Chapter Nine: On the Rocks

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

-Robert Frost 'Fire and Ice'

Tifa had taken ages to get to sleep, and as they had already been up late, she didn't get up til nearly three in the afternoon. By the time she'd rolled out of bed, gotten bathed, and made some breakfast she found the note she'd been left.

T

Borrowed ten thousand credits. You were asleep. I'll pay it back. I went downstairs.

-S

"Does he think signing it S makes it more subtle? Or that downstairs describes anything when we're almost on the top floor? Jerk." She thought irritably as she took a bite of the eggs she made herself. "I still can't believe him! I couldn't get a wink of sleep last night! I was so angry!"

And distracted...

But that wasn't something she wanted, or had any intention, of openly admitting.

"I gotta get him back." She decided, spreading jam on the toast and heading in to see what was in her closet. "Hmm, they keep a lot of stuff here."

She was thinking the truth, the walk-in was filled with clothes of various sizes and styles. From small to extra large and sweatpants to black dress appropriate. She headed for the nicer stuff, looking at the dresses curiously. Two could play the game he wanted to play, and women were traditionally better at being sexy.

"Though against Sephiroth it's a difficult call."

She bit her lip to stop herself and shook her head. She was suppose to be teasing him not herself with silly daydreams, though it was possible that he wasn't at all interested in men or women...or sex in general.

"He should have all the right parts." She pondered as she finished her toast and wiped her hands off on a towel before moving to pick out a dress and accessories from the stocked closet. "Though I can't really ever see him wanting to be with someone. He was looking at a few of the women last night that were curvy. I have that much going for me."

Lots and lots of practice and working out had left her a bit muscular for a woman, but she still was feminine compared to some of the female fighters she'd seen. Though obviously stronger than some more frail women, like Aeris...

She frowned a little. It was difficult to think about being alluring when you were considering the girl that stole the heart of the only guy you really ever liked. "The teal one, it would match his eyes, he's enough of a narcissist to like that."

Getting the dress and other accessories, she headed back out and started getting ready.

"Maybe I'll skip him all together and have a good time on my own. I have other credit sticks with gil and I haven't had a good drink sense I left to visit dad...

Several floors below...

While there weren't too many floors set aside for a more realistic casino setting, there were a few, and Sephiroth was sitting at a poker table of people half in costume. He'd been at it for nearly ten hours, as Tifa was still sleeping when he took her credit stick and left and hadn't either tried to find him or failed to in the immensely large structure.

Ten thousand had been a good start. It had taken a little time to get started but he was a little over eight hundred K now and the people at his table were looking ready to bow out so likely he'd have to wait until later to finish out the million he needed to purchase the sword.

Gambling was easy when you could easily read people, it wasn't really a challenge, more of a chore. He considered it like any other job someone would acquire to pay for their lives, but everything had always come fairly easy to him. It was annoying he had to waste likely another half day to finish out the money. If anyone bought the sword before he had it he'd be displeased for certain, he needed a little extra anyway, in case the merchant suddenly decided to up his price. "Likely he only set a price at all figuring no one would pay a million for it..."

His thoughts were interrupted by a cheer from further across the long gilded room. There was a small crowd gathered around what was one of either the blackjack or roulette tables. He left a ample tip for the dealer and picked up his winnings, sliding them into a inside pocket in the leather jacket. He paused to pick up a bourbon from the bar, it was in the middle of the room, and raised both silver brows as he came to take in the table with the hubbub.

It was blackjack, which generally wasn't the most crowd drawing game, but the consistency of the people easily gave away that the game wasn't what they were interested in. A lot of men, several in some form of costume, were surrounding a stunningly dressed Tifa.

A long turquoise gown showed off her curves with a sheer fabric that gave it a graceful feel, the low back showed off her athletic body and the heart shape of the front showcased her chest. There were slits in the middle of the thigh, which allowed her to cross her legs and show off yet another lovely feature. Short black heels could have matched anything so went well enough with the dress. Evening gloves of the same ebony color ended just above her elbows and a silvery necklace with a quarter moon pendant rested between the previously mentioned breasts.

Her hair was done up at several layers and cascaded down to just between her shoulder blades in waves, between the various pins and bands holding it in place where green beads were woven around them.

She had a fair amount of chips built up, so she was doing well, though some of the others at the table also had a good stack going. There were men on any side of her and the only other woman there was at one end of the table looking sour but likely not wanting to give up the good luck that seemed to be shared amongst those sitting there.

Several empty drinks on a gambling table weren't a rare sight, but almost all of them were around Tifa's seat and she was leaning a little more forward on the table than she would normally be. He let one eyebrow fall but the other remained up. "That seems out of character."

"Hit me." She stated, her voice barely slurred but more than enough that Sephiroth picked it out. She had definitely had most of the drinks that were empty around her...he walked forward and nudged the man sitting next to her, whispering to him.

The guy glanced at him with nervous eyes and he gestured toward another part of the casino. Then he narrowed his eyes and grabbed his chips. "Damn, thanks man."

Sephiroth took his seat a moment after he left, leaving a few people staring but he offered a small smile. "Family issue, I'll sit in. What's the minimum?"

"Five hundred gil." The man dealing answered. "You'll have to wait for the next round."

"You are gonna bring bad luck." Tifa seemed to pout slightly when she realized it was him. "I said hit me."

"You have a nineteen. The dealer has a fourteen, it seems wiser to stay." Sephiroth pointed out, the rest of the actual table didn't seem too happy at her call and were nodding a little.

"An ace hasn't come up in a while." Tifa replied with a shrug. "Another card?"

The dealer shrugged and flipped it. "Three. Loser."

He pulled her chips in and continued to the next person.

"I told you you should have stayed." He commented to a still sour looking Tifa.

"I told you you'd bring bad luck." She retorted. "I'm out of here. Enjoy guys."

A few of the guys followed, most of the ones that had been watching from the sidelines.

"Hey." One of the braver ones spoke up. "If this guys bugging you we can get him out of here."

"No no. I'm fine." She shook her head. Even tipsy she knew that anyone starting a fight with Sephiroth was generally a bad plan.

"I'm fine. Thanks for a fun night guys. Maybe I'll see you around." She offered a wave, heading for the bar. Sephiroth glanced after her but didn't follow just yet, tossing down the needed cash for the next round. It was as good a place as any as long as he could keep an eye on her.

"She's that mad just from the small tease last night?" He pondered idly as he watched her pick up another cream colored drink. Likely the same thing she'd had at the table. "What was the lady drinking?"

"I can't talk about business of other customers sir." The dealer answered with an apologetic glance. He obviously wanted to stay out of any disputes.

"White Russian's." The woman at the end that had been being mostly ignored until Tifa left the table spoke up. "She's been at them all night. I'm surprised she's not more screwed up as I think she's starting on her second dozen or so. They came earlier and cleaned up glasses once, but she was here before I got here so there could be more."

Sephiroth smiled lightly, it was what the girl was looking for, she was hoping for some sign of approval. Though he wasn't interested in what she wanted, it had got him the information. He passed his hand over his cards to stay at twenty to the dealers nineteen and glanced over at where Tifa had migrated to the piano inside.

"That's quite a bit of liquor, she must have an amazing constitution with what she does to still be mostly walking straight." He thought idly as the rest of the play went around the table. "I hope I won't have to carry her back to the room."

He was vaguely concerned. It was logical that she drank, he remembered that she owned a bar at sometime, that made such a thing likely. The worry was what she did or said when she was drinking, he remembered having to punish troops for saying too much or doing stupid things when they went out bar hopping. He'd had several drinks himself, but he'd have to have a few gallons before anything would really hit him.

Jenova's cells were resistant to that sort of thing. But pretending to drink made people more likely to bet more against him when he was trying to make money, he could play the part for the end goal.

He sort of liked bourbon so it worked out well enough.

"Sir?" The dealer had returned to him after he'd left his winnings from the last round for the next. It only took a glance at the table to calculate odds.

He tapped the table for a card, then waved his hand when he ended up with another twenty, mako eyes returning to Tifa.

"She your girlfriend?" The woman had moved seats to be closer to him after some of the others left.

"Hmm?" Sephiroth smirked. "No. We're just traveling together, cheaper after all the money on the costumes."

"Oh, yeah, a lot of people do that." She nodded, she wasn't wearing a costume but likely was still here for the ongoing event. "I came with a bus from my hometown. We all split the cost of renting it for a week. It helped a lot with other costs."

"You aren't afraid to travel?" Keeping up conversation was necessary.

"Well, a little bit, you know all the monsters popping up, but we hired a guard and nothing happened so I think we'll get back okay too." She answered, though he could tell she was more nervous than she gave off.

He was about to reply when several notes of music started making a pattern, Tifa was playing a fairly popular old folk song on the piano. By memory and ear no less...there was no sheet music he could make out. It was going well and was rather pretty, until she planted her forehead on the keys and let out a small cacophony before one of the staff moved her off and started carrying her to a back room.

"Sir?"

He'd waited through his turn and left his winnings in again. Another scan of the table and he stayed where he was, it seemed likely the dealer would bust. He waited for his winnings a moment later before getting up and heading after where they took Tifa.

He opened the door just to find a hallway and frowned, they weren't in sight and there were a lot of doors. He shook his head once and moved to open the first one. "She couldn't just go back to the room? This might take a while."

Luck stayed on his side and he found her in the fifth room he checked.

After opening the door he had to pause at the scene. She was on a couch, still passed out, her dress up above her legs, and the guy had just undone his belt. His eyes narrowed, it didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening.

"Hey...get out of here...this is staf..ouch!"

He didn't have the chance to finish the demand, Sephiroth's fist met with his nose and the crack was audible enough that Tifa started to stir from her stupor. One strike wasn't enough, a foot met with his stomach and then an elbow to his back when he leaned forward.

"Ow, what are you...ouc..."

His protests died when Sephiroth's boot met with his head hard enough it probably cracked his neck. Murder was likely something that they should have avoided, but he didn't want or care to stop. He pulled Tifa's dress back down and lifted her up, moving swiftly for the elevators, he was angry and the few people he came across got out of the way before he even had to say anything.

Tifa stirred again on the way up and her eyes focused slowly on Sephiroth and then the fact he was carrying her. "Put me down."

"When we get back I will." He retorted.

"Put me down now." She rephrased, pushing against his chest. "What are you doing?"

"You passed out at the piano." He explained. "After the staff moved you I volunteered to return you to the suite. At least if you are going to party during our stay you could take care of yourself."

She frowned a bit, seeming to think to herself. "I knew that last drink didn't taste right...someone drugged me."

She didn't continue to complain, staring at Sephiroth instead. He'd gone rigid, his fingers were digging into her arm enough that it was going to start to hurt if he kept it up. She didn't have too much time to consider it, the elevator reached the floor where they were staying and she was leaning on the wall as he unlocked the door. Walking in herself and making for the couch with only a couple wavers.

She jumped when he slammed it behind them, stalking toward his room. "Why are you angry? I didn't mean to ruin your fun, you can go back downstairs. I'll be fine, I've got a lot of stamina."

"Why aren't you angry?" He asked, turning to watch her answer.

"I am." She commented, shrugging lightly. "But everything's fine, nothing happened to hurt anything but my pride again. The staff got me and you brought me up here, this place is pretty safe."

"Not as much as you might think." He returned, annoyed at the nonchalant way she was reacting to what happened to her. "You are more foolish than I originally anticipated."

He slammed his own door before she could retort, instead she was left glaring at his door again, she was getting intimate with the design. "What the hell is his problem!? I didn't ask him to carry me anywhere!" I can't believe he's such a pompous ass or that I was thinking so much about his ass lately!!

She grumbled a few curses and names before laying out on the couch, whatever they'd given her, it was just making her really tired, otherwise she'd be up and bitching at Sephiroth about his piss poor attitude. She'd have to yell at him tomorrow after she slept it off.

End Chapter

Tifa sleeps a lot...huh...I'll have to do something about that. This chapter I originally planned on having more romance but it sort of took off by itself. I'll get there.

-Nera

Reviewers:

ToyaKei - Tifa has a lot of bad luck. Sephiroth meanwhile is having good luck - for once.

Seph Owa13 - Everyone hates Hojo. He's a dick.

Pan-Lock - Thankee, hope you keep liking.