For those of you that like Cloud, I'll warn you that I don't like him too too much. If I didn't like him at all, then I wouldn't write this. But you might not want to read this if you really like him.
Disclaimer: do not own FFVII, or anything in it. If I did, then this wouldn't be called a fanfic. Although I with I owned Sephiroth, I don't. Oh darn.
Ch.1-Sephiroth moves in
At last, Gaia was safe, and didn't need any saving for the time being. But Sephiroth was alive now, under certain conditions. He had gone through major therapy. And wasn't necessarily all that much better than before.
"Oh Clouuuudy! Lunch is ready!" came a baritone voice from the dining room. Cloud groaned. His simple mind hadn't thought out any consequences of what might happen with Sephiroth living in his house, or of what the therapy might do to him. Neither part was good. He kept mentally kicking himself ever since for making such a big mistake. He got up and trudged towards the dining room. Two days and already he couldn't stand it! "Are you all right? Your sandwich is going to get cold! Oh, I do hope you like ham sandwiches! And you don't mind lettuce or tomato, do you?" Sephiroth called out to Cloud.
"Whatever," Cloud muttered as he walked into the dining room and sat down. If only he was smarter. Then he wouldn't have made this mistake. Oh well. He had, and had to live with it. He looked at his sandwich. It was a sub roll cut in half, with ham, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato all stuffed into it, so much that it was bursting out of the edges.
"It represents how much love I packed into it, Cloudy!" he said, grinning. Somehow, a baritone voice just wasn't meant to sound cheery. "Now eat up!" He started whistling a tune. He then searched around the kitchen for something. "Ah-hah!" he said triumphantly, and pulled out the blender that Tifa had given Cloud for Christmas.
Cloud spit out the bite he had just taken. "S-S-Sephiroth, what are you going to do with that!" he asked nervously. He watched as the silver-haired man pulled out various fruit: two bananas, strawberries, two oranges, some crème de coconut, and a lemon. He set them all down on the counter.
Sephiroth grinned. "I'm making a treat! I do hope you'll like it." He then skipped over to the cupboard, and pulled out the sugar container, then went to the freezer and pulled out the ice tray, and set it all down on the counter along with the fruits.
"I'm, er, really not thirsty," Cloud said quickly, "so all this really isn't necessary." He wasn't hungry either, he thought. He wasn't about to trust anything that Sephiroth made. He didn't, actually, trust him at all. He was acting so nice to him. Too nice. "And be careful with the blender. It's new." But he wasn't so much worried about the blender's safety as he was about his own. This was just too creepy.
"Oh Cloudy!" Do you really not trust me? I'm hurt. I would never dream of defiling any of your stuff! Not even a crumb on your plate!" Sephiroth said, sounding shocked and hurt, while pouting. "But, what should I expect. You probably don't trust anyone," he said. "You should really open up more."
"Um, er, sure." Cloud didn't buy the act, but boy was he confused. Perhaps if he had more brain power, he would have been worried also about some what ifs, like What if he's planning to sneak up on me while I'm vulnerable, and hurt me? Or worse? But no. His mind didn't deem those important thoughts to have. There wasn't enough room. "Erm, but really, Sephiroth," Cloud continued, "I'm not thirsty. Not at all." Wow. Sephiroth's nice-ness was scaring him, fake or not.
"Awwww! But I've already started to make them!" Sephiroth complained, pointing at the blender. Sure enough, there were already some strawberries and a banana in the blender. He had already started to make one. He was currently working on peeling the orange. "Gee, I hope you'll drink it," He pleaded. "It would be a waste if you didn't." He gave Cloud the puppy dog eyes. It didn't work, but all of the thinking had made him thirsty. He gave in for his own personal benefit. He figured that as long as he kept an eye on Sephiroth, he should be safe.
"Fine, I'll drink the damned thing. But only 'cause I'm thirsty," He grumbled. He tried to sound as reluctant as possible, even though he highly doubted that it would be poisoned, and he wanted to see how Sephiroth made a smoothie.
"Yaaaaaay!" Sephiroth shouted gleefully. He put the rest of the ingredients into the blender, and then turned it on. Nothing happened. "Oops! I need to plug it in. Silly me!" He plugged it in, and then turned it on. It made its regular blender noise, which was rather loud. "I HOPE YOU'LL LIKE IT!" he shouted over the noise of the blender. When everything was blended completely together, he stopped it. He then proceeded to pour the contents into a glass. He put a straw in it and handed it to Cloud. The straw was pink. Sephiroth evidently noticed Cloud's staring at it, because he then said, "Pink is such a lovely color!" Woah. Cloud decided that he was going to get a human lie detector to interrogate Sephiroth when he got the chance.
Cloud tentatively took a small sip. Sephiroth in the meantime watched him intently, obviously, awaiting Cloud's opinion. "It's hor–" Wait, it wasn't horrible. It actually tasted good. It wasn't too sour, or too sweet, like he expected. Maybe Sephiroth knew something about making smoothies. "It's good."
"Great! I'm glad you like it! I mean, I don't know a thing about cooking or anything, so for al I know it could've tasted like crap! Hahaha!" He laughed delightedly for a few seconds, then continued. "So, how about you try the sandwich? I mean, really try it. Don't spit any more out; you don't want to waste any food do you? If you don't like it, then I'll eat it. But, I mean, how can you screw up making a sandwich! I'm sure it'll be just fine," He said, laughter in his tone.
Cloud took his first, actually, second bite. The sandwich was, not at all to his surprise, good. "Yeah, it's good," he said nonchalantly. He needn't comment any more on it.
\/\/\/
Sephiroth was pleased. He knew that it would take a while to gain his trust, but at least Cloud would eat his food. Well, he felt bad about all of the stuff he had done to him in the past. But Mother had wanted him to, and he listened to Mother. He now realized that Jenova was not technically his mother, and that Cloud was actually someone he could get along with, and he was fun to be with. He wished he hadn't done all that nasty stuff to him. But he didn't want to dwell on the past. He wanted to work on having a future with him, and that meant gaining his trust. He loved him, and therefore didn't want Cloud to be afraid of him. Maybe he was being too nice. Yes, that was it. He really wasn't that nice. Cloudie! He didn't like that. But he had been trying to get Cloud to realize that he was a changed man. Jenova was out of the picture now, and the therapist had helped him regain his sanity. He was even best friends with the therapist now! This life was a lot better than his I-can't-take-this-anymore Shinra life, or his Jenova-wants-me-to-become-one-with-the-planet-so-I-will life.
The first thing Sephiroth had done was convince the group to allow him to stay at Cloud's house. Ah, he remembered how he had won the argument. He was mostly bs-ing it, for he was still a bit evil, and some interesting ideas of what to do to the other members of Cloud's group.
/\
"I suggest that I stay at Cloud's apartment." Sephiroth stated simply. They all stared at him; Cloud, Cid, Tifa, Yuffie, Barret, Cait Sith, Vincent (well, that really wasn't new; Vincent had been staring at him the whole time.), Nanaki, and Aeris (yes, she had been resurrected, before Sephiroth was. He wondered why Tifa agreed to that – she wanted Cloud to herself. But she liked Aeris also, so he guessed that it made sense that she wanted Aeris resurrected.).
"N-no!" Tifa said, being the first to remember how to talk. "I don't want Cloud getting hurt. You should stay with Barret and I, like I've been discussing." She really didn't want that, he could tell. But she wanted to keep Cloud safe, and no one else wanted to touch Sephiroth with a ten-foot pole.
"But," Sephiroth started, "theoretically, if I was perchance still evil, even though I'm not even in the slightest bit, or if I had any evil notions on what to do to anybody, would it not be safest for me to stay at Cloud's? I mean, he's the leader of you guys, is he not, and he wouldn't be if he weren't the strongest. Therefore he would be able to protect himself the best. He would be the best one to keep me out of trouble." Actually, he hoped to get into some trouble with Cloud. But that wasn't the point. "Do you guys not agree?" He, having been standing during the whole speech, now sat down in his chair and folded his hands on his lap.
"Uuuh," Tifa said. She wasn't entirely sure, but it did seem to make sense. She looked at Vincent, who shrugged.
"I think it's a bad idea having Sephiroth in the same room as us, and having a civil conversation with him. If you were to have listened to me, then he would undoubtedly still been resting in that tomb of his. But, you did not heed my advice. I shall have to atone for my sins after this is through." Vincent calmly stated. Sephiroth groaned. That Vincent must enjoy getting everyone around him depressed.
"Uum, I think having Sephiroth stay with Cloud is probably the best thing to do." Aeris decided. "I don't trust him in the slightest, and I believe Cloud will do a good job of keeping him in check. Does anyone disagree?" No one seemed to. "Good, then it's settled. I'm sorry for sticking him on you Cloud, but it seems like the best thing to do. Well, good luck! I really have to get to work now." Aeris kissed Cloud quickly and left the room. Everyone else slowly proceeded to leave also. Sephiroth had won. Yes, he though.
/\
Little did they know, Cloud was the worst person to hand over Cloud to. Not because he was weak, or a bit dim-witted, but because Cloud definitely did not like Sephiroth in that way. Oh, but he will, no matter what it takes. Why, he might already like me deep down! Ah, wishful thinking. Sephiroth thought. But none of them knew what Cloud was planning, so it was fairly easy to get them to agree to this housing arrangement.
The first thing that Sephiroth did once he got to Cloud's house was to look in the kitchen. Just as he had suspected, there was just enough food to feed Cloud for about a week. Cloud wasn't prepared to have Sephiroth living in his humble abode. So he had gone grocery shopping in disguise. He had put his hair up on top of his head and put it under a hat, then wore tan cargo pants and a black tank-top. He also had worn a darkish blue long-coat over it, because it had been cold that day.
Now, he was satisfied that the food was enough to last both of them two weeks. Also, Sephiroth had long since gotten a new wardrobe, so there was nothing that needed to be done away from the house, other than Cloud's job. But today was Sunday.
"Cloud?" Sephiroth said, an idea popping up into his head.
"Mm?" Cloud mumbled, his mouth full. He glanced up at Sephiroth, looking like At least he's not calling me Cloudy!
"Well, how would you like to go for a walk in the park on the roof?" This would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Cloud, and start to gain his trust, given no one else was there. When Cloud glanced down at his food, Sephiroth quickly stated "When you're done eating, of course. Oh, and by the way, do you want some desert? I bought some of those mini pies. "
Cloud shook his head. He looked as if he was trying to figure out Sephiroth's motive. Oh, you'll never guess that it's just to have a friendly talk, will you my Cloud? Sephiroth thought. No, of course Cloud wouldn't think that. That would be the last thing he would expect. Cloud was probably waiting for Sephiroth to lose his cool and go all psycho-maniac on him. But no, Sephiroth wasn't going to do that unless he decided that Cloud didn't have the mental capacity to understand Sephiroth's love for him, or his possible love for Sephiroth.
Of course, Sephiroth would be crushed if Cloud rejected him once he knew and believed the whole truth. He was relying on pure hope that Cloud wouldn't do that. He would of course go on living, for he was not really the suicide type, but he didn't know if he could ever be happy again if Cloud truly despised him when he learned the truth. But, at least for now, he didn't need to think about that.
"Naw, M'fine." Cloud mumbled, again having food in his mouth. He swallowed, then said "And hmm, I s'pose I'll go for a walk. Just don't try anything bad, 'cause I'm perfectly willing to and capable of killing you again. Now let me finish eating in peace, please." He turned back to the sandwich in his hand, and took another bite. He looked like while he really didn't want to go on a walk with Sephiroth, a walk sounded like a good idea. He would probably try to sneak out on his own.
"Okay, I'll leave you to eat in peace. I'll be in the living room waiting." Sephiroth said, smirking slightly. He heard Cloud mutter a curse. He knew why. Cloud wanted to go on a walk in the roof-park alone. The stairs were in the living room. As long as Sephiroth was in the living room, there was no way he was going to go on that walk alone. Yup, he would just have to accept the fact that Sephiroth was going with him. That was why Sephiroth had chosen to wait in the living room. He turned around, his long, shiny hair spreading out behind him. Although his hair was annoying sometimes at such a tremendously long length, he liked it that way. His hair was cool this long; everyone knew that.
He walked into the living room, feeling the glare on his back. He then sat down on the couch. The couch was a kind of nice, velvety couch, that was threadbare in spots. Plus it was a bit lumpy. But if you sat in the right spot, it was plenty comfy. Sephiroth was already beginning to feel right at home here. It had been only a day, but because the place was so small, he already knew his way around. There was a living room, a kitchen/dining room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Sephiroth got the couch in the living room to sleep on. Wasn't he so lucky. Cloud didn't trust him in his own room. Nope, he got the lumpy couch. Either that or the floor. The hardwood floor. Sephiroth decided that he wanted to listen to some music. He went over to the radio, which was in better shape than the couch (probably Cloud used the couch a lot.), and turned it on. It was news. He changed the station; more news. Again; more farking news. What the hell! Did they even play music anymore? He changed the station one more time. It was music. Classical music. Classical music was okay and all, but Sephiroth just didn't get into it. He turned the radio off. Well that was completely and utterly useless! he thought angrily.
He heard a chair being pushed out from the table. That meant that Cloud was done eating. Now he had only to wait for him to come into the living room. He waited. He heard the trash can lid clang shut. He then heard the sink. He then heard…a door. The bathroom door. Greaaaat. Now he had to wait for Cloud to go to the bathroom, and then fix up his hair. That would take a good ten minutes. Back to the radio. And guess what? All news. It must be his lucky day. But, low and behold, they were playing one of his favorite songs on one of the stations – Get a life you ho. It was hard rock, which was his favorite genre of music. He started getting into the music, even playing an air guitar, and banging his head up and down like a rock star. His eyes, about a minute and a half into the song, happened to catch a glimpse of the doorway to the kitchen. Cloud was there. He was staring at Sephiroth like he was completely out of his mind. Uh-oh. He turned the radio off quickly.
"Erm, I see you're done eating, Cloud! Well, sorry about anything I did that may have bothered you, but, umm, I'm afraid I just got into the music." 'Crap,' he thought, 'he must not have needed to fix up his hair.' "How much did you see?" He hoped it wasn't much, that he had just gotten out of the bathroom.
"Ever since your 'first guitar solo'." Cloud said. He sounded really creeped out. Well, maybe this was a good thing. It would get Cloud thinking that he was just a normal human now. 'I mean, I bet Cloud's done that kind of thing before.' He hoped he wasn't just making excuses for himself. "Well, um, let's go for that walk." Cloud said slowly, like now it was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Um, Okay. Let's go." Sephiroth replied, and they both started heading up the long stairway to the roof.
/Sephiroth moves inend/
A/N: This chapter was written over a long period of time, because of school. So it's not the best, but I didn't want to just scrap it and start over, because I wouldn't finish the second version. One of my friends thought it was lacking (LordFluffy'sMinion). It was only SesshouMario, who kept bugging me to finish chapter one, that got me to not be lazy and finish it. Well, all of that aside, I hope you liked chapter 1!