Aeris wriggled and squirmed her way out from between Cloud and Tifa, making her way down the bed. The sound of the Hell House's feet, the creaks of the walls and the anchor points helped mask any noise. Not as if they weren't all used to night time noises; more convenient to point the house in the right direction, whisper to it where they were going and leave it to its own devices.
The floor pitched and swayed when Aeris stood, and she took a few unintended awkward steps to the nearest wall. Wait for the floor to settle. Better. Still all the tremors of movement, the roll to the floor with the house's movement. Level enough for her purposes. She swayed with the house, keeping as steady as she could. Pause at the door to get a dressing gown – preferably hers – from the hook. Might be Tifa's. It would do.
Less need for pseudo-quiet in the hallway outside, but she still avoided the creaky floorboards out of habit. Long ingrained habits for sneaking out in the dead of night and leaving Mom none the wiser. Stairs was a risky proposition; Aeris kept tight hold of the bannister and descended. The jolts of the house's feet hitting the ground magnified down here, crockery rattling against braces, jars and cans rattling against each other, light-fittings swinging wildly.
Aeris patted the wall, leaning against it as she made her way around to the window. Outside the sky was dark but clear, the moon bright and the landscape around the house pale and washed out. Perfect conditions. She sat on the sill, her back to the ground not far below. The cold made her fingers awkward, but she was soon able to undo the knots holding the rope-ladder in place. It unravelled to below the window. Next step was awkward but worth it; Aeris swung her legs over the sill and her feet onto the lowest run of the ladder. She ducked out the window and started climbing.
The ladder was there for any maintenance Cloud needed to do on the outside of the house, but Aeris had long since hit on this other use for it. Admittedly intended was better; the house's movements crashed her against the outer wall while she climbed. She considered asking it to wait or pause, but the resulting disturbance in the rhythm risked waking her partners. She would cope.
Better on the roof, the tile rough but dry beneath her bare feet. She stuck to the front part of the house and away from the bedrooms. Cloud or Tifa could not exactly stop her in future, but there would be some tiresome conversations and concerns for her safety and the inherent risk of doing this when the house was moving. And Aeris wasn't interested. She clung to the ladder's anchor point and settled down, cross-legged. Above, a sea of stars hung in the heavens. The brilliance of the full moon hid a number of familiar stars, but there were still a vast number, many essentially invisible within city limits.
Far away, distant mountain peaks thrust up into the sky, the tips dusted with snow. Behind them was Costa del Sol, and somewhere ahead was the Gold Saucer and Gongaga. A cold breeze; Aeris shivered and pulled the dressing gown tighter around her. The house's course had taken it slightly inland, but the sea was nearby; vast and dark, the distant division between it and the sky all but invisible right now. Maybe she should request a return visit soon. So good swimming and splashing around at Costa del Sol; passing up any opportunity for a similar climate and conditions was silly.
Aeris patted the roof. "Still okay?" Nothing from the house. Not a surprise; the creature rarely responded, content simply to eat what they feed it and take the three of them where Aeris asked it to. A strange and wonderful thing the house. Curious to think where they might have come from? There were those who whispered conspiracies of a botched Shinra project to clean up the slums. Others felt they must be adaptive creatures who sought out shells for protection. This latter one did not bear much resemblance to her personal experience. Or if it was true, the creature was so flexible it could fit invisibly within an existing frame.
No, the House had always been the House – or at least gave such an impression. Not unique though; there were others in the Midgar slums, ready to prey on the unwary. Monsters, sure. But how long could the house live? What was its reproductive cycle like? Absurd visions of Hell Houses mounting each other, and a mother cottage followed by an estate of dog kennels, windows and doors yet to form on the wooden exteriors.
Aeris smiled. Perhaps when they were next near Midgar they would see if others did still survive in the slums. For now; the air was cold and she had seen what she wanted. Now to get back to bed and hope neither of her partners had noticed her absence.