Brina✨🪐

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sephiroth checks the time on his phone for what feels like the hundredth time this evening, still waiting for Raven to return from her mission. It’s almost 8PM, and she was supposed to return more than two hours ago. He contemplates calling her, but the sound of footsteps with a deeply familiar rhythm makes him look up. He puts his phone away and turns to face Raven as she rounds the corner, approaching him.

“Looks like you’ve decided to bless us with your lovely presence after all, Kat. It’s a miracle,” Sephiroth teases Raven with a soft, playful smirk, making her roll her eyes. “Says the diva who takes ages washing his hair,” she gives him a small smile and opens the door to her office. “And don’t even try to hit me with the length argument. My hair also reaches my hips and I take five minutes to wash mine at most.”

Sephiroth follows her into her office and sits down on the couch, throwing his feet up on the coffee table in front of him while Raven starts putting her things away. “That is true, but my hair is still longer than yours. Due to your… compromised height, the distance between your hips and your head is shorter than the distance between mine.”

Raven stops in her tracks and turns towards him with a glare on her face. She just stares at him before defending herself: “Well I have more hair and mine is thicker, so we technically have a very similar amount of hair in terms of mass. Oh, and before you think of calling me short again, just remember that our height difference is the only reason I haven’t mopped the floor with you yet.”

With a chuckle, Sephiroth raises his hands in the air, admitting defeat. He watches her put her stuff away in silence, before asking: “What did you and Angeal talk about this morning before you left?” Raven walks over to the couch to sit down next to him, getting comfortable to try and relax a bit. “Well he basically implied that you and I might have showered together, then he asked what I think of Zack and if I think he could make the cut for first class. Why, did he mention something while I was gone?”

“Hmph,” Sephiroth huffs softly. “He didn’t mention you or anything. He did, however, inform me during lunch that he has officially recommended Zack for first to the director and that he’s sending Zack to hopefully finish the mission in Wutai tomorrow.”

“Wutai?!” Raven exclaims, sitting up straight. “He’s sending a second class to Wutai? Has he lost it or what?”

“It is quite spontaneous, both the mission and promotion. The director asked for my assistance in Wutai, too.”

“Sending you I can get behind, but Zack? That’s just careless, especially on such short notice. Angeal and the director should be aware that it’s not a bad idea to give some preparation time before deployments like these.” Raven complains, clearly getting worked up. Sephiroth shrugs, not too bothered by the situation. “It’s not Zack I’m worried about,” He explains, “it’s the director. He’s going with them for a performance review or something.”

At those words, Raven looks at Sephiroth with an exasperated, incredulous expression for a second. She then rolls her eyes and stands up, walking to the door. Before leaving, she stops in her tracks and says: “Just… Go home, Seph. I’ll come join you for dinner later. I have some business to take care of.”

“Watch your mouth when you talk to him, Kat. See you soon,” Sephiroth responds as he watches her take off, knowing what she’s about to do.

— A few minutes later, in the director’s office —

“Do you have a death wish or are you just downright stupid?” Raven barks as she stomps towards Lazard’s desk, who quietly apologizes to whoever is on the phone before hanging up. She stops right in front of his desk and leans on her hands, waiting for him to explain. Without meeting her intense stare, he answers lowly: “I assume you found out about the Wutai assignment.”

“At least you know what this is about,” she stands back up, starting to pace. “What kind of demon has possessed you to go to Wutai? Is someone threatening you to go?”

“No, Raven,” he starts, “it’s for Zack’s promotion. I need to review his performance.”

“There’s this thing called ‘training sim’, that might be a little safer,” Raven stops pacing and starts gesturing, her voice raising a little bit. “You’re a damn civilian! Wutai is an active warzone, you can’t go there!”

“I’ll have troops to protect me, don’t worry.”

“Those troops are either rookies who can’t aim their gun straight or they have three kids waiting for them at home. They’re not goot options for protection.”

“They’re good enough for me.”

“Not for me,” she states firmly, “I’m coming with you. Whether you like it or not.”

The director raises an eyebrow in a mix of shock and curiosity. “Oh? Why’s that?”

“Because I’ve spent years fighting in the war and know those terrains like the back of my hand, for one. You’re way safer with me than some troops who only know that we’re at war with Wutai. My second reason is that this mission is lacking critical planning and preparation, so who knows what could go wrong. I can handle anything you throw my way, troops can’t.”

“I suppose there’s no point in arguing with you,” Lazard sighs. “Fine, then. If you really can’t leave it, you can tag along. Thank you for your help.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You can thank me once we’re back from Wutai and you’re unharmed. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Don’t make any other idiotic decisions at least for now, please.”

Raven scoffs and shakes her head in disappointment, walking away. The director just rubs his forehead and sighs before going back to his paperwork.

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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After a rough training session, Angeal, Raven, and Sephiroth find themselves in the locker room, getting ready for work. Angeal is sitting on the bench in his uniform, skin still damp with sweat as he waits for the other two to finish their showers. All of a sudden, he’s pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of something clattering against the metal locker beside him, jumping slightly at the sudden, loud noise. His eyes dart towards the bottle of body wash that’s now lying on the bench before they move higher, seeing Raven walk towards her locker.

“What the hell was that for?” Angeal implores with a stunned expression on his face as Raven opens her locker to put her towel and body wash away. “Good morning, space cadet.” She takes out her shirt and shoots Angeal a knowing glare before he can say anything, pulling her shirt over her head. “Before you ask about my honor, I left it in my other pants this morning.”

“Ah, so you’re in that kind of mood today, huh? Glad to know you didn’t lose your honor, at least,” he teases with a half-smile, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Raven keeps on getting dressed, continuing with her pants. Despite Angeal’s playful attitude, she catches on to the sass underneath his teasing remark. As she zips up her pants, she inquires: “This about Genesis again?”

Angeal shifts uncomfortably on the bench, diverting his gaze from his coworker with a heavy sigh. “Can’t keep anything from you, can I?” he mutters, knowing that she saw right through him. “You weren’t exactly subtle about it,” Raven gives him a quick glance before picking up her boots and sitting down next to him. “Sitting here sulking like that and then making that remark about losing honor. You’re like an open book, Angeal.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Angeal admits, glancing over towards the showers. “Sephiroth’s taking an awfully long time, is he alright?” At his question, Raven lets out a scoff and shoots him a shocked look. “Are you seriously asking me that?” Angeal looks over at her, dumbfounded and a bit confused. They share a second of silent eye contact before he answers: “Yes I am? You’re the one who went showering with him, if anyone knows how he’s doing it’d be you.” Raven lets out another scoff: “No, I went showering at the same time as he did, but I didn’t go showering with him.” She returns to putting her boots on and zipping them up. “We didn’t share a stall, dimwit.”

Angeal rolls his eyes at Raven, groaning at her attitude. Despite his annoyance, he cracks a small smile at her joshing. “You weren’t kidding when you said you left your honor in your other pants today. And how would I know if you shared a stall or not? For all I know, you clearly don’t mind getting intimate with your coworkers, considering you and Genesis were a thing.“

Raven’s face contorts into an expression of disgust at Angeal’s words as she finishes putting on her shoes. She stands up from the bench and turns towards her locker, taking out her coat as she talks: “The difference is that Genesis and I didn’t grow up together, but Sephiroth and I did. He’s like a brother to me, so I would never go down that road with him. And to answer your question, Sephiroth is probably taking so long because he has to wash his hair.” Angeal chuckles at her answer, but the beeping of his phone interrupts him before he can say anything. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and looks at the notification.

“It’s Zack,” Angeal explains. “And I didn’t ask,” Raven responds, which earns her a stunned, slightly offended look from Angeal. She notices his expression, but doesn’t apologize for her words. “You don’t have to tell me who’s texting you,” she says as she puts her gloves on, “I’m not nosy like Genesis. Thought you’d know by now.”

“I do know, it’s just a habit I suppose. Actually, since I mentioned Zack, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Angeal looks at Raven expectantly as she closes her locker, fidgeting with the phone in his hands. She gestures for him to go on as she starts packing her bag. “What do you think of him? Think he’s got what it takes to become first class?”

Raven shuts her locker and turns towards Angeal, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Well I hardly know the kid, I trust you to know whether he’s ready for that promotion or not. If you really want my opinion, I’ll tell you.” Angeal gives her a short ‘please’ in response, which is all she needs to go on: “I think he’s a naive, happy-go-lucky kid who has his mind all over the place and writes the worst mission reports in our entire military. His performance reports are pristine, so he’s definitely got the muscles to become first. What he’s lacking is brains, and spending his free time doing squats clearly doesn’t grow his thinking muscles.”

Angeal chuckles at her honest response, definitely not too surprised. He leans back against his locker and crosses his arms, smirking at her. “That’s quite harsh, don’t you think? You’ve never interacted with him, maybe you should give him a chance. He’s not as bad as you think.” Raven lets out a soft scoff at his words as she turns to leave, looking at Angeal as she speaks: “I hope not. Either way, I’ve gotta go. Lazard assigned me to a mission on pretty short notice.”

“I understand. Go and do your thing before he benches you for being late.” Angeal says with a smile as he watches her go. “He wouldn’t dare, so no worries. I’ll see you around.”

Angeal looks at the door as she closes it behind her, letting his gaze linger for a few seconds before he opens his student’s message: ‘Hey Angwal is Gongaga really on a different condiment than Midgar?’

Angeal can only manage a sigh.

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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“You wanted to see me?” Raven’s voice pulls Lazard out of his thoughts. He looks up and sees her approaching his desk, wearing her usual, serious expression. He gives her a curt nod and sets his pen down as she crosses her arms over her chest. “Thank you for showing up on such short notice, especially after your works hours. Please excuse my late call.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Raven shakes her head, “I’m working overtime anyway. What did you need?” Lazard leans back in his chair with a soft chuckle. “Always right to the point, eh? Well, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Genesis. I wanted to see if you knew anything that could help us.”

Raven takes a deep breath and looks away for a moment, before returning her intense stare to the director. “I’ve told you everything I know. Just because I’m his ex doesn’t mean I can read his mind.”

“I know, Raven, but I’m not asking for facts. I want to know what you think led to his disappearance.” At his words, Raven lets out a soft scoff, “Calling in your colonel to ask for her conspiracy theories at 2300 won’t bring Genesis back, I hope you know that.” Lazard sighs and leans forward again, resting his clasped hands on his desk. His eyes show a hint of desperation, matched with dark circles under his eyes. “Can you really call it a ‘conspiracy theory’ when it’s your theory? Your intelligence and ability to see through anything and anyone should be enough to make your ‘conspiracy theories’ at least a little plausible. So please, tell me what you think.”

“If you really think that it’ll help you, fine. I think Hollander is behind this.” The director’s eyebrows shoot up and he motions for her to continue. Raven walks over to one of the tables and leans against it, crossing her arms again before she starts: “Something about that man has always been off to me. What really did it for me was when Genesis came to him about his degradation and he claimed that Sephiroth wasn’t a viable blood donor. There was no reason for it, their blood types match and Sephiroth was in peak condition. The others just accepted that answer and went on with their lives.” She lets out a sigh and lets her gaze fall to the floor. Lazard watches her quietly as he rests his chin on his hand, giving her a moment to think.

“I visited him in his lab afterwards and asked why Sephiroth wasn’t a viable donor. The best he could give me was ‘oh he just… isn’t- uh, viable, you know’. I asked him which blood levels led him to believe that, and he just said ‘the viability marker things’. Talk about some bullshit.”

The director takes a deep breath and shifts in his seat. “Did you ever get the truth?”

“No,” Raven replies sharply, “he would never admit it. Sephiroth is a perfectly viable donor, Hollander just didn’t want to transfuse Genesis with Sephiroth’s blood. Either because he wants to see Genesis degrade even further or because he’s so jealous of Hojo that he won’t touch Sephiroth out of spite. Either way, I wouldn’t put it past him to manipulate Genesis into deserting or even abduct him for his own agenda.”

“That’s…”, Lazard begins, “Certainly an idea.” Raven scoffs and rolls her eyes. “You wanted my conspiracy theory, so you got it. Do with it whatever you will.” She stands up and adjusts her coat. “Do you need anything else from me?”

“No, you’re dismissed. I hope you have fun doing your paperwork.” Lazard says sarcastically as he picks up his pen. Raven lets out a soft chuckle and responds with a quick ‘sure’. She turns to leave, but she stops after a few steps. “One last thing.” she says as turns around to face him. His eyes meet hers, but her gaze is unusually soft. “Don’t blame yourself. I know you’re catching a lot of heat because a first class SOLDIER and several seconds and thirds went AWOL on your mission, but this isn’t your fault. You gave Genesis your orders, and he went against them. This is on him, not you. We’ll get him back, and when we do, there will be disciplinary action against him. As your colonel, please know that I see it as my duty to assist you through this. As your friend, take care of yourself, and get some sleep. Punishing yourself like this won’t do you any good and it certainly won’t bring back Genesis.”

Lazard looks at Raven with a soft expression on his face, clearly a little shocked, yet grateful for her words. She holds eye contact as Lazard responds: “Thank you, Raven. I’ll do everything within my power.” She gives him a small, soft smile as she turns to leave.

“Good night, Lazard.”

“Good night, Raven.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───