I ᴅᴏɴ·ᴛ  ғ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ  ᴅʏɪɴɢ

                      Nᴇᴠᴇʀ ʜᴀᴠᴇ.                                 Nᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴡɪʟʟ.

                          Iᴛ ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴀʏ                                                  ɢᴏᴏᴅ﹣ʙʏᴇ

                                                   ᴛʜᴀᴛ I                                                   ғ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ

parttimedeliveryboy and rosemarydiz

Personally, Rose was tired of looking at the papers. It had taken her nearly thirteen years to get back; a break wasn’t going to be the end of the world. It gave her time to think clearly. Where else could she look, and who could she talk to that seemed reasonable to trust?

“I’ll stay around for awhile.” Rose knew that Cloud wouldn’t be happy with that answer. Much like her, he did not appreciate strangers investigating without a good reason, or just in general. But she would not explain herself yet. Not while she had the choice. 

And there it was, the answer he really didn't want to hear. Cloud managed- barely- to keep the scowl off his face, letting it seethe inside his chest instead as he stared over at Rose. There was definitely something suspicious about her, and it left him conflicted- he understood the value of secrets, he didn't want to push for things that weren't his to know, but if any of those secrets stood even the slightest chance of hurting his friends or his city...

"Oh yeah?" The words came out neutrally enough, though the spark in his eyes betrayed the real thoughts behind his curiosity. "And what do you think you'll be doing, staying around here?"

artist: 臙條徹

Some days, he questioned which lapse in sanity had lead to his joining this group.

After the whole darkness fiasco or whatever that had hit a decade ago, Radiant Garden, his home, had been reduced to scraps.  Nine years he’d waited to return, and of course, when he finally did, he wanted nothing more than to restore it to its former glory.  Radiant Garden had been… well, radiant, and upon his return, it broke his heart to see this beautiful town in the sorry state it had been.  He’d been raised to believe that it was a man’s duty to protect his family and his home, and joining the Restoration Committee to rebuild the town and fight off Heartless made the most sense.

That was the easy answer, and he didn’t regret his decision in the long run.  But, after finally joining, he discovered community service wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.  He hadn’t expected any praise (well, maybe a little), and had been mostly prepared for whatever hard work they would throw his way.  However, he was soon reminded of a very harsh fact: his stamina was incredibly low.  Fights and reconstruction, he could handle; hour after hour on his feet was a different matter.  Especially on days when, like today, he was stuck doing patrol.  Being the newbie, they stuck him on the outskirts of town, where he had to walk a mile just for something to happen.  He was grateful when Heartless popped up, but the fights always ended too quickly.

Now, it was mid afternoon at latest, and it seemed like hours since something last happened.  He looked back at the town; he was pretty far away by now.  It should be alright to take a short break, right?  His feet were killing him.  Pulling his Falchion blade from the sheath strapped to his back, he sat down and leaned his back against the canyon wall, resting his sword next to him.  He let out a long sigh of relief at being able to rest.  Five minutes, that was all he needed…

The kid was... resting? Cloud quirked an eyebrow down at the scene in front of him, partially concealed as he was from his vantage point. Well, he couldn't say he was all that impressed by the new guy, that was for sure. What kind of fool sat down for a nap in the middle of the canyon? Yes, maybe there weren't as many Heartless around these parts nowadays- thanks to the Restoration Committee and Sora- but that was no reason to let one's guard down like that. Did the guy not realize what sort of danger he was courting here?

He stayed where he was for a few moments, just taking in the strange scene, before one corner of his lips quirked slightly upwards. Perhaps, if he just... Hmm. It wouldn't be the nice thing to do, of course, but... Well. The new kid was kind of asking for it, wasn't he, sitting around like that? And it wasn't like Cloud had ever labeled himself as a nice person, and certainly not when it came down to matters like this.

It wasn't as if he was actually planning to kill the guy or anything, after all.

That settled it, then. Quietly, the slide of steel no louder than the whisper of wind brushing through the canyon, he withdrew Aubade from its sheath. He waited a second, one last chance for the new kid to react, and then time was up. His foot kicked up a puff of dust as he jumped, an almost graceful lunge forward. Aubade's blade flashed in the sunlight, sharp edge curving down, down-

Right towards the resting man's head.

Nothing Like a Morning Stroll | Harry Potter AU

A surprised look crossed her face. “Oh? Are they? Are they Hufflepuffs like you?” It was true that recently there was more inter-house communication, but people were still more likely to stick to their own houses. Maybe he was different though; he was already different by being a werewolf child.

"Maybe I will see them at the meal table." It would be an excuse to see him too. Suddenly she thought about what it would be like to be in the Great Hall, amongst all the students. They would all stare at her, probably; she didn’t show herself much so not very many people knew about her. "O-on second thought, maybe just a hallway." In a hallway she was safe. She could run away through the wall if she got scared, and there were fewer people.

A thought came to her and she added, “Just… please don’t bring them here. I want this to be between me and you, for now.” Too many people in her sanctuary would take away its sacredness to her.

Cloud shook his head. "Not all of them, no. Aerith's a Hufflepuff, and so is Selphie, but Tifa, Barrett, Claire, and Zell are all Gryffindors, and Yuffie's in Slytherin. Vincent and Squall and Rinoa are Ravenclaws, too." They were an unusual bunch, he knew, especially when all of them hung out together, but it worked, somehow.

And the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that Namine would fit into their odd group, too. After all, it wasn't like he was the only strange one there, and a ghost coming along wouldn't make that much of a difference. The idea of sharing her friendship still left him slightly unhappy, but even just visualizing his circle of friends with her among them felt good, somehow- felt right. Yeah, this could really work out well for all of them.

But... "Of course I won't bring them here," he said, frowning. This was Namine's special place, and now Cloud's too, maybe. It didn't need to belong to everyone. Now that he got a good look at her, though, he could see the faint, tell-tale signs of anxiety in her face. "And you don't have to meet everybody at the same time, if it makes you nervous."

What if Cloud and Squall/Leon would join Sora in the Grid? >w<

James Blunt, Bonfire Heart (via lupineya)

Fingers webbed on the boy’s lap and his head tilted to the side at Cloud as he listened, black ice blue streaks falling away to reveal scars from past rough teeth. Bite marks poked the junction of his throat and his collarbone. 

Nathanael nods slowly to the last, as though that was what he had expected. He did not wish to ask for more, not wanting to take advantage of a kindness that he was not accustomed to. 

"That i-is all I expect…yes? You did no-not have to offer a ride to my home, I would n-not ask for more from you. I w-will be burden enough on th-the people I have to ask the a-aid of on Cor’Terrae, but th-they will have their reasons to s-serve me..protect me. I a-am their Prince and heir. You a-are a stranger from a world far from my own. I h-have expected nothing f-from you Cloud, I only wished to see you unharmed, wh-which is why I healed you whilst y-you fought."

A small wet breath is made and a hand raises to settle against his sternum to feel the fluttering of a weakened heart and laboring lungs. Damn this dying form and how useless it made him. “You likely h-have your own difficulties, l-loves and dreams here. I would not w-want to take you f-from those things when y-you are returning me to mine.”

A smile blossomed again, tender and thoughtful, yet those ice blue eyes were deep then. He sounded more mature then his previous giggling and shying away, but Nathanael hardly noticed. He spoke what he believed, what the Prince wanted Cloud to understand. 

"I a-am not saying I would turn a-away your help, to d-do so with what I will face would be fo-foolish, yet, I do not w-want you to say you will a-aid me and th-then leave. Everyone h-has left in o-one way or another. Bring m-me to my world, I will pay you a-and then you may come back to this life you lead. If you wish to walk w-with me, to aid me toward reg-gaining my throne, th-then I will depend on you to b-be at my back. If th-that is too much, that is a-alright. A-as I said, I expect nothing, so what is given to me re-remains a blessing," the smile softens further at Cloud. He would not hold anything against the warrior if Cloud said no, the future was not going to be easy for his world, or for Nathanael. 

Gods, what had this kid survived? The marks on his skin, the strangely mature, martyred words tumbling so easily, so truthfully, from his lips... Cloud could hardly believe it all. He didn't know what to do. This was a kind of situation he had no experience with, nothing to fall back on, and he felt at a complete loss, blindly striking out in the dark. He'd managed this far, he told himself, rallying his wits together. Maybe, just maybe, his luck would last. 

"But..." Look at you, he wanted to say. Look at the abuse your body has gone through, at the hands of who knows what. How could you possibly want to go back and face it again? How could I possibly let you do it alone? Then he realized, one of those sharp, painful realizations, that he'd heard much those same words before, from various different mouths, asking and yelling about why he needed to keep on fighting. Sephiroth. And that made up his mind, strengthened his spine and solidified his decision.

He nodded. "Alright. I'll take you back to your world and then... I'll figure out where to go from there." Though he already knew full well what he would do next. He would just wait until it was too late for anyone to disagree. There was no point in inviting discussion here.

Maybe he didn't completely understand it, the entirety of this situation that Nathanael was going through, and maybe he wasn't sure that he wanted to. And perhaps it was hypocritical, the choice he'd made, when he never allowed any of the others to help him fight his battles. But he knew the feeling of facing down an impossible enemy, of fighting despite not knowing how he could win, and in that, at least, he could help out this boy. Whatever this new foe, Nath would not be taking it on alone.

"We'll see," Cloud said aloud. He drained his water bottle in a few swallows, recapped the empty and pushed himself up onto his feet. "Whenever you're done, I'll take you back to the city, and we can get ready to go."

James N. Mattis, General USMC (retired)

Gentlemuns, I present to you one of the more important unspoken rules of being an executive in ShinRa.

(via directorlazard)