Let Him In | By : GodOfInsanity Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male > Cloud/Sephiroth Views: 2233 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 3 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 or its characters. Nor do I own Morrissey’s passage, either. I do not profit from any of it. I just had an itch to write this, so I did. |
Let Him In
Chapter warning(s): Language, Humor, Yaoi M/M, Violence, Amnesiac Sephiroth
“It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it.”-Amelia Barr
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CH09: Tempest
“Does he have to be here?” Drawled a rich, velvety voice that was borderline bored and agitated. The ex-General was far from amused at this point. The dark-haired man’s presence wasn’t welcomed by him and he didn’t even try to be subtle about voicing his own thoughts or feelings. He really didn’t give a damn if the ex-Turk heard him or not.
Vincent said nothing from his spot leaned against the wall near the kitchen window. His ruby orbs were focused outside on the Chocobos, yet his ears were trained on the pair. The blond was sitting at the table across with the silver-haired man. He studied the eggs, toast, and bacon on his plate for a few moments before he sighed and looked at Sephiroth. He really couldn’t fault him at all for how he felt, so he did his best to be patient and understanding. In a quiet voice, he answered simply, “He’s my friend. Just my friend.” Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed somewhat for a moment, but his mood lightened a little bit as if a great weight had been heaved off from his shoulders. He nodded curtly once and then went back to reading his book. The gunman didn’t fail to notice Cloud’s odd phrasing of words. Just my friend. He also noticed how Sephiroth seemed relieved at hearing that answer. If he didn’t know any better, (in which he really didn’t, since those two baffled him at times), he would say that they were acting like…like lovers. Not that it mattered to him. Gay, straight, or bi, sex and romance was just what it was. Love was love. He was not one to judge it. What Cloud did with himself and with others was his own business and not Vincent’s. But this was Sephiroth. He had to remember that. That was why he was here. To keep an eye on the former madman and ensure that he doesn’t hurt Cloud or anyone else. An uncontrollable itch spread throughout Sephiroth in such a way that after twenty minutes or so of enduring it, he finally snapped. “Why are you here? What do you want?” Vincent felt a smile tugging at the corners of his thin pale lips. Thankfully, his face was turned away from view. The amusement briefly played on his face before he wiped it clean. Returning his visage back to his normally cool look, he then looked at Sephiroth with an eyebrow arched. “To ruin your day, of course.” “I don’t like you,” spat Sephiroth. The ex-Turk countered sarcastically, “I’m heartbroken. Whatever will I do now?” Cloud groaned and buried his face in his arms. He wasn’t in the mood for bickering children. In the secret confines of his mind, he marveled at the fact that these two, who seemed to dislike each other greatly, hadn’t killed one another in his absence. It was a miracle, really. “How about you take yourself out back and shoot yourself in the head?” “I would do that but then there would be no one to blacken your glorious day.” “You are annoying me, yes, but you are far from ruining my day, Valentine,” retorted the green-eyed man as he crossed his arms and armed himself with an intimidating glare. To himself, he thought silently: As long as I have Cloud, all will be well. “Anything I can do to change that?” Sephiroth rolled his eyes and sat back down again. He waved a hand dismissively, “I will not provide you with ammunition, so go away. Find another target to shoot at.” “Oh, that’s right…you’re a sword person,” spoke Vincent as if he had forgotten that fact. Of course he hadn’t forgotten. It was kind of difficult to forget Masamune running you through, after all. The ex-General blinked in confusion. Sword? What was Valentine talking about? How was he a sword person? He didn’t even have a sword, let alone know how to use one. “What…what do you…” Cloud suddenly jumped up to his feet and slammed both of his palms hard against the surface of the table. In a calm, yet firm sort of voice, he commanded, “Enough. Both of you, enough. I’m tired of your bickering. If you can’t say anything nice then don’t say shit at all.” In spite of his outburst, the blond was flabbergasted. Vincent normally never said more than a few words and this was the most he’d witnessed him say…ever. The man had friends, yes, but he was a quiet person and preferred to listen instead of talking, for whatever reasons. It was obvious to Cloud that Vincent must actually like Sephiroth. That had to be it. There was no way his friend would waste his breath on Sephiroth if he didn’t like him. After this revelation, Cloud began to laugh. He laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes and he had to bend over while clutching his sides as he wheezed. When he was finished, he sat back in the chair heavily and gazed up at two very stunned looking faces. Vincent and Sephiroth didn’t say a thing, but they were both thinking it: Cloud’s fucking crazy.
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A week had passed. It had mostly been a quiet, uneventful week aside from all the verbal battles that arose between the ex-Turk and the ex-General. There was never really a winner since neither of them would relent until Cloud had told them both to shut up. Cloud’s quiet life of solitude was over. Every nightmare was put on hold and every lonely thought died inside of his head. He didn’t mind having Sephiroth and Vincent around at all. His friend and his…well, he didn’t quite know what Seph was to him, yet. He was still unbearably mystified about that and sometimes while working or lying down to sleep, he caught himself thinking about it. Sorting out feelings was never an easy thing to do. Especially not for a recluse like Cloud. But he was among two other solitary men who understood that all too well themselves. Still, it bothered Cloud immensely that he was lost when it came to Sephiroth. He wasn’t sure what to think, yet his chest clenched whenever he looked at the man. It was a good sort of pain, the yearning sort of pain that was kind of similar to how he felt for Tifa when he had been just a kid. Yet this was different than that. This was stronger and more profound than some silly little kid crush he had once had on Tifa. Whatever this was, it was real and it wasn’t some delusional fantasy spun from a lonely, bullied mind. One thing Cloud knew for certain was that he did like this Sephiroth. He was attracted to the man in more ways than one and he knew it now. He had been denying it for awhile, but something had disrupted that. It was easy to deny everything when it was just him and Seph. But since Vincent’s arrival, a lot of things had been put into a different perspective. For example, his frantic, worried reaction to Sephiroth missing and his petty jealousy over Vincent and Sephiroth together even though it was obvious nothing was between them. Sephiroth, on the other hand, was very frustrated. Mostly because Valentine liked teasing him and even just knowing that irked him to no bounds. In spite of being irritated endlessly by Valentine, a part of him enjoyed their little spats. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt a connection to Valentine. It was different than the bond he had with Cloud and it was entirely platonic. Then of course there was the thing with Cloud. There had been no more slip ups as if Cloud was being very careful not to touch Sephiroth the wrong way. It was fairly obvious to him that Cloud kept distancing himself more and more with each passing day. He didn’t understand why the blond was doing that and it made him feel bitter. It caused him to sulk during the day and cling to Cloud at night in spite of the other male’s protests. Besides reading, fighting with Valentine, and following Cloud around, Sephiroth spent a nonsensical amount of time standing on that hill where Valentine has first attacked him. He would stare off in the distance at nothing in particular. He didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to do so. Something or someone was pulling at him almost violently and he didn’t have the fainted clue as to why. All he knew was that he was obsessed with that particular direction. Something was there. Something he felt troubled by. Something he felt he should know, but couldn’t remember. Whatever it was, it felt as if it was directly related to his reoccurring nightmares, the nightmares he could not remember; try as he might, whenever he awoke from his slumber.
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A few days later, Cloud, with Sephiroth in tow, left for the town of Schönnbach. Cloud would have gone alone on Fenrir, but Sephiroth protested to the point that he threatened to kill Valentine if the blond left him alone with the gunman again.
It was due time to go into town and get some much needed supplies since there was three of them now. It was mostly food items and some toiletries. Cloud dismounted from the bike and turned to watch as the taller male gingerly hopped off from the bike. He had to admit that Sephiroth looked great on Fenrir, especially dressed in all that black leather. Yeah, it had just seemed wrong to him not to dress the man in leather especially when they rode on his bike. The only downside of it wasn’t the fact that the townspeople gawked at Seph, it was that Cloud found it increasingly difficult not to drool like a love struck idiot whenever he looked at him. “Like what you see?” Purred a deep, smooth baritone that could leave anyone weak in the knees. Smacked out of whatever coma he was in, Cloud looked up at Sephiroth’s face. He blushed a deep crimson when he realized he had been caught staring. Tearing his gaze away, he muttered something weak in denial. He didn’t even know what he had said, but he knew it was probably something stupid. “If you say so,” said Sephiroth in a flippant way as he sauntered ahead of Cloud. It was almost as if he were purposely flaunting himself for the blond. In a way, he was actually unconsciously teasing the slighter male. Whatever thoughts Cloud were having were soon interrupted by a small punch to his arm. It didn’t hurt, but it had had enough of a force behind it for him to notice it. “Hey blondilocks, where have you been?” Piped the familiar voice of the red-headed tomboy. Looking down at brown-eyed girl, he shrugged sheepishly. “I’ve been…busy.” Staring ahead at the silver-haired man, she mumbled, “Uh huh…” “Hana, is your dad’s shop open today?” Asked Cloud as he walked beside her. Even though he would glance at her every so often, he still made sure to keep an eye on the ex-General. “Yeah, it always is. Why? Ya need something?” Walking ahead of them as if oblivious to their conversation and general presence, Sephiroth would stop every now and then to peer into a shop window. Sometimes the objects he saw would momentarily interest him, but he usually didn’t spare more than a second glance. Cloud nodded. “A few things, yes.” “Hey, can I ask you something?” “Go ahead.” “Do ya know a weird guy with long black hair and pale skin? His red and black outfit was loud and he stood out like a sore wound.” Vincent pretty much stood out as much as Sephiroth did, but Cloud didn’t bother to point that out. He smiled slightly. “Yeah, that’s my friend, Vincent Valentine.” “Vincent, eh? He’s kind of a creeper. He stalked Seph everywhere.” “I asked him to keep an eye on Seph. Did he hurt him or do anything bad?” Hana shook her head. “No, just followed at a distance. I was just worried that he had done something to Seph. Cuz, you know, I haven’t heard from any of you for awhile.” “Sorry about that.” The blond offered a wry smile and then patted her shoulder lightly. “Look, he’s a good friend of mine and he would never hurt you or Seph.” “Gotcha,” said the tomboy, who accepted what he said without question. The only reason she had brought up Vincent at all was to clarify that he was one of the good guys. She didn’t know the guy so there was no way of knowing whether he had coerced Sephiroth into something insidious or worse, killed him. Even though she lived in a small town, she was no stranger to the evils of the world. “For a nosy little ginger kid, you’re not so bad,” teased Cloud as he ruffled her short red hair. “Hey!” Hana objected as she shoved his hand away. Looking away, she cursed under her breath more at herself than at Cloud because she could feel her face heating up. She was sure she was bright red by now. “You look like a girl when you blush,” commented Cloud. “Oh, SHUT UP!”
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While they waited for Cloud to finish shopping, the ex-General and the tomboy sat on a bench in the park. Fighting boredom and failing, Hana insipidly picked off the petals of a yellow flower. It was one of those weeds that pretended to be a flower so whenever she picked them no one made a fuss at her.
“Why are you doing that?” Asked Sephiroth after a few minutes of watching her pick apart the yellow weeds. “I’m bored,” answered the redhead before she dropped the dead plant to the ground. Staring down at it, she then added quietly, “it beats picking on others.” Staring at the girl, Sephiroth had the sense that there was more to her words than she let on. Every time he was around her, she always left subtle little hints about something. He didn’t quite understand what was going on, yet, but he didn’t fail to notice that she never hung around any other kids and that she was always happy to see him and Cloud. “I’m gonna get a drink. You want something?” Hana asked as she slid off the bench. Stretching her thin, band aid-covered arms, she looked over her shoulder at the leather-clad man. Sephiroth shook his head and murmured, “No, thank you.” Nodding, the tomboy walked past the monkey bars, merry-go-rounds, and the swing sets until she was on the other side of the park. There was a vending machine there that offered a variety of energy and soda drinks. It was mostly a bunch of sugar-loaded and caffeine boosted drinks. Sephiroth zoned out, his eyes unconfused as he waited. His mind drifted off in thoughts that plagued him more and more every day. Just when the green-eyed man started nodding off, there was a terrified scream. Instantly jumping to his feet as if by pure instinct alone, Sephiroth then snapped his head towards the direction of the scream. It took him a few brief seconds to locate Hana backing away from something big and monstrous. It was…well, he wasn’t sure what it was. It was a strange beast and something in the back of his mind felt that this thing was remotely familiar. Whatever it was, it was a four-headed monster bearing the heads of a lion, goat, lizard, and hawk. And if that wasn’t strange enough, it had a snake headed tail. Curling its claws against the soil, the monster flapped its wings as it bellowed at the girl. It was clear to anyone that it was preparing to make its attack. Not wasting any more time, Sephiroth lunged forward in great leaps. His long legs carried him far and fast as he rushed in an effort to get to Hana before the thing killed her. Sephiroth hurtled forward and pushed the red-head out of the way just as the lion head snapped its jaws and as the lizard head casted Aqua Breath. The other two heads and snake tail waited as if feeling the girl wasn’t worth being attacked all at once. Grunting, Sephiroth flipped in the air and barely landed on his feet. While he had managed to avoid the spells cast at him, he hadn’t managed to avoid the physical damage. He felt hot wetness flowing down his backside from the wounds of teeth and claws that had none too kindly assaulted his back. The leather on his back was shredded and he had no idea how bad the damage was. It hurt like a bitch, but he wasn’t about to cry over it. “Seph! Watch out” Cried Hana as she rushed over to him. She suddenly wished she wasn’t a little kid because if she had been an adult, she probably could have not only defended herself, but her friend as well. She felt helpless and useless, but that didn’t mean she was going to run away and let her friend get killed. Sephiroth braced himself as he tried to think of what to do. He suddenly wished he had something, anything to defend himself with. He just didn’t know what to do. The ex-General was a grown man and he felt as helpless as a child. The monster made a series of menacing, threatening noises and looked as if it were about to attack again. Only…it wasn’t looking at Hana or Sephiroth. It was looking right past them at something else. “Oh great, a Chimera,” grumbled Cloud as he held First Tsurugi behind him in what looked like an intimidating pose. He glared at the monster as he tightened his hand around the hilt of his buster sword. He didn’t even understand why one of those things was out here of all places. Usually Chimeras were found in desert regions and not wandering around some town’s park looking for little kids as snacks. Grabbing Hana by the arm, Sephiroth jumped backwards just in time to avoid the charging beast from trampling them both. He protectively kept the girl behind him just in case the thing reared around to attack them. Wielding First Tsurugi in both hands now, Cloud leaped in the air, jumping out of the way of any impending attacks inflicted by the monster. Landing near its right flank, the snake-head tail lashed out only to be sliced off by his blade. Screaming in fury, the Chimera whipped around to retaliate, but it suffered a series of swift decapitations before it could so much as snap any of its jaws. In lightning strikes, each head was severed off and rolled onto the ground in random directions. Cloud watched as the body slumped to the ground in the throes of violent death. Once he was sure it was dead, he lowered his sword and then strode quickly over to the gawking pair. Sephiroth was stunned. Watching the blond effortlessly evade all attacks and then take down the beast effortlessly was beyond amazing. This was the first time he had ever seen Cloud fight and it aroused all of his senses. There was a certain familiarity to it that he couldn’t quite remember. He remembered that sword so well and the way Cloud moved, but he couldn’t remember why he remembered those things. All he knew was that he had enjoyed seeing Cloud fight and kill the Chimera, or whatever it was. He enjoyed it so much so that his body felt taut and hot as blood pumped wildly through his veins. “Are you guys all right?” Cloud asked in concern as he approached them. His eyes searched their faces and he could tell by the look on Hana’s face that something was wrong. “Seph is hurt,” answered Hana who in turn pointed to Sephiroth’s injured back. Cloud said nothing as he walked around Sephiroth to survey the damage. He winced when he saw how much damage had been done. The wounds were very deep and he was somewhat surprised that Sephiroth stood there as if a mere domestic cat had bitten and scratched him. The blond wasn’t too concerned, though. Fortunately for them both, he did have a cure Materia on him. It was a habit for him to take it everywhere he went and he was suddenly grateful for that. Standing behind Sephiroth, he murmured, “I’m going to heal you now, so stay still and don’t panic.” And with that being said, he cast the cure and watched as the bleeding stopped. The flesh knitted back together and before he knew it, there was a smooth expanse of pale, reddened skin where the wounds had previously been. Sighing in relief, Cloud reached over and swept his hand over the skin in a caress that was meant to inspire comfort. The muscles flinched under his hand as if they had expected to be harmed again. “Seph, how do you feel?” “Better now. Thank you, Cloud.” Hana looked curious and relieved as she stood on her tippy toes to look at the healed back. “What happened?” Asked Cloud as he regarded them both with an arched eyebrow. He pretty much could figure out what happened, but he hadn’t been there to witness all of it. He was curious to know what they both had to say about it. “I was getting a drink and all of a sudden, that thing came out of nowhere and tried to get me,” the red-head explained calmly even though she still trembled a bit from the shock of surviving a monster attack. She had really believed that they were going to die. Then she realized she would have died if not for Sephiroth. “Seph came running when he heard me scream. He saved my life.” “That right?” Said Cloud with a small smile. He felt proud now as he stared at the ex-General. Something about this seemed to prove to him even more that there was hope. Hope for Sephiroth. Hope for them all. “Yeah,” replied Hana as she suddenly flung herself at Sephiroth and hugged him around his midsection. “Thank you, Seph.” Sephiroth turned around and looked down at the girl. He shrugged. He didn’t know what to say. He felt that he had done nothing to be worthy of gratitude. After all, Cloud had been the one that had saved them both by defeating the monster. He then shrugged, “I did nothing.” “That’s funny,” started the ex-Turk as he seemingly emerged from nowhere. He strode over to them, his red scarf fluttering slightly in the mild breeze. When he had reached them, he stopped and then looked at the slightly taller man. The ex-General was only taller than him by a mere inch. “From where I was standing, it didn’t look like you did nothing. It looked like you took an attack meant for the girl.” The silver-haired man said nothing in reply. For once, he was rendered speechless by Vincent. If the situation had been less serious, the ex-Turk might have been amused by the fact that he had struck the ex-General speechless. “You were right, Cloud,” the dark-haired gunman admitted as he glanced at the dead Chimera. “There have been more monster sightings recently and attacks on towns like this one are becoming more prevalent as of late. Something is drawing these things out into the open. Some people are even hiring full-time mercenaries to protect them from the beasts.” One of Sephiroth’s silver eyebrows shot up at that, but he did not say a thing. He did wonder about what the first vague statement was in reference to. Cloud sighed a weary sigh. He suddenly looked much older and it was clear by the dark bags under his eyes that he hadn’t been sleeping much. Obviously something was bothering him enough to disturb his rest and mental state. He did not take his sky blue eyes off of Sephiroth. “It has begun.” “What do you want me to do?” Inquired Vincent as soon as he had sensed a shift in Cloud’s intentions. Something told him that there was more to be done now then just mere babysitting. The blond glanced at the ex-Turk as he quickly instructed, “I want you to assemble the others. Tell them what you know. But I don’t want them coming to my house without my permission first.” “And after I have told them the news?” “You may return as soon as you wish, but without added guests. I don’t want anyone attacking Seph and I won’t have time for them.” Vincent nodded. The gunman was just relieved to know that something was finally being done. He hated waiting, waiting for something bad to happen. He liked to just get it done and over with. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and finally spoke. “What is going on?” As if suddenly aware of Sephiroth’s presence, Cloud blinked and looked at him with a face mixed with emotion. “I’m going to be teaching you how to fight.” The ex-General blinked. “Come again?” “I’m going to teach you how to fight. You will learn how to defend yourself and others.” The blond ex-mercenary then looked at his own sword and sighed. “But before we get to that, we’re going to need to visit an old friend of mine that owes me a favor.” “Why?” Cloud met Sephiroth’s exotic green gaze. “Because you need a sword.”
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