Warnings: Swearing, mild violence and mentions of male relationships.
My notes: Mentioned pairing in this is Vincent and Cid.
He couldn't stand it anymore. It was simply too much. After sleeping 30 years in a coffin, Vincent Valentine was not a man who enjoyed loudness. All his senses were enhanced because of Hojo's tinkering, the demons and the long isolation. And spending time with the giggling girls of AVALANCHE as well as the loud-mouthed Barret, and Cait Sith and Cid as well, could really drive him up the wall. Sure, he didn't deny to himself that he had feelings for their sometimes brass pilot, but sometimes he just needed solitude.
At the moment the team was resting at a local inn, to relax for the night and to regain their energy. Racing across the continents daily could be really tiring. The threat of Meteor was immediate of course, but even heroes needed a break every now and then. AVALANCHE had gathered in the parlor of the inn at the moment, laughing and talking the evening away. Vincent himself was lurking in the shadows of the room, as usually, but was slowly but surely creeping closer and closer to the stairs which led to the rooms they had rented for the night. When they had arrived at the inn they managed to get only three rooms; two rooms with four beds and one just a single bed. Vincent had been unlucky, and didn't get the single. He was now sharing with Cid and Barret, and Nanaki as well. And that was two too loud people for Vincent's taste, at least when he was as tired as he currently was. All he needed was some alone time...
And that brought him to the second problem; the girls insisted that he would, as they said, "hang out" with them. Aerith had stood before him with her hands clasped in front of her in a feminine way and with a huge smile on her face.
"You should come and hang out with us for a bit, Mr. Valentine!"
Vincent had felt his eye twitch at the chirpy tone, but as he opened his mouth to say no, nothing came out. In the end, he simply nodded and let the girl drag him into the parlor.
"Look what I caught!" she said happily as she dragged the tall, darkly clad man with her, as one would drag an unwilling cat to a bath by the skin of its neck. Applauding could heard from some of the members of the team. Capturing Vincent Valentine and dragging him to a social gathering was indeed quite a feat.
And now he was subtly trying his best to slip unseen out of the room. If they did not notice, they could not guilt trip him into staying. He would head up to his room to try to relax or sleep for a few hours before the others came to bed. That would be so nice and...
"Hey, Vince, where do ya think yer going?" Cid said, amused, as he spotted Vincent trying to inch out of the room.
"Sleep." Vincent said simply in his smoky, low voice, while slowly continuing to inch out of the room. Come on, he was so close now...
"Aw, come on!" Yuffie said. "It's not late yet!"
"Let him go to bed." Cloud said in his leader-voice. Vincent nodded gratefully in the blonde's direction, and Cloud answered with a nod on his own, and an understanding look in his eyes. He too had been modified, making him sensitive. But since he was a great deal younger than the ex-Turk and hadn't been isolated for 30 years, he could deal with it better.
Vincent left the room and headed up the stairs after politely nodding at the Inn-keepers direction. The man didn't answer the greeting however, looking torn between screaming in fear at the dark spectre or running the hell away from it. In the end he simply stood there, his mouth half open. Vincent did his best to ignore the man's obvious fear and headed towards his room. He was used to other people's reaction to his appearance by now. Ah, finally solitude... Blessed silence and... Damn. Now he could hear Cid, Barret and Nanaki heading up the stairs, and towards the room.
And Vincent did what any respected gentleman would do and... hid under his bed. He was NOT in the mood to talk to them, not right now. At least it was nice and dark under the bed, and it muffled the sounds quite a bit. It somewhat reminded him of his coffin, in a comforting way. And that spider was quite cute. Yes, it was quite nice under here...
The door was thrown open by the bulky form of Barret. "Well, damn, seems like Spooky didn't head here after all."
"Vincent ain't here?" Cid asked. "And don't call him spooky ya dickhead." he added with a scowl.
Barret simply snorted in answer. "I bet he's at some other room, sucking blood or something. I haven't seen the skinny fuck ever eat, if ya get what I mean?"
"Vince ain't a fuckin' vampire, ya stupid fuck." Cid grumbled as he began to undress for bed, angrily tossing his blue T-shirt on the bed.
Barret seemed unconvinced. "Yeah, right. Then what the fuck is he?"
As Cid's and Barret's argument about Vincent's humanity and diet went on Nanaki laid down on his spot before the fireplace. The great hound stretched, and as he did he noticed something: two glowing, red eyes peering out from under Vincent's bed. Nanaki blinked his single eye at the sanguine orbs. They blinked back. He laid his head down with a sigh as Barret's and Cid's dispute went on. This wasn't going to end well; when Cid noticed that Vincent had been there all along he would blow up at Barret, starting yet another fist fight among the two biggest men of AVALANCHE.
"It's just ain't safe around the little shit, I tell ya, man!" Barret went on.
But now Vincent had had enough of this. All these insensitive jerks sprouting shit about things they knew shit about. Disturbing his quiet time, his "alone-in-the-dark-and-thinking-deep-thoughts-time" as Cid had dubbed it. As both Barret and Cid seemed distracted, Vincent soundlessly slid out from under the bed and sneaked up on the two men.
Barret continued his tirade. "One day he will..."
"Do what? Please, do tell." Vincent said darkly, and the two men let out a shout of surprise and shock at the sudden entrance. Vincent went on, ignoring the shock of the two men. Suddenly it felt like all his rage just poured out of him, like an erupting volcano. He just couldn't stop the words. "What will I do? I am very curious you see. Will I suck the blood of someone in AVALANCHE? Rape someone maybe? Kill maybe, that would after all be suiting for a monster like me after all, wouldn't it? Don't you think so, Barret?" Vincent let out a humorless laugh; short, harsh and with a slight hint of madness in it. "You know what? I have had enough. I have simply had enough. I'm leaving." He harshly pushed his way past the two man, threw the door open and left the room.
In the corridor stood the rest of AVALANCHE, having left the parlor as they heard the shouts of surprise from Barret and Cid and the enraged and harsh voice of Vincent. They all stared at the fuming Vincent with wide eyes. They had NEVER seen the normally cool and calm man so upset, except when he had nightmares. And it wasn't the same kind of upset; when he had a nightmare he was sad and scared, now he just looked angry and enraged. Nobody dared to say anything as Vincent regarded them, having paused his escape when he spotted them.
Cid suddenly shot out of room and grabbed onto Vincent's arm. "Yer leaving?" he asked. "Leaving the group?"
"Yes, Cid." Vincent said flatly.
"What? Why?" Aerith said in an upset manner. "Why, Vincent?"
"Because I'm fucking tired." he stated.
Everyone started in surprise. Vincent never swore. They had never heard him swear, no matter the situation. It seemed that the ex-Turk truly had reached his limit.
"Why are you tired?" Tifa asked gently.
"Tifa, I'm dead." Vincent stated quite bluntly. "I died 30 years ago. And I'm tired. I'm constantly tired. I was in that coffin for 30 years; no sound, light or people. And now I'm sick and tired of Barret calling me a vampire, because I'm not one; I don't suck blood, sunlight don't hurt me and garlic don't hurt me. I'm tired of having Tifa shove food down my throat; I don't need it, it makes me feel sick and I hate being in the middle of Yuffie's and Cid's food fights. I'm tired of Aerith thinking I need a hug; I hate being touched, I panic when feeling trapped and her perfume makes me nauseous. I'm tired of Yuffie thinking I need a little light and sound; the light gives me headaches, and so does the sound she insists is music. I'm tired of Cait Sith thinking I just need my future read, because no, I seriously doubt I will meet a dark, tall and handsome stranger anytime soon who will sweep me off my feet and propose." He took a few deep breathes, feeling surprised at himself for ranting. The others were also more than a little surprised. The man who hardly said a full sentence at a time had just chewed their asses with a huge rant.
"I... I had no idea you felt that way, Vincent." Aerith said, tears in her eyes. "But please... don't go. Stay, we promise we'll respect you, but you need to talk to us. We don't really understand everything you've been through, we need you to talk to us, help us understand. Please, Vincent."
Vincent sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I... I just..."
"We know you don't like talking, Vincent." Tifa said, managing a small smile. "But just tell us if we do something you don't like. It's important to talk about your-"
"You're doing something I don't like."
"What?" Tifa asked, looking confused.
"Talking feelings."
Tifa huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Men!" she said, and the rest of the group snickered.
"Then there's just one thing left to settle." Cid said and narrowed his eyes at Barret. "You, you ugly fucker, need to apologize to Vince."
"Do not!" Barret said. "I don't care what mister dark fancy-pants says. He can just suck it up, because I'm bigger and stronger and the group needs me more-"
No one in the group had any chance to react as suddenly Chaos was there, gripping Barret by his throat and pushing him against a wall. The large demon snarled, a deep, wet snarl that sounded like it belonged to the deeps of Hell itself. "Funny you would say that, pathetic human." he said. "Because I am quite sure I am bigger than you, stronger than you and certainly a bigger asset to the team. You are nothing but a liability to this team. You are loud, obnoxious and gets into fights with several people in the group. Like the man who wants to fly, you pick fights with him all the time. If he left the group, you would lose your pilot and become completely useless. And I know the host would follow him. And you are not even a asset in the fights. Vincent is an excellent marksman, why should we need one more?" The large demon leaned closer, staring the shaking Barret down with scalding, yellow eyes. "No, human, I think you are the one who needs to 'suck it up'."
"Chaos..." Aerith said, trying to sound soothing despite her fear of the large, intimidating demon. "Please let him down, don't hurt him. We can talk this through..."
"You humans." Chaos growled. "You think actions harm more than words. Fine." And with that, he let Barret go, and the big man slid down the wall and sat panting on the floor, trying to compose himself. "But I have a proposal. Either you accept that, or the host and we demons will leave the group. And I have no doubt the sky child will follow."
"Darn right, bat boy!" Cid added in, which made Chaos smiling slightly, showing razor sharp teeth.
"What's your suggestion?" Cloud asked, apprehensive. Despite the fact that they had met all the demons several times by now, and they had never harmed them, Cloud still were wary when it came to Vincent' inhabitants. He knew the twisted humor of Hojo, after all.
"A vote." Chaos said. "A simple vote. All and every person in the time get to vote if they wish to keep us and Cid or Barret." Chaos crossed his arms and glowered at them. Cid sidled up to him, petting those strong wings as he never could resist to do whenever Chaos showed up, and Chaos let him do so with the dignity only an ancient creature could muster.
"If we have to." Cloud said quietly. "Okay, everyone. Let's keep this clean and without unnecessary comments. Who wish for Vincent and Cid to stay and Barret to leave?"
"I'm not voting." Aerith stated firmly. "I refuse to participate in tearing the group apart."
Cloud raised his hand. And so did Nanaki (or more like raised a paw from the ground), Yuffie and Cait Sith. Taking a deep breath, Cloud asked for those who voted in favor of keeping Barret to raise their hands. Only Tifa did.
With a poof of smoke, Vincent stood among them again. "I'm sorry." he stated quietly. "He took over. It was his idea and..."
"Spare me yer sentiments." Barret said with a thick voice, but no tears could be seen in his eyes. "The group clearly stated what they wanted. I'm out of here."
"No, Barret, wait." Vincent said, his voice a great deal calmer now. "Please don't leave. You don't need to leave. It was Chaos' stupid idea anyway. We can both stay."
"Ya..." Barret said, stunned. "Ya wouldn't use this chance to get rid of me?"
"Barret... We might not always get along, but you are a part of this team. It was like when you found me and I joined your cause. You all told me that I was a part of the team, no matter that I had demons living inside me or that I scared you." Vincent crossed his arms, looking strangely embarrassed. "You told me I belong. And so do you."
"Geeze, Spo- I mean Vincent." Barret said, and if he hadn't had such dark skin, he probably would have blushed. "I'll stay, if that's alright with ya. I guess I apologize then."
"I guess I accept it then." Vincent said with great dignity, and his comment imminently made the others crack up, thanks to the serious way he said it.
"I'm so happy that this got resolved!" Tifa said, clasping her hands together in join and smiling brightly at the others. "See, if you talk about your feeling everything will be fine, we should go down to the parlor and make some tea and sit down and talk about-"
"Ugh, there she goes again." Cid muttered.
"I'm going back to our room." Vincent said. "I'm NOT talking about my deep and sensitive feelings over a cup of chamomile tea while crying."
"For once, we're in complete agreement." Barret muttered, and to everyone's great surprise, clasped a hand on Vincent's shoulder and led the tall man to their room. Something ugly, akin to jealously, showed in Cid's eyes as he followed them, almost prying himself in between the two men.
"Well that was... odd." Aerith said.
"Yeah." Yuffie said with a snort. "But who cares! Let the old men take care of themselves! They can sit in their room and mutter about today's youths and nagging women all they want for all I care! "
Tifa giggled. "Did you see Cid's face?"
"Yeah, who knew that the old man would get his panties in a twist over something as simple as Barret touching Vincent's shoulder?" Yuffie said.
"So, who wants some chamomile tea?" Aerith asked with a bright smile.