Cloud glanced around nervously, hoping no one knew what he was doing as he walked stiffly and slowly towards his quarters. He hoped they were empty, because if they weren't he would have more things to worry about.
Carefully opening the door, he breathed out in relief as he saw that the room was vacant. He quickly closed the door behind him and went over to his bed, gently putting his bag down.
"Here, kitty." Cloud whispered, coaxing the kitten's head out the top. It blinked up at him, trying to get used to the light, and then squirmed it's way completely out of the bag. "That's a good boy." Cloud murmured.
The kitten explored the bed cautiously at first before getting more adventurous. He pounced on the pillow and made small mewing sounds to show he was enjoying himself. Cloud tried to stop the little ball of fun, but the kitten leapt from the bed and quickly began exploring every inch of the room.
Please, no one walk in...
Cloud tried catching the kitten, but it was so fast! He couldn't even remember how he'd persuaded it to get into his bag before.
He was paranoid, feeling convinced that someone was going to walk in, see the cat and tattle on him.
ShinRa had a strict rule. No pets allowed. So if Cloud was found with this kitten he would get in a whole lot of trouble. He wasn't even sure whether he'd still be allowed to stay once found disobeying the rules, but he hadn't been able to simply ignore the little creature.
"Come on, please come back." Cloud begged as he walked around another bed after the kitten. "Whatever you do, don't mess anything up." he added almost as an afterthought.
Hearing footsteps, Cloud's heart beat at double time as the fear entered his mind. Could he make up a story so he wouldn't get in trouble?
"Spiky!"
Cloud winced as he heard Zack's voice and instantly began trying to send telepathic messages telling him to go away.
The door opened.
"Zack! Shut the door!" Cloud yelled in horror, watching the kitten dart across the room towards the exit. Zack looked surprised, but his SOLDIER reflexes caused him to slam the door quickly behind him. The kitten skittered away again and hid under one of the beds, mewing again.
"Uh, Cloud? Why do you have a cat?" Zack asked slowly.
"I'm sorry! It's not even really mine! I just found it, that's all. But it looked lost and scared so-"
"Hey, isn't this the President's son's cat?" Zack was now lying on the floor to get a look at the animal, and at what he said Cloud's eyes widened in horror. He had taken Rufus Shinra's pet?
"I didn't know!" Cloud exclaimed.
"Whoa, chill!" Zack said, standing up again. "I'll take him back, okay?"
"Okay." Cloud nodded.
"Don't worry about him. Rufus'll take good care of him, I'm sure." Zack said. He got down on his knees and put one hand out, making strange noises to try and make the cat come out to him. Cloud raised an eyebrow at what Zack was doing and then the other when the kitten actually emerged.
"He must like you." Cloud commented.
"He just likes the sound." Zack replied, gently scooping the kitten into his arms and getting to his feet. "It's probably a good thing you found him, Spike. He could've ended up in the hands of someone a lot meaner."
Cloud nodded, averting his eyes. He still felt bad for even contemplating on disobeying the rules laid down by ShinRa.
"Who knows, maybe Rufus will even thank you!" Zack chuckled, heading out the door. Cloud's mouth opened slightly in shock. Zack was going to tell on him?
Grumbling quietly to himself, Cloud went back over to his bed and grabbed his things that he would need for his next class. He had hoped that he could finally a pet, but he supposed it was a good thing. Pets only became distractions, and Cloud did not need distractions.
Cloud was going to be a SOLDIER.