A/N: Sorry! Sorry! Sorry to all 5 people who read this. It's been too long, I know. I probably should have posted something to this during smut-tober over on AO3 and Tumblr, but that's over and now there's a new chapter ready to go. As usual, soundtrack related stuff at the bottom.
Zidane turned in his sleeping bag, sighing as his roaming hand felt nothing but a wooden floorboard. It had been kind enough for Mrs Gainsborough to provide something for them to sleep on besides the cold floor, the plastic on the outside still felt strange against the blond's skin yet it did more than an adequate job of keeping the Genome warm for his first night in a new world, but he couldn't help but ache at the lack of company next to him. Elmyra had a somewhat traditional view of relationships between young people, especially involving her daughter, and while Dagger was allowed to sleep in Aerith's room Zidane was stuck outside, the flower seller had offered to be the one to sleep in the hallway but glares from Elmyra had struck down the idea quickly and there was only room for one person to sleep on the landing, any more and someone would no-doubt be rolling down the stairs in the middle of the night.
It had been nearly a year since the last time he had slept alone, if he slept at all in his cross-continent trek to Alexandria, but then it had been the desire to see Dagger again that pushed him forward through those rough weeks. Now? His Queen was barely the other side of a door, he could hear her mumble in her sleep, he would see her again at sunrise or however people found out it was morning in Midgar, but it hurt all the same not to see her sleeping face whenever he opened his eyes. "Just relax..." he tried to tell himself, burrowing under the artificial covers and trying to close his eyes.
Morning arrived both too early and too late for his liking: The night was too long to stay away from his wife, but it was always too early to be awoken by what could only be described as a hellish buzzing, as though a nest of Hornets had learned to buzz angrily in sync with each other. "Mgh, ngh, nyaaa..." he moaned, tossing and turning as his eyes reluctantly focused, trying to find the source of the disturbance before flopping back down in hopes that it would go away if he pulled a pillow over his ears. A false hope shared by nearly everyone who had ever lived with a digital alarm clock. Conceding the fact that he wasn't going to get any more rest, Zidane pulled himself out of the covers with a yawn, his tail trailing in the bag for a few extra moments of warmth before it flinched away from the cold flooring as he headed downstairs in search of food.
"So, what's the plan?" He asked when Dagger joined him, instantly moving her stool next to his as she poured out a bowl of muesli, while the two were trying not to jump into each other's arms it was clear that her night had gone little better, even if she was willing to take a few moments to brush her hair before coming down compared to Zidane, who was looking even fuzzier in the morning than normal.
"Well first, we're going to need clothes," Dagger began, making a quick hand motion to Zidane as Elmyra made her way to join them. The Queen doubted Mrs Gainsborough would have approved of her adoptive daughter's idea to infiltrate Shinra Tower, it was difficult enough to convince them to let her take her to the surface at all "Something appropriate for the location." She said, keeping her tone refined yet casual, as though they weren't plotting anything at all.
"Sounds good, there's got to be a tailor or something around here," Zidane yawned "Do you know anywhere to get new outfits Mrs Gainsborough?" he asked politely.
"There's usually some stalls in the market in the main area." She replied curtly as Aerith dashed downstairs, bow already tied, fully dressed and ready to roll out.
"Alright! So! Who's with me?" She demanded, beaming at the somewhat confused expressions "To do some shopping, obviously." The brunette clarified.
"Umm... food first?" Zidane suggested, pointing at his half-eaten pastry.
"Oh, right! Food. Yes, food first. Food's important." Aerith mumbled out, rifling through the food storage to find something quick to eat and drink, even stuffing a juice box into her pocket as a backup in case she sprinted out only half way through breakfast.
"What's gotten into you today Aerith?" Elmyra asked with a suspicious eye.
"Nothing!" Lied Aerith, obviously "Just that now we've got an extra pair of hands that's good at climbing, he could repair that hole in the roof of the church." this lie went over a lot better, but still had the structural strength of the foil around a baked potato.
"Repair it with what?" Came the response, puncturing a person sized hole in Aerith's story.
"There's enough sheet metal going around, probably pick up one of those, still got money from yesterdays flowers so we can get some tools for it." Zidane answered with a mouth full of food, pulling Mrs Gainsborough away from Aerith's expression that resembled a deer on a chocobo racetrack., even if it did cause her to scowl and Dagger to roll her eyes at her husband's table manners.
"Just be careful, that roof is high enough to seriously hurt you if you fall." Elmyra warned, moderately disgusted yet satisfied with the blond's explanation.
"Ahhh, got it," Zidane swallowed, smiling at the relief on Aerith's face and patting his fist against his chest "I'm fine high up, kinda comes with the monkey territory. Probably don't need much though, it's not as if you get rain down here, or as if people make a habit of falling through church roofs."
Breathing a sigh of relief as the door shut behind the three, Aerith once again took charge as they headed towards the market, running off all the possible disguise options they could get "Ooh! Oooh, maybe there's a black turtle-neck jumper we can use to sneak in, tactically. The Tactile-neck!" She suggested as Zidane went through the rails of clothing.
"Eeeh," Zidane grunted in a non-committal manner. He had been looking for something like one of the blue suits Reno had worn, the red-head seemed to be somewhat of a big-wig with them if Zidane was any judge and while the Genome had very little experience with the fashion of this world beyond cursory glances he didn't reckon much on the selection in Sector 5. Although the glowing green marbles from one of the stalls did look more interesting, even if the vendor had attached them to the back of his hand for some reason.
"Anything else we could use beside outfits?" Dagger asked, sliding the last coat-hanger along the rusting rail with a huff, she was also struggling to find something that fit and looked respectable at the same time.
Aerith on the other hand was almost finished, having quickly gone for a full length pink dress with a red jacket that was too small in the arm, not even covering up to her elbows before topping it off with a pair of brown hiking boots that went with absolutely nothing else but were durable and comfortable while only costing 50 gil. "Well, maybe we could buy some materia, but they're expensive." She suggested, slinging a large paper bag over her shoulder and pointing to the stall Zidane's eyes had been wandering to.
"Weren't those the stones that the man used against Zidane last evening?" Dagger whispered, picking up on the pale green orbs.
"They're pretty useful, the Green ones do magic and... that's about all I know about them," Aerith admitted sheepishly under the Queen's inquisitive look "I have a white one in my ribbon but it doesn't do anything but look pretty."
600 gil was more money than anything else cost down in the slums, but the stall was busy regardless, the vendor seemed to be raking it in with demonstrations of minor magics, 5 gil to watch a flame jump around the stall harmlessly, 25 to heal a cut with Cure, it was a niche the vendor had carved out so well that he was actually surprised when Zidane dumped enough money for 3 pieces: one Ice, one Fire and one Cure. "Hope that was worth it," he sighed, holding the green orbs between his fingers. "Can you show us how to use 'em?"
Aerith took the task with a smile, slotting one into a little nook carved out of her self-protection staff that Elmrya had given her for protection "Okay, so you've just got to focus, and let the voice you hear guide you," she explained to the Queen and King as they stood in their impromptu practice ground on the church steps "It takes a while to get used to but eventually it only takes a few seconds for it to cast the spell."
"So we have to listen to the voice that tells us to burn things, got it." Zidane joked, taking a small pleasure as Aerith puffed her cheeks out in frustration while Dagger was already making a person-sized ice sculpture in front of her.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can keep using these." The queen said, handing the orb back to Zidane.
"But that was really impressive!" Aerith argued.
"It's giving me a headache, perhaps because I can already cast magic a different way is causing a problem." Dagger sighed, shaking her head as her ice sculpture faded into a small pile of snow.
"So... kinda like riding those Gargants, easy enough but you're upside down for it so it's gonna make your head spin if you keep at it for too long." Zidane reasoned.
"What's a Gargant?" Asked Aerith.
"Long story." Came the dismissive reply from both Zidane and Garnet.
"So we've got a bit of extra magic to help us, but still no clothes. Is there anywhere else we can try?" asked the Genome, tapping the back of one boot with his other foot "Without going back to the surface? Don't think that's a good idea if we're looking to raid the tower." he added, reading Aerith's expression.
"Another sector perhaps?" Garnet suggested "If this is number five it stands to reason there's other areas that might have their own markets."
"Hmmm..." Aerith hummed, lost in thought "Well, we could try walking to Seven. The road's a bit ruined and there's monsters everywhere but we should be pretty safe."
"Monsters everywhere, does not equal safe." Zidane pointed out.
"Well, other people go there," Aerith snapped defensively "a lot of people seem to walk through sector 6 and they come back fine."
"If they're willing to brave monster-infested routes perhaps there is something valuable on the other side." Dagger thought out loud, something Aerith took as an agreement.
"Perfect! Let's go!" She cheered, throwing up her arm in victory.
It had been a rough morning of training for a certain member of SOLDIER. Ever since his run in and subsequent fight with the short blond thief he knew he had been missing a step. His sword swings were slower than they normally were, and every so often his muscles twitched, a grim reminder of the brief battle if the scars on his hands weren't enough. Still, he didn't think it was going so badly that it needed a check-up from Professor Hollander. "Just relax and take a seat on the medical chair," the man in the lab coat said, not even turning to look at the 3rd class who'd just entered, instead keeping fixed eyes on a set of vials in front of him.
"Yes sir." the SOLDIER replied, sweeping off his helmet and letting his buzz-cut black hair show, taking the time to ease himself into the dentists chair that occupied most of Hollander's medical office that was his base of research, a bottle of Banora Apple juice rested by the sink alongside many ring-binders all labelled "Project G" scattered across the desks.
"So," the professor began, smacking a few buttons and letting the scanner fall in place "Drop in performance, continual muscle twitches, anything else you can tell?" He asked, casually rattling off the symptoms to his latest patient.
"Uh yes... I mean no, sir. Nothing beyond those two things, sir." the SOLDIER replied, sweating under the bright lights even in the cold atmosphere of Hollander's office. It was said he liked to keep it cold so he could leave drink bottles out without them getting warm, but all it was doing was putting the patient on edge.
"Right, right..." Hollander dismissed, keeping his attention between the vials and his computer screen "Okay, looks like some of the electricity's managed to trap a nerve and that's causing the twitching," he explained to which his patient just nodded. He was the one with the lab coat after all. "So what I'm going to do is give you this potion right now," Hollander continued "It's going to suck taste-wise and hurt like hell for a half a minute but it should settle things. Get you back in the fight." He continued as the sound of pouring liquids. The chair swivelled round with barely a whirr and almost threw the SOLDIER out of it as it snapped upright in a brief moment, letting the 3rd class look at the smile hidden beneath the beard as he took a red vial and drank it quickly.
He was expecting it taste disgusting and was not disappointed, it seemed all his body wanted to do was cough it back out, violently. Every part of him seemed to try and reject it, forcing him to lunge forward onto the office floor, pain searing through his scalp as he felt bone and muscle change below his skin, red lightning crackling between his fingers as he rolled onto his back, wracked in agony "Prof...professor..!" He coughed on the floor, Hollander's casual smile turning into a vicious grin as he stood above the pain-stricken SOLDIER eyes blurring into a sheet of red.
"Don't worry," he said, reaching down to grasp a crackling hand with a gloved arm "It's almost over, nothing to worry about in the long term. Although your uniform's probably ruined, good thing I carry a spare or two in the storage here." The professor said as he escorted the patient back to the medical chair, new hairs sprouting through the shaved sides in a shade of reddish-brown.
"Isn't that right, Genesis?"
Okay additional note: according to the timeline on FF Wiki, I have cocked up by having Cloud be in Shinra before the Wutai war ends. It doesn't make that much of a difference but when you've tried to at least somewhat stick to the timeline, finding the point where you messed up can be really annoying. ...but I'm not taking out that bit about Cloud in chapter 5. Also, stuff is happening! Kinda. It's less of a slow boil at my rate and more chucking a Signal Flare into a Swimming Pool.
Soundtracks:
Morning in sector 5 - FFIX OST "One Problem Solved"
Dr Hollander's office - Team Fortress 2 Soundtrack "More Gun (Version 1)"
1st Class Copy - Persona 4 OST "Edge Of Madness"