"We only have about fifteen minutes before we agreed to stop playing," Sephiroth pointed out as Angeal moved the airship towards the Eastern continent. The brunet nodded while Genesis scoffed.
"Because of course we can get all the way from Junon to Rocket Town in fifteen minutes."
It took them less than one.
Game insanity. (No matter what Zack said about transit time and game logic.)
Angeal landed the airship and hurried into town. Everyone seemed to have stopped what they were doing to come out and look at the rocket.
They got to the rocket quickly and ended up having to fight multiple troops on the way into it. Cid, of course, wanted to kick those '$^%$# ShinRa right out of my rocket!' They climbed the ladder to the top of said rocket and ran into Rude… and another battle. Fortunately, that fight didn't take long. They left him on the walkway and hurried inside… running right over him in the process. Zack snorted, Genesis chortled and even Angeal looked amused.
Inside, they had yet another fight, although, instead of the opponent vanishing, he lay sprawled against the wall. When Angeal tried to talk to the downed man, all he said was, "Urrrrrg…" so the larger SOLDIER hurried Cloud on.
They entered the cockpit to see a crew working. When Cid asked (rather colorfully judging from the symbols) what was going on, the crew turned around and expressed surprise (and some relief from Sephiroth's judgment) that Cid had returned. They explained how their rocket would save the planet with its materia bomb.
"But, the townspeople!" Angeal said. "Isn't launching a rocket extremely dangerous? If they stay there, they'll all die! Can't we tell them to go?"
"I doubt the game will let us," Sephiroth replied slowly. "I admit I am a little more concerned about the ramifications of a 'Materia bomb' on the scale they are implying."
"It's UTTERLY RIDICULOUS!" Genesis practically roared, looking livid.
"Genesis!" Angeal had flinched at the shout. He rolled his eyes and clicked for the next dialogue box, likely to keep the red-head from continuing the rant if he didn't want to miss anything.
Cloud tried to cut in, but Cid would have none of it. Cloud returned to Tifa and shrugged while Cid went on to ask about the Rocket and what had been done to it. They explained that they wanted to ram it into Meteor, but apparently the auto-pilot device was broken. Shera was fixing it. Cid said she'd take a hundred years and that he'd take over so not to worry about the auto pilot.
"What?!" Zack exclaimed. "Is he saying he's gonna drive that into Meteor himself?!"
"It certainly sounds like it," Genesis muttered darkly.
"I thought he was against the idea of using the Huge Materia as a bomb!"
"As did I," Sephiroth said. Angeal and Genesis nodded along.
Zack sighed. "You guys're right. This game makes no sense!"
"You already said that," Genesis said smugly.
"Well, it's still true!" the Third returned. "Maybe even more now!"
Angeal chuckled and Genesis continued to look superior. Sephiroth felt a tug at the corner of his own mouth.
"This is so far out there, it feels like there's missing dialogue," Zack muttered. "If I were playing this on my own I would absolutely be talking to all the NPCs."
"You joined us a mere few hours ago." Sephiroth decided to focus on only one of the problems he saw with Zack's statement. He would ask what 'NPCs' stood for later, he decided as he scribbled the term into his notebook. "As mentioned, it is impossible to include everything we've learned thus far in a short summary."
"Concerning Cid," Genesis explained, "it has been implied in past dialogue, that you did indeed miss, that much of his… attitude comes from the previous failure to launch the rocket."
Which Sephiroth found a little sad now that he thought about it. What would it be like to have one's only focus and drive in life taken from them? How accurate to life was this game's portrayal of Cid Highwind? Is this what Angeal meant by dreams and honor? He turned his attention back to the game as Cid insisted on his chosen course and told the crew to go and tell everyone else.
Fortunately, Cloud seemed to be on the same page as them, asking Cid what he was thinking after the crew left. He pointed out that Materia (the 'especially Huge Materia' was implied) had generations of knowledge and wisdom.
That seemed like a rather weak argument to Sephiroth, but they'd already gone over said arguments so he didn't see a point in bringing it up, and apparently no one else did either.
Then Cloud said they were going to 'borrow that wisdom' to stop Game Sephiroth and then asked if Cid understood that.
Cid said he did understand that. Then he said he didn't care whether it was science or magic (whatever 'it' was, he seemed to be building to something), but then he backtracked and said he'd prefer to put his money on science instead of magic. He pointed out that humans used to only be able to walk around on the ground, but now they can fly and are about to head into space. He said that science is a power created by humans and that it might be able to save the planet.
"He just wants to go into space," Genesis concluded. "He doesn't care who is funding him or what is going on at the time, he just wants to fulfill his dream." The red-head scoffed.
"Well, the planet is about to get hit by Meteor," Zack pointed out, voice softer than Sephiroth would have thought. "Isn't it understandable that he wants to fulfill his dream before everyone might die?"
"But at the cost of how many lives?" Angeal asked, a frown on his face.
"He is… rather inconsistent," Genesis pointed out. "He was insistent that they get the Huge Materia back in Junon. Though, it's more likely that he'd figured out what they were doing and just wanted to get back to 'his' rocket," the thespian said dismissively.
Sephiroth conceded the possibility with a nod of his head.
Cid went on to say they should stop worrying about what ShinRa was going to do and how he didn't want to regret not doing something later.
"See!" Genesis said triumphantly, pointing at the screen.
Angeal just had his disappointed look on and Zack was shaking his head.
When Cloud tried to argue back, Cid shut him down and then told them to get out of there as they weren't necessary personnel. Was he… being protective of them?
However, before they could do anything, the screen began to shake. No one seemed to know what was going on until Palmer, of all people, contacted them through the radio. He said that they finished the auto pilot and so he launched the rocket.
Cid had a couple of choice words for Shera.
"They just saw a chance to get rid of AVALANCHE," Genesis said thoughtfully. "Well played, ShinRa. Well played."
Cid tried to gain control of the rocket but was apparently locked out.
When Palmer informed them that it was almost lift off, Cid complained about the lack of a count down.
What.
"He's insane," Zack said, sounding a little incredulous.
"He seemed like one of the more sane ones of the group initially," Genesis commented, "but now I agree with the Puppy."
The screen changed to several views of the outside of the rocket as it blasted off… still at the angle it had been. It was an interesting view of it all, but…
"That would never make it into outer space… not at that angle," Sephiroth said.
"Not unless they fixed it with some high-powered fuel…" Genesis said, then faded off.
"Like materia-enhanced?" Angeal asked quietly.
Oh. Well… that made sense, Sephroth supposed. They would get much farther with the same amount of fuel. However, that would be rather expensive and so unless there was a very good reason, he couldn't see ShinRa signing off on that.
Apparently, the end of the world was a good enough reason.
Several shots later, the camera showed the inside of the cockpit again. Tifa, Cloud and Cid all stood facing a screen to the outside. Or, more probably, a map of some kind.
Cid seemed in shock that he'd made it to outer space.
After a couple of seconds, he pressed some buttons and commented that they were on a collision course for Meteor. Judging from the series of dots that appeared on the map, the green sphere they could only see part of was Gaia and the red sphere on the opposite side of the grid, Meteor.
Tifa asked what they could do to stop it (presumably, the collision), but Cid pushed some more buttons and more stats appeared on the screen in front of them. He then informed them that he didn't think he could change course as Palmer had set it for collision on the autopilot.
Sephiroth questioned Palmer being intelligent enough to personally do that. More likely, he'd ordered it done.
Cloud asked if this was the end. Cid told him not to give up so easily and that he wasn't about to crash into Meteor.
"But, didn't he volunteer to pilot it?" Zack asked.
Then he told them about an escape pod.
Both wise and intelligent to include one, but…
"Why didn't he tell them that before?" Genesis asked, sounding exasperated again. That seemed to be his default state when it came to this game… not that Sephiroth could blame him.
Tifa asked after the Huge Materia. Cid said to do whatever they wanted.
More support for Genesis' 'just wants to go to space' theory.
Cid directed them to a ladder where the Huge Materia should be. (There was no ladder on the screen.) Then Cloud asked if Cid was sure, and he responded that he didn't know. That maybe all he wanted to do was go into outer space.
Genesis groaned even more dramatically than Sephiroth had expected. Angeal bowed his head and shook it while Zack had put a hand to his forehead.
Sephiroth decided that Cid was not his favorite person.
Another line of text and Cid and Tifa walked back into Cloud. That probably meant they had control of the blond again, which Angeal proved a moment later.
It didn't take the dark-haired First long to find the ladder Cid had spoken about (through a doorway) and he had Cloud climb it. Once he reached the top, they found themselves in a large, round room.
"Why was that room even there?" Genesis asked. "It looks like it was built for the Huge Materia, but that couldn't be."
"Probably repurposed," Angeal said offhandedly.
"Still ridiculous," Genesis grumbled.
Then Cloud and Cid split apart…
Just Cloud and Cid.
"Hey, where's Tifa?" Zack asked.
"No clue, Pup," Angeal muttered.
"Guess a second party member isn't needed for this scene," the younger teen concluded with a shrug.
Cid spoke about entering the pass code and how they should be able to do so from the panel encasing the huge materia.
"Unless the game is being insane again, that is a support materia," Genesis said wistfully. "I wonder what it does…"
The two on screen merged back together and then Angeal had them walk up to the panel again. And Cid walked right back out, asking Cloud if he knew how to use it.
"Can we go two seconds without this game proving how utterly ridiculous it is?" Genesis grumbled.
Sephiroth didn't think so.
"Game Insanity," the younger teen said with a shake of his head.
Sephiroth smirked, Angeal chuckled and Genesis outright laughed.
The Passcode seemed to consist of the four different symbols on the controller. They would have to enter it in the correct order to open the container.
Simple enough, he supposed.
"Another minigame? Already?" Zack asked, as if it was unusual. "Why would they put one here?"
Then Cloud asked which order he should enter said pass code.
Ever helpful, Cid said he didn't know and to just enter it randomly.
Because of course.
Sighing, Sephiroth watched as Angeal simply input the symbols, going around in a circle on the controller.
It wasn't right…
Oh, and then the security system said they now had three minutes to enter the pass code or the protection system would activate.
Well, at least that made some sense, as frustrating as it was.
And the protection system would only lock the materia down and not electrocute them or something. Small favors.
Angeal tried something different. That didn't work either. Cid said he'd try and remember what the pass code is, but to enter what he could in the meanwhile. Angeal entered a third try. Cid said they were only supposed to press circle only once. Did that mean one of the symbols should be pressed twice?
The possible codes just grew exponentially.
Angeal apparently decided to start with the circle button and went through every code he possibly could. It wasn't letting him enter them very quickly either.
Cid kept giving them advice, often repeating himself. Sephiroth decided to completely ignore him altogether. Thankfully, it appeared that Angeal did the same.
"Uh, when was the last time we saved?" Zack asked.
No one replied.
"Guess we'll just have hope failing doesn't mean a game over."
Again, no one responded.
Angeal found the code with seventeen seconds left.
'Confirmed, authorized user identified and unlocked,' the computer said. All of the SOLDIERS let out a sigh of relief. That had been surprisingly intense.
"While I hope you don't have to do that again, what was the code?" Zack asked. "Just in case."
"Circle, square, ex, ex." Angeal answered after glancing down at the controller.
"Ha! I was right!" Genesis boasted.
They all turned to stare at him.
"What?"
"What do you mean you were 'right', Gen?" Angeal asked with the patience of practice and familiarity.
"The passcode, based on the weighted clues Cid was providing," Genesis looked at his friend, baffled, then dumbfounded. "You mean to tell me you weren't following the hints? And you still guessed it?"
Angeal just shrugged. Sephiroth decided to stay silent and hopefully not catch Genesis' notice.
Genesis buried his face in both hands. "Just… keep playing."
They all groaned when Cid bragged about his 'advice'. Then they received the key item 'Huge Materia'.
"Excellent," Genesis said, rubbing his hands together. As if he could actually hold it himself… Sephiroth shook his head but decided to say nothing.
They climbed back down the ladder, ran through the cockpit to the hallway outside.
"Where's the guy that was there after we beat him?" Zack asked.
"Game insanity," Angeal replied.
Zack sighed.
Sephiroth empathized.
At the end of the hall, they found another ladder and climbed down. The hallway they came into then housed the oxygen tanks from Cid's story about his first launch. It seemed to short circuit and when they tried to run past it, it exploded.
At least, that was what Sephiroth assumed happened as the screen faded to white.
Then it faded back in again and showed Shera in a completely different hallway with a circular doorway at the end… wait…
"Is she on the rocket?!" Angeal asked.
No one seemed to have an answer to that, but everyone seemed to realize that there would be consequences…
Meanwhile, Cloud, Cid and Tifa recovered in the hallway with the oxygen tanks. As Tifa (she was back, apparently) and Cloud rose to their feet, Cid swore, letting everyone know his leg was stuck under the debris. The other two hurried over to help him. Tifa said it was too heavy.
"It's a sheet of metal. How heavy can it be for a Martial Artist and a man with SOLDIER enhancements?!" Genesis asked loudly.
"Maybe it… melted itself to the floor? Or got wedged in the grating?" Angeal tentatively offered, voice heavy with doubt.
Then Cid said to go on without him, that they didn't have time. Well, at least he showed some redeeming features, Sephiroth supposed.
Cloud refused.
Cid argued.
That went on for several seconds before Cid commented that it had been Oxygen Tank 8 that had blown up and that Shera had been right.
"Perhaps you should listen to your subordinates," Angeal said dryly.
"Novel concept," Genesis agreed.
Sephiroth thought that was a little rich coming from one of the proudest men he knew, but said nothing.
Glancing at the clock showed that it was already almost quarter after one in the morning. Perhaps they should have stopped earlier? Ah, well. Not much to do about it now as no one would want to replay such a large portion. He hoped the next opportunity to save would be soon.
On the screen, Cid seemed to have accepted that 'this was the end' for him.
"What happened to not giving up so easily, huh?" Zack asked loudly.
At least Shera was there to take him to task. She told him not to say that as she walked into the scene, much to everyone's surprise. She just commented that she 'tagged along' to help… which made no sense as Cid hadn't been there until the last minute.
He called her a crazy '$%!' She knelt down to help get the debris off of him.
He didn't say anything for several seconds according to the ellipses that appeared in the blue box. Then he said, 'Sorry.'
"Finally!" Genesis said.
"At least he has the decency to apologize for his mistakes and mistreatment," Angeal said after he huffed.
The game didn't show them moving the metal, but apparently they succeeded as the screen faded out, then in, and Shera led Cloud (and supposedly the other two as well) down to the hall with the circular door. Angeal had the blond follow her. At the end of that hallway, apparently, was the escape pod. Shera told them to get in and she'd release it. Cid asked if it could really fly. She said she was confident as she'd checked it.
He said he was relieved.
"Well, this is somewhat surprising: personality growth," Genesis said, sounding amused.
"Was he really that bad?" Zack asked.
"He… wasn't nice," Angeal confirmed. He opened his mouth to continue, but then glanced at his PHS and shook his head. "I'll have to tell you later, Zack. We're over-time as it is."
Zack didn't look happy, but he nodded.
The screen faded to black and then showed an area of the rocket detaching… and moving independently before the part that had kept it latched inside detached, leaving a floating sphere behind.
The scene switched to the inside of the escape pod. Cid couldn't seem to get enough of the view outside the large window, holding onto the edge and looking around in awe. Sephiroth found it… underwhelming. He'd expected more stars. If that's what space looked like from space itself then he didn't see what the appeal was. It was too… empty.
Angeal frowned. "I might be remembering wrong, but I thought someone discovered that there isn't gravity in space."
Sephiroth blinked and remembered back. Yes… there had been a report about that a couple of years back. He hadn't been particularly interested at the time.
"What do you mean, 'no gravity'?" Zack asked.
Angeal shrugged. "As in, things float. It's theorized that it's not actually possible to walk like normal."
"So, either the reports are wrong, or this is Game Insanity… again," Genesis drawled.
"Or the game is older than the reports?" Zack suggested. "Like with how the submarine looked, they may not have known that."
For several seconds the older SOLDIERS didn't answer.
"What a terrifying thought…" Genesis muttered.
Zack seemed taken aback. "What? Why?"
Angeal took a deep breath and looked at his pupil pointedly. "Zack, think about it. This is already predicting our future in the present. If this is such an old game, that means it is also accurately predicting our present in the past."
The younger teen opened his mouth, then paused and closed it again. "Oh," he said meekly.
Angeal continued. "We don't know who 'SquareEnix' is. We don't know where they are now or where they came from, we don't know why you and Sephiroth were given the games, and we don't know how they know what they do. It was already terrifying."
"If we choose to explore such… thoughts, should we not do so tomorrow?" Genesis asked.
The other three nodded.
"Good idea," Zack said, a little too brightly.
At least Sephiroth could console himself with the idea that space may not look like a dark, empty void after all.
'So long, ShinRa no. 26,' Cid said as he looked back towards where the rocket had gone.
It switched to a scene of the escape pod falling back to Gaia, the moon visible in the distance. Then it hit the atmosphere and flashed as it burned, then vanished. Meanwhile, the rocket headed straight for Meteor. That was when they got to see the thing's actual size. It really was enormous.
Genesis whistled lowly.
"Whoa," Zack said.
"If that's even close to correct…" Angeal whispered.
"That's larger than the moon," Sephiroth finished. When they'd first seen it from the cell in Junon, he'd thought something similar, but this was possibly beyond even that. He could only hope that the game's frequent inconsistency in scale applied to this as well.
The rocket exploded into bright white again and the screen switched to show Midgar, with people looking around frantically as background noises rumbled. Then they began to run around in panic. Then the screen switched to an old man looking at… a hologram of some kind? Of Gaia?
"Hey, who's that?" Zack asked as the scene faded to white and the old man looked away from an explosion over the image of the planet.
"Bugenhagen," Genesis muttered.
Ah. That made sense, Sephiroth supposed. Although he wondered how the man had 'real time' feed to his observatory.
"Who?" Zack asked.
"Nanaki's grandfather," Angeal said, still watching the screen himself.
"What?!" the Third sounded utterly confused.
"I'll explain later," Angeal assured him.
Zack slumped, pouting. "Fine."
Meanwhile, the sky above the ShinRa tower continued to flash rapidly before the light faded away.
Everyone who had covered their heads or crouched to get away from the explosion looked up again. One man pointed and then the scene switched to show… one of the strangest sights Sephiroth had ever seen.
It looked like a large chunk of the Meteor had indeed been blown away. But instead of hurtling off into space and changing the trajectory as it likely should have, arcs of lightning seemed to be tethering chunks of Meteor in a sort of electro-magnetic field, twisting and turning chaotically.
Basically, it hadn't helped at all.
"Of course it wouldn't do anything," Genesis muttered. "Meteor is the result of magic, not a natural phenomenon."
Ah. Yes, that made sense. It certainly wasn't a good outcome, but at least it wasn't Game Logic, Insanity, or Stupidity.
The game showed a scene of a cliff face with electricity and windmills. Then it showed the old man shaking his head (was that Cosmo Canyon? He wished he hadn't been asleep for that part of the game now).
The people in Midgar seemed to despair.
Then it switched to AVALANCHE on the airship…
"So they crashed down safely – somehow," Genesis said dryly, "and were immediately picked up by their friends. How convenient."
He wasn't wrong, but it wasn't the worst case of Game Insanity they'd come across so far, so Sephiroth ignored that as Cloud spoke.
'Rufus' and the other's plan was a failure,' he said.
"Magic or not, you have no room to call it a failure. You took away the exploding agent," Genesis yelled at the screen.
Sephiroth turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "So you wanted to let the materia explode?"
"Of course not!" Genesis returned, sounding offended. "But that doesn't stop the fact that they cannot call it a failure when they specifically sabotaged it! It doesn't matter whether it would have made a difference or not."
Another valid point, Sephiroth supposed. Genesis was truly quite good at spotting flaws. He was even better (well, louder) at pointing them out.
Everyone in AVALANCHE seemed upset that it hadn't worked despite their part in said sabotage.
Fortunately, Tifa and Cid both seemed willing to band together to bolster the others, encouraging them to think and keep going forward.
"You only fail once you give up," Angeal said softly.
Sephiroth nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, Barrett asked what Cid had in mind.
Cid said he kept thinking how small he was, floating in that escape pod and how he may not be able to change anything, but looking at the planet from outer space made it look small, and it even had (Game) Sephiroth 'festering inside it like a sickness'. Then he said that's why he thinks the planet is a child, trembling and sick and that someone has to protect it.
'And that someone is us.'
"Interesting outlook," Genesis said thoughtfully, holding his chin in his hand. Sephiroth agreed that it was a different way of viewing their predicament. Many members of the group came forward saying how they liked his 'speech' too.
Then someone asked how they were going to do that.
Cid said he was still thinking about it.
"Are you joking?" Genesis asked angrily. Angeal had his disappointed expression back on and Zack shook his head. Even Sephiroth frowned. On the screen, everyone in AVALANCHE seemed to feel about the same, shouting exclamations before they rushed away back to their usual positions.
How disappointing.
Then Nanaki came forward, asking if anyone else could 'hear that'. The now familiar, high-pitched, siren-like noise falling to the lower pitch began to sound in the background.
The crew began to debate on whether that was the planet's scream or Meteor or something else. At that point, Bugenhagen was brought up again and Nanaki suggested they go and visit his Grandfather in Cosmo Canyon.
Sephiroth obliged, heading over to the pilot (Learner Pilot, level 10 now) and then choosing to go to the main map screen.
"It's almost 1:30," Angeal cut in almost as soon as the scene faded in. "We have the opportunity to save and resume tomorrow. I suggest we take it."
Sephiroth agreed with a nod as Angeal landed and exited the ship, then went into the menu.
Genesis slumped back in his seat. "Thank the Goddess that the insanity has ended for the night. The wandering soul knows no rest…"
"Huh. You really do quote that all the time," Zack said thoughtfully, sounding amused. Sephiroth gave it a week (if that) before Zack would just sigh and roll his eyes along with the rest of them.
"Of course I do! There is no finer poetry in the history of Gaia! The intelligent can find an application for everything from this masterpiece! She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting!"
Zack just chuckled. Then he turned to his mentor. "Well, then, I'm off, I guess. Angeal?"
"Goodnight, Pup. I'm going to help clean up before I head out."
"Oh, I can help, too!" the Third Class suggested with a grin. He really was too earnest.
Angeal's smile just widened. "It's fine, Zack. Head back to your room and get some sleep. I still expect to see you at 0800 for our daily warm-up."
Zack's face fell. "But it's like 2 in the morning!"
"Which is why you should hurry along," the largest SOLDIER replied with a wink. "Since you did help clean up earlier, it won't take long, and we'll head to bed as soon as we finish."
The youngest of them looked at all of them skeptically. "You promise?"
"I promise," Angeal said, sounding as if he was holding back laughter.
Zack studied him for a moment before nodding and stretching his hands over his head. "Fine. See you all tomorrow, then!"
"Goodnight, Zack," Sephiroth said as he left.
"Hmm," Genesis said with a dismissive wave as he flipped the television off. The acknowledgment of the Third was more than Sephiroth had anticipated from him, really.
"Bye, Sirs!"
And with that, the puppy left.
Angeal just shook his head after the door closed. "That boy."
"He's as much of a mother hen as you ever were," Genesis said with a teasing grin.
Angeal, for his part, just rolled his eyes. "Come on."
Genesis nodded and went straight for his jammer, unplugging it and coiling the cord. He then handed both the device and the charger over to Angeal, who had fetched the tiny handheld vacuum that Sephiroth kept in the bathroom under the sink. "If you have any opportunity, catch your protégé up on as much of the trivial stuff as you both can handle. I trust you to use your discretion on what should wait until all of us are present."
Angeal accepted the items and pocketed both with a nod. "I wouldn't consider Cid and Shera's mess of a relationship trivial, nor the whole Promised Land topic, but I know what you mean."
They all pitched in, straightening the little that needed it for a couple of minutes while planning a bit for the next day.
"We'll meet tomorrow at 1400 hours in your office?" Angeal asked Sephiroth, while in the process of wiping down his coffee table. The three gil had been moved to his kitchen counter.
The Silver General nodded. "That will be acceptable."
"Let us hope we can make significant progress or even finish the game tomorrow," Genesis said flatly.
"We have no idea how long we have until the end of the game," Angeal pointed out.
"That is why I said 'hope'," the red-head muttered.
Angeal sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I certainly hope so, too."
Sephiroth wasn't sure if he did. Because once they finished the game, they would have Zack's report and the information from the Science department to go through. Judging from his own expectations, Kunsel's reactions, and hints from the game… he was not looking forward to it.
Right now, though, Sephiroth was looking forward to his appointment with his bed and sleep. With one final visual inspection, he deemed the straightened-up room acceptable.
"Should we meet at breakfast?" he asked as he saw his friends to the door, after insisting that Angeal take the leftovers with him.
"I don't see a reason to," Genesis replied nonchalantly. "All we should be doing is sleeping. I, for one, will be missing out on morning warm-ups as well."
Sephiroth thought about that and decided he could afford to skip one day, as long as he did not do so again for at least another month.
"If something does come up, we should text each other to meet," Angeal suggested. "Unless that happens, though, we should probably go back to our original schedules."
Sephiroth nodded, not exactly hating the idea of taking his breakfast in his office as he worked as he normally liked to. It was peaceful.
"Very well. Otherwise, I will see you two – and Zack – tomorrow afternoon," he conceded.
"Goodnight, Sephiroth," Angeal said with a smile.
"Yes, yes. Sleep well and all that," Genesis said as he casually waved his hand through the air. Sephiroth felt pleased by said acknowledgment. He wasn't used to such… positivity from the surly red-head. He seemed more open to all of them recently, even the newest addition of one Zack Fair. Admittedly, that acknowledgment had been far more dismissive, but it had still happened. Perhaps something good had come from all of this and they simply needed more time to continue to get to know each other, much like this confusing gaming session had improved the friendship for the three Firsts.
"Goodnight," Sephiroth said as he saw them out and then watched them head down the hall to their own rooms until they both opened their doors and disappeared inside with one last wave. Tonight, he decided to return the superfluous gesture before he retreated inside his own apartment and began to prepare for bed.
xXx
A/N: Shout out to Imagination7413 and Quathis for their help on this!
Also, Good Ol' Charlie Brown. Anyone familiar with that comic? 8D Check it: imaginationstarts/art/GenesisAARGH-908474606
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)