A/N: Uh… I have no excuse for this. XD

No Sense of Humour

He knew that something was up when he turned around and, for the twelfth time that day, tripped over one ninja wannabe. "Do you want something, Yuffie?" he asked finally after staring at her long enough to make her squirm.

She made her 'innocent' face that was anything but, bouncing slightly from foot to foot. Thankfully, she decided that it was in her best interest to actually speak. "You know, there's been something that I've wanted to ask you since forever, except that you were really scary back then and then there was the air-sickness and Meteor and…"

The problem with talking to Yuffie was that she had a tendency to ramble on incessantly, making less and less sense until she loses track of what she was originally intending to say. This was followed on by more embarrassed rambling to cover up her mistake.

"Yes?" inquired Vincent, voice coolly civil, though he was getting a little irritated at the bouncing girl. Tripping over someone twelve times in a day did nothing for one's mood.

"Doyouevertakethatoff?" she squeaked.

Yuffie stared at the crimson-clad man with wide eyes, watching for any hint of angst that would have sent her running. It wasn't a particularly polite question, but she just had to know. In all the time they'd journeyed together, she had never seen Vincent take off his metal gauntlet. As in, ever. She'd even asked everyone else if they had ever seen Vincent take that thing off, but the answer was always 'no'.

It had to be quite inconvenient, being metallic and pointy. How would he shower without taking it off? Or brush his teeth? Or…

"I can't."

Yuffie blinked. Vincent was averting his eyes from her as he continued in a deadpan, "My arm was mangled in the process of the experiments carried out on me. I seem to remember maggots or something, then trying to beat them to death with a…"

By this time, the ninja had run off to find a bathroom, lest she messed up the floor. The images! Oh, poor Vincent! She should never have asked!

Vincent watched her retreating figure with his calm red eyes. Then he smirked. No more tripping over that ninja-wannabe.

"Vincent Valentine, you lied to her," stated a female voice in apparent amusement.

The smirk fell away immediately and he coughed into his hand. "Shelke," he acknowledged, fixing a more serious expression on his face.

"But she'd believe anything," continued Shelke derisively. Her blue eyes flicked upward to the man's face. "I must say, however, I too am interested in the answer to her query."

"I didn't lie to her…"

Something flashed in the girl's face. "You mean… there really were maggots and mangled flesh and…" Seeing the expressionless look on the man's face, Shelke's eyes widened. Yuffie soon found a companion in her misery.

"I merely… exaggerated a little," mumbled Vincent to empty air, tugging up his mantle to cover up his very amused smile.

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