Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy because I am not Square Enix.
A/N: Still sick, not quite in there, but recovering. I'm not sure what this chapter is besides the day after and Sephy lessons. You should review it anyway. Later peeps.
Cass looked into the mirror with a frown still furrowing her brow. Sephiroth stood behind her with an expression she equated with beaming. Not too many people realized Sephiroth had emotions. The stony face was sometimes hard to read, but it could be read with enough practice.
"You look pretty," he said simply. Then again, Sephiroth was not quite as complex as he appeared. At least not to Cass.
"It is very pretty," Cass admitted. And pretty damned expensive.
"I didn't say it was pretty," Sephiroth said, "I said you were pretty."
"How did you get me to put it in?" Cass wondered irritably.
"You said you didn't want it and I said you should wear it just once," Sephiroth said.
"I hate that you remember everything," Cass grumbled. Sephiroth grinned at her show of mock anger. He was getting better at spotting it.
"You look pretty," Sephiroth said again, "You should wear your hair like that more often." Cass blew a piece of her bangs out of her face to have it flop back down in the same spot.
"It's too loose and gets in the way," she said. Sephiroth's face turned musing.
"I don't have that problem," he said.
"Yeah I don't know what's wrong with your hair," Cass said. Sephiroth stiffened then relaxed when he realized she was still joking.
"What's wrong with my hair?" Sephiroth asked, playing along.
"Well, your bangs stick up funny," she said, "they defy the laws of gravity."
"Is that the only problem?" Sephiroth asked, in a tone that Cass detected was mildly serious.
"That and you can manage it perfectly," Cass said, "I have a daily battle with mine that usually ends with me contemplating cutting it all off."
"...You'd do that?" Sephiroth asked.
"It's only hair," Cass said, "It'll grow back." Sephiroth seemed to be thinking that notion over.
"I'm not going to cut it off," Cass said.
"I know," he said, "You'd still look pretty it if you did though." She felt him twirling a strand in the back. A quick glance at his face said he was mesmerized. She nearly laughed at him.
"It sparkles like your hair," he said quietly.
"Sparkles?" Cass asked.
"When you move it changes colors," Sephiroth said.
"You think that's pretty cool huh?" Cass asked. He nodded.
"You're still not going to tell me how much it was though?" Cass asked. He nodded again.
"Doesn't matter," he murmured, "I can afford it. I'd rather waste money on you than anything else."
"Not even Masamune?" Cass asked.
"Almost anything else," he amended sheepishly.
"Nice of them to give you three the day off," Cass said, "It's almost as if they knew." She tried not to laugh at the scene in front of her.
"Do you want me to turn down the lights?" she asked. Genesis groaned in reply.
"I say make him suffer," Angeal said.
"He's suffering plenty," Cass said, "There's enough pounding in his head that is doing a much better job than you will." She set a glass of water in front of him. "Aspirin?" she asked him. He nodded. She set one down in front of him.
"Thrown up anything?" she asked. Genesis nodded.
"Twice," he said.
"That's not too horrible," she said, "Drink more. Drink a lot more. Part of the headache is dehydration." He nodded and obeyed.
"Now," Cass said, "What have we learned about last night?"
"Never go drinking with Genesis," Angeal grumbled.
"Never go drinking again," Genesis said.
"You learned much faster than I," Cass said lightly.
"Mom?" Sephiroth asked. She shrugged.
"There's been many a morning after I've lived to regret," she said, "You should be grateful you don't find the same joy that Genesis does." Genesis nodded, then held his head in agony.
"More than once my Mama got to find me in about the same shape as Genesis, if not worse," she said, "Let's just say I was not as well behaved as you were, but thankfully I grew out of it." Sephiroth nodded. "I'm fairly certain the sixteen-year-old me had some sort of brain damage. She's was so unbelievably stupid."
"You're not stupid," Sephiroth said.
"Now I am a genius," Cass explained, "back then I was a genius with some serious mental issues. Now that I think about it I know a lot of teenagers that are stupid. Maybe it's the age, not the brain."
"I'm done being stupid," Genesis said, "No more." Cass laughed.
"Your hair looks nice like that," Angeal noted.
"Thanks," Cass said then gave Sephiroth an irritable shove at his grin.
Burke glanced up when he heard the door chime. He relaxed minutely when he didn't hear grumbling at his annoying, old-fashioned bell and string getup. He caught sight of a woman in what appeared to be business attire. She'd look better out of a suit, but to each his own.
"Excuse me?" she called out. He straightened up from the shelves.
"Can I help you?" he asked gruffly.
"Did you happen to deal with three boys last night?" she asked.
"I dealt with many," he said, "but only one group of three. What's the problem?"
"There isn't a problem," she said, "I just wanted to return this." Burke took the messily re-wrapped package and opened it. He held up the pin.
"Black hoodie," he said, "tryin' to hide that hair of his."
"Yeah," she said.
"You his mother?" he asked.
"Maybe," she said, "I don't see how it's any business of yours."
"It's not," Burke agreed, "but regardless I'm not takin' this back." She blinked.
"I'm begging your pardon, but I thought-" she started.
"Do you know how many stuck up customers I get a day?" Burke asked, "Around twenty. All of 'em criticizing my work, demanding pieces of their own, and not a please in between."
"You make all of these?" she asked, looking around.
"Yeah," he said.
"Suddenly these aren't overpriced at all," she said, "You should charge more actually."
"I'm considering," he agreed, "Then I get people like that boy in here. Most boys come in here to impress a girl, especially boys like him, if you know what I mean."
"Either military trainees or popular boys," she guessed.
"Military," Burke said, "They're the worst because they practically beg for a price cut. I can't give discounts to every needy boy without a date. Your boy, if he is your boy, was very well behaved, said please and thank you, and left a tip. Even better, he was buying a little trinket for his mother, who has very few pretty things in her boudoir as it is. I charged him 150 which is barely a third of what it should cost. Keep it." He held it out to her.
"You charged him 150?" she asked.
"Yes, he's a nice kid, he's got good taste and you seem decent enough, if you are who I think you are," Burke said, "I can make a new one, just got a new shipment of opals."
"Opals," she mused.
"More valuable than diamonds," Burke said, "Diamonds are overrated in my business. Other gems can be just as lovely and give a different gleam."
"You should charge more," she said again.
"But you should keep that piece," Burke said and turned back to his table. Not long after he heard the door chime again and the woman was gone.
"Can I ask you something?" Cass looked up. It was that redhead lifetimer.
"Cissnei, right?" Cass asked. She nodded brightly.
"If it's about work you can ask without permission," Cass said as she signed her latest report.
"It's not," Cissnei said. Cass looked up. She nodded.
"Let's take a walk then," she said. Cissnei nodded and followed behind. Cass led them to the elevator.
"You're scared of them," Cass said. Cissnei watched carefully for which button Cass pushed.
"No," Cissnei said.
"There's not shame in it," Cass said, "I know what they're capable of. I lived with the prototype for years."
"Did he ever..." Cissnei trailed off.
"He's never physically harmed me," she said, "He's lived with it long enough to have control over it. More than once I'd see something he would be able to do and have to swallow my shock so he wouldn't feel like a freak. He asked me all the time if what he did was okay. He still does." The elevator stopped and they stepped out.
"This way," Cass said. Cissnei followed dutifully. She hesitated at the door Cass led her too.
"The VR room has an observation deck, this is well known," Cass said, "Most of these boys already know who I am. You aren't in trouble here." Cissnei went inside.
"He's never in here," Cass said to herself. Cissnei saw Sephiroth inside, focused on his current enemy of a particularly ferocious Bahamut summon.
"If you weren't afraid of them, you'd be rather foolish," Cass said, "what has been done to them is not natural, but they're still human." Cissnei watched the display quietly and wide-eyed. Sephiroth finished quickly enough. He spent a moment in the darkened room before turning around. He stopped when he saw he was being watched. Then to Cissnei's surprise he relaxed entirely and gave a small wave. Cass waved back.
"He can take down something like that summon," Cass said, "but he's still only fifteen." He made hand signals that Cass returned.
"Sign language," Cass said, "My mother was deaf and he was eager enough to learn when I asked. It's rather handy actually. He's coming up to say hi." Cissnei blinked.
"He's kind of shy," Cass said, "He doesn't know how to act around most people, so he does nothing. He tries guessing sometimes, but he's usually wrong. Do forgive him." As if on cue, there was a knock on the door.
"Sephiroth, you don't have to knock," Cass called. The door opened.
"Sorry," he said, much more quietly than Cissnei had expected.
"It's okay," Cass said. He nodded, then became rather stiff, professional really. Had Cass not explained it earlier, Cissnei would not have even guessed that he was observing.
"Sephiroth this is Cissnei," Cass said, "I'm helping to train her a little. Cissnei, this is Sephiroth."
"Hello" Cissnei said clearly and carefully.
"Hello," he repeated. She caught a quick glance towards Cass and a nod in return. He was checking to make sure he was doing the correct thing. She caught another signal from Cass, then Sephiroth extended his arm for a handshake. Cissnei grapsed it, feeling slight apprehension. Sephiroth's grip was gentler than she thought it would be. She wondered if he was just as worried that he would crush her hand.
"Nice to meet you," he said.
"Nice to meet you," she said. He parted and it became quiet.
"I just came up to say hello," Sephiroth said, "and that I'll be home next weekend. It was nice to meet you, Cissnei," She saw a smile on Cass's face.
"Yes," Cissnei said.
"It was nice to see you, Sephiroth," Cass said. Sephiroth enveloped her in a hug, bending down slightly in the process and even gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Good-bye," he said and left. Cissnei exhaled.
"You weren't joking," Cissnei said.
"No," Cass said sadly, "but he tries so hard. He's actually improved a lot." Cissnei smiled quietly.
"He loves you," she said.
"He tells me often," Cass said, "Followed closely by 'is that okay' and 'I don't know'."