2 Fics?!
It is, but don't get too excited, it's mostly just more Cloud x Kuja stuff. =P
Name: Beach Fun Clouja + Surfer Tidus (yes, I do mean this to sound like a Barbie dreamland, lol)
Pairing: Cloud x Kuja (+Tidus)
Rating: PG-13 - boys kissing, language, suggestive themes
Status: Complete - One-Shot (2500 words)
Summary: Tidus is summoned for the 12th Cycle, and Mateus sends Cloud to greet him. They bond over surfing, and Kuja joins them?!
Notes: This was inspired by this post! (Read: Blame Toffee!) Please feel free to mark this up with a red pen and a nitpick comb, toffeethesnob! ♥
“You’re going where?” Kuja asked again, sounding almost perplexed.
“The beach,” Cloud responded as he dressed. Finding his clothes in the dimly lit prop closet was always like a scavenger hunt, but he was getting used to where everything fell now.
Kuja took his time dressing, watching the other through long lashes. The thought of sand getting places it did not belong, of water messing up his hair, and sun burning his pale skin was not appealing. “Why?”
“Well,” Cloud paused as he thought back on the conversation he had earlier that day.
Despite being known as Sephiroth’s puppet, it was rare for the two to travel together. The luxury that the one-winged angel had was that Cloud did whatever he asked without having to be watched. There had been a time when they were inseparable, but as their worth in Chaos’s team grew so did their usefulness. Splitting up was more effective, especially for two men who reveled in the art of combat.
So, the next morning when Sephiroth had told him they had business together, Cloud had merely raised a curious brow. Cloud felt the same way toward the man who called himself an Emperor as he did almost every other warrior of Chaos: indifferent. But, like his master, when they stood before the man clad in gold he feigned a light air of respect.
“A new warrior is being summoned,” he told them. “Cloud, I think it would be best if you were the one to greet him.”
“That’s what he said, anyway,” Cloud recanted to Kuja as he tied his boots. “He said I’d go, so I’m going.”
Kuja frowned at the way Cloud accepted it so easily, but he had to admit that his curiosity was piqued. It had been a while since they had anyone new; the last time was - was it Cloud or Terra? - at least a cycle ago. With any luck this one would not be just a puppet as the rest had been.
“I’ll join you,” he volunteered.
Cloud did not mask his surprise when he glanced over at Kuja, but he also did not deny him. At least if the slender genome joined him there would be something to do, since even though surfing had been mentioned -that was what really had Cloud excited, even if he did not show it - he did not expect it to be provided.
Of course, he had forgotten about the prop closet and the dressing room, and hours later they both found themselves on the beach, dressed and ready for the coined term, “fun in the sun.”
“Hey,” the blonde called to them from down the beach as he waved his arms.
Cloud wondered briefly if the boy even knew where he was; when Cloud had woken Sephiroth had been there, but beyond recognizing the man’s face he had no recollection of who he was or where he was. In the face of such severe confusion, the boy looked surprisingly chipper. This boy was Chaos’s new warrior? It seemed strange; the boy was obviously out of place.
“I really thought I was in trouble there,” the boy chuckled, his sun-kissed hair falling into his eyes. “Do you know where we are? I’m Tidus.”
“Cloud,” the blonde answered, and when it was clear that Kuja was not going to introduce himself he motioned to the other. “Kuja. We’re your,” he paused, trying to think of the best way to put it, “welcoming party.”
“Sweet,” Tidus grinned, his gaze angled over Cloud’s shoulder.
When Cloud followed the gaze he frowned, the expression lost from the tilt of his head. Kuja was setting up the large umbrella he had insisted on bringing, and smoothing a blanket over the sand. They had both left their normal attire on the Prima Vista, and while Cloud was dressed in a simple pair of navy swimming trunks and a dark t-shirt, Kuja wore a thin, sheer, white robe over black briefs. With his silver hair tied up and back, Cloud was surprised he had not made a fuss about hiding his tail, the appendage barely covered by the knee-length swimsuit cover-up.
“Here,” Cloud offered, drawing Tidus’s attention back to him. “Thought you might enjoy surfing.”
Tidus brightened at the proffered surfboard, testing its weight in his hands. “Do I?” He glanced at Cloud, grinning like a child. “I just love being on the water, you know?”
Cloud could understand; there had been a time in his life when he had only wanted to enjoy the thrills of snowboarding. For once he offered the boy an unguarded smile. “I was a snowboarder,” he said. “But it can’t be that different.”
Blanching slightly, Tidus immediately burst out in a loud fit of laughter afterward. “Yeah, right!” He laughed, finding the words ridiculous. “You can at least swim, right?”
Unable to keep from smiling, he still hit the youth on the back of the head. “Of course I can swim,” he chided. Walking back to where Kuja was making himself at home on the beach, Cloud propped his board in the sand before he slid off his shirt.
Tidus had no shirt to take off, but he did kick off his boots while Cloud did. All the while he could not help but watch Kuja through dark lashes, his gazes, at least in his mind, unnoticed by the others. Had he ever seen anyone as beautiful as the genome? Had he ever seen anyone with a tail?
When Kuja bent over to rearrange a few of the things they had brought, Tidus could not help but reach a hand toward the silvery tail. Cloud’s hand darted out quickly, grabbing the boy before he could do something they would all regret. Tidus might have been a new warrior, but he was an ally, and Cloud had a good idea of what Kuja would do to someone who carelessly yanked on his tail. After all, even Cloud had been scolded when he so much as touched it, there was no telling how far he’d go if the boy actually hurt him.
Offering only a firm shake of his head, Cloud released Tidus. The youth drew his hand back and chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. Well, you couldn’t blame a boy for trying, right?
“Let’s go,” Cloud said, nodding toward the ocean. If they waited too long they would miss the tide, though the blonde was not certain as to whether or not the rules were even the same there.
“Yeah,” Tidus agreed, leaping toward the water. Then he stopped and turned back, meeting Kuja’s gaze for the first time, “Better watch out, this guy is going to fall right on his ass.”
Cloud chuckled softly, and when he looked at Kuja he only shrugged before he followed the kid into the ocean. Like Tidus predicted, the first few times Cloud fell from his board, but surprisingly the younger hung back and, after a few pointers and laughs, Cloud was able to get the hang of it.
“So,” Tidus began as the two blondes took a break and rode shallow waves together. “You and um, Kuja-you two are good friends?”
Cloud nodded. Even wet his hair still remained spiked and unruly, but his bangs liked to clump in front of his eyes.
“That’s cool,” Tidus said before he quieted for a moment. “So do you think-“
Before he could finish Cloud kicked out a leg to knock against the bottom of Tidus’s board, flipping it over and sending the water-lover into the sea. “Hey,” Tidus accused when he surfaced, smoothly dragging his body back onto the waxed board.
“If you’re here, you have your own problems to worry about,” Cloud told him, removing the focus from the genome. Kuja would eat him alive, and that was the only reason Cloud would admit to discouraging the youth. It couldn’t be possessiveness; Cloud did not own the man.
Tidus could not argue with him about that. Ever since he had woken in that world he had felt the overwhelming desire to defeat his rival. “Well yeah,” he agreed, and as he thought about it more he only became more pensive. “Man, that guy sucks!”
Though he lifted a brow Cloud said nothing for a moment. “Someone you know?”
“This guy I hate a lot,” Tidus answered, surprisingly honest for one of Chaos’s warriors. “Just thinking about him gets me worked up.”
Cloud knew the feeling, but he would not admit to as much. “Take it out there,” he pointed to the horizon where large waves were beginning to roll in again.
He did not have to tell Tidus twice.
Seeing the two conversing like friends ruffled Kuja’s feathers and caused a frown to claim his painted lips, the idea of Cloud finding even a sliver of happiness with anyone else made the genome insecure. Now that Cloud had another friend would he come to the Prima Vista as often? Would he come back at all? Their relationship was sexual-it had started as such and it would end as such-but was there anything else there?
Why didn’t Cloud laugh like that with him?
“Having fun yet?” The Emperor interrupted his train of thought, but Kuja did not start at his or Ultimecia’s entrance.
“A blast,” Kuja answered smoothly, easily hiding everything he was feeling.
“They seem to be getting along well,” Ultimecia remarked as she took cover beneath the umbrella as well.
“Quite the new warrior we have,” Kuja hid his sarcasm well. “He’ll play the part well.”
Glancing down at Kuja, Mateus hid his own emotions behind his cold eyes. Just as the genome did he smiled amiably, reading the tailed-man well. “Well,” Mateus admitted, “at least he’s not a puppet.”
“Yet,” Kuja pointed out dryly. He was well aware of what the man who called himself an Emperor was there to do, but when another gaze was leveled at him, Kuja only maintained his smile.
The two surfers came in soon after, water clinging to them. “That reminded me of Blitzball,” Tidus said, motioning in the air with excitement.
When Cloud only gave him a blank stare, Tidus frowned. “You know, with a ball and some water,” he tried to explain, but gave up with a sigh. “If I had a ball, I could,” he began, but as soon as he mentioned it one appeared in his palm. Wide-eyed, Tidus looked from the ball to Cloud and back.
“No way,” he said, testing the bounce by throwing it in the air. When it hit his palm again he gave a joyous exclamation. “This world is awesome!”
Though he still did not quite understand, Cloud smiled and then continued onward. He stopped short of where Kuja sat when he caught sight of Mateus and Ultimecia, his smile immediately fading into a tight, straight expression. Tidus noted the change, but it did not stop him from striding forward and introducing himself.
“We have things to discuss,” Mateus told the boy.
Before they left Tidus turned back to Cloud, tossing him the ball. “See ya, Cloud,” he said with a grin.
Catching the oddly-shaped ball, Cloud set it on the ground beside the blanket as he lowered himself to the sand. Whether or not he would see the boy again was something he questioned, but there was no need to voice his worry. Kuja had probably already thought of it, too.
“You wanna go out?” Cloud asked after a moment.
Kuja scoffed, finding the question ridiculous. “No,” he answered simply.
Cloud turned toward him, giving the genome the pleading look he gave when Kuja told him he could not have what he wanted-a look that Kuja knew well from the prop closet. Nearly flushing, Kuja raised a slender brow and shook his head again. No, playing in water was not his idea of fun. Not only would it mess up his hair, but it would make his tail look ragged and poor, like a drowned cat’s.
Whether it was the effect of the sun or the fresh air, or simply of his lightened spirits, Cloud did not know. While it appeared that he let it go for a moment while he stood and stretched, he ducked beneath the umbrella quickly, gathering the genome into his arms. He knew that Kuja might make him pay in a way that he would remember hundreds of years from then, but he did not mind.
The whole trip to the edge of the water, Kuja spat curses and demands at him. Cloud kept his grip firm, though he felt the nails that dug into his skin when he began to wade into the water. He was definitely going to get in trouble for this.
While he had planned to drop the genome into waist-deep water he changed his mind at the last second and slowly released just his feet. There was a memory attached to carrying someone into the water like this, one that nearly made his knees buckle with sadness and pain, and when his hold on Kuja changed from firm to desperate the genome stopped struggling as well. One glance up at Cloud’s face told Kuja what he needed to know, and if he had to suffer through the heat of the sun and the cool, wet water to ease the blonde’s pain he would do so.
“I want to turn this into a good memory,” Cloud said after a long pause, his voice soft and low right next to Kuja’s ear. Afterward he nodded, as if he was confirming it with himself, and then he pulled away enough to look at the genome.
Even though Kuja made it apparent that he was annoyed, he did not deny the blonde when he leaned in for a kiss. Later, in the privacy of the Prima Vista, he would make sure that Cloud paid for getting him wet, but until then he saw no reason to not give into the blonde. When a wave got the tips of his hair wet, though, he pulled Cloud back out of the water. His tail getting wet was unavoidable at that point, but there would be hell to pay if his hair was ruined by the salty water.
“I wasn’t aware you enjoyed sports like these,” Kuja commented, glancing at the surfboards as they dried themselves.
“Yeah,” Cloud answered vaguely. He wished he could remember specifics, but in the end he drew a blank. “I had to stop cause I got motion sickness.”
Kuja could not help the surprised chuckle that escaped his lips. They had met on a ship, so he would not have guessed. “Really?”
Cloud nodded. “It was hard to get over.”
“So even the mightiest of lions can be brought down by a thorn in his paw,” Kuja remarked.
Unable to argue, Cloud merely shrugged. It was highly likely that his motion sickness had caused him a lot of problems in the past; having such an obvious weakness would hinder anyone. Now there was another weakness he had to watch out for, but as he shouldered the beach umbrella for their trip back to the Prima Vista he offered Kuja a gentler look.
Without a doubt, they were both the thorns in one another’s paws now.
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Name: Dress-Up
Pairing: Kuja + Terra (and lots and lots of mentions of Cloud x Kuja)
Rating: PG - just to be safe
Status: Complete - One-Shot (1500 words)
Summary: Kuja released Terra from the chains that Kefka placed on her. She finds him to thank him, but he's in a rather pensive mood aboard the Prima Vista.
Notes: This was inspired by this post (and lots of other art wheatcakes has posted)! Again, Toffee, mark me up. Give it to me, bb!
The Prima Vista was decidedly lonely since Cloud left, but Kuja could not resist going back there. Frowning slightly he crossed his arms over his torso, fending off the cool winds that assaulted him as the sun set. It seemed the heroes were busy with their own ploy, but he could only hope that Zidane was gathering his friends as Kuja had bade. Cloud’s death would not be in vain, nor would his-that was what the genome told himself, time and again.
Hearing footsteps on the wooden stage he turned, alert and prepared to defend himself if the need arose. Yet Kefka’s puppet only gave him a curious look, her guard completely down. No wonder she was so easy for the idiot harlequin to manipulate, Kuja reasoned, if she always looked like this.
Somehow it reminded him of Cloud. As aware as he was of the pain that coupled with the memory, he pushed it aside.
“May I help you?” He asked her, falling easily into his usual role.
The girl seemed to debate on exactly what to say, but in the end she offered him a light smile. “I wanted to thank you,” she said as she clutched at the chain that held her cape on her shoulders. “For earlier.”
Kuja chuckled, the sound seductively dark and bitingly dry. “You believe I severed your chains for your sake?” He questioned, sounding only more amused. “You are as naïve as the buffoon made you out to be.”
“I,” she began, but then stopped, uncertain.
Seeing a blonde, if she could be considered that with the sandy quality of her hair, lacking willpower was nearly enough to push him over the edge again. The gods were toying with him; they were reminding him at every twist and turn what he had lost. They were reminding him at every twist and turn what he had lacked the confidence to do himself.
“No matter your reasons,” she tried, feeling hopeless when an unguarded, bittersweet look passed in his gaze. “I really am grateful.”
Her name was another issue entirely. The first time he had heard it he had cringed, and the girl could easily have been one of his brethren with the way she changed forms as she did. As if the gods needed to jest with him any further, he sighed. Wasn’t it enough already?
“Tell me,” he bade, sliding a carefully manicured hand through the air. “What will you do now? Is Chaos still your champion, or do you seek the gentle goddess Cosmos? Your master is likely looking for you.”
Flushing just slightly she stammered again. She knew what she said might make them enemies, but she wanted to at least answer his truthfully after what he had done for her. “I don’t want to fight,” she said as her hands curled into fists, “but I don’t know… if Cosmos would want someone like me…”
Sighing softly he took her wrist as he passed her, maintaining all the grace and poise of a practiced actor. Even though the deepened flush on the girl’s cheeks did not escape his observation it also did not stop him. This was too much; was he a shelter for blonde puppets? A rehabilitation center?
“Ridiculous,” Kuja mumbled as he drug the girl into the bowels of the ship.
They were walking the path that he had walked with Cloud countless times, but he was well aware of how different the situation was. Terra asked him a few times where they were going-they were questions that went unanswered-or protested for him to wait-words that went unheeded-but he stopped in the dressing room as he had done with the blonde soldier a few times.
“If you truly wish to defy the gods,” he told her when they stopped and he turned back to her, “then you’ve come to the right place.”
For the first time since she appeared before him, Kuja actually seemed to regard her. It was far from the look he had offered Cloud in the same room, and while she was a slip of a girl she must have had some promise for the fool to hold her as such a prize. Perhaps it was the clothing? A wise man once said that the clothes made the man. Kuja had to agree; his own outfit looked stunning on him, and Cloud had certainly never complained (even if he had not worn the silken threads most of the time the two men had been around one another).
“I don’t understand,” Terra admitted after a moment. Her eyes were still wide as she looked around the room, the poor girl used to being trapped by the warriors Chaos had summoned.
“I’m saying,” Kuja said bluntly, “that I’ll help you.”
A light came to the girl’s blue eyes, one that made Kuja press his lips together to hold back a sigh. In order to hide the momentary irritation that crept up his spine he turned to the racks of clothing, immersing himself in something he enjoyed more than the world they were trapped in, or the war of the gods they were caught between. Still, even with his back to her he could feel her smile radiating through him. It was something he was unused to; Cloud rarely offered him such gazes-their relationship springing from a different emotion entirely.
“When you make your debut as one of Cosmos’s heroines,” he told her as he held up several dresses to her thin frame, “you should consider a costume change.”
The green dress he held up to her caused her pale skin to take on a hue that seemed sickly, but putting black on her made her seem like a ghost. If she had dark hair gold would have been a suitable color, but as it was it took away from the strange hue. With a sigh he thought for another moment before he tried a blue dress, and even though it looked beautiful on her his eyes narrowed as pain flared up in his chest.
Blue looked best on Cloud and no one else. In the end he chose a dress that was pink.
Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth he considered her in the mirror for a moment longer before he shook his head. “If you plan to go to that side, you should at least introduce those children to a bit of elegance.”
Afterward he drew her over to a vanity, painting her nails before she offered her consent. He was too used to taking; Cloud had been the only to give.
“You don’t have to do all of this,” Terra said, her cheeks flushed as he brushed her hair and fixed her thick ponytail.
Under his touch she felt like a doll, but it had been a long time since she had been treated like a girl and pampered. In fact, did she even remember the last time she was taken care of? Having a big brother felt familiar, but she couldn’t be sure. Kefka’s spell was not completely severed so her mind still felt so foggy at times.
“You’re right,” he told her, laughter in his voice. Even though he said it, her grooming habits were deplorable; how long had she neglected herself? “I should teach those mindless drones to do this. If they’re going to dare to take my face and a fragment of my beauty, they should at least make themselves useful.”
Terra giggled, wondering briefly as the genome’s lithe frame bent over her if his hair was as silky as it appeared. Afraid to lose it, she kept her hand to herself, but she had to admit that the man was beautiful. In retrospect, maybe he was more like a big sister than a big brother, she mused.
“Do you really think you can help me?” She asked him after a moment.
As he worked on smoothing a stubborn curl against her forehead he stayed quiet, but in the end he gave up and brought his gaze to hers. “That’s up to you,” he replied. “Only you know if you want to be a puppet or not.”
“I don’t,” she insisted, her brows knitting together. “I don’t,” she repeated, “but I’m scared.”
There were no sympathetic or encouraging words left in him, and as he sat back on the vanity he seemed completely indifferent. If she wasn’t ready to break her ties from Kefka he couldn’t force her - or, well, he could, but he lacked the energy to do so - and he no longer possessed the luxury of time. Would Cloud have died to protect this girl, too, if he had met her first? The thought was unsettling, enough for Kuja to stand and pace away from her as he shrugged his hands through the air.
“If you choose to take back your life, go and tell your master you’re no longer chained to him,” he said to her, speaking over his shoulder as he headed for the door. “Once you’ve escaped your cage, you’ll know where to find me.”
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Yeah... I'll write a real Kuja + Terra fic at some point that isn't all over Clouja. I promise. :x
That's it for now. This is around 9 pages worth of writing, so hopefully it keeps you entertained for a short while. >_> I'm going to go indulge myself in the Dissidia 1Sentence Party for a while before I get started on stupidaquarius's requested fic. *so excited*
Name: Beach Fun Clouja + Surfer Tidus (yes, I do mean this to sound like a Barbie dreamland, lol)
Pairing: Cloud x Kuja (+Tidus)
Rating: PG-13 - boys kissing, language, suggestive themes
Status: Complete - One-Shot (2500 words)
Summary: Tidus is summoned for the 12th Cycle, and Mateus sends Cloud to greet him. They bond over surfing, and Kuja joins them?!
Notes: This was inspired by this post! (Read: Blame Toffee!) Please feel free to mark this up with a red pen and a nitpick comb, toffeethesnob! ♥
“You’re going where?” Kuja asked again, sounding almost perplexed.
“The beach,” Cloud responded as he dressed. Finding his clothes in the dimly lit prop closet was always like a scavenger hunt, but he was getting used to where everything fell now.
Kuja took his time dressing, watching the other through long lashes. The thought of sand getting places it did not belong, of water messing up his hair, and sun burning his pale skin was not appealing. “Why?”
“Well,” Cloud paused as he thought back on the conversation he had earlier that day.
Despite being known as Sephiroth’s puppet, it was rare for the two to travel together. The luxury that the one-winged angel had was that Cloud did whatever he asked without having to be watched. There had been a time when they were inseparable, but as their worth in Chaos’s team grew so did their usefulness. Splitting up was more effective, especially for two men who reveled in the art of combat.
So, the next morning when Sephiroth had told him they had business together, Cloud had merely raised a curious brow. Cloud felt the same way toward the man who called himself an Emperor as he did almost every other warrior of Chaos: indifferent. But, like his master, when they stood before the man clad in gold he feigned a light air of respect.
“A new warrior is being summoned,” he told them. “Cloud, I think it would be best if you were the one to greet him.”
“That’s what he said, anyway,” Cloud recanted to Kuja as he tied his boots. “He said I’d go, so I’m going.”
Kuja frowned at the way Cloud accepted it so easily, but he had to admit that his curiosity was piqued. It had been a while since they had anyone new; the last time was - was it Cloud or Terra? - at least a cycle ago. With any luck this one would not be just a puppet as the rest had been.
“I’ll join you,” he volunteered.
Cloud did not mask his surprise when he glanced over at Kuja, but he also did not deny him. At least if the slender genome joined him there would be something to do, since even though surfing had been mentioned -that was what really had Cloud excited, even if he did not show it - he did not expect it to be provided.
Of course, he had forgotten about the prop closet and the dressing room, and hours later they both found themselves on the beach, dressed and ready for the coined term, “fun in the sun.”
“Hey,” the blonde called to them from down the beach as he waved his arms.
Cloud wondered briefly if the boy even knew where he was; when Cloud had woken Sephiroth had been there, but beyond recognizing the man’s face he had no recollection of who he was or where he was. In the face of such severe confusion, the boy looked surprisingly chipper. This boy was Chaos’s new warrior? It seemed strange; the boy was obviously out of place.
“I really thought I was in trouble there,” the boy chuckled, his sun-kissed hair falling into his eyes. “Do you know where we are? I’m Tidus.”
“Cloud,” the blonde answered, and when it was clear that Kuja was not going to introduce himself he motioned to the other. “Kuja. We’re your,” he paused, trying to think of the best way to put it, “welcoming party.”
“Sweet,” Tidus grinned, his gaze angled over Cloud’s shoulder.
When Cloud followed the gaze he frowned, the expression lost from the tilt of his head. Kuja was setting up the large umbrella he had insisted on bringing, and smoothing a blanket over the sand. They had both left their normal attire on the Prima Vista, and while Cloud was dressed in a simple pair of navy swimming trunks and a dark t-shirt, Kuja wore a thin, sheer, white robe over black briefs. With his silver hair tied up and back, Cloud was surprised he had not made a fuss about hiding his tail, the appendage barely covered by the knee-length swimsuit cover-up.
“Here,” Cloud offered, drawing Tidus’s attention back to him. “Thought you might enjoy surfing.”
Tidus brightened at the proffered surfboard, testing its weight in his hands. “Do I?” He glanced at Cloud, grinning like a child. “I just love being on the water, you know?”
Cloud could understand; there had been a time in his life when he had only wanted to enjoy the thrills of snowboarding. For once he offered the boy an unguarded smile. “I was a snowboarder,” he said. “But it can’t be that different.”
Blanching slightly, Tidus immediately burst out in a loud fit of laughter afterward. “Yeah, right!” He laughed, finding the words ridiculous. “You can at least swim, right?”
Unable to keep from smiling, he still hit the youth on the back of the head. “Of course I can swim,” he chided. Walking back to where Kuja was making himself at home on the beach, Cloud propped his board in the sand before he slid off his shirt.
Tidus had no shirt to take off, but he did kick off his boots while Cloud did. All the while he could not help but watch Kuja through dark lashes, his gazes, at least in his mind, unnoticed by the others. Had he ever seen anyone as beautiful as the genome? Had he ever seen anyone with a tail?
When Kuja bent over to rearrange a few of the things they had brought, Tidus could not help but reach a hand toward the silvery tail. Cloud’s hand darted out quickly, grabbing the boy before he could do something they would all regret. Tidus might have been a new warrior, but he was an ally, and Cloud had a good idea of what Kuja would do to someone who carelessly yanked on his tail. After all, even Cloud had been scolded when he so much as touched it, there was no telling how far he’d go if the boy actually hurt him.
Offering only a firm shake of his head, Cloud released Tidus. The youth drew his hand back and chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. Well, you couldn’t blame a boy for trying, right?
“Let’s go,” Cloud said, nodding toward the ocean. If they waited too long they would miss the tide, though the blonde was not certain as to whether or not the rules were even the same there.
“Yeah,” Tidus agreed, leaping toward the water. Then he stopped and turned back, meeting Kuja’s gaze for the first time, “Better watch out, this guy is going to fall right on his ass.”
Cloud chuckled softly, and when he looked at Kuja he only shrugged before he followed the kid into the ocean. Like Tidus predicted, the first few times Cloud fell from his board, but surprisingly the younger hung back and, after a few pointers and laughs, Cloud was able to get the hang of it.
“So,” Tidus began as the two blondes took a break and rode shallow waves together. “You and um, Kuja-you two are good friends?”
Cloud nodded. Even wet his hair still remained spiked and unruly, but his bangs liked to clump in front of his eyes.
“That’s cool,” Tidus said before he quieted for a moment. “So do you think-“
Before he could finish Cloud kicked out a leg to knock against the bottom of Tidus’s board, flipping it over and sending the water-lover into the sea. “Hey,” Tidus accused when he surfaced, smoothly dragging his body back onto the waxed board.
“If you’re here, you have your own problems to worry about,” Cloud told him, removing the focus from the genome. Kuja would eat him alive, and that was the only reason Cloud would admit to discouraging the youth. It couldn’t be possessiveness; Cloud did not own the man.
Tidus could not argue with him about that. Ever since he had woken in that world he had felt the overwhelming desire to defeat his rival. “Well yeah,” he agreed, and as he thought about it more he only became more pensive. “Man, that guy sucks!”
Though he lifted a brow Cloud said nothing for a moment. “Someone you know?”
“This guy I hate a lot,” Tidus answered, surprisingly honest for one of Chaos’s warriors. “Just thinking about him gets me worked up.”
Cloud knew the feeling, but he would not admit to as much. “Take it out there,” he pointed to the horizon where large waves were beginning to roll in again.
He did not have to tell Tidus twice.
Seeing the two conversing like friends ruffled Kuja’s feathers and caused a frown to claim his painted lips, the idea of Cloud finding even a sliver of happiness with anyone else made the genome insecure. Now that Cloud had another friend would he come to the Prima Vista as often? Would he come back at all? Their relationship was sexual-it had started as such and it would end as such-but was there anything else there?
Why didn’t Cloud laugh like that with him?
“Having fun yet?” The Emperor interrupted his train of thought, but Kuja did not start at his or Ultimecia’s entrance.
“A blast,” Kuja answered smoothly, easily hiding everything he was feeling.
“They seem to be getting along well,” Ultimecia remarked as she took cover beneath the umbrella as well.
“Quite the new warrior we have,” Kuja hid his sarcasm well. “He’ll play the part well.”
Glancing down at Kuja, Mateus hid his own emotions behind his cold eyes. Just as the genome did he smiled amiably, reading the tailed-man well. “Well,” Mateus admitted, “at least he’s not a puppet.”
“Yet,” Kuja pointed out dryly. He was well aware of what the man who called himself an Emperor was there to do, but when another gaze was leveled at him, Kuja only maintained his smile.
The two surfers came in soon after, water clinging to them. “That reminded me of Blitzball,” Tidus said, motioning in the air with excitement.
When Cloud only gave him a blank stare, Tidus frowned. “You know, with a ball and some water,” he tried to explain, but gave up with a sigh. “If I had a ball, I could,” he began, but as soon as he mentioned it one appeared in his palm. Wide-eyed, Tidus looked from the ball to Cloud and back.
“No way,” he said, testing the bounce by throwing it in the air. When it hit his palm again he gave a joyous exclamation. “This world is awesome!”
Though he still did not quite understand, Cloud smiled and then continued onward. He stopped short of where Kuja sat when he caught sight of Mateus and Ultimecia, his smile immediately fading into a tight, straight expression. Tidus noted the change, but it did not stop him from striding forward and introducing himself.
“We have things to discuss,” Mateus told the boy.
Before they left Tidus turned back to Cloud, tossing him the ball. “See ya, Cloud,” he said with a grin.
Catching the oddly-shaped ball, Cloud set it on the ground beside the blanket as he lowered himself to the sand. Whether or not he would see the boy again was something he questioned, but there was no need to voice his worry. Kuja had probably already thought of it, too.
“You wanna go out?” Cloud asked after a moment.
Kuja scoffed, finding the question ridiculous. “No,” he answered simply.
Cloud turned toward him, giving the genome the pleading look he gave when Kuja told him he could not have what he wanted-a look that Kuja knew well from the prop closet. Nearly flushing, Kuja raised a slender brow and shook his head again. No, playing in water was not his idea of fun. Not only would it mess up his hair, but it would make his tail look ragged and poor, like a drowned cat’s.
Whether it was the effect of the sun or the fresh air, or simply of his lightened spirits, Cloud did not know. While it appeared that he let it go for a moment while he stood and stretched, he ducked beneath the umbrella quickly, gathering the genome into his arms. He knew that Kuja might make him pay in a way that he would remember hundreds of years from then, but he did not mind.
The whole trip to the edge of the water, Kuja spat curses and demands at him. Cloud kept his grip firm, though he felt the nails that dug into his skin when he began to wade into the water. He was definitely going to get in trouble for this.
While he had planned to drop the genome into waist-deep water he changed his mind at the last second and slowly released just his feet. There was a memory attached to carrying someone into the water like this, one that nearly made his knees buckle with sadness and pain, and when his hold on Kuja changed from firm to desperate the genome stopped struggling as well. One glance up at Cloud’s face told Kuja what he needed to know, and if he had to suffer through the heat of the sun and the cool, wet water to ease the blonde’s pain he would do so.
“I want to turn this into a good memory,” Cloud said after a long pause, his voice soft and low right next to Kuja’s ear. Afterward he nodded, as if he was confirming it with himself, and then he pulled away enough to look at the genome.
Even though Kuja made it apparent that he was annoyed, he did not deny the blonde when he leaned in for a kiss. Later, in the privacy of the Prima Vista, he would make sure that Cloud paid for getting him wet, but until then he saw no reason to not give into the blonde. When a wave got the tips of his hair wet, though, he pulled Cloud back out of the water. His tail getting wet was unavoidable at that point, but there would be hell to pay if his hair was ruined by the salty water.
“I wasn’t aware you enjoyed sports like these,” Kuja commented, glancing at the surfboards as they dried themselves.
“Yeah,” Cloud answered vaguely. He wished he could remember specifics, but in the end he drew a blank. “I had to stop cause I got motion sickness.”
Kuja could not help the surprised chuckle that escaped his lips. They had met on a ship, so he would not have guessed. “Really?”
Cloud nodded. “It was hard to get over.”
“So even the mightiest of lions can be brought down by a thorn in his paw,” Kuja remarked.
Unable to argue, Cloud merely shrugged. It was highly likely that his motion sickness had caused him a lot of problems in the past; having such an obvious weakness would hinder anyone. Now there was another weakness he had to watch out for, but as he shouldered the beach umbrella for their trip back to the Prima Vista he offered Kuja a gentler look.
Without a doubt, they were both the thorns in one another’s paws now.
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Name: Dress-Up
Pairing: Kuja + Terra (and lots and lots of mentions of Cloud x Kuja)
Rating: PG - just to be safe
Status: Complete - One-Shot (1500 words)
Summary: Kuja released Terra from the chains that Kefka placed on her. She finds him to thank him, but he's in a rather pensive mood aboard the Prima Vista.
Notes: This was inspired by this post (and lots of other art wheatcakes has posted)! Again, Toffee, mark me up. Give it to me, bb!
The Prima Vista was decidedly lonely since Cloud left, but Kuja could not resist going back there. Frowning slightly he crossed his arms over his torso, fending off the cool winds that assaulted him as the sun set. It seemed the heroes were busy with their own ploy, but he could only hope that Zidane was gathering his friends as Kuja had bade. Cloud’s death would not be in vain, nor would his-that was what the genome told himself, time and again.
Hearing footsteps on the wooden stage he turned, alert and prepared to defend himself if the need arose. Yet Kefka’s puppet only gave him a curious look, her guard completely down. No wonder she was so easy for the idiot harlequin to manipulate, Kuja reasoned, if she always looked like this.
Somehow it reminded him of Cloud. As aware as he was of the pain that coupled with the memory, he pushed it aside.
“May I help you?” He asked her, falling easily into his usual role.
The girl seemed to debate on exactly what to say, but in the end she offered him a light smile. “I wanted to thank you,” she said as she clutched at the chain that held her cape on her shoulders. “For earlier.”
Kuja chuckled, the sound seductively dark and bitingly dry. “You believe I severed your chains for your sake?” He questioned, sounding only more amused. “You are as naïve as the buffoon made you out to be.”
“I,” she began, but then stopped, uncertain.
Seeing a blonde, if she could be considered that with the sandy quality of her hair, lacking willpower was nearly enough to push him over the edge again. The gods were toying with him; they were reminding him at every twist and turn what he had lost. They were reminding him at every twist and turn what he had lacked the confidence to do himself.
“No matter your reasons,” she tried, feeling hopeless when an unguarded, bittersweet look passed in his gaze. “I really am grateful.”
Her name was another issue entirely. The first time he had heard it he had cringed, and the girl could easily have been one of his brethren with the way she changed forms as she did. As if the gods needed to jest with him any further, he sighed. Wasn’t it enough already?
“Tell me,” he bade, sliding a carefully manicured hand through the air. “What will you do now? Is Chaos still your champion, or do you seek the gentle goddess Cosmos? Your master is likely looking for you.”
Flushing just slightly she stammered again. She knew what she said might make them enemies, but she wanted to at least answer his truthfully after what he had done for her. “I don’t want to fight,” she said as her hands curled into fists, “but I don’t know… if Cosmos would want someone like me…”
Sighing softly he took her wrist as he passed her, maintaining all the grace and poise of a practiced actor. Even though the deepened flush on the girl’s cheeks did not escape his observation it also did not stop him. This was too much; was he a shelter for blonde puppets? A rehabilitation center?
“Ridiculous,” Kuja mumbled as he drug the girl into the bowels of the ship.
They were walking the path that he had walked with Cloud countless times, but he was well aware of how different the situation was. Terra asked him a few times where they were going-they were questions that went unanswered-or protested for him to wait-words that went unheeded-but he stopped in the dressing room as he had done with the blonde soldier a few times.
“If you truly wish to defy the gods,” he told her when they stopped and he turned back to her, “then you’ve come to the right place.”
For the first time since she appeared before him, Kuja actually seemed to regard her. It was far from the look he had offered Cloud in the same room, and while she was a slip of a girl she must have had some promise for the fool to hold her as such a prize. Perhaps it was the clothing? A wise man once said that the clothes made the man. Kuja had to agree; his own outfit looked stunning on him, and Cloud had certainly never complained (even if he had not worn the silken threads most of the time the two men had been around one another).
“I don’t understand,” Terra admitted after a moment. Her eyes were still wide as she looked around the room, the poor girl used to being trapped by the warriors Chaos had summoned.
“I’m saying,” Kuja said bluntly, “that I’ll help you.”
A light came to the girl’s blue eyes, one that made Kuja press his lips together to hold back a sigh. In order to hide the momentary irritation that crept up his spine he turned to the racks of clothing, immersing himself in something he enjoyed more than the world they were trapped in, or the war of the gods they were caught between. Still, even with his back to her he could feel her smile radiating through him. It was something he was unused to; Cloud rarely offered him such gazes-their relationship springing from a different emotion entirely.
“When you make your debut as one of Cosmos’s heroines,” he told her as he held up several dresses to her thin frame, “you should consider a costume change.”
The green dress he held up to her caused her pale skin to take on a hue that seemed sickly, but putting black on her made her seem like a ghost. If she had dark hair gold would have been a suitable color, but as it was it took away from the strange hue. With a sigh he thought for another moment before he tried a blue dress, and even though it looked beautiful on her his eyes narrowed as pain flared up in his chest.
Blue looked best on Cloud and no one else. In the end he chose a dress that was pink.
Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth he considered her in the mirror for a moment longer before he shook his head. “If you plan to go to that side, you should at least introduce those children to a bit of elegance.”
Afterward he drew her over to a vanity, painting her nails before she offered her consent. He was too used to taking; Cloud had been the only to give.
“You don’t have to do all of this,” Terra said, her cheeks flushed as he brushed her hair and fixed her thick ponytail.
Under his touch she felt like a doll, but it had been a long time since she had been treated like a girl and pampered. In fact, did she even remember the last time she was taken care of? Having a big brother felt familiar, but she couldn’t be sure. Kefka’s spell was not completely severed so her mind still felt so foggy at times.
“You’re right,” he told her, laughter in his voice. Even though he said it, her grooming habits were deplorable; how long had she neglected herself? “I should teach those mindless drones to do this. If they’re going to dare to take my face and a fragment of my beauty, they should at least make themselves useful.”
Terra giggled, wondering briefly as the genome’s lithe frame bent over her if his hair was as silky as it appeared. Afraid to lose it, she kept her hand to herself, but she had to admit that the man was beautiful. In retrospect, maybe he was more like a big sister than a big brother, she mused.
“Do you really think you can help me?” She asked him after a moment.
As he worked on smoothing a stubborn curl against her forehead he stayed quiet, but in the end he gave up and brought his gaze to hers. “That’s up to you,” he replied. “Only you know if you want to be a puppet or not.”
“I don’t,” she insisted, her brows knitting together. “I don’t,” she repeated, “but I’m scared.”
There were no sympathetic or encouraging words left in him, and as he sat back on the vanity he seemed completely indifferent. If she wasn’t ready to break her ties from Kefka he couldn’t force her - or, well, he could, but he lacked the energy to do so - and he no longer possessed the luxury of time. Would Cloud have died to protect this girl, too, if he had met her first? The thought was unsettling, enough for Kuja to stand and pace away from her as he shrugged his hands through the air.
“If you choose to take back your life, go and tell your master you’re no longer chained to him,” he said to her, speaking over his shoulder as he headed for the door. “Once you’ve escaped your cage, you’ll know where to find me.”
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Yeah... I'll write a real Kuja + Terra fic at some point that isn't all over Clouja. I promise. :x
That's it for now. This is around 9 pages worth of writing, so hopefully it keeps you entertained for a short while. >_> I'm going to go indulge myself in the Dissidia 1Sentence Party for a while before I get started on stupidaquarius's requested fic. *so excited*