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(no subject)

Who: Zack Fair, Simon, Denzel and Cloud Strife
What: S'time to meet the kids.
When: Shortly after this thread.
Where: Zack and Aerith's House, #34.
Summary: Zack isn't mad at Cloud any more, Cloud has two chillens and Zack wants to see Chocobo-head's chicks.
Rating: G. There's children present, c'mon.

As Cloud led the two boys by the hand, he couldn't help a small smile; Zack wasn't angry with him anymore. It was like a weight had been lifted from his chest, and he could breathe easy again. With all the dangers going around; Tifa caught in the clinic, the arrivals of Denzel and Simon, Cloud had been beyond stressed. Even after everyone had been returned safe and sound, there was still something off.

Cloud squeezed the boys' hands.

Finally approaching the house, Cloud let go of their hands and knocked on the door, hesitant to simply barge right in. Zack would probably call him on it, but...well. That's what friends were for, right?

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When Cloud has asked if Denzel wanted to meet one of his old friends, the boy had been more than happy to say yes. After seeing the people that Tifa had called friends back in Edge when Bahamut had appeared, Denzel had a severe admiration for all of the strong companions that both of his caretakers seemed to have. He followed Cloud closely now, excitement overriding any other thoughts. He wasn't even sore that Cloud was holding his hand like a little kid. Like most ten year olds, he found he was too mature for that sort of thing now. But he'd let it go. He wouldn't want Simon to feel like a child. Yeah, that was it.

But as they neared house 34, Denzel suddenly felt a slight twinge of nervousness in the pit of his stomach. What if he did something silly, or clumsy in front of this person? His grip on Cloud's hand tightened a little as he bit down a nervous squeak. It'd be okay, this guy had to be nice if he was Cloud's friend.

"Don't be a baby," Denzel berated himself inwardly. He could handle this.

Simon fidgeted, glancing around uncertainly and trying his best not to cling to Cloud's hand, as he'd done the entire trip to the house. He still wasn't used to the surface - even after a bath and a cleanup, he still felt like a grub. But Cloud had assured him that he was fine, so he surrendered and came along on the somewhat-terrifying trip to visit a stranger. At least Cloud was there, and Denzel was nice, however brief their introduction had been...

His third surface dweller meeting, though, and on the surface itself. Kamina would be so jealous!

Zack was a bit miffed at the knocking, as he'd been hoping whoever was curious or coaxed enough to visit him was willing to just burst right in and spare him from having to get up. Well, it wasn't like he was bedridden, at least - it was just easy to pester people about things like that. Depending on who it was, of course...

He kicked off the bed, pleased to discover he'd once again made fine progress in his recovery (damned wing), and trotted over to the door to open it up. It was just who he'd been hoping it would be - Cloud, with a pair of the cutest kids he'd seen in ages.

"Spike!" he greeted, leaning on the doorframe with a grin. The kid with blue hair disappeared behind Cloud's leg the moment he spoke - overly shy, that had to be Simon. He glanced at Cloud, lifted a brow, and offered his hand out to the other one. "Denzel, right? Pleasure to meet you! I'm Zack."

Cloud felt his shoulders relax at the sight of his best friend; he was looking a great deal better than he had the last time Cloud had seen him. Giving the brunette a nod of acknowledgement, he felt Simon behind him and turned slightly, setting a hand atop his hair to coax him out of hiding. "Simon, it's all right. I know he's kind of big, but he's a pushover." Were Cloud to examine the situation from a third person point-of-view, he might have been a little surprised with the playful tone. Unconciously, he also set an encouraging hand on Denzel's back.

With the gentle touch to his back, Denzel snapped out of his nervous spell and lifted his hand, taking Zack's firmly. He smiled up at the black haired man, giving a nod of confirmation, "Yeah, I'm Denzel. It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Zack." He wasn't sure if Zack would care whether he added the mister or not, Cloud was pretty set against having the formality added to his name, but hey, who knew? Better to be safe than sorry.

"Man, you're tall," he said, voice a little softer as he spoke. Denzel had just realized how he much he had to look up at Zack.

Simon fidgeted once more, feeling a bit better at the hand in his hair, and edged out a little to peer up at the man. Denzel summed it up well - the man was tall. But he had a friendly face and a big smile, so after a moment's hesitation he offered the man a shy wave, one hand fisted in Cloud's pant leg.

Oh, but they were cute! Zack grinned, shaking Denzel's hand and crouched down, closer to their eye level. "There, how's that? Am I a little less scary now?"

He caught sight of Simon's wave and returned the gesture cheerfully, leaning to the side to make room in the doorway. "You guys wanna come in and make yourselves at home? It's not much, but it's cozy. Boring as he-" He paused, seeing Simon watching him carefully, and continued, "Heck. You're seriously saving my life here."

"It can't be that bad," Cloud mused aloud, helping to usher the two boys inside the house (walking was a little difficult with Simon clutching his leg). "Isn't Aerith here to keep you company?" Granted, she had her own responsibilities, and was more than likely out performing errands and the like, but perhaps it was the mere idea of being cooped in that was giving Zack cabin fever. Cloud couldn't really picture Zack in bed for longer than the few hours he needed to sleep anyways.

Nodding confirmation to Zack's question about being a little less scary, Denzel withdrew his hand and walked inside. He turned, waiting for Cloud to get Simon inside, as well as for Zack to come back in. Denzel couldn't help but bounce a bit on the balls of his feet, he was excited to learn more about Zack, to talk to him and also hear about his friendship with Cloud.

"What happened, why have you been cooped up inside for so long?" Denzel asked, lacing his fingers behind his head and looking around at Zack's house. It had the same set-up as Cloud and Tifa's place.

Denzel didn't seem scared at all. In truth, the tall man wasn't the most frightening person Simon had ever met (the village elder was nearly as tall and a hundred times more frightening), so as they wandered further into the house, he relinquished his grasp on Cloud's pants to let him walk, instead going back to clinging to his hand. It was slightly less bothersome for Cloud, and just as comforting.

He looked up at the others curiously, his focus on Cloud to see if all the clinging was annoying him.

"Good question," Zack grinned, following them all inside and shutting the door behind them, then jerking a thumb towards his back. "The Malnosso snuck me off not too long ago, and messed up my wing. I've been on the slow mend, but I'm doing good so far! Hopefully within the next day or so Aerith will be nice enough to let me out of the house."

"I wonder why she won't even let you outside," Cloud mused, hand settling on his hip. "I mean, you're not up to your usual standards but it's not like you're a total invalid." Sensing someone's eyes on him, Cloud glanced down and gave Simon a reassuring pat to the head. It was a little strange, this 'guardian' business, but not nearly as foreign a feeling as he'd thought it would be.

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