Vincent could hear the knocking at the door, and he groggily woke, pulling his head from his pillow with a great deal of effort. He had lost track of time and had no idea how long he had slept. He wasn't happy about being woken up, but he supposed that he must have slept long enough for someone to notice.
Or rather, Cid to notice, as Vincent was already almost positive that he would be the one knocking on the door. No one else would come to check on him if he hadn't gone to class...Reeve wasn't an option mainly because the two didn't share a class, and Reeve would most likely wait for Vincent to appear and explain what happened by himself. But, knowing Cid, he would have been worried and had not thought of trying to call, instead coming physically on the spur of the moment. It didn't surprise Vincent and it actually made him feel better. He was glad that someone had come to see what had happened to him, even though he still felt rather sick.
He pulled himself out of bed, dragging the sheets along with him for a short distance until he reached the door, opening it and blearily staring at Cid's face, who seemed both relieved and shocked. He blinked for a few moments before speaking.
"Jesus #^%@ your mother Christ, Vin, what th' @#$^ happened t'you? Did y'get hit by a #$^#in' bus or somethin'?"
Vincent was still wearing what he had been wearing the previous night, a black shirt and his black jeans, now worn and disheveled from sleep. His face was pale and worn, strands of his hair stuck to his skin, and his eyes were swollen and tired. He was still very shaky, and all of his movements had an element of instability that Vincent was obviously trying to fight without success. He pushed a palm to his sticky forehead, wishing he could push away the headache that insistently wore at him from behind his skin. His mouth and tongue felt large and clumsy, and he still felt somewhat dizzy from standing so suddenly. "Feels like it..."
"Jesus, have you been t'th' nurse yet? #%^#, Vin, Jesus." Cid hid his worry underneath a veil of annoyance as he grabbed Vincent's arm, gently pulling him out of the room. "You look like $%&#, @#$@."
"Jus' been tired..." Vincent blinked, not resisting Cid's tug out the door. He still felt somewhat wobbily on his feet and he wasn't in any state to try and fight against his friend. "Very tired..."
Cid turned and closed the door behind Vincent, leading him down the hall by his flesh arm at a slow pace. He was speaking without looking back at him. "Jesus, Vin, how long have y'been sick? #$^#, y'should've told me or somethin', we got t'get y'the nurse, #$^#..."
Vincent coughed for a moment, the sudden sharp change in his vision causing him to get slightly dizzy. He managed to recover quickly, only wavering back and forth for a few seconds. "Last night..."
"#^#$, did y'eat somethin'? #$#$, it wasn't that #$^#in' #$^@# Seph, was it?" Cid's voice took on a new tone of worry. He turned to look back at Vincent. "It wasn't 'im, right? Or th' #$^#in' Weapons? It wasn't them, right?"
Vincent shook his head back and forth slowly, his hair barely moving along with the motion. Cid breathed a sigh of relief as he continued walking. "Jesus #$^#in' Christ, can't #^#@in' believe this..."
Cid continued mumbling to himself through a transparent veil of anger as Vincent followed him submissively, not even bothering to look up, finding the struggle to keep his eyes level too much. He stared at his bare feet, watching them hit the carpet with an even cadence. At least he didn't feel sick at the moment...that was a relief. He just felt tired, sticky, and overall disgusting. More then anything he wanted to take a shower. The sound of Cid muttering to himself indignantly faded into the background as Vincent found his mind wandering away from him for a while.
Again he went to the questions that continued to bother him: What Sephiroth wanted and why he had gotten sick, but having found no answers for them yet, his mind moved onto easier questions and thoughts.
He must have missed class...Hojo's class, as that would have let Cid know that he was sick. So Cid must have come after class had ended to check on him...
Just the knowledge that Cid had come to do so made him feel better. While he had been lying in bed going in and out of consciousness he was struck with severe cases of self-pity, sure that no one cared that he was sick and no one would have done anything anyway. However, Cid's visit and insistance on visiting the nurse had helped prove that false, and Vincent was glad that he cared so much as to come see what was wrong.
He really had been lucky that first day when Cid had run into him. Where would he be now if he hadn't?
Cid pushed open the door to the doctor's office, finding themselves not the only ones present. Reeve was sitting in the same chair they had seen him in earlier, this time with headphones placed firmly in his ears, bobbing back and forth and singing to himself. His tail flopped back and forth on one of the empty seats, going along with the beat that was barely audible from the muffled tiny speakers.
"Ooh, my little pretty one, my pretty one! When you gonna give me some tiiime, Sharona! Ooh, you make my motor run, my motor run! Got it comin' off o' the liiine, Sharona!"
Along with Reeve, although sitting a few seats away, Cid could see a few other people, all of them looking just as miserable as Vincent did, not doubt all afflicted with whatever had infected Vincent. He could recognize Cecil from the Talent Show, who was currently leaning up against the wall, looking miserable. He could catch a glimpse of what seemed to be a sword on his t-shirt before he turned away. Near him there was another Black Mage, this one apparently related to Three in some way because he sported the same blue wings, the feathers even the same blue shade. However, this one was far smaller then his tall, imposing brother, his size comparable more to Vivi, and his wings were small, tiny things against his back, essentially useless. He was hunched up against the wall, staring fixedly at a tiny bell he carried in one hand, his eyes a dim faint yellow. Next to him Cid recognized the thief Locke, also looking rather sick, although he was eyeing the winged mage's bell.
Next to him was another girl that seemed to resemble the youth Zidane. She was dressed mainly in reds and although she and Zidane shared the same hair style and color, her face anything but matched his. She was staring at the carpet with a sombre, almost emotionless expression, although she did look very pale. A tail, the same length and color of Zidane's, drooped limply over the side of the chair, and she refused to even awknowledge Cid or Vincent's presence, much less Locke's nearby.
A seat separated her and another woman, this one older and more refined looking, although she had the same pale, sickly look as the others around her. Her hair was blonde as well, although it was longer, and two long strands of it framed her face. Behind her head, the tail end of a doubled ponytail could barely be seen, and she was wearing in a pink sleeveless dress, her arms covered by long black sleeves, ending at her wrist and coming up to her shoulder. She was tapping one of her black, kneehigh boots, trying to look impatient rather then sickly. It didn't quite work.
Cid and Vincent headed for the two empty chairs near Reeve, who was still bobbing and singing to himself, despite the stares he was earning from the other people in the room. It wasn't that he was loud, his voice actually rarely ventured from a normal conversational tone. He just happened to be singing.
"Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind, I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind, my, my, my, aye-aye, wooo! M-m-m-my Sharona! M-m-m-my Sharona! Ooooooo, my Sharona!"
They sat down, Vincent leaning against the wall and trying to keep his stomach under control, as almost everyone else in the room seemed to be doing, save Cid and Reeve. Cid immediately turned to speak with Reeve, who seemed completely oblivious.
"Catface, what th' #$^# is goin' on?"
"M-m-m-my Sharona!"
Cid rolled his eyes and punched Reeve in the shoulder, which finally got his attention. He quickly pulled the headphones from his ears, where they continued to play tinny music as Reeve turned to Cid in surprise. He apparently didn't even register the blow to his arm, although it had not been hard.
"Hey spazboy, didn't see you come in!"
"What th' #$^#'s goin' on around here, catface? Everyone's gettin' #^$#in' sick."
Reeve shrugged helplessly, smiling in an odd way. "Beats me. Probably some bug that's goin' around or somethin'. Hey..." He leaned around Cid for a moment, noting Vincent leaning against the wall. "He's not lookin' good..." Cid pushed Reeve back into his seat playfully, but he rebounded back as if he had never been touched. "What happened?"
"Got me." Cid shrugged. "Missed class an' found him like this. Jesus, it must be goin' 'round quick."
"I guess..." Reeve flopped back into his own seat, finally realizing that his walkman was still playing and pressing the stop button. He thumped his chest for a moment, posing in what he thought was a macho manner. "Doesn't hit such paragons of health as myself though!"
Cid rolled his eyes. "Real #$^#in' impressive. Don't bust out of your shirt or nothin'."
Reeve ceased posing look mock thoughtful, screwing up his face in what he thought was an expression of deep, meaningful thought. "Although...if it stays away from healthy people, why hasn't it hit YOU?"
Cid swatted at Reeve in mock annoyance, but he dodged it easily. "More like we're #$^#in' lucky, catface."
"Yeah, probably." Reeve shrugged off the entire thing, leaning back and bobbing his head back and forth for a moment, humming the same song he had been singing before. He did this for a few seconds then returned to the conversation as if nothing had happened. "Either way, it's probably nothin' serious, so don't worry."
"I hope it ain't." Cid leaned back himself, wondering how many other people had been stricken with this sickness but hadn't had the strength to come to the nurse's office. He glanced at Vin, who had leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. "I sure as #$^# don't want it."
The door to one side opened, and a girl dressed in a nurse's uniform stepped out, her brown hair, curled upwards at the ends, stopping just at her white-clad shoulders. She was short, shorter then Cid (which made him feel better, actually), and her blue-green eyes shone with barely concealed excitement and energy. She looked down at a clipboard she held in one of her hands and called out to the room.
"May I see..." She looked back down at the clipboard, then up again quickly. If she found the name odd or peculiar, it wasn't obvious. "Black Waltz One?"
The winged Black Mage's eyes brightened at the sound of his name, and he shuffled off his chair, his wings flapping to help him move along. She smiled as he came towards her with what almost seemed to be a limping gait. "Great, great!"
One didn't say anything as she led him through the door, and it closed quickly. Cid sat for a moment, then struck his forehead.
"#$^#! We prob'ly need an appointment..."
"With this many people?" Reeve looked at Cid for a moment, his tone highly sarcastic. "Yeeeeah, I think so."
"Shut up." Cid stood, brushing himself off for a moment. His movement didn't even seem to be noticed by anyone else in the room, who apparently were too busy in trying to fight off the pain or nausea. He walked to the front desk, the girl with black hair typing there not noticing him until he tapped on the desk for a few moments. She stared at him with a tired look.
"Let me guess, you've got the flu too?"
"Well, not me, but a friend of mine..."
She sighed and picked up a clipboard from nearby, handing it up to Cid and then returning to her work. "Here, sign your..." She sighed and rolled her eyes for a moment. "Your friend's name there and wait."
Cid didn't care for her attitude, but took the clipboard without protest. He scribbled down Vincent's name, noting the others before it. Cecil, Locke, One...
Mikoto and Quistis were names he couldn't attach faces to, but it wasn't any of his business anyway, so he left it at that and put the clipboard back down on the desk, returning to his seat.
"She's not very pleasant." Cid remarked, noting that Reeve was just about to turn his music back on when he sat down. He refrained from doing so, however, upon noticing Cid's return.
"Eh, Xu's not supposed to be working such a big shift." Reeve shrugged. "Not many people come in around this time of day anyway."
"Yeah, I guess..." Cid leaned back, letting the conversation dwindle off, sensing that Reeve wanted to listen to his music again. Reeve took the opportunity readily, turning his walkman back on and then proceeding to go back to bobbing back and forth happily. His tail, deprived of the space it had before, flipped back and forth on the side away from Cid, although it didn't have as much space as before, considering it was against a wall. He seemed to enjoy himself anyway, however, almost immediately forgetting about Cid's presence, or anyone else's for that matter.
"Come a little closer, huh, a-will ya, huh? Close enough to look in my eyeees, Sharona!
Keepin' it a mystery, it gets to me, ruuunnin' down the length of my thiiigh, Sharona!"
Personally, Reeve's singing didn't bother Cid much. He actually had a rather nice voice, as the Talent Show had proven. Too bad Reeve was normally too shy to actually employ it. Cid couldn't believe he had managed to get Reeve to agree to do the show in the first place, considering that he had a terrible fear of performing in public. However, the experience apparently had given him some confidence he didn't previously have, enough to sing to himself in a waiting room filled with sick people. He did keep his eyes closed though...maybe he was pretending he was by himself.
Cid turned to Vincent, putting a hand to his shoulder, slightly concerned at how little movement his friend was showing. "You okay?"
Vincent slowly turned his head towards Cid, opening his eyes slightly. He had apparently been napping, and he nodded slowly in response to Cid's query. Cid took his hand away, and Vincent went back to his previous position, closing his eyes again with a slightly shaky exhale of breath.
A few minutes went by without incident, Cid beginning to get bored, even with Reeve's dancing antics to amuse him, and he began to wonder just how long this was going to take.
The clicking of the doorknob caught his attention, but it turned out it was the door to the office, not the one that One had gone through, and Cid leaned back, disappointed.
Two young men came through the door, one of them just slightly taller then the other. The taller one in front looked extremely annoyed and frustrated with his companion, dressed in predominantly purple, flowing clothes. His short hair seemed to match this motif, grey that slowly faded into purple, and the lower half of his face was covered by what seemed to be a purple mask. Following along behind him, obviously the sicker of the pair, was a much thinner young man, his hair bright blonde and flowing well past his shoulders. His blue eyes looked tired and sad, and he was dressed in large flowing clothes, predominantly pastel shades of red and green, a thin, red scarf looped once around his neck, and he overall had an extremely feminine air about him.
"Ooh, I never should have eaten that, I'm sure that's what's caused me to be sick, I'm sure of it..." The one behind him moaned, holding his forehead and staring at the ground. The taller male sat down angrily across the room from Cid, crossing his arms and almost snarling at his companion.
"Do you ever stop talking!? You act as if you're dying!"
The blonde man paled, sitting next to his surly companion, holding his hand to his mouth. "You don't think I'll die, do you? Oh, what would Anna do if I died? Oh, the pain, she couldn't bear it! Oh, I hope I don't die. I won't die, will I?"
The man next to him glared at him, his voice venemous. He emphasized each word with evidently wearing patience. "Sadly, no."
"Oh, I feel terrible..." The blonde man proceeded to follow the other sick people's example in the room and lean his head against the wall, closing his eyes. He put a hand to his forehead dramatically. "Why have I been stricken thus? Why, oh why..."
"If you start singing, I swear I'm going to..." The man next to him began, but then noticed the woman in the pink dress nearby. "Excuse me."
He stood and sat down next to her, proceeding to try and start a conversation with her that didn't seem to go well, considering he was obviously flirting outrageously with her.
Cid nudged Reeve for a moment, causing the feline youth to again pull down his headphones. "What?"
"Who're they?"
Reeve turned his glance to where Cid had pointed, staring at the two newcomers for a few minutes. "Hmm...don't know. Look like Juniors though."
"Hmm..." Cid shrugged and leaned back against the wall, chancing a glance at Vincent as he did so. He wished he could fall asleep that easily and just pass all this waiting time.
The woman in pink eventually gave the grey-haired man the cold shoulder, and he returned to his seat with some reluctance, the blonde he had left behind still talking melodramatically to himself.
Cid waited and waited for what seemed like hours, finally getting one of the magazines nearby and flipping through it in an attempt to find something that would keep his interest. They were mostly pamphlets and advertisements for various services or the college itself, but he flipped through them in an effort to stave off boredom, which didn't have much success. God, he HATED being bored.
Eventually the door opened, and One walked out, holding a piece of paper with thin, blue-black scarred hands. He walked out the door without saying anything or looking at anyone, his tiny wings still beating to help him stay upright. She looked down at the clipboard again.
"Cecil?"
Slowly the young man near Vincent pulled himself off his chair and dragged himself through the door, looking as if he was in some other plane of reality the entire time. The blonde man managed to drag himself out of his self-pitying moans to wave to him as he passed by.
"Hi Cecil!"
Cecil didn't hear him, or if he did, he showed no signs of doing so. The door closed, and again the waiting room was silent, excepting the sounds of Reeve singing and the man across the room moaning to himself about how he had been "slighted by a true boon companion".
Realizing, much as Cid had, that he had to sign up in order to get an appointment, the man in purple went up and did so, Xu being just as short and annoyed with him as she had been with Cid. It was fairly obvious that he was there only to accompany his companion, and yet, with the way they behaved towards eachother, he was beginning to doubt that they were friends. That was slightly confusing...why else would he have come? Maybe he owed a favor to someone. Since the blonde one obviously knew Cecil, there could be a connection there...or maybe it was a request of Anna, considering that it was no secret that the grey-haired man was indeed greatly interested in the opposite sex?
Cid did praise his judgement on not attempting to hit on the woman with the tail though. Although her facial expression had not changed, she seemed to have an element of danger around her, and there was no chance that she would have returned his advances.
Reeve had long ago moved into a heavier, more rock-like song then the one he had been singing previously, and a sudden change in his tone caught Cid's attention. While before it had been a rather angry song, the tone suddenly became sadder.
"So many fellow warriors, many teeeears you must shed before your journey ends...for it's only just beeegun, for a glory wish, there is much to saaacrifiiice..." It then went back into the angrier tone it had before. Reeve's expression seemed to echo this, showing signs of frustration, anger, and determination. Cid was confused at this, wondering whether or not he just altered his expression due to the words he was singing, or whether or not he actually truly felt upset. It was hard to tell with Reeve who changed expressions so quickly. "Past is left behind for the one on the Way of the Sword! Fools are meant to fall, they'll get lost along the waaay!"
Cid tuned Reeve out again, leaning back and flipping through the magazine he was reading, or at least, attempting to find an article worth reading.
"Power Symphony." The voice came from across the room, catching Cid's attention, and he looked up. The blonde man was leaning on his elbows which rested on his knees, staring at Reeve. He nodded at Cid for a moment, noting that he had actually heard him. "He's listening to Power Symphony."
"Oh?" Cid nudged Reeve, bringing him back into the real world again.
"What?"
"He knows what you're listening to."
"Really?" Reeve smiled across the room. "It's hard to find! That's so cool that someone else knows it! I'm Cait Sith!" He turned and nudged Cid, who rolled his eyes."This is Cid."
"I'm Edward." The blonde man gestured to himself. He pointed the grey-haired man next to him. "That's Edge."
Edge didn't even look at the two across the room, keeping his arms crossed and refusing to speak, apparently studiously ignoring his companion.
"It's so cool that you know about Power Symphony!" Reeve continued. "They're great!"
"I love how they're all female!" Edward responded with the same kind of enthusiasm. Both Cid and Edge showed little interest in the conversation, and eventually Cid began to tune it out, returning back to his magazine while Edward and Reeve chattered back and forth about various songs they had heard at some point.
"Eric Satie?"
"I love him!"
Cid turned to check on Vincent again, finding his friend still sleeping against the wall, or at least, looking like he was. It was hard to tell at the moment, considering that Vincent could just be trying to get to sleep or just pretending to be asleep, although he had no motive for doing so. Cid shrugged and left it at Vincent was off in dreamland somewhere, which he was glad for, because it was fairly obvious to him when he saw him at first that he definitly wasn't happy in reality currently.
Reeve and Edward continued talking for some time until the door opened again, and the nurse came out once more, Cecil following along behind her. He was carrying a piece of paper, just as One had, and he moved for the door. Edward waved again, trying to get his attention without success, while the nurse read off her clipboard.
"Mikoto?"
The woman with the tail stood silently and walked towards the door, her tail dragging along behind her, twitching barely as it brushed the ground. She kept her eyes steadily focused on the ground, her mouth tight. Cid wasn't sure whether or not it was because she was angry or because she was trying to keep from being sick, but decided he was probably better off not knowing anyway.
That meant the woman in the pink dress was Quistis then by matter of default. Cid leaned back into his seat again, noting that Locke was now apparently pilfering magazines from a pile on the table. The only way he knew this was because there were five missing from them when he looked at them again, and he had no idea where they went. The only reasonable conclusion was that Locke had them, and by the way he looked as if he had anything but the magazines, it was almost proven. Locke was indeed a master thief, but Cid was beginning to wonder whether or not it was some kind of problem, considering there was absolutely no reason or benefit for Locke to steal the magazines, which he could easily get anywhere else.
Reeve and Edward continued talking to eachother for a while, until Reeve finally cut the conversation off as honestly as possible.
"I want to listen to my music now, is that okay with you?"
Edward nodded and showed no protest, so Reeve gladly went back into his world of music. Cid wondered if that was in part to his shyness. Cait Sith had indeed gotten along with Edward wonderfully, but he wondered if the inner Reeve had anything to do with the conversation ending on such an abrupt note. He didn't doubt it, considering that Reeve seemed very quiet and withdrawn, not inclined to talking much, and Cait Sith could only exert so much control.
Reeve continued listening to his music for a while, bobbing back and forth, continuing with The Way of the Sword for a while as Cid gradually tuned him out, going back to the magazine. Bored with it, he threw it in the rapidly diminishing pile, trying to find one that would interest him.
Finally he pulled out one that had an article on aircrafts and busied himself with that, trying to pass the time. He hated being this bored...he wished he had brought one of his portable game systems or something, or ANYTHING that would keep his interest. He made it a note to make sure this didn't happen again and to be prepared in case he ever got stuck somewhere with no way to escape.
He wasn't sure how much time elapsed before the door opened again, Mikoto holding the same piece of paper that her two predecessors had left with. She left, like they had, without a word, exiting quickly, and the nurse looked down at her clipboard, then looked up with a smile.
"Oh, Quisty! You got it too? That's too bad."
Quistis looked up, trying to stand straight but stumbling for a few moments, catching herself only at the last moment. She paused before speaking, swallowing hard. "Yeah, doesn't make sense...usually only hits Freshmen..."
The nurse shrugged, walking out into the room and helping her. "Well, you know, a flu can hit anyone. Don't worry about it, you'll be better in no time!"
"Thanks, Selphie..."
"No problem!" She smiled at her companion, and the two of them left the room. Cid sighed and leaned back, glancing at Locke, who had apparently stolen another magazine. Once Locke was left, then it would finally be he and Vincent's turn...
Wait...
He nudged Reeve. "Hey catface..."
Reeve didn't pull down his headphones this time, only pressing pause on his walkman before turning to face Cid. "What?"
"When's your turn?"
Reeve shrugged. "I came pretty late, probably after Locke, why?"
Cid sighed and returned his attention back to his magazine. "Never mind..."
Reeve went back to his music, and more time passed at what seemed to be a snails pace. Locke, apparently bored with stealing magazines, moved up to the front desk and began to pilfer small objects from it, including several pens and a box of staples, before Xu finally shooed him away.
Vincent slept on through most of the time, waking once or twice in confusion, but then seeing Cid and remembering where he was, falling back asleep almost immediately thereafter. Cid continued to read through the articles he found in magazines, keeping a mental log of anything that interested him that he may be able to use later in a story, but still mainly bored out of his mind. It had gotten to the point that it was getting difficult for him to focus on ANYthing, and any plotlines he tried to work out in his head rapidly disintegrated as his mind continued to angrily protest just how bored it was.
After a while Reeve began to sing again, very softly and forlornly, although he was still moving along with his music.
"All around me are familiar faces, worn-out places, worn-out faces...bright and early for the daily races, going nowhere, going nowhere..."
The sorrow in his voice caught Cid's attention, something that he had yet to hear from Reeve's throat. It was an entirely different emotion and sound from any other notes he had sung, tinged with such a deep sadness, but even worse, a deep sense that there was no hope, an acceptance for whatever had caused him such misery. "Their tears are filling up their glasses, no expression, no expression...hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow, no tomorrow, no tomorrow..."
"And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad..." Reeve's voice was just so sad, so quiet. It wasn't an obvious kind of despair, but it was obvious that he felt some familiarity, some identification, with the lyrics he was singing in his soft, sweet voice.
"That dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had..."
A smile graced his lips, a small twitch, an obvious sign of emotion, a kind of sad acceptance. "I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take, when people run in circles it's a very very...mad world...a mad world..."
Cid could not stop staring at him or listening. There was no question now that the sorrow on Reeve's face and in his voice was not because the song itself was sad. It was almost as if there was something wrong, but he had no idea what it could be or what he had to do about it. He was pinned, as it were, by Reeve's sad voice, by the planitive words, by the simplistic and haunting melody. And he wasn't even sure if Reeve knew he was there...
"Children waiting for the day they feel good...happy birthday, happy birthday..." Reeve's mouth barely moved, but the notes that emerged were so pained, Cid could not believe that he was not crying, not showing his emotion in some other way. The way his voice shook, the way it hesitated for just a few minute seconds, he was sure that he would see Reeve just start crying, but he apparently had greater strength then that. His voice shook the most over the words "happy birthday", and Cid could sense there was some tragedy, some event that made those words so painful to him. "And they feel the way that every child should, sit and listen, sit and listen..."
"Went to school and I was very nervous...no one knew me, no one knew me..." Again, the momentary pauses in his voice, the hesitation, almost as if he had to get a hold of his emotions before he could continue singing. "Hello teacher, tell me what's my lesson...look right through me, look right through me..."
Cid glanced at him for a moment, but Reeve's eyes were closed, his ears backed only slightly, his tail still moving slowly along with the music, tip flipping back and forth. He moved almost imperceptibly from side to side, moving along with the rhythm of the music.
He leaned his head to one side, his eyes still closed, and his voice again held the terrible sadness it had before, that misery that came with knowing that there was no hope, no improvement...the horrible acceptance of whatever terrible thing happened, or kept happening. It was so painful that Cid almost could not bear to hear it, as it spoke to him about pain that he himself knew. He could feel himself reflected in Reeve's sad notes, he could hear his sadness, his pain that he projected through his stories, projected just as beautifully through Reeve's voice, simplistic and yet so powerful. "And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad..."
Cid mouthed the words along with Reeve, although he made no noise. The sadness that came with the line that escaped Reeve's throat could never be equalled by any attempt that Cid had, but still, the line spoke so much to him that he felt he had to say something, make some sign that he knew, he understood, or at least, that he was trying. "That dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had..."
"I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take, when people run in circles it's a very very...
mad world..." Reeve's voice trailed off for a few moments, fading beautifully before it resurged gently, almost as if remembering. "A mad world..."
He continued moving back and forth, his tail still moving slightly with every other beat, and finally his voice came again, soft and almost whispered. "Mad world...enlarging your world..."
Reeve paused, stopping his movement, then resumed it again, his voice coming once more. "Mad world..."
Apparently there were no more spoken parts to the song, and in a way Cid was sad. He loved hearing Reeve's voice, the way he pronounced things, held notes, how clear and yet how powerful his voice was, despite the fact that at some points he was whispering. He wanted to know more, he wanted to listen carefully, listen to him, to try and learn more, understand more.
Cid wondered whether or not he should nudge Reeve to ask him about the song, but then decided against it. Whatever it was, it was something personal to Reeve, considering he had never mentioned it to him before, and there was no reason he would tell him now. Besides, he didn't want to interrupt Reeve now, as he seemed so far into the song. Breaking the kind of mental transcendence he had achieved seemed wrong...
He glanced at Edward, who had leaned his head back against the wall, his eyes closed, probably napping like Vincent was. He had thought that maybe he would have shown some interest in the song, but he was disappointed.
He did notice, however, that Locke, who had curled up in an available corner, was staring at Reeve with some unidentifiable emotion, which Cid could not tell was either awe or sadness in itself. So he hadn't been the only one who had heard it, the familiar sadness underneath the words.
He glanced to his side, and Vincent still appeared to be asleep, although he noticed that the metal claw that made up his left arm was clenched tightly around the edge of his shirt, and he was almost positive that Reeve's song had reached him in some way.
Cid made a note to ask Reeve what the song was later on, as it's sad, simple melody was entrancing, and returned his attention back to his magazine, not sure what to do in the awkward period following the sad song.
Eventually Quistis and Selphie came out of the door, Quistis walking out with the same piece of paper clutched in one hand. Selphie waved as she left.
"Just follow the instructions on that paper and you'll be fine, Quisty! Don't worry!"
Quistis nodded, swallowing hard again, and left the room quietly. Selphie looked down at her clipboard for a moment.
"Locke?"
Locke moved his head in her direction, breaking the pained stare he was giving Reeve, and eventually stood, walking through the door the others had walked through before him. Cid glanced at Reeve again. Soon it would be his turn...
He knew that Reeve had problems, he knew that when he had first met him, with the conflicting personalities of both Reeve and Cait Sith. However, he had been around Cait Sith and talked to Cait Sith so much that he had almost forgotten about Reeve, who was underneath it all.
When he thought about it, he actually knew little about Reeve, considering who he was, where he came from, who he knew. He had never thought to ask, never thinking it important, but the song had brought up many questions for him.
There was so much pain in it, so much sadness, that there was no question that it meant something to Reeve, it meant something very deep and very personal. Something must have happened to Reeve a long time ago that would make the song speak so much through him, but Cid did not know what. He wasn't sure whether or not Reeve had been born with Cait Sith, or Cait Sith had appeared at some other time, or if Cait Sith was just a creation of Reeve's, or even if Reeve was a creation of Cait Sith, and he didn't feel comfortable asking. He and Reeve were friends...
He corrected himself. He and Cait Sith were friends.
He had been staring at the same page in the magazine for several minutes without reading anything, his thoughts having distracted him from ever concentrating on the printed words. It didn't really matter to him, and he continued to let himself ruminate on the song and what it meant.
Either way, he and Cait Sith were friends, but they were far from knowing everything about eachother. He hadn't shared a lot of what happened to him with Reeve, and it was obvious that Reeve had done the same. He glanced at Vincent for a moment. He and Vincent had shared several things that had happened to them, important traumas and the like that had influenced how they viewed life currently, but as it was, he did not know any that had affected Reeve or given him the unique outlook he had on life.
He had known enough people to know that there was some event, something that happened in their life that influenced them, that made them who they were. There was always at least one, and depending on the person it could continue from there. He had known people that had dozens of terrible things happen to them, and other people who just had one, but there was always at least one thing that happened, however long ago, some horrible, painful memory, that was always there. There was always something that happened, some sadness, some misery. Depending on the person they'd tell you about it right away, or they'd never tell you about it at all, but it was always there. Everyone had one. Reeve was no exception, but the problem was that Cid did not know what type Reeve was. Would he tell him what had happened, or would he continue to keep it to himself? Cid respected either decision, but he wanted to at least make the effort to find out.
Cid had been happy knowing Reeve as he had before, but the song had revealed depths to Reeve he was not aware of, sadness that he had not known, and now he wanted to know. His mind had taken the crucial step from accepting someone as an acquaintance to making someone your friend, your real, true friend, and he resolved then that he was going to find Reeve at some point and talk to him. Really talk to him, so he could at least explain some of his own pain, and try and understand what it was that managed to make that song so poignant, so sad.
He was sure that Vincent would agree with him, and he made it a point that he would ask Vincent to accompany him when he would talk with him.
All too soon for once, or so it seemed to him, Selphie emerged from the doorway, Locke walking away, holding the same paper the others had been holding and what appeared to be other papers hidden behind it. She glanced down at her clipboard for a moment.
"Reeve?"
Cid nudged Reeve, who jumped and looked around, moving his headphones down. "What?"
"You're next." Cid found his voice lacked the normal playfulness it normally held when he talked with Reeve, and he began to worry that what he had learned through the sad song would affect how he talked to Reeve forever. Angry at himself, he refused to confuse or hurt Reeve by acting differently then he had before, and struggled to get the happier tone back into his voice. "How loud DO y'keep those thin's, catface?"
Reeve smiled at him, no sign of whatever sadness had penetrated his voice before at all on his features. It was almost as if it had never happened. "Yeah yeah, I'll go deaf, heard it aaaaaall before, spazboy. I'll see you guys later, alright?"
"Right." Cid smiled at him weakly before Reeve vanished behind the door, humming to himself, his tail moving back and forth energetically. Cid recognized the notes as the song he had been singing when they had originally came in. The door closed again, and this time Cid was left without even Reeve's music to keep him entertained while he waited.
He sighed and picked up another magazine from the small pile, struggling to interest himself in the contents. Vincent slept on nearby quietly.
Cid smiled wryly to himself as he began reading articles he had skimmed over because he thought they wouldn't interest him. Reeve was quick on the rebound, he knew that much for sure, much like he was, and he was sure that whatever it was that had hurt him, or whatever painful thing had occurred so long ago, wasn't ruling his life currently. It was foolish to think that you could ever forget some of the painful things you had endured before, or had to go through, but Cid belonged to the school of thought that you couldn't let your past rule your life. He had his own share of pain throughout his life, but he didn't want that to constantly ruin his present. He knew a lot of people who didn't think like that, Vincent for one, but personally he believed in living his life as it came to him, in the present, and he had a feeling that Reeve agreed.
Or at least, Cait Sith did.
Time passed so slowly, and Cid could already feel some of the words to the song Reeve had sung escaping his memory. He again made a note to ask Reeve about the song when he had the chance, and tried to focus on the magazine, trying to make the time pass.
It felt like an eternity, but finally Reeve came through the door. Unlike the others, however, he did not have a piece of paper. He wasn't holding anything. He waved to Cid as he walked out, smiling, and Cid wondered just what it was Reeve came here for. It had to be related to the whole Reeve/Cait Sith problem, but he just wasn't sure how. Was it for medicine? Check ups? Something else?
"Vincent?"
Cid nudged Vincent, who woke with a slight start. He was groggy and confused, but Cid managed to pull him up towards the door, and they finally entered the hallway they had seen so many people go through.
Selphie led them down the hallway with quick, bouncy steps, finally stopping in front of one door amidst many. She opened it, gesturing inside. "If you'd just wait in here..."
Cid pulled Vincent inside, and they found a typical doctor's room, with one chair in the corner, the large metal table in the center, and cabinets and drawers filled with various tools. Vincent immediately gravitated towards the center table, crawling on top of it and lying down, falling asleep again, while Cid busied himself by poking through every drawer that wasn't locked. Most of the drawers with anything interesting were kept from his prying hands, but he did manage to amuse himself for a while with a giant jar of cottonballs.
Finally the doctor came after another all-too-long wait, and stared at Cid with disapproval in his brown eyes. He was dressed in white, as most of the people here were, which contrasted against his dark brown skin. His black hair was kept back into three long, thin braided strands, held by colored beads, and he looked at the sleeping Vincent with the look of one who had seen far too many victims of the same. He flipped a page on the clipboard he was carrying, clicking his pen.
"I'm Dr. Seagill, you can call me Kiros, thank you for coming, I think you know the drill." His voice was both bored and tired. "Since you seem to be conscious..." He glanced towards Cid. "How long has he been like this?"
"Um...he said since last night..." Cid scratched the back of his neck. Kiros sighed for a moment, writing something down.
"Well, that's a relief, most of them don't come in for days after they get sick originally. Must be some test of strength or something or machismo or something of that kind. Hmm..." He walked around the table to try and get a look at Vincent, who was slightly curled on one side. He gently grabbed his shoulder and shook Vincent until he came back into conscious, albeit reluctantly. He sat up groggily, still looking pale and sick, although fortunately for him, the nausea seemed to have passed. Kiros put a hand to his forehead for only a few seconds before withdrawing it again.
"Did you eat anything peculiar before you got sick?" Vincent shook his head. "No blood or anything in the vomit?" Vincent shook his head again. "Any cramps or remaining abdominal pain?" Vincent again shook his head. "Feeling sleepy, dizzy, weak, shaky...?" Vincent nodded at that. "Feeling hungry?"
Vincent paused at that question. Kiros finally smiled for once, apparently lightening up slightly. "It's okay to be confused. You do need to eat something, but more importantly, you need to drink. Preferably one of those sports drinks, you've probably lost a lot of minerals and such." Kiros walked to one side, opening a drawer and pulling out a sheet of paper. "Here, this should list things you should avoid and things you should eat and drink."
He turned to Cid. "No doubt your friend has caught the virus that's been going around, basically characterized by a fever, nausea, and sleepiness. Believe me, I've been treating people for it all day. It's going around rather quickly, so I'd advise you to be careful. The best treatment for this is to get a lot of rest, follow the precautions on that list, and try to avoid physical activity for a while."
"What about classes?" Kiros gave the paper to Vincent, who took it with a "mmpf" kind of sound. Cid stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling essentially useless. "I mean, this isn't high school or nothin'."
"I'm aware of that." Kiros continued writing on the clipboard, sounding somewhat annoyed. "I'm sure your teachers will understand, considering at the rate this is going around, probably less then half of any freshmen class will be around."
"Freshmen?"
"Yes, this normally hits Freshmen hardest, although it does sometimes foray into the upperclassman." Kiros gestured at Vincent to get off the table, which he did slowly, almost asleep on his feet. Cid held out his hand and gave Vincent some support, who wobbled back and forth unsteadily. "Just try and sleep, and make sure you drink something at least. If it gets worse, come back and check it up again. It should go away in few days or so." Kiros walked to the door and opened it, and Cid took the hint.
"Alright." Cid nodded, and he led Vincent out of the room. "Thanks."
"No problem. Tell Selphie to bring in the next one." Kiros left the room and walked down the hallway, the opposite direction Cid and Vincent were heading, and the two of them made their way down the hallway.
"Hear that, Vin? It ain't serious or nothin'."
"Mmm."
Cid smiled. "God, you're so #$#@in' out of it."
Vincent didn't even argue. "Mmm."
"C'mon, y'got t'get some sleep." Cid led him out the door, noting other people having collected in the waiting room while they were in the room, and headed out into the hallway, making the journey back to Vincent's dormroom.

~~~

They made it back without too much occuring on the way, people apparently deciding to keep their vicious comments or stares to themselves, or perhaps they had some other victims to openly isolate. Either way, Vincent and Cid both decided it would probably be best for their already tarnished reputation if Vincent walked mostly by himself, although several times he nearly ran into stationary objects due to the incredible exhaustion that had come over him.
Vincent fumbled with his key for several minutes before he could finally force his sleepy, shaky body to correctly turn it in the lock, and once inside he immediately headed for his bed, flopping on top of it without bothering to change or get beneath the bunched up covers near the wall.
Cloud, who for once was present, was sitting on his bed and reading, and the only greeting and awknowledgement of their arrival he gave was a disapproving and suspicious glare. Although Cid's original plan had been to stay with Vincent and see if he needed anything, he felt extremly uncomfortable when Cloud was around and decided he'd drop by later.
"Get some sleep, Vin, alright?" He waved to Vincent's prone form, not sure if he could be heard or not. Cloud just continued to stare at him. "I'll tell Hojo what happened."
Vincent twitched one of his golden claws in what Cid hoped was response, and he finally left, closing the door quietly behind him.
He leaned against the door for some time, finding deep reservations within him for leaving Vincent behind in this way. He was sure that Vincent did not mind, but he felt guilty, considering that he was sick and all. But Cloud looked so angry that Cid felt horrible for intruding on whatever he had been doing. Now that the door was closed behind him, it was too late for him to go back in, although he had strengthened his resolve enough to withstand Cloud's eyes. Feeling dissatisfied at his behavior, Cid walked down the hall, his hands deep in his pockets, determined to visit Vincent later to make sure that he would be okay.
He hoped that Reno would catch whatever was going around. He smiled at the thought. That would finally give him some peace and quiet. But as it was, he doubted that he had caught it and was fairly sure he was going to be greeted with some angry obscenities or cruel jibes when he finally reached his dormroom.
He hopped down the stairs for a while, finding his attention already wandering from his current problem to memories of the Talent Show. He smiled to himself at the memory of walking on stage, seeing Vincent sitting in front, staring at him. The adrenaline rush had been incredible, and he almost wished he could do it again just to feel that kind of attention given to him.
#$^#, he still had another paper to write for Tellah's class. He grimaced to himself for a moment. He had completely forgotten. Well, at least he had a plan of action when he would get back to his room.
He hummed to himself as he walked down the cracked sidewalk, trying to remember where he had put his walkman. He didn't remember putting it in one of his drawers...it wasn't in his pocket. Did he leave it in one of his jackets? He'd have to check-
Someone tapped his shoulder.
Whirling around, panicked and frightened, Cid lifted an arm and knocked away the person's forearm, jumping back a few feet and swiftly feeling in his pocket for his ever-present knife. %#@%, where was it?
The adrenaline rush that had come with the contact began to fade as he recognized who had tapped him, although he did not get out of his guarded position.
"What th' #$^# do you want?"
Sephiroth's face no longer had the easy-going, superior, calm grace that it held before. Now he looked deathly serious, and he stared at Cid with frightening intensity, so much so that Cid took another step back.
"What happened to Vincent?"
"Jesus #$^#in' christ, you nearly gave me a #$@#in' heart-attack." Cid's voice was laden with hatred and anger, emotions that had been building within him since Sephiroth's cryptic warning two days earlier. A nasty tone of sarcasm worked it's way into his voice. "#^%@, don't you already know anyway?"
Sephiroth kept his eyes narrowed and his face under control as he took a step towards Cid, his hands clasped behind his back. "I just need information that you can give me. Now please co-operate with me."
"Or what, you silver-haired mother#$^#?" Cid took a step back for Sephiroth's step forward. His tone was disbelieving and still very angry. "What th' #$&# could y'do t'me?"
"As I may have stated before, I know things." Sephiroth took another step forward, and the grim seriousness of his tone was getting more disturbing by the moment. "I know many things about you, things that you'd rather not let other people know. Things that could make you more reviled, outcast, rejected by the present student body then you are now."
Cid looked around, finding no one nearby at the moment, but decided against asking exactly what it was that Sephiroth knew. "If you #%^#in' know everythin', then why don't y'know what happened t'Vin?"
Sephiroth just stared at him and took another step forward. Cid responded with another step back, still feeling frantically around in his pockets for his knife. This prompted a slow shake of the silver-haired man's head.
"You left your knife on your dresser this morning. Very unlike you." Cid's eyes widened. "Now, what happened to Vincent?"
"He's #$#^in' sick, that's all. Jesus." Cid took another step back, frightened by Sephiroth's statement, but desperatly trying to disprove it in his mind be trying to remember putting it in his backpack or some other place. "$%&#in' everyone's gettin' sick lately."
Sephiroth stared at him for a while, then finally turned, his hair following his movements with almost exaggerated slowness. "Thank you for your co-operation, Highwind."
"Why? Why th' #$&# did you want t'know, anyway?" Cid, emboldened by what he believed to be Sephiroth's retreat, began moving forward. "And what th' @#%^ was th' deal with that Weapons #&#%? Are they goin' t'attack us or what?"
Sephiroth stopped, prompting the same action in Cid, and turned only slightly to regard him with cold, controlling eyes. "I got the information I required, and now I'm going to leave."
"Not without some #$#^in' answers!" Cid reached a hand out to grab Sephiroth's arm, but the silver-haired man spun before he could reach him, his hand knocking away Cid's in much the same way that Cid had knocked his away before.
Sephiroth's tone was dangerous, and Cid backed away slowly, not sure of what he could be capable of. "I got what I wanted, and that is the only transaction we will have."
With that, Sephiroth turned and began walking away again, trenchcoat flaring behind him. Cid watched him leave with mixed emotions, from relief from not being injured, to anger at recieving no answers, to frustration at how Sephiroth had just manipulated information out of him, and worry for what Sephiroth intended to do to Vincent with the information he had just acquired.
Cid narrowed his eyes, watching the receding back of Sephiroth quickly vanish. He wasn't about to let that mother#^@$er do anything to Vincent. Breaking into an awkward, limping sprint, Cid headed back for Vincent's dorm, the same direction that Sephiroth had just disappeared into.

~~~

He knocked on the door, rolling on his heels back and forth out of worry and nervousness. It took a few minutes but finally the door opened slightly, the tired visage of Vincent staring out at him.
"Did you forget something...?" Vincent's soft voice was almost inaudible, rough and cracked. He stared at Cid with tired eyes that tried to convey confusion.
"#$^@ Vin, thank god you're okay." Cid looked down the hallway, making sure that he hadn't been pursued or followed. "Did that #^#$-head Seph show up?"
Vincent paused, slowly decoding what Cid had said, leaning against the doorframe as he did so. Eventually his flesh hand worked it's way underneath the sweat-clumped strands of black hair as Vincent closed his eyes, shaking his head back and forth. "No...no, I don't think so, why?"
"#$^#, thank #^#^in' god." Cid brushed a hand across his own forehead in relief before leaning against the doorframe much in the same way Vincent was, gesturing earnestly and speaking in low tones. "Listen, that freaky #$#^ jumped me while I was walkin' and wanted t'know what was wrong with you. I asked him why he didn't know himself, but he didn't answer me! Freaky #$%&er. Anyway, I told him you were sick-"
Vincent interrupted him, startling Cid into silence. He stared at him with tired, half-closed eyes. "I feel kind of dizzy..." He vanished from the doorway. "Come in and finish, I need to sit down for a little while..."
Cid took the invitation readily, closing the door behind him warily after one last glance down the hallway. When he returned his attention to the room, Vincent had already found his bed again, propping himself up against the wall, leaning his head back with his metal claw resting against his forehead. Fortunately, Cloud did not seem to be present, which struck Cid as odd. He was here only a few minutes ago...where could he have gone?
"Strife's taking a shower..." Vincent apparently sensed his confusion and gestured clumsily towards the chair at his desk, his eyes closed. Cid sat down quickly, leaning his arms against the backrest. "Now, what happened?"
"'Kay, that freaky $&%#er Seph came up behind me on th' sidewalk." Cid slowed and softened his words, guessing that Vincent had a rather painful headache. "He wanted t'know what happened t'you. Weird 'cause he says he knows everythin'. I knew he was full of #$#@. Anyway, I wanted t'know why, but he wouldn't tell me anythin'. Dodgy #$^#%@^. He said that if I didn't tell 'im, he'd tell th' whole school my 'dirty secrets' or some #$^# like that. So I told him what happened and then he jus' left. Didn't answer any questions about th' #$^# Weapons or anythin'. God#^#@ mother#$^@er."
Cid looked at Vincent, who remained in the same position he had when Cid had originally come in. "Got all that, Vin?"
Vincent remained as he was, causing Cid to get up and lean on his bed, shaking him softly. "Vin? Yo, Vin?"
Vincent woke slowly, stared at Cid with some confusion, then shook his head back and forth. "Oh...I'm sorry, Highwind, I...I just can't stay awake for more then a few minutes...I'm afraid I fell asleep while you were talking..."
"Eh, don't worry about it. Basically Seph might drop by at some point, so be careful, alright?"
Vincent nodded slowly and almost painfully, and Cid got up from where he had been kneeling on the bed, heading for the door. "Sorry t'bug you again. Get some sleep, alright?"
Vincent nodded and slowly slid down the wall, eventually falling on one side and collapsing back into sleep immediately. Cid closed the door behind him slowly, looking back and forth down the hallway again. No sign of Sephiroth, although that didn't make him feel better. Still feeling deeply worried and concerned, he walked away from Vincent's room, not sure exactly what plans Sephiroth may have had for Vincent, but almost positive that they were not good.

~~~

That night both he and Reeve decided to go the dining hall together, still wary of the supposed attacks. Frighteningly enough, Sephiroth had been correct in the location of Cid's knife, which disconcerted him greatly, and he shoved it deep into his pocket quickly, trying not to think about it.
The two of them were sitting in a booth near the corner, Cid picking ineffectually at his food while Reeve ate voraciously, noting Cid's lack of appetite with a slight measure of concern.
"So Seph showed up again?"
"Yeah...#$&#, I shouldn't've told him anythin'..." Cid tipped over an upstanding carrot with his fork. "#%&#, I feel so $%&#in' stupid..."
"It's not your fault." Reeve gestured with a spoon. "It's not like he really gave you much of a choice, you know."
"I guess...#$^#, what th' #$%@ could he want with Vin? It doesn't make any #&#@in' sense..." Cid stabbed the fallen carrot and watched it stick to his rising fork before brushing it off with one lazy finger. "Why is he #$^#in' with us?"
"I don't know." Reeve shrugged, taking a sip from his glass. "Maybe he wants Vince."
"What d'you mean?" Cid looked up from his uninteresting plate and stared at Reeve, who was toying with a napkin. Reeve glanced at him then back to the napkin several times rapidly, shrugging once.
"Well, I don't know. He could be after Vince, you know. Maybe he thinks he's hot or something, I don't know." Reeve sounded almost as if he expected Cid to be angry at such a suggestion. He was disappointed in this respect.
"Y'think he's after Vin that way?" Cid stared at Reeve, then back down at his plate for a few moments, thinking hard. That would make the most sense, considering. Perhaps Sephiroth was interested in Vincent romantically or otherwise, and wanted to find some time alone with him...but in order for that to work out to his satisfaction, he would have to get rid of Cid first, which would involve breaking them up somehow...perhaps with an argument...
Or the threat of the Weapons...
If indeed this was what Sephiroth was planning, then that explained the motivations between giving he and Vincent separate times for the attacks, giving them something that he would have assumed they would have argued about, not expecting them to only read it as a mistruth. They must have gone against his assumptions in this way. Vincent getting sick would have thrown off whatever plans that Sephiroth had, which would explain why he wanted to know what had happened from him, and he had logically come to Cid knowing that he would be the most likely to know...
If he was truly that interested in Vincent, that would explain why he was following and stalking the two, wanting to find the perfect time and opportunity to catch Vincent alone, without the protection of Cid. He must have viewed him as a threat, thus wanting to isolate him from Vincent in any way possible...
"Spazboy? Hello? Cid? Yoo hoo?" Reeve waved a hand in front of Cid's eyes, jerking him back to reality. "Jeez, you just zoned out there for a bit."
"#%&#, y'don't think he wants to..." Cid was now alarmed by this new suggestion and found that it made more sense with each passing moment. "#$^@, no wonder he wanted t'get him alone...$^@%!"
"Woah woah, I think you're jumping to conclusions here." Reeve pointed at him with the spoon again. "We don't know what Seph wants. But I do agree that I don't think it's a good idea to leave Vince alone with him."
"@#$^..." Cid clenched his hand in a fist, anger rising through him at the thought of Sephiroth just taking advantage of Vincent, of stalking and frightening them this way just to get close to him. The thought of it was enough to make his arm tremble. How dare he do something like that...
Reeve tapped him again, breaking him out of his angry reverie. "We don't know anything for sure yet. Vincent's sick and in his room. He's safe there, so don't worry."
"I guess..." Cid still felt deep tinges of anger and worry, hideous visions of Sephiroth breaking through the door and grabbing Vincent running through his mind, each making him increasingly more and more angry. "I don't #$#%in' like this at all..."
"You could register a complaint." Reeve looked at the ceiling, munching on something thoughtfully. "Hmmm...but you said Seph's got some dirt on you, so that's not good...but still, he shouldn't be able to get away with something like this..."
"#$^#, I don't have a #$%^in' clue what t'do here...#$^@..."
Reeve turned back to side, jabbing him with his spoon to awaken him from his latest daydream. "Well, I do know one thing for sure. Vincent's pretty hungry by now. We should bring him something."
"What can he eat?" Cid took the statement as an indication that their meal was over and stood, finding himself correct as Reeve followed him. "He's pretty sick..."
"My mom always told me that Saltines and 7-Up were the way to go for this kind of thing." Reeve held a hand up and looked as if he were dispensing some kind of universal wisdom. He smiled at Cid, trying to break him out of the intense and serious state he had worked himself into. "C'mon, lighten up. We can pick some up for him at the corner store and you can see for yourself he's fine."
"#^#&...I guess so..." The two of them excited the dining hall, walking out into the dim, cool night air. Cid brushed a hand through his short hair slightly nervously, ending by scratching the back of his neck. Free of the building, he dug a cigarette out of the pack he held on the band of his goggles and lit it, breathing in deeply and exhaling nervously out into the night air. Reeve walked with him quietly, watching him for a few minutes before speaking in a soft, sincere tone, very unlike that of Cait Sith, and Cid was sure that the Reeve persona had decided to speak to him.
"You're really worried about him, aren't you?"
Cid sighed deeply, taking another drag before speaking, keeping his eyes focused on the sidewalk in front of him. "$^@#, I just don't want him hurt or nothin'...I got th' #%^#in' #%^# beat out of me 'cause of him...I just don't want nothin' like that t'happen t'him..."
He glanced at Reeve, noticing that he was carrying himself in an entirely different fashion then usual. His ears were backed just slightly, and his tail was wrapped around one of his legs. His green eyes were also focused on the sidewalk in front of him, and considering the vast amount of black that he wore, he almost seemed to fade away into the night.
"I know what you feel..." He paused for a moment, closing his eyes in a short moment of frustration. "How you feel...Sephiroth has no good planned for him, I know that much...if he does get his hands with...on him, no good is come ou...no good will come of it..." Fortunately, Reeve was apparently in control of himself enough to forgo punishing himself for his mistakes in speaking.
"Yeah...#$^#..." Cid breathed another cloud of smoke into the air. "#$^@...I wish there was someway I knew he was safe...why th' #$^# does this $%@# always #$^@in' happen t'him..."
He felt Reeve's thin fingers touch his shoulder softly for a moment. "I know you're worried to...about him. It's okay."
"Ah #$^#, catface..." Cid's voice dropped in volume as well, and it matched Reeve's closely for sincerity. "He's one of my best #$^#in' friends...#$^#, one of th' only #$^@in' friends I've had for #$^#in' ages...#$^#, I don't know what I'd do if somethin' #$^#in' happened t'him...#$^#...jus' thinkin' about that #$^#@ Seph doin' somethin' t'him...!" He clenched a fist for a moment before sighing again. "#%^#, it jus'...makes me so #$#@in' angry..."
"Don't worry." Reeve patted his shoulder for a moment. "Nothing is hap...nothing will happen to him. I won't let anything happen to you guys."
Cid paused, taking another deep breath and letting the smoke dissipate through his nostrils. He turned towards Reeve, to see the same inexorable sadness that had shone through his voice in the waiting room present on his face, in the sad green eyes that stared back at him. He was surprised to see that sadness and longing again, having forgotten exactly how it looked. He remembered that it existed, but to see it again when he fully expected that one moment of weakness for Reeve to be the last was a surprise, and Cid could feel his heart jump again at the look of such sorrow, such sadness. Such despondency...
"Reeve...?"
Reeve shook his head softly, his ears slowly and haltingly making their way back into an upright position, having been backed completely against his head. He smiled in a way that only served to exemplify what had been present on his face before. "You...you both mean a lot to me. To Cait Sith too..."
"You have Moog though, right...?"
Reeve looked up, another sad smile on his face, staring up at the stars blinking through the night sky. "Moog...yes...I've always known him...him and only him...but you two..." He turned back to Cid, who was staring at him, unaware that a similiar lost and somewhat sad expression was present on his features. "You came to me...you've been some of the only...real people I've ever known..."
"You're our friend, Reeve." Cid reached out and touched Reeve's shoulder for a moment, not sure of what else to do or say. He feared that Reeve was drifting away somehow and that he needed some kind of physical reassurance that Cid was there. Reeve reached up and took Cid's hand slowly, moving it away from his shoulder and letting it go quietly. Thin clawtips brushed against Cid's hand as it drifted back to his side.
Cid spoke again, his voice almost drifting into the realm of whispers. "We'll always be your friend."
"I know...that's what's important." Reeve smiled at him softly again. "Sometimes it's constan...it's hard to believe for me. You're some of the only friends I've ever had. That's why I know what...how you feel. I don't want to lose you either, and I know that Vincent feels the same way."
The two of them stared at eachother for a few moments as they walked along, a silence slowly building before Reeve straightened from his slouching posture, his ears following his motion, and he smiled at Cid with the same customary energy that he had come to expect from him. "But I'm sure Vince is fine. Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll be okay."
Cid brushed his hand through his hair again, deep and confused emotions rising within him. He breathed another cloud of smoke through the air. "I know, but #$^#...I'm still so #$^#in' worried about him...Jesus, I don't want to lose someone again..."
Cid regretted his statement immediately after saying it, knowing that it would prompt some awkward questions into what or who he had been speaking about, but Reeve didn't say anything, only staring down at the sidewalk as the two continued walking. Cid was thankful but also slightly confused. Why didn't Reeve ask him anything about it? Maybe he didn't hear him...
"I know what you mean, but don't worry." The brighter tone worked it's way back into his voice, and he opened the door to the store, shocking Cid in realizing just how far the two had walked. "It'll be okay. He'll be fine."
"I guess so..." Although Cid had made a mental note before to talk with Reeve more, he hadn't been expecting a conversation like this, especially at this time. Although he was interested by the brief glimpse he got of the true Reeve's personality, it only made him more confused then he was before. Considering he had a great deal of things on his mind, mainly concerning Vincent and Sephiroth but to a lesser extent Hojo and Tellah, he didn't want to deal with something this complicated as well, and decided he would back away from the previous topic, hoping to get back to less consequential banter that would lessen the load building on his mind.
He noted the store's clerk staring at him suspiciously as he and Reeve entered, and noted Reeve getting an especially long look. Reeve was not happy about this, although the evidence of this flickered across his face for only a few moments, although that was enough for Cid to notice it.
"Now where would they keep that #$^#..." Cid wandered to the back, which was mainly populated with large cartons of soda, thus automatically delegating the Saltines to Reeve, who nodded and smiled at Cid, giving a thumbs-up.
"Right, I'll get on Saltine duty!"
As Cid made his way to the back, he was struck by the thought that perhaps Reeve had been as incomfortable as he with the previous conversation, and had backed away from it as well, which would explain why their behavior changed at the same time.
Finding a large bottle of 7-Up, he took it up to find Reeve lingering near the crackers, apparently uncomfortable with going up until Cid joined him. The two of them headed up, and Cid payed for the purchases. The clerk continued to eye Reeve suspicously, which caused the felinoid youth to back his ears almost completely backwards, causing them to meld into his hair. Cid was getting more and more aggravated by the clerk's behavior, and glared to try and get this across. This didn't change the clerk's expression at all.
Finally he spoke. "What's the deal with him?"
Cid narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you ask him yourself, you #$^#er?"
The two of them exchanged glares while Reeve, trying to avoid the conflict, collected the two items that had been purchased, hoping the stand-off would end at that point.
The clerk decided to leave it at that, although his disapproving glance showed that he would have liked to continue the argument, and he continued to glare at the two even as they left the store.
Reeve tucked the box of Saltines under his arm as Cid held the bottle by it's cap, swinging it back and forth slowly. As soon as the door to the store closed, Reeve shrugged.
"He called me a freak, you know." He remarked casually to the night air, prompting a glance from Cid.
"I didn't hear anythin'..."
"Heh, these things aren't just for show." Reeve rubbed the end of one of his ears between his two fingers, shrugging again. "I can hear lots of stuff I shouldn't."
Cid turned to head back to the store, but Reeve grabbed his arm, halting his progress. "No, don't. It's not worth it."
Cid narrowed his eyes, standing for a moment, before finally rejoining Reeve, muttering under his breath.
"#$^#in' $^@hole..."
Reeve shrugged again, his tail waving slightly behind him. "You get used to it."
"Doesn't make him any less of a #$^hole tho'." Cid found one of his larger pockets and shoved the bottle inside. Once his hands were free, he jammed them into his two free pockets. "#%@#, now I'm angry all over again."
"Don't worry about it." Reeve patted his shoulder for a moment, trying to calm Cid down. "It's not that big of a deal, and it really isn't somethin' to get worked up over. Just try and relax."
Cid made an angry noise, but eventually let the topic drop, and the two of them continued on their way. The time was spent with idle banter and chitchat, most of which meant little to nothing, but in a way this kind of conversation was something of a relief, as it was obvious that both of them had had their fill of emotions and all they entailed recently.
As they approached Vincent's closed door, Cid could not help but once again voice his worries out loud. "I hope he's alright..."
"He'll be fine." Reeve exaggerated his tone, rolling his eyes, as he leaned near the door. "Don't worry so much about it."
Cid knocked on the door, digging out the bottle of 7-Up from his pocket after doing so. It had gone somewhat flat from being banged against his leg during the walk, but he heard somewhere that was supposed to help anyway. At least he hoped it would.
Much to Cid and Reeve's surprise, Cloud answered the door, glaring at them angrily for interrupting whatever it as he was doing. Startled that Cloud was home at all, much less the one to answer the door, Cid stood for several seconds trying to regain his composure. Before he could speak, however, Cloud cut him off.
"If you're looking for Vincent, he isn't here."
Reeve took the reins of the conversation from the confused and bewildered Cid. "Isn't here? Where did he go?"
"I don't know." Cloud seemed resentful at being questioned. "He left earlier."
"With who?" Cid finally managed to galvanize himself into speech, causing Cloud's disapproving gaze to fall back on him.
"I don't know. Someone knocked, he answered the door, and then he just left. Thought he went out with you. Guess I was wrong."
Cid and Reeve stared at eachother for several moments before Cloud, without even saying any sort of farewell, shut the door.
"#$^#! Cid fairly shouted, punching a nearby wall. "#$^#!"
"Okay, calm down." Reeve put his hands on his shoulders, stopping Cid's other fist from impact. "We don't know for sure what happened yet."
"I #^&$in' know what th' #$^#in' #$#% happened! That #$^#er Sephiroth dragged him out of his room! #$#%, I don't even know where he went!" Cid snarled to himself and struggled free from Reeve's grasp, punching the wall with more force then previously. Reeve, worried and concerned himself, grabbed Cid's sleeve, dragging him towards the stairwell. Although Cid's worry manifested itself in fury, Reeve's was visible in nervous, uncontrolled energy.
"C'mon, not here, not here! Do that outside! We've got to stay calm and think, alright? We've got to keep cool here."
"#&#$!" Cid allowed himself to be pulled down the stairwell, trembling with fury. As someone passed by him on the stairwell, he reached out and grabbed them with frightening intensity, pulling them close. "Did you see Vin pass by here?"
The young man brushed off Cid's hands cooly, staring at him with quiet grace behind a face framed with long black hair. In the center of his forehead rested an enigmatic dot. Cid struggled to recall and finally remembered seeing the same man introducing himself as their RA. What was his name again...? Tseng, he believed. "Vincent Valentine?"
"That's right." Cid was trembling with nervous energy, and he noted that Reeve was walking in small circles behind him. The young man brushed some hair from his face and crossed his arms, staring at the two of them levelly.
"Well, I do believe I saw him earlier today...I thought he was sick, but apparently he wasn't as sick as I had thought, unlike everyone else in this dorm." The last statement was mumbled. "He left with someone else a few hours ago."
"$#&#!" Cid shouted, not caring that the RA was present, and then turned back to him again, panicked. "What did he look like? Who was he?"
Tseng was somewhat startled by the sudden outburst, but kept his calm admirably. He brushed non-present dust off his shirt for a moment before responding. "I believe it was Sephiroth. I'm not sure what he would want with a Freshmen, however. He's normally too busy for such things..."
"#$^$! @#$^, @#%@, @#%#!" Cid cursed angrily before taking off down the stairs at a headlong run, leaving Reeve still walking in nervous circles on the stairwell. Noting Cid's rapid departure, Reeve turned to Tseng and mumbled an awkward apology before running after Cid, calling out uselessly for him to slow down.
Finding the behaviour strange and somewhat worrisome, Tseng considered for a moment, then headed down to the bottom floor, hoping to find Rude and to warn him to keep his eyes open tonight. Something strange was going on.