Author's Notes: Hey guys! Sorry for the slight wait. I hit a teensy little writer's block. But now that I've gotten another thought out of my head that was blocking my writing energy, it's all good! I had a little trouble doing some quick transitions here. The chapter is short, but it's all cool, mi amigos. Now I'm just trying to work my way up to the juicy bits. We've already seen a lot of development, but now we're going to start to hit a bit of a downhill slope. So expect some chapters with some downtime from the action and plot.

Now, there are a few issues here I'd like to respond to that everyone should see, because I'm just so damn haughty and proud of myself, and so on and so forth. And I love my reviewers!

NINETY-ONE FREAKING REVIEWS. You are ALL awesome. I think SOMEBODY deserves a cookie. Cookies for all!

Echo the Insane: Not enough reviews? (points to the number above) Do you hear this person? They say I deserve more! Mooooore! Someone stop me, I'm going on an ego trip!

Aesura: Just a quick response, both to her/him and to everyone else: Yeah, Cloud will fit in later to the major plot. Not just yet, but you'll see how.

Chibi Maddi Chan: I know it seems like Tidus is doing the majority of the work right now, but you'll see that pretty soon, Sora will be left with all the work. This isn't, after all, a Riku/Tidus story, although at the moment it seems to be the case. Tables will turn, tables will turn.

Again, guys - thank you SO much for all of your support, and I hope you enjoy my finally updating!

Chapter 16

"The Phone On Hold"

After the Monday photoshoot, Cloud finally cracked down on the work and decided it was time for a break. He asked Sephiroth to give him a vacation, knowing he would get it whether or not he asked. And he spent most of the day afterwards at home looking after the mansion. Since Fuujin and Raijin were on their work shifts during the day, Seifer hung around with Cloud.

"I really was serious when I told you about moving out a while back."

"I know..." Cloud sighed as he picked up the video games scattered around the giant living room. "I know, Seifer. You, Fuu and Rai are growing up. I understand you can't stay here forever."

"So you should start thinking about what you're going to do with these little monsters when we're gone..."

Cloud simply put away the video games and then looked at Seifer. "I'll think about it. When you're packing up."

Seifer frowned. "That kinda thinking's not going to get you anywhere."

"It got me where I am today." Cloud said. "Moving with the current, snatching my chances. Maybe sometimes I took them from others, but in this modern world, you have to take things when they're in front of you, regardless of the opposition."

Seifer sat down on the couch, and grabbed his glass of water, sipping from it. "Sounds like a dog-eat-dog world. You a fan of Social Darwinism?"
Cloud shrugged and combed his fingers through his half-flat spikes of hair. "Maybe. Darwin never believed in what Social Darwinism stands for. If he ever heard it was named after him, he'd throttle the inventor of the term."

"You don't know that."

"Perhaps not, but several of my science teachers did." Cloud gave Seifer a brief smirk, and Seifer just snorted.

"I'm going upstairs for a little while. You can help yourself to the food in the pantry. There's still leftovers from last night, if you want that, in the fridge."

"I always help myself to the food," Seifer told him. Cloud nodded dismissively as he walked to the stairs and began to climb up them.

"So I've noticed, with all the Pop-Tarts disappearing."

Seifer drank from his glass. "Hey, if the kiddies won't eat them, I'll eat 'em up for them." He grinned. "I really like the berry ones. Buy more of those."

Cloud chuckled, a little bemused at the moment. "I'll keep it in mind." He disappeared up the stairs then, retreating into his room. He went straight back to the computer, and began typing.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: sorry. had to clean.

GrieversKeepers: np. work is slow.

Cloud smiled. Probably was. Not many people stopped by every day to adopt foster children. His fingers clicked away on the keyboard.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: i can imagine. how is that one kid you're so worried about?

GrieversKeepers: his friends are worried. I told them to keep an eye on him.

GrieversKeepers: he's getting along much better with one of them in particular now.

Responses were quick as always. More typing.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: that's good. He sounds like hes doing okay.

GrieversKeepers: i received a call for him yesterday. It was a woman, i thought she was trying to foster him, so i had to tell her his papers were already filed.

GrieversKeepers: she sounded disappointed. she asked for his current address.

Here Cloud's smile creased downward instead. That was a little odd. Maybe it was an old contact of the boy's, a past foster parent. Grievers never told him if this kid had been previously adopted; just that at the moment, his situation wasn't so good. He asked next:

RiddlezindaMiddlez: did you ever think it was a past foster parent?

GrieversKeepers: Riku was never fostered by another.

GrieversKeepers: his current foster is the only one who took him.

Even stranger! Cloud mused. That's weird. I've never heard of that before. I wonder if...? Nah...

RiddlezindaMiddlez: did she say who she was exactly?

Grievers didn't respond right away, but when he did, it was even more of a puzzle.

GrieversKeepers: she just asked for his address.

GrieversKeepers: i gave it to her because she sounded like she would rip my lungs out if i didn't. She was a really aggressive caller.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: aggressive? what if she wants to hurt him?

GrieversKeepers: relax.

GrieversKeepers: She more or less told me she knew him from the time he was young.

GrieversKeepers: might have been an old friend of his original family.

Hmmm. Cloud leaned back in his seat, sighing. He couldn't think of how to respond to that. He wasn't much of a talker, even online. Grievers often started their conversations first.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: its kind of boring here.

GrieversKeepers: so get up and do something.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: nothing to do. Whole house is spotless.

There was a long pause from Grievers again. Cloud waited in anticipation. Maybe he had an idea of something they could do to pass the time. It seemed like Grievers didn't have much to do at work, either. And Cloud had no work today. When the chat window pinged, Cloud read the message.

GrieversKeepers: you know, we've been talking for about three years now

GrieversKeepers: maybe we should try voice.

Voice? Cloud had never thought of that before. Mainly because the aspect of talking made him nervous. Most people recognized his face, and the tabloids were constantly trying to bug his phone. He couldn't call a family member now without being even a little bit nervous. He was lucky his cell phone remained safe. He'd never thought about Internet Voice before because he never used that feature.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: is it logged?

GrieversKeepers: probably.

Cloud winced. Bad. He didn't put it past hackers to try and get into his computer. People were always itching for new material these days; until they found the next big story, Cloud was paranoid as hell, and this was one of those times. But he thought about it. What was the worst that could happen? Sleeping with Sephiroth (which was true, although he wouldn't admit it to the fucking tabloids), promoting his career, add secret lover, mix well. Result would be a hearty, rich-in-lies Piece of Bullshit for a crowd.

Ugh. Whatever. He was starting to care less and less the more and more it agitated him.

RiddlezindaMiddlez: lets give it a shot. How about right now?

GrieversKeepers: not now, i'm at the agency. My boss will kill me.

He wasn't surprised. Grievers seemed to be a serious worker, especially if he was at the workplace. So Cloud agreed that they would try later when the both of them were free that night. He was satisfied with just chat and relaxation for now. But he wondered what Grievers sounded like...?

"So wait...back up from the start, Sora. This kid hurts you, tries to kill your friend, and you're still hangin' out with him?"

"Um, yeah, I know it sounds weird, but..." Sora looked over his shoulder at Riku and Tidus, working together on a school project. "He's...okay."

Kairi didn't sound convinced. "You're worryin' me, Sora. You sure it's safe to hang out with him?"

That's a very good question, Sora thought. He'd been asking himself the same question for the past several days. Just to make sure the teen wasn't ripping up havoc, he checked over his shoulder again. Another surprise. Riku was smiling. It got contagious, and Sora ended up smiling, too. Riku's got a nice smile, he mused. Maybe people would like him more if he just showed a little white.

It seemed like ever since Riku had begun working on the project with the two of them for a school contest, he was much more quelled in the anger department. Sora had even seen him laugh a couple of times today, and he was starting to change his opinion of the guy. He wasn't half bad when he wasn't trying to snap your spine. Still, Sora had been very cautious, knowing Riku's moody tendencies. He wasn't sure how long "this side of Riku" would last.

"Well, for now he looks like he's fine." Sora said, talking into his house phone (which was finally hooked up). "I don't think I have anything to worry about. He's very handsome, maybe I'll send you a picture."

Kairi laughed. "Only pictures I wanna see are ones of you, Sora."

Sora's cheeks turned a little pink. "Okay, I'll send you my school photo!" he chuckled.

"School photo? Yuck! Gimme one of you when you visit a beach...I'll bet you'd look sexy in a pair of swim trunks." Kairi made a purring sound. "Mmm...I'm thinkin' red."

Sora grinned and countered it. "Red like your hair?"

"Hey, that's the perfect color!"

Tidus waved to him. "Sora, come on, you've chatted long enough! Come do some real work in here, would you?"

"Oh, I gotta go, Kairi." groaned Sora. "I've got a project I'm working on..."

"Aww, s'awright, huuun. I'm glad you called me, you're so sweet."

Sora smiled, savoring the sound of her thick southern accent. This was technically a long-distance call, so he wouldn't get to hear her voice very often.

"Just remember: I love you."

"Aww, I love you too, baby." said Kairi sweetly. "Call me again soon, mm'kay?"

"I'll try," Sora said. His smile widened. "I'll talk to you later, Kairi."

"Bye, babe!" And with that, Sora hung up. When he walked into the kitchen, the table was littered with glitter, glue, poster board, scraps, and anything else crafty that one could think of.

"So how's it coming so far?"

"Just fine, without you." Riku teased. "Did I hear you call me handsome?"

Sora blinked. "Um...why, is that a surprise?"

"Well, maybe, considering you were telling your little friend about me."

"Is...that a surprise?"

Tidus nudged Riku across the table. "Don't worry...Riku's just so used to being jeered at that whenever someone complements him, he freaks."

"Shut up, what's wrong with a question now and then, huh?" Riku shoved Tidus back, and the blond just laughed. Sora sat down with them and picked up a glue stick.

"Well, it's true though. You look nice."

Tidus and Riku exchanged grins, and then looked at Sora.

"Hey Country Boy, you do remember I'm gay, right?"

Hearing that from Riku made Sora turn red. He'd taken partial to calling him Country Boy. "Baby", "Hun", "Country Boy"...only family and Tidus seemed to call him by his real name now. It was a little strange sometimes, but he said nothing about it.

"W-Well...I..."

"Who were you talking to, by the way?" Tidus asked.

Sora picked up a piece of paper to glue onto the board that had a picture of a superhero on it. "Huh? Oh..." he shrugged, smearing the glue on the back. "Just a friend from home."

"Well, be sure to tell him or her that I'm not on the market." Riku joked.

Tidus looked at Riku in surprise. "Wow...you know, Riku, I've never seen you this happy. What changed your attitude?"

Riku shrugged. "Am I not allowed to get a pick-up once in a while?"

"I'm scared to know how long it's going to last."

Riku suddenly paused and his face dulled. Tidus watched his expression change, just as Sora looked up. The blond smirked.

"Uh-oh. See? He's already going back!"

"I am not!" Riku slapped Tidus' arm. "You aren't funny."

"Hey, ow! That hurt!"

Sora was a little lost in his own head. A friend from home...? Is that what I called her?

Riku just smiled at Tidus as the poor blond rubbed his arm. He was happy because he'd actually gotten away from the pain. The school project gave Ansem as good an excuse as any to miss being at home and to get the fuck away. However, he knew it wasn't going to be for very long. He'd pushed his buttons, and asked to stay for sleepovers. Now Ansem's patience was wearing thin. The day this project ended was the day his lust would boil over...and Riku knew he may be missing some school for it.

He tried not to think about it, but he knew it was there.

Author's Notes: By now you guys should have learned to pay attention to the chapters... Just a note to you.