Chapter summary: Marlene likes to get her way. Very, very much. And Cloud usually screws up enough to ensure there is always something to blackmail him with. But then she goes a little too far, and it's Denzel to the rescue…

Jealousy, Take 13

By Ivy Elise Tanté

Wincing, rubbing hard at the back of his neck, Cloud Strife looked down upon his pint-sized opponent and acknowledged the bitter taste of defeat. With no recourse open to him, he admitted through clenched teeth, "All right, you win, Marlene. What is this going to cost me?"

Smirking at the great warrior's defeat, Marlene Wallace pulled an ad from her pocket and held it out. Her smile only grew wider as Cloud hesitated to reach out and take the piece of paper. When he finally found the courage to accept it, his expression went stormy as he read it aloud, "Personal ad taken out by Wilma Gray. Free puppies to a good home, males and females available, six months old, spayed or neutered, all shots given and records included. Contact information." Here he stopped and glared at her. "This isn't something you can blackmail me into, Marlene. It has to be a family decision, which means asking Tifa and Denzel what they think." Handing the paper back, he started up the stairs.

"But… I really want a puppy!" she wailed, clutching the paper to her chest like a baby.

Looking back at her, Cloud's stern expression warned she'd pushed him too far. "We can't always have what we want, Marlene. So talk to Tifa and Denzel and get their opinion. If they decide in your favor I won't stand in your way. But I'm through with the blackmail. Tell Tifa the truth if it suits you, but be sure she knows I did it by accident because I was trying to help lighten the load on her." So saying, he entered his office and shut the door. Quietly.

Stomping a foot, Marlene raced into the room she shared with Denzel and flung herself onto her bed. She lay there muttering to herself for some time before raising her head to glare at her brother, seated at the desk and diligently slaving over his homework.

Catching the discontent on her face, Denzel asked lightly, "Didn't work this time, did it?"

Marlene tossed a pillow at him. "I'm not giving up!"

The roll of his eyes didn't improve her temper. "Marlene, all you have to do is ask me and Tifa about it. I heard him say that right out there on the stairs. And I want a dog just as bad as you do, so I'm all for it. All you have to do now is ask Tifa. If she says no, then see if Cloud will talk to her. If anyone has a chance of changing her mind, Cloud is the one. He would do that because it's something you want - you don't have to blackmail him into things the way you do."

Lurching off the bed, she retrieved her pillow and flung it in such a way it teetered on the headboard. "He doesn't pay attention to me otherwise."

Eyes wide, Denzel whirled around. "What?! Where in the world did you come up with that? He pays attention to you all the time. I couldn't believe it last week when I got home late, and he was in here with a feather boa wrapped around his neck during one of your tea parties."

"He didn't want to stay, Denzel. I got lucky to keep him in here even ten minutes," was her grouse.

Putting down his pencil, he folded his hands in his lap and looked at his sister - really looked at her. The woe-be-gone look in the dark brown eyes worried him, so he left his work unfinished to go and sit on the bed beside Marlene. "Most guys would run in the opposite direction at the mere mention of a tea party, yet he stayed. Why don't you tell what is really wrong? I haven't seen you look this unhappy since we found out he had Geostigma."

She muttered to herself for a minute or two, and then said, "He doesn't talk to me."

It made Denzel laugh, which earned him a scowl, "Cloud rarely talks! With him reading the ad and all, I think that's more words out of his mouth than I've heard from him in three days. Even Tifa has a time getting him to say anything sometimes. What's going on with you?"

"He's always taking you out on his bike, teaching you sword-play, letting you help plot his routes for deliveries. He doesn't do any of that with me!" The last came out in a wail and had her flopping backward so hard she nearly fell off the narrow bed and onto the floor.

Face-palming for a minute, Denzel tried as best he could to hold down the frustrated sigh. "And Tifa is always taking you out shopping, letting you help her in the kitchen, and playing dress up with your dolls. I don't spent nearly as much time with her as you do, but I'm not complaining. I… just don't," and he paused, trying to dredge up the proper word. "Connect, I guess, with her like you do. Cloud and I don't even have to speak most of the time; we just kind of know since we're thinking alike. It's a guy thing, and with you and Tifa it's a girl thing."

Tugging at her braid, she concluded, "That's lame, Denz."

The laugh finally escaped his control. "That's life, Mar." Contemplating the down-trodden look on her cute face, Denzel suggested, "Then ask to go on a bike ride. Cloud will use any excuse to take off on Fenrir. In fact, he's going to the market this afternoon for some of the groceries that Tifa needs. Go with him. I've got too much homework to do right now or I would go myself. Someone has to help him pick out vegetables - half the time he's scratching his head over the stuff on the list. The man does not know asparagus from cauliflower, and couldn't identify avocados if his life depended on it."

"He's not that bad," she giggled, brushing the soft brown hair out of his eyes.

"He really is. Why do you think I go with him all the time? I hate grocery shopping, but he panics when something on the list stumps him."

Surprised, Marlene looked up at Denzel like he had to be kidding, "Why would he panic? All he has to do is ask someone."

Denzel thought it over for a minute before saying softly, "He doesn't like to disappoint Tifa. Not that she would be disappointed if he got the wrong thing, but she just means so much to him. He's… afraid, Marlene."

"Cloud? Afraid? Why?"

"Because I've done too many things wrong," Cloud said, standing just outside the children's room with the keys to Fenrir dangling from his fingers. "I've made a lot of mistakes, with Tifa and with both of you. If I keep making them, you might not want me to stay."

Standing, Marlene slapped her hands on her hips and snapped out, "You're being stupid, Cloud. We love you and we will always want you to stay. So get that through that chocobo-head of yours and let's go shopping. I can't help Tifa fix dinner if she doesn't have what she needs to make it."

Cloud turned and watched the little girl dash down the stairs to get the grocery list from Tifa. The corners of his lips quirked as he swung his gaze towards the boy sitting back at the desk to finish his homework. "That," he commented, "was smooth. You get out of shopping while letting her spend more time with me."

Denzel shrugged, though he was secretly pleased that Cloud had noticed his ploy. "She's right, you know. You do more things with me than her, and she loves you." His smile was canny as he asked, "What did you mess up this time, anyway?"

It was amusing to see the blush spread across Cloud's cheeks as the swordsman looked away. In a strangled type of voice he admitted, "I… tried to load and run the dishwasher…"

Squeezing his eyes shut, Denzel squeaked out, "What broke?"

"That mug you and Marlene made her last year."

The confession had the boy laughing so hard he nearly messed up his homework sheet.

Frowning, Cloud demanded, "What's so funny, Denzel? She uses that mug every single day!"

Wiping away tears, Denzel told him, "She only does that so Marlene's feelings don't get hurt. She hates the thing. It's lopsided and wobbles and has this little hole near the handle, so if she isn't careful she'll drip coffee down her shirt."

"Really?" Cloud breathed out, then his brows knitted. "So, if I let Marlene pick out a nice mug for Tifa when we're shopping, it would probably get me off the hook with both of them, right?"

Denzel grinned at him, "Probably. But you're dealing with women here, Cloud." He twirled his pencil for a moment before added, "That's several you owe me now. How about some sword training tomorrow?" He glanced toward the corner where his pint-sized imitation of the Buster Sword Cloud had commissioned during the Halloween Costume Contest rested. "I've kept it cleaned and oiled and everything."

Walking into the room, Cloud wrapped an arm around Denzel and rested his cheek on the top of his head. "Sure. We'll ride out to Healin in the morning, work out in one of the clearings off the road. Then go exploring. Do you want Marlene to come?" This was asked hesitantly.

"Why not make a picnic out of it? Tifa and Marlene could hunt for flowers and pretty stones while we practice. And then check out the puppies on the way back. Tifa won't be able to refuse if they're climbing all over her."

Studying the brown head fondly, Cloud patted his shoulder and asked rhetorically, "Which one of us is the adult here?"

Denzel didn't answer as Cloud left the room to collect Marlene for their shopping trip, even though he sat there and just grinned for several minutes…