Night Music
Sequel to 'Almost!'

Rating: PG
Category: game-verse. (Slightly AU)
Pairing(s): Vincent/Cid… sorta. And Cloud/Reno… kinda.
Warnings: Some violence, mild BDSM, (implied) the occasional four-lettered word, and singing.
Summary: They’re bored, they’re drunk, and Reno’s still on vacation. And was Sephiroth really a funny guy?
Notes: Time period: Few hours after ‘Almost!’
Location: Over Wutai. And yes I am well aware they did not have the Highwind at this point.

There is a scene in the game in which Reno refuses two direct orders to go after Cloud, despite the fact that he is within (very!) easy capturing range. The reason? He’s drunk, and he’s on vacation. And he’s not about to go get his ass kicked on his day off. So that scene helped to inspire this ficlet.

The song ‘Vincent’ by Don McLean, copyright 1971, Liberty Records.

Tifa lay in her bunk, a pillow over her head. For the last few hours, she had been kept awake, first by the sound of Cid chasing Cloud and Barret all over the ship. Then things seemed to quiet down, and the fighting, swearing and screaming had stopped. It was now midnight, and a far more sinister sound than fighting was echoing its way through the interior of the airship…

“Don’t know whhhyyy…. There’s no sun up in th’ sky. Stormy weatherrrrrrr…”

Tifa pulled the pillow off her head. “How much longer can they keep that up? It’s awful!”

Aeris had been giggling for at least an hour straight at the mournful, alcohol-induced caterwauling, tears in her eyes. “Oh leave them be, they’re… bonding or something.”

“I would prefer the fighting! Listen to them, it’s terrible!”

“Since my man and I ain’t together, keeps rainin all the tiiiime…”

“It’s… not really that bad,” said Aeris.

“Not that bad?! Girl, you need to clean your ears out. It’s painful!”

“Well maybe I can make things a bit better,” said Aeris.

She leaned over and reached for a bag resting on the floor in which she kept her things, and pulled out a small phone. She set it on ‘speaker’, then dialled a number. Tifa watched with curiosity, and, after several rings, she heard a phone being clumsily answered.

“H’lo?” said a drunken voice.

Tifa felt her jaw drop as Aeris said gaily; “Hi Reno.”

There was a pause as the booze-drowned circuits in his mind tried to fire. When he spoke, he was full of all the love and warmth for humanity his liver could hold.

“Heyyyy… kitten, how the f… HIC! How are ya?”

“I’m good. Hey, how much longer are you on vacation for?”

“Me?” There was a long pause as Reno attempted to comprehend his watch. “I got… eighteen hours left. Why?”

“Would you like to come to a party?”

“Sure, I’d love to. There’s nothing to do here. Rude passed out hours ago and Elena won’t let me shove sashimi up his nose. Where are you?”

“We’re in the big airship outside of town.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Reno hung up, and Aeris put the phone away, then looked at Tifa with big innocent eyes.

“What?”

“WHERE did you get Reno’s number?” Tifa asked.

“He gave it to me in town.” Aeris blinked.

“And… at what point did it seem like a good idea to ask him up for a drink?”

“Well you were complaining about the singing, and I thought, you know, Barret and Cid are both baritones, and Cloud leans more towards soprano, and Reno’s got a really nice tenor so he should even things out.”

Tifa just stared at her for a long moment. Aeris smiled sweetly back at her. Finally Tifa got out of bed and dressed.

“Okay, that’s it; this place is a nut factory.” She began walking to the door. “If anybody wants me, tell them Sephiroth and I went to take in a movie.”

“Okay I will. But don’t order popcorn, the smell makes him nauseous.”

Tifa stopped. Slowly she turned around and looked at Aeris. “I beg your pardon?”

“Popcorn. The smell of the fake margarine the movie theatres use makes him nauseous.”

Tifa shook her head. “And… just HOW do you know this?”

“Cloud told me.”

“And how does…? You know what? Forget it. I’ll be back later.”

***---***

The three inebriates sat in the small combination common room and galley just off the deck, drinking beer and nursing their injuries. Cloud now had a pair of black eyes that matched Cid’s, and were directly related to the broken knuckles Cid now had to go along with his broken nose and bruised body parts. Barret had a split lip and a swollen eye, but all appeared to have survived their confrontation just fine. They were now all seated on the floor, piss drunk, and having the sort of conversation that only the severely intoxicated could have.

“I love him,” Cid said, slurring his words. “I’m sure I love him. An’ it’s not just because he’s got a body that doesn’t quit. I mean I don’ jus’ wanna take him to bed. I honestly think I’d like to talk to him afterwards.”

“Tha’s beautiful, man,” said Barret.

“Yeah, I thought so,” said Cid. “But… Vincent don’t like me.”

“Sure he does,” said Cloud. “He almost kissed you.”

“Yeah he was GONNA kiss me, until you rat-asses turned the light on and SCARED him!” Cid sniffed. “He’s never gonna talk to me again. I don’t even know if he’s still on th’ ship.” He turned bleary eyes towards Barret. “Hey. Who would you sleep with if given a chance?”

“Ah I don’ know. Haven’t really thought about it. Too busy with other shit.” He looked at Cloud. “What about you?”

Cloud was having trouble getting his beer to his mouth. “If I was given a chance? Anyone at all?”

Barret and Cid nodded solemnly. Cloud grinned.

“Ain’t tellin’.”

“Aw come on, ya have to,” said Cid.

“Why? Barret didn’t.”

“That’s because no one wants to fuck him an’ he knows it,” said Cid. “C’mon. Tell.”

Cloud grinned. “Hard to decide. Either Sephiroth or Rufus Shinra. Or Reno. I would definitely do Reno.”

“So he likes the bad boys, does he?” said Cid, raising an eyebrow.

“Sephiroth,” muttered Barret. “Why would you want your dick even in the same room with him?”

Cloud wove, and examined the bottle he held, finding it empty. He set it aside and found a full one, managing to open it. “Y’know when he was sane, we all adored him. He was a funny, funny guy.”

Cid and Barret stared. “Sephiroth. Funny,” they intoned in unity, with equal disbelief.

Cloud nodded. “Yeah, well, it was a subtle sorta funny. Ya had to look for it.”

“No doubt with a magnifying glass,” said Cid.

“No, he was! Honest! Before he went completely batshit and decided the planet needed to die. I mean you don’ get the sort of adoration and respect from yer troops he had without knowing when to let the horse have his head.”

“Or when to take its head off,” said Cid.

“He was still funny. Well, I thought he was funny.”

“You had a case of the steaming thigh-sweats for him,” said Cid. “Tends to make the blood leave the brain.”

Cloud looked puzzled. “I could have sworn he was funny.”

“Well if you can think of something funny that man did that does NOT involve blood letting, let me know.”

“Sure.”

The door was shoved open, and in stumbled a red-haired figure in an expensive suit, a bottle in one hand, a large rod capable of delivering an incapacitating amount of electricity in the other. Reno staggered over to a spot on the floor and sat down gracelessly between Cloud and Barret. He handed Barret the rod, then opened the bottle and had a long drink. Cloud, Cid and Barret stared at him blearily.

“When did you get here?” asked Cloud.

“I have no idea,” said Reno. He offered the bottle to Cloud, who in turn offered Reno his beer. They swapped and drank.

“So who would you have sex with if given the chance?” asked Barret.

Reno stared at him. “What is this, a slumber party?”

“Never mind that,” said Cid. “Do you know ‘Stormy Weather’?”

“Yeah, I know that.”

Tifa was standing on the deck when she heard the yowling start up again; two baritones, and an almost-soprano, joined by a clear, smooth tenor.

“Don’t know whhhyyy…. There’s no sun up in th’ sky. Stormy weatherrrrrrr…Since my man and I ain’t together, keeps rainin’ all the tiiiime…”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be damned, Aeris was right. It does improve things.”

***---***

They sang and drank for almost two hours. Then Barret slowly fell over backwards, landing on the floor with a mighty thud, Reno’s electric weapon still clutched in his hand. Cloud, Reno and Cid stared at him.

“Well now it’s a slumber party,” said Cid.

“Leave him there,” said Cloud. “If we try to pick him up we’ll just hurt ourselves.”

“Right.” Cid finished his beer and grabbed a new one, then forced himself up to his feet. “Well, I’m going to bed.”

Reno and Cloud smiled and waved as Cid staggered out of the room, departing through the badly damaged door he had kicked in earlier. Once he was gone, Cloud turned to look at Reno, who was grinning at him with a look that sharks must give baby seals.

“Well, well. Alone at last. I’m gonna do something to you that I’ve been wanting to do since you beat the shit out of me in the Sector Seven slums,” said Reno.

Cloud swallowed nervously.

***---***

Cid staggered in the direction of the ship’s cabins; a collection of small rooms built for the comfort of Shinra employees on long flights. He paused outside of one door, and looked at it, hearing no sound. He thought about knocking, but it was after two in the morning, and he was falling-down drunk. Not the best condition to be in for an apology. He sighed, then lit a cigarette and continued on his way, finally finding his own door and opening it. He stumbled into the room and closed the door behind himself, and froze. Even drunk and in the dark, Cid knew he wasn’t alone. There was a silent presence there, waiting, watching.

Cid had a drink of beer, then said cautiously; “Hello?”

Someone walked up, stopping directly before him, and Cid could feel his soft, warm breath on his lips when he spoke.

“You’re drunk,” said the voice quietly, with a hint of amusement.

“Yeah, I… was feeling kinda sorry for myself.”

“Why?”

“Because when you vanished after the light came on, I thought… you wouldn’t want to talk to me any more.”

Cid’s eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark, and he could finally see Vincent, standing right in front of him.

“It takes more than a moment of embarrassment to discourage me,” Vincent said quietly.

“I’m glad.” Cid set aside the bottle of beer, and gently took Vincent’s hand, slipping his other arm around his back, holding him lightly. “Care to dance?”

“In the dark, with no music?”

“Sure, why not? Can you waltz?”

“I can waltz.”

They moved in the darkness. Vincent was more spectre than flesh and blood. He made no sound, and seemed to weigh nothing. But he was warm, and alive, and seemed quite taken with the moment, or at least amused by it.

“I had no idea you were such a romantic,” he said quietly.

“Oh, yeah, I’m a hopeless romantic.”

“You hide it well.”

“Well, it doesn’t fit the image.”

Cid thought he saw Vincent smile. “So, our hardened captain has a soft side. Moonlight waltzes and starlight, endless serenades to stormy weather…”

Cid laughed. “Yeah I like that tune.”

“So I gathered.”

Cid grinned, and looked down at the man in his arms. When he began to sing, it was not with the flat yowl that had so pained Tifa. This time his voice was softer, and actually quite lovely.

“Starry, starry night. Paint your palette blue and grey.
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills, sketch the trees and the daffodils.
Catch the breeze and the winter chills, in colors on the snowy linen land.”

“The man has talent,” said Vincent.

“I’d give you a dip but in my condition it might be permanent.”

“Just sing, then.”

“Starry, starry night. Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,
Swirling clouds in violet haze, reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue…”

“My eyes aren’t blue,” said Vincent quietly, smiling.

“Whatever, it’s a song.

Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain.
Weathered faces lined in pain, are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand…”

Cid’s voice trailed off, and fell silent.

“Why did you stop?” asked Vincent. “It was pretty.”

“It’s sad.”

“I’m not bothered by a little sadness.” He smiled, almost shyly. “Or by friends armed with night-vision goggles. I am, though, a little frightened by you. My last romance did not end well.”

“I can’t promise this one will, either,” said Cid. “That’s the chance people take. I can, however, swear, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a dildo in my eye, NOT to leave you locked in a coffin in a spooky old mansion. Deal?”

“Deal,” whispered Vincent. He reached up and picked the remains of the cigarette out of Cid’s mouth, tossing it into an old can half-filled with butts. “I believe I was about to give you something out on the deck.

“I believe you were.”

Vincent pressed close, and, briefly, hesitated. Cid waited, and when he finally felt the lips press softly to his own, his knees nearly failed to hold him. He wrapped his arms around Vincent in as much an attempt to keep himself vertical as it was just to hold him. He tangled his fingers into the black hair, and when he felt Vincent part his lips to deepen the kiss, the rush of emotion was almost painful. He didn’t know if it was love, but it was damned good. When the kiss finally ended, he was shaking.

“Sleep beside me tonight,” he said hoarsely.

Vincent raised an eyebrow. Cid grinned.

“Come on. I’m so drunk I can’t do anything anyway. I just want to hold you.”

Vincent considered, then after a moment, nodded. “All right.”

***---***

Tifa sat at the small table, drinking her coffee, watching Reno attempt to get his act together in preparation for leaving. It was just after five pm, and Barret was still passed out on the floor, snoring loudly. Reno’s weapon was in one hand; his other hand was tangled in Nanaki’s red fur. The creature was asleep with his forepaws and head on Barret’s chest, and he, like the man, was snoring. Reno somehow managed to artfully avoid stepping on either of them as he hastily explored the room in quest of something.

“What did you lose?” Tifa asked, still bleary from being up most of the night. The entire day had pretty much gone to waste.

“Glove,” he said.

She held something up. “This glove?”

“That glove. Thank you.”

Aeris arrived with a small bottle in her hand. “Aspirin,” she said.

“Great, thanks.” He took the bottle and opened it quickly, gulping down two or three pills. He handed her back the bottle, then deftly stole Tifa’s coffee. Holding the cup with both hands, he downed the contents and then passed the empty mug back to her, wincing. “Needs sugar.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said dryly, watching as he tied back his long mane of damp red hair, then paused briefly to look in a mirror, checking to make sure the complex array of spikes in the front stood up just so. Tifa was sure she smelled Cloud’s industrial-strength hair gel on him.

“Reno,” called Aeris. “Don’t forget this.”

He turned to face her, and caught the large rod as she removed it from Barret’s grasp and tossed it to him. He then consulted his watch.

“Okay, in… forty-three minutes I am back on the clock. Don’t be here.”

Aeris nodded. “We won’t.” She waved. “Bye. Get fired so you can come back.”

“And lose my benefits? Are you nuts?”

Aeris giggled, and Reno turned to leave. But before he did, Tifa called his name. He stopped and looked at her. “What?”

“Was Sephiroth allergic to popcorn?” she asked.

He gave her an odd look. “Yeah of course he was, everyone knows that.” Then he was gone.

“I didn’t,” muttered Tifa.

She glanced out the window as she heard the chain ladder that led to the ground being pulled up, and saw Cid outside, hauling the heavy object onto the deck. He waved at someone on the ground, then entered the galley to pour himself some coffee, whistling.

“You’re in a good mood,” said Aeris.

“You would be too if you had what I had keeping me warm last night.” He lit a cigarette, then left the room, hastening to the bridge to start the airship, stepping over Barret’s large body on his way out.

“Sounds like he and Vincent worked things out,” said Tifa. “Hey, Aeris, did you… happen to notice the smell of the hair gel Reno was using?”

“Yeah, I did, it smelled like the stuff Cloud uses. Reno must have just used whatever was in the bathroom.”

“Aeris, Cloud doesn’t leave his stuff in the bathroom.”

Aeris paused, and thought. “You’re right. I wonder how he got it?”

The two looked at each other as the same thought struck each of them.

“You don’t think…” said Tifa.

The door that led to the interior of the ship opened, and Cloud stepped into the room, damp, smelling of that oh-so-distinct hair gel. He had a pair of shades on to protect his hung-over and blackened eyes from what remaining sunlight there was. He was walking as if every single bone and muscle in his body hurt, and his wrists and neck were ringed with red marks and bruises. The sleeveless shirt he was wearing didn’t quite hide the claw and bite marks on his arms, back and shoulders. He poured himself some coffee, added milk, then, without uttering a word, left once more, grinning like a fool. Tifa watched him go, and then looked at Aeris.

“You and your brilliant ideas,” she muttered.