"Your true name is Aloysius?" Tifa asked Reno in surprise and he looked sheepishly back at her.
"Aloysius Bertram Sinclair the Ninth" Reno corrected her. "It's a family name. A very stupid one" Reno muttered and blushed when she laughed at this. "I don't think it's that funny!" he protested.
"No, I'm not laughing at your name. It's your act. You just admitted to taking on characteristics of your on-screen persona so you could get laid" she said with teasing in her voice to let him know she wasn't making fun of him and touched his hand. Somehow that he resorted to such deception: the fake gutter accent, the slouching posture and fake background of as an impoverished inner-city kid, turned legal assassin; endeared him to her all the more. It overwrote her bad opinion of him. He was just another person insecure in his looks and wanting to be accepted. This made him seem more human and less like the blowhard with an overinflated ego she'd always assumed he was.
Reno, himself was wondering why he had offered to take Tifa to meet his parents. He certainly had never been tempted to introduce them to anyone before. He wasn't against relationships but met most of his women at Comicons when he'd made an appearance or through women recognizing him and coming onto him.
Reno was a popular character with the ladies and they wanted to sleep with his badass self. Not Aloysius from Barrhaven, with his eccentric parents and privileged background. So, he gave them Reno and kept Aloysius a secret from his fans. Yet he was with Tifa Lockhart, another popular character and about to show her his secret life. What was it about her that made him want to reveal all of himself to her?
He had been hurt more than he had a right to be when she had tried to brush him off that day. He'd stuck around the set long enough to berate Cloud for telling her the truth of his and Sephiroth's relationship in such a hurtful way. Like he was suddenly her personal champion and then had charged over to her place to comfort her, knowing she would retreat into her sanctuary like an animal going to lick its wounds. He didn't even really know what he was doing there with ice cream in hand, but that he needed to be there with her in her pain. How vulnerable she looked made him reach out for her, when quite frankly, he was no one's hero.
He didn't know what to make of her when she was his only lover, anymore then when she was the isolated young woman he'd met on the set, who made it clear she had no time for him when he'd asked her out. Her character dressed sexy, yet acted like a nun and she, herself was fairly conservative in her dress. She was beautiful and simply stunning, but always seemed shy when men approached her.
It was clear from the start she favoured Cloud and Sephiroth but didn't seem to know how to flirt or attempt to seduce them, she would awkwardly try to made plans with them and neither seemed really interested in her, yet she persisted even ten years later. She seemed silently frustrated to Reno, but he gave her a wide berth, any attempt on his part to even befriend her seemed to backfire, so he moved onto other cast members. He was eighteen and earning a great income while going to one of the top Universities. The world was his oyster and women loved Reno! Each signature came with a request for his phone number. Even the powers at be at Square Enix had been shocked by the public's reaction to Reno, a villain who was given no last name and a few vague hints as to his background. Yet he grew in popularity that he was included in the Comicon circuits and slept with many women cosplaying Tifa.
The real Tifa had grown into a beautiful woman, who was still as equally shy as the teenaged girl she'd been. She's been called in to act out Fanfiction like they all had when it had started up, but still connected with few, but but connected with no one. Yet, there were moments over the years where she would do small acts of kindness for him. Just simple things like: taping his ankle when he sprained it on set, sharing the bagged dinner she'd brought when the shooting went late one night and him waking up to find himself covered with the blanket she always ate her lunch on alone under the same tree. He'd been up late at night cramming for an exam and had fallen asleep on the couch in the studio. Then there was when she had been sent by the studio to nurse him when he'd gotten the flu and had reluctantly tended to him for three days. But that was another story. He could still remember how good her cool fingers felt on his sweaty brow.
Yet, what you discovered when you got past her stunning visage and protective shell, was a warm and funny person where intelligence shone in her beautiful garnet eyes. She was caring and generous with every aspect of herself, both in and out of bed. She made him feel special when she gave him her real smile, that lit up her face and brought out the dimple in her left cheek that made him long to kiss it...as he had many times. Her polite smile was nothing in comparison. Her as a lover...he'd always considered himself to be a generous lover, but she gave him all aspect of herself to him when they coupled, so it was almost religious experience to consummate their new relationship with her. Even her hands stroking his exposed skin in the softest caress enflamed him and fed his hunger for her. Sex had never felt like this before, it was like she was a drug he couldn't get enough of. It terrified him and yet made him long to be a better man for her.
"We're here" he said as he drew up in front of the grey stone mini mansion that had sheltered him until he'd left the nest.
"Do I look okay? What if they don't like me?" She nervously said and this caused him to pause and look at her. She'd done her hair into a kind of half twist at the back that shortened her calf length hair to her knees and wore a knee length, ivory print dress with black flowers on it. It had a demure round neckline, was it sleeveless and a small, black shiny belt encircled her small waist. Her sandals were ivory in colour with peep toe and had only kitten heels.
"You look lovely, they can't help but to like you" he said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze and impulsively kissing her cheek.
"Because I'm beautiful?" She almost demanded of him, getting sick of everyone always raving about her exterior and found herself wishing she were plain.
"Nothing wrong with that, but you're beautiful inside and out and they will see that. Trust me, they'll sense that right away, kind of how a shark can sense blood in the water. My parents are highly intuitive; you'll see. Just make sure you ignore all Scrabble Challenges they throw at you" he warned her, helping her from his jeep.
"What a Scrabble Challenge?" She asked him, glad he continued to hold her hand in support of her nervousness over meeting new people.
"If you issue a Scrabble Challenge and the person can't rise to the occasion, you have to do a forfeit for that person. My parents would frequently do this to each other and myself at the most awkward times, like when I was about to go meet the bus to take me to school. It made for an interesting chore day" he explained.
"Junior" he was greeted at the door in twin hug attacks by the people she could only deduce were his parents at their family resemblance to their son. It appeared Reno had inherited his tight, slim body from his father, along with his almost Asian in shape blue eyes and had his mother's hair, face and smile.
"I'm sorry, how rude of us. I'm Aloysius Senior, please call me Al and this is my wife, Bev" Al introduced himself and then both of the middle-aged people froze at the sight of Tifa.
"Am I inappropriately dressed for the occasion?" Tifa asked, blushing at their scrutiny.
"No, you look just lovely...and familiar, that figure...it's uncanny" Al said.
"Come Tifa, I'm sorry we stared so rudely at you. I'll show you why" Bev said putting an arm around the nervous young woman. Yearbooks were produced, along with photo albums. "This was me when I was about twenty" she explained.
"You had a figure just like mine...still do. Were your dimensions..." Tifa said naming them off.
"To the last centimeter" Bev concurred.
"I remember when she was transferred to our high school. I looked at her the first day and told my friend I would marry her" Al explained "and I did."
"That's so sweet" Tifa said.
"But that doesn't explain our son's Oedipus complex. Sorry Junior, you have to find your own woman, your mother's taken" Al bugged his son to his blushes.
"I never realized" Reno said with a shudder.
"Don't worry, Tifa's just as cute as I was" Bev assured him and put her arm around him. "Come Tifa, we have a fun evening planned of embarrassing our son, just like every good parent should. We remembered every embarrassing story and have naked childhood pictures and a commercial to show you for visuals" she said invitingly to her.
"I think I'm going to like the both of you" the normally shy woman said.
"What's not to like? We're awesome people" Al said and goosed his wife to her laughter and Reno's further embarassment.
"Sometimes I could kill you both" Reno muttered.
A Great Dane ran forward, all friendly woofs and a wagging tail "This is Reno" Bev said as she petted the large nose of the gentle giant.
"You named yourself after a Dog?" Tifa incredulously said as she went to pat Reno as he nudged her hand.
"The game staff didn't like my real name, so I had to think of something fast" he drily replied.
"Reno's a great name for his character. It's good enough for our dog" Bev chimed in.
Reno wished he could sink into the floor as the night he'd envisioned became a reality as Bev and Al unveiled every embarrassing picture, told every humiliating story there was to tell and finally, put on the commercial. "That Junior's little bum on the left" Al announced as Reno's anonymous baby bottom was placed on a diaper to show how comfortably dry it would leave him when he wet himself. "The Sinclair men always have excellent bottoms" he told a giggling Tifa. Reno hadn't really ever heard her giggle about much of anything and had to admit, despite the circumstances, that he found how relaxed she was with his family, was refreshing.
"So, what was Re..Junior like in high school?" She asked them.
"I was the local stallion" he bragged.
"He's was one of those rare kids who got along with everyone and never judged anyone for their lifestyle choices or sexuality. He would sit at any table he fancied, he was good at sports, the track and field champion in fact. He was also in the Glee club, Debating Team and D&D. The only thing he couldn't stand was bullies and he would be the first in line to stop someone from becoming their punching bags" Al explained.
"I could see that about you" Tifa said to Reno as she gave his hand a squeeze. "But that doesn't explain the facial tattoos that he will never tell me about."
"That's explainable. This young jackass got drunk on his mother's homemade elderberry wine and went into a tattoo parlor asking for something, "gangster". It as the nineties after all. This is what he gave him and Junior refused to get them removed when the game producers felt they added a certain evil flare to his pretty face and made him more thug-like. Why he has the world's stupidest haircut too" Al explained.
"We are all under contract not to change our looks" Tifa explained to them.
"Well, we love him, dumb tattoos, stupid hair and all and are proud of our boy. Are your parents proud of you for being a famous actress? Honestly, we've been talking in circles and not asking a single question about yourself. What must you think of us?" Bev suddenly addressed her.
"My parents...died in a car crash when I was fourteen. I was supposed to go into a foster home as I had no living family. My parents had left me well off, so I used that money to emancipate myself and get myself declared a legal adult. I wasn't comfortable living with strangers.
"There were conditions, I had unscheduled visits with caseworkers dropping in to check I was behaving in a responsible way. They didn't have to worry, I was never the wild party sort, nor had boyfriends getting caught in bed with me. I never got into drugs. As far as teenagers went, I was pretty boring I guess. I kept my head down and got good grades" she explained with her eyes lowered.
"Tifa I never knew. I wish you had told me back then" Reno said, finally understanding her way of isolating herself. She would never talk about her past.
"Yeah he would have helped you by scheduling the wild parties for you and getting caught in your bed" Al joked to enliven the mood a bit, his heart went out to the young woman. To be alone during her formative years must have been horrible. As much as Junior had protested about he and his wife's sometimes shocking behaviour, he knew he always had their loving support and could talk to them about anything.
"You must have been so lonely" Bev said taking Tifa's hand as she was a kind and loving woman.
"I miss them to this day...sometimes I wish my mother could hold my hand again" Tifa said as a tear ran down her cheek.
"Come on, let's go play makeover and go try my wedding dress on you, you sure seemed to admire it and I had it preserved. The men can handle the dinner dishes" she announced sweeping her out of the room.
"Tifa are..." Reno called after them.
"Come on Son, sometimes women need the presence of other women. We'll get everything into the dishwasher and put on a pot of coffee. We can set up for dessert, you can make the whipped cream while I get the cake out of the fridge.
Reno frowned after them and didn't even complain about the unfair division of labour. He thought about his father's comment about women needing other women and thought about a conversation he'd had with Aerith while on break on the set a few days before...
"Hey Reno, I heard you've been rejecting fanfiction roles that involve sex. Any certain reason for that?" The heavily pregnant woman asked him.
"I just don't feel like sharing my body with my co-workers" he lied.
"So, it has nothing to do with the fact that you got into the famous panties of Tifa Lockhart that millions of fanboys failed to?" She asked him, narrowing her eyes at him.
"She told you about us?" He said in surprise, thinking it was just a fling for her.
"She's my best friend, of course. I guess she must be pretty good if she's made a monogamous man out of you. What's her secret? I'm only curious as you and I were quite the item back in the day when I had to play Aerith-The-Boring. There was even a time I would have considered you for more if you'd have been serious about us" she admitted and he looked in surprise at her admission, Aerith wasn't the sentimental sort. "Honestly, it still freaks me out how grown men wanted to get into my supposedly underaged panties" she said to break the mood, sipping her decafe coffee.
"I don't wish to discuss our sex life, it's private" he said with a final shake to his head.
Aerith let out a whistle, "she's really gotten to you. I remember how you told me a blow by blow description of your conquest of a pair to identical twins to my chorus of, "I'm not interested" back in the day. My advice, get her a diamond ring and get down on one knee before someone else beats you to it. She waited a long time for a man of her choosing to do that and neither one wanted her."
"It's been three weeks since we got together!" he protested.
"The heart wants what the heart wants" she said and had left him contemplating her wisdom.
"You look so beautiful" Bev sniffled as she helped Tifa arrange the veil on her head and both of them stared at her reflection. "It fits you like a glove, it doesn't need a stitch of alterations" she commented.
"It's the most beautiful dress I've ever seen" Tifa said, looking misty eyed at herself. It was set in the lines of the confection of the dresses she'd worn for her and Reno's fanfiction story with a ball gown skirt. But it was much simpler with a tulle over skirt that had crystal appliqués on the off-white gown, this offset the poufiness of skirt. There were more crystals appliques at the waist and strapless neckline and small, discreet crystals shimmered throughout and were on the veil too.
"I fell in love with this dress the second I saw it but made myself try on tons of them but would always come back to this one. Finally, my mother told me it was the one. I always wished I had a daughter to wear it on her wedding day...but I only ever had a son. It probably for the best, it would look so dated on her" Bev said with a sob.
"Any woman would be proud to wear so beautiful a dress. I wish my mother could see me in this dress, I would love to call her Mom again" Tifa sobbed.
"Please call me Mom in her place" Bev said breaking into tear.
"I would like that, Mom" she said and both women hugged where Reno was witnessing the emotional scene from the bedroom door with Al, he'd insisted on going to check on her.
To see her wearing his mother's wedding dress was weirding him out and he felt light headed.
"Come, Son. Your mother has her. Breathe" he ordered him as the breath Reno had been holding came whooshing out of his lungs.
"How did you know I was holding my breath?" he asked him as they discreetly withdrew.
"That was my reaction when I first saw your mother in that gown too. It wasn't until I saw her that I knew I was doing the right thing by marrying her. I know you think that your mother and I are a perfect couple, but I wasn't more than twenty-two when we got married and wondered about other woman after being with just her. To worry is natural, but to realize what you have is the most important thing in a relationship. So, I married her and never looked back, I'm proud of her and always will be. I was lucky because a beautiful woman with the kindest heart chose to spend her life with me. I hope you realize that when that time comes for you." Al explained to Junior. Al had never been half as suave with women as his much more debonair son, but he knew that Junior had met his match in Tifa and was clearly deeply smitten by her. He could tell how Junior had automatically stepped forward in comfort of his mate as a loving man should.
"I had a great night" she said between kisses after they reached her place.
"So, let me come up with you and make it perfect" he said as he ravaged her neck with small kisses that made her shiver before taking her lips again.
"I could allow that Alyosius" she said as she leaned back teasingly.
"Tell no one" he declared.
"I promise. I want him in my bed though, not Reno. The horrible grammar is staying out of my bed tonight" she firmly said and then moaned when he attacked her neck again.
"I could eat you alive. I swear I'm glad you jumped me the first night. I thought you weren't into me and would have just made out with you a little" he commented.
"What did you say?" She asked him, feeling like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her.
"That time in my backseat, I was surprised when you kissed me so hard and started undoing my fly but I always was curious about you and neither one of us had our judgement impaired. I assumed you were into it when I took off your panties. Man, you shocked me by how into you got, you were on fire" he said, quirking a smile at her.
"You mean to tell me that I did that...to you? Does that sound remotely like me?" She demanded as her memories resurfaced as she saw her hands buckling his belt and then undoing his fly and reaching into his pants to touch his...she blushed at this.
"It's okay, nothing wrong with showing a man what you want. Here I always thought you were frigid" he assured her.
"So now I'm a frigid bitch?" She demanded.
"I didn't say that. I'm glad you told Aerith about us, we had a talk about that..." Reno tried again.
"Oh Goddess, she told you how I've never orgasmed during sex with man before!" She cried, mortified.
"Really, but you come so easily with me. What I'm trying to say is..." Reno said.
"Get out of my life, you're disgusting with your overused dick. I was crazy to trust you. You're not even real. Let tell me what I discovered tonight, you're so against becoming your father and living in the suburbs. He's only known one woman and he's happy, while you whore your ass around and assume a fake life to escape that, while you secretly want it. You act like a bimbo when you have a Master's Degree that you do nothing with. You're as phony as a three gil bill!" she cried at him.
"I had sex with you, so why you getting all worked up?" Reno asked in confusion.
"Sorry, I like my men real" she spat at him and got out of his jeep.
"Yeah you like them real gay. Have a nice life. Sorry if my overused dick brought you to screaming orgasms. Hope you find someone who is nice and unobtainable to stalk, someone who won't give you the time of day so you can obsess about him for years. Someone who will never lov...look at you" he snapped back at her.
"I guess he will be exactly what this frigid bitch deserves" she said and ran away from him as she always did when something hurt her and collapsed on her bed in a fit of tears.
Reno drove home wondering why his eyes were watering as he wiped them clear.
Sephiroth and Cloud ran into a sullen Reno on the set a few days later. "Morning Reno, we were wondering if we could address your invitation to our wedding to Tifa and yourself, or send separate ones" Sephiroth asked him.
"Why would you want to do that?" He asked them.
"Well you're sleeping with her, so we assumed she would be your date for our wedding" Cloud explained to him.
"She can suck my dick...no, my body is off limits to her...permanently" he declared and left them without a single goodbye.
"I guess the lovebirds are having troubles" Cloud commented and they argued some more about the merits of tall centerpieces and short ones until they decided to seek out Aerith, who was visiting Zack on the set.
They found her in Zack's dressing room, talking to her agent as her husband massaged her feet.
"Of course my character is important, Cloud has never gotten over me after my death and never will. I'm Aerith Fucking Gainsborough! I don't care that Cloud is living with Tifa and seems to be recovering after Advent Children. He's still hung up on me and always will be. I was in the fucking movie too!" She snarled at her.
"I don't care that it was a tiny part. I'm a poignant character and you will promote that. I can't appear in the Comicon circuit as player as I'm like a pregnant whale, but I shall be there to make sure some bitch doesn't try to tempt my man. I'll clock her teeth out! Yes start a new ad campaign to promote me. I'll be around large and in charge and petite once I drop my pup" she said and hung up.
"Yeah" she said to the couple. "This had better not be about centerpieces again. Just because I play a flower fetish freak doesn't mean I know anything about posies" she snapped at them.
"No, it appears our shiny, new couple have troubles in Paradise" Cloud lied.
"Yeah I kind of figured when I got a message from Tifa saying that Reno was a bastard and a phony...but she couldn't explain that as she promised him under oath not to reveal his secret" she recited.
"They were getting along so well" Cloud said mournfully.
"I'll think of something" Aerith promised them.
That Night
"What are you doing Honey?" Zack asked Aerith as she tapped on her laptop.
"I'm trying my hand at fanfiction. I set up an account on FFN and everything" she said, showing Zack her laptop.
"Your user name is "Aerithsucksbleep" very stylish" Zack commented.
"Remember when we weren't getting along and you would accept any story just to be close to me?" She asked him.
"Yes" he said.
"Well I hope they feel the same. Here's what I have so far...It was in Neibelheim the night before Sephiroth and Cloud were embarking on their journey. A single rookie Turk as sent ahead to scout the area to make sure the place was free of people who might try to harm the Legendary Soldier. In his boredom, he flirted with the much older seeming daughter of a local mountain guide and his worldly ways generous dollops of drinks he gave her managed to part her slim thighs. Her father had been gone for the evening but returned to find them both in bed and her chastity a thing of the past. Her pastor was summoned and the fifteen-year old and barely eighteen-year-old male were married on the spot at gunpoint.
They lay back in bed awkwardly and resolved to wait until the visit was out of the way and then get their marriage was dissolved. However, chaos ensured as she was all but gutted and her village razed to the ground.
Reno visited her one last time and saw she was barely holding on, he used his influence to get her healed and left her that night. He thought his marriage certificate had been burned until he received a copy from the President, the message was clear. She was to be his liability if he betrayed them, she was now working with the enemy...so he retreated further into shadows and worked his way up the ranks. He didn't care for her but owed her at least a chance at life.
They kept tabs on each other throughout the years but one day, she was found out by her colleagues and put on trial for conspiring with the enemy.
The conspicuous redhead wore plain black clothes, a dark wig covered up his natural flame-bright fall, as did dark glasses. He stood in the crowd while they pronounced sentence on the gorgeous, young woman, who was his secret wife he could never claim and whose skin he had only touched the once; that's all I have so far" Aerith said to Zack.
"You're good, though it sounds like something that Obsidians would right. What happens next?" He asked her.
"That depends on where my muse takes me. What do you think of the name, Cherry McPlucking for her? I like to name my muses" she said quirking a smile at her husband.
"Fucking A" Zack said.
"Swear Jar" she reminded him.
"You first" he insisted and she just smiled at him.