Cloti Personal Trainer Au(I'm just throwing the cutest things I can think of at you, because)
[more three sentence fics things from like, ages ago, ahahaha]
"I can't do this anymore, Teef," Cloud said, stretching out his arms behind him and leaning on them.
"Of course you can," Tifa said, grinning at him, her whole body beaming with that infectious enthusiams that always kept him going, "and you're not only gonna make it through today, but if you keep up all the hard work, you'll definitely make it into the army soon, I'm positive!"
Cloud nodded, a smile slowly forming on his lips, and said, "Yeah, okay; so what was next, the crunches?"
[spoilers for a certain book series below the cut. i mean, i figure it’s one of those things that’s not really a spoiler by now, but all the same:]
"And that’s when I hear the scream," he read. Cloud knew what was going to happen, but his gut felt uneasy anyhow. Reading this part was bad enough alone, but he was reading aloud now. To Reno. Who has no clue what was about to take place."It’s a child’s scream, a young girl’s scream," he continues, running a hand over Reno’s hair. His head was in Cloud’s lap, his eyes squinting a bit and looking far away as he concentrated on the story, "there’s no one in the arena capable of making that sound except Rue. And now I’m running, knowing this may be a trap, knowing the three Careers may be poised to attack me, but I can’t help myself. There’s another high-pitched cry, this time my name. ‘Katniss! Katniss!’"
He paused for a moment, glancing at Reno’s face and dreading his reaction to the ending of this chapter. This was the one part of the entire series that wrecked him more than anything. Cloud wasn’t aware of a person that it hadn’t wrecked.
‘“Rue!’ I shout back, so she knows I’m near. So, they know I’m near, and hopefully the girl who has attacked them with tracker jackers and gotten an eleven they still can’t explain will be enough to pull their attention away from her. ‘Rue! I’m coming!’
"When I break into the clearing, she’s on the ground, hopelessly entangled in a net."
"No." It was soft, barely more than an exhale.
"She just has time to reach her hand through the mesh—"
"No." Reno’s eyes flew open, seeking out his own desperately, and it made Cloud’s heart break.
"—and say my name—"
"No, no, no, please tell me this isn’t happening."
"—before the spear enters her body."
Cloud dog-earred the page and closed the book, setting it to the side slowly. He looked down at Reno, who was still staring off into space. He looked almost peaceful, but there was a certain edge in his eyes that Cloud understood all to well. He was sad for Rue’s death, but more than that he was angry. Cloud had reacted the exact same way.
After a long silence, Reno said, "Not seriously gonna stop there, are ya?"
"You know the drill," Cloud said, dropping a kiss onto the Turk’s mouth. "One chapter a day."
Reno swore under his breath. "That’s not fair, yo," he said, dropping his arm over his eyes and letting out a defeated sigh. "But Rue…Rue’s okay, though, right? I mean, she makes it, doesn’t she? Rue can’t die. She’s just a little girl…."
"Marry Bugenhagen. He's old anyway it won't last long.
Get drunk with Cid, and take bets on which of us starts a bar fight first.
Fuck Hojo, because I'm sure as hell not gonna be drunk and stumbling around him. Maybe if I just say it's 'for science' he'll let me leave with all my bodily fluids in their rightful organs."
Strike a Nerve: "So it looks like Marlene's not talkin' to you."
"We...had a fight, yeah," Cloud sighed, trying not to look as torn up about it as he really was. Kids fought with their parents all the time, right? "She wants to go be with Barret in Corel."
He paused for a moment. He hadn't intended to say that much. He didn't need to bother Reno with this drama, anyway. But he found that once the word vomit had started, it was difficult to stop.
"Like, she wants to move in with him permanently, but he told her to stay here for a little while longer, and now she thinks everyone is conspiring to make her miserable. That's what she said, man. She actually said that living in Edge with us is making her miserable. I mean, I know kids are gonna be brats and break your heart and be ungrateful little shits sometimes, but--"
A knot formed in his throat, and he had to clear it several times before he could finish speaking. And he absolutely was not on the verge of tears. "I really thought I was doing better about being there for the kids, but I guess I was wrong, if she really feels that way."
