First date - A cloti one-shot (ffvii remake ficlet)
Where Cloud tries to take Tifa out on a date, and realize she’s really not that difficult about circumstances if she can spend time with him...
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It took them a good month to find a moment to even schedule their long-postponed date. Cloud was quite defensive about letting anyone from the rest of their party know and Tifa felt the same need to keep things quiet. As though spelling it out for anyone else then either of them could break what was just starting. They both knew they weren’t embarrassed by each other. They were far too happy to know just how much the other one cared and wanted them. Tifa was always insisting on picking up wood if he went out for it and Barret had stopped complaining about how long it took them to get back to camp. They were acting like frisky teenagers, Aerith teasing mostly Cloud and sometimes Tifa. Her flirting with Cloud was less intense, although it still happened every now and then. It was her way of letting them know they needed to be honest with themselves. Every interaction was playful and Tifa didn’t seem jealous, especially considering how stiffly awkward Cloud remained through it all.
He would let Aerith grab his arm when she was scared, would pull her away from danger, but when at ease, it was Tifa’s hand he reached for, Tifa’s shoulder he wanted to pull closer.
“Taking Tifa out, huh?” Aerith asked as he set his sword on his back, fresh from a shower, his hair looking spikier than ever.
They’d just arrived to this inn and while the town was tiny, Cloud had spotted a tavern. A sore excuse for a date, but Tifa had been excited as soon as he pulled her to the side while Barret, Aerith and Red went ahead to set their things in their rooms.
“N…no?”
“You’re an awful liar,” Aerith said, shaking her head at him. “Can you just give her a good time? If you make her cry, I’ll kick your ass,” she added, both hands turning into fists and her body mimicking a boxer’s fighting stance.
Cloud rolled his eyes at her, the tiniest hint of a smirk showing. He fought it, wondering why his throat was tightening. Not at the idea he could make Tifa cry, that had created a full vice around his heart and he was tempted to just hit himself in the chest in the hope it would set things right. Another thought pained him, that part of him that was strangely worried about Aerith even when she wasn’t around.
Can we push the sky just a little further?
Why?
For her.
The thoughts were spoken in that voice he didn’t always recognize. He felt the headache growing and heard feathers shifting in his back, freezing as he feared this meant another episode.
This was the worst timing!
“Cloud?’
Spinning around to see Tifa, he blinked hard, unable to chase the picture of Sephiroth standing behind her. The green cat-like eyes were mocking him, the tall SOLDIER raising his sword. It was too long to be held up in this room, but the blade was sharp, so sharp and Tifa had been hurt by it once, he couldn’t…
“Cloud’s in the clouds again, huh?” Aerith observed, poking him in the ribs.
He bit his tongue to hold back a yelp, a shiver covering his need to jump out of his skin, Tifa instantly standing before him, catching his wrist and giving it a squeeze.
“Maybe you should catch some rest,” she noted, red eyes searching for his.
He blinked again, too quickly, the pounding in his head remaining while the vision of Sephiroth finally disappeared, letting his heart beat easier. The vice-grip on his chest softened, his mind settling back. No sky, no foreign voice, no vision of nightmare.
“I’m good,” he finally said. “I still owe you those drinks, remember?”
It felt corny, but the other words he wanted to say were “you look too good to stay in tonight” when all he really wanted was a room where they could be alone and he could hide between her arms until he felt like himself again.
Tifa caught something in his eyes, not fooled by the easygoing words, but she wouldn’t pry.
“As long as I don’t drink alone.”
A flashed smile, the pair already lost into each other, not even noticing Aerith sneaking back to her room with a toothy smile. They were both so obnoxiously adorable…
…
The walk to the bar was easy and quiet, Cloud holding her hand after making a quick check of the streets. He wanted to make sure no Shinra men was around, even though it was pretty certain they already knew how much he cared about the brunette. The last thing he wanted was her in danger because of his affection, but he also couldn’t go without those little touches. Her thumb on his palm, the tentative leaning of her shoulder on his as they sat by the fire camp, the feel of her lips on his…
Okay, calm down, Cloud, he warned himself.
His ears burned, his brain pushing away thoughts of her naked. Their dates couldn’t always be about making love in shitty hotels.
The tavern was badly lit and smelled of sweat and smoke, but Tifa seemed to relax as she heard the booming of voices and laughs across the room. She had lived in the bustling of sector 7 for years. She had let patrons fill up 7th heaven for drinks, making a living as best as she could. This kind of world she knew well. Spotting a booth in a quieter corner, she exchanged a brief look with Cloud, the pair making their way across the small place. They sat across from one another, not even picking up the menu. Cloud was still getting a feel of the place and the crowd, while Tifa drummed her fingers mindlessly on the table, looking at the décor. It was old, but it reminded her of her last home so much. There was even an arcade machine in a corner.
“Is it bad if this is oddly nostalgic?” she couldn’t help asking.
Cloud shook his head at her.
“When all this is over, do you want to try and start another bar?”
Her smile grew brighter, her hands clapping once.
“I’d like that. There’d be an apartment above it or something similar, less cramped space, and I could have a room for you too,” she said, worrying her lower lip almost as soon as the words were out. “I mean… Not that you’d have to stay or…”
Cloud hunched forward, his smile fragile.
“I know you can kick anyone out, but you’re too kind with people. You might need a bouncer if your bar gets too popular?”
“Already looking for a job?” she teased him, finding it hard to fight off the butterflies bursting in her stomach.
Was Cloud thinking of the future? A future with them still together?
He was even more traumatized then she was by it, but it felt right to suggest so.
“You’re the best employer I’ve had so far,” he answered, his smile vanishing as the waitress came up to their booth.
They started out with a pitcher of beer and fries. Two pints in and they were falling into comfortable silence. Cloud wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say or if there was even anything he should say.
“I can’t help but wonder how you wanted that date in sector 7 to go.”
“Food and drink is what I had in mind. We weren’t quite extravagant when we hung out as kids, weren’t we?”
“Wouldn’t hurt to spoil you a bit.”
“You think I could convince you to get a change of clothes that is not that uniform?”
He blinked at that, taken aback.
“I… I got a jacket?”
“You had suggested I’d wear something exotic, just returning the suggestion to you,” she explained herself, her smile easing his nervous heart.
She’d seen him naked, but that had been once.
“I guess we can try and surprise each other on a second date. Though with all the camping we do…”
“It can be comfy clothes,” she agreed. “Do you have a plan in mind?”
“A chocobo ride and a picnic?”
He knew how cliched that sounded, but catching a chocobo wasn’t easy out here and the look in her eyes told him she liked that idea.
“Just the two of us?”
“Yeah, I’m not letting Barret on a chocobo,” he shot back, chuckling as she covered her giggles, shaking her head at him. “And I… I’d like more time with just you.”
It was so very hard to say anything deeper. She still blushed, looking down at her glass self-consciously.
“Hey…”
“I feel the same,” she whispered.
He inched forward, finding her knee under the table, soon feeling her hand catching his.
“Wanna be alone tonight?”
Her nod made his heart too soft for the noises inside the tavern. Too soft even for silence. They stepped out into the night, their shadows linking hands on the whole way back to their inn.
To be continued…