Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Seduction ❯ Chapter Eighteen ( Chapter 18 )

Path of Seduction

Chapter Eighteen

The echo of Aeris' outburst seemed to hang in the air for much longer than it should have. Sephiroth felt it pass through him but he did not move. All he could do was stare at the raging woman before him and hope that she was only the figment of a guilty conscience. She took a step towards him and the way his heart constricted convinced him that she was well and truly there.

"Yes?" His quiet answer only angered her further. He saw the way her body tightened and her beautiful face contorted with something unholy.

"You left!" she said coldly. "Why?"

Sephiroth had heard that question far too many times already that night. He ducked his head down with a heavy breath and stared at the way his hair brushed his boots. Why did Aeris have to come here? The mansion was not safe for her. He was not safe for her. Her tension flowed out to him like an unfurling rope and bound his thoughts to her presence. His heart thudded hard and he closed his eyes against the pressure. He kept his breathing carefully slow. If he waited long enough, maybe she would go away.

She was still standing there with white-knuckled fists when he looked up some moments later. He shook his head slightly. Why had she come? Alone, too. He knew she had to be angry, but she could have at least waited till morning and come with the others. If she got too close to him now, there was no one to help her. As it was, he could barely look at her without remembering what she had felt like, acquiescent beneath him.

He forced himself to sit still on the stairs. Even angry, there was something enchanting about her, a fire and a rare defiance. He longed to trace her lips again, to feel her skin, her heat around him. Sephiroth turned away.

"The girl's waiting for an answer," Mother's voice rose quietly, weak but unmistakably present. Sephiroth stiffened at the intrusion. Either Mother was getting better at fighting Aeris' presence or the girl was losing her ability to drive Mother off. Maybe it had something to do with how he had woken to clearheaded violent desire that morning.

Sephiroth took the time to ponder it despite the two impatient females waiting for his answer. Mother was the more ruffled of the two. "Sephiroth, the girl is waiting." It seemed that Aeris, at least, was willing to stare him down in silence. Her narrow green gaze was more chilling in that moment than Mother's light pressure on his mind.

"Don't interfere, Mother," Sephiroth sent the quiet reply. He did not wish to deal with his once-lover in his Mother's presence. There were some things a man was meant to handle alone. He felt Mother retreat, though he could never be sure how far away she was. He straightened to look Aeris straight in the eye.

"I had to leave," he said calmly. She did not seem impressed.

"I'm reasonably sure you had to." She sounded more calculating than Sephiroth had ever imagined she could be. "What I want to know is why."

The swordsman bristled. How dare this woman come before him demanding answers he could not give? He had done it for her too. He checked himself and choked the anger down. Of course she was angry. She did not know that he had done if for her sake. She had no idea what horrors he had spared her. If she knew, she would not be standing there before him with that righteous anger coiled inside her.

There was a wary confidence to the tautness of her body. She was like a snake reared back to strike if it had to, sure that it would strike true and triumph. Her skin bore a light flush of rage and Sephiroth could almost feel her racing pulse. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders. Normally he liked it that way but tonight, lit up by the weak gloom of the waning moon, it made her look like a half-wild creature, something to be captured and tamed. She had no idea what a temptation she presented. The poor thing.

The swordsman leaned to the side and braced his head against the railing. "Go back to your friends, Aeris," he said quietly. "There's nothing for you here."

There was a flash in her eyes as she took another step forward. Sephiroth tensed. "There's an answer here," she said slowly, "and I'm not leaving without it."

The man flinched visibly. Aeris was a stubborn one. He sat up slowly and looked her straight in the eye. He had to tell her something to get her to leave this place. He grasped for a suitable response but the image of her sank into him. He wanted to feel her raging beneath him. He needed to feel her struggle. The memory of her virgin cry rushed through him and he knew he had to hear her voice ring out like that again.

His hands tightened on the edge of the step. He had to keep himself from leaping forward. "I had to leave, Aeris," he said quietly, with no idea at all what he was saying. "I had to leave because I wanted to stay."

In the moment it took for Sephiroth to recall what his runaway mouth had said, Aeris appeared to be calmly considering the matter. He realized his mistake the same instant she drew breath to scream.

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"

It was bad enough that Sephiroth himself knew how ridiculous his words sounded. To hear his Mother's words flung back at him in his lover's voice was too much. He growled in disgust. "Take it or leave it, woman! It's all the answer you're going to get!" He gripped the rail again to keep himself from lunging at her. The fire in her was stoked to full blaze now and he was not doing much better. He blinked to shut out her image and slow his pulse.

When he looked up again he saw her running towards him with a feral growl. Perception slowed. He felt his heart thud, took a scant breath and waited for her. He saw her rear her hand back and knew that she would slap him. That was fine. He deserved at least that. If it would make her feel better, she could slap him all she wanted. He shut his eyes again with a wry smile and leaned into the blow.

What he did not expect was to feel the sudden crunch of bony knuckles on his mouth. His eyes flew open as his head was flung to the side. The room was a blur. He recognized the moving glint of a metal wrist guard a second too late. It cracked into his face as Aeris backhanded him with a violence he had not thought her capable of. He cried out at the impact and tasted salt and metal in his mouth. The shock wore off. He was under attack.

Aeris reared back for a third blow but this time, Sephiroth was ready. He rose from his seat with a growl and blocked her next swing with his arm. He saw her other hand move and caught her at the wrist with his free hand.

"You bastard!" She screamed and strained to get free. Sephiroth just held on to her for a while, still unable to believe that she had gone that far. "You son of a bitch! Let go of me!" She kicked him in the shin. That got his attention.

"Stop it, you crazy woman!" He snarled and flung her off him, remembering only at the last moment not to be too rough. She flew back, wildly flailing her arms to keep her balance. Sephiroth's chest heaved as he watched her totter back nearly all the way across the floor before finally succumbing to instability. She hit the floor with a thump and sat there glaring at him through the fine mesh of her untamed hair. She truly was a wild animal now, clawed, ferocious and stunning.

The swordsman almost sprang forward to finish what he had started, but the rush in his blood was reminder enough of the danger. He drew himself up to his full height at the foot of the stairs and stared down at the ravishing thing before him. He wanted to throw himself down on the ground with her and feel her straining against his body again.

He ran his tongue over his lips. There was blood there, just as there was inside his mouth where the soft inner flesh had split against his teeth. Sephiroth savored the taste even as he felt the tiny wounds close. He wiped his mouth with the back of one gloved hand. The blood there was deep red, vivid even against the black leather. He made a small sound of satisfaction and smiled down at the woman. Deep red would look good on her.

Aeris caught the man's look and locked stares with him as she rose. Her chest heaved in time with his, matching him breath for breath. The world fell away. She was not done with him. Damn him for looking so handsome, even bleeding. "Care to give me an answer now?" she dared.

Sephiroth laughed. "Do you really think a little wound like that would win you anything? I gave you my answer, Aeris. You'll leave now if you know what's good for you." He turned away from the alluring sight of her heaving bosom. He had to go upstairs now.

"I decide what's good for me!" Her voice filled the hall.

Sephiroth froze. Why couldn't the woman understand? Her every move set his blood aflame. She had to leave. He looked over his shoulder. "You don't have enough sense to know what's good for you."

Aeris glared at him. "So that's it?" Her voice was harsh and bitter in a way that cut Sephiroth to the core. "You don't have any real reason for using me like you did, do you? Not one good reason!"

Her echoing voice set off the memories of her impassioned moaning. Sephiroth felt the railing splinter in his grasp. He longed to grip the woman's bare arms that way and feel her flesh yield. He shook the image from his head. He had to get her to leave.

"That's right, Aeris." He still did not look at her. "I have no good reason. I take what I want and discard what's left. Now please, leave this place. You can come back with your friends to kill me in the morning."

"Bullshit," she grated out. "That's not good enough. I'm killing you myself and I'm taking a trophy when I'm done."

Sephiroth did turn then, near hysterical from the turn the situation had taken. Who knew Aeris had such a foul mouth when aggrieved? She was still standing in the same spot he had seen her, no less appealing than before. "You're on perilous ground now, Sephiroth," Mother hissed from the part of his mind he had thought was empty. "Let her leave. Don't make things worse by keeping her with you. She is even more dangerous than before."

"I told you to stay out of it, Mother." Sephiroth stepped onto the tiled floor to face the tiny woman. "What makes you think you would be able to kill me alone?" he sneered. "You only made contact before because I let you and I guarantee you, I won't be doing that again."

Aeris took a step forward, flexing her fingers. "I don't need you to give me a chance. I'll rip you apart with my own hands if I have to!"

Sephiroth smirked and stepped forward. "It looks like you'll have to. You've brought no weapon." He could just smell her shampoo from this distance. "And you would be completely unable to reach me if I weren't sitting down!"

Aeris advanced. "I won't be aiming for your face."

That threat was more than Sephiroth could stand. He had given this feisty wench every chance he could. "You want to know why I left?" he raged. "I left because if I had stayed you would still be in that bed, on your back, begging me for mercy!"

The silence that took over was almost surreally pristine. Sephiroth was sure that he had only dreamt the past few seconds. He had not really said that. None of it was real. He watched Aeris' fury fade as it was replaced by a look he could not decipher. She took one more step towards him.

"What makes you so sure I'd be the one begging?"

Sephiroth knew a challenge when he heard it and he would not back down, not to this willful little woman. She had aggravated him long enough tonight. He closed the gap between them with heavy, deliberate strides.

Aeris watched him get closer. Her mouth suddenly grew dry and her hands began to shake. She leaned back but her feet seemed rooted in place. This man who approached her with blazing eyes was not the gallant suitor she had come to know. He was the lustful animal of any woman's dreams and he was magnificent.

She leaned into his arms as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for a rough kiss. Teeth met tongue and all she could think of was how good it felt to have him touch her again. His hands claimed her flesh, grasping at all he could reach and gripping her brutally where she was most tender. She wrestled her hands up to bury them in the man's silver hair. She pulled at him viciously, directing him to her throat. The sharp nips he made at her skin were exquisite.

Sephiroth growled into the woman's neck. The feel of her, her scent, was overpowering. He traced her collarbone with his teeth up to the point where he remembered bruising her the night before. The skin there was pale and perfect, with not even a hint of the vivid signature he had left behind. He pulled away, furious that there was no sign of his work left on her body. Her chest pressed against him as she breathed. She looked up at him with a challenge in her eyes. Sephiroth pulled her tight against him and sank his teeth into her skin.

Aeris flung her head back and screamed. Sephiroth felt her throat move as the sound left her and picked her off the ground in triumph. She began to struggle in his grip and beat at his shoulders though she did not ask him to stop. Her flailing fists only spurred him on, but he refused to let her land any more blows than she had already. He grabbed her red jacket and yanked it down to her elbows, locking her arms in place behind her back. She screamed and shook violently in his grasp as she realized what he had done.

"You bastard! Let go of my arms!" She tried to free herself but her very struggle tangled the fabric more.

Sephiroth grinned at her as he carried her towards the stairs. "It's more fun this way." He set her on the broad banister and reached down to pull off her boots. He flung each one over his shoulder, not caring where they landed.

"What are you doing?" Aeris demanded. She tried to kick out at him but almost lost her seat. Only Sephiroth's grip on her ankles kept her from falling. He smiled at her. The glow in his eyes seemed to intensify momentarily before he ducked down and his silver bangs obscured his face from view. "What are you doing?" Aeris shrieked again. Then she felt his tongue working its way around her toes and she did not care anymore. Her demands and insults gave way to moaning.

Sephiroth glanced up from what he was doing. Aeris was flushed and gasping for breath. The longing etched across his face made the swordsman ecstatic. Here was proof of his skill. "Like it?" His voice was almost too smug and the look Aeris threw back at him bore some rage yet. She tried to kick him away despite her precarious seating, but Sephiroth would not have it.

He grabbed her right above the knees and pulled her legs apart. His fingers sank deep into the soft flesh as he buried his face in her thighs. Aeris writhed in his grasp, unable to throw him loose even if she wanted to. His lips and teeth and tongue were everywhere and his hands were working on the buttons of her dress. Aeris twisted with a cry as more of her skin was exposed to the air. Sephiroth stood and grabbed her around the waist. He needed something more stable than a railing for what he had in mind.

He carried her up the stairs and she fought against him all the while. He almost laughed. No matter how she struggled, they would do this on his terms now. He did not think she was aware of how much she was grinding against him, but he was thoroughly enjoying it. Perhaps it was a bit much for him. He only made it as far as the landing before instinct took over. He had to have her immediately.

She grunted as he pushed her up against the wall and held her there with his own body so he could yank his gloves off. Then he reached for the clasps of his coat. She kept wriggling her shoulders in an attempt to free her arms but with her arms pressed painfully against the wall there was not much she could do. Sephiroth pressed against her as he shrugged the coat off, grinning wickedly all the while. She tried to kick him again but he twisted deviously and slid between her legs, holding her thighs up around his waist. She groaned at the effort of trying to free herself. Sephiroth pushed himself hard against her. He knew she had to be able to feel him. "Don't pretend you're not enjoying this?" He slid his hands under her skirt and felt how wet she was.

Aeris glared at him, partly in anger, but mostly in an undeniable desire. She locked her legs around him and surged forward to reach his throat. She bit him as hard as she could, eager to return his favor. The man cried out hoarsely and almost lost his balance. He pulled her away from the wall and tried to continue walking. There were bedrooms upstairs and he meant to reach the one with the big bed. It was not easy. Aeris was hardly a heavy woman, but carrying her was getting more difficult with the way her warm body moved against him. Her breath was hot on his throat and ear.

He took one step up, then another. He felt something fall near his feet but paid no attention to it. Unfortunately it turned out to be Aeris' jacket. She had finally worked it loose. Sephiroth tripped and fell. Aeris yelled as her back hit the stairs. Each separate ledge ground into her spine. She gasped from the pain and threw her hands across her eyes. Sephiroth was heavy on top of her and she could feel his every breath pushing her against the steps. She could barely breathe herself. She reached up to pull him off. His hair was easy enough to grab. He howled when she pulled it, but though he took most of his weight off her, he did not let go.

She pulled her hands back to hit him for falling on her, but he was quicker. He captured both wrists in one hand and pinned them over her head as he worked on the top buttons of her dress. She looked perfect beneath him, fiercely aroused and unable to help it. Sephiroth moaned and left her dress for the time being. His belt needed loosening first.

"What are you doing?" Mother burst in. "You can't seriously be doing this now? What happened to leaving her alone?"

Sephiroth roared. How dare Mother intrude in this, when Aeris was ready and right beneath him? "Go away, Mother!" Every fiber of his being shot the message to Mother. She clawed at his mind as he tried to push her out. He worked at Aeris' dress with his teeth to strangle the cry. The little woman had no idea what danger she was in. She was breathing hard beneath him, encouraging him in her few coherent moments.

"I won't let you do this, Sephiroth!" Mother was adamant. "She's turning your head and ruining your plans!"

"I told you to leave, Mother! This is my business!"

"You're just going to throw everything away for this harlot?"

The swordsman was too far gone to pay any attention and Mother too pressed to say much more. Sephiroth took his chance. He pulled Aeris up off the floor and hoisted her over his shoulder like a captive. She yelled and struggled at such treatment, but the man was only further inflamed. Her dress, secured around her waist by only two buttons, flapped against his face and chest. Sephiroth grabbed the pink cloth and tore it from Aeris' body. She watched it fall as the man hauled her up the stairs. One of the buttons rolled down to the landing. The woman stilled at the sight.

Sephiroth turned the corner and kicked open the door to the bedroom. Aeris tried to turn to see where he had taken her. "Where are we? What are you doing?" Sephiroth threw her across the room. She gave a sharp scream as she flew and landed face down on a large, old bed. The bedsprings creaked under her weight. She pushed herself up on all fours with her back to the door.

Sephiroth stood in the doorway watching her move. Her position left her rear deliciously exposed. The sight was almost painful. He moved slowly, stalking her like a predator so as not to alarm her while she gathered herself. Her scent filled the air and he burned to take her again.

In the furthest reaches of his mind, Mother cried out weakly, on last time. "This is what it has come to? Fine! Do what you want! Go fuck her like the animal you are!"

Sephiroth put his hands on Aeris' hips and dragged her towards him, enjoying the way she screamed and pulled at the sheets. "That's exactly what I had in mind!"

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Deep below the old grey mansion, in a musty, cobwebbed room, a lone figure tossed in restless sleep. The thick, stone walls, the distance, even his wooden box could not completely shield him from the screams above. He roused to half-wakefulness, a foggy in-between state. He would never be sure afterwards if he had only imagined those noises he heard. It did not matter. What happened in the world above was no longer his concern. He shut his eyes and returned to more familiar dreams.

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The first thing Sephiroth became aware of upon waking was the warm, nude body beneath him. He rolled over and sat up, trying to clear his head. Whatever he had done, it had been vigorous. Every part of him was sore. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked down at the one beside him. He froze.

Aeris lay on her stomach. Her face was veiled by strands of dark hair. She looked peaceful and far too still. She was bruised. Terribly. Sephiroth staggered back from the sight.

Her shoulders and upper back were a vivid shade of red. The semicircular indentations of teeth were all over her body. Her wrists bore bracelets of color, all shades of red and purple. Dark lines stretched across her waist and hips, trails left by his groping hands. There were vivid handprints across the soft skin of her behind. Sephiroth stumbled backwards till he hit the wall. Had he actually struck her like that?

He turned away shuddering. This was everything he had feared. He had taken that innocent girl and hurt her so badly. First he had abandoned her. That had hurt him as well, but he had done it to prevent this. Now there was no redemption for him. He had taken his pleasure with her with no regard for her feelings and well-being.

He braced his hands on the wall to keep himself from falling. He was too distressed to even cry out at the shame of what he had done. He had hurt Aeris after he had sworn never to cause her harm. He shuddered. Memory assaulted him…the way her back arched, her heat, his harsh voice, her screams…

Sephiroth shook as if he were about to fall to pieces. "Gods," he begged quietly, as if they would listen to him, as if they could save him from what he had done. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head in violent denial.

"Sephiroth?"

The man jumped and spun around, poised like a cornered animal. Aeris was sitting up in the bed, staring at him with wide eyes. "Sephiroth, are you all right?"

Sephiroth swallowed and fought for air. Aeris was holding the sheet up over her breasts. One leg was folded beneath her and the other hung off the bed. Her toes were just shy of brushing the floor. The swordsman felt lightheaded. He swayed a bit on his feet. Aeris dropped the sheet and sprang off the bed, unashamed of her nudity.

"Stay back!" Sephiroth held up one hand. He had to keep her away, before he hurt her again. "Stay away from me, Aeris."

The woman stopped in the middle of the floor. "What's wrong?" He did not answer. Her eyes lit up. "What's wrong, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth felt his chest tighten. He needed water so badly. His mouth moved as he tried to answer but his voice was slow to cooperate. "I…I…" he gasped. "I hurt you, Aeris." He shut his eyes and turned away again. "I hurt you." Her heard her soft footsteps as she came closer.

"Yes," she said quietly. "You did hurt me a bit. Do you really think that matters?"

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder at her. She stood proudly before him, calm and almost radiant, despite the dark colors spread across the pale canvas of her skin. She was no girl anymore, but a woman completely aware of her body's power. He could not understand it. "You're bruised," he insisted. "You're bruised all over." She looked down at herself and touched the marks gingerly, then studied her wrists.

"Do these really bother you so much?" she asked. "They don't bother me." He watched her run her hands in a slow pattern around her wrists. He felt the hidden surge of something that was almost familiar. When Aeris removed her hands, there was no discoloration. She set to work on her waist and hips. She brushed her hands up to her shoulders then down to her love-bitten breasts and around the rest of her body. Whatever she was doing to herself, she seemed to enjoy it. She threw her head back as her hands worked their magic. She made a soft sound, a quiet exhalation as she finished. She stood there for a while, awash in the joy of her own power.

When she looked at Sephiroth again, her skin was as flawless as it had ever been. "All better now." She closed the distance between them and worked her way under his arms to lean against his body. Sephiroth trembled uncontrollably and he knew she felt it.

She nuzzled his throat, then worked her way down to his chest. The swordsman bit his lip to keep from crying out. The effort failed when he felt her tongue on her skin. For the second time that night, he tasted blood. Her hands ran down his body to touch the evidence of the effect she had on him. He froze, unable to think of what she would do to him. She leaned heavily against him, forcing him to put an arm around her shoulders and straighten her up again. She seemed content just to touch him for a while, but Sephiroth could not forget exactly where she had her hands.

"You were rough this time, Sephiroth," she chided him with a gentle tug. "It was very…interesting." Sephiroth felt his knees go weak. She kept tugging him and knew he had better follow.

He let her lead him to the bed and there found his absolution. He took her blindly, fearing that to see her would be to drown once more in her spell. Every bruise he had meted out before was repaid in the way she clawed at his back and the nipped at his throat. The pain drove him in the desperate attempt to reclaim his control. He only dared open his eyes when she began to scream. He watched her mouth move as she cried out.

She was beautiful, flushed with passion beneath him. There was no unnatural light and no unusual power. It was no shining otherworldly being he bedded but a warm, flesh-and-blood woman, one who could meet and match him in every way. Perhaps that was even more terrible, but he could not think more on it. He could barely think at all so he stopped trying. The room was soon filled with the sound of his name punctuated by the rhythmic knocking of the headboard hitting the wall.

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Aeris frowned a little as she forced the rusty needle she had found through the fabric of her dress. It was slow-going, but it would do. She supposed she was grateful that there had been an old sewing kit in the nightstand, even if the needle was orange and flaky and the thread was aged to instant fraying and did not quite match the color of her dress. It was better than nothing. She hitched the sheets up tighter around her hips and kept on with the task of sewing the buttons back onto her dress.

The door creaked open and a silver-haired head peeped around it. "I found your boots," Sephiroth said sheepishly, showing her the footwear. "Your socks were near the kitchen door."

Aeris smiled up at him. "Thank you, Seph." She went back to her sewing. Sephiroth almost blushed. That nickname of his had never seemed so nice. He smiled back and ran a hand through his hair.

"Um, there's one more thing, Aeris."

She did not even look up from her sewing. "What is it?"

Sephiroth took a deep breath. "I can't remember where I threw your underwear. Did you happen to see which way it went?"

Aeris bit the thread off. "I wasn't wearing any when I came in, dear."

It was too much for the swordsman. He tore the sheet from her body, grabbed her legs and pulled her to the foot of the bed. Aeris shrieked in surprise, flinging the dress back. Sephiroth pulled her ankles up around his neck and probed her body again. "Please, Aeris," he begged. "Please….I need…let me."

Aeris took the time to stick the needle safely into the cloth, then smiled slyly up at her lover. "All right, Sephiroth. Since you asked so nicely."

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It was barely an hour before sunrise when Sephiroth finally led a fully-dressed Aeris out of the bedroom. He had her by the hand, afraid to let her slip away. There were other things in the mansion, creatures that only stayed hidden because they knew he was stronger. He escorted his lover down the stairs and to the front door. Their parting kiss was a gentle ending to the night.

Sephiroth pulled her closer, unwilling to let her leave. He could not even begin to understand how things had taken this turn. Aeris pulled away eventually, pressing a finger to his lips as she did.

"I'll see you again sometime," she said firmly. It was almost an order and Sephiroth knew he had better obey. No more running, no more leaving her alone. He shut the door firmly behind her then ran to the window to watch her leave. She walked down the path, out the gate and was soon out of sight. Sephiroth stared after her long after she had gone.

Finally he turned to face the eerie emptiness of the mansion. His feet felt like lead as he made his way up the stairs. He got to the landing and remembered how good it had been to manhandle the woman. It was more than he could take. He slid down to the floor.

"What has she done to me?" He wrapped his arms around himself and rocked back and forth slightly. "What has she done to me?"

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A/N: Yep, a very physical relationship. No play-by-play lemon for this chapter. I felt that the angry make-up sex came across fine without it and putting it in would just be gratuitous. The other side of the tricky characterization issue is that maybe some readers are just…slow. If that's the case, there's not much I can do about it. My old mailing list has been revived for any readers who don't have access to Author Alerts and such. Check my bio for the link. And now, here's a random scenario, because I love you all so much! :D

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Vincent flung the lid of his coffin open and glared up at the ceiling. They were at it again, with music to boot. He could just make out the words if he listened hard enough.

"You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals so let's do it like they do..."

Vincent aimed up at the ceiling and fired a few shots. "Cut it out, you rotten kids! This is a haunted house, not a bordello! I'm trying to sleep here!"

Upstairs, Sephiroth turned the volume on the small radio down with a worried frown on his face. "There's that sound again. Didn't you hear it?" Aeris grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back down.

"I didn't say you could stop, pretty boy!"