Work Text:
His phone vibrated. With a sigh, thinking it was Lazard or someone needing something, he pulled it out. It was a text from an unknown number. It read, “what the fuck is he doing?” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and went to text back, saying the person had the wrong number. Then, a picture popped up before he could.
There was a ferret laying on a plate eating some food. The ferret wasn’t just sprawled out across the plate. No, he was laying around the outer edge and eating from the middle of the plate. It was weird looking, if not a bit silly.
Now, Sephiroth wanted to know more about the ferret, but most definitely did not want to let some random person know who he was. If his fan club got his phone number, it’d be a huge headache. He’d be able to change his number, but it’d still be an annoyance.
I don’t know. What is he doing? Sephiroth replied, putting his phone away.
Being a huge fucking dork! now brat is hissing because i took away a milk jug. whhhhhyyyyyy?
Sephiroth let a smirk form on his face out of amusement. He rested his cheek on his hand and texted back with one hand. How many ferrets do you have?
Sephiroth watched as the dots appeared before stopping. He placed his phone on his desk and continued to work on the paperwork he was in the middle of. Then, his phone vibrated again. He glanced over, debating on if he should just ignore his phone or actually work. He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was really past when he should be done working. The paperwork could wait until morning.
I have the wrong number, don’t i?
Yes. But you didn’t answer my question.
4. Baby Brat, Baby Bear, Baby Boy, and Saki. Baby Bear was laying on the plate.
Sephiroth’s eyes widened at the number. He didn’t realize that people had more than one ferret. Then again, he didn’t actually know anyone that had a ferret. Still, his curiosity was peaked. The one eating on the plate was rather cute – not that he’d let anyone know he thought that.
Then, you must have pictures of all of them.
One by one, pictures were sent. It was as if the person was excited to show off their ferrets. With each picture, they’d send the names. It was just a picture of the ferret and whatever they were playing with or sleeping in. None of them had any hint as to what this mysterious person looked like.
Sorry about texting you, btw
Don’t worry about it. It’s definitely not the worst wrong number I’ve received. Most pictures I get by mistake are more explicit.
Ewwww
Precisely. Sephiroth paused. He did actually enjoy this wrong number. Now, as an apology, I expect to receive ferret pictures or anything similar every day.
Seriously?
Yes.
Ok!
Sephiroth put his phone away and stood from his desk before making his way back towards his quarters within the building.
--
At about ten that morning, Sephiroth’s phone vibrated. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking before he hurriedly took it out. He opened a text message with an image attached.
Good morning! I hope I’m not waking you up. Here’s Baby Boy.
There was a ferret asleep. Though, his tongue was sticking out far more than anything Sephiroth had ever seen. He shot one of his gloved hands up to cover a snort that escaped his nose. The side of his eyes crinkled while he grinned at the photo.
Most graceful, he replied and put his phone away. He couldn’t risk anyone else seeing his smile when he worked hard to build his reputation.
--
A couple of weeks past. Each day there was at least one picture. Sometimes, more than one image was sent. Whenever there was an additional image, it was when Sephiroth needed it most. He almost questioned how the person knew, but played it off as it just being a coincidence.
When it was day sixteen, Sephiroth found himself exceedingly stressed out. There was a recent attack on a mako plant and tensions between Shinra and Wutai were starting to get out of hand. He was about to explode at Hedeigger’s ignorance when his phone vibrated.
“Excuse me, I need to take this,” Sephiroth hissed and left the room. He leaned against a wall in the hallway and pulled out his phone.
THERE’S A SNAKE IN MY BOOT! There was a ferret’s butt, tail, and hind feet sticking out of a boot. Sephiroth took a deep breath and allowed himself to stare at the picture and let his stress flow out of him. He scrolled up at previous pictures. With each picture, more and more of his stress was going away.
You are heaven-sent. Today has not been a pleasant one and this has helped. Thank you. It was the most he replied to any of the pictures. Most of the time it was just a couple of words or a thumbs up.
Is everything okay?
Work.
Ah, yeah. Too bad you don’t own your own business.
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes, not exactly sure where they were going with it. ????
A group of ferrets is called a business.
Sephiroth formed a small O with his mouth. I should look into it. But then again, I have you. He narrowed his eyes at the text message he sent. That could sound a bit weird going to someone he never really spoke to nor had any idea as to what their name was.
Dawww, I’m flattered. I am super awesome, huh?
I suppose so. He sighed a breath of relief that they played it off so well.
Just suppose? I’ll have to make sure my awesomeness is more apparent then. Since you’re having such a bad day at work, you have earned yourself more ferret pictures. Do you like cats or dogs? I can get those, too.
You have them?
No. But whenever I go on a walk they usually come up to me.
Either will be fine. I do prefer cats.
Gotcha! Just give me a second, but here are some ferrets!
A stream of ferret pictures and some gifs were immediately sent. They must have them on hand whenever they need them. Sephiroth stayed out, scrolling through all of the pictures. His shoulders were no longer tense. And a small smile formed on his lips.
“Sephiroth?” Sephiroth jolted at the sound of his name and hid his phone. He glanced over and saw Angeal look at him with a raised eyebrow. “What are you grinning on about?”
“It’s nothing,” Sephiroth cleared his throat. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. His hand itched to look at what the person was sending him, but he refused to look when someone else was nearby.
“You sure?” Angeal stepped forward. “You dating someone or something?”
“No,” Sephiroth sighed. He turned towards the room where Heidegger was. Without another room, he entered to doom himself to listen to more of the idiot’s bombastic plans. His stress was coming back. He glanced around and saw Angeal was paying attention to Heidegger. If Heidegger noticed Sephiroth looking at his phone, he wouldn’t say anything. Just be annoyed.
Slowly, Sephiroth slipped his phone out. He felt like a child again, doing something he shouldn’t be. But the temptation was all too real. He held in a laugh at a picture of several cats looking up at the camera. Below it was a single caption.
These aren’t my cats.
--
From that day, pictures of other animals would appear. All of them captioned with them not belonging to this mystery person. Some of them were normal, like dogs and cats. Then, there was an occasional chocobo. The person wore a gloved hand while petting the chocobo, so Sephiroth could tell that it was up close. Then, there were outright ridiculous pictures. Pictures of animals that the person had no business being up close to. Wild animals.
Why are you getting within such close proximity? Sephiroth finally broke down and asked when he was taking a break.
No, no, no. They get close to me. I try to keep my distance, but they don’t! It’s been like that since I was a kid!
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow with some speculation. Then again, the pictures were there as some sort of proof. He shook his head, deciding it was easier to just accept it as the truth than any other possibility.
Just be careful. He quickly texted.
Awwwwwwww, are you starting to like me?
Something about that made Sephiroth’s heart flutter. He shook his head of a blush that was threatening to surface. He hardly knew this person. No, the person was still a stranger. He couldn’t possibly like them. If anything, he just found amusement in the pictures that they sent or the stories that they would tell or the fact that they were always making sure he was okay.
Hey, do you know if there are animals in Midgar? The person texted again before Sephiroth could reply.
Some, but not many. Why?
I have to go there on a business trip soon. I was wanting to see if I needed to keep a stock of pictures to send you or if I could get away with getting pictures there.
Sephiroth hesitated at the thought of this person coming to the city he was stationed at. This would be a perfect opportunity to meet face-to-face. But that would get rid of the anonymity between them. His thumb hovered over his screen, trying to decide if he should even tell them that he lived in Midgar.
“So, they’re going to actually be here, huh?” Angeal sounded from over Sephiroth’s shoulder.
Sephiroth swung around to look up at Angeal with wide eyes. He pressed his phone against his chest to hide the screen. “What are you talking about?”
Angeal sighed and took a seat next to his friend. “You’re not being as discrete as you think you’re being. Plus, I’ve seen your lock screen has changed from just the standard picture it comes with. You’ve never done that. Now, it’s changed multiple times to different pictures of ferrets. You, Sephiroth, don’t have ferrets.”
Sephiroth glanced at his phone and sighed. “Fine.”
“So, what’s their name?”
“I don’t know,” Sephiroth admitted, feeling a tinge of embarrassment.
“You don’t know?”
“They texted the wrong number. We’ve never introduced ourselves.”
Angeal raised his eyebrows in shock and leaned back in his chair. “Well, that’s something that doesn’t always happen. Aren’t you worried that they could be some horrible person?”
“They’re not,” Sephiroth responded immediately. “They couldn’t be.”
Angeal sighed. “How can you be so sure? Maybe meeting with them would be a good thing. You can make sure they’re a somewhat decent person.”
“Maybe.” Though, Sephiroth wasn’t wanting to confirm that they were a good person. No, he was wanting to know more about who they were.
He unlocked his phone past a picture of one of the person’s ferrets and started to text.
Seeing as I live in Midgar, maybe keep a stock of pictures. He hit send before pondering how to respond.
You do?! Oh! I know of a fun game we could play! If you’re up for it, that is.
What did you have in mind?
This is just if we want to try meeting up. I totally understand if you don’t want to, no pressure! I’ll send you pictures of things depending on where I’m at. You can, too. But I have no idea where anything in Midgar is. Anyways, we try to find each other just based on the pictures. It could be like a scavenger hunt or something.
Sephiroth felt himself smiling at the idea, something that did not go unnoticed by Angeal. However, Angeal had grown used to seeing that soft smile of Sephiroth’s. It was why he refrained from saying anything to his friend. He didn’t want Sephiroth to feel like he had to give something up that made him so happy.
Sounds like a plan.
--
Sephiroth had cleared his day of any meetings and informed the appropriate people that he was not to be bothered that day. Though he didn’t want to be disturbed, the moment he woke up, he turned his phone’s volume up from its typical vibrate. That day, he had a person to find in the huge city of Midgar.
A ding went off. Sephiroth immediately pulled out his phone and opened the attached photo. It was an image of a sculpture of red tubes intertwining with one another. He felt his heart skip a beat. He knew where those sculptures were located. They were right outside of Shinra Tower. He stood from his desk and quickly maneuvered to the window. He peered down the dozens of stories to the streets, trying to see if he could make out any of the people. From where he was standing, they all looked like ants.
Sephiroth ran out of the office and towards the elevators. In a rush, he almost forgot his keycard. Almost. With a swipe, the elevator started its slow ascent to his floor. He tapped his foot impatiently. It was too slow in a time where he wanted to rush so he wouldn’t miss the person.
Finally, with a ding, the elevator’s doors opened. He stepped inside, swiped his card, and waited as the elevator descended. He turned to look out to see if there were people still looking at the statues. No one was there and a frown took a hold of his face.
Once the elevator opened, he glanced around the front lobby to see if anyone looked like they may be taking pictures. No one was there besides the normal workers. He wanted to see if anyone checked in with security, but he wasn’t sure if that would be cheating.
The man ignored the stares of the employees before he stepped out the front door. With great disappointment to him, no one was loitering around.
Then, his phone buzzed.
He opened it and saw the giant tree growing within the relaxation area. He exhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he had just missed them. Walking back inside, he went straight to the elevator and up to the sixty-first floor.
Chattering died the moment he stepped into the relaxation area. People were openly gawking at the man of legend. Though, like ferrets, their attentions were soon diverted elsewhere. He walked around, looking for anyone that could possibly look like they would own a ferret. Then again, he wasn’t even sure what that even meant.
His phone vibrated and he opened it. He stilled when he saw it was a picture of himself.
This might be a dead giveaway as to where I am, but holy shit!
Sephiroth looked up from his phone and around him. Then, he felt his heart race when his eyes landed on the most breathtaking person he’s ever seen. They were just putting their phone away. His eyes trailed along their body. There was a ferret necklace, hanging delicately from their neck.
Sephiroth found himself slowly walking towards the person as if he were in a trance. The person looked up at him with some slight alarm – probably thinking they were in trouble for taking a picture of him.
Before the person could say anything, Sephiroth took out his phone and showed them his lock screen. “Is this one of your ferrets?”
“You’re the wrong number,” the person said with a light laugh, but then they grew deadly serious. “Oh man, I just sent you a picture of yourself.”