Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I’m gonna help Cloud!” Denzel excitedly hopped up from the ground and practically bounced to his guardian.

Tifa and Marlene, still sitting in the grass, looked up as they watched the aforementioned man walk out the back door of Seventh Heaven. In his arms he carried a large platter, carrying a slab of behemoth steak.  Cloud gave his adopted son a warm smile.  Tifa and Marlene went back to braiding flower crowns. 

“Alright,  Bud. Go into the house and grab the butcher's knife.”

“Carefully!” Tifa called out from the grass. 

Cloud nodded at Denzel.  “Carefully.”

The former merc placed the platter on their picnic table and smiled down at the slightly purple meat. It was rare to find a good cut of this meat- it was more tender than beef, with a nice rich taste,  similar to lamb. Cloud accepted it as payment for a delivery, and he didn't regret it.  

He was also excited, because on a recent hike with the kids, they came across an abandoned campsite. Sitting there was a decent looking grill- and Cloud wasted no time snatching it up. He had been looking at grills lately, dreaming about purchasing one. Tifa laughed at him and told him he was starting to truly turn into a Dad- all he needed now was comfortable sneakers.

Cloud decided not to tell her that he had been thinking of trading his normal boots for the trainers he saw others wear. He just couldn’t handle the teasing.

“Alright.” Cloud smiled at Denzel when the boy slowly walked towards him, knife in hand. “Gonna cut this steak up in smaller pieces, so it cooks evenly. Also so that it’ll fit on the grill.”

“Sounds good!” Denzel grinned, sitting at the picnic table and watching as Cloud started cutting into the raw steak. “Have you ever had behemoth steak before?”

“Once on a date.”

Marlene, now in the phase that everything was romantic, cooed from the ground. “Oooh tell us about it!”

“It was a good steak.” Cloud smirked, knowing that Marlene was fishing for more.

Marlene huffed. “And? Was the girl pretty? Did you like her?”

“We had dinner, she is beautiful, and yes- I love her.”

“Oh.” Marlene looked a little deflated. “You’re only talking about Tifa.”

“Hey!” Tifa puffed her cheeks in exaggerated annoyance and placed her fists on her hips. “‘Only Tifa’ is right here, you know!”

Denzel laughed at the red bloom of embarrassment on Marlene’s cheeks, watching the little girl profusely apologize. Tifa ended up grabbing her, pulling her into her lap and started tickling her. The two fell into a mad giggle fest, almost breathless with laughter.

Cloud cut the pieces of steak, noticing that they were a little thin. But that was alright. It just meant less cooking time.  So he finished slicing it, then turned to the grill. 

He had cleaned it up as best he could, bought the appropriate grill utensil set, and picked up some charcoal that had flavors added into the little briquettes. He had decided on a smoky applewood flavor, thinking it would pair well with the steak. Now all he had to do was light the briquettes on fire, and soon, his family would be diving into a delicious meal.

So he reached into his pocket and pulled out a fire materia. Denzel immediately became even more interested.  He had rarely seen anyone use materia before, so every time he had a chance to, he was fascinated. 

“Cloud… that's a bit excessive, don’t you think?” Tifa’s worried voice sounded, but Cloud only smiled at her.

“It’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure we have matches… let me go get them. Please?” Tifa stood up from the ground, the concerned expression never leaving her face. She took a step forward. 

“Tifa, relax. It’s only going to be a little spell. Just enough to set the charcoal aflame.” Cloud twisted the warm materia in his hand and concentrated on the grill.

What happened next was not what Cloud pictured. Instead of a small flame shooting out and lighting the charcoal in the grill on fire, a huge ball of flames shot out. In his haste to start cooking, Cloud had accidentally grabbed one of the mastered materia, one that had special boosts attached to it. The flame ball engulfed the grill, the steaks, and part of the picnic table. 

Tifa, with her quick reflexes, grabbed Denzel and pulled him off the table and held him close as she dove for cover. Marlene screamed in surprise. Cloud, dumbfounded, just stood there. 

There was silence for a moment. Tifa looked up, seeing her partner still standing, and breathed a sigh of relief. He was still standing, which meant he was fine. But she still let Denzel go, stood up, and cautiously made her way over to Cloud. She placed her hand on his shoulder, alerting him that she was there, and went around him to look into his face.

“Clou- oh my.” Tifa bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing. 

“What…?” Cloud shook his head slightly, and watched as Tifa came into focus before him. She reached up and gently patted his other shoulder, extinguishing a small flame that was there. “What happened?”

Tifa shook her head. “Exactly what I thought would happen.” She couldn’t help herself from giggling when she saw that his eyebrows had been singed off. “Honey, why don’t you sit down?”

There was another moment of silence as the two adults turned to look at the burning table. 

“I think… I think we should order a pizza.” Cloud said, nodding as he sunk down into the grass.

Tifa smiled at him and motioned for the kids to head inside the house.

“Yeah, honey… a pizza sounds good.”