"Damn Cloudy." Cid looked above him and whipped out his tape measure. "Here hold this end." Cid walked the tape measure across the room. It was strange that every time he appeared Cid was clad in pants that looked like they hadn't been washed in days and a shirt that consistently had paint splatters on it. Did he constantly paint crap around his house? Or was this simply his 'go to' outfit? "Looks like about fifty-five feet. Nice size room…nice house…real nice house. You gonna get Tifa all slicked up in that pool then have your way with 'er?" Cid asked.
"No. Come on. We need to measure the kitchen." Cloud insisted. The realtor had informed Cloud and Tifa that the owners had accepted their offer on the house. Now it was up to Cid to turn in an inspection report to the realtor so the deal could be closed. The Strife's would move to the upper Midgar Edge…away from downtown, away from the traffic and hustle…away from the life they had known for so long. Cid laughed. "Awww, I'm just messin' with ya' Cloudy, just messin' with ya'. I see a pool out there. Do you know how to care for a pool?" Cid asked.
"Not at all. I got this magazine that claims to teach me pool maintenance in three hours or less." Cloud said semi-seriously.
"I'm impressed…not with your three hour tutorial…with this house. Damn. It's gorgeous. Can't believe you two bought this fuckin' thing." Cid said as they finished their measurements. "Let's go do the entryway and the rooms off the entry."
"But what about the actual inspection? I've been taking measurements with you for a half hour." Cloud reminded him.
"This place is going to check out well. I've only seen a few things that have caught my attention. The folks have certainly taken care of the place." Cid assured him. "Come on, let's head upstairs." Cid said letting the tape measure slap itself shut as he jammed it back in his pocket. Cloud led him up the stairway that was off the kitchen and living room. "Damn, this overlooks all that below. Nice." Cid commented as Cloud led him down the upstairs hallway. It was so much wider than what he was used to.
"This is the master suite." Cloud said opening up a set of double doors.
"Holy fucking…mother of….shit cloud this is a fuckin' house within itself. Oh my god a walk in closet…you're shittin' me….that's…that's a full deck off this mother fucker." Cid said completely overwhelmed.
"it is Cid….it is. And you seriously thought I had plans to wreck Tifa after getting her out of the pool?" Cloud asked him with a smirk on his face as he opened their bathroom door revealing the whirpool spa bath and many more features that Tifa had only dreamed about for her dream bathroom.
"I stand corrected Cloudy. This is….this is like the size of my first apartment! Shit! It's…I'm proud of ya. What the hell are you gonna put in here? Your bedroom furniture is too small." Cid asked getting his measuring tape out again.
"Tifa is sitting at home with an interior designer right now dropping big bucks on god only knows what." Cloud said.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! You and Tifa are makin' good ass money. She let's you spend on whatever the hell you want and you let her do the same. There's couples in Midgar ten years your senior that wish to god they were makin' what you two make. You got it all Cloud, you do."
"I know, Cid. I'm a lucky guy. Yeah, I don't care what Tifa spends money on; I really don't. She never makes bad financial choices." Cloud said as they measured from wall to wall.
"Let's get these window measurements above this tub." Cid said. "My god, heated floors in here! Cloud….one things certain…I was wrong about the pool idea."
"You know, I'm going to be thirty very soon. And you know what that means, right?" Cloud asked him.
"It means I've known you for nine years." Cid said.
"Yeah, but it also means it's gonna get pretty nasty between the sheets of the bed Tifa and I don't own yet." Cloud said.
"Hey, you watch your mouth son." Cid said laughing.
"I can make it worse." Cloud said stepping down from the back edging of the tub and leaning over toward Cid. He whispered something to him as if someone were listening.
"Holy….damn! Cloud! Who taught you to talk like that!?" Cid insisted.
"Zack Fair." Cloud said without missing a beat. Cid laughed.
"Mercy. You obviously know Tifa better than I do. Let me know how that goes because believe me what I'm picturin' probably isn't how it will happen."
"Tifa's a wild one sometimes Cid." Cloud assured him. Cid snapped his tape measure shut as he inspected the corners of the bathroom.
"I wanna ask you somethin' I've never asked you in the whole damn time I've known you." Cid began as he ran his hands over an area and pulled a level out of his back pocket. "I know that you and Tifa spent some of the night lyin' underneath the Highwind all those years ago when we were savin' the world from Shinra an' shit. Did you fuck her that night?"
"You talk about my mouth!" Cloud smiled all over and laughed at Cid. "Oooooh Cid." He laughed again.
"What the hell kinda' mother fuckin' answer is that?! You did didn't you?!" Cid insisted as he turned out the bathroom light and they proceeded to the bedrooms at the opposite of the hallway.
"How do you think Tifa became such a sensual lover?" Cloud winked at him.
"I hate you! You are so full a' shit." Cid said shaking his head. "Did you or didn't you? You were twenty-one years old and had to be horny as hell. Tifa's never been hard to look at and you had always secretly adored her." Cid pumped him. Cloud laughed again as they entered what would soon become Marlene's room.
"You'll never know for sure Cid, you'll never know for sure." Cloud said.
"CLOUD!" Cid scolded him. That only made Cloud grin more stupidly.
"Alright, alright. We did some stuff but not what you think. Me and Tifa were still young and inexperienced." Cloud said opening up the closet. Cid shook his head.
"Dumbass…by the way…what are you doing with that third garage out there?"
"That's going to be a bike storage and work area." Cloud explained. "Denzel and I are going to work on making it bike ready after we move in. We have the diamond plate picked out as well as a couple of tool boxes we are going to put in there. We also need to choose and order a tire rack. We're gonna leave the floor cement since there is a drain and hose hookup in there." Cloud elaborated.
"Sounds like you got a plan, Cloudy." Cid said as they finished the upstairs. It was time to go outside. They headed back down the stairs and toward the front door to examine the front façade of the house. Cloud closed the front door as Cid examined the front stoop area. "This is some nice landscaping out here. Sits back from the road far enough. Damn look at that front door. Cid said looking above him. "You could get a stone out here toward the edge of this mulch with the house number." He suggested.
"Yeah, we could do that." Cloud said. "As long as it isn't too big."
"Everything about this house is big! You need a big stone Cloud. Ya' know…you should have the house number and Strife underneath it." Cid further suggested.
"Are you serious?" Cloud asked with a bit of skepticism.
"You should…you got it all Cloud. When people drive by this place they need to know that this is a fuckin' great home and that you and Tifa…well mainly Tifa…built it." Cid said. Cloud laughed.
"Yeah…yeah, Cid…Tifa's the rock." He shook his head. "Alright, we can do that out here.
"Me an' Shera have a three bedroom cottage in Rocket Town…you know that…you've been there. But you know what? Our name is on the mailbox because we are damn proud of it. You need to do the same Cloudy. Be proud a' what you and Tifa got. Nobody wakes up and buys a place like this. Now I know you and Tifa haven't been married for years like some couples but you made the most of the years you got….and now you got a down payment on this bitch." Cid reminded him.
"Do you realize what the bar alcohol license is worth? Cid if we sold it…" Cloud shook his head.
"If it's worth half as much as your business I'll bet you all are setting on some cold hard cash." Cid said.
"425,000." Cloud said "All because of the location." He said.
"Shit, Cloud." Cid said as they left the front of the house and walked around the side toward the extra garage. "Tell me somethin' Cloud. Does Tifa work on these bikes a' yours too? Or is this something that you and Denzel are gonna do? Is she ever in the garage with ya'?" Cloud smiled.
"Cid…let me tell you something…Oh, let me tell ya'...I'll never forget this..." Cloud began as he and Cid walked across the driveway to the third detached garage. "Tifa and I were working on Denzel's bike about a year ago. It was raining like crazy and she had been underneath the bike with a wrench tightening some bolts. I had some grease on me but she had been doing most of the dirty work." Cloud put the garage door up with the automatic receiver. Cid laughed.
"Imagine that. Your wife doing the dirty work!" Cloud laughed at him.
"Shut up, this story is hot! Okay, so Tifa gets up from the floor and she's got oil and grease on her jeans, on her shirt, a few streaks on her arms, and she had a blotch on her stomach where she had rubbed up against something. So, she stands up and steps back from the bike to take a look. At this point, she is turning me on like you have no idea. There is nothing sexier than Tifa on or under or over the bikes. So, I'm just watching her...mentally drooling and thinking of what I could do to her. Well, she steps back and says 'I need the drill to get those in tighter'. At that point I walk over to her, put my hands on her hips and push her back against the wall beside the steel grates that enclose that space. I get real close to her, kiss her neck, and unbutton her jeans.
"Whoa...whoa...I know that space between the bar building and the next one. Someone coulda' seen you do that! That back alley has an adequate amount of traffic through it, not to mention all the traffic out front facing the street!" Cid said.
"Well, the steel grates facing the street were closed but the back side facing the alley was open. Anyway, I'm kissing her neck and Tifa pulls me into her by the belt loops on my pants and says 'you need to get me the drill'. I say to her 'the drill can wait but this can't. I run my fingers along the edge of her panties and I feel her move her hands tighter around my waist. She let's her neck fall into me so I know she's all for doing this right here in the garage. But, as undeniably sexy as she already was, she whispers…you grease me up worse than the bikes."
"Daaaaaaamn Cloud! I guess Tifa works on more than bikes when she's up in your garage. God, someone coulda' seen you so easy." Cid said. Cloud laughed stupidly.
"Hey, that was a seriously hot afternoon. I was in and out of her pants in less than four minutes and it left Tifa flushed in the cheeks and a little breathless." Cloud said. "So to answer your question…yes. Tifa works on the bikes. She knows what she's doing too."
"Hell, obviously." Cid said. "Alright, let me take a look in here and we can finish this little project."
Back home, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel had finished up with the interior designer for the day and were preparing to pack up a few of the first boxes that would go to storage until the previous owners vacated the house. Tifa was on the phone to Yuffie. "Yeah, about the venue for this party….we just found out that our offer was accepted on the house so it looks like we'll be…" Tifa stopped mid-sentence and held the phone away from her year as Yuffie screamed on the other end. Shw waited until Yuffie had her moment. "Yes, Yuffie. We got the house. Needless to say, we'll be having Cloud's party poolside."
"YOU BOUGHT A HOUSE WITH A POOL!?" Marlene laughed as she heard Yuffie screaming into the phone again. With that, Tifa knew that there would be a Yuffie in their pool for as long as it was open.
"Can you please talk to me about this party? We have thirty days to close on this house, get this apartment on the market and this party has to kept secret from Cloud!" Tifa reminded her. Yuffie talked endlessly and a bit incoherently for a moment. "Yuf….please…focus. you have like….what? Nineteen bags of chips for this thing and nothing else?" Tifa reminded her.
"Tifa! Don't worry! We won't run out of chips!" Yuffie assured her.
"That's my point, Yuffie….you have chips for Cloud's birthday….that's it!"
"Oh…." Yuffie finally said as this fact dawned on her. "Okay…I'm going to need to get some plastic forks as well…" Tifa sighed.
"You know what, let me give you a list. Marlene and I will bring it to you next week at some point. It will have Cloud's favorite things on it "Just… N….no Yuffie….forget the plastic forks! Okay, I will talk to you later. Because we need to pack and I'm staring at Denzel right now…he has so clothes overflowing from his arms. Bye Yuffie."
"Wait! Wait! Tifa! Should I bring a beach towel for the pool!?" Yuffie yelled.
"Bye, Yuffie." Tifa hung up the phone and sighed.
"I think we're going to need more boxes." Denzel said dropping everything into a pile in the floor.
"Talk to your dad about that. He'll come in here and insist we can do this whole operation in three." Tifa said rolling her eyes.
"No, we have furniture to move. He'll know how to get this done." Leave it to Denzel to always defend Cloud. Marlene looked at Tifa and shook her head.