Have a Cookie (CloudxRiku, R)
Title: Have a Cookie
Author: Page of Cups
Pairing: Cloud Strife/Riku
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Rating: R
Theme: #12 In a Good Mood
Disclaimer: Kingdom Heart totally doesn’t belong to poor little ole me. It belongs to a bunch of rich people at Disney and Square Enix. Being as poor as I am, I am not affiliated with the rich people at either of these companies. I’m not even worthy to clean their toilets. So there.
Author’s Note: This idea came randomly to me while playing Dirge of Cerberus. I wasn’t sure if I would actually write it, but as it was the only idea I had at the time, I went with it. Reno’s appearance here is purely for comical purposes and is brought to you by my odd obsession with red-headed characters.
Aerith Gainsborough peered out her kitchen window through pale blue curtains across the expanse of homes outside the Market in Radiant Garden. A Gummi ship drew closer in the sky, descending toward a landing strip by the Gummi Garage in the distance. She allowed herself a brief smile and turned to pull teacups from an overhead cabinet. The kettle on the stove whistled.
In the aforementioned Gummi Garage, the same approach sounding loudly above caught the attention of two men in the Garage office. Cid barely had time to holler after Cloud before the invoices they had been going over were abandoned, scattered across Cloud’s desk as he dashed from the small room and outside a side door. Cid sighed, rubbed the area between his eyes with his middle finger, and lit a cigarette. He trailed Cloud’s path outside.
The Gummi ship landed and came to a stop as Cid joined Cloud outside. Cloud was raking his fingers through his head of spiky blond hair and shifting his feet as the hatch opened. Cid snorted, expelling a swirl of smoke from his mouth.
“Ants in your pants?” said Cid.
Cloud glared. He snatched the cigarette from Cid’s mouth, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it. Cid snorted a second time, pulled another from the pack in his pocket, and lit up.
“It’s been a long time, okay?” said Cloud.
Cid shrugged.
“I didn’t say nothing about it.”
“You said I had ants in my pants!”
“You’re twitchin’. How am I supposed to know?”
“I’m not twitching!”
“That was way more than I needed to know, yo.”
Cloud broke his glare at Cid to look at the opened hatch of the Gummi ship. He groaned, about to cover his eyes because maybe then it would go away, but this act of melodramatic flair was cut short. At that moment a brunette girl stepped out of the ship, called Cloud’s name, and rushed forward, crushing his body against her overlarge breasts. Cloud grunted.
“It feels like forever!” Tifa cried, tightening the hug. Cloud grunted again. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I said I’d say hello but you’re kind of crushing me,” Cloud grunted out.
“But you just said all of that, yo,” said Reno. At the same time, Tifa released her grip, and cried, “Oh, I’m sorry! I was just happy to see you, and...”
“It’s okay,” said Cloud. He rotated his shoulder. “It’s good to see you, too. What’d you bring him here for?”
“Who? Reno?” said Tifa.
“Yes.”
“I resent that, yo.”
“Well since Rude was coming...” said Tifa.
“Why was Rude coming? I thought it was just you and Vincent.”
“Because Rude’s her boyfriend, yo,” said Reno. “Try to keep up.”
“What? I thought Vincent was your boyfriend.”
“We broke up,” said Vincent, stepping out of the ship. Rude, wearing his signature shades, exited behind him.
“It was a mutual decision,” said Tifa. “We’re still friends.”
“So let me get this straight,” said Cloud. Vincent swept past him, said a brief hello, and headed over to Cid. “You and Vincent broke up. Now you’re dating Rude and since Reno is attached to Rude’s ass...”
“Why do you got to put it that way?” said Reno. “Just because we’re partners doesn’t mean we’re partners, yo. I had to look out for my buddy.”
“Reno is wary of my intentions,” said Tifa, rolling her eyes. Cloud arched an eyebrow.
“She’s a succubus, yo. She’s a man-eater.”
Cloud rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“All right. Sure. Well...Aerith’s expecting us so...”
“Flower girl?” said Reno. “I thought she kicked the bucket, yo.”
Cloud and Tifa glared. From behind Tifa Rude signaled Reno and shook his head. Reno shrugged.
“I guess I should call and tell her there are two more coming.”
“One,” said Vincent.
“I’m showing Vincent around the Garage,” said Cid. “We’ll be there for dinner, though.”
“Is dinner at Aerith’s tonight?”
“Think so. Dinner was at Leon’s last night.”
“Now who the hell is Leon?” said Reno.
“He’s another friend of ours,” said Tifa. “You’ll meet him tonight at dinner.” Cloud snickered. Tifa frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“The idea of Leon and Reno in the same room,” said Cloud.
Tifa stifled a snicker.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Reno.
Cloud sighed. He shot Cid a weary look, but Cid simply shrugged.
“Sorry, Spiky. Can’t help you on this one. C’mon, Vincent. I’ll give you the grand tour. You can take a look around the new Highwind. She’s a real beaut’.”
Vincent nodded and followed Cid into the Garage. Cloud shook his head and looked to Tifa.
“Well I suppose there’s nothing I can do about it now. Let’s just head over to Aerith’s.”
Tifa smiled and mouthed a thank you. She turned, smiled at Rude, and wrapped her arm through his to rest her hand on his back.
“Lead the way,” she said.
Cloud laughed.
“It’s not like it’s your first time here. You know where you’re going.”
“Yeah, but you live here. It’s your right.”
Cloud nodded, gave one last scathing look at Reno, and then took off down the hill in the direction toward the homes outside of the Market district. Tifa and Rude closely followed, but Reno stayed rooted by the Garage.
“You didn’t answer my question, yo! Hey! Hey, don’t leave without me, yo!”
“Then stop being such a pain in the ass and come on!” Cloud called back over his shoulder. He snorted at the sound of Reno’s feet pounding after them.
“So this is where you all grew up?” said Rude. Tifa nodded.
“Yep. You see the all the houses up ahead?” Rude nodded. “We lived in an orphanage just past there. It was destroyed when the Heartless came, but since the Restoration, Aerith raised enough money to have a new one built. It’s been a really great project, especially with all the kids that lost their families to the darkness.”
“You’re real weird about orphans, yo,” said Reno.
Tifa raised her eyebrows.
“Excuse me?”
“You got them orphan kids that live with you in Edge, too. That’s all I’m sayin’.”
“I was an orphan, Reno. I’m not weird about them; I understand it.”
“I’m just sayin’...”
Rude frowned and shook his head. Reno opened his mouth again, but Rude’s frown deepened; his expression hardened. Reno sighed.
“Whatever. So what’s up with you, Chocobo-head?”
Cloud rolled his eyes.
“I work at the Garage with Cid. Mostly I do mechanic work, but I’ve been helping out in the office a lot lately because the last guy quit. What about you? Still licking the Shinra Corporation’s asses?”
“I don’t lick anyone’s ass. You’re the fairy queer. Stop pushing your problems onto me, yo.”
“I’m not pushing any problems on you. You are the problem.”
“C’mon. You’re our buddy. Pull the stick out of your ass and show some respect, yo.”
Rude covered his face with his hand. Tifa smirked.
“I’m not your buddy and there is no stick up my ass. Listen to me, you little red-headed freak: This is my hometown. You’re on my turf now, so if anyone should be showing some respect, it’s you. If you don’t shut up, I’m going to tell Yuffie you want to fuck her.”
“That’s fucking mean, yo. What the hell’s wrong with you? You aren’t acting normal, yo.”
“What do you mean I’m not acting normal? I never liked you.”
“But you weren’t this vocal about it, yo.”
“Would you stop saying ‘yo’? You’re driving me crazy.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?! You’re freaking me out, yo!”
Rude sighed. Tifa patted his chest.
“There is nothing wrong with me!”
“You’re acting fucking weird. Tifa, you’re his friend. Isn’t he acting fucking weird?”
“Well...” said Tifa.
“You are not agreeing with him!” said Cloud.
“You are acting a little...unlike yourself. You aren’t usually so...”
“Vocal,” said Reno. “Unless you’re ripping on yourself, yo. What’s with that anyway?”
“What he means is that you’re usually a lot less apparent with your emotions,” said Tifa. “We all know you are, but you don’t usually show you’re annoyed with Reno.”
“Yeah. The only person who usually gets you this pissed off is Sephiroth, yo.”
Cloud stopped walking. He glared between the two of them.
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is, yo.”
“You’re a little testy,” said Tifa. “That’s all.”
“Yeah? Well I was in a good mood until he showed up, so put two and two together.”
Cloud turned and continued walking in the direction of Aerith’s house. He took a turn onto one of the streets between two houses. Tifa, Rude, and Reno followed.
“Listen, I’ll make sure he’s better behaved, okay?” said Tifa. She gave Rude a light slap and glared. Rude sighed and shrugged.
“Yeah,” said Rude.
“I’m not doing anything wrong, yo!” said Reno. “All I did was ask him what he was up to. He’s the one who started talking about licking asses, yo. Anyway, it’s all a bunch of shit anyway. I don’t think Cloud can even be in a good mood.”
“I was in a good mood,” said Cloud. “Not that you’d know because I’d never be in one around you.”
“Sure you were, yo. What was that like? You were only kind of moody today?”
“Reno, do me a favor and eat my...”
“Oh, look, there’s Aerith!” said Tifa, rushing ahead and pulling Rude behind her. Cloud and Reno exchanged glares and walked forward to meet Aerith outside in front of her house. Tifa was explaining the Reno situation to Aerith when Cloud and the aforementioned moron reached them. Cloud brushed past the group into the house without a word. From behind him, he heard Reno mouthing off about Chocobo-heads and sticks up asses. Cloud left the door hanging open, and it was several minutes later as he sat down at the table with a cup of coffee (he bypassed the tea) that the rest of the group joined him.
“I heard Reno was giving you a hard time,” said Aerith.
Cloud grumbled.
“He’s got a stick up his butt, yo!” said Reno.
“I’ve only been in a crappy mood since you got here,” said Cloud.
“It’s a shame,” said Aerith. “You were in such a good mood this morning.”
Cloud gave Reno an obnoxious look as if to say ‘I told you so.’ He sat staring angrily at the wall past Aerith’s shoulder and thinking of all the vicious forms of mutilation he’d like to bestow upon Reno as the group settled down around the table with the tea and biscuits Aerith had set out before their arrival. He heard their muted voices underlying his thoughts, and it was almost twenty minutes later during one of Reno’s tirades about something unimportant when the graphic image in his head of Reno’s guts falling out of his asshole was disrupted by the backdoor opening. Aerith looked up and grinned.
“Riku! You’re early.”
Cloud’s scowl faded and his head shot up. Riku blinked, taking in the large group around the table, and shot Cloud a quick grin before he met Aerith’s eyes.
“Oh, yeah,” said Riku. “I’m not staying. Leon just sent me over to give you a few papers to go over about the plans for the orphanage renovation and to let you know we might be a bit late for dinner. A pipe burst in the castle and now the entire basement is flooded again.”
Aerith nodded, standing to take the folder Riku offered out to her.
“Okay. Hey, have you met everyone?”
Riku bit his lower lip and shook his head.
“Er...no. I thought it was just Tifa and Vincent coming.”
He warily eyed the entire group at the table as if trying to figure out which one was the enigmatic Vincent Valentine he’d heard so much about, but was confused by the lack of a trademark red cape. Cloud snorted.
“So did I,” said Cloud.
“Don’t you get started again, yo,” said Reno. “Life was a whole lot better when you were keeping your mouth shut.”
“Don’t make me rip off your head and shit down your neck.”
Riku snickered.
“Sounds like your good mood lasted,” said Riku.
“I told you I was in a good fucking mood,” said Cloud.
“So...um...” said Tifa, cocking her head to the side. She nudged Cloud. “Are you going to introduce us?”
“Oh, yeah...” said Cloud. “About that...”
“This is Riku,” said Aerith. “Remember Sora?”
Tifa nodded.
“Baby Keyblade master.”
“Right. This is his friend he was looking for. He finally found him, and then Sora came to visit about eight months ago with Riku and Kairi. Sora and Kairi left; Riku stayed.”
Riku shrugged.
“I let the Heartless devour my home world. It just didn’t feel right to go back there.”
“So he’s been staying here and helping with the restoration,” said Aerith.
Riku smirked.
“And other things...”
Despite his best attempts and annoyance with Reno, Cloud smirked. Reno pointed.
“I told you he was acting weird, yo! First he’s freaking out and now he’s smiling, yo!”
Cloud glared.
“Don’t you have someone else to torture with your idiocy? Riku, this is Reno. Ignore everything he says.”
“I’m Tifa,” said Tifa, waving. “It’s nice to meet you. This is Rude.”
She signaled to the man next to her.
“Rude and Tifa are dating,” said Cloud.
“I thought she was dating Vincent,” said Riku. Tifa raised her eyebrows. Riku shrugged. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“They broke up,” said Aerith.
“Better not let Yuffie hear,” said Cloud. “She’ll try to rape him.”
“What?” said Tifa and Riku.
“I don’t know,” said Cloud. “I just kind of always got the feeling she was hot for him.”
“The idea of Yuffie being hot for anyone kind of freaks me out,” said Riku.
“Really?” said Tifa.
“Yeah,” said Cloud. “You never got that?”
“Not really.”
“So what?” said Riku. “Vincent didn’t come now?”
“He’s at the Garage with Cid checking out the Highwind,” said Cloud.
“Cid and Vincent became pretty good friends in the war against Sephiroth,” said Aerith.
“They’re drinking buddies.”
Riku nodded.
“Yeah, I figured,” he said. “I noticed nothing really bonds the guys around here quite like alcohol.”
“Hey,” said Cloud, “just because Leon and I are drinking buddies doesn’t mean that’s the only way I bond with guys.”
Aerith snickered.
“Get what he’s saying?” she said.
Cloud winked. Riku smiled and shook his head.
“I don’t get it, yo,” said Reno. “What was he saying?”
“He was being a pervert,” said Riku. “And Aerith, I’m surprised at you, encouraging him like that.”
“It makes him happy,” she said, giving him a wry smile. “I’m not about to get in the way of anything that makes him smile.”
“Cause it’s fucking weird, yo, and it’s weird he was being a pervert, too! What the hell is going on around here? Who are you and what the fuck did you do with Cloud Strife, yo?”
“Why does he keep saying ‘yo’?” said Riku.
“He’s Reno. I told you to ignore him,” said Cloud. “I’m getting really good at it. See how I’m ignoring him?”
“I’m impressed.”
“Thanks.”
“Well it was nice to meet you all, but I have to get back to the castle before Leon develops a hernia.”
Cloud reached out and gripped Riku’s wrist.
“Please don’t leave me with these people. Leon will live; I might commit suicide.”
Riku smirked.
“You better not or I’ll bring you back and feed you to Yuffie.”
“Why do we always rip on Yuffie?”
“Cause she makes it so easy.”
“Oh, that’s right. The matter remains, however: Please don’t leave me with these people.”
“I have to go back. You can come with. I’m sure Leon would be happy to find a wrench with your name on it.”
“Eh...I think I’ll pass.”
“Have fun with Reno.”
“How much late are you going to be?”
“Probably only twenty to thirty minutes. I won’t let Leon keep me too late. I have some sort of conscience leaving you here all tortured.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope your mood improves.”
“Already did.”
Riku smiled. He knelt down by the chair, leaned forward, and pressed his lips to Cloud’s.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. Go back to Leon before I persuade you to stay.”
“As if you could.”
Cloud touched his lips to Riku’s again.
“You don’t think I could?”
“I’m going.”
Riku stood, gave Cloud’s hand a light squeeze, and left through the back door. Aerith and Cloud exchanged a smile, but he was soon aware of three sets of eyes on him. Tifa had her head propped up on her hands and was giving Cloud a smirk.
“What?” said Cloud.
“I think I should be asking you that,” said Tifa.
“You just kissed him, yo,” said Reno.
Cloud stared.
“What’s your point?”
“You kissed him, yo. You don’t kiss people. You...you’re kind of cold, yo.”
“What he means is that you aren’t...You don’t really...” said Tifa.
“You don’t date too often,” said Rude.
“You are dating, right?” said Tifa.
Cloud stared.
“No, I just kiss my friends all the time. So what if we’re dating? What’s the big deal?”
“I just didn’t know you were seeing anyone. No one mentioned it.”
“I guess they didn’t think of it.”
“Is it serious? I mean...if it’s not my place to ask, just tell me. I just...You said you loved him, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that to anyone before.”
“They’re living together,” said Aerith.
“How did that happen? It’s kind of soon, isn’t it?”
“I met him back when I was still working with Hades and we became friends,” said Cloud. “He was involved with the darkness, too, and we had a lot in common. When he came here with Sora...and then he stayed...I don’t know.”
“They fell in love,” said Aerith. “They’re really quite sweet when they aren’t all over each other.”
“We don’t have sex that much.”
“That’s not what Leon says.”
“Leon needs to learn to keep his opinions to himself.”
“Remind me to find out what Leon says from the man himself,” said Tifa. She wriggled her eyebrows. “This is something I just have to hear.”
“This is weird and I don’t like it, yo. You’re...You’re Cloud Strife. Spiky. Chocobo-head. You don’t smile or date people or...I guess you really are a queer, though, huh? I knew it, yo. Didn’t I tell you, Rude? Didn’t I?”
Rude jerked his head in Reno’s direction.
“You did.”
Cloud’s smiled faded into a glare. He met gazes with Aerith.
“And my good mood’s gone. Just like that. That’s how much I hate that little red-headed bastard.”
“It’s not all that bad,” said Aerith. She grabbed a package from the table and held it out to him. “Have a cookie for now and remind yourself that later tonight you can go home and it will be just you and Riku. That ought to really improve your mood.”
Cloud gave Aerith a wry grin.
“Well yeah. Why do you think I was in such a good mood this morning?”
“That’s perverted, yo!” Reno cried, covering his ears. “I don’t want to hear that! That’s sick, yo! Who are you and what did you do with Chocobo-head?!”
Cloud burst into laughter and reached forward to grab the package from Aerith’s hands.
“You know, this might not be so bad after all.”
Author: Page of Cups
Pairing: Cloud Strife/Riku
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Rating: R
Theme: #12 In a Good Mood
Disclaimer: Kingdom Heart totally doesn’t belong to poor little ole me. It belongs to a bunch of rich people at Disney and Square Enix. Being as poor as I am, I am not affiliated with the rich people at either of these companies. I’m not even worthy to clean their toilets. So there.
Author’s Note: This idea came randomly to me while playing Dirge of Cerberus. I wasn’t sure if I would actually write it, but as it was the only idea I had at the time, I went with it. Reno’s appearance here is purely for comical purposes and is brought to you by my odd obsession with red-headed characters.
Aerith Gainsborough peered out her kitchen window through pale blue curtains across the expanse of homes outside the Market in Radiant Garden. A Gummi ship drew closer in the sky, descending toward a landing strip by the Gummi Garage in the distance. She allowed herself a brief smile and turned to pull teacups from an overhead cabinet. The kettle on the stove whistled.
In the aforementioned Gummi Garage, the same approach sounding loudly above caught the attention of two men in the Garage office. Cid barely had time to holler after Cloud before the invoices they had been going over were abandoned, scattered across Cloud’s desk as he dashed from the small room and outside a side door. Cid sighed, rubbed the area between his eyes with his middle finger, and lit a cigarette. He trailed Cloud’s path outside.
The Gummi ship landed and came to a stop as Cid joined Cloud outside. Cloud was raking his fingers through his head of spiky blond hair and shifting his feet as the hatch opened. Cid snorted, expelling a swirl of smoke from his mouth.
“Ants in your pants?” said Cid.
Cloud glared. He snatched the cigarette from Cid’s mouth, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it. Cid snorted a second time, pulled another from the pack in his pocket, and lit up.
“It’s been a long time, okay?” said Cloud.
Cid shrugged.
“I didn’t say nothing about it.”
“You said I had ants in my pants!”
“You’re twitchin’. How am I supposed to know?”
“I’m not twitching!”
“That was way more than I needed to know, yo.”
Cloud broke his glare at Cid to look at the opened hatch of the Gummi ship. He groaned, about to cover his eyes because maybe then it would go away, but this act of melodramatic flair was cut short. At that moment a brunette girl stepped out of the ship, called Cloud’s name, and rushed forward, crushing his body against her overlarge breasts. Cloud grunted.
“It feels like forever!” Tifa cried, tightening the hug. Cloud grunted again. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I said I’d say hello but you’re kind of crushing me,” Cloud grunted out.
“But you just said all of that, yo,” said Reno. At the same time, Tifa released her grip, and cried, “Oh, I’m sorry! I was just happy to see you, and...”
“It’s okay,” said Cloud. He rotated his shoulder. “It’s good to see you, too. What’d you bring him here for?”
“Who? Reno?” said Tifa.
“Yes.”
“I resent that, yo.”
“Well since Rude was coming...” said Tifa.
“Why was Rude coming? I thought it was just you and Vincent.”
“Because Rude’s her boyfriend, yo,” said Reno. “Try to keep up.”
“What? I thought Vincent was your boyfriend.”
“We broke up,” said Vincent, stepping out of the ship. Rude, wearing his signature shades, exited behind him.
“It was a mutual decision,” said Tifa. “We’re still friends.”
“So let me get this straight,” said Cloud. Vincent swept past him, said a brief hello, and headed over to Cid. “You and Vincent broke up. Now you’re dating Rude and since Reno is attached to Rude’s ass...”
“Why do you got to put it that way?” said Reno. “Just because we’re partners doesn’t mean we’re partners, yo. I had to look out for my buddy.”
“Reno is wary of my intentions,” said Tifa, rolling her eyes. Cloud arched an eyebrow.
“She’s a succubus, yo. She’s a man-eater.”
Cloud rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“All right. Sure. Well...Aerith’s expecting us so...”
“Flower girl?” said Reno. “I thought she kicked the bucket, yo.”
Cloud and Tifa glared. From behind Tifa Rude signaled Reno and shook his head. Reno shrugged.
“I guess I should call and tell her there are two more coming.”
“One,” said Vincent.
“I’m showing Vincent around the Garage,” said Cid. “We’ll be there for dinner, though.”
“Is dinner at Aerith’s tonight?”
“Think so. Dinner was at Leon’s last night.”
“Now who the hell is Leon?” said Reno.
“He’s another friend of ours,” said Tifa. “You’ll meet him tonight at dinner.” Cloud snickered. Tifa frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“The idea of Leon and Reno in the same room,” said Cloud.
Tifa stifled a snicker.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Reno.
Cloud sighed. He shot Cid a weary look, but Cid simply shrugged.
“Sorry, Spiky. Can’t help you on this one. C’mon, Vincent. I’ll give you the grand tour. You can take a look around the new Highwind. She’s a real beaut’.”
Vincent nodded and followed Cid into the Garage. Cloud shook his head and looked to Tifa.
“Well I suppose there’s nothing I can do about it now. Let’s just head over to Aerith’s.”
Tifa smiled and mouthed a thank you. She turned, smiled at Rude, and wrapped her arm through his to rest her hand on his back.
“Lead the way,” she said.
Cloud laughed.
“It’s not like it’s your first time here. You know where you’re going.”
“Yeah, but you live here. It’s your right.”
Cloud nodded, gave one last scathing look at Reno, and then took off down the hill in the direction toward the homes outside of the Market district. Tifa and Rude closely followed, but Reno stayed rooted by the Garage.
“You didn’t answer my question, yo! Hey! Hey, don’t leave without me, yo!”
“Then stop being such a pain in the ass and come on!” Cloud called back over his shoulder. He snorted at the sound of Reno’s feet pounding after them.
“So this is where you all grew up?” said Rude. Tifa nodded.
“Yep. You see the all the houses up ahead?” Rude nodded. “We lived in an orphanage just past there. It was destroyed when the Heartless came, but since the Restoration, Aerith raised enough money to have a new one built. It’s been a really great project, especially with all the kids that lost their families to the darkness.”
“You’re real weird about orphans, yo,” said Reno.
Tifa raised her eyebrows.
“Excuse me?”
“You got them orphan kids that live with you in Edge, too. That’s all I’m sayin’.”
“I was an orphan, Reno. I’m not weird about them; I understand it.”
“I’m just sayin’...”
Rude frowned and shook his head. Reno opened his mouth again, but Rude’s frown deepened; his expression hardened. Reno sighed.
“Whatever. So what’s up with you, Chocobo-head?”
Cloud rolled his eyes.
“I work at the Garage with Cid. Mostly I do mechanic work, but I’ve been helping out in the office a lot lately because the last guy quit. What about you? Still licking the Shinra Corporation’s asses?”
“I don’t lick anyone’s ass. You’re the fairy queer. Stop pushing your problems onto me, yo.”
“I’m not pushing any problems on you. You are the problem.”
“C’mon. You’re our buddy. Pull the stick out of your ass and show some respect, yo.”
Rude covered his face with his hand. Tifa smirked.
“I’m not your buddy and there is no stick up my ass. Listen to me, you little red-headed freak: This is my hometown. You’re on my turf now, so if anyone should be showing some respect, it’s you. If you don’t shut up, I’m going to tell Yuffie you want to fuck her.”
“That’s fucking mean, yo. What the hell’s wrong with you? You aren’t acting normal, yo.”
“What do you mean I’m not acting normal? I never liked you.”
“But you weren’t this vocal about it, yo.”
“Would you stop saying ‘yo’? You’re driving me crazy.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?! You’re freaking me out, yo!”
Rude sighed. Tifa patted his chest.
“There is nothing wrong with me!”
“You’re acting fucking weird. Tifa, you’re his friend. Isn’t he acting fucking weird?”
“Well...” said Tifa.
“You are not agreeing with him!” said Cloud.
“You are acting a little...unlike yourself. You aren’t usually so...”
“Vocal,” said Reno. “Unless you’re ripping on yourself, yo. What’s with that anyway?”
“What he means is that you’re usually a lot less apparent with your emotions,” said Tifa. “We all know you are, but you don’t usually show you’re annoyed with Reno.”
“Yeah. The only person who usually gets you this pissed off is Sephiroth, yo.”
Cloud stopped walking. He glared between the two of them.
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is, yo.”
“You’re a little testy,” said Tifa. “That’s all.”
“Yeah? Well I was in a good mood until he showed up, so put two and two together.”
Cloud turned and continued walking in the direction of Aerith’s house. He took a turn onto one of the streets between two houses. Tifa, Rude, and Reno followed.
“Listen, I’ll make sure he’s better behaved, okay?” said Tifa. She gave Rude a light slap and glared. Rude sighed and shrugged.
“Yeah,” said Rude.
“I’m not doing anything wrong, yo!” said Reno. “All I did was ask him what he was up to. He’s the one who started talking about licking asses, yo. Anyway, it’s all a bunch of shit anyway. I don’t think Cloud can even be in a good mood.”
“I was in a good mood,” said Cloud. “Not that you’d know because I’d never be in one around you.”
“Sure you were, yo. What was that like? You were only kind of moody today?”
“Reno, do me a favor and eat my...”
“Oh, look, there’s Aerith!” said Tifa, rushing ahead and pulling Rude behind her. Cloud and Reno exchanged glares and walked forward to meet Aerith outside in front of her house. Tifa was explaining the Reno situation to Aerith when Cloud and the aforementioned moron reached them. Cloud brushed past the group into the house without a word. From behind him, he heard Reno mouthing off about Chocobo-heads and sticks up asses. Cloud left the door hanging open, and it was several minutes later as he sat down at the table with a cup of coffee (he bypassed the tea) that the rest of the group joined him.
“I heard Reno was giving you a hard time,” said Aerith.
Cloud grumbled.
“He’s got a stick up his butt, yo!” said Reno.
“I’ve only been in a crappy mood since you got here,” said Cloud.
“It’s a shame,” said Aerith. “You were in such a good mood this morning.”
Cloud gave Reno an obnoxious look as if to say ‘I told you so.’ He sat staring angrily at the wall past Aerith’s shoulder and thinking of all the vicious forms of mutilation he’d like to bestow upon Reno as the group settled down around the table with the tea and biscuits Aerith had set out before their arrival. He heard their muted voices underlying his thoughts, and it was almost twenty minutes later during one of Reno’s tirades about something unimportant when the graphic image in his head of Reno’s guts falling out of his asshole was disrupted by the backdoor opening. Aerith looked up and grinned.
“Riku! You’re early.”
Cloud’s scowl faded and his head shot up. Riku blinked, taking in the large group around the table, and shot Cloud a quick grin before he met Aerith’s eyes.
“Oh, yeah,” said Riku. “I’m not staying. Leon just sent me over to give you a few papers to go over about the plans for the orphanage renovation and to let you know we might be a bit late for dinner. A pipe burst in the castle and now the entire basement is flooded again.”
Aerith nodded, standing to take the folder Riku offered out to her.
“Okay. Hey, have you met everyone?”
Riku bit his lower lip and shook his head.
“Er...no. I thought it was just Tifa and Vincent coming.”
He warily eyed the entire group at the table as if trying to figure out which one was the enigmatic Vincent Valentine he’d heard so much about, but was confused by the lack of a trademark red cape. Cloud snorted.
“So did I,” said Cloud.
“Don’t you get started again, yo,” said Reno. “Life was a whole lot better when you were keeping your mouth shut.”
“Don’t make me rip off your head and shit down your neck.”
Riku snickered.
“Sounds like your good mood lasted,” said Riku.
“I told you I was in a good fucking mood,” said Cloud.
“So...um...” said Tifa, cocking her head to the side. She nudged Cloud. “Are you going to introduce us?”
“Oh, yeah...” said Cloud. “About that...”
“This is Riku,” said Aerith. “Remember Sora?”
Tifa nodded.
“Baby Keyblade master.”
“Right. This is his friend he was looking for. He finally found him, and then Sora came to visit about eight months ago with Riku and Kairi. Sora and Kairi left; Riku stayed.”
Riku shrugged.
“I let the Heartless devour my home world. It just didn’t feel right to go back there.”
“So he’s been staying here and helping with the restoration,” said Aerith.
Riku smirked.
“And other things...”
Despite his best attempts and annoyance with Reno, Cloud smirked. Reno pointed.
“I told you he was acting weird, yo! First he’s freaking out and now he’s smiling, yo!”
Cloud glared.
“Don’t you have someone else to torture with your idiocy? Riku, this is Reno. Ignore everything he says.”
“I’m Tifa,” said Tifa, waving. “It’s nice to meet you. This is Rude.”
She signaled to the man next to her.
“Rude and Tifa are dating,” said Cloud.
“I thought she was dating Vincent,” said Riku. Tifa raised her eyebrows. Riku shrugged. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“They broke up,” said Aerith.
“Better not let Yuffie hear,” said Cloud. “She’ll try to rape him.”
“What?” said Tifa and Riku.
“I don’t know,” said Cloud. “I just kind of always got the feeling she was hot for him.”
“The idea of Yuffie being hot for anyone kind of freaks me out,” said Riku.
“Really?” said Tifa.
“Yeah,” said Cloud. “You never got that?”
“Not really.”
“So what?” said Riku. “Vincent didn’t come now?”
“He’s at the Garage with Cid checking out the Highwind,” said Cloud.
“Cid and Vincent became pretty good friends in the war against Sephiroth,” said Aerith.
“They’re drinking buddies.”
Riku nodded.
“Yeah, I figured,” he said. “I noticed nothing really bonds the guys around here quite like alcohol.”
“Hey,” said Cloud, “just because Leon and I are drinking buddies doesn’t mean that’s the only way I bond with guys.”
Aerith snickered.
“Get what he’s saying?” she said.
Cloud winked. Riku smiled and shook his head.
“I don’t get it, yo,” said Reno. “What was he saying?”
“He was being a pervert,” said Riku. “And Aerith, I’m surprised at you, encouraging him like that.”
“It makes him happy,” she said, giving him a wry smile. “I’m not about to get in the way of anything that makes him smile.”
“Cause it’s fucking weird, yo, and it’s weird he was being a pervert, too! What the hell is going on around here? Who are you and what the fuck did you do with Cloud Strife, yo?”
“Why does he keep saying ‘yo’?” said Riku.
“He’s Reno. I told you to ignore him,” said Cloud. “I’m getting really good at it. See how I’m ignoring him?”
“I’m impressed.”
“Thanks.”
“Well it was nice to meet you all, but I have to get back to the castle before Leon develops a hernia.”
Cloud reached out and gripped Riku’s wrist.
“Please don’t leave me with these people. Leon will live; I might commit suicide.”
Riku smirked.
“You better not or I’ll bring you back and feed you to Yuffie.”
“Why do we always rip on Yuffie?”
“Cause she makes it so easy.”
“Oh, that’s right. The matter remains, however: Please don’t leave me with these people.”
“I have to go back. You can come with. I’m sure Leon would be happy to find a wrench with your name on it.”
“Eh...I think I’ll pass.”
“Have fun with Reno.”
“How much late are you going to be?”
“Probably only twenty to thirty minutes. I won’t let Leon keep me too late. I have some sort of conscience leaving you here all tortured.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope your mood improves.”
“Already did.”
Riku smiled. He knelt down by the chair, leaned forward, and pressed his lips to Cloud’s.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. Go back to Leon before I persuade you to stay.”
“As if you could.”
Cloud touched his lips to Riku’s again.
“You don’t think I could?”
“I’m going.”
Riku stood, gave Cloud’s hand a light squeeze, and left through the back door. Aerith and Cloud exchanged a smile, but he was soon aware of three sets of eyes on him. Tifa had her head propped up on her hands and was giving Cloud a smirk.
“What?” said Cloud.
“I think I should be asking you that,” said Tifa.
“You just kissed him, yo,” said Reno.
Cloud stared.
“What’s your point?”
“You kissed him, yo. You don’t kiss people. You...you’re kind of cold, yo.”
“What he means is that you aren’t...You don’t really...” said Tifa.
“You don’t date too often,” said Rude.
“You are dating, right?” said Tifa.
Cloud stared.
“No, I just kiss my friends all the time. So what if we’re dating? What’s the big deal?”
“I just didn’t know you were seeing anyone. No one mentioned it.”
“I guess they didn’t think of it.”
“Is it serious? I mean...if it’s not my place to ask, just tell me. I just...You said you loved him, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that to anyone before.”
“They’re living together,” said Aerith.
“How did that happen? It’s kind of soon, isn’t it?”
“I met him back when I was still working with Hades and we became friends,” said Cloud. “He was involved with the darkness, too, and we had a lot in common. When he came here with Sora...and then he stayed...I don’t know.”
“They fell in love,” said Aerith. “They’re really quite sweet when they aren’t all over each other.”
“We don’t have sex that much.”
“That’s not what Leon says.”
“Leon needs to learn to keep his opinions to himself.”
“Remind me to find out what Leon says from the man himself,” said Tifa. She wriggled her eyebrows. “This is something I just have to hear.”
“This is weird and I don’t like it, yo. You’re...You’re Cloud Strife. Spiky. Chocobo-head. You don’t smile or date people or...I guess you really are a queer, though, huh? I knew it, yo. Didn’t I tell you, Rude? Didn’t I?”
Rude jerked his head in Reno’s direction.
“You did.”
Cloud’s smiled faded into a glare. He met gazes with Aerith.
“And my good mood’s gone. Just like that. That’s how much I hate that little red-headed bastard.”
“It’s not all that bad,” said Aerith. She grabbed a package from the table and held it out to him. “Have a cookie for now and remind yourself that later tonight you can go home and it will be just you and Riku. That ought to really improve your mood.”
Cloud gave Aerith a wry grin.
“Well yeah. Why do you think I was in such a good mood this morning?”
“That’s perverted, yo!” Reno cried, covering his ears. “I don’t want to hear that! That’s sick, yo! Who are you and what did you do with Chocobo-head?!”
Cloud burst into laughter and reached forward to grab the package from Aerith’s hands.
“You know, this might not be so bad after all.”