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Cloud leaned away from his laptop and looked toward the stairs. The basement of the student union, with its large windows and spacious coffee shop, usually provided an good atmosphere for studying. Not today. He sipped his coffee and fought the urge to grimace. He’d ordered it black to help him focus, but that was hard to do when getting past the taste was a battle in itself.
It didn’t help that the weather was so wonderful. Finals were coming up soon, and with that the deadlines for all of his term papers…two of which he hadn’t started until that morning. And of course I can’t focus…serves me right for waiting this long, I guess.
Deciding the time was ripe for a break, Cloud took out his phone and opened his favorite news app. All the usual things…sickness, shootings, celebrity gossip. Wait, what’s this article about a plate being built—
Movement on his laptop screen caught his attention. There was a document in his dropbox. Cloud raised his eyebrows—his laptop was part of a ShinRa beta test, and the dropbox only supported transfers from other laptops running the beta operating system. Using an unfinished product probably wasn’t a great idea as a college student, but they gave him the laptop for practically nothing and the new “mako” battery inside lasted longer than anything he’d used before. Sure, the corporate bastards were probably mining his data to hell and back, but money was money.
So someone in here also tests things for ShinRa. Weird. Not having a clue what to expect, Cloud braced himself and opened the file. That’s…not what I was expecting. It was a picture of a puppy, with sunglasses photoshopped on, and a caption reading: “will you go out w/me?”
Cloud tried to stifle his laughter, but a few chuckles (and maybe a snort) did make their way out, resulting in glares from a few of the people around him. Oh my god. Who sent this?
He opened up the network portal on his laptop, and sure enough, there was one other ShinRa laptop using the coffee shop’s wi-fi. A laptop named “Hero Pupper.” I can’t laugh, though…it’s still less ridiculous than mine.
Cloud felt kind of like a creep for doing so, but he scanned the room, trying to see if anyone else clearly had the same laptop as him. The problem with college students was that they were all really into personalizing everything they owned, and that usually meant covering laptops with stickers. Cloud’s own had nothing on the back but a sticker of a cloud (a graduation gift from one of his roommates) and the bisexual pride flag, but all the others that he could see had things covering their brand logos.
Should I respond? I shouldn’t. It could be someone really creepy. But…they’re pretty funny. Okay, I’ll send something back. Cloud opened his web browser and searched for cats in sunglasses, and was rewarded with more relevant pictures than he even knew what to do with. He picked one out of a cat in cat-eye shades (he figured this mystery suitor would enjoy that) and opened a word doc of his own. He captioned the photo with “convince me” and moved it to Hero Pup’s dropbox.
Giving up on the paper he was trying to write, Cloud passed the time by looking around the room again, trying to figure out who exactly wanted his attention. There was a really shifty-looking girl in the corner with a pixie cut whose laptop was covered in colorful circles…oh, she watches that Materia show. Maybe it’s her?
A few tables down was a guy in a leather jacket who gave off the air of always being grumpy, nothing on his laptop save some sort of lion symbol covering the brand and a photo of him with someone who was presumably his girlfriend. So, not him.
To his left was a girl with hair dyed mint green, blonde roots showing. He couldn’t see the back of her laptop, but it looked like she was watching anime. She gave him the side eye and he quickly looked back towards his own screen. Okay, I’m done with that. Not her either. So it’s either Materia girl or someone I haven’t checked yet.
Luckily (or perhaps not so luckily), there was another document in his inbox. He opened it to find a picture of a dog with a sword in its mouth, and a somewhat longer caption. “I can tell you’re interested, chocobo-head. You’re not even trying to study anymore.”
Cloud snorted again and picked out a different option from his still-open tab of cat pictures. “It’s not fair if I don’t know what you look like, too.”
He brushed his bangs back and continued his scan of the room. With it being so close to the end of the semester, the coffee shop was fairly empty—the majority of students preferred to study in one of the University of Midgar’s many libraries. There were only a couple people Cloud hadn’t looked at yet, both sitting at tables near the counter.
One was a girl with wavy hair whose laptop was in a plain white case. They don’t make cases for these ShinRa laptops yet, so not her. The other was a very amused-looking guy in a blue t-shirt, laptop covered in flower stickers. Flower Guy looked up from his screen and made eye contact before grimacing. Okay, that can’t be a coincidence. It’s definitely him.
Cloud looked down at his laptop screen to find yet another file in his dropbox. This time, the dog had both sunglasses and a cape, and was captioned with: “Okay, you spotted me. So how about one date?”
He snuck glances at Flower Guy over the top of his screen. He obviously had a sense of humor…and if Cloud was being honest with himself, the guy was pretty attractive to boot. He could still be a complete asshole, though. Cloud pasted a hammock-lounging cat into a new word doc and took a sip of his coffee, now both bitter and cold. Unbearable. “Buy me a frappucino and I’m yours.”
A few seconds later, Flower Guy stood up from his chair and walked over to the counter with a smile on his face. “A medium s’mores frappe for Puff Trouble here!” he said, looking straight at Cloud.
Materia Girl and Grumpy Lion Man started laughing, obviously amused at the use of Cloud’s laptop’s name. Eavesdroppers—why’d I let Cid name it that anyway?
Cloud rather pointedly stood up and walked over to Flower Guy as he paid for his coffee. “Thanks, Hero Pup,” he said, resulting in more snickers from the other people in the coffee shop.
“My name’s Zack,” he said, obviously enjoying the situation. “Zack Fair.”
“Cloud Strife.”
The barista put his frappe on the counter, and Zack handed it to him. “I remember something about you agreeing to go out with me in exchange for this. So how about it, Cloud?”
“Yeah, alright,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. “Let me grab my stuff.” I can’t believe I’m doing this. Why am I doing this. That paper is due in a week and I’m going on a date with a complete stranger. He caught Zack doing something like a victory squat in his peripheral vision, and Cloud fought the urge to smile. That’s why I’m doing this.
With his backpack slung over one shoulder, Cloud made his way towards the door outside and waited for Zack to join him. “So what do you want to do?” he asked, looking outside. “Weather’s nice…we could walk around, get froyo…”
“You want to get froyo after drinking that?” Zack asked, skeptical. “Won’t you get sick or something?”
Cloud laughed bitterly, the universal language of the college student. “I have two papers due in a week that I’ve barely started,” he said. “I can subsist on dairy and sugar if I want to.”
“Dang, that’s rough,” Zack said, reaching around to pat Cloud on the back but stopping halfway there. “Oh! I’m sorry, I—”
“No, it’s fine,” Cloud said honestly. “I don’t mind.” I already feel pretty comfortable and I’ve known him by name for all of one minute…
Zack awkwardly finished the motion, and they both laughed. “The froyo shop is a good mile from here,” he said after a minute. “We could see how you’re feeling after we walk over?”
“Yeah, sure.”
They walked behind the student union to take the back way towards the stadium. “So where are you from, Zack Fair?”
“You’ve probably never heard of it. A little country town south of Corel. Gongaga,” he answered, a hint of pride in his voice. “Moving here to the city was kind of a shock, to be honest.”
“No, I get it,” Cloud said. “I’m a country boy, too—farther west, though. Nibelheim.”
“You going back there for the summer?”
Cloud shook his head. “I’ve got an apartment here with a few friends. Two of us are working in a flower shop right now...I’m hoping to get more hours once exams are done. Rent isn’t cheap.”
“Oh, I know about flowers,” Zack said. “I dated a florist in high school. She used to sell flowers over by this old church…raised enough money to avoid taking out loans her first year.”
Of all the friends to have in common...this is a big campus, but it’s still a small world. “Is your ex Aerith Gainsborough, by chance?”
Zack grinned and stopped in his tracks. “Yeah! You know her?”
Cloud nodded. “She’s one of my roommates. It’s me, her, and her girlfriend, who I’ve known since we were kids.”
“Now I have to do the protective ex thing…is her girlfriend good for her?” Zack asked.
“Oh yeah, Tifa’s great,” Cloud said. “She teaches martial arts at a little place downtown and bartends on the side. And, well…it’s a two-bedroom apartment, and I have one all to myself, which is pretty great.”
Zack laughed. “Yeah, I haven’t seen Aerith in a while,” he admitted. “I knew she ended up coming here for her horticulture degree, but we kind of run in different circles now. We should all hang out sometime though, if it’s alright with her and Tifa.”
“That sounds great, actually.” I shouldn’t get ahead of myself, though. Aerith might not want to hang out with an ex. Tifa would like him, though. “How about you? Going home for the summer?”
“Nah, I’m interning at ShinRa,” Zack said. “They want someone to sort out all the data from their mako battery study, and while I don’t exactly have the statistical background for it…I do have a friend in the company who put a good word in for me.”
“So that’s why you had one of those laptops, huh?”
“You bet,” Zack said. “And it’s a good thing I did,” he added with a wink.
Cloud looked away, grinning. He’s right, though. I’ve never clicked with anyone so well, so quickly. “What, you wouldn’t have had to courage to ask me out the normal way, Hero Pup?”
“Hey, it’ll make a good story later, Puff Trouble!” Zack said, before blushing with embarrassment. “You know…if we do this again.”
“I think I want to do this again,” Cloud decided. I definitely want to do this again.
Time flew by, and they reached the froyo shop a lot faster than Cloud thought they would. He insisted on paying for Zack’s (strawberry and dark chocolate) as well as his own (cake batter and pistachio), and Zack poked fun at his choice of flavors while Cloud pointed out that strawberry and chocolate was the most vanilla combination ever.
“It’s not vanilla, it’s strawberry and chocolate!” Zack protested, and Cloud playfully swatted his arm.
They just sat there, in the sun and the wind, talking about everything and nothing for what felt like longer than Cloud could really afford to spend lounging around. But he didn’t care, not when he was having such a nice time. Zack told him about his family, his hobbies (a lot of them were things he was also into), his awkward attempt at joining Midgar’s elite military force. Cloud couldn’t believe how much they had in common.
“No way!” a female voice said from behind him, and Cloud craned his head around to see one of his roommates jogging down the sidewalk. “Zack, I haven’t seen you in forever! You know Cloud?”
Zack snickered. “As of about an hour ago,” he admitted. “How’ve you been, Aer?”
She redid her ponytail and looked between them. “The usual. Biochem’s a bitch. Lab is worse. I want a garden so bad right now, but nothing grows in our apartment.”
“Doesn’t get much sun,” Cloud added. “All the windows overlook an alley…it’s hard to grow anything other than succulents, and those are just too easy.”
“You can’t have more than three semesters left by now,” Zack said, changing the subject. “Right?”
Aerith nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got this spring and next year, and then I’m done. But dang…I’m gonna have to do way more if I want a job that pays better than the shop. Not that there’s anything wrong with working in a shop,” she clarified, “it’s just that you wanna be able to do better for how much an education costs, you know?”
Yeah, I think we all know about that. Zack gathered the garbage and got up to look for a trash bin, and Aerith leaned on the table. “You on a date?”
Cloud brushed his bangs back. “Well, yes.”
Aerith’s jaw actually dropped a little bit, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh my god, this is great!” she said. “Zack’s—”
“You’re not gossiping about me now, are you?” Zack said, returning to the table.
“I might be,” Aerith answered with a wink. “Well, I’ll leave you to your date.”
Zack raised is eyebrows as she walked away. “You told her?”
“She asked,” Cloud answered plainly. “And she’d find out sooner or later...”
“There’s gonna be a later?”
Cloud smiled and stood up, reaching out an arm for Zack to do the same. “Anyone Aerith approves of deserves more than just one date.”
“Yeah, alright!” Zack said, looking ridiculously cute with that stupid hopeful grin on his face.
Cloud took out his phone and looked at the time. “Oh,” he said. “We’ve been out for three hours already.”
“Three?” Zack asked, suddenly stressed. “I had a presentation…shit, the class is in fifteen minutes and it’s all the way on West Bank. Kunsel’s gonna kill me.”
“And I really should get some of that paper written…” Not that I’m gonna be able to focus any more now than I could before.
“Okay, well…bye, then?” Zack asked, half-holding out his arms.
Cloud went in for the hug and Zack sighed. Mmm…yes, he’s a good hugger.
“Gotta let go, Spike. I’m late.”
“Oh, so I’m Spike now?”
Zack waved as he ran towards the main avenue. “Whatever!” he shouted with a laugh. “I’ll call you?”
“Not if I call you first!” Okay, that was cheesy as hell. I feel like he probably doesn’t mind, though.
The only thing that could make the day better would be if Cloud could get an extension on those two papers…