Cracky muses of doom strike again. Whee!

[railenthe]

Cracky. That’s all I have to say about this. Oh, and jayaballard: DARN YOU TO HECK FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES! Your cracky muses got to me.

We'll just call this a PG-13 for the presence of Barret and Cid within fifteen feet of each other.

Pairing: Oh no you don't. It's not going to be that easy... XD

Note: If anyone seems OOC, it’s probably because of the sheer amount of crack and fluff present.

Summary: (Set four years after AC) The annual barbeque that the members of AVALANCHE throw is underway, and everybody’s taking time to catch up with everybody else.

Big Surprise

There was a roar of laughter as Cloud jumped back from the grill, which had become a sudden inferno when he attempted to light it.

"I told ya—I already put lighter fluid in it," Barret managed after he’d calmed down enough to speak.

"Didja now." Cloud didn’t sound amused. The seriousness of his response caused everyone present to break into wild laughing again. In the end, Cloud had to smile a bit himself.

Not that there was any reason not to. The crisis facing the Planet had been averted, and slowly but surely, the Planet was recovering. The wars of the past had become a note in the history books, and advancement and change was the anthem of the world.

A vote had decided that this year’s get-together would be held in Rocket Town. Well, it hadn’t been so much as a vote as it had been Cid’s insistence on the matter. The space program had been at long last restarted, and he had been chosen to spearhead the campaign. Which, naturally, left the pilot in quite good spirits, and he was ready to celebrate big time. He’d turned the entire town into party central, with his house as the epicenter for the merriment.

Everyone was there—Cloud, Barret and Tifa were (attempting) to get the grill properly fired; Reeve was entertaining the local kids with his latest ‘toy,’ which featured a chocobo-riding cat; and Yuffie—well, she was still recovering from the trip over, her motion sickness seemingly unimproved from before, but later on, she’d probably be a regular chatterbox. Nanaki regaled the people of the town with tales of the canyon’s recently discoveries in planetary science. Even Marlene and Denzel had come along for the barbeque, and it seemed that the local bartenders had gathered around Marlene just to watch the girl mix absolutely perfect drinks while Denzel provided extra information on them; the barkeeps were taking frantic notes.

Cid laughed outright at the sight—grown men who couldn’t mix a Cosmo Cocktail better than a girl of ten, now that was a sight.

There was a muted ‘clink’ as a steaming cup of tea was placed in front of Cid, breaking his reverie.

"Can’t have a celebration without tea, Chief." Vincent sat across from the pilot, a second cup of tea in his human hand.

"Heh, true enough." Cid reached for the sugar, adding just a bit to the fragrant tea. This was the good stuff, it only took a bit of sugar to make it absolutely perfect. "But, seriously. Where the hell have you been, Vince?"

"You know the drill. We’ve been over this before."

"Ah, whatever. Now sit down and drink your tea already."

The crowd around Denzel and Marlene scattered slightly in a few minutes, as though dismissed from class (which may well have been the case, Cid mused as he watched the two), and the pair wound through the gaggle of individuals to reach a punch bowl. Even the party a year before hadn’t seemed so relaxed, so carefree. Yes, this was the life, Cid thought as he allowed himself to be drawn into a rousing debate with Vincent on space exploration. So involved in the argument he was, that he didn’t notice that Marlene had motioned for her new ‘followers’ to wait for her as she walked over to the pair.

"…I’m telling you, Chief—even if space exploration is the wave of the future, we have to remember that we already know more about the realms above us than we do about the one beneath our very feet." Apparently, Vincent had taken the other side of the argument, and he was trying to make the pilot see his point.

"Yeah, yeah, you’ve said that two times already, and I’ll say what I have been saying since we started here—it’s like knowing anything else. You might know one if you know the other. It’s a lot easier to learn about space than it is about this planet right now because we would be looking at it fresh! Like it should be!" Cid countered without missing a beat.

"That approach could be taken with the study of the Planet, however—"

"But the Planet’s not that simple."

"I know you’re not calling the complexity of this world ‘simple,’" Vincent began. "That argument would mean that space is simple."

"And I’m sure as hell not saying that, that’s for certain…"

Neither man had noticed that a small crowd had formed about their table, listening intently to their debating.

Marlene watched the pair with intense fascination, sipping her punch while listening to their discourse, before giving Denzel a sidelong glance to Denzel. The boy nodded, a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he motioned for her to go.

She walked easily over to the table where Cid and Vincent sat debating so animatedly, watching them both carefully. Her eyes went from one man to the other while she sipped at her punch with one elbow on the table, propping her head on that palm.

It seemed to take forever for the pair to notice that she was there; Cid was the first to look over and ask, "Yeah? Can I help you?"

The sparkle in Marlene’s eyes seemed almost devilish, and so did her growing smile, as she looked first to Vincent, to Cid, back to Vincent, and then returning to look at Cid.

"What? What is it?"

The smile grew. "You two are together, aren’t you." It was not a question.

The reactions to this statement were varied. Cloud dropped the steak he’d had mid-flip back onto the grill with a loud sizzle. Tifa and Yuffie just giggled. Reeve stopped mid-exhibition (which left him with a very animated talking cat sitting on his head). Nanaki stopped mid-lecture to stare at the pair at the table. Barret was looking from Cid to Vincent and back again.

Cid was cursing like mad.

And Vincent’s smirk—thankfully—went hidden behind the high collar of his cloak

"I take it from your reaction that I’m right."

"What the—how in the—what makes you think—THE HELL?!" Cid was barely coherent, the beginnings of several arguments against the case forming and then falling flat before they even got started.

Cid felt a light weight land on his shoulder as the cat Cait Sith bounded onto his back. "Well, I guess it isn’t a total surprise."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Suddenly, various members of AVALANCHE began ticking off reasons.

Tifa: You’re a bit…different around Vincent.

Cloud: You were the first person he’d go to back in the days of the fights.

Reeve: Vincent is certainly more upbeat around you. (Cait Sith, still on Cid’s shoulder, nods for emphasis as Reeve speaks.)

Yuffie: You kinda know it, and kinda don’t, but then again, it’s like right there.

Nanaki: (nods at Yuffie) She’s pretty much said what I was about to say on it.

Barret: Hey, now that I think abou’ it, you two always DID room together then.

Cid was bright pink by the time the group had finished presenting the evidence. "Uh, Vin…"

Vincent shrugged. "I believe we’re busted, Chief."

*_*_*

Thirty minutes later, it seemed that things were back to normal at the party. The spotlight had been removed from the couple, and the party continued on, as animated as ever. Cid had recovered from his earlier shock after a second cup of tea. Marlene was still right there with them. He’d been asking the girl questions since the crowd had split, but he’d been dancing around the point for a while now. Deciding it was best to be right to the point, Cid finally asked, "But seriously, kid…was it that obvious?"

"Well," Marlene began, "there were signs before. A lot of them, the others mentioned them. And then there’s this—I don’t know. You’re different somehow, when you’re with him. Both of you are."

"Yeah, I know all this, but what was it that was so obvious?"

"You came in from the same room." The tone was matter of fact, and punctuated with a nod.

"But that proves nothing, damn it…" Cid was getting flustered again.

"There is one other thing," she began, giving Vincent a sidelong glance.

"What? What is it?"

Marlene motioned with one finger for Cid to lean closer, and dropped her voice to a whisper:

"Your shirt’s on inside-out, Chief."

She couldn’t resist giggling as Cid sprang from his seat and began righting his clothing.