It was early afternoon in Tifa's home: the kids were taking naps in their room and the bar had not yet opened. Tifa was spot-cleaning the family's shared bathroom when she heard the front door open and slam shut. She peeked around the corner to whisper loudly at the intruder, "Be quiet, my kids are sleeping!" when she saw Cloud marching down the hall to his room and opening the door.

Instead of scolding, she remarked, "You're home early."

His reply was a small grunt before he shut the door.

That's strange – it sounded like he was hurting, Tifa thought.

She thought about going in immediately and seeing if there was anything she could do, but thought better of it. She wanted to give him his space and if he hurt badly enough, he knew how to take care of himself better than she knew. Besides, Tifa had learned long ago to allow Cloud to come to her instead of chasing him, like she had in the past.

Besides, mothering a grown man never did any woman good, she thought.

She straightened the children's playroom, then walked to her room to fold laundry. As she passed Cloud's door, something made her hesitate. Tifa placed her ear against the door, listening for any sounds.

She heard his bedclothes rustle and what sounded to be a pained sigh.

I can't leave him like this, Tifa thought as she raised her hand to knock on the door. At the least, I should make sure that he's okay…

She knocked. She heard another grunt – no, he's clearly in pain – and her heart skipped a beat as her mind began rummaging through a catalogue of possible diseases.

"Are you okay?" Tifa quietly asked from outside the door.

"I'm fine," came the short answer.

"If it's your stomach that's bothering you, I have medicine for that," she replied.

"I…don't need…" The sentence trailed off into a moan, barely audible past the door.

"I'm coming in," Tifa said cautiously and began to open the door.

"No, don't!" Cloud said, his voice suddenly sharp.

Tifa paused at his tone – the only time he ever used that tone of voice was when someone close to him was in immediate danger. She steeled herself.

"I'm coming in anyway," she said firmly and entered the room.

Cloud lay on his side on the bed, his back to the door. His boots were off, but he hadn't bothered to take off his socks nor his clothes. Tifa noticed that his legs were drawn up to his stomach. He growled as she drew close to the bed.

"Can't you just…take a walk around the block for half an hour?" He asked with irritation.

Tifa was taken aback. "This is my house – and besides, I need to be here for the kids when they wake up," she said.

"Okay – can you go downstairs for half an hour?" He asked with a hint of desperation.

Tifa cut to the chase.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" She asked in a no-nonsense voice.

He tightened his legs together and closer to his stomach.

Tifa had had enough.

She planted a knee on his bed and laid her hand firmly on his hip.

"If it's stomach medication you need, I've got it," she said quickly. "If it's pain medication you need, I've got that, too. I'm a mom: there isn't anything I don't have."

"I don't need medicine," he whispered in a strained voice.

"Then what do you need?" Tifa asked in exasperation as she pulled him over onto his back.

Cloud's hands were crossed over and pressing down on his groin without dropping his knees, which he held on his belly. Tifa put her hand on his knees and pushed his legs down – clearly, the pain was not coming from his stomach. She looked to see Cloud's eyes squeezed shut and his face averted. When she removed one of his hands from his groin, it became transparent why he was hiding from her.

"Cloud –" She began.

He was thoroughly and painfully erect. Tifa stared down at the enormous bulge in his leather pants. She could even distinguish twitches through his pants.

Cloud clapped his hands over his erection again.

"I'm sorry!" Cloud spoke quickly. "You shouldn't have to see this."

"Why…are you this way, Cloud?" Tifa asked. She knew enough about men that this particular erection didn't seem natural.

His words tumbled out. "Yuffie insisted that I have a taste of this new wine she brought home from the market and it didn't taste that good but I didn't think anything of it until about fifteen minutes later when I was like, like…this." He shuddered.

Tifa breathed a mental sigh of relief. At least he's not sick, she thought.

She brought herself back into the moment. "So Yuffie slipped you an aphro?" She asked.

"I think the whole drink was the aphro," Cloud replied.

Tifa realized she was staring at his bulge and looked away to give Cloud some semblance of privacy.

It must be hard being a man sometimes, Tifa thought. No one has to know when a woman's turned on, but when a man's turned on – everyone who sees knows.

"So, why do you think she gave you the aphro?" Tifa inquired.

"I've no idea, but she's been pumping me for information about our sex life for quite some time," Cloud sneered as he said, "sex life."

Tifa knew why Cloud sneered and why Yuffie had been asking. Apparently, some of their friends had taken bets as to when Cloud and Tifa were going to "lay each other." Seeing as how it wasn't anyone's business but their own, they kept everything very private, even before they began having sex not too long ago. Of course, some people were naturally curious about the true nature of their relationship, but Yuffie had gone too far.

Tifa sighed.

"Well, I suppose the thing to do now is think about what we can do for it," she said.

"We?" Cloud asked incredulously. "You're planning on helping me? I can't imagine anything more embarrassing."

Tifa crossed her arms. "We've been seeing everything of each other for a little while, haven't we?" She asked. "So this wouldn't be any different."

"Maybe not," Cloud said, "but getting me off just for the sake of helping this damned drug run its course doesn't do anything for you."

"Oh, we can make it work, I think," she said with a slight smile.

He glanced at her, then fixed his eyes on his hands.

"Do you think it could work?" He asked.

"Maybe," she replied. "But first order of business: you need to get undressed. Aren't you uncomfortable in those clothes?"

Without waiting for his reply, she pulled his shirt off and unzipped his pants. Scooting all articles of clothing off the bed, she knelt closer to his prone body.

Through his underwear, she could see his cock pointedly motioning towards his stomach. A wet halo in his underwear circled the head of his erection.

"You are in a bad way," she murmured as she slipped his underwear away and over his hips.

"Yes, but…let me take care of this part, please," he begged. "I don't want your hands to get dirty."

"No part of you will ever be dirty to me," Tifa replied, kissing his forehead.

Cloud suddenly pulled her head down to his mouth, their lips meeting hard. He pushed his tongue into her mouth passionately. She could feel his hot breath curl over her cheeks.

"Poor thing," she said after they broke the kiss. "I wish I had known you were in such a condition sooner."

Tifa got up and covered his body with a blanket. "Stay where you are," she said and left the room, careful to shut the door behind her.

When she returned, she had a tiny bottle in her hand. Without further adieu, she spread some of the clear liquid on her hands and set to work on Cloud's erection, already dripping wet.

His breaths suddenly switched over into labored pants. She twisted one fist up and down his lingam and then gently pushed it down onto his belly, her open palms slowly stroking up.

She heard Cloud's breath hitch and felt his hips squirm. He grasped the blanket and gasped. Suddenly, her hands were suddenly covered in his hot, pearly essence.

"I'm sorry," Cloud said between long, deep breaths. "I didn't know I was going to come so soon."

Tifa shook her head and smiled. She looked down at his penis, expecting to watch it slowly "go back to sleep," but instead, it appeared as hard as ever.

Cloud looked at it incredulously.

Apparently, that wasn't enough, Tifa thought.

"Do you want more?" Tifa whispered.

He seemed to hesitate, but then nodded and promptly covered his face with the blanket.

If using her hands wasn't very effective, perhaps using her mouth would be more so? It wasn't something that she had ever tried before and the thought unnerved her. Of course, Cloud wasn't looking for a spectacular performance – just something to get him relief.

Yuffie, I'm not sure if I want to kill you or thank you profusely, Tifa thought as she laid her belly on Cloud's leg and propped her elbow next to his hip. Cloud whipped the blanket off his face and stared at her in horror. She ignored him and wrapped her lips around the hot tip.

"Don't!" Cloud whispered loudly, launching up off the pillow and grabbing her head off. "That's dirty!"

"Haven't I already stated that I will never find any part of you dirty?" She said and watched the perspiration bead and roll of his forehead and neck.

"But this is different," Cloud insisted.

"You took a shower this morning, didn't you?" Tifa asked. She kissed his tip and smeared the precum around the head.

"Yes, of course," he said.

"When you washed, did you think of me?" Tifa asked. Even as she spoke the words, she was shocked at herself. They didn't usually use such plain speech.

A blazing blush began in Cloud's ears and spread over his entire face, neck and chest. He couldn't answer, but moaned and twisted the bedclothes in his fists as she dipped her head and slowly took more of him into her mouth.

Tifa was pleasantly surprised that she could take much this much of him without gagging. She had to watch her teeth, but sucking and swallowing came naturally. She swirled her tongue 'round and 'round the tip and stroked up and down the underside of his cock.

Suddenly, she felt the press of Cloud's hands on her head.

"It feels too good," Cloud chanted with a trembling voice. "It's too good, too good."

He was close to coming again; she could feel it and taste it. The salty precum coated her tongue, she could hear his moans become more needy and he made tiny thrusts with his hips. Tifa understood that he was trying to be careful and considerate with her, but she wanted him to be able to let go and trust himself to her. She needed him to allow her to pull him over the edge hard and fast. So she sucked harder, pulling him in and out. Her cheeks and lips throbbed with the effort, her tongue and jaw burned, but Cloud's moans were intensifying and his grip on her hair tightened. He was losing control like she wanted.

At last, she felt his climax against her soft palate. She kept the suction until she felt him relax moderately, then took her mouth away.

To her surprise, he was still perfectly hard –Tifa looked at Cloud in disbelief.

Cloud looked as though he were ready to give up.

"Well," Tifa said. "There's one more thing to try."

He nodded and she quickly shucked off her clothes and underwear, then spread his legs. Kneeling on either side of his hips, she caught him and traced the head of his cock between her inner and outer nether lips, spreading the wetness from her core that her ministrations had incited. Tifa decided that giving Cloud "service" felt just as good as receiving it.

She lowered her body, directing him into her with one hand, steadying herself on his taut stomach with the other. She felt the head pass through the tight ring and she moaned lightly. Cloud answered with a moan of his own and raised his hips towards hers, effectively bringing her down onto him, up to the hilt. He gripped her hips with his strong hands, squeezed his eyes shut and screamed.

Tifa leaned forward, rubbing her hardened nipples his over-sensitized skin. She held a finger to his lips – he took it into his mouth and sucked upon it with fantastic vigor. Tifa shivered in appreciation but admonished, "Shhhh. We still have children in the house."

He opened his eyes – there were tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked, startled.

"I love you," he said and closed his eyes again.

Tifa relaxed once more, wrapped her arms around him and kissed his lips. "And I love you. Even when you're flooded with an aphro," she laughed.

She shifted her body to a more comfortable position and his hips thrust sharply upward with a cry. Cloud adjusted his grip on her hips while Tifa lifted up to allow him room to thrust as hard as he pleased. He planted his feet firmly in the mattress, propped himself up on his elbows and immediately set a hard, steady, fast pace. Tifa's breath turned into pants at the intensity and she clung to his shoulders.

The tears spilled down his face as he thrust even faster and Tifa could feel her muscles tightening in anticipation of her impending crest. The angle of his cock was hitting her sweet spot just right. She kissed his tears away as best as she could, smiling down at him. He was never quite so beautiful as when he was about to come.

He moaned her name through clenched teeth, then he slammed into her twice, and pressed himself so hard into her that she thought she would tip forward onto her nose. Cloud's hoarse and strangled scream was just quiet enough that she distantly heard her own finishing cry. Her inner walls squeezed him tightly enough in her climax that he began again and shoved in and out three more times.

He came again. Her inner walls pulsed and throbbed around him again. Cloud cried out and began thrusting once more.

Their orgasms seemed to feed one another – his powerful plunges caused her to come and her walls caused him to come again, which, in turn, encouraged him to begin ramming again. But Tifa had never seen such expressions on Cloud before – emotions seemed to fight for center stage on his face: elation, his "o-face," love, fear of the next powerful orgasmic cycle and above all, tiredness. Tifa was becoming weary herself – the room began to spin and she had to remind herself to breathe.

This is insane, Tifa thought. I wonder how long this aphro lasts!

At last, Cloud sagged and dropped his hips, feeling positively boneless. It worked, Tifa thought victoriously. He's not blindingly erect anymore!

She curled her body around him and pulled the blanket over both of them. He tried to wrap his arms around her, but didn't have the energy – she guided them around her shoulders.

They panted as one, their light moans shivered together in the clear afternoon air.

Wait – what? Tifa thought.

She hadn't even noticed that the window above Cloud's bed had been open the entire time. Tifa flushed and mentally slapped her hand to her forehead, imagining what the neighbors might have heard. As if her worst nightmare just came true, she thought she heard the sound of something shifting on the roof of her house. Something that sounded suspiciously like light footsteps. And then a familiar giggle.

Tifa felt a flash of anger. If she hadn't been so exhausted and naked, she would have jumped out the window and beaten the owner of that giggle and those footsteps to a bloody, bone-shattered pulp.

She pulled the blanket over her and Cloud's head. If the person was still watching, she would do her damned best to keep them from the voyeur's view.

"What is it?" Cloud whispered, sleepy at last.

"Nothing," Tifa replied lightly, laying her head down on his chest.

Later that evening, after the bar opened, Yuffie strolled in. Cloud was sitting at his usual place at Tifa's counter while Tifa dried off her tumblers. A moderate crowd gathered at other tables.

Yuffie stood directly in front of Tifa and next to Cloud, who nursed a brandy.

"So," she said conspiratorially to them both. "How was it?"

She had time only to watch Tifa's eyebrows shoot up and her lips press into a thin line. In the next instant, she was lifted by the collar of her shirt and slung over Cloud's shoulder without a word. Yuffie was unceremoniously carried out of the bar and dropped onto her feet in the street.

"What'd I do?" Yuffie both shouted and whined at him. "I was only trying to help!"

"Yes," Cloud replied with a grin and plucked a small, brightly hued bottle from her trouser pocket. "And we thank you for it."