May 12th Challenge
I'm not sure if I want to continue this or not.
Title: Building a Friendship Fandom: Final Fantasy VII Author: ladynero Rating: G Prompt: Final Fantasy VII, Cloud, Reeve, Building a friendship
Carefully, Cloud manipulated the small tools as he worked on the motorized doll. It had been something he had found in a junk pile during one of their many stops in some town, and he had decided to take it with him to see if he could get it working. If so, then Marlene would have a new toy to play with, but if not, then it provided a pleasant distraction when there was nothing better to do. The small tools he had picked up in Junon on a whim, but now he was glad he had. There was something soothing about working with cold machinery and unfeeling metal. Gears didn’t care if he had strange memory surges, and oil didn’t mind the weird voices he heard.
The almost unheard whine of gears caught his attention, and he looked up to find Cait Sith hesitantly approaching him. Cloud put his tools down and watched the robotic cat, a replacement for the one that had been crushed in the Ancient Temple. He had been worried for Marlene when the cat’s operator had announced he had the child, but she had sounded happy and content with the operator so he had relaxed. He wouldn’t go hunting for the man behind Cait Sith as long as Marlene remained unharmed.
“What do you want?” Cloud asked, managing to sound civil instead of like he wanted to rip the cat’s head off like many of their companions did. Actually, Cid didn’t seem to care either way that Cait was Shinra property, and Vincent seemed more neutral than hostile as well. Cloud himself couldn’t really hate Shinra as a company, not really. He saved that for individuals instead.
The cat held up its hands in a peaceful gesture. “I was hoping you could help me with a sticking rotor cup,” explained Cait, the strange accent gone for now. Or rather, replaced with one that came directly from Midgar. “Especially since Cid’s not here, and you don’t seem to distrust me as much as the others do because I’m an extension of a Shinra employee.”
Cloud shifted to meet Cait’s gaze with his own, searching for some sign of the man behind the machine. “Who are you, exactly? I know you can see and hear me through Cait here, so who is the man behind the cat?”
Cait seemed to hesitate, as if the robot and not the man was uncertain about answering the questions. “Reeve Tuesti.”
“The head of Urban Development,” Cloud stated, surprised that Tuesti was behind their little spy here. He could see the man in his mind, dark hair slicked back with neatly trimmed mustache and goatee, bent over some plans as he worked on something. “Strange, I would have thought one of the Turks since they’re more the infiltration and elimination.”
“The Turks are on another assignment, and as you said, they would be the first suspect for a project like this,” replied Tuesti as Cait shrugged. “So, will you help me?”
For a second, Cloud thought about what the others would say if he agreed, how they had been avoiding Cait, before shrugging and shoving their opinions away. If Tifa and the others didn’t like it, that was their problem. “Where’s this rotor cup, and how do I get to it without tearing your fur off?”
The robot cat grinned and turned around. “It’s the left shoulder, and there’s a zipper to hold the covering closed.”
Cloud flipped the red cape over Cait’s shoulder and quickly found the small seam that ran down the robot’s spine. With gentle fingers, he unzipped the fake fur to expose metal and wire, and he pushed the strange suit off the robot’s left shoulder. Instantly, he spotted the problem. A small rock had gotten wedged into the cup. “Okay, I see the problem. Gimmie a minute and don’t move.”
He grabbed one of the medium sized screw drivers and carefully pried the rock out, wincing when it scraped the metal hard enough to leave a groove. “Sorry ‘bout that, but it was wedged in there good.”
“It’s all right. I figure that arm is going to give me fits until I can replace the cup,” sighed Tuesti, and Cloud could almost see him running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Can I ask you to find out how the rock got in there in the first place? I thought I had that fur completely closed.”
“Sure,” agreed Cloud, fingers already easing the fake fur back over the metal to close it up. He stopped as he felt something strange in the fur. “I think I found the problem. There’s a hole here, just large enough for that rock to get through.”
Cait nodded his head, barely moving the fabric. “I hate to ask more of you, but is there anyway you can close it up?”
Frowning thoughtfully, Cloud fingered the hole as his eyes drifted around the camp only to stop on Aeris. He rose to his feet and walked over to her, a curious expression on his face. “Do you have any thread for sewing?”
Aeris tilted her head as she thought. “I think I have some in my bag,” she confessed. “Do you need a needle too?” She reached out and grabbed her pack to dig through it as she talked.
“No, I have one of those,” he replied with a small smile. “My mother was insistent that I know how to mend my own clothing if needed.” He accepted the thread and returned to Cait, sure fingers sewing the hole closed with neat precision.
“Thanks, Mr. Strife,” stated Tuesti as Cloud closed up the fur suit.
A small smile touched Cloud’s face as he regarded the robotic cat. “Call me Cloud. All my friends do.”
Cait Sith turned, the red cape settling across his back again as he studied Cloud before holding out his hand. “Then call me Reeve.”
Cloud smiled and shook the offered hand. “Maybe once all this is over with, we can talk a bit more about Cait Sith and creating things.”
Reeve laughed. “I’d like that. No one around here really understands my fascination with oil and grease.”
That got a soft laugh from Cloud. “Because they’ve probably never had to rebuild anything or saw the fun in it,” he remarked before shaking his head. “We can talk more if you don’t mind me fiddling with this while I do.” He reached over and picked up the doll again.
“Not in the least bit,” remarked Reeve, sitting Cait down next to the ex-SOLDIER, and they started chatting, slowly building a friendship between them.