Blonde Ambition

Fuck Rust was an all female punk band comprised of former Honeybee Inn prostitutes. Cloud found the record when he was eleven years old, going through his mom's old collection.

"I don't wanna make you straight, QUEERBAIT! I love your fucking pretty face, QUEERBAIT!" Cloud shouted over the running shower water along with Lorna Rust, the lead singer, and his muse.

Knuckles rapped on the door, "Language, Clow!"

Lorna Rust, the image from the record cover, a vision of pure hellfire fury. Tight, dirty jeans, a neon yellow shirt ripped to shreds, barely containing her tits, thigh high pink boots with white laces. Her face was enraged, long bleached hair everywhere.

Cloud pictured himself at the academy, perhaps just having been in a terribly arousing death match. He swayed his hips away from the decimation, he could see Sephiroth sitting in the stands watching, lips parted, huge erection straining the very seams of his ever present leather pants. Cloud was gutter dirty. Disheveled, shirt ripped apart just like Lorna's, chest heaving, blood dripping from his mouth, same stance as her, blonde headed schizophrenic.

To be as sexy as Lorna! Of course, with many of the members of Fuck Rust, she had long since splashed back into the life stream. But her voice drove Cloud insane, she had been one fucking divinely pissed off woman.

Cloud turned off the water and kept singing, opting to 'beep' loudly when a dirty word skidded by, "I wanna BEEP your hot little BEEP, QUEERBAIT!"

"Better!" He heard faintly over the dryer.

Today was going to be an interesting one. First, to the post office to pick up his package from the military academy, his school uniforms had arrived. The uniforms were of grave importance. Then to the mall to get what he needed off his list. Cloud leaned into the mirror and bumped his forehead heavily against his reflection. Today would be good.

And tomorrow morning, they left for Midgar. His pupils widened. Tomorrow he would be sleeping in a room with someone he had never met before. When the sun rose tomorrow, this would not be home anymore.

"Is this right?" Cloud sighed to nobody. In response, he quickly kissed his own face. Loving himself a little bit had greatly increased his self-esteem.

That, and since the day of the briefing he had put his secret wardrobe into heavy rotation. There was no reason to hide anything anymore. Today he had on a shirt with Lorna on it that said simply, queer bait. He put on his now favorite jeans and bottomed it off with blue and yellow KangaROOs. He tried to drum up some of his now usual energy to calm his own nerves but … The anxiety in his eyes was plain to see.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Don't open it! I wanna look first!" Cloud roared every time his mom made any motions toward the backseat. She stuck him with the task of driving them to the mall, as she reveled in the chance to not have to drive, and of course any opportunity to torture him. The package was huge, taking up half of the backseat. Imprinted was the logo of Shin-Ra.

"Just a peek!"

"I said NOOO!" He threw his head back and shrieked at the top of his lungs, leaning on the horn to emphasize.

She chuckled, remembering the origins of this strange Cloud phenomenon. That first Christmas morning where Cloud was finally big enough to open his own presents. Tiny baby blonde, sitting there in his blue footsy pajamas, he ripped a small hole in the bright paper. He peeked into it, opening it ever so gently so only he could see what it was first before finally tearing off the paper. 'Why do you do that?' She had innocently asked the toddler. 'I see forst,' was his only explanation.

"So I have to sit in goddamn anticipation all afternoon?"

"YES! I see first, for fuck's sake!" Cloud crowed.

Some things never changed, they both realized simultaneously. One thing that was never going to change was the fact that they were both complete bitches. The mall was quickly and efficiently located, decent parking was obtained, and they made their entrance.

"Do you know where you wanna get this stuff at?" She asked him.

"Mm," Was his reply. From his peripheral he had noticed a gaggle of girls eyeing him. It was true what they say: Decide you're gay and you're suddenly hot property.

Tifa had been practically pawing down his front door since he was a little bit crass with her. Respect the woman and get nothin'. Tell her to fuck off and she's in love. There was still a primordial male urge to protect, to befriend. But it was an open and shut case, he knew what he wanted. Needed.

He needed a man so damn badly. He let his mind drift to Sephiroth. A man. A chest to lean against, a heartbeat to listen to, arms to keep him secure, a warm mouth to kiss. What store sold those?

"Well I think we can get almost everything here," His mom was yammering, pulling him into a department store. "You need some sweats. Socks. All that shit."

Cloud glanced over the men's selection of workout gear. Gray, black, navy, and white was the rainbow available.
His eyes tiptoed over to the woman's side of the department. Stripes, colors, and patterns splashed about. He turned his attention to what his mother was holding up, a gray pair of sweats that looked like the apocalypse.

Being a fashionista for the past two weeks, he couldn't bear the thought of gray, linty sweatpants on his body. "I want blue," He stated.

"Here's blue," she held up a dark navy pair.

"Bright blue," He stated again, looking at a pair of loose fitting, softer sweats across the way. "Those."

Her eyes followed his pointed finger, "Oh those are for girls baby. These are still blue."

"But I'm still pretty small. They'd fit fine," He said picking them up, holding them against his hips.

She looked at him for a moment, "Well try them on. Do you like the bright green, too?"

He made his way into the dressing room, flushing furiously. He could deal with hideous, unfashionable, ass drowning sweatpants … He really only needed these as lounging clothes or maybe for working out in the gym.
He looked at himself in the dressing room mirror shaking his head. He looked like he was going to pilates class, not to train for war. He was about to take them off when he caught a glimpse of his ass. He turned around, delighted.

Three in both colors. Check.

White ankle socks? No. Knee high tube socks with red stripes. Check.

Baggy plain t-shirts? No. Extra small wife beaters. Check.

"I think that's just about everything I need from here, mom," He said with a smile. Dying on the battlefield, his pants would be tight and his ass would look amazing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hook it into the drug store before we go home, Clow. Your job in this store is this: Whatever I put into the cart you put in three more. No matter what it is. Three more."

They walked up and down the aisles, filling the cart with toiletries Cloud might or might not need. Toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, face scrub, body wash, hand sanitizer.

"Motion sickness medication," She pointed out.

Tweezers, chap stick, deodorant, jock straps.

"Flintstones vitamins," Cloud requested.

They headed down the feminine hygiene aisle. Cloud averted his eyes from everything in general. They stopped, and he looked up.

"Condoms," She stated with a long breath of air.

"What!?" Cloud balked.

She picked up a box of one hundred and scanned the label. Seeming satisfied she dropped it into the cart, and looked at him.

"Three more boxes," She said.

Cloud gasped," What the fuck am I going to do with four hundred condoms?" He immediately realized his wording and covered his face with his hand.

Not caring, she selected a very large bottle of lubricant. She dropped it into the cart also.

"Jesus Christ!"

"Cloud. Now listen to me," She began quietly, more serious than Cloud had seen her in a very long time. "These are things that men … Need. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Their eyes searched each other's for several heartbeats. Cloud felt extremely young. He shouldn't have been wearing what he was. He should have been in a soccer uniform. It should be his bedtime already.

Shaking his head he put three more of each item in the cart then wrapped his long fingers through the gaps in the metal. Waiting. For her to say anything.

She sighed, "Just – whatever happens. Make sure to use both of those things. Don't let … Whoever. Don't let them tell you that you won't need either of them. I don't want you to be hurt," she swallowed. "This will help."

Cloud's breath hitched and tears sprung from his eyes suddenly and violently.

"Don't cry. You need to know this," She moved forward and wrapped her son in a hug. She kissed his forehead and he buried his head into her neck, letting himself cry for a few moments before pulling back. She drummed her fingers on the side of the cart, "You're wearing the queer bait shirt, not me."

Cloud laughed loudly, wiping at his face.

"Do you know … Everything? How it works?" She asked gently.

"I think so," Cloud nodded and sniffed, still wiping his eyes.

They stood there looking at each other.

"Surprise, I'm gay."

They roared into laughter.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I'll do it alone!" Cloud insisted as he lugged the large box up the stairs.

Successfully getting it into his room and onto his bed, his mom popped her head in, holding scissors," Want me to cut it?"

"OUT!" Slam.

He ran his fingers over the logo.

"What's that?" Sephiroth asked from his roost, taped to Cloud's wall.

"School uniforms," Cloud said slowly.

"Okay," Sephiroth consented.

There was a forum online for new students to chat. Fuck around. Whatever. Cloud just wanted to know what the uniform looked like. There were some complaints, but no pictures or worthwhile descriptions.

He tore into the box. A paper detailed the contents:

Fall Classroom - five shirts short sleeve, five shirts long sleeve, five vests, five pants, two ties.

Fall Field – five fatigues, two boots.

He put the paper down and unwrapped the first thing he felt.

The shirt was white, red buttons lining up to the collar, sleeves ending mid upper arm. The sleeves could be unbuttoned and rolled down to the elbow. The button that held it in place was also red. There was a very pristine embroidered red logo on the left breast pocket. It was a crest, part Shin-Ra logo, part SOLDIER logo, and something else. Then his eyes rolled in pleasure. They had included Masamune on the school crest. His fingers touched every dip and plane of the embroidery, special focus to feel the length of the tiny image of the sword.

Next thing unwrapped were the sweater vests, they were v-neck, black with red and white rings around the sleeves and neck. Over the left breast was the ever present crest, but instead of the red embroiderment, it was a color screened image.

He delved into the next. The long sleeve shirt was like the short sleeve but no crest on the pocket, probably because it was meant to be worn under the vest. Initially disappointed with the plainness, he was delighted to find that there were very tiny crests embroidered on the cuffs.

Next unwrapped, in a smaller bag, were the ties. They were simply red, with diagonal black and white stripes.
Best for last, the pants. Cloud flushed with anxiety. He ordered them a size too small on purpose. He hoped the results were worth it. He ripped open the back with his eyes closed. Blindly, he took off his pants and Sephiroth cat called. He then pulled on the pressed new uniform pants. Snug. He buttoned and zipped them up without very much difficulty at all. He opened his eyes. Low and tight. Cloud picked up a tie and spun it around in the air.

Then he noticed something. He turned around and laughed wickedly. On his left back pocket was again, the crest. He closed his eyes and imagined what his ass was going to look like swaying down the hallway, the school crest moving gently back and forth.

He pulled off his Lorna shirt and pulled on the white short sleeve shirt. He buttoned it all the way up, then flung the tie around his neck, pushed it up into place.

The boys were allowed to wear casual shoes in the classroom, academy preferring to keep the boots for outside purposes. Cloud had gotten, by miracle of miracles, red converses. He slipped them on, and looked at the complete picture in his mirror.

He thought to what the other boys were saying about the uniform, ‘Dorky! Ugh, I hate uniforms! I wish we could just wear fatigues!’

Morons! The uniform was a wet dream. The buttons screamed to be ripped open, tie literally designed to trap wrists against bedposts.

But most of all, most of all, Cloud had to stand out. Had to. He had to be cute, sexy, desirable. He had to catch the attention of …

"Sephiroth?" Cloud called softly.

"Hnnnnnn?" he answered.

"The first time you fuck me. I want to be wearing this."

"Okie Dokie."

Then Cloud remembered that there was more in the box. He was much less interested in the remaining contents. The boots were black combat boots. The fatigues were a pleasant surprise. Although they were simply baggy black cargo pants, there was also the red crest on the left back pocket. He imagined crawling on his belly through the mud in them.

It was the little details that Cloud liked best.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Ms. Strife became pregnant, Cloud's father added the second story to the house, expecting him to be the first of a litter. So the walls upstairs, being a quick addition, were much thinner than the walls downstairs.
And Cloud, being an only child with no friends, had no idea they were so thin. When in her room, Ms. Strife was usually reading, sleeping, or just being generally silent. Even though he was a quiet person, he opened up like a flower when alone in his room.

He really didn't know how butt fucking thin the walls upstairs really were. He didn't know that every single syllable he said while in his room was completely audible to his mother.

Sephiroth.

Ms. Strife mulled over that word for months. Maybe longer. Trying to figure out how it was spelled, what it meant.

A band? A lyric in a song?

The cadence by which it was spoken led her to believe that it was a name. But whose?

At first she thought Cloud, being only slightly muffled, was saying ’Save’ something or other. Save Ross? Save Rose? Save Wrought?"

No, not ’save’. ’Seph’.

She made a habit out of listening to him closely when he spoke, especially about music or video games, hoping the word would pop up and she could finally get an explanation to why that word was constantly said.

Sometimes it was uttered in a sexual way. Sometimes it was just said as if Cloud was talking to someone. Sometimes giggled. Sometimes groaned. Rarely, but often enough, it was said over and over, choked out repeatedly through heart breaking sobs until Cloud finally calmed down and began to softly snore.

Her child, largely a mystery to her throughout their relationship as mother and son, was full of secrets. She should have told him how well she could hear him but – she delighted in his humor. His imaginings. His thoughts spoken out to nobody. His sweet voice singing.

Sephiroth.

A large change occurred in her son since he signed up for the academy. He was suddenly full of light. She saw with her own eyes the person who was trapped in the upstairs bedroom, before heard only through the walls. He was a beautiful person. A sexual being. She was proud to see Cloud come into his own.

When she saw Cloud that afternoon, taking the magazine from him, the mystery was solved.

There was an attractive man. The caption read, "Sephiroth – General of the Shin-Ra army speaks".

It slightly horrified her. Hence the condom purchase and mini lecture.

She knew all about Cloud's sexuality for a very long time. But the things he mentioned alone weren't real. He adored Benjy. He spoke about men to Lorna Rust. He would drool over a man's picture in a magazine or talk to nobody about what he would hope his future lovers would be like.

Imaginings. Fantasies.

But Sephiroth was a very, very real man. And her son signed up for his army.

Finally, a face with the name. And if she knew anything about that person, the one she listened to nightly, he would get what he wanted.

'Sephiroth', Cloud had said moments ago, sending a red alert to his mother's ears. There was a giggle on his voice. A private tone. 'The first time you fuck me. I want to be wearing this.'

Ms. Strife sighed. Oh yes, Cloud would get his man. She knew he would.

"Hey," Cloud appeared in the doorway, arms outstretched like a young boy. He looked incredibly handsome. It had nothing to do with what he was wearing. He was about to embark on something more important than being in the military.

Ms. Strife didn't say anything. She was making a wish.

Please give Cloud the courage to march directly up to that son of a bitch. Let Cloud steal the beating heart right out of his fucking chest. Let Cloud wipe the smug smile right off of that handsome face. Let Cloud break through every barrier. Wrap that man around Cloud's little finger.

She wanted to see General Sephiroth, on her doorstep, with Cloud leading him by the hand to meet his mother.


A/N

Chapter Image can be found here! ---> http://owmyhearteries.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=120#/d1co9nb

1- Pumped this out right away. Had to write it. Ya know how it is. Fuck Rust, Lorna, Queer Bait, all that made up. I might mention actual music in later chapters, if/when I do it will be stated.

2- The uniform. I, not unlike Cloud, love clothes. So I just wanted to whip up something sexy for him to wear. So yes, from here on in, if you like to get the picture like I do, that will be what he wears.

3- Lots of talk from Mrs. Strife, I know. Next chapter is really the "beginning" of this story. I just wanted to touch on her relationship with Cloud before getting down to the nitty gritty.

4- You might get the feeling that this is a "feel good" fic. You would be correct.

5- Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate it, really.