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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]

"...yeah," Cloud agreed quietly. "And... if we ever did find our way back home, we could... probably make use of what we know of each other."

Hesitantly, he reached out for Sephiroth's hands.

[imjustaman]

He smiled a bit. “You would try to reach out to your Sephiroth?”

He accepted Cloud’s hands.

[cloudsenior]

"I... I think so, yes," he said softly, looking down at their hands. Sephiroth's were so much bigger than his own; he could probably easily take both of his in just one hand. Hell, he was so much shorter by comparison, Sephiroth could just move him wherever he wanted, and he wouldn't be able to do much about it.

After all, he had easily held him in his arms that last night.

...he suddenly really wished neither of them had gloves on.

"Just as I think you'd want your Cloud to do for you."

[imjustaman]

Indeed, and yet this Sephiroth had always tried to respect Cloud’s space, only getting close when Cloud was hurt and needing help. A true fulfillment of the cliche of a “gentle giant” when sane.

“Yes, I would,” Sephiroth said.

He pondered. “… I wonder if we make it home … if we’d always be comparing our Cloud and Sephiroth to each other … perhaps missing the ones we actually forged close bonds with…. It wouldn’t really be the same with others.”

Another reason why at this point he doesn’t want to go home.

[cloudsenior]

"Maybe," Cloud replied, before finally dragging his eyes back to Sephiroth's face. "I... don't want to stop what we've started, though."

There it was, out in the open; the confession made him shudder slightly, a bit of pink coming to his face as he looked away.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth smiled fondly. "Nor do I. But what, exactly, have we started?"

Were they looking for the same things? Different things? Would their desires mesh well or repel each other?

[cloudsenior]

Cloud's mouth worked for a moment, struggling to find the right words for what was going on in his head. Was it possible he was overthinking this? Was it possible he was the one taking things too far?

He pulled his hands away after a moment, stripping off his gloves and setting them aside before he got up. He went over to Sephiroth's side, settling down beside him and leaning toward him, closing his eyes as he tucked in close to his side.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth watched him, still fondly. He removed his own gloves, setting them on a small table. He drew an arm around Cloud, holding him close. He would be happy just to be like this often. He was a warm person who loved hugs and snuggling close, something most people would likely never think of him.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud reached for his free hand, his breath hitching slightly at just a small touch bringing back that strange feeling. He supposed he should get used to it, if it was going to happen every time they were touching skin to skin. Did Sephiroth feel it too? Was it something unique to him, or would the man he knew also feel the same way? It would explain why he was always crowding into his personal space...

...

This felt nicer than it had any right to be. Cloud found his eyes drifting closed in contentment, the thought of how his friends would feel a distant point of his mind. Would they understand? Aerith would, probably; she'd say in that teasing voice of hers something about childhood crushes being the most impactful. Tifa... she'd understand too, he was sure. He had told her how much like Sephiroth he had wanted to be, that night at the well. The others... would probably need some convincing, but he could get them to understand. Maybe.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth did feel it: that sense of belonging, of coming home. Was it the cells inside them both just reacting to being near each other? He didn't want to believe that. He wanted to believe it meant more than that, that it was indeed their own feelings. He had always felt some form of it when he thought he had loved ones. Being with loved ones was home.

A bit of fear rose in his heart. Loved ones almost always left him, except Zack, and then Sephiroth had betrayed him. And he and Cloud most likely could not stay together either, being from different dimensions.

He didn't want that happening again. He didn't want to lose anyone else.

Could he stop it? Could he keep them together?

He would be stunned if Tifa would understand, after everything he had done. It was shocking to think of anyone understanding, really. How could they ever trust him?

How could he trust himself?

He didn't like to voice any of these fears and break the moment. But he held Cloud a bit closer, as if desperate for nothing to take him away.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud let out a soft noise as he held him closer, like he was feeling the turmoil going through Sephiroth's head. He reached for his hand again, this time threading their fingers together as he let out a soft, content sigh at the feeling of belonging. He didn't have the same understanding of it that Sephiroth did, had no idea about what was done to him those missing five years of his memory, and he didn't much care to learn about it.

Right now was what mattered, and right now he was content in the arms of a man he had once considered his enemy, and he was okay with that.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth came back more to the present, smiling softly at Cloud’s actions.

Maybe it would be alright. Maybe he was worrying too much over nothing. But …

“… When you arrived, did you fill out paperwork to leave?”

What if it went through? What if Cloud would suddenly be gone?

[cloudsenior]

"Mm... yeah," he murmured. "But they pretty much admitted they were going to lose it."

He didn't have any faith that they would actually get the paperwork filed through. And even if they did, he could always say he changed his mind, right? Like they would actually communicate with him that they could send him back if he still wanted to, right?

He wanted to believe they would.

Either way, he snuggled himself closer to Sephiroth.

"M'having second thoughts."

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth held him closer. “I think you should tell them that as soon as possible. It would be better not to simply trust they won’t suddenly send you away. If you don’t answer your Glimmer and I find you are gone …”

He trailed off. He wasn’t sure how he would handle it.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud squeezed his fingers, an attempt at being reassuring.

"I will," he promised softly.

[imjustaman]

He smiled a bit. “Perhaps we can go together tomorrow.”

[cloudsenior]

"Mm," he agreed wordlessly, part of him wanting to drift off, he was so content. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold day, with a warm cup of coco and seated before a roaring fire.

He peered up at Sephiroth; this close it was easy to see the differences between him and the one he knew. This one was... softer, his face seemed more rounded. Oh, he still looked like a master craftsman chiseled him out of marble, but there wasn't any of the harsh lines from a face constantly twisted in a sneer or smug look. Of course, being so much softer, it made his lips look very kissable from this angle.

...

No, he wasn't ready for that level of commitment yet. He ducked his head back down, resting it against his pauldron, only to make a face.

"...we should probably invest in different clothes," he admitted faintly.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth felt like he could definitely drift off if he allowed himself to. This felt so safe, so warm....

He probably looked much the same as the other when insane. But sane, yes, very soft and gentle as well as ethereal.

"Hm? Oh. Well, I suppose I could remove those," he says. "There wouldn't be much need of them here. Probably."

[cloudsenior]

"I wouldn't assume that, not after Halloween," Cloud said, a bit of stubbornness creeping into his voice. He leaned away a bit reluctantly, giving Sephiroth room if he wanted to take them off now.

[imjustaman]

"They wouldn't have been much use fighting angry spirits," he remarks, resisting the urge to add "petty." He might be willing to display a pumpkin for caution's sake, but he is very bitter and doesn't have the appreciation that the spirits apparently expect people will have after being forced to comply with them.

He unbuckles the pauldrons, setting them aside on the table before leaning back again.

[cloudsenior]

"...fair," Cloud groused, watching Sephiroth set his pauldrons aside before he paused a moment. He reached up to do away with his own, setting it down next to his.

"...this feels weird," he admitted, looking at his empty shoulder like it betrayed him.

[imjustaman]

He chuckled. "It does." When was the last time he hadn't worn them with this outfit? Ever? "It would be ... nice, however ... to not need them."

[cloudsenior]

"...I guess," Cloud conceded, not sounding 100% sure on that. When was the last time he didn't need to be constantly on and ready to fight? Sometime during his missing five years? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure if it was worth finding out.

"This is the longest I haven't needed my sword, too," he admitted. He... wasn't going to tell Sephiroth about his and Blitz's pumpkin ducking in the park, where more than a few of them ended up sliced. Not after what happened.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth would very likely keep wearing them in case he needed them, but he still longed for peace and to not actually need to do so.

“I can at least summon mine if needed,” Sephiroth said. As it was the other night.

He would not be pleased to hear about deliberate vandalism and waste of food.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud snorted at that.

"Must be nice," he said, before finally leaning his head back against Sephiroth's shoulder. That... was much more comfortable.