Tifa pushed Aeris away, her back relaxing, her chest still heaving. Her partner did not take offence, content to kiss her way up, lips tracing across her belly until Aeris lay next to her. Pulse still thundering, Tifa let the circle of Aeris's arms draw her in. "Well. That just happened." She was grinning.
Not anything like Tifa's expectations of the evening, but in no way unwanted. First dates should have some restraint – or at least was guiding principle Tifa assumed. Might be showing her age; media was not short of swift trips to bed on first dates and one-night stands after-all. This was not the latter – unless she had completely misread every interaction between them. Which was a possibility, but surely not. Surely not Aeris- Aeris who was staring at her, the grin on her lips – those same lips capable of making her pant and moan and call out Aeris's name in absolute delight – was starting to falter.
Tifa smiled back. "It did." Her pulse still racing, still a little short of breath. She shifted a bit closer, gaze fixed on Aeris's. "I enjoyed it."
Aeris's smile returned and widened. "Good," she purred. A kiss. "So did I." Reassuring; as much as Tifa had let Aeris's reactions guide every one of her movements and touches, always a concern she had not done enough. Aeris ran her hand across Tifa's cheek, gliding down her neck and along her side. "Very much so." A further reassurance.
They relaxed back into the pillows, the air cool enough to force dragging the sheets over them; passion not providing sufficient warmth any longer. Aeris cuddled close, eyelids drooping. She fell asleep in moments. The warmth of her against Tifa was wonderful, the exertion had tired her, but she never fell asleep so quickly. Somewhat fortunate to have a first date in such a spectacular locale; Costa del Sol intended as a group holiday destination, not a place to hook-up.
But she and Aeris had tip-toed around each other and their feelings for each other for a long time now. Little things added up over time, mutual unspoken suggestions, anticipating each other's needs, an increasing need for closeness. It all somehow started in the depths of Sector Six, in Don Coreno's domain. That immediate spark, the click when they met.
Once events had calmed in the aftermath, Aeris was there with Tifa when they trekked across the grasslands. She helped her mourn the loss of her friends; Jessie, Biggs, Wedge. Those she knew in passing; Vogel, Undyne, Alphys. Still other strangers in and around Sector Seven, those visiting, those mercifully outside the area when the disaster occurred, but now left without homes. Aeris helped her feel better.
When the group stopped they sat beside each other. Maybe by chance at first, maybe because they had walked together. But after they made no effort to move, no matter what the situation. Sit together, whisper to each other, laugh at little private jokes growing out of their every interaction. They crossed the swamp outside the Mythil Mine on the same Chocobo, crossed Junon together, holed up in the cargo ship, until paranoia forced them to split off to evade detection.
And on arrival in Costa del Sol, when the group agreed to a break, to relax; the point Aeris asked her out for a drink. They did not part once Tifa agreed. Where would they go to kill time? Aeris eager to enjoy the sunlight, enjoy the ocean, and Tifa could not help but share the enthusiasm. How many long years since she had seen the sun? And like Aeris, she had never once visited the coast. They bought bathing suits and crammed into a shared changing room; not as if little money and circumstances had not already resulted in both seeing the other naked. They splashed in the sea after, both enraptured at the vastness and clarity of the water. A far cry from the murky, tainted bay Junon loomed over.
Their date had to be different to other dates. Surely, one did not spend the day with their date and after go on the actual date with them? Or maybe they did, and the whole day was the date, not simply the meeting for drinks. Had the thought crossed Aeris's mind? Was the invitation to the date later a mask for the true date now? There was the bemusing fact they had retreated to the same room, changed into something more casual and headed for the bar together. On reflection, they were a couple in so many ways bar physical long before Aeris pulled the trigger.
The date anticipated and surprising. They had already spent so long together, conversation flowed naturally. One drink leading to another, a daring suggestion from Aeris leading to Tifa kissing her. The kisses impossible to stop until progression lay to here and now; in bed together. Together; they were an item now. Tifa smiled, still waiting for sleep to take her.