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Cloud Strife ⬤ Final Fantasy VII
residential district ⬤ Level 2 Apartment
moonblessing ⬤ Sanguis

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[supersoldier]

[The pause is strange, but then again, there have been oddities with every person he's interacted with, hailing from Gaia. It's easy enough to chalk it up to the time differences between them, but there's something about Cloud's tone that makes him reply nigh expectantly.]

...Yes?

[liveandforgive]

[ ... He can't. Not yet. But with every face that arrives here from their world, split apart from the life that Sephiroth knew, it becomes harder and harder to maintain this illusion. Rather, the illusion he's cast had cracks in it before he even began. And for a few short moments, his hands start shaking.

And then he clenches them, as if that would steel his nerves once more. Not yet, Cloud repeats, again and again in his mind. Finally he answers him. ]

Things have been...a bit tangled up ever since we got here.

[ Between the time disparities and after being busted free by the Sinless... And the bristling reunion between the three of them when they were rescued? That was an understatement. Perhaps even earlier. He doesn't know what Sephiroth is doing or what he's feeling. ]

There's some things I need to sort out first, but... [ Cloud talks himself through it all the same. His heart just about feels like stopping when he asks, ] Can you give me some time?

[supersoldier]

[He's not sure how to reply to that; it's vague and nigh foreboding, and clarifies nothing for Sephiroth other than the fact that Cloud has something he wishes to say to him, but for some unknown reason he cannot.

Several moments of silence pass.]

Is my presence overcomplicating things for you?

[Rarely one to beat around the bush, Sephiroth dives straight into the point.]

You have all the time you need. You're not technically obligated to tell me anything, or to keep me updated with the goings-on of those closer to you than me. Therefore, you don't need me to grant you the permission of time, or anything else. [But.]

But I don't want to be surrounded by this awkward dance for the remainder of my days here. None of you are very subtle.

[And Sephiroth, in the dark as he is, isn't stupid.]

[liveandforgive]

[ Cloud had...expected this. Later? Sooner? He wasn't sure. Where the seeds of doubt and uncertainty began to take root, he couldn't say either. But his face twists into a frown. ...and he hates that he's actually feeling this way.

Was it guilt? It wasn't Sephiroth doing this. But it was because of him that his words, while not stinging, leave his chest feeling heavy. So many things he wished he could say. Yet it's a matter of how. The truth was important. But...it's how one delivers the truth.

"None of you are very subtle." ]

S-

[ He stops. Breaths in resignation. ]

... I understand.

[supersoldier]

Good.

[There's hardly much more to say, leaving the notion hanging there unresolved but his point made nonetheless. Sephiroth allows silence to fill in the space between his next statement, for so long that one might get the impression that he's about to end the correspondence there.]

Keep it in mind. But barring that, nothing I've told you changes. Come to me if you have questions, updates, or need aid.

[Cloud and the others represent all he has from Gaia. His only anchor and connection to a place where he felt more grounded than he ever does here. Even Sephiroth, not at all a very outgoing people person, nor keen on forming close relationships on a whim, will not dislodge himself from them just because there is something strange and unanswered hanging over their heads.]

[liveandforgive]

[ Just as the blond was about to close off the communication, his hand hovers over the bracer when his voice returns. And he's left sitting there to listen. But his expression is one that's not frustrated, or guilty, or even confused. ]

I will. [ He's lost. ] Good night.

[ Sephiroth... ]