WELCOME TO FAIR HELP CENTER
Chapter Two: Bleeding Temptation
(Hey, smarts, you guessed it. I didn't own it last chapter, and I DON'T OWN IT NOW!)
He hid in the corner of that boring-ass group room and panted.
He wanted a moment alone. Just to relax. But, of course, that wouldn't be permitted.
"Hiiii, Cllllouuudddyyyy…" Yuffie trilled his name out, making him wince. "Whatcha hidin' forrr?"
Without turning, Cloud twisted his head so he could stare at her. "Yuffie, did you see that woman with Aerith earlier? Did she come here?"
Yuffie was so happy that Cloud actually responded she hopped a full circle around the room before coming back to him. "Cloudy, you silly! Don't you pay attention to anything? She's probably the new attendaaant. Aerie will introduce her sooooon, I bet." Mercifully, she then let Cloud to bother Vincent.
He stretched out on his back on the floor, staring up at the featureless white ceiling. This place was supposed to make people saner, right?! Then what the hell was Zack thinking, bringing in some new attendant with a body men literally went crazy for?! He'd only seen her for a few seconds, and then only in passing while Zack yelled at him, but he saw in those seconds how attractive she was. Her legs were long—endlessly long, and pale, and sexy, and damn—her hips were wide and soft, and his fingers twitched, aching to curl around them. Her stomach was flat but her chest was the opposite, and Cloud was practically drooling all over himself in the corner of the room.
Three simultaneous cries of "Mother!" rudely tore Cloud out of his rather pleasant daydreams. Groaning quietly, he rolled over onto his back and levered himself up into a sitting position.
Aerith and the new girl walked into the room as Kadaj and his gang attacked Aerith's knees. "Mother, Mother," they wailed. She smiled and patted their heads affectionately before twisting to give the new chick an apologetic look. The other woman just arched a single dark eyebrow and shrugged. Grinning, Aerith pried her three 'children' off of her feet.
"All right, that's enough, boys." Still sobbing out 'Mother,' they released her ankles and backed away to sit at her feet. Aerith clapped her hands, commanding the attention of every person in the room. "Everybody? Vincent…Cloud…? Thank you…Everyone, I'd like you to meet Tifa. Tifa, this is Vincent, Yuffie, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo…you've already met Cloud…Tifa's going to be working here with me from now on! Isn't that great?"
Yuffie screamed with enthusiasm.
Vincent didn't react.
Cloud scowled and turned his face to the wall.
Kadaj and his gang looked vaguely confused. "But…" he began. "There's only one Mother…"
Tifa grinned and squatted down in front of him. "I'm Auntie Tifa," she said brightly. Kadaj stared at her, his eyes going huge. His mouth worked soundlessly for a few moments. Tifa smiled wider at his silly, adorable expression. "Auntie," she repeated. "Sister of Mother." Kadaj, still wide-eyed, turned to Aerith, who shrugged, smiling, and nodded.
Kadaj smiled as all three men joyfully cried "Auntie!" and tackled Tifa in a series of enthusiastic hugs. She laughed, startled, as they all babbled nonsense and cuddled her. They were impossible not to love—it was like getting attacked by three happy puppies. Giggling, she tickled the men—all of whom were probably older than her—and laughed as they called "Auntie, Auntie!" in sweet, singsong voices.
A sudden sour presence instantly sobered the mood. Looking up, Tifa found Cloud's ice blue eyes glaring coldly at her. She cringed instinctively for a moment before realizing Cloud's anger wasn't directed at her, but at the three men in her arms. "Get the hell off of her," he snarled, his voice low and dark.
Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj shot to their feet, standing between Cloud and their new Auntie. Aerith instantly reached in and dragged Tifa backwards.
"What's going on?" Tifa whispered, panicked. The air between Cloud and Kadaj's gang was growing increasingly intense, and low growling noises were emanating from several throats.
Aerith sighed and wrung her hands. "You handled it rather well, the whole Mother thing—I don't know why they chose me to be their Mother, I guess because I'm their attendant, taking care of them all the time. It was a good call on the Auntie thing. But, they're horrifically protective of me and now, apparently, you. And Cloud—I don't know what his problem here is, but if this goes any farther, it's going to get nasty."
"Kadaj…" Tifa began to call, but before she could continue, the silver-haired man was already speaking.
"Stay away from our Auntie!" He protested in a shrill, childish voice, and shoved Cloud's shoulder.
The atmosphere exploded instantly from tense to insane.
"Don't fucking touch me!" Cloud screeched, seizing Kadaj's still-outstretched hand. Dragging the thinner man forward, he drove his right fist into Kadaj's stomach before flipping him over his shoulder in the same movement. The other two men, in instant realization of their brother's danger, dove in at Cloud, shrieking in outrage.
The blonde man was out of their path before Tifa could even see where he'd gone. He appeared again, four feet farther back, his right hand reaching over his shoulder. His fist closed, and Cloud lowered it to stare at his empty palm, as if he'd been expecting something to be there. But then he shook his head and curled his fingers into a fist, sinking into a crouch before his opponents.
In the next heartbeat, he was lunging forward, low to the ground, arms outstretched to swipe Loz and Yazoo's feet out. The smaller, quicker Yazoo jumped just in time to avoid the strike, but the heavier Loz went down face-first, hard. Kadaj was directly in Cloud's trajectory, and ready to take him on, but Cloud's feet abruptly came down, flinging his body back the other direction again.
Kadaj followed, twisting through the air in pursuit. Yazoo remained where he was, wiping Loz's bloody nose and remaining close to his Mother and Auntie. As Cloud's feet came down to take a stand, he and Kadaj collided violently, locking in a close combat of fists and feet and teeth.
Cloud's fist collided with Kadaj's left eye, leaving what would be a beautiful black eye the next day.
Kadaj's knee came cleanly into Cloud's stomach, knocking all of the blonde's breath out.
Yazoo was still dabbing at Loz's mess of a nose with tissues Aerith handed to him.
Vincent, in the corner, hadn't moved, but merely watched the fight unblinkingly with his single amber eye.
Yuffie was laughing hysterically watching the two men beat each other.
But then Tifa had Cloud's hair in her fist, and Kadaj's shoulder in her other hand, and she was dragging the two men apart. Kadaj relaxed and backed away as soon as he felt his Auntie's touch, but Cloud continued to fight, still thrashing out with his fists at the retreating Kadaj. So Tifa dragged him backwards by his hair, shoving him up against the wall and holding him there with his head.
Rapping the back of his skull against the wall, Tifa pinned a snarling Cloud there with her body. "Look, Chocobo head. I don't know what your deal is or why you decided to go nutso now, on poor Kadaj, but listen good. You keep your hands to your damn self from now on, hear? Because however hot shit you think you are, I guarantee, I'm just as god-damn hot." Finally, she released him.
Seeming exhausted, Cloud slumped down to the floor, lying in a shuddering heap. He curled slowly into a fetal position, trembling lightly, whimpering softly.
"Don't fucking touch me," he whispered. "Don't touch me…"
"I'm so sorry you had to be a part of that, Miss Lockhart."
Dr. Fair's gaze was extremely apologetic as he stared at her over his desk. Tifa shifted uncomfortably in her seat, feeling like a grade schooler called into the counselor's office again. Her pale fingers tightened on the wood next to her thighs.
"It's perfectly fine, Dr. Fair. I knew I'd be experiencing such occurences when I chose this line of work. Really, I should be apologizing for my rude behavior, sir. I shouldn't have treated a patient like that," she stammered out, overly formal in her nervousness.
And then, to her surprise, Zack Fair leaned back in his chair and burst into roaring laughter.
"Oh, Miss Lockhart, don't be worried. If anything, you handled that situation in the best possible way. Cloud's difficult, and we all know that. Miss Gainsborough is the only one who still tries to treat him gently…I, myself, would have done the exact same thing you did."
With an abrupt sigh, the mirth completely left Dr. Fair's face, and he leaned forward over his desk, resting his head in his palms. His serious eyes levelled directly on Tifa. "I don't believe Aerith has explained Cloud's condition to you. Quite simply, he can't stand human touch. Anyone who touches him, he'll severly beat and injure. And afterwards, he'll have a nervous breakdown—sometimes minor, sometimes more severe. We don't know exactly how he came down with this condition, but we're just trying to adapt him to human touch again."
Tifa nodded, unsure of how to respond. With another sigh, Zack leaned back into his chair, exuding calm and confidence. "I must say, Miss Lockhart, I liked your performance today. I think you'll make a fine addition to the Fair Help Center."
She blushed lightly and looked down at her hands. Dr. Fair smiled. "You can go now, Miss Lockhart. And, if you see her, would you send Miss Gainsborough to me? Tell her I need her for just a minute."
Tifa paused to arch a single dark eyebrow at the doctor before bounding out of the room. She moved quickly down the hall to where Aerith was sorting patients into their rooms for the night.
"Aerith, Dr. Fair wants you."
The brunette's face lit up with sudden excitement. Before Tifa could fully track the movement, Aerith was out the door and down the hall.
She closed the door to Zack's office slowly, turning with a coy look on her face. Dr. Fair's face split with a sudden grin, and he leaned back in his chair, his eyes roving over Aerith.
"Hello, Miss Gainsborough."
She lifted an eyebrow and returned a coy grin.
"Hello, Zack."