When the entire group finally entered the cozy house, Aerith first of all took Barret up to the second floor so that he could calmly put the tired Marlene to sleep, who had managed to admire the fairy-tale garden before finally falling asleep on her father's shoulder. While Aerith was occupied upstairs, everyone else settled more comfortably in the living room and gradually began to relax after the incredibly hard and exhausting day.
The first who relaxed faster than anyone turned out to be Wedge, who in the very first place lively inquired whether there would be at least something to eat in the house. The moment these words rang out, Wedge immediately received a ringing slap on the back of the head from the strict Jessie. From such an educational measure Wedge instantly lowered his head, embarrassed, adding that he really was insanely hungry.
Sitting at the table, Elmyra could not hide a kind smile from the fact that Aerith had found for herself such an incredibly colorful and noisy group of friends. Continuing to smile softly, Elmyra proposed to feed everyone a hearty stew that she had prepared this morning.
From the mere mention of food Wedge instantly perked up and nodded his head, expressing readiness to agree to absolutely anything as long as it could be eaten. Looking at his reaction, all those present merely nodded their heads in unison, not at all surprised that even in their current critical situation Wedge was capable of thinking first of all about food, and remembering everything else only later.
As soon as Elmyra rose from the table in order to warm up the dinner, Tifa immediately offered her help and was already preparing to stand up. But Elmyra merely softly shook her head, reminding that all of them right now needed a full rest, and it would absolutely not present any difficulty for her to put the pot on the stove herself.
A couple of minutes later Barret and Aerith descended from the second floor, having managed to lull the little one to sleep. Having descended downward, Barret heavily sank onto a free chair and silently folded his arms on his broad chest. When the entire squad finally gathered in the living room, a pressing, tense silence again hung in the air.
"And… what's our further plan? We've lost absolutely everything: our home, the main base, all the equipment… And I'm more than certain that now on each of us hangs a huge target with the inscription 'main terrorists'," Biggs began speaking, leaning back against the back of the chair and with a sigh folding his arms on his chest, casting a gloomy glance over all those present.
"We'll answer those bastards in kind! They destroyed our home—means we'll go and demolish their remaining Mako reactors to the foundation!" Barret gritted through his teeth, frowning, tightly clenching his fists in an attempt to restrain the rage boiling up inside.
"Barret, did it somehow go past your ears when Biggs directly said that we've lost absolutely all the equipment? I simply don't have materials for creating even one new explosive! I'm already silent about the fact that Shinra will now declare a full-scale hunt on us," Jessie said in a tired, drained tone, raising her gaze to the leader.
"Fine-fine… Then maybe one of you has more sensible proposals?" Barret exhaled with a heavy sigh, wearily rubbing his face with his broad palms.
"Right now we calmly rest and regain our strength. There's absolutely no sense in trying to plan something in such a state. No materials? No problem—we'll simply buy them, we have money. As for Shinra, in the nearest days they'll be up to their necks busy with their next lying propaganda and with how they theatrically express condolences to those who suffered because of our 'brutal' act. Therefore let's leave all these heavy conversations for tomorrow in order to discuss them with a fresh and rested head," Alex began speaking, slightly yawning, unhurriedly exiting the kitchen with a cup of hot coffee in his hand.
"I completely agree with Alex… All of us right now first of all need rest," Tifa slightly nodded, supporting his opinion.
"You're all speaking purely on emotions right now, and they will only hinder thinking soberly. I also consider that we need rest," Claudia added in a calm, even tone, habitually standing to the side and leaning her back against the wall.
"And that is absolutely correct. One shouldn't discuss such things on an empty stomach and a tired head. Better first properly fortify yourselves, and then immediately go to sleep," Elmyra picked up, exiting the kitchen with a steaming pot of aromatic stew in her hands.
None of those present intended to deny the fact that they really catastrophically needed rest. Simply in the air there still hovered the memories of how still literally a couple of hours ago they had calmly been in the "Seventh Heaven" bar when they unexpectedly learned unpleasant information from the corrupt merchant Garrett. And now their cozy home was completely destroyed, and everyone who had already managed to watch the fresh news would clearly blame them specifically for all the troubles.
A series of heavy, tired sighs rolled through the living room from the mere realization of what a terrible situation they had all found themselves in. But this depressing series of sighs was suddenly interrupted by the ringing sound of the jumping pot lid and the greedy inhale of Wedge, who simply could not restrain himself from a loud comment about how incredibly deliciously the fresh stew smelled.
The moment these words rang out, everyone immediately paid attention to him—and saw that Wedge was already fully ladling himself an impressive, huge portion onto a plate. Looking at her restless friend, Jessie covered her eyes with her palm and quietly laughed, sincerely marveling at how capable he was of remaining thoughtless even in such a critical situation. After her the other chuckles also rolled through the room from the embarrassed appearance of Wedge when he finally noticed that absolutely all the gazes in the living room were directed exclusively at him.
Feeling awkward under these gazes, Wedge embarrassed proposed to share the food with everyone, from which the company laughed even more strongly. But while the others were laughing one after another, Dean did not waste precious time on extra conversations: he imperturbably approached the table and also began filling himself stew, not intending at all to wait until the friends had their fill of laughing.
Observing all this bustle, Alex merely slightly smiled and quietly went out onto the porch of the house, holding a mug with steaming coffee in his hands. Finding himself in the fresh air, Alex unhurriedly sat down on a wooden step and began with pleasure enjoying the enchanting view of the night flower garden, slowly sipping the hot drink. Having sat for a couple of minutes in absolute solitude and silence, Alex heard how the door behind him quietly creaked and someone else came out onto the porch.
"Not going to have dinner together with the others?" Alex asked, not turning his head and taking yet another slow sip of coffee.
"I'm not hungry… Although actually I could ask you exactly the same thing," Claudia answered in a calm tone, standing next to Alex and relaxedly leaning her back against a wooden beam.
"Right now coffee is more than enough for me… Want a sip?" Alex responded with a light smile, slightly raising his mug toward her.
"Fine, give it here… And still, what do you plan to do further?" Claudia asked, deftly snatching the mug from Alex's hands, and took a small sip, after which she lowered an intent gaze onto him.
"For now nothing concrete… Although, perhaps, we really should check what strange tunnel under the dormitory Dean recently found," Alex answered thoughtfully, unhurriedly taking a thin cigar and a metal lighter out of his pocket.
Thinking over his words, Claudia took a small sip of coffee and slowly nodded her head, indirectly confirming that she would also definitely help with this outing. Seeing this silent gesture of support, Alex slightly smiled. He lit the thin cigar and again shifted a thoughtful gaze onto the flowering garden illuminated by lanterns.
Exhaling a thin, even stream of gray smoke, Alex began reflecting on what the top of Shinra would now plan. For, as far as he remembered from the original, precisely at this moment the corporation was supposed to grab and drag away Aerith, after which the squad would go to save her. However, in their current reality Shinra had not succeeded in anything, and all the canonical plans had collapsed, going completely not according to the scenario that they had calculated to realize.
Resting his cheek on his palm, Alex brought the cigar to his lips, deeply inhaled, and began weighing the further steps that the leadership of the corporation might take. He was absolutely certain: after such a resounding failure the head of the public security department Heidegger would most likely simply not dare take yet another radical and ill-considered step without the direct approval of President Shinra.
And this meant only that for solving the arisen problem from day to day someone completely different might take over. And the only Shinra director who immediately came to his mind was Scarlet—this woman would definitely not miss the ideal opportunity to belittle Heidegger before the head of the corporation, presenting him as a thick-headed soldier who understood absolutely nothing in subtle operations.
Tapping a finger on his knee, Alex exhaled yet another stream of gray smoke and recalled yet another finished bastard who would definitely never disdain using the dirtiest, most perverted tricks. And this person was Professor Hojo—a crazy fanatic for whom any living people were nothing more than convenient biomaterial for his own sophisticated experiments.
In his distorted, maniacally crazy brain Hojo perceived the entire surrounding world as one big Petri dish with which he could at any moment play and check what other monstrous creature he was capable of breeding. Thinking about this dangerous scientist, Alex again brought the cigar to his lips and slightly inhaled.
"Eh… From this freak one can definitely expect absolutely any crap," Alex muttered, quietly clicking his tongue, and shook the accumulated ash from the cigar right under his feet.
"And what have you already managed to invent for yourself there?" Claudia inquired with curiosity, extending to Alex his mug with coffee.
"Just… Thinking about the fact that Shinra in the nearest time might start playing even more dirty and skillfully," Alex answered, taking the extended cup.
"This cannot be excluded under any circumstances… All of us need to be extremely on guard in the nearest few days," Claudia nodded understandingly, deciding to share her opinion and support his concerns.
Hearing her words, Alex finished the last remnants of coffee and slightly nodded his head, fully sharing her thoughts. He still needed to carefully watch so that Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge would not accidentally collide with that cruel, predestined fate that according to the canon was supposed to inevitably await them in the Seventh Sector.
For now, when these three had survived contrary to all the rules, the Gray or Black Whisperers could at any moment pull yet another dangerous trick, just to eliminate the arisen violation in the timeline and forcibly return everything to its places. Setting the empty mug next to himself on the wooden step, Alex turned his head back and looked through the slightly open doors into the living room, where right now the entire squad was unhurriedly dining, restoring strength after the hard day.
Having finished her stew, Jessie carefully pushed the empty plate aside and turned toward the exit. Noticing that Alex was looking right at her, Jessie coquettishly smiled and playfully winked at him. Slightly laughing, Alex playfully folded a heart from his fingers, from which Jessie's cheeks instantly flared with a light blush.
Seeing her embarrassment, Alex with a smile shook his head and again turned away, continuing to sit on the porch in the company of the silent Claudia. Gradually everyone finished with this rather late dinner. The tense atmosphere in the living room finally dispersed, and the friends finally began to fully relax.
"Ugh, that was insanely delicious! I'm completely full… Thank you enormously!" Yuffie began speaking in a joyful, ringing tone, with visible pleasure rubbing her full little belly and looking at Elmyra with sincere gratitude.
"I'm very glad that you liked my cooking," Elmyra answered in a soft, kind tone, carefully stacking the empty plates into one neat pile.
"Em… You're Aerith's mom, right? So that means you're also… what's it called… Well, that same… Ancient?" Yuffie asked with unconcealed, enormous curiosity, lively shifting her gaze from Elmyra to Aerith and back.
When this direct question rang out, Elmyra's hands for a moment slightly trembled, and she anxiously shifted her gaze to her daughter. Aerith softly and calmingly nodded her head, wordlessly confirming that she had already opened the entire truth about herself to her new friends. Having received this silent confirmation, Elmyra quietly sighed and set the dirty plates back on the table.
Noticing such an ambiguous reaction, Yuffie immediately guiltily covered her mouth with her palms, belatedly understanding that she had possibly just blurted out something that should not have been said aloud. However, following Yuffie's question the remaining members of the group also showed genuine interest in Elmyra, thinking about whether the mistress of the house could also be a representative of the ancient race of the Cetra.
Sitting back down on the chair, Elmyra cast an attentive glance over all those gathered and again looked at Aerith. Elmyra understood perfectly: since her daughter selflessly trusted these people, then she herself could quite trust them. Exactly the same way as it had been a week ago when Aerith first brought Alex and Dean home, right away dumping on her the shocking truth that she had found those who understood her like no one else.
"Since Aerith herself told you about who she actually is, that means she really trusts you boundlessly… Yes, she is an Ancient. Possibly the very last survivor of her people… At least, that's how I sincerely thought until she brought these two into our house. But I myself am not at all an Ancient, as you all might have thought just now," Elmyra began speaking in a soft tone, first pointing at Dean sitting at the table, and then at Alex resting on the porch.
"So that means…" Tifa began speaking, the first to instantly realize what exactly the mistress of the house was driving at.
"Aerith is not my blood daughter… But over these years she has become for me the closest and dearest person that I could only dream of. And for me she is the most precious treasure in this world," Elmyra answered in a calm, warming tone, tenderly placing her palm over Aerith's hand, looking at her with the warmest and most loving maternal gaze.
"Oh, Mom… I love you incredibly strongly too!" Aerith said with sincere joy in her voice and tightly embraced Elmyra by the arm, pressing against her shoulder.
"Whoa… And how did you even first meet?" Wedge suddenly inserted himself, once again completely failing to read the touching, sacred atmosphere hovering in the living room.
As soon as such an inappropriate question rang out in such a sacred atmosphere, Wedge immediately received an entire series of coordinated "educational" blows from his own friends. The first, as always, to react was Jessie, delivering Wedge a ringing, tangible slap on the back of the head for tactlessness. Biggs also did not remain on the sidelines and accurately poked the guy with an elbow right in the belly.
Even Barret did not hold back and delivered Wedge a tangible kick right under the table for such obvious misunderstanding of the moment. Tifa and Yuffie merely resignedly shook their heads and synchronously apologized to the mistress of the house for the behavior of the tactless friend. Elmyra merely softly smiled, making it clear that everything was absolutely in order. She had long ago reconciled with her past and with everything that she had once had to go through.
Tenderly stroking Aerith's hand, Elmyra began unhurriedly telling about that very day when she first met little Aerith. As with most residents of the slums, her life then was not at all a series of joyful events that forced one to smile every day. Taking a short pause in order to collect her thoughts and restore in memory the detailed memories of those years, Elmyra continued her story.
She smoothly led the tale to that moment when she received the long-awaited letter from her husband, who, like many men at that time, had been mobilized for the war. Falling silent for a short moment, Elmyra quietly rubbed her hands and lowered her eyes downward. During her story no one in the living room uttered a single word—everyone merely continued to listen carefully with bated breath. Silently shaking his head, Dean quietly rose from the chair and noiselessly went out onto the street, deciding to keep company with Alex and Claudia resting on the porch.
"In that letter he wrote with such joy that he was finally being demobilized from the war… And when the long-awaited day of his arrival came, I immediately went to the station… But having waited there the entire day, I never saw him. Terribly fearing the worst… I strained with all my might to convince myself that his demobilization was simply being postponed for a little while, and he would definitely arrive on the next train," Elmyra said quietly, with visible difficulty returning to the memories of those days.
"So… your husband was there, on that front?" Barret asked gloomily, understanding perfectly exactly what bloody war Elmyra's husband had been called to in his time.
"Yes… After that I every single day came to the station, waited for him until the latest night, and prayed to all the gods that he would return… And so on one of those days I met Aerith there together with Ifalna," Elmyra answered with a sigh, tenderly stroking her daughter's hair and continuing her unhurried story.
"They had just escaped from the Shinra laboratories then, right?" Jessie inquired quietly, unnoticed wiping her reddened eyes with her palm and straining with all her might to maintain calm from this heavy story.
"Then I sincerely decided that they had simply escaped from the Wall Market, or were residents of the Upper City who urgently needed help… After all, over those years I had seen many such people. And the very last thing that the dying Ifalna managed to whisper to me were the words: 'Take Aerith to a safe place'," Elmyra answered in a sad tone, raising her gaze to the ceiling and with pain restoring in memory that fateful day.
When Elmyra uttered her last words, it became extremely clear to everyone without extra explanations exactly how the life of Aerith's mother had ended. And no one in the room decided to comment on this sad fact—even Wedge, who usually first spoke and only then thought, merely silently lowered his head, trying to hide the surging tears.
It became obvious to all those present: having lost their relatives, Elmyra and Aerith had created their own small family where they managed to gradually heal their wounded hearts. Noticing how oppressive and heavy the atmosphere in the living room had become, Elmyra decided wisely to change the topic and tell a little more about Aerith's childhood—especially about what an unbearable chatterbox she had been in childhood.
From these words Aerith instantly puffed out her little lips and began childishly protesting, assuring that she had not been such a chatterbox at all as she was being presented now. Elmyra merely softly laughed, insistently reminding her daughter about those days when she could chatter for hours without stopping, enthusiastically describing literally everything that only came into her eyes.
From these jabs Aerith puffed out her cheeks even more strongly, becoming comically similar to a cute but very angry hamster. Observing this warm communication of mother and daughter, everyone in the room understood: all of them in the past had had no small number of terrible things. But this did not at all mean that in their lives there was no place for something kind and joyful.
Gradually the atmosphere in the living room finally returned to a normal, cozy channel, and conversations about the past no longer touched on sad topics. Biggs and Wedge with enthusiasm decided to share funny stories from the past in order to raise the friends' mood even more strongly. And already after the very first story about Wedge's incredibly clumsy adventures sincere, light laughter rang out in the living room.
At the same time Alex continued to sit on the wooden step of the porch, lazily leaning his back against a beam and continuing to observe the fireflies smoothly fluttering over the night flower beds. Dean, sitting nearby, with a satisfied smirk was playing with his fingers with his Tonberry Steve, who unexpectedly decided to demonstrate his "combat mastery," actively waving his tiny paws.
Leaning on a beam, Claudia turned her head back, hearing how Tifa began with a smile telling yet another cheerful story from their common childhood. It sincerely seemed to Claudia that she knew these stories perfectly, but for some incomprehensible reason she could not recall a large part of what Tifa was so vividly talking about. Again feeling a sharp, painful stab in the back of her head, Claudia nervously jerked her head, straining with all her might to get rid of the obsessive, floating images in her head.
"You know… this sounds like some damn terrible joke of fate—the fact that we again met a group of people with such a similar past," Dean began speaking, playfully pushing away with a finger the desperately waving paws of Steve.
"Yeah… Fate is quite the joker with us. But at least in their childhood there definitely wasn't your specific zoo," Alex answered, slightly laughing. He lit a thin cigar and exhaled an even stream of gray smoke into the night coolness.
"You couldn't have said it better… Although hey! I actually had a quite normal childhood!" Dean responded with a snort and slightly nudged Alex with an elbow in the shoulder.
"Did you just say that completely seriously? Remind me, if you please, at which exact moments your childhood could even be called normal?" Alex asked with irony, slightly pursing his lips and turning his head toward his friend.
"Couldn't you ask something simpler, huh?" Dean answered, rolling his eyes, perfectly understanding that answering such a question was really not easy.
"Was everything really that bad?" Claudia asked quietly, lowering an intent gaze onto Dean sitting lower.
"Not that it was exactly bad… We just moved from place to place too often because of father's work. He was constantly hunting all sorts of monsters, and left me to look after little Sammy. And usually we stayed in one town for a maximum of a week or two," Dean answered with a light smirk, habitually resting his cheek on his fist.
"You also forgot to add that sometimes you and Sammy were left with Bobby," Alex prompted with a kind smile, slightly waving the smoldering cigar in front of Dean.
"Damn… Exactly, Bobby! He was constantly taking me and Sam fishing, teaching us to properly gut fish and even play ball! Now that's what I call a really normal, human childhood," Dean said with a warm smirk, nostalgically recalling the most peaceful days in his life.
"And the main thing—there you didn't have to sleep with a loaded rifle under the pillow… Because Bobby was always nearby," Alex added with a smile and carefully shook the ash from the cigar under his feet.
"Yes… Bobby was there. He always turned out to be nearby exactly when it was needed most of all. Even when he himself was having it incredibly hard… He still remained there for us," Dean added with a light, sad smile, lowering his gaze onto his hands.
Noticing Dean's depressed state, Alex silently placed a hand on his shoulder and slightly patted. How could he not know about the deep internal experiences of his best friend? For even after so many years Dean still secretly blamed himself for all the deaths of his loved ones. And this did not pass even after he learned the entire terrible truth—that behind all the tragedies of his life stood Chuck, who cynically manipulated others' fates for the sake of his "greatest plot."
And even though Dean had personally dealt with this bastard with his own hands, he still continued to drag on himself the heavy burden of guilt for those whom he had never managed to save. Feeling the warm hand on his shoulder, Dean merely feignedly rolled his eyes and waved it off, insistently reminding that he was not at all intending right now to start blubbering because of all that crap that had happened in his past. Hearing this habitual barbed comment, Alex understood that Dean had finally returned to his habitual state; he slightly smiled and fraternally nudged him with an elbow in the shoulder.
Observing this uncomplicated male interaction, Claudia could not help thinking about how incredibly strong and deep a friendship bound Alex and Dean. And from these thoughts her head at the back sharply ached again—as if in the distant past she also had exactly the same close friend with whom she could without looking back share her most innermost experiences and tell about what she sincerely strove for.
Barely coping with the surging headache, Claudia strained with all her might to recall the one who was for her just as amazing a friend as Tifa. But the pain passed as suddenly as it had begun, and together with it the obsessive thought about the forgotten past evaporated without a trace.
Rubbing her numb forehead, Claudia slightly shook her head, trying to finally get rid of the unpleasant consequences of yet another attack and habitually attributing everything to banal fatigue after a hard day. Claudia knew exactly and sacredly: in the past she had had only one truly close person. And this person was Tifa, with whom they had been friends from earliest childhood and with whom she could always freely share her thoughts and dreams.
"Yes… Besides her I never had anyone," Claudia muttered quietly to herself under her breath, once again insistently convincing herself that her only friend had always been only Tifa.
"Who else didn't you have?" Dean asked again, hearing Claudia's quiet muttering right next to himself.
"Tifa's… Fine, I'm going into the house. I really need to properly rest," Claudia answered calmly, straightening up, stopping leaning against the wooden beam and intending finally to enter inside.
"Well, that's not at all surprising with your eternally gloomy and dissatisfied face! I'm generally sincerely surprised how such a beauty bartender agreed to be friends with you," Dean blurted out with an insolent smirk, not missing an excellent opportunity once again to needle Claudia's habitually cold physiognomy.
"As you say, old man," Claudia answered merely with a light, barely noticeable smile and, without even turning her head, calmly entered the warm house.
From such words Dean irritably snorted when he was once again categorically called an old man. Sitting nearby, Alex immediately covered his mouth with his palm, straining with all his might not to burst out laughing too loudly throughout the entire night garden. He sincerely did not want to remind Dean of the fact that thanks to the great power of Amara the latter had actually become absolutely immortal.
Hearing this stifled, hoarse laughter behind himself, Dean cast an extremely irritated glance at Alex, challengingly inquiring whether he really looked that old. From this question Alex finally broke and laughed even more strongly, with tears in his eyes beginning to emotionally pound a fist against the wooden beam. And the longer he laughed, the faster Dean began losing the remnants of his precious patience.
Taking a deep breath and trying to pull himself together, Alex with a smile shook his head, insistently reminding Dean that Claudia's words were connected with his impressive actual age, and not at all with how he looked outwardly. Rolling his eyes at such a banal and obvious answer, Dean self-satisfiedly rubbed his thick, overgrown stubble, not forgetting to insert a weighty comment about the fact that he still remained damn hot, as always.
"By the way, are you even planning to shave this vegetation? Or else a little more—and you'll definitely become one-to-one similar to Jensen with his shaggy beard," Alex asked with lively interest, with a chuckle pointing a finger at Dean's overgrown face.
"Nope. Amara said that I can calmly leave the beard. She, like, even likes it a lot," Dean answered, slightly laughing, and with pleasure scratched his stubble with his nails.
"You're not by chance wanting to take up cosplay? What if you suddenly have an irresistible desire to put on a stern heroic costume, take a heavy shield in your hands, and call everyone around fags and wimps?" Alex needled, laughing, deftly rolling between his fingers a dimly gleaming hellish coin.
"Only if we ever go to that universe! It'll be incredibly funny to personally punch another me in the face… And even better—to take away from that idiot his vaunted shield," Dean sincerely laughed, taking a phone out of the pocket of his jacket and with a smirk showing Alex a short fragment from the series.
Lowering his gaze onto the phone screen, Alex saw a bright fragment from the series "The Boys" and again shifted his gaze to Dean. Looking at the cunning face and smirk of his friend, Alex was one hundred percent certain: Dean would really like to go to that crazy universe—at least simply in order to thoroughly have fun and break the ribs of a couple of bloated supers, including Homelander himself and even Soldier Boy.
Slightly laughing, Alex in a calm tone reminded that they first needed to fully deal with the current local problems before even thinking about the next grand adventure. And besides, he still needed to complete two important jobs that his father had assigned him. Dean merely carelessly shrugged his shoulders at this logical statement and calmly put the phone back into the pocket of his jacket.
Having sat on the porch a little more, they heard how a small household bustle began inside the house. Turning their heads toward the slightly open door, they saw that the group was gradually preparing to go to sleep. Rising from their places and entering the warm house, Alex and Dean heard lively discussions about exactly how everyone would be accommodated.
The plan was simple: the guys stay overnight in the guest room on the second floor, and the girls go to Aerith's spacious room. Looking at each other, Alex and Dean merely understandingly shrugged their shoulders—for the two of them normal physiological sleep, in comparison with all the others, was completely unnecessary.
Beckoning Aerith to himself, Alex quietly whispered in her ear that they with Dean could without problems settle on the cozy chairs on the small balcony on the third floor so as not to disturb anyone. Thoughtfully tilting her head, Aerith for a couple of moments pondered and with a soft smile nodded.
Having received the go-ahead, Alex playfully squeezed Aerith's neat little nose with his fingers and winked at her, after which he led Dean after himself to the very top. Having climbed to the third floor and gone out into the fresh air of the balcony, Alex and Dean first of all very carefully set aside Aerith's lush flowers so as not to accidentally touch them, and only then sank onto the chairs. Comfortably settling, Alex with a light motion took a couple of packs of cold beer right out of his inventory and set the cans on the little table.
"Now this is what I understand! This is exactly what we should have started our today's evening with," Dean said with a satisfied smirk, instantly snatching a can of beer for himself and separately for Tonberry Steve.
"Always at your service! We're going to sit here until morning anyway. Beer—there is. Excellent view of the garden—available. Means it's time to properly rest!" Alex answered, laughing, and with a juicy click opened his can of beer.
To be continued...
(Well, a little get-together like this never hurt anyone. After all, what's the point of literally racing ahead and knocking down everything in your path? Sometimes, a cozy hangout is just what you need to cope with built-up stress. I thought about starting the next day in this chapter, but that felt a bit rushed. There are only two planned events left before the infiltration of Sector 0: exploring the underground lab and the moment that triggers the need to go to Sector 0. I won't say any more—spoilers and all that. I'm off to grab a bite and play some FF XV. Peace, love and life are hard things.)
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