Author:
Cloud Strife and Vincent Valentine
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Date Posted: 14:38:37 04/15/02 Mon
The waitress would pout, but she's not dumb; she can recognize danger signs emanating from Teresa. Signs which she interprets (the waiter being who she is, and young, and new to Cosmo Canyon) as Irvine Is Taken signs. So she backs off with a mental sigh of disappointment, gradually letting "professional mode" take over from "trying to pick up guys" mode.
No one ever said she was an expert at reading people, either.
"I guess you should take that as a 'no,'" Cloud supplies to the waitress. He knows what she's trying to do--it's not like she's making any particular attempt to be subtle--and observes in a good-natured sort of way. Almost fatherly; that sort of "kids will be kids" attitude. Maybe Cloud's grown up some.
"And if it is not too much trouble," Vincent supplies, "please tell the cook to make with all speed. We have not much time."
"Whoa, there. Not enough time to eat a good breakfast?"
Vincent (and Teresa, for that matter) is saved from replying by someone clearing his voice from the doorway.
Red XIII--that is not his real name, by the way--has grown since the last time the reader may have seen him. The lean chest has filled out, the skinny limbs have thickened, and a small beard is forming on his chin. His mane, as well, has grown, becoming longer and thicker, as has his crimson fur.
If you are puzzled by the mane and fur, know that Red XIII is hardly human. He looks like an enormous cross between a panther and a dog, with pointed ears and a long, almost lupine snout, with the heavy jaw of a jaguar. His frame, too, is compact like a coyote, with the long limbs of a wolf or a lynx. The scarlet mane is more like a hyena's, with a heavy crown of hair on his head contained in an elaborate feather headpiece and a thick ridge of the same hair running to the nape of his neck. Black tribal tattoos circle his thigh and forearm, although one--the bold XIII on his left shoulder--stands out clearly being foreign to Cosmo Canyon. Beads hang from his mane below his ears, and engraved anklets--similar to the golden hoops dangling from his ears--encircle each foreleg. Where one might expect a tuft of red fur at the end of his tail there is instead a tongue of flame, glowing red and white-hot.
All of a sudden, the waitress becomes very flustered. She bows clumsily, her voice suddenly going several pitches higher. "Lord Nanaki! We were not expecting you! Ah--ah--would you like something to eat?"
"Thank you, Clara, but I have already had breakfast," Red XIII--or Nanaki, as that is his true name--rumbles. "I will, however, pay for the meals of my guests, here."
"Oh, no, but we--"
"I have plenty of gil, Clara," Nanaki interrupts her. "Go and see to their orders, now. I have business with them."
Clara bows once again, with more decorum this time, and then skitters off to the kitchen, suddenly young and bashful.
Red XIII seats himself on the floor next to Cloud, regarding the group at the table with harvest-moon eyes. Now it can be observed that his right eye is sealed shut with scarring. "I hope," he says gravely, "that no one is proposing to fight me."
OOC: I hope I didn't leave anyone behind with this post. ^^ I know it was very long, but I suddenly felt obligated to make up for four weeks' worth of posts.
Those of you who know FF7 know that Red XIII fights with combs and hairpins. Do not ask me why, considering he has more than adequate teeth and claws. But he does. However, for as long as Red XIII remains in this game (and I don't know if he'll be going with the others), I utterly refuse to have him fight enemies with hair accessories. I think it's silly, and I don't know how he accomplishes this feat anyway.
If you desperately need a visual reference for Nanaki, you can find one at RPGamer.com. Be warned, the file size of the official Square character art is huge. The CG screenshots are smaller, but not as detailed.
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