Pairing: ASGCZ
Rating: Teen
Tags!!!: hurt/comfort, wing fic, fluff, rehab, recovery, human experimentation
Chapter: 2/5
Summary: The rest of the gang meets the winged boy.
[first] [third] [fourth] [fifth]
Angeal stared at the winged boy, his gaze hard and facial expression blank.
It had taken nearly an hour to get the boy washed and clean up. The boy had cried and fought anyone who got near him except Sephiroth. The blond struggled wildly to get away from the stream of water, instead choosing to hide in Sephiroth’s lap. It only ended when the general reluctantly got in the shower with the boy, much to the surprise of the surrounding nurses. Washing the boy took another hour, the boy wiggled and moved around nonstop. Everything about the plain hospital shower caught his attention, making it nearly impossible for Sephiroth to properly wash the boy.
Now cleaned, dried, and dressed in a hospital gown with cut holes for his wings, the boy quickly warmed up the Zack’s presence. The Second sat on the small hospital bed with the blond boy showing him his PDA. The boy took interest in the handheld black object, watching eagerly as the front screen changed colours and images. He turned the PDA over in his hands, smacking the screen, and shoving it into Zack’s face with happy sounding noises to show the teen.
The boy hadn’t acknowledged Angeal’s nor Genesis’s presence aside from a wary glance when Sephiroth carried the boy into his hospital room. Zack had quickly captured the boy’s attention with his animated talking and hand gestures. He watched with wide eyes and his wings gave the occasional excited flutter.
Genesis cleared his throat bringing the other two Firsts’ attention to him.
Sephiroth gave a sigh. “As I said, I don’t know anything. I found him in the depths of Hojo’s lab, locked behind a glass wall. I have not read his files yet.”
“So you just took him with you?” Genesis snorted, of all people he would expect Sephiroth to take the time to think things through.
“It was clear he was no threat or danger. His enclosure had a blanket and a bucket, it was filthy dirty like the boy, and he was afraid of me.”
“Sure didn’t look like it.” Angeal rolled his eyes; now Genesis was just trying to pick a fight.
“Do you have any plans?” Angeal asked shooting Genesis a stern look. The red head First simply looked away.
“He will certainly need rehabilitation and extensive care. He will stay here until he is well enough to leave. Until then, the hospital will be in charge of him.”
“Awe no worries, bud, I’ll visit you everyday!” Zack pulled the boy into a hug. The blond stared up at Zack, his face giving no indication he understood. He lifted the PDA up and pushing into Zack’s chest. Zack unlocked it and handed it back, ignoring Angeal’s look, knowing full well the message behind his disapproving stare.
“Chill, he can’t understand anything, he won’t steal any information or send a secret message.”
“You are too trusting.” Was Angeal’s only reply.
“Yes, he cannot understand anything we say. Severe neglect in my only guess. He cannot walk either and he doesn’t recognize anything common to us.” Sephiroth added watched the blond play with Zack’s PDA.
“Life in an empty box…” Genesis trailed off ending with a heavy sigh.
They all shared the same loaded thoughts as the blond toyed with the PDA completely unaware to the wrongdoings bestowed on him and the pitiful looks coming from the SOLDIERs.
The tense moment was broken when the boy let out a strangled noise instantly bringing everyone’s attention back to him. Zack nearly jumped off the bed in worry. The boy had one arm raised, the other still holding the PDA, and was making grabby hand motions at Sephiroth. The general took Zack’s place on the bed. The blond crawled into Sephiroth’s lap, wings flutter and shaking gently.
The boy rested his head on Sephiroth’s shoulder. Using his free hand he grabbed a first full of the man’s long, soft hair and began to run his fingers through. Eyebrows rose in surprise and disbelief; Sephiroth was not an affection one after all.
Sephiroth made a point to ignore the looks he was receiving and threaded his fingers through the boy’s wings. He pulled out handfuls of loose and broken feathers, letting the poor feathers form a substantial pile on the bed. The boy didn’t seem to mind, perhaps even like it as he lifted his wings and opened them for grooming.
“So obviously we know who he likes best.” Genesis joked, amusement heavy in his tone. Zack nodded in agreement. It was almost endearing to see the boy curled up in the stone faced general’s lap if they had not known about the boy’s situation.
“Seriously, what’s happened to him? His wings are a mess,” Zack crossed his arms regarding the pile of feathers with concern.
“Malnutrition, bad living conditions, neglect, you name it,” Angeal answered earning a huff from the Second.
“Kiddo’s kinda on the small side,” Genesis noted. The blond was very much on the small side. His ribs were clearly showing through, his spine poked out, and his pelvis was clearly outlined. His thin pale, almost translucent, skin clung tightly to his small frame. This large wings dwarfed his body, small and brittle feathers in equally horrible condition.
“Time to meal prep I guess.” It was a poor attempt to lighten the mood from Zack but the boy was going to require some intense meal prep and dieting in order to gain weight.
“I’m sure the hospital will handle that,” Sephiroth added, brushing out the last of the stray feathers from one wing.
“Seph’s right, and if he doesn’t eat they’ll use a feeding tube.”
Angeal groaned rolling his head back. “We don’t want to do that. Using force on him won’t do any good. We’re lucky enough he’s comfortable with Sephiroth and Zack.”
“Hear that buddy? That means no feeding tube for you! As long as you eat you food or else papa bear Seph is gonna give you the nasty feeding tube.” Zack spoke animatedly, easily catching the boy’s attention.
The boy stared at Zack with a blank expression, unhearing to his words, and held up the PDA. Zack proceeded to fight the boy to get back his PDA for the next ten minutes.
Pairing: ASGCZ
Rating: Teen
Tags!!!: hurt/comfort, wing fic, fluff, rehab, recovery, human experimentation
Chapter: 1/5
Summary: The top SOLDIER Firsts and Zack discover the extent of Hojo’s experimentation when they find the late doctor’s latest experiment: a young teen boy with large bird wings.
[AU in which Cloud never even became an Infantryman and fell to the hands of Hojo’s terribly unethical human experimentation as a baby.]
[second] [third] [fourth] [fifth]
Sephiroth gripped the handled to Masamune, the leather of his gloves squeaking under the intense pressure. Pure anger coursed through his body as if taking over every cell and atom.
The silver haired First stood in the rundown lab of the infamous Shinra Co. doctor Hojo. The doctor had been killed just a week ago by mercenaries and Sephiroth and other Firsts were sent off to find whatever information was left by the unethical man.
Sephiroth certainly found something all right.
Deep within Hojo’s lab, at the very end was a large room. The walls and concrete ground was cracked. Dust and filth covered the ground and the air was thick and musky. It was clearly unkempt. The last room of the lab was in horrible condition, surprising for the strict and tidy doctor, but what was worse was the contents of the dirty room.
Behind thick stained glass was a boy. A young boy curled on the filthy ground, sprouting large feathered wings from his back.
His ‘enclosure’ was fairly decently sized but knowing the boy had absolutely no freedom, it was much to small to properly house him. There was nothing in his enclosure aside from a single blanket and a bucket. No food or water, no bedding and now where to use the bathroom. Sephiroth deduced that was what the bucket was for.
It was highly the likely the boy had been unvisited since Hojo’s death.
Sephiroth pulled out his PDA calling the first Turk on his contacts, demanding for backup immediately and proceeded to hang up without waiting for a reply.
Walking the door of the class separator, Sephiroth took another look at the boy. His large wings covered most of his body slumping into the ground. His wings were unkempt as well, feathers stuck out in every direction. There were bald spots and pin feathers, many feathers were broken too.
Casting Freeze over the door handle and keypad, Sephiroth smashed the hilt of his sword against the frozen metal effectively breaking in, and waking the boy. The blond boy shot up instantly, his head turned to the door and Sephiroth, watching with wide terrified eyes. His wings pulled up slightly leaving only the very ends of them touching the floor.
Sephiroth pushed over the door and took a few steps in, the boy scrambled backwards. The SOLDIER took his time examining the room and the boy; both were filthy dirty.
Sephiroth took another step forward making the boy flinch. Sighing, he turned away and exited the boy’s glass enclosure. He squeezed Masamune tighter; he absolutely hated Hojo. The so-called doctor did so many horrible things, the winged boy was just another victim.
He filtered through the shelves of books and binders, tossing aside useless papers and pushing away the junk that cluttered all the tables. The rows of shelving proved to be the most useful, holding binders of Hojo’s research and experiments, info on the boy. Sephiroth purposely walked all around the room, making big movements and keeping an eye on the boy. The blond had crept closer to the door as Sephiroth scoured the room, probably realizing he wasn’t there to hurt the boy.
The boy crawled slowly dragging his wings on the ground until he sat at the door watching Sephiroth. His gaze, less fearful and more curious now, turned and followed the silver haired general’s movements.
Upon the beeping of his PDA, Sephiroth turned back to the boy and slowly approached him. The boy stiffened and flinched when Sephiroth kneeled in front of him, but otherwise did not move. Sephiroth easily picked up the boy, holding his by the back and under the knees. The boy gave small confused sounds but didn’t struggled. Instead the blond rested against the general’s chest, curling up and relaxing as Sephiroth walked outside.
There, backup stood waiting, two helicopters and a transport truck, half-dozen Turks, and a few SOLDIERs. Sephiroth ignored the raised eyebrows and surprised looks. Sharing only a nod with Rude, he entered one of the helicopters. Careful to avoid bumping the boy’s large wings, Sephiroth took a seat in the back and rested the boy in his lap.
Sephiroth vaguely noted the Turks and SOLDIERs entering Hojo’s abandoned lab, instead choosing to watch the boy whose eyes were wide with wonder and taking in his new surroundings. His head swiveled around as he looked at the interior of the helicopter, his blue green eyes bright with curiosity and bright. His slightly matted hair tickled Sephiroth’s nose as he scrutinized every little detail of the helicopter.
Sephiroth watched with pity, it was clear the boy had never seen a helicopter before, let alone the items inside; he’d have to read the boy’s files. A slight tugging of his scalp brought broke him away from his thoughts.
The boy seemed to be enamoured with the general’s hair. With thin, bony hands the boy ran his fingers through Sephiroth’s long hair. He twirled the long locks in his hands, grabbing handfuls carefully and smoothed out the bunches. Sephiroth felt his heart throb ever so slightly. His long hair was probably the most familiar thing to the boy since leaving his confinement. He allowed the boy to continue to play with his hair
It didn’t take much longer until the boy passed out, or fell asleep, likely from being overwhelmed by the new environment. Now curled up against Sephiroth’s chest with one hand holding a handful of long, silver hair, the boy seemed so much smaller and vulnerable. His wings folded nicely on his back, feathers still sticking out, and shielded his exposed back. The ends of his wings pressed into the floor, already broken feathers bending and twisting.
Sephiroth pulled his hands away from the boy, careful not to hurt him, and clenched his hands. He’s never wanted to hurt Hojo more than now.
It was unthinkable what the doctor had done to his boy.
Pairing: ASGCZ
Rating: Teen
Tags!!!: hurt/comfort, wing fic, fluff, rehab, recovery, human experimentation
Chapter: 3/5
Summary:The crew spends their free day with the newly named winged boy, Cloud.
[first] [second] [fourth] [fifth]
“Cloud, no. Sit, sit down.”
Angeal crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. He gave Cloud a hard, disapproving stare stopping the boy on his endeavor. Cloud was frozen in his position, both hands on the countertop with one leg lifted with wings spread open for balance, ready to climb up. Sitting on the counter seemed to be the boy’s new pass time.
Cloud stared back with a startled expression, as if he didn’t know Angeal could see him. He slowly brought his leg down, folded his wings, and sat properly on the stool. In two weeks the boy had mastered the puppy-dog look, giving a wide eyed pouty look whenever he wanted something he wasn’t allowed, like sitting on the counter. Angeal, ever hardened from Zack’s puppy-dog face, never caved in once. The same couldn’t be said about the others. Nonetheless, it was crucial to teach Cloud the limits of their household, which meant no counter sitting and no snacks after eight pm.
Angeal turned back to the pan, frying up another pancake while keeping an ear open on Cloud. Sure enough, only twenty seconds later he heard the tell tale sounds of the stool scraping the floor. He turned around to Cloud in the same position as before, half crawled on the counter.
Cloud flinched and froze, giving Angeal the same startled look. His reaction was almost comical, like he had know idea how he got caught.
“Cloud, sit, or no dessert tonight.” It was a pretty weak threat, but it worked wonders on the winged boy.
Angeal could hear the whining and sigh as Cloud returned to his seat and returned once more to frying pancakes. Cloud made no moves to climb the counter anymore and Angeal was able to finish making breakfast. With a decent pile of fluffy pancakes Angeal placed a plate of four in front of Cloud despite knowing the boy would only eat two and a half.
Just as Cloud finished drowning his pancakes with maple syrup, Genesis came shuffling into the kitchen. With a hand scratching his stomach and the other ruffling his hair, Genesis took a seat. Angeal slid over a cup of steaming black coffee earning a grunt in reply.
Cloud, ever the innocent one, gave a happy little sound. Nearly bouncing in his seat, his wings fluttered and quaked. He leaned over the counter and pressed a piece of syrup soaked pancake against Genesis’s lips. Eyes still shut, the redhead First ate the pancake piece without objection.
It was their little morning routine on the days Cloud stayed at their flat. Cloud would always feed a half asleep Genesis whatever breakfast Angeal made until the man was awake enough to drink his coffee. Today was soggy pancakes.
“Cloud, sit.”
The boy sat down and proceeded to eat his share of pancakes, ripping them into small pieces and tossing them in his mouth. They still needed to work on table manners and cutlery.
Cloud ate without any issues, giving Genesis a piece every few bites and giving Angeal bright smiles in which Angeal would return his smile. Two weeks of proper living conditions did wonders. Cloud quickly warmed up to Genesis and Angeal making taking care of him much easier. Cloud was beginning to gain some weight. His skin was showing more colour, his hair and feathers properly kempt now carried a healthy sheen, and his behaviour was a whole other story. Despite the lack of communication, it was quite clear and obvious was the boy wanted. His vocal cues and body language were easy to understand.
Grabbing a baby wipe, Angeal scrubbed the sticky maple syrup from Cloud’s face and hands. The blonde sat still and shot out of his seat the moment Angeal pulled away. Diving on the couch, Cloud wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and turned to watch Angeal expectantly. It was TV time. Cloud liked the weather channel as much as he liked cartoons, it really didn’t matter.
Turning on the TV Angeal returned to his breakfast. Genesis slowly ate his pancakes washing it down with coffee. Mornings were peaceful even with Cloud around.
Zack and Sephiroth would arrive later after finishing their breakfasts. It was Zack’s turn to take Cloud during the day.
Angeal watched from his seat as Cloud shuffled around on the sofa before flopping on his side. He wiggled against the sofa seats and cocooned himself under his blanket all while keeping his eyes on the TV. Perhaps they boy simply liked the constant sounds.
Genesis finished off his coffee and was washing the dishes when Sephiroth and Zack entered the apartment. Heavy boots followed by shuffling of fabric, the two appeared in the living room. Zack immediately called out to Cloud and sat down next to him capturing his attention now. Sephiroth took a seat at the table where Angeal slid over a cup of coffee.
“Anything new?” Sephiroth asked. He poured copious amounts of cream into his mug along with a single sugar cube.
“Nothing has changed. He does keep trying to sit on the countertop.” Angeal pinched the bridge of his nose wondering how they will break that habit. It only took one time sitting on the counter and Cloud was adamant on always trying.
“Ah ah! Nuh-huh, no. Cloud, stop! No!”
Three heads swiveled around to the living room. Zack was lying on his back on the sofa with Cloud on his stomach, TV and blanket long forgotten. The boy had his hands groping at Zack’s waist while Zack tried to push him away. The three Firsts watched for a moment bewildered at the scene.
“Cloud, bad! Bad boy, Cloud, stop!” Only then did the winged boy stop. He looked at Zack with wide confused eyes. Zack sat up with a huff and ruffled his hair.
“Cloud, you can’t do that, you have to wait. No touching.” Zack gave Cloud a stern look, who looked back in continued confusion. Repeating himself again, Cloud moved off Zack’s lap on his shins.
“Remember, no touching, you have to wait.” Cloud pouted, his expression dropped and turned sad. He whined and whimpered watching Zack’s hard expression. “Okay, come.”
Immediately Cloud shot forward straight into Zack’s chest. Zack laughed loudly wrapping his arms around the boy. One hand ruffling through Cloud’s hair and the other brushing one wing, Zack praised the boy who buried his face into Zack. Zack pulled out his PDA from his pocket, the item in question, and gave it to Cloud who quickly became interested in it once again. Cloud turned around resting his back against Zack and played with the device.
“Well that’s a sight to see. Little puppy teaching the little chick to be a good boy, huh,” Genesis joked giving Angeal an amused look.
“He’s not my puppy,” Angeal growled, lips pulled back in a scowl.
“Well it hasn’t been that long and we’re taking things slow, so that kind of behaviour is expected.” Sephiroth interjected. Angeal sighed.
“He is learning, just slowly. Need to teach him to wear clothes. I feel like we’re training a dog.” Genesis grumbled. It really was, they started by teaching Cloud very basic commands. He caught on fairly quickly but was quite mischievous and ‘rebelled’ by doing exactly what he wasn’t supposed to do. Like climbing on the countertop.
“I’m sure Zack will handle him nicely, he is closest in age after all.”
“Countertops, clothes, and patience; this isn’t going to be easy.”
Pairing: ASGCZ
Rating: Teen
Tags!!!: hurt/comfort, wing fic, fluff, rehab, recovery, human experimentation
Chapter: 5/5
Summary: A day visiting the doctor’s starts off bad and ends horribly.
[first] [second] [third] [fourth]
Cloud remained confined to the house. Having the pair of wings made it difficult for him the go out in public. Instead he stayed at home and took care of household duties. Cleaning, cooking, laundry, and anything else. When he wasn’t doing chores, he was caring for his wings.
Having long hours on his hands, Cloud picked up chores and speech quickly, despite not being very vocal. What started out as folding blankets and placing pillows neatly turned into full blown laundry and dusting around the shared apartment.
Cloud stood at the stove stirring the contents of the pan around; scrambled eggs. With bacon and broccoli cooking in another pan and rice in the cooker, he shoveled the finished eggs into a plate and set to frying the crispy bacon. The scent of home cooked food wafted through the apartment waking its sleeping residents.
Predictably, Angeal was the first to enter the kitchen. Plopping down, the man gave a wide mouth yawn and placed his hand on the table where a warm cup of coffee was placed into. He gave a hum and held it to his face. Cloud poured the next cup of coffee and returned to cooking. Sephiroth would be down soon and boy did he need his coffee.
The table was quickly set and food placed out with just the rice to be be served. Sephiroth shuffled in, eyes closed and hair tousled. It would absolutely destructive if anyone else saw the general so uncomposed.
Sephiroth sat down and took a large gulp of his cooled coffee. Cloud instantly pulled up beside him in his own chair with a brush in hand. He took to combing through Sephiroth’s hair as he drank his coffee. Cloud always liked Sephiroth’s long hair and Sephiroth didn’t mind having his hair taken care of.
Heavy footsteps were heard as Genesis and Zack tumbled into the kitchen. The sleepy duo collapsed into their chairs and downed cups of coffee. Now that everyone was present, the began to eat.
Like ravenous wolves, the table was quickly cleared and stomachs were filled. Cloud’s wings puffed out with pride. The dishes were shuffled into the sink and washed as the others found their way to the living room. Cloud quickly joined once the dishes were placed in the rack.
Cloud shuffled his wings comfortably and tucked himself between sack and the end of the couch with a blanket around himself. The two cuddled together and within a few minutes Cloud was sitting in Zack’s lap as they became enraptured by the animal documentary Genesis had put on, but immediately lost interest in. The man had soon switched to reading his novel instead.
The gang lounged around until they had to leave for work. Like always, Cloud gave them each tight hugs and they would reassure him that they would return at six sharp. Eventually letting go, Cloud locked the door and headed into their shared bedroom.
The room which started out as a queen sized bed for Genesis and Angeal turned into two king sized beds put together for them. A mountain of blankets and pillows covered the combined bed and Cloud dove right in. He buried himself into the soft bed and pulled the blankets rightly around himself to form a cocoon. He took a deep breath taking in the linger scent left in the sheets and blankets.
Cloud took a long nap buried deep in the bed before continuing with chores.
First was prepping the frozen chicken. He left it out the thaw and made his marinade before doing the laundry. He gathered the worn clothes and separated them into two baskets. Together, there were too many clothes for one wash.
Chicken thawing and clothes in the wash, Cloud gathered the cleaning supplies. He mopped dusted and mopped the floor, wiped the countertops from breakfast, the window sills were dusted, and the bed was made.
Following doing chores was another nap. Cloud settled back into the couch with his blanket and turned to a cartoon channel.
Waking from his second nap, it was already early evening. Cloud finished preparing the chicken and tossed it into the oven to cook. He quickly became lost in cooking and time. He was shocked out of his cooking reverie as the door opened. Cloud dropped the ladle into the pot and ran to the front door. He launched himself at the first person who entered.
With slightly open wings he jumped into Genesis’s arms with an excited shout. Genesis easily caught their feathered friend and spun him around as he laughed gleefully.
Sharing soft kisses and hugs, they clambered into the kitchen. Cloud’s mood instantly lifted as he listened to his lovers chat and discuss their days’ work. He filled the table with their dinner and watched as they ate. It was together when Cloud felt most at home and comfortable.
Following dinner was a long cuddle session on the couch. Together they piled on the small couch, hands and feet poking out and half lying on each other, they finally got into comfortable positions. Cloud curled himself on Angeal’s lap tucking his head under his chin with his legs resting on Zack. Cloud became fully relaxed as large, strong fingers dragged through his feathers. Scratching under his feathers and soft down, pulling out the loose feathers and giving his wings a full massage and preen. Before long everyone’s laps were covered in white fluffy down and feathers.
They ended the night with continued cuddles in bed after they washed up and Cloud found himself comfortably buried between the right fit of all his lovers.
Pairing: ASGCZ
Rating: Teen
Tags!!!: hurt/comfort, wing fic, fluff, rehab, recovery, human experimentation
Chapter: 4/5
Summary: A day visiting the doctor's starts off bad and ends horribly.
[first] [second] [third] [fifth]
It started in the morning when Cloud refused to put on clothes. Donning only a loose pair of boxers, Cloud ran from Angeal. It was more like crawling and dragging his body around but he would whine and whimper whenever Angeal got too close. He bat his hands and flared his wings, whimpering and looking close to crying.
Angeal could easily grab the boy and wrestle him to some pants and a shirt, but he didn’t want to scare Cloud nor hurt him.
After an hour of chasing Cloud and being hit in the face with soft but solid wings, Angeal admitted defeat and called for Zack who arrived fifteen minutes later. Genesis had yet to even wake.
Angeal was sure Zack would be able to convince Cloud to put on clothes, until the boy burst into tears. Angeal deduced he likely felt overwhelmed and possibly betrayed when his trusted best friend Zack joined in to force him to wear clothes. Backed into a corner with large tears falling from his eyes, Cloud let out heart wrenching sobs. Zack had been startled by Cloud’s sudden outburst of tears and panicked as well. Angeal found the two sitting in the corner, Zack frantically trying to calm the crying winged boy in a frenzy. He tried to help, he really did, but approaching Cloud only upset him further sending him into a full blown panic attack.
Dressing was further postponed by another half hour spend calming Cloud. Thirty minutes sitting with the boy, talking quietly and rubbing his back comfortingly. At one point Cloud crawled into Zack’s lap, clinging on the Second in a death grip as his tears slowly faded away. At that point, Angeal was sure they would never make it to the doctors. Admitting defeat again, he wrapped Cloud’s favourite blanket around him as he slowly began to drift asleep.
Much to Angeal’s surprise, Zack began to dress Cloud. Half asleep and now exhausted, the boy was completely unaware and limp as Zack dressed him. Angeal was quite impressed.
Angeal had been surprised when he found Genesis fully awake and dressed at the table drinking a cup of coffee. He rolled his eyes, of course the man didn’t want to get involved with any sticky situation.
Slapping his fellow First on that back of his head, the three shuffled out the apartment door when Zack mentioned Cloud’s bag. It was essentially a baby bag, containing tissues, baby wipes, snacks, juice, and towels. Upon receiving Angeal’s death glare, Genesis retrieved the bag along with Cloud’s blanket. Then they made their way to the car.
They were much behind on time and way past their designated appointment time, but they could certainly be seen. Shinra Co hospital after all.
Cloud slept soundly throughout the ride, curled up comfortable in Zack’s chest, small hands tightly gripped around the SOLDIER’s shirt as he doze.
It was until arriving at their room hospital did the day get worse, again.
Cloud woke up cranky and frustrated. Right away he began pulling at his close, he came close to taking off his pants at one point. He whined and whimpered like a lost child and looked at his three caretakers with desperate eyes. With half lidded eyes and a frown, Cloud shuffled nonstop, hands and legs moving anxiously in attempt to remove his clothes.
He crawled into Genesis’s lap and planted his face into the man’s chest with a whine. The First responded by combing the boy’s wings, cooing softly. However it served no purpose in calming Cloud down. His shoulders were tensed and pulled in, his body stiff, and he held tightly on Genesis. He rubbed his face around, trying to bury his head into Genesis’s armpit. Cloud’s hands were curled into small fists, hopelessly pawing at Genesis as well, almost like a frightened kitten.
Zack sat down next to the two with a heavy plop. He ran his hands through Cloud’s wings as well, talking in a gentle manner to calm the boy. One hand snuck out and fisted Zack’s shirt, who rested one hand over top and rubbed his thumb back and forth.
An audible exhale was heard. Angeal tapped his foot impatiently; the better they get seen, the quicker they can take Cloud home. It was quite obvious the boy was uncomfortable.
As if on cue a nurse called them. The three stood up in unison, quickly following the nurse into a room. Genesis nearly grumbled, they had to wait more. Luckily not much longer, just a few minutes later their doctor appeared making Cloud nearly jump out of Genesis’s lap in fear. He tensed and curled up further, pressing closer to Genesis and refused to relinquish his hold on either Genesis or Zack.
All attempts to make Cloud move flushed down the drain. He shock his head still hiding his face and whined pitifully. His wings were tense and stiff, muscles flexed making his feathers fluff out.
“Call Sephiroth,” Angeal grumbled fingers pressed into his temple. This kind of reaction was not expected; Cloud never had any issues with doctor visits before.
Zack slipped out of the room PDA in hand. The remaining occupants of the room were quite, only Cloud’s little sobs were heard. He eventually became more restless, hands pushing at his clothes and once again trying to pull them off. He became more agitated and anxious when Genesis stopped him with a gentle hold. Cloud returned to burying his face into Genesis to hide himself. His wings opened up and formed a cocoon around himself, further shielding him.
Sephiroth turned up bursting through the door and planting himself next to Genesis where he began to whisper quietly to Cloud. With fingers combing through Cloud’s wings and soft talking, Cloud finally relaxed and calmed down. Somewhere along the line, Cloud ended up half sitting in Sephiroth’s lap as well. The two Firsts became pressed up against each other stuck in the boy’s tight, death grip, face pressed into their shoulders.
The general had been successful in prying Cloud’s face away from their bodies, enough to look at his confused and tear stained face. After a seemingly neverending one sided talk, Sephiroth scooped the boy fully into his lap and nodded towards the doctor. She moved slowly, taking Genesis’s spot and became the routine checkup. Cloud flinched and whined every time she touched him or brought a tool close. Zack knelt in front of Cloud showing the winged boy a video of a cartoon but it didn’t nothing to help distract him.
The hardest part had to convincing Cloud to detach from Sephiroth to stand on the scale. Giving him a shot wasn’t has difficult. The boy reacted by opening his wings and flapping the agitatedly, hitting everyone in the face with his strong wings. It left behind a plethora of loose feathers and down.
After an exhausting hour, the doctor was able to get most of her check up complete. Cloud’s condition and health was improving, albeit still underweight and malnourished.
The SOLDIERs left in a hurry and once returned to Angeal and Genesis’s apartment, Cloud immediately dove into their bed and hid under the comforter. Zack appeared soon after with Cloud’s favourite blanket and left the boy to be.
It would probably before a few hours before he opened up to them and forgot about his mild trauma.
