Genesis woke up cuddling his usual sleeping bundle of womanhood in his arms and felt a bit off, ignoring this he rolled Tifa so she lay beneath him and leaned in to kiss her awake like he normally did, when the nausea slammed him and he bolted from the bed and pelted into the washroom.
His need for pajamas and lounge clothes and his friend's and brother's wives was answered as Tifa listened Genesis's unhappy pukey sounds.
She put on a t-shirt that she'd pilfered from him. "Gen are you okay?" She asked him letting herself into the washroom after retrieving a glass of water.
"I don't feel so well" he moaned.
"Rinse out your mouth" she said putting the glass into his hand and stroked her hands along his heaving back when the water prompted him to puke again as the cool water triggered his gag reflexes and then he all but curled his naked body around her.
"You're burning up" she said as she stroked back his sweaty hair and touched his forehead, going into nurse mode. As much as crying women were his Achilles heel, people she loved in pain was hers. He soon sat on her couch wrapped in a blanket and looking simply pathetic while she took his temperature.
"You've got a temperature of one hundred and two, you'd better call the office and say you're not coming in. You're going back to bed" she advised him.
"I suppose I should go home" he said, though didn't want to, he hated being alone when he was ill.
"Your own bed's the best place for you. Good thing I just started my vacation, I 'll make a grocery run in case this lasts more than twenty four hours. It's either a cold or the flu" she said. "Do you feel achy?" She asked him.
"Like I've just worked out and pressed myself beyond my limits" he all but whined, he felt cold but hot and dizzy, it was as if his skin was too tight on his body.
"Why do you need to go to the grocery store?" He asked her.
"You're going to need flu medication, fluids so you don't dehydrate and goodness knows you never have anything in your fridge. I like to stock up when people are ill so I will have everything on hand to take care of them" she explained.
"You want to take care of me?" He said in surprise.
"I do care you about you and I want to see you well. Nursing a person back to health is normal even if that person's only a good friend. Besides, I'm right next door to you, it's not like it's a far commute" she assured him. "Now call into the office and we'll put you to bed in your own bed" she all but ordered him.
"But you were going to go visit your father for a few days" he said.
"I can see my father anytime. He's got, Shera, the boys and his daughters-in-law forever dotting on him and grandchildren to spoil and doesn't need me that badly but you do and I want to be here with you. Unless you don't want me to be. I could just drop by once in a while if you prefer" she said realizing how she might be imposing upon him or there might be somewhere he would rather be. After all, he did have family she had never met.
"Would you stay with me, at my place?" He asked her.
"Of course, I can sleep on your guest bedroom" she said.
"You don't want to sleep with me?" He said feeling hurt though could see the logic, she was probably afraid of catching his virus from him.
"Of course I do, I don't want to disturb you or make you too hot with my body warmth if you're already feverish" she explained.
"I would like if you would sleep with me" he requested.
"Then I shall" she promised him and helped him get home and settled into his bed while she made a list of whatever items she felt she would need as she did an inventory of his place while he called the office to let them know he was going to be out for a couple of days at least.
The receptionist went pale when she got his phone call and didn't even bother with the intercom to inform the other partners, she just ran for their offices and gave them the devastating news. She watched as the two men formerly smiling men looked grim and pulled out their PHS phones.
"Hello Elena, how are you today?" Angeal asked her.
"I'm just fine, how are you?" She asked him, not trusting his sing songy "can-you-do-me-a-favour-voice?"
"I was wondering, it seems that Genesis is sick..." Angeal said.
"No" she flatly said.
"But he's your brother-in-law" Angeal protested.
"And he's been your best friend a lot longer than he's been anything to me. We're not taking him into our home, it's not our turn and don't bother trying to go behind my back and asking Barret or Reno; the answer will be the same" she snapped.
"Where's your family loyalty?" Angeal asked her.
"I love my brother-in-law just fine when he's up and about and functioning-but not when he's sick. He's far too annoying. So you will have to make other arrangements for him and don't bother us again unless you want to meet the business end of my gun. I may be a mother to twins but don't ever forget I was once a TURK assassin, I still retain my gun, silent stalking skills and deadly accuracy" she warned him and hung up.
Angeal looked at his phone and dialed his home number "Yuffie honey, we have a minor crisis on your hands..." he started.
"Don't bother, Elena already called me, the answer's no. It's Sephiroth and Aerith's turn" she all but growled at him.
"But how? I just got off the phone with her a couple of seconds ago. Come on, he's not that bad" Angeal said.
"No he's much, much worse. I'm pregnant, I should not have to deal with any stress. Call our doctor if you don't believe me" she said and hung up.
Sephiroth had his own phone hovering away from his ear where his wife shrieked out her discontentment at his suggestion. "Where am I supposed to get tiny hazmat suits that would fit Emma and Jamie when their "fun' Uncle decides he wants them hanging out with him while he's still contagious? I don't want to have to take care of three children!" She raged.
"Well perhaps Angeal has managed to talk Elena or Yuffie..."Sephiroth began when Angeal looked at him and grimly shook his head. "I'm sorry but it's our turn and as I am the man of the house, I must insist" he said putting his foot down.
His heart raced at how silent she got. "Very well my Lord and Master, if you must insist, I shall obey as a dutiful wife should and shall make up the guest bedroom for Genesis and nurse him back to health. I hope you enjoy sleeping on the couch for the next week" Aerith said slamming down the phone.
"Sometimes you have to take one for the team" Angeal said to the traumatized looking lawyer.
Genesis lay back on his pillow and moaned when Tifa rung out a cold cloth and wiped the sheen of sweat from his face and temples and then rung it out again and lay it across his forehead, it felt so good on his fevered brow. He felt exhausted and let her do to him as she would, knowing she only wanted to help him as the fan trained on him felt good on his fevered skin. He sighed when she stripped his blanket back to his waist and took up another cloth and bathed his chest and arms with the same methodical but gentle touches. Trying to provide comfort for the ill man and cool his skin and he actually moaned in appreciation.
Sephiroth let himself into Genesis's place and wondering while he was moaning. He had to be alone because his lady friend was probably at work. Was he pleasuring himself Sephiroth questioned himself? He sure didn't want to see that! Then he got alarmed to think that he might be worse off then he thought and burst into his bedroom. He froze to find his friend writhing on the bed while a slim figure with her back to Sephiroth seemed to be washing him.
"What's going on? Sephiroth demanded as a pair of blue eyes and a pair of burgundy eyes focused on him.
"He's burning up, so I'm trying to lower his temperature" the unknown female explained.
"I've come to get Genesis, Aerith shall look after you" Sephiroth said to him, not sure how to react to the intimate looking scene.
"I want to stay here with Tifa" he whined, latching onto her wrist with his hand as if Sephiroth was going to remove him from her presence by dragging him away from her.
"Wait are you a trained nurse? That works, please submit your hours to our law firm once he's recovered, charge whatever you want. Double your rates if necessary, heck triple them if you can promise me he will be your sole patient and have all your attention until he's better" Sephiroth urged her, seeing a slim chance and seizing it.
"I'm not a trained nurse, Genesis and I...we're, intimate" she said with a blush.
"In that case, come on Genesis" Sephiroth mournfully said; he had been so close, he had almost been free of the bear trap. Sephiroth knew how long Genesis's gal pals lasted when Genesis was down for the count; they simply couldn't be counted on.
"I'll look after him, I already promised him I would. It's no trouble. I have the next two weeks off" she assured him. "And you are?"
"This is Sephiroth Crescent" Genesis introduced, wishing Sephiroth would leave. Now that he was there, Tifa had stopped the motions of her wonderful cloth on his person.
"Are you really sure?" He asked her, positive she didn't know what she was volunteering for.
"Gen, I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm just going to talk to your friend" she said.
"Will you run me a bath afterwards?" He asked her with a cute pout that Sephiroth long to punch.
"Of course" she promised him.
"Will you wash my back?" He pressed her.
"I'll wash any part of you want" she assured him as she wrung out his cloth to make it cool again and placed it on his forehead and tucked the blankets around his shoulders.
"Who are you?" Sephiroth asked the obviously attractive young woman though he had a feeling who she was.
"I'm Tifa Highwind. I live in the condo beside his. That's how Gen and I met" she explained to him.
"I want to warn you, he's the worst patient. He's whiny, demanding, he can't stomach anything that's store bought, so all soups have to be homemade along with all food. Anything that comes from a carton or can he says tastes nasty. I wouldn't wish to unleash him on my worst enemy" Sephiroth said.
"Good thing I'm a good cook who can easily make her own chicken stock and soups. I'll be fine. I grew up in a household of men, my father and brothers, when one went down with something contagious, the others fell like a house of cards. They were the worst, so one bratty man is nothing to me" she assured him.
"He hates being alone when he's sick, normally our wives and ourselves take turns being there for him" Sephiroth admitted.
"I don't have to go to work for two weeks. He'll be more comfortable being at his home, I'll be with him the entire time. Other then a grocery run, I don't have to leave. I can do laundry and prepare meals. Don't worry, your friend's in good hands. I get my flu shots every year and rarely ever get sick." she assured him, not realizing he wasn't concerned for Genesis but for her.
"My card if you need anything" he said.
"Would you do me a favour before you leave? Would you stay with him while I do a grocery run?" She asked him. "I hate to impose but..."
"Think nothing of it, please take your time" Sephiroth assure her.
"That you so much, I'll be about half an hour" she said and went and told Genesis in a soothing tone that his bath would be delayed while she fussed over him giving him hugs goodbye.
Sephiroth went into the bedroom after she left. "You've been holding out on us. I knew you were seeing someone exclusively through one of your weird arrangements, but you never said she was a nice girl. The girls will want to meet her" he said as he wrung out the cloth and placed it again on his friend's forehead.
"How long is Tifa going to be?" he demanded suspiciously as if his friend had tied her up and stuffed her in a closet.
"About half an hour, she's grocery shopping to look after your whiny, demanding ass. She'll be back soon. I told her to bill everything she needs to the firm, it's for a good cause. Do you need anything before she returns?" He asked him.
"I could use a glass of water" he said.
"Let me guess, spring water on ice with a slice of lemon?" He asked him.
"Lemon, my throat aches and you want to give me lemon?" He asked him in outrage. "How does Aerith not worry about you helping to raise two young children" he said turning his back on his friend in disgust.
"Fine I'll look for a slice of cucumber instead, oh wait I don't even have to go into your fridge to know: you have a carton of milk way past its expiry date, a slice of wizen of pizza so old it shall probably be able to cure cancer soon and a jar of olives and a case of natural spring water. How do I know this? Because I once was a bachelor before I wised up and decided I wanted more from life" he said to his back.
Genesis turned over with a thump "I have leftover sushi there too" Genesis insisted.
"I stand corrected" he said spreading his hands. He wondered how long it would be before he got a frantic phone call from Tifa demanding that he come get his wretched friend. He'd give her an hour Sephiroth figured.
Angeal was surprised when Sephiroth returned to the office so quickly, picturing him at home trying to sooth his wife and rub her feet prior to her having to make everything from scratch and fetch and carry for the fussy, sickly man.
"He has a woman staying with him who insisted she's going to nurse him back to health" Sephiroth explained.
"Was she dressed like a circus sideshow performer? Angeal asked him, knowing how Genesis seemed to attract some odd woman.
"She was gorgeous and seems really normal" Sephiroth said.
"Did you count how many noses she has?" Angeal asked.
"Only one, she's petite but busty, with dark hair and was conservatively dressed" Sephiroth said.
"Perhaps she has a forked tongue?" Angeal suggested.
"She has burgundy coloured eyes" Sephiroth said.
"You don't think he's still seeing that same woman? You know the one he makes that stupid face for when he's texting with her?" Sephiroth said making his eyes go wider than they had any business being and pasting on a goofy grin.
"You look like you're having a stroke. It's got to be. Come to think about it, Genesis hasn't been bragging about his conquests for a while now" Angeal realized.
"I thought he'd just run out of women to date and was taking a breather" Sephiroth said. "I teased Gen that I'm telling the girls about her."
"I have to meet this mysterious woman" Angeal decided.
Tifa was helping bathe Genesis who was relaxing in the tepid water as the jets stirring the water around, she'd finished washing his back and was kneading sore muscles while he leaned forward sighing as the movements of her small but firm fingers on his aching back. "Tifa your hands are a marvel" he moaned.
"You've never complained" she said pressing a kiss to one of his damp shoulders. Both looked up questionably when the doorbell rang.
"Are you expecting someone?" She asked him handing him his bathrobe.
"No would you see who it is" he said huddling into it.
"May I help you?" she asked the handsome, broad muscular man in the hallway.
"Is Genesis in? I'm Angeal, one his partners from our law firm and his oldest friend. I came bring him..." Angeal said and then realized that he hadn't brought anything with him. "This pen" he said taking it out of his pocket to hand it to the surprisingly normal looking woman.
"Gen, there's an Angeal here to see you" she called to him and Genesis came to see him.
"Hey 'Geal" he said.
"He brought you a pen" Tifa said with a mystified frown, not seeing anything special about the pen. It was a standard blue bicks pen.
"I'm sick" he complained to his friend and put his arm about Tifa.
"You look it" Angeal said, awkwardly.
"I'm going back to bed" he said.
"I'll come to tuck you in in just a minute" she called after him.
"Do you have an tattoos?" Angeal suddenly asked her.
"Gen told you about that? I guess it's a little odd for a woman to have a red lipstick print tattoo on her butt but in my own defense, I was sixteen at the time and feeling rebellious" she said with a blush. "You must think me so tacky."
"No I think you're quite the most normal woman who has ever been involved with Gen. If you receive phone calls from women named: Aerith, Yuffie or Elena, don't be surprised. Aerith's Sephiroth's wife, Yuffie's mine and Elena's..." He explained.
"Gen's brother Reno's" she finished. "Why would they be calling me?" She asked him.
"To check on Genesis of course" he said and made his way out.
It was strange how slowly time seemed to move during Genesis's illness and Tifa savoured it, enjoying how the illusion was able to last a little longer. It was nice having him to herself, not just kisses before work, after work, the occasional lunch he would surprise her with that sometimes didn't even include food and nights spent together. Although he was like a giant toddler, but all men were when sick as Tifa knew from her own uber baby brothers and father when they went down. She was a natural when it came to caring for sickly people, anticipating their needs, keeping them comfortable and entertained. The illusion of her being his beloved spouse tending to him in his time of need was attractive, surely it was okay to cling to it a little longer while she tended to him? In her illusion she wasn't a woman who had been dumped for another by her long time boyfriend or only a woman in a sexual arrangement with a capricious man who although treated her like she was special to him, but could end it any time. She had no claim on him and he couldn't sleep with anyone he wanted outside of a what he had agreed to in order for her to keep up her end of the bargain. How long would that last? He would get bored and move on. Her illusion wouldn't allow her to pretend it would last, it wouldn't and she would be left at the end heartbroken, shattered and alone as she was just a hair shy of now. But somehow watching him sleep, doing what she could to make him feel better was feeding what hope in her that her feelings were being returned by him even a little.
For Genesis, it was wonderful having someone fussing over him who he could touch and would cuddle him as much as he wanted. He certainly couldn't ask the wives of his friends and own brother for affection beyond chaste hugs. But Tifa held him as much as he wanted and her slim body clung to him at night. They both slept naked and her getting sweaty during the night didn't seem to bother her. He could remove the covers when he got too hot and only wore clothing when he lay on the couch watching TV with Tifa so he would be warm and comfortable.
"Tifa" Genesis frantically called out waking up from a dream where she had left him all alone in his misery. She had left him for good.
"I'm right here. Hey did you have a bad dream?" She said taking his hand and kissing it, his head lay in her lap. "You drifted off so we'll have to watch the last episode of Lexx over again. What was your dream about?" She asked him stroking his hair back.
"It was about...I can't remember" he answered too embarrassed to tell her how distressed he'd felt about a stupid dream.
Tifa was well pleased when his fever broke a couple days later. "You're back to normal but should rest one more day to get your strength back" she advised him.
"I've had enough of resting, I'm not an invalid" he said now more or less back to being his usual self.
Both Sephiroth and Angeal frowned at each other when it was announced Mr. Rhapsodos was there to see them. Certainly if Genesis were returning to work, he would have let them know.
"Show him into the conference room" Angeal suggested.
"Yo, everyone" Reno said joining them in the conference room.
"Reno what are you doing here?" Sephiroth asked him.
"I thought I would drop in, my father's meeting a friend and in city I offered to drop him off and pick him up as I have business in the area. I thought I would come to personally thank you for taking care of my baby brother" he said shaking hands with the men and hugging their wives who had come because they were picking their husbands up for a joint lunchdate.
"He's not with either of us" Aerith said.
"Then who's he's staying with?" Reno asked them in confusion.
"He's being taken care of by his steady girlfriend" Yuffie blurted out.
"I'm sorry; his what? That's impossible. Are you sure you're talking about my brother; the six foot, lithe redhead with a permanent arrogant smirk on his face?" He described him. "My brother doesn't commit" Reno said dismissively.
"It's another one of his arrangements, only this girl insisted on monogamy as her condition" Angeal explained.
"Wow this keeps on getting stranger and stranger" Reno commented.
"She seems nice" Sephiroth said.
"Well, I want to meet this girl too, I think every member of the Rhapsodos family wants to" Reno decided.
"You're not getting out of this bed unless you want to rest on the couch" Tifa insisted.
"Yes ma'am. I haven't received so many orders since I was in the military for a brief while. You will stop treating me like a child" he snarled and then his eyes went really wide when she joined him in bed. "What are you doing?" He asked as she pushed down the blankets to bare him,
"If you're going to be so fussy about staying in bed, I thought I would keep you company in your "resting" and prove to you I don't view you as a child" she said as her took his limp member in her hand while her other hand stroked down his well muscled chest, going down, down, down past rock hard abs. He cried out as she engulfed as much of him she could inside her hot oral cavity and nursed on him like a hungry baby on a teat. She couldn't take much but what she could felt incredible to him, her small hand stroked what he mouth couldn't reach, barely able to fit around the thick girth of him. He was soon keening as her other hand teased his writhing testicles. He is head lulled from side to side at the stimuli and she watched his flushed almost androgynous face, enjoying how his long lashed eyes fluttered and his full pink lips parted with each gasp...and then the doorbell rang.
She leaned up from his groin and wiped her lips. "It seems someone is at the door" she commented to the agitated lawyer.
"And they sure have a sense of timing. Should I just go take care of myself in the shower?" He snapped.
"I'll get rid of them and then I'll finish what I started," she promised him.
"Oh very well" he agreed.
Tifa was feeling rather playful and naughty when she answered the door. "Hello can I help you?" She asked the man standing there. He was tall and pale with red spiked hair and what appeared to be a long rattail hanging down his back. He wore faded black jeans with rips at the knees, black boots, a white wife beater and leather jacket and had two red arches tattooed under his eyes just at the top of his cheekbones.
"Is Genesis here? Sorry you're..." He asked her.
"Tifa, yes he is. Who shall I say is here?" She asked him.
"Someone who knows he wet the bed until he was seventeen" he shouted past her.
Genesis yelled back, "I did not Reno"
"You must be Genesis's brother; come in" she said holding the door open.
Reno was happy to see his little brother had his colouring back, he seemed to be clean and well cared for. "So I thought I would come to see how you were. How are you feeling?" he said.
"Yes everyone who has ever met me seems to have stopped by this past week. I'm feeling fine now, I had a couple bad days..." Genesis said.
"He was an utter baby" Tifa said with a friendly smile.
"I was not" he protested.
"Can I make some tea for everyone?" Tifa offered.
"No stay for a second. Tifa, one behalf of the Rhapsodos family I want to thank you for taking time away from your employment to take care of my baby brother. I know how unbearable he can be" Reno said bowing to her.
"I am not" Genesis insisted.
"It was not trouble, I have two weeks off anyway due to holidays I booked a long time ago" she assured him, bowing back. "Gen was just fine. I didn't mind in the least" she assured him.
"If you have another week off, perhaps you would care to stay as a guest at the mansion? There's of amenities to be explored, we have lots of lovely gardens, tennis courts, pools both indoor and outdoor, stables with horses" he listed.
"You never mentioned you had horses!" Tifa cried to Genesis.
"Sure you don't like my sportscar but mention a horse and you get dewy eyed" Genesis muttered. "I've already been absent from the firm for a week. I don't know if it's prudent for me to take an additional week off" Genesis added.
"I wasn't suggesting you do. I was inviting Tifa" Reno said.
"Wait, you're inviting my...neighbour to my childhood home and you're expecting her to go without me?" Genesis demanded.
"I don't think I would be comfortable going to a place where I don't know anyone" Tifa agreed.
"You wouldn't be without a companion, Cousin Squall's staying with us" Reno offered.
"Squall the masher! I think not" Genesis sniffed.
"I'm sorry but I, as a member of the Rhapsodos family is extending this invitation to Tifa to thank her for the duty of care she extended to another family member she has no obligation to, therefore she's being invited as my guest. Not yours. He's so full of himself that you need him there" Reno said to her directly with a rueful shake of his head as if Genesis were being silly and she looked dubious at this.
"She had an obligation to me" Genesis countered.
"My invitation supersedes any prior arrangements you made with her independent of me. I'm inviting her, not you. Now if you will come along Tifa. I can drive you to my place after we pick up my father" he suggested. "I can give you about half an hour to pack" he offered.
"She's not going anywhere without me" Genesis insisted.
"Okay fine, have it your way" Reno said with an impatient sigh.
"I'll go if Gen does" Tifa concurred.
"We shall meet you there,I have to make sure my cases are covered by Angeal and Sephiroth and to shower and for us both to get packed.
"No problem, I have to go pick up Dad soon, he met this pilot and they became great friends. The guy's name's Cid and he,s such a reverse snob, he was bugging Father about getting manicures and he dared him to get one. And they're doing that now" Reno said with a chuckle.
"My father's name is Cid but that can't be him, he mocks men for getting manicures" Tifa said dismissively as she let Reno out.
"Well finish what you started and then we'll pack" Genesis said taking off his lounge pants and Tifa smiled and did.
An hour later, Genesis's cased had been reappointed and themselves showered and changed for the drive. He put their suitcases in the trunk and went to get in the driver's seat.
"Oh no, you've had medication today. You're not supposed to drive" Tifa objected.
"Then how are we supposed to get there, I'm not getting in your car" he objected.
Tifa smiled as she drove the red sportscar with the top down. She wore a scarf over her hair and her sunglasses.
"You could go a little faster" Genesis complained from where he sat in the passenger's seat with his arms folded in irritation.
"The posted limit for highway driving is 90 and I'm going exactly that" she said in rebuttal.
"The point of owning a sportscar is how fast it can go" he tightly explained to her.
"Not while I'm driving. Now fasten your seatbelt and let me know if you need me to stop so you can go to the washroom" she said quirking a smile at him. "Such language" she commented when he swore under his breath at her, suggesting she go "love" herself.
It was a nice day, she was on her way to meet her "almost" boyfriend's family and she just felt in a great mood as she drove along the highway towards their destination with the reluctant Genesis riding shotgun as she hummed 'You Will Be His'.