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“Are you sure you want to do this?” You took a deep breath, trying to still the butterflies as his hand stroked down your arm until his fingers laced yours, his leather glove leaving a trail of heat against your skin.
“It was your idea.” His low voice in your ear sent a shiver down your spine. He was right of course, but that didn’t make you any less nervous.
You chewed on your lip until the thumb from his other hand pressed against it, pulling it from your teeth. “Well, Kitten. Should we get started?”
You squeezed your eyes shut and nodded quickly, before raising your own hand and pressing the sole button until you heard a faint buzzing from inside.
No turning back now.
“Who is it?” Your brother’s voice roared through the static in the intercom.
“Hey, Darren. It’s-“
“Auntie Y/N! Daddy! Daddy! I hear Auntie Y/N!!”
“Yes, Princess. I heard. Do you want to let her in?”
“Yah! Yah! Yah!”
“Okay…go ahead and press the black button. The black one…yes, that one…okay press it. Press it…press it…”
Bzzz
You stifled a giggle into Rufus’s arm as he reached for the building’s door now that Dahlia had finally unlocked it, letting you both into the lobby.
“Okay, now remember, Rufus. You promised. You can’t tell him that we are living together.”
“Hm.”
“And no talking about promoting me.”
“Hm.”
“And obviously, absolutely no mention that we are sleeping together.”
“Well, technically, I believe it’s what we do instead of sleeping that you would like to keep private.”
“Rufus…”
“Tsk. Fine. I’ll pretend we are solely coworkers who happened to run into each other outside your brother’s building and independently decided to spend the evening with him. Would that appease you?”
“Rufus! You know that’s not what I mean!”
“Does he know about this? Our ‘arrangement’.”
“…h-he knows! Just not every little detail…”
“Like you living with me?”
“Temporarily! Until the new apartment complex is developed.”
“Hm.”
You gave him a quick peck on his neck, hoping to mollify him. The last thing you needed was him in a sour mood before Darren inevitably made it even worse. “Rufus, don’t be like that. He knows. Of course I told him. He just doesn’t need to know the exact timeline. I don’t need him thinking we are just…because of Dahlia’s…”
“Well, is that not true?”
You looked up at him, but he had suddenly become fascinated by the peeling paint around the peephole of Darren’s front door.
“What are you-“
Creak
“Hey, Sweetie!”
“Auntie Y/N!!”
Your question was pushed to the wayside by two sets of eager arms wrapping themselves around you. One set around your shoulders, the other around your legs.
You let go of Rufus’s hand so you could wrap one arm around each.
“Guys. Come on. I’m here almost every week.”
“But not last week.” Your brother felt the need to clarify. “Come on, come in, come in. Just in time to help me plate everything…oh. Hi, Rufus Shinra. Anyway, I hope you’re hungry! I made your favorite. Broccoli.” Your brother shot you a pleading look before turning back into the apartment.
“Erm. Oh. Yes! My favorite. Broccoli!”
“Yuck!”
You looked down to grab a broccoli-hating four-year-old’s hand, but found her little fingers already wrapped around a leather-gloved one. She swung it back and forth as she sang about riding chocobos all day.
You suppressed a smile at Rufus’s wide eyes boring into yours, begging for guidance.
“Okay, where’s the food?” You followed your brother in, leaving Rufus in good hands.
“Come on, Mr. Rufus!”
It didn’t take long to get the very simple dinner of drumsticks, rice, and broccoli (the star ingredient, of course) plated and to the table. But even so, by the time you got there, you saw your spot next to Rufus was already occupied.
“And Mr. Rufus, did you know horses have hair like we do?”
“Yes, I’m awa-“
“And Mr. Rufus, some dogs too. Did you know that?”
“Yes, I kn-“
“But Mr. Rufus, not all of them. Some of them have fur.”
“Do they-“
“And Mr. Rufus-“
“Hey, beautiful girl, dinner time. We can tell Mr. Rufus all about animals later.”
“Okay, Auntie Y/N.”
“Princess, why don’t you sit next to Daddy?” Your brother patted the empty seat next to him to try to entice her.
“But Mr. Rufus wants to sit next to me.”
“Did you ask him if he did?”
Dahlia scrunched up her face before turning back to Rufus, still staring at you with wide eyes.
“Mr. Rufus. Do you want to sit next to me?”
If only you could take a picture right now.
“…yes.”
His eyes narrowed just a bit at your expression as you took your seat across the table next to Darren, before digging in.
It wasn’t a particularly fancy meal. It wasn’t a particularly good meal. But it did its job, and there was something endearing about watching Vice President Rufus Shinra cut into overdone and under-seasoned chicken drumsticks with a fork and knife as if it were the Wagyu filet mignon you ordered him from the specialty deli in Sector 5.
You hadn’t realized you were staring until a not-so-subtle cough next to you snapped you back to attention.
“So…Rufus Shinra. You and my sister…”
“…”
“…”
“…Was there more to that ‘sentence’ or is it as fragmented as your-“
“Hey! Darren! I totally forgot. There was this thing I wanted to ask you about…something. Can you come with me for a second? NOW.”
You ignored your brother’s irritated and irritating sigh as he followed you to the hallway, leaving Rufus, Dahlia, and bad chicken.
You led him to the end of the hallway, just outside his bedroom door, before whirling around and hissing at him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You promised you wouldn’t do this.”
“Do what? I’m doing everything you asked! You bring him over, force me to have dinner with him, he insults my food-“
“He didn’t say shit about your food!-“
“-and I can’t even ask some basic questions?”
“Why do you need to ask any questions? I already told you everything you need to know about us. No questions needed! End of story. Full stop!”
“Oh, please, sweetie. You expect me to buy that he paid for Dahlia’s surgery without expecting anything in return? And that it was just a coincidence that after he did, you two just happened to start dating? And now he’s jetting you all around Gaia on luxury vacations? Next you’ll tell me he’s going to ask you to move into some huge mansion with him.”
“It’s a manor, not a mans-“
Damn it.
“…”
”…”
”…you didn’t.”
“…we better go check on-“
“Sweetie. Don’t tell me you-“
“Does it smell like the water’s running? We should-“
“YOU MOVED IN WITH HIM?”
“Shh! Sh sh sh! Keep your voice down you idiot!”
“It’s been like 3 months! Of all the stupid, idiotic, childish things you’ve done-“
“4 months! And I’m not a child! I’m 25 years old!”
“24 and 3 quarters and yeah! You are a child.”
“I’m older than you were when you and Delilah got married!”
“Well that’s totally different.”
“Bullshit! How was that any different?”
“Delilah wasn’t my BOSS!”
“Well…you…You’re being ridiculous. I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. This discussion is over.”
You started beelining back down the hallway, struggling against Darren as he pulled you back.
“Like hell it is. It is far from over, young lady!”
“Let me go!”
“You are my baby sister and I’m not letting you throw your life away for the first boy that flies you in a private jet!”
“I’m not a baby! I’m 25!”
“24 and 3 quarters!”
“Let me fucking go!”
“Fine, brat!”
You were almost to the end of the hall when he suddenly released your arms and you toppled to the floor with a heavy thud. But not as heavy as the thud you made when Darren jumped on top of you. Sitting on your back and trapping you just out of sight of the dining table. You tried to scream when he used both hands to mess up your hair, but all the air had been knocked out of you.
“Get off of me,” you wheezed.
“No chance. Not until you break up with him.”
You wiggled and squirmed, but it was no use. This move was just as effective as when you were six. You stopped fighting, knowing he would get bored eventually. But you refused to talk to him anymore. Instead the two of you “sat” in the hallway scowling together, letting the conversation at the lonely dinner table fill the silence.
“I don’t like broccoli but daddy says I need to eat my vegetables if I want to grow up big and strong. It’s my new medicine.”
“Hm…well, I think there are some instances when even your father might be right. You know broccoli is what I eat to train with the Turks.”
“Woah! You train with turkeys?!”
“Ah...no. I train with the Turks…they…they…yes.”
“Wow! That’s so cool. Do you feed them your really big waffles after?”
“My what?”
“Your really big waffles. Auntie Y/N says you have the biggest Eggo of anyone she’s ever met.”
Oh shit.
“…did she now.”
You started struggling underneath Darren’s enormous butt again and for a second you thought maybe he was getting up to let you out, only to have the full weight of your six-foot brother come crashing down on your back again, forcing all the air out of your lungs so you couldn’t even yell for help. You clawed at the walls, which only made Darren settle more heavily on top of you. You could practically feel him beaming.
“Does she talk about me often?”
“Yes! Lots and lots!”
“What else does she say?”
“That you’re handsome.”
“Oh! Well that’s expected-“
“And that I should stay away from handsome boys because they have the biggest heads, but Auntie Y/N was wrong. Yours fit through the door.”
“…thank you. Anything else?”
“Yeah! That we can be really good friends because we act the same! Do you want to be my friend, Mr. Rufus?”
“I believe we already are.”
“Okay. Then you can have my favorite stuffed animal. It’s a chocobo. Her name is Dahlia.”
“That is quite the honor. May I leave her here for safekeeping? I promise to visit Dahlia often.”
“Hm…okay!”
“Thank you for being so amicable. Why don’t I find your father and Auntie Y/N and let them know?”
You heard his chair scrape, then footsteps make their way to the hallway. If you had any air in your chest you’d have breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he’d find you soon.
But when you finally saw his black dress shoes standing in front of you, you looked up and found him staring down at you and your brother with an eyebrow cocked and a horrifying smirk spreading slowly. He wasn’t even trying to hide it.
You could only watch as he and Darren exchanged one terse nod with each other before he turned his back on you, toward the table.
“On second thought, Dahlia, why don’t you tell me more about all the animals you know. I believe we left off with ‘dogs with fur’.”
Your brother stretched out his legs and leaned his back against the wall, making himself comfortable on his new seat before reaching over and giving you a noogie, ruining your already ruined hair. “You know what, Y/N. Your boyfriend isn’t so bad.”