Delightful Yet Poisonous

Chapter 4: Yes and No

~ Cloud was sure of only one thing, and that one thing mattered the most right now: he was in heaven. He just had to be, because Tifa knew exactly what to do to make him feel good. ~

Rule 1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

Cloud was sure of only one thing, and that one thing mattered the most right now: he was in heaven. He just had to be, because Tifa knew exactly what to do to make him feel good. She was a massage goddess. All those years of her strength training hadn't changed anything about her gentleness, thank gods. She knew when and where to apply more pressure and where to be extra careful to alleviate the stress. It was as though she could read his mind. Quite honestly, Cloud couldn't possibly think of a better way to spend his first moment of summer vacation...or the rest of it, really. He was far too tired to do something else today. Fortunately for him, Tifa understood completely. Moreover, she decided to help him unwind. He could do this all day.

"Do you want me to stop?" Tifa asked softly when he couldn't suppress a shiver from pure delight.

She leaned in a little closer to him, causing a few hair strands to tickle his bare arm and almost make him shiver again.

"...No."

Of course he didn't want her to stop; what was she thinking?

He could almost hear her smile at that reply, and he couldn't help but feel elated, seeing that he was the one who had made her happy...even if he had more reason to be happy, what with the way those simple touches were making him see fireworks. At least one thing that went good today...

"Did you have a nice day at work?"

"Yeah."

Okay, so it wasn't exactly true; it was one of those "okay" days, the ones that you would forget about soon because they were insignificant. He'd had better days than this. Worse too, of course, but Tifa didn't need to be bothered with all that, right?

"Nice enough to make you reconsider going back to work tomorrow instead of enjoying your well-earned summer vacation?" she asked teasingly, making him smile.

"No..."

Oh, hell no, anything but that. He wouldn't want to exchange this moment for anything, even if he would get paid for it. He sighed as he let her experienced fingers do their magic. Had Tifa been a masseuse in her past life, or perhaps taken a course while he'd been gone? Whatever the case, he was probably the luckiest guy in the world right now to experience the results. How many guys would kill to trade places with him right now? A lot, there was no doubt about that. And he had it all without even trying to achieve it. This thought alone made him feel a little smug.

"Alright then. Oh, Denzel and Marlene have been working hard today to earn some bucks to be able to pay for your birthday present. I suggested to lend them some money, as always, but instead of that they wanted to sell lemonade downstairs. Isn't that adorable?"

"Yeah..."

Apparently, Tifa took his one-worded response as a sign that he didn't agree with her approach, so she continued in a worried tone, "It was the right thing to let them do it their own way, right? I mean, maybe I should've made them take the money without discussion?"

"...No."

It was quiet for a moment, but then, "Is there something else you can say other than 'Yes' or 'No'?"

Cloud opened his electric-blue eyes automatically when he caught the hint of annoyance that was seeping through her usually calm and melodious voice. If there was anything he'd learned from the past few years of living with the bartender, it was the fact that a peeved Tifa was never a good thing. She could take it out on him at the most unexpected moments...when he was anything but prepared.

"...Yes?"

The instant Tifa sighed and stopped her ministrations, Cloud knew that he'd given the wrong answer. He cursed inwardly.

"Never mind."

Before he could even say "Materia," the dark-haired beauty had retreated and walked out of the room.

"Wha- Tifa, wait!"

Of course, she didn't listen to him, leaving him alone with his troubled thoughts.

He let out a frustrated growl, not sure what the problem was this time. Because how else was he supposed to answer that question; 'I don't know?'

'Most certainly?'

Next time she'd probably go far enough to get mad at him because he'd forgotten to buy her a stupid bracelet...in one of her dreams. The blond certainly wouldn't put it past Tifa. Bottom line: women were weird. And he had no idea what to do to make up to her...

This was going to be a wonderful vacation indeed.