Flirting with Death, Chapter 9:
To Go or Stay
By Darknightdestiny
It was late night as they reached the sleepy town where Cid and Shera lived; it had taken much longer than anticipated when traveling without their chocobos present. The absence of bright city lights left the area well lit by the moon and the stars, and the only visible light coming from the town itself was that of the inn. Tifa gazed up at Vincent as he paused to look around at the town entrance.
"What do you think we should do? It doesn't look like anyone's awake."
Vincent still did not speak, seemingly lost in thought. His eyes darted busily from house to house, searching out every shadowed wall and dark corner. His hand made its way to where his gun hang limply by his side, and then dropped as soon as it had risen when a raccoon went flying out of the shadows and across the ground toward the nearby bushes.
Tifa's mouth quirked up into a smile. "…You're sure on edge tonight. Vincent?" He turned to face her.
"…You ought not to let your guard down so readily."
"…Okay, that's fine. But what do you want to do now?"
Vincent looked around the town once more, then up to Cid's waiting doorway. "…I do not believe that we should wake them…"
"Then…what?"
"…This way."
Vincent turned away and began walking towards the inn. Tifa began to follow him after a moment's hesitation, hobbling over the uneven dirt ground. She trailed behind him all the way up to the entrance where he opened the door and stood inside, holding it open for her. She stepped casually around him; though feeling a bit uncomfortable at his act of chivalry, she knew Vincent had always been a gentleman in his own strange way, so she shrugged it off.
Once inside the inn, Vincent strode slowly over to the counter and began the task of ordering their rooms. Tifa walked over to one of the freestanding chairs and sat down to wait. Her head bobbed up and down as she tried to keep from dozing off; she was extremely tired from their trek across the meadows leading down from the mountains, and all she wanted to do was sleep. But first she had to get a shower, and then she would have to wait for her hair to dry. She realized she probably would not get into bed for at least another hour, at the least.
"Hey, hey! Welcome to the Rocket Town Inn! What can I do for ya?" said the man at the desk to the dark character in front of him.
Vincent kept his head down, his hair covering his face and replied softly, "I would take two rooms for one night, if you please." His presence was making him seem even more shady, but he supposed it was better than approaching the man openly with his crimson irises peeking out over his cloak. Usually when he did that, he couldn't easily conduct any sort of business because the person he was talking to wouldn't even look him in the face.
"Well, you're lucky you got here before someone else did, 'cause I only got one room left." The man gestured with his head over to Tifa, who looked as if she was about ready to fall right out of her chair. "She with you?"
"…She is."
"Hmmm. Dunno why you'd need two rooms anyway…" said the man, before trailing off into some strange mumbling sound all the while looking at the sleepy-eyed girl. Then he looked back to Vincent with a goofy grin plastered onto his face and exclaimed, "Well, I'm sure you can manage, right? It's the last one anyhow, and it doesn't look like you're gonna be gettin' anywhere else tonight."
"…No, I don't suppose we will…" The man was really starting to grate on Vincent's nerves.
"Well then. Here ya go," he said, handing Vincent a key. "It's twin beds, 'sa last one on the left. Sweet dreams, buddy…hey. You'd better get that li'l lady to bed- looks like she's 'bout ready to spend the night right there in my chair!"
"…Thank you," Vincent said, and walked back to where Tifa was slumped in the chair, her neck bent in an uncomfortable way as her head rested against the wall.
Vincent looked at the poor girl with something akin to pity in his eyes, realizing that she was completely beat from the journey earlier that day. First there was the fight, from which he could tell she hadn't been practicing much recently. Then, they had walked all the rest of the way to Rocket Town by foot, while her breathing grew even more labored with each mile. Vincent had already been going slower than he normally would have gone through that area, just so that Tifa could keep up with him. They hadn't stopped because they knew they had to get within the vicinity of the town's lights to where Vincent could see, before dark set in. When they had been close enough, the sky was already darkened and Tifa was so tired that she didn't hesitate to ask more than once, "How far off are they?" Vincent ventured that she hadn't traveled on foot even once since their journeys together had ended five months ago.
"…Tifa. Tifa, wake up."
"Hmmmmmm?"
"…Tifa… it is time to go upstairs."
"Mmm? No, no." She lazily waved him off with her hand. "I'm fine, I just…" she yawned, "…I just need to sleep."
"There is a bed waiting for you upstairs."
"I don't know about that. I don't think I can make it. Uhh…just leave me here, I'm good."
"…You are going to feel awful in the morning if you remain in that position. If you come upstairs, you will sleep much better…"
"Really? Wait… what?" Her head fell down and her chin hit her chest. Vincent sighed inwardly and leaned forward, placing his right hand on her shoulder. He began to shake her gently.
"Tifa…" he called softly.
"Mmmm."
"…Tifa!" It was a whispered shout; he rested his clawed hand under her chin and lifted her face up, the light from the slow-turning ceiling fan hitting her closed lids, forcing her to shut her eyes even tighter.
"…Vincent…" she murmured, "never knew you could be so gentle." And then her head lolled to the side, off of his hand and back down to her chest.
Vincent was unsure whether or not she was complimenting him, insulting him, or attempting a sleep-deprived form of sarcasm in light of the fan incident. Whatever it was, she probably wouldn't remember it the next morning, so he didn't need to worry about it. Either way, she stopped responding to his soft tugging and he realized that if she was going to get upstairs that night, he was going to have to carry her there.
Naturally, he had already made up his mind that he was not about to leave her down there all by herself, her body bent in all sorts of unnatural positions, and with that kook behind the counter that he knew nothing about. He bent down on one knee and eased her out of the chair, his claw wrapped around her legs and his hand behind her back and under her arms. He quietly and effortlessly pulled her down onto his thigh and rose up again with her in his arms. As he headed up the stairway, the man behind the counter gave him a knowing smirk, or at least what he had meant to be a knowing smirk. Little did he know that he had no idea whatsoever about anything having to do with the two travelers and their relationship with each other.
They reached the room moments later, Tifa beginning to mumble drink mixes in her sleep, her voice rising and falling as she projected "orders" into his chest. Somehow, he managed to get the key into the lock and turned without letting her go, and he was able to get them both into the room safely. He carried her over to one of the beds and set her down gently before turning to the other bed and pulling down the covers. When the second bed was ready, he turned back to her, picking her up again and setting her into the warm sheets, folding them up over her shoulders. As soon as Tifa had gotten comfortable, her murmuring stopped. He then set about turning down his own bed.
Vincent draped his cloak over the chair in the corner and removed his holster, setting that into the chair as well. He propped Death Penalty up against the wall next to his bed, and removed the Quicksilver from his pack. He clicked the safety on, and then hid the gun beneath his pillow before laying down to rest.
Tifa awoke bright and early the next morning to the sound of running water. She knew that meant that Vincent was in the shower and that she had a little bit of time left before it was her turn, depending on how long he had already been in there. She was unsure of how long they had before they had to check out of the inn and she also didn't know what she was going to end up doing that day. She assumed it would all depend on whether or not Vincent decided to go with her or stay in Nibelheim, though she hoped he would go with her. It was kind of hard to start an adventure when there was nothing to do, and it was also kind of hard for one to find themselves when there were no circumstances through which to do it. But something told her that he was feeling just as alone and empty as she was, probably more so. Who knew? Maybe they could help each other.
Tifa looked around the room, noticing the dresser, the nightstands, and the patterns on the bedspreads. It was a nicely furnished room; it was too bad that she had no idea how she ended up there. The details of the night before were a bit fuzzy still, but she was guessing Vincent had helped her up to the room, because she had only remembered zonking out… 'Ah…wait a minute…'
She continued to look around the room. She saw Death Penalty, Vincent's cape…gun holster. She then realized that they had shared the same room the night before. But then, she remembered that she had heard the shower running after all, and so she should have gathered that. She was only partially awake before, and it was a wonder she did not question to herself why the shower had been running…
'Oh, wait…this means Vincent's in the next room…naked. I- eep!'
She would have eeped aloud, had she not prided herself in being the more mature out of the two girls left on the team. It should not have been a big deal at all; they had all traveled together for a long time and stayed in inns together the world over. It just seemed a foreign concept to her because during their travels, the girls had always stayed in a separate room and for obvious reasons. And no one really knew Vincent that well anyways…
'So this means I have an older, naked man just a few feet away from me. This is wonderful; Dad's turning over and over in his grave right about now. Not like it means anything. Not like Vincent cares about that… Not like I care, either! Oh…enough of this. Savor whatever sleep I have left…I can do all the thinking I want later.'
She buried her face in her pillow, attempting to drift off into blissful sleep once again. No sooner had she just reached the point of slumber than she heard a rustling next to her ear, and she opened her eyes to see one cloaked Vincent Valentine standing over her. He was looking down at her as if he knew she had been awake and was supposed to be getting ready all that time, a bit curious as to why she hadn't.
"That was quick," she stated matter-of-factly.
"I'm not one to waste time."
Tifa felt a sort of guilt set in, but she shrugged it away; she had been tired, and she had wanted to rest. She didn't see anything wrong with that. Still, being around Vincent had always been a humbling experience when it came to fighting and many other things as well. It was as if every time she was around him, she felt like she was doing something incorrectly; skill-wise, manner-wise, socially or whatever the case, she would always feel like she fell short, making everything into an involuntary competition. And the worst part was that she could never be even the slightest bit angry towards him for it because it just came naturally for him. "Right. Well, I get the shower now, right? What do you want to do after that?"
"…We will talk about that when you have finished."
"Alright." And with that, she headed off to the shower.
Vincent started to make the beds, and then seated himself on the edge of the one that had been his during the night. He removed his pistol from underneath the pillow and replaced it within his bag. He then lay back upon the made bed, his hands folded behind his head, metal and flesh alike. He listened to the constant running of the shower in the next room and felt himself oddly relaxed by it.
As he lay there, he began to think about his current situation and Tifa's proposition. As far as he could figure out, she didn't even know what she was looking for, yet it seemed that she wasn't going to quit until she found whatever it was. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, but it couldn't hurt to help her find something to live for. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do with his time, and even if he had, he was already pretty certain that he wouldn't have deserved whatever distraction it happened to be. After all, she had seemed pretty rusty with her skills, and even if the monster population was starting to thin, she may still get into a nasty scrape or two. And he couldn't just leave her to fend for herself against those creatures, especially when some of them tended to hunt in packs.
He was lost in thought, weighing the possible consequences of either decision, when he finally realized at some point that he could no longer hear the running water. Soon after he realized this, Tifa came out of the bathroom, a towel draped over her back, between her blanketing hair and her shirt. She sat down on the bed opposite his.
"So. Will you be going back to Nibelheim later today?"
"…I do not believe I will go back there just yet."
"Well…before you do go, would you at least visit Cid and Shera with me? I'm sure they would love to see you, no matter what you might think the case is."
Vincent had already decided to go on with her, but obviously she had assumed he was planning on returning to the mansion before the day's end. Just this once, he would humor her. "Very well."
(A/N): Hey, thank you to everyone who still keeps up with this story. It gets tough with all the extra work I get now. I'll try to update more than once a week though from now on. I think I'm starting to get a better idea of where I'm going to take this from here on out and how I'm going to bend the story to get there.
Something else for you guys…I don't know how many of you do art also, but I just moved my site to Angelfire, and I'm wanting to put more art up in my fanart section (I'm really into it since I started working with this new paint program- yeah, I ran that Vincent sketch through Paintshop Pro. I'll probably run it through again later and touch it up some more, but for now it's my home page's new mascot- hooray!), and all I have is stuff by me. So if anyone wants me to post their artwork on my site, feel free to send it to my e-mail (both links are in my profile page) with whatever screen name and e-mail address or web site you'd like me to link you to. And I'm pending on acceptance into the "Silence- Vincent Valentine Web ring", so if the site gets accepted, then the art will be virtually linked with the rest of the ring- how cool is that?
Alrighty, well…until the next update. Thanks to everyone for their reviews!
