[ He stops the moment he realizes what's happening- shit. He's never dealt with something this bad. Hopes Al won't hate him later for it. Not that he seems to particularly care at the moment. No, he's... Zack might not be able to make out exactly what the kid's saying, but he hears the tone and that's enough to make him smile, blinking rapidly.

Then he's clearing his throat suddenly. Because, right, Al's buckass naked out there and he can feel his body shivering against him... He should probably... ] Let's.. save the rest of the waterworks for when we get back inside. I'm gonna lift you up now if that's alright.

[ Is his voice still slightly hoarse? It might be. But they ought to get out of the cold. ..Zack might have just gone and picked him up already, but he's never done that with Al before and he's not sure how he'd react. The last thing he wants to do is surprise him in a way that he scrambles and ends up hurt. Never mind the nudity. Zack's not even blinking an eye at that. Working for ShinRa quickly dashed any awkwardness with that and being on the run with Cloud only further solidified it. ]