First ever Strifehart Kink Meme attempt!

Room Seven was right next to room Eight, so it was a mix of accident and extreme exhaustion that led to Cloud's stupid mistake of barging through the wrong door. He sighed as he shoved the door open, halfway thought removing his shirt for a long overdue hot shower when a yelp of protest startled him out of his fantasies of steam and hot water.

"Hey!"

Cloud's shirt ripped as he fell into a ready position, both hands on the hilt of his sword, only to blink stupidly when he saw Squall glaring at him over one shoulder, back turned to the door and his upper body covered in a few layers of bandages. Cloud blinked stupidly a few times, but Squall hadn't lost his tongue like he had.

"Get out!"

"But this is …" Cloud glanced at the door and his eyes widened when he saw the number on it. "Shit! I'm sorry," he apologised, for once losing his cool as he looked his fellow warrior in the eye.

Squall tsked and turned back to his task, wrapping the last end of the gauze under one muscled arm and silently stretching to test the tension and tightness of his job, towel around his neck and shoulders to catch the drips from his short wet hair from a recent shower. Cloud's eyes glanced over the large magnitude of bandages that spread over his ripped figure from under his arms to mid-ribcage with growing concern.

"Are you injured?"

Squall glanced at him, expression impatient (probably wondering why Cloud hadn't left yet) before he looked down at the white around his chest. "No."

"Then why do you have so many-"

"I'm not injured."

"Squall, if you need that many bandages you probably need a Cura at the very least."

"No I don't- hey!"

Cloud turned him with a firm hand on his shoulder "You can expect us to win with an injured party on our side, right? Treat it properly at least-"

Squall looked more irritated by the second and snapped "They're not bandages. They're bindings, asshole!"

Cloud blinked. Blinked again. Then finally got it. He looked down and saw two small and bound swells of flesh under the many rolls of white. He then realised he was staring. "Ah!" he turned around sharply with a blush like a schoolboy's "I'm so sorry!"

Squall sighed behind him as he considered darting for the door, "Whatever." There was a rustle of fabric that indicated Squall had at last put a top on, and there was a tap on his shoulder before that deep voice muttered "They can't have been the first you've seen."

Cloud rubbed a hand over his face "Sorry."

"Why are you apologising?"

"I didn't realise that you were a girl, and … well, I walked in on you dressing-"

Squall snorted "Hasn't been the first time someone's made that assumption," the bed springs squealed as a body flopped on the mattress. "Or barged in on me."

Cloud hesitantly turned to the brunette warrior, watching with a lot of confusion as they roughly towelled their hair and sat on the edge of the bed with legs a fair distant apart, very masculine in mannerisms. Cloud could have almost go on believing Squall was who he had thought he was, save for the anatomy under the shirt that Cloud couldn't unsee.
Squall looked up at him and raised an eyebrow "Still here?"

He knew he should have walked out by now, but curiosity was biting at him harder than the desire to leave. "Someone else has walked in on you? Don't you lock your door?" was the only thing Cloud could come up with in his defence.

Squall gave the door a potent look, Cloud saw that the lock had been busted out of shape and ripped through the wall that was still dusty indicating a recent break, with chagrin almost strangling him, Cloud realised he had broken in mere moments ago with his impossible strength. "Fuck …"

Squall smirked.

Cloud rubbed a hand over his eyes "Who else has been in here?"

"Hmm? Oh, that time was at back home in Garden, so just you," a tired sigh escaped downturned lips as sable locks were pushed away from silver eyes. "Rinoa broke into my room, if you must know."

"Oh, well at least it was one of your own."

"Out of the both of you you're taking the news better," Squall commented with a one shouldered shrug. "She tried to ask me out on a date but took one look at my breasts, shrieked, ran out and didn't talk to me for a month. She was under the impression I was male too."

Cloud nodded uncertainly, not sure how to respond "Why did she ignore you?"

"She thought I was a man, had a crush on me, and yet the second she found out I didn't have a dick between my legs she ran off pining about a broken heart, and how I led her on acting like a Knight …" she muttered. "She got over it, eventually."

Trying not to wince at the unnecessary details, Cloud hesitantly said "That wasn't very nice."

"Whatever." Squall raised an angular eyebrow "Are you staying the night or something? Your room is that way." Cloud left with a jolt when he realised he'd overstayed his welcome.

Next time they spoke they were on patrol together. Cloud normally ventured alone but couldn't bring himself to complain about the company, especially when he had a competent partner watching his back who didn't feel the need to fill the silence with useless chit chat. Squall was an ideal choice in his opinion.

The Monsters and Manikins were getting bolder and so their side of Light needed to frequently sweep the area to keep it safe. But time alone with Squall made Cloud more curious about her circumstances. She was so tall, muscular and flat chested that her body was misleading without the additional facts that she acted like a man, she had a voice that was deeper than his, and she made no move to correct anyone on their assumptions. Cloud brought it up when they were alone, "You know … you don't act much like a girl, I think you've confused a lot of us." He could count on one hand the number of people who knew Squall's true sex.

Squall chuckled once, voice still strangely deep for a girl as she polished off her gunblade, "Oh?"

Cloud gestured at her clothes "You don't dress like one, or act like one."

She tensed minutely at his observations, arms crossing over her flat, athletic chest and muscular build. Realising he'd hit a nerve, Cloud spoke fast to make amends "I just meant that it's a bit misleading, they suit you well."

Eyes wide, Squall's cheeks went bright red as she stared at him and her anger vanished. "O-oh, you think?" she glanced down at her clothes, white shirt and leather with the many belts that had hidden her subtle feminine hips that both complimented her height and drew eyes. Not waiting for a response (which Cloud was relieved about since he was awkward and shy about giving the impulsive compliment in the first place) Squall added, "I wear the male uniform back at my academy too."

"Why?"

"Skirt sizes were too short."

"No, not that, I meant why act like a man? Why dress and speak and behave like one if you're not?"

"Does it matter?"

Cloud paused mid stride when she asked that.

Her arms crossed and the scar over her nose pinched as she glared "Does wearing a dress or pants change how hard I hit? No. Do interests in makeup or Triple Triad change the outcome of a fight? No. Does a swagger or demure walk affect my experience?" she turned her head away, hands balled into fists "All I want is to be seen as capable. The rest of my actions don't need justification. I like how I dress, I'm comfortable with how I act."

"Ah … and your voice?"

Face falling slightly, Squall admitted "Old injury. It changed the shape of my vocal cords, they move slower than normal so I sound at a lower pitch than average." She touched her throat lightly with distant eyes and lips pressed hard against each other. "That's the only thing that wasn't a choice …"

Cloud wondered if there was a story behind the injury, but he never got a chance to ask because she smirked at him and brought up a story he never thought he'd have to face here. "But I'm not the only one who can pull off another look, I've heard."

Cloud's eyes widened "What?"

Squall smirked "Apparently you naturally suit purple silk skirts."

Mortified, he hid his face in his hands "Tifa promised not to say anything!"

Squall actually laughed "I only half believed her!" she gave a friendly punch to Cloud's shoulder "We have something in common."

Cloud grumbled "Tifa's going down later for this."

Squall's shoulders moved in silenced laughter and her strides shortened to let Cloud keep an easy pace with her "What led to the crossdressing, Cloud? Sounds interesting."
Cloud tried not to stick his bottom lip out at the reminder that she, and likely a few others, were laughing about that embarrassing story. "Only if you tell me your reasons first."

"Whatever. They're very boring," Squall warned, waiting to gage Cloud's determination for an answer before beginning the short list. "I don't think of my situation as crossdressing. I was taller and more muscular than the other girls, so their clothes didn't suit me. My academy realised I wasn't reaching my potential in an all-female classroom because my physical height and strength was on par with the male classes, so I attended their lessons instead and, especially around puberty, I picked up some of their male habits as well as their lesson techniques." She shrugged when she finished and Cloud sighed as he began his story, fair was fair.

"I was in Midgar looking for my friend Tifa. I heard news that she had been captured, and Aerith came up with a plan to rescue her …"

Zidane objected loudly when Squall volunteered to check a dangerous, under-defended route to Chaos's lair solo. His hair nearly stood on end when he shrieked, "You can't go alone! Let Bartz go instead, and I'll keep you safe until he gets back." Squall frowned when Zidane appealed to Cloud when Bartz didn't show any objections to Squall's plan. "Seriously, Cloud, back me up, she's a girl!"

Cloud glared daggers at him, frostily "Does it fucking matter?" And Squall just smiled.

Just for the record- I don't like genderbends that completely change the character of the original. Example: Badass warrior like Sephiroth's counterpart suddenly had big boobs, is over-emotional, too effeminate and wears skimpy outfits. - It's taken away all the traits that Sephiroth embodies! A scary, cloaked, dominating individual with darkness and insanity guiding his actions.

Same with some Squall genderbend interpretations. They change the core capable-icy-fighter with hidden insecurities into a weak character who couldn't have done half the things in the original game! So My interpretation is one in that the ONLY thing that has changed is the sex/gender, Squall is still Squall. (No shorts and bras, no big boobs, and still full of 'whatever's)

Please excuse my rant ...