Growing Up
Disclaimer: Don't own anything
Summary: High school was a long time ago, but something's are never really forgotten, like that tiny blonde boy who punched your boyfriend in the face and then ran off. Everyone grows up sometime, and some people grow to be far more than you expected.
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It is inevitable; it's bound to happen. At some point, later in life, you will meet someone you knew when you were younger, stupider and a far more terrible a person than you are now.
The fact that this is a fact, didn't comfort Zack, Genesis, Angeal or Sephiroth anymore than the fact that they would only be at Fenrir Corp for two months did. They were still here and still had two months to go, not to mention that their boss was one such person from their past.
Sitting in this spacious office, that had half the staff in it and still had lots of room, with the man who held their past selves in his memory, it was hard to be comfortable. They'd grown up since then, but it was obvious by just looking at him that he'd grown up better than all of them.
Fenrir Corp were ShinRa Incs consultants on environmentally friendly energies to use in vehicles, Rufus and Cloud being good friends long before they became CEOs of their companies. However, alone, Fenrir Corp designed and made things such as motorbikes and airships. It started off with Cid Highwind and his adopted son, Cloud Strife. Cid started the company and when he grew tired of running it, passed it on to Cloud.
To be fair, they couldn't have known it was him. In high school, they only knew him as Cloud, the shy, demure blonde with perfect scores, glasses and the same clothes everyday. The boy in their memory was nothing like the angel in front of them.
"…So, with all of that done. Welcome to the staff of Fenrir!" Cloud finished, smiling brightly.
Once again, his beauty struck them and no matter what they did, they couldn't escape the warmth his smile made them feel. In their memories they could now see the makings of the man in front of them even in his teenage awkwardness.
His skin was still pale, despite have not been in Nibelhiem since childhood. He had filled out, no longer a skinny waif but a lithe figure. He still wasn't that tall but he made up for it in presence. When he smiled, you wanted to smile, and when he was angry you wanted to run and hide, but according to everyone else it was a rare occasion that he did get angry. He was charismatic and elegant. When he walked he was graceful as a cat. His visage was bright as the sun, pretty as flower, and many other things. To the four men, he was perfection.
"You'll be working under Cid, he'll be mentoring you. You'll be doing lots of jobs around the building, mainly paperwork, administrative and designing. If Cid is down in a workshop, or he gives the okay, then you can also take part in assembly but if Cid says okay but cannot be with you, you have to find me so I can supervise you. Is that understood?"
Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth gave nods, while Zack barked out a, "Yes, Sir."
Cloud smiled and they were ushered out of his office. As they wandered towards Cid's office, they were greeted by many of the employees walking past, the most enthusiastic being Yuffie- Cloud's receptionist. Not only did she wave and call out to them, Sephiroth swore he heard her plotting to get them into her boss's pants- as apparently she had done with every new employee.
Once they reached Cid's office, they knocked on the door and were shocked by the gruff call of, "It's open", which resonated through the door. They were even more shocked at the chain-smoking, oil stained mess of a person inside. This was the man who had, for the majority of his life, raised Cloud to be man he was today and yet they were polar opposites. One was clean, wore dress-shirts and slacks, the other was messy in a stained t-shirt and ripped jeans. One was rumoured to be the epitome of physical health, the other smoked three packs a day and was by some miracle still physically healthy and without cancer.
Nothing in Fenrir Corp seemed to make sense to the four men.
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The night, following their first day of work- the work they'd be doing for another two months because Rufus wanted them to experience another work environment- was going just as well as the day went. Although, in saying that, none of the men thought the day went badly. They just wished it did, so they could at least have a reason to pretend to hate their boss, or Cid, or anything about their new work.
In truth, the day went pretty well after meeting Cid. They signed some forms; they manned reception after they stumbled upon Yuffie's habit of having a three-hour lunch and spending most of that time with Cloud, trying to get him to agree to date another random friend of hers. Cloud, after half an hour of missed calls, called them in and told them to either get her out and make her stay put or take care of reception themselves.
They finished the day shredding paper, which was actually a lot of fun, if you were doing it with three of your boyfriends and were allowed to make a mess as long as you cleaned it up. Of course, with that information Zack gave the other three men wigs made out of shredded paper.
Now, the four lovers were sitting on their massive couch in their sizably large apartment, looking through their high school yearbooks and mementos. The change from boy to man for Cloud Strife seemed so massive, that the four men had to make sure that their memories were correct by looking up his photo in their graduation yearbook. Of course they were all a year older, so they had no idea what Cloud had looked like at his graduation.
"Found it," Zack chirped, happily showing them the 'S' page. Their memories were indeed correct, even if it was hard to believe so.
Cloud had been scrawny and small. His spiky blonde hair was mostly the same, only now it matched his far more elegant appearance, rather than the preening chocobo mess it was before. One thing that hadn't changed too dramatically was his innocent blue eyes- even now they were still innocent- but nowadays they seemed more joyful. In the picture they didn't sparkle with inner happiness, or peace. His eyes were lonely, the fire that burned within them barely a spark.
It was with shame that the four realised, they were the reason that fire had dimmed. It had started out as harmless, meaningless jokes about his genius at getting the top score every time, and then they started on his wardrobe. Everyday he wore the same clothes. A black sleeveless, zip up, vest and a pair of black cargo pants with buckles and belts everywhere. Cloud appeared to let everything they said roll off his back. It annoyed them so much that someone would ignore them so consistently, no matter what they said. They couldn't stand that he caught their attention with his every move and yet could ignore them so easily.
Then they took it to far, they tried to fight him. It was by far the worst idea they'd had. In all they each managed to land one hit on the small blonde. They were all bigger and stronger, but Cloud had been bullied for a fair amount of his life. He chose his target well, threw one powerful punch and ran. He'd chosen to hit Sephiroth, because when the punch landed and the older teen's steps had faltered, the others became distracted and unbelieving that someone so small would try and go after Sephiroth and that he had succeeded.
They had wanted to apologise to the small blonde, and they had tried. Three days later, they went to him. He'd held up his hand to stop them and said something the four had remembered since.
"It's okay, you don't have to bother, because in the end no one was hurt. I just hope you know better than to try it again. Have a nice day!"
Cloud never spoke to them again, no matter how hard they tried to talk to him. He would shake his head and either walk away or turn back to the teacher and listen to the lesson. They had tried to hurt the blonde, just for his attention. It was too stupid to even talk of. Yet, even knowing that, Cloud had let it go and moved on.
Sephiroth had never forgotten about the tiny boy who'd left a lovely mark on his face, even if his lovers had.
And now they were working for him, and he was still so much better than them. He had forced them to admit they weren't the best of humanity when they were teens and now they were forced to admit, that his flaws as a teen were not the reason he garnered their attention and that as adults they didn't deserve the chance to earn his.
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The next day at Fenrir, Cid took them down to a workshop. It wasn't really a workshop anymore; it was more like a nostalgic space with relevant objects. Cid told them it was the first workshop that Fenrir Corps had had. It was where Cid's first aeroplane, named after his late wife, had been completed.
"The Shera was a project I started, to keep 'er alive in my heart and 'er name alive in Cloud's. It took a long time to finish and by the end it wasn't just me an' Cloud. We 'ad over 45 technicians and engineers workin' on 'er, now ain't she a sight to behold," Cid explained, caressing the metal of the airship.
Zack caught sight of a bike in the corner. There was an open tub of wax and a tool kit next to it. It was a beast of a machine, built to the same scale as the other motorbikes that came out of Fenrir Corp but so much sleeker and beautiful.
Cid noticed where his gaze had landed.
"Oh yer, like Fenrir, huh? Careful, of that 'un, it's got a mind of it's own."
The other turned to look at the masterpiece on wheels too. Sephiroth stalked forward and reached out to touch the black metal but pulled away.
"Fenrir?" he asked.
Cid pulled out another cigarette out of his pack and lit it. "Yea', namesake of the company, and all that."
Sephiroth turned back to Cid and they all began their way out of the maze of vehicles.
"So, if it's the namesake of the company, does that mean you made it?" Angeal asked.
Cid let out a barking laugh. "Me? Make that thing? No, the person who made that, made it to ride and I'm never sitting on that thing. Tha's just where the owner stores it when he takes it to work-"
He paused as the all the lights in the room flicked on, putting the meagre lighting they were using to shame. Big overhead factory light illuminated the room, chasing away the shadows.
"-An' 'ere he comes now."
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The owner of the bike, that just screamed road accident waiting to happen, was of course the last and most obvious person that they expected.
Only this time it was easier to see the similarities between him and his father.
Cloud was dressed in a pair of old, worn and very tight jeans. His shirt had also seen better days, judging from the paint splatters, oil stains and various other marking on it.
Cid smiled around his cigarette. "Don't you have a meeting this afternoon about the rookies over here?"
Cloud smiled back, the chill of the room immediately surrendering to its warmth. "No, that's tomorrow. Today's my day off."
Genesis laughed at that. "Since when does the boss get days off?" he asked, smiling at the blonde with amusement.
Cloud walked over to Fenrir. "Since the boss says so," he answered, returning the smile with a wink.
The blonde turned to Cid. "Yuffie says you've got an appointment with Vincent in five minutes. If you want, I can watch the rookies while you go meet up with my step-father?" Cloud beamed at Cid innocently and fluttered his eyelashes.
Cid spluttered and stormed off, muttering curses that 'damned little blonde's who know more than they should' to hell.
Cloud laughed at his adoptive father's reaction before remembering about the four men who'd been left there in his care.
He smiled sheepishly at them. "I don't actually have any work for you to do and I'm actually only here to do my bike's maintenance."
Genesis stepped forward and sat down near the bike. Crossing his legs, he got comfy.
"Well, why don't you tell us about this monster of a motorcycle?" he suggested, while Zack, Angeal and Genesis followed his lead.
Cloud shrugged. "Okay, what do you want to know? Sorry, this might seem rude, but I have to make sure everything's in order," he said, as he bent over the bike to pull it away from the wall.
Angeal and others agreed that they really didn't mind the view.
Zack piped up the first question, after a minute of dumb silence as they ogled Cloud's jean clad ass.
"So did you really make it? And do you actually ride it?"
Cloud gave the affirmative and said, "I made it when I was 16. Cid really disapproved. I wasn't allowed to ride it till I was 21."
They took it in turn, questioning Cloud about the bike and his life. Finally Sephiroth broke away from the topic.
"I know this is years late in saying, but we are sorry Cloud," he said, before clarifying at Cloud's confused look, "For what we did in high school."
Cloud sat back on his bike and shrugged. "Meh," he said and swiped a cloth through the tube of wax he held.
"Meh? MEH?" Genesis repeated, disbelief shown clearly on his face.
Cloud started waxing his bike. "Yeah, meh. It was high school we all do stupid things. So you picked a fight with me and I won, you felt guilty and I accepted your apology, don't tell me you've been hanging onto this for this long?"
Angeal scratched his head. "Well no, we only thought about it when we saw you again and what do you mean you accepted out apology, you wouldn't let us apologise in the first place?"
Cloud smiled. "You didn't have to say you were sorry for me to know you were."
Zack sniffed, "Oh you're such a good person, I'd bet you be a great boyfriend…Wait! What do you mean you won that fight? You ran away!"
"Yes, after landing the last hit. I won."
Zack tried to glare menacingly despite the smile that was making his lips tremble in an effort to stop it. "Fine, win against this!" He yelled and tackled the blonde to the floor.
Zack pinned Cloud arms above his head. "Winning yet, Cloud?" he smirked.
Cloud sniffed cutely and opened his eyes. Zack faltered and almost let go at the adorable pout and watery doe eyes that his boss was giving him. He shut his eyes and held onto the blonde's wrists.
Don't look, Zack. Don't give in…Wait, what's he…
Zack peaked his eyes open and saw fluttering blonde eyelashes, pressed against very pink cheeks and Zack's brain finally realised that the soft plush against his lips was Cloud kissing him.
Zack closed his eyes once more and returned the kiss, trying to turn it a little more passionate, when he heard a squeak and the soft lips pulled away. He opened his eyes again to find Cloud scrambling away.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean- it was just- I like you all of you…Goodbye."
Cloud disappeared underneath a car. Sephiroth could vaguely hear a mantra of 'Stupid Cloud' echoing from underneath it. He slid closer to the darkness below the car and looked into it.
Their incredibly cute boss was curled into a ball, on his side. With a genuine smile at the bundle of cuteness, Sephiroth grabbed a hold of their boss's sides and pulled him from his hiding spot and out into the light. Cloud remained tucked under his arms and on his side.
"Can't you just leave me to my embarrassment?" Cloud murmured. His arms being around his head and his head on his knees muffled his voice.
Genesis carded his hands through Cloud's soft, spiky hair. "Oh, but then how you know if we liked you back, sweetie?"
"Why would you? I'm an idiot who punched one of you in the face in high school."
"Because not just anyone would punch Sephiroth in the face and live without a bruise on their own," Angeal answered, chuckling as Cloud tried to roll away from them. He didn't have much luck; he was surrounded on all sides.
"Okay buddy, no rolling," Zack said and pulled Cloud into his arms, forcing him to look forward at everyone else.
"Now, I have a question for you. Why did you never speak to us after the incident?" Zack asked, kissing Cloud lightly on the temple and hoping the blonde wouldn't mind.
"I didn't want you to talk to me only because you felt guilty. Not talking to you at all seemed the better option at the time."
"Well since we're talking now, I also have a question to ask," Angeal said, "Would you like to date us, Cloud, all of us?"
Cloud eyes widened in shock before he laughed and said, "I'm your boss, you can't date me."
"Right. Why are you laughing?" Zack responded.
"Because you can't date me, but I can date you, because I'm the boss," Cloud answered, giggling cutely.
"All right boss-man, let's get outta this place and get some coffee," Zack suggested but Cloud shook his head.
"You still have work to do, it's my day off not yours. Go find Cid, but knock first. You'll wanna make sure he's clothed."
They all grumbled but got up and helped the blonde up too.
"Enjoy your day," Cloud called as he headed over to Fenrir.
"You are a mean person," Zack called back.
He was answered only by tinkling laughter. "Blame your boss, he sent you here knowing full-well what would happen!"
The motorbike roared to life and sped out of the complex.
Zack stood there dumbfounded. "Is there anything that man doesn't know?" he asked the others.
They shrugged. "At least this time we got a cute blonde out the deal," Sephiroth remarked.
They all nodded and Genesis, Angeal and Zack walked out of the former workshop in search of Cid. Sephiroth stayed a while longer to muse on the thought of dating Cloud.
With a smile he turned and left.
"A cute blonde, indeed. And one that can pack one hell of a punch."
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Reviews would be nice.
Hope you liked it.
Still hoping for a beta reader for this story.
Till next time, Tawyeyes10.