(no subject)
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Reeve Tuesti/Vincent Valentine
Theme set: Delta
Rating: Let's call it PG-13 just to be safe, shall we? Warnings for men loving men, angst up to and including character death, bad puns, abuse of semi-colons, and probably some other things I'm forgetting.
01. Air
Vincent is gone so often that sometimes Reeve feels he is ephemeral, and may vanish any day; what he does not understand is why the other man professes to feel the same way about him.
02. Apples
Reeve groused, and spent hour after hour picking out foliage and teasing apart tangles in Vincent’s hair until finally the ex-TURK acquiesced; that night, his nose buried in ebon strands, when Reeve finally identified that elusive aroma, he laughed so hard he was amazed his lover ever washed his hair again.
03. Beginning
At first, Reeve awoke convinced he was alone and abandoned in a darkened ShinRa cell while the city collapsed around him, and would grasp for his bodyguard, unable to sleep again until he could hold tight to his hand; he felt terrible for waking the man, until he realized Vincent clung back just as tightly, battling demons of his own.
04. Bugs
The relationship was new, and there were still a few quirks to be worked out: “Oops,” Reeve said, and Vincent gave him a look that said without words just where he could stick his “oops”.
05. Coffee
That night was incredible; the following morning boundaries were drawn, and Vincent never again made morning advances until after Reeve stumbled back from the kitchen, his entire body wrapped around a steaming mug.
06. Dark
It was years before Reeve let him curtain the bedroom window, and even then they were never drawn, as he was unable to sleep without the spill and light pollution of the city to comfort him.
07. Despair
Depression was no stranger to either of them, but they clung together if only because both noticed that knife cut a little less deeply in each other’s presence.
08. Doors
Reeve was astounded and a little appalled by his lover’s childish behavior - honestly, didn’t he know what that sort of treatment could do to the structural integrity of the jamb and wall?
09. Drink
Reeve admits that you should never introduce additional chemicals to your bloodstream when there are already as many circulating there as there are in Vincent’s, can’t help thinking that this is a Very Bad Idea, but he still gives the other man the look that’s half pleading, half a promise for later in the night, and does a little happy-dance when Vincent sighs and tosses back the shot.
10. Duty
It makes his stomach twist, but Reeve never comments that Vincent places flowers at her grave every week, no matter how many years pass, because he understands Vincent feels he has to; Vincent feels this places Reeve in the highest category of honor.
11. Earth
He understood why Vincent felt compelled to leave civilization and spend long hours surrounded by the Planet they’d given everything to save, he only wished life afforded him the same luxury.
12. End
Vincent knows all empires fall, he has seen it happen before and undoubtedly will again before his extended life-span is up; this knowledge does little to lessen the ache as he watches councilmen of the WRO tear it to shreds within hours of Reeve’s death.
13. Fall
It’s only a broken leg, Reeve insists, but Vincent will not be placated, so one watches with great amusement while the other seeks penance for his sin of failing to salt the stairs well enough.
14. Fire
Reeve considers the pallor of is love’s skin and knows the other man will never admit to being cold, but he braves the storm to retrieve the last few pieces of wood regardless, ad is rewarded with a small smile of acknowledgment as they crackle merrily on the hearth.
15. Flexible
Vincent bent once for love, and swore after never to yield again.
16. Flying
His city is besieged by a flying horror, children are in danger and his friends are caught in an epic battle with three madmen, but Cait is frozen as gunfire reverberates around him, eyes locked upward on a ripple of crimson that alights across the safety beams, never still for more than a few seconds.
17. Food
Reeve was infamous for forgetting everything when he set to working on an intensive project; when all was considered, however, he had to admit that that Vincent’s method of convincing him to break and eat was the most original anyone had used in years.
18. Foot
The length between them is barely more than an arms length, but neither is able or willing to take the last step forward and close the gap, so they turn away instead, unaware that every eye in the newly reformed AVALANCHE watches them.
19. Grave
Stoic, impassive, phlegmatic, silent as the; Reeve has heard all of these used to describe his lover, and marvels at how little people know.
20. Green
On his last visit here, the plot spread from the headstone in a muddy brown of recently overturned dirt, and he did not cry; now, on his second visit, the grave has been covered with a dense carpet of grass, and situation finally feels true.
21. Head
Reeve cupped a hand to Vincent’s cheek while the older man slept and considered pale skin shadowed by unnaturally long, dark eyelashes while he swept his thumb over a sculpted cheekbone; from an artistic standpoint, he knew perfect symmetry was impossible, but maybe that was just a myth.
22. Hollow
They depend on one another, to draw the other away from work when he forgets to eat, to wait out the tantrums of guilt and self-loathing without flinching, but mostly to remind each other that they have not yet become shells.
23. Honor
Reeve worries that the strict code that sees Vincent through his days will one day be the straw that breaks him.
24. Hope
Reeve can’t pinpoint when his cynical, jaded view of the world changed, but he strongly suspects it began when he stood at the edge of a dropoff and watched a crimson-clothed figure emerge from the secluded cave - after all, Cloud had told them all to find something to fight for.
25. Light
It is rare that Reeve wakes before his lover, but this morning Vincent finds him curled on the window ledge like one of his prized cats, watching as the glow of dawn breaks over the city.
26. Lost
Vincent listens to Reeve’s muttered explanation for his tardiness, considers that the other man designed the city, and tactfully limits any further response to a nonjudgmental “mmm.”
27. Metal
At night, the lights of the infant city spill through their window and reflect off Vincent’s claw, bathing his entire body in a harsh, stark light that Reeve feels reveals the danger in him.
28. New
“You’re not a replacement,” Vincent ensures him, and although Reeve believes him, what Vincent doesn’t understand is that he wouldn’t mind so much if he were.
29. Old
That Cloud and Tifa want a honeymoon without the children, Vincent understands; what confuses him, as he watches Reeve and Yuffie chase Marlene across a set of monkey bars while Denzel sits beside him asking inane questions (do you really drink blood? can I try on your cape?) is the definition of ‘child’.
30. Peace
By tacit agreement, neither sets the alarm, they turn off their phones, and even the curtains are secured against the encroaching sun and any curious kittens who might displace them.
31. Poison
Reeve knows what the other man’s reactions to the orders will be, and suspects what will happen if he and she carry out the mission together as ordered; he scribbles his name on the paper anyway, and ignores the feeling in his gut because it’s probably for the best.
32. Pretty
Reeve blushes when Vincent whispers the complement in his ear, too surprised that it came from his normally undemonstrative lover to even object to its content.
33. Rain
Work in Edge ceases, and Reeve watches as children creep from their hiding places, arms extended up, giggling with joy and surprise when fat droplets explode on their upturned palms; he is not aware that Vincent, standing just behind him, focuses not on that scene but on one he finds entirely more beautiful.
34. Regret
Goodbyes are awkward as nine people realize they have nothing in common but a shared mission and adrenaline rush; later, two of that number lie in bed, replaying those final conversations and cursing the things they forgot, or were too cowardly, to say.
35. Roses
Vincent is gone often, and for long periods of time, but neither of them feels a lack of communication in their relationship; when Vincent returns the day of Reeve’s meeting with Denzel and finds his lover on his knees outside the apartment building, buried to the elbow in seed and topsoil, he kneels down to help without question.
36. Secret
In their deepest fits of self-accusation, they have bared every corner of their soul to each other, disproving the presumption that mystery was necessary to keep a relationship alive.
37. Snakes
“ShinRa’s different, now, not like it was when you were there,” Reeve tells him in Cait’s voice, trying to explain why any man would chose to dedicate his life to the company, but Vincent responds, “Some things never change,” and in his heart, Reeve knows he’s right.
38. Snow
Reeve has a vague memory from his childhood: it is evening and he is sitting at his mother’s ankles, they are bathed in dim candlelight because she refused to use Mako, and as she embroiders she tells him, her voice low, of a queen who pricked her finger and saw a prophecy of a child cast in white, red, and black.
39. Solid
In public they maintain the façade of executive and bodyguard, and even though Vincent is always careful to stand a proper distance behind him at ceremonies, Reeve can always feel the heat emanating from his body, and the knowledge that he is there to lean on always feels like an embrace.
40. Spring
Only a few miles from Edge, the ground broke and lifestream bubbled to the surface --both agreed that the temptation the fountain posed might be dangerous, and neither wanted to see the rise of a second ShinRa, so they kept its location secret; in actuality, all either wanted was a place to call their own.
41. Stable
When the worst fragments of his past are unearthed to cut him again, knowing that he can return to Edge without question or comment and receive only unconditional reaffirmation is all that keeps Vincent sane.
42. Strange
They both are acting oddly after that first, almost accidental kiss, and avoid each other for days until Yuffie announces, loudly, that the entire office knows and there’s a betting pool on how long the frustration level will rise before they just tear each others clothes off right there and that if she doesn’t win she will be Very Annoyed.
43. Summer
They are both honest men, if nothing else, and so agree to forgo the traditional trips to the beach and swimming for activities they’re actually likely to enjoy; Reeve resignedly discards his beach resort fantasies, knowing they’d only result in sunburn.
44. Taboo
There is one name, that of a woman long dead who could never break them apart, that is nonetheless never spoken between them.
45. Ugly
Reeve presses kisses to Vincent’s metallic palm, laves his tongue over each deadly fingertip, presses caresses against all the skin he can reach, every action a rejection of Vincent’s mantra of self-loathing.
46. War
They have seen one country invade another, sending trained soldiers to brutally murder civilians, they have seen creatures out of legend and hell descend on cities, and gone toe to toe with more madmen than either cares to count; none of these battles can stand against the ones they inevitably find themselves fighting when they close their eyes.
47. Water
They watch from the banks as Cloud lifts Denzel into the pond, letting runoff from his hands drip over the boy’s forehead and purify him; they return later by unspoken agreement, even though neither has the Stigma, but because they have to seek their absolution where they can.
48. Welcome
Reeve signs orders that take Vincent away from Edge, sometimes for weeks at a time, and Vincent follows them without protest; they tell themselves they continue this cycle because they have duties and obligations, but in truth, they allow it for the reunions that follow each departure.
49. Winter
Yes, the snow refuses to stick and has turned the unfinished streets into canals of muck; yes, he’s slightly concerned that he hasn’t yet regained feeling in his nose; yes, the combined drain of every space heater, radiator, and generator in Edge will undoubtedly overburden the new coal plants and he’ll have blackouts to deal with before dawn, but for now the fire and their combined body heat warms the couch, and he has a kitten dangling off of the fringe on his scarf.
50. Wood
Reeve has never been much of a fan of physical exertion, but when the snows come and block the road to town, (both of them remember the last trip across the Glacier and neither is eager to repeat it) they have no choice but to break out the hatchet if they want to keep the fire going; that is, Vincent has no choice but to break out the hatchet, Reeve watches from a window, sipping a mug of coffee and thinking that maybe there is something to this physical exertion, after all.
Pairing: Reeve Tuesti/Vincent Valentine
Theme set: Delta
Rating: Let's call it PG-13 just to be safe, shall we? Warnings for men loving men, angst up to and including character death, bad puns, abuse of semi-colons, and probably some other things I'm forgetting.
01. Air
Vincent is gone so often that sometimes Reeve feels he is ephemeral, and may vanish any day; what he does not understand is why the other man professes to feel the same way about him.
02. Apples
Reeve groused, and spent hour after hour picking out foliage and teasing apart tangles in Vincent’s hair until finally the ex-TURK acquiesced; that night, his nose buried in ebon strands, when Reeve finally identified that elusive aroma, he laughed so hard he was amazed his lover ever washed his hair again.
03. Beginning
At first, Reeve awoke convinced he was alone and abandoned in a darkened ShinRa cell while the city collapsed around him, and would grasp for his bodyguard, unable to sleep again until he could hold tight to his hand; he felt terrible for waking the man, until he realized Vincent clung back just as tightly, battling demons of his own.
04. Bugs
The relationship was new, and there were still a few quirks to be worked out: “Oops,” Reeve said, and Vincent gave him a look that said without words just where he could stick his “oops”.
05. Coffee
That night was incredible; the following morning boundaries were drawn, and Vincent never again made morning advances until after Reeve stumbled back from the kitchen, his entire body wrapped around a steaming mug.
06. Dark
It was years before Reeve let him curtain the bedroom window, and even then they were never drawn, as he was unable to sleep without the spill and light pollution of the city to comfort him.
07. Despair
Depression was no stranger to either of them, but they clung together if only because both noticed that knife cut a little less deeply in each other’s presence.
08. Doors
Reeve was astounded and a little appalled by his lover’s childish behavior - honestly, didn’t he know what that sort of treatment could do to the structural integrity of the jamb and wall?
09. Drink
Reeve admits that you should never introduce additional chemicals to your bloodstream when there are already as many circulating there as there are in Vincent’s, can’t help thinking that this is a Very Bad Idea, but he still gives the other man the look that’s half pleading, half a promise for later in the night, and does a little happy-dance when Vincent sighs and tosses back the shot.
10. Duty
It makes his stomach twist, but Reeve never comments that Vincent places flowers at her grave every week, no matter how many years pass, because he understands Vincent feels he has to; Vincent feels this places Reeve in the highest category of honor.
11. Earth
He understood why Vincent felt compelled to leave civilization and spend long hours surrounded by the Planet they’d given everything to save, he only wished life afforded him the same luxury.
12. End
Vincent knows all empires fall, he has seen it happen before and undoubtedly will again before his extended life-span is up; this knowledge does little to lessen the ache as he watches councilmen of the WRO tear it to shreds within hours of Reeve’s death.
13. Fall
It’s only a broken leg, Reeve insists, but Vincent will not be placated, so one watches with great amusement while the other seeks penance for his sin of failing to salt the stairs well enough.
14. Fire
Reeve considers the pallor of is love’s skin and knows the other man will never admit to being cold, but he braves the storm to retrieve the last few pieces of wood regardless, ad is rewarded with a small smile of acknowledgment as they crackle merrily on the hearth.
15. Flexible
Vincent bent once for love, and swore after never to yield again.
16. Flying
His city is besieged by a flying horror, children are in danger and his friends are caught in an epic battle with three madmen, but Cait is frozen as gunfire reverberates around him, eyes locked upward on a ripple of crimson that alights across the safety beams, never still for more than a few seconds.
17. Food
Reeve was infamous for forgetting everything when he set to working on an intensive project; when all was considered, however, he had to admit that that Vincent’s method of convincing him to break and eat was the most original anyone had used in years.
18. Foot
The length between them is barely more than an arms length, but neither is able or willing to take the last step forward and close the gap, so they turn away instead, unaware that every eye in the newly reformed AVALANCHE watches them.
19. Grave
Stoic, impassive, phlegmatic, silent as the; Reeve has heard all of these used to describe his lover, and marvels at how little people know.
20. Green
On his last visit here, the plot spread from the headstone in a muddy brown of recently overturned dirt, and he did not cry; now, on his second visit, the grave has been covered with a dense carpet of grass, and situation finally feels true.
21. Head
Reeve cupped a hand to Vincent’s cheek while the older man slept and considered pale skin shadowed by unnaturally long, dark eyelashes while he swept his thumb over a sculpted cheekbone; from an artistic standpoint, he knew perfect symmetry was impossible, but maybe that was just a myth.
22. Hollow
They depend on one another, to draw the other away from work when he forgets to eat, to wait out the tantrums of guilt and self-loathing without flinching, but mostly to remind each other that they have not yet become shells.
23. Honor
Reeve worries that the strict code that sees Vincent through his days will one day be the straw that breaks him.
24. Hope
Reeve can’t pinpoint when his cynical, jaded view of the world changed, but he strongly suspects it began when he stood at the edge of a dropoff and watched a crimson-clothed figure emerge from the secluded cave - after all, Cloud had told them all to find something to fight for.
25. Light
It is rare that Reeve wakes before his lover, but this morning Vincent finds him curled on the window ledge like one of his prized cats, watching as the glow of dawn breaks over the city.
26. Lost
Vincent listens to Reeve’s muttered explanation for his tardiness, considers that the other man designed the city, and tactfully limits any further response to a nonjudgmental “mmm.”
27. Metal
At night, the lights of the infant city spill through their window and reflect off Vincent’s claw, bathing his entire body in a harsh, stark light that Reeve feels reveals the danger in him.
28. New
“You’re not a replacement,” Vincent ensures him, and although Reeve believes him, what Vincent doesn’t understand is that he wouldn’t mind so much if he were.
29. Old
That Cloud and Tifa want a honeymoon without the children, Vincent understands; what confuses him, as he watches Reeve and Yuffie chase Marlene across a set of monkey bars while Denzel sits beside him asking inane questions (do you really drink blood? can I try on your cape?) is the definition of ‘child’.
30. Peace
By tacit agreement, neither sets the alarm, they turn off their phones, and even the curtains are secured against the encroaching sun and any curious kittens who might displace them.
31. Poison
Reeve knows what the other man’s reactions to the orders will be, and suspects what will happen if he and she carry out the mission together as ordered; he scribbles his name on the paper anyway, and ignores the feeling in his gut because it’s probably for the best.
32. Pretty
Reeve blushes when Vincent whispers the complement in his ear, too surprised that it came from his normally undemonstrative lover to even object to its content.
33. Rain
Work in Edge ceases, and Reeve watches as children creep from their hiding places, arms extended up, giggling with joy and surprise when fat droplets explode on their upturned palms; he is not aware that Vincent, standing just behind him, focuses not on that scene but on one he finds entirely more beautiful.
34. Regret
Goodbyes are awkward as nine people realize they have nothing in common but a shared mission and adrenaline rush; later, two of that number lie in bed, replaying those final conversations and cursing the things they forgot, or were too cowardly, to say.
35. Roses
Vincent is gone often, and for long periods of time, but neither of them feels a lack of communication in their relationship; when Vincent returns the day of Reeve’s meeting with Denzel and finds his lover on his knees outside the apartment building, buried to the elbow in seed and topsoil, he kneels down to help without question.
36. Secret
In their deepest fits of self-accusation, they have bared every corner of their soul to each other, disproving the presumption that mystery was necessary to keep a relationship alive.
37. Snakes
“ShinRa’s different, now, not like it was when you were there,” Reeve tells him in Cait’s voice, trying to explain why any man would chose to dedicate his life to the company, but Vincent responds, “Some things never change,” and in his heart, Reeve knows he’s right.
38. Snow
Reeve has a vague memory from his childhood: it is evening and he is sitting at his mother’s ankles, they are bathed in dim candlelight because she refused to use Mako, and as she embroiders she tells him, her voice low, of a queen who pricked her finger and saw a prophecy of a child cast in white, red, and black.
39. Solid
In public they maintain the façade of executive and bodyguard, and even though Vincent is always careful to stand a proper distance behind him at ceremonies, Reeve can always feel the heat emanating from his body, and the knowledge that he is there to lean on always feels like an embrace.
40. Spring
Only a few miles from Edge, the ground broke and lifestream bubbled to the surface --both agreed that the temptation the fountain posed might be dangerous, and neither wanted to see the rise of a second ShinRa, so they kept its location secret; in actuality, all either wanted was a place to call their own.
41. Stable
When the worst fragments of his past are unearthed to cut him again, knowing that he can return to Edge without question or comment and receive only unconditional reaffirmation is all that keeps Vincent sane.
42. Strange
They both are acting oddly after that first, almost accidental kiss, and avoid each other for days until Yuffie announces, loudly, that the entire office knows and there’s a betting pool on how long the frustration level will rise before they just tear each others clothes off right there and that if she doesn’t win she will be Very Annoyed.
43. Summer
They are both honest men, if nothing else, and so agree to forgo the traditional trips to the beach and swimming for activities they’re actually likely to enjoy; Reeve resignedly discards his beach resort fantasies, knowing they’d only result in sunburn.
44. Taboo
There is one name, that of a woman long dead who could never break them apart, that is nonetheless never spoken between them.
45. Ugly
Reeve presses kisses to Vincent’s metallic palm, laves his tongue over each deadly fingertip, presses caresses against all the skin he can reach, every action a rejection of Vincent’s mantra of self-loathing.
46. War
They have seen one country invade another, sending trained soldiers to brutally murder civilians, they have seen creatures out of legend and hell descend on cities, and gone toe to toe with more madmen than either cares to count; none of these battles can stand against the ones they inevitably find themselves fighting when they close their eyes.
47. Water
They watch from the banks as Cloud lifts Denzel into the pond, letting runoff from his hands drip over the boy’s forehead and purify him; they return later by unspoken agreement, even though neither has the Stigma, but because they have to seek their absolution where they can.
48. Welcome
Reeve signs orders that take Vincent away from Edge, sometimes for weeks at a time, and Vincent follows them without protest; they tell themselves they continue this cycle because they have duties and obligations, but in truth, they allow it for the reunions that follow each departure.
49. Winter
Yes, the snow refuses to stick and has turned the unfinished streets into canals of muck; yes, he’s slightly concerned that he hasn’t yet regained feeling in his nose; yes, the combined drain of every space heater, radiator, and generator in Edge will undoubtedly overburden the new coal plants and he’ll have blackouts to deal with before dawn, but for now the fire and their combined body heat warms the couch, and he has a kitten dangling off of the fringe on his scarf.
50. Wood
Reeve has never been much of a fan of physical exertion, but when the snows come and block the road to town, (both of them remember the last trip across the Glacier and neither is eager to repeat it) they have no choice but to break out the hatchet if they want to keep the fire going; that is, Vincent has no choice but to break out the hatchet, Reeve watches from a window, sipping a mug of coffee and thinking that maybe there is something to this physical exertion, after all.