A/N: Well, I guess there is some bad news, my old stuff on my good old computer seems to be lost ; meaning I will be writing all that stuff over again…I feel like continuing this though. What can I say, I kinda like this story, but do expect some major updating…what can I say, I have a lot of time on my hands ;D
Disclaimer: Who doesn't own Final Fantasy seven!? I don't! That's right, I DON'T!! …I also don't own any brand names I might use in this story…Well…maybe I'll make up one or two…Oh, you know what I'm saying! XD Thank ya!
Warning: Just so all of you know, this is a slash. If you haven't got that after two chapters, I give up on you, so please no flaming, you have been warned more than enough…Thank you and have a nice day :D
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Chapter Three: Uneasy Rest
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Cid shot up with a stilted gasp, sweating profusely, blush heavy on his face. As he looked around, the scenery of the room came back into his mind. He checked over quickly, but found Vincent still silently sleeping. His bandaged chest slightly heaving as his breathing was hard, yet still quiet.
Cid's eyes began to wander a little over the gunner's body once again, noting every inch that wasn't covered by the cloth bandage. Instantly the dreams images came back in quick flashes and he snapped his view away. 'FUCK!!' He thought as his blush crept back on his face. 'Gotta…Gotta get some…air...' He slowly maneuvered himself out of the bed and grabbed his pack of Gold Chocobo brand cigarette and a lighter off of the dresser. He walked out to the bridge, the cold air feeling comforting on his sweat drenched body.
He fumbled around with the lighter, keeping the gush of swear words down in volume, just incase. As he finally lit the cigarette in his mouth, he took a deep drag, held it for a minute and let the stress puff out in a grey cloud of smoke. His thoughts swarmed in his head as the smoke curled out in to the distance.
'What the hell is up with me?' Cid thought as he lifted the cigarette back to his mouth, the death stick lying humbly on his lower lip. Cid had known for a while that Vincent was one of the only characters from the old crew that was…bearable. He was also the one that paired with him in groups and in hotel rooms. Vincent even took Cid back to his room when he fell asleep in the Ghost Mansion Inn when Cloud wouldn't stop talking. He took the cig from its humble slumber and gave it another deep drag.
'…Could I actually…' The last bit again reached the tip of his tongue, starring him straight in the eye, but not getting the same respect. Cid began to pace while his mind struggled to comprehend the truth. He took one last, deep puff from his now miniscule cigarette and as the dull, grey smoke curled in the night breeze, so did the feeling that Cid had held back all this time.
'I…I love Vincent!' The thought whisked through his mind at the speed of light, but didn't dissolve. It made laps around his mind, filling ever crevice of brain matter the captain had, filling every sense, every thought. Cid stood dumbfounded as his mind tried to find another explanation, only to be run down by the feeling as it made another lap around his brain. Í love Vincent.'
Cid finally gave up as he walked to one of the airship walls and leaned against it hard. He slowly sank to a sitting position, his bare legs stinging from the cold metal it was just introduced to. He lifted his knees so that his bare feet took the cold sting off his legs. One hand of his lifted to run through his blonde hair while the other kept its position on the floor to keep his balance.
'…Okay…so, I have feelings for Vinny' He thought, '…now what? There's no way in hell he could feel the same…He did invite me to sleep in the same bed as him…but he did say just for the night…but he was able to put an arm around his waist…his small, pale waist…' Cid shook his head in confusion as the thoughts began to sink lower into the gutter. 'Ah-h-h, I need another cigarette.'
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"Three Meteor Heart Drops, coming right up gentlemen!" Tifa shouted as she expertly flipped two parts scotch and one part malt into a three shot glasses. She grabbed a small red bar straw and used it to drop little droplets of cherry grenadier into the glasses and sent them flying gently over to the three costumers who accepted them with applause. Tifa smiled as she went into the back room from the bar and dropped into her seat. She glanced at her watch as it blinked 2:05 am. She sighed tired as the sound of a grumpy Ninja was heard in the back, doing dishes.
"Yuffie, take over…" She said exhausted.
"Oh no," Yuffie said as she threw one of the glasses down into the full sink. "I didn't get any help during breakfast, lunch, OR dinner service!! Besides, I'm too young to handle alcohol!"
"I'll give you some of my materia!" Tifa pleaded.
"How do you think you got me to do this overtime!!? Won't work this time!" Yuffie said, aggressively scrubbing a wine glass. Tifa sighed and crossed her arms.
"I'll let you use my pillows again?" She tried knowing the results. Yuffie dropped the glass she was cleaning back into the sink.
"…So how much scotch do you but in a Highball?" Yuffie asked the question, knowing the answer and rushing past the double bar doors. Tifa laughed at her speed as she could all ready hear the jeering of the crowd outside.
"Taught her everything she knows." She said as the staff door opened to reveal Cloud with a tired, worried expression.
"…You let Yuffie handle the liquor again…didn't you?" Tifa giggled at the way he dropped the last two words.
'Just like old times.' She thought as he sat across from her. "…Oh, come on!" Tifa said with a pout, noting the look on Cloud's face. "She won't get in trouble! I mean, what are the chances of another police party at this time of-"
"…That's not it." Cloud said cutting Tifa off. Her expression changed to one of concern.
"What is it then?"
"…It's Vincent. I couldn't get a hold of him today and its not the first time I've tried…I even checked the Shinra Mansion and he wasn't there…" Tifa gave a gently smile.
"Oh, Vincent's a big boy! He can take care of himself!" She said as she got up from her seat. "I know you're worried about all of us, but lighten up!" She said stretching. "Besides, you should be worrying more about Cid." She said matter-o-fact-ly. "He was acting pretty weird on the PHS today." Cloud nodded but gave a huge yawn and dropped in his seat. Tifa laughed right out at the sight. She walked over to his seat and pulled it right from under him.
"HEY!!" Cloud yelled as he made contact with the floor.
"Get yer spiky ass in bed." Tifa said, imitating Cid's husky voice; squinting one eye as if Cid were a pirate, causing Cloud to laugh. He thanked her and headed back to his room.
"Last costumer gone!" Yuffie said as she barged into the room. "MINE!!" She yelled with a grin as she tackled Tifa, who went down laughing.
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Vincent stirred in his sleep. He began to toss and turn in the now empty bed. His dreams seemed to have left him alone for the night with the warm body at his side, but the now cold back was burdened with sweat as the dreams came back.
'Your fault…all yours…'
'Stop…' The words coming as loud as a bell in his mind, as a soft whisper in the room as he began to talk in his sleep.
'Why stop…when you know the truth…it WAS your fault…' The voice continued, now more menacingly.
'Stop…STOP…' The whisper fading.
'Besides,' the voice continued low, and dark. 'Who could ever love a monster such as you?' It finished, emphasizing the 'who', knowing how to make the pain sharper and stronger.
Vincent couldn't hold it back anymore. Still caught in the dream he began to scream frantically as his clawed hand burned under the metal.
"STOP IT!!! STOP IT!!! STOP!!! I-IT!!"
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Cid quickly jumped up as he heard screaming coming from his captains quarters. 'Vin!' He thought instantly, darting straight to the room. He barged into the room to find Vincent sitting up in the bed his eyes open, but clouded over crimson, his face distorted in pain and screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Vincent!!" Cid shouted. Vincent's red eyes shot straight to Cid, his eyes seeming to pierce the blue eyes he stared at. The shouting had stopped but the face was distorted in pain, his fangs barred and hiding his lower lip. Cid took the fact that the shouting stopped as a good sign, and decided to continue as best as he could. 'Aw, hell…' He thought as he slowly got closer.
"I-it's me Vin, C-Cid!!" He continued, getting to the edge of the bed, Vincent's red eyes never leaving him, his breathing heavy and warped. 'Now what…now WHAT?! Aww…shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!' Cid gave a deep sigh; he had no time to think of something to do. He decided to try something simple, but worth trying.
"Er...W-What's wrong, Vinny?"
"ALONE!!" Vincent shrieked and continued in a deep roar. Cid backed away a little as the shrieking continued, Vincent's hands clutching his hair and his body violently rocking back and forth. Cid couldn't help what happened next, the sound of Vincent's pain was beginning to stab at his own heart. He tightened his arms around Vincent, his strength managing to keep Vincent still. The shrieks continued, but seemed to slow. Cid wrapped his legs around Vincent to keep his hold on him, the embrace not painful but firm against Vincent's trembling body.
The shrieking began to stop, Vincent's body beginning to stop its violent shaking. His eyes closed and re-opened the normal scarlet color against black pupil and whole once again and now filled with saline tears. Vincent broke down against Cid's embrace, Cid beginning to cradle and rock Vincent.
"…It's okay…I won't leave ya alone again tonight…" Cid whispered into Vincent's ear. Vincent reacted immediately and pressed against Cid's chest, throwing an arm around him to deepen the embrace as he continued to sob uncontrollably. They stayed in the position until Vincent finally seemed to have fallen asleep. His eyes puffed and swollen red from the tears. Cid smiled and very out of character kissed one of the eyes as he set Vincent's frame back down into the bed. He grabbed the covers that had been thrown to the end of the bed and brought them back over him and Vincent as he settled back into the bed besides him.
'…I do love him…I hope he feels the same…' were Cid's last thoughts as his eyes fluttered shut into the land of dreams once more.
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End Chapter Three
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A/N: ARGH!! It's 2:11 am and I had to finish this tonight! You're lucky I like you people, I have to move tomorrow and if I didn't finish this now, it would take over a week to get it out!! You better leave pretty darn nice reviews for me! XD Anyway, since my beta has gone back to school, I decided I'll give her a break! Luckily I have spell and grammar check on this computer I'm using, so I won't have too many mistakes, just the usual spell-check-missed-identity words, like "hear" and "here". I will try to get Chapter 4 out as soon as I can and all my other stories too! Hope ya enjoyed the mush, 'cause I did like how this chapter turned out! Read, Enjoy and Review, 'cause I like to know you were one who did the first two ;3
P.S.: The Meteor Heart Drop Is actually my interpretation of The Sperm Bank, an actual bar drink thats one part Amaratto, one part Cream De Cocoa, and...a third Kaloa -I think- I can't remember off the bat, but you do the bar straw thing with the three ingredients layered just right and you get little red "sperm" at the bottom XD I didn't drink it, cause I'm underage, but my mom taught me it, I hope to do some bartending soon -all though I can't remember if you do put scotch in a High Ball XP-