(Note: A very big thanks goes out to my buddy on DeviantArt, "IAmLazarus". She elected to help with this section, and wrote Cloud's dialogue—or lack thereof. If you want to give her your own thanks, go visit her page. Thanks also goes out to anyone who has reviewed, or is about to review. Thanks for taking the time!)
Three in the morning was not a good time of night for Cloud Strife. He'd never been particularly adverse to that specific hour, as 6AM reminded him far more of the wake up calls he'd heard every day as a SOLDIER.
Who was calling him?
He reached over to the nightstand, night air cold on his bare arm. After a moment of fumbling, he grasped the phone, squinting blearily at the name of the caller.
Yuffie? Cloud let out a breath of exasperation. He almost answered, then thought better of it. No, too early. Especially for that voice. It rang again, the tones far too cheery in the darkness. Narrowing his eyes, he flipped it back to the table, pulling a pillow over his head and groaning. Whatever Yuffie wanted to say could wait until he woke up. She'd understand. Despite recent attempts to change the habit, he'd never been one for answering his phone.
The phone continued to ring.
Cloud reached for a spare blanket to pull over his head in addition to the pillow, when a soft sound caught his attention. Someone was shifting around in the room next door… in Tifa's room.
He groped for it again, this time flipping it open. Yuffie's voice could be heard on the other end, chattering away, but he wasn't listening. He set the ringer to "silent" and hung up, flopping back into bed with another irritated sigh.
I--------I
A very unladylike explicative issued from Yuffie's lips.
"You hung up!" She shoved her phone back into her pocket, still wishing a hundred horrible curses on the spikey-haired blonde. "I can't believe you! Of all the…" She quieted, glancing over at her friend-turned-patient. Vincent remained unconscious, however, she'd managed to get him to lean back against the bed this time, with only his shoulder brushing hers. She'd tried moving, but he only slumped over onto the floor.
Her dark eyes came to rest on his pocket.
"Where can I buy a phone?"
The gruff words came back to her and she grinned. "Sorry buddy," she said, cautiously sliding a hand into his pocket. The last thing she wanted was for him to wake up with her in such a compromising position. Thankfully, he did not stir, even as she pulled the black device free. It still looked new.
Flipping it open, she cycled through the numbers, noting glumly that none of them were tagged with names. "You and your loner complex," she grumbled.
It took time, but with her phone as a reference, she located Cloud's number once more. "Maybe you'll pick up now," she snickered.
I--------I
The phone on Clouds nightstand vibrated. His was a fairly heavy sleeper and so did not notice, at least until it began to move towards the end of the stand. The whole table vibrated then as the phone suddenly fell. A quick hand caught it in mid air.
Again, his eyes squinted. Vincent? It had to be a wrong number—caller ID or no. Annoyance was overcome by curiosity, and even a little worry. He didn't want to put up with this, but Vincent would never call unless it was important.
He flipped the phone open. "Vince?" he said in a quite and doubtful voice.
"You got some nerve hanging up on me!"
The raging voice on the other end was definitely not his stoic companion's. Cloud's head sank down into the pillow. "I'm hanging up now."
"No no no!" The words blurred together into one long negative. "Don't! I need your help!"
He paused, waiting for her to continue. It was just long enough to spur her into frustration.
"What is with all of you guys? Strong silent types… give me a break! You annoy the heck outta me!" Another pause, this time on her end. "Say something already! I call and say I need help and you just look at your phone? Come on Cloud! Tell me you're on your way or something!"
His reply was somewhere between a scoff and a short, terse laugh.
"Oh that's nice. Good one, Cloud. Laugh away," she snapped. "And, hey, aren't you even a little bit curious why I've got Tall, Dark and Broody's phone?" Some of the panic had receded from her voice. She sounded more like Yuffie.
"What did you do now?"
"I didn't do anything! Heck, you should probably be thanking me instead of accusing me!"
Her voice was loud over the phone, enough so to possibly wake one of the orphans in the house, and then, Tifa. He lowered his voice a bit to give Yuffie a hint. It wouldn't do to wake the whole place. "Fine," he murmured. "Then, what's going on?"
She hesitated. "It's… It's Vincent."
Cloud frowned. "Yuffie," he began, his voice more stern. "Is he okay?"
"Um… Not really." Muffled sounds of shifting came over the phone, sounds of someone repositioning themselves.
Now he sat up. "What do you mean 'not really'?" He glanced over his shoulder, realizing he had raised his voice. He thought he heard stirring again.
"Well... you see... he's kinda... passed out right now."
"Vincent doesn't drink." He relaxed slightly. Maybe it wasn't anything serious after all.
"I don't mean drunk! I mean like… he fainted." Yuffie's voice fell, taking on a worried tone. "I think he's real sick, Cloud."
Well that was unexpected. He paused again, mulling it over. "What exactly is wrong with him?"
She listed off the symptoms, voice faltering until one could almost hear her fidget. "He's got a fever... and he's dizzy. Makes me haul him around like a big sack of flour. And then he... y'know... got... sick. Out the window, I think." Silence for a beat. "Now he's passed out... With nasty dreams."
"Sounds like a cold. Really bad one." He gave another odd mix of a scoff and a laugh, rising to his feet. He paced the room, quietly. It was easier to think that way. "I think that's the only kind that could take him."
Yuffie's next words were soft and small, at odds with her earlier tirades. "I need help, Cloud… I don't know what to do…"
Again, there was a pause. Cloud propped his elbow up against the doorframe, leaned his head on his hand, and stared out into the hall. "Listen, Yuffie… I don't know wh-"
"Cloud...please!"
A new voice cut in, clearing its throat. He looked up, coming face-to-face with a bleary-eyed Tifa. She folded her arms, raising a questioning eyebrow. Behind her, Denzel yawned, heading back to his room after accomplishing his task of tattling on Cloud. "What's wrong?" she asked simply, stifling a yawn herself. "I heard Yuffie's yelling all the way from my room."
In response, a squeal of "Tifa!" arose from Cloud's phone. He ignored it.
"What is it?" She approached him, bare feet quiet in the dark hall. It had to be important. Cloud never answered his phone. And when he did, he usually didn't wear such a serious face—more often it was blank.
An excited babble came again from the phone. It sounded suspiciously like "Tifa, help!" She raised an eyebrow.
"You should go back to bed," was all he said.
Tifa scoffed. "So are you. Put it on speaker," she told him, moving past the door, into his room. "She's yelling at me, after all." He turned to face her, still leaning in the doorway, though his back was now to the hallway.
With a flick of his finger, Yuffie's familiar chatter flooded the room. "Am I on speaker now?" She didn't pause for conformation. "Okay, good. Tifa, you can help!"
"I'll try."
"Okay, this is weird… um… lemme say ask this first. That way maybe you won't be too freaked out: What does Cloud do when he's sick?"
Cloud's response was cut off as Tifa chuckled. "He hides it," she said. This earned a burst of irritation from the phone. He shut his mouth, running a hand through his hair. Blue eyes locked, frowning, on the ground. Then they snapped up, focusing on Tifa. It was one of his more serious expressions, the kind that said: we don't have time for this.
"So I was right, something is wrong." Tifa sat on the bed, resting her arms on her knees. "Tell me." Her voice dropped to her gentle range, the tone she took with the orphans.
"Something's going on with Vincent," Cloud answered, sliding a hand over the phone's speakers. Yuffie had quieted, but muttered to something in the background, distracting him.
Tifa blinked. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Is he in trouble?"
"No." Cloud shook his head. "Yuffie says he's sick."
Silence reigned. "Is that what she meant by 'weird'?" she asked, turning the idea over in her head. "I guess she's right… I didn't think he… I mean with everything that happened…" She propped her chin in her hands. "So, I guess that's why she was yelling for help, huh?"
"I'm still here, you know!" came the tinny voice of the girl in question, oddly garbled by Cloud's hand over the speaker.
Both looked toward the phone, as if surprised that Yuffie was, indeed, still on the other end. "What do you need us to do?" asked Tifa, coming to Cloud's side. It was easier to hear from there. For his part, he held the device out between them.
"Guys, I'm high and dry here! Any advice would be good!" Dull thuds followed her voice—she was pacing. "I'm worried about him…"
"Hm." Tifa's brow creased. "I would make sure he sleeps, for starters—" She paused to allow for Yuffie's noise of disbelief. "You heard me. You want my help, you're going to take it, no comments." Silence. "Okay. Sleep, water, and get some cloth, dip it in cold water and drape his forehead in it, if he has a fever."
"Gotcha!" answered the girl. "I know where I can get that stuff too… But…" Her cheer faded as quickly as it sprung up. "What if that's not enough?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… what if that doesn't work? I tried the potion shop already…" The worry in her voice faded into indignation. "But the big jerk had padlocks bigger than my head!" She paused. Tifa held her breath, partially dreading what would come from this bout of thought.
"Hey, Cloud?" In answer, the blonde tipped his head slightly closer to the phone. "What about the… y'know… the spring? In the church? Could you bring us some of that? We're just in Nibelhiem… it's not that far away and…"
Tifa cut her off. "Yuffie! It's the Lifestream! Not a pharmacy!" she scolded. She caught sight of the look in Cloud's eye and almost winced. Time to diffuse the situation. "It's Vincent we're talking about! He can't be that bad off."
"Tifa's right," murmured Cloud. "Besides, we've only seen it work on Geostigma."
There was another indignant sound from the phone. "We could at least try!" Yuffie growled. "Aeris never let us down before!"
Another silence fell over the two, this one heavier than the last. Tifa swallowed, feeling as if she should say something, but nothing came. She couldn't see Cloud's face from where she stood. Working past her frozen throat, she summoned her courage to speak, but a voice from behind distracted her.
"Tifa? Why does Yuffie want the water?"
She turned, startled, and spotted the small form in the doorway. Her heart sank. Marlene looked up at her, small brow furrowed in thought. "You should be in bed, sweetie," Tifa said, kneeling.
"Yuffie's loud," the child announced, coming forward to embrace Tifa. "And woke me up." Dark eyes glanced towards the phone. "Is the water for Vincent?"
"What makes you say that?"
"You're loud too, Tifa," said Marlene, matter-of-factly. "I heard you say his name."
A faint blush crept into the older woman's cheeks. "Yeah," she finally conceded. "It's for Vincent."
Marlene's face took on a look of concern, then fear. "He's okay, right?" She looked towards Cloud, briefly, then back at Tifa, clutching her nightshirt. "He's not sick like Denzel and Cloud were, is he?"
Mentally cursing Yuffie's voice with every one of Cid's favorite sayings, Tifa held the child tight for a moment, shushing her. "No, sweetie, he's not," she soothed. "He'll be okay."
"Let's try it."
Tifa looked up, surprised by the sudden, terse words. Over the phone, Yuffie celebrated, describing the inn between bouts of jubilation. Cloud looked down at her—no, at Marlene, and nodded briefly, his decision made. He picked up his shirt from where it lay on the ground, then headed out into the hall. "I'll tell Vincent you said 'hello', Marlene," he said over his shoulder.
"Thank you, Cloud!" Yuffie practically shouted. He winced. She was still on speaker.
He grunted, then paused on the stairs. "Yuffie?"
"Yeah?"
"Why not first try all that materia you have…? All that materia… in the lock box?"
A nervous laugh escaped her. "Oh yeah! Um... you didn't want that back, did you? Because, I could hang onto it for a while longer if you wanted..." He could almost hear her toying with it as she spoke.
"No." His voice was flat, toneless.
"Geez, fine, fine. You can have it back. Most of it's boring anyway."
He failed to rise to the barb. "I'll see you in the morning then," he said, and hung up.
Tifa joined him shortly in the garage, holding a blanket around her shoulders. He slid his goggles on, and she melted from view in the dimness. Marlene was nowhere to be seen, having been presumably sent back to bed. He nodded to her, and she smiled back. "Be careful!" she called.
Another nod. Any words would have been drowned out as Fenrir's engine gunned, speeding its rider away in the steely, predawn light.
I---------I
"Y'know, for someone who has no torso, you're really heavy."
Not surprisingly, she received no answer. She was perched on the edge of the bed, catching her breath. It had been a feat to haul her taller comrade into even the low, rickety bed. Yuffie was just thankful he'd removed his boots. She really didn't want to lose an eye to those things. Throughout her manhandling, he'd only stirred once or twice, never fully waking. His breath was slow, occasionally ragged, and it bothered her. At least it didn't look as if he was dreaming again.
She bounced a bit in place, thinking. It was still dark, and there were still things she needed to… pick up… before Cloud arrived. He'd said "morning", which, in typical Cloud fashion, left nothing to certainty.
"Might as well get started!" she told the air, hopping off the bed in a smooth motion.
In response to her movement, Vincent shifted. He inhaled sharply, which only resulted in a spasm of coughing. Yuffie froze. She was torn. If she left, who knew what would happen to him. If she didn't, there wouldn't be anything she could do besides sit in the dark and wait for Cloud.
Her eyes came to rest on her pile of belongings, specifically a bulging pouch, draped on her shuriken. Maybe it would work… it couldn't hurt to try. If it didn't cure him, it might, at least, help.
It was a good plan, and she would have been out the door in a matter of minutes, had the abused pouch not chosen that moment to let its seams run. Before Yuffie could dive to intercept them, materia spilled out, rolling in all directions with a clatter. She swore, and scrambled to collect them. A few rolled under her feet. Before she noticed, despite pin-wheeling her arms, she had fallen flat on her face. Cursing colorfully, she remained in that position, shooing the materia back into a corner.
As she worked, a low sound reached her ears. Confused, she looked around, trying to locate the source. When she found it, she nearly fell back to the ground in shock. Red eyes stared back at her, glazed and feverish. Vincent was awake, then… but…
"Are you… laughing?" she squeaked.
His laugh wasn't bad, she had to admit. Deep, low in his throat, it sounded rough and unused, but it grew on her. And it continued to do so as he showed no signs of stopping. As much as she was beginning to enjoy it, the strangeness was more than a little creepy.
"I… guess you saw that, huh?" Yuffie asked, feigning a smile. He's delirious! her mind gibbered. He didn't answer, just kept laughing. The longer it went on, the more worried she became. It had to be the fever. Vincent didn't do humor. Irony, he would only participate in occasionally. Humor was as taboo as it got. "So… does this mean you're feeling better?"
"Cloud's materia?" The hoarse words were choppy, vying for space with his sudden fit of mirth.
"Uh, yeah." Yuffie rubbed the back of her neck, nervous. "He's gonna come pick it up… eventually. I kinda forgot to give it back…" She picked out a gleaming, green orb, turning it over in her hands. "You didn't answer my question, Vince."
He didn't seem to hear her. "Don't break it," he rasped.
Materia in hand, she stood, approaching him. "Are you even listening to me?' she asked. "Do you hear me?" Looking down, she saw his eyes slide shut, the flicker of a smirk lingering on his lips. "Great. You're asleep again." She sighed. "You're lucky I like you, Vince. This is harder than I thought."
She slid the materia into an empty slot on her wristband. It fell into place with a satisfying "click". She held her hands over him, preparing to summon the healing properties of the materia. Then stopped.
…How did Aeris make this thing work again?
The others, understandably so, had never given her the opportunity to get her hands on any Cure Materia during their travels. Tifa took up the burden instead, leaving Yuffie with her barrage of offensive spells—not that she'd minded at the time. However, there wasn't much a fire spell could do in her current situation. Save for burning down the inn.
She tried focusing on the materia, coaxing it to release its spell. It worked on the others. Logic dictated it would work on this. To her surprise, cool green light drifted across her fingers, emanating from the orb in her wristband. Yuffie grinned. "Not as hard as they make it look," she said.
Trying to be careful, she held her hand in Vincent's vague direction, half expecting it not to work. She was pleasantly surprised to see the green light center on his chest, fading on contact. That had to be a good sign. It was an even better sign as, while she watched, his breathing eased, and the shadows beneath his eyes grew shallower. Victorious, she broke concentration.
The magic left her tired, as it always did, but elated. She felt as if she could cartwheel across a rooftop, accompanied by a few handsprings.
Actually… that might not be a bad idea…
"I'll be right back," she told him. As an afterthought, she pulled the blanket up higher, to keep any drafts away. "Don't go anywhere!"
Collecting the necessary tools, Yuffie ducked out the window, careful to close it behind her.
(Cloud is a bastard to write dialogue for. On that note: TBC)