~Cloud's POV~
Vincent paces back and forth in front of me in the training room, tugging at the roots of his hair.
"Don't worry about it, Vince. He'll be fine."
"Cloud, he's a freaking kid. I don't know how to take care of a kid! I don't even remember my own parents!"
"Chill," I groan. "It's not that hard. Besides, he's a teenager. They're independent. Well, most of them anyway."
"He could be ten for all you know," he scowls.
"I doubt that. He looks about Denzel's age."
"And how old's he?"
"Fourteen. And a half." Vincent blinks at me for a second before sighing.
"That's it? He looks like he would be older."
"Eh, he's Denz. What do you expect?"
My friend groans and sits down on the edge of a bed, still frustrated. I feel kinda bad for him, but I don't know why he's freaking out over this. It's just a kid. It'll be like his own little Denzel. Okay, forget I just said that. I sound like a baby doll salesman. Or Don Corneo. Ew... I'm never cross dressing again.
"But still, I don't... He'll probably hate me for not saving his mom and I don't know how to make up for it or anything. I can't..."
"Vincent, really. You sound like a retard. Just relax. Make up for it? Since when does Vincent Valentine make up for anything?"
"Since when does Vincent Valentine let one of his few friends die?" He glares at me.
"For the last time, you are not some freaking super hero. You can't save everyone and everything just because you have Chaos, alright?"
"I know," he sighs. "Which is why I can't save or help anyone, I'm a stinking demon for Pete's sake."
"That's not what I meant," I frown.
"But that's what you were getting at, right?"
"No."
Thumping noises can be heard on the stairs until Yuffie steps down onto the wooden floor. Then she freezes, glancing over toward the targets wistfully.
"Am I interrupting a guy moment?"
"Yuffie, tell Vincent that taking care of Denzel isn't hard."
"He's a brat," she says seriously.
"He is not!" I defend.
"Yeah, cuz he's your little angel," she counters. "And if I'm all clear, then I'd like to humor myself with chucking sharp objects into a target."
"I've gotta go find Tifa," Vincent says and makes his escape. Wouldn't be surprised if one day announced that he had separation anxiety.
"So what happened to your amazing exercising plan?" Yuffie smirks at me once he leaves. I roll my eyes and sit down on a crate.
"Didn't have one."
"Oh cmon. We all know I married you for the abs," she laughs teasingly.
"Really? So when I get old and flabby you won't love me anymore?" I tease back.
"No way, Mr. Saggy." Then she tugs my arm and makes me stand. "But seriously, Barret's gonna come torture you if you don't get your strength back up."
"Fine," I grumble.
"On the floor, now!" She demands. "And give me 200 push ups." Oh geeze. After that whole cell and hospital ordeal? This might burn for awhile...
When I'm done, my arms are aching and sweat is dripping from my forehead due to the room being over eighty something degrees. It's hot down here, okay?
"Done," I roll over on my back and take a few deep breaths.
"Hmm... Now sit ups!"
"What?" I groan. Those are always the worst.
"Now, or I double them."
"How many am I doing?"
"Eh, 100. Shouldn't be too hard, right?" She's doing this because I have mako, isn't she? Ugh, you suck, Yuffie... I stand and unzip my shirt, shedding the sweaty garment before being forced into more physical tortures. When I finally finish my 250th pull up on a bar in didn't know would support my weight, I'm worn out from the waist up. But she's not done. This is like some super exercise class for obese people.
"Jog in place for half an hour," she says, setting a timer. I roll my eyes and go. Well this is easy enough... Whoa!
"Holy crap!" I hiss, dodging a knife.
"Did I mention that we're avoiding sharp objects as well?"
"You're gonna kill me!"
"Nope," she smirks, holding up a green materia and casting Wall on me. Smart girl.
"Great," I mutter and keep going through another thirty minutes of torture. Even with the wall, it would hurt if I got a knife buried in me, so I keep moving. Yuffie obviously is aiming where I can dodge easily so that she doesn't hurt me, but it doesn't make this any better.
"Good job, Fatso," she crosses her arms. "Hmm... I think locking you in a cage with a bunch of female chocobos would help you run..."
"Please don't," I plead.
"But I don't have a cage or any chocobos, so I guess that's it for today. Same time tomorrow?" She teases.
"Yeah right," I scoff, grabbing my smelly shirt and going upstairs to take a shower. Tifa's already in the laundry room, so I have her toss my shirt in with Derek's clothes. Then I get in the shower, the hot water working its magic against my tense body and washing the sweat off me. At least twice someone comes in to brush their teeth or grab a towel for something. Why do I always forget to lock the door. And is this my third shower in twenty-four hours? I have issues. And I've only brushed my teeth three times today. I feel so gross.
"Frick," I mutter to myself when I realize someone took all the towels. I swear there were like ten when I got in here. "And I forgot my clothes. Lovely."
I reluctantly pull on my old pair of pants and hurry to the bunk room, digging through my drawers in search of clothing, but I can only find a pair of boxers. Frowning, I change behind the divider between my and Yuffie's and Vincent and Tifa's beds.
"Nice butt," Yuffie teases. I jump and roll my eyes when I see her laying on the bed and fiddling with her knives.
"It's not nice to watch people change you know."
"Well it's not like you've never changed in front of me," she shrugs.
"Butthole," I laugh, checking my dirty pants and her.
"Hey!" She protests, throwing them back.
"That hurt," I pout.
"Put your clothes on, Cloud," she rolls her eyes.
"I don't have any clean clothes," I stick my bottom lip out.
"Well you won't fit mine, so go look for something," she waves me off and I reluctantly but quickly go to the laundry room. Tifa's still in there, and her eyes widened slightly when she's sees I'm in practically nothing, but she doesn't say anything.
"Happen to have any clean pants in there?" I plead. "I can't find any of my stuff. It all burned down with the house."
"Um, actually, Derek's borrowing some of your stuff until his is done. I guess we're gonna have to go on a shopping spree tomorrow," she blushes for no reason.
"Oh. Didn't think it'd fit him," I shake my head.
"It doesn't," she admits with a sigh, still avoiding looking at me.
"What?"
"What what?" She frowns, finally turning to me.
"Never mind," I shake my head and raise my arms up and fold my hands behind my head. Tifa gasps and I look over at her. She's completely red faced and looking at the other side of the room.
"You okay?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Your, uh, pants just fell down."
"Wha... Oh. Shoot," I feel my face heat up as I quickly yank my underwear back on. "Sorry."
"... It's fine."
"Excuse me?" I furrow my eyebrows. What did she just say?!
"Not that!" She squeals in protest, making me chuckle. "You're horrible!"
"How would you know?"
"You and your dirty mind," she scolds, shaking her head.
"Who and what now?" Vincent enters the room with basket full of clothes. I guess everyone's deciding to wash something instead of wear dirty clothes 24/7.
"Cloud has a terrible mind," she shakes her head.
"Ugh," I groan, my bare shoulders cold where the cool metal touches them. "That stupid mako absorbed everything I had to drink after like half an hour. That's no fun."
"Sucks for you," Vince smirks. "Cid's still acting like a weirdo. He's all over Shera when he's drunk. I'm tempted to take a video."
"That's about as creep as when Tifa took a picture of me and Yuffie sleeping," I laugh. Tifa rolls her eyes at me and goes back to watching the laundry.
"Not to be creepy just to show him when he's sober and over that killer hangover he's gonna have," Vincent shakes his head. "How much did he drink anyway?"
"I dunno," I shrug. "He's Cid, what did you expect?"
"Worse, honestly."
"Here," Tifa chucks my shirt and me and I nod gratefully. Really though, do you know how bizarre this shirt would look on me while I'm in my underwear? Just sayin!
"It's warm," I wince when the zipper burns my cheek.
"No duh, stupid," Vince laughs.
"Put something on before you flash me again," Tifa groans.
"What?" He frowns.
"Let's just say all my clothing is a little loose at the moment," I cringe before leaving the room. "Oh yeah! And wash my clothes when Derek gets out of em, okay Teef?"
"What?!" She protests.
I laugh to myself and go back to the bunk room, ignoring Yuffie's perverted comments as I pull my pants on and go out to the cockpit. Cid's found a cigarette somewhere and Shera's given up on taking them away for now. Red's just trying to ignore the chuckling pilot and rests his head on his paws, looking out the window.
"So Sher, considered Cid yet?" He smirks at his wife.
"It's a no-go," she crosses her arms.
"But what if you get to my choose the middle name?" He pouts.
"Maybe."
"Really?"
"No."
"But Sheeeeeeeeeeeeer," he whines.
Vincent was right, this guy is a total weirdo. And the weirdo seems to have just noticed me.
"Hey, my favorite drinking buddy!" He claps me on the shoulder. I force a wince down and roll my eyes. Retard..
"Cid, leave the poor kid alone," Shera sighs.
"Why?" He frowns, but leaves me alone after rustling my hair.
"Because you're annoying him." Thank you, Shera!
"Aw, you're no fun."
"Not when you're being stupid," she crosses her arms.
"That wasn't very nice," he teases, poking her forehead. She just rolls her eyes again before shoving a glass of water and a couple aspirin into his hand. That's when I decide it's time to go to bed. I'm exhausted anyway. Yuffie's still not asleep when I get to the room, and she scoots over to give me space on the bed.
"What're you looking at?" I ask, laying down beside her and looking over at my phone screen. She flips to the next picture.
"Just looking through your gallery," she sighs when she gets to a picture of Mikey looking up at me with the biggest, silliest grin on his face.
"I really need to get you one of these," I shake my head with a small laugh. "You're on my phone too much. What do you do if someone calls?"
"They never do," she shrugs.
"Sounds like my phone," I grin and she lays her head in the crook of my arm, still flipping through my photos.
"Is this from the day that Kara punched the newspaper person on the curb?" She asks with laugh.
"Yup," I nod.
"She's too much like me sometimes."
"Agreed," I nod.
I hear a shuffle and look over to see Derek awkwardly standing there in my clothing, which is practically falling off him, but oh well.
"Need something?" I sit up.
"Uh, yeah, just... Wondering where the bathroom is," he bites his lip. Now that I think about it, he does look a little green.
"Yeah, cmon," I nod and stand, Yuffie sending me an eye roll before we hurry into the hall. Derek groans when we reach the room, the door locked tightly.
"I don't... Ugh, I hate flying."
"Here, I've got somewhere else," I say, moving forward toward the deck. Without a word, he means over the railing and loses whatever the last ate. I patiently wait against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest. I don't want the poor kid to get lost on board.
"You didn't have to wait," he says once he's managed to put himself together.
"Want some water?" I ask, ignoring his question. "I don't think you want that gross taste in your mouth."
"Thanks," he nods and we go to the kitchen.
A small amount of conversation is exchanged between us. I learn that he was born in raised in Midgar, though he and his mother escaped to Kalm. His dad refused to follow until he had helped evacuate everyone from the city, but the Lifestream destroyed the city before he could get out, and he was crushed under the rubble. A few weeks later, his three year old sister died from Geostigma. Eventually, they moved into the Edge again, after the stigma had cleared up for the most part. They tried to live normal lives like normal people, and when Tifa's self defense class opened a two years ago, he was one of the first to join.
In turn, he learned from me what the heck is going on with Avalanche, Sephiroth, and that band of crazies led by my cousin. The fact that he told me about his sister brings me to tell him about Michael, which almost makes me want to stop talking altogether. But I can't, not now. I don't usually talk much, but when I need to cover up and hold back feelings I don't want there, I'm s chatterbox. So I tell him all of our back stories, just giving brief vital details. When I'm done, I get myself my own cup of water. We just burned almost two hours talking.
"Why are you the only person that treats me like I belong here?" He asks. I cock my head to the side, thinking for a moment before answering.
"I don't think they're used to having a teenager on board. If you really want some energetic company, go hang out with Yuffie for the day, she's got a nonstop jaw."
"So do you," he smiles teasingly.
"Usually I don't talk this much," I smile back and shake my head.
"So about having a teenager on board?"
"Right. It's not that they don't like you, they just don't know you. They don't really know how to warm up to someone so much younger than them."
"So why do you? Are you secretly eighteen or something?" I burst out laughing.
"No, no way. Almost ten years over that. I wish, though. I have a..." Son? "Son back in Wutai where it didn't get destroyed at his friend's house. He's about the same age as you."
"Geeze, how old are you?" He teases.
"He's adopted," I grin. "Name's Denzel. I think he's in your self defense class." Derek nods.
"Yeah. I, uh, never talked to him though."
"Hmm." I hum, leaning back against the counter and taking another sip. "What do you think about Vincent?"
"Honestly?"
"Mhmm."
"Huh. Cold, serious, stuck up, and bitter are just a few."
"I think you've got ol' Vinnie backwards," I laugh, ruffling his blueish silver hair. "He's a little hard to warm up to at first, heck, we thought he was a vampire when we first met him. After that you realize he's a pretty funny guy. Secretly loves to chat, helps Yuffie pull pranks all the time. And he's always so down on himself, I'd hardly call him proud."
"Sounds like someone I'd like to meet."
"But you're right about the bitter part," I sigh. "He hates himself for his past, he hates Hojo, he hates Sephiroth, he can't stand the Turks, and he can be a ruthless killer."
"... Uh.."
"But he has a good reason. I mean, if I were killed and hen experimented on, locked in a coffin only to wake up thirty years later and realize that I had four demons living in me, I'd be pretty bitter too."
"Yeah," he looks down into his empty cup before yawning. I glance down at the boomerang in his belt, the yellow and orange pattern catching my attention.
"Tell you what. Tomorrow Tifa's taking this of us that need some clothes out and that's when you can try to get to know Vincent. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"
"Alright," he says almost reluctantly and sets the cup in the sink before following me back to the bunk room. He can stay in my clothes tonight. I'll just have to deal with dirty pants until I get some new ones. But right now, dirty laundry doesn't have me worried, it's that Derek might end up choosing me over Vince, and then we'd be in a mess. The kid could use a friend... And Tifa seems willing to take Derek in once this crap is all over. So Vincent, this is where your friendly side comes it. Which takes up like .000001% of your sides.
TA-DA! OKAY, NOT GONNA LIE. 24 YEAR OLD HOPE ESTHEIM IS HOT. PUBERTY HIT HIM HARD. AND HE GREW FREAKING 11 INCHES OVER TEN YEARS. AGAIN, HOT. OH YEAH, IM SURE YOU KNOW WHY I'M BRINGING HIM UP NOW. WHO KNOWS WHO DEREK LOOKS LIKE?! I'VE BEEN HINTING IT SINCE LAST CHAPTER!!!
DAZ RIGHT. DEREK LOOKS LIKE HOPE. BUT ONLY PHYSICALLY AND WEAPON WISE, HE'S NIT WEARING LIKE THRITY SHIRTS PLUS A SCARF. NOPE. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. JEANS AND A FLANNEL WOULD BE JUST FINE ;).
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