AN: Written for bofoddity and originally posted at my LJ.
Prompt: Barret, "I touch the fire and it freezes me."
The Book of Wallace.
Barret's not so sure about this new guy.
For starters, they found him in the Shinra mansion basement in a coffin (a fuckin' coffin!). Now Barret knows he's not the smartest man on the planet, but in his book, only dead people live in coffins. And sweet bleedin' Gaia, the guy doesn't help things by looking like a real creep—all red and black and antisocial white that makes Barret keep a protective eye on the girls' tent every night.
Still, the new guy seems to hate Shin-Ra, and in Barret's book, that makes him all right. So over the second watch campfire, he decides to give that open-mindedness thing a try and attempts small talk—both of which are new for him.
"Nice evening, yeah?" he says to his right in a grudging half-grunt. "Fire's warm."
The red eyes above the cowl (ain't natural!) slide toward his. "I touch the fire and it freezes me."
Barret then decides he's had enough of trying new things for one night. He takes a swift glance at the girls' tent on his left, discreetly edges closer to it, and comes to the conclusion that Vincent Valentine will never be normal in his book.
AN: Comments are welcome!