[Action]

[herobydefault]

[Cloud's outside, doing what he does best. Brooding.

He'll be out and around town after brooding in the hammock in front of House 50 for a while. Stop at your own risk.]

Comments

[wingenvy]

[This is really, really awkward but Zack's going to run with it, because hell if he's not going to keep on being the best friend.]

I don't know her as well as you do, but... she probably doesn't want to hurt you, either.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

...no matter what I choose to do...people are gonna get hurt.

[wingenvy]

Sometimes that's unavoidable. Sometimes people get hurt by things you do, sometimes they don't. But you can't keep yourself from being happy because of it.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

...but why should you try and make yourself happy at someone else's expense?

[wingenvy]

Because people need to find their own happiness, and it would just be insulting to her if you tried faking it to make her happy.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[That's a damn good point you've got there, Fair.]

[wingenvy]

[Ayup. Have another.]

Besides, if you did that then you'd be unhappy too, and she'd eventually find out and then she'd get mad, so nobody wins.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

Yeah I...said that. [Cloud drops his head and runs his fingers through his hair with a frustrated sound.]

[wingenvy]

[Zack doesn't respond, just sorta... ruffles his hair, the touch lingering a little more than usual. The touch is both playful and affectionate.]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud glances over at Zack, but doesn't move otherwise, either to duck out from beneath Zack's hand or move closer.]

[wingenvy]

[That's cool, Zack's pretty content to just sit and enjoy the company. He's so relieved they're not fighting about it.]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud's really too "slkvalskd" about this Tifa thing to be nitpicky about Zack hanging all over him as he usually does. So he just sits there, and kind of rocks the hammock a little bit in thought.]

...what would you do? Don't say "follow your heart" or something corny like that. I mean, really.

[wingenvy]

Really? [Zack purses his lips, leaning back a little.] I'd tell her the truth. It's no less than she deserves, and even if it hurts her at first, it's better to hear it directly instead of being surprised somehow later.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

I did that.

That's the problem. I hurt her and she's still just...so damn selfless.

I feel like such a dick.

[wingenvy]

Maybe she doesn't think she has a good enough reason to be angry. You guys worked this out ages ago, didn't you? So maybe she was testing the waters a little.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

I know. But I still feel like a jerk.

[wingenvy]

...Hey, Spike?

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

What?

[wingenvy]

Get over it.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Scowl.]

[wingenvy]

You need to stop guilt-tripping over everything even remotely related to you. You're gonna have health problems and a permanent scowl right here. [Forehead poke. D|]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud smacks Zack's hand away.]

It's not guilt-tripping if it's deserved. Tifa's miserable, it's my fault; it's not hard to understand.

[wingenvy]

It's not your fault, that's the thing you never understand. You may have been the cause, but it's not a bad thing for you to love someone else.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

How the hell isn't it my fault? If I'm the problem, that makes it my fault.

[wingenvy]

Not. The problem is a conflict in emotions. If you really have to hand out the blame, Tifa's just as much at fault for wanting to be with you as you are for not wanting her.