While Shera tended to the cocoa, and Nanaki struggled to keep an eye on Vincent and his tail out from under everyone’s feet at the same time. Vincent slowly went around the house, exploring. He was still getting used to the concept of ‘normal.’ Normal house, not a plastic cell too small by even smaller. Normal machines that were toasters and refrigerators and not microphones or security cameras. Normal people. Okay, not normal people. But not condescending doctors who wanted to poke inside his head.

"He’s doin’ that again?" Cid asked as he came out of his bedroom, a disorganized pile of clothes under his arm.

Vincent carefully went through the cutlery drawer, watching as the forks fell from his hands and observing the noises and how they felt. He then tested the sink and looked at a chair for a long time before deciding sitting down would mean letting his guard down in case something came out of the shadows.

"Um…" Shera said, taking the cocoa out of a cupboard Vincent had started rummaging through next.

"Right. You weren’t there," Cid said. "He did this when we first got him."

"Considering he wasn’t asleep this time and it was shorter ‘stay’, I think there’ll be less of a recovery period," Nanaki said.

"What he said," Cid said. "He just thinks he might have forgotten something."

"He missed it, too."

"He missed silverware?" Shera asked.

"He missed a lot of things. It’s possible to be shut away from the entire world," Nanaki commented.

"As long as he doesn’t miss breaking things."

"Hey, Vince!" Cid said, tossing Vincent the clothes. "You probably wanna get outta that Velcro shit, doncha?"

Vincent looked around.

"Bathroom’s in my room," Cid said, and Vincent charged off towards it. "He’s fine, really."

"Cid, I have no clue what any of you have been through. I can only imagine what things were like. I trust you and you know it. You say he’s fine and I’ll think he’s fine. I wouldn’t be here if I thought your ideas were all half-assed."

"Interesting vocabulary. Never thought I’d hear you say that," Nanaki commented.

Shera ignored him. "Is it okay if I give him sugar?"

"He’s not going to go crawling up the walls, Shera. Just don’t give him fish."

"Why would anyone put fish in cocoa?"

"Uh, does this belt have any more holes in it?" They all turned to see Vincent had returned, now dressed in his new clothes. His T-shirt was three sizes too big, the pants were six inches too short and showed a lot of ankle—and calf—and were almost a foot too wide in the waist. The spare belt Cid had lent him barely kept him decent and he held his pants up with his left hand.

"That was rather fast," Nanaki commented. He actually had no idea how long it took for anyone to change clothes, but he’d imagined it would usually take longer.

"Cid! What’s wrong with you?" Shera exclaimed.

"What? That’s the smallest I have!"

"Cid, I told you no one in this house goes anywhere without any socks on. He’s going to freeze to death."

"I’m not wearing socks," Nanaki said.

"Cid, go get him some socks from my room. And that belt your mother gave me for Christmas."

"You kept that ugly thing?"

Nanaki started snickering quietly. Vincent wasn’t sure if he should be running away by now or laughing along with Nanaki.

Shera shooed Cid away after the clothes and handed the two their cocoa. "Vincent, you look a mess. When was the last time you got a good night’s sleep?"

"I’m not sure," Vincent said, sipping his cocoa. He didn’t want to forget what it tasted like again. At least not Shera’s cocoa. "What day is it today?"

* * * * *

"That’s just the fridge, Vincent," Nanaki said sleepily, head in Vincent’s lap.

Once he didn’t need to keep a hand on his pants to hold them up, Vincent had retreated to the couch, using it as a fort to hide against any shadow or noise that he noticed, and he noticed them all.

After he’d had three cups of cocoa, Cid and Shera decided to call it a night. Cid had loaned him his jacket, gloves, and even scarf, but Vincent still felt cold.

"That’s Shera turning the shower off," Nanaki said as Vincent shot a look at the noise. "That’s just Cid snoring. Loudly. Get some sleep."

"Dog’s right, get some sleep," Galian said.

"I thought it was a cat," Giga commented.

"I’m scared."

"Nanaki’s right there. He’s warm, too," Hellmasker said. "You want people, don’t you?"

Vincent nodded. Nanaki wasn’t awake enough to notice.

"Cid’s room is right there. Do you think he’d mind?"

"You don’t want to do that," Chaos said.

"He’d get mad," Galian said.

"Shera’s still awake," Hellmasker said. "She’s nicer, try her room."

"Stay with the puppy. You’ll be fine," Galian said.

"Cid snores. You won’t be able to sleep," Chaos said. "You’re not ready for Cid. Go to Shera."

"Ask her," Chaos said.

"But I want to be in Cid’s bed," Vincent said, waking Nanaki up. He felt like he was once again in the hospital, being goaded and coaxed and no one would stop telling him what was best for him when all he wanted was something simple, something he thought he deserved.

Maybe the demons were right, though. Maybe he wasn’t ready to be in Cid’s bed yet. He needed something neutral, but Nanaki wasn’t enough, soft and fuzzy and warm as he was.

* * * * *

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Huh? Wha?" Shera muttered. She grabbed her glasses and almost poked herself in the eye as she sleepily tried to put them on. She adjusted her clothes before opening the door. "AAAH!" she yelled, seeing Nanaki staring up at her.

Vincent was nice enough to shield his eyes, though it looked like he expected her to shoot him.

"I am neither looking, nor interested," Nanaki said as she grabbed the hem of her nightshirt—it used to be one of Cid’s larger shirts, but he’d given it to her after a disaster trying to wash his own clothes and dying many things pink, including the shirt. She’d kept the shirt and everything else he’d burned.

"Vincent?" Shera asked, then yawned.

"I… I can’t sleep. Can I…?"

"Oh, Vincent."

"I’m sorry. I just… I’m cold," Vincent said, looking at the floor.

"Aren’t you—?"

"Yes."

"Especially, for Cid—?"

"Yes."

"The why didn’t you ask him?"

Vincent sniffed, stepping back a pace. He still didn’t make eye contact.

"That’s the same reaction I got," Nanaki said.

There was a moment of silence as Nanaki watched Shera, Shera watched Vincent, and Vincent watched the floor. Despite the fact that he was a foot taller than she was, Shera had never realized how small it was possible for Vincent to look. Cid’s gloves barely stayed on over his fingers, and would probably be bent out of shape from his left hand. The jacket barely stayed on his shoulders. Even the scarf was too big for him. He wore it loosely, apparently not liking anything tight over his neck. The only things that fit him were the socks and belt he’d borrowed from Shera.

Shera realized that if he were caught he’d have some explaining to do. Even if the authorities saw him as non-human, most men didn’t wear glittery bright pink belts with heart shaped buckles. At least, not in her experience.

Shera just wanted to get to sleep. There were covers waiting for her, and a soft mattress. Not to mention her pillow.

She yawned before coming to her decision.

Vincent was about to take that as a cue to leave when she spoke up.

"Keep your socks on, I don’t like cold feet."

"If I may be so forward…" Nanaki said, walking into the room.

"Oh! This isn’t a hotel."

"I was thinking you might appreciate someone keeping the peace in the bed. Plus, I’d like to keep an eye on him and the foot of the bed would be a better vantage point than the floor. A warmer one at that."

In response Shera just yawned and waved him to the bed.

"Come on, Vincent, get in the bed," Shera said, crawling under the covers.

Tentatively, Vincent picked up the blankets. Ever since he’d been rescued from the coffin, he’d resigned himself to a life without intimacy. The concept itself was too frightening for him, and he didn’t want to think of the person he’d be with. Most of the time, considering actually trying anything made him feel numb and almost sick. Even thinking purely about sex sometimes ruined its own mood.

Yet, here he was, about to curl up on the same mattress with a woman he’d met a total of three times in his life—one being a life and death situation. He’d never even been in bed with a woman before in his life. Nevertheless, he slowly settled onto the bed and set the blankets on himself.

"Don’t take it personally if I kick you," Shera said weirdly, falling asleep between each syllable.

Vincent felt Nanaki settle on the foot of the bed. He had no idea what to do, what not to do. He didn’t know what the rules were about sleeping in a bed with a woman—just sleeping. He was backed up to the edge of the bed, but he had wanted to be with her because he wanted another human being with him. He wanted to touch her, just to know she was there, just to calm his nerves, just to chase the nightmares of being sealed away from everything. But he didn’t know her well, and she was a woman. Could he touch her? Where? Would she get an idea if he did? Would it be the wrong idea?

He waited, and watched. Shera didn’t do much, even for someone asleep. After a long while, she settled herself better, and lightly kicked his leg, making a slight noise as she did.

He thought there was one good thing about being in the bed with Shera, as opposed to with Cid: she didn’t notice as he touched her damp, braided hair. He’d never get away with his hand on Cid’s hair, in bed or not, even if he blamed being asleep for his excuse.

Nanaki started snoring in a sort of feline way. Shera kicked him again. Cid was snoring loud enough that he could hear it in the quiet, still night. The sun was coming up. He didn’t notice. For the first time in a long while, he felt safe and very warm, and perfectly content.

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