Upon entering the bar the first voice they were greeted with was Cid's teasingly saying, "Well now where have you two been? I thought we would have to send Reno and Rude out to look for you. Come on over here and sit down, there is plenty of food to go around."
As Larissa settles next to the vacant seat next to Vincent, Cloud sits between Nanaki and Tifa at the large U-shaped booth for dinner. Denzel, Marlene, Barrett, Cid, and Yuffie immediately scarf down their food while Reeves, Cait Sith, Shelke, Vincent, Nanaki, Cloud, Tifa, and Larissa ate their meal slowly.
This was the first time Larissa ever sat with the whole group in a friendly setting, she enjoyed it very much. Seeing Barrett and Cid drink themselves senseless was enough entertainment that lasted throughout most of the night.
By 9'oclock Denzel and Marlene fell asleep in Tifa's arms, lost in deep thoughts of their dreams.
"I better take these two off to bed; will you guys clean up for me?"
"Sure thing Tifa, we would be glad to," volunteers Reeves. Everyone began to rise from their seats except Barrett and Cid because of their alcohol contest. It appears that it has turned them into horrible smelling thugs who could not rise even if they wanted to.
"I will take care of them," says Nanaki. "There is this game I want to try out and these two are the perfect players for it." A sly smirk emerged from Nanaki's lips as he hauled off Barrett and Cid upstairs on his back one at a time.
Meanwhile, Cloud slips out the back door of the kitchen and walks to the church to sleep for the night. Yuffie runs out the front door to her materia shop to guard it from burglars and Shelke with Reeves goes upstairs to their own rooms for rest.
Nanaki and Cait Sith are outside watching out for suspicious people, so the only ones left are Larissa and Vincent. Vincent motions for Larissa to follow him upstairs where they will be staying and Larissa quickly obeys. With his normal black gloved hand, Vincent gently opens up the door to their room and turns on a light for them to see.
As Larissa enters the room he closes the door quietly behind her.
Still staring at her Vincent asks, "Why did you accept my offer? I mean you hardly know me and the way I am dressed… I just thought you would shrink away from me or have second thoughts."
It was Larissa's turn to stare at Vincent, but with a calm expression of reasoning.
"The reason why I did not hesitate to your offer was because I sensed your spirit to be good and that you would not harm me. Ever since I was 5 years old I developed a power to read, talk, and listen to people telepathically. I can also sense people's emotions to a certain degree. But even if I did not have all of these abilities I would have still accepted you, for you were the only one who asked me nicely to stay with them."
A kind smile enveloped Vincent into warmth of comfort as he listened to Larissa, but many questions began to race through his mind.
"How can you walk around such a large city as Midgar and not break down? Does anyone else know about your power and can anyone else learn it from you? What is it like to hear and sense other people?"
More questions were about to erupt, but Vincent decided to hold back, feeling a little embarrassed by his sudden eagerness to know everything about her.
Laughing lightly Larissa replies, "It used to break me down many times, but not anymore. I have trained myself to listen to the people I want to hear and believe me that task was not easy. Besides some of the people in Gaia that I lived with are the only other person who knows about this. I hope you will keep it a secret from the others for now. I do not want to scare them and as for the sensing and hearing part I would say it is entertaining, yet tragic in some ways. Other people can learn the same ability, but it will take some time before it is completely mastered. Would you like to learn it Vincent? I am sure you will catch on rather quickly."
Excitement flooded Vincent's blood stained eyes as he willingly agrees to learn this new ability and to keep it a secret from the others.
"One other thing I have to ask Larissa, since you said you can read people's thoughts can you give me a prime example of what you have discovered?"
"Sure Vincent. The most recent one I have discovered since my second day of being here consciously is that Tifa is deeply in love with Cloud. She did not like it when he volunteered to give me a tour of Midgar by himself. I sensed the anger and jealously right from the start before Cloud mentioned the tour. By your surprised expression I seem to have found something, am I right?"
Vincent's jaw fell half way open at Larissa's discovery about Tifa's emotions towards Cloud. Everyone in the group knew about it because she told them, but for an outsider to find out so quickly was extraordinary.
"Yes you are correct Larissa and I have to say that I am deeply amazed. I cannot what to start."
"We can start tomorrow whenever you have time, but for now I suggest we rest. You are going to need most of you strength for this task. Goodnight Vincent."
Nodding his head in agreement Vincent rolls down his bed sheets for the first time in months and climbs in. Lying on his side facing Larissa's bed he sees that she is already surrendering to sleep as she closes her eyes.
"Goodnight Larissa," whispers Vincent as he turns out the light to go to bed.
