(Final Fantasy) Shards (4/?)
Title: Shards
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Parring: Cloud Strife, future slash
Timeline: Post Advent Children
Warnings: Follows the basic timeline, but takes liberties with Crisis Core
Summary: There are some memories lost to Cloud, but hopefully the shards could be recovered. Hopefully the pieces could be put back in place by a gentle, patient hand.
Disclaimer: Square Enix
Author Says: I know short chapters, but after straining myself to get long detailed chapters for my book, short is perfect for me. I began writing this with no idea of a plot aside from the basic interaction I wanted, but now something is coming. ;)
Okay, now we have more interaction between Cloud and the strange man.
“If you’re going to sit there and watch me,” Cloud said suddenly in-between hammering, “You might as well help me.” He was beginning to get used to the man, whose name he still didn’t know, hanging around. It was a full three days since last they spoke, he seemed to have noticed the tension in Cloud’s shoulders after their last conversation, but he still showed up each afternoon and stayed until early evening. Silently sitting in the pews and, discreetly, watched Cloud. The man smiled and nodded.
“Very well then, where do you want me?” Cloud motioned for him to join him on the roof. In shorter time than expected, the stranger was carefully balanced nearby. He’d left the trench coat neatly folded across the back of the pew he’d been sitting on, thus revealing the clothing hidden beneath. He didn’t wear the shoulder armor or the wide belt, but everything else screamed Soldier. Cloud closed his eyes briefly.
“My first priority is to get the roof back in order.” A few quick instructions and then they were both diligently working. The way in which the man worked and how little direction he needed suggested previous knowledge with repairs. “What brings you to the area?” Cloud broke the silence between them a little while later.
“Wandering mostly,” the man replied. “Just trying to figure out where, exactly, I’m supposed to be.” Cloud felt a pang of sympathy for the man, having been intimately acquainted with the feeling. In all honesty, he was still trying to find his place. “Coming back to find Shinra in this state was not what I was expecting.”
“You were a Soldier?” Cloud asked before he could stop himself.
“I was, once.” His voice had an odd undertone to it that Cloud couldn’t decipher. “How long has Shinra been in that state?”
Cloud gave him an odd look, pausing in his work. “Several years. They’re still re-building and it will be a while before it’s anything like it once used to be.”
“Forgive me,” the man chuckled humorlessly. “I’ve been away for quite some time.”
Their silences were no longer as awkward as they once were. Instead it was almost companionable…almost. He still put Cloud on edge because of the reactions he continued to incite in him. The continued headaches should have been a red flag, a warning. The last time his body had been in pain the cause was Geostigma and the reason behind that had been Sephiroth.
He knew Tifa would chew him a new one for not telling anyone of the man, she’d say his actions were suspicious and Cloud knew she’d have been right. But he couldn’t bring himself to avoid him or tell him outright to leave him be, as little sense as that made.
“You have me at a disadvantage.” Cloud spoke as they came down from the roof, finished with the day’s work. The sun was setting and soon the man would be gone once again. Cloud had intended to see Tifa that day, but time had, somehow, gotten away from him. He made the resolve to do so in the morning. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours.” Was this, in a way, accepting the man’s continued presence? Was it opening the door for further interaction?
The man just smiled softly as he pulled on his coat, though it seemed a little sad, “Angeal.”