Boyfriend Type

by Tobirion

Cloud Strife is a manager of the hotel at ShinRa Tower, the famous landmark housing the Elite Four and all kinds of services for exhausted Trainers fresh out of Victory Road. It's an alright job - it's stressful, sure, and he puts up with some real characters sometimes, but it's always interesting. Pokémon AU.

"And your special is still going on?"

"Yes Sir."

"Will I be refunded in person, or given a check?"

"We'll deposit the poké directly into your account used to purchase your room. If you paid in cash you'll receive cash."

"Alright!" The man, a portly fellow with a Linoone around his neck, said, "I'll be back. Get my refund ready."

"Yes Sir," Cloud murmured, dutiful as ever.

When he left Cloud muttered to himself, "Good luck with that low-leveled Linoone."

Cloud had heard all sorts of things from those trying to get free rooms at the ShinRa Tower Hotel. The special they offered was this: if you became the new Champion your hotel room was free. Only once had this offer been rightfully redeemed… when the current Champion, Aerith Gainsborough, defeated the Elite Four and ousted Rufus ShinRa, old champion and the one who built the massive Tower in Midgar, the grand city at the exit of Victory Road.

A guy with a pidgey and a bidoof swore to Cloud that he was going to come back to collect his reward. Cloud had been followed home and begged for a free room because a cocky trainer had been so confident that she'd win she checked into the hotel without the poké to cover it in her account. He'd been threatened and insulted and bribed.

In his three years of working at the hotel portion of ShinRa Tower, he'd seen it all.

In particular Cloud attended to the rich and famous guests to the Tower who were their own brand of awful. The Master rank contest participants always wanted rose-scented bathwater or dermatologist-approved soaps. TV stars tended to want special rooms for their Pokémon. And when one of the eight gym leaders of the Gaia region came, oh man. They wanted heaven and hell moved.

Cloud high-fived his replacement, a stoic man named Vincent, as his shift ended. "Good luck, man," he said, "I've had three people try to claim they beat Aerith today."

"They always scatter as soon as I pick up the phone to verify it," Vincent sighed, looking tired.

"My phone would be blowing up with messages if someone got past the Elite Four and got to battle Aerith," Cloud said, grinning. "We'd know."

A woman stepped up to the desk and Vincent attended to her, his face as impassive as always. Significantly fewer people tried shit with Vincent than him. After shedding his (rather dorky) uniform Cloud took the elevator down to the second floor where lots of the entertainment was housed. He walked through a long hall full of artistic neon lights until he reached the trainer's lounge.

The huge area had chairs, couches and tables for those weary from their travels through Victory Road. The restaurant was one floor below—this lounge sold just alcohol, and lots of it.

Cloud made his way to the bar. It was long with stools along its side all with gentle neon lights under the seats. The bass of the music thudded along in Cloud's feet as he walked close.

A Trapinch scuttled up and down the bar. It opened its jaws wide and when someone tipped the bartender he would clamp down on the bills and scurry to the tip jar with it.

"Cecil," Cloud called as he reached the bar, his elbows on the cool surface.

The Trapinch cooed in delight, its jaws snicking furiously as it zoomed down the bar counter, around various people's drinks, and up Cloud's arm.

"Hey, dude," Cloud said, resting his head against the big, curved part of Cecil's head. "Looks like you're doing a great job today."

Cecil growled his agreement.

With his Pokémon situated on his shoulders Cloud moved down the bar to where his best friend was mixing drinks. Some of the trainers looked a little despondent… the one closest to Cloud had four shots lined up.

"Which one was it?" Cloud asked, knowing all the signs.

"Angeal. That Gallade of his Mega Evolved and…" the Trainer sighed, slumping her shoulders.

"You'll beat him next time." Cloud smiled encouragingly, then waved a hand to flag down the bartender. "Hey, Teef."

Tifa was happy to see him. "You're done!" she said, grinning.

"Yeah, and thank the planet for that. I'm so sick of being polite."

Tifa scoffed at him. "And you come here thinking you can be rude? Have you met my bouncer?"

Cecil chirped into Cloud's ear and playfully bit down on a spike of his hair. "Alright, alright," Cloud sighed, raising his hands. "How has your day been, Tifa, my dear? Polite enough for you?"

Snorting, Tifa answered, "Alright. Not so busy today. I heard Team AVALANCHE is up to something in Victory Road again. We're getting less trainers coming through."

"Again?" Cloud accepted the beer Tifa slid his way. "We'll have to do something about them eventually."

"Soon enough. For now, it means we're not stressed to hell like usual."

The two other bartenders were all serving people, but only one or two. Cloud had seen this so packed that it was nearly impossible to get up to the counter and order.

Cecil crawled off of Cloud to collect the bill and pen from a man in the far corner. Cloud watched his beloved Trapinch go, smiling at how his cute, big head wobbled around. Tifa certainly didn't need Cecil around threatening to bite the hands off of people who tried to get handsy with the bartenders, but damn, if he wouldn't be cute doing it.

(Usually it was the threat of incurring the wrath of the Champion for making her wife uncomfortable that kept people's hands in their laps, if Tifa's own ass-kicking and a ban from the Tower wasn't enough.)

"What are you going to do with the rest of your day?"

"Not sure. Might go outside. I know Titan's getting a little cooped up."

"Oh—do you mind bringing Shiva with you?"

"Yeah, sure." Cloud held out his hand, and Tifa pulled a pokéball off the belt around her waist. He carefully added it to his own.

"Thanks," Tifa said. A miserable-looking trainer flagged her down and Tifa went back to work. Cloud clapped his hands and Cecil came hurrying back after depositing a few new bills into the jar.

"Let's get out of here." Cecil gave him a gentle headbutt in agreement.

They walked through a crowd of dizzy Spindas and pruning Glameows. Cloud jogged down the stairs to the first floor (Cecil bouncing along on top of his head) and left out a side door he could access with his hotel management badge. Midgar was… not the cleanest city, nor the prettiest, but the air still felt nice in his lungs.

Being the most industry-heavy of all the regions in the world, Gaia was littered in train networks and roads. Underground subway cars brought those who made it through Victory Road up this far, above the Plate.

There was at least the attempt to make the area around the Tower beautiful-looking. There were lush parks with lakes and other habitats for all kinds of Pokémon—all fake and man-made, but they were there.

Cloud walked to his favorite grassy field. It was too-green and crunched under his shoes. Cloud didn't own any grass types to be too upset about it though.

He plopped down on his bottom in the grass. Cecil hopped off to crawl around him. Cloud reached for his belt and withdrew two pokéballs—Titan, his Glalie, and Shiva, Tifa's Frosslas. He tossed them into the air, releasing both of the ice types.

"Hey guys," Cloud greeted. He raised his hands to pet both their heads after they floated over. Titan growled approvingly as Cloud's hand touched his cold, icy head. Shiva was always a little more fickle; she let Cloud touch her for a moment before drifting a couple feet away across the grass.

Cecil was amusing himself now by trying to jump underneath Shiva and get his big head in her hollow body cavity. The Frosslass thought he was funny and usually played along.

Titan's coldness was always soothing. Cloud puckered his lips and the Glalie floated closer until he bumped gently against Cloud. The blond kissed the hard rock underneath the icy exterior and then patted Titan with both hands. "Missed me?"

Of course he had. Tifa and Cloud both caught Snorunts together on the same day as children after straying a little too far from the path up to the old, creepy mansion in their hometown. They'd all been friends ever since.

As the three Pokémon played Cloud relaxed and watched them. His poor Avalugg was likely getting cramped too… Cloud's whole party was ice types (other than Cecil), like Tifa's, and Midgar just wasn't the best place for them. Ah well. One whole floor of the tower was an artificial ice habitat. There were fake snow machines and everything. Cloud made a note to try to get everybody out there sometime in the next week.

Small noises of distress made him blink and refocus. Cecil was on his back, his legs moving uselessly. Cloud laughed quietly, getting up and strolling over. Cecil's huge head was too big for him to turn over himself when this happened.

Cecil struggled harder when Cloud's wiggling fingers got closer and closer to his exposed belly. It didn't work. "Gotchaaaa," Cloud said as he tickled the poor Pokémon. Grrrr— Cecil growled, his jaw snicking over and over and over.

Eventually Cloud took pity on him and picked him up, cuddling Cecil to his chest. He rubbed the big curve of his head, smiling at the little legs thumping him in reproach.

Several loud barks drifted across the grass. Two Pokémon were zipping around, chasing each other on the artificial lawns. Cloud recognized that Houndoom and Mightyena.

Sure enough, their trainer wasn't too far behind, strolling this way. He had a ball in his hand which he threw hard. Mightyena and Houndoom sprinted for it, falling over each other and tripping each other up until one got it. Then they raced back to Zack.

Cloud waved, getting his attention. Zack threw the ball again, grinning, then jogged over. "Hey," he puffed as he reached them. Cloud, sitting again, tilted his head back and Zack stooped over him from behind to kiss him hello. Then he plopped down next to Cloud. Cecil crawled onto his lap.

"You last today?" Cloud asked, eyeing Zack's outfit. He was in comfortable shorts and a t-shirt, not the more formal getup he wore during battles where he represented the Elite Four.

"Yup. No one particularly strong is challenging us today. Angeal's up first and he hadn't been beaten once. They'll call me if they need me."

There was an official order: Sephiroth first, then Angeal, Zack, and lastly Genesis. If someone managed to beat all four of them in a row they'd move on to Aerith, the Champion of Gaia.

But to mix things up and ensure all of them stayed fresh, they rotated fairly often. Angeal's mix of Fighting and Psychic types would stop most challengers. Zack held out his hand and Cloud grabbed it, curling his fingers around Zack's.

"It's nice out," Zack murmured.

Titan and Shiva were amusing Odin and Ifrit now by freezing moisture in the air or shooting streams of ice into the sky. Ifrit used flamethrower to melt them and Odin ran joyfully through the melted droplets and mist clouds.

Zack's thumb pressed to his, stopping Cloud from fiddling with the ring on his finger. He hadn't realized he was doing it. "You think you're gonna use it soon?" Zack asked.

Cloud lifted their clasped hands to peer at his Mega-Evolution ring. It was a gift for his second anniversary with Zack, Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal, his boyfriends. Titan was having fun shooting ice for his friends.

"I think so." Cloud had never seen a mega Glalie before but had a feeling Titan would look amazing. "I don't think we're quite ready for it, but close."

"Cool."

Zack flopped backwards. Cloud chased him, turning and wrapping his arm around his waist. "You smell nice," he murmured, kissing his ear.

"Mm. Kunsel and I had a really good training session earlier, I was pretty gross." Zack and his Bisharp often practiced swordfighting together. He had some sort of training regimen with each of his Dark types. Cloud squeezed Zack's bicep and he flexed, a show-off like usual.

"I'm surprised you made it out here without being followed."

"Eh, I signed a couple autographs on my way out of the tower. Being out of uniform helps a ton with that, though."

Cloud slid his leg between Zack's. Playfully, he growled, "Your uniform is so sexy, though…"

Zack preened. (And it was. It was black and intimidating, befitting a Dark-type Elite Four trainer. Sleeveless jacket with a high collar, tight pants, official-looking boots, strategic cutouts in the right places.) "Oh, Cloud. You know how to flatter a guy."

Cloud chuckled softly against Zack's cheek, then kissed it again. They settled down together and closed their eyes, enjoying the warm breeze on their skin and the familiar sounds of their Pokémon playing nearby. Cloud's boyfriends were often busy with Elite Four business, and though Cloud got to spend time with them often, small shared moments like these were always precious. Cecil slept on Zack's stomach, occasionally clacking his jaw as he dreamed, probably about biting something hard.

A dark shadow fell over them as something flew by overhead. Cloud cracked open an eye, turning his head to catch a flash of green. A Flygon circled them twice before landing a dozen feet away. Cloud tensed his stomach as the Flygon gurgled in its throat, trilling a happy greeting. Cecil picked his head up and scrambled off of Zack (the man said oof) and over Cloud to get to the Flygon, going from asleep to 110% of his energy in the blink of an eye.

Minerva, Genesis' Flygon, gave birth to the egg that Cecil hatched from. Cecil ran around her feet and waddled up her tail, coming to rest on Minerva's back.

Zack gave Cloud's arm over his chest a squeeze before sitting up. "Gen said he'd send her to find me when they're done for the day. Ang must've made quick work of everybody."

"He'll be tired tonight."

"I was planning on wearing him out anyways."

Cloud chuckled as he followed Zack to Minerva. He ran his hands down the Pokémon's long neck. She gently headbutted Zack, making him grin. "Alright," Zack said, "We're gonna head home now. You can go on back to Genesis."

Minerva headbutted him again, and once Cloud pried Cecil off and held him firmly she took off back towards the Tower. All their Pokémon except for Cecil returned to their pokéballs and the two men strolled back to the Tower.

On the way in Zack was recognized by a reporter with a video camera. Zack pushed past them with an apology and griped to Cloud when they got in the elevator, "They always appear when I'm not dressed to kill."

"They're like Team AVALANCHE. Always lurking around."

"With worse costumes."

Each Elite Four member had their own large apartment, but they spent the most time in Genesis's. It had high ceilings to accommodate his Dragon type Pokémon and seemed the most spacious. As they went through the door Cecil squirmed until Cloud dropped him, and then he scurried into the next room and out of sight.

They slid off their shoes and entered the dining room, then past it into the living room. "Hel-lo," Genesis greeted, stretched out on the couch and peeking at them over a book.

Cloud was happy to see him. He bent to kiss the man, and when Genesis gave his waist a small tug Cloud easily went with it until he was lying alongside him on the couch. Genesis wrapped his arms around him and nestled his chin over Cloud's shoulder. "I am going to die if Sephiroth doesn't get here in the next fifteen minutes."

"Why?" Cloud asked, humoring him.

"Starvation."

"You didn't even do anything today," Zack drawled, sitting down on the opposite couch. "Angeal could probably eat Cloud's Avalugg after all his battles today."

"Hey," Cloud interjected.

"Seph got him his own pizza for himself, and yes, I did things."

"Oh, right. 'Nero, your bow isn't positioned just right, let me fuss with it for the fiftieth time.'"

"We have a contest this weekend, it was important! There was a photo op today."

Zack just snorted, grinning easily at his irate lover. "Calm down, baby, I'm just teasing you."

"He enjoys making fun of me," Genesis stage-whispered into Cloud's ear.

Cloud answered, deadpan, "We all like making fun of you." Also, the image of Genesis fiddling with his Noivern's bows and baubles it wore to contests was really silly.

Angeal eventually came out of the shower with Cecil in his arms. "He nested in the clothes I threw into the corner."

"Aw," Cloud said, because literally everything his Trapinch did was adorable. "It was all warm and steamy in there, he likes that."

Angeal placed him on Zack's lap and wandered through to the kitchens. "Sephiroth is taking a while," Genesis said. "He just went to pick it up from downstairs."

Out of all of them Sephiroth was the most likely to run into fans who wouldn't leave him alone. He was first up in the Elite Four's usual lineup, provided they weren't rotating, and the majority of people didn't get any farther. His Poison types sickened an opponent's Pokémon early on and kept up a constant barrage of status effects and tricky moves that the overwhelming majority of trainers just didn't know how to handle. He thus had more face-to-face contact with the public than any of them.

Genesis sat up and Cloud put his legs over the man's lap. He nuzzled into the warmth of his shoulder and smiled as Cecil joined them, cuddling in where the heat between them was greatest. Minerva had spent too much time with another Flygon belonging to Genesis's most hated nemesis, Weiss, the Dragon type Gym leader in Gaia… and then Minerva had delivered him an egg.

When Cloud, his boyfriend of just under a year at the time, expressed some interest in it, Genesis gladly handed the egg over. Cecil had been his since. He'd miss holding the little guy in his arms and curling up with him in bed someday but he was going to be a pretty badass Vibrava and Flygon too, Cloud could tell already.

Cecil's sleepy little burbles and Genesis's hand moving through his spikes was making Cloud tired too. He closed his eyes…nestled a little deeper into his boyfriend's side… let Angeal and Zack's chatter wash over him… felt the warmth leeching out from Genesis's skin…

…And the pager he kept on him at all times went off.

"Strife," he answered clearly, suddenly alert.

"There is a situation on the first floor," Vincent told him. "An irate guest. Escalating."

"I'll be right down."

Cloud slid Cecil onto Genesis's lap and stood. "I'll be back soon," Cloud announced, and moved to the doorway to put on shoes. "Save me some pizza once Seph gets here, alright?"

This was a common occurrence, and the others waved amicably at him. "Hurry back," Angeal said, giving him a warm look. Cloud nodded.

As a manager of the Housing department it was Cloud's job to get yelled at by pissed Hotel guests. There were two other managers who dealt with less 'critical' customers and one who managed the cleaning and facilities staff. He got paid to deal with this shit at all hours of the night, not Vincent. He took a staff elevator (much quicker) down and strode out onto the first floor. He'd grabbed one of his embroidered ShinRa Tower jackets he kept at Genesis's place on the way and looked at least a little bit professional.

To his surprise, a young man was screaming at Sephiroth, and a crowd was starting to gather around them.

Sephiroth looked rather bored, standing still with three pizza boxes in his arms. He was still in his Elite Four garb—a long leather jacket, open over his chest, and tight pants. He was second in today's rotation and had been on standby in case Angeal was defeated.

In comparison the man yelling in the middle of the lobby, his voice echoing off the marbled floors, looked enraged. And in between them—oh, it was the Champion. Cloud straightened his suit jacket and strode into the middle of it, not caring to sit by the side and wait for this to play itself out.

"What seems to be the problem, Sir?" Cloud asked, his voice clear and firm. The man had medium-length silver hair and was red in the face, trembling with rage.

"Back off," he spat, "I'm talking to the Champion."

Cloud didn't turn to look at Aerith, but he could tell that she was doing that 'cute, aloof and amused' thing she did whenever anyone was underfoot who thought they were tough shit. To her, hardly anyone was. Cloud frowned, concentrating on his face… he looked familiar.

"Kadaj, wasn't it?" Cloud asked. If Vincent had called him and not Yuffie, the other manager, it must have been one of his clients. The man blinked, derailed a little by Cloud remembering his name. "Why don't we all calm down and talk about your concerns in a private room in the back?"

"Fuck you," Kadaj yelled again, nearly in hysterics. He pointed a dramatic arm at Aerith. Cloud recognized the pose—Bird Keepers, ugh. Always dramatic and thinking their Flying types were way better than they actually were.

"Why don't you just fight me already?" he goaded Aerith. "In an even battle? Instead of hiding behind someone with such cheap tactics?" He put his hands on his hips, his lips curled back into a horrible sneer. "Huh? Or is the Champion not all she's cracked up to be?"

Sephiroth gave a small sigh behind him, and it all clicked. This man, Kadaj, must have challenged the Elite Four in the past week since he checked in… and lost horribly, presumably to Sephiroth. Many people called Sephiroth's fighting style underhanded, especially when they lost and were bitter about it… but Sephiroth didn't make any claims that poisoning his opponents and chipping away slowly but surely at their health was the most upstanding and honorable way to fight.

It was a valid way to fight, though, and those who challenged the Elite Four had to adapt to it.

Aerith said as much. She loved the color pink and looked so sweet in her dress and vest… but her voice held a taunting lilt. "If you can't even beat Sephiroth," she sighed, "You don't stand a chance against me."

Cloud fought not to roll his eyes. The Champion loved to battle. She rarely got to have official battles these days, not with her Elite Four as competent as they were. Cloud could feel her fingers itching towards her pokéballs already.

The situation was getting out of control though, and Cloud did not tolerate out of control situations in his Tower.

"Sir, that kind of language is not tolerated, and especially not directed at staff. If your behavior continues I am going to have to ask you to leave, and you will not be given a refund."

Kadaj ignored him completely, stepping to the side to an empty patch of lobby (the crowd around was getting bigger). "I haven't even heard of our Champion battling anyone in months—are you sure you even can?"

He sneered, reached into his pocket, and suddenly there was a Hawlucha and a Mawile on his clean shiny floors, and a Champion who looked like she did that one time she threatened to rip a guy's balls off.

Cloud fearlessly walked between them. He put his hand on Aerith's Mawile's head and glared at Kadaj with a look that could have frozen his Glalie. "There is no battling allowed in the Tower outside of designated areas," he said, enunciating every rehearsed word clearly. He moved closer to the Hawlucha, the low heels of his shoes clicking against the floor. "Please remove yourself from the Tower at once."

Kadaj looked like he was going to brush him off again, but Cloud had none of it.

Aerith may have been the strongest trainer in all of Gaia, and Sephiroth may be the most popular, but Cloud was the one with the power to kick people the fuck out, not either of them.

"You are bothering the rest of the visitors to the Tower. Your things will be removed from your room and returned to you—either to the closest Pokémon center or to the closest jail for an overnight holding, because if you stay in my Tower another ten seconds that's where you're going for being a public disturbance."

After another short stare-down Kadaj left.

Cloud apologized formally to the bystanders, handing them '5 Poké off' coupons for the restaurant downstairs. He frowned at Aerith, who looked a little bashful but waved him off, and put a hand on Sephiroth's back and guided him back towards the staff elevator. "You want to join us for cold pizza?" he asked Aerith, walking beside them.

"If you don't mind? Tifa's working for another few hours yet."

The three of them piled into the elevator. As the doors shut Cloud sagged against the back handrail and sighed, his old Nibel drawl in full force, "I hate talkin' all formal. It hurts my mouth to do a big ol' speech like that."

"It was sexy," Sephiroth commented, like he was talking about his Dragalge's special defense.

"He did deserve to get his face kicked in a little bit though," Aerith said. Cloud turned sourly to her, but his halfhearted glare faded as she brushed the back of her hand against his cheek. "Are you okay? Sorry to make you come down and deal with that."

"It's fine—that's my job. I'd rather deal with it than have you or Seph have to." Cloud knew Sephiroth in particular hated running into fans (or enemies) outside the comfortable and familiar space of his room where he battled. "Were you two talking in the lobby when he came up to you?"

Aerith confirmed, "Yup." The two were related—not super closely, but closely enough. They were friendly; Aerith had probably come over to talk to him as he picked up the pizzas from downstairs, and… eurgh. He'd put it all in the incident report the next day—he was too beat to deal with it now. He texted Vincent as they went back to the apartment and as he stuck it back in his pocket he prayed he wasn't contacted again, or at least not for a couple hours.

"Hey, you," Zack greeted from the couch as Aerith followed Cloud and Sephiroth inside Genesis's apartment. He lifted his arms and Aerith went to him. They hugged and squeezed and ruffled hair and Cloud sighed, smiling slightly at them, plopping down next to Genesis again on the couch. Those two had been best friends for years now.

Angeal adored their Champion too, though Genesis' relationship with her was a bit cooler.

(It was his pride, Cloud knew—Genesis was second-strongest, after her. He always bragged to anyone that would listen that he could be the Champion if he really wanted to, but with his contests and various hobbies he didn't have the time. Genesis had Dragon types and Aerith was Fairy type. No, he couldn't.)

Sephiroth got plates and the six of them clustered around each other and scarfed it all down. Cecil crawled around begging everyone for crusts; eventually Cloud pulled him onto his lap and kept the squirming Pokémon there with one arm to stop him from bugging everyone else.

"You get any work done today, Aer?" Zack asked her.

"Some. Marlene and I walked around some of the old Cetra ruins after lunchtime. We found a cave full of Unown, but it was too deep to explore in depth. We'll go back with more supplies soon."

Aerith was often seen strolling around Midgar with her Sylveon's ribbons wrapped affectionately around her arm as they strolled. She and her Pokémon had been spending the past couple months exploring some old archeological sites in one of the oldest Sectors below the plate. Sometimes Zack or Sephiroth went with her.

Cloud stretched out an arm and Angeal moved around to sit between him and Genesis. Cloud tilted his head with his hand and kissed his soft lips, his scratchy stubble. "I missed you today," he said, pressing his smile to Angeal's cheek. Then he got up and cupped Sephiroth's face in his hands, kissing the top of his nose between his eyes. The man went cross-eyed to keep Cloud's face in view—terribly cute.

"Missed you too. You sure you're okay after what happened earlier?"

Sephiroth nodded, then smiled slyly at him. "You came to my rescue—how could I not be?"

Cloud blushed a bit as Aerith gave a quiet little whoop. The blond hiked a leg up onto the loveseat, half-straddled over Sephiroth's lap, and twisted around. "You owe me a drink at the bar for that. You were really going to get into it with someone like that? One of Sephiroth's revenge groupies, seriously?"

Aerith laughed, tucking some brown hair behind her ear. "Before you got there he was going on and on about how I'm hiding behind Sephiroth's cheating ways—I do have some honor, you know. I've got to—" she glanced at Angeal, eyes narrowed playfully, "—protect that!"

Angeal didn't realize he was being teased. He nodded seriously. "I understand that," he said. "There comes a point where you have to act."

Cloud sighed, letting his head tilt forward to rest against Sephiroth's shoulder. Genesis snorted, and Aerith looked pleased.

When Cecil bit Cloud's pant leg and started tugging him towards the next room Cloud knew it was time for bed. "Tell Teef I said 'goodnight,' would you?" Cloud asked as he saw Aerith out.

"I will," she promised, smiling softly at the mention of her wife's name. "Sleep well, Cloud."

"I will. Take a picture of any 'C' Unown, will you?"

"For Cecil? Cloud?"

"For 'Crap, my job is utter Crap.'"

Aerith laughed, then gave him a quick, warm hug. She turned on her heel, her dress flapping out behind her like there was her own personal fan waiting dramatically at the end of the hall. Cloud watched her go, smiling, and returned to the others.

Zack and Angeal retired to the other bedroom (Zack with a wink in Cloud's direction) and the other three retired to bed themselves. Cecil curled up on Cloud's pillow; Cloud used Sephiroth's shoulder instead. The other two clasped hands over Cloud's belly. In the middle of the night they'd all shift around and wake up farther apart… but this was nice, for now.

"I'm up first tomorrow," Genesis whispered. "No one's getting past me."

"Unless they bring Dragon or Fairy types," Sephiroth muttered.

Genesis retracted his hand to gently smack at the top of Sephiroth's. The man chuckled, his voice deep and rich in Cloud's hair.

"Someday you and I'll challenge those Elite Four losers and become the new Champion," Cloud said, up to Cecil. "Right, buddy?"

Cloud's Trapinch growled enthusiastically, and Cloud bade all his loves goodnight.

---

Day 4/9 of Cloud's Birthday Week 2k16. Cloud is a boyfriend type Pokémon.