Heart of Glass

07

There were many times where sleep was hard, they had always been on the move and sometimes it was not easy to find a decent bed to sleep in. More often than not, they had to make do with makeshift beds out in the wilds of the world around them. Each place they had gone to, all had different climates, and fiends and animals that dwelt and called those places home. Cosmo Canyon was up there with just how horrific it was for settling to sleep, desert areas were so hot in the day but at night, the temperature dropped so drastically it was hard to acclimatise.

Costa del Sol was similar, in a way; it was hot, stickily hot, the off shore breeze was warm and humid, the water of the sea was warm and refreshing in a way, but that was only because it was minutely cooler than the air. But the night, unlike the deserts of Cosmo Canyon, Costa del Sol stayed hot. Nelly did not like being hot, overly hot that is, it just made her irritable and lying in bed listening to Yuffie slightly snoring and talking in her sleep about materia was not helping her.

Slowly sitting up, Nelly looked about, Tifa and Aerith were contently asleep, it wasn't like she had someone to quietly talk to while waiting for sleep to come. There was just one thing for it, she was relocating. Outside there was a small seating area, somewhere to sunbathe and socialise perhaps with others who were staying. But she had spied a bench amongst the deck chairs and loungers. Sure, a bench perhaps wouldn't be the best bed, but it had seat cushions on it so there'd be some padding if she did nod off to sleep.

Just, anywhere had to be cooler than in here. It wasn't like there was even a breeze coming through the glassless windows. Nelly slipped her boots on; she straightened out her shorts when she stood and she crept off to the door as quietly as possible. She managed to slip out without waking her friends, which made her let out a relieved sigh. Brushing a hand quickly through her hair, she gave a sure nod and walked with more confidence away from the room. It was so quiet, clearly everyone had settled for the night and Nelly was content that she wouldn't have to risk waking anyone up in an effort to get to where she wanted to go.

Although while walking down the stairs, she narrowed her eyes, she could just about hear the waves of the sea, would it be a wholly bad idea to go for a swim? That would cool her down, it would be cooler now, but she hadn't grabbed a towel...not that she couldn't borrow one from one of the changing shacks near to the water.

The more she thought about that, the more eager her steps were, she was still trying to keep quiet and seemed more than up for going for a swim before literally jumping out of her skin and reeling around when someone spoke to her. Vincent just sat at the bench which had earlier been in her thoughts, long legs stretched out before him, crossed at the ankles as his arms were crossed across his chest under his red cloak.

The fact she still stood clasping over her heart had Vincent tilting his head, "I asked where are you going?" He spoke up again, thinking she hadn't heard him correctly and had just jumped because she heard someone talk from the shadows. Which was the truth, even with the moon out, he was mainly seated in shadows. The red of his clothing and the golden accents of his armour and shoes were a giveaway who was talking, if by some small chance she hadn't recognised his low voice.

Nelly slowly collected herself, she doubled over and leaned against her knees and exhaled slowly. "Vincent...don't do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack." She shut her eyes, quietly scolding him as she could still feel her heart thumping away, she could definitely still hear her pulse racing and bouncing about her ears.

"I asked where are you going?" Vincent said, again, sounding shorter now. The sound of material had Nelly looking up, he had put his feet flat against the ground, his arms now uncrossed and hands resting in his lap, his cloak like most times seemingly having a mind of its own just shifted slightly over his shoulders when he moved.