Cloud, meanwhile, is pleased to see that he doesn't have any trouble keeping his feet. Maybe it's the candy fish talking, but at least there's an upside to having been captured and experimented on.

...there also appears to be an upside to Zack having taken his joke seriously, he thinks, watching his friend pull his shirt off. He might normally have immediately squashed this thought, but today he's feeling a little punchy or something. Also it's hard not to watch Zack strip his clothes off in front of him, frankly.

He might have stayed here and kept trying with the pail, but he's wet and cold, and Zack is warm, and that contrast jumps to the forefront of his mind as soon as Zack walks away. So without thinking much about it, he turns to follow with a little shiver, rubbing his bare arms with his hands. "You're one to talk," he teases back.