Cloud sat on the side of the bath, one hand extended forward to hold red strands away from his lovers face as the Turk heaved into the toilet bowl. He had been hunched over the seat for the last ten minutes alternating between vomiting and muttering in distress, Cloud was hopeful that he would be done soon.
"Why did I do it? Why? I can't believe I did it. Why did I do it? That poor thing. That poor cow."
Rubbing soothing circles into his loves back the blonde reflected that people had odd ways of dealing with upset. Some people cut their hair into an extreme style, others made rash purchases like sports cars or designer clothes, some booked spur of the moment holidays to exotic places or even ended relationships or quit their jobs to start afresh. Reno didn't do any of that.
Reno...ate hamburgers.
Finding out the flamboyant redhead was a vegan was probably one of the biggest surprises Cloud had uncovered about his lover. Not a hobby vegan like those fad following celebrities you saw on TV. No no no.
Reno was devout.
Had been raised that way. In fact in the years they had been together this was only the second time Cloud had ever seen him eat meat, if the two bites he had managed before dashing to the toilet to regurgitate it even counted as eating. Cloud wasn't sure it had even reached his stomach.
From what he had gathered as the other male burst into the apartment in tears clutching a Big Burger bag, there had been a fight at work. Him and Rude. It was surprising to be honest, the only thing rarer than Reno eating meat was him fighting with his best friend. No wonder he was so upset. Upset enough to overlook his own principles and down a juicy chunk of processed farm animal.
Cloud wasn't sure how this had become his boyfriends go to coping method for distress, especially when it seemed to cause even more distress than he started with, but he had learned the only way to respond when he got like this was to ride it out.
The first time he had tried to coax the redhead into putting the burger down and earned a broken nose for his troubles. Which was slightly irritating since afterwards Reno had still shown more remorse for the cow than for his own boyfriend.
Finally the Turk finished gagging and sat back on his haunches whilst Cloud handed him some tissue from the roll to wipe his mouth before gently petting his hair in comfort and sweeping a stray lock behind his ear.
"You ok?"
Green eyes ringed with red met his for a moment before Reno suddenly lunged towards the bowl a final time bringing up a last rush of bile.
With a few gasped breaths the Turk sat up once more. "Yeah, I'm fine" The words were muttered quietly and with an undertone of self loathing. Cloud sighed.
He wouldn't be allowed to bring meat anywhere near the house for a few weeks now, he just knew.
Would have to stop for a few meals whilst he was out on delivery if he wanted to eat anything but rabbit food.
Reno had tried a few times to convert his blonde lover and repeatedly failed. Cloud was basically a carnivore and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. Being raised in the mountains where a high fat diet was necessary for survival had made sure of that. There was nothing he liked better than a nice hearty meat stew, maybe some boiled potatoes on the side and he wasn't going to pretend to feel guilty about it.
Reno could lecture all he liked about the cruelty those poor animals went through and how it wasn't fair but it would only fall on deaf ears. As much as he loved his boyfriend there was no way Cloud was going to listen to a fucking Turk preaching to him about morality. Not that he would ever tell him that in exactly those words of course.
Whilst Reno finally hauled himself to his feet and shakily moved towards the sink to brush his teeth, Cloud gave him a quick hug and final smile before rushing to the kitchen to rescue as much as he could from the freezer before the other man recovered fully and started binning everything that once had a pulse.
He smiled in relief when he heard the shower start. If he was quick he could drop it all over to Tifa's before Reno even left the bathroom. No point letting it go to waste after-all.
"I commend you on your choice Strife."
Cloud glanced towards the General with an amused smile. "Thanks."
He placed his jacket over the back of a chair and took a seat, watching as the other man did the same across the table.
"Do you always talk like that?"
Green eyes met his in question. "Like what?"
"Like... you just always sound so formal. When we were in training I figured it was just because you were being professional but since we are now in a restaurant I'm thinking maybe not."
Sephiroth plucked the menu from a stand in the centre of the table and began fiddling with it nervously.
"My apologies, I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." Wow, who would have thought General Sephiroth could be self conscious.
"It doesn't make me uncomfortable, I was just wondering." Great now he felt guilty. "You should relax more. I mean we're friends now, right? At least we're trying to be. I know all our mutual friends want us to be."
Sephiroth looked a little less nervous now but still kept fiddling with the menu.
Cloud sighed and picked up the other menu "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound critical. Speak however you like."
"No its fine, you're right I would like us to be friends. I will strive to speak more casually from now on."
The blond smiled in amusement, lifting his menu a little higher to hide it. "So, any idea what you want?"
"I'm not certain yet, I must admit I've never been here before. Zachary is the only one who ever invites me out to lunch; Angeal always cooks his own meals and Genesis's schedule rarely aligns with mine, so we usually end up eating at some greasy burger place. This is a nice change."
Cloud glanced around bashfully. Back when he was a real cadet he probably would have eaten in the same burger places as Zack. Reno had told him about this place. It was in a part of sector 6 his future self had seen destroyed and one of the few vegan restaurants in Midgar. The redhead had always expressed regret at never having a chance to take him there. He had tracked it down a few weeks after arriving in the past and had been coming here at least once a week ever since. The rest of the week he still ate meat though.
"It's good. I like the falafel wraps"
Sephiroth glanced down the menu again, clearly uncertain what to choose. "That sounds good. I think I'll try that."
"Cool, that's what I'm having too. You need to go up to the counter to order, if you wait with the table I can order for both of us" The blonde began to rise "What drink do you want?"
The General stood along with him. "It's alright, I invited you out, I will order. You can wait with the table"
"Um OK, I'll just have a glass for the soft drinks then, you can refill it at the machine." He gestured lamely towards the drinks machine feeling stupid for pointing it out. I'm sure he already knew that genius.
Sephiroth just nodded in acknowledgement and walked towards the counter.
Cloud huffed out a breath in frustration. Why is this so awkward?
"Sup Blondie" To his credit he only jumped very slightly.
As Reno plonked himself down in the seat across from him grinning widely Cloud flicked his eyes towards the counter where he could see the long silver hair of the general waiting in the queue.
"Uh. Hi." It wouldn't hurt to chat for a while. He'd had so few chances recently.
"I've seen you in here a few times now yo. You vegetarian, or you just got a weakness for falafel?"
Trust a Turk to notice what he ordered each time. Well, no point lying.
"Uh the second one"
He remembered he wasn't meant to know anything about this man yet so decided asking some questions would be prudent.
"What about you?"
Reno seemed to consider him for a moment.
"The first one"
Cloud felt a rush of joy, thrilled the other was choosing to share information about himself.
"That's cool."
"Is it?" Reno smirked.
He smiled again "Yeah"
Cloud remembered the first time Reno had told him that.
It had been on their fifth date and as the redhead placed his order Cloud noticed for the first time that he had never seen the other man order a burger or a steak or well... any other meat product. He had asked why, completely baffled by the realisation.
Growing up in Nibelheim Cloud had never even heard the word vegan before Reno told him he was one. The thought of anyone living on nothing but plants had never even occurred to him. It just seemed ridiculous.
Cloud had made the unfortunate mistake of saying as much; though in a far less polite way. They had their first argument that day and wound up leaving the restaurant before the food even arrived. Reno had avoided him for four days.
It was then that the blonde realised how much he actually enjoyed spending time with the other man. The first time he realised he didn't want whatever they had started to end.
On the fifth day he had shown up at the Turks apartment and apologised through the letterbox, pleading until he was let in.
He had agreed to go wherever Reno wanted for dinner and promised that the Turk could pick what they both ate, no complaints.
In the end they had stayed at the apartment and Reno had cooked for him for the first time. A sweet potato and white bean chilli.
It was really good.
Cloud was not going to make that same mistake again. He would be polite and supportive of the redheads dietary habits. Even if he did still find it odd. He'd had a few decades to get used to the idea at least.
Reno grinned at him from across the table and Cloud relaxed, it was always so easy to talk to this man. No awkward silences or fear of saying the wrong thing. Just easy conversation.
"You're in my seat"
They both looked up to see Sephiroth standing beside the table holding an empty glass in each hand.
Cloud glanced back at the redhead in time to see the flash of surprise on his face. Clearly he hadn't seen the two of them come in together. The Turk recovered quickly though and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table, pointedly not moving. His grin morphed into a cocky smirk, clearly trying to provoke a reaction from the SOLDIER. "Is that so?"
Sephiroth scowled down at him "Yes and you are interrupting us so please leave."
The two of them locked eyes in a staring contest, each daring the other react first. Cloud just sat in awkward silence and waited to see what would happen, eyes flicking between the two as they continued their standoff. Eventually Reno broke the stare, turning to look at Cloud as he rose to his feet. "You never told me you were on a date Cloudy boy. I'm hurt. I thought we had something special yo"
Even though he knew he wasn't serious the words made Cloud feel sick. He not my husband. It's just a joke. He's not my husband.
Not knowing what to say he just stayed silent, watching as the redhead deliberately bumped shoulders with the General whilst passing him and walked away. Cloud hoped his disappointment didn't show on his face.
The silver-haired man slid back into the seat looking irritated, placing the glasses on the table in front of them.
"I apologise Cloud. You should not have to put up with that man."
The blonde was briefly confused before remembering that no one knew about his future marriage to the redhead. Naturally the General would assume he would be unhappy to see them man who publicly humiliated him.
"He's fine"
"No he's not. I will speak to his superiors this afternoon and make sure he leaves you alone from now on"
Cloud felt a surge of anger at those words. "I said its fine!"
The SOLDIER looked startled at the venom in his voice. "I was just.."
"You were just interfering." Cloud glared "You were just assuming that I can't deal with one fucking guy without your help. I know you know my story General so I won't accept my looking like a child as justification for you to treat me like one. I am over 50 years old for fuck sake. If I say something's fine then it's fine"
The General stared at the blonde across from him for a few moments in shock. He had never heard the other raise his voice in anger before and found it unsettling.
It was the tone of voice that did it. The voice of an officer. The voice of someone who was unaccustomed to having his words questioned.
It wasn't often anyone dared speak to him with that tone of voice and Sephiroth realised he really needed to stop thinking of this man as a Cadet. Whatever rank he held in this age and whatever body he currently resided in the blonde in front of him was a man of authority and as he had just learned, did not need to be protected.
"My apologies"
Clouds anger deflated. Gabbing the glass closet to him he stood up "Its fine" with that he went to pour himself a fanta.
Sephiroth waited until he returned before standing to get his own drink.
By the time the food arrived the atmosphere had calmed enough for them to continue the meal in a reasonably friendly manner. They stuck to easy subjects; training, current events, stupid things Zack said and/or did.
By the time they arrived back at the training compound and parted ways Cloud could safely say he had made a friend.
You can thank a three hour traffic jam for the next five chapters. Please bear with me, the next two chapters are necessary to deal with the current puppy problem. Hope you are still reading. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed.
