[he offers sephiroth something of a defeated smile. his headaches are pretty much still a constant, and not even with rufus' money and influence could he find a treatment that works to liberate him from the torture. it's stress, a psychological thing, probably connected to something in his past which—again—with his personalized-amnesia is hard for him to dive into.]

[it's the rufus question that has cloud... tense up.]

[sitting back, he crosses his arms and looks like he's struggling to come up with an answer.]

You asked me why him before. [this really is shitty] It was a coincidence we met, and we became friends. We got close. He was idealistic and had a vision different to his father's. We got together about seven months ago, but... he's changed, since he's become president. He's not— [ugh, he puts a hand to his forehead and leans into it] Talking to you about my partner when we had a history ourselves, this is a new low. [a pause...] He doesn't know. About us.