InsaneJournal

Twenty more drabbles
Okay, yet again, I'm going to fail my attempt at getting a thousand points for SOLDIER. Work and moving conspire against me. Still, I figure I got at least eighty drabbles out, which is ten better than last time.

Another twenty drabbles all together here.

Title: Flash, Bang, Action, Selection, Separation, Shy, Surprise, Wet, Huffy, Contract
Characters: Various ones
Team: SOLDIER
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 100 per drabble
Series: Band AU
Author's Notes: Ten drabbles for the Alternate universes prompt. And I wrote all of these out by hand first. Counting was fun. Aeris is pervy in Wet, and Cloud has a bit of a boy-crush in Shy.



It wasn’t the shows the bands put on that Aeris was watching. Those were all flash and fancy, and anyone could look good.

Instead, she watched the ones not performing. The way they interacted, the way they reacted around each other. She wanted a group that could work together.

There was no point, in her mind, of putting together a sucessful band if it was just going to fall apart in a year.

It was two groups that caught her eye. One was young, teens. The other looked mid-twenties.

They were friends. And tasty.

She hoped they could sing.




This was what Zack loved.

The thrumming beat as he tapped it out, the pulse of it in the back of his mind. A pulse that was always there, constantly being tapped out on whatever he could put his hands on.

Even if they didn't allow instruments in this competitions, everyone wanting the groups to sing and dance, Zack still had the beat in his head. It went tap-tap, even as he watched the other groups go.

The beat helped him in dance class, and it would help him here.

Heart pounding, he ignored the bright lights and looks, and just followed the beat.




Angeal watched, pleased, as Zack and his group went. They didn't sound half-bad, and it was nice to see that Zack really hadn't slept through all his dance lessons.

The others weren't bad, either. He'd seen both come to meet Zack after lessons now and again. Enough so that he knew their names were Reno and Cloud, and damned if Reno didn't remind him of Gen. Though Cloud seemed to be the sane one of the group. Poor kid.

They looked good, and Angeal was sure one of the managers would pick them.

Now, to go show them up.




"I want these two."

A bit surprised, if he didn't show it, Tseng looked at the statistics of the two groups Aeris had picked. Both groups were all male, the younger set ranging from fourteen to seventeen. The older was twenty three to twenty five.

The coloring of the groups echoed each other. Red, black, blond, and red, a more natural shade, black, and silver. Decent scores on singing and dancing.

"I don't see why not," he said finally. "Though...why them? They were good, but not the very best."

Aeris smirked. "Because they are friends."

"All right."

She smiled.




Hojo stared at his son, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"Excuse me?" he said softly, pale eyes narrowed.

Sephiroth looked back at him calmly. "I'm withdrawing from school. My job takes up too much time for me to continue for now."

A twitch Hojo was unable to keep down. "Your job...singing?" He sneered faintly. "You are going to be a doctor...."

"No, I will not." A long ongoing debate between them.

He frowned. "This is because of Hollander's bastard, isn't it? If not from him, then that useless friend of his."

"Goodbye, Father."

Turning, Sephiroth left.




Cloud had been surprised when their names had been called at the competition. Not that they were -bad-, but there had been better groups that weren't called.

Given how they acted backstage, though, he was relieved.

They had been given a card with a time and location, and Reno and Zack hadn't stopped bouncing since.

Not that Cloud had either.

Now they were here, and they weren't alone in the waiting room. There was a girl in the corner, reading a magazine, and a few, more familiar, faces.

One of which was Angeal.

Cloud officially liked this idea now.




Watching her two selections interact, Aeris smiled. An added benefit was they were much prettier than she had realized. And all of them had looked quite fit.

Oh, the stunts she could arrange. Especially since it seemed that most of them were willing to put up with a lot of flirting, giving it right back.

Rufus Shinra had snagged up some of the better singers, but Aeris just knew she had the better groups. With their help, she'd make Cetra Labels really take off.

Standing, she got their attention.

"Hello there," she said with a smile. "I'm Aeris."

"Your manager."




The very first thing Aeris did was their new manager was take them flower shopping.

Though there were protests against this, she ignored them. Instead, she dragged them around, comparing flowers again each of the guys.

Finally, though, she had enough, and gave each of them a firm stare. Even Sephiroth stilled under that look, and Aeris made sure to give each of them said Look.

"Boys, I know we just met, but I need you to trust me. Your primary audience is going to be female."

Her grin turned wicked.

"When I'm done, they'll all be wet for you."




This, Genesis thought with a mental huff, was -not- why he had pestered Angeal into doing this.

He had expected hordes of women to fling themselves at him, all with impure intentions.

Not one girl, who was younger than him, telling him to stand still while she found his color. As if Genesis didn't already know his colors. He wasn't Sephiroth, after all.

"Aren't we ever going to be done?" he snapped finally, scowling some at Aeris.

"Genesis."

His name, in that tone of voice, made him hunch down.

Aeris smiled brightly as Angeal rested his hand on Genesis's shoulder.




Sighing, Reno waited for the family lawyer to finish looking at the paperwork. He even did it somewhat patiently, only fidgeting a little bit.

"This was done by one of the Gaia Firm lawyers, wasn't it?"

Reno blinked at the man. "Yeah. Seems our new bosslady's mom owns the firm. Howyda know?"

Lazard smiled. "They use certain sorts of recycled paper. It's nothing bad," he said before Reno could ask. "I was merely curious."

"It all looks to be correct. I can have a look at the others contracts, but Gaia has a good reputation."

"Congratulations, you're in a band."



Title: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, A Year of Life
Characters: Zack, Cloud
Team: SOLDIER
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 100 per drabble
Series: Zack Fair prompt.
Author's Notes: Five drabbles, focused on the year between labs and Midgar.



Beside him, Cloud's eyes glowed green.

Or maybe it was just because his eyes saw everything in green. Pale green sparked constantly across his vision, reminding Zack of his Mako shots.

Outside their shelter, Zack heard the rain come down. Rain always reminded him of spring, and he took it as a good sign. They needed good signs.

"Spike, we might have a wet morning ahead of us."

Not that Zack minded. Everything seemed so fresh anymore. As if they hadn't seen it in forever.

Free of the labs, with Cloud beside him, Zack just smiled as the rain fell.




At least the weather was nice.

Sighing, Zack scrubbed more at Cloud's hair, grateful that his friend had gained enough awareness to hold himself steady. Zack wished he had some decent supplies to wash with.

Well, why he was at it, he'd wished they hadn't run into that skunk, either. His sense of smell had died fast enough that he only caught bursts of it now and then.

So much ew.

He and Cloud had been due a bath anyway. After he got done with Cloud, he planned on washing their clothing.

They were about to walk on their own.




Running.

Running hard, running fast.

They were running out of time, out of space, out of places to hide.

A stitch tight in his side, Zack continued to move, Cloud leaning against his side.

They couldn't move fast enough like this, and he didn't want to make the choice he was about to make.

Settling his friend into a sheltered nook, he looked at the kid.

Was it only two years that separated them?

"We'll be fine, Cloud."

Turning, he walked away.

He wasn't some scared animal, and he wasn't something to be trifled with.

Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st Class.




When had it gotten so cold?

Looking up at the sky, which seemed so much further than it had just a little bit ago, Zack wondered if winter had come?

Had it been winter when they had escaped? It was only a year ago.

Seemed like it had been so much shorter.

Something fell on him, and he blinked.

Rain.

He wasn't reminded of spring. Too cold now.

He was dying.

Bastards.

Twenty two. He thought.

Let Cloud be okay.

If nothing else, let Cloud survive this.

As his vision started to gray out, Zack shivered.

It felt like winter.




Cloud waited patiently.

Zack needed to get up.

The blood had been washed away by the rain, which was sticky on his skin. Absently, Cloud brushed at it, not liking it. It reminded him of the green.

When Zack didn't get up, he reached out and nudged his shoulder, one hand still on the sword.

Come -on-, Zack.

Maybe Zack was just tired. They'd been running a long time.

A whole lifetime.

Finally, Cloud stood up, wobbling.

Zack had wanted to get the Aeris girl. Cloud knew Zack was tired, so he'd get her for him.

Then they'd go home.



Title: Kenshin, Victoria, Angela, Grim, Gatherings
Characters: Various
Team: SOLDIER
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 100 per drabble
Series: Character's Children prompt.
Author's Notes: Five more drabbles.



Kenshin watches his dad carefully. Tseng is showing him how to take care of a sword.

Mom was somewhere on a mission, and Kenshin knows that she is due back in a week. So he's fine with her being gone, since his dad was there.

Course, when Mom came back, she said she'd show him how to take apart and reassemble her gun, and that the three of them would go out and see if they couldn't find Ken his own personal weapon.

If he was going to protect Vicky some day, he would need it.

Just like their parents.




Sighing, Victoria watched as her father left the room. He was moving slower every day, and she worried about him.

Not that she'd admit it. She -was- a Shinra, and they didn't let things like feelings show that easily.

Though Ken always got a smile.

Still, something was going on, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

The teen played with a long tuft of blonde hair, thinking about the various details she had observed.

Suddenly, it hit her.

She needed to find Ken. And the others.

Especially if she figured right, and this involved Sephiroth.




"What's going on, Mom?"

Tifa froze, and she turned to face her daughter. When she had finally said yes to Johnny asking for a date, she had never expected things to end up like this. Them married, and with a beautiful daughter.

Who was just as stubborn as both her parents.

"Ken and Vicky both called and said something is going on, and that it involves Sephiroth."

Angela's dark eyes were intent, and Tifa sighed.

"We don't want you involved."

That got a snort. "It involves Sephiroth, so that means Uncle Cloud will be there."

Tifa grumbled.

Damn smart kids.




By the time Grim showed up, it was obvious to everyone that something bad was happening. All the adults were being evasive, and avoiding anything that even remotely resembled a direct answer.

Grim was the youngest of the bunch, though he and Vicky were a match in the blue eyed, blond department.

As he sat next to Angela, he looked at the others.

"Father is talking to Nanaki and Cloud. They're going."

Marlene, her jaw set, shook her head.

"Not alone, they aren't."

Family was important, and none of them was going to let family go into a fight alone.



Cloud looked at the kids, then at Vincent. At least one of those kids could be blamed on Vincent, even if Cid was the boy's father. The look he gave clearly said "stop them."

Vincent's look back just as clearly said "you have fun trying."

Cloud looked at the kids again.

He'd watched them all grow up.

"You can't come."

Denzel snorted. "I want to see you make us stay."

"Your parents will -kill- me."

Victoria quirked a pale brow. "And how do you think we'd feel, left behind? It's our world, too."

There was nothing to say against that.