A/N: Hi!! This is pure fluff between the two, not really in a special moment in the game. Just them having fun. I hope this one makes someone smile! :)
Thank you for reading!
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Catch
Cloud slumped down against one of the couches in the lobby of the Costa del Sol Inn, exhausted. He placed a palm on his forehead and closed his eyes, trying to rest as little as he could while Tifa and Barret explained to the receptionist, the huge tiger-like animal was with them and needed a room to sleep too.
He had barely relaxed his muscles when he feels a gentle tap, followed by a light tickle down his arm as a tiny object hits him and then tumbles down his skin onto the floor.
His eyes open and search for whatever it was that had hit him. He found the paper ball wrinkled on the floor at his feet and looked up to gaze at the culprit one who had interrupted his short yet much needed rest.
Aerith snickered when his eyes found hers, her lips shake as she bites her lower lip to surpress her giggling.
"Stop that." Cloud said firmly, one blue eye peeking at her from under his hand.
"Stop what?" Aerith shrugged, giggled a bit more. Her fingers were already crunching another piece of paper into a small wrinkled ball.
"That." He pointed at her moving hand.
"What, this?" She threw the tiny paper at him again. This time it hit his forehead and ricocheted to the floor to land close to the other one.
Cloud stared at her still for a moment, studying her mischievous little smile.
"Don't." He watched as she ripped another small piece of paper from the magazine in her lap and shaped it into yet another paper ball.
"Or what?" She asked, sticks the tip of her tongue out provoking him.
"Or I'll have you stop it." He looks at her intently, that wasn't funny at all.
"Will you now?" She kissed the paper ball between her fingers, winked at him and threw the ball right at him. His SOLDIER reflexes activate and he immediately catches the piece of paper in his hand this time.
They both pause for a brief moment looking at each other silently. The ripping sound of paper echoes through the quiet room as she tears another piece from the magazine. Cloud jolts up from his seat to dash in her direction. Startled, her heart lifts to her throat while the magazine falls down to the floor as she jumps out of her seat herself and circles her chair. She stood behind it as he stops on the other side, trying to guess her next moves so he can catch her. He leans in, places each hand on each side of her armchair.
She smiles, he smirks, he has her now. He was much faster than a flower girl, obviously. She knows it, and yet…
She strides for the stairs to the rooms and he follows close behind running. They fly up the stairs, barely touching the steps under them in the hurry. Aerith bursts out in laughter and at the same time shrieks in panic as she feels him closing in on her.
Barret and Tifa shrug at each other as they notice the other two had disappeared up the stairs in an explosion of clumsy stomping steps and yelps.
Barret rolls his eyes and huffs a mumbled "I'm saving the world with a group of children." While Tifa elbows him a glare.
The corridor upstairs wasn't that long for her to run free, not to mention it lacked any sort of big objects Aerith could hide behind. It was nothing but a dead end for her, she didn't really think it through, but then again, how was she supposed to know he'd want to catch her? She stopped running to look back, her chest heaving nervously as she looked at the blond approaching her, slowly cornering her to the end of the corridor.
He stops a few feet away from her. A smile played at his lips as she smiled back at him, her eyes glowing a deep green as she stared him down. She attempted to open one door but it was locked. She looked back at him, he smirked.
"Where are your paper balls now?" He asks playfully, in awe at himself that she had somehow distracted him from thinking about their journey ahead, lifting the worries off his shoulders.
She tries another door, breathes out a nervous giggle as the door doesn't budge and he's almost at arms reach. She desperately tries the last door on the corridor and luckily and finally the door knob turns. She smiles, shoots him one final glance before opening up the door and disappear into the room.
He follows her, intrigued.
She stands in the middle of the empty bedroom, hands clasped together behind her back, waiting for him, hardly believing that he had played along. He always looked so serious, he needed to lighten up. Who would have known a small piece of paper would have done it? The curtains behind her sway in the wind coming in from the half-opened window pane. Her hair dances with the cool sea breeze as she looks at him. She knew she was in trouble and wasn't ashamed of it.
"Nowhere to run huh?" He says and she shakes her head, her eyes don't leave his.
"What are you going to do Mister bodyguard?" She asked.
That's a good question. He thinks. There are a whole lot of things he wishes he could do to her. He won't deny he has been feeling something different when he's with her, drawn, attracted, enchanted, call it whatever, she messes him up in more ways than he wishes.
"I'm going to have to charge you more for not allowing me to take a break from the job." He says instead.
She bites her lower lip and his body sparks all-over with that simple gesture of hers, something about her lips makes him stare at them.
"Then, if I'm paying you after-hours, I'll have to use your services to the fullest."
He closes in on her. Whatever exhaustion he felt is quickly replaced by an adrenaline rush for standing so close to her in a quiet empty bedroom. She's enticing, her games are innocently dangerous to him, he can't control it. Not with her.
"Be my guest." He says, his breath is warm against her ear. She lifts her hands and her fingers gently curl on his chest. "Long as you pay me." His voice makes her shiver and he feels it.
She looks up and breathes in small gasps surprised with his comment. She wasn't expecting her actions would lead him to this moment, would make him say or do things she couldn't lie she had wished from him before but knew she wasn't allowed to. What was happening between them, she just let it roll.
Blue eyes take a moment to stare at her. Her face is so close to his he can smell the sweet ropy aroma of the peach she had been nibbling at on their way to the Inn in a rush to get a place to settle for the night.
They linger against each other for a long moment before they both lean in for the kiss at the same time. He did not mean to kiss her, he was content just looking at her face, but the pull he felt towards her was more powerful than his own will. And her lips, feeling sticky from the peach, were an everlasting pulsating bloom of flowers against his lips, soft, warm, live, plunging urgently at his mouth. And he could only close his eyes and drown himself in her sweet warmth.
Somehow he gets the feeling they had been playing that game for a while now since they met, although he can't quite explain why. He's always chasing her and she keeps slipping away from him every time. Until that moment when she finally stops to let him reach her.
Strong firm arms wrap around her as to keep her close, her fingertips trace a line down his back. Their kiss grows and she entangles her fingers in his blond hair while his hands explore her back, he gently places a hand behind her neck, bracing her head while they kiss.
And he comes to the conclusion, having caught her or not, he belongs to her in every way possible. That he has completely surrendered to her, will follow her, will protect her, will never leave her side as long as she wants.
And what scared him the most was that she easily got all that by simply throwing a piece of paper at him.