Categories > Games > Final Fantasy 7 > What You Carry With You // What You Leave Behind
.Mute Mask//022
Rufus Shinra, as rich and powerful and well-known as he was, wasn't exactly the authority on dating.
This was not a well known fact.
Or perhaps it was and no one in the media dared speak of it. Of this single, strange and yet perfectly understandable truth. He wasn't the authority on dating, on wooing and romance, but that didn't mean that he didn't have the opportunity. Nor did that mean he didn't have the means. After all, the majority of his life had been spent with more than enough money and prestige to achieve that kind of attention.
He just had better things to attend to. And as he aged, moved out of his teens, this became even more apparent. There were plenty of things that were more important than dating. Even the term itself sounded juvenile and base. Even when he was younger, pondering upon who was kissing whom where? Those issues paled in comparison to business proposals and world economics. Thinking in terms of relationships sounded hokey and almost frightening if Rufus Shinra would or could admit that such a thing would be frightening.
And perhaps this would have all come into play, jumped at him quick and stealthy like a guard hound. Something vaguely intimidating. If not for one key fact:
Rufus Shinra wasn't really doing any of this.
He wasn't really laying himself bare. He wasn't really attempting to work on some hidden feelings for the woman. There were no emotions involved.
He was safe.
And so long as there wasn't anything attached to this little excursion - this plot of his, he could go through with it. It was just a magnificent orchestration. An exercise in seeing how far he had to go to win.
No, Rufus Shinra was not even the slightest bit an authority on dating.
But enough money and resources funneled into a plan -- any plan... That had to make a difference, right?
"Is this the famed helicopter you hopped in and out of when we first met?"
Her elbow was propped up on the space between the metal siding and the window, eyes hooded with a mixture of boredom and passivity. She had dressed to impress, that much was certain, clad in a black skirt like she usually was, but one that was slightly more flowing and feminine. She was dressed for a date, which she technically was on but the look on her face made it clear that she wanted to be anywhere but in the helicopter with the president of Shinra.
Likewise, it was more than obviously Rufus was now zero for one - that is... if Rufus was a fan of sports metaphor. Which he wasn't. But in whatever way one could explain it properly, his first attempt to gain the martial artist's attention was a failure.
He wasn't underestimating her, though. He had known from the very beginning that Tifa Lockheart wouldn't be that easy to surprise. She was stubborn and unmoving. Resilient to these kind of things. Sure he had attempted, but all the while he kept in mind that there was at most a ten percent chance that she would raise an eyebrow at a helicopter ride out to Costa del Sol.
"Feeling like a celebrity?" He paused a second, eyeing the cockpit. "Rude would know more than I."
The Turk had been silent while piloting the helicopter, and that was precisely why he was there in the first place. Silence. To bring Reno along on this date - even merely for transportation purposes was asking for disaster.
"I don't believe this is the same helicopter, Ms Lockheart." His voice was baritone as it always was, but with a bit more respect reflected in the way he spoke her name. Rufus had to wonder if the rumors were true about the stoic, silent Turk having feelings for her.
Or he would have wondered if something almost akin to a predatory smile hadn't flashed across her face.
"Oh. Is this perhaps the helicopter that carried Aerith Gainsborough away around when your company flattened a good portion of its population?"
It was an old tactic. She must have been growing weary of the situation, Rufus surmised. She had to be to be throwing Sector Seven, of all things in his face. "Different administration, my dear Lockheart." And that was, of course, his main defense against such an allegation. He leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees and looked her in the eyes, lips curled up in the slightest hint of a grin. He could have left it at that, but Rufus wasn't one for stepping down after only one point in his favor. Especially if he had the means to further his agenda. "If I were to take your attack on my character seriously I could just as easily bring up countless actions taken by Avalanche's predecessors."
"You're always this smug, aren't you?"
She was most definitely breaking down, just by being in the same enclosed space as him. Maybe this wasn't the kind of breaking down he would have hoped for but a reaction was still a reaction and he'd rather she be furious with him than not care. He leaned back more comfortably in the seat and watched the green and yellow of sand and grasslands come into focus as they drew closer to Costa. "I know enough about early Avalanche to make your head spin." He probably knew more than she knew, but that might have taken it a bit too far and even though he wanted to get a rise out of her, he didn't want to push her over the edge quite so soon.
And she didn't seem too apt to respond to him either, most likely deep in thought. Rufus kind of liked it like that - knowing that he had made her think, rather than leaving her to her own devices and beliefs, as occasionally over-zealous and righteous as they were. It left him feeling like he already had a hold over her. Like he was making some impact. And he had to be, because if he knew Tifa Lockheart - which he really didn't for all intents and purposes... but if he knew what she was planning, well. He had to guess that she would have at least put on an act to make it seem as if he hadn't bothered her in the slightest.
It was almost confusing, but Rufus was more than confident that he would eventually figure out to some degree what was going on in her head.
He had his work cut out for him.
Especially when they touched down on the helipad of the beachside town and silently made their way down the walkway toward one of the most renowned and expensive restaurants around - The Casita del Sol. The restaurant where Rufus could remember toasting his new presidency. She had to respond, somehow. Some slight expression. A widening of her eyes.
Nothing.
It was the difference between some fabulous dream of an easy victory and the harsh reality, but Rufus Shinra wasn't going to let it get to him, not in the slightest. He had time, enough. Their date had only really just begun and Rufus would persist until the very end.
Until then he had to pick at her - find some way to turn the tables ever so slightly.
He had almost won Cloud Strife's loyalty, after all. Winning a second date from Tifa Lockheart should have been a cinch.
Rufus Shinra, as rich and powerful and well-known as he was, wasn't exactly the authority on dating.
This was not a well known fact.
Or perhaps it was and no one in the media dared speak of it. Of this single, strange and yet perfectly understandable truth. He wasn't the authority on dating, on wooing and romance, but that didn't mean that he didn't have the opportunity. Nor did that mean he didn't have the means. After all, the majority of his life had been spent with more than enough money and prestige to achieve that kind of attention.
He just had better things to attend to. And as he aged, moved out of his teens, this became even more apparent. There were plenty of things that were more important than dating. Even the term itself sounded juvenile and base. Even when he was younger, pondering upon who was kissing whom where? Those issues paled in comparison to business proposals and world economics. Thinking in terms of relationships sounded hokey and almost frightening if Rufus Shinra would or could admit that such a thing would be frightening.
And perhaps this would have all come into play, jumped at him quick and stealthy like a guard hound. Something vaguely intimidating. If not for one key fact:
Rufus Shinra wasn't really doing any of this.
He wasn't really laying himself bare. He wasn't really attempting to work on some hidden feelings for the woman. There were no emotions involved.
He was safe.
And so long as there wasn't anything attached to this little excursion - this plot of his, he could go through with it. It was just a magnificent orchestration. An exercise in seeing how far he had to go to win.
No, Rufus Shinra was not even the slightest bit an authority on dating.
But enough money and resources funneled into a plan -- any plan... That had to make a difference, right?
"Is this the famed helicopter you hopped in and out of when we first met?"
Her elbow was propped up on the space between the metal siding and the window, eyes hooded with a mixture of boredom and passivity. She had dressed to impress, that much was certain, clad in a black skirt like she usually was, but one that was slightly more flowing and feminine. She was dressed for a date, which she technically was on but the look on her face made it clear that she wanted to be anywhere but in the helicopter with the president of Shinra.
Likewise, it was more than obviously Rufus was now zero for one - that is... if Rufus was a fan of sports metaphor. Which he wasn't. But in whatever way one could explain it properly, his first attempt to gain the martial artist's attention was a failure.
He wasn't underestimating her, though. He had known from the very beginning that Tifa Lockheart wouldn't be that easy to surprise. She was stubborn and unmoving. Resilient to these kind of things. Sure he had attempted, but all the while he kept in mind that there was at most a ten percent chance that she would raise an eyebrow at a helicopter ride out to Costa del Sol.
"Feeling like a celebrity?" He paused a second, eyeing the cockpit. "Rude would know more than I."
The Turk had been silent while piloting the helicopter, and that was precisely why he was there in the first place. Silence. To bring Reno along on this date - even merely for transportation purposes was asking for disaster.
"I don't believe this is the same helicopter, Ms Lockheart." His voice was baritone as it always was, but with a bit more respect reflected in the way he spoke her name. Rufus had to wonder if the rumors were true about the stoic, silent Turk having feelings for her.
Or he would have wondered if something almost akin to a predatory smile hadn't flashed across her face.
"Oh. Is this perhaps the helicopter that carried Aerith Gainsborough away around when your company flattened a good portion of its population?"
It was an old tactic. She must have been growing weary of the situation, Rufus surmised. She had to be to be throwing Sector Seven, of all things in his face. "Different administration, my dear Lockheart." And that was, of course, his main defense against such an allegation. He leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees and looked her in the eyes, lips curled up in the slightest hint of a grin. He could have left it at that, but Rufus wasn't one for stepping down after only one point in his favor. Especially if he had the means to further his agenda. "If I were to take your attack on my character seriously I could just as easily bring up countless actions taken by Avalanche's predecessors."
"You're always this smug, aren't you?"
She was most definitely breaking down, just by being in the same enclosed space as him. Maybe this wasn't the kind of breaking down he would have hoped for but a reaction was still a reaction and he'd rather she be furious with him than not care. He leaned back more comfortably in the seat and watched the green and yellow of sand and grasslands come into focus as they drew closer to Costa. "I know enough about early Avalanche to make your head spin." He probably knew more than she knew, but that might have taken it a bit too far and even though he wanted to get a rise out of her, he didn't want to push her over the edge quite so soon.
And she didn't seem too apt to respond to him either, most likely deep in thought. Rufus kind of liked it like that - knowing that he had made her think, rather than leaving her to her own devices and beliefs, as occasionally over-zealous and righteous as they were. It left him feeling like he already had a hold over her. Like he was making some impact. And he had to be, because if he knew Tifa Lockheart - which he really didn't for all intents and purposes... but if he knew what she was planning, well. He had to guess that she would have at least put on an act to make it seem as if he hadn't bothered her in the slightest.
It was almost confusing, but Rufus was more than confident that he would eventually figure out to some degree what was going on in her head.
He had his work cut out for him.
Especially when they touched down on the helipad of the beachside town and silently made their way down the walkway toward one of the most renowned and expensive restaurants around - The Casita del Sol. The restaurant where Rufus could remember toasting his new presidency. She had to respond, somehow. Some slight expression. A widening of her eyes.
Nothing.
It was the difference between some fabulous dream of an easy victory and the harsh reality, but Rufus Shinra wasn't going to let it get to him, not in the slightest. He had time, enough. Their date had only really just begun and Rufus would persist until the very end.
Until then he had to pick at her - find some way to turn the tables ever so slightly.
He had almost won Cloud Strife's loyalty, after all. Winning a second date from Tifa Lockheart should have been a cinch.
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