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"Hey Cloud, when are you coming with me to Tifa's bar? I want you to meet Aeris. I know you'll love her," Zack asked as he flopped himself down in a chair at the kitchen table as Cloud was drinking his morning tea.
Cloud closed his eyes for a moment then shrugged as he took a sip of his tea. "You know I'm not someone who enjoys that kind of thing, Zack."
"Clo~ud, don't be an ass," Zack whined. "You know the twins are giving me grief over her! If *you* meet her, though, and say she's cool, then they can't complain anymore!"
Cloud winced slightly. "It's... not that simple."
"Well, maybe not, but they won't complain *as* much. *You* know I'm not gonna abandon you guys for her... I just like sharing my time between all of you. But I still want you to meet her! Come on, it'll be fun! You need to get out of this building for something beside killing people."
Cloud glared at Zack slightly for that last bit then looked away. "...It still isn't that simple."
"...Don't tell me you don't like that I'm spending time with her either," Zack said, looking a bit hurt.
"No! That's not... I don't mind you being with her. I'm not that greedy."
"Then what's the problem?"
"...She's Cetra."
Zack blinked for a moment. "Half Cetra, actually. But... you don't like Cetra?"
"Well, I'm not exactly *fond* of most of the Cetra, but... no, that's not it. It's not that *I* don't like the Cetra, it's that the Cetra don't like *me*." Cloud looked a bit irritated. "I've run into many Cetra, and I can count on one hand the number of them who were actually somewhat decent to me, much less friendly."
"Oh," Zack frowned. "Why?"
"Because I'm Immortal, Zack. I'm very much an unnatural being, and if there's one thing the Cetra don't like, it's things that are unnatural or that disturb the balance of the Planet. Unfortunately, most Cetra think I'm both." Well, that wasn't exactly the whole story of why the Cetra tended to dislike Cloud, or why Cloud wasn't comfortable around Cetra, but he wasn't about to get into that with Zack. He didn't like to talk to anyone about that, not even his pack.
"Damn, that sucks," Zack muttered. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "But Aeris ain't like that. Hell, she *wants* to meet you."
"Eh?" Cloud stared at Zack in surprise.
"Yeah!" Zack grinned. "Though I think that's partially 'cause she wants to hire us, but she also just wants to meet you. Hell, she wants to meet all the pack, though I'm not sure I should introduce her to the twins anytime soon..."
"Oh, that'd just be asking for bloodshed," Cloud muttered and sipped some more of his tea. "At least, it would at the moment. I'm hoping they'll calm down soon."
"Me too," Zack made a face. "Not that I'm not enjoying the "you're ours, so stop going to that damn woman" sex when I come home, but damn those two are starting to wear me out." Cloud raised an eyebrow at Zack, who grinned sheepishly. "Well, they are!"
"You poor thing..."
"So? You gonna come with me tonight to meet her?"
"Well... you sure she wants to meet me?"
"Cloud. Stop being an idiot, of course I'm sure."
"Fine, fine. No need to be such an ass about it..."