Across the Divide and Through Valhalla

Changing Dynamic

Chapter 47

When Sherry woke, she felt almost too warm. Otherwise, she felt amazing. It wasn't until she started to stretch that the reason for that came to her in the form of a muscled arm that was draped across her waist. It tightened at her movement before it stilled. She froze, and her eyes widened. He had really stayed. She looked back over her shoulder to see Genesis looking at her with curiosity.

"No screaming or accusations?"

Sherry couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up at his question. She managed to squirm under his arm until she was facing him instead and cuddled into his rather warm and inviting and oh so mouth-watering chest before she answered. "Thank you for staying."

Sherry wasn't looking at his face, so she missed the shock that was quickly followed by a triumphant smirk, but she could hear some of it in his voice. "Pardon the question, but I had to be sure. After you showed so little regard while changing with me still in the room, I realized you must have been even less in your right mind than I thought. I didn't want you to believe that I was here to impinge upon your honor."

She could feel the heat fill her cheeks as she remembered what he was talking about. She had started changing on auto-pilot after she showed him where the bathroom was. She really must have been more out of it than she thought. Still, he couldn't have been too bothered, or he wouldn't be where he was. She kept her head down as she responded. "While there may be times I think you're a pompous ass, I would never believe you to have so little honor."

Genesis chuckled. He could hear the note of teasing in her voice, but that wasn't what he found amusing. This was the first time in his life that any woman he had thought to take to bed had the audacity to say such a thing to him, and he had a feeling that on some level, she meant it. And yet, she was still clinging to him like she never wanted to let him go. He managed to maneuver his hand so he could lift her chin and look into her eyes. He smirked at her bright cheeks.

"Tell me, if you find me so objectionable, why have you asked me to be here?" He paused and moved his fingers to trace where the pommel of his sword was just barely visible above the top of her shirt and smirked again as her blush deepened before he continued. "Why do you have this?"

Sherry hadn't considered how embarrassing this could be, especially with her big mouth, but she had come too far now. Besides, something he said needed to be addressed. She put one of her hands over his and gave him a soft smile. "I never said I find you objectionable. Even if I do think you are an ass sometimes, I also think you are witty, passionate, intelligent, thoughtful, and unexpectedly kind when it matters. In other words, I like you just the way you are. All of it together."

Genesis stared at her in shock for several moments. He had to play her words back to himself several times to make sure he had heard her correctly. She was saying that she recognized that he had traits that were less than perfect, but they were outweighed by the rest, and she accepted them all. As much as he portrayed himself as thinking he was perfect, even he knew he was not, but he was beginning to realize that to her, it wasn't about perfection.

Sherry was frozen in fascination as she watched the thoughts as they flitted across his face. She couldn't catch them all, they were moving too fast, but just the fact that she could see them at all was something to behold. At least until his eyes focused on hers once more and she realized what his next intentions were. Her eyes widened as his head dipped toward hers. Her hand darted up and placed her fingers over his lips before they could touch hers.

He gave her an incredulous look, but before he could speak, she shook her head. "Sorry, but I need to brush my teeth first."

He blinked his eyes several times as he tried to process how they went from the previous point to this one. It was a moment later that laughter spilled from his lips against her fingers. Sherry blushed again and tried to pull her hand back, but Genesis grabbed it and pressed a light kiss to her palm before he released it. "I will give you ten minutes. If you are not clean enough by then, I will join you and help you finish. I believe we have both waited long enough, and I see no reason why we need to leave this room any time soon."

Her eyes widened at the hungry look that entered his eyes. She suddenly realized he wasn't joking. She jumped up and ignored the feeling of him watching as she walked across the room and into the tiny bathroom to rush her morning shower. Even if part of her hoped he got impatient, she knew there wasn't much room for both of them in her minuscule shower. It was a slightly depressing thought.

Sherry ended up being very thankful that she decided to brush her teeth first. She also learned that her shower was bigger than she thought it was. Mostly due to Genesis' strength, of course, but the end results were all that mattered.

Her worst problem was trying to keep the sound down. That was a fact that Genesis found humorous, but Sherry did her best. After all, there were other people that they still had to live with, and at least one of them had exceptional hearing.

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It ended up being after noon before they managed to make it out of the room. Genesis was wearing a smug smile that Sherry did her best not to look at, as it only fuelled the heat in her cheeks. She was already having a hard enough time trying not to lose herself to the giggles as it was. She paused in the hall and took a deep breath. Genesis grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers. She knew this would change the dynamic between all of them, but at least she could act like an adult about it. After a few moments, she felt she was better prepared and let him lead her into the living room.

She was shocked to see Kaylan sitting and chatting with Sephiroth. They both looked up when the couple walked in. Sephiroth shook his head at their joined hands. He gave Sherry a questioning look that she wasn't sure how to respond to, but it didn't last long. He must have noticed something from Genesis, as he nodded once and went into the kitchen.

Kaylan, on the other hand, was grinning at them both. When Sephiroth stood, she jumped up and grabbed Sherry away from Genesis. She barely paused long enough to say something to him. "Sorry, I'm only going to steal her for a little bit!"

Genesis chuckled. He already expected something along those lines to happen as soon as he saw the younger girl. Those two were close. Once they were gone, he looked around with a frown for Caius. Sephiroth must have noticed his gaze and spoke up. "He has not come back since last night."

Genesis' frown deepened. "We need to tell Sherry."

Sephiroth nodded. "If he has not returned by the time she comes back in, we will search for him."

Genesis nodded, but inside he felt a whirl of emotions. Part of it was a concern for the man. They had become friends of a sort, but he was also angry for several reasons. The timing was too coincidental for the man's actions to not be related to what had just transpired. Added to that was the fact that this would worry Sherry, and Genesis was just shy of livid. At least it was still early in the day. They had time to give him yet. Perhaps he would get whatever it was out of his system and come back before they had to search.

Despite how hard Kaylan tried to weasel out all the information she could, all Sherry was willing to share was the fact that, yes, she had finally agreed to Genesis. The girl was not happy at the dearth of details, but she was willing to let it go for the time being. At least she was glad to see Sherry smiling, a real smile, and not a fake one for the first time in a long time.

Unfortunately, she didn't have long to stay, as she had a shift that evening. She had only stopped in to make sure everything was alright since she and Jerry had to leave without saying goodbye the night before. Sherry grinned and assured her everything was great before she left. She waved her off and headed back to the house.