#Cloud Strife's stupid hair (positive) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

astonmartinii · 3 years

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lemonade and star-crossed lovers, p1 (JJ Maybank)

Warnings: none yet, swearing? all core characters are aged up to 18, Rafe is 21.

JJ Maybank x kook!reader (super super slow burn) (this will hopefully be a series)

WC: 4.0k

Growing up, Y/N always heard jokes about how the eldest daughter was just the mum in a different font. She never used to believe it, but that was when she had present and dedicated parents. Now, it just seemed that with every addition to the Miller family, the less interested Kevin and Julie Miller became.

So here Y/N was, practically a mother to her three younger siblings.

Dylan is only a year younger than Y/N but is no less of a hassle, especially when his useless friends decide to crash at their place. But considering they had the most hectic house of Dylan’s friendship group, the Miller household was usually the last option.

Then there’s Anderson, he’s in his rebellious phase currently, getting to that point where he’s figured out that acting out could maybe get the attention of his parents. Though Y/N wasn’t sure how well his plans were working out.

Peach is the youngest and practically attached to Y/N’s hip. To an untrained eye, Y/N often looked like a teen mum as she took Peach with her to the grocery shopping. In fact, Y/N was sure that if the kooks in Figure Eight didn’t know her family, they’d sneer at her with the same ignorance that clouded their entire lives.

Y/N woke up glad - it’s the last day of school. Summer break looms. The idea of boneyard keggers and hot (but equally clueless) tourons, excited the girl. But she knew her summer reality would be looking after Peach, bailing Anderson out of jail and swatting away the affections of Dylan’s stupid friends.

—————————————

Dylan is already awake when Y/N comes knocking, taking extra close care to his hair.

“Oh, you’re up,” Y/N said, moving to ruffle his hair and grab the empty plate on his bedside cabinet.

“Jesus, fuck Y/N, was that really necessary?”

“Hey maybe if you spent more time on assignments than your hair you wouldn’t have to take so many summer classes - oh yeah, mum might not remember, but I do, and you will be going.”

“But it’s summer, surely it’s a violation to my human rights to go to school.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive, and maybe when you finally pass this year, you’ll thank me. Breakfast in 10.”

Dylan just flips his sister off, going back to admiring himself in the mirror.

Y/N next goes to Peach’s room to find her awake and rummaging through her draws.

“Hey, princess, what are you thinking for the last day? Third grade finished already, you’ll be my age soon, wheeling me into the retirement home.”

Peach erupts into giggles, pulling out a little pink summer dress and grabbing her pink sandals to complete the ensemble.

“All pink, we love. Breakfast in 10, alright, don’t want you to be late for the last day.”

Anderson’s room is last, Y/N doesn’t bother knocking on her parent’s door. Kevin is probably already down on Judy - his beloved boat. The room is typical of a 14 year old boy, it stunk, his weed paraphernalia was badly hidden and there was a lump of pillows under the cover instead of a boy.

Shrugging, Y/N picked up the dirty mugs in his room and moved downstairs. She’d been awake nearly an hour now but was still unsure of what to make for breakfast. Opening the fridge gave her the only possible answer, leftover pizza from the previous night and maybe a porridge pot, though considering there were only two siblings to account for, it would do.

Dylan and Peach joined her in the kitchen shortly after, each taking a slice or two of pizza.

“No Anderson and pizza for breakfast? Watch out, we'll be calling CPS as soon as we’re outside.“

“You don’t know where the bug is? Why does that boy insist on giving me early onset cardiac issues?”

“Don’t take it too to heart, I’m sure he’ll turn up by the second period.”

“Okay, go to school now. Dylan, are you okay to drop Peach off, I’ll pick her up.”

Dylan nods and ushers the youngest out of the door and to his car. Y/N lets out a sigh when she sees them leave the driveway and makes her way to the back door. Through the sliding door she can see her dad, Kevin on Judy instructing John B, the kid who worked on the boat, what to do. Y/N puts two slices of pizza on a plate and grabs an apple and ventures out to the dock.

“Morning Y/N.”

“Morning, John B, can I interest you in an apple? It’s all we have I’m afraid.”

“No worries, any breakfast is breakfast when you’re a pogue.”

“Oh John B, you know I don’t believe in all that sub-par class warfare bullshit.”

“Of course you don’t, but that’s very easy to say when you’re on the other side.”

“Touche.”

Y/N doesn’t say anymore, but moves to give her dad his breakfast. She liked John B and hoped he didn’t see her like the other kooks. Sure Rafe Cameron frequented her house, but she’s nothing like him.

“Thanks, squirt.”

Despite the nickname, Kevin was absent as ever, not moving to look at her.

“You’re children are off to school, don’t worry.”

Silence.

“Oh thank you Y/N, I really don’t know what we’d do without you! You’re such a gem, you’re really unappreciated and we don’t deserve you! Thanks dad, I really needed to hear that. Are you coming later?”

“Where?” Kevin grunted, with pizza in his mouth.

“My graduation? Did you forget that was today?”

The awkward silence was enough of an answer for Y/N.

“Sorry squirt, I promised to go to the mainland to pick something up for your mother.”

With that, Y/N stormed off Judy, towards the house and into her room. When she sat down on her bed she could think about what just happened. She knew her parents didn’t care about her, but missing their first child’s graduation for a small errand to the mainland?

Now that the house was quiet again, she could get ready - she was graduating today and as valedictorian she wants to look her best. Julie, her mum, is in Washington on some mysterious job venture, Y/N wasn’t told until she came down in the morning a few days ago and saw Julie with her suitcases. She guessed that one positive of her parents’ absenteeism is her ability to steal Julie’s expensive jewelry to wear.

Y/N looked in the mirror, she did clean up nice when she wanted to. Her lengthy hair is in a half-up, half-down style, with minimal makeup and a red knee-length dress. The dress hugged her figure and complemented her graduation gown perfectly. Too bad none of her family would be there to see it. She knew deep down that Peach and Dylan would’ve attended if possible, and Anderson would maybe even make an appearance, especially if there was food involved.

Y/N put her matching red heels on and grabbed her cap from her closet. After one final look in the mirror and putting her printed speech into her bag, the young girl made her way down the stairs.

To her surprise, none other than John B sat in her kitchen drinking a glass of water.

“You clean up nice kook,” said John B, a smug smirk on his face.

“Thank you, John. Don’t you have graduation today?”

“Eh, yeah. I’m just going for the food though, school isn’t really my thing…” John B looked closer at her cap. “I’m practically the opposite to you Miss Valedictorian”.

“Hmm, well at least someone in this house noticed, thank you John B. I’m going now, I didn’t notice your van out front, you need a lift to yours?”

“Is that really on your way, wouldn’t want Miss Valedictorian to be late to her own event, you got a speech ready?”

“I do as a matter of fact, but I want to be just on time, minimise the time people have to ask about the whereabouts of my parents. So, do you want a lift or not?”

“Sure thing, Miss Valedictorian.”

Y/N doesn’t acknowledge the nickname, but secretly loved it, it was a joke, but at least someone was appreciating her achievements. Peach would, she knows, but she’s not really at the point of understanding what it means and the others really are wildcards.

She led John B out to her small car, a baby blue Beetle. The boy smiled at her choice in car,

“I’m sure that a kook like you could afford better than this.”

“Don’t insult Shelby in her presence, weren’t you ever taught manners? Now get it and give me directions.”

The drive was fun, not that John B would tell Y/N that. He enjoyed her music choice, Mac Miller blasting from her speakers and the windows were fully rolled down, damned be her hair.

Y/N neared the chateau and came to a stop. There were a few people sitting on the porch, looking over in confusion.

“Yo, what’s with the kook-mobile, John B?” The blonde yelled from his seat on the beaten-up couch.

When John B only turned to Y/N to say thank you, the interest peaked on the porch. The little gang of pogues moved towards the car.

“John B, I didn’t realise your job came with a taxi service, why did I have to drop you off this morning?” The blonde, once again.

“Lay off JJ, this is Y/N Miller, she’s the daughter of Kevin, the guy whose boat I work on. She’s on her way to her graduation and offered me a lift.”

“Since when are kook graduations on the Cut?” The other boy interjected.

Y/N decided to speak up, “if I knew an act of kindness would cause so much strife, I’ll just let you walk home next time. Now, I do have somewhere to be, so it was nice to see you, John B. I'm sure I’ll see you again this week.”

“Bye Miss Valedictorian, good luck with your speech,” John B said, getting out of Shelby.

“You’re the valedictorian?” Kiara finally spoke, face shocked.

“Yeah, surprising what happens when you show up for school right?” Y/N snapped, angrier than she intended.

“Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I thought that maybe Sarah would get it, especially if Ward has anything to do with it.” Kiara grimaced, she didn’t mean to offend the Miller girl.

“You can’t buy the valedictorian title, well I’m sure you could, but not to flex, but my grades were miles better. If we’re being really ironic though, Ward technically does pay for the valedictorian,” Y/N said with a smile, not meaning to brandish her academic success in their faces.

A chorus of “huhs?” from the pogues surrounding her car told Y/N that they weren’t catching her drift.

“I’m Ward Cameron’s assistant. Sorry, I didn’t make that very clear.”

“You have a job, but you’re a kook?” the blonde, JJ, said.

“Yes, blondie, some of us do have to look out for ourselves, didn’t your parents tell you not to judge a book by its cover. I’ll see you around. Bye John B.”

Y/N backed out of the road, heading back to Figure Eight, with her graduation starting in 10 minutes, she had massively overstayed her welcome at John B’s. If she weren’t so busy, Y/N always thought she’d like to be friends with John B and his crew, they had an unmistakable family bond that Y/N craved. She loves her siblings but they are still grappling with the idea of give and take, mainly fixating on the taking aspect.

Y/N pulled up to school, and took out her phone, dropping a text to Anderson pleading with him to at least make it to two classes today. Even with her phone safely away in her bag, Y/N couldn’t quite bring herself to get out of the car. Happy families surrounded her everywhere she looked, she couldn’t handle the stares when she walks in alone. Well, it’s now or never she says to herself.

Walking isn’t as bad as she suspects, Mr Morgan, her English teacher, meets her at the door and takes her to her seat, explaining the mechanisms of the ceremony and when she’ll make her speech.

The hall, however, is the reminder that Y/N was dreading. The two seats she had booked for her parents sat empty, standing out like a sore thumb in the packed hall. She made her way to the student section with her head down. However, before Y/N could sit she was apprehended by an excitable Sarah Cameron.

“Y/N! Hi! I heard you’re valedictorian, well done! I don’t know how you managed, with all the work and your siblings, you really are amazing.”

“Thanks, Sarah.”

The words sting, despite their pure intentions. She’s a kook, she shouldn’t have to work, and she should have parents who care for her and her siblings, but some things just aren’t meant to be, clearly. Y/N sat in her assigned seat and willed the ceremony to go fast, though she wasn’t looking too forward to her speech. The diversion to the chateau meant that Y/N had no time to look over it again.

The ceremony started and the hall quietened down. Principal Stoney started her opening speech, basking in the spotlight when the hall door bursts open and interrupts. In the doorway stands Anderson. His hair is disheveled and the clothes are torn, probably from the nightly activities with the skateboard he held in his hand. The boy scanned the hall, eyes falling on the empty seats with the name Miller and then Y/N herself. He gives her a small wave and pushes past the Figure Eights families to the seats.

Principal Stoney just restarts, a slight bewildered look on her face.

When it was time for her speech, Y/N didn’t even feel real, like she floated to the stage and was possessed. Her speech went well from what she could gather, Mr Morgan gave her a thumbs up and Anderson hollered, much to the dismay of the families around him. But he was even worse when she received her diploma.

As families spilled onto the field for fancy food and photo opportunities, Y/N wrangled Anderson to the side before he could raid the food stalls.

“Anderson, what the fuck? First you didn't come home last night and then crash my graduation?”

“Hey, I’m sorry about last night, me and the boys got carried away skating and I crashed on Oscar’s couch. I’m sorry, I should’ve called. And as for now, you think I’m going to let my smart-ass VALEDICTORIAN sister graduate without anyone being here to holler? You’re dead wrong.”

The sentiment fills Y/N’s heart with joy and tears threaten to spill. Anderson’s never been good with feelings, it was nice to know that he did care.

“Mum and dad can go fuck themselves, if they don’t see how great you are then they’re blind.”

“Thanks, bug. It means a lot. Now don’t eat too much, people are probably already annoyed that you’re here.”

Anderson shrugs, he couldn’t care less what they thought, he was here to eat and show off his sister.

“Congratulations Y/N!”

The voice of Y/N’s boss, Ward Cameron, was easily identifiable. Y/N puts on her confident face and turns to see the whole Cameron brigade, minus Wheezie.

“Thank you, Mr Cameron.”

“You know, I just don’t know how you get it done, working for us and dealing with your siblings…” Rose says, the last part fading out as she watches Anderson walk back to his sister with his arms piled high with fancy horderves.

“It’s tough, yeah, but what wouldn’t you do for your family?”

“Of course, of course, sorry for any implications, where is the old man, I know Julie is off on business, but Kevin has to be proud, I didn’t see him in the hall?” Ward’s voice feigned sincerity, but the Miller siblings saw right through it. Before Anderson could respond, Y/N replied.

“Dad is also doing business on the mainland, at the last minute. He’s devastated, really,” it's not convincing, even to her. Y/N can tell she hasn’t convinced the Camerons either. Sarah gives her a sad look, Rose attempts to mirror her step-daughter but fails, Ward looks slightly smug, like he’s trying to hide it but Rafe doesn’t even try to hide it like his dad, a massive smirk on his face.

“What are your plans for the summer Miller?” Y/N is surprised when it’s Rafe who asks the question.

“Well, I’ll be working for your dad, if he’ll have me, I still have my volleyball coaching in the tourist season and there’s never a dull moment with these around,” Y/N puts her arm around Anderson.

Looking for a quick exit, she looks at her watch.

“Oh, if we go now, you can still catch your last two periods. Kids, am I right?” She gestures at Rose and Ward, “we’ll be off now, I’ll see you next week?”

The Camerons nod as Y/N pulls Anderson away and towards the car park. But before they can fully escape, they’re stopped by Mr Morgan.

“You think you can leave without a photo and a proper goodbye, I didn’t think you were that kind of girl, Miller.”

“Of course not, Mr Morgan, here,” she hands Anderson her phone, “take a picture please.”

Anderson does so, taking about 50 at once.

“Okay, okay, let's get one of you two, you can’t not have a proper graduation picture, especially not when you’re valedictorian.”

Mr Morgan takes the phone and smiles at the siblings. When the impromptu photoshoot ends, Y/N is glad, despite it pushing back her escape.

“Y/N, on a serious note, you are always welcome in my classroom, you’ve been a pleasure, and don’t tell anyone, but you were my favourite. And you, I hope you’ll be just as good next year sir,” he says turning to Anderson, “although considering you’re here and not in class doesn’t bode well.”

“Thank you, sir, really. But you are completely right, and that’s why we’re bouncing now, so he can get two at least two periods.”

Mr Morgan smiles at the two when they start to run to the car. He’s always felt sad for the eldest Miller, and her parents absence did not go unnoticed.

------------------------------------------------

“I’ll see you later, I know you guys will probably crash a kegger, but at least come home before you go?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, who knows maybe I’ll see you there?”

Anderson laughs and gets out of the car, he knows his sister won’t especially when Peach will be home. Y/N watches him go into the building and stays a couple minutes to make sure he doesn’t sneak back out when he thinks she’s gone.

But Y/N barely gets time to breathe, as she’s down to the elementary school to pick up Peach. The girl in all pink is waiting with a gaggle of friends and shrieks when she sees the blue car.

“Y/N! Y/N! I got the “most improved” in drama!”

Y/N opens the door and picks up Peach, spinning her round and congratulating her.

“Well done, bubs. This calls for a celebration, it’s the first day of summer and the boys won’t be out for another couple of hours - what do you want to do?”

Peach doesn’t even need a second to think.

“Lemonade stand!”

Huh? Y/N was prepared for an answer closer to maybe a princess party or surfing lessons, but a lemonade stand?

“Are you sure?”

“You said we could do whatever I want!”

“Okay, okay, let’s go then we’ve got a lot to do.”

Satisfied with getting her way, Peach got in the car and demanded that the next stop was the craft store.

-------------------------------

The next 90 minutes were gruelling. Peach spared no expense, Y/N was lucky that she still had the credit card Julie gave her. But she knew it would all be worth it. And it was.

Peach chose a spot right in the middle of the beach and the stall was already making a profit. Y/N knew kooks just couldn’t resist the temptation to look good and what was better than giving a generous tip to a child’s lemonade stand?

But with a successful kook-trap came the kook assholes. Namely Rafe, Topper and Kelce.

“Three lemonades please. Apricot, right?” Rafe said with a smirk.

“You know it’s Peach asshole.”

“That’s a bad word, Y/N,” Peach mumbled, clearly upset about being called apricot of all things.

“Yeah that’s a bad word, Miller, you should listen to Apricot a little more.”

“Maybe, you should listen to your college professors, oh wait, you dropped out, my bad, must be a bit of an open wound judging by the look on your face. I bet daddy wasn’t impressed.”

“Excuse me, you bitch, how dare you talk to me like that.”

“Run along, lap dog, we don’t need your money.”

Rafe goes to say something but Topper and Kelce hold him back.

“Bro, don’t get it shit with your pops over a fucking lemonade,” Topper warned.

With a final “fuck off”, Rafe Cameron stalked away to his car, his gang of cowards following, but not without Topper placing a crisp $20 bill in the tip jar. Peach mumbled and thank you and Y/N just nodded to Topper, too tired to say anything more.

And if her afternoon couldn’t get any worse, the prickly blonde from this morning strolled over to the stand.

“I’ll have four lemonades please.”

Peach gasped and accepted his money right away, getting to work on the drinks.

“I’ve seen many a kook-trap in my time, Miller, but not many operated by Kooks themselves. Impressive ingenuity.”

“Thanks - JJ, was it? Peach here won “most improved” in her drama class and this is what she wanted to do in celebration”

“Cute, Miller, didn’t take you as a softy earlier.”

Peach announces that she’s finished with the pogue’s drinks, he puts another $5 in the tip jar and grabs the drinks.

“Miller, there’s a kegger at the boneyard tonight, wanna come? I’m sure at least one of your brothers will crash.”

“Sorry JJ, someone’s gotta look after the little one, maybe another time, if you can stand being around a kook for that long.”

“I think I can make an exception, especially if they look like you Miller,” he winks, “boneyard tonight, if you change your mind.”

Y/N blushed, but she knew she couldn’t, she couldn’t leave a nine year old at home, even if Kevin was there, there was no guarantee that Peach would be fed and given adequate attention.

“He’s pretty, you should go.”

“Peach, honey, you know I can’t, I can’t leave you at home.”

“But I could go to Jenny’s, she’s having a sleepover tonight, I forgot to ask earlier, I got too excited about the lemonade stand.”

“Okay, you can go to Jenny’s, but promise not too much candy?”

“Only if you promise to go with him tonight.”

Peach was proving to be just as mischievous as her brothers.

“Okay fine.”

“Go tell him then.”

“Huh?”

“I won’t believe you unless you go tell him now that you'll be there!”

Y/N groans, but gets up to follow the blonde. As she nears, she shouts,

“Hey JJ! I’ll be there tonight, at the boneyard, I’ll be there.”

“Didn’t take too long for you to change your mind then, am I just that irresistible?”

“No? What? Of course not! It’s just Peach - she’s a master manipulator, and she’s only nine!”

“Sure, Miller, if that’s what you want me to believe, I’ll see you later, sweetheart.”

Y/N turned, she should cringe, but she finds herself blushing as she walks back to Peach.

“Don’t say anything, missy, you’ve done enough, let’s pack up and get you ready for Jenny’s. You young ones are such troublemakers, damn.”

A/N: I am not American, so I hope that the graduation stuff makes sense, from someone who has no real clue what happens there lol

#obx #outer banks #jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #obx imagine #outerbanks imagine #john b routledge #kiara carrera #pope heyward #rafe cameron #sarah cameron #ward cameron #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank x kook!reader #jj maybank x reader

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im-totally-not-an-alien · 3 years

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Final Fantasy 7 prompts #75 (FINAL LIST)

1. Iflana does not trust Cloud, not one bit. She can sense the calamity inside him and wants him to leave. Too bad both her husband and daughter seem enraptured by his very existence. Her husband rambling on about his mutated and 'safer' J-cells, as if that thing could ever be considered safe. Then it was her daughter, who seemed to take him in, as though he was no more than an injured bird needing treatment.

This thing would be the death of them. She just knew it.

2. "In my world its pretty rare for monsters to talk."

The large gray rabbit riding on his head paused to consider this, "Maybe they're just stupid?"

"Duh. They're basically wild animals. They're not really like you Loppy."

"Lopmon." The bunny creature corrected. Again.

Aka Cloud wakes up in the digital world as a twelve year old and has to find his friends...with the help of his partner digimon of course.

3. Genesis used to think mermaids were one of the most beautiful creatures in Ancient lore...until he saw a blond one swallow a fish whole. He wasn't so sure after that.

4. Au where Cloud and the remnants are escaped expiraments from a non-Shinra lab. They travel to Midgar and become mercenaries.

One of them winds up being captured, prompting the other three to rescue them, but they're otherwise preoccupied by normal human things they never got to experience. Loz loves donuts and other sweets, Yazoo adores taking long hot bathes, and Kadaj always seems to have headphones on, etc.

The holy trinity are shocked when the four don't recognize Sephiroth. Genesis also nearly has a heart attack when he catches them roasting a doomrat over an open flame. "You're not actually going to eat that, are you?"

5. Hojos alarm was triggered at three in the morning. Usually this wouldn't be an issue, creatures attempted to escape Shinras (and by extention his) clutches on a regular basis. They were usually recaptured or destroyed within the hour.

What was strange was the fact that this was Jenovas alarm. His goddess tended to not move much beyond bobbing up and down in her tank.

Upon checking the security feed, he witnessed something infuriating. A blond man was holding an armful of wildflowers and bossing around three silver haired teens as they dismantled her shrine and stole her away. Jenova herself seemed...interested? Approving? He wasn't sure, but it looked like she was cooing at them. Further analysis was required.

6. Time travel au, but the whole thing is from Hojos perspective and he suffers

7. Cloud and Reeve were having a discussion about Clouds Jenova abilities and why he never used them, which eventually lead Cloud to picking up a pebble and stating, "Its not like a can just force some of my life energy into a rock and make it a planet"

And then he did. Tfw

8. High fantasy, no materia au.

Magic is rarely seen in humans, rather a tool used by monsters. On the day Clouds mother is murdered his abilities awaken, creating a powerful snowstorm that ripped the town of Nebilhiem apart.

Ten years later and the storm rages on, having grown to cover nearly the entirety of the mountain, rendering communication with nearby kingdoms difficult and travel impossible.

The famed General Rhapsodous is sent to slay whatever great beast is causing this catastrophe. When he is faced with a young man living up there in complete isolation, he chooses to stay with the mysterious man until he can locate the monster.

What will become of Cloud once Genesis discovers the truth? After all, a witch is considered a form of monster.

9. "I should have just remained a puppet!"

Genesis mulled over the words as though they alone could unravel the mystery that is Strife.

Some part of the redhead felt a little bad about using the strange man's emotional outburst against him, but things were getting desperate...

10. Time traveler au where Genesis dresses in drag to save this "Tifa" girl from the Don. He then tries to get her to go to Shinra for questioning and is punched for his efforts

11. Cloud is thrown into a world where he never existed and Shinra still reigns supreme. Worse, he has no memory of who he is or how he got there (cause Jenova destroyed them). He only has his bike and his sword and begins traveling to find a purpose, all while avoiding Shinras detection.

He often stops at inns and rest stops and often sees the same group of people. The large man with a gun arm grew suspicious from seeing him everywhere they went.

___________________________

"Go away."

The knocking came again. "I know you're in there blondie." A gruff voice replied.

"I'm not gay."

The man on the other side of the door began sputtering. "Look," another voice began, "We just need to talk."

"Yeah. Sure. Talk." He said flatly. "In the middle of the night." He went over to the door anyway. Opening it revealed the man with a gun arm and another man with wild black hair.

"Zack?" The blond blurted, startled. What was one of Shinras Supreme doing out here?!

"You remember me!" The man beamed, "SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair, at your service! Now the real question!"

The man leaned down a bit to the mysterious blonds level, "Who are you?"

12. "Can you do it?" The softness of Denzels voice seemed to make the situation all the more horrifying. "Can you kill me?" Eerie mako green eyes stared up at where Cloud stood frozen.

Denzel pulled a knife from the block, "Or will your son kill you?"

Aka Seph plays mind games by possessing the kids from Advent Children and using them to torment Cloud and make him look like a lunatic

13. Cloud gets sent back in time/ alternate reality, ect. but gets turned into a white materia. He's careful not to roll around while people are looking, but that doesn't stop people from saying, "Hey, look! A materia! " and picking him up. He has no real power...other than apparently soothing anyone/anything he comes into contact with.

Strangely, he keeps getting slotted into bracers (among other things) regularly. Ya'll, he's so annoyed.

14. There were two of him. Two Sephiroths. The blond began regulating his breathing, desperately trying to ward off an ensuing panic attack. He wouldn't stand a chance if they decided to work together.

Luckily, one insulted the other and thus a catfight of epic proportions began, all while Cloud had a panic attack in some long forgotten closet.

15. Au where child Sephiroth overhears a scientist talking about her 'prayers being answered' and he asks her what that meant. After a brief explanation, he later prays to anyone who can hear him to get him out of the labs and/or away from Hojo.

It works.

Bonus: Cloud and Sephiroth were fighting again in the Midgar desert when Sephiroth slashed the air, creating a portal. He had intended to use it to appear behind his puppet and impale him again, but the blond rushed forward and slashed through the portal with his own sword, expecting the portal to disappear as he sailed through were it once was.

Unfortunately, it was still very much there. Just...different. Cloud wasn't given the chance to properly examine it before the feeling of being plunged into ice water overwhelmed him and he was spat out on the other side.

It was another desert, but not like the one he left. He could feel no life here. No plants, no animals, no...no lifestream. The only thing around is another version of him. One that was used and abandoned by the Sephiroth of this world.

The other blond stared at him in confusion, wielding twin sabers in a defensive position.

#ff7 #sephiroth #ffvii #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #genesis rhapsodos #angeal hewley #ff7 story prompts #tumblr prompt

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multi-fandom-imagine · 4 years

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A/n: Give me that good Cloud shit. Also ,Zack speaking to cloud will be in Italicized

Cloud Strife never asked to be a father, for starters he didn’t think he could even have one, nor did he think that he would even be a good dad. Not with all the crap he went through. So when you first told him that you were pregnant, with that pretty little smile on your face he did the first thing in his head that he thought was rational...walk out.

He knew it was wrong but he needed time to think, how could he be a dad? He wasn’t dad material, he was a solider. He should have been smarter about this, been more careful when it came to sleeping with you.Cloud loved you, it was easy being around you.

Gripping his hair tightly he mentally cursed as he paced around, he knew he shouldn’t have left you but he was scared. Though hearing his name screeched out he knew he was in trouble.

“CLOUD STRIFE! YOU ASSHOLE!” Flinching, from the sound of it you must have told Tifa and soon the very woman was standing in front of him giving his chest a hard enough shove for him to stumble back.

“What the hell.”

“You don’t get to say that Cloud! you’re such a dick! how could you just leave Y/n....she’s pregnant!.”

Cloud scoffed, like she had to point that out, he already felt like shit for leaving you alone. “ I know...”

“You know! Is that all you have to say....ohh you...you’re infuriating!” Clutching her hands into a fist Tifa stormed off, likely to go and comfort you. Stepping forward he then sighed then ran his fingers down his face. He would have to deal with that later, right now he had to clear his mind.

It was late into the night when he returned home, he ignored the look that Tifa gave him. She mouthed something to him before she left though he was more concerned with you. By the time he finally made it to the room you were already sleeping. Frowning he sat on the edge of the bed, hand hovering over you he quickly pulled back then laid down next to you. He’ll have to figure out how to make it up to you in the morning.

By your third trimester of your pregnancy it seemed that the only thing you and Cloud did was fight. Nothing was ever right, you were tried, swore and you didn’t even feel beautiful. It didn’t help that the man was spending more time at Tifa’s bar rather than being with you and for the brief moments he was with you it would spark an argument which caused him to go off for some job, you were starting to question why he was even with you.

“Oh leaving again! I get that you don’t want to look at me Cloud but you could at least get started on the nursery!” You shouted at the man, not caring who heard you.

“Right! because that’s why I married you y/n! I said I have a job I need to take care of.” He spat back as he walked over to the door, his hand reaching for his Buster Sword.

“That’s all you’re fucking good for! bringing in good damn money. Not like you’ll be an actual father to this child!” You tried not to cry but you were sick of fighting, tired of this, did he even love you anymore?

“Someone has to work! “ Clutching the door knob in his hand tightly, Cloud didn’t want to do this anymore. He hated fighting with you, he hated seeing you cry and he knew this fighting was not good for the baby. “I’m going out...I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Stepping out, he knew he was a coward. He didn’t deserve you and he was positive that you’d be happier with Zack if he was still alive.Digging his nails into his palm he forced himself not to look back.

“Fine! Leave! But Don’t Bother Coming back!” You shouted, voice horse then with a slam of the door you nearly collapsed on the ground, your arms wrapping around your belly. “We don’t need him...we’ll be fine on our own.” you whispered.

Going to the spot he knew to well, Cloud stabbed his sword into the ground. Leaning against it the man ran his fingers through his hair and for a moment he could have sworn that Zack Fair was sitting by his side.

“You’re an idiot you know that.”

That hit to close to home, closing his eyes he dug his nails into his palm. “GO away.”

“Ahah is that how you treat your best friend, what are you so afraid of....huh that she’ll leave you?”

“No...no I’m not worried that she’ll leave me”

“Then what....that she’ll get killed....it wasn’t your fault Cloud...what happened to me...Aerith.....your mother...you need to stop blaming yourself.”

He didn’t come here for this, for his own thoughts to betray him. “I’m scared.”

“Y/n is a strong woman, she can handle herself...beside’s I doubt all your friends would let anything happen to her...you should be with her right now. Happy that you’re going to be a dad, do let these stupid thoughts muddy up your thoughts Cloud....because you’re not gonna lose her to some enemy but by some shitty actions that you’re making right now.”

Sitting up the mans eyes went wide, would you really leave him? Panicking the man stood up then snatched his sword from the ground.

“You better name this kid after me Cloud! haha I just saved your marriage!.”

Chuckling under his breath he then shook his head pushing himself to run faster. “I will...I promise.”

Getting back to the house was easy enough though it didn’t stop him from being out of breath. Dropping his sword to the ground he quickly rushed to the room to find out packing your clothing.

“Y/n...wait.”

“I thought I told you to not come home.” You weren’t looking at him, so you were still mad about the fight though he couldn’t blame you. He was a shitty husband and even worse father and his child wasn’t even born yet.

“I’m sorry y/n...please.” Closing his eyes for a moment Cloud made his way over to you then wrapped his arms around you. “I’m sorry for the fights, for not being their for you.....for our child...I....I’m just scared. I don’t want to lose you. I already lost so many people.”

Feeling his tears against your neck, you then let out a sigh then turned to face him. Wrapping your arms around his waist hiding your face into his neck. “I’m sorry too Cloud.”

Shaking his head he ran his finger across your cheek gently. “ You have nothing to apologize for...I love you Y/n...and...I’ll love our little one too.” his hand moved to your belly giving it a small rub. “I promise.”

#cloud #cloud strife #cloud strife x reader #final fantasy cloud strife #Final Fantasy #final fantasy vii #Final Fantasy 7 #Final Fantasy Advent Children #final fantasy crisis core #drabble #drabbles #request #angst #i hope you like it

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theangriestpea · 5 years

Text

Kill of the Night

Summary: A dangerous succubus lurks in the Whyte Wyrm, looking for her next meal. Sweet Pea just wants to get laid.

Pairing: Sweet Pea x OC (Lavender Rhodes)

Rating: Mature // Explicit

Word Count: 4.8k+

Warnings: shameless smut, face riding, unprotected sex, daddy kink mention, character death

A/N:Finally! This is for three separate Riverdale events! @sweetwater-recs Spooky Season Theme One: Monster Squad; @riverdale-events Tricks and Treats of Riverdale Theme Two: Supernatural; and @southsidearchive Falloween Theme Two: Supernatural! Whew. It’s quite a season, right?

Inspo: Kill of the Night by Gin Wigmore

The beauty sitting at the bar closed the compact mirror she had been staring into to double check her disguised appearance, adjusting her purple locks so they were in the perfect position. The other demons called her Lavender due to the color of her hair in which she used whenever she presented herself as human. Her mother would have preferred that she be the traditional blonde as the most succulent souls seemed to have a weakness for fair hair.

However, Lavender found that purple hair was key to attracting a certain type of soul. Ones that had often been crushed by human society. Dark, inky black souls that had tasted the blood of another and had a kind of beautiful aftertaste to them. Those were her favorite to consume.

She flew into town the night before, having tired of her regular hunting grounds in Greendale after she was nearly hexed by a warlock who caught onto her before she could finish the ritual needed to acquire his spirit. Riverdale had this cookie cutter image on the outside, but deep down she knew it was teeming with the darkness she so craved so very much. Especially south of the railroad tracks where the streetlights didn’t burn quite as brightly and the air seemed foggier. There were more places to tuck into and hide.

The teeming underbelly of any small town was where she preferred to search for unfortunate men looking for trouble. In fact, this ramshackle bar she happened upon was perfect. It smelled distinctly of old beer and stale cigarettes. Clouds of dense smoke curled around the patrons in the dim lights.

She didn’t stand out and while that could have been disadvantageous to most of her kind, she found it useful to blend in with her food.

Lavender flicked her manicured hand to move the hair off of her shoulder as she sat up straight on the bar stool. The pink haired girl that was tending the bar slid her the drink she had ordered. Old Fashions were her weakness. It tasted like a begrudged human spirit.

“You must be new around here.” The short girl said with a dazzling smile. For a moment Lav wondered if she was one of theirs. A demon poised in the bar to prey on humans that were perhaps not so innocent. She sniffed the air discreetly. No, this adorable bar keep was no demon. Though perhaps she was something else…

Her brief statement had Lav chuckling lightly. New? She was centuries old. No place was truly new to her. She hunted here long before the town with pep was even established. She had not been new for quite some time. “You could say that.” She replied coyly. No use in telling the truth.

A tall man with tan skin and fluffy hair sat down next to her. “Hit me, Toni,” he said in a gruff voice as he looked at the bartender. She nodded and grabbed a bottle of beer for him. Lav took a sip of her drink, savoring the flavor as she glanced at the newcomer out of the corner of her eye.

He noticed the head of purple hair sitting next to him, eyes quickly raking over her almost bare thighs as her leather skirt had ridden up when she sat down. It left very little to the imagination, just as Lav had wanted. A glint of light caught his eyes and he saw an amethyst belly button ring dangling from her exposed navel.

A look passed over his face, she looked like she was from the Southside, sure. But he’d never seen her. Not that it mattered much to him. He just got finished with a shitty job and had just been looking for a drink, but getting laid wouldn’t hurt. He noticed the drink in front of her and how it wasn’t some fruity cocktail that most girls drank. He briefly wondered if she had any other piercings he could possibly run his tongue over as she squealed in delight.

The image seemed so clear in his head. Had he been in the right state of mine he would have found it weird to be fantasizing so vividly over someone he hadn’t even spoken to. Of course he had no shortage of imagination when it came to women, but his train of thought had escalated very quickly.

Maybe it had just been a while. Josie had been out of town recently on gigs. She was normally his go to when he didn’t feel like seducing a stranger. Sometimes he didn’t have the energy for a one night stand. However, he had quickly decided that tonight would not be a night for just him and his hand. This gothic beauty was definitely going home with him.

“Never seen you here before.” The biker said coolly, turning his body on the stool to face her after he took a sip of his beer. Lav watched him, playing dumb to the way he was looking at her. The feverish look that was developing in his eye that made them glint in the smoky atmosphere.

“I’m,” She paused. What had the little girl just asked her before? Oh yes, “new in town. Thought I’d get a drink.” She answered simply, her hand no longer obstructing her face. He saw the thin black septum piercing with pointed ends instead of the usual balls. She also had an amethyst stud philtrum piercing as well as two adjoining black snake bite hoops. So he had been right, she did have more piercings. Color him allured.

Sweet Pea eyed the metal. He couldn’t see her ears as it was obstructed by her straight, lavender hair. “Why did you come to a shithole like Riverdale?” He asked, trying not to sound too curious. He did his best to keep his tone callous. Lav saw straight through him. Poor thing had bitten straight down onto her hook.

She smirked at him, expression dripping with charm. “I’m looking for some souls to devour.” He mistook her seriousness as a dark joke. Certainly she wasn’t being truthful. It was just some act that girls like her like to put on. Alternative chicks were so strange.

“Good thing I don’t have one then.” He replied without much thought, almost as if he’d said the line before. Lav looked at him with her piercing hazel eyes. She looked inside of him, seeing the black aura around his heart. A serpentine green shape streaking through it. Her mouth was watering at the sight. It was in perfect condition. Aged with pain and strife. How beautiful, she thought briefly.

Her eyes flicked back up to meet his brown orbs, “is that so? Well, then I guess you’re not in any danger.” Her voice was deceptively light. He was in grave danger, but he was too cocky to see it. Too human to detect the danger poised before him. Mortals were so adorably naïve.

Lav took another sip of her Old Fashioned, the metal on her lower lip clinking against the glass. She crossed her shapely legs, the movement catching Sweet Pea’s lustful gaze as the skirt lifted even higher. Arousal curled in his stomach like a snake waking from slumber.

“I have some souls back at my place.” Sweet Pea said, not really thinking before speaking. The stupid line just came out of him and he immediately wanted to smack himself for it. Usually he was smoother than this, letting his prey drink more before offering to take her home. The girl laughed lightly and he wondered if she saw his sudden insecurity.

And of course, she did. She had this effect on men. Made them trip over their own tongues just to get into her pants. It was always amusing. She turned to him, eyes roving over his body rather crudely. Her mouth watered again, so much that she had to swallow. Sweet Pea watched the muscles move in her throat and he wondered if that’s what she’d look like drinking his cum.

“Do you?” She asked, the question sounding more innocent than it truly was. “I’m just so…hungry.”

A cocky smirk spread across Sweet Pea’s mouth, eyes beaming with pride in the success of his admittedly cheesy pick up line. He took out his wallet and paid for both of their drinks, hoping it would reel her in even more. “Then let’s get you something to eat.”

The double entendre was not lost on her. She could feed by simply sucking his dick dry if she wanted to, but that wasn’t her preferred method of feeding. Plus she hadn’t ridden a human in so long that she craved a throbbing cock inside of her as she worked her magic laden hips.

Lav slid off the barstool, flashing her black lace panties at Sweet Pea as her legs uncrossed so she could stand. His teeth sunk into his lower lip at the sight, his arousal jumping even more. This had to have been the easiest lay of his life. Maybe today was his day after all.

Sweet Pea drained his beer bottle before standing up next to her, amused by how much taller he was. He always did like short girls, and she couldn’t be much taller than five feet, though the stiletto heels did somewhat disguise her petite size.

“Hope you don’t mind riding on the back of my bike.” He said, knowing most chicks that hung out in places like this had an affinity for motorcycles. The dangerous element of riding on them only turned them on more. Not that he really thought she needed to be any more convinced to come back to his trailer.

A smirk curled on her red painted lips, “only if it’s not a bitch bike.” She replied with a seductive wink that was the proverbial nail in his coffin. She walked in front of him, hips moving back and forth in a way that made her ass look downright delicious. His internal excitement grew as his pants started to feel the tiniest bit tighter.

He led her outside and walked over to a black Harley in the corner of the lot. A pleased look cross the demon’s face as she looked over the machine. It was quite beautiful and the way he threw his leg over the side to straddle it was enough to make her drip with anticipation. This was going to be a great ride, she thought to herself as a devilish smile spread across her mouth.

The bike purred the life when Pea turned the key. He revved it before looking at her, eyes begging her to get on. The desperation fed into her tarnished soul and she felt exhilarated by the fact that soon she’d be feasting on him. Her empty stomach turned almost painfully. It had been so long since she had a good meal.

Lav got behind him, her arms wrapping around his waist as she pressed her body tight up against his back. He could feel every curve of her and he fought back a shiver of excitement. His teeth sunk into his lower lip as her hands dared to trail down towards the button of his dark jeans.

Sweet Pea revved the engine again before starting off towards his trailer. The woman behind him clutched his shirt with one hand while the other grabbed onto the top edge of his jeans. His jeans which were becoming even tighter with arousal due to how close she was. He held his breath as he felt his button release and zipper slide down.

He tried to concentrate on the road while a slender hand slipped into his pants. His lip was nearly bleeding now from his teeth digging into the soft flesh so tightly. His cock twitched at the feather light touch, growing harder and throbbing for release.Over the sound of wind whipping past his ears, he heard a faint giggle come from her throat.

He desperately sped up, racing home to try and get his release faster. God he just wanted to be inside of her right now, filling her up and stretching her out. The thought sent a shiver of anticipation up his spine. Lav felt this and smirked to herself.

She ran her index finger along his shaft playfully, earning a grunt from the driver. Her thumb ran over his tip and guessing by the damp fabric of his boxers, he was already leaking pre-cum. This effect that she had on men was so satisfying to her. Watching them fall into her trap time and time again. Her expertise in seduction and murder was hand in hand.

Thank God that Sunnyside wasn’t far from the Whyte Wyrm. That was Sweet Pea’s only saving grace from crashing his bike. He kicked out the kickstand and parked in his dirt driveway. Lav let out another giggle, this one more audible than the one before. She slid off the bike, adjusting her skirt momentarily after she did so.

Sweet Pea tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down but it wasn’t very effective. The demon’s hands clutched the open edges of his jacket where the zipper was and pulled him closer to her. “How about those souls now?” She asked playfully, looking up at him with beautifully lustful eyes.

He couldn’t resist. Not that anyone could really resist her. Not a demon of her magnitude and strength. His head dipped down so that his lips crashed upon hers. Lav drank him in, his saliva tasting like the cheap beer he had downed at the bar. Her grip on his jacket tightened as she pulled down on it to bring him closer.

His hands made their way to her hips to pull her closer to him. Of course he was discreetly aware that his fly was down and his pants were liable to fall off at any moment, however he couldn’t care less.

One large hand moved from her sides and roved across her plump ass, squeezing it hard enough to leave bruised fingerprints. So he wanted to play rough? She could do that.

The kiss was sloppy, wet. His tongue fumbled along her lips and she opened them, giving silent permission for it to enter her mouth. Her own tongue met his, battling it out for space and dominance. Eventually he was pushed back and it was her tongue in his mouth. Sweet Pea wasn’t sure how this had happened, it just did. For once in his life he lost a battle of wills against a girl.

Lav pulled away from him slightly, still looking up at him with those same large hazel eyes, “let’s go before you lose your pants.” She said playfully with a malicious glint in her eye that his mistook as harmless. She was many things but harmless was not one of them.

Sweet Pea released his grip on her and turned enough to lead her into his trailer. He made sure his pants stayed up as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He looked over his shoulder at her, noticing that her eyes seemed almost black in the darkness. Not just her irises, her entire eyeballs looked void of all color. He blinked and they were normal again. He thought nothing of it, a trick of the light. He was seeing things.

Inside the trailer was basic. A dirty American flag hung on the wall above a beat up couch. It wasn’t impressive and Lav knew then that no one was around to miss him if his life were suddenly snuffed out. Though, to be fair, it wouldn’t have bothered her if there was. She’s taken the souls of many family men in her time. Men that were looking for a good time and not willing to keep it in their pants. Those types of soul also had their own type of flavor. Like amaretto almost. Sweet and light, but satisfying nonetheless.

She broke out of her reverie when she noticed that Sweet Pea was trying to gauge her reaction. Her pink tongue moved across the metal on her lips slowly and deliberately. Suddenly her eyes were connected with his again, hungry and devoid of any kind of regret for being brought here. That was exactly what he wanted to see.

Pea put an arm around her waist and led her to his bedroom, “I keep my best souls in here.” He whispered to her darkly, thinking he’d sound edgy instead of like a dork. A devilish smile curled on her face as she stepped into the small room. It was dark but plain, much like the living room.

Suddenly he kissed her again, this time a little more forceful and eager. He wasn’t hesitant anymore. Lav’s hand found its way into his pants again. She gripped him firmly through his boxers, thumb rubbing along his shaft slowly. He groaned into their harsh kiss. He sucked on her lower lip and tasted the metal of her piercings. He ran his tongue across them like she just had in the living room a few minutes before.

She moaned softly to edge him along. It was quite an enjoyable kiss if she did say so herself. Most of the time they were nothing to write home about, but this one. This one had fire and passion and a spark of something else…longing? Yes, that was in. Longing for someone to become one with. Longing to not be alone. It tasted light salt, bitter and gritty but flavorful in its own way.

He shifted his position to back her towards his double bed. She obliged him by laying down, however as soon as he was on top she flipped them over. She pulled out of the kiss and smirked down at him, “sorry, baby, I’m doing all the riding tonight.” She said in a low voice that was laced this nothing less than the upmost desire to fuck him senseless. Well, fuck him lifeless was more like it.

Sweet Pea didn’t mind the girl doing the work for once. He was tired after all from working all day. Seeing this gothic beauty on top of him was nothing short of a perfect picture. She peeled off her crop top as well as the fishnet top that was underneath. Her pale breasts were bare in front of him and he could not resist the urge to reach up and run a thumb over the barbell that ran through one of her nipples.

“You enjoy pain?” He asked without much thought behind the question. Certainly all of these body modifications hurt. He could now see the industrial in one ear and line of piercings going up the other. Her body was littered with metal and glittering purple jewels. It was beautiful, arousing, and for a moment he found himself wanting to know more about her.

But did she enjoy pain? No, not really. These piercings didn’t hurt because she conjured them up when she made her human form. She enjoyed the display, the rise she got out of men when they saw her genital piercings. She was wild and untamable and somehow they portrayed that better than anything else could.

No, she didn’t enjoy feeling pain. But she did enjoy giving it. Ever the sadist in taking lives from orgasming men. Never fully satisfied until her hands and teeth are covered in someone else’s blood. The smile on her lips was cruel and cold. Almost as bitter as his longing. “If the moment calls for it.” She said vaguely in an attempt to answer his question.

He hummed back a nonverbal response as he continued to play with her nipples in awe. He pulled on one to test the waters. A thrill of pleasure ran up her spine causing her whole body to shudder. Sweet Pea smirked as if finding a secret button he wasn’t supposed to know about.

He pulled on the other one and elicited the same reaction. Lav let out a small moan as her eyes slid shut. Her hips moved against his, her clothed core rubbing against his hard penis. He couldn’t help but moan back at her, feeling tingles of excitement flow through him. She could feel him throbbing against her.

Lav dipped down low to give him a chaste kiss on the lips before smirking, “there’s something else I want to ride first.” She said in a sweet tone that almost sounded diabetic. Sweet Pea gave her a curious look.

“And that is?” He asked with growing interest. As much as he wanted to be inside her right now, there was nothing wrong with a little foreplay. Hell, he might even enjoy whatever suggestion she had. In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that he would.

She lifted up off of him, standing briefly to unzip her skirt and slide it down. He watched, noticing the tiny G-string she was wearing as well as the multitude of tattoos that ran across various parts of her body. All of them in a language he did not recognize. There were a few symbols as well, one he did recognize was the Satanic Cross on her hip bone.

“Your face.” She said in an innocent tone that didn’t match her face or her body. “But you have to take your clothes off first. Don’t you want to take your clothes off, daddy?”

He shuddered at the way she said the pet name. It languished out of her mouth slowly and deliberately. Without much thought on who was calling the shots, he quickly sat up and discarded his shirt and jacket. He kicked off his boots in order to take off his pants.

Suddenly he felt extremely self-conscious with her standing there staring at him so intensely. Lav let out something that sounded like a purr as she got down on her knees and kneeled between her legs. “You’re not shy now, papi, are you?” There was laughter hidden somewhere in her voice making Sweet Pea flush red with embarrassment.

Lav hooked her fingers on the elastic waistband of his boxers and pulled them off forcefully. His cock bounced to life as soon as it was free, standing beautifully to attention. She ran her tongue along the thick vein that decorated the side of his shaft.

Sweet Pea tilted his head back as he moaned, wanting nothing more than to feel the back of her throat. She stood up and pushed him back. His eyes snapped to her and he knew exactly what she wanted from him. She took off her thong before crawling on top of him, making sure to touch him the least amount possible just to torture him.

The succubus was straddling his face then, her core over his mouth. There was another glint of light and he saw the tiny barbell on her clitoral hood, looking identical to her belly button ring only smaller. That was a first.

He couldn’t resist the urge to run his hands over her thighs. One dared to venture to her clit and fiddle with the piercing. This evoked a moan even louder than the one he heard when he played with her nipples.

His thumb stayed there, rubbing in small circles as his tongue ran along her slit. Her breath hitched in her throat and she moved her hips against him to silently urge him to do more than just tease her.

Sweet Pea’s tongue dove into her moist core. It swirled around and thrusted in and out in rhythm with her moving hips. His thumb didn’t stop either. He wondered briefly if the piercing made her more sensitive. He increased his pace slowly, teasing her by circling her entrance a few times. When he did this she let out a delectable whine that he drank in thirstily.

Lav had to hold onto the headboard to keep steady as her orgasm began to build. Her fingers turned white as she tried to control herself so that she didn’t smother her prey before she could devour him. Her back arched, head back and eyes closed as her hips rocked feverishly.

He increased his pace one last time, tongue diving in as deep as it could possibly go. A cry of ecstasy escaped her as she hit her peak, her hips jerked as a shudder wracked her entire body. She stayed in the same position for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. Sweet Pea tenderly lapped up the excess juices that had spilled out of her.

Once she could no longer feel his tongue against her, only the heavy puffs of breath coming from his lips, she moved so she was straddling his waist. She reached down and grabbed his shaft so she could rub his tip along her folds. Sweet Pea groaned, wanting nothing more than to be inside of her.

He reached over towards his nightstand where a box of Magnums lay open with a few gold foiled wrappers spilling out. “There’s no need for that.” She said in a cooing voice. “I’m infertile.”

This was perhaps the most perfect one night stand in his lifetime. Maybe if she was lucky he’d make her a regular. Josie was gone too much to satisfy him anyway. Plus he was enjoying the way this stranger teased him mercilessly. Of course, he almost crashed his bike but it was still so exciting.

Lav positioned his tip at her entrance and slid down onto him. Both of them moaned in delighted unison. Finally, finally, some satisfaction for the both of them. God it felt so good going in raw. She was tight and wet and…cool? It almost felt like she had used some kind of lubricant to make the inside of her give off a cooling sensation. He hadn’t felt it when he was eating her out though. How the hell did she do that?

What Sweet Pea didn’t know would be the demise of him. Succubi were naturally colder on the inside. Most demons were. It felt so amazingly unique that he didn’t know how he was going to describe this to Fangs next time he saw him. But there won't be a next time.

His rough hands grabbed her hips and moved them. Lav chuckled at how impatient he was before starting to rock her hips against him. He continued to hold onto her tightly, thumb rubbing over the Satanic cross on her right hip bone and the strange symbol on her left. Fuck, he was going to need multiple rounds of this tonight. He wanted this sensation to last forever.

She rode him hard, never letting up her frantic but precise pace. Sweet Pea thrust up into her with great force, hitting her cervix multiple times and causing her to whimper with pleasure every time he did. It was his goal to hit it with every thrust just to hear that heavenly sound.

For a brief moment Lavender’s hunger grew so uncontrollable that she almost started ripping into him. She put his hands on his broad chest to steady herself, long nails lightly piercing his skin causing him to smirk up at her. If only she knew what these nails could really do. He’d be finding out soon enough.

The wet sounds of their slick skin slamming together echoed in the small room. Moans and grunts reverberated off of the thin walls. She was so loud, practically screaming “Oh fuck! Oh Daddy! Fuck me harder! Just like that!” Or anything similar really. She seemed downright creative with her word combos. Sweet Pea loved it. Josie never got this loud or this wild. She was fine with missionary most of the time which was okay with him but god it got so boring. He’d definitely be getting her number later.

Or so he innocently thought.

Lav came first, much harder this time than when she was on his face. Her muscles squeezed him so tightly that he himself orgasmed inside of her. He looked at the face she was making, the high was written all over it. But something was strange he quickly noticed, when she opened her closed eyes they were black as coal just as they had been before. Her walls were still clamped down on him, holding him firmly in place.

Sweet Pea tried to move away but she was holding him down with incredible strength. Her long nails grew into long claws that suck into his chest and soon he was screaming in pain instead of pleasure. Blood spilled from him in gushes and Christ it even felt like something was coming out of his dick.

It was his soul. She was working it out of him with peristalsis. Like swallowing cold lemonade on a hot summer day. It wasn’t just his semen filling her up it was his deliciously dark life force. The last thing Sweet Pea ever saw was her cruel smile, full of sharp pointed teeth.

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mama-m1na · 4 years

Text

Apocalypse: Chapter 2

~~~II~~~

The next day, five individuals stood in one of the building's elevators as they rode up to what used to be the penthouse, now used for holding meetings and more important events.

"So what exactly is happening in this meeting?" the blond asked as they exited to be greeted by the sight of a large, round table with ten chairs.

"Just weekly reports and in this case, pop up topics that concern us," the ravenette explained as she sat at one of the chairs at the circular table, "They usually go by fast as long as no one is intoxicated that morning."

The other three girls sat right next to the eldest female as Cloud just stood behind them with his arms crossed over his chest.

Within a few minutes the seats began to fill up, leaving an empty seat next to Tijarah and another across the table from the ravenette.

"Cloud, you can sit down if you want," Sam offered, turning around to look up at the well built male who just shook his head.

"Suit yourself then," she shrugged as Rhamina clapped her hands, earning the attention of everyone in the room.

"Alright, as y'all know, we have a guest today," she spoke, gesturing to the wielder of the buster sword, but before she could continue one of the others spoke up.

"Yeah," scoffed a male who honestly looked way too young to be there, his way of speaking seeming almost fake, "the fucking trash."

"Shut up, Juan-Angel," retorted G-lo from a few seats down as he looked over to the slightly younger male.

"You got a problem, G-lo?" the male asked with a low growl, "All of us know what that fucker is."

"Hush!" Rhamina barked with a glare as a sudden chill ran though everyone, her raven locks swaying behind her despite the still air in the room, "You can fuck around when you aren't at this table. You're both leaders, act like it."

It was silent as her narrowed eyes swept over everyone at the table with an annoyed frown.

"His name is Cloud Strife and the topic of his presence and origins will be discussed after our usual reports," she spoke in a stern tone, "If I hear even the slightest complaint about it before that time comes, then you will be dismissed, am I clear?"

"Dismissed from the meeting or our positions?" asked a male with long-ish brown hair mostly covered by a cap.

"You'll find out if it happens."

She was then met with silent agreement as some around the table nodded before she rested her elbow on the table and leaned forward.

"Good," the ravenette sighed before turning to her right, just past the empty chair next to Tijarah, "Justin, you start off the reports and we'll go around the table."

"Alright," the taller male spoke as he stood from his seat and double tapped the glass surface of the table top after removing his hat, causing it to light up and display data in front of each person at the table.

Each report consisted of trends in jobs taken by the members of each section of Apocalypse an individual was in charge of and any other news/information they thought needed to be shared.

Upon reading one of the data sheets Juan-Angel presented, Rhamina immediately noticed something wrong, but waited for the younger male to finish.

"One second," she said just as the male started to sit back down, "I think there are some inconsistencies in your data, Hun."

Swiping up on her phone screen, another page was displayed on the surface in front of her leaders.

"On your report sheet, it says that you completed three jobs this month," she stared as the others compared the two sheets, "But in our official records you haven't even registered for a single job in the past two months."

The male stood speechless as the ravenette continued, "Unregistered assists do not count, because it isn't traced back to your ID... You know that, so do you just think we're stupid and that we don't actually check?"

"Juan-Angel, the baseline quota for job completions is one a month if you're a general member of Apocalypse," Sam spoke as everyone practically glared over at the male, "And if you're a leader at this table, then it's only bumped up to two a month. They don't even have to be the hard ones. Hell you could literally water someone's garden and it would count!"

"I've been busy helping out my section, okay?" the boy scoffed as he shrunk into his seat, but he could feel the chill run down his spine once more as the head of the table spoke once more.

"I don't see how much help you're doing if you're slacking off this much," Rhamina stated bluntly as she narrowed her eyes at the male, "Everyone is at this table because they've proven that they can lead by example. You did too at some point, but you're getting too relaxed. I would be worried about your position if I were you, we can't afford even one of our leaders to not have their guards up at all times."

"Next report," she ordered quickly, not leaving the male anytime to reply as a female named Sierra stood up.

Ten minutes passed before the rest of the reports were finished and Rhamina stood from her seat to stretch.

"Alright! With reports out of the way, we will be moving onto the topic of Cloud," she spoke before moving to stand behind her chair, "And I propose that we recruit him as an official member of Apocalypse."

"What?!" many voices in the room exclaimed, one of them including the blond swordsman himself.

"Sorry about not telling you about my idea, but did you think I could just pass up this opportunity?" the female gushed as she turned around to face the older male, "Plus it would benefit you too. You would have a place to stay without having to pay rent, a way to get money, access to our online databases, access to all of our facilities, and a lot more than if you were to go off on your own."

The male frowned, but knew it was a good offer considering his situation and from what he could gather of being around the female for a few days, she was being completely genuine in her offer.

"Fine," he scoffed, earning a relieved sigh from the ravenette while some had mixed reactions behind her.

"That's a terrible fucking idea!" the short, Mexican male exclaimed as he stood up, the force knocking his chair over, "That thing is a literal threat to all of us!"

"Says the literal monkey that wields fire magic combined with guns," Tijarah scoffed as she glared over at the shorter male.

"If Mina trusts him, then I trust him," Sierra spoke from her seat, not even looking at the male next to her, "She's a pretty good judge of character, so if he were a threat to us, then she would have gutted him by now."

"I'll trust him too," G-lo added, earning nods from Sam and Kerstin.

"As much as I would love to side with a bad ass guy like that, I'm gonna have to side with Juan-Angel on this one," Justin spoke in his baritone voice, "While Rhamina does have a generally good sense of people, how can we tell for sure that he won't just fuck us over?"

"Well-" "Sorry to interrupt, but we have an issue!" the blonde known as Abby exclaimed as she rushed into the room.

"What is it Abby?" Sam asked as the blonde looked up to the table and then her phone, earning a nod from the Emissary.

"This is the problem," she said, swiping up on her phone screen, causing images of large insects to appear on the table.

"Eugh! Antlions!" Kerstin hissed.

"They're all over the place by the old plant right now," she explained as the leaders listened intently.

"How many of them are there?" Justin asked.

"A lot," Abby huffed, "My girls weren't able to get a count, but there's definitely a lot of them over there."

"And when did they show up?" Sierra asked.

"Today. This morning to be specific."

"If they're just by the plant, then I have a feeling they're accompanied by someone inside it," the ravenette commented before a smirk crept its way onto her lips, " The goddess of luck has blessed me today."

"Since I know we have to send leaders on missions that involve encounters with generators, we should just have the team take Cloud with them today and if he does anything sus, then you can take my head!" she suggested with a bright smile, earning a shocked gasp from the blond behind her.

"You must be pretty confident if you're betting your life," Justin chuckled knowing the teen's gambling habits, "Who all is going on this?"

"Me, Cloud, Tijarah, you, and Juan-Angel," the ravenette said, "We're meeting in the lot in one hour. Take that time to prep yourselves. Meeting dismissed!"

As the people began to filter out of the room, Cloud took hold of the ravenette's wrist and turned her to face him.

"What are you thinking?" he hissed quietly, narrowing his eyes at the female, "Just gambling your life like that?"

"That's the normal gamble I have to make with every decision, Cloud," she replied firmly, "If one of my mistakes needs to take a life, then I would rather it be me than one of the people that I've been working so hard to protect."

"Besides, I have complete trust in you!" the teen spoke, taking his hand off of her wrist and just holding it in her own, "I'll be fine."

"And I'm sorry if I seemed harsh or high key bratty about recruiting you," she spoke with a nervous smile, giving his hand a small squeeze, "You're just... really... great! And I didn't want to lose you."

"It's fine, I can understand where you're coming from," he sighed, "Plus this benefits me too, like you said."

"I hope you know that I don't think of you as an asset in this decision," Rhamina spoke as she released his gloved hand, missing the way the man frowned at the lack of warmth, "you seem like a genuinely nice person and we need more of those around."

The compliment threw the ex-SOLDIER off for a moment, before he followed her into the now empty elevator.

"The lot is right behind the building, so when it's time, just go out the back when you reach the ground floor," Rhamina explained as they descended one floor.

"Right," the male nodded as they reached their floor before separating to go to their suites.

Since Cloud already had all of his belongings on him, all he did was wait an hour before going down to the vehicle lot.

It was a large parking structure filled with multiple vehicles that belonged to the various members of the group.

Everyone was gathered on the bottom floor of the structure, some dressed differently with their gear strapped onto them; however, Rhamina only changed one thing about her usual get up.

She still wore her dress and corset, the only difference was that she now wore black combat boots with thick heels instead of her usual sandals.

"Alright, this is everyone, right?" Justin asked as he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket upon seeing the blond.

"Yep, we're all set," Tijarah spoke as the group made their way a black pick up truck, "let's get this over with."

"There's only two seats inside, so you're gonna have to ride in the back with the girls," the taller male explained to Cloud as Juan-Angel got in the passenger's seat.

Cloud nodded wordlessly as he walked to the back of the truck to see Rhamina and Tijarah already sitting comfortably in the bed of the truck.

"How's it feel to be out in the field again?" Tijarah asked as the male hopped in, "It's been a while, huh?"

"It really has," the ravenette chuckled, earning a raised brow from Cloud who sat a few feet from her as the truck started moving.

"I know I have a job quota in place for the others in Apocalypse, but the Emissaries are pretty much exempt from it because we're doing other things," Rhamina explained as the noticed the male's confusion.

"Kerstin and Sam are basically looking for more allies and sponsors for us, I'm running our weapon supply, and Mina is monitoring and updating a lot of our essential programs," Tijarah added, "we don't have time to be leaving constantly."

"Yep, that's why I'm almost always on my computers," the ravenette confirmed, "We only really go out on missions if we're meeting with ally leaders or if a job requires us to fight something too much for the others to handle."

The male nodded as the truck began moving through the streets of the Abyss and passing the various citizens who were out and about.

Within ten minutes of driving, the lake came into view and the window that separated the inside of the vehicle from the back opened.

"Hey, how are we getting over there?" Justin asked as he looked at the three using the rear view mirror, "We going around or over?"

"Don't even think about trampling my flowers," Rhamina huffed as she crossed her arms, "We're going around."

"Fine, fine,, I won't touch your fucking flowers," the brunet chuckled as he drove on the road that led around the body of water, "And Cloud."

"What?" the blond huffed as they approached the other side of the lake, loud buzzing being heard in the distance.

"Just a few things about these fuckers we're about to exterminate," the brunet started as they got closer and the buzzing got louder, "They are an alien cross between a pissed off grasshopper and praying mantis. They can't fly, but fuck, can they jump."

Suddenly a screech came from Tijarah's side as one of the monstrosities jumped over, but before it could land, a black fan flew over and cut off its head.

As the bug fell dead just outside of the moving vehicle, the fan returned to Rhamina who was standing up, another fan held in her left hand.

"Time to get to work!" the ravenette chirped excitedly as she jumped off the side of the truck to start attacking the oncoming creatures.

"I would jump out too unless you're using long range attacks," Tijarah spoke as she stood, drawing two matching daggers before nodding to the interior of the vehicle, "They're not stopping the truck until all of these things are taken care of."

With that said, the female hopped off her side to engage with the bugs, leaving Cloud to draw his sword and do the same.

Fighting the overgrown bugs was different but not difficult, Cloud had certainly fought worse.

It was obvious the rest of the group had as well, mowing down the monsters with ease as Justin literally rammed them full speed with the truck with Juan-Angel firing at them with a small, but powerful gun.

The three on the ground were doing quite well as they fought, occasionally assisting and defending each other when an opponent managed to get behind them.

As the last of the antlions was slayed, the three walked over to the white, cylindrical, building that was partially submerged as the others parked and got out of the truck.

"This is a fucking problem," Tijarah scoffed as they looked at the sealed entrance, "Last time we checked, this door was wide open and not locked from the inside."

"Just bust it down," Juan-Angel scoffed as he stood with his arms crossed.

"That's a great idea, if you want to break yourself," Justing retorted, "The plants were made to be fucking impenetrable."

"Then what plan do you have, genius?" the boy huffed as he glared up at the much taller male.

"Are there any more entrances that we can use?" Cloud asked, earning the attention of the group, "A place like this has got to have more than one point of entry."

"Yes," Rhamina stated as she stood a few meters behind the group, pointing towards the top of the tower, "The top entrance is open."

"I can get in and come down to open this door," she chirped, tossing one of her fans in the air as it grew in size once more, while a small chime was heard.

As the fan came down; it just floated a few feet above the ground, parallel to the ground, which allowed Rhamina to hop on before it began floating up.

Cloud stood back, eyes wide and mouth agape as the female continued to ascend before entering through and opening near the top of the building.

"Never seen anything like that?" Justin chuckled, bringing Cloud out of his shocked trance, "She can do that and a lot more with that bell of hers."

"Bell?"

"Yeah, her necklace," Juan-angel explained, "It contains the Bell of Death; like Tijarah has the Bell of Pestilence, Sam had the Bell of Famine, and Kerstin had the Bell of War."

"Legends say that only the true Emissaries of the Apocalypse can draw out their true powers and get them to ring," Justin added, "and those legends are actually right. You should see those four in a serious fight. Jesus."

"It's a shame Rhamina won't be able to use it that much though," Juan-Angel spoke, earning glares from both Tijarah and Justin.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked with a raised brow.

"Uh," the boy started, already knowing he had said too much, "She can't use it that much because, uh, she doesn't go out on missions often."

Cloud narrowed his eyes in suspicion as the other two next to Juan-Angel facepalmed at his obvious lie.

It took about ten minutes for the door to open, revealing the ravenette who was breathing heavily and bleeding from a wound under the right side of her collarbone.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Justin asked with wide eyes as the female stepped aside to let the group in.

"Whoever is in here turned on all the security measures on the inside of the plant," huffed Rhamina as the door shut behind them, "I already cleared this room, but the levels up there are still fucked."

"It's a good thing we're going down then," Juan-Angel commented, "The actual generator is down there with the control room."

"Yep, and so are the fuckers who decided to mess with us. Look," the ravenette said as she pointed up at a camera that moved to view them.

"Aren't the cameras manually operated?" Tijarah asked as she glared up at the lens and the blinking red light, signifying that it was on.

"Yeah, so what are we waiting for?" Rhamina asked with a smirk, "We still have a job to do, so let's beat 'em up."

Words of agreement came from the three other official members of Apocalypse as they walked off in the direction of the stairs and Rhamina was about to follow, but was halted by Cloud.

"What is it?" she asked as she turned to face the male who had stepped closer.

"Just wait a few seconds," he muttered, bringing his still gloved hand to rest just above the teen's wound.

Rhamina let out a small gasp as an unfamiliar magic flowed through her body, soft, wispy lights of green surrounding the pair.

The soft tingles that ran through her were different from the normal warmth of healing magic that she was used to feeling.

As the feeling disappeared and the swordsman began pulling his hand away, the ravenette noticed that she was no longer bleeding, but she also noticed something else.

The eighteen-year-old gently took Cloud's hand before he could pull it back all the way and inspected the cuff he wore around it, it had two glowing orbs in it.

"What are these?" she asked, noticing how the color within them seemed to constantly shift between shades of green.

"Materia," Cloud answered as the female released his hand, "We use them in my world to wield specific types of magic."

"Ah, that's efficient," the girl chirped as they followed the rest of the group starting down the first set of stairs.

"Not really," he replied, the pair easily catching up as they walked down the well lit stairs, "All of you here can use magic without things like this."

"True, but it takes a lot more focus to wield it the way people in this world do," the ravenette said, "We have to be able to form what kind of magic it is, how powerful it is, and our target all with our own raw power."

"I can imagine," Cloud commented as the youngest of the group began working at a door in their way, "but you all must be well trained in order to go as fast as you do."

"Thank you, Cloud," the female gushed with a closed eye smile, "That means a lot."

Suddenly, the door opened and the ravenette jumped out of the way as a laser struck where she previously stood.

"Armored sentries!" she called, catching sight of multiple of the same weapons in the room, flicking open her fans to fight.

"Hit them in the eye right as they're about to fire," Tijarah suggested as she drew her daggers once more, "that's the easiest way to take them."

It took quite some time to defeat the four turrets because as soon as they fired, they would close up completely to recharge and their armor did not allow for much damage to be dealt, if any at all.

Luckily, no one took any significant damage so they just kept descending to battle more robotic security measures before reaching the generator.

It was a machine that was submerged in water that came in from the lake, there was a platform above it with a ladder which led down to the maintenance platform.

Pointing across the suspended platform, Rhamina saw a room with its lights on and said, "That's the control room."

"And there are the bastards that put us through all this trouble," Justin scoffed as four figures in black exited the room.

"You made it down here pretty quick," a blonde woman spoke as she and the other three stepped out onto the platform, "Did you enjoy your little playmates?"

"Fuck 'em up," Rhamina ordered with an unamused expression, the members of Apocalypse readying their weapons as the woman gasped in shock.

"Don't need to tell me twice," the brunet chuckled as his metal gauntlets began to spark, a large smirk growing on his face.

"Wait!" the female exclaimed as the three dashed forward to meet their enemies, "Don't you want to hear why we're here?"

"Nope, don't care!" the ravenette chirped as she bounced on the balls of her feet, holding her hands behind her back as Cloud merely watched the exchange with his weapon drawn, "You're going to die anyway!"

"Rhamina, shut off the plant!" Juan-Angel called as he dodged a magical attack, his smaller form giving him a heavy advantage over his much larger opponent.

"Right!" the female replied before rushing across the platform, past all of the fighting individuals, towards the control room.

"Like hell you will, bitch," the woman muttered as she aimed a pistol at the running teenager only to have it knocked out of her hands by a bolt of lightning.

"Stay focused on the opponents in front of you," Cloud stated as one of the green materia in his cuff slowly glowed brighter.

"Well, aren't you just a fine specimen?" the woman mused, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "Why not ditch the kids and have some fun with me?"

Hearing this statement, Rhamina sneered at the woman over her shoulder before cupping her hands around her mouth and calling, "Whore!"

"Shut your mouth, brat!" the blonde snapped before dodging a strike from the male's oversized blade.

"Sorry, not interested," the male replied bluntly before he swiped at the female again, only to be blocked by her two wakizashi.

"Well then, allow me to change your mind," she mused with a wink before both individuals jumped back from each other.

As her companions kept the intruders busy, the ravenette entered the control room and began manually shutting off every operating thing in the plant as she had done multiple times in the past few years.

The first time the girl had done it, her nerves were flooded with anxiety and her hands were extremely shaky, but now she just clicked the familiar pieces of the program with barely a thought until the screen turned blue, signifying that she had accomplished her goal.

"Alright, you murder hobos, time to stop playing with your food," Rhamina called as the lights grew dimmer, the plant switching to emergency power that only served to provide some light, "Finish the job."

"This fucker was getting boring anyway," Justin spoke as he crushed the skull of his opponent in his hand.

"Same, man," Juan-Angel added as he shot a bullet straight through his opponent's forehead.

"What?!" the blonde woman gasped as she dodged another blow from Cloud, before looking to Tijarah only to see that she was collecting her daggers from the unmoving body in black.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?!" she exclaimed as she was backed into the railing of the platform, all five individuals surrounding her, "You're all monsters!"

"Aw, Sweetie, all of us are," the ravenette cooed as she stepped forward, holding her hands behind her back, "If you were born into this world, then you're automatically a monster."

"Some are just more obvious than others, while the rest hide it or even try to deny it," she continued, holding her right hand up large shards of ice floated above her open palm, "Which category do you fall into?"

The blonde's green eyes widened as she looked into the dark irises of the younger female, the serenity about her only making it clear that the ravenette wasn't joking around.

Pure and utter terror ran through the woman's form as Rhamina stepped forward, her eerie calm following her.

"No matter, I made a promise to myself when I founded Apocalypse," she spoke, rolling her neck, "If anyone were to try and reactivate any of the plants and generators, especially the generators, then they would die."

Not giving the woman a chance to respond, the eighteen-year-old flicked her wrist forward, the ice shards stabbing straight through the woman's chest.

The body slowly slumped down to the ground, lifeless as the green eyes remained wide open to display her last emotions.

"Mina, we found these on the other bodies," Tijarah spoke as she held three plastic cards out to the ravenette.

"They look like ID's from a group called Scyphozoa," she explained as the ravenette gave the cards a quick look over before stashing them in her right sleeve.

"I haven't heard of that group before, so I'll have to do a search on them, but for now let's head back," Rhamina sighed as she stretched her arms up.

One the groups walked out of the building, the eighteen-year-old looked over to the shortest of the group and asked, "So, Juan-Angel, was that enough for you?"

"Huh?"

"Was that enough to prove that Cloud can be trusted to join Apocalypse?" she clarified as they walked over to the truck.

"I guess," the male scoffed, looking away as he crossed his arms.

"Alright then," the ravenette chuckled, "And this took care of two of you job requirements, you still owe me two more."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm serious, Juan-Angel," she continued as the male hopped into the passenger's seat with the window rolled down, "If you don't fill your quota by the end of the month, someone else is getting your position."

"I will," the male spoke, looking the older female in the eyes, earning a nod before she went to the bed of the trucks with the other two.

"Wow, Mama Mina's really coming out to play," Tijarah chuckled as the teen knocked twice on the window, the signal that everyone was good to go.

"I have to make sure y'all are prepared for when I bite the dust," Rhamina chuckled in response as she sat with most of her legs tucked under her skirt.

"I'm dying way before all of you anyways," she continued with a somber smile as she looked out at the flowers.

Before Cloud could question the female, the glass rolled down and Justin said, "I'm feeling kinda hungry, y'all down to go get some wings?"

"Yeah, I'm down," Rhamina chirped as she took out a metal barrette and began fastening her hair into her usual twist, "as long as we get back to the building by five, I have work tonight."

"I thought you didn't work on nights that you took jobs," Juan-Angel said as he turned to look out the window.

"This was a last minute thing, so I can't just call out," the teen replied with a shrug, "Plus I still have things to update on the databases and I would rather not fall behind."

"Don't stress yourself out again," Justin warned with a chuckle as he pulled into the parking lot of a Wings and Things in a much cleaner part of the city, "Seriously, all of you Filipinos are such stress balls."

"I haven't done that in the past five months, I'm fine," the ravenette retorted as she stood to jump to the ground once the vehicle was parked.

As Cloud got off the truck, Rhamina smiled at him and said, "This is the Clean Side of what used to be Temecula."

"This is the half of the city that wasn't destroyed by the generator exploding," Tijarah explained as they walked into the building.

"You have some of the money I gave you , right?" Rhamina asked as they waited in the pretty short line.

The blond nodded, remembering that he had some money left over from what the ravenette had given him to buy groceries and other necessities.

"Good!" she chirped before jumping up to wrap her arms around the male's neck, causing him to gasp in surprise as his eyes widened at the sudden display of affection.

He held his arms out to his sides awkwardly for a few moments before the teen realized what she was doing and backed away.

"Sorry about that, it's a habit," she chuckled with a nervous smile as she stood an arm's length away from the male, "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's fine," the male replied, still in slight shock of what had just happened, "Just don't do it again."

The ravenette nodded before going up to order, earning a snort from Tijarah who was standing in line behind them.

"Got something to say?" Cloud asked with slightly narrowed eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest; however, the dark-skinned female remained unphased.

"That ain't gonna happen," she spoke with a small smirk, "Unfortunately for you, the demon is really good at making friends out of anyone she wants."

"You'll submit eventually," she continued as the pair watched the female practically float across to a booth close to the register.

Once everyone's food arrived at their tables, they immediately began to eat with some chatter in between bites.

"Good job today, Cloud," Rhamina chirped as she dipped one of her bread sticks in the included ranch.

"Yeah, you held your own quite well for someone who hasn't been inside one of those plants before," Tijarah added.

"We had similar things in my world," the blond responded quietly, "Mako reactors had a similar build and similar security systems."

"Interesting, any other similarities that you notice?" the ravenette asked, putting her full attention on ht male.

"Yeah, there are a lot, but at the same time, it's so different here," Cloud sighed as he thought of his experiences in Midgar, "Mostly in the people."

"I guess," Rhamina shrugged as her expression fell, "you really can't escape scummy people, can you?"

"You know what's really sad?" she continued with a somber smile on her face, "None of this would have happened if people learned to listen to each other instead of being so engulfed by their own greed."

"It could have, but you know how stubborn people are," Tijarah scoffed in response as she continued to eat her chicken.

"Unfortunately," the ravenette sighed, scratching at her neck before focusing on her meal,leaving the rest of her thoughts unsaid.

At around four in the afternoon, the group loaded back into the truck and made their way back to the hotel building.

Once the three had hopped out of the back of the vehicle, Justin placed a hand on the swordsman's shoulder and said, "Welcome to Apocalypse, Buddy."

"Yeah," the twenty-one-year-old nodded as the taller male walked off with Juan-Angel beside him.

"Hey, Cloud," Rhamina called as they walked back into the building, "Come over tomorrow morning so we can get you into our system."

"Just a warning, there's a lot of paperwork involved," Tijarah spoke as the group entered the elevator.

"Yeah, but it's not that much, plus I'm going to be doing most of the work," the ravenette huffed as she nudged her friend into a wall.

"It's fine, the sooner I get it done, the sooner I can start going on jobs," Cloud spoke as he watched the floor counter above the doors.

"Don't worry, it won't be all that boring," Rhamina chirped with a bright smile, "I have a few surprises for you as well."

When the clock struck five o'clock in the afternoon, Rhamina left the Apocalypse building with the three ID's in her sleeve.

She spent the forty-five minutes she had in her room to just rest, so she was still clueless to who the four they had encountered in the plant were.

However, even if the ravenette could not recall who 'Scyphozoa' was, she couldn't help the unease that began to settle in her gut.

~~~Fin. Chapter 2~~~

Masterlist

#Apocalypse #Chapter 2 #Final Fantasy VII #FFVII #FFVII Remake #Fanfiction #Cloud Strife x OC

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writing-anomaly · 5 years

Text

Torn

Fandom: Jojolion

Summary: Yasuho’s life is tearing at the seams. The volatile Rokakaka trade is catching up to them and when Josuke unravels, Yasuho is pushed to her limit. She’s left more vulnerable than ever as she struggles to protect two men who barely know her.

This a story in which the protected must become the protector.

Chapter 4

"Fuck!"

Josuke fell with a grunt, tasting all the gravel that hadn't lodged itself into the skin of his face, arms, and knees when he fell gracelessly into the bushes.

Following Yasuho had been a snap decision.

His lungs burned, his feet hurt, and his heart was freaking out.

In all honesty, he hadn't planned on leaving the Higashikata estate. But his gut made him go after her, slippers and all. Yasuho's face was seared into his mind.

The hurt in her eyes..

Why wouldn't she tell him what was going on?

He'd fix it no matter what it was.

Why couldn't she just trust him..

Josuke huffed, trying to regain all the oxygen he'd let slip away during his pursuit. He had sprinted with a reckless abandon, causing a ruckus as he almost ran into a bewildered drunkard. The man had wanted a fight, but Josuke hadn't the time.There were more important pursuits he was after.

Yasuho was keeping something from him.

Ignoring the pain, he hoisted himself back onto his feet, looking around to gauge his new surroundings. He stepped out of the bushes of what looked like a small a park and onto the sidewalk. This prefecture was more populated than the suburban area of the estate. The Multi-story buildings told him that he had reached the downtown area at the heart of Morioh. Neon lights blared offensively, bringing attention to a wide variety of shops. More than a few shady characters weaved in and out of questionable establishments with storefront windows displaying whips and an array of strange contraptions.

Oh, no. The bus!

Josuke nearly gave himself whiplash as he searched for where the bus had turned to. Letting his focus slip for a fraction of a second could cost him everything. Sure enough, he saw the rearview lights of the massive vehicle three blocks down from his current position and turning onto what he recognized as the entry ramp of the highway.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

He was prepared to hunt it down regardless. Savoring the last bit of unlabored fresh air he'd have for a while, he spared himself a cat stretch.

Then booked it.

He went on blind dash down the street, not bothering to look for stop lights, straight into the oncoming traffic.

"You stupid fucker!"

The driver of a red corvette expressed his displeasure as he honked his horn, swerving in order to avoid hitting the young man. The car after that stopped abruptly, earning itself a hearty ram from behind, curtesy of the next car.

But none of that mattered.

He was about to lose track of the one person who mattered in his life, aside from his "mother," Holly Kira. The streets were becoming increasingly more crowded than he thought they should be on a Friday night. Much to his irritation, he was forced to weave in and out of crowds of rough-looking night prowlers. The horde of hoodlums became thicker with each step and Josuke found himself having to push his way through, grabbing shoulders and faces alike, just in order to clear a path.

Not good.

At this rate, he'd never catch up to Yasuho. Josuke scowled. A burning Irritation was quickly replacing whatever hope he had to find her.

"Hey, watch it!"

A rough hand snatched the fabric of Josuke's collar, nearly choking him in the process, and he was forced to look into the green eyes of a very aggressive, haggard looking fellow. The large man appeared to be in his forties, with sharp features and an overwhelmingly prominent nose. His flushed face, was as round as the moon, and sparsely covered in what Josuke dared to call a beard. Two, equally unattractive women clung to either one of his arms, scantily covered in leather vests and ripped spandex. Their bodies were practically spilling out of their clothes.

"Listen punk, that was my gal you pushed just now. I don't take kindly to disrespect." The threat, hardly concealed within the man's thick accent. His weathered face contorted into an expression so fowl, the muscles in his forehead formed what appeared to be horns.

Josuke regarded the man with bewilderment. "What's that on your face?"

"The hell you talkin' bout?"

Josuke could feel his nose hairs disintegrate from the hot breath that escaped through the holes in the man's decaying teeth. Faintly, he pointed at the metal piece poking out from either side of the man's nose. Without giving him a chance to reply, Josuke pinched the tips of the silver stud where it rested in the bridge of his nose, and yanked it straight out.

There was a loud crunch followed by a scream as horrid as grinding metal.

The two accompanying females looked on in horror as blood gushed from their lover's face like a faucet.

"Kevin-kun!" The blonde woman shrieked as the brunette fawned over the Gaijin who was holding his face while crying in a fetal position.

"There, there, babe.." She dabbed his face with a napkin she pulled from her cleavage. The injured man paid her no mind, opting to look up at Josuke who was trying to rub the blood off his formerly white shirt.

"Aaaw, man. I just washed this too.."

"You bastard..." he growled in between snorting the blood that continued to leak out of his face.

Curious onlookers had formed a circle by this time, though none moved to intervene. A petty fight was not the outcome Josuke was hoping for when he decided to leave his house. He heard the siren of what he recognized as the police in the distance then decided it would be best to take his exit and avoid a more dramatic scenario.

Josuke scanned the area for a reasonable pathway, taking note of a wisp of pink hair flowing through one of the gaps in the crowd of people.

There was no need for him to push his way through this time, as anyone standing in his path was swift to remove themselves, throwing him wary glances as he wiped a few specs of blood from his porcelain skin.

"Yasu-" He began to yell for all his excitement, then thought against it.

Maybe he shouldn't disturb her.

When he was free from the multitude of people, he glanced at the massive entrance to the building that everyone had been crowded in front of. On the wall was a large poster signifying the concert of a punk rock band. It depicted the severed head of a goat along with snakes, skulls, and roaches crawling along an apple.

It was rather grotesque for his liking.

Shaking his head, Josuke continued to stalk Yasuho quietly from the shadows.

Yasuho climbed the stairway to her apartment with much trepidation.

Her mother had never brought a man home before.

..this was uncharted territory.

She tried to imagine what type of guy her mom would go for.

Rich, was a given.

Growing up, her mother never worked a steady job. Though, somehow the lights never went off and there was always money for food. It wasn't unusual for her to sport designer clothes and mink furs, so whoever she was involved with had to have been loaded..

He was probably an old dude too.

Yasuho imagined a short, little wrinkly dude, fawning over her mom as they shopped for the latest Gucci gear. She was aware of the whole sugar daddy concept, and most of those relations involved buttering up a lonely guy with deep pockets and nothing to loose.

Yasuho hoped her mother wouldn't resort to such.

Upon reaching the final step to her floor, she saw that the walkway was clear, and began to move toward her own abode. There were several wooden doors along the inner wall of the concrete building. Each had their own assigned number mounted in silver.

Unit 708 was the apartment she shared with her mother.

On second thought..

Yasuho took a moment to compose herself.

She stepped to the outer end of the breezeway, readjusting the heavy grocery bag in order to relieve the blood flow in her finger tips, before opting to set it down.

The cool air was exactly what she needed to soothe her nerves.

Leaning against the railing, she gazed upon the Morioh city skyline.

A thousand golden lights danced along the horizon, beautiful enough to rival the stars above. It was a clear night aside from a few sparse clouds that glowed pearlescently in the moonlight. The atmosphere was not quite as peaceful as one would expect to relax in. She could hear the bustling traffic and uninhibited yells of bar patrons beneath her home; an unavoidable cost to living in the affordable, yet sketchy part of the town.

Yet having spent so much time in that environment, Yasuho allowed the roars of the city to lull itself into a hum of ambience within her ears. It was like an auditory haven where she didn't need to process the day to day strife she was force to live.

It was a far cry from Josuke's peaceful abode in the Higashikata estate. He'd been adopted into a family of multimillionaires, and Yasuho was sure he still didn't know just how lucky he was. She, herself, was all too aware that he resided in a part of town she could only dream of being able to afford.

Speaking of which, the guilt of her departure was starting to sink in.

Technically, Yasuho had ditched him when he only wanted to ensure her safety. Josuke was such a gentleman and sweeter than any guy she knew. Yet, when he tried to comfort her, she pushed him away...and she felt so bad for it.

Was she thankful for the swift escape?

Of course, there was no denying it.

Buying the alcohol and spaghetti was not a problem.

Nothing unusual about that. Everybody had to eat. And she was grown enough to have a drink if she wanted it.

...but the condoms..

Yasuho peaked once again in to the plastic bag she held, setting her cheeks ablaze in an instant as she recalled her shopping experience.

She had tried to be as discreet as possible.

Morioh was a sizable town, but word spread around fast and she preferred not being the center of the latest gossip. Thankfully, no one was in the intimate care isle of the corner store so swooping in and snatching the XL pack went without incident. It wasn't until she presented her items to the cashier that the man took the liberty of reading the package label out loud.

With that stupid pervy look on his face..

"Extra large! My, you must be a lively young lady!"

She could've died on the spot.

All the more reason to be thankful that she had left Josuke behind. She couldn't fathom, having to explain to him why she was buying a pack of Trojans.

But still...she wished her mother just hadn't bothered her with the task at all.

With one last sigh she braced herself to face her mother and her mysterious love interest.

"Here we go." She walked up to her door and grabbed the handle.

Suddenly her phone chimed and her navigational stand, Paisley Park spoke up.

"Choose one option." Her stand's mechanical voice piped up

1. Text Josuke or 2. Text Josuke

"You're right." Yasuho happily agreed and typed up her 'apology' text.

Yasuho: I made it home safe.

That didn't seem to be enough.

Yasuho: Miss you already <3

She'd make it up to him later.

Gathering her resolve, she grabbed her bag off the ground, turning toward her apartment. Yasuho had barley touched the handle when the door flung open and she was rewarded with a mouth full of hair.

"Hi Honey!"

Yasuho's mother squeezed her like she was shaking down a bottle of ketchup. The curls of her honey auburn hair glowed like a wild fire in the fluorescent lighting of the foyer.

An array of kisses, assaulted Yasuho's cheeks.

As much as Yasuho'd hate to admit it, the overwhelming display of affection softened her heart. This was the mom she always yearned for. A mom who was sober enough to greet her with a smile; who didn't allow her own thirst for love to dry up any affection she had to give to her own child.

"Hi mom." she replied faintly.

Yasuho felt her body giving in..

..slipping, into her mother's embrace.

And it terrified her.

After they separated, Yasuho was able to get a good look at her mother, Suzuyo Hirose. The cigarette smell she remembered her by, was absent. Her eyes were bright, just like her hair which she had lightened from it's natural dark color. And her slim but curvy figure was clothed in a modest, white, polyester v-neck and a knee-length fuchsia pencil skirt.

It was very..professional..

Was this the same Suzuyo Hirose who gave birth to her?

"Oh! I have a surprise for you! Well, he's waiting in the kitchen.." Suzuyo smiled ecstatically and grabbed her daughter's free hand.

So I was right...there is a guy..

Kicking off her shoes, Yasuho barely registered the chime of a text alert before the door shut behind her and she was pulled deeper into this alternate dimension she called a home. The place was almost unrecognizable. What she had come to know as a landfill was now devoid off all the wear and tear that came with being occupied by a dysfunctional family.

It was clean.

Shiny even.

There were no empty food containers laying around.

The wine stains in the living room carpet had been eradicated.

No broken glass to cut her foot upon.

Yasuho could even see her own confused reflection within the dark wood floors.

Where am I, really?

Part of her was suspicious of a stand attack. This had to be some kind of mind freak, or practical joke. She wouldn't have been surprised if Tsurugi was playing one of his 'Let's trip up Yasuho' games again like he did when he took away her ability to differentiate faces and signs.

An even greater part of her feared that this was legit.

Yasuho's stupor was lifted when she bumped into her mother who had stopped short of the entrance to the kitchen.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Her mother was trembling.

Suzuyo swiftly turned to face her. The faint crinkles above her rosy cheeks framed her glossy chestnut eyes. She squeezed Yasuho's hand, coming close to whisper in her ear.

"I feel like we're about to start a new chapter. I know I haven't been the perfect mother, but, just know that I love you and I want things to be better between us."

Yasuho nodded mechanically.

It felt like the right thing to do. Whomever this love interest was, had to be really important to her mother. Slowly, Yasuho brought her hands around the older woman and hugged her, resting her head on the crook of her neck. If she had truly found her happiness, then Yasuho would do her best to support her.

For now, she'd reserve her judgment.

Yasuho moved break the embrace, but found herself tangled within not one, but two sets of arms.

"You're just as lovely as your mother." The unfamiliar voice was deep and oddly rhythmic like the bass of a drum.

A tall figure overshadowed her mom from behind.

Yasuho's body tensed.

Omg, he's touching me!

"Kaito, I thought I told you to wait in the kitchen!" Suzuyo giggled, releasing Yasuho to grab ahold of her lover's arms from where they were wrapped around them.

"Sorry dear, sensed all the good vibes coming from the hallway and I couldn't help myself." The man, Kaito, was grinning wide as a Jack-o-lantern. He was a clean cut man, with a perfectly symmetrical face. His hulking frame was moderately built and draped in a perfectly tailored, emerald dress shirt that his ripped jeans rebelled against. Dark hair and brows accentuated his tanned skin, creating a stunning contrast to the platinum eyes in which the light seemed to dance.

Suzuyo playfully booty-bumped him, causing the man to hunch forward reflexively as he stumbled back a step.

He grabbed his crotch and faintly mouthed the word "Ouch."

Yasuho stood in silence, watching the playful interaction unfold.

"Sorry dear, let me introduce you properly."

Suzuyo Hirose bit her lip, eyes alight with a spark she hadn't seen since their family was in one piece.

The love doves shared a knowing expression then faced Yasuho together with the widest smiles on their face. They both presented their left hands to Yasuho, but it was her mother who continued to speak.

"I'd like you to meet your new father."

To be continued...

#jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo #Yasuho hirose #yasuho #josuke higashikata #part 8 #jojo 8 #jojolion #kira yoshikage #josefumi kujo

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emeraldwaves · 6 years

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Title: Eternity Together Rating: T Word Count: 8.107 Read on AO3 Summary: When Cloud Strife gets his soulmark, he starts styling his hair a very particular way, in hopes of meeting his soulmate. Meanwhile Zack Fair struggles to find his own soulmate since his mark is the most generic phrase possible.

Full fic under the the cut!! @its-love-u-asshole and @youaremynewdream read this ahead of time and it’s based on the prompt "the first thing your soulmate will say is written on your wrist" for the clack discord server challenge.

Cloud starts styling his hair for a reason.

Leaning forward, he brushes his fingers over the blond pieces which drape next to his cheek. The rest is styled into sharp blond spikes, done up with lots of gel and an excessive amount of hairspray. It takes him at least an extra thirty minutes every morning, at least.

But... it's worth it.

Yes, staring at his stupid face in the mirror for approximately thirty extra minutes is worth it to Cloud if it means he might have an easier time finding his soulmate.

The words had appeared on his wrist the day before his first day of high school. He'd winced, the letters searing into his skin like a tattoo encircling his wrist. He'd always been a little skeptical of the whole soulmate thing. Not everyone had one after all, and Cloud wasn't sure why he of all people deserved a soulmate, but now that he knew he had one, he couldn't really complain.

Though his sentence does leave a little bit to be desired.

Your hair is so spiky!

At the time the message had appeared, Cloud hadn't even had spiky hair, so immediately he knew he'd have to change that if he ever wanted to meet his soulmate.

For the first few days of high school, he doesn't care much. Just because the words appeared before high school started doesn't mean he will find this person right away. In fact, it could be years before he actually finds the person who will say those fateful words to him.

Instead, he spends the first week leaving his hair flat and wearing a small bracelet to cover the black script on his wrist. Until you actually find your soulmate, most people wear something to cover it up; sweatbands, cuffs, bracelets, anything to keep the words hidden. Soulmates are intimate, and some people prefer not to speak about theirs. Some people wear bracelets simply to hide not having a soulmate; at least not yet.

For awhile, most theorized soulmate marks appeared when a person hit puberty, since many people's marks are inscribed around the middle or high school age. However, there are some people who don't get marks until well into their twenties or thirties, and some never get them at all.

Admittedly, Cloud is a little relieved he has a soulmate. The idea is, well, kinda cool? A person you're specifically meant to be with according to the universe? Cloud never really gave it much thought until now; when he starts styling his hair.

At least his hair looks good like this.

After the first week of school Cloud decides to give it a shot. It's high school after all, a perfect time to reinvent himself if he wants, and he sees no harm in at least trying. He isn't going to meet his soulmate by having flat, boring hair.

Tifa, of course, is especially shocked by the new look when he walks into school that first morning.

"Cloud!" she exclaims. She slams her hand on the flat top of her desk, making him jump a bit. "What did you do to your hair!?" Well, his soulmate isn't Tifa. He's already known for quite sometime, since he'd met her when they were kids.

His eyes flick towards her wrist, covered by a small black band. Does Tifa have a soulmate? He silently wonders what her wrist could possibly say.

He shrugs. "Nothing, just trying something different."

"Different?" she mutters, shaking her head. "It certainly... is different..." she mumbles, tilting her head to look at him.

"It's badass," he grumbles, folding his arms.

"Suuuure~" she hums, letting him have this one for now.

Maybe it looks stupid. He glances at the black wrist band and swallows. Whenever he reads the text, he always thinks of it being said in a positive tone; something like, 'Your hair is so spiky! WOW! So cool!'. But now he wonders if maybe it's said in disgust.. 'Your hair is so spiky... gross. Why would you do that?'

Turning his chair around fast, he glances at Tifa. "Does it look stupid?" he asks, mostly under his breath. It's not like he needs Tifa's approval to change his hair, but he knows she'll be honest with him.

"Mmmm..." she hums. Her arms cross over one another and she tilts her head back and forth, analyzing the various spikes. "Not exactly," she says finally. "I think it just surprised me. You look good," she chuckles. "Did I freak you out?"

Cloud's lips turn down into a pout. "No. I just... didn't run it by anyone before doing it."

"Your mom didn't have anything to say?" she asks incredulously.

"Nah... I left before she could see it," he shrugs.

"She might kill you, you know," she points out, and Cloud nods, turning back around. He'd considered that, but the consequences aren't enough to stop him.

The class starts, and Cloud immediately spaces out. Science has never been his strong subject. Then again, Cloud spaces out during most classes.

His eyes immediately fall on his black wristband. Sometimes when he's home alone, he traces his pointer finger over the gentle script which is ingrained in his skin. The text flows across his pale wrist, as though it's a natural part of his body, meant to be there since birth despite being added so much later.

He's imagined so many scenarios. A girl reaching up to try and touch the top of his head while she whispers in awe about how spiky his blond locks are. A guy telling him he wishes he had hair as cool as his. Okay, those two are probably a little ridiculous, but Cloud likes to dream.

Sometimes he tries to remember the first thing Tifa ever said to him. They've been friends forever, so in a way, it would make sense for her to be his soulmate, but he can't recall the words. Knowing Tifa, she was probably nagging him about something before she even met him. Supposedly, you're meant to get the mark before you meet your soulmate though. So, no, there's no way Tifa is his soulmate.

He sighs, his fingers rubbing at the hair lying against his cheek once again. It's becoming a bad habit.

That whole first day of his new hairstyle, Cloud feels so anxious he wants to throw up. Like he's on a train and his whole body is wobbling with the movement of the wheels clacking against the tracks. Anytime someone speaks to him he anticipates the sentence, but it never comes.

His soulmate is out there somewhere, he just doesn't know where to begin looking for them.

The problem is, Zack has a soulmate, but he has no idea how to find them. His first sentence is incredibly generic. So much so, Zack often finds himself in a few awkward situations where he stares at the person he is talking to expectantly, as if they are the ones who are supposed to notice their potential soulmate is standing directly in front of them.

You see, Zack's wrist has one word on it and one word alone: Yeah. Nothing else, just 'Yeah'. And honestly, it's been a damn confusing mess ever since he got to high school a year ago.

Now a second year, he's over it. Mostly. He thinks about it from time to time when he talks to someone for the first time and they respond with a casual, 'Yeah', thinking nothing of it. A little spark of excitement flutters his heart, makes it skip a beat, but when the conversation continues like normal, Zack lets it go a lot faster than he used to.

"I know that look," Angeal Hewley says, leaning against the locker as Zack tugs his socks on. "Another?"

"Another," Zack sighs, flopping back against the bench. "Angeal," he whines. "You and Genesis are so lucky you found each other so easily."

"Ah yes. Lucky is definitely the word I would use," Angeal muses sarcastically. "Zack, it was a very different situation."

Zack shoots up and glances at the writing on Angeal's wrist. He can't quite make out what it says, but he knows it's a quote from Loveless. Poetic, like an actual tattoo someone would get, not just a soulmark. And Genesis, Zack knows what his says; 'Aren't you kind of young to have read Loveless?'

Apparently Genesis read the book the second his soulmark appeared right before middle school. He recited quotes upon meeting people, until he met Angeal that was. Still, the guy spewed off verses left and right anyway, much to Angeal's chagrin.

"Well yeah!" he sighs. "You guys had really specific things written on your wrists! There was no mistaking it. I feel like I think my soulmate is everyone I meet!"

"Maybe you should stop starting conversations by asking things that can be answered with the word 'Yeah'," Angeal suggests with a smirk.

Zack opens his mouth to retort, but quickly shuts it. It's not a bad idea, his captain has a point, but knowing him he won't remember when he actually goes to talk to new people. "Or maybe I should just stop talking to people altogether," he pouts.

Angeal sighs. "Zack, it's not imperative you meet your soulmate right now." Easy for him to say when he already knows who his is. He knows Angeal is right though. Some people don't find their soulmate until way into adulthood. He's lucky to have even gotten a mark in the first place. Still, Zack doesn't know how much more he can take of making assumptions when people respond to him for the first time with a simple 'Yeah'.

"Okay, but what if I miss them! What if they're right here all along and I graduate, head to the city and never meet them!" Everytime he thinks he's over it, he's not.

Angeal steps forward and places his hand on Zack's shoulder. "Wouldn't you say the point of having a soulmate is to eventually find them so you can complete each other or... whatever it is they say?"

Zack blinks and stares at Angeal for a moment. He supposes the third year is right, but Zack finds it hard to believe everyone finds their soulmate. There have to be some people that miss each other by some strange happenstance, right? What if he's in the .001% who never meet their soulmates?!

"But what if she's this super cute girl, and we could be dating right now?! Don't you understand I could be missing out!?" Zack exclaims. It's easier to laugh than to think too deeply about it.

Angeal's face falls and he shoves his shoulder. "Put on your shoes, practice is about to start." He turns from him to head to the lacrosse field and Zack scrambles to put his shoes on, chasing after his captain.

"Wait! Angeal!" he calls out, running up to him fast. "So... if you think that way about soulmates, does that mean Genesis completes you?" he asks with a playful smirk.

"No." Angeal answers immediately, and in a flat tone.

"Whaaaaat?" Zack asks, nudging his shoulder. "Why not?"

"We're... different," Angeal mutters, but Zack can see the slight hint of pink on his cheeks.

"Aw c'mon! I know you love him," Zack teases, and Angeal walks ahead of him in complete silence. Genesis may get on Angeal's nerves, but Zack's seen the way they interact; they need each other. Angeal keeps Genesis in check and Genesis helps Angeal loosen up a bit, it's perfect in their own weird way.

Glancing down at his knees Zack freezes. "Ah! Dammit, I forgot my knee brace!" he calls to Angeal. "I'll be right back."

"Hurry Zack," he snorts, but really Zack can tell Angeal is relieved he doesn't have to listen to Zack tease him about Genesis anymore.

He dashes back into the school, heading for the locker room when he practically slams into a shorter blond boy, their bodies colliding. Zack groans, stepping back as he rubs his face ready to apologize. Instead, he’s silent, unable to tear his eyes away from the blond's hair. It's so bright, a light blond Zack has rarely seen before, and it's so perfectly spiked, like each portion was set in place with the utmost care (way more defined than the messy black mop on the top of his own head).

The words slip out before Zack even realizes he's speaking. "Your hair is so spiky!"

The blond blinks his eyes a few times, his lips parting as he stares at Zack. His eyes are a beautiful bright blue color, standing out strongly against his pale skin and hair. He looks shocked, a little dazed maybe, still beautiful, but Zack wonders if he's hurt. Well, he did smack into the blond pretty hard...

Instead the boy opens his mouth and incredulously responds with a single, "Yeah."

Everyone knows Zack Fair. Handsome, fun, great laugh, popular, Zack Fair is a giant list of things Cloud Strife is not.

And Zack Fair may or may not be Cloud's soulmate.

He says the line Cloud has been waiting to hear for weeks now: "Your hair is so spiky!"

And Cloud is honestly so shocked, his mouth open wide. "Yeah," he replies finally, after taking a long pause. The two stare at each other in complete silence, and time has stopped for them, if only for a moment.

Zack's blue eyes begin to sparkle, his shimmering blues looking far too excited for someone who just ran into someone else. "Yeah?" he asks, his smile large and he leans forward towards Cloud.

Cloud can tell his face is bright red, and his heart throbs against his chest. Of all the people to potentially be his soulmate... Zack Fair is far too attractive for his own good. Cloud swallows, his eyes darting to the side. "I, uh... I..." What the hell is he supposed to say? 'Hey! You're my soulmate!' No. That's far too awkward, and of course Zack will be disappointed. He's probably been waiting for so long...

Instead, Cloud bows his head. "I-I'm sorry..." Walking around Zack, he makes his way down the hall heading out to the front of the school. Zack calls after him, but Cloud doesn't turn around or stop. What's the point...

Zack is probably hoping for some cute girl, or, well, anyone cooler than Cloud is.

He runs a little faster, away from the school.

Cloud sees Tifa standing by the front gate, looking at her phone, and he knows she's waiting for him. They've been walking to and from school together for as long as Cloud can remember, but today he wishes he could breeze right past her. Tifa is too intuitive, especially when it comes to him, and Cloud knows she's going to ask about his strange behavior.

"Cloud!" she calls out, waving to him. She's got a big smile on her face, and she tucks her phone into her backpack. "You ready?"

"Uh, yeah..." he says softly. Maybe if he acts as naturally as possible, Tifa won't notice.

"You okay?" Dammit. She's peering towards him, her dark hair draping over her shoulder and Cloud continues walking.

"Fine," he replies as flatly as he can. He wishes he could calm his heart down at the very least, but he keeps thinking about Zack's blue eyes and the excitement they held within them.

"Nope! No way you're fine," Tifa says, shaking her head back and forth. "Something is bugging you."

"Tifa, I-"

"Your cheeks are totally red, you're walking way faster than normal, and you won't even meet my eyes. You're hiding something Cloud Strife!" she says, and he curses her stupid people skills. He really should've known there was no way to fool her.

He rubs his fingers over the bracelet on his wrist, shrugging. "I just... had a weird run-in is all."

"A weird run-in? With who?" He can feel her eyes all over his body, practically digging under his skin for information. Suddenly she gasps. "With your soulmate!" She points dramatically.

Jumping away from her, Cloud holds his hands up. "W-What?! No! Stop trying to make weird guesses about what's going on with me."

"Well," she grumbles, folding her arms. "It would be a lot easier if you could just talk to me about your feelings, but I know you won't do that. However, I do know you were playing with your wristband when you answered my question," she says looking rather proud of herself.

There's no escaping this, and Tifa will only be angrier later if Cloud doesn't tell her now.

He lets out a long drawn out sigh. "Fine, yes, I think I ran into my soulmate. Are you happy now?" he snorts, walking away from her as fast as he can.

"Oh my gosh! Who is it?! What did they say?!" she asks, immediately invested in her discovery.

"They don't know it's me..." he mumbles, "or at least I don't think they know."

"What?! How can they not know?" she asks. "I mean you had to have said the phrase on their wrist!"

Cloud bites his lip, just now realizing Tifa has point. But what the hell did he say to Zack? He thinks back on the interaction, the way his chest had slammed against Zack's and how he'd stared at him like a dumbfounded idiot when Zack had said the line written on Cloud's wrist. But what had Cloud said in response, that would've been the first thing he said to Zack...

He freezes.

"...I... I said... 'Yeah'."

"You... said... 'Yeah'?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah!?"

"Uh, yeah...?"

"Cloud!" Tifa yells. "Oh my gosh! This poor person has just had 'Yeah' on their wrist for years and probably has zero idea who their soulmate is. That could be anyone!" she exclaims.

"Well how was I supposed to know that would be what I said?!" he mutters indignantly.

"What does yours say?!" she asks, gently reaching forward to grab his wrist, but he yanks it back immediately. It's taboo to look at other people’s soulmarks before they reveal it themselves, and usually it's considered bad luck if someone else sees it before your soulmate does. Asking about it is normally frowned upon, but people talk about soulmarks all the time, so Cloud's actually a little shocked it took Tifa this long to ask him. She probably didn't want to be rude.

Gently rubbing at the wristband, he bites his lip. "It says 'Your hair is so spiky!'," he mumbles, knowing exactly how she's going to react.

A smirk pulls across her cheeks. "So that's why you changed your hairstyle."

"I dunno," he shrugs.

With a laugh, Tifa hooks their arms together, walking with him. "Aw Cloud! You're so cute! But explain something, if you just said 'Yeah', why didn't you tell them what your wrist said?" she asks. He can tell she's trying to be a little more understanding, her voice quieter.

"I... I dunno," he mumbles. "I just walked away..."

"That was silly!" she giggles. "You gotta tell them! They're not going to know it's you with just 'Yeah' written on their wrist," she snorts.

Cloud knows she's right, but he can't deal with seeing Zack's excited eyes fill with disappointment.

"I know it's him," Zack sighs, flopping down into his seat, pulling out his lunch. It's been a week since his run-in with the adorable blond boy, and Zack can't stop thinking about him. He'd seen the way the blond had stared so intensely at him, his blue eyes wide and full of intrigue. It had taken him a moment to compose himself before he had spoken that fateful word, 'Yeah'.

"Then why haven't you said anything to him yet?" Aerith giggles, leaning towards him on her desk as she unties the small pouch she keeps her lunch in. "If you're so sure, that is."

Blushing, Zack leans back in his chair and folds his arms. "I haven't seen him!" he sighs. "But also... I dunno how to ask him. Especially cause I don't... exactly remember what I said to him first," he shrugs.

"That could be a problem," Aerith nods, and Zack sighs again.

"It's a big problem! It all happened so fast. I bumped into him accidentally... I think I said something about his hair... I dunno, but from the way he stared at me and said 'Yeah', I just know it's him! And damn Aerith, he is so pretty and so cute... I can't stop thinking about him!" he groans, rubbing his hands through his hair.

"I know, Zack," she says gently, her small fingers brushing over his arm. "You've told me the story every day for a week now."

"Oops..." he shrugs awkwardly. He knows he's being obnoxious. Genesis has told him to shut up on multiple occasions, and though Angeal and Aerith were far nicer and more tolerant of Zack's ramblings, he knew even they were getting sick of hearing about it. Mostly because no one understood why Zack wasn't talking to this boy already.

"It's okay," she smiles. "I just think you should talk to him."

"And say what?" he groans. "'Hey! We ran into each other the other day and you said 'Yeah' to me, which is on my wrist, but I don't remember what I said to you, so what's on your wrist? Are we soulmates?'" He takes a deep breath after pushing the long-winded sentence out on one breath.

"That sounds good," Aerith nods, her smile not changing.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Zack sighs, shaking his head back and forth.

"I bet Angeal thinks the same thing," she hums, her tone far too sing-songy for Zack's liking.

"Ugh," he groans. "He does..."

Aerith squeezes gently at his hand, her fingers close to where his mark is covered. "We just want you to be happy Zack. I know how long this has been bothering you, and if he's your chance to find your soulmate, I want you to take it," she nods.

"Yeah..." he whispers. "Me too." Curling his fingers into fists, Zack pulls his hand to his chest, looking determined. "Okay! I'll find him and I'll just... I'll just ask!" he smiles, realizing he shouted rather loud when people in the class turn to look at him.

"Maybe you could ask him at the dance tomorrow night," Aerith winks. "That would be pretty cute," she says.

Zack's lip quirks up into a smile. He can't help but imagine the cute blond in a suit, looking all fancy dressed up. He'd take him in his arms and pull him close, asking if he's his soulmate. The boy would say yes, and then they'd leave the dance and kiss under the stars! He sighs, his cheeks heating up. How perfect would that be!?

"Do it then," Aerith says, leaning forward to poke his cheek. "You obviously like the idea."

Rubbing at his face, he frowns. "Yeah, but what if he's not there..."

She gasps, her hand covering her mouth. "Who wouldn't want to go to the dance?!"

"'M not going..." Cloud folds his arms, leaning against the door frame as he stares at a very angry Tifa.

"Cloud Strife! This is the most important school dance of our first year! We can't miss it! Plus," she smirks, leaning in towards him, "you know Zack Fair is going to be there."

It took almost a week, but Tifa finally got it out of Cloud that Zack Fair is most likely his soulmate.

They'd argued back and forth a bit about whether or not Cloud should approach him, but Cloud isn't really the 'approaching' type, and in the end Tifa had given up.

"Zack Fair?! You gotta tell him! He's a really nice guy, I'm sure you two can talk it out."

"No way, he's just going to be disappointed."

"Ugh, Cloud. You don't know that! Plus, you're very handsome!"

"Stop."

"So? I already told you I'm not saying anything to him," Cloud huffs.

"Okay, fine. I get it about Zack, but please don't make me go alone," she whines, and Cloud rolls his eyes, eventually caving to her like he always does. She's going to stand on his porch begging him to go all night, and then when he doesn't go he'll never stop hearing about how it's his fault for not getting changed and just going. So he saves himself the headache and changes into his suit.

Leaning forward in the mirror, his adjusts some of the spikes of blond hair.

"Your hair is so spiky!"

He can't help but think of Zack, and the way those words left his lips so perfectly. His blue eyes held such admiration, just over his stupid hair. He wonders what would happen if Zack knew they were soulmates, would his eyes shimmer with that incredible excitement?

No. Cloud looks down, gripping the edge of the counter. There's no way Zack would ever be excited about being soulmates with him. He doesn't even know him! And Zack is so kind and friendly to everyone he knows... Cloud would only hold him back. No, Zack is definitely better off never knowing.

He swallows, his chest constricting at the thought. He's spent the last week unable to shake Zack from his thoughts. He's got a perfect smile, and he always seems so chipper and friendly. It's not a lie that everyone adores Zack. Hell, if he and Zack were together, there would definitely be a few very disappointed girls. He's strong, muscular, attractive... Cloud blushes just thinking about how good Zack often looks. His dark hair is messy, but suits his personality, and with his pale skin, Zack always looks so handsome and radiant, even in the shitty lighting of the school hallway. The truth is, Zack is everything Cloud wishes he could be.

Tifa would tell him he should at least give Zack a chance to respond, and deep down he knows she's right. It's not fair for him to walk around knowing the truth, when Zack will forever be in the dark.

Looking at his own blue eyes in the mirror, he bites his lip. He can imagine how sad Zack would be... in thirty years when he still hasn't found his soulmate. Maybe he'd be bitter, thinking the universe lied to him, when really it was Cloud who had...

But really what does it matter?

And who says they're even soulmates anyway? Pulling down the band, he glances at the text on his wrist, the script curling over his pale skin.

Your hair is so spiky!

It's not terribly specific. Someone else could easily say that to him, especially with how he's styling his hair right now... But thinking about it... it's next to impossible to hear it in any other way than the way Zack said it. His vocal inflections are ingrained in Cloud's skin as much as the text is.

And a little voice echoes in the back of his mind...

How could it be anyone else?

And Cloud wants it to be Zack. He wants it to be the kind, dark-haired boy who's smile made time freeze for just a moment. He wants to tell Zack and have his eyes light up with excitement. He'd pull Cloud into his arms, wrap around him close, his warm cheek pressed close as he nuzzles him, and slowly they'd fall together--fall in love with each other and start their journey as soulmates.

But he knows that's just a silly daydream. Reality is never as beautiful as he wants it to be.

"Cloud! Are you ready?"

"Uh... yeah! Just a second!" he calls down as he adjusts the dark turquoise tie. He supposes it looks fine. Unlike everyone else, Cloud has zero expectations for this night.

"You look nice!" Tifa smiles, cupping her hands behind her back. Her own black dress hugs her thin frame nicely, and Cloud can tell she spent some time styling her bangs. Her lips are a gentle red, and her mascara and eyeliner are darker than normal, Tifa looks good too.

"You too," he says softly.

"Thanks! I'm pretty excited, so let's go!" she tugs his hand out the door, and Cloud knows it's far too late to back out now. He's going to the school dance.

"I told you he wouldn't come!" Zack whines, his eyes darting around the giant room filled to the brim with students.

"It's early," Angeal sighs, and between Zack and Genesis, Angeal is already over the dance.

"C'mon Angeal, I want to dance. Zack will be fine," Genesis hisses, glaring daggers at Zack.

"Gee, thanks Gen," Zack grumbles, folding his arms over his chest.

"You're ruining my time, puppy," he scoffs. "I want to dance with my boyfriend." Genesis hooks his arm around Angeal's possessively, leaning his head against his shoulder.

"Fine, fine, go!" Zack sighs with a smile, waving his hand at them. He wants Angeal and Genesis to have a good time, they deserve that much, especially with how often he's been complaining about this.

"Are you sure you're okay, Zack?" Angeal asks softly, gently touching his hand against Zack's shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine, Angeal. Go dance with Genesis before he implodes," Zack snorts.

"Your fault!" Genesis calls out, dragging Angeal in towards the crowd of people.

He shouldn't be disappointed the blond boy isn't here. He had mentally prepared for this, or so he thought when he gave himself that small pep talk in front of the mirror earlier in the evening. But now that he's here and the blond is not, it hurts more than he realizes.

A few girls approach him about dancing, but he turns them down. Slinking his way over to the bleachers, he tucks his hands into his pocket. The music is loud, echoing throughout the room, but in the back where he sits, it doesn't hurt his ears as much. Other students are casually hanging out by the bleachers, ones who want to talk and relax, but Zack just wants to sit alone. The gymnasium is packed with students and there are silver stars and lights dangling from the ceiling, small twinkles dancing across the bodies and the floor. Zack smirks sadly. "I really could've had that kiss under the stars."

"Why is Zack Fair sitting over here by himself all gloomy? Seems out of character," Aerith smiles, leaning down in front of him. Her long brown hair falls over her shoulder, swinging in front of her.

"Hey Aerith," he shrugs. "Angeal and Genesis went off to dance and I just... felt like sitting out for a bit. Kinda tired tonight, y'know?"

"The dance just started!" she frowns. "How can you already be tir-..." She pauses and stands on her tiptoes, glancing around the room. "Ah... You're sad because your blond boy didn't show yet!"

Zack immediately blushes. "Nah... I had a feeling he wouldn't come. He seems... too shy for this kind of thing," he mumbles. "I mean... I don't even know if he's my actual soulmate!" he laughs, covering his eyes with his hands. "I'm being real stupid, Aerith."

Tucking her skirt under her legs, Aerith sits down next to him, nudging him with her shoulder. "No, you're not. You're hopeful and excited!" She runs her fingers over the bracelet on her wrist. "And isn't that what having these marks is all about? Being excited and hopeful for a future with a person who is perfect for you?"

He blinks, wondering if Aerith knows who her soulmate is. "Zack," she says, gently touching his arm. "Do you believe this guy is your soulmate?"

Does he? Of course he does. It almost feels like a stupid question. Ever since he ran into him he can't stop thinking about him, and on top of that, never before had he locked eyes with someone for what seemed to be an eternity. "It... it really felt like it this time. I've been wrong before though! I mean, how am I supposed to know when people say 'Yeah' to me all the time!"

"True, but I've never known you to give up so fast," she smirks, gesturing towards the doorway.

Zack follows her finger to the entrance where he sees the blond boy stepping in with a girl in a dark black dress. His cheeks heat up, and he thinks the guy looks stunning. His blond hair sticks out against his dark suit, but he looks cute, especially when he seems to wince at how loud the music is. Zack chuckles, his heart pounding as the twinkle lights hit the boy’s pale skin. He's beautiful, and Zack needs to know his name.

It's him. It has to be. He can feel it in his bones, crawling under his skin. Soulmates are all about fate and fated encounters and Zack knows he can't be wrong, not this time, not with how his eyes can't tear away from how awkward the blond looks on the dance floor.

"He came," he whispers.

"Yup," Aerith giggles. "So go get him."

"I'm going to sit down Tifa!" Cloud calls out over the crowd. He's been here for less than five minutes and he's already wanting to leave. The people keep bumping into him, and he's baffled as to how anyone could possibly enjoy this as an activity. Tifa seems to be having fun though, singing along with the songs and moving her body to and fro.

"What?!" she calls out, and he can barely hear her over the music.

"I'm going to sit down!" he yells, pointing towards the bleachers on the side of the room. She nods. He's not sure she understood, but he can feel the sweat rolling down his back, and he can't be around so many people for any longer.

Sighing, he plops down on the bench and brings his finger to the collar of his shirt, tugging on it. He takes a few deep inhales, trying to breathe. The gym is hotter and sweatier than when people run around in it during class, and Cloud regrets wearing what he wore, though all the guys seem to be in suits.

Groaning, he feels envious of Tifa in her much more open dress. His eyes scan the crowd for her, hoping she saw him take a seat, but after finding her, he realizes his eyes haven't stopped searching. He knows it's stupid to look for Zack Fair among the giant sea of people. More than likely he's not going to find him. He's probably dancing with a ton of people and having a grand time and it's not like he'd even remember who Cloud is, especially since Cloud barely said three words to him and-

"Hey!"

Cloud's rambling thoughts are broken immediately as his eyes trail up the body of the person standing in front of him. Tall, dark-hair, stunning blue eyes, of course it's none other Zack Fair, standing right in front of him.

Cloud knows he forgets to breathe, his mouth open wide as he stares at the other boy like a complete idiot. Why is he here? Is he mad about the other day? The questions rush through Cloud's brain as he tries to sort through them for a nature response.

"Uh... hey?" Cloud says, his voice turning the phrase into a question awkwardly.

"So, uh," Zack rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks oddly red. "Sorry again about running into you the other day. You okay? I didn't really... get to ask," he says.

Right. Because Cloud ran away so fast.

"Oh, uh, yeah? I'm fine... sorry too," he mumbles.

"Hey man, it's cool. But, uh, do you wanna dance? Let me make it up to you!" he says, a smile appearing across his lips. It's enough to make Cloud's entire heart melt into his chest, even with it beating a mile a minute.

He must forget to answer because Zack holds his hand out. "I promise I'm not terrible at it," he chuckles.

That's really not what Cloud's worried about. Actually it's the opposite. He knows he sucks at dancing and Zack's probably going to think he's even more of idiot than he already does.

But something in his body fights against his natural instinct to say no. Looking at Zack's outstretched palm, he sees the wristband covering his mark and Cloud is desperate to know what's underneath. Does it really just say 'Yeah'? He feels a little bad about that. It's probably been incredibly confusing for the guy. Cloud's eyes dart from Zack's eyes to his hand and then back again. He wants to. He wants to so bad. But should he?

Against his better judgement, he reaches forward and clasps their hands together, a warmth flowing through his body. Unlike the sweaty heat he felt before, he feels calm and comfortable, like his hand has been dying to touch Zack's for his whole life. It's right.

"Okay," he says softly, and he's not even sure if Zack hears him. But he pulls him up, and pulls Cloud close, their bodies touching as they fall into the sea of people. Zack's hips sway against his own, and Cloud can't stop staring at the soft features of his face. His blue eyes glow under the twinkling, silver lights, his lips are quirked into a smile, but still they look so kissable. It's hopeless.

Zack has to be his soulmate. Who else would ever make him feel like this? But he can only wonder if Zack feels it too.

"I'm Zack by the way!" he yells over the music, his hands coming down to rest on Cloud's hips. "I didn't get to tell you my name, or hear yours!"

"Cloud!" he yells back.

"Cool!" Zack says, his smile growing larger. The two move together with the fast thump, thump, thump of the music, and Cloud rolls his hips towards Zack, finally getting used to the rhythm. He still feels awkward, but with Zack so close to him, his body feels calmer somehow.

The music slows down, the lights dimming even more, and Cloud is about to pull away. Slow songs like this are usually for couples and they're not-

But Zack pulls him close, keeping their bodies locked tightly together. His hand wraps around Cloud's and he can tell Zack is trembling.

"You know... this is gonna sound stupid but I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since we bumped into each other." His voice is quieter now the music is softer and Cloud can hear the gentle shake of tone. He hasn't been able to stop thinking about him? But... why? Cloud isn't anything special, he's nothing like Zack...

"Me too," he says, before he can stop himself, and Zack quickly pulls back, his hands taking Cloud's.

"W-Wait really?!" he asks. "Hold on!" he says over the slow piano. Yanking Cloud's hands, he pulls him towards the door, stepping out into the cool night air. The breeze blows around them, Zack's dark hair brushing across his forehead. Cloud’s thankful to get away from the loud music, he can actually hear Zack know. "This is gonna sound crazy but I kind of thought maybe you were my soulmate," Zack pants. He tugs off the band, showing Cloud the script on his wrist.

A simple Yeah. Just as he suspected. Zack's blue eyes look eager, waiting for Cloud to say something, anything, and when he can't quite find the words, his gaze falls to the ground.

"But it's stupid right?" Zack laughs sadly, lowering his wrist to his side. "I mean so many people say 'Yeah' to me. I've been wrong so many times..." His blue eyes tremble, as though he's about to cry and Cloud feels his chest tighten again.

No. This is exactly what he was trying to avoid. He never wants to see Zack looking so hurt, so upset...

"It's... It's not stupid..." Cloud whispers, reaching down to pull off his own wristband. "Mine... says exactly what you said to me when we ran into each other."

Zack's blue eyes widen and he grabs Cloud's wrist, gasping as he leans in close. "Your hair is so spiky," he reads, and hearing it in Zack's voice again, makes Cloud's heart leap into his throat. "C-Cloud... are... you my soulmate?" he asks.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he nods. "Yeah..." he repeats that stupid word, feeling dumb. Here it comes, the disappointment he expects. He's not a beautiful woman, he's not someone cool, he's no one; imperfect for someone like Zack.

Instead, he feels Zack's arm wrap around his body, pulling him close. "Why... didn't you tell me?" he whispers, and Cloud's eyes shoot open, bringing his own hands around Zack's body.

"I...I don't know! I thought you would be disappointed," he trembles.

"DISAPPOINTED!?" Zack yells, and Cloud winces as Zack grips his shoulders, pushing him back. "Why would I ever be disappointed?! Damn Cloud, you're cute as hell… actually... you're beautiful! And all week I couldn't stop thinking about you! I just wanted to know if I was right and more than anything I wanted to get to know you better!"

Zack's eyes twinkle with excitement in the moonlight. He looks so genuinely happy, and Cloud knows his own cheeks are bright red, as he tries to fully comprehend what Zack is saying. There's no disappointment, only a happiness Cloud thought he could only dream of.

"Really?" he asks, a small smile pulling across his face involuntarily.

"Really! I kept telling people I knew it was you but I didn't know how to ask!" he says, hugging him again. "I... I just can't believe I found my soulmate. With a phrase like 'Yeah', I thought I never would!"

Cloud snorts, hugging him back. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just... couldn't believe it was you saying 'Your hair is so spiky'. I was... really shocked."

"In my defense, that is totally something I would say," Zack laughs. "And hey, now we have all the time in the world to get to know each other," he chuckles. "You're my soulmate!" He grabs Cloud's hand and holds it up, turning towards the parking lot. "I FOUND MY SOULMATE!" he yells, looking so damn happy. No one answers, but it's obvious Zack doesn't care.

Suddenly Cloud regrets ever hiding it from him.

"Lets go dance then?!" Zack says, squeezing his hand, and Cloud wonders if Zack is ever going to let him go again. Admittedly, he wouldn't mind if he didn't.

"Okay," Cloud nods.

Following Zack's lead, Cloud can't stop smiling. This is more perfect than he ever expected, but Zack stops suddenly, and glances up a the sky. "Wait," he whispers, turning to him to cup at his cheeks. Leaning down he brushes their lips together and Cloud tenses, a new warmth rushing through his body, pink and joyous.

Zack's lips are soft, and he holds them against Cloud's, letting out a happy noise as he pulls away. "I... really wanted to kiss you under the stars tonight. Guess I got my wish," he says, and Cloud needs a moment to gather himself as he follows Zack back inside.

The dance doesn't feel as crowded now and Cloud's heart beats in time with the rhythm of the loud music as he dances close to Zack. His hands are on his waist and Cloud likes how weighted they make him feel, how strange how he feels so free whilst being so grounded.

He catches Tifa's eye from across the dance floor and she waves at him. The girl with her, a petite looking brown-haired girl in a pink dress, gives him the thumbs up and Zack immediately snorts.

"That's Aerith, she's one of my best friends. She's been bugging me to talk to you all week."

"Eh? You know her?" Cloud says, staring at Tifa while she dances happily with the other girl.

"Yeah! Why?"

"She's dancing with Tifa, my best friend." He fails to admit that she's really his only friend. "She's also been trying to... get me to talk to you too." His face is bright red, and he only hopes the lighting in the gym will hide it.

"Really?!" he laughs so hard. "I didn't know they knew each other! Small world, I guess!"

"Or... maybe they just met," Cloud muses. Tifa's looking at the girl so intensely, and her cheeks are red. He can't tell from this distance if she's embarrassed or just hot from dancing. Noticing his stare, Tifa waves her hand, and flicks her gaze towards Zack, winking.

He really should be paying more attention to the adorable boy in front of him.

"We'll have to ask them later! For now I wanna focus on you!" Zack yells over the music. "There's so much I wanna know about you! Though... I guess this is kind of a bad place to ask."

Cloud smirks, Zack is so eager and cute. His heart skips a beat looking at the excitement swirling in his blue eyes. He can't help himself; leaning up, he brushes his lips against Zack's, wrapping his arms around his neck. The rest of the world slowly disappears, the people mere background noise.

"Well, it's like you said, we have all the time in the world to get to know each other," he says, brushing their noses against one another. Zack's laughter is contagious as they smile together, the music suddenly seeming quiet.

Cloud could stay this close to Zack forever. He smiles, cause they really do have all the time they want; they have eternity.

Zack sees his boyfriend standing on the sidelines of the lacrosse field and he's immediately distracted. Cloud is so cute, with his spiky blond hair, and excited blue eyes. His thin fingers are wrapped around the strap of his backpack and Zack's heart beats faster thinking about how perfect their hands fit together and how he loves intertwining their fingers. How can he resist looking at him?!

"Puppy! Pay attention!" Genesis snarls, smacking his lacrosse stick against Zack's, jolting him from his daze.

"Eh?! S-Sorry Genesis," he says, rubbing the back of his neck as he shrugs at Cloud. Cloud laughs, his smile wide and adorable. "I'll, uh, be right back!" he calls out, running over to the side.

"Hurry up, Zack!" Angeal chimes in. But they all know it's better to let Zack have his moment with his boyfriend when he apparently needs it, otherwise nothing will get done.

"Hey!" Zack says, leaning over the fence. "You here to watch me practice?"

"Yeah… Tifa and Aerith were studying together, so I thought I’d come watch... is that okay? " Cloud asks, a small smile still on his face. Zack loves getting to see the blond smile. They feel so rare, and genuine, like they're special and only for him.

"Of course it's okay!" Zack laughs. "You can come watch every practice if you want. Or I know! You should join the team!" he says eagerly.

Cloud's soft laugh feels like the perfect song to Zack's ears. "I think if I did that you would get absolutely nothing done."

"Ah... you're right, you're right..." Zack whines. "I just like when you're here!" He leans over the fence and brushes their lips together. For all those times he thought he would never find his soulmate, now that he has, Zack can't ever seem to let Cloud go. He's perfect, cute, intelligent, supportive, and he's got a few quirks, but Zack loves everything about him already, and it's only been a couple of weeks. "It took me so long to find you, I never want to let you go," he whispers, brushing his thumb over his cheek.

"I know, but... I'm here, supporting you, always."

"I know. And you know I always wanna support you too, okay?!" he says excitedly.

"Mhm," Cloud nods. "Now go, or Angeal is gonna yell at you again."

"Alright Spiky," he says, kissing Cloud one more time. "I'll see you after we're done. I can't face the wrath of Angeal!" He waves his fingers as if it's something insanely spooky.

"Exactly. Have fun," Cloud smiles, and Zack can barely tear his eyes away.

"Bye," Zack waves sadly.

"I'm gonna be right here, Zack," Cloud snorts, teasing him. "I promise." Zack knows Cloud isn't going to leave. He knows they have eternity together.

"I know," he sighs, and blows Cloud a kiss anyway. Cloud pretends to catch it, and rolls his eyes as he places his hand against his chest, knowing it's cheesy, but Cloud knows Zack loves that stuff.

They're soulmates.

And Zack thinks the universe couldn't have picked someone better.

#clack #cloud strife #zack fair #cloud x zack #final fantasy vii #FF7 #fic challenge #soulmate au #high school au #this was so fun to write

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lettersofsky · 6 years

Text

A Different Start

Guess who decided to join in on Seifkura Week?? Had fun with these and I hope they’re enjoyed in turn!

So here’s Day 1 | Showing Up Unexpectedly | This one’s the longest one I think? Hope you enjoy! Ko-Fi

Cloud had planned to leave Nibleheim when he was fifteen, wanting to travel to Midgar to make a name for himself in Shinra’s SOLDIER’s program; like the heroes he’d spent the last ten years reading about. Unfortunately, those plans were put on hold because of a sudden, freak snow-storm that left the small town cut off from the rest of the world, struggling to survive.

He then made plans to leave after helping his Ma recover from the damage the storm caused to their home; mainly restock their supplies and fix the house so she didn’t have to do it all on her own, despite her insistence that he didn’t need to and that he should go while he could. But he never ran out of things that needed urgent attention and since the rest of the village had no lost love for them, he simply couldn’t leave.

He gave up hope of ever leaving for Midgar on his sixteenth birthday, sure that this was a sign from the gods that he was doomed to die on the frozen wastes of the Nibel mountains; perhaps burned alive by a dragon or torn apart by a pack of Nibel wolves if he was lucky. His Ma was just as disappointed as he was, having wanted a better life for him than Nibelheim would have ever given him; he was just another Strife that would never left the Nibel mountains.

He resigned himself to live out the rest of his life, hated by the people around him and living day-to-day as well as he could, never being more than another name in his family tree, unlike the hero he’d once dreamed himself becoming. He resigned himself to a boring life of anonymity, only able to read about the glamorous, interesting lives portrayed in the newspaper and what few books he could get his hands on.

He coveted each piece of literature he could get his hands on, reading each and every printed word in the hopes that he’d be able to imprint enough of an idea in his mind to give him something to dream about. It wasn’t any surprise that he ended up one of the best read people in Nibelheim, alongside the person who knew the most about life outside of their little town.

He read about Shinra’s war with Wutai, their massive SOLDIER desertion and Shinra’s attempts to keep face, committing the names and faces of key figures to memory. The most impressive of which, was Sephiroth, General and most powerful of Shinra’s SOLDIERs.

They had just received word of Wutai’s surrender in the face of Shinra’s continued victory when a handful of SOLDIERs arrived in Nibelheim, their transport having been downed in a sudden snow storm during the night. Cloud was expecting to continue with his day, there was still a bit of firewood that be needed to prepared for the upcoming winter, but then the General himself stopped in front of his house and watched him.

Cloud turned to him after splitting a few more logs, meeting the man’s green eyes with his own blue pair. He dropped his axe before crossing his arms over his chest, fixing the larger man with a sharp look as he asked, “is there something I can help you with?”

“They’re run out of space at the inn,” the General said, shifting his gaze away from Cloud and back towards the rest of the village. “I was informed that the Strife family might have a spare room for the night.”

“Of course you were,” Cloud sighed, running a hand through his hair. He picked up the pieces he had already finished before walking forward, aware of the way the SOLDIER edged away from him as he approached the covered area they kept the firewood in. He ignored the man’s behaviour, long used to being treated like someone that shouldn’t be approached, and instead set the wood down before turning towards the door. “Let me check with Ma first.”

He didn’t wait for a response before ducking into the house, finding his Ma watching them from the window. She turned away from the sight of the silver-haired man to fix him with furrowed brows, mouth shaping a silent question.

He shrugged, rolling his eyes, “someone’s volunteered us as hosts for the night.” A blonde brow rose over widened blue eyes, letting him know exactly what his Ma thought about that statement. “Do we have the space for him.”

“There’s yer room,” she stated simply, turning her gaze back to the man outside of their home. “He won’t fit anywhere else.”

He nodded at her words, knowing them to be true. He didn’t have to see them side by side to know that the General was too tall to fit comfortably on the small couch they kept in the main room of the house. He turned away from her, back to the door to allow the SOLDIER into their home.

The General’s gaze was focused on the rest of the village when Cloud opened the door, body tense as his intent gaze remained on the cluster of buildings that made up the rest of Nibelheim. Green eyes focused on Cloud within a moment of the door opening, unblinking as he waited for Cloud to begin speaking.

“We’ve got a bed for you,” he said, stepping back into the house so the man could enter as well. “It’s shit, but it’ll do you for the night.” He turned towards his room, separated from the main area of the house by a thin, wooden door, opening it for the other’s inspection.

“Thank you,” the man said, walking into the room and closing the door softly behind him, separating himself from Cloud and his Ma.

He turned back to her, returning her shrug before stepping back outside, there was still a large number of logs that needed to be splitted before they could be used as firewood.

He’d been working for perhaps another hour when the General approached him, stepping out of the house quietly before turning towards him instead of continuing on to the village. Cloud glanced up at him, sweat soaking his shirt and causing it to cling uncomfortably to his frame, “something wrong?”

“I wanted to offer you my assistance,” the General stated, gazing somewhere over Cloud’s shoulder instead of his eyes. “As thanks for housing me for the night.”

While Cloud may have been a proud person, he wasn’t stupid and passing on the chance for some actual help with the rest of the manual labour would have been stupid. “If you wanna finish cutting those logs then I can start moving ‘em in,” he offered, handing the General his axe when the man nodded his agreement.

He got to work quickly, splitting the rest of the logs with quick, efficient movements as Cloud carried the wood into the house, setting them to the side of the fireplace for when they were needed. Ma watched him from the kitchen, preparing a plain meal of stew from a beast Cloud had butchered earlier than week.

“Already got him working for you, huh?” She asked, smile bright and mischievous as she glanced to where the SOLDIER was still working outside. “Good boy. I knew I raised you right.”

“You’re terrible,” he told her, walking back outside to finish his chore.

They finished far quicker than Cloud would have on his own, resulting in Cloud actually having a bit of free time before dinner; a rarity in his life. There wasn’t anything else that required his attention and he’d already finished the new, well fourth-hand but new to him, book he’d gotten, he was left without anything to focus his attention on.

He decided to question the General, indulging in his curiosity a bit. “How’d you get the short straw to bunk with some mountain hicks?” The question must have surprised the SOLDIER as he turned to stare at Cloud with wide eyes. “No offense to me, of course.”

“I volunteered,” the silver-haired man said, relaxing a bit as he moved passed his surprised shock. “My men deserved the beds more than I and giving them up was an easy decision on my part.”

“Well that’s nice,” Cloud said, genuinely surprised by the man’s reasonings. “A nicer reason than I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” The question was accompanied by furrowed brows and tinged with intrigue, without any of the scorn that might have been present from anyone else.

“That you lost a coin toss,” Cloud suggested, shrugging easily under the green eyes focused on him. “Or a bet. Something like that.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, wasn’t expecting it to be for a nice reason at all.” Cloud continued, rolling his shoulder and shifting his gaze away from the silver-haired man. “Nice to know that Shinra isn’t completely filled with bastards.”

The General was quiet for a few moments, most likely unsure of how to respond and searching for something to say. “I don’t know your name,” he eventually decided upon, sounding awkward, which wasn’t something Cloud ever expected to attach to Shinra greatest SOLDIER. “Not your first that is.”

“It’s Cloud,” he answered, not expecting the man to remember it after he left Nibelheim.

“Please call me Sephiroth,” the SOLDIER said, surprising Cloud once again.

“Alright, Sephiroth,” he nodded, not showing the surprise he felt at the offer. Sephiroth would be leaving tomorrow, but the memory of being allowed to call the strongest warrior in the world by his name would no doubt stay with Cloud for the rest of his life.

Sephiroth dined with them that night, making awkward small talk but ultimately letting Cloud and his Ma carry the conversation between themselves. He seemed to be more pleased to listen to them than to speak so they let him keep quiet, they turned to bed soon after; Sephiroth taking Cloud’s while he fought with the couch to find a semi-comfortable position.

He and the rest of the SOLDIERs were gone before mid-morning the next day, transport repaired and weather clear enough for them to make their way safely out of the region and back to Midgar.

He never expected to see Sephiroth again, had engraved every detail about his night in their home to his memories for that very reason, so for him to answer his door some three years later to the man was quite a bit of a shock. There were two other people behind him, a young man and woman who looked just as weary as Sephiroth did.

“It’s good to see you again, Cloud,” Sephiroth greeted softly, surprising Cloud even more because he’d remembered his name after so long. “I was hoping we could intrude upon you for a few nights.”

Cloud blinked at him slowly but stepped back to allow the three into his home, confusing his Ma, who was treating a kill in the backroom.

“Who’s there, Cloud?” She called, unable to come see due to her arms being buried within a wolf’s guts.

“General Sephiroth!” He called back to her, watching the three of them enter his house and finding somewhere to seat themselves. “He’s got friends with him too!”

There was a moment of silence, where Cloud imagined her shrugging before she called out. “Ok! We’re having dragon tonight!”

“You guys eat dragon?” The question came from the other man in the room, who had his arm wrapped around the young woman seated on the couch next to him. He was staring at Cloud with wide, violet eyes, stunned by his Ma’s casual mention of eating dragon meat.

“Yeah?” Cloud questioned, returning the other’s stare with a cocked head and arms crossed over his chest. “You eat what you can get in the mountains, dragon and wolf are what’s common ‘round here.”

The other man was stopped from saying anything else by the woman next to him placing a hand on his arm, turning to give Cloud a soft smile. “He didn’t mean to offend, Zack just talks without thinking sometimes.”

Cloud blinked slowly, shrugging one of his shoulders under the woman’s uncanny green eyes. “Just be careful saying shit like that around Ma, she’ll probably impale you.” He turned his attention to Sephiroth, ignoring the started expression that was now on ‘Zack’s’ face. “So, what brings y’all to Nibelheim?”

“We’ve had some issues with Shinra’s management,” Sephiroth said after exchanging looks with ‘Zack’, shifting against the wall. “We needed to leave.”

“And you decided to disappear here?” Cloud questioned, brow raising when Sephiroth merely nodded in response. “Well, if you had to disappear anywhere.”

“We won’t be in your hair long,” Sephiroth insisted, unaware that neither Cloud or his Ma was going to throw them out. “We’ll help around to earn out keep as well.”

“Of course you will!” Ma said, striding into the room, completely uncaring that her arms were stained in blood up to the elbow. “Everybody helps in a Nibel house, they won’t last otherwise!” She looked over the three, humming softly before coming to a decision. “You two can share Cloud’s room,” she said, pointing to ‘Zack’ and the young woman on the couch. “You two are gonna have to make due with the floor,” she gestured to Cloud and Sephiroth as she spoke.

She swept back out of the room once she had finished speaking, leaving the others in the room stunned.

“You heard her,” Cloud said, gesturing towards the door of his room. “You two’ll bunk in there. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta try to fix up the roof before dark.” He left the house through the front door, giving them the room and space to talk about whatever they needed to as he moved to the supplies he had gathered earlier in the day for the job.

Sephiroth joined him a few minutes later, staring up at him with what might have been concern as Cloud stood on their old ladder. “Can I help?” He asked, staring up at Cloud closely, looking out of place in his more casual clothes. Cloud turned to look down at him, raising a brow at the man, Sephiroth continued to speak, expanding on his request. “You’ve been kind, allowing us to stay with you, the least I can do is help you with this.”

“You know how to fix a roof?” Cloud asked, cocking his head at the other.

There was a moment where Sephiroth dropped his gaze, ducking his face away from Cloud’s gaze. “No,”

“That’s alright,” Cloud responded, drawing the other’s attention back to him, or at least he hoped so, it was hard to tell with all the hair. “Just hand me the things as I ask for them and keep a hold of the ladder, that’ll help.”

Sephiroth nodded, hair sliding back from his face as he lifted his head back towards Cloud. He reached out to grasp the ladder, holding it tightly in place to ensure that Cloud didn’t fall, handing things to Cloud when he asked for them and asking him about his life here in a soft voice.

The three were gone within the week, leaving Cloud lonelier than he’d ever felt. It was hard, to feel like he was missing out of things like friendship when everyone his age wanted nothing to do with him, but he was dealing with it now and there was nothing he could do to combat the feelings, just continue on with his day-to-day life.

Another year passed before Sephiroth showed up at his house again, knocking at his door and watching him hesitantly as he answered the door.

“Hello,” Sephiroth greeted softly, meeting his gaze slowly. He kept his eyes on Cloud’s as he spoke, swallowing heavily before continuing, “it’s good to see you Cloud.”

“Good to see you too,” he said, staring at Sephiroth in confusion. He really couldn’t think of a reason why the man was there, alone, in front of his house. But he was, and taking to him. “What brings you to Nibelheim?”

“I wanted to ask you,” the taller man started, dropping his gaze from Cloud’s as he paused before lifting them determinedly back to Cloud. “If you wanted to join me for dinner.”

Cloud blinked at the request, shocked that they had come from the man in front of him. “Ok,” he answered, his acceptance causing Sephiroth’s shoulders to relax and a soft breath to fall from the man’s mouth. He didn’t understand why Sephiroth would have been as nervous as he had been, but he had been and now Cloud had a date with one of the most powerful men in the world.

Seemed his life was going to be more interesting than he’d originally thought.

Ko-Fi

#sefikuraweek #sefikura #Sephiroth #cloud strife #FFVII #All of these are super self-indulgent #because that's how I write!#Yay!#Skyee Writes

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bloodstained-babyface · 7 years

Note

"Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw." ( I LOVE HEATHERS I COULDN'T RESIST )

(Heathers Starter Meme for @daturida ;3C )

“Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw…..!”

That little phrase certainlyoozed Senran’s mood at the current moment. For the first time in the shitty andtragic Mobius strip of her life, she found someone she could relate to…inalmost every single way…and they rejected her. Not to say she was terriblysurprised about it all, no, truthfully she expected it to be this way. And whata fucking load of chuckles it was that another person who she cared aboutselflessly was at risk of being taken away from her in a very different way. Itwas almost comical, and the sort of humor a man about to fry in the electricchair would give a final giggle and a shit over due to the sheer unfortunateirony of it all. It was all too terribly unfair really…and while she had toadmit, her dear Kichi-sama had done some bad things, who the fuck hadn’t? Her dainty fingers raked through her verylong purple hair that had done as much growing as the rest of her body hadsince her little ‘operation’.

Kanou might have been a depravedsick fuck, but he had given her what she always had wanted ever since shebecame a teenager and had still been forced to ride out the emotional aspectsof puberty in the body of a brat. Now she finally had a ‘normal’ body. Ofcourse vanity’s sake wasn’t the only reason she wanted to change herself. Whileshe admitted she personally liked herself a lot better now that she looked heractual age, being the size of an adult had its advantages. You could protectsomeone important a little better….

And yet if circumstances and abunch of hypocrites would have had it, they’d take away two of her mostcherished people. All for some bullshit idealism that Furuta was achieving in whatshe felt, was a more realistic way. No rational person could have possiblyexpected all ghouls and humans to join hand in hand and fucking sing Kumbayanow did they?! How?! The CCG had made a very successful and bloody venture ofkilling ghouls…and ghouls of course, had no choice but to treat a human beingas livestock at least once every so often to satiate a hunger a hamburger steakcouldn’t. Donato was so damn right, theworld was positively brimming with hypocrites and the scene in Tokyo was socomical it could honestly have put Gaki No Tsukai out of business.

She had no quarrel with anyone whowanted to see ‘peace’, but really, what the fuck was peace? Wasn’t peace forone side likely to mean the other side would suffer? Like sure, the Goats couldget their little hero’s ending but it was as if they didn’t really care as longas they put a halt to Kichi-sama’s plans. She laughed to herself a little asshe tugged some of her hair that her fingers had a grip on as she ignoredanother headache. Making sure Kichimura was safe wasn’t easy but definitelydoable as she was just too plain stubborn and relentless in her efforts to doeverything she personally could do to keep him safe. Ahhhh how many times had peopleshe known asked why she was ‘defending that bastard’….

‘Fuck I cannot even remember now…how many times did Kaneki or Uta alone askme?…fuck it. Who cares?! What’s it tothem? My reasons for protecting him are none of their fucking business! My feelings are mine and nobody can changed them! Who thefuck do those shitheads who have a problem with Furuta think they are?! MotherTeresa?! Haaaaaaaah, gag me with a fucking dick! OH PLEEEEEASE!’

She mused to herself in the privacyof her thoughts as she hung around the roof of a reasonably sized apartment buildingthat was located niiiice and close to the main office where she knew Furutaworked. Hmm…how strange…if she thought back long and hard, teehee, Kichi-samadid say she was his favorite fan. Of course, one of his more vocal detractorstold her she was a moron for believing him. That he was just using her for somekind of amusement and that when he got bored of her being around him, he wouldsurely get rid of her like he did to the Ami girl. Ahhh how many times didKaneki dearest tell her all about that one? Tch. What did it matter to Senran,really? It’s not like she was expecting marriage out of him like that stupidass Ami did. Senran truthfully almost felt insulted people thought she even expectedanything out of Kichimura personally.

Like what, did sex guarantee a fucking weddingnow all of a sudden!?! Who was this naïvestill? Didn’t Ami ever get taught by her mom not to give it up to the firstpretty man who made her feel like she was prettier than Vanna White or someshit? Or at least not till he fucking put a ring on it like Beyonce said? Ugh how fucking stupid some of these humanswere….At least they got the advantage of doing something like that with someonewho they cared about, a far cry from her own experiences mostly.

“Sorry, but I really had to wake you;See, I decided I must ride you till I break you.‘Cause Heather says I gots to go;You’re my last meal on death row.Shut your mouth and lose them tighty-whities!Come on!Tonight I’m yours,I’m a dead girl walking!”

Sen sang a song to herself as shedanced on the rounded metal safety railing, spinning slowly and skipping withthe sort of daredevil’s grace that would have probably had her dearly departedTatara screaming at her in angry panic for her to stop. She giggled and as shehad her fun, kept a watch and didn’t notice any unusual activity for a whileand eventually came down when she finished. She easily found her way down andwithout any harm or foul, stepping her way to a bench where people could sit and wait for the bus but as usual, shewouldn’t be waiting for a bus. Now she was at ground level and able to makesure no one who wanted to take the only person, who said they saw themselves inher, out of the game. Kichimura was too important to her to let some dickweedwith a Cloud Strife complex take him away. She blew some of her hair out of her face,revealing the beauty mark underneath her right eye, only to be taken bysurprise by loud squealing. Oh dear…the fucking Kichi-sama Fangirls again…SHIT.And soon she was surrounded by a group of pain in the ass highschool girls, incosplay or wearing fake moles. Wielding their fans with his perfect facepainted on them, they began interrogating why a ‘bimbo’ like her was doing nearthe CCG, and that she looked kinda slutty to be one of their members.

‘’LOOK! She didn’t even draw hermole in the right spot!’’–Said one of them who wore the most low qualitywig she had ever seen. Senran was annoyed just looking at her and hearing herand the rest of those schoolgirls. Ohhhh but then Wig Girl just had to reach outand try to ‘smear the mole off’.

It happened before she evenrealized what she had done. Senran hadseen red and then as if having a fucking out of body experience, watched as herfist launched forward like a rocket fueled by every repressed emotionaldisturbance she had been feeling lately, and along with her aversion to beingtouched by strangers. She watched it go smashing into the fangirl’s nose withenough force to knock her backwards and cause her to flip backwards, ass overteakettle into a nearby garbage can filled with glass bottles. The other girlsran away screaming about ‘some crazy bitch in ero-lolita clothes and a badattitude that TOTALLY murdered their friend.

To beFAIR, while she had indeed WRECKED THE SHIT out of this girl’s face,she wasstill alive. Teens were so dramatic, honestly. She could hear angry voicesshouting and saw a police officer approaching and sighed. ‘Well here we fuckinggo again!’

‘’Fuck me gently with a chainsaw indeed…” –She huffed as she ran, her heelstapping wildly against the pavement and turning a corner and had been gratefulfor the traffic coming along with the MOST perfect timing to allow her toRECKLESSLY weave in and out and be lost to the police pursuing her as sherounded a corner of the fence surrounding the CCG, pausing a moment to catchher breath. These boots were made for WALKING, not fleeing the law. That wasfor sure. But at least no one had seen that embarrassing debacle back thereright?

#i hope this is alright <3 #Sen strikes again -w-.

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sterlinghamilton · 7 years

Text

The Experiment (Final Fantasy VII)

"So... how have your grades been?" The silence in the car had been suffocating as the Strife family drove to the central station of the city. The father in the front drivers seat, the mother on his right, and a boy of only 16 in the back. This must have been some kind of joke for a higher power, to push a broken family together for the day. A higher power meaning school... which Cloud went to, which decided to host a 'take your child to work day' and considering both parents worked in a section of the facility, he had no choice but to wake up at the crack of dawn and follow his parents to the worst place in the city. Growing up in a rather nice area, Cloud had the fortunate experience to hear what this corporation was known for on the streets, 'experiments', 'people going missing', 'hitmen' all where great ways to describe what went on behind the tall fences of Shinra headquarters. They masked as a power plant, their commercials seemed innocent enough but it only took one babbling gossiper to turn the good name into a monster. So to grow up in a family where both parents worked for the creepy place, Cloud never disclosed what his parents did to any of his friends. He could have been at a bakers shop, or travelling the under section of the city, instead he was subjected to a terrible start to a terrible day.

Eyes the colour of the sky slowly closed and his elbow leaned against the car window, he didn't really want to have small talk with his father, both parents knew Cloud's attitude towards what they were pushing him to become. In order to keep his sanity he had taken it upon himself to get a job at a local shop as a delivery boy, his parents didn't seem to notice, not that they ever did. Both worked from 5 am until 10 pm every day, they're jobs took over their lives, and they wanted him to follow in their footsteps? "Tech." Was the only reply from the boy while his father glanced at him through the mirror.

"Tech?" He heard the disapproving tone in his fathers voice before the subject was dropped, Cloud could be a little... emotional at time.

"Honey, we know you don't like getting up early, but I really think this will teach you a lot about your future!" His mom tried to explain as she turned to look in the back seat at her son, Cloud rolled his eyes, and she scowled at his rebelious nature. "One day someone will break that out of you."

Yeah, Cloud was willing to bet it, but for now no one cared about him, no one took the time to help him grow into a good person. He had his friends, his job and school came at ease for him. He said nothing, just wanting to put his earbuds back in and continue listening to music, they still had a long way to go before getting there.

It was like a massive shadow had appeared over the car as they drove up to the building, Cloud slowly leaned forward in awe, taking his earbuds out. This was it, the 'power plant' he had one shot to prove he wasn't good for this job, one shot would be all it took, he knew he was on his parents last nerve. The guard stopped them at the gates and both parents pulled out ID cards, the man, dressed in cargo pants and a black turtle neck, carrying gun far too heavy duty for his position looked in the back seat at Cloud. Stone grey eyes, the man looked like he had seen death, he looked like a criminal.

"That's my son," His father explained, "It's bring your child to work day."

"And you brought him here?" The guard asked then shook his head and backed up. "All clear!" The gates opened and the black car drove through. After entering a tunnel that took them a few miles under ground, Cloud felt his ears pop and he sat back, waiting for them to find a spot and get out. The whole parking lot echoed, he didn't understand why it was so far under when there was a perfectly good one up above. Did Cloud ever mention he hated tight spaces? The blonde exited the car with his parents and readjusted his backpack. His parents were dressed in casual business attire and lab coats, while Cloud, who felt like he had just rolled out of bed with messy spiky hair, wore a navy blue hood, a grey t-shirt and black jeans. He felt out of place, his arms tightened around himself. "Mom? I don't like it here, do you work here too?" He admitted to not knowing what his parents did in the plant, they never spoke of it, he never questioned. But if he could choose to be above ground, he would.

"Yes hon, I work three floor above in sector nine, while your father works in the lab." The lab, they didn't give it a sector name, just the lab... which was underground.

"Can I... come with you?" He tried to make his soft voice sound a bit helpless just so she would let him, but her teal blue eyes saddened and she shook her head.

"No, sweetheart, you're going with your father, he has much more exciting stuff to do than paper work." Paper work sounded fine! Why couldn't he do paper work? Cloud grumbled and looked away, hating that he couldn't even decide which parent to follow, now he was stuck with Mr. Coldblooded all day.

The split up at the elevators, his mom took the left one going up and his father and himself took the one on the right going down. Deeper and deeper they went, Cloud stared up at the numbers counting down, how far was this place? He didn't like the feeling his father was giving off, not one word had been spoken between them since the car ride. Now the man barely paid attention to the smaller boy, he just poured over files from his briefcase. The doors finally opened and a massive facility came into view, Cloud took a step back, the whole area was open save for a few offices and labs with glass windows, all looking in on the main project in the center. Wires and tubes came down from the ceiling, connecting to power grids and a metal tank. "There are a couple rules you must follow here, Cloud. Do not touch anything, do not ask stupid questions, follow me or anyone else so you don't stray far, I want you to take in as much as you can..." He walked out and Cloud hesitated to follow. "And one more thing," He said, looking over his shoulder with an unreadable expression. "Do not look inside the tank." He walked away and Cloud stepped out of the elevator, walking slowly into the room. Do not look into the tank? Cloud stared down at it from his position on the balcony. Do not stare into it…

The day had been uneventful but stressful at the same time, Cloud followed his father, got scolded at for touching things, leaning against tables, even sitting in chairs. He was ready to throw in the towel when his father was called in for a meeting. Suddenly the older man turned on Cloud, towering over the shorter boy.

"Remember what I said, don't touch anything. I can't bring you in with me so just stay there, Cloud, just sit down and wait." The man didn't say goodbye, he didn't smile or pat him on the head, it felt like Cloud was a dog and his father was telling him to stay put.

So when the man left, fierce blue eyes followed him movements before the door shut. Cloud sat back on his chair, the area was silent, no one was paying attention or they had gone in for the meeting. Don't look into the tank... the thought popped into his head and a rebellious smile graced his baby features.

Cloud stood, yawning and stretching, drawing no attention to himself as he left his chair, desks passed him as he walked by and soon he found himself in the centre of the room. The tank was massive, big enough to hold something large, as large as a human... or more. He peeked around, no one was looking at him, no one cared. Okay... Cloud was going to peek and then he'd have that over his father for the rest of his life. Why was peeking such an issue? Peeking wouldn't change anything, right? Maybe there was something gross inside, maybe some experiment that looked like a giant slug! Feeling a little more excited, Cloud slowly approached the tank, he stepped up the two steps, glass covered the front of it and even while standing not a foot away, the water made it impossible to see through it. Cloud squinted, leaning forward on the glass, his fingers brushed the surface finding the glass ice cold. Then slowly, his hands pressed against it, the heat from his skin forming a small fog around them. He leaned forward, he was seeing something floating in there but what... what was it?

The object was coming closer, breaking through the fog. Cloud's eyes opened wide, it was a human face, this was impossible! He felt like he was glued to the spot, unable to tare himself away even though that's all he wanted to do. Suddenly, eyes snapped open from within the tank and Cloud felt time stand still. He looked like a monster, no longer as human as he once believed. Impossibly rich green eyes with cat like pupils stared into his baby blue orbs. Cloud opened his mouth, he wanted to scream in fright but nothing was coming out, nothing came up his throat, he felt like he was being choked alive. Then it stopped, he took in a deep breath and life returned to his body. But he couldn't tare his eyes away, what was coming over him? His hand slowly came up to the position by the creatures face.

What strange hair, he first thought. Blonde, like the sun he had so rarely seen and eyes that were more blue than Sephiroth had ever seen. A male, definitely male, despite his fragile looking features. He wasn't fully grown yet. How fascinating. If only I could be where you are, he thought, an uncharacteristic longing taking over him. How was it that this boy, younger and weaker than he was able to roam freely? He reached up a hand to place against the boy's when a shout cut through the moment.

"CLOUD!"

The blonde tore his eyes away and suddenly a shock-wave struck him backwards. It felt like sound had omitted from the center of the room, a sound blast so strong that it cut through the metal of the walls. Alarms went off and people began to panic, grabbing documents from filing cabinets but the place was starting to catch on fire. Sprinklers went off but they were hardly powerful enough to stop the machines from exploding from their encasements. Cloud struggled to breath, he felt like his rips had broken and he lay there on the polished floor while his father stood a few meters by, just staring at what his son had done. Cloud turned, reaching out helplessly towards his father, he wanted to speak, to shout but he couldn't breath. Father... the man backed away and tears sprung into his eyes, his father turned and dashed towards the stairs, leaving his son behind. "Noo!" Cloud cried as the lab around him exploded and people fell to the ground, being poisoned by the gas and smoke from the fire. Was he going to die?

An explosion went off right by him, knocking him back towards the tank, his body rolled and he landed painfully on the steps. He couldn't hear anything, the ringing in his ears wouldn't stop, the smoke was so thick he could only see legs of people still trying to find an exit. Suddenly a wave of glass and liquid poured over him, cutting off the flames from spreading towards the fallen boy. A chunk of glass hit the side of his head and Cloud suddenly saw stars. His heartbeat rang in his ears, his vision was going black, the last thing he saw before falling unconscious was fire, smoke and a single black wing.

How long had passed? Cloud was regaining conciousness but he struggled to catch his breath, waking himself up, Cloud rolled over and began to cough up water from his lungs. Dammit... he was soaked, and cold, this didn't make sense, he should be dead. No... the sky was coming into vision, he was alive, he was out of the building but how... Cloud slowly turned and what he saw made his heart stop. The entire Shinra Headquarters was nothing more than rubble and ash, flames still rose from it but such a massive structure had become levelled. No one was around, bodies lay at the ground, no one was moving, but him... Cloud pushed himself into a crawling position and neared the rubble with tears streaming down his blackened cheeks. No... everyone... no... they were.... no.... he was alone... his parents... gone. "NOOOO!!!" Cloud screamed as he felt his heart clench painfully in his chest. He hated this feeling, of shame, like he had caused all of this, it didn't matter how much his parents fought with him, they were still his parents! Now they were... He looked up, desperation in his eyes, maybe they weren't. Cloud struggled to his feet, walking a few steps before collapsing in front of the first body he came across. It was someone he didn't know, and they looked like they had been... cut. What was happening, he felt himself breaking down. "Please... stop this." He told his heart, wanting to stop the pain, the guilt. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he slowly turned towards the building. A form, tall and broad, with long silver hair wearing nothing but a long labcoat stood among the fire and ash.

Cloud struggled his way over, shouting at the man to get out before the building fell apart any more. "LEAVE! RUN!" He screamed but the man wasn't moving. His attention went up, in the sky helicopters circled with spot lights and fire trucks were speeding towards the site. Cloud panicked, and found the strength to get up. He couldn't be caught, he was the reason for all this, they would send him away, he would lose everything. The blonde ran forward, tripping over dabre as he went, he ran towards the man, his heart pounding as the spotlights closed in on them. "Come on!" He grabbed the long slender hand and without looking, he began to tug him towards the back. "PLEASE!" He'd explain later, but they were now in this together. The spotlights found the location they were once standing in but Cloud was doing his best to pull the man along to the path at the back. As soon as the building pieces were no longer in their way, Cloud let go of his hand and began to run, motioning the man to follow him. "You don't want to get caught by them, come on!" The government was never good.

#final fantasy #final fantasy vii #cloud #sephiroth #fanfic #ffvii #ff7 #fanfiction

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multi-fandom-imagine · 4 years

Text

The SOLDIER and The Baker || Cloud Strife || Pt3

Part 1 || Part 2.

A/n: Also vote...please vote / help me because I need your help to decided on what to do since its gonna be coming up soon. {{ vote here }}

Ps. this got to long so the kiss and date and everything else is gonna be in part four. {{ like I am sure this is past 4,000 words }}

A: 2 B: 0 C: 1

Tag List: @ayamenimthiriel || @kitsamii. || @courageouslystupid

Rude was stuck in a rather tough spot, the man did not know what to make of this. He thought he might be able to find any records of the young woman, it seemed to be as if they were completely wiped. Sighing he pinched the bridge of his nose, pulling of security footage of when he ran into you the man managed to get a picture of you.

He needed to know who you are, how did you know Aerith. Sighing he tilted his head to the side as he printed out a picture of you though tensed feeling crumbs hit his shoulder.

“She’s cute.” Even though it was muffled thanks to the food in the person's mouth Rude still knew who it was. “Who is she?”

“The girl I ran into.”

“The one who made these amazing muffin...haha really?....so did you get a name?” Reno asked peering at the picture of you from the candid photo, your hair was tied back in a loss ponytail and you were wearing a dress similar to Aerith’s. He thought you were rather pretty, he also thought that smile was cute but you must be someone important if Rude was looking into you.

“I did not.”

“So...you have nothing on her then?”

“You would be correct.”

“Well Shit.”

Rude sighed as he placed the picture down, maybe he should check into with Tseng to see if he could find something, or Rufus might know.

“Shit indeed.”

“So Cloud...”

“hmm??” Cloud glanced over at you, he watched as your fingers clutched the Mythril Rod in your fingers.

“I...what was it like being a SOLDIER?” You sighed glancing up at the sky, you never knew why seeing the stars gave you so much comfort. Perhaps it was something that you used to do with your father until he vanished.

“It’s a job...I did it to keep people safe, a lot of good that did.”

Turning to face him, you just smiled at him. “I think you’re doing a wonderful job of watching me and Aerith.”

“Huh?” Cloud frowned then shook his head, he should have expected you to say something like that.

“Aw, I thought for sure that would have given me a smile.” You teased rushing off to where Aerith was.

Stopping in his tracks Cloud frowned for a moment then shook his head. “Try harder.”

Your laughter was his only response but it took a few quick strides for him to catch up with you.

“You can see the sky” Glancing up, that was something he wasn’t used too being stuck in Sector 7 and seeing that plate.

Aerith frowned as she looked up at the dark sky with a frown on her face. “They’re still working on a new plate. I don’t like this part of Midgar.” As you three walked down the dirt path she kept speaking. “Back when they were still building Midgar, there was an accident, and the plate fell. People were still moving in, so there weren’t an of lot living there at the time, but....” She stopped as you three ventured deep down the path until you all spotted the Wall Market in the distance, the lights shining brightly in the night.

“And that’s?”

“The underside of Sector 6. “Wall Market.” A real special place.” Aerith then stepped in front of him tilting her head to the side. “But I’m sure you already knew that, right?”

Cloud frowned then turned his head away. “I didn’t tell you?”He then let out a sigh glancing away from you. “I enlisted pretty much right after I left home.” He then turned his attention to look at the stars. “Dunno much about this place, or any of the slums.”

Biting back a comment you then forced a smile on your face as your grasped his hand. “Don’t worry Cloud! that's what you have me and Aerith for!.”

“I.”

Aerith smiled nodding her head not letting him get a chance to speak.”Y/n is right ya know.” Though that didn’t stop her from telling him about the Wall Market, things you didn’t even know.

“Lucky for you I know a different way to Sector 7....One that tragically doesn’t go through Wall Market.” Giving you a wink you were positive that you only saw she gave you a small nod to his hand. Sighing she grasped one of Cloud’s hand as you grasped the other. “And it’s just through this tunnel here.” she pointed a long tunnel ahead of you.

“It’s best if you just listen to her Cloud, Aerith isn’t going to stop.” You state though the man let out a defeated sigh. Muttering under your breath you three continued to walk through the dark tunnel into you had to duck under a broken beam.

Emerging under you couldn’t help but let out a groan. “Wonderful.” Seeing the Collapsed expressway, you started to wonder if you would ever make it to Sector 7.

“It’s been like this...ever since the plate fell.” Aerith shrugged as she let go of the man's hands peering down below.

“And their’s no other way?”

“It will be an adventure.”

Sighing you rolled your eyes though then let go of his hand once you reached a ladder. You and Aerith slipped down waiting for the man, tugged out the blue flower he wanted to give to you the man was amazed it was still intact.

Biting bit tongue, he took a deep breath deciding now would be the best time to do it. Once he made it down the ladder he cleared out his throat then thrusts the flower in your face, not wanting to meet your gaze. “Here...for the cupcake...”

Hearing Aerith’s squeal you blinked, blushing as you took the flower. Smiling at him you could still feel the warmth on your cheeks. “Thank you Cloud, it’s beautiful.” Looking at the blue flower over you realized it must have been from the young woman's garden. You then tucked the stem in your hair so the blue petals were resting on your ear.

“So...what do you think.?” Doing a small pose you were taken back by what he said.

“Beautiful.”

Though the moment was ruined as Aerith then grasped your arm tugging you forward. “Ahhh! so cute!”

Cloud sighed as he then crossed his arms over his chest, now he wished he waited to give it to you so he wouldn’t have to deal with Aerith. Shoulders slumping he glanced around the small little area you were all stuck in trying to figure out a way to get the ladder up.

Wandering off from the two you did not know why you were being drawn to this particular area. Slowly making your way to a darkened corner, hearing a small cry you then knelt. “Hey it’s okay....you don’t have to be scared.”

Though you suddenly let out your cry falling back on your butt when a white creature jumped out at you. Sitting up you didn’t even notice that Cloud and Aerith rushed over to you. The man clutching his buster sword pointing it at the creature sitting on your chest. Aerith gave you a beaming grin kneeling forward pushing Cloud aside.

“Oh y/n! do you know what that is?”

Still recovering you slowly bring your hands up then run your fingers through the soft fur. “A Carbuncle.....they were in the storybook my mom used to read to me when I was little.” Smiling you continued to pet the creature, it leaning into your touch. “Well, it was nice meeting you little um Carbuncle.”

The Fennec fox-like animal tilting its head to the side once you placed it on the ground. Standing up you walked a few feet before the animal followed you then jumped on your shoulder, its teeth sinking into your Mythril Rod.

“I think it likes you Y/n!” Aerith was smiling.

“Can you trust it?” Cloud, however, was not, the man rather not risk anything happening to you. Shaking his head from those thoughts he did not know why he was thinking that. He kept his gaze on the creature, the Carbuncle had pale blue fur, its large ears twitching as the thing turned its gaze to him while its puffy tail wrapped around your neck gently. He could have sworn the damn thing gave him a smug look.

“Don’t be stupid Cloud! Of course, we can....besides it likes Y/n and you want her to be safe right....?” She started to rock on her heels then smiled tapping the Carbuncle’s nose. “Did you know that the horn is made out of ruby? but don’t let this little one fool you...they have potent healing powers.”

Well if that was true then he guessed that it was one more thing that could keep you two safe. “I...fine....though if it...I’m getting rid of it if it’s a pain in the ass.”

Letting out a laugh you scratched behind the creature's large ears. “Thank you, Cloud and it looks like you need a name.”Hmm how about Celestine...because you have that pretty little stone on your forehead.”

Celestine let out a small chirp, grinning you, Aerith, Cloud, and your new companion was off.

“Thank god we are out of that mess.” Panting you were leaning forward doing your best to catch your breath, you never thought you could have that hard. Who knew that so man monsters were trapped in a collapsed tunnel, god it was going to be shit getting back to yours and Aerith’s home.

Celestine hopping off your shoulders as you looked around the Evergreen Park of Sector 6.

“Wow....that must be the gate to Sector 7...you must be happy Cloud” Turning to face the blond you smiled at him though it was hard to read the expression on his face.

“I...looks shut how do we open it?”

Now standing beside you Aerith shrugged giving him her smile. “More importantly how about we take a break? Sound good.”

“No, I don’t have time-”

“Aerith now’s not really.”

Ignoring both of you, she continued to smile giving you a small push towards the dome house. With a sigh you climbed up the wall sitting on top of it, not expecting Cloud to be by your side.

“Wait! Aerith what are you?~”

With a laugh, Aerith waved both of you off. “Now is a good time for you two to get to know each other better!”

Dropping your shoulders you brought your knees to the chest to see her chase after the Carbuncle.

Glancing over at Cloud you gave him a weak smile. “She’s something?”

“Yea” Frowning Cloud opened his mouth though he didn’t know what to say to you, what could he say?

“You know...me and my dad used to do this all the time...look at the stars I mean.” Glancing up at the night sky you started to get lost in a memory. “He’d sit me in his lap and point out all the different stars.” Frowning you rested your head on your knees. “I miss him.”

“What happened to your parents?” Cloud wanted to know though he’d understand if you didn’t answer him.

“My father? I don’t know what happened to him...one day...he was just gone a-and for my mother? she died... let's see...um I was eleven.” You tried to blink away tears though as you were crying you felt a hand rest on your cheek.

“I’m sorry.”

Clearing out your throat you let out a laugh smiling at him. “It wasn’t all bad...Aerith’s mother took me in after my mother's death and when I grew older I moved back into my old home.” You didn’t want to worry about the man but you weren’t going to lie, it felt nice for him to touch your cheek.

Pulling his hand back, the man forced himself not to blush. Now he could see why you and Aerith were close. “I lost my mother too.”

“Oh! Cloud I’m.” Stopping yourself you sighed resting your head on his shoulder. “I’m sure she would be proud of you.” You didn’t mean to say it, the words just slipped out but they were true.

“Huh.”

You both turned to face each other, it wasn’t until now that you got a good look at his eyes. “Wow...your eyes.”

“Oh. It’s ‘Cause of the Mako. All SOLDIER’s have em.” He shifted his body, turning away from you. If his cheeks weren’t red before he was positive they were now.

“They’re beautiful.” Biting your lip you forced out a laugh standing up, dusting your dress off you noticed that the Carbuncle was curled up in Aerith’s arm. “Sorry I’m bumming you out...w..we should go.” Climbing down took a little time though you rolled your eyes once Cloud jumped down.

“Show off.”

Before Cloud could respond Aerith smiled as she slipped under the dome playhouse. Giving you both a grin she must have moved something before she slipped back out.

“This is how you get to sector 7 in style..go ahead.” Aerith did seem a little disappointed that her plan on leaving you two alone didn’t work.

Walking towards the entrance he sighed turned his attention to look at both of you. “Will you two be okay getting home alone?”

Shifting her body that statement seemed to make Aerith a little pleased. “And If I said we wouldn’t be?”

Looking over at you Cloud frowned taking a step forward. “Then I’ll go with you two.” Shaking his head he started to walk off.

“Cloud...I thought you had to get back.” You reached out to grab the man's wrist though you were quickly shushed by Aerith.

Rolling your eyes you stepped away from the woman you tried to hold you back. “I’m sure your friends miss you...so you ready to head back?”

“No.”

You weren’t expecting to hear that, though Aerith nearly squealed as she grasped your arm. “Oh see Y/n! he’s gonna miss us.”

Just as you were going to convince the man to leave all of your attention turned to the doors opening up to a Chocobo pulling a lavish cart.

“Tifa?”

You and Aerith watch Cloud rush off after the cart and it didn’t take long for you and Aerith to follow after him. The two were talking you tried your best not to listen in but that didn’t seem to both Aerith as she stopped the man in his tracks.

“Oh no you don’t....you’re going after her.”

“She’s right Cloud...I heard awful things about that man.” You weren’t going to mention that you heard them from your mother.

Listing to both of what you and Aerith had to say he then dropped his shoulders making his way to Wall Market. “Let's go.”

“Perfect!” You and Aerith smiled walking ahead of Cloud, the Carbuncle letting out a chirp.

“Couldn’t agree more.”

Stepping into Wall Market your eyes went wide, you never have seen anything like it before. Wincing you ignored the pain that started to form in the back of your skull, wandering away from Cloud and Aerith that started to the drive you instead started to pet the Chocobo.

“Aren’t you a cutie.” Smiling your fingers scratched the creature's cheek though you were startled by a voice.

“I’m surprised she even let out touch her....you must be somethin special.” Turning to the voice you spotted a tall man, a beard, and a cowboy hat. He was flipping a coin in his hand.

“Oh!...I’m sorry? I just really love animals and Chocobo’s...they’ve always been my favorite.” Giving him a small bow he let out a chuckle, it wasn’t until you finally noticed that Cloud and Aerith were watching you too.

Before Sam could get close to you, Cloud placed his body in front of yours though that didn’t stop for the man holding his hand out to you.

“You’re the splitin image of your mother.”

Eyes going wide you quickly stepped out from behinds Cloud back. “You knew my mother?!” “Darlin...your mother was one of the best workers I had.” Sam wrinkled his nose as he grasped your chin.“I’d say you got everything from that woman...minus that smile...I’m assuming you got that from your dad.” He didn’t sound too pleased when he mentioned your father.

“Though I seemed to have gotten distracted for the matter at hand.” He narrowed his eyes at Cloud. “I told ya what you need to know now take a walk and leave me out of it.” he seemed to have waved the man and Aerith off though it looked like he was debating on saying something to you with a shake of his head he stepped inside the building.

Confused you didn’t even notice Aerith say something until she placed her hand on your shoulder. “Right y/n?”

“Oh...right ha ha!.” Putting a smile you did your best to agree to them though soon you three were off to the man's mansion though your thoughts were still swimming from what Sam had told you. Your mother worked for, which would explain why she knew about Corneo. Frowning you did your push those thoughts down but you wanted to know more, perhaps you could sneak off to talk to Sam again.

Not paying attention you slammed into Clouds back but you must have been nothing since the man didn’t even move this time.

“You okay y/n?” Their’s Aerith concern for you again. Blinking you let out a laugh pushing your troubling thoughts away.

“Oh? I’m fine.”

Celestine, on the other hand, jumped back on your shoulders, letting out a growl once one of the men standing in front of the door stopped Cloud from entering. Though they must have said something since Aerith volunteered both of you.

“Aerith!”

“What! he said pretty boys couldn’t enter so we’re the only choice!” Narrowing your eyes you nearly punched the guy in his face when you heard him insulting your friend. “Aerith isn’t homely! have you looked in a mirror!” You snapped stepping out from Clouds back pointing at the man.

“Hey Leslie, this one is really cute....with a little make up she’d be a knockout.” “What?!” You could have sworn your voice went up an octave and you had to catch Celestine from leaping at the guy.

“How about I knock you out.” Cloud let out a small growl pushing you behind his back again.

Aerith narrowed his eyes as she stepped close to one of the lackeys. “Cloud? Permission to kill?”

“Denied.”

Before Aerith had a chance to respond the man Leslie did. “If you’re really sure you want to join an audition, then you’re gonna need an official approval.”

“How do we do that.?”

“The trio--the only ones in town who’re considered authorities on Corneos particular tastes.” Leslie sighed then shifted his body. “First, there’s Chocobo Sam....and then there’s Madam M over at the massage parlor. Last but not least, there’s the Honeybee Inn’s Andrea Rhodea.”

You stopped paying attention once Leslie mentioned Sam, maybe this was your chance to talk to the man alone. Shaking your head to turn to the voice that called out to you, looking up you spotted the concerned look on his face.

“Well, what are we waiting for.”

Smiling you then turned to Leslie giving him a thumbs up. “Don’t you worry..we’ll be back.”

With a nod, you then stepped out the door with Cloud and Aerith following you but Cloud was the one to stop you in your tracks once you were on the bridge.

“Are you two sure about this?”

“Of course Cloud! if y/n is in then I am too! no fear!”

Doing your best to steady your nerves you didn’t even notice how much your hands were shaking. While part of you wanted to help Clouds friend you just wanted to know about your mother. Biting your lip it took for you to dig your nails into your palm to run to the man once you spotted him still flipping that damn coin.

“Not you three again.” Sam frowned but gave a glance towards your direction. “Told ya once, I’ll tell you a thousand times- Got nothin’ for you. Now scram.” He then waved you off.

Digging your nails into your palm, you were getting sick of all this. “Hey! Hear us out!” You stepped forward, getting close to the man. “You’re one of the Trio, right? I want you to get...” No not you, you couldn’t pull that off. “I need to you get Aerith in for the Audition.”

“Y/n.” Aerith frowned stepping closer to you, she wished you had more confidence, she thought you were beautiful and just as strong at using magic.

“Why not?”

Now that was a surprise, you didn’t think the man would agree so quickly. “Sure, next time an audition comes around I’ll put your name in the hat.” and their it was.

“You can’t...this has to be the one.” You protested. “Please can’t you do something?”

Eyeing Aerith, Sam then shook his head as he turned his attention back to you. “No can do sweetheart..I already recommended Tifa in the running and she’s got this in the bag.”

“How do you know he’ll pick Tifa? he could pick me?”

“Damn you really want in don't ya?”

Giving him a smile Aerith nodded her head. “Sure do.”

Giving her a smirk he played with the coin in his hand. “Then how about we play for it.” Flipping the coin he then caught it in the air. “Call it, Missy. Heads or Tails? Guess right, and I’ll grant you your wish. Guess wrong and you’ll leave me in peace.”

“Heads.”

“Tails. You lose.”

‘You lost...that couldn’t be right...you came to far to lose.’That was the thought running through your mind.

“Hey, Don’t look so glum.You’re a pretty enough gal, just...not quite Corneo’s cup of tea.”Sam nodded towards Aerith. “But if only the Don will do, try convincing on of the other two...that’s why it’s a Trio and not just the me-oh. Now Skedaddle” He then started to walk off though it was Cloud that stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait...Mind if I see that coin of yours?”

Giving him a smirk Sam tossed him the coin as Cloud inspected it. “Trick coin...I had a hunch.”

Gasping, your eyes went wide as Aerith continued to flip it over. “You bastard!...you’re a cheat!. You must be mistaken! Because my mother would never work for a conman like you! My mother was kind! she helped anyone like you! You’re delusional and have to have me mistaken for somebody else!” You screamed at him as Cloud grasped your arm, the man could sense something powerful emerging from you.

Panting you were shocked when the man started to laugh, shaking his head Sam walked down the steps as he pointed to you. “I like you, I’m sure you got a great left hook like her too.” Grasping his chin he then titled his head to the side. “How about this...I’ll get you...only you into the audition...though you can’t go and speak to anyone else...and nobody can know about this...so...do we have a deal?” He held out his hand to you.

Biting your lip you then looked up at the man with determination in your eyes. “Deal..but you’re going to tell me about my mother.” Grabbing his hand, you glanced back at Cloud. His protest falling on deaf ears. “I’m sorry...I have to do this..I’ll see you two soon...We’ll meet at the bridge in two hours.”

Aerith sighed as she watched her friend retreat into the shop, turning to Cloud she placed her hand on his shoulder. The man’s gaze now watching the closed door.

“Come on Cloud...let’s go try the other two...I still gotta chance. Besides y/n can handle herself.”

“Hn.”

Once you stepped into Sam’s well you didn’t know what to call it, your eyes quickly fell to the photo on the wall. Feeling your eyes started to water you noticed your mother immediately.

She was smiling that the camera, a cowboy hat on her head. A pair of boots, skirt and a shirt tied off at her stomach. She looked so young, so happy, shaking your head you then turned to face the man who was now leaning up against a counter top.

“Now that I’m here...talk.”

The Carbuncle jumping off your shoulder as it watched Sam closely.

“Well darlin...this is along tail so you might wanna sit down.”

#Final Fantasy #final fantasy vii #Final Fantasy 7 #final fantasy 7 remake #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy cloud #cloud strife #cloud strife x reader #final fantasy cloud strife #one shots #one shot #mini series #aerith gainsborough #aerith x tifa #kitsamii #ayamenimthiriel #courageouslystupid

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