Tifa's having one of her moods.
The kind that makes her want to complain all day. The kind that makes her want to fight over the smallest of shit. The kind that makes her want to cry just because you don't want the same food for lunch like what she's having.
Cloud can tell from the way her frown hasn't stopped creasing her brows and the subtle pout that she has on her lips since she woke up this morning.
Also, she hasn't said a word to him, despite them being in the same room the entire time. He tried making small talk but got nothing in return.
Usually, this mood is set off by nightmares, sudden periods of her remembering her shitty past, her moments of self-depreciation and whatever else that Cloud probably hasn't known yet.
He doesn't know how this one started. All that he cares about now is to avoid making things worse for her, or more correctly, for them.
He makes a mental note to take her in his arms tonight so she would feel okay again.
Her mood is not his only problem today.
There's also his phone that has been ringing nonstop since it roused him from his sleep.
The phone's now put on vibrate so he can ignore the harassing calls without missing actual important calls.
The problem is… it just keeps on vibrating as if it will never stop even if you dump it into a bucket of water.
"Aren't you going to answer the call, Cloud?" Tifa snaps.
The spoon she drops hits her ceramic plate with a ching.
"It's been fucking vibrating all day long!"
"Just leave it, Tifa," he replies, not wanting to turn this into an argument.
"Well, you've been ignoring it this whole time and it's not fucking stopping anytime soon."
Oh, now she's driving him up the wall.
"What the fuck, Tifa? They're just vibrations. Ignore them!"
"Well, I can't!" she cries out, rising from her seat in a huff. "All I want is some rest for my head and you can't even let me have it, Cloud!"
She grabs her bowl of food and storms away.
Then he hears her slamming their bedroom shut like she wants him to know that she's pissed pissed.
He kneads his head with one hand as it starts pulsing.
His phone still won't stop vibrating.
The calls never stop, not even when Cloud's in the studio, working on a photoshoot.
Ignoring them was a breeze at first.
But then Zack stops midway through the shoot and asks, "Whose phone is that?"
Either these vibrations are too loud, or these people just have hypersensitive ears.
"Mine," he answers, and grows uneasy when all heads turn to him.
"Are you going to answer the calls? Because they're bugging me and, I'm sure, everyone else in the room.
An awkward silence follows.
They're all just staring at him, expecting him to do something about the calls.
But he won't let them get to him.
He returns their stares like he's done nothing wrong and hopes that they would let the issue slide.
He knows who's calling and he's dead set on not answering them, regardless of how pestering these calls may be.
Zack looks at him as if the other man's reading what messages lie on his face.
"Whatever man," Zack finally gives in, shaking his head.
The shoot resumes and occasionally, a head or two would look at his direction because the calls carry on but Zack no longer brings the issue up.
The calls are ongoing until the workday's over and he's tidying the equipment with a group of others like he always does.
Zack soon hovers by before grabbing his phone from the table where it's placed on.
"Deadbeat? Is this the person who has been calling you the whole day?"
He dashes forward to retrieve his phone but Zack sidesteps away and avoids him.
"Zack, please-"
His phone vibrates again and Zack quickly answers the call.
"Will you just quit it?"
There's silence and he's just hopelessly watching the other man.
"Yeah, this isn't your kid. This is his boss. You're looking for him? He's here with me. Why are you looking for him?"
Zack clicks his tongue.
"How is your kid supposed to make money and send you some when you can't stop fucking calling him while he's working?"
Another silence and Zack's briefly closing his eyes as he listens with irritation to the person at the other end of the line.
"Just fucking stop. If you're not gonna stop, I'll have no choice but to have him get a fucking restraining order against you because you're fucking up our work."
Zack suddenly moves the phone away from his ear and looks at it like it just magically turned into a baby elephant. "He hung up on me."
He turns to Cloud and hands him the phone. "Is this what's been messing with your head lately? Why didn't you tell me? I told you that you can call me."
Cloud keeps quiet. His tongue's all tied. He doesn't know what to say.
All that he's aware of is this feeling that's taking over his chest. Like some kind of heat that makes his fingers tingle and his eyes sting from unshed tears.
He does the only thing that he can: take his phone back.
His heart makes a leap when Zack shrouds his hand in a gentle grip.
"Tell me next time, okay?"
When the other man disappears out of the studio, he goes on to finish what he needs to do.
But he's hardly aware of what he's doing. All that his mind's focused on is that feeling in his chest that's now muddling his brain.
His limbs move and move until he vaguely hears someone tell him, "Don't forget to lock the doors, Cloud."
He finally realizes that he's done for the day.
He starts packing and thinking about what he has to do when he gets home.
See Tifa. Make dinner for Tifa. Apologize to Tifa. Console-
"Hey… about the call, I'm sorry."
Zack hasn't left.
And the sound of the other man speaking freezes him.
"I shouldn't have butt in. It wasn't my place. If you want, I can go and apologize-"
Cloud turns around, then tiptoes to level his face against Zack's.
He doesn't care about anything else.
All that he wants is to give the other man a kiss on the lips, however brief it may be.
When he pulls away, Zack's looking down at him with widened eyes.
He dismisses the questioning look on the other man's face and leaves without turning back.
He doesn't want to apologize.
He doesn't want to explain himself.
A/N:
🎤 Mr. Cloud Strife, it's time to get your man