1-2. The Turk
While the three of them were moved into the inn--Lucrecia, Hojo, and Dr. Gast--the second grad student was reunited with his parents, who lived on the outskirts of Nibelheim and hadn't seen him since he left for college in Midgar. Apparently their catching-up ran late, for he hadn't returned when Dr. Gast decided to tour the Shinra Mansion for the first time.
"Shelan can take a look around later," Dr. Gast explained to Lucrecia as they left the inn. "He knows the town already. And it's not as if we'll be leaving any time soon."
"If waiting for the boy hadn't held us up for half an hour," Hojo remarked, uninvited, from behind them, "we may have been able to leave that much sooner."
"And if you hadn't commented, we could have left ten seconds sooner, Hojo," replied Dr. Gast dryly. "I imagine I've lost a good three and a half years of my life by now, working with you."
Lucrecia couldn't help but smile, covering it with her hand in case Hojo saw her. Gast glanced back at her, amused, then looked past her to see Hojo's response. Lucrecia regained a straight face and looked back as well, silently cheering Gast's ability to put Hojo in his place. Hojo opened his mouth for a second, then snapped it shut without a word and continued walking. Lucrecia let the stooped man pass by her and scuttle ahead into the Shinra Mansion. They filed into the front door, Gast, Hojo, then Lucrecia, and behind them came the silent steps of another man in dark blue.
The Shinra Mansion was breathtaking at sunset. Orange-red sunlight slanted through the stained-glass windows, throwing patterns of light onto the floor. Lucrecia stood still on the oriental rug, staring for a minute. Although she was a real Shinra employee now, she was still unused to this luxury. The boardrooms and penthouses of the company executives were a far cry from the crowded and bluntly functional facilities the research students worked in. And she'd always lived under the Midgar plate, first in her parents' small house in the Sector Six slums, then in student housing in Sector Four. This house, with its grand staircase and high windows, was like the setting of a delirious dream.
Absorbed in the sight, she didn't realize someone was behind her until a quiet voice came from behind her. Lucrecia startled. "Quite a switch from R&D, isn't it?"
"Y-yes," she stammered, turning to see who had spoken to her. She stopped dead again. It was one of the men in dark blue, the ones from Manufacturing. The Turks. This was not the one she'd run into with Hojo that afternoon--she wondered randomly how many they'd sent to guard them. This one was also tall, but thinner than the one she'd met today. His dark hair fell forward across his eyes as he bent his head slightly. Lucrecia felt her heartbeat speeding up. He was unexpectedly handsome, with calm, intelligent eyes, unlike the cold bruisers she had glimpsed in the Turk squad during her year and a half with Shinra.
And he was staring back at her, as shocked and fascinated as she was.
Lucrecia snapped her attention back to the room in front of them, unsettled by the Turk's gaze, wondering what he saw. She noticed that the other two scientists had already started up the grand staircase, and hurried after them without another word.
"I swear to you, El, he was staring right at me!"
The voice on the telephone laughed merrily. "Guys do that all the time, Luce."
"Yeah, but they don't do it to me!" Lucrecia thought, And they aren't all this one, either. He's...different.
Lucrecia's sister giggled and spoke in a jokingly childish tone. "Awww... Lucie has a boyfriend!"
"I do not!!" Lucrecia protested, feeling her face grow warm. She was glad her sister couldn't see her. "He's just someone I saw today...some...some Turk."
"One of the Shinra hitmen?" her sister asked, with a flicker of interest.
"Yes...I think they're here to be our bodyguards during the Project. But in any case..." She hesitated asking her sister such a question. She'd know how to deal with it, of course; Elmyra had always been the social one, the public one, while Lucrecia had spent most of her life indoors, working or studying. Though she was three years older, Lucrecia was painfully aware that her sister knew more about how to deal with odd personal situations like this. "Ellie...what should I do?"
"About what?"
Lucrecia dropped into a chair by the table, exasperated. "About that man! The Turk!"
"Nothing," the younger Gainsborough shrugged.
"Nothing?!"
"Nope. Just go and do your usual thing. If he likes you, he'll ask you out. Or you could ask him out. Which you won't."
Lucrecia sighed. "Don't be ridiculous," she muttered.
"See? Told you."
"...Fine."
"Cheer up, Luce," her sister said. "At least it's not your man Hojo."
Lucrecia shivered. "Not funny, El. Talk to you later."
"Bye. Say hi to the mystery man for me."
"Ha ha." She hung up, took off her glasses, rubbed her eyes, replaced the glasses, and opened her lab notebook. Enough distractions; tomorrow the work began. She'd have to forget the Turk.
Though she still wondered what his name was...
