If not for Christmas

[itaidakimasu]

Characters: Yako and Sephiroth (gueststarring Keroberos the dog as himself)
Location: Around the city
Rating: PG? PG-13 if they start tripping down memory lane.
Time: January 3rd, Morning
Description: Yako has a knack for running into Sephiroth. Which is good, because she's been looking for him for a couple days.

Comments

[itaidakimasu]

"That's good to hear," Yako said, bobbing her head in accordance. "Speaking of a few weeks ago, I was right. I did end up being unable to find you on purpose, when I needed to." She swallowed what little hesitation still lingered and shuffled through the contents of her purse until she emerged victorious with a small box wrapped in silver paper and tied with a simple green ribbon. "It's a little late, but...Merry Christmas, Sephiroth-san!" She held to the box out to him, inwardly stomping out the bashfulness that tried to creep up on her.

Getting a gift for him had initially only been a passing thought, and for a while she had been set on getting him a gag gift; perhaps some sort of confectionary snack, to poke fun at their past interactions and hopefully lighten the mood. That hadn't felt right, however, and she had instead found herself putting more and more thought into what might suit a man like him, even as she assembled her other presents. Finally she had stumbled into the small shop where she had found a display case of jade jewelry. Buddhas were ruled out straight away, quickly joined by elephants, kanji, and the more femininely set pieces. Just as she was about to move on, she had caught sight of it: a simple, thin disc on a chord, perhaps about the size of her palm. Something about it struck her and she had bought it.

She wasn't one hundred percent sure that he would like it, or ever wear it, but it was a gift; he could do whatever he liked with it. She just hoped he understood the message behind it. Yako truly did want to be friends and to get to know him better in the future. It was as simple as that.

[pure_lineage]

Sephiroth regarded her quietly when she spoke of being unable to find him. While he hadn't announced it to the city, the ex-General would have thought his involvement with Europe would have been obvious. Something was off, even he took note of that, but Sephiroth simply put it down to being connected to the mall incident. He didn't ask what that was all about, if she wanted him to know, then he would tell her. Instead he glanced down to the small box she held out towards him.

He glanced at it cautiously and made no move to take it to begin with. This wasn't the first Christmas present that he was given, but it still left him with the same confused feeling within. He eventually reached out to take the box from her hand, and while he didn't open it right away, he did eventually even with the feeling of confusion felt within.

The sight of the thin disk within had him regarding it quietly in thought. He had never been one for jewellery, but he could appreciate the piece. "It's--- nice," Sephiroth muttered somewhat awkwardly. How did one respond to such things? He'd never received so many gifts in the past, after all.

[itaidakimasu]

For a long moment, Yako was sure that he was going to rebuff her and turn her down. When he didn't, her anxiety only deepened. It would have helped if he had done more than just stare at it like it was about to sprout jaws and bite him. After the wrappings finally came off, she let out a relieved breath and chanced a look up to study his expression.

He didn't look repulsed, at least. Or offended. A little confused, perhaps, if she looked closely enough, but altogether it seemed like a success.

When he finally passed that reluctant judgment, Yako's face lit up. "I'm glad," she told him, smiling. "My mom used to tell me that giving jade as a present brings good luck. I don't know you very well yet, but I thought that it might be something that would suit you. Um," She wrung her fingers for a moment, beating back the shyness once more. "You can think of it as the grown-up version of a friendship bracelet if you like!" That was the intent behind it, at least. Though somehow that hadn't sounded quite as babyish in her head as it did in the air.

[pure_lineage]

The relief she felt was sensed by Sephiroth, but he gave no real attention to it. He wasn't certain what he would do with this gift, and was somewhat stuck on the thought of even receiving it in the first place. The smile she gave him wasn't returned, non-surprisingly, and he quietly closed the lid to the gift before his arms fell back down to his sides again. He would need to consider what had happened and reflect on what this meant to him, but for now, he wouldn't put much thought in it.

"A friendship bracelet," Sephiroth muttered more to himself than to Yako. Was that what she considered was between them? That was something that Sephiroth didn't believe. He didn't consider anyone here his friend, an he doubted that he would. Doing so was simply far too dangerous for him, and he wasn't about to put himself in such a situation ever again.

[itaidakimasu]

Yako wasn't too disheartened when he didn't smile back. He wasn't really the smiling type, from what she had seen of him. She rubbed the back of her head, still a little sheepish over how that had come out. She definitely wanted to be friends with him, and it had seemed like the thing to do to get her feelings across. Like...the platonic equivalent of confessing, she supposed, though luckily she was wise enough to keep that from popping out of her mouth.

"Well, kind of, yeah," she confirmed, dropping her hand. "You're always interesting to talk to--or not talk to, as the situation may be--and I like being around you. So...I was hoping we could be friends...?" she trailed off at the end and finally looked up to meet his eyes, her own wide and earnest.

He's so good with people :3c

[pure_lineage]

He honestly didn't believe that he was interesting to talk to, or why others would believe such a thing, but Sephiroth didn't knock back her words either. Yet when she proposed any level of friendship, he felt his brows knitting with displeasure.

"I have no interest in being 'friends' with anyone," Sephiroth coolly said before he half turned away from Yako as if to prove that point. Staring off down the street, he kept the box held within his hand even as he eventually glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "I will, however, tolerate your presence."

It was the best that he could offer her.

She doesn't know the meaning of 'no' :3c

[itaidakimasu]

Yako wilted visibly at his rejection, despite having tried to prepare herself for it. The worst part was that he had looked so troubled by it; she hadn't wanted to give him any amount of grief. She just...really liked him, in a way that seemed almost natural.

At hus addendum, however, she felt her disappointment slowly dissapate. Looking back up, her smile grew into something sweet and warm and happy and reminiscent of the ones she had worn before her father's death. "Okay!" She agreed brightly, bobbing her head accordingly.

She would take what she could get.

It is lucky for their growing friendship that she doesn't :3c

[pure_lineage]

Reactions such as Yako's were always ones that Sephiroth wasn't certain how to deal with. Now was no different, and he stood there in quiet awkwardness while that expression remained on her face. Such excitement was something that he couldn't understand, but there was part of him that didn't care about understanding either.

"Hn," he grunted lightly while his attention remained away from her. "Very well." What more could he say? Sephiroth wasn't certain.

[itaidakimasu]

Yako was beginning to get the feeling that Sephiroth wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She had realized from the beginning that he wasm't exactly the most social of animals, and she had certainly been expecting some trust issues...but perhaps not quite to this degree. Her smile softened and Kerberos, sensing her improved mood, slowly began to wag his tail.

Cautiously, he approached the darkly garbed man he had initially categorized as a threat. He gave him an experimental sniff, whuffing around the Ex-General's coat.

[pure_lineage]

Sephiroth was broken out of his quiet thoughts when he felt the muzzle of Yako's dog lightly pressed against the leather of his coat. Kerberos, he remembered her mentioning. The name seemed so insignificant, and yet he couldn't deny the fact that he had remembered it. When did he forget such things? Never, but whether that was a good thing or not, he wasn't certain.

He didn't pull his hand away, but he made no move to touch the dog either as he stood there. Glancing down to the canine, his cat-like pupils thinned in thought.

"You spent that holiday with those closest to you?" Sephiroth found himself murmuring quietly even if he didn't glance at Yako.

[itaidakimasu]

Yako hid a smile, pleased at how her dog was warming up to the admittedly imposing man. Thankfully, he didn't seem like he was about to leap upon Sephiroth and lavish him with dozens of gooey, love-filled doggy kisses as he seemed to like to do to her whenever she let her guard down. Honestly, she wasn't sure she woukd have a dog anymore if he tried that here and now.

At his query, she gave a guilty jolt. "Oh, um...kind of? It was just me and Kero-chan here. A bit quieter than I'm used to, without my old friends or family around but not too bad. My Agency had its holiday party weeks ago, and I delivered most of my gifts before Christmas. Plus I still wasn't allowed back to work then." She rubbed at her ribs with a slight grimace, before hastily dropping her hand.

"What about you?" She asked. "Even if you don't celebrate, I hope you were with somebody important to you."

[pure_lineage]

His gaze flickered up to regard the gesture as she rubbed her ribs. If she was still recovering, then standing for an extended period of time was something that she should avoid doing. The mention of not having the family or friends to spend it with brought no level of emotion from him. Sephiroth never had such things throughout his life, so the true significance behind it went far beyond his comprehension most times.

Holiday parties were something that he had been forced to attend during his time as General, and he had learnt long ago that they were of no interest to him. He had only attended out of obligation, but he had never gone to one out of desire.

The returned question had him quiet in thought. "I remained within my apartment with my partner," Sephiroth softly murmured. He had been recovering, after all, and the reminder of that time also returned the memories of the day leading up to it.

[itaidakimasu]

Her ribs had healed up and the stitches had been cut already, but the memory still lingered. It was...strange, actually getting stabbed. Before, she had only been threatened with knives, or examined cut up bodies. She had taken to rubbing the fast-fading white marks every now and again, much the same way that her right hand drifted over the band of scar tissue Sai had left on her left shoulder when she was particularly deep in thought.

"That sounds nice," Yako told him sincerely. "He's the one you're closest to, if I remember correctly." It felt like ages since their first meeting in the crowd, and her almost shy inquiry on what having a Partner was like. Some part of her was glad that she had all but made a fool of herself and gawked at him like an idiot. A small part, but a part nonetheless.

[pure_lineage]

Sounds nice? The sincerity threw the ex-General off a little, but he wasn't about to let that show. Sephiroth had always been good at controlling his expressions, and this was one of those moments right now. Yet when she mentioned Cloud being the one he was closest too, Sephiroth couldn't help but incline his head in return.

"My world does not celebrate such customs, so it is of no importance to us," Sephiroth murmured lightly as if to defend the fact that they did nothing for it. Not that he needed to, but the thought of others thinking he may have done anything for it left him feeling uncomfortable.

[itaidakimasu]

"Oh, right." Yako paused for a moment, pensive, as her dog gently butted at Sephiroth's hand in what could only be a futile entreaty for a pat or ear-scratches. Ignoring the signs that she had perhaps spoiled her bear of a dog, Yako rocked back on her heels and shot her taller companion a curious look. "What does your world have?" There were obviously several stark cultural differences between her world and his; one only had to look at the differing fashions she and he were sporting to know that.

She gave him a once-over that was nearly clinical, save for the faint spark of concern that lingered in her eyes. He never wore a shirt, no matter how many times she ran into him, and it was still the dead of winter. Though he never complained, she couldn't help but worry that eventually he would get struck down with a cold. Even with his coat, an outfit like that could not be healthy.

[pure_lineage]

Her question had him pausing in thought. It had been so long since he'd last thought about such things or cared about them either. Even when he had been apart of ShinRa, Sephiroth hadn't cared about any balls or events that had been celebrated.

"There are some celebrations held throughout my world. Some in Wutai, and others held throughout the areas controlled by ShinRa... the WRO," Sephiroth muttered even while the dog continued to butt its nose against his hand. He made no move to pet the canine, but he didn't do anything to push the dog away either. "During my military service, events were celebrated focusing on the company's victory, or they were connected to the President's family."