The air at Cosmo Canyon was warm, but not humid. During the day they didn't experience a modicum of peace; merchants wandered the ground level, harassing tourists alike with their glittery and expensive wares while the natives passed on by, brown skin gleaming in the sunlight and an expression of mild distaste coloring their facial features.

As Cloud and the others arrived, they'd been overwhelmed by all of the commotion, but now, with the sun retired deep into the canyon's crevices, there was a stillness in the atmosphere that enveloped Cloud further into its reaches. He'd waited until all of the other customers had stumbled out of the bar, sticky drinks in hand. This included the bartender who, with bleary eyes, told Cloud to lock up after he left. A moment of shock had delayed Cloud's response, but the bartender hadn't waited for too long before chucking him a small ring of keys. He hadn't uttered one word during the whole exchange, but Cloud nodded and immediately retreated into a small alcove off the main room.

Several chairs, all made from elegant wood, decorated the little hideaway, but Cloud had chosen the thinly-padded loveseat seated all the way in the back. Nestled in between shelves of colorful bottles—extra stock he presumed—Cloud expelled a breath before reaching over and snagging one of the bottles in his calloused palm. He was surprised to taste wine on his tongue rather than hard liquor, but the flavor was mild and pleasant and warmed the pit of his belly.

Only here, tucked away in the corner of this little bar did Cloud feel like he could breathe. Every second of every single day was preoccupied with the thought of Sephiroth and the Promised Land. There were still so many answers to questions he couldn't even begin to ask because in reality, Cloud knew nothing. He knew absolutely nothing about the events at Nibelheim and the Mako Reactor. He didn't know how Tifa and himself were still alive or why—why Sephiroth had left them all but untouched. He didn't know why none of what transpired was remembered by Tifa or himself either. Serious injuries be damned, shouldn't someone be able to account for what happened?

Cloud closed his eyes, forcing the intrusive thoughts out of his head. Sephiroth could wait until the morning. All in good time—no one had to save the world tonight. Right?

He heard the footsteps approach as he tipped the wine bottle up, swallowing several more mouthfuls of the sweet liquor. When he lowered the bottle, Cloud beheld Yuffie in the shadow of the alcove's doorway, her bronze eyes glowing in the building's lowlight.

Cloud, too exhausted for pleasantries, merely raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well," Yuffie chirped, mirth brewing in her eyes, "This is a neat little place."

Cloud's eyes raked over her lazily, and he sighed not unkindly as she strode into the room.

"Have you come for more materia? If so, I've left the majority of them with Tifa. You'll have to pilfer them some other time," he drawled. A touch of humor colored his voice as he spoke next.

"Or you could try your luck with her. See how that goes."

Yuffie rolled her eyes and padded towards one of the myriad shelves in the alcove. "Oh, please. Like I'd swipe them off you now. The trick is to steal when your target is least expecting it, and look at you," she said, flourishing her hand at him. "All alone, tired, and drinking by your lonesome. This is when you'd most expect it."

Cloud didn't try to argue with her logic. It was true at any rate; Yuffie's mere presence always set Cloud on edge, as if his body knew never how to relax around her. Even if he tried to, in this moment, Cloud knew that he was vulnerable. The simple thought of their aloneness racked his nerves and he downed another guzzle of wine before frowning at it. The alcohol hadn't even touched him yet.

"I don't even know what most of these are," Yuffie complained. She was bent low, reading each bottle's label with careful and attentive eyes, though her narrow brows were furrowed with effort. She straightened herself and cast another glance at Cloud, who had nothing else to look at and was already—albeit, reluctantly—watching her. She dipped one of her hips downwards and smiled.

"Hm. Well, what are you drinking?"

Yuffie extended her hand in Cloud's direction and approached him with near-silent footfalls. Cloud must have drank half the bottle already, and despite not feeling any effect, he handed it over to her without question and reclined further into his seat. Not that her company wasn't entirely unwelcome, but Cloud hadn't expected further social interaction tonight. He shut his eyes and tried to force his body to unwind.

The sound of sloshing liquid cut through the air like an arrow. "Oh, this is wine!" Yuffie exclaimed, her voice undeniably pleased.

Cloud's head bobbed in agreement before he let it fall back against the lip of the loveseat. Thud.

"Indeed, it is."

The liquid sloshed once more as Yuffie presumably took another mouthful.

"I haven't had wine for so long," she said. "I'd almost forgotten what it tasted like."

With his eyes still closed, Cloud motioned with a hand. "Feel free to have the rest."

A particularly mischievous chuckle sounded off and froze Cloud's nerves into ice. It made him nervous when she was happy. She was unpredictable when she was happy. And anticipating unpredictability, at this given moment, felt a lot like effort Cloud didn't have the willpower to summon.

"Don't mind if I do."

Cloud's face tightened with focus. He was willing himself to breathe deeply, to loosen the perpetual tightness that's lived inside his chest ever since Mt. Nibel. Maybe if he breathed deeply and for long enough, he'd be able to undo all of the tension of the day. Just maybe, even with Yuffie in the room, he'd start to relax.

Perhaps it was the alcohol finally taking effect, but Cloud didn't realize that something had changed until he felt a large pressure press upon him. By the time his eyes flew open, Yuffie had already slipped into his lap, her front and pelvis crushed completely to his.

He felt a distant stirring in the bottom of his stomach.

Slowly, Cloud lifted his head off the top of the loveseat and was met with Yuffie's face, only a foot from his own. She appraised him with a neutral gaze, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and swung the bottle up to meet her mouth. She drank heartily, black lashes fluttering against the tops of her cheekbones. Cloud watched the entire procession without a word and when Yuffie turned to face him once more, he lifted a single eyebrow to the top of his forehead.

Yes? the gesture read. You called?

"You know," Yuffie started, her voice suddenly low and clear in between them, "Aerith is in love with you."

Cloud's eyebrow snapped back into place. "You came in here—and straddled me—all because you want to talk about Aerith?"

Yuffie watched him a gaze that never wavered. "You'd think it'd be enough having one girl fawning over you like a vulture eating carrion. But, no. Tifa is in love with you too. Don't you see it? Don't you notice?"

Maybe it was on accident—though Cloud highly doubted that it was—but Yuffie then readjusted herself, the movement causing her groin to slide along his own. Cloud fought the momentary pleasure this brought his body and maintained eye contact with Yuffie, absently noting the clusters of freckles which dotted her nose.

"I notice," he said. "What's your point?"

Yuffie leaned in, closing the distance between their chests. "It's like watching two felines in heat. It's ridiculous," she said, slipping her arms around Cloud's neck. The bottle of wine clinked softly against one of his ears. "When they aren't staring at you, they're staring at each other, sizing the other one up like goods in a store, assessing what it is that you must possibly see in them. Or, who you prefer."

Cloud wanted to retort that she was wrong, that reducing Aerith and Tifa to pining teenagers in love was absurd, but the words died in his mouth before his lips could even shape them. They did stare, and an awful lot, too. It was distracting, to say the least. During battle, it was downright dangerous. Yuffie watched Cloud's face as he formed these thoughts and eventually smirked in victory. He knew she was right. She knew she was right.

"So, I began to think to myself… what is it about you that makes these girls act like lovesick bimbos?" Yuffie breathed, her voice a mere whisper. "What is it that I'm missing? Apart from the general broodiness, you seem like the average guy. Nothing too special, though, you are downright attractive. Nobody can deny that."

Cloud remained impassive, even as Yuffie brought her lips to his ear, her silky, brown hair washing over the side of his face like luxurious fabric.

"I know you notice them. Both of them. And maybe you even love one of them. But it hasn't seemed to matter. You, Tifa, Aerith… all of you run around in circles, never actually saying what you want. But I'm not like that," she whispered, breath tickling his neck.

Yuffie touched the tip of her tongue to Cloud's earlobe before nipping at it with her teeth. Cloud's hands balled into fists at his sides and Yuffie laughed softly. "I'm a woman too, Cloud. I have wants… desires. And if nobody in this group is actually going to do anything about theirs, then I'm going to go after what I want." Slowly, she brushed her lips across the underside of Cloud's jawline and felt his breathing halt in his chest.

"Does that sound fair to you?"

Cloud's head was spinning. Forget the wine—it was nearly impossible to think straight with Yuffie's head nuzzled into his neck, biting and sucking at his skin, meanwhile her skin was on fire, alive. He could feel her heat through her clothes and it spread into him like invisible tendrils, sneaking past his cloth uniform and attacking his body. He didn't necessarily want Yuffie, then again he didn't not want her either, and that was the most confusing part of all.

It was difficult. As Yuffie withdrew from his neck, he quickly inhaled as much air as he could, if only to reorient himself. She looked at Cloud as if he were something to be watched, studied, when suddenly, she tipped her head back and poured more wine into her mouth. Instead of swallowing it, however, she inched forward, giving Cloud every opportunity to push her away or turn his face…

…but he didn't. Cloud heard the bottle hit the floor before feeling Yuffie's hands on his face, tilting it up towards her. She watched his eyes flutter closed before pressing their lips together and parting his mouth beneath her own. Wine spilled onto Cloud's tongue and dripped down his chin and Yuffie's tongue tangled with his in the slightest of brushes—so gently he may have imagined it. Every single ounce of discipline left his body as Yuffie sighed into his mouth, bringing with it the quietest of moans—a near-moan that stiffened his entire body. He felt himself swell under her thighs and forced his hands to remain where they lay.

Yuffie lapped at the wine still wet on Cloud's mouth and hummed. "You're not going to touch me are you? Why is that?" She placed her palms on Cloud's chest and slid them down to his waist, where she fingered his belt's design.

"Is it that you truly don't want to? Or are you afraid that once you do, you won't be able to stop?"

Cloud's breathing accelerated as Yuffie's hands quickly and dexterously undid the clasp on his belt, yanking it aside with one, expert movement. He could feel the lust burning throughout his body, pooling in his chest and groin, thickening him from the inside out. It'd been so long since he'd been touched this way, wanted this way—Yuffie was right. Aerith and Tifa may want him, but they weren't doing anything to indicate so. Yuffie, as brazen and rash as she was, was making him feel desired in the most primal of ways. So, yes, perhaps he did not touch her if only to retain a modicum of self-respect, although Cloud knew deep in his heart that the urge to was there. He wanted to grab her, ravish her, release himself without question or fear of rejection.

And yet, he held still as Yuffie undid the tops of his pants. The most content of smiles was on her face, brightening it, and Cloud began to wonder why he'd never noticed Yuffie before. Not as a friend but as a woman with sexual desires of her own. Now, the attraction, the want, was as plain as day.

The sharpness of her chin, the jagged indentations of her collar bones, the taut, muscled skin that covered her belly all radiated with a glorious aura—an aura of confidence. It practically seared through her eyes as she looked up to meet Cloud's heady gaze, and when she pulled him out of his pants, he inhaled, shocked at the intensity of pleasure her touch brought him.

"Out of curiosity," Yuffie said, her girlish voice pitched low. "Have Aerith or Tifa ever seen you like this?"

Cloud hesitated as she began to stroke him with her palm, circling him over and over with slow, steady movements. "No."

Yuffie suddenly halted all motion much to Cloud's dismay, and he nearly voiced his protests. Still, he held himself back, and Yuffie proceeded to straighten her body, shedding her shorts and underwear with a quick tug. She was naked from ribs to toes and Cloud's gaze raked over her impressive stature, lean and athletic as it was.

Yuffie positioned herself over Cloud, her hand in between them and squeezing lightly. "Geez. You sure do make them work for it, don't you?"

On the contrary—Cloud didn't think he made anyone work for anything. It was as Yuffie said: neither of the girls ever voiced their opinions or made it clear that they wanted him and only him. It was a cyclical dance they've been doing for months now. Everyone was so afraid of hurting the other person's feelings, including Cloud. Feelings…

Cloud pushed those thoughts out of his mind and braced himself. Yuffie grinned impishly at him, shadows from the room's lowlight transforming her face into a wicked visage. She sank slowly, pushing herself onto Cloud with excruciating consideration. He held his breath, not wanting to groan for her, to give her any indication that he was enjoying it as much as she thought he was, but he knew that Yuffie was smarter than that. She knew.

Filled to the brim, blood rushed into Yuffie's cheeks and she sighed, placing her hands back on Cloud's knees as she rolled her hips forward, grinding into him.

"I'll give you this, Cloud," she purred, clearly not holding herself back, "You feel great. You're a little too sullen for my taste, but still, I can see what these girls have been missing. Your body is perfect."

Cloud winced, teeth worrying at his lower lip as she talked to him like that. It was one thing to enjoy the sex himself, but it was a whole other thing with Yuffie praising him. Each roll of her hips caused her muscles to flex around him. He was being massaged by hot, tight flesh and exalted for doing the barest, most minimum work—he was just sitting there! And yet, with Yuffie riding him, it caused him to harden further inside her, jolting his body with an electricity he'd never known.

His hands twitched by his sides.

She was at his side in a moment, arms clasped around his neck once more, her red, plump lips at his ear.

"So, what do you think, Cloud? You feel great to me. Do I feel great to you?"

Involuntarily, Cloud's hips rose up to meet Yuffie, and the sensation drew a gasp from his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut. The thick, warm air, Yuffie's words, her body wrapped around him… it was all too much to process. He felt his mind waver, lose focus, and his hips began to rise all on their own, thrusting into Yuffie, slipping past her wetness and driving home.

Yuffie hummed out a breath of content and flicked her tongue across the shell of Cloud's ear. "Is that a yes?"

Cloud's mind, too fuzzy to control, betrayed him.

"Yes," he breathed.

His fingers uncurled, resting upon the padding of the loveseat.

"There's no shame in enjoying this," Yuffie whispered into the air. "You're not betraying anyone by being with me."

A half-truth. What about Cloud himself? What about betraying his feelings?

Yuffie gave him little time to entertain these thoughts. She tensed, pulling Cloud's face towards her and plunging her tongue into his mouth. On instinct, Cloud retaliated, kissing her back with a ferocity that surprised even him, though he could feel Yuffie smiling. She still tasted of wine and sweetness, and she came down harder onto him even as he rose to meet her. They soon gasped for air, resorting to sucking it out of each other's throats while their bodies writhed and pushed together. The longer Cloud fucked Yuffie the more he could feel her body tighten inside. She clenched him just as her hands clenched his face, and Cloud surrendered a moan that formed in the steep of his chest. It was a primal sound and dark and spoke of need.

"Do it again," Yuffie said, her breathing ragged and uneven. She threw herself into another kiss, digging her knees into the loveseat's cushion as she ground Cloud down into the deepest parts of her.

Cloud wanted to—he wanted to shout from the very top of his lungs but he'd already surrendered too much. He felt himself surrounded by smooth, slick skin and bucked his hips up, brushing against a wall of flesh inside Yuffie that made her whimper. The sound of it nearly made him undone.

"Again," she demanded, her fingers tangling in his hair and pulling.

Cloud exhaled sharply at the pleasure-pain and almost laughed instead. "No." He pushed himself as deep as he could and met that wall again, the mass of tissue that caused Yuffie to mewl. She shivered, choking on a breath that stopped in her throat, and Cloud ceased all movement entirely. Lightning grew in the bottom of his belly and he needed air, needed to calm down.

Yuffie followed suit and sat atop him, her hands running through Cloud's thick waves. "Tell you what," she murmured, "Let's play a little game."

Cloud mustered the beginnings of a smile. This was so outlandish. What more could she want from him?

"Pretend that I'm either Tifa or Aerith. Your choice. And then maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to get into it."

The daze from Cloud's face dissolved instantly and he narrowed his eyes into slits. "What?"

Yuffie sighed, withdrawing a hand to push her own hair back. Cloud couldn't help but notice the sweat glistening to her skin. It made his mouth water.

"You heard me. Personally, I'd choose Aerith. I mean, you've had Tifa in the palm of your hand for over two decades and you've never made a move. Granted, Tifa has a better body," she said, an odd glint in her eyes, "But I'd be willing to bet anything that you're in love with Aerith."

Lazily, she rolled herself over Cloud, who watched her bite her own lip. His gaze was immediately drawn downwards.

"Am I wrong?" she asked, pressing a kiss to his frozen mouth. "There's no harm in a little make-believe, Cloud. Go on. You won't hurt my feelings."

Yuffie rose up all the way off him before settling back down, knocking the wind out of Cloud. Exactly how was he supposed to make a decision while she teased him like this? Mechanically, he began to kiss her back, opening himself up to her tongue which slid along his lips.

"Besides," she cooed, breath filling his mouth, "Maybe I'll pretend too. Have you seen Vincent's face? The man looks like a god carved from the Planet itself. I wonder if he'd be so unwilling to touch me. Even then… I doubt he'd feel like you, Cloud."

The breath left Cloud's lungs. She sapped him, stole away all the oxygen from his body like the thief she was until all he saw were stars. Stars, and something else. A face perhaps, shaped from the images Yuffie tempted him with. Could he really do what she asked? Was his imagination powerful enough to deceive his own mind? Maybe if he shut his eyes…

"That's it," Yuffie encouraged, "Think of her, and pretend."

Think of her. Cloud swallowed hard and closed his eyes as Yuffie—she—began rocking with him, gliding herself over his flesh in slow, calming strokes that enveloped him in everything warm and soft. He forced himself to reacquaint her body with his own; she was more pliant than he's imagined and yet somehow just as tight. It was like her body wanted to devour Cloud's. With every lift and settle of her hips, she was welcoming him into her, trusting her most intimate self with Cloud who only wanted to be worthy of that trust.

Lips, soft and insistent, sought purchase with his mouth and he melted into them. This was so much easier than before. Before he was clashing with, fighting with, struggling with. Her kiss was so much more inviting, and Cloud could really feel that she's wanted him just as badly as he's wanted her. He could feel that she loved him—the affection poured out of her throat and into him, mixing in with their tongues that lapped and danced with each other.

Yes, this was right. Cloud shifted upright, no longer reclining upon the back of the loveseat, and pressed his palms into her waist, guiding her up and down so that she fucked him the way he craved it most—wholly and completely. When Cloud heard her breathing halt, he pulled both hands through her soft, brown hair, and wrapped his biceps around her torso. He could feel her body tense with anticipation of her release, he thrust himself into her harder, more deeply, using his hold on her like a vice. Her jagged breaths turned into pleas—quiet, urgent cries for more, for more of him. For more of his body and hardness and sex, and if he could, he'd give the world to her. But that was not something he could do. This, however…

Holding her protectively, Cloud, in one fluid motion, slid them to the ground. A soft, plush rug met their burning skin and with eyes still closed, Cloud wound his arm around her before depositing her upon her back. He was still inside her but this angle was so much more freeing, and as she spread her legs even wider for him, Cloud's thrusts became more demanding.

"Say my name," Cloud rasped, his mouth seeking purchase upon her neck. She called for him over and over again, and Cloud moaned loudly, his deep voice echoing in the empty room. Still kissing her neck, he removed her hands from his back and brought them over above her head where he locked them into place with his own palms.

They laced their fingers together and Cloud had to stifle his own cries as she tensed around him, ushering herself into his relentless hips as he lurched into her like an ocean upon the shore. Because that's what she was and had always had been to him. The ocean. Powerful, beautiful, strong, ruthless when needed.

"Don't stop, Cloud," she begged him, to which he wanted to reply, never. Instead, he slowed himself, rolling his hips around in circles as he fucked her. He wanted her to feel every part of him as she came and vice versa. She squeezed him as she wrapped her legs around his waist, attempting to draw from him what he wanted to give her so badly but needed to be patient with.

He slowed even further, lifting and raising his hips to slide inside before circling around, making sure to stimulate every possible erogenous area. When she began to shake, he squeezed her hands in his to reassure her that she could let go with him, that he wanted her to, that it would make him happy after so long of only dreaming about it.

"Please," he breathed into her ear, "Come for me. I'm here. I've got you."

Cloud grinded inside her, positioning himself low so that every ounce of her flesh would be covered with his. As he pushed himself against her, he felt her tighten uncontrollably around him, strangling him with warmth and wet and flesh. His own gasp was drowned out by the sound of her soft cry—an insistent, triumphant noise which reached in between his legs and beckoned his own release with their musical fingers, massaging him just as her body called out for him.

He was almost afraid to let go; he never wanted this to end, but as she slipped her hands out from under his and pressed them to his bottom, he felt himself being pushed deeper into her, until he was clenched on all sides by muscled walls that overwhelmed him. The humming sound of her throat, the hands that pulled him further inside, the thought of spilling himself into her all devastated his senses and he felt the stirring of his hardness throb.

Cloud pushed his nose along the soft skin of her neck as he became rigid, and his mouth fell open as her ankles crossed behind his waist, milking him as if he were an animal. He lurched forward, groaning, his voice a high-pitched falsetto as she fucked him with her hips even as he came, riding him from beneath.

"Tifa," he cried, shuddering as she ground herself all over his hardness from within, forcing him back into the most swelled parts of herself where he felt his own wetness mix with hers. She never relented; she repeatedly arched her back for him, rolling all over him, eliciting dark, animalistic whines from the bottom of his throat as she continually bucked her flesh onto his.

If Cloud ever became soft, he didn't notice. It was over but then it wasn't, and she—Yuffie—still wanted him just like how he wanted her, and because of her insistence he knew she wanted more, more, more, and so he gave it to her. There was nothing soft about how he took her now.

This was between them.

Rough hands bruised Yuffie's flesh, roaming, scraping against every exposed part of her body as he slammed himself into her. She was much less quiet than before, goading Cloud on with erotic whimpers that set his skin ablaze. Cloud wrapped a hand around Yuffie's neck, fingers digging in lightly as she choked out a string of curses that sparked the lightning in him once more.

Cloud threw back his head and growled lowly, his face contorted in vicious, savage pleasure. "God, Yuffie," he grunted, releasing her throat in order to grab her waist. He pounded into her with a ruthless rhythm that rocked them both and paused only to feel every part of inside her, undulating himself in all directions so that she took him as much as she could.

"Ride me from below like you do. Please," he begged, his teeth gritted together.

Cloud halted all movement and watched with heavy eyes as Yuffie smirked up at him. Make-believe or not, they both knew she had won this round.

Yuffie raised herself to Cloud and began fucking herself on his flesh while he remained positioned on top of her. The mere sight of her writhing and shivering beneath him broke something within in, and he swooped down, ravishing her mouth with teeth and lips and tongue. Yuffie chuckled, the sound reverberating in Cloud's throat, and he held still while she pleasured him with her body. Just like he asked.

"Will you come again, Cloud? This time, for me?" she asked, voice dripping with sweetness. It didn't match her eyes—both bronze irises glowed with ruin and victory as he met her gaze. Now, she was playing with him.

And for some reason, Cloud couldn't have cared less.

He sank on top of her once more, pressing every inch of muscled body to hers, and slowly began rocking in and out of her, his chest piece scraping against her breasts through the cloth.

"You like to go slow when you finish," Yuffie murmured, both of her eyes feasting on the blueness of Cloud's. "Why is that?"

Cloud withdrew himself gently only to slam back into her. "Mmm," Yuffie sighed, her eyes squeezing closed. When she opened them again, Cloud was grinning down at her. Yuffie returned his grin with a wicked rendition of her own and slid her palms down his spine.

"This climax, you look at me, the whole, entire time."

Cloud, flushed with new blood, inhaled shakily and skimmed his hands up her crop-top, palming her breasts with each hand. "Why?"

Yuffie arched her chest further into Cloud's hands and grasped his hips. "Because this one is for me. No one else. And I want to savor every. second. of. it."

It was like before—Yuffie's words made his flesh throb with renewed desire. Squeezing the soft flesh between his fingers, Cloud nodded before bringing his hands to her face.

"As you wish," he muttered drily before kissing her deeply. Yuffie's hands returned to his bottom and pushed him deeper, causing a soft moan to spill out of Cloud's throat. "You keep doing that and I won't last for much longer."

Yuffie flicked her tongue against his and nipped at it. "That's the point."

Cloud breathed raggedly, sweat shining atop his forehead and neck. "Squeeze your legs around me."

Yuffie complied and the sensation was instant—he was bound, crushed, and held inside her, and as he thrusted, every fiber of her body kneaded him. Cloud hissed as he bit back a whine and winced, slowing his rhythm to a torturous pace.

"Now, say my name," Yuffie said, eyes bright with interest.

Cloud ignored her and instead, pinned her hands above her head once more.

They regarded each other with intrigue; Cloud moved himself in and out of her, controlling the rising wave of his impending release while Yuffie simply smiled, her eyes narrowing with certainty. She squeezed him tighter than before.

To say it caught Cloud off-guard is an understatement. The rhythm of his hips hitched as her body forced his climax. He shouted, a surprised whine of noise as Yuffie, fucked herself on him just like before, sucking his body dry as he spilled himself over and over into her and she ground against him.

"Look at me," she insisted, and Cloud acquiesced, gazing deep into Yuffie's brown eyes. He shuddered once and reached down to meet his tongue with hers. He continued to shiver as she rode him while every drop of him was emptied, and he knew that if she didn't stop, neither would he and then no one would get any sleep.

"Yuffie," he breathed before placing his hands on her shoulders and withdrawing himself. Cloud's face spasmed as the sensation of sucking flesh attacked him further, and he sat on his heels, collecting his breath before delicately putting himself back before fastening his belt over his pants again. Remembering her shorts, Cloud reached over towards the loveseat and retrieved them for her.

"Here," he said as he extended them towards Yuffie. A shy smirk tempted the corners of his lips.

She accepted the clothes—with a tired smile of her own—and shrugged them on even as she sat. The sound of their jingling equipment tinkled in the silent space between them, and finally, Cloud brought his gaze to her face, unsure of what he'd find there.

"Are… you okay?" he asked tentatively. What if he'd done something wrong? What if he'd hurt her feelings by pretending she was Tifa? Though, hadn't she asked for that? Still… in what universe was it okay to pretend your sexual partner was someone other than who they were?

But Yuffie only nodded. Her hair, sweaty and damp, clung to her neck and her skin even seemed to glow. Was that Cloud's doing?

"Very." And then Yuffie started giggling, her face bright, content, and flushed. "So… Tifa, huh?"

Cloud, utterly exposed, hung his head in embarrassment.

"I would have sworn it was Aerith."

Not that he owed her anything, and maybe it was all the chemicals running rampant in his brain, but Cloud felt oddly compelled to tell the truth. He shook out his hair, equally wet, and ran his fingers through the mounds of golden waves.

"I've always loved Tifa. What I feel for Aerith… I'm not exactly sure about it and it's confusing, but I do know how I feel about Tifa."

Yuffie rolled her eyes and crawled over to where Cloud sat. They eyed each other warily. "Men," she said with an air of disapproval. "You just want it all, don't you?"

"Hey," Cloud protested, his face furrowed in a frown, "You're the one who came on to me. I didn't go looking for this."

But Yuffie only waved away his response. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Still, how do you feel about it now?"

"I don't love you, Yuffie," Cloud said, his voice firm, but kind. Shock ran through him as her face dissolved into disgust.

"Ew, no, I didn't mean that. No offense, Cloud, but I don't love you either," she laughed, covering her mouth with her hands. "You're far too self-absorbed."

"And you aren't?"

"At least I know what I want in life."

"Which is?"

"Materia. Duh."

The answer was so ridiculous; Cloud couldn't help but succumb to laughter. Yuffie joined in and suddenly they were just two friends sharing a moment, nothing more, nothing less.

"If you meant about…this…" Cloud then started, a tired chuckle still attached to his voice, "That was… I mean, you are… well. You are far too surprising. That's all I'll say about the matter. But, I suppose I should thank you, for remaining my friend despite it all. We…are still friends, right?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes again, but grinned. "Yes, Cloud."

"Good. I'm glad we met," he replied. "And not just because of this." He leaned over and pressed a sweet kiss to her damp forehead. Yuffie positively beamed.

"Aw, me too, Cloud. And can I just say, as long as you're running around not making up your mind about Aerith and Tifa, just know that I'm available, 'kay?"

Even the thought of repeating tonight was dangerous and far too tempting to consider—Cloud mentally shoved her words away where he wouldn't be able to think of them again for the rest of the night. And hopefully—the rest of his life.

"I can read you like a book, you know. You want me," Yuffie said proudly. Her teeth flashed white as her mouth split into a vicious grin.

Cloud grumbled and clapped a hand over his face. "Leave me alone."

"All I'm saying is let me know. I feel like Vincent would turn into a gremlin and eat me the moment I tried to straddle him."

And for the first time in forever, Cloud erupted into a laughter that didn't stop.

"Okay," he choked out.