Drabble #13: Dish
Summary: To think that doing the dishes could be romantic
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot. Characters and places belong to SquareEnix.
The hotel was quiet and empty except for the dining room to the left of the entrance hall. There, nine companions were celebrating Christmas. They had finished giving their gifts and had just finished their turkey dinner. Now, only two men were sitting at the large table. Cloud, a man with spiky blond hair was staring intently at the white cloth with a small frown creasing across his brow and Vincent, a raven-haired man was sitting at an angle beside him as he polished his gun. A large fire wolf, named Nanaki was lying idly by the roaring fire, his eyes droopy with sleepiness, and his tail swishing contently. Yuffie, a young ninja from Wutai was in the corner, searching for any presents that may have been forgotten while Tifa, the older raven-haired woman sat on the couch absorbed in a book, ignoring a snoring Barret beside her. Cait Sith, the robotic moggle was standing by the tree, head hanging down to signal that he was sleeping. Cid, the foul-mouthed, warm-hearted pilot had gone outside to smoke after the gang had complained of the smell that his cigarettes caused in the room.
Cloud's frown increased as he searched the room noticing that somebody, apart from Cid, was not there. As if sensing his sudden concern, Vincent muttered the word kitchen to him without even looking up from his task. Cloud blinked and sat for a moment, unsure of what to do before he decided to check up on her. After all, he could not understand why she would be in the kitchen after they had all had such a large lunch.
His question was answered when he opened the kitchen door and saw her at the sink, hands working furiously as she held the plate steady in the water and her other hand held the cloth that was scrubbing at the gravy that lingered on the china.
"Aeris?"
She jumped slightly at the sound of her name but smiled warmly when she saw that it was Cloud who had entered. She turned back to her task, pulling the dish out to examine it and giving a satisfied nod and placing it on the drying rack. Cloud stared at the large pile of dishes with a confused look before he stepped closer to her.
"Aeris, what are you doing?" he asked softly. She did not look at him this time when she gave the obvious answer:
"I'm washing the dishes,"
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead gave a small sigh.
"Why?"
"Well the hotel owner said that we could have Christmas here but since they're closed normally, we had to do our dinner ourselves,"
Cloud blinked. He was not aware that Aeris had prepared and cooked the whole meal and was now washing up after them. He felt a little guilty at the fact that Aeris seemed to do everything for them and he turned around, searching for object that he needed. Aeris turned her head around in time to see him grab a dishtowel and make his way to the drying rack.
"Cloud, you don't have to…" she began but Cloud had already picked up one of the dishes and began to dry it. She sighed but gave him a grateful look and he gave one of his rare half smiles in return. The ones that always made her heart skip a beat. They continued their task in silence, sneaking glances here and there when the other wouldn't notice. However, Yuffie was watching them, and trying hard not to snigger.
"I win the bet," she whispered to a grumbling Barret who was standing beside her.
"They ain't kissed!" he replied.
"That wasn't the deal," she huffed. "It was the fact that they liked each other and I win! Just look at the way they're staring at each other!" she answered as she stuck her tongue out in a victorious manner. Barret muttered curses under his breath as he handed her his Shiva materia and made his way back to the dining room. Yuffie pocketed the orb and gave a large grin.
"And to think doing the dishes could be romantic," she whispered softly.