#.strings

@cloudvii // Clud // 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐒 

Some days Cloud chooses to remain quiet, his head fogged over with what Rufus could only guess was the calling that was sirening his attention from him. At times, it came as a quick moment where the question Rufus had granted came back with a 'what' and 'sorry.' The connection where his words were always heard and acted upon with zeal was suddenly severed. This time Cloud was speaking on what was actually transpiring in his head.

❛ I’m hearin’ voices in my head. ❜

"What are they saying?" Rufus implores, tilting his head to the side so that he can better catch Cloud's expression on his face. A narrowing of his eyes, he's wondering why Cloud's own seem so .... peculiar. As if the color, the beautiful blue hue, was slowly being drained and replaced with emerald. Naturally, he'd grown accustomed to that color-- emerald was the city of Mako which he ruled. 

While his fingers wrapped around Cloud's hair, essentially keeping the man aloft by the roots of his it alone, he leaned down while wedging materia between each digit of his free hand. They glistened from the light above, all colors of the rainbow. It didn't matter which one he used, just as long as Cloud's brain triggered it into attempting to summon.

"I still have five of these little gems that can find their way into your system. Are you sure you've changed, Cloud Strife?" Releasing him from the grip of his hair, he hears the thud before observing what little is left of this cadet he picked from the line-- one that was full of confidence and vigor. "When I plucked you from Heidegger's grasp, I fully intended to have a SOLDIER that eventually would do my bidding. Instead, I got a BRAT that insists on fighting me in every way."

Rufus quickly snatches it away from him. He then adds three vigorous shakes to the can and promptly pops it open in the direction of the nearby cadet. The soda erupts, showering the Cloud in a sticky, sugary mess. Look what Cloud did, goodness gracious.

"I'm offended that you believe Reno gave me the idea that you and Tseng are close."

She is just a little jealous that she isn't getting attention like the others are, ignore her.

"That's one hell of a thing to be offended over. I personally suggest you keep such things to yourself." This is just how office gossip gets spread. Everyone who is wise stops their whispers when he's on the floor.

"I could get Reno… but he has difficulty standing in one spot for too long. You're a SOLDIER, right? They are required to stand long hours." A little flicking of his wrist, he shrugged. "See it as… some type of training ritual. Guard duty isn't always as exciting as this." The chalk smears across the parchment again.

“Sir.”

Rude takes the order as he takes any other; unphased, unquestioning, and compliantly. Reno’s fury was in his eyes as much as his voice on the other hand. Even Rude was taken by surprised at that tone taken when it came to Cloud. It sounded like genuine concern.. a sound not heard often from their boss. It was composed now but neither Turk would forget it. Especially Reno.

If anyone was going to be tending to Cloud, Rude can bet it’s going to be him now.

“It is looking bleak, sir. His chances get lower every hour. Don’t be surprised if we get bad news.”

There will be other cadets to choose from. Just like in SOLDIER ‘recruitment’ - some live, some die. You move on and find what works, no matter how promising the failures seemed. At the very least - at least not too much investment would be lost. If others would be taken a shine too like Cloud, well.. that was a rarity. 

Regardless of chances - if there was a way for him to make it out alive, Rude would see those doctors working around the clock to ensure it.

Rude turns to head back to Cloud’s room. A brief pause. “Are you going to see him?”

Only Veld and Tseng would recall Rufus's animosity for the West Wing. It reminded him of only coldness, death, and the building tightness he felt in his chest when having to venture over there. The night one of his Turks was sent there made him irrational enough that he ordered them never to be placed in that section again.

They obliged, not knowing the past that was attached to the room. Cloud wasn't a Turk and with the other hospital units brimming with war casualties and rebel resistance victims, the SOLDIER candidate was promptly shifted to that side, along with covering up the fact of their practices when it came to creating a warrior.

Rufus refused to see another death from there. Fingers curled over the cold railing of the bedside; the dulling repeating beeps from the monitors were enough to send him into those memories he forged to forget. 

“Are you going to see him?”

Why was he even here?

Closure?

Or was his fear of losing Cloud genuine? For whatever reason he was battling in his mind, the numbness seeped into his bones and rescinded everyone out from the tunnel vision he was experiencing. Even Reno, who had his arms folded and leaning against the open door, couldn't catch the VP's attention. Rufus's eyes were directly on the slack face of Cloud's. How awful the Mako poisoning must be with his sallow complexion and ashen rings under his eyes. Rufus was compelled to lean over and press his thumb against the upper brow, forcing it to reveal the eye color change underneath the eyelid. How beautiful the transformation makes it; the trademark of a SOLDIER.