Chapter 3

The Help

"Ga-what? Our planet?" Yuffie sputtered. Gaia? She didn`t hear that right. She couldn`t have.

"The spirit of our planet, the creator of the Weapons; a deity, if you will. Gaia." Rufus explained, shooting Reno a cautionary look. Yuffie decided the dapper blond was far too calm about this. Calmer than a person had the right to be in such a situation. It may not be Materia per se, but she was going to steal it, whatever it was. Rufus could bet his posh backside she was, which is why it was a very bad idea for him to be telling her all this. Yuffie was already scheming and plotting the details; she`d put on something provocative and feline, then seduce that big old geek Reeve so he`d tell her everything she needed to know in order to use this device. Fool-proof plan, she decided. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk…

Yuffie snapped out of her trance as Rufus cleared his throat.

"So," she said, leaning forward with renewed interest, "can you elaborate on the whole 'summoning a god' thing?"

Rufus sipped his tea, apparently possessing all the time in the world. Did he not realise Yuffie Kisaragi had places to be, people to see, ancient artefacts to steal… Besides, she wasn`t exactly known for her patience, and she let him know just that by drumming her fingers impatiently on the armrest once more.

"No." He said it casually, watching in satisfaction as Yuffie`s greedy, impish grin subsided.

"No?" She scrunched her forehead, leaning forward as if hard of hearing. "You said you`d tell me what it is and what it does!"

"And I have," Rufus said simply. "The Cetra developed this device, which we believe communicates with the planet, in the way a true Cetra could. We are not sure why this device was created. We can merely speculate." He placed his tea on the table, and examined Yuffie`s betrayed expression.

"Why tell me? I`m sure you`ve heard of my track record with Materia. Especially rare and awesome Materia..." she said as she trailed off, watering at the mouth. Rufus allowed a tiny smile to surface on his handsome features.

"Oh," Yuffie added. "And I don`t buy that bullshit about sparing Reeve the trouble. He loves my demanding presence!"

Rufus chuckled, though his face remained largely impassive. "No, you are quite right, Yuffie. I`m sure Reeve is quite fond of your prying nature. Regardless, this is information you no doubt would have managed to, ah, force out of him somehow. I have told you what it is and what it does. It is an ancient device which enables the user to call upon the entity named as 'Gaia'. It is not a Materia." His tone indicated that this information was final; Yuffie was thoroughly disappointed.

"That`s all? But what does it do?" she moaned. "Why even tell me?" She grabbed her hair and shot him a look of frustration.

"Cloud would never have opened that package, thus would have never been privy to its contents." Rufus said, with a certain bite to his voice.

"However…" he continued, "you examined the contents of my parcel without permission. You then sloppily wrapped it up again, possibly thinking I would not know how meticulously Reeve likes to wrap. Therefore, I am afraid I cannot pay Strife Delivery for their services at this time," he stated flatly.

"…You what now?" Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "That`s ridiculous. If it weren`t for me and my awesomeness, you wouldn`t even have your stupid thingy-bob." She rolled her eyes.

"Besides, how do you know how neatly Reeve wraps stuff?" She arched a suggestive eyebrow.

A cynical laugh escaped Rufus`s throat. "He always managed to pull my name during the annual Secret Shiva present swap at the company. Thus, I received many a present from Reeve over the years. The man takes great pride in his wrapping, Miss Kisaragi."

Yuffie just stared. "Uh, wow, that`s…yeah…" She finished with a snort. A brief awkward silence ensued between them. However, she was sure the awkwardness was mostly from her perspective, seeing as Rufus didn`t seem uncomfortable at all, sipping his tea. Always so sure of himself, she thought.

"It`s Yuffie, by the way. Just Yuffie," she said, attempting to break the silence, whilst still coming to terms with Reeve`s wrapping hobby. Reeve had never given her a neatly wrapped present. She added a mental note to reprimand him and demand a present next time she saw him.

Rufus smirked. "Yuffie, then," he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Or, if you prefer," she continued, holding up a finger. "White Rose of Wutai, Ninja Extraordinaire, Sexy Materia Goddess-,"

"Indeed, Yuffie," Rufus interrupted hastily and cleared his throat."I have a proposition for you. I will forget that you opened my parcel if you do me a personal favour. It is of a somewhat intimate nature and would require you to spend some time around here," he said.

Yuffie choked. Was this guy for real? Intimate nature? Spending time? Bribery?

"Ah, grossness! You pervert!" She launched herself from her seat and faced Rufus with her hands on her hips.

Rufus frowned as he also stood, shaking his head slowly.

"You misunderstand." Annoyance flashed in his eyes. "My maid is visiting her son in Mideel this weekend, and I require a temporary replacement for a couple of days."

Yuffie`s jaw hit the floor. "Manual labour? Me?" She let out a hearty, derisive laugh. She may actually have preferred the alternative, even though it was never actually an alternative, except in her gutter mind... She was about to tell him exactly how she felt about being his help when Rufus stepped over to her and leaned in close. She could smell his cologne; it was masculine without being too heavy or overpowering, and something about his smell made her knees weak. Her pulse hastened and she hated herself for it.

"These are my terms, White Rose," Rufus said, leaning even closer to whisper her title in her ear. His warm breath on her neck made her shiver, and her sudden rigidity did not go unnoticed by Rufus.

"Feeling cold?" he asked, a self-satisfied grin present on his dapper features.

"I`m fine," Yuffie huffed in indignation.

"As for my terms?" Rufus pressed.

"Fine. Douchebag…" She muttered under her breath.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I accept your terms." A certain mischievous glee was back in her eyes.

"So, Mr Shinra, would you like me to start ironing your unmentionables, or should I take out the trash first? It`s starting to reek..." She gestured towards the Turks and flashed Reno a crooked grin, one that the redhead returned sarcastically. Rufus cocked an eyebrow in response.

"Your wit is appreciated, Yuffie, but you can begin preparing food. Please do not poison it; you will of course have to eat the same food." He inclined his head towards her right, indicating the direction of the kitchen. Muttering several more profanities under her breath, she stomped off before they witnessed the true wrath of the Great Ninja Yuffie.

"Yo, boss," drawled the lazy voice of Reno. "Not to err…question your authority or whatever, but uh…"

Rufus turned towards him, wearing an apathetic expression. Reno cleared his throat.

"Am I the only one who remembers that shit with her and AVALANCHE in Wutai way back when we got rid of Corneo?" Reno then turned to Rude, who grunted. The redhead snapped his head back to Rufus, as if a point had been proven.

"I don`t know if I like her knowing of that thing`s existence," Reno continued, gesticulating wildly. "Let alone what it is. And that brat cooking for us? Cleaning my underwear? She`ll probably even iron my shirts and make them look all...corporate-like." Reno shuddered as he talked.

"Hmph," said Rufus. There was a time when he would not have allowed his subordinate to question his authority. Ruling the world with fear? What had he been thinking?

"She doesn`t know the details, she knows nothing of what one could achieve with this artefact, and neither does Cloud." Rufus lowered his voice slightly as he spoke. "Even if they did, that bothersome moral compass they all seem to live by would prevent them from utilising the device`s full potential," Rufus said as he flicked his hair.

"Besides, Reno, unless you would like to try your hand at cooking and cleaning around here, I suggest you let me take advantage of this girl`s curiosity. Evidently, she`d much rather serve the former president of Shinra than have Cloud know she nearly lost him a wealthy client..." The white-clad man grinned darkly as Reno smirked in his usual Reno way.

"I like your style, boss! 'Take advantage', huh?" The redhead let out a suggestive whistle. Rufus tensed and narrowed his eyes at the Turk.

He approached Reno slowly, though his stride contained some menace. "I may be many things, Reno, some good…some bad," he gave Reno a chilling stare. "But I am not a sexual deviant."

Reno swallowed, but quickly recovered under Rufus`s withering stare.

"Sure, boss." He gave Rufus a meaningful wink. Rufus inhaled deeply as he reached inside his coat to pull out his shotgun. Realising that he had perhaps pushed the boundaries a bit too far (again), Reno yelped and scurried for the door as Rufus lazily took aim.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Yuffie snapped her head towards the door as she heard a high-pitched scream coming from somewhere in the house. She recognised it as Reno`s voice, although a couple of octaves higher than his usual nasal whine.

She pondered for a moment if she should check it out.

"Nah." She shrugged indifferently after a moment of thought for the redhead. Yuffie cracked an egg in the frying pan and stared in disinterest at the sputtering egg white slowly turning solid. She had enough going on; not only would she have to find a way to gather more information on this device, she would also have to come up with a plan on how to get her hands on the thing itself. She was slightly concerned about Cloud`s reaction to all of this if he found out she had violated his cherished confidentiality clause. The keyword being if he found out… so maybe she shouldn`t involve him in this, just yet. That would mean her plan to seduce Reeve with her natural charm and amazingness would have to wait too, in case Reeve blabbed to Cloud about it.

She cursed the Turks, Rufus and her own endless curiosity for all this thinking that she now had to do; thinking was definitely her least favourite pastime. Aside from housekeeping, of course. Yep, she could always rely on her inquisitive nature to land her in some sort of trouble.