A Breathtaking Work of Truly Astronomical Genius
III: Scramble Scrabble
Yuffie stared at the young man across from her. Spiky blond hair, glowing blue eyes, and baggage like six airports and a cruise ship.
It was kind of scary, really, how well-adjusted he seemed at times. But eventually, his true nature always outed itself, and the Issues came to the fore.
She looked to her left, where a bird-boned man in a tattered cloak stared at the board.
"Your move, Vinnie," she grinned. "C'mon, it's not that hard a game."
Cloud laughed. "That's right, Vincent. You're making this harder than it has to be. Stop saving your tiles for sepulchral. It's easier to get points if you don't try to do twelve letter words every time."
Vincent glared at Cloud. Sighing, he placed his tiles on the board. C, M, blank.
"S-C-blank-A-M? Scram?" Yuffie asked.
She blinked. Vincent always used the oddest words. Like that time he'd done BONKERS in hangman. She'd never guessed it.
He was an evil, evil man.
But hey! There was room by that M! And she had some blank tiles, too!
She added her tiles one at a time. She started with A.
Cloud groaned. "You have a one-track mind! Is that all you think about?"
Vincent just looked at her with those serious eyes. "Please don't spell what I think you're spelling."
Yuffie found herself getting a little lost in those eyes. She would have wondered if she were developing a crush on Vincent if she hadn't seen it happen to Tifa, too. And Cloud. It seemed like when Vincent made eye contact, you just couldn't help but get lost in those dark, red depths.
His eyes should have made her think of blood. They didn't. Oddly enough, they made her think of the ocean. Ancient Wutaian legend said that when Leviathan had chosen his people, the ocean had turned red like the setting sun and his people had been able to drink it like it were wine.
Every time she looked him in the eyes, she found herself wanting to murmur the Third Prayer to Leviathan and recite that legend.
"Don't spell it," he murmured.
She wasn't. She'd pulled SUMMON and MATERIA already. No, now it was time to pull a little magic out of the sleeve on her left arm.
Speaking of magic... She placed her G.
"Um, Yuffie? Mog? Spelled with an O." Cloud took a sip of coffee and looked over at the sleeping Barrett. "I can't believe I'm letting them do this."
"Aw, Cloud, are you getting worried about Tifa? She can take care of herself, you know, and we need the supplies. And people would recognize you and Barrett."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, finish your word."
Yuffie grinned. She placed her blank tile and her C.
Her grin turned cheeky. "You thought I was doing materia, didn't you?"
"Can you blame us?" Cloud grumbled.
"Nah." She scratched the back of her head. "I guess not."
