it is so interesting to me how he's just

incapable of mustering up sympathy for mini-seph

not because he still hates him and/or is scared of him (there are some elements of that, but he's gotten to the point where he can separate this kid seph from the grown dude who is very many things to him)

but because he's come to understand how similar he and this kid seph are and he still dislikes HIMSELF

kid seph reflects a lot of things about cloud's own personality (and past) that he despises

so when he sees seph getting hung up on things he himself would get hung up on, even if he knows seph is like, MAD traumatized and damaged because of his (gestures to terrible life) everything

he gets frustrated instead of sympathetic or pitying

which is 100% a cloud issue that he needs to work through, but he is LEAGUES away from getting there

cloud only just recently accepted that people do love him (for some reason) so instead of second-guessing them about it, he's trying to protect them and keep them safe

and moreover, trying to make them HAPPY

cloud is the best

sephiroths first crush, doomed~ .. forever. on purpose because obviously.

You're making progress, Cloud! And nothing like seeing stuff you dislike about yourself in other people.