Dependency
It never rained this hard in Midgar.
It rarely rained in Midgar at all, in fact. The climate in this part of the Eastern Continent had grown rather acrid in recent years, and the planetologist that Barret often referenced explained that the weather here had begun to suffer as a result of the abundant use of mako energy in the region. And whenever it did rain, the slums were often shielded from the elements by the plate that held the upper city. It was one of the few if only, perks of living in the slums.
But tonight was different. Tonight the rain fell in heavy sheets, sliding its way through the broken rifts in the upper plate and windswept into the lower grounds from beyond the city gates. The downpour was so thick that the sheetrock and metal sidings of slum buildings were stained and the dirt road had become soaked to the point it had muddied.
Tifa's clothes had begun to stick to her skin, and her hair was plastered around her arms and sides. She sighed lightly as she made her way behind the bar, carefully placing the paper bag she'd been carrying on the countertop. A slight chill from the dampness ran across the skin of her upper arms, but she ignored it, turning her attention instead on the man who'd taken an unsteady and tentative seat on one of the barstools in front of her.
Cloud.
Cloud Strife.
Her heart was still racing somewhat out of rhythm the way that it had been since they'd left the train station together not long ago. She'd found him there, hunched over on one of the benches in front of the train's main depot, a sword as tall as he was lying on the ground in front of him. It was a shock to her system - her childhood friend, the boy she hadn't seen in over seven years, suddenly in front of her under the fall of rain.
All grown up, just as she was.
It had taken her a stifled moment to get passed her initial shock and to realize that the man who sat slumped in front of her was indeed the Cloud of her youth, a boy she'd grown up side by side with yet had so much distance from in those earlier prepubescent years. Despite the time that had grown between their last encounter with one another, far away in her hometown of Nibelheim, Tifa had never forgotten her first and oldest friend. In fact, she'd thought of him often.
Perhaps it was because she was in love with him.
She tried to shake loose that pestering thought, but it was difficult, especially now that she could see what the hands of time had done to him physically. He'd grown taller and was stacked with muscle, but not bulky in the way that male models often looked in the pages of magazines and pin-up calendars. He was lean and chiseled with fine, sinuous muscles that overlapped every bone, covered with a layer of pale, almost translucent skin.
And he was beautiful, Tifa instantly thought when their eyes met under the hood of the plate's metallic rim and the gusts of precipitation that fell on them. He had been pretty as a child, she recalled fondly, but he'd grown into a portrait that was simply breathtaking. More than once, she'd had to remind herself to stop staring.
The state she'd found him in had been more than just precarious. Even though he was solid and well-defined by his muscular build, there was still a gauntness about him that suggested a lack of proper nutrition. Bits of dried blood had caked around his temple and to open wounds on his forearms, and his clothes were soiled with dirt and blood. Even his cheeks were smudged with what looked like motor oil or gunpowder.
Yet it was his eyes that had stunned Tifa more than anything. They had changed, no longer the bright royal blue of their youths, a color that reminded Tifa of the night sky above Nibelheim at the midnight hour. They were tinged with a virulent green glow now, leaving an aquamarine hue to shine up at her as he blinked in an effort to refocus. It so caught her off guard that she'd physically taken a step back at first glance.
But when his eyes met hers, that vacant stare had begun to clear up like a rapidly dissipating fog in the face of a rainbow. He'd blinked, his pupils dilating and then contracting again before he sat up straight against the bench and tipped his head at her.
"Tifa?"
And that was how she came to walk with him, arm in arm, back to the Seventh Heaven bar that she owned and operated in the Sector Seven slums. She was reunited with the boy she'd grown up with and had fallen for atop a water tower in a tiny village thousands of miles and an ocean away. He was a boy who had made a promise to her, a boy who told her he'd come for her when she needed him. A boy she hadn't seen in seven years but had thought about at least once a day ever since he had left for SOLDIER.
Now he sat at her bar, far more lucid than she'd found him but still trembling somewhat from the chills and wet weather outside. Tifa took a moment to ring the excess water out of her hair over the sink that was caddy corner in the back of the bar, running a dishcloth over her arms to dry them off. Feeling lasers boring into her back, she turned around to find Cloud watching her intently, two hands planted firmly on the bar's countertop.
Words were failing her again. She'd barely known what to say upon their first encounter, but somehow they'd fumbled their way through an awkward conversation that ended on an agreement for him to follow her back to the bar where he would be safe and she could treat his obvious physical ailments. He was still unsteady on his feet, so she'd cautiously offered him her arm. He accepted it, and without any further discussion, she'd guided him across the Sector with the rain still pelting their backs.
Now she looked over at him, that helpless, bemoaning expression on his face again. The depth of his gaze under that sea-breeze stare and the downward turn of his resplendent, boyish lips suggested he was silently pleading with her for something. Tifa's heart began to pound against her ribcage again, and she found herself exhaling quietly in an effort to calm the tremors of her nerves. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she was still so stunned by this impromptu reunion and so shaken by the desperate look in his eyes that she wasn't quite sure where to start.
She made her way behind the bar, coming to a stop in front of him, her hands wrapped around her middle in the way that she sometimes did when she was overcome with worry.
"You hungry?"
Cloud blinked. Now under the warm light of the bar's overhead lamps, Tifa could see every fleck of viridian that colored his irises and gave them that unnatural glow. The intensity with which he stared at her across the countertop was enough to render her still where she stood, and she could hear herself gulp down a swallow as she waited for his reply.
He didn't respond right away. Instead, his eyes became busy, scanning over her from top to bottom now that she was so close to him under the revelation of the lights above. The precision and focus in his gaze was so sharp as it drifted up and down that Tifa became acutely of the way her shirt had become transparent and clung to her skin from the rain, and she felt her cheeks heat as she looked away.
"Yeah," he finally managed, his voice still croaking from disuse.
Tifa breathed out a sigh. Busying herself fixing him a meal would distract her long enough to gather her composure and figure out what she should do next and how to handle his sudden appearance. There were so many things that she needed to consider. There was the matter of finding him a place to stay and keeping him out of trouble while he was here. He was in full SOLDIER uniform - albeit a bit roughed up - and this Sector wasn't the friendliest when it came to Shinra types. More than anything, Tifa worried about Barret, who ran the anti-Shinra group, AVALANCHE, of which she was a part. Barret and his daughter, Marlene, stayed in one of the spare rooms in the basement. She was grateful that he had left with Biggs and Wedge that evening on some business pertaining to their upcoming mission in the Sector One reactor, while Marlene was staying with her friend Betty for a sleepover. A bit of a hothead, she did not anticipate that it would be easy to explain Cloud's appearance to Barret.
More than anything, Tifa was concerned with figuring out what had happened to Cloud before she'd found him. A final cursory glance over her shoulder confirmed the hallowed and gaunt look of his cheeks, and Tifa felt her heart pick up speed again. The first thing she did was reach for a whiskey and cider to mix, a drink that if nothing else, would wake him up and warm his blood.
It was mid-evening and Tifa had been out shopping for a few last-minute ingredients for that night's dinner special when she'd run into Cloud at the train station. Now, though, she had no intention of opening for the evening rush. She knew that she really couldn't afford the hit it would take on business, but there was no way she could deal with the distraction of running the bar while Cloud Strife sat there, vulnerable and blank-stared with an unknown history mapped out behind him. And she simply couldn't take the risk.
It may have been years since she'd seen him last, but she could sense that something was amiss with her childhood friend. She could feel it.
So instead of preparing a yield of skirt steaks and thick-cut fries that would be enough to fill a bar full of patrons, Tifa cooked just enough to feed her and Cloud. She tied her hair away from her face and moved silently behind the bar, her mind loud with questions and worries.
Cloud watched her the entire time, and she was not unaware of the way that he studied her every movement - the way she sliced the potatoes and dumped them into the frier, the way she salted and flipped the steaks over the grill, the way she sautéed the vegetables. He didn't speak - not even once - but he followed her every movement like a hawk ready to leap onto prey, and by the time she was shuffling their meals onto ceramic bar plates, her nerves were completely frazzled.
"Here you go," she finally said as she slid his plate across the counter to him. It was the first time either of them had spoken since she'd asked him if he were hungry.
"Thanks, Tifa," he replied, and the sincerity in his tone was almost alarming.
Tifa took a seat two stools down from him and cut into her own steak, willing her hands to quit shaking. Something about the way that he said her name reached its way into her soul. She could still feel the calm, gentle reverberations of his voice in her core long after he'd closed his mouth.
They ate together in new silence, and Tifa practiced her questions over and over again in her head. Where had he come from? Why wasn't he with Shinra? How had he ended up at the train station, covered in dirt and blood? Why had he seemed so confused and muddled, until his eyes dawned with recognition and awareness upon seeing her face?
Where was he headed next?
Even though these thoughts played on an endless merry-go-round through her mind, Tifa didn't voice any of them. Instead, she sat at his side and finished her meal, grateful that her clothes had finally begun to dry. Cloud scarfed down his food with the speed of someone who hadn't eaten in days, and Tifa couldn't help but watch with a sort of stupefied dismay, eagerly serving him a second helping and refilling his glass when it had run empty.
It was getting late and the Sector grew darker, and when a bang on the front door nearly jumped her out of her skin, Cloud turned those haunting ultramarine eyes on her.
"Want me to get that?" he asked her.
Tifa stared at him. There was something threatening and maybe even a little possessive in his tone. He glanced back at the door as if affronted that someone would dare to interrupt them as they ate together. Tifa swallowed and shook her head slowly, unsure of what to make of his sudden shift in demeanor.
"No, it's fine," she answered. "I put the 'closed' sign out earlier. Sometimes my customers can be a bit pushy. They'll be fine."
"I can send them on their way for you," Cloud informed her tacitly, pushing away from his stool and lifting his hand to the hilt of the broad sword strapped to his back.
Tifa put down her fork, feeling hot panic race up her spine at his fluid but sudden movements. "They'll be fine," she repeated more firmly, getting to her feet and approaching him. Without even realizing what she was doing, she placed her hand on his bicep in an effort to encourage him to stay put.
Cloud glanced up at her, and the tension began to seep out of his tendons. He nodded, somewhat placated, and settled back onto his stool, lifting the whiskey to his lips again.
Tifa tried not to sigh too loudly. The plethora of badly needed to-be-asked questions were nettling at the forefront of her mind. Rolling her shoulders, she organized them by most critical and directed her attention to her childhood friend again.
"Were you planning to stay in Sector Seven tonight, Cloud?" she asked in as nonchalant a way as she could. She didn't want to scare him off with assumptions, but she couldn't help but let her eyes fall on the scars on his arms or the messy state of his uniform. And he was badly in need of a shower.
Cloud frowned visibly at her question, avoiding eye contact with her. He stared into his drink as if trying to remember something or working to figure out a puzzle, his eyebrows knitting together and bonding tiny frown lines into his brow. Tifa admitted to herself that she was impatient for a response, her anxiety climbing with every second that passed. But she waited, devoting her full attention to him as her heart pounded into her sternum.
"I don't know," Cloud finally answered softly, staring back at her.
There was so much vulnerability in his words and his gaze that it nearly knocked Tifa off her stool. She couldn't tear her eyes from Cloud's, mired in that strange green glow that was fused into the dazzling midnight blue of their youth. He was pleading with her again, begging her for her help but unable to voice what he needed with words.
Somehow, she knew.
Tifa slept in a one-room apartment at Stargazer Heights, an apartment complex just up the road. It was owned by a woman who'd become a bit of a surrogate grandmother to Tifa. She considered bringing Cloud there for the night, but she didn't want to face the questions that Marle would no doubt inundate her with. And he was still in terrible shape - his hair and clothes were dirty and his wounds needed to be tended to.
Straightening her shoulders and ramrodding her spine into a stiff line, Tifa got to her feet and began to clear away their dishes, using the moment of distraction to clear her head. Her thoughts were in a tizzy and she wasn't sure what Cloud had been through before he'd wound up at her feet. But he was her oldest friend and maybe the only person who remained after the tragedy in their hometown. She'd searched for him for years, and now, he was here.
The depth in which her feelings for him truly ran was irrelevant right now. All she wanted was a guarantee that he was going to be okay.
"I live down the street," Tifa informed him. "But there are a few spare rooms in the basement here, where we keep our headquarters. My friend and his daughter both live downstairs, but they aren't home tonight."
Cloud's eyebrow shot up. "Headquarters?" he repeated.
Tifa resisted the urge to sigh. There was so much distance between them, she realized. Both their lives had changed so much in those long seven years. There was so much that she needed to tell him about her life and so much that she wanted to know about his. She just wasn't sure when either of them would be ready to broach those subjects.
"I'll explain later," she told him, knowing she'd have to deal with Barret and Marle at some point. "But it's getting late, and those wounds look like they could get infected. There's a shower and first aid kit in the bathroom downstairs, and if you don't mind, I'd like to wash your clothes. I can give you something to wear in the meantime."
There was a light tug at the corner of his lips, and then, Cloud slid off of the barstool and got to his feet. Tifa couldn't help but notice the graceful way that he made every movement, his hips fluid, his posture straight, his head held high. She wasn't sure what it was, but it for sure wasn't the gait and countenance of the boy she remembered from her her windswept mountain village.
"I'd appreciate that, Tifa," he said in gratitude.
There he was, saying her name again. It sent color to her cheeks and heat all throughout her body, some of it curiously flooding between her thighs. Tifa had long had feelings for Cloud, but they had been steeped in girlhood curiosity and longing, left somewhere in the annals of the history of youth. The feelings that were stirring in her now were different - they were fiery and new, feelings of desire that Tifa hadn't felt toward anyone of the opposite sex before. She knew what arousal felt like - she was a twenty-year-old woman, after all - but she'd never connected it to feelings for another person.
Now, everything she'd locked away for fourteen-year-old Cloud Strife had eclipsed into that same feeling of desire, and as the burn on her cheeks ignited, she hastily turned away and thumbed at Cloud over her shoulder to follow her.
Cloud was like a silent puppy as they made their way into the basement quarters. There were two makeshift bedrooms, a bathroom, a multipurpose space AVALANCHE used for its headquarters, along with the building's mechanical and boiler rooms. There was another space that Tifa used as a janitorial closet, complete with a large basin and sink that was perfect for laundering clothing.
With Barret and Marlene mercifully away for the night, the quarters were quiet, and Tifa locked the staircase door behind her. Cloud stopped and stared at her, awaiting her every move as if he trusted her with his life. It was unnerving to have another person - especially a grown man who carried a sword that likely weighed as much as she did and who looked as if he could take down a small army single-handedly - be so quietly dependent on her. But she filed that thought away and gestured to the bathroom on the right.
"I'm afraid the shower isn't much, and the hot water can be kind of spotty," she told him. "But there's soap and some towels in there. Just leave your clothes on the toilet and I'll bring you something clean to wear tonight."
This time, Cloud just nodded wordlessly. Tifa watched him as he disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door slightly cracked. She sighed when she heard the water come on and beat against the tile, and with her thoughts infiltrating her skull again, she snuck into Barret's room, rifling through the cardboard boxes where he kept his clothing until she found a spare pair of clean sweats and a t-shirt for Cloud to borrow.
She peeked through the ajar space of the bathroom door when she returned, finding Cloud behind the curtain. His clothes were laid out in a messy pile on top of the toilet's lid, his armor dumped haphazardly on the floor. Tifa frowned slightly, scooping his fatigues up in one arm and leaving the clean clothing in its place. She was about to pick up his armor when her eyes lifted and caught sight of Cloud's silhouette behind the thin plastic shower curtain, his arms moving back and forth as he lathered soap into his skin and doused himself under the hot spray.
Tifa found herself pausing where she stood, her feet suddenly rooted into the frilly but beaten bathmat on the tiled floor below her. Her mouth dropped open slightly, her heart racing again as her eyes trailed over Cloud's dark shape, obscured only by the curtain. He turned and angled his body as he cleansed himself, and Tifa could see every line of him.
Every line.
Her cheeks were scalding but she was unable to look away. Through the shadowy film, she could make out the precise definition of every muscle, the curvature of his thighs and calves, the thick but lean sinew of his arms. She could even make out the firm peaks of his pectorals when he turned a certain way. But more stunning than anything, Tifa could see his masculine length that hung in front of his crotch, and when she realized how long she had been staring in awe at it, she quickly made haste from the bathroom, covering her mouth with one hand as she went.
She spent the next twenty minutes scrubbing the dirt and blood out of Cloud's fatigues, her heart beating against her chest like the hooves of horses, her entire body flushed. The heightened sensitivity she felt in every part of her body was overwhelming, leaving her with the sensation that she was burning from the inside out. Her hands scrubbed furiously as the heavy fabric of Cloud's sweater and pants, but no matter how she tried to distract herself with the task at hand, she couldn't erase the images of his body from her mind.
Cloud was sexy. And he was big. Tifa had never imagined anything like it before, let alone seen such a sight with her own eyes.
She felt dirty for her thoughts. Cloud was her friend. The last time she'd seen him, they had been children. And right now, he was defenseless and unwell and perhaps even in danger. She knew nothing of what he'd been through and how he'd come to be in the state he was in, and she was working herself up with impure thoughts about his physique. It was embarrassing.
Nonetheless, she couldn't help the thrill that coursed through her blood, nor could she stop the way her nipples pebbled into hard peaks beneath her bra or the saturated feeling her panties took on as she throbbed with burning need between her thighs.
"Tifa?"
She was hanging his underwear over the laundry rack to dry - chocobo-patterned, she'd been thinking with an adoring smile plastered to her lips - when the sound of his voice startled her. She nearly knocked the basin of soapy water over when she jumped to turn around, but Cloud only stared at her, waiting, completely unfazed by her jittery behavior.
He was standing there in Barret's loaner clothes - too big for him, the pants bunching up around his ankles and the tank top reaching his hips. But she couldn't stop herself from staring at his cut, exposed arms, or the floppy way his damp hair hung around that perfectly shaped jaw.
"Everything alright?" he asked her when she just continued to stare.
Tifa gathered her composure, leaving the rest of his clothes to dry on the rack before she turned to him. She was was still over-aroused and the more time she spent in his presence, the more she was hyper-aware of this fact. And she was embarrassed by the way her eyes drifted to his crotch again. Thankfully, she couldn't make anything out under the baggy fabric of his pants.
"E-verything's fine," she stuttered. She badly needed to get away from him before she combusted. "Your clothes will be as good as new in the morning. How are you feeling?"
"Good as new," he echoed her words, resting one hand on his hip as he smirked back at her.
Is he flirting? Tifa dared ask herself. Her cheeks were on fire again, and she couldn't stop her lips from pulling back into a smile. He noticed, because he rewarded her with a smile, too.
"That's great," she said. "I have some potions for the pain if you need them. The spare bedroom is right here."
She pointed down the hall, then slid past Cloud, gesturing for him to follow. Pushing open the door, she pleaded with her own body to calm itself. He followed behind her entirely too closely, and she could feel his body heat colliding with her skin as she stepped into the bedroom.
There was little more than a small cot and a desk and lamp in the room, a few cartons of bar supplies stacked in one corner. It was the room where Biggs or Wedge would sometimes crash after one of AVALANCHE's alcohol-fueled meetings went on late into the night. They were hardly the best accommodations and certainly not ones that Tifa wanted to leave Cloud with, but until she figured things out, they would have to do for now.
"You can sleep here tonight. I'll be back in the morning to check on you." She made a mental note to be sure to get back before Barret returned. That would not be a pleasant discovery. "The potions are in that desk if you need them."
Cloud looked around, soaking in the entire room with one quick scan. His movements betrayed a military efficiency that Tifa figured he had picked up in SOLDIER. He turned back to her, his arms resting at his sides as their eyes met.
"You're leaving?"
She wasn't prepared for this particular question. In fact, she wasn't even sure what he was asking. Was he expecting her to stay in the bar all night? Where would she sleep?
Was he expecting her to stay with him?
"I live down the road," Tifa informed him again. "You'll be fine here. I'll make sure everything is locked up."
She was about to turn away again, eager to get out of dodge before the situation grew any more tense or awkward. But Cloud moved quickly and with the silence of a mouse, his hand on her forearm before she could reach the door.
"Tifa, wait."
His voice was low and soft, and there was a hidden desperation in it that Tifa wasn't sure she was hearing correctly. His words seemed to tremble as if they were both unsure but also cautiously needy. As if he were pleading with her for something.
Tifa stopped. Without his gloves on, Cloud's hand was warm and unexpectedly soft on the bare skin of her upper arm. She turned back to him, finding his lips pulled down in a pout and those bright cerulean eyes wide as he stared back at her.
"…"
"Please stay here tonight," he pleaded. His voice was barely a whisper. "I don't know if I can…"
He trailed off, letting his words dissipate into mist. Tifa waited for him to finish, but Cloud tore his eyes away, his face highlighted with warmth. It was as if he were about to reveal something dangerous or untowardly, because he shook his head inwardly in self-dismay and then turned to the cot, carefully climbing atop and laying flat on his back.
Tifa watched him as he closed his eyes, his arms behind his head. She was torn. She could easily slip out of the room right now and make her way back to her apartment, spending the rest of the night figuring out how to deal with this entire messy situation. That was what the logical part of her was telling her to do.
But a different part of her - a part of her that lived deep down inside and floated among buried and repressed memories and feelings - was dragging her towards Cloud and that cot like a magnet. It made her heart stutter and burn in her chest, made her knees wobble, and made those sensitive parts of her body flare again, sending confusing and debilitating signals to her brain. She stared at Cloud's perfectly sculpted face as the clock on the wall above ticked away, her blood rushing in her ears as she tried to decide what to do.
Closing her eyes, Tifa gave in to her feelings, logic thrown out of the window.
There was no way that she could leave him alone.
Quietly, she turned off the overhead light, leaving the room covered in darkness. She slid out of her boots, kicking them into one corner. As much as she would have liked to go back to her apartment for a shower and a change of clothes, she didn't dare chance leaving to return to Stargazer Heights. She was grateful that her clothing had dried; she would have to make do with her tank top and shorts.
Once she was out of her skirt and suspenders, her armor laid neatly to one side, Tifa inhaled a deep breath. By now, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could make out Cloud's form on the mattress. His breathing was leveled, but Tifa couldn't be sure if he had fallen asleep yet or not. As far as she could tell, he hadn't moved an inch the entire time.
Exhaling the breath she was holding, Tifa carefully climbed onto the cot beside Cloud. It was meant for one person, so there was very little room for them to share. She was unable to avoid touching or bumping into Cloud as she settled, and every time their skin brushed against one another, it was as if she had been burned. Her nerves were tangled and her heart beat faster and faster until she was certain it would vault itself from her chest.
As she laid back, staring up at the ceiling, Cloud's eyes popped open. He turned his head slightly, glancing at her over the pillow. The glow of his eyes in the darkness caught her attention, and Tifa turned back to him.
"Thank you, Tifa," he whispered.
Tifa's heart stopped. She could faintly detect a soft smile pulling at his lips in the darkness, and she wondered if she were imagining things. She opened her mouth to respond, but once again, all coherent thought seemed to die somewhere in the synapses of her brain.
Cloud shifted, bringing that unnaturally high body heat with him. And as he did, he draped his arm, heavy as an anvil, over her waist. He pulled her in close and burrowed his face against the crook of her neck and shoulder, his arm locking her against him so that the entire length of his body lined up with hers.
And before Tifa could process what was happening, Cloud was asleep.
The next day, Cloud finally met Barret.
Tifa had been frayed from the beginning. It had taken her forever to fall asleep with Cloud's body wrapped up with hers the way that it had been. Not that it wasn't nice. It was heavenly, she'd thought over and over again. It felt good, so good that the warm and velvety feeling reached her bones. But it was unexpected and it was confusing.
Tifa hadn't seen Cloud in years. She still had no idea what had happened to him or why she had found him spaced out and injured. But here he was, relying on her and clinging to her like a lifeline.
She'd finally fallen asleep, and for the first time, it was a quiet and dreamless sleep, unplagued by nightmares. But when she'd woken, Cloud was clutching her with both arms and staring at her silently, and Tifa was completely undone all over again.
After rising, she left Cloud alone in Seventh Heaven with burning cheeks and a failure to make eye contact. There was no explanation for their intimate behavior and Tifa didn't even know if she should bother broaching the subject. She left Cloud alone, returning to Stargazer Heights to shower and dress for the day before Barret returned with Marlene and found a strange man in Shinra's most elite military uniform hanging around the bar.
When she returned, she found Cloud dressed in his now clean fatigues, waiting for her at the bar. He had been impatiently drumming his fingers across the countertop, but he when spotted her enter the front door again, he sat up straight and leveled his eyes at her.
"Tifa," he breathed.
Tifa felt a familiar warmth creep over her, and she tried not to give away the excitement she felt by grinning in response to his greeting. Instead, she offered him a warm but sheltered smile and crossed the room, her hands clasped in front of her.
"Good morning," she greeted. "In the mood for some breakfast?"
"Always in the mood for your cooking," he clipped back.
His response was too swift and too smooth, and Tifa found herself reeling again from the way her body lit up in response. The Cloud she knew from childhood had never been so bold. He had always been quick-witted, but it was usually with a sarcastic remark, like the time he'd asked her if she bothered to feed her cat. But he'd never been bold like this. In fact, Tifa recalled vividly that when he'd asked her to the water tower, he'd barely whispered before awkwardly shouting at her and then running away.
To say this behavior left her off-kilter was an understatement.
She fixed them both breakfast and then went about preparations for opening the bar for the lunch rush. Cloud sat at the bar, lending her a companionable silence before eventually offering to help her with some of the more labor-intensive tasks around the bar. He swept the floors and moved crates and chairs and boxes of wine for her, and while Tifa had intended to keep him busy so he wouldn't be a distraction for her, she found that she couldn't stop following every movement of his body and the way his muscles twitched as he worked.
She forced herself to turn away, and only when she opened for customers was she able to ignore the way that the very sight of Cloud did things to her that she couldn't stand thinking about.
Eventually, they drifted into a light but tentative conversation, a push and pull between them where threads of details began to emerge. Cloud revealed that he had left SOLDIER, but he refused to elaborate on why and how, only that he'd quit the company and was content to make his way through life as a mercenary for hire. Cloud didn't ask too many questions, but he was very content to listen to what Tifa was willing to share - tidbits about her day-to-day life running the bar but glossing over how she had come to be in Midgar. Cloud asked again about the headquarters she'd mentioned the night before, and Tifa carefully explained the nature of her work with AVALANCHE and its anti-Shinra activities. As an Ex-SOLDIER, Cloud was nonplussed by the idea, and no matter what, Tifa knew inside that she could trust him.
Cloud settled onto the stool at the end of the bar closest to Tifa's station, right by the cash register. He brooded silently as the day's first customers drifted in, and Tifa didn't miss the way that he watched them, his eyes drifting to her and then back again every time she interacted with a different patron. As the afternoon wore on, his stare sharpened and his posture stiffened, his arms crossing over his chest as he zeroed in on every word that she exchanged.
She didn't know why, but his hyper attention on her was as debilitating as any other interaction they'd exchanged in the last twenty hours. She could feel his eyes on her, and every time she looked in his direction, their gazes met again and Tifa found herself melting and weak-kneed again, quickly turning away as her nerves burned into ash.
The next time that she brought a stack of gil over to the register, Cloud finally stopped her, speaking for the first time in hours. He startled her by resting a gloved hand on her wrist, and Tifa turned to him, blinking when their eyes met.
"You sure you don't need any help?" he asked. "These people are kind of demanding. Some of them are rude. I can take care of that for you, Tifa."
Her heart belly-flopped. Cloud's eyes made a quick pass at every man in the bar before returning to her, and Tifa could see the fire that burned behind pools of aquamarine. The mako in his stare was anything but tranquil. Something about it sent sparks racing through her body, her thighs rubbing together as her center burned. She was sure she was imagining it, but it seemed as if Cloud was being overprotective… maybe even jealous.
"I'm fine," she tried to reassure him. "The crowds in the slums get a little rough here. But I'm no stranger to it. Here - I'll turn the TV on for you."
Cloud waved a hand dismissively. "I'd rather read," he said shortly.
Tifa found that to be a relief, and she handed him a copy of the latest edition of Shinra Times that she'd had stacked under the counter. It kept Cloud somewhat occupied for a little while, but as she could tell from the scald of his eyes on her back, it didn't stop him from watching her throughout the rest of the day.
The dinner rush was picking up that evening when Barret finally returned to Seventh Heaven. Tifa was waitressing a table when he arrived, and she quickly stopped what she was doing to greet him, her anxiety already hitting the roof. She'd been plotting Cloud and Barret's first meeting in the back of her mind all afternoon, but now that they were here, she was undoubtedly nerve-wracked about it.
"You're back," Tifa welcomed Barret as he shouldered his way inside. "How did the preparations go?"
Barret Wallace was well over six feet tall and nearly as wide as a small utility vehicle. And he was just as loud as his physique might suggest, easily earning him the attention of the patrons scattered around the bar.
"Left Biggs and Wedge Topside to finish up a few things," he thundered in response to her. "Jessie might need you to run out with her tomorrow to pick up a few last-minute items. Other than that, we're good to go."
Tifa nodded, stuffing her dishrag into her apron. It was then that Barret's eyes drifted to the back of the room, catching Cloud where he sat at the bar, staring at them both intently with blue-green eyes.
"Who's the Shinra jarhead?" Barret instantly demanded.
Tifa fidgeted her hands at her sides, glancing over her shoulder at Cloud. He was watching her, his brow furrowed again.
"That's Cloud," Tifa murmured quietly. "He's a childhood friend of mine. He's… he's staying with me for a while."
This had Barret's eyebrows raising this time. "Childhood friend?" he asked with suspicion. "Never known you to pal around uniformed types, Tifa. SOLDIER, at that."
The accusation made Tifa hot with a simmering anger that burned her around the neck, but she bit back the scorn she felt in her throat. "Ex-SOLDIER, she quickly corrected him. "He left the company, and you know how Shinra feels about defection. The best place for him to be is with us."
Barret regarded her for a moment with great skepticism shining in his hazel eyes, but he eventually softened his expression and sighed.
"You tell him about AVALANCHE?" was the next question out of his mouth.
"Not yet," Tifa lied. "I wanted to speak with you first. But I promise we can trust him."
Barret grumbled, shrugging his shoulders in acquiescence.
"Barret," Tifa pressed, dropping her voice to a low whisper. "I - Cloud is a mercenary now. He's looking for work. I thought he could help with the next mission."
Barret glowered. "I don't know, Tifa," he instantly disagreed. "You know how sensitive that is. If we run into -"
"We can trust him," she reiterated. "And he knows Shinra from the inside out. He'll be an asset to us."
Please, she pleaded internally.
Barret growled out a sigh, then waved his good hand in the air. "Fine," he grumbled. "But let me vet him my damn self first."
Tifa wasn't about to argue, watching as he maneuvered past her and went straight to Cloud, who got to his feet, both hands on his hips as Barret approached.
In the end, Tifa managed to keep Cloud and Barret from killing each other. When their contentious introductions had been finished, Barret grunted his tentative approval to Tifa and then left the bar to pick Marlene up from her friend's house.
It was growing later and the bar was thinning out, and soon Tifa was locking up behind the last patron. When she started to clean up, Cloud got to his feet and wordlessly helped, stacking chairs on tables and grabbing the broom again.
Tifa couldn't help but watch him out of the corner of her eye, a small smile of gratitude painted on her lips.
When the bar was finally clean, Tifa could feel the exhaustion of the day set into her bones. Manning a bar was a lot of work, and every day around this time she felt the same thing. Cloud stood across from her in front of the bar, glancing at her as she rolled her shoulders back and forth.
"Everything okay?" he asked her with an eyebrow raised.
Blushing at his indiscriminate tone, Tifa nodded and shook her arms out in an effort to appear unaffected. She drifted behind the bar, picking up a bottle of top-shelf whiskey and placing it on the counter in front of Cloud.
"I'm fine," she answered. "But after tonight, I could use a drink. You?"
Nodding, Cloud slid back onto his barstool, never taking his eyes off her.
Breathing out a sigh, Tifa poured the whiskey into two tumblers, sliding one to Cloud before raising her glass to his. They clinked them together, then quietly drank together, the alcohol instantly warming her blood and calming the jumping jacks in her brain.
Two drinks in and Tifa felt a little more confident to pick up her conversation with her childhood friend who continued to watch her with those piercing cobalt eyes. She leaned over the counter in his direction, not missing the way Cloud's eyes widened slightly when she moved in close. But he didn't back away - instead, he seemed eager for her proximity, leaning in her direction so that she could smell the soap in his skin.
"I'm sorry about Barret," she said with a toss of her head. "He worries a lot. But I told him you could be trusted."
Cloud shrugged as if he'd heard it all before. "I've dealt with worse," he muttered.
He was trying to be cool, but for some reason, Tifa didn't miss the boyish simper that he wore that made him so outrageously adorable and pretty at the same time. Maybe it was the alcohol in her system, but as she poured them both another drink, she fluttered her lashes at him and bent over the counter in his direction on her elbows.
"I'm glad to hear you can handle it," she teased. "Because I have work for you, merc."
Cloud raised an eyebrow at his. Over the course of the last day, Tifa realized that Cloud did not appreciate people venturing into his personal space. Yet he did not flinch as she hovered so close that she felt the warmth in his skin again. Instead, his smirk grew and he leaned closer, their noses only inches apart.
"Is that right?" he clipped back.
Tifa rose to her full height. "With AVALANCHE," she replied. "We - we're going to blow up the Sector One Mako Reactor."
Cloud stared at her as if she'd just given him the day's traffic report. She had been expecting some measure of shock, but he seemed completely disinterested. He shrugged, then nodded and pulled back an another sip of whiskey.
"I'll do it for three K."
"Really?" Tifa asked, stunned by how easily he'd agreed. "Just like that? That's it?"
"A discounted rate just for you," he gibed, offering her a wink.
Tifa nearly stumbled backward, the alcohol leaving her misbalanced. The familiar heat that Cloud always inspired in her swelled, leaving her hot between her thighs and her nipples peaking dangerously under her top. Self-consciously, she crossed her arms over her chest.
The truth was, she was worried about Cloud, and every moment that she spent with him, the more attached she found herself growing to him. And after the way that they's slept together last night - his arms wrapped around her as if she were his buoy in the middle of the sea - she found that she couldn't bear the thought of being separated from him. The job with AVALANCHE was an excuse (albeit a dangerous one, she admitted) to keep him around. She could already sense the need for transience hidden below the surface in him, and after just getting him back, there was no way Tifa could lose him again.
She had to keep him close.
Shuffling her feet against the wooden floor, Tifa offered Cloud a smile, then took their empty glasses and dropped them in the sink. "Thank you, Cloud."
"Anything for you, Tifa. I'm the one who should be thanking you."
Once again, his sentiment caught her off guard. Cloud rarely spoke but every time he did, it was like a punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of her. And the way that he said her name had her weak.
She stumbled for a moment around her next thought. It was late and Barret would be back any moment with Marlene. She didn't want her and Cloud to be here for that, and there was no way that Cloud would be able to spend another night in Seventh Heaven now that Barret was back.
Her hope had been to negotiate permanent lodging for him at Stargazer Heights, but she'd yet to have that conversation with Marle. Her only option was to leave him at the local inn for the night.
"There's an inn a few blocks away," Tifa informed him. "Do you mind staying there for tonight? I can figure out something a little more stable later."
"Sure," Cloud rejoined with a shrug. "You're going to stay with me, right?"
Tifa hadn't been prepared for that. He said it with such conviction and undergirded need that she found there was no way that she could say no. And staring at him across the bar, his hinted smile warm even as those foreign eyes burned at her, Tifa knew she could not be away from him anyway.
"S-sure," she stuttered in response, thinking again of the night before and the warmth of Cloud's body clutched against hers.
That thought remained with her as they walked together across the sector, the late evening hustle and bustle of city folk a blur around them. Tifa paid for a room, the proprietor eyeing her but saying nothing of the blond-haired man who followed closely behind her, throwing cursory looks at everyone who met eyes with him.
"Two beds," Tifa informed the proprietor, hoping to not give the wrong impression and missing the way that Cloud frowned behind her.
They found their room down the hall, and Cloud locked it behind them once they slipped inside. They exchanged diffident looks over the glow of the dim mako lighting in the room, and then Tifa turned her back to Cloud, quietly working her way out of her armor and boots.
"Guess we should try to get some sleep…"
Cloud said nothing as he too removed all of his armor, resting his pauldron and gloves on the dresser in the room. Tifa took off her skirt, once again keeping on her shorts, tank top, and stockings. It was comfortable enough to sleep in but left her modest enough to share a room with her childhood friend.
A childhood friend who happened to be a man.
She turned around, finding Cloud climbing onto the bed closest to the door. He was wearing only his sweater and pants, and once again, Tifa found her eyes shamelessly tracing every line of muscle on his body. She couldn't stop her line of sight from lingering just below his belt and the bulge that was seated there. Catching her eyes and where they hovered, Cloud stared up at Tifa, and she blushed brightly and turned away, focusing her attention on the opposite bed in front of her.
Get it together, Tifa!
"Tifa?"
She turned, finding Cloud leaning up on one elbow, staring over at her. Her insides were roiling as if filled with butterflies, her hands beginning to shake as heat flooded her.
"Yes?"
"Come here."
It wasn't a request. It was a command, offered without room for debate but still uttered so softly that her bones turned to jelly. Tifa wrapped her arms around herself, staring back at him as if to test how serious he was.
But he waited, glancing at her and then at the space on the mattress next to him before back up at her again.
Hearing her heart run laps in her chest, Tifa slowly approached Cloud's bed. As much as her nerves careened, the familiar magnetic pull she'd felt since reuniting with him was assailing her again. The bed was much larger than the cot they'd shared the night before, so at least they could keep some comfortable, respectful distance.
Yet that wasn't what Cloud had in mind.
As soon as she settled under the covers and turned the bedside light out, Cloud's body heat was surrounding her again. He moved in close beneath the sheets, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her body in close so that their chests were pressed together.
Tifa couldn't help but hitch her breath in surprise at the way that he positioned them. He handled her body with such strength and power yet with so much care and gentleness that it was breathtaking. Somehow, he didn't ask for permission, yet he did nothing by force. It was as if he knew intuitively that he had her consent.
It made every sensitive spot on her body sore with want, the space between her thighs beginning to tingle and hum, her nipples stiffing against his chest and her hips suddenly unable to keep still.
Cloud noticed because he affixed his hands to the back of her body, pressing her even more tightly against him. "I'm sorry, Tifa," he murmured, burying his face against her throat, inhaling her scent deeply. "I just need to be close to you. You… you help quiet everything down. It's the only way I can sleep."
He curled even closer to her, squeezing her under arms that were too strong. She was overwhelmed by the sensations, pouring over his words.
What exactly did he mean by that?
She didn't have time to think on it too much longer because Cloud's hands were drifting lower, tracing light lines over her spine that left her with shivers. Her back arched, and his hands slid into the waistband of her shorts, sending white-hot beams of arousal throughout her body and straight to the button between her thighs that had her nearly whimpering when his large hands found a grip on her bottom.
"Goodnight, Tifa," he whispered into her skin.
Tifa was certain she was close to passing out. Her body was reacting in remarkable ways to him - nerve endings suddenly alight that she never even knew she had. Every part of her was awake and awash with desire for him, the feel of his hands cupping the plumpness of her ass as he held her tight sending her for the stars. And she could feel all of Cloud - every fine line and hard muscle, every hint of manhood that he carried. He gave it all to her, their legs threaded together, while at the same time giving her nothing at all.
And somehow, clutched in his grip, Tifa managed to find deep, quiet sleep with him.
The next day, it all exploded.
It started with the discovery of a trashed bar, a sloppily written note tied to a brick betraying the party responsible for the mess. It was one of Corneo's goons who apparently had not been too happy about the lack of agreeable service the last few days.
Cloud had been so vexed that he'd made it his mission to find the party responsible. Tifa managed to mollify him by leaving him in charge of overseeing the work of a local cleaning agency she hired to power wash the place while she and Jessie made the final arrangements for the Reactor bombing mission that night. She even found the time to finally talk to Marle, arranging for Cloud to stay free of charge at the apartment next door to hers.
It was late afternoon when she returned, finding Cloud sitting at the bar, waiting for her. Seventh Heaven had been cleaned from top to bottom, and Tifa breathed a sigh of relief at finding things in order again.
"They did a pretty good job," she commented as she joined him at the bar. "You ready for tonight?"
"You could have hired me," Cloud pouted at her, ignoring her question.
Tifa couldn't help but smile at the subtle whine in Cloud's voice. "You're in the cleaning business now, Cloud?" she teased.
He shrugged, tossing one hand in the air. "I'm whatever you need me to be."
He said it with a coolness that was meant to signify that he didn't care, but Tifa caught the playfully strained lilt in his tone. He was jealous. It made her giggle, and she gave him a playful look of her own just as Barret shouldered the front door open.
"We're heading out now, Merc," he announced. "But I don't want you traveling with us. Draw too much attention. We'll meet you in front of the reactor's station base at twenty-one hundred hours. Don't be late."
Cloud growled an assent under his breath, watching with narrowed eyes as Barret turned and left again. But when he turned back to Tifa, his expression softened.
"I'd better get going," he said, almost regretfully. "Still have a few last-minute preparations to make before I head to the reactor."
Looking into Cloud's glowing topaz eyes, Tifa began to feel regrets of her own. Guilt at involving Cloud in this dangerous mission began to eat away at her. She wondered what she had even been thinking by involving him in AVALANCHE's business.
Surely, there had to be a better way to keep him close than this.
"Please be careful," she found herself pleading.
Cloud smiled at her, sliding off the barstool and picking up his sword, strapping it to his back again. He lifted a hand, gently sweeping her hair from her eyes.
"I will. I promise."
Tifa's heart fluttered at that, old memories pulling at her and floating in the ether of her mind's eye.
Did he remember?
She was left pondering that thought as Cloud turned away, leaving Tifa alone with just Marlene in the bar. Unable to quiet her thoughts and anxious about his return, Tifa decided to close the bar for the night, not in the mood to deal with customers and wanting to devote her full attention to Cloud when he finally returned from the mission.
For the next few hours, it was nearly impossible for Tifa to keep her thoughts straight. All she could think about was Cloud - of their reunion and his odd behavior, of the strange glow in his eyes and the gaps in his memories. Of his firm physique and his pretty face, of his soft tenor and the way he would weave between gentle and flirty and downright possessive with her.
It was so bad he had even been jealous of the power washers.
She thought of the way that he held her the last two nights, the desperation with which he clung to her that brought out her own latent need. The way that his lips ghosted across her skin and the way that his hands squeezed the fleshiest parts of the lower half of her body. The way that they melded together, soft skin greeting hard muscle, pliant femininity meeting unyielding masculinity.
The more she thought about it, the more that she worked herself up, her body warm again in all those places she'd neglected to consider before he'd come home to her. She tried to evaporate her thoughts by cleaning and recleaning the bar despite the fact that it had just been professionally sanitized. She inventoried her wine stocks and then sat down with Marlene, going through the gil that was in the cash register's till and teaching her how to count the coins.
Still, the later it got, the higher her anxiety mounted, and by midnight, Tifa could not stand it any longer. Pulling Marlene in tow, she sat on the front steps of Seventh Heaven, the little girl leaned against her hip as they watched the late evening back and forth of the slum's residents move in front of them.
Tifa was biting nervously into her lip when she spotted him rounding the corner near the item shop. She waved her hand to get his attention, feeling her heart fill with excitement as he came into view. His brow was furrowed as he made his way in the direction of Seventh Heaven, but when his eyes fell on her, seeing her wave, his expression softened and his steps picked up in speed.
Barret got to her first, scooping Marene up into his arms as he climbed the steps. Smiling and watching them go, Tifa turned to her childhood friend, her heart pitter pattering as he made his way up the steps and approached her.
"You made it," she welcomed him, a weight lifted off of her chest at seeing him return to her unscathed. He offered her a smirk, but before she brought him inside, she noticed the flower tucked into his suspender.
"Where did you get that?" she asked curiously. The last time she'd seen a flower had probably been in the fields just outside of Nibelheim. Flora simply didn't grow here in Midgar, not with all of the mako extraction here. "I can't remember the last time I saw a real one."
Cloud's eyes were fixed on hers in that granular way again, but he looked away just as he brought his hand to his chest. He pulled the yellow lily free, holding it up to her in offering, his eyes narrowed and his lips tilted in that hinted smirk again.
Tifa couldn't stop the immediate stain of pink that colored her cheeks at that moment. Blinking, she glanced over at Cloud, then back at the flower in disbelief.
A gift? She thought in bewilderment, reaching to take the flower.
For the rest of the night, Tifa was plunged back into familiar distraction, and she tried to stifle it by making small talk as they walked together to Stargazer Heights later that evening. She was excited to show Cloud his new apartment, proud of herself for convincing Marle, and happy that he would have a space of his own. He seemed grateful for the opportunity, even offering her a smile, his voice light and happy. It made her heart sing.
Maybe he would stick around, after all.
After settling him into his new space and making arrangements for the next day, Tifa headed back to her apartment, ready for a good night's sleep although rueful she would be spending it alone. She had already changed for bed and was pulling back the sheets when a soft knock came at her door, and she paused, wrinkling her brow as she looked up.
"Yes?" she called out.
"It's me," came his voice.
Tifa sucked in a breath, feeling her heart begin to pound again. Cloud was at her door, not more than fifteen minutes after she'd left him in his own room. And it was late, well after one AM. Her mind began to scramble as she thought about the last two nights they'd spent together, wondering why he was showing up at her door this way.
Glancing down at her thin tank top and shorts that barely hid the curves and valleys of her body, Tifa hesitated. She wasn't sure if she wanted Cloud to see her like this. Part of her found it improper and embarrassing to even consider letting her childhood friend catch her so scantily clad.
But another part of her - the part that had so willingly let him cage himself against her in the middle of the night, his hands plastered to her ass and his hips grinding against hers - was dismissive of this fact, and letting that side win, Tifa answered the door.
Cloud stood there, still in his fatigues but sans his armor and gloves. Tifa considered then that she really needed to take him shopping for new clothes, including sleepwear. She cocked her head at him, peering at him through the doorjamb.
"Everything okay?"
Cloud glanced somewhat hesitantly from side to side, then looked back at her.
"Uh, I'm sorry, Tifa," he said, her name rolling off of his tongue again in that way that made the pit of her stomach tighten. "I just… can I come in?"
The butterflies were in her belly again, and Tifa tried to batter them down as she nodded, stepping aside to let him in. Cloud entered the room, glancing around as she locked it. They faced one another, and instantly, Tifa could feel the tension snapping between them.
"…It's hard for me to sleep without you," he admitted.
Tifa swallowed. She glanced back at the bed, her cheeks bright as she pictured herself curled up with him again under her very own sheets. Shyly, she turned back to him, her feet biting into her bottom lip as she looked up at him under her lashes.
"It's the same for me," she conceded.
Cloud didn't say anything, but his eyes grew hooded as he watched her. Her heart now in her throat, Tifa turned and switched her bedside lamp off, leaving the room shrouded in darkness save for the glow of the artificial lights through the window from the sector beyond. She pulled her sheets back, then slid into bed, backing up all the way towards the wall and leaving a wide space for him to join her.
When he just stood there, she patted the bed beside her.
Cloud visibly licked his lips, then unzipped his boots and tossed them to the side. He started to climb into the bed, but Tifa stopped him, holding a hand up to his bicep.
She didn't want him getting in her bed with those dirty Shinra fatigues.
"You should take all that off," she told him, gesturing to his uniform. "So that you can get comfortable."
It was Cloud's turn to blush, and in the darkness, she could see it rise on his cheeks under the faint glow of mako in his eyes. He turned away slightly, but that didn't stop Tifa from watching him intently as he pulled his sweater over his head and unzipped his pants, leaving them hanging over the foot of her bed. He stood there in just his boxer briefs, the material clinging to his firm glutes and the thick line of his manhood in front of him.
Between that and the sight of his toned, muscular body fully on display, Tifa was suddenly on fire, her body awakening with desire and arousal, her thoughts insistent and filthy as she stared at him.
Cloud caught her admiration because he smirked at her, angling his body as if showing off for her.
"Like what you see?" he teased. "Don't think I didn't catch you watching me in the shower the other night."
Tifa's cheeks lit up like an inferno, disbelief at being caught, her own depraved transgressions drowning her. Cloud stood there with hands on his hips, a smug simper pulling at his lips. Mortified, Tifa found that she could no longer stare at that pretty face when so many of her darkest secrets were revealed, and she flipped over, facing the wall and pulling the covers with her.
All of this was suddenly seeming like a terrible, very, very bad idea.
She felt the bed shift, Cloud's knees weighing into the mattress as he climbed into the bed, joining her under the sheets. Tifa closed her eyes and bit her lip, feeling his body heat collide against her back. She wanted to cry, unsure of how to react, especially when her body was betraying her with how much it feverishly wanted to just turn around and embrace him.
Cloud closed that gap for them, scooting up close behind her. Between their limited clothing, Tifa was suddenly surrounded by the feeling of smooth, sinuous skin that was hot to the touch, muscular chest firm against her back. Cloud's arm stretched around the front of her body, pulling her close and anchoring them to one another.
"I'm sorry," he apologized again. "I was only teasing, Tifa. I notice you all the time, too. I can't help it."
His hand began to wander then, drifting over the front of her body. His thumb found the underside of one breast, brushing across the supple curve of it before drifting over her nipple in a tentative sweep. Tifa shuddered as the sensations rippled through her, her back arching in response, a soft moan escaping her lips. Cloud was so close and all of her feelings were bubbling up higher and higher, his soft words not only placating her but leaving her brimmed over with want. Unable to stop herself, she rolled her hips backward, colliding them into his crotch and feeling the stiff length she'd found herself daydreaming about the last couple of days.
Cloud groaned in response, pressing her tighter against his body with his hand flat between her breasts.
"Tifa," he breathed into her ear.
She wanted to respond but he was scattering kisses across her bare shoulder and up the column of her throat, leaving her shivering and her hips twirling. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't calm the reactions of her body, not when Cloud Strife was this close and his breath was hot against her skin. He thumbed her nipple again and then squeezed her breast in hand, and when she arched and rolled her hips into his erection, he pinched her nipple until she keened.
Her clit was beginning to throb in an unbearable way. She'd tried to tamp down these feelings that only emerged when he was around or when her fantasies drifted to him, but with him so close, both of them just shy of nakedness and his hand freely wandering the front of her body, it was impossible for her to quell the soreness that pulsed through that tiny bundle of nerves. She was aching for relief and the feeling had been building inside of her for days, and as she felt her walls convulse and tighten with need and her slickness slip out of her, she wished that she could voice her desperation without embarrassment.
Cloud inhaled her scent again, grinding his hips so that his stiff length rutted against her bottom. It only made her feel wilder, and she pushed back against him, unable to keep from reciprocating. Cloud groaned a low sound and leaned over her, catching her eyes with his so that Tifa was forced to turn in his direction.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked in the darkness.
Tifa trembled. His eyes glowed and his body was warm, and as he waited for her response, he squeezed her tighter with the arm that was locked around her. As if to encourage her, his hand fell to her belly, fingers slipping under her tank and flirting with the warm skin of her belly as they walked higher and higher toward the bare flesh of her breast.
Her throat was dry and all she could do was nod in response, unable to formulate a response.
Cloud leaned in without hesitation, eager once she had given him the green light. His lips sank down to hers, soft and velveteen. Tifa moaned at their warm feel against her own mouth, unable to resist the way that she shivered in response, shifting slightly so that she was on her back underneath him.
Cloud made room for her to settle, laying his body weight on top of her. He felt so good, heated and heavy, pressing her into her soft but lumpy mattress. She could feel the burn of his skin and the smooth stones that made his every muscle, could feel the ever-hardening length of steel that planted itself against the warm space of her panties as he pushed his hips forward. Feeling how thick and rigid he was with desire, she purred wantonly, feeling her inner walls moisten and her clit pulse with the need to be touched.
Cloud growled a few soft swear words against her lips, his hand drifting further under her shirt and pushing it up to her collarbone, freeing her plump breasts to spill out under him. With the exception of some unfortunate medical visits, this was the first time Tifa had ever bared any sort of nakedness to another person. Her cheeks flushed at the initial embarrassment, and her arms quivered with the innate need to cover herself under his appraising, bright blue eyes. But Cloud dipped his head and spread soft kisses to the tops of her breasts, his hand squeezing gently before flicking her nipple again with his thumb. The skin-to-skin contact sent lighting bolts throughout her body, and Tifa was unable to suppress her moan, her back arching and her hips winding again.
Cloud raised himself up so that he could kiss her once more, devouring her lips in a messy but loving collision. The staggering sensation of being kissed so passionately and needily by her girlhood crush exploded the neurons in her brain, leaving her to press the lower half of her body into his in a desperate plea for more. Biting into her lower lip, Cloud groans his agreement, his hand abandoning her breast in favor of drawing a line down the soft flesh of her belly until his fingertips found the hem of her shorts.
Her breath caught in her throat when she felt his touch dance around the sensitive skin there, pushing past the elastic waistband. Tifa couldn't stop the vivid, throaty moan that slid past her lips when Cloud lowered his hand, three fingers sliding over the thin fabric of her panties and pressing into her slick seam from top to bottom. He brushed over her clit and the sear of pleasure was so bright that she tossed her head from side to side, lifting her hips from the bed to press up into his hand.
"Cloud," she whined.
Her reactions were only encouraging him, because Cloud jerked his erection against her hip, kissing her with even more fervor. She moaned into his mouth and he silenced her with his tongue, his body growing even more commanding. He began to pet her lightly over her panties, and every time his fingers pressed or swept across her engorged and hidden button, Tifa whined with the need for release, clutching Cloud with the fingers of one hand digging into his back and the other in his hair.
Cloud's breathing was heavy and ragged, and he pulled away roughly from her, his eyes hooded and hazy, his skin flushed. His lips were wet with their shared saliva, and he studied her face, fixated on her mouth before he looked back into her eyes.
"I need you, Tifa," he breathed.
She looked down between them, eyeing the way his erection strained the front of his shorts. Through the thin fabric, she could see the wetness that was leaking out of him and staining the material in a slowly spreading spot, rivaling the mess she was making in her own panties. Blushing, Tifa tried to figure out what to do to help him. She licked her lips and looked back up at him, and then tentatively reached a hand out to rub him over his shorts.
Before she could make contact though, Cloud rolled away, getting up on his knees above her. She balanced herself on her elbows and stared up at him, his smooth and chiseled torso already teeming with sweat, his hair wild, his eyes fiery with desire. The look on his face was akin to a wolf ready to move in for the kill, and Tifa pursed her lips together, the slickness between her folds becoming torrential and her clit aching for him.
"Cloud -"
Her attempt went ignored because Cloud's hands were on her waist, this time pulling both her shorts and panties down at the same time. He lowered them over her hips first, then glanced up at her, checking for her reaction. Tifa held her breath, and as he waited, she gave him a tiny nod of approval. She saw the corner of his lips turn up slightly, and then, he pulled them all the way down, tearing them past her ankles and tossing them behind her.
"Cloud," she tried again, her embarrassment rising again as she realized she was now fully on display for him.
But Cloud was too enamored by the sight of her body in front of him, gently nudging her thighs apart so that he could stare at her pink folds and wet opening. Tifa snapped her eyes shut, disbelieving that he was looking at her with such intent. Her cheeks burned, and he sat there for so long with a look of awe on his face that Tifa finally opened her eyes and frowned at him.
"You're staring," she accused, confused between the blistering feelings of arousal and her own sense of propriety at his intense appreciation.
Finally, Could tore his eyes away and looked back up at her face. "Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. "You're just… beautiful."
Tifa didn't think it was possible, but she blushed even harder. She wasn't sure if she was imagining things, but it seemed to her that Cloud Strife had just complimented her pussy.
She blinked in response, just as Cloud began to gently push her thighs back with both hands, opening her wide. She watched him as he settled between her legs, the weight of his forearms keeping her spread open. She parted her lips to ask him what he was doing, but before she could get the words out, he was kissing along her seam and winding the firm tip of his tongue between her folds.
Tifa moaned and closed her eyes again, a soft breath escaping into a whimper as she sank into the mattress in disbelief that Cloud - the boy of her dreams and the man of her fantasies - had his mouth on such an intimate part of her. He lapped her wetness away, and the back-and-forth stroke of his tongue over her opening had her hips twirling and her breath escaping fragmented puffs. Cloud kept her legs in place with his arms, his hands reaching down to part her folds with his fingers as he lifted his tongue to her sensitive clit.
Tifa did her best not to howl, her hips spinning as Cloud began to lave that swollen button with the attention of the flat of his tongue. Tifa had never experienced such pleasure in her life, and she felt the burn swirl in her belly, the muscles of her abdomen tightening as the pressure built. She gasped and looked down, catching the sight of Cloud's messy blonde hair and his beautiful face between her thighs, his mouth wrapped around her clit.
Sensing her stare, Cloud looked up at her, his blue eyes blazing. They glowed with desire and the sight of his so ravenous only made her gratification build, and she whined and cooed, curling her fingers into his hair, needing badly to do something with her hands.
"Cloud, please, I -"
Cloud sucked her clit until she felt the cords of tension snap, her orgasm bursting out of her with a cry before she even realized what was happening. He lightened the pressure of his lips and tongue but didn't relent, and Tifa wept through the entire ride of it, her body tumbling through a blissful descent as she began to crest. When her thighs locked up around the side of his head in oversensitivity, Cloud finally released his lips, pulling away from her with his mouth shining.
Catching her breath as the fog of pleasure crowded her brain, Tifa watched through half-open eyes as Cloud settled at her side on the bed again. He was breathing as hard as she was, and his skin was florid with desire. It was then that Tifa noticed he had at some point slid his shorts down just enough to get his cock out, and Tifa could fully see his erect length, thick and long and strained, red and leaking at the tip.
Inhaling as the bliss slowly began to fade, Tifa blinked and glanced up at him. It almost looked as if he were in pain.
Sated and feeling something dangerous released inside of her after the way he'd pleased her body so gratuitously, Tifa felt her own excitement build again. Seeing Cloud - a man so stoic and serious and smart-lipped, so strong and unflappable, and so utterly gorgeous it was oftentimes devastating - in such a state of need was as debilitating as it was thrilling. And knowing that his discomfort all stemmed from his want for her only drove her further crazy, her arousal slowly beginning to build.
Maybe it was the surge of endorphins in her brain following her climax, but Tifa couldn't help the sudden boldness that flickered inside of her like a lightbulb. A devilish grin crossing her lips, she leaned over, pressing her soft breasts against his chest.
"You need me?" she repeated, staring at his lips before she leaned forward and kissed him.
He murmured a response into her lips, but his words became a muffled moan when Tifa reached between them, taking his cock into her hand. Now that she was touching it, she was even more surprised by his size. She'd avoided thinking of such things until he'd reentered her life, but ever since a day and a half ago and the incident in the shower, it never left her mind. She found herself feverish at the thought of that big cock inside of her.
She pushed that thought away for another time though, concentrating on the way their tongues looped together while her hand gently pumped. Cloud groaned eagerly and then wrapped his much larger hand around hers, encouraging her to squeeze him tighter and pump faster. She followed his guidance, eager to please, and when she brushed her thumb around the leaky split in his tip, Cloud broke their kiss so that he could throw his head back and throatily groan in pleasure.
"Fuck, Tifa," he huffed.
She leaned into him and kissed him again, her body on fire and a small sense of triumph roiling through her at being able to reduce him to liquid this way. She smiled into their kiss and stroked him faster, and Cloud suddenly backed away and let out a small howl, trying to pull away from her as his cock began to jerk.
Tifa held him firmly, wanting to watch him unravel. His eyes closed and his head hit the pillow as he came, emptying all across her knuckles until he was spent. She simply stared, fascinated by the sounds he made and the contortions of his face, and she wondered if he felt the same sense of pride and adoration when he'd made her come.
She pulled her hand away and let it rest on Cloud's belly, not sure what to do next. Instead, she laid her head on the pillow beside his and gazed upon his face as he tried to catch his breath. She felt herself growing sleepy, and her eyes were beginning to drift shut when Cloud finally got to his feet with a heavy sigh, shaking his head out before he fixed his underwear and then disappeared into Tifa's bathroom.
He returned a few moments later with a wet washcloth. He sat on the edge of the bed, taking Tifa's hand and gently cleaning away the mess. She watched him work with precision, not leaving a single sticky stain behind. He tossed the rag in her sink, then turned the light out again and climbed back under the covers with her.
As soon as he joined her, it was as if their bodies bonded to one another with the attraction of electrons. Cloud's arms wrapped around her and Tifa fused her body against his, seeking his warmth, the oxytocin in her brain seeking his comfort. He held her tight, pinning her to him and sheltering her completely from anything beyond his body or beyond these walls.
"Tifa," she heard him whisper after long, silent moments.
"Hmm?" she hummed.
Cloud nuzzled her cheek, his warm breath coating her skin. "Tifa, I don't know how to say this. But I..."
He trailed off, and then he fell silent. Tifa lifted her head to glance at him, but his eyes were closed. He curled closer to her, but he didn't finish his thought. She nudged him gently and she saw his eyebrows furrow, but he didn't continue. He only hid his face further against the crook of her shoulder.
Tifa laid her head back on her pillow, holding on to Cloud tighter, her fingers soothing both of them by rubbing against his scalp. She wanted desperately to know what he wanted to say, but she could tell by the soft rise and fall of his chest and the gentle rhythm of his breathing that he had already fallen asleep.
Closing her eyes and inhaling her scent, she let it go for now.
Maybe she would get him to tell her tomorrow.