Ex Shinra for hire. Part 02.
(Conversation over coffee and TV)
The second part of my new fic! Just how insane am I? I own all of FF7, and all of it's chocobo's! My favourite is a green I call Moron! (Keeps running against the walls of the race track… Moron.)
So far, a few people seem to like my fic! It's so cool! To those who wish to know (you know who you are!), there will be Lemony-fresh goodness in this fic, but NOT YET! I love to mess with people far too much for that. So wait, R/R, and hope that my sadistic side doesn't decide to be stubborn forever!
ANYWAY! Please enjoy this second chapter!
***
Vincent awoke to find himself lying on a worn couch, staring at a water-stained ceiling. His head hurt, and for a moment, he panicked over the thought he may have been kidnapped. But then realized he had nothing of value left to him, and wasn't restrained besides, so cast the thought aside and relaxed somewhat.
Now that he thought about it, he had no idea where he was, but didn't feel any threatening presences, and the only thing he could smell was coffee. Mmm… Coffee… He sat up, and, once his head stopped spinning, got to his feet. By the looks of things, whoever lived here didn't make very much money, and obviously knew nothing about hygiene. He shivered as a roach skittered across the coffee table. Coffee… The thought of coffee got Vincent moving, looking around the tiny apartment, until he found the tiny kitchenette, next to the bathroom and the balcony.
"Finally up, hm? About time. It's nearly noon."
Vincent spun around, having not noticed Reno was in the apartment at all. He reached reflexively for his gun, but remembered he didn't have one anymore. Reno just smirked at him.
"Old habits die hard, eh?"
Vincent sighed, and relaxed a bit. No gun… But Reno hadn't tried to hurt him, and it was probably him who brought him here in the first place. So no real reason to NEED a gun…
"Why am I here… For that matter…" He looked down and blinked. "Where are my pants?"
Reno just laughed, and lit a cigarette. "In the wash in the laundry room. Why? No one HERE cares what they see." With that, he sat on the couch and turned on his TV. It was actually quite large…
"You live in a dump, but still have a 23' TV? Is it stolen?" Vincent doubted the former Turk was above theft.
Reno snorted, and started flicking through channels. "No, it's not stolen. I bought it on sale. I'm not exactly poor, you know. I can afford SOME things. By the way, go put something on. You can wear anything in my room, 'cept the white suit."
After selecting a black button up shirt and a pair of fairly new black jeans, Vincent went to the small bathroom and started brushing out his hair. "You don't mind a stranger wearing your clothes?"
"Not anymore than letting a stranger sleep on my couch, or stripping said stranger and spending my money to get his clothes cleaned." Reno craned his head around and watched Vincent tangle with a knot in his long black hair. "Not like you're diseased any more than me, anyway." He smirked.
Vincent sighed, and after getting his hair under control, went to the pathetic excuse for a kitchen. "Mind if said stranger has some coffee?"
Reno shrugged. "Go ahead. You're names Vincent, right?"
Vincent shook his head and started looking through the "kitchen's" cupboards. "Last time I checked it was…" He frowned, unable to find the coffee cups in the unfamiliar apartment.
"Third from the left, above the fridge." Vincent glared at Reno, who was smirking like an idiot.
After retrieving a relatively un-chipped blue coffee mug from said cupboard, Vincent poured himself a cup of coffee, and joined Reno on the couch.
"What is this you're watching?" Vincent asked after a moment of sipping his coffee.
Reno smirked, and picked up a TV guide. "Says here it's a documentary on the rise and fall of ShinRa. About just how corrupt the government really was."
"Was?"
Reno just smirked again, and changed the channel.
Vincent sighed. "Anyway… Why did you bring me here?"
"Because I felt sorry for you."
Vincent glared at him. "That was nice of you." His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Shut up. Fine, I'm broke and I decided to sell you to a tanner. You certainly have enough leather on you." Reno crushed the rest of his cigarette, and got up. "Speaking of which, your pants should be dry by now."
Vincent watched him leave. He sipped on his coffee again, but put it down a moment later in disgust. He was getting bored. And sitting around in this dingy apartment was starting to irritate his sense of cleanliness. So he did the one thing that came to his mind. He started cleaning.
By the time Reno got back to his dingy little apartment, exactly five minuets, three seconds, and one moment later, his apartment was no longer dingy.
In fact, it was spotless. No cigarette butts on the coffee table, no worn shirts thrown across the couch, not even a dirty plate or pan on the kitchen floor!
Vincent smiled at Reno's shock. His hair was slightly mussed, and he looked worn out, but he was clearly happy. He had an overly satisfied look on his face, like he'd just had sex with his best friend since childhood.
"Wha… How… You cleaned?" Was all Reno managed in his stupefied state. He stumbled over to the couch, and plunked down next the Vincent. Even the TV had been polished!
Vincent smiled happily. "Yeah, and it felt great! I haven't cleaned that much since I was young."
Reno just boggled at him, before handing him his cleaned clothes and whistling. "Place hasn't been this clean since… since… well, never!"
Vincent just laughed. "Well, I figured I should do something to pay for your hospitality. Cleaning is one of the few things I'm good at nowadays."
"Man… Feels like I owe YOU now… Looks like you just bought yourself a months worth of hospitality!"
***
Vincent had been staying at Reno's apartment for little over a week, and had already decided he liked being there. For one, it was out of the cold. For another, he was actually enjoying his time with Reno. They had next to nothing in common, but they just seemed to get along anyway. It was strange. He'd gotten along with Cloud and the others, but only because they had a common goal. He'd never actually LIKED any of them that much. It was nothing like how he and Reno were getting along.
Reno was enjoying himself as well. Having Vincent around was like back when he was still enjoying being a Turk. In spite of being an ass to most people, he was a people person, and had been getting lonely as of late. One of the many reasons he was a familiar in the red light district. But for a week now, he'd avoided the sleazy streets, and had contented himself with spending time with his new friend.
The fact that Vincent was dead sexy didn't hurt, either.
***
KD: Well? Bad? Good? Pointless and stupid? Should I commit myself to the nearest padded room?
Nagi: No one is going to commit you, K. You aren't THAT crazy yet.
KD: Aw, that's sweet, Naggles, but you're a stuffed UFO Catcher prize, and your opinion of my sanity is sort of non-applicable.
Nagi: True… But at least some people are liking this one. And you even managed to up the length by nearly 500 words a chapter. That's gotta count!
KD: You're right! So, please tell me what you think, fickle readers!
