The Mysterious Moogle
Four: It's Party Time!
A pounding noise startled Yuffie out of her dreamless sleep. She bolted upright in her bed suddenly, but then fell backwards against the soft mattress again, clutching her hand to her forehead. "That was way too fast…" she mumbled. "Still not…awake yet…urgh."
Knock-Knock.
"Dammit." Yuffie rolled her eyes, thinking that whoever the hell was at her door was an incredibly impatient person. She slowly pulled her blankets away from their warm, comforting embrace so she could swing her legs over the side of the bed.
KNOCK-KNOCK!
"Okay, okay!" She hopped off of her bed, darted out of her bedroom, ran past the kitchen, and finally reached the door. She pulled it wide open in complete annoyance. "Who the hell is about to break my frickin' door off its hing-"
Her sudden gasp cut the rest of her sentence off. "What are you doing here, Turkeyface? You just walked me here not too long ago. I'm perfectly fine, but thanks for checking up on me," she tried to hide the blush that was slowly creeping onto her face.
Why is he here again…? Oh well.
"Buh-bye!" She made a move to close the door on his face so she make her way back to her bedroom, but Reno's quick hand movement stopped that from even happening.
He pushed the door back open with a huge smirk on his face. "Uh, princess? I walked you to your apartment yesterday."
Yuffie blinked, dumbfounded. "Wha…?"
"I." Reno pounded his chest proudly. "Walked." He made a walking gesture with two of his fingers. "You," he nodded at her pointedly. "Here." He tapped both of his feet on the ground a few times to exaggerate his point. "Yesterday!"
Yuffie's jaw dropped. It wasn't just the fact that what he was saying was true. No. It was the also the fact that Reno had added spirit fingers and an annoyingly fake-cheery expression on his face after he had finished speaking.
Gawd.
But Yuffie still felt really stupid about the situation. "Turkey, I am not completely incompetent," she blurted out without thinking.
Reno smirked again. "So, you admit you are incompetent? Even if it's only somewhat?" He laughed at the ninja's expense. "I should be the first person that sees you every morning, princess. This must be when you show your idiot side more than usual." He crossed his arms proudly. "I like it."
Yuffie blushed crimson. "Hey, either tell me why the hell you're back at my apartment without my invitation, or get the hell out! I'm still tired and I wouldn't mind getting a few more hours of sleep." She crossed her arms over her chest so she could look a little bit tougher to back up her demand.
It didn't seem like it had any effect on the Turk.
Reno shook his head slowly. "Yuffie, Yuffie, Yuffie." It was like he was talking down to a little toddler. It annoyed the hell out of her, and it took all of her willpower not to pounce the Turk then and there, ripping out all of his bright red hair in the process. His sleek…sexy hair! Wha…?---Yuffie, don't even go there! THAT'S RENO YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT!
"What!?" she shot back, getting more annoyed by the second. Though, she was more annoyed with the direction her thoughts were taking than with Reno, but the Turk didn't have to know that last little tidbit.
"I'm only here because Teef asked me to make sure you weren't late for the kid's birthday party." He shrugged, deciding to lean against the side of the door pane. The way he looked so natural, so comfortable in that position in her apartment made Yuffie feel a bit skittish. She wanted him out. ASAP.
"Teef figured you'd oversleep or something," he continued without noticing her steadily increasing anxiety level. He shrugged again. "Guess she was right, huh."
Yuffie blinked confusedly. "Wait…what time is it? It can't be after eleven already! That would mean I slept for…" She started to tick off the number of hours with her fingers. "A really long time…!?" she exclaimed in shock.
"Damn, what did you do? Go to sleep right after I dropped you off?" He asked, genuinely surprised.
Yuffie wrapped her arms around herself even tighter. She was very aware that she was less clothing than usual…and she barely wore any clothes to begin with, so that's saying something. "Yeah, ninja's need their rest! What's wrong with that!?"
"Usually when I take a girl out on a date, she and I have to actually do something for said girl to get that tired." He paused for a moment. "That's not saying that crappy pasta place we went to was a date. I already told you I was just hungry…and I know you were too, so it was just a…a…"
Yuffie sighed dramatically. "Just stop there, Turkeybrain. Pluck you're fat head out of the gutters, would ya?" She suddenly glanced at something behind him. "And could you please mind shutting my door? If you're gonna stay here and bug me till I leave for Teef's, then you might as well make yourself useful." She pointed at the door across the hallway. "My neighbor over there is a huge creeper. If he sees an opportunity like this with my door wide open, he might actually try something!" she finished with a shaky laugh. She hoped he didn't notice the hint of paranoia in her tone. Both at Reno still being in her apartment, and the stalker neighbor she had across the hallway.
Shivers went down her spine at the thought of the two men. Nyuk. Ninja's don't get panicky. They take charge! So TAKE CHARGE! Nyuk nyuk…
Reno glanced behind him for a brief second before complying to her request. "Yeah, whatever. Teef asked me to make sure you got there on time, so I'll just walk back there with you."
She sighed again. "Fine, but you'll have to wait for a bit. I really need to take a shower." She started walking back in the direction of her room. "I don't give a crap what you do…make yourself at home, I guess." She shrugged as she disappeared from view.
Out of Yuffie's hearing range, the Turk muttered, "Home? Hmm…"
^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^
Yuffie hurriedly put on her shorts before bending over to pull her boots on as well. She kicked one leg onto the bed at a time so she wouldn't have to try too hard to lace it all up. As she was finishing up the last boot, she heard a loud whistle from behind her.
"Nice view."
She whipped around to face Reno with the meanest glare she could muster. "Get the hell out of here! Who said you could come into my room!?"
Reno leaned against the door frame again, tapping his chin with his index finger in thought. "Well, you did say to make myself at home."
Yuffie groaned. "I didn't mean it like that, you idiot." She sighed. "I guess I'm just lucky you didn't drift into my room five minutes ago."
Reno's jaw dropped. "You mean I missed somethin' good!? Damn!" He exclaimed in a fake-exasperated voice.
Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Let's just go, asshole. We wouldn't wanna make Teef worry or anything. That would be really bad. Especially on Marlene's birthday!"
Reno nodded with a trace of his earlier smirk still on his face. "Fine by me."
^O^…^0^…^O^…^0^
"Happy birthday, Marlene!" the ninja shouted as the young girl beamed at the last two people to show up at her party.
"Yuffie!!" Marlene ran towards them, crushing Yuffie with one of her unbelievably forceful hugs. It honestly knocked the wind out of the poor ninja. And she almost dropped Moggy! That would have been really bad.
Hope Teef's not too mad we were late…
Luckily, Tifa currently had all of her attention directed on getting the cake onto the serving tables. She didn't notice them arrive so late. Turning around while she wiped her hands on her apron, Tifa smirked at Yuffie and Reno. "Glad you two decided to finally show up."
Geez, nothing gets past her. She's like a superhero or something!
"Kid, even I got here on time!" Cid hollered from on of the many tables that were set out for the party. He had his arms wrapped around Shera and was smirking at the ninja.
"Yeah, that's because I don't have someone awesome like Shera to help me get dressed in the morning," Yuffie shot back. "No offense, Shera," she quickly added as she noticed Cid's face getting redder and redder.
Shera waved Yuffie off with a small laugh. "None taken, sweetheart. I know exactly what you mean."
Cid looked as his wife with an appalled look on his face. "What the hell!?"
"Language, Cid! Marlene and Denzel are here, remember!?" Shera chided, giving Cid a scalding glare. Cid winced slightly under her scrutiny before firing back another heated comment to his wife again.
Yuffie rolled her eyes as she watched the bickering pair get into another verbal spar. "Same old, same old there. Hmm, where's Reevey-boy!?"
Marlene, still holding onto Yuffie's arm in her vice-like grasp, pulled her over to another one of the tables, where Reeve, Dana, Rude, Elena, and Rufus were sitting. "Hey, guys! What's up!" They all gave a quick glance at the moogle in her arms, but said nothing about it.
Tifa must've already explained everything to them…figures.
Reeve laughed at her chronic enthusiasm. "Oh, we were just waiting for you two arrive, Yuffie. You and Reno are always late to every one of the meetings I schedule, so I suppose that a birthday party…would be no different…" he trailed off.
Yuffie crossed her arms. "Well, that's because your meetings are so boring. If you want me to show up on time, you should make them fun…or something. Like a party!? I dunno." Yuffie turned to Dana with a sly smirk on her face, a plan starting to formulate in her mind. "Don't you think Reeve is the worst employer ever, Dana? I mean, he's just so old, and weird, and boring, and he has that weird goatee thingy, and-"
"Yuffie," Dana cut her off with a gentle voice and a shy smile. "I think that Reeve is a great employer." Her cheeks blushed at her uncharacteristically outspoken statement, and she looked down sheepishly, causing her light brown bangs to fall over her eyes. "I meant, um…" she faltered for something different to say. Dana was usually a very quiet, reserved woman. She was definitely smart and witty, but she didn't show it too often because she was so incredibly shy.
Yuffie's eyes widened in delighted surprise at what she just heard. Step one: DONE! She glanced at Rude and Elena, who were having their own private conversation, despite how loud Yuffie had been talking.
I'll have to work on those two later. Now, as for Dana and Reeve…
"Well," Yuffie clapped Dana on the shoulder. "I'm glad he has such a wonderful employee like you." Dana's blush reddened. "You probably help him finish off most of the technical, electronic, mumbo-jumbo, doncha?" Yuffie asked.
"Dana is wonderful at what she does," Reeve answered for her. He had the slightest of a blush on his cheeks as well. This is going perfectly! "You're right about that, at least." He had a small smirk on his face again.
Yuffie huffed. "Are you insinuating that I'm not right about stuff? Because I am! You and I both know that if it wasn't for me, 'Cactuar-Bot The Third' would be a huge pile of ash right now!"
Reeve brought his hand up to his forehead, his thumb and forefinger gently massaging his temples. This, Yuffie knew, was the sure-fire sign to tell everyone that Reeve was beginning to get a headache.
"Yes…you're right," he reluctantly admitted. Then, he let out a huge sigh.
"Good!" Yuffie chirped. "That's all I wanted to hear!" She glanced down at the many plates of food on their table. "You started to eat without me!?" She exclaimed, obviously appalled to see such terrible things, before immediately running towards the serving table, where Tifa was readjusting the placement of the birthday cake. "How dare they…" She proceeded to get as much food as she could possibly fit onto it. Her stomach growled in appreciation.
It had been awhile since she had that pasta with Reno…
Hmm, where is Turkeyboy? Yuffie thought absentmindedly as she continued to pile more food onto her plate. Why do I care…?
"Well, you weren't here when you were supposed to be here!" Tifa explained with a small smile on her face. "And everyone was hungry, so..." She shrugged nonchalantly.
Yuffie huffed again, but her mood was considerably lightened when she noticed that there was still a huge pile of her favorite meal of Tifa's: home-made pizza.
She was nearly salivating at the sight. Okay, now I forgive them!
^0^…^0^…^0^…^0^
Yuffie had to withhold herself several times from rolling her eyes at the childish games they were playing.
Now it's 'Pin the Tail on the Chocobo!?' Seriously…?
She endured it. She may not show it very often, but she did love Marlene and Denzel a ton. Even though they sometimes acted like demon children whenever she had to watch them for Tifa and Cloud…
"Yuffie, it's your turn now!" Marlene was giving her an adorably expectant look, dangling the bright yellow tail in front of her face. "Come over here so we can blindfold you and spin you around a few times!" She giggled as Yuffie reluctantly obliged, after delivering a sleeping Moggy into Tifa's waiting arms.
The world was pitch black to Yuffie now. All she could hear was Marlene's excited voice counting the number of spins, and some of the other partygoers' laughter.
Is that a chuckle from Vincent I hear?…No way.
Yuffie's body came to an abrupt stop from its previous spinning, but that didn't stop her head from feeling like it was on a merry-go-round.
Urp…stay in my stomach, you EVIL food! Don't betray me now!
"Okay, Yuffie!" Marlene giggled. That child was very giggly today. Well, it was natural since it was her birthday. That would probably make sense. Kids love their birthdays. "Are you ready to pin the tail!?"
Yuffie nodded shakily. Who knew this stupid game would be so hard? It feels like I'm gonna fall on my face if I take a step!
She dared to take one wobbly step forward, and just about fell over in the process. She bit her lip in anxiety. Ninjas don't get dizzy! The dominate at children's games like this! So suck it up and DOMINATE!
She nodded vigorously as she took a few more steps forward. The agonizingly painful nausea in her stomach was beginning to make itself more noticeable.
Dammit, you evil stomach! Stop screaming in pain!
She gulped nervously, taking one more step before she froze altogether.
Oh gawd…I'm gonna…
…
…
…
"Shit, princess!" A disgusted voice shouted in shock. "Why the hell did you barf all over me? The trashcan's right over there!"
Yuffie smirked nervously, pointing a shaky hand to the blindfold over her eyes, as if to say "I can't see, you idiot."
She heard him sigh as Tifa came scrambling towards them, placing her hand over Yuffie's forehead in a panic. "Yuffie, are you feeling alright!? You don't normally vomit unless you're getting your motion sickness!"
"Teef…urp…"
Shit, it's hard to talk without feeling like I'm gonna puke again. Gross…
"She…frickin'…spun me…around!" Yuffie pointed at Marlene, who shot a toothy grin at Tifa.
"I'm sorry, Yuffie!" she chirped out in her high-pitched voice. "Honest! I just wanted us all to play a game for my birthday…" her voice was starting to sound a little sad.
Damn that cute voice! I can't be mad at her now…
Tifa pulled the blindfold off Yuffie's face, giving her a worried look. She placed her hand over the ninja's forehead again, this time sounding even more anxious than before. "Yuffie, you really don't look so good. Are you sure, you're okay?"
"You look like shit, babe," Reno agreed, sparing them a quick look before looking back down at his ruined shirt in disgust. "And you're paying for a new shirt."
Another wave of nausea coursed through Yuffie's whole body. "Yeah, yeah…fine." She gave Tifa a sad smile. "Maybe I should leave? I didn't mean to ruin Marlene's party."
"You didn't ruin my party, Yuffie! You made it more fun!" Marlene exclaimed. "Especially when you got Mr. Rude and Miss Elena to dance together!"
The two Turks, standing towards the back of everyone, visibly flushed in embarrassment.
Yuffie was starting to get shaky on her feet. "I'll…give you your present tomorrow…kay, Marls?"
Marlene nodded with a serious look on her face. Well, maybe the look was more concerned than serious, but that was beside the point. "Feel better, Yuffie, okay!?"
Damn that kid and her maturity level!
"Bye, everyone!" Yuffie gave an obnoxious smile to everyone around the room. They all waved back halfheartedly, seemingly confused and even a little worried about Yuffie.
The shinobi made a move to leave, but the moment she took another step, her vision started to blur, leaving her muscles numb and her head in pain.
She started to fall forward…
When two strong arms grabbed her from behind.
"Dammit, Yuffie!" came the annoyingly sexy voice that she was growing so used to hearing all the time.
Then, she completely blacked out.
^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^
A/N: Cliffie? Yes, I know. I'm terrible.
And please forgive me for taking forever to post this!? This will never go on hiatus. I refuse to leave any of my stories incomplete. It…just takes some time every now and then.
Anyway, please review? I need guidance!