Chapter 6: Hit it Off
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've had a rather turbulent Real Life recently. I've graduated school and gotten a decent paying job to pay for loans. I had a horrible breakup with my now ex-boyfriend earlier in the year that had me move twice in four months.
If you're wondering why it has taken me so long to update and write my stories, since I was decently well at regular updates in the past, since 2006, I've moved 14 times. This includes moving from Upstate New York to Western Pennsylvania; 11 moves have been in the last 4 years since 2010. When you move, you pack, and with not being able to stay in one place for very long, not much gets unpacked.
Harry glared out the window. Where there had been sunny skies only a few hours ago, there was now black skies and pouring rain. He supposed it wasn't unexpected, a bad storm had gone through a few days back and from what the kids said, smaller storms, like the one currently raging outside, tended to follow the major big ones.
The other children were slightly put out about not being able to play outside, but it appeared nothing could stop their enthusiasm for long. Shortly after Tifa banned them from going out, the kids had separated into groups and were already playing. Harry had managed to slink away from the kids, after he had found Denzel after he had woken up and the permanent resident had told him about Tifa's outside ban, and was now glaring out the window at the rain, storm, and city before anyone could get him to play. His animagus wanted out, and one could only deny a cat so long.
He glanced out the window and looked down, judging the distance. He guessed and measured it about three, maybe four metres. Knowing that was no problem, he only had to figure out which animagus wanted out. Black fur and forests filled his vision, and Harry knew which one was bothering him. Opening the window, Harry relented to pitch black fur and the power of the panther. With barely a thought Kam-t jumped out the window and disappeared into the gloom.
Cloud sighed. He didn't mind the rain, and money was money, but he still preferred a good sunny day. He opened his room and looked up just in time to see a black tail disappear through his window.
His open window.
Cloud freaked. With how the wind was blowing the rain, water was getting all over his ledgers and the documents on his desk. Running across his room, the exSoldier violently closed the window.
Cloud looked back when he thought he saw something. Glowing blue eyes examined the outside looking for a possible threat. All that he could see was a disappearing tail in the gloom. Glancing down at the window ledge he spotted vicious looking claw marks. Glancing at the bed he was surprised to see it neat and made. He had been half expecting Harry to be mauled what with the claw marks on the sill. Wondering where the boy was Cloud sat down to balance the legers he hadn't finished the night before.
Harry was glad to be out of Seventh Heaven. He conceded to the point that he might be somewhat jaded when the joy and happiness of the younger children made him slightly uncomfortable. When the kids asked to play with him, he wasn't quite sure how to respond. He had awkwardly played with some of the kids yesterday after Cloud had Healed his hand. After Harry had gotten over the shock of it, he had inquired about the glass marble. Cloud had smiled and told him that it wasn't glass or a marble, but naturally crystallized mako called materia. "There are manufactured ones, too," Cloud had explained, "but you usually get a stronger effect with materia that occur naturally."
The idea that people could only do magic through these materia was a bit disturbing to Harry who could feel it hum and sing under his skin.
Snarling, Harry prowled deeper into the dark of the ruins that signaled the border between Edge and Midgar proper. He paused suddenly, ears swiveling madly. There had been something…something there. Veering to the left he prowled around for a while until he heard it: music. He eventually found the warehouse. He'd gone through several Sectors before he finally found it. The way under the Plate was built carried acoustics in the most annoying way.
Jumping over the fence and bypassing the bouncer, Kam-t reverted to Harry and the wizard snuck into the building.
The walls were apparently soundproof, but only to so many decibels if he had followed the music here. He entered and was blown back a step from the force of it. Green eyes surveyed the apparent sin around him. Bodies seductively danced against each other everywhere. Drinks were passed around; some with an eerie glow to them. In the back corner he thought he saw something, but it was too dark to make out details.
You were no one here, just another body.
No one.
Freedom in anonymity.
A sly smile grew across Harry's face. Transfiguring his clothes into something that he saw some Slytherins wear Friday nights, the Gryffindor entered the crowd. Swaying and dancing, the dark haired youth made his way to the center; dancing with whoever came up to him and not caring about didn't know how long he danced with abandon; long enough for the rain outside to turn into an angry storm. The boom of the thunder could even be heard over the base.
As the DJ broke to compile another set, just throwing a random one down for people to dance to, Harry made his way to the bar for a drink. As he meandered there, he took note of a woman with curly brown hair, another woman with short cropped blonde hair, and a slightly familiar redhead. Glancing at the menu, he slowly made his way to the redhead that was getting more and more familiar to Harry. The redhead suddenly looked up, green eyes glowing slightly in the gloom; tattoos bright on his face.
Harry frowned.
"It's good ta see ya up 'n about!" the man crowed. "Lemme get'cha a drink!"
"Thanks I guess," Harry responded. "I don't really know what's which; just please no glowy-ness."
The man waved his hand in a dismissing manner. "Wouldna do that to ya with what'cha went through." He continued to say something in his grungy accent rather fast to the bartender who nodded and started grabbing bottles.
He turned his attention back to Harry.
"I suppose ya don't r'member my name," he said with a devious smile. "I know yer's is Harry; mine's Reno."
The bartender set a purple drink in front of Harry. Reno gave him money.
"Thanks…" Harry said a bit uncertainly. He raised an eyebrow. "You sure this is safe?"
"S'liquor: course it's not," was the prompt reply as Reno raised his eyebrow and took a swig of his own drink.
He had a point.
Grabbing the glass, Harry took a fast swig and was surprised that it tasted good. Then again, the strongest poisons tasted the best.
"Good?" Reno prompted.
Harry nodded, swallowed his mouthful of drink, and smiled. "Great."
A seductive smile that should only grace those magical creatures involved in pleasurable activities curled the redhead's lips. "Wanna dance?"
Harry smiled back.
They danced.
Bodies twined and the music thrummed. People joined them; people left them. Drinks were bought and thrown back, sipped, spilled and enjoyed. The warm club became hot and his body did its job. Sitting at the bar getting drinks, Harry needed the loo. Reno waved him in a general direction after he asked for it, and Harry stumbled off towards it. The door swung open and he stared.
There was graffiti everywhere. Some glowed under the sporadic black lights, while others glowed in the dark and there were just the regular painted ones. The effect made the colours swirl and dance in his vision, so he supposed that that was the effect they were going for. Smiling as he swayed at the urinal, Harry watched them for a while until he realized that he should probably get back to Reno.
Harry sat down at the bar and glanced around. Seeing Reno down a few seats with the blonde, Harry shrugged and laughed at something the girl next to him said. Someone at the bar bought everyone a flight and, among cheers from the patrons, the bartenders rushed to get the quartet of shots for everyone together. Harry didn't even think as he and twenty other people threw back glowing, bubbling, and fizzing drinks in a small rainbow of colours.
Humming in tune to his magic and the new set that the DJ started, Harry swayed and danced his way over to Reno and the fizzing drink the man had ordered. Harry plopped in the seat next to the redhead, recently vacated by the blonde. Had the drink always been fizzy? There had been a few to go by he thought but Reno ordered his drinks so they were fine, right? He said that they wouldn't do more than alcohol should.
Throwing it back, he smiled and swayed over to where Reno left as soon as he had come over to have another dance.
People came to dance with them, people left; drinks came and went of all the colours of the rainbow. Some of Reno's, Harry noticed, glowed while others fizzed; one or two did both. It wasn't long before the Gryffindor's magic gave a jolt, a light nearby buzzed out.
Accidental Magic.
It took Harry till the third light to realize it was him, and when he finally turned his attention inward, his magic and animagi roared at him.
Something was wrong.
Something was very very wrong.
"You good?" Reno haltingly asked as he grabbed Harry's arm. The wizard shrugged it off.
"I've to go," He slurred. Was he drunk?
"I don' think you should go 'lone ta wherever it is ya going." The redhead's eyes were getting serious behind their blown out pupils and miniscule glow.
"I need to go now," Harry said as he ducked and twisted. Years of evading Dudly's gang and kids, spells, Death Eaters and Voldemort at school had Harry twisting through the crowd.
"Harry!"
Fuck, that was too close.
Dodging left through a door, ignoring the shout of the startled man, and the wanting moan of the girl or whore he was doing, Harry dodged through the connecting door and back out of the suite as he heard and angry shout behind him as Reno obviously followed him. Grinning, Harry ducked into the bathroom and checked to make sure it was empty.
He groaned as his stomach roiled this time.
Rushing into a random stall, he leaned over and vomited his dinner. He was vaguely alarmed at the slight glow to the mess in the toilet.
Wiping his mouth, he stood and went over to the propped open window.
Judging distance as his head swam, he weighed his options and jumped.
His vision blacked before he hit the ground.
Harry hissed as his magic painfully roiled within him. Fluttering his eyes open, the first thing he realized was that he wasn't anywhere near the warehouse. It must have taken more than a little maneuvering to lose Reno. The man was a limpet when he had it in mind. Harry's green eyes surveyed his surroundings, not being nearly far enough away from the club for his liking as he still heard the beat strongly enough, but Kam-t insisted: something was wrong. He could feel the heat and Green course through his blood; hot and angry and searching. Harry stumbled, the pain of his skinned knees negligible as they twisted backwards as the Black Panther came into existence. His challenging roar echoed through the slums as the sweating, irritated cat plunged into the darkness of Under the Plate.
Vincent walked through the grey area between Old Midgar and Edge proper. He hadn't been planning on coming back to the area for a few months yet if not a year or more. He had needed the escape after the Remnants and the echoes of Hojo's experiments came to light once more.
The quiet.
The solitude.
…the absence of Yuffie.
He heard the echo of a roar from somewhere in the Slums and thought nothing of it. Taking his time talking with people and gathering information as to what had been happening while he was gone. By the end of a few hours, he found the current warehouse the parties were going to be at, the newest drugs, the newest drinks, Tifa's bar reputation going up as the place to be on a Saturday night.
He also heard the whisper of two creatures that roamed the dark.
Chaos paid an iota of attention to that.
"Creatures?" Vincent asked his latest drinking partner. This was his sixth dive that night.
The man threw back his drink and wiped his mouth on the back of his grimy hand.
"One o' them's gots spots," he whispered. "Th' othe'r un's black as the bottom of the Plate."
"Black as the darkness is dark!" his drinking buddy piped up before dissolving into giggling hysterics.
Vincent threw back his drink and excused himself before leaving the bar.
Interesting, Immortalis…
Vincent scowled. 'What's so interesting?'
The demon didn't deign to answer.
But a growl from the shadows did.
Vincent instinctually pulled his gun and fired.
The skittering of claws and the whisper of wind in fur alerted the gunman that his target had evaded his shot; something that hadn't happened in a while. Curious, Vincent followed the noise of skittering claws and whispering steps into the darkness.
He shot at the creature a few other times when it strayed into the more populated areas, scaring the citizens that were or were not its intended targets, but scaring the creature back into the shadows. Chaos hummed in the back of his mind the entire time. The gunman was sure the demon in him knew what the creature was he was hunting despite the fact that Vincent himself could only catch the glimpse of an outline here or there. He glared at the beast in agitation.
That was when a streak of red and a roar pounced on the darker spot of a black shadow ahead of the gunman. The answering roar made his ears ring and Chaos to pay more attention.
Red XIII had always been welcome company.
Red eyes watched as Nanaki engaged the smaller black feline in battle. Where Nanaki was built along muscular lines for brawling battle, the black cat was built along long lines; speed and surprise more than power although Vincent was sure a strike from the black feline would smart with the muscles bunching under the sleek black fur.
The black one jumped and landed on Nanaki's back in a sudden, no doubt desperate, attempt to get the bigger cat to stop.
Red roared as long, sharp talons dug into his hide.
Vincent watched as, instinctively, Nanaki started bucking and spinning trying to throw the other cat off. Now that he was compared to the ex-Experiment more closely, the black cat wasn't actually that much smaller. The bucking, however, only succeeded in making the darker cat dig in his claws more to hang on instead of throwing the creature off, as would be the case with most other feinds.
He threw himself into the pile of rocks Vincent was perched on.
The cough and yowl of pain from the black cat had him letting the red cat creature go. Shaking his head and stumbling to his feet, Kam-t was done. It was already bad enough that he was seeing three of the Green smelling red feline. His Other Self knew the magic, but sifting through the wizard's mind proved easy; hunting was his specialty after all.
The amber eyes of his opponent widened in surprise.
"No!" the gentle masculine voice shouted and leapt as Kam-t apparated to the only place he knew best.
His room at Seventh Heaven.
Vincent just stared at the empty spot the two felines had been in as Chaos sarcastically clapped in his mind, a dry chuckle echoing the clapping.
When Harry's drugged mind stopped spinning from the impromptu drunk, drugged apparition, he was only mildly surprised to see that he hadn't made it to his bed, but a run down building. The place was derelict, but his nose picked up the scents of some of the children that had showed him around town. Swaying, the wizard stubled into a bench, green eyes focusing on the offending object only to realize it was a pew.
He was in a church.
Just when he thought there was a familiar, underlying scent, his instincts flared and Harry jumped into the pew. His addled mind had him falling under the next one, but that just showed him large red paws with just as sharp, impressively large claws that he ahd just missed.
"What is a creature like you doing in a civilization?" The red, lion looking creature demanded; fangs bared and hackles raised.
Creature like me? Harry thought. Kam-t's instincts were on high alert.
"Yes," the beast continued, circling him. When had he crawled out from under the pew? "Your kind dwell in caves."
Caves…Harry echoed back. Was he talking about wizards or panthers? Giggling, as best a scar could—it sounded a bit like rasping sandpaper—Harry asked, And what caves should I be dwelling in, Mr. Griffindor?
"I am not a griffin," the lion-creature irritatingly replied. "Judging by your eyes, I'd say the caves over near Rocket Town on the coast."
Harry giggled again. I'm not a cat, kind sir, nor am I this cave dweller creature you think I am.
"You're not a Hunter?" he asked, flexing his claws.
Harry shrugged as best he could. Not here, no; my prey is somewhere far away.
This answer seemed to mollify the beast circling him, but didn't stop the scrutiny. Silence fell as the red Mr. Gryffindor took him in. Harry, noticing some filth on his paws, started to unconsciously groom himself.
"Was there a particular reason you brought us to Aeris' church?" Mr. Gryffindor asked.
Harry, realizing he was grooming, made a face at the bad breath he was now destined to have. I was actually trying to get to my bedroom, he sheepishly replied. I think I'm too drugged or drunk or both to manage though.
"Your room?" the lion creature inquired with a confused tilt of his head.
At Tifa's place, was the prompt reply. Cloud knows me.
After some quick consideration on Red's part as Harry watched the room dance, Red spoke, breaking the silence. "Follow me, I'll take you back."
After many tries and a few comical failed attempts, it was clear Harry was too intoxicated to do more than lay there; any movement was much too coordinated and difficult. Laughing at the latest attempt, Red commented, "If you were a bit smaller I could carry you."
I can fix that, Harry replied. His body shortened, lightened, and the panther was now a clouded leopard.
Red, stunned for a moment, muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "I'm not sure I want to know," before picking up Harry by the scruff and jumping up the pile of rubble that had, at one point, been a wall. The pressure on his scruff sent Harry into a trance-like sleeping state where the gentle swinging lulled him to sleep.
"I lost 'im!" were the first words out of Reno's mouth as he burst into the back of Seventh Heaven. It wasn't that odd of an occurrence for Reno to say something that didn't quite make sense or relate to the situation at hand, that was part of his ploy of an idiot, but the eccentricity of the statement was extremely out of context.
Even for Reno.
"Lost who?" Cloud asked as he sipped his drink, eyebrow raised.
"Harry!"
Cloud choked on his drink. Reno swayed a bit as he held onto the counter while Cloud cleared his throat. Glaring at the redhead, the exSoldier gave one last cough before clearing his throat.
"Warn a guy before you say something important while they're drinking," Cloud scowled darkly. "Where did you see him last?"
"Th' Ware'ouse Rounds," Reno replied, swaying a little.
Cloud just stared, eyes glowing a little brighter.
"How did an obviously underage kid get into The Warehouse?" Cloud demanded.
Reno shrugged. "Bouncer never saw 'im when I asked 'bout 'im, so obviously kid's good."
"Who's your chaperone tonight?" Cloud asked, none too happy that he'd have to explain to Tifa that Harry went out on the town and was lost in Edge, mental state under question.
A sly grin slowly spread across Reno's face before he sing-songed, "Cissy-Cissnei."
Cloud arched his brow in question. He didn't think the pretty auburn-brunette was still working for the company after the...incident, but there really was only one way to leave Shin-Ra. The unspoken but known Body-Bag Clause applied to all the Departments.
Well, all probably with the exception of Reeve's….or maybe not with his department dealing with the intricacies and mechanics of the Plate, Midgar and Edge's infrastructure.
It was as Cloud's phone was ringing some horrible song, Reno had programmed it with different songs for each Turk and Cloud hadn't figured out where he had hidden the command prompt to undo the coding, that thunder crashed and the pitter-patter of rain could be heard hitting the roof and windows harder than it was before. Glaring at Reno, who had found Tifa's stash of high end booze she cooked with and personally drank, the blond fighter flipped the phone open.
"Cloud," he greeted.
"Reno in your vicinity?" came the succinct reply in Cissnei's pretty voice.
"Yeah."
"Does he need pickup?" she asked.
Cloud glanced up and noticed Reno had his shades on, his goggles around his neck, and his tie tied in a perfect Windsor knot about his head in their place—where Reno kept his tie when he didn't wear it, Cloud didn't want to know—and was dancing to some song only he could hear.
"I think he'll be fine here," Cloud replied.
Reno broke into an upbeat, off-key whistling.
Cissnei snickered. "I'll check back in the morning."
"Please call his phone," Cloud requested.
"Affirmative." And with a click, the line went dead.
Glancing at his phone that he still had out, and Reno dancing something ridiculous, Cloud smirked and opened his camera. It was at the five minute mark, and Reno singing a wonderful rendition of a part of Loveless, that Red XIII opened the door. Since Reno's back was to the door, he didn't see the questioning look of the beast, or the mischief that soon filled his expression as, with a kick to close the door, Red shook his rain-laden fur out all over the dancing Turk.
Reno swore darkly.
Nanaki set his burden down, standing over the smaller spotted cat, as he shook again.
"Stop you giant, overgrown, sorry excuse for a housecat!" Reno neatly articulated; a very impressive thing in his current state.
With the pressure off his scruff, green eyes blinked open owlishly as Harry—as Neshshu—came back to the present from a rather pleasant dream. With a rasping cat-yawn that turned into a person-yawn as his magic bled his form back to human from a cat. Green eyes blinked in confusion as all that filled his vision was red fur.
"But I was a jockey on a racing giraffe," Harry's mouth said with out his permission.
All eyes turned to Harry at his ridiculous statement, but it was Reno that took the prize with the retort, "I've had that dream too!"
Everyone just looked at Reno for a minute, before Reno realized that Harry was in the room. He turned to Cloud, a giant grin on his face, and pointed to Harry; the extreme motion of his actions causing him to waver and list dangerously.
"I lied, I did'na loose 'Arry. He's righ'there."
"Mate, I totally gave you the slip," Harry pointed out from his position on the floor. "You're a crappy secret agent if you got slipped by a teenager." He then promptly turned to the side and threw up….glowing stuff.
"I'm all for magic and such," Harry started after he was done hacking, "but I'm pretty sure vomit isn't supposed to glow in the dark."
Cloud gave Reno a dark look.
"What kind of drinks were you drinking?" the blond fighter demanded.
"Good ones!" Harry giggled from the floor.
Reno had the decency to look abashed, or rather as much as he could, being drunk and shameless.
"My favourite one was purple and fizzed," Harry supplied from the floor. His head bobbed for a second and he tried to sit up but his hand slipped out from under him and he fell back to the floor. "My hand is mean and everything is spinning."
"'M pretty sure that that one was s'posed ta be mine," Reno mumbled.
Cloud sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as Harry and Reno argued about what drinks they had had and which ones were better, not that Harry knew the proper names for any of the drinks he had had. He glanced down to Nanaki who was looking at the pile of glowing bile that had come dangerously close to hitting his hind foot with a disgusted look on his face.
"Can you help me get them into bed?" Cloud asked the beast.
Nanaki nodded his head. "I think I can manage to give some help." He cocked his head curiously. "The boy would be easier to carry had he remained a cat."
Cloud looked at him curiously before shrugging and going over to the two intoxicated people and wrangling them apart. Reno had somehow managed to get Harry to his feet, but the youth was so intoxicated that he had tangled one hand in Reno's shirt and the other in the back of the Turk's suit just to remain in a precious standing state. When the blond fighter separated the two, he slung one of Reno's arms over his shoulder, and Nanaki ducked under one of Harry's arms.
"Where are we taking them, Cloud?" the felid-canine asked.
"My room," Cloud replied. "No need to subject the children to their intoxication when they wake up."
"I'll be sober when I wake up!" Reno vehemently argued.
"I highly doubt that," Cloud said flatly.
Harry gave a drunk chuckle at that pronouncement, the action almost causing him to loose his grip on Nanaki.
"Mr. Gryffindor! To my room!" Harry pronounced with a grandiose gesture.
Nanaki started padding slowly towards the stairs with an annoyed growl. "I am not a griffin."
"Mr Gryffindor!" Reno copied with a happy chortle.
"Dammit."
Cloud shook his head.
They made it up the stairs with little incident. Reno managed to stub his toe and catch his tie, which was still around his head, on the handrail; jerking his head back. This caused the redhead to complain about his neck being sore and whining for Cloud to make it better. Cloud was more worried about Harry, whose motor skills were getting worse as he went up the stairs. When Red finally got him to his bed, Harry tripped into it; landing in a drunk sprawl.
Nanaki shook his mane out, twitching his skin as if trying to dislodge biting flies before shaking again. "Kid had a tight grip," Red explained to Cloud's questioning look.
"I don't think my drink should have fizzed," Harry mumbled, head still dipping back and forth.
Cloud looked from Harry, who was paler than when Cloud found him, to Reno. Reno stared back with unfocused eyes, playing with his tie that was now between his eyes. "Yo, don't look at me," Reno said. "Most of my drinks fizzed."
"Or glowed," Harry murmured, working his mouth as if he wasn't quite sure of the movements to make words. "Why did they glow?"
Nanaki looked to Cloud. The blond stepped forward and placed his hand against Harry's forehead. It was hot and clammy. Harry flinched.
"Reno," Cloud called to get the Turk's attention.
"Here!" the Turk responded, half on the floor with only his legs and feet on the cot Cloud had been sleeping on, hand straight up in the air as if he were in school.
"What's circulating now?"
Reno shrugged, arm falling with a thunk that would probably hurt in the morning. "New month, new stuff. Saw the kid an' r'member'd 'im from las' time. Didn't have a chance ta talk to people bout the rounds. Thought stayin' wi' th' kid was best." He frowned. "Could be why I feel silly."
Harry rolled over. Cloud managed to grab his waste bin and shove it under Harry's face as the Gryffindor threw up more glowing drink. "This's worse than daisy draught," the youth complained. Hazy green eyes turned to Cloud. "I think I've drug." He frowned and worked his mouth again. "I think I've been drugged."
"Probably," Cloud agreed. "Alcoholic beverages don't normally fizz here."
The Gryffindor frowned. "I'm Harry."
"Yes you are," Cloud agreed.
"Ok good because Neshshu and Kam-t keep hissing and it's not like parseltongue and something doesn't feel right and everything is getting green," Harry rambled. "I don't like the Green," he continued. "It's mean."
Cloud sighed. Drug and street-mako laced drinks. Harry was high as a kite. "Nanaki, could you get a bowl of cold water and some towels?"
"Sure," the creature responded and turned to pad silently out the door and down the stairs to the kitchen.
Looking to Reno, who had managed to fall asleep in his odd position, Cloud snapped a photo with his phone and sent it to Cissnei before Reno found it and deleted it. She'd make sure that it made the rounds through what Turks still were active. Harry was in the wonderful rare state of being too intoxicated to fall asleep. The youth rolled over and heaved a less brightly glowing mess into the garbage can.
Cloud sighed.
It was going to be a long night.
Green eyes glared unhappily at the rain soaked landscape.
He did not care for the rain. Rain ruined his hair. Made it harder to use his weapons.
The Rain was mean.
When the steeple came into view in the gloom, he was happy that he had finally reached his destination. Now all he had to do was wait.
Wait for Brother.
Wait for him.
When the Storm Child was fine, Brother would realize he was here; where he was. He had to already know. They were brothers. The Storm Child was important though, so he could understand Brother not knowing he was here immediately. That's what the Wolf said. He sneered. Dog really; that thing was too friendly with everything. Coyote, perhaps? They could cross breed with everything. Dogs, wolves, chocobos...
Coyote then.
Wonder if Brother would figure it out?
Green eyes looked towards the pool at the end of the aisle, as serene and calm as it had always been. Off to one side was an obvious homey place...with a fire pit.
Win!
Propping his bike where it was, the figure hurried down the aisle; stripping as he went. Seeing a rack already fashioned, he hung his clothes and started the wood in the hearth with a thought; the magic tingling and warming his hands as it passed through his hand. Sighing in contentment, he just basked in the warmth for a while finally just happy to be now that he wasn't sodden wet. When his skin got to the point it was flushed and crispy it was so dry, his stomach rumbled. Checking his clothes, they still weren't dry, he shrugged and started sniffing around.
There had to be food somewhere.
In a tank in a mountain there was a body. This wasn't anything new to Shin-Ra; they had been perfecting the art of human experimentation for over fifty years. There were the standard mako tanks in the corner. There were the bank of computer consoles. There was the operating table, the machine that recorded body functions when on the table, the machine that recorded them when the subject was in the tank. There was a vicious looking machine in the corner that's purpose looked nefarious but couldn't be determined without its memory chip. What was different however, was the patch and splash put together feel of the lab, as if it weren't supposed to exist; the old machines with the new ones, the juxtaposition of rigged machines with Shin-Ra brand new ones. The thing was, it wasn't.
Even, deep breaths pulled mako in and out of the Subject's lungs; delivering all its body would ever need as computers replayed the history of the Wutai war.
Yuffie sneezed as she made her way into Seventh Heaven, strange materia in hand. The damn thing still wouldn't show her what it was. To anyone, she was carrying around a pretty grey and white marble...that was the size of a materia.
Dammit.
Swearing as she sneezed again-at least Wutai had warm rain-Yuffie opened the back door and nearly screamed as she came face to face with a big, red, furry face.
With lots of teeth.
"Hello, Yuffie," the felid-canine greeted her.
"Leviathan! Red! Don't do that!" the girl whined. Shiva, she just lost, like, twenty years off her life!
"What brings you around, if you don't mind me asking?" the warrior asked the ninja as he went back to the sink and turned on the cold tap to fill a bowl.
"I found this near the Grasslands," she pulled the 'dead' materia out of her satchel and held it out for Red to sniff. "I haven't been able to figure out what it does."
Nanaki lifted his eyebrow. "Is that so?" He turned the tap off.
Yuffie pouted. "I was hoping Cloud would be able to tell me, since, yanno, if anything went wrong with it he'd have the best chance at surviving a botched Summons."
"If that's what it is," Red said, taking a drink of the water in the bowl before grabbing it and setting it on the counter..
"Are there eats about?" Yuffie inquired as she headed towards a cupboard.
"I'm not sure, but Tifa should be back soon for those," he directed with a flick of his head.
'Those' were shepherd's pies; fresh from the oven if the steam off of them was anything to go by. Shepherd's pie sounded good, but Yuffie was after something a little more sweet, and after the sixth cupboard, dammit but it had been moved again, Yuffie procured a rather interesting box. Giggling evilly, the Wutaian ninaj princess pranced over to the table and plopped in a chair with a theatrical elegance a thespian would be proud of. Several quick twists and turns later had the lid being opened and the scent of heaven started to fill the air.
Nanaki looked up, a few dishcloths tucked into his bangel. "Isn't that Tifa's chocolate stash?"
"I found it fair and square!"
Nanaki just shook his head. It wasn't going to be him being thrown through walls when Tifa found out she had no chocolate. From what he understood, Cloud literally went to the ends of Gaia and back to get the stuff. Special ordered from secret chocolatiers she always said. Family recipes. Rare ingredients.
Nanaki couldn't understand why human women like it so much. It didn't smell all that appealing and it tasted okay. He grabbed the bowl and padded back to the stairs.
Harry tossed and turned in a fitful sleep on the edge of waking up. He didn't remember falling asleep. Last he knew Reno was being loud and was making lewd suggestions to Cloud as the blond wiped his feverish face. Something about materia had been suggested, but Cloud's voice had murmured quietly about glowing drinks and Reno had agreed that that wouldn't have been the best idea even if it worked.
Harry had had to let his system work through whatever it was he had drank last night.
His magic roiled and writhed, and nothing he could do could calm it down. Motion, it whispered. EventsTimeHappenings. Harry didn't understand, but he was getting cold, and he could feel heat nearby. He opened his eyes to see large, dilated brown eyes inches from his face.
"You're new," she said with a slight, barely there accent. "But why are you in Cloud's room? Leviathan, areyouhislovetoy?"
"What?" Harry wheezed.
"Lover?"
"No," Harry said when his mind actually processed the fast speech. That's when he heard it, the Song. He knew it was close, probably secreted on this crazy girl's person. Then he saw it: grey and white like a giant cat's eye marble with tiny white flecks here and there. "Can I see that?"
"Sure!" she proffered the ball with little thought.
Harry grabbed it and was enveloped by blessed heat and phoenix song. A sound like indignation came from the other side, but he didn't care. He was finally warm. Laying down, Harry ignored the world in favour of his soft cotton sheets and a lullaby sung by a phoenix.
Vuurvliegje, the Green whispered into his mind. Storm Child. Storm and hail. Fire and Ice. Harmony and Melody-sing together.
Tune.
Destiny.
Harry frowned.
The Green was being Mean.
Yuffie just stared at the youth on the bed. The flare of magic brought her slightly out of her chocolate induced haze. A dead materia shouldn't have flared with magic; there's shouldn't have been magic inherently in it. It was broken.
"Harry?" Yuffie asked, poking the youth.
No response.
"Shit," Yuffie swore. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. What to do? What to do? What should she do? It was the middle of the night, Leviathan's sake! Who was awake at…..
….Tifa. She could get Tifa!
With her sugar high slowly ebbing and her rational mind valiantly making its way back to the forefront from underneath her sugar-haze, Yuffie silently disappeared into the depths of Seventh Heaven to wake Tifa up and see to Harry.
posted 27August2011: Edited 28December2014
