escordvi | closed 🌠 chase the sky into the ocean

[What better distraction and what better way to let out her frustrations than to go seek out a bounty? It's been a while since she's taken one on, and lately, those feelings have certainly been building up. Enough that she nearly broke down in tears at the bar the other night. She managed to escape before anyone had noticed, and now, her fists are inching to slam against something. The Praying Mantis bounty on the board seemed as good as any.]

She should be around here. Heard there were sightings, and people gone missing.

[There's a cautious glance at Vincent as she wonders if maybe it was a bad idea to bring him. Maybe she should have asked one of the girls she knows instead—]

Men, mostly.

[In all honesty, Vincent doesn't care which bounty they persue. Its his primary source of income, had been back on Gaia too in the years after Meteorfall. It's easy to fall into old habits.

And good to do so alongside friends, even if those friends don't see themselves the way you do: saviors of the world.

Still, as a former Turk, he was used to a lot of things, guarding bodies mostly, and playing bait if he needed to.]

And she's elusive. Hopefully I look tasty enough.

What—!?

[She whirls around to him, nearly tripping over her own steps.]

That isn't what I meant! [She meant it as a warning more than anything!!] I don't want to use you as bait... we could find another way.

I'll be fine.

[Not that her concern was unexpected, but he'd, they'd, faced far worse than whatever this bounty might throw at them, and he was notoriously difficult to kill. Someone locked him in a box over it, after all.]

I won't lose my head.

[...was that a joke?]

[Whether it was or not, it still takes Tifa by surprise—enough that she's blinking up at him for a few seconds before shaking it off.]

You'd better not, or I'd have a lot of people to answer to.

[She tries to play along, but there's still a nervous air about her even as she relents.]

But alright, fine. I'm going to be right behind you, though, in the trees, and I'll be coming in as soon as we spot her. [Absolutely no room for discussion on that.] How do you lure her out anyway? Just stand there?

I don't know.

[But he does appreciate Tifa just playing along. It makes him feel like he might have actually told a joke well.

Or she's a good sport. Either way. He really has no idea how to lure a woman out. He's never been particularly good in that arena, let alone how to lure out a monster like this one.

Still-]

It's worth a shot.

[Should he make himself more attractive? What does that even mean? After a pause for thought, he reaches up, deftly unbuckling the breast of his opera cloak and tossing it to the side. It leaves his weapon, a very dangerous and triple-barreled affair, exposed as it's strapped to his thigh, but the point here was to look preoccupied, right? Unguarded? She may notice a green spell materia dangles from the grip of that gun on a thick silver chain.

He came prepared.]

[Well, making oneself more attractive never hurt, but she is a bit surprised when he starts to remove his cloak. She's fairly sure she has never seen him without it, and so there may be a bit of staring first.]

Right. Um, go stand over there in view, and... I don't know. Make a little bit of noise?

[At least to let the mantis know that they're there.

But she pulls a small bottle out of her pocket and lifts its nozzle to him. It's cologne. Probably swiped from Zack or Cloud's rooms or something, so at least she's sure it'll smell nice. She, too, came prepared.]

Here, a little bit of this should help, too.

[Now that she mentions it, he realizes he's never really worn cologne. It's not really something a bodyguard thinks about, and most of the time they aren't looking to be noticed.

Or maybe it's just not something Vincent has ever thought about. That seems more likely. Either way, he's hoping Tifa's willing to handle the application. He has no idea what he's doing.

Through all this, he's simply frowning at the bottle, deep in thought, before nodding.]

Noise and cologne. Okay.

[And he'll do his part. Now they wait. He does his best to look harmless as he idly drums the metal tips of his clawed gauntlet on a nearby railing, causing an airy tinkling sound, what he's hoping will cause curiosity rather than wariness.]

[She is, and she will wait for his permission to spray it on him, applying it as close to his neck as she can get without feeling like she's stepping too far into his bubble. And once that's done, she will sniff gently at the air to make sure that it's drifting outward and then disappear into the shadows to make herself scarce.

Wouldn't want the mantis to get any ideas...

But as Vincent waits there, tapping his fingers, Tifa can't help but laugh quietly to herself. She always did think him some enigma, but it just feels so very... him. Or what she knows of him, anyway.

Whatever he is doing seems to work though, because there is a rustling in the bushes, and then the sharp clicking of something flitting cross the ground. Tifa raises up just a little from where she crouches to see if she can spot it, but all she sees is a shadow moving quickly through the trees, and then...

Something that sounds like a shy giggle rings out.]

[A snap of a branch draws Vincent's attention and he's dodging a dash from a large mantis woman in the same motion. He pivots and draws his triple-barrels gun in the next, leveling toward a creature that is already moving again.

She's fast give her that. She leaps into the air, carried by large chitinous wings, and Vincent flips backward to evade her attack, the shining materia affixed to the grip of his pistol by a silver chain glittering in a nearby streetlight as he levels the weapon, but she's flitted away again.

He makes a frustrated sound in his throat as his eyes dart around, stretching his hearing as he looks for her.

Maybe Tifa saw where she went.]

[Tifa was so alarmed by the sheer size of her—the size of a human woman and then some—that she had lost track of her long before that. She's quick, and though she can hear the fast buzz of her wings, she cannot see her. Then a rustle from behind, Tifa whirling around, and then—]

Ah—!

[She's suddenly shoved out of the bushes, careening forward into the clearing when something smacks against the back of her knees, which she was completely unprepared for.

"You brought another girl into my lair~? Oh, I hate when you men do that!"

Yet despite the words of anger, the voice is sultry sweet, coming from somewhere in the shadows of the trees.]

[Crimson eyes dart to the sound of her voice, narrowing as he peers into the darkness. He doesn't raise his weapon, but doesn't put it away, either.]

I'm shy. [Flirting, Vincent. Think flirting thoughts.]

She's my...wingman.

[Oh boy.

A hiss from the darkness and the crisp chitter of insectoid mandibles. "Typical."]

[If Tifa wasn't completely distracted with trying to get to her feet or getting some of that air back into her lungs from the shove, then she might have given him an odd look. He's a terrible flirt!]

What... you don't like the shy, quiet types?

[Finally, she's back on her feet, trying not to let her gaze dart around too much and give herself away, but there's a heat that billows around her now as her magic starts to manifest.]

The ladies are tripping over themselves to get to him...!

[The buzzing stops. "Oh~?"]

[Should he help? Is this helping?]

Yeah. I...keep Tifa around to get some peace.

[He pauses, listening intently but trying to seem nonchalant about it. That, at least, he can do.]

So if you're worth my time, prove it.

[She's really not sure if any of this is helping, but the mantis seems... intrigued. A little too much for Tifa's comfort, with the way that her eyes shine with interest as she flutters closer to Vincent.

"I do quite enjoy that... All the ladies chasing after you while you are mine~"

She practically hisses that word at him, and she whirls around to Tifa now, her wings buzzing furiously, her arms outstretched.

"You can leave now."

Tifa glances at Vincent, her expression shifting to concentrated ire.]

Well, seems she's got nothing to prove.

closed 🌠 chase the sky into the ocean

⚰️ vincent.

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