"He most certainly was not." But it worked long enough to get Clive where he needed to be, and that's what matters.

Joshua lifts a brow slightly. "Would you prefer I be less thorough? Hoping, perhaps, that frostbite might serve as a fashion statement?" But likewise, he's not actually offended.

As soon as Cid's lying down, Joshua moves to do the same behind him, becoming the big spoon as he wraps his own arms around the older man, flames bright but not blinding, and presses close. But this isn't enough - there are parts of Cid he cannot touch.

In a moment, the wings of the Phoenix unfurl from his back, and these, too, he wraps around Cid like a blanket of warm, feathery down.

"Better?" he asks quietly.