Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I want to braid your hair.”

Sephiroth stopped and slowly lifted his head, half finished paperwork in his hands. “Excuse me?” He asked, a surprised and slightly dubious look on his face.

“I want to braid your hair.” Cloud repeated, standing tall in a way that betrayed just how embarrassed he actually was. He refused to show it and he stood there, staring Sephiroth down.

“And may I ask why?”

At this, Cloud did turn pink. Even his ears had taken on a distinctly pink hue. “I have my reasons.” Again, he was trying his best not to show his embarrassment and failing spectacularly.

Sephiroth blinked slowly at him before reaching into his desk draw. He pulled out a hair brush and a hair band. He offered the brush to Cloud, still wearing that slightly bewildered look. “If you must...”

Cloud took the brush and Sephiroth returned to his paperwork. After an awkward pause, Cloud walked around the desk and stood behind Sephiroth. He knew how to braid hair. He'd done it for Marlene on countless occasions. He'd even braided Zeke's hair when it had got a little too long to be adequately contained in a simple tail.

There was a little more hesitation before he started to gently brush Sephiroth's hair in preparation. He had to bend down to pick up the ends so that he could reach them with the brush. Sephiroth's hair was somehow even softer than Cloud had thought and he would later deny that he spent a little more time brushing than absolutely necessary, but he had.

With almost expert movements, Sephiroth's hair was braided. It took Cloud a lot longer than it had with Marlene, since there was a lot more hair, but eventually he managed it. By the time he was done, he was standing a few feet back from Sephiroth to accommodate the length, but he managed it.

He tied it off and dropped it, stepping back to admire his work. “Thank you.” He said, handing the brush back and making his exit, leaving Sephiroth with another perplexed look on his face. He wore his hair like that for the rest of the day.

It wasn't until a few days later that he found out Cloud had lost a bet with Zack.

– – – – – – – –

“Can I keep it?”

Cloud looked at the hopeful look on his son's face and then to the small creature in his arms. He raised his eyebrows at the sight.

“It's a wolf...” Cloud pointed out, bending over to get a closer look at the pup. It wasn't very old, but it was very familiar. “It's a Kalm Fang... Zeke, you can't keep monsters...”

“Why not? I can teach it how to behave, and if I can't, it's not like anybody here wont be able to take it out.” He gestured around with his free hand, his other arm still clutching the young pup to his chest.

“I'm pretty sure we're not allowed pets in the apartment...” Cloud was trying to reason with the boy without actually having to say no. If he could come up with a good enough reason, he would probably agree and give up. If he couldn't he would have to endure one of Zeke's legendary pouting sessions. Those could last for days.

“I'm pretty sure the president wouldn't say no to Sephiroth.” Zeke countered, and Cloud had to admit that he was probably right. He also knew that if Zeke asked Sephiroth, he'd probably agree to allow the beast to stay.

“Hey Zeke...” Zack's voice joined them as he walked into the room. “Why do you have a puppy?”

“It's a Kalm Fang.” Cloud told the man, never taking his eyes off the monster. “And he wants to keep it.”

“Really!” Zack bounded up to them, leaning down so that he could pet the small creature. It growled at him and Zack just laughed and kept petting it.

Cloud rolled his eyes and sighed. Now he would have to disappoint them both. “No.” He said eventually, “You can't keep the wolf.”

“But daaaddd.” Zeke tried his own puppy dog look, and Zack turned around to stand by Zeke, adding his own wide eyes to the mix.

“No.” Cloud said again, “We are not keeping monsters in the apartment.” He didn't like to have to put his foot down like that, but sometimes he had to be a parent. Apparently to them both.

“Awww.” Zack sighed and gave the pup one final pat before moving away. “Gotta listen to your dad.”

At least Zack was on his side.

– – – – – – – –

“Where did you get that?” Cloud stood in his living room, looking at the giant stuffed chocobo. It was bigger than their couch and Cloud wondered how they'd got it through the door.

“Zack felt bad that I couldn't keep the puppy.” Zeke told him from his position atop the stuff bird's back. “And he knows I like chocobos....”

Cloud stepped to the side, eyeing the stuffed toy. “It's... big...” That barely described it. It took up most of their living room and was easily bigger than Cloud. “We don't really have anywhere to put it...”

Zeke thought for a moment, agreeing with Cloud, then his face lit up and he jumped down from the toy. “No, we don't!” He ran through the door before Cloud could stop him. He just put his head in his hands.

Two days later, Sephiroth had a new piece of furniture. A bright yellow piece of furniture tucked as far into the corner of his apartment as it could go.

Really, Cloud thought, Sephiroth should learn how to say no to Zeke.

– – – – – – – –

Sephiroth would often act a little strange after his regular visits to the science department. He'd once told Cloud that it was because of the mako injections that Hojo insisted that he still received, but Cloud had his doubts. Unfortunately, refusing to go was not really an option.

But today, Sephiroth was acting especially strange. If Cloud didn't know any better, he would have thought that Sephiroth was drunk. He was swaying on his feet and easily distracted. And the giggles. Oh Gaia the giggles. Cloud had to refrain from following his urge to video record the man.

Sephiroth and Zack were watching some sort of television show, and Sephiroth was giggling at the most random things. It was hard not to laugh along with him, especially when Sephiroth tried to explain why it was just so damn funny.

Cloud watched them for a while before realising that he would once again have to act like the adult of their group and make sure that they ate. Taking Sephiroth out to eat would be a bad idea – Cloud was reasonably sure that Sephiroth wouldn't want to be seen in public like this – and Cloud had yet to find somewhere that delivered to their floor.

So he would have to cook. Something he hadn't done in a very long time. Luckily, Zack had actually stocked their fridge with food. Cloud didn't know why, it never got eaten, but for once, he was going to make sure it did.

It was nothing fancy. Cloud really couldn't do fancy. It was stew. Basic meat and vegetable stew. Cloud wasn't even sure what kind of meat it was, but it had been in the fridge and didn't smell rotten.

When he handed them each a bowl, both Zack and Sephiroth gave him astonished looks and then started to dig in happily. When neither of them began vomiting or calling foul, he called Zeke in and gave him a bowl.

“This is yummy.” That was not something Cloud had ever expected to hear from Sephiroth, and he couldn't help but laugh at him.

“Yeah, and you're high.” He told the man, “Pretty sure anything tastes good to you right now.”

Sephiroth appeared to think about something for a moment before shaking his head, “Still wont eat bananas.” He told him in what tried to be a serious tone.

Once again, Cloud couldn't help but laugh.

– – – – – – –

“Why is there a bunch of bananas on my desk?”

Cloud bit his lip, not wanting to laugh over the phone and give himself away.

“Why do you think I would know?” He asked, somehow managing to keep his voice normal.

“Because you're the only one that would dare enter my office.” Came the amused reply. “If you're attempting to play a prank, this is hardily a good one.”

“Hey!” Cloud protested, “It made you laugh, didn't it?”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone before Sephiroth gave a small chuckle, “I suppose it did.”

– – – – – – – –

Cloud hated broccoli. With a passion. He'd once said to Tifa that he would rather eat a bowl of mako than a single piece of broccoli. All of his friends knew about his distaste for the vegetable.

So why in Gaia's name was his fridge literally filled with the stuff. There wasn't anything else in there. There was no room for anything else in there. When he'd opened the fridge, there it was. Staring at him. He was sure it was staring at him.

“Zack!” Cloud called for his flatmate, but there was no response. That's right. Zack was on a mission. He'd been on a mission since yesterday. Zeke was visiting Aerith. And had been there since yesterday. The fridge didn't have any broccoli in it this morning.

With a shake of his head, and a slightly confused laugh, Cloud realised what had happened.

It took him three trips, but eventually he'd managed to get rid of all the broccoli. Not a single shred of evidence was left in his fridge and he closed it with a satisfied smile.

Later that evening, his PHS beeped and Cloud looked at the message from Sephiroth.

'Touche'.