Delightful Yet Poisonous

Chapter 8: What's on Your Mind?

~ Cloud frowned, but decided that he had nothing to lose anymore. Marlene was a girl. She probably knew how Tifa's mind worked better than him...even if he was her lover. ~

Rule 1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss topics such as football or motor sports.

It was another delightfully lazy Sunday. Since all chores were finished, Cloud, Tifa, Denzel and Marlene had more than enough time to spend some time together. They'd all agreed that the best way to do that was by playing their most favorite game in the world: 'I Have Never.'

At the moment, it seemed that Marlene was winning, because she still had four fingers up. Denzel and Tifa had three and Cloud had two, meaning that he was in the danger zone. The one who had the most fingers left after everyone else had none, was the winner and he or she was allowed to give the loser a mandatory task. Marlene was known for giving the most surprising commands, so needless to say, Cloud was fearing his life. Well, one time the girl had asked Cloud to kiss Tifa. While he had to admit that he'd enjoyed the kiss, he'd felt somewhat awkward too. He didn't need to live through all that again.

"Hmm, I have never..." Tifa's eyes darted to Cloud (which didn't go unnoticed by the man himself, so he gulped) before she continued with a teasing smile, "Kissed a woman."

Cloud gave her a deadpan look, but he didn't drop a finger, like everyone was expecting him to.

Both Tifa and Marlene gasped in pure astonishment, while Denzel seemed to be flat-out disgusted by the idea alone.

"You kissed a guy? Who?"

Did she even want to know? Tifa wasn't sure if she was jealous or surprised. After all, the idea itself was...weird to say the least. Cloud was a handsome man, so that attracted a lot of attention from women, which was sometimes frustrating enough. But now she had to worry about men wanting him too?

"...I don't want to talk about it. I've never kissed a spiky-haired man," he shot back to avoid further questions.

Boy, was he lucky that Yuffie wasn't here at the moment. That would have meant the end of his somewhat peaceful life for sure.

"Well I've never defeated Sephiroth on my own," Tifa noted.

Cloud narrowed his electric-blue eyes. "That was low."

"You asked for it."

"It wasn't even your turn," he reminded her sternly, still refusing to give in.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. Marlene, you're next."

The girl thought about it for a moment, before finally saying, "I have never been unconscious before."

Both Tifa and Cloud dropped a finger (the latter was groaning inwardly).

"Well, that means game over for Cloud," Tifa said triumphantly as she gave him a playful wink.

"Whatever."

Without a warning, the blonde got up and left the living-room without another word.

Tifa watched him go. "I think he's a little mad."

Then again, what was she expecting; instead of playing a nice game, she had started to annoy him, so she couldn't really blame him. She made a mental note to make it up to him later, when she was done playing I Have Never with the kids.

-----

Hugging the silent ex-SOLDIER from behind, she asked softly, "What's on your mind?"

At first, he tensed up, but when he saw that it was only Tifa, he relaxed visibly again and leaned back into her warm embrace.

"Nothing," he replied, while taking slow, deep breaths.

He loved taking in her scent, just as much as he loved the way it would linger even after she had left.

Kissing the softest part of his cheek, she asked, "You sure?"

"Yeah."

Tifa paused. She bit her lip, walking around the couch so that she could look him in the eyes. "Are you mad?"

Of course, it wasn't really unusual for Cloud to give such short replies, but this just felt different from all the other times. Perhaps she was just imagining things, making the wrong conclusion because of his behavior earlier. Still, it wasn't too often that she was wrong about him.

"No."

Tifa stared at him for a moment, as if trying to read his mind. Then she asked, "So there's absolutely nothing that you're thinking about right now?"

Cloud hesitated here slightly, wondering if this was some kind of test or something. Yes, he was thinking about something, but if he admitted that Fenrir was on his mind at the moment, then she might not believe him. Or worse: tease him about it, because it was so silly.

Tifa narrowed her eyes, taking his silent the wrong way. "Never mind already."

"What...?"

The pretty bartender ignored him completely now and left the room.

What the hell did I do now? he wondered, perplexed.

Why did women have to be so damn complicated anyway? Did they secretly enjoy torturing poor, clueless men like him? Not that he wasn't clueless. Tifa was just...weird.

Just when he wanted to get up and go after her, Marlene entered the room and said, "No, wait here, Cloud!" before disappearing again.

He raised a thin brow, wondering what she was going to do. Only a few minutes later she returned, handing him a bunch of wild, white flowers. The blonde gave her a questioning look.

"Give them to Tifa," Marlene whispered, so that Tifa herself wouldn't hear in case she was nearby.

Cloud frowned, but decided that he had nothing to lose anymore. Marlene was a girl. She probably knew how Tifa's mind worked better than him...even if he was her lover.

...Women.

With a sigh, he got up and made his way to the pretty bartender, clutching the white flowers in his hand as though they were a weapon with which he could slay a wicked demon.

Needless to say, he didn't come back downstairs for another hour or so.