Shinra Masquerade

Chapter 5

A lupine's reprimand

He was... very educated... Elena cringed away from the thoughts of her meeting with the "mad scientist". Educated and stuck up, and if he wasn't so freakishly tall she would have wagered good gill that he was Hojo. But no, the scientist wasn't, and a number of things tipped her off to that fact. One, well one he was too perfect the scholar. He was acquainted with every modern theory to come around last week, even the ones that were pure mummery, and he couldn't distinguish between one and the other. Second -and most telling- was the voice was a product of a voice distorter, and the only reason she recognized it was that there was a faint hiss of static every time the Scientist spoke. Sipping at her cup of coffee, Elena decided what the hell; she needed a full wake up call after all that dry talk. She held her face over it and let the fumes get to her head. That helped to clear away the proverbial dust that had gathered there, and the taste wasn't half bad. Taking a sip she watched at Phoenix and Scientist cheerily talked mako theory into the dirt. Another sip was indulged upon, the faint taste of cream and granular texture a scoop of sugar was making a drink she considered horribly one sided more versatile than normal. Between sips she watched the chocobo feathered Phoenix swish his tail feathers and pull a dance that was clearly meant to be scandalous. A distinct lack of grace made it appear more comical than anything else. The oversized "talons" probably had a lot to do with that than a lack of true grace. The scientist responded to the free show in a screechy voice, and the Scientist's lecture was akin to one that an offended school marm might give. Elena cracked a small grin at the sight, even though the raised voice of "Hojo" was trying on the ears.

The meetings mutual host seemed half inclined to amuse his guests and wholly inclined to amuse himself. A little selfish in that, Elena noted, but it was a restrained selfishness.

She decided that whoever this Phoenix was she wasn't going to be mad at him from dragging her away from an ordinary night's entertainment -which was just fancy talk for a night spent drinking with Reno and Rude.

Lights, more of the recalled type, were strung across the ceiling, giving the illusion of stars. The normal neon lights were left off, and only the flickering Christmas lights provided illumination. The gloom was soothing though, and after a long time just sitting and looking she was able to make out the whole of the room, though the details were a bit fuzzy. Long tables that were covered with all types of food held prominence in the center of the room. The tables had long benches attached, and the wheels that served as leg ends suggested that they were meant to be temporary. She found the large number of chairs odd, their placement even odder. Most were folded and stacked against the back wall, but amongst them was something that clearly did not fit the description of chair or table. Tucked in one corner, half hidden by the gloom was a squat black box. The Wolf in Rufus' clothes was besides that box, idly running a hand over it's top. Seeing Elena's gaze he or she nodded then waved a hand in invitation.

Taking the coffee cup with her, Elena accepted the offer. Red tinted glass eyes watched her approach, the gleamed with false ferocity in the off green light that came off from above. As she approached she half expected to be met half way. He didn't move, merely set one hairy hand on the top of the box and leaned against it. No nod, no raspy salutation, no mocking growl, the Wolf didn't act the least wolfish. Her assumptions and expectations fell to the dust as the lupine's silence stretched on and on, and continued even when she introduced herself and offered him/her a hand.

The massive shaggy head tilted to the side, the long snout was motionless, but the skill itself was mobile... or at least it responded and set the whole face to swiveling when the head moved. A face covering than, and perhaps a wig atop that to add to the facade of size and shagginess. The broad shoulders underneath… those were not fake. Just the way the Wolf had moved earlier when baiting the "scientist" or greeting the phoenix had told her as much.

She tried again. "Hello."

Only silence and staring answered her salutation.

"You don't talk then?"

That brought forth a nod, and though she couldn't see the face under the mask she had the impression that whoever was under the facade was wearing a smile as well as faux fur.

"And do I know you so well that you're scared I'll recognize your voice? Even if you act like Phoenix does and change your act every other second?" She laughed at the Wolf's small nod. "Don't worry, God, I should know everyone where... or at least I think I should. But I don't. So far everyone that's come is a pretty good actor. I'm going to be guessing all night."

A small jerk of the head, a minute shake, that was the Wolf's response, but to what he was so mildly disagreeing with Elena wasn't sure. And Yes, Elena was certain it was a male under that mask. The shoulders were far too broad to be a woman's. Despite how the costume was obscuring it was not so much so that she couldn't catch how the whole of it rose and fell in time with the wearer's breathing. Too natural to be false, Elena decided to trust her intuition. The Wolf was a male, unfortunately that discovery only took Scarlet out of the running and put almost everyone in Shinra back in.

"So, I know you, huh?" With a wide grin she circled the Wolf, who silently turned to gauge her circuit. "So that means you're either a Turk, or that creep at the gym who keeps trying to bug the woman's locker room." She stopped then, and he in turn stopped. Blue eyes met artificial red, her grin was met with a frozen snarl. "Since I beat the crap out of that pervert I'll put my gill down on the Tu-"

One shaggy hand snapped over her mouth, silencing her. Fake plastic claws lightly scratched at her cheek as strong fingers covered her lips. A powerful arm gently draped over her shoulder, and tugged her forward until they were nose to snout.

A whoop from the other side of the room -from the Phoenix, no doubt- made Elena's back stiffen. Her hands clenched into fists and the bracelet on her wrist hummed as the materia within responded to the violate force of her anger. He leaned forward, white plastic teeth grazed her cheek due to his nearness, and she shivered. The hand that was over her lips let go and snapped over her wrist, firmly covering the Shinra bracer and it's accompanying materia.

"You are too aggressive, and you detract from yourself and the experience because of this." The voice was familiar! Though obscured by a fake raspy note and deepened Elena could almost recognize it! She squirmed a bit and the hand on her wrist tightened a fraction more, silently ordering her to be still. Once she obeyed she was released. "It's all just a game and for those of us playing we'd like you to wait till the end before you guess."

Shaken Elena stepped back, her hand drifting to her gun. "Bastard! You ever touch me like that again I'll..."

A nod then, he agreed it seemed. then he was back to being silent. After a tense span of meeting her outraged eyes the Wolf in Rufus' clothes shrugged and padded off. Taking one deep breath, than another, Elena was able to shake off her anger. At least it wasn't to the point she was going to shoot the dog. Running a hand through her hair Elena considered rejoining the other guests, but decided against it. For now she'd wait on the sidelines, cool down, then only when she was ready would she go back and mingle.

Setting her hand on the short black box Elena leaned against it. She watched with narrowed eyes and avid interest how the Phoenix approached the Wolf. A few gestures on the Wolf's part sent Phoenix off to entertain himself elsewhere. Elena's contemplative frown became a gap of surprise as her hand absently strolled the length of the black fuzzy box. She jerked way from the black cube when her hand came in contact with something cold and metallic. Berating herself for overreacting, the rookie Turk lifted on of the things off the box and tilted it up so it would better catch the light. It was a disk, small enough to fit in her palm, a quick scan of the writing on it reveled it to be a music CD.

When she was able to make out some of the tracks on the first CD she nearly dropped it in shock. The writing... some of it was in Continental some of it was in Wutian. She'd considered the taste in food quaint, amusing, and somewhat open-minded... But this obvious two sided taste in music, this blending of two wildly different cultures spoke less of open mindedness and more of... more of what? Treason, to the Continental side? Could it be treason when the war was done and had been done for for over ten years? Suddenly, Elena wasn't sure anymore. She wasn't sure of anything or anyone.