His sneakers made slight squeaking sounds as the blonde trotted over the wet grass, even the kangaroo pouch not much of a comfort. The contents weren't helping. Just a little vial, probably cocaine or something. Cloud wasn't sure, and didn't ask. It wasn't his. He was just taking it from Kuja to...someone else. He'd been described, Cloud knew the class...He just didn't know what he was carrying. For all he knew it was soap. And from nowhere, a song jumped his mind, as they sometimes did.
It all returns to nothing...
Everything comes tumbling down
tumbling down
tumbling down...
Cloud squinted up his eyes and tried his best to find another song that could override that one and its obnoxiously haunting melody. He didn't even know all the words, which made it all the worse. It was going to follow him all day, making him unconciously start singing the little strains when he wasn't paying attention and break out of them abruptly with a swear. Damn. He felt so jumpy...
The hillside he was walking on towards the classrooms was sandwiched between the dorms, and Cloud looked up towards one of the ones on the far end, wondering if he should stop by. Whoever it was who had taken him back...he owed them a thanks, at the very least. Although he didn't want to admit it, or think about it, Cloud was a little frightened at the fact that he couldn't remember what had happened for most of the night prior. He'd woken up bleary and too early and only caught a few hours of real sleep in his dormitory before having to head out now, Kuja's little errand nestled into the pocket of his favourite shirt.
His room, his dormitory. Shyeah, right. With his gothy room mate who hung up posters of fake gods and had little angsty stuffed animals and sketchpads all over the place. Black black black. Hello, my name is Vincent, I am a gothy poser. Cloud huffed slightly, wishing it was colder so he could watch his breath on the air. He felt like pretending to breath fire today. It was one of those days you just wanted to. True, he didn't know his roomie well enough to really say those things...But anyone who 'worshipped' cthulu was a moron. Vincent was probably one of those morons who hung around internet sites and thought Cthulu was an actual religion and a real 'elder' god. Probably never even read Lovecraft. Damn, my roots show even when I don't want them too... He'd been a bookworm before, too. So much for former images. His index fingers interlocked inside the kangaroo pouch as he walked.
For the most part, the day was slightly grey and a little dismal from the rain the night before. But there were people on the sidewalks that lined the roads, and the footpaths that had been worn by years of students heading for the dorms had the occasional one or two passerbys. In fact, two of them were headed at a pretty relitively quick speed towards the blonde. Cloud blinked slightly, finding them vaguely familiar but unable to place the duo even as the leader of the two caught up to him.
"Heeey! I know you from the party, I'm Zell, hi nice to see ya again," The first of the group with short blonde hair, slightly lighter than Cloud's own, nearly threw himself down on the wet grass before cartwheeling back to his feet and offering a muddy hand towards Cloud to shake. For a moment, he ruffled his hands inside the pouch of his shirt before extending one to shake Zell's, noticing for the first time the dark and coiling tattoo on the side of the other blonde's face. Zell didn't seem to notice the stares at all. "Wow, you're a lot shyer than you were at the party. But that was probably because you were on something. No offence meant but nice to meet ya again." When the hyperactive blonde finally released Cloud's hand, he was already halfway behind him and nearly front-flipping into a roll that lasted down the remainder of the hill through the mud.
"Don't worry so much about him," A cool and dignified voice that felt strange to hear in open air flowed from the lanky person following after Zell. A wide-brimmed hat and trenchcoat obscured most of his build, but the long hair pulled into a ponytail was striking a chord in Cloud's memory. The stranger tapped the brim of his hat and grinned, sauntering easily down the hill as he passed the blonde. "Half of what he says is to hear his own voice."
Turning and watching the brown-clothed student depart, Cloud couldn't think of a word to say in response. From the foot of the hill, the cowboy-type raised his hand without turning and called out. "By the way, you should be looking for a guy by the name of Zachery Knightblade. If you haven't found him already," There was a strange lingering suggestion on the tail end of every sentance that made Cloud wonder if he was being hit on.
Wiping the muddied hand on the side of his jeans and watching the two somewhat familiar strangers depart, Cloud found himself suddenly paranoid over the vial dropping out and checked compulsively for its presense...it was still there, although he wasn't certain if he was thankful for the fact or not. If it was gone...well, he wouldn't have the nagging fear over the top of his head. But he would have lost some friends, or at least what he hoped were turning out to be friends. And at the same time he would have screwed up on something that might be needed later. He couldn't remember specifics of the night before, but what he could remember was general feelings of euphoria. That didn't really seem to be like anything that needed to be abandoned.
Inside the front pouch of his shirt Cloud's hands abandoned the little vial and hooked nails around his ID. He knew full well if he was caught that would be it, the little plastic card would mean nothing and be taken from him. That and of course his entire family, not just his parents, would kill him and bury him in the backyard behind the pile of firewood. Being treated in the same manner as a dead parakeet didn't exactly apeal to Cloud. That was, of course, the downside.
But for now the card meant that he didn't have to worry about that. Their all-seeing eyes weren't poking into his room and following him like lost ghosts. There was no reason anyone but him had to know about what was going to happen. What he would do would go smoothly, Cloud was sure. it was too early in the year for anyone to be snooping for trouble, and this would only take a minute in any case. Hell, he didn't even need to go face to face with the person he was giving this too. Kuja had given him their student mailbox number. If the mail system had any sense at all, there wouldn't be a problem.
Of course things are never as simple as they're hoped to be, especially for college freshman. When Cloud crossed over the hill that divided the campus and edged past some upperclassmen into the common building, the postal center inside scratched Cloud's hopes of doing this quickly. There was no mail slot on the front of boxes, nothing he could slip the vial through and run. An envelope from the counter might still make this a quick and unnoticed trip, but at first glance, no one was there. Hands still folded around the plastic ID in his pocket, Cloud did his best to look non chalant as he approuched the counter and leaned over, trying to get a good look into the mail room itself.
"What are you doing? Allowed back here you are not!"
The voice, seemingly from nowhere, sent Cloud jolting backwards out of the open window. He didn't have time to peer back in and look for the owner, however, because the voice presented its body by promptly jumping onto the counter with acrobatic ease. Cloud found himself looking at possiably one of the smallest people he'd seen to date that could still fit into his age group. It was the face that gave the individual away, and dated their body despite the stature. The individual, pale faced and dressed in a red shirt the same style as Cloud's, glared dangerously at the blonde and put his hands onto his hips. The excess of the red shirts sleeves folded over his hands, hiding them. "Help you, may I?"
Shaking himself out of the shock of the midgit's sudden appearance, Cloud tripped a bit as he spoke. "Uh...yeah, I wondered if you guys had an envelope I could use?"
The midgit sighed in an exaggerated manner, his head flopping to the side. Short and unkempt red hair dyed the same shade as the shirt fluttered into the mail-keeper's eyes. "Have envelopes we do, the mail room this is after all."
Cloud wasn't amused or intimidated by the sarcasm. It was hard to be intimidated by someone who was only your height because they were standing on the mail room counter. He responded by adding the same fed up acid to his own voice. "Well, can I have one?"
"Thorn, you forgot this!" Another unseen voice made its appearance before the owner leapt onto the counter with the same unrealistic ease as before. Cloud now found himself looking at a pair of identical twins, although the newer midgit was wearing a blue short sleeved shirt with a white stripe across the shoulderblades and down the arms, as well as a jesters cap coloured in various shades of the same hue. He landed with a jingle from the cap and an equally shrouded hand roughly deposited a matching red cap onto the red-haired midgit's head.
"Forget it I did not..." Thorn muttered between his teeth, starting an argument that would probably finish itself elsewhere. Returning his attention to Cloud, the midgit gave a light glare before hopping off the counter and out of view, jingling as he moved about the mailroom. Cloud thought it slightly amusing but didn't say anything. He wasn't insensitive and knew that their height was probably a topic of sensitivity for the twins. It was pretty blaitent.
Leaning against the side of the window and crossing his sneakers as he did so, the blue-clad jester nodded towards the blonde, his cap jingling as he did so. This one's hair was slightly shorter, more of a lightly spiked blue fuzz than his twin's. "Sorry about my brother," He explained in a nearly identical voice, save for the lack of the speech irregularities. "Neither of us got much sleep last night, and today is going to be even worse." He shrugged and moved a hand behind his head to scratch under the cap. For a minute Cloud got a glimpse of the pale long fingers beneith. "We're on a scholarship, and need to work to pay what it doesn't."
Cloud nodded in slight confusion, already knowing he was going to get along better with this one of the twins. Still, their story seemed a little odd. "You didn't even sleep on the night you didn't have classes?"
The blue twin shrugged and folded his arms against his chest. In the background, Thorn jingled aggressively out of sight. "We were sending out e-mails to the different work study departments and looking for local work online. And unpacking."
Cloud internally winced at their situation. The twins must really be strapped for cash if they were giving up sleep on the first night to look for jobs. He'd probably wind up looking for them, trying to help out in a demented parody of repaying the twins for what they were going to help him accomplish. Out loud, he said, "That sucks...I hope you make it through."
"Make it through we will," sighed Thorn, jingling by out of sight again. The red midgit seemed kind of sick of hearing about how everyone wished them luck. They probably heard it every time they explained themselves. "An option it isn't like we have." The envelope Cloud requested slapped itself flat onto the counter as Thorn jingled off again. The remaining and more friendly midgit bent to pick it up and the blonde noticed that on the back of the twin's shirt was the letter Z followed by a question mark.
"I didn't really catch your name," Cloud awkwardly took the envelope from the jester and slipped it into the kangaroo-like pocket in his shirt. He'd have to come back later to mail it, he reasoned.
The blue twin shrugged and waved a hand carelessly behind him. "I'm Zorn, and he's Thorn. Zorn and Thorn Andark."
"I'm Cloud Strife."
Thorn hoisted himself onto the counter again, looking a little more haggard and having lost the cap again. Ruffling a covered hand through his dyed hair, he looked significantly more tired out than before. "Nice to meet you it is...But work we do have," he added, glaring at his twin. "So see you later we will."
Cloud nodded as the two twins waved and vanished below the desk again, Zorn adding to come by and visit again. If they had to work in all their spare time, it was probably only friends visiting them at it that would keep the two of them sane and away from burning out. Waving a goodbye back just in case they could see it, Cloud turned and made for the bathroom. He'd have relitive secrecy there and all he needed was a few seconds to put the vial into the envelope.
Palm flat against the cheap wood of the door, Cloud pushed inside and nearly slammed straight into someone. He started to apologize before the someone cut him off.
"Don't waste your breath, I was waiting for you."
Cloud looked at who he'd run into and felt a degree of emberassment rustle through him. Seifer smirked down at the shorter blonde with folded arms. Holding out a gloved hand, the scar on his face twisted as Seifer smiled. "I'll take that now."
"I wasn't trying to get away with it," Cloud tripped over his words too quickly, trying to find a way to be sorry as fast as he could and failing. "I just thought in here would be a safer place-"
Seifer nodded but wasn't looking at Cloud as the freshman dropped the little vial into his palm. In fact all his movements and words seemed altogether bored with the younger man standing and apologizing profusely without saying anything. "I know what you were thinking, and it doesn't really matter. I'll take it from here and you get to ...wherever you need to be." With his free hand, Seifer unceremoniously shoved Cloud back into the hallway.