Disclaimer: I don't even think it's possible to get money by making fanfiction. In any case, I don't.
A/N: I've found myself unable to think of a good title for this story, so for now it's just called 'Snow'. It was originally in my notebook as 'Snow of a More Literal Sort' because I'd just finished writing a story about Snow Villiers.
In any case, I'm taking title suggestions.
People always joked that Cloud had brought the snow and bad weather with him from Nibelheim. He usually just laughed along with them, but by now he was sort of starting to believe that they were right. Of course, that was after the blizzard that dumped five feet of snow on the city. It had happened virtually overnight as well, so Cloud wasn't the only cadet staring around incredulously at the winter wonderland ShinRa's outdoor training facility had become. He was, however, the only one who wasn't shivering.
Perhaps living the majority of his life in the mountains wasn't the worst of things after all.
None of their superior officers were even at the training grounds, and so after about five minutes, the hapless cadets began to do as hapless cadets did—and started throwing snowballs at each other. Or rather, everyone threw snowballs at Cloud, who was the easiest target because his spiky tuft of blonde hair poked just above the snow level no matter what he tried.
Brushing a rather large, wet clump of snow and ice out of his scarf, Cloud began to feel a bit jealous of the cadets who were shorter and couldn't be seen above the snow piles. Granted, he wasn't totally a victim; he did manage to hurl a few projectiles of his own back at his perpetrators.
But that didn't change the fact that his clothes were soaking wet and he was beginning to feel like his ears might fall off. And that they weren't allowed to leave until dismissed by a commanding officer.
Sephiroth was probably still sleeping. Heck, he'd most likely look out the window and decide it wasn't worth it and the cadets could freeze for all he cared. Not that Cloud disliked Sephiroth… Zack just had so many horror stories about the General that Cloud's point of view had become a little tainted.
Some of the cadets were sitting down now, curled into little balls with groups of friends huddled around. Cloud knew on instinct that it was a bad idea to just sit there and get frostbite, so he continued jumping around. But carefully. Because sweating and sub-freezing temperatures didn't mix.
He felt a hand delve into his spikes and ruffle them, probably entirely screwing them up. "Zack!" he gasped as the First grinned at him. Zack was dressed in little more than Cloud, but he looked far less cold. Mako did that to you.
"Training's been cancelled," Zack announced to the general public.
Most of the cadets, especially the ones who weren't used to the cold, scattered at his words. Cloud stayed by Zack's side as his friend sighed, tossing his hands in the air and folding them behind his head. "How's it hanging, Spiky?" Zack asked, "Busy enough?"
"A little sleepy. Not busy, though," Cloud replied. Now that practice had been cancelled, his schedule was completely clear.
"Any chance you're up for hot chocolate?" Did he even have to ask? Cloud's favorite thing in the world was hot chocolate, there was no way he wouldn't say yes! "Oh, some friends of mine'll be there too."
Cloud knew who he was talking about. And it was reason enough for him to actually turn down an offer of hot chocolate. Zack, although he was friends with most of the second class, spent the majority of his time with his mentor, Angeal. A while ago, Cloud would have turned Cloud down simply because he was afraid of Angeal, but he'd since realized Angeal wasn't as scary as he looked. He was actually pretty nice, even though he was at least twice as wide as Cloud and a full foot taller than him. Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration.
However, 'friends' probably meant that Genesis and maybe even Sephiroth would be there. Cloud shivered, and he was pretty sure it wasn't because of the cold. He was afraid of them both. Genesis seemed sweet at first, even though he could tangle someone up in words within a matter of seconds. But his temper was legendary and so talked-about that Cloud feared him even though he hadn't quite seen that side of the Commander. Sephiroth was quieter than Genesis, but the way he smirked at everything as though he knew it all always made Cloud's skin crawl. He idolized Sephiroth, sure, but that didn't mean he could not be absolutely terrified of him as well. Zack's stories about the General's ruthlessness and no-nonsense personality didn't help.
Neither did the fact that Zack liked to tease him and the rest of the Firsts were all too happy to join in.
"Um, Zack, I don't know if that's…"
"Oh, come on, Cloudy."
With that, Zack strung his arm through Cloud's and the cadet found himself being dragged off towards the Firsts' apartment. Cloud protested all the way there, stammering and even whining a little. Zack ignored his pleas in entirety.
When the elevator doors slid open, Cloud was still pleading with Zack. "I'm not even a SOLDIER yet, so why would they even want to spend time with me…!"
He stopped short when six-and-some feet of pure muscle stood in front of him. He was staring straight at a bare chest, and when his eyes furtively darted upward, he caught sight of that smirk. "Yo, Seph." Zack clapped the man on the shoulder as he passed and the smirk disappeared. Sephiroth scowled at the Second.
"Don't call me that."
"Wear a shirt."
There was an ongoing three-way argument between Sephiroth, Genesis, and Zack that Cloud never really understood. Zack called both of the older men ridiculous nicknames, which they hated. Genesis, however, didn't seem to mind Sephiroth's nicknames, and used them almost as frequently as Zack did. Whenever Sephiroth retaliated, both of them reminded him that he never wore shirts, which annoyed Genesis especially. (Zack had told Cloud once that Sephiroth was basically perfect, which made Genesis jealous.) The problem was, Zack and Genesis would never stop with the nicknames and Sephiroth would not wear a shirt, so Cloud wasn't sure why they argued about it.
As usual, Genesis took Zack's side. "Yeah, Seph, don't go around like that when we have guests over."
Sephiroth just rolled his eyes and flopped onto the couch with more grace than Cloud could ever have.
It was then that Cloud realized he was still soaking wet. Zack was too, but he seemed to have disappeared. He was probably going back into his room to change.
Cloud just stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching Genesis, who looked very comfortable lying on the couch in skinny jeans and an oversized sweater that looked like it belonged to either Sephiroth or Angeal. He was reading, as always, probably LOVELESS. It didn't take long for him to notice Cloud staring, and his eyes flickered up to meet the blonde's.
"You can sit down, you know," he said. His nose wrinkled as he realized Cloud was dripping all over the floor. "On second through, why don't you go change or something?"
"Ah… yeah… that's probably a good idea."
Genesis waved him off into the nearest bedroom. "Just grab anything. It's my room, but most of the clothes aren't mine, anyway." The sentence would have sounded extremely awkward had Cloud not known that Genesis was the one who did most of the laundry. Angeal tended to be OCD about it, or so said Zack, who'd once ended up with his entire closet re-organized. Sephiroth just forgot about it entirely and Zack was… Zack.
Since Zack was his closest friend among the Firsts, Cloud tried to find his clothes. The T-shirt with the logo of Zack's Gongagan high school and the green hoodie definitely belonged to Zack, but Cloud was pretty sure the faded blue jeans he was wearing were Genesis's. None of the other Firsts' pants would have fit his slim frame. After laying his wet clothes along the rim of the tub in the bathroom, he returned to the living room.
"Yo, you changed. Good," Zack said, "You looked like a drowned cat."
Cloud rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks."
Zack hopped up from his perch on the couch and dashed into the kitchen, returning moments later with one hand around Angeal's wrist and the other holding a mug with a large blue lilac on the side. He handed it to Cloud, who noticed that the mug was indeed filled with hot chocolate. "You're welcome."
Sephiroth was sitting up now, wearing the red sweater that Genesis had been dressed in. Apparently it was his. Genesis had probably given it back because he wanted to convince Sephiroth to wear a shirt.
Not that Cloud minded, he actually quite agreed that it was annoying to have a constant reminder of just how ripped Sephiroth was.
Zack took the only armchair before Cloud could, which meant the sole remaining seat was next to Sephiroth, who, despite the fact that he looked completely ordinary and docile right now, still scared the crap out of Cloud. Cloud sat down gingerly, pulling his knees in to his chest and taking a small sip of the hot chocolate. It brought a smile to his face because of how much it reminded him of coming in from the snow-filled mountains of Nibelheim to warm hot chocolate his mother made.
"You like it?" Zack asked, noticing Cloud's grin.
"Yeah, I do."
"Make sure you drink some before Sephiroth steals it all," Genesis said, moving his legs so Angeal could sit next to him.
"I wouldn't do that," Sephiroth replied, holding his own mug, which had a daffodil on the side. Cloud was beginning to wonder where all of the flowery mugs came from. Probably Aerith.
"Yes you would, you're practically addicted to the stuff." That came from Angeal, so it was probably true.
It also quieted Sephiroth, which only made Cloud more nervous. Now he had no idea what Sephiroth was thinking. Not that he'd had much of one in the first place. Had he mentioned he was afraid of the guy? Very, very afraid? Well, he was.
"You know, Zack, now that I think about it, he really does look like a chocobo."
Great.
Genesis was making fun of his hair.
"I do not!" Cloud protested.
Zack only exacerbated the situation by adding, "Seph likes chocobos, doesn't he?"
"Oh, yes, he does…" A smirk that could have rivaled Sephiroth's crept onto Genesis's face.
"Well, he does sleep with a stuffed one, after all."
Sephiroth, who had been seething ever since chocobos were mentioned, jumped up and nearly throttled Zack. "You will not mention that ever again," he snarled, shoving the younger First back against the couch cushions.
Cloud, who had been beginning to think that the whole thing was kind of funny, was now cowering in his corner of the couch. Angeal was the one who noticed he was terrified, and he prized Sephiroth off of Zack. "Cut it out! You're freaking out the kid!"
"Sorry," Sephiroth muttered, tying his hair into a ponytail.
"It's… it's nothing," Cloud stammered, still trying to sit as far away from Sephiroth as he could.
Even so, knowing that the General slept with a stuffed chocobo made him seem a little less scary.