paradisalost | (no subject)

[a pause, and then the sound of the door opening just a hair for Vincent to peer out]

A walk?

[a creak as he moves to push the door open a bit more]

Yes. A walk. You didn't honestly think I was going to let you brood in your room forever, did you? c'mon. Wanted to talk to you anyway.

[despite continuing his usual gloomy look he allows Reeve to push the door open farther, taking a step back]

I don't see why not.

[an eyebrow raise]

Hmm...about what?

A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

[grins and bows slightly as if ushering Vincent out the door]

I wanted to see how you were settling in. And ask you a few things. How're you adjusting so far?

[Vincent pauses for a moment before sliding through the doorway, keeping his tattered cloak drawn around his thin frame]

Well enough, considering.

[he looks down both ends of the hallway and then back over his shoulder at Reeve]

Where are we going?

Considering...?

[gestures with a nod of his head to the staircase before nudging Vincent along]

Kitchen. I skipped lunch, myself, and it ought to be quiet down there this late. Figured you'd want privacy.

Reeve keeps a slow pace, hands in his pockets and eyes on the wall]

... have you spoken with Dr. Crescent yet?

Considering where we are. A castle that steals inhabitants and up until recently was a breeding ground for sickness.

[after this rather monumental (for Vincent) speech, he moves reluctantly toward the stairs, keeping pace with Reeve]

[at the mention of Dr. Crescent he stops for just a second and looks at Reeve, then lowers his eyes and takes a few strides with his long legs to catch up]

I have.

[a grunt of laughter and flicker of a grin]

Well, it beat the hell out of turning into a jungle. Or having mass murders all over.

[Reeve pauses when Vincent does, looking back and nodding slowly at the answer before patting him once on the shoulder]

I had the feeling you had, from how you've been acting. You two... I swear, you're hopeless.

[a forced laugh, then silence for a moment]

I know I asked you before, but... you don't... remember anything from being here before... do you? Anything at all?

[a curious eyebrow raise]

Mass murders?

[at the mention of Lucrecia he averts his eyes for a second and just "hmm"s]

I...no, I don't. [a headshake] This is all new to me.

Edited 2007-12-06 04:54 (UTC)

Long story. I don't remember most of it, but I was... incapacitated... for part of the time.

[a wry smile and headshake before he begins descending the stairs slowly]

Nothing at all...? I suppose that's for the best, after everything that's happened.

[another slow headshake before he looks over his shoulder again]

Are you sure you're all right?

[Vincent blinks] Incapacitated?

[he follows Reeve down the stairs, his metal boots making soft clinking sounds as they move]

Why wouldn't I be? Is something wrong?

Rosso the Crimson. One of the top-ranked Deepground members. She got the drop on me while I was trying to get supplies and...

[coming out at the bottom floor, he points over at the wall and shrugs with a wince]

She kicked my ass, then nailed me to the wall with a pair of knives. I guess she was bored.

[he turns again, stopping and crossing his arms across his chest, thinking]

I suppose I'm worrying for nothing. Just... I... never mind. I suppose I want to see you as content here as you were at home, for once.

[his eyes narrow]

She's still here?

[he falls silent again at the idea of being content, crossing his arms likewise and looking at the floor]

Still here. Somewhere.

[leans against the wall for a moment, closing his eyes]

You have no idea how odd it is to talk to you like this. Still... don't act like that. Come on. Chin up. Enough brooding.

[he leans forward to grab Vincent by the wrist, pulling him towards the kitchen]

Even your scrawny ass has to eat every now and then. C'mon. Do you like pancakes?

[Vincent actually shows a bit of concern for a moment, while Reeve's eyes are closed, which quickly reverts to surprise as Reeve grabs his arm and pulls him forward]

[he continues to look startled, but allows Reeve to lead him along anyway]

I--

I don't remember.

[the sudden confession startles a laugh out of Reeve, who just grins- but he does slow his pace along, still hanging on to Vincent's wrist]

Only you. Well, now's as good a time as any to find out!

Hnn. If you say so.

[in a mildly amused, almost teasing tone of voice:] ...is this what you do with your free time, Reeve? Force people to eat?

[the teasing is rewarded with a mock scowl and playful shove]

Somebody's got to keep you people from wasting away into nothing. Besides, it keeps me out of trouble. You don't want to see me when I'm bored.

[the corner of his mouth turns up into something resembling a smile]

Probably not. What have you been doing here, anyway?

[raises an eyebrow at the quasi-smile, motioning him off to a table as he begins rooting around in a fridge]

Not enough. Making toys, helping out, adopting whatever stray children or people come my way... there's not much else I can do. Weather the storms as they come.

[he stands up, milk bottle balanced in one hand, and frowns thoughtfully]

I can't recreate Cait, no matter how hard I try. Or anything like him. It's... I'm not used to having an empty desk. I wanted a vacation, just not one quite like this.

[Vincent stares at the table for a moment but doesn't take a seat, instead standing near it and crossing his arms again; he alternately watches Reeve digging around in the fridge and stares around the room]

I can't say this is what I had in mind for our meeting either.

From the way you make it sound, we should be trying to find a way back to Gaia.

Well, the festival in Kalm is generally more cheerful. Also has the best red wine in Gaia.

[a few moments of shuffling and digging out boxes and he's got things set up, easily cracking eggs one-handed into a bowl]

... a lot of the people whom I grew fond of here have been sent to their respective homes. How, I have no idea. The same way Sephiroth was- he's no longer next door- and you, and Cid. No one knows how, except that it can't be done voluntarily.

[he flicks on the stove, heating up a flat skillet and whisking together the batter- before dividing it into two bowls and dumping an ungodly amount of chocolate chips into one]

Strawberries, blueberries, or apples with cinnamon?

You'd think people would be trying harder. It doesn't seem like anyone even cares to find a way back.

[he eyes the chocolate chips in the first bowl with amusement, but looks a little like a deer in the headlights at Reeve's question]

[after a moment of simply staring at Reeve he shrugs and looks away]

Whatever you think. I don't know.

After several months of being here... it gets harder to find new avenues to try.

[he rolls his eyes with a sigh at Vincent's evasion before dumping a liberal amount of chunky strawberry jam into the other bowl]

You know, it's not a crime to have an opinion. I know you seem to think it doesn't matter, but it does.

Hmm...I suppose.

[he frowns at Reeve]

It's not that, I--

[he pauses for a second, and sighs behind the tall collar]

I don't remember.

[he pauses and turns his back on the stove for now, tilting his head and staring at Vincent for a moment]

You don't remember...? Vincent, do you remember anything of your life... before you went to sleep in the coffin? Anything at all?

...some of it.

[he shifts his weight, keeping his arms crossed, obviously uncomfortable with the topic of conversation]

Vague memories of when I was a child. My father. Lucrecia and Hojo.

Not much else.

[a pause before he steps over in front of him, eyes narrowed in concern]

... nothing else? What of ShinRa? Veld? The Turks?You had a long history before Nibelhei-

[he bites his lower lip for a moment, as if trying to keep from speaking, then sighs]

I think... we may have just discovered your price for coming here.

Hmm.

I know I was a Turk, but...I don't remember anything except Lucrecia and Hojo. A little of the experiments....

[he shrugs again]

I suppose it could have been worse.

[a pause- he looks worried with the mention of experiments- before reaching out to him and pulling away, turning back to the stove]

You have a point. I suppose it's best to just focus on the positives for now.

[fires up the stove and begins pouing out pancakes~ Mmmm, food.]

Well, let's see if we can jog your memory a bit, shall we? I promise, if it's disgusting, you don't have to finish it.

[Vincent stands for a moment longer, then finally takes a seat at the table--on the very edge of a chair, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees]

You know I don't have to eat very often, Reeve. You don't have to do this....

Who said you were going to be the only one eating?

[flips the first stack of cakes onto a platter and points the spatula at Vincent, waggling it in a 'naughty, naughty' gesture]

I enjoy this sort of thing. And while I can cook for one, it gets boring. Besides, I figure I'll eat twice as much as you, so it all evens out.

[turns back to the skillet, humming and pouring more batter out]

Just accept that I want to do this for you and enjoy it. Like having your own chef for a day.

[a short laugh, which really might just be an amused grunt, and Vincent goes back to staring at his hands]

How did you end up with ShinRa, Reeve? I can't imagine them promoting homemakers to upper management on a regular basis.

Ha ha. Recruited me out of college, actually. I'd had the idea of incorporating a city's energy systems directly into the infrastructure and... well, that was the start of Midgar.

[flips the last of the pancakes over, pulling out a pair of tumblers from an overhead cabinet]

I enjoyed the work, and ShinRa was a big opportunity for a small-town kid. First in my family to attend college.

[goes back to the fridge with a grin and comes up triumphant with... Reddi-Whip]

Whipped cream. Only true topping for pancakes.

[Vincent glares at the can, unconvinced]

I can't blame you for working for them...I did the same thing. You just...don't seem the type.

But I suppose that's why things turned out the way they did.

[merely goes back to work, finally coming around with a pair of plates- stacked with both kinds of pancakes... and a smiley face drawn in whipped cream on top]

Eat while they're still warm.

[Reeve sits across from him, raising an eyebrow and poking at his food]

I wasn't. It was obvious to everyone but me. But ShinRa let me live my dream, so I stayed around and tried to make myself fit in. Like a square peg in a round hole. But... even with everything, I don't regret it. Too much good has come from it all for me to do that.

Hmm.

[Vincent finally turns around to sit in his chair properly, when Reeve sets the plate in front of him]

[he nods in agreement, and then begins to unfasten the buckles holding the golden claw gauntlet on his left hand; when enough of them are loosened he pulls the claw free (revealing an ordinary black-gloved hand) and sits it carefully on the tabletop next to his plate]

[Reeve isn't paying much attention until he hears the click of metal- and damn near chokes on a mouthful of pancake]

.... Vincent, your hand- what did you-

[his fork clatters to the floor as he reaches out to grab Vincent's hand, eyes wide in disbelief, and pinches the fingers as if testing to make sure they're flesh and bone]

When did you regrow your arm?!

[and Vincent...is completely baffled by this, looking at Reeve with furrowed eyebrows in a way that suggests he might believe the man to be utterly out of his mind]

Regrow my arm? Reeve, what are you talking about?

It's just a gauntlet.

Edited 2007-12-07 05:29 (UTC)

[after a few seconds Reeve pulls away and forces a laugh, resting his head in his hands]

Don't look at me like that. I'm not insane. When you were here before... the last time... it wasn't 'just' a gauntlet. It was a full prosthesis. Your arm had been amputated- Hojo, I suppose. I even built you- the other you- a replacement! I still have the schematics drawn up in my room!

[shaking his head, he finally looks up and half-sighs, half-laughs, looking sheepish]

... sorry. I shouldn't have... it was a shock, is all. Wolfina could back me up on it, she'd seen you before with the replacement limb. I'm sorry. ... I'm glad you're intact, if that means anything.

A prosthesis...?

[he stares down at his own golden claw for a moment, then shakes his head slowly, and speaks as though he's simply musing aloud:]

I wonder how much worse that version of Hojo was?

[he looks back up at Reeve and shrugs his shoulders slightly]

It's fine. And thank you.

...who is Wolfina?

... Let's hope we never find out.

[smiling, he shakes his head and leans back in his chair]

Wolfina is... a very dear friend of mine, and someone you were once close to as well. I'll let her do the real introductions.

[a pause before Reeve shoves a fork into Vincent's hand and smirks]

Now eat before I force-feed you.

[Vincent glares at the fork like it's alive in his hand, then reaches up with the opposite hand and slowly unbuckles the fasteners keeping the tall collar over his mouth]

Have it your way.