Her upper and lower eyelids felt like it had been ripped apart, when she opened and peered through an eye. Seira rubbed her moist and sticky face with the back of her hand, before opening both of her eyes fully and took in the view.
"Shit." She cursed at the bold, green letters glaring at her from the little box shaped digital clock on the nightstand beside her head.
"Late again." The brunette said rather too cheerfully, before pushing herself out of the bed, which she didn't realize was way bigger than her usual single bed.
Unfortunately, dawn came late over her and before she knew it, her body was already hanging dangerously from the side of the bed, stable hands and immobilized legs keeping her face out of the cold floor.
Seira winced at the harsh, ice like floor under her hand and snapped her brain to work. It wasn't a dream; she had fell asleep in her class and woken up in a stranger's arms, literally and to make things worse, her legs wouldn't move at all. In conclusion, she doesn't have a single clue of her current location, while her legs were rendered as useless.
"Reno?" She called out and mused on how good her savior's name rolled out of her tongue, earning a spontaneous blush out of her own face.
"You awake-whoa! How did you get there?" The redhead had entered the room and helped her up, without her distracted mind noticing.
"Huh, yeah. Just forgot about my legs and tried to stand up." She stated with a forced laugh and rested her cheeks in her hands, trying to steady the heavy sleep induced feeling of her heavier body weight.
"You sure, your face is all red." Reno felt his own forehead and placed the back of his hand against the teen's forehead. "No fever."
"I'm just still a little bit sleepy."
"You should wash your face then." He gathered and lifted the heavy sleeper in his arms, bridal style, as usual and entered the grand bathroom through the door beside his bed. "I'll take you to my friend's house today, and you're going to the hospital for checkups."
Seira was placed on a chair in front of the sink. Annoyed at how early she had to leave the comfortable mattress despite the only advantage that she had learned when she finally realized of her grave unfortunate situation, no school.
"Your tooth brush is the red one in that glass. Do you usually take a bath in the morning?" The redhead's finger, which was pointing at a short glass beside the basin, brought her half functioning brain's attention back to him. It took her another moment to remember what he was asking and she replied it with all the vigor she could muster at the moment.
"No, this is fine."
"Great! Call me when you're done and we'll eat breakfast before going." The apparent cheerfulness in his voice made her mentally grimace. He was definitely a morning person and asking another hour just to rest her eyes wouldn't seem to work.
"Breakfast?" The brunette inquired and eyed him suspiciously.
"I made some toast, don't gimme that look!" He immediately brought his hands up in defense and grinned nervously.
"Great, it's okay to eat instant noodles once in awhile. But I bet you've had a fair share of what you're supposed to have in your lifetime."
"Can't help it, yo. It's the only thing I can make without burning the whole stove down, tastes good too." Reno reasoned like a kid who was caught in the middle of a sugar high, after his dirty act of stealing a candy, which his mother had hid and Seira couldn't help but chuckle.
"You really remind me of my cousin. He hides his spare keys in the same place and gives me the exact same reasons like you." A small smile passed through her composed facade. Never fails to cheer me up too. She added in her mind and let a frown took over at the thought of home.
"He must be a great guy." The redhead's grin was comparable to a Cheshire cat's, completely ignorant of the teen's sudden hard expression. "Just call me when you're done." He exited with a lazy stroll through the door.
"A great guy who had lost his keys more than five times." She mumbled as the door was closed with a silent thud and rested her forehead on the rim of the sink's cool surface.
The deafening silence hung in the air like a cold blanket wrapping around her. At times like this, people who should think twice before they talk, like Reno, would be mostly welcomed. Any sort of distraction would be fine, as long as it was able to stop her from thinking.
Seira finally took in a deep breath and looked in the mirror right in front of her. God, she looked awful. The faint bags below her eyes were certainly getting darker and she just look so pathetic and hopeless, not that she wasn't.
She took the toothbrush in her hands and started to brush her teeth, sideways, while the thought of her family and friends searching for her came up to her mind, certainly not enjoying the feel of the stiff, new toothbrush against her gum. Her mom, she wondered how she would cope with the news of her disappearance, certainly not good.
The brunette washed her mouth after spitting the mint foam residues from her mouth and stared up to the mirror once again.
What will happen next? The thought itself rang in her head and disappeared as fast as it had showed up. Where is she exactly and will she be able to go back home again? Question rose and sunk back to the back of her head, not a single one coming up with a reasonable answer.
Seira lifted the cap of the faucet with a flick of her finger and let the cold water soak her entire hand before splashing it against her face.
The freezing cold water really helped to clear her mind. Her uniform were shabbily folded on top of the towel beside the basin and she couldn't help but sigh.
No wonder Reno's shirt looks like that.
The said man, on the other hand was leading a war in his head. The general argument being of last night's unexpected turn of event, even for him who was famous as the womanizer.
He didn't know why, but his body just acted all by itself.
No, Reno. You've just let yourself single out for a little bit too long. It's time for another woman again. The little voice at the back of his mind taunted and the redhead growled to himself.
No, it wasn't that. It felt different this time. He wasn't attracted to her in that way, in fact, he almost felt uneasy when he held her last night. It felt like her slim form could break, even under the slightest pressure of his arms.
Fool, that's impossible, you've thrown all those feelings when you first joined the Turk's. Reno growled louder this time, ignoring the obvious direction his mind was leading to.
"Reno." The weak voice made him flinch and he couldn't help but rudely barge into his own bathroom, as if his life would end if he didn't make it to the room in time.
"What's with the face?" The brunette asked nonchalantly, her face not betraying any single doubt imprinted in her mind.
"I thought…" Reno started hesitantly, cursing at himself for letting his guard down before straightening himself. "I thought you were crying."
"I've cried enough last night. I thought you knew that better than me." She smiled reassuringly and silently prayed that the redhead would catch on and just leave it be.
"Yeah, but your voice…it's shaking." He added the last part quietly to himself before mentally sighing and walked forward to move her. "Never mind, let's just eat and go."
The motorcycle's engine reverberated in the empty wasteland, kicking up trails of dust at its wake. Reno rode the sleek, black bike nonchalantly while Seira clung to his shoulder securely, careful not to let the strong wind push her body back, with strands of her hair which were now annoyingly slapping back and forth against her face.
A strong stench of rusting iron wafted through her nostril as they entered the dull looking city that Reno had introduced as Edge.
They hit an alley not far from what looked like the central square of the crowded capital, before the redhead came to a halt in front of a bar.
"Seventh Heaven? That's a cool name." The brunette gazed up at the store's signs, which were located above the entrance and on the door itself.
"My friend runs this place. C'mon, put your arms here." Reno half squatted with his back against the immobilized teen and patted his shoulder after hopping off from his bike.
Seira wrapped and adjusted her arms around his neck, before she was lifted up with ease.
"Yo, Tifa. How's the bar without me?" The redhead greeted cheerfully as he pushed the door open and spotted the barmaid at her usual spot behind the counter.
"It's lacking another too-drunk-to-think spender since last week, Reno. Is that Seira?" A woman in a black vest pushed a strand of her dark brown locks to the back of her ear and walked out of the counter. The barmaid, who she could only presume as Tifa looked stunning, with straight almost raven hair, long legs and perfect curves. The brunette was certainly on the same or taller height as her, but her enticing curves seems to accent it further (especially her racks which she was sure would be quite…distracting even from a girl's point of view).
"Yeah, the one and only." Reno placed the brunette on one of the stools in front of the mahogany counter which was approached by the barmaid.
"Reno told me about you, I'm Tifa, Tifa Lockheart." She introduced herself and stretched her hand out in front of her.
"I'm Seira, Seira Howard. Nice to meet you, and sorry I'll be a trouble for a while." Seira took and shook the older woman's hand sheepishly, taking note that despite her feminine looks, Tifa wore quite a boyish outfit.
The older brunette patted the younger one's hair before she walked to the bottom of the stairs and called out. "Cloud, Reno is here!"
A pair of footsteps and two lighter ones followed from the second floor, and a mess of bright yellow was what she spotted before the handsome features of the man who was called Cloud (What an imaginative name).
All in all, one thing she could only say about the man standing straight and approaching her with his wide strides was that…damn, that guy is beautiful; a narrow face unlike many other boys with a broad, square-like jaw, high cheek bones, thin lips, pale skin and captivating bright, blue eyes which seemed to be staring right into her soul.
"Yo, Cloud, how's life?" Reno's usual greeting snapped the brunette out of her observing trance and she couldn't help but stare when the blond finally reached her place and offered a hand.
"Cloud, Cloud Strife-"
"Chocobo head." The redhead rudely interrupted with a cheeky grin plastered on his face as the offended man glared at him.
"Shut up, Reno. Go to work, I'll handle things here." Cloud growled before the brunette could even make a mental note to ask what a Chocobo is, finally finding the redhead too annoying to ignore.
"Geez, a welcome drink is enough, delivery boy. I'll be back before dark then."
"You're leaving?" Seira looked up worriedly, not too enticed with the idea of being left with someone that she just knew in an unfamiliar setting.
"Even though I call him a Chocobo, he won't bite, Sei." Reno let out his deep, rumbling chuckle and ruffled her hair. "I'll be back before you know it, don't miss me too much, babe." He turned around and exited leisurely, not being able to see the teen's annoyed expression and roll of her eyes.
"Bye uncle Reno." Two voices chirped behind Cloud, one with a higher pitch than the other.
Seira tilted her head to get a proper view to the two kids who had been hiding behind the blond, too distracted with the man who was practically screaming with bishiness all over, to notice when they first came down with the said man.
The small girl, who wasn't even ten, as she had guessed, had the same brown eyes and hair which was braided with a pink ribbon. It was apparent that she wasn't as shy as the other boy, when she approached the older brunette first and introduced herself with a high-pitched yet gentle voice. "Good morning, nee-chan. My name is Marlene Wallace and next to me is Denzel." The spirited youth softly elbowed the older boy, which she noticed had the same hair color like her and a deep blue eyes that could almost be compared to Cloud's.
"Nice to meet you, Marlene, Denzel, I'm Seira Howard." Denzel just nodded and shyly shook her hand after Marlene's cheerful greeting.
"We're going to the hospital then. Marlene, Denzel, go up and study again." Cloud instructed and the children followed eagerly, Marlene replying with a 'Right away' before jumping up the stairs and Denzel following behind with less spirit after a simple nod.
"Sorry for the trouble, Cloud, Tifa." The brunette apologized again and let her face fell down with a deep sigh.
"Listen, darling." Tifa said sternly, gaining immediate attention from the dispirited teen, then continued in a softer tone. "We'll share everything that we know later, but now the most important thing is to heal your legs. Be patient, okay." Burgundy orbs bore into emerald ones, the barmaid spoke like a mother to her child and Seira couldn't help but let out a reassuring smile.
"Thank you, guys. But can I ask one question first?" The brunette asked sheepishly, unable to decide what to look at, Cloud, Tifa, or the wall behind them.
"Go on, we have the whole day." Cloud encouraged this time, uneasy with the teen's troubled look.
"What's a Chocobo?" The brunette asked as if it was the most common thing to ask and the older couple couldn't help but snort in an attempt to hold back their laugh.
"That, I can show you later if you want." The blond offered behind his gloved hands which were covering his mouth, unable to decide to either laugh at the stupidity of the question or feel a little bit sympathy to the poor girl.
While Tifa in the other hand wasn't doing a better job to cover her laughter and was visible chuckling behind her covered mouth. She was glad that the kids had gone up or they would probably comment openly and embarrass the teen. Boy oh boy, she was going to have a harder task to explain everything than she had initially imagined.
Reno couldn't suppress his grin as his bike came to a screeching halt in front of Seventh Heaven.
Tseng had offered him a full two week paid vacation, as a reward for him who didn't pull any big pranks in the new Turk's office, for the whole 10 days, and partly because he was worried with his subordinate's unusual behaviors. Who knows what the Turk's second in command could do when he lost his only interests and started to move towards another insane-r way to have fun, thus encouraging the organization's leader to make such decision and give Reno a break.
Truth to be told, the redhead was just bored with the other Turks these days. Rude had always remained as passive as always, Elena, who was his daily prank victim had started to learn how to counter and ignore his act while Tseng stayed as stoic as ever.
He also couldn't take out any of his pending stress through any hard missions, since the department itself was lacking some. So, for the last ten days his job was only feigning to do his never ending paperwork…in other words sleep to his heart's content and immediately waking up with a pen in his hand when someone knocks at his door.
It was the beginning of dusk when the redhead entered the bar and greeted the trio who was gathered on one of the tables in the middle of the bar cheerfully. "So, how's the checkup?"
"Nothing's wrong." Cloud said without saving a glance to the newcomer.
"Huh, what do you mean by nothing's wrong?" A frown finally made its way to the redhead's previously happy countenance.
"The doctor said that nothing is wrong with her legs." The blond finally saved a glance to the inpatient Turk, annoyed by the ludicrous verdict and the man who was approaching them with his loud footsteps.
"You mean it just stopped working without a damn reason?"
"Sit down, Reno. We're telling her about our world's history." Tifa finally barked in, trying to calm herself and the redhead's increasing tone which was getting on her nerves. "Where were we just now?" She reverted her attention back to the brunette who was sitting across her. "The fated day…it was just moments before Meteo strikes down to Midgar. Holy came late and did an opposite effect to it than what it was supposed to. We almost lost our hopes when The Lifestream suddenly came gushing out of the planet."
"Saving our asses from immediate destruction, four years ago." The flashy Turk, who had already found a seat on one of the chairs near their table, hacked into the conversation, much to the barmaid's chagrin. "But that was the start of our fall. Without Mako, our life depends with the old, undeveloped, previous resources, steam and coal. The Geostigma pandemic didn't help much too."
"Geostigma?" Seira finally opened her mouth after breaking out of her processing-new-information mind's daze.
"Sephiroth didn't diffuse in The Lifestream after we defeat him." It was Cloud's turn to take over the explanation this time. He was one of the infected and little amounts of people who knew much about the disease after all. "He tainted The Lifestream with Jenova cells and our bodies which were infected with it fought against the foreign substance. Geostigma is born from our own immune systems which tried to get rid of it but instead overcompensates at the incurable contamination."
"So, what's this disease like actually?"
The blond unconsciously brought a hand to his arms, giving it a gentle pat to the previously scar ridden skin. "Black marks on your skin, black pus oozing out of it and pain raiding your system."
And the small gesture didn't go unnoticed by anyone of course. "You-"
"We're still far from finished, can I continue?" Tifa interrupted before the brunette had even finished one word, knowing exactly what she would ask beforehand.
Seira only nodded in response and left her curiosity behind. She knew that she was still an outsider and sometime things are just better left alone.
"2 years after the meteor incident, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz came out of nowhere and brought chaos to this town. They kidnaped children who were infected with Geostigma and even made the town a battlefield only for one sole reason, to find their mother. In other words, Jenova cells which Shinra had managed to collect from our last battle's location. At the end, Kadaj revived Sephiroth, almost bringing another disaster to the world, but Cloud managed to defeat him for the second time and send him back. Geostigma is cured by the spring which suddenly emerged in the church and life goes on till now."
Silence submerged the whole bar before Reno decided to break the ice.
"2 years gone so fast, huh." He leaned back on his chair and looked up to the ceiling, remembering how the previous two years after Meteor had felt so long for them. Life has moved on pretty much for everyone in the planet, now. The new fuel, oil has also become as useful as Mako was in the past.
"So, what happened to Midgar now?" The brunette asked, deciding to discontinue the uncomfortable silence.
"The ruins that you saw when you came here, that's Midgar." He replied nonchalantly, ignoring the obvious what-the-hell look that she was giving him.
"But I thought you said you found me there?"
"Yup, on top of a pile of junk-"
"RENO!" A sudden yell rang in the room, followed by a loud thud and something heavy falling on the floor. All attention was now on Tifa who had hammered her fist to the table and jerked up without any warning that her chair toppled back. "You went to sector 7 again? How many times should I say that it wasn't your-"
"Tifa!" Cloud shouted warningly, snapping his childhood friend out of her ranting and silencing the room once again. His voice wasn't loud, it still held a tinge of calmness which was always in Cloud's voice. But Tifa knew best that raising his voice that far wasn't one of his favorite to-do lists.
"Oh, yeah, almost forgotten this." The redhead interrupted once again and placed a white tote bag on top of the table. "I bought some clothes for you, you can try it upstairs. Cloud, can you?"
"Hmm." The blond nodded and carried the said girl up in his arms without any further comments.
The fading, heavy, thud of Cloud's boots up the stairs were the only sound in the bar for a while before it stopped and was replaced by a smoother voice. "Tifa, can you help me?"
"What?" The barmaid spat back, annoyance still clear in her voice.
"Can she stay here?" Reno said, softer than he had intended it to be. He almost considered repeating his question, when the other brunette suddenly rained him with torrents of questions, completely forgetting about her previous acts.
"She, you mean Seira? Why? You have to leave for a mission?"
"No, no. It's just that…you know, a guy and a girl of her age living together, isn't the best idea out there. Wonder what people would say." He mumbled the last part to himself, loathing how out of character he felt to care about other's view about him. He had always been the non caring type, too laid back for anyone's liking and enjoys his carefree life.
He doesn't even know what he was talking about now. All he knew was the girl would really ruin his so called normal life if she stayed with him for any longer. His messed up head was already quite jumbled up thanks to her.
"Oh…" She mouthed as realization dawned on her. Tifa could feel a light bulb flickered brightly above her head and if things were really like what she was thinking, some serious steps have to be made. "I know she's such a sweet girl and I would really, really love her to stay but Barret and Yuffie is coming tonight, there won't be any spare rooms for awhile." The brunette paused before adding again. "Why don't you call Rude to your apartment, I'm sure with him around you won't be able to lay a finger on her."
"Right, good idea…" Reno nodded thoughtlessly for awhile, before something struck him odd. "Wait! I never said I wanted to touch her!"
Cloud stared at the plain hallway wall and strained his hearing to catch on any other interesting discussions from the floor below. A timid voice calling out his name from the room behind him made the blond turn around.
"Cloud?"
"You done?" He turned the door knob and let the door slide ajar just to take a little peak, before pushing it fully open. "That suits perfectly on you."
The brunette, who was clad in a white tank top which was covered by a V-neck shirt and brown fancy looking shorts, shifted uncomfortably and squeezed her fingers restlessly against each other. "Did I say something wrong down there?" She finally opened her mouth after Cloud stopped and stood right in front of her.
"No, there isn't anything wrong with what you've said. Let's go down." The blond attempted to move closer and scoop her up but was gently shoved by the stubborn, younger female, who refused to move.
"What's wrong with him and sector seven?" She asked again, daringly. Be damned with the whole outsider issue that was currently surrounding her, there was a big chance of her going to live with Reno for god knows how long. If he got a problem with something, it would be best if she know now before anything that she said would hurt or even insult him.
Cloud finally sighed after a long staring competition between them and let his gaze fall to the floor before bending down and focusing it on her. "How should I start this…that guy, he works for Shinra as Turks. The Turks is a department for specially trained people who do all the company's dirty works behind the scenes, including recruitment of compatible SOLDIER candidates to assassinations." He breathed in and out audible before continuing. "AVALANCHE's first base was located in the seventh sector and to eliminate us, Shinra told them to wipe out…the entire sector."
"Did he…?" Her words were almost softer than a whisper, but Cloud caught it without effort. His enhanced hearing made it almost impossible to miss anything after all.
The ex-SOLDIER wanabbe nodded curtly. "He pressed the button and collapsed the whole plate. He always acts so laidback, but Tifa recently found out that he often visited the ruins out of guilt.
"But Shinra has changed and done a lot of things to help the world now, right."
A small smile found its way to the stoic man's face at her response. This girl was really something different, her forgiving attitude which somehow didn't scream of naiveness and the emerald orbs just kept reminding him of Aerith. "Yes, they are now one force with the WRO, that's why Tifa got mad with him. It's nothing what you've said. C'mon, let's go down and show him your new clothes." The blond stood up with the brunette in his arms and stopped halfway to the door. "Promise me you won't say anything about this to him, not now at least."
"Promise, but a lecture would certainly find its way later." Seira grinned with a scheming smirk on her face and Cloud couldn't help but blinked incredulously at her.
"Later…when he's ready, okay?" He shook his head and rolled his eyes. He was already thinking back on his words relating her and the deceased innocent looking flower girl.
"How's the clothes?" A cheery voice greeted them as they descended down the stairs.
"It fits perfectly and I want to ask you something."
A deep frown etched its way to the redhead's features while Cloud glared at the teen warningly. "Seira, you promi-"
"How did you know my size?" And her question slipped off her lips as bold as everyone in the room raised an eyebrow.
"Eer, you…you look like you were quite in a mess when I found you…" He started uncertainly, and continued with some weird hand movements which gestured at nothing but helped lessened his anxiety. "I took a little peak to…check if there was any bodily injures on you."
It wasn't actually weird for something like this to come from a Reno and he wasn't usually ashamed of it. But the trio's suspicious stare was really affecting him this time and he couldn't help but defend himself. "Hey, what's with the look? I bet you'll do the same thing if you were me! She was on top of a pile of junk, covered in blood and moving!" He emphasized the last word by pouting and looked away in a childish manner.
"Okay, okay. Forget I've ever asked." The brunette sighed and rolled her eyes at his child-like antics. How old is he actually? She made a mental note to ask someone later and couldn't help but wonder if he was the type of person who looked younger than his real age or vice versa.
"By the way, have you tried asking the Sorcerer?" Tifa suddenly piped in, causing her question to sink slower than usual to the man in his childish resentment.
"The Sorcerer…? Gramps? Why should I ask him…yeah, how could I totally forget about him. He should know about these stuffs." The redhead asked and answered his own questions for awhile, making it look as if he was some mad man fighting with his own mind. "Alright, I'll see him tomorrow. Now let's have dinner!" Reno suddenly cheered as he felt his stomach rumbling and emanating a deep growl.
"We just ate before you came, I'll just warm the leftovers." The barmaid said and ignored his randomness, before going behind the counter and busied herself.
"So, who's this Sorcerer guy?" Seira dared herself to ask after Cloud had finally placed her on the previous chair she had sat on.
"He's someone who can use magic without a materia." The blond was able to answer before Reno had finished opening his mouth to utter a syllable.
"Materia, that small, glowing ball you showed me earlier?"
"Yeah, we're talking of the same thing." The redhead was able to reply first this time. "Have I mentioned that I got a holiday for the next two weeks? Which means you'll have me to accompany you for the whole day." He couldn't help but grin at the recollection of his holiday which starts from tomorrow.
But his obvious happy demeanor went unnoticed by the brunette who was brooding again, face covered by the curtain of her bangs which were brought by gravity as she looked down.
A burden, she had been since the skies of Gaia greeted her view. And not capable of doing anything, not even walk, wasn't helping her inner turmoil at all.
"What's wrong, Sei-" And of course Reno took notice of the subtle change of mood in the air but was immediately distracted by a plate being placed right n front of him.
"Here's your dinner." Tifa sat beside the brunette and gave the feasting redhead a wicked smile before reverting her attention to the girl beside her. "So, Seira, what about your world, what' you life there like? Care to share anything with us."
"The world where I live is called Earth; it's not really different from Gaia, almost the same problems, minus the Lifestream or Mako. I'm an only child for now; my mom is eight months pregnant while my dad manages his own business with a lot of spare times. Kei, a cousin from my mother's side is a third year college student. He helps my father during weekends." A small smile had managed to creep on her face while she told them about her family. Weird, she could never usually shake off a bizarre, unpleasant feeling when she used to tell anything about any of her relatives in the past. But now, it felt so pleasant and just…right. You really never learned someone's value till they were missing, huh.
"What about you? You never tell us about yourself." Reno wiped the corner of his lips with his thumb before continuing on his half empty plate.
"Me? I'm 18 years old, attending my last year of school. Life is just like that, waking up late, going to school, hanging out with the others, not to mention pilling home works and other simple chores, nothing interesting like your life here."
"What about your lover?" The barmaid glanced again at Reno who seemed to stop his motion for awhile when the question was asked.
"Nope, I'm single and enjoying." She answered as fast as the question was asked, as if it was the most obvious thing to say.
"Thanks for the meal. I think it's time to go." Reno announced as he placed a few gills beside the empty plate, stood up and hoisted the brunette up in his arms, a little bit too cheerful suddenly. "Thanks Teef, Cloud. Don't miss me too much." He winked to the couple before walking straight to the exit.
"Thanks Tifa, Cloud and sorry for the trouble, it's nice to meet you all." The brunette bowed her head as low as her position allowed and waved her hand.
"Nice to meet you too and be careful on the road, Reno." Tifa smiled and waved till the couple was gone from the bar and a bike's noisy engine faded on the background.
"I never knew that Barret and Yuffie were coming tonight." The blond who had been leaning against the counter for quite a while said deliberately, a knowing smirk plastered on his pale face.
"You heard us? What about Seira?" His girlfriend gasped and immediately walked towards him, panic clearly written in her posture.
"Nope, she was inside my office, I doubt she heard a thing. What are you planning, Teef?"
The barmaid sighed in relieve and walked away to their previous table. "Don't you think it's time for a change for him? I'm just lending a hand." She said in a singsong voice as she took the dirty plate to the galley behind the bar.
It was Cloud's turn to heave a sigh as he flipped the used chairs on top of the table and helped her clean up. Tifa just never fails to amuse him with her ideas and broad perspective. Let's just see how Reno's case turned out this time.
