Author's Note:

Yeah, I'm back from France. Yeah, yeah, I know. I should be working on Over Time or at least All At Once. But I'm not. Don't ask me why. I'm working on a new chapter for Over Time, but it's going slowly. Look forward to extreme happenings.

Picture Perfect

"Sit yer ass down an' smile!"

Vincent looked up from his book and shot Cid a perplexed look. Or as perplexed a look as Vincent was willing to make with his normally stoic face.

Cid had come bursting into the hotel room and shouted his demand before the door even had time to swing closed. Vincent had been standing by the window and reading for several hours prior to this interruption, so Cid's sudden entrance and outburst was disturbing, to say the least.

Vincent glared over his book at Cid for several moments, trying to convey the fact that he did not appreciate being so rudely yanked from his peaceful reading. Not even closing the book was a nice touch.

It was a wasted effort. Cid either ignored the look or he simply failed to notice it. So he plowed over Vincent's last line of defense.

"Get yer ass over here, Vinny!" Cid pointed at a chair for emphasis, his blue eyes fierce and determined.

Vincent sighed and closed his book, deciding that it was pointless to argue. "If I ask you why, Highwind, will you tell me with the minimal amount of fuss?"

Cid stomped over to Vincent, grabbed his hand, and dragged him across the room. "Yer the one who's fussin', Vin." Cid tossed Vincent onto the chair, further irking the other man. When Vincent attempted to open his book again, Cid grabbed it and threw it over his shoulder onto one of the beds.

"I was reading that," Vincent said pointedly. He shifted in the chair, but did not try to stand back up; Cid was in the perfect position to shove him back down again.

"Well, yer not fuckin' readin' it now," Cid growled. Vincent rolled his eyes and settled his hands in his lap.

After a moment of sitting but not doing anything else, Vincent started to become suspicious. Cid had his back to him and was fiddling with something hidden from Vincent's view.

"Highwind, Vincent finally said with a hint of warning. He was getting fed up. "What are you doing?"

"Smile, Vin!"

"?!"

There was a flash that left Vincent blinking in surprise.

Cid looked at the photograph and frowned. "Yeh didn't smile."

Vincent made a noise similar to that of a teapot full of boiling water.

Unimpressed, Cid held up the camera again. "Gimme a smile, Vin!" Vincent just glared reprovingly.

For an hour they argued. Cid took several more shots, all of which were as bad as (or worse than) the first one. The camera ended up getting tossed across the room at one point, and when Cid retrieved it, he "accidentally" pushed over the chair that Vincent was sitting in.

Finally, it dawned on Vincent how absolutely ridiculous the whole situation was. He was lying on the ground – still on the chair- and Cid was roaring… things… at the top of his lungs. Undoubtedly, they had already woken not only everyone in the hotel, but everyone in the city as well. And it wasn't even over anything important.

Vincent burst out laughing. Well, anyone else would have considered it an amused chuckle, or perhaps a giggle. But people who knew Vincent would know that this was as close to hysterics as the man was ever likely to get.

Cid grinned and took the picture.

Even years later, Vincent always protested the photograph's presence every time he walked past it. But nothing short of the apocalypse could cause Cid to take it out of the hall in their home in Rocket Town.

Aaaaawww, how cute. With an ending as sappy as sap itself! Eeeewww, now my hands are all sticky and sugary.

Cid: There's so much fuckin' wrong with that analogy, I'm not even gonna talk about 'em.

Chibi Koun: Yeah, sure, whatever. I actually think the ending is a bit rushed, but I don't know if I actually care enough about this particular idiocy to fix it. So it stays.

Vincent: I do NOT giggle.

Chibi Koun: That's what they all say. (The sound of a whiplash is heard) AARGH! OH NO! They found me! Quick! Pretend I was working on Over Time for this whole thing, okay?!