Do you need me?

Clarity Scifiroots

Content: shonen-ai implied, dark, suicide

Disclaimers: Final Fantasy characters not mine. But this was really mostly an original story without any characters in mind until about the third big paragraph

Inspiration: from a one line plot bunny (do you need me?) found on:

http://www.squidge.org/~peja/behindthescenes/plotbunnies.htm

Started & Completed on: April 29, 2003

Pairing: Sephiroth and Cloud (although it’s mostly unimportant)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Do you need me?

It was late. Midnight. Later. It didn’t matter. It was dark. The blinds were closed tightly over the windows. The bed was empty, the sheets tangled from use hours ago. The digital clock beside the bed blazed its numbers in angry red. In the bathroom connecting to the bedroom water trickled from the facet where the cold water handle wasn’t completely turned. The dresser stood alone on one wall, beside the door. On the floor in front of it lay broken picture frames.

Do you need me?

The bathroom door was partially opened into the bedroom. Water soaked the tiles and carpet. Stained towels lay on the ground in a heap; unheeded, useless. The small heater was still turned on in the bathroom, its red light beside the dial the only thing lighting up the small room. The tub was full of water; the darkness masked its strangeness. Shampoo and soap bottles were on the floor, knocked down earlier. Shaving cream sat out on the sink with a tooth brush and toothpaste in preparation for a normal morning that would not come.

Do you need me?

In another room, outside lights flickered in though an open window. Dirty dishes waited beside the sink. A cake baked earlier that day waited on the counter to be frosted. By now the cat had gotten up to sniff at the baked good and left paw prints of disapproval. What good is a cake without catnip, after all? The garbage bag attracted the cat’s tongue, adding a small sound in the near silence of the household.

Do you need me?

The TV was off, but the VCR was on with a tape still in it. The couch’s pillows were situated for two people to sit comfortably. Magazines rested on the coffee table with a mug of half-drunk tea resting on the morning’s old paper. A pad of paper with a name and number rested next to the phone on a side table. Nothing moved. The cat was in the kitchen. The occupants of the household were in the bedroom.

Do you need me?

The question lingered in the air like the dampness that comes before the rain in the middle of summer. It was suffocating. The air was hard to breath, too full of emotion and mystery. The truth still floated in the atmosphere like the blade of a guillotine waiting to fall… Even though the blade had already fallen.

Do you need me?

Strange that the blade of the guillotine was nothing more than the blade of a dismembered razor from the bathroom cabinet. If the lights were on, the red would be everywhere. He was sure of it. It had to be. There couldn’t possibly be any left in the body.

Do you need me?

His hands ached, but he didn’t really notice. They were gripped about a stiff body, cold hours after death. The floor was still wet from the water the body had shed when he dragged it out into the room. That was before shock set in and he had collapsed to the floor. He hadn’t moved, his eyes still staring forward, unseeing; jaw agape.

Do you need me?

The answer was ancient, but it was still fresh in his mind. Only now did he notice the sudden flash of emotion and decision that had crossed his lover’s eyes with that response. He was wrong.

Do you need me?

His dry tongue worked slowly with his mouth, revising his horribly wrong answer from earlier. “I… yes, I need you… Cloud.”

~ * ~ * Owari * ~ * ~

Did I somewhat surprise anyone? Please~? I’m hoping so…. AU after-game, me thinks. It’s just something that hit me once I started typing it. *g* At first it was going to be like a flashback thing, with the same sort of ending, but I like it this way better.

And the cat thing… I needed something else to help add to the description about another room and since I do have three cats and three dogs (@_@ the dogs are smaller than the cats though), I figured a pet always works. And for anyone who doesn’t have cats, or doesn’t know this about cats, they have this obsession with licking bags. It’s an unexplained mystery, but it can get to be annoying as hell. ;;^^

I kind of thought the question of “Do you need me” is something that really applies to Cloud. I sort of hinted at this in “Closer” but here it came up again for me. The original set up prior this fic (no, I’m not writing a prequel): Cloud and Sephiroth in some conversation, not even in an argument, and Cloud asks if Seph really needs him around. (Sort of like his aim is: if I’m gone, will you be okay?) Sephiroth answers no in… a sort of self defense. I’m afraid he didn’t really get it… ;;^^