Story Title: Hitting for the Home Team
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy misc.
Pairing this Chapter: Everything under the rainbow!
Word Count: 1688
Rating: M for mature situations, language and mild incest and Reno.
Summary: Preparation for poker night begins.
Disclaimer: You can't sue me, I have a creative license. And even if you did sue me, you wouldn't win. I'm Canadian. :)
Authors Note: I'm slow. And I get distracted. Easily. BUT HERE YA GO. 00
And on another note, WE ALMOST HAVE 50 REVIEWS! That's like, Epic. So, as incentive, I think that if we make it to 50 reviews with this chapter, I will bake a batch of cupcakes and pretend I'm giving them to all our reviewers while I eat them on my kitchen floor. Kay? Kay. We have a plan. I :heart: you guys.
And uh yeah. Cloud? Now 18. Demyx? 17. Why? Because I said so.
Chapter 10: And we do this because…?
Tifa hummed brightly, not minding that she was off key and horribly out of tune as she finished mixing the nights Ultimate Cocktail. Poker night allowed for many things. A sure fire way to test out her newest imported alcohol was one of them. Wiping her hands off on the towel, the black haired fighter/bartender/housewife and mother of a ridiculous amount of children expertly twisted the cap securely on the large thermos and slid it to the edge of the workspace. Picking up a cloth, she wiped down the counter and set about placing glasses and selecting the specials for the night. She would be leaving Rude in charge, with Reno as supervisor as soon as the trouble two got in. Then it was time to head to the Gainsborough household to occupy Aerith and prevent the brunette florist from kicking her husbands' ass at poker and winning his pay check.
Again.
Glancing at the clock, Tifa put her towel away and grabbed the thermos and headed towards the door. If she wasn't mistaken, that was Reno's car now. When the boy (young man really, he was almost 22,) wasn't making dynamite bundles out of fireworks and his mothers gunpowder, he was really quite efficient. And his partner much more so. While Rude didn't speak much, he excelled in other things. Like
keeping Reno under control. He was a wonderful babysitter.
Except for the leaving explosives in the back room, they were actually two of the best employees she had ever hired!
Tifa smiled to herself as she greeted the two hobo's camped out in the alcove beside the door on her way out, waving as they grinned toothlessly at her and laughed in that way that perverted old crazy men do when they don' t have homes. A car door slam alerted the fighter to a second arrival and the cursing that ensued assured the owner of Seventh Heaven that her bouncer had arrived alive and (mostly) intact from his recent excursion into the wilderness. And by that she meant his business trip to New York. Barret was a part time bouncer at the bar on nights when he needed extra cash or he was hideously bored. Creator of the alternative energy company AVALANCHE, Barret Wallace was one of Tifa and Cid's high school friends, and he had helped the fighter get Seventh Heaven off the ground after his wife died. His idea to use unlimited natural resources for the cheap and somewhat… unorthodox products he built was in high demand among large corporations who were in competition with Shinra and the SOLDIER program.
But that was a story for another day.
"TIFA!" The small woman found herself swept off her feet and into what they dubbed the "Wallace Hold" as she was spun around by her friend.
"Evening Barret." She gasped out as he set her back on her feet. Sometimes, she would swear she could feel her ribs expanding back into their original positions after one of his 'long time no see' hugs. Steadying herself quickly she waited for the slap on the back and wasn't disappointed. Giving a light 'oof' as she stumbled forward a bit, the woman smile dup at her friend.
"How was your trip?" The man shrugged, and made an appeased noise letting her know she would find out later.
"Eh, good enough. You heading out?"
"Of course. Poker night. I left Reno in charge of the bar and Rude in charge of Reno." Tifa looked closely at Barret before nodding. "You know you can always come to poker night instead of tending the patrons…" Barret shook his head and waved her off.
"Nah. I'd rather be here. Being in close quarters with a bunch of SOLDIER's, ex or no, still freaks me out a bit." Tifa rolled her eyes and imagined setting her hands on her hips, (the thermos was in the way of actually performing the action) while she sighed.
"You know they don't care."
"Yeah, but I do, and I would really rather not lose all my money to a bunch of highly trained undercover operatives. Marlene would kill me." Tifa shrugged in a 'suit yourself' manner and turned towards the parking lot.
"Alright, but you're always welcome. You should drop in sometime, see Aerith." Barret snorted.
"And have her wrath inflicted upon me? No thanks. I'll keep my liver and Sephiroth will be spared the pain of eating it." Tifa didn't have a reply as the back door closed behind the big man and she was left in the parking lot considering what human liver would taste like served with veggies after being barbequed.
She didn't think it would go well with carrots.
--
Riku waited until his mother was in full swing for dinner preparations before he changed out of his dirty clothes and into something a little... subtler. Dark jeans and a simple t-shirt along with black boots and a light jacket were easily assembled, and after a thorough but quick shower the silver haired teen was ready to roll. And by roll he meant slide down the drain pipe and go down to the docks.
It was tradition for him to vacate the premises when poker night rolled around. Usually such a night would find him passed out on the Highwind couch surrounded by empty beer cans stolen from Reno, (courtesy of Axel) and pizza boxes or Chinese food cartons, depending on the mood. But as it was, Roxas would probably lynch him and Sora would hand him over to Cloud. Or keep him in the basement until Cloud got back from poker night.
(Which was no better than staying home, since Cloud was due to arrive in 10 minutes and counting.)
It was a good thing the Highwind rule was no parties two nights in a row. So Riku knew that tonight would find the twins set up for a movie marathon, probably with Hayner and/or Olette, since Pence spent Saturday nights at his dad's in Twilight Town and Kairi and Naminé had a homework obsession. So he was heading out alone to keep the no-person-under-18-in-the-house-on-poker-night tradition.
That and he really didn't want to see the evidence of what Zack and Angeal had been up to. With that final thought, the silver haired teen zipped up his sweater, pushed open his window and swung one leg over the side, easily locating the drain pipe. It was all smooth sailing from there.
Except the part where he had to go past the kitchen window.
--
Demyx huffed as he watched Cloud climb into the car, waving goodbye to his cousin as he muttered to himself.
"Honestly! Paranoid, brutal, unforgiving, attractive son of a bitch." The blonde huffed under his breath as Cloud sent one last look towards their window. Not visible from the outside were the nails, wires, tacks and metal bars that were set to slam down if anyone tried to open the window from the outside. Demyx had no idea why Loz didn't just try the back door since it was never locked until Tifa came home at three in the morning. But Demyx being the smart and self-preserving boy he was he wasn't planning on alerting either of his slightly psycho (one more than the other) cling-ons of that lovely little fact. Besides, Roxas and Axel already knew.
Waiting until the car pulled away and drove down the street, Demyx winced at Angeal's 'superior' driving abilities and wondered who he had to threaten to keep his license. Resigning himself to a night inside the house, (he had had enough excitement outside his own house for one day,) the mohawked teen let himself back inside and closed the door quietly behind him. Noting Axel and Roxas's absence from the living room and (due to the absence of any and all suspicious noises) probably the house, Demyx tapped his chin in thought before heading into the kitchen.
Pulling out the tub of vanilla blueberry swirl ice cream and two large spoons, Demyx fished the chocolate sprinkles out of the cupboard and moved his haul to the living room.
"SOOOOORRRRAAAAA!!" The peaceful atmosphere was instantly broken as the familiar thud of stumbling footsteps and a messy head of brown hair peeking around the corner of the stairway announced his younger brothers arrival.
"WHAT?!" Sora's blue eyes were wide and the lines on his cheek suggested he had been sleeping on his chemistry homework again, but overall his little brother looked less distressed than he would have been in this situation.
And that was precisely the problem.
"Mom rented the saw movies. Wanna eat all of Cloud's ice cream and watch them with me?" The blanket that was thrown down the stairs was all the response he needed.
-EFN-
A/N: Sorry, this is the first time I've written Barret, so his character might be a little off. APOLOGIES!! And what he –actually- builds will be revealed later. yes it's short, yes I fail, no there's nothing you can do about it. ;)