#naturesass

Aerith Gainsborough woke to the warmth of the sun on her face. She blinked a few times while she waited for her vision to clear of the haze of sleep. A yawn escaped her as she tried to rise from her sleeping position. Tried being the operative word because an arm had her locked in place. That arm belonged to Cloud Strife, the man who seemed adamant not to let go of his hold on her.

She couldn’t remember exactly how they had slept, but she knew for a fact that their sleeping positions had changed during the night. That had Aerith giggling quietly. No matter what position they slept in, she always found herself being spooned from behind and wrapped in a tight embrace by her lover when the morning came.

His hold on her tightened as she moved to stand, as if refusing to let her leave his embrace. A few more attempts and she got herself free. She stood and walked to the window, pulling the curtains apart to let more of the sunlight in the room. It looked like it was going to be a great day.

She went back to the bed and nudged her lover awake. “Cloud, get up. It’s morning already.”

No reaction from the man who was seemed sound asleep.

“Cloud.” She tried shaking him awake. “Cloud, get your ass up. I have to-kyaaa!” She cut off with a squeal as her hand was seized in a firm grip and found herself falling into bed again, giggling all the way.

Cloud tumbled her down on the bed and enveloped her in his arms, her back to his front – the same spooning position they had earlier.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a laugh. “We don’t have time to laze around in bed, Cloud.” She tried pulling his arm away, but it was like trying to lift a heavy boulder. The man just won’t budge, really.

“I know you’re awake, Cloud,” she said to the man who was her beloved, playful exasperation in her tone.

“Mm,” was the non-answer as he pulled her closer to the warmth of his body, his breath tickling the sensitive area behind her ear.

When nothing she did eased his grip, she tried turning over to face him. Cloud’s hold loosened a bit only to allow her to move a bit. Once she was in position, his arm locked her in place yet again.

“Cloud,” she called faintly in a sing-song voice, “we really need to get up, love.” She had to try and reason with him. “Denzel’s gonna wake soon. He’d requested pancakes for breakfast today.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s not gonna wake for a coupla hours more, Aerith,” Cloud countered in a murmur, still not willing to fully wake up from his slumber. “He was up late way past his bedtime playing that new video game. We can be lazy for a while.”

“And you know this, how?” she asked, arching a brow.

A wince. “I might have… played with him for a bit.”

That wasn’t so bad. But she know the tone of Cloud’s voice, knew there was more to it than what he had already told her. So she waited.

“And then allowed him to convince me to play with him past his bedtime,” he added begrudgingly.

“What?” she exclaimed in a whisper. If Denzel really had slept late, she wasn’t going to wake him up and deprive him of sleep, even if it was his own fault. That didn’t excuse her man, though.

“Cloud Strife!” She swatted the arm around her waist. “He has a set bedtime for a reason. Convince you, really? I’d bet he practically begged you to let him stay awake after his bedtime.”

Cloud opened one eye and gave her a one-eyed stare. “I couldn’t exactly tell him no after he did.” He leaned closer and murmured, “Just like how you couldn’t tell him no when he asked you if we could buy that damn video game for him.”

A blush crept up her cheeks. Cloud had her there. Well, in her defense, Denzel had looked so hopeful yet hesitant at the same time as he showed them that game. Denzel’s blue eyes had shined in anticipation, a look that was so rare from the boy. Who could’ve said no to that?

Denzel didn’t ask for much from them ever since they took him in and adopted him almost half a year ago. It took a lot of cajoling for him to actually voice out any of his wants. In fact – now that she thought about it – that must have been only the third of fourth time he had asked for something for himself.

“We know Denzel isn’t gonna wake up any time soon,” he said as he closed his opened eye, “So shut up and just go back to sleep.” A decree punctuated by squeezing her impossibly closer.

Aerith gave in and snuggled against Cloud, resting her hand on his chest. She could feel the beat of his heart in her hands. This was her favorite way of sleeping with him. Something about it reassured her.

Silence filled the air between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Cloud thought his woman had finally started to fall back asleep when he heard her talk.

“We did vow to do everything we can to give him as normal a childhood as we could.” It was spoken in a tender tone – a concession.

“You’re not sleeping, though,” Cloud grumbled in reply.

A chuckle from his brunette. “I’m not feeling sleepy, Cloud.”

Cloud grinned, the grin he knew Aerith thought of as mischievous yet endearing. “I know of a sure way to get you relaxed enough to sleep.” He opened his eyes to look at her reaction.

Cloud’s mako-blue eyes met Aerith’s stunned, innocent green ones. Her cheeks were flushed with color, no doubt embarrassed at his innuendo.

“Oh, you’re terrible!” She slapped him on the arm.

Cloud couldn’t stop himself – he laughed at the scandalized look on her face. Aerith just looked at him with her version of an evil stare. But she was soon laughing with him, her embarrassment forgotten.

Cloud took advantage of Aerith’s distraction and tickled her. A peal of feminine laughter filled the room.

“Mercy. Mercy!” Aerith wheezed out the plea when Cloud gave her no quarter.

They continued the playful struggle and made quite the ruckus. It was no surprise they found a brown-haired boy peeking inside the room. Cloud noticed him first so he stopped her torment and nodded towards the boy.

Aerith immediately went to Denzel and crouched in front of him. She laid a gentle caress on his cheek, “Sorry, dear. Did we wake you?”

Denzel shook his head, his eyes still bleary from being woken. The kid looked so sleepy it was a wonder he was upright. “I just remembered…” He looked to Cloud, then back to Aerith. “Mom and Dad used to laugh like that,” he confessed in a rushed whisper. The memory must have evoked emotions that led him to come to them for comfort.

Aerith smiled at Denzel, delight in her eyes. Denzel knew it was because she was proud of him for having voices the memory aloud. Cloud didn’t smile, but he had the same pride in his eyes when Denzel looked at him.

Their reactions stemmed from the fact that he used to break off his speech once he realized he might accidentally mention his parents. Cloud and Aerith had encouraged him to talk about them more, but the pain had been too unbearable that he just tried to avoid the topic completely. But the pain was getting better – he was getting better.

Like they had told him, his parents were a part of him and they deserved to be remembered by the son they loved and continued to watch over. He could do no other than honour their memory and share them with the people who took him in, accepted him, and treated him as their own.

“Aerith said you wanted pancakes,” Cloud said in the tender silence that followed. It was his way of lightening the mood because he knew Denzel was still uncomfortable with their affection. It will take time, but he knew things would get better for their family of three.

The boy shook his head again. “Maybe not yet.” He swayed a bit as he stifled a yawn. Sleep was beckoning him.

“This is what you get when you play so late into the night,” Aerith scolded Denzel gently. She gave a pointed stare to Cloud as well.

Denzel rubbed an eye while he yawned. “I wanted someone to play with, so I waited for Cloud.” Another yawn. Suddenly, he got an impish glint in his eyes. “If I had a brother, I wouldn’t have to wait and stay up so late.”

That got Aerith sputtering, her mouth agape as she looked at Denzel. She then turned accusing eyes to Cloud as if he was the one to blame for the kid’s words. Cloud couldn’t do anything but shrug his shoulders. He had no idea where that came from.

Mischief carried out, Denzel walked out of the room without a word and closed the door. Standing just outside the door, he said, “Just saying, you wouldn’t want Zack and Tifa to beat you to it.”

“Denzel!” That was Aerith. She sounded so peeved. Cloud just laughed, though.

Denzel was wearing a smile when he reached his room and lay back down in his bed. The smile was still in place as he closed his eyes and surrendered to slumber.

Cloud was still laughing while Aerith stood and jabbed an incriminating finger at him. “Cloud Strife! What have you been teaching Denzel?”

“That was more likely Zack’s influence than mine, love.” Cloud got his laughter under control. He stood and approached his enraged lover. Taking her in his arms while skilfully avoiding her light punches, he added, “You know how much he hangs out at their bar because of Marlene.”

“I don’t think he’s a good influence on Denzel.”

Cloud snickered. He turned Aerith in his arms and touched his forehead to hers. “A little bit of mischief doesn’t hurt.”

Aerith narrowed her eyes at him, plotting her revenge on the foolish man who was Cloud’s friend. “Doesn’t mean I won’t hurt him for that mischief.”

“Whatever you’re planning in that gorgeous head of yours, I’m in.”

“Tifa’ll be in it, too, I’m sure.”

“Zack is well and truly fucked.”

That succeeded in getting a laugh out of Aerith.

“So, Denzel wants a brother.” A gentle bite on the sensitive space between her neck and shoulder. “We did vow to give him a normal childhood. Siblings are part of the deal, I think.”

“Oh my god! Cloud!” For the third time that morning, Cloud received a hit on the arm.

Cloud just scooped Aerith up in his arms and deposited her on the bed. “Stop hitting me, lover,” he growled at her playfully as he covered her body with his.

Giggling, Aerith put her hands on Cloud’s shoulders. “I thought you were feeling lazy this morning,” she teased.

“We can be lazy after.” He took Aerith’s hands and laid them above her head.

She chuckled but didn’t protest his hold. “Guess we have a plan.”

With that, Cloud kissed Aerith, his lover’s laughter a taste he loved on his lips.

Because it’s #NationalLazyDay. Did I make it in time, though?

The feel of a soft hand caressing his cheek woke Cloud from his sleep. He would know that touch anywhere. Craved it with every fiber of his being. Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of the face of his beloved.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said in an affectionate whisper. The smile she had on her lips was filled with bliss.

“Morning,” he replied, giving a smile of his own. It was still a foreign action to him, smiling. Somehow, he found himself smiling a lot whenever he was around the brunette that had captured his heart.

Aerith tucked the hand she touched him with under her cheek, her ever-present smile lingering on her face. They stayed that way for a long while, staring at each other as they lay on the bed facing each other, basking in the tenderness of the moment.

There were no pressing matters they needed to attend to, since Denzel was over at Barret’s for a sleepover. So they had time to themselves for the day. It was one of those lazy days, maybe.

Aerith spoke after a while. “Ne, Cloud. Can I ask you something?” She was still whispering, her voice filled with her affection for him.

“Mm,” he said in affirmative.

“Do you remember the first time we met? The very first time we saw each other?”

Cloud hadn’t expected that, so it took him a few moments to pull up the memory. “I remember.”