Chapter 5 - More Girl Things to Know
Len and Rin stared at the contraption attached to the side of the motorcycle. What the heck was it?
"Get in, you two." said Cloud as he tied the parcels to the back of Fenrir.
"Uh, ok." Rin climbed in first, and Len quickly followed. The two squirmed a bit until they got comfortable.
"What is this thing?" Len asked as he was handed a large box.
"It's called a packed lunch." Cloud replied. He put a large bottle of water next to Len as well. "And that's so you don't faint on me again."
"Uh, ok." Len set the box on the floor of the side car, not wanting to loose it on the road. "Where are we going?"
"I have some deliveries to make, and the weather is fair, so I'm bringing you two with me." Cloud replied. "This way you know what I do for a living, and I'm not leaving you alone in a warm house. Just, if I tell you to duck, do it." He started the motorcycle and drove out into the city.
Rin giggled as the wind the traveling generated tossed her hair around. "We-e-e-e!" she squealed.
Cloud smiled. It was good to hear happy sounds from the twins. He drove out of the city and started across the plains towards Kalm. As he parked the bike, he looked over at Rin and Len.
Len quickly opened the bottle and drank some water, feeling a little faint but not wanting to have lost the bottle during the trip. He smiled at Cloud as he put the cap back on. "So, where's this?" he asked.
"This is Kalm, specifically the WRO building. I do most of my deliveries for them, so this is where I usually go first." Cloud explained. "And the guy walking towards us with the huge stuffed cat is Reeve."
Len and Rin just stared, not at Reeve, but at the black and white cat that walked over on it's hind legs and waved at them.
"Glory be, Cloud! Ye gots kids with ye!" said the cat.
Cloud looked at Reeve. "Must you, Reeve? You can't say it yourself, so you make the cat say it?"
Reeve chuckled. "They seem to like it."
Len poked at Cait Sith with a stick he'd found in the bottom of the side car. He didn't like the weird thing that stared at them and kinda bounced where it stood.
"I beg to differ on that opinion." said Cloud. He got the parcels off the back of the bike. "Here you are, shipment from Seventh Heaven."
Reeve nodded as he signed the slip. "And this is the shipment we have for you to take over to Junon."
Cloud looked at the box. "Good thing I've got the bungee cord." he said. "That would never fit otherwise."
"Oi, would ya stop pokin' me, laddie? It hurts, ya know?" said Cait Sith.
This line prompted a somewhat more violent reaction from Len, in the form of actually walloping the cat with the stick instead. "Demon Cat!" he snapped.
Cloud snickered as he strapped the box to the back of Fenrir. "He asked for that." he said in response to Reeve's startled expression.
"But, it's only an automaton." Reeve returned.
"Demon!" Len walloped Cait Sith again.
Cloud outright laughed. "It doesn't mean it's a demon, Len. It just means it's not alive."
Len looked up at him, startled. "Huh?"
"It's not alive. It never was. Cait Sith is just a robot that Reeve controls." Cloud explained. "It would have been better if Reeve had deactivated him first so you could see properly, but I guess this method works too." He indicated to the large dent in Cait Sith's head, and yet the automaton was still moving.
Rin peeked around Len at the robot. "Weird." she said. "Hey Len, can you whack it again?"
Reeve picked the cat up, and it hung limply in his arm. "I take it these two are what took up your time yesterday?"
"Yeah. I took them in." Cloud replied, ruffling Len's golden locks. "I made a mistake my first day with them and left without saying anything, so I needed a day to get things ready so they could come with on good days."
"Just be careful, Cloud. This line of work is dangerous."
"I know." Cloud replied. "Fenrir is still equipped."
"Just watch out out there." said Reeve.
Cloud climbed back onto the motorcycle and drove off.
Len and Rin shifted around a bit, eventually having Rin fall asleep on Len's shoulder as they arrived at Junon. Cloud made his delivery at the dock, and then they headed back towards Edge. It was just past noon when they arrived back at the house.
Rin shifted, but didn't look very comfortable as they parked. Frowning a bit, she waited for Len to get out of the side car.
Len climbed out, only to notice his shorts leg was wet. Since it was a dark material, he touched it to see what it was. His hand was red when he looked at it.
Cloud turned at the sound of the scream. "What is it?" he asked, heading over.
"Blood." said Len, his hand shaking in front of him.
"Are you hurt?" Cloud asked.
Len shook his head. "It's on the side Rin was on."
Cloud looked at Rin, who wasn't looking very comfortable. "Something wrong?" he asked. "Are you hurt?"
"My stomach hurts." Rin replied.
"Here." Cloud picked her up bridal style, only to hear Len gasp. "What is it?"
"Her dress is soaked in blood." Len said, whimpering a little.
Cloud hurried into the house, not caring about the fact that Tifa was watching him again through her binoculars. He was too worried about Rin's health. Carefully putting the girl down in the bath tub, Cloud handed her a cloth. "Here, try to clean up and find out where your hurt. I'm going to call Elena and see if there's anything that I might have done wrong." He stepped out of the bathroom and called his cousin. "Lanny."
The voice on the other end sounded exasperated. "What, Cloud?"
"It's about Rin."
"What now?"
"Well, I took the kids with me on delivery duty, and when we got back, there was blood everywhere in the side car. I brought her inside, she's in the bath tub right now, but, well . . ."
"I'll be over in a moment to see what's wrong." There was a pause. "Reno's coming, too."
"That's fine." Cloud hung up and headed to the room to get a change of clothes for Rin. Why was it the kids kept getting hurt without his knowledge? Was he really that bad a protector and guardian? He stepped out as he heard the front door open, seeing Len let Elena and Reno in.
"She's upstairs." said Cloud, handing Elena the change of clothes. "I put her in the tub and gave her a washcloth to clean up and find out where she's hurt." His face was a rather cute shade of crimson, showing that he was rather embarrassed about all this.
"Ok." Elena took the clothes and made her way up the stairs. She knocked on the bathroom door. "It's Elena."
"You can come in." Rin looked up as the blonde woman stepped in. She had taken off her dress as was sitting there in only her flannel sports bra, trying desperately to clean the blood off her inner thighs and legs.
Elena sighed and put the clothes down, kneeling beside the tub. "Rin, sweety, your never going to clean it all up like this." She wet the cloth and washed Rin's legs for her. "I guessed this might have happened, so I brought some of my supply."
"Supply of what?" Rin asked as she stepped out of the tub. "I'm still bleeding."
"You will be for a while, Rin." said Elena. "It's called a period, and girls get them." She smiled. "It's alright, I'll teach you how to use these."
. . . Downstairs, Cloud paced. He was worried, and rightfully so. Len had changed his shorts and was now trying to clean the blood out of the one leg. Cloud had done his best to clean the seat in the side car, but it would be at least two days until it was dry. Now, he was waiting to find out what was wrong with Rin.
The stairs creaked as the two girls came down them, and Cloud looked over. "Well? Is she going to be alright?"
Elena nodded. "It's just fine, Cloud."
"But, all that blood . . ."
Reno started laughing, making Len look at him like he'd lost his mind.
"Cloud, it's just a period. Girls get those." Elena replied. "I'd recommend having some feminine items around, now that Rin's started to get hers."
Cloud gave her a confused look.
"Dude, didn't you listen to the girls you traveled with during your time with Avalanche?" Reno asked.
"They never really spoke about it." Cloud replied.
"Oh, right." said Reno, disbelievingly. "Like that time at the chocobo farm?"
"What about it?" Cloud asked.
Elena sighed. "Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie were all talking about their collective period, and how much of a pain it was. I remember because we were hiding in the hay nearby. Vincent and Cid were both red in the face from the discussion."
"I don't remember that." Cloud replied.
Reno sighed. "You were too busy petting your chocobo to care."