Teasing

Tifa broke away from his kiss with a smile. She quickly glanced into his eyes catching the mirth and the smirk on the corner of his lips. She playfully punched his shoulder, "Did you really use that line on me?"

"Depends…did it work?"

She gave him a coy smile then crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. He scoffed and finished off the drink and glanced down at the empty glass, "Guess it was the alcohol talking."

He gave her a cheeky wink and she shoved him away with a giggle.

The two of them turned towards Reeve in alarm as he coughed awkwardly. Vincent backed away from Tifa at a more appropriate distance for two people considered as friends and Tifa shyly turned her gaze away from the Reeve as he got up from his seat.

The Cheshire cat grin on Reeve's face made Vincent narrow his eyes in warning. It was never a good sign when Reeve got ideas in his head, especially when he knew he could use the idea against someone.

Reeve was aware of the budding relationship between the two but he didn't expect Vincent to have changed so much. Even just tonight, seeing Cloud and Vincent interacting with each other as if nothing had changed between them was unusual in a definitive way. It was clear to Reeve, that Cloud's relationship with Tifa was more friendly and familial than romantic, just from Tifa's body language towards the two men earlier. He calmly stepped over Reno and Rude, towards Vincent who openly glared at him in warning.

Reeve gave Vincent an innocent smile in response and deliberately sat on the stool that Vincent had previously occupied, causing Vincent to back further away to make room.

Reeve glanced back and forth between the two, "So…"

Vincent could clearly see the slight blush on Tifa's face get redder by the second, and he immediately took the initiative to distract Reeve from it, "Want some water?"

Reeve could tell Vincent was trying to unsuccessfully divert his attention, but seeing the usually stoic man squirm was amusing, so he decided to humor him by agreeing to a glass. As Vincent quickly went round the bar to fill the order, Reeve focused his attention on Tifa. She looked extremely nervous fiddling with her dress, trying to get out the nonexistent wrinkles on it.

The older man leaned forward against the bar using his arm to prop his head up, "So…"

"Your water"

Reeve quickly retreated from the bar top shaking off the excess water that splashed on him when Vincent unceremoniously planted the full glass in front of him. Seeing the irritation on Vincent's face made it worth the mischief he was causing, but he decided to pull back a tad for Tifa's sake.

"Thank you Vincent"

Vincent nodded his head in reply as he came round to sit next to the inquiring man, still wary of his antics. He worked a bit with Reeve in the past and knew the man better than most; he also knew Reeve had a penchant for gossip. It wasn't that he wanted to hide the fact that he was in a semi-quasi-relationship-thing with Tifa; he just had no need to announce it to the world. Vincent glanced at Tifa and saw that she seemed to have composed herself enough that her blush died down but she was still fidgeting with her dress. He crossed his arms and glared at the goateed man seated next to him, "Before you even bother, the answer is yes."

Reeve and Tifa both snapped their heads up in synchronization at his statement. Reeve's expression went from a sweet smile to a mischievous grin, whereas Tifa's blush came back in full force but the complete happiness in her eyes made Vincent quickly clamp down on the urge to crack a smile in front of Reeve lest he give the man more fodder to tease them with.

Just hearing Vincent even elude to their relationship just about made her day, Tifa glanced between Reeve and Vincent who were now engaged in some sort of mental stare down. She watched as Reeve appeared to have conceded and he cleared his throat, his whole demeanor changing from friendly childish uncle to chief executive officer of the WRO.

The older man stiffly straightened up from his slouch on the stool and stood. He placed a hand on Vincent's back and did the same to Tifa before leaning in, and whispering, "Thank you for the party. I had a great time. By the way, I'm also a licensed officiator, so whenever you're ready let me know."

Reeve gave a cheeky wink at Tifa and dodged the swipe that Vincent tried to make at him. Reeve quickly picked up his blazer jacket and left the bar before Vincent could retaliate for all the teasing he did.

The two of them were silent for a moment allowing the dust to settle from Reeve's mischief. The clock's ticking was heard with the sounds of snoring from the sleeping men in the room. Tifa took a peek at Vincent and caught his eyes, which caused her to blush and turn away cupping her cheeks with her hands.

Just that action was enough to warrant Vincent to reach out and pull her close for a hug. Tifa glanced up in surprise for the second time in the evening. This sudden outburst of affection from Vincent was unexpected and it wasn't that Tifa wanted to complain but it did worry her that something might be wrong.

"Vincent?"

He glanced into her eyes and immediately released her as if suddenly now just realizing he was holding her. He quietly cleared his throat and glanced everywhere around the room except at her, "We should probably call it a night."

She could hear the unease in his voice and the deflection from her question, he appeared to be embarrassed, she suppressed the giggle that was threatening to burst perhaps, this was what Vincent was like when teased too much, "Sure, c'mon up. My room is free."

The little wink and suggestive voice she said this wasn't lost on him, but he fiend ignorance and allowed her to lead him upstairs.

Next: Someone isn't too happy about Tifa & Vincent together.

I think I'm at the point of this fic where the ending is very very close. It's been a long road for this fic, I realize now this whole fic is more of a slice of life kind of story and I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far.

Please review, thank you!