Delivery 14: Jealousy
The life of a delivery boy was not an easy one and Cloud sometimes ended up making deliveries he would rather not make. But alas with the little gil he made, he didn't have much of a choice but to take whatever jobs he could get. "Can you really make a business out of that?" Some would say and Cloud was determined to prove he could.
Rude's quiet precense, appearing more often than usual at the Seventh Heaven lately, wasn't making Cloud feel any better. Much to Cloud's dismay, Rude invited Tifa to the Gold Saucer and she agreed to go. Cloud didn't know if it was good or bad that he had to deliver a package there.
It was good in the sense that Cloud could keep an eye on them and remind Rude that Tifa was his friend and only his friend, making sure the Turk didn't forget. But it was also bad because Cloud didn't know what to expect when he found Tifa and Rude.
Sighing deeply, Cloud almost wished he tried to join the Turks instead of Soldier back when he left Nibelheim. But he was an impressionable boy with dreams of being a hero who protected his secret crush, Tifa. In the end it was a Turk who asked her out, as if insult really had to be added upon injury.
Cloud made a mental note to talk to Marlene and Denzel, and make sure to stress the importance of having a Plan B when choosing a career, in case the first option doesn't work out. Then they wouldn't have to suffer though not knowing what to do and thus making a business out of the first idea that pops into their heads.
As for the delivery, Cloud decided to go, he would take the box, dash to Dio, pray not to run into Mukki, and then move on to more important things, such as meddling in Rude's friendly outing with Tifa and stop it from evolving into a more than friends date.
The heavens smiled upon the tortured delivery boy, or so he thought, because Cloud miraculously managed to find Dio and deliver the box without any inconveniences. Much to his relief, Mukki wasn't at the Gold Saucer that day, or at least he wasn't anywhere to be seen, though Cloud would keep his guard up just in case.
The spiky haired blond then proceeded with his plan, he spotted Rude and Tifa talking, and she was smiling, a fact that made Cloud burn with jealousy. He snuck over to them, avoiding their gaze and caught a piece of their conversation in Tifa's voice; it was something about "pocky."
There went Rude, to buy pocky, while Tifa sat contently on a bench and waited for her treat. Obviously Cloud joined the pocky race and was no longer interested in hiding; instead he openly bought a box of the yummy treat. Then of course, Rude bought another box of pocky, and Cloud another and Rude another, and they continued to compete until there was no more pocky left to buy.
The end of the shopping spree was not the end of the battle. The two men were tied, but there could only be one winner. Cloud made the first move, stealing one of Rude's pocky boxes, opening it and emptying its contents in his mouth. This escalated to Rude doing the same thing, which led to both men trying to choke each other by stuffing pocky in each other's mouths, and neither noticed the mischievous redhead taking a picture of them.
Back at the bench, Tifa sat wondering what was taking Rude so long when Reno arrived. "Hey Tifa, I have a picture I know you want to see. But you have to give me free drinks at the Seventh Heaven later!"
"Not interested," Tifa disregarded this as more of Reno's unimportant randomness.
"Yes you are! I know you want to see this, it's about an epic battle!" Reno had lost quite a lot of gil betting on the chocobo races and was in need of drinking away his sense of defeat; but because of that defeat, he lacked the gil to do so. Thus the mischievous redhead, who couldn't stay out of trouble, had to resort to desperate measure.
Tifa curiously thought of the picture, worries starting to form in the back of her mind. "Is anyone I know in that picture?" When Reno nodded, Tifa knew she had to see that photo and hastily offered, "five free drinks."
"Twenty."
"Ten."
"Seventeen."
"Fifteen."
"Deal!"
The picture was interesting to say the least. Though it was an epic battle of rivalry, to anyone who saw the picture without learning its story, it looked like two grown men playing with pocky. Needless to say, Tifa was not pleased to have been apparently forgotten.
End of Delivery 14
Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Delivery 14 was requested by demonlifehealer.