Tifa stared at the mess in her kitchen in a daze when she was done cooking. Why was she doing this? She had asked herself that question countless times and still didn't understand what had possessed her to invite Reno over for the sole purpose of painting his naked body again. Even though she hadn't told Ellie, she had tried painting other things, but they didn't turn out as good as her one of Reno and herself had, which she had hidden so the children wouldn't accidentally find it. She sighed and carried the food-laden dishes into the living room. He had been considerate enough to say he'd come over while the children were at school at least. A knock on the door startled her and she glanced at the clock.
"Just a minute!" she called out and hurried to the bathroom to brush her hair and tie it back. She decided to not clean any of the cooking mess off her, to keep Reno from getting ideas. "Come in." she said tightly when she opened the door and he stood there in his Turks' uniform looking expectantly at her.
"What'd you want to trade?" he casually came right to the point when she closed the door.
"You can take all this home-cooked food home if you'll let me paint you again." Tifa blurted out, gesturing at the coffee table full of food.
A smile broke out on Reno's face as he fought back a laugh. "That's all you wanted? If you wanted to see me naked again, you could have gotten that for free."
Fighting the urge to deck him, she unclenched her fists and clenched her teeth instead. "This is for art, not for the cheap sex you favor."
"I'm easy, I'm not cheap." Reno retorted. "If you want me to model for you, I don't want to hear any more snide comments about how I live my life."
"Fine." Tifa was surprised that he might be sensitive about his personal life. Reno always seemed so careless and crude to her. "I'll go get my supplies while you get ready."
"Okay, you've got a deal." Reno was half-undressed before Tifa had left the living room. "Where do you want me?" he asked when she came back.
"Put this on and just get comfortable on the couch." Tifa handed him a tie.
"You want me to wear a tie?" Reno was dumbfounded.
Tifa held back a smile. "Yes, I'm going to paint you with a tie."
"Fine, but I want an extra pie." Reno pouted as he contented himself with making as lewd a pose as possible on her couch, but it was tough plaid fabric, not leather or suede, meant for handling rambunctious kids, not naked flesh, and he had to rearrange himself to feel comfortable.
"Done. Let me know if you need a break." Tifa said as she made sure she had all her brushes and paints, and that her water cup was full, trying to avoid looking at his naked body until she had to.
It was rather boring just sitting there, so Reno's eyes wandered the room, mostly often studying Tifa as she painted, and eventually he caught sight of something in the fireplace that was just for show. It was sticking down from the chimney, like someone had either shoved something up there or had tried to shove something down. It was barely visible, but his trained eyes easily spotted it.
Finally Tifa put her brush down. "That's enough, the children will be home from school soon and I've got enough done that I can finish it without more help from you." she informed him.
"Okay. What's wrong with your fireplace?" he asked her.
"What...what do you mean? Nothing's wrong with the fireplace!" Tifa said in a rather high-pitched voice as she paled and then blushed, before standing in front of it with her arms spread out. "You can get dressed and leave now!"
Reno looked askance at her. "What are you hiding in there? Are you recording this or something?" He reached over her arms and grabbed hold of whatever it was and tugged down as she futilely tried to stop him. Her first painting now sat there in the fireplace for him to gawk at. "You...you did this?"
"Okay fine, yes I did. Now you've seen it, and you can get dressed and leave!" Tifa snapped in furious embarrassment.
"Well if you're that interested in modeling for me..." Reno's customary smirk appeared. "It would only be proper for me to let you. Tomorrow at my place, same time as today. You've done me twice now, it's only fair that I get a crack at doing you too."
"I don't want to model for you! It's just a painting!" Tifa nearly yelled.
"A painting that you tried to hide." Reno calmly pointed out. "So it'll just be our little secret. And please bring the rest of the food tomorrow." he requested as he got dressed as quick as he got naked, grabbing one of the casserole dishes. "I don't have time to take the rest of this, I've got to get back to work. Thanks for today." he said, leaving before she had a chance to refuse.
"Bastard!" Tifa exclaimed as she heard him rush down the stairs. How could he have found the painting? And why did she even invite him over in the first place? Did she really want him to find it? She didn't even need him there to paint him, she had her first painting to use as a template. What the hell was wrong with her? Maybe it was because she hadn't heard from Cloud in nearly a month since he had left, and her worry was making her do weird things.
The knock on her door started butterflies fluttering in Yuffie's stomach, and she took a deep breath. It wasn't until Aerith told her that Cloud might have left Tifa for good that Yuffie had texted him, but she still felt guilty, so she told herself to find out how Cloud felt first. "Come in!" she called out, making sure her kimono was tied properly.
"Um, hi." Cloud said as he walked in. "What...what did you need help with?" He felt awkward being in such a luxurious penthouse, with Yuffie dressed in a silk kimono tastefully handpainted with cherries, and he wanted to find out what was going on so he could leave and continue with his search for Zack.
"First we have to have tea. It's how things are done here." Yuffie explained, and gracefully gestured for him to sit as she began the social ritual. "So when are you and Tifa getting married?" she calmly asked as she sipped the cherry blossom tea.
Cloud nearly spit his own tea out. "WHAT?! Who told you that?"
"My apologies." Yuffie bowed her head briefly. "I thought you two were meant for each other."
"Tifa thinks we are." Cloud said.
"And what do you think?" Yuffie wanted to know.
"She's my best friend and I don't want to hurt her, but I don't love her the way she wants." Cloud regretfully stated, finally admitting his feelings out loud. Wanting to change the uncomfortable subject, he looked at all the pastries Yuffie had available. "Did you make all this yourself?"
"No." Yuffie sheepishly admitted. "I had help." The Stitchin' Bitches had helped her out since she didn't have a domestic bone in her body, having always had servants to do things for her. Even when she struck out on her own, she found she couldn't cook a decent meal to save her life.
"Oh." Cloud felt stupid for even asking now. Her father was the ruler of Wutai, of course she didn't need to do anything for herself when she was home. They both indulged themselves in small talk and Cloud started feeling more comfortable, not noticing that Yuffie was getting closer and closer to him.
"So do you like the food, Cloud?" Yuffie asked him.
"Mmm-hmm." Cloud manages to say with his mouth half-full of a cherry turnover, and he hastily tries to finish it. He didn't understand why the pastries were all cherry, but they were good. "It's all great, but..." he was about to tell her he didn't know why she was doing this, but she interrupted him.
"But there's one more cherry you need to have." Yuffie finished his sentence for him, and untied her kimono with slightly trembling hands, and Cloud was shocked to realize she was completely naked underneath it and almost choked on his last bite of turnover.
"What's...what's going on here?" he was totally dumbfounded.
"I want us to be going...to my bedroom." Yuffie wasn't at all confident in her role as seductress despite the pointers from Ellie Beasley, and Cloud's obtuseness wasn't helping her nervousness.
"You...and me?" Staring open-mouthed at her naked body, Cloud wondered when the young Wutaian had turned into a woman. She had been fifteen when they first met.
"Yes." Yuffie sighed and decided to be even more direct, leaning forward to kiss him.
Her inexperience even when it came to kissing was obvious, Cloud thought, finding himself more touched by her bold innocence than her attempts at subtle seduction as his body started to react. She was so...fresh...and it had been so long...he tried refocus his thoughts. This was Yuffie, one of Tifa's best friends and the daughter of the leader of Wutai. Whose naked body was now in his lap as his hands unwillingly started to caress her, and he became aware of the exotic scent of her. "Are...are you sure?" he heard himself ask, feeling his resistance fade.
"Yes!" Yuffie repeated firmly. His hands were making her start to feel things that she had only felt while listening to Reno have sex. That reminded her that Cloud still had his clothes on. Eager to see what his naked body looked like, she started trying to undress him as he carried her to her bedroom.
Cloud gently laid her down on her silk sheets before he finished taking his clothes off. He wanted to be gentle with her since it would be her first time, but his urgent need for release intensified as his naked body covered hers. Yuffie tried to cry out as he forced himself into her, but he crushed his mouth against hers. The pain soon faded and was replaced by pleasure, just like Ellie had promised her. It grew and grew as Cloud continued thrusting into her, then he made a noise that was a half-groan and half-grunt as he gave one final thrust, and his body collapsed onto hers, shuddering with not only physical relief, but the release from guilt he always felt about Tifa.
"So good...so fresh." Cloud muttered before falling asleep. Yuffie lay pinned under him with a confused look on her face, wondering if this was as good as sex was supposed to be. Cloud obviously enjoyed it, but she had gotten the idea that she should have felt more.
"Thanks for bringing the food." Reno said when he opened the door to a food-laden Tifa and helped her carry the dishes into his kitchen.
"You have a nice place." Tifa was surprised that Reno's apartment was tastefully decorated. She always thought of him as such a slob that his place would just be one big garbage dump.
"I'm not here enough to afford to have it be messy." he replied, enjoying surprising her.
"Where..." Tifa swallowed hard. "Where do you want me to model for you?" she asked once the food was all put away.
"In the living room." Reno leered at her. "There's a robe in the bathroom for you."
Tifa quietly went to the door Reno pointed out and was glad to get away from his salacious glances for a few moments. The bathroom was just as classy as the rest of his condo, and it bothered her even further to have conflicting evidence about what kind of person Reno was. His tactic about getting her to model naked for him was what she expected from him, but the place he actually lived in was nothing like she had envisioned. Even the robe he had picked out for her, it wasn't cheap or tacky. She shook her head and got undressed. She just needed to get through this day and put him behind her, she thought as she put on the elegant blue silk robe that she felt beautiful in. She took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door, reminding herself she didn't need to be ashamed of her body, even if Cloud's disinterest made her wonder what was wrong with her. Lifting her head high, she walked into the living room. "What...what do you think you're doing?" she asked Reno.
"I thought you'd be more comfortable if I was naked too." Reno smirked at her, covering his own surprise at how good she looked in the robe. Her pale complexion made her look even more beautiful, as a slight flush colored her cheeks.
"Where are your art supplies?" Tifa asked testily, telling herself that he was nothing but an exhibitionist dick, and she was a fool for letting herself question that.
"I'm just going to draw you today. I need your body as much as you needed mine." he told her, holding up a sketch pad.
"Let's get this over with." she said tightly, glaring at him as she untied the robe and let it fall to the ground.
"No, don't take it all off at once." Reno said, coming over to her and covering her back up except for her shoulders. "You're going to take your time exposing yourself to me, okay?" he smirked.
"You want me to do a striptease for you? This isn't a damned game!" she snapped, not wanting to admit the unwelcome thoughts in her head caused by their being alone and naked together.
"You agreed to model for me. I'm telling you how I want you to model." Reno replied pompously as he sat back down and started drawing on his sketch pad.
Tifa frowned and just stood there, her eyes glued to Reno's naked body and noticing that he wasn't even aroused. Was he that used to being surrounded by naked women or was there actually something wrong with her? First Cloud continuously rejects her, now Mr. Skank wasn't even interested? Men never seemed to mind looking at her, but why did none of them ever touch her? Unbidden tears came to her eyes.
"Okay, now you can show off those boobs." he told her. "Tifa? Lower the robe more." Reno stood up and approached her again when she didn't respond except to turn her head away. "Tifa?" he repeated her name.
"Fine." she sullenly replied and exposed her breasts. "Happy now?" she turned her head back to him with an indefinable expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw her tear-filled eyes.
"Like you care." she fired back. "Just finish drawing me so I can go home."
"Hey, if you want to leave, you can get dressed and go now." Reno told her almost contritely. He didn't mind playfully harassing Tifa, but unwilling women crossed a line with him. This wasn't how he liked to make women cry.
"Why don't you want me?" Tifa angrily demanded to know.
"I don't want women who don't want me." Reno firmly replied.
"I...I do want you!" she blurted out, embarrassed that she finally admitted it. "Satisfied?"
"Oh, we'll both be satisfied soon enough." Reno said before he kissed her, and Tifa felt herself melt as she felt him hard against her. She would finally be loved...