Forever
-chapter twelve
When I was younger, never went to far
Held my feelings, and never even wanted to start
so when i met you, i didnt know
what you were gonna do with my heart
When you talk, I cling on every word you say
When you walk, just like a breeze on a summer day
When you smile, the sky turns from grey to blue, thats what you do
And you're the kind of girl I think of
And you're the kind of girl I dream about
My heart is telling me that I need you in my world
cause you're my kind of lady, you're my kind of girl...
~brian mcknight, "My Kind of Girl"
"Damn you, Bison!"
...Chris exclaimed, as he frantically wailed on the buttons of his Gameboy
Advance. Street Fighter Alpha 3 was the name of the game, and Chris was so into it he
didn't notice Beccy walk up behind him. She looked over his shoulder for awhile,
analyzing Chris' technique. After several minutes, she spoke up.
"You know, if sweep Bison when he's in the corner, you set him up for an easy
Shun Goku Satsu to nail him as he gets up, and he has no chance of blocking it. Or as you
non-skilled, non-educated players like to vulgarly call the move, the Raging Demon." she
said happily, as Chris turned around to see Beccy's equally happy face looking back at
him.
Next to himself, Beccy was the most into video games; she and Chris had a
running rivalry when it came to electronics. The Gameboy Advance lost Chris' attention
for a split second, and in this second the computerized M.Bison executed a Level 3
Psycho Crusher, which Chris failed to block. The words 'Game Over' soon flashed on the
miniature screen, much to Chris' chagrin.
"Bah! Good going, I was that close, Beccy."
"Yeah, kinda like you were 'that close' to beating me at Virtua Fighter 4, right
Chris?" Beccy made quotation marks in the air with hooked fingers.
"Hey, I was... I didn't get enough sleep that night so I wasn't at my best. Besides,
you used cheap moves. Sarah is the cheapest lil bit-"
"I think you may have confused 'cheapness' with skill, Redfield."
Chris smiled at Beccy, before switching off his Advance and slipping it back into
his shoulder bag. Chris and the medic had always joked around and teased each other, but
it never came to anything more than friendly jesting, unlike what would happen if the two
Redfields ever confronted each other. Often Chris stared at Beccy and wished, maybe,
that she were his sister instead of Claire; that way he wouldn't have the risk of a heart
attack every time his sister walked into the room.
"So where are Miss Redfield and Miss Valentine?" Chris inquired.
"Still inside," she said, throwing a thumb back towards the clothing store, "unlike
them, only 50% of my possessions are clothes, not 90%."
"Tell me about it. Claire's room back home is almost all clothes... it's hard to
believe there's a bed, dresser and a desk underneath the piles of shirts and pants and skirts
and things I'd rather not know about. I think there's the odd article of clothing or two in
there belonging to Leon."
Beccy giggled. She looked into the single bag of stuff she had picked up from the
store.
"What'd you pick up?"
"Just some shirts and a skirt. Nothing special. Claire, on the other hand, she's
bought some stuff that resemble shoe strings more than they do clothes from the lingerie
section."
"I'd rather not know that. I feel sorry for Leon already."
"Yeah...."
Beccy stared off into the distance, flashing through her mind the images of Claire
trying on a fairly revealing short tube top and black flares. She looked pretty attractive,
Beccy had to admit; some of the unlucky male souls dragged into the store began to steal
glances at her before their respective girlfriends/wives quite literally slapped them back
into the right frame of mind.
Then she looked down at herself, completely un-noticable, in a plain shapeless
shirt and capris. Standing next to the super attractive female Redfield made her want to
sneak into some crack underneath the floor and stay there, away from where her body
would be compared to Claire's or Jill's. She was feeling a lot like that lately, she noticed.
"Hey, you okay?" Chris said. She was staring blindly at the first floor for several
minutes. Chris snapped his fingers in front of her un-seeing eyes a couple of times for
emphasis.
Rebecca suddenly snapped out of her trance. She offered a blank smile to Chris
that didn't really have any thought or feeling behind it.
"Nothing, nothing at all, sorry Chris. Just thinking about something. Nothing
important."
"Beccy, you can't stare at that overweight, four hundred and fifty pound thirty year
old on the first floor for five minutes and say nothing's wrong. If you care to talk about it,
I'm guessing we have a couple of minutes before my ever-lovable sister hops out of the
store and either runs out of money or buys out the store, whichever comes first. And
afterwards she'll probably bug me for money and go back inside."
Beccy smiled warmly at Chris, who smiled back, with that attractive smile that
could see right through her skin into her soul. She thanked God again she knew Chris;
besides saving her life on numerous occasions, he had been a good friend as well. After
Jill, Chris was the one Beccy came to to talk. She had a lot in common with him, their
love of anime and video games was one.
"I'll tell you later maybe, Chris. But I guess this is one of those things that I have
to solve on my own. Thanks for asking though."
Chris smiled warmly. "Well, if you ever need anything, I'm here. Just don't
distract me when I'm that close to beating Bison again. Or else I'll have to give you
another schooling in Gran Turismo 3."
They both laughed to themselves, continued to make small talk, discussing Street
Fighter strategies, and staring at random people on the first floor and making comments
about them. It genuinely cheered Beccy up, but only slightly. It made her a bit happier,
but didn't change the way she felt about herself. She decided to change the subject to
keep her thoughts from making her feel worse.
"So you see Chris, Akuma's weak. If you really wanna win, you gotta use
Sakura...."
* * *
"Come on, Sakura is, at best, a mid range fighter. The fact that her Hadoken
doesn't go all the way across the screen and her supers are only good from a half screen's
distance are exactly why long range defensive fighters like Charlie or Guile can beat her
easily."
"I beg to differ. Though Sakura may be, in your words, a 'mid range fighter', with
some skill and use of a level 1 Cherry Blossom super to get close, her comparative lack
of range is unimportant in the heat of battle. And once she's close, you're already dead,
Redfield."
"Bah! That's why I use a quick character like Guy, who's-"
Chris' heated discussion with Beccy was interrupted by his cell phone going off.
Beccy smiled when she realised his ring tone was the tune to Guile's stage music from
Street Fighter II. Chris looked at his phone's call display for a second, before lifting it to
his ear and answering.
"You know Jill, you don't have to call my cell phone, I'm not more than ten feet
from where-"
Beccy turned along with Chris to find Jill, who was standing in the windows of
the clothing store. Chris' jaw almost hit his toes when he saw that Jill was wearing a sexy
strapless blue dress. It was short, but not tacky; attractive, but still elegant; and revealing
but not without leaving the imagination without something to ponder. She had her own
cell phone to her ear and a smile on her lips.
"-you are." Chris finished.
"Whaddya think?" She inquired through the phone, taking a spin around just to
show herself off, all with the grace expected from a fashion model.
Chris regarded her for a second, gathering his thoughts and putting together what
vaguely resembled a response. After several seconds he opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry Jill, but I don't think blue's my color. And I doubt it'll fit me, and that
slit makes my thighs look fat. Besides, I only dress like that on Wednesday nights..."
Jill stuck out her toungue at him before giggling slightly.
"It's nice... I think I'll buy it now." she said.
"You better.. or else I'll snap it up and you'll be sorry cuz I won't let you borrow
it."
Jill smiled again, and turned to go back to the dressing room to change back to
her street clothes. Chris, after putting away his cell phone, turned to see that Beccy was
already looking back at the first floor, a somewhat sad emotion on her otherwise blank
face. He regarded her face for a second, then looked back to where Jill was standing just
a couple of seconds ago.
He put two and two together.
"Hey Beccy, is that an Electronics Boutique I see down there? Let's go!" he said,
in an attempt to cheer her up. Chris grabbed her by the wrist and bodily dragged her to
the escalator.
* * *
"Hey you!"Jill said, as she happily walked into the EB, standing next to where
Chris was standing regarding several video games. She smiled.
"How'd you know I was here?"
"I had a hunch. Whatcha lookin at? More time wasters?"
"Just some games. Namely, Armored Core: Another Age, Grand Theft Auto 3,
and Biodanger: Remake for Gamecube. And they aren't time wasters, in fact Armored
Core has a very in-depth strategy, mech designing system that requires you use your
brain, and studies have shown that driving games such as Grand Theft Auto 3 make you a
better driver in real life. Furthermore, Biodanger has the ever cute Jann Valentime in it,
in some rather revealing clothing, I must say."
Jill snatched the Grand Theft Auto 3 cartridge from Chris' hand.
"Grand Theft Auto 3," she started, "the game where you steal people's cars, and
then shoot them if they don't give 'em up. Not to mention the fact that the hookers make
women look like objects. That'll really give your driving skills a boost, Chris. And what's
this? Biodanger? This Jann Valentime has nothing on me. And look at that tubetop and
miniskirt. Soooo tacky, not to mention slutty. You have a real girlfriend Chris, no need to
drool over CG. "
"Hey, you mind telling me what you wore when you escaped from Raccoon? And
I have a girlfriend? Since when?"
Jill playfully smacked him in the arm.
"In fact, I was wearing the same thing I wore when we escaped from Spencer
Mansion. That outfit's lucky. I found them in a clothing boutique not far from my house
which was kinda wierd.... but whatever. Why you would wear a skintight tubetop and a
mini-miniskirt while escaping from a mummy infested town is beyond me. That's like
you escaping in a tank top and those Super Mario Brothers boxers you had on last night,
sweetie."
Chris smiled warmly at Jill, and gave her a small kiss on the lips. Then they both
faced the shelf of games, and Jill slipped her arm under Chris'.
"Where's Beccy?" she inquired.
"Over there," Chris said, pointing to where Beccy was absently flipping through a
Final Fantasy X strategy guide. Her eyelids where half closed, her face blank and
emotionless, as if she was half asleep and didn't really know what was on the pages in
front of her.
"I think I know what's bugging her." Chris continued, "Keep your eyes straight
and keep talking like we're making small talk so if she looks over then she won't know
we're talking about her." Chris never once let his eyes leave the shelf in front of him, the
evidence of years in covert operations.
Jill picked up a random game off the shelf and looked at it, as if reading the
description on the back.
"What is it?"
"Well, I saw the way she carried herself after she left the store. She looked like
she wasn't proud of herself or something. Low self esteem."
"Since when did you become such a good interpreter of body language?"
"I dunno, it's a gift."
"Oh yeah? Well I've been dropping you hints since we became partners back
when you first joined S.T.A.R.S., and we've just now gotten together. Not such a great
gift, I say. It took the undead to get you to notice me."
"That's different. Things got in the way."
"Like what?" Jill said, turning to face Chris.
"Like saving the world from the threat of biological breakdown, and undead
monsters with bad breath, no less. Not to mention saving my team's asses every few
seconds."
Jill considered that for a moment.
"I grudgingly accept your point."
"Now are we talking about Beccy or not?"
Jill straightened up, and put her cartridge back on the shelf. After awhile, she
grabbed another random one and looked at it thoughtfully. After several seconds, she
spoke, putting the cartridge in front of Chris as if to ask him his opinion on the game.
"What do you think is causing her low self esteem?"
"Well, I saw the way she looked when she left the store, like I said, and the way
she looked after you called from the store in that dress."
Jill took several seconds to gather her thoughts and make a response.
"You mean, she's jealous of me and you?"
"Not only me and you. But Leon and Claire too. And not just couples; I bet she's
feeling bad about herself too. If that plan of yours to hook up her and Carlos was waiting
for the right time, this is it."
Jill bit her lip, as if pondering something.
"What makes you say she's feeling bad about herself?"
"Well look at you and Claire, Jill. Then look at Beccy. Think about that for a
second."
Jill chewed harder on her lip.
"Okay. We'll put the plan into action tonight."
"How sure are you it'll work?" Chris replied, looking into her eyes. She winked
back.
"A hundred and ten percent."
"Well I hope it does, for Beccy's sake." Chris returned to regarding the three
games he had in front of him. He picked them up in his hand, and looked at them for
awhile, as if wondering if they were worth the price. Soon after, he looked over at Jill
and asked, "I think I'll buy these... So did you buy anything from that store anyways? The
blue dress? Hopefully?" Chris smiled a sly smile; he could almost picture slipping the
straps of it off her shoulders...
Jill smirked.
"Well, I was a little short of green on the dress, it's pretty expensive... so I picked
up a top and some pants instead, no big deal."
All of a sudden the games Chris had in his left hand seemed a whole lot heavier.
"How much were you short by?"
"A good hundred and fifty bucks. I need a raise, I tell ya. It doesn't matter now, I
used up my money to buy this stuff," she said, lifting up her bag, "so now it's more like
I'm short three hundred big ones."
The three games seemed to weigh a ton to Chris now. On one arm, he had Jill; the
other had countless hours of fun and enjoyment in it. His eye shot between the two of
them. In the space of several seconds, Chris performed complex mathematcal equations
in his head. Equations buzzed around in his mind as if they were the cool summer breeze
back at Elena's mansion, and variables for several complex mathematical values
reverberated and flew about in his mind as if they were flies one associates with a hot
July afternoon. Never in his twenty-seven years had Chris performed such complex
equations; not during his schooling, not while solving a puzzle in the Mansion, not while
figuring out how much baloney would fit in his sandwich safely without the possibility of
spillage. He wracked his mind for the answer, re-running the complex equation through
his head numerous times.
Jill, or the games? Jill, or the games? Jill, or the games?
Chris could almost imagine a miniature Solid Snake on his shoulder, whispering
to him that the games were the way to go. On his opposite shoulder, well, his opposite
shoulder had nothing on it. Instead, in his mind, he was wondering how much play he
would get from Jill had he offered to buy the dress for her...
"You already have her, rookie," Solid Snake whispered, "now get those games
and have some fun! That's an order! Go Go Go!"
Immediately he put the games back on the shelf after shaking his head a couple of
times. Jill looked surprised.
"What the? I thought you were gonna buy those."
"Let's get your dress, Jill."
"But what about your games?" Jill asked, genuinely surprised.
"I can always buy them later when we get home. You might not find that dress at
home, though, and I saw how much you wanted it." Chris began to walk out of the store,
but Jill restrained him.
"Come on now, no need to spoil me, go buy your games."
"Jill, would buying that dress make you happy?"
"I guess. But you-"
"If it makes you happy, then we'll buy the dress."
"Wait a sec! I won't.. I'll..." Jill looked around, as if trying to find a solution to
keep Chris from exiting the store and buying her dress. Sure, she wanted it, but there
wasn't any need for Chris to spoil her and blow his hard earned cash on some three
hundred dollar plus dress that she would probably only wear once or twice. She grabbed
one of the games, Grand Theft Auto 3, from the shelf. She held it to Chris' face.
"See this?" She said, then quick as lightning, she took it and licked the back
cover. A disgusted look appeared on her face for a second, as if she couldn't believe she
just did what she did, but then she spoke again. She shoved the game into Chris' chest.
"Hah! Now you have to buy this game, Christopher Darryl Redfield. Victory is
mine! Muhahahaha!"
Chris, staring at Jill as if she had just barfed all over herself, took the cartridge
and slowly walked over to the counter, where he placed it on the counter and took his
wallet out of his back pocket. He stared at Jill as if she were some radioactive monster
and touching her would cost him his life.
"Hi there! Will that be all for you today?" came an enthusiastic reply from the
sales clerk. She was very attractive, and couldn't have been past her teens. Her fiery
orange hair bounced about as she talked, and she wore a tank top and army fatigues that
made her look somewhat familiar to Chris. He couldn't put his finger on where he had
seen her before.
"Hey..." he managed to reply, taking his VISA out and placing it on the counter.
"That'll be fifty five dollars and twenty one cents, sweet cheeks."
"Here you go." Chris said, with a smile and a blush appearing on his cheeks.
"Thanks."
Chris watched as the young woman turned and swiped his card. After doing the
necessary procedures, she passed the bag with the game back to Chris and offered him a
smile that made him want to turn into a puddle.
"Thanks a lot!"
Chris smiled back. The young woman turned to help a customer who had
approached the counter. He couldn't help but notice a small tattoo on the girl's bicep; it
looked like a fox holding a knife in it's teeth....
"Let's go, Chris." Jill said, taking Chris by the arm and forcefully leading him out
the store. His eyes remained locked on the girl's, and she caught eyes with him for a split
second, offering him a smile, before his girlfriend had succeeded in leading him out into
the atmosphere of the main mall.
* * *
"So you mind telling me about this plan of yours? About Beccy and Carlos?"
Chris asked, as they continued to walk through the fairly quiet mall. It was a weekday,
and many of the mallrats associated with this mall were either at work or school. Both of
them took full advantage of the absence of rowdy teenagers and middle aged families,
walking hand in hand and generally doing things that couples do.
"Well, it's not all that complex. But yeah, I was thinking, we tell them we're
going to a formal dinner, you know, a night out on the town, just the six of us."
"Go on."
"So we say, 'Hey Beccy and Carlos! Go meet us at this restaurant! But we need to
go somewhere along the way, you guys continue on to the restaurant and we'll follow.'
But the thing is... we don't show up, therefore leaving the two of them alone for dinner in
a classy restaurant. Then me, you, Leon and Claire can go do something else, pretending
to be 'lost', and after enough time's passed, we finally 'find' the restaurant, and then we
can all go for ice cream or something like that, just to make sure that they don't think us
'coincidentally' losing our way was planned or anything."
"Hmm... I like, I like. We can always blame losing our way on Leon's keen sense
of direction. Nice plan." Chris said.
"Thanks. Now all we need to do is find a classy restaurant, and tell Leon and
Claire about it."
"Yeah. I think you should take Beccy somewhere to cheer her up for now.
Speaking of which, here's Claire right now. And there's Beccy."
Claire promptly appeared from the store next to them just as Chris and Jill were
walking by. She had several bags of clothing under each arm. Beccy had already spotted
the couple and was walking towards them. The same blank, gloomy look on her face that
they noted earlier at the Electronic Boutique was still plastered all over her, as if it were
some thick goo that no one could take off.
"Hey Beccy!" Jill said, energetically.
"Hey....." Beccy said gloomily, as if saying the three letter word would cost her
the last of her strength and saying them would cause her to drop dead. She said 'hey' the
way a zombie would say 'hey.'
"Wanna go and show me where that lingerie store was that you told me about?"
Chris' attention span suddenly peaked. The word lingerie was said. Lingerie?
Where? When? Who?
"Sure... I passed by it earlier. I'll show it to you."
"Great! Let's go!" Jill said, trying her best to cheer the medic up. She took Beccy
by the hand and quite literally dragged her to the nearest escalator to the first floor. Beccy
looked somewhat like a rag doll, Claire noted.
Chris looked after the two for awhile, and considered following; if there was one
store he didn't mind going to with Jill, it was Victoria's Secret... but then again he knew
it'd be better if Beccy went alone with Jill. If anyone could cheer her up, it was his
girlfriend and Beccy's best friend.
"Well, don't just stand there, bro, help me out with these bags."
"Sure Claire! Holding bags filled with feminine articles of clothing and
'Victoria's Secret' all over the side won't hurt my masculinity one bit." Chris answered
sarcastically.
Claire glared at him. "Well at least gimme the keys to the car so I can put them in
there so I don't have to carry them around all day."
Chris, after a moment's contemplation, took the car keys out of his pocket and
tossed them to his younger sister. He thought for several seconds, judging the sanity of
what he had just done and he was about to do. He then pulled out his wallet out of his
back pocket, and after looking through it, handed his sister a sizable amount of cash.
"Thanks Chris.. Lemme guess, all those years of smoking in the Air Force before
you quit have given you lung cancer, you have days to live, and this is my inheritance?
God's answered my prayers!"
"Not so lucky, sis. Listen, I want you to go to that store you and Jill were at earlier
and buy the dress she wanted. I'll meet you at that store." Chris pointed to a comic book
shop not far from where they were standing.
"Awww... so sweet. Can I keep the change?"
Chris took both his hands and put them into fists, then hit the bottom of them
together in front of Claire's face. For those of you reading this, remember that episode of
Friends when Ross did that thing where he gave the finger with actually giving the
finger....
Claire made a face at her older brother and went off on her way.
* * *
"Checkmate."
"What da? Where?"
"Right here." Leon pointed out. He pointed to where his Knight had Carlos' King
in check, and his two Rooks kept him from going any further. "I win."
"Bah. I was never any good at chess anyways."
"It shows."
"Dammit, how long did dey say dey were gonna be at da mall?"
"Well, they should be here any-"
Leon couldn't finish his sentence, as what looked like mutated white and blue
beachball hit him in the side of his head, knocking him off his seat. Carlos promptly
ducked under the table, not wanting to be hit by any more of the mysterious white and
blue projectiles. It was partly his training, the training that dictated he should duck and
cover at the first indication of enemy fire. It was three quarters instinct, however.
Leon was now examining what it was that hit him.
"Ha ha! Bullseye." Chris said, as he appeared in the doorway of the study that
Leon and Carlos had had their game of chess in. He pumped his fist in victory, as if he
were some sniper who had made a miracle shot, when in fact his target was no more than
a couple of meters away and the projectile he was using was the size of a large inflatable
ball.
"What the fuck is this shit?" Leon said, holding the beachball up in one hand. It
was covered with what looked like bubbles, but it looked distinctly like a blue and white
beachball, if one were to ignore the bubbles. He rubbed the spot where the ball had
impacted against him with his other hand.
"That shit, my friend, is known as a blitzball. From Final Fantasy X. I got it at a
comic book shop from the mall we went to. You can't find that thing just anywhere. It's a
collector's item."
"Final Fantasy X?" Leon responded, "bah. I stopped playing video games after
FFVII. No game'll touch me like FFVII. I mean, when Aeris died..."
"Now now, no need to cry, Leon." Carlos chirped.
Leon threw the ball at Carlos, which hit him square in the face. Carlos responded
by picking up the blitzball and winding up to throw the ball back at Leon, but Chris
reacted faster, moving in between the two and quite literally holding Carlos back.
"Now now, that's not just any ball! That's a collector's item! Shit, sometimes I
feel like you guys are lil kids." He grabbed his treasured blitzball from Carlos and
cradled it in both hands as if it were a newborn baby. Carlos gave both Chris and Leon a
glare and stomped out of the room.
"What's with him?" Leon said, scratching his head.
* * *
"So I was thinking, we go for dinner tonight, just us six, you know, like a formal
thing. For fun." Jill said, just as Chris and Leon entered the living room. Chris had his
treasured blitzball in both his arms, holding it as if it were some delicate explosive that
would go off if he dropped it. He would have been less careful if he was holding live C4.
"Sounds like a plan! What do you think, Beccy?" Claire said, as though she had
heard Jill's idea for the first time. She hadn't, of course; Jill had spilled the beans to the
younger Redfield while Beccy was distracted by Chris at the food court.
"Umm? Oh... uh, sure, I guess."
"It's a date!" Claire said jubilantly.
"Hey, don't I get any say in this?" Leon said. Chris looked at Jill, who made a
'wa-ching!' sound and a whip motion with her wrist. Chris laughed to himself, though he
tried to suppress it by pretending to cough. He tossed his blitzball to Jill, and the two
began to toss it back and forth between them.
"No, no you don't, Leon." Claire stated, matter-of-factly.
Chris and Jill laughed out loud now. After wiping away several tears from his eye,
Chris decided to change the subject.
"What about Carlos? Anyone asked him yet? Where is he anyways?"
"Oh, he stepped outside," Jill said, "he's on the porch. I think he wanted to get
some fresh air or somethin'. Seemed in a not-so-nice mood... I hope you two didn't do
anything stupid to piss him off."
"Maybe you should go ask him if he wants to go for this dinner thing, Beccy."
Chris suggested, trying to give the young medic a boost in the right direction, ignoring
Jill's previous comment.
Leon nodded, and then said, "Yeah! I mean, it would save everyone else the
trouble trying to hook you two-"
The blitzball, which was on transit from Chris to Jill, was intercepted by Claire,
who promptly threw it at Leon, aimed for a place that God only meant to be treated
nicely. Leon doubled over, almost screaming in pain, clutching himself. He fell to the
floor.
"You.... you'll regret that." Leon weakly said, holding himself between his legs,
writhing on the floor, experiencing pain like no Umbrella creature could give him. As he
did, Beccy calmly walked outside, pushing open the screen door to the small patio
outside.
Chris continued to pass the ball to Jill.
* * *
Claire bit her nails as she continued to read her novel in the study of the mansion.
She knew for sure that Carlos and Beccy were in conversation just outside on the patio,
and it bothered her because she didn't know what they were saying. She lived on, nay,
thrived on gossip, that much everyone knew; she herself admitted it on several occasions.
So thus she was somewhat reluctant when Jill suggested the four move upstairs, to give
the two outside some sort of respect for their privacy.
She threw down her fantasy novel on the desk and slouched in her chair, her
demeanor like that of a pouting toddler than the young woman she really was. She had a
knack for acting stupider or wiser than her age; it depended on her mood. She could have
the wisdom and knowledge of a seventy year old or the childish nagging attitudes of a
seven year old. Nevertheless, she never truly acted her actual age, and when she did it
was an occasion to celebrate.
"Have some respect for their privacy." Jill stated, as if reading her thoughts. She,
Chris and Leon sat down in a triangle on the study floor, tossing Chris' much adored
blitzball between them. Claire spoke again after several seconds.
"Hey, come on Jill. I know you wanna know as much as I do that you want to go
see what they're talking about. I mean, I heard everything you two were saying when you
two got togeth-"
Claire put her hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake. Chris and Jill both
gave her looks. Jill currently had the blitzball and thought about causing some type of
bodily harm to the younger Redfield with it, but decided not to. There were a lot of
delicate sculptures all over the study and she didn't want to risk hitting them. She tossed
it to Leon, but the nasty glare towards Claire continued to linger in her eyes.
"Well anyways," Claire said, wanting to change the subject, "I still wanna know."
"I think we should give it some time. I mean, you can't force love." Leon stated.
"I agree. Whoa, when did you become such a love expert?" Chris said, staring
quizically at Leon.
Leon scratched the back of his neck, like he always did when he was nervous or
didn't know the answer to something.
"Uh, I dunno...." he managed to say.
Chris looked at him funny before catching the ball he threw and then tossing it in
turn to Jill. Several minutes passed, the only sound being heard the sound of the blitzball
being tossed around and Claire's restless nails rapping on the desk. After a while Claire
rose.
"That's it! I have to know what they're doing out there! I'm forming an offensive
sortie! Who's with me!?"
Three puzzled and astonished faces looked back at her.
"No one's goin anywhere, lil sis."
"Yeah. You'll get caught anyways-" Jill began.
"That's it! I have a great idea!" Claire started, with an enthusiasm that both
amazed and frightened the three. Claire's idea of a good idea was completely and
radically different from what sane people thought was a good idea. She thought ketchup
on eggs was a good idea. (ewwwww -author)
"I almost hesitate to ask, but what might that be?" Jill said.
"Well remember how we brought those communicators we normally use in
combat situations just in case we got seperated during this trip when we went on a hike
or somethin? The new mark III models we haven't tested yet? The ones that go in your
ear and can barely be seen or heard by anyone besides yourself?"
"Yeah, go on..." Chris said, mildly intruigied.
"Well I was thinking, we use them, two of us go down there and listen in on what
they're saying, then they relay it back to the two of us up here in the study, using the
communicator. They can't see or hear the communicator at all, since it's specifically
tuned so only whomever's using it can hear it."
"Bah. That's still intruding on privacy, Claire." Leon stated, "besides, how do you
plan on getting close enough to Carlos and Beccy without them noticing you? You'd
need a holographic stealth camoflauge suit, something that clearly only exists in video
games. 'Tactical Espionage Action' ones, to be exact."
The four's hopes for an actual working plan from the younger Redfield were
grounded. Claire laid her head down on her novel, dissapointed. The three on the floor
continued their little game of catch. Minutes passed, and the boredom level began to
grow in the room. Leon began to count the number of times he could catch the blitzball
with just one hand without dropping it. He was that bored.
Suddenly a great idea sprung in the other Redfield's mind. A lightbulb went on
above his head. Chris hopped to his feet, and with a great smile of enthusiasm on his
face, dashed out of the room. He returned several minutes later with a large rectangular
cardboard box, like the ones used for storing refridgerators. It was probably big enough to
cover two people, seeing as Elena's fridge was quite large. Chris had a grin on his face
that threatened to split his head in half from ear to ear. Claire considered reaching for the
first-aid kit just in case.
"What the hell do you plan on doing with that?" Jill asked.
Chris let the box drop. He dashed out of the room again, and returned with a
small black box several seconds later, which held the small headset communicators. He
took one of them from the protective foam which held it, placed one in the space behind
his ear, and turned it on. He tossed another of the miniature headsets, which couldn't
have been bigger than a quarter, to Leon.
The three stared at him quizzically, with the 'what the hell is this guy doing' look
plastered thickly all over them. After awhile, Chris smiled back at them, looking at the
cardboard box thoughtfully.
"Ever played Metal Gear Solid?"
Author's Note:
Well, there's the next chapter. I was originially gonna post it up earlier, but I felt it
wasn't really up to my standards and so I kept it for awhile and did some general editing.
Hope everyone liked the MGS references in the story... I'm guessing you all know who
the bouncy redhead was working at EB...
Author's Quote:
Some call me a loser,
Some call me a cheater,
Some call me their salvation.
-trik turner
-chapter twelve
When I was younger, never went to far
Held my feelings, and never even wanted to start
so when i met you, i didnt know
what you were gonna do with my heart
When you talk, I cling on every word you say
When you walk, just like a breeze on a summer day
When you smile, the sky turns from grey to blue, thats what you do
And you're the kind of girl I think of
And you're the kind of girl I dream about
My heart is telling me that I need you in my world
cause you're my kind of lady, you're my kind of girl...
~brian mcknight, "My Kind of Girl"
"Damn you, Bison!"
...Chris exclaimed, as he frantically wailed on the buttons of his Gameboy
Advance. Street Fighter Alpha 3 was the name of the game, and Chris was so into it he
didn't notice Beccy walk up behind him. She looked over his shoulder for awhile,
analyzing Chris' technique. After several minutes, she spoke up.
"You know, if sweep Bison when he's in the corner, you set him up for an easy
Shun Goku Satsu to nail him as he gets up, and he has no chance of blocking it. Or as you
non-skilled, non-educated players like to vulgarly call the move, the Raging Demon." she
said happily, as Chris turned around to see Beccy's equally happy face looking back at
him.
Next to himself, Beccy was the most into video games; she and Chris had a
running rivalry when it came to electronics. The Gameboy Advance lost Chris' attention
for a split second, and in this second the computerized M.Bison executed a Level 3
Psycho Crusher, which Chris failed to block. The words 'Game Over' soon flashed on the
miniature screen, much to Chris' chagrin.
"Bah! Good going, I was that close, Beccy."
"Yeah, kinda like you were 'that close' to beating me at Virtua Fighter 4, right
Chris?" Beccy made quotation marks in the air with hooked fingers.
"Hey, I was... I didn't get enough sleep that night so I wasn't at my best. Besides,
you used cheap moves. Sarah is the cheapest lil bit-"
"I think you may have confused 'cheapness' with skill, Redfield."
Chris smiled at Beccy, before switching off his Advance and slipping it back into
his shoulder bag. Chris and the medic had always joked around and teased each other, but
it never came to anything more than friendly jesting, unlike what would happen if the two
Redfields ever confronted each other. Often Chris stared at Beccy and wished, maybe,
that she were his sister instead of Claire; that way he wouldn't have the risk of a heart
attack every time his sister walked into the room.
"So where are Miss Redfield and Miss Valentine?" Chris inquired.
"Still inside," she said, throwing a thumb back towards the clothing store, "unlike
them, only 50% of my possessions are clothes, not 90%."
"Tell me about it. Claire's room back home is almost all clothes... it's hard to
believe there's a bed, dresser and a desk underneath the piles of shirts and pants and skirts
and things I'd rather not know about. I think there's the odd article of clothing or two in
there belonging to Leon."
Beccy giggled. She looked into the single bag of stuff she had picked up from the
store.
"What'd you pick up?"
"Just some shirts and a skirt. Nothing special. Claire, on the other hand, she's
bought some stuff that resemble shoe strings more than they do clothes from the lingerie
section."
"I'd rather not know that. I feel sorry for Leon already."
"Yeah...."
Beccy stared off into the distance, flashing through her mind the images of Claire
trying on a fairly revealing short tube top and black flares. She looked pretty attractive,
Beccy had to admit; some of the unlucky male souls dragged into the store began to steal
glances at her before their respective girlfriends/wives quite literally slapped them back
into the right frame of mind.
Then she looked down at herself, completely un-noticable, in a plain shapeless
shirt and capris. Standing next to the super attractive female Redfield made her want to
sneak into some crack underneath the floor and stay there, away from where her body
would be compared to Claire's or Jill's. She was feeling a lot like that lately, she noticed.
"Hey, you okay?" Chris said. She was staring blindly at the first floor for several
minutes. Chris snapped his fingers in front of her un-seeing eyes a couple of times for
emphasis.
Rebecca suddenly snapped out of her trance. She offered a blank smile to Chris
that didn't really have any thought or feeling behind it.
"Nothing, nothing at all, sorry Chris. Just thinking about something. Nothing
important."
"Beccy, you can't stare at that overweight, four hundred and fifty pound thirty year
old on the first floor for five minutes and say nothing's wrong. If you care to talk about it,
I'm guessing we have a couple of minutes before my ever-lovable sister hops out of the
store and either runs out of money or buys out the store, whichever comes first. And
afterwards she'll probably bug me for money and go back inside."
Beccy smiled warmly at Chris, who smiled back, with that attractive smile that
could see right through her skin into her soul. She thanked God again she knew Chris;
besides saving her life on numerous occasions, he had been a good friend as well. After
Jill, Chris was the one Beccy came to to talk. She had a lot in common with him, their
love of anime and video games was one.
"I'll tell you later maybe, Chris. But I guess this is one of those things that I have
to solve on my own. Thanks for asking though."
Chris smiled warmly. "Well, if you ever need anything, I'm here. Just don't
distract me when I'm that close to beating Bison again. Or else I'll have to give you
another schooling in Gran Turismo 3."
They both laughed to themselves, continued to make small talk, discussing Street
Fighter strategies, and staring at random people on the first floor and making comments
about them. It genuinely cheered Beccy up, but only slightly. It made her a bit happier,
but didn't change the way she felt about herself. She decided to change the subject to
keep her thoughts from making her feel worse.
"So you see Chris, Akuma's weak. If you really wanna win, you gotta use
Sakura...."
* * *
"Come on, Sakura is, at best, a mid range fighter. The fact that her Hadoken
doesn't go all the way across the screen and her supers are only good from a half screen's
distance are exactly why long range defensive fighters like Charlie or Guile can beat her
easily."
"I beg to differ. Though Sakura may be, in your words, a 'mid range fighter', with
some skill and use of a level 1 Cherry Blossom super to get close, her comparative lack
of range is unimportant in the heat of battle. And once she's close, you're already dead,
Redfield."
"Bah! That's why I use a quick character like Guy, who's-"
Chris' heated discussion with Beccy was interrupted by his cell phone going off.
Beccy smiled when she realised his ring tone was the tune to Guile's stage music from
Street Fighter II. Chris looked at his phone's call display for a second, before lifting it to
his ear and answering.
"You know Jill, you don't have to call my cell phone, I'm not more than ten feet
from where-"
Beccy turned along with Chris to find Jill, who was standing in the windows of
the clothing store. Chris' jaw almost hit his toes when he saw that Jill was wearing a sexy
strapless blue dress. It was short, but not tacky; attractive, but still elegant; and revealing
but not without leaving the imagination without something to ponder. She had her own
cell phone to her ear and a smile on her lips.
"-you are." Chris finished.
"Whaddya think?" She inquired through the phone, taking a spin around just to
show herself off, all with the grace expected from a fashion model.
Chris regarded her for a second, gathering his thoughts and putting together what
vaguely resembled a response. After several seconds he opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry Jill, but I don't think blue's my color. And I doubt it'll fit me, and that
slit makes my thighs look fat. Besides, I only dress like that on Wednesday nights..."
Jill stuck out her toungue at him before giggling slightly.
"It's nice... I think I'll buy it now." she said.
"You better.. or else I'll snap it up and you'll be sorry cuz I won't let you borrow
it."
Jill smiled again, and turned to go back to the dressing room to change back to
her street clothes. Chris, after putting away his cell phone, turned to see that Beccy was
already looking back at the first floor, a somewhat sad emotion on her otherwise blank
face. He regarded her face for a second, then looked back to where Jill was standing just
a couple of seconds ago.
He put two and two together.
"Hey Beccy, is that an Electronics Boutique I see down there? Let's go!" he said,
in an attempt to cheer her up. Chris grabbed her by the wrist and bodily dragged her to
the escalator.
* * *
"Hey you!"Jill said, as she happily walked into the EB, standing next to where
Chris was standing regarding several video games. She smiled.
"How'd you know I was here?"
"I had a hunch. Whatcha lookin at? More time wasters?"
"Just some games. Namely, Armored Core: Another Age, Grand Theft Auto 3,
and Biodanger: Remake for Gamecube. And they aren't time wasters, in fact Armored
Core has a very in-depth strategy, mech designing system that requires you use your
brain, and studies have shown that driving games such as Grand Theft Auto 3 make you a
better driver in real life. Furthermore, Biodanger has the ever cute Jann Valentime in it,
in some rather revealing clothing, I must say."
Jill snatched the Grand Theft Auto 3 cartridge from Chris' hand.
"Grand Theft Auto 3," she started, "the game where you steal people's cars, and
then shoot them if they don't give 'em up. Not to mention the fact that the hookers make
women look like objects. That'll really give your driving skills a boost, Chris. And what's
this? Biodanger? This Jann Valentime has nothing on me. And look at that tubetop and
miniskirt. Soooo tacky, not to mention slutty. You have a real girlfriend Chris, no need to
drool over CG. "
"Hey, you mind telling me what you wore when you escaped from Raccoon? And
I have a girlfriend? Since when?"
Jill playfully smacked him in the arm.
"In fact, I was wearing the same thing I wore when we escaped from Spencer
Mansion. That outfit's lucky. I found them in a clothing boutique not far from my house
which was kinda wierd.... but whatever. Why you would wear a skintight tubetop and a
mini-miniskirt while escaping from a mummy infested town is beyond me. That's like
you escaping in a tank top and those Super Mario Brothers boxers you had on last night,
sweetie."
Chris smiled warmly at Jill, and gave her a small kiss on the lips. Then they both
faced the shelf of games, and Jill slipped her arm under Chris'.
"Where's Beccy?" she inquired.
"Over there," Chris said, pointing to where Beccy was absently flipping through a
Final Fantasy X strategy guide. Her eyelids where half closed, her face blank and
emotionless, as if she was half asleep and didn't really know what was on the pages in
front of her.
"I think I know what's bugging her." Chris continued, "Keep your eyes straight
and keep talking like we're making small talk so if she looks over then she won't know
we're talking about her." Chris never once let his eyes leave the shelf in front of him, the
evidence of years in covert operations.
Jill picked up a random game off the shelf and looked at it, as if reading the
description on the back.
"What is it?"
"Well, I saw the way she carried herself after she left the store. She looked like
she wasn't proud of herself or something. Low self esteem."
"Since when did you become such a good interpreter of body language?"
"I dunno, it's a gift."
"Oh yeah? Well I've been dropping you hints since we became partners back
when you first joined S.T.A.R.S., and we've just now gotten together. Not such a great
gift, I say. It took the undead to get you to notice me."
"That's different. Things got in the way."
"Like what?" Jill said, turning to face Chris.
"Like saving the world from the threat of biological breakdown, and undead
monsters with bad breath, no less. Not to mention saving my team's asses every few
seconds."
Jill considered that for a moment.
"I grudgingly accept your point."
"Now are we talking about Beccy or not?"
Jill straightened up, and put her cartridge back on the shelf. After awhile, she
grabbed another random one and looked at it thoughtfully. After several seconds, she
spoke, putting the cartridge in front of Chris as if to ask him his opinion on the game.
"What do you think is causing her low self esteem?"
"Well, I saw the way she looked when she left the store, like I said, and the way
she looked after you called from the store in that dress."
Jill took several seconds to gather her thoughts and make a response.
"You mean, she's jealous of me and you?"
"Not only me and you. But Leon and Claire too. And not just couples; I bet she's
feeling bad about herself too. If that plan of yours to hook up her and Carlos was waiting
for the right time, this is it."
Jill bit her lip, as if pondering something.
"What makes you say she's feeling bad about herself?"
"Well look at you and Claire, Jill. Then look at Beccy. Think about that for a
second."
Jill chewed harder on her lip.
"Okay. We'll put the plan into action tonight."
"How sure are you it'll work?" Chris replied, looking into her eyes. She winked
back.
"A hundred and ten percent."
"Well I hope it does, for Beccy's sake." Chris returned to regarding the three
games he had in front of him. He picked them up in his hand, and looked at them for
awhile, as if wondering if they were worth the price. Soon after, he looked over at Jill
and asked, "I think I'll buy these... So did you buy anything from that store anyways? The
blue dress? Hopefully?" Chris smiled a sly smile; he could almost picture slipping the
straps of it off her shoulders...
Jill smirked.
"Well, I was a little short of green on the dress, it's pretty expensive... so I picked
up a top and some pants instead, no big deal."
All of a sudden the games Chris had in his left hand seemed a whole lot heavier.
"How much were you short by?"
"A good hundred and fifty bucks. I need a raise, I tell ya. It doesn't matter now, I
used up my money to buy this stuff," she said, lifting up her bag, "so now it's more like
I'm short three hundred big ones."
The three games seemed to weigh a ton to Chris now. On one arm, he had Jill; the
other had countless hours of fun and enjoyment in it. His eye shot between the two of
them. In the space of several seconds, Chris performed complex mathematcal equations
in his head. Equations buzzed around in his mind as if they were the cool summer breeze
back at Elena's mansion, and variables for several complex mathematical values
reverberated and flew about in his mind as if they were flies one associates with a hot
July afternoon. Never in his twenty-seven years had Chris performed such complex
equations; not during his schooling, not while solving a puzzle in the Mansion, not while
figuring out how much baloney would fit in his sandwich safely without the possibility of
spillage. He wracked his mind for the answer, re-running the complex equation through
his head numerous times.
Jill, or the games? Jill, or the games? Jill, or the games?
Chris could almost imagine a miniature Solid Snake on his shoulder, whispering
to him that the games were the way to go. On his opposite shoulder, well, his opposite
shoulder had nothing on it. Instead, in his mind, he was wondering how much play he
would get from Jill had he offered to buy the dress for her...
"You already have her, rookie," Solid Snake whispered, "now get those games
and have some fun! That's an order! Go Go Go!"
Immediately he put the games back on the shelf after shaking his head a couple of
times. Jill looked surprised.
"What the? I thought you were gonna buy those."
"Let's get your dress, Jill."
"But what about your games?" Jill asked, genuinely surprised.
"I can always buy them later when we get home. You might not find that dress at
home, though, and I saw how much you wanted it." Chris began to walk out of the store,
but Jill restrained him.
"Come on now, no need to spoil me, go buy your games."
"Jill, would buying that dress make you happy?"
"I guess. But you-"
"If it makes you happy, then we'll buy the dress."
"Wait a sec! I won't.. I'll..." Jill looked around, as if trying to find a solution to
keep Chris from exiting the store and buying her dress. Sure, she wanted it, but there
wasn't any need for Chris to spoil her and blow his hard earned cash on some three
hundred dollar plus dress that she would probably only wear once or twice. She grabbed
one of the games, Grand Theft Auto 3, from the shelf. She held it to Chris' face.
"See this?" She said, then quick as lightning, she took it and licked the back
cover. A disgusted look appeared on her face for a second, as if she couldn't believe she
just did what she did, but then she spoke again. She shoved the game into Chris' chest.
"Hah! Now you have to buy this game, Christopher Darryl Redfield. Victory is
mine! Muhahahaha!"
Chris, staring at Jill as if she had just barfed all over herself, took the cartridge
and slowly walked over to the counter, where he placed it on the counter and took his
wallet out of his back pocket. He stared at Jill as if she were some radioactive monster
and touching her would cost him his life.
"Hi there! Will that be all for you today?" came an enthusiastic reply from the
sales clerk. She was very attractive, and couldn't have been past her teens. Her fiery
orange hair bounced about as she talked, and she wore a tank top and army fatigues that
made her look somewhat familiar to Chris. He couldn't put his finger on where he had
seen her before.
"Hey..." he managed to reply, taking his VISA out and placing it on the counter.
"That'll be fifty five dollars and twenty one cents, sweet cheeks."
"Here you go." Chris said, with a smile and a blush appearing on his cheeks.
"Thanks."
Chris watched as the young woman turned and swiped his card. After doing the
necessary procedures, she passed the bag with the game back to Chris and offered him a
smile that made him want to turn into a puddle.
"Thanks a lot!"
Chris smiled back. The young woman turned to help a customer who had
approached the counter. He couldn't help but notice a small tattoo on the girl's bicep; it
looked like a fox holding a knife in it's teeth....
"Let's go, Chris." Jill said, taking Chris by the arm and forcefully leading him out
the store. His eyes remained locked on the girl's, and she caught eyes with him for a split
second, offering him a smile, before his girlfriend had succeeded in leading him out into
the atmosphere of the main mall.
* * *
"So you mind telling me about this plan of yours? About Beccy and Carlos?"
Chris asked, as they continued to walk through the fairly quiet mall. It was a weekday,
and many of the mallrats associated with this mall were either at work or school. Both of
them took full advantage of the absence of rowdy teenagers and middle aged families,
walking hand in hand and generally doing things that couples do.
"Well, it's not all that complex. But yeah, I was thinking, we tell them we're
going to a formal dinner, you know, a night out on the town, just the six of us."
"Go on."
"So we say, 'Hey Beccy and Carlos! Go meet us at this restaurant! But we need to
go somewhere along the way, you guys continue on to the restaurant and we'll follow.'
But the thing is... we don't show up, therefore leaving the two of them alone for dinner in
a classy restaurant. Then me, you, Leon and Claire can go do something else, pretending
to be 'lost', and after enough time's passed, we finally 'find' the restaurant, and then we
can all go for ice cream or something like that, just to make sure that they don't think us
'coincidentally' losing our way was planned or anything."
"Hmm... I like, I like. We can always blame losing our way on Leon's keen sense
of direction. Nice plan." Chris said.
"Thanks. Now all we need to do is find a classy restaurant, and tell Leon and
Claire about it."
"Yeah. I think you should take Beccy somewhere to cheer her up for now.
Speaking of which, here's Claire right now. And there's Beccy."
Claire promptly appeared from the store next to them just as Chris and Jill were
walking by. She had several bags of clothing under each arm. Beccy had already spotted
the couple and was walking towards them. The same blank, gloomy look on her face that
they noted earlier at the Electronic Boutique was still plastered all over her, as if it were
some thick goo that no one could take off.
"Hey Beccy!" Jill said, energetically.
"Hey....." Beccy said gloomily, as if saying the three letter word would cost her
the last of her strength and saying them would cause her to drop dead. She said 'hey' the
way a zombie would say 'hey.'
"Wanna go and show me where that lingerie store was that you told me about?"
Chris' attention span suddenly peaked. The word lingerie was said. Lingerie?
Where? When? Who?
"Sure... I passed by it earlier. I'll show it to you."
"Great! Let's go!" Jill said, trying her best to cheer the medic up. She took Beccy
by the hand and quite literally dragged her to the nearest escalator to the first floor. Beccy
looked somewhat like a rag doll, Claire noted.
Chris looked after the two for awhile, and considered following; if there was one
store he didn't mind going to with Jill, it was Victoria's Secret... but then again he knew
it'd be better if Beccy went alone with Jill. If anyone could cheer her up, it was his
girlfriend and Beccy's best friend.
"Well, don't just stand there, bro, help me out with these bags."
"Sure Claire! Holding bags filled with feminine articles of clothing and
'Victoria's Secret' all over the side won't hurt my masculinity one bit." Chris answered
sarcastically.
Claire glared at him. "Well at least gimme the keys to the car so I can put them in
there so I don't have to carry them around all day."
Chris, after a moment's contemplation, took the car keys out of his pocket and
tossed them to his younger sister. He thought for several seconds, judging the sanity of
what he had just done and he was about to do. He then pulled out his wallet out of his
back pocket, and after looking through it, handed his sister a sizable amount of cash.
"Thanks Chris.. Lemme guess, all those years of smoking in the Air Force before
you quit have given you lung cancer, you have days to live, and this is my inheritance?
God's answered my prayers!"
"Not so lucky, sis. Listen, I want you to go to that store you and Jill were at earlier
and buy the dress she wanted. I'll meet you at that store." Chris pointed to a comic book
shop not far from where they were standing.
"Awww... so sweet. Can I keep the change?"
Chris took both his hands and put them into fists, then hit the bottom of them
together in front of Claire's face. For those of you reading this, remember that episode of
Friends when Ross did that thing where he gave the finger with actually giving the
finger....
Claire made a face at her older brother and went off on her way.
* * *
"Checkmate."
"What da? Where?"
"Right here." Leon pointed out. He pointed to where his Knight had Carlos' King
in check, and his two Rooks kept him from going any further. "I win."
"Bah. I was never any good at chess anyways."
"It shows."
"Dammit, how long did dey say dey were gonna be at da mall?"
"Well, they should be here any-"
Leon couldn't finish his sentence, as what looked like mutated white and blue
beachball hit him in the side of his head, knocking him off his seat. Carlos promptly
ducked under the table, not wanting to be hit by any more of the mysterious white and
blue projectiles. It was partly his training, the training that dictated he should duck and
cover at the first indication of enemy fire. It was three quarters instinct, however.
Leon was now examining what it was that hit him.
"Ha ha! Bullseye." Chris said, as he appeared in the doorway of the study that
Leon and Carlos had had their game of chess in. He pumped his fist in victory, as if he
were some sniper who had made a miracle shot, when in fact his target was no more than
a couple of meters away and the projectile he was using was the size of a large inflatable
ball.
"What the fuck is this shit?" Leon said, holding the beachball up in one hand. It
was covered with what looked like bubbles, but it looked distinctly like a blue and white
beachball, if one were to ignore the bubbles. He rubbed the spot where the ball had
impacted against him with his other hand.
"That shit, my friend, is known as a blitzball. From Final Fantasy X. I got it at a
comic book shop from the mall we went to. You can't find that thing just anywhere. It's a
collector's item."
"Final Fantasy X?" Leon responded, "bah. I stopped playing video games after
FFVII. No game'll touch me like FFVII. I mean, when Aeris died..."
"Now now, no need to cry, Leon." Carlos chirped.
Leon threw the ball at Carlos, which hit him square in the face. Carlos responded
by picking up the blitzball and winding up to throw the ball back at Leon, but Chris
reacted faster, moving in between the two and quite literally holding Carlos back.
"Now now, that's not just any ball! That's a collector's item! Shit, sometimes I
feel like you guys are lil kids." He grabbed his treasured blitzball from Carlos and
cradled it in both hands as if it were a newborn baby. Carlos gave both Chris and Leon a
glare and stomped out of the room.
"What's with him?" Leon said, scratching his head.
* * *
"So I was thinking, we go for dinner tonight, just us six, you know, like a formal
thing. For fun." Jill said, just as Chris and Leon entered the living room. Chris had his
treasured blitzball in both his arms, holding it as if it were some delicate explosive that
would go off if he dropped it. He would have been less careful if he was holding live C4.
"Sounds like a plan! What do you think, Beccy?" Claire said, as though she had
heard Jill's idea for the first time. She hadn't, of course; Jill had spilled the beans to the
younger Redfield while Beccy was distracted by Chris at the food court.
"Umm? Oh... uh, sure, I guess."
"It's a date!" Claire said jubilantly.
"Hey, don't I get any say in this?" Leon said. Chris looked at Jill, who made a
'wa-ching!' sound and a whip motion with her wrist. Chris laughed to himself, though he
tried to suppress it by pretending to cough. He tossed his blitzball to Jill, and the two
began to toss it back and forth between them.
"No, no you don't, Leon." Claire stated, matter-of-factly.
Chris and Jill laughed out loud now. After wiping away several tears from his eye,
Chris decided to change the subject.
"What about Carlos? Anyone asked him yet? Where is he anyways?"
"Oh, he stepped outside," Jill said, "he's on the porch. I think he wanted to get
some fresh air or somethin'. Seemed in a not-so-nice mood... I hope you two didn't do
anything stupid to piss him off."
"Maybe you should go ask him if he wants to go for this dinner thing, Beccy."
Chris suggested, trying to give the young medic a boost in the right direction, ignoring
Jill's previous comment.
Leon nodded, and then said, "Yeah! I mean, it would save everyone else the
trouble trying to hook you two-"
The blitzball, which was on transit from Chris to Jill, was intercepted by Claire,
who promptly threw it at Leon, aimed for a place that God only meant to be treated
nicely. Leon doubled over, almost screaming in pain, clutching himself. He fell to the
floor.
"You.... you'll regret that." Leon weakly said, holding himself between his legs,
writhing on the floor, experiencing pain like no Umbrella creature could give him. As he
did, Beccy calmly walked outside, pushing open the screen door to the small patio
outside.
Chris continued to pass the ball to Jill.
* * *
Claire bit her nails as she continued to read her novel in the study of the mansion.
She knew for sure that Carlos and Beccy were in conversation just outside on the patio,
and it bothered her because she didn't know what they were saying. She lived on, nay,
thrived on gossip, that much everyone knew; she herself admitted it on several occasions.
So thus she was somewhat reluctant when Jill suggested the four move upstairs, to give
the two outside some sort of respect for their privacy.
She threw down her fantasy novel on the desk and slouched in her chair, her
demeanor like that of a pouting toddler than the young woman she really was. She had a
knack for acting stupider or wiser than her age; it depended on her mood. She could have
the wisdom and knowledge of a seventy year old or the childish nagging attitudes of a
seven year old. Nevertheless, she never truly acted her actual age, and when she did it
was an occasion to celebrate.
"Have some respect for their privacy." Jill stated, as if reading her thoughts. She,
Chris and Leon sat down in a triangle on the study floor, tossing Chris' much adored
blitzball between them. Claire spoke again after several seconds.
"Hey, come on Jill. I know you wanna know as much as I do that you want to go
see what they're talking about. I mean, I heard everything you two were saying when you
two got togeth-"
Claire put her hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake. Chris and Jill both
gave her looks. Jill currently had the blitzball and thought about causing some type of
bodily harm to the younger Redfield with it, but decided not to. There were a lot of
delicate sculptures all over the study and she didn't want to risk hitting them. She tossed
it to Leon, but the nasty glare towards Claire continued to linger in her eyes.
"Well anyways," Claire said, wanting to change the subject, "I still wanna know."
"I think we should give it some time. I mean, you can't force love." Leon stated.
"I agree. Whoa, when did you become such a love expert?" Chris said, staring
quizically at Leon.
Leon scratched the back of his neck, like he always did when he was nervous or
didn't know the answer to something.
"Uh, I dunno...." he managed to say.
Chris looked at him funny before catching the ball he threw and then tossing it in
turn to Jill. Several minutes passed, the only sound being heard the sound of the blitzball
being tossed around and Claire's restless nails rapping on the desk. After a while Claire
rose.
"That's it! I have to know what they're doing out there! I'm forming an offensive
sortie! Who's with me!?"
Three puzzled and astonished faces looked back at her.
"No one's goin anywhere, lil sis."
"Yeah. You'll get caught anyways-" Jill began.
"That's it! I have a great idea!" Claire started, with an enthusiasm that both
amazed and frightened the three. Claire's idea of a good idea was completely and
radically different from what sane people thought was a good idea. She thought ketchup
on eggs was a good idea. (ewwwww -author)
"I almost hesitate to ask, but what might that be?" Jill said.
"Well remember how we brought those communicators we normally use in
combat situations just in case we got seperated during this trip when we went on a hike
or somethin? The new mark III models we haven't tested yet? The ones that go in your
ear and can barely be seen or heard by anyone besides yourself?"
"Yeah, go on..." Chris said, mildly intruigied.
"Well I was thinking, we use them, two of us go down there and listen in on what
they're saying, then they relay it back to the two of us up here in the study, using the
communicator. They can't see or hear the communicator at all, since it's specifically
tuned so only whomever's using it can hear it."
"Bah. That's still intruding on privacy, Claire." Leon stated, "besides, how do you
plan on getting close enough to Carlos and Beccy without them noticing you? You'd
need a holographic stealth camoflauge suit, something that clearly only exists in video
games. 'Tactical Espionage Action' ones, to be exact."
The four's hopes for an actual working plan from the younger Redfield were
grounded. Claire laid her head down on her novel, dissapointed. The three on the floor
continued their little game of catch. Minutes passed, and the boredom level began to
grow in the room. Leon began to count the number of times he could catch the blitzball
with just one hand without dropping it. He was that bored.
Suddenly a great idea sprung in the other Redfield's mind. A lightbulb went on
above his head. Chris hopped to his feet, and with a great smile of enthusiasm on his
face, dashed out of the room. He returned several minutes later with a large rectangular
cardboard box, like the ones used for storing refridgerators. It was probably big enough to
cover two people, seeing as Elena's fridge was quite large. Chris had a grin on his face
that threatened to split his head in half from ear to ear. Claire considered reaching for the
first-aid kit just in case.
"What the hell do you plan on doing with that?" Jill asked.
Chris let the box drop. He dashed out of the room again, and returned with a
small black box several seconds later, which held the small headset communicators. He
took one of them from the protective foam which held it, placed one in the space behind
his ear, and turned it on. He tossed another of the miniature headsets, which couldn't
have been bigger than a quarter, to Leon.
The three stared at him quizzically, with the 'what the hell is this guy doing' look
plastered thickly all over them. After awhile, Chris smiled back at them, looking at the
cardboard box thoughtfully.
"Ever played Metal Gear Solid?"
Author's Note:
Well, there's the next chapter. I was originially gonna post it up earlier, but I felt it
wasn't really up to my standards and so I kept it for awhile and did some general editing.
Hope everyone liked the MGS references in the story... I'm guessing you all know who
the bouncy redhead was working at EB...
Author's Quote:
Some call me a loser,
Some call me a cheater,
Some call me their salvation.
-trik turner