Late Nights…
There's no specific event that marks this fluffy piece. But if I had to give this a more precise point in time, I would put it after Advent Children and before Dirge of Cerberus.
Cloud was the lightest of sleepers. Anything that sounded out of place in the darkness—a strange whisper, a creaky step, or even the lightest of touches—would jolt him into alertness instantly.
Or… at least something resembling alertness.
Whenever Cloud would wake up, his eyes would snap open instantly—as if he had been shaken out of a bad dream. However, after his eyes darted around wildly and he subconsciously realized there was no immediate danger, he'd slip back into a drowsy stupor.
There were a couple of times, though, when he was actually needed after one of his frantic jolts. Late one night, Tifa had been closing up the bar when one of their customers burst in, drunk and furious. Cloud—who had been sleeping upstairs—was jarred awake by the sound of a door slamming open. He was about to shut his eyes again when he heard raised voices.
"Tifa…" Cloud muttered blearily and stumbled out of bed, snatching up First Tsurugi—which he always kept propped up against the bed stand—and hurtling downstairs without even bothering to put on a shirt.
Tifa jumped in surprise at the loud thud behind her, turning in time to see Cloud crashing unceremoniously down the stairs and bumping his shoulder against the doorjamb as he attempted to stride into the bar, clad in nothing but his dark boxer shorts.
Tifa covered her mouth, trying to smother the laughs threatening to escape. Cloud shook his head, trying to disperse the fog of sleep that was the culprit of his less-than-graceful (and certainly less-than-Cloud-like) entrance.
Judging by the confusion that was starting to register on his face, Tifa figured he probably couldn't remember how even got downstairs just seconds before. "Cloud?"
At the sound of her voice, his gaze sharpened into a likeness of his normally attentive self. "What happened?" His voice, on the other hand, was still slurred with exhaustion.
"Just a rowdy customer who couldn't accept that the bar was closed. Don't worry—I sent him on his way." Tifa shrugged, turning back to her dishes and avoiding looking at him.
Cloud cleared his throat, his voice stronger. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," Tifa offered a glance over her shoulder. "And you should probably go back to sleep."
Cloud looked around and it finally dawned on him; he was standing half-naked in the bar. His face reddened. "Yeah, probably…" He agreed, trudging back up the stairs with First Tsurugi trailing behind him.
"Oh, and Cloud?" Tifa called.
"Hn?" His voice was distant.
"Thanks for worrying about me."