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Chapter XXVIII – Sweeter Than Sugar
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The unfermented scent of ground coffee beans soon smothered the smell of must and damp in the long neglected kitchen and Barret inhaled deep of its riches. However, it was a different kind of wealth which truly blessed him that night. As he went about indulging in his favourite pastime of coffee brewing, the custom silence he'd endured for years in his impoverished home was quickly filled with the enthused antics of Cait Sith and Yuffie – and Barret was just as quick to realise he was actually a very rich man indeed.
"Hope you got a lotta sugar, cause I want the whole jar in my cup! APPARENTLY it's the only way I can get some around here!"
Cait Sith was quick to make a snappy retort. "Well, ye could just walk oot thae front door and make oor lives all thae sweeter withoot that gob o'yours!"
The dark-skinned man listened to the pair instigate a bickering match while he carefully shift his coffee pot to the stove with a hidden tug to his lips. He was unaccustomed to company outside of his little girl's graces and, while he treasured every single solitary moment with Marlene, the prospect of sharing his brew with old friends brought an unmistakable warmth to his chest not even steaming java could match. Latching a handful of mugs with a gargantuan finger dipped in each, he pulled them together with a clatter and a smile. It was good to be home.
"I feel you will make even the sugar taste bitter if you continue in this... heated debate," Nanaki droned with a quick shake to unruffle his fur. It did little to unruffle the cat puppet's, however, given the megaphone now brandished in the feline's gloved hand.
Barret caught the glimmer of the instrument and the aromatic brew he'd just swigged a taste of suddenly turned to iced coffee. He almost choked. "If you so much as put that thing anywhere NEAR yer whiskers, I'll make you call Reeve, ya scrawny lil' toy!"
Cait Sith froze. Tucking the offending implement behind his cape, the cat raised both now megaphone-less palms and shrugged with a grin. At that moment, Marlene chose to dash into the kitchen with a square shaped object tucked neatly under her arm.
"Daddy, have you seen my crayons anywhere?" the little girl asked, eyes wide and full of hope. Barret turned away from the burr grinder and the extra beans he'd popped into its chamber to peer down at his adopted daughter.
"Now where'd ya go an' leave 'em this time?" Despite his words, Barret couldn't hide the teasing grin that tugged at the whiskered corners of his mouth. He reached for his own coffee with an air of mock indifference while Marlene narrowed her eyes in response and threw her hands over her hips. The act reminded Barret of Tifa so much that he snorted into his mug and almost inhaled the liquid inside. Quickly pushing the colouring book from under her arm and onto the table, Marlene began to circle her father while Barret continued to pretend attending to his brew.
Nanaki, Yuffie, and Cait Sith all shared a bout of confused glances when the girl's sudden cry of triumph permeated the coffee-enriched kitchen.
"Daddy!" Marlene whined, snatching at the clasps of his trouser pocket to pull out the colourful box that lay within.
Barret simply laughed. "Well, I told ya if you kept leavin' them around, one day you weren't gonna find 'em!"
"That doesn't mean you should take them though! Didn't you tell me stealing was wrong?"
This time it was the other three party members who snorted. Barret fumbled for words, face set to turn a most interesting shade while the young girl appeared to take his silence for an answer. She fiddled with the waxy sticks of colour between her fingertips then turned to retrieve her colouring book. On Yuffie's intrigued prompting, Marlene began to flick through the pages and present her motley pieces of art to the three now gathered around the patchwork draped table, her grin only outmatched by the swell in her chest and the sparkle in her soft brown eyes. Barret tugged at his beard and watched with a smile.
'Why do all the women in mah life have to be tha sassy kind?'
With a shake of his head he returned to the remainder of his brew, adding the last of his ground beans to the bubbling blend. 'That should jes' about do it...' Turning down the stove to the ideal temperature, Barret surveyed his work with a practised eye and a gentle stir while Marlene continued her animated chatter behind him. Her soft intonations became the melody to which he worked and he listened with a half-tuned ear. 'Least she's keepin' the others entertained. Not ta mention distracted...'
A frown worked it's way over Barret's brow. He was well aware of the state of his home, as well as the unease his comrades had carried in with them on sight of his living conditions. The air was laden with unspoken questions, but Marlene had swept them up as quickly as she'd swept into the room – all wide eyes and excited smiles, simply happy to have visitors share her abode. By hiding his way of living, he effectively kept the common etiquette of entertaining guests away from his little girl. Knowing he was the one who withheld her that slice of normal living set a great weight over his heart, and he sighed in a vain attempt to alleviate the burden.
"... And this one I want Denzel to help me with, because there's two pages to fill in!" Marlene unwittingly cut through Barret's thoughts and dragged him from the monstrous claws of self-loathing with a bubbly tug of her vocal chords. Removing the pot from the stove, he responded in kind and delivered his own salvation in the form of light encouragement.
"That sounds like a great idea. Why don't cha go colour that in with 'im while Daddy makes an important phone call?" It took no more prompting on Barret's part. Marlene wholeheartedly agreed with a nod into her turtleneck sweater and hopped from her seat at the table, skipping from the dimly lit kitchen with colouring book in hand. Before she completely disappeared from sight, Barret leaned back from covering his pot with a stray lid to call after her, "An' go and call in Tif' and Vince while yer at it, would ya, baby girl?"
Though no response came, the gun-armed man was satisfied with the hurried footsteps and turned back to his ministrations. On hearing Yuffie and Nanaki begin a discussion on what does and does not constitute 'art', his eyes wandered to the fridge door and the myriad of papers and magnets that adorned its steel-plated face. His heart warmed at the sight of an all too familiar Moogle dashed in pink and white crayon, grainy pompom sat neatly atop its head just under the pickaxe magnet which glued it in place. Though drawn by a then five-year-old Marlene, the picture itself remained just as sunny as its artist amidst the dolesome backdrop of his kitchen. Unable to help himself, Barret mentally compared the two and couldn't quite quell the smile that crept across his face. Though two years had passed, his little girl still had the same effect over him as did her art to his home.
She sweetened his surroundings like molasses to gruel.
"And what of so called, 'abstract,' art? Is that exempt from your critical eye despite it also being born from the desire to create and express ones self?" Nanaki's calm tone of inquiry cut through Yuffie's frenetic objections and Barret's self-induced haze. Uncovering his pot to assess the mixture, he gave it one final stir before taking a stray cup from the side. With a dip of his fingers, the gun-armed man sprinkled some cool water into the brew and watched as the coffee grounds slowly sank to the bottom.
"Only talk of art I'll have in this house is if it's 'bout mah lil' girl's," he said as he held the pan lid to the pot's brim and carefully poured out several cups of coffee. "Now quit yer upper plate bullshit an' come an' drink yer java!"
"Yes, Cid," Yuffie drawled, dropping into a nearby chair and eagerly reaching for the steaming mug in Barret's hand. The ninja appraised the chipped cup with narrowed eyes, twisting it between her fingers to observe the cracked enamel that adorned its surface. Faded paint crept across the crockery in crooked branches, each end promising a pale flower whose colour was lost to time. A heady, yet delicate earthen scent of fresh grounds wafted from the cup and decisively put an end to the teen's scrutinisation. She took a tentative sip under the eyes of the ever watchful Cait Sith.
"GAH! BLEUCH!" Yuffie grabbed her throat and spluttered, an explosive spray of coffee just missing the amused feline who immediately became not so amused when the expectorated mist settled over his fur.
"AH YE SERIOUS, LASS?! 'At's mingin'!" The cat puppet leapt to his feet with a wrinkled nose and was quick to wipe himself down with a corner of his little red cape. Barret looked up from the small pan of coffee he set down by Red XIII's paws and, without a word, rose to the sound of Yuffie's continued sputters and trudged over to the fridge. Retrieving a glass bottle of milk and a can of whipped cream from its contents, he took a jar of sugar off the side and returned to the table to grab Yuffie's abandoned mug.
"Had a feelin' you weren't used ta tha more refined blends," he grunted with a rapid shake of the aerosol can, a sharp, metallic clink ringing out through the kitchen in response. "Go on and put yer sugar in," he prompted, setting the jar on the table. Drawing her lips into an undignified pucker, the teen snatched the container and unceremoniously dumped four heaped spoonfuls into the drink. Ignoring her pointed glare and the urge to raise a brow at her chosen sugar level, Barret unscrewed the milk's cap and poured a considerable amount into the mug before giving it a single stir. A cloud of white burst forth from the murky depths to rise and twirl around the spoon.
With a few more whirls of the utensil and shakes of the canister in his metal right hand, Barret removed the silverware before pressing his thumb over the can's nozzle. With a noisy spurt, he squirted a generous helping of whipped cream into Yuffie's cup. Cait Sith's nose twitched toward the fluffy topping with intrigue as the ninja appraised her drink once more. Taking note of the sweetened aroma that now wafted from her mug, the teen made to take another eager sip when Barret's raised hand stilled her own.
"If yer gunna have diabetes in a cup, ya might as well do it tha propa' way." Moving to the counter, the hulking man fumbled with a stray tin before returning with a pinch of chocolate powder. Hovering his fingers over the brew, he dusted the top of Yuffie's whipped cream mountain with a flurry of cocoa snow. "... There. That ought'a do it." Barret didn't have long to appraise his work when the ninja could wait no longer and took a decisive slurp through the froth, painting her nose with a thick dollop of cream in the process.
It was a moment later before her eyes widened to chestnut saucers.
"Oh man, this is good!" Yuffie began to guzzle down the contents of her mug when she paused with an abrupt gulp and a wipe to her nose. "Wait- so, what... were you just testin' me earlier?!"
Barret crossed his mighty arms, thick muscles bulging. "So what if I was? It don't matter anyhow. Yer happy with it now, ain'tcha?"
The young teen peered over the man's biceps and opened her foam-coated mouth in response when a smooth baritone rumbled at her back.
"Women are difficult to please; Yuffie is no exception."
Yuffie jerked in her seat and spun round with an audible slosh of coffee to face Vincent, the gunslinger in question drifting in from the living room with a lazy flutter of his cape. Cait Sith gave a small jolt and quickly reached up to re-adjust his immovable crown while Barret covered his own shock with a rough cough, though the latter's only give away was a twitch of his arms.
The ninja glared and rounded on the red-caped man with an accusatory point of her finger. "JEEZ! Keep sneaking up on us like that, Vince, and one day we're gonna kill ya!"
Vincent gave a barely discernable grunt in response, dismissing the teen's shriek with a sink of his pallid countenance deep within his cowl. Even in the dim lantern light, the shadowed pull to his cheekbones was evident and only served to accentuate his drawn face. Barret rose a solitary brow and even Yuffie appeared to take note, given the cock of her head and the fleeting hint of concern that crossed her youthful features. Cait Sith's tail swayed back and forth like a restless pendulum. An ill silence settled over the worn kitchen.
The heavy air was suddenly permeated by a series of gentle laps. Barret spun to catch Red XIII lick the last remnants of coffee drops from his muzzle and, aware of the attention he now held, the fire-dog turned a keen eye to the group and observed them with cool regard.
"I cannot say I have ever tried coffee before," Nanaki mused, taking a moment to peer into the saucepan at his paws. "But now I can." He nodded to himself with a jingle of tassels before looking up. "And I am glad it was yours, Barret."
A slow grin crept across the gruff man's face as he began to tidy away the various dairy and sugar containers from the table. "Heh. I may 'ave spoiled it fer ya then, 'cuz you ain't gonna taste anythin' better than that!"
Yuffie opened her mouth to no doubt protest when her eyes fell past Vincent's shoulder to lay upon a lone shadow that lingered in the open doorway. Rebuttal forgotten, the ninja hopped from her seat with mug in hand and danced her way over to the familiar figure silhouetted under the stone archway. "'Bout time! Come on, Tif', take Barret off his high Chocobo!"
Barret leaned back to peer around the fridge door as the fighter was half-pulled, half-dragged into the kitchen and the gun-armed man immediately straightened at the sight. The dim lantern light afforded him a glimpse of tired eyes and worry lines, as well as a smile that was as plastic as a child's doll. Ushered across the threshold, Yuffie made a grand demonstration in pulling out a chair for the fistfighter and guiding her into the seat like a sister would their youngest sibling. Cait Sith turned to watch the woman who now sat behind him and, after a moment of silence, plucked himself up from his seat on the table to now hang his legs over the side next to Tifa's arm. The woman responded by reaching out and idly running her fingers through the fur on his head in a distracted caress, one which made the puppet utter a sound suspiciously close to that of a cat's purr.
Suddenly, a cup of steaming coffee was set in front of her.
"White, jes' how ya like it," Barret murmured, pressing a squeeze to her toned shoulder before he once more returned the milk to its rightful place in the fridge.
"Thanks, Barret," Tifa near whispered, eagerly cupping her hands around the mug. "Marlene said you were going to make a phone call. I take it you're checking in with Reeve?" She stared deep into her coffee and, despite the vapour rising to twirl like a stray kite, found it to be pleasantly hot against her fingers rather than the scalding touch the steam suggested.
Such was the magic of Barret's brew.
Choosing to watch the liquid storm inside her cup, she let the heat seep through her finger bones. If the gun-armed man noticed her stolidity, he didn't comment on it. "You got it. I would 'ave checked in earlier by now, but I promised y'all coffee and I ain't one ta go back on mah word. 'Til everyone's got a cup, me an' Reeve are 'jes gunna have ta wait."
Trudging back to the pan and stove, Barret grabbed his own neglected mug of java and took a swig, propping himself up against the countertop so that his back faced the open window. Despite his words, the steel fingers of his right hand drummed a titanic rap against the edge of the sink basin, sending a taut impatience to ring throughout the metal.
"With that said, that just leaves you, Vince." Eyes of burnt umber shift towards the gunslinger to catch the man stiffen in turn, crimson irises flicking from Tifa's form to regard his own. Despite the feigned air of indifference the aloof man protruded, alongside the forced straightening of his left shoulder, Barret already caught the strange expression now concealed behind a steely countenance.
'... Huh. Guess you noticed, too. That look jes' now though... Naw, never mind. I ain't gunna bite.'
"So, what's yer blend?" he continued. "I take ya fer a strong brew. Black as coal, nice an' simple like. Unlike some folk here who won't be mentioned," Barret sniffed. Yuffie opened her mouth to retort, but the gun-armed man didn't give her a chance. "You do drink coffee, don't ya?"
Vincent tucked his chin deep into his cowl with a soft grunt and barely imperceptible hum of agreement. Nanaki turned an inquisitive eye to the crimson-caped man and padded over to leave his now empty pan on the floor. "I'm curious to know what other blends can be made. Grandfather told me to learn as much as I could about this world and I consider this to be one of many teachings. Perhaps you could enlighten me to your preferred taste, Vincent?"
On Red's insistence, Tifa finally looked up from her own coffee. Her gaze locked with the gunslinger's for but a moment before he dismissed her surprise and once more turned to Barret, ignoring all other eyes in the room in favour of watching the bulky man take another swig from his mug.
Vincent unfolded his arms with care.
"... Turkish."
Barret froze mid-glug. Tifa stiffened, the hand that was combing through Cait Sith's fur stopping dead in its tracks. The bomb had been set. Now it was only a matter of time before its detonation.
And, just like the sabotaged Sector 1 Mako Reactor three years ago, Barret exploded. "Turkish?! TURKISH!? THE HELL YOU WANTIN' THAT SHINRA SHIT FOR?!"
The man's boom near shook the very foundations of his home along with the cohorts who dwelled inside. Vincent remained disaffected, holding a silence which only served to infuriate the dark-skinned man further. Before anyone could cause a subsequent chain-reaction, Tifa made herself designated codebreaker and defuser.
"Barret, we should really call Reeve. It's getting late; either we call him now or we don't call him at all."
The gun-armed man bared his teeth as if he'd just swallowed a particularly bitter-tasting pill. Glowering across the table, his eyes never left Vincent's, coarse knuckles whitening around the mug in his hand. Yuffie looked back and forth between the two tallest party members, headband ribbons dancing with each twist of her neck. Vincent's talons jerked by his hip in tandem with Red's ears flicking upright, wet nose twitching with an alarmed jingle of mane tassels. The wicked gauntlet suddenly disappeared behind one of many folds in the gunslinger's mantle.
"Here, I'll do it," Tifa offered, pulling herself up from her seat with a slow rise, looking all the part like a matador who'd just stepped in the path of an enraged bull. Barret continued to glare straight through her.
"Am I missing something?" Yuffie huffed, blowing a foam curve into her whipped cream mountain.
"Well, Turkish coffee is whit thae Turks used tae drink!" Cait Sith interjected from his seat on the table. "That's hoow it got it's name. It's as strong as ah Baehemoth an' only served in thae wee'est o' cups. A real doozy!" On catching Barret's glower, Cait Sith jumped and waved his hands in front of his whiskers. "O-oor so ah've heard!"
"Yeah. Darker than black swill. It ain't actually a kinda coffee, but more like tha way ya prepare it." Barret ground out the words as finely as any burr grinder, "Though I don't get why anyone here would be drinkin' that corporate crap!"
"I see," Red nodded. "An interesting taste." The lion-like dog turned a distracted eye and intrigued nose from Vincent Valentine to face the ex-AVALANCHE leader. "So, does the problem lie in the fact you cannot actually make it?"
Barret near gawked. Looking between the curious stares of Cait Sith and Yuffie, to the patient gaze of Nanaki and wary one of Tifa, the gun-armed man eventually threw up flesh and metallic hand both and turned away with squared shoulders.
"Can't believe I'm brewin' some damn TURK TAR! Bunch'a f***in' traitors!"
Tifa would have quirked a brow in amusement at her old friend were it not for her frown of vexation. Shooting Vincent a cautionary glance, she rifled through her duster pockets while Barret clattered through his various selection of pots and pans in the background. Pulling out her PHS with a flip, she secretly thanked Nanaki as the fire-dog struck up rudimentary conversation to deflate the tense atmosphere, allowing the fighter to focus on calling Reeve's speed dial number.
'One-nine-seven-two... I think that's what Barret said when he programmed it.' She punched in the number then hesitated, thumb hovering over the dial key. '… Well, only one way to find out.' She finished her thoughts with a decisive press to the glowing green call button.
Ring... Ring... Ring...
Beep! "Yes, just move the crates over there. No, no, not too near the oil drums or they might get soiled!" The sudden bark of Reeve Tuesti reverberated through the phone and Tifa hastily pulled the device away from her ear. The next set of orders were muffled and the fighter could literally hear the WRO leader cover the mouthpiece with his hand. "May I request that you also move the ammunitions case away from said flammable material? Honestly, I gave you but one job, please don't make me regret my decision..."
Tifa fought back the laugh that bubbled up her throat and instead settled for a polite cough.
"Oh?" Ruffled material was fed through the speaker along with the metallic clink of cufflinks. Tifa could almost see the phone exchanging hands."In all my time working with Barret, I've never known him to show any kind of manners. May I ask who's calling?"
"You didn't check the caller I.D. before picking up?" Tifa let her amusement break through in a white-toothed grin which only grew wider when Reeve's sheepish chuckles reached her ear.
"It's rather busy here, I'm afraid! Barret did ask permission to program my speed dial into your phone, but I didn't expect a call from you so soon. It's good to hear from you, Tifa."
"Likewise," Tifa smiled. "Barret's a little... tied up at the moment, so I thought I'd call instead. I know our report's been a long time coming, but... is this a good time?"
Before Reeve could respond, Barret interjected with his trademark boom. "It's the only damn time an' I'll be damned if I'm waitin' any longer! So get on with it!"
Yuffie, who was in the middle of polishing off her whipped cream mountain, almost choked on the remnants of her coffee to cut in. "Yeah! I know if I wait any longer I'll die of old age!"
"?! Do my ears deceive me, or is that... Yuffie?!"
"Nope, that's Yuffie alright. Hold on, Reeve." Tifa smiled and hit the slim key on the side of her phone before placing it down centre of the table next to the oil lamp, the luminescent glow of the screen joining that of the lantern's. The loudspeaker bounced off the walls of the small room as a buzz of activity was fed through the phone, the unmistakable chatter of troops and brattle of crates setting an audible backdrop from Reeve's end. "Alright, Reeve. Go ahead!"
"I'm still reeling from the fact she's with you! I've tried contacting her multiple times since you first departed from Edge."
"Yeah, well, she kinda joined us jes' after I called ya back in Costa." Barret paused in grinding down a fresh set of beans to shoot a dirty look over his shoulder. "That an' she's bin' ignorin' all of her phone calls..."
Yuffie dropped her now empty coffee cup onto the table with a clatter. "Err, I AM in the room, ya know! Who's 'she'? The cat's mother?!"
"Ah most certainly hope not..." Cait Sith muttered, crossing his furred arms.
"Ah, now where are my manners? My apologies, Yuffie. It's most reassuring to hear from you again! I must admit, you've had me rather worried over your welfare."
"Worried, huh?" A sly grin snuck its way over the ninja's face. "You carrying a torch for me, Mister WRO head of... of..." Yuffie's ribbing petered off with a furrow of thin brows. "... What exactly do you do again?"
Reeve's unsettled cough echoed throughout the room and Tifa desperately tried to hide her laugh behind a bitten lip. "Err, ahem. Yes, well... No- wait, I mean... Most certainly not. Back to business, yes?"
"Indeed," Nanaki nodded, a grin teasing his jaws. "A lot has happened, Reeve. This may take some of your time; are you sure you have ample of it?"
"Of course! Don't mind me, I'm just preparing to dispatch some WRO aid from the area. I'm quite eager to hear of your progress."
"An' we're as eager tae tell!" Cait Sith piped up, plopping himself beside the open handheld and curling his tail around the device. "We arrived in Corel a couple'a hoors ago but it feels like we're still catchin' oor breath! Ah guess best place tae start woould be thae monsters we picked off?"
A chorus of agreement was shared among the party as Nanaki began to list off the creatures they had encountered and subsequently defeated. From the various Beachplugs and Needlekiss to the lone dragon-like Bagnadrana, the fire-dog took time to note their ensuing battles. The well-groomed man hummed in approval once Nanaki finished his general summation, though a puzzled inflection ran deep in the man's baritone on mention of the unprovoked Adamantaimai which had attacked them outside Costa del Sol.
"An Adamantaimai you say?" Reeve enquired. "They usually stay close to the shore. For one to charge at you so openly is puzzling indeed."
"That's what I thought," Tifa nodded. "But the more I thought about it after, the less sense I could make." The fighter crossed her arms and continued, though her next words sounded distant as if she were audibly musing to herself. "We weren't close to its territory and I couldn't see any nests it could have been guarding. It wasn't even at night..."
"At night?"
Tifa broke from her audible musing at Reeve's question with a flutter of lashes. "Yes, at night. Wait... did Barret not tell you?"
On mention of his name, Barret turned away from placing a very small pot on the stove to give a gruff shake of his head. Umber eyes settled over her shoulder with stern solemnity and Tifa stiffened in error. Whipping her head round and causing chocolate tresses to billow outwards like a summer dress, she spun to face the gunslinger at her back. Vincent simply returned her stare, crimson eyes shadowed by ebony strands under the brim of his bandanna. Beads of perspiration gleamed from his temple like liquid diamonds, the lantern's flicker affording her a glimpse of furrowed brows through dancing dark and stretched shadows.
"We have received reports during our journey that very strong monsters have begun to appear at night," Nanaki elaborated, his long tail twitched to flick to and fro like a restless cat. "As such, we have avoided travel under stars." A lone, feline eye passed between the trio of Vincent, Tifa, and Barret, a sage understanding held in its depths. Cait Sith gave an extreme tilt of his head from his seat, but otherwise remained silent. Yuffie withheld a yawn behind a black arm warmer and a slim hand.
"I see. I've actually received similar reports from various troops. Eyewitness accounts from the populace have also been relayed: nothing concrete however, mostly just rumours."
"Rumours? So I take it you don't have any leads on the matter?" Tifa asked, turning away from Vincent to face the phone and conceal her worried lip.
"Since most accounts have been based on speculation and conjecture, I can't say that I do. That and given the struggle to supply electricity to most towns, any reported sightings outside them have simply been shapes and shadows." Reeve paused before he blew down the mouthpiece in form of a gusty sigh. "I regret to inform that my resources are already stretched thin as they are to investigate any further."
"Well, if ya think that's bad, that ain't even tha big news," Barret near growled, changing the subject with smooth efficacy as he scooped up the steadily rising foam from his coffee pot with a teaspoon. "How 'bout I tell ya of tha f***in' live Mako Reactor we found on tha way ta Corel? Shinra sunnuva-!" The dark-skinned man kicked the cupboard doors by his feet and sent the pans inside to rattle in steel chorus.
"A live Mako Reactor?!" Reeve's sudden blurt rattled the handheld across the table. "Are you certain of this?"
"Sure as all hell. Passed it by on the way here. Would'a blown tha damn thing up myself if I had a big enough bomb on me. Then there's the proximity of it to tha town – I ain't gunna be responsible for the rain of shrapnel that'll fall off that thing. You know yer way round reactors, right? Mind shuttin' tha damn thing down!?"
Tifa made a step towards Barret as the man almost visibly blew steam from his nostrils, but he just as quickly waved her away on noting her intentions. Turning back to his brew, he continued to scoop foam from its bubbling surface and spoon it into a separate coffee cup on the side.
Reeve's silence was audible in and of itself, and then, "… I already have some soldiers stationed nearby Corel. I'll dispatch them to the reactor at once before joining myself; I'll see to it personally."
"You're coming to Corel?" Yuffie asked, suddenly animate as she rose her head from her makeshift bed of folded arms. "I thought you let everyone else do your dirty work. What's the big deal?"
"A live Mako Reactor is a huge 'deal', Yuffie. As such, I would prefer to oversee this myself. Besides, you're right. This office of mine has been getting rather stuffy of late! I think I'm due for some fresh air and this might just do the trick.'
"Well, yer gunna have a job gettin' to it," Barret grunted, pouring half of the pan's contents into the nearby cup before returning it to the stove. "The whole area's unstable. It's gonna take a lot of work to get over there now. I had a mind ta ask some of the folks round here; we might not be advanced tech wise, but we ain't never had a problem rolling up our sleeves."
"Yeah, cause this place just screams of good craftsmanship..." Yuffie muttered, but was quick to snap ramrod straight at the glare Barret shot her way.
"Actually, Yuffie, Corel is a great pioneer in advancement. They gave up their dependence to Mako years ago and have adapted well without it. In terms of agriculture and utilising fossil fuel, there's no better people for us to follow and learn by example." Reeve paused, before a wistful note floated through the handheld. "It's strange really, to think how much the tables have turned..."
Barret, who had been scratching the back of his neck under his puffy white vest collar, resisted the urge to shuffle his feet even as his chest swelled with pride at Reeve's words. "It ain't strange ta me. I'd say Shinra got what was coming to 'em. And they're gonna get it again – it don't take a wise man to figure out who might've bin' tampering with a damn Mako Reactor."
"Indeed. If there have been any sightings of this 'Shinra SIN,' I'm sure WRO members in the vicinity would have relayed information by now. Still, rest assured I will direct nearby soldiers to Corel to help reconstruct the area and advise them to remain vigilant."
"It's of great convenience that the WRO are already in close proximity. Isn't that right, Reeve?" Vincent, who had not spoke at all until that point, almost startled an answer from the well-groomed man on the other end of the line. Tifa turned to the gunslinger in surprise, more from his tone than his words; a subtle, underlying edge of annoyance that lined his tongue like a blade.
"... It is, Vincent, yes," Reeve conceded, a rustle of material and clink of cufflinks echoing down the PHS speaker. "Though it's mainly in the interest of public safety. The Western Continent has provided a significant increase in monster reports than here in the East. While this is beneficial to your mission, include the additional information of stronger monsters appearing at night, and, well..." The well-groomed man paused as if struggling with himself, before heeventually resigned in way of a troubled sigh. "... May I just ask that you all be careful going forward?"
Tifa smiled through her frown. "Don't worry, Reeve. We will." Despite her assurance, the seed of doubt had already sowed itself deep in her mind.
'Reeve sounded awfully defensive at Vincent's question... then again, it was more like an accusation. Does Vincent know something we don't?' The fighter glanced over to the crimson-caped man in thought to find Vincent barely appeased by the WRO leader's words, if judging by the way he closed his eyes and slowly exhaled through his nose was anything to go by.
"Yeah, ain't nothing ta worry about," Barret shrugged, pouring the last of the pan's contents into the small coffee cup he'd prepared. "If any monster gets between me an' these dumbass Shinra wannabes, they're gunna be in fer a world'a hurt!" He shot Tifa a white-toothed grin before turning around to face the phone lying on the table. "But speakin' of construction, Reeve, mind if I ask ya a favour?"
A distracted hum floated from the device and Barret took his cue to continue. "You said yer gonna send some WRO soldiers to help rebuild, right? Well, that's good an' all, but mind if ya let tha good folks round here do it instead? I know a few of 'em who could use the work and tha coin ta boot."
"That's a splendid idea, Barret!" the WRO leader's smile could be heard through the phone. "I don't mind at all, I'd be quite happy to pay the people of Corel for their aid. It is their town after all, and any pressure off of WRO resources is a welcome one, indeed."
"Well, that's settled then," Barret nodded, turning back to the counter to cast a practised eye over his prepared brew and the amount of froth which sat on its surface. "I'll ask round town and gather up some folk. Besides, gives me a good chance to ask some questions of my own. Fer that reactor to be up and runnin', someone had to have gone and activated it."
'And when I find 'em, so f***in' help me...' he added in afterthought.
"Aye, we'll keep oor eyes peeled fer thae culprits!" Cait Sith exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat on the table and took a moment to poke at Yuffie's arms, the ninja having now buried her head deep within them. "An if we learn anythin' mair aboot these monster appearances, we'll be sure tae let yae know!"
Reeve made to respond when the phone suddenly emitted a loud crackle, before a wave of distortion burst from the mouthpiece in the form of garbled static.
KKKZZZZZZZZZZZ!
"WHAAAH! I'M UP! I'M UP!" Yuffie bolt upright in her seat, rocking back on her chair's hind legs to almost careen over backwards while Vincent barely concealed a pained grunt and a flinch, his hand jerked to rest over the sturdy grip of his revolver; infallible instinct turned his undoing. Cait Sith jumped up himself, fur set to stand on end in very much the same way Nanaki's own mohawk and pelt of fire hue did. The quadruped picked his head up in alarm before he quickly bound over to the makeshift window, ears pricked and ochre eye sharp as he jumped up to rest his huge paws on the countertop. Tifa swiftly jogged over to join him and together they peered past the sink and moth-ridden curtains, just as the room was illuminated with a blinding flash of white.
Seconds trickled by before a boom followed that made fur stand and skin prickle. Out into the inky black night, an even blacker culmination of clouds loomed over the horizon. Gathered together in a cluster of darkness cracked with fissures of light, they created a sound that felt like the very sky was being rended; like tumbling boulders rumbling through the very clouds.
It flattened Red's ears and quaked Tifa's bones.
"Aw naaw, not this again..."
Barret's grumble tore russet hues from the distant spectacle in front of her and Tifa turned wide and quizzical eyes to fix on tired ones of burnt umber. The gun-armed man glanced over to watch Yuffie and Cait Sith fumble with the PHS on the table to no avail before moving back to peer out the window. Forks of lightning crashed to earth like dazzling spears, affording a brief illumination of a glittering tower that stood centre of a sea of sand.
"Corel started ta be hit by these storms a couple'a months ago," he explained. "They're pretty damn noisy, but apart from that they ain't no real harm since they mainly stay over tha desert. Guess it's jes' the Planet re-adjustin' or summit. Always messed with tha electrics though, but we don't use all that many anyway."
"So, this has happened before while you've been in contact to Reeve?" Nanaki asked, taking his paws from the countertop to hop down with a clatter of beads.
"Sure has," Barret nodded. "Nuthin' ta worry about, sure he's figured out what's goin' on his end. Jes' means it's gunna take a lil' while 'fore we can talk to 'im again. Gotta sit the storm out."
"How long do these go on for?" Tifa asked, rubbing her arms at the sudden chill that blew into the room.
"Hard ta say. Can be anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple'a hours or so." The ex-AVALANCHE leader rubbed the back of his neck before twisting it from side to side. "'Sides, it's gettin' pretty late as is. I'll catch up with Reeve later, fer now I gotta try and figure out where y'all be sleeping for the next few days."
Tifa stiffened. "Wait, 'few days'? I thought we were only staying the night?"
Barret tensed in response and regarded her with wary consideration. Overall, it amounted to a look that simply said, 'Aw shit.'
"It can't take you that long to gather up people to help rebuild, right?" she ventured, turning from the tired fumbles of Cait Sith and Yuffie as they passed the buzzing PHS between them in vain.
"... Naw, it won't. But I also wanna see Reeve here to make sure everythin' goes smooth, and who knows how long that'll be. It's also a good time as any to ask round and gather intel."
Yuffie perked up at this. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind asking round town to see if anyone has any Materia." The ninja caught herself with a blink. "I- I mean, purely in the name of scientific research, of course!"
"Hmm..." Red XIII joined in with a pensive rumble deep in his throat. "If you plan to explore the community, then may I also accompany you?" The fire-dog met Yuffie's dumbfounded stare with his own of cool intrigue. "If what Reeve spoke of is indeed correct, I would like to observe the townsfolk and their newfound way of life without Mako."
While the two teenagers began a tenuous quarrel, (or at least, one of them considered a teenager by his species' standards,) Tifa crossed her arms tightly under her chest and turned away. The fighter was completely absorbed in thought even as Marlene and Denzel rushed into the room to eagerly peer over the sink at the spectacle outside. She vaguely heard Nanaki speak to them in calm tones, his reassurance easing the unnerved tension which clung to the room like static.
Barret watched her carefully, his extenuation weighing heavy on his shoulders.
He didn't need to ask what she was thinking; he already knew. And it wasn't a question of what, but rather, who.
He resigned himself with a sigh and settled a gigantic hand on her shoulder. "How 'bout we talk it over in tha mornin'. It's real late. 'Bout time everyone head to bed. I know I'm beat."
Tifa gave a slow nod and her old friend began to muse out loud of their sleeping arrangements, from the beaten old sofa in his living area to some spare blankets in Marlene's room and an extra mattress stashed away in his own. He also noted a spare hammock on the roof but, given the current weather, ruled it out as a viable place to sleep for the night. Nanaki occasionally provided his own thoughts during brief interludes of the storm, a calm presence amidst the crackle of lightning which sent the two children scurrying under the table. Despite their capers and mischief charged by the thunder, fatigue followed their every footstep and it wasn't long before the pair were rubbing their eyes in the dim lantern light.
Pocketing his PHS with a snap, Barret terminated the call and accompanying buzz of static while Yuffie took it upon herself to guide the children to bed. (A selfless act for Yuffie, Tifa noted, but one that she quickly came to realise was just a guise for her to pick out the better of the beds.) The ninja wasn't completely ignorant to the fighter's gaze and she shot a cheeky grin over her shoulder, when suddenly it fell with a flicker of her eyes. Tifa's own fluttered in turn and she rose a solitary slender brow, but before she could open her mouth, the teen positively beamed at her with a flash of white teeth and mischievous eyes.
Yuffie trot from the room with her two charges and an extra bounce in her step, just as Barret turned around with a very small cup pinched between two fingers, leaving Tifa decidedly uncomfortable.
Her old friend stopped dead with a telltale tick of his brow. "What the hell? Where's Vince?"
Tifa snapped from her baffled musing to tear her eyes from the stone archway Yuffie had disappeared under. Her gaze fell upon the space that should have be occupied by a crimson cape, but instead she found it to be empty and indeed Valentine-less. Tifa cast probing eyes to the other two occupants in the room and received a cock of the head and shrug of the shoulders from Red XIII and Cait Sith respectively. She could practically hear Barret's patience tick away like a live bomb while the cogs of her mind ticked to their own rhythmic reasoning.
'If I were Vincent, where would I...'
A spark of realisation hit her as sure as the lightning fell to earth. "I think I know where he is." Her sudden blurt earned her an incredulous stare from Barret, but before he could ask questions, she held out her hand. When he continued to stare, she clarified, "Here, I'll take it to him."
Her old friend opened his mouth but, at a loss for words, simply closed it again. Silent, he passed the small enamel cup to her before turning away and muttering something about certain people being, 'a pain in the ass.' With that, Tifa left the room with a sweep of long legs and leather duster just as Yuffie returned, the teen barely skipping from the fighter's path as she made a hasty retreat.
The ninja threw her arms out with an appalled gape as if to say, 'What's the deal?!' but Barret cut her off with a stern glance.
"Don't even ask. I dunno when she got so damn good at reading him, an' frankly, I don't wanna know."
"Huh? 'Him'?" Yuffie threw her hands over her hips and she cast her eyes over the room before they lit up with realisation. "You talking about Vinnie?"
"Naw, tha weather," Barret rolled his own of burnt umber as a flash of lightning illuminated the room, accentuating them with a brief glimmer. "The hell do you think?"
"Gawd, no need to take it out on me!" Yuffie huffed through the subsequent rumble of thunder that followed in way of agreement. She turned away with a twirl of headband ribbons, an unusual pensive flutter to her tone as she tapped her chin with a lone finger. "But is it just me, or are those two... I dunno... closer?"
"I too gathered that impression," Red XIII chimed in as he padded by the table, allowing Cait Sith to hop from its surface and into the fire-dog's mane. "What made you arrive to the same conclusion, Yuffie?"
"Ooooh, nothing. A girl's gotta have her secrets!" the teen grinned. Unbeknownst to the others, she'd fallen preoccupied with the lone daffodil she'd spotted hanging from Tifa's duster earlier. Her previous suggestion to a certain gunslinger hung fresh in her mind and, while she ultimately teased Vincent to level the playing field of who she pestered in the party, she hadn't actually expected him to follow through with it. Her smile faded when a more sombre thought formed and she scratched the side of her cheek. "I guess I noticed 'cause Vinnie's been actin' kinda... weird."
"Well, that ain't no secret," Barret shrugged, running thick fingers through his coarse beard as Red and himself shared a shrewd look of acknowledgement between each other. Cait Sith crossed his arms from his seat in-between the spikes of Nanaki's mohawk, but if the cat noticed the exchange, he said nothing of it. "But yeah, it's sumthin' I noticed myself," Barret nodded. "Since Vince helped her out back in Edge, I'd say Tif's been goin' out her way to, I dunno... keep an eye on 'im or summat."
"Oor maybe we're readin' too much intae it!" Cait Sith piped up, causing Red's ears to flick back from the sudden voice between them. "Then again, ah'd say good ol' Vinnie's bin givin' Tifa thae same treatment."
"Huh? Edge? Yuffie blinked. "What happened back in Edge?" When it became apparent no one was about to answer her question anytime soon, the ninja stomped her laced boot in annoyance. "Come on, spill! I can't believe there's some juicy details I don't know about!"
Barret shook his head and ran a hand over his face, the dim lighting making his features appear more haggard than what they actually were. "I think that's a story you should be askin' Tif' for, not me. Anyway, it's late. I'm gonna turn in, so if you wanna know where yer sleepin' tonight, quit with the questions."
A jingle of tassels told the gun-armed man that Nanaki nodded in agreement. He picked up the lantern from the table and made to extinguish the flame, all the while ignoring the pout of a certain ninja, when a sly glimmer took to her eyes.
"I already know where I'm sleeping tonight," Yuffie drawled through a drawn out stretch reminiscent of a cat. "Marlene graciously asked me to be her guest. But hey, if you don't feel like telling me, that's fine... but I miiiight let it slip to Marlene that it was actually you who broke her wind-up Moogle toy."
Barret froze. Cait Sith clapped two gloved hands over his muzzle just as the ex-AVALANCHE leader spun to face the teen. "What the?! How tha HELL do you even know about that?!" he hissed.
Another flash of lightning and rattling boom of thunder, before Yuffie answered round a cat-like grin.
"Oooh, you know... a girl's gotta have her secrets!"
Barret balked as Red barked out a laugh and Cait Sith's whiskers twitched in mirth. The pair left the room in a tired trot and made for their makeshift beds, Nanaki's tail-flame acting as a guide and comforting glow in the darkness of the thunderstorm. Barret shot the ninja one more stare of disbelief before he made the decision to check up on the children, finally snuffing out the lantern flame.
Even as the light faded, Yuffie's grin never did.
'Forget the sugar, revenge is much sweeter!'
