Log; Complete [PART ONE]

[yourarmor.livejournal.com]

When; You know, I'm not too sure. :< I should ask.
Rating; PG-ish.
Characters; Zack [yourarmor] & Cloud [conflictive]
Summary; Cloud teasingly requests Zack to take him on a date when Zack said he wanted to see Cloud in a dress. Zack, excited, agrees in an instant and has the whole day planned out rather, um, thoroughly.
OOC note; This was a 43 page long log. I had to split it into three parts because of the character limit via LJ updateness. So, yes, you'll be seeing three entries look sort of the same, but they're all different parts of the log~
Log;

Zack really was too excited to even attempt seven complete hours of sleep. When Cloud said something as serious as “Take me out, Zack”, of course he paused and rose an eyebrow to check if what he read was typed out correctly. But, of course, the blond was kidding, and Zack was actually amused that he was finally gaining more confidence to joke back like that. He found it, actually, immensely attractive, which was odd to him in a way, but it made sense as to why he grinned so much when Cloud took the initiative to tease Zack.

Putting that aside, Zack was currently in the kitchen. No, he wasn't trying to cook on his own, because he previously mentioned to Cloud that he couldn't cook worth, well, anything. Aerith had always been his source of food as she knew he'd starve without her around, but Zack was trying his hardest to take care of Cloud (again) and make sure he didn't have to do too much around the place since he deserved, more than anyone, to rest and relax. It was his goal, even, to see him not so tense – he had been successful, thankfully. And he was even smiling and laughing, which Zack had noticed that he probably didn't do a lot of in the passing years since he had been gone. And the question that always arose in his mind because of such observation was: Did he really miss me that much?

Part of him wanted to brag about him being so awesome that of course he did, and part of him wanted to believe that Cloud was just fine without him. But he knew the answer in the back of his mind, he just tried to ignore it for the time being.

Zack shook his head from his thoughts, rearranging things he bought (a pre-made breakfast he went to get at the crack of dawn, which was fun for him, of course) on a tray as he went over what he had planned for the day. He cracked a grin and side-glanced over to the table where flowers sat, pleased with himself for picking out some that wasn't over horrific: pink and white tulips. Zack thought about roses at first, but they seemed too overly used for every single kind of occasion. Besides, these were rather refreshing and bright, which was what he was planning on having the whole day to be like. A cheesy thought, but that was too damn bad as Zack was a cheesy person to begin with.

Pleased with the selection of not only orange juice but also milk on the side (it reminded him of those commercials he always saw – the ones about breakfast cereal) he beamed at the rest of the relatively nice looking food on the tray, which could probably feed three people and not just one. It was littered with pancakes, eggs, hash browns, toast, bacon, sausage and some kind of weird garnish on the side. He was positive Cloud wouldn't touch that, but it looked nice anyways.

He shifted his hold on the tray to one hand, the other carrying the tulips as he whistled his way into their bedroom, making sure he cracked the door open to see if he was awake or not. Thankfully, he wasn't, so he made his entrance slow and cautious, knowing if he was quiet enough, Cloud wouldn't snap awake so easily. Zack happily positioned the tulips on the nightstand next to Cloud, the tray following suit shortly after. He carefully shifted towards the curtains, half-opening those to try and get some sunlight in, but not enough to blind the poor boy when he finally woke up.

When Zack was finished he paused and turned around, unsure if he should wake Cloud or not since he looked so peaceful when sleeping. Not able to bring himself to prodding the blond to get up, Zack squatted on the ground next to the other's side of the bed, smiling to himself as he reached a hand out to smooth back blond, ruffled hair, hoping that wouldn't wake him but it kept himself busy. And if it did wake him up, it wouldn't have been as harsh as a nudge to his ribs.




In actuality, Cloud had been awake since dawn, when Zack had woken up and set out to prepare for the date. He'd been feigning slumber since then, because he was reluctant to interrupt Zack's preparations. Cloud found it terribly amusing how much effort Zack was putting into all of this; he'd had to pretend to turn over in his sleep to hide the rather foolish smile on his face that resulted from hearing Zack putter busily around the house like a man with a mission. He also found it incredibly sweet of Zack - from the looks of it, he was going all out.

The whole thing had started out innocuously as a joke on Cloud's part, but Cloud was inwardly pleased that Zack had decided to take it seriously. He still wasn't sure why he'd asked, even though he kept telling himself that he'd done it solely out of curiosity as to how Zack would have reacted to it, and for no other purpose. Part of him knew this wasn't exactly true, as strange as it was to him.

He wondered what Zack had planned for the day. It was probably incredibly girlish of him, but he was quite excited. He'd never be obvious about it, of course, but Cloud was convinced that Zack would know anyway.

It was all the more difficult trying to hold back snickers once Zack entered the room with what he probably considered was stealth - it was really too much, how Zack was trying so hard not to wake him. Cloud decided to humor him a little longer, though, by pretending to stir slightly in his sleep, to further his facade of unconsciousness. He could be convincing when he wanted to be.

Once Zack was satisfied with how he'd furnished the room and Cloud felt familiar fingers stroking his hair, he deemed it appropriate to "awaken." He tentatively opened his eyes, blinking as though to dispel the sleep from his eyes, and he looked up at Zack, a small smile gracing his features.

"'Morning, Zack."




Not at all surprised by Cloud's awakening, Zack smiled as well, drawing his hand back and placed it on the edge of the mattress, “G'morni-kins, sunshine!” He pushed himself up and stood up straight, stretching his limbs with a very small grunt to follow it, “Slept sweetly, I'm guessing?”

He, of course, had no idea the other had been up this entire time. It would've been best that he hadn't known at all, anyway, since it'd spoil “the magic” for Zack. There was a certain amount of pride he had while preparing things this morning, and his attempt towards not waking the blond was one of those goals he previously set upon himself. But, alas, it had failed, and even if Cloud did say something about it he would just pout and complain childishly, but not all that much. This was going to be a special day, damnit, or so he hoped.

Then again, he never paused long enough to let the other speak. “'Cause your hair's a mess,” Zack concluded after a moment of observation, finishing his previous thought with a nod. It was said teasingly, and this was apparent from the look on his face. “Ah well, we can fix that later, 'cause I have breakfast for you!” Fingers reached out to nudge Cloud gently, signaling him to sit up before he presented him with the tray of food, a rather loud “Ta-da!” following abruptly after his presentation.

“Hope you're hungry, 'cause there's a lot of food,” violet eyes traced the tray, now wondering if he put too much on the plate. Didn't matter, he guessed, and he promptly tried to ignore any looks he might've gotten from Cloud's thoughts on the food as he sat the tray down on the other's lap. “And, and--!” Zack looked like a child opening their presents on Christmas with the way he sauntered to the side, eyes gleaming rather ridiculously while hands, palm-up, introduced the tulips as well. His overenthusiastic grin, sadly, just wouldn't go away throughout his little pre-planned introduction to part one of their date.




Cloud received the tulips gratefully, unable to keep himself from grinning a little foolishly. He hadn't expected Zack to actually go out of his way to bring him flowers. "They're beautiful," he said with genuine appreciation, eyes bright with pleasure. "Aerith would be impressed." He knew Zack had probably put a lot of thought into their selection, and though he was hardly the romantic type, Cloud thought they were perfect - bright and simple, but meaningful. Cloud had little experience with dates, especially with being on the receiving end, but he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Setting them aside for the moment (he'd have to find some sort of vase to keep them in), he turned to the tray that Zack had placed on his lap and the elaborate abundance of food arrayed across it. For a moment, he was taken aback by the sheer amount of food the tray held; surely, Zack didn't expect him to finish all of it. Then again, Cloud realized fondly, in Zack-terms, this was probably nothing. And this was likely also another one of Zack's way of reassuring him that he'd never let Cloud go hungry, just as he had previously done so.

"So are you going to help me eat this or what?"




Pouting in an almost ludicrous way, Zack shuffled a foot on the ground, followed by a sheepish look with the mentioning of helping Cloud with his food. “But it was all for you...” A pause, then he cracked a grin, letting out an exasperated sigh as if it were the most difficult thing in the world to do, “But, if you insist!”

With little to no effort involved in the movement, Zack pressed a hand on the edge of the bed, literally half-jumping over the other to land gracefully (and, amazingly, without disturbing the food or drinks on the tray) beside him on the bed – possibly one of the greatest gifts he found while being in SOLDIER was learning how to be quick without so much as making a single thing waver in movement. Besides, he wouldn't have done it if he knew it would've thrown both Cloud and the tray off the bed, because Zack took too long making sure the food of all things was perfect.

Zack shifted in place, trying to situate himself on the mattress as he relaxed comfortably on the headboard of the bed as hands slid behind his own mess of hair. Wasn't like he was completely ready himself, of course, since he did want to relax just a little bit and re-trace everything he had planned out while Cloud enjoyed his rather large breakfast.




Cloud grinned, shifting to allow Zack room, despite the size of the bed. He knew all too well that Zack was never one to turn down food.

As Zack joined him on the bed, Cloud was reminded by exactly why he'd admired Zack so fervently in his youth and still did. His movements were fluid and precise - catlike, even - and distinguished him as one qualified to be counted among the elite, even more eloquently than the chemical glow of mako in the other man's violet eyes, which matched Cloud's own and branded him permanently as having been involved with Shinra. For all of his quirks and childish tendencies, Zack was undeniably a skilled fighter, and he exuded a vitality that emphasized this.

He slid the tray over a little to make it more easily accessible to Zack, then took the liberty of tucking in, now that he felt less guilty about hoarding the entire tray for himself. Cloud was somewhat surprised at his own appetite - typically, he could run on a cup of black coffee in the morning, but then again, this was better food than he'd had in a long time.




Zack rose his eyebrows at the way Cloud ate, pretty impressed at how hungry he seemed to be. Really, he was only joking about the starving part, but he instantly decided having food that wasn't burnt or over salted would do more good than harm of course. Which reminded him of something he picked up this morning, but he'd give it to Cloud later as a small gift for putting up with his semi-ridiculous plans for today, which wouldn't be saying much considering what the gift was in the first place.

He reached over to retrieve a piece of bacon, chewing on it thoughtfully before snapping his fingers together, the light bulb in his mind turning on all of a sudden, “Oh yeah!” Zack rolled over half-way so he was now facing Cloud, beaming towards the blond as he continued his sudden little outburst, “I was thinking we could go shopping before we venture out, since it was on our agenda of things to do anyways.” He paused to eat the last piece of bacon, about to nab something else and speak more but paused to snicker at the piece of pancake stuck to the side of Cloud's mouth, “Y'got something right here-” he motioned towards the particular spot on his own face “-kiddo.”

Zack didn't wait for him to reply or even wipe it away himself as a hand already pressed against the side of Cloud's face, swiping the offending piece of food away with a thumb.

“Anyway, but yeah, we need to get you something more appropriate to wear since I don't have that much to begin with in the clothing department,” he tapped a finger on his own chin, rolling his eyes up in thought, “and you never answered my question last night, Spike. Pink or purple?”




Cloud groaned. He'd been hoping that Zack had gotten too caught up in the date to remember the other half of the deal, which, to Cloud's chagrin, entailed him wearing a dress. Again. Though his best friend was a far cry from Don Corneo, Cloud wasn't keen on getting back in touch with his feminine side.

A deal was a deal, though, and the sooner he got it over with, the better. Besides, he knew Zack would pester him about until he got some action, or at least coerce Aerith into divulging the exact details of the Wall Market incident, which, understandably, Cloud preferred to keep confidential. "Kind of you to offer me a choice," he said, voice laden with sarcasm. "I said I wouldn't wear anything pink." Purple it was, then, Cloud thought, feeling disturbingly like he was signing his own death warrant. The lesser of two evils.




Laughing loudly from the look and the groan, he simply smirked at Cloud when one of his own eyebrows rose with a look of curiosity spreading across his features, “Oh? Well, do you have any other colors in mind, then? I wouldn't mind white, of course – then again that would've been better if you were still in girl-form,” a simple, yet typical perverted thought began to cross over Zack's mind, but it was quickly swept away as quick as his words were said, “but hey, we'll see when we get there.”

Zack really could care less, to be completely honest. He just couldn't pass up the chance, however, at seeing Cloud in a dress. That and the bitching and moaning would make it worthwhile since he knew the other would do it if he bugged him about it – that and he knew Cloud never went back on his word.

“I'm not going to make you wear it for our date since I don't want anyone staring at you. That'll be my job today-” he winked momentarily “-but we are gonna buy you something pretty.” He reached over and gingerly took the fork from Cloud's fingers, stabbing a piece of egg, only to wiggle it in front of the blond's face with an evil but teasing look in his eyes, “For, you know, the privacy of our own home.”




Cloud had the grace not to bury his face in his hands, though he was on the verge of doing so. He'd always thought Zack's fixation with getting him into women's clothing, which bordered on insane (though "insane" applied to a lot of aspects of Zack), was unsettling, but now, it was more so than ever, since the purchase of a dress implied multiple usages, and more importantly, ulterior motives on Zack's part. Cloud was disinclined to give the subject further thought. "Looking forward to it," he said, though the expression on his face indicated otherwise.

He was relieved, of course, that Zack wasn't going to make him actually wear the dress in public. Cloud wouldn't put it past him, anyway.

Having been divested of his fork, Cloud shifted the bedsheets and tray (now mostly cleared off, thanks primarily to Zack) aside and slid off the bed, running his fingers through his tousled hair. "Give me a sec, I'm going to change."




Zack hid his laughter by chewing on the leftover food on the tray, happily watching Cloud and his inner struggle that Zack was most amused by. He was only kidding, of course. Sort of. The man couldn't help it, Cloud was cute, even when he surpassed his teenage years, and the idea of him in a dress wasn't a turn-off at all. For some people, they'd probably cringe at the idea. For Zack? He was down-right thrilled about it.

It must've shown too much, but he didn't care since it was the truth and all. He just tried to keep it hush-hush as much as he could, which was hard as Zack had a loud enough voice as it was.

“Yeah, yeah, go do your hair, stare at yourself in the mirror, do your nails...” Relaxing back into the bed again he said all of this off-handedly, attempting to once again hide a relatively large smile when hands returned to their position behind his head, legs stretching out as he closed his eyes and fought back a yawn. In all actuality he wasn't tired at all, but more so not used to getting up at the crack of dawn anymore. Or, rather, what he considered to be the crack of dawn, which would be any time before twelve in the afternoon.




Cloud threw Zack a dirty look before pulling open one of the drawers along the side of the room to rummage through it. Not long after his arrival, he'd taken it upon himself to impose at least some semblance of organization to Zack's room, and although he still had a long way to go, he'd had some degree of success with Zack's clothing, the majority of which was now relatively clean and folded. Cloud hoped to keep it that way.

Settling with jeans and a white shirt that looked like it might not seem ridiculously enormous on him, considering there wasn't much to choose from, Cloud changed quickly, trusting that Zack wasn't getting an eyeful but realizing that it was stupid of him to even care. He considered retreating into the bathroom and deliberately spending hours in there solely to torture Zack, but decided that he wasn't feeling cruel enough and opted instead with simply checking that his hair was in an adequate state of disheveled spiky-ness. Contrary to common belief, Cloud's hair was relatively low maintenance. He knew Zack would never believe it, though.

"'m done," he announced at length, when he felt he was somewhat presentable.




Zack kept his eyes closed the entire time, surprisingly, but still kept himself relaxed and calm. He, once again, thought about what he was going to do for the day, hoping Cloud wouldn't laugh at him for his lame plans. It was actually quite cheesy, despite the shopping portion of the trip, because that'd be a blast. But he kept whatever else he had in mind to himself, knowing surprises were the best thing to pop out instead of giving a roster and trying to do everything according to plan. Zack was a spontaneous person, so there was no doubt that he might get distracted somewhere in between his plans.

“Are ya?” Sitting up straight again, Zack looked Cloud up and down once and grinned, sliding off the bed easily.
Moving on towards the other, Zack smoothed down his own shirt, ran a hand through his hair then cleared his throat. He apparently had something to say, “Well then, Cloud Strife, would you grace me with your presence today in my offer of a date?” Zack tried to keep a straight face, acting serious but it was a comical sight, actually, the way he was trying to play out a typical conversation that should have included “will you go out with me?” somewhere in there – he graced Cloud with the subtle version instead. Or, rather, not-so-subtle, considering what he's done already via the flowers and breakfast in bed.

But the formality in asking him out wasn't forgotten, this much was apparent.




It was all Cloud could do to keep from doubling over with a fit of laughter - not only was the idea of Zack acting formal ridiculous in itself, but this situation was far too nostalgic of some adolescent high school romance, except it was being played out between grown men. Nonetheless, he managed to retain composure, adopting a seriousness in tone that matched Zack's own. "I accept, Zack." Expression as solemn as ever, he couldn't resist extending a hand, holding it out as though he were a princess.




Lip twitching into a small smile, Zack took the hand and, just to further the joke of Cloud being a princess, lightly kissed the top of said hand. “Good, because I would've cried if you refused,” he mumbled, though obviously wanted him to hear it as he was kidding around all the more. But actually, inside his mind he was screaming “SCORE!” as if he really did prepare for the worst at first.

Zack lowered their hands and gave Cloud's a small squeeze before releasing it, walking back towards the bed to grab the tray and flowers, beaming as he walked past the blond, “Aren't your proud of me? Picking up after myself 'n all,” he expected Cloud to follow, so he turned to face forward and walk towards the kitchen, “'sides, don't want these flowers to drop dead while we're out having fun.”




The idea of Zack being insecure about getting turned down by Cloud was nothing short of ludicrous, considering Cloud counted himself lucky for even knowing Zack in the first place. Extremely lucky. And he knew all too well exactly how many girls would die to be in his position. In fact, Cloud had yet to fathom why Zack had ever befriended him, considering how socially-inept and uninteresting he was, but he was thankful that he had - he wasn't sure where he'd be without him, and didn't want to know. And following Zack into the kitchen, Cloud realized that out of everything, Zack was easily the best thing that had happened to him. He vowed to find some way to make it up to him.

"It's some progress," Cloud said, grinning, knowing that Zack expected his approval and feeling all the more embarrassed that he was going so far just for Cloud. It pleased him nonetheless.




Looking exceptionally pleased with himself when Cloud acknowledged and praised him for his efforts, Zack gave a comical smile then turned back to rinse the dishes, shoving them into the dishwasher quickly before staring rather idiotically at the flowers right beside him on the counter. Well, he really didn't have anything to put them in, so he rummaged around in the cabinets until he came upon a rather large bowl.

Zack didn't look at Cloud as he promptly filled the item to the top with water, gently placing the tulips in there after unwrapping the clear plastic that it came attached with.

Zack then turned, holding it out for Cloud to see. “Behold! The make-shift vase.” He said it so purposefully that it almost seemed like he was proud of it. Okay, so maybe he really was proud of it, who knew? The look on his face surely gave that assumption, but the raven haired man didn't think twice as he reached for the refrigerator, opening it to place the flowers in an empty spot, before closing it and dusting his hands off.

Turning back to Cloud, Zack took a moment to look at him then quietly made his move toward the front door while double-checking that he had his wallet and such. Agreeing privately that there wasn't much else he had to nab or remember, Zack motioned with a hand for Cloud to follow him outside, slipping on boots easily before-hand, never really having the piece of mind to tie and untie them – maybe he was just lazy, but it just took too much effort.




Cloud realized that he hadn't seen the outside world for quite some time. Since the beginning of his stay with Zack, he hadn't left the house, considering Zack generally saw too it that his needs were taken care of, one way or another. He enjoyed the security of Zack's house, and was reclusive to begin with, anyway. It was good to finally get reacquainted with the outdoors, though. Cloud hadn't seen much of the city as of yet, but he was sure this was going to change very soon.

He followed suit and accompanied Zack out the door, making sure to shut it after putting on his own boots, which seemed somewhat incongruous accompanied with the unpretentious, loose slacks that Cloud was borrowing.




The outside world was, to say the least, very wild and loud compared to Zack's place that was relatively quiet besides the sound of voices and the occasional background noise to mix in. People flooded the streets and it could almost resemble Midgar if it were more dreary and without some sunlight – however, this place looked the complete opposite sans the crowds and patches of people everywhere. Zack felt right at home unlike several hundred others, which he couldn't grasp or comprehend as to why they wouldn't like it.

Well, some of the things weren't to his tastes either half of the time, now that he thought about it. But it was rare that he ever seriously complained about anything, so for Zack, this was a great afterlife. And with Cloud there to seal the deal, there was no need for remonstration.

“You never really got a good look around in the first place, huh?” Zack stood tall against many of the others circling around the area, and he was quite content with skillfully weaving in and out of citizens who were making their way towards nowhere in particular it seemed like. “Well, there's not that much to see anyways,” violet eyes quickly glanced to make sure Cloud was keeping up, knowing that walking through crowds like this in a place of madness took even Zack a while to get used to, “but onward towards the clothes for now, yeah?”

He paused for a moment in mid-step, reaching out towards the other with a hand, a silent invitation to take it as a signature grin plastered over his features.




Hurrying to catch up with the other man, Cloud clasped the proffered hand gratefully, returning Zack's grin with a small smile of his own. It wasn't easy to lose sight of Zack in the crowd, considering how much he stood out; nonetheless, being able to take his hand was comforting, because it meant being closer to him. In retrospect, Cloud might have thought the gesture was reserved for young, lovestruck adolescents with their juvenile romantic endeavors, but walking hand-in-hand with Zack felt natural, and not awkward.

"Not much to see? I was counting on being impressed," Cloud said with mock disappointment.




Zack made a face over at Cloud, answering back sarcastically, “Oh yeah? Well, that's too bad.”

The other man made sure he had a firm but careful grip on Cloud's hand while they both made their way toward a small, tiny and almost unnoticed district somewhere in the mix of things that held shops for, well, clothing of course. There were other shops scattered around, but Zack had his eyes set on one place and one place only; it was squished in between two other places, one that seemed to sell a wide range of normal-looking (though rather interesting) articles of clothing, the other filled with all things shiny that Zack tried to turn his eyes away from, knowing it'd distract him if he wasn't careful.

But he was a man on a mission; he headed straight towards the store that was littered with women's clothing where every color of the rainbow seemed to gleam in the brightly lit place. All Zack could do was stop in the middle of it all, turn to face Cloud, then allow the stupid looking grin to come back on his face.




Cloud sighed, an expression of long suffering on his face. He never thought he'd find himself in a women's clothing store again, and this time, he wasn't doing it because someone's life was at stake, which made it all the more undignifying. "Come on, let's get this over with," he said between his teeth, pulling Zack after him as he hurriedly attempted to locate the store's keeper, while determinedly avoiding the inquisitive stares of the numerous girls frequenting the store.

Once he'd found her, Cloud got straight to the point, ignoring the bemused expression on the storekeeper's face upon being accosted by someone who was distinctly not female. "I need a dress."




“A really pretty one, too!” Zack chimed in after Cloud as the woman only blinked at them with a somewhat confused look on her face. It was obvious that they were being stared at, which Zack didn't mind at all as he simply waved to the girls with his free hand, smirking once a few of them turned red and giggled behind articles of clothing they had in their arms.

“...” The woman didn't respond right away as she was trying to figure out how exactly she was going to go about doing this. In the meantime, however, Zack had picked up a blue, frilly and somewhat sparkly one, tilting his head to the side when he pressed it against Cloud's body to measure his size. “Y'know, you have a tiny waist,” he hummed, amused, then pulled the dress away to put it back on the rack, directing his attention towards the woman, “measure him, will ya?” Zack lightly nudged Cloud forward with his elbow, looking down at the blond with a smug look on his face.




Before Cloud could protest, the storekeeper went about obliging to Zack's request, telling Cloud to stand up straight and raise his arms into the position necessary, all the while looking thoroughly amused, to Cloud's utter chagrin. Though she was obviously confused, she couldn't refuse a customer. No, Cloud thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes - she couldn't say no to someone like Zack. No one could.

Effectively disabled by the storekeeper's efforts, Cloud contented himself with shooting Zack with a glare that would have silence anyone else into a timid stupor, though Zack was likely immune to it at this point.




Ouch, the 'wifey' was mad, which only made him smile one of his idiotic smiles all the more as it reminded him of the conversation between Reno and himself which, of course, was stupid to begin with. He actually didn't mind the redhead that much, especially since he didn't mind having mock-fights where they'd act childishly the entire time but claim afterwards that it was a clean, manly fight.

“Don't worry, Spike,” he affectionately stroked Cloud's hair, only it looked like he was petting something equivalent to a cat, “we'll find something extra pretty for you.” Zack looked a little too excited, which didn't say much to begin with as he got very excited at the drop of a hat, except this was a very special occasion. In all honesty? Zack didn't think Cloud would agree to wear one so willingly. Sure, the guy couldn't say no to him half of the time, but he had always been a stubborn person to begin with. But he knew it could be just a front half of the time, which was alright with Zack, seeing as he enjoyed the little (or death) glares he got.

“A size six or seven,” the woman said clearly, standing up straight after she was done measuring, a bold smile on her face while an eyebrow rose in amusement. Well manicured fingers gestured towards some of the dresses in the back, the look on her face showing that she was sure Cloud would appreciate the privacy in the back of the store, anyway.




Cloud didn't know about Zack, but he, for one, was not familiar with the intricacies of girl's dress sizes, so he had little choice but to take her word for it and head grimly in the direction she indicated, with a starry-eyed Zack in tow. The other man was having far too much fun for his own good, honestly.

Thankfully, it was a relatively secluded corner of the store. The privacy was vaguely comforting. The selection, though, Cloud found to be highly unnerving. The storekeeper had managed to point him in the direction of quite possibly the girliest corner of the place, or so Cloud was convinced. He'd never seen so many pastels in his life. Or frills. Or lace. Or sparkles. Among other things that Cloud couldn't identify and wasn't sure he wanted to.

It was like the place back at Wall Market, except on steroids.

It wasn't long before he gave up trying to select one himself. "You choose one," he said, turning to Zack as he felt a headache coming on. It was in his best interest to depart as quickly as possible. "Make it quick."




“Yes, ma'am,” Zack said with a salute, attempting to avoid any kind of death glares he might receive as he turned his back on the other, rummaging around the racks happily. The man looked pretty cheerful in making a selection, pulling out things now and then to hold it up to Cloud, tilt his head to the side in thought, then either hold onto it or put it back. So far he had several in his arms which ranged in all sorts of colors – they were mostly mild, pastel-ish colors since he seriously couldn't see Cloud in something neon green. That just wouldn't work. Zack seemed to be prone to picking out shades of blues to match his eyes, which only made him smile wider all the more.

And how did he know how to select and sort through women's clothing? Simple answer: Aerith.

He was no stranger to picking things like this out. In fact, when they were still dating, he'd go out and help her find dresses and skirts to wear, which actually didn't change at all in this afterlife. Even though Aerith used to prod him and ask Zack to try on something as well, he could never find a size big enough to even attempt such a hazardous thing. So he simply took it to a whole new level to doll up Cloud, since he was way cuter than he was, and smaller to boot.

There was a look of ultimate satisfaction on Zack's face as he passed about six dresses over to Cloud; the excited look was hard to miss, “Alright, try these on! You have to show me after you put them on, though, alright? We can choose one together.”




"Yeah, yeah." Cloud took the dresses with the air of one who was used to putting up with a lot, slinging them over his shoulder unceremoniously and heading off to the (girl's) fitting room nearby, glaring at any unfortunate bystander who was caught staring at him, as if daring them to even try asking.

Apparently, putting on dresses was a skill that came with practice, which was something that Cloud did not regularly engage in. Sure, he'd managed to successfully put one on at Wall Market, but that'd been nothing short of a miracle. Now, as he battled with the numerous straps and zippers that made up one of the dresses Zack had chosen, he found himself growing only more and more agitated as he realized he was losing the fight. It was a simple thing, and yet, the most complicated in the world. How did girls do it?

"How do you--"

The more he struggled, the more he grew entangled. It was futile. If he fought any more, he'd only end up completely immobilizing himself.

Finally, utterly defeated, Cloud cracked open the door and poked his head out, an expression of pure helplessness on his face. "... Zack?"




Zack was currently flipping through some more clothes, particularly skirts in which he promptly put down as soon as Cloud spoke. He turned, half-expecting him to be ready, but the rummaging he heard beforehand must've meant one thing: he was stuck.

While laughing lightly he made his way on over towards the dressing rooms, clamping a hand over his eyes to ensure the girls that were currently in there that he wasn't trying to sneak a peek, “Y'stuck, kiddo? Geez.” A hand felt around for the door, slipping in easily while shutting it firmly behind him. He let his hand drop to his side, violet eyes roaming up and down Cloud's body before he doubled over in laughter. He wasn't laughing because he didn't look good in it, but for the fact that it was barely on to begin with since he had in tangled up in an impossible way.

He had to compose himself before resting two hands on Cloud's bare shoulders, making him whirl around to face the mirror while Zack helped the poor boy with the straps and zippers, smoothing things out along the way. “You're hopeless, y'know that?”




Now that he'd been rescued from certain demise by suffocation through dress, Cloud examined himself critically in the mirror, pointedly ignoring Zack's previous statement.

The dress was blue, reminiscent of the one that Aerith had demanded he wear, but far less modest, considering its function wasn't to conceal the fact that he was male. It was also far more form-fitting, as girl's outfits were inclined to be.

He turned to face Zack, a look of profound displeasure on his face. "I feel... naked."




“And that's a bad thing?” An eyebrow quirked ever so slightly, and Zack grinned, “I think it looks darling on you, though it does scream something on the lines of 'risque'.”

There was a pause, then he turned to look through the other dresses, “I'm sure some of these won't be as revealing as that one. But I like the color, 'cause it matches your eyes—ah, how about this one?” Zack shifted his attention back on Cloud, handing him another blue-ish looking dress, one that looked like it wouldn't cling too much.

For a moment he debated on staying in, but instead he stepped out, wanting to give him 'privacy' – that is, after he showed Cloud where the zipper was.





It was too surreal to Cloud, hearing Zack giving him commentary about a dress and seeming to be enjoying himself immensely in the process. He decided it'd be best not to invest too much thought into it.

Fortunately, the process was less painstaking this time - Cloud emerged from the room triumphantly unscathed, clad in the new dress, which, to Cloud, didn't seem all that different from the last. Then again, he wasn't one to pay too much attention to subtleties. "Well?"




Zack tore his eyes away from a group of girls who looked like they were putting on a fashion show for their friends, bringing all his attention on the blond before him. He blinked rather suddenly at Cloud's appearance before slowly another smile appeared, and it, oddly enough, didn't have any hints of perversion attached to it.

Because, to be outright sincere about the image in front of him, Cloud looked adorable.

He was thankful that it was looser on the bottom portion of the dress, because hip-hugging straight up-and-down dresses obviously wouldn't cut it for Cloud, which he was grateful for. The color was quite perfect on him, and the cut complimented his figure as well as the pattern. Zack had been around enough women in his time between hectic schedules back in the day and Cloud could, silly enough of a thought as it was, give every single one of those girls a run for their money. So he was frank but completely veracious when he suddenly was able to speak, “You look really cute.” The words have clearly been said many times in the past, but he wasn't kidding around this time.




Cloud rolled his eyes. So Zack was just being Zack again. He was amused more than anything, considering Zack's attention span (which rivaled that of a ten year old child, according to Cloud) was something that truly never ceased to amaze him.

He'd heard Zack tell him how cute he was countless times before, yet this didn't prevent a faint blush and a slightly inane grin from creeping across his features once he heard it again, whether or not looking good in a dress was really a good thing.

He gained composure quickly. "You satisfied?"




“Yep,” he smiled broadly in return, pleased with Cloud's reaction, “and that's what we're going to buy.”

He then waved his hands slightly to shoo the blond back in the dressing room, turning towards the girls and giving the thumbs-up signal – they simply giggled in return, and he wasn't positive if it was for his idiotic nature or otherwise. Didn't matter, because Cloud Strife just got himself a free dress.

Zack was sure he was thrilled beyond all belief.




Cloud hurried to change back, both intensely relieved that Zack wasn't going to make him try on anything else and eager to lose the dress as quickly as possible, as pretending to be impervious to the staring and giggling was putting a strain on him. He just hoped none of the girls would recognize him if by chance he happened to see any of them ever again, though he was probably pushing his luck.

Once he got back into his regular clothes (Cloud hadn't been so happy to put on a pair of pants in a long time), he turned the dress over to Zack, only to cause more tittering from the little "audience" Zack had gathered, through which Cloud resolutely gritted his teeth and consoled himself with thoughts of exacting revenge on Zack.

Cloud didn't know what Zack had in mind for the dress in the future, but he was fairly certain his intentions weren't orthodox. They rarely were.




Zack, while Cloud was changing, chatted with the girls happily for a moment or two. They were acting like he was some kind of god for some unknown reason, and if Zack were the type to be an asshole and brag about that being a good thing, he sometimes found it was bad, especially since he was the biggest flirt ever. And while having five teenage girls flock around him wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it was when he was on a date. And even more so when it was Cloud he was going on a date with.

Again, distractions came easily. Primarily when it came to pretty girls.

So he had to, sadly, pry himself away from them (mainly showing off the dress he was buying his best friend, which they obviously thought was the cutest thing ever) when Cloud came out of the dressing room, waving goodbye to the girls as he took Cloud's hand in his own to drag him towards the cash register.

“See? That wasn't too hard, now was it?”




"..." Cloud deigned to grace him with a response, a little miffed about how much attention Zack was getting from the girls, though he'd never admit it. Zack had always been the popular one back when the two had worked for Shinra, and he'd had a knack for gathering crowds of admirers, though Cloud suspected he couldn't help it, whether he enjoyed the attention or not - people simply gravitated towards him. What right did he have to monopolize Zack?




Not really expecting an answer out of Cloud to begin with, Zack hummed as they made their way in line, though took a small glance over at the other and noticed he looked a tad bit annoyed. Even if the blond didn't really want to show it, it was there, and plain as day to the raven haired SOLDIER – it was all too familiar, actually.

“You okay, kiddo?” Slinging the dress over his shoulder, Zack used his now free hand to smooth back blond locks of hair momentarily, tilting his head slightly with a curious look on his face. He didn't exactly have time to do anything more as they were next in line, reluctantly letting Cloud's hand go as he paid for the dress, snagging the bag with a small 'Thanks' to the cashier as he lead the way out of the store.




"'m fine," was Cloud's somewhat curt reply, with eyes downcast in faint embarrassment - was he really that transparent?

He'd tolerated it in the past, and he could do it now. It wasn't right for him to burden Zack with his own psychotic, possessive tendencies.

He forced a small smile in reassurance. "It's nothing."




Zack rose an eyebrow slowly, but knew pressing the matter would only make things worse, so, with a long (dramatic) sigh, he nudged Cloud down the walk-way towards the rest of the clothing stores, in search of one with normal guy's clothing.

“If you say so,” he said somewhat cheerfully, glancing over the crowd as a thought circled his mind. A large grin was visible on his face when he spotted something, quickly turning back to Cloud as he fished out his wallet, pulling out two fives while handing the blond his wallet in return. “Here, take this and buy whatever you want,” violet eyes glanced down the short path, spotting a place two or three stores down that looked normal enough, gesturing a finger in that direction momentarily. “I'll be right back, okay?”

Zack bent down slightly to kiss Cloud's forehead in reassurance (and for the hell of it), winking once before making a mad-dash towards his destination.




Cloud shook his head in fond amusement, watching Zack sprint off to wherever it was that he was headed. Cloud's best guess that Zack was hungry, or something, and had run off to get food. It seemed most plausible.

To his mild dismay, he found his good mood restored as easily as it had gone. He wasn't sure how Zack did it, but that one gesture had been adequate consolation, in spite of Cloud's unwillingness to voice his thoughts in the first place. It was another ability of Zack's that Cloud appreciated immensely, though couldn't fully understand.

Figuring he had time to kill, Cloud examined the wallet that Zack had bestowed upon him, opening it to discover an obscene amount of money within it, the origin of which Cloud could only speculate.

Finally, he resolutely snapped the wallet shut and pocketed it. How could Zack possibly expect him to spend his money, after all that Zack was doing for him?

In the minutes that ensued, Cloud contented himself with leisurely wandering aimlessly from store to store, wishing absently he weren't so impatient for Zack's return.