PART I

"Strife's delivery service, we are unavailable to take your call due to conditions beyond our control. Leave a message and we'll be sure to get back to you shortly... thank you." Tifa's too polite voice is heard faintly from the machine upstairs after the ringing phone went unattended. "Cloud are you sure this is a wise decision? I mean taking a day off, and one of our busiest at that..." That same voice, sans the polite tone, began then trailed off as she noticed he was drawn into one of Barret's long yet entertaining stories but she stopped listening after the words hoes and orgy came up too many times for her liking. She finished pouring drinks and after setting one in front of each of their sitting guests she punched Cloud softly in the arm but still deep in thought or maybe too involved in the escapades of his friend, it failed to gain his attention.

Finally he turned her way just as she gave up and started to aimlessly wipe the bar with an already dirty rag. "Relax... it's just one night and besides, you need this as much as the rest of us. We can't save the world everyday... even Mario takes time off from rescuing the princess." He laughed at his own joke but unfortunately not many in the room share his humor. He ignored the stares and focused on the business at hand. "Ok guys, you know the drill, five card draw, no wilds and a max bet of fifty thousned gil." He makes eye contect with each player as he deals. Tidus looks a bit too eager and quickly scoops up his first card and stares at it in dismay. Balthier is still chatting with Yuna and probably didn't even hear Cloud's little speech. Next is Squall, leaning dangerously far back in his chair as Tifa admonishes him to get his boots off the table. Again her words go unheard, causing her to toss her hands up in frustration while uttering several things but no one really cares. Squall just stares directly across at Cloud presumably to make sure he doesn't cheat. Cloud is quick to notice and glares right back. "Geez, I dealt from the bottom just one time and now I'm branded a cheater for life?" Squall smirks in return. Auron peers over his sunglasses at one then the other, perhaps waiting for a brawl like the last time. Meanwhile Barret taps each card, trying to make them lucky.

Tidus throws down some gil and it is matched by all but Barret who's strategy apparently has its' share of flaws. He chugs the rest of his beer as the remaining players discard and draw. Tidus bounces his leg up and down as he makes his bet. On the opposite side the of the spacious bar, the ladies gossip and secretly make fun of the intense expressions on the guys' faces. "Could they possibly look any more serious? You'd think they were performing brain surgery" Rinoa said after a few lingering sips of wine. The other girls giggled which prompted Cloud glare in their direction and Barret flashes his middle finger. "You do realize we can still hear you, right?" Squall asks without taking his eyes off his hand, all the while flipping one chip in air repeatedly. Auron almost smiles and throws his cards in. "Let them have their fun." Rikku giggles and winks at Auron, "Thanks cutie oottie!" Squall rolls his eyes. "How did you ever put up with her for 40 plus hours..." He managed to mumble low enough that she couldn't make it out. Auron simply leaned back and answered him. "She wasn't bad when we were alone... then she could be as loud as she wanted." He somehow stated in his gravelly voice without smiling on the outside.

Cloud matches the current bet. "Whatcha got?" He turns his gaze to Tidus who proudly throws down a pair of aces. Balthier flashes three Queens which sends Tidus into a rant that everyone ignores. Cloud keeps Squall in his sights. "Show me the goods Squall or are you bluffing like always?" Squall casually throws his hand face up, three twos and two eights. "Full house? Damn." Auron said as he stood to grab another drink yet was met halfway by Tifa who cheerfully handed him a refill. "Hmm way to make it obvious Tifa... and everyone always wondered why we never hooked up." Cloud blurted out but Tifa was quick to respond. "Maybe because you ARE gay?" After which she stuck out her tongue. "Ok ok, we've reached the quota for gay jokes tonight geez." Cloud stood up to say then sat back down to make sure he made his point. "Is that because it's childish or because they are always about you?" Squall had a point. "Ok mister I have a scar and brood alot so I must be a manly man. Anyway you can wipe that smug look off your face." Cloud lets his cards do the rest of the talking for him, tossing down five spades and rakes in the pot while staring at Squall through haughty eyes.

'What a man' starts playing and Squall answers his cell. "Yo... yeah no prob." He gets up while Cloud shuffles, still gloating with annoying "In your face!" chants until Barret points his gun arm directly at him. "No, my friend, in YOUR face." Squall throws in a cd and takes his seat again. A familier orchestral score blares into the room. Balthier looks perplexed but Tifa and Cloud give Squall dirty looks. Squall responds by moving his hands in the air like a conductor as the crescendo vibrates throughout. Right on cue the front door is kicked open by a black boot. All eyes look upon him, some with disgust, others with surprise but Cloud is the first on his feet. "SEPHIROTH! You bastard! Get the hell out!" The newcomer steps in completely unharmed by Cloud's objection but before he can speak again Sephiroth holds up his hand. "Shhh This is my favorite part." His name echos out of he speakers until Cloud throws his chair into the stereo creating huge sparks and a weird static. "You were NOT invited" was heard through Cloud's gritted teeth. "Oh come now. That's no way to treat a guest. Just because you yourself didn't invite me doesn't mean no one did." That classic harmonic tone causes more seething from Cloud. They all look at eachother until Squall calmly stands and pounds fists with Sephiroth followed by a secret hand shake.

Several minutes later when they finished their greetings Squall finally notices everyone staring. "What? We went to the same fraternity, we go way back. This dude can seriously float a keg by himself... he was legendary!" Sephiroth gives a slight bow at Squall's comment then pulls up chair and plops his feet on the table. Tifa lets out a low growl as Cloud pouts.

Finally they resume the game as Cloud reluctantly deals Sephiroth in. "That's not fair! Why does he get to play and I don't?" Yuna is heard complaining from across the room. "Ummm I don't know, perhaps it's the fact that he's a man." Balthier answered as sarcastically as humanly possible but Yuna refused to concede. "But Tidus... You said if I did that thing you liked then you would let me play!" She whined and almost teared up. "Sorry babe, but it's Cloud's rules." He tried to console her but she jerked her hand away. Barret seemed to be deep in thought then looked at her. "Sooooo what's the 'thing' he likes?" Tidus was first to respond, rather nervously. "Ummmm nothing, nothing special." Yuna laughed at that. "He likes it when I summon the Aeons so they can watch us in bed..." Tidus was quick to cover her mouth. Cloud fell out of his new chair laughing. "Dude, that's sick!" He blurted out amid even more laughter and snickering. "At least I LIKE women!" Tidus said with much distain which was met with Cloud slamming his fists to the table vibrating the chips and cards. "What's that supposed to mean you little..." He then noticed everyone looked in agreement. Silence overtook them until Auron shattered it. "So you like them watching you? I don't get the fun in that." He stroked his chin as if still running it over in his head. Squall spoke up next. "Hmmmmm Yeah, me either and I've done some messed up shit." Rinoa backed his story up. "That's true." she said as she looked at the other ladies. "He's a total freak!" The last word was whispered but everyone heard and wished they hadn't.

Tifa just shook her head. "These nights used to be more fun when Aerith was here..." She realized too late that wasn't the best thing to say as all the remaining fun drained from her guests' faces. Everyones' gaze switched to Sephiroth who feels the weight of their hatred after several seconds pass by. "What?? ...Oh come on, do we have to go through this everytime I see you guys? Whatever happened to forgive and forget?" "Ummmm I dunno... maybe because you freakin' killed her!" Cloud's face became that of a warrior as he nearly jumped across the table. "Big deal, it's not like you had a chance with her so actually it's kinda like I did you a favor. Plus you killed me... twice! But you don't hear me bitchin' about it all the time, Cloud." Sephiroth coldly stated. "What do you mean I didn't have a chance with her? We were perfect for eachother!" Tifa stabbed a knife into the counter at Cloud's words then she looked around to make sure no one was paying attention.

"Ok, well I wasn't going to tell you this but before she died she did utter a name... but alas, not yours." "LIAR!" "Sad to say I'm not lying but trust me you don't wanna know who's name it was." "WHO!?" Sephiroth smiled as Cloud's contempt for him increased. "The name was... Auron. Of course at the time I had no idea who it was but now I see why she chose him over you... that must really sting huh" Amusement abounded in his face and continued to radiate thoughout his body until he let loose an audacious room filling laugh then grabbed the deck and started dealing out the next hand.

Silence washed over the group. The only sounds remaining are that of sighs and the occasional clink of chips being tossed to the middle of the table. The hand went quick with only Sephiroth and Auron left after betting. Both had three of a kind but Sephiroth's kings beat Auron's queens. The women began chatting again and Rikku finally convinced them to play jenga after they all ignored Barret's suggestion of naked twister.