#“alright cloud back to the bed you go. the mako got to you again”

[demigod-of-the-agni]

Cloud, internally: I am suave. I am cool. I am the epitome of grace. I kill without mercy, I fight with the strength of a hundred men, I am one of the underappreciated greatest. Shinra is filled with dumbasses, but I am the very few who still retain good cognitive function

Cloud, in front of a large crowd: uh

[driftwithme]

LOVE LINE

[ EDITED BY @lemonhoneypastry !!! <3]

Fandom: Pacific Rim (2013 - movie only).

Relationships: Chuck Hansen/Raleigh Becket.

Tags: light angst, Mako Mori (mention), Herc Hansen (mention), Angela Hansen (mention), Scott Hansen (mention), Max (mention), not canon compliant, post-Pitfall, long distance friendship, not actually unrequited love, hurt, mental health issues (mention), war injuries (mention), longing, rivals to friends, friends to "strangers", unresolved romantic tension.

His phone rings again and Chuck does nothing but watch it, mesmerized. He doesn't know how he pressed the number or at what point of the last hour he felt asleep over his desk. All he knows is that he can almost bite his own heart with his teeth when the line picks up, the screen lightning up.

He curses under his breath, scrambling to sit up-- and winces. His back is sore.

"Chuck?"

"Is it a bad time to call you?"

Of all the people in the world he could have called half asleep, of all the ways he imagined his Monday morning to go...

"No," there's noise, a light click, before Raleigh replies: "not at all."

[ CHECK IT ON AO3 HERE ]

Chuck talks over him, the answer a bit rougher than intended.

"I said I'm good, Rah-leigh."

The line becomes silent.

His focus shifts to a single sweat drop sliding down his neck. The humidity of Sydney is starting to crack through the air-conditioner defenses; if he dared look out his window, he'd catch the sun emerging from over the newest skyscrapers. A world of pink and blue hues getting dissipated by the upcoming gold, clouds parting to allow the new day to begin. He doesn't look, though. He doesn't need a peak at the street below to know of the dammed heat wave in the middle of October. The news broadcasted about it endlessly as Chuck suffered every miserable day of the last week, sat in front of a fan until Max got sick.

"It's the heat", the vet told him, like he hadn't noticed the problem until he had handed the money to her.

Instead, he nodded. "Yeah, mate. Must be it."

The line stays silent, long enough for Chuck to check the screen. The call is still on, meaning Raleigh hasn't ended it, but...

I want to tell him.

Chuck ducks his head and spins on his chair. He eyes the room, picks up the device from the desk, changes the mode from speaker to private, and presses the plastic to the side of his head with one hand, the other absently drumming on the arm of the chair. He has half the mind to go to his bed and lie there, but won't he have to leave for work in an hour and a half? Isn't the bed made anyway? He doesn't even sleep on it most nights. It's hot. It's too hot. As Chuck stands up, he realizes that it's starting to get loud outside too, but on their call, it's all static. It bounces back and forth in his ears as Chuck's sweat rolls down into his sweater, cooling his shoulders, and moving down his spine-- He discards it on the floor.

He ends up in front of his mirror; barefoot, bed headed, an old PPDC shirt haphazardly thrown over his head with a pair of shorts that miraculously still fit him right.

He wants to tell him. He wants to tell him right now.

Chuck tries to catch Raleigh breathing through the telephone. Although it'd be easier if he only closed his eyes, he can't stop staring at the coward in his mirror. He frowns and imagines Raleigh laughing at it, at the wrinkles he'd get, at the comical expression of anger that Chuck hasn't felt in months. He hasn't been that man in a while, the one who burnt through his solitude each hour, Max at his heels and the world kept outside by locked doors. So he stops frowning. He cannot smile, either.

He runs his fingers through his hair, slightly longer now, and presses his fingertips to the sweat on his neck, on his collarbone, and his hand closes over his shirt in a fist over his chest. He grips the fabric, trembling with frustration--

You know I said I was alright, mate.

--because he cannot say a word.

Chuck watches as his eyes blink watery, the golden light peaking through his curtains unable to part the shadow of his tiredness. He didn't sleep last night, at most took at 20 minutes nap. He hasn't slept more than a couple of hours at a time in weeks, for all he remembers. The thought makes him stare at his legs and arms.

Chuck Hansen problem is that he came back whole from the bottom of the ocean, but it doesn't feel like it. It feels like he should have lost something, that he should have some proof of the hollow on his body. The unreleased energy hits his nerves through the dark hours until the daybreak comes and even when they subdue, enough for him to take a nap before awakening in an empty apartment, the feeling of absence never leaves him. 

And it was true, yeah? I'm good. Life's a fucking wonder.

Herc knows Max is sick and offered to travel to meet them. The memory of how their relationship used to be before Pitfall tempts him to accept the offer, but like him, Herc hasn't been that man in a while; the absent father, the general. His dad is truly busy now.

To be honest, the only reason Chuck got his own apartment was because he felt their house suffocating him. It was an old building, the vacation house. They used to go there every summer or December for family gatherings, to relax. It was his grandma's house before it was his mother's and now, technically, it was his. The truth is that he'd never ask his dad to give it up, not after losing all they've had with Scissure. He simply couldn't stay there any longer.

Chuck misses his mom like an amputation, the way he'd stumble on that house and lose his balance only to be reminded at every turn of how it used to be back then, when he used to be whole. Sometimes he would call her name by accident during his sleep. He'd see her shadow on the staircase, hear her voice from the main room. It's what that house would do to him. Bring back the ghost of Angela Hansen, years after Chuck swore to let her rest in peace.

Where his old man would find the missing pieces of his life, Chuck would only notice what wasn't there.

Herc wrestled Scott in that kitchen on Christmas, he kissed Angela for the first time on that porch. He married her in the backyard, taught Chuck to ride a bike on the back road. He turned on the news the day the Trespasser emerged from the Breach and sat on the edge of that couch, spilling half his beer on the carpet as he talked with Scott on the phone, his left arm kept around Angela as she calmed down Chuck. That house was a balm to his dad, but he was allowed to leave it all every few months to go and deal with the PPDC. Chuck wasn't.

So what if it is not what I thought it'd be? It's not like I haven't done more with worse.

At least now Herc works most of the time online, while the UN reorganizes their contracts. Looking back, those first three years after Operation Pitfall were hell. If it wasn't the extended residency on the medical bay, it was the endless trying to keep the program afloat. Compared to it, the ongoing year is all about patience: playing it slowly until the UN gives them permission to proceed with their new projects, keeping the Shatterdome running cheap until the new bill passes and they get their new funding, harassing their offices with letters and petitions, visiting any prospect from the private sector that could finance them, etc. Herc spends a month there, travels for weeks, spends another month or two at home, leaves again.

Chuck couldn't live in that house. A haunted house was a haunting house, even to its ghost. So he got an apartment. It was closer to Sydney, but not too close. It'd only take a taxi ride for his days to be filled with noise and bodies and the activity of a patched up city. He found a job repairing stuff all morning that assured him he'd be back at midday to feed Max and waste the rest of the day however he wanted. He met with his neighbors, made sure no one would bother him for being an ex-ranger. Got plants to decorate from Mako. Made a DVD collection from the ones he stole from the Shatterdome. Got the Kaidonovsky's radio on his kitchen. Even bought a couch in case someone wanted to stay the night while passing by. He did everything, confident that he needed to move out in order to move on. Except the salty breeze did nothing to soothe him.

Four years later, Chuck still jumps from his bed at the crack of dawn, convinced that he heard the Jaeger alarm and that he must get ready for a drop. He still stops breathing whenever a funny shaped cloud floats in the horizon, and when he watches it from the corner of his eye, it almost looks like one of the Kaijus he used to fight. He forgets to cook for himself, because there's no mess hall anymore. He gets on his PDDC shirts by accident when going out for groceries. He looks up, waiting to find Eureka, and sees nothing but new skyscrapers, sometimes the ceiling, sometimes the stars if he is out at night.

You sure get it. They got you modelling around in that uniform. You must know how it feels.

In the privacy of his room, Chuck catches with his thumb the single drop falling from his cheek. He thinks it's sweat and stares right at his reflection, eye to eye, and doesn't say a word.

What seemed an eternity ended in a couple of minutes of no talking. He hears rustling on the other side of the call and a sight that almost undoes him, almost makes him spill the reason why he called Raleigh of all people, but he doesn't.

Raleigh says: "Good to hear it, Chuck," and after a bit, "See you around."

And the call ends. Just like that, before Chuck could admit he missed the bloke so much, he sleep-called him to tell him so. Before he could talk to him, really talk to him, in a way he hasn't done in over half a year now.

Pitfall took them from hating each other to being friendly in the med bay; they spend almost every minute of their recovery together. Afterwards, they became friends, real friends, and Chuck had no chance because he was completely crushed by his love for that man since the beginning. He had been more or less aware, more or less angry, almost fascinated by the things Raleigh could make him feel, emotions hitting harder than the sound barrier whenever they were together. He never thought he'd get so close to Raleigh Becket, never thought it could evolve from mere comptent-- into to this new silence.

Not that I would know. I hardly hear from you anymore. I had to press your bloody number half asleep to hear your voice.

It started with Chuck moving out.

"I need some time away from the Shatterdome", he had said, and it was true. He wanted a life outside those walls. He wanted to be someone outside his job. Suddenly, he was nothing but the kid with the dead mom, the lucky veteran with all his limbs intact. He was a ghost haunting his country, pressed between the pages of history books like a withering flower or an autumn leaf. To those people --the woman living on the apartment next to him, the kid living down the hall, the elderly man who offered him some coffe every morning as he passed the entrance-- he was a relic. Most days, it helped being a son to his father, it helped being like a brother to Mako, but they weren't there, they couldn't be there, Chuck wouldn't ask them to be there either way.

And his dog was sick.

And the man he had loved since he was a fuck, he had had a crush on Raleigh a 14 years old, had hated his guts at 16, shout his and Mako's names hoarse after Pitfall when he couldn't find their escape-pods, he had fallen asleep on his chest by accident and woke up swearing he would never feel like that again, not in Earth or if hell existed or in any afterlife. His friend is on the other side of the ocean parading himself around to help the jaeger cause. Taking pictures with jaeger replicas, presenting awards, smiling on night shows like he is 18 years old again, like his brother is alive, like he is a doll or a clown or a pretty face to admire and it all aches so much and Chuck hates it all so much and he already broke one tv upon seeing them ask about Chuck Hansen just for Raleigh to shut it down so fast Chuck got nauseous.

He wants that loyalty pressed to his lips, there, real real real, Raleigh's laugh drumming in his chest and not on the speakers.

Chuck doesn't know if he's sick because he's lonely or if he's lonely because he's in love and he cannot, for the life of him, let out the words that would solve his misery.

"I miss you," he says to the stalled air of his room.

The light now hits full on his face, breeze slightly blowing the curtains. He turns away from his reflection, puts down the phone on his bed, ignoring the empty side of the mattress he wishes, every night, could support another body that's not his, and walks to the bathroom.

He decides he'll try again in the evening, after visiting Max. Or maybe he'd call in the hopes Raleigh would get it. Stupidly, blindly, he does what he's been doing all those years and waits for Raleigh to fall back, to fall first, to say it.

Do you miss me?

Yes, he'd call-- and if he doesn't say it, at least he gets to hear his voice.

[aimeelouart]

I dunno how you feel about Rufus, but I think it’d be kind of interesting to see if he found a young time travel Cloud instead of the 1sts. Like it starts off where he like “oh another shinra bastard” but by the end evolves to “if anyone hurts Cloud I’d kill everyone in this tower and then myself” lol

The Tanuki of Shinra Tower - 2106 words, roughly the same continuity as SSC, so Cloud looks like a kid

--

Rufus blinked at the little blond child, freezing halfway through his office door. The little blond child glared back from the wall, a knife clenched between his teeth. Slowly, he slid back into the vent he was hanging out of and pulled the cover closed behind him.

“Huh,” said Rufus. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed Veld’s office.

⁠—

The child was back, this time raiding the break room for food at the asscrack of dawn. He paused when Rufus came in, eyes briefly flitting down to where Rufus’s guns were holstered, before apparently dismissing him as unimportant and going back to rooting through the fridge.

Rufus narrowed his eyes, a little insulted but more than curious enough to set his annoyance aside for the moment. He realized what he hadn’t the first time⁠: the tiny little thing had mako in his bright blue eyes. The tiny little thing had a SOLDIER’s enhancements. So Rufus leaned against the wall by the door and crossed his arms over his chest, observing as the child picked up a container of leftover wutaian noodles, sniffed it, made a face, and put it back.

Had his father handed one of his bastard children over to Science? It didn’t seem like something he’d do, but at the same time it didn’t seem like something he wouldn’t do. And if the little thing was an experiment, why was he running amok like this? Veld hadn’t had a clue that a blond child was loose in the vents when he’d first called, though Rufus and the Turks in general were starting to think the kid had something to do with the many mysterious happenings around the Tower.

The kid finished his raid as Rufus watched thoughtfully, standing up with an apple in his mouth and a half-eaten sandwich in one hand. He kicked the fridge door shut, cast Rufus one last uninterested look, and scrambled back into the open vent, closing it behind him with his bare feet.

“Huh,” said Rufus.

He mentally dubbed the child Tanuki and set the coffee to brewing before he went back to his office and called Veld again.

⁠—

The Turks weren’t making much progress on tracking Tanuki down, which was, frankly, hilarious. Some wild theories were being thrown around, mostly for entertainment and venting frustration that they were somehow losing to a child whose age wasn’t even in the double digits. The most popular theory was that Tanuki was actually a very lifelike robot.

Rufus’s personal favorite theory was that Tanuki was the hellspawn of Scarlett and his father. Scarlett, being a heartless bitch, had dumped her newborn baby in a reactor, from which he had then emerged filled with the wrath of the gods and spite enough to kill all of Shinra by a thousand petty cuts.

Considering how often the coffee makers in the executive floors had been mysteriously sabotaged, it seemed about right.

Rufus came back to his office from an executive meeting that had lasted well past 9pm, exhausted and determined to pick up Darkstar so that they could go home immediately. He found his dog, certainly, curled up in the corner of his office on her bed. 

He also found Tanuki, sleeping like a pup against the barrel of her chest.

Starry raised her head and whined very very softly, short tail wagging as if to say ‘look what I have!’ Rufus toed off his shoes and crept over to crouch just out of arm’s reach, observing the boy’s sleeping face. Of course his murderous (pushover) guard hound would be the first to pin the child down. He shook his head and patted her flank. Her tail wagged harder.

The child woke all at once, eyes flying open and landing squarely on Rufus. It was impressive. He’d seen Turks who had far less control over themselves so soon after waking.

“Oh. You,” said the child in a sleep-roughened voice. He rubbed briefly at his eyes, yawning without actually opening his mouth. “Tell Darkstar to get off me.” One of her heavy forelegs was laid over his waist, keeping him trapped curled up against her. Mako strength or not, it was probably difficult to wiggle out from under a heavy, stubborn dog.

A little smile curled at Rufus’s lips. The kid was fearless. He liked it, especially in a maybe-possibly little half-brother. “Why would I do that instead of, say, calling a Turk while you’re stuck here?”

The kid shot him a wry look that didn’t quite fit his soft young face. “I could kill either or both of you instead,” he said with not an ounce of false bravado. Pointedly, he tapped the hilt of the knife at his waist with one finger.

“Then why don’t you?” Rufus was curious. What exactly were the kid’s goals here? Based on his preternatural skillset, he could probably have killed every single person in the Tower and gotten away with it.

“Too much trouble. I’d prefer you alive.” He reached up and scratched Starry behind the ear. She leaned into it, tail and tentacle waving happily. “And Darkstar is the most tolerable out of all of you.”

Fair enough. Rufus was satisfied for now. He whistled and Darkstar got up with a deeply reluctant whine, slinking sulkily over to his side. Tanuki got up too, stretching fluidly, and headed for the vents.

“Do you have a name?” Rufus asked impulsively.

The kid climbed up and slid into the vent feet-first, pausing to look at Rufus. A tiny, shit-eating grin curled at his lips. “All things considered,” he said, “I think the nickname you gave me is good enough for now. I’ll tell you when you’ve earned my name.” Then he closed the grate and vanished.

Rufus huffed. Alright then.

⁠—

The tiny acts of sabotage continued apace, much to the Turks’ frustration. Veld still had yet to see Tanuki himself, though a few of the younger Turks had caught glimpses. That might have been deliberate on Tanuki’s part⁠—he seemed to be something of a little shit. Rufus himself had semi-frequent, if unpredictable, conversations with the child, mostly when he caught him stealing food from the break room. 

Or from his desk. Tanuki was shameless.

The child would pass on information when it suited him⁠—flash drives, printed files, occasionally physical evidence. It all seemed very random, but Rufus guessed that there was some kind of connection between everything. Whatever it was, it was inscrutable, even to Veld.

Or at least, it was until nearly all of Science was demolished in one fell swoop.

The chaos was incredible. As the reports rolled in, it seemed that dozens upon dozens of small events had neatly lined up to kill the top scientists and send the whole department screeching to a halt. Hojo was dead, killed by one of his own experiments. Hollander was dead, drowned in a vat of mako. Every fire sprinkler in the whole building had gone off and didn’t shut off for nearly thirty minutes. The physical damage was incalculable.

And Rufus had a feeling it was all Tanuki’s doing.

Oh, he had no evidence. But arranging something so grand in scale would certainly explain why someone of his skills had been doing nothing but relatively harmless sabotage for nearly three months. Veld agreed, when he voiced his thoughts. No one had any idea where the little gremlin was, or how he’d done any of it.

Rufus got part of an answer when he retired to his executive apartment at the top of the Tower, unwilling to go to his preferred home in the city proper when there was still so much work to do. Starry perked up the moment the front door opened, whining and bounding away from his side. Eyes narrowed, Rufus drew his weapons and crept into the apartment. If Starry was whining instead of growling, it was probably fine, but one could never be too cautious.

He followed the sound of Starry’s whines into the master bedroom. There was a trail of blood leading from the windows to the en-suite bathroom. When he entered, he found Tanuki curled up in the bathtub, head pillowed on a folded-up towel with Starry nosing at his hair. His hand was pressed over his stomach. Bright crimson soaked into his shirt and dripped trickled into the bathtub, flowing steadily down the soft incline and into the drain. His lips were tinged blue, cheeks pale, the dark circles beneath his eyes stark.

“Shit,” Rufus breathed, fumbling to holster his guns and pull out his PHS as he quickly crossed over to kneel by the tub. “Kid.”

Tanuki didn’t open his eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. “Did you know...that…Hojo is...actually a...good shot?”

“Was,” Rufus corrected, hitting the speed-dial for Veld’s personal phone. It was the first time he’d ever used it.

Tanuki huffed a laugh. “Was,” he agreed. “Sorry. Tried not to bleed too much on your fancy expensive carpet.”

“Oh, make no mistake,” Rufus said, shucking off his white jacket and shifting the PHS to his other ear, “you’ll be cleaning it up later.”

“Sure,” the kid agreed, breezily enough that it made Rufus’s stomach twist strangely.

Veld picked up. “Rufus?”

“Tanuki is shot and bleeding out in my bathtub. Executive suite. Send medical assistance.” He paused. “SOLDIER kit, a surgeon if you can manage it.”

“Understood.” Veld hung up.

Rufus got another towel and pressed it against Tanuki’s torso, gently moving aside the little hand that could no longer press down with mako strength to staunch the bleeding. “Hold on, kid,” he told his maybe-possibly⁠ little...no, his definitely little brother. Because Rufus said so, and what he said went.  “Help is coming.”

Tanuki didn’t say much of anything.

⁠—

The kid lived, though it was touch and go for a while. They couldn’t risk taking him down to the non-science medical floors just yet, so Veld came personally escorting one of the Turks' own medics. Assisting in emergency surgery on a mako-enhanced child on the floor of his bathroom was certainly not something Rufus was ever going to forget.

Eventually, though, long after his knees had gone numb and his back started cramping, the last bullet was fished out and the wound closed with a Cura, cast by Veld because the medic was exhausted. Rufus washed the blood from himself, then helped the medic wash the blood off the kid. They put him in Rufus’s bed, covers tucked up to his chin with heating pads (and Starry) around him to help as he recovered from blood loss.

The medic left, escorted back to her own floor by a younger Turk. Veld and Rufus both watched Tanuki sleep, lost in their thoughts.

“Did you know that Hojo was actually a good shot?” Rufus said abruptly.

Veld looked at him from the corner of his eye. “...no. That, I did not know.”

Rufus fished a bloodied USB drive out of his pants⁠—the same USB drive Tanuki had been clutching in his free hand. On its side, a neat label read ‘For Verdot: Valentine & Gast.’ He handed it over.

“I have a feeling he wasn’t just being glib about his own injuries,” he said, a wry, tired smirk pulling at his lips. “He’s a little shit like that.”

Veld read the label and slowly⁠—so slowly⁠—slipped the drive into his inner suit pocket. “Hm,” he said, a strange tightness in the corners of his eyes. It softened a little when he looked back at the kid. He leaned over, briefly resting his hand on top of Tanuki’s wild blond hair. “Get some rest,” he told Rufus, standing upright and straightening his suit jacket. “We have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

On that cheerful note, he left.

Rufus glanced at his newfound little brother and sighed. Great. Now he had to sleep on the couch.

⁠—

When Rufus woke up the next day (late, because he deserved it for once, goddammit) he found Tanuki mysteriously missing and his fridge quite a bit emptier than it had been before he’d gone to sleep. He shambled around a bit, checking to make sure the kid hadn’t gone and holed himself up in a closet like a real tanuki or anything equally ridiculous.

There was a note on one of the pillows on his bed. In a surprisingly elegant hand, it read ‘call me Cloud.’ When he flipped it over, the other side had the name and number of a carpet cleaning company. Rufus threw his head back and laughed, startling Starry.

Yeah. Tanuki⁠—Cloud⁠—was going to be just fine.

[morri-m]

Naegiri♥️💖 comfort: nightmares

Rain was pouring down from the dark and overcast sky which was crowded with clouds. Thunder crashing and lightning striking every few moments.

To put it into more simple terms, it was an awful night.

But the weather wasn’t nearly as awful as the dream Makoto Naegi was having.

Blood was splattered all over the walls in that terrible despair-inducing building, Hope’s Peak Academy. Dead bodies were spread out all over the floor, and maniacal laughter was filling the dark, twisted room.

Makoto recognised who the cruel and maniacal laughter belonged to at once.

Junko Enoshima.

Makoto screamed as he saw her, desperate to escape.

The ultimate despair laughed more as she walked forwards and shoved him into the ground.

“You can’t escape Makoto! You’re stuck here! Stuck forever!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” The brown haired boy felt tears welling in his eyes, and he began to sob and whisper something that even he couldn’t make out.

———

Kyoko awoke to something trembling beside her, and she turned to see who it was.

“K-Kyoko..” Makoto whimpered.

“K-Kiri help.. Help me..”

The silver haired girl placed a hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder, gently shushing him and rubbing a circle with her pointer finger.

“Mako, hey.. Don’t worry, it’s me. It’s Kyoko.. Ssh.. It’s just a nightmare, Hun.”

The short one clung onto his girlfriend as tears spilled down his face, soaking the bed. He was sweaty but he was also shivering, which Kyoko assumed was out of fear.

This had been happening for months now, poor Makoto was always having bad dreams, if they could even be called that they were that terrible.

———

Back in Makoto’s nightmare, things were beginning to get even worse.

“Aw.. Do you need your girlfriend to come save you? That’s just too bad! Hahaha! Have you not noticed the dead body hanging from the ceiling?”

He looked up, and screamed as he saw the dead body of his beloved girlfriend, swinging side to side.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Junko laughed even more, loving every second of Makoto’s despair. She never wanted it to end, the look of absolute terror on his face, the tears falling from his eyes, the sobs escaping his mouth, every part of it was completely wonderful to her.

———

“Babe, please.. Wake up.. You’re okay.. It’s only a dream..”

Kyoko was still struggling to wake him up. Until the lucky boy finally jolted up, screaming again and clutching onto her shoulders, burrying his face into her shoulders and letting out cries of pain and fear, soaking Kyoko’s shirt.

“Ssh.. It’s okay Makoto... Ssh.. I’ve got you.. It’s gonna be okay.. It was just a really awful nightmare.. Ssh.. I’ve got you sweetie..” Kyoko comforted.

“K-Kiri it was so.. So awful... I.. I’m so scared. I’m so so scared”

The detective pat the so called lucky one’s back, running her fingers through his hair.

“You’re pretty sweaty.. I’m gonna go get you a new shirt.”

Makoto nodded as Kyoko walked over to the closet, and she pulled out on of her own shirts, thinking it would be more comforting to Makoto.

It was black and baggy, and once she pulled off the smaller boy’s own shirt and replaced it with hers it draped over him and went down to his thighs, but it seemed to be doing a good job at solacing him.

“Wanna talk about your dream?” Kyoko encouraged as she wrapped a blanket around them both.

“Mm. It-it was about Hope’s Peak. I-I was surrounded by dead bodies.. Everyone was dead this time.. In-Including y-you.. A-and Junko was l-laughing the whole time.. A-and blood was ev-everywhere..”

Kyoko nodded as he pulled him back against her chest, cradling his tiny body in her arms. “It’ll be okay, Sweetheart.. It’s gonna be alright.. I’ll protect you.. I’m gonna keep you safe.. It’ll be alright..”

Makoto squeezed her more as she began to gently rock him back and forth, and than she started singing.

It wasn’t a song, really. Kyoko was just singing him a gentle melody, occasionally humming too.

Eventually, the green eyed boy began to breathe in sync with her singing, and his eyes began to feel heavy. And soon enough, they closed gently, and Makoto drifted off into a nice, sweet slumber.

The taller one smiled as she removed the blanket from herself and fully draped it around Makoto, who was now snoring softly as Kyoko sat him back in bed and snuggled into him, pulling the covers over them both.

She smiled one last time as she gingerly kissed his forehead, stroking his hair some more.

“I love you. Sweet dreams.” She whispered quietly as she soon fell asleep herself.

She barely made out the silent words that Makoto muttered back sleepily.

“I love you too.. More than anything else in the world..”

[vvingless-warrior]

Homemade Haze

Zack x Cloud; 1129 words

“Spike, I’m一”

Zack blinked at the sight of Cloud sitting on the sofa, torso tilted forward, laying face-first on a half eaten pizza. A blanket was draped over one shoulder, supposedly having fallen off the other, and Netflix politely asked if Santa Buddies was still being watched. A Christmas movie in July let him know that nobody mysteriously broke into their apartment just to watch something with their subscription and that it was indeed his boyfriend before passing out. “...home.” Zack finished his sentence with a sigh.

He scratched his head, hand stemmed on his hip. First things first, he kicked the door shut behind himself, no prying eyes of people that walked past their place to get to their own home needing to see the mess his sleep deprived lover was. The ravenet man crossed his arms, shaking his head as he walked closer to the blond knocked out with cheese and pineapple sticking to his cheek.

Cloud didn’t jump up and punch him upon noticing he wasn’t alone in the room anymore, Zack noted, only undermining how terribly exhausted he must’ve been. So much that not even his paranoia had a say in this. “You’re killing me, Cloud… killing me with worry, y’know.” The man muttered to himself and took a seat next to the faintly snoring workaholic. A black leather-clad hand gave Cloud’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, shaking him ever so slightly. “Clo~ud, c’mon, wakey wakey. The bed’s more comfortable than your pizza-pillow.” Zack teased, chuckling to himself.

If Cloud wouldn’t be so tired, his counterpart would get a punch on the shoulder for that one instead of a groggy groan. Mustering up the courage to sit up, he rubbed his eye, squinting at a weird, warm slimy feeling against his hand. He pulled it away, a foggy mako-eyed gaze inspecting the cheese and tomato play he just smudged even more on his cheek.

He huffed, turning his head to Zack, who in return whipped his the other direction to hide his wide, amused grin from the one who caused it. Too bad his snort was audible. “Oh, shut up…” Cloud murmured, setting the laptop that was wedged between his lap and upper body before getting up on tingling legs that fell asleep for some paper towels with another sound of annoyance.

“Morning, sunshine!”, Zack hummed. “Fuck off. Did I…?” “Pass out? A-yup.”, Zack finished his sentence, leaning back against the sofa’s backrest with his hands behind his head as he watched his boyfriend roll off a few paper towels in the kitchen the living room led up to. “Oh, ya got a… li’l somethin’ there. On your cheek.” Another tease from his side, a glare from Cloud’s. “I mean, not to criticize your choices in makeup, I obviously don’t know anything about it, but-” “Yes, funny, I got it. Thanks.” Zack laughed at the annoyed response, yet decided to lay off for the moment. 

“Why did you stay up anyway if you were tired?” A stupid question, Zack was aware. It was Cloud, and him willingly going to sleep, especially alone and without being coaxed into it with the promise of cuddles, was just utopic to imagine. The response was a nod towards the couch table, supposedly the laptop on top of it, paired with a vocal “work”, and Zack stuck out his tongue. “They put all the paperwork on you again?” “Yeah.” “Yikes, heartless…” “Agreed.” Cloud sighed and tossed the with pizza sauce stained cloth into the trash, running his hands over his now clean face. He shook his head as his hands moved further up, soon pushing his wild sunny hair back. His brows furrowed in annoyance at the realization that he forgot to check if there as any tomato sauce on his hair, and to no surprise, with his luck, there was, which was now spread further into the artfully spiked mess he called his hairstyle.

Zack raised a brow at the change of expression, and when Cloud took his hands away, he pressed his lips together so hard they started to turn white in a harsh attempt to not burst out laughing and risk to be threatened with sleeping on the couch (although those threats were never acted out on).

“Not a word.”, Cloud grumbled, turning to head to the bathroom instead of moving back to his partner, “I’m taking a shower.” “Alright!” Zack responded as he resumed the movie, eyeing the pizza sideways. He took the least squished slice, inspected it closer and upon seeing that no hair or drool were on it, he shrugged and ate it. Too good to let it go to waste.

A little less than ten minutes and Cloud was back, fully dressed in a simple black shirt and grey sweats with his hair dry. Zack swore he’d never understand the art of speed showering, but that thought was blown out of the window with a metaphorical hair dryer when the blond warrior plopped down next to him once more. Close, that is, a wordless request to be held as he leaned into Zack, eyeing him curiously.

As an arm found its way around Cloud’s shoulders, the shorter of the men raised a brow seeing some tomato sauce on his raven haired partner’s cheek. He then stared back at the box of pizza, where only one slice remained, before whipping his head back to the culprit of reducing the total number of what was left. “Did you seriously eat that?”

“Come on, I’ve had worse of you in my mouth.”

“You’re gross.” Cloud said, but couldn’t help the slightest grin to tug at the corners of his lips, making zack feel accomplished and cheer internally. Even more so when Cloud finally relaxed against him, legs angled as he lay against Zack with a hand on his chest, other arm lazily wrapped around him from behind.

It didn’t take long for him to get comfortable enough that his eyes got heavy again. The pizza was still warm, so Zack was sure Cloud only got a 30 minute nap at best, not that it was unusual. He made sure to move as little as possible, keep his breathing steady, adjusted the volume of the movie still playing, but slowly coming to an end (luckily the remote was still right next to him), everything to ensure Cloud would finally get some well deserved rest.

And so he did. His breathing became more subtle, shallow, and Zack couldn’t suppress the relieved smile stretching across his lips, the lips that pressed a loving kiss to the mess of blond hair, reeking of lavender from the shower. 

All his worry about Cloud not sleeping and he forgot how much of a hypocrite he was, staying up to make sure his counterpart would stay asleep.

[valkyrisffvii]

21

Setting: Shinra Headquarters, Dancing Moogle (jazz pub on the upper plate)

POV: 3rd person

Summary: Cloud turns 21, and Zack takes him out partying, which ends quite hilariously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

August 11th. A normal day for most people, but a very special day for a certain group of SOLDIERs. Cloud Strife, the youngest member of SOLDIER, had finally turned 21, making him legally allowed to do anything he wanted both in Midgar and other locations on the Planet. Of course, his best friend and number-one supporter Zack had plans to celebrate with Cloud the traditional way: going to a bar and introducing the young blonde to the boozy pleasures of adulthood. However, before the two Seconds could get wasted, Mithra insisted that they come over to her apartment. 

“Thanks for inviting us over, Mi,” Zack said cheerfully, stuffing his face with cupcakes. Mithra chuckled to herself, grabbing one of the unfrosted cupcakes she had saved for herself. She preferred her cupcakes plain, and if she ever craved frosting she could just eat it out of the container with a spoon. Cloud sat next to Zack, admiring the present Mithra made for him.

“How long did this take you?” he asked in astonishment. Mithra’s gift to Cloud was a digital painting of Nibelheim, his hometown which he missed dearly. Every detail he remembered was present in the piece: the water tower, the mountains, the distant mako reactor, and even the flowers growing along the sidewalk. Cloud almost started tearing up when he unwrapped it, and he could not stop admiring every inch of the print. 

“Way too long,” Mithra replied. “I started it as soon as we got back from vacation and I spent at least two hours a day sketching and coloring that damn thing. Sephy told me that my neck would become paralyzed if I didn’t take breaks often enough.” 

“I love it so much. Thank you Mithra,” Cloud said, and Mithra went to hug her friend, ruffling his fluffy blonde locks.

“All for you, my dear Chocobo,” she teased, poking his chest. Zack sighed, turning to face them.

“Cloudy, you ready to go to your first bar?” he asked, smirking. Mithra rolled her eyes and Cloud nodded. 

“I guess. I’m 21 now so I might as well go.” Zack turned to Mithra. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come, Mi?” Mithra looked up and shook her head.

“I’m good. You know I don’t drink, so I don’t think I’ll have much fun there. Plus, I have to be here in case you two get completely hammered and need a babysitter because Angeal isn’t available.” 

Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth were currently on a top mission for Shinra, leaving the Seconds free to do whatever they wanted when they weren’t on duty. Sephiroth had texted saying that they’d be returning the next day.

“Alright, well see you later. C’mon Cloud, let’s go have some fun,” Zack enthusiastically led Cloud out the door, bouncing with energy. Mithra waved at them before turning to her living room area. She moved the coffee table over and pulled out the pull-out mattress from the couch. She’d given Zack a spare key card to her apartment, and knowing of the trouble he’d get himself into, she got herself ready for the aftermath of the boys’ night out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Cloouud!” Zack slurred. “You should try this drink! Tastes like dumbapples!” He groggily took another swig of alcohol as Cloud chugged from a bottle. His pale face was tinted pink, but it did not even compare to the bright red tinge that covered Zack’s cheeks. The blonde hiccupped and stood up before slamming a bag of gil on the table. 

“Too -hic- much. I wanna -hic- go home.” Barely able to think properly, Cloud grabbed Zack’s arm and dragged the babbling man out of the bar and back to the Shinra truck. The only thing Zack remembered was grabbing the key to Mithra’s apartment out of his pocket before they made their way back home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mithra opened her eyes to bright sunlight shining into her bedroom. She stretched and rolled over, hoping to wrap her arm around Sephiroth, but meeting an empty side of the bed. She frowned as she noticed his absence, but quickly remembered that he’d be coming home later on. She lazily got out of bed, stretching her back and arms out before walking to the door separating her bedroom from the rest of the apartment. 

As she opened the door, she was met with the smell of alcohol and male sweat. Grimacing at the odor, she walked to the living area, where she found two passed-out Seconds on the pull-out couch. The grossness of the situation dissipated from her mind when she saw their current states.

Zack and Cloud were spooning on the mattress, Zack being the big spoon and wrapping his arm around Cloud’s slim waist. Cloud was clad in chocobo-print boxer shorts and Zack’s shirt, which was slightly too big. Zack was shirtless, only wearing his pants, and his hair was sticking up in all directions. Light snores came from both of them, and Mithra stifled a giggle as Zack buried his face into Cloud’s neck. She silently took out her phone and quickly snapped a picture of them, planning to send it to Genesis and Angeal. 

After capturing the priceless scene, Mithra walked up to the sleeping figures and gently nudged Zack with her foot. Unsurprisingly, the heavy sleeper did not respond. Mithra tried again, slightly harder this time. Still, nothing. Deciding that only something drastic would wake him up, Mithra stuck her index finger in her mouth, thoroughly coating it in her saliva. She crouched down next to Zack at a distance that would allow her to back off should he react harshly, and stuck her wet finger into his ear. 

Zack’s eyes snapped open and he yelped, sitting up suddenly and wiping his wet ear. His eyes frantically searched the room before landing on Mithra, who had a smug grin on her face. 

“Did you really have to wake me up like that?” he asked, continuing to try and wipe her spit out of his ear. Mithra giggled.

“Would you have preferred that I give you a purple nurple?” she asked innocently. Zack quickly crossed his arms over his chest.

“No thanks.” Due to Zack’s commotion, Cloud grumbled before opening his eyes, rubbing them as he propped himself up on his elbows. 

“Ugh, why is it so bright and noisy here? Shut up Zack,” he groaned, his bright blonde hair falling over his face. He placed a hand against his forehead in an effort to alleviate the pounding sensation. The events of the previous night barely flashed in his mind. 

“Looks like you two had fun last night,” Mithra laughed, walking to the kitchen and pulling the milk jug out of the fridge. Zack tried to stand up but nearly lost his balance, stumbling back onto the bed much to the annoyance of Cloud. 

“I don’t remember how many drinks I had,” he mumbled, “but I vaguely remember stumbling back here and collapsing on the bed.” Zack looked down and realized that he was bare-chested. “Hey, where’s my shirt?”

“Why don’t you ask the little chocobo next to you?” Mithra snickered, dumping a pouch of instant cocoa mix into her mug of warm milk. Zack turned to Cloud and stared at the drowsy cadet, who still looked dazed. He sighed, running a hand through his untamed hair and knowing that the previous night had gone a little far. He carefully stood up again, leaning against the couch arm.

“Do you have painkillers, Mi?” he asked. Mithra nodded and gestured to the door leading to her bathroom. 

“There’s ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet on the top shelf.” Zack thanked her and went to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Mithra made a glass of ice-cold water and walked over to Cloud. She helped him sit up against the couch and brought the glass to his lips. 

“Here, Cloud,” she said, and he graciously sipped at the cool liquid. Zack walked out with the bottle of pills, and Mithra counted out two tablets before handing them to her hungover friend. Cloud carefully took the painkillers, washing them down with eager sips. He closed his eyes and leaned against the couch cushions.

“I think I pushed him in a little too quickly,” Zack muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. Mithra rolled her eyes at him, placing her hand on Cloud’s flushed forehead.

“He’ll be fine after plenty of rest. I don’t think he’ll want to go out for drinks for a while.” Mithra turned back to Zack. “You should rest as well. You’re just as hungover.” As Zack sat back on the bed next to his best friend, the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway outside Mithra’s front door. The door opened to reveal Sephiroth, who looked slightly disheveled, yet he still had a serious expression. The silverette smiled softly as Mithra walked over to him. 

“Hello, beautiful,” he said, pressing his lips against hers, which incited a giggle from her. After pulling away from Mithra, Sephiroth noticed the two other Seconds lazily slumped on the pull-out couch. He raised a silver eyebrow at the sight. 

“What are these two doing here?” he asked inquisitively. “Also, why is Fair only half-dressed?” Mithra glanced back at them and shook her head.

“Zack took Cloud to a bar for his 21st, and they had a little too much fun,” she said, trying to hide her amusement. A smirk made its way across Sephiroth’s face, and he chuckled before laying Masamune on the weapon rack. Cloud was still propped up on the couch and Zack laid down with his arm covering his eyes, his tanned chest rising and falling steadily. 

“They’ll be here for a while. Why don’t we hang out in the bedroom?” Mithra suggested, looking up at her boyfriend lovingly. Sephiroth kissed her forehead and intertwined his fingers with hers.

“I’ll go shower first. The mission was a bit dirty.”

“Great. I was gonna pamper myself a little as a reward for taking such good care of those two.” The couple headed to the bathroom, leaving the hungover duo to sleep off the booze. Mithra was sure to show Sephiroth the comedic moment that she captured earlier, resulting in audible laughter from the normally-stern General.

[toddperrys]

With Love

After a game of fetch gone wrong, Korra ends up in the hospital and meets a nurse who cures her head and her heart.

Dear followers, today I offer you Korrasami. Tomorrow? Who knows. Set in a modern AU where Asami is a nurse and Korra is an idiot who always hurts herself. Requests are open!

Read it on AO3 Here

Korra woke to blinding lights and the piercing smell of latex and hand sanitizer. Her head was pounding and there was a high pitched ringing in her ears. She was laying in a bed of some sort; she could feel herself sinking into the mattress and make out guardrails on either side. 

“I think she’s waking up,” said a strange voice. Korra moved to find the source, but froze  when she was answered with a shooting pain in her shoulder. 

“Don’t move!” the voice said. A warm pair of hands guided her head back into place. “You need to stay still and rest, you took a pretty bad hit out there.”

Korra blinked against the light and her vision began to clear. Two nurses hovered above her, both in blue scrubs. The first was tall and slender, with cropped red hair and a ski-slope nose that reminded Korra of a cartoon poodle. The other had warm, forest-green eyes and dark waves tied back into a low ponytail. 

“What happened?” Korra asked. 

Even though the lower half of her face was covered by a mask, Korra could tell the dark-haired nurse was smiling by the twinkle in her eyes. “Your friends called us after you fell head-first into a rock.”

So that’s the voice I heard, Korra thought as she watched the nurse gather a stack of guaze from the steel cart beside her bed. 

“What friends called you?” she asked. 

The nurse came to Korra’s side and propped her up against the pillows. Korra winced in pain, but didn’t say anything. “Two guys, they seemed pretty worried about you,” she answered. 

All at once, Korra’s memory came flooding back. She, Mako, and Bolin had taken Naga to the park. Bolin brought a tub of tennis balls he’d originally bought for Pabu, who, to no one’s surprise, didn’t take to fetch. After a few turns of Naga chasing balls and returning them to Korra’s hand, she had an idea. 

“Why don’t you guys throw the balls and I’ll try and beat Naga to them?” Korra said. 

Mako raised an eyebrow, “You’re going to fetch?”

“Sure, it’s good exercise for Naga,” she replied, shrugging. Naga barked in agreement. 

“Okay then,” Mako sighed. He pulled a tennis ball from the bucket at Bolin’s feet and hurled it. “Go get it!”

Naga bolted ahead, Korra hot on her heels. She sped up, hoping to usurp Naga, but her enormous strides ensured her lead. The ball came into view, resting just fifteen yards ahead. With a sudden burst of energy, Korra plowed forward, passing Naga, but just as she was about to reach the ball, Naga launched herself forward. Korra felt an enormous weight collide with her side. Pain exploded at her temple as she hit the ground, and everything went dark. 

She was brought back to reality by a stinging sensation. 

“I’m changing your bandages,” the nurse explained. She turned to the redhead, who observed from the foot of the bed. “You can go ahead, Ginger, I got this one.”

With a silent nod, she exited the room, leaving Korra and the nurse alone. 

“I was racing my dog,” Korra said. 

The nurse hummed as she pulled a bloody rag soaked in alcohol from Korra’s forehead. “The guys that brought you in mentioned something about that,” she said. 

“They’re my roommates,” Korra corrected. “Mako is the tall one that sighs a lot and Bolin is his brother.”

“Ah,” the nurse answered. She lifted a gauze pad from a tray beside the bed and leaned towards Korra. “They are good friends for bringing you in. Bolin seemed pretty freaked out, I’m pretty sure he thought you were dead.”

Korra snorted and rolled her eyes, “Sounds like Bolin.”

The nurse smiled and fastened the pad just above Korra’s eye. “You should be taken care of,” she said, standing up from the bed. “I’ll be here if you need anything. Just ask for Asami, okay?”

Korra watched as Asami moved towards the door. Her inky hair shone blue under the fluorescents. “I’ll be sure to do that,” Korra said. 

Her eyes twinkled once more, and Korra drifted off to sleep at the sound of the door closing.

Asami returned several hours later carrying a tray of food. “I thought you might be hungry,” she said, sliding it onto Korra’s lap and pulling up a chair. A nurse had dropped by while Korra was sleeping and turned off the lights, bathing the room in darkness. 

“Thanks,” Korra answered. She took a bite only to be greeted by the mushy, bland taste of hospital meals.

Asami smiled apologetically, “It’s not great but it’s what we have.”

“I’ve had worse,” Korra assured her. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes as she devoured her dinner and Asami stared at her wound. 

“Do they need to be replaced again?” Korra asked when she noticed Asami’s gaze. 

“I think they’ll be okay for now,” Asami replied. She took the empty tray from Korra and set it aside. “How are you feeling?” she asked when she returned to her seat. 

Korra shrugged, “Alright. My head doesn’t hurt as much. It’s kind of gloomy in here, though.”

“It would probably help if you let some light in,” Asami said. She approached the window at the far side of the room and pushed the curtains aside. The sky beyond was bathed in a riot of purples and oranges overlaid with wispy, pink clouds. Asami’s face was cast in a soft, golden glow, illuminating her emerald eyes and tracing the lines of her features. Korra couldn’t take her eyes off her. 

“That’s much better,” she said, returning to her place beside Korra’s bed. 

Korra worried the bedsheets in her fingers. “Thanks for that. I can’t open them on my own.”

“You could’ve asked me to come get them for you,” Asami reminded her. 

“Right, I just forgot I guess,” Korra said. She let out a nervous laugh and felt her face heat up. 

The two went quiet. Korra finally lifted her eyes and found Asami gazing at her. Her eyes were gentle and inviting, and with a mere look Korra felt enveloped by warmth and comfort. It was as if the world’s roar came to a grinding halt, and it was just her and Asami, the only beings left on a kinder, quieter Earth. 

“You should be able to leave in the morning,” Asami said softly, breaking the silence. 

Suddenly, Korra was back in the gray-tinged scene of the hospital room. Outside, the sun was sinking below the horizon, and the brilliant array of colors was disappating into darkness. “Oh, right, leaving,” she replied. Her heart felt heavy at the words. 

“Do you have someone to pick you up?” Asami asked. 

“I can text Mako and Bolin to come,” Korra assured her. 

Asami smiled and rose from her chair, “Good. I have some more patients to check on, but I’ll visit you on my way out once my shift ends.”

Korra smiled weakly, “Sounds like a plan.”

In the wee hours of the morning, Korra woke up to the door creaking open. Her eyes were bleary, and she couldn’t quite find the energy to sit up, but she could make out a dark haired-figure moving towards her. 

Asami, her brain supplied. 

Sure enough, as the figure came closer she could make out a pair of luminous green eyes in the darkness. Asami had changed out of her scrubs and mask, and instead wore a pair of black leggings and a faded Taylor Swift t-shirt. Her hair was undone and fell in loose waves down her shoulders. 

“Asami…” Korra murmured, still half-subdued by sleep. 

Asami shushed her and tugged a blanket over her chest. “You need to rest,” she whispered. “I’ll be back in the morning.” 

Korra watched as Asami placed something on her bedside table, but before she could figure out what it was, she was pulled into sleep once more.

Korra woke to a bouquet of flowers and a card on her bedside table. She sat up and examined the flowers--white carnations complimented by pink roses--while her mind scrambled to figure out where they came from. Suddenly, she recalled a dark figure moving across the room, her mind foggy with sleep as she watched them place something beside her bed. 

“Asami,” Korra said to herself. 

As if on command, the door swung open. Korra sat up, her heart fluttering in her chest, but to her disappointment, the other nurse--Ginger--walked in.

“Where’s Asami?” Korra asked. 

Ginger placed a tray of pancakes and fruit beside her. “Her shift doesn’t start until later,” she said. 

Korra’s heart dropped, “Oh.”

“You need something?” Ginger asked. 

“Uh, I just had a question for her. You know, since I’m leaving today and she’s been taking care of me,” Korra replied. 

“I could take a message,” Ginger offered.

Korra shook her head, “Don’t worry about it.”

Ginger shrugged, “Suit yourself I guess.” 

Mako and Bolin’s faces lit up when Korra rolled out of the hospital. 

“You’re okay!” Bolin cried, throwing his arms around her and nearly toppling her wheelchair. 

Korra laughed, “The nurses said you thought I was dead.”

“You looked dead to me!” Bolin retorted. “Your face was covered in blood!”

“I’m fine, Bo,” Korra said, grinning. “You don’t need to worry about me.” She passed him Asami’s flowers. 

Mako stepped forward, his face impassive as usual and his hands folded into his pockets. “How are you feeling?” 

“Been better, been worse,” Korra replied. 

Mako nodded, “Good, we were worried.”

She looked towards the curb but didn’t spot Mako’s battered station wagon. “Where’s the car?” she asked. 

“Wu’s bringing it around,” Mako answered. The corner of his mouth quirked upward, which Korra knew was equivalent to most people jumping for joy. 

“Leaving already?” a familiar voice called. 

Korra whipped around to find Asami standing behind her, freshly dressed in a set of hot pink scrubs. 

Korra beamed, “Asami!” 

She smiled and helped Korra out of her wheelchair, “I just got here for my shift, I’m glad I didn’t miss you.”

Korra flushed, “I’m glad you didn’t miss me either.” She remembered Bolin and Mako, who stood a few feet away, their eyes darting between the two women. 

“These are my friends I told you about, Bolin and Mako,” Korra said. 

Asami approached them and extended her hand, “I’m Asami, Korra’s nurse, nice to meet you.”

“Thanks for helping Korra out,” Mako said, taking her hand. 

“I’d be fired if I didn’t,” Asami replied, chuckling. 

Just then, Wu pulled up to the curb. He sounded the horn and waved to Mako.

“That’s our ride,” Bolin said. He approached the car and loaded Korra’s flowers into the backseat. 

Korra’s heart sunk. She turned to Asami, “Hey, I know this might be a longshot--”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Asami interrupted. “Did you read my card?”

Korra paused, “I was saving it for when I got home.”

“Read it now.”

Korra turned the card over in her hands and opened it. It was empty, save for a phone number. Her mouth fell open and she looked back to Asami. 

“Call me okay?” Asami said. 

Korra was too dumbfounded to speak and simply nodded along. 

With one last smile, Asami turned on her heel and headed through the hospital doors. “See you later, Korra.”

Korra stared after her, heart leaping in her chest. She brushed her fingers over the numbers, “See you, Asami.”

[deathpuppies12]

The Bombing of Emotions

The Dresses

I can't believe he wouldn't tell me about that. I had asked him multiple times if he could make something of this stuff and he said no. I feel so betrayed, I mean Cloud has no obligations to me, but seriously. I want to go lay down and re-evaluate my life. which only consists of a few months. Maybe I could have more if Cloud was actually honest with me.

I left the bar a while ago, opting to laying in the small bed of my now solo apartment. Marle was nice enough to let me continue living here free. At least I'm not entirely alone, it could be worse. I have Barret and Tifa, I even met Barrets daughter Marlene. I think back on the info I learned from Barret. The files apparently hold research tests about my dad. We couldn't figure out exactly what for but we know that he was a test subject. What if that's why I have no memory. What if they found out something terrible and didn't want anyone else to know. I'm staring to connect dots. Man connecting dots is tiring I'm gonna take nap.

Cloud's POV

I final got Aerith back home, but annoying twist I'm sleeping here. I wish I could just leave but I won't know where I'm going. So I have to follow along. I at least I made some money by doing jobs. I also noticed lots of kids with weapons in this sector. Maybe I should get (y/n) a weapon. More than just materia, it would also make for great a apology gift. Man I give this kid a lot of apology gifts. "Ready to go home now", Aerith asks. "Yeah I guess so", we head back to her home. I must say her yard is beautiful. "Wait hold on", Aerith runs off into her flower garden. Oh boy what now. I walk up the patch and heard her talking to her flowers. I would think this is really strange but (y/n) has stuff similar to this so what ever.

                                        (Y/n) pov

"Hey (y/n) you wanna help me with something fun", Tifa asks. I shrug and nod my head, not like I have anything better to do anyway. "What are we doing", I ask. I'll explain later but I need you to help me pick a dress.  I follow her into her room and see three dress hanging up. "What are they for", maybe she has a date. "I have a formal event I need to attend", she avoids my eyes as she says this. She is so going on a date. I examine the three dresses, I would personal wear none of these but I'm not into dresses so that goes without saying. I look back at Tifa trying to imagine the dresses on her.

"Can you try them on", I ask her. "Oh sure, this is gonna be fun", I nod my head smiling softly. I look over the dresses on her and I finally come to my decision. "I think the blue one is the way to go", I state. "Thanks (y/n), wanna do my hair". I nod my head, ok this is kinda fun. I decide with just leaving her hair down. Her hair is really pretty I'm kinda jealous. "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this helped me". She hugs me, woah this is so weird. I've never had someone actually hug Me before. Well I think, I cautiously wrap my arms around as well. "Ok I need to get going, if you need anything Barret is always at Seventh Heaven and Marle is right down stairs". With that she rushes out the door.

Well I guess I'll go back to my room. I plop down in the corner chair. I pull my CD player out of my bag and relax. I grab the journal as well, this is the one thing I didn't show Barret. Maybe I should have, would he be able to make something of this as well.

                                        Clouds pov

Me and Aerith finally come to the wall blocking me from Sector 7. "That looks pretty closed", I say. "Don't worry I have a way of getting in, but let's take a rest", Aerith says. She runs up to the top of a play set toy. Great, I follow her up and take seat. She's in my face again. "Your eyes, their so pretty", Aerith says. "It's the mako", I lean away from her. "I know", how does she know. "You said you were first rank right". "Yeah". "Weird". "What's weird about it". "You were the same rank". "As who". "The first guy I ever loved", oh that makes sense. "What's his name, I probably know him", maybe I can help her out. She says a name but I can't hear her due my pulsing head  ache again. Ugh why is this happening again.

"Come on, you should get going", she hops down the play toy. I follow her to another toy that she climbs underneath. "Alright, there we go". "Ok" we say at the same time. Before I can go on the door to Sector 7 opens up. A cart with a Chocobo at front comes through. Inside the cart is a woman, wait Tifa! I run after the cart, what is Tifa doing in there. "Tifa", "Cloud". "What are doing", I ask. "There's no time to explain, you should get back, go see (y/n)", she's right. "But". "I'll be fine, you've seen how much ass I can kick". I nod in response, I don't really wanna leave her but I trust her.

"No way, we're going after her", I agree but I need to do something. "We will but first", I walk past her to that tunnel.

                                         (Y/n) pov

There's a sudden nock on the door. Who could that be, Tifa left a while ago and I doubt Barret would come here. I open to reveal the person I never thought I would see again.

                                          CLOUD!

Tags: @ayamenimthiriel

[natsunoomoi]

FFVII Thoughts

-This whole thing with Jessie is so much filler it’s mostly unnecessary. Plus I feel like the whole impact of Jessie and her arc and even this filler is detracted by her being a former actress. Like I mentioned before I feel like her being an actress and known for toying with men kind of takes away from her crush on Cloud and makes it seem cheap. Also even though she’s someone’s daughter who is more tech inclined, I always thought of her as an engineer herself and like a former Shinra engineer that quit would have been a more powerful message than that of an actress. Even if you keep her Dad getting sick it adds an extra layer. Like say she worked in R&D and they like pushed an experimental mako enhancement for the plant too soon and she warned it would make people sick and it made her Dad sick. There’s a lot of ways her story would have been better and fit more nicely into the narrative. :/

-Even though Jessie annoys me, Biggs is kind of okay but he comes off to me as a little cliche. Wedge is kind of a little nicer.

-Aww, they took out the pickpocket on the train during the ID scan. That would have been a lot harder to deal with, but yeah.

-Good lord they stretched out these areas.

-Completely lost in this lamp and platform maze, but after a long time I finally figure out how to get out even with the items.

-Another maze and more reactor context change.

-Robot change where you can screw it over. That’s interesting.

-Yay Aerith!

-Dang Reno. You hard.

-OMG stupid ghosts get out of the way. I bet I have to trek all this way back to get this materia.

-This church is now also a crazy rat maze.

-Now onto roof rat maze.

-Ugh, why do I have to take the long way just to avoid Rude?

-Let me explore the town!

-Cloud and Aerith are way more helpful in this game. The kids have a secret hide out. Cool, I guess.

-Chadley is seriously simultaneously frustrating and useful.

-Yay I can go back and get crap from the church.

-Okay, so sneak out. Why tf is there a pot right outside my room that I can’t see?

-Okay, so there’s Aerith. We have a secret tunnel-ish. So many ladders. So much up and down.

-Out of that maze and yay they kept that scene where Aerith brings up Zack. Still not sure I’m liking all the foreshadowing cuz this was a spoiler in the original game.

-Tifa looks nice in that outfit. Like in general in this game though. They gave her a pretty thoughtful makeover that like captures the essence of her original profile, but also with some added tweaks in style that I actually like better. Like she didn’t have those thigh highs before, but those are a nice touch. And instead of her mini skirt her skirt is actually a skort and is pleated. Plus like the better boob support.

-Good lord Wall Mart is so involved now. So many alleys. Get out of the way yo!

-Leslie seems kind of cool, but I’m not sure cuz he works for a creep.

-Ugh hussle of trying to figure out how to get in. This sponsorship thing is new. I guess Corneo got more exclusive in this game.

-I have to go to the coloseum? Ugh, why?

-This crowd is full of haters.

-Okay winning over the crowd....

-I have an extra battle? WTF is this BS. I almost wish it was the Turks making a surprise appearance. That seems like a silly stupid thing the original would have done.

-Obviously Cloud caught someone else’s attention.

-Yay! Finally dress up time.

-Awesome. I’m doing a bunch of quests now.

-Whoops I didn’t level up my materia all the way. I got most of them so it’s doing fine but just the medicine thing.

-I saw a lot of people complaining about Jules, but he wasn’t so bad? I just needed to remember the rhythm and what I was doing by saying it so I could keep track of the pattern.

-Ugh, Johnny where you taking me? I have to wait for someone not yet.

-Oh Aerith looks nice. I like her outfit.

-Okay time to dress up Cloud.

-Whoa, Folia is a honeybee? Teh shock.

-What is this mini-game? It’s hard to keep rhythm and sometimes I actually can’t see the queue. Why do you design a mini-game where you can’t see the thing clearly?

-Oh shit I missed a track because I didn’t want to sit there and keep playing a frustrating mini-game. D:

-Yay! At least I got the cute dress. But real talk I kind of miss the old way to dress up Cloud only cuz I would want to see what the different colored wigs look like, but that whole storyline is very trans insensitive. Or even drag insensitive, so I understand why they changed it.

-Andrea is kind of cool. I was worried they were going to make him into some kind of flaming stereotype, but actually although he definitely has some flare, he’s a pretty well balanced character and none of the characters really judge him for his personal choices. Although definitely some judgement for the stuff they make them do, but that’s fair because you’re being subjected to it. Good on Cloud for following along.

-Okay time to take down this fat loser. So how does this work? How do you know who he’ll choose?

-Wait does he just choose Cloud every time? That’s a little less fun. I liked dressing Cloud up as the prettiest princess so that you could get him picked.

-This bit of them threatening Corneo’s private parts is still one of my favorite things. It was teh shock when I saw it the first time back in the day and I still enjoy it now.

-Ugh, the sewer. Also a lot of denial. But ugh the sewer.

-My sister was right. The train graveyard is creepier.

-Oh crap I forgot to steal from Eligor. !@#$@#%

-Alright climb the pillar. This is kind of slightly more fun with the extra scenes from Reno and Rude.

-Whoa, they saved Wedge. Cuz he originally totally ate it. Like straight fell off the pillar several stories and was unresponsive.

-Biggs and Jessie still die. That’s fine. I actually feel less sorry for Jessie dying than I did with the original. :/ I think because they managed to actually make her irritating with how over the top they made her.

-Aerith and Marlene is so cute!

-Helicopter shots are annoying, but I like hearing Reno. It’s sad that Fujiwara Keiji died two days after this came out. This is like the last thing he did probably. But his voice fit Reno really well. I don’t think it fit Ardyn well. Ardyn I think deserved a lower register, but I think Square gave him the part probably because of his diagnosis cuz I think Ardyn’s in-game struggle in a sense reflected his real life trials in some way only in the game he became immortal. Real life not so much, but immortalized in a sense through these works. I wonder if Square would have wanted it to come out sooner so that maybe he could have played it himself a little bit before passing, but they had to push the date for quality and stuff.

-I don’t know why, but I really like looking at Reno’s open shirt. Like I think the way they did his abs are a bit different from Advent Children. I think his shirt is even open wider than in AC. *checks* Yeah, it is. AC it’s buttoned up toward the top and just the top one or two are left open. And okay for real Remake has his shirt open even more than even in the original. Nevermind him buttoning up more for AC, but like in original FF7 polygon Reno and original Nomura art Reno looks like it’s only unbuttoned to about mid-pecs. Remake Reno is like down to like the top of his stomach. I guess I can’t complain about the equal opportunity fan service.

-Tseng is actually done pretty well, but I keep looking at him cuz he just strikes me as odd.... Oh wait is it his hair? Is that a hair tie? I don’t think he had a hair tie before. I think we were just supposed to assume he had his hair slicked back and kept in place by gel or hair spray. Also his face is interesting cuz I think they tried to make him actually look Chinese, but I think he just turned out looking kind of like Tamaki Hiroshi. Oh and Suwabe-san!

-LOL Rude carrying Reno like a rag doll.

-And there goes the plate. Oh, no, Wedge. I guess he did die. But the kitties. ;o;

-Let me explore Wall Market! Ugh, fine.

-That Kyrie chick seems kind of a little annoying. I kind of want to let Barret hit her. But I’m probably biased because I had a hot mess of a flatmate with that name and she like didn’t clean up after herself and left dirty dishes in her room and like pushed it up against her roommate’s bed. >.> Like passing responsibility over them to someone else. And I think she maybe broke one of my cups? And like tried to use my stuff without asking? Maybe stole some stuff too but idk. And like worst of all was like she sold her car so she could get money because she couldn’t hold down a job and like needed money and instead of like you know paying rent and bills, she spent it on shoes and make up and left the receipt out for us to find.

-Wall Market is...different in the day time.

-All teh quests.

-Okay Kyrie is still kind of annoying and stupid when you talk with her one on one, but she at least seems better than my flatmate.

-Oh old lady is the Angel.

-Findin’ all the birds. It kind of strikes me that they added this in cuz of how much time it takes to get places and it’s kind of like XV and even the XIV MMO, but not. I guess it’s a staple now with their newer titles because of how grand they make the scenery.

-Down in the sewer again....

-I just really wanna find Corneo’s stash.

-OMG I got a chase this little asshole now.

-Okay so now Leslie. Leslie is a good guy after all. Not a bad new character too. Nice decent development and stuff.

-But gdi Corneo’s still alive. I mean, I knew that cuz Wutai, but ugh.... I think he deserved at least a punch in the face.

-Okay so anyway I guess I’m going up now. Just going to finish up stuff before I go past the point of no return. Get all teh things I can from the coliseum and all that.

-Climbing, climbing. Oops I missed a thing. Was I supposed to?

-Gdi this helicopter thinger is annoying. I can’t slash any boxes. Just kick them around.

-Okay done so I guess I’m going in.

-...Is this a parking lot?

-Oh okay so here’s the entrance.

-Shinra headquarters actually looks like a bigger version of Square Enix’s headquarters in Higashi Shinjuku. I’ve been there pretty recently and also like to cut through the office building to get to Artnia cuz I don’t want to walk all the way around. Decor and stuff and specifics are definitely different, but like the double tower U-shaped look with the walkway in the middle thing is very much how the building is in Shinjuku. Specifics with the stairs and escalators are also different, but kind of the same deal with some amount of ambient lighting at night time and the lobby and such is still mostly open in the evening for people who work late or want to pass through. Some of the doors being locked or like certain staircases and such being roped off are a thing as well. I just know this cuz I often go to Artnia around dinner time when I’m there, so it’s generally after hours already.

-I think even the parking lot situation might even be the same? I’m not sure because I usually take the subway and that let’s out into the mini mall downstairs, but parking if you go there and do that is like subterranean for sure and would be the first layer if it was on a plate.

-I mean, the HQ is also technically kind of on a plate also. Cuz the mini-mall is like below normal street level, but it’s like more cool with like a Lawson’s and restaurants. Coming up from the subway is also a lot similar POV-wise to coming up through grappling hook too in terms of perspective.

-Getting the key. Getting a glove on the way. This part is kind of cool. I always liked this part of the game in the original too and exploring an empty office.

-This is suspicious. I have to take a tour...?

-I guess this is interesting to learn about the company and stuff.

-Weird movie theater. Oh look a spoiler hallucination in the theater. It’s nice to see more of Sephiroth.

-Oh yeah the mayor. That’s a bit of a change that he’s secretly Avalanche. Whatever cool. Yay I got a weapon.

-I gotta do a battle simulator. Oh great I guess if I want items I have to sit here and do all the simulators.

-Oh look it’s Chadley. I have turn ins. Take my stuff.

-Okay so hike upstairs....oh shit they’re going in. Sneak slowly behind and like go around and explore stuff.

-Found the toilet. Haha. Tifa yells at Cloud if he goes in the wrong one. Good.

-This is a nice bathroom.

-Okay up in the vent.

-Interesting extra context and oh yeah Palmer saw Sephiroth.

-Hojo is more gross looking than I remember. Like piled on extra creep factor for him.

-Following into the lab. I guess I should be glad he wasn’t a dumbass and trying to mate Aerith with Red XIII.

-Interesting that it’s only now that they’re really making good use of Those Who Fight Further. I don’t think I’ve really heard it all that often before.

-Yay! Yamaguchi Kappei!

-This part getting serious with Sephiroth is appropriate, but kind of different with him starting to freak out.

-Oooh, Turks scene! It’s nice that they know they are fan favorites now and they put them in more scenes. I wish it would actually play their theme every time they show up like it used to. That’s what made them badass too.

-Aww, Aerith’s room.

-Interesting they are talking in Aerith’s room instead of getting captured and Aerith talking through the wall.

-Shinra science experiment...You’re probably not entirely wrong.

-Huh, wisdom from Red XIII. That’s different context.

-Wow, that’s different. Pointing out a different greater enemy so early. I guess it makes sense Aerith would know because of the whispers she hears, but also it kind of sucks the mystery of the progression of the original story.

-Dang, Sephiroth and Cloud confrontation-ish now? Not going to mysteriously take a body and stab the President?

-Oh joy another crazy rat maze.

-Hojo is definitely more gross than he used to be.

-Oh, nope. Just different order. There’s the trail of blood.

-Well, “blood”. Jenova blood is now apparently purple bubbling ooze.

-President Shinra is just hanging?! DISAPPOINTED. I liked it better when you just showed up and he had a giant sword in his back. Also wondering if you’d be blamed for it, but yeah, sword in the back!

-This is what you get for showing mercy. :/ Sword in back was better.

-Oh shut up already so Rufus can take over.

-Oh you get to watch the sword in the back.

-WTF. He’s not supposed to stab your party.

-Ghost things protecting fate is weird. But also I have some theories like the game is conscious that it’s a remake or something and for some reason they’re repeating history, but some things are different because people don’t do things in exactly the same way but certain things are fated to happen so they have to be preserved.

-Interesting that this game shows the cloaked figures going back and forth between Sephy. Kind of takes away the fun from years of debate on the subject about wtf is happening.

-And here’s Rufus. Still better than his Dad.

-I like that there’s more Turks footage than the original.

-Kind of nice that there’s more tender moments between Tifa and Cloud or rather we can experience them bonding more first hand.

-Did they make Wedge die in a different spot?

-Motorcycle bit is a bit different. Boss on motorcycle is kind of hard. Died once.

-I think it’s just cuz it’s a Remake that they added him here, but Sephiroth is at the end of the highway and I kind of think it sucks. :/ Cuz like it shouldn’t be like this.

-Why is Zack alive? Oh I think this is a flashback. Aww, this is supposed to be a hidden thing. ;o; Stop feeding them all the stuff. Let them find it.

-Whisper monsters...Okay this is just some kind of an AU. Like not really entirely a remake, but a different game in the same timeline cuz Sephy figured out somehow how to alter time and space. Aerith knows kind of what’s up because she became god essentially during AC. Would also explain why the game itself is giving away so many damn spoilers too.

-Holy shit, is Zack dead or not? D:

-Okay I looked up a thing and it said his death is ambiguous, but he’s never seen. Zack was an actual SOLDIER too so he could be a cloaked guy for all we know. But also at the end of AC it was both him and Aerith chilling together welcoming people to the lifestream so who the hell knows what she did.

-Biggs is alive?!

-So okay, if this is an AU things can change and I’m less gripey about the weird things that happened. Cuz it’s like just another pinpoint on the timeline that kind of has pseudo time travel and when you repeat things over again they’re not always exactly the same. I suppose for Square itself it’d be kind of boring to make an actual Remake because they don’t want to take away from the original and they want people to still buy that too cuz it was so good even though the graphics didn’t age so well. Instead they slapped Remake on a new title and trolled us all into thinking they actually did it when actually it’s like a timey wimey thing.

[theclosetpoet7]

Ticking Timebomb

A Cloti fic by theClosetPoet7

Rating: MA, of course, so after writing East of Midgar, a certain scene in there tempted me to expound on it. So here it is. ;) Thank you to my beta Denebola leo

Summary: His grip on her hand is tight, and his eyes on her own are too straightforward. Tifa is sure he knows what's going on within her heart. Of course he knows. [Set After Sephiroth's Defeat in the Original Game]

The scent of burning flesh fills her nostrils. Tifa takes a deep breath and tries to hold it in as they pass through the ashes and debris around them. Her hands are still shaking, the sight of what was once Midgar shattering something inside her. It nearly brings her to tears, nearly renders her weak on her knees, especially when she sees the incinerated bodies nearby, the outlines of human remains; men, women, children...children. She almost wants to run away from it all, to shield herself from the death surrounding her. However, running would be denying this tragedy, denying the lives that were lost. So she summons forth the courage she had been harboring before the final fight. The fact that they're living at all is one she should be grateful for.

But, she can't help but allow painful memories to flood into her head.

Nibelheim burning down.

Her father's bloody chest.

Jessie, Wedge and Biggs perishing under Sector 7's plate.

Aerith's shaking lips when Sephiroth's sword sliced through her.

And Cloud, falling… always falling.

Cloud.

Cloud.

"Tifa?"

His hand is on hers, Mako-enhanced eyes scrutinizing her out of concern for she had suddenly stopped walking, absentmindedly focusing her attention on a big block of concrete ten feet away from where she stood.

Barret waits meters ahead while he observes them, always the big papa bear. And though his face is a picture of pure rage, she knows that his heart is aching as well. Even when he curses under his breath.

Midgar was their home.

It is then when she realizes exactly where she's standing. The neon lights of Seventh Heaven's sign flashes stubbornly, though a few leads are broken. She almost smiles with relief and runs over, hastily opening the door with hope flickering in her heart only to find the sun's light shining mockingly on dust covered floors; broken chairs littering the establishment, shards of glass gathering over the shelves she had once judiciously kept neat and clean.

Wait, this isn't right.

She blinks and the illusion suddenly vanishes. Tifa sighs sadly when she realizes that she had just imagined seeing Seventh Heaven. She bends down to pick the sign off the floor. "Seven Seas". The nautical theme stands out to her this time. It was a restaurant, one that wasn't exempt from all the destruction around them.

She hears him call out to her yet stays rooted in her spot, holding the tears at bay, trying with all her might to not be seen crying.

She had been feeling like this ever since their party disbanded; when the rest of their friends decided to return home. It was just her, Barret and Cloud again. And because all the excitement, fear, and adrenaline had been flushed from her system the moment her last fist had landed on Sephiroth, Tifa could not help but mourn over the loss they've suffered since it all began.

Her heart had always been kept locked away from the others. She never wanted them to see her waver like this. Now, with the realization of the consequences of their past actions, and the grief upon having Midgar perish because of it; because of the sins of the terrorist group she was a part of, she just couldn't hold it together.

His hand settles on her shoulder then.

"Tifa."

His voice acts as an anchor to keep her in the present, to keep her here, with him, before she disappears along with the ghosts of the past inhabitants of the broken city. She can't stop herself anymore, so she launches herself into his arms, shaking as she finally lets her tears fall.

Barret rests against the door while he lets her empty all her tears.

He watches as she cracks in front of them..

.

.

Cloud holds onto her hand after that. And as they continue to navigate their way through all the rubble, Tifa shyly accepts the comfort. A merchant on a run down jeep tells them that there is a refugee camp nearby.

"It's about seventeen miles to the North."

She tries not to dwell too much on the fact that his eyes looked dead as he tells them that they've got lots of room; noting the subtlety of his implication that there are only a few survivors.

Her childhood friend's grip tightens around her own as they bid the kind stranger goodbye, reassuring her that everything is going to be alright. She glances straight ahead, squinting her eyes while she looks towards the direction they were pointed to. Though ashes fall around, the brightness of the sun bears down harshly over all of them and she begrudgingly wishes for a cold shower right now. It had been so long since she's been given the time to cleanse her body of the dirt and grime that comes with combat.

She used to be conscious about this fact when they first started their adventures. As time went on and she had been able to trade giggles with Aerith, the flower girl's opinion had been one that erased any insecurities she had.

"If you think you smell, Tifa, then I gotta be honest, those men stink even more."

Their laughter echoes on in her head, reminding her that even though Aerith is no longer with them, she had left them precious memories with her. That, is another thing to be grateful for. A hint of a smile comes to her face.

"Finally."

"Hm?"

Cloud has halted his steps and now stands to her right as he observes her gently.

"You haven't smiled in a while."

She wants to point out that neither has he, but decides against it.

"I suppose I haven't. There's nothing to smile about right now."

"You're right. This isn't like you though."

It would probably irritate someone else for this kind of thing to be pointed out, but this is Cloud Strife here. This is her man. She blushes a deep red at the thought. Did she just say her man? Could she even claim him as such? Their actions the night before their battle at the Northern Crater had been magical. And if she was being honest, it probably meant so much more to her.

"I think I'll meet her there."

He had almost died, yet when he had snapped out of it, his first thoughts were about meeting Aerith again. It wasn't that she was jealous or anything. Or perhaps she was. She would be lying if she said that seeing them connect in that way never sprung forth this feeling of loneliness inside her; as if she wasn't part of that light conversation they were having.

Even if she truly loved Aerith with all her heart.

Perhaps Cloud loved her as well?

In a way a lover would?

In the way he marked her as his own that night? He had been so eager, so passionate, so attentive to her needs.

So...

She blushes again.

It had been amazing.

Still, she doesn't know what it all means anyway.

She drowns those thoughts away and starts to smile again. She knows that he can read her face without asking further but is sure that he won't push if it seemed like she doesn't want to talk about it.

He must've decided on letting go of the fact that she had just faked her smile.

"What am I like then?"

It's his turn to look flustered. Tifa wonders if it's his boyish charm coming out but she finds it cute when he puts a hand to his chin and gives a far-off look.

"You're strong, and optimistic. You're everyone's strength, Tifa."

She hums in reply, eyes also drifting away out of bashfulness.

"Don't worry."

Her attention goes back to the world's hero.

Her hero.

"I'll be here to remind you of who you are."

Her hand is in his again, and he doesn't say anything else before he resumes their trek. Barret has been calling out to them for a while now.

She doesn't know what to say to that. He had her heart racing with that proclamation.

_______________

"Shinra?"

"Yes."

The concierge smiles kindly while he guides them around the hotel. Like the merchant had said, they had a lot of rooms available; though the once grand building has been modified to suit refugees who have come from nearby; food packages and a soup kitchen had been set up to cater to everyone's needs. As it turns out, most of the donations came from the Shinra Company.

It baffles her because she swears that they were always up to no good. Then again, being presented with the possibility of the world ending can make people reconsider. Even Reeve had changed his mind before all this.

Barret huffs at the news and crosses his arms in front of him. It is already late into the night, and they have been walking for nearly twenty hours before they finally arrived here. She recognizes that look on his face. He isn't planning to stay.

Cloud must have seen the defeated slump of her shoulders because he doesn't hesitate in his decision.

"We'll be staying the night."

Both men merely stare at each other.

Tifa wonders if they're about to argue. However, Barret backs down immediately, probably sensing the futility of it all.

"I thought as much. Tifa looks beaten."

"She stayed behind too long."

"I know."

The Avalanche founder turns to her and walks over to ruffle her hair. He hasn't done that in a while.

"You need to rest."

"But you…"

"Don't even protest, coz Spiky here won't have it if I let you travel any further tonight."

"I am not weak."

"We know you're not, Teef. We just want you to rest."

Cloud's concerned voice is enough to let her release a sigh. Honestly, they were right anyway. She wanted to shower so badly. And the prospect of sleeping on a soft bed tonight isn't one she wants to pass on.

"I heard that they're building a new city nearby, we can meet there once I get Marlene."

It sounded like a temporary plan. Nonetheless, it was good enough.

"Fine. Barret, do you really not want to rest first?"

"You know why kid, I am not past it yet."

And that is how he leaves them, giving them a thumbs up as he exits the establishment while he flashes Cloud a look of suspicion once they are left alone.

"So that will be two rooms then?"

They had forgotten about the concierge staring awkwardly at them through the exchange. Tifa almost nods her head but Cloud beats her to it.

"Just one."

_______________

The door closes shut behind him. Cloud leans his sword against the wall and bends down to pour a glass of water for both of them. The soup that was served had eggs in it. It was diluted and had way too much salt, even so, it had satisfied their hunger.

The room is small but it would suffice, and with its own bathroom as well as a tiny deck up front, Tifa thinks that it's a luxury and wonders sheepishly if her blond companion had managed to sneak in some gil for them to be upgraded. It might seem selfish considering that there are others seeking help here. Of course, humanity can never let go of greed.

It doesn't surprise her in the least when they are rewarded with perks once they have presented the money. Still though, it is a welcomed comfort she plans to enjoy while she can. She immediately grabs a towel on the bed, eyes trying to veer away from the fact that it is a queen sized one, bigger than the usual hotel beds they stayed in during their travels.

"Cloud, you don't mind if I go in first, right?"

He nods his head and Tifa wastes no time in getting in and turning the tap on to bask in the shower's spray over her figure. Nothing like a bath to calm the nerves down.

_______________

"Cloud?"

She wonders if she's dreaming, the warmth of the sheets on her skin had provided her with so much comfort that as soon as she laid her worn out body against the smooth cotton, she couldn't help but drift off. Scarlet eyes clear, the blurriness of the room's light fades away. And it is then when she realizes that, no, she isn't dreaming.

Cloud is leaning over her, hands settling on both sides of her body while hers are spread out beside her head, palms facing up, fingers curled as she regards him with careful consideration. The droplets of water from his wet strands fall onto her cheeks, causing her to shiver while she waits for his reply.

He says nothing, lowering himself down to meet her lips halfway, pausing a few inches from her, giving her the incentive to close the distance herself. So she kisses him with all the want she has, feeling an amount of relief when he moans into her mouth and deepens it to push his tongue in as he tangles it with hers.

He is confident this time, so unlike the man who had timidly said that he didn't know what to say. She guesses that he had taken what she had said to heart. That words aren't the only way to tell someone how you're feeling. She lets him communicate to her in his own way. And with his tongue deep in her mouth, the taste of mint toothpaste stimulating her taste buds, Tifa thinks that she wants more.

Wants to feel his tongue wrap around her pert nipple.

Wants to curve her body to his hands' touch.

Wants to feel him pulsing within her.

Wants to indulge herself in that dance again.

He brushes his lips on hers over and over, groaning out when she slides her hand into his hair to draw him closer. When he pulls away, a string of saliva separating their mouths, Tifa manages to say,

"I thought we needed to rest…"

...before he's kissing her again, and his hands part the cotton robe she has on and strips himself of his own as he takes her breasts in his hands and watches her when she lets out a gasp of pleasure.

She supposes it was only a matter of time before they found their way back to each other's arms. She had been afraid to light that fuse once more, worried that this might compromise the friendship they've built, thinking that maybe their emotions only got the best of them when they solidified their promise before the last fight.

But...

But when she opens her heart to him, she knows that it is inevitable. This bond they have is a ticking time bomb, counting down the minutes before they unravel those desires again; crossing the red line into the point of no return, engaging themselves in their carnal desires until all they can do is race towards completion. Like that night.

At the edge of devastation.

He's between her legs, the outline of his nearly hard cock rubbing against the inner side of her thigh as he rises above her, meeting her carmine orbs with the fierceness he's always reserved for battle.

"Tell me you want me to stop."

She takes hold of his member, soft hands moving in an up and down motion, a fondle that rewards her with his virile grunt, hips already moving to her touch.

"I don't want you to."

He doesn't hesitate after that.

Something has awakened in Cloud. He's more forward, more crude. And it fans the flames of her desire and moistens her cunt when he says that he wants to fuck her.

There is no modesty there unlike the first time, his hands are more attuned to her body; more aware. He pushes her hand away from him and pins it beside her head, taking in deep breaths and reassuring her that it isn't because he didn't enjoy her touch. In fact, he was enjoying it far too much to be able to hold back and, he didn't want it to be over too soon.

"I want to taste you."

She blinks up at him. His eyes look intense, cheeks red and mouth panting out puffs of breath as he watches for her reaction.

Her throat is dry at the sight of him, with his broad shoulders over her, the defined lines of his abs stealing her air as she follows that dark trail of blond curls, finally realizing the fact that they're already naked.

"Will you let me, Teef?"

He has a feral look on him, teasing her with what he can offer, letting her catch a glimpse of the sensations he is capable of invoking in her.

Too much.

It is too much.

How could she resist?

She could only nod at that and directs her eyes to the ceiling, staring blankly above while her fingers tangle in his soft strands. He's taking his time in getting to her core, a kiss on her clavicle, a brief suck on her breast, taking it slow, adding fuel to the fire little by little. And she loves it. Loves the wetness of his tongue as he traces her taut stomach, loves the way he bends her legs to expose her; to gain more access.

Loves him.

Only him.

When he kisses her there for the first time, she bucks off the mattress. Almost pushing him away only to be held down by his hands pressing into both her thighs to keep her in place. Trapping her there, making her surrender to his ministrations.

"Cloud, I…"

Gaia, it feels amazing. He is working wonders in her. And he's lapping at her with such ferocity that it all but takes her a few minutes before she already reaches that peak, that sharp itch that makes her quiver with delight when it finally snaps.

.

.

.

He's easing her in, thumb caressing her clit while he prolongs her pleasure and lets her ride out the waves of her orgasm. It's a feeling so relaxing yet so erotic that she only wants to do more.

When he pulls away from her and sets his knees on the sheets, she couldn't help but grab onto his forearm, panicked mind fearing that he's about to leave her. The surprise in his eyes is evident. Nevertheless, there is understanding there as well, like he knows exactly what she is afraid of. So, to erase her doubts, he crashes his lips to hers, pressing her tenderly onto her back while he spreads her wide for his cock's entrance.

The second time is even more pleasurable, there is still some pain, but it is only a dull ache compared to the sharpness of his first entry. Yet he manages to be just as gentle. Slowly moving out only to push back in, gauging her reactions, arms shaking as he holds himself up, steadily, like he's afraid of hurting her; afraid to lose control. It is an action so tender yet so risque. Because here they were, on a queen sized bed in the aftermath of the world's near end, naked and vulnerable.

And connected.

Connected.

When the slow thrusting proves to be too little for the rough pounding she wants, Tifa raises herself to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Cloud, fuck me."

She uses that scandalous word, and knows that it will only serve to ignite his desire, the same way it stoked hers. And it does. Because after, he's pushing her deeper into the bed, and he takes hold of her legs over his forearms while he goes into a hard rhythm. Her hand grips the headboard when he continues his thrusts, already feeling that second peak coming, still so sensitive from the first one.

His grunts and their bodies slapping against the other is all that she hears. Tifa cums with her legs squeezing around his shoulders, screaming his name with absolute want as she convulses around him, thinking that maybe he will come with her.

He isn't nearly done with her yet for he slams an elbow beside her head and kisses her while he continues to jerk his hips to hers.

His lips find purchase of the shell of her ear, whispering sweet nothings that only make her blush.

"I'll be here to remind you."

He drives in to the hilt and picks up the pace.

"I'll remind you of who you are."

He laces his fingers with hers.

"I'll be here, Tifa."

The next thing she knows, he's rolling her onto her stomach, a grunt full of yearning coming out of his lips when he takes her again from behind and fucks her like an animal. It is a position that might have brought shame before but only serves to fill her with even more of him.

She buries her face into the pillow, and she arches her back and presses her ass to him as he fights for his own completion.

In and out.

He thrusts in and out of her.

Breath released in harsher puffs as he nears it.

She wants to come again but feels like it is too greedy considering he has already given her too much, so she lets him rut against her, lets him work towards his own release, feeling him throb and expand until he finally bursts inside and gasps her name in a voice so full of want and need. A string of profanities coming out of his mouth while his hips instinctively continues its harsh jerking, fingers digging into her ass while he empties all of his creamy ejaculate into her heated core.

When he slumps on her back, Cloud slides her damp hair out of the way and trails kisses on her shoulder. He leans his sweaty head to the back of hers, hands rubbing her waist in a tender way as if he is trying to ease any bruises.

"I'm sorry, was that too rough?"

She is silent at first, the ache still remaining. He had nearly taken her to her third one; was five jackhammers too short.

"Tifa?"

"I was almost there."

"Hm?"

She blushes furiously as Cloud turns her over, covering her cheeks upon the realization of what she is about to ask. Then again, it is too late for maiden shyness now.

"I almost came again."

His brows shoot up at the admission, but he smirks at her before taking his fingers into his mouth, lubricating it with his spit and then with that teasing look in his eyes, he lowers his hand to her core, letting his fingers do what his cock was doing just moments before. She arches her back and lets him cater to her needs.

"Harder?"

"Mm."

He complies with her request.

She sees stars when she comes undone, her hands grip the sheets as she tries to latch onto the immense feeling of satisfaction he has given her, legs shaking and lips trembling when she calls out to him.

Sex with Cloud is amazing.

That is all she can say.

It is simply amazing.

And with the way the concierge eyed them with tense reception as they came down to check out, Tifa knows that she isn't the only one who knows that. They feel like rambunctious teenagers as they sneak glances at each other while he hands them the receipt and stiffly tells them to have a good day.

She laughs genuinely this time, hand already clasping his as they take the road down to that new city Barret was talking about, meeting Cloud's cerulean eyes with all the love she could muster.

Nurturing her insecurities will come another day. For now, she wants to stay with him, to be there when he too starts to feel like he is losing himself. To be there to remind him of who he is.

Because in the aftermath of humanity's near extinction, Tifa Lockhart finds herself with the boy who once consumed her every thought the moment he left.

She finds herself with the man she has come to love after all this time.

And

She finds herself.

_______________

AN: Ugh, these smutty ideas are distracting me but I will upload them anyway :D Thank you to Denebola Leo for being my Beta! :D So "Timebomb" by Walk the Moon has yet again inspired some of the lines I typed up. The song just has this poetic feeling of want that I just... oh my. haha

R R

[fabricatedsoldier]

☆ ━━━ His life is made of MOMENTS that SCREAM at him.

Cloud Strife is fragmented, pieces of him shattered, others torn and ragged and unable to fit anymore. He is a quilt with fabric and chunks that don’t match, ugly and tainted.

He is no one.

Once though, before, he was someone. God, he can still hear himself say it: “I’m an ex-SOLDIER.”

He even remembers the way he said it–lips pursed, unyielding until the information was pried from him, and even then it left him reluctantly, blue eyes shining in anxiousness. Then he was a scraggly thing–arms and legs spindly, his sleeveless sweater and pants hanging off of his frame. He looked starved, his eyes misty as he plodded along, carrying a damn sword three times his size.

Next to that sword he looked so slight, like it might make him topple at any second. And the way he carried it: grasping the handle tightly enough to make his knuckles white, shouldering the thing like it weighed nothing at all, but when he got especially tired sometimes he stumbled because of it. But he never stopped carrying that mammoth sword.

“I’m Cloud Strife, ex-SOLDIER.”

He’d say it again and again, like a mantra. Maybe it was. That title–SOLDIER–was like a worry stone. Whenever he thought he couldn’t make it, whenever the sword got too heavy, whenever Sephiroth looked him in the eyes and smiled so cruelly his stomach turned–

“I’m an ex-SOLDIER.”

For him, it meant he did something. When he was little and the other kids stared at him and threw rocks at his shins and said things like, “Bastard child! Bastard child!” he dreamed about the day he would carry his sword, adorned in his uniform, come sauntering back into town with a hundred shiny badges that declared he was so, so strong… they’d never call him names again.

UNTIL HIS HOME WAS BURNED DOWN, FLAMES RISING, PEOPLE SCREAMING, HIS MOTHER BURIED UNDER THE SMOLDERING RUBBLE–

Ex-SOLDIER.

There are other times too, of course, that he can look back on and not cry–no, he never cried.

When he fell through the roof of the church, light streaming in from the hole he had made, he felt breathless. He couldn’t see. It was black. All he could hear was her voice, singing through the darkness behind his lids, soft and mesmerizing.

“…You alright? …Can you hear me?”

“…Yeah…” He answered, just as softly. He knew he could open his eyes then, but he chose not to, just listening, listening.

“Back then… I only got scraped knees…” She told him.

“…What do you mean by ‘back then’?” He’d remember this later: he had a right to ask.

It would have made all the difference. Later, he’d also remember this was the way Aeris was–she was always hiding, like it was a game, and it was his turn to seek her out. The funny thing was he never found her, not once.

“What about now? Can you get up?” She was back to business then. He could understand, in that moment, why she chose the distance. It was safer. He was grateful for it.

“…What do you mean by back then? …What about now?”

What about now?

Maybe that was the most important thing. With her, it’d always been about then and now. He had been too blind to see it.

“…Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself now.”

What she didn’t know was that he didn’t care to worry about himself. He wanted to worry about anything else.

“…I’ll try.” A lie.

“Hello, hello!” He could hear this more clearly, pulling him out of the darkness.

When he woke up and saw her there, kneeling, those green on blue, he felt something click into place. She explained he fell through her ceiling.

“…I came crashing down?” He asked, a little dumbfounded.

Then he noticed the flowers, plush beneath him, yellow and shining in the light. Flowers didn’t grow in Midgar, he thought instantly. But there they were.

SHE’S PRAYING, KNEELING, A SWORD SLIDES THROUGH HER–BLOOD–THEN SHE’S FLOATING IN THE WATER, SLEEPING–

If only they had told him he had it all wrong. But no one stepped up and told him the truth. They let him play make-believe. They let him use that sword, that tainted sword that was not his.

And when he spun around and told them, earnestly, “I’m the hero you’ve been waiting for!”

They all nodded at him eagerly, said how they needed him–

They all lied.

“You forgot the promise, too,” Tifa said, shaking her head. It wasn’t a question, it was a fact.

Maybe he had forgotten, but somewhere, deep in the rubble of his memories, he could see the two of them perched on a well.

He could see her below the spiraling tower of junk that acted as the town’s well, kicking her feet as she looked up at the stars. Not at him as he declared, boldly, that he was leaving to join SOLDIER and might not come back for a long, long time. No, she was looking at the stupid stars! (He remembered suddenly feeling a little hurt by that, because it had taken a lot of guts to ask her to come out there in the first place.)

But then she made him promise.

“If I’m ever in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me,” she had pronounced. She believed that wholeheartedly. He was surprised that she could look at him and think that he could ever really be a hero.

He’s racing into the Mako Reactor.

Something’s wrong, something’s wrong. His heart is hammering in his ears, but he keeps his helmet tightly on, still, even now, afraid that someone in the town might recognize him. Zack already pushed ahead, quickly, his face drawn in such a dark way that Cloud hardly recognized him.

Cloud is inside the Reactor–

There is Tifa lying on the ground, looking small like a child all of a sudden–Cloud can almost see her in that same teal dress, splattered with blood, her little eyes closed, her mouth open…

There’s a terrible anger inside him, eating him alive, incensing his heart so that it charges on, THUMPTHUMPTHUMP–

“Tifa!” He calls, cradling her.

He’s so scared. His home is in flames. Everyone is dead. But there’s something inside of him, flickering, and he seizes it with trembling hands, flies up the stairs–

He sees those boys, leering at him from afar, “Bastard child! Bastard child!”

They are dead now. Everyone is dead–

When he meets Sephiroth deep within the Reactor, the Lifestream bubbling beneath them and coloring everything in a clear, pure teal, he wants to cry and scream. Instead, he fights.

And somehow, even when Sephiroth impales him and laughs, Cloud wins.

He’s the hero.

But no one witnesses it–no one sees Sephiroth fall into the Lifestream with the mangled head of his ‘mother’, no one cheers and grins.

Instead, Cloud loses consciousness and is then abducted, used in experiments so that ShinRa could make their perfect human weapon…

“A delivery boy?” Cloud asks, toneless, his eyebrows raising in question.

Tifa is wiping down the bar. It still smells new, like lumber and antiseptic. Maybe the latter is because she keeps running the rag over the wood, over and over, the counter so shiny he can almost see his reflection in it. She’s always kept her bars spotless, but ever since the new one opened up in Edge she’s been endlessly dusting, sweeping, and mopping. Cloud usually made a point to avoid this completely (lest she asked for his help, and everyone knew he couldn’t clean for shit), but tonight it is late and he doesn’t feel like being out there, fighting the new fiends that prowl around the city and beyond.

“Well, sure,” she says brightly, avoiding his dubious gaze as she pulls and knots the rag tight, spilling out the extra water into a small bucket. “You have the motorcycle. It’d do you good to get out there and work. I can tell you’re getting… antsy.”

This last word makes him look away too, eyes trained on the liquor bottles neatly lined behind the counter. His blue gaze touches each one, skipping to the next and reading the label.

In front of him is a small glass of water, the cup dripping on the counter despite the wet napkin beneath it.

“Antsy?” He says finally, trying to sound amused but it comes out flat instead.

She just looks at him with that same pitiful expression on her face. He can’t stand it. It’s the look that made him disappear for hours, ignoring his cell. He stares back at her in defiance.

“I’m just… bored,” he explains, taking a long sip of water.

That’s one way to put it at least. Maybe his endless pacing was just because he was bored, and his glassy expressions, as he stared at a flower or outside a window, simply because he is tired of the scenery. And maybe, just maybe, when he screamed in the middle of the night, sitting upright in bed and holding his face, well, maybe that was just because he had nowhere to put all the energy he had bundled up during the day.

A job would fix all of that. Right.

“It would be good for you Cloud,” Tifa presses. “Getting out there, moving on. Everyone’s rebuilding, you know?”

As if he needs the reminder. Edge is the biggest city since the Lifestream cleansed the planet, destroying everything. Everyday he sees the cranes, the trucks pushing loads of steel through, the construction workers clogging up the streets. Everyone else is moving on, just like she says. He doesn’t know why he can’t do the same.

And then, “Tifa?”

Cloud turns to see Denzel on the stairs, one hand on the rail while the other rubs his eyes.

He looks surprised to see Cloud there, slumped at the bar.

“What’s wrong?” Tifa asks at once, worry creasing her forehead.

Cloud knows right away what is wrong. Denzel can’t sleep. Like Cloud, he’d wake up in the middle of the night or toss and turn until he fell off the bed with a thump. Cloud knew this because when he would lie awake each night, staring off at a wall, he could hear Denzel on the other side whimpering, plagued by monsters he couldn’t actually fight.

But Cloud never said anything and usually stayed in his own bed, Tifa on hers across the room, listening as Denzel would patter down the stairs for a drink of water.

Denzel is about to answer, his cheeks pink with shame, when Cloud says, pushing away from the bar smoothly, “I got it.”

“Cloud?” Tifa stares at him as he walks over to Denzel, motioning for him to go upstairs.

“I said I got it,” Cloud insists, disappearing from view.

Once in Denzel’s room, which looks much like his own, the little boy slips into his bed and sighs, looking dejectedly at the other side of the room. He pointedly avoids Cloud’s steady gaze. The blonde moves to sit tentatively at the end of his bed, perched there like he might take flight at any moment, teetering on the edge.

“You didn’t have to come,” Denzel mutters.

Cloud shrugs, “I wanted to.” He pauses, the quiet settling around them, until he asks, “What’s wrong?”

“I… can’t sleep,” Denzel mumbles, looking more ashamed than ever to be admitting this to Cloud.

“Me too.”

Denzel looks genuinely surprised, as if somehow he missed Cloud’s tormented screams choking out of his bedroom door each night.

Denzel is picking at his comforter when he asks, quietly, “Why not?”

Cloud is suddenly regretting coming up here. He isn’t entirely sure why he did, either. But maybe Denzel understood Cloud in a way the others could not, and maybe that meant something.

Cloud is willing, just this once, to offer up more than silence. He looks at Denzel with that same steady gaze, then back to the window, to the stars outside he can now see clearly, uncovered by the Plate that once hovered above.  

“The memories I think,” Cloud says thoughtfully, ducking his head and looking to the floor.

“Yeah. Me too. But they scare me, even though it’s over. I don’t want to be scared. How can I make it stop?”

Cloud wishes he had some advice to offer here, but he shakes his head instead, his silver earring glinting from the moonlight.

“I don’t know.”

Denzel, being the clever boy he is, finds the tender spot there, even though Cloud’s face is impassive and his voice as flat as ever.

“So… you’re scared too? Of the memories? I didn’t think–”

Denzel stops abruptly, and Cloud looks to him, his impossible eyes gleaming in the dark.

“What?”

“…I didn’t think,” Denzel starts again, fervently picking off lint that isn’t there from his covers. “I didn’t think you ever got scared.”

Cloud wishes this were true. He wishes he felt anything but scared. Right now he feels it too, shivering despite the humid, spring air.

“Everyone gets scared,” Cloud responds solemnly.

HE’S ON AN AIRSHIP AND BELOW HE SEES THE LIFESTREAM FLOODING OVER EVERYTHING, BUILDINGS BLASTING APART, THE WORLD SCREAMING–HE WONDERS IF HE DID THIS, WONDERS IF THIS IS THE PLANET’S FINAL REVENGE, WASHING EVERYTHING AWAY, CLEANSING THE WORLD OF ITS SINS…

“Can’t I just forget it all?” Denzel asks Cloud.

Finally Cloud stands, shadowed in the dark. He turns to Denzel with the barest of smiles on his lips.

“I don’t think so. But warm milk helps,” Cloud answers. “My mom used to give me a glass when I couldn’t sleep. I still…” But he stops, thinking this is too much, too hard to remember. “You want some?” He settles with finally.

Denzel nods.

“Thanks, Cloud.”

When Denzel comes home with the gray blotches over his forehead, Cloud feels dizzy. Like the world is titling and he might fall off, spinning endlessly into nothing.

It’s Tifa grasping his hand that brings him back, her horrified whisper flooring him, “Geostigma…”

But she doesn’t run away, not like Cloud will later.

Her eyes are welling with tears but she drops to her knees and throws her arms over Denzel, embracing him tightly, whispering fiercely, right in his ear, “Don’t you worry, don’t worry. We’re going to fight this…”

Cloud just stands there, staring.

He leaves for the church the next day. He does not come back to the bar.

Cloud is sitting on his sleeping bag, peeling off a bandage sticky with gray puss. He drops the once white strip to the floor, grimacing, and then carefully takes a clean cloth and wraps it once, twice, around his arm, knotting it tightly.

Then he looks off to the flowers that are still shining like he remembers.

He looks around the crumbling place that smells faintly of mildew and dust, covered barely by the sweet scent of flowers.

He goes to the flowers then, kneels beside them. And he takes his gloved hands, touching each petal. He tends to them–waters them from a chipped mug that he brought along, trims the wilting petals, moving around the dirt as necessary.

Maybe this is what he deserves. He believes this, even as he watches over the flowers. He finally got Geostigma. He accepts his fate coldly.

“I couldn’t save anyone,” he tells the flowers quietly. “No reason I should be saved.”

[destinydefied]

“hey, hey now! it’s okay! i’m alright…”

               @sinumsolis​.  /  lost meme.  /  not accepting.

cloud  bolts  upright in bed  ,  one hand outstretched towards empty air.  it was always the  same  thing  ,  over  &  over again.  that day  ,  just outside midgar  ,  when shinra’s forces had all but  cornered  them.  his memory of it was  hazy  at best  ,  no doubt due to the mako poisoning  ,  but he’s not  oblivious  to the truth of it: that they  both  got incredibly lucky.  he  knows  zack is alive  ,  he  knows  that  ,  but it doesn’t seem to stop cloud from thinking about it.

every night  ,  he watches zack fight through the haze of his mako poisoning  ,  taking hit after hit  ,  bullet after bullet  ,  in an effort to protect him  ,  just like he  had  been the whole time.  he wakes up just in time to watch zack  die  ,  to see him bleed out in the rain  &  die  ,  leaving cloud  alone  to carry on his memory.  it’s always so  vivid  ,  he can  feel  the rain  ,  smell  the blood  ,  he can even hear zack’s  voice  when he speaks  ,  always saying the same damn thing. 

you’ll be...my living legacy. 

he doesn’t realize he was  crying  until he hears the bed creak next to him under zack’s weight as he sits up  ,  &  he feels zack’s hands on his shoulders  ,  gently pulling his hands from his hair  &  holding them.  he didn’t want to wake him up  ,  really  ,  but it seemed as though his light sleeping habits never fully went away.  cloud knows he looks a  mess  ,  but hadn’t realized he’d been  calling  for zack until the other speaks.

hey, hey now, it’s okay, i’m alright.

cloud  knows  that.  logically  ,  he  knows  zack is okay  ,  that he’s  alive  &  he’s  here  ,  it’s not something he could forget so  easily  .  he sniffles  pathetically  ,  looking away from zack  &  feeling his hands  shake  slightly within zack’s hold.  his voice is  rough  when he speaks  ,  throat burning slightly  ,  &  he wonders how much he must’ve been  screaming  . 

‘ ‘m fine.  you should go back to sleep. ’

[s-ephiroth]

Silver Birdcage [Chapter 19]

I can’t believe we’re 19 chapters into this. Woah. That’s wild.

Anyway. I love Aerith. A lot.

[From The Beginning] || [Current Update] || [Ko-fi]

“So,” Aerith started, her hair free in the wind as she twirled her staff around, and her eyes hidden from his sight by her pink ribbon, “we meet again.”

“Yeah…” Cloud sighed, letting himself sink on the flower field that expanded all around them. Some part of him was aware of the fact that she hadn’t come for a visit on her own; that he had called for her in such a trying time and she had reacted to the request kindly. But he didn’t know what to talk about, not really.

Maybe he just wanted to lie down on her flowers for a while, just so he could forget for a second or two about seeing Sephiroth return for a moment, only to go under once more.

He hadn’t woken up ever since whatever remained of Jenova burned down to black ashes, much like a puppet cut off from its strings. Cloud didn’t know whether to feel glad to be freed from an uncomfortable position or to fear the worst. All he knew was that he’d made Sephiroth as comfortable as he could, had taken care of him and waited on his bedside, startling himself at the softest of the gasps, thinking that something, anything would happen at any moment, even if it was just for Sephiroth to wake up again as he had been before that incident, without any real change to his case.

Nothing really happened on that same day Rufus had dropped by. Likewise, nothing big happened the day after, other than maybe the smell of mako having become weaker than it usually was, encouraging him deep inside to keep hoping, though it hurt to keep looking at Sephiroth like that.

Cloud had fallen asleep with Cait Sith on his lap, that night.

“You’re back to where you started, aren’t you?” She asked, the tip of her staff burying into the fresh soil. Even though she could no longer sense Sephiroth anywhere near the Lifestream, she could feel her friend’s distress, could listen to the thoughts oozing out of him sometimes and guess.

Aerith heard him hum in response and waited patiently, taking to walking around the staff while she held on it. She noticed Cloud sitting upright, seeing without really doing so through the improvised blindfold.

“I know it’s been only a day and a half,” he said with a sigh, “but the longer he stays like that, the longer I look at him… I can’t help but think…” He trailed off, trying to gather the words needed to say it but failing.

There’s a chance he’ll never wake up. And I think it’s my fault.

She was near him in an instant, holding him down against the flowers and the dirt with her staff against his chest. He might have the strength of a SOLDIER among the living, but in that dreamlike place — her place — she had the upper hand and the power to pin him down for as long as she wished.

“Cloud,” she breathed, “Cloud. Even if that happens, it won’t be your fault, alright? So please, don’t blame yourself. It won’t help him if you do.”

She had to catch his hand when he reached it up to her face, aware of his intention of removing her ribbon and seeing her for how he last remembered her; blood soaking her dress and no life flowing through her, and then… having to fight while she grew colder, having to put her down on that lake to rest, having to—

Aerith could feel water touching her legs and feet where she was, straddling Cloud and trying to keep him from taking the blame as he wished to do. He was clearly thinking about that one moment, too, then.

“Aerith—”

“Don’t blame yourself for me,” she whispered with a soft smile. “I knew it before I left. That it would happen.” She moved her staff away from him and stood at last. “That’s why I left by myself. Because that was something I needed to do. And even if that didn’t happen like it did, calling for Holy would’ve done it anyway.”

“But you said you’d be back,” Cloud countered.

“And I am, silly. I’m right here. Just because I’m not out there it doesn’t mean I’m totally gone.” She circled him, ruffling his hair as she went and squatting behind him to tie her ribbon around his head as a blindfold for his eyes instead. “It’s okay if you don’t want to look at it too much,” Aerith whispered into his ear, “and it’s alright to feel afraid it might take a bad turn. But please be kind to yourself.”

He reached up, keen on touching her, offering a little something in exchange for her words, but being unable to feel anything under his fingers but petals.

It’s not your fault, the wind whispered before he woke up. It’s not your fault.

Maybe part of what scared him about that was having a Sephiroth who was technically isolated; a sign that definitely wasn’t a good one, as his traumas had taught him long ago, back in Nibelheim. A sign that made him worry after he had seen Sephiroth regret the actions under his name, after he’d seen him longing for death like that.

There was never anything good about leaving a troubled Sephiroth on his own.

But there wasn’t much he could do about it and as Aerith told him, (which he needed to remember quite often) blaming himself for it wouldn’t help, would only bring in more despair without any sort of solace. He had to wait and see; watch over the familiar figure breathing gently with a blanket and a brand new shawl over him and hope for the best.

(Cloud thought Sephiroth looked nice with that mismatched set of wings protecting him.)

On the fourth day, without any warning, Tifa came.

Her hair was somewhat shorter than he remembered it being before they parted ways, and she had a thin, new scar on her cheek. She told him Cid had to go back to Rocket Town, but that their pilot friend had gave her a ride. Before she’d said anything, however, she had thrown herself at him as soon as she saw him, still strong enough that she could lift him up with that hug.

They sat down in the room and talked for hours, with her noting that Sephiroth looked a little more human with his hair braided over his shoulder and with that shawl over him, less intimidating than he’d been before.

And of course, Tifa knew about Rufus’ visit and expressed her worry, then her relief about the fate of Jenova’s remains.

Cloud asked her about the pink ribbon she was wearing on her arm, once he finally noticed it, and she told him how the others came up with the idea of wearing them in memory of their fallen friend, before producing a couple of them out of her pocket. She didn’t explicitly say anything about one of them being for Sephiroth, but she glanced in his direction anyway and said, “If he’s not that person, if he has regrets, then maybe…” trailing off and shaking her head as if not wanting to think too much about it, not wanting to change her mind and take one of those extra ribbons away with her.

She left before dinner, in an old truck that came to pick her up and had been waiting outside of the town. She was headed to Nibelheim and Cloud couldn’t help but worry a little about her.

It had taken Sephiroth a week going through what the old manor had to offer before he emerged, ready to set not only that particular mountain town on fire but also the whole Planet, as long as people stood in his way.

Seven days.

Cloud was taken by the feeling that something would happen, as he lied down to sleep on the sixth night since Jenova burned, since he saw Sephiroth for a split moment before everything went back to the way it was before, when he’d taken Sephiroth out of the Crater along with him; when he’d watched the others pitch their tents a little further away from his in their fear. Maybe it was silly, that echo of a tragedy having him aware enough to barely sleep.

Maybe the tiredness eating away at him was just making him paranoid.

Maybe.

He got up on the seventh day to find that nothing had changed. Cloud didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed over that. He only knew that whatever he had dreamed about in what little sleep he had that night had worked him up to a cold sweat, even if he couldn’t remember it, and he could use a good shower before breakfast.

Once, it had taken seven days for Sephiroth to snap and burn his hometown down to ashes.

This time, it had taken him just as long to vanish from his bed.

[asreoninfusion]

Clack Week Day 2: Wing

My contrbution to day two of Clack week. Of course I went with wing, because I’m not about to pass up an opportunity for wing kink. xp 

This one is still, uhh, mostly SFW but with suggestive momements, I guess (no parts are touched except for the wing, but the mention of boners comes up lol). It’s mainly fluff and cuteness again. I’m going to give myself cavities at this rate with how sweet the boys are being all the time.

Zack ran his hand through Cloud’s hair as Cloud stirred. There were dim cracks of light just starting to seep in past the curtains – morning, then, but still early.

“Hey,” Zack said. “Feeling better?”

Cloud groaned quietly and buried his face into Zack’s chest. “I have a killer crick in my neck. I thought we swore off falling asleep on sofas.”

Zack chuckled. Cloud had recovered enough to regain his sarcastic sense of humour – that was a good sign. He wouldn’t even complain that Cloud had been the one using him as a pillow the whole time, and Zack’s arm felt like it would be numb for days.

Cloud gave a shuddering sigh, and his newly mutated wing twitched and stretched against the coffee table. Cloud froze.

“It’s okay,” Zack reminded him. “It’s just the same as Sephiroth and Genesis and Angeal have, remember?”

“Right,” Cloud agreed blandly.

“It’s a good thing. Probably means you have the potential to be just as powerful at them! Not everyone gets wings, after all. You’ll be promoted to First for sure.”

“I know.”

Zack cupped Cloud’s face, guiding his gaze up until their eyes met. “It doesn’t make you a monster. Never has and never will.”

Cloud flushed and looked away. After a good night’s sleep and plenty of cuddles, his meltdown the previous night seemed… a bit of an overreaction. Zack was right. The three elite Firsts all had wings, he had known it was a possibility. It had just been unexpected, to come back from the labs with an entire extra limb.

Zack peered over at the wing. It was a touch worse for wear – Cloud had thrashed quite a bit, maybe clawed at it a little in his panic.

“You feel okay, right?”

Cloud made a non-committal noise, neither confirming nor denying. “It’s… weird. I can feel it. It’s a little tender, I guess; the wing, and my shoulder too. But yeah, I’m okay.”

“Can you move it?” Zack sounded more curious than anything, now.

Cloud stretched his wing out; lifted it a little. He watched it move with fascination. “Guess so.”

“That’s a start!” Although he was trying to sound encouraging, Zack couldn’t quite stifle the yawn that made its way out. He shifted beneath Cloud’s weight. There really was a reason they’d said no more sleeping together on couches. “Well, how about we move somewhere more comfortable for a while? Then when it gets to a sensible time for existence, I’ll call Seph and see what he can tell us about wing care and shit, yeah?”

“No!” Cloud immediately flushed at his sudden outburst. “I mean—I don’t know if I want anyone else to know about this just yet.”

“Cloud… it’s okay. Seph ain’t gonna judge, Mr. One Winged Angel and all.”

Cloud made a face. “Exactly. His wing is so… majestic. This thing looks pathetic in comparison.”

“Aww, that’s not true!”

“It’s all small and runty.”

“No way. It might be smaller than Seph’s, but honestly, Seph is overcompensation city anyway. You don’t want one that size. You might think it looks all majestic and shit, but trust me, I have seen him constantly knocking stuff over with that wing.”

At least that got a wry grin out of Cloud. Zack beamed and loosely wrapped his arms around Cloud’s bare waist (the wing would make shirts difficult until Cloud would get extras properly tailored) before continuing.

“And if your wing looks a little dishevelled now, it’s just ‘cause you’ve been through a lot. It’ll look great with a bit of preening and TLC.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start with looking after something like this,” Cloud sighed.

“No problem. We can ask the others, or if you’re not up for that just yet, we can muddle through ourselves. Want me to give it a shot?”

“Now?”

“Sure, if it’ll make you feel better about the whole thing. And the guys have said it feels pretty nice as well, so win win, right?”

Cloud hesitated. He hadn’t wanted anyone touching the wing at all before, but… he’d calmed down a lot now, and this was Zack.

It only took him a moment to decide. “Okay. That sounds good.”

“Alright. Let’s move to the bedroom so you have room to stretch out.”

They both reluctantly got up, stretching out the various kinks and cramped muscles that had resulted from a night spent piled together on a couch that was distinctly too small for two adult men. As soon as Cloud got into the bedroom, he flopped stomach-first onto the bed with a sigh.

Zack fought back a smile. Cloud was cute when he was sleepy. Cute all the time, really, but especially when sleepy. His new wing stretched out over the covers – Cloud took up nearly the whole bed like that.

Zack crawled onto the bed to join him. Cloud’s wing was right in front of him… even if a few feathers were out of place, and it was a little dulled by the dried remains of mako and gods knew what other questionable liquids from the labs, the wing was still incredibly pretty. Mostly white, but with a faint silver shine to the feathers. He got the feeling they would absolutely glisten in sunlight.

He was staring; he’d always been fascinated by the wings some of the other SOLIDERs sported. He shook himself out of it.

“First things first, how about a damp washcloth to wipe that wing of yours down? It’s kinda… sticky.”

Cloud made a vaguely affirmative noise, face muffled into a pillow. Zack went to fetch the required implements. When he returned with washcloth in hand, Cloud was already half dozing.

Zack grinned to himself and got to work. He kept his touch light at first, not sure how sensitive Cloud would be. Cloud only sighed at the contact.

Wiping away the mako and gunk was the least fun part, so Zack work steadily through it. He only interrupted to get Cloud to roll onto his side and spread the wing behind him so Zack could access the underside.

“Done,” Zack announced.

Cloud’s wing gave a little shiver, as if trying to get rid of the excess water (okay, maybe Zack had got a little sloppy towards the end), and then fluffed out. Zack was delighted.

“Oh man, it looks so soft!” he said, eyes gleaming with adoration. The wing had the same kind of downy softness as Cloud’s hair, and Zack had to fight back a deeply ingrained instinct to ruffle. Ruffling would not go down well. Preening, on the other hand… “Can I touch?”

“Hnn.” It seemed to be permission.

Cloud rolled back onto his front, and Zack leaned over to gently card his fingers through Cloud’s feathers. Ohh. They really were soft.

Cloud gave another sigh, more pronounced this time, and shuddered a little at the touch. But it didn’t seem to be in a bad way. In fact, as Zack continued to work his way along Cloud’s wings, righting all the feathers and stroking them into place, Cloud seemed to melt into the mattress.

Zack’s heart swelled. Just being so close to Cloud, the casual intimacy… the fact that Cloud was already comfortable enough to let him do this, even though he’d been distraught about the wing just last night.

“Cloud… I really love you.”

Cloud cracked a sleepy eye open. “Huh? What brought that on?”

“I don’t know. Just being close to you.”

“…you’re being sappy again, aren’t you?”

Zack leaned down and blew a raspberry on the small of Cloud’s back in retribution for his sass. Cloud squirmed and gave a small yelp.

Grinning, Zack turned the raspberry into an actual kiss, working his way up Cloud’s spine. He kept preening the wing as he did so; he was learning where Cloud liked a little bit more pressure, and so far he’d found one or two spots that made Cloud moan softly when he pressed firmly against them.

“Aahh,” Cloud breathed, a noise that sounded like pleasure.

“See, that’s nice, right?” Zack said. Though he hardly needed to ask. “Like a massage.”

“Mm,” Cloud hummed in agreement.

Zack kisses turned a bit firmer when he got to the back of Cloud’s neck; he might have nibbled a little. All the while still working his fingers through those soft feathers.

“Hah… Zack.”

Zack gave him one more kiss. “Roll over onto your side again, I’ll preen the underside of the wing for you.”

Cloud didn’t respond immediately. He seemed like he was blushing a little. But then, slowly, he rolled over. The wing curled up, then flared out behind him, exposing the other side.

Zack trailed his fingertips lightly against the join where wing met flesh. He pouted, and Cloud didn’t fail to notice.

“What’s wrong?” Cloud sounded concerned.

“This is gonna make it hard for me to be the big spoon anymore,” Zack said.

Cloud snorted, his worry immediately fading. “Don’t worry, I’ll spoon you instead.”

“Shush, you. I like to have a variety of choices for spooning positions.”

“Whatever,” Cloud said, but he was smiling as he closed his eyes and went back to dozing.

Or trying to doze. It was easier to see Cloud’s face in this position, and Zack watched his boyfriend’s expression while he started carding his fingers through the feathers again. This side seemed to be a little more sensitive – Cloud twitched every so often, eyebrows knitting together and lips parting in a soft ‘oh’.

Zack might have been concerned he was hurting Cloud, but he knew that face. And it was not a face of pain.

He found a good spot to dig his fingertips against, and Cloud moaned. Zack might have bought it just being a platonic, massage type of pleasure, if he hadn’t seen the way Cloud’s hips rolled as well. There was the little bite of his lip, and that expression that Zack most commonly saw when dicks were being touched.

“So. ‘Feels good’, huh?” Zack said cheekily.

Cloud cracked an eye open again to glare half-heartedly. He glanced away, a little embarrassed but sincere. “I like it when you touch me. Wherever it is.”

“Mmhm. And the wing?”

“It’s… new. Sensitive. I don’t know. Feels nice when you preen it.”

Armed with that knowledge, Zack was hardly about to stop preening. In fact, he only redoubled his efforts.

“How sensitive?” he asked, fingers stroking firmly through Cloud’s feathers.

“Nn…”

“How hard are you right now?”

“Zack!” Cloud protested, flushing a little. “…I don’t know. Half hard, maybe. It’s not like a sex thing – it’s not, don’t look at me like that – it just feels good, and it’s you, so…”

“Do you think you could cum from it?”

“I don’t—you’re not—damnit, Zack.”

Zack kissed Cloud on the nose, grinning. It was adorable when Cloud got flustered.

“No. I don’t think I can, it’s not that intense.” Cloud paused. “It might be fun… just to spice things up a little. When we were doing other things.”

“Oh?” Zack kissed Cloud on the lips this time. He kept one hand buried in the feathers, and the other he trailed lightly down Cloud’s stomach and to his hip.

Cloud kissed Zack a few more times, but they were gentle, unhurried kisses. He took Zack’s wandering hand and pulled it away. “It’s like five a.m. You can play later.”

“Aw, Cloud.”

Cloud shot him a wry smile. “The lab said I get the day off today, what with the whole wing thing. You can probably wrangle the time off to look after me too. That means we can lie in.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Cloudy.” Lie ins were a coveted luxury in the military lifestyle.

“And if I wake up with a morning wood… you can help take care of it.”

“Done,” Zack agreed. For the time being, he simply curled up against Cloud, holding him in a loose embrace.

Cloud rested his forehead against Zack’s and sighed, melting against him. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what? The preening? ‘Cause I am more than happy to do that. Any time you want.”

Cloud huffed a laugh, then his expression turned more serious. “No. For… being here. It’s going to take a bit of getting used to, but you’ve made this whole thing a lot more bearable.”

Zack smiled, though his eyes remained serious with sincerity. “Aww, of course. I love you, Cloud.”

That wrangled a smile out of Cloud too. “You’re a dork. But I love you too.” He paused to think for a moment. “Want to see if the wing works as a blanket?”

“I would love that,” Zack said emphatically.

Cloud grinned and lightly elbowed Zack, but he lifted the wing and settled it over the top of them both anyway. It wasn’t big enough to act as a proper blanket, but Zack seem thrilled regardless.

“Ahh, it’s so soft and warm…”

“Dork,” Cloud repeated.

They kissed again, and neither of them could even tell who initiated it that time. Gradually they both dozed off, and this time Cloud slept far more restfully than his previous troubled night. He was wrapped in Zack’s arms, warm and safe in his bed, and, wing or no wing, Cloud feel asleep with a small smile on his face.

[bagog]

But That’s All One

Here’s a little piece of fluff. Had an image in my mind, and I can’t draw, so I had to work it into a little story, instead. Ah well.

++

“Uh oh. Here it comes.”

Shepard followed Kaidan’s gaze upwards just in time for a single fat raindrop to hit him square in the eye.

“I told you,” Kaidan chuckled, bumping Shepard’s shoulder. “You don’t gamble with rain in this city, Shepard.”

John gave his husband a grizzled frown, trying to wink the raindrop out of his eye lashes. The sidewalk was becoming mottled, and the sound of the rain on high-rise windows was beginning to drown out the hum of the traffic further downtown.

“Shoot, sorry.” Shepard awkwardly tried to twist the top of his grocery satchel to protect the two fresh baguettes they’d bought because ‘that’s just what you’re supposed to buy when you go to the grocery store, right?’

“’Let’s just walk,’” Kaidan smirked, mimicking Shepard’s voice. “’It won’t rain for a while yet. We don’t need umbrellas. Just a short walk!’”

“Alright, I get it.”

Shepard had finally managed to sleep past 5 that morning, and when he woke up, he couldn’t believe the clock readout saying 8am: there was only a thin, gray light sneaking in around the curtains from outside. He stood at the window, looking out at the overcast sky and the fog-muffled city, the warmth of Kaidan at his back and his sleepy husband’s chin on his shoulder.

It was at that moment he decided they needed to walk to the store for their groceries.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been around real weather,” Shepard grumbled, fussing to turn up Kaidan’s collar against the rain. Kaidan batted his hand away with a smile and smoothed the collar back down. “Always in the Mako, or a hardsuit. Or on the Citadel. Or dead.” He took Kaidan’s elbow and hustled him in the direction of home.

“I know, I know.” Kaidan shook himself free and took Shepard’s hand in his instead. “I don’t mind walking in the rain. Heh, gotten plenty of practice.”

“Used to hate rain like this, but now…”

But now he didn’t live on the street. Whether or not it was raining didn’t mean he would be out of a job that night. Now rain meant better crop yield, meant the atmospheric processors were still working, mean that life was still going on.

Now he lived in the city, in a high-rise apartment. With Kaidan Alenko. Now he watched the rain with arms around him, smiling as much at his own reflection in the glass as the rolling clouds beyond it.

“But now you’ve got someone to help you out of your wet clothes.” Kaidan brought Shepard’s hand to his lips, laid a kiss as light as a drop of rain on the knuckles. “And plenty of dry clothes to change into. We’ll be fine.”

“No,” Shepard shook his head, looked back down the blocks towards the store they’d left. “I can fix this. Hang on.”

“Shepard,” Kaidan rolled his eyes. “I’m fine. Stand down, Commander.”

“I can fix this,” Shepard repeated, handing off his grocery bag to Kaidan. “I’ll be right back!”

“Shep—“

The air crackled, and there was a thunderclap where Shepard had been standing, a streak of a blue biotic charge leaping up the street towards the shop.

After two or three charges, Shepard’s shockwave rattled the windows of the corner store when he appeared, startling the shopkeeper away from the window with a scream.

“Hi,” Shepard burst through the door, looking back once to see the drizzle beginning to slick the street into a mirror shine. “Me again. I need to buy an umbrella. Do you have umbrellas?”

Speechless, the shopkeeper pointed to a display of umbrellas by the door.

“Perfect.” Shepard grabbed a large, red umbrella before thinking twice and replacing it in favor of a bright blue version.

“Tw-twenty two credits.”

Damn.

Kaidan had the credit chit.

“Look,” Shepard drummed his fingers on the counter. “I… my husband and I were just in here and… see, he has the credit chit. I just need this… is there a way I could…”

The shopkeeper, still wide-eyed, blinked twice. Then raised his arm, omni-tool already lit up.

“T-take a picture with me, Commander Shepard?”

It was pouring when Shepard ran out of the shop, closed umbrella tucked in tight to his body to keep it dry.

The problem with charging through a downpour was that you were running to meet the rain before it was ready, and every single drop slapped you in the face for the interruption.

When Shepard had woken up on a Cerberus slab with a new implant in his brain, learning to fling his whole body into the enemy with his biotics, he had never imagined he’d be racing through empty streets in the rain to deliver his husband an umbrella. They had revived him to be the ‘leader humanity needed’, but the new implant was a dead giveaway that he was supposed to be a weapon.

Now he paid for things with a selfie and only used his biotics when his husband’s hair-do was at risk. Shepard loved the rain.

Kaidan was not where Shepard left him, and so he charged ahead towards home, rain pelting him more like hail in his biotic slipstream. Kaidan had almost reach their building when Shepard popped out of his charge at his side.

His husband was glowing blue, enveloped in his own biotic barrier, dry as a bone and smug as a son-of-a-bitch.

Shepard stood with his mouth agape for a moment, rain streaming down his face and making his jeans cling to his legs, let Kaidan laugh pityingly.

“Shepard, so help me, if you catch a cold trying to bring me an umbrella I’m going to keep you in bed for a week no matter how much you get sick of ‘sitting around doing nothing’, and it’ll serve you right!” Kaidan ran one glowing hand over Shepard’s face, wiping away the raindrops away with a gentleness as if they’d been tears.

“Your… barrier keeps you dry?”

“It stops bullets,” Kaidan shrugged.

“You’ll get a headache.”

“Then you better not get a cold, so you can take care of me.”

“I… brought you this…” Shepard held out the umbrella, pathetically. Kaidan laughed, handed Shepard the satchels and opened the umbrella over the both of them. He pulled Shepard in close.

“Let’s get you dry, let’s get us some coffee, and we’ll watch the rain for a little while.”

[missingmywing]

Bruises and Bitemarks

I blame @asreoninfusion for getting me hooked (again) on the vampire trope. This was created after rereading her fic Bite Me and her manga link to Blood Bank.

Chapter 1

. . . . .

Sephiroth scowled down at the report Tseng had set in front of him. Genesis was lounging on his office couch, the picture of ease, though his stillness gave away his attention on the matter. Angeal leaned against the wall to his right, watching Sephiroth and Tseng with a frown.

“This is the eighth attack in the past two months.”

“Once a week,” Tseng confirmed.

“And you still don’t know what’s causing it?” Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at the Turk.

“Not yet.” Tseng shook his head slightly. “The most common theory is a highly advanced monster. However… a monster that can cast Sleepel, Silence, and Blindness is unheard of. As well as the fact that it hasn’t actually killed anyone yet, all points to an intelligent being with the ability to plan.”

Genesis glanced up from his book. “There’s also the matter of the reason behind the attacks.”

“The mako, you mean.”

“Yes,” Angeal interceded, “the mako. The fact that all the attacks have been on SOLDIERs, and that the attacker apparently has the ability to drain the SOLDIERs’ mako through their bloodstream is… worrying.”

“The news of the attacks has already spread.” Sephiroth crossed his arms, gaze directed at Tseng. “The fact that no one has been killed yet notwithstanding, our men are becoming concerned of the possibility.”

“We’re concerned about the safety of our men, and so are they.” Genesis sent the Turk a coy smirk. “That last thing any of us want is a revolt. So, for the sake of work ethic if nothing else, I rather hope that the Turks can at least confirm that the attacker isn’t an escaped specimen from the Science Department.” He raised a challenging brow.

Angeal sent Genesis a warning glance, but didn’t say anything.

Tseng turned his head slightly to glare at the redhead. “You can rest assured that it is nothing of the sort. We have already investigated the possibility and confirmed the negative.”

“Oh? So you are making progress.”

“Genesis.” Angeal sent him a reproving look. The other subsided slightly.

“Yes, Commander Rhapsodos, we are.” Tseng turned back to Sephiroth. “However, the attacker is careful not leave any traces. There isn’t even any DNA left behind from saliva, despite the healed puncture wounds on the SOLDIERs’ necks. Investigation is slow as a result. When we find something, you’ll be the first to know.” He inclined his head to them before turning on his heel and walking out of the room.

Genesis waited until the Turk was gone before he snapped his book closed and sat up, abandoning the pretense of not paying attention. Angeal shot him a look.

“You should stop antagonizing the Turks, Genesis.”

The redhead scoffed. “Not likely.”

Sephiroth sighed and leaned back. “How restless are the men?”

The two Commanders turned to him. “Not as bad as Genesis implied.”

“Mostly they’re curious.” Genesis leaned back, resting his elbows on the back of the couch. “They want to know who’s good enough to get the jump on them. There’s a bit of nervousness, of course, but since nobody’s died yet…”

“There’s no panic yet, thankfully.”

“That’s something at least,” Sephiroth sighed. “It is concerning, however, that there could be something, or someone, who could overwhelm one of our men. Much less eight within two months”

With a sigh, Genesis tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. Angeal grimaced at the floor, crossing his arms in thought. Sephiroth watched them silently, waiting. It was silent in the office as they contemplated the implications of the information.

Angeal broke the silence and let his arms drop to his sides. “Our main priority now is to keep the men from panicking.”

“Our main priority is to keep our men from being killed.”

The brunette sent Genesis a look. “All of them are of legal age and understand the risks involved in being a SOLDIER. We don’t know what’s attacking them, why it’s attacking them, or how to stop it. Until we get the answers to any of those questions, we have to keep the men from actually staging a revolution. If they panic then they create targets and it becomes harder for everyone to remember to take safety measures.”

“Safety measures are well and good against something that they work against.” Genesis gestured frustratedly with his hand. “However considering the lack of effectiveness of all of the measures already in place…” He scowled, crossing his arms.

“Allowing them to panic will only make things worse.”

Sephiroth interrupted before the argument could escalate. “We need to do both. In order to protect our men and find out what is attacking them, we need to ensure that we are not attempting to do so while simultaneously eliminating a revolution. Angeal, talk to the men and keep them as calm as you can. Genesis, see what you can find out from the fanclubs and people on the plate. Quietly,” he added warningly, “the last thing we need is panic from the masses.”

“Or vicious vendettas and vampire hunts from the fanclubs,” Genesis agreed dryly. “If they think any of us are in danger…”

A shudder ran through the three of them.

“Let’s keep the murder count to a minimum,” Angeal agreed wryly. “What will you do, Sephiroth?”

“I will work with the Turks to see if we can find more leads on the attacker. I do not have high hopes, but perhaps we will get lucky.”

Genesis snorted. “Good luck with that.”

Sephiroth sighed and leaned back against his chair. “Well, we will likely need it.” His gaze sharpened. “Whoever the attacker is, they are intelligent and strong. Be on your guard, they are too dangerous to relax around.”

. . .

Cloud cursed as he stumbled over yet another cobblestone. Snickers erupted from his teammates.

“Having trouble there, Strife?”

He made a face at his team leader, a man from Icicle Inn named Hendrick, though the effect was somewhat mitigated by his helmet covering most of his face. “As if you guys don’t keep tripping over this stupid road.”

The man smirked at the youngest member of the squad. “Not as much as you do. Although we also don’t have to settle for clothes that are a couple sizes too big for us ‘cause we’re short and scrawny, either.”

“True enough.” The brunette boy closest to Cloud’s age, seventeen year old Jared from Midgar, clapped the blond’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll hit your growth spurt eventually, kid.”

“You’re only a year older than me!!”

Another round of laughter rang through the group.

Cloud rolled his eyes, ignoring the grin tugging at his lips. “Just you wait.” He pointed at them severely. “One of these days I’m gonna be taller than all of you!” The declaration was ruined when he tripped over another cobblestone and face planted into the street.

His squad burst out laughing, several of them doubling over. Jared and Sam, a girl around the same age, leaned against each other to keep from falling over, sides heaving in mirth.

Hendrick tried desperately to hide his amusement as he moved to help the fallen blond, failing miserably. “You alright, Strife?” He bit his lips, trying desperately not to laugh. Cloud appreciated the effort, though he knew that if it had been one of the others he would be the one laughing. He almost wished he could blame them, even if he was the target. He’d been asking for it this time, unfortunately.

“I’m fine,” he sighed, accepting the proffered hand. He noticed his squad leader still biting his lips and rolled his eyes. “Go ahead and laugh, I was asking for that one.”

Hendrick immediately slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his snickers. “D-Damn it, St-Strife,” he choked, “I-I was try-trying to be nice!”

“I’m not!” Isabella, a blonde girl from Costa Del Sol called from around her laughter. “That was awesome, Strife!”

“Yeah, Isa,” Sam (“Call me Samantha and I’ll end you.”), a brunette from Kalm, retorted, moving forward slightly and causing Jared to stumble and fall while still laughing. “Maybe you should do it next!”

Isa, as she preferred to be called (“Isabella is too long and formal! I don’t know what my parents were thinking!”) scoffed. “What, and mess up this beautiful face? Darling, you wound me!” As the only two girls in the unit, they were both a brutal team and cutthroat rivals. And Cloud had been worried about having a chip on his shoulder.

“Not more than that ugly mug wounds me.”

“This ‘ugly mug’ as you put it has attracted more boys than you could ever hope for.”

“Obviously, since I’m a lesbian.”

Isa paused, then pouted. “Damn. Forgot about that. Well, I’ve gotten more girls than you too so nya.”

“Considering where you’re from, I’d be surprised if you hadn’t.”

“Ooh, cat fight,” Myde, a blond from Corel, jeered teasingly.

“You wish!” The girls snapped in unison.

Jared fell to his back from laughter. “O-Oh Gaia I love you guys. Never a dull moment.”

Cloud sighed and shook his head, grinning ruefully. They weren’t the worst team he could ask for. “Aren’t we supposed to be patrolling?”

Hendrick coughed to get rid of his laughter. “Yes, yes we are.” He sent Cloud a mock glare. “It’s your fault, Strife. You got us sidetracked.”

“Yes,” Cloud snorted, “it’s my fault I’m on a team with a bunch of immature idiots.”

“Indeed,” Hendrick nodded sagely.

“Hey!”

Cloud and Hendrick exchanged a grin and started walking. The others scrambled to catch up, falling back into place even as they snickered and ribbed each other.

. . .

Cloud moaned as he fell face first onto his bed. It was heaven, so soft and comfortable and-

There was a hand on his ass.

“Jared, get your hand off my ass before I cut it off.”

“It’s not Jared.”

“The threat still stands, Isa.”

“But it’s a nice ass.”

“Yes it is. That doesn’t mean I want you touching it.”

“Boo. you’re no fun,” she complained and complied.

“He’s tons of fun.” Cloud could hear the grin in Jared’s voice. “You just have to catch him in the right mood.”

“Jared, stop implying things that didn’t happen.” Cloud’s voice was muffled by the blankets, but his words were audible.

He jumped with a surprised yelp as he felt something slap his backside. “But it’s so much fun!” Jared was laughing as Cloud rolled over to glare at him.

“Hendriicckk!” Cloud whined as the squad leader walked into the room from giving the report.

The man closed his eyes with a sigh. “What now?”

“They’re molesting me!”

“Stop molesting the kid. You’re going to get arrested.”

“By who? We are the arrestors.”

“You’re not even going to deny it?” Myde hid a grin, even as he asked.

Isa snorted. “He’s not a kid, he’s two years over legal. He is legal, even going by Nibelheim standards. He’s sixteen.”

“Been doing your research, have you?” Hendrick grinned.

“Of course,” she grinned back, hazel eyes bright. “I know everything about all of you.”

“That’s creepy,” Sam commented, flopping down on her bed.

“Well, I was recruited by the Turks.”

“I haven’t forgotten. And, quite frankly, it’s still a little terrifying.”

“I still don’t know why you aren’t a Turk. You have all of the qualities for it,” Myde added dryly.

Isa shrugged. “Flunked out on the physical exam. I couldn’t keep up.”

Sam sent her a skeptical look. “Sure you couldn’t.”

The blonde flashed her a winsome grin.

Cloud snorted softly. It was a conversation that happened every couple of weeks, when she absently reminded them how much she knew. She could say she flunked out all she wanted, they all knew that she was an undercover Turk. Why they bothered to have spies in the Infantry was anyone’s guess. They all pretended that they didn’t know, and she pretended that her cover wasn’t blown. It was easier that way.

“Stop molesting your teammate before I make you do laps. And, unfortunately for all of you, your physicality will have to hold up a bit longer.” Hendrick crossed his arms. “Everyone up.”

There were groans.

“Whyyyy?” Jared whined, head dropping back dramatically.

“Showers. Now. You all stink, and I’m not sleeping in the same room as you all when you smell like that.”

They all groaned again, but dragged themselves to their feet.

Cloud fell dramatically against Jared. “Carry me. I’m going to die.”

“Sure, if it means I get to feel you up on the way there.”

Cloud made a show of considering his options, then decided to mess with him with a smirk. “You know what? I’m to tired to care. Knock yourself out.”

Jared gave him a flat look. “You know, it’s no fun if I’m not going to get a reaction.”

“I know.”

Jared shoved him lightly, ruffling his hair. “You can carry yourself.”

“Damnit.”

Sam laughed and patted his shoulder. “Nice try.”

He sent her a pitiful look, copying a certain Second Class SOLDIER he knew. “Carry me?” he asked hopefully.

She ruffled his hair. “Sorry Cloud, I’m too tired.”

“Damnit.” He blew his bangs out of his face. “I don’t want to walk all the way there…”

“Same,” the others chorused.

“Well, at least I’m not alone.”

“Right?” Myde grinned. “We’re all in this together~!”

They all groaned at the familiar movie reference.

“I hate you.”

“I hate that movie,” Isa muttered. “My little brother loves it, and he played it on repeat. He still texts me lyrics from the songs to piss me off.”

“I’m sorry.” Sam patted her arm sympathetically.

“Stop chit chatting and start walking. The sooner we get done with showers, the sooner we can go to bed.”

“Yes sir.”

. . .

Cloud was woken from his sleep by the sound of buzzing right next to his ear. With a quiet groan, he rolled over to see his PHS screen flashing with frantic texts. “Shut up, Zack. Some of us want to sleep.” He muttered sleepily, grabbing the PHS to text those exact words. He paused as he saw the words that Zack was texting. With a sigh, he texted back shortly.

From: Cloud

From what I’ve heard, the “Mako Vampire” only attacks out in the city. It’s never attacked anyone in HQ. You, Kunsel, and Angeal will be fine. You’re not going to get eaten in your sleep or something.

 From: Zack

But what if?! What if we’re the first?!

 From: Cloud

You won’t be. If you’re so scared, crawl in bed with Kunsel or something. The MV only attacks SOLDIERs by themselves, so if you’re with someone else you’ll be fine.

 From: Zack

But what if we’re not?! What if we’re the exception?!

 From: Cloud

Then we’ll give you a nice funeral and tears will be shed. I have PT tomorrow and you’re interrupting my sleep. Good night.

 From: Zack

But Cloouuuddd! What if!!!

 From: Cloud

Good. Night. Zack.

He flipped the PHS closed and rolled back over, rolling his eyes. Honestly, Zack was worrying over nothing.

Cloud wasn’t stupid enough to attack someone in HQ.

Besides, he’d just eaten the day before. He wouldn’t be hungry enough to go after a SOLDIER for another week.

. . .

“Kuuunseeellll.”

“Hey Zack.”

The brunette pouted at the helmeted Second. “How are you not freaking out over this?!”

“What, the “Mako Vampire” thing? It hasn’t killed anyone yet, and it only attacks once a week. The distance between attacks, in both time and area, implies that it attacks SOLDIERs for their Mako out of necessity to live, not out of any pleasure. Besides, it hasn’t attacked anyone even near HQ. Six of the eight have actually happened in the slums. As long as it doesn’t decide to go on a feeding frenzy, it shouldn’t be much of a threat.”

“C’mon, you have to be curious! You’re the guy who knows everything!” Zack started doing squats. “You have- to want- to know-!”

Kunsel watched him with narrowed eyes (behind his helmet) for a moment before crossing his arms. “You aren’t freaking out in a panicked way. You’re actually excited about this, aren’t you?”

Zack sent him a grin. “It’s like- a movie-! It’s really- interesting-!” He straightened, stretching his arms over his head. “Besides, I’m curious!” He grin stretched. “What do you say that we invite Cloud over this weekend and go on a vampire hunt?”

“I think that’s a bad idea,” came a calm, deep voice from behind them.

“And I think that it won’t work,” Kunsel added.

“Angeal!” Zack yelped, spinning around. Then he sent a pout at his friend. “Kunsel!! C’mon, don’t be a spoilsport.”

“I think that honor would actually go to Angeal, here.”

“Accepted.” The First Class inclined his head, then sent a flat look at his student. “No, Zack. You are not going out on a vampire hunt.”

“Why not?!” Zack pouted, crossing his arms. “Don’t we need to catch it?”

“Yes, we do. However it’s already taken out eight of our men. Five of which have been Second Classes.” he crossed his arms. “It takes them out from behind, without being seen. Two Seconds and an Infantryman don’t stand a chance.”

“Besides,” Kunsel added, “it only attacks people who are out alone. If all three of us are together, it’ll probably avoid us. And splitting up defeats the point and makes us targets.”

Zack frowned, crossing his arms. “Mannnn… this sucks.”

Angeal patted his shoulder. “It could be worse. At least nobody’s panicking.”

“Well, like Kunsel said. It doesn’t seem to be much of a danger at this point.” Zack shrugged. “It hasn’t killed anyone yet.” A grin twitched at the corner of his mouth, though he did his best to keep a straight face. “Though you should probably check on the SOLDIER betting pool. They’ve got bets on what kind of vampire it is.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Y’now, like movies and books.” Zack shrugged casually. “Whether it turns out to be one of those horror movie mutations like out of Evil Residents, the giant dog-things that were turned into giant vampires? Or if it turns out to be like the cryptid vampire guy rumored on the west continent, you know, the one that sleeps in a coffin and has red eyes because he drinks blood? That’s a cool story by the way- or if it turns out to be like on of those teen romance novels where the guy looks normal but incredibly beautiful and sparkles and causes a lucky teenage girl to fall in love. Those are the three bets going around right now, anyway.”

“I, for one, don’t think it’s any of them. One is obviously out.” Kunsel tilted his head in just the right way that showed that he was rolling his eyes. “Whatever it is, it’s obviously blending in well enough to hide. There haven’t been any reports of a new monster, so horrifying and obvious mutation is out.”

Zack nodded thoughtfully. “True. And as hilarious as the third one is, not at all realistic outside the books. Course the second one is pretty unlikely, no one lugs around a coffin to sleep in. Plus, y’know, there’s the whole “burning in sunlight” issue.”

“Not necessarily. The three that have been attacked above the plate have been attacked at night. And there’s no sunlight under the plate.”

“Hmm, true. But then how did it get to Midgar in the first place? The wastes take at least a day to cross, or night in this case, and that counting before and after sunset travels. And there’s nowhere to hide out of the sun in the wastes.”

“Also a good point. Hmm…”

Angeal stared at the two of them. “Well, as long as no one’s panicking,” he sighed, running a hand down his face. Still, he looked concerned.

Well, he was questioning the sanity of his SOLDIERs, but it was a fairly valid concern. At least in this case.

Zack shrugged. “I think most people find it kinda exciting, actually. Like a movie!”

Angeal took a deep breath. “As long as no one’s panicking,” he repeated to himself.

. . .

“There’s a what about what?” Genesis stared at him in disbelief. Sephiroth quirked a brow.

“There’s a betting pool about what kind of vampire the Mako Vampire will turn out to be. The top three circulating are the vampires from Evil Residents, the western continent vampire myth, or the teen romance vampires from the newest surge of young adult novels.”

Sephiroth sighed in exasperation, pressing a hand to his face. “Well, at least no one’s panicking,” he eventually said.

“How did I not know about this?!?!” Genesis demanded in disbelief. “I always keep up with the betting pool!”

The General and his brunette Commander both sighed in exasperated and annoyed resignation.

. . .

“There’s a what about what?!?!” Cloud demanded in disbelief.

Zack’s grin widened. “You heard me.”

Kunsel snorted at his incredulity. “You’re not the first to have that reaction.”

“You’re all insane!”

“You’re not the first to have that reaction either.”

. . .

Cloud stared up at the ceiling in his bunk, thinking. Thinking about… well, mostly his rather precarious situation.

He needed Mako to survive, but for some reason it had to be either directly from the Nibelheim reactor (where he had been thrown into a nearby Mako spring by… certain people) or from a diluted source. Why, he didn’t know. But when he’d tried drinking Mako directly from the Junon, and then the Midgar, reactors, he’d been sick for several days afterwards. Of course for him, it was basically the same as getting food poisoning, rather than the far more lethal Mako poisoning, but still. It was highly unpleasant and something he actively tried to avoid. While yes, he could survive off of it, he was sure that death would be a far more pleasant and comfortable experience.

Unfortunately, while monsters did work, the Mako they possessed was too diluted. It was like giving a man dying of dehydration a quarter cup of water. Or a starving man a couple of pieces of bread. While it would, theoretically, keep them alive, it would keep them on the edge of death and make their lives absolutely miserable.

Reactors too pure, monsters too diluted, so there had to be a compromise.

SOLDIERs provided that compromise. They had high concentrations of Mako that was, while diluted to actually keep the SOLDIERs alive, still surprisingly pure. It was pure enough to sate his thirst, concentrated enough that he didn’t have to risk killing them, and diluted enough to keep him from getting sick.

Plus the SOLDIERs were either overconfident or underbudgeted, as very, very few had status resistant accessories. It was almost too easy. Which, when he thought about it, was a bit worrying. It meant that either he had seriously overestimated them, or they were leading him along for a trap. Neither one was particularly pleasant to think about.

He rolled over with a sigh. Time would tell what was to come. For now, he needed sleep for his upcoming mission. It was to be a two week mission to the area around Kalm. The people there had been complaining about a recent increase in the monster population, so ShinRa were sending an Infantry unit (accompanied by a SOLDIER much to his relief). After two weeks, if the problem wasn’t solved, then they would switch out with another unit and so on until the problem was solved. Hopefully, they could finish early and make it back to HQ. Extended missions made him twitchy, if something went wrong he could easily lose himself from hunger enough to accidentally reveal himself. Which was something to be avoided at all costs. He did not want to end up in the labs. He’d heard far too many horror stories to want to go anywhere near that place. Hence why, when he’d failed the psych eval on the cadet test to get into SOLDIER, he’d been perfectly content to join the Infantry and stay there. Much more freedom, much less risky science.

He shook his head and closed his eyes. If he was exhausted in the morning, the trip over would only be worse.

He hated motion sickness.

. . .

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah,” Isa nodded at his wide-eyed look as they stood on the airpad waiting for clearance to get in the transport. “I know. I mean, seriously? Removing the SOLDIER from our mission? Not cool. Especially at the last minute. Plus it’s almost a breach of protocol. If the mission required a SOLDIER in the first case, then taking them off basically turns it into a near suicide mission for us. I don’t know what the upper levels are thinking.”

“Yeah…” Cloud responded distantly. Oh shit… He was dead. So very dead. This wasn’t good. Well, there goes my food source. He’d have to sneak out and drain a lot of monsters if he wanted to stay in control.

“Alright troops, everyone in the carriers! We’re on a time schedule, so move it!”

“Sir!”

Cloud followed his unit in a near daze as they stowed their gear and buckled themselves in.

“Hey Cloud, you okay?” Myde was frowning at him in concern.

He opened his mouth to automatically respond, then closed it again and dropped his head back with a groan as the air carrier rumbled to life and sent vibrations through him. The combination of his newly formed knot of dread and his rearing motion sickness was not a good one. He let out a miserable moan as his stomach roiled and revolted. Hopefully his meds would fully kick in soon and knock him out. And maybe the two weeks wouldn’t be as bad as he thought they would be.

Yeah, right. The next two weeks were going to be hell. Maybe if he was lucky, he’d be able to peacefully starve to death.

If not, he would probably go feral.

“I hate my life.”

. . . . .

Chapter one is complete. Finally. After a couple of weeks of working on it. I’m pretty happy with it, though, and how it’s setting everything up.

Next chapter is where it gets fun, though. Dunno how long the wait will be, but it’ll come out eventually. Honestly, it’ll depend on how compliant Zack and Kunsel are.

Wings, out~!