Chapter 5
"I want you four on permanent standby for when the unknown life form shows up again." said Tseng as we sat in the Briefing Room, our suits all muddy from the sudden downpour that happened while we were only a few minutes from the chopper on our last mission. I crossed my arms across my chest and shook my hair out, splattering Eva in water droplets.
"Watch it." she warned as she wrung her ponytail out. I stuck my tongue out at her and stood up.
"Well if you don't mind me, I'm going to change before I catch a cold." I said and walked out into the hall.
"Ari, wait up." Said a voice behind me and I turned slightly to see Reno run up beside me.
"Mind if I tag along?" he asked as he jammed his hands into his pockets, "all my suits have gone to shit." He said with a grin.
"Then go put on some normal clothing." I said and began walking away from him.
"You're not even going to offer me a warm towel? Ouch, babe. You sure know how to make a man feel loved, yo." He said as he pretended to be mortally wounded.
"Fine, you can use my towels but you're responsible for washing them after." I said and led Reno to my apartment. I opened the door and Reno let out a low whistle.
"Damn, this is a nice place ya got, yo. How much is the President makin' you pay?" Reno asked as he clasped his fingers together behind his head.
"I don't pay for it. Tseng gave it to me." I said and threw my wet jacket on the kitchen table, "the bathroom is down the hall if you want some warm towels." I said, waving my fingers in mock quotations when I said 'warm towels'. Reno grinned and nearly ran to the bathroom. I guess he must have been cold. I thought as I walked to my kitchen and turned on my electric kettle.
"Reno, did you want some coffee!" I yelled. There was a brief silence before Reno responded.
"Yeah, I'll take one, yo. Just black would be great." He yelled back. I smiled as I spooned some coffee beans into two mugs. Faintly, I heard the bathroom door close and the loud thud of Reno's feet against the hardwood floor.
"It should be done in a few minutes." I said as I turned around. My eyes widen as I looked at Reno. The lanky red head stood in my living room with nothing but a white towel wrapped around his thin waist. I felt my heart begin to race as I stood staring at him.
"Hey, Ari?" he asked, bringing my eyes up to his face rather than his chest. He gave me a toothy grin as he ran his fingers through his hair, "is it a little cold in here?" he asked and I titled my head to the side in a silent question. The red head's grin widened and he nodded down to my chest. I looked down and immediately blushed madly.
"You fucking pervert!" I shouted as I wrapped my arms over my chest and ran to my bedroom. I had completely forgotten what happens to white shirts whenever they get wet and cold. With a sigh, I pressed my back against the wall and unbuttoned my shirt.
"If makes you feel any better," Reno shouted from the living room, "I think purple looks fuckin' stunning' around those gorgeous tits." I looked down again to see if had gotten the color of my bra right, which he did. I wacked the back of my head against my door for being so stupid, I'm a girl; I should remember this kind of stuff.
"Whatever, at least he didn't see anything else." I mumbled to myself as I slowly began to strip myself of the wet and damp clothing. I quickly grabbed a black bra and matching underwear and slipped them on under a pair of baggy light grey track pants and a navy blue tank top. Before I left my room, I looked at myself in the mirror. Everything looked fine except for my hair. It was a mass of brown and blue curls thanks to the rain. I pouted at my reflection for a bit but then grabbed an elastic band from my dresser and tamed my hair into a messy bun.
"Finally, I thought you had died of embarrassment in there, yo." Reno said as he lounged in a rather provocative position on my couch. I gave him the middle finger before returning to the kitchen where the kettle sat with steam emanating from under the lid. I poured the water into the cups and brought them into the living room as Reno was still sprawled out across my couch. I handed him the cup and he grinned at me.
"Thanks babe." He said and sat the cup on the stand beside the arm rest, "so if we don't get called out tonight, do ya want to hang at my place?" he asked and I peered up from my mug.
"Sounds boring." I stated and took a sip of my coffee.
"Aw come on, I got booze and smokes. What could be more fun?" he asked rhetorically.
"Shooting myself in the foot." I joked and Reno pouted.
"That's not nice, yo." He huffed and I smiled.
"Fine, Mr. Pouty Pants, I'll go." I said and Reno instantly lightened up. He grinned as he pushed himself up from his reclining position and I fought not to look as the towel around his waist parted a bit.
"Ya can look if ya want to." Reno said seductively and I glared at him. It was hard to hide little things from Reno, no matter hard you tried, and he always found out if you were trying to look away or if you were trying to look.
"I'm fine, thanks." I said, trying to cover up my red face with my mug. Reno laughed and then drank the contents of his mug in one swallow.
"I better get back to my place. I have a few things to do. I'll come get you around 8, ok babe?" he asked and I shrugged.
"Whatever works for you; just as long as I get my towels back when you're done with them." I said and looked back at him. He grinned and nodded before he made his way to the door. He opened it just a crack only to be greeted with a kick to the shin. The older Turk grumbled and swore as he rubbed his abused knee cap as the door swung open. Eva stood with her hands over her eyes.
"Jesus Reno, could you at least wear some underwear." She complained as she walked over to my couch. She looked down at the wet mark where Reno's head was placed and raised her eyebrow at it.
"It's worse than I thought," she turned to Reno, "I swear if Ari gets pregnant then your ass is going to be hanging from my fireplace." She joked and Reno grinned.
"What the hell?" I asked as I threw a pillow at Eva's head.
"Trust me, devil woman, I always pull out." Reno said and ran out of my apartment as a coffee cup was hurled at his head. I shook my head as Eva kicked the door shut.
"What a little shit." She said and flopped down on the couch opposite the water mark. I glared at her and took a sip of my coffee.
"We didn't do anything, I hope you know." I said and Eva nodded.
"Yeah, I know. I just wanted him to leave without asking any questions." She said with a smile and I glared at her, "What?" she asked, feigning innocence.
"You owe me a new coffee cup." I snarled as I finished drinking my coffee. My friend smiled at me and shrugged. I raised my eyebrow at her and got up from where I was sitting.
"So what the hell was Reno doing here in just a towel?" Eva asked with a rising suspicion that Reno and I were doing the dirty. I rolled my eyes as I set my cup in my sink then turned to Eva with my hands on my hips.
"If you really need to know, Ms. I-Like-To-Be-In-Everyone's-Business, he made me feel bad for not offering him something warm after the downpour," I said and held my hands up in mock surrender, " shoot me for being nice." I said and walked over to pick the broken shards of the coffee mug off the floor. I heard Eva sigh behind me.
"Someone's grumpy." She said and I gave her the finger from over my shoulder. after a few seconds of silence, I stood up and discarded the shards into the garbage. "how are you anyways? I mean being cold and all." She asked and I smiled. Always count on Eva to worry over me even though I was in a shitty mood.
"I'm sluggish, oh so very sluggish." I said and plopped down into the chair across from Eva.
"It makes sense. Snakes have the tendency to become less active in cold weather." Eva said and I raised my eyebrow at her then shook my head with a smile.
"Leave it to the country bumpkin to know the tendencies of animals." I jibbed and Eva stuck her tongue put at me.
"Maybe I should leave you to get some sleep." She said as she stood up. I nodded enthusiastically as I yawned with my arms stretched above my head. Eva chuckled a bit and then left with a small goodbye. I rubbed my knuckle into my eye in an attempt to keep myself from falling asleep on the chair. With a little grunt I got up off the chair and shuffled to my bedroom. Seeing my bed was like seeing heaven; a comfy, warm, soft little piece of heaven. I sighed heavily as I remembered how warm the four comforters on my bed felt and I quickly crawled straight under the covers. A smile plastered my face as my body began to tingle with warmth and as soon as my head hit the down filled pillow, I was out.
Rain steadily beat down on the city as the people rushed through the streets to take shelter from the sudden downpour but the two shadowy bundles in the alleyway sat with no place to go. One, a female with long, matted honey brown hair, sat with her back pressed against the rough, brick wall while a taller but younger and frailer girl huddled next to her. The frail girl let out a weak cough causing the older girl to reach over and rub her back, her face knitted with worry and worn through with anxiety.
"Here, drink this. It should help." Said the older one and handed the younger girl a bottle that contained a few drops of water. The younger shook her head, her ratty brown and blue hair wilting lifelessly over her small and gaunt face. "god damn it, drink it Ari." The older one said and forced the bottle into Ari's hands. From under the chestnut brown nest, two cerulean eyes that had once been filled with happiness now peered up at the older one with fatigue and dread.
"But what about you, Eva?" asked Ari and Eva smiled lightly, though with the exhaustion and lack of sleep, it turned into more of a grimace.
"You need it more than I do." She said softly and Ari hesitantly sipped from the bottle. In the silence, Eva heard Ari sigh with relief as the tiny trace of water calmed the rage in her throat. Eva looked up at the sky as it began to faintly get lighter and lighter, signaling the approach of dawn. She sighed and looked down at her sickly friend who had fallen asleep thanks to the mild sedative that Eva had slipped into the water.
"I can get your friend help." said a smooth and monotonous voice. Eva, being more vigilant then her sleeping friend, quickly jumped into a crouched position; her trusty but rusted knife in her hand. She looked forward at where the voice came from and a man, no more than 25, stood in a black suit with his arms clasped behind his back. Eva looked him up and down. He didn't look menacing, with his jet black hair pulled into a tight ponytail and his eyes of deep obsidian but Eva knew better than to trust people based on their looks alone. She gripped her knife tighter and cautiously took a step to the side to block the man from Ari. The man stared at her, waiting for an answer. "Well?" he asked, his voice not changing. He tried to take a step towards the two disheveled girls but a sudden flash made him stop, his eyes widening at the two gossamer black wings that had protruded from Eva's back.
"Don't come any closer." Eva warned, her teeth becoming pointed. The outside of her eyes had also become darker and she now resembled a grotesque but somehow beautiful mix between a human and a raven. The sides of the man's mouth curled upwards a bit.
"I'm not here to cause harm. I've heard much about you two," he said and brought his arms out from behind his back. In one hand he held a sheet of paper. He looked down at it. "Names, Evangileon Ashrin Talia Hayate and Arizia Zayel Akane; two girls, both homeless, seen around the Slums causing crimes and mischief. Both of their parents were part of the Science department, used as testing subjects. Evangileon tested with raven and fox DNA and Arizia tested with wolf and snake." The man said and Eva looked away from his cold gaze. "you've been causing a storm in the department where I work." He said and Eva glared at him.
"And where might that be?" she snarled.
"I work for the Department of Administrative Research, otherwise known as the Turks." He said and Eva flinched.
"So you work for ShinRa?" she sneered and the man closed his eyes and tilted his head down a bit.
"I wouldn't exactly say it in that sense but yes, I work for ShinRa." Eva lowered herself.
"We're never heading back there so what do you want with us?" she asked in a low voice. The man crouched down to look her in the eye.
"You and your friend are a valuable asset for any organization to have," he said and Eva narrowed her eyes at the man, "My name is Tseng and I'm offering you two a chance to lead a more comfortable lifeā¦"
