emovampboy | For Reeve

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

plate_builder

"Exactly," Reeve agreed, so it wasn't a choice. "I'm considering trying to get a Cait there, but all the way up to the plate isn't as much of a thing. But I can't get people close enough to see things, or have rumors. It's maddening."

From:

emovampboy

"And nothing is circulating in the civilian rumor mill?" Even if Reeve can't get people in close, there's almost always an underground network of rumors flowing from people who were there, those who got to close, etc. If they weren't working, then Reeve would have a legitimate problem.

From:

plate_builder

"Nothing," Reeve confirmed. Which meant that he was a bit more worried than normal. Of course most people didn't get that close to the former Shinra building, which could explain the lack of them.

From:

emovampboy

Someone would always get too close, or have met someone who had. It was the unwritten rule of the universe. And there was the fact that someone might have even saw something, heard something, during the evacuation. That no stories were being told...

"I'll take a look around sometime... after I do some of my own investigation."

From:

plate_builder

"Thank you," Reeve said, and truly there was relief there. "If you could even just get a Cait until up onto the plate for me, I can send it in."

From:

emovampboy

"I can do it." Vincent assures. "But give me some time."

From:

plate_builder

"Thank you," Reeve said, and then he's getting silent because the food has arrived. And there he is, beaming and joyful. It smelled so good. And look, his coffee too.

From:

emovampboy

Vincent glances at the food, nodding just a little. "It looks good."

From:

plate_builder

"Thank you," Reeve said to the server and waited before they walked off to turn his attention to the meal.

"Okay, so here we have our rice. You start with a layer of that. Then you serve the curries on top of it, separate of course. The bread here I've gotten is naan. It's cooked by slapping the dough onto the inside edge of an inverted clay pot. It's wonderful. You can dip it into the sauces or use it to clean the plate. And this small tray over here are things to add spice if it's not hot enough."

From:

emovampboy

Vincent looks vaguely amused, since he is well enough aware of what the food they are eating is, and how most of it works. He doesn't say anything about that fact though, instead noting, "You have learned quite a lot about the food here, haven't you?"

From:

plate_builder

Well, Vincent wasn't as familiar with the things on the menu, so Reeve had assumed. And now he looked like an adorable fool.

"I have," Reeve agreed with a smile. "It's a favorite of mine. I may eat here often."

Come on, he already said he was allowing himself a private table here.

From:

emovampboy

"And you've done research into the preparation too. For fun?" Vincent gets a spoonful as he speaks, going to eat it as he waits for Reeve's reply.

From:

plate_builder

"Well, uh..." Reeve looks flustered by that fact. But he nodded. Yes he had. Wondered if he could make naan in fact. Unfortunately he wasn't that great of a cook and didn't have space to take up tandoori cooking. "I ask the servers questions about how things are made."

From:

emovampboy

Vincent smirks a bit behind his collar, somehow not surprised. "You have always been this way, I must assume?"

From:

plate_builder

"I have," Reeve admitted.

With a smile he looked at the food before them and started to serve himself.

"My mother. She cooked a lot. She would tell me so many things, but I never really got good at cooking. So instead I would sit there and she'd explain everything while she cooked and I'd just watch.

From:

emovampboy

"Ah... did you want to cook? Or want to now?" Having tried a bit of the food, he also adds. "It's very good food here."

From:

plate_builder

"I did. But I burned everything. And then I didn't have time. I still don't. Time or space," Reeve shrugged as he finished filling his plate. "This makes me think of her, in a way. Though mom did more like meatloaf and pot roast and all of that."

From:

emovampboy

"I can only cook very basic things myself." Vincent acknowledges. "Tifa was always sort of the cook in the group, though Barrett managed some pretty good meals."

From:

plate_builder

"Cid seemed like he was good at tea, not that I ever got to try some," Reeve smiled. "I wish I'd ever had Tifa's cooking actually."

She hadn't cooked for the party. Just brought some premade stuff in.

From:

emovampboy

"Problem with Cid's tea is, if you accidently got his, it was 30-70% liquor, depending on his mood."

From:

plate_builder

Wait, what? Reeve looked shocked by that one. "I didn't know. When was he even buying the alcohol? I wasn't carrying it."

From:

emovampboy

"He had an airship, and crew, remember?" Vincent points out. "And flasks, empty potion bottles, and years of time to practice hiding things, even if Shera let him drink."