The Devil You Know,
By Ealinesse.
Disclaimer: Anyone wanna give me Final Fantasy VII? And all the rights to Advent Children while they're at it, just so I can plot more evil Reffieness and not get sued? No? –Sulks- … One day maybe, lmfao, but definitely not now… … … I do own a car though. So nyah!
Warnings: Potential language, like usual. Kiwi spelling, just 'cause. And maybe even some very blonde spelling moments…
Summary: Third story, whole new deal. Direct continuation of SaSM. … What if not everyone was happy with the way things were working out? What if there was a small group, much like Avalanche itself, that wanted to give what remained of Shinra a taste of its own medicine? What if they were feeding off a desperation, a desperation born of a hatred no longer relevant? What happens when you mix all these together with Yuffie, Reno, driving lessons and other such mayhem? Well, we're about to find out…
Chapter Two: Of stalkers and take-out …
"You know, brat, we have got to stop meeting like this."
Yuffie stared, unblinking as Reno stepped out in front her, hands jammed deep into pockets, pose painfully casual. No, wait. Staring, at that point, was an understatement - and quite ineffective in the near-dark. For a moment all she found herself capable of was alternating between opening her mouth and squeaking, which may certainly have accurately conveyed her surprise, but did absolutely jack about alleviating her situation. And with good reason – he did have the element of surprise up his… err, no sleeves; Singlet. In his hand, then.
Reno, to his credit, appeared unfazed. "What's the matter, squirt, did the roaches at that seedy motel eat your tongue?"
Yuffie paled, then turned a bright crimson at the words. Her embarrassment upped a few levels and she found her mouth gaping considerably wider. Had he… seen her? She whipped around on her heel and glanced sharply upward in the direction of the motel, realizing with disgust and much horror that the one-block distance did very little to hide the fact that light could be seen peeking out from between two very distinct curtains. The only light on the second floor currently turned on.
… Namely because she was the only person staying on the second floor. Possibly even in the entire scungy motel.
Yuffie turned back to Reno, her expression flickering somewhere in between complete mortification and anger. It was one thing for some stranger to see her… like that… but another thing for him, a Turk, an assassin, a – a – an all-round asshole to—
"You saw me…" she eventually spat out, voice flat, all moral and civil attempts at conversation forgotten. "You-"
"Spotted you walking out of the motel?" Reno's voice was giving nothing away. If there even was anything to give away in the first place. Annoying bastard.
"You didn't…see…?"
"Didn't see what?" Reno returned flippantly, plucking the cigarette out of his mouth and flicking some glowing ashes into the nearby gutter, before drawing it back into his mouth and inhaling once more. "See you walk out of the motel? I just said I did, brat. Have the roaches been nibbling on your eardrums and brain, as well?"
Yuffie's eyes narrowed as she analyzed Reno's expression. He looked like… well, aside from the amused twitch at the corner of his mouth and the raised eyebrow that set his face in its usual guarded smirk, he didn't look like he was lying. But then, who knew with Reno? He was a man that had single-handedly killed people without so much as blinking, it had been his job for Leviathan's sake, and he'd even gone as far as to drop an entire plate on a part of a city…
… And she was trusting his answer to be the truth?
Ugh.
"Oi, brat, anyone home?"
"You saw me walk out of the entrance?" she asked slowly, flipping away the hand waving itself in front of her face.
Reno sighed in exasperation and pointed somewhere off in the distance behind her. "Is there an echo around here? Yes, I saw you leave Right. There."
Yuffie followed Reno's arm, noticing with some relief that the walkway to the motel was plainly visible from where they now stood. Not only that, but the fluorescent lighting of the motel's entrance sign did a good job of illuminating the immediate area. So much so that it would have been possible to spot anyone remotely familiar making their way toward them… even from that far away. Plausible.
She blinked and turned back to Reno, who was looking at her with an amused kind of curiosity. "So you didn't…uh…?"
"Didn't what?"
She blinked again; shrugged, deciding it was time to move past that particular little issue if Reno was delightedly ignorant. "Nothing," she replied hastily, fixing the Turk with a roll of her eyes and a dismissive wave. "I'm just overtired. Fell asleep earlier, now I've got nothing to eat or drink. Hence the late-night outing."
"You don't say." Reno raised an eyebrow but didn't look up from his cigarette. "Then of course there's the matter of why you're staying at that motel at all. Rats have better hovels."
Yuffie groaned at the reminder. "I got as far as booking my skycab ticket to Midgar, and I knew I'd probably forget to tell Father I was leaving, but I can't believe I didn't ring Tifa to see if she was home," she muttered, slapping her hands to her face and dragging them down it in irritation.
"I'd believe it."
Yuffie's hands stopped halfway down her face at the sarcastic tone. She glared. "Was that comment absolutely necessary?" she mumbled out from beneath her hands. "Looks like I'm already paying for being disorganized, thank you very much."
Reno smirked. "Looks more like I'm having problems with a stalker, to me."
"A stalker?!"
The smirk deepened.
Yuffie ground her teeth together so tightly that her jaw began to ache. "A stalker," she spat out eventually. "What on earth gave you an idea as flattering as that?"
Reno snorted and shot her a blunt look.
She scowled. "Would you care to put that into words, Turk?"
"No, I don't think so. It goes without saying, really…"
Even still, she couldn't seem to move past Reno's dumb idea. To think he'd have the audacity to even consider her as the stalker type. And him of all people. She pondered sputtering theatrically in indignation for a few seconds before counting slowly to ten, breathing in and out in order to let her frustration vent. She was nearly back to her normal levels of 'calm' when Reno chose to add to his sentence.
"… I can't help that I'm just undeniably attractive."
That was very close to the final straw. Actually, scratch that, it was. Yuffie strode forward and for a moment contemplated simply poking Reno in the eye, seeing as he seemed to be enjoying smirking at her with that look so much this evening. Instead she settled for reaching up and snatching the half-finished cigarette from between Reno's lips and dropping it to the ground, crushing it out with her foot with jerky, overemphatic movements.
"Bad habit," she said sweetly, trying out a smirk of her own.
Reno, again, was unfazed. "Supposed to be quitting, anyway," he replied smoothly, dropping the hand that had been holding the smoke to his mouth and settling it behind his head, where he proceeded to lean even back against the large wooden fence that framed the property behind him. "And by the way, stop smirking, the expression doesn't suit you."
If growling like a rabid dog on crack was at all possible for a human, Yuffie came close to achieving it then. "Perhaps that's because I don't walk around wearing said expression all day."
"And a good thing, too, otherwise your face might just stick that way, and then whose ridiculously overemotional face would I mock?"
Yuffie blinked and jammed a hand onto her hip. "I am not overemotional."
"Hormonal?"
"No."
"Psychotic?"
"Nope!"
"Maniacal?"
"… Isn't that you?"
Reno's eyebrow twitched. "Have you been sharpening your tongue to a file point since I saw you last?"
"Yes. For fun. I find it helps me deal with completely egotistical idiots that have inflated heads and freaky eyes…"
"… Sarcasm also doesn't suit you."
... Kicking Reno sounded good. Actually, so did tearing her hair out and jamming it down his overactive throat all the way to his vocal chords. It had been a bad day and she was taking no hostages. She honestly didn't know why she was being so acerbic – then again, it probably had a great deal to do with the over-energetic skycab, the discovery that Tifa wasn't going to be in Midgar after all, and the bed that no sane human should ever have to sleep on. And, to think that this was the same guy that she had lugged across various fields and forests because she had been worried about what might have happened to him if she'd just left him to rot.
"Don't you have someplace else to be, Turkey?" she said eventually, not really meaning it, but not really caring at the same time. "People to taunt, lives to destroy and all that jazz?"
"Eh, Not unless you count home."
"How about going there?"
"How about thinking before you speak?"
Yuffie turned back to face Reno. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, c'mon, Yuff. Think. Why would I be sitting out on the street in Midgar in the dead hours of the night?"
"Because you're a strange, confusing Turk with a disturbing, psychotic hobby and one whacked-out job?"
Again with the eyebrow. "Try again."
Yuffie already had a pretty good idea of what Reno was talking about, but being forward with someone who didn't know the definition of the word was not something she was about to do. However, having Reno simply confirm it like that was taking all the fun out of it, and before she knew what she was doing she'd taken a couple of steps to the left – just enough to peer into the driveway she'd avoided earlier – and begun examining the nearby surroundings. Or, more importantly, the little she could see of them.
Needless to say, once she'd finished raking her eyes over the garage, the plain lawn, the hanging garden, and the simple red brick of the house, she found herself peculiarly disappointed.
"You don't live here," she said before she could stop herself, and clapped her hands over her mouth yet again in embarrassment as if to try and snatch back what she'd just said.
Reno laughed, a short sound that held more amusement at her antics than at what she'd really said. "I what?"
"Uh, nothing?"
"I don't live here? Is this where you spit out some cheesy stalker line like 'I know where you live'?"
Yuffie briefly caught herself thinking about what that driving token would look like sticking out of Reno's nose, or better yet, his eyeball, but she quelled the urge to follow through. She'd been having too many murderous cravings lately.
Perhaps it was the company she'd been keeping…
"No," she said slowly, " I was just thinking that this doesn't look like… uh…"
"A place a Turk would live?" Reno finished for her, wryly.
Yuffie cast a look at Reno out of the corner of her eye. "Kind of?"
Reno tipped his head back against the fence and rolled his gaze toward her. "What were you expecting, a pothole in the ground? Sewer rats chewing on my toes and fleas hopping about the yard? A secret, undercround cave beneath the city where I plot all of my evil deeds with the rest of Shinra's remaining minions?"
"No, but-"
"Or, even better, leeches and cockroaches swarming around the windows, chewing on discarded body parts and rotten flesh?"
"Ugh." She winced at the mental image. "Leeches don't live on solid land, idiot," she retorted bluntly.
"Okay, oh, Wise Woman, where do normal humans live then?"
"Houses."
"… So…?"
"So, Turk, you're not normal by any sense of the word."
Reno snorted and pulled out another cigarette. "Touché."
Yuffie eyed the cigarette with disgust. "You know, I didn't steal your last cigarette to have you light up another one."
"And?"
"And you're supposed to be quitting."
Reno fixed her with a disgusted look. "What are you, my mother?"
"I'm not sure I even want to know whether you had a mother, or if you were spat out by some contraption that went horribly wrong, like Cid seems to think…"
"I had a mother, smartass. She was short. About your height. Bossy."
"I am not short."
"Shorter than several people I know."
"I'm Wutaian."
Reno just smirked.
"Ugh, why am I still talking to you?!"
"I believe we've covered that already, Yuff."
"Oh really, and what conclusion did we come to?"
"That I was just so undeniably attractive."
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe o—
"And that's your reason for stalking me; somehow managing to find me wherever I go, whether it be skycab or industrial graveyard, alleyway or bloody mission in an alleyway."
…
… Forget breathing. She'd blush when she wasn't feeling quite so pissy. "Can I help it that you're like a bad smell?" she said testily.
"A bad smell," Reno mused, drawing a long drag on his cigarette and letting it out a few seconds later. "That's a good one."
"I thought so."
"Then of course there's the fact that it's you who generally always finds me, and we have a problem. Obviously, you like that rancid stink and follow it…"
Yuffie was about to think of yet another annoyed response, when a loud gurgling sound broke through the air. It took her a second to realize that it was coming from the general vicinity of… her stomach. Yuffie's eyes widened, and she was suddenly reminded of the reason she'd tried to wake herself up and leave the motel in the first place. Another reason for her sour mood. There was another distorted rumble in concurrence.
Reno eyed her stomach with a somewhat mystified expression – if that was even possible for someone who seemed to spend most of his days laughing at other peoples misfortunes as a second calling – then flicked his eyes up to meet hers. "Hungry?" he asked, a crooked grin curling one corner of his lip.
"Pretty obvious, isn't it?"
"Well your stomach is making that pretty damn plain."
"Obviously." There was another persistent gurgle in the encroaching silence, and Yuffie bit back her embarrassment as the noise proceeded to taper out over several seconds. Forget thinking about leaping out of her throat, judging by how loud that had been her stomach was already halfway there…
"You know, Yuff, I hate to break it to you, but I think you'd better feed that thing before it grows teeth and decides to chew its way out."
She would have laughed at Reno's response, or perhaps come up with something smart in response, but a.) she was too embarrassed that her stomach seemed to have somehow (selfishly) turned the conversation around to itself, and b.) she was inclined to agree with him. She was getting that headachy feeling that came without having eaten in a long time, and since she'd experienced that feeling all too recently while gallivanting around in the Junon shrubbery with Reno, she didn't really want to head in that direction again for a long, long time. Yuffie Kisaragi was someone that treasured her food – except in moving vehicles, where she was often forced to meet with it a second time – and despite her size, she had often out-eaten Cid (and on the odd occasion, Barrett), in competition.
"Ya know, Turkey, I hate to say it, but I think you're right." Yuffie pressed a hand against her stomach as if that was going to shut up its incessant rumbling, and looked around with a searching expression. "So… is there anywhere I can get food in this place?"
"In Midgar? Yes. In this particular neighbourhood, at this time of night…?"
Yuffie prepared to groan as the doubtful tone in Reno's voice prepared her for disappointment.
Reno pointed. "Two blocks that way, and one to the right. You can't miss the hideous signs that Eric has sitting out the front. They glow like no Mako reactor ever could…"
Yuffie ignored the smartass response. "And you're sure it's still open? What, at--" she pressed the light on her watch "—eleven-fifty?"
"Trust me, he'll be open. It's where we get food after missions, among other things."
"We?"
Reno fixed her with a funny look. "Rude and 'Laney. Who else?"
Yuffie blinked. "You mean… they live here, too?"
Reno swung his arm around to the brick house. "That's theirs."
"As in theirs and not yours?"
"Yes."
"I thought you said this was your home."
Reno raised an eyebrow. "It is."
Blink, copy his expression. Blink once more for the hell of it. "And so where do you live, then?"
But the Turk just leaned forward and leered. "Why do you want to know?"
Reno's face, suddenly very close to hers, was just a little too much so for comfort. Yuffie took a step backward before she could stop herself, trying to force her defences back up like they had been for most of the night and finding them a little slow to come to the call. "So I can make a point to avoid it in future?" she bit back…
Eventually.
"And you've done a really good job of it so far."
"Because I didn't know where you live and couldn't make a point to avoid it, now could I?"
"… You're not a very convincing liar, are you? You still haven't really answered my original question, and it's probably not helping me put one and one together to make three, you know."
"And what question was that?"
"Why you chose that particular hotel. Surely, of all the places in Midgar, someone of your descent could afford something a little… less rabid."
"Motel," she groaned, reminded of her carelessness on the phone conversation earlier, blaming the pathetic (obviously blonde) telephone operator for taking her a little too literally.
"Okay, motel," Reno acquiesced. "Stop focusing on the wrong part of the question."
She poked out her tongue, for some reason feeling a little more at ease by doing so, and shrugged. "I rung up directory, asked for a hotel, and got this."
"A hotel?"
"A, as in any. Like I didn't care at the time."
"You didn't even give any preferences? Man, no wonder you got stuck with that hunk of crap. Steve only does what he has to to keep that place legal, and that isn't anything beyond signing the monthly licenses and paying his tax. For such a new building, it's fucking old-fashioned, and sleazy as all hell."
"Steve?" she asked.
"Yeah, the guy that owns the place. Short. Squat. So round I'm not sure he has legs anymore."
"The counter blob?"
Reno snorted. "That'll be the one. Stinks of alcohol, and appears to feed his ruddy singlet as much as himself. Has what he calls an 'accent', but it's really nothing more than the consumption of alcohol on a continual basis making him slur everything together 'like people from Junon'… "
A shiver rippled down her spine. "Same guy."
"Yeah, well… what do you expect from an original slum dropout? Everyone's gotta make a living somehow. You do what you can."
Something about that line struck a chord with Yuffie. Something about the way Reno had said that line was off, distorted somehow. But when she tried to read the Turk's expression she couldn't see anything beyond the usual. His eyes, like always, glimmered with a dry amusement, and the set of his mouth was nothing but an indistinguishable line. Despite that, it appeared—
That her stomach was not willing to wait any longer.
Yuffie squeezed her hand tighter in her jacket and pressed harder over the offending organ in a pathetic attempt to appease its forsaken rumbling. All thoughts of anything but food forgotten, she jerked her head in the direction of Reno had pointed her in earlier. "You said… two blocks that way, then one to the right?"
"Glowing signs. Eric's place."
"And it'll be open?"
"Trust me."
She snorted and turned away, flicking an ironic glance over her shoulder as she began walking. "Nice one."
"It is at that," Reno replied, dropping the arm from behind his head and bringing both forward to cross loosely over his chest as he watched her go.
And the strange thing about that, she would remember later, was the way that the goodbye was as comfortable as it would have been with any of her friends. There were no strained words, no awkward or uneasy exchanges and nervous laughs. They didn't even say anything so much as a 'see you later' – she just left. And the even weirder thing about that was that she'd been the one to initiate the farewell in the first place.
Yuffie frowned. That was… interesting, and perhaps a little unnerving. That she could part ways with someone that had tried to kill her on numerous occasions with the faint knowledge that she was going to meet him again. And, quite possibly, not hate that fact, either.
No matter what she said out loud.
Again, interesting.
She wondered what the rest of the day held in store for her.
As it so happened, those ten minutes turned out surprisingly uneventful, but for her tripping over a stray brick and grazing her knee for quite possibly the thousandth time that day. Yuffie got to her feet and cast her eyes around her, dusting herself off and glaring down at the chipped, battered, and otherwise inconspicuous lump of clay as if it had just committed one of the most atrocious sins in the entire world.
Which it had. Yuffie, much like the case with her food, took her dignity very seriously.
… It was just a pity most other people didn't.
Thankfully, no one appeared to be around. Because of that – and only because of that – Yuffie stomped down on the urge to kick the living crap out of the brick and fixed her gaze straight ahead of her, blowing her breath out between clamped teeth. She also resisted looking down at the knee of her pants and the palms of her hands. Since she had again resumed walking there was a suspicious draft flowing against her left knee which hadn't been there before, and she felt that if she peeked down at it that damned brick probably wouldn't stand a chance. Nor would her big toe.
Or any nearby window, that would undoubtedly meet intimately with the block. Hard.
As it turned out, the debatably existent life of the brick was saved by the bell. Or the lights, as it were. Apparently Reno had been right – the shop was easy to distinguish. 'Easy' being the operative word, and perhaps the understatement of the century. The place was lit up well enough to make a blind man see – a good thing considering the doubts cast upon her navigation skills by helpful people like Cid - and it reminded her of one of those estranged pine trees she'd seen fairly strangled with lights and gaudy ornaments while in Midgar once on one of their overly cliché public holidays.
She stepped up to the door, feeling as if she should have been forcibly squinting through the unnatural glare of the lights, turned the handle and pushed. She grunted in vague annoyance when she was met with the resistance that more often than not betokened a locked door. She pushed again. Scowled. Pushed again, remembering Reno's assurances that it would not be closed. Grunted. Was halfway through pushing yet again when she spotted something she normally would have noticed straight away. Shooting a dark look at the 'Pull' sign that pretty much said don't you dare say 'I told you so', Yuffie yanked the door open and stepped inside.
A blast of heat met her as she entered the small shop. But it wasn't the contrasting warmth compared to that of outside that made the door swing shut and hit her butt when she found herself standing numbly in the doorway. No, it was the way that everything about the place screamed 'slums'. Marginally confused and feeling as if she'd just stepped back several years in time, Yuffie shuffled into the room and cast her eyes about her, soaking up the old-fashioned posters and dim, neon lighting, wondering why she felt so creeped out. It wasn't like the place was filthy – its simplicity was far from it – but the way the dull reflective metal of the roof cast domineering shadows over even the many luminous string-lights made her wonder whether she'd turn around and suddenly find someone like Hojo standing behind her, leering. Or find Sephiroth lurking around the corner… Reno, smirking, EMR held to her throat…
"Can I help you, ma'am?"
Yuffie jumped and spun, cursing her inattention and idiocy at her lack of sense tonight, and grinned. "Hey!"
The man standing at the counter winked and nodded in the general vicinity of the room. "Something familiar?"
She nodded and shrugged offhandedly. "Just reminding me of something, is all," she said quickly. "Nothing important."
"I see." The middle-aged man, nametag reading 'Eric', wiped his hands on his white apron, raising both eyebrows expectantly. "So, you looking for some food?"
"Yeah… Turkey boy said you'd be open…?"
"Turkey boy?"
Yuffie blinked and ducked her head. "Er… Reno," she said. "Sorry. Force of habit."
But the man wasn't worried about that. "You know Reno?" he asked, tossing some stray blonde hair out of his eyes with a quick jerk of his neck that was vaguely familiar.
"Mmhmm," she replied. "A little."
"Friend?"
Well, actually, she felt like saying, we've tried to kill each other on several occasions, and nobody ever knows where the hell they stand with him, but yeah! Instead, she shrugged. "In a manner of speaking. He sent me down here just now, said you'd be open."
"From out of town, are you?"
"Mmhmm!"
Eric opened his mouth as if to ask something else and a puzzled, thoughtful look came into his eyes, but Yuffie, seeing this, beat him to it.
"So… what's good here?" She looked up at the menu, written across a blackboard in more of that fluorescent ink. "I haven't eaten all day and I'm starved!"
Eric seemed to shrug off whatever he was going to say and glanced up at the boards behind him. "Well, what do you feel like?"
She offered a sheepish grin. "Anything?"
"… Anything?"
She pursed her lips, thoughtful, remembering with a slight shudder just where that particular word had ended her up earlier today. "Well, okay, not really anything. Something warm. Nibbly. Nothing too strong. Crunchy… Uh…" She paused. Her eyes strolled down the list and she felt her mouth begin to water as she struck gold. "Aha! Chips!"
Eric looked back at her as if that was one of the most absurd things he'd heard in a long time. "Just chips? That all?"
"Yeah. With sauce, though, of course."
Eric disappeared from view as he crouched behind the counter. "The sauces are here."
Yuffie mimicked the man's movements and ducked down, finding that underneath the formica of the counter's top was actually a display case for various impulse purchases. She eyed the range of sauces through the glass, clicking her tongue idly as the options turned in her mind. Ordinary old ketchup sounded good – it was one of the few sauces originating from Junon that she could stomach - as did sweet chilli. She tipped her head to the side, lifting a finger and twirling it in the air; her brain couldn't decide, so another body part was going to have to. As the movement of her hand passed over the chilli again came the telltale watering of her mouth.
She glanced at Eric through the glass and jabbed her finger in the direction of one of the packets. "That one, behind the honey mustard."
"The s.c.?"
"Yep."
Eric slid the cupboard open and pulled out a couple of small sachets. He didn't stand straight away, but kept looking at her through the double-layer of glass. "Say," he said slowly, eyes narrowing slightly, "I've been trying to place it, but you look familiar somehow."
Yuffie resisted the urge to sigh. Ugh, I hate it when this happens. She'd been blissfully lacking in people recognizing her for various reasons as of late – either because of her being the daughter of Wutai's leader, or for her involvement with Avalanche and the downfall of Sephiroth – but she hadn't missed the attention. Her father had always made a conscious effort to keep her out of the spotlight for years due to the inconvenience and trouble it had caused her family in the past, and it was namely because of that that no one had even heard hide nor hair about her wandering from home when she was sixteen until she joined Avalanche and practically threw herself into oncoming media. It had been unavoidable then – it was Midgar, after all – but things had died down finally in the past year or so, and the wake had calmed.
The glint in this 'Eric's' eye was no different to one she'd seen many times, and she had to admit she'd been lucky to avoid any press regarding the past few dramas. It never got any easier – or less annoying. Domestic attention was one thing; having little white spots in front of your eyes from the seemingly eternal flash of a reporter's camera, or finding your name printed in a bold heading above the name of some critical journalist who was a lot better at picking out her faults than his/her own, was another.
She supposed that had to have been a good thing about the old Midgar being taken down – most of the world's most notorious newspapers and networks had simply ceased to exist. Still – she turned her head to the side a little and let some of her hair fall down over her face – there were the occasional people like this. And she'd never quite known how to take it – she didn't quite have Cid's lack of regard for civility, or Barrett's 'eloquent' way with words, or Cloud or Tifa's cool. So she did what she usually did…
She winged it.
"I'm not sure?" she shot back. "Familiar features to someone you know, perhaps?"
"No, that wouldn't be it. I don't know any Wutaian women."
"Oh," she said, shrugging. "Well then, I'm not sure. Anyway!" She slapped her hand against her stomach once again as it let out another – this time convenient – gurgle. "I'm starved! How long do your chips take?"
The man stood and placed the sachets on the table and flicked his wrist at the board, still not taking his eyes off hers. "Depends. Normal fries? Say, five minutes. Wedges – either Cajun or plain? Ten, twelve minutes?"
In her mind's eye, time-wise, those wedges didn't stand a chance. "Fries," she said almost automatically, and Eric nodded and turned away, swiping a large pack of frozen chips out of the freezer while absently turning some dials on the range behind him.
"How much to you want? Half a scoop?"
"How big are they?"
"The scoops?"
"Yeah."
Eric lifted the measuring scoop for the chips and made a cutting gesture about halfway up the container. "That's half a scoop."
Yuffie stared at the 'scoop', then shook her head. "More."
"One scoop?"
"Nah, more. Erm—"
"One and a half?"
She shook her head. "Two, I think, would just about do it."
"Two scoops?" Eric looked her up and down, disbelieving. "This is just for you, isn't it? Not for Reno and the others, too, since you're staying with them?"
Yuffie's felt her jaw unhinge, and she was sure if it was physically possible it would have dropped to the floor and shattered, or perhaps even rolled and rattled around uncomfortably in the silence that followed. "Staying with them?" she asked, shaking her head emphatically, realizing that was probably what Eric had been going to ask when she'd changed the subject. "Nonono… I'm staying at a motel, and I fell asleep and haven't eaten all day… that's why I'm ordering so much! I didn't realize it was so late, that's all… "
"Ah." Eric nodded, frowning a little at her hurried reply. "I just assumed you were since you were in this neighbourhood, after all. Being friends with them, and things."
Assumptions are the mother of all fuck ups, she thought absently, wondering just where she'd heard that. Probably Cid. Or Barrett. Swearing really was their forte…
For a moment there was an uncomfortable pause, then Eric seemed to shake himself out of whatever nosy kind of puzzlement he had been previously stuck on. "So… seasoning?"
"Uh…" she murmured, putting a finger to her lips and happy for the sudden subject change. "Chicken."
"You got it."
She sat down and occupied herself with the magazine stand, distractedly pulling one off at random. She wasn't surprised to see a picture of Reeve on the cover, showing him conversing with Cloud. She checked the date upon seeing Cloud's slightly shorter hair, finding it well over a year and a half old. She put it down, tempted to shake her head at the speculatory headline that accompanied the picture. Really. The world had to know better.
She was about to try her luck for one of the yellowed newspapers when Eric's low baritone spoke out over the spit and hiss of the oil.
"So, girl… ? How do you know Reno then?"
There were a few seconds where she had absolutely no idea what to say, and she was strangely glad that this 'Eric' man was faced away from her so she could hide her initial surprise. Like it's any of his business, she thought wryly, tucking her hand back into her lap, though with the way the man had been taking the conversation she knew it had to have been coming. "Through a mutual friend," she settled on eventually, willing to keep the conversation to anything just short of the truth. "Of a sort."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. A bunch of us met them through him." She smirked, and added, "none of us really hit it off to start with, though. A lot of stress from the whole Sephiroth deal, ya know, too busy trying to look out for our own butts. It quietened down a little after that fiasco… a bit. Got the chance to know each other a little."
"I see."
"Yeah, nothing like a little bit of a life and death situation to make a couple of enemies work together," she muttered under her breath, wishing the chips would hurry up and cook themselves, or, even better, just leap right into her stomach. She was grumpy, damn it, and she wasn't in the mood to play twenty que—
"So you're just here on a holiday?"
"Kind of." She swallowed a sigh and reached into her pocket, opened her wallet and flashed the driving coupon at him. "Driving lessons."
"In Midgar?" She was fixed with a wry look, and another expression she couldn't quite place. "Oh dear…"
Yuffie blinked. "'Oh dear'?"
Eric shrugged. "It's a good place to learn to drive, I'll give you that. But it gets busy."
She paled; to be honest she hadn't put a great deal of thought toward the actual lessons yet. She'd planned on panicking when she got there, since there wasn't a lot she could do beforehand. "Oh… well, they were kind of a gift."
"Ah, well. It'll give you good driving experience."
She shuddered at the word 'experience'. She'd had enough bad memories of traveling without adding her own limited knowledge into the proverbial honey pot. But what could she do? It would be handy…
"Eh, don't worry about it!"
"Sorry?"
Eric offered her a brief wink. "You'll be fine. The driving companies aren't allowed to take you on the freeways your first few times, and that's where it really gets chaotic."
"Thank Leviathan," she sighed, with a nervous laugh, running a hand through her hair. "Because I'd probably be the one to cause most of the chaos."
"Any experience is good experience," was the cryptic reply before Eric turned away again, flicked a couple of dials on the deep fryer, pulled out the wire-grilled basket and set it out on a large metal tray. "And driving is handy," he continued, shaking the fries free of excess oil. "You don't have to rely on other people. Or the public transport system, which is still working out its kinks."
She didn't reply, just watched as her chips were dispatched onto a roll of newsprint, rolled up, salted, seasoned, and then taped on one end. The parcel was slid across the bench toward her, the sauce sachets placed on top.
"There you go, ma'am."
She stood and stepped up to the bench, grinning. She fished her wallet out of her pants. "How much?"
"Two hundred gil, usually, but since Reno sent you this way, perhaps… one hundred."
Her grin widened and she pulled her card out of its slot, handing it over. "How do you know him?"
Eric raised his eyebrow at her, shaking his head. "I'd imagine you'll find out sooner or later," he said, swiping the card and putting the purchase through before handing it back. "But it's a long story, and not one for telling now. Your stomach probably won't sit through it."
She was almost tempted to comment that he'd been nosy enough to find out about her connections to Reno and that he could at least reciprocate a little, but then immediately realized it shouldn't have mattered. What business was it of hers, anyway?
Her stomach gurgled its concurrence, long and loud.
"See?" Eric said, smiling. "It'd probably be a good idea to feed the beast. Undoubtedly I'll see you again before too long."
Puzzled, she nodded, wondering if the man was just that confident in his product or what. "Sure," she said, taking the card back and pocketing it with her wallet. She turned to go, shoving the thought from her mind. This man had her curious with his curious oddness, but right now food came first. She placed her hand on the handle of the door, set to go.
"Aha!"
Yuffie turned on her heel and cocked her head. "Hm?" she asked. "Forget something?"
"No." Eric was frowning, but there was a puzzled smile on his face. "I just remembered who you look like."
She blinked. "Thought ya said you didn't know any Wutaian women?"
"I don't. But you look awfully like that… uh… like Godo's daughter. What's her name…?"
She smiled, resigned. "Kisaragi Yuffie?"
"That's the one. You look like her, now that I think about it--"
She lifted one hand, about to do the traditional half-bow of her people, say something along the lines of 'damn, sprung', but was instead cut off by the remainder of Eric's words.
"—But you couldn't possibly be. She's not that tall. Looks quite short in the photos compared to the rest of those Avalanche people…"
Yuffie very nearly facefaulted. Two comments on her height in the space of an evening? Unheard of!
"Something wrong? Haven't you been told that before?"
She shook her head, pulling off a cheeky grin. "Yeah, all the time," she laughed, pulling on the door handle. "Too often, really. The fame gets annoying." She winked, yanking the door again. What the—
"Push it and it should open."
She sighed, reigned in her temper, tucking the comforting warmth of the chips into her arm, and pushed. The door swung open. At the rate she was going the whole world was going to think she was a brainless ditz. "I knew that."
"Sure you did, kid," Eric laughed.
"Have a good evening!"
"Morning."
"Have a good morning!" she reiterated.
"You too. Enjoy."
The chips were already ripped open and on their way down her throat by the time those last words were out.
"So, you going to share those?"
The chip stopped halfway to her mouth. She looked up, not really surprised to see Reno standing before her again. It wasn't like she'd expected him to have gone, but then it wasn't like she'd really expected him to hang around outside, either. He must really be bored. Or something. Who knew; he did live here after all.
"Well, brat?"
Yuffie shot Reno a dubious glance and purposely swallowed the chip she'd been holding. "You have a whole house-full of food, Turk," she muttered around a mouthful of processed potato. "What makes these so special?"
Reno snorted. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that forbidden fruit is twice as appealing?"
She rolled her eyes and kept the roll of chips where they were – nestled under her arm. Warm. Cosy. Safe. "You're not really convincing me, ya know."
"Who said I had to convince you?"
"Reverse psychology? I thought intimidation was a Turk's best weapon?"
The corner of Reno's mouth twitched.
Yuffie popped another chip into her mouth.
Reno smirked. "You know, I could have sent you to the other take-out store around here that isn't nearly as good as Eric's."
"Still not convinced. The food you have inside is probably three times better than chips."
"Probably," Reno acquiesced. "But then I'd have to go inside and get something when I could just steal yours."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said, reaching into the packet, getting out two chips and taking a bite. "It's not a very good idea."
"Why?" Reno took a threatening step closer. "Possessive of your food?"
She shrugged and grinned. "Something like that. I haven't eaten all day."
"And I haven't had any coffee all day."
"I knew you were screwed up, Turkey, but let me tell you now that fried potato with sweet chilli is no substitute for caffeine of any sort."
Reno wiggled his hand in a so-so gesture and took another step closer, bringing him to within just over a metre of her. He twitched a grin. "I'll take what I can get."
"Really."
"Yep."
"Go for it."
They moved at the same time – Yuffie spun to the left as Reno's arm shot out to grab for the packet. She grinned triumphantly as the action brought her closer to her motel, the open stretch now unobstructed. She spun around to face Reno as a crow of victory flew from her lips, chips still tucked under her arms, when he made another grab for them. She jumped backward, ready to flip and spin if necessary, but found the loose gravel of the driveway had other plans.
As if in some cheesy scene from a bad movie time seemed to slow down as her right foot skidded backward mid-leap. She pinwheeled her arms desperately in order to stay on her feet and before she'd realized it the chips were tossed up in the air, forgotten, and she was tipping backward, and—
"Ow, damn it!" Yuffie rubbed at her sore backside, which was undoubtedly going to be one big bruise tomorrow.
"Elegant."
She looked up at Reno from her spot on the cold off-shoot of the driveway and scowled. "Any more accurate observations you want to make, Turk?"
Reno brought the steaming packet of chips into plain sight, smirked, then pulled a couple out. "Yeah, actually," he said, eyeing the fries before turning his gaze back to her. He tossed one into the air and caught it with his mouth without any apparent conscious effort. "These chips are damned good."
"Theif!"
"That the pot calling the kettle black, now, isn't it?"
Yuffie was halfway through her rather eloquent sputtering when there came the loud popping that was commonly associated with tyres on shingle, the sound of a running engine, and the oncoming beam of two very close headlights. Her screech of protest quickly turned into one of surprise as the black car slammed to a halt several inches from her nose, dust kicking up from behind the tyres and swirling in the air as an abrupt silence followed.
Then Elena stuck her head out of the driver's window, her initial expression of shock quickly turned into a grin as she flicked a long strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Oops, sorry about that!" she said, scratching at the back of her head. "I didn't see you there – not many people take to sitting on our driveway, ya know?"
Author's Notes: Weehee! Another chapter done. Sorry about the lack of action and the slightly random ending, but this story's a little wonky in the formatting and is going to undoubtedly take a while to do it's little proverbial "kick-start" thing of doom. Sooo, until then, I hope you'll all bear with me.
Also! –dies- This chapter's review count? Holy $! 21 reviews? 21!! Seriously, it's no problem replying to all these at the bottom of the fic, but even the length of most of the reviews left me sitting there, once again, with that silly little grin on my face that betokens a good review. I just couldn't believe how many of you decided to review. And I still can't. That's why I'm still feckin' going on about it, because, you guys? Well, you all so totally rock! Enough said. XD
OH!! And, more importantly, before I go, I'm going to use my 'Author's Notes' powers of deductive evil and plug two Reffie ficlets I've read recently. Why? Because it's hard to find good Reffies. It's also hard to find good Reffie one-shots. And, it's even harder to find good Reffie one-shots on At. All.
So, without further adieu:
1.) "Royal Flush" by Akai Kuu. This fic is bloody hilarious. Yuffie and Reno's witty dialogue just goes back and forth, and it gets funnier and funnier. The characterisation of the two is just gorgeous, and, I can't stress enough, the dialogue. Because, come on, we all know we love the witty exchanges that are possible for the two.
2.) "His Kingdom For A Chocobo" by The Inimitable DA. Anyone who wants to see the equivalent of an FFVII Christmas hinted Reffie, well… you know where to go. Because, just like I said to DA, let's face it – the idea of Reno going to the trouble to get Yuffie one simply present is enough to make the average reader –Squee- with a capital 'S'. XD
Response to Reviews:
Fyria: Eek! Well, I'm bubbling that you even managed to scrape up the energy to read this chapter after being out all day. Thank you for your compliments on my characterisation of Godo! I kind of see him as similar to Yuffie herself, only more mature, seeing as there has to be someplace she got her quirky-ness from. And, well, seeing as there's no canon mother in the picture I figured it was easier to blame it on the dad. ;) And nope! No 'placid silence', just noise, arguing with Yuffie, and more stuff-ups for the brat. Goody. But apologies for the lack of action. Again. This fic might take a little while to kick-start. The sooner we get to the formal function, the better… XD
Tijuana Pirate: -waves right back at you- Weehee!! Thank you, again, for your 'glowing' at my ending. Like my ego needed another stroke. ;) And yes, Yuffie's being pretty impromptu, isn't she? Just think how much easier she would have had it if she'd checked up on Cloud and Tifa. Hehe… Cigarette…(s). I'm not sure what compelled me to put that in there, but I felt it necessary as Reno's conscience would probably try and urge him to have more than one cigarette…(s). ;) And –glomps- thanks also for your lovely comments on the Reno-POV scene. It was kind of… lethargic writing that, but I felt I had to write a little of Reno in order to a.) get back into the swing of things, and b.) demonstrate just what he'd been up to as well as Yuffie, seeing most of these chapters have focussed around her. Anyways, hope you liked this one!
Solaria735: I'm glad you agree on my rather, err, time-consuming approach to these stories. I'd actually anticipated I was going to get a lot more angry readers at the end of the last story than I did. At all. I was quite shocked with how well the ending was received, because I know people want me to put them together. And the only thing I can really say after that is "not quite yet – let me mess with them a little more". XD
S. Rena Valentine: Omg!! … Thank you for reviewing.
The Burning Misery: Yes, Finally. I'm glad you liked the first chapter. I think I should say now, since you commented on the light-heartedness, that this story isin fact, going to be a little lighter. Mostly. But that's understandable. Yuffie and Reno no longer have anyone chasing them, Yuffie's dad isn't missing, and they're both 'off duty', as it were. So that's one reason. Haha – the phone call with Cid was fun to write. I'd actually written the conversation with Cid a lot more straightforward than that, but when I read through it right afterward I realised there wasn't near enough 'Cid-slang' for my liking. And we couldn't have that – that's what makes Cid so damned fun. ;) And one-shot? –dies- I don't even think I'm capable of a one-shot. These damn chapters just keep getting longer! Oh, and, threat duly noted. This chapter, obviously, is up. So I'll take your "or else" and apply it to this coming one, too, okies?
Crystaline Dragon: Haha! I loved that bit in the game, too! Theiving bloody Kisaragi's, the lot of them. XD Thank you for your comment regarding Godo's characterisation – it's the second one I've had so I'm glad that people are receiving him well; it's always good to know when people like your characters!
Kawaii Rin-chan: Yes'm, this is the sequel. XD An hour to read it? –dies- Wow… I mean, I know you said you were doing other stuff while reading it, but it's still awfully long, isn't it? I'd hate to see what all these review responses are doing to my word count, huh? –laughs- Thank you for reviewing!
Kawaiikitsune42: -hugs- Well I couldn't not write a sequel after getting this far, eh? Don't worry, there's plenty more to come yet!
Burger: Nope, not dead! Just hibernating. ;) Thank you for your comments! Taking minor characters from things is always fun – there's less to work with and more left there for creative license. It's great– but I owe even the idea of these stories to those who started the Reffie pairing in the first place. And thank you! –curtseys- The plot is taking mucho hammering.
Mr Hypochondriac: I'm one of THOSE, huh? –cracks up- Man, seriously, the things some people say are going to go to my head one day, and it's going to inflate to the size of a balloon, lol. And yes, the first chapter is quite strange in the way that Reno and Yuffie meet up quite early on in a despicably 'coincidental' way. But I'd planned that knowing this – because that's quite a bit of what this story's going to be about, so much so that it's going to become a running joke for the two. I won't explain further otherwise I'll either give you baaad spoilers in advance, or completely ruin your confidence in me, lol, but I assure you, despite how icky it was, it's there for a rather (obscure) reason. XD And yes…(s)… Reno's anti-conscience thing was fun. Everybody loves giving Reno a little bit of grief, so why should his own mind miss out on the fun? ;) And sankyuuu for your chibi-reviews of Enough and What A Way To Spend An Evening! I'm stoaked that you enjoyed them.
Miss Kitty: -dies- at your usage of the word 'perfect'. –head threatens to implode- Yeesh, well, I know they're not perfect, but it's still fun to write them, nonetheless. And you're right – the bit with the window was fun! (Even if Yuffie's just a little to naïve about some things for her own good! XD)
Tamzin Summers: Whee for sequels! ;) And I'm glad you liked it – and also that you're "waiting patiently" for the next chapter. You'd be one of the few that hasn't said something like, "Update soon! Please! Please!!" ;)
Silverburner: Where this one goes? –cackles- We'll see. ;) And you know what? You're totally right that there's not enough Reffie-ness. There's not even enough Reffie-ness for my liking. But, unfortunately, I chose the slow way, and it's just the way the cookie crumbles. –sighs- Don't worry! I'll get there! Sometime. Soon, hopefully. ;)
Eternal Wanderer: I did indeed. Ah, well, as to the 'over 10, 000 words' thing? –dies- This story has now reached all-new levels of lengthy-ness. It's –bound- to be over 14, 000 by now, even without adding all these review replies. Lol. And you're right – Yuffie seems to bring this luck back down on herself. Even if it seems to be being repaid to her tenfold in this chapter. –laughs- Poor girl. She's going to want to never go to Midgar again at the rate she'd going. ;) And, again, you're right. Early chapters are there to set the stage, as well as the initial moods, among other things. This one's the same – getting back into the swing of things and dragging other characters in for the ride. Joy of joys. ;) And, if I still can't hammer this plot, I might just take you up on that offer, but so far it's behaving. Just.
The Inimitable DA: Whee! You're right, it got knocked off the first page. ;) And like I said, when I saw the Review Alert in my email Inbox and how it was about 14kb in size, I kind of –twitched- as I do, and then blinked a few times. ;) But anyways! –Prods- Hope you liked this chapter, even though you've already read it.
Akai Kuu: -curtseys- -hands you a nametag that has her ffnet penname scribbled on it- there! So you remember! And I don't know. Nope, I don't think he swears or smokes in the game, and yes'm! 'Tis horribly cliché, but Reno just totally hits me as a smoker, and someone that appreciates a good swear word just like me. –snerk-
Paddy's-tsunami: You read BOTH of those in one sitting? Are your eyes sore? They haven't fallen out of your head, have they? Hehe, "OMFG" is suffient for a review, yes, but the one you left me is even better. I'm glad you're enjoying the characterisation, too! There's nothing quite like writing a chapter and getting reviews like this, especially when you hear they like the way you've written the players. XD And yes, the relationship is going slow. Very slow. Bu-ut, if you strangle me, then I can't get the next one out! J/k. ;) Proverbially strangle me as much as you like, lol, if it's going to get that frustration out of the way. And, totally,WAY more tennis-paced dialogue in this chapter than in the last, I assure you! Hope you enjoyed it!
Yuffie Kisaragi2: Gravy indeed. ;) Le update is here.
Angel Yuffie: -does the happy dance with you- I'm just stoaked I managed to get the next chapter out! -has updated- Enjoy!
Crystal Snowflakes: Thanks! Obviously, here's the next chapter! ;) Hope it's not too dull for your liking. XD
AshleyYata: Thank ye. And romance? Well, you need to specify, really. ;) J/k. Yes, there will be. But we have to get to it. And then there's the matter of when. In case you haven't noticed, it's not moving fast between these two, and we need to create a teensy wee bit of meddling with other characters before we get to that point. So, until then, cross your fingers and toes for me! I want to get to the Reffie bits, too, let me assure you. :)
… … Until next time!
-- Ealinesse, (who is cursing incessantly at ffnet for taking out all of herfeckin' smiliesfrom her review responses upon her document upload, but is too lazy to replace them.).