07. backtalk (cloud, yuffie, tifa) for XxXChiharu-Chan-1000-SpringsXx

Fighting is essentially a masculine idea; a woman's weapon is her tongue.

Tifa watched Cloud. His bright blue eyes peered over the cards, impassive as always.

"Don't know why we play poker with you, Cloudy," Yuffie remarked, toying with her cards idly. "You've perfected your poker face."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "I've had to, if I want to keep any of my materia." Yuffie just grinned at that. He was right, after all. "I'll see your hundred and raise you two." Cloud pushed the chips out onto the table.

Tifa glanced at her own pitiful pile of chips. Cloud had put both of the girls though the wringer and neither of them had much money to their name. She scowled. "You're bluffing."

Cloud just shrugged, giving nothing away. She felt her heart flutter a bit—all these years and she still found him… well, extremely attractive. From what she heard from Yuffie, nearly all of the girls under twenty in the town were secretly nursing crushes on Cloud or Leon. So she didn't feel as bad silently wishing she could touch his hair.

Argh! Was that one of his poker tricks, using his looks to distract her? On the other hand, Cloud was painfully slow about girl-guy matters.

An idea creeped into her mind, and Tifa grinned slowly. Maybe Cloud was, but she wasn't.

"All right," Tifa said, stretching languidly and pushing in three hundred in chips. "If you're going to put us poor women into the poorhouse." She stuck out her tongue at him.

Cloud looked at her quizzically, but stayed silent. Yuffie quickly caught onto the act. "Yeah, Cloud. Two nice girls like us? You're mean." She deftly flipped the three cards of the flop over, one skittering across the table. "Whoops." She leaned over, nearly lengthwise across the table. Tifa hid a grin.

They each studied their cards. Tifa chewed her lip. "One hundred," she said, pushing a chip in. She played with a strand of dark hair idly, running it over her fingers. "Bet you're bluffing," she informed Cloud, winking at him.

Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose, a nervous habit he'd presumably picked up from Leon. "Yeah, well, we'll see," he mumbled.

Yuffie grinned, tasting victory. "Hey, Cloudy," she said, apparently deciding to go for the gold. "Who do you find sexier—me, Tifa, or Aerith?"

Cloud flushed bright red. "What kind of a question is that?" he sputtered.

"Just admit you think I'm hot. It's so obvious, anyway."

Tifa put a hand to her mouth. "I can't believe you, Cloud!"

"What? I didn't say anything!"

Yuffie giggled. Cloud passed a hand over his face, trying to iron out the blush. "Just play."

Tifa set down her cards. "All in," she said, pushing in all her chips.

Cloud opened his mouth, then closed it again. Yuffie was making kissing noises. "Just— um, all in."

Tifa grinned widely. "You lose." She laid down her hand—a mediocre one. But Cloud's was even worse. She knew this because Cloud had inadvertently titled his hand during their banter, giving Tifa a wonderfully scenic view of his cards.

"How--"

"Intutition, I suppose." She gathered up all the chips, mentally counting how many Skill Rings she could buy with the cash. "Think I'm done for the day."

"Me too," Yuffie chirped. "Fun game, Cloudy!"

The pair passed Cid on their way out, who turned to watch the girls do an impromptu victory dance outside. He raised a brow. "Well then." He turned to Cloud, who was still a vibrant red. "What the heck happened to you?"

"I, um…" The swordsman stood up abruptly. "Don't play poker with them," he mumbled.

Cid watched him go, thoroughly confused. "Stupid kids."


Mostly written because I feel bad for totally abandoning Tifa, and because I know I have Cloti fans out there (even though everyone knows that Clerith is SO MUCH BETTER!)

Review, seriously. Please? When I get almost no reviews, it makes me super depressed. Sigh. I seriously save all of my reviews (because I'm a nut job.) Anyways-- XxXChiharu-Chan-1000-SpringsXx, I hope you liked that.

Chistmas Challenge / General Challenge still up.

ÇőмîŋĢ Ůþ ŅëχŁ: "Riona," he said, testing the name on his tongue. It was agonizing and satisfying at the same time-- like taking a giant gulp of scalding hot coffee.