when she had first met cloud on the streets in midgar, she was more surprised he was more than willing to lend in an helping hand when those whispers had came in and tried to attack her. when that happened, people often stared and thought of her as some slum drunk or such. it wasnât all in her head as aeris suspected and when she seeked for help from cloud, he seemed to seen them too just from an simple touch of his hand. but after that and giving a flower to him for absolute free, he seemed quite distant and cold; especially being told in dangerous things, blah blah blah. yet, the flower girl didnât care. as if it had never bothered someone like herself. but after their second meeting in the church, thatâs when she crossed paths with him as it was fate or something as such. for the right price, she had even requested him to be a bodyguard when those pesky turks wanted to take her away. as for the right price; it was a date. maybe, even better than silly gil. but, it gave her the right time to get to know him on a much personal level to the point she was able to open him up even more. guess he was like an egg that was hard to crack or something like that. from the things he had been through, just as she was; aeris seemed to be attracted to him and just loved being around him. she couldnât put a finger on it, just something could not be explained bu felt.
as she done her best to get an answer out of that man before her eyes, she noticed a grin had popped out at the side of his lips. something she didnât see too often but must of happened when she was around her. well, her laughter and smiles were contagious. that is what this brunette had believed so. aeris was bright as the sun in the darkness of this city after all. without her and the help of making the city more beautiful with her flowers, it just remain nothing but darkness and gloom.
â what can i say ? iâm just oh so good at taking good guesses, donât you know~ but hello yourself; dear bodyguard of mine. â
she says almost practically in a playful tone just as the gentle poke on his nose was given. no surprise as she seen him basically turning away from a simple touch. who knows on how in shivaâs name how he would react to other touches like a kiss on the cheek. luckily, she hadnât done anything like of the sort â yet. some would even ask to why she done all this teasing towards someone like cloud. all because she loved how he reacted, even if didnât seeme to affect him much or sometimes had got a flustered expression out of him. that is close as it was going to be. htere was more of a reason behind it such as developing a crush on him. well, it was more of a crush as the feelings for him . . developed more. it was something she didnât want to spit out to him and instead kept it to herself. for the time being, anyways. moments ago, when she had poked him on the nose, he had returned the same motion and as a reaction, aeris had crunched her nose before wiggling it. ( â oh how cute. he can be playful, too. â ) as she simply thought into her mind.
â as you may say â maaaaaaybe iâll accept a mere maybe from you. just depends. hehe~. â she says, before a smile had captured her own lips after seeing his own.
â awe, really ? you missed little olâe me ? oh, how sweet !! if you must know â i missed you too, cloud. â
He would never forget the first time they crossed paths, although he wasnât particularly friendly to her that day he knew he had to find out more about Midgarâs flower girl and what she was running from, and sure enough after he witnessed the ethereal events that took place during their brisk introduction, he knew he wouldnât be able to get her out of his head anytime soon, she had truly piqued his curiosity, and that was a feat all in itself. Even though the city often felt like an over-populated mess, she had managed to stick out like a sore thumb, and Cloud often felt like he was the same in that regard, and it made him instantly feel for her. The mako coursing through him often made him act out against his will as well, so he figured a girl like her would be able to sympathize with his hallucinatory outbursts.
The second time he got to saw her at that church he was literally thrown head-first into her life, and it did indeed feel like a fateful event that was meant to occur. He recalled believing that he was in a dream when he first opened his eyes in that bed of flowers that had shielded his fall, especially when he had saw who he had fallen next to. However, the battle that ensued with her wannabe captors definitely had him aware of just how awake he really was. As he recalled the Turks he felt a tinge of anger wash over him, he hated that such an innocent girl was wanted by such terrible people, but he was going to keep her safe, he had to. He often told himself he would never allow anyone to be taken from him again. Normally, Cloud shunned away from topics like destiny and fate as he liked to believe he could grab his life with his own two hands and fully be in control of it, often finding men who wasted their time obsessing over the conjectures of this chaotic universe to be foolish, but her magical entrance into his life had him questioning his beliefs. Maybe some things were supposed to happen after all, he had never felt anything in his life feel this meant to be before. He was glad that it was her who made him feel this way, even though they were both new to one another it had already felt like they were so familiarized.
The blonde often felt like he was living in a half-zombified state, his militant background and stoic nature often forcing him to mask his emotions in fear of stressing out those around him. Although he was often accused of being selfish, that couldnât be further from the truth as he would gladly put his body and heart on the line for those he cared about, he often kept his feelings to himself just so that he wouldnât bring anyone else down around him. With Aeris it was different, she was a breath of fresh air that revived parts of him that he thought had been killed off long ago, she made his heart feel not so cold after all.
âYep, your one and only..â
That was in response to the role she had given him as her trusty bodyguard, but they both knew he was quickly becoming more than that, and he really only asked that question at the end there as a joke, but he certainly was curious about her.. He had heard the whispers around town whenever he walked next to her, most guys often shot him dirty looks. He figured they were just jealous though, because why wouldnât they be?Â
âNow youâre hittinâ me with the maybes too, I see how it is.â
Cloud wasnât used to affection. The physical touches in his life were often more violent than they were friendly, he was grown more accustomed to getting cut and beaten than hugged and kissed. In fact, she often made him feel more flustered than a challenging battle did. He had always thought of himself as a fighter, not a lover, but her warmth balanced him so well that he could see himself being both for the first time in his life. Her positive energy was contagious; her bright life-force eternally reassuring. He often had to bite his lip around her in order to keep himself from toothily smiling fully, as she was always managing to maneuver around Cloudâs many internal walls and emotional blockades. He could hardly suppress his joy around her, but he still tried to, as he always did. He felt his heart-rate increase as he knew what he wanted to say to her next, his eyes momentarily breaking away from hers in a moment of nervousness, as they often did whenever he attempted to flirt with her. These damn butterflies in his stomach wouldnât leave him alone. He was gonna find a way to kill them if they kept this up, he thought to himself.Â
âYou missed me too?... Maybe... itâs time for another payment again, then.â
He didnât mind their previous agreement one bit and was hoping that she didnât either. He would easily choose another date with his favorite flower girl over some measly Gil.