Elena hurried to catch up with Tseng, and see which shop he meant. It was a fine morning, snow and ice glistening on the pavement like jewels or shards of glass, and she'd been living with Tseng two weeks now. She was feeling and looking better, though she still was disturbed occasionally by nightmares and needed to take some sleeping pills, which she was otherwise holding off on. It was obvious in her demeanor and her face however that things were going much better for her, and even Reno and Rude noticed, occasionally holding a filthy conversation or two about it while they sat in their favourite bars getting drunk off their asses in the evenings.
Tseng tended to run out of things worth eating, and neither of them could cook anyway, so it was often they would wonder into Midgar's Wutasian district, which was near his apartment, to find something to eat in the morning. It was a udon-ramen shop like any other on the street, but not one they'd ever tried before.
"Yeah, here's good!" She smiled beatifically. "Maybe the ramen will be spicy enough this time." Tseng almost smiled as well, which was a rare thing for him, she'd noticed.
Elena stuck close to him as they went in. Wutaisians scared her slightly. Partly in how they stared. She couldn't understand a word of course of what they said, but she could get the general feeling. It was not a nice one. Jealous... At him? At her? About why would he pick a Midgarian girl over any of them? Just because he's Shinra he thinks he's too good? She didn't know a word, so she couldn't be sure, and they didn't know their real relationship either; it was purely one of business.
Well...
In his mind anyway. Elena tried to fight it, but the more she was with him, the more she thought about him. Him and a girl like her? It was stupid. He probably iwould/i pick a pretty Wutasian girl. Certainly not a girl like her. And she needed to stay professional. Professional, dammit! It was hard not to think about him like that anyway.
She felt a little disgusted with herself.
"One soy and one spicy ramen, please." It was practically tradition. It had been repeated so many times over the past few weeks that she knew how what the unfamiliar, beautiful-sounding words meant. The lady behind the counter, grinning, asked him something that sounded mean-spirited, and he replied shaking his his head with a facial expression that was amused but demanded, a little more respect if you please.
"What was that?", she inquired, as he turned away with a receipt.
"Nothing at all. Just commenting on the weather."
Elena had a feeling that that was not what it was but said nothing. She shoved her hands into her pockets while Tseng chatted with another man also waiting for his order.
"Number seventeen?"
"That would be ours."
He went and fetched it, looking slightly relieved as they left the shop.
"Should we head to the park?"
The sun was warm on her back, despite the world of lower Midgar being covered in unbudging ice, so she nodded.
-;-
"Hey, Tseng," she asked, through a mouth of noodles, "What happened in the Northern Crater?"
Tseng almost dropped his chopstick full of ramen, but managed to regain composure before answering.
"Why do you ask?"
Elena looked down at her toes and shrugged. "...I don't remember."
"Probably for the better," he replied tonelessly. "Gift from the Ancients?"
"I'd rather know then have a void of memory! It makes me feel so stupid!"
Tseng winced. "I would trade with you in a moment. Some things... Should just be forgotten."
"But..." Tseng put a hand up. "Forget it, Elena. It's past. Don't dwell on it." He scowled.
There was a moment of uneasy silence.
"Hey... What did that women at the shop say to you, anyway?"
Tseng's facial expression lightened noticeably. "Ah, she wanted to know why I would stick with a Midgarian when one of my own would be better."
Elena reddened. "What did you say?"
He looked vaguely amused. "That I wasn't interested and liked you fine."
"Something the matter?"
"No... Nothing. Just amused." And happy, of course. So many other things you could have said, Tseng.