Talk To Me
"It's only for a week, Tifa," Cloud says. "I know that seems like a long time, but…"
Tifa sighs and nods, watching as Cloud lifts his Fusion Sword from where it rests against the wall, strapping it into the harness on his back. It is early morning and the first rays of sunlight are just beginning to bleed into their room, casting highlights across his flaxen hair as he finishes readying for his departure.
Cloud doesn't often go on deliveries that keep him away for more than a full day, and he rarely, if ever, takes any that occupy him for more than a night or two. So this is the very first time he's announced that he'll be away for so very long, and Tifa has to admit that it makes her heart pound with anxiety as she thinks about the stretch of days that will pass where he won't be home.
"I understand," Tifa replies, turning away from him to glance out of their bedroom window at the city below. Edge is just beginning to stir, cars pulling out onto the roads and people milling about in the streets as the city comes to life. The rising sun glitters across the sparkles in the asphalt below, and it catches Tifa's eyes as she stares on in distraction.
Cloud quirks an eyebrow at Tifa, and she hears the soft rustle of his clothing when he approaches, moving in behind her. She can feel the warmth of his body, and when he settles his hands on her hips and presses his chest to her back, she closes her eyes and dips her chin, savoring the feeling of his sudden closeness.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes bashfully, his breath skirting over the back of her earlobe. "I really don't want to be away that long, but -"
"It's okay," Tifa interrupts him, and she drops her hands to lay over his where he holds her just below the waist. He hasn't yet put on his gloves, and she lets her hands revel in the smooth warmth of his fingers. His grip on her body is always so gentle yet so firm, and even now, she can feel the way his fingertips dip into the flesh of her lower belly beneath her t-shirt. There's a rawness and a possession in his touch that she can't get enough of, no matter how she tries.
She turns and tips her head back so that she can catch his eyes, and their lips meet in the swift brush of a kiss. They've talked about this trip for days now, and they spent most of the night before making love, filling the late hours with every form of touch that they each crave from the other. But now the hour is finally here and Tifa doesn't want to burden him with guilt before he heads onto the road, so she presses another final kiss to his lips and then smiles.
"You sure?" Cloud asks.
"I'm sure," Tifa reassures him before he can wind his way through any further regrets. She knows how important this trip is for his side of the business, and she would never do anything to hold him back. "We'll be fine."
Cloud turns her in his arms then, and Tifa faces him. His hands slide up her back and cross over her body, crushing her into a tight embrace that has tiny shivers running through her body as she thinks about how long she'll have to go without him.
"I'll call you as soon as I stop for the night," he promises, and when Tifa smiles and nods, he leans in and kisses her one more time.
She brands the taste of his lips to her heart.
The first night isn't so bad, and the second and third days pass quickly while Cloud is away. He leaves on a Thursday, which means Tifa has the weekend ahead of her to focus on, and the bar keeps her busy. And it is the middle of the school year, so the kids have homework and school activities that Tifa has to keep up with on top of everything else.
Yet by that Saturday night, Tifa finds that she misses Cloud badly . The first two nights she is able to cope by sleeping on his side of the bed and wearing his shirts, her mind filled with him, imagining the feel of his embraces and his touch and his kiss, what it would be like to finally have that all again when he returns home. He calls her every night as he promised, letting her know that he is safe and asking her about her day, telling her how much he misses and he loves her. But by Saturday night, her longing grows into a level of desperation that Tifa realizes is as intense and impossible to ignore as it was when Cloud was away with Geostigma. She finds herself tossing and turning all throughout the night, clutching Cloud's pillow against her breasts and inhaling his scent that lingers behind, and she aches.
Sunday rolls around and things slow down at Seventh Heaven. Sundays are usually the day that Cloud takes off to spend at home, and so his absence today can be felt. The bar is quiet and closes early on Sundays, and the children spend the day outside, enjoying the crisp, late fall weather with some of their neighborhood friends.
Patrons come and go with a lingering slowness, and the downtime causes Tifa's mind to drift and spin. She tries to busy herself throughout the day by going over her ledgers and calculating orders, and finds herself spending most of the morning and early afternoon hours keeping herself busy with reading from one of the romance novels that she keeps stashed under the bar. This exercise, however, does nothing to help the way that she feels herself growing worked up and feverishly missing Cloud, and half a chapter in, she tosses the novel back where she found it and busies herself with inventorying the wine stocks in the back room.
When the dinner rush rolls around, Tifa is grateful for the sudden distraction and the way that it keeps her occupied. Denzel and Marlene come in from outside, Marlene helping her serve the tables while she puts Denzel to work manning the phone and jotting down takeout orders. By six o'clock, nearly every booth and table are full, and Tifa has mostly managed to put Cloud and her latent loneliness to the side.
It is sometime later when the crowd begins to thin that Tifa's thoughts return to that forlorn place that is laced with nothing but images of him. She is serving a table of three young women who are giggling and inebriated, working their way through a second pitcher of Corel wine. Tifa is pouring their drinks into fresh glasses and before she can move away, she catches snippets of their conversation.
"I don't understand how you could possibly stand to be in a long-distance relationship, Claire," one woman with short, dark hair says. "I would never be able to deal if I didn't have Kenny around to fuck whenever I wanted."
Tifa bristles, nearly spilling the wine as she pours. The girls laugh.
"It isn't as bad as you think," a blonde-haired girl replies as she leans over the table. "I see him twice a month when the WRO releases him from duty. And we talk on the phone every night. The phone sex is the best!"
Tifa feels her cheeks burn, and this time, she does spill some of the drink. One of the girls looks up at her and smiles, but Tifa digs her dishrag from her apron and hastily wipes the mess away.
"Really?" a third girl with deep olive skin presses, her voice drunken and intrigued.
Her cheeks glowing, Tifa turns away from their table and busies herself with picking up the gil left at a vacated booth nearby. But there is no denying the way that her own sense of interest has been piqued, and she takes her time counting the bills and the coins, listening over her shoulder as the young women continue to gossip.
"It's the hottest thing," the blond replies. "We do it almost every night. Sometimes, I swear it's as good or even better than actual sex. I usually send him a naughty pic, and that's all it takes to have him going for the whole night. We even went out and bought some toys together the last time he was here, so we can play with them together on the phone."
"I am going to have to try this," the dark-haired girl says with a bright laugh.
Tifa can feel flames ride all the way up the side of her face, and she quickly makes herself scarce from their vicinity and scurries behind the bar. She stashes the gil she's collected in the till and dumps some dirty dishes in the nearby sink, her mind racing with the thoughts of what she's just heard.
She's instantly thinking of Cloud and their week-long separation, of their late-night phone calls that are filled with nothing more than sweet, shy exchanges. Tifa has no complaints about her sex life with Cloud, for sure - but neither of them are exactly what she would call bold or forthcoming, and the idea of sex while on the phone is almost beyond baffling to her.
Still, it doesn't leave Tifa's mind for the rest of the night, triggering all of the tiny daydreams and secret fantasies about Cloud she's kept buried deep in her mind since he left three days ago. The patrons begin to empty out as the hour grows later, and flustered from her own thoughts, Tifa eventually sends Denzel and Marlene upstairs to get ready for bed. After she announces last call and waits for her final customers to depart for the night, Tifa takes the opportunity to sneak onto her PHS and conduct a quick internet search on "phone sex". The first few hits she reads through leave her red-cheeked and exasperated, and Tifa quickly slides her PHS back into her pocket and gets to work closing up the bar.
Still, no matter how much she tries to turn off the thoughts that run through her mind from that point on, she is stuck thinking about Cloud and what it might be like to do such a thing with him.
It is sometime later when Tifa finishes for the evening in Seventh Heaven and makes her way upstairs. Exhaustion from the day and the week is settling into her muscles, and she is looking forward to finally relaxing for the night. She checks on Marlene and Denzel first and after assuring that they are well on their way to sleep, she makes her way into the bathroom and showers, letting the spray of hot water ease away the fatigue that lives in her shoulders and her back.
As much as she tries not to, Tifa finds herself thinking back on the conversation she overheard between the young women at the bar. She's blushing again, stepping out of the shower and drying her hair, spreading lotion over her skin. She wonders again if she could ever work up the nerve to bring up such an idea to Cloud. It seems almost impossible for her to imagine herself talking with such boldness to him, even over the phone. They've been together for a few years now, but she is still stuck in a certain level of shyness that she just can't get past when it comes to him.
Even so, she thinks as she quietly pads through their apartment with her towel wrapped around her body and thick, damp strands of her dark hair sticking to her shoulders, at this point, he's been gone too long and her embarrassment does not outweigh her need for him.
Letting her mind wander through possibilities, Tifa stops first in the kitchen to pour herself a glass of Nibel whiskey that she takes with her into the bedroom. Once she closes the door, she lets her towel drop and stares at the bed she shares with Cloud, the sheets and blankets pulled neat and taut the way she makes the bed every morning after they rise.
She picks up her PHS and looks at it, running her thumb over the call display. It is just after nine o'clock, and knowing the kinds of hours Cloud typically keeps when he's away on deliveries, she knows that he'll be calling her soon. She chews into her lip and tries to imagine how she could ever bring up the dark thoughts that she is having to him, and shaking her head as she feels the warmth start to bubble inside of her again, she tosses the PHS on the bed and makes her way to her dresser.
In between tiny sips of bourbon, Tifa slides into a periwinkle-hued bra and panty set that she has seen Cloud raise his eyebrows at more than once. She doesn't spend a lot of gil on these sorts of things, but she keeps a few nice luxuries just for special occasions, like the rare nights they can get away from the home for a date night on their own. The material is lacy and snug, pulling tight against the soft flesh of her breasts and hips and accentuating every bend of her curves.
Her hair has mostly dried now, and Tifa stands in front of the mirror and brushes it, soft, natural waves from air drying filling her thick licorice locks. Her skin is slightly flushed from the alcohol, and the more that she preens herself, staring at her nearly naked body and thinking of Cloud and all of her favorite moments spent with him, the more that she loses herself to her wildest impulses.
Tifa carefully sets her brush down, her mind already set on what she is about to do. She can't quite believe that she is going for it, but she doesn't dare entertain hesitation. Instead, she picks up her PHS and turns it so the camera is facing her, and with her heart beginning to pound, she snaps a few quick photos.
She sits on the bed and sifts through them, the highlights returning to her cheeks when she sees the sultry look on her face that stares back at her through the screen. Somehow, with the dim lighting in their room and the haze of moonlight blurring the backdrop behind her, the way that she poses in every frame is so sensual and alluring that Tifa is almost surprised to think she is looking at pictures of herself.
She drains the last of her whiskey and it swims through her head like a raincloud, leaving her dizzy but warm. She sits on the bed, again on Cloud's side, folding her legs under her. Her heart beats faster and faster as she skims through her device, eventually opening up their most recent text message exchange. His last correspondence to her had been a simply worded Have a good day, Tifa. I miss you.
She stares at those words in their tiny blue bubble for endless moments, the throb of her heart somehow reaching its way between her knees. She closes her eyes and thinks of him, of the way that his hands last slid their way over her breasts and her hips and along the crevasse of her thighs, of the way that his kisses found the back of her neck and the crest of her clavicle, of the way that he buried himself inside of her and loved her until she couldn't stand to be loved anymore.
These thoughts are a bit too overwhelming and Tifa tries to dispel them, but she is already too far gone, her center slick and her nipples hard. The whiskey is dulling the last of her inhibitions, and Tifa quietly convinces herself that there is no reason for her to be worried or shy. Cloud loves her and he would never do anything to hurt her or make her feel badly about herself.
Right?
She doesn't answer the voice in her head. Instead, she opens the folder of images on her PHS, selects the last three that she took of herself, and drops them into the message window with Cloud, pressing the send key.
She tosses the PHS on the bed in front of her.
At first, Tifa stares at it for a long moment, wondering what she's done. She and Cloud don't spend much time corresponding through their PHS', and she's certainly never done anything quite like this. She isn't sure how he is going to react, and she hopes that she doesn't startle or annoy him by sending him risqué photos of herself while he is supposed to be working.
Tifa lets that thought simmer for a while and when Cloud doesn't immediately respond, she tries to push it from her head. Maybe it is silly for her to take the chatter of a bunch of drunk college girls so seriously. Maybe she should just try to be patient and wait for Cloud to come home in a few days. Maybe she should manage her expectations when it comes to their relationship.
She's laying back on his pillow and plucking away at that thought when suddenly, her PHS is buzzing at her hip. Tifa blinks, glancing over it and seeing the bright blue glow of her display. Her heart somersaults in her chest, seeing his name blaze across the screen.
She quickly grabs the phone, but her thumbs tremble over the screen as it waits for her to answer. Cloud is calling her, and she isn't sure what to expect when she answers. What is he thinking? What will he say? Will he be turned on? Confused? Annoyed?
Will we have phone sex? She wonders with a tiny thrill.
She shoves that thought away, not even daring to entertain it at this point. Inhaling a deep breath, she finally slides her thumb across the screen to answer, and she brings the PHS to her ear the way she does every night.
"Hi, Cloud," she answers, and she almost doesn't recognize the breathiness of her voice that escapes.
'Tifa," is Cloud's instant response on the other line.
A stretch of silence develops, and it seems neither of them knows quite what to say. Tifa rolls onto her side, pulling Cloud's pillow with her and holding it close as if it were him. She can hear his soft breathing, and she wonders what he is thinking, what he wants to say.
"I… miss you," she finally dares.
Cloud lets out another soft breath that ends nearly in a growl, and she can hear the rumble of movement in the background as if he is settling. There is another brief pause, and then finally he speaks.
"I miss you too," he returns her sentiment. "I…I got your pictures, Tifa."
He doesn't say anything more than that, just lets the weight of his words slam into her through the receiver. Cloud's voice carries the same cadence that it does whenever he is about to bed her, soft and gentle, a dreamy quality that makes her slick and hot, the sensitive button between her thighs pulsing. This moment is no different, but the thought of him sitting alone in a room at an inn somewhere across the world and staring at those naughty photos she sent him somehow makes her feel even more frenzied than she has been since the moment he departed for the week.
"Oh?" is all she can manage in response. She admits now that she isn't really prepared for this. Neither she nor Cloud do very much talking when they are in bed together, outside of her wild cries or his desperate professions of love whenever they are sky-high in the throes of their passions. But this is different - it is controlled and careful and measured, planned and preemptive. They are navigating a conversation where their words are meant to strike at something despairing that lives in each of them, and Tifa knows that this is new for them both.
"Yeah," he breathes out. "You… you look really sexy in that. You're beautiful."
Tifa is momentarily stunned. Cloud's voice is shaky as he speaks, but it still carries that lustful tenor. But that isn't what sends flutters through her core - it's the heat and the sincerity behind his words. Cloud doesn't shy away from quietly complimenting her from time to time, but for whatever reason, it always sends her off-kilter. This time is no different, especially as she has to close her eyes and focus on the sound of his voice, imagining the sight and the feel of him since he is not there.
She says nothing for so long that Cloud quietly clears his throat before he goes on. "Did you put that on for me?"
His voice has entered new territory with that question - teasing and somehow slightly scolding as if he's caught her doing something bad. Tifa slides her tongue between her lips and rubs her thighs together, closing her eyes and pulling in a deep inhale before she replies.
"Of course, it was for you," she responds, and she can barely manage to escalate her voice above a whisper. "I… I can't stop thinking about you. I hate that you're gone so long, Cloud. I need you."
Cloud groans, and Tifa hears more rustling, the sound of fabric in the background. She wonders if he is taking his shirt off, imagining the glistening ripples of his muscles under the soft lighting of the room he's in. She thinks she has them memorized, every plane of skin and sinew that define him, every scar and every line.
"You've been thinking about me?" Cloud repeats after he's settled.
"Always."
"What have you been thinking?"
Tifa lets her fingers dance over the exposed flat of her belly. She thinks of the girls in the bar again. Is this how it starts, she wonders? These soft, shy little questions, stirring each other's imaginations?
"Hmm?" Cloud presses when she is silent for too long. "Tell me, Tifa."
The curiosity and interest that has leaped into his tone along with the quiet, demanding note behind his words are almost overpowering, especially when all Tifa can focus on at the moment is the sound of his voice. She tries to breathe, squeezing the pillow tighter.
"I think about you coming home," she starts, running through the same daydreams that have been harassing her since the moment he left. "When you wrap your arms around me from behind and kiss my neck, or my cheek. When you whisper in my ear and tell me how much you've missed me."
"I love coming home to you," Cloud responds right away. "What else?"
Tifa is chewing into her bottom lip, listening to the sound of his breathing again and wondering how much she can dare to let herself say.
"I think about kissing you," Tifa responds. "I… I wish you could kiss me right now."
Cloud makes another guttural sound, and Tifa strains to hear the subtle movement in the background. "If I was with you, Tifa," he begins, "I would be kissing you all over."
"All over?" Tifa can't help but repeat, her heart hammering and her fingers clenching above the hem of her panties.
"I love the way you taste," Cloud answers as if this is all the explanation needed. "Every part of you, Tifa. Your lips, your tongue, your skin… your sweet pussy…"
Cloud's voice trails off to an almost indecipherable lowness, but the shock of his vulgarity does not miss her. Tifa nearly gasps at his words, and she feels the very part of her body he's just made mention of growing slicker, dampening that lacy fabric she had so carefully chosen.
"Cloud," Tifa lets out in a breath.
"You know how much I love going down on you, Tifa?" Cloud breathes. "I love having my mouth on you. The way that you moan and cry my name always turns me on so much… I've been thinking about it nonstop since I left on Thursday."
Tifa can't stop the soft purr that escapes her throat. She is thinking about the way that Cloud always so delicately slides his tongue through her folds, the way that he laps at her clit so gently yet firmly that it sends her through the heavens. She doesn't say it, but she has been thinking about it nonstop since he left, too.
"I love when you do that to me," she manages in a quiet whisper.
"It's been eighty-four hours," Cloud replies. There's another soft rustle of movement, followed by a slightly frustrated groan. "And forty-two minutes."
This makes Tifa smile.
She closes her eyes and listens to him breathe again, but she can't come up with the right thing to say in response to continue this conversation. It is steamy and has her heart racing, but she realizes how unequipped she is for it. As much as she wishes she could be as unapologetically free as the Corel wine-dazed girls in her bar, Tifa realizes that she is just not very good at this sort of thing.
Even so, he's turned her on badly and her hips are writhing over their sheets. Cloud recognizes her silence after a long stretch of moments, and he breathes out into the phone again before he quietly calls her name.
"Tifa."
"Hm?"
"What do you want me to do for you, baby?"
Tifa thinks she is melting into pure liquid, seeping away into their linens. The way that he says that is a cross between indulgent and deadly, his voice somehow both firm and soft, expectant and demanding. Cloud doesn't use such pet names with her often, but when he does, she knows it is because he is foregone with lust.
The fact that he asks her so straightforwardly only makes her wetter, and Tifa reaches up to squeeze one sore breast in hand, its weight feeling heavier and fuller than usual.
"…Talk to me," she finally responds.
Cloud grunts again, and she hears him move. He lets out another slow breath into the receiver, and Tifa can almost swear that she can feel its wind breeze over her throat.
"I love what you're wearing," Cloud tells her. "But I want you to take it off. Can you do that for me?"
Tifa hesitates for just a moment. "I can," she responds.
"Good," Cloud says. "Then take all of it off. Let me know when you're naked."
Tifa purses her lips, feeling excitement rage through every pore. She nods, even though he can't see her. She taps the speakerphone function on her screen, then puts the PHS on Cloud's pillow so she can slide her way out of the lingerie she'd put on that night.
Once she is fully undressed, Tifa can't ignore the way that she feels exposed, even though she is alone. As if he senses her trepidation from afar, though, Cloud clears his throat, quickly enrapturing her attention.
"Don't be shy, baby," Cloud whispers. "Don't you know how beautiful you are, Tifa? Every part of you. You have the most beautiful body in the world. Your arms, your breasts, your tummy…"
Tifa lets out a long sigh, imagining those hazy blue eyes devouring her.
"…your legs, your hips… your ass…"
"Cloud-"
"I love all of it," Cloud cuts her off. "There's not a part of you I don't love. And you have the prettiest face. You're a goddess, Tifa. All mine."
Tifa can't help the way that she moans.
"Tifa," Cloud goes on. "Spread your legs for me, the way you do when I'm between them, about to make love to you."
Heart fluttering, she doesn't hesitate to comply. She lays back with her head on his pillow, her hair fanning out in every direction, his scent enveloping her again. Her PHS is right by her ear, and the rhythmic sound of his breathing soothes the nervous tremors that ride along her spine.
"Okay," she whispers to him, pulling her thighs apart, just the way that he asked.
"I want to make you come, Tifa," Cloud rumbles through the phone at her.
Tifa trembles at that. She hears movement again, followed by a soft grunt from the back of Cloud's throat.
"I want to do that for you, too," Tifa replies.
"Then talk back to me, Tifa," Cloud says.
Tifa puffs out another soft breath. "What are you wearing, Cloud? Are you… are you naked, too?"
"Do you want me to be?"
Tifa's breath hitches. "Y-yes, of course."
"Good," Cloud answers. "I'm taking my pants off."
Tifa can just imagine it, and she listens to him move against the receiver, disrobing himself. She's picturing his hard cock, and all she wants is it buried inside of her, slowly stroking her into oblivion.
"If I was there," Cloud goes on, "I'd be touching and kissing you all over, Tifa. You know how much I love sucking your nipples?"
"Cloud -"
"They're always so hard when we're together, baby." He pauses, emitting a groan, and Tifa wonders if he is touching himself. "You make the prettiest sounds when I have your tits in my mouth. You like that, don't you?"
Tifa isn't about to lie to him. She couldn't, even if she wanted to. "I love it," she rejoins. "I love when your mouth is all over me."
"Touch yourself, Tifa," Cloud demands. "Are you wet?"
"Soaked."
"Rub your clit," Cloud tells her. "The way I rub it… little circles, okay? And play with your nipples."
Tentatively, Tifa lets her hands wander, touching herself the way that he implores. She is slightly surprised by how wet she has grown from his words alone, and her fingers glide over her clit, causing her to moan softly.
"I love the sounds you make," Cloud groans. "Keep going, Tifa. Imagine I'm right there with you, kissing the insides of your thighs, my breath hovering over your clit. How bad do you want it, baby?"
"I want you ," Tifa trills in response, pressing at her clit and causing sparks of pleasure to race to her brain. "Here, with me, always. Inside me, making love to me just the way I like."
"Yeah?" Cloud's voice has grown even deeper as if thunder has infected it. "Just the way you like? And what way is that, Tifa?"
Tifa toys at her opening, imagining the things that he's done to her and that she wants him to do to her again. "I… I love it when you go fast, when you're behind me…"
"You like it when I bend you over and fuck you hard?" Cloud picks up where she falters. "Damn, that's hot. You've never told me that before, Tifa."
She's breathless now because her hands are moving over these sensitive peaks of her body with the aim to bring her to release. "Cloud, I -"
"Listen to you," Cloud interrupts. "I bet you're all pretty and flushed, your mouth wide open. That's how you always look when you're getting close to coming."
"Please," she whispers, "Please, I want to come, Cloud, I miss you and I'm…"
"I'm right here," Cloud says. "Imagine I'm inside of you, and I'm taking you fast, hard. Just the way you like. You feel that?"
Tifa slides two fingers inside of herself and rotates her thumb over her clit, her free hand squeezing one breast and then the other in tandem. Her back arches against the bed, soft moans escaping every time she tries to utter a word.
"Keep going," Cloud growls. His voice is strained, and Tifa knows now that he is touching himself too. She imagines the sight of it, his chiseled body and hard cock and beautiful face all struggling for release, and it only hurls her closer to the edge of the cliff. "God, I love it when you're about to come. You're so pretty right before you fall apart for me, Tifa. The first time I saw you make that face, I thought I was going to cry."
Tifa whines an unintelligible sound, and then she swallows hard to gather at least some of her bearings. "Please, Cloud," she rasps. "I want to come with you. Please, baby, I need…"
She can't quite finish her thought, but he picks up the slack. "I know, baby. Close your eyes and press your fingers deeper. Feel that? That's me on your spot, fucking you nice and hard. I'm not going to stop until you're crying and coming for me, Tifa."
He moans softly and just the little bit of knowledge that Cloud is close to the edge while talking so sweetly and dirtily to her is enough to push her over. She pushes her fingers deeper and flicks her thumb over her clit, and the sensation rocks through her entire body in a series of gentle tidal waves. She gasps and she moans, and the burst of bliss disables her momentarily, leaving her trembling.
"Fuck, Tifa," she vaguely hears Cloud swear next to her ear.
She breathes out fragmented puffs of air, but it is long moments before she can think straight, let alone speak. She has never done anything like this before, but sharing such a vulnerably intimate moment with Cloud has made the experience hotter than she would have ever imagined in the hours before she laid her head on his pillow.
The fog clears and she can hear the way Cloud's soft moans - the sounds she's so familiar with him making after he is spent - cascade into her senses. She savors them, pleased to know that she makes him just as desperate and broken as he makes her.
"Tifa?" he grouses through her PHS after a moment.
"Oh, Cloud," she responds, a grin of happiness and wavy euphoria stretching her lips. "You really are the best. I love you."
Cloud laughs lowly, but it is a nervous and slightly diffident sound. "You're the best," he counters. "We need to do this more often. I'm glad you sent me those pictures, Tifa."
"Me too," she agrees.
"I love you too," Cloud finally rejoins, his voice soft again. "But Tifa, I think I'm gonna cut this trip short. I'm coming home tomorrow."
She rolls over onto her belly, holding his pillow again and taking another deep inhale of his scent. Of all the things he said to her tonight, that has made her the happiest.
"Just don't drive too fast," she mumbles.
He says something else, but already, Tifa is falling asleep to the soft sounds of Cloud's breathing.