A/N: Fwah! Laggy computers and wanting fast chapters does not go hand in hand ;_; I keep saying the people will be all, y'know, plot-moving, but they're not off the Highwind XD Uh... I'm sure you all can cope... Right? o_O I'll think of something. Eventually XD
no song here.. *Sniff*
Disclaimer: And there was the FF7, and it ate Daisaku in a frenzy of doomyness...with bacon!
---
Vincent stood ominously at the lower half of the front deck, his cape flowing gently with the breeze as was his dark hair. Of course, he was void of emotion and disallowed thought for now, simply allowing the gentle caress of the wind be something to focus on--of course, if you're in a coffin for a couple of decades, you adjust to not allowing your mind to wander. He folded his arms, standing as stiff as a board without much movement--you couldn't tell he was breathing unless you stuck a finger under his nose.
In the far corners of his mind, however, he was slightly focused on the strange things going on between Cloud, Rufus, and Tifa. What was going on? Vincent had assumed Cloud knew Rufus Shinra, but he didn't know to what depths ran their rivalry. Then again, albeit the lengths he had joined he was never around for the beginning.
Though he wasn't stupid. He could tell there was some kind of rivalry or mutual disagreement. It wasn't that difficult, however, and he mentally cursed himself for not being able to read deeper into this...erm, situation.
His blood-coloured eyes opened and shifted to Cloud slowly walking to the front--sluggishly, and a bit slumped over as if something heavy was dropped over his head. He raised one brow, the remainder of his expression unchanged, and quite still, so his piqued curiosity was barely noticed. In an attempt to make his expression mildly unnoticed, he tilted his head downward and allowed his black hair and headband to create shadows on his face.
This really wasn't necessary, as hardly anyone saw anything besides his stoic attitude, but... well, he didn't see it essential for anyone to know much of anything.
The crew and friends of AVALANCHE turned their heads to see their leader limp to the front, curious, watching him lean over the front with downcast eyes and a depressed expression--and, quite frankly, they were wondering what the hell dropped his happy stature after Tifa's awakening to that of a suicidal man.
"Yo, man! The hell's wrong wit' you?" Barret questioned, shaking his gun-arm in that way he usually did and stepping forward a little. "Chin up! Tifa's back!" Unfortunately, Barret had no idea of the extent of what had happened, looking crestfallen as Cloud looked up at him for a split-second shaking his head. "......." Watching Cloud lean over the side, resting his head in his arms, Barret sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Damn..."
Deciding now was an apt time to stride away without anyone taking too much notice, Vincent swiftly turned and walked out of the front deck, the wind dying down as the door closed behind him. He idly glanced around, looking for things--things that would, perhaps, point to the source of Cloud's depression.
There wasn't much to take note of here. The girls were nowhere in sight but hushed conversation was heard in the Operations room, thus he assumed they were there. Rude and Reno were in deep, one-sided discussion in their usual corner. The rest were at the front deck.
He stood still for a moment, trying to assume a good reason for Cloud to be depressed. After he had come to the conclusion it had something to do with Tifa, he bolted to the Operations room. However, he sighed inwardly--maybe he shouldn't interfere, or delve too far into his behavior. Then again, Vincent felt he owed something: to Tifa, who didn't involuntarily shudder whenever she stood near him.
The metal door slid open to simply show Elena setting out nail polish bottles and other things in a neat row across the table, adjacent to Yuffie who was sorting through them.
"Hey Vinnie." Yuffie greeted without looking up, picking up a bottle of what resembled a metallic pink and examining it thoroughly, including the ingredients list. "'Sup?" Elena looked up at Vincent and sweatdropped, giving him an intimidated smile. For the sake of having to account for another sin, he ignored it. "Tifa ain't here, if that's what you're thinking." She put the bottle down and looked up, grinning cheesily at Vincent. "I dunno. The only other place is the upper deck or something."
Vincent bowed slightly in a formal sort of thank-you, and strode out of the room, not seeing Reno tiptoe past him into the open door and scrambling in, ducking underneath chairs.
---
"This sucks, Elena. They smell!" Yuffie complained, dropping a bottle and slumping forward. "And this stuff is way too sticky...and this is used for hair?!"
"You're the one who wanted a makeover! Hurry up and pick!" Elena commented, resting her chin in the table and looking up, her blonde hair falling over her face.
"Oh man...I don't know how you live..." She picked up the metaly-pink polish. "Do your worst." She sat up straight, frowning and slamming her hands flat on the table, splaying her fingers and taking a deep breath. Elena sweatdropped, unscrewing the cap, but shrugged and proceeded to dab on some of the polish. "AAHHHH! IT BURNS!" she yelled as the cold polish touched her nails. "DEAR GOD, I THINK MY SOUL IS BEING SUCKED AWAY!"
"Ah, quit ya' bitchin'!" Elena commanded, retracting the hand with the brush and frowning. "You're the one who wanted to do this!" Yuffie shuddered as Elena furrowed a brow in concentration, sticking her tongue out slightly simply to help her focus. "There! It's done!" Elena quickly shoved the cap onto the bottle, rolling her eyes slightly as Yuffie's eyes bugged out of her head.
"It's cold..."
"I suggest you don't handle your...pointy thingies. You might ruin the polish!"
"Oh boy, that would be a real tragedy." Yuffie rolled her misty eyes, shaking her hands as if it would help the drying process. Elena rolled hers in turn, skimming through the little groups of makeup and things on the table--collected on a trip to Junon's shopping mall, no doubt--and picking some things out. "Jeez, I never thought I'd see those in my life."
"I figured lipstick--"
A small unheard chortle from Reno...
"--was a bit much, so I just got the gloss. It's light, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It'll look good on you." Elena insisted.
"Jeez, you know a lot about this stuff, 'Lena. You're so girly."
"Some people used to live normal lives, Kisaragi," Elena sang, rummaging through the stacks. "Until this whole Sephiroth deal, I wasn't a Turk."
"Whatever."
"Put this on!" Elena rolled a tube of gloss over to the Shinobi, surveying the remainder of the selection and placing random things in a tiny group. Yuffie just stared at it as if it was a foreign object, but Elena payed no heed as she continued adding to the seperate pile of girlish things.
"I don't know how."
"Now's a good time to learn!"
Yuffie tentatively unscrewed the elongated plastic cap of the tube, pulling out the brush and sniffing it suspiciously. She looked disapprovingly at the glitter specks and things, tilting her head slightly.
"Gawd..."
---
Vincent stalked up the metal stairs, his steps heavy but still soundless. Why was he worried, anyway? He had personally reminded himself a while back he didn't delve into personal affairs such as this...but still, something bothered him. As he pushed through the sliding door that lead to the upper deck, he took note of the scene. Refusing to be stunned, or surprised, he settled for folding his arms and waiting to be noticed. After a moment or two, it struck him--they couldn't *see* him from his position in the doorway. And then he had settled on a conclusion as to why Cloud was in an unfavourable mood.
He cleared his throat semi-loudly, his face monotonous and empty. Tifa's arms, earlier wrapped around Rufus's middle in a caring manner that had so long before become foreign to Vincent, dropped to her sides, and she edged off to view the entrance where Vincent stood. Her face was lightly tinged pink, whereas Rufus...well, he averted his gaze, turning his head to the side.
"...Excuse me......" murmured Vincent, his entire stature stiff. "......Cloud implies that he is requesting your presence...." And although he seemed rather stoic, he gave Tifa a meaningful look--well, okay, not as meaningful as what normal people would consider, but as long as you don't feel intimidated by his presence his emotions from outside seemed easy to read.
"Really?" For a moment, she didn't get the message. "Wh--oh...Oh!" Tifa clasped her hands to her mouth, suddenly stepping away from Rufus almost regretfully. "I-I'm sorry." She smiled weakly at Rufus, but her face returned to a mortified state as she stumbled off the upper deck, running into the Highwind at top speed.
Vincent looked at Rufus. Albeit when they met earlier, when he was with Tifa, he had reproached the former president, but now looking at him...well, he looked kind of...strange, to say the least.
Kind of abandoned in a sense.
Vincent shook his head, turning and walking away from the upper deck monotonously, taking precautions so that his cape wouldn't get caught in the sliding door. As he stood in the walkway, he shook his head again--why was he getting involved?
-It's not a sin to be curious, you know.-
Without another thought, he walked testily to the door leading to the front deck, but halted at the control panel, his metal finger stopping a little ways away from the keypad. Contemplating his actions, he closed his eyes for a moment, ominously hovering near the entrance; but he sighed, wondering what he was getting himself into, and tapping the buttons to stride gallantly into the front deck.
Where, expectantly, Cloud was bitching at Tifa. Vincent sighed inwardly, making an extravagant leap for his usual station on the deck.
"He's RUFUS! He fucking tried to kill me! And why the f--"
"Cloud, I--" Tifa protested, frowning slightly yet flinching for the most part. It was rather difficult to accept the fact that Cloud was this pissed, and Tifa stood, listening to him rant about Rufus and doomy things. Her eyes and head were cast downwards, and albeit Cid and Barret were shouting at Cloud to "shut the @&#$ up, damnit" and Reeve and Red XIII were pleading for him to calm down--did he listen? Not quite. Vincent cocked an eyebrow.
*SMACK*
Tifa retracted her palm, disgust tracing her normally-gentle expression, and a vein pulsating in her forehead. Cloud's head--turned in a sharp direction to the left with a bright red mark on his cheek--turned to face her again, one palm going up to hold the area where her hand had made a knifelike impact with with the side of his face.
"Tifa..."
"How dare you." Tifa seethed through her teeth, her eyes filled with tears that threatened to overflow. "How dare you, you--you basically tell me to go to hell because I can't do anything for you in the City of the Ancients, and now... Now, I'm doing exactly what, what you wanted me to do--get over you, because apparently I'm not good enough." She inhaled and exhaled deeply, the tears beginning to fall. The remainder of the AVALANCHE crew remained silent, though Rude and Reno approached the scene to see the fuss. "And...how *dare* you..." She closed her eyes, harshly wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. "..try and dictate my life..."
By now, basically everyone had the gist of exactly why Tifa had left--why Cloud had said he didn't know how or why she had gone--that Reno had been right--etc. Cloud searched around wildly, but no one seemed to do anything--maybe a few or some wanted to, but they just couldn't.
So Tifa left, stalking wildly out and into the stomach of the Highwind, tears of rage slipping down her pale cheeks...leaving a stunned Cloud behind her.
no song here.. *Sniff*
Disclaimer: And there was the FF7, and it ate Daisaku in a frenzy of doomyness...with bacon!
---
Vincent stood ominously at the lower half of the front deck, his cape flowing gently with the breeze as was his dark hair. Of course, he was void of emotion and disallowed thought for now, simply allowing the gentle caress of the wind be something to focus on--of course, if you're in a coffin for a couple of decades, you adjust to not allowing your mind to wander. He folded his arms, standing as stiff as a board without much movement--you couldn't tell he was breathing unless you stuck a finger under his nose.
In the far corners of his mind, however, he was slightly focused on the strange things going on between Cloud, Rufus, and Tifa. What was going on? Vincent had assumed Cloud knew Rufus Shinra, but he didn't know to what depths ran their rivalry. Then again, albeit the lengths he had joined he was never around for the beginning.
Though he wasn't stupid. He could tell there was some kind of rivalry or mutual disagreement. It wasn't that difficult, however, and he mentally cursed himself for not being able to read deeper into this...erm, situation.
His blood-coloured eyes opened and shifted to Cloud slowly walking to the front--sluggishly, and a bit slumped over as if something heavy was dropped over his head. He raised one brow, the remainder of his expression unchanged, and quite still, so his piqued curiosity was barely noticed. In an attempt to make his expression mildly unnoticed, he tilted his head downward and allowed his black hair and headband to create shadows on his face.
This really wasn't necessary, as hardly anyone saw anything besides his stoic attitude, but... well, he didn't see it essential for anyone to know much of anything.
The crew and friends of AVALANCHE turned their heads to see their leader limp to the front, curious, watching him lean over the front with downcast eyes and a depressed expression--and, quite frankly, they were wondering what the hell dropped his happy stature after Tifa's awakening to that of a suicidal man.
"Yo, man! The hell's wrong wit' you?" Barret questioned, shaking his gun-arm in that way he usually did and stepping forward a little. "Chin up! Tifa's back!" Unfortunately, Barret had no idea of the extent of what had happened, looking crestfallen as Cloud looked up at him for a split-second shaking his head. "......." Watching Cloud lean over the side, resting his head in his arms, Barret sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Damn..."
Deciding now was an apt time to stride away without anyone taking too much notice, Vincent swiftly turned and walked out of the front deck, the wind dying down as the door closed behind him. He idly glanced around, looking for things--things that would, perhaps, point to the source of Cloud's depression.
There wasn't much to take note of here. The girls were nowhere in sight but hushed conversation was heard in the Operations room, thus he assumed they were there. Rude and Reno were in deep, one-sided discussion in their usual corner. The rest were at the front deck.
He stood still for a moment, trying to assume a good reason for Cloud to be depressed. After he had come to the conclusion it had something to do with Tifa, he bolted to the Operations room. However, he sighed inwardly--maybe he shouldn't interfere, or delve too far into his behavior. Then again, Vincent felt he owed something: to Tifa, who didn't involuntarily shudder whenever she stood near him.
The metal door slid open to simply show Elena setting out nail polish bottles and other things in a neat row across the table, adjacent to Yuffie who was sorting through them.
"Hey Vinnie." Yuffie greeted without looking up, picking up a bottle of what resembled a metallic pink and examining it thoroughly, including the ingredients list. "'Sup?" Elena looked up at Vincent and sweatdropped, giving him an intimidated smile. For the sake of having to account for another sin, he ignored it. "Tifa ain't here, if that's what you're thinking." She put the bottle down and looked up, grinning cheesily at Vincent. "I dunno. The only other place is the upper deck or something."
Vincent bowed slightly in a formal sort of thank-you, and strode out of the room, not seeing Reno tiptoe past him into the open door and scrambling in, ducking underneath chairs.
---
"This sucks, Elena. They smell!" Yuffie complained, dropping a bottle and slumping forward. "And this stuff is way too sticky...and this is used for hair?!"
"You're the one who wanted a makeover! Hurry up and pick!" Elena commented, resting her chin in the table and looking up, her blonde hair falling over her face.
"Oh man...I don't know how you live..." She picked up the metaly-pink polish. "Do your worst." She sat up straight, frowning and slamming her hands flat on the table, splaying her fingers and taking a deep breath. Elena sweatdropped, unscrewing the cap, but shrugged and proceeded to dab on some of the polish. "AAHHHH! IT BURNS!" she yelled as the cold polish touched her nails. "DEAR GOD, I THINK MY SOUL IS BEING SUCKED AWAY!"
"Ah, quit ya' bitchin'!" Elena commanded, retracting the hand with the brush and frowning. "You're the one who wanted to do this!" Yuffie shuddered as Elena furrowed a brow in concentration, sticking her tongue out slightly simply to help her focus. "There! It's done!" Elena quickly shoved the cap onto the bottle, rolling her eyes slightly as Yuffie's eyes bugged out of her head.
"It's cold..."
"I suggest you don't handle your...pointy thingies. You might ruin the polish!"
"Oh boy, that would be a real tragedy." Yuffie rolled her misty eyes, shaking her hands as if it would help the drying process. Elena rolled hers in turn, skimming through the little groups of makeup and things on the table--collected on a trip to Junon's shopping mall, no doubt--and picking some things out. "Jeez, I never thought I'd see those in my life."
"I figured lipstick--"
A small unheard chortle from Reno...
"--was a bit much, so I just got the gloss. It's light, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It'll look good on you." Elena insisted.
"Jeez, you know a lot about this stuff, 'Lena. You're so girly."
"Some people used to live normal lives, Kisaragi," Elena sang, rummaging through the stacks. "Until this whole Sephiroth deal, I wasn't a Turk."
"Whatever."
"Put this on!" Elena rolled a tube of gloss over to the Shinobi, surveying the remainder of the selection and placing random things in a tiny group. Yuffie just stared at it as if it was a foreign object, but Elena payed no heed as she continued adding to the seperate pile of girlish things.
"I don't know how."
"Now's a good time to learn!"
Yuffie tentatively unscrewed the elongated plastic cap of the tube, pulling out the brush and sniffing it suspiciously. She looked disapprovingly at the glitter specks and things, tilting her head slightly.
"Gawd..."
---
Vincent stalked up the metal stairs, his steps heavy but still soundless. Why was he worried, anyway? He had personally reminded himself a while back he didn't delve into personal affairs such as this...but still, something bothered him. As he pushed through the sliding door that lead to the upper deck, he took note of the scene. Refusing to be stunned, or surprised, he settled for folding his arms and waiting to be noticed. After a moment or two, it struck him--they couldn't *see* him from his position in the doorway. And then he had settled on a conclusion as to why Cloud was in an unfavourable mood.
He cleared his throat semi-loudly, his face monotonous and empty. Tifa's arms, earlier wrapped around Rufus's middle in a caring manner that had so long before become foreign to Vincent, dropped to her sides, and she edged off to view the entrance where Vincent stood. Her face was lightly tinged pink, whereas Rufus...well, he averted his gaze, turning his head to the side.
"...Excuse me......" murmured Vincent, his entire stature stiff. "......Cloud implies that he is requesting your presence...." And although he seemed rather stoic, he gave Tifa a meaningful look--well, okay, not as meaningful as what normal people would consider, but as long as you don't feel intimidated by his presence his emotions from outside seemed easy to read.
"Really?" For a moment, she didn't get the message. "Wh--oh...Oh!" Tifa clasped her hands to her mouth, suddenly stepping away from Rufus almost regretfully. "I-I'm sorry." She smiled weakly at Rufus, but her face returned to a mortified state as she stumbled off the upper deck, running into the Highwind at top speed.
Vincent looked at Rufus. Albeit when they met earlier, when he was with Tifa, he had reproached the former president, but now looking at him...well, he looked kind of...strange, to say the least.
Kind of abandoned in a sense.
Vincent shook his head, turning and walking away from the upper deck monotonously, taking precautions so that his cape wouldn't get caught in the sliding door. As he stood in the walkway, he shook his head again--why was he getting involved?
-It's not a sin to be curious, you know.-
Without another thought, he walked testily to the door leading to the front deck, but halted at the control panel, his metal finger stopping a little ways away from the keypad. Contemplating his actions, he closed his eyes for a moment, ominously hovering near the entrance; but he sighed, wondering what he was getting himself into, and tapping the buttons to stride gallantly into the front deck.
Where, expectantly, Cloud was bitching at Tifa. Vincent sighed inwardly, making an extravagant leap for his usual station on the deck.
"He's RUFUS! He fucking tried to kill me! And why the f--"
"Cloud, I--" Tifa protested, frowning slightly yet flinching for the most part. It was rather difficult to accept the fact that Cloud was this pissed, and Tifa stood, listening to him rant about Rufus and doomy things. Her eyes and head were cast downwards, and albeit Cid and Barret were shouting at Cloud to "shut the @&#$ up, damnit" and Reeve and Red XIII were pleading for him to calm down--did he listen? Not quite. Vincent cocked an eyebrow.
*SMACK*
Tifa retracted her palm, disgust tracing her normally-gentle expression, and a vein pulsating in her forehead. Cloud's head--turned in a sharp direction to the left with a bright red mark on his cheek--turned to face her again, one palm going up to hold the area where her hand had made a knifelike impact with with the side of his face.
"Tifa..."
"How dare you." Tifa seethed through her teeth, her eyes filled with tears that threatened to overflow. "How dare you, you--you basically tell me to go to hell because I can't do anything for you in the City of the Ancients, and now... Now, I'm doing exactly what, what you wanted me to do--get over you, because apparently I'm not good enough." She inhaled and exhaled deeply, the tears beginning to fall. The remainder of the AVALANCHE crew remained silent, though Rude and Reno approached the scene to see the fuss. "And...how *dare* you..." She closed her eyes, harshly wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. "..try and dictate my life..."
By now, basically everyone had the gist of exactly why Tifa had left--why Cloud had said he didn't know how or why she had gone--that Reno had been right--etc. Cloud searched around wildly, but no one seemed to do anything--maybe a few or some wanted to, but they just couldn't.
So Tifa left, stalking wildly out and into the stomach of the Highwind, tears of rage slipping down her pale cheeks...leaving a stunned Cloud behind her.