Aerith couldn't help grin from her place on the sidelines of the conference as the three 1st class SOLDIERS were lined up for what Genesis had sourly explained to her was a pep rally. Publicity was something people expected of them and so they were paraded about whenever possible by the President of Shinra at his insistence.
She knew them all pretty well by now, Sephiroth was the androgynous looking one who was a man of few words but all of them intelligent when he spoke, who seemed unapproachable but possessed a biting wit and dry sense of humor to those he deemed worthy to display it to. He no longer looked creepy to Aerith who was used to him by now.
Beside him was Angeal, who was broader than both other men and ruggedly handsome, who was the natural ambassador of the other two and sometimes referee and nanny when the ice man clashed with the fiery man and they melted all over each other.
Then there was Genesis or "Gen" as his two close friends called him and her too now, the classic pretty boy with a sarcastic wit and natural flare for dramatics. That one was hers if he could be described that way. It seemed to be that her main job was to curtail his fits of childlike anger.
She knew that none of the men wanted to be present as they were displayed like zoo animals before the crowd and their various fan clubs. Yes, they each had their own clubs that identified themselves with t-shirts, buttons or even small flags with their pictures on them.
Aerith was close enough to see that the men had been professionally made over by a makeup artist to subtly bring out their best features and knew they hated to wear makeup like a lady at any given time.
She could make out the eyeliner under Gen's eyes and gave him a sympathetic smile, knowing he would rather be anywhere else. None of the three men liked exhibited this way, they were much more comfortable either in the privacy of their own places or when all three were together, they were all close friends despite the fact that Sephiroth and Genesis clashed upon occasion. That was mainly due to Genesis always trying to one up him.
Aerith found herself being included in their infrequent times when they all got together. She felt privileged to be included in so a reclusive a social group, not knowing that Sephiroth and Angeal had grown curious to want to learn why Genesis was ferrying a lowly PA about like she was his precious charge or something and acting completely out of character and determined that they should get to know her.
They had each given a speech and were now answering questions in as brief a manner as possible when Aerith spotted the man with a gun.
"Rhapsodos, you slept with my woman" he yelled and went to fire the gun, the bullet flew over the now prone body of Genesis where Aerith had launched herself at him and knocked him down, her years of martial arts training causing her react instinctively. Then she was on her feet and a whirl of pink as she karate chopped and took the gunman down with well placed roundhouse kick, knocking the would-be murder unconscious. Then she was back at Genesis's side as she knelt over him, inspecting him for injuries. "Gen are you okay?" she asked him. He seemed unable to speak for once when he looked up at her and wondered if what he had witnessed was true. Had he really, someone of his stature been rescued by his demure little PA as if he were a damsel in distress? He could only blush as red as his hair when Aerith helped him to his feet and began fussily straightening his uniform like he was a child about to be introduced to an important relative for the first time.
"Wow, did you see that? Is the SOLDIER program taking in females now?" a person close to them asked
"I thought that SOLDIERS were mainly about swords? She's definitely a martial artist" someone else said.
"Aerith, please stop fussing over me" he hissed at her.
Angeal supervised as the male was arrested, leaving only Sephiroth to man the microphones. He went forward. "We would like to thank you for coming to witness our new demonstration where women are trained in martial arts to act as bodyguards, posing in administrative roles for their clients. Thank you Ms. Gainsborough for acting as demo model for Commander Rhapsodos, who was just rescued by what appeared to be a petite, helpless female. And he's an elite SOLDIER 1st Class and her, a Personal Assistant; will wonders never cease? Imagine a man of his stature and skill level rescued by a tiny female? Unbelievable. This interview is over, thank you all for coming" he said, trying to force a smile that made him look like he was about to go for someone's throat because it was a tad too wide.
Genesis didn't say a word to Aerith until they got to his office. "What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have gotten hurt!" he snapped and then his eyebrows rose in confusion at the way she was looking at him, her gaze as almost predatory. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked her and then made sound of surprise when she suddenly took a hold of the collar of his trench and slammed him against the wall, her expression purposeful. He opened his mouth to question what she was doing when standing on tiptoe she hungrily kissed him, her tongue entering his mouth and touching his tongue. He was shocked for a second to be taken so assertively but that melted away as the motions of juicy her full lips on his own made any reservations he had flee.
His arms tightened into bands around her. He kissed her hard, bending over her and pressing his hand to the small of her back to hold her against him. Her arms went around his neck, her slim fingers assertively slipping into the flame bright red of his hair to cradle his head, no allowing him to retreat from their kiss as she ravished his oral cavity. Their tongues wrestled for dominance and their breathing was erratic. She gasped as suddenly she was the one pinned against the wall and bodily lifted, they gazed at each other for a second through humid eyes before her lips latched onto his again and her legs wrapped themselves around his waist, not caring that it was his hands the supported her firm derrière. His flexing hips drove his impressively thickening hardness against her womanly softness as they ground together. His breath was coming in pants and he realized with a few adjustments to both of their clothes, he could take her on the floor of his office in a glorious fuck. His head was spinning and then he realized who he was attempting to seduce and jerked his mouth away from her as if her luscious lips had burned him. He looked at the innocent girl and let her down and stepped back. She wiped her mouth as if in a trance and looked up at him, a question in her face. "I'm marrying Zack" she declared and ran away.
"Aerith" he called after her and staggered to his office chair, his legs feeling like his joints had liquefied. He scrubbed his face with his hands and pushed his hair back into shape, ignoring the hard flesh at the centre of his body, except to be glad that his uniform involved baggy leather pants. He felt more hot and bothered than he ever had in his life and wondered why; he had never even bedded the girl. He had slept with literally hundreds of women and not one had ever affected him like this with a mere kiss. He wiped his own mouth and the colour of her pink cherry flavoured lip gloss came away on his hand.
Angeal had been shocked at what he had seen in his friend's office when he checked to see if Genesis was okay. He had stood there and watched it while the man and woman has all but coupled. "Gen, what do you think you're doing?" he questioned him.
Genesis's head snapped up at the sound of Angeal's voice. "You saw?" he asked him in a shaky voice, still feeling off balance.
"You have probably bedded about a thousand woman who would happily have you as their mate and you choose the one not available to develop feelings for?" Angeal chided him, but with sympathy in his voice.
"I am not corrupting her if that is what you're suggesting. Her virtue is intact, her fiancé's ring on her finger. She kissed me, it was probably driven by adrenaline or something" he suggested, trying to brush it off.
"I would say you are the one being corrupted, think about it, you're taking her to Ikea for Goddess's sake, a place you wouldn't venture when I asked you to help me pick up my kitchen table. You're meeting her parent, when in the past you ran away from them. You have to realize that she's getting married, she's working for you and it won't be easy when she ties the knot and you have to hear about her husband. You think he will let her come over the fix you your pre-breakfast snack? She won't have time to when the children come along" Angeal said, recognizing from Genesis's stubborn expression that he was in denial.
"We're just friends and colleagues" he insisted while each thing his old friend said was like a stab into his heart.
"If things were different and both of you were single, my advice would be to marry her right away. Women like her are as precious as gold and don't come around very often and must be claimed when you find them. However, that being said, guard your heart or it will be broken when she leaves you. I pity you, I pity you both" he said and silently moved away as a man of his girth should not be able to do, leaving Genesis lost in thought.
Aerith had a sheepish look on her face as she knocked on Genesis's door later, "I brought you and espresso. I'm sorry about this morning" she said.
"It's okay, but we shouldn't do that again. I wouldn't want to be responsible for breaking your goddess seal. Are we still friends?" he asked her.
"Do you still want me to work for you?" she asked him.
"Yes, it is kind of amusing that I was almost raped by a virgin" he teased her and she blushed but lightly punched him on his arm."Where did you learn to fight like that?" he inquired.
"Karate, I've taken lessons for years, I have a black belt and a teaching certificate. I give lessons to underprivileged kids" she explained.
"You really are quite remarkable" he said with admiration in his voice.
"There's something I haven't told you, Zack's returning this Friday night and we're going to set a date" she softly said.
"I'm happy for you" he said in a neutral voice as he sipped his beverage.
"I'm having a welcome home party for him. Would you come? I would like you to meet him, he's a good man" she said in a rush.
"I don't see why you would want me there?" he said with a slight frown on his face that she thought made him look adorable and she longed to kiss him everywhere but schooled her features and blushed at this thought.
"I would like you to come, I think you will like him. You can bring Sephiroth and Angeal if you want" she all but pleaded with him, not sure why she felt the need for Genesis to like Zack.
"I'll come, what time should I be there?" he asked her.
The beautiful young woman lay naked on her bed as her body undulated as the vibrator poised at the point of her pleasure softly buzzed unhindered while her mind played a vision of her wedding night.
Before, her mind used to gloss over the part where they were alone in their martial suite, her innocent mind not really able to supply what would actually happen. But now she saw herself carried over the threshold and placed on the bed without preamble. She saw elegant male hands strip the innocent, pure white gown from her, undressing her to her teasing white lingerie. Zack admired her like that before stripping her completely bare and removing his own restrictive clothing to cover her slight body as if sheltering it. She bit her lip to stifle the moans as she lightly pinched first one and then the other of her own nipples, pretending it was Zack caressing her hard points. Her head lulled as she imagined him him stoking the fires of her arousal by teasingly sliding down her firm, flat belly until she could feel his warm breath ghosting against her excited womanhood, only to tease her with his tongue and lips. Igniting the nerve ending there until her whole body tingled. Finally he rose above her preparing to part the gates of her womanhood and make her a woman. His wide shoulders blocked out the light and shone through the strands of his hair, making it seem like it was on fire as it framed his face. His blue eyes were surprising gentle in reassurance of her and a tender smile beamed down on her. Aerith grabbed a pillow and used it to muffle her scream as she came and then eased it from her panting mouth and turned off her vibrator and lay it aside. Then she realized, Zack didn't have red hair and his eyes were more violet blue in colour than light sapphire blue. "Goddess what shall I do? Why are you testing me?" she whispered with a sob in her throat.
Sephiroth glared at his friend, positive he must be hearing things "I'm sorry, I don't much care for socializing and yet you expect me to give up my Saturday night to go to a welcome home party set in the slums, hosted by your PA to welcome her fiancé home? A man I have never met no less. Out of the question" he intoned.
"Well what else do you have to do on a Saturday?" Genesis asked him.
"That is my business, count me out" he replied.
Angeal looked at Genesis, knowing the real reason why Genesis was asking them to come. "I'm going, I think it could be fun" he said encouragingly.
"Then it is settled, I shall have my usual on Saturday night and you two can go to the lame party" Sephiroth said.
"I need to speak with you" Angeal said to Sephiroth and pulled him aside."You're going" he hissed at him.
"I don't think so" Sephiroth said. "It is hardly my fault that Genesis is smitten by Aerith."
"As a friend, he needs our support and if you don't go, I'm telling him what you do on Saturday nights" Angeal threatened him.
"You wouldn't! That is completely private and none of his business" he snapped, narrowing his eyes.
"I would and Genesis will never let you live it down" Angeal threatened.
"Oh for the love of...fine" Sephiroth sourly said, narrowing his eyes at Angeal.
The party was in full swing when they got to the Gainsborough household and everyone stopped to look at them when they were admitted, most people never having seen the trio up close. Although they were causally dressed for the occasion and didn't wear their uniforms, they still were getting quite the looks. Angeal being the most gregarious one stepped forward and smiled at everyone. "I'm Angeal, this is Sephiroth and Genesis, I believe most of you know" he introduced them.
"You must be Gen's friends, I'm Elmyra, Aerith's mother" Elmyra introduced herself.
"I see good looks run in the family" he commented.
She blushed and said "you flatterer, if I were only ten years younger, you would have to watch out" she teased him.
"I like older women" he deadpanned.
"Mom" Aerith said with a giggle, coming to greet the trio.
"I'm glad you could make it" she said directing it at all three but glanced at Genesis.
"Aerith you look..." the redhead said and his words deserted him for once. She wore a red dress with spaghetti straps that showed off her slim figure to perfection, that allowed for a glimpse of cleavage. Her normally tightly braided hair was loose and had been arranged into long tendrils.
"He's trying to say you look good" Angeal said putting his arm around him, he was rather baffled. He had never witnessed Genesis at a lost for words over a girl in a dress.
"You think so? I wasn't sure about this dress. It's not too much, is it?" she asked with a blush.
"No you look perfect" Genesis assured her. "Zack will love it," forcing the word past his wooden tongue.
"Her church normally forbids her to dress this way, but it's a special occasion. But you normally don't wear red" Elmyra said to Aerith with a frown.
"It's a new look I'm trying, I borrowed the dress from Tifa" she lied with a blush.
"Yes it's mine" Tifa lied, remembering how Aerith dragged her from store to store looking for a perfect red dress to wear for Zack, yet she couldn't help noticing the Genesis wore a lot of red. Even then he had on a pair of black slacks with red button up shirt and his usual dangling earrings. Tifa hoped that Aerith's affections weren't being transferred to the redheaded man because of the long absence of her fiancé. She had warned Zack about leaving Aerith alone so much, not that Aerith was flighty, she was certainly loyal but she was also young and inexperienced when it came to men and however Genesis had a horrible reputation, he treated Aerith very well.
Angeal kept Genesis distracted while he talked to new people, the thought the large black man named Barret to be very entertaining and his young daughter to be very cute. He didn't know what to make of the red four legged tattooed creature mingling about and thought he was a pet of some sort, until he introduced himself as Nanaki and proved to be very intelligent. Genesis himself talked to few people as his eyes followed Aerith around the room to the point he had to keep poking him.
Aerith was nervous but excited, so didn't feel the weighty gaze upon her. Though she did notice that the three soldiers tended to stick together. She made her way about and kept circling back to them, she noticed they seemed to be getting along with different people, Angeal was doing most of the talking and Genesis was joining in. Sephiroth talked little but was amusing guest by revealing a talent that she wouldn't have suspected; he could juggle anything and was proving this.
Aerith kept on glancing at the clock, Vincent was supposed to pick him up at the airport and drive him straight over and it was getting really late. Has his plane been delayed? Her smile brightened when Vincent stepped into the room wearing his uniform. "Vincent where's Zack?" she asked him, coming over to greet her friend.
He took of his hat and said "I'm very sorry but his plane was shot down, he didn't make it" he said with grief in his voice.
"You must be kidding. Vincent you're such a kidder. Did Zack put you up to this? Is he still in the car?" Aerith said with levity in her voice while everyone whispered around her.
Tifa took her hand and put an arm over her shoulder while Vincent took her wrist. "I'm sorry, Zack's dead" he said in a solemn voice.
"No this can't be real, Zack? No, noooooo" she suddenly shrieked and burst into tears and was instantly surrounded by people attempting to sooth her.
Genesis started forward to aid her but was brought up short when Angeal grabbed his shoulder. "No you can't go to her" he told him.
"But she's so upset, I have to do something" he said.
"If you go to her and she flings her arms around you, what's everyone going to suspect? Her fiancé's newly dead and you have to respect that. She needs to grieve and not have her reputation tarnished in the eyes of her friends. You can be there for her, but at a later time" he insisted.
"But I need to.." he said.
"You need to come away from here and leave, come I shall give you a ride home" Angeal insisted.
Sephiroth was only too happy to leave and resume his usual Saturday pastime, he locked his door and bolted it shut. He got changed into a pair of baggy blue jeans and a blue shirt and donned a sailor's hat. His preparations now complete, he selected the DVD for South Pacific and turned it on. He started to sing/dance along with every song. He had the whole thing memorized as he went seamless from scene to scene, this was his shameful secret Angeal had threatened to reveal to Genesis, he liked to imitate musicals. "I want to wash that man right out of my hair and send him on his way..." he sang in a falsetto while performing the action on his hair.
Meanwhile at the Gainsborough residence, Aerith cried non-stop from a mixture of guilt and grief, partly crying how Genesis had left her with barely a goodbye.
At the Rhapsodos residence, Genesis held his PHS and stared at it, trying for hours to come up with a text to express his sympathy to the grief stricken girl, yet even someone who had been accused of being a motor mouth couldn't express himself upon occasion when he had real feelings for a woman for the first time in his life.