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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.

Comments

[cloudsenior]

Cloud hesitated, not sure how to even respond. He fidgeted, feeling no where near as classy as Sephiroth looked, not sure he deserved to be called good looking. He scratched at the back of his head, feeling embarrassed, and... quickly retreated back into his changing room.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth chuckled to himself and also returned to his to change back into his regular clothes. He placed the new ones in the cart to purchase. Then he thought of something else. Perhaps he should get some shoes to have something other than thigh-length boots to wear….

[cloudsenior]

Cloud came back out in his regular clothes, holding his purchases as well, and resting them over his basket. He was absolutely pretending what happened before happened. Nope. Totally put it out of his mind.

"Anything else?"

[imjustaman]

“Shoes, perhaps,” Sephiroth mused. “Long boots … may not always be the most prudent choice of footwear.”

[cloudsenior]

Cloud blinked at that; footwear had been the last thing on his mind. He turned his gaze down to his own steal toed boots, absently shifting on his feet, showing off all the dirt and grime that clung to them. They looked like he had been hiking it over the entire planet, never mind they could probably hike all over the planet at least twice more before they started falling apart on him. If he had to give Shinra credit for anything, it was that the gear for SOLDIER was durable.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea," he said finally.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at the sight. “Do you ever … clean your boots?” he had to ask.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud huffed softly.

"When would I have found the time?" he replied.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth looked amused at that. “If you did it regularly, it wouldn’t be an activity that would take hours.”

He headed for the shoes.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud waited until Sephiroth's back was turned to him, before he folded his arms over his chest, mimicking Sephiroth lecturing him in a brilliant display of maturity. He let out a sigh after, tottering after him.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth arrived at the shoes, looking over the dressier options with thoughtfulness before trying some on. He soon found something he liked well enough.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud, meanwhile, gravitated over to the boots. There were a few similar to his without the steal toe, but he found himself passing them over. It was just... too weird not to have the weight of a protected toe guard. So he ended up drifting over to the heavy work boots, bending a few to try and decide what would be able to take the most punishment. He wasn't going to be doing anything drastic, like hiking around the world, but they had to be durable!

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth observed with curious interest. “You prefer to keep the type of footwear you already have?”

What happened to not being on all the time?

[cloudsenior]

"The weight is familiar," he said, absently tapping the toe of his boot on the ground as he tried to decide between two that were up to his standards. "I'm so used to the weight of these that going without would be... weird."

He made a face just at the thought, before he hesitated, peering over at him. He wondered what Sephiroth would do in the same situation...

"Unless you had a different idea?"

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth looked amused. “I feel somewhat the same to go without some of what I’m used to.”

He tilted his head, pondering. “Perhaps a casual pair also? So as to ‘not be on all the time’?”

[cloudsenior]

...rude, using his words against him like that. Cloud almost pouted, before he settled on one of the boots finally and went back to the ones without the protective toe. He tested with those in much the same way: bending and twisting them to test their durability, a thoughtful look on his face as he focused intently on what would be the best to use as a "casual" pair.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth relaxed, looking over the groceries. “Perhaps I should start heading for the checkout line,” he said. “Some of these things need the fridge or freezer soon.”

In hindsight, they probably should have got the clothes and shoes first.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud felt his face heat up a little. He knew Sephiroth didn't mean it that way, but out of anyone else that was a clear way of saying, "Hurry the hell up, Cloud." Listen, proper footwear was important! Bad footwear meant you were going to deal with aches and pains, or worse, tears in your skin!

He let out a breath, before settling on a pair of casual boots, placing both in the cart with a sheepish look on his face.

[imjustaman]

Sephiroth understood about proper footwear. He wished he had thought about getting the groceries after the apparel.

He smiled at Cloud and started heading for the checkout lanes. “Shopping together is … nice.”

[cloudsenior]

Cloud followed behind, peering back at him. He... wasn't wrong; dare he say he actually had fun? It was... nice, seeing how different they were when it came to the things they liked, and how they planned a shopping trip.

"It is," he agreed softly, glancing away almost shyly.

[imjustaman]

He smiled more. "Perhaps we can ... do it more often."

He was certainly more of a practical person, but now that he was sane and free, he was curious to know about other things normal people did, like going to the mall, even. He might like to try it, at least once.

[cloudsenior]

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "Whenever you want; just give me a call."

...there was that inner 16 year old, squeeing in excitement over the fact that Sephiroth really wanted to spend time with him. He missed his 16 year old self. He had to wonder what happened in those missing five years that made him just so... bitter.

"Thanks... for doing this with me."

[imjustaman]

"I'll do that," he smiled.

He looked slightly amused. "I needed to shop as well. It made sense to go together. It's been ... much better than shopping alone."

Which he had usually always done, except for times when Zack had dragged him somewhere to look at things.

[cloudsenior]

Cloud let out a faint sound of agreement, and a small smile just might have crept up on his face.

With their goods paid for and everything bagged, Cloud lugged his stuff outside, both arms weighed down with everything he purchased. He paused as they made their way to the end of the store's parking lot, looking around.

"I think... I should probably head home," he said, part of him not really ready to say goodbye, even if it was just for now. But it would be impractical to go back to Sephiroth's place, just because he wanted to be near him for a little while longer.

[imjustaman]

"Yes, you should get the food in the refrigerator," Sephiroth said. "I should as well." A pause. "Of course ... if you would like, we could ... then share a meal, perhaps? Unless you have other plans...."

[cloudsenior]

"A meal sounds good," Cloud found himself replying quickly. He paused a moment to look embarrassed, before he coughed, looking away.

"Uh... my place or yours?"