Bad mood, bad mood. Felt like freaking out Yuffie & Cid and beating up poor Vince a little.

The characters. They belong to Squeeeeeeeenix.

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(Cid)

I finally talked Vincent away from his guitar for a few minutes so he could hang out with me. So now that I've got him all to myself, I get to sit in his back yard with him and watch as he cuts off the heads of strike anywhere matches and puts them in a little tin container. Now that's the kind of fun I so wanted to have on this lovely summer afternoon.

Vincent half sings half hums to himself, focusing on nothing else but the task at hand. "Little ghost, little ghost, hmm hmm hm hm hmm hmmm..." And I sigh, poking the grass with a stick, bored but somewhat content.

I suppose sitting around doing nothing with someone else isn't quite as boring as sitting around doing nothing by yourself.

"Oh, Cid! You're here too!" Ugh. Yuffie. She lets herself through the back yard gate. "Hiya Vincey," she says too sweetly, her voice lilting in a teasing manner.

I think we're both expecting Vincent to start yelling, but he doesn't even look up. Just frowns and snips off another match head.

"Everybody else was busy so I thought I'd stop by and see what you were up to," Yuffie saunters over to Vincent.

"So we're your last choice back up plan? Gee, thanks a bunch..." I flick my stick at her, sending little pieces of dirt flying, but none actually go far enough to hit her. "Damn..."

"I've missed you, Vince," Yuffie grins. "Did you miss me?"

Something seems like it snaps in Vincent's mind. His hand flies toward Yuffie and makes sharp contact with her cheek. Yuffie retaliates and jams her fist against Vincent's mouth.

This isn't really worrying me yet. Yuffie's been working on becoming some kind of self-proclaimed ninja for a few years now, and I know from experience that Vincent can well hold his own in a bit of a spat and scrap. I figure I'll just sit this one out and watch the show. I've got a stick if I need to beat them off of me or each other.

"Do that again." Vincent stands up unsteadily and faces Yuffie. "Hit me before I hit you."

Yuffie steps back but gets into a fighting stance. "I don't want to."

"Come on. Are you afraid? Do it again."

"What's the matter with you?"

"Do it again!" He yells, taking an intimidating step forward.

Yuffie punches him again, harder this time. He stumbles backward, hands quickly covering his mouth. "Mmph... Shit, you little whore..." he groans. That obviously hurt, but he recovers quickly. He grabs Yuffie's shirt collar, pulling her close and spitting blood on her face.

A good deal of struggling goes on. Yuffie puts up a damn good fight before Vincent works her to her knees, mounting her calves to keep her in place while he wrests her hands behind her back.

"Still want to know what's the matter with me? I think you'd understand it better if I showed you instead. When I'm done with showing you, you'll have lost faith in everything and everyone you once thought you could believe in. You'll be stripped down to your very last thin threads of sanity."

Vincent grabs the scissors he's been using and rests the point against Yuffie's throat. She stops struggling then. "And you'll know you're just trash then. Just trash, pretty girl." He says calmly as if he's trying to soothe and console her.

"Okay now. I think she gets it," I suggest, though it goes unnoticed.

"Maybe I'll cut off your eyelids so you can watch me rape you with a butcher knife. That's what it feels like, it always feels like that..."

I begin to prepare myself for beating Vincent with the stick. It's something I'm sure he's not gonna appreciate one bit, but in the long run, it'll be better than going to jail for murder.

"And when all that's said and done, how about I kill you and fuck your ragdoll corpse, hm?"

The way he just spoke those words, like pure whispered insanity, was frightening.

"Vincent. Let her go," I try to make the words stern and demanding, but they come out weakly.

"Why should I? She wants to understand what I'm feeling. I'm willing to give it to her."

"She was just asking. She's probably worried about you just like everyone else is." Somehow I find the right voice, the one he listens to, and the one I hate using because it makes me feel like I'm controlling a pet. "I said that's enough, Vincent!"

Vincent's arms fall to his sides as he raises up so Yuffie can scramble out from under him. She sits a good distance away and wipes the bloody spit from her nose and cheek. "I think," she says after several minutes of silence, "I'm gonna head home now."

What the fuck am I gonna to do now? Fuck.

"I'd really like to go home too, but Jesus, I don't fucken know if you should be left alone right now."

"Go on. It's fine." Vincent shrugs and goes back to cutting off match heads. "Not sorry..."

"Course you're not," I roll my eyes at him. I'm still keeping a wary distance between us, but I really wanna know, "What the fuck, man?"

"It'd be really nice to have someone who understands things like I do. Like how the shadows are full of monsters waiting and ready to attack and murder me a little bit more every day. How they beat and bend and break me till I feel nothing but pain inside and out." He states all this so matter-of-factly then swipes his bleeding mouth against his sleeve.

"Someone else who feels the kind of hate I do and who knows what it's like to be worth far less than absolutely nothing and whose only purpose is that of a cheap toy. Someone who's just as worthless and disgusting as I am. Someone else who's been taken and used and left to shiver alone in the dark with all those hungry monsters hunting for little flesh like mine. The kind that deserves to be torn and eaten."

He abandons the scissors in favour of digging his nails into his palms and stares off. "Someone else who understands that no matter what, things will never be okay. I hate being the only one who feels like this. Nobody understands and, God, it makes me want to break something, just utterly pulverize it. I need somebody to understand, Cid, and she asked. She wanted to know and, fuck! I am not sorry."

Still at a loss for any helpful words, I watch Vincent stalk up to the side of the house and growl out an exasperated cry as he punches the wall till at least one bone cracks and his knuckles bleed.

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Nate (LoveMayKill) - Hey there! Thanks a bunch for reading. I'm happy you're enjoying it! And here it is again, nearly 4 am hehehe

Takemi-Chan - Dood. You acted out one of my scenes? That is the awesomest thing ever. Seriously, that makes me so excited haha I feel so honoured : D
Oh Catholic school...I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't ever get in too much trouble for smuggling yaoi.

Linnsche - Aw man, just save up for a guitar and buy it with your own money. That's what I had to do. It may take a while, but your dad couldn't say no to that. I hope : 3
lol I was actually considering doing the band thing, although I see Reno as more of a drums sorta guy hehe I'm not too sure of where exactly that would take the story, but I haven't completely discarded the idea : )

Still thinking a lot about what to do. Still having problems. I've got part of a chapter that's supposed to happen a couple years in the future. Uh...that's about it though. But we'll see what happens!

TBC, yo!