I've never been good with mixing comedy and romance but I've tried here... my lack of skills in writing comedy is shining through but I hope you can enjoy it anyway. It was so much fun writing Cloud and trying to imagine everyone just taking some time to have fun.

Every chapter will be a story of their own and will be updated whenever I come up with something new. Just to make sure I don't leave anyone hanging if I lose sight on this project.

For those that missed it in the description: Only the first chapter is in Cloud's POV.

It was a hot Sunday morning. The suggestion that they all stay a few days in Costa Del Sol was starting to seem like a good idea to Cloud who had been against it at first.

"All we do is fight and train all the time!" Yuffie had complained.

"Yeah, I suggest we take some time off at the Gold Saucer or Costa Del Sol," Aerith had then said.

Only Barret had voiced his opinion, saying that they didn't have time to rest. Cloud was just about to agree when he'd taken time to look at everyone. Really look. To see in their eyes that they all were worn out and deserved to think about something else for a short while. His own mind had already become so narrow minded that he feared he would bring everyone down by his own determination.

Just a few hours later Cloud was sure that he had made the right decision to bring everyone to the small beach town. Some of them started the little vacation with rest and food, others with fun and sun.

Watching Aerith convince Barret to play beach volley had probably one of the highlights. That was until she'd forced Cloud to play with her too. The girl actually managed to make all in their team that were on the beach to play. Cloud actually wished that Vincent would have been there so that he had gotten to see what the man would do at such a situation.

The first day at Costa Del Sol was in short a success. They all ended the night with a big meal together where they had one rule – no talk about their mission. It proved to be one of the most memorable nights they had all had together, unlike the one at the Gold Saucer.

They all stayed up until different hours. In the last minute Cid changed room with Barret, saying that he and Red would be playing pool until late so they better share a room. Barret would never know what his "yeah, sure" would lead to. Neither did Cid nor Red.

It was the first morning in Costa Del Sol. Just two more days of this until they would head out back into the world. When Cloud woke up, staring at the wooden ceiling, it was hard not to think about Sephiroth and what the man was up to. Actually, it was close to impossible. Only once there was a knocking on the door did he get the thoughts to leave his head. The image of the silver haired man fading from his inner eye and being replaced by the empty bed next to his.

"I'm coming," he called as he climbed out of bed.

Barret had probably gotten up earlier. Actually, Cloud wasn't even sure what time it was. This was the first time in ages he hadn't bothered with setting a time for himself to wake up at.

After getting dressed he hurried over to the door, only to instantly be pushed inside again. The door shut and Cid stepped into the space as if he owned it. With hands showed deep into his pockets he started to look around, cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. Though he seemed a lot like his usual self there was something very off with him.

"Your room is actually smaller," Cid said as he looked around. "I thought you would have grabbed the largest room. Or maybe the girls did that? They all slept in the same room, am I right?"

"Yeah..." Cloud answered, not stepping away from next to the door. "Did you want anything?"

"Oh, right! Yes. In fact, I figured I agree with Barret. Let's head out. Now. Or soon."

Cid turned around. For the first time since he got into the room his hand slipped out of the pocket, only so that he could take the cigarette from his mouth.

Cloud instantly understood why the man had been hiding his hand.

"What happened to your hand?" he asked with a leader-like worry.

Cid shrugged. "Nothing. Now, please tell me. When can we leave?"

It had already been stated that they would stay three whole days. For Cloud the whole scenario was absurd. Not even 24 hours ago this man in particular had said out loud to all of them that he wasn't going to "do shit" until the end of their vacation. After all, he had only joined them because he wanted to get back at Shinra and had nothing better to do. It did make sense that he wasn't as eager to go after Sephiroth as Cloud and some of the others.

What was with this sudden change of heart?

One thing was for sure though, the fresh cuts on his hand had something to do with it. In fact, there were several more adorning his neck and face, though less visible there.

"You want some potion?"

"Yeah, sure. Though I asked when we leave, not for potion."

For a few seconds none of them moved. Something was obviously off so Cloud wanted to see what would happen if he just... waited. But Cid continued to just stand around in the middle of the room, looking at pretty much everything but Cloud. With a sigh the younger man went over to the bed and grabbed a potion from their luggage.

"Thanks, man."

"No problem."

Cid took the item from Cloud who kept holding on, forcing a few seconds of eye contact.

"Honestly, Cid. What is up with you?"

"Nothing!"

"You suddenly decide you don't want your beloved rest and come here with wounds and I'm supposed to just believe that nothing happened?"

"Yeah, I'm telling you..."

Cloud didn't say anything. He simply stared Cid to silence and then had the man hold back all of his pride. A lot had changed since they first met. Cloud was the leader of the group now, making the calls that could mean the difference between life and death for them all. A kind of respect had to be shown and Cid did so honestly. Though there were quite some years between them Cloud still had the power to force the other man to confess.

"You're going to regret it," Cid finally said. He'd given up. Both the slumping of his shoulders and downcast eyes told Cloud so.

"I care about you."

"I slept with the dog."

Dropped like a bomb on a clear day.

One blond man stared at another blond man.

Awkward couldn't even come close to describing how thick the air suddenly got.

"Literally I think he's feline."

A groan later the young man regretted the comment and dropped his hold of the potion. From the way Cid groaned again, stepping backwards and planting his face in the palm of his hand, making it obvious that he was troubled. Very troubled. Cloud couldn't claim that he wasn't as well, but Cid who usually was confident and would constantly talk was suddenly at a loss for words.

"Okay," Cloud said, sinking into the feeling of having heard something weird. "Yeah... okay... you..."

"I told you that you'd regret it!" Cid threw his hands in the air, giving Cloud a short "I told you so"-stare before regretting it and swirled around. His ears were a bright red.

"No!" Cloud lied. "I told you I care, right? So... I'm don't want to... go into details..." They both sighed uncomfortably. "But may I ask... why?"

Cloud stared at Cid's back during a silent moment. When he had woken up, head filled with forbidden thoughts, he really had never expected anything like this. Not even when Cid had told him he would regret it would he have thought that this was possible. Actually, Cloud wasn't even sure that it was possible for anyone outside of Red's species to do that with the animal. He was after all an animal.

Then Cid started to laugh.

The type of laughter that is both natural and fake. Panic filling the corners where the supposedly happy sound couldn't reach. Sadness echoing when it left off. Regret filling the silence that followed.

"You fell for it!" Cid turned around. His face was dressed in his usually confident smile. The blue eyes weren't. "I can't believe you actually fell for it! He's a dog, Cloud. Get your head out of your ass, pretty boy, and stop taking everything so seriously. It was a joke. Just a joke."

If it had been awkward before it was nothing to this. Cid was trying so hard to laugh that it was painful to watch. Cloud on the other hand wanted to act like it was a joke. Yeah, sure, he cared about Cid and all of the others. But anyone sleeping with the animal of the group wasn't really anything that Cloud wanted to handle. Laughing along with Cid was tempting. When the older man started to violently pat his back to force laughter from him it was even harder not to. To not force a smile and snicker a little. Say "yeah I fell for it" and then be over with it. But it wasn't that easy.

"Well," Cloud said as he forced himself to act natural and smile. "Good thing nothing happened. I mean, Red's just a child."

Cid's laughter took a turn and sounded lighter, honest even.

"What? Stop talking nonsense. He's forty-something! Told me so last night."

With a deep breath Cloud shook his head. It was hard to just stand there in the middle of his room, acting as if everything was normal when he was actually trying to force Cid to confess something. Again. Even though both of them didn't want it.

This was a weird day.

"His species live very long, you know. His grandpa said he should be considered 15 or 16 in human standards."

Cid's laughter stopped. The smile vanished and fierce eyes stared Cloud down. All the colors seemed to have been wiped from the man's face and Cloud knew he had succeeded.

"Say what?"

"He's just a teenager."

For a few seconds of silence Cid continued to stare until he forced a grin on his face.

"Stop messing with me! The joke is over, mate."

"No joke," Cloud said.

From the look of it reality was harsh because Cid seemed to be in physical pain. His features twisted in a troubled manner. Even his posture seemed to suffer as he hugged his abdomen.

"Now will you be honest with me?"

"Fine."

"Did the two of you actually... do it?"

"Mhm."

"And that is the reason why you want to get the hell out of here?"

"Yeah."

"Then why did you do it?"

Cid stepped backwards, knees hitting the edge of Barret's bed and making him take a seat. He hid his face behind his hands with a deep sigh to complete the image of a man with no idea what to do. Cloud took a step back, looking over his shoulder as if to check if they were alone. Of course they were, but it still felt like he just had to make sure on extra time that no one but them could hear this conversation.

"Cid?"

"Give me a moment..."

On the bed in the room Cid had made himself comfortable, or as comfortable as he could while feeling uncomfortable with the moment. Watching him was painful and Cloud suddenly wished Barret had refused to change rooms. Yeah, Cloud knew there was no idea to be smart in hindsight. He just couldn't help but feel like it was Barret's fault they had been in the same room all night. Then he wouldn't have had to look at Cid looking so tormented. The man would probably have been asleep, snoring like a madman and everything would have been like usual.

When too many seconds of silence had passed them by, Cloud walked over to the dresser and leaned against, just to have something to do that wouldn't make him stand stiff and awkward. Crossing his arms helped too and he could casually stare down at his crossed feet now. Casually.

"Okay." The word caught Cloud's attention like a rifle being fired. "Listen here. Shit happens and all that, but it was actually his fault. He just... well, no one ever taught him about... you know. What to do when he's in heat."

"Red's in heat?" Cloud could feel his cheeks heat up, ironically enough.

"No, he's... we just talked about it... And I told you that shit happens!"

"Okay, okay." Cloud waved calming with his hand to make it obvious that he got it. The hand then settled with two fingers pressed against his temple. "But then... what now? I mean..."

"Don't tell me you're asking me to take responsibility? What are you? My mother?" Cid glared at him but Cloud decided to act as if he hadn't noticed.

"No, don't get me wrong. I just... well, we're staying here for two more days. What are you going to do?"

They fell silent. A moment of peace passed by and Cloud could almost shake the feeling of the awkward subject. As if they were just chatting about a normal issue. Perhaps it was the way Cid fell deep in thought, for the first time actually seeming like he was taking it seriously without freaking out. That instead of running away he might just face whatever the problem was.

"I don't know what happened last night," Cloud said to cut the moment short. Not that he wanted to rob Cid from his considerations, but he wished that his words would help him. "But both you and Red are men enough to not run away from something. If something like that happened you should just accept it and move on, whatever that means."

A moment passed and Cid didn't answer.

"Listen, Cid, I'm not judging you–"

"Yeah you are. I had sex with an animal."

It was weird how Cid stated it as if it was any kind of fact, not even looking particularly ashamed as he stared Cloud dead in the eye.

"Okay, yeah, maybe a little. But even you are judging yourself right now. That doesn't have to be a solely bad thing. Maybe it's time you reevaluate yourself and just... man up and go talk to him."

A deep sigh cut the tension between them and Cid's shoulder slumped. Not in a bad way, just in a relaxed way. Cloud felt relieved.

"Yeah. You're right. Just... talk to him. Explain life... he's just a kid after all..."

As Cid thanked Cloud for the chat and got out of the room, Cloud actually wondered if he had done anything to help. Something told him that there had been a lack of thinking the night before and there was no way in hell to figure out what Red was thinking. He always seemed so grown up and collected but had proven every now and then that he didn't always know as much of the world as he wanted it to seem.

Cloud went back to sleep until past lunch.

It's weird how the one thing I question after writing this is just... how the hell does Red play pool?