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[supersoldier]

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text; username: fenris | after the first full moon

[bravers]

You all right?

[supersoldier]

[Another instance of someone checking in on him? Odd, again — maybe vaguely appreciated in that cumbersomely detached way of his, but it’s superseded by debating how he should answer.

“I’m fine” is often the default. Usually the truth, too, in some form or fashion.]

I’m fine. You don’t have to feel obligated to check in on me.

[And then nothing. Followed by—]

It was unpleasant, but it’s over. You?

[bravers]

It affects me now. Of course I want to know.

[They're both not that great at social calls, huh. He's... relieved, oddly so, that nothing's pertinent or terrible enough to be said, to breach Sephiroth's pride. But yeah. Unsaid.]

Pretty much the same.

[A delay. Telling, probably, of his discomfort in asking.]

Any changes? Permanent ones, I mean.

[supersoldier]

[And an unsaid consequence of their Bond, isn’t it? The critical need to keep an eye on the other, in case something jarring should happen. It’s a cyclical loop of cause and effect, and another reason why Sephiroth had not looked forward to the concept. Still, at least Cloud is not very prying about it, casting only a wide net of curiosity.

Sephiroth finds himself exhaling on his side, shallow but existing all the same.]

An inordinate and disquieting amount of feathers. My back constantly itches where I think the wings will grow in.

[He considers deleting that last line, but ends up leaving it. That is likely less humiliating than any future changes wrought upon either of them.]

And a need to sleep in untraditional places. I’m holding off on that for now.

[By not sleeping.]

[bravers]

[That's disheartening. The bond's (probably???) stopped permanent physical changes on his end from the full moon. He's not noticed anything... strange. Or new. Permanently strange or new anyway.

There's a slight pause before he responds.
That's... bad, yeah.]

Maybe we should do something

[Deleted while composing. That sounds too weird.]

Maybe contact might make things less

[Nope.]

This sounds weird, but contact's supposed to help, right? I don't want to hear you took yourself out by falling from a tree or somethi

[Fuck. Delete, delete, delete.
...Okay. So.]

If you need anything, let me know.

[supersoldier]

[They're very good at this, if by "good", one actually means quite terrible.

With no other questions, or a means to push further information out of him -- and while still figuring out where to place the line in the sand between how much should be willingly said, bondmate or otherwise -- Sephiroth's reply is just as succinct.]

I will. [He probably won't.] The same applies to you.

[bravers]

[He better. It's... not ideal, but they both know where they stand. And if a half hour of ...mortifyingly embarrassing handholding a day prevents further transformations, then it's something he'll abide.

....Your secret's safe with him, Sephiroth. Mostly because even with the layers and layers and layers of the extremely complicated hate he bears for at least what Sephiroth became, he's as embarrassed as all hell about said handholding with even the man he was.

And just the embarrassment's enough to be a guarantee any details, of any kind, of what they have to do are going nowhere.]

Yep.

[And with that...]

Seriously, though. It's stupid of us to agree to bond until you find someone better if we're not going to help each other out. So if you need it, it's there.

[supersoldier]

[Look, let’s avoid all direct talk of handholding and anything else equally humiliating. Sephiroth knows what is to be expected, or at least highly recommended, and Cloud’s advice is both already known and implies that they cannot skate around the whole point of initiating a Bond to begin with.]

I’m not arguing against that point.

[It would have been foolish to accept the Bond in the first place, only to ignore its existence and the advantages that come with it.]

But this will be a readjustment on my side. I’m not [Here, he types, deletes, re-types several times.] acclimated to this kind of obligation. I’ve always valued my privacy.