Tifa & Yuffie

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Throughout that night, Sai slept peacefully for some time, curled up close to his beloved with a warm, fuzzy puppy cuddled in to his chest...but as the hours stretched on, eventually he seemed to grow restless and began murmuring incoherently to whomever it was whom was speaking to him, twitching and flinching now and then, as he always did, though his voice was far to soft a whisper to wake anyone nearby from their sleep...as always he probably wouldn't remember by morning, but now he seemed desperately afraid, at times he even seemed pained, as if he were suffering some grievous emotional or even physical wound, but he never woke, never seeming disturbed from his sleep despite how terrified or pained he might have felt. At one point his twitches woke the tiny pup in his arms, who seemed a little irritated at the interruption of her sleep, but saw her new master's restless sleep and nuzzled him gently as if to help...though he did briefly seem to calm at the touch, he did not stir, so the pup shifted a little so he might not wake her again, though she remained cuddled close, and went back to sleep, her master soon becoming uneasy again, murmuring something to himself before again falling silent.

[Tifa Lockhart]

There was one who was woken by Saito's disturbed sleep. Blues opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the darkness of the lounge-room. At some point after he fell asleep someone, presumably Lan's mother, had brought everyone blankets. At first he was confused as to what had woken him, but then he heard a gentle mumur, and felt the boy lying in his lap twitch harshly. He frowned looking down at Saito, he seemed to be sleeping well enough, but his expression seemed to suggest something was making him uncomfortable.

"He is like that every night," a low voice said from a dark cornet then. At first it put Blues on edge, but then he noticed the softly pulsing green gem and a pair of brightly illuminated blue eyes.

He fought off a pang of jealousy when he realised that Zero obviously watched Sai sleep.
"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Every night," Zero replied. "Every night Little Hikari murmurs and turns in his sleep."

Blues frowned again, running gentle fingers through Saito's hair, considering waking him from whatever nightmare plague his sleep.
"Sai," he called softly.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

At first the touch seemed to alarm the young boy, flinching harshly, before he seemed to relax, at first remaining unconscious but becoming suddenly still, as if for that brief moment that he remained in his dreams the mere feeling of Blues' touch had soothed whatever storm raged within, but after a moment, his eyelids fluttered open and he was again awake. At first he seemed confused, as if not understanding where he was or what had woken him, but then he noted the feeling of a gentle hand combing soothingly through his hair, and he remembered the events that had brought him here and where -in fact- here was: he was on the sofa in the living room, asleep in Blues' lap...and so, logically, that meant it could only be said man who could be the one touching him and that must mean he had woken him.

He moved one hand to very sleepily rub at his eyes, finding the world rather out of focus, before he looked up to try and locate where Blues was in the darkness, eventually finding the man's pale eyes in the still darkness of the surrounding room.
"...Blues...? Is something wrong...?" he whispered, aware -at least- that there were others sleeping nearby and not wanting to wake them, though part of the soft tone of his voice was probably also due to the fact he had been woken from his sleep and was rather tired still.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Blues' eyes were soft with deep concern, their eerie shimmering depths focused intently on Saito's.
"You were having a nightmare," he replied softly. "I thought it would be better to wake you."
his concerned frown deepened. "Does this happen often?"

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Sai frowned at that, realising he must have woken the man with his restless twitching. "o-oh...I'm sorry if I woke you..." he apologised, turning then to look away again, once more resting his head in his love's lap as his neck beginning to ache from looking over his shoulder, but he didn't avoid the question, knowing that doing so would be pointless. "waking me might have been a bit pointless, I'm afraid...I'll probably just start having nightmares again when I go back to sleep..." he replied, softly, not seeming particularly bothered by the thought, but perhaps looking a little disappointed in himself, for not being able to sleep without being restless all night. "...I can't really say why, but yes, it happens every night...I don't remember the nightmares, so I don't know why they scare me...but they've never stopped me from sleeping okay, so I've never really been too worried about it..." he admitted, shrugging slightly, before he turned to look back at Blues again, briefly. "I suppose I do wonder at times what I might be dreaming about...the only things I remember now and then are very brief, and very hazy...I couldn't make out anything from what I do remember..." he didn't seem overly worried about the lack of memory of these bizarre dreams, however, and he quickly continued. "I do find it strange, though...it's only since I've been able to return to the human world that I've had he nightmares...before then I didn't." he was speaking a little clearer now, seeming to have shaken off that semi-awareness that always followed being suddenly woken. "...you shouldn't worry about it, senpai. I'm fine." he said with a reassuring -albeit tired- smile, turning to settle down again, though he didn't attempt to go back to sleep yet, since he was quite sure that Blues would have more to say. He couldn't blame him, he had to be worried to have learned that Saito suffered from nightmares, even if they didn't disturb his sleep, it was still not a pleasant thing to have to deal with...or at least it wouldn't be if he could remember what he dreamed about, that is.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Blues didn't seem so convinced that these dreams were nothing. He himself had not been experiencing anything since just after his awakening. It seemed strange for the young boy to be having them.
"Well, if it gets any worse, let me know, alright?' he insisted.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Sai glanced back at Blues, briefly, with a soft smile. "I will, senpai...thankyou for the concern, though..." he said, before he turned away again, a slight blush colouring his face as he contemplated on whether or not to say what he wanted to, having seen the glowing blue eyes and pulsing green gem in the corner that indicated Zero was present, but in the end he decided he would anyway, since Zero wouldn't really have any reaction to the matter. "...I love you..." he whispered, seeming a little flustered about saying it, but he was smiling as he did. With that he shifted so he was comfortable again and closed his eyes again, settling down to try and get back to sleep, still smiling contently as he lay there, listening to the sounds of Blues' breathing, the soothingly constant 'tick tick' of the clock in the other room and the soft creaking of crickets outside. Some might have found those sounds distracting, but for him the sounds sounded comforting and lulled him into sleep, being sounds of the every day life...it was that feeling of familiarity and safety that came with the familiar sounds of home...and of his beloved beside him. He didn't stir for some time after he fell back asleep, it always took a few hours before the twitching and murmuring would start, that was just how it went...perhaps that was an indication that the dreams were repeating and that it took that same amount of time before it reached the point where he became afraid or hurt. Whatever the case was, he remained still and silent for many hours to follow, the only sound from him being the soft whisper of his breathing. Eventually he did stir again, mumbling something under his breath and flinching slightly, but he seemed, for some reason, far less restless than previously, as if the awareness had stayed with him that Blues was there and perhaps that familiar presence helped to quell his fear a little, though he remained uneasy still.

Come morning he actually slept far later than usual, normally waking up with the birds at the first signs of sunrise, as if his subconscious just knew it was daytime and thus time to get up. Likely due to both the excitement of the previous day and having been woken during the night, Sai actually remained asleep well after sunrise, though then again so did nearly everyone else, excluding -of course- Zero, whom hadn't even slept, being a reploid.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Blues didn't fall asleep again that night, he remained awake, watching Saito sleep. He hadn't replied when the boy told him he loved him. He hadn't known how to reply... the words stuck on his tongue. He did love Saito... so why was it so hard to say? He'd settled for placing a soft kiss on the boy's cheek, and kept running his fingers through his hair, comforting him even as his sleep seemed to become disturbed one more.

Soon though, the sun had risen, but no one rose with it today. Everyone remained asleep, recovering from the long day the day before. Zero stood over by the window in the front of the house, staring out at the street.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Eventually, some of those who had remained there overnight began to stir, Valeska being the first, the sounds of movement in the kitchen area announcing she was awake, as she had been there talking to Haruka before she'd nodded off, thus making her the only one in that room following that.

She had briefly crossed the hallway to poke her head around the door, checking if anyone else was awake, seeing Blues still sitting where he had been the night before, with Saito curled up beside him with his head rested in his lap. The man was awake and she briefly waved a silent greeting before she disappeared back around the corner to go and pre-occupy herself with researching on her PET with Raven, for her work at University. Haruka soon followed suit, quietly tip-toeing downstairs to check if she had been right that the silence meant no-one or nearly no-one as the case was, was awake. She smiled warmly and waved a greeting to Blues when she saw him awake, keeping her thoughts to herself about how cute she thought it was seeing her eldest son curled up on the man's lap like that, with his new puppy cuddled in to his chest gently.

Eventually Sai himself also stirred, before anybody else had after Haruka, but still some time after she had come downstairs. At first he just shifted where he lay, looking as though he mightn't actually be awake, but it wasn't long before he opened his eyes, looking up at Blues after a moment with a warm smile, having felt the man still gently running his fingers through his hair, and silently wishing he could wake up to that feeling every morning. "morning, senpai..." he greeted, sleepily, after a brief yawn. He carefully moved then so that he could see Blues a little better without straining his neck, careful not to disturb the little German Shepherd pup he still held in his arms. "how are you this morning?" he asked, blissfully although he still sounded as though he was yet to properly wake up. He seemed to be rather enjoying the man's attention, content to just stay there for a while and enjoy the close proximity and the feel of his love's gentle fingers running through his hair.

[Tifa Lockhart]

"Feeling rather pleased, actually," Blues replied with a smile as Saito woke. "I'm still here. Which means Professor Hikari has finally perfected this." He held up his wrist to show Sai the vambrace that allowed him to enter the real world like Sai did.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Sai's surprised expression, then, obviously meant it had finally clicked that it actually was strange that Blues was still there. He smiled brightly at the thought that the professor had finally perfected the bracer (though it still remained far more bulky than his own), obviously pleased by the idea that his love could also spend as much time as he wanted in the real world, now. "awesome! we could spend whole days together if we wanted!" he remarked, a blissful smile lighting up his face. "of course, if we're both not busy, that is!" he added, laughing softly. He seemed positively euphoric today, after the celebrations the previous day, his smile brighter than ever and never fading from his face. "Thankyou for everything yesterday, by the way..." he said, then, a blush colouring his face as he glanced away briefly in a bashful manner. "I had a lot of fun, I'm glad you were there to share it with me" he looked back at Blues then, a loving look in his dark eyes. "um...I-I wanted to ask you if you wanted to help me name her...?" he asked, after a short silence, looking down at the little puppy in his arms to indicate that's what he meant. "I'm not really sure what I'd like to call her, but I want it to be special...I want it to mean something" he said, gently petting the sleeping puppy, careful not to wake her from her peaceful sleep.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Blues looked down at the sleeping hound, a thoughtful look on his face. He took a few moments to think, before he shook his head, looking apologetic.
"I have no idea... I think you're on your own with this one," he admitted.

"Something regal," Chaud interjected then, having stirred from where he was sleeping in his chair (which, thanks to some ingenuity on his part, was capable of reclining).

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Saito had startled a little when Chaud suddenly spoke, but he settled fairly quickly and shifted so that he could greet the other boy, with a warm smile. "morning!" he beamed, offering the other an enthusiastic smile. "I agree, something regal would suit her best" he agreed, once again shifting so that now he would be able to talk to his two companions without having to move too much from he was, enjoying the attention from Blues too much to want to move. He fell into silent contemplation for a moment, then, before he looked up again at his love. "...maybe...Astrid?" he suggested, of course picking a German name since it was a German breed of dog. "It comes from an old nordic name" he said, smiling sweetly to his love and cuddling the little snoozing puppy again, obviously asking his opinion on the name.
The little pup had proven by now that she was quite the sleeper, still fast asleep despite the conversation going on between the three humans around her and the constant shifting of her master. Though who could blame her after yesterday, she'd had just as much excitement as her new human friends had, and she was only very young, she had to be rather tired.

[Tifa Lockhart]

"I think that suits," Blues replied, reaching over Saito to pet the little puppy's stomach gently. "Astrid."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Sai smiled happily, nodding in agreement. "Astrid it is!" he confirmed, seeming pleased with the name. The little puppy woke up after a few more minutes, Sai having remained where he was, laid comfortably on his back with his head rested in his love's lap and his arms around Astrid gently. He seemed quite content to stay there all day, though he knew he'd eventually have to get up, so he preferred to be able to enjoy it while he had the chance to. When Astrid woke up, she stood up where she was on Sai's chest and stretched a little, the boy laughing cheerfully at how cute she was, the little dog then carefully moved to lick his face in greeting, seeming to be purposefully keeping her pawsteps light so she didn't hurt him at all.
"Morning little girl! I thought about what I'll name you, you know" he said, petting the puppy behind her ears, which she seemed to like. She then looked at him expectantly, wagging her tail excitedly. "How do you like the name Astrid? I think it's a good name for you, do you like it?" he asked, smiling when she licked him again and curled up happily with her head nestled on his shoulder, an obvious 'yes', even for someone not expert in animal body language. He seemed pleased that she liked her name, and awed at how smart she was, given she already understood him perfectly despite being only a puppy. It was like they'd bonded the moment they had met.