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*sighs* Yep, time for the flooding of the flist. *apologizes to those who could care less about her fic.*
A/N: *sighs* This was supposed to be the end of this interlude. Not quite. Almost there. One more section.
Chapter One: Escape
Interlude One
Chapter Two: Clean Up
Interlude Two
Chapter Three: On the Run
Interlude Three-Part One
Interlude Three-Part Two
New Chapter
Interlude Three-Part Three
1990
“You and I need to have a little chat.”
It had been pleasingly nice to see Reno jerk like that, though by the time he turned, the other man had his typical lazy smile on, looking completely at ease. Zack knew better, though. Benefit of being able to hear someone’s heartbeat.
He had been looking for the other man since this morning. It had only gotten a bit more intense when he had spied Cloud walking to meet the rest of his group, and Zack had noticed his friend limping. It wasn’t bad, but…it was definitely a limp.
By that point and time, he had already decided to have a chat with Reno, but when Zack saw that, it became something of a moral imperative that he and the only slightly younger boy have a long, possibly threat filled, conversation. Threat meaning sharp, pointy objects, of course.
Reno was looking at him and, after a moment of study, nodded and followed him to the quiet spot that Zack lead them to. The fact that it was rather secluded was enough to make Reno look around, suddenly a bit more wary. Zack had wondered how long it was going to take the boy to start getting twitchy. Hadn’t taken long at all. Not too bad. Too late to help, though.
Smiling, showing far more teeth than most people felt comfortable having bared at them, Zack almost purred. “So, you and Cloud, hmm?” He watched Reno closely, who was blinking back, obvious confusion in the back of his eyes. Reno wasn’t that much shorter than Zack at this moment, but there was just a bit of height difference, and Zack knew he was a hell of a lot broader in the shoulders than the redhead, not to mention combat hardened. That, sometimes, made people more wary, but it didn’t seem to be affecting Reno at all as the man obviously gave up.
“What?”
Zack crossed his arms, looking down at him, eyes still calm, though he felt the twisting in his chest. He hid it, though, and continued to glare. “You and Cloud.”
More blinking. “Me and Cloud….? You are going to have to give me more to go on if I’m supposed to answer with anything besides what, or smart assed answers.”
“….” Zack was, for a brief moment, speechless. “I saw you two last night. In Cloud’s room. The door was left open when I walked past. And, really, I just wanted to tell you a thing or two.”
At this point, Zack pulled on the persona he used when dressing someone down. His “I’m a scary, scary bastard who can rip you head off with one hand, and I’m not any less scary because I’m smiling” look. And he was smiling, bright and sharp.
“You hurt him, and I won’t touch you. However, I will do something much, much worse.” A bit more feral into the smile. “I’ll tell Seph that you hurt him. You’ll only wish that I had gotten you first.”
A few moments of quiet, while Reno blinked at him, more confusion on his face. The cluelessness was almost enough to make Zack think he had made a mistake, but then realization flooded Reno’s expression.
“Oooh,” he said, settling to lean against the wall, hands in his pockets and a lazy smirk on his face. “You mean that.” The smirk turned into more than a little leer. “We were just having a little bit of fun.”
A knot twisted in his chest, and Zack’s eyes narrowed. “Just a bit of fun?” His tone was neutral, and that was good, though he could feel his hands clenching.
Leaning a bit more against the wall, Reno grinned and nodded. “You know,” he said lightly. “Nudge here, push there,” a bit of demonstration with a few twitches his waist and hips. “And everything just falling. Into. Place.” He practically purred, radiating self-satisfaction.
Zack could feel the Mako concentrations in his eye rise up. The burn was there, and the tiny sheen of green that invaded his sight. Not that the green would be visible to anyone who didn’t have enhanced sight. All normal people would see was the glow brightening. A good reminder that the person that they were facing was just…more than them.
“You had better not just be playing with him.” His voice was low and definitely creeping towards not happy at all.
The lazy smile on Reno’s face seemed to say that, really, Zack could do better than that. “And what if we were just playing with each other, hmm? Would that make it any better? Because I like Cloud, he’s great fun to hang out and do stuff with.” The tone was enough to make that sound as filthy as possible, and Zack’s nails dug into his palms. “But I don’t want to get too tangled up with him.”
A low almost rumble in his chest, and Zack leaned forward and put a hand on the wall next to Reno’s head. “Don’t want to get too tangled with him?” He didn’t like that phrase at all, as he could feel the wood paneling of the wall sink in under his fingertips. Oh, hope nobody noticed that for a bit, a random part of his brain popped up.
Steadily meeting Zack’s eyes, and not looking where the wood was creaking almost silently next to his ear, Reno just shrugged. “Yeah. I meant like relationship wise, cause the physical tangling is more than nice.” The lewd smirk on his face made Zack wonder why he liked this one again, and if the Turks would mind if he tried beating some sense into the redhead.
“And,” Zack growled, teeth still tight and speaking through them, “about what Cloud wants?”
A shrug as Reno quirked a brow. “What does it matter to you?”
The wood paneling cracked, a sharp pop that even drew a bit of a start from Reno. Good. Zack had been very tempted to try that to his throat if the other hadn’t reacted in a way that indicated he was aware of how the situation was.
Eyes a bit wide, but still trying to force the same look of calm coolness on his face, Reno looked at Zack, then down at his nails, as if examining them for dirt. “Besides, why would I stay involved with someone when I’m just the replacement? Neither of us are expecting much, might as well just have a bit of fun while we can, right?”
A moment of quiet as Zack removed his fingers from the paneling, taking a deep breath to stay calm. “Why? Because you are sleeping with him, and…. Wait. Replacement?”
The surprise in Zack’s voice was obviously enough for Reno to recover his confidence. “What can I say,” he grinned slyly. “It’s really hard to keep the mood going when he keeps going on about someone else.”
Zack blinked at him slowly. “And,” he asked, “just who is it that he keeps mentioning?” He leaned in, voice low. Could Cloud have actually noticed the crush, or figured out why Seph had done what he did? No, cause he wouldn’t have been hiding from the man still. So who…?
Grin slowly growing, Reno relaxed a bit. “Now why should I tell you?” he asked, amusement clear in his voice. “It’s impolite to sleep and tell, isn’t it? And you were the one who is so worried about hurting him. Shame, shame.”
Teeth gritting, Zack glared. “And since when have you ever been polite?”
The smile melted from a grin into a shark smile, sharp and just as feral as Zack’s. “Since when have you been so nosy into who Cloud sleeps with and who he doesn’t? Though I bet there hasn’t been many, if anyone else besides me who’ve shared his bed.” Then the leer came back, and his eyes brightened. “He’s so warm, when he’s stretched out next to you, all that nice, lean body right there…..”
Zack slammed him into the wall, hand tight on his shirt and actually lifting him off his feet. His knuckles brushed against the thin throat, and Zack was not feeling inclined to be even the slightest bit nice at the moment.
There was a choked sound, and Reno wrapped his hand around Zack’s wrist. He didn’t even try the futile task of freeing himself. Instead, he just tried to lift a bit of his weight up, so the shirt wasn’t digging into his skin. “Oooh,” he rasped, “getting feisty, are we? You’d think I said something to upset you.”
“You little bastard.” The words were hissed into Reno’s ear. “Who the hell do you think you’re playing with?”
The reply was smug. “According to you, Cloud.”
“You….fuck!” Zack dropped the other man and took a step back. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. Then he continued, voice calm again. “I don’t own Cloud. I can’t control who he hangs out with, or who he…invites to his bed. But I can watch out for him, because he deserves to be happy.”
“You.”
Zack paused and looked at Reno. “Me? Me what?”
An eye roll was his answer. “I answered your question. You.”
More confusion. Zack, feeling rather foolish, stopped and rewound him memory a few minutes and watched it again. Oh…. “Wait, he talks about me?”
Straightening his clothes, Reno nodded. “Makes a guy feel like a second hand replacement when all his bed partner does is talk about another guy. Rather discouraging.” A wicked grin. “So, what was this promise you made to him?”
Ignoring the question, Zack almost stuttered for a second. “Okay. Stop. Backtrack a sec. Cloud talks about me when you guys are together?”
“Constantly.”
Zack was rather torn between gleeful dancing and sheer, dumbfounded shock. “Oh.”
“Oh?” An amused noise. “Well, at least that amazing ability to make a comeback of yours isn’t in danger of going anywhere.”
A glare at him. “That’s not nice. Are you just trying to mess with me? Because I will be very unhappy if you are.”
“Deadly serious, yo. Should go ask him yourself, or are all 1st Classes this whimpy?” He looked at his watch. “I got to go, unless you want to tell the Turks why I was late?” With that, he slipped passed Zack and with a long stride, headed for the elevators.
Glad to know that he was still scary enough that he could make Reno walk faster. Zack stood there, pondering. “Maybe I will go ask Cloud,” he said to himself.
///
Gods, it was going to be another one of those nights.
With a sigh, Cloud curled up on his bed, staring out the window. He wished he could see the stars though here in Midgar it was near impossible. On the outer edges of the Plate, if the timing and luck were just right, then, maybe, maybe, one might see one or two of the brightest stars.
So, instead, Cloud just looked out the window. If he sat at the desk, at least he would have been able to watch the people on the street, sometimes rather entertaining, depending on what time of day it was. But….
He couldn’t sit at the desk. It just…bothered him to sit there.
Damn it.
Not able to sleep, Cloud rose. Zack wasn’t home yet, and Cloud already knew the older man didn’t mind him using the desk in his room. And all of Cloud’s books were there. He’d go study for a bit. Maybe he’d be able to relax enough to sleep. Gods knew some of those books were boring enough to drive one to unconsciousness.
He didn’t know how long he had been there when he heard Zack cough softly. Starting, Cloud turned, and he spotted his friend lounging in the door. “Don’t have to get up,” Zack said, moving into the room, stripping off his armor. “I just was letting you know I was there.”
It was things like that that made Cloud realize just how much he liked Zack, and he just smiled at the boy. Zack grinned back and, after a minute of putting up the armor and his sword, he flopped on the bed.
“So,” he started, watching the ceiling. “Reno and I had a talk today.”
Cloud blinked at him. That was a weird conversation opener. Well, might as long go with it. “Oh?”
“Yeah. He mentioned that you talked about me all the time.” A violet eye fixed on Cloud. “Said you mentioned the promise.”
Oh. Fuck. He shouldn’t have told Reno, but it had been nice to know that Zack would, if Cloud had asked, to show him a few things. Cloud knew Seph and Zack had been together more than once, and….
If Seph lost it again, Cloud hadn’t wanted him to be the first. Not if he was scary violent as last time. Would probably still hurt a lot, but at least he wouldn’t have gotten anything really special. And Cloud…really liked Zack. Really like-liked. He wanted the first time to be with someone he liked. Zack had said no when he first asked, but he did promise that he would teach Cloud if Cloud had asked again after he had calmed down.
When Cloud had calmed down, he figured Zack had just said that as a nice way to say no, and so hadn’t acted on it, but he had told Reno, a bit awed by it. And now Zack knew he told, and if he had still meant it, he probably didn’t anymore.
“You know, I meant what I said.”
Or Cloud could be completely wrong. He looked up, blinking at Zack. He couldn’t…. He didn’t really mean it, did he? Nobody ever really meant the nice things they told him. Just never seemed too happy. Not to him, anyway. To other people, yeah. People like Zack.
Only….
The honest affection he saw in Zack’s eyes told him that, maybe, for some reason, Zack did. He didn’t know why Zack liked him like this, but it was good, and he was happy because of it.
“Really?”
Zack smiled at him, ignoring how Cloud’s voice had trembled just a bit. “Yeah, Spike, really.” After a few moments, he grinned. “Don’t need to look like I bit you, you know?”
Feeling a blush warm his cheeks, Cloud ducked his head. “Please?” Oh, it was hard to say that word. “Show me?”
A low, warm chuckle, and Zack held out his hand. Cloud, after a moment, rose and took it. Zack’s hand felt really warm, and then Cloud was pulled close and he was on the bed next to him. Again, Zack studied him, then he leaned in and slowly kissed Cloud.
Zack tasted warm and spicy and, and…Zack-like. That was good.
After a moment, Zack pulled back and smiled softly. “Okay?” he asked softly. Cloud blinked, a bit dazed, then blushed again and nodded. “Good,” Zack purred. “Remember, if you don’t feel comfortable, tell me, okay?”
Another nod.
“Good,” the older man told him, and Cloud smiled mentally as another long, soft kiss started.
He always knew he could trust Zack.
///
Wandering for the mess hall, Reno was absently keeping an eye out for tall, black spikes, and because of this missed the blond, shorter ones until the owner tripped him.
Blinking in surprise, Reno laid on the floor a minute before sitting up. “Want to tell me what that was about?” he asked.
Cloud stared down at him, one blond eyebrow cocked. “You told Zack that you know about the promise. Why did you do that? If I had known you were going to tell him, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Oh, hells, he sounded really unhappy. And he guessed that he couldn’t really blame his friend. He knew he wouldn’t have liked it to have something like that get around, either.
Reno looked at Cloud, just looked, and saw the slightly uncomfortable way he was standing. Yes, it had worked! “He had me pinned against the wall. Seems your boy thought you and me were sleeping together.”
“What!?”
That screech drew more than a little attention towards them, and got Reno looks from a few of Cloud’s other friends, who were just as protective of the blond as he was. Came from that adorable baby face and choco hair. Everyone wanted to parent Cloud. Poor kid.
Reno just nodded and stood, dusting himself off. “He said he saw us in your bed. Neither of us wore shirts to sleep in, you know.”
“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”
Wow, Cloud was really red. Reno hadn’t seen anyone turn that color before. Pretty neat. “Let’s see, let him think I’m managed to topple you into bed, or tell him it’s because I managed to numb your leg while sparring and we just ended up crashing in the same bed cause it was late. Which does more for my reputation?” He, barely, dodged the punch aimed at his face. “Calm down! He was worked up at me cause he was worried about you.”
That got Cloud to pause, and Reno grinned at seeing such large eyes. “Huh?”
Shaking his head, he made an amused sound. “Boy, you guys match up well. He was just as talkative when I told him that he was the one you were always talking about. Course, he doesn’t know that everything I said was in reference to our sparring.” Reno grinned. “And I don’t think I ever lied. That was fun.”
Cloud was blinking at him. “But…but...but….” His mouth opened and shut a few more times before he gave up and just flushed a bit more. “Should have told him the truth,” he said finally.
Leaning close and almost purring into Cloud’s ear, Reno grinned. “Why? Looks like you ended up having a very good time. Tell me, is he as good as rumors would have him?”
Then he was off and running, being chased by a sputtering, beet-red blond, and laughing the entire time.
Interlude Three-Part Four
Wordcounts:
Nov 6(when this was written): 3,016
November so far: 29,932
Nano: 19,886
OGToF: 28,276
A/N: *sighs* This was supposed to be the end of this interlude. Not quite. Almost there. One more section.
Chapter One: Escape
Interlude One
Chapter Two: Clean Up
Interlude Two
Chapter Three: On the Run
Interlude Three-Part One
Interlude Three-Part Two
New Chapter
Interlude Three-Part Three
1990
“You and I need to have a little chat.”
It had been pleasingly nice to see Reno jerk like that, though by the time he turned, the other man had his typical lazy smile on, looking completely at ease. Zack knew better, though. Benefit of being able to hear someone’s heartbeat.
He had been looking for the other man since this morning. It had only gotten a bit more intense when he had spied Cloud walking to meet the rest of his group, and Zack had noticed his friend limping. It wasn’t bad, but…it was definitely a limp.
By that point and time, he had already decided to have a chat with Reno, but when Zack saw that, it became something of a moral imperative that he and the only slightly younger boy have a long, possibly threat filled, conversation. Threat meaning sharp, pointy objects, of course.
Reno was looking at him and, after a moment of study, nodded and followed him to the quiet spot that Zack lead them to. The fact that it was rather secluded was enough to make Reno look around, suddenly a bit more wary. Zack had wondered how long it was going to take the boy to start getting twitchy. Hadn’t taken long at all. Not too bad. Too late to help, though.
Smiling, showing far more teeth than most people felt comfortable having bared at them, Zack almost purred. “So, you and Cloud, hmm?” He watched Reno closely, who was blinking back, obvious confusion in the back of his eyes. Reno wasn’t that much shorter than Zack at this moment, but there was just a bit of height difference, and Zack knew he was a hell of a lot broader in the shoulders than the redhead, not to mention combat hardened. That, sometimes, made people more wary, but it didn’t seem to be affecting Reno at all as the man obviously gave up.
“What?”
Zack crossed his arms, looking down at him, eyes still calm, though he felt the twisting in his chest. He hid it, though, and continued to glare. “You and Cloud.”
More blinking. “Me and Cloud….? You are going to have to give me more to go on if I’m supposed to answer with anything besides what, or smart assed answers.”
“….” Zack was, for a brief moment, speechless. “I saw you two last night. In Cloud’s room. The door was left open when I walked past. And, really, I just wanted to tell you a thing or two.”
At this point, Zack pulled on the persona he used when dressing someone down. His “I’m a scary, scary bastard who can rip you head off with one hand, and I’m not any less scary because I’m smiling” look. And he was smiling, bright and sharp.
“You hurt him, and I won’t touch you. However, I will do something much, much worse.” A bit more feral into the smile. “I’ll tell Seph that you hurt him. You’ll only wish that I had gotten you first.”
A few moments of quiet, while Reno blinked at him, more confusion on his face. The cluelessness was almost enough to make Zack think he had made a mistake, but then realization flooded Reno’s expression.
“Oooh,” he said, settling to lean against the wall, hands in his pockets and a lazy smirk on his face. “You mean that.” The smirk turned into more than a little leer. “We were just having a little bit of fun.”
A knot twisted in his chest, and Zack’s eyes narrowed. “Just a bit of fun?” His tone was neutral, and that was good, though he could feel his hands clenching.
Leaning a bit more against the wall, Reno grinned and nodded. “You know,” he said lightly. “Nudge here, push there,” a bit of demonstration with a few twitches his waist and hips. “And everything just falling. Into. Place.” He practically purred, radiating self-satisfaction.
Zack could feel the Mako concentrations in his eye rise up. The burn was there, and the tiny sheen of green that invaded his sight. Not that the green would be visible to anyone who didn’t have enhanced sight. All normal people would see was the glow brightening. A good reminder that the person that they were facing was just…more than them.
“You had better not just be playing with him.” His voice was low and definitely creeping towards not happy at all.
The lazy smile on Reno’s face seemed to say that, really, Zack could do better than that. “And what if we were just playing with each other, hmm? Would that make it any better? Because I like Cloud, he’s great fun to hang out and do stuff with.” The tone was enough to make that sound as filthy as possible, and Zack’s nails dug into his palms. “But I don’t want to get too tangled up with him.”
A low almost rumble in his chest, and Zack leaned forward and put a hand on the wall next to Reno’s head. “Don’t want to get too tangled with him?” He didn’t like that phrase at all, as he could feel the wood paneling of the wall sink in under his fingertips. Oh, hope nobody noticed that for a bit, a random part of his brain popped up.
Steadily meeting Zack’s eyes, and not looking where the wood was creaking almost silently next to his ear, Reno just shrugged. “Yeah. I meant like relationship wise, cause the physical tangling is more than nice.” The lewd smirk on his face made Zack wonder why he liked this one again, and if the Turks would mind if he tried beating some sense into the redhead.
“And,” Zack growled, teeth still tight and speaking through them, “about what Cloud wants?”
A shrug as Reno quirked a brow. “What does it matter to you?”
The wood paneling cracked, a sharp pop that even drew a bit of a start from Reno. Good. Zack had been very tempted to try that to his throat if the other hadn’t reacted in a way that indicated he was aware of how the situation was.
Eyes a bit wide, but still trying to force the same look of calm coolness on his face, Reno looked at Zack, then down at his nails, as if examining them for dirt. “Besides, why would I stay involved with someone when I’m just the replacement? Neither of us are expecting much, might as well just have a bit of fun while we can, right?”
A moment of quiet as Zack removed his fingers from the paneling, taking a deep breath to stay calm. “Why? Because you are sleeping with him, and…. Wait. Replacement?”
The surprise in Zack’s voice was obviously enough for Reno to recover his confidence. “What can I say,” he grinned slyly. “It’s really hard to keep the mood going when he keeps going on about someone else.”
Zack blinked at him slowly. “And,” he asked, “just who is it that he keeps mentioning?” He leaned in, voice low. Could Cloud have actually noticed the crush, or figured out why Seph had done what he did? No, cause he wouldn’t have been hiding from the man still. So who…?
Grin slowly growing, Reno relaxed a bit. “Now why should I tell you?” he asked, amusement clear in his voice. “It’s impolite to sleep and tell, isn’t it? And you were the one who is so worried about hurting him. Shame, shame.”
Teeth gritting, Zack glared. “And since when have you ever been polite?”
The smile melted from a grin into a shark smile, sharp and just as feral as Zack’s. “Since when have you been so nosy into who Cloud sleeps with and who he doesn’t? Though I bet there hasn’t been many, if anyone else besides me who’ve shared his bed.” Then the leer came back, and his eyes brightened. “He’s so warm, when he’s stretched out next to you, all that nice, lean body right there…..”
Zack slammed him into the wall, hand tight on his shirt and actually lifting him off his feet. His knuckles brushed against the thin throat, and Zack was not feeling inclined to be even the slightest bit nice at the moment.
There was a choked sound, and Reno wrapped his hand around Zack’s wrist. He didn’t even try the futile task of freeing himself. Instead, he just tried to lift a bit of his weight up, so the shirt wasn’t digging into his skin. “Oooh,” he rasped, “getting feisty, are we? You’d think I said something to upset you.”
“You little bastard.” The words were hissed into Reno’s ear. “Who the hell do you think you’re playing with?”
The reply was smug. “According to you, Cloud.”
“You….fuck!” Zack dropped the other man and took a step back. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. Then he continued, voice calm again. “I don’t own Cloud. I can’t control who he hangs out with, or who he…invites to his bed. But I can watch out for him, because he deserves to be happy.”
“You.”
Zack paused and looked at Reno. “Me? Me what?”
An eye roll was his answer. “I answered your question. You.”
More confusion. Zack, feeling rather foolish, stopped and rewound him memory a few minutes and watched it again. Oh…. “Wait, he talks about me?”
Straightening his clothes, Reno nodded. “Makes a guy feel like a second hand replacement when all his bed partner does is talk about another guy. Rather discouraging.” A wicked grin. “So, what was this promise you made to him?”
Ignoring the question, Zack almost stuttered for a second. “Okay. Stop. Backtrack a sec. Cloud talks about me when you guys are together?”
“Constantly.”
Zack was rather torn between gleeful dancing and sheer, dumbfounded shock. “Oh.”
“Oh?” An amused noise. “Well, at least that amazing ability to make a comeback of yours isn’t in danger of going anywhere.”
A glare at him. “That’s not nice. Are you just trying to mess with me? Because I will be very unhappy if you are.”
“Deadly serious, yo. Should go ask him yourself, or are all 1st Classes this whimpy?” He looked at his watch. “I got to go, unless you want to tell the Turks why I was late?” With that, he slipped passed Zack and with a long stride, headed for the elevators.
Glad to know that he was still scary enough that he could make Reno walk faster. Zack stood there, pondering. “Maybe I will go ask Cloud,” he said to himself.
Gods, it was going to be another one of those nights.
With a sigh, Cloud curled up on his bed, staring out the window. He wished he could see the stars though here in Midgar it was near impossible. On the outer edges of the Plate, if the timing and luck were just right, then, maybe, maybe, one might see one or two of the brightest stars.
So, instead, Cloud just looked out the window. If he sat at the desk, at least he would have been able to watch the people on the street, sometimes rather entertaining, depending on what time of day it was. But….
He couldn’t sit at the desk. It just…bothered him to sit there.
Damn it.
Not able to sleep, Cloud rose. Zack wasn’t home yet, and Cloud already knew the older man didn’t mind him using the desk in his room. And all of Cloud’s books were there. He’d go study for a bit. Maybe he’d be able to relax enough to sleep. Gods knew some of those books were boring enough to drive one to unconsciousness.
He didn’t know how long he had been there when he heard Zack cough softly. Starting, Cloud turned, and he spotted his friend lounging in the door. “Don’t have to get up,” Zack said, moving into the room, stripping off his armor. “I just was letting you know I was there.”
It was things like that that made Cloud realize just how much he liked Zack, and he just smiled at the boy. Zack grinned back and, after a minute of putting up the armor and his sword, he flopped on the bed.
“So,” he started, watching the ceiling. “Reno and I had a talk today.”
Cloud blinked at him. That was a weird conversation opener. Well, might as long go with it. “Oh?”
“Yeah. He mentioned that you talked about me all the time.” A violet eye fixed on Cloud. “Said you mentioned the promise.”
Oh. Fuck. He shouldn’t have told Reno, but it had been nice to know that Zack would, if Cloud had asked, to show him a few things. Cloud knew Seph and Zack had been together more than once, and….
If Seph lost it again, Cloud hadn’t wanted him to be the first. Not if he was scary violent as last time. Would probably still hurt a lot, but at least he wouldn’t have gotten anything really special. And Cloud…really liked Zack. Really like-liked. He wanted the first time to be with someone he liked. Zack had said no when he first asked, but he did promise that he would teach Cloud if Cloud had asked again after he had calmed down.
When Cloud had calmed down, he figured Zack had just said that as a nice way to say no, and so hadn’t acted on it, but he had told Reno, a bit awed by it. And now Zack knew he told, and if he had still meant it, he probably didn’t anymore.
“You know, I meant what I said.”
Or Cloud could be completely wrong. He looked up, blinking at Zack. He couldn’t…. He didn’t really mean it, did he? Nobody ever really meant the nice things they told him. Just never seemed too happy. Not to him, anyway. To other people, yeah. People like Zack.
Only….
The honest affection he saw in Zack’s eyes told him that, maybe, for some reason, Zack did. He didn’t know why Zack liked him like this, but it was good, and he was happy because of it.
“Really?”
Zack smiled at him, ignoring how Cloud’s voice had trembled just a bit. “Yeah, Spike, really.” After a few moments, he grinned. “Don’t need to look like I bit you, you know?”
Feeling a blush warm his cheeks, Cloud ducked his head. “Please?” Oh, it was hard to say that word. “Show me?”
A low, warm chuckle, and Zack held out his hand. Cloud, after a moment, rose and took it. Zack’s hand felt really warm, and then Cloud was pulled close and he was on the bed next to him. Again, Zack studied him, then he leaned in and slowly kissed Cloud.
Zack tasted warm and spicy and, and…Zack-like. That was good.
After a moment, Zack pulled back and smiled softly. “Okay?” he asked softly. Cloud blinked, a bit dazed, then blushed again and nodded. “Good,” Zack purred. “Remember, if you don’t feel comfortable, tell me, okay?”
Another nod.
“Good,” the older man told him, and Cloud smiled mentally as another long, soft kiss started.
He always knew he could trust Zack.
Wandering for the mess hall, Reno was absently keeping an eye out for tall, black spikes, and because of this missed the blond, shorter ones until the owner tripped him.
Blinking in surprise, Reno laid on the floor a minute before sitting up. “Want to tell me what that was about?” he asked.
Cloud stared down at him, one blond eyebrow cocked. “You told Zack that you know about the promise. Why did you do that? If I had known you were going to tell him, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Oh, hells, he sounded really unhappy. And he guessed that he couldn’t really blame his friend. He knew he wouldn’t have liked it to have something like that get around, either.
Reno looked at Cloud, just looked, and saw the slightly uncomfortable way he was standing. Yes, it had worked! “He had me pinned against the wall. Seems your boy thought you and me were sleeping together.”
“What!?”
That screech drew more than a little attention towards them, and got Reno looks from a few of Cloud’s other friends, who were just as protective of the blond as he was. Came from that adorable baby face and choco hair. Everyone wanted to parent Cloud. Poor kid.
Reno just nodded and stood, dusting himself off. “He said he saw us in your bed. Neither of us wore shirts to sleep in, you know.”
“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”
Wow, Cloud was really red. Reno hadn’t seen anyone turn that color before. Pretty neat. “Let’s see, let him think I’m managed to topple you into bed, or tell him it’s because I managed to numb your leg while sparring and we just ended up crashing in the same bed cause it was late. Which does more for my reputation?” He, barely, dodged the punch aimed at his face. “Calm down! He was worked up at me cause he was worried about you.”
That got Cloud to pause, and Reno grinned at seeing such large eyes. “Huh?”
Shaking his head, he made an amused sound. “Boy, you guys match up well. He was just as talkative when I told him that he was the one you were always talking about. Course, he doesn’t know that everything I said was in reference to our sparring.” Reno grinned. “And I don’t think I ever lied. That was fun.”
Cloud was blinking at him. “But…but...but….” His mouth opened and shut a few more times before he gave up and just flushed a bit more. “Should have told him the truth,” he said finally.
Leaning close and almost purring into Cloud’s ear, Reno grinned. “Why? Looks like you ended up having a very good time. Tell me, is he as good as rumors would have him?”
Then he was off and running, being chased by a sputtering, beet-red blond, and laughing the entire time.
Interlude Three-Part Four
Wordcounts:
Nov 6(when this was written): 3,016
November so far: 29,932
Nano: 19,886
OGToF: 28,276
From: (Anonymous)
OGTOF - whole story
I don't normally bother people when a story's been left as long as this one but my excuse is I'm off work sick and I went back to reading my fav FFVII stories and read yours again :P
Just wondering if you have any intentions towards continuing this one? judging from your comments it's obviously been something of a bane to you lol! Anyway, just thought I'd ask.
x Krow (Krows_scared on FF.net)
krow93@hotmail.com