"What is?" Sephiroth pointed to a new building in town.

"Can you try to read the sign?" Cloud asked, gently rubbing the small of Sephiroth's back beneath his coat to encourage him. "Spell it first."

Sephiroth huffed through his nose, and looked around arrogantly to ensure nobody would witness the humiliation of his sounding out English words. He then cleared his throat a bit and said under his breath, "B... U... T... C... N -"

"That's not 'N', dear. Try again."

"... I?"

"Almost!" Cloud tickling his side.

"H."

"Perfect! Keep going!"

"B - U - T - C - H," Sephiroth rolled his eyes dramatically. "E - R."

"Well done, now sound it out."

Sephiroth continued looking up and down the street to ensure they weren't being overheard. "Butt... tch... Buttcheek?"

Cloud covered his mouth with both hands, but managed to say, "There's no 'K' sound!"

Sephiroth shot him a fierce glare. "Butt cheer."

Cloud lost his composure and began to laugh heartily.

"Is not good teaching!" Sephiroth declared, and took several steps away before Cloud grabbed the back of his coat.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! No, it's not... butt cheer." Cloud fought against giggles and rubbed his sore tummy from laughing at his husband's expense. "You were so close, but it's pronounced butch-er. Kind of like... a town's hunter."

Sephiroth's ears perked at that. "Butcher is hunter?"

"That's right. A butcher sells fresh meat in his shop. Men have other jobs to see to, such as smithing and farming and building. So we have a butcher to take care of the meat. You see?"

Sephiroth's lip curled. White boys would do anything to avoid actual man's work, yet still considered themselves above their females, and above the few remaining natives.

Cloud tried his best to sugar coat the situation, but Sephiroth wasn't stupid. He knew that some of the English newcomers were against his presence in the village. The ones who were saved by his small act of heroism were to be lifelong friends, but not everyone was easily impressed by the story. Stories weren't important to English people unless they were their own.

Sephiroth saw it as a good thing that one of them was stepping up to be the man of the village, bringing important nourishment to the rapidly growing white tribe that frankly needed all the help they could get. Sephiroth had never seen a more boring, quiet, pale, sick, anemic bunch of people in his life.

He'd snagged the cutest, sweetest, funniest one by far, and smiled down at his beloved English wife. "Can we greet? I pay respects to fellow hunter."

Cloud hopped in excitement. "Maybe he'll give you a job! Would you like to work in town?"

"For money? Feh! Why? My job is your husband, is nothing more."

"Lower your voice," Cloud blushed frantically.

"Your people are wise enough to know I love you."

"It's polite to pretend they don't know!" Cloud explained.

"No sense..." Sephiroth trailed off as they entered the building.

The shop was simple with only a counter top, a long trough filled with fresh snow and chilled meat sitting atop it, and freshly hunted animals literally hanging from the walls by hooks. Butcher shops were always rather grim affairs, and Cloud kept his eyes lowered for the most part.

Sephiroth gaped openly at the wanton, reckless display of small, mostly juvenile woodland animals. There was shuffling coming from the back of the shop, and the new hunter emerged shirtless, sweaty, and blood splattered.

"Hello, welcome to my shop!" the butcher was out of breath and panting, his ribs and chest rising and falling as he hastily wiped his bloody hands on his apron. "I'm Zack! You chaps want some meat?"

Cloud's eyes were wide with awe at the man's booming personality and... his meat. "Oh, no thank you! We're actually just here to say hello. I'm Cloud Strife, and this is Sephiroth."

"Hello Cloud and Sephiroth! Heard so much about you two!" Zack outstretched his cleanest hand. It wasn't entirely blood-free, but as good as it was going to get without soap.

Cloud shook the offered hand eagerly. Sephiroth looked like he might have rejected the blood stained handshake, but did the proper English thing and accepted it. "How do you do?"

"Wow, you speak English!" Zack stared at the exotic local. "So, what do you think of my shop? Pretty great, huh? Bet you never had anything like this in your Shin-Ra village-thing-whatever!"

Sephiroth frowned at an entire family of small ducks bleeding on a basin full of melting early morning snow. Cloud had drilled it into his brain to not say anything if he didn't have something positive or helpful to say. But he couldn't imagine what kind of hunter would blow apart an entire family of small birds to display like a trophy.

Sephiroth motioned to the tag sitting atop the bucket of ice, as questions were acceptable in proper English society. "What number is mean?"

"That's the price, or the trade value," Zack explained. "The little ones are tasty! You interested in getting some for dinner tonight?"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at Zack. "No. Have pond behind house full of them alive, better that way."

The side of Zack's mouth dropped a bit before he recovered. "Ah, you're a big guy! So you need something big to eat, don't you? Check out these crazy looking foxes! We don't have these back home!"

Sephiroth took in the sight of a row of young foxes, hardly big enough to feed one person and priced to sell by the dozen. "... You're really a hunter?"

Zack raised both arms over his head and arched hard to crack his back. "Not really. I'm more of a breeder, myself."

Cloud choked a bit.

Zack didn't notice, and so he continued, "I work for a famous butcher in London - you may know him! Angeal Hewley - he's the greatest meatsmith that ever lived! He sent me to the colony to establish a shop for him here, and to breed his personal selection of livestock! Awesome, right? We'll actually have some real food next season once the mating commences! Until then we're just selling the native wildlife, and our homemade small items. Bangers, pudding, stuff like that."

Cloud's eyes lit up. "Do you sell black pudding?"

Zack scoffed. "Do we? How much would you like?"

Cloud glanced up at Sephiroth, who looked like a cold, glaring statue towering over the both of them. He could tell that something had set the native off, and that he needed to wrap it up and get him out of here. "Oh, I couldn't possibly! We should be going, it was so nice to meet you - "

"I insist! I just fried some, thinking I would be eating it all by myself!" Zack fetched a pan that was warming in a huge iron oven, and scraped up a piece of cake-like savory pudding. He put it on a piece of parchment and offered it to Cloud. "A free sample, just to give you a taste of home. Would you also like to try some, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth spoke soft and low in Shin-Ra, something that Cloud understood as, 'Never in a million winters would I eat that stinking bear shit, you son of a bitch.'

And even though it was a different dialect, the meaning was loud and clear. Cloud was under oath of politeness to accept the sample, and sighed in appreciation as he broke off a piece to try it. It was crispy around the edges and just the way he liked it. "It's perfect. Thank you so much!"

"Do you really like it? It's Angeal's recipe. He makes it much better than I do!"

"You made it lovely!" Cloud genuinely snapped up the tasty treat, and it warmed him from the inside. It reminded him of Christmastime at the orphanage, one of the few spots of cheer in his mostly dreary young life.

Once Cloud's mouth was full, Sephiroth spoke to Zack. "It will be your first winter here?"

Zack nodded happily. "Yes, it will! I've heard all the stories about the great warrior Sephiroth helping out the first couple of years here! If you don't mind me saying so, you're the town hero!"

"He's wonderful," Cloud agreed, glancing up at Sephiroth between small bites of pudding and trying to keep his eyes from fluttering.

Sephiroth ignored the compliment. "This winter will not be so hard for you. Next one... will be very difficult for us all."

"Why's that?" Zack asked in awe, his eyes wide as he listened to the prophecy.

"Because you're hunting our food's fucking food," Sephiroth pointed to the young, small animals piled around the shop.

Zack gulped. "Sir?"

Cloud paused with his mouth full. "Seph..."

"Big ones will have no food, no reason to come here."

Zack waved a hand at the worried native. "This land is so plentiful, this isn't even a fraction of the - "

"Big ones look for..." Sephiroth groped deep into his English vocabulary, trying to make parallels and find the right words to educate some common sense into this spaz. "Bear and deer and big cats look for small ones. Bear and big cat for predator to eat, deer for companion for to be safe alongside. They see less small ones, they go. Land becomes barren. We have no problem yet, but - "

"Fantastic!" Zack was really trying to listen, but disjointed English was incredibly difficult for him to pay attention to. He dismissed the rest of the rambling narrative and paid attention to the very last part. "No problems, then! Everything will be fine!"

Sephiroth said no more.

Cloud polished off the slice of pudding and offered Zack the parchment back. "That was wonderful, thank you very much. I'll definitely come back for more before Christmas."

"People in town have mentioned you do deliveries. I've got some major shipments coming in, would you be interested in helping me transport them?" Zack took a large bite of pudding and spoke with a full mouth. "I'm trying to get most of what I need before the winter. It's nice to have some help! I'll pay you of course, or you can just take what you'd like from the shop."

"Sure!" Cloud nodded. "Mondays are usually the ship days, if you're expecting stuff."

"Come back on Monday, then. If there's no ship, we'll just hang out!"

"Okay!"

"I'll look forward to it!" Zack grinned at both of them. "And Sephiroth, don't worry about a thing. Like I said, I'm not much of a hunter. But once Angeal's livestock do their thing and settle in, nobody will have to hunt anymore! You'll just come get your meat from me."

Cloud nodded with a smile. "That'll be so nice! Hunting takes up so much of Sephiroth's time, you have no idea. And I've been busy doing deliveries and building our - uh, my house."

"Sounds like I showed up right on time! Now you won't have to worry about it," Zack smiled.

Cloud smiled back, trapped in the moment on a wave of positive energy flowing from his new friend. It was blinding, and Cloud found himself incredibly glad to have met him.

He turned to see how Sephiroth had taken the news that his hunting days were over, and was startled to realize that he was gone.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Sephiroth, this is miserable!" Cloud complained. "I wanna go home! There are no deer here!"

"Quiet," He answered sternly. After a moment of glaring at his shivering partner, he put a hand on Cloud's naked shoulder and squeezed. It the closest thing to comfort he would give when he was in this strange, solemn teacher mode.

"Can I put something on, at least?" He rubbed friction over his naked skin, but it wasn't doing much good in the frozen night air. For some reason, all Sephiroth would let him wear were his stockings, which he cut off at the ends and rolled up to the top of his thighs like women's knickers. It might have been a little exciting if he were wearing them in bed, but it was mean and unnecessary in the middle of a night outdoors. Sephiroth called it morning, but it was the middle of the fucking night.

Cloud couldn't even sit comfortably, or his bare legs would be in the snow. "Let me just run back and get my coat."

"No. You left other hunts for coat, you did not come back."

"I'll come back this time, I swear!"

"Cold air helps you learn hunt. Is how I learned when I was a woman."

Cloud was used to Sephiroth referring to younger boys or non-warrior males as women, and had no interest in becoming a man in the tribe's eyes. "Sephiroth... my extremities are numb. I really will be a proper wife if I don't get some pants on!"

"In hunt, pants are for men."

"In hunt, pants are for men!" Cloud parroted in a slow, nasally voice. "How do you wear just pants, Sephiroth? How are you not freezing right now?"

Sephiroth was only wearing his leather leggings, and looked perfectly at peace as he crouched in the snow. "I am man. Hunter spirit gives me warmth within."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Cloud bellowed.

A tirade of Shin-Ra speak came from a nearby bush, where Reno and Rude were completely concealed. The two natives had decided together that both of their wives needed to become hunters themselves. Or as good a hunter as two white boys from across the great water could be.

Sephiroth shook his head at Cloud in embarrassment. "He says shut up."

Cloud gave a grim smile. "Here's a thought! You insisted on being married to me, right? So you're the hunter and I'm the wife and I'm happy with it remaining that way! I'm going home!"

And with that, Cloud began to hastily crawl out of their stake-out bush. Sephiroth yanked on the back of Cloud's makeshift knickers and nearly ripped them. "Just sit. Reno and Bunny must learn."

"I know how to shoot!" Cloud complained.

"Shoot. Feh." Sephiroth regarded Cloud's musket as a very noisy toy.

"I hunt squirrels all the time!"

"Squirrels..." Sephiroth made a sour face. "Is not food. Is food for when you're about to starve. Vulture food."

"I'm happy and warm being a vulture!" Cloud said, and began to crawl out of the bush again.

"Cloud Strife," Sephiroth called his actual name, which quieted his smaller partner immediately. "You must know how to survive if I'm gone. You don't do so well on your own."

"That was so different, Seph! We didn't know anything about this place back then. It's been four years, and you've taught me everything. If something unfortunate were to happen to you - which it isn't - I don't think I'm going to start hunting giant stags with my bare hands."

"Bear hands?" Sephiroth repeated in confusion.

"Whatever," Cloud sighed. "I don't care about hunting."

Sephiroth lifted his chin. "So when I am gone, go and starve with new man?"

Cloud couldn't deal with the native's jealousy over a fictional man in a hypothetical death situation. But this 'new man' shit had been coming up all the time lately, and Cloud didn't know what else he had to do to make his lover more secure in their partnership.

Cloud took a hold of Sephiroth's face for emphasis, and to warm his fingers, "No... I will not find a new man. I will eat squirrels, and occasionally go to a butcher shop just like everybody else in the civilized world!"

Sephiroth's eyebrows furrowed in true anger. "Butcher is an asshole."

"Zack is so nice!"

"Zack is so nice," Sephiroth parroted in a perfect English accent, if a bit high pitched and whiny sounding.

"Shut up!"

"Shut up," Sephiroth mimicked again, and then in his own voice added, "That asshole is going to spoil land. You see no deer this morning? Usually they're here. It's already started."

Rude abruptly stood from his hiding bush, and began speaking to Sephiroth with his hands on his hips. Sephiroth threw his arms up and began to yell back at him, and eventually Reno found the will to stand up. He was just as underdressed as Cloud was, and visibly shaking.

Reno rushed over to Cloud and invaded his personal space for a little warmth. "Cl-cl-cloud... can I stay at your place tonight? I can't make it all the way back home."

"Yes," Cloud opened his arms and wrapped them around his freezing friend. "We're leaving!"

The two natives were involved in a heated discussion, and ignored their partners as they escaped onto the trail back to Cloud and Sephiroth's cabin.

"What are they so mad about?" Reno asked, teeth chattering as he unrolled his own stockings for any sort of warmth they might give him.

"I think they expected their bloody wives to be more obedient," Cloud stomped through the snow, dragging the freezing Irish ginger along with him. "I don't understand why this is so important to them, and I don't care. I'm never coming on one of these damn deer hunts ever again."

Reno was never so touchy feely with Cloud, but pressed his face right against his neck for a little more warmth. "The funny thing is, I do know how to use a bow."

"You're an archer?"

"A little. Rude won't hear it, though... only real Shin-Ra men can touch official tribe weapons," Reno chuckled. "He thinks if I touch them, the Earth will swallow me whole."

"They both have strange ideas, don't they?" Cloud was feeling much warmer from the brisk walk and sharing a little conversation. He had a serious question though, and worked hard to phrase it correctly. "Reno... do you ever regret being with Rude?"

"Rude is a challenge. He's never boring, but that's why I love him. I mean, I left home for that very reason... so boring, nothing new to see or do. Ireland is just a bunch of old rocks and grass and rain. And Irish people."

"Doesn't sound too bad," Cloud laughed. "Maybe I should've gone there instead."

"Never thought I'd hear an Englishman say that."

"I wouldn't call myself a proper Englishman; I was invisible orphan scum and then invisible Navy slave scum. I wasn't much better than an Irish person."

Reno let that incredibly racist, insensitive statement simmer in his mind before he responded carefully. "You see me like Irish scum?"

Cloud gave his red hair a rough kiss. "Of course."

Reno would have pinched Cloud for that, but didn't want to be pushed away from his body warmth. "So what are you saying, anyways? You regret marrying Sephiroth?"

Cloud hung his head in shame as he walked. "These years with Sephiroth have been the best of my life. I just wish it wasn't always so damn complicated with him. He bitches about how stupid proper English etiquette is, but then has the nerve to pull this bloody fucking midnight hunt lesson shit."

"You cursed more in that sentence than I ever heard you!" Reno cried merrily.

"I'm tired, I'm starving, I'm cold, I'm naked... and I haven't had sex in a month."

"A month?" Reno gasped.

"Do you mind if I talk to you about this?" Cloud fretted.

"Are you kidding?" Reno hugged him eagerly, eager for frank gossip from the normally tight laced blonde. "Feel free to tell me anything!"

"Sephiroth is... being really distant since this hunter fiasco began..." Cloud made a little sobbing sound, mostly in jest, but a little bit for real. "... He won't even kiss me."

"What do you mean, 'won't'?"

"If I try to get close to him, he finds something else to do. If we're inside for the evening, he leaves. If we're in bed, he turns away..." Cloud lifted his chin and walked a bit faster as he approached the cabin. It led them right past the permanent house he was building, which was very close to becoming livable. It compounded Cloud's sadness to think that once it was finished and they moved in, it would only give Sephiroth more space to escape from him. "I just miss him. I'm afraid this marriage thing has tripped up some sort of Shin-Ra custom I don't know about."

"Well has he been sleeping with you all year?" Reno wondered.

"Yeah..." Cloud's eyelids dropped at the memory of that passionate first night, easily the best sex he'd ever had... because he knew Sephiroth was really his forever. Cloud loved him more for wanting that deep connection, and that possessive energy burned bright all year long, but then it faded into indifference and disappointment all at once. "It's only been recently. I don't know what's happened."

"Tell you what! Loan me your coat and some trousers and I'll make my way home. You work on Sephiroth tonight and get to the bottom of it. Maybe then he'll talk some sense into Rude, and I won't have to come on these damn hunts, either."

"You don't mind?" Cloud smiled.

"Not as long as you tell me everything that happens!" Reno crowed.

When they reached Cloud's cabin they ran to the crackling fire, nearly falling on top of it in their greed for warmth. Once they were somewhat defrosted, Reno bundled in Cloud's clothes for the walk home, and left before he got too comfortable and changed his mind. He took a flask with him to help with the walk, and bid Cloud goodnight.

Cloud was left alone to wait for Sephiroth's return, which was not until dawn.

Awake in bed, Cloud watched him enter quietly. He shed his pants and slid to the farthest edge of the mattress, his movements slow and deliberate in not wanting to wake Cloud.

Cloud waited for Sephiroth to settle in before he gently raised up onto his elbow. "I'm sorry."

Sephiroth turned surprised eyes to him over his shoulder. "Awake."

"I waited for you," Cloud told him.

Sephiroth turned back over and said no more.

The conversation was apparently over, but Cloud scooted closer and wrapped his arms around Sephiroth from behind. When living with someone of an entirely different background, Cloud had learned to be very blunt when asking for what he wanted, especially in bed.

So he brushed the hair off of Sephiroth's neck and began to kiss a trail up to his cheek. "Kiss me."

"Sleep."

"I waited all night for you," Cloud reminded him gently, running his warm hands over Sephiroth's chilled skin. It always took an effort to be blunt, but sometimes he needed to be, so Sephiroth would understand. With a gulp of fear at the prospect of rejection, Cloud pressed his erection up against Sephiroth's back. "You're cold... come here, I'll help you get warmer..."

"You left hunt again."

"I don't want to hunt," Cloud said, cuddling that much closer in an effort to warm up both his lover's body and demeanor. "Isn't that why you wanted to get married? Because we each can do what the other can't. We're good at different things."

"I want you to be a man."

"I can learn in time... like perhaps the spring when I won't be freezing to death?" Cloud suggested.

"Spring may be too late."

Cloud rested his forehead against the back of Sephiroth's shoulder. "... Are you leaving?"

"Only when you ask me to."

Cloud then mustered up the nerve to shove the native onto his back. That bit of aggressive contact was more than he'd been getting lately, and Cloud was quick to crawl on top of him to hold him there. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Sephiroth blinked, his face indifferent and stoic.

"Fucking answer me. Why do you keep talking about me taking care of myself without you?" Cloud wanted to press his lips to Sephiroth's and was close enough to do it. But after weeks without a kiss, he was petty in wanting Sephiroth to give it to him. "Why won't you kiss me? Or touch me? Why haven't we... made love lately?"

Sephiroth's lips thinned into a line, and he refused to answer.

"Please talk to me!" Cloud raised his voice, and that was something Sephiroth refused to put up with. He began to push him off, and it made Cloud hunker down heavier on top of him. "I work to understand you. I always have, right from the beginning. Why won't you do that for me? Do the work and tell me what you're feeling!"

"I don't work for you to understand me? Tell me please... what fucking language am I speaking to you right now?"

Cloud's mouth fell open, and he was speechless for a moment. "W... why that's not fair! I know some Shin-Ra as well!"

"You make me speak English only, meanwhile you forgotten all of the Shin-Ra you learned."

"You are completely mistaken, Sir!"

"Ask me then - in my language - why I don't fuck you lately?" Sephiroth challenged before throwing out a petty, "Sir."

He didn't like to cry, but Cloud was so frustrated that he couldn't stop himself. Hot tears fell down his face as he slid off of Sephiroth and went back to his own side of the bed. Communication was failing them, and it didn't help that Sephiroth was being more stubborn than usual. Moreover... he couldn't have formed that sentence in Sephiroth's language if he tried.

Cloud felt Sephiroth leave the bed, heard him pull his pants back on and exit the cabin.

He wished in that moment that he'd never found Sephiroth hiding under the brush, and that the native could have died his stupid, honorable death for staying on his home turf. And likewise, the camp could have then died their dishonorable death of starving in a land where they gleefully performed a genocide.

Maybe Sephiroth was finally coming down off the high of their little love affair to realize that his people were gone, and a new culture was rising where the old one had been snuffed out. Maybe little Cloud Strife wasn't enough.

Maybe they just didn't belong together.

-.-.-.-.-..-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

For the next several days, Sephiroth spent his time outside. The snow wasn't very deep yet, so he busied himself caring for the small amount of livestock that they possessed, doing small repairs on the cabin, and making little odd touches on the nearly finished house.

Cloud was kept busy with his own chores, and did everything he could do avoid another direct confrontation with Sephiroth. They ate together, but in silence. They slept together, but far apart on the bed. It was becoming more awkward by the day.

The anniversary of Sephiroth's heroism in saving the colony was only a week away, and Cloud knew that the native enjoyed that particular celebration. And so Cloud saw it as an opportunity to mend their relationship, and began to carefully craft a special gift for Sephiroth.

During the summer he'd befriended a seamstress in town, who asked him to deliver finished work for her and to pick up her crates when they arrived by ship at the docks. That was really the start of his reputation as a delivery boy. In exchange for Cloud running errands, she showed him the basics of sewing and ordered him some durable leather from back home.

And so Cloud was sewing Sephiroth a new pair of those tight leather leggings that he loved to wear, and a long coat to go with them... not as though he'd ever choose to put it on around home, but he needed to wear something in town. The sight of his naked, muscular torso was really distracting among a sea of laced up Englishmen.

Cloud had originally intended to give it to Sephiroth for Christmas, but there was damage control to be done as soon as possible. He wanted this fight over with. He missed his husband.

Besides, Sephiroth was still wearing the clothes that Cloud had found him in four years prior. He could convince Sephiroth to wear English clothes most of the time, but the native just wasn't comfortable in blended fabrics. It was much more fun taking Sephiroth out of stockings and trousers than it was forcing him to put them on.

Cloud wasn't the greatest at sewing, but the project was a wonderful distraction from the strain in their relationship... and discreetly getting Sephiroth's measurements was a fun challenge in and of itself. He was stuck though, because for some reason a seam in the pants hadn't turned out quite right. He wanted to show it to the seamstress and get some help, but also didn't want Sephiroth to see his gift.

Cloud knew the native wouldn't want him going into town alone, so he got dressed and hid the pants in a knapsack before going outside to find him. He discovered Sephiroth in their small barn, sitting on a bale of hay with their sow's piglets.

The pigs were periodically brought by ship from England, and Sephiroth had never seen one before, nor knew why they were so coveted by the colonists. But at Cloud's insistence they brought three home, and immediately slaughtered one. Sephiroth was extremely surprised at just how fucking good they tasted. And then when the other two multiplied, Sephiroth was once again surprised by just how fucking adorable the babies were.

Sephiroth had never claimed ownership over an animal before, and had rarely seen baby animals in the wild, let alone gotten the chance to interact with one. There was never any practical reason for a hunter to care about an animal's young, because getting near them always caused trouble. It was a new thing for Sephiroth, who'd spent so much of his life studying and understanding animal behavior in order to kill them.

Cloud had a feeling these little pigs weren't getting anywhere near their breakfast plates. He smiled as he watched the great care Sephiroth displayed as he allowed the piglets to walk across his feet in puppy-like excitement. Sephiroth picked one up with a smile, and let its' wiggly little nose sniff his cheek.

The sight of his handsome lover so affectionate with the baby animal made Cloud's heart flutter a bit, and he forgot about their fight. He approached the mama pig's indoor pen with a smile. "They're getting bigger, aren't they?"

"... Ai," Sephiroth answered without looking up at him.

Cloud swallowed uneasily at the chilly reception, and gently leaned on the gate. "Do you mind walking me into town?"

Sephiroth agreed with a sigh through his nose. "Again buying things?"

"No."

"Again seeing the butcher?"

"No…" Cloud mentally groping for an excuse. "I need some... stockings. These are my last pair, you cut up the other ones. Just a quick trip to the seamstress, you won't even have to come inside. And I'm not using any money, I'll make more deliveries for her soon."

Sephiroth nodded in approval. He gently set the baby pig on the ground, and brushed his hands on his worn leather pants.

Cloud couldn't resist. "Looks like you're wearing those out. You may need new ones."

Sephiroth pressed his hands against them defensively. "Fine. Not ripped."

"You've been wearing them since I met you. Won't you think about getting something new?"

"My mother made."

"... Oh," Cloud sighed softly. For having worn them for years, they were still completely wearable and had always hugged his partner's long legs beautifully. "They're lovely, Sephiroth. I just think something new might be nice?"

"Suppose?" Sephiroth considered without a smile as he shuffled around the rest of the squirmy baby pigs to step over the gate.

Cloud smiled brightly, trying his best to rouse his lover's spirits just a little. "Well, let's be off! It'll be fun!"

It wasn't. They walked together to town in silence, only making small comments to one another. Usually on a walk so long, Sephiroth would hold his hand, maybe tell him stories of his time as a child in these woods... but now he didn't. Cloud's entire arm burned with the desire to reach out for him, but the effort seemed completely unwelcome.

When they reached town, Cloud was genuinely happy to see other people. Sephiroth was too, for he had also formed a little social group with the elders in town who seemed to appreciate his old fashioned soul - even if he was only in his early twenties and was from an entirely different background. They liked to smoke and drink and play cards with Sephiroth, and tell him fascinating stories about sailing on the high seas, avoiding monsters and mermaids, and boning prostitutes from all ports.

"Going to pub," Sephiroth declared when he spotted his elderly buddies in the tavern window. "Where you going?"

"Just to the seamstress. Maybe then I'll wander around."

"Don't go to butcher."

"I'll say hello to Zack if I see him."

"No!" Sephiroth commanded. "You will not."

"You should have picked a wife who listens to orders, Sir."

Sephiroth turned and went into the pub without as much as a goodbye. Frankly Cloud was happy to be rid of him, and quickly made his way to the seamstress. He asked her for a couple pairs of stockings just to make his trip to town look legit, and then showed her the mistake he'd made on Sephiroth's pants. It only took her a few snips and quick stitches to fix.

"Thanks!" He said, holding them up and admiring what was mostly his own work. They looked like something a Shin-Ra warrior would be proud to wear, and were made just as nicely as the ones Sephiroth's mother had made him.

"Not bad for beginner leather work! But do you think the crotch is too baggy?" The seamstress wondered.

"Um, not according to Sephiroth's... measurements," Cloud averted her eyes as he quickly folded them.

With his tasks complete and the afternoon still young, Cloud considered his options. He wasn't in any hurry to get back to his strangely acting husband, or the confinement of their cabin. He passed by the small trading post nosily seeking out some drama or excitement, but there was none to be found. Same with the tiny grocer and general store, it seemed most people were holed up in their homes and not out browsing.

Cloud smiled when he spotted a recently made friend in the butcher shop. Animals on this side just tasted... different, and Cloud was glad that Zack would be selling meat from home soon. Sometimes it was nice to eat something nostalgic and familiar. Spending time with Zack was always fun, even when they were lugging heavy crates from the shore.

"Hello!" Cloud called, stepping into the shop and avoiding touching anything or looking anywhere. Hanging dead animals weren't among Cloud's favorite things - he could handle skinning them in small doses but it was clearly Sephiroth's department.

"Hello Cloud!" Zack greeted cheerfully as a loud cracking of bones echoed through the small room. He then held up a woodchuck whose head was hanging at a morbid angle. "Cute, huh? We don't have these back home!"

Cloud shielded his eyes. "They're way cuter alive and in the forest."

"Just you wait, I'm about to stuff this little guy and he'll look adorable! Guess what? I got commissioned by the Queen to send back examples of New World fauna! I'm going to be famous!"

Cloud gasped, "When did this happen?"

"I got the news just yesterday! Did you know I'm also a top notch taxidermist?"

"Gross!" Cloud laughed. "Don't you think the Queen might prefer to see the animals alive?"

Zack shrugged. "They'd wind up dead or eaten on the journey. Might as well make them easier to ship. Plus less poop on the boats!"

"Quite right..." Cloud grimaced as he recalled the ship ride over the ocean, and the freely flowing bodily fluids from civilian passengers who weren't used to the sea. He couldn't imagine having to take care of livestock on such a journey.

"What brings you in today?" Zack asked, continuing his work of breaking up the bones in the little woodchuck's body. "You hungry? I'll wash the woodchuck off my hands and make us some tea."

"No, thank you. I finished an errand and now I'm just wandering about," Cloud answered, reaching up to gently stroke a dead turkey's huge, splayed out plumage. "Sephiroth's with the old men in the pub."

"Oh! I've been meaning to ask you about Sephiroth!" Zack cried, waving the dead woodchuck around in excitement. "I've been thinking a lot about him this morning!"

Cloud's eyes went wide, and he dreaded whatever Zack was about to ask. "Oh? What about him?"

"Do you think he'd mind taking me around the forest sometime on a hunting trip? I'm sure there are tons of animals I haven't seen yet that he knows about!"

Cloud threw his hands up. "Absolutely! He loves dragging people along on hunting trips! As long as you don't mind going in the middle of the night."

Zack lit up with excitement. "Perfect! I'd like to go as soon as possible, I don't want to keep the Queen waiting!"

"I'm not sure the Queen is going to be as excited as you think about opening up a big crate of dead animals," Cloud winced.

"They're not dead!" Zack frowned, considering his little woodchuck project. "They're immortalized! Here, give it a kiss!"

"You're disgusting!" Cloud screeched.

"Kiss it!" Zack reached over the counter to torment Cloud with the woodland creature.

"Get away from me!"

Zack tossed the woodchuck aside, and grabbed Cloud into a headlock. Cloud managed to worm out of it, laughing as Zack picked him up off his feet from behind.

"I'm going to stuff you and send you to the Queen, too!" Zack threatened, scooping Cloud up into his arms. "Oh! Hi, Sephiroth!"

Cloud opened his eyes to find his lover standing only a few inches away. "Hey, Seph! Check out this - "

Cloud was taken from Zack's arms and set on his feet. In the same breath, there was a knife at Zack's throat.

Nobody moved or said anything for several long moments. There was still a smile on the butcher's face, but his eyes were large and looking up at the towering native with raw fear.

Zack finally swallowed against the blade. "... What's happening?"

Cloud very slowly reached out to touch Sephiroth's arm. "... Seph, put the knife down."

He began to growl very softly to Zack in the Shin-Ra language. Cloud could pick up most of what he was saying, and suddenly it all became very clear to him... the hunting, the "other man", everything. It was jealousy. Sephiroth saw Zack as a threat to more than the ecosystem. Sephiroth saw Zack as a romantic rival, which was ludicrous.

Sephiroth continued his diatribe against Zack's profession, his heritage, his face, and his intentions towards his wife. Cloud listened intently, letting him finish saying whatever he needed to say.

"Wh… what did he just say?" Zack croaked.

Cloud couldn't help but bite back a broad smile. "He said... that he really respects you as a fellow hunter."

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Zack asked, his voice tight and high pitched with fear.

"Zack, can I tell you a secret? I'd really prefer it not get out... for obvious reasons. It has to do with Sephiroth and me."

There was still a knife pressed against his throat, which made Zack very agreeable. "Yeah sure, whatever."

"Sephiroth?" Cloud called, tugging on his arm. "Come here..."

"You cannot choose this man if he's dead."

Zack's voice broke, "What?!"

"I already chose you," Cloud said to Sephiroth. "Come here."

Coming back down from the manic emotional rage of seeing Zack's hands on Cloud, Sephiroth finally turned to him. Cloud didn't say anything, he just pulled Sephiroth down into a kiss.

It was the only time they'd ever done it in front of another person that wasn't Rude or Reno, and Sephiroth was shocked. He dropped his knife and possessively pulled Cloud up into his arms, fully prepared to mate right then and there to display his territory over Cloud's body and heart.

Cloud cut that short, however. Blushing fiercely, he pulled away and turned watering eyes to Zack. "Sephiroth and I are married."

Zack's face was blank. "… Okay."

Cloud knew it sounded ridiculous, but Sephiroth needed to hear all of this be said clearly. "And I would like to be your friend, and nothing more because I love my husband. Okay?"

"Of course," Zack looked all around the shop, completely confused.

"Friends," Cloud said, running his hands up and down Sephiroth's sides as he stared up at him. "Okay?"

"Like Reno," Sephiroth confirmed.

"Just like that," Cloud promised, and then lowered his voice to speak only to him. "... Did you really think I wanted someone else?"

Sephiroth picked up his knife and narrowed his eyes at Zack. "He smiles too much. Not proper to smile at another man's wife. And not proper for wife to smile so much at other man."

"He's just friendly," Cloud chided, utterly embarrassed by this entire conversation, and grateful no other customers had come into the shop to witness the damage control of a jealous native. "And now that he knows I'm your wife... he'll remain proper. Isn't that right, Zack?"

"Totally," Zack agreed with an unsure expression, his eyes wide and on the handle of Sephiroth's sizable knife. "I mean... wow. Your wife. Who knew?"

Cloud made a whining noise, "I can explain later - "

"No explanation needed!" Zack cried. "I know what a wife is. I've got one, too! Sephiroth, I'm married to this great girl back home called Aerith."

"We talk about Aerith all the time on our delivery runs," Cloud told Sephiroth, rubbing his tense back. "She's coming here in the spring."

"She's beautiful!" Zack gushed. "I didn't want her to have to go through the winter here, since I've never done it. We've heard horror stories, I just wanted to see the place for myself and have somewhere established for her to come home to."

"I can't wait to meet her!" Cloud chirped.

Zack looked wistful. "It's going to be a long winter. But I mean, not long enough that you're going to look appealing!"

"I was in the navy with a lot of men who said the same thing, until we were at sea for a few months!"

Zack laughed. "Please don't flirt with me and make your husband try to kill me again!"

Sephiroth crossed his arms, uneasy with all of this friendly banter between his wife and a… very attractive stranger. "Your wife approves of you hunting for other women? And talk to them while she's so far away?"

Zack shrugged, not at all aware that 'other women' also included Cloud. "Sure."

White people were so strange. Sephiroth blinked his eyes in rapid resignation. "She approves, is important."

"Wait until I write her about this!" Zack guffawed. "She'll definitely be happy I have you around to keep me in line!"

Cloud confirmed nobody was outside the shop before grabbing Sephiroth's waist into a quick hug. "It was just a misunderstanding. Sephiroth and I have them a lot."

Zack propped his chin on one hand and looked at them dreamily. "So you're actually lovers, then? Did you fall in love when Sephiroth saved the village?"

"Much before that," Sephiroth told him, kissing the top of Cloud's head as he remembered those first few weeks as friends. "First sight of him, I loved."

Cloud's eyebrows turned up helplessly as he pushed Sephiroth away. "Zack, it's important that you keep this a confidence between us. Don't let it get out."

Zack refrained from saying that Cloud and Sephiroth's painfully obvious love affair was one of the top five things to gossip about in the colony. "In exchange for keeping this huge secret... Sephiroth can take me hunting!"

"You want hunt with me?" Sephiroth asked critically.

"I need to learn the real Shin-Ra way!" Zack crowed. "Make a warrior hunter of me!"

"I agree to teach," Sephiroth said, surprising Cloud.

Zack had no idea was he was in for, and was overjoyed. "Alright! When can we begin?"

"Be in woman form and at forest mouth when moon is above the serpent's tongue."

Zack's face crumpled in confusion. "Woman form - ?"

"Actually, tonight isn't good for a hunt," Cloud interjected. "Sephiroth has duties at home that he needs to take care of. Why don't you plan for tomorrow night?"

"Duties?" Sephiroth inquired.

"I need your help with something tonight..." Cloud hinted gently, his hands slipping discretely beneath his long coat to caress his muscular hips. "It's probably going to take you most of the night to finish..."

When it dawned on him, Sephiroth gave Zack a stern nod. "Tomorrow, hunt. Serpent's tongue. We must be going now."

Zack was baffled, "What the hell does that mean, though?"

"Be at the edge of the town at three in the morning," Cloud grinned as he followed along with Sephiroth's tugging hand. "We'll both be there to get you. Don't bring any weapons, and don't wear anything but your stockings."

"What? Are you serious?" Zack cried.

Cloud was now being literally carried out of the shop. "You want to hunt the Shin-Ra way, right?"

"Well... I guess."

"See you at the serpent's tongue!" He managed to say before the door swung shut, and then struggled out of Sephiroth's arms. "Be proper until we get home!"

"Cannot," Sephiroth told him, holding Cloud's face and laying a deep kiss on his lips in broad daylight.

Cloud grabbed onto Sephiroth's coat and was trapped between pushing him away and holding him close. It felt like the entire colony was looking out of their windows and watching, and probably readying their torches to burn them both alive. In reality, the only people to witness their daring kiss was Zack from inside the shop, and a group of little kids playing in the alleyway across the street. None of those people were particularly bothered by it.

When Sephiroth was satisfied, he released Cloud and stood up tall. He was surprised when his normally prude partner pulled him down for another chance to slip his tongue into Sephiroth's mouth and taste him.

"Let's go home and get naked," Cloud smiled, rubbing his cold nose against Sephiroth's. He then uttered the same sentence in the Shin-Ra language. It hit the native's ears as the most seductive thing Cloud had ever said to him.

"You must be proper until we get there," Sephiroth told him, grinning at the ridiculousness of it finally coming from his own mouth. They were able to separate long enough to at least get out of the social confines of the colony, and eventually felt comfortable enough to hold hands again. It felt so good that they slowed down to a stroll, their fingers threaded tight.

"I'm upset with you," Cloud murmured with a smile, swinging Sephiroth's arm a bit.

Sephiroth looked down at him, not slowing his gait but paying attention.

Cloud squeezed his hand, "You've insulted me as your wife. I think you owe me an apology for accusing me of wanting another man."

Sephiroth reacted far more dramatically than Cloud expected him to. He slid in front of Cloud on the snowy path and dropped to his knees. "Forgive me."

"Seph! I was only teasing you..." Cloud went to pull him up to his feet, but was stopped when Sephiroth wrapped both arms around his waist. He stopped making excuses when he realized that... it was a bit true that he was insulted. He was more relieved that the whole issue was over though, and slipped his gloved fingers through Sephiroth's hair. "I forgive you."

"Bunny..." Sephiroth closed his eyes and pressed his face against Cloud's stomach. "Dishonored you... I'm so foolish like you always say."

"I forgive you..." Cloud repeated, hugging Sephiroth tight around his neck. He then took a step back, and reached down to help his lover to his feet. "You're not foolish, you're brilliant."

"I'm sorry," Sephiroth told him again and again, trying to make up for all the kisses he'd neglected giving his beloved partner. "I did not understand."

Cloud whispered, holding his face close. "You're strong. And kind. And you're stubborn! You've just got to tell me when you think something is wrong. You can't just let it go on like that forever."

"I try harder for you," Sephiroth pressed his face against Cloud's shoulder helplessly, inhaling his scent and leaving his own behind. "I learn English well enough to say everything I'm thinking. No fights."

"I'll learn more Shin-Ra, I promise."

"I talk to you in Shin-Ra, help you learn," Sephiroth promised, kissing Cloud's face repeatedly. "Bunny, it make me crazy to think... you want another man. You and he talk so much, so fast I never know what you're saying. He seem like more proper for you than me."

"That's not true!" Cloud cried, hugging his neck tight. "I've never wanted anyone until I met you."

Sephiroth couldn't bring himself to say Zack's name - not when he'd created such a vivid personal vendetta against him. "You think that other man is sexy?"

Cloud shook his head, a tiny fib. But it was covered over by a greater truth. "You're sexy."

Sephiroth pressed relieved kisses all over Cloud's soft face and across his chest. They easily had another half an hour's walk to arrive home, but it the need was too strong and immediate. Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's coat and pulled him off the path and towards the forest.

Their boots crunched through the dead leaves until they couldn't be bothered to go any farther. Sephiroth pulled Cloud against him by the ass, picking up him slightly and pressing him into the back of a thick based tree. It wouldn't completely hide them from the view of anyone on the path, but it was enough.

Their breath came out in hard gasps as Cloud worked the laces on Sephiroth's pants, pulling them down just enough to let his hard cock bounce free. It was freezing outside, the hard stillness before the first major snowfall to come. The space between their bodies was hot, and Sephiroth easily wrapped the ends of his loose coat around Cloud, pressing his leaking erection against the hardness in Cloud's pants.

"I want you inside me," Cloud moaned, hating the cumbersome clothes he wore in that moment.

Sephiroth turned them until his back was touching the tree, and sank down to the ground. He had Cloud's pants unbuttoned in a few quick motions of his fingers, and pulled them down just enough. He then picked up the ends of his coat and held Cloud close, offering all the warmth he could.

Cloud spat into his palm and rubbed it over his lover's achingly hard cock, and hovered over it for a moment. It had been a while since they'd done this, but Cloud was eager enough to drop down onto it without any further hesitation.

A moan was ripped from Sephiroth's throat at the suddenness of it all. As much as he loved the way Cloud's body moved when he was on top, this encounter was a little too freezing and frantic for a slow ride. He moved beneath Cloud himself, bouncing him just enough to create the friction they were both craving.

"Yes," Cloud whispered against his ear, his arms wrapped tight around Sephiroth's neck to hang on.

His hands were rough on Cloud's skin beneath the coat; they gripped his ass and forced him up and down in a swift, rough rhythm. He kept his lips sealed, swallowing his desire to moan as his cock was squeezed tight by Cloud's body.

The two had crafted non-verbal communication during sex into an art form. They knew exactly what the other wanted instinctively. Cloud wanted to be handled rough, owned, and taken by this man. And Sephiroth wanted to reclaim what in his mind had been nearly taken from him. Their desires synched up more perfectly than ever, and it was silver lining to the greatest mishap in their relationship thus far.

Cloud kissed Sephiroth's closed lips, prying them open with his tongue. It was easy to forget the cold around them, to sink into the heat of each other's mouth while the hard, rough pleasure of hasty sex tightened between their cores.

'I love you' in Sephiroth's language meant much the same thing. It wasn't thrown around casually though, and was meant to only leave a tribe member's lips a few times in life. Sephiroth said it then to his beloved partner, achingly relieved that his suspicions were incorrect, and that his favorite person in the world still looked at him like he was the only thing that mattered.

Cloud knew the basic meaning of the phrase, and repeated it back to Sephiroth. It shouldn't have had the same impact coming from a non-tribe individual with an atrocious accent, but it did for Sephiroth. He smiled at the poorly pronounced words, loving Cloud for trying. This slight, fair skinned man had a grip on his heart that couldn't be denied. Sephiroth had come to terms that he was an orphan now, too… and he and Cloud created their own culture together.

"Come," Cloud urged, pressing kisses against Sephiroth's neck. "Finish it, Seph."

It didn't take much more urging than that, and with a silent shiver through his frame, he unloaded inside his lover. It pulsed out of him seemingly with no end, shock after shock took his breath as Cloud squeezed it out of him.

Cloud lifted up a bit, letting it slip free. He then stood up, pressing his reddened cock against Sephiroth's lips. He opened his mouth immediately, gasping for air through his nose as he sucked Cloud down to his tight, full balls.

He held Cloud's ass with both hands, squeezing the adorable flesh there as he bobbed his head to greedily run his lips over every inch of Cloud's cock. He dug his fingers into Sephiroth's hair, holding him in place. The pent up frustration of over a month without sex shot out of him all at once, hitting the back of Sephiroth's throat.

Sephiroth loved to swallow. He completely surrendered as Cloud pumped his mouth with more warm, bitter fluid. With a few licks, Cloud was completely clean before he pulled his pants up and rebuttoned them.

Cloud was still recovering, almost unconscious on his feet as he leaned weakly against the tree. "... That was so good."

Sephiroth pushed through any lethargy that the fast, intense session had brought, and stood up. He laced his pants quickly before tenderly pulling Cloud into his arms and setting off for home. If Cloud felt embarrassment for being carried, it didn't show as he closed his eyes and cuddled into the warm comfort of his lover's arms.

He didn't get to sleep when they got home, however. Sephiroth didn't attend to his duties halfway, he made damn sure that anything Cloud had been missing during their spat was repaid in full.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

On the anniversary of Sephiroth's heroism, the couple always had a little feast with Reno and Rude. This year, Zack was coming to celebrate with them, as well. They planned to slaughter the older male pig they had, leaving the mother to breed and the babies to be sold or traded in the spring. Soup was bubbling away in the fireplace, and Cloud was excited to give Sephiroth his gift before the party… but the man was nowhere to be found.

Instinct led Cloud to the barn, where Sephiroth was seated on the bale of hay in the pig's pen.

"Seph?" Cloud called.

"I'm not killing the pig," Sephiroth answered.

Cloud closed the barn door against the cold, and stepped into the pen. He sat next to Sephiroth, who was holding one of the babies in his arms. "You don't have to."

"Hunters don't kill animals they live with," Sephiroth frowned, clearly having grown attached to these creatures. "Is disrespect. Take what need from wild, not to raise it from baby and have trust."

"You don't have to," Cloud repeated kindly, rubbing Sephiroth's thigh.

"… Is foolish. I know," Sephiroth said, his muscles tensing as he put the pig down. He huffed as the baby immediately rubbed against his leg in desire to be picked back up. "… Wasteful to keep these animals. Is not hunter."

"We don't have to be hunters all the time, Seph," Cloud smiled at the chubby piglet that was so trusting towards the dangerous warrior native. "We have plenty to eat. We don't ever have to slaughter any of these pigs if you don't want to."

"Husband is supposed to give to you, not take from you," Sephiroth argued with himself.

"Can I be your husband in this matter?"

"… What?"

Cloud sat up a little taller. "I've been hunting the Shin-Ra way with you and Zack."

"Barely," Sephiroth huffed.

"Well… am I a man, yet?"

Sephiroth thought on that very seriously. There was this whole thing with an eagle's egg that Cloud had to go through, but for his experience in the English navy, his current skills in hunting, and the fact that he had the desire to become a man… for all intents and purposes… "You would be seen as a man by the elders."

"Then if I'm a man, aren't I your husband?"

It was a little awkward to admit, but Sephiroth nodded. "Bunny is my husband."

"Then your husband would like to give these pigs to you to do whatever you please with!" Cloud giggled. "What would you like to do with them?"

Sephiroth didn't smile, and was extremely serious. "Hug them."

Cloud laughed harder. "It's decided, then! Hugs only for these pigs. And aren't they the luckiest in the world?"

Sephiroth felt that it shouldn't be that easy. "Not disappoint?"

"Reno will be disappointed," Cloud conceded, because the Irishman really loved bacon. "But this party isn't about him, and he'll get over it."

"Party is not ruin?"

"No way," Cloud grinned. "Zack's bringing some lovely pudding –"

"Blech," Sephiroth interjected.

"- and he's also bringing a turkey. Those bastards are pretty ugly, you don't have problems eating those, do you?"

Sephiroth laughed, as he always did when Cloud swore. "Is good plan."

"I have a gift for you," Cloud grinned, pulling Sephiroth up by the hand. "Come inside!"

They shuffled between sleeping baby pigs and over the fence, and then ran through the biting cold and into the warm cabin. Cloud handed Sephiroth the package containing his gifts, and bit his fingers in anticipation of the native opening it.

"What is?" Sephiroth asked, his eyes wide and the faintest tinge of blush on his cheeks.

"A gift!"

"… Why?"

"Because," Cloud told him. "Open it up."

Sephiroth was hesitant, but unwrapped the pants Cloud had worked so hard on. He didn't say anything, and looked at them for a very long time.

"… I made them," Cloud offered after several uncomfortable moments. "The seamstress helped."

Sephiroth's mother had fashioned new pants for him twice every year, sometimes more often if he experienced a growth spurt. Since her death and the evacuation of the tribe, Sephiroth had assumed that the pants he wore would be the last he'd ever own. In a way they were, because English seams were very different, and the fly was done in buttons instead of laces.

Bittersweet feelings of gratitude and mourning flooded Sephiroth. He looked up at his lover, who was waiting in apprehension for some sort of response. "Thank you."

"Do you like them?"

"… Yes. Thank you!" Sephiroth came more to life, and stood up to immediately try the new garments on.

The pants were… tight. Cloud blushed, "Well… leather is meant to be worn in, right?"

"Yes," Sephiroth agreed. "Takes few weeks. They're good. No chafing, I hope."

Cloud giggled, and held out the coat. "Try this on, too."

Outerwear was never Sephiroth's favorite thing, but he shrugged into the coat so that Cloud could see the completed look. "Is good?"

"Very," Cloud smiled, proud of his own ingenuity and for having such a handsome model to try it out on. "Alright, off with the coat."

"I wear pants?" Sephiroth smiled, handing the coat to Cloud to be folded.

Cloud nodded. "Yes! If you like these, I'll make you more. Maybe something lighter for summer? Do you think Rude would like some, too?"

"Ask him. Ask him if he needs ozoge," Sephiroth told him. "Ozoge is these kind of pants."

"Ozoge," Cloud attempted, butchering it with his accent but getting the word right. "How do I say coat?"

"Rude doesn't want a coat."

"Yeah, but like you he still needs one. You might be warriors, but I know for certain that you get cold sometimes."

"Akahata olge," Sephiroth told him in several syllables.

Cloud opened his mouth to attempt the word, but then closed it. "… Maybe I'll just start out by asking him if he wants pants."

'Do you want what's in my pants?' Sephiroth asked him cheekily in Shin-Ra.

"Lila," Cloud answered.

The word meant 'very', which was an extremely innocent, baby-like response. When coupled with a soft smile and hot gaze from narrowed blue eyes, the effect went straight to Sephiroth's groin.

Cloud pretended not to notice as he went about making the preparations for their party. He smiled to himself, glad he didn't take the seamstress's advice not to leave so much room in the crotch.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N

I'm gonna go eat some pumpkin pie now! Even if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, you have to appreciate the power of pumpkin pie, right?

Owmyhearteries dot deviantart dot com / art / Thanksgiving2014-496936950