Faithless Memories

Male Pride

Kris knew she should probably be irritated at him still, but his honesty disarmed her. She shook her head with a slight chuckle. "Well, at least try to curb that tendency. I would have made a point to see you before I left. How can I make any gestures of my own if you never give me a chance."

His eyes glinted at her words, and he gave her a smirk before he took a step closer and into her personal bubble. "Oh? And what sort of gesture did you have in mind?"

Kris felt her cheeks blaze, but forced her feet not to move, even though his proximity was making her senses go haywire. She did put her hands up to stop him from coming any closer. She hadn't considered what having them on his chest would do to her, though. She was able to ignore it long enough to smirk back at him. "Not the kind you are insinuating. At least not yet."

He quirked a brow at her but didn't push further. As embarrassed as Kris felt at his teasing and her reactions to it, she felt a thrill of excitement at the slight smirk she got in response to her own taunt. Still, she was thankful when he moved to lean against his desk. "Well, I suppose I will simply have to learn to have a bit more patience. Especially if it means I will be rewarded with gestures." His emphasis on that last word had Kris blushing again, but she was smiling as she shook her head.

She stayed and chatted with him for a few more minutes, and he secured a promise from her to have lunch with him both days of the weekend. She wasn't sure how he accomplished it, but she was pleased that he wanted to spend as much time with her as they could manage. He ended up taking her to lunch at a nearby restaurant before she told him goodbye.

Kris was finding that she enjoyed his company more every time they saw each other. Her enjoyment wasn't even dimmed when they were nearly mobbed by a group of women as they were leaving the restaurant. Genesis made quick work of extricating the two of them from the bunch. It wasn't until they were almost to the train station that he teased her about being the next headline. She blanched a little at the thought but shook it off. She had known that it would happen sometime if they ended up dating for more than a week. The man was too famous for it not to. When she thought about it, she realized it had probably already happened at least once. They had been out in public for dinner the night before. She didn't follow the fan clubs, so it didn't really affect her. She shrugged the thought off as best she could. She would have to get used to it sometime. It wasn't until he had her safely ensconced on the train, and she waved goodbye that she wondered if he might get into trouble for taking such a long lunch.

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By the time Zack made it home that evening, Kris was nearly bouncing in excitement. She pounced almost as soon as he was in the door. "Did you hear!?"

The look he gave her clearly showed that he thought she was losing her mind. "Uh, calm down. Did I hear what?"

She looked a little crestfallen that he wasn't already sharing her excitement, but only for a moment. She started bouncing on the balls of her feet as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the kitchen. She practically shoved him into a chair before she grabbed the plate she had made for him.

He eyed her and the food for several seconds as he tried to figure out what was going on. Kris rolled her eyes at the look. "Just eat while I talk."

He nearly laughed at the look she was giving him, but the food smelled delicious, and he had never turned down his sister's cooking yet. While he started eating, Kris was pacing. "So, I guess I forgot to mention that General Sephiroth asked me to come talk to him today."

Zack paused with a bite halfway to his mouth. "What?"

She waved his question off and continued. "I was shocked too, but he wanted to offer me a job."

By that point, Zack's food was forgotten. He stood and grabbed her by the shoulders to make her stand still. "I thought you didn't want to work for Shinra?"

She shook her head with a smile and pushed him back toward the table. "Eat." He didn't move right away, so she rolled her eyes and started pacing again. "I said I didn't want to work for the military. This is different."

When she waved him back to his seat again, Zack reluctantly sat back down. He watched her excitement and realized she was happy with whatever had happened. He grinned when she turned back to him. "So, he wanted to ask me to train the Thirds in hand-to-hand. I'll be working with you two days a week. Well, not with you specifically, but you get the picture."

"Oh, yeah!" Zack's food was forgotten again as he jumped up and grabbed her. He nearly lifted her off her feet when he hugged her. She laughed at their shared excitement. When he put her down, they were grinning at each other.

Kris laughed at her brother's exuberance on her behalf before she launched into the tale of how everything had happened and what her job would entail. It was nearly a half-hour later before Zack remembered that he had a half-eaten meal waiting for him. He eyed the cold plate ruefully but didn't complain. The news that life might get a little closer to the way it used to be had both siblings excited, and was well worth a cold meal.