"Oh, crap."

He knew he should've brought an umbrella, but somehow, he always forgot. The sky had been an angry grey when he'd left the house; Cloud had even reminded him.

Yet, he still managed to forget.

Sighing, he dialled a number on his phone.

"Yo."
"What?"
"Are you free right now?"
"Kind of. Why, you stuck in the rain?"
"Yeah. How'd you figure?"
"Who else would walk out of the house without an umbrella when the sky's already so dark?"
"...Ugh, don't remind me please."
"How come you didn't call Cloud instead?"
"He wasn't picking up, s'why."
"...Fine, give me ten minutes."
"Okay."

He sighed, running a hand through tousled brown hair. That silly fellow. Oh well, he wasn't doing anything productive anyway. First though, he'd have to find a jacket - it was freezing outside.


"You took your time."
"Don't complain. I shouldn't even be out here. I feel like I'm wearing sponges instead of sneakers."
"Well, cats normally don't come out in heavy downpours like this."
"I can just easily leave you here, you know."
"Fine, fine, thank you for coming out here."

The umbrella went up with a 'poof'.

"Why didn't Cloud pick up?"
"He was sleeping on the sofa."

A snort.

"In the middle of the afternoon?"
"Look, if I wasn't out here saving you from getting a free shower, I'd be sleeping, too."
"Come to think of it, if I wasn't out here myself in this downpour, I'd probably be doing the same thing."
"What, sleeping?"
"Yeah. On the sofa."
"...What's with you and everyone else nodding off on the sofa?"
"It's comfortable."
"Psht, whatever. So, why are you out here anyway?"
"I went to get pastries for everyone. And today they had those red bean pancakes you really liked, too."

The blue-eyed brunette went silent for a moment.

"...Thanks, Bartz."
"You're welcome, Squall."