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Upon arriving at the inn, everyone heads up to their rooms to unpack—unless they’re Cloud, in which case, the moment he puts down his sword and sits on the edge of the bed, his eyelids begin to droop, he sways in place, and falls asleep within seconds. Aerith giggles at the sight, whilst Tifa sighs fondly.
“He doesn’t look comfortable in the slightest, does he?” Aerith says as they stare at their sleepy boyfriend, who lays horizontally across the bed, his legs dangling off the edge. “How did he even fall asleep like that?”
“He didn’t sleep well, so he must just be that tired,” Tifa says, still amazed by Cloud’s ability to fall asleep in the weirdest and most uncomfortable-looking positions. “Anyway…” She glances at Aerith, who fell in battle this afternoon, getting pretty beat up; they healed her easily, but her clothes are still filthy, and her hair is matted with dirt. “You look like you need a bath. And I think Cloud’s letting you go first.”
Aerith puts her hands on her hips, faking a pout. “Are you saying I smell or something, Tifa?”
Tifa laughs. “Not at all. Well, other than the smell of flowers. Now go and bathe before someone uses all the hot water.”
Smiling, Aerith gives her a quick kiss, and hurries off to have a bath before she’s forced to use cold water (and complain about it endlessly, just like the last time that happened). And as Cloud continues to doze, Tifa keeps herself busy by unpacking their stuff for the night.
---
Cloud is still asleep when Aerith emerges from the bathroom, wearing her nightdress and her damp hair hanging loose, cascading down her back like a shimmering waterfall. It felt so good to soak in the warm water, although getting all that dirt out of her hair wasn’t fun. Still, she feels much better for doing it. Picking up her hairbrush, Aerith wanders over to the mirror and begins to run the brush through her hair. She catches Tifa looking at her in the mirror, and gives her girlfriend a wink, smirking when Tifa blushes.
“Would you like me to braid your hair?” Tifa asks as Aerith continues to brush out the tangles.
Aerith smiles; there is something so relaxing about Tifa braiding her hair, so how could she refuse that offer? “That sounds wonderful. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Once Aerith has finished brushing her hair, she sits on the edge of the bed (she’s grateful that this place has beds big enough for three people, because usually they have to squash together), and Tifa perches behind her, both being careful not to jog Cloud. They sit in comfortable silence as Tifa’s fingers work their magic, carefully braiding strand after strand of Aerith’s long hair. Aerith closes her eyes, forgetting all about the day’s stresses as Tifa slowly fixes Aerith’s hair back into her favourite style, listening to Cloud’s adorable little snores.
When Tifa eventually finishes braiding her hair, Aerith turns and gives her a kiss. And as she looks at the ribbons sitting on the bed next to Tifa, Aerith glances at Cloud… and an idea comes to her.
“What are you planning?” Tifa says, noticing Aerith’s smirk.
“I just thought… we shouldn’t leave Cloud out. He deserves to look pretty too,” she says, giggling.
Tifa rolls her eyes, but she smiles. “Oh, why not…”
Beaming at her girlfriend, Aerith picks up a ribbon, wriggles closer to Cloud… and gets to work.
---
When Cloud wakes up, it takes him a few seconds to remember where he is—after all, he only spent about ten seconds in this room before he fell asleep. And considering that it’s getting dark outside, he must have slept for a while. Yawning, Cloud rubs his eyes with the back of his hand, and goes to comb his fingers through his hair… when he notices something off about his hair. Ribbons wrap around locks of his hair, and when Cloud runs his finger along one of the locks, he feels the bumpy pattern of braids. And as he feels his hair, Cloud hears a giggle, and raises his head to find Tifa and Aerith looking at him from across the room, trying and failing not to laugh. Well, it seems he found the culprits.
“What did you two do?” Cloud says wearily.
“I don’t know what you mean, Cloud,” Aerith says, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “You look the same as ever.”
Beside her, Tifa muffles a spluttering laugh into her hands. Cloud rolls his eyes.
“Sure…” he drawls, sarcasm dripping off his tongue. Hauling himself off the bed, Cloud wanders over to the mirror, and stares at his reflection. Sure enough, his head is covered in tiny braids and a rainbow of ribbons, the locks of hair sticking out in every possible direction and making him look like an utterly ridiculous hedgehog. How the hell did he sleep deeply enough to not wake up when they did this? “You two are the worst…”
“You’re welcome!” Aerith says, beaming at him (and Tifa continues to do the world’s worst job at hiding her laughter). And when Cloud reaches up to undo the braids, she cries, “But you look so pretty!”
“What if I don’t want to look pretty?” Cloud grumbles, still not over being forced to wear a dress back in Midgar.
“Spoilsport…” Aerith says, trying not to grin.
“You don’t need to be pretty if you don’t want to, Cloud,” Tifa says, still fighting back giggles. “But… you’ve gotta admit... it’s a… unique look.”
Cloud rolls his eyes, somewhat exasperated by their antics, but not surprised; he learned a while ago that his girlfriends love to playfully mess with him. “Yeah, a look I hate,” he says, trying to glare at them… but to Cloud’s frustration, their giggles are contagious, and before long, he begins to chuckle at how stupid he looks and how much effort they went through just to mess with him. “I love you idiots,” Cloud splutters out, before it occurs to him what he just said.
And because he’s Cloud Strife, he immediately begins to worry that he made things weird by saying that, because what if they don’t love him back, and why did he say that, and—
“Love you too,” Tifa says, and Aerith rushes over to give him a big hug.
And Cloud relaxes into her hug, smiling through his laughter, so goddamn glad to have these two beautiful fools in his life.