Chapter Text
"….You want me to do what?" Vincent stood at the front door to Shinra mansion, currently his by the way, staring down at Aerith like she was crazy for the sudden request she was asking of him. It'd been a couple of weeks now since the last time she visited the mansion alongside Cloud and almost everyone else in their old crew as they invited themselves over for an unexpected party, unexpected on Vincent's part anyway. He wasn't going to lie. He hadn't enjoyed it one bit. Especially considering the mess they left behind that he had to clean up that took two days to get rid of.
There were things like cigarette buds, beer cans, fur balls, and other miscellaneous items, some of which he didn't even try to bother deciphering. The two days of cleaning up afterwards had been pure hell. It didn't help that the monsters still living in the mansion liked to floating around randomly. They never helped. Useless beast. Now here Aerith was in front of him, asking him to do this…this of all things.
"I need you to take care of him for a little while," Aerith said holding up the tiny chocobo she'd held in her arms since Vincent first opened the door. She had a baby bag hanging off one shoulder that probably housed everything the chocobo needed for a long overnight stay. "Just for a day." Or two. That bag definitely looked bigger than just a day worth of babysitting.
"Why didn't you just take him to the chocobo ranch?" Vincent asked in return, pulling his cape away from the baby chocobo when he tried to snap at it with his beak. The little guy had the nerve to kweh at him indignantly for taking it away from him. Vincent ignored him keeping his red gaze focused on Aerith. What exactly was she thinking coming to him of all people?
Aerith smiled and lifted her shoulder to keep the bag from sliding off almost looking like she was just shrugging in response to his mental thought. "It was completely filled up. And I definitely can't take him where I'm going. "…Where exactly were they going?
"So why didn't you give him to someone else like Yuffie or Cid or…" He frowned slightly getting quiet as he started to see the reasoning behind him being the only reasonable choice. Cid would probably kill the poor thing with all his chain smoking…Yuffie would probably sale it and well…Red doesn't even have the hands to be able to feed it or nurse it. No…Red could have managed it somehow.
"Well-" Aerith looked back when she heard a whistle and Vincent looked up to see Cloud and Tifa gesturing for her to hurry up. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." Vincent blinked tensing up at the suddenness of being loaded with both a baby chocobo and a baby bag. His eyes flashed with confusion before a bit of panic started to show in them.
"W-Wait!"
"Don't worry. I told Cid to come by and check on you being that he's the only one you seem to put up with at least." She turned around starting to walk off as she looked over her shoulder waving at him and giving him a wink. "I'll see you in three days! Don't worry, instructions are in the bag!" Vincent blinked being left flabbergasted as he stood there until he saw the Highwind lifting into the air. He could imagine that Cid was probably up there staring out the window and laughing at him for being suckered into this. Geez…
So Cid was dropping them off at the place they were going to, huh? Well he'd definitely tell Vincent about what was going on once he cornered the blond and…wait…didn't she say a couple of days? Where did three days come from?
"Wark?" The baby chocobo tilted his head slightly, pulling at Vincent's clothes a little as the former gunman sighed heading back inside. Kicking the door closed behind him, he sat the chocobo on the ground watching as he wobbled slightly to steady himself before shaking his feathers, fluffing them.
"Don't make a mess," Vincent said pointing a finger at the little thing grumbling as he wobbled over to him and started pecking at his shoes. This was going to be a nuisance to his daily routine, not that he had one. If anything he spent his days brooding in one room or another, thinking about what he should do to reconstruct the mansion. Sometimes he would even let his imagination roam and he'd see his younger self, looking so perky with his short hair. He'd be beside Lucrecia, who was his wife, and he'd be dancing the night away in this very mansion which was his home…. He shook his head from that thought heading towards the kitchen, the little chocobo following him. No, he probably would not have lived in this place, not when it was so gloomy and held memories he'd rather not remember.
"Wark!" Vincent turned looking down at his feet at the chocobo lifting his brow a bit.
"What?"
"Wark Wark!"
"You hungry?" The chocobo disregarded him, tugging on his pants leg. Grunting, Vincent opened up the baby bag, pulling out the items belonging to the chocobo and sitting them down on the kitchen counter. Aerith had even packed a baby rattled inside. What would a chocobo do with that? He found what he assumed were his instructions on how to take care of the chocobo and opened it reading quietly.
Vincent,
I placed as much geisha green into the bag as I could. I appreciate what you're doing for me. I'm sorry about this being so sudden but we couldn't take him with us and you were the only person I could think of to entrust him with on such short notice. His name is Chip. So if you call him by that he'll respond to you. Also he can only eat twice a day, and he has to eat before seven or else he'll be hyper all night. He's really loveable once you get to know him. Please take good care of him for me. I'll see you in five days! Thank you!
Aerith
P.S. If you need some more Geisha greens, ask Cid. He'll tell you where to go.
….Five days?
She seemed to be adding more and more time to this babysitting job he was thrown into. He didn't think himself capable of growing to love such a little creature, even if it was cute. The chocobo plucked at his leg some more before Vincent finally picked him up and held out one of the geisha greens for him to eat. It was after seven but he wasn't sure how a chocobo could get hyper. Either way, if it would get the creature to stop pestering him, he'd gladly feed him. He continued to let him eat as he headed out of the kitchen and up the steps to what was considered his bedroom.
Since there were two bedrooms upstairs in the mansion, Vincent placed the chocobo in one. He set him down on the ground, giving him a little lecture on what not to do to the furniture or the floors before he closed the door leaving him there. That would take care of that. The little puffball would sleep in a room, and Vincent would sleep in his own room. However, he hadn't even taken two steps from the door before the kheeing sound came blaring out through the wooden door to the room. He would have ignored it had it not sounded like his eardrums were about to burst. His patience exploded as he opened the door glaring in at the bird.
Chip instantly ceased his crying sounds as he wobbled over to Vincent instantly biting at his pants again. "You're becoming a nuisance," Vincent said picking the chocobo up and taking him to his room. "You can sleep in here with me for one night, but no more." The creature disregarded him with a look, tilting his head to look at his sitter as he was set down on the bed. Vincent changed into comfortable sleep clothes and laid down on his back blinking slightly as Chip nuzzled down to sleep on his chest. It made Vincent smile, the chocobo looking like a little yellow fuzz ball. Maybe it was a few seconds later or a couple of minutes before Vincent found his eyes shutting and his thoughts becoming more dispersed and less frequent. His breathing became heavy and slow, causing the chocobo to rise and fall in a comforting haze as the two of them fell asleep to the soft breathing in the room.
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"Hey, rise and fuckin shine, sleepyhead!" Cid held the cig clenched to one side of his mouth, his hand down on Vincent's shoulder shaking the man into waking up. Right…Cid. He forgot Aerith said Cid would be coming to check up on him. Wait…how did Cid even get inside the mansion? Geez, couldn't he have picked a later time to want to come visit him? "Get your ass up and do your job."
Vincent grumbled slightly lying on his stomach. His head was buried under the pillow before as he lifted his slightly he turned his red glaring eyes in Cid's direction. "What are you doing in my house?"
"You left the door open so I figured you were giving me an invitation." So he forgot to lock it. He was going to have to start making that a habit soon. Cid took a step back seeming to take care not to stop on the chocobo by his feet as he folded his arms over his chest watching with amusement as Vincent tried to wake himself up. "Not to mention your little 'charge' here making all that fuckin noise with his whining. It's not my job to be feeding the damn thing, you know." He took the cig from his lips, blowing a puff of smoke into the air as Vincent finally managed to sit up on the bed rubbing a hand over his eyes sleepily.
"I didn't even ask to take care of him," Vincent said grunting at the gruff sound of his voice, eyes still glaring at Cid before focusing in on the cigarette. "And don't smoke that in the house."
"Yeah yeah," Cid said smothering the cig on a desk behind him before he looked at Vincent again. Cid had this way of looking at him sometimes like he was reading more into him. It wasn't something Vincent was used to. In fact, he was used to people looking away from him, usually out of fear of him being some kind of monster.
The people in the village avoided the mansion and at the same time avoided him. They knew he was there. But a man with red eyes wasn't a normal thing. So usually he was shunned by normal humans and could only take refuge with the monsters living here in the mansion. At least they didn't seem to mind his company…minus the creepy half axe guy swinging from the ceiling that he didn't mind the idea of killing one day.
Honestly, clearing them all out would be the smartest thing to do if the damn things would just stay dead. Well, it did keep him from getting lonely. At least he knew they weren't going anywhere for an eternity or two. But if he really had to he could just tear them to shreds. It would at least give him some peace temporarily. Speaking of peace….
"He kept me up all night," Vincent said tiredly, eyes drooping before he opened them again staring accusingly at the chocobo on the floor regarding him with curious eyes and a small cooing sound. "I wasn't even asleep for five minutes before he started running around making that… noise."
"Well what did you expect when you agreed to do this?" Cid asked sitting on the end of the bed and toeing Chip away from him with a foot, his fingers twitching around the cigarette bud still between his fingers. . "Besides, you have what…five more days? Then you don't have to worry about this ever again." He wasn't even going to ask how Cid knew about the five days.
Vincent nodded slightly. "You're right." He sat their quietly for a moment looking down at the bed before looking up at Cid catching the other grumbling and cursing as Chip pecked at his pants. "I should get dressed now."
"I agree. You look like a bum."
"Get out."
"What?! Geez calm down! Don't be so fuckin uptight!"
Vincent shook his head frowning as he looked up at him again, unconsciously avoiding staring into the bright blue eyes staring back at him. "I mean get out of my room so I can change."
"Oh…. Too shy to change in front of another guy huh? Ok ok, I'm leaving, sheesh!" Cid picked up the baby chocobo heading for the door already reaching into his pocket for a fresh cig. "I didn't wanna see your bony ass anyway."
"…Don't smoke that around Chip."
"Yeah, yeah. You're beginning to act like his fuckin mother." Cid stepped out of the room before turning around, shifting the cig around his mouth with his tongue as he looked at Vincent. "Just don't forget, you didn't hatch this damn egg." Vincent closed the door in his face hearing muttering on the other side of the door about "someone having a stick of his ass" before he head Cid heading down the stairs.
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The first day was pretty quiet for the most part as they took turns with taking care of the chocobo following the list of things to do and the times to do them. It was annoying. Hell, there was actually a schedule for playtime and naps. All this for a baby chocobo? It didn't make any sense at all. Did Aerith really expect him to do all of this stuff?
"…Does the damn thing say anythin about potty trainin the fuckin thing?" Vincent let his eyes scan over the list before slowly shaking his head. "Then you might wanna invest in some freakin diapers or somethin before that thing ruins all your furniture." Vincent blinked looking at the pilot standing there with his arms folded with Chip running around his feet. He had his thumb pointed back towards the living room making Vincent grunt at the fact that he'd be washing up some sofa cushions soon. This was going to be a long day.
"By the way," Cid said moving carefully around the chocobo at his feet. He made it over to the kitchen table taking a seat across from Vincent as he glanced around before leaning close whispering as if trying not to be heard. Just who did he think would be here to hear him? The scent of cigarettes reached Vincent's nose but he'd almost become accustomed to the strong smell. He just wished he didn't have to be bothered with it.
"I've been meaning to ask you this," Cid continued as he pointed his finger down the hallway suddenly at a pumpkin monster hovering their looking at them. "Why the hell…are those things still flying around this place?"
Vincent shrugged his shoulders looking over at the pumpkin. "…They live here?"
"That's a hell of a dumb reason for those things to be here. Hell, I swear the freaky freak hanging from the ceiling has been checking me out!" Cid shuddered at the thought but it made Vincent's lips lift in a slight smile at the action.
"They've lived here as long as I have if not longer. I have no right to kick them out." Vincent leaned back in his chair. "Besides, they're not harming anything."
"You could at least train the suckers to help out around the place," Cid said glaring back at the pumpkins. "And if any of them touches me, I'm killing them."
"Hm…" Vincent went quiet as he thought the first half of what Cid said. If he trained them to help around the house, it would give them something to do as well as keep them out of his hair. He could even have them watch the chocobo…though he wouldn't trust them that far. He needed to dust the place not to mention mop the floors and repaint the walls. Some furniture needed to be replaced, like the broken piano or the dusty recliner and couches. And some places just needed more to them. He did agree that the ceiling monster was a pervert considering that sometimes when he walked by he felt like something had grabbed his ass. So killing him didn't sound like a bad deal at all.
"Wark!" Chip pecked at Vincent's foot trying to get the other's attention. He opened his mouth wide giving out a loud kheeing sound as he flapped his wings.
"Looks like the little pest is hungry again," Cid said returning his eyes to Vincent.
"I just fed him. It can't be that." Vincent looked down at the little bird sitting by Cid's feet pecking at his pants leg.
"Well…what does the list say?" Cid leaned across the table, looking upside down at the schedule lying on the table in front of Vincent not picking up on Vincent leaning back from his sudden closeness.
"WK…"
"What the hell's a WK?" Cid asked grunted asking with annoyance as he pushed the chocobo away with his foot.
"It means we have to take him for a walk…I think." Vincent stood up walking over to the baby bag and opening it finding a leash inside. Considering that Aerith had packed Chip a baby rattle, he figured they'd probably be a leash here as well. At least there wasn't a stroller delivered. Kneeling down, he called Chip over to him placing the hoop around his neck before he stood up again. Well…..might as well get it over with."
"Khee!" Chip happily ran in a little circle in front of Vincent before he sat down using a foot to scratch his side.
"Little bastard has fleas?" Vincent shook his head at Cid's words and looked down at the list again. What else did Aerith have for them to do after the walk?
"We have to give him a bath when we get back," Vincent said looking up and receiving a look from Cid that said something like 'no fuckin way, not in a million years.' "And after that we have to feed him again, then brush his teeth, and read him a bedtime story."
"Sure. And while we're at it we'll dress the little fucker up in his cute fuckin little jammies and bunny slippers." If you couldn't tell Cid was being sarcastic then the look he was giving the little chocobo would definitely prove it. A pumpkin floated by smiling happily at them before it disappeared around the corner. Vincent shook his head but he ignored it as usual as he looked up at Cid.
"Actually…that's on here too."
"What the hell is a chocobo going to do with those?" So Cid was finally seeing the how crazy this whole situation really was. It was a good question. What the hell was a chocobo going to do with all these weird routines? It was like he was a mix between a dog and a human baby.
Cid chewed on his cig in annoyance as Vincent stood up with the leash in his hand glancing up at him. At the rate he was chewing on the cig, he wouldn't have one to smoke by the time he was done with it.
"They're treating the damn thing like it's actually a baby or something!" Cid got up from his chair then picked the chocobo up, holding him up so he could look him eye to eye. "God damn it, be a man! You can't let those crazy ass women baby you! You keep this up and you'll be walking around with pink little bows all over the place!" Chip cocked his head to the side, looking at Cid yet apparently not listening to him as he tried to bite at his collar.
Vincent shook his head watching them both. Wouldn't Barret have been a better choice as a babysitter than him? He already had a daughter, raising a chocobo couldn't be that much harder. Besides, his daughter Marlene would have loved him.
"Well come on," Cid said putting the chocobo back on the ground. "Let's get this over with." Vincent agreed starting for the door, the chocobo automatically following him biting at his red cloak. Cid mumbled something but followed them out giving Chip a dirty look when the little chocobo looked back at his pants. "Don't even think about it."
Just four and a half more days. Please…please let them go by quickly.
TBC….