It was the last card she wanted to play, but there had been no choice and Aerith handed herself over to Shinra custody, only to end up here. The proposition was a terrible one, she had never met the son of President Shinra, but Aerith was unable to picture anything but a smaller, younger version of the man in charge himself. It made her skin crawl, but it didn't make her skin crawl as much as the alternative did - letting herself be destroyed, a piece at a time in Hojo's lab as her mother had been.
She'd been kept there since she surrendered, and the retinue of tests and experiments that filled her days almost made this proposed endeavor seem nice.
Turning when she hears the heavily secured door to the quarters she's kept in prized open Aerith meets Rufus with an even expression, her face a practiced mask of neutrality she spent years perfecting under Hojo's scrutiny. Even if the things that happened here horrified her to her very core, Aerith would not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing. She reserved her disgust and her despair for the few moments of privacy she was afforded.
"Rufus Shinra," she answers with his name, nodding in acknowledgment before she looks him over hesitantly.
"Tell them to cut the cameras and the audio feed. If you're making me do this then I want to talk about it in private." It was a bold request, one he stood a fair chance of rejecting, she knew - but she had to try. Hojo had done a lot to damage her dignity in some respects, but Aerith was quick to bounce back, claiming as much space and agency as she could whenever the chance presented itself.
LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
She'd been kept there since she surrendered, and the retinue of tests and experiments that filled her days almost made this proposed endeavor seem nice.
Turning when she hears the heavily secured door to the quarters she's kept in prized open Aerith meets Rufus with an even expression, her face a practiced mask of neutrality she spent years perfecting under Hojo's scrutiny. Even if the things that happened here horrified her to her very core, Aerith would not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing. She reserved her disgust and her despair for the few moments of privacy she was afforded.
"Rufus Shinra," she answers with his name, nodding in acknowledgment before she looks him over hesitantly.
"Tell them to cut the cameras and the audio feed. If you're making me do this then I want to talk about it in private." It was a bold request, one he stood a fair chance of rejecting, she knew - but she had to try. Hojo had done a lot to damage her dignity in some respects, but Aerith was quick to bounce back, claiming as much space and agency as she could whenever the chance presented itself.
And Rufus could be a chance.