ɪᴛs ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴘʀɪɴᴄɪᴘʟᴇ

8

"Well, dinner is ready so we can go ahead and eat." Y/N said as she shifted her attention back to Cloud.

"Sure." Cloud responded as Y/N walked away from the glass door and walked back to the kitchen.

       Cloud followed Y/N to the kitchen and saw the modernized kitchen, complete with some bar stools neatly hidden under the counter. He pulled out one of the plush stools and sat on it as Y/N placed a plate of pasta before him with some utensils.  

"Bon appetite." She said as she placed the plate down on the counter and waved her hand slightly while placing the second on the other side of the counter. 

       Cloud looked at the plate before him and looked back at Y/N before she smiled sheepishly and scratched her cheek.

"I'm sorry if it's not good, I'm not the best cook out there." Y/N admitted as he shook his head.

"I'm sure it's good." He said as he picked up a fork and took a bit of pasta onto it.

      He took the fork in his mouth and ate the pasta, enjoying it as Y/N stood at the opposite side of the counter and ate. She looked down at her food and picked at it with her fork for a bit before taking another bite in silence.

"It's good." Cloud said, as he placed his fork down.

"Hm?" Y/N questioned, not particularly speaking but responding with a hum.

"The food, I mean. It's good." He stated, as he continued to eat.

"Thank you, I really tried. I'm just barely learning to cook for myself." She admitted.

"So you never learned to cook?" Cloud asked.

"Nope, for most of my life I just had takeout or snack foods." Y/N said.

"I'm guessing you got tired of it after a while." He said.

"You have no idea, and of course it's not healthy and I need all the strength and energy I can get these days." She said, continuing to eat.

"Yeah, you do have to keep up with your lifestyle." Cloud said.

"Yeah, it's just a lot and I have to be on top of it." Y/N responded.

       They ate in silence for a bit before Y/N spoke up, swallowing her food before speaking her mind.

"If you mind me asking, what was your life like?" She questioned, as she rested her chin on her hand.

"I would've assumed Tifa told you about me." He responded, eating more of the pasta.

"Yeah she told me a bit, that you met as kids. You joining Soldier then finding each other and fighting off Sephiroth, and apparently the rest is history." Y/N said, getting herself a drink and giving one to Cloud.

"That's pretty much it. There's not much to say as far as that, now I just do deliveries and apparently also being a bodyguard." Cloud said as he finished eating.

"Well, I hope that as we work together I can learn a bit more about you." She said as she took his plate and placed it in the kitchen sink.

"What about you? What was your life like? Since we just met and Tifa never told me about you." He admitted as Y/N washed his plate.

"Depends what you want to know." Y/N said as she placed the plate into the dish rack and headed towards the living room with a drink in her hand.

"I guess about your childhood and how you ended up where you are now?" Cloud said, as he got up from his stool and pushed it in, following her.

"Well, to be honest my home life wasn't the best." She admitted as she sat down on the couch, placing one of the pillows on her lap.

"How so?" He questioned, sitting at the other end of the couch.

"Well, I lived with my parents and my siblings until my parents separated and I stayed with my mom. Then one by one my siblings also started leaving since they were all grown and started making their own lives, leaving me with my mom." Y/N said, stirring her drink in hand before taking a sip.

"And how is it with your mother now?" Cloud asked.

"We don't speak much these days, both of us are so busy but we didn't get along very well back then." She admitted, looking slightly down at her glass at her words.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He responded, thinking of choosing his words more carefully next time.

"It's fine, maybe one daywear can rekindle our relationship." Y/N said, as she finished her glass and placed it on the dark coffee table before them.

"What about your work? How did you get into that?" Cloud questioned, crossing his arms.

"I always loved music, it was just my thing. My brother played guitar and often asked me to sing the lyrics of songs that he was learning. Eventually, I just found it as my passion and put my own work out there. Eventually it gained lots of attention and people really liked it and a record label reached out to me and signed and the rest is history."  She concluded.

"Sounds complicated." He said.

"It is, but I love my job." She responded, as she sighed in content.

       The two continued on, their conversation taking different turns from funny stories they'd thought they'd never share because of embarrassment to asking each other about their interests, hobbies etc.

"I laughed so hard, milk squirted out of my nose and I could never face anyone after that." Y/N laughing to herself as Cloud chuckled.

"Never would've expected that." Cloud said sarcastically but in a joking manner which Y/N caught on.

"Tifa vowed that she would never drink milk again after that." She said, continuing to chuckle and after catching her breath.

       Y/N looked back towards the clock that hung on the wall, reading the time as she moved the pillow off of her and yawned quietly into her hand.

"Wow, it's really late." Y/N said as Cloud stood up from his spot on the couch and stretched his arms.

"Yeah, I should probably head out." Cloud stated as he dropped his arms down.

"Or, you could stay here for the night." Y/N suggested, not knowing Cloud was seriously considering the offer.