FFVII - Adorable

Adorable.

Author: The Magic Rat
Rating: PG
Pairings: Cid/Vincent sorta.
Warnings: Cid, Cid's mouth.
Word Count: 1424
Website – Ex Libris:  www.winter-wood.net/ex-libris/…
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Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy Seven characters, places and situations are the property of Square Soft/Square Enix and are used without permission and without intent of plagiarism or profit. Copyright for all stories and original characters such as Badger the Roadie is with the author, and may not be published, copied, distributed or archived without the author's prior written consent.

Summary: Tifa spends the night with Cid and Vincent.

Author's notes: A thank-you ficlet for Animama for helping me to get a heater for my birdies.



Tifa was a little wary about sharing a room with Cid and Vincent – especially Cid – but with Barret, Yuffie, Aeris and Cloud all coughing flu germs at each other, and with only a few rooms available, she had exactly two choices. She could sleep on the lawn, or she could share a space with Cid and Vincent. This was going to be… interesting. They were the newest members of the group, and Cid intimidated her a lot. He was loud, aggressive, and clearly had no trouble letting people know what he thought of them. So she was just a little scared to be staying in a room with him, especially since he was a lot bigger than she was, and she'd already seen him in action with Shera. She knew he had no trouble whatsoever venting his anger on a woman, and Tifa wasn't sure what sort of things set him off. Not that she thought she couldn't defend herself, but she would just really rather not end up in a brawl with a man twice her size. She would just have to be careful.

Vincent however didn't scare her at all. Even with the red eyes and the claws, he didn't frighten her. He seemed so… fragile and shy, like a little forest animal. There was something about Vincent that made her just wanna cuddle him and tell him it was all gonna be okay. And when they were in the room unpacking and he sneezed, she positively melted.

"Oh my gods you are just so cute," she gushed without even realizing she had been about to speak.

Vincent stared at her in utter confusion as Cid dumped his pack onto a chair.

"Quit scarin' the gorgon," he groused.

"Cute?" Vincent queried.

"Cute," Tifa confirmed. "Adorable. A woobie."

Vincent stared at her for a time, then looked to Cid, who gazed back.

"What are you askin' me for? How should I know if you're a woobie, I don't even know what a woobie is."

Vincent shrugged. Cid looked to Tifa. "So what bed are you an' me sharin'?"

Oh that was so not happening. "Uh… I'm sleeping on the sofa bed. You and Vincent can have the double."

"Meanie. He snores, you know. Farts too."

Vincent blinked, looking worried, probably asking himself if he snored. By all the gods of Gaia how could a grown man be that cute?

"Fine. Vincent? You can sleep beside me and Cid can have the sofa," said Tifa.

"How come Vincent gets to sleep with you and I don't?"

"Because you want to too much!"

"Yer no fun. Wanna order pizza? Vincent, do you eat pizza?"

They ordered pizza and watched scary movies, and then it was time to get some sleep. They had been doing a lot of travelling, and while they might not have the flu, they were still exhausted.

"It's going to be nice to have a couple days to rest," said Tifa.

"Wanna discuss recreation?"

Tifa sighed. Oh this was just going to be horrid; that was all she needed, three days in a room with an aggressive over-sexed bastard, and sweet as Vincent was, she had a funny feeling that if Cid lunged for her all Vincent would be able to do in her defense would be stare worriedly. So far she hadn't seen him in action, but he looked so fragile she had no idea what kind of a warrior he would be. Tifa stared at her adversary in annoyance.

"Cid would you like to see the scar I got when I picked up a sword and went after Sephiroth?"

"Hell yeah!"

"That was a threat."

"Great! I love it when women threaten me with nudity."

She rolled her eyes. "Cid you're a troglodyte."

"Awww…. Really? I thought I was at least a Neanderthal."

Tifa made up the sofa bed and climbed under the covers. The lights went out, and she heard Vincent removing his gauntlet. Poor baby. What had they done to him? He never undressed where they could see, so she was fairly certain that he was scarred badly.

She heard him set aside the gauntlet, then heard the cape hit the floor. Next came the brass-tipped shoes. Then she heard him get into bed beside Cid. She waited for Cid to make some joke or other, but he didn't. There was some shifting and rustling of covers, and Tifa was aware that Vincent was having trouble getting settled. He was restless, and it probably wasn't easy to fall asleep beside him with all that wiggling. She was rather glad he hadn't accepted her offer to sleep beside her, he would drive her nuts. Still, she hoped he got settled soon or Cid was gonna eat him ali…

"Here," said Cid quietly. "Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

She didn't know what Cid had done, but Vincent finally got comfortable. The room became quiet, and Tifa lay, wondering why Cid hadn't simply flipped his lid at the smaller man. But now all was quiet, and the exhaustion of being homeless and on the road claimed her. She closed her eyes and drifted into sleep.

***---***

When she awoke, she was aware that it was late morning, and the sun was high in the sky. She sat up and looked to the bed where Cid and Vincent lay, and was surprised to see that it was still occupied. Cid was an early bird; it was not unusual to awake just after sunrise and find he was already dressed and making coffee for breakfast and frying eggs over a fire. A late-morning lie-in for him was seven, and the clock showed it was a quarter to ten. She pushed back the covers and walked over to the bed, grinning as she saw the problem. Cid was awake all right, and probably losing his mind still lying there. But Vincent clearly was not, and that was the problem.

Vincent Valentine was sound asleep; his thin little body snuggled against Cid's, one small hand on Cid's broad chest. His hair was long and loose, his eyes closed, his nose pressed against Cid's neck. Tifa squeaked at the image, then leaned close to look at Vincent.

"Is he okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah," said Cid softly. "He seems to have trouble breathing lying flat. Leaning against me he's better."

Tifa straightened up and crossed her arms, looking down at him.

"What?!" he mouthed defensively.

"You are so busted," Tifa said.

"Busted for what?"

She didn't answer. She simply went for her phone and picked it up, taking a couple of photos while he made rude gestures at her angrily, unable to do anything else for fear of waking Vincent. She then put the phone away and picked up a towel, heading into the bathroom to shower and change. When she emerged forty minutes later, cleaned and dressed, Cid was still in bed with Vincent, but he was now trying to awaken him. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, listening. What she heard was not the speech of the hard grouchy offensive bastard she had assumed him to be. What she heard was more like someone talking to something or someone he cherished.

"Hey. C'mon little bird, you can't sleep all day. Well… you can I guess, but not on me. Are you awake? Huh? There we go, hi pretty baby."

"Is it late?"

"No, not late. But I have to get up and you're using me as a pillow."

"I'm sorry…"

"No it's okay, don't you worry about it. There you go, shift over. You okay like that?"

"Shouldn't I be…?"

"Nah you just rest. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Cid…"

"You just lay here and take care of yourself, I'll get it. What do you want?"

"Eggs benedict and coffee."

"Okay. I'll get you some."

Tifa walked out of the bathroom, pretending she hadn't heard most of the conversation. "You going for breakfast? Get me some too."

"I don't see a piano tied to your ass," said Cid dismissively, walking past her and into the bathroom.

Surprised, Tifa stared after him, then looked to Vincent, who was settling himself against the pillows. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"How come you get breakfast in bed and I have to go get my own?"

Vincent pulled the covers over his head, leaving only his lower face exposed. She could see he was smiling faintly. When he spoke, she detected a definite air of smugness in his voice.

"I'm adorable."