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Cloud was scared. Of what, exactly, he couldn’t place - he was too busy focussing on not making the redhead in front of him panic even more than he already was.
The reason for this situation? Apparently, someone (probably Hojo) had thought it would be funny to inject Cloud with the Jenova cells the three Firsts had, to “see what would happen”, no doubt, and now…
Now Cloud had wings. Plural. Coming out of his back, the feathers a gradient of gray to white. And he didn’t know what to do - this wasn’t normal. Hence his own panic, and the subsequent trip to his and his boyfriend’s shared apartment.
Unfortunately for him, Genesis wasn’t much help - it wasn’t like he had wings of his own, and he legitimately had no idea what to do. So for the moment, he was trying to comfort Cloud until he calmed down enough to ask what had happened. That in itself was taking quite a while, though, and Cloud could all but feel Genesis’s slowly mounting panic and fear.
Even so, just being held by Genesis seemed to help, and Cloud did eventually start to calm down, wrapping his wings around the both of them out of instinct. Only when he had fully calmed and even started leaning into the redhead’s hand running through his hair did Cloud realize that the wings had disappeared - perhaps with enough practice, he could control them better.
Genesis seemed to read his mind, one hand ghosting over a shoulder blade where there had been feathers just a moment before. “Cloud, love, I’m sure there’s a reason for this sudden change - do you feel comfortable telling me?”
“...I would if I knew, Gen, really,” Cloud responded. “As far as I know, my last mako treatments went normally…”
“Who was presiding over them, stormcloud?”
“Hojo, I think… I dunno, I don’t remember the treatments well, you know that,” Cloud said, relaxing fully and letting Genesis pet him as much as he wanted to (it helped calm the redhead just as it did him, and Cloud always enjoyed Genesis’s penchant for physical intimacy anyway).
He felt, more than heard, his lover hum lightly as he thought to himself. “Alright, I’ll take your word for it, darling. But let’s keep this new development between us, alright? I can think of at least two people I don’t want coming anywhere near you in the event of any further changes, and I’m sure you would agree.”
Cloud nodded before yawning. He was starting to get sleepy… but that was ok. He trusted Genesis - his phoenix had always known what was best for him.
And he knew that would never change, even if he thought he saw the Shinra tower burning in the background as he, his phoenix, and the rest of their friends sped away on various transports. It didn’t matter, in the long run, so he just went back to sleep, the scents of cinnamon, dumbapples, and the slight tang of smoke serving as a comforting, warm lullaby.