FIC Responsive Part 22
Jun. 21st, 2007 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jessara40k_ljFinal Fantasy VII fic, pre-game, mostly, with a post-AC epilogue.
CloudxSephiroth - and yes that does mean Cloud is topping.
Rating R.
Cloud didn’t have enough of a hangover to need a Poisona the next morning, and neither did Newton, but most of the rest of the squad did and Cloud took a secret pleasure in refusing Finn who was the eleventh to ask for one. He could have cast more spells, but that would have meant flaunting his abilities, and Sephiroth had told him just why that would be a bad idea, and there were other people who could cast the spells. Each of the other corporals and Sergeant Redson cast two Poisonas to deal with the last six hangovers before they went for breakfast.
“We’re running outside the city today, light kit.” Running outside the city instead of doing individual obstacle courses in the morning, and perhaps they’d miss the usual team obstacle course as well; Cloud made sure to carry his Lightning materia as well as packing the healing materia in case anyone in the squad got hurt.
Sergeant Redson led them out into Midgar at a jog, running through the city streets rather than taking the train to the edge of the city, and Cloud did his best to ignore everybody who got out of their way. He noticed Caine getting distracted by a pretty girl, only for Corporal Sands to take him to task for that, and have him stop to do a hundred push ups and he knew that the other man would be pushed to catch up to them later.
There was only one encounter they had to deal with during their run, a small pack of Kalm Fangs that they killed quickly and easily halfway through the morning. They got back almost an hour late for their usual lunch, so they went straight to sparring after eating rather than doing a team obstacle course.
This time there were two SOLDIERs waiting to spar with Cloud, a SOLDIER 3rd and a SOLDIER 2nd who were almost glaring at each other.
“Are we doing a two against one sparring session then?” Cloud put a hint of hope in his voice, even as he wondered if whatever system Sephiroth used to arrange his SOLDIER sparring partners had got screwed up a bit. “I haven’t done that for a while.”
“Yeah, we might as well do that kid.” Sergeant Redson seemed to like the idea as well, because while Cloud conferred with his temporary partner he organised the rest of the squad to spar in groups of three as well. Cloud ended up getting his ass handed to him, along with his partner’s, at least at first, but they managed to just barely scrape a win in their final spar before Sergeant Redson ordered the squad to move on to materia practice. He hesitated, then decided that he could get away with admitting to an ability to use Choco/Mog once; and besides, Sephiroth had told him to practice with the red materia if he could.
“You aren’t going to take your turn with the materia first then?” Sergeant Redson sounded surprised by that and Cloud smiled at him and displayed the materia Sephiroth had lent him as he replied.
“The General lent this to me after my lesson with him on Saturday. I’m to use it today and next Monday then return it to him next time I have a lesson with him.”
“You’re working on summons?” Cloud glanced at Dylan, surprised by the incredulous tone to his voice.
“You were there when I told Professor Hojo that Sephiroth had taught me to use this on Saturday.”
“I...didn’t realise you’d mentioned a summons.” The hint of awe in his voice was hard to bear; there was no reason for it and Cloud worked to counter it the best he could.
“It’s the weakest of the sixteen. And the easiest to use. The General said I wouldn’t be able to use any of the other summons.” He shrugged and turned his attention to the target he’d selected for himself, casting quickly, grateful to see that he got the more usual result from the casting. And his actions seemed to be enough to prompt the rest of the squad to work on their own casting. Cloud monitored the rest of his squad at practice, wondering absently if he could get away with admitting an ability to cast one or two more spells from his Lightning materia. He decided he could risk two spells at the end of the session, and stepped up as everyone else was finishing to cast them, making a show of looking tired afterwards.
“Dashing off to see your girl again Strife?” He hated the snide tone in Finn’s voice, but he couldn’t do anything about it, so Cloud just smiled at the man.
“You sound almost jealous. Can’t you get a girl? Or do you wish-”
“Strife!” Sergeant Redson cut him off, but Cloud had taken enough bitching from the new guy and the rest of the squad seemed to support him. “Enough of that, just get going.”
“Yes sergeant.” He left before anyone could say anything else, hurrying to Sephiroth’s quarters without letting anyone spot him. When he let himself in he was surprised to realise Sephiroth was already there, through in his bedroom from the sounds, even though there weren’t any lights on.
“Sephiroth?” He spoke quietly, and he didn’t turn the light on, because he wasn’t sure why his lover had chosen to keep his quarters dark.
“Cloud? I...come on through, and...you’d probably best turn the light on.” He could hear the pain in Sephiroth’s voice, so he switched the light on in the first room, then half closed the bedroom door behind him. “Cloud?” Now Sephiroth sounded puzzled too, and Cloud could just make out that he had a backpack open.
“You’ve got a reason for wanting it dark, and this is enough light for talking. Do you want to tell me about it?”
“Headache. And...had to deal with the executive board. All day. Off to Mideel too. For the rest of the week.” Sephiroth switched to short, simple sentences, presumably to avoid making too much noise that would make his head hurt more. Cloud shut the door a bit more before he stepped forward and took the backpack from Sephiroth’s unresisting hands, brushing a chaste kiss against his cheek.
“Here, I’ll pack for you. Just lie down while I go and turn the shower on, then I’ll switch the light off in the bathroom and the main room. You can go and have a nice long shower while I pack...two uniforms and you’ve got a bag of toiletries in case you have to pack quickly around here somewhere, right?”
“There, top drawer.” Sephiroth waved towards the table by his bed as he shrugged his coat off and obediently lay down. Cloud bent down and kissed him again then left the room, shutting the door behind him and walked to the bathroom, setting up the shower before turning the light off and turning the light off in the main room as he went back to the bedroom.
“The shower’s ready for you.” Cloud spoke quietly, trying not to wake Sephiroth if he was sleeping, but glad to see that he wasn’t.
“Thanks.” Sephiroth stood, slowly, as if it hurt to move and Cloud hated to see that. He waited for a few minutes before turning the light on, and then he packed as quickly and efficiently as he knew how to, grabbing a couple of extra towels and turning the light off to wait for Sephiroth immediately after. It didn’t take very long for Sephiroth to come in, making straight for the bed, a towel wrapped around his hair.
“Here, I’ll give you a massage. That should help you relax, and perhaps that will help with your headache.”
“No, don’t, please.” There was an odd hint of fear and pain in Sephiroth’s voice. “Massages...getting them...isn’t relaxing.” Why not? Cloud could easily ask; it looked like just talking to Sephiroth while he was hurting would get Cloud more personal information than he’d managed to get out of his lover so far, but Cloud couldn’t do that to him, take advantage of his weakened condition that way.
“Lie down then; I’ll dry your hair off a bit.” Sephiroth looked at him, totally unguarded, then obeyed, obviously understanding that he shouldn’t sleep with soaking wet hair, even if his head was hurting too much for him to want to use his hairdryer and Cloud sat beside him, towelling as much of the water from his lover’s hair as he could. Once the first towel was soaked he switched to the first of the towels he’d picked up and began blotting some more water from Sephiroth’s hair, picking up a wide toothed comb to start untangling it.
“Sephiroth, I’m sorry to bother you with this, but you need to know. When I was patrolling the labs yesterday Hojo cornered me and asked what I’d learned from you. I tried to refuse to tell him anything, but...”
“He’s got power over you, I understand. What did you say?”
“I told him which materia I’ve used unslotted in the lessons with you, nothing more. Does your head still hurt?” Because Sephiroth seemed to be using longer sentences now, and at a slightly higher volume.
“Yes. Not as much, but I’m not up to anything...”
“I wouldn’t try to ask now.” Cloud was slightly offended by the idea, but he refused to raise his voice and hurt Sephiroth. “Just being with you can be enough sometimes.”
“I...sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Sephiroth was shaking just a little, and Cloud didn’t like that, he stroked Sephiroth’s back reassuringly.
“You didn’t, I just don’t want you thinking sex is more important than you are.” But they’d had sex almost every chance they got to be alone together since that first time...no wonder Sephiroth was unhappy about not wanting sex tonight. “We should spend more time just talking, or doing jigsaws together.”
“If you wish it. I don’t know if I’ll be back by Friday, but that’s no excuse for you to miss your lesson with Colonel Grafton, and I’m certainly going to be back in time for your next lesson on using materia without slotting them.”
“The week after that’s the SOLDIER Entrance Exams, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We can do that whole disguise thing with Zack sometime during that.”
o0()0o
Cloud hated pulling a night shift, everybody did. It mightn’t be so bad if they were assigned to do nights for a week or a month all at once instead of having it one night at a time, because this way they always had to take naps on the day before and after they did night duty, if they could. At least this time he had the next day off, so he could sleep the morning away instead of getting a few hours sleep before their shift started and an inadequate hour or two afterwards before they had to start training again. And he’d told Alex and Marius that he wouldn’t be going hunting with them in the morning, although if they really wanted to they could plan a hunt for the afternoon. They’d refused, not that he was surprised, and Cloud wished he knew where to go to get his experimental slot fitted into an armband for Zack to test, but he guessed he’d have to leave that for next week. Unless he went to see Colonel Grafton today, if the man had time for him.
He stretched as he decided it was time to get out of bed, moving quietly to avoid waking the eight other men still sleeping. It was about lunch time, or at least when they’d be serving lunch in the canteen, so he hurried through his shower and made his way there, eating alone since there was no one he knew around.
“Hey kid, mind if I join you?” Or there had been no one he knew around. Cloud smiled up at Zack as the man came over to his table.
“Sure. But what are you doing here? I mean you’ve got other friends and I know the food’s a lot better where you SOLDIERs usually eat.”
“Umm...Alex and Marius were talking about your refusal to organise a hunt for them today, I wondered if you were alright?” Except that it was obvious that wasn’t the real reason Zack was here.
“Just fine. It’s not my fault they didn’t want to arrange a hunt for themselves.” He hesitated, then worked out a good way to ask the question he’d wanted to ask since Monday, as well as probably revealing Zack’s real motive for sitting with him. “Does the General get headaches often?”
“Migraines? Yes...and spells and potions don’t work on them, neither do most painkillers. The few painkillers that do work on Sephiroth tend to make him feel sick, so he doesn’t use them for most things.”
“And migraines would make him sick anyway, wouldn’t they? Does he get them often?” Cloud had managed to help Sephiroth a bit on Monday, but he was worried that his lover might be suffering like that without someone to help.
“Not that often, and never in the field, only when he has to deal with the ShinRa bureaucracy for too long. At least as far as I know...he usually hides it when he’s hurting.” And Zack sounded as displeased about that as Cloud felt. “But he knows better than to hide injuries or anything like that in the field, and I’ve seen him tear into SOLDIERs who try that sort of thing.” That was some comfort at least, that Sephiroth wouldn’t hide his pain if he was in dangerous circumstances. “So, do you have anything planned for the rest of the day?”
“I’m not sure. I was thinking about going to talk with Colonel Grafton if he’s got time for me...I need to talk with you about something related to that alone. Otherwise I figured on finding someone to spar with, that or visiting the city.” Cloud couldn’t bring himself to feel enthusiastic about either of those prospects, but he knew that doing some more sparring would make him a better fighter.
“I’m busy all day today; doing the paperwork Sephiroth usually gets stuck with, but I’ve got tonight free. You want to come and talk to me then? Around seven?” Cloud hadn’t expected that; he’d assumed Zack would have lined up a date with this Aeris he talked about, or arranged to go drinking with the rest of his friends, but he smiled at the man as he replied.
“That would be great, thanks. Umm...do you know what time Colonel Grafton usually takes his lunch break?” It was worth asking, since he figured the man would be more likely to help if he got to him just after lunch, when he’d probably have a spare moment or two.
“No, not a clue. Sorry.”
“Thanks anyway.” Cloud smiled at Zack then began focusing on his meal rather than on talking to Zack, only responding enough to what the other man said to keep the conversation going.
“I should be going now, see you later.”
“Yeah, see you later.” Zack didn’t seem to mind being left alone since no one had dared approach their table with him there. Cloud found that a bit odd since Zack was usually so friendly, but he dismissed the issue from his mind and decided on going to see Colonel Grafton and talking a bit about what would happen if Sephiroth wasn’t back by Friday. He didn’t want to force his lover to scramble to catch up after the colonel’s insistence that they’d be learning at Cloud’s pace, even if the assumptions behind that decision still bothered Cloud a bit. The assumptions were all flattering, but he wondered if Sephiroth realised the sort of pressure that he was putting on Cloud with them.
Probably not, and if he did the general would almost certainly assume Cloud could handle it, so he was determined not to let his lover down. And of course if he hadn’t been pushed so hard there was no way he’d have any chance of getting his surprise for Sephiroth ready in time for his lover’s birthday. He hoped whatever shop the head armourer recommended would be able to fit his experimental slot into a leather armband within a week so he could collect it next Wednesday and find out if it worked right.
“Strife? What are you doing here now?” He didn’t blame the colonel for his surprise, and Cloud was just grateful the man didn’t have a day off today.
“I wanted to talk to you about what we’ll be doing on Friday sir, since the General left for a mission yesterday and might not be back this week.”
“Good point, I got a message but I didn’t think about that. Come into my office and we can talk about it.”
“Thank you sir.” Cloud followed the man obediently, appreciating the privacy he was offering.
“Sir, before we talk about Friday’s lesson I was wondering if you could tell me where to go to get my slots set up so I can use them?”
“Right, there’s two places I’d suggest. They’re both pretty good, but one’s under the Plate. Can you handle yourself there?” The colonel sat behind his desk, pulling out a blank notepad as he spoke, then waved a hand at the chair opposite him. “Sit down.”
“Yes sir. I can handle myself under the Plate. I can’t guarantee that I can follow directions that are too complex though, since I haven’t had that much time to spend exploring down there.”
“Don’t worry, it’s only five minutes walk or so from the Sector Six train station. Cross the road as soon as you come out of the station, then turn left and walk until the fourth street on the left. From there you need to turn right at the next street and you’ll find the business just off the fifth street to the right. It’s called Killian’s, but there isn’t a sign up, just a metal plate by the door.” As he spoke Colonel Grafton was drawing a sketch map on the top sheet of the notepad, and he kept on drawing even after he’d finished explaining the route.
“The streets aren’t all wide or in a grid pattern the way they are up here above the Plate, so you’ll have to count carefully and remember to include back alleys in your count. Killian’s charges a lot less than the Ferrus Arms, but I think their work’s better quality. Still, I can’t really tell officer candidates who aren’t comfortable under the Plate to go there and get the slots they make set into weapons or armour with that specific business.” He shrugged and tore the map off the notepad, handing it to Cloud. Cloud smiled as he took it, and decided it was worth asking about the Ferrus Arms - which sounded more like a pub than anything else, but it wasn’t like his opinion mattered.
“Is the Ferrus Arms the place ShinRa subcontracts some of the armour it needs producing then?”
“Good deduction.” Colonel Grafton smiled at him approvingly before changing the subject. “So, did you have any ideas about what you wanted to do on Friday if the General isn’t back by then? I was considering teaching you how to make a pair of linked slots...I’m willing to fund that pair as well.”
“Ah...that’s generous, but I don’t think I’m up to that. Effectively that would involve making two power amplification circuits, a ‘discharge’ circuit and three ‘new’ types of circuits, one repeated twice. Yeah, I know that only one would really be new instead of modifications of circuits I’m used to making, but I don’t think I’ve had enough notice to do that.” Cloud bit his lip, making it very clear he was uncomfortable contradicting a senior officer like that, but he wasn’t going to screw up by pretending he could do more than he knew how to. “I thought I could prepare another two slots this Friday, then you said something about teaching me how to do the validation stuff, you know what you use to tell us if our work’s usable.”
“Good point. But the General’s probably going to be busy the week after next, what with the SOLDIER Entrance Exams. Perhaps we can work on linked slots then.”
“I’ll do some research sir. Next week could you tell me which of my lunarium slots worked out better?”
“Yes, I can do that. Have you managed to finish filing your moulded set of circuits into shape then?”
“No quite sir, but I’ll get them done by Friday. Do you need the slots finished off perfectly for the testing?” Cloud didn’t like that idea, but if the colonel would then he’d have to take the first lunarium slot away with him today.
“No. I don’t. Anything else?”
“No sir.”
“Then get out of my office.”
“Yes sir.” A quick salute, and then he left.
o0()0o
Cloud frowned as he counted off the streets to his right. He’d been walking for almost ten minutes since leaving the station and he had a feeling he’d gone wrong somewhere. He’d definitely gone wrong, because that was the fifth street to his right, and it looked like a street full of pubs, with signs hanging in front of every single door. Still, just in case the problem was Colonel Grafton underestimating how long it took to get to Killian’s Cloud turned into that street and began checking beside each door until he reached the tenth door on the right before crossing the street and looking at the doors on the other side as he made his way back.
He made his way back to where he’d started from, counting the streets again on his way back, coming to a halt in front of the station when he counted a fifth street to his right. It started just where he’d crossed the road, so perhaps this was the first of those four streets Colonel Grafton had wanted him to count? Cloud would make one more effort to find his own way to Killian’s using the directions Colonel Grafton had given him, then if he couldn’t he’d ask someone for a better set of directions.
This time it worked, the fourth street on the left turned back on itself almost, and glancing at the map Cloud realised that this fitted what the colonel had drawn better than the next street had, with the first turning on the right almost parallel to that street. And then the fifth street on the right came to a dead end just a few buildings in, with Killian’s right on the corner. He drew in a deep breath, then knocked at the door, waiting for someone to open it.
“Yes? Killian’s specialises in arms and armour suited for materia use. If that’s what you’re interested in then come in.” The woman explained quickly, before Cloud could say anything, then stepped to one side, waiting for his response.
“Yes, thank you. I heard you could fit slots into armbands or daggers for ShinRa trainees?” Cloud smiled at her as he walked in, looking around to see a small room with one desk and chair in one corner and a group of armchairs in the opposite corner.
“Yes sir, but...this isn’t the usual time of year we get that business.” She frowned as she waved at the armchairs. “Please, take a seat.”
“Thank you. I’m part of a small pilot scheme so you might get this sort of business a bit more often in future.” Cloud sat down and pulled out the slot he’d made. “Ummm...I don’t mean to be rude, but how can I be certain you fit this slot, as opposed to just giving me a ready made armband set with a slot?”
“What would be the point? The stuff we get from ShinRa trainees is usually crap and we don’t sell stuff like that under our own name.” Cloud relaxed a bit at that; it made clear commercial sense, and he had a feeling that this slot would be assessed as useless anyway. “So, what exactly did you want done with it?” She held out her hand for the slot, and Cloud gave it to her confidently.
“I want it set into a simple black leather armband.” From the heat in his face Cloud knew he was blushing at how unprepared he was.
“I can measure you for an armband then, after you pick which style you want from our catalogue.” She stood, moving over to the desk and pulling a small booklet from the drawer as she spoke.
“No...I mean I’ll pick the style from the catalogue, but the armband’s going to be a gift for a friend.”
“I see.” There was a faintly amused expression on her face as she came back to her seat, handing the catalogue over to him. “Can you make a good guess about what size your friend will need then? There’s five standard sizes in there for the sort of armband you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I can do that easily enough. Just let me look.” He took the booklet from her, leafing through it to find what sort of armbands they did in leather, noting that three looked almost identical and reading more closely to see that it was a difference in leather grades that made the difference. That’s when he realised that those basic armbands came in six different colours with two different types of metal used for the buckle. He picked out the best grade of leather and held the booklet out to the woman, deciding that Zack would probably have the same measurements as Sephiroth, or close enough anyway.
“This one, in the large please.” It would cost 500 gil, but even the cheapest option cost 300 gil, so he figured it was worth investing in something decent, especially considering his tentative plans for his lunarium slots. “Do I pay now, or when I pick it up? And...do you have a sample of that style I can look at before I commit to it?”
“Yes sir. Here,” Cloud took his slot back from her without a word. “I’ll go and get the samples...you do want the option of seeing other styles as well?”
“Yes please.” The woman stood and smiled at him before walking out of the room, returning in a few minutes with a box in her arms.
“Here they are sir.” She put the box down beside Cloud’s chair and knelt beside it to sort through the smaller boxes stored inside it, pulling one box out and offering it to him. “This is the style you selected.”
“Thanks.” He took the armband out of the box, this one was dark red with brass metalwork, but it was good quality and he could see that it was the same style he’d chosen. “Yes, this is what I want. You never told me if I should pay in advance or not.”
“It’s up to you, but I’ll note it on your receipt if you do.” Cloud hesitated, then shook his head.
“No, I’ll pay when I collect it.” That way he’d have some security and reassurance that he’d get his slot back. “Do you need my name?”
“That would help sir.”
“Strife, Cloud Strife.”
“Right sir.” She began writing out the receipt on her notebook and tore half the page off, handing it to him. “Here, keep this, you’ll need it to get t he completed armband. Now if you could give me the slot back?” When Cloud handed it to her she put it into a bag, and tore the other half of the page she’d been writing on out, stapling that onto the bag. “Thank you sir, you’ll be able to pick this up anytime from Monday on.”
“I’ll pick it up on Wednesday then.” Cloud smiled at her and left, heading back to the ShinRa compound. He got a short sparring session in with Dylan and Newton before eating with them around six.
“Going to see your girl Strife?” Dylan’s question was teasing and Cloud smiled back at him.
“No, Brigadier Knight wanted me to come and speak with him around now. I’ll see you later.”
“See you, later.”
“Later.” Cloud nodded to his friends and began making his way to Zack’s quarters, openly this time, explaining to the one patrol which stopped him that he’d been invited to talk to Brigadier Knight around seven.
“Ah, he’s standing in as your sponsor while the General’s away then?” Cloud didn’t say anything to confirm or deny that statement, just smiling and walking past them once they let him by. “Lucky bastard.” He ignored the envious mutter as well, since it was low enough that he could legitimately pretend not to have heard it.
“Come on in.” Zack called his invitation almost before Cloud had knocked on the door, and he wasn’t too surprised to realise that his friend hadn’t bothered to lock it, or to see him coming out of his kitchen with a bottle of beer in each hand.
“Hi Zack. By the way, I expect that by tomorrow all the filter units are going to ‘know’ that the General asked you to stand in for him as my sponsor while he’s off on this mission.”
“And he’d do the same for me if I needed it.” Zack shrugged as he spoke; Cloud wasn’t sure what reaction he’d been expecting, but this wasn’t it. “Has done as a matter of fact, even if my two sponsees are too intimidated by him to go to him for any sort of help.”
“Well, they’re almost as intimidated by you, even now that they know you a bit better.” Cloud crossed over to the couch and accepted the bottle Zack handed him, opening it and drinking half of it down in one swallow.
“I know. It bugs me too a bit. I mean, I didn’t plan on sponsoring anyone, but if I’m going to do the thing I might as well do it properly.” Zack sat down opposite Cloud and took a drink from his own bottle.
“Not your fault they’re like that. I mean you’ve done everything you can to get them to trust you, it’s not like you’ve given them a reason to be scared or anything. And your reputation’s nowhere near as scary as Sephiroth’s. I think it’s just they don’t feel like they can take up your time with their problems.”
“Still feels a bit like I’ve failed though.” Zack shrugged, an unhappy look on his face. “I’m not used to people being intimidated by me unless I’m trying to be scary.” Cloud wondered then just how much Zack actually dealt with normal troopers rather than SOLDIERs and people who chose to work with SOLDIERs, but he didn’t say anything. “So, exactly what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“You know how I can get extra spells out of my materia? Well I think I’ve come up with a slot that will let you and Sephiroth get those spells too, at least to the same extent I get them. I wanted to ask if you’d test the prototype for me.”
“Yeah, not a problem. If it works will you be giving the prototype to Sephiroth?”
“No.” From the heat in his cheeks he was probably blushing, but Cloud continued anyway. “I’m planning to make a better version of the slot if it works and have it set a bit more elaborately to give to him as his birthday gift from me.”
“Right.”
o0()0o
Cloud didn’t bother trying to arrive early for his lesson with Colonel Grafton this time; Sephiroth wouldn’t be there so they could focus on the more advanced areas the colonel seemed intent on pushing him into. He wasn’t late, but he didn’t arrive early either, not the way he’d managed to arrive up to half an hour early for most of his lessons so far. He half expected the head armourer to be annoyed that he wasn’t early, but the man just smiled at him and led him through to the workroom they’d been using.
“Sir?” Cloud frowned at the sight of the double-sized and oddly shaped mould resting on the table with two simulated materia beside it.
“I said I want you to do the circuits for a linked slot pair the week after next. You might as well make the base now.”
“And that way I can try again in two weeks if I screw up today, right?” Cloud smiled as he walked over to the table, carefully filling the crucible with the granular alloy he’d used for the other slot bases.
“You need more alloy than that.” Cloud thought he’d put enough extra alloy in compared to what he did for normal slots, but apparently not.
“How much more sir?”
“Say...half as much again. Better to put too much in than too little.” Because that way he’d probably get a usable slot base as well as some excess metal that could be remelted, if he had too little alloy in the crucible then the slot base would have to be remelted as well.
“Yes sir. I want to prepare another single slot base as well, for one of the extra slots I intend to make.” He’d prefer to test his theory before starting on his gift for Sephiroth, but Cloud didn’t think he had time, and...well at least it wouldn’t damage the slot if he added some lunarium or solarium to the alloy for the base.
“After you’ve done this one. Then I can show you how we test for discards.”
“And I can finish my other two slots at the end of the lesson.” Cloud slid the bracer with the Fire materia onto his wrist as he spoke.
“Yes...I can probably fit testing those for you in around my other work if you’ll get the slot you’ve finished out of your safe at the end of the lesson and label the bag it’s in.”
“Thank you sir.” So he’d be able to make the lunarium circuits next week, and finish the slot off the week after that. And he needed to start the slot he planned to give Sephiroth next week...
“Just get on with it.” Cloud blinked as he realised he’d been too focused on making plans for the future to actually do anything about his current task, and swiftly melted the alloy, pouring it slowly and carefully into the mould, around the simulated materia. This was even more awkward than doing a single slot, but oddly that seemed to make it easier for Cloud to pour the molten alloy slowly. He added one scrap of lunarium to the alloy when he did the single slot base, pouring with just as much care this time, and then they moved on to the validation process.
It was fairly simple; check the mass, then scan for air bubbles or similar flaws, and finally check a printout of the scan to see what pattern the flaws formed, how they were distributed. But the scales were very sensitive, which made using them something to be careful about, and the scanner looked intimidatingly complex.
“It does other things as well, but all you need is to check the percentage of flaws. Anything over 1% goes to scrap, even from a student.”
“Yes sir, and from one of your men?”
“The cut off point there’s 0.8%. If it’s less than that, but over 0.1% you need to check the pattern.” And Cloud found it almost impossible to recognise which patterns were acceptable and which weren’t, except in the most obvious of cases.
The last two things he did before leaving were finish off the other two slots he had the circuits for, and get the lunarium circuit he’d completed out. On Saturday he took his metarium slot away to finish off, and labelled the lunarium slot, checking his new slot bases himself and labelling the single one since he had plans for that.
Sephiroth wasn’t back, so Cloud wasn’t entirely certain Zack would still want to meet him, but the SOLDIER was waiting for him outside the armoury.
“Cloud, want to spar for a bit?”
“Of course.” Cloud was always ready to spar, especially against people as much better than him as Zack was - there was no better way to learn. “Where?”
“How about the gym we used when I tested you back when you were a cadet?”
“Sounds good.” Cloud walked beside Zack in comfortable silence and when they began sparring he focused his whole attention on what he was doing, on trying to keep up with Zack, even though he knew that the other man was holding back, the way his assigned SOLDIER sparring partners held back enough to give him a chance. He listened to the advice Zack gave him between spars, doing his best to ask relevant questions and put that advice into operation.
“So, want to come back for a drink?”
“Sure. Do you have any idea when Sephiroth’s going to be back? I know he’ll be back for the SOLDIER Entrance Exams, but do you know anything more specific?”
“I haven’t heard anything, no, but I will be the first person to hear when Sephiroth is due back, since I’m the one who covers for him when he’s gone, as much as anyone can. I’ll tell you if I hear anything though.”
“Thanks Zack.” Cloud waited until they were in Zack’s quarters before he asked the next question on his mind. “How are you coming with your part in Sephiroth’s disguise?”
“I got Aeris to suggest what colours I should use for the kimono and I’ve got it...I asked for advice on how a woman’s supposed to wear it too, and apparently it’s supposed to hide a woman’s curves, which is going to make things easier. What about you, how’s your part of the disguise going?” Zack handed Cloud a bottle of beer as he spoke and Cloud sat down opposite him, watching the way he spread out to fill all the available space without really thinking about it.
“I’m just doing contacts and hair dye, and I can get those easily enough. I was planning on getting them on Wednesday.” Cloud drank from his bottle in companionable imitation of Zack when he’d finished speaking.
“Since you already know where to look. What if the colours you want aren’t in stock?” There was an odd intensity to Zack’s gaze, an intensity Cloud forced himself to ignore.
“I’ve got the week of the SOLDIER Entrance Exams off, so if I have to I can get it then. When are you planning to take me and Sephiroth drinking?” So he’d know just how long he had.
“I was figuring on Friday or Saturday, after Sephiroth’s finished dealing with his part of the Exams. By the way, when will you be able to give me that slot you wanted me to test for you?”
“On Wednesday. It’s being put into an armband at a place called Killian’s, and they said I could collect it any time from Monday on, but...”
“You can’t collect it except for on Wednesday. What say we swing by after I take the three of you hunting then?”
“Do you know where Killian’s is?”
“No, but you do, and it might be something useful for your friends to know.”
“I doubt it, but if that’s what you want to do it’s fine by me. And I need to know if it works right by Friday morning. I’m sorry to have to rush you, but...”
“There’s not that much time until Sephiroth’s birthday, I know.” After that Zack changed the subject of the conversation, asking about Cloud’s squad and telling him things about the SOLDIERs.
Working in the infirmary had been easier this Tuesday, and since his squad weren’t due to patrol the labs until Friday Cloud didn’t feel at all guilty about pretending he had a date with Sera, to help keep anyone from connecting ‘her’ to Sephiroth. He could probably get to Sephiroth’s quarters without being noticed, and if anyone did notice him he could claim Zack wanted to see him, but first he decided to visit Colonel Grafton on the off-chance he’d be available.
“Strife. I wasn’t expecting you today.”
“No sir, I just had some time free, and I thought...” Cloud trailed off hopefully.
“I might have had a chance to assess your lunarium slots? Yes, I have. And the moulded circuits worked out a bit better for you - although I’d pass you on either slot.”
“Thank you sir.” Cloud followed the colonel through to ‘their’ workroom without questioning why and replaced the two slots he’d left for testing in his safe, taking the other metarium slot out instead.
“I wondered, would you mind if I did the circuits for that extra lunarium slot we were talking about now?” So he could do his solarium circuits on Friday and probably use a scrap of the alloy to add to the base for the slot he intended to give to Sephiroth.
“Go ahead. I’ll let you do the paperwork to pay for it on Friday.” Colonel Grafton handed the moulds over to Cloud, getting the lunarium out as well as a bracer with a Fire materia.
“Thank you sir.” Cloud prepared the circuits quickly, keeping what they were supposed to do in mind and smiled at the head armourer. “I’ll just leave these until Friday, unless you want me to collect them earlier?”
“No, you can leave them here. How are you doing reading up on linked slots?”
“I’ve read the theory, and I just need to, sort of...assimilate it?”
“That’s one way to put things. I’ll see you on Friday.” Cloud wasn’t seen as he made his way to Sephiroth’s quarters and finished off his metarium slot until it was ready to be set into an armband or something similar.
o0()0o
CloudxSephiroth - and yes that does mean Cloud is topping.
Rating R.
Cloud didn’t have enough of a hangover to need a Poisona the next morning, and neither did Newton, but most of the rest of the squad did and Cloud took a secret pleasure in refusing Finn who was the eleventh to ask for one. He could have cast more spells, but that would have meant flaunting his abilities, and Sephiroth had told him just why that would be a bad idea, and there were other people who could cast the spells. Each of the other corporals and Sergeant Redson cast two Poisonas to deal with the last six hangovers before they went for breakfast.
“We’re running outside the city today, light kit.” Running outside the city instead of doing individual obstacle courses in the morning, and perhaps they’d miss the usual team obstacle course as well; Cloud made sure to carry his Lightning materia as well as packing the healing materia in case anyone in the squad got hurt.
Sergeant Redson led them out into Midgar at a jog, running through the city streets rather than taking the train to the edge of the city, and Cloud did his best to ignore everybody who got out of their way. He noticed Caine getting distracted by a pretty girl, only for Corporal Sands to take him to task for that, and have him stop to do a hundred push ups and he knew that the other man would be pushed to catch up to them later.
There was only one encounter they had to deal with during their run, a small pack of Kalm Fangs that they killed quickly and easily halfway through the morning. They got back almost an hour late for their usual lunch, so they went straight to sparring after eating rather than doing a team obstacle course.
This time there were two SOLDIERs waiting to spar with Cloud, a SOLDIER 3rd and a SOLDIER 2nd who were almost glaring at each other.
“Are we doing a two against one sparring session then?” Cloud put a hint of hope in his voice, even as he wondered if whatever system Sephiroth used to arrange his SOLDIER sparring partners had got screwed up a bit. “I haven’t done that for a while.”
“Yeah, we might as well do that kid.” Sergeant Redson seemed to like the idea as well, because while Cloud conferred with his temporary partner he organised the rest of the squad to spar in groups of three as well. Cloud ended up getting his ass handed to him, along with his partner’s, at least at first, but they managed to just barely scrape a win in their final spar before Sergeant Redson ordered the squad to move on to materia practice. He hesitated, then decided that he could get away with admitting to an ability to use Choco/Mog once; and besides, Sephiroth had told him to practice with the red materia if he could.
“You aren’t going to take your turn with the materia first then?” Sergeant Redson sounded surprised by that and Cloud smiled at him and displayed the materia Sephiroth had lent him as he replied.
“The General lent this to me after my lesson with him on Saturday. I’m to use it today and next Monday then return it to him next time I have a lesson with him.”
“You’re working on summons?” Cloud glanced at Dylan, surprised by the incredulous tone to his voice.
“You were there when I told Professor Hojo that Sephiroth had taught me to use this on Saturday.”
“I...didn’t realise you’d mentioned a summons.” The hint of awe in his voice was hard to bear; there was no reason for it and Cloud worked to counter it the best he could.
“It’s the weakest of the sixteen. And the easiest to use. The General said I wouldn’t be able to use any of the other summons.” He shrugged and turned his attention to the target he’d selected for himself, casting quickly, grateful to see that he got the more usual result from the casting. And his actions seemed to be enough to prompt the rest of the squad to work on their own casting. Cloud monitored the rest of his squad at practice, wondering absently if he could get away with admitting an ability to cast one or two more spells from his Lightning materia. He decided he could risk two spells at the end of the session, and stepped up as everyone else was finishing to cast them, making a show of looking tired afterwards.
“Dashing off to see your girl again Strife?” He hated the snide tone in Finn’s voice, but he couldn’t do anything about it, so Cloud just smiled at the man.
“You sound almost jealous. Can’t you get a girl? Or do you wish-”
“Strife!” Sergeant Redson cut him off, but Cloud had taken enough bitching from the new guy and the rest of the squad seemed to support him. “Enough of that, just get going.”
“Yes sergeant.” He left before anyone could say anything else, hurrying to Sephiroth’s quarters without letting anyone spot him. When he let himself in he was surprised to realise Sephiroth was already there, through in his bedroom from the sounds, even though there weren’t any lights on.
“Sephiroth?” He spoke quietly, and he didn’t turn the light on, because he wasn’t sure why his lover had chosen to keep his quarters dark.
“Cloud? I...come on through, and...you’d probably best turn the light on.” He could hear the pain in Sephiroth’s voice, so he switched the light on in the first room, then half closed the bedroom door behind him. “Cloud?” Now Sephiroth sounded puzzled too, and Cloud could just make out that he had a backpack open.
“You’ve got a reason for wanting it dark, and this is enough light for talking. Do you want to tell me about it?”
“Headache. And...had to deal with the executive board. All day. Off to Mideel too. For the rest of the week.” Sephiroth switched to short, simple sentences, presumably to avoid making too much noise that would make his head hurt more. Cloud shut the door a bit more before he stepped forward and took the backpack from Sephiroth’s unresisting hands, brushing a chaste kiss against his cheek.
“Here, I’ll pack for you. Just lie down while I go and turn the shower on, then I’ll switch the light off in the bathroom and the main room. You can go and have a nice long shower while I pack...two uniforms and you’ve got a bag of toiletries in case you have to pack quickly around here somewhere, right?”
“There, top drawer.” Sephiroth waved towards the table by his bed as he shrugged his coat off and obediently lay down. Cloud bent down and kissed him again then left the room, shutting the door behind him and walked to the bathroom, setting up the shower before turning the light off and turning the light off in the main room as he went back to the bedroom.
“The shower’s ready for you.” Cloud spoke quietly, trying not to wake Sephiroth if he was sleeping, but glad to see that he wasn’t.
“Thanks.” Sephiroth stood, slowly, as if it hurt to move and Cloud hated to see that. He waited for a few minutes before turning the light on, and then he packed as quickly and efficiently as he knew how to, grabbing a couple of extra towels and turning the light off to wait for Sephiroth immediately after. It didn’t take very long for Sephiroth to come in, making straight for the bed, a towel wrapped around his hair.
“Here, I’ll give you a massage. That should help you relax, and perhaps that will help with your headache.”
“No, don’t, please.” There was an odd hint of fear and pain in Sephiroth’s voice. “Massages...getting them...isn’t relaxing.” Why not? Cloud could easily ask; it looked like just talking to Sephiroth while he was hurting would get Cloud more personal information than he’d managed to get out of his lover so far, but Cloud couldn’t do that to him, take advantage of his weakened condition that way.
“Lie down then; I’ll dry your hair off a bit.” Sephiroth looked at him, totally unguarded, then obeyed, obviously understanding that he shouldn’t sleep with soaking wet hair, even if his head was hurting too much for him to want to use his hairdryer and Cloud sat beside him, towelling as much of the water from his lover’s hair as he could. Once the first towel was soaked he switched to the first of the towels he’d picked up and began blotting some more water from Sephiroth’s hair, picking up a wide toothed comb to start untangling it.
“Sephiroth, I’m sorry to bother you with this, but you need to know. When I was patrolling the labs yesterday Hojo cornered me and asked what I’d learned from you. I tried to refuse to tell him anything, but...”
“He’s got power over you, I understand. What did you say?”
“I told him which materia I’ve used unslotted in the lessons with you, nothing more. Does your head still hurt?” Because Sephiroth seemed to be using longer sentences now, and at a slightly higher volume.
“Yes. Not as much, but I’m not up to anything...”
“I wouldn’t try to ask now.” Cloud was slightly offended by the idea, but he refused to raise his voice and hurt Sephiroth. “Just being with you can be enough sometimes.”
“I...sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Sephiroth was shaking just a little, and Cloud didn’t like that, he stroked Sephiroth’s back reassuringly.
“You didn’t, I just don’t want you thinking sex is more important than you are.” But they’d had sex almost every chance they got to be alone together since that first time...no wonder Sephiroth was unhappy about not wanting sex tonight. “We should spend more time just talking, or doing jigsaws together.”
“If you wish it. I don’t know if I’ll be back by Friday, but that’s no excuse for you to miss your lesson with Colonel Grafton, and I’m certainly going to be back in time for your next lesson on using materia without slotting them.”
“The week after that’s the SOLDIER Entrance Exams, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We can do that whole disguise thing with Zack sometime during that.”
Cloud hated pulling a night shift, everybody did. It mightn’t be so bad if they were assigned to do nights for a week or a month all at once instead of having it one night at a time, because this way they always had to take naps on the day before and after they did night duty, if they could. At least this time he had the next day off, so he could sleep the morning away instead of getting a few hours sleep before their shift started and an inadequate hour or two afterwards before they had to start training again. And he’d told Alex and Marius that he wouldn’t be going hunting with them in the morning, although if they really wanted to they could plan a hunt for the afternoon. They’d refused, not that he was surprised, and Cloud wished he knew where to go to get his experimental slot fitted into an armband for Zack to test, but he guessed he’d have to leave that for next week. Unless he went to see Colonel Grafton today, if the man had time for him.
He stretched as he decided it was time to get out of bed, moving quietly to avoid waking the eight other men still sleeping. It was about lunch time, or at least when they’d be serving lunch in the canteen, so he hurried through his shower and made his way there, eating alone since there was no one he knew around.
“Hey kid, mind if I join you?” Or there had been no one he knew around. Cloud smiled up at Zack as the man came over to his table.
“Sure. But what are you doing here? I mean you’ve got other friends and I know the food’s a lot better where you SOLDIERs usually eat.”
“Umm...Alex and Marius were talking about your refusal to organise a hunt for them today, I wondered if you were alright?” Except that it was obvious that wasn’t the real reason Zack was here.
“Just fine. It’s not my fault they didn’t want to arrange a hunt for themselves.” He hesitated, then worked out a good way to ask the question he’d wanted to ask since Monday, as well as probably revealing Zack’s real motive for sitting with him. “Does the General get headaches often?”
“Migraines? Yes...and spells and potions don’t work on them, neither do most painkillers. The few painkillers that do work on Sephiroth tend to make him feel sick, so he doesn’t use them for most things.”
“And migraines would make him sick anyway, wouldn’t they? Does he get them often?” Cloud had managed to help Sephiroth a bit on Monday, but he was worried that his lover might be suffering like that without someone to help.
“Not that often, and never in the field, only when he has to deal with the ShinRa bureaucracy for too long. At least as far as I know...he usually hides it when he’s hurting.” And Zack sounded as displeased about that as Cloud felt. “But he knows better than to hide injuries or anything like that in the field, and I’ve seen him tear into SOLDIERs who try that sort of thing.” That was some comfort at least, that Sephiroth wouldn’t hide his pain if he was in dangerous circumstances. “So, do you have anything planned for the rest of the day?”
“I’m not sure. I was thinking about going to talk with Colonel Grafton if he’s got time for me...I need to talk with you about something related to that alone. Otherwise I figured on finding someone to spar with, that or visiting the city.” Cloud couldn’t bring himself to feel enthusiastic about either of those prospects, but he knew that doing some more sparring would make him a better fighter.
“I’m busy all day today; doing the paperwork Sephiroth usually gets stuck with, but I’ve got tonight free. You want to come and talk to me then? Around seven?” Cloud hadn’t expected that; he’d assumed Zack would have lined up a date with this Aeris he talked about, or arranged to go drinking with the rest of his friends, but he smiled at the man as he replied.
“That would be great, thanks. Umm...do you know what time Colonel Grafton usually takes his lunch break?” It was worth asking, since he figured the man would be more likely to help if he got to him just after lunch, when he’d probably have a spare moment or two.
“No, not a clue. Sorry.”
“Thanks anyway.” Cloud smiled at Zack then began focusing on his meal rather than on talking to Zack, only responding enough to what the other man said to keep the conversation going.
“I should be going now, see you later.”
“Yeah, see you later.” Zack didn’t seem to mind being left alone since no one had dared approach their table with him there. Cloud found that a bit odd since Zack was usually so friendly, but he dismissed the issue from his mind and decided on going to see Colonel Grafton and talking a bit about what would happen if Sephiroth wasn’t back by Friday. He didn’t want to force his lover to scramble to catch up after the colonel’s insistence that they’d be learning at Cloud’s pace, even if the assumptions behind that decision still bothered Cloud a bit. The assumptions were all flattering, but he wondered if Sephiroth realised the sort of pressure that he was putting on Cloud with them.
Probably not, and if he did the general would almost certainly assume Cloud could handle it, so he was determined not to let his lover down. And of course if he hadn’t been pushed so hard there was no way he’d have any chance of getting his surprise for Sephiroth ready in time for his lover’s birthday. He hoped whatever shop the head armourer recommended would be able to fit his experimental slot into a leather armband within a week so he could collect it next Wednesday and find out if it worked right.
“Strife? What are you doing here now?” He didn’t blame the colonel for his surprise, and Cloud was just grateful the man didn’t have a day off today.
“I wanted to talk to you about what we’ll be doing on Friday sir, since the General left for a mission yesterday and might not be back this week.”
“Good point, I got a message but I didn’t think about that. Come into my office and we can talk about it.”
“Thank you sir.” Cloud followed the man obediently, appreciating the privacy he was offering.
“Sir, before we talk about Friday’s lesson I was wondering if you could tell me where to go to get my slots set up so I can use them?”
“Right, there’s two places I’d suggest. They’re both pretty good, but one’s under the Plate. Can you handle yourself there?” The colonel sat behind his desk, pulling out a blank notepad as he spoke, then waved a hand at the chair opposite him. “Sit down.”
“Yes sir. I can handle myself under the Plate. I can’t guarantee that I can follow directions that are too complex though, since I haven’t had that much time to spend exploring down there.”
“Don’t worry, it’s only five minutes walk or so from the Sector Six train station. Cross the road as soon as you come out of the station, then turn left and walk until the fourth street on the left. From there you need to turn right at the next street and you’ll find the business just off the fifth street to the right. It’s called Killian’s, but there isn’t a sign up, just a metal plate by the door.” As he spoke Colonel Grafton was drawing a sketch map on the top sheet of the notepad, and he kept on drawing even after he’d finished explaining the route.
“The streets aren’t all wide or in a grid pattern the way they are up here above the Plate, so you’ll have to count carefully and remember to include back alleys in your count. Killian’s charges a lot less than the Ferrus Arms, but I think their work’s better quality. Still, I can’t really tell officer candidates who aren’t comfortable under the Plate to go there and get the slots they make set into weapons or armour with that specific business.” He shrugged and tore the map off the notepad, handing it to Cloud. Cloud smiled as he took it, and decided it was worth asking about the Ferrus Arms - which sounded more like a pub than anything else, but it wasn’t like his opinion mattered.
“Is the Ferrus Arms the place ShinRa subcontracts some of the armour it needs producing then?”
“Good deduction.” Colonel Grafton smiled at him approvingly before changing the subject. “So, did you have any ideas about what you wanted to do on Friday if the General isn’t back by then? I was considering teaching you how to make a pair of linked slots...I’m willing to fund that pair as well.”
“Ah...that’s generous, but I don’t think I’m up to that. Effectively that would involve making two power amplification circuits, a ‘discharge’ circuit and three ‘new’ types of circuits, one repeated twice. Yeah, I know that only one would really be new instead of modifications of circuits I’m used to making, but I don’t think I’ve had enough notice to do that.” Cloud bit his lip, making it very clear he was uncomfortable contradicting a senior officer like that, but he wasn’t going to screw up by pretending he could do more than he knew how to. “I thought I could prepare another two slots this Friday, then you said something about teaching me how to do the validation stuff, you know what you use to tell us if our work’s usable.”
“Good point. But the General’s probably going to be busy the week after next, what with the SOLDIER Entrance Exams. Perhaps we can work on linked slots then.”
“I’ll do some research sir. Next week could you tell me which of my lunarium slots worked out better?”
“Yes, I can do that. Have you managed to finish filing your moulded set of circuits into shape then?”
“No quite sir, but I’ll get them done by Friday. Do you need the slots finished off perfectly for the testing?” Cloud didn’t like that idea, but if the colonel would then he’d have to take the first lunarium slot away with him today.
“No. I don’t. Anything else?”
“No sir.”
“Then get out of my office.”
“Yes sir.” A quick salute, and then he left.
Cloud frowned as he counted off the streets to his right. He’d been walking for almost ten minutes since leaving the station and he had a feeling he’d gone wrong somewhere. He’d definitely gone wrong, because that was the fifth street to his right, and it looked like a street full of pubs, with signs hanging in front of every single door. Still, just in case the problem was Colonel Grafton underestimating how long it took to get to Killian’s Cloud turned into that street and began checking beside each door until he reached the tenth door on the right before crossing the street and looking at the doors on the other side as he made his way back.
He made his way back to where he’d started from, counting the streets again on his way back, coming to a halt in front of the station when he counted a fifth street to his right. It started just where he’d crossed the road, so perhaps this was the first of those four streets Colonel Grafton had wanted him to count? Cloud would make one more effort to find his own way to Killian’s using the directions Colonel Grafton had given him, then if he couldn’t he’d ask someone for a better set of directions.
This time it worked, the fourth street on the left turned back on itself almost, and glancing at the map Cloud realised that this fitted what the colonel had drawn better than the next street had, with the first turning on the right almost parallel to that street. And then the fifth street on the right came to a dead end just a few buildings in, with Killian’s right on the corner. He drew in a deep breath, then knocked at the door, waiting for someone to open it.
“Yes? Killian’s specialises in arms and armour suited for materia use. If that’s what you’re interested in then come in.” The woman explained quickly, before Cloud could say anything, then stepped to one side, waiting for his response.
“Yes, thank you. I heard you could fit slots into armbands or daggers for ShinRa trainees?” Cloud smiled at her as he walked in, looking around to see a small room with one desk and chair in one corner and a group of armchairs in the opposite corner.
“Yes sir, but...this isn’t the usual time of year we get that business.” She frowned as she waved at the armchairs. “Please, take a seat.”
“Thank you. I’m part of a small pilot scheme so you might get this sort of business a bit more often in future.” Cloud sat down and pulled out the slot he’d made. “Ummm...I don’t mean to be rude, but how can I be certain you fit this slot, as opposed to just giving me a ready made armband set with a slot?”
“What would be the point? The stuff we get from ShinRa trainees is usually crap and we don’t sell stuff like that under our own name.” Cloud relaxed a bit at that; it made clear commercial sense, and he had a feeling that this slot would be assessed as useless anyway. “So, what exactly did you want done with it?” She held out her hand for the slot, and Cloud gave it to her confidently.
“I want it set into a simple black leather armband.” From the heat in his face Cloud knew he was blushing at how unprepared he was.
“I can measure you for an armband then, after you pick which style you want from our catalogue.” She stood, moving over to the desk and pulling a small booklet from the drawer as she spoke.
“No...I mean I’ll pick the style from the catalogue, but the armband’s going to be a gift for a friend.”
“I see.” There was a faintly amused expression on her face as she came back to her seat, handing the catalogue over to him. “Can you make a good guess about what size your friend will need then? There’s five standard sizes in there for the sort of armband you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I can do that easily enough. Just let me look.” He took the booklet from her, leafing through it to find what sort of armbands they did in leather, noting that three looked almost identical and reading more closely to see that it was a difference in leather grades that made the difference. That’s when he realised that those basic armbands came in six different colours with two different types of metal used for the buckle. He picked out the best grade of leather and held the booklet out to the woman, deciding that Zack would probably have the same measurements as Sephiroth, or close enough anyway.
“This one, in the large please.” It would cost 500 gil, but even the cheapest option cost 300 gil, so he figured it was worth investing in something decent, especially considering his tentative plans for his lunarium slots. “Do I pay now, or when I pick it up? And...do you have a sample of that style I can look at before I commit to it?”
“Yes sir. Here,” Cloud took his slot back from her without a word. “I’ll go and get the samples...you do want the option of seeing other styles as well?”
“Yes please.” The woman stood and smiled at him before walking out of the room, returning in a few minutes with a box in her arms.
“Here they are sir.” She put the box down beside Cloud’s chair and knelt beside it to sort through the smaller boxes stored inside it, pulling one box out and offering it to him. “This is the style you selected.”
“Thanks.” He took the armband out of the box, this one was dark red with brass metalwork, but it was good quality and he could see that it was the same style he’d chosen. “Yes, this is what I want. You never told me if I should pay in advance or not.”
“It’s up to you, but I’ll note it on your receipt if you do.” Cloud hesitated, then shook his head.
“No, I’ll pay when I collect it.” That way he’d have some security and reassurance that he’d get his slot back. “Do you need my name?”
“That would help sir.”
“Strife, Cloud Strife.”
“Right sir.” She began writing out the receipt on her notebook and tore half the page off, handing it to him. “Here, keep this, you’ll need it to get t he completed armband. Now if you could give me the slot back?” When Cloud handed it to her she put it into a bag, and tore the other half of the page she’d been writing on out, stapling that onto the bag. “Thank you sir, you’ll be able to pick this up anytime from Monday on.”
“I’ll pick it up on Wednesday then.” Cloud smiled at her and left, heading back to the ShinRa compound. He got a short sparring session in with Dylan and Newton before eating with them around six.
“Going to see your girl Strife?” Dylan’s question was teasing and Cloud smiled back at him.
“No, Brigadier Knight wanted me to come and speak with him around now. I’ll see you later.”
“See you, later.”
“Later.” Cloud nodded to his friends and began making his way to Zack’s quarters, openly this time, explaining to the one patrol which stopped him that he’d been invited to talk to Brigadier Knight around seven.
“Ah, he’s standing in as your sponsor while the General’s away then?” Cloud didn’t say anything to confirm or deny that statement, just smiling and walking past them once they let him by. “Lucky bastard.” He ignored the envious mutter as well, since it was low enough that he could legitimately pretend not to have heard it.
“Come on in.” Zack called his invitation almost before Cloud had knocked on the door, and he wasn’t too surprised to realise that his friend hadn’t bothered to lock it, or to see him coming out of his kitchen with a bottle of beer in each hand.
“Hi Zack. By the way, I expect that by tomorrow all the filter units are going to ‘know’ that the General asked you to stand in for him as my sponsor while he’s off on this mission.”
“And he’d do the same for me if I needed it.” Zack shrugged as he spoke; Cloud wasn’t sure what reaction he’d been expecting, but this wasn’t it. “Has done as a matter of fact, even if my two sponsees are too intimidated by him to go to him for any sort of help.”
“Well, they’re almost as intimidated by you, even now that they know you a bit better.” Cloud crossed over to the couch and accepted the bottle Zack handed him, opening it and drinking half of it down in one swallow.
“I know. It bugs me too a bit. I mean, I didn’t plan on sponsoring anyone, but if I’m going to do the thing I might as well do it properly.” Zack sat down opposite Cloud and took a drink from his own bottle.
“Not your fault they’re like that. I mean you’ve done everything you can to get them to trust you, it’s not like you’ve given them a reason to be scared or anything. And your reputation’s nowhere near as scary as Sephiroth’s. I think it’s just they don’t feel like they can take up your time with their problems.”
“Still feels a bit like I’ve failed though.” Zack shrugged, an unhappy look on his face. “I’m not used to people being intimidated by me unless I’m trying to be scary.” Cloud wondered then just how much Zack actually dealt with normal troopers rather than SOLDIERs and people who chose to work with SOLDIERs, but he didn’t say anything. “So, exactly what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“You know how I can get extra spells out of my materia? Well I think I’ve come up with a slot that will let you and Sephiroth get those spells too, at least to the same extent I get them. I wanted to ask if you’d test the prototype for me.”
“Yeah, not a problem. If it works will you be giving the prototype to Sephiroth?”
“No.” From the heat in his cheeks he was probably blushing, but Cloud continued anyway. “I’m planning to make a better version of the slot if it works and have it set a bit more elaborately to give to him as his birthday gift from me.”
“Right.”
Cloud didn’t bother trying to arrive early for his lesson with Colonel Grafton this time; Sephiroth wouldn’t be there so they could focus on the more advanced areas the colonel seemed intent on pushing him into. He wasn’t late, but he didn’t arrive early either, not the way he’d managed to arrive up to half an hour early for most of his lessons so far. He half expected the head armourer to be annoyed that he wasn’t early, but the man just smiled at him and led him through to the workroom they’d been using.
“Sir?” Cloud frowned at the sight of the double-sized and oddly shaped mould resting on the table with two simulated materia beside it.
“I said I want you to do the circuits for a linked slot pair the week after next. You might as well make the base now.”
“And that way I can try again in two weeks if I screw up today, right?” Cloud smiled as he walked over to the table, carefully filling the crucible with the granular alloy he’d used for the other slot bases.
“You need more alloy than that.” Cloud thought he’d put enough extra alloy in compared to what he did for normal slots, but apparently not.
“How much more sir?”
“Say...half as much again. Better to put too much in than too little.” Because that way he’d probably get a usable slot base as well as some excess metal that could be remelted, if he had too little alloy in the crucible then the slot base would have to be remelted as well.
“Yes sir. I want to prepare another single slot base as well, for one of the extra slots I intend to make.” He’d prefer to test his theory before starting on his gift for Sephiroth, but Cloud didn’t think he had time, and...well at least it wouldn’t damage the slot if he added some lunarium or solarium to the alloy for the base.
“After you’ve done this one. Then I can show you how we test for discards.”
“And I can finish my other two slots at the end of the lesson.” Cloud slid the bracer with the Fire materia onto his wrist as he spoke.
“Yes...I can probably fit testing those for you in around my other work if you’ll get the slot you’ve finished out of your safe at the end of the lesson and label the bag it’s in.”
“Thank you sir.” So he’d be able to make the lunarium circuits next week, and finish the slot off the week after that. And he needed to start the slot he planned to give Sephiroth next week...
“Just get on with it.” Cloud blinked as he realised he’d been too focused on making plans for the future to actually do anything about his current task, and swiftly melted the alloy, pouring it slowly and carefully into the mould, around the simulated materia. This was even more awkward than doing a single slot, but oddly that seemed to make it easier for Cloud to pour the molten alloy slowly. He added one scrap of lunarium to the alloy when he did the single slot base, pouring with just as much care this time, and then they moved on to the validation process.
It was fairly simple; check the mass, then scan for air bubbles or similar flaws, and finally check a printout of the scan to see what pattern the flaws formed, how they were distributed. But the scales were very sensitive, which made using them something to be careful about, and the scanner looked intimidatingly complex.
“It does other things as well, but all you need is to check the percentage of flaws. Anything over 1% goes to scrap, even from a student.”
“Yes sir, and from one of your men?”
“The cut off point there’s 0.8%. If it’s less than that, but over 0.1% you need to check the pattern.” And Cloud found it almost impossible to recognise which patterns were acceptable and which weren’t, except in the most obvious of cases.
The last two things he did before leaving were finish off the other two slots he had the circuits for, and get the lunarium circuit he’d completed out. On Saturday he took his metarium slot away to finish off, and labelled the lunarium slot, checking his new slot bases himself and labelling the single one since he had plans for that.
Sephiroth wasn’t back, so Cloud wasn’t entirely certain Zack would still want to meet him, but the SOLDIER was waiting for him outside the armoury.
“Cloud, want to spar for a bit?”
“Of course.” Cloud was always ready to spar, especially against people as much better than him as Zack was - there was no better way to learn. “Where?”
“How about the gym we used when I tested you back when you were a cadet?”
“Sounds good.” Cloud walked beside Zack in comfortable silence and when they began sparring he focused his whole attention on what he was doing, on trying to keep up with Zack, even though he knew that the other man was holding back, the way his assigned SOLDIER sparring partners held back enough to give him a chance. He listened to the advice Zack gave him between spars, doing his best to ask relevant questions and put that advice into operation.
“So, want to come back for a drink?”
“Sure. Do you have any idea when Sephiroth’s going to be back? I know he’ll be back for the SOLDIER Entrance Exams, but do you know anything more specific?”
“I haven’t heard anything, no, but I will be the first person to hear when Sephiroth is due back, since I’m the one who covers for him when he’s gone, as much as anyone can. I’ll tell you if I hear anything though.”
“Thanks Zack.” Cloud waited until they were in Zack’s quarters before he asked the next question on his mind. “How are you coming with your part in Sephiroth’s disguise?”
“I got Aeris to suggest what colours I should use for the kimono and I’ve got it...I asked for advice on how a woman’s supposed to wear it too, and apparently it’s supposed to hide a woman’s curves, which is going to make things easier. What about you, how’s your part of the disguise going?” Zack handed Cloud a bottle of beer as he spoke and Cloud sat down opposite him, watching the way he spread out to fill all the available space without really thinking about it.
“I’m just doing contacts and hair dye, and I can get those easily enough. I was planning on getting them on Wednesday.” Cloud drank from his bottle in companionable imitation of Zack when he’d finished speaking.
“Since you already know where to look. What if the colours you want aren’t in stock?” There was an odd intensity to Zack’s gaze, an intensity Cloud forced himself to ignore.
“I’ve got the week of the SOLDIER Entrance Exams off, so if I have to I can get it then. When are you planning to take me and Sephiroth drinking?” So he’d know just how long he had.
“I was figuring on Friday or Saturday, after Sephiroth’s finished dealing with his part of the Exams. By the way, when will you be able to give me that slot you wanted me to test for you?”
“On Wednesday. It’s being put into an armband at a place called Killian’s, and they said I could collect it any time from Monday on, but...”
“You can’t collect it except for on Wednesday. What say we swing by after I take the three of you hunting then?”
“Do you know where Killian’s is?”
“No, but you do, and it might be something useful for your friends to know.”
“I doubt it, but if that’s what you want to do it’s fine by me. And I need to know if it works right by Friday morning. I’m sorry to have to rush you, but...”
“There’s not that much time until Sephiroth’s birthday, I know.” After that Zack changed the subject of the conversation, asking about Cloud’s squad and telling him things about the SOLDIERs.
Working in the infirmary had been easier this Tuesday, and since his squad weren’t due to patrol the labs until Friday Cloud didn’t feel at all guilty about pretending he had a date with Sera, to help keep anyone from connecting ‘her’ to Sephiroth. He could probably get to Sephiroth’s quarters without being noticed, and if anyone did notice him he could claim Zack wanted to see him, but first he decided to visit Colonel Grafton on the off-chance he’d be available.
“Strife. I wasn’t expecting you today.”
“No sir, I just had some time free, and I thought...” Cloud trailed off hopefully.
“I might have had a chance to assess your lunarium slots? Yes, I have. And the moulded circuits worked out a bit better for you - although I’d pass you on either slot.”
“Thank you sir.” Cloud followed the colonel through to ‘their’ workroom without questioning why and replaced the two slots he’d left for testing in his safe, taking the other metarium slot out instead.
“I wondered, would you mind if I did the circuits for that extra lunarium slot we were talking about now?” So he could do his solarium circuits on Friday and probably use a scrap of the alloy to add to the base for the slot he intended to give to Sephiroth.
“Go ahead. I’ll let you do the paperwork to pay for it on Friday.” Colonel Grafton handed the moulds over to Cloud, getting the lunarium out as well as a bracer with a Fire materia.
“Thank you sir.” Cloud prepared the circuits quickly, keeping what they were supposed to do in mind and smiled at the head armourer. “I’ll just leave these until Friday, unless you want me to collect them earlier?”
“No, you can leave them here. How are you doing reading up on linked slots?”
“I’ve read the theory, and I just need to, sort of...assimilate it?”
“That’s one way to put things. I’ll see you on Friday.” Cloud wasn’t seen as he made his way to Sephiroth’s quarters and finished off his metarium slot until it was ready to be set into an armband or something similar.
