Chapter Five

Cid came back to find Vincent in the kitchen, leaning against the wall and making no attempt to cover up the fact that he had been waiting for Cid's return.

"Why did you lie, Cid?" He asked, as soon as Cid came through the door.

"Lie?"

"You're not going to Nibelheim tomorrow." Vincent stood still, watching Cid with a gaze that made the pilot's skin crawl.

"Well…yeah…I just didn't feel like going out tonight, an' I didn't wanna hurt her feelings or anything…y'know…"

Vincent stared at Cid for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not the other man was lying. Cid attempted to stand still and hold his gaze while maintaining an honest expression – three things that were incredibly difficult, even by themselves – and was relieved when Vincent finally seemed to silently decide on one or the other and moved to put his cloak on.

Cid got himself a glass of water from the sink and sat, watching Vincent. Suddenly, something occurred to him.

"Say, Vince, you remember Shera? Wasn't she from Kalm?" Wonderful, bastard. You live with the woman for who knows how long and can't even remember where the hell she came from. Great feckin' job, there.

Vincent paused and thought a moment. "I believe so."

"Huh. I thought so."

"Thought so?"

"They have the same kinda accent. Her and your friend. Adelaide."

"Adelia."

"Yeah."

"I hadn't thought of it."

"Oh-ho?" Cid looked skeptically at the gunman, then growled and shook his head. "Ferget it. I'm goin' to bed." As he closed the door to his room, he heard the outside door close as Vincent left, not even saying so much as a "good night".

"Shit," Cid chuckled darkly to himself. "He really is pissed at me."

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By the next afternoon, Cid hadn't seen so much as a sign of Vincent. The other man had disappeared completely, and from the looks of things hadn't even come back in to sleep. But Cid wouldn't let the other man's absence get to him – he was far too proud to admit that Vincent's anger at him actually bothered him.

He spent the day at some small supplier shops, looking for improvements to make on his Sierra. It was an energizing activity for Cid, allowing him to brainstorm to his heart's content. There was, he had always said, a sense of creativity to putting his machines together. It required an ingenuity that most people credited artwork with. Right, he scoffed. Can art fly?

Around one he had finally decided to break for lunch, and was heading towards Seventh Heaven to see what Tifa had on the menu. He was in the perfect mood for an ice-cold beer and a sandwich.

As he reached the right street, however, she appeared around the corner. Cid froze for a millisecond, then spun to the side to stare intently at the window display and hope that she didn't notice him.

Shit, shit, shit. Could she have worse timing?

He stared at the window, his body tense, waiting for her to walk past him.

"Cid?"

No such luck. Cid winced, and put on a nonchalant grin as he turned back to face Adelia. "Yeah?"

She was looking up at him with a mixture of confusion and hurt. "Weren't you going to Nibelheim?"

Cid forced a laugh. "Yeah, well, I was just looking at some merchandise before I left. Just in case I needed anything, y'know."

Adelia frowned, looking at the window display herself. "Women's underwear?"

He flushed, and covered his eyes with his hand. Smooth, Highwind. Feckin' smooth.

"Yeah, well, I…" He pushed his hair back nervously with his hand, averting his eyes from hers.

"Why did you lie to me?" Her soft voice was beginning to take on a slightly sharper tone.

"I…I…" Cid continued, and an angry flush rose up in her cheeks.

"If you didn't want to have dinner, you could have just told me!"

"Well, I…" He stumbled over the words. "I just didn't want to…to…er…"

"I'm not someone who needs to be pitied!" She snapped, the harsh tone of her words making Cid shut his jaw in astonishment. "I'm not that fragile!"

"I wasn't sayin' anything like that!" It was Cid's turn to be frustrated. "I jus' didn't want to hurt your feelings, alright!"

For a moment, she didn't look at him. Then, finally, she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm really…I guess I'm just frustrated about something. No," She bit her lip, passing a hand momentarily over her forehead. "No, that's no excuse. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Can I…get you a drink or something?"

Cid let out a long, slow breath. Couldn't hurt anything. "Sure, why not."

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The Author's Little Corner of Yay…

Wow, that took a while, didn't it? laughs Anyway, thanks for all the support! Chapter six is already in the making, so hopefully it shouldn't take too long to get out….anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to post them!

Love ya -

Deadlyfuzzies.