Interrupted from his thoughts of how strange it was not to be wearing his full gauntlet (He'd replaced it with a prototype glove for the night that had a plate of the same gold as the gauntlet on the back of his hand), he noticed Yuffie was moving around. Climbing to his feet, Vincent waited for the ninja princess to leave her home so he could fall in behind her. Not like he didn't know where she was going, but he wanted to be able to keep an eye on her while she was on her way. Soon enough, the elaborately carved front door swung open almost silently, and the object of his thoughts stepped into the scant moonlight. Having eyes that preferred the dark became an asset in a job such as this.

"Telling her won't do you any good..." Chaos teased from the back of his mind, faltering his steps only slightly as he began to follow his target. "She'd rather be with someone who abused her than a monster."

"Maybe so," Vincent replied to himself, "But I can always rescue her and let her go free." It hurt to think that would be what it came down to, but... He looked at his gauntlet, the symbol of his sins. His arm was unrecognizable underneath, horribly scarred. And when he removed the casing of cold, glittering gold, Chaos could take control of him entirely if he so wished. No woman, especially not one as perfect and full of life as Yuffie, could ever want to stay with someone who was barely even human.

At least to this rebuttal, Chaos had no reply. Perhaps the demon realized Vincent was making himself miserable just fine.

xoxoxo

Ducking her head, Yuffie pulled the hood of her cloak further up as she entered the dimly lit establishment, heading straight for the end of the bar. Unnoticed, another cloaked figure caught the door before it clicked shut and followed her inside.

The bar looked the same as it did every other night- smoke hung in the air, about half the seats were filled with patrons, and a band playing rock music filled drowned out the background noise. The lighting was minimal and mostly provided by candles in sconces on the walls, giving the whole area a surreal quality. No women were here alone besides the princess, unless you counted the small group of hookers in the back corner. Several couples held each other close on the wooden dance floor, dancing drunkenly, for the most part out of time with the music. Yuffie hadn't bothered to check a clock- maybe the night was already in full swing.

Sliding onto her normal stool, Yuffie waved the bartender over. She didn't even have to ask for her first shot- the bartender brought it right off the bat. Oh, the joy of a white Russian.

She had been sipping her drink quietly for a few minutes, when she started to feel like someone was watching her. Blinking, she glanced around and noticed a dark haired Wutain guy watching her. When he noticed her looking back, he took a few bold steps forward. "Um, hello. My name is Toshi, and I was just wondering if I might buy you a drink."

Yuffie nodded, returning her attention to her first drink and finishing it off in one long sip. "Deal." She said as he took the seat beside her.

"I've seen you here almost every night since I arrived, last week, and I finally decided to come say hello." The guy commented before ordering a drink of his own. "What would you like?" He added, motioning to the surprised looking barkeep. Yuffie had never let anyone buy her a drink before.

"Coke and Rum." She decided almost without hesitation, pushing her empty glass away to be taken.

He was silent for a few moments as the two looked each other over. This "Toshi" was tall and dark-skinned, as if he spent a lot of time outside. His hair and eyes were classically dark, like most other members of Wutai's race, and his features were well-defined. He was wearing a heavy cloak, like herself, so it was hard to tell, but it looked like he was also well-built. Of course, he got loads of points for talking to her at all.

"So." He said, maybe deciding he liked what he saw, "What's your name?"

Yuffie blinked a few times, trying to think of how to respond. "Kanna." She said, using the name of her usual attendant. If the guy was new in town, he wouldn't recognize the name.

With a smile that almost impressed her, he put out a hand. "Nice to meet you, miss Kanna." Taking it gently, she shook it.

"Nice to meet you." She said softly, returning her attention to her to her new drink.

xoxoxo

When the stranger approached Yuffie, Vincent felt a stirring of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach that got worse when he bought her a drink and held out his hand.

He watched them from his corner for a while, hand around what had to be his twentieth drink, as they proceeded to get fairly shit-faced. Finally, when the man stood up and asked her to dance, he'd had enough. Drink in tow, he rose to his feet and lurched over to where the couple was dancing, much too close for Vincent's comfort, and proceeded to "accidentally" spill his drink on the guy.

After some swearing and blustering that was most ungentlemanly, the stranger excused himself to the bathroom to wash up.

Taking a deep, bracing breath, Vincent touched Yuffie on the shoulder as she was heading back to the bar. "Dance with me?" He asked, only the slightest indication in his voice that the statement was a question.

xoxoxo

It was that guy again, the one that reminded her of Vincent, the one she kept bumping into. Hell, maybe somehow it was him. "Um, okay." She said, following him into the crowd on the floor. It seemed that almost everyone was dancing now. Unsure of how exactly he wanted to dance, she asked him. "How…"

The stranger, whose face was obscured by a hood much like her own, responded by taking her hand in his and turning her away from him before putting his hands on her hips and pulling him close so their bodies were pressed together in an indecent sort of way. She tried to interject, to say that dancing this way wasn't her thing, but instead her hands settled sleepily over his, and the only thing that came out of her mouth was a satisfied little "Nnn…"

This couldn't be Vincent, she realized as their bodies began to sway to the slow music in rythm. Because Vincent had a big old claw on his arm, and the guy holding onto her left hip had a normal hand. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back and out against the stranger's broad chest, exposing her neck, trying to picture she was being held by monster-man.