Disclaimer: Elly cut her hair. It used to be down to her shoulder-blades, but she cut it off. Not it's at her chin. It's really short. She likes to shake it. It's fun to shake. Elly also sprained her ankle playing soccer. Soccer is a dangerous sport. Be careful when you play it.
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"...in my room!"
"Calm down, Leon. It's not that big of a deal."
"Yes it is! I've been defiled!"
"You just need to get out more, is all."
"And have people laugh at me? I don't think so."
Yuffie sat up groggily, hands over her ears and her eyes gleaming angrily. When she checked the clock on her nightstand and realized it was only 8:32 in the morning, she felt like screaming. Who had woken her up this early? One of the voices outside her door sounded remarkably like Aerith, and since her friend had called the other voice Leon, she supposed that that was who the other one was. Grumbling about loud neighbors, she slid out of bed and staggered over to the door, throwing it open and blinking at the sight of a still-in-pajamas Aerith and a disgruntled (and obviously really angry) Leon.
"Couldja keep it down? I'm trying to sleep!" she groaned, rubbing her eyes with the back of one hand. Leon rounded on her, surprisingly well, she noticed with disdain.
"I wouldn't have to keep it down if it wasn't for you! Breaking and entering is a crime, you know, and I could have you arrested for it," he finished smugly, crossing his arms. Aerith sighed, the long chestnut braid down her back swinging. The low grey sweatpants and short pink tank top she was wearing was considerably more modest than her normal clothes, but then again Yuffie would have had trouble sleeping in that stuff, too.
Yuffie threw up her arms in outrage. "Arrested for giving you something that you ordered like a page boy? I think that counts under generous, if I'm not mistaken!" she shouted, planting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. (She smirked inwardly; she glared very well for someone at least a head shorter than him.) "Oh, wait, Mr. Close-Minded, maybe it is an offense – since you've obviously never had another woman in your room before!"
If it was possible for a stone to look embarrassed, he pulled it off, if only by narrowing his eyes heatedly. "Whatever," he muttered before he stalked back into his room and slammed the door shut. And yes, Yuffie realized, it was possible to stalk with a shattered kneecap.
Aerith ran a hand down her face in exasperation. "Do you have fun pissing him off? Because he takes it out on me, you know," she added, wrinkling her nose in what could have been either anger or frustration. Shaking her head one last time, she walked back down the hall to the Blue Room, from which Cloud's snores could be heard clearly through the open door.
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"Hmmm, lessee...Dry cleaning, scissors, a bottle of wine (Wine and scissors? I'd hate to see what this guy does with all this stuff, Yuffie thought to herself as she relayed the things she'd agreed with Aerith to bring to him), and a corkscrew. Is that it? Did I get it all?" she called through the door. She had remembered to knock before she started saying all of his things, but she still didn't think it would do much good.
There was a grumbling on the other side of the door before he finally spoke. "Yeah, come in," Leon said grudgingly, and Yuffie kicked open the Green Room door with her foot since her arms were so full of his stuff. She walked into the room to see Leon himself sitting at the round table a couple of feet from the bed with his bad leg up on the second chair and one hand tangled in his dark hair. It looked like he was reading something, but she couldn't really tell what it was. It looked thick, at any rate.
She tossed his dry cleaning into a basket besides a chest of drawers near the door and walked over to put the scissors, wine, and corkscrew down on the table he was at. He looked up at her, and for the first time his eyes didn't look particularly angry; he seemed a little annoyed, though. About what she couldn't be certain; this guy had more mood swings than a woman.
Yuffie turned to walk out before she noticed his weird weapon propped up in the corner of the room next to the door that lead onto his balcony. It gleamed as if freshly polished, and she couldn't see any of the scratches that had to be on it from the years of fighting Aerith claimed this guy had, so he took his time in buffing it. Why he would care so much about a weapon he couldn't use was beyond her, and she asked as much.
He sighed, closing his book. He obviously couldn't concentrate with her there, but she thought that even before she came in he was having problems. "Because if I don't keep it in good condition and they find some way to fix my leg in the near future when I can still use it, then I want to be able to." He turned back to the book, flipping a couple of pages. She blinked, expecting him to say more, but he didn't.
"Well...couldn't you find a way to fight even with your busted knee?" Yuffie tried. At the Academy, if you hurt yourself, you were still expected to train; nobody got a day off. Why couldn't Leon find out a way to help himself?
His head whipped around and his eyes blazed. Yuffie refused to let herself swallow, but it took effort. "Don't you think I've tried that? I'm not stupid!"
"I never said you were!" Yuffie said hastily. "I'm just saying...maybe you could find a trainer to help you or something. Since you seem to love fighting so much, it would be a waste to see you stop." She couldn't help the sympathy lacing her voice, and at the way his face contorted at hearing it, she was surprised that steam wasn't coming out of his ears.
"You think I haven't tried that?" He wasn't shouting, for a change, but his voice was dangerously low, and Yuffie unconsciously forced her back straighter.
"Something different," Yuffie insisted. "You need to try something different. Like, a trainer who's not paid, and who doesn't sit there and make you do stretches. You need a fighter to teach a fighter." He blinked once, and then did a slow once-over of her from her toes to her eyes.
"You mean someone like you," he said levelly, with no emotions showing. She knew she was putting herself in the middle of a lion's cage with nothing to defend herself, but she answered anyway, and was extremely proud of how serious she sounded.
"Yes."
There was a long pause between the two of them, with him staring hard at her as if trying to decide whether or not she was worthy of training him and her trying hard not to shift uncomfortably under his eyes. They were creepy, staring at them too long, but also really beautiful, in a creepy kind of way...
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he nodded. It was the barest movement of his head in a north-south twitch, but it was still a nod, still an acceptance of her offer. "Fine," he said coldly, turning around and opening his book again. "But if you treat me like a child, I swear that I'll skewer you on a streetlamp." Yuffie's eyes widened to saucers and she swallowed hard. Well, there was the incentive to be careful with him.
"Agreed," she said, and had to stop herself from bowing in respect as she soundlessly opened the connecting door to her room and slumped against it. What had she gotten herself into?
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Sora was unsure about living alone in a hotel with a bunch of adults by himself, but he was on an internship as a bodyguard for one of the casinos and couldn't afford a house in the Third District or one of the nice apartments, and had had to settle for the hotel in the uproarious Second District. With his hands behind his head, Sora lay on the bed on the side of the Yellow Room, staring at the ceiling. His job didn't start until 6:00 that night, so he spent the whole day sitting around. He was wary to go outside; the first time he had when he wasn't carrying his weapon he'd been jumped, and that hadn't been good. Now he stayed inside until he could leave in his uniform and with his weapon at his side and not be bothered, but it was still boring.
"I hate all this stone and concrete," he sighed melodramatically. "I want to work on a beach."
The dinging of the bell at the front desk alerted the sleepy manager on duty, and Sora listened absently through the walls as the two voices – faint, but he could hear the tones – argued about the rooms. Deciding that he had nothing better to do, Sora poked his head out of his door and saw a rather short young woman arguing fiercely with the manager, her finger in his face.
"I'm sure you have a room empty that you're not telling me about!" she said angrily, planting her hands on her hips. The manger waved his hands in denial.
"I don't! Now get outta here before you make my paying customers mad!" he said, pointing back towards the entrance. She shook her head, making her reddish hair sway.
"I know your kind. You just don't want me to stay because it looks like I don't have any munny. Well, look at this." She pulled a fat bag off of the floor by her feet and emptied it on the counter, spilling out enough munny gems to buy her a penthouse in that apartment building. "Now are you gonna give me a room?"
"Look, kid," the manager explained impatiently, gesturing towards the closed Red, Green, and Blue doors, as well as the half-opened Yellow door. "All of my rooms are filled. Maybe in a couple of days something will be empty, but right now I don't have any room for you. Maybe another hotel –"
Sora stepped out of his room, a serious expression on his face. "You know, I've got space in my room, if you don't mind bunking up," he offered. The girl's indigo eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands once. Gathering the munny back into her sack, she rounded on him.
"Perfect. My bags are by the front door, and I would like first bathroom privileges in the morning, if you don't mind. Oh, and my name's Kairi," she added, smiling. Sora grinned himself; she had a pretty smile.
"Sora. I work at night, so you can have the bed then, but I wanna sleep during the day, so if you could keep it down...?" Kairi nodded impatiently, waving one hand towards her bags as she came to the door of the Yellow Room, peeking inside.
"Sure, of course. I have a job as a waitress at The Café and part-time at a casino, but during the day. I won't bother you. It's like this was written in the stars," she exclaimed, ducking into the room. Realizing that he was supposed to get her bags, Sora started towards the main door. Well, at least he wouldn't be bored anymore.
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It was short. Whatever. I got the S/K started, at any rate, and at least the plot's moving, however small-ish. Oh, and...
A HUGE thank-you to all of my reviewers! You guys are the best! Those plushies are in back order, now. Skeledude 12 wanted a Yuffie plushie and SummonerMomo wanted a Cloud plushie, so those guys get their requests cause they're awesome. A friend of mine named Roheryn (look her up and read her Lord of the Rings fanfiction – it's hilarious!) drew the Squall plushie, so this is what he looks like: h t t p :www[dot]amethyst- dragon[dot]net/turtle/art/squallplush[dot]GIF
Just replace the [dot]s with real .'s and you can see him in all his Rawr-y goodness! Thanks to everyone, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
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"...in my room!"
"Calm down, Leon. It's not that big of a deal."
"Yes it is! I've been defiled!"
"You just need to get out more, is all."
"And have people laugh at me? I don't think so."
Yuffie sat up groggily, hands over her ears and her eyes gleaming angrily. When she checked the clock on her nightstand and realized it was only 8:32 in the morning, she felt like screaming. Who had woken her up this early? One of the voices outside her door sounded remarkably like Aerith, and since her friend had called the other voice Leon, she supposed that that was who the other one was. Grumbling about loud neighbors, she slid out of bed and staggered over to the door, throwing it open and blinking at the sight of a still-in-pajamas Aerith and a disgruntled (and obviously really angry) Leon.
"Couldja keep it down? I'm trying to sleep!" she groaned, rubbing her eyes with the back of one hand. Leon rounded on her, surprisingly well, she noticed with disdain.
"I wouldn't have to keep it down if it wasn't for you! Breaking and entering is a crime, you know, and I could have you arrested for it," he finished smugly, crossing his arms. Aerith sighed, the long chestnut braid down her back swinging. The low grey sweatpants and short pink tank top she was wearing was considerably more modest than her normal clothes, but then again Yuffie would have had trouble sleeping in that stuff, too.
Yuffie threw up her arms in outrage. "Arrested for giving you something that you ordered like a page boy? I think that counts under generous, if I'm not mistaken!" she shouted, planting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. (She smirked inwardly; she glared very well for someone at least a head shorter than him.) "Oh, wait, Mr. Close-Minded, maybe it is an offense – since you've obviously never had another woman in your room before!"
If it was possible for a stone to look embarrassed, he pulled it off, if only by narrowing his eyes heatedly. "Whatever," he muttered before he stalked back into his room and slammed the door shut. And yes, Yuffie realized, it was possible to stalk with a shattered kneecap.
Aerith ran a hand down her face in exasperation. "Do you have fun pissing him off? Because he takes it out on me, you know," she added, wrinkling her nose in what could have been either anger or frustration. Shaking her head one last time, she walked back down the hall to the Blue Room, from which Cloud's snores could be heard clearly through the open door.
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"Hmmm, lessee...Dry cleaning, scissors, a bottle of wine (Wine and scissors? I'd hate to see what this guy does with all this stuff, Yuffie thought to herself as she relayed the things she'd agreed with Aerith to bring to him), and a corkscrew. Is that it? Did I get it all?" she called through the door. She had remembered to knock before she started saying all of his things, but she still didn't think it would do much good.
There was a grumbling on the other side of the door before he finally spoke. "Yeah, come in," Leon said grudgingly, and Yuffie kicked open the Green Room door with her foot since her arms were so full of his stuff. She walked into the room to see Leon himself sitting at the round table a couple of feet from the bed with his bad leg up on the second chair and one hand tangled in his dark hair. It looked like he was reading something, but she couldn't really tell what it was. It looked thick, at any rate.
She tossed his dry cleaning into a basket besides a chest of drawers near the door and walked over to put the scissors, wine, and corkscrew down on the table he was at. He looked up at her, and for the first time his eyes didn't look particularly angry; he seemed a little annoyed, though. About what she couldn't be certain; this guy had more mood swings than a woman.
Yuffie turned to walk out before she noticed his weird weapon propped up in the corner of the room next to the door that lead onto his balcony. It gleamed as if freshly polished, and she couldn't see any of the scratches that had to be on it from the years of fighting Aerith claimed this guy had, so he took his time in buffing it. Why he would care so much about a weapon he couldn't use was beyond her, and she asked as much.
He sighed, closing his book. He obviously couldn't concentrate with her there, but she thought that even before she came in he was having problems. "Because if I don't keep it in good condition and they find some way to fix my leg in the near future when I can still use it, then I want to be able to." He turned back to the book, flipping a couple of pages. She blinked, expecting him to say more, but he didn't.
"Well...couldn't you find a way to fight even with your busted knee?" Yuffie tried. At the Academy, if you hurt yourself, you were still expected to train; nobody got a day off. Why couldn't Leon find out a way to help himself?
His head whipped around and his eyes blazed. Yuffie refused to let herself swallow, but it took effort. "Don't you think I've tried that? I'm not stupid!"
"I never said you were!" Yuffie said hastily. "I'm just saying...maybe you could find a trainer to help you or something. Since you seem to love fighting so much, it would be a waste to see you stop." She couldn't help the sympathy lacing her voice, and at the way his face contorted at hearing it, she was surprised that steam wasn't coming out of his ears.
"You think I haven't tried that?" He wasn't shouting, for a change, but his voice was dangerously low, and Yuffie unconsciously forced her back straighter.
"Something different," Yuffie insisted. "You need to try something different. Like, a trainer who's not paid, and who doesn't sit there and make you do stretches. You need a fighter to teach a fighter." He blinked once, and then did a slow once-over of her from her toes to her eyes.
"You mean someone like you," he said levelly, with no emotions showing. She knew she was putting herself in the middle of a lion's cage with nothing to defend herself, but she answered anyway, and was extremely proud of how serious she sounded.
"Yes."
There was a long pause between the two of them, with him staring hard at her as if trying to decide whether or not she was worthy of training him and her trying hard not to shift uncomfortably under his eyes. They were creepy, staring at them too long, but also really beautiful, in a creepy kind of way...
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he nodded. It was the barest movement of his head in a north-south twitch, but it was still a nod, still an acceptance of her offer. "Fine," he said coldly, turning around and opening his book again. "But if you treat me like a child, I swear that I'll skewer you on a streetlamp." Yuffie's eyes widened to saucers and she swallowed hard. Well, there was the incentive to be careful with him.
"Agreed," she said, and had to stop herself from bowing in respect as she soundlessly opened the connecting door to her room and slumped against it. What had she gotten herself into?
--------
Sora was unsure about living alone in a hotel with a bunch of adults by himself, but he was on an internship as a bodyguard for one of the casinos and couldn't afford a house in the Third District or one of the nice apartments, and had had to settle for the hotel in the uproarious Second District. With his hands behind his head, Sora lay on the bed on the side of the Yellow Room, staring at the ceiling. His job didn't start until 6:00 that night, so he spent the whole day sitting around. He was wary to go outside; the first time he had when he wasn't carrying his weapon he'd been jumped, and that hadn't been good. Now he stayed inside until he could leave in his uniform and with his weapon at his side and not be bothered, but it was still boring.
"I hate all this stone and concrete," he sighed melodramatically. "I want to work on a beach."
The dinging of the bell at the front desk alerted the sleepy manager on duty, and Sora listened absently through the walls as the two voices – faint, but he could hear the tones – argued about the rooms. Deciding that he had nothing better to do, Sora poked his head out of his door and saw a rather short young woman arguing fiercely with the manager, her finger in his face.
"I'm sure you have a room empty that you're not telling me about!" she said angrily, planting her hands on her hips. The manger waved his hands in denial.
"I don't! Now get outta here before you make my paying customers mad!" he said, pointing back towards the entrance. She shook her head, making her reddish hair sway.
"I know your kind. You just don't want me to stay because it looks like I don't have any munny. Well, look at this." She pulled a fat bag off of the floor by her feet and emptied it on the counter, spilling out enough munny gems to buy her a penthouse in that apartment building. "Now are you gonna give me a room?"
"Look, kid," the manager explained impatiently, gesturing towards the closed Red, Green, and Blue doors, as well as the half-opened Yellow door. "All of my rooms are filled. Maybe in a couple of days something will be empty, but right now I don't have any room for you. Maybe another hotel –"
Sora stepped out of his room, a serious expression on his face. "You know, I've got space in my room, if you don't mind bunking up," he offered. The girl's indigo eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands once. Gathering the munny back into her sack, she rounded on him.
"Perfect. My bags are by the front door, and I would like first bathroom privileges in the morning, if you don't mind. Oh, and my name's Kairi," she added, smiling. Sora grinned himself; she had a pretty smile.
"Sora. I work at night, so you can have the bed then, but I wanna sleep during the day, so if you could keep it down...?" Kairi nodded impatiently, waving one hand towards her bags as she came to the door of the Yellow Room, peeking inside.
"Sure, of course. I have a job as a waitress at The Café and part-time at a casino, but during the day. I won't bother you. It's like this was written in the stars," she exclaimed, ducking into the room. Realizing that he was supposed to get her bags, Sora started towards the main door. Well, at least he wouldn't be bored anymore.
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It was short. Whatever. I got the S/K started, at any rate, and at least the plot's moving, however small-ish. Oh, and...
A HUGE thank-you to all of my reviewers! You guys are the best! Those plushies are in back order, now. Skeledude 12 wanted a Yuffie plushie and SummonerMomo wanted a Cloud plushie, so those guys get their requests cause they're awesome. A friend of mine named Roheryn (look her up and read her Lord of the Rings fanfiction – it's hilarious!) drew the Squall plushie, so this is what he looks like: h t t p :www[dot]amethyst- dragon[dot]net/turtle/art/squallplush[dot]GIF
Just replace the [dot]s with real .'s and you can see him in all his Rawr-y goodness! Thanks to everyone, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!