Cloud was highly confused. To be fair, he wasn't really used to interacting with others his own age at all because he spent so much time reading or with Vincent. So he had a great deal of trouble dealing with Zack.

Zack wasn't an idiot...it was pretty clear Cloud had very few friends his own age, but he wasn't a braggart like most would be after the display he made. If anything the kid was a lone wolf who didn't know how to be social, and likely spent most of his time reading.

Since Cloud had caught his interest, Zack was down and determined to break the blond out of his shell.

"Why do you keep visiting me? Don't you have training to do?" asked Cloud confused.

"Right now I'm training you in how to be a little more social, Cloudy! A chocobo that stays by itself will die from loneliness you know!" said Zack with a laugh.

Cloud gave him a deadpan look.

"That's rabbits, and it's never been proven that they can die from being alone. And I'm not a chocobo!"

"Come on Cloud, all you ever do is read during your free time. You need to live a little!" said Zack.

Cloud gave him a grumpy look.

"I agree to go with you tonight will you leave me alone?" he asked.

"Yup! Come on Spike, it'll be fun!" said Zack grinning.

Cloud was irritable enough that the filter on his brain-to-mouth had a hole you could ride a behemoth through.

"Fun? What is this 'fun' you speak of? Is it the sort of thing a person with actual friends gets up to when people aren't actively avoiding them for something they can't control?" snarked Cloud peeved.

Zack gave Cloud and odd look.

"You've never had friends before?"

Cloud refused to look him in the eye, wishing he had a book...either to hide behind or even better, to smack Zack on the head with. He wasn't picky.

"Most of the kids in my village avoided me and it didn't help that the adults had a hard time looking me in the eye. There's a reason I started reading so much," said Cloud, not answering the question.

"You need to give the books a break Spike," said Zack. "Otherwise you're more likely to end up in the Science department or somewhere boring, instead of SOLDIER."

Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Zack, I enlisted in the program because I didn't know how old you had to be to join the Infantry and the Turks are exclusively an invite-only group. However everyone knows SOLDIER cadets can enlist as early as fourteen, and it meant I could leave Nibelheim in only a few short years. It's not like SOLDIER was my actual career goal in the first place."

Zack stared at him aghast.

"Then why enlist?"

"Because joining ShinRa as a cadet or even part of the Infantry would mean my living expenses were covered and a standard contract would mean I wouldn't have to worry about being laid off while earning money to afford higher education once my contract was up," said Cloud honestly.

Zack stopped cold and looked at Cloud with an odd expression on his face.

"So just to be clear, you joined the cadet program because you want to go to college?"

"ShinRa might have a crappy paycheck, but it's guaranteed employment for at least ten years and paid living expenses. By the time my contract would have ended, I would have built up enough cash to pay for a decent apartment and afford a good college," shrugged Cloud.

Zack...had no words. He couldn't believe someone as skilled as Cloud was in the SOLDIER cadet program just so he could afford college, regardless of whether he made it into the SOLDIER program or not.

It was such a waste, in his opinion. Besides, who didn't want to be a SOLDIER?

Zack was both highly annoying and persistent. However Cloud could say he was having more fun than he was used to. Vincent wasn't much of a 'social' person, so they spent more time training, hunting and collecting treasure than spending time with others.

Zack, however, was the life of the party and he was determined that Cloud join him.

It was during a night of drinking that Cloud's annoyance with Zack went up a notch higher than usual.

He had been reaching for the food when Zack slapped him on the back with a laugh over something another person said. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, except Cloud knew immediately something was wrong when he felt his contact fall out.

It took him a moment to figure out where it was before he grimaced. There was no way he could wear it now after it fell into his straight soda. And he wasn't going to drink it now that his contact had fallen into it. Cloud sighed and discreetly removed his contact before ordering another drink...this time alcoholic so Zack wouldn't comment.

He searched his pockets for a bit, before he realized he must have left his spare back in the barracks.

"Cloud? You alright?"

"I'm fine. My eye is just bugging me is all," said Cloud. He had learned how to keep one eye closed a while ago.

"That's not good," said Zack.

"I think I'll finish my drink and head back early," said Cloud.

When he got to the barracks, annoyance turned to slight alarm when he realized that his spare was missing.

The next morning...

"Cloud! What happened to your eye?!" said Zack with open alarm.

"I told you it was bugging me last night. It should be fine in a few days," said Cloud dismissively.

He couldn't find his spare contact, and he had gotten used to hiding his left eye. Unfortunately he couldn't cover it up with bangs because the front part of his hair spiked all over and refused to cooperate.

Which was why Cloud was wearing a minor eye patch he swiped from the infirmary.

Zack look dismayed.

"What did the doctor say?"

"It's nothing to worry about and it's not contagious. I just need to wear this for a few days before I can take it off," said Cloud.

Mainly because in a few days he would have his first paycheck and he would be able to buy some new color contacts. It wasn't that there was a problem with his sight, but more that he liked the fact people could look at him in the face properly instead of averting their gaze to the side in order to avoid eye contact with him. Spending most of his childhood having people avoiding direct eye contact had left a mark on his psyche.

Zack was worried, so he went to the infirmary to learn what was wrong with Cloud's eye.

Imagine his surprise learning Cloud hadn't actually seen the doctor at all.

A few days later, when Cloud was paid, Zack followed him to find out what he was hiding...except Cloud disappeared into the crowds and no matter what Zack tried, he couldn't find his friend.

Dejected, Zack went back to the barracks to wait for Cloud. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew Cloud was hiding something and he just wanted to make sure his friend was okay.

With Cloud...

"Are you sure that's a good idea kid?" asked the lab tech. Cloud had just taken off the medical eye patch and was putting in his new contact.

"It's fine. I mostly put that on so people wouldn't ask about my eye color," said Cloud dismissively, blinking a bit while his eye readjusted to light again. A few tears later, and he was back to normal.

He looked in the mirror and frowned, before shrugging.

The fact the color was noticeably off didn't bother him, since it was mostly the effect the left eye had on others that made him cover it up. He had lived with mismatched eyes his entire life after all.

Cloud bought extras, none of which were prescription, and left the pharmacy.

He returned to the barracks and was slightly irritated to see Zack there.

"Cloud!" said Zack with relief. Then he got a good look at the younger teen's eyes and stared. "Why did your eye change color?"

"I'm wearing special contacts."

"Contacts?" said Zack, blinking.

"I wear contacts. Didn't it say so in my file?" said Cloud.

"No, your file lists you as having perfect vision," said Zack.

"Oh... I guess the physician didn't notice them then."

"So what was wrong with your eye?" asked Zack.

"I lost my contact in my drink the other night, and I couldn't find my spare. I had to wait until I had my paycheck to get new ones," said Cloud honestly.

"I think the company health plan covers prescriptions like that," said Zack.

"Mine is an over-the-counter sort of prescription. I doubt ShinRa would pay for it," said Cloud.

Especially since the contacts weren't prescription in the first place.

Right now Cloud was just relieved his left eye was covered.

The first time Cloud saw Sephiroth, and not from some old photos from the files he stumbled across in the lower lab near the crypt, he couldn't help but stop and stare for a moment before forcibly reminding himself that he had other things to do.

Much to his dismay later, Zack noticed the entire thing and grinned.

So Cloud was interested in Sephiroth? That sounded like an excellent way to bring the blond out of his shell and socialize with others!

Cloud noticed the look in Zack's eyes and immediately became wary.

"What are you planning?"

"You didn't say that you had a crush on Sephiroth!" said Zack gleefully.

Cloud looked at him with a flat expression.

"Zack...I'm a growing teenager just now hitting the full force of puberty," said Cloud slowly, as if talking to an idiot. "Tile is likely to turn me on since my hormones are still unstable."

Zack snorted at that. Cloud was way too serious at times.

"Come on Cloud, it's normal to have a crush! I'd bet you'd get a kick out of the Silver Elite meetings!" said Zack cackling.

Cloud reacted to that name with a hiss.

"Are you insane, you daft idiot?!" he hissed a bit too loudly. He didn't notice that he had caught Sephiroth's full attention. "I wouldn't wish something as asinine as that stupid fan club on my worst enemy! I'm sure General Sephiroth is just as sick of his stalk... I mean fans as any sane, rational person would be!"

Zack snorted.

"You were totally going to say stalkers, weren't you?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"You have a better description for people who think it's perfectly normal to make such detailed notes of what sort of food the general likes, where he likes to frequent and often mistake lust and physical attraction for love?" said Cloud sarcastically. "I know there's a standing order for certain members of the infantry to guard the general from those rabid idiots when he's out doing something as mundane as shopping!"

Zack raised his hands in mock-defeat.

"I get it. You don't like the Silver Elite!"

"If anything I have to say I pity the general for having fan girls," said Cloud with a shudder. "It's a disease with no known cure and they are an absolute nightmare to deal with."

"Aren't you being a little too paranoid about this?" asked Zack.

"Zack, being fan girls automatically drops the IQ and rationality of anyone afflicted with it down at least a hundred points whenever they're within range of their object of lust," said Cloud with a hiss. "If properly motivated, they will ignore any sense of privacy or personal space and make the life of the object of their affections hell all in the name of 'love' which is closer to lust and physical desire than any real emotional attraction. Only a fool would want such a headache."

If Cloud were paying attention, he would have noticed the speculative and highly disturbed look on Sephiroth's face. The worst part was that Cloud was describing the problem a little too well for his comfort. Was it possible Cloud had to deal with a fan girl before, and it left him so traumatized that he refused to get close to anyone to avoid a repeat?

At the very least, if Cloud did develop a crush, he wasn't likely to join the sycophants known as the Silver Elite. That was a small mercy at least.

Zack dropped the matter, and they walked a bit further away.

However that didn't stop the fact that Cloud had developed an interest in Sephiroth after seeing him training with his sword. He didn't really pay attention to the Three Generals outside of recognizing a general description of them and knowing their names. He had more interesting things to read. The grace in his movements fascinated the blond, but his common sense reminded him that Sephiroth was likely used to having admirers. It was unlikely he'd even notice Cloud's possible affections unless something big tilted the odds in his favor.