Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Restful Death ❯ 3 ( Chapter 3 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: LittleMouse 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Hentai / Angst | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 01.07.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 2.1K | Visits: 552 | Status: Work In Progress
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Hentai / Angst | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 01.07.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 2.1K | Visits: 552 | Status: Work In Progress
CHAPTER THREE
Vincent sighed and lowered the gun. "Cid... what are you doing here?"
"Hunting for you, Val."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to." The blond man got to his feet and walked over
to him, taking the gun out of his hand and laying it on the cot.
"You're not all that easy to find, you know that? ‘Course, we all
thought you were back in that coffin."
"I don't want to sleep," was all Vincent offered in reply, not moving
away from the door.
"Don't blame you. That coffin gives me the creeps, anyway."
Vincent's ruby eyes narrowed slightly. "When did you see it?"
"When I went looking for you, of course."
"Why were you looking for me?"
"Because I was bored." Cid reached out and gently tugged Vincent's
long hair, getting an astonished look from the red eyes in return.
"Come and sit down and talk to me."
Oh, no, he was *not* sitting next to Cid on that cot. For the first
time he regretted the lack of chairs in his little house; he had no
desire to get close to anyone and Cid had never made any secret of
the fact that he had no real preference as to the gender of his sexual
partner.
Then again, there was no way Cid would be interested in *him*; he had
yet to scrape up the courage to look in a mirror, but the memories of
Hojo's lab, with chemicals burning in his veins and acid dripping on
his skin assured him that the reflection he saw would be less than
attractive. All that pain and torture had to have left him
horrendously scarred. He still remembered the scalpel biting into
the flesh of his face as Hojo tested how long it took his body to
heal small cuts...
Still, he didn't want to be so close to the man. Cid wasn't exactly
unattractive and the sparkle of life in his blue eyes appealed to him
strongly.
There was no way he was going to suffer through unrequited love again.
He pulled away from Cid's tugging hand. "We can sit outside."
"All right, Val, whatever you want."
"And stop calling me that."
"Why? I like it, it's cute."
Vincent sighed.
*
Cloud ducked into an alley, and pressed tight to the grimy wall. He
counted to three, slowly, then took a quick peek.
"Damn!" he hissed, shrinking back before his pursuers could spot him.
What was *Tifa* doing here? And with Shera in tow - there was no
mistaking Cid's little stalker, with her ponytail and glasses.
So what did he do, now? He had given up on trying to find Vincent on
his own, and started following Cid, instead. The man had resources
that weren't available to him - an entire network of information and
friends that Cloud could only imagine. He was sure to find Vincent;
Cloud had planned on just following along until he did.
Now it was getting complicated.
He'd seen the empty coffin. At first, he'd wondered if Cid had found
Vincent in it and just carried him out, but then he'd noticed the
spiderwebs still in the coffin's depths, and the fact that the lid
was laying exactly as he'd left it when he'd freed Vincent the first
time.
Vincent had never come back to that coffin.
Therefore, Tifa had lied to him.
Why?
Well, he wasn't going to wait around and ask. The girl had been
driving him crazy over the last few days; for years she had rejected
an attempt he made to gain her affections. Then Aeris had appeared
in his life and he'd found someone who might someday be willing to
stay with him.
But she had died...
And now suddenly Tifa was all over him, talking love and marriage and
children while he blinked at her in stunned surprise. She'd always
acted like he had a childish crush on her - which in retrospect he
had realized that was exactly what it was - and told him to ‘get over
it.'
Now he had gotten over it, and she had done a complete about-face and
acted like he was the love of her life.
Cloud just didn't understand women.
And he wasn't real sure he wanted to.
He needed to talk to Vincent. He *had* to talk to Vincent.
But first, he had to get out of this alley without those two seeing
him.
*
Vincent had sat, rather stiffly, on the edge of the step and waited
for Cid to start talking.
He waited...
...and waited.
Finally, "I thought you wanted to talk?"
Cid yawned from where he sat, sprawled all over the step, legs
stretched out in front of him and one shoulder almost touching
Vincent's side. "Nah, this is good. Kinda sleepy, ya know? Been
hunting ya for a while."
"Why?"
"Toldja. Bored." Cid yawned again and stretched, deliberately
brushing his hand against Vincent's thigh. The gunman started
slightly and shifted away, so he'd definitely noticed the slight
touch.
Cid grinned.
Vincent was a lot more fun than Shera.
"So..." Cid wasn't able to keep from talking, even as sleepy as he
was getting. "Took a job watching over screwball tourists, huh?
Good money?"
"Fair," Vincent said slowly, trying to accustom himself to the fact
that Cid was making casual conversation. Whenever he'd spoken to the
pilot before, it had always been about business, about what was needed
for this trip or that battle. Short and to the point. He wasn't sure
he understood the sudden drastic change, and was even less sure that
he liked it.
"Like it?"
"Like what?"
"The job, Val."
"Not particularly." Why should he lie? The truth was that he found
the tourists annoying on the rare occasions that he had to deal with
them, and the guides talked of nothing but alcohol and gambling and
which of the female tourists had the most attractive bodies.
Vincent had never cared much for such inane conversation and pursuits
when he'd been a Turk; his tolerance for them now was pretty much nil.
"Good." Cid purred the word more than he spoke it, and shifted until
he was practically laying on the broad stone step. The rays of the
late afternoon sun were warm and soothing and Vincent found himself
nodding slightly, too.
"So, you interested in changing careers?" The words came after several
minutes of silence, drawled in a warm, rich tone.
"Hm?" Vincent's eyes had nearly closed and he didn't particularly
care to struggle them back open.
"Used to be a pilot, right?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Could do that again. Need a courier pilot, for Tiny Bronco."
"I haven't flown in more than thirty years. You could as well ask a
chocobo to ride a motorcycle."
Cid snorted with laughter, shifting and sitting up. "Brushing up
wouldn't be that hard. C'mon, it'd be better than running around
babysitting tourists, wouldn't it?"
"Maybe."
"So think it over." Cid shifted yet again, bringing his shoulder in
contact with Vincent's - a warm and steady pressure. "Pay you better
than what you're making here."
Vincent's sleepy brain suddenly processed the fact that Cid was
offering him a job. Ruby eyes opened wide and he stared at the
other man. "You can't be serious."
"Why not? Watched you for a while, know what kinda man you are."
"A freak who spends most of the time obsessing over the past?"
Vincent's words were brutally honest; he had no illusions about
himself.
"Naw. Good man in a tight spot." A strong hand reached up to brush
back the strands of hair falling over Vincent's face, and he was too
surprised to dodge away from it. "And nice to look at."
"Nice to..." Vincent trailed off, speechless.
"Real nice. Don't you ever look in mirrors?" Cid's fingers drifted
down to touch Vincent's cheek briefly, then he pulled back his hand
and got to his feet. He stretched, flexing his entire body, and
Vincent watched, helpless to pull his eyes away. Cid noticed, of
course, and didn't even try to hide his smirk. "Gotta head back to
town; gotta room at some crappy inn. Know where that little place
is, down the street from the airstrip? Forget its name..."
"Oaks Inn?"
"That's the one. I'll be there tonight; think it over and let me
know in the morning, huh?" He glared at Vincent and shook his finger
in warning. "And no running away. I'll just track you down again."
Vincent blinked at him.
Cid laughed and started back for town, strolling along like he didn't
have a care in the world.
Vincent sat gazing after him, still rather stunned.
Nice to look at?!
Maybe he should brave the mirror, after all... if Hojo hadn't left
him scarred and deformed, he wanted to know about it!
But... if he hadn't... what were all the stares about?
*
Cid was heading down the last block before reaching the end when a
hard body slammed into his, arms wrapping around his shoulders. He
reacted violently, of course, twisting and trying to slam his fists
against his attacker.
"Cid - Cid! Stop! It's me, Cloud!" The young voice sounded panicked
and Cid did stop trying to hit him.
"Cloud?! The *hell* are you doing?!"
The young man didn't let go of him. "You got a place to get out of
sight? Quick, man, quick!"
Cloud didn't have to ask twice; Cid nearly tucked him under his arm
and ran for the inn. If Cloud Strife was this worried about something,
it *had* to be bad. His room was on the second floor and had an outside
door. Cid unlocked it and shoved the younger man inside, following
close on his heels.
Cloud went straight for the window, peeking around the edge of the
blind. Cid followed him, just tall enough to peer over the top of his
spiky hair.
His eyes widened as two pretty brunettes came dashing down the street,
obviously searching for someone. They looked very intense, faces set
with determination. The taller one stopped, put her hands on her hips,
and glared around. She gestured for the other to head for the bar
across the street, then she dove into one of the many gambling casinos.
Tifa and Shera...
They had joined forces!
He had been right. What Cloud was worried about was very bad,
indeed...
Vincent sighed and lowered the gun. "Cid... what are you doing here?"
"Hunting for you, Val."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to." The blond man got to his feet and walked over
to him, taking the gun out of his hand and laying it on the cot.
"You're not all that easy to find, you know that? ‘Course, we all
thought you were back in that coffin."
"I don't want to sleep," was all Vincent offered in reply, not moving
away from the door.
"Don't blame you. That coffin gives me the creeps, anyway."
Vincent's ruby eyes narrowed slightly. "When did you see it?"
"When I went looking for you, of course."
"Why were you looking for me?"
"Because I was bored." Cid reached out and gently tugged Vincent's
long hair, getting an astonished look from the red eyes in return.
"Come and sit down and talk to me."
Oh, no, he was *not* sitting next to Cid on that cot. For the first
time he regretted the lack of chairs in his little house; he had no
desire to get close to anyone and Cid had never made any secret of
the fact that he had no real preference as to the gender of his sexual
partner.
Then again, there was no way Cid would be interested in *him*; he had
yet to scrape up the courage to look in a mirror, but the memories of
Hojo's lab, with chemicals burning in his veins and acid dripping on
his skin assured him that the reflection he saw would be less than
attractive. All that pain and torture had to have left him
horrendously scarred. He still remembered the scalpel biting into
the flesh of his face as Hojo tested how long it took his body to
heal small cuts...
Still, he didn't want to be so close to the man. Cid wasn't exactly
unattractive and the sparkle of life in his blue eyes appealed to him
strongly.
There was no way he was going to suffer through unrequited love again.
He pulled away from Cid's tugging hand. "We can sit outside."
"All right, Val, whatever you want."
"And stop calling me that."
"Why? I like it, it's cute."
Vincent sighed.
*
Cloud ducked into an alley, and pressed tight to the grimy wall. He
counted to three, slowly, then took a quick peek.
"Damn!" he hissed, shrinking back before his pursuers could spot him.
What was *Tifa* doing here? And with Shera in tow - there was no
mistaking Cid's little stalker, with her ponytail and glasses.
So what did he do, now? He had given up on trying to find Vincent on
his own, and started following Cid, instead. The man had resources
that weren't available to him - an entire network of information and
friends that Cloud could only imagine. He was sure to find Vincent;
Cloud had planned on just following along until he did.
Now it was getting complicated.
He'd seen the empty coffin. At first, he'd wondered if Cid had found
Vincent in it and just carried him out, but then he'd noticed the
spiderwebs still in the coffin's depths, and the fact that the lid
was laying exactly as he'd left it when he'd freed Vincent the first
time.
Vincent had never come back to that coffin.
Therefore, Tifa had lied to him.
Why?
Well, he wasn't going to wait around and ask. The girl had been
driving him crazy over the last few days; for years she had rejected
an attempt he made to gain her affections. Then Aeris had appeared
in his life and he'd found someone who might someday be willing to
stay with him.
But she had died...
And now suddenly Tifa was all over him, talking love and marriage and
children while he blinked at her in stunned surprise. She'd always
acted like he had a childish crush on her - which in retrospect he
had realized that was exactly what it was - and told him to ‘get over
it.'
Now he had gotten over it, and she had done a complete about-face and
acted like he was the love of her life.
Cloud just didn't understand women.
And he wasn't real sure he wanted to.
He needed to talk to Vincent. He *had* to talk to Vincent.
But first, he had to get out of this alley without those two seeing
him.
*
Vincent had sat, rather stiffly, on the edge of the step and waited
for Cid to start talking.
He waited...
...and waited.
Finally, "I thought you wanted to talk?"
Cid yawned from where he sat, sprawled all over the step, legs
stretched out in front of him and one shoulder almost touching
Vincent's side. "Nah, this is good. Kinda sleepy, ya know? Been
hunting ya for a while."
"Why?"
"Toldja. Bored." Cid yawned again and stretched, deliberately
brushing his hand against Vincent's thigh. The gunman started
slightly and shifted away, so he'd definitely noticed the slight
touch.
Cid grinned.
Vincent was a lot more fun than Shera.
"So..." Cid wasn't able to keep from talking, even as sleepy as he
was getting. "Took a job watching over screwball tourists, huh?
Good money?"
"Fair," Vincent said slowly, trying to accustom himself to the fact
that Cid was making casual conversation. Whenever he'd spoken to the
pilot before, it had always been about business, about what was needed
for this trip or that battle. Short and to the point. He wasn't sure
he understood the sudden drastic change, and was even less sure that
he liked it.
"Like it?"
"Like what?"
"The job, Val."
"Not particularly." Why should he lie? The truth was that he found
the tourists annoying on the rare occasions that he had to deal with
them, and the guides talked of nothing but alcohol and gambling and
which of the female tourists had the most attractive bodies.
Vincent had never cared much for such inane conversation and pursuits
when he'd been a Turk; his tolerance for them now was pretty much nil.
"Good." Cid purred the word more than he spoke it, and shifted until
he was practically laying on the broad stone step. The rays of the
late afternoon sun were warm and soothing and Vincent found himself
nodding slightly, too.
"So, you interested in changing careers?" The words came after several
minutes of silence, drawled in a warm, rich tone.
"Hm?" Vincent's eyes had nearly closed and he didn't particularly
care to struggle them back open.
"Used to be a pilot, right?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Could do that again. Need a courier pilot, for Tiny Bronco."
"I haven't flown in more than thirty years. You could as well ask a
chocobo to ride a motorcycle."
Cid snorted with laughter, shifting and sitting up. "Brushing up
wouldn't be that hard. C'mon, it'd be better than running around
babysitting tourists, wouldn't it?"
"Maybe."
"So think it over." Cid shifted yet again, bringing his shoulder in
contact with Vincent's - a warm and steady pressure. "Pay you better
than what you're making here."
Vincent's sleepy brain suddenly processed the fact that Cid was
offering him a job. Ruby eyes opened wide and he stared at the
other man. "You can't be serious."
"Why not? Watched you for a while, know what kinda man you are."
"A freak who spends most of the time obsessing over the past?"
Vincent's words were brutally honest; he had no illusions about
himself.
"Naw. Good man in a tight spot." A strong hand reached up to brush
back the strands of hair falling over Vincent's face, and he was too
surprised to dodge away from it. "And nice to look at."
"Nice to..." Vincent trailed off, speechless.
"Real nice. Don't you ever look in mirrors?" Cid's fingers drifted
down to touch Vincent's cheek briefly, then he pulled back his hand
and got to his feet. He stretched, flexing his entire body, and
Vincent watched, helpless to pull his eyes away. Cid noticed, of
course, and didn't even try to hide his smirk. "Gotta head back to
town; gotta room at some crappy inn. Know where that little place
is, down the street from the airstrip? Forget its name..."
"Oaks Inn?"
"That's the one. I'll be there tonight; think it over and let me
know in the morning, huh?" He glared at Vincent and shook his finger
in warning. "And no running away. I'll just track you down again."
Vincent blinked at him.
Cid laughed and started back for town, strolling along like he didn't
have a care in the world.
Vincent sat gazing after him, still rather stunned.
Nice to look at?!
Maybe he should brave the mirror, after all... if Hojo hadn't left
him scarred and deformed, he wanted to know about it!
But... if he hadn't... what were all the stares about?
*
Cid was heading down the last block before reaching the end when a
hard body slammed into his, arms wrapping around his shoulders. He
reacted violently, of course, twisting and trying to slam his fists
against his attacker.
"Cid - Cid! Stop! It's me, Cloud!" The young voice sounded panicked
and Cid did stop trying to hit him.
"Cloud?! The *hell* are you doing?!"
The young man didn't let go of him. "You got a place to get out of
sight? Quick, man, quick!"
Cloud didn't have to ask twice; Cid nearly tucked him under his arm
and ran for the inn. If Cloud Strife was this worried about something,
it *had* to be bad. His room was on the second floor and had an outside
door. Cid unlocked it and shoved the younger man inside, following
close on his heels.
Cloud went straight for the window, peeking around the edge of the
blind. Cid followed him, just tall enough to peer over the top of his
spiky hair.
His eyes widened as two pretty brunettes came dashing down the street,
obviously searching for someone. They looked very intense, faces set
with determination. The taller one stopped, put her hands on her hips,
and glared around. She gestured for the other to head for the bar
across the street, then she dove into one of the many gambling casinos.
Tifa and Shera...
They had joined forces!
He had been right. What Cloud was worried about was very bad,
indeed...