(no subject)

[leatheredlion.livejournal.com]

Who: Cloud & Squall
When: Late afternoon
Where: Balamb Garden
What: Talking
Rating: PG



Okay, last package. It had taken him all day to finish his deliveries but, thankfully, this one wasn't in a stupid place like the middle of a forest. Yeah, those deliveries sucked. All the name on the package said was 'Commander of Balamb Garden'. Helpful. At least he'd managed to get past the security and hadn't been bugged for very long about what was inside it. He didn't know. He didn't care. He just delivered the shit, got his pay and went. Making his way to the office, he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Squall was sat at his desk. Various mission reports and rumours about the spreading virus were littered across the desk; various handwritten notes and post-its were stuck about. He rubbed at his temples, trying to rub away the tension headache he felt coming on.

Once the elevator opened and he figured out where he was supposed to be going, Cloud found the office and knocked the door, waiting patiently as he let his mako eyes scan the package again. Probably some old guy, right?

At the sound of the knock, Squall wheeled his chair back from the desk enough to get up and made his way over. He flicked the lock to unlock the door and pulled it open. "Yes?" It wasn't until after he had spoken that he actually looked at who it was. His eyes widened a little at the sight.

Eyes still on the package, Cloud started to speak. "I got a package for the Commander of Bala--" He looked up, his words lost to him as he looked at Squall. There was no way in HELL this was the commander.

A hint of a smirk curled at Squall's lips. "Where do I sign?" Those stormy eyes danced with a sense of mischief and amusement and also surprise, even if Squall didn't voice it.

Cloud yanked the clipboard off the back of his belt and held it out to Squall, blinking at him absently. "...wait, you're not the commander." He shook his head, pulling the board back.

"I'm not? Jeeze... and I was just about to do all his paperwork too." That smirk grew a little more, before growing into a smile. "So... you here for that sparring match now?"

Cloud blinked absently at Squall still, frowning at him in confusion. "...no." Shaking his head, Cloud looked at the package and the clipboard. "You're... really the commander?"

Squall gave a nod. "Yeah. Have been since I was seventeen." Okay, so that was only a couple of years but a lot had happened in that time. The Sorceress War, the battles with the Heartless, the fight against Chaos. He took the clipboard from Cloud's hand and scribbled his signature next to his name.

"Oh..." Handing the package over, Cloud stared at the name on the board, frowning at it like it didn't look right or as if it should've been written somewhere else. "Well... uh... yeah. Okay. Um..."

Squall frowned a little at the look on Cloud's face, arching an eyebrow as he held onto the package. "Is... something wrong?"

Cloud shook his head, clipping the clipboard onto his belt again. "No... I just didn't expect to see any of the Cosmos Warriors again..." He sighed softly.

"It's a small world," Squall held the package against his chest, looking at Cloud again. "You got somewhere you need to be, or you got time for a drink?"

"I can stay for a few minutes... my bike's safe outside, right?" He was fully aware of the fact that this was a mercenary school but, well, kids were kids.

Squall gave a nod. "Yeah. it might get a few kids staring at it in awe, but it's safe." He turned to walk into the office, setting the package down on the desk, leaving the door open for Cloud to follow. "Coffee?"

Cloud followed him in, closing the door and removing the clipboard so he didn't sit on it, sinking into the chair across from Squall's. "I... uh, yeah, black, no four sugars." He scrunched his nose up, going over his notes on the clipboard.

Squall made two mugs of coffee. It had taken a lot of pleading to finally get a coffee machine put in his office. It saved a lot of time not having to go down to the cafeteria every time he wanted one, which, when he was doing paperwork, was a lot. He set one down on the desk infront of Cloud before sitting in his own chair. "So where are you heading next?"

"Home. I have to pick up some more stuff and make my way to Ivalice." Cloud sipped his coffee, sighing gently afterwards. It tasted good, for a change. It took the edge off his stress.

"Ivalice? You travel all over Gaia then, huh?" He curled his legs up under himself in his chair, looking far more like a teenager than a warrior without war hanging over him.

Cloud nodded, looking at Squall with a slight smile, although his expression was more notable in his eyes than anywhere else. "I have to deliver something to the Queen of Dalmasca... and then I've got to take something to the tavern master."

Squall cupped his mug, taking a sip of the black coffee before turning his attentions back to Cloud. "So... you deliver things for a living or is it just a part time thing?" He imagined if Cloud was travelling so far and wide it must be pretty time-consuming.

"It's my job... but my friend Tifa does most of the work for the money to pay for the kids we look after." He wrinkled his nose, sipping his drink again, frowning at the contents of it. "It's just a way to get out of the house, I think..."

Squall set his mug down on the desk, looking over at Cloud. "Travelling to different continents to get out of the house? Things not going well for you?" He didn't want to sound like he was interfering, but that didn't sound too healthy. Not that he had a lot of room to talk.

Cloud frowned slightly. "Sephiroth is back... one of the kids that I look after, Denzel, he said that Tifa saw him and that he was in the bar we live at..." He shook his head, his sigh tense.

"Sephiroth? ... I thought he was dead." Even if Squall hadn't been to the Void, he still knew who Sephiroth was. Anyone who read the history books or even newspapers from the past decade knew.

"So did I. Just won't stay dead, I guess..." He took a long sip of his coffee, frowning at it still. "I'm not sure where he is right now... but I'm not letting him hurt my family again."

"Hey, Cloud. You're not alone, okay? You have me. And I have a whole army at my beck and call. If you need us, we're here."

"Sephiroth would destroy your army in minutes," Cloud murmured, finishing his coffee and setting the cup on the desk as he settled back.

"Don't underestimate them, Cloud. I have some strong men and women under me. But even without them, you have me. I'd stand along side you in battle."

"You don't have mako enhanced soldiers, Squall. It's my battle to fight, not theirs." He shook his head, rolling his shoulders as he reached to rub his neck.

Squall gave a sigh. "You don't have to fight alone, Cloud." He watched the blonde for a long moment, frowning. "You're tense." It was hardly surprising though.

"Yeah..." He was tense. It hurt how tight his shoulders were. "I'm not fighting alone. I have backup already." He didn't need anyone else.

Another sigh. "Right. Shoulder guard and straps off." He got up from his chair and moved around the desk to Cloud's side.

Cloud frowned at him, vaguely confused as he looked at him, his fingers instinctively curling around the buckle to unfasten it. "What?"

"Just be thankful I haven't asked you to remove your sweater too. Now come on, take the shoulder guard off." Squall crossed his arms over his chest, shooting Cloud with a firm look.

Sighing irritably, the blonde did as asked, taking the shoulder guard off, resting the piece against his lap, unable to distract himself fully with toying with the ring in Fenrir's mouth.

Squall shifted to stand behind Cloud's chair, resting his hands on the man's shoulders as he began to massage them, thumbs digging into the knotted muscles.

Blue eyes slipped closed and Cloud hung his head, making a soft sound of appreciation. "You don't have to... I'm okay, Squall..." he mumbled, exhaling slowly.

"You're not okay. Carry on like this and you'll mess up your back." The brunette continued to work on those shoulders as best as he could over that thick sweater, trying to work out the tight knots.

The blonde bit his lower lip, his brow furrowing as those hands worked out the aching in his shoulders, the back of his neck exposed just enough from under the collar of his sweater.

Squall worked his hands up Cloud's neck, fingers working against his hairline, kneading the base of his skull before working back down again.

He could've honestly just fell asleep there. He was exhausted, tense, stressed and Squall was just getting rid of all the tension so easily it made him shiver.

Squall began to work his hands down Cloud's spine as far as the chair would allow, before returning to those shoulders. After a long while he stepped back. "How's that feel?"

"Good... a lot better. Thanks..." He rubbed his eye a little then swiftly began to fit his shoulder guard back in place, his gaze lowered the whole time.

"It's not perfect. I mean really you should've been topless and laid down, but it worked some of the knots out." Squall returned to his chair and once more settled in it with curled up legs under him.

"Maybe next time, hm?" Cloud murmured lightly, a hint of amusement in his voice as he clipped that buckle in place, straightening his sweater under the strap.

"Next time? Hm. I suppose I must've done some good then," Squall teased, downing the rest of his now cold coffee.

Cloud shook a few longer spikes away from his eyes and scanned his clipboard again. "I guess I should go. There's a lot to do..." he sighed.

Squall gave a nod. "Yeah... Take it easy, okay?" He got up from his chair, fishing some gil from his jacket pocket to hand to Cloud. "For the delivery."

Cloud took the gil and pocketed it, hugging the clipboard to his chest as he walked towards the door, frowning a little, almost feeling disoriented. "I'll... call sometime. If I can."

Another nod as Squall walked to the door with Cloud. "Yeah. Keep in touch. And... if you change your mind about sparring, you know where I am."

Cloud nodded, pulling open the door and vaguely running a hand over his Crystal that he kept on him. "Yeah... I know." He gave him a small smile before turning to leave.

Squall returned the smile, leaning against the doorframe to watch his... friend leave.