Reno was sitting slouched in the window, blowing smoke outside while Aeris lounged on rumpled bedsheets, deeply satisfied. Today was another day she should be out selling flowers; another day when an encounter with the Turk had made coming home while Mom was out far too appealing. They could have gone elsewhere naturally; plenty of love hotels in Wall Market for this purpose. But it was comfortable here, cleaner, more private, and - above all else - free. Plus there was a thrill at sneaking into the empty house so that they could sleep together – and be loud with no risk of anyone overhearing. The Turk glanced from the window, winked at her and exhaled another plume of smoke. Aeris was working up the desire to move – or at least entice Reno to return to the bed and whatever that might lead to – when the front door slammed.

Aeris cursed, and scrambled from the bed, her foot coming down hard on a loose floorboards. It creaked. "Aeris?" her Mom called in the same moment Aeris let out a whispered curse. Little chance of pretending she wasn't here. Reno looked infuriatingly unconcerned.

"Yeah, Mom?"

No reply, but Mom's footsteps were on the stairs. Aeris made frantic hand gestures at Reno and turned to fumble with the lock on her door. She slid the bolt into position with agonising slow movements. There. Breath. "Reno-" she murmured and stopped. The Turk was gone. Aeris blinked. No time to look, but where could he have gone? The wardrobe? Under the bed? Not important right now. Aeris grabbed her dressing gown and pulled it on, sniffing at the air. Was that a trace of cigarette smoke? She might be able to claim she'd gone through an area with a lot of smokers and the smell was clinging to her clothes. Wait. Clothes. Her rumpled, discarded dress and underwear lay scattered across her bedroom floor. Maybe she could get away without opening the door- A creak on the floorboards outside her room; Aeris froze in place.

"Surprised you were in."

Not accusatory, but there was an air of concern in her voice. Aeris bit back her own question regarding Mom's presence at this juncture. "I needed to change." Not enough. She licked her lips. "I slipped over in Sector Eight. Right into one of the gardens." The common assumption was nothing grew in Midgar, though that was not quite accurate. Nothing grew in the slums, except for that which Aeris concerned herself with. The Upper Plate and its denizens on the other hand had the resources to try and keep some vestiges of greenery alive - however expensive, time-consuming and ultimately futile such efforts were. There was something approaching fertile earth up there – imported from outside the city at great expense. Gardeners tended to the soil daily although the plants growing from there were unable to escape a sickly look not present in any of her flowers. Normally there was little point in trying to sell flowers in that area, and normally she would never bother. However she had ventured there before, and it was her best excuse available.

"Oh no!" Mom gasped. "You didn't hurt yourself did you?"

"No, I'm good." She glanced around the room again. Really no sign of Reno. Or his clothes oddly enough. The window was open however. Maybe he had dropped down, but then wouldn't she have heard that? "Just wanted to get cleaned up quickly." Would that be enough? "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Problem with the electrics today so they sent us home." Code for having to be careful with food this week; Mom's company like almost all others in the city was painfully strict with what it was willing to pay it's employees for - and any hour they weren't actively working was one more than they would pay for. That shortfall was something her flowers helped make up. Aeris winced. And here she was indulging herself. "And I got something for you on the way home."

A gift? When they should be frugal? "Mom-" Aeris started.

"I couldn't resist. Want to see?"

Another check of the room. Her clothes still on the floor. She nudged them under the bed with her foot, took a deep breath and opened the door. Mom smiled at her and held out a strip of pink ribbon. "I saw this and thought, that would look wonderful on you. Especially since you can't really wear the old one-" Mom's gaze flicked to her dresser. What was she looking at? Was the box of condoms right in the open or- Her old ribbon; one of the only things Mother had ever been able to gift her in her childhood. Aeris had worn it every day since she arrived in the slums; now it was threadbare and on the verge of fraying apart. It would be nice to start wearing one again. "That's lovely," Aeris took the ribbon, smiling at Mom. "But you really-"

Mom pressed the ribbon into her hands. "Oh hush. We'll cope." She looked inquisitively behind Aeris. "Are your clothes in the wash already?"

One lie and so many things to keep track of. "Oh, no, they're over there-" Aeris waved towards the end of her bed and the obscured, vacant part of the floor. "I'll sort them in a minute."

"I don't mind sorting them-"

"You should relax," Aeris said quickly. "Make the most of the time off."

"Oh. Okay." Mom grinned. "There were some other chores I was planning on taking care of this afternoon. Have you had lunch yet?" Aeris shook her head. "I'll sort some out if you're hungry?"

"Thanks. Just let me get dressed and I'll be right down." Aeris closed the door behind Mom and waited until she descended the stairs before letting out a sigh of relief.

"That was close."

Aeris whirled to see Reno, still smoking, sat in the window in much the same position as before. He was at least dressed this time. "How-"

"Turk," he said and smirked. He nodded to her hand. "What's that?"

"A new ribbon." Aeris gathered her hair together into a messy pony-tale and tied the ribbon around it.

"Looks good on you." He smiled. "So now what?"

"Now I have lunch." She slipped her dressing gown off, Reno's lazy gaze tracking her while she pulled new clothes from her drawers and dressed. Her other clothes would need washing at some point she could sneak them in without Mom wondering where the mud had gone. "And you- You wait here until I can figure out a way to sneak you out."

"Hey." Reno pointed to himself again. "Turk. I'll sneak myself out."

He had admittedly been pretty miraculously invisible mere moments before. "Okay. Sorry about the interruption, I-"

Reno shook his head. "Things happen. Maybe next time we'll have longer..." He trailed off and she could not help the smile at the thought.