The Flowers of Midgar
Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy Seven, or any lyrics I might use.
This is a simple fanfiction about complex people; i.e. this is part "Shinra" fic, part romance, part adventure, etc. There will be many mature themes dealt with in this fic, that's why it's rated R. If you don't think you can handle reading excessive violence, swearing, rather long stretches of logic to get from point A to point B, then go away now and find some cheerful little G-rated fluffy thing to waste your time on. There will be little to no fluff in this fanfic.
Read and review, check out some of my other works. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and if you choose to impart some, give me specific examples as to what you would like to see things changed to. Flames are always appreciated, and will be used to cook my dinner and warm my house (the heating bill tried to eat me yesterday, so yeah, please, send flames.). I will try to update as often as is physically possible, but I'm a college freshman, and I have a lot of crap to do. Enjoy.
The young man was handsome in that way that cocky young men sometimes have. The scars made him different, but not different enough for Hero to take a personal interest in him. Then again, Hero had never taken a "personal" interest in anyone. He came into the bar late, just before closing, cold sober. His long blood red hair was tied back in a pony tail, his blue-green eyes looking around alertly, his dark blue suit rumpled and the dress shirt open at the throat. It was the sort of uniform that required a tie, but he was the sort of punk that either wouldn't ever be able to find the tie, or just wouldn't wear it. Hero noticed all of this without looking up from her book, puffing away happily at the cigarette between her fingers. The waitresses were wiping down the tables, the bartenders were taking stock of what would need to be restocked, the last drunk had stumbled on home. Everything was quiet, until this kid showed up. He spied Hero through the ever-present cloud of smoke doing chin ups from the rafters and made his way over to her.
"Excuse me, but would you be the owner of this establishment?" It sounded, and was, rehearsed, but Hero decided to humor the kid and play along.
"Yes."
"Do you have a few moments to spare for a meeting with my superiors?" Hero hid a smirk. Great...the Shinra higher-ups wanted to see her. Not in this lifetime, at least on their terms.
"When and where?"
"Any time that's convenient for you, wherever convenient for you." That last bit wasn't rehearsed, and Hero caught herself reevaluating the kid. He was slum-born, streetwise, and he wasn't as young as she'd first thought. Point for him.
"And what is a smart kid like you doing lackeying for the fat bastards in their gilded tower?" Hero's curiosity was pricked, and she raised her eyes from the book to meet his. He'd earned a point in less than forty words, he'd earned conversation privileges.
"Earning my paycheck, same as anyone else. So, what's it gonna be? You interested in a meeting?" She'd gotten him to drop the staged bullshit, and she felt better. They should let the kid call the shots if they were going to send him in, he had a good head on his shoulders and knew how to play the game. There was a faint, high-pitched noise in Hero's ears so she took pity on the kid. Getting your chestnuts roasted over an earpiece was never pleasant.
"Tell your boss to send you down here for drinks, without the screechy earpiece and we'll talk about it." Hero look out the window near the door and grinned suddenly, lighting her whole face up with something akin to demonic glee. "And tell them the van is a little conspicuous. No one but Turks drive trash like that around here. Anyone else would get the whole damn thing stolen right out from under them."
The kid grinned and took the earpiece out, dropping it on the floor and crushing it with his heel. He smiled as the front door opened and the yells from the van filtered inside the cozy tavern.
"I'm down here, I need a drink, and I don't see any earpiece." Hero smiled just to see his ears turn pink.
"I'm Hero...welcome to Dancing Dice. If you can't walk when we get done with you, we have plenty of space in the gutter outside."
"I'm Reno...formerly of Sector Six, now of the greased, gilded, gelded tower. And if I can't walk, that's more than fine. Before then I'm sure have found some nice young lovely to take me home." His smile turned the scars on his cheekbones into deep laugh lines, actually adding to his looks. He wasn't too bad for a Turk, it seemed.
Tutoring for the day was canceled in favor of a trip out to the plains, courtesy of the City Exit Pass that Hero had swiped from Reno's pocket. Hero had spent the morning discussing terms that would get her into a formal setting with a Shinra employee. The Shinra higher-ups in question spent the morning formulating a plan to get Reno insinuated with Hero so they would have an edge. Poor fools just didn't understand that Hero didn't let people in close enough to get a hold over her, just for that reason. It might have annoyed her, if she'd been able to care, but she wasn't and it didn't.
Reno ended up getting sent home with plans for the Turks and an executive brave enough to venture down to Dancing Dice to make whatever deal Shinra was interested in this time later that night.
Hero sent the kids home at around three and laid down for her nap, vaguely puzzled about what Shinra wanted from her now. She knew for sure that they weren't getting it...but it was going to be fun to find out.