Title: Dining Out in Wall Market
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters: Aerith Gainsborough, Cloud Strife
Rating: SFW
Length: 1502 words
Content notes: None
Summary: Aeris and Cloud need to kill some time while the dressmaker works, and both being hungry decide to risk the local diner.


Cloud's stomach rumbled as they stepped back onto the streets while the dress maker worked; Aeris became acutely aware of just how long it had been since she'd eaten anything and how it must have been that much longer for the ex-SOLDIER. Wall Market had never been on her list of places to eat in, but this was very much a needs must scenario. The smell of burnt grease and barbecue emanated from the shabby local diner that stood opposite the dress shop. The flower girl made a quick decision and lead her bodyguard straight to it, the two of then pushing through a bead curtain and into the dingy eatery.

The muggy heat of the slum only intensified inside. The air conditioner beside the door wheezed and struggled to cool the packed interior, making little appreciable difference. They eventually made it through the crush of bodies to the counter; the wood finish somewhat sticky to the touch and discoloured by years of spilled sauce, drink stains and moisture rings. At least they were off their feet and off the streets if only temporarily. One of the waitresses eventually stopped level with them.

"Your order?" she snapped, eyes already moving past them to the other waiting customers, checking on those eating, or those just finished; watching for anyone attempting to evade paying. Aeris had turned the various options over in her head while they waited, peering through the layer of grease at the plastic coated menu. The sushi would have been tempting had they been eating elsewhere; the special had been rendered illegible by passing bodies; and so there was only one tempting and reasonably safe choice.

"Barbecue for me please."

"And you?"

"Mmm?" Cloud turned to her as if distracted from deep thought. He'd been staring towards the lacklustre menu pinned above the hatch leading through into the kitchen, ignoring the slightly clearer one on the counter.

"What is your order?" she repeated, an edge of pronounced irritation entering her voice.

"Oh. Um..." He stared strangely helplessly at the menu Aeris proffered.

"I have other customers to get to," the waitress continued.

"He'll have the barbecue too," replied Aeris trying to head off the staff getting too annoyed with the obvious strangers to the Market.

"Okay, two barbecues. Your order?" she continued seamlessly, walking down to the next customer as she tore the order from her pad and with practised movements slapped it down on the shelf under the serving hatch.

Cloud had the good sense to wait until the waitress had moved further away before lowering his voice slightly; they were still talking loudly just to hear each other over the chorus of voices, the frantic struggles of the air conditioner, the blaring pulsing music from outside and sounds of cooking from the kitchen. "I was kind of thinking of having the sushi."

"Then it's just as well I stepped in. You don't want to risk it here."

"I don't?"

She sighed then and leaned in a little closer to him. "Look around you. You really want to eat raw fish prepared in here?"

"O-oh," he replied, seeming to see the place in a new light. "Yeah..." he replied slowly, "Yeah, I see what you mean. But why not the special or something?"

"I'm not sure what the special even is. And in any case I figured picking the thing that's closest to charred would be the safest bet."

His lips quirked into a smile. "Good thinking."

Their food appeared after not too long a wait despite the volume of customers. Aeris took a moment to rub her cutlery thoroughly with a paper napkin before picking at the thickly coated meat. Cloud stared at his dish with concern, and then watched amazed as Aeris ate. "You do like barbecue don't you?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I ever tried it before..." he trailed off staring at the meal again.

"Really? I heard this kind of thing was really popular amongst SOLDIERs." She watched him curiously as she chewed.

"Your ex tell you that?"

She held her expression even as her stomach twinged at his words and replied smoothly. "He did. And he treated me to some a few times. I kinda wound up with a taste for it."

"Hmm." Cloud turned back to contemplate his meal as she hurriedly bit down on another piece. Maybe in retrospect the special would have been a better idea, no matter what it would have turned out to be. This other reminder of Zack wasn't really what she wanted right now. Cloud suspiciously picked up his fork and prodded through the meat, eventually selecting a piece he seemed to like the look of. One hand cautiously clutching his glass he finally took his first bite. His face immediately reddened as it screwed up in pain and then he was gulping down his water.

"Cloud! Are you okay?"

"Hot!" he gasped before he gulped down more water. Curious, Aeris speared a piece of meat on his plate and tasted it. It was not noticeably hot; much like her own meal it was closer to lukewarm then was really preferable.

"Hot?" she asked questioningly.

"I mean it's spicy," he replied with a heavy breath.

"You don't like spicy food?"

Cloud glanced warily down at his plate. "I thought I did. I mean, I've had spicy foods before, but this doesn't taste like anything I've ever had."

Aeris frowned at the remark. The barbecue was not exactly a subtle taste, and all the varieties she'd tried had tasted more or less the same. It also just seemed odd that Cloud could have managed to completely avoid the foodstuff. No matter; it was simply not her bodyguard's preferred food. "Sorry Cloud, I just assumed. We can get you something else if you want..."

Cloud shook his head. "By the time I've ordered something else we'll be late getting back. I'll cope." Aeris continued to eat as she watched him with a mixture of fascination and embarrassment. He was carefully scrapping the thick sauce from the meat with his knife before using the paper napkins to try to remove any leftover traces. He actually wound up eating most of the meal in the end, punctuated with the occasional wince and a lot of water refills.

"Really Cloud, I'm sorry," she said when he eventually pushed his plate away and she handed the appropriate gil to a passing waitress. She'd insisted on paying by way of apology.

"It's okay, don't worry. I kind of liked it in the end. I think I just need to get used to it."

She smiled then. "Well, if you do like it," she lowered her voice almost conspiratorially, watching carefully for the kitchen staff, "We'll have to try some more in a nicer place then this."

He smiled then. "Then you'll have to join me for sushi."

"Oh will I?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes. You did promise me a date, remember?"

"How do you know I'm not counting this as the date?"

"This?" he asked incredulously, leaning into her and dropping his voice lower. "You wouldn't rather go somewhere nicer without those health risks you inferred before and not in this sector and not just to pass the time while we wait for a dress maker we only just met to make me a dress so we can sneak into Don Corneo's mansion to rescue my friend who you don't even know?"

Aeris smirked but pretending to digest his question for a moment before responding. "Well, when you put it like that... No, I don't suppose I will count this as a date. Sushi it is then. Hey, does Tifa's bar do food?"

Cloud appeared thoughtful as they stepped away from the counter, their places rapidly claimed by new customers as they wandered outside. "I'm not sure the Seventh Heaven does normally, but at least she cooks for our group."

"Your group?"

"Yeah, Av-, I mean, her friends after the bar's closed."

"Ah. Can she make sushi?"

"Yep." It must have been good sushi based on the happy look on his face. "She's only made it once since I got here. She doesn't trust any of the locally bought fish though; she orders hers in special from Kalm."

Aeris considered the cost of getting frozen fish delivered into Midgar. "That can't be cheap."

"I don't think so, no. So it's always a big treat. Her other cooking is still great, but her sushi is the best."

"Well then, I think after this little escapade I shall accompany you to the bar and we shall have her sushi and you shall have your date. How does that sound?"

He smiled at her. "Sounds good." His smile faltered slightly as his gaze trailed across the street to the dressmaker's. "Let's just get this over with then." He checked his watch. "Reckon we've given him long enough to work on the dress?"

"I reckon so. Let's go get you kitted out Miss Cloud."