Of Toads and Men
Cloud had never stared so hard in his life, one eye narrow, the other wide, reminding Rufus of the old western movies his grandfather forced him to watch in his youth. However, Cloud wasn't looking at Rufus, but at the six foot one former god behind him. Rufus wondered if Cloud was armed.
"What the fuck Rufus?" Cloud tensed as Sephiroth smirked, or was it a smile? Cloud didn't care, he wanted to punch the man, stab him repeatedly then set his corpse on fire, whilst roasting marshmallows over his flaming body. Rufus's brows arched upwards.
"Cloud," mako blue glared at him, Rufus's corpse would be a nice addition to Cloud's marshmallows fire. "Is Tifa here?" Cloud's eye throbbed, his blood pressure rising.
"No, she's not." Rufus nodded, his next inquiry poised when the shorter man cut him off, "I don't know where she's at." Eyes darted back to Sephiroth who was roaming the bar looking at the pictures on the wall, pictures Cloud had taken on his travels. Cloud glanced around, eyes landing on the closest weapon to him – a spoon. Oh yes, Cloud would enjoy carving his nemeses heart out slowly.
Rufus frowned, looking towards his charge, "do you know when she will be back Cloud?"
"No, she took the kids out." Rufus nodded.
Sephiroth stood in front of the window watching people pass by. A young woman with long black hair in black shorts and a white tank top caught his attention, her smile bright and infectious, eyes glittering with joy in the noon sun. Skipping a beat his heart goaded him to talk to her, but his mind refused. Sephiroth found she looked familiar, some distant memory that Sephiroth couldn't recall.
"Cloud!" Twin shouts from the back produced a smile on Rufus's lips. Cloud wished to crawl into a cabinet just to hide from the smug bastard in white. Gaia, he hated Rufus Shinra, his smug smirk, and perfect hair, the way his eyes danced with mirth when he knew he was going to get his way. "We found a toad!" Denzel and Marlene burst through the door the toad wiggling to get out of the children's grasps. The toad stopped, inhaling deeply and began to sing.
Marlene squealed as three more toads appeared and quickly gathered them up as Tifa stepped through the door. Frowning Tifa looked around, Cloud should have been there, his bike was still out front. With a shrug, she stepped around the bar. A gasp tore from her lips as she saw the four toads and with the speed of a cheetah she ripped them from the children's hands, putting them out the back door. Marlene and Denzel stared in shock as Toad Cloud and Rufus flew through the air, landing in the dumpster while Toad Sephiroth landed gracefully on a barrel, content to watch through the window, his tiny toad heart fluttering. The Toad, free of tiny hands, glared maliciously before it hopped away looking for its next victim.
In the dumpster, two toads faced off against each other. Webbed hands flapped g widely the two toads wrestled in the muck. Much to Clouds' dismay, his little hands refused to grip Rufus non-existent toad neck. Panting the toads ceased their fighting, Rufus glared at the swordsman, er, sword toad above him, willing Cloud's head to explode. The look quickly faded as ill intent took hold of the shorter blond.
Far away, in his own little world, Sephiroth was not fond of his toad stage and now understood the plight of the actual toad. Marlene carried him sanity in her hands, stroking his head. Which he could admit felt fantastic but she kept talking about frog princes. Sephiroth was not a frog, he was a toad, nor was he a prince. Which he admitted to himself sucked, he could do with some Gil.
"I think that's Cloud." Sephiroth scowled inwardly, on the outside it looked like a regular toad face.
Marlene giggled, "If we get Tifa to kiss him maybe he will turn back."
Denzel, face screwing into distaste, rolled his eyes. "How are we going to get Tifa to kiss a frog?"
Furiously, Marlene giggled rushing inside with Toadiroth.
"Tifa! Tifa!" The woman turned, eyes going wide at the sight of another Toad. Marlene, an inquisitive girl, had a penchant for animals. She loved cats and dogs, adored Cloud's herd of golden Chocobo but the tiny slimy beast where her favorites. "Its Cloud," thrusting the toad into Tifa's face, the woman reeled back to get a good look at the green thing. "If you kiss him, he will turn back into Cloud! Like the frog prince."
Tifa smiled lopsided, what she did to humor these children. Lips puckered, Tifa leaned down kissing the frog near its mouth. Marlene gasped, stumbling backward. Denzel's eyes grew wide, his jaw slackened as he looked up at the man that was definitely not Cloud and Tifa who seemed to be enjoying the through ravishing. The dumpster shook and Cloud quickly jumped out, returned to his normal form swiftly stepping inside. Rufus, with as much grace as he could muster while still holding his ego in check through an empty tin can at the black of Cloud's head. It hit the swordsman and landed with a thunk.
Cloud hastily darted through the door as Rufus neared, reaching for his shotgun. "Strife, you ever put your lips on me again…" Rufus stopped his eyes following Clouds'. Denzel gagged, while Marlene, eyes glittering at the sight clasped her hands in front of her.
"Their kissing!"
"Both of you up to your room." Tifa jerked back if she wasn't kissing Cloud, just who was she kissing. She drew a breath in, fear taking over. Twisting back, she lunged forward and Sephiroth stumbled back stunned and held his nose. The soft patter of blood resonated through the empty bar.
Sephiroth winced pulling his hand away from his near shattered nose. "Let's get breakfast somewhere else."
"Sounds like a great idea," Cloud smirked, laughing internally as Sephiroth grabbed a handful of napkins and walked out. Tifa, shaking in anger, brought a hand to her still tingling lips. Turning from Cloud as the door shut, Tifa blushed having not expected Sephiroth to be such a fantastic kisser, her shoulders hunched over. Cloud stepped forward, believing her to be crying.
"Are you alright?" Tifa nodded, hand over her nose.
"What were you doing Cloud, rolling around in the trash? Go take a shower!" She looked away shaking her head cast down. "Can't leave you to watch the kids for a minute, Marlene brings a toad in here and your out in the dumpster." Exasperated, Cloud trudged upstairs like a scolded child. A smile formed as he recalled Tifa's right hook to Sephiroth's perfect nose. At least something good happened today.
Blah blah blahblahblah! Toadiroth, fresh fries Lima beans. Toadiroth! There will be more Toad adventures and there may be more RufusxCloud. MAYBE!