Overboard

"It's so late," Tifa said, stretching her arms over her head with a yawn. She eyed the last sip of her drink for a moment and downed it in one long swallow. Tifa, Vincent, and Yuffie were the only ones still awake in Seventh Heaven- everyone else had retired much, much earlier after spending the night drinking, playing poker, and telling hilarious stories about one another. "I think I'm gonna go crash. Night, guys."

"Night, Boobs," Yuffie called as Tifa ventured up the stairs. Vincent just inclined his head and waved at her although her back was turned. Yuffie sighed and looked down into her empty glass. "Vincent, I'm sad." Vincent's eyes shot over to her, but he said nothing and instead took a sip of his red wine. "No, really. I'm really sad, okay?" She folded her arms on the table and rested her forehead on them. There was a beat of silence, only broken by the sound of Vincent's glass being placed carefully on the table. Yuffie groaned and sat up. "Aren't you even going to ask me what's wrong, Vince? That's the polite thing to do!"

"I wasn't planning on it," Vincent answered in a curt but somehow polite tone.

Yuffie took a deep breath before answering, "Well, I'll tell you anyway. Drinking makes me sad sometimes. It makes me think too much." She propped her chin up in her palms and tilted her head at Vincent. "It makes me think about Wutai, and about how happy Tifa and Cloud and even CidandShera are, and it makes me feel lonely."

Vincent looked at Yuffie long and hard, eyes not moving from her face. She squirmed, obviously uncomfortable, but Vincent paid no attention. "Lonely, huh?"

"Exactly! And I know you're thinking, 'Yuffie, how can you be lonely? You're so amazing and perfect and everyone admires you that it's impossible for you to feel lonely!'-"

'Not quite,' Vincent added mentally.

"- but I am," Yuffie finished lamely, shoulders sagging. "I mean, I have friends. I have a lot of friends, actually, but I still feel like there's something missing."

Vincent frowned and dropped his gaze to the table. He could...somewhat relate, at least. He felt the same emptiness when he thought of being a Turk, especially when Lucrecia crossed his mind. Or at least, who he remembered Lucrecia to be. He chose not to visit those memories often.

Yuffie threw a bottle cap (must have been Cid's, as he was the only one to drink beer the entire night) at Vincent and shook him out of his reverie. "Are you listening to me, Vince?" He inclined his head and drank more wine. "Oh, so do you get what I'm saying then?" Another nod.

Without warning, Yuffie sat herself down in Vincent's lap and pressed her lips against him. His lips were warm against Yuffie's, which almost made her recoil in shock. He stiffened against her for a brief moment, but she didn't stop. Yuffie pushed herself harder against him and forced him to kiss her back. Vincent put his hand against her hip and gently pushed her away from him. Yuffie stared at him with watery eyes, desperation written across her face. Vincent had to look away.

"Yuffie-"

"Vince, this isn't the time to lecture me. I need-"

"No, Yuffie," Vincent said firmly. Yuffie pulled away and folded her arms around her stomach, but made no move to get out of his lap and he didn't force her. She looked so young and so completely lost that Vincent felt himself physically cringe. Despite the better half of his mind telling him not to, he reached out and brushed her hair off of her flushed and slightly sweaty face. Yuffie swatted his hand away and slumped over onto his shoulder, crying in earnest. Vincent's eyes widened in shock at the sudden change and his hands fumbled before settling around her thin torso. "You've had too much to drink, Yuffie. You should get some sleep."

Yuffie pounded her tiny little fist a few times, but the touch was so light it barely registered. "I don't want to sleep," she whimpered quietly into his neck. "It's nice right here, feels safe." Vincent shook his head and stood up with her cradled in his arms. Yuffie wrapped her thin arms around his neck and burrowed her face deeper in the fabric of his cloak. Vincent carried her to the sofa she usually overtook and laid her down. He stood to throw the blanket Tifa had set out over her, but Yuffie's thin arm shot out and grabbed his wrist. "Don't go, Vince." Vincent frowned.

"I was only reaching for the blanket," he said, shaking himself free and holding the blanket up with the other hand. Yuffie murmured something and shifted a throw pillow to fit more comfortably under her head. Vincent shook the blanket over top of her and made sure it completely covered her socked feet. Yuffie hummed and balled her fists up in the blanket and tucked them under her chin.

"Stay and talk to me, Vince." Vincent sat on the floor by her head and rested his back against the sofa. Yuffie reached out and just barely brushed her fingertips against his shoulder. "Thanks, I hate sleeping alone," she murmured. "Do you ever sleep?"

Vincent actually smiled a little at the question. "Not much anymore. I've done enough of that for a lifetime."

"That sucks. Sleeping is the best. Night, Vinny."

"Good night, Yuffie."

Cloud and Tifa walked down the stairs the next morning and found Vincent in the same place by the couch, with Yuffie's head cocked at an awkward angle so it was resting on Vincent's shoulder. Vincent waved at them while Tifa chuckled under her breath and poked Cloud in the ribs. "Ow, what?" He asked, confused.

"Your phone, retard!" Tifa snapped in a low voice. Cloud stared at her a moment before the sentence registered. He started patting at the pockets of his sleep pants until he found the item in question and handed it to Tifa. "Hold on, Vincent, don't move yet!" She snapped three pictures (the third being the best, capturing both Vincent's scowl and Yuffie's drool on his shoulder). "Okay, sending...done!" Both Yuffie and Vincent's phones let out solemn beeps and Tifa crowed with laughter.

"Would you guys be quiet?" Yuffie cried, sitting up and holding her head. "My head hurts," she finished with a whine. Tifa chuckled behind her fist and managed to turn it into a fake cough when the hungover ninja glared at her. "This isn't funny!"

Tifa put her hands up in a mock-defensive manner. "Sorry, Yuffie! Come on, Cloud. We need to clean this place up." Cloud nodded to Vincent and followed Tifa into the bar area. "What the hell?" Tifa's voice sounded suddenly. "There's mud everywhere. I'm going to kill Cid and Barret..."

Yuffie groaned again and nuzzled her face into Vincent's shoulder before sitting up. "Why was I sleeping on your shoulder, Vince? It's like sleeping on concrete! My neck hurts now, too. Ugh." She rolled her head a few times and pushed her limbs out into an overdramatic stretch. Vincent watched her, and hesitantly spoke.

"Yuffie, we need to talk about what you said last night."

She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Vincent stared at her. "I'm too old for you."

Yuffie paused for a second and laughed. "What are you talking about? The last thing I remember is Cid winning all of my materia and calling him a cocksucker and Barret getting mad because Marlene was there. He says worse things than I do, though, that hypocrite! I think they're all working together against me..."

"So," Vincent began, effectively cutting her off mid-sentence. "You don't remember anything after that?"

Yuffie thought for a moment and shook her head. "Nope! Why are you so skeeved out? What did I say?"

Vincent felt a great weight lift off his shoulders. The last thing he needed was to be the object of Yuffie's misguided affections. "You didn't say anything," Vincent replied, standing to join Tifa and Cloud in their cleaning efforts. Yuffie yelled after him, but Vincent just huffed out a laugh. Yuffie could do a lot worse than threaten his life.