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[imjustaman]

Hello, this is Sephiroth. I am sorry I missed you. Please leave a message and I will get back to you promptly.

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[cloudsenior]

Perhaps it was because he was so wrapped up in his own head, perhaps Sephiroth was unintentionally being quiet as he approached. Either way, Cloud just about jumped out of his skin at the question, letting out the most embarrassing high pitched and loud squeak that ever came out of anyone's mouth. He immediately slapped his hands over his mouth, staring up at Sephiroth with wide eyes as his entire face turned bright pink.

[imjustaman]

Well, that just made Sephiroth more worried. “Cloud, what is the problem?! Are you ill?” He came closer.

[cloudsenior]

"I'm fine!" Cloud insisted, looking like he wanted to retreat only his legs betrayed him, keeping him rooted to the spot. "You... you just surprised me. That's all."

[imjustaman]

“I don’t believe I’ve ever surprised someone to that extent before,” Sephiroth said. “You act like I caught you with your hand in the cookie jar. Except there’s no cookie jar.”

[cloudsenior]

Cloud let out an awkward noise at that, staring up at Sephiroth. He was... close, he should be taking a step back, but he couldn't get his legs to move. Again, that fight or flight feeling was deep in his bones, but not quite feeling the same way it usually did.

"Cookie jar, hunh," he muttered, looking away as his face turned pink. He wondered if Sephiroth realized he was the cookie jar he was trying not to think about pilfering from? Shit, why did he even think of it like that?!

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth sighed. “If you’re sure nothing is wrong, I am going to purchase these books and likely leave.”

He didn’t know what else to do. Cloud was not talking. He had no idea what Cloud was thinking, and would be shocked if he did know.

His own feelings were also complicated. He loved Cloud, he wanted to be with Cloud, but in what way? The only close relationships he’d had were friendships. He didn’t think he had ever felt any sexual feelings for anyone, but he loved, truly, deeply, and he wanted to be loved in turn. He wanted a soulmate who wanted to be with him forever. But he doubted there would ever be any such thing for him. The only person who had never left him had been left by Sephiroth in his madness. And Cloud … he doubted Cloud could ever love him, in any way.

[cloudsenior]

How could Cloud even put to words what was actually wrong, when he himself didn't even know how to articulate it? His mouth worked, trying to say he didn't have to go, that yeah it was fine that he left, that he was a mess and it was all Sephiroth's fault for being so nice and staying those seven days to make sure he survived. None of that actually came out, to the point where Cloud clicked his mouth closed in sheer frustration.

A moment passed, before he hesitantly reached up, pulling off a glove with one hand and reaching out. His bare fingers brushed lightly against Sephiroth's exposed chest before he placed his palm flat against it, and that strange feeling overcame him almost immediately; that feeling like he was being made whole, like coming home after years away. He let out a soft breath at the feeling, eyes half lidded as he leaned forward, pressing his forehead just above where his hand rested.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth was moving to leave when Cloud acted, and then he went absolutely stiff, his mind blank. What was Cloud doing?! From anyone else he would pull back, probably snarl about sexual assault. But … Cloud didn’t mean anything wrong. He knew that. Cloud was desperately trying to tell him something deeply important, something he couldn’t get out any other way. When Cloud leaned forward, Sephiroth stared again.

“Cloud … do you … want to be with me?”

That was too impossible, too unreal. Cloud could never …

[cloudsenior]

Be with Sephiroth? The question muddled its way through his mind, caught up in the peaceful feeling that was washing over him. Being with Sephiroth meant he could keep having this feeling, right? It was... something precious, like all of his worries could just melt away as long as he could touch him like this. It was... like a re--

The door on the other side of the hall they were in suddenly opened, and Cloud sprang apart from Sephiroth like he had been hit by Firaga. The owner of the store came out then, thanking Cloud for his hard work and shaking his bare hand, transferring the payment for his help. Cloud nodded, before motioning over to Sephiroth, not daring to look at him.

"You, um... y-you have a customer," he mumbled, before quickly ducking around Sephiroth to get out of the store as fast as he could.

The empty feeling he was experiencing was just a coincidence.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth jumped too, and then snarled to himself, berating the person coming in at such a moment. He had to catch up with Cloud. He purchased the books, barely remembering to take back his locket that he stored stardust in (Sephiroth would never sparkle on his skin like a Twilight vampire. Never.), and ran out the door.

“Cloud!”

[cloudsenior]

Cloud had gotten a good fair distance from the bookstore in the time it took Sephiroth to check out. Still, calling after him got Cloud to stop, despite how much he wanted to keep running. He should keep running, before he embarrassed himself in public by doing... that again, like he was some kind of touch starved teenager.

...and no it didn't matter that he was a touch starved adult!

"Can we just forget that happened, please?" he asked once Sephiroth caught up to him.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth was touch-starved too. And while he didn’t want it from just anyone, it was different when it was someone he cared about.

“Why did it happen, Cloud?” he asked. “I feel I have a right to know. No one has ever … done that before.”

[cloudsenior]

"I don't know!" Cloud replied, trying not to sound distressed. He was not distressed. He was perfectly fine! See, he even managed to turn around and meet Sephiroth's eyes!

...damn did he want to touch him again.

Instead, he firmly pulled up on the glove he had crammed back on during his escape.

"When I touch you it... it feels nice, okay?" he finally bit out, managing to keep his voice down through some miracle.

[imjustaman]

… Well, now Sephiroth was completely red.

“Nice? Nice how?”

[cloudsenior]

Cloud wasn't fairing much better; he managed to hold Sephiroth's gaze for a moment more, before he had to turn away, folding his arms over his chest defensively.

"Nice like... like a part of me that was missing came back. Like being reunited with someone you hadn't seen in a long time, or coming home after years away..."

He trailed off, well and truly pink in the face now.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth both relaxed at that answer and stared in awe.

“Really, Cloud?”

He finally smiled a bit. “That is … how I always feel about you.”

He stepped a bit closer.

[cloudsenior]

...that definitely wasn't his heart just flipping around in his chest.

Cloud swallowed loudly, looking back toward Sephiroth as he let his arms drop. He was close again, and the urge to drift forward was something he couldn't resist no matter how hard he tried. He found himself pressing his forehead against his chest against, eyes fluttering shut as that peaceful feeling washed over him again. It was almost like a drug, addicting in the way that nothing else mattered as long as he could be right here, like this.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth wrapped his arms around Cloud and just held him close.

This was foolish, he knew. They shouldn't get close. Not when they likely weren't from the same dimension. It couldn't last.

But ... they were here for who knew how long. If Cloud actually wanted to be with him, Sephiroth didn't think he had the strength to order him away. He wanted to be with Cloud, to share in being happy with him.

He wanted ... to be loved. He wanted to be loved by the person he had never thought he could be loved by.

[cloudsenior]

It was... warm. Cloud turned his head so his cheek was pressed against his chest instead, completely relaxed in the hold Sephiroth had on him. This felt... so right, like Sephiroth, as he knew him, had been right all along: his place always was meant to be at his side. He felt his arms come up, wrapping around Sephiroth, clinging to his back as a means of anchoring himself to him, least he end up drifting away, caught up in the euphoria that was this reunion.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth felt a sudden prick of wondering: what about Cloud from home, what about this other Sephiroth, if they were truly from other dimensions? Cloud back home certainly didn't seem to have an interest, but he knew that even when insane, he had cared about Cloud. Was he taking away another's Cloud?

Such a complicated situation and problem. But it still came down to them being there together, wanting to be together, and it not seeming fair if they couldn't be happy under those circumstances.

He kept hugging Cloud. After a moment he brought his wings out to embrace with them as well. He would always protect Cloud, no matter what came at them. Cloud was ... the most precious thing to him.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud could have stayed like that forever; awash in the feeling of Reunion, covered by Sephiroth's wings. There was a strange sort of perfection to it that there were no words for, so he didn't try to name it or explain it. It just was.

But they couldn't just stay like that in the middle of the sidewalk, and it took a great amount of willpower, but he forced himself to pull away from his chest. The feeling faded to a dull hum in the back of his head almost immediately, not entirely disappearing like it had when he ran off. Which was nice; at least he could be in proximity to Sephiroth and not feel so empty.

"We should... probably talk," he managed to get out, his voice sounding thick, like he had just woken up from a bad dream.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth drew back, also with great reluctance. "Yes, we should. Perhaps at my home?"

[cloudsenior]

There went his heart, doing a flip in his chest again. With it this time was a conspirator's voice that sounded vaguely of Zack, the SOLDIER friend he had lost over the waterfall at Nibelheim, whispering softly in his ear.

"You know Sephiroth has to have a bigger bed than you do..."

Cloud's face immediately went through all the shades of red possible, blushing so hard that he actually felt a little woozy from all the blood rushing to his head.

"M-maybe somewhere a little less--"

He cut himself off, afraid to say "intimate," and make himself look like a pervert. Just because his mind went there, didn't make him that, okay???

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth, innocently unaware of Cloud's inner struggle since his mind is running along a different path, just nods.

"Of course. But I assume we don't want others hearing us. Where would you like to go?"

[cloudsenior]

Oh.

Right.

This was definitely going to be a difficult conversation that needed to be kept between themselves. He remembered what happened when Sephiroth had told him about Aerith, and how all the eyes in the restaurant had fallen on him. No one needed to be privy to wherever this conversation was going to go.

And... if it led to other things... well, they were both adults. He could handle it. It was fine.

"No, you're right," he mumbled, trying to get the heat in his face to go down. "Your place is probably best."