Zeph shifted on his feet as he stood by Denzel's bed. He had been up here earlier in the day, looking at Denzel's monster manual; he was curious ever since he saw Barret with it. He and Tifa had been walking through the hall when she had stopped to ask Barret what he was reading.

He had tapped on the book and said he was reading about werewolves, so he knew what to look out for. Marlene was by his side and giving Tifa a paculiar look, as if she were displeased with something. Tifa seemed a little tense before nodding, then went back to taking Zeph to his new room.

Cloud and Barret had worked on building his new bed over the course of two days, and occasionally as Zeph had walked through the hallway to use the bathroom before bed he would hear one or the other curse or snap at each other over disagreement on the directions. Tifa assured him that it wasn't any trouble, it was just that together they could be horrible at building things.

He glanced at the book on Denzel's nightstand, and tapped his fingers on the side of his black shorts. He memorized everything he could about werewolves when he was left alone with the book after Tifa called Denzel downstairs. He had shown Zeph the entry on Behemoths before he had to leave, it was one of Denzel's favorite monsters.

Some things he already knew first hand. Their love of meat, their aggression and ill temperament. What to look for after potential infection was something new to him, though Valdt told them all how one became a werewolf, threatening the children with it. He hadn't known that silver was their biggest weakness either, and he remembered Barret saying something about acquiring silver bullets. Zeph wondered if Cloud would somehow put silver on his swords, but since the last time he dealt with a werewolf it reportedly lost its head, he probably didn't need it.

"I'm back," Denzel called out as he reentered the room. "Sorry about the wait."

Zeph turned to face Denzel. "It's fine. So, what'd you wanna do today?"

Denzel looked around the room. Marlene was at a friend's house, Barret and Nanaki were out on an errand, and Cloud was doing his deliveries. Tifa was cleaning up the bar after the lunch rush, and only a few customers were downstairs. The two boys had the afternoon free until they would go down and help during the dinner rush. "Wanna play pirates?"

"How do we do that?"

"Um, we can both sit on a bed..." Denzel put a finger to his lip, thinking out the game. "And we'll throw balls at each other and try n' knock the other off their bed!"

Zeph looked back and forth at the beds. "Won't Tifa get mad?"

He was given a shrug in response. "If we're quiet about it she won't know."

Quiet, while throwing things at each other? They could give it a try. He sat on Marlene's bed as Denzel went about looking for his collection of balls. Zeph wondered if he was jealous of him for having a separate room, even though he couldn't help it. If it was less trouble he would have slept in the same room as Marlene and Denzel, but he figured they probably wouldn't want those screams in their room.

He was loud enough in another bedroom. At least the nightmares were slowly subsiding, he thought.

A small pile of pliable soft balls were dumped at his knees. "Here's your cannonballs," Denzel said before dumping a pile on his bed and climbing on top of it. "Avast, ye matey!"

Zeph grinned and let out a short laugh. "Arr," he dead panned. He picked up a ball but hesitated, he still felt unsure.

"There only be enough seas for one of us!" Denzel tossed a ball and smacked Zeph right on his headband.

Zeph felt a little more certain on his course of action now.

He threw a ball and Denzel tried to dodge, but was hit in the shoulder. "These seas be mine."

Denzel's smile grew as Zeph eased into the game. "We'll see about that," he said before throwing another ball, and then another.

One missed and hit the wall behind Marlene's bed and the other ricocheted off of Zeph's belly. He chuckled as he did a rapid ball toss, hitting Denzel directly once, grazing him another, and accidentally throwing one into the hallway. It bounced off of Marlene's head as she passed by, making her shout at the two.

Before Zeph could utter an apology Denzel had bounced off of his bed and onto Marlene's, then tackled Zeph. "I'm boardin' yer ship, bilgerat!"

"Gah!" They wrestled on the bed, one or the other getting the upper hand and pinning each other down at one point or another. They could hear Marlene grousing at them to get off of her bed, but they were both too busy wrestling each other.

Zeph shifted his weight and tried to get on top of Denzel, but toppled them both on to the floor with a thud. Denzel groaned before trying to get the upper hand, his arms pinned down to the floor. "We be drownin' like this, matey," he said as he struggled.

"Zeph! Denzel!" They both looked towards the sound of Marlene's voice. Her hands were on her hips and she was glowering at them; Denzel snickered at her upside down visage. "You gotta make my bed, you two ruined it!"

"No we didn't, it's fine!" Denzel argued.

She motioned towards the bed. "The blankets are half off the bed!"

"What's going on in here?"

The children looked up to see Tifa watching them with a stern gaze. Zeph felt himself shudder slightly, Denzel still pinned beneath him "Um..."

"Zeph, were you two fighting?" she asked.

Denzel struggled to get up from under Zeph, and the blond finally released him as he remembered he had someone under him. "N-no, Tifa! We were playing!" Denzel said.

"On my bed!" Marlene said while stomping her foot.

Tifa closed her eyes and pinched her nose, then looked at the three children again as she crossed her arms. "Guys, I'm running the bar downstairs. Cloud will talk to you two later about this. For now, make Marlene's bed and then come downstairs and help in the bar."

Denzel groaned but nodded. Zeph looked at Tifa slack-jawed, worried he may have gone too far. She turned and left, and he had Denzel shaking his shoulder to get his attention. "Come on, we're in enough trouble as it is."

"R-right." Zeph got to his feet and helped Denzel make the bed, Marlene watching them with a piercing gaze. He looked away from her as they finished, hands in his pockets. "Sorry, Marlene."

She nodded. "Ask before you use my bed next time, okay?" Marlene looked at Denzel with a grumpy glower. "You coulda broken my bed!"

"Nuh-uh. Cloud and Tifa wrestle on their bed and it never breaks."

The two boys made their way downstairs to help Tifa in the bar, Denzel keeping things clean and tidy while Zeph bused tables. He noticed that the noises of customers eating didn't find its way to his ears as much with Denzel paling around; he supposed he was as much of a distraction as the punishment they would both be dealt in the evening.

Tifa still gave them looks here and there, but that seemed to be it as long as they didn't backtalk her. Neither wanted to increase tensions with her, so they obeyed whatever was asked of them. Eventually Marlene began to help as more and more customers funneled in. Zeph was amazed at her ability to woo customers with a smile and a few cute words.

As the dinner rush died down Barret and Nanaki came back to the bar, and soon after the rumble of Cloud's bike grew close. Zeph looked at Tifa, she was cleaning the counter. Marlene was locking the front door as the last customer left. He was beginning to feel a little anxious as the dreaded talking-to fast approached.

Soon enough Cloud was quietly talking to Tifa behind the counter, his eerie eyes locking onto Zeph's for just a moment before returning their gaze to Tifa. He nodded, then disappeared up the stairs. Tifa beckoned the two boys to her, a hand on her hip. "After Cloud gets cleaned up, meet him in his office."

They both nodded and finished cleaning up the bar, then headed up to Cloud's office. He was already there, his hair still damp from his shower. He looked relaxed yet his face was slightly tense, his arms crossed and eyes studying the two as they filed in. He was wearing a dark grey sleeveless shirt and a pair of old jeans, one bare foot on top of the other as if to imitate Cloud's arms.

"You two were fighting on Marlene's bed?" he inquired. His voice wasn't quite as stern as Tifa's, but held just enough tension to make both boys feel small. Cloud let out a sniffle and rubbed the tip of his nose.

Denzel looked down and scratched his arm. "We weren't really fighting, just playing. Really," he said as he slowly lifted his eyes.

"Zeph?"

Cloud was looking towards him now. Zeph slowly nodded. "It was just a game. We didn't mean to mess up Marlene's bed."

The blond haired courier slowly nodded before his eyes looked upon them both. "I know you two are going to play rough sometimes," he began firmly, "but don't do it in the house." Cloud paused and bit his lip; he was thinking of what else to say. "And make sure to respect each other's personal property. Ask Marlene before you can use her bed when you play."

Both boys nodded. "Sorry, Cloud," they almost said in unison.

"You should apologize to Tifa, not me. She's the one worrying one of you is gonna break a leg while she's working the bar," he chided before standing up.

Zeph looked between both Cloud and Denzel. Were they going to be punished or what?

As if reading his mind Cloud pointed down at Denzel. "Alright. You have to clean the bathrooms, both of them, and you have to make Marlene's bed every morning for a week." Denzel groaned but nodded. It was known to Zeph already that Denzel was an efficient cleaner, but wasn't the biggest fan of bathroom duty. Usually everyone took turns, but now he was stuck with both of them for the whole week.

The bar's bathroom could get pretty bad some days.

Cloud's finger moved to point at Zeph, and he stiffened. "And Zeph, you'll help Tifa organize the alcohol stores and clean the kitchen after the bar closes for the week. I know you haven't done that before, but Tifa can show you what you have to do."

He quietly nodded, and Cloud pat them both on the back before leaving. Denzel groaned. "Man..."

"At least you know what you're doing..."

Denzel shrugged as they both slowly left the office and went downstairs to the bar. "The kitchen can get kinda grimy by the end of the day, especially if Tifa has to fry a lot. The stores aren't so bad, but it's kinda heavy work."

"Oh. Is this how we get punished?" Zeph wasn't sure if this was considered severe or something not out of the ordinary.

"Sometimes. Sometimes we get grounded if we get into some real trouble, and we gotta do extra chores. But, this isn't the worst I've had to do."

"What's the worst?"

Denzel blushed. "Um, when I first started school I didn't want to be there. I wanted to be home schooled by Cloud and Tifa again," he began as they walked down the stairs. "I skipped school and hanged out with some of the homeless kids instead. One day the school called up Tifa, and she called up Cloud to look for me."

"He found me a few blocks away from the bar, and man was he upset. They gave me a big lecture, then Cloud walked us to school for a week, and they grounded me on top of the extra chores." Denzel made a face as the memories resurfaced. "I like school a lot more now, but those were some stressful months."

Zeph nodded. "I'll make sure not to skip school in the fall."

"Don't worry, I'll be there to keep you in line!" Denzel said with a toothy grin before walking over to Tifa.

They both gave her an apology as Cloud suggested while she worked on dinner. Dezel explained they weren't grounded, so it would be alright to play while they waited to eat. Their punishments started tomorrow. Zeph did not feel particularly sour about it, in fact it made him feel a bit more like he was a part of the family and not just someone living there. After talking to Nanaki for a while he heard Tifa call out, and he went towards the galley and his dinner.

During dinner he wondered if somehow Valdt scratched Cloud, and that he was hiding it from them all. The warrior much preferred meat to anything else on his plate every night, and Barret would chide him about eating his vegetables. Of course, he'd take one good look at the silver earring that gleamed behind a blond lock and think that it was all in his head; it was just coincidental, because werewolves can't stand silver.

Still, something seemed just the slightest bit off. He wouldn't have pondered on it so much if Barret had not said so much. What he thought he liked long ago, or Cloud's response that he wasn't in the mood for broccoli tonight. Zeph chalked it up to paranoia after reading that book, because Cloud just couldn't be one. He wore silver jewelry, he was calm and friendly if a bit awkward, and Nanaki would have said something by now.

Zeph sighed into his water glass. He supposed this was another thing he would have to cope with in the days to come, extra chores and unnecessary paranoia. Especially now that a Full Moon was almost upon the city. If he had been watching Cloud at that moment instead of being wrapped up in his thoughts, he would have noticed the warrior looking at him from behind Denzel with a frown on his face.