16A/N: Haven't written fanfiction for soooooooooooooooo long. Not to say I haven't been writing, but fanfiction is something I thought I'd left behind a while ago.
BUT I HEART CLERIS. HEAAAART. HEAAAAART.
Hope I haven't lost any touch I had, heh.
Cooking
Cloud despised cooking. Which was strange, because he was the only man in camp who was halfway reasonable at it.
It was girly, he could have protested. Men don't cook! But that would have earned him bops on the head from Tifa and Yuffie. Aeris, she'd just look disapprovingly. Not that he'd let them stop him from dropping any cooking utensils they'd forced into his hands and taking off as fast as he could.
No one could catch up with him when he was fleeing from cooking. No one. Except perhaps Red XIII, but the cat was rather fond of Cloud for reasons the spiky-haired blond didn't understand (and also, possibly because the creature didn't have opposable thumbs and thus didn't need to take a turn as the camp cook). He allowed himself a brief smile.
It had been a fairly effective tactic, too. Inevitably the growling stomachs would force the disgruntled females to churn out some kind of meal. When Cloud – from his hideout, a couple miles out – saw smoke rise from the campfire, he'd timidly return and sneak a bowl or two of grub for the night.
But then his allies – his 'friends' – had betrayed him!
"The spiky-headed jerk doesn't want to cook, huh?" he heard Yuffie's voice ring indignantly from inside her tent. Cloud froze. He'd been sneaking back into camp, after spending the evening in the grass plains surrounding their makeshift base, idly picking fights with wandering monsters. "Well, then we'll see where he gets his food from, that jackass!"
Cloud blanched, going even paler than normal. This caused his skin to possess approximately the same colour as a bedsheet. It was quite a startling effect. "They wouldn't… would they?" he whispered to himself in anguish. His stomach reminded him loudly that it wanted sustenance. He worried his lower lip between his teeth.
Shortly after, Tifa called out, "Dinner's ready!" and the males of the group lined up, eagerly awaiting the food that they'd been smelling since half an hour past.
Cloud shuffled meekly, standing with his bowl clasped in his hands and a hopeful look in his eyes. Tifa doled out the stew the women had made into bowl after bowl, and then she came to the blond leader.
She stiffened.
He looked imploringly at her.
The ladle, gripped in her hand, wavered for a moment, and seemed as if it would tip towards Cloud's bowl. His heartbeat quickened.
Then she snapped back to herself, scowled at him, and moved on.
"She's sure got her panties in her bunch, eh?" Cid remarked around a chunk of meat, nudging Cloud with his elbow. "Damn if she doesn't make good stew, though."
"Oh, shut up," Cloud said irritably.
This was a state of affairs that simply could not do, the blond quickly realized. This decision was aided by the fact that his hunger was beginning to make him light-headed, and that also his judgment was becoming rather quickly impaired - which is why he decided to stand up for his rights.
"Barret," he hissed quietly. "Barret!"
"!#&#, you spiky headed lunk, you scared the shit out of me!" The large man bellowed, cradling the bowl in his hands protectively.
"Listen, would you mind... giving me a little of your food? When we get to the next town, I'll buy you a round at the bar, and-"
"Anyone who gives Cloud food isn't going to have any for the next two weeks," Tifa said offhandedly.
Barret and Cloud both stiffened. "Well... sorry, man," the black man grunted, turning back to his food.
Despondently, the blond returned to pacing around the clearing.
"Tifa," he finally cracked, turning to her and clasping his hands together, "I-I..."
"You didn't cook," the fighter tossed her hair and said callously.
"I just did!"
"Cloud, you haven't touched a pot since... that time in Gongaga when we were all knocked out and you were the only one who could cook."
"No-one else cooks!"
"You want Cid or Barret to cook?"
Cloud looked over at the two. Having finished their stews (damn them... (envious, jealous...)) they were now digging into the beer supply they'd managed to wrangle out of the last town they'd been to. Barret leaned back against a handy log, chugged a beer, and watched the bonfires with a distant look on his face. The pilot, meanwhile, watched the starlit sky.
This only reminded him that it was nighttime, and that he still had not had his dinner. Cloud felt that there was something intensely wrong about this.
"Why not?" he demanded, uncaring of the consequences.
"Don't you remember the last time they cooked?" his childhood friend pointed out.
"Hmm..." Cloud was actually beginning to have a glimmer of recollection... something about intense stomach pains and nausea for a week. "Alright, how about Cait Sith?"
"He doesn't have to eat, Cloud."
Cloud's tone began to take on an edge of desperation. "But I do!"
"Well, too bad," Tifa said as she turned away, just in time to hide her twitching lips. Cloud was very winsome when he was hungry - she made a note of that and filed it away in her mind.
Not so far away, Yuffie was being accosted by the same person.
"Yuffieee," the blond pleaded.
"Whatcha want, spike?" she said coolly.
"Food," he said piteously.
"And whatcha gonna give me for it? Tifa'll kill me if I give you any, you know." Yuffie grinned. Perhaps she could profit from the whole situation and teach Cloud a lesson at the same time.
"What do you want?" Cloud asked, his natural suspicion temporarily suspended.
"Lessee, I'd like some... Materia, I guess."
To her extreme surprise, the blond popped off his Lightning, Fire and Ice materia and shoved it at her. "Take it! Take it!"
Her fingers itched. But Yuffie knew that if she took his materia, sooner or later Tifa'd hear about it - or Aeris...
The ninja shuddered. The two of them could get insanely protective over the blond. The last time she tried to steal his materia while he was bathing - and accidentally caught a peek of him naked ("YUFFIE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" "heh, (snigger) just taking a look at your (snigger) materia,") - the two of them had taught her a lesson in pain, martial arts, and just how territorial females could get.
"Nope," she said regretfully, "Can't do. Sorry, spikes."
Cloud made an inarticulate sound that was very reminiscent of a whimper. There was only one chance left.
Aeris sat on the damp grass, her bowl steaming gently in her hands, staring at the night sky. It had rained, earlier; a light drizzle that coated the world in moisture and dew, that set everything to glistening.
It was lovely.
She still couldn't believe, at times, that she was doing what she was - travelling, outside of Midgar, no longer under that Godforsaken plate. Where there were plants everywhere, flowers she didn't need to love and take care of constantly (because otherwise everything in that city would just wilt away).
Where there was company, with her friends, with Tifa and Yuffie and Cait Sith and Red XIII...
And, of course, Cloud.
Almost as if he were summoned by her thought, she felt him approach, behind her.
"Hey there, Aeris," he said quietly.
"Mmm?" she replied, not taking her eyes off the stars. There was an odd sense of serenity about her, that she couldn't quite comprehend, but it was a pleasant feeling.
Strangely, Cloud, now that he'd finally found someone who might not reject his plea, now found himself at a loss for words.
"I-I... eh," he mumbled.
Aeris blinked. Was he...
He sat next to her, feeling the cool damp on his legs. "What're you doing, all by yourself?" he finally said.
"Watching the stars," Aeris sighed with joy, waving a hand at the velvety black that stretched as far as the eye could see. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Looking at the smile on her face, Cloud had a number of ideas about beauty, although he wasn't particularly thinking of the night sky at the time. No, Cloud, focus! He blushed slightly, pushing away his thoughts.
A long quiet had settled between them. It was hardly an uncomfortable silence - the pair merely sat, amicably, enjoying the natural world, for once unfettered by the twisted steel and concrete of Midgar.
"Aeris," he began, unsure of what he wanted - his intent had become blunted, along the way, his hunger diminishing in significance. "I-"
The Cetra tilted her head over, watching the man struggle with his words. In the darkness the glow from his eyes seemed supernaturally beautiful, otherworldly even; she could see his face in the night, lit by that cold blue light.
"Aeris, I was wondering if..." his voice trailed off. Why was she looking at him like that?
"Yes?"
His stomach chose that particular moment to growl. Cloud's eyes widened, then he shut them and his face went very, very, red. "Never mind," he groaned.
Aeris broke into giggles, laughing so hard that her ribs hurt. Peal after peal of laughter rang out into the air, like so much silvery music echoing into the wilderness.
When she recovered, she looked over at the blond with her eyes twinkling. "Oh, you can have some of my food," she said with a grin. "I'm not that hungry anyway. But!"
"But..?" he repeated warily.
"There are a couple of conditions."
"Go on," Cloud said, confusedly.
Aeris' eyes were dancing. "Number one, you can't eat it yourself."
"Then how do I... Ohhhhhh," Cloud said with dawning realization. Then he went red again, burying his face in his hands. The sight made Aeris smile. "What else?" he asked, his voice muffled.
"Number two, when we get to town next, you're taking me for a date!"
Cloud raised his head. "But don't you owe me one?"
"Oh," Aeris waved her hand airily, "I'll make that up some other time. Do you want your food or not?!"
"Alright, alright," the blond said hurriedly. "Anything else?"
"Hmm," she considered. "Number three is that, you can't breathe a word about this to Tifa, okay?"
"Done," he agreed, a look of relief passing across his face. "So, uh, how do we..." he made a vague gesture.
"Hee," Aeris hid a grin, "Well, you'll have to lie on my lap, won't you?" Her eyes sparkled mischeviously, with a hint of something... more.
"Must I?" he asked, grimacing slightly.
"What, you don't like my lap?" Aeris said, feigning a frown. She raised a hand to her forehead theatrically.
Cloud, however, was apparently utterly incompetent at reading facial expressions. He flailed around wildly for something to say. "Oh, no, I-I don't not like it at all!... er, it's very, uh," comfy-looking, his mind whispered. No, he whispered fiercely back. "... appealing," he finished lamely.
Aeris looked at the hopeful look on his face for a few moments, then burst out into laughter once more.
Cloud was, personally, getting quite tired of this whole thing. Every time it looked as if Aeris' mirth was subisding, she'd take a look at him and then collapse into giggles again. Eventually, he just gave up and stared determinedly into the darkness.
"Cloud," Aeris said, discovering that when she covered her eyes and looked through the gaps in her hands she could hold out from laughing too much.
No reply.
"Clo-oud," She got onto her knees and peered closer at his face. Was that... a pout?
"Cloud, are you sulking?" Aeris asked with glee. Perhaps too much glee. It was slightly inappropriate. To amend the situation, Aeris schooled her face into its customary look of benevolence.
"...'m not," his sullen reply came.
"Oh, Cloud," Aeris sighed, placing her bowl carefully at the side and wrapping her arms around the surprised blond. Almost against his will, Cloud found himself leaning into the embrace, pressing his forehead to her cheek.
"What's this for?" he murmured, after some time passed.
"Can't I hug my esteemed leader once in a while?" Aeris asked impishly. She felt more than heard the chuckle than ran through his body, sending pleasant vibrations through hers.
In fact, the blond's warm breath ghosting along her shoulder was causing some very distracting thoughts... "Umm," the flower girl said, shifting slightly.
"Sorry," Cloud said quickly, sitting up. He reddened slightly, feeling the first touch of dismay in his mind. He was always like that - too clingy, too starved of touch that he craved it as much as he was uncomfortable with it.
Aeris immediately regretted saying anything. She could feel him withdrawing, pulling away from her, and not just physically.
"Don't be," she said softly. "You can have that, if you want," she gestured at the bowl. "I'm not hungry."
"You should eat," Cloud insisted stubbornly. "You need your strength. Tomorrow is going to be hard."
"What if we share?" Aeris turned her head, looking into his eyes.
"Okay," he said, a rare, radiant smile flickering across his face.
It was exquisite. For that one instant, when that smile touched his eyes and his whole face transformed, Aeris could swear she felt her heart stop for a moment.
"Okay," Aeris said, a little breathless. "Okay."
They leaned against each other, and though the stew was by now far from warm, they enjoyed it perhaps more than anything either of them had eaten in their life.
-end
A/N: next, the date! xD that is, if people are interested in this.