ardwynna (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ardwynna) wrote,@ 2008-07-18 16:00:00 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fanfic100: Emancipation
Title: Emancipation
Characters: Aerith/Sephiroth, Rufus.
Prompt: 094: Independence
Word Count: 678
Warnings: Angry Aerith.
Rating: PG-13
Sephiroth was dead. Everyone knew it.
But everyone also knew the man had come back before. More than once, even. What was there on the other side, really, to make sure he stayed where Cloud put him? Nothing at all from the looks of it.
More to the point, one couldn't deny the evidence when it was sitting before one's eyes, cold and arrogant as ever. Rufus wanted to call it a hoax or a lie but he knew, as few people would, what the truth was. He could see it with his own two eyes and feel it, in skin that remembered. This was Sephiroth, hale and well.
Rufus knew the woman next to him too. The 'flowergirl from the slums', she had called herself so long ago when he hadn't been paying attention. 'Gaia's Angel' or something like it, was the term that went around now, and 'Cloud's love' had been a rumor for a while, according to Reno anyway. Cetra. Rufus wished he had paid more attention then. So strange now to see her sitting there beside the one who had stabbed her, with the same cold expression on her face.
“The terms of the contract are clear,” he said with a rustle of the relevant papers. “I'm sure you're quite familiar with them anyway, General, but if you feel the need to discuss it.”
“There's nothing to discuss,” Aerith said.
“Miss Gainsborough?”
She met his eyes and he thought he'd never seen anything so hard. She held her copy of the old contract up. “This is worthless and you know it. It was designed for the sole purpose of keeping Sephiroth tied to a company that no longer exists.”
Rufus stood his ground. “Shinra Company as it once was may no longer exist, but its agency is still valid. I'm certain-”
“This won't stand up in any court, Rufus.” She shocked him with the use of his name. So few people actually used it. “Or was there a clause in this- this ownership statement that makes it valid after death?”
“Excuse me?” Rufus resisted the urge to sit back. He could not appear affected by this, not with the living Nightmare sitting right in front of him, watching his every move. And Sephiroth was indeed sitting, silent and unperturbed, content to let the woman do his talking for him.
“The terms of the contract may cover his health care, his living quarters, his wardrobe, his dining habits, his comings and his goings, every aspect of his life!” She paused, eyes growing colder. “His death is another matter.”
Rufus tried not to twitch, but the moisture was beginning to trickle beneath his collar. “Certainly the company cannot have jurisdiction over him while he's dead,” Rufus said, “but when he chooses to be alive-”
“It hardly matters,” Aerith cut in. “Shinra itself declared him legally dead after Nibelheim. That's a pretty definite way to say you'll have nothing more to do with him.” She leaned back and let her words stay on the table. Sephiroth said nothing but the tilt of his chin was undeniably smug.
Rufus would not let that stand. Couldn't the Cetra, of all people, see that this was in everyone's best interest? Sephiroth was, always had been, a beast and he needed to be restrained. “Think about this, Miss Gainsborough. I'm sure after all this time a few adjustments may be in order but-”
“But nothing,” she said. “Sephiroth is here this time on the sufferance of the Cetra. He's our concern now and we are not about to relinquish him to you.” She rose to leave and Sephiroth stood with her, shifting her seat back for a smooth exit. “Your contract is pure slavery, Rufus, and the only kind of bondage the Cetra approve of, even for Sephiroth, is the kind that allows me to chain him to my bed every night and ride him till his hips give out.”
Rufus let them go in silence, though he couldn't miss the smirk Sephiroth shot over his shoulder as he shut the door.
Title: Emancipation
Characters: Aerith/Sephiroth, Rufus.
Prompt: 094: Independence
Word Count: 678
Warnings: Angry Aerith.
Rating: PG-13
Sephiroth was dead. Everyone knew it.
But everyone also knew the man had come back before. More than once, even. What was there on the other side, really, to make sure he stayed where Cloud put him? Nothing at all from the looks of it.
More to the point, one couldn't deny the evidence when it was sitting before one's eyes, cold and arrogant as ever. Rufus wanted to call it a hoax or a lie but he knew, as few people would, what the truth was. He could see it with his own two eyes and feel it, in skin that remembered. This was Sephiroth, hale and well.
Rufus knew the woman next to him too. The 'flowergirl from the slums', she had called herself so long ago when he hadn't been paying attention. 'Gaia's Angel' or something like it, was the term that went around now, and 'Cloud's love' had been a rumor for a while, according to Reno anyway. Cetra. Rufus wished he had paid more attention then. So strange now to see her sitting there beside the one who had stabbed her, with the same cold expression on her face.
“The terms of the contract are clear,” he said with a rustle of the relevant papers. “I'm sure you're quite familiar with them anyway, General, but if you feel the need to discuss it.”
“There's nothing to discuss,” Aerith said.
“Miss Gainsborough?”
She met his eyes and he thought he'd never seen anything so hard. She held her copy of the old contract up. “This is worthless and you know it. It was designed for the sole purpose of keeping Sephiroth tied to a company that no longer exists.”
Rufus stood his ground. “Shinra Company as it once was may no longer exist, but its agency is still valid. I'm certain-”
“This won't stand up in any court, Rufus.” She shocked him with the use of his name. So few people actually used it. “Or was there a clause in this- this ownership statement that makes it valid after death?”
“Excuse me?” Rufus resisted the urge to sit back. He could not appear affected by this, not with the living Nightmare sitting right in front of him, watching his every move. And Sephiroth was indeed sitting, silent and unperturbed, content to let the woman do his talking for him.
“The terms of the contract may cover his health care, his living quarters, his wardrobe, his dining habits, his comings and his goings, every aspect of his life!” She paused, eyes growing colder. “His death is another matter.”
Rufus tried not to twitch, but the moisture was beginning to trickle beneath his collar. “Certainly the company cannot have jurisdiction over him while he's dead,” Rufus said, “but when he chooses to be alive-”
“It hardly matters,” Aerith cut in. “Shinra itself declared him legally dead after Nibelheim. That's a pretty definite way to say you'll have nothing more to do with him.” She leaned back and let her words stay on the table. Sephiroth said nothing but the tilt of his chin was undeniably smug.
Rufus would not let that stand. Couldn't the Cetra, of all people, see that this was in everyone's best interest? Sephiroth was, always had been, a beast and he needed to be restrained. “Think about this, Miss Gainsborough. I'm sure after all this time a few adjustments may be in order but-”
“But nothing,” she said. “Sephiroth is here this time on the sufferance of the Cetra. He's our concern now and we are not about to relinquish him to you.” She rose to leave and Sephiroth stood with her, shifting her seat back for a smooth exit. “Your contract is pure slavery, Rufus, and the only kind of bondage the Cetra approve of, even for Sephiroth, is the kind that allows me to chain him to my bed every night and ride him till his hips give out.”
Rufus let them go in silence, though he couldn't miss the smirk Sephiroth shot over his shoulder as he shut the door.