Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus and all associated materials are property of Squaresoft.

Clear Skies
By: Nanaki BH

A boring day, a boring place; no particular activity. Reeve couldn't stand it. When there was silence all around (save the constant hum of The Shera's engine) he found it difficult to escape his own thoughts. That day was finding him with some pretty troublesome thoughts, at that. The only room with some relative peace was the lounge room; the one with the ceiling that changed to the weather. Unfortunately, that room was also being occupied by the one person he wanted to see the least – Vincent. It wasn't Reeve's fault. He was there first. He would have left but he feared it would make Vincent think he was leaving because of him.

He would have been, actually, but that was besides the point when he was feeling so nervous. In his situation, he was starting to think he shouldn't be around Vincent anymore. The more time he spent with him, the more his interest in him grew. It wasn't romantic necessarily, though a part of him, the desperate part of him that said it was time to settle down, hoped he was interested.

So, sitting there, still unsure of what he should do about his rapidly beating heart, he put Cait Sith in his lap and pretended to rewire him. It was easy to pull out the loose stay stitch in his back to reveal his electronic insides and it was certainly easy to unplug some things, clean out some dust and faux fur, and plug things back in.

Vincent wasn't paying any attention to him, though. He seemed to be taking no interest in what he was doing at all. He sat across from him in the room on the far side from the door, his head lowered. All of his attention was drawn to the gun he held in his hands. As Reeve watched him, he realized something similar happening; he was only pretending to mess around with his weapon…! Or maybe he was just bored. Other people, Reeve figured, didn't necessarily have the same issues he had.

Without looking up, sliding a couple shells into his gun, Vincent broke their silence. "Why're you so quiet?" he asked, startling Reeve into dropping his stuffed cat.

"Shoot! Look what happened to you," he moaned sympathetically, picking Cait Sith up. A couple stray wires hung out of his back and some components lay scattered on the ground. He got down onto his hands and knees and began picking up the pieces one at a time, blowing the dust from them. He hadn't been actually fixing him before but it was looking like he was really going to have to. He had only just recently worked so hard on fixing him up after a mission, too. At least nothing looked too terribly damaged.

"Sorry about your toy. Did you plan on answering?" Vincent asked, leaning forward in his seat. Reeve had accidentally dodged answering his question. He hadn't meant to irritate him. He'd only intended to keep things distant. Now that he had all of Vincent's attention on him, it was looking like there would be no escape.

He set Cait Sith down gently along with all of his parts in the seat next to him and then folded his hands neatly in his lap. "I'm… sorry. You know how I am about my little friend here. I've just been feeling sort of strange today so I ask that you excuse me if I've seemed at all rude." He glanced up cautiously. Vincent looked a little skeptical but he wasn't questioning what he'd said. He went back to messing around with his gun and Reeve resumed watching him secretly, looking from his broken robot to Vincent for a split second and then back again. What more did he expect from him?

Sorry my life is so boring, Reeve thought bitterly, biting down on his lower lip. I'm even sorrier I got myself interested in you. I wish I weren't but…He looked back up at him, praying that Vincent wouldn't notice. I can't help it.

His feet were suddenly looking ten times more interesting as he stared down at the floor. Reeve wished everything could just go the way he wanted it to. He wanted Vincent to notice him but since he was so afraid of rejection, he tried his best to keep the two of them distant. It made him feel horrible; not only because his heart broke every time he saw his face, but because Vincent was his closest partner. He was trying to shun the only person who really cared for him as it was. Then… what was there to say that he would reject him? For all Reeve knew, he had a real, fighting chance with him.

"Well, I'm getting out of here," Vincent said, standing. He crossed the room to the door and, inside his heart, Reeve felt him leave again. Vincent came and left his life as he pleased and he could do nothing about it. He felt only like a spectator; destined to sit and watch and not have the power to do anything about the man he was in love with.

Was that it? He was in love with him?

Vincent slowly neared the door and it opened automatically for him. "No!" Reeve said desperately. "Wait." When Vincent looked back, gaze as skeptical as ever, Reeve was instantly embarrassed by his outburst. He rose and walked over to Vincent, abandoning Cait Sith in the chair that was beside him. Nervously, he glanced up at him, clasping his hands together behind his back. He could already sense what Vincent would say. Right when he opened his mouth to speak, Reeve lifted a hand to hush him.

"I… um… I just wanted to know if you would be interested in sharing dinner with me tonight."

The gunman leaned on the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest, a wide smirk appearing across his lips. Reeve wasn't sure if it should've made him feel relieved or intimidated, though, he was certainly feeling more of the latter from the beginning anyway. "So," Vincent said, purring the word in such a way that made Reeve almost feel teased. "Is this like a date or something? Do I need to wear a tux?"

"Uh, no. No suit. Just you – I mean –" He had to shut himself up quickly before he would accidentally say anything else more embarrassing. "I know that we're going to be landing in Midgar late tonight, so, I know a lot of nice places that are still around. You don't have to come if you don't want to. I won't make you."

"I'll go," he said simply, not even contesting it. "I'll appreciate the company. It'll be a nice change for once."

Reeve couldn't believe his ears. It felt so impossible and so unreal but for once – something had gone the way he planned. He only had to hope that he wouldn't end up with trouble later. That chance he had been given… it could've been his only chance and he didn't want to lose it so soon.

Vincent reach forward and gently cupped Reeve's cheek in his hand, rubbing a thumb over the hair on his chin. For a moment, Reeve could have sworn the world stopped turning, his heart stopped beating, and everything stood still just for the two of them. When Vincent finally leaned in, it felt like forever until their lips met. It was so gentle and sweet; completely unexpected of the man who put up such a cold, tough front. His lips were soft and warm and seemed so far from the commanding person Reeve believed him to be. Reeve would have deepened the kiss had Vincent not pulled away. He left him a little dazed but completely satisfied. With a wink and a smile, Vincent left, the door closing itself behind him.

The fog cleared from Reeve's hazy mind and he was left standing alone.

"I can't believe I forgot to tell him what time."

Author's Notes: I'm actually very happy with that one. It turned out exactly how I pictured it and both of them remained relatively in character. I haven't written out plotlines in a long time. Recently, I haven't liked the stories I've done so I wrote one out for this story. I'll attribute its consistency to that, I guess.