Heya^^ Sorry for the long wait, I had to get my spirits up. Anyway this will be third last chapter before the story is finished. Now I need your help to solve the 'love'-triangle: should Yazoo end up with Reno or Cid? Or maybe Cid and Reno run away together XD

Anyway, enjoy the new chapter and many thanks to PfenixB for the awesome and fast betaing!!!

16

"So, how'd it go?" Cid asked almost boredly –trying to hide his curiosity behind a listless façade- as he picked up Yazoo from Vincent´s.

"Fine," his apprentice answered, following his employer back to their apartment through the narrow corridor.

"Had fun?"

"Hn."

"Did ya hit sumthing?"

"Hn."

"Got along with Valentine?"

"Yes."

"So, wanna go there again?"

"Hn."

"Anything interesting happened?"

"Hn."

Cid turned around at that and threw his arms up in an unnerved manner, chewing at the cig hanging in his mouth and growling "Good gods kiddo, cat got ya tongue or what?! Jest open ya damn trap up an´ tell me already!"

Meanwhile, they had reached Cid´s apartment and the older threw the door shut behind him and grumpily gestured towards the kitchen. Yazoo still graced him with an alienated look and a raised brow at the mechanic´s sudden outburst, but then he simply followed the invitation. It smelled a bit strange in the room, and he sniffed, asking lowly, "Did you burn something?"

"Shut up," the blond mumbled inaudibly under his breath and instead just pushed past Yazoo into the kitchen, eager to hide the slightly rosy colour that blossomed on his unshaved cheeks.

The silver haired youth was already used to Cid´s rough behaviour so he simply laid his jacket over the couch, went to the bathroom to wash his hands and face and then joined the other man for a well-deserved dinner. What did surprise him though was the full table, overcrowded by a huge pot with steaming potatoes, a plate with two ridiculously large, succulent steaks and another bowl with peas and sauce.

"Ya intend on keep starin´ at it or ya actually gonna sit down an´eat?"

Yazoo blinked at the wryly spoken comment and mechanically sat down on his seat. Cid shot him an almost morose side-glance before he grabbed an empty plate and filled it with a huge mountain of food he then unceremoniously put down before his apprentice.

"You cooked all that by yourself?" Yazoo asked, still disbelieving as he stared down at his plate, a pea falling from the top of the mountain onto the table.

"Yeah," Cid affirmed, scratching his head and poking a potato with his fork. "Figured you´d be hungry an´ all…"

Yazoo reached for his cutlery and timidly cut a tiny edge off the steak to nibble at it, but again he was amazed. "This tastes good, actually."

"Yeah?" the mechanic said, leaning a bit forward with an expectant, scrutinizing expression. Yazoo took another bite and nodded, slowly chewing at the tender meat.

"Good," Cid announced then, leaning back against his chair with a haughty look that should cover his relief and stuffed his mouth with another potato before he gestured with his fork over the table at Yazoo´s plate and said strictly, "An´ eat ya vegetables, will ya?"

The youth just smirked and began to clear his plate, when Cid spoke up again, sounding a bit muffled with all the food in his mouth,

"So ya gonna tell me now what happened at Valentine´s or what?"

Yazoo shrugged, taking his glass of water in hand. "Not much yet. He showed me the gun and its different parts. Then we practiced how to hold it right and then I shot a few times to see what I can do and what we need to work on."

"Oh." The mechanic sank his teeth into his steak, a look of sympathy briefly flickering over his face. If Yazoo acted as clumsy with a gun as he did with a punch, then he didn´t envy Vincent for his job one bit. Still he felt some pity for Yazoo as well. It must be rather frustrating to constantly fail on these things…

"Ya know, it ain´t dat big o'a deal anyways. Some guys have it here-" he pointed to his impressive biceps that bulged under his blue shirt- "an´otha´s have it here." He tipped with his index finger against his temple. "Doesn´t matter if ya can hold a gun or nat, what´s in here is what counts." Cid punched his rock-hard chest with a fist and squeezed Yazoo´s shoulder in a comforting manner with his free hand. He really wasn´t that good with encouragement and giving motivational speeches, but he had come to actually like the kid and he didn´t want to see him down, so Cid gave his best.

"Thank you," Yazoo replied, letting his fork sink down on his plate and fathomlessly staring into the frighteningly cheery face of his grumpy employer, "but actually I did pretty well."

"Oh," the blond said again, relaxing his facial features to a disbelieving one, before he asked again, doubt written all over his face "Really?"

"Yes. I have talent and great potential and it is a delight to teach me. At least that is what Vincent said."

"Vincent said that," Cid grumbled, looking askance at his apprentice who had finally made it to the peas. "Must have gone pretty well when you´re already on first name basis."

"Well, he is nice," was the unperturbed answer, that didn´t exactly brighten Cid´s mood.

"Oh yeah? Ya betta be careful, dat guy ain´t kosher. Pretty strange, might be involved with sum shady business, ya know…" The mechanic made a meaningful pause to intensify the atmosphere of doom he intended to create. "No one knows what he´s doin´ all day long, could well be butcherin' little kittens."

The silver haired beauty lifted a brow at that. "He´s a weapon designer."

Cid looked dumbfounded for a split second before he snorted and asked derisively "An´how´d ya know?"

"Well, I asked him and he showed me his work."

"Asked him…" Cid shook his head and grabbed for his pack of cigarettes. He lived next door to Vincent for 4 years now and it had never crossed his mind once to simply ask the other man about his occupation. Nosy brat… "Whateva. Ya still be careful, ya hear me?"

"Hn."

"Great. Now eat up an get ya shower, I´m dead tired."

*

"And here I thought there was a no-cuddling policy."

Cid cracked his eyes open and dizzily stared into two green jade orbs that looked rather smugly back at him.

"Shuddup," the tired mechanic mumbled and freed his apprentice from the tight hug he´d kept him in, unconsciously of course and very much unintended. The man rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling, trying to wake up properly.

"Ya gonna make tea?" he called after the vanishing youth and received an affirming "Hn".

Cid flexed his back, stretched his arms and yawned before he deigned to swing his feet over the mattress. Despite his grumpy morning face, he felt actually good and almost a bit light-headed. Could be the fact that he was able to sleep through the night again, which was a real mood-lightener after 7 years of insomnia. Could also be that he had something to look forward to again: delicious tea, teaching the brat some martial arts, having some cool lemonade and slices of anchovy pizza in the backyard with Yazoo during their break. Hell, he even looked forward to the stressful lessons in bookkeeping he got from Yazoo since a week. It was complicated as hell and he´d thrown the one or other fit about the stupidity of it all, but Yazoo somehow managed to cool him down and keep him going with his patient, almost stoic attitude…

While Yazoo was at training with Vincent Cid´d make dinner and then they´d watch a bit of TV until one of them started to doze off and they´d go to bed. It was funny how fast they had established a routine in their life together, but it was by no means unpleasant. It was a settling, fulfilling routine, and Cid couldn´t comprehend how he had stood the constant loneliness before Yazoo had entered his life.

Of course he´d rather bite his tongue than tell the youth, but unconsciously he let him know that his presence was appreciated by paying close attention to what the young man liked and what not. He´d gotten rid of most of the machinery in his living room for example. His fridge was always filled now with delicious food, because Cid still had his mission to feed his roommate up –though it didn´t help much (Yazoo was as slender as ever, even though he indulged in Cid´s surprisingly good cooking.) He bought that special shampoo that cost twice as much as the one he had used before, but he liked the citrus smell and it made Yazoo´s hair look very shiny and soft.

Shaking his head the mechanic freed his head from these dizzy thoughts and stood, slowly padding into the bathroom to get his much needed morning shower. While Yazoo was rummaging in the kitchen to get up some breakfast the blond brushed his teeth and half heartedly shaved. Then he went into the shower and under the sound of the running water muffling his groans as he got rid of some pressure in his loins. It seemed that with his depression fading, his libido had been re-awakened as well. It wasn´t bad enough to be worrisome, but with the young man now living with him he had to be a bit careful, seeing as there was almost no privacy for either of them. Yazoo was probably used to it, but Cid wasn´t and after 7 years of abstinence, he had some difficulties keeping himself under control. He also blamed their physical closeness for his increasingly… strange fantasies. Besides Yazoo, there was no one else he knew –well, maybe Vincent, but that guy still gave him the creeps at times- and the youth was sex on legs so it probably was no wonder that his imagination was running a little wild. It wasn´t like he fantasized directly about Yazoo –he´d rather blow out his brains- but it was the light shade of long hair, or a very familiar curve that sneaked into his sexual daydreams that made it hard to ignore what the source of them was. Nothing too critical though, and so Cid could convince himself that everything was still okay.

After all, it only would have complicated things if he was to develop romantic feelings for his apprentice. Apart from the fact that Yazoo was still in a relationship, somewhat, and certainly had other things to worry about than Cid Highwind, the blond highly doubted that he was Yazoo´s type. Surely the young man could get himself someone younger, more sophisticated and better shaved –which was why Cid (unconsciously) kept a close eye on Valentine.

The blond emerged from the shower and rubbed his wet, hard body off with a towel he accurately folded afterwards and got into his working clothes. The apartment already smelled of fresh tea, eggs and bacon, and Cid thought that this looked like a good start for a good day.

If only he had known.

TBC

Okay, I hope Cid´s feelings for Yazoo are plausible^^'

kiki-slasha: Oh well, secretly Cid has the same problem so doesn´t really mind that Yazoo sleeps in his bed. But Cid is Cid and can´t just simply admit it XD Ah well, I was thinking about elaborating the Cid-in-the-shower scene and give a more explicit glimpse into his phantasies but then I decided against it. Whoever comes out as the winner will get a good smut scene^^ Vincent... - we´ll probably see more of him in the next two chapters :)

natzilla: Hahaha, that is an interesting question, I have no idea if Vincent wants to bake a cake XD Maybe he does^^ But maybe he just wants to get his stuff back... Well, Cid really wasn´t a gourmet, but that changed a bit because he can actually cook very well if he wants to.

Valitiel: Oh gods, yes, Vincent´d probably put a bullet in poor Yazoo´s head before he can even start to bitch XD But then again Vinny put up with grumpy Cid for all these years as well... Well, we probably won´t find out if he´d lose his temper, since Cid luckily lets Yazoo sleep with him^^

luvyuyu: Chrchr, it was bound to happen, this 'misunderstanding'. Vincent´s a clever guy and sees right through Cid, there´s no use in pretending, hehehe. And it seems that Cid needs a good dosis of cddling himself^^

Thanks to everyone for reviewing, and if you´d like I´d be delighted to know what pairing you prefer!