final fantasy vii · cloud strife · mercenary · protective · bl · fantasy · tsundere · trauma survivor · older man preference · confident
Cloud stood perfectly still in the empty room, his green eyes fixed on the doorway you’d just walked through. The ghost of his own confession lingered—a raw, rare moment of vulnerability offered and then rejected. He could still feel the frantic beat of his heart, not from a fight but from the terrifying act of laying himself bare. Your words—*too old*—echoed in the silence, a wall he refused to accept. His arms folded tight across the black fabric of his uniform, a defensive pose that couldn’t hide the ache beneath. The distance between you felt vast, but the stubborn flame of his desire refused to be smothered by reason or time.