"Excuse me, you're what…? You're going to Junon? On your own?" Vincent's tone was dripping with that all-too-familiar disapproval. After the Rufus incident at the masquerade banquet, he was afraid to let her out of his sight. Yes, he was still suffering from the protective parent syndrome (hereafter referred to as PPS). No matter how he tried to think rationally, it was almost like it wasn't getting through his thick skull. He personally thought Cloud would be the one to suffer through such things. About this time, he was feeling a little annoyed. Tifa had chosen to either ignore him or she was trying his patience.
Honestly, she was trying to figure out how to keep herself out of trouble. If she was honest with him, she was ninety percent certain he wouldn't let her go. Before she could even begin to explain, her faithful younger companion burst out with the ill-fated words. "Tifa's going to Junon with me and President Shinra!" When Tifa had first been extended the invitation, the first question was if Marlene could go along. Rufus seemed to like the girl and if not that, he at least approved of her. The older woman had a tendency to take advantage of the situation. At this moment, however, she was wishing she had access to some duct tape. Marlene had gotten her in some heavy trouble.
The red-caped man enfolded his arms over his chest as he turned his sights onto Tifa, "Is that so…? I don't recall you giving me that information, young lady." He was feeling rather grateful to have Marlene around. There was nothing like letting the innocence of a child bring disastrous results to someone else (who wasn't him). There was no way he could let her go now. Rufus Shinra had evil intentions and absolutely needed to be stopped. There was no way Vincent could let anyone or anything that dealt with that man get close to Tifa. And before the brunette had a chance to protest, he felt it was best to stop her before she got any ideas, "You're not going. Neither of you."
While he might have been prepared to turn them both down, he hadn't exactly braced himself for the chorus of whines that came his way. Marlene started first and then Tifa chimed in. Who was he to tell them what they could and could not do! The older woman was going to need to seriously pummel that damn PPS out of him. "But that's not fair! You can't control every aspect of my life just because you don't have a grip on your own!" She started to protest more, but had enough sense to stop herself. Vincent wasn't in the state to listen to reason. That was a similarity the two shared. When they had a belief or an idea, they were less than open-minded to change. Tifa began to pace back and forth slowly and then she paused in her footing. "You know what? Screw you, Vincent Valentine! Screw you and your PPS! Marlene and I are going to Junon with or without your permission."
Perhaps she might have said more, but before she got a chance to, the door to her bedroom was opened by a rather confused Cloud. One look from his perspective and he saw the expression of anger from Tifa, the irritation from Vincent, and the surprise from Marlene. What's going on…? Not hearing a protest from any of the three, he enfolded his arms over his chest. "…Dumb question. Is everything all right? I can hear you guys all the way in the basement." And when he didn't receive anything outside of blank looks, he reached behind him to momentarily close the door. Of course they didn't want anyone else listening in. Now if only they could discuss this rationally.
Tifa had first thought she would remain quiet, but she realised that she didn't have to go into extreme detail to make her point. She only hoped that Marlene would have the sense to remain quiet as well. If she popped out one word about Rufus, the two could consider their vacation over…as well as their lives. "Vincent won't let Marlene and me go to Junon!" When she listened to herself and discovered that whiny voice, she shook her head and planted a hand gently over Marlene's mouth. "Not saying we need his permission, but we would appreciate it. It's not as though Marlene is going on her own. She'll have me and I won't let her out of my sight. Besides, we'd like to have some sister time. There's nothing wrong with that, right?" She shot a silent warning look at Vincent. If he said anything, she would have no problem in confining him to that coffin again.
When the dark-haired man made no effort to respond, Cloud felt he would need to dive a little deeper to find the root of the problem. Most of what Tifa had said was true. If she had been going alone, he would have been nervous. On the other hand, he was more than aware that when Vincent was this stubborn, it was for a sound reason. "Why are you so reluctant to let her go? She can probably take care of herself just fine. It's not as though she's going on her own, after all." It couldn't hurt to at least try and talk some sense into the looming figure beside him. The worst that could happen was a lovely smack upside the head, or something else alongside the lines.
This was really getting annoying. Vincent absolutely abhorred it when Cloud took Tifa's side. There was only one reason that would ever happen. It was all because the blonde-haired man had those pent up feelings for the brunette. Personally he would have found a better outlet for such things, such as his marksmanship skills. A little "target practise" never hurt anyone…except perhaps the people who were deemed as "targets". His glance switched between the two and then down to Marlene who was now tugging at his cape. When his gaze met hers, he knew he should not have looked. She was giving that pleading look, the one that he could never turn down. He leaned over and picked up the smaller brunette, before enfolding an arm around her. I really loathe it when a mere child has great power over me. He shook his head slowly, in disbelief, inwardly scolding himself for playing a part in this whole damned charade. Why couldn't Tifa get someone else to do this for her? She must have known he was a little weak for her. "…Very well then. Due to Cloud's sound reasoning, I have decided to let this slide, but only once. Do not think you will be so lucky next time."
Perhaps he should not have responded in such a way. He wasn't ready for what followed afterwards. Tifa had flung her arms around him in a happy embrace and due to Marlene pulling the same action, he was unable to shrug them off in any sort of fashion. This was actually breaking that unspoken rule he had about people violating his personal space. Half of him wondered if that was what people felt like when they were going home to their families. He'd never had something of the sort, so he didn't know what to make of any of this. Part of his heart deemed this current feeling as 'nice' and the other parts could not understand it, nor did they make an effort to do so. Finally, he mustered up the ability to speak again, "…Please. Get off of me. Now." There was no warning in his voice, but the tail end of it started to grow a dangerous tone. He wouldn't do something drastic to the point of injuring either one. He just found himself to be quite uncomfortable in the situation at hand.
What had Cloud possibly done to change Vincent's mind? He couldn't exactly find the answer to that just yet. He was feeling a little envious as he watched the three, but that dissipated when Tifa pulled the same gesture on him. Then again, he never found that he could complain when she was near. Lifting a hesitant hand, he smoothed her hair and glanced over to Vincent with those furrowed eyebrows, wondering if the paler one of the two would give some sort of explanation. Not receiving a response, he turned his attention back to Tifa. Since she had been busy most recently, he had politely declined from shoving any feelings out to her. She had been so good at rejecting them and he didn't want to deal with that for a while. He was feeling faintly vulnerable at the moment and decided it was not for the best to always speak truthfully. In the end, remaining unoptimistic was going to work out best for him. When Tifa pulled away, he found himself nearly breathing a sigh of relief, "…Uh…thanks." I guess…? What's gotten into her?
Once Marlene was placed back onto the ground, the two girls joined hands and danced around in a circle for a brief moment. Finding that two men were looking at them with the strangest of expressions, Tifa regained her composure, plopping a hand upon the top of her companion's head with a smile. "We're just so happy that you guys are okay with this that we felt like we had to do something to celebrate…and in this case, reverting back to childhood was the only idea I had at the time." Not wanting for some kind of smart aleck response from either, she quickly stuck out her tongue with a chuckle, "And you guys can't join because you're boys! So NYAH!" If that wasn't childish, she didn't know what was. At least Marlene was getting a kick out of this whole situation. The older woman had already decided that once they all arrived in Junon she was going to spoil Marlene rotten for being such a "good" girl.
The two others exchanged glances with one another and weren't sure they even wanted to know what was going on. Sometimes it was better to be on the outside of things, turn a blind eye, and pretend there was nothing going on. It saved a lot of trouble, a lot of drama, and they needed that right now more than anything (especially poor Vincent who was certain he would suffer a coronary if things continued the way they were). It was Cloud who initiated the edging back towards the door, beginning to grow that little anxious feeling to escape. "…I've got other things to do…" Rather than hearing a protest, which he wasn't expecting anyway, he received expectant expressions from the two ladies and quickly dismissed himself, followed by Vincent, who seemed rather hasty to get a move-on. The door shut after the two had excused themselves.
The taller of the two females turned to the shorter companion and she smiled, "Thank you, Marlene, for not saying anything about President Shinra. I really appreciate it a lot." Then she knelt down to one knee and brushed off Marlene's outfit. "I don't think Cloud would like hearing about that just yet. You know what I mean?" Given a vague nod in response, Tifa continued, rising to her feet, only to take a seat upon her rather soft comforter. "So when we get there, what's the first thing you want to do? Rufus made it sound as though they're having a rather big celebration there, so perhaps we should go to festivities, or we could go someplace else…as long as we notify him, of course. I don't think he'd be too pleased if we went off somewhere on our own without even a word for him."
It seemed such a commonly executed action that Marlene just had to try it out. She began to pace back and forth, trying to think of what all the two could do together. Although she wanted to spend lots of time with Tifa, she wanted the two adults to have some time alone together. Oh, yes. She was pulling for a serious hook-up between the president and the stubborn fighter. Her older sister always looked so happy when she was around the old man in white that she didn't want her to be deprived anymore. She also wanted to share some moments with Rufus. She wanted to get a better understanding of him. When the two had spoke in Wall Market, she got the impression that he couldn't be all that bad and if that was the case, then she didn't want to ruin any future things that could happen. The festivities did sound like a good idea, however. That was where she felt things should begin. "Let's just stay in Junon for the first day of the festival, and then if we feel we want to go do something else, then we'll do that, okay?" She looked over to the brunette with a questioning expression, seeking permission.
How Tifa would have liked it if she could reach into Marlene's mind and withdraw her thoughts. Children were often sneaky and no matter how smart her younger sister was, she knew that Marlene was capable of the same. Of course, she had been rather sly so far. The set-up at the masquerade ball and the time when she had gone to Shin-Ra headquarters to retrieve the young girl were two prime examples of such. What more did she have up her sleeve? Tifa gave a near suspicious nod as she gave a small sigh. It was more of a contented feel than anything. The idea that Vincent wasn't going to leak anything out made her anxiety vanish. That was probably the best experience she could have at this moment. "Very well then. We'll go to the festivities and enjoy our time there and then play it by ear. Whatever we do, we have to avoid familiar faces. I'm not saying that there will be any there, but in the case that there are, we can't let on why we're there or with whom, unless it's just the two of us. Rufus is a very influential man and the last thing people need to assume is that we're a part of his family. That could cause a lot of problems and I would prefer to avoid that. Do we have an understanding? If we meet someone we know, we play dumb or we flee. None of that truth out in the open, got it?" She was scolding the younger one with a forefinger, knowing that Marlene was quite adept at being honest.
She would have continued, but the familiar annoyed voice came from outside, "Tiiiiifaaaaaaaa!" And yes, it sounded quite irritated. Tifa rushed over to the window and looked outside, raising her hands to cover her ears as she watched the Shin-Ra helicopter land a safe distance away from her bar to keep it in one piece. When Marlene tugged upon the back of her skirt, she lowered her gaze, "President Shinra." …Did he really have to make such a big entrance? This should make for some interesting faces. She lowered a hand and took one of Marlene's quickly escorting the two out the door, down the stairs, and through the entrance to the bar where they were confronted by Cloud who was looking for some type of explanation. Of course he knew it would be for her. Who else in the former faction was working for the enemy (aside from Vincent's past, obviously)? The two females exchanged glances and then Tifa used a hand to push Cloud to the side, and dashed past him, pulling Marlene after her. Helping Marlene board the helicopter first, she turned back to Cloud, cupped her hands around her lips and shouted over the sound of the oscillating propellers, "By the way, it's a Shin-Ra trip! See you in a few days! Don't make a mess of my bar, 'kay?" And then she happily jumped on the bandwagon after Marlene after waving a farewell to Cloud and Vincent who had been attracted by the commotion.
After the dust had settled (quite literally) and Cloud was feeling like he could finally hear properly again, he took a moment to think about what Tifa had said and his left eyebrow twitched as he turned to Vincent, "A Shin-Ra trip! You better explain this and real quick before I decide Omnislash VersionFive needs to be upgraded to a nine or ten."
