#aaaahhhh Loz and Rude bonding. I love it

[marie-dufresne]

This week’s Prompt Roulette night at Starbucks with @novahstrife! Enjoy these 20min ficlets once again 💖 

Characters: Heidegger & Cloud Prompt: Boss & Employee

What a pain. He hated this uniform. How was he supposed to blend in when every move he made in this thing sent electric chills up his spine?

“…alright! Don’t be late!”

Huh? Cloud looked around at the now empty locker room, not quite remembering the instructions he’d just been given by his ‘commander’. Well, fake it till you make it, as the kids say. All he had to do was get himself on that cargo ship. That was simple enough.

On the empty street, he realized he didn’t know where the cargo ship was.

It must have been obvious how lost he was, given directions by another infantry foot soldier, and before long, he was with his unit, standing at attention, awaiting orders. Damn, he hated orders. He wasn’t getting paid enough for this shit.

But he had to know. He had to understand Sephiroth.

It was strange standing in front of Rufus ShinRa, the young man having no idea who he was. Comical, even. Rufus struck him as the type of person who prided himself in being ever alert to his enemies, yet here was Cloud Strife, doing a ridiculous dance in front of him and he was none the wiser.

Beside the president was Heidegger, robust and proud, giving Rufus little jabs with his elbow as the soldiers performed, letting out some gya ha ha ha for good measure.

“What did I tell you, Mr. President?” he boasted, the belt that strained under his belly jingling like some anti-Santa Claus. “Only the finest for you!”

Cloud missed a step, turned the wrong way.

Damn. Damn. He hadn’t meant to. He remembered it, had been performing on autopilot How had that happened? This wasn’t the time to single himself out.

It didn’t seem to affect the president’s judgement of the presentation and with a little flip of his hair, gave them a half-assed ‘well done’, and boarded the ship without another word.

Phew. That was close.

Heidegger, however, wasn’t quite through with him. With one meaty fist, he snatched Cloud by the collar, holding him up in the air and ignoring the pleas from his wife to let the young man down.

It was a mere thread of patience that kept Cloud calm. Patience and a lack of a decent weapon. He was no match for Heidegger right now, not if he wanted his friends to board the ship safely. If anything, this was buying them time. He remained silent, a facade of obedience.

“Darling please,” the blonde woman coaxed, “can you imagine the pressure these men were under to please Rufus?”

Heidegger’s mouth curled up into a snarl, his beard twitching and his bushy brows falling low over his narrow eyes.

“Embarrass me like that again you fool and you’ll be eating the chocobo shit off my boots.”

Cloud let out a little breath of air from his nose. “Maybe you should watch where you step then.”

With an enraged snarl, he was hurled into the metal beast of a ship.

“Change of plans,” the Director said, thundering over and lifting him by the back of his uniform with far too much ease. This guy would give Barret a run for his money in hand to hand combat.

“You’re coming with us and you’re going to be scrubbing everyone’s shit.”

His voice softened, just a hair and he turned to his wife, still holding Cloud as if he was nothing more than a sack of laundry.

“Sweetheart, Tseng will take you to Costa in the chopper.”

As he watched the metal planks swaying beneath him, Cloud allowed himself to breathe. This was one way to board the ship.

Characters: Zack & Barret Prompt: Vampire AU

Trembling and weak, Zack Fair stumbled through the woods. He was on the run, or the hobble, as the case was currently, a silver arrow in his thigh. At least it was an arrow, not a musket ball.

Catching his breath, he rested against a tree, wrapping his fingers around the arrow again, closing his eyes to count. He could just…yank it out. But then his palm sizzled and smoked and though he tried to withstand the pain just long enough to remove the poison from his leg, it won and he released it, collapsing to the ground with his palm open, watching as the smoke died away and the burnt flesh returned to its original state. Pale, veiny, unnatural.

“Hojo…” he gasped, “…what did you do to me?”

The pain in his leg spread, past his knee, down his shin and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand on it. Hojo’s cronies would be on him any moment to drag him back to that dungeon, to educate him on his new form, to indoctrinate them into their army of the undead.

Footsteps approached and he heard the cocking of a firearm. That was almost a relief. He probably looked like a nightmare, but at least whoever had come up on him didn’t belong to the ShinRa manor. They didn’t use weapons any longer.

“Are you friend or foe?”

A gruff, masculine voice. Zack didn’t have the strength to look for the person the voice belonged to, but he sounded strong. He sounded dangerous. Maybe he’d kill him and give him peace.

“I don’t know,” Zack admitted weakly.

In his heart, he was a friend. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. He was champion of the downtrodden, laughter for his friends, and a listen ear to those who needed.

His stomach, however, said otherwise. He could smell the blood inside this man’s veins. He could practically taste it, the image was so vivid. Perhaps for…just a sip…he could find the strength the silver was robbing him of.

“My name is Barret Wallace. An’ I got kids with me so I’m gonna ask you again: are you friend or foe?”

Kids. The humanity in Zack took the wheel. He wouldn’t hurt kids. He didn’t even want to scare them, so he lifted his hand gingerly, waving them away.

“…Vampire…” he whispered, “go. I don’t want to…”

“Vampire?” Barret slung his weapon over his shoulder, taking a look at the arrow in the man’s leg. “Yeah we got plenty o those ‘round here. We ain’t scared of you.”

“Nope,” came the voice of a little girl, “Lady Marie protects us from Vampires.”

Zack laughed, relaxing. Relaxing or giving in to the silver, he wasn’t sure. “Must be some tough Lady…can't imagine that.”

Without a word, Barret stomped over, yanking the arrow from his leg and slipping it into his belt, From his other shoulder, dropped a boar into the leaves.

“Not yer drink of choice, I know, but I think you know why I ain’t about to be carryin’ a vamp around my neck. I can always catch another boar.”

Already Zack felt stronger and he lifted himself onto his elbows, taking in his rescuer and the two small children that stood off to the side behind him. He didn’t want to hurt these people…but he would. If he lost control, he would. If he ate, he’d have too much power for them.

“Eat the damn pig,” Barret said, giving it a little kick. “The castle ain’t far from here.”

“I won’t become a danger to your lady,” Zack declined, scooting back, “it’s not the sort of man I was, but my new nature is…unpredictable…humans are not safe. You need to go.”

The little girl stepped forward, crossing her arms, her eyes lighting up. “Oh. Lady Marie is not a human. A little gent like you couldn’t hurt her.”

With blue eyes sparked with question, Zack furrowed his brow, turning to Barret and the large man crouched on the ground, lifting the boar and dropping it into Zack’s lap with an emphatic thud.

“She’s a vampire queen. An’ she’ll train you up right.”

Zack turned his attention back the way he came and sighed, looking down at the boar. What an impossible choice.

Give himself back up to the mad doctor and the Vampire Lord…or submit himself to an unknown queen?

There would be no winning for him.

Characters: Loz & Rude Prompt: Marriage Proposal

“Come on, old man, what are you waiting for?”

Rude looked at the petite ring and its solitary stone, nestled comfortably in a small box. Would she even like it? Tifa wasn’t…she wasn’t the sort of woman who liked these frivolous displays of affection or extravagant expenditures. They were all trying to rebuild the world. Focusing on themselves like this…would she approve?

Next to him, Loz threw his arm around him, goading him. He was antsy today and looking to spar. At twenty, he still had too much juvenile energy to expend.

“I’m…not sure.”

With an exaggerated sigh, the silver haired boy threw his head back against the headrest of the car he was driving, pulling his arm back. They were partners today, as they so often were. Ever since the triplets’ little…episode, they’d been working closely with the TURKs as penance, but oftentimes it just felt like surveillance.

At least Kadaj got to hang out with Reno. He was fun.

“She’ll say yes. She’s always had the hots for you.”

Rude adjusted his shades, looking out the window of the passing wasteland. They were almost back in Edge.

He didn’t doubt his relationship with Tifa. There had always been something there, for the both of them. It was the reason he never seemed to succeed in his missions that put her in danger. It was the reason she went soft on he and Reno after Midgar fell. After The Reunion, they’d both finally put the skirting flirtations aside and went on a date.

And by date, he meant they traveled the city together, collecting victims of Geostigma and leading them to the healing waters. If Rude hadn’t been in love before, watching her care for strangers with such tenderness, holding their oozing hands with reassurance as they stepped into their salvation…

Well shit, he sure fell in love then.  

It had been two years since then. He’d even moved into her apartment above the bar. He wasn’t there often, as Rufus, the WRO, and this menace of a remnant kept him away from home more than he would like, and though he was confident in their relationship and her fidelity of body and soul, he wasn’t sure if she trusted him enough for marriage. What if she wanted an escape hatch?

He wouldn’t blame her. He’d committed many sins in his life.

“You’re too old to keep wondering. Just ask.”

“I’m thirty-five.”

Loz shrugged, taking a turn far too sharply. Driving a car was a work in progress. Motorcycles were so much easier to handle.

“I’m just saying. Don’t be like my pops. He was in his sixties by the time his balls were big enough to ask Mama to marry him.”

If Rude’s smiles were visible, one might have caught one here. Yes, the gossip of the ever love-shy Vincent Valentine had been legendary in the office. It had been so fantastical, in fact, that many of the TURKs didn’t believe there ever had been a Vincent Valentine or a Marie Hojo.

Damn had they been proven wrong.

“…I…won’t wait until I’m sixty.”

#aaaahhhh Loz and Rude bonding. I love it #Hojosynthesis #barret wallace #loz #Zack Fair #cloud strife #heidegger #Heidegger ffvii #ff7 #ff7 fanfic #ffvii #ffvii fanfiction