"So, what way your first week like?"
Nora, your best friend, was sitting across from you in a small bar, interrogating you. She played with her glass of red wine, as she listened to you happily ranting about your new workplace and all the science and experiments you had already worked on. Nora was not bothered by your overly enthusiastic and never-ending speech, she even liked listening to you talking about your favourite topics.
You described your small 'office' to her as if it were at treasure chamber, you told her about all the folders you had already gone through, the new knowledge you had already gained and all the achievements you had reached so far. And, of course, you told her about Genesis.
You had met him twice in the hallway since your first day. The first meeting had taken place on Tuesday, along with his friend Angeal Hewley, about whom Dr Hollander told you that he would be another research subject of yours. Even though Genesis had at least greeted you, it had however been spoken in such a brusque way, it had made you feel like you were not worth his time. Angeal had been a lot friendlier. He was a well-built, tall, dark haired man with a genuine smile, who actually seemed to care about your existence. Just like Genesis, he had worn a SOLDIER uniform, indicating he had a similar rank to the former. His different demeanor struck you as very likeable.
The second time you saw him Genesis was alone and didn't even deign to spare you a second glance. It upset you quite a bit, you hadn't done anything to him, and you were to work with him, if what Dr. Hollander had said was correct. In your opinion, working towards at least a little bit of friendly atmosphere was not too much to ask! He apparently didn't notice your anger-filled glare at his back, as he passed you without comment.
Later that week you had also learned that Genesis and Angeal were SOLDIERS first class, which in turn made them both quite famous and well-liked by the public. They even had fan clubs. With this new information, it became clear to you why Genesis was so arrogant.
"What, you didn't know?" Nora gasped as you told her the news. "They're really famous, and Sephiroth too!"
As she told you what she - and apparently everyone - knew about those three, you noticed how deep in your scientific bubble you had been.
"And those eyes..." Nora continued, swooning. Apparently, she had also fallen victim to the charms of them.
"They're like that because of the mako infusion," you informed her, glad that you could take part in the conversation again. "All SOLDIERS have to get infused with mako energy, to make them stronger."
"Well, I wouldn't even care if they wore contact lenses. Still gorgeous! You should introduce me to them!" Nora winked at you and you laughed.
"Hm... Angeal seemed pretty nice, so go get him, girl!" you told her, winking back and pushing your elbow into her side.
"And which one will you take? Sephiroth or Genesis?"
"Definitely not Genesis!" You shook your head at the stupidity of this scenario.
The two of you continued talking and having fun until the barkeeper decided to throw you out and close. Like most nights, you were some of the last people left, having completely forgotten time over your conversations.
"Thanks for that. I really needed that talk!" You hugged Nora goodbye.
"I'm always there for you. Have fun with Genesis next week!"
"Pfff..."
Nora knew you too well, she could already tell that you were fascinated with him. But that was what a best friend was for, knowing how you felt before even you did, and encouraging you to embrace your feelings. You waved to her and went on your way home.
※
On Monday morning, as you arrived at the office with a huge pile of paperwork in your arms, Genesis was already waiting. He was leaning on the wall next to the door, arms crossed and eyes closed. If you could trust your skill to read people, you'd say he wasn't as calm as his exterior made him seem to be. Was something making him uncomfortable? Just like you had expected, he didn't react at all when you came strolling down the hallway. You were not one to lower yourself to his level, so you decided to just address him.
"Good morning, Mr. Rhapsodos," you greeted him with a polite smile, then turned to open the door.
"Good morning. It's closed. Dr Hollander isn't here yet," he told you as you unsuccessfully pulled on the handle.
"He's late?" you asked, unbelieving. The doctor hadn't struck you as being sloppy about his work. In contrary, you had even noticed a lot of dedication to it because of a rivalry with another scientist in Shinra company.
"No, he's preparing for my examination."
"Oh, alright."
You decided that nothing but waiting could be done, as you hadn't gotten a spare key yet. To ease the weight of the documents, you too leaned on the wall, on the other side of the door frame. You tried to stop yourself from sheepishly glancing over to the SOLDIER, but to no avail. he still hadn't moved.
An uneasy silence arose.
'I should say something,' you thought, the awkwardness of the situation made you nervous. 'Since I'd like to get to know him.'
You combed through your head to find something to talk about. Just as you had decided to ask him about his weekend, he took that opportunity from you and asked something himself.
"What exactly is your job here? What are you doing for Dr. Hollander?"
The question took you by surprise. Was he suddenly interested in you? No, probably he only wanted to know since part of your job would concern him in the future. Either way, you were pretty sure you sensed some kind of uneasiness in his voice, even though he tried to mask it.
"At the moment, I'm only doing what Dr. Hollander tells me to, I don't have enough experience yet... Mostly I just work through documents to increase my knowledge so I can be useful to him. But when I'm ready, I'll surely be allowed to take part and even lead some important experiments!"
Your growing enthusiasm for scientific topics was interrupted by Dr. Hollander, who had just turned around the corner and wished both of you a good morning upon seeing you.
"Now, let's get started, shall we?" he asked as he opened the door to let you in.
You nodded eagerly and followed him inside. He continued through the room and turned to the door that connected his office to his laboratory, but as he noticed you still following him, he stopped you.
"Dr. (l/n), please continue with your work, it's still too early for you to participate in Genesis' examination. Starting next week you can join us."
"Alright." Your shoulder sank a bit, and you turned to your desk to put down the pile of paperwork. Wordlessly Genesis passed you and followed the scientist into the connected room. You sighed, but quickly forgot about your disappointment and continued working on what you had left on Friday.
※
After about an hour of being consumed by your work, the door to the laboratory opened again and a very pleased looking Dr. Hollander came out, followed by Genesis who did not quite seem to share his state of mind. His gaze had darkened, he was walking slowly and kind of shiftless. You sensed that something was not right, that he was weak.
"Mr. Rhapsodos, are you alright?", you asked him.
As if he had only noticed your presence by then, he straightened his back and growled a quick 'Yes' before walking out of the office in his usual stance, ignoring Dr. Hollander's goodbye.
"What is the matter with him?" you asked, slightly concerned. You were not convinced by Genesis' answer at all, his pride would probably never allow him to admit to being unwell.
"I actually wanted to talk to you about him next week, but since you asked... Genesis is getting a Mako energy infusion, and subjects tend to feel a little weak after that procedure," he answered your question, as if talking about the weather.
"But hasn't he already had this infusion?"
"Yes, he did, but since he is kind of ... special, I decided to test if continuous infusions would improve his performance even further. Since he still has to go on his missions, however, I decided to give him only small injections over the course of a few weeks. Like this, he should be fine again in a few hours and ready for combat."
You did not respond to that explanation, simply nodded and continued with your work. Somehow, it didn't seem like Dr. Hollander was very concerned about Genesis. Then again, he knew his charge and he knew what he was doing, and the SOLDIER hadn't seemed to protest, so surely, it was alright.
※
The rest of your week was quite uneventful and soon enough, Friday came around. You had about two hours left before you could go home. Truth to be told, you were looking forward to the weekend. Even though you loved your work and the things you did here, it still was a job, so it was quite exhausting. Nora and a glass of wine were already occupying your mind, so when the door to the office opened, you were glad for the little bit of distraction that you were hoping would come. Your saviour turned out to be Angeal, who needed something from Dr. Hollander.
"You look tired, Dr. (l/n)," he noted with a friendly smile.
"Oh, you've done a lot of good work this week, you can leave for the weekend, if you'd like," Dr. Hollander offered.
Torn between the need for leisure and the desire to finish what you were working on, you hesitated.
"Go on, it's alright, you can finish on Monday!"
Those were the last words of encouragement you needed. You quickly put your stuff together, thanked the scientist and followed Angeal out of the office.
"Is your week over as well?" you asked him, curious of a SOLDIER's line of work. You found it to be a lot easier to talk to him than to Genesis.
"No, it doesn't work that way for us," Angeal laughed. "We don't have weekends like you do. I have a mission to go on tomorrow. For today I'm off, I'll go train a bit, though."
"Where are you training? On a field?" you asked.
"Has nobody ever showed you around here? We have simulation rooms for that."
"What, really? Simulations? How do they work? Can I see them?" Enthusiastically you began pestering Angeal with scientific questions. After he couldn't answer any of them, you relented. "Sorry for that. And no, nobody has shown me around yet. I actually only know the way to the laboratory."
"Well then, if you'd like I can show you around a bit. At least on the way to the simulation rooms. And if you want to, you can watch the training as well, maybe it'll answer some of your questions."
Without hesitation you agreed excitedly and followed Angeal.
As you arrived at the training rooms, you immediately found the man who ran the simulations, whom you took hostage and forced to explain everything to you. The poor guy, who seemingly didn't know about the technology all too well, tried his best to explain to you what he knew. You were not really satisfied with his description, but your attention was turned away from him anyway as Angeal entered the simulation room, followed by Genesis.