For Reeve

[emovampboy]

When it came to use of his phone, Vincent was very much like Cloud. He left it on, received messages and listened to or read them, but quite rarely responded. The few times he did respond tended to be if he deemed an actual answer to be required, or when from time to time Marlene got hold of Cloud or Tifa's phone and contacted him. Since it was so rare for her to do so, he always took it as a good thing to answer.

Which meant he had answered when she called him a few days after a message from Tifa asking him to come to a party for the girl, which he had ignored; his first mistake. Once answered, the girl had spent several minutes speaking to him, until suddenly springing the question of if he were coming to her party and making it quite impossible for him to really say no without seeming like a total heel, and so he agreed to go; his second mistake. And then he had made his third mistake - actually going.

At first, it really wouldn't have seemed to have been a bad idea. He knew everyone who was invited, how they acted around one another, and that Tifa would keep the whole group from going completely crazy over the course of the night, but he had not expected having to assist in breaking up one of Cloud and Barrett's squabbles when the woman had to leave for a short time to fetch something, and honestly he was glad that Reeve was invited and could help diffuse the situation with; especially when Yuffie and a very unhelpful Cid decided it would be a great idea to bet on who would win if they actually took to fistacuffs over whatever stupid thing it was this time which set them off.

All of this had left him rather done with company, and as soon as Tifa was back to be the adult in the situation, he'd snuck outside for some relative peace and quiet.

Comments

[emovampboy]

"That's disappointing." He gently tugs Reeve's hair, as if to get his attention. "You shouldn't get so wrapped up in work that you forget to live."

[plate_builder]

The tug won’t entirely get the expected reaction. Vincent earns a light moan, which Reeve immediately blushes over and looks away. Whoops.

“My work is my life, Vincent,” he says, still embarrassed.

[emovampboy]

Well... that was interesting. He's going to overlook the response for the time being, moving to gently tug that hair again. "You like this?"

[plate_builder]

Fuck. This time Reeve doesn’t moan. Well, not as loud. He has bitten down on his lip to hold back a noise, but it is still there, just quiet.

“Yes,” he admits, frowning. Looks at the picture because he can’t handle looking at Vincent because of his moment of weakness.

[emovampboy]

"Huh." He sounds honestly curious, even with that single sound. Was it just that he tugged at his hair, or was it deeper than that? Very hard to tell, honestly, and the blushing could mean anything.

He kind of wants to ask, but it may not be appropriate...

[plate_builder]

“You’ll think... I don’t want judged,” Reeve admits. Vincent of all people should hardly understand someone who gets pleasure from a light sting of pain. Vincent has been through enough, and he hardly seemed the type at this point to seek to hurt others.

[emovampboy]

That answers the question without him even asking. If it was just because he tugged, a reaction of having close contact, he wouldn't be talking about judgment.

As it is, question answered, Vincent can't seem to help what he does next, even if she should.

Clawed hand raising, he very carefully knicks Reeve's neck, far enough down the man's collar will hide it from others, but not from Reeve or Vincent.

[plate_builder]

“Fuck,” Reeve whines. What provoked that? His fingers come up to touch the spot, wondering if there is blood. The idea there might be is almost exciting. What a thrill.

“What was that for?” He asks, licking his lips.

[emovampboy]

Very interesting. Especially as there is the smallest amount of blood, and Vincent watches it well to the surface before Reeve's fingers cover it. And it's lucky they do, as they allow him to catch a glimpse of Reeve licking his lips.

No room left for question about what Reeve likes with that. Which leaves Vincent feeling strangely elated somehow. Curious.

But he needs to focus, answer the question he's just been asked, and only finds the smallest of shrugs to answer the man with, still watching his neck a little; maybe Yuffie was right and Vincent really was a vampire?

[plate_builder]

“Should I worry Yuffie was right?” Reeve asks, fingers coming away from his neck. Blood indeed.

He doesn’t really think, just puts his bloody fingers to his lips to lick them clean. Hard to say what is going on here right now, but he can’t deny he maybe doesn’t feel as worried.

“Not that I would worry too much.”

[emovampboy]

"You'd enjoy if she were right." Vincent remarks, finally turning his eyes away. What is he even doing? He had acted strangely since Reeve's drunken admission last night, and swore he was just acting weirder and weirder since. "You may be a bad influence on me, Reeve."

[plate_builder]

“Would I?” Reeve asks with a smirk. “I like garlic, so it really wouldn’t work for me.”

When he finally finds it in himself to look back to Vincent. Strange to find the other man looking away.

“Bad influence? How?”

[emovampboy]

Where did garlic and vampires even start? Somehow it seemed just as silly that garlic would scare away vampires as salt would work to keep away ghosts. Old superstition that may or may not be true.

And was Reeve really asking that? It wasn't obvious already what Vincent meant?

Red eyes slowly look back to Reeve, face an amazing mixture of serious and embarrassed. "Because all I want to do is think dirty thoughts."

[plate_builder]

Well, that definitely earns a smile. He likes that he could apparently cause such things in Vincent.

“If you want to think those thoughts, that is okay,” Reeve assures him. “I could even provide additional ones to think on. But something tells me you don’t think you’re ready to deal with that. I doubt you have thought about those sorts of things in the past years anyway.”

[emovampboy]

"Not really, no..." Vincent concedes, and moves to lean his head back a little so he can look at the ceiling. "It's hard to think of things like that when you know your chances are small that someone will see you as anything but a freak."

Reeve may have felt like the others didn't trust him due to his position in Shinra, but Vincent himself wasn't sure if any of them aside from a handful saw him as more than an experiment of Shinra, even though they never treated him as anything but human.

[plate_builder]

Now there is a matter that clear needs addressed quickly. Reeve twists and sets his pad aside, reaching for Vincent at the same time. He opts to lay a light hand on his leg, something that can be construed as nothing but comforting.

“I can assure you that none of us see you like that. Doubly so for Cloud, Nanaki and Aeris, who were also ‘projects’ for Hojo. You are a person to us. The only ‘freak’ among observers like us is Yuffie, and she does it more, I expect, because of what you wear. As our group are just about the only ones who know the truth about you, it shouldn’t weigh too heavy on your mind.”

[emovampboy]

"Yuffie is just special." He glances to Reeve with a grateful look, before looking back to the ceiling. "However, you know as well as I do that what is true and what we see are different things sometimes. So, I've barely entertained a thought for... desire."

[plate_builder]

“Well, now you have time to entertain such thoughts. And, I hope, the cause to,” Reeve responds. But he is cautious as he speaks. Sure, Vincent thanked him, but he doesn’t know the man well yet, or if the next thing he intends to say will go over well.

“Would... it make you feel better to know you aren’t the only one who hasn’t entertained the thought in a while? Shinra just about devoured me toward the end. I never had the time or care for anything really. And then... well, after we boarded the Highwind that changed for me. Later in the evening when most had gone to bed, this was maybe a few days after we acquired the ship, Cid had anchored the Highwind so that everyone could rest. But you were you and I was dealing with the insomnia I had so much of at the time. I came upon you, standing in the bridge, bathed in the pale light of the moon. And I found myself thinking again.”

Hope thanksgiving has been good!

[emovampboy]

"Did you? Just from seeing me in the moonlight?" Vincent finally looks back to Reeve, curious. "And barely knowing me."

Re: Hope thanksgiving has been good!

[plate_builder]

“We has been traveling together for a time by then,” Reeve counters. “I was the one that no one knew, Vincent.”

Quiet and distant didn’t mean unknown.

[emovampboy]

"What had you learned about me? Aside from I was often alone."

[plate_builder]

Truly? They are doing this? Fine. Reeve can answer the question

“You care for those you see as weaker than you. You cannot hide your protective nature even as you try to retain distance. You think before you act with an insistence on that that left me thinking you were poorly served by a decision you thought you had reasoned through to the end and found yourself wrong.”

[emovampboy]

"All that from me barely speaking and just watching me? You're pretty good at reading others." Vincent shifts to lean onto his knees with his elbows, looking at Reeve. "Had you read the others too?"

[plate_builder]

“I was a ShinRa executive, Vincent, and had been for years. To survive at that level you need to learn to read people. Add in my investment in other people and it was something I could manage. And as no one wanted involved with me too much, so I could watch more easily.”

Could he read the others too? Reeve nods at that one. He knew more about them than they had realized.

“Some of them I had dossiers on,” Reeve admits.

[emovampboy]

"Hm." He watches Reeve a bit, thinking of what might be best to say next. "It must be difficult, and useful all in one. It's sort of strange that I, as a Turk, couldn't read Lucrecia well enough to understand what was going on with her."