Disclaimer: Square still owns everything. Except my pants.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, Reno and Mewie9. You'll find out who they are soon enough. Onwards!
Chapter 11: Familiar Faces
"I'M SO DAMN BORED I WOULD READ A BOOK!!"
A few playing cards hit the floor. A few mouths cut off whatever words were coming out of them. A young woman lets out a quiet, startled screech. This was just the reaction Yuffie was hoping for with her unexpected outburst. She was momentarily entertained.
"Is she always like that?" The young, male stranger with dark brown hair questioned Elena. The female Turk's answer was a simple nod.
Yuffie had been watching that young man, along with his female companion, jealously for the past half hour. She had tried to butt her way into the conversation they were having with Reno and Elena, but was brutally ignored. These four certainly seemed to get along cozily. I wonder how long they've known each other?
From what she gathered from eavesdropping on the group, Reno and Elena had taken it upon themselves to let the other two know what was going on. Apparently they had worked together before during the reconstruction of Midgar, bad hadn't seen each other since the Reeve thing started up. I wonder HOW the know each other?
She was quite intrigued by both of them physically. They were much more rebellious looking than anyone she had ever seen before. The man's sleeves were torn off. A dirty, red bandana held up his disheveled, dark brown hair. His military green pants were tucked into his combat boots. A knife was tucked into his belt.
The girl's lighter brown hair managed to stay back on it's own (from grease build-up, Yuffie inferred; it didn't look like she had a shower in a while). Her navy blue tank-top hung un-tucked over her black jeans. The end of the girl's jeans found their way into her boots in the same fashion as the guy's did. Something much flashier hung from the girl's belt. I wonder what their names are?
Deciding that her curiosity wouldn't be answered just yet, she decided to go back to finding something to entertain her. She desperately needed something to occupy her mind. Ever since they returned from Midgar, she hadn't felt well. Her stomache was upset and her head started to hurt slightly.
In her search for a mental pain reliever, she found herself leaning her elbows on the table that Rude, Cid and Cait were playing cards at. "Mind if I join ya?"
"I do! Get outta here, punk! Yer gonna mess up my game!" Apparently, Rude was just as good at poker as Barret was. Cait wasn't that bad either. Spending most of your robitic life in the world's only amusement park gave you a few skills in games like these. Cid got angry when he was losing. Then again, Cid was always angry.
Yuffie spent the next few moments finding entertainment from the light reflecting off of Rude's head. "Can I rub your head?"
Rude didn't even look up from his hand. "Go away…"
"Fine!" Just like Cid got irritable when he was losing, Yuffie did the same when she was bored. Where the hell is everyone else!?
Her anger lead Yuffie to stomp off and go sulk in the other side of the room. Her back pressed hard against the wall behind her for support. It was becoming hard to stand. She found herself dangerously close to another, usually sulking, individual. Vincent's human hand was too busy rapidly wielding a pen to notice her.
He had been working on this poem for some time now. He was never good at writing for other people, especially not to Lucrecia. She was the spitting image of perfection, therefore any gift to her must be the same. This was his thirteenth draft since she had gone missing. Each version was slightly different in some way. So much had changed gradually that what he was writing now was a completely different entity than what he wrote two weeks ago. It would be perfect when he gave it to her. [1]
"So, you even know how to write with that hand, too?" Yuffie basked in her knowledge of Vincent's hand. She was the only one who knew he was left handed. That meant she knew one of his many secrets (no matter how unimportant the secret was). No one ever let her in on any secrets, so she took great pride in it. She would easily refuse to give up the information to anyone else.
Vincent stopped what he was doing. He hadn't even notice Yuffie approach him. Was he that involved with his writing, or was she getting stealthier? He had a feeling the latter was true. This usually noisy girl was just full of surprises, wasn't she?
His eyes raised to examine her face. She didn't look like she was expecting a verbal response. Good for her, because she wasn't getting one. He soon turned his head to look off into the distance at nothing in particular.
Yuffie had gotten Vincent's attention surprisingly quickly. The quiet man was generally unresponsive. But, she was looking that attention just as quickly. Hurry up and say something!
"So, do you know them, Vinnie?" She had wanted to know who they were anyway. Might as well ask the only smart one in the room.
Though she didn't specify, Vincent assumed she was referring to the two that had assisted the Turks in their fight. "No."
Yuffie let out a sigh. Another one word answer. Why don't you ever talk, Vinnie? I'm sure you've got plenty of interesting things to say…
Vincent easily saw the boredom Yuffie was going through. Her face also had a slight tinge of pain on it. For someone as vibrant as she usually was, this silence must be physically painful. How many times has she quieted herself at your request, hmm? Indeed, she had favored him with silence on many occasions. It couldn't hurt to speak just a little to the girl, could it?
"I've never seen them before, but from the looks of the bodies they left behind, we should be glad they're on our side. At least momentarily."
What?? Vinnie's talking?! GOODIE GOODIE!! Yuffie was genuinely shocked at Vincent's words. He spoke! But, what he did next surprised her even more.
The door had been opened and Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Red came strolling in with their captive behind them (who was secure with a few ropes). Vincent's instantaneous reaction was to pull out the Quicksilver and aim at the bound individual.
Joe was just as surprised, but not as much as the gun. "Valentine?"
And, to almost a comedic effect, a chorus arose, everyone calling out the name of their confusion.
"Vinnie?"
"Biggs! Jessie!"
"Joe?"
"Cloud!"
"Tifa! Barret!"
"Who?"
[1] – This whole paragraph is just a shameless plug for A View of a Sleeping Sun version 1, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. The lyrics in the fic are the lines of the poem (final version, when he gets to it) he's writing. The comments he makes to each line are from a letter he'll write to go with the poem.
A/N: There's a nice, short one for you. It basically served its purpose – let everyone know who the two new people were while still keeping you in the dark. I'm so evil like that. Plus it was fun to get inside of Yuffie for a while. That didn't sound right….
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