So we figure it out just to have it. Hey. [Pushes himself up onto an elbow to hover over Zack a little, lips pursed in concern as he reaches down to hold Zack's cheek for a moment, checking his expression.] Nobody's gonna make you do anything you don't wanna do. [Zack doesn't need to use that magic bullet just because they look for it, but it's always like this with him. He expresses something that hurts, or something he hates, and then immediately walks it back using whatever tool or excuse he's got available to him.
If it's more of that, Cloud doesn't need to hear it. It's a smokescreen for some other shit he's noticed Zack doing; self-sacrificing, in much more subtle ways, putting all his own hurts and hangups on the back burner, maybe entirely by habit at this point. Cloud has a bad day and Zack is there immediately with a glass of water, but every time they start to encroach on what upsets Zack he follows it up with a smile and a wave, always to be dealt with at some indeterminable 'later' date.
So if Cloud's stare is a little stern, hopefully it's interpreted to mean that he's not going to let Zack's discomfort go unnoticed, not anymore.]
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If it's more of that, Cloud doesn't need to hear it. It's a smokescreen for some other shit he's noticed Zack doing; self-sacrificing, in much more subtle ways, putting all his own hurts and hangups on the back burner, maybe entirely by habit at this point. Cloud has a bad day and Zack is there immediately with a glass of water, but every time they start to encroach on what upsets Zack he follows it up with a smile and a wave, always to be dealt with at some indeterminable 'later' date.
So if Cloud's stare is a little stern, hopefully it's interpreted to mean that he's not going to let Zack's discomfort go unnoticed, not anymore.]