Chapter 16: Perfect Picture
"Zack!" Yuffie skidded down the hall, screeching to a halt in front of the spiky haired man in question, who merely raised an eyebrow at her, looking up through the thick cloud of smoke circling around the table he sat in, Cid cursing like a sailor, his face scrunched up with concentration as he eyed his cards.
"Yea Yuffie? Ya need somethin'?" Zack drawled easily, his poker face slipping off as he eyed the girl who looked at him in annoyance.
"Yea! Teach me how ta play!" Yuffie squeaked, and Zack grinned down at her, while Cid howled with laughter, slapping his knee like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard, and Yuffie turned to him, her eyes narrowed into vicious slits. "What? Ya got somethin' ta say gramps?" Yuffie challenged, and Cid instantly slammed a fist on the table, shaking the wooden structure beneath him in his fury.
"What'cha ya call me ya little brat?" Cid snarled, while Yuffie smirked superiorly, hands on her hips as she tossed her head to the side saucily.
"Gramps, ya need hearin' help too?" Yuffie taunted, while a visible vein popped out of Cid's forehead, gritting his teeth together as he tried hard not to kill the small girl in front of him, trying to count to ten like Shera had cautioned him too, though somehow he conveniently forgot what came past five.
Zack and the other participants at the table, Rude and Reno, merely watched the heated exchange with amusement, though of course it was hard to tell with Rude.
"Listen up gramps, Ah could whoop ya at this game no sweat!" Yuffie challenged, while Cid slammed the cards down in front of her.
"A challenge eh? Well Ah'll show ya!" Cid snapped viciously, biting his cigarette in-between his teeth and grinded them together while Yuffie sat down next to Zack, grinning at him with a slight wink, smiling in satisfaction when Zack returned the smile.
She felt happy with her success, no matter how small, that she almost felt giddy. Or maybe it was Zack, though she didn't want to say that in front of Reno. From what she heard from Elena, she shouldn't mention anything remotely of the nature unless she wanted an onslaught.
"Ready runt?" Cid snarled, and Yuffie smirked, just picking up the cards with a slight laugh, giving Zack a slight wink before replying.
"Ready gramps, just get the game goin'."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey baby." A man winked, watching her as she sashayed by, and a light smirk touched her painted lips, and she humored him with a wink, tossing her blonde locks over her sun kissed shoulders, not needing to turn around to know that every man with eyes was following her.
She gave an extra saucy toss of her hair before clacking up to the unsuspecting red head that was engrossed in some card game, smoke curling distastefully around the whole table, that she turned up her nose to avoid the stench. Oh well, she had dealt with worse.
Sliding like she belonged onto the lap of the startled red head, she grinned up at him, batting her long black eyelashes as she wrapped her slender arms around his neck, leaning forward so he could see ample amount of cleavage, and seeing his eyes straying to where she thought they would go, she smiled.
"Hey Reno. Long time no see. Ah came here to give ya a present." Without further adieu, she traced a slender finger against the scar on his cheek bone, and then lifted her hand back and slapped him. Hard. Stunned, the red head just stared at her dumbly while she slid off his lap, glaring down at him with her blue eyes.
"D***mit Scarlet! What was that for?" Reno hollered, rubbing his cheek and glaring at the woman in question, her hands on her curvy hips, her blonde hair falling seductively into her ocean blue eyes, and if she hadn't just slapped him, Reno would have flirted with her mercilessly, though he knew better. Scarlet was a tease, just like him.
"Ya know very well what that was for Reno Taylor! Callin' me a whore! Wait till Ah tell my big brother." Scarlet hissed angrily, her eyes narrowing into tiny slits of blue fury, and Reno just made a face.
"Well Scarlet, milady, if Ah'd known that ya didn't want more action, Ah wouldn't have said a word." Reno said solemnly, trying hard to look innocent while Scarlet glowered down at him. She was almost as scary as her elder brother when she was annoyed. But then again, she was a lot more beautiful too, well, to him anyway.
"Reno Ah oughta . . . " Scarlet snarled, rolling up one sleeve, though stopped when she heard the bald headed man next to him give a slight cough. Scarlet blinked, turning her gaze to the more tolerable of the two, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
"Someone else is interested in ya brother Scarlet." She whirled around, only to see Tim, another bandit who had his eyes on her for quite some time, and had his uses as a snitch who would get any information that she needed. She liked to keep those horrible whiny wenches away from her elder brother, though sometimes her need to get out of here often interfered with that. So, loyal Tim kept vigilant watch over her brother.
"Who?" Instantly Scarlet's eyes narrowed into thin slits, her long fingernails tapping impatiently on the wood of the poker table, and the occupants looked up with her with annoyance, though she ignored them.
"Tim . . . " Reno said warningly, his aquamarine eyes piercing deep into Tim's fretful face, though he looked back to Scarlet, whose lips were pursed, her face impatient.
"Well, a new girl named Tifa Lockheart ma'am. Seems they've been gettin' pretty cozy." Tim said obediently, ignoring the hiss that had come out of Reno's mouth. Scarlet gave Tim a smile, inching up to him so he would have a good view of her shoulder, and she smiled seductively, letting her slender finger trace circles on his chest while Tim looked like he was about to fall over and die.
"Thank ya'll ever so much. Ah owe ya one." Scarlet purred into his ear, then turned, giving Reno a triumphant smirk before turning a high heel and stalking off to find this so called 'Tifa Lockheart'. She had a lot of nerves to think she could even go near her brother. Rufus Shinra was untouchable, and women weren't in the picture.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aeris sighed, tucking rebellious strands of chestnut brown hair behind her ear, wondering how they had escaped her closely woven braid. The sun beat down unrelenting on her back, though she didn't mind really. She hummed softly as she tended to her flowers, her green eyes tender as she watched the flowers bloom, their petals opening as children would when they had just woken up. Aeris smiled, stroking one of the flower petals tenderly, glad that the fruits of her labors were turning out so beautiful.
"Ya have a green thumb." Instantly she whirled around, only to come face to face with Rude, and instantly she turned red. He didn't seemed perturbed at all, his face just passively staring into hers, or at least that's what it looked like.
"Hello Rude. How are ya?" Aeris said politely, batting her eyelashes slightly, not knowing what had possessed her to do such a move, but maybe it was worth it, seeing Rude shift slightly, and she giggled, knowing that if Rude could, he probably would blush.
Seeing as she wasn't going to get much else out of him, she smiled, tugging on his sleeve, and he looked down at her in curiosity, though it was hidden behind the shadows of his hat.
"Hey, Ah know! Come with me! Sir said we'd dispose of Corneo today, an' it seems like a mighty fine idea to watch, right Rude? Would ya come with me?" Aeris pleaded, her green eyes wide with innocence as she giggled, continuing to tug on his sleeve lightly, hugging his arm lightly, smiling up at him.
Rude hadn't known what had possessed him to seek out Aeris, though he had known he had been watching her for quite some time now. The way she moved gracefully, or the lifting sound of her voice that he had rarely been able to capture, or maybe just the happy content look that crossed her delicate features when she gardened. But he knew that once he had locked eyes with her gorgeous emerald depths that he wanted to see her again.
Maybe he had been bewitched, but he wasn't so sure about that. Aeris was too pure, too innocent to cast a horrible spell on someone, and why waste her time with someone like him? It made his heart flutter slightly to think that she might actually want to go anywhere with him when she could choose any other guy around.
"Sure." Was all he could mange stonily, and Aeris smiled up at him, her features brightening again, and Rude felt a small smile tug on the corner of his lips.
She was the perfect picture of innocence.
~*Author's Notes*~ Okay, I know I've been prolonging the Don's death, but I seriously can't write a humorous uh, death scene. Yup, I'm pathetic. Well, anyway, introduced Scarlet as Rufus's sister. Hehe, I always thought those two looked a like, and acted somewhat alike. Don't ask me how, I'm just weird that way. Well, there was that slight Rude/Aeris thing going on, but please don't be mad at me, because I know a lot of people wanted an Aeris/Cloud or an Aeris/Sephiroth. Well, anyway, please read and review!
"Zack!" Yuffie skidded down the hall, screeching to a halt in front of the spiky haired man in question, who merely raised an eyebrow at her, looking up through the thick cloud of smoke circling around the table he sat in, Cid cursing like a sailor, his face scrunched up with concentration as he eyed his cards.
"Yea Yuffie? Ya need somethin'?" Zack drawled easily, his poker face slipping off as he eyed the girl who looked at him in annoyance.
"Yea! Teach me how ta play!" Yuffie squeaked, and Zack grinned down at her, while Cid howled with laughter, slapping his knee like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard, and Yuffie turned to him, her eyes narrowed into vicious slits. "What? Ya got somethin' ta say gramps?" Yuffie challenged, and Cid instantly slammed a fist on the table, shaking the wooden structure beneath him in his fury.
"What'cha ya call me ya little brat?" Cid snarled, while Yuffie smirked superiorly, hands on her hips as she tossed her head to the side saucily.
"Gramps, ya need hearin' help too?" Yuffie taunted, while a visible vein popped out of Cid's forehead, gritting his teeth together as he tried hard not to kill the small girl in front of him, trying to count to ten like Shera had cautioned him too, though somehow he conveniently forgot what came past five.
Zack and the other participants at the table, Rude and Reno, merely watched the heated exchange with amusement, though of course it was hard to tell with Rude.
"Listen up gramps, Ah could whoop ya at this game no sweat!" Yuffie challenged, while Cid slammed the cards down in front of her.
"A challenge eh? Well Ah'll show ya!" Cid snapped viciously, biting his cigarette in-between his teeth and grinded them together while Yuffie sat down next to Zack, grinning at him with a slight wink, smiling in satisfaction when Zack returned the smile.
She felt happy with her success, no matter how small, that she almost felt giddy. Or maybe it was Zack, though she didn't want to say that in front of Reno. From what she heard from Elena, she shouldn't mention anything remotely of the nature unless she wanted an onslaught.
"Ready runt?" Cid snarled, and Yuffie smirked, just picking up the cards with a slight laugh, giving Zack a slight wink before replying.
"Ready gramps, just get the game goin'."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey baby." A man winked, watching her as she sashayed by, and a light smirk touched her painted lips, and she humored him with a wink, tossing her blonde locks over her sun kissed shoulders, not needing to turn around to know that every man with eyes was following her.
She gave an extra saucy toss of her hair before clacking up to the unsuspecting red head that was engrossed in some card game, smoke curling distastefully around the whole table, that she turned up her nose to avoid the stench. Oh well, she had dealt with worse.
Sliding like she belonged onto the lap of the startled red head, she grinned up at him, batting her long black eyelashes as she wrapped her slender arms around his neck, leaning forward so he could see ample amount of cleavage, and seeing his eyes straying to where she thought they would go, she smiled.
"Hey Reno. Long time no see. Ah came here to give ya a present." Without further adieu, she traced a slender finger against the scar on his cheek bone, and then lifted her hand back and slapped him. Hard. Stunned, the red head just stared at her dumbly while she slid off his lap, glaring down at him with her blue eyes.
"D***mit Scarlet! What was that for?" Reno hollered, rubbing his cheek and glaring at the woman in question, her hands on her curvy hips, her blonde hair falling seductively into her ocean blue eyes, and if she hadn't just slapped him, Reno would have flirted with her mercilessly, though he knew better. Scarlet was a tease, just like him.
"Ya know very well what that was for Reno Taylor! Callin' me a whore! Wait till Ah tell my big brother." Scarlet hissed angrily, her eyes narrowing into tiny slits of blue fury, and Reno just made a face.
"Well Scarlet, milady, if Ah'd known that ya didn't want more action, Ah wouldn't have said a word." Reno said solemnly, trying hard to look innocent while Scarlet glowered down at him. She was almost as scary as her elder brother when she was annoyed. But then again, she was a lot more beautiful too, well, to him anyway.
"Reno Ah oughta . . . " Scarlet snarled, rolling up one sleeve, though stopped when she heard the bald headed man next to him give a slight cough. Scarlet blinked, turning her gaze to the more tolerable of the two, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
"Someone else is interested in ya brother Scarlet." She whirled around, only to see Tim, another bandit who had his eyes on her for quite some time, and had his uses as a snitch who would get any information that she needed. She liked to keep those horrible whiny wenches away from her elder brother, though sometimes her need to get out of here often interfered with that. So, loyal Tim kept vigilant watch over her brother.
"Who?" Instantly Scarlet's eyes narrowed into thin slits, her long fingernails tapping impatiently on the wood of the poker table, and the occupants looked up with her with annoyance, though she ignored them.
"Tim . . . " Reno said warningly, his aquamarine eyes piercing deep into Tim's fretful face, though he looked back to Scarlet, whose lips were pursed, her face impatient.
"Well, a new girl named Tifa Lockheart ma'am. Seems they've been gettin' pretty cozy." Tim said obediently, ignoring the hiss that had come out of Reno's mouth. Scarlet gave Tim a smile, inching up to him so he would have a good view of her shoulder, and she smiled seductively, letting her slender finger trace circles on his chest while Tim looked like he was about to fall over and die.
"Thank ya'll ever so much. Ah owe ya one." Scarlet purred into his ear, then turned, giving Reno a triumphant smirk before turning a high heel and stalking off to find this so called 'Tifa Lockheart'. She had a lot of nerves to think she could even go near her brother. Rufus Shinra was untouchable, and women weren't in the picture.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aeris sighed, tucking rebellious strands of chestnut brown hair behind her ear, wondering how they had escaped her closely woven braid. The sun beat down unrelenting on her back, though she didn't mind really. She hummed softly as she tended to her flowers, her green eyes tender as she watched the flowers bloom, their petals opening as children would when they had just woken up. Aeris smiled, stroking one of the flower petals tenderly, glad that the fruits of her labors were turning out so beautiful.
"Ya have a green thumb." Instantly she whirled around, only to come face to face with Rude, and instantly she turned red. He didn't seemed perturbed at all, his face just passively staring into hers, or at least that's what it looked like.
"Hello Rude. How are ya?" Aeris said politely, batting her eyelashes slightly, not knowing what had possessed her to do such a move, but maybe it was worth it, seeing Rude shift slightly, and she giggled, knowing that if Rude could, he probably would blush.
Seeing as she wasn't going to get much else out of him, she smiled, tugging on his sleeve, and he looked down at her in curiosity, though it was hidden behind the shadows of his hat.
"Hey, Ah know! Come with me! Sir said we'd dispose of Corneo today, an' it seems like a mighty fine idea to watch, right Rude? Would ya come with me?" Aeris pleaded, her green eyes wide with innocence as she giggled, continuing to tug on his sleeve lightly, hugging his arm lightly, smiling up at him.
Rude hadn't known what had possessed him to seek out Aeris, though he had known he had been watching her for quite some time now. The way she moved gracefully, or the lifting sound of her voice that he had rarely been able to capture, or maybe just the happy content look that crossed her delicate features when she gardened. But he knew that once he had locked eyes with her gorgeous emerald depths that he wanted to see her again.
Maybe he had been bewitched, but he wasn't so sure about that. Aeris was too pure, too innocent to cast a horrible spell on someone, and why waste her time with someone like him? It made his heart flutter slightly to think that she might actually want to go anywhere with him when she could choose any other guy around.
"Sure." Was all he could mange stonily, and Aeris smiled up at him, her features brightening again, and Rude felt a small smile tug on the corner of his lips.
She was the perfect picture of innocence.
~*Author's Notes*~ Okay, I know I've been prolonging the Don's death, but I seriously can't write a humorous uh, death scene. Yup, I'm pathetic. Well, anyway, introduced Scarlet as Rufus's sister. Hehe, I always thought those two looked a like, and acted somewhat alike. Don't ask me how, I'm just weird that way. Well, there was that slight Rude/Aeris thing going on, but please don't be mad at me, because I know a lot of people wanted an Aeris/Cloud or an Aeris/Sephiroth. Well, anyway, please read and review!