Nurturing the Buds of Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7, the characters, or the settings. Square-Enix doesn't need anymore money anyway, and certainly not what little I have.

Story Description: Well, I had this idea all of a sudden that I wanted to write a Yuffie perspective on the developing Vincent/Tifa relationship in my other story, A Side Story' in order to give things a humorous flare. Anyway, it somehow has become this. I would't say that you have to read the other story, but for those who have read A Side Story, I think they might enjoy reading this. I'll be interlacing these two a lot in the future, and hopefully it will be fun the way the two connect.

Enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Scoop

Something is up. I can smell it, like Limburger cheese fermenting in the fridge. You catch a whiff of it here and there, fortunately sparingly, and then it suddenly blows your socks off. That doesn't mean it's bad though, or so the Limburger cheese lovers would have us believe(do they really exist?), because it's the stink that makes the cheese and gives it that flavorful taste.

Yeah. Right. But back to the cheese.

What does this 'something' have in common with all that drivel? Well, I'm not sure yet since I've only just got the faintest sniff, but it was pretty darned potent stuff. They don't think I notice anything because I'm too busy spewing my guts out on the engine room floor, but I do! My sensors are always on alert you know, picking up all the good gossip and secrets I can about my compatriots. Especially when it involves suspicious interludes between party members.

Do you really think I would actually miss the obvious chemistry broiling between the two most unlikely people? Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. Tifa's got a soft side just like any, or most, girls so it's not all that surprising to see her getting involved with someone. But him! That's what I don't get.

Vincent. As in Vincent Valentine, the spook who sleeps in coffins in the basements of rotting mansions with the goons. That's just weird! And here I thought Tifa was all hot to trot about Mister Schizophrenia, but apparently she's had a change of heart.

I can't really blame her for it, come to think of it. For all his quirks and oddities, Vincent is a looker(although sometimes I get this nearly uncontrollable urge to feed him a sandwich). And after the mess involving Aeris and Cloud, it didn't surprise me that Tifa was feeling a bit left out. How could you be happy knowin' that the guy chose someone else over you like that? Especially when that someone is laying in the bottom of a lake.

That's beyond creepy.

Come to think of it, Vincent might not be so bad for her after all. Cloud's definitely no good.

Sometimes, thinking about it was enough to actually put me in the dumps, and that's hard to do. I felt sorry for her, though I'd never admit it. Our relationship was kept strictly to friendly acquaintances. I had a reputation to uphold an' all.

But back to the fun stuff. Tifa and Vincent - what do they talk about when they think no one's watching, eh? What does Vincent talk about in general? He's always so damned tight lipped around the rest of us.

Naturally, my first inkling would be to get in on the juicy details, but I can't just ask up front. I've got to be sneaky and possibly dirty and underhanded. Yessiree, this is a mission only for the likes of Yuffie Kisaragi. Do NOT try this at home little kiddies. We all know that Mr. Emaciated can be a walking time bomb if you rub him the wrong way, so please note the "Handle With Care" pasty I've applied to the back of his cloak.

Tifa would be easy managing. She's too nice to suspect me of anything this dirty, and far more sensible when it comes to feelings of fluff. Vincent would sooner shred me to pieces before admitting any kind of romantic attachment to anything, even that Lucrecia he's always moping about. I wouldn't want to admit having an emotional attachment to a ghost either, but we all know that isn't what's deterring him. Vincent's just eclectic and weird.

Most of this game therefore would have to be played on Tifa's side of the court. Easy peasy for one as skilled as I in the arts of mischief. She'll never know what's coming. I hope.

I rubbed my hands together in eager fashion, grinning as a maniac should. As long as no ones there to see it, feel free to use it as often as you want, and don't forget the evil cackle. I stink so much of 'up to no good' that they'll be smelling it long after I've vacated the area, but by that time, it'll be too late, suckas!

"Yuffie?"

And now we panic. Holy shit! I slapped on my innocent face, spun around sharply(nearly wiped out in fact), and found myself staring into a concerned Tifa's eyes. Damn. How'd she sneak up like that?

My thoughts took a 180 turn when I noticed the disheveled state of her hair and clothes, and all the nasty wounds from her earlier encounter, which she donned like a new fashion statement - a really bad one(is there any other kind?). There was dried blood everywhere from her skin and hair, to her boots and socks, and she was favoring an ankle.

Tifa's brow screwed up in a frown, "Are you ok?" She asked hesitantly.

Eh...pardon? Either there's a lot of wax build up in my ears, or someone seriously needs their head checked. I swear, everyone's goin' mental except me.

Hello! Earth to Tifa, I'm not the one who looks like they just went through a meat blender. But does anyone ever pay attention to what Yuffie has to say? No-o. I guess I would have to say something though, or I might start lookin' like a mental patient myself.

"Me? Of course!" I retorted indignantly, a bit too loud and obvious perhaps. I was reeking suspicions faster than you could say "limburger". Not to mention my muscles were beginning to ache from the ridiculous grin I was wearing. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm totally-" urp god damn...motion..sickness...gasp "-peachy..."

The brunette nodded her head slowly, assessing the situation with a methodical eye, which was really kind of ridiculous when considering how awful she was looking at present. What she should be doing is minding her own business, or more specifically her injuries, but no - Tifa had to worry about everyone else's problems first. Unfortunately, blurting out that she was my current problem probably wouldn't earn me any points, and for future reference I would likely be needing some of those.

There would be no milking information out of Yuffie today however, which may have heightened her suspicions further. Still, sacrifices had to be made. "Right." She said at last, her gaze lingering for a moment or two longer, hoping to catch my lie. "Well, I'm going outside for some fresh air. You can relax now."

Just like that she walked out the door and left me standing there totally insulted. I never even had time to defend my honor! So what if I didn't have any, that's not the point. You don't just walk out on someone without giving them a chance to fight back!

I grinned devilishly. "Don't you worry, Tif." I murmured. "I'll get you back good for this one, heh. You'll never know what-"

My diatribe was cut short by the clear, resonating sound of the bridge door shutting behind someone, followed by the distinct sigh of a person in distress.

God damn it! Where'd all these idiots keep coming from! Can't they see I'm busy right now?

I dragged myself to a better view point and peeked cautiously at the stairs from behind the luggage crates. And it's got to be Vincent, of all the people! Sheesh, you'd think they'd get some manners or something. I'm trying to plot here you know!

Suddenly I was struck with a great epiphany. My eyes lit up like golden saucers and I slowly grinned in delight. A chance of a lifetime was walking into my snare, and he had no idea what was coming. Nor would he for a while to come if everything went according to plan.

He was coming closer now, ambling down the stairs with the slowest most constipated walk I've ever seen. I mean, he's weird sure but, not THAT weird. At least, not usually anyway. If I didn't know better I'd say HE was feeling sick the way he was clinging to the railing.

All the better for catching him off his guard. Heh, right where I want ya.

I didn't even bother with the sweet face this time. Vincent is impervious to that trick anyway and would have known instantly that something was amiss. I decided on the meek, unassuming approach, which was probably even worse, but whatever. I was flying by the seat of my pants here and time was not on my side.

"Urg...hey." I shoved my head into his line of vision and gestured weakly for him to come over.

Not surprisingly, Vincent's first inclination was to stop in his tracks and stare at me with the patented Vincent eye - the look that said "I could squish you, vermin, if it didn't cost me so much of my precious time - what do you want?" better than any words could. This was always followed up by the Vinny mind probe.

The word sounded so dirty. There's just no good way of saying it.

Then, when he'd finished draining all the dirty secrets from your brain, he left you with "the glare" so that you felt even more naked. I'm convinced it would have shriveled even the likes of Sephiroth in his shoes quite frankly. I've got the whole thing played out in my head, complete with a 'Sephiroth squealing in horrifying defeat' scene that would've made Luke Skywalker proud. I couldn't help but laugh uproariously every time I imagined it.

I'd be paranoid for days afterward whenever I came near Vincent.

He must have noticed my nervous twitching or something, because all of a sudden he started to move towards me, slowly, mind you. Can't approach someone stricken with motion sickness too quickly you know. We're as unstable as nitroglycerin and prone to bad aim if gotten on the bad side of.

Then he stopped at what was obviously a safe distance away from projectile hurling if things should deteriorate that badly. Just like him - always the suspicious one. So I couldn't blame him really. That didn't mean I wasn't going to take the opportunity to push his buttons when it came.

"Don't get your briefs in a bunch." I grumped with glinting eyes, "I don't have that kinda distance...ugh."

Oh man, the pain! Why now?! I found myself suddenly hunched over my knees in grim anticipation of what was about to come. After much groaning and moaning however, nothing amounted from it, which was kind of disappointing. The problem was evidently stabilized. False alarm.

"Yes?" Vincent's voice grated on my ears, kind of like finger nails on a chock board. He was doing that narrowed eyed look at me now. Damn it, I hate that look. The ol' "Get on with it or I'll kill you" look - not to be confused with the, uh, other one.

Sure, he may never have actually killed anybody, but he acted like he might. That kind of thing can really traumatize a sixteen year old.

Alright, so I didn't really care and was more likely to lay him down with a low blow before he even twitched a muscle. I'm just pointing out that he was clearly over-reacting. Come on! Have some pity on the hurling wonder over here!

"Uh, yeah." I responded uncertainly. I hadn't actually given much thought to this and was suddenly between a rock and a hard place trying to salvage the situation before it was too late. "Well, I was actually kinda hoping Barret would come down, not you, but..."

Good, good. Can't have him thinkin' you were expecting him. Barret would have seemed like the more ideal person for the job of talking Tifa up, but that was just boring. This had potential to be scandalously juicy! Hell, I could be a matchmaker! If I succeeded here there wouldn't be a match I couldn't make happen, right?

This plan was turning out more delicious with every passing minute.

He rolled his eyes at me. The nerve some people have. "Is there something you want or am I wasting my time here?" He drawled.

That is so-o Vincent of you, Vincent. He'd never get away with that around me. Poor bastard didn't have a clue, heh. "Gawd your such a snob, Vince." I whined with added emphasis, "I just thought...well, you know...Tifa's kinda sad and I'm definitely no good at cheerin' her up. S'maybe you could try...?"

That's good, Yuf. Pile him with the guilt trip. Everyone knows Vincent couldn't resist the chance to stack on more sins, as he liked to put it(weirdo). This ought to be right up his alley. Hopefully he wouldn't take offense...

I took a precautionary step closer to the nearby crates, just in case. You can never be too careful when handling Vincent. There was no telling when he would blow up and suddenly decide to shred you to ribbons.

I mean, you never know, right? Ok, so I did know he wouldn't, but I wasn't entirely sure what he would do either. He was too unpredictable. You got to keep an eye on them sorts.

When the rigid statuesque form didn't say anything, I went for the gusto and laid it down thick. "She...she's up on deck, just in case you're interested." A little crack in the voice here and there, and he'd crumble like crackers in the palm of my dirty little hands.

The reaction I got was even more priceless than I could've anticipated. The guy didn't have a very expressive face, so much that you wondered if he had any muscles under that pale skin of his at all, but his eyes spoke volumes. This was the truest example of someone whose been "goosed" I realized, and it was happening to the most least likely of people.

Circumstances unfortunately cut short the gloating period that should have followed such an enormous achievement. I realized all too fast that he was onto me, or at least under the impression that I somehow had full knowledge of something going on between him and Tifa, which was the only plausible explanation for his strange behavior. He was guilty as sin and I didn't even have to try. And to think I'd assumed Tifa would be the one to leak the info!

Sucka!

Vincent was looking like he might become very ill when I decided that perhaps I should check in on his questionable health. "Uh...you ok?" I was actually starting to get a bit concerned right then. "You look kinda disturbed...or somethin'."

Mister expressionless scowled. I hear it takes more muscles to frown than to smile - he must've really had to exert himself to pull that off. He looked really agitated and muttered, "Your analysis is not far off the mark.", but before I could pry anything else out of him, I was mugged by a red cape as he made his escape.

I planted my hands on my hips, making faces at his retreating back, and finished with an incensed huff. He was of course oblivious to the insulting implications going on behind him, which was probably for the best, and all for show besides.

This was what I had intended all along, after all. For a moment I held my breath in horrified uncertainty as he seemed to mull over going outside, or staying in.

No, no! Don't turn around, you fool! Oh, oh, good, yes, that's right! He was coming to a decision and I could tell by the purposeful flick of his fingers that there was no way Vincent Valentine would back out now, especially with witnesses. Turning around would just about scream that he was feeling romantically attached to Tifa, and that wouldn't be acceptable, now would it? Always the ever evasive one was evading himself right into a trap.

Yer all goin' down.

Once the click of the door had rebounded through the engine room to my ears, I was off in a split, and with a shot of tranquilizer. Not to the door of course. I had other means of getting around, especially when stealth was required. There was no room for error now, not with so much at stake.

To the vents!

Just the image of Tifa and Vincent alone together was enough to send my giddiness flying into the ozone. In my rushed excitement I banged my head on the ceiling of the airway and nearly gave myself a concussion. Nothing all that serious, but it got my blood boiling just a bit. The trouble I went through to maintain my reputation.

This was just too delicious to miss though! And I was the only member of the group suave enough to catch onto it. They were all so clue-less. I have to admit I actually kinda wanted to see the look on Cloud's face when he saw them all cozy, but that would have to wait.

I paused. Or maybe not. There'd likely be uncomfortable silences, nervous explanations that didn't really explain anything, and probably fighting. On second thought, I'd want to be as far away as possible when the three of them had it out.

Of course, I was assuming a lot here too. I didn't have any solid proof that Tifa and Vincent were all that cozy as of yet, which brings me back to the present; now was it left or right at the T? Left lead to the bridge I think, and right to the outside.

I clambered down the right shaft and was taken along a sharp turn that seemed to be leading in the wrong direction. Well what do you know? I guess the right airway leads to the bridge after all.

"Damn it." I muttered and started to turn around, but something caught my attention.

A fiery tail twitched absentmindedly at the rear end of a slumbering fire cat, or fire dog, or whatever he was classified as. Possibly the most intelligent in the group, second only to me of course. If anyone else had an inkling as to the scandalous forays of Vincent and Tifa, it would be him. Nanaki was far too well-mannered to actually attempt to do anything with that information.

Which was why he would make a perfect partner in crime. No one in their right mind would suspect Nanaki of foul play. The trick was getting him to pitch in willingly, which wouldn't be easy. He's was too smart for his own good usually.

There wasn't any harm in trying though, right? I mean, even if it spilled the beans that I was up to something, I knew Nanaki wouldn't be about to tattle on me. He was much too mature for that - much too neutral more specifically. He would want nothing to do with it. Therefore I would have to devise a way of changing his mind. Of course, there was always blackmail too, but Nanaki was so squeaky clean it would be difficult to pull off. I mean, what dirty secrets could he possibly have?

Everyone has something or another. It didn't have to be blackmail either. Some smooth talkin' and careful encouragement might just be enough. Come on, live a little, right? He can see the wisdom in that surely? It's boring as hell on this ship anyway.

This was beginning to look like a real plan I realized smugly. Who would've thought the lanky 16 year old could come up with something so brilliant? Well, besides me. I was perfectly aware of my superior intelligence, but the others were either really dense or totally jealous of my superiority. Probably a bit of both.

I scanned the surroundings carefully, confirmed that the coast was clear, and quietly dropped down near where Nanaki was napping. I succeeded in startling him awake without drawing unwanted attention from anyone else in the room. Barret, Cid and Cait Sith were too busy playing what had to be the grimmest card game I'd ever seen to notice anyway. Good grief, talk about taking the fun out of fun. The way their faces were drawn made em' all look like runners up for the 'Vincent look alike' competition.

"Yuffie," Nanaki scowled as he turned in surprise at my unexpected arrival. "What are you doing?"

I glanced shiftily over my shoulders, exaggerating my ninja stance for a more tantalizing effect, and made the ol' bobbing eye brow gesture. I gave Nanaki the silence symbol (finger to the lips, followed by the cut throat threat) and made show of having something incredibly important to talk about with an urgent wave for him to come over.

Nanaki's tail flicked back and forth behind him as he artfully lifted one fuzzy brow higher than the other. "What for?" He asked.

I put on a look of impatience. "Just get over here you big kitten!"

That got his attention, although not perhaps the way I had intended. He made a low growl in the back of his throat, his eyes narrowing dangerously, indicating that perhaps I should rephrase that - probably a good idea under the circumstances.

"Alright, alright!" I huffed. "I'm sorry, but you gotta help me out."

The fire cat's shoulders heaved in a sigh and he reluctantly approached, taking a seat beside me. "Fine." He yawned. "Though I can't imagine what you would require my help for that I would willingly give."

"Taking shots, are we?" I retorted accusingly. "Come on, you haven't even heard what I've got to say yet!"

"Yes," Nanaki murmured, "all good things must come to an end though I suppose."

I rolled my eyes. "Gosh, you can be such a party pooper." I cleared my throat, "Now, let's get down to business." I made one more sweep of the area, confirmed that our conversation was still private, and leaned in closer, "You saw Tifa an' Vinny go out, right?"

Nanaki's interest seemed to perk up at that. He made a sound that was presumably in agreement with what I'd said and nodded for me to go on.

"Well," I began importantly, "I don't know about you, but I think somethin's goin' on between em', eh? Somethin' they're keeping secret for obvious reasons."

Nanaki frowned noticeably. "What are you insinuating?"

I grinned devilishly. "That is the question, isn't it?"

Now he looked a bit worried. "I don't like where this is going, Yuffie." He stated grimly and began to back away. "Perhaps you should-"

"Spare me!" I blurted out impatiently before he could go any further. The trick was not giving him enough time to really think. If he had time to think, the whole thing would just fall apart by the seems. "Now," I hunkered down next to him and slung an arm over his back, in case he had thoughts of escape. "Here's the plan."

Nanaki began fidgeting rather roughly at my close proximity, and when I wouldn't give him any space, he got down right angry, "What's the meaning of this?" He demanded.

I let him go and pressed a finger to my lips urgently, throwing him the warning glare. "Keep it down, would ya? We don't want the whole place knowin' what's going down. That'll ruin it!"

"Yuffie-" I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was preparing a lecture, and that was obviously not going to work with my deviating. It was time to play the big cards.

"Don't you start tellin' me off." I told him firmly, shaking a patronizing finger at him. "You may be fifty in human years, but I heard the old man say that you were really just a teenager in your own years. That makes us equals, fuzz ball." Which I still can't really grasp all that well, but I knew youthful mischief when I saw it, and the potential was definitely there.

Nanaki made a huffing sound, indicating that I was clearly out of my mind to insinuate something so ludicrous. He had the wise-man genes for sure, but he was too young to effectively use them just yet. The hesitation was obvious and he knew it.

You're so-o going down. "See?" I pointed at him. "You're not even denying it."

He rolled his eyes and yawned a big cat yawn, but it was feigned boredom. There was a definite twinkling of interest beneath those thick orange eyebrows. "There's nothing to deny." He said calmly and stretched out his front paws. "But do go on if you must. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to hear what you have to say."

"I knew it!" I exclaimed ecstatically and was almost too caught up in my quiet victory to notice a sly pair of eyes sneaking my way. I twisted my head around sharply and caught Barret's glance, "What are you lookin' at, eh?" I barked defensively.

The big guy held up his free hand in surrender (the other was full of cards) and slowly turned his head back to the game, as if wanting nothing to do with whatever mischief I was up to. All the more better for me.

I frowned slightly and averted my attention to Nanaki once more. "Ok. Now, where was I?"

"The plan that somehow involves Vincent and Tifa." Nanaki provided leisurely. "And quite possibly you're impending doom if we are to judge by the facts thus far."

"Oh. Right. The plan." I recalled absentmindedly, and disregarded the rest. "I don't have much time, but here's the scoop; Tifa an' Vinny are gettin' all up close out on the deck we think, but we don't know for sure, right? Our job is to find out just what's goin' on between em', and if it's somethin', then we gotta get our elbows in there and start nudgen' them along, got it?"

Nanaki's toothy smirk looked more menacing than amused, though I supposed he intended the latter. "This is your brilliant idea?" He asked, dubious.

"Well duh." I exasperated. "It's pure genius!"

He sighed warily, "And how does this involve me?"

I stroked my chin thoughtfully for a moment, and my smile grew wide with cunning. "No plan is complete without a partner in crime."

"It didn't stop you before when you stole our materia." Nanaki pointed out idly.

I shot him a dirty look. "Shaddup. That was then, this is now."

"Perhaps you're hoping for someone else to lay the blame on when Vincent discovers that you've been scheming behind his back?" Nanaki proposed.

"Well," I cleared my throat uncertainly, "it won't hurt to have a partner to fall back on, but your missing the point. Think about it!" I urged, "you've got the advantage! They'd never suspect it coming from you."

"Suspect what?" He inquired suspiciously.

"That you're prying into their personal lives and secretly guiding them into each other's laps." I clarified with excitement. "I'm tellin' ya, it's beautiful. We succeed here and there ain't no one we can't hitch up! We'll have our own business going!"

Nanaki's eyes narrowed again, "A matchmaking business?"

"Yeah!" I gave the air a triumphant fist pump. "We're gonna be filthy rich!"

The fire cat shook his shaggy head at that and slumped onto the floor with a groan. "This can only end in tears." He said and cast me a disciplining look, "Many have tried, and all have failed. It ever does more ill than good to uninvitedly interfere in the personal lives of others."

I crossed my arms defiantly and scoffed, "Well, that's even better then. Not only will we succeed, but we'll be the first ones ever to do it. They'll be licking our feet just to get a whiff of our genius." I shrugged nonchalantly, "And besides, we're intelligent people. Nothings going to go that badly, even if we fail. Where's your sense of challenge, eh?"

"It's resting right along side my courage and bravery until the time comes for us to face the real challenge ahead of us, not some foolish child's play." He replied steadily.

I ground my teeth together for a moment in aggravation and stomped a heel into the floor. "Gawd, do you have to be so depressing?" I grumbled and raked my fingers through my hair. "I'm doing the civic duty of keeping us all from going nuts, and all you can think about is the big show down that we're not even having yet! Woopee!" I tossed my hands into the air, fuming and added as a final note, "Ya could try livin' a little, you know? If we're goin' down in hot oil, we might as well make the best of the here and now."

With that I pivoted sharply on my heel and stormed out of the bridge all up in a tizzy. By then I'm fairly certain everyone was aware of my temper tantrum and had heard every word of my blow out, but I can't say I cared much. In fact, I hope they had heard it, the stinkin' moping losers. No wonder everyone was going mental - they need to check the mirror now and then and see what's lookin' back at em'.

The door shut with a resonating slam that could be heard even over the low rumbling engines of the Highwind. My footsteps were exaggerated down the metal grating steps, clanging obnoxiously loud, and I jerked an arm here and there, punching out invisible enemies for my own satisfaction.

Have it your way! They just can't stand it unless everyone's under the weather, can they? To hell with Cloud! I certainly don't need him! Bunch of no-good pansy asses the whole lot of em'. They never would've made it through ninja school, that's for darn sure.

Never mind that I technically never did either, haha. I had things to do and places to be. They were all my bitches anyway. Of course, I can say that now that my instructor isn't sticking his oblong nose over my shoulder like a friggin' vulture, the snooty bastard.

The creek of the door broke my concentration and I whirled around swinging. I was well out of range obviously, but it felt good to let off some steam into the air. A punching bag would've been even better.

"You." I stated bluntly and stopped as I focused on the four legged beast who had suffered my company earlier, just to tell me to stick my plans in my ear. Jerk. "Whaddaya want?"

Nanaki trotted down the steps with ease and came to a halt, sitting down on his haunches beside me. "I want to apologize, Yuffie." He said.

I blinked and started to the side, staring at him in bewilderment. "Really?" My jaw fell open in awed amazement. "Ya mean, your actually gonna say sorry to me?" My eyes narrowed skeptically, "You're not pullin' a fast one, are ya?"

He cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably, judging by the way his eyes were avoiding mine as they drifted along the floor. "I am sorry, really." He concurred at last with a curt nod of his head. He looked up at me steadily then, unblinking and sincere. "Perhaps you're right. Maybe we should be living a little more while we still have time. The Heavan's know, this gloom that's going around will drive us all mad before we even reach the final battle if we don't do something about it, and that defeats the purpose of what we all set out to do in the first place."

"Uh, yeah. Right. Exactly." I nodded, not completely following, but then I wasn't completely listening either. I was still caught up with the whole idea of someone caring a pickle about me. Not only that, but actually apologizing to me! That was simply unheard of. No one apologized to the thieving brat. They all still held it against me what I did back in Wutai.

I probably should have said sorry.

"Does that mean you're gonna chip in?" I asked hopefully.

Nanaki grunted his disapproval, but nodded a reluctant 'yes', followed by a low muttering of, "Though I can't imagine how you've managed to talk me into this."

"Excellent!" I said and smiled with anticipation.

And then the door leading to the deck opened, and Nanaki and I were, as the saying goes, caught with our pants down. Nanaki didn't even wear pants, the lucky bastard.

Damn.

Author's Notes: So, what do you think? Worthy of continuation? This is the first thing I've written in a long time. It may not be an update per say, but it is something. I was in the mood for this, and the creative juices were flowing, so I couldn't very well say no. I hope it was worth the time it took to read, if you made it to the end.

Take care,

Faerlyte