Surprises have never been high up on Cloud’s list of likes. Could he handle them? Probably. Would he get over them? Absolutely. However, that stretch of time between the surprise and recovery━that was where Cloud’s issue lied; those brief moments of discomfort and disorientation as his mind scrambled to right itself and regain its footing━that was what Cloud hated most.
There was no looming sense of uncertainty while he makes the familiar trek to sector five; he’d made this exact same walk many times over, and he’s long since become numb to what to expect. The residents even all seemed to reside in relatively the same areas every time he came, the same faces greeting him at the gate, the same people lingering around the shops. Some of them greet him, and he nods in return ( merely by reflex alone; he can’t come up with the majority of their names, much less an interest in them ). Same old, same old.
Until, quite literally, it was not the same old, same old. Gaia, did he HATE surprises.
Bit by bit, and then all at once, his calm shatters. His heart races, his hands clammy, and his footsteps come to an immediate halt. His hand immediately falls back to grasp the hilt of his sword as he stares ahead with barely ( poorly ) concealed panic at a form he never in his life wanted to lay eyes on again. Sephiroth.
❛ Why━ ❜ his voice is choked; it cracks, much to his annoyance. ❛ Why are you here? ❜