video;

[liveandforgive]

[ He's normally not a video guy. So surprise surprise! There's a spiky-haired blond sporting soft wolf ears on your feed. A pair of sunglasses are hanging around his collar. ]

Hey everyone. Not that it's my first time using this thing, [ shrug. ] but... I guess I might as well cut to the chase.

My name is Cloud Strife. Haven't ironed out the kinks just yet, but I'm thinking of opening up shop again. Lunatia's pretty big, and I used to run a delivery business back home. So...

[ He's gauging interest. ]

If you got a business or know anyone who does, I can handle your supplies' shipments. Or personal mail and parcels. You name it, we deliver it. [ Speaking of handling large packages, ] That reminds me...

[ Cloud's already standing outside by what appears to be the side of a road. So when he turns the camera... In frame is a monster-sized motorcycle that somehow manages to look sleek at the same time.

Yes. That's his ride. ]

Anybody know of any garages for rent?

Comments

[liveandforgive]

[ Hoh? Assuming he's getting the rest of her fro-yos, is she? He smirks with a little "hm". ...but says nothing against it because. Well.

...she's not wrong. It's like getting ticketed anyway. Only in small equal payments. ]

Just a sec, [ he says as he scooches out of his seat to go dispose of his own cup and spoon. As he comes back to sit down, Cloud chimes up again. ] How long you on duty for today?

[schmisse]

I'm not.

[ She really did just get mad because of the spilled fro-yo. ]

1/2

[liveandforgive]

2/2

[liveandforgive]

[ She warned him against riding without a helmet, to drive safe, chased him down with Glyphs followed by summoning that imposing ethereal hornet, riding it, getting him to pull over... ]

.....

[ All because she really wanted her frozen yoghurt. The look of sheer shock on his face only lasts a couple of seconds before finally, ]

Heh--

[ Cloud laughs. He's not in hysterics or loud; it's still soft. He's briefly chuckled around some people here. But this is the first time anyone's actually made him laugh. His shoulders stop shaking after a few seconds, before sighing gently. ]

All of that just for... [ His voice tapers off, still not realizing he's still smiling a little. ] Well, you got me.

[schmisse]

[ This is probably the first time Weiss has seen Cloud look so alive. It's not a bad sight to see, either. He's usually so quiet—not broody, at least—but his usual taciturn self is different from what she's seeing now.

It gets her to smile, too. ]

I take transgressions against me very seriously.

[liveandforgive]

[ Chances were he was going to remember today for a while yet. This was something he almost never did even back home. Even now, he's still smiling. ]

I never thought I'd be thanking someone for pulling me over.

[ But, well. Here it is. He's made a powerful "enemy" today. He's already losing. ]

[schmisse]

What do you need to thank me for?

[ Thanks for whipping him?? ]

[liveandforgive]

[ For the chance to spend time with her. ]

For showing me frozen yoghurt?

[schmisse]

[ He's such a dork. Weiss looks away when he says that. ]

Just so it's clear, I'm not gonna thank you for wasting my yoghurt.

[liveandforgive]

[ Her reaction gets a gentle huff out of him. ]

I can live with that.

[schmisse]

Good.

[ And while they've gone back to the subject of what happened... ]

Who was with you, anyway?

[liveandforgive]

Oh. That was Panty.

[ Oh he is totally ready to slam her not that way. ]

She kept nagging me about my riding skills. [ So clearly, stubborn Cloud was stubborn to prove her wrong. ]

[schmisse]

Oh. I didn't get to look at her properly, but she looked really pretty.

[ Is Weiss going to have a girl crush?? Wait— ]

[liveandforgive]

You think so...?

[ He blinks, taken aback momentarily. Weiss thinking she was really pretty wasn't a problem. It's just...getting Cloud to put his blatant bias aside. And to make sure that the angel wasn't in earshot because the last thing she needs is more ammunition. ]

I guess.

[ It's not deep enough into Sanguis for him to go on a rant about his roommate's lesser qualities. Bringing up her nymphomaniac tendencies seemed redundant, so miraculously a moot point there. ]

[schmisse]

[ That actually gets her to laugh a little. She... has a feeling... ]

I'm guessing the two of you don't get along very well.

[ She's never really met Panty before. After the time her yelling could be heard from the other room, it felt... kind of weird to meet her then. Not to mention, her attention was just on one person. ]

[liveandforgive]

What gave it away?

[ The fact that Panty yeeted herself off his bike into the abyss? The yelling at her while she basically taunted the off-duty Moon Knight? The reluctance to agree that yeah, Panty was a 10? The question's rhetorical. But since Weiss laughed just a little bit about it...welp. Might as well give the primer. ]

She was part of the Alpha team when we went to Iris. Next time I see her, she's trying to steal my apartment and kick me out of it. On top of not even remembering who I was. [ he shrugs with one hand gestured at his side. ] We ironed things out. Mostly.

[schmisse]

[ And despite all that, Cloud drove around the city with her, anyway. This is confusing. It's one thing to hate someone you're with because of all your differences, but Cloud hasn't really said anything nice about her. So why is he tolerating it? ]

I don't think it's any of my business to know more. Whatever it is the two of you have, I probably shouldn't ask, especially when she can't say anything to defend herself.

[ Weiss won't lecture Cloud on dealing with things that he doesn't like. It really isn't any of her business, and whatever pushiness and bossiness she may possess, it's not something she fully wants to display to Cloud in the first place. ]

It's nice to have a face to the name, though.

[liveandforgive]

[ Whatever it is the two of them have... It's too rocky to be called an apropos friendship. Not yet anyways. Contemplating Weiss' words, his hands clasp in front of him on the table. Ultimately, it was some kind of immature game of "back and forth". ]

Mm.

[ It's true that at least Weiss had a face to the name he muttered annoyedly beneath his breath that night. But... He sighs. Takes a second. No piggybacking a negative off this, Cloud. There's more than just her shitlord status hotheaded bull. ]

To be honest... There's some good things about her. [ "they're just hidden reeeal deep" he thinks in a beat. ] She took the mission in the first place. And...she could have left me there on Iris when I got caught in an accident. But she didn't.

[ Maybe he felt indebted to her. Even if she was a real pain. He's scratching the surface. It's his roundabout way of telling Weiss that Panty wasn't that bad. ...even if she still needed to come with a warning label. ]

[schmisse]

You know, I used to really, really hate Ruby when we first became teammates.

[ When she thinks about it now, she becomes embarrassed. Compared to how she acts now, the past Weiss is really very different. ]

I thought she was dumb and annoying and reckless and she wasn't worth being my team's leader. Now, though? I can't imagine following anyone else.

[ She obviously skips out a bunch of details like the mean things she said about Ruby behind her back and to her face. Cloud doesn't need to know.

Weiss smiles, though, because looking back, she and Ruby had a rough start. ]

Maybe there's something good to come out of all this.

[liveandforgive]

[ He listens quietly to Weiss as she recalls her initial relationship with Ruby. His expression is very reactionary though, eyes widening a bit when she fesses to how she felt about her at first. Sure, Weiss was (more often than not) the definition of composure and poise while Ruby was a bundle of damn-near uncontainable energy but... The more he listens to her, the more he recalls his own time spent as the leader of his own group.

Cloud was cold and arrogant, butting heads with the guy who really could have been the leader, Barret. Tensions were on the verge of a boiling point at the start. Yet in the end, through thick and thin, for all his own dumb and reckless behaviour, everyone counted on Cloud. As much as he grew to count on them. They chose to follow him. ]

...

[ His expression softens, grateful that she shared what she did with him. It reminded him of something. Put things into perspective for him. He wasn't about to go out of his way to be nice to Panty. However... ]

Wouldn't be the first time that happened. When I was a mercenary, I got hired by someone who hated my guts. [ He'll just, y'know, gloss over the fact that they were technically eco-terrorists shhh. ] I couldn't care less about what the job was, so long as I got paid. Ever since then, though...

[ It really is a long story. And not something to talk about in some frozen yoghurt shop. Cloud smiles all the same though. ]

He's one of my closest friends. [ Not that he expects that from Panty because hoo boy what a case she is despite the good signs. ]

[schmisse]

[ Weiss makes a face when he listens to Cloud. Gross - is that how she sounded when she mentioned Ruby just now?

She looks away for a brief moment as she crosses one leg over the other. ]

So... [ Gonna try and get that embarrassment out of the way... ] Why did he hate you?

[liveandforgive]

[ Yup. Looks like a certain Ice Queen's a real softy~

When she asks about why Barret was at odds with him, he gives a thoughtful little hum. It's a little hard to explain in full without a lot of backstory about Shinra, but he'll try. ]

Because I used to work for the people that betrayed him. Needless to say, he didn't trust an Ex-SOLDIER like me, and I didn't care about their politics.

[ So basically, Cloud was an asshole. ]

[schmisse]

[ SHUT UP SHE'S NOT!! ]

Why did he hire you if he hated you, then?

[ That's a little confusing?? ]

[liveandforgive]

[ Weiss is like frozen yoghurt! Cold, but soft and sometimes sweet. See? She's on brand! 🍦 ]

Because... [ Welp. It's not like he's actively trying to hide anything. But before he keeps going, it hits him that yeah. He's gonna have to give Weiss a story or actually talk about his damn life for once! instead of confusing her. ] I knew how to get him and his team in to plant the bomb in the reactor.

[ Luckily for the two of them? Cloud's naturally a soft spoken person. So he's not blabbing this outloud for the world to hear. ]

I'm part of a group named AVALANCHE. At first, it was about fighting against a company named Shinra that was killing off the planet with Mako reactors. That...kinda spiralled off into saving the world, to put it shortly.

[schmisse]

[ Weiss quirks a brow when Cloud mentions planting a bomb. A bomb?! This guy— that's way too much!! Too extreme that she ends up laughing a little after Cloud tells a little bit of his story. ]

I thought what we did was crazy... we stole an airship and disabled an entire city's communications tower.

[ A pause, then she gives him a goofy smile. ]

I guess someone's a lot more ridiculous than us.