It'll Be Great

The next several days went by slowly. The summer was reaching its peak, and the tavern was becoming more and more crowded during the day, as people sought to escape the heat and get something cold to drink. Airica and Arnie found themselves very busy. Good for business, but not for the patrons’ relations. Airica’s subtle eavesdropping of the townswomen’s chatter was beginning to make her feel rather uncomfortable. The horrible acts of chastity, cruelty, and physical injury these women were threatening because of their husbands’ increased time at the bar were certainly frightening to consider.

It was also becoming a fairly widespread idea that it wasn’t only the heat outside that was bringing more men to the pub. As time went on, and their business increased, the women became more and more convinced that it was Airica’s wily charms that led their husbands astray. Convinced that she was single-handedly seducing all of them, they began to behave very strangely around her. Conversation immediately hushed whenever she approached. Cold stares were given in the market. Ridiculous and fictional stories about her past were whispered over fences, some vile enough to cause Airica herself to blush furiously at the implications.

Yet she continued to go to work every night, serve the men their drinks, and give them the kind of flirtatious attention they desired, though considerably more demure about it now. Airica was never one to disrespect the sacred vows of marriage, and never would any relationship with a married man go further than casual joking around. But slowly, slowly, the pub’s patrons began to attend less and less frequently. Soon, only one or two of the town’s alleged bachelors still made appearances, but even they were inevitably convinced to seek leisure elsewhere.

Finally, one night, there was nobody left. Only Arnie, Airica, and Cid occupied the once thriving tavern. Arnie, with a great and heaving sigh, left early, leaving the two official town outcasts alone in the room.

As Airica gloomily began to tidy up the main area, she was once again treated to a gruff comment by Cid.

“You shouldn’t let ‘em get to you,” he said quietly.

“Oh?” she snapped, almost too quickly, as she folded up a tablecloth angrily. “Am I letting them get to me, Cid?”

He turned around from his place at the bar and stared at her levelly. He appeared to be searching for a straight-forward enough comment to grasp her attention.

“…Yeah,” he replied after a moment. “You are. And you shouldn’t. They’re a bunch of loonies anyway.”

The tablecloth was beginning to look like nothing more than a wad of checkered fabric, and she threw it on the table, frustrated.

“Yeah, well, loonies or not, their bullshit may have cost Arnie his business. And me my job. And my reputation.”

With that she stalked over to the bar and grabbed a glass, flooding it with whisky and taking a sip. She was about to continue her rant when Cid spoke again.

“How the fuck do you think I feel?” he asked quietly. “It’s because of me that any of these people are here. They were all engineers, mechanics for that goddamn rocket. It’s my fault they’re here, and it’s my fault that all of them lost all of their jobs. Imagine how that works out for me.”

Airica was silent. She’d certainly heard about what had happened that day, and she didn’t wish to ask Cid to recount events which were obviously upsetting to him. She merely shut up and listened, continuing to sip at her beverage.

There were several moments before Cid said anything else. She was about to admit that he was down for the count now, and that their conversation was over, until he rather unexpectedly continued.

“You know, I’ve thought about leaving so many times. I don’t know why I don’t. It certainly wouldn’t have any effect on anybody else here. ‘cept they wouldn’t have nothin’ to gossip about anymore.”

Airica took another swallow and laughed bitterly. “Well, they’d have me around. That seems to be keeping them pretty busy these days.”

Cid looked at her sideways. There was a long, awkward silence as the two drank.

“Is any of that shit they say about you true?” he asked suddenly, looking down into his glass and blushing ever-so-slightly.

Airica, rather a lightweight when it came to drinking liquor, threw her head back and laughed uproariously. Once she’d gained control of herself again, she patted Cid on the shoulder.

“What do you think, my friend?”

Cid blushed even more and grinned a little at his own embarrassment.

“I dunno,” he said in mock defense of himself. “But apparently the stories about you bein’ a heavy drinker are made up. Tolerance of a 12-year-old girl, it seems,” he added under his breath as he took another sip.

Airica chuckled and punched Cid lightly on the shoulder in response.

“Oh, so now you wanna fight, huh?” he said, a hint of drunken challenge in his voice. He stood and put up his dukes, before losing his balance and crashing rather inelegantly into the barstool.

Airica laughed again, this time louder than before. She looked at her drink. It was almost empty. So was Cid’s. As he struggled to get himself back up on the barstool, she quickly poured them each another glass. When Cid returned to his much more comfortable sitting position, he eyed the glass suspiciously.

“Why m’lady Airica,” he slurred. “I do believe you’re tryin’ to get me drunk…er.”

Airica chuckled as she drank deeply of the liquor. “No…” she said thoughtfully. “I think it’s just nice having someone to drink with. You know, to have fun with.”

Cid’s face became more gentle and relaxed now, and he said nothing, a small smile playing on his lips.

It suddenly hit her with stunning reality that Cid was her only friend in Rocket Town. The town drunk and the town slut. We’re a perfect team, she thought, giggling inwardly.

After a few moments of a much more comfortable silence, Airica took the final sip from her glass and set it down.

“I grew up on a chocobo farm outside of Midgar. When I was 16, I moved into the Midgar slums, trying to get a job to help out my family. Farm life wasn’t for me, anyway. Now, as a country gal in a big city, I made my mistakes.” She grimaced, remembering her horrible first night in Midgar. “And I saw my fair share of nasty things. But for the most part, no. None of their stories are true.”

Cid turned to her, his blue eyes sparkling. He looked as though he was about to say something, but hesitated. Airica slouching at the bar, turned her face upward to meet his glance. Suddenly, without any warning, Cid leaned down and kissed her briefly, chastely, on the mouth. Her green eyes widened as she watched him turn away quickly and refocus on his drink. She sat like that for a moment, her eyes wide and her mouth still in a half-pucker, until she was finally able to shake herself from it. She sat up straight and smoothed down the front of her dress distractedly. She’d certainly been kissed before, by those she liked, those she didn’t like, and those she thought she loved. But this was a different situation altogether. She was completely floored.

Flustered, she stood up, preparing to finish cleaning up, but in her drunkenness, lost her balance and began to fall, much to her horror, directly towards Cid. With amazing agility, he turned and caught her before she could injure herself or him. He held onto her for just a little longer than he should have, and their faces were very close.

“Sorry, what did you say?” she asked absently, immediately regretting the question as he’d obviously said nothing.

“You really need me to repeat myself?” he responded, not missing a beat. He rolled his eyes. “Fine, you asked for it.”

He leaned down and kissed her again, this time in a far less childish manner. His arms still held her, and wrapped around her back, and his lips crushed against hers with the force of a man who had not known a woman’s touch in a very long time. Her stomach flipped and her heart beat like mad as his tongue darted out, seeking entrance into her mouth. I hope I don’t regret this later, she thought grimly as she parted her lips slightly, allowing his tongue to mesh with hers. They kissed with such passion for another few moments before reluctantly parting to catch their breath.

She looked up at Cid with confusion in her eyes, and he returned her gaze, amused, with a glimmer of arrogance hiding beneath the surface. He stood, righted her onto her feet, and left the tavern casually, lighting a cigarette and walking with the confidence of a man who had never known drunkenness in his life.

After several minutes of replay, Airica finally got around to cleaning the rest of the tavern, and left herself. Again, Cid was not standing in his customary place outside. She rushed home, trying not to appear as drunk as she was. She couldn’t see them, but she knew those crazy old bats were watching her from their front room windows.

{OOC: Hi all. Hope you're enjoying this story. Don't worry, it'll be getting to the good stuff soon. R&R if you likey!}