[COMPLETE]

[crepusculine]

Who: Vincent and Naminé
When: A few hours before dark.
Where: Clock tower.
Rating: G-PG.
Warnings: N/A.
Summary: Naminé meets up with Vincent to see if she can do something about his nightmares.

Comments

[foreswear]

The little patch of forest that Vincent had so conveniently lost himself in days after his arrival was starting to get the best of him. He hadn't really understood the exact reason why he had decided to descend within its incredibly murky depths a mere 48 hours earlier; he had seen some potential, perhaps, and figured it was the safest place to be without a weapon on hand.

And just where was that damn gun of his, anyway? That should have been his main concern, and yet she--the girl with the soft face and kind words--she had distracted him from his search momentarily. Of course, her promises regarding his nightmares had been a tempting offer he found himself unable to resist. That hadn't been the only reason he had agreed to meet with her, however

[crepusculine]

The blonde glanced down either way, taking but a second to regather her sense of direction. At which point, she inclined her chin to nod to their left. "That way. Two blocks down, three blocks North, another block East. Rufus' building is hard to miss."

And even that route was a little longer than necessary. Naminé would have taken a shortcut or two, but this way they would pass one of the lower level's stores, as well as a clear path to the river, slightly in the area of where Cloud (both of them) were staying in the general vicinity... That thought brought another to mind, and so as they were walking she asked, "Have you met up with any of your friends, yet?"

[foreswear]

"Mm. I haven't. But, as I said before, I've been a little distracted with other matters."

Those other matters being Hojo and his plans to exact his ill-thought out revenge. He felt a little guilty for putting it up above Cloud and the others, but he supposed he was doing it for their sake, too. Hojo would have no doubt taken an immediate interest in them upon discovering their whereabouts.

"I'm sure I'll get to meet with them soon, however."

As soon as he possibly could, anyway.

[crepusculine]

Naminé glanced up at him. "I'm sure they miss you." And, somewhat on that note...

"I... should probably tell you. Things in this place are a little strange in regards to how many different worlds people are drawn from." A slight frown crossed over her face, and she pursed her lips a moment in thought. "Meaning... that there are alternate versions of some people, if that makes any sense."

Naminé figured it probably didn't; it sounded like some corny plot out of a movie, even, but it was real and true there in Purgatorium, and she figured it best to warn Vincent lest he end up confused when speaking with not-his-Cloud or not-his-Aerith.

[foreswear]

Ah, yes. He had remembered seeing the other Cloud around, had even mentioned it to his Cloud. It was a little confusing, and he didn't exactly understand it. But it wasn't really something that kept him up at night, or something he even really spent a lot of time thinking about. From that conversation he had with Cloud previously, he distinctly remembered his friend not seeming all that excited about the addition. It was an understandable reaction, however.

"I remember seeing something about that," he replied, gently tugging her toward him and away from a strange man that brushed past them. Frowning, he glanced back at him over his shoulder, before turning his attention back to the blonde girl: "Hopefully it doesn't cause conflict."

[crepusculine]

"It won't," she assured him. "Cloud and Aerith... they're both from my world. They're good people; Leon, too, though I don't think you've met him. They have another you where they're from, too, but it's been awhile since they've seen him. Don't be surprised if one of them tries to approach you." Granted, she knew that only from her Cloud's memories. He'd not seen their Vincent since the fall of Radiant Garden, and speaking of the people lost back then... tended to be a sore subject.

[foreswear]

He hesitated, glancing back down to her again.

"Why would they approach me?"

Vincent never had been much of a social person; moreso since his encounter with Hojo and his eventual death because of said encounter. He wasn't sure if it would be slightly awkward talking to a different Aerith or Cloud, though they seemed relatively nice enough. Well, the other Cloud looked a little hostile, but it was nothing that Vincent wasn't used to.

[crepusculine]

Naminé lifted one thin shoulder in a shrug. "Loneliness, perhaps. Or curiosity. I know Cloud, at least, was concerned for yours and Tifa's well-being, regardless of you being 'his' Vincent and Tifa." She looked straight ahead again, leading him 'round the corner of a building and continuing on down the street.

[foreswear]

"Interesting. Well, I certainly wouldn't object to speaking with either of them."

He slid his hand from hers carefully for a moment, bringing it up to brush a strand of dark hair from his eyes. It was a little quiet that morning - and slightly chillier than he was used to. He supposed it was better than the constant rainfall, however; he never had been a very big fan of water.

His hand moved back down to clasp her own again. Her trust in him was touching and endearing, but he really didn't understand why she was in such a place with him. She didn't look - or act - like she belonged there at all. Soft and gentle and quiet; needless to say, he was glad to have met her.

[crepusculine]

She gave a small nod to his words, and permitted the subject to drop.

Nothing more was said on her end for the next several minutes, but she seemed perfectly comfortable with the silence. In fact, Naminé kept quiet the rest of the walk. Rufus' office came into view before much longer and she inclined her chin to nod towards it.

Her steps, however, began to slow the closer they grew to the building. It might have seemed like nothing at first, but eventually she was barely shuffling along, expression sobering and her mouth drawn into a thin, humorless line. Judging by where she was looking, it quite possibly had something to do with the blonde woman standing near the office doors, dressed in a long, black coat and watching the two of them approach.

[foreswear]

It didn't take Vincent very long to figure out that she was slowing down. His legs were, obviously, a great deal longer than hers, and he had to shorten his normally long strides by a lot in order to keep from dragging her along. Brows furrowing, he looked up to what had her attention so clearly captivated, squeezing her hand gently to get her to look back up to him.

"What's the matter?"

[crepusculine]

Naminé had to remind herself that up until now, she'd been very lucky in not having to actually run into Larxene face to face. (Or, even worse, Marluxia.) But now that Larxene was also working for Rufus, well... it was inevitable that she'd have to face the other Nobody eventually. She'd just hoped it would be much later rather than... now.

Her legs stopped moving all together, though only but a moment before she was walking again. She did look up at Vincent, though only long enough to shake her head a little. "It's nothing," she insisted. "I can go the rest of the way by myself, if you'd like. Thank you for walking me."

[sadisticstorm]

Larxene, meanwhile, watched the two with her head tilted and a raised brow. Vincent was a new sight, one she'd not seen around Purgatorium, much less with Naminé. Of course, Naminé seemed to have all sorts of new acquaintances around these days, didn't she? Amusing, considering she could be so ridiculously socially inept at times.

She folded her arms loosely across her chest and her head tilted, but for the time being, she kept her silence.

[foreswear]

He hesitated, glancing back over to the other blonde who stood next to the entrance of the building. He didn't really recognize her at all, but he had a feeling - was pretty positive, actually - that Naminé knew her. And was obviously not very fond of her, judging from her expression.

"Are you sure?" he asked, after a moment. "Who is she?"

[crepusculine]

"She's..." How to answer that? "She's one of the people investigating Hojo," she said finally, because it was the truth even if it wasn't exactly the answer Vincent had likely been looking for. "Her name is Larxene. I doubt you'd want to meet her."

[foreswear]

Investigating Hojo? Interesting. He frowned and turned dark eyes back to where Larxene was standing, watching her warily for a moment. He hadn't ever talked to her, or heard of her, but he could tell - just by her expression and the way she was standing - that she probably wasn't one of the nicest people ever.

"You don't like her." It wasn't really a question more than it was a statement. "But I suppose it'd be impolite if I didn't introduce myself."

Then again, he never really cared much about being polite.