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modeoheim · 8 years ago

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a small detour

strifesodos week 2017 day 3 - cross-dressing Cloud and Genesis discover some lingerie in their friends’ closet, and like the little shits they are decide to mess with it.

They visited Sephiroth and Angeal’s apartment in the first place because Angeal kept gifts from the Keepers in his hall closet and Genesis needed a new juicer. They stayed because both Genesis and Cloud were horribly nosy and gaining unrestricted access to this apartment did not happen all that often.

Cloud peeked in the fridge and had a nibble of Angeal’s leftovers. Genesis tsked at the overflowing laundry bin and made a note to rag on his two best friends about it later. They checked to see which movie was paused in the disc player and whether Angeal’s beloved camera sat on its charger properly.

And then, in the bedroom closet, Genesis found a lacy, see-through lingerie set, complete with delicate panties. “Cloud!” he yelled, and Cloud hurried into the room. Genesis held the dainty clothes up, his eyes full of alarm.

“I cannot believe,” he said, “those two have been dating for four years and never told me that they’re into this.”

Cloud could have laughed at the genuine outrage Genesis seemed to be feeling. Did he really think he deserved to know every detail of his friends’ sex lives? Instead of grinning, though, Cloud eyed the way Genesis leant the clothing against himself, probably trying to imagine Angeal or Sephiroth in it. He said, “You should try it on.”

Genesis raised an eyebrow at him. Cloud kept his expression neutral, and after a moment Genesis frowned in thought.

The top was in the… babydoll style, Cloud was pretty sure. Thin straps. Kind of looked like a camisole, except the top was loose, flowy, and partially see-through. It was a wine color too—they couldn’t even guess who it belonged to that way either. Angeal loved blue and Sephiroth grey.

Sephiroth had broader shoulders and Angeal was wide and muscled all around. Just looking at it… it was too hard to tell whose it was.

Genesis was smaller than both of them but still a tall, muscled man; it would fit him okay, and for a variety of complicated reasons Cloud did not like to wear clothes that society deemed ‘feminine.’

Laying the fabric against his chest again Genesis breathed, “We are awful.”

He pulled his sweater up and over his head, tossing it onto the bed nearby. It was big and plush and Cloud had never gone near it before. Cloud ran his hands up Genesis’ abs and over his pectorals, failing to hide his smile now. “I wonder if they have a bunch of these.”

“We’ll have to check.” Genesis put it on, first one arm, then the other, and lastly his head. When it was on he looked a bit silly with it and his black designer jeans, but it was still a pretty sight. Cloud rubbed his thumb against one of Genesis’ nipples, visible through the screen of fabric. Now he could see that there was the occasionally tiny embroidered flower on the top in the same pinot noir color. “It’s pretty on you,” Cloud said. “What about the bottoms?”

The look Genesis sent him. He flipped the panties around so the thong side faced Cloud. “I’m not touching something that’s been between their asscheeks.”

Cloud bit back a giggle. “Let me see it.” He inspected the panties for a long moment. “There’s no shit stains or anything.”

“Cloud Strife!” Genesis thwapped him.

“C’monnn.”

“Fine. We’re taking this to our graves.” Genesis dropped his pants and briefs and then slid them up his legs. He didn’t even stop to sexily skim them up or pose—Cloud thought Genesis was feeling rather shy. He was even rambling: “No, I know better. You’re going to tell Zack about this the moment we get out of here.”

True. Cloud even had the text planned in his head. “You’re really worked up, aren’t you,” he said, a grin slowly growing. “About finding their clothes and putting them on.”

Cloud could feel it too. He had a crush a mile wide on Sephiroth, always had, and Angeal was like, the perfect man. It had to be different for Genesis though… getting up to no good in his best friends’ bedroom, rooting through their stuff…

Cloud walked forward until he was flush with Genesis, his silk-covered cock pressed against Cloud’s lower belly. Red was Genesis’ color—everyone knew that. “You’re hot,” Cloud said, and meant it. The thin straps exposed Genesis’ freckled shoulders. The blond reached up to touch them and then coasted his hands down the older man’s arms, squeezing gently at his forearms before taking his hands.

“Here’s what we do,” Genesis said slowly. “I fuck you in their bed and we run home and bask in what horrible people we are. Possibly over drinks.”

“Done.”

With that Genesis walked backwards until he hit the bed, then moved backwards up it. Cloud crawled up on his hands and knees, stopping to laugh when Genesis rolled onto his stomach, presenting his ass and looking coyly over his shoulder.

“Angeal,” he said in a deep voice, his impression of Sephiroth, “I feel so pretty. Want to fuck this pretty ass?”

“Sephiroth doesn’t talk like that,” Cloud gasped.

“No, he doesn’t. I’ve heard them through the walls before.” Genesis moved onto his side, hiking up a leg and exposing everything. “Seph,” he crooned, stroking his imaginary Angeal-scruff, “I’m cold in these little clothes. Warm me up.”

“Did you know my hair acts as a blanket?” Cloud said, using his hands to roll Genesis onto his back. He straddled his hips and pretended to rake his hands through several feet of imaginary hair. “Ask your Daddy to cover you in it.”

“Cover me in it, Daddy,” Genesis said, moving his hand in a jerking off motion.

They both guffawed.

When they settled Cloud was sitting right above Genesis’ dick. It was half-hard; his boyfriend was definitely enjoying being on this bed. (It was a nice bed, too.) Cloud rolled his hips a bit, just to give Genesis a little something before he climbed off to shuck off his pants. He was back quick though, and Genesis stuck a pillow with a long silver hair on it under his head before settling his hands onto Cloud’s hips.

“Take your underwear off,” Genesis ordered. “I want to feel you through the fabric.”

An easy request to follow. Cloud peeled off his boxers, sitting naked from the waist down right above his boyfriend’s cock now. “Ooh,” Cloud huffed as the silk first touched his genitals; it was kind of cold. It warmed up quickly though.

Genesis’ hands played around his waist, tapping his hipbones and occasionally skittering up under Cloud’s t-shirt just enough to feel the bottom edge of Cloud’s binder. It was a nice kind of tickle, and he liked to do it when they had sex.

Gyrating his hips slowly, Cloud worked some life into Genesis’ cock. It didn’t take much work at all for Gen to be fully erect and pointing towards his belly button. The head of his cock poked out the top of the panties… oh, it was cute.

The fabric slid nicely too—Cloud moved all the way up and it moved with him. He sucked on two of his fingers, Genesis’ enraptured gaze hot on his mouth as he did so, and then moved them down to rub his clit, tentatively at first, and then a little firmer. He hummed and arched his back as he slid down again, towards Genesis’ balls, the fabric revealing more inches of Genesis’ erection.

Teasing Genesis was one of Cloud’s favorite things, but they didn’t really have the time for that right now.

“C’mere,” Genesis muttered, and grabbed at Cloud’s knees.

Cloud just hung on, pressing a smile into his shoulder as Genesis manhandled him until he was straddling his face. Genesis’ hot breath puffed against him and Cloud shuddered, then again as his tongue delved between Cloud’s lower lips and flicked towards his clit.

As Genesis’ strong hands dug into the flesh of Cloud’s thighs and he pushed Cloud onto his face more, sucking wetly and messily at Cloud’s most sensitive spots, Cloud thought absently that Genesis might look good with toenail polish. Maybe a good neutral cool brown or something. Not red—he’d never admit it, but he occasionally got sick of red.

“Fuck, Gen,” he muttered as Genesis spat on his fingers and worked a wet digit inside him. He fingered Cloud until he deemed his boyfriend wet enough, then gently spanked his asscheeks. Cloud scrambled away, turning around and sitting on Genesis’ thighs again. He peeled back the panties, hooking them underneath Genesis’s balls.

“I’m beautiful,” Genesis joked, sending him a lazy smile. His lips were all swollen.

“Sure are.” Cloud worked spit up and down the length, went up on his knees and positioned Genesis right at his entrance. Then, on second thought, he slooowly dragged the sensitive head of Genesis’ cock through his damp folds now, making Genesis clench his jaw and squeeze his eyes shut. Heh, Cloud thought, and finally sank down onto him.

The lace of the panties felt kind of…nice, in an itchy sort of way, against Cloud’s skin once he’d taken all of Genesis’ length inside him that he could. Genesis let him adjust, moving his hips in small motions and rubbing his clitoris with his fingers, clenching around Genesis and letting his natural lubricant ease things a bit.

Beneath the screen of the fabric Genesis’ abs flexed as he hesitantly fucked into Cloud, his hands like iron on Cloud’s thighs. Cloud pushed up the flimsy top so he could get his hands on that soft skin. The top was askew now, exposing one of Genesis’ nipples. The messy look was a good one on him.

They didn’t bother with long, deep thrusts like they would if they had lube and more time. They grinded together, Cloud rubbing himself insistently, both working towards orgasm as quickly as possible. Sheesh, they were going to come on Angeal and Sephiroth’s bed.

Genesis seemed to have the same idea. “I’m going to come in you,” he purred, “and make a mess of their bedspread. They’ll smell you on it.”

“That’s gross,” Cloud panted, but in reality it was kinda hot. They’d be mad, but the thought of them finding out Genesis and Cloud had fucked on their bed was undeniably thrilling.

In their clothes, even.

Cloud’s favorite thing about Genesis’ cock was not the length but the girth of it—he loved the stretch in his vagina or his asshole, and it was just too bad Genesis didn’t have two so he could get it at the same time. He moved back and forth in quick, jerky motions, focused on getting it to move around inside him instead of in and out—ah, that was the good stuff.

When Cloud came his fingers fell away and he shuddered hard, curling his back and sucking in breaths through his teeth. Genesis helped him, knowing Cloud liked to be fucked through orgasms—he raised and lowered Cloud all by himself, letting the spasming inner muscles squeeze his cock in the best ways.

After it passed Cloud went back to it, shaking sweaty bangs out of his forehead and gulping in deep breaths as he rode Genesis. He tugged gently at the top and raked his nails over it, letting them tickle Gen through the lace design. Gen grinned at him, his eyes closing as his head dug back into Sephiroth’s pillow.

It was hot and sticky. Cloud let Genesis’ cock slip out of him as it softened and then worked his hips some more, smearing their sticky mess all along its length. The elastic of the panties came loose and got caught up in the cum and slick too. If they weren’t dirty before they definitely were now.

Genesis spread out his arms, going boneless in the bed for a moment. Slowly, his eyes opened and he peered at the ceiling. “…So this is what they see when they’re getting fucked,” he said dryly.

Cloud laughed, climbing off and standing on trembling legs. Genesis posed for him, acting all confident now that they’d done what they’d done, and Cloud whistled. He took off the top as if Cloud had a 5 Gil bill in his hand, and when he was naked again, came in for a kiss.

Genesis hummed against Cloud’s mouth, and when he drew back, he was smiling, his blue-green eyes hazy with affection.

“What do we do with them?”

Cloud eyed the crumpled mess of Angeal and Sephiroth’s lingerie set. He picked them up and stuffed them way deep in the bottom of their laundry basket, grinning when Genesis snorted at him. As he climbed back into his underwear he said, “Now we gotta run.”

They fixed the bed to make it look normal again and left the apartment, holding hands and smiling too close to each other’s faces and chasing those smiles with kisses pressed to lips or cheeks.

“I need a drink,” Genesis sighed as soon as they got into the elevator, sagging against the wall like he’d just finished a long run.

“If they find out do you think they’ll get revenge?”

Genesis considered that. “If it’s in the same vein as the original offense I might not mind it so much.”

Later that night they got a text from Angeal, not mentioning the lingerie thing if he’d noticed it. You forgot the juicer. It’s sitting on my kitchen table.

#strifesodos week 2017 #strifesodos #genesis rhapsodos #cloud strife #FFVII #gencloud #my writing #ang and seph are certainly planning to have sex in Gen's office or something or in Cloud's bunk #angeal's honor would not let a retaliation pass him by....

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strifesodosweek · 4 months ago

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Strifesodos Week 2025 Guidelines

Let's keep things simple!

When is this going to take place?

The first full week of October, so the 6th-13th

What are the rules?

Keep your story focused on the relationship between Cloud and Genesis. Background relationships between them and other characters, like AGSZC or anything else should stay that way, in the background. There are a lot of stories of all the guys together but not as many with just these two so this fan week is important for adding to the ecosystem (and, frankly, enriching our enclosure okay??)

NSFW is totally acceptable, just make sure you tag everything appropriately wherever you choose to post it

When you make a post here on Tumblr put a little @strifesodosweek so that I can make sure you’re shared here for everyone to see! If you post on AO3 please add it to the collection so that everyone can find it there as well!

You must write the fic specifically for the event, using the prompts you get!

Please share this so other people can know its happening to participate!

So where are the prompts??

Well, we’re going to do things a little bit differently this year! Instead of having one specific list of prompts that everyone is assigned each day, I’ve created a whole wheel full of prompts! Some I came up with myself, some I'll be choosing from submissions, and I will smash them all together so that everyone has a much broader range of things to choose from.

I only have a few guidelines I’d like people to adhere to for this, and they are as follows:

Spin the wheel seven times + one do-over if you get one that you really hated or have no idea for

You’re free to do the prompts in the order you were randomly assigned or whichever order you want, I’m not a cop

Since I’m not a cop, I can’t stop you from just choosing what you like from the list instead of spinning, but it would be a lot more fun for everyone involved if you played along the way the system is set up :)

#strifesodos #strifesodos week #cloud strife #final fantasy vii #ffvii #genesis rhapsodos #strifesodos week 2025 #strifesodosweek2025 #cloud x genesis #gencloud #genesis/cloud #ff7 #final fanfasy 7 #fan week #prompt week

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strifesodosweek · 6 months ago

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Prompt Submission form!

Click here to submit some prompt ideas for this years event!

Submissions will be open until June 1st so that I can compile and choose the best ones for the wheel! That's right, if you didn't see the original announcement post, we're doing things a little differently this year! Prompts will go up on the wheel so that people can spin 7 times a write stories based on what they get.

What kind of prompts should you submit?

Just about anything! From an idea for an AU, to a specific word you think would be an interesting addition, to a little bit of a longer idea or phrase.

For example:

Theater

Cast Party

Exit, Stage Left

Fire

Phoenix AU

Phoenix Down Throwdown

Is there anything you can't submit?

Don't choose something from the previous year's list, really that's about it. Feel free to have some smutty prompts, but we're all creative enough to turn just about anything wholesome or filthy, that's why we're writers!

#strifesodos #strifesodos week #ffvii #final fantasy vii #genesis rhapsodos #cloud strife #jenkura #cloud x genesis #strifesodosweek2025 #strifesodos week 2025 #genesis/cloud #gencloud

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kizunatsudoishi · 8 years ago

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Strifesodos Week - Day 1: Reading Cloud snatched Gen's glasses just for the sake of aesthetics X3 Belated day 1. The week overlaps with my first week of the new semester and I was bombarded with more work than I would have liked. But despite all odds, it's finished ;A; Gonna post day 2 soon X3

#Strifesodos #cloud strife #genesis rhapsodos #my drawing #chibi #strifesodos week #strifesodos week 2017 #gencloud

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kizunatsudoishi · 8 years ago

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Strifesodos: Day 2 - Rain Smols smooching under the rain U w U

#Strifesodos #cloud strife #genesis rhapsodos #gencloud #strifesodos week 2017

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lettersofsky · 8 years ago

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Strifesodos Week Masterpost

Masterpost of the fics I wrote for Strifesodos Week 2017, now fully edited by @corrupted-spirit and in a second easily accessible place.

Day One (Reading) - Believe in Me and I Won’t Let You Down

Day Two (Rain) - Everyday By Myself I’m Breaking Down

Day Three (Clothes) - Everything is Perfect By Design

Day Four (Memories) - To These Memories, I Will Hold

Day Five (Late) - Still Shredded and Bruised but I’m Breathing

Day Six (Stars) - Gazing At the Same Bright Stars and I Feel You Here

Day Seven (Soulmate) - Keep Breathing, ‘Cause I’m Not Leaving You Anymore

Hope everyone had an enjoyable week!

#Strifesodos Week 2017 #strifesodos #gencloud #masterpost #master post #Skyee Writes

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lettersofsky · 8 years ago

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Strifesodos Week - Day 7 - Soulmate

Day Seven of Strifesodos Week! Yay! It’s done and I’m going to sleep for a week. I’m so very happy with how this one turned out and no one will take that from me. Also Nickleback Title! Ko-Fi | AO3

Day Seven - Soulmate - Keep Breathing, ‘Cause I’m Not Leaving You Anymore

The sunset was beautiful today.

It painted the sky in an array of pinks, oranges and reds as the sun sunk further from the sky. If Cloud turned then he would see the sky darken form the bright blue of day to the near-blackness of night.

Cloud enjoyed being able to watch the sunset like this.

Even if he didn’t know how he could see the sunset like this. He couldn’t remember meeting the person that made colour bloom in his vision, he didn’t remember meeting his soulmate.

But he was fine with it that way, no matter what some of his friends might say; he didn’t care that he had someone one there just for him out there, or that they hadn’t tried to find him in the past three years. He didn’t need someone to make him a whole person, he was figuring that out just fine on his own.

Most of the other people that matter didn’t care about the fact that he didn’t know who he soulmate was, neither did the kids. The kids just cared that he could see the colours of their drawings.

The sun was nearly gone from the sky when he heard the sound of a large wing beating somewhere behind him. He tensed at the sound, keeping his breathing steady as he determined whether or not it was approaching him.

He gripped the hilt of his blade when he determined it was moving towards him, waiting for whatever it was to approach enough for an attack.

The sound of the beating wing continued to grow in volume as the thing approached him until a weight dropped gracefully, almost silently, behind him. Whatever was behind him must be powerful it the amount of magic bleeding into the air around them was anything to go by.

He remained calm as it approached him, preparing to go the defense if it challenged him. It didn’t attack him though, instead it stopped a few feet behind him.

They remained there for several minutes, Cloud kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, posture poised for action as he waited for the winged being to decide what would happen.

“Hello,” apparently it had decided not to try attacking him. “I was hoping I could speak with you.”

Cloud turned, finally taking in what had landed behind him. It turned out to be a man, taller than Cloud was, with an unkempt, dirty appearance. He had knotted red-hair falling to his lower back and he wore a tattered red-leather jacket, barely held together by black leather straps. His eyes held the telltale mako glow; a steady glow though, meaning this man had been a SOLDIER and not a victim of DeepGround or Hojo’s dubious science.

There was a double-jointed wing folded tightly to his back; black-grey feathers a stark contrast against the rest of the man.

The man was watching him, eyes trained on his face with a hopeful expression, wing twitching behind him. Cloud raised his brow in question at the man, remaining silent as he waited for the SOLDIER to start speaking.

He watched as the man’s expression fell before he shifted until his matted hair shielded his features. “I,” the stranger started, his words coloured by a high-class accent. “I was hoping for refuge…” His words trailed off, tone oddly dejected.

Cloud stared at the winged-male for several minutes, watching as the other tensed more as time passed, wondering why the other had decided to request something like that from him.

Cloud huffed a small breath, standing from where he had been sitting on the hard earth beneath him, observing how the stranger froze completely at his action. He turned a sharp gaze on the man, giving the other one final critical look.

He turned away from the other, walking towards where he had left Fenrir, calling over his shoulder as he went, “we should go now if we want an easy trip back to Edge.” He didn’t turn to see the other’s expression but he knew that he was being followed from the footsteps behind him. “You should tuck that wing of yours away if you can.” He added after a moment, he didn’t want to deal with terrified civilians tonight.

He didn’t hear any sounds from the stranger but the wing was missing from his frame when he next looked at him, a few stray black feathers caught in red hair the only indication that it had been there.

He mounted Fenrir with the ease of long familiarity, securing his riding goggles over his eyes. He turned to the other after a moment of nothing happening, fixing the man with an expectant look until the other got onto the bike behind him. The stranger was cautious about how he positioned himself until Cloud started Fenrir, the movements of the bike caused the stranger to tighten his grip and press closer to Cloud.

Cloud ignored the man’s movements, concentrating on getting back to Edge without issue.

They reached Edge soon enough and Cloud was able to bring the stranger to Seventh Heaven without any issues from anyone they passed. The bar was well into business hours when they arrived so Cloud pulled Fenrir around to park at the back of the establishment.

The stranger removed himself from Fenrir the moment Cloud killed the engine, moving a respectful distance away from him and watching to see what he would do. Cloud flicked his gaze towards him to ensure he knew where the other was before lifting himself from Fenrir, removing his riding goggles from his eyes.

“Wait here,” he told the other, walking towards the back entrance of the bar. “I’ll see if it’s safe to bring you up.” He heard a soft agreement from behind him before he stepped through into the warm atmosphere of the bar.

Tifa’s eyes landed on him quickly, a warm, welcoming smile on her face as she addressed him. “Cloud! I wasn’t expecting you back yet!” She ran her eyes over his form in a familiar gesture, searching for a hint of injury or evidence that he had gotten into a fight. “Everything alright?” She asked, a soft tone of worry entering her voice.

Cloud returned her warm smile with a more subdued one of his own, “I’m fine Tifa.” He answered in a warm voice, “just got something I need to run by you.” He gestured toward the kitchen, indicating that he needed to talk to her privately.

He entered the kitchen after she indicated her understanding, leaning back against one of the counters for her to have enough time to come back and talk with him.

She entered the kitchen a few moments later, fixing him with an inquiring look as she approached him. “What’s going on Cloud?”

He remained silent for a few moments, thinking about how he would explain this to his friend. “Someone found me out on the wastes,” he told her. “He says he needs help.”

She hummed thoughtfully when he finished speaking, placing a finger to her lips as she thought. “How bad off is he?” She asked, eyes focused unseeingly on the counter in front of her eyes.

“Pretty rought. Looks like he hasn’t seen clean water in months.”

“A SOLDIER?”

He scoffed, voice irritated as he replied. “Of course he is.”

She made a distracted nod, falling silent for a few moments. He waited for her decision patiently, listening to the patrons in the next room.

A decisive noise from his Tifa had him fixing his attention back on her. “Your old room’s still empty,” she told him. “You can get him settled in up there, I’m pretty sure you left some things up there he can use until we can get some things that’ll fit him.”

“Alright, I’ll bring him up.”

She left the kitchen before he did, returning to her work with a bright smile. He followed a few moments after, slipping back out of the back door of the bar to where he had left the stranger.

The other man was still out there, leaning against a shadowed part of the wall with a tense posture. He turned to Cloud when he exited the building, watching him with a curious look.

“Come on, up.” He told him, gesturing him forward. “There’s a room for you.”

He saw the stranger hesitate before moving forward, following Cloud awkwardly through the door into the establishment. They kept to the back of the building, avoiding the rest of the people inside as Cloud led him upstairs.

His old room was exactly as he remembered it; plain and ordinary with no personal touches at al. Consisting only of a bed, a chair set before a work desk and a set of drawers. He hadn’t used this room as anything more than a place to rest on occasions, it had been all too easy to abandon it and look for a place of his own.

Tifa hadn’t understood why he wanted to find his own place at first but she realized that it was just something he needed for himself after he had sat both her and Denel down to talk about his decision. Denel, on the other hand, was much less resistant to the idea and simply wanted Cloud to promise that he would still come visit them.

The other looked around the room curiously when they entered, lingering by the doorway as Cloud searched through the plain, wooden drawers for something the other could wear until they got his own clothes washed. He pulled out a pair of pants and a baggy t-shirt that would work well enough for the moment and strode back over to the other man with them.

“You can use these for the moment,” he told him, holding the clothing out to the other. “I’ll put those in the wash while you’re in the shower.”

The other took them from him hesitantly, following him out of the room to the shared bathroom.

“Everything you should need’s in there. Pass those to me through the door okay?” The stranger nodded with a soft agreement, closing the door behind him when he entered the bathroom. The door opened a crack a few moments later, a dark turtleneck and pants passed through the door before it closed once again. Followed by the sound of the shower starting.

Cloud took the clothes down into the laundry area of the bar off the side of the kitchen, putting the clothes into the machine with barely a thought about how the clothes were the uniform of a SOLDIER First Class. He turned the machine on and leaned back against it with a sigh, rolling his head on his shoulders.

Well, tonight had turned out interesting.

He opened his eyes when he felt someone else enter the room with him, relaxing when he recognized Denzel standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Hey Denzel,” he greeted the young boy with a soft smile. “How are things going?”

Denzel approached him then, drawing closer before he responded. “I’m fine,” he paused then, flicking his gaze up to the second-floor above them. “Who’s he?” He asked, the question equal parts curious and worried.

“Just someone who needs help.” He told the younger, laying his hand on Denzel’s shoulder when the worried expression stayed on the other’s face. “Don’t worry about him too much, alright? Tifa and I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Denzel looked up at him after he finished speaking, fixing him with a hopeful look. “You’ll be around more then?”

Cloud sighed softly, lowering himself until he was eye to eye with the younger. “Yeah, I’ll be around for a while.”

Denzel nodded with a bright grin, accepting his answer with all the trust of a child. Cloud ushered him out of the room soon after, urging him to go finish his homework and promising that he’d see him before he left for the night.

Cloud watched him leave the room with a thoughtful expression. Denzel was definitely missing Marlene more than he was letting on. Barret had decided to take Marlene out to Corel for a visit and they wouldn’t be returning to Edge for a few weeks.

He lifted himself to his feet, leaving the room with a final glance at the machine still running behind him. The other’s stuff wouldn’t be done for some time and he’d probably be out of the shower before then.

“Hey Cloud!” Tifa called out before he could make his way back up to the second floor. “Come over here before you go back up.”

He walked over to her, taking the two plates she presented to him. “Here,” she said with a bright smile. “He’ll probably appreciate some real food.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’ll enjoy it, Tifa.” He assured her. “I’ll bring these down once we’re done.”

He turned away from her, making his way up to the second floor of the bar. He heard the shower cut off as he reached the top of the stairs. He moved into the room the ex-SOLDIER would be using, sitting down on the lone chair in the room and setting both plates on the desk in front of him.

He waited silently, picking at the food on his plate and listening to the barely audible sounds of the people on the floor below him. The ex-SOLDIER entered the room son after, pausing when his gaze landed on Cloud’s form.

Cloud blinked at the stranger, taking another bite from his plate. He watched as the other moved into the room, sitting cautiously on the bed. Cloud picked up the other plate Tifa had given him, holding it out towards the man. “Here, you should eat.:

The man watched him for a moment, his damp, long hair clinging to his skin. He reached out to take the plate from Cloud’s hand with a soft ‘thank you’.

The next few minutes passed with them eating together silently, neither of them saying anything. Cloud took the plate from the other once it was empty, setting both plates down on the desk for a moment.

“You can stay here for a while,” he told the other. “At least until you get your feet under you, things can be hard for you as an ex-SOLDIER.” Cloud was well aware of how difficult the ex-SOLDIERs had it; many of them faced discrimination and fear from the civilians, which in turn made it difficult for them to find work. He had experienced that for himself.

The other remained silent for a moment, before swallowing heavily and speaking in a blank tone of voice. “That’s very kind of you.”

Cloud fixed the other with a searching gaze but was only met with a carefully blank expression, he wouldn’t be getting anything more than that from the other. “Alright then,” he said, standing from the chair. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”

“You don’t live here?” The question was spoken in a rush and when Cloud turned back to the other, he had an expression that told Cloud that the other hadn’t meant to ask that.

He decided to answer the other’s question anyway, there was little harm in telling the other the truth. “No, I’ve got my own place.”

The other nodded sharply before dropping his head and focusing his gaze on the sheet underneath him.

Cloud left the stranger to his own devices with the plates in his hands, descending to the first floor and making his way into the kitchen. Tifa entered soon after he did, giving him an expectant look as he set the plate down in the sink. “Is he doing alright?” She asked, worry lacing her words.

He seems fine,” he told her, turning to lean back against the sink. “He might need some help with his hair though, I don’t think it’s even seen a brush in months.”

“I’ll see if I can’t fix that.” Tifa stated confidently, cocking her hip against the doorway. “Can’t be anything worse than how bad Vincent’s gets.”

He huffed a surprised laugh at that reminder. Vincent had disappeared for a few months and when he showed back up he had been a mess, hair knotted and clumped with dirt, twigs and all manner of things. Tifa hadn’t been too happy with that; she had taken a brush to it the first moment she could. Vincent would have escaped if he could, but Tifa had bribed Cloud to keep him in place.

The cookies had been amazing and he had no regrets, even if Vincent had taken to giving him betrayed looks whenever they came across each other. But at least Vincent now owned a brush.

“I’ll be back to see how things are going in the morning.” He informed her, amusement still present in his tone. “I’ll just say bye to Denzel before I go.”

Tifa nodded, returning back to the front of the bar. He followed her soon after, ducking upstairs to speak with Denzel for a few moments before leaving Seventh Heaven with a last wave in Tifa’s direction.

He was home before he knew it, his apartment building only a few streets away from Seventh Heaven. It was one of the one’s built by the WRO to be SOLDIER-resistant and housed quite a few ex-SOLDIERs at a decent rate.

It wasn’t anything impressive, just a single bedroom apartment, but it was his and he was more than happy with it.

He moved towards the desk he kept in the main room, looking through his schedule for the next few weeks. He had a few minor deliveries to make this week but nothing that would take more than a day, he wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to check in on the ex-SOLDIER.

He arrived at Seventh Heaven early the next morning, leaving his own place soon after he finished breakfast.

“Hey Cloud!” Tifa greeted when she let him in, “Genesis is up in his room if you want to talk to him.”

He blinked at her, the name unfamiliar to him. “Genesis?”

“The guy you brought in last night.” She explained, moving around the kitchen. “He seems like a nice guy Cloud, very charming.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her, moving towards the stairs.

He knocked on the stranger’s, Genesis’, door waiting for the man to answer him. “One moment,” was called from inside before Cloud heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door, opening to reveal the other man.

Tifa must have attacked the man with her hairbrush because his hair was much tamer now. His hair was much nicer without all those knots and brambles in it, it fell to his lower back in a silky, red curtain.

It was very nice.

He blinked, realizing that he had been staring at the other man. Genesis was watching him with a look Cloud couldn’t identify. He cleared his throat roughly, glancing off to the side a moment before speaking. “Morning.”

“Good morning,” the other replied, in a soft voice.

“You doing alright?” Cloud asked awkwardly, shifting on his feet.

“Yes,” was his answer, “thank you.”

There was a period of stilted silence between them before Cloud shook himself, focusing on the matter at hand. “We’ve got to get you some actual clothes today,” he told the other calmly. “We’ll go whenever you’re ready.”

He watched as the other’s expression closed off, “of course,” he answered blandly. “I’ll be down in a few moments.”

“Alright,” Cloud agreed with a nod, stepping away from the other’s door. “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready to go.”

The door closed softly and he descended the stairs back to the first floor, seating himself at the counter of the bar. Tifa moved over to him, leaning across the counter to peer into his face.

“So,” she started in an inquisitive tone. “What’re his colours?”

A startled laugh escaped his mouth at her question, not at all surprised at it. Tifa had lost her ability to see colours years ago when her soulmate, Aerith, died and he knew how much she missed being able to see them.

“He’s red,” he told her, thinking about how to describe the ex-SOLDIER. “His hair’s this really nice auburn colour and his eyes are a kind of electric blue.” He described for her, struggling a bit with how to best describe the man’s colours for her.

“I wish I could see it,” she sighed, tone sad and wistful. Tifa usually didn’t let herself linger on everything she had lost since Aerith’s death; colours, companionship, the unceasing love that having a soulmate provided. It was one of the reasons she couldn’t understand why he didn’t care that he couldn’t remember who his own soulmate was.

“I know,” he said softly, sadness in his own tone. They spent a few minutes in silence just thinking about Aerith and all the others they had lost on their journey to get where they are.

“You’re going to have dinner here tonight,” Tifa informed him, not giving him a chance to refuse.

“Yeah, ok.” He agreed as Genesis came down the stairs. The other man stopped at the base of the stairs, realizing that they were both staring at him.

“Good morning?” Genesis offered them, pressing back against the railing of the stairs behind him.

“Morning!” Tifa greeted brightly, previous moroseness gone from her frame. “You two ready to go break some hearts?”

“Hearts? On no, my dear,” Genesis responded dramatically, approaching the counter of the bar. “We shan’t break their only heart, not when we can break several of their bones.”

Cloud found himself failing to smother a laugh with his hand, something about the way the other had delivered the line was all too amusing to him. He heard Tifa chuckle across the bar, “just be careful with who you attack, ok?”

“I shall do my best.” Genesis promised with a dramatic bow, sending Tifa into a tirade of giggles.

Cloud calmed his laughter, standing form the counter and taking a deep breath. “We’ll be going then, see you when we get back Tifa.”

“Have fun guys, see you when you get back.” She called to them as he led Genesis out of the bar to where he had parked Fenrir.

“You only have this?” Genesis asked, staring at Fenrir with an uneasy expression.

Cloud was glad to see that the man felt a bit more comfortable with him now; Tifa had probably gossiped about him while dealing with the other’s hair last night. Or they had talked about him at the very least.

Whatever it was, it let the other man talk to him comfortably and that was all that mattered.

“Fenrir is a beautiful piece of machinery,” he told the other, mounting the bike easily. “He’ll get us there safely.”

Genesis was still giving the bike an uneasy look but he hesitantly sat behind Cloud, pressing close to him. “You’re sure we won’t crash?”

Cloud suppressed the shiver he felt trying to move through him at the worried question being breathed into his ear. “We’ve both got SOLDIER-level enhancements,” he shot over his shoulder. “We’ll survive if we do.”

He felt the arms around him tighten as he started the engine; a soft fearful noise, barely audible over the engine, reached his ears, stopping him for a moment. “I’ll be careful.” He promised the other, pulling out into the street.

He was very careful as he drove them to the closest clothing store.

They returned to the bar a few hours later with enough clothes for Genesis to get by with until he could get a job of his own, which would hopefully be sooner rather than later.

The trip hadn’t been too awkward and they managed to avoid being stopped by civilians that would have been angry at them for shopping. They had probably been too terrified of Genesis’ First Class uniform to approach them.

“We’re back!” Cloud called out as they entered Seventh Heaven, holding one of Genesis’ bags of the other. Genesis followed him into the bar; Cloud found his gaze focusing on the other man’s hand running through his long hair in a exhausted manner.

“Hey!” Tifa greeted form within the kitchen, “How’d things go? You get everything you need?”

“Yeah, people were too mesmerized by Genesis’ hair to start anything.” Cloud said, slumping against the counter. “They didn’t know how to handle the tall guy with hair nicer than their’s will ever be.”

He heard a soft huff of laughter from the man next to him.

Tifa approached them with a pleased expression, “it’s all because of my skills with a brush,” she bragged. Cloud tilted his head in her direction, agreeing with her words.

“Might have to start tying it up,” Cloud suggested, gaze flicking to where long hair was currently hiding Genesis’ face. “It might make things a bit easier for you.”

Genesis groaned next to him, his head pillowed on his crossed arms, drained from the trip.

“Or we could cut to a more manageable length,” Tifa suggested. She was turned away from them so she didn’t see how Genesis tensed at her suggestion, his entire form locking up next to Cloud on the counter.

Cloud watched him from the corner of his eye, waiting for the other to relax. He released a soft breath when the tension suddenly left Genesis’ body and the other man lifted his head to speak. “I think I’ll avoid cutting it for the moment.”

There was no further comment on the subject, Genesis took his purchases to his room and left Cloud and Tifa alone in the first floor of the bar.

“He do alright?” Tifa asked, worry lacing her words and voice pitched low to avoid Genesis overhearing them.

“Better than expected.” He answered honestly. Genesis had been oddly relaxed around the large crowd of people in the store, much different than the other SOLDIERs Cloud had helped. They usually hated being in crowds; terrified at the prospects that they might hurt someone without meaning too.

Genesis had moved through the crowd like he had been born to do it; weaving through groups of people easily and traversing the length of the store without so much as a moment’s thought.

Cloud had been amazed by it.

“You think he’ll find something?” Tifa asked, shooting an anxious glance towards Genesis’ room.

“I think he’ll be fine,” he answered confidently. “It might take a while, but I’m sure he’ll find something.”

The next few weeks were filled with the arduous task of finding something for Genesis to do; one of the more difficult tasks the man would have to face as figured out this new life after Shinra.

They had started by taking things slow, trying to figure out where Genesis’ strengths lied and what he could and could not do.

It was not a pleasant experience for the ex-SOLDIER. Cloud tried to help the other where he could but it hadn’t caused much of a difference, Genesis was still causing more harm than good.

There were many days were Genesis reached the end of his rope and Cloud had to help him blow off steam through sparring. They were travelling out to the ruins of Midgar almost daily now.

Cloud wanted to help the other more though, he remembered how difficult it was to find something he could do after he was no longer required to fight for survival. It was why he was currently searching for an address he had found in the paper just a few hours before.

He hoped it would work out for the other, he really believed that Genesis would enjoy what he was going to suggest.

If not, if the entire thing fell through, then Cloud wouldn’t mind having another powerful fighter with him while he did his deliveries. Having another person to help him with the monsters prowling the land was not a bad idea.

He soon found the building he had been searching for, tucked away in a small corner of the street. It was a brightly coloured thing, painted in eye-catching shades of blue and yellow, it’s name painted above the door in blocky, red letters.

He entered the building, praying that things would turn out alright and that these people would at least be willing to give Genesis a chance before dismissing him. It seemed that he didn’t have to worry too much about it though, the person he was arranging the appointment with seemed to instantly recognize Genesis’ name and was eager for him to come down.

He left the building almost half-an-hour later, a small smile on his face as he gazed down at the small piece of paper in his hand. All he needed to do now was inform Genesis and make sure the man showed up at the appointment.

He left the area, eager to get to Seventh Heaven and inform Genesis of the news. He returned to where he had parked Fenrir, mounting the bike and starting the engine in short time, quickly making his way to Seventh Heaven.

He let himself in when he arrived, calling a greeting into the bar.

“Hey, Cloud.” Tifa replied, from the table she was sitting at to work on the books. “You do what you needed to?”

“Yeah,” he said, gesturing up at the second floor. “He up there?”

Tifa’s expression dropped as a heavy sigh left her lips, “yeah, he’s up there.”

“Bad day?” Cloud asked, pausing in the middle of the room to give her a searching look.

“Not any more than usual,” Tifa sighed, cradling her chin in her hands. “He’s doing his best.”

Cloud hummed softly, continuing his stride towards the stairs and moving to knock at Genesis’ door. There was silence from within before Cloud heard Genesis’ voice calling out softly, allowing him to enter.

Genesis was obviously expecting Tifa as when he saw Cloud standing at his door he scrambled from his downtrodden posture on the bed to his feet. His expression was braced, waiting for Cloud to say something; either about his previous position or his mad scramble to his feet.

Cloud just sat on the mattress, patting the space next to him in an indication for Genesis to join him. The other’s movements were much more controlled when he sat next to Cloud, meeting his gaze hesitantly once he was seated.

“Bad day?” Cloud inquired, already knowing the answer. The way the other’s features remained even as he kept his silence was all too telling to Cloud. “I found something that might brighten your day.” He told the other, ignoring the inquisitive look he received as he held the piece of paper out to Genesis.

The paper was taken from his hand and Genesis stared at the words printed on it for several moments, trying to comprehend what it said.

“This… This is a theatre agency.” Genesis eventually forced from his throat, lifting his head to lock his gaze with Cloud’s. “How did you… ?”

Cloud gave the other a soft smile, chest warmed by the other’s awestruck expression. “I did some digging,” he admitted with a shrug. “Found their add in the paper and thought it’d be something you’d be good at.”

Genesis was stunned silent, running his eyes over the words in front of him. They stayed there for hours, sitting next to each other on the bed until Denzel came into the room to talk to Cloud.

Cloud was confident that he hadn’t imagine the soft “thank you” he heard from the other man as he left the room.

Cloud returned to Seventh Heaven two days later to the news that Genesis had gotten the part and would be starting his first practice at the end of the week. It was definitely a cause for celebration.

Tifa was eager to get out the alcohol and the three of them sat together, toasting to a bright future.

Cloud noticed Genesis shooting him looks through the night but he couldn’t decipher what they were. He ignored the other for the moment, simply wanting to enjoy the night.

Halfway through the bottle, Tifa started questioning him on colours once again. They were both surprised when Genesis started to answer her questions with him.

They hadn’t known that Genesis could see colour.

After weeks of practice and preparation they were here at the opening night of Genesis’ first part in the theatre. Cloud and Tifa were going together as friends to support the other man who had become a good friend to them since he found Cloud out on the wastes of Midgar.

Cloud thought it was a nice performance, though he wasn’t really interested in things like these. Tifa was mesmerized the entire time, watching the stage with a wistful expression. He felt a stab of guilt in his chest that she couldn’t see the production in its full splendor though he knew that Aerith’s fate hadn’t been his fault.

She turned her gaze to him for a moment and gave him a reassuring smile, as if knowing what he had been thinking about. Which she probably did, with how long they had known each other.

She turned her gaze back to the stage, focusing back on the performances of the actors. Cloud followed her lead, watching the story being portrayed by the actors.

Genesis played his part magnificently and Cloud was sure that the man would be moving up in the theatre before he knew it. The play was soon finished and the actors were giving their final curtain call, signaling the audience that it was safe to start moving in their seats.

Tifa was urging him to stand a few moments after the actors had left the stage, dragging him along with her to go find Genesis and congratulate him on his performance. He followed her hesitantly until he saw that several other people were moving the way they were, most likely the friends and families of the other actors.

They soon found the room Genesis was sharing with two other actors, he looked shocked to see them when they entered but his features quickly shifted to a more pleased expression.

“Did you enjoy the show?” He asked as they approached him, eyes flicking between the two of them.

Cloud let his gaze wander the room as Tifa told the other how much she had enjoyed the night and how well she thought he had done. His gaze skimmed the two other actors speaking with their own friends, his ears picking up their conversation without effort on his part.

“And you Cloud?” Genesis asked, drawing Cloud’s attention back to him. The other’s expression was carefully blank as he waited for his answer.

Cloud blinked at him for a moment, answering quietly. “It was good.”

He thought he saw Genesis’ face fall but he blinked and the other’s expression was back to its careful blankness. Genesis turned his attention back to Tifa before Cloud could say anything though, engaging her in easy conversation about the play.

Cloud put it out of his mind, deciding it was just his imagination.

Things came to a head a week after Genesis’ first performance.

Cloud and Genesis had journeyed out to the ruins of Midgar once again to put each other through their paces.

It was a hard battle, swords and magic moving swiftly through the air against each other. Cloud hadn’t had an opponent like this since Sephiroth.

The fight ended suddenly with Cloud pinning the other man to the hard earth beneath them, as one of Genesis fireballs impacted the ground Cloud had been standing upon moments before.

The two of them were staring at each other, both trying to catch their breaths after the fight. Cloud’s breathing evened out first and he moved off of the other, moving his sweat-soaked strands of hair from his face.

He was about to move to help the other up when a harsh, pained sound reached his ears, freezing him to the cor. He snapped his gaze to the other, staring in astonishment at Genesis’ form.

Genesis had lifted himself to a seated position and had dropped his head into his hands, his shoulders shaking with soft sobs.

Cloud dropped down to his knees next to the other, gazing at him in concern. “Genesis? What’s wrong?” He asked, voice clearly distressed.

“I can’t,” Genesis whispered, voice thick with emotion. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Genesis,” Cloud coaxed, pressing closer to the other man. “Talk to me.”

“I’ve tried so hard,” Genesis stressed, lifting his gaze to stare at Cloud with wet eyes. “But I just can’t handle this anymore Cloud.”

Cloud didn’t understand what the other meant by that but whatever it was, it must have been important to cause this much distress in the other man. “Tell me about it,” he coaxed in a soft voice. “Let’s talk about it.”

Genesis shook his head sharply, a harsh noise leaving his lips. “I’m trying to make it up,” Genesis told him, stressing his words in a desperate tone. “But I can’t handle having you like this anymore.”

Cloud was stunned silent, staring at Genesis’ face.

“And I know I don’t deserve to be picky,” Genesis continued, reaching out to grip Cloud’s arms in a tight grip. “You’ve been so kind to me, even though I don’t deserve it after I threw you away.”

Cloud felt his breath quickening as Genesis continued to speak, his eyes widening as he began to realize what the other was talking about.

“I promised myself that I’d take anything you gave me when I saw you out in the wastes. I promised that I wouldn’t interfere with your life anymore than I already had.” Cloud swallowed heavily, his chest heavy as he continued to listen to the other’s ramblings. “But I can’t deal with this, I can’t handle you looking at me like I don’t mean anything to you.”

Cloud found a harsh noise falling from his throat, interrupting Genesis’ ramblings. He dropped his own head into his hands, smothering the noises falling from his mouth.

A wounded noise left Genesis’ throat as he took Cloud’s face in his hands. “Look, I’m still ruining things,” he pressed his forehead to Cloud’s as tears started leaking from his eyes once again. “I just keep hurting you, precious.”

Cloud shook his own head softly, pulling away from the other’s hand to stare at his face, admitting in a soft, fragile voice. “I had Mako Poisoning,” Genesis stiffened, freezing at his words. “I, I forgot everything. I don’t remember ever meeting you before.”

Another wounded noise left the other man before he was wrapped in a warm embrace and pulled into the other’s space.

They would have quite a lot to talk about once everything passed them. Cloud wanted to know what Genesis had meant when he said he had ‘thrown him away’.

But that could all wait for the moment.

#Strifesodos week 2017 #strifesodos #gencloud #Genesis Rhapsodos #cloud strife #Soulmate AU #my stories #fanfiction #fanfic #Day Seven #long post #longfic #Skyee Writes

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lettersofsky · 8 years ago

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Strifesodos Week - Day Four - Memories

Day Four of Strifesodos Week! Guess who was going to write fluff. This person! Guess who ended up listening to ‘The Last Goodbye’ from the Hobbit movies on repeat for two hours and writing to that instead. This person! A.k.a This person is sorry. Ko-Fi | AO3

Day Four - Memories - To These Memories, I Will Hold

Cloud had been buying groceries to restock his home when he heard someone calling out his name, “Cloud?! Is that you?!”

He turned in the direction of the voice, searching for a recognizable figure in the crowd surrounding him. He didn’t see anyone he recognized and had been about to turn around and resume his shopping when a hand landed on his arm, causing him to jump and jerk his head towards who had grabbed him.

“It is you! Gaia Cloud, we thought you were dead!”

The guy looked… familiar? Maybe? Cloud couldn’t quite remember.

“Oh, just wait until I tell the Sammy and Johnson! They’ll never believe this!” Whoever this guy was he sure sounded excited about whatever he was talking about. Something about Johnson and…

Cloud knew Sammy.

He was sure he knew someone named Sammy. If it was the same person than this guy must be…

“McCaplain?! Is that you?!” Cloud couldn’t believe his eyes, he hadn’t seen McCaplain since before Nibelheim. “You made it through Meteor Fall?”

McCaplain nodded enthusiastically, a large grin painting his features. “Yeah! We made it out, we helped with the evacuation when it all came tumbling down.” His face sobered as he spoke his next words, “what happened to you Cloud? They wouldn’t tell us anything.”

Cloud shook his head, smile dropping from his face as he responded. “This isn’t the place to talk about it.”

McCaplain nodded, donning a serious expression. “I’ll call up the guys and get them to meet up at my place. You can tell us everything there.”

Cloud agreed with a soft word, he could wait a day to restock his kitchen.

McCaplain’s home was much nicer than his was; it was homey, more lived in than his apartment. It was obvious that this was a place someone lived in, where numerous people spent their time.

It had a pair of faded, comfortable couches, mismatching chairs and table with all the best-worse take-out menus scattered across it. It was remarkably similar to what Cloud remembered of their shared apartment in Shinra; it even had that smell of days-old leftovers permeating the room.

It was perfect for catching up with his old friends.

McCaplain ushered him over to the couch the moment they walked into the apartment, leaving Cloud to fuss with his sword and moving into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. Knowing him, it would be the blackest, bitterest drink Cloud would ever have the honour of tasting.

Cloud flicked his eyes around the apartment as he waited for McCaplain to return, taking in the numerous pictures that lined the wall.

There were quite a few of all of them from Shinra’s glory days, as well as several including the friends they had lost during the war and mass desertion. Cloud spied a few more of just the guys at various stages of time; their Infantry uniforms, the freshy destroyed ruins of Midgar, the construction of Edge and several other he couldn’t identify.

It seemed that Johnson had kept his love of pictures through all these years; the older man had told Cloud that photos were like little pockets of time you could keep forever, so why not display them where they could be appreciated?

Cloud hadn’t understood at the time, but after losing everything that made him him… Well, he had more appreciation for things like photographs and journals.

The front door opened before McCaplain finished with the coffee and Cloud found himself in a familiar, strong embrace. “You’re alive, you little spit-fuck!”

Yeah, that definitely sounded like Sammy.

He set Cloud down after crushing his ribcage and held him at a length in order to inspect him properly, giving Cloud the perfect opportunity to do the same. Sammy looked great; he had lost any softness to his frame over the years and now stood at least a head taller than Cloud was. Not to mention all the obvious muscle on his frame.

“Shit Cloud, you barely look any different since the last time I saw you!” Sammy’s voice was equal parts bewildered and joyous as he finished inspecting Cloud. It wasn’t exactly news to him, Cloud had been informed that there might be some unforeseen consequences to Hojo’s efforts to make a replacement Sephiroth, he had decided to ignore the whole ‘No Longer Ageing’ issue for the moment.

“You got ugly.” He told Sammy, face and tone the perfect deadpan. This caused the other man to erupt into laughter, his entire body shaking with the force of it.

“You’re right there!” He laughed, sitting down on the couch with him. “Good thing my lady’s not dating me for my looks!”

“You’re dating someone?” Cloud asked, unable to resist a small jest to the end of his question, “do your muscles know?”

“Completely unaware,” Sammy responded, smile belying his attempt at seriousness. “Good thing I only care about how they look.”

Cloud snorted, giggles falling from his mouth, completely at ease in the familiarity of his old friend. He hadn’t been able to realize how much he missed them until he remembered them.

“Let me tell you about her,” Sammy offered, features softening as he spoke. “It’ll save me from having to drink that shit McCaplain calls coffee.”

“You wouldn’t know good coffee if it bit you on the arse!” Was called from the kitchen, sending Cloud into another fit of laughter.

“You’re right there but I know that that’s not good coffee and it has bit me on the arse!”

“Wait until Johnson gets here! Then he’ll tell you how great my coffee is!”

“He’d say anything to keep you paying half the rent.” Sammy called back, the resulting silence more telling than any words McCaplain could have responded with.

Cloud had definitely missed his friends.

Johnson arrived a few minutes later and they all started to catch each other up on everything that had happened since Cloud was sent on that mission to Nibelheim. It took several hours, several more pots of coffee and a few awful pizzas with questionable toppings before they reached a point where they all had a general idea of what had happened in the past eight or so years.

McCaplain and Johnson were sharing the apartment together for the cheaper rent and Sammy was currently living with his girlfriend of two years and was thinking about popping the question. He had showed Cloud a picture of her and even he had to admit that she looked beautiful, he hoped things worked out for them.

Meanwhile, McCaplain and Johnson were both enjoying very different single lives and were happy with how things were going for them.

They were all very curious about his life now that he wasn’t so much of a walking mental case anymore but he didn’t really have much to tell them; he had a space of his own, to job to put gil in his pocket and talked to his old teammates on occasion but little more than that.

Johnson, always the more empathetic of his friends, cried when he told them about what happened in Nibelheim, pulling him into an embrace as Cloud’s voice stuttered with emotion he doubted he would ever be able to deal with when he spoke of Zack’s death.

They all had something to say about his teammates when he described them, making Cloud promise to at least introduce them to some of his, newer, more colourful friends. Cloud made a mental note to do just that; they’d get along with Cid so well.

Things were starting to wind down, the combination of bitter coffee, greasy pizza and emotional fatigue leaving them drained. Cloud had been about to pass out on the couch when Johnson shot up next to him, startling him with the sudden movement.

“I’ve got all your stuff.” Johnson told him, moving around the couch and further into the apartment. “Wait here while I get it,” he shot over his shoulder.

Cloud watched him go, confused about what he meant by ‘his stuff’. He couldn’t begin to guess what Johnson could possibly mean. It seemed that the other two knew what Johnson meant though, they had both perked up from where they had been slumped against the cushions, about to pass out themselves.

When he returned, he had a large box labelled ‘Cloud’ in his hands. The box would have been rather plain looking if not for the numerous kitten stickers stuck to its surface.

“We packed your stuff away when they announced you M.I.A.,” Johnson explained, returning to his seat on the couch. “We expected some family member to come get it or at least ask for us to send it but that never happened so we just kept it,” he finished with a shrug and handed the box to Cloud.

“The stickers were McCaplain’s idea.” Sammy informed him, earning a jab from the man in question.

Cloud shot his friend a look, recieving a sheepish smile in return, before turning his attention to the box. He took a deep breath and opened the lid.

The contents were not what he had been expecting at all.

Folded at the top of the box was a soft, burgundy jumper, it felt familiar to Cloud though he couldn’t quite place why yet. When he lifted it he discovered that it was a few sizes too large for him and bringing the fabric to his nose gave him the impression of apples and spice. He felt his chest ache at the memory of the scent by couldn’t recall the association.

The rest of the box’s contents, hidden under the jumper were similarly confusing; books containing love letters on the inside covers, a small apple blossom encased in glass, a jewellery box and a large number of photographs.

Cloud decided to leave the other items for the moment and focus on the pictures tied together in a large stack. The first photo he looked at caused his heart to stutter as tears sprung to his eyes.

It was of his Mother.

He had forgotten what she looked like, after everything that had happened to him, and had resigned himself to only having a faint impression of concern and love in place of an actual memory. But having real pictures of her…

He had forgotten how alike they looked, how her eyes shone when she was happy or proud of him and how she preferred to have her hair tied up out of her way when she worked. He had forgotten long days spent looking for food in the mountains and longer nights spent curled up together listening to her stories as they tried to stave off the cold winter nights.

He had forgotten so much about his Mother.

He felt a warm hand rubbing soothing circles on his back and knew without looking that his friends were watching him with obvious concern. But he needed to finish looking through everything.

He passed a few photos of friends long passed before landing on one that made his breath halt in his throat.

It was a picture of him and a man, older than him, taller with shoulder-length red hair asleep on the couch of the apartment he had once shared with the other’s in Shinra. The next few photos were of a similar nature; him and the man relaxed and content in each other’s company.

Why did looking at these photos make his chest ache?

He paused after a few more photos, stopping on one capturing the red-haired man pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose. He lifted his head to lock his gaze with his friend’s and asked in a trembling voice, “who… Who is he?”

He watched as they traded glances before McCaplain answered him in a soft tone, “that’s Genesis Rhapsodos. You two were pretty serious for a while.”

Something told Cloud that that wasn’t the entirety of the story. He knew it wasn’t.

But he just couldn’t remember…

“What happened?” He asked, staring at his friend pleadingly. “I know something happened. What was it?”

Johnson was the one to answer this time, “he deserted.” He said gently, hand continuing its movements over Cloud’s back. “He disappeared in Wutai and took his men with him. He led several attacks against Shinra until he was pronounced K.I.A. five years ago.”

Cloud couldn’t hope to contain the sob that tore itself from his throat as memories assaulted his mind.

Memories of receiving cheesy poems in the back of covers.

Memories of awkward first dates the first few hesitant weeks of being a couple.

Memories of wrapping himself in his boyfriend’s soft, comforting jumper while the other was away on long missions.

Memories of lying curled against a warm body, feeling safer than he’d ever been.

Memories of his birthday where he was gifted the most beautiful flower he’d ever seen.

Memories of quick, fleeting kisses in the corridors of Shinra.

Memories of the last time he saw the other; standing far too close together in the loading area. He remembered the other hadn’t cared who saw them as he pulled him into a deep kiss before presenting him with a small box. He remembered how stunned he was when he opened it to discover that the twin to the earring currently resting in the other’s ear lying with. He remembered the other’s promise to return safely.

He remembered the horror he felt when the initial M.I.A. report came in. How he worried himself sick for weeks before his friends got him back to his feet. He remembered sleepless nights curled around the other’s jumper, slowly losing its comforting scent, and praying his his safe return.

He remembered his heartbreak during the first attack on Shinra and each attack thereafter.

He remembered being ignored in Medioheim, treated like he was less than nothing, not even worthy of acknowledgement, by the person he cared so much for. He remembered weeping after returning from that mission and his resolve to never be in such a position again. He remembered only taking the earring out before being sent out on missions.

He remembered Genesis Rhapsodos.

And Gaia, did it hurt.

#Strifesodos Week 2017 #featuring the Queer Trooper Posse #strifesodos #gencloud #cloud strife #ffvii #fanfic #fanfiction #my stories #angsty bullshit #because the hobbit movie soundtrack #Accidental Genuis #Skyee Writes

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lovelesstobeloved-blog · 8 years ago

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Shoutouts

I gotta say. This year’s Strifesodos Week has made such a big improvement than last year’s, and it’s all thanks to you wonderful people out there for your participation.

That’s why I want all of us to give our thanks to the hard-working participants of this event:

@skyeec2 @chaoscheebs @lilly-white @asylos @kizunatsudoishi @ence11 @strifescloud @rhapscdos @modeoheim @cloudvelundr

Thank you all!

But, we shoudl give a big round of applause to @helenrenee for making this happen. Many thanks to you!!

#strifesodos week 2017 #strifesodos week #strifesodos #gencloud #thank you #skyeec2 #chaoscheebs #lilly-white #asylos #kizunatsudoishi #ence11 #strifescloud #rhapscdos #modeoheim #cloudvelundr #love you all

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lettersofsky · 8 years ago

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Strifesodos Week - Day Two - Rain

Day Two of Strifesodos Week! More song lyric titles! I like this one, I think it’s alright, the initial concept was really easy for me to get down and build on and I think it turned out alright. | AO3

Day Two - Rain - Everyday By Myself I’m Breaking Down

Cloud froze in his footsteps, staring at the man sitting a few feet away from him. What was Commander Rhapsodos doing out here in the pouring rain?

Cloud knew the only reason that he was only out in this weather was because he had his orders and to defy them was a one-step-journey to getting kicked out of Shinra all together. If he didn’t have his patrol he would’ve been inside, playing cards with the rest of the guys and pitying whoever drew the short-straw and ended up outside in this downpour.

That didn’t explain why the Crimson Commander was out here though, he doubted there was anyone who could actually make the man do anything he didn’t want to do. But then why was he just sitting there, letting the rain drench him?

Cloud had hardly recognized the Commander without his signature red coat.

Cloud couldn’t just walk pass and leave the man there, even if that was probably his safest option, so he took a breath, gathered his courage and strode over to the highly volatile man sitting on a bench in the pouring rain.

He reached the bench where the Commander was sitting without being struck down, either by Rhapsodos or some higher power, and was stuck trying to figure out what to say to the man. He couldn’t come up with anything though, so he decided to do the next best thing.

He sat down next to the man that struck terror into everyone that wasn’t a First Class SOLDIER or a Turk, or at least a seasoned Turk. McCaplain swore he had seen the Commander make one of the baby-Turks cry. Whether that was true or not, it probably wasn’t his best decision.

He was sitting there for several minutes before anything happened. He had spent the time quietly freaking out and realizing that Commander Rhapsodos wasn’t as tall as he thought the man was, in fact he seemed to be only a bit taller than he was. Cloud was coming to terms with that realization when Rhapsodos finally did something, though he would have never imagined what the man would do.

Instead of attacking him or ordering him to leave, the Commander turned a bit towards him and dropped his head down onto his soaked spikes. Cloud hadn’t bothered to bring his helmet with him on his patrol, the equipment would be useless in this weather and in the worse case scenario would actually break, forcing him to shell out enough gil for a new one.

He’d much rather get the reprimand than have to replace his helmet.

But that decision meant that he now had Commander Rhapsodos’ face pressed into the top of his head, not what he had been expecting when he started his shift. Cloud didn’t know what to do with all of this.

They remained that way for several long minutes, with Cloud silently freaking out, until something else happened. He thought he heard what sounded like a choked sob before strong arms wrapped around him and he was dragged into a warm embrace.

Cloud wasn’t ashamed to admit to the startled squeak that left his mouth when Rhapsodos pulled him into his space. He was also quite willing to inform anyone with enough money that Commander Rhapsodos smelled like apples and cinnamon.

He was really confused as to what was happening but before he could figure out what to do, Commander Rhapsodos released him with one final squeeze. The Commander stood from the bench and walked away, leaving Cloud sitting there watching him walk away while the rain continued to fall around him.

Cloud hoped the man was going to be ok, that behaviour was far too familiar to him.

Cloud was unfortunate enough to have patrols the rest of the week and there was reports that there would be heavy rain for the next week because of course he would be so lucky. He was at least excused for all his other duties for the week because they didn’t want him to keel over because he got sick from being out in the rain all night.

Meaning he was out on patrol again the next night out in the rain, soaked to his bones for the second night in a row.

Patrol was going well until he got to the bench he had found the Commander on and discovered that Rhapsodos was there, once again missing his signature coat. He wasn’t as terrified at the sight of the man as he was yesterday so instead of deliberating for several minutes, he walked over to the man and sat down next to the Commander once again.

Rhapsodos was also quicker to act this time, pressing his face into Cloud’s rain-soaked hair with a soft noise of despair. Cloud was less surprised by the action but he was still confused as to why Rhapsodos was doing it or why he was letting him.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Cloud knew exactly why he was letting Rhapsodos do this and no it wasn’t because he thought the man was gorgeous, though the fact that Genesis Rhapsodos was gorgeous couldn’t be denied. It was because he had never been able to turn away from an obviously sad person in his life.

It was what got him on that bridge with Tifa all those years ago, something he still regretted to this day. It seemed he hadn’t learned anything from the backlash of that entire incident.

He felt Rhapsodos’ arms wrap around his form and pull him further into his space, the taller man curling more fully around his form. Cloud heard another soft, despairing noise from the Commander’s throat, muffled into his soaked hair.

Cloud pressed into the other man, soaking up the warmth that seemed to almost leek from the SOLDIER. If he had to be stuck in the rain with anyone, he was glad it was with an actual living furnace.

Things progressed as they had the night before, Commander Rhapsodos remained wrapped around him for several long, drawn-out minutes before pulling away after one final squeeze and walking away into the downpour.

Cloud watched the man disappear into the gloom of the night once again.

The same things repeated the next night and the night after.

The fifth night Cloud found Commander Rhapsodos out in the rain, he was too concerned about the man for his own good. This was going to be the night he decided to change things up a bit.

He hoped that the volatile man didn’t decided to attack him for what he was about to do.

He approached the bench as he usually did and sat down next to Rhapsodos, but instead of waiting for the other to make the next move he shifted to fully face the other and wrapped his small arms around the SOLDIER. He immediately felt Rhapsodos tense in his grip and took a steadying breath, tightening his grip as he waited for whatever the other decided to do.

He was silently panicking as more and more time passed without anything happening and Cloud was starting to think that he had just signed his own death warrant.

He breathed a great sigh of relief when Rhapsodos finally moved and not in an attempt to attack him. Rhapsodos moved slowly, shifting in Cloud’s grip until he could wind his much stronger limbs around Cloud’s smaller form and hesitantly tucked his head into Cloud’s shoulder.

Cloud had to focus on repressing his shiver at the feeling of cold rain against his neck and the warm breath that fanned across the skin there moments later. Sudden movements probably weren’t a good idea at the current point in time.

They stayed that way until Cloud felt Rhapsodos move to pull away, then instead of simply allowing the other to get up and leave Cloud tightened his own grip on the man before releasing him. He didn’t know whether or not he imagined the other’s moment of pause before Rhapsodos stood up and left.

Cloud watched him go until he couldn’t see the man anymore.

He was back out in the rain the next night, though this time with an umbrella he borrowed from one of his friends. He wasn’t on patrol tonight, meaning he was free to put his plan into action; he had already set up everything he thought he needed, he just needed to see whether it was necessary or not.

The familiar form on the same bench told him that his plan was indeed necessary.

He approached the man but this time he sheltered the other with his umbrella instead of sitting next next to him. Smiling softly when the man turned to stare up at him with a disbelieving look painted on his face.

Cloud watched as Rhapsodos’ features twisted in confusion, his eyes flicking between Cloud and the umbrella in his hand. Cloud waited to see if the man was going to say anything but Rhapsodos remained silent.

Cloud breathed a soft sigh and reached one of his hands out to the taller man, observing the confused way the other focused on his limb. He moved slowly in order to grasp the other’s arm in his hand, gently pulling the man to his feet with him.

Rhapsodos followed his prompting and stood from the bench. Cloud was pleased to note that the other stopped a bit in order to stay under the umbrella instead of standing in the rain.

He offered the man another smile once he was standing next to him under the umbrella, gaining a hesitant one in return. “I’m Cloud,” he said, deciding that he should probably tell the man his name before he squirrelled him away.

“Genesis,” was his only reply, the other’s tone tired and weary.

Cloud nodded his acknowledgement and started to lead Rhapsodos, Genesis, the direction he had come from, keeping his grip on the other’s arm to ensure that Genesis followed him. “Let’s get you out of the rain, alright?” He didn’t expect the other to be adverse to the idea but he wanted to give Genesis the option to leave if he wanted to.

Genesis remained silent, as he expected the man to, following his lead without comment. Cloud thought that the man would have some concern over where Cloud was leading him but Genesis remained silent as he lead him to his shared living space.

It was a small space, containing a living room, kitchen and bathroom along with four tiny bedrooms, Cloud shared it with three other troopers. He had convinced them to make themselves scarce tonight as he was setting things up so he didn’t have to worry about anyone staring at Genesis tonight.

He quickly led Genesis through the living space, to the bathroom of the apartment. Genesis was dripping rainwater on the floor and Cloud really wanted to get him into something warm and dry, he had a few decent towels waiting for them along with one of his soft, way-too-large-for-him jumpers and a pair of baggy pants that Genesis would most likely fit into.

“You drink tea?” Cloud asked as he moved around the bathroom, setting the towels and clothing on the sink as Genesis watched him absentmindedly. “I’ll go make some while you get dry, ok?”

He lifted his head after his question, waiting to see if Genesis would say anything in response. He only got a distracted nod as a response before Genesis started to remove his rain-soaked shirt from his chest.

Cloud escaped the bathroom as quickly as he could, fighting down the flush that was making itself known on his face. It wasn’t fair how gorgeous Genesis was.

Cloud had the tea ready by the time Genesis emerged from the bathroom, looking a bit more alert than when he entered. Fortunately for Cloud, the clothes he had given the other to change into were quite a good fit on the other man. The pants left a bit of Genesis’ lower legs uncovered but at least they fit him.

Genesis was looking around the room curiously, scanning the area before his eyes landed on the nest of blankets and pillows Cloud had arranged before he set off to get him. Cloud had just set the drinks down on the table next to the nest of materials when Genesis moved over, avoiding meeting Cloud’s eyes by focusing instead of the mass of materials in front of him.

“This is a setup,” Genesis offered after a few moments of silence, voice sounding more aware than it had outside.

Cloud smiled up at the taller man, moving around the table to settle down in the mass of soft blankets and pillows. “It’s pretty good, if I say so myself.” He told the SOLDIER, patting the space next to him expectantly. “Get down here so I can fix things up.”

“There’s more?” Genesis voice was both amused and questioning.

Cloud rolled his eyes at the man, tugging him down when he still hadn’t moved to join Cloud. “Of course there’s more,” he said in faux exasperation. “There’s soft blankets, warm drinks and stupid movies to watch.”

Genesis slowly settled into the nest of blankets next to him, letting Cloud fuss until he was cocooned in the warm blankets. Cloud then handed him one of the cups he had prepared and turned to fiddle with the remotes next to him.

He had asked Sammy for some stupid movie recommendations to put on and his response had been to hand Cloud his movie drive and tell him not to do anything he wouldn’t do. That hadn’t really been helpful as he didn’t know that there was anything that Sammy wouldn’t do.

He set up a movie that looked interesting and put the remote down, picking up his own drink for a quick sip before turning back to the other. Genesis was peering at him intently, eyes flicking over his features in a search for something.

Cloud blinked at the other man, reaching out to tuck more of the blanket around Genesis’ form until he was happy with how much the other was covered. Genesis had completely relaxing during his fussing and was now leaning into his space contently.

He fought down his rising flush when Genesis leaned across him to place his cup back on the table, then the other returned to his seat and pressed more fully against his side, winding an arm around Cloud’s waist.

Cloud might have died, just a little bit.

He took a few deep breaths and decided not to worry too much about the gorgeous man curled into him for the moment and simply enjoy the evening.

It was just going to be a nice night in; watching Sammy’s stupid movies and drinking hot tea in his blanket nest, with a gorgeous man pressed against his side. Nothing too difficult to deal with.

And if Genesis stayed the night, none of his roommates said anything about finding them sleeping against each other in their little blanket nest. They definitely didn’t take millions of pictures of them slumped together or tease him about it, no they most certainly did not.

And if Genesis showed up again the next night with a spare change of clothes and a pair of his own pyjamas, then they didn’t judge. They were perfectly happy to let the man join them in watching their trash reality TV and tease Cloud about his new ‘boyfriend’ after he left the next morning.

Cloud was touched that his friends thought he could actually get someone like Genesis Rhapsodos.

He was also glad that Genesis wasn’t sitting out in the rain anymore.

#Strifesodos Week 2017 #strifesodos #gencloud #Genesis Rhapsodos #cloud strife #FFVII #my stories #fanfiction #fanfic #Day Two #Skyee Writes

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lettersofsky · 8 years ago

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Strifesodos Week - Day Five - Late

Day Five of Strifesodos Week! I liked writing this one, this was a good one. This title are also probably revealing more about what’s in my iTunes library than I thought it would. Ko-Fi | AO3

Day Five - Late - Still Shredded and Bruised But I’m Breathing

Genesis stared at Hollander in shock, silently processing what the man had just told him.

He was dying because of something wrong in his cells? His body would start rotting, slowly killing him from the inside while his mind did the same?

There was no possible way that that could be true!

But it did explain why his wound still hadn’t healed and why he was struggling to do things he had once found as easy as breathing. It also explained why he had been having trouble concentrating and remembering things lately.

Perhaps it wasn’t as preposterous as he thought it was.

Was that truly to be his fate? Losing himself to the decay of his mind and body?

He’d rather have Sephiroth run him through with the Masamune.

But, if Hollander knew what was happening to him, then he must know of some way to cure it!

“Can you fix this?!”Genesis questioned, voice desperate. “You know how to fix me, correct?!”

Hollander dithered for a moment, focusing on the pages in front of him. “Not like this, I can’t” He eventually responded, turning away from Genesis as if unconcerned about the fact he had such a volatile warrior in the room with him. “I can’t do anything within Shinra.”

“What do you mean?!” Genesis barked, causing the scientist to flinch at the anger in his tone. “Why wouldn’t Shinra want to save one of their best SOLDIERs?!”

“Shinra wouldn’t care to go so far for you, boy.” Hollander stated, leaned away from where Genesis was seated. “After all, you are replaceable.”

Genesis froze at that, all the fight leaving his body at once. It was true, the only person that Shinra couldn’t replace was Sephiroth. Angeal was already training his own replacement; they would be used until a newer version came along and made them obsolete and unneeded.

There was no hope for him.

“I may be able to do something outside of Shinra though,” Hollander said, turned away from him so that Genesis was unable to see his expression and Hollander couldn’t gauge his response.

“You mean to abandon Shinra?” He scoffed, staring at the man as if he had just suggested to face Sephiroth with only a fork. “You’ll be hunted down and executed for your desertion!”

“Not if you’re protecting me, boy.”

Genesis was stunned by Hollander’s presumption. How dare he assume that he would abandon everything he had just because he was now very aware of his shortened mortal coil.

If anything Genesis should return to Midgar as soon as he was able, Shinra’s war be damned! If he wasn’t able to lead his men into battle with a clear head then he had no purpose being here; he’d much rather Sephiroth here in his place than to be responsible for unnecessary casualties.

He should return to Midgar to get his affairs in order, he still had things he wanted to do before he died. He needed to make sure Angeal and Sephiroth would be alright without him, he needed to ensure that his parents gained nothing from his death.

He wanted to spend more time with his sweet Cloud.

He had promised the younger that he would return to Midgar safely, he didn’t want to abandon him without explanation.

But if there was a way to save himself from his demise, then shouldn’t he take it?

The silence pervaded for several minutes. Then Genesis broke it, speaking in a soft, defeated tone, “You’re sure you can cure me?”

He was a coward, too terrified to accept the inevitability of his death.

“It’s a certainty.”

Genesis took a deep, steadying breath, gingerly rolling his wounded shoulder. He was going to be late returning to Cloud.

He’d explain everything to him once Hollander cured him.

Hopefully Cloud wouldn’t be too angry with him by then.

He had been foolish to think that Hollander had any intention of helping him. He had willingly became a monster for the man and for what?

He had lost everything. His position, his respect, his friends, his Cloud. Everything.

He deserved death after all the wrong he had done; after all the pain and sorrow he had caused the people he cared for, all the destruction he had done in order to obtain a ‘cure’. After all that he didn’t deserve to be saved.

But he was grateful to Fair for trying to help him and for letting him see Cloud one last time before he died. He wanted to be selfish and ask that Fair let them die together but he saw that Fair was adamant that he could find someway to save Cloud then he wouldn’t stop the man.

Fair had been kind enough not to ask why he was so glad to see Cloud when he dragged him from the mines, instead he had guided him over to where Cloud was seated and set him down next to him.

Cloud had changed so much since he had last seen him, he was obviously older and sickly from whatever had been done to him. He didn’t even seen to realize that Genesis was in front of him, he was still as beautiful as the day Genesis had left Midgar.

Goddess, how he had missed him.

He remained conscious long enough to watch Fair hoist Cloud onto his back and walk away before allowing himself to fall into the darkness creeping across his vision.

It seemed it would be his turn to wait for Cloud.

But that wasn’t the case.

He woke up, not in the next life as he had been expecting, but in a cell deep under Midgar, surrounded by people sharing his cells and twisted beyond all moral boundaries. They were people shaped into monsters by Shinra’s cruelty and inhumane practices.

He closed himself off from the rest of the facility, ignoring the others pleas for freedom. He couldn’t save them from Shinra any more than he could save himself, not that he wanted to do either. These people, the main three barely older than his Cloud, knew little else than violence and power, they’d wreak havoc.

He couldn’t allow them out into the world, not if Fair had somehow managed to save Cloud.

He didn’t want to cause any more trouble for his sweet Cloud.

He fell into slumber, oblivious of the world passing around him.

When next he awoke, the world was vastly different from what he remembered.

Midgar had been reduced to rubble and ruins, Shinra was but a shadow of itself and SOLDIER was all but gone, the last few remainders struggling to find purpose in a society that had no use for them.

Time had truly passed him by.

He didn’t know what to do with himself at first so he stayed within the ruins of Midgar and avoided society all together. Things were difficult those first few weeks awake, he managed to find an abandoned theatre that wasn’t too destroyed to hold up in even if it was missing the basic necessities of food and water.

He was a SOLDIER though, one of the Holy Trinity, he managed.

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, now that he was awake again. He didn’t know if Fair or Cloud had survived, so trying to search for them might result in an endless fruitless search. He spent several days in the theatres figuring out the best course of action to take and several more searching for whatever food he could get his hands on.

It wasn’t like he had to worry about anything like food poisoning.

He had been planning on rejoining society eventually, just not at that time.

And then Cloud showed up and dragged him out of his theatre.

He was so stunned at Cloud just being there, alive and in front of him, that he didn’t put up any sort of fight until they were already well out of Midgar and Cloud was dragging him towards the settlement that had been erected a few miles away. He started struggling then, trying to break free of Cloud’s grip as he was dragged through the streets towards what looked to be an apartment building.

Cloud dragged him up several flights of stairs, ignoring Genesis’ struggles and the looks being shot at them by the civilians they passed. Genesis knew exactly what he looked like’ dirty, unkempt, long-knotted hair and filthy clothes barely held together, of course they were staring.

But Cloud didn’t care, moving quickly through the building until he stopped them in front of a door and quickly dug out a key. The door was swiftly opened and Cloud dragged him inside, closing the door behind them.

Genesis was only able to glance around the apartment before Cloud forced him deeper into it, shoving him forcefully inside a bathroom. “We’ll talk once you’re clean.” Cloud shut the door before Genesis could say anything in response, leaving him alone in the bathroom.

Left with no other option, he followed the order he had been given.

The hot water felt heavenly.

Genesis was rather reluctant to leave it.

He reached the realization that he didn’t have anything to change into after he turned the hot water off, he certainly wasn’t going to put his filthy clothes back on. He dried himself off as much as he could before securely wrapping a towel around his waist and tackling the issue of the wet mass that was his hair.

How on earth had Sephiroth managed with it?

He exited the bathroom once he had it as dry as he could, moving hesitantly towards the front of the apartment. Cloud was waiting for him in the living room, sitting on the couch with a pensive expression, he focused on Genesis the moment he appeared in the doorway, unconcerned with Genesis’ state of dress.

Genesis felt something lodge itself in his throat at the sight of the other, Cloud was still as beautiful as he had ever been. He looked phenomenally better than the last time he saw him; his skin had a healthy colour to it and his eyes were bright and aware, far different from the sickly appearance he had had in Banora.

He approached Cloud, deciding not to try the other’s patience and sat on the chair across from him. He sat down carefully, fully aware that he was wrapped only in a towel while Cloud appeared to be garbed for battle.

He waited silently for Cloud to begin speaking, nerves freezing the words in his throat.

Cloud sighed heavily, slumping in his seat and running a hand over his face in an exhausted manner. “What happened?” He asked after a few moments, voice tired and weary.

Genesis spent a moment thinking through his answer before he started his recount of events.

Cloud deserved a proper explanation, he had left him waiting for far too long.

#Strifesodos Week 2017 #strifesodos #gencloud #Genesis Rhapsodos #cloud strife #my stories #ffvii #fanfiction #fanfic #Day Five #Skyee Writes

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