Author's note: I just had to add Reno somewhere, you know? Haha. To tell you the truth, I very much adore the Turks…maybe that's what adds my liking to Vincent as well.

Characters within the story belong to Square Enix unless otherwise noted.

I just have to ask this again. How's my English? Remember, it's not my first language. When I was in the Philippines, I swear I thought I was losing it. I spoke mostly in Tagalog and my English was so broken with slang and poor grammar that I'm embarrassed to think about it.

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Vincent was silent. His blood red eyes were narrow and fixated towards Reno's and this scared the Turk heavily. This lasted for several minutes and made his body go stiff, thinking he'd lose a leg to the Ex-Turk if he even dared to move incorrectly on the stool he sat on.

"I…was just saying hello?"

The two sat in the bar area of the restaurant while Tifa was left with the rest of the Turks and Rufus, who was wheeling his way around in attempts to find a way out, yet Elena would wheel him right back to the table.

"Fine. Be that way," Reno mumbled as he swigged a bottle of scotch before pouring some in a glass, trying to calm himself from Vincent's glare. "Hey, man. Relax. We ain't here because you are. Just a mighty fine coincidence, is all."

Vincent continued to stare at him, waiting for an explanation. This drove Reno mad. To him, it felt like talking to a statue. One that looked as if it wanted to tear a hole through his throat, but still a statue. He tried his best to loosen up and grinned, forcing out a tiny chuckle.

"We just wanted to take the boss out of Edge for a bit. The fresh air'll do 'im good. Plus, we got pity points since he -is- Rufus Shinra. When they saw him in a wheelchair, bam! We got ourselves a discount! A big one to boot!"

Vincent cocked an eyebrow then turned to sip soda from a small glass. He wasn't planning on getting drunk anytime soon. He had to be careful; especially since he was going to sleep in the same bed with Tifa later that night. He wasn't doing a good job, however, as he nearly picked up one of Reno's vast sea of glasses, slightly out of focus from staring at him for so long.

"So, are you and Tifa…?" Reno nudged Vincent's shoulder cautiously and made a few snapping sounds with the side of his tongue. "You know what I mean?"

The ruby eyed man quirked his brows and sipped from his glass once more.

"No."

"Yay! You talked!…but don't go lyin' to me now, yo. Why would you two be here in a resort town like this with Super Boy Blond nowhere to be seen?"

Vincent rolled his eyes, subconsciously sipping from a glass that was already empty. Reno puffed out in pity then asked the bartender to take Vincent's glass, whispering to give him juice mixed with alcohol, wondering if the stubborn science experiment would notice the change between drinks. As he was handed back the glass, he didn't seem to notice as he sipped once more. He mind must have been far off into space.

"Seesh," the red head scratched the back of his neck in reaction to this then went back to drinking, pouring his own liquor into a tumbler, pushing dozens of used glasses away for the bartender to clean up. He was clearly trying to get drunk to forget that Vincent was suppressing rage. He was like a snake ready to bite his head clean off his shoulders.

Reno watched Vincent and tried to search for words to say. He let his eyes gaze up and down the Ex-Turk's figure. After a minute or two, he almost wanted to comment on his new clothes, but knew that the conversation would take him nowhere. Instead, he wanted to get answers. He wanted to know why Vincent and Tifa were alone together.

"If I were given the chance, I'd hit it," Reno finally said. "Yeah. In a heartbeat."

"Hit what?" Vincent asked, his eyes slowly leaving the counter.

Reno pointed back to the restaurant area where the others were.

Tifa sat next to Rude while Tseng tried to keep Elena under control. Rufus had wheeled over her toes and she was whining uncontrollably and hopping on the spot. She was about ready to drag him to the floor to wheel over his back, forgetting the fact that he was her boss and was only thinking about the pain.

Tifa sighed, looking up at Rude slowly. In return, he looked back at her. They were silent and it was awkward. Very awkward. She was blank and could think of no words to say as she looked at her reflection with his shades. He, in the other hand, rarely talked in the first place, so this was nothing new to him.

"Uh…hi, Rude."

"Hello…Tifa."

Reno and Vincent looked away from the table then back at their drinks.

"That's what I'd hit," Reno answered. "I'd hit that hot piece of ass any day."

"Rude?" Vincent said between sips of his second glass of the alcohol, still not acknowledging the switch of drinks. "…whatever floats your boat, I presume."

"Huh? Oh! Haha…ha. I get it, Vince. You were tryin' to be funny. Wow, that's a good one," Reno chuckled out, soon shuddering heavily from a mental image of Rude in his underwear. "I think I just scarred myself… …bah! You know what I meant. I'd go for Tifa."

Finishing another glass, Vincent lightly banged it down upon the countertop; the barkeep poured him more of the drink in response.

"So?" he muttered.

"If she ever gave me the tiniest opportunity to touch her, I'd screw her until next month."

There was another long pause between them, to Reno's surprise. Instead of yelling, Vincent just sat there. This almost made the red headed Turk reconsider his assumptions between the 'beauty and beast,' but as soon as Vincent's hand lifted, his assumptions returned as he found his head trapped in a vice-like hold between the Ex-Turk's fingertips.

"Know what?" Vincent said as he caught a handful of Reno's hair in his hand.

"W-what…?" Reno squeaked out quietly, his body shriveling at the thought of what might happen next.

Vincent guided his hand down along Reno's hair then leaned his head close to his, making the red head's eyes widen and blush. Just as soon as he thought he was just advancing due to intoxication, Vincent grabbed his ponytail, pulled his head back then slammed his forehead against the counter, making the glasses rattle.

"Don't -ever- touch Tifa. Don't even dare imagine such thoughts."

"Okay, okay!…I'm sorry! …geez, man. Ow."

Reno hunched forward in agony as he held his hands to his forehead. He took off his goggles; a faint imprint of its rims could be seen lining the top of his forehead due to the force of the slam. Vincent sneered at the small display of cringing and whimpering then stood from his stool to go back to the others.

"And Reno…" he said lowly, the rasp in his voice unnervingly calm. "As much as I am thankful for some liquor here and there…you're paying."

"Eh? You knew? …God! My head feels like it was hit by a car…"

"It wasn't hard alcohol. I'm still sober enough to know that you're an imbecile."

As Vincent left back to the table, Reno forced himself to sit straight

"So…I was right…"

By this time, Elena was still whaling about her toes. Tseng took a seat then forced her onto his lap in attempts to soften her whines, hugging his arms around her firmly to keep her still. She struggled and flailed her arms until she realized where she was, soon going silent to secretly relish the moment. Unfortunately for her, Tseng was oblivious to the fact that she was lusting for him. He only did this to protect Rufus.

"Tifa," Vincent suddenly whispered close in her ear, placing his hands upon her shoulders. "It's getting late. Let's get some rest."

"Yeah, you're right," Tifa whispered back, glad that he came before it got worse. "I've had enough of watching this. It's getting embarrassing."

"You're telling me…"

X-X-X-X

Back in their inn room, the two nearly sulked by the door, exhausted from being with the Turks.

"To think I was a Turk almost certainly when that drunk wasn't even born…or at least in his diapers," Vincent trailed off, taking off his shoes and socks. "Either quality died with the years…or with alcohol whenever it comes into contact."

Tifa giggled, which perplexed him a little.

"Did I say something funny?"

"Hmm? Oh…no, you didn't. I just find this cute."

As he was knelt down to organize the footwear, she leaned forward to hug her arms around him. He placed his hands upon hers, letting her rest her head upon his shoulder.

"At least Reno got your mind off of earlier."

Vincent had forgotten his worries, looking downward to think. When it hit him, he sighed, forcing a faint, but still apparent smile to lace his lips.

"I can't believe I did that to you," he said softly.

"I let you, though," she stated, releasing him to go change into a nightgown. "I wanted more too…"

He stood up to watch her, no longer shy to see her undress while he was present. Nevertheless, he took his attention away out of respect then proceeded to change his own clothes by the opposite side of the bed.

Taking off his jacket, his mind still seethed freshly in Reno's words. They danced in his head with high heels shoes instead of ballerina slippers, pounding into his skull over and over.

No one can touch Tifa, he thought to himself, nearly tearing the shirt he wore since he was paying no attention to undressing. No one. Only me. Only…

Vincent's ruthless expression softened into a frown, realizing that he was becoming overprotective.

What am I thinking? She is not an object…why am I so possessive?

Vincent shook his head then changed his clothes hastily, sitting on the bed soon after. While he had been fighting with himself, Tifa turned on the TV, sitting on the bed with her legs curled towards her chest. Hoping she didn't notice his little moment, he slid over to watch beside her.

"What did he say to you?" Tifa asked without looking at him, flipping through the channels. "I saw what you did to him."

"Hrm? He was just being foolish. The usual."

Turning off the TV, she sighed as she placed the remote on the nightstand. Turning to look at him, she leaned close enough so that they were nose to nose.

"You're hiding something."

Caught by the close stare of her auburn eyes, he turned his head away, making fists with his hands.

"His perversion sickens me."

"And…?"

"I got overprotective when he made a sleazy remark…about you."

Tifa smiled then leaned against Vincent's side, snaking her hands around him to kiss his cheek.

"Huh?" he turned his head to look at her. "What was the kiss for?"

"You acted as if I was your woman," she smiled. "And this is only our first date. Never knew you could care so much."

He paused for a moment then bent over to kiss her forehead.

"The date itself doesn't matter. I've known you long enough to care in the first place. Now…we better go to sleep."

She nodded in agreement then turned to turn off the lamp from her side of the bed. He did the same with the lamp at his side. They looked at each other in the dark then turned away slowly soon after as if still shy despite their recent conversation. As the two settled down on the bed, they were slightly distanced from each other as Vincent pulled the covers over them both. Tifa had her back turned to him and he did the same to her.

"Goodnight, Vincent," Tifa said as she closed her eyes to rest.

Vincent did nothing to return the words at first, making her softly sigh in disappointment. Just as soon as she was drifting into slumber, warmth of his body encircled her as he embraced her from behind and pulled her close to his chest. His hands played with the lace of her nightgown then settled upon her slender arms. Her body tingled in response, squirming to turn to hug him in return, but he gripped her firmly in place to make sure that sleep will just be sleep and nothing more. He took a whiff of her hair leisurely and released a soft, low rumbled growl, his breath teasingly hot against the back of her neck.

"Goodnight, Tifa."