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It runs away again.
Cloud sighs deeply. Why did cats hang around his place if they didn’t want him to pet them? Was he supposed to simply stare from the sidelines as the cats lined up outside his room? He watches the cat who just left; leaping on its feet and hurrying to join the rest of its little cat gang.
Tifa chuckles, “That’s cute. All cats around here have a gang they belong to!”
A gang where Cloud wasn’t invited. Not a big deal. He shrugs at the information but files it away for later – it would come in handy sometime.
“Good for them,” Cloud answers cordially.
“You seem awfully down about not petting them,” Tifa says again, more amused than pitying him.
“We should get going,” he cuts in, not wanting to have this conversation.
Maybe he is slightly bitter about not petting the cats.
At night, the cats come back, walking over the fence outside. Cloud stays paralyzed on the doorframe, watching them move with intense delicacy. The cats sit down on the fence momentarily, all four cats, and Cloud holds his breath again.
He could say hi to the cats. Given that it is night, he could easily step out and greet them. It could be that the cats feel freer at night, and so, they won’t run away from Cloud this time.
He steps out.
The cats immediately spot him and run away.
“This sucks.”
“Bro, you good? I can feel your eyes piercing me.”
Cloud looks down. “Yep.”
Wedge, of course, doesn’t let it go. Cloud doesn’t know why he assumed he would. It’s nothing deep – Wedge’s cats followed him to Seventh Heaven, but they all left as soon as they saw Cloud. Did he have a natural essence that cats despised?
“Cloud wants to pet your cats,” Tifa says unhelpfully.
“Hey!” Cloud accidentally exclaims. “I don’t want anything to do with cats.”
“Oh really!” Wedge looks like a kid on Christmas Day. “I thought you were more of a dog person.”
Well. He does like dogs, too, but that is not something he is about to divulge. He takes one sip of his drink as Wedge moves his tool next to his.
“It’s not hard, I promise. Cats are the eighth wonder of this world! You just have to know how to approach them.”
“Ugh.”
“Don’t give up yet! They just have to come to you. They call the shots, bro, not you.”
Cloud rolls his eyes but doesn’t comment on the nickname. Clearly no one cared about what he had to say. “I just… wait?”
“Yep! Act hard to get, too.”
“Cloud is a master at that,” Tifa says, Wedge laughs, and Cloud huffs. He doesn’t play hard to get. “Come on, you can do it. Maybe you can try with Wedge’s cats!”
“I don’t need to try anything,” Cloud states. Plus, the cats already ran away from him.
“Great idea! Cloud, swing by my place any time. My cats and I will be happy to play with you.”
“Hard pass.”
“God, do you ever remove the stick up your ass?”
Cloud hides a smile. “Nope, never.”
Again, the same stray cats show up on Cloud’s fence. Did his neighbor ever get along with them? His neighbor gave him kind of a weird vibe, but seeing how his luck was, maybe the cats liked him more.
Clood stood by the doorframe. Play hard to get, huh? He could do that.
One small gray cat locks eyes with Cloud. Cloud stares back, and then—turns his eyes right up. The moon is shining today, the stars are pretty, and he’s definitely not pretending to not stare at the cat. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees it tilt its head slightly towards Cloud.
Huh. Shit. Finally.
Cloud pretends to casually stare at the cat and thrusts out his hand.
The cat runs away immediately.
Goddammit.
“How did you get your cats?” Cloud makes the mistake of asking.
Wedge perks up. “Oh, it’s a cute story, really. Found them on the street, sat down with food, and hoped they liked me back. And they did!”
“…That’s it?”
“That’s it. They’re just cats, bro. I don’t think there is such a deep science behind them like you do. You get all worked up over cats!”
“No I don’t.”
“Yes you do,” Wedge continues before Cloud gets to childishly say ‘no I don’t’ again, “so just go with the flow. Leave them food. Ask Tifa for some canned tuna, you’ll make friends in no time.”
Cloud continues walking forward. They do have a mission to finish. Wedge happily follows, chattering more about cats and more tips (“Sometimes all you have to do is wait for them on the floor with your finger raised up—and then they boop their nose to your tip! So cute!”), and Cloud is only half pretending to not be listening.
“Wedge says you have canned tuna.”
“For cats?” Tifa smiles knowingly. “You’re changing so much.”
“It’s not surprising,” Cloud argues back, like him loving cats is completely ordinary.
“Uh-huh. Slowly letting your softie side come up. I like that.”
“You do?”
Tifa hands him the can, avoiding the question. “Have fun. Let me know how it goes.”
Cloud nods and heads back to his place.
Tonight is the night.
For one, Cloud sits outside the room, Buster Sword inside and gloves off. He’ll catch the cats before they catch him. He has gotten a made-up plate for their food, and sits against the wall, quietly.
He might as well take a nap on the spot, seeing how quiet everything is at night. Finally, when he’s going to drift off, the four cats appear. The small gray one hops off first, landing on the plate and smelling it.
Cloud holds his breath. This is it. This is the night. The night where the cat is finally going to be his friend.
The cat starts eating the tuna and after a few bites it turns to look at Cloud. Cloud holds the gaze for a few seconds before diverting it to the moon. Let the cat come in its terms.
Agonizingly slow, the cat moves towards Cloud, until it sits down next to him. And… That’s all it does. It sits down next to Cloud and lies down, not really interacting with Cloud. But this is huge. This is the biggest step he’s taken in the cat journey.
“I’m Cloud,” he says quietly. The cat doesn’t respond, but he peeks out to see the other cats eating the food he left. “What’s your name?”
The cat meows.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“You’re happy these days,” Tifa says. She smiles at him, pleased. “You’re friends with the cats?”
“Yeah. Haven’t decided on a name yet, I think,” Cloud replies.
“What are we naming?” asks Biggs, entering the bar and taking the seat next to Cloud. “You got a dog?”
“Cats,” Tifa corrects. “Cloud is father to four cats.”
“Four?! Goddammit. How are you going to come up with four names?”
“I’m not gonna,” Cloud says. “I’m sure they got names of their own.”
He stands up, finishes his drink, and sighs. “Okay, everyone. I have some pussies to attend to.”
There is a long stretched silence between Tifa and Biggs.
Tifa speaks up first: “We will come up with names for your cats. Please never refer to them as that again.
Cloud gets to his place late, when he’s done with his missions, and to his surprise the cats are already waiting for him.
He gives them a smile and opens the door so they can walk in. “Come on. You can sleep on my bed.”
He’s not sure if they understand him, but it’s fine. They make him feel less lonely.
Once he finally gets on the bed, the small gray cat jumps on, too, nestling itself next to Cloud. Cloud smiles again, slowly reaching out to stroke it, and almost exhales in relief when the cat doesn’t go anywhere.
Soon, the other three will join him, too.
“Hey, Cloud? Can I come in?”
Cloud looks at the four cats with him, all of them making it impossible for him to stand up. He’s on the bed, and all the cats are sleeping, so who is he to move, really?
“Cloud?” Tifa asks again. “I hope you’re dressed.”
Tifa unlocks the door and stops dead on her tracks at the sight in front of her. Cloud looks at her, impassive as ever. “Hi.”
“Oh my god, hey,” Tifa lowers her voice at the cats sleeping. “You adapt to fatherhood quickly.”
“Do you need anything?”
“No, just came to check on you. I see you’re doing fine.” She smiles, “Cloud?”
“Hm?”
“This side of you is nice to see. I’m glad you’re okay.”
It feels a little heavier than she intended it to be. Cloud nods anyway. “I like them.”
“They do, too. Good night.”
“Good night, Tifa.”
She closes the door softly and Cloud returns his attention to the sleeping cats. Damn right it felt good to be friends with cats.