‍ ‍‍ ‍𝙹𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚎 𝚁𝚊𝚜𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢

Heh!

- two sworn enemies, completely vulnerable to one another, alone in a theater while blinded by a VR headset...

... Yeah, they would be bewildered to say the least. Even Jessie is, but it's all too fun to think about too deeply.

- with a key produced from her bosom.

"Definitely call me princess more. Even in real life."

A wink was thrown his way before she skips off into the next room, her mobility only granted by virtual means. In reality, she may be limping for awhile.

"Follow me!"

Indeed, if the Turks knew of the -

Indeed, she was drinking this up! A radiant grin beamed from the princess's face.

"The prez in that getup behind bars? Oh, I'm 100% in love! You look much more attractive locked up in a jail cell," she giggles, though she didn't spend too much time before traipsing over and unlocking the door -

Render by my friend DT

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𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸
𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

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- "Lookin' good," she teases, beckoning to his outfit. "Gonna be my knight in shining armor tonight, or what?"

Fortunately, Rufus is no longer bound to the script, either. Which is good, since his fun gauge may fall if he were forced to be an honorable... sappy knight guy. So not his style.

- breaking him free from the jail.

"Fear not, President Rufus ShinRa—" she cries out overdramatically, clearly veering from the scripted plot that the program normally forces upon patrons. It was a simple setting to remove. (And hacking into the system in a jiffy took only a split second)! -

- was still at least routinely premiering live-action plays and rotating them out in cycles with virtual experiences. Hopefully, that's still the case now.

Rufus has found himself in the shoes of Alphreid as Cait Sith narrates the plot, and soon enough —

There's Jessie again, now as Rosa —

-

- hearing and touch completely immersed in this fictional medieval land.

Ah, yes. The power of Gold Saucer technology. Replacing traditional shows with immersive experiences. Not a direction Jessie loves at all, but... alas. By the time she quit the world of acting, the Gold Saucer -

-
Her voice trails out as Rufus finds himself completely immersed in a virtual world — he wakes up in a prison cell, clad head to toe in knightly armor. This is nothing like the augmented reality of earlier; he is now in what seems to be an entirely different universe, with all his sights, senses,-

- some sense of lost purpose. How ironic.

She reaches up towards him, gingerly slipping the VR headset fully back onto his head. She seems to press a few buttons on the back, and then... click. Locked in place.

"Then enjoy the show, Prez..." -

unknown emotion he may have never seen on her before. Frankly, she can't place it either. But if she were honest with herself, this is probably the safest she's felt in months. Maybe even years, at this point. Here, in his hold, on some lonely stage... where it finally seems like she's regaining -

-

"You just want to be the one to kill me when your fun gauge inevitably falls," she jokes, the temptation to slip her arms fully around his neck starting to call to her. But she'll resist... for now.

Instead, she'll finally meet his gaze, shimmering with some -

The goddess in his grasp can't help but laugh. He's actually kind of funny when he's not trying to be the world's biggest jerk. Should she tell him that? Inflate his ego more?

Maybe his ego's not /that/ big if he's trying to raise her own right now... -

- to see more of the ultimate Loveless experience? Or would you rather stand here and shower me in praise? Both are totally valid options," she speaks softly, a little hesitant to look him in the eyes.

- onto Rufus's shoulders.

"Sorry..."

The pain slowly subsides as pressure is removed from her knee, using the better leg to keep upright (and Rufus as support, whether or not he wants to be assisting her right now).

"I think I'll be fine. There's more to this show, you know... do you want-

- victim.

But in the end, she knows that this is the outcome she deserves. After all the crimes she's committed, her fate honestly should've been worse than this.

At least she's still here, doing her best to get back up after being knocked dow— oops!

She stumbles, hands instinctively holding -

- render her speechless or anything.

"Aw, shucks... it was no big deal. Not like I spent years in that grueling, hellish dance academy or anything..." she followed his lighthearted response, trying her best to stand up. She can't be on the floor any longer, looking like some kind of -

Though he may have followed it up with a tease, he ... did seem to give her an actual compliment. No way it could be actually 10 out of 10 if she's on the floor like this.

He's humoring her. Trying to be nice. Was he actually capable of that?

Jessie blinks, flattered — but she can't let him-

- she chuckles, heavy breaths lining every pained word.

- diminish the weight of the situation in order to save face.

"All part of the ... the plan. So? Rate my performance so far? I'd say it was an 11 out of 10," she jokes weakly, voice quivering ever-so-subtly.

"Though... you're not supposed to be up here, so I guess we're already going off-script,"-

- That astonishment morphed into embarrassment once more when she realizes that an errant tear had slipped from her eye and rolled down her cheek, an involuntary response to the pain shooting up her leg.

Ugh. She hates playing the role of the damsel in distress. She will do anything to -

- outcomes were even unsavory for Jessie to consider.

Why does she care what he thinks of her? Has she become so pathetic, caring about a ShinRa's opinion?

So the look of astonishment on her face was entirely genuine when she found Rufus by her side, acting... concerned?

"I'm... I'm fine—"

Jessie was expecting a whole myriad of possible outcomes. Booing or jeering from the President, or perhaps his typical deep-etched frown when something failed to live up to his expectations. Turning to the side and exhaling, like he had seen something truly pitiful. There's a question of why these -

"Honestly? Just trying to recover and uh... figuring it out day by day.

Definitely not married or anything fun like that!"

"Ah, yeah, about that... not really blowing stuff up anymore! I mean, I'll make the explosives, but I'm not the one doing the exploding!"

-

Ah, no...

Rufus is watching. It's so embarrassing...

Jessie hangs her head low, thoughts immediately returning to the present. Hopefully he doesn't start booing at her or something.

- Her strength and health just isn't what it was, no matter how much she deluded herself otherwise.

Of course, her virtual self continues on with the dance, showcasing what should've happened with elegant grace and perfection — thus highlighting her mistakes even more.

-

- blood running down her face, screaming her guts out at the sight of her mangled legs.

She yelps onstage as she collapses to the floor after the botched landing, remnants of that old trauma running through her body. -