Day 5: cooking – birthday

...

Tired to the bone, Cloud let his backpack fall on the ground.

"Angeal!" Zack called wrongly from inside of the apartment.

Blindly Cloud started removing his boots, too tired to yell back at Zack. He heard footsteps as the SOLDIER moved closer.

"Please, I need help for Cloud's cake!"

Cloud froze when he saw Zack in the hall. Zack froze too, a bowl in one hand and the other with a whisk. Zack had been cooking. Cloud was dumbstruck. Yet, the more enterrtaining thing in Zack unusual activity was the little apron he was wearing. Zack had taken it for Cloud as a joke when he claimed himself at the kitchen owner. It was aggressively pink, frilly and said 'now watch me whip'. Cloud had never been ashamed to wear it.

"Uh oh," Zack murmured. He cleared his throat, "Hello Spike."

Cloud blinked, "Hi, Zack."

Zack beamed at him, his whip still in his hand, not even in the bowl. Cloud made a jerky hand movement to design Zack and his utensils.

"You need help?"

"Yes- no!" Zack blurted. "Uh. It was for you?"

A bubble of happiness grew in Cloud's chest. He stepped closer, took the whip from Zack's frozen hand, put it back in the bowl, licked his fingers from the mix with an appreciative hum under Zack's watchful eyes. Cloud took the bowl and put it on the first piece of furniture next to him.

Zack lifted a brow, curious about what Cloud was doing. He smiled brightly when Cloud's hand wrapped around his neck and pulled him down. Their lips meet in a sweet kiss to say hello. Zack pulled Cloud to him and nipped at his lover's bottom lip.

"You're too cute," Cloud murmured.

A pout grazed Zack's face, "I'm not cute. I'm a mighty SOLDIER, burly and rocky."

Cloud burst out laughing, "Mighty, burly, rocky and cute."

Zack whined, pouting even more if possible. A kiss chased away the pout that was quickly replaced by a grin. Two strong arms wrapped around Cloud's waist. Zack used his hold to make Cloud follow him as he made his way back to the bedroom by muscle memory.

"I'm not fooled, Zack," Cloud murmured against his lips.

"What? Fooled about what? I'm just guiding you toward your gift."

"Which is in the bedroom," Cloud said, snickering.

Zack grinned, "Almost there."

A pinch on his side made him yelp then laugh out loud at Cloud unfazed expression. He kissed him again, caught Cloud's hand that menaced to pinch him again.

"I have a gift for the birthday-boy, but," Zack wiggled his eyebrows, "I'd like to let him use my body as he want."

Cloud burst out laughing, he stifled his mirth into Zack's chest. He squeezed Zack's waist and looked at him, his chin on the SOLDIER's chest.

"Then I can nap on you?"

"That's your unsaid fantasy?" Zack said, lifting a brow.

Cloud closed his eyes, humming. A yawn took him. Zack's hand rubbed against his back.

"What if I keep my 'birthday-boy' pass for another day? And today I'm only a really tired trooper who want to sleep."

"Not funny," Zack mumbled. He still leaned down to press a kiss on Cloud's forehead, a soft smile on his lips. "Then I can finish the cake another day! You know what? Your plan sounds amazing!"

Cloud chuckled. He gladly let himself being manhandled by the SOLDIER, considering an instant about another kind of activity – Zack showing off his strength tended to do that to him – but ended dozing off on Zack's shoulder in the short distance from the hall to the bed.

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