It was a great day in the Smash Heaven hotel as a new fighter, Cloud Strife, was checking in. The Original Eight came to welcome him.
"Mr-a Strife!" Mario greeted Cloud heartily. "How does it-a feel to be here?"
"It's promising, definitely." Cloud grinned. "There are so many new people and places in the world to explore, and I ended up in this one. I got lucky, I guess!"
"That's exactly-a right!" Mario cheered.
"I, for one, am glad to see someone with tactical prowess!" Fox said happily.
"Yep, that's me!" Cloud said. "Mister Tactical, here I come. Tactics for days."
"Yes!" Captain Falcon flipped upside down and then did the splits. "New blood in the arena to race straight through."
"Falcon!" Mario smacked Captain Falcon upside the head.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm suuuure that's gonna happen." Cloud smirked.
"You wanna go?" Captain Falcon looked ready to Falcon Punch Cloud out.
"No! No. I'm good for now, thanks." he laughed.
Pikachu crawled over, and climbed onto Cloud's heavily armored shoulder. "Pika, Pikachu!" he said. "Pi, pika pi chupi!"
"Hey, little guy!" Cloud nuzzled his gloved hand in Pikachu's fur. "Man, you're one weird looking Chocobo!"
Pikachu nestled in Cloud's arms.
Donkey Kong stuck out his big hand, and Cloud shook it.
"Wow," Cloud said, amazed. "It's a huge honor to be here. Thanks, guys!"
"Would you like-a me to show you to your room, Mr-a Strife?" Mario offered.
"That would be great." Cloud let Pikachu down, and patted Mario on the back. "But just call me Cloud."
"Let's-a go!" Mario motioned for Cloud to follow.
The two of them continued through the front lobby, past the front desk. Cloud was toting a duffel bag.
Pit was working at the front desk, shuffling some papers around. All of a sudden, he looked up, and his eyes burst wide open.
"C-c-cloud? Cloud! Here, in our hotel? Whaaaat?" Pit hyperventilated, and tried to calm himself.
"You've heard of me?" Cloud slowly tiptoed over to the desk.
"Yeah!" Pit said, excited. "You're from AVALANCHE! You know, with Barret and T-t-tifa!" Pit sighed.
"That's me, all right." Cloud sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"Awesome!" Pit cried. "Can I shake your hand, can I? Pleeeease?"
"If it makes ya happy," Cloud gave up. He stuck out his hand.
Pit looked delighted as he shook Cloud's hand. "Oh, thank you thank you thank youuuu!"
Mario kept moving, so Cloud decided to follow.
Next was the lounge area. The huge ninety inch flatscreen was playing some kind of mystical show. Some British lady with glasses was mumbling about some monster. Nobody was watching.
"Cloud, we didn't expect-a your arrival, so you're going to share a room with two other members. Is that-a going to be alright-a?" Mario asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine." Cloud said. "I've been in worse places."
Mario slowly began up the stairs.
"I'm-a not in as good-a shape as I used to be," he said. "Sorry."
Cloud said nothing, as he just hoisted his duffel up a little higher, and continued up the stairs.
"What room am I heading to?" he asked.
"It's-a all the way up these stairs, to room 108. That's-a where you'll find your home for-a good while." Mario said.
"I can get there on my own, if you don't mind." Cloud said bashfully. "Save you the trip, and all." Cloud noticed Mario was looking really tired out.
"Oh, thank-a you!" Mario smiled. He tossed a single key on a ring, and Cloud caught it with one hand. "That's your-a key."
"Hey, no problem," Cloud gave Mario a thumbs up. "I hope to see you around!"
Cloud bolted up the stairs, leaving Mario in the dust.
In the hallway, there were several people chatting and milling around. It was a slow afternoon, and no one had anywhere to be.
Cloud stomped through the hall, his black boots thumping on the thin carpet.
As he passed, many turned their heads but Cloud paid them no mind. He marched straight, and turned sharply to a door marked 108. The little placard had glitter sloppily thrown on it.
"That's weird." Cloud thought.
He tried the door handle gently, and it was locked.
Cloud sunk the key deep into the lock hole on the doorknob. He turned it to the right as far as the key went. Click.
The door to room 108 unlocked, and Cloud opened it warily. Inside, he spotted two women, rather busy.
It was Samus Aran, sitting in a chair reading some thick novel. She was also wearing her Zero Suit. Peeking out from the kitchenette was Princess Peach!
"Hey." Cloud gave a little wave.
"Ooh!" Peach set down her frying pan and came through the hallway into the area that served as a bedroom (where the door was) to greet Cloud. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir. I'm Peach. What's up?"
"Um, I think I'm supposed to live here, maybe." Cloud stammered.
Samus sighed in annoyance. "Are you, or aren't you? There isn't a state of limbo for living quarters."
"Mario said I'm living here now." Cloud said, firmly.
"Great!" Peach said cheerily.
"Greeeeat." Samus groaned sarcastically.
"What's your name?" Peach asked.
"Cloud. Cloud Strife." he said.
Peach dashed back into the kitchen, and fumbled with some stuff. Then, she returned.
"Sorry! I was just getting a head-start on dinner, didn't want it to burn."
"No problem." Cloud said coolly.
"Cloud, please let me help you with your bag!" Peach insisted.
"That'd be great," Cloud grinned. "Can I set it down somewhere first, though?"
"Sure," Peach said. "You can use Samus's bed for your stay here."
"Don't let him on my bed!" Samus protested. "Where will I sleep?"
Peach wagged her finger. "Sammy!" she said disapprovingly. "Be nice to our guest."
Cloud dropped his duffel bag on the bed that was evidently Samus's. Very plain, unlike Princess Peach's glittery rainbow bedspread.
First, he pulled out his powerful Buster Sword. It flailed around a bit, as Cloud hadn't carried the heavy thing in several days during his travel to the hotel.
"Whoa!" Samus gasped. "Cloud, watch where you swing that thing. You nearly chopped of my head!"
"Sorry." Cloud said sheepishly.
Peach moved a little closer. "Do you need my help unloading anything?" she asked.
"Nope," Cloud told her. "Everything else in here is clothes. Can I throw this under the bed?" he asked.
"That's fine." Peach said.
Cloud was just lifting up the bedsheets to slide his bag underneath, when Samus started to protest.
"Nooo!" she cried, throwing her book at Cloud's head. "Don't go under there!"
The book, which was quite heavy, slammed Cloud right in the face. Cloud fell back, and dropped limp.
Time seemed to stop for a second, until Cloud's nose started gushing blood and a bruise began to form on his face.
"Samus!" Peach frowned. "Whatever have you done?"
"I hit Cloud with a book." Samus said matter-of-factly.
"Why?" Peach demanded.
"Hey, nobody goes under my bed but me." Samus reminded Peach.
Then, Peach looked back at Cloud, and cringed. His nose was gushing blood all over the place, covering his soon forming bruises with sticky red blood. Not only that, but there was even more blood. It seemed to be coming from under him.
Peach ran over to Cloud, and lifted up his limp body. The back of his head had fallen with a hard thump on his Buster Sword, which created a huge gash which was oozing blood.
"He looks like he's going to die!" Peach shrieked, suddenly dropping Cloud's body back to the ground, remembering she was repulsed by the sight of blood, not to mention it just gushed all over her lacy pink dress. Peach ran off to the bathroom to wash off.
Samus narrowed her eyes, and scowled.
"Whatever." she thought.
"Sam! Take him to Dr. Mario!" Peach called from inside the bathroom. "Now!"
"Fine, see if I care." Samus huffed, but she did end up lifting up Cloud bridal style and heading out the door. "I'll be back!" she called back to Peach.
Samus, gripping Cloud in her arms, was running down the hallway the best she could.
This time, instead of the stairs Cloud took, Samus made use of the elevator. It wasn't often used because it only went to one floor with maintenance stuff, but Dr. Mario set up shop down there, so with any luck it was the fastest way to get to him.
Samus then braced herself to clutch Cloud in one arm, and she pressed the elevator button.
The elevator opened, and Samus got in. The best thing about it was that since it only went to one floor, there was no button pressing involved.
"Bla… tifarghhh" Cloud moaned softly.
"Hey!" Samus yelled in the empty elevator as if Cloud could hear her. "Don't die now and have me be held responsible."
The elevator stopped with a ding. The doors slid open, and Samus warily walked out, her arms growing weak from Cloud's heavy body.
There were tools and workbenches aplenty, probably for building the endless items for fights. Samus explored a little, as Dr. Mario's office wasn't where it used to be. In its place was a locked door to a dungeon, one Samus knew as where Assist Trophy characters were held. Very dangerous.
She checked where the Assist Trophies used to be, and there was the mini hospital!
Samus slammed the door open, and threw Cloud's body down on a paper-covered examination table.
"Doc! It's an emergency!" she yelled out, since the good doctor was nowhere to be seen, and he was definitely in the back room. He wasn't.
"Dammit, I forgot." Samus wanted to kick herself. Dr. Mario was taking the golfing break he always took Thursday afternoons.
But somebody did pop out from the back room.
"Yes?" the voice called. "Can I help you? What is it?"
It was Ryu, the wandering fighter!
"Ryu! I'm so glad you're, um, here." Samus said, losing her excitement in the middle of the sentence. "Yeah. It's you."
"And it's good to see you too, Samus." Ryu said sarcastically. "What's the problem?" he asked. Then, he looked over at the table, where Cloud was bleeding profusely all over the paper. "Oh!"
Ryu hurried to the exam table. "Who is this?"
"Cloud." Samus said disdainfully. "He's new, I guess."
Ryu examined Cloud thoroughly, talking as he looked with urgency. "Dr. Mario's taken me in as an apprentice, so I was just organizing some medicine when you came."
"I never thought you the Hippocratic type." Samus said, surprised.
"I've always been interested in healing and modern medicine," Ryu admitted. "It's really a marvel what can be done these days."
Ryu noticed the gigantic gash on the back of Cloud's head, covered by his bloody hair. "What? This is bad! How did this happen?"
"A book injury." Samus said, laughing a little even though this was not a laughing matter.
"What book?" Ryu asked, in disbelief. "Nothing could cause this much damage!"
"It was… a scientific journal called Genetic Mutations in Intergalactic Creatures." Samus said. "It was probably ten pounds in weight. Really thick.
Ryu disinfected Cloud's wound, sprayed it with something, and reached in a cabinet. "Shoot!" he said, disappointed. "Excuse me for a minute, Samus."
Ryu went into the back room, probably trying to find whatever wasn't in the cabinet.
Samus pulled up a chair and watched Cloud for a minute. Cloud's… unique style of clothing was covered in blood. From his navy tank-top turtleneck, to his rolled-down combat boots, he was battered, and drenched in blood that was still trickling down his face.
The bounty hunter felt pretty bad at that point, and she had definitely gone too far.
Samus hopped up to a little counter and got some cotton balls out of a jar. She applied them to Cloud's face, trying to soak up the blood a little bit. It wasn't helping much. It was one step forward two steps back as far as the blood went.
Then, Cloud slowly came to.
His piercing blue eyes slowly opened, and he moaned in pain.
"Be still," Samus whispered.
"Are you… an angel?" Cloud asked, hazily.
"You'll be all right." Samus reassured him.
Then, Ryu came back with a small box. "Is he breathing?" he asked.
"Yeah," Samus replied. "But right now he's a little out of it."
Ryu opened the box. Bandages! He wrapped the long white bandage around Cloud's head, covering the injury. Then, Ryu examined Cloud's mouth.
"His teeth are luckily all accounted for," Ryu said. "His hair can cover the bandage on both sides of his head, so if we clean up this blood, take good care of him, some bruising will be all anyone will see."
"So he's free to go?" Samus asked.
"I think so," he replied. "but be gentle and give him some rest. I think he's conscious now, so I can officially say Cloud is free to go."
Ryu lifted the spiky-haired swordman upright, a tiring task for Samus but small potatoes to Ryu. After holding Cloud up to steady him, Ryu let go, and Cloud was standing!
He rubbed his eyes. "Where am I?" he asked in confusion. "Why does my mouth taste bloody?"
Samus quickly hurried him out of the doctor's office.
"Remember," Ryu reminded Samus. "This won't cost you anything as long as you don't let Dr. Mario know. I'm technically not licensed to do this!"
"Yeah, yeah." Samus muttered, and she slammed the door shut.
"So… what's going on?" Cloud wondered out loud.
Samus opened the door to the elevator, and holding Cloud tight in a not-so-friendly hug, she dragged him into it.
"I can tell you," she said. "but what do you remember?"
"I remember going to my new apartment, and I was putting away some stuff." Cloud said, his mind really in the clouds.
"That's all?" Samus asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Cloud insisted.
"Well," Samus didn't really know what to say, or honestly how to say it. "You were unpacking, and I threw a thick book at you. Then, you fell back on your sword."
"I wondered why that was missing from my back!" Cloud exclaimed. "Why did you throw a book at me, though?"
"Because..." Samus had to tread lightly. "You were about to go under my bed. That's all."
"What's so bad about that?" Cloud questioned.
"I have things under there, that nobody can know about." Samus said meekly.
Cloud opened his eyes wide. "Really? Like what?"
Samus sighed. "Lots of things, but mostly things from my home. Secretive equipment, a contained little alien, and a picture of… my parents."
"Your parents?" Cloud asked.
"They died a long time ago," Samus explained. "Killed. By a monster. I call him Ridley. I was forced to watch my mother and father be brutally slaughtered. I only have one photo of the two of them, and it's very old and fragile. One wrong move, and it turns to dust. I couldn't risk losing the only part of them I have left."
Cloud put his head on Samus's shoulder and began crying. Tears rolled down his face like little raindrops from a big Cloud.
"What's wrong?" Samus asked, shocked that a practically grown man, or at least an older teen, was crying right then and there. She hoped it wasn't because of his injury.
"I can't stand the weak." she thought.
"I just," Cloud hiccuped for a second. "Feel so bad. About your parents. I was really invading your space. I'm so sorryyyy!" he sobbed. "I can't imagine how awful that must be, and I almost ruined everything."
Samus wasn't used to having to comfort people, but she knew Cloud needed it. "It's, um, okay. I forgive you. I forgive you!"
"Really?"
The elevator stopped with a ding, and Samus got out, Cloud still crying.
"Really. I forgive you. Completely. Don't feel bad." Samus said, opening the unlocked apartment door.
"Who is iiiiit?" Peach said in a sing-song voice, totally forgetting about Samus or Cloud. Then, she looked and saw who it was.
Samus could barely close the door before Peach came over and slapped Samus hard across the face.
"Ow!" Samus yelped. When Peach was mad, you knew something was really wrong to destroy her usually pleasant demeanor.
"This is for hurting our new guest like that, Sam!" Peach yelled. "What were you thinking?"
"Your majesty!" Cloud tried to calm Peach down, and it was working, to some degree. "It's okay. It wasn't her fault. I overstepped my boundaries." Cloud tried to hold back more tears, his eyes all puffy and red still.
"I still acted irrationally, Cloud." Samus apologized. "It's on me, really."
"Well, as long as you two have everything settled, I'm going to keep cooking." Peach said happily.
"You like to cook?" Cloud asked.
"Yes!" Peach giggled. "It's so much fun. It's simply an art, you know. With every dish, there's a long history of recipes and inventions."
"She's a little obsessed," Samus remarked.
So Peach went back into the kitchen, and got busy.
Cloud's duffel bag was placed on top of Samus's bed while the two of them were gone, and would probably never be placed under the bed.
Now, Samus and Cloud were just sitting around, Samus back in her chair, and Cloud was stretched out on the hardwood floor.
The silence was awkward, to Cloud at least.
"I like your jumpsuit." he said, randomly. "Must be really useful and lightweight for combat situations, and stuff."
"I've never been one for fashion." Samus said, and left it at that.
More silence. Something sloshing around in the kitchen could be heard.
"Really, I enjoy my Power Suit more," Samus corrected herself.
"What's that like?" Cloud asked.
"It's big, rather bulky. A full body suit. I use it often for space travel, shooting aliens."
"Wow!" Cloud gasped. "That's awesome! I never would have thought someone like you would kill aliens and all that."
"What do you mean, someone like me?" Samus raised an eyebrow.
"Well, um, I just thought… you were kinda too weak to do that stuff, y'know?" Cloud was tugging at his collar at this point.
"Oh, right." Samus rolled her eyes. "Because you wear a 95 pound suit in the depths of space, get paid to blast space pirates until you can see their green blood, explore destroyed space colonies for a fearsome, gigantic purple space dragon-"
"Like Barnold?" Cloud asked.
"Barnold?" Samus questioned.
"He's a cutesy purple dragon on television where I'm from," Cloud explained. "I guess he doesn't get plastered on everything from lunchboxes to coffee mugs around here."
"Not like Barnold!" Samus shouted. "I explore exploded, destroyed space colonies full of dead scientists for a fearsome, gigantic, purple dragon, and get attacked by squishy creatures who suck out your life force in seconds, and go head-to-head with a massive, wrinkly, brain in a jar, WITH EYES, who shoots cosmic laser beams that can destroy planets!"
Samus was practically breathing down Cloud's throat at this point.
"Is that weak? Am I too weak? Am I?" Samus asked, daring Cloud to reply.
"No, that's not weak!" Cloud yelped. "Sorry! I had no clue how incredible you are, like I said in the first place."
"Good. Keep it that way." Samus gave Cloud a death stare and a scowl.
Then, they both started cracking up.
"Hahaha!" Cloud chuckled. "You are so serious!"
"Heh, heh. I know, right?" Samus was laughing too.
Eventually, everything quieted down, leaving Samus and Cloud just chilling in silence.
"So, what do you guys do for fun around here?" Cloud asked.
"Read. Study. Sleep with one eye open." Samus said plainly. It was clear she was pretty introverted.
"Okay then, if someone hypothetically was looking for some activities in this building, what would they hypothetically do?" Cloud sighed.
"Nothing, at least not today." Samus said. "R.O.B.'s going around on cleaning day. That's his task on Thursdays."
"Who's Rob? And why is that so bad?" Cloud asked.
"He's a robot. He blunders through every task at the slightest distraction. If he needs to refill a vending machine and someone nearby is on a phone, the vending machine end up getting set on fire," Samus explained. "Certain people like to follow R.O.B. to mess him up on purpose. Last week, R.O.B. was speeding down the outside hallway at 20 miles per hour with a soapy bucket on his head. I wouldn't recommend going out today!"
"That sounds like fun," Cloud admitted. "In an evil kind of way."
"To be frank, I am rather bored." Samus admitted. "Do you have any ideas of an activity that don't involve getting hit by a gyrating metal top?"
"We could play with my chocobo," Cloud suggested.
"A chocobo?" Samus was intrigued. "What's that?"
"It's a cute little creature. Kids like to raise them as pets. One of mine hatched a couple days ago. I call him Boko!" Cloud said proudly.
"Well, let's see it." Samus was excited.
Cloud ruffled around in his duffel bag. Out came a fuzzy little bird-like thing, with blue eyes like Cloud, and yellow down to match his hair. Boko also had a protruding little beak.
"Boko looks like you, Cloud!" Samus slid off her chair and knelt down to get a closer look at the cute baby chocobo.
"Kweh!" Boko called, and he looked like he was smiling.
"It's cute!" Samus said, laughing.
Boko was running around like crazy, kweh-ing all over the place.
Samus and Cloud were laughing their heads off.
"He has quite a funny walk," Samus noted.
"Y'know, if a chocobo gets big enough, you can ride it!" Cloud said excitedly.
"That's awesome!" Samus cheered in a state of childlike wonder. "How fast do they grow?"
"Boko'll probably be big enough for riding in three weeks," Cloud said. "I, for one, am excited to ride him!"
All of a sudden, Boko bumped into a lamp.
"K-k-kweh kweh!" Boko cawed. He went totally berserk and started racing around.
"Ouch!" Cloud felt bad for his chocobo.
"Well, he's running quickly already. That's good." Samus said.
Then, disaster struck. Boko ran around like, well, a chicken with its head cut off. The crazy chocobo dashed into the kitchen, and onto the stovetop.
"Eeeek!" Peach shrieked. "Get it off get it off!"
Something fell to the floor with a loud BANG. Samus and Cloud ran over to see a huge pot of soup had fallen over, and was sinking into the floor.
"Where's the mop?" Cloud asked in a panic.
"In here!" Samus pulled open a little closet door. A mop was attached to the inside, and the bounty hunter swiftly removed it, and tossed the rather heavy mop to Cloud
Cloud spun the mop like his trusty Buster Sword, and Samus ran over with a bucket of water to help him out.
Where was the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom? She had fainted onto a nearby couch, and Boko was playfully pecking at her with his beak.
Cloud deftly wiped up the soup in a flash, sinking the mop into the water bucket. Then, he grabbed a try rag and quickly swiped at the floor in an attempt to dry it.
Samus grabbed the now empty pot and put it back on the stovetop.
"What happened?" Cloud asked, dazed by how fast everything went by.
"That thing knocked over the soup," Samus noted.
"Boko? But he's so lightweight," Cloud pointed out.
Speak of the devil, Boko was off of Peach, and hopped over to Cloud again.
"Kweh!" his beak seemed to hold a devilish grin.
"Hey, it''s back to your little bed for you!" Cloud said in a silly way, picking up Boko, and petting his feathers.
Cloud set Boko down in his duffel bag, and Samus was a little alarmed for Boko's safety.
"Is Boko gonna be all right in there?" she asked.
"Totally," Cloud assured her. "I made a little nest for 'im. Food, too."
Cloud was sitting on Samus's bed next to his duffel bag which was also on Samus's bed, so Samus sat down next to Cloud.
Neither of them put away the mop stuff. They figured Peach could handle that, considering she dropped out for the whole ordeal.
Peach snapped up in a panic, and realized where she was. Walking into the bedroom, she frowned, ashamed.
"Well, I'm just so sorry you two!" she sighed. "Ohhh… there goes dinner tonight and it was all my fault!"
"It wasn't your fault," Cloud tried to make Peach feel better.
"It was!" Peach insisted. "A good chef always keeps good control on her pots and pans. Always! But not me.."
Peach laid down on her own glitter-covered bed, and stared up at the ceiling.
Samus felt responsible. "How about I call for some room service?" she offered.
"No way Sam," Peach reminded her. "It's much too late for that. It's already ten o'clock. We might have to go without tonight. I'm all out of ingredients anyways, or I'd definitely start anew. I must shop at the market tomorrow morning!"
Cloud yawned. "I'm pretty tuckered out, how about you two?" he asked.
"I could sleep," Peach admitted.
Samus smirked. "Me too, definitely. I'd love some good sleep tonight!"
Peach got up, and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to change into my nightgown and brush my teeth, guys. Bear with me, please!"
"Hey, it's cool." Cloud said. He thought Peach was a little too tight about things for his taste. Life is meant to be enjoyed, is it not? That was his line of thinking anyway. Samus was pretty chill about stuff.
Samus stretched out a little bit, and yawned a little in her mouth. "It was a pretty long day today, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "Definitely, really long."
"That's the way I like it," Samus said.
Cloud looked at her funny. "Huh?"
"Long days are better than short ones," Samus said. "Short days feel like my life is flying by, that I'll die any day."
"Yeah?" Cloud said, interested.
"But the long ones, they feel really good. Not like short days." she explained.
"Definitely," Cloud thought carefully. "But the important thing to remember is that all days last the same amount, no matter what they feel like. And we're all going to die. That's the only thing anyone can truly rely on. The mortality of humans. You can't avoid it."
"I hate to think about it," Samus shuddered.
"Well, in a way, I hate thinking about it too." Cloud said, his eyes shining like he was about to tell a really stupid joke. "Because literally, dying is-"
Samus was bracing herself for it.
"Dying is, literally, the LAST thing I'd EVER do." Cloud joked, stifling a laugh.
"Ha-ha, very funny." Samus said sarcastically. "Now are you going to ask me why the chicken crossed the road?"
"Only if you want me to," Cloud said.
"Please, please, anything but that!" Samus playfully shook Cloud's shoulder.
Peach came out of the bathroom, wearing her flowery pink nightgown, and Cloud thought it looked, pretty much, like her regular dress and so why would you even change?
"Hey, I'm gonna change too," Samus said to nobody in particular, so she left for the bathroom also.
Peach put on some old-lady reading glasses, and looked like she was going to do something, when she suddenly asked Cloud a question.
"Hey, Cloud? Do you like it here so far?" Peach asked.
"Yeah, it's cool. I like you guys." Cloud said honestly.
"Well, we like you two times back!" Peach grinned. "And I certainly think I can speak for Sammy when I say that!"
"I hoped so," Cloud agreed.
"More than you know." Peach muttered under her breath.
Then, Peach pulled a big book out from under her bed and began reading it. It had a shirtless man riding a horse and carrying a sword on the cover. Cloud felt really awkward, so he just laid back on Samus's bed that he was sitting on.
Then, Samus returned, and she was wearing even less than before, if it was possible. Her night outfit seemed more like a very thin swimsuit than pajamas. Without a word, she slowly sat down on her bed, and looked over at Cloud.
Cloud got up, and took off the gigantic metal shoulder armor he usually wore. Then he removed his wool shirt to reveal some decent abs.
"Ahhh..." he gave a sigh of relief. "It gets a little tiring wearing those all day."
"I bet," Peach agreed. "Especially with all your incredible swordfighting!"
Cloud stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.
Peach took off her reading glasses and laid down.
Samus pulled up her covers and sunk into bed. She clapped her hands and the lights shut off.
"Um.. where do I sleep?" he asked bashfully. No reply. It was dark, and totally silent. Cloud felt a sudden shiver of fear that he had never experienced before. It was pitch black, and he couldn't see a thing.
After an agonizing minute or two, Princess Peach groaned in the darkness. "Ugh, Cloud… take the other bed. It's bigger."
If the other bed was referring to the one not Peach's, then that could only mean Samus's bed.
"Wait, what?" Cloud said in disbelief.
"Yeah, go to bed." Peach said yawning.
"Really?" Cloud now said in more excitement.
No response.
"Cloud, if you say one more thing to me tonight I'm throwing you out the yoshi-ing window." Peach said grumpily.
So Cloud, noticing that apparently, around there, people fell asleep quickly and woke up at the drop of a hat, was wary of waking Samus up, considering her temper.
Ever-so-slowly, he picked up one side of the heavy quilt on Samus's bed. If memory served, it was covered with intense colors and swirls that may be some other language.
Cloud was terrified of waking up the sleeping space bounty hunter. But little did he know, she was trying very hard to seem like she was sleeping, but Samus Aran was really wide awake.
Cloud, fearing for his life, slipped under the quilt. Immediately, the tense feelings of fear melted away once he had successfully completed step 1 of actually getting on the bed.
Now, he felt something else entirely, lying next to this beautiful woman he was beginning to develop feelings for.
The night was completely sleepless for Cloud, as he lay awake, staring upwards at where the ceiling would be, if he could see it. No matter how he tried to sleep, nothing worked.
Samus was also awake, but by choice. Taking advantage of the darkness, she pretended to roll over, landing her head right on Cloud's chest.
Cloud's heart began beating faster and faster, as blood began to flow in his body, and Samus felt it. He didn't fall asleep until he passed out from lack of it. Everything went numb.
In the morning, the lights were clapped on by Princess Peach, who got up bright and early to go make pancakes.
Cloud was feeling tired, considering he didn't hit the hay completely until at least 1 A.M. if not later. It was almost like being hungover. Cloud turned his head over towards Samus.
"Oy… Sammy? Can you, like, get her to turn the lights off? Ugh..." Cloud mumbled, in a hazy state.
Samus was stunned for a minute.
"He called me Sammy. He called me Sammy!" she thought. "No. I will never fall for anyone again. Relationships get in the way of efficient work and growth."
"There's no getting in the way of her highness and the morning routine," Samus said flatly, and it was true.
Cloud rubbed his eyes, and sat up fully. His pants were a little sticky. Weird. "How'd you sleep?" he asked, not as a pleasantry but as a real question of how could someone sleep under such a thick quilt as Samus's.
"That was one of the best nights I can remember," she said. "Were you able to sleep well?"
"Totally." Cloud admitted. "How could I not, sleeping next to you?" he laughed.
Then, Peach returned to the room. Hey, the pancakes are almost ready! But, I seem to have completely run out of maple syrup. Cloud, would you mind going down the hall to Pit's room to borrow some syrup? Surely they have it," she said.
"Yeah, I can do it," Cloud said, as he opened the door, and left.
Peach walked over to Samus, who was still lying under the quilt. "Sooo…" she asked. "How did it go last night?"
"It was, well, refreshing." Samus admitted.
"Hiding the pullout couch in the closet was genius of me, wasn't it?" Peach gloated a little.
"Honestly, I'm regretting the whole thing." Samus said. "Hiding the technical third bed is really shifty."
"Samus, you need a new friend, and a new man in your life. This new guy takes care of both for you!" Peach explained.
"Cloud is more than an object, and he's not just to be used," Samus insisted.
"I bet he enjoyed it as much as you did," Peach teased.
"Just go finish the freaking pancakes!" Samus huffed.
Just then, Cloud returned, hoding a huge bottle of syrup. "Man, that Pit is a great guy! His brother's really grumpy, or whoever that emo kid is. So I knocked to ask for some maple syrup, and the next thing I know, I'm playing a round of Mario Kart with that angel! Crazy, huh?"
So Samus, Peach, and Cloud ate pancakes together, but they were much closer than when Cloud met his two new roomates.