Almost!

Rating: PG
Category: game-verse. (Slightly AU)
Pairing(s): Vincent/Cid… sorta.
Warnings: Some violence and the occasional four-lettered word
Summary: Cid’s love life takes a beating.
Notes: Time period: Your guess is as good as mine.

The Highwind isn’t quite the way I described; I’m pretty sure there’s no common area before the deck like I described.

Near the end of the game, there is a scene where everyone goes off on their own to say goodbye to the people and things they love. Everyone, that is, but Cloud and Tifa, who don’t really have anywhere to go. Tifa decides that if they are all gonna die anyway, may as well go out with a bang, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more. NOW. How nice Cloud has been to her in the game determines how much he gets. If he’s been a jackass to her, the implication is they sit up all night and talk. If he’s been nice, he gets a whole lot more. (This is all implied so don’t have him kiss up to her in the hopes of seeing a little het – you won’t.) Dawn comes, and they return to the empty airship… or rather the airship they THOUGHT was empty. Seems the rest of the bunch came back during the night and the implication is they sat up on the bridge and watched Cloud and Tifa merge DNA. Tifa is, of course, mortified. Cloud pretty much just shrugs. Personally, I get the impression that voyeurism is something of a sport with this group, which produced the bunny for this ficlet. PS – there is also a scene in which Cloud claims to have found a pair of orthopaedic underwear in Tifa’s dresser drawers.

I got everything I need – almost.
I got everything I need – almost,
But I don’t got you,
And you’re the thing I need the most.
-- Downchild Blues Band, ‘Almost’.

Tifa and Aeris walked cautiously into the darkened room. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust, but once they did, the pair could make out three forms seated within the room, two human, one canine, all munching popcorn in silence.

Tifa crossed her arms. “Can I ask what you three are doing? I’m assuming it can’t be good.”

“Cid and Vincent theatre,” said Cloud. “Every night, same channel.”

“Same episode, too,” grumbled Barret, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

Tifa leaned forward to peer at Cloud. “What are those you are wearing on your face?”

He held up something. “Night vision goggles, want a pair?”

“That’s horrible!”

He shrugged. Aeris took the goggles from his hand and put them on. “Oh fun! I never tried these before!” She looked around.

“Aeris!” exclaimed Tifa.

“Oh it’s just a little harmless fun. Nanaki even has on a pair.”

Tifa rolled her eyes, but finally relented and put on a pair herself. The darkness became illuminated, and outside the window she could see Cid and Vincent on the deck. They were talking. Every few minutes or so, Cid would edge closer, and Vincent would back away.

“It’s been like this for five days,” said Barret.

“Five days? You have been spying on them for five days?”

“Don’t say it like that,” said Cloud, “you make us sound like a bunch of freaks.”

“And you’re not?” said Tifa. “I’ve seen you in a dress!”

“Oh that one time, and it was to save you.”

“You still have it!” she said.

“I hate to throw things out,” Cloud said. “I still have your orthopaedic underwear, too.”

She stomped her foot and clenched her fists. “I DO NOT WEAR ORTHOPAEDIC UNDERWEAR!”

“SHH! You’re going to get us all caught, and Cid’s finally gaining ground.”

Tifa stared daggers at him through her night vision goggles. He just crossed his arms and grinned, watching Cid and Vincent. Barret chuckled quietly. Eventually, Tifa turned her head to watch the pair outside.

“Awww…” said Aeris. “Vincent’s shy.”

Tifa wasn’t sure ‘shy’ was the right word. More like ‘long-suffering’. She assumed there must have been a little interest on his part for him to put up with Cid’s advances; he just clearly didn’t like how overbearing the pilot was. However, ‘Cid’ and ‘overbearing’ were pretty much synonymous. Still, Vincent could have easily fled the situation, but he didn’t.

Cloud shoved popcorn into his mouth. “He’s not shy, he’s traumatized. The woman he loves gets pregnant by another guy, gets experimented on, then he gets shot, he gets experimented on, maybe a little tortured, locked in a coffin, and he survives it all to be rescued by us and end up playing slap-and-tickle on the deck with Mr. Congeniality out there. There aren’t enough days in the week for the therapy he’s going to need.”

“Still,” said Aeris, “he could get away if he really wanted to.”

“He doesn’t want to get away,” said Tifa. “He wants Cid to back off a little.”

That did seem to be the case; Vincent could have easily left Cid in the dust, but he was only just keeping out of range. He liked Cid; he just wasn’t crazy about his approach. Finally, Vincent relented, and let Cid catch him. He was plainly a little uncomfortable with the situation, but did not fight the embrace he found himself in. At first. Cloud sighed.

“Come on, Cid, stop pushing. He likes you; just give him some breathing room!”

Tifa shook her head. “This is not going to end well. What do you think? Will Vincent spit in his face?”

“Five gil says he steps on his foot,” said Aeris.

Barret gave Cloud a look. “What’s your opinion, Mr. Former Soldier First Class?”

Cloud watched Vincent. “Well, he’s a former Turk, and those guys are not trained to play nice. They’re trained to be efficient. I think he’ll break loose and give him the nose-nuts-and-guts treatment.”

“Nose..?” Aeris started to say, but fell silent as she saw Vincent pull away. Then, with the speed of a snake, she saw his fist fly out, catching Cid on the nose. A knee came up to drive hard into his testicles, then an elbow shot out to slam into his diaphragm. Cid crumpled up and fell to the deck, and Vincent was simply gone, vanishing into the night like a shadow. Aeris cried out, and would have gone to him, but Tifa caught her arm.

“No don’t go out, he’ll know we saw and he’ll be humiliated!”

“But..!”

“No I think Tifa is right,” said Cloud. “Fun is fun but we don’t want to add insult to injury.”

Aeris clearly wanted to go help Cid, but finally realized her friends were right. Cid would be humiliated on top of being hurt, and she relented. They drew the blinds, turned on the lights and stashed the goggles. By the time they heard the door being pulled open, they were seated at a table, playing cards, as if they had been there for hours.

Cid staggered in, holding his hand under his streaming nose. He limped slowly over to a small fridge, opening it and taking out a beer. He shut the door, then slowly slid down the wall to the floor. He opened the bottle with his teeth, and had a long drink.

“What happened to you?” asked Barret.

Cid had another drink of his beer. “What happened? Vincent happened! Little jackass attacked me!” He winced and ran his bloody hand over his gut. “I don’t understand, I don’t know if he likes me or not. DAMN he hits hard. If he’s a former Turk then I’d hate to play with a current one.”

Aerith could stand it no more and went to get some things for Cid’s nose. Cid’s balls, sadly, had to fend for themselves. She wasn’t about to bandage them.

Tifa said; “Well, maybe he’s just… not sure if he likes you either.”

“He must like me, every night when I go out on the deck, he shows up. Then I try to get close to him and he just… keeps backing up.” He winced. “Little shit gelded me.”

“Well,” said Cloud, concentrating on his cards in a desperate attempt to keep a straight face, “maybe you should try letting him come to you for a change.”

Cid looked up, nose bleeding, eyes swelling and turning black. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well maybe he just… wants to figure out who you are before you go chasing him all over the deck. Cid I think that nose is broken.”

“No shit, genius, you figure that out all by yourself?”

Aeris arrived with bandages and potions. She made an exasperated noise when he took one of the healing draughts from her and poured it into his beer. She rolled her eyes and went to sit at the table. Cid’s nose, like his balls, was now on its own.

“Well,” said Cid after a few minutes, “maybe I have been a little too forward with him. I mean he’s probably intimidated by all my looks and charm.”

The group at the table winced inwardly. “Yes I’m quite sure that’s it,” said Aeris.

“Sure that’s it! The dashing airship captain, ruggedly, manly, handsome…”

“Modest,” muttered Barret.

“He’s intimidated,” said Cid, looking pleased with himself.

“No doubt he is frightened by your gentle demeanour,” said Cloud.

Cid belched. “Hey I’m a fucking pussycat.”

“Charming, too,” said Tifa. She looked at her cards. “Hey what are we playing?”

“Go Fish,” said Aeris.

“Crazy Eights,” said Barret.

“Poker,” said Cloud.

“Fine,” said Tifa. “In that case I’ll play Pinochle.”

“Numbskulls,” muttered Cid, and had another drink of beer.

***---***

It was the night after Vincent had attacked him, and Cid was standing on the deck, listening to the quiet rush of the engines, gazing down at the ground far below. It was so beautiful out here, so peaceful At times like this, with the sun not quite down, and all the world painted indigo and pink, the stars just coming out, it was hard to believe anything bad could happen.

He heard the soft tread of boots on the deck, the flap of red cloth. Cid raised his head and saw a figure standing not far away, shrouded in darkness. His black hair swayed in the wind, his long coat blowing.

How the hell could anything be that pretty?

“I’m sorry,” said the soft voice.

“It’s okay,” said Cid quietly.

He straightened up, trying not to wince. He noticed Vincent backed up a step, and he thought about what Cloud had said; “maybe you should try letting him come to you for a change.” It seemed like a better idea than getting beat up again. Cid lit a cigarette and tried to think.

“Look, I’m better with machines than people. Something goes wrong on my ship, I fight with it until it’s doing what I want it to do. It makes me a great pilot and a great engineer. It doesn’t make me popular. And it doesn’t work on people.” Cid held his arms open, cigarette between his lips, eyes squinted against the wind and smoke. “I really want to hold you. But it’s your choice whether or not I get to do that.”

Vincent cocked his head, as if considering. Cid remained still, letting him think. For an eternity, nobody moved. Then, slowly, cautiously, Vincent walked towards him, and into his embrace. He laid his head on Cid’s shoulder and closed his eyes, and did not flinch when he felt Cid’s arms go around him. Both were blissfully unaware of the four people and one talking dog cheering Cid’s small victory in the room just off the deck.

Cid held his prize gently, wanting to touch every inch of him, to kiss him, but restrained himself. Chasing Vincent had clearly not worked, and he had no urge to end up in the same condition as the previous evening. They held each other, and watched the last traces of light fade from the sky. Suddenly it seemed as if they were standing alone amidst a field of stars, and all the world had vanished.

“It’s beautiful out here,” said Vincent quietly.

“Yeah, it is. It’s like there’s no crap that can possibly reach you up here. Just peace, and stars.” Cid looked up at the distant sparks of light, like an upturned sugar bowl of diamond dust scattered over a velvet table cloth. “Wonder if I’ll ever make it into space?”

Vincent raised his head. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to go.”

Cid shrugged with a non-caring he didn’t feel. “Not every dream happens.” He looked down at Vincent, and smiled. “Some do.”

Vincent reached up and picked the cigarette butt out of Cid’s mouth, flicking it over the edge of the deck to spiral down into the endless darkness. They gazed at each other, gauging their next move. Cid lowered his head, so their noses bumped, their brows touching. He was so close; he wanted to kiss him so badly. He saw Vincent’s lips part slightly, and a tantalizing glimpse of white teeth. Cid edged closer, and felt Vincent pull back ever so slightly, and smiled. So the little brat liked to play coy, did he? Cid grinned and pulled back a little himself, and was rewarded when Vincent followed, and parted his lips. At last, finally! He was going to get just the smallest taste of him, and it was going to be so good…

“Hey why is everyone sitting in the dark?” asked Yuffie, turning on the lights.

Cid’s head snapped up as the light caught his attention. Tifa and Aeris had immediately dove for cover, but the same thought had not occurred to Barret and Cloud, who were caught red handed, night vision goggles in place, staring back at Cid. Vincent silently vanished.

“We are so dead,” said Cloud.

They watched as the enraged pilot stared at them, rooted to the spot with fury. Then he snatched up a very large wrench and began striding towards them.

“Run,” said Barret.

“To where? We’re on an air ship!”

“Well we had better find someplace!”

The door was kicked in by a steel-toed engineer’s boot, and Barret and Cloud fled for their lives. Tifa and Aeris hid under the table until they were gone, then departed for their own cabin. Yuffie watched everyone scatter, then looked at Nanaki, who was still seated on his chair, night vision goggles perched on his furry red face.

“Wanna go teach bad habits to the chocobo?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said.

The pair departed, and spent the next few hours in the chocobo stable, and well away from the screaming and chaos happening in other areas of the airship.