[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

[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.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[...well he didn't think of it that way.]

[wingenvy]

[Then you better give it some thought now.]

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

...what about the boys? Denzel?

Tifa...she's his mother, as good as. And I'm his dad. ...how would this even go?

[wingenvy]

You've been dad and mom to him this whole time, but you haven't been together. That wouldn't change.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

He's eleven, I really don't think he'll see it that way. I think he's expected all along for me and Tifa to eventually get back together.

[wingenvy]

Believe it or not, Spike, I don't have all the answers on how to deal with this. It's just as unexpected for us, too.

[herobydefault.livejournal.com]

[Cloud leans forward, rests his elbows on his knees.]

...they come first. Right? But...that...does that mean I should let myself be unhappy...?

...it does, doesn't it? That's what it means to be a dad. To give up stuff you want for the sake of your kids. Where do you draw the line?