[it's not always when the world isn't on fire, in some kind of crisis, or needing saving from one of the many leftover machinations of shinra. it's not alwaysβeitherβwhen cloud strife is not on the road on delivery-duty, having a bad day with his guilt and shame, or otherwise occuppied saving the world from another near-catastrophe.]
[days like these hold their weight in hold; several of these days 'off' in a row is a blessing that knows no bounds. cloud has been better about it allβabout letting go, a bit, of zack and aerith, of sephiroth. all that shame, all that guilt, all that negativity that kept him from, well, being himself. he wasn't the only one who lost someone, and every day feels like a chance to make up for it. cloud knows that he's lucky to have his friends at his side; to have tifa, ever patient; denzel and marlene, a small family of his own. growing up is hard, knowing what he knows, but every day he feels a little more prepared for it.]
[like on this day, for once he awakens on the same bed as tifa, an arm curling around her middle as the sun but peeks through the curtains, pulling her closer to him. his desires aren't uncertain even if they haven't openly spoken about what it means, where it will lead them to next, or if it needs a label at all. what cloud knows is that commitment is hard, but he's... also hard? and it would be nice if the kisses that he presses to tifa's neck, her jawline, and just under her ear while his hips rub against her ass would lead to something a little more along the lines of 'being a grown up'...]
Tifa! Denzel is using all the eggs!
I'm not!
Are so!
[and then there's that, the reminder that, yeah, they got something of a family of their own.]
...
[with a sigh, cloud knows that he hasn't got a chance on occupying tifa early in the morning when breakfast is in the hands of two pre-teens.]
Should've taken Yuffie up on that babysitting gig.
[he raises himself on one arm, looking down at tifa. the muffled sound of childish arguing muffled a little by the door and the fact that it's all happening downstairs. he leans down, presses a kiss to her lips, an apology of sorts.]
[ there's a quaintness to sharing a bed, something like stability in the sense of another person's body warmth against you, and tifa inhales deep as the curtain of sleep starts to fall. it's hopelessly comfortable, laying here under the sheets with his arm draped over her, sinking into the bed leisurely. it feels like a sunday: nothing but warmth and laziness. a kind of exhaustion crawls across her back, rooting itself in her spine and she pressure a little closer for warmth, skin against skin. comfortable, easy— even on such a bright morning, though, he's got a certain kind of energy to him. cloud knows when she stirs, hides it only in how he doesn't speak until the kids' voices carry.
how do they know she's up? jeez. it must be late if they're already bickering over breakfast. her shoulders pop a little as she moves her hair out of the way, giving cloud more access to her neck, and she wastes another moment to just press harder against him.
it's nice. pleasant. she's too paranoid to say it's a little slice of happiness, but... maybe they've earned that much. ]
Hey.
[ her response comes with a short, soft laugh, akin to a giggle. turning her neck, tifa flashes him a smile. ]
And let Yuffie be the one to burn the kitchen down instead? [ they both know better. tifa curls into him for a moment, reciprocating the kiss. chastely, of course. she's certainly not starting anything this early in the day, even if there's a twinkle in her warm gaze when she pulls away. that close, she could count his freckles, map out the stars with them, could pepper a kiss across each one if she wanted. she's almost tempted to, but the loud clattering of dishes from downstairs promises either a dropped plate or pan. ]
Come on. Hand me my bra? I think it's on your side.
[ clothes always end up scattered around, and while tifa sets about trying to gather up what mess she's left, her back sits to him. ]
And... Cloud?
[ a momentary glance, just a little shy. she offers him a sincere smile, something more subdued and simple than before. ] Good morning.
[cloud was almost hopeful that maybeβjust maybeβtifa would decide for him that they don't need to be so quick about heading downstairs to see what disaster is taking place. cloud had shown up without much fanfare at some unknown hour of the night (he hadn't checked the clock at the bar), and though he was sure that the sound of the engine on his motorcycle revving as he parked inside the garage must have clued in the other occupants of the house, no one stirred from their slumber as he organized things a little there and unbuckled himself from the straps of the job. usually he has a guest or two, in the form of denzel and marlene, excitedly hovering over the door and ready to ask him a number of questions about his day.
he recognizes now the absence of it, and how it made following his thoughts towards tifa a lot easier; past the creaky stairs, the narrow hallway upstairs, and into the room they shareβjust to avoid his bed altogether and press his weight instead on the mattress of tifa's own, her skin warm to his touch as he carried the cold of night with him still on his gloves.
no matter now.
whatever urges he wished to continue trailing after despite how eagerly he had pressed into her and how quickly she embraced him in return seem now like a lost thought, as if broadcast from a dream that he's long lost the plot of.]
Here.
[having stepped off the bed to rummage for his own clothes, he picks at her bra and hands it over, all the while dragging the sheets to cover himself and the fact that he so particularly has a stiffness that needs fixing. butβ no, tending to the children comes first, and they're likely expecting tifa to show up with no distractions, even when the reality is spelt out on the marks that he's left on her skin.
he casts his eyes at her and then away, embarrassment high on his cheeks despite himself, but then returns them as she calls his name, spells out a welcome to his presence that cloud feels all too certain settles warmly within. there's a nod and a smile, hardly the uncertain kind.
sitting back down on the bed, cloud sighs and lets himself drop back against the pillows, hands rubbing at his face as his lungs fill up again.]
They don't know I'm here. [fact] Guess I could get away with crashing for a bit longer.
[it's his day off, and he did show up pretty late at night... and kept busy for most of those hours, catching maybe an hour or two of sleep. he's gotten away with less before, but he's older now and there is really no need to skip on it.
besides, it sounds like he's trying to find a reason to stay by himself for a bit, all the while letting tifa handle the situation downstairs all on her own. hardly selfless. he lets his hands fall back on the mattress, letting his arm closest to her roll towards her just a bitβhad her hair remained long as before, perhaps he could have caught it between his fingers. as it were, they just ghost close to her back.]
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You're tough, Aerith, you just happen to be tough in a different way. Where'd you learn to use a chair like that, actually?
ac-verse
[days like these hold their weight in hold; several of these days 'off' in a row is a blessing that knows no bounds. cloud has been better about it allβabout letting go, a bit, of zack and aerith, of sephiroth. all that shame, all that guilt, all that negativity that kept him from, well, being himself. he wasn't the only one who lost someone, and every day feels like a chance to make up for it. cloud knows that he's lucky to have his friends at his side; to have tifa, ever patient; denzel and marlene, a small family of his own. growing up is hard, knowing what he knows, but every day he feels a little more prepared for it.]
[like on this day, for once he awakens on the same bed as tifa, an arm curling around her middle as the sun but peeks through the curtains, pulling her closer to him. his desires aren't uncertain even if they haven't openly spoken about what it means, where it will lead them to next, or if it needs a label at all. what cloud knows is that commitment is hard, but he's... also hard? and it would be nice if the kisses that he presses to tifa's neck, her jawline, and just under her ear while his hips rub against her ass would lead to something a little more along the lines of 'being a grown up'...]
Tifa! Denzel is using all the eggs!
I'm not!
Are so!
[and then there's that, the reminder that, yeah, they got something of a family of their own.]
...
[with a sigh, cloud knows that he hasn't got a chance on occupying tifa early in the morning when breakfast is in the hands of two pre-teens.]
Should've taken Yuffie up on that babysitting gig.
[he raises himself on one arm, looking down at tifa. the muffled sound of childish arguing muffled a little by the door and the fact that it's all happening downstairs. he leans down, presses a kiss to her lips, an apology of sorts.]
Mornin'.
bet you thought i forgot about this one
how do they know she's up? jeez. it must be late if they're already bickering over breakfast. her shoulders pop a little as she moves her hair out of the way, giving cloud more access to her neck, and she wastes another moment to just press harder against him.
it's nice. pleasant. she's too paranoid to say it's a little slice of happiness, but... maybe they've earned that much. ]
Hey.
[ her response comes with a short, soft laugh, akin to a giggle. turning her neck, tifa flashes him a smile. ]
And let Yuffie be the one to burn the kitchen down instead? [ they both know better. tifa curls into him for a moment, reciprocating the kiss. chastely, of course. she's certainly not starting anything this early in the day, even if there's a twinkle in her warm gaze when she pulls away. that close, she could count his freckles, map out the stars with them, could pepper a kiss across each one if she wanted. she's almost tempted to, but the loud clattering of dishes from downstairs promises either a dropped plate or pan. ]
Come on. Hand me my bra? I think it's on your side.
[ clothes always end up scattered around, and while tifa sets about trying to gather up what mess she's left, her back sits to him. ]
And... Cloud?
[ a momentary glance, just a little shy. she offers him a sincere smile, something more subdued and simple than before. ] Good morning.
got the energy thanks to a24's undertale prequel
he recognizes now the absence of it, and how it made following his thoughts towards tifa a lot easier; past the creaky stairs, the narrow hallway upstairs, and into the room they shareβjust to avoid his bed altogether and press his weight instead on the mattress of tifa's own, her skin warm to his touch as he carried the cold of night with him still on his gloves.
no matter now.
whatever urges he wished to continue trailing after despite how eagerly he had pressed into her and how quickly she embraced him in return seem now like a lost thought, as if broadcast from a dream that he's long lost the plot of.]
Here.
[having stepped off the bed to rummage for his own clothes, he picks at her bra and hands it over, all the while dragging the sheets to cover himself and the fact that he so particularly has a stiffness that needs fixing. butβ no, tending to the children comes first, and they're likely expecting tifa to show up with no distractions, even when the reality is spelt out on the marks that he's left on her skin.
he casts his eyes at her and then away, embarrassment high on his cheeks despite himself, but then returns them as she calls his name, spells out a welcome to his presence that cloud feels all too certain settles warmly within. there's a nod and a smile, hardly the uncertain kind.
sitting back down on the bed, cloud sighs and lets himself drop back against the pillows, hands rubbing at his face as his lungs fill up again.]
They don't know I'm here. [fact] Guess I could get away with crashing for a bit longer.
[it's his day off, and he did show up pretty late at night... and kept busy for most of those hours, catching maybe an hour or two of sleep. he's gotten away with less before, but he's older now and there is really no need to skip on it.
besides, it sounds like he's trying to find a reason to stay by himself for a bit, all the while letting tifa handle the situation downstairs all on her own. hardly selfless. he lets his hands fall back on the mattress, letting his arm closest to her roll towards her just a bitβhad her hair remained long as before, perhaps he could have caught it between his fingers. as it were, they just ghost close to her back.]
Who taught them to get up so early anyway?