Butterfly Effect: Chapter 7
Mar. 6th, 2006 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bard_linnAuthors: Bard Linn and Kiraya
Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: None, at the moment.
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: “What in Gaea’s name would he want with Cloud?”
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 7
Cloud Strife was having a bad morning.
Actually, it really wasn’t that bad, in retrospect. The mess hall had served pancakes for breakfast, and they had been damn good pancakes, too — light and golden and fluffy, not burnt or soggy (or worse, both; it had happened once before, though how was still a mystery).
On the other hand, the resulting long line as people had finagled seconds and even thirds from the blank-faced, uncaring servers had forced Cloud to eat his breakfast rather later than usual, and now he only had about three minutes to make his way to the other side of the compound… or he’d be late for monthly inspection.
And so Cloud ran, dodging regulars and SOLDIERs alike, ignoring angry shouts behind him to be careful, to slow down and watch where he was going. He sped up a little as he neared his destination; just around this corner and a little down the—
WHAM.
Cloud staggered back from the collision, ears ringing from the force of it. Shaking his head a little, he started to apologize, looking up at the person he’d run into.
Tall. Imposing. Black leather. Long silver hair. Eyes a piercing green the colour of purest Mako…
His mouth went dry as he stared, wide-eyed, at the man he’d admired since childhood. Oh shit oh shit oh shit…
The great General Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. “Running in the halls is not permitted, Cadet—” eyes flickered to his nameplate “—Strife. See that it doesn’t happen again.” The General’s voice was rich and deep and as cool as his gaze, and the mildly disapproving note in it made Cloud want to crawl into a corner and die of shame.
The blond swallowed hard, started to bow — no no no, SALUTE, you idiot! — hastily corrected himself, and stammered, “Y-yes sir, General. S-sir.” Had his voice just squeaked? Oh, by the Planet…
The eyes of ShinRa’s top SOLDIER slid away from him, and as the General continued on his way Cloud let himself sag a little in bone-deep relief… until he remembered he was still running late for inspection.
As quickly as possible, he walked down to his squad’s room, glad that the timely arrival of their commanding officer allowed him to avoid Scott and Paul’s questions of his whereabouts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
General Sephiroth was hardly what most sane, sober individuals would call a compassionate person. On the other hand, he was by no means a sadist either; he generally didn’t enjoy causing individual pain. In spite of that, though, he found himself almost amused by the look of utter shock and horror on the face of the cadet who had crashed into him while he had been walking the barracks on spot inspection earlier this morning. The memory was a fine distraction from the paperwork in front of him at the moment.
“Hey, Seph… what are you thinking about?” Zack asked his superior as he carried yet another stack of papers into the room. He glanced at the documents on the General’s desk. “Oh, the bills from the last exam. Still can’t believe Finance bounced those on us…”
“I had an encounter with a cadet this morning.”
“Oh really?” Zack raised an eyebrow. While not immediately obvious to the casual observer, it was apparent that Sephiroth was slightly amused; this in itself was a situation unusual enough to be noteworthy.
“He was running in the hallways.”
The younger SOLDIER paused for a moment before breaking out into laughter. “He ran into you? Priceless. Anyone I know, hmm?”
Sephiroth mentally rolled his eyes. Zack had a teasing streak a mile wide; then again, if it would focus his aide’s attention on someone else… “A SOLDIER Cadet. Strife.” It was a good thing he had an excellent memory for names.
“Strife, Strife… I know I know it from somewhere, but I can’t figure out… Wait, kid on the shorter side, bright blue eyes, resembles a chocobo?”
“Relative of yours?” Sephiroth asked dryly, mildly surprised Zack had recognized the name. Despite his highly social nature, his aide was really too busy to be involved much with ShinRa employees other than the SOLDIER Firsts and Seconds, and others who worked with Sephiroth directly.
“I do not look like a chocobo!” Zack shot Sephiroth a glare; the pale-haired man merely raised an eyebrow at the dark, untidy mass of spikes crowning the other’s head. “No, I ran into him a couple weeks ago, did a little detective work, pulled his file. He seems like an interesting kid. Been wanting an excuse to talk to him, but haven’t really had the time.”
Sephiroth recognized the look on his friend’s face; it was the same one a predator wore when he had discovered new prey. “Finish your work first, Zachary.”
“Why, Seph!” Zack put on an affronted air. “You know I always finish my work first. You’d never let me hear the end of it if I didn’t. I’ll just drop by the training center later today; he’ll probably be there.” He paused. “And don’t call me Zachary.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After over slightly a month and a half in the SOLDIER candidate program, Cloud had to admit he wasn’t very impressed. The program was very physically demanding; he spent many hours each day working at the various exercises the instructors drilled into the cadets. It wasn’t, however, nearly as mentally exhausting as his training with Vincent had been. They had very few classes on tactics, none at all on how to supply and organize a military group, and materia? Well, that was only referenced as something they’d learn about once they made it into SOLDIER. Personally, Cloud found these deficits disturbing. His mentor had always insisted that mental development was just as important — if not more so — than physical development. The youth sincerely hoped he wasn’t “getting out of shape” mentally, because he’d never be able to keep up with Vincent if he were.
He just hoped his mentor never found out about what happened this morning. He’d never hear the end of it… not only because Vincent didn’t approve of his obsession with Sephiroth at all, but also because of his carelessness. If the ex-Turk found out his student had run into the General because he hadn’t been paying attention…
Cloud shuddered.
The fourteen-year-old was walking through the training center’s main gym when he spied an empty room off to the side. It was small, too small for many SOLDIERS to comfortably practice in, as their styles generally involved moving over a great deal of ground in a short time or wielding a large weapon, sometimes both. Most of the other cadets disliked using it because it lacked windows and generally invoked strong feelings of claustrophobia. The Turks obviously did not use it; when they weren’t out in the field, they practiced in their own facilities elsewhere in the complex. It was better that way, really; the Turks made a lot of people nervous.
Cloud, though, was rather fond of the little room. It reminded him of some of the underground chambers in the Shinra Mansion where he used to practice with Vincent. And since people generally stayed away from it, it was the perfect place for Cloud to practice more of the skills that Vincent had taught him, skills that he didn’t “officially” know yet.
The youth began to go through his kata, trying to find his center and focus, but met with limited success. His thoughts kept sliding back to the events of this morning, and his face quickly began to burn. He had been so stupid, getting caught by the General, of all people! Not at all the way he wanted to make an impression on Sephiroth. “With my luck, he’ll always remember me as that idiot cadet who ran into him in the hallway. Ifrit’s hellfires, it’ll become a warning. ‘Don’t run in the halls, or you’ll end up like Cloud Strife…’” He sighed and gave up. He couldn’t concentrate enough to do his exercises properly… a shame, really, because this was one of best times for him to practice. He decided to go out and do some laps or something. Maybe if he did something that didn’t require such concentration, he could accomplish some sort of training today…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zack was in no real hurry as he made his way to the training center, stopping to exchange words with a few of his drinking buddies, flirting a little with some of the more attractive specialists. He loved the people he worked with, loved how they came in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life, loved talking and sparring and laughing and simply being with them.
For some reason, though, he had always been particularly drawn to the reclusive ones; they were always so very intriguing behind their standoffishness. He often selflessly took it upon himself to show people like that the positives of social interaction… and so it was that Sephiroth had been his big project for nearly three years now. Things weren't going as well as Zack could have hoped, but at least they’d made some progress. The General still couldn’t have a casual conversation with most people to save his life, but with Zack he’d opened up fully, demonstrating a wonderfully dry and sarcastic sense of humor.
Sephiroth expressed mild irritation at most of his friend’s attempts to further socialize him, though whenever Zack let up he’d often become withdrawn again, forcing his aide to approach his task with renewed vigor. It was a pretty strange sort of relationship they had, but even so, Zack wouldn’t give up the General for all the gil in the world.
Finally arriving at his destination, the First Class casually meandered around the central gym, continuing to chat up his fellow soldiers. No one could give him much on his target’s whereabouts, though, until he described the kid to a startled pair of cadets.
“Oh, you mean Cloud, sir?” one of them asked. “I thought I saw him in here earlier…”
“I’m pretty sure he went out to the track a little while ago,” his sparring partner said thoughtfully. “He seemed a bit distracted, though…”
Zack thanked them and turned to leave, catching the cadets’ whispers only because of his enhanced hearing.
“What in Gaea’s name would he want with Cloud?”
“Beats me, but… well, better him than the Turks or something, right?”
“I dunno… D’you think something could’ve happened this morning that might get him in trouble?”
“What, though? He passed inspection just fine…”
Closing the outside door behind him cut off what the SOLDIER could hear of their conversation, and it quickly left his mind as he looked out over the track, pursing his lips. Despite the shelter the surrounding buildings provided from the January wind, it was still bitterly cold here, and the promise of snow was strong in the air even under the Mako reek of the city. The blond he’d been searching for was the only one crazy enough to be out here in this weather, jogging along in nothing more than the usual cadet uniform. The poor kid had to be freezing.
Shaking his head, Zack made his way down to the track, casually stretching before setting off himself, as if he were just another trooper out for a run. His pace was easy for a SOLDIER, but just sufficient to catch him up with the slower cadet.
He was quite looking forward to this.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud loved to run. It was one of the few times he allowed himself to relax, one of the few times he lost what Vincent often referred to as his “tunnel vision.” Running allowed him to enter a sort of meditative state in which he was unconsciously aware of everything about him.
A shame he couldn’t manage to do it voluntarily in everyday situations.
He had noticed the figure approaching from behind him, and had promptly dismissed it. The presence wasn’t hostile, though he briefly wondered why someone else would be out in this weather. Though it didn’t bother Cloud, having grown up in a place where these conditions were pretty mild for January, it still wasn’t really pleasant. He had counted on that, though; he had come out here partially for solitude, after all.
His fellow runner had caught up to him and matched his pace, and so the pair of them continued on for a time in silence. Cloud actually liked it a great deal. It reminded him, just a little, of his time with Vincent. The blond wasn’t much of a people person, but at the same time he liked to have company. Maybe he just was a little selective about who he interacted with? He seemed to prefer silent communication to true discussion…
“You’re pretty good, kid. Get lots of practice inside?”
Cloud nearly froze at the voice. It was clearer than it had been when he had last heard it, lightly slurred with the influence of alcohol, but still the same faintly teasing tone. His head snapped around to look at the figure running beside him. Yes, it was the same SOLDIER First Class he had seen a few weeks ago. There was no way he could be anyone else, not with that distinctive hair.
The cadet didn’t see the irony of this thought.
“Sir?” Cloud asked, unsure of what else to say.
“I’d think you’d have difficulties running inside, though. All sorts of obstacles.”
Oh PLEASE no.
“Things, people… superior officers?”
Cloud silently cursed, feeling his face flush bright red. How in the world had the First Class found out about his run-in — literally — with the General? And if he knew about it, what were the chances the whole compound had found out already? He grimaced at the thought. Now he’d really never live it down... Maybe he should just go back to the barracks and spend the rest of the day hiding someplace where he could die of shame in peace.
They jogged on in silence for a while, breath steaming in the icy air. Cloud was grateful that the SOLDIER had decided not to tease him further, but really wished he’d just leave; the man’s continued presence was making him more than a little nervous now.
“Aren’t you cold?”
The unexpected question startled Cloud, whose steps faltered for an instant. He shook his head as he resumed his stride. “Aren’t you, sir?” he countered.
The First Class shrugged. “Mako treatments,” he said deprecatingly. “Still feel a little bit of the chill, though… and damned if it doesn’t make me miss home. Middle of the summer down there, now… and humid like you wouldn’t believe. Dear, damp old Gongaga.” He snorted. “Can’t say I miss that… or the bugs. If they don’t bite, they’re loud enough to keep a guy awake all night…” He looked sidelong at Cloud. “Where’re you from?”
”Me, sir? I’m just a mountain boy,” the blond replied evasively. He slowed to a stop as they completed the lap, beginning his cooldown stretches. His dark-haired companion followed suit, much to his annoyance.
“‘Just a mountain boy’?” the SOLDIER echoed. “Which mountains — Corel? Fort Condor? Nibelheim? Icicle Inn?” He squinted thoughtfully. “Certainly can’t be Wutai…” he commented, that teasing tone creeping back into his voice.
Cloud bit back a sigh. “Nibelheim, sir.” He straightened, saluting. “If you’d excuse me, sir, I have to head back to my room now.”
The other man flashed him a bright grin. “No problem. Mind if I accompany you?”
It wasn’t an order, but looking at him, physically imposing even with his casual manner, Cloud knew he really couldn’t refuse. He didn’t want to cause a stir, and a cadet walking around with a First Class would definitely attract attention, but… well, just looking at the friendly, guileless expression on the man’s open and honest face made the thought of saying no seem absolutely absurd.
So he accepted the SOLDIER’s proposal, walking with him back to the barracks. It wasn’t long, however, before the blond began to regret it. The First Class was quite a chatterbox, with a disarming smile and an easy manner that led Cloud to reveal far more about himself than he’d really wanted to. Not only that, but they drew just as much attention from those milling about the compound as the cadet had feared they would.
It seemed like it took forever for them to finally arrive at Cloud’s room. The SOLDIER graciously held the door for him, then grinned at Scott and Paul, who had shocked looks on their faces.
“Oh, hey! Thanks for your help earlier, ah…”
“Coyle, sir,” Scott replied, jumping to his feet.
“Moser, sir.” Paul elbowed his friend sharply in the side, and they both saluted.
The First Class nodded enthusiastically. “Pleased to meet you. Well, then… I’ll see you around, okay, Cloud?” He gave a jaunty wave. “Later!”
There was a long pause as the door clicked shut behind the SOLDIER. Cloud blinked, then shook his head. He hadn’t even learned the man’s name…
”Whoever that was,” he declared, stripping off his sweaty shirt, “he’s got to be batshit insane.”
Silence greeted this pronouncement, and Cloud turned to find Scott and Paul gaping at him as if he’d grown a second head. “What?”
“…You really don’t know who he is?” Paul asked disbelievingly.
“He conveniently forgot to mention his name,” Cloud commented tartly, kicking off his boots.
“Cloud… that wasn’t just any First Class.” Scott cleared his throat. “He’s Sergeant Zachary Sinclair, and he serves as aide to the General himself.”
“Oh.” Sergeant Zachary Sinclair, aide to... “Oh, no.” The sergeant must’ve learned about the Incident this morning from the General himself, which meant… General Sephiroth probably would always remember Cloud as that idiot cadet who ran into him in the hallway. Definitely, definitely not the first impression he’d wanted to make.
“Dammit!”
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Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: None, at the moment.
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: “What in Gaea’s name would he want with Cloud?”
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 7
Cloud Strife was having a bad morning.
Actually, it really wasn’t that bad, in retrospect. The mess hall had served pancakes for breakfast, and they had been damn good pancakes, too — light and golden and fluffy, not burnt or soggy (or worse, both; it had happened once before, though how was still a mystery).
On the other hand, the resulting long line as people had finagled seconds and even thirds from the blank-faced, uncaring servers had forced Cloud to eat his breakfast rather later than usual, and now he only had about three minutes to make his way to the other side of the compound… or he’d be late for monthly inspection.
And so Cloud ran, dodging regulars and SOLDIERs alike, ignoring angry shouts behind him to be careful, to slow down and watch where he was going. He sped up a little as he neared his destination; just around this corner and a little down the—
WHAM.
Cloud staggered back from the collision, ears ringing from the force of it. Shaking his head a little, he started to apologize, looking up at the person he’d run into.
Tall. Imposing. Black leather. Long silver hair. Eyes a piercing green the colour of purest Mako…
His mouth went dry as he stared, wide-eyed, at the man he’d admired since childhood. Oh shit oh shit oh shit…
The great General Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. “Running in the halls is not permitted, Cadet—” eyes flickered to his nameplate “—Strife. See that it doesn’t happen again.” The General’s voice was rich and deep and as cool as his gaze, and the mildly disapproving note in it made Cloud want to crawl into a corner and die of shame.
The blond swallowed hard, started to bow — no no no, SALUTE, you idiot! — hastily corrected himself, and stammered, “Y-yes sir, General. S-sir.” Had his voice just squeaked? Oh, by the Planet…
The eyes of ShinRa’s top SOLDIER slid away from him, and as the General continued on his way Cloud let himself sag a little in bone-deep relief… until he remembered he was still running late for inspection.
As quickly as possible, he walked down to his squad’s room, glad that the timely arrival of their commanding officer allowed him to avoid Scott and Paul’s questions of his whereabouts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
General Sephiroth was hardly what most sane, sober individuals would call a compassionate person. On the other hand, he was by no means a sadist either; he generally didn’t enjoy causing individual pain. In spite of that, though, he found himself almost amused by the look of utter shock and horror on the face of the cadet who had crashed into him while he had been walking the barracks on spot inspection earlier this morning. The memory was a fine distraction from the paperwork in front of him at the moment.
“Hey, Seph… what are you thinking about?” Zack asked his superior as he carried yet another stack of papers into the room. He glanced at the documents on the General’s desk. “Oh, the bills from the last exam. Still can’t believe Finance bounced those on us…”
“I had an encounter with a cadet this morning.”
“Oh really?” Zack raised an eyebrow. While not immediately obvious to the casual observer, it was apparent that Sephiroth was slightly amused; this in itself was a situation unusual enough to be noteworthy.
“He was running in the hallways.”
The younger SOLDIER paused for a moment before breaking out into laughter. “He ran into you? Priceless. Anyone I know, hmm?”
Sephiroth mentally rolled his eyes. Zack had a teasing streak a mile wide; then again, if it would focus his aide’s attention on someone else… “A SOLDIER Cadet. Strife.” It was a good thing he had an excellent memory for names.
“Strife, Strife… I know I know it from somewhere, but I can’t figure out… Wait, kid on the shorter side, bright blue eyes, resembles a chocobo?”
“Relative of yours?” Sephiroth asked dryly, mildly surprised Zack had recognized the name. Despite his highly social nature, his aide was really too busy to be involved much with ShinRa employees other than the SOLDIER Firsts and Seconds, and others who worked with Sephiroth directly.
“I do not look like a chocobo!” Zack shot Sephiroth a glare; the pale-haired man merely raised an eyebrow at the dark, untidy mass of spikes crowning the other’s head. “No, I ran into him a couple weeks ago, did a little detective work, pulled his file. He seems like an interesting kid. Been wanting an excuse to talk to him, but haven’t really had the time.”
Sephiroth recognized the look on his friend’s face; it was the same one a predator wore when he had discovered new prey. “Finish your work first, Zachary.”
“Why, Seph!” Zack put on an affronted air. “You know I always finish my work first. You’d never let me hear the end of it if I didn’t. I’ll just drop by the training center later today; he’ll probably be there.” He paused. “And don’t call me Zachary.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After over slightly a month and a half in the SOLDIER candidate program, Cloud had to admit he wasn’t very impressed. The program was very physically demanding; he spent many hours each day working at the various exercises the instructors drilled into the cadets. It wasn’t, however, nearly as mentally exhausting as his training with Vincent had been. They had very few classes on tactics, none at all on how to supply and organize a military group, and materia? Well, that was only referenced as something they’d learn about once they made it into SOLDIER. Personally, Cloud found these deficits disturbing. His mentor had always insisted that mental development was just as important — if not more so — than physical development. The youth sincerely hoped he wasn’t “getting out of shape” mentally, because he’d never be able to keep up with Vincent if he were.
He just hoped his mentor never found out about what happened this morning. He’d never hear the end of it… not only because Vincent didn’t approve of his obsession with Sephiroth at all, but also because of his carelessness. If the ex-Turk found out his student had run into the General because he hadn’t been paying attention…
Cloud shuddered.
The fourteen-year-old was walking through the training center’s main gym when he spied an empty room off to the side. It was small, too small for many SOLDIERS to comfortably practice in, as their styles generally involved moving over a great deal of ground in a short time or wielding a large weapon, sometimes both. Most of the other cadets disliked using it because it lacked windows and generally invoked strong feelings of claustrophobia. The Turks obviously did not use it; when they weren’t out in the field, they practiced in their own facilities elsewhere in the complex. It was better that way, really; the Turks made a lot of people nervous.
Cloud, though, was rather fond of the little room. It reminded him of some of the underground chambers in the Shinra Mansion where he used to practice with Vincent. And since people generally stayed away from it, it was the perfect place for Cloud to practice more of the skills that Vincent had taught him, skills that he didn’t “officially” know yet.
The youth began to go through his kata, trying to find his center and focus, but met with limited success. His thoughts kept sliding back to the events of this morning, and his face quickly began to burn. He had been so stupid, getting caught by the General, of all people! Not at all the way he wanted to make an impression on Sephiroth. “With my luck, he’ll always remember me as that idiot cadet who ran into him in the hallway. Ifrit’s hellfires, it’ll become a warning. ‘Don’t run in the halls, or you’ll end up like Cloud Strife…’” He sighed and gave up. He couldn’t concentrate enough to do his exercises properly… a shame, really, because this was one of best times for him to practice. He decided to go out and do some laps or something. Maybe if he did something that didn’t require such concentration, he could accomplish some sort of training today…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zack was in no real hurry as he made his way to the training center, stopping to exchange words with a few of his drinking buddies, flirting a little with some of the more attractive specialists. He loved the people he worked with, loved how they came in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life, loved talking and sparring and laughing and simply being with them.
For some reason, though, he had always been particularly drawn to the reclusive ones; they were always so very intriguing behind their standoffishness. He often selflessly took it upon himself to show people like that the positives of social interaction… and so it was that Sephiroth had been his big project for nearly three years now. Things weren't going as well as Zack could have hoped, but at least they’d made some progress. The General still couldn’t have a casual conversation with most people to save his life, but with Zack he’d opened up fully, demonstrating a wonderfully dry and sarcastic sense of humor.
Sephiroth expressed mild irritation at most of his friend’s attempts to further socialize him, though whenever Zack let up he’d often become withdrawn again, forcing his aide to approach his task with renewed vigor. It was a pretty strange sort of relationship they had, but even so, Zack wouldn’t give up the General for all the gil in the world.
Finally arriving at his destination, the First Class casually meandered around the central gym, continuing to chat up his fellow soldiers. No one could give him much on his target’s whereabouts, though, until he described the kid to a startled pair of cadets.
“Oh, you mean Cloud, sir?” one of them asked. “I thought I saw him in here earlier…”
“I’m pretty sure he went out to the track a little while ago,” his sparring partner said thoughtfully. “He seemed a bit distracted, though…”
Zack thanked them and turned to leave, catching the cadets’ whispers only because of his enhanced hearing.
“What in Gaea’s name would he want with Cloud?”
“Beats me, but… well, better him than the Turks or something, right?”
“I dunno… D’you think something could’ve happened this morning that might get him in trouble?”
“What, though? He passed inspection just fine…”
Closing the outside door behind him cut off what the SOLDIER could hear of their conversation, and it quickly left his mind as he looked out over the track, pursing his lips. Despite the shelter the surrounding buildings provided from the January wind, it was still bitterly cold here, and the promise of snow was strong in the air even under the Mako reek of the city. The blond he’d been searching for was the only one crazy enough to be out here in this weather, jogging along in nothing more than the usual cadet uniform. The poor kid had to be freezing.
Shaking his head, Zack made his way down to the track, casually stretching before setting off himself, as if he were just another trooper out for a run. His pace was easy for a SOLDIER, but just sufficient to catch him up with the slower cadet.
He was quite looking forward to this.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud loved to run. It was one of the few times he allowed himself to relax, one of the few times he lost what Vincent often referred to as his “tunnel vision.” Running allowed him to enter a sort of meditative state in which he was unconsciously aware of everything about him.
A shame he couldn’t manage to do it voluntarily in everyday situations.
He had noticed the figure approaching from behind him, and had promptly dismissed it. The presence wasn’t hostile, though he briefly wondered why someone else would be out in this weather. Though it didn’t bother Cloud, having grown up in a place where these conditions were pretty mild for January, it still wasn’t really pleasant. He had counted on that, though; he had come out here partially for solitude, after all.
His fellow runner had caught up to him and matched his pace, and so the pair of them continued on for a time in silence. Cloud actually liked it a great deal. It reminded him, just a little, of his time with Vincent. The blond wasn’t much of a people person, but at the same time he liked to have company. Maybe he just was a little selective about who he interacted with? He seemed to prefer silent communication to true discussion…
“You’re pretty good, kid. Get lots of practice inside?”
Cloud nearly froze at the voice. It was clearer than it had been when he had last heard it, lightly slurred with the influence of alcohol, but still the same faintly teasing tone. His head snapped around to look at the figure running beside him. Yes, it was the same SOLDIER First Class he had seen a few weeks ago. There was no way he could be anyone else, not with that distinctive hair.
The cadet didn’t see the irony of this thought.
“Sir?” Cloud asked, unsure of what else to say.
“I’d think you’d have difficulties running inside, though. All sorts of obstacles.”
Oh PLEASE no.
“Things, people… superior officers?”
Cloud silently cursed, feeling his face flush bright red. How in the world had the First Class found out about his run-in — literally — with the General? And if he knew about it, what were the chances the whole compound had found out already? He grimaced at the thought. Now he’d really never live it down... Maybe he should just go back to the barracks and spend the rest of the day hiding someplace where he could die of shame in peace.
They jogged on in silence for a while, breath steaming in the icy air. Cloud was grateful that the SOLDIER had decided not to tease him further, but really wished he’d just leave; the man’s continued presence was making him more than a little nervous now.
“Aren’t you cold?”
The unexpected question startled Cloud, whose steps faltered for an instant. He shook his head as he resumed his stride. “Aren’t you, sir?” he countered.
The First Class shrugged. “Mako treatments,” he said deprecatingly. “Still feel a little bit of the chill, though… and damned if it doesn’t make me miss home. Middle of the summer down there, now… and humid like you wouldn’t believe. Dear, damp old Gongaga.” He snorted. “Can’t say I miss that… or the bugs. If they don’t bite, they’re loud enough to keep a guy awake all night…” He looked sidelong at Cloud. “Where’re you from?”
”Me, sir? I’m just a mountain boy,” the blond replied evasively. He slowed to a stop as they completed the lap, beginning his cooldown stretches. His dark-haired companion followed suit, much to his annoyance.
“‘Just a mountain boy’?” the SOLDIER echoed. “Which mountains — Corel? Fort Condor? Nibelheim? Icicle Inn?” He squinted thoughtfully. “Certainly can’t be Wutai…” he commented, that teasing tone creeping back into his voice.
Cloud bit back a sigh. “Nibelheim, sir.” He straightened, saluting. “If you’d excuse me, sir, I have to head back to my room now.”
The other man flashed him a bright grin. “No problem. Mind if I accompany you?”
It wasn’t an order, but looking at him, physically imposing even with his casual manner, Cloud knew he really couldn’t refuse. He didn’t want to cause a stir, and a cadet walking around with a First Class would definitely attract attention, but… well, just looking at the friendly, guileless expression on the man’s open and honest face made the thought of saying no seem absolutely absurd.
So he accepted the SOLDIER’s proposal, walking with him back to the barracks. It wasn’t long, however, before the blond began to regret it. The First Class was quite a chatterbox, with a disarming smile and an easy manner that led Cloud to reveal far more about himself than he’d really wanted to. Not only that, but they drew just as much attention from those milling about the compound as the cadet had feared they would.
It seemed like it took forever for them to finally arrive at Cloud’s room. The SOLDIER graciously held the door for him, then grinned at Scott and Paul, who had shocked looks on their faces.
“Oh, hey! Thanks for your help earlier, ah…”
“Coyle, sir,” Scott replied, jumping to his feet.
“Moser, sir.” Paul elbowed his friend sharply in the side, and they both saluted.
The First Class nodded enthusiastically. “Pleased to meet you. Well, then… I’ll see you around, okay, Cloud?” He gave a jaunty wave. “Later!”
There was a long pause as the door clicked shut behind the SOLDIER. Cloud blinked, then shook his head. He hadn’t even learned the man’s name…
”Whoever that was,” he declared, stripping off his sweaty shirt, “he’s got to be batshit insane.”
Silence greeted this pronouncement, and Cloud turned to find Scott and Paul gaping at him as if he’d grown a second head. “What?”
“…You really don’t know who he is?” Paul asked disbelievingly.
“He conveniently forgot to mention his name,” Cloud commented tartly, kicking off his boots.
“Cloud… that wasn’t just any First Class.” Scott cleared his throat. “He’s Sergeant Zachary Sinclair, and he serves as aide to the General himself.”
“Oh.” Sergeant Zachary Sinclair, aide to... “Oh, no.” The sergeant must’ve learned about the Incident this morning from the General himself, which meant… General Sephiroth probably would always remember Cloud as that idiot cadet who ran into him in the hallway. Definitely, definitely not the first impression he’d wanted to make.
“Dammit!”
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