Interview With A Vampire
"Vincent Valentine," the small orangey girl said, in her unchanging, monotonous tone that was such an accustomed part of her, like her sabres or her glowing blue eyes.
"You're late." she added, tone still giving away nothing of how she was feeling.
The pseudo-undead being known as Vincent strided over, thoughts elsewhere as was typical of him. "Sorry," he said, hoping that was enough. For Shelke, it seemed to be. She shook her head very slowly and said "It is... alright. Were you visiting Lucrecia again?"
"No," he said, averting his eyes, "I stopped in Kalm to see Cloud." She looked up at him. He kept his eyes at the wall of the small cafe they were in. For a moment, Vincent couldn't help but notice that her chest had begun to grow since her mental trauma had been resolved. The more time she spent with others, the happier she seemed to be. And her body had begun to resume growing, at a slightly quickened pace. Maybe she had a Haste materia hidden on her.
She tilted her head, ever curious. "Was it very important?"
"Actually..." he looked beneath his cape a moment, clawed hand reaching into some hidden pocket or pouch and withdrawing something. "It's important for you." He opened his hand a foot from her to reveal a pair of glasses with a silver frame. At her perplexed expression, Vincent mumbled. "Shalua's."
Shelke grabbed them eagerly, the slightest hint of a smile appearing for a moment. She looked from the glasses to him and said "Cloud Strife. Where did he-?" "Found them during the clean-up after Deepground. But..." He shifted his large frame uncomfortably for a second, "...her capsule bed from the ship was found empty." He trailed off at this. The expression Shelke made then reminded him so strongly of Lucrecia that he was worried he would try and comfort her. Shelke wasn't the same... he couldn't act like she was alive through some memories...
"Vincent."
He blinked, looked down at her."Hm?"
"I believe we have gotten off track from our original plans." She said matter-of-factly, pointing determinedly at a free table in the cafe. "Coffee. Our date." There was a pause. Vincent closed his eyes for a moment. Shelke. Lucrecia. Not the same person. One was gone. Returned to the Planet. His dreams would be his only way to reach her. He needed to accept it.
"Dr. Valentine! Please... please don't die!"
A third time Shelke would not attempt. She simply grabbed his cape and pulled him slightly as she walked over to the table. He sighed and sat down awkwardly across from her. People around them seemed to be a little ... afraid. "Mm." He said, looking around with vague interest. Perhaps it was not fear; After the sudden appearance of Deepground, this dusty-looking man had walked literally from the shadows of history and killed them all with one handgun. And he hadn't spoken a word. That kind of resolution was about as unexpected as the DG soldiers had been in the first place.
Omega Weapon, of course, was fresh in people's minds. It had only been a couple months ago..
Now Shelke's tone expressed exhasperation. "Vincent Valentine." He relented and said quietly, "Hello, Shelke." She looked at him with a kind of "what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you-silly?" expression, knowing how far from the dating scene the poor guy was. Not many could put "Experimental Lifestream Zombie Harbouring Legendary Soul Demon" on their resume. She knew it was nothing he felt like telling people, though. And Chaos had gone back to the Lifestream with all of Omega's victima and the legendary beast itself. Sometimes Shelke still thought she saw a look of sly secretiveness on Vincent's features... it made her question whether Vincent had truly let go of that dark side.
"Shelke." She flicked her eyes open in surprise. "Y...yes?" He pointed to the waitress, smiling cheerfully (but impatiently) at them. "Oh! I am terribly sorry. I will have a latte..." Shelke said in her slow, polite tone. "Black coffee for me." Vincent muttered.
The small girl peered over at him. He folded his arms on the table and continued scanning the room.
"Why did you say yes, Vincent Valentine?" She asked rather directly. He seemed unsure. He couldn't say, 'because it's better than admitting Lucrecia is dead'. So he mumbled, "You helped me defeat Omega." She shook her head, and painfully reminded Vincent of the truth anyways; "Lucrecia's soul did that." "You were the one who freed her from Omega's body through an SND." Shelke bit her lip. He hadn't seen her do that before. She was nervous? "Who... which one am I, though?" she said, gazing at him sadly. He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean...?"
The waitress calmly laid their cups in front of them and strolled away.
Shelke stared at her latte for a moment. "Am... am I myself? Or... Lucrecia?" She shook a bit suddenly. Vincent saw his hand reach over to hold hers, though his brain did not tell it to. "Lucrecia is simply a memory. She has returned to the Planet... just like Sephiroth and Hojo." She blinked, looked into his eyes, forcing him to look away.
"Who is 'Sephiroth', Vincent?"
He hastily said "I wouldn't have come here if anyone else had asked me." She smiled for a moment, finished off the whipped cream topping her coffee. Vincent took a few sips, set his glass down silently. She spoke smoothly. "I have to admit that I was pleased you said yes, to me." Shelke drank some of the latte, continued. "I feared the idea of a date would seem boring to you. Your life is so very exciting, after all." He chuckled. "I've seen more interesting days... the world's gone quiet since Omega." He wasn't at all seeking noise and conflict; Deepground had been unavoidable. He wouldn't have gotten involved more than he needed to, if it hadn't been him they wanted... Yet again, Shelke's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"I always wonder... did Chaos... ever speak to you?"
He wasn't sure how best to tackle that inquiry. "Once in a while. It was irritating." Another sip. "He once asked me if he could take Yuffie out." Shelke widened one eye in confusion. "He ... did?" She looked interested now. "Yeah. He said other things, but I wouldn't repeat them for every Gil on the Planet." He looked cross for a minute. "I don't miss him," He said finally. She smiled at him and quipped; "I hadn't asked." He smiled back.
The two were silent for a moment. Vincent leaned on his clawed hand thoughtfully. He looked very elegant. Thinking of where he was, he slipped back into the conversation; he caught the end of her sentence.
"...been longer than it feels, since my last SND, you know..."
Vincent picked up his own coffee, and asked, "Do you miss your old job?" He drank a bit. She looked reminiscent. "Sometimes. But I know now why they treated me with any kind of comradery. They used me and then threw me away. Nero's love for Weiss was the only kinship I ever saw in Deepground's ranks." She seemed downcast, spoke solemnly. "I hadn't minded Nero so much." Vincent opened one eye, landed his gaze on her. "Really?" She smiled sadly. "Yes. He was very charming around me and Rosso."
Vincent had the image of the nightmarish Nero trying to smoothtalk the bloodthirsty Russian and laughed. Shelke blinked. "Have I made a humorous remark, Vincent Valentine?" He felt a smile on his face, but it was gone behind his cloak a second later. "No. I had simply thought of something amusing." Shelke finished her coffee. She seemed a bit... fidgety. "What's with you?" he asked, honestly worried for a few moments. She said very plainly; "I would very much like to hug you, but I do not know why. Or maybe I cannot explain the feeling verbally."
Vincent gave up. She'd saved him, he'd saved her. And when he thought about it, Shelke had allowed Vincent real closure on his feelings toward Lucrecia. She had loved him, and as he accepted it, he felt the tiniest bit of colour in his deathly pallor face. Shelke deserved a lot for everything...
Leaving a few Gil on the table, Vincent rose and said calmly "Shall we go and figure it out, then? Your feeling." She peered up at him, eyes wide and clear. "To the Shera?" Shelke asked, making a cute face unconsciously. Vincent considered everything and then said coolly; "Not... right away." He held out his hand politely. Shelke took it, feeling an unfamiliar warmth at his touch. And the two strode out silently.
The waitress would later swear that she had never witnessed a stranger couple in her life.
But similarly, how often did you get to serve coffee to a vampire, right?