Ho Ho Ho, have you been naughty or nice?
Yuletide
The spicy smell of the warm mullet wine entered her nostrils as she poured herself a cup. Taking a sip, a smile formed on her face as she was reminded fondly of home by the rich taste. Next to her the voice of the local radio host echoed in the room as he talked about the evening news.
"And this concludes the local news. Now to an update on the weather report: With the cold front from the northern continent still persisting, it looks like we'll be looking at a very cold Yuletide and New Years. Chances of snow will be increasing dramatically, so dress warmly."
"Hmm, been some years since we had an actual winter 'round here," one of their regulars said, a woman in her late thirties that reminded Tifa of a less dolled up and bitchy Scarlet in a way.
"The area where I'm from was in the mountains. We had a pretty temperate climate most of the year, but the Winters could become pretty cold. Snow wasn't that rare, either," Tifa said, then took another sip. "On some Winters you could hardly leave the area because of it."
"Sounds like the backside of the world if you ask me."
She chuckled. "In a way. But it's where I got the idea for this."
To emphasize her words, Tifa raised the cup of mulled wine to her lips once more.
"On that note," the woman said with a chuckle of her own while holding out her cup. "Can I get a refill?"
"Sure."
Just as Tifa was taking the cup, the front door slammed open, letting in the cold evening air. She turned her head only to spot Cloud walk in, carrying a tree over his shoulder. Once inside he somehow managed to close the door again, despite the load he was carrying around. It wasn't exactly a huge tree, but still rather unwieldy, making it a struggle even for him to carry it around.
"Wow!" one of her other regulars exclaimed as he moved his head to the side, trying to avoid a face full of pine needles. "Need some help with that, Cloud?"
"I'm good," Cloud replied as he tried to maneuver the tree through the bar, apologizing every time he came a bit too close for comfort to the patrons. With a frown, Tifa walked over and opened the counter door to let Cloud pass.
"Thanks," he said then slowly walked past her. She played with the idea of simply helping him, but instead just rolled her eyes and returned to what she was doing. If he wanted to stroke his ego, he could do so.
She immediately regretted that decision when the sound of him bumping against the wall echoed down the stairs. With a sigh, she handed the woman the refilled cup.
"Not a fan of fake trees, is he?" the woman asked.
"He's of the opinion fake ones take away from the spirit of the season." Tifa shrugged. She didn't disagree per se, but fake ones were a lot less messy for sure. She'd be brushing away needles tomorrow. Or maybe she should make Cloud do it? His mess after all.
"That strength of his sure is amazing, though." A saucy grin followed those words. "I bet he can do some real nifty tricks in private with that."
Tifa's face instantly turned bright red. "No comment!"
"No need. Your face already says enough."
With a huff, she glared at the woman sitting in front of her. "That's it. No more refills for you!"
The only answer she received was teasing laughter.
An hour later, after everyone had left and she closed the bar, Tifa walked upstairs. She shook her head at the photos hanging ajar from when Cloud had bumped into the wall earlier and took the time to adjust them again. On top of the stairs she could see Cloud still working on the tree and looking for a good spot to put it. The kids were, miraculously, still in their room.
"You know, you could've been a bit more careful—" She stopped herself when she noticed another photo lying on the ground. "Cloud! You knocked Cid's picture off the wall!"
"I'm sure he won't notice..." Cloud murmured, then took a step back from the tree to look at it critically. With an exasperated sigh, Tifa placed the picture back on the wall and walked towards him, a hand on her hip. "Think this spot is good?"
She looked at the tree and tilted her head. "More to the right?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah. Thought so myself."
He nudged the tree more to the right and nodded in satisfaction. "Now we only need to decorate it."
"Cloud..."
"Yeah?" he turned to look at her.
"You know we still have a few days until Yuletide starts," she pointed out.
"Better to start too early than too late."
Despite the annoyance of the mess he made, Tifa couldn't help but smile at his eagerness. It was a nice change from last year when all the season did was remind them of what they lost. Seeing that almost boyish glint in his mako eyes filled her with happiness.
"Fine. But I get to put up the pentagon star." She gave him a little peck on the lips. "And you have to clean up the mess you made."
After saying those words, Tifa walked past him to check on what the kids were doing, giggling to herself when she heard him mutter: "Shit."
A few days later, found not only the tree, but their entire home decorated for the Yule festivities starting today. The day after their conversation, Cloud had wasted no time in getting started. Tifa was, of course, pleasantly surprised to see that he had woken up extra early to clean up the mess he had made, but couldn't help the little laugh at the sight of him trying to figure out what to put on the walls.
The kids had eagerly joined him, leaving Tifa with nothing else to do but watch in amusement and put the last finishing touch on the tree.
Right now, she was standing in front of the oven, arms crossed in front of her chest and humming along to the Yuletide classic playing on the radio right now. Glancing at the clock, Tifa took a step forward and opened the oven lid, and a smile formed on her lips at the delicious smell that entered her nostrils.
Perfect, she thought. She took an oven mitt to pull out the sheet covered in freshly baked cookies and placed it on top of the counter. Once done, she immediately increased the oven's temperature for the next order of business: dinner. This was gonna be her busy day.
She walked over to the fridge and pulled out the ham that she had bought yesterday, placing it on the counter. After that she started to gather all the other ingredients that she needed, but she soon found that she was missing the potatoes, amongst some other things.
"Crap," Tifa mumbled. These past days have been busy. It must've slipped her mind. Grabbing her notepad and a pen, she hastily started to write. "Cloud!"
"Yeah?" he called back, soon followed by his footsteps coming down the stairs. "What is it?"
"I was about to start cooking dinner, but we're missing some stuff. Could you please run to the store real quick?" she asked in an apologetic tone, tearing off the page she was writing on and handing it to him.
"Sure, can do."
"Thanks." Tifa smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek before turning around to rummage through one of the cupboards for a baking pan. "Oh and—"
"Ouch!"
She grinned. "hands off the cookies. They're still hot."
Once Cloud left, Tifa got to work. She filled the baking pan with some red wine then added the ham to it, letting the meat gently soak in it, before covering it with foil and shoving it into the oven. After that she started some preparation work on the glaze, but couldn't do much more since she was missing a critical part of it.
Thankfully she didn't have to wait too long for Cloud to return with everything she asked him to buy.
"Thanks," Tifa said to him, and she took the brown sugar to get back to working on the glaze. Cloud just let out a "Mhm" and placed the other things on the counter. From out of the corner of her eye, she saw the frown forming on his face and only now noticed that his hair was disheveled. More than usual, that was. "Everything alright?"
"This was the last bag they had," he said while pointing at the brown sugar in her hand. "...Some woman kinda...rushed me for it."
Tifa had to force herself not to grin. "Oh?"
"Yeah." he nodded. "Tried to snatch it out of my hands. She didn't know I've had to deal with ninjas in the past."
She giggled and presented him with a smile. "Sorry. Probably should've warned you about shopping at the last minute."
"It wasn't too bad. Just kinda hectic."
"Still." She bumped her shoulder against him. "Thanks."
The corners of his lips curled into a smile of his own. "Always. Need anything else?"
"No, I'm good."
"Okay. If you do think of something, I'll be checking on Fenrir," he told her before making his way to the garage, stopping only to take one of the finally cooled down cookies. Her eyes followed him until he disappeared from sight. The smile on her lips turned into a grin, and she bit her lip at the thought of that very special present she had planned for him tonight.
Focus on the food, Lockhart, she reminded herself, then opened the bag she was holding.
Dinner was pretty lively as the children recounted their afternoon exploits with their friends. Tifa had to hide a grin behind her hands as Marlene once more teased Denzel about his apparent crush, which he vehemently denied.
After dinner, it was time for the kids to open their presents.
Cloud and her shared a look as Denzel eagerly tore open his present to reveal the motorcycle toy they had gotten him. At first he had wanted to buy the boy a toy sword, arguing that it could be a good start for any future training, but Tifa disagreed. The two of them had argued back and forth inside the store, drawing some curious and amused looks from the other customers, until they had stumbled upon the motorcycle.
"Wow, this is so cool!" Denzel said with a huge grin. He ran towards them to give them both a hug. "Thank you!"
"Be good and we'll get you a real one when you're older," Cloud said.
"Much older," Tifa added, giving the boy a little squeeze before letting go of him.
Marlene, meanwhile, was much more composed when it came to opening her present, calmly unfolding the box before opening it. But that composure went right out of the window when she saw what was inside. Face beaming with joy, she reached inside and pulled out a cute Chocobo plush toy. This one was surprisingly easy to figure out, since Marlene adored cute things. She still had that Cactuar plush that Aerith had gotten her.
"I'm going to call you…" The girl tilted her head in thought, before nodding. "Cloud Jr!"
Tifa chuckled as she saw Cloud grimace at the name. But Marlene had decided, so it was basically law now. Reaching out, Tifa wrapped an arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the kids play with their presents.
Eventually it was time for the kids to go to bed. Of course they were a bit less than enthused about it, but were quick to give in when Cloud pointed out that the earlier they went to bed, the earlier they could play tomorrow when Barret came over.
Cloud offered to tuck them in, so Tifa used the chance to clean up quickly before joining them upstairs. He was just leaving the kid's room when she arrived.
"She made you kiss Cloud Jr., didn't she?" Tifa asked immediately when she saw the look on his face.
"Yeah." He nodded, making her giggle.
"It just shows how much she loves you."
Giving her a small grin, he chuckled. "I know, I know. Just needs some getting used to."
Tifa smiled at him before leaning in close, planting a kiss on his nose. "I got a present for ya as well."
"Oh?" Cloud looked at her in surprise. "Y-you do?"
"Mhm." She nodded.
"Just let me freshen up for a sec...care to join?"
"Ha, nice try..." Tifa said, giving him a little wink and running a finger over his chest as she headed into their room. She waited by the door until she heard him enter the bathroom, followed by the sound of the shower being turned on. Walking to her side of the bed, she started to undress until she was completely bare and knelt down to the ground to pull out a box from under the bed.
Lucky for her that Cloud never checked there, or this wouldn't be much of a surprise. Tifa opened it to reveal a set of black lace lingerie that she had bought earlier this week while he was out on a delivery run.
A present for him...and her.
Tifa started with the bra, followed by a garter belt and stockings. She then took out a pair of see-through panties, that she just knew Cloud would love, and put them on. Turning around, she gave herself one last once over in the mirror and tousled up her hair a bit to give herself a more wild look before taking one last item out of the box and lying down on the bed.
Just in time, too, since shortly after she heard the bathroom door open and steps approaching their bedroom. The door opened and Cloud, dressed in a bathrobe, walked in.
But he stopped mid step at the sight awaiting him. Tifa couldn't help the smirk from forming on her lips as he could do nothing than stare at her, enjoying it immensely as she watched his eyes slowly glaze over with desire.
"Happy Yule, Cloud. I hope you like your present. You can do whatever you want with it tonight," she said, her voice like honey. Her words seemed to do the trick of waking him from his stupor, and he walked up to the bed to sit down next to her. He reached out a hand and placed it on one of her legs, gently rubbing it.
"All this, for me?" he asked, the corner of his lips curling up into a crooked smirk.
"Mhm." Tifa nodded. "Because you've been such a good boy."
Cloud let out a little laugh and moved his hand up, his intentions very clear, but Tifa pushed it away and made a show of crossing one leg over the other as she wagged her index finger at him. "Tsk tsk. I know you're eager for your present, but there's still some traditions to uphold."
After saying those words she held her other hand over her head and revealed the last item that had been in the box: a sprig of mistletoe.
"I see you've thought this through," Cloud quipped, then leaned in closer.
"You don't mind, do you?" she replied, looking at him with half-lidded eyes, their lips only inches apart.
"I love it," he murmured just before capturing her lips in a deep kiss. She eagerly parted her lips to let his tongue roam inside. Letting out a sweet mewl, she reached her hand out and slipped underneath his bathrobe, caressing his toned chest with her fingertips.
His own hand didn't stay idle either, moving to her breasts to work on the front clasp of her bra. With a click it came undone. She sighed into the kiss as her breasts were freed once again.
Breaking the kiss, Cloud gave her a little smirk before he dipped his head lower to capture one of her nipples between his teeth. He started to gently nibble on it, eliciting little gasps from her.
"Cloud..." she moaned out as he started to suck on it, and she buried a hand into his still damp hair. His hand moved down again, and this time she didn't resist when he parted her legs and brushed his fingers over her covered sex. "Yes!"
He continued this for a bit longer, then released her nipple, flicking his tongue over it for good measure before he turned his attention to the heat between her legs. "Raise your hips," he ordered, slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of her panties. Doing as she was told, she couldn't help but give him a little grin.
"You like?" she asked him teasingly as he pulled the garment off her.
"Mm," he hummed, the smirk never leaving his face as he inhaled her scent for a moment, before running his tongue across the wet spot on the center of her panties, causing a shudder of need to flow through her body. "I want more though."
Dropping the garment, Cloud lowered himself and planted open mouthed kisses all over her chest, slowly making his way downward. He stopped for a moment to pay special attention to the mole next to her belly button, making her giggle and playfully slap his shoulder as he ran the tip of his tongue over it.
"That tickles!"
Cloud simply smirked again, before proceeding down her body, placing both of his hands on her thighs to spread her legs apart to reveal the part of her body he truly desired right now.
He locked his eyes with her, and Tifa could do nothing but bite her lip in anticipation as he buried his nose in the neatly trimmed hairs above her pussy, his breath hot against her. Finally, after what felt like a sweetly torturous eternity, his tongue darted out to brush over her folds, sending sparks of pleasure up her spine.
She moaned as his tongue explored every inch of her pussy, sometimes teasing her clit or dipping his tongue inside her. Her eyes rolled back and she knew that she wouldn't last much longer. She squirmed and pressed her pelvis closer against his face, seeking that release she so desired. All of a sudden, Cloud pulled back, leaving her gasping her breath and covered in sweat as she stared at him, her eyes clouded over with lust.
His eyes wandered over her body, taking in the sight of her from head to toe. The look in his eyes turned into one of intense hunger, and he started to slowly undo his bathrobe, revealing his naked body to her. Tifa had seen it so many times now, but she would never grow tired of it.
Once undressed, Cloud climbed on top of her and locked his eyes with hers again. Her legs wound themselves around his waist out of sheer reflex when she felt the tip of his cock brush against her folds. He dropped his smirk and replaced it with a gentle smile, pressing his forehead against hers. Tifa returned the smile as he took one of her hands into his own. Slowly, she intertwined their fingers.
They remained like this for a moment, until Cloud finally pushed past her folds and settled deep inside. Her eyes slammed shut and a moan ripped through her at the sensation of him filling her.
Cloud kissed her, his tongue seeking out hers in a passionate dance as he started to move in and out of her in a slow but sensual rhythm. Pleasure rippled through her entire body as he made love to her, and she felt herself growing hotter and hotter with every single thrust that she answered in kind. The taste of herself on his tongue only stroked the fire burning inside her even more as her climax started to return in full force.
She wanted, no, needed him to come as well.
Tifa tore her lips away from his, a thin string of saliva glistening in the light as it still connected them for but a moment before it dribbled down onto her chest. Cloud didn't waste any time and started to attack her neck with open mouthed kisses and little bites that told her she'd better wear a turtleneck tomorrow.
"Nearly there..." she moaned into his ear.
"Me too!" he replied, and she could feel his cock starting to twitch inside of her.
"Don't hold back!"
A small grunt escaped him and he started to pound into her. Tifa had to bite her lip at the sensation, to hold herself back from screaming out in ecstasy as he now well and truly fucked her, the wet sounds of their joined bodies echoing through the room with every frenzied thrust.
"Tifa..."
"Cloud..."
"I love you," he moaned into her ear, and those words were enough to finally drive her over the edge.
"I love you too!" she all but screamed as her orgasm rocked her body. Her insides gripped him like a vice, and Cloud only managed a few more thrusts until he exploded deep inside her.
Her arm circled around his neck to press him closer to her as they rode out their orgasm together. Their lips met in a deep kiss once their bodies started to obey them once more, and Tifa cooed into his mouth when he pulled out of her.
Eventually, Cloud rolled off her to lie on his back, and she snuggled against him with a huge smile on her face, her hand drawing lazy circles on his chest.
"This was a nice surprise, I have to say," Cloud said after a while.
"Mhm," Tifa hummed before giggling. "Glad you liked it. Especially the panties."
"You know me," he quipped back.
"Pervert!" she snorted, then playfully slapped his chest.
"Now I feel bad for not getting you a present, though," he said after another moment of silence. Tifa's smile turned into a saucy little grin. She rolled on top of him.
"I might know a way to make it up," she said, pressing her tits against his chest in a way that she knew he loved.
"Oh?" he quirked an eyebrow as he smirked. "Do tell."
Slowly, Tifa slid down his body, carmine eyes locked with mako tinted ones the entire time, until she arrived between his legs. "The night is still young, wouldn't you say?"
"Ah, so that's what you want." And the twitching of his cock against her breasts told her that he was eager to provide. She lowered herself some more to turn all her attention onto his manhood when he spoke up again. "Tifa?"
"Mhm?" she looked towards him, her lips only a few inches away from his glans.
"Happy Yule to you, too," he said, the smirk on his lips growing into a grin.
Happy Yule, indeed, Tifa thought with a grin of her own before engulfing his cock with her lips.
It would be a long night indeed.
Well, they certainly were more naughty than nice, but we'll let it slide, won't we?
This is it for the rest of the year. See you next year, ya'll!