A/N: Yay, back again! I have to say thanks to all my reviewers, especially Demon Pyromaniac, who has offered to be my Beta for this story. At the moment I'm spending more time on this story because my computer that has my other stories on it is a mess and in need of fixing…I just hope I can salvage what little I can from it ', plus I think this story is growing on me XD, well, Hopefully my other readers won't bludgeon me for my lateness! For the meantime enjoy
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 SquareEnix!! This equation clearly shows that I don't own it, I worship SquareEnix for the characters. I also don't own any brand names I might use in this.
Warning: It's a slash, If you didn't get that from the first chapter I'm disappointed, but yes, Vin x Cid, You're responsible for reading it or reviewing for it, please don't flame about that…besides there are plenty of spelling and grammar errors to yell at! XD
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Chapter Two: Healing Hurts
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Cid stumbled out of the deep into the clearing where the Highwind sat still, Vincent still unconscious in his arms, He shifted the lithe figure into a position to allow him to climb the string rope and onto the dock. The echo of Cid's boots in the empty halls rang uncomfortably. Cid was too used to the sounds of the crew or the hum of the airship engine; now the only sounds were of Cid's boots and Vincent's slow breathing.
Cid looked down at Vincent, unconscious in his arms, his breathing stilted and slightly hoarse. Cid rushed over to his captain's quarters and kicked open the doors. A complete opposite of his home in Midgar, his quarters were kept in top condition, a red carpet surrounding a king-sized bed with a small nightstand at one side. A dresser laid next to the entrance to the bathroom, which held a room sized closet, a shower, a latrine, a sink and an enormous sized bath.
Cid rushed Vincent over to the bed and situated him on it softly. He then rushed to the bathroom to wet a washcloth and rushed it back to Vincent. He replaced the red head wrap on his head with the soothing washcloth and began the task of trying to dress his friend's wounds. Cid stared at the situation that was thrust in front of him. In order to dress the wounds he would need to…undress his friend; knowing this, Cid blushed at the prospect. He could try a Cure materia, but knowing where to use it would be equally helpful leading back to the previous scenario…plus, neither he nor Vincent seemed to have one on hand.
Vincent gave a sickly twitch and a hoarse coughing fit, breathing hard as he settled back in to a restful position. Cid decided this was not the time to get in this kind of fit. He rushed back to the bathroom to find bandages and possibly a Cure materia Swearing vigorously as his searched yielded little results in the beginning, he swore again, though in better spirit as he found a first aid kit that held bandages and several curing materias. He rushed them out and set them on the nightstand next to the bed.
Cid then began to carefully remove Vincent's cloak revealing a severely torn black T-Shirt stained in both dried and fresh blood. Cid decided to simply rip the badly damaged shirt off of Vincent, who had deep gashes on pale skin meeting Cid's eye. Cid traced the gashes expertly to check how fresh and deep each were; Vincent was squirming at the occasional fresh and/or deep one. Cid's hand eventually began to trace the outline of the six-pack the gunner displayed, withdrawing with a crimson face as he realized what he was doing.
'Shit! What am I doing?!' He thought, deeply confused and embarrassed as he realized what he was doing and what he was 'feeling'. He reached hastily for the first aid kit, swearing as he knocked a couple of cotton balls off the nightstand along with tipping over a bottle of peroxide in his muddled state. He washed the wounds out with the peroxide, calming Vincent as the sting of pain caused him to stir and make slight whimpers of pain. He then used the Cure and Panacea materias to help the recovery. The scars, still visible and throbbing with slight, yet still excruciating, pain were dressed by the simple cotton body bandage wrap he found in the kit.
After finishing the wrappings on the upper body, Cid began to figure how to help the…lower body. He looked down towards the tattered pants, revealing more blood stains that the shirt. He begun by removing the boots and sock the gunner was wearing, wrapping the cuts he had sustained from running at an awkward pace, and for possibly a long distance. He also checked the ankles and wrapped up a sprained ankle, He than gave a deep sigh and, with a heavy blush, undid the belt clasps that kept the pants in place and removed the now ruined cloth heap to the side, leaving Vincent in nothing but bandages and a pair of black boxers. Cid fought off a blush as he repeated the process he used on the upper body to dress the lower. Finished, he carefully lifted the blanket comfortably over Vincent, who was still remarkably, unconscious.
Cid decided to check his temperature in the quickest way he could think. He placed his forehead gently on Vincent's, raising the cloth and Vincent's hair out of the way. Vincent did seem to be running a fever, not a dangerous one, but still in need of checking up on. Cid then realized how close his was to Vincent. Forehead to forehead. Eye to eye...
'Mouth to mouth.' Cid, his forehead now matching Vincent's in heat, withdrew, swearing in his mind to avoid waking him. 'Shit!! I need to get some air!!' He walked hastily out of the room onto the deck, the wind catching him as he headed straight to the open deck. He was breathing hard and blushing feverously. 'What the hell am I getting so embarrassed for!?' He thought curtly. 'It's just Vin! I mean…I guess he is…That is to say…' He grumbled irately and ruffled his hair in pure confusion. '…Is it possible…' he thought for a moment, holding the last half in thought purgatory, lingering in and out of his thoughts.
He was jolted back to reality as his radio went off. The crew members had started to call in, each reporting that they cleared as much as they could for the day. Cid looked up and noticed the sky beginning to tint shades of fuchsia and orange. He nodded to himself and signaled them all to return or find a nearby inn for the night.
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"Thank you for coming, please come agai- are they gone?!" Yuffie sighed as she saw her costumers out of earshot. She grumbled as she weakly walked back into the kitchen. "That's the last of them!" She reported as she walked in to whole team looking exhausted. The restaurant had to close early due to lack of supplies and the unavailability of getting them at this hour. This left Tifa, Barret, and her all in a miserable, tired mess, demonstrated as Yuffie fell onto Tifa, remarking, "Soft". Cloud and Reeve had also gotten back; Reeve decided to help out when he finished and Cloud was tired from his monster repelling duties alone.
"Yuffie, the bar is going to open soon and we still need a waitress," Tifa said lifting the disappointed Yuffie up on her feet. "Besides, you still got another hour and a half on your clock time." Yuffie grumbled and buried herself once again as Tifa sighed in defeat.
"Have you heard from Cid yet?" Reeve remarked as he still found energy to do the dishes. Cloud snapped up in his seat, seeming to forget about all that in his weary state. He called Cid immediately.
"What the hell you want!" Cid said in a commanding put peaceful manner, the swearing being a given by now.
"…I'm calling to check in, how is everything going?" There was a long pause before an answer arose.
"Jus' fine, it might take another day or two, Wutai is clean and most of the forest as well, just another sweep and I should be heading back."
"Good, we'll await your arrival, carry on."
"Roger Spiky!" Cloud rolled his eyes at the nickname he was given and turned of the PHS. "Well, that's that, let's get ready for that bar rush, shall we?"
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Cid flicked off the PHS and continued to stare off into the sunset. He decided not to tell Cloud about Vincent; it would save a long explanation and he decided it was for the best. Besides, there was something Cid was troubling over, and decided he would figure it out on his own. The last of the crew team called, each had decided to stay at an inn, and there weren't enough rooms for them all in the airship and a night out in the towns sounded better than a night cramped in between a steering wheel and a seat. This left Cid and Vincent alone. Realizing he hadn't checked on Vin in a while, he decided to go in and check his temperature and recovery.
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'She's dead…your fault…'
"…"
'Your fault…Your fault…'
"…stop"
'Dead, dead, dead…'
"…I said stop!"
'All your fault…'
"No…"
'ALL YOUR FAULT!!'
"NO!" Vincent half shouted, jolting up in a pool of cold sweat. Though he had mostly willed her out of his affection, Lucrecia's death still laid on his conscious, though the dreams fading almost completely. He winced severely as the pain caught up with him. He looked around confusedly, wondering where he was. He began to piece everything together and managed to remember the where, how, and who.
'Cid…' He rubbed his temples feeling the ache of a migraine and the fatigue of battle. He looked down at his body realizing that his cloak had vanished, along with his head band, shirt and, he blushed, pants! Instead, were bandages that seemed to conceal the wounds of his deathly skirmishes. 'Cid must have…but that means…' Vincent's blush spread rapidly as he realized what Cid had to do to dress each of the wounds. Even though the exposure wasn't…complete, he still felt embarrassed of what Cid had seen. Vincent's head began to swim at the mere thought.
The feeling wasn't that rare to him, however. Vincent had spent many nights thinking about the muscular captain, and finally reached a conclusion on it. He was love stricken by the airship captain. In fact, he had left his home in Nibelheim to face the captain…though he had to admit…the how of that scenario was not figured out just yet.
Vincent sighed as he looked out at the sunset from the large window that lay on his side near the nightstand. He had assumed by the vast size of the room and bed, that this was the captain's quarters, blushing at the realization of whose bed he was sleeping on, but brushed it away, feeling the excitement as too girlish. He decided to take a try at standing up; hoping the bandages he felt on his feet wouldn't split. As he stepped out of the bed onto the floor the door opened to reveal Cid, cigarette freshly alit in his mouth.
"…Vin!!" Cid said, uncharacteristically overjoyed, yet still with a hint of worry. He rushed over, leaving behind the cigarette that had fallen as he mad his exclamation. He caught the figure in a gentle embrace, hoping it wouldn't hurt the dressed wounds. Vincent barley caught his standing as he was swooped into the captain's arms, awkwardly returning the hug, his face crimson in color as he felt the muscular arms holding him tightly, but not uncomfortably. Cid seemed to catch himself as Vincent returned the hug, and began to mimic Vincent's blush unknowingly. Cid withdrew quickly, but not offensively, scratching the back of his head.
"It's-uh-guh-good to see ya again!" Cid said awkwardly, trying to hide the blush on his face. Vincent smiled nervously, trying to hide his reddened face as well.
"Uh…the same…" he said a little more awkwardly. Feeling his legs weaken under all the excitement, he suddenly fell over, using the nightstand to catch him half way. Cid jumped.
"Shit! Vinny, you okay?" Cid swore as he rushed to gently pick Vincent up from the nightstand and back to the bed. "Don't move from here, you're still not done healin' yet." Cid said, setting Vincent into a sitting position, legs off the mattress. Cid instantly lifted Vincent's hair and caught him by surprise as their foreheads met, Cid's eyes closed in concentration. "…Still warm…" Cid said, Vincent contributing some of the heat to newly intensified blush on his face.
Cid opened his aqua eyes, to be met with blood ones staring back. They held the gaze for a moment, each caught in a moment that seemed timeless. Cid, the first to awaken from the gaze, jumped back a little, hiding his face to conceal it's red tint, as Vincent merely looked away to hide his own.
"Erm, well, it's getting late," Cid said as he rushed into the closet to grab a pillow and blanket. "I'll let you rest; I'll use one of the spare rooms," Cid said walking to the door.
"…Wait!" Cid stopped at the request made by Vincent, his blush hidden by the dark atmosphere of the room.
"Erm, yeah Vin?" Cid asked curiosity thick in his tone.
"Well…um…the bed…well…um…eh-it's big enough for two…and…well…it is your room…and…uh…" Vincent said, not entirely realizing all that he said, yet still pressing on the word. Cid caught the drift and felt the temperature rise in his cheeks.
"Erm…yeah it is…I guess…"
"…eh-it would help me sleep…"Vincent said, not lying. He slept better with someone at least in the room, all the time alone in the coffin compared with the time he was left to pair up in the Inn with someone; he had slept better in the latter. "…O-only for tonight…"
Cid blushed in defeat. He quickly and sneakily removed his boots, socks, jacket, goggles and jeans, leaving only his white T-shirt and blue boxers on. He got in the bed next to Vincent on his back, but as Vincent settled in, his back facing Cid, he instinctively wrapped an arm around Vincent's waist. Realizing what he had done as Vincent tensed a little, Cid blushed!
"Eh-It's the most comfortable way to sleep…ya know…like this!" Cid explained. Vincent concealed his blush and simply relaxed into the embrace, Cid swearing mentally in relief.
"…Good night…Cid…" Vincent said, his voice faltering a little at the end. Cid just smiled comfortably as he closed his eyes.
"Good Night Vin."
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End Chapter Two
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A/N:… , . Added a little bit of mush in the end there. Still out of character, but I think it will either fit better or grow on ya, hopefully; I admit the ending had a little too much subtlety to it, but I hope it proved more a convenience matter than feelings , ehh, oh well, anyway, I don't know if it was caught but I did add a little Yuri mention with Tifa and Yuffie, though I don't know if you could call it that, girls are a little bit more affectionate than guys, though that is a bias. shrug Either way, I thought it was cute and might lead that on a little. Well I talked a little much, gonna send it to my Beta and see what my diagnosis is! With luck it will be submitted soon w Read and Review!!