afterlaborday | For backwatertrooper

There was a saying about "idle hands," wasn't there, and how they related to the devil? It wasn't a saying Rufus had paid much attention to in the past, and it didn't entirely fit the situation at hand, yet it still came to mind somehow as he poked around the staff record he had in hand.

Honestly, he didn't really care who was coming in and out of ShinRa on a small scale, but on a larger scale he kept track of what he would be inheriting if his father finally bit the dust - something he was actively working on handling - as well as what, or who, he might be up against.

This particular record he had landed on, however, was of quite a curious nature; not an entirely unexpected one, but curious nonetheless, and he honestly had to thank the incessant gossip of the office ladies for once.

It had also led to his having to pull a few strings to have the person on the staff record assigned as one of his guards for this meeting he had to attend, and, as he knew the other guards assigned to him at least somewhat, Rufus had sent for this particular one and was now waiting for him to show up.

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Ignoring the first, the second question is quite sound, and earns Cloud a quiet stare and the shrug of shoulders, even as Rufus moves to stand again, moving to a small fridge and grabbing out two bottles of water, tossing one to Cloud.

"It doesn't really. Not in any way you'd think reasonable."

Does he want to know? Cloud frowns, catching the tossed water bottle without thinking much about it.

"... What do you mean?"

Apparently he does want to know. At least that'll give him more of a basis to how to think about this. What, if anything, to do with and about it. If he can do anything about it.

Maybe it'll end up being basically nothing, merely the knowledge and that's... fine, actually. He knows that much, in the middle of all this. But it seems there should be more than that, maybe?

He doesn't know.

Rufus considers the question as he drinks some of the water he pulled out, wondering if "curiosity" was a legitimate reason, and knowing if that was all, he could have said nothing to Cloud. And saying it was for his own amusement, although true, wasn't the entirety of it.

"I suppose," Rufus caps his bottle, and gives Cloud a smirk that seems somehow different from his other ones. "I suppose there's this this little side of me that's curious what the other offspring my father has produced are up to. How different they are from me."

How Cloud takes that is up to him.

Meeting that smirk flatly, Cloud just waits. The answer does make sense, in a way, doesn't it? Even if nothing will be changing at all, or there was no other reason... Cloud would probably be curious too, if he'd found out about it first and was in Rufus' position.

"About as different as you can get, then," he says with a snort, shaking his head. There might be a small grin on his face, however. He's very different from Rufus, after all. Doesn't even come from Midgar, which he would assume would be the place most, if there would be any others at all, of Shinra's bastards would be found, simply because of closeness.

"... Aside from colouring, I suppose." Glancing up to look at his own bangs, Cloud shrugs at his own addition. His hair - and suddenly he's very glad for it, even if he's never actually disliked it being spiky - is both very different, and pretty similar.

"Yes. That similarity is probably what started the rumors." Rufus walks back towards the couch, watching Cloud a bit, reaching over to try and pat his head as he gets there.
"Although why they would think some squirt like you is a Shinra, I don't know, hair and eye color or not."

"Which is ridiculous... a lot of people are blond and blue eyed," Cloud mutters as he finally unscrews the cap for his own bottle of water, and is right in the middle of this when Rufus comes over. Which means he's stuck choking on his drink of water, trying not to spray anything everywhere (or on himself) as he ducks away...

"Hey---!"

Maybe not quite fast enough, but fast enough to mostly avoid it. His reaction time has gotten good, since he usually has to try and avoid Zack, who's often using his enhanced speed.

"I could---" Coughing, he huffs and glowers up at Rufus. "I could still get taller!"

He hopes he will, anyway. At least so he ends up average height... if on the shorter end.

That was not the reaction Rufus was expecting. In fact, he thought such reactions like that were reserved for comedies. Which unfortunately means he can't respond well to Cloud, too busy laughing.

If it'd been Zack who'd burst out laughing, Cloud wouldn't have thought much of it. It'd still have been embarrassing and annoying, but he knows Zack.

This, though?

Cloud slumps into the couch and glowers at the floor, roughly screwing the cap back on the bottle.

That face is even better, and it seems almost like Rufus won't stop laughing. Eventually, however, he plops himself down on the couch beside Cloud and seems to find some of his usual self-control.

"You're cute. Like a..." He seems to search for a word, takes a moment to find it, and finishes. "Like a cat, almost. Aloof, but testy."

Ugh.

Scowling, Cloud crosses his arms over his chest, keeping his flustered, annoyed glare at the floor, even when the couch slumps under Rufus' weight.

"Yeah, 'cause that's... what?" Looking up, Cloud scrunches his nose, squinting at Rufus before he slowly shakes his head, mostly muttering when he continues, "... Well, that one's new."

Jury's out on whether it's a good new or not. The novelty alone makes it easier to accept it, though. Even if it's ridiculous, still.

"Expected me to say chocobo?" He's heard the other men use it, and supposes with that hair it makes perfect sense. Still, that bird didn't quite fit what Rufus wanted, and so he found a better animal. That it was a cat, well... That's Cloud's problem. So is Rufus' smirk, and his next words. "You should guard me more often. Might be loads of fun, for me."

"Most people do," Cloud mutters, shrugging. It's the easy target, after all, "what?"

Jolting upright, Cloud grimaces, glowering at Rufus.

"I've got other things to do." Looking away with a snort, Cloud's definitely not afraid to say what's on his mind... right now, anyway. "And I'm not here to be entertainment."

He might not have mattered the first part of that statement so much, but when it came with the rest...

Cloud, Cloud, Cloud... you're making this too easy. Rufus is just smirking at the reaction, maybe chuckling a little at the same time, as he keeps going. "What other things? Got a girlfriend or something?"

Excuse you, Rufus!

"Wh--- no." Colouring darkly, Cloud looks away, though whether there's a scowl or a pout on his face is harder to tell, even Cloud's not sure. "Why would... that be what I'd be busy with?"

He takes his training very seriously, he'll have you know! ~~And he doesn't have many friends aside from Zack, so it's easy to fill his time with that.~~

Nice reaction. Rufus isn't listening to you, and actually, is going to make it ten times worse. "Should I have asked if you had a boyfriend?"

For backwatertrooper

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Sorry Cloud... xD

wow RUDE

No, Rude's the big bald guy... /shot/

such an easy joke to make haha

Yup... and finally dragging myself back

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