Elena drove back to her house after work, looking forward to dinner. Leaving the car into the garage, she went inside. As she expected, Cloud was by the door with her favorite cocktail. She sipped it happily, then frowned as she realized he had an apron on.

"What did I tell you? You're not allowed to wear anything but boxer shorts in the house unless company is coming over!" Elena snapped at him.

"I didn't want to burn myself making dinner." Cloud explained.

"It would be a shame to mar that body." Elena agreed, pinching his ass. "When's dinner?"

"It'll be ready in half an hour."

"Then I have time to shower and change." Elena handed her now empty cocktail glass back to Cloud and went upstairs.

Once she was in the shower with the warm water sluicing over her body, she thought how overall she was glad that Cloud didn't believe in divorce. She had planned on only being married for a night of raunchy sex, but Cloud wasn't up for that, so she was stuck with him. But he was a damned good housekeeper and cook. It was just in the bedroom that she had to do everything. As they sat down for dinner, Elena was wearing her favorite lounging pajamas, and Cloud was relieved. That meant she wasn't going to want sex tonight.

He was trying to be the best husband he could be, but when it came to sex, he was out of his element. He knew how to make the perfect pot roast or how to get wine stains out of the carpet, but pleasing his wife was beyond him. He had used some of his severance pay from Tifa when he quit their delivery business after his marriage to buy some instructional books and DVDs on sex so Elena wouldn't find out. She kept careful reins on the household finances, and always compared his shopping lists with the receipts, to make sure he wasn't milking her.


Reno and Tifa were enjoying having the place to themselves. Barret had taken Marlene for a weekend visit, so they didn't have to be discreet.

"You're not upset that Cloud and Elena got married, are you?" Reno asked her as he played with her hair.

"I'm glad they're not alone." Tifa replied, kissing him as she ran her hands over him.

Reno obliged her unspoken request to make her body sing, and as they lay sated on her bed, she returned his question.

"Does it bother you that they're married?" she asked Reno.

"Nope, I'm not the marrying kind." he replied.

"I noticed." Tifa said with a smile as she traced his tattoos with her finger.

"You don't mind?"

"Nope, I already give you breakfast, if we were married, I'd have to make you lunch and dinner as well, and that's pushing it." she teased him.


After the weekend was over and Reno returned to work, he mulled over that conversation. Tifa had surprised him, when she had said she didn't want to marry him. She was the first woman he had been involved with who never made any demands on him. She just seemed to accept him as he was, and let him come to her when he was ready, and let him leave just as easily. Maybe she had gotten used to that with Cloud. It irked him that maybe she didn't see him as much different than Cloud.

The next time they had a weekend together, he decided to try something. "With Cloud gone, don't you think it would be a good idea to have a man around here?" he asked her as she lay contented beneath him.

"For what?" she asked back.

"For…security, or um…" Reno faltered as he realized she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

"If you want, you can keep some of your stuff here, but don't give up the lease on your apartment. I told you, I'm not making you lunch or dinner." Tifa said.

When she fell asleep, Reno just held her, realizing what had been bothering him is that she was his perfect woman who just let him be himself. He wouldn't give up the lease on his apartment anyway, he had hidden sex toys and porno DVDs all over it to the point where he didn't know where they all were.


Cloud's instructional sex material was only partially successful, he found that the best way to protect himself from Elena was to use a vibrator on her and make her think it was him doing it. He started making a stockpile of them hidden in the kitchen so she wouldn't find out. Especially since once she thought he got better at sex, she wanted it more. He had pleaded with Rufus and Tseng to occasionally give her longer away missions, so he could have enough free time to start his garden landscaping project.