Genesis groaned,

"Dammit! I knew I was forgetting something" Zack noticed his displeasure and spoke up,

"What did you forget?"

"Where are we gonna keep him?" They had somehow managed to get the wolf into the building and up to the SOLDIER floor. Now, however, they were faced with a dilemma. Who's apartment were they gonna put him in?

"I say Seph's place" Zack piped up "It's got the most room" He made a valid point, for once, so Angeal and Genesis agreed, it was where they usually hung out anyway. Sephiroth though, was reluctant to let a wild animal into his room.

"Come on Seph. We don't have anywhere else to put him. He can stay in that big room you never use." Zack gave him the puppy eyes, and when Sephiroth glanced at the wolf, he seemed to be doing the same, with his ears drooping and soulful blue eyes staring into green. Sephiroth tried to stay strong, but eventually, even he caved to the Puppy Eyes.

"All right" He grumbled in defeat. Zack did a little fist-pump, and they led the wolf to Sephiroth's apartment. When they got there, they had to pause for him to swipe his key card and hold the door open. The wolf hesitated at the door, so Genesis had to lure him in with another hot dog. Then Sephiroth shut the door and locked it.

When he turned around, he saw that none of the others were there anymore. He turned to the hallway in time to see shirt fly out of the bathroom. He walked over to the doorway and saw Zack, who had stripped down to his boxers, lying across the wolf's back in the tub, with the water running and wolf whimpering with his chin on the edge. When asked what was going on, Zack replied,

"We're giving him a bath and he wouldn't stay still." As Sephiroth sighed and went back to the living room, Genesis started rooting through the cupboards. He pulled out a washcloth and some dog shampoo, and set them on the edge pf the tub.

"Where'd you get dog shampoo?" Angeal asked from his spot on the closed toilet lid.

"Remember that thing that happened a few months ago?"

"Which thing?"

"The one with the poodle lady"

"Oh, that one. Yeah I remember it." Angeal shuddered a little, that lady was scary!

When the tub was deemed full enough, the faucet was shut off and Genesis started scrubbing with the now soapy washcloth.


q After a while, they were all back in the living room, the wolf on a towel by the couch, which held Genesis, Zack, who had put on a fresh pair of pants but not a shirt, and Angeal. Sephiroth had taken up his usual spot in his chair.

"So what are we gonna call him?" Genesis asked, not wanting to just refer to him as 'the wolf' all the time.

"How about Goldie?" Zack suggested.

"He's a wolf. Not a fish."

"Hmm, George?"

"No, he doesn't look like a 'George'. Okami, maybe?"

"What's that?"

"Wutain for wolf"

"Nah, too obvious"

Sephiroth was ignoring them, staring at the wolf. When he looked up into to Sephiroth's eyes, a name just sort of popped into his mind,

"Cloud" The others looked over in time to see the wolf leap onto Sephiroth and start dragging his tongue over the man's face, despite his sputtering and shoving. When he finally managed to get him away, Sephiroth wiped off his face with a towel he kept by the door.

"Cloud it is, I guess" Sephiroth could swear the wolf was grinning at him.


AN: Thanks for the reviews! And those who voted. Not much else to say really, except that you will likely never know what I meant by 'The Poodle Lady Incident'.