Walking through the slums toward Jessie's house, Alex calmly passed the local residents. They didn't pay him the slightest attention — despite the fact that just an hour ago the entire Midgar had seen his face on their television screens. Reaching the needed turn leading into the alley with Jessie's dwelling, he stopped for a brief moment, listening to the lively conversations of the townspeople.
Listening to the residents of the slums, Alex was not at all surprised that they were actively discussing his latest stunt. However, something else sincerely amused him: the townspeople were arguing not about what a shocking performance he had staged on the screen, but about how perkily he had chased the grunts, swinging one of them as an improvised weapon.
Chuckling at such gossip, he stepped into that very alley Biggs had spoken of and began looking around in search of the needed building. Bringing the thin cigar to his lips and exhaling gray smoke through his nose, Alex realized he could not make out that cozy little house at all. Scratching his chin, he suddenly clearly caught Jessie's familiar sweetish scent.
Slightly turning his head toward the aroma, he confidently headed in the direction from which the fragrance was coming and soon saw a neat white structure with bars on the windows. Stopping at the doors, Alex listened and among the ringing female voices easily distinguished Jessie's voice.
The moment he knocked, the leaves swung open in that same second — Alex didn't even have time to bring the cigar to his lips again. Standing on the threshold was Jessie, changed into simpler home clothes. Seeing Alex, she immediately broke into a smile and slightly narrowed her eyes.
"Well just look who came! It's my honey — the hero of today's news and the main dream of all the girls of Midgar," Jessie practically sang, playfully poking Alex in the chest with a finger.
"I somehow missed that very moment when I managed to become the dream of all the girls of Midgar…" Alex began speaking awkwardly, lightly scratching his cheek with a finger.
"He-he-he, and here I thought you knew absolutely everything! I hadn't even crossed the threshold of my house when I immediately heard my neighbors' heated discussions about how devilishly handsome you are," Jessie responded joyfully, coming out onto the street and tightly closing the door behind her.
"Well… There's definitely nothing I can do about that. In our case you could say it's a family thing," Alex said with a chuckle and with a light motion shrugged.
"Family? Do you have a big family?" Jessie inquired with curiosity, coming closer and again poking him in the chest with a finger.
"Quite big… And as my older brother likes to say, I'm thiiis much less handsome than he is," Alex said with a laugh, barely noticeably pinching his fingers and demonstrating the minuscule difference in appearance with Lucifer.
Looking at Alex's hand, Jessie saw how he tightly squeezed his fingers, demonstrating an almost imperceptible difference in appearance between him and his older brother. Understanding that this was most likely just their long-standing family joke, she burned with even greater curiosity — she terribly wanted to learn what Alex's family was like in general.
Noticing her undisguised interest, Alex laughed slightly and lowered his hand. Hearing his laughter, Jessie sincerely cheered up together with him. Quieting down a little, she looked Alex straight in the eyes and unexpectedly tightly hugged him, trustingly laying her head on his chest. She wanted so much to tell him so many things — and especially to thank him from the bottom of her heart for helping her father finally wake from the heaviest two-year coma caused by the strongest Mako poisoning.
But Jessie understood perfectly well: no words, even the most beautiful ones, were capable of expressing what she truly felt. Continuing to press against Alex, she felt how he restrainedly hugged her in response and awkwardly patted her on the back a couple of times. Sensing such academic detachment in his movement, Jessie sighed heavily and comically rolled her eyes.
Breaking the embrace, she raised her gaze, immediately grabbed Alex by the face and began perkily stretching his cheeks in different directions, insistently repeating that he should have hugged her just as tightly and sincerely. Listening to these emotional reproaches, Alex only good-naturedly chuckled, allowing her to do absolutely anything she pleased with his face.
"Ugh, honey! You've ruined everything again. How can you be so cold in such touching moments?!" Jessie said with a sigh, pulling Alex's cheeks even harder in different directions.
"And what exactly were you expecting? You're the one who suddenly started hugging me out of nowhere. Of course I'm not against hugging a beautiful girl at all… But definitely not when we have an audience watching us," Alex said with a smirk and expressively waved his chin toward the window.
"What do you mean — 'audience'?… Ah you! Have you completely lost all shame?! Shoo-shoo away from here!" Jessie said with clear indignation, slowly turning her head back and in that same second catching her neighbors literally pressed with their noses against the window glass.
Trying to drive away the overly curious neighbors, Jessie clearly realized: after such a scene they would definitely not leave her alone. Having lived long enough in this purely female company, she knew perfectly well how greedy these girls were for fresh gossip — and especially for stories with a romantic undertone. And she terribly did not want to listen to endless interrogations about where and with whom she had disappeared every time she returned home.
However, in that same second she realized that she could cleverly use Alex as an ideal cover for her underground activity in Avalanche — simply assuring her friends that every time she had been running off on dates with her very hot boyfriend. But first it was necessary to make this gang of rumor-lovers stop peeking through the window, spoiling her entire romantic moment with Alex. In response to Jessie's menacing outbursts the girls only laughed in unison and drew the curtain, leaving, however, a tiny gap through which they continued to see everything perfectly.
Noticing that they were still being spied on, Jessie irritably planted her hands on her hips and expressively sighed, letting them know that she was not joking in the least. From the house again came an explosion of cheerful female laughter, and the curtains finally tightly closed. Seeing that the audience had finally dispersed, Jessie only wearily sighed and rubbed her forehead.
Alex, who had been watching this battle from the side, quietly smirked. In his previous world he had already repeatedly encountered similar situations when working together with Dean in the city of Jericho. And there he had walked around the territory of Nevermore Academy in the company of Enid or Wednesday, becoming part of the local gossip among the students.
Therefore what was happening with her neighbors did not bother him in the least, but rather sincerely amused him — he knew perfectly well how strongly some girls were capable of lighting up from spicy rumors. Noticing Alex's cheerful chuckle behind her back, Jessie sighed heavily once more and turned to him.
"Forgive them… My neighbors just love to gossip in the evenings too much," Jessie responded guiltily with an awkward smile, looking Alex in the eyes.
"Well, that's absolutely normal. Everyone loves gossip! I, for example, adore them too… True, in my case it's more of a professional habit," hearing her words, Alex smirked, tenderly rubbing Jessie's rosy cheeks with his fingers.
"And in what way do gossip help your work?" Jessie asked, slightly tilting her head to the side and with pleasure allowing Alex to gently massage the skin.
"Dean and I hunted not only monsters, after all. Ordinary people also quite entered that list. But, anticipating your next question, I'll say right away: no, we never took orders to kill the innocent. We mainly tracked down complete bastards and maniacs," Alex answered in a thoughtful tone and playfully pulled her cheeks in different directions.
"Is that so… Well, it's not for me to judge you for what you do… And now, honey, let's move on to what I promised you. To the full payment for your invaluable labors," Jessie narrowed her eyes playfully, slightly shaking her head.
Tenderly smiling, Jessie rose on her tiptoes and tightly hugged Alex around the shoulders. Nestling into the crook of his collarbone, she exhaled with relief. From the thought that her father was now completely healthy and mom would no longer have to carry the entire family burden on herself, Jessie felt a real, deep calm that she had not known for the last two years.
It seemed to her that all the anxieties had finally receded into the background and now she could sincerely relax. Rubbing her nose against Alex's neck, she for a brief moment thought about quitting everything, returning to a normal life, becoming part of the theater again and continuing her career. But this thought was only fleeting: Jessie immediately remembered the hundreds of other people still in a coma because of the heaviest Mako poisoning for which Shinra was to blame.
And therefore she firmly decided to see their common cause through to a victorious end, and only then return to her dream. Sighing, Jessie slightly pulled away and again smiled at Alex. He answered her with a tender gaze and warmly stroked her back. Sensing his affectionate touches, she leaned closer to Alex's face and tremblingly kissed him on the cheek. Initially she had been about to touch his lips, but considered that it was still a bit early for that.
However, stopping at one kiss, she decided that this was catastrophically little — and immediately began literally showering his cheek with short ringing touches of her lips. After a good dozen such displays of tenderness Jessie considered that such a reward would be quite enough, and if Alex began to complain jokingly, she was ready to think about giving him something more. Chuckling at her own thoughts, she for the last time again smacked Alex on the cheek and pulled away.
"Here's your full payment! And a small bonus on top from a super-beautiful former actress," Jessie said with a bright smile, looking Alex straight in the eyes with a challenge.
"Well, that was a rather pleasant reward… But didn't you forget to give me something?" Alex smirked, wiping the bright lipstick mark from his cheek with a finger.
"Oh, right… It's all your fault and your handsome face! Here's what you asked for. And something else on top," Jessie said in a feigned offended tone, playfully smacking Alex on the arm and taking the coveted chips from her belt bag.
"You stole more chips?" Alex inquired with interest, taking the dense package from Jessie's hands.
"Nope. Something better! You already have one such thing, and now there will be two. Only you should hide it farther away before Yuffie snatches it," Jessie added with a chuckle and extracted a shining red materia from the depths of the bag.
"Ifrit? Where did you get him?" Alex asked with sincere surprise, carefully accepting the valuable summoning artifact.
"From that very truck because of which on the day we met you called us half-baked terrorists," Jessie responded, pursing her lips, not missing the chance to remind Alex of his sharp word at their first meeting.
Hearing Jessie's sharp words, Alex dryly coughed into his fist and transferred all his attention to the Ifrit materia. The moment he looked closely at the red orb, he physically felt as if he were holding a red-hot clot of liquid lava in his hands, and from the very depths of the sphere a menacing furious roar could be heard. Watching Alex's reaction, Jessie immediately understood: he knew perfectly well what this artifact was, and had even named it right away.
She immediately became terribly curious what kind of materia this was that Shinra had been transporting under the guise of secret cargo. Squeezing under Alex's arm, Jessie leaned on his back from behind and also stared at the crimson orb. Without even touching the red glass, she clearly felt the powerful dry heat emanating from it. Having forced Ifrit to wake for a short while, Alex joyfully laughed, tightly hugged Jessie from behind with one arm and in that same second loudly kissed her on the cheek.
Receiving such an unexpected kiss, Jessie remained damnably pleased that she had given this thing precisely to Alex. Alex himself at that moment was sincerely happy: his personal collection had been replenished, and now he had two of the eleven "divine Pokémon of Gaia." Still beaming with a smile, Alex put the Ifrit materia into the inner pocket of his coat — right next to the shining sphere of Shiva.
Once more pressing Jessie to himself and imprinting a grateful kiss on her face for such a precious gift, Alex felt that this night was becoming better and better. First the sudden appearance of a single White Whisper, and now also a luxurious bonus in the form of Ifrit materia!
Seeing Alex's undisguised joy, Jessie finally became convinced of how valuable a thing she had given him. But she did not regret what she had done for a moment, because she understood perfectly well: only he alone was capable of fully utilizing such power. And yet curiosity was tearing her apart about what kind of materia this was.
"And what kind of Ifrit is this that you're so insanely happy about?" Jessie inquired, turning in his embrace and hugging Alex in response.
"An ancient spirit of Gaia. They existed back in time immemorial, and people worshiped them as true Guardians of the Earth. According to ancient legends, there are only eleven such beings," Alex responded in a joyful tone, slightly lifting Jessie above the ground.
"As I understand it, all your joy is connected exclusively with your passion for collecting such things… But you know, honey…" Jessie sighed, looking at Alex with an exaggeratedly tired gaze.
"What is it?" Alex asked, carefully setting Jessie back on the ground.
"As a girl it slightly upsets me that you're happier about some ancient spirit than about a kiss from such a beautiful girl as me. Ah, my poor maiden's heart is completely broken! What am I to do now, ah?!" Jessie playfully pouted her lips, clutching her heart and looking at Alex with mock offense.
"Well, that and this are still completely different things! A kiss from a beautiful girl is one thing, and replenishing my collection is something else entirely," Alex smirked, slightly rocking his raised hands and depicting apothecary scales.
"Whatever you say, honey. Whatever you say… And anyway, go already and deal with your affairs! By the way, I'm an extremely busy girl, and I still have a ton of things to do," Jessie summed up, chuckling and playfully smacking Alex on the hands so that he would stop depicting scales.
"Once again huge thanks for such gifts. Ah yes… Drop by Seventh Heaven later. We need to talk seriously about your parents. And for now don't tell absolutely anyone that your father has recovered. You can tell Barret and Tifa, but everyone else — not a word," Alex instructed in a calm tone, vigilantly looking around for unwanted ears.
"I understand perfectly what you're talking about. Usually after something like this people already don't pull through… I'll drop by in about an hour — right after I take a shower," Jessie agreed with a sigh when it began to fully dawn on her what such a miracle could turn into for her entire family.
Hearing Alex's cautionary words, Jessie finally managed to wake a little from the unrestrained joy about her father's awakening and truly think about what all this could turn into for them. Fortunately, Jessie's parents were already sound asleep and were guaranteed not to wake until morning — Jessie knew her mom perfectly, who with the greatest joy would immediately run to share such amazing news with all her friends and neighbors.
Sighing heavily, Jessie thought that her parents needed to urgently leave Midgar at least for a while. However, doing this unnoticed would also not be easy, because Gilbert was still officially listed as seriously ill due to the heaviest Mako poisoning. Of course, the problem with the cordons could be solved with high-quality fake IDs, but the main question still remained — where exactly should they go?
Sinking into anxious thoughts, Jessie unexpectedly felt a warm palm on her head. Raising her gaze, she looked at Alex, who with a confident smile raised a thumb, letting her know: a solution would definitely be found, but first Jessie needed to calmly finish all current affairs. Nodding, for the last time Jessie tightly hugged Alex and went inside.
The moment Jessie disappeared behind the door, Alex heard overly lively and curious girls' voices coming from inside. Chuckling at the inevitable interrogation, Alex with a habitual motion lit a thin cigar and with a cheerful smile headed toward Seventh Heaven.
Alex was absolutely sure that the entire gang was already assembled, and Leslie had safely delivered all the necessary materials required for creating the arc reactor. Quickly reaching Seventh Heaven, Alex first of all noticed his "Fenrir" standing right at the entrance and causing considerable delight among the local public. Climbing the wooden steps, Alex kicked open the entrance door and sharply turned in place, effectively spreading his arms to the sides.
"Boom, Baby!" Alex shouted at the top of his voice, freezing in a victorious and incredibly pretentious pose.
The moment Alex kicked open the bar doors, everyone present immediately froze and stared straight at the arrival. Stopping smiling pretentiously, Alex quickly cast a glance over the bar premises and made sure that the entire group, with the exception of the delayed Jessie, was already assembled. Noticing Dean sitting in the corner, Alex smirked.
On Dean's face played an understanding smirk, because he had immediately evaluated the reference Alex had picked up. Chuckling, Alex with surprise discovered that Dean was enthusiastically playing Queen's Blood right with his Tonberry named Steve. And despite the frightening appearance of Steve, whom everyone had still been panically afraid of earlier that day, the group in the bar had already managed to treat the presence of the little green pot-bellied fellow quite calmly.
Looking at the bar counter, Alex met Aerith's expressive green eyes. Aerith was looking at Alex strictly and angrily — exactly like an angry girlfriend sternly waiting for a partying guy for a "very nice" conversation. Perfectly understanding the reasons for such a look, Alex tried to ignore the silent reproach as naturally as possible and strode to the counter. Sitting on a high stool, Alex looked at Tifa, who answered him with her habitual warm smile and unnoticed pointed with her chin at the impressive mountain of crates with materials delivered by Leslie an hour ago.
Seeing that Alex stubbornly pretended not to notice anything, Aerith displeasedly wrinkled her nose and noticeably shoved Alex with her foot under the counter. Receiving a light kick, Alex finally turned to Aerith, and she immediately gave him the most falsely soft grimace in the world.
However, before Alex could utter a word, Aerith immediately grabbed his face with her palms and carefully lifted his bangs, meticulously peering at his forehead. Even Tifa leaned forward with undisguised curiosity — after all, Tifa had also seen that recent performance on television and the moment when horns had cut through right on Alex's forehead in the broadcast.
"I don't have any horns! It was just a small optical trick," Alex noted with a weary sigh, gently moving Aerith's thin hands away from his forehead.
"Well I was just insanely curious… What if you simply skillfully hide them or something like that?" Aerith said with a chuckle and slightly shook her head from side to side.
"Of course I hide them! And instead of legs I have real hooves, and in my mouth a forked tongue like a snake's," Alex said with an ironic smirk and propped his cheek with his fist, transferring his gaze from Aerith to Tifa.
"Really?! Can you show? Let me quickly help you take off your boots!" Yuffie shouted perkily in a cheerful tone, in that same second jumping up behind Alex and beginning to pull off his shoes with all her might.
Feeling how his leg was seized in a death grip, Alex barely managed to instinctively grab the edge of the bar counter so as not to whistle off the stool. Sighing heavily, Alex began pushing away the overly enthusiastic Yuffie, who had fully seriously believed that instead of ordinary feet real hooves grew on him. Trying with all his might to fight off the restless kunoichi who continued to eagerly tug off his shoes, Alex began silently praying to the others for help.
Seeing Alex's silent sufferings, Aerith only smiled sweetly and perkily showed him the tip of her tongue. Claudia with the most imperturbable look averted her gaze to the side, letting him know that this time she definitely did not intend to interfere in his squabbles with Yuffie. And only Tifa, quietly chuckling, came to Alex's rescue, deftly switching Yuffie's attention to a glass of cold lemonade.
Finally freeing himself from Yuffie's tenacious little paws, Alex again noisily caught his breath and adjusted the boot that had nearly been pulled off his foot. For the last time playfully pinching Aerith's cheek, Alex approached the delivered boxes and began unpacking them one by one. Making sure that everything necessary had arrived intact and safe, Alex nodded with satisfaction: all that remained was to properly tune himself for work.
"Everything in place, kid?" Barret inquired, turning to Alex and lazily leaning his elbows on the bar counter.
"Yes, absolutely everything. I only need my laptop — and we can start assembling right away," Alex answered with a nod and closed the lid of the last crate with parts.
"So we're about to get our own free source of light! Damn, that's just great news… But maybe you'll still explain to us properly what Biggs and Wedge are talking about? What really happened with Jessie's father?" Barret asked, loudly clapping his palm on the counter and bursting into laughter, nodding toward Biggs and Wedge sitting at the table.
"Well, I simply cured him. That's all," Alex noted in an absolutely carefree tone, with a habitual motion lighting another thin cigar.
"Cured?! From the heaviest Mako poisoning?! But how?!" Tifa was sincerely amazed, because Tifa also firmly believed that damage from Mako was absolutely irreversible.
"Oh, Tifa, better not even ask! Or Alex will start spinning you another wonderful story about how Dean finished off Death herself, and then Alex had to work as Death part-time. And what a fucking boring job that is," Biggs teased with a wide smirk, alternately pointing a finger at Dean and then at Alex.
"Killed… Death?" Tifa asked again with even greater confusion, transferring her numb gaze from Alex to Dean.
"Yeah, exactly killed. There's a long story there, in short, but I simply stuck Death's own Scythe into him. And he — bang! — and in that same second crumbled into sand. And that's the end of the fairy tale," Dean added with feigned carelessness, not looking up from his game of Queen's Blood against Tonberry Steve.
Hearing how Alex and Dean with the most imperturbable look together spun a yarn about killing Death, Tifa and Barret sincerely considered these speeches complete nonsense. Even Claudia, Yuffie, Biggs, and Wedge, who had heard this story more than once, took everything for a silly yarn invented by Alex only so as not to explain the real reason for Gilbert's healing. Alex and Dean themselves treated the general distrust absolutely calmly.
In the end, if they spoke right now about the fact that they had arrived from a completely different Universe, those around would likewise consider it a mad joke. Stretching slightly, Alex decided to stroll to the room for his laptop so that by Jessie's return everything would already be ready for solving her family's problems. Informing the others where he was heading, Alex moved toward the exit from the bar, and Aerith immediately fluttered after him.
Catching up with Alex on the street, Aerith affectionately took him by the arm, and they together unhurriedly walked along the night streets of the slums. Heading toward the dormitory, Alex and Aerith silently enjoyed each other's company, but Alex clearly felt: his companion was in an incredibly elevated mood. Smiling, Alex leaned slightly toward her ear and in a half-whisper whispered that he had managed to obtain the Ifrit materia.
Hearing that they had managed to acquire yet another guardian spirit, Aerith smiled sweetly, perkily wrinkled her little nose and immediately kissed him on the cheek. Chuckling at such a ploy, Alex tenderly stroked the tip of her nose. Reaching the residential building and going up to his room, Alex approached the desk and took the backpack with the laptop.
"You did everything absolutely right," Aerith said with a tender smile, sitting on the edge of the bed and slightly swinging her slender legs.
"I merely helped our good friend. That's all," Alex answered with a smile, carefully putting the laptop into the inner compartment of the backpack.
"A friend, you say? Well-well, I almost believed you, silly… And yet it seems to me that something else very good happened," Aerith picked up in a cheerful tone, slightly leaning forward and propping her rosy cheeks with her fists.
"And here I thought you yourself felt everything perfectly, Miss Ancient. Or am I mistaken?" Alex murmured softly, approaching Aerith closely and leaning right to her face.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mister Part-Time Death! Maybe something in the world has changed, or maybe not… For now it's completely unknown exactly how your idea will work," Aerith continued to smile warmly and cupped Alex's cheeks with her palms, peering straight into his eyes.
"Very soon we'll find out everything. After all, our path has only just begun… And now we should return to the others," Alex noted with a smile, slightly shaking his head.
"Yes, our path has only begun… And before we return to the others… We need to do one more thing," Aerith narrowed her eyes cunningly, leaning even closer to Alex's lips.
Leaning closer to Alex, Aerith tenderly touched his lips. She understood perfectly well that tomorrow an incredibly long, hard day awaited them, followed by a gloomy series of events leading to the inevitable turning point of fate itself. And for such pure tendernesses she simply would not have time left later. Having rid herself of extra thoughts, she wanted with all her soul to believe that Alex and Dean would truly be able to prevent the terrible tragedy that was destined to unfold tomorrow night.
Hugging Alex more tightly around the neck, she pulled him toward herself, gently forcing him to sit on the edge of the bed. The moment Alex found himself on the mattress, Aerith deftly climbed onto his lap and immediately again pressed herself to his lips. At that moment more than anything in the world she wanted to be an ordinary, happy girl, and not a prophetess who knew every coming catastrophe in advance.
Only for a brief moment tearing away to catch her breath, she again drew Alex into a deep abyss of closeness. Responding to her tender impulse, Alex carefully hugged Aerith around the waist, drawing her even closer to himself. Having spent several more minutes on sincere kisses, Aerith finally pulled away and brightly, indescribably light-heartedly smiled, sweetly narrowing her eyes.
She earlier could not even think that expressing her feelings could be so pleasant! Slightly tilting her head to the side, Aerith decided that such a reward was catastrophically little for her and needed to be repeated immediately. Again with a cheerful smile grabbing Alex by the cheeks, she drew him into another session of kisses. Greedily catching her breath, Aerith several more times quickly smacked Alex on the lips and cheeks.
"A little more — and you'll simply kill me with your kisses," Alex smirked and carefully adjusted Aerith's position on his lap while she continued to sweetly shower his face with kisses.
"Really?! Hmm… Sounds like a very pleasant death! Death by kiss… There's even a certain romance in that," Aerith said in a thoughtful tone, putting a finger to her lips and slightly tilting her head to the side.
"You only say that because you're counting on immediately giving me a life-saving kiss!" Alex teased, laughing, and lightly tickled Aerith's sides.
"Don't you dare guess my thoughts! And would you refuse my life-saving kiss, eh, mister?" Aerith playfully countered, narrowing her eyes and lightly tapping her index finger on Alex's lips.
"Under no circumstances. How could I even refuse you in something like that… And now let's go, or we'll really sit here until morning," Alex said with a chuckle and was about to carefully lift Aerith off his lap.
"And I'm not against sitting here at all… But, ah, fine! Then the very last time — and we're definitely going to the others," Aerith sighed, again leaning toward Alex for another kiss.
"I never would have thought that Cetra love kissing so much," Alex admitted, readily kissing Aerith in response.
"Maybe it's because it's specifically you… And let's still have one more!" Aerith responded cheerfully and again tremblingly kissed Alex.
Hearing Aerith's cunning words, Alex laughed slightly and again touched her lips. From his personal experience he knew perfectly well: when Aerith asserts that this kiss is definitely "the very last," everything happens exactly the opposite. With his wives exactly the same story always happened — they said one thing and did something completely different.
Having spent another ten minutes or so on an endless string of caresses, since Aerith in that same second invented newer and newer pretexts for another "very last" approach, Alex carefully lifted her off his lap. Rising to her feet, Aerith carefully smoothed her dress and slightly spun in place to make sure she had erased absolutely all traces of their little crime. Making sure she looked perfect, Aerith grabbed Alex by the hand and eagerly dragged him toward the exit.
Finding herself right at the door, Aerith considered that the door leaf itself was simply a stunning pretext for another display of tenderness! Rising on her tiptoes, she habitually hugged Alex around the neck and again drew him into a long kiss, sweetly narrowing her eyes as if her next prank had once again been crowned with success. Deciding to play by Aerith's own rules, Alex suddenly lightly and very tenderly bit her lower lip.
Feeling how her lip was gently pinched by teeth, Aerith immediately blushed deeply to the very tips of her ears, clearly not expecting such a passage. Chuckling at Aerith's embarrassed and flaming face, Alex affectionately kissed the tip of her nose and was the first to go out of the room onto the street.
Understanding that she had just been tactically outplayed, Aerith offendedly pouted her little lips and trudged after Alex, beginning to discontentedly grumble under her breath about how that was an absolutely dirty trick, and in general she had been completely unprepared for such a thing! Continuing to sincerely chuckle at Aerith's feigned offense, Alex tenderly took her by the hand and led her after him back toward Seventh Heaven.
To be continued...
(So, another chapter is written, and the plot is moving in the direction I need. And yes, Aerith kissed Alex, hehehe. Love, romance, and hugs. What's next in the plot, well. Assembling the supposed arc reactor, and getting into trouble. Then more trouble, and even more trouble. Which will lead to something, I'm sure. And now it's time to eat, because no one will cook for me. And my friend Jose, if you're reading this. I need your help with a picture of Jesse. Please. Peace, love, and a very strong, deadly hug. Heh.)
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