he deflected. "Anyway, all's I'm trying to say is that if you stick around long enough, she might pop up. And don't worry, your Ma didn't tell her about the time you accidentally-"
"-Ok, I get it." Squall interjected before the whole café would hear about that particular, and rather infamous, mishap.
"Now we're even." Zell laughed. "So what brings you here since your Ma's not in 'til later? You live on the other end of the district still, right?"
"I was running a few errands for a co-worker who lives in the area." Squall explained. "Came by since it was along the way and I had time to kill."
"Fair enough." Zell shrugged. "Want me to holler at Specs to get you the usual coffee and sandwich combo?"
"Yeah thanks." he said, pulling out his wallet give him money for the order and tip. As usual, Zell waved him off.
"Keep it. Your money is no good here."
Squall wasn't in the mood to fight him on this today. He pocketed his wallet and money in separate pockets; he'd just have to slip it to the next customer who'd come in so they could get either something extra or use the money to leave a generous tip.
No sooner than the crisp Gil bill was pocketed did the familiar chime of the door ring. After scanning the other side of the counter to make sure Zell wouldn't catch him in the act, he discreetly withdrew the bill again and waited for the customer to make their way to the counter to place an order.
As luck would have it, a familiar face sat two barstools away from him; it was a damn good thing Quistis had set that alarm when she had.
In one swift motion, he slid the Gil note in her direction across the counter. Naturally, this earned him a rather perplexed look so he wasted no time to explain.
"The employees won't take my money because this is my mom's shop." he told her. "They'll take your money."
Rinoa's expression softened as she gave him a conspiratorial nod. "Can do."
She hastily stuffed the Gil note in between her fingers into one of the pockets of her long grey coat as she heaved her purse and laptop bag on the countertop. Once she fished her wallet out, she unzipped it and added the money into the folds, setting it on top of her laptop bag.
"In the interest of full disclosure, I knew who you were from the moment I saw your face. Your mom wasn't kidding when she said you were basically her boy clone." she casually admitted with a nervous giggle. "Also, I might have talked to her enough times for her to tell me stories about you. Nothing bad or embarrassing, I might add."
"It wouldn't be the first or last time if she had." he honestly replied. "At this point, I just assume I'll be embarrassed in some shape or form when I walk in here."
"Well, so long as I don't accidentally spill something on you, I'd say that today might buck that trend." she said. "Oh, and before I forget, since I do know your name, I guess it'd only be fair if you knew mine. I'm Rinoa. Nice to finally meet you."
She extended her hand for him to shake and so he took it, her grip was surprisingly-firm for a woman of her size. It was a good thing he'd brushed up on a few Galbadian customs as he would have accidentally left her hanging otherwise. Estharians usually reserved handshakes for graduations and other events of import to minimize the transfer of germs.
After their hands parted, she switched stools to sit on the one directly beside him on the right.
"This place is so welcoming compared to everywhere else." she remarked. "I'm from Galbadia, visiting here for research purposes for a novel I'm writing and to be quite honest, I've been kind of treated like the plague."
"If it explains anything, my mother is originally from Winhill, a bartender by trade." he offered. "The only thing she didn't transplant from Winhill was the distaste for outsiders. Wasn't really a need since Esthar already has the market on that."
Rinoa's eyes lit up.
"That explains so much, honestly. I couldn't put my finger on why this felt like a home away from home since all the cafes in Deling City are a lot more modern-looking." she told him. "Though, judging by the outfits and architecture around here, they would probably be rustic by comparison."
"You wouldn't be wrong." he agreed. After contemplating it for a second, he pointed at her coat. "The reason people probably are avoiding you is because coats like that were popular over fifteen years ago, which tells them you're not from around here. Most pieces of clothing here are thermo-regulated so you don't need outer layers. Buttons aren't common either."
"I had a feeling there was a reason why no one was wearing or selling coats." she said with a frown. "Though I just assumed that my body temperature was out of sorts in the different climate because Deling City is always so overcast and mild compared to the extremes here. Maybe things will change with a shopping spree."
It was at this moment when Zell came back with his food and coffee on a tray, nearly spilling the coffee out of the ceramic mug with a hard drop on the counter once he saw Rinoa right beside him.
"This guy bugging you at all, Rin?" he jokingly asked, pointing his thumb at Squall. Rinoa shook her head.
"No, quite the opposite. He gave me a starting point on how to fix my research problem." she told him. "Also, how come you've never told me about the thermo-regulated clothes you guys wear?"
Zell shrugged. "I just assumed you knew and were choosing not to buy some. I mean, the attachable patch is not cheap if you're looking to retrofit the clothing you already own so I wouldn't have blamed you there."
"Unspoken cultural norms are sooooo much fun." Rinoa said in a half-amused, half-exasperated tone. Then she bolted upright with a gasp, looking at Squall again. "Oh Carbuncle, I just remembered you guys don't really do handshakes here."
"I'll live." he replied, grabbing the coffee cup from the tray. "It's not like you have the plague."
"You're right, I don't." she replied with a smile before reaching for her wallet and turning to Zell. "But before my stomach eats itself, I suppose I should order. Can I get the soup of the day combo with the flavoured bread roll toasted and buttered? And would it be ok if I upgraded the medium coffee to a large with two creams, two sugars?"
"Sure can, big spender." he said as he took Rinoa's money and started punching in the order in the till to ring her up.
Squall took an extra-long sip of his own coffee and avoided eye contact with either of them as he heard her refuse the change, leaving a rather large tip from the unbroken bill by his mental tabulations. It was only once Zell retreated to the back to give the line cook the chit and go back to his actual duties, he dared to look to his right again.
"…Operation bill-be-gone is a success. He was none the wiser." she whispered with a tiny thumbs up. Setting down her hands on the counter, she paused for a second. "Are the flavored breads good? I've heard they're a specialty in Balamb so I was surprised to see them on the menu here. I meant to try them out earlier but I could never seem to get them before they'd sell out."
Squall took another sip. "They are. The recipe the café uses is from Zell's mother who gifted it to us as thanks for hiring him. Zell and his family are from Balamb so that might explain things."
"Ah, that's neat that it's an authentic Balamb recipe." she remarked. "Though I'm kind of confused, why give it as thanks when she could have sold it to the café and made some profit?"
"Zell didn't have a Gil to his name when he was hired." he quietly explained, pausing slightly to make sure the blond was still out of earshot before he elaborated. "He's mechanic by trade but qualifications don't amount to much when you're a transplant from somewhere else."
"…I'm starting to see why my attempts at researching went horribly awry after my research partner vanished off the face of the planet. Spent six months here and I'm pretty sure I learned more about Estharian culture from this conversation alone." Rinoa lamented, longingly looking at her laptop bag. "Anyway, I think I should leave you to your lunch before it gets cold. Thank you very much for your time. It means a lot that you lent an ear to this complete stranger."
"…You don't have to leave."
The words practically flew out of his mouth before his brain could register them. But even by that time, what registered more was the surprise widening her eyes as her gaze broke away from eyeing the laptop bag to stare at him even if the rest of her expression was neutral.
"You can stay if you want." he reiterated, hoping she wouldn't bow out of principle or a skittish misplaced sense of politeness. "I don't have anywhere else to be."
"Only if you really don't have anywhere to be."
"I don't." he said as he grabbed the neglected sandwich from the tray and pulled it closer to him.
She paused for a moment, as if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, before slowly unbuttoning her coat in an unintentional G-rated striptease before revealing a striped blue and black sweater underneath. He took another long sip of his coffee as she then proceeded to struggle with neatly stuffing it into her average-sized purse without three-quarters of the thing spilling out. Against better judgement, he stopped sipping the coffee to say the comment long on his mind.
"While we don't believe in coats, there is a coat rack you can use by the right-hand corner behind you before the bathrooms."
"Oh. Yeah, maybe I should." she sheepishly agreed. "I have to ask though, why have it if no one uses it?"
Squall shrugged. "It's from my mother's old bar. So I assume it's either for sentimental reasons or to encourage people to dine shirtless by having a rack to hang their shirts."
When she reacted to the comment by simply staring at him like a Chocobo in the headlights, Squall found himself torn between frantically searching his mind for any anecdotes Quistis or Selphie might have told him about dealing with missteps like these during their high level assignments and turning his attention to his long-neglected sandwich start to eat it. He was fairly convinced Selphie had resorted to this tactic at one point or another at any rate.
"I have no money, but can I like, pay you to say ridiculous things with a straight face?"
Squall had to refrain from blinking hard.
"I'm not sure if you're making fun of me or if that was a cue to say something absurd."
"A…bit of both." she said with a grin. "I'm going to use the coat rack for its intended purpose and use the ladies' room. If you don't mind watching my stuff for a moment, that is."
"Go ahead." he said with a nod.
"Thanks!"
After she hung her coat and slipped past the door to the women's restroom, Zell came back with her order. As he set it down beside her bags, her absence did not go amiss as he immediately turned his attention towards Squall as he shot him an amused look.
"I take it by the fact all her stuff's here that you didn't scare her off?" he ribbed.
"I didn't."
"And that was totally your money that paid for her order, wasn't it?"
"It wasn't."
The blond shot him an incredulous look. It was still no match for Squall's stone-faced expression and his façade remained unbroken, however.
"It so was, I know it." he maintained. "Word to the wise though, if you think she's sitting beside you for any other reason than just being too lazy to move, be a pleasant memory to her instead of a reason to stay."
The blank look on his face finally cracked as he raised an eyebrow. It was rather jarring to hear Zell talk like this, unnatural even. And especially odd considering how he was talking about Rinoa before she showed up.
"…I'm not following."
In a lower voice, he answered, "I think she accidentally got caught up in those rumored shenanigans happening in Odine's lab. The research buddy dude who 'disappeared?' Murdered. One of Dr. O's top guys if I'm not mistaken."
"Zell, you read too many Occult Fan magazines." he brushed him off, deliberately reaching for the sandwich to eat afterwards.
Before Zell couldn't even respond, the slight creak of the bathroom door swung open and robbed him of the opportunity to say another other than a polite, 'enjoy the food' to Rinoa as she sat back down and happily indulged before he retreated to the back once more.
As they ate in relative silence, Squall couldn't help but occasionally steal a glance at her every so often.
He couldn't tell what was worse - getting a possible confirmation of what Quistis had suspected or the moments he'd completely forgotten what he was here to do.