Operation Jellyfish
Prologue: Pink Plasma
(o)
Very few things that glitter are actually gold. At least, not in Edge. It had been the same way in Midgar.
Good thing for Cloud he wasn't shopping for gold. Or silver. Gold and silver were soft metals, worthless save for their shine.
No, Tifa deserved something special. Unique.
Strong.
Diamonds and steel. He wanted diamonds and steel.
(o.2)
One Month Later
12:00, Edge
Cloud strode into the office. He did not simply walk, he strode. This made him look less like he was scared shitless with general nerves.
His fingers clasped around the tiny black box. He felt a contented smile settle onto his lips as he thought, briefly, about the precious contents of that box.
Reeve looked up from the paperwork. He was using Cait Sith as a calculator. On the wall to the right of the windows hung a Moogle clock.
"Cloud! What can I do for you?" Reeve grinned broadly at him. The smile was nearly lost in the moustache.
"I need to borrow the third drawer on the left side of your desk for a couple of hours."
"What for?"
"Storage."
"Storing what?"
Cloud withdrew the box. He flipped it open, revealing the ring.
"Is this steel?" Reeve asked.
"It seemed fitting at the time."
"Cloud, you bought a steel engagement ring."
Cloud just waited.
Reeve fell silent for a moment, and then nearly fell out of his chair laughing. "Diamonds and steel. Sephiroth on a pogo stick..." He paused to laugh. "You win at life, Cloud. You fucking win."
Reeve waved a hand. "Sure, go ahead. What's a desk drawer between friends, eh? When are you going to be back to pick it up?"
"About 1600," Cloud replied. "I think."
Reeve put the box in his desk drawer. "See you at 16:00."
"See you then."
notes
Okay, you've probably noticed that this fic has gotten much, much longer... without going too many places. Well, somebody complained (legitimately) about the length of this fic, and I don't want anybody getting any ideas as to whether or not this is a one-shot, so here we go: in an easier-to-read format and updated.
Those of you who've cared about this fic since before I multi-chaptered it, I reccommend skipping to chapter three and then reading four.