AN: Well, here's part two. Hope it stills entertains and inspires.
Chapter 9 – Bouree Bouffe Part II
Somewhere along the trail of happy and costumed children, Yuffie Kisaragi and Rinna Delacroix managed to sneak off, and as they saw it; unnoticed too. Yuffie dragged another along also; a masked and hooded figure she had brought with her earlier. They were beyond the watchful eyes of the other ex-AVALANCHE members now, heading towards less friendly portions of the city.
"Can I take this off now? It's stuffy in here," the masked figure spoke, muffled by the costume.
"Sure, Barret and the others are gone," Yuffie said, adjusting her outfit, since leather never had a tendency to stay put. Rinna looked excited, and was attempting to shorten her kimono.
"Ah, I can breathe!" Cloud exclaimed, shaking his slightly matted head. Yuffie gave him a wink and sauntered over.
"Ready for a real party?" she said huskily, with a bit of amusement in her voice. Rinna jumped up and down and clapped, while Cloud freed himself of the hooded robe his was wearing, revealing his real costume.
"I should have known..." Yuffie said, shaking her head and indicating towards his costume, keeping the fit of laughter to herself.
"Am I not dashing?" he asked, with a wink. Rinna giggled.
"Hmm...hair standing straight up, red coat, glasses, gun..." Yuffie took a verbal inventory, and then rolled her eyes, "Not Rash the Humanoid Gale! You watch too many cartoons..."
"At least I watched cartoons as a kid," he muttered, making sure his hair was still standing up, "You probably were too busy stealing materia." She frowned, looking all the more devilish as she did so.
"Touche. Now get your ass moving, I need to make a dramatic entrance," she muttered, grabbing his arm and dragging him behind her.
Elsewhere...
Tifa closed her eyes and swallowed hard for a moment. His hand still lingered on her chin, warm and gently coaxing her to look at him. She tenatively gripped his prosthetic hand; it was inhumanly cold, like the breath that escaped slowly from her lips.
Then she opened her eyes.
She had not lingered long on his appearance before, only seeing the hazardous strokes with the pencil or brush as she applied it carelessly on his face. She suppressed the smirk at the irony of him being in the makeup while she wore none; she didn't have the time to most days. Vincent looked oddly suited for such glamour, with the dark pencilling around his eyes, making them luminous in daylight. He looked so breakable, so easy to fade away...
"Dreams... about... her?" she asked, regretting the words as they escaped her trembling lips. He released her chin, trying to fade, trying to go back to the specter he knew well.
"No," she said, a light pressure on his prosthetic hand, "...Don't." He turned his shadowed eyes to her, the black rims and silvery lids shielding the crimson until it was nearly burgundy. So cold.
"Dreams..." he repeated, soft, insistent, and almost demanding, "...Not nightmares." He did not pull the hand away, but she felt the sudden flush of warmth from the ghost of a hand, as if it wanted her to believe it had blood, not machinery, coarsing through its veins.
"How strange it must be," she spoke, feeding off of the brief warmth, "To be able to dream. After so many nightmares..." A shaky finger to her lips silenced her, and on impulse, she placed her hand around its atttached wrist, but not from defense.
He carefully freed the hand, finding only the weakest of resistences. He gently pushed back her bangs, and she looked up, with the sad smile she wore when no one was looking, when no one was around.
"I dream..." he said softly leaning in next to her ear, "...about redemption." He finished off the breath with a pale kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes again, leaning into him, into an unsteady and careless embrace.
Later, Elsewhere...
"You're being a real drag, ya know," Rinna stated firmly, sitting at the table across from Cloud, giving her the best approximation of an evil eye she could think of. He shrugged.
"Your threats mean nothing, punk," he harmlessly snarled at her, "Besides, it isn't like I'm supposed to do anything but drink right now." He knocked back his drink quickly, deftly illustrating his point. The girl rolled her eyes.
"You're lucky Yuff doesn't let me drink," she muttered, resting her head in her hand, "Or I'd be drinking you under the table." He snorted.
"Speaking of the devil," he said, looking around the crowded club, "Where'd she go?" His eyes scanned the crowd, once in awhile lingering on something red, not finding her.
"I'll get her!" Rinna said cheerfully, almost eager to leave his presence. He gave her a skeptical look and then waved her on.
"I need another drink anyway," he muttered, flagging down a server.
Rinna swerved through the mass of costumes and sweat, oddly graceful in the platform thong sandals she wore. She was greeted with a miriad of unfamiliar and sometimes frightening faces and masks, and felt small amongst them. The effect of the lights, and the pounding of the music was unsettling, and she was almost ready to go back to the table, and watch Cloud be morose and drunken some more.
Then she saw her, in all her deviled glory.
Rinna smiled and waved at her friend. Yuffie waved back, while the girl wriggled her way over.
"I'd like you to meet Rinna," she said, talking to the man standing next her. Rinna blinked, not having noticed the man before. He nearly matched Yuffie, with a red suit and tie, with a black dress shirt, charmingly ruffled yet still flattering. His hair even matched the ensemble, and the girl wondered if it was natural or dyed, as it was a particularly brilliant shade of red.
"Hey Rinna," he drawled, with an accent she couldn't place. He held out his hand, and she shook it firmly.
"Who is-"Rinna began, but was thwarted as Yuffie cleared her throat.
"An old friend," Yuffie said, giving the man a sly look. He smirked and leaned against the wall, completely at ease in the surroundings.
"Well, Spike's worried," Rinna exaggerated, giving the man a distrustful glare, "You should probably go talk to him." Yuffie groaned.
"Is she talkin about..." he muttered, giving Yuffie an amused look, "...Strife?" The shinobi nodded, and turned to go.
"See ya around," he said, and then grabbed her hand, leaving a light kiss on it. Yuffie yanked her hand back forcefully, and gave him a quick smile.
"Is he drunk yet?" Yuffie asked Rinna, when the man was out of earshot. Rinna nodded.
"Well, tonight's turning out to be a good night," she continued, studying the slip of paper in her hand, with bold and quickly scribbled numbers on it.
Elsewhere...
"Are we dreaming?" she asked, having broken away, back to being careful, "Do I have to wake up?" He shook his head, confidently willing her look straight at him.
"You say you are haunted," Vincent began, melodic and soothing, "You talk about nightmares. If there is one thing I have learned about nightmares..." Then he stopped, considering his voice for a moment. Her legs willed her to sit, and she did, slowly lowering herself to the floor. He knelt down in front of her, unwilling to break the eye contact.
"I am, Vincent. Haunted by what could have happened... I would have chosen Hell. I would have..." she looked down, the tears finally breaking her control, and she sobbed like a child, unwilling to act secure anymore.
And he let her, even as she reached out, clinging to him possessively. He let her form fall into him, and he let her stay, sitting on his lap.
"You didn't have to keep this to yourself," he said gently, "I wouldn't have thought badly of you. Even if you had damned all of existence." She sniffed, and looked up at him, with an almost childish sort of admiration in her eyes.
"Really?" she said, her tone hoarse from crying. He nodded.
"Was it not you who told me that 'friends know about the other's ugly parts," he muttered, a slight smile tugging at his mouth, "They just see the better parts shining through'?" He half smiled, the other half of his mouth threatening to also.
"Smile," she said, quietly asking, "The real one. I like it." He relunctantly complied, and her lips trembled, as a less violent onslaught of tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Will you stay?" she asked, wiping away her tears briskly, "Even after we get out of here? We could be your family..." He lightly kissed her forehead again. She shuddered a little at the contact, her senses far too strong.
"In time," he whispered into her hair, "...When I can be honest too."
Theme Songs: Bring Me to Life Evanescence (sooo perfect for the Vincent and Tifa scenes) Is It Me? Is It True? Midtown
AN: Yes, Rash the Humanoid Gale is FF7 world's version of Vash from Trigun. I think Cloud could pull it off. And I love Vash. So there.
I have a weird pattern...Vincent smiling, while Tifa cries or is almost crying. Odd image that won't get out of my head...
T. Pirate: Give you three guesses who the man in red is.