He Family Time – Part II Rating: PG Pairing: Cid/Vincent Warnings: Some violence, and a joke that only Silvarbelle will get. Website: http://www.winter-wood.net/ex-libris/index.html Summary: The Highwind-valentine family goes on vacation. Author’s Notes: A big happy thank you to all the people who helped me to come up with plot bunnies for the fic for (info) ani_mama . It was hard for me to choose just one, so I grabbed as many as I could hold in my hot little hands and stuffed them all into one fic. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Cid and Benji hit the slopes shortly after breakfast, snowboarding down the long runs in the clear late fall air, skimming over the new powder. The ski season had yet to start, so the runs were for the most part free of other people, and they had their choice of which ones they liked. Benji had suggested a few of the easier ski runs, but Cid Highwind would hear none of it. Just because he had only been snowboarding once in his life and that was roughly twenty years ago was no reason to take the sissy slopes! “Dad you’re supposed to board around the trees, not into them,” said Benji. “Shut the hell up and call somebody! I broke my fucking face!” Benji sighed and pulled out his cell phone. “Hello, search and rescue? Yes my father just tried to snowboard through a tree. Oh he’s fine, he’s lying on his back swearing at me. But I think the tree needs surgery.” Benji listened to the person on the other end of the line, then hung up. “They’re on their way. I’m supposed to ask you your name and stuff, and what day it is, and…” “You’re Benji, I’m Cid, it’s late October, we’re at icicle Inn, my nuts are freezing, and I broke my face and I can feel frozen snot wads of blood leaking into…” “Oh, gawd, Father! TMI!” Benji was suddenly distracted by a tall young man not far off, adjusting his ski boots. “Ooh, he’s pretty, am I allowed to talk to him?” Cid looked at the boy Benji indicated. He appeared to be about nineteen years old. “Yeah he’s okay.” “He is?” “Yeah he seems okay. You can talk to him if you like.” Benji made a face briefly. “I dunno, he just doesn’t seem sexy anymore.” Cid rolled his eyes. “Dork.” “Well there’s just something not very hot about talking to a guy your dad likes.” “Terrific. Where’s your mother? I don’t think I want him to see me this way.” “Oh he let Aiden talk him into going to a poetry slam, and Rhiannon got all dressed up to go to the arcade.” Cid raised a bloodied eyebrow. Again the kid gets into her best clothes to go play video games. “Something’s up with that.” “Well maybe she’s discovered boys, she is thirteen.” “If you’re too young to be discovering boys, then she is definitely too young.” “Well at least I won’t get pregnant.” “You hope.” Benji shuddered. “Oooh I wouldn’t want to be pregnant. Oh my gawd the impact on my figure would be awful. And my boobs would sag.” “You don’t have any boobs, you nitwit.” “I could if I wanted,” said Benji, crossing his arms and tossing his hair. “Yeah well I’m not paying for them. You’re too young to be talking about getting pregnant anyway. Your mother didn’t get pregnant with you until he was about 59.” “Mom is a bit of a special case, Dad. If I did get pregnant I’d like to do it before I’m living in the old folk’s home.” Benji looked up as the rescue workers arrived. Cid was quickly loaded onto a stretcher and hustled away to the small hospital located on the inn’s premises for just such an emergency. Then, smiling, Benji walked over to the tall nineteen year old boy. “Hi. I’m Benji Highwind.” ***---*** “He’s where?” asked Cid, his newly bandaged face showing utter shock… at least the parts that could be seen. Cid looked very much as if he was trying out for the role of the monster in a mummy movie. “Icicle Inn police station,” said the police officer. “What the hell did he do?” “Well apparently a boy tried to beat him up for being gay.” Cid roared with laughed. “Some kid tried to fag-bash Benji?! Have you seen the size of Benji? What a fucking moron! How is the kid, is he okay?” “Well the boy he hit…” “Not that knucklehead, my kid.” “He has some scrapes on his knuckles and a black eye but he’s basically okay. We’re just holding him until a parent can come get him.” “Is he in trouble?” “No. We have plenty of witnesses saying Benji was attacked and defended himself.” “Okay. Tell the little schmuck I’ll be right there.” Cid hung up and sighed loudly. “Times change and people stay stupid.” He got out of bed and walked across the deep silvery-blue carpeting to the bathroom, going into the large room with its marble counter top and bath tub to check his face in the mirror. It was quite the mess. Split lip, black eyes, swollen livid bruises, and his nose in a cast. Brilliant. Vincent wouldn’t speak to him for a week. And speaking of Vincent…. The hotel room door opened and in came a slender little form in black and red, followed by Aiden looking both worried and guilty. Cid sighed again. “Aiden…” “It’s not my fault!” “What did you do?” “Um…” Aiden fidgeted nervously, looking like he did when he was little and had stolen his father’s blueprint making supplies to draw dragons. “I kinda introduced Mom to double chocolate espresso lattes...” Cid slapped a hand over his face… and regretted it. “Ow…” he whimpered. Vincent zipped by like a black and red hummingbird. “Well I have to say that was the best poetry reading I’ve ever been to I quite enjoy Tom Rider he’s amazingly gifted and now that I’ve actually heard him read I like his poems all the more he has a wonderful lilt to his voice you know Cid I was thinking it would be nice to have dinner in here tonight and it would be nice to have some time together and why is this room so small oh my gawd this place needs a cleaning.” “Hey Vincent,” said Cid. “Bad Influence called, they want their lead singer back.” “Who the hell are Bad Influence well if they’re calling here they’re confused move aside I have to redo the grout on this bath tub it has tiny flecks of stuff in it.” Cid opened his mouth to tell Vincent that hotels take a very dim view of people renovating their rooms when Vincent was suddenly directly in front of him, staring at his face. “You went and had another fight with that chair didn’t you?” “No this was done by a tree.” “You just can’t get along with anyone can you well we’ll talk about it later this bathroom will have to be completely redone and it will need - ulp!” Cid pulled Vincent close. “No ya don’t. Nobody renovates the hotel room. Renovations cost money, especially when done illegally to property that does not belong to you.” “Well can I at least clean I have to do something dammit I can feel my teeth vibrate.” Cid kissed him. “You can clean.” He released Vincent and watched his small husband whir off like a honeybee that was behind schedule. He lit a pink cigarette, then left the room to go get Benji. Maybe he would stop off at the pub for a beer while Vincent came down off his coffee high. Maybe he’d get lucky and something would run him over. Cid left the hotel, walking down narrow cobble stone streets dusted in white. Over head the clear sky had turned pearl grey, and a few flakes were beginning to drift down, turning the little ski resort into an enchanted village. It was going to be a beautiful snowy afternoon. Cid walked into the tiny building that served at Icicle Inn’s police station, and spied his son seated on a bench, looking annoyed. He had a very impressive black eye, and a split lip, but he seemed just fine. Cid walked over to Benji, sitting beside him. “How you feeling, kiddo?” “Fine,” mumbled Benji. “And now do you understand why I don’t want you dating older guys?” Benji nodded, and sniffed. “Yeah I think I’ll put dating on hold for a while.” “Smart boy. It’s a big scary world out there. We all have to be careful. C’mon. Let’s go back to the hotel. You can help me scrape your mother off the ceiling.” Benji stood up. “What’s wrong with Mom?” “Your brother introduced him to espresso.” “Oh fabulous, that’s all we need, for Mom to polymorph into his hummingbird form.” “Yeah well by the time we get back, he may well have. C’mon, kid.” They walked back to the hotel, entering the room in time to find Vincent unscrewing the bathroom mirror from the wall in order to dust behind it. Cid watched this for a minute, then looked at Aiden. “At least I talked him out of re-doing the grout,” said Aiden, grinning in a hopefully-placating manner. Cid snorted. “It’s two in the afternoon, we haven’t even had lunch yet! How can this be happening!?” Vincent pulled the mirror off the wall and set it down. “Oh my gawd I’ve never seen this much dust and crap in my life and I lived in a coffin in Shinra Manor where’s a cleaning rag?” Cid slowly shook his head. “Benji why don’t you take your Mom bob sledding before he ends up trashing the hotel room?” “Sure Dad. Come along, Mom, let’s get you dressed for the great outdoors. Aiden can put the mirror back after he dusts.” “But I still haven’t made the bed or tidied the bathroom or…” “Mom it’s a hotel. They have maids for that. I’ll get you a spare ski suit, and we can go work off all that extra energy.” Benji opened the door, and there in the hallway, caught dead to rights, looking exceedingly guilty, was Rhiannon, embracing a boy who appeared to be only slightly older than herself. Her hair and clothes were rumpled, and her pink lipstick was smeared. She and the boy stared in wide-eyed terror at Cid, Benji, Aiden and Vincent. For a long moment, nobody moved. Then the boy slowly drew away from Rhiannon. “I’ll um… phone you later, okay?” “Yeah,” said Rhiannon. “Um… okay…. Um… Bobby?” “Yeah?” “Run.” The boy did as Cid came tearing out the door after him. The boy ran screaming through the hall, and, in a desperate fit of movie-induced brilliance, dove into a laundry chute in the frantic hope of escaping Cid. As the kid fell screaming down a two-storey shaft that terminated in a pile of sheets recently slept on by a six-year-old boy with severe stomach flu, Cid tore down the stairs to the laundry room. Rhiannon stood in the hallway, looking mortified. “But I liked him!” she wailed. “MO-OM! Make Daddy leave my boyfriend alone!!” “Boyfriend?!” said Benji. “Bobby Turner, he’s in my art class, I really like him! We’ve been going out a whole month! Now he’s never gonna want to see me again!” She stomped her foot. “Well maybe you should have found another way to introduce him to Dad than getting caught being felt up outside the hotel room door,” said Benji. Rhiannon brushed purple. “I was not!” “No your shirt just naturally fell up. Happens all the time.” “BENJI HIGHWIND I HATE YOU!!” Rhiannon was about to go into her room, when Vincent stepped out and caught her by the arm. “No you don’t, young lady, for the rest of the trip you are back in the room with me and your father.” Rhiannon was utterly outraged. “ Why?!” “Well because I just caught you about to go into your room alone with a boy I have never met and didn’t know about.” “But that’s not fair! You said I could have my own room!” Rhiannon was furious and her voice was reaching a pitch and volume that could cut glass. “Yes, so long as you behaved. Sneaking around with boys I don’t know is not behaving. Benji go into her room and see what else our little princess has been up to.” “Right Mom.” Rhiannon was on the verge of having a full-fledged tantrum. “THIS IS SO TOTALLY UNFAIR! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!!” Benji took Rhiannon’s room key and went inside, drawing a slow gasp of horror the moment he opened the door. “Oh my GAWD! Mom! There’s gonna be a grounding!” Vincent left Rhiannon with Aiden, then crossed the hall to his daughter’s room. He drew his own slow gasp of horror that matched Benji’s perfectly at what he saw. Strewn all about the room were silk tops, silk undies, silk lingerie, designer clothes, expensive perfume, and high-end makeup complete with an airbrushing tool and hair care products. There was what appeared to be a complete library of every boy band in existence, and just to ensure the grounding would be painful and extensive, the mini bar had been opened and rifled for any sweet liquor. Vincent stared, jaw hanging. “Rhiannon where did you get all this?” “I used Daddy’s business credit card that Mr. Shinra gave him.” Benji made a quiet sound, running his hand over his face. Aiden just stared in shock. “Rhiannon!! That card is for business expenses!! Silk panties are not a business expense!” “Depends on the business,” said Benji dryly. “So what’s the big deal?” asked Rhiannon. “The big deal is a little something called fraud,” said Aiden. “Dad could be in serious shit for this!” “Well Dad didn’t do it!” “No,” said Aiden, “but you’re a minor and his name is on the card. He could go to jail!” “I still don’t see the….” Rhiannon stopped talking as she felt a hand clutch the hair at the back of her head and pull up, forcing her onto her toes. “MO-OM! What the…?” The hand tightened. Vincent’s voice was quiet and controlled. “Benji, please pack up all this stuff. Return what can be returned. I am going to drag Little Miss Larceny down to the clinic. When your father gets back please tell him Rhiannon wasn’t feeling well and I went to get her looked at. Do not tell him about this, I will handle it. Okay?” Benji and Aiden nodded mutely. Vincent dragged their sister off to the clinic by her hair. “She is so doomed,” said Benji. “Awesome,” said Aiden. “We could like totally get to go to a funeral.” Benji gave his brother a sidelong stare, then rolled his eyes. ***---*** Two hours later Vincent returned with a very very subdued Rhiannon. She went to sit on her bed, saying nothing. Cid was lying on his own bed, smoking. He looked at his daughter, then looked at Vincent. “So is she okay?” “Perfect,” said Vincent. “Not a thing wrong with her. Am I to assume you didn’t kill her little boyfriend?” “No but he won’t be back. He’s in a whole shitload of trouble. Seems Romeo told his mom and dad he would be at a friend’s house for the weekend, stole some cash off his big brother, and came up here to meet with Rhiannon. And speaking of Rhiannon, Rufus called. The very first thing he said to me was “ Have you lost your fucking MIND?” That’s a direct quote.” Vincent sighed heavily. “I was hoping you wouldn’t find out about that until I had a chance to speak to you.” “Well somebody is very lucky she wasn’t here when I first found out,” said Cid. “I can imagine. Did Benji manage to return anything?” “None of it. The clothes were all worn, a couple had food on them, one was ripped, that was the seventeen hundred gil velvet gown by the way, the CDs were all open and the perfume opened and used.” “What’s the damage?” “Ninety-three hundred gil,” said Cid. He looked over at Rhiannon. “Do you have an explanation for this?” She kicked her feet. “I’m just tired of being a little kid.” “Is that the actions of a grown up? Sneaking around behind your parents’ backs? Stealing from a family friend? Because that is what you did when you used my business card to buy that stuff. Drinking? Having strange boys in your room? Sounds to me like the actions of a spoiled little brat who was going to get that black pony she had been dying for but isn’t anymore.” Rhiannon raised her head, eyes huge, jaw hanging. “But Daddy..!” “Forget it! I don’t buy ponies for thieves!” Vincent crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, silently watching Cid work his magic. The man had his issues, but he could not have picked a better sire for his babies. “But you promised! You said if I got all ‘A’s I could have the black pony!” Rhiannon was nearly in tears. “Yeah and then you nearly put my ass in jail! Do you understand how serious what you did was? You stole almost ten thousand gil off Rufus Shinra and used my name to do it!” “But you didn’t do it! Why would you get in trouble?!” “Because YOU are thirteen and MY name is on the card. Do you not understand that? The stores aren’t going to go after Rhiannon Highwind, they are going to go after the jerk whose name is on the card because he is responsible for making sure it is used properly! And since Highwind Duckworks is a branch of Shinra Industries, where do you think that money comes from?” “Uncle Rufus?” she asked in a small voice. “Yes! Uncle Rufus! And I realize you have no idea who you are screwing with when you did that, but that’s the whole problem! You have no idea who you are screwing with!” “But what if I pay for all that stuff I bought? If I pay it all back and still get all ‘A’s. Can I keep it and still get the pony? If I pay it all back?” “Rhiannon where are you going to get ninety-three hundred gil?” asked Cid. “Honestly.” “Mrs. Roberts needs someone to deliver small orders. I could get a job delivering stuff from her deli.” “No I don’t think I like that idea.” Rhiannon thought for a minute. “Well she needs an assistant in the kitchen too. It pays a little more and I don’t have to talk to the billions of perverts and weirdos you’re so sure inhabit our town.” “Watch it, bratzsky.” Cid growled. He thought for a little while, then nodded. “Okay. IF you get the job and pay Rufus back every nickel you took, you can keep the stuff and still have the pony. But never do it again! If you had been here when I first found out I swear you wouldn’t have been able to sit down or sleep on your back for a month. There’s a word for people who screw over family friends, kid, and it’s not a nice word. If it wasn’t for Rufus Shinra you’d never have been made in the first place because your mom and I wouldn’t have been able to afford a third kid. And you are going to say you’re sorry to the man. You got it?” “But Daddy he’s scary!” “Sweetie you have no idea how scary that man is. And you are going to say sorry.” “So… if I say I’m sorry and pay all the money back…?” “And get good grades you can keep the stuff and have a pony.” Rhiannon smiled. “Thanks Daddy.” She batted her eyelashes. “Can I have my own room back too?” “Don’t push your luck.” “Well can I at least get my stuff?” “Go for it.” “Come on,” said Vincent. “I’ll help you.” Vincent left the room with Rhiannon, but not before Aiden came in to drop off the box of expensive things Rhiannon had purchased. Cid smiled at his son. “C’mere a minute.” Curious, Aiden set the box down on the floor and walked over to his father, his long hair and flowing floor-length coat swaying as he moved, his small face a mask of black and white. “What is it Dad?” Cid yanked him down onto the bed and hugged him. Wide-eyed and a little worried by the gesture, Aiden froze and tolerated the situation. Cid sighed quietly as his gave his growing teen son a snuggle. “Aiden if you repeat this to anyone I’ll deny it, but…” “Yes?” “You’re my favourite kid.” “Well thank you. Dad?” “Yeah?” “You’re freaking me out.” Cid grinned broadly. “Tough shit.” ***---*** “Never been so glad to be home in my life,” said Vincent as the family wagon pulled up in front of the house. “Me either,” said Cid, setting the parking brake. “Worst damned family vacation ever.” “There’s Skippy,” said Benji. “He must have heard the car.” Skippy was making his way up the path from Cloud and Reno’s house. He was old and stiff and venerable, limping slowly towards the car. Benji stepped out of the station wagon and knelt on the grass, arms held out for the old wolf. “Come on Skippy, that’s a good boy. Were you good for Cloud and Reno?” Kin was following Skippy, her spectacular mane of red-gold hair falling down to the backs of her knees. “He cried the whole time. He was really sad without you. Oh and we had to take him to the vet once. Sid-kitty smacked him on the nose.” Benji inspected Skippy’s nose. “Awwww… poor baby! You have two stitches in your nose! Bad old Sid, you should have eaten him.” “He tried,” said Kin, smiling. “That’s why Sid tagged him.” “Bad puppy,” said Benji affectionately, rubbing Skippy’s ears. “Who is a bad puppy? Huh?” “So did you have a fun trip?” asked Kin. “Best vacation ever,” said Benji. “I got punched by this really cute guy so of course I had to kick his ass…” “Of course.” “Then Daddy tried to ski through a tree…” “Well at least he rhymed.” “Mom totally overdosed on chocolate lattes and turned into a hummingbird and tried to renovate the hotel bathroom…” Kin laughed. “Oh man! That’s hilarious!” “…and Rhiannon ripped off Rufus Shinra to the tune of nine thousand and three hundred gil.” Kin’s eyes bulged as her jaw dropped. “No way! She stole from Uncle Rufus?! He’ll feed her to his Turks! What was she thinking?” “She was thinking she had no idea how a credit card works. She didn’t realize a card for business expenses wasn’t free money. They’ve already talked to Rufus; he agreed to let her pay it back.” “I can’t believe she did that! What did she buy?” “Clothes, makeup and boy band CDs.” “Gross! Clothes and makeup I can see, but boy bands? It’s time people spoke to their kids about encouraging inane behaviour.” “Well you are fourteen and therefore much more mature.” Kin rolled green eyes, so very much like Reno’s. “I was never immature enough to like boy bands. So besides all the trauma was it fun? Did you get to ski?” “Yeah we…” Benji was interrupted as Rhiannon came running out of the house. “DA-AD! SOMETHING DIED IN HERE!” “Oh now what?” griped Cid. He set down the bag he had just taken out of the back of the car and went into the house to see what the problem was. Benji heard him choke and make retching sounds. “May as well go see what all the fun’s about,” said Benji. He rose to his feet and, trailed by Kin and Skippy, walked over to the house, stepping through the front door and into the large kitchen. He promptly ran back outside to puke. It certainly smelled as if something had died in the house. “What is that stink?” Benji asked. Cid put a dish towel over his nose and mouth to filter out the stench and went in quest of the horrific odour. He came back out minutes later, glad to be in the clean air. “Power went out. Every single food item in the house is rotten, in the fridge and the downstairs freezer. It’ll take hours to clean!” “Oh, goodie,” said Aiden. “Just what I wanted to do when I finally got back home.” “C’mon, kids, grab a bucket,” said Cid. Whining, complaining and moaning every step of the way, they grabbed up buckets in which to put the rancid remains of their larder. Benji opened the door to the fridge, and threw up again. “Oh gawd there are MAGGOTS in here, Dad!!” “Maggots?! There shouldn’t be maggots in there, how did the flies get in?” “I would say through this nifty little hole in the seal some mouse chewed through.” “Fantastic. Just fucking brilliant. Fine. Close the door and we’ll just drag the whole damned thing out into the yard.” “Why do I have to help you drag the horrible thing?” wailed Benji. “Why can’t Aiden?” “He’s too little.” “I’m too gay!” “LIFT, rainbow-boy.” “I am so calling the gay rights coalition on you.” “Yeah I’m sure they’ll get right on this case. Lift.” Benji and Cid managed to haul the fridge out of the house and into the yard, dropping it down near the dumpsters by the hangar. Then Cid sat on the grass, pulling out a cigarette and putting it between his lips. He lit it, and just gazed at the blue sky meeting the green grass at the end of the runway. Benji sat down beside him. “You really like those pink cigarettes, huh?” “Yup. Think I finally found my brand.” Cid drew on the cigarette, then slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Worst vacation ever.” “It could have been way worse you know.” “How?” “You could be in jail for beating a child to death, Rhiannon could be pregnant, I could be gay-bashed to death…” “Yeah well all I can say is I’m looking forward to next year when it’s Aiden’s turn and we can just… go suck down coffee and listen to bad poetry.” Benji gave his father a quizzical look. “Has Aiden not mentioned to you where he wants to go?” Cid winced in anticipation. “No?” “He wants to do the paranormal retreat in the City of the Ancients. Five whole days of hippies, paranormal researchers, charlatans, and true believers gathered together trying to contact the Ancients.” “I wonder if Aeris will be there?” “She said she would rather have her nipples sanded.” “Smart girl,” said Cid. He sighed heavily. “Oh well. At least Rhiannon won’t be able to go wild in the clothes shop with my credit card.” “No but you can hire a psychic for three hundred dollars an hour to look into your past life.” Cid sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. “Dandy. Just… dandy.” Benji smiled at him. “Sorry you had us?” Cid grinned, leaning over to gently butt foreheads with his eldest son. “Nah.” “MO-OM!” Rhiannon’s voice could be heard echoing from the house. “Aiden’s dipping the maggots in food colouring and putting them on paper to see what patterns they make!” “Yeah,” said Cid. “Yeah actually now that I think about…. Yeah. Definitely sorry.” Benji smiled. “I love you too Dad.”