literature

Injuries

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Tifa was rushing everywhere. With the locals coming in every few minutes, she struggled to multi-task. Customers packed every crevice of her bar. Cleaning dishes, cleaning tables, taking orders, it was a tough but decent job. Marlene came around to ask Tifa for help with the bar. While Marlene was assigned to the dishes, the girl was helpful, even just a little bit.

Tifa struggled with the friendly talks with her regular customers because as a soon as a few customers entered, she frantically rushed to clear the tables showing it as ‘vacant’. Seventh Heaven was a success (like always) but she panted from one spot to the next with no time to rest or relax. She loved the bar and the spring breeze gushed through the open windows to melt her skin. Sure, the job was great but at this rate, she wouldn’t be able to spend the night freely.

“Two glasses Marlene!”

“Get me two large bowls!”

“Marlene, three wine glasses!” Tifa shouted across the room amongst the loud crowds and Marlene wiped each glass dry before Tifa whipped out a drink and served. It was rare for Marlene to help out at the bar. She was so young, so little but Tifa was desperate.

As the clock ticked to around 5pm, Tifa finished serving the last customer and cleansed every table, chair, stool, glass, dish, bowl, spoon and countertop, placed an ‘Open at 6!’ sign at the bar’s entrance, thanked Marlene and finally lounged on the couch, taking a nap. Marlene ran upstairs to rest as well and stayed in her room as the evening arrived.

Six pm was perfect. There were fewer customers since people were eating out at other restaurants. The bar was divine, glowing at its finest with a polished shine.

It was peak hour, perfect weather, the sky beautifully lit and the bar flooding with enough customers. On his way home, Cloud was driving through the streets of Midgar watching the sky darken and the street lights flicker on, awakening the nightlife. He too, was glad that Midgar was back on its feet but noticed Tifa’s bar was filled to the brim. He parked Fenrir and stepped off with an aching back, the pain still lingering and decided to enter the bar through its main entrance just to speculate what all the fuss was about.

He was about to sneak in but he forgot about the gigantic sword on his back that would easily scare customers so he rushed back to Fenrir’s compartments. He tried to make a ‘casual’ entrance by walking sideways with his back facing the wall but ended up looking a little creepy. His back was still aching.

He spotted Tifa behind the counter, talking, smiling, making conversation and saw her laugh with one of the customers. Cloud’s steps became shorter as he judged the bulky man talking to her and made her smile pleasantly from afar. A few men who sat on the table closest to Cloud noticed his oddness; the sideways walking, the tiny steps, the crouched back and the long stare.

They shot Cloud discomforting looks which he didn’t notice. One of them traced Cloud’s line of sight, peeked over his left shoulder and noticed the sweet, raven-haired lady making conversation with a well-built looking customer who purposely wore a shirt exposing muscles. The others looked over as well.

“You better do somethin’ ‘bout it”, a man informed. Cloud stared at the man a few metres away from him.

“Yea, I know.” He replied, giving a slight smirk as the man took a sip of his martini and eyed Cloud above the rim his of his glass. He had a plan.

Cloud finally reached his room and hunched his back from the cuts in his back. He checked on Marlene and Denzel and both their faces lit up seeing Cloud.

“Hi Cloud!” Marlene noticed and he entered.

“We’re doing a puzzle. It’s a thousand pieces.” Denzel said seriously. Cloud noticed the two piles of cardboard pieces, one next to Denzel and one next to Marlene.

“Are you two sharing?”

“No! Me and Denzel are having a competition. I told him I could finish half of it first!” Marlene replied.

“No you won’t! I’ll win this time!” Denzel dared.

Cloud watched the two argue across the table about “Who was better than who” until Marlene noticed the cuts in the back of Cloud’s vest, baring his skin.

“What happened to your back, Cloud?” Marlene asked. He noticed her stare.

“I’m fine. Some guy tried to attack me. He was probably drunk but I had to deliver a package”, Cloud replied with a gentle smile.

“Does it hurt? Do you want us to help?” Denzel’s face frowned at the sight of the injury.

“No, don’t worry, I’m fine. Of course it hurts but I’m fine. It’s not as bad as it looks but I can take it from here.” Cloud smiled reassuring both of their worrying faces and left their room.

He closed the door and headed to his room, still aching from the psychotic man’s attack. He slipped off his gloves, boots and other accessories off and settled at his desk trying to organise the next week’s deliveries and a flash of Tifa working in the bar disrupted him.

His pain was unbearable and his arms weren’t long enough to reach certain places on his back. Every time he stretched, he felt each cut rip his flesh. Would Marlene and Denzel know how to treat his back? Probably not. They’re too young.

When Tifa closed the door after the last customer left, Cloud heard several noises downstairs and acted as if he had finished just his paperwork. She cleaned every inch of the bar, stacked the chairs, restocked the ingredients, flipped off all lights and lead herself to her bedroom. The kid’s room who were now empty since the kids went out with Barret, she noticed their room was messy with an unfinished puzzle. She found Cloud in the bathroom with fresh wounds exposed through his shirt.

“Oh my, Cloud. What happened to your back?” Tifa’s mouth hung open.

“Crazy man tried to kill me”, Cloud replied with bubbles in his mouth, brushing his teeth.

“I was wondering if you could help me”, he spat out and thoroughly rinsed, “with the medication and all.”

“Hm”, she pondered. “Alright then. But I don’t know how you can survive Sephiroth but you can’t handle this.” And she headed downstairs.

She arrived back to Cloud’s room with a box and he closed the door behind her. She settled at his desk and her fingers shuffled through the box to find the bottle she needed, a few tissues and cotton pads. Cloud grabbed the hem of his vest and stripped it off above his head. He muttered a faint ‘Ah’ and Tifa noticed his back muscles flex all thick and toned while admiring the masculinity of his curves. He tossed it to a corner of the room and caught a glimpse of her red flush.

He walked toward the bed and sat down with his back curved, his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. The desk lamp gave her a desirable view of his chest, contouring every bone and muscle of his abdomen. Tifa stood up and quickly opened the door, realising she forgot something. She noticed her blush the bathroom mirror reflected as she filled a bowl with water whilst attempting to calm herself. She entered the room shaking and felt Cloud’s blue eyes watching her as she sat beside him and neatly prepared everything on the chair for easy access.

She dipped a tissue into lukewarm water and she started dabbing on his back. She cleaned the dried patches of blood and counted one, two, three, four, five wounds across his back and began cleansing with a mild soap. The harder she scrubbed the more she expelled and more muscle she felt underneath. She was treating the wounds of a warrior, healing the man’s body of such great strength and tolerance.

The delicacy of her strokes, her fingertips hovering over his skin, driving each swipe across his back– it was what the man wanted. She felt his heaving chest calmly inhale and exhale. It did more than just heal him.

“Thank you,” Cloud blushed, “For doing this.”

“It’s alright.” Tifa shyly accepted.

She immersed another tissue into the pool of water and dashed across his back once more. Her eyes observed every curve of his upper body. She had soaked the tissue deep into the bowl and when she pressed, the medium oozed with water dripping all the way down to his hips. Embarrassed and out of tissues she ran her fingers up hard against his skin wiping the stream of water dry before reaching the wound and patted his back with a cotton pad.

She squeezed a fair amount of antibiotic cream in her palm and dotted each wound with tenderness. He flinched at each stinging sensation of the cream. She rubbed over and over and noticed his broad shoulders tense every time the cream touched a severe wound. The pain lessened and he began to relax.

“You’re good,” he said, gazing at her lips as she focused on treating each wound.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I mean, really, anyone could do it. It’s just the dirt and the-“He interrupted her with a forceful press on her lips.

“No I mean it,” he kissed again. “You’re really good. Honestly.”

He lowered her down onto her back.

“I’m not as good as you think.” Her heart began to race.

“Oh really?” He challenged her. He planted kisses across her left cheek, slow and soft; his arms and legs guarding her body. She wrapped her arms around his neck avoiding his back and felt each muscle thrust with each kiss. His fingers found their way underneath her shirt massaging the smooth skin he yearned so long to feel again. She started unbuckling his belt. It sent shivers down her spine but she admired it. Engulfed in the immense heat, he pulled her shirt above her head and stared into the auburn of her eyes.
“Do you remember my promise to you?” He said, looking into her eyes.

“About saving me whenever I’m in danger? You still remember?” She asked. His firm muscles held him upright as he placed wet but tender kisses along her upper body, travelling from her chest down to her bare midriff and looked up at her.

“Of course. You’ve always been there for me. Even now.” And he took the last undergarment off her chest and glared at the fine colour of smooth skin. They left the rest of the world behind and indulged in the moment they both longed for, ignoring every possible situation past, present or future, only for each other.

“I’ve always been with you.” She replied with a strong kiss.

They rotated positions and playfully tore off their remaining clothes being a little hesitant toward each other but it kept the fun. He pinched her bottom and she responded by running her hand over his torso. Once flesh to flesh from head to toe, they began to do what no other person could satisfy and their skin collided. It was a feeling not of harshness or irritation but treasuring all the actions of each moment in all the right places, in all the soft places for only loving reasons. It was something inexpressible to perform to any other person. Side by side, they embraced each other in immensity with the passionate heat of love.Their hair spread across the sheets and they remained tangled in arms and legs and skin for the rest of the night until the stars went to sleep and the dawn arose.
Note: I had trouble wondering whether Cloud shouldn’t unzipped his vest or take it off above his head. Well, you know which one I chose. ")

I did sewing once, so I’m assuming the hem means the edges of the clothes.
Masculine curves. Men have curves too right?

Also, I didn’t really want this to be to too detailed but I ended up writing more than I wanted.

Denzel and Marlene’s speech is a little incorrect too.

Hehe
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