When the floating him starts to tangle with his gun strap, Cloud's haunches tense, muscles going tight and prepared. It's almost writhing and it's uncomfortable to watch because it reminds him of things he thought he'd left behind. The fact the kid's going for his gun only registers as a background fact, the same as the yelling. As far as Cloud's concerned he's saved the kid twice. It should earn him immunity from being shot. At. Shot at. He's got SOLDIER reflexes whether he's furry or not.

And he's not sure how stable the younger him is in that floating position to go rapidly spinning to aim.

Instead he watches the struggle.

...

he really was a wimp back then.

A miserable wimp determined to be more than a wimp no matter how many times he messed up. A back paw comes up to scratch at the back of his neck. He's really not upset that most of his memories from that time are vague. Especially with the floating version of himself to help him remember how it felt. He hated that, being trapped being... himself.

How's he supposed to make sure Denzel never has to go through that?

Standing up, he trots directly under the struggling teen and sits down again. He can't talk but he's bad with words anyway. Instead, he goes for the dog routine and carefully lifts his paw. He's either offering to shake or to untangle the gun for the kid. It's hard to be that expressive with paws.

"woof."