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By the time Cloud had gotten back to the hotel room, he had wiped the snarl off of his face. Though, what replaced the look, wasn't necessarily the most complimentary expression, either. In the back of his mind, he knew that he really shouldn't be this angry. And, he wouldn't be, if Shuyin was the only problem bouncing through his mind right now. It wasn't.
Unfortunately, quick flashes of Sephiroth, racing towards the decimated Temple of the Ancients kept playing in his inner vision. It really was enough to drive a man...nuttier than usual. Shorten the temper, make him just a little less tolerant than he usually wasn't anyway.
Arriving back at the room, he rested his head against the wall, and took some time to focus and calm himself before entering the room. If there was one person, who he didn't want to be a raging asshole in front of, it was Tidus. After forcing a calm, he opened the door, and set down his sword carefully against the wall.
Tidus was stood out on the balcony. His arms crossed over the top of the railing. He was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and that was it. His necklace with the symbol for the Zanarkand abes hung around his neck and Tidus appeared to be taking pleasure in the smallest moments. You really appreciated life and the world around you when you had been dead for so long. At the sound of the door opening, he turned on his heel before he wandered back into the room." Hey." He commented softly before he dropped a kiss on Cloud's temple. Eventhough the other was calm, Tidus could tell he had a lot on his mind.
At the kiss, Cloud seemed to close his eyes, and relax a bit. Tension actually seemed to leave his shoulders. He wrapped an arm around Tidus' waist, and kissed him before walking to a chair, and flopping down into it. He wasn't sure what he should bring up first, Shuyin or Sephiroth.
This was a banner day for great topics of conversation, now wasn't it. Silently, he looked up at Tidus again, before kicking off his boots, and taking off that blasted sleeve. He moved his newly freed arm in a slow circle as he stood. "I saw your Fayth." He started.
Tidus lifted an eyebrow before he walked over and rested his hands on Cloud's arm." You did?" He asked calmly before his hands started working in slow circles. One thing he had learnt whilst blitzballing had been the ability to massage and he figured it might help even if it was in a small way." What happened?" He glanced to Cloud before he perched against the side of the chair.
The massaging was a nice relief. Cloud was getting tired of his arm twitching all day. "I..." How the hell did he put this? Before he could continue, there was another knock on the door, and Cloud groaned. "That's probably him."
" He followed you?" Tidus asked with a slight scowl." Maybe if we ignore him, he'll go away?" He suggested with a hopeful expression.
"I found him as I was leaving before." Cloud said as the knocks grew more insistent. "Whatever he wants, he knows where and how to find you." The thought turned his stomach a bit, and Cloud sneered at the door, like that was going to get the guy to leave. "I did beat the shit out of him."
Outside of the room, Shuyin pressed his ear against the door, silently acknowledging to the Fayth that, yes...he was doing his...duty in trying to do whatever it was they wanted him to do. The nagging tug at his gut made it clear that his Aeon was on the other side. Though, he'd much rather just leave things be.
Tidus eyed the door again." Maybe if we make loud noise, he'll think we're having sex and he'll leave?" He snickered softly to that before he sighed. He didn't want to see Shuyin. He was one of those people, Tidus was quite happy to keep at a distance." You beat the shit out of him?" Tidus caught onto that before he grinned softly and gave Cloud a kiss. He groaned and rolled his eyes as the knocking was still there, he turned his head and called." What do you want?"
Cloud twiddled his thumbs, preferring the 'making loud noise' idea to Tidus' calling to Shuyin. He preferred his privacy, and Shuyin wasn't a welcome intruder. He sat back into the chair and made no qualms about hiding the pissy expression on his face as Shuyin's voice was heard clearly from the other side.
"Fayth said we gotta talk." Oh, there was a great start. Shuyin didn't want to talk about the finer details of any of this through a door. And, he was pretty sure that The Boyfriend was inside. He rubbed his sore jaw.
This ellicited a groan from Tidus. He really was tired of the Fayth. He glanced to Cloud and sighed." Have I ever told you how much I hate the Fayth at times?" He rested his forehead against Cloud's before he took a deep breath and moved to open the door.
They could always just not listen to the Fayth, right? Cloud knew better than to ask that question, and he leaned forward, following Tidus' pull away before standing and hurredly reattatching the sleeve to his shoulder pad. There wasn't any way in hell he'd let this guy watch his arm flop around uncontrollably.
Cloud could only assume that controlling his temper would be difficult. He stopped short of following Tidus, noting, however, the exact positioning of his sword next to the wall. Shuyin could plainly be seen, peeking around Tidus to ensure Cloud's presence in the room.
It was enough assurance to make him want to stay put in the hallway. Shuyin gave Tidus a look, surprisingly noting that their expressions must have almost matched. "This isn't some kind of picnic for me, either."
Tidus at this point rolled his eyes and stepped away from the door." Come in." His voice tense and very polite. Not common for Tidus. Usually he was very casual and friendly with anyone and everyone but Shuyin was a different matter.
But, he didn't want to come in. Shuyin hid an obviously pained expression as he stepped into the room. He also quite skillfully ignored Cloud's looming gaze, as the spikey haired blond looked about ready to bury his fist into the other man's face yet again. With the already forming bruises on his cheek and lips, Shuyin made a note not to say too much.
The tension spiked in the room as Shuyin looked from one blond to the other.
Tidus shut the door and wandered back over to where Cloud was. He sat back down on the arm and looked to Shuyin." What did you want to talk about?" He asked civily. He resisted the urge to smirk as he saw the bruises on his cheek and lips. He glanced to Cloud for a moment before he looked back to Shuyin.
As Shuyin spoke, he paid careful mind to Cloud, who leaned forward markedly as he rested his arm around Tidus' legs. He could only assume that this guy wasn't leaving the room. "Anima's Fayth came to me, and told me that they gave me and Lenne a second chance. Part of that second chance is...fixing things."
While listening to Shuyin speak, Cloud's fingers curled lightly into Tidus' thigh. He tried not to gape at the man, stupidly. Fixing things meant fixing that connection, right? Cue snarl. Again.
" Fixing things?" Tidus asked slowly before his hand moved to grip at Cloud's." What do you mean by that?" He was on the same line of thought as Cloud and he really didn't want that fixed, he was quite happy with the connection not being fixed. Broken was good right now, ironically enough.
It wasn't as if Shuyin didn't agree. There were times, if he listened closely enough, that he was sure that he heard the Fayth laughing about this. And, it wasn't like he wanted to be here, anyway. As he crossed his arms over his chest, he noticed The Boyfriend lean over Tidus, and stare menacingly at Shuyin. Not that Cloud was especially doing this to make Shuyin as uncomfortable as possible. He just wanted an answer, and this guy appeared to be listening for answers. That, in itself was only creepy because of the way that Shuyin's mannerisms reflected his own.
With a sigh, Shuyin settled on shooting a glare at Cloud, again wishing that he would just leave the room. He spit out as much of an explanation as they were giving to him, and spoke as if the words tasted badly as they left his mouth. "They aren't specific, but I'm assuming that they want us to have some kind of Fayth/Aeon...relationship."
"You don't sound very enthused." And, it took every bit of self control for Cloud to remain in his seat and say that calmly.
Tidus arched an eyebrow to that, why would the Fayth want that? He rubbed at his hair slowly as he considered Shuyin's words. He didn't want that and he in all honesty was trying not to laugh at this entire situation. It seemed unbelievable and he personally wasn't going to be forming any kind of relationship with his ex-Fayth and he didn't feel like being an Aeon. As he thought about those things, his mind went to Yuna and he frowned briefly. Had she done what she had meant to do? And if that was so, why hadn't he seen her? He turned his attention back to Shuyin." Why makes you think that?"
"I don't know." Shuyin said, sulkily.
He heard a groan from The Boyfriend as Cloud leaned back into the seat and heaved a sigh. This guy was really tiresome, and any talk about the Fayth made Cloud's head hurt. He was under the impression that it was because Isabel was attempting to explain things, now. This only made it worse.
"Can you just...leave?" Cloud said as he closed his eyes. He heard a shifting as Shuyin crossed his arms over his chest. Of course, Shuyin had the audacity to look offended by this.
Somewhere, he could have sworn that he heard the Fayth laughing again. Scowling, he suddenly wished that he could kick The Boyfriend, but refrained. "I don't want to get sent back into the void. The Fayth are giving me little cryptic clues on what I need to do, and right now, I'm just following them. Trust me, I don't want any damned connection to you, either." Boyfriend can kiss his ass.
" Oh good, so nice to know we're on the same page." Tidus answered with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice but ultimately, he was relieved Shuyin didn't want any connection. He glanced to Cloud for a moment before he looked back to Shuyin." So basically you're here because a, you don't want to be send back into the void and b, the Fayth told you to come." Tidus arched an eyebrow. He really wasn't in the mood to play nice." So this has all been forced on you and now you expect me to help you with whatever the Fayth tell you to do?"
Neither was Shuyin, but Tidus did manage to sum things up so nicely. "I think the Fayth expect you to." This caused Boyfriend's eyes to open and give Shuyin another hardened stare.
And, there was another round of laughter from the Fayth as Shuyin continued to rack his brain for their reasoning. This round was so loud, that even Cloud could hear it. He sat forward into his chair, and looked around the room, bewildered, before sitting back into the chair, and resting his arm on Tidus' thigh again. Cloud never did sit still well, and for once, being quiet was getting difficult.
Tidus leaned back against the chair slightly." Just recently, I haven't been inclined to do what the Fayth expect me to do." He moved a hand to Cloud's hair and he played with it for a moment before his hand dropped to rest against Cloud's shoulder. He watched as both Shuyin and Cloud shifted uncomfortably and arched an eyebrow." So, what inspired the change of heart Shuyin? Last time I checked you were quite happy to say screw it all."
Well, this fucking figured. An irate stare ensued, from both Shuyin and Cloud, though the latter's was directed at the Fayth. Shuyin's reasoning was simple, "I told you, Anima's Fayth came to talk to me about why I wasn't sucked back into the void."
And, now Cloud was biting on his fingernails. Specifically, a large hangnail that was on his thumb. "Sucked back into the void?" He repeated, not liking where this was going.
Shuyin looked at the other in distaste. He conducted himself like a brainless, backwoods hick. "That's what I said." And, then the expression switched to an obvious call for explanation. The sulking reached a new high from Shuyin. "Simplistically speaking that is, I was told that the Fayth gave me a second chance." Why was he explaining to the boyfriend? "They wanted me to learn from my past mistakes." His tone strictly conveyed that he'd rather have said 'screw it all', even now.
" Right." Tidus said very simply before he inquired." So, if you don't learn and you don't fix things. You get sucked back into the void?" Was it just him or was that really tempting?
No, no, if that grin on Cloud's face was any indication, it was tempting for him, too. Though, he was trying to be Good, and that generally meant keeping his mouth shut.
"Or other things." Shuyin wasn't going to mention that part about getting the curses reflected onto him.
Tidus gave Shuyin a look. A look that asked "and how is this making me want to help you?" He shifted on the arm of the chair and simply leaned back against the chair again.
Cloud stretched as he stood. "I think I've had enough amusement for today." And, he'd have to ask Tidus about the laughing Fayth. With a sigh, he grasped the back of Shuyin's neck once more, and began to escort him towards the door. And, the protesting? Not really something Cloud wanted to put up with. He ignored the tensing, and simply carted the Fayth out the door.
Tidus couldn't surpress the grin as he watched Cloud escort Shuyin out of the room." Thank you." He said with a definite nod of his head before he turned and fell back into the chair.
As the pent up tension left Cloud's shoulders once more, he crossed the room, and collapsed onto the bed. Looking up at Tidus, he shook his head as he removed his sleeve. "I think we should just cut our losses and ignore the bastard."
Tidus peeked over the top of the chair." I'm inclined to agree with you." He nodded his head before he slipped off the chair and moved to sit beside Cloud." How's your arm?"
"About as good as it can be." Cloud said as he observed the greenish veins that seemed to become more apparent since this Geostigma thing surfaced. He shifted a little to rest his good arm around Tidus' waist.
Tidus ran his eyes over Cloud's arm and his blue eyes darkened with worry for a moment before he simply looked at Cloud's face." So anything else going on that I should know about?"
Cloud nodded, he had been intending to get to that, before they were so rudely interrupted by That Asshole. "Sephiroth's moving. We really need to get going soon. Get Red and Vincent, whoever else we can, and just stop him." He groaned slightly, as he was tired of playing these stupid games. For once, he just wanted some peace and quiet.
He nodded his head at this point." Right. Uh, what happened to my sword after you know?" He gestured towards his chest where Irvine had stabbed him.
"It's at Tifa's bar." Cloud had forgotten all about leaving it there until now. As he shut his eyes, he rested his head on Tidus' shoulder. "I was staying there for a little while. We can get it on the way."
Tidus made a mental note of that before he lifted a hand and ran it over Cloud's hair." You tired?" He asked
"More like frustrated. I'm sick of things running my life." Cloud paused and shook his head. "Our life...and I really was way too nice to your 'Fayth' back there." There really was nothing like bitching quietly to the one that you love. Cloud curled around Tidus as he laid down on the bed, head resting on the other man's lap. "Are you tired?"
"Not really." Tidus answered before his hand moved back to play with Cloud's hair." And yeah, you were. Maybe he'll get the hint and leave?" Wishful thinking more like it. Tidus leaned back against the headboard of the bed and continued to play with Cloud's hair.
"Let's hope." Cloud closed his eyes and rested against Tidus' chest. His arm wrapped loosely around Tidus' waist and held him closer. "I think I heard Isabel laughing at him, though. Think he's been put over?"
Tidus shrugged his shoulders and simply ran his hand over Cloud's arm." Who knows? I'm not inclined to help him especially as the Fayth says so."
That was a good thing for Cloud to hear. Peering up at Tidus, he kissed the other's neck before settling against his chest again.
Tidus smiled to the kiss on his neck and he was content just to hold onto Cloud. Tidus was an affectionate person, just lying around with the person he loves made him happier than killing anything.