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Chapter Ten: Between His Teeth

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Cloud nodded once more silently, but his eyes lifted and trailed along the second level of the lobby. "There's someone coming."

Zack glanced back, viewing an infantry grunt on patrol of the first few floors of the building. "So?"

"I...don't think it would be a good idea to make it public..." Cloud rubbed the back of his neck, trying to stiffen himself up once the grunt saw them standing there. He gave a nod from above to the two below, and resumed his rounds.

Zack was more of a carefree person than Cloud, who was bundled up in self doubt and insecurity. Zack, on the other hand, was more of an impulsive and spontaneous individual who could care less what the outcome of his actions would entail; at least, a lighthearted action that he was confident in, and that he knew would cause no harm to whomever or whatever was around him.

But he hadn't really thought of the consequences of pursuing a public relationship with a member of the company – let alone it being a man – as the crazy woman from the lobby was more of a secret fling. He was fairly sure that being in an open relationship with Cloud would cause some sort of uproar, as even now his friendship with him was considered borderline favoritism. He was allowed to have friends off-duty as Shin-Ra couldn't stop him in that, but when it came down to ethics it was frowned upon when the friends were within the company, and being of a lower rank.

And it wasn't like everyone in the company wasn't fooling around with one another anyhow. That was something that couldn't be avoided when the company had thousands of women-deprived men sleeping in tight proximity with each other and only a handful of women running around in the offices in comparison. It was inevitable and, frankly, rather apparent. A simple stroll down a quiet hallway in one of the office floors in the evenings would tell all. The sounds of muffled and restrained cries came from every broom closet, every copy machine room and every supply closet in the damn building. Men with women; men with men; women with women; it didn't matter. It was unavoidable, and unmistakable. Affairs; flings; one-night stands; Shin-Ra was crawling with them.

So why would a real relationship be such a cause for a company-wide catastrophe?

Zack hadn't realized that Cloud was peering up at him with a look of concern. Zack had gone into one of his very rare modes of musing that he tried desperately to deter himself from. Musing was for old people, in his mind - Cloud, of course, being the only exception. It was endearing when he did it, though.

"Zack?"

"I have an idea!" he said, reaching down and clutching Cloud's wrist in his hand. He took off running, dragging him along with Cloud's surprised cry of resistance. Zack just squeezed his wrist harder as he made his way up the stairs and to a door on the second floor of the lobby. His eyes caught the grunt entering one of the elevators as he passed by. "In here!" Zack practically shoved Cloud into a room past an arrangement of casual lounging tables on the floor.

Cloud fell into the room stumbling, fighting for balance. "Dammit, Zack! You could have just asked me to follow you!" He straightened his posture once he finally found his footing. "If you had to piss that bad, you could have just said so," Cloud said as he finally realized that Zack had led him to the bathroom. He glanced around, taking note of the lack of urinals and the odd scent of...cleanliness.

"Are we in the Women's!?" he said, covering his mouth with his hands again once he realized how loud his voice was.

"Sh! And yes." Zack grinned at him deviously. "It's after office hours; there are no women here right now. No one will bother us in here."

"B-bother...?" His voice came out in an amusing squeak.

"For our kiss," Zack said, so matter-of-factly.

Cloud had nearly forgotten through the tugging and the frantic running. He suddenly shrank again, turning into that shy boy once more. "W-wouldn't it have been easier to just go back to your quarters, instead of hiding out in here?"

"Yeah, but what would be the fun in that?" He stepped towards Cloud, who instinctively took a step back. Cloud bumped into the granite counter top, his hand slipping against the surface in an attempt to steady himself as Zack neared him.

"I-I don't know...this is a little strange. What if someone walks in?"

"It's past eleven," he said lowly, having fully approached the boy who was now holding a tint to his cheeks as Zack looked at him with smoldering eyes.

Cloud's knees began to wobble at the sight of the handsome SOLDIER staring through him with those intense eyes. Eyes reflecting a sensual aura of need, love and lust.

But Zack controlled the last part of that aura as he reached up, cupping the boy's face between his confident hands and leaned forward, once again nuzzling his nose against him. "Can I kiss you, Cloud?"

"Yes." His breath was released, bated and ragged; minty from the gum he chewed. He forced his eyes to stay open – at least half-lidded – as he wanted to watch the SOLDIER press his lips up against him in the dimly lit room. The night before was such a blur to him, filled with bemusement and indecisiveness on his part. He felt that it had happened so fast that he didn't even get to enjoy his first kiss. This was far from the truth however, as he enjoyed the parts he managed to remember through all of the emotions, sensations and...arousal.

Zack smoothed one of his thumbs across the boy's cheekbone, allowing a soft purr to flow from his throat as he dipped his head into him.

Cloud moaned when they connected, and the sound struck through Zack's mouth and down his body. His stomach flipped, his eyebrows lifted with the noise; his kiss was brought into a height of sensuality that he had never felt before. All because of that one little noise.

Slowly, carefully, Cloud watched as Zack's tongue began to lap at his lips and he instinctively opened his mouth to allow him entrance. He could hear the breath flow from Zack's throat as he pushed his tongue in gently, once permitted.

Hot, slick, sweet. Their tongues passed over each other as heads twisted and craned with an increasing urgency. Hands began to roam. But Zack slowed the kiss then, moving his hands back up to Cloud's face, not wanting to send the boy into another bout of spiraling like he had the night before. How he wanted to prop the boy up on the counter and lean him against the mirror. How he wanted to enter him and give him a reason to moan louder...

He restrained himself, despite the now painful feeling in his trousers. He was given a distracting chance to ignore this, thankfully, as the sharp feeling of teeth nipping at his bottom lip spun his mind back to where it belonged.

Zack was stunned. Cloud was writhing against him, his hands soaring up and down his back, hungrily and aggressively biting at Zack's lip. He was beginning to release little moans of what Zack could only assume was sexual frustration as he felt Cloud beginning to grind into him.

The SOLDIER didn't know what to do with him, and what to do to him, at that point. The memory of Cloud's hysterical reaction to touching him the previous night played through his mind as he continued to allow Cloud to bite and then suck at his bottom lip between the passing of the tongues. As much as he was enjoying it, his brow furrowed in a look of concern. He hadn't imagined Cloud would be this feisty, at least not this soon. He was timid, reserved, a bundle of repressed nerves.

"Mmmmnn...C-Cloud..." Zack said through the assault of nips and kisses he was receiving.

And it was like his voice was a slap upside Cloud's head as he instantly froze, his hands stopping their trek across his back, his eyes opening wide to peer at Zack. He still had his bottom lip between his teeth, however.

"Yeth?"

"You enjoyin' theth?"

A blush spread across Cloud's surprised face and Zack's bottom lip was released. He buried his head in man's neck in embarrassment.

"I-I don't know what came over me..."

Zack licked his own bottom lip, inspecting it with this tongue to make sure it was relatively in one piece. He stroked Cloud's head with his hand as he glanced to the mirror in front of him. A bit red, but nothing people would raise their eyebrows over. He'd had worse marks on him before from the crazy girl in the lobby.

"No, no," he cooed into his hair then, taking in his scent. It was still that same liberating smell. "I was a bit surprised, is all." He shifted the boy in his arms, and could feel Cloud's hard arousal pressed against him.

Cloud groaned quietly as Zack moved. He unconsciously thrust against him, his eyes fluttering closed. "I just...never thought one of my first kisses would be in a bathroom, let alone the Women's." He let out a sheepish chuckle, his head shaking against Zack, causing his hair to rustle against his chin.

Zack laughed, pulling his head away from the tickling sensation. His laugh stopped quickly, as what Cloud had just said processed into his brain, however.

"Wait." He pulled the boy away. "One of your first kisses?"

Cloud looked away, biting his own lip now, eyebrows wrinkled in a look of guilt.

"I'm...your first...kiss?" was Zack's astounded reply. "Last night was...your first?"

"Oh hell," Cloud said, cupping his hands over his face. "I feel so damn stupid."

Zack reached up, taking Cloud's hands in his own in a gentle grasp. "None of that. Don't hide from me." He pulled his hands down to view the beautifully ashamed look Cloud wore on his face.

Instead of his hands covering his face, he decided to squeeze his eyes shut to avoid looking at Zack.

"Cloud, please look at me."

Cloud's eyebrows met when Zack reached up and brushed his hand across his face.

"Look at me."

"I feel so stupid..." he repeated, craning his head off to the side.

"I will make you look at me, Cloud Strife," was the final thing he said as he took the exposed opportunity of Cloud's neck to dive in.

Cloud gasped at the hot feeling of Zack's mouth on his skin, and instantly he relaxed.

Zack was watching Cloud's reaction in the mirror as he worked on his neck with his lips, trailing down from the bottom of his jaw to his adam's apple. He passed his tongue across it and could feel it send a chain reaction down Cloud's spine in the form of a shiver. His face was more eased now, but his eyes were still closed.

So Zack lifted his head and plunged his tongue into Cloud's ear.

Cloud cried out, tossing his head back as his eyes shot open from the strange intrusion. He squirmed, arching his back at the sensation and Zack had to clutch onto him as he threatened to fall.

The blond released several labored gasps before his eyes darted back to Zack who pulled back, grinning deviously down at him.

"Thank you for looking at me," he said, through a husky chuckle as he leaned forward and nuzzled his nose up against Cloud's shocked face. "And if I ever hear you call yourself stupid again, I will make you regret it."

"O-okay..." he muttered, watching as Zack continued to cuddle against him. He was pulled into an embrace, being buried in his warmth.

"And thank you, Cloud," he whispered into his ear.

"For what?"

"For sharing your first kiss with me."

Cloud merely nodded, and Zack was unaware of his wide eyes against him, smitten over the man who spoke those words, and held him so tenderly.

Zack chuckled softly then, tightening his embrace momentarily as he spoke. "And thank you once more."

Cloud pulled back, tilting his head up with a quizzical look. "For what this time?" One of his eyebrows lifted.

Zack then grinned widely, pushing forth the wad of gum that was once in Cloud's mouth between his teeth for Cloud to see. "For the gum."


~*~*~

They parted rather casually, once they slipped out from the bathroom nervously. No one around, but still Cloud was quite amusingly mortified when he bolted from the doorway and into the safety zone of the lounge area.

A friendly wave to each other for the cameras above, and they left, Cloud smiling softly to himself as he headed back to the barracks, and Zack grinning wildly as he headed back to his quarters, chewing that wad of gum still.

And for Cloud, he was so enamored with thoughts from moments before that he wasn't even aware he had already made it back to the dark barracks, undressed and then redressed in the issued sleep wear, crawled into his rack, all while holding a rather suspicious-looking grin across his face. And only when Ratcliff spoke from besides him did he finally realize.

"There you are, yeah!" He was sitting on Elici's bed.

Cloud blinked, lifting his head from his pillow. "Oh, hey." He couldn't wipe that smile so easily off his face, and this Ratcliff noticed, along with the all-too-casual greeting he chimed out.

"Hey indeed." He flashed a grin as he lay back on the bed. "You're back a bit late, yeah?"

Cloud sat up, the blankets falling from his chest as he looked at Ratcliff who stretched out next to him. "What're you doing in his bed?"

"Thought you might want to have some company next to you tonight, yeah?" He yawned briefly into the back of his hand, and then placed it underneath his head of dark blond hair. "Might feel a bit lonely without him at first, yeah," he said rather solemnly, looking up at Graves' rack above. The man was already snoring rather loudly with limbs hanging off of each side.

Cloud's smile was gone, so easily wiped away. Ratcliff didn't seem to notice as his eyes began to close.

"Y-yeah...thanks," Cloud whispered, lowering himself back down onto his bed. He turned to his side, away from Ratcliff to face the empty bed of Evans' next to him. He tugged the blanket up and around his shoulder tightly, enclosing himself in a false sense of being held by something, anything.

Elici was really dead.

Cloud hated himself for feeling so happy earlier with Zack.


~*~*~

It was no rest for the weary and the traumatized unit. The two mile hump outside in the wastelands of Midgar was a bit more pleasant this time around, however, as the rain had cleared and left the men in a relative sense of peace for most. Others were still in a subdued shock of Elici's death from three days prior. That was until Kunsel began barking at them during rifle qualification, and all minds either tumbled out of that sense of peace, or reeled away from the subdued shock.

They knelt in a line of twenty-eight, aiming their assault rifles at the targets a few of the 3rds that tagged along had helped set up for them. They just chatted behind in a semi-circle with Kunsel, once he ceased his barking, and the men commenced unloading magazines into the paper targets.

The firefight roared through the air, scaring off any potential monsters that dared to lurk around, save for the one that curiosity got the better of, and it soon learned never to mess with a SOLDIER. The semi-circle was disbanded, took care of the curious monster, and then reassembled continuing their nonchalant conversation. Eventually the men realized they needed to be keeping score on all of the target practice. They spread out among the men, jotting things down and making the unit nervous under their scrutinizing gaze.

Kunsel began to walk the line of men, observing their positions, studying the placements of their hands and head while aiming. He nodded in approval as they continued to fire, some hitting their target, others hitting the rocky terrain behind. Those were the ones Kunsel barked at, of course.

He reached Graves and just shook his head, passing him up, as his mark was impeccably frightening. Up to Ratcliff, now. His aim was slightly off, but his shots were all grouped together quite nicely. Consistent, and if that had been someone's chest, there would have not much left over of it afterward. And then Cloud…

Kunsel stopped, his jaw becoming a bit slack. He glanced down at the young cadet, who'd never really had a bad score, necessarily, but neither did he have an outstanding one like Graves. But here he was, sweat rolling down his brow as his head was tilted into his right shoulder, looking through the cross-hair at the tip of the barrel, each bullet he fired hitting remarkably where it should have been - right in the center.

The look on his face was rather disturbing, however. Haunted, void, intimidating. It was as if he were imagining the target to be the face of a certain someone. Kunsel chuckled inwardly and continued down the line, reminding himself to commend the boy later, and of course inform Zack of his improvement as Zack was always so eager to hear of it.

He had spoken with Zack earlier in the morning over the phone, who was heading to his appointment to get a Mako injection. He was expecting the 1st to sound somber over the recent loss of his two friends, but his voice was surprisingly upbeat, if not slightly flooded with a hint of suspicious delight.

So Kunsel blatantly asked him if he got laid the night before, and Zack just snorted a laugh at him, responding with a quick insult as usual. He somehow evaded the question which only raised more suspicion in Kunsel, as Zack was usually one to kiss and tell.

And it helped that the walls were thin, and he usually could tell when Zack had a lady over as he seemed to be a rather impressive lover from the overly agreeable cries coming from his apartment above, when the goin' got good. Kunsel just usually laughed and turned his television on louder to drown out the amorous noises from above, but the volume button only went so high.

But the night before was silent, peaceful. Unless they were using some sort of kinky gag on each other, Kunsel was fairly certain something else was going on with his suddenly secretive and quite content friend.

Kunsel, being the nosy person he was, wanted to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible, if Zack wasn't going to tell him himself.

"Alright, that's it guys! Let's head back to the barracks!" Kunsel ordered as ceasefire finally settled over the plains. "Go ahead and take the rest of the day off when you guys get cleaned up. Start your liberty early. Just be back at the barracks Saturday night at 2100."

An excitement fell over everyone, but they refrained from showing it as the 3rds were still stalking around, inspecting them. When they walked off, they all seemed to relax.

"Let's go!" Kunsel said, and everyone stood in a collective shuffle as they formed their pack. Kunsel watched as everyone marched past him, and then joined up at the back. The sooner they got back, the sooner Kunsel could grill his friend in his lighthearted-more-than-usual behavior.


~*~*~

"And I'm fuckin' tellin' ya that prick Mejia had somethin' to do with Elici's death!" Graves was now shouting, all of the men in the barracks staring wide-eyed as he was nose-to-nose with a very angry Ratcliff.

"Lower your goddamned voice before an officer comes in, yeah!" Ratcliff said, twisting his head slightly, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

"I fuckin' can't believe yer in denial over this!" Graves threw his hands up, nudging even closer into Ratcliff, his large shoulders rising upward as if he was about to shove him. "Look what that fuck did to Cloud! Ya honestly think he wouldn't kill Elici!? He was the one who told the Brass about the assault in the barracks! The fucker's got motive! Don't be so fuckin' stupid!"

Ratcliff shot a glance over to Cloud, who stood right beside them. He expected him to be shrinking and looking as if he were about to cry, but instead he stood there as if he were about to jump into the confrontation himself. Ratcliff had forgotten that the young boy told him in passing that he used to get into fights when he was younger back in his hometown, so this must have been nothing new to him. He couldn't imagine such a sweet person acting like that, however, but then again people change.

"Knock it off, you guys," Cloud said in a tone they hadn't ever heard him use before. He was absolutely seething at this point and it showed. Ratcliff could hear several people making bets on who would kick whose ass in a fight. He just ignored them.

"I ain't gonna stop 'til this fucker admits that Mejia killed Elici!"

"I don't know what to think, alright!?" Ratcliff attempted to control his ragged breathing, but it was hard. His blood was boiling in his veins at Graves. To bring this up in front of everyone, and this soon. And especially in front of Cloud.

"I swear I will kick both of your asses if you don't stop," Cloud warned, but it fell on deaf ears. Ratcliff knew Cloud could probably take him on as he was lanky like Cloud, but Graves was a different story. The man's strength and build was unreal. He was as tall as Zack, and his muscle tone was like that of Angeal Hewley's. He could probably just pick Cloud up by the scruff of his neck like a kitten and toss him aside effortlessly.

Boots squealed against the tile floor, arms were brought up, and thrusts were thrown out against the shoulders of another. And soon the two men were grappling, releasing grunts of anger and exertion. Hands scuffled through each other's defenses, grabbing onto any part of their opponent through shaking rage. Uniforms were bundled in fists, several punches were thrown haphazardly, and knees were brought up into each other's abdomen. Many curse words were spilled.

Cloud hurled himself into the fight, ducking down through the rapid movements and attempting to wedge himself between the larger men. He pressed his back up against Graves' chest from underneath his large arms while he pushed against Ratcliff in an effort to pry them apart. "Knock it off!" he yelled, voice muffled between them. He strained against the two as if he were being slowly trapped between two moving walls of fury and blind rage. He could feel them parting as several other men joined him, grabbing the men from behind and hoisting them off of each other.

"What the fuck was that all about!?" Cloud said, standing up as the two men bucked and growled at each other like fighting dogs. Cloud wiped at his face, feeling a warm liquid running down it. He reached up and touched a hand to it.

"Oh shit," Graves said through labored breaths. "Ya okay?"

Cloud looked down at his hand, blinking curiously at the blood on his fingertips. "I'm fine, I don't feel anything."

"Let me take a look, yeah." Ratcliff shrugged off the men who were holding him captive and ran a hand underneath Cloud's hair that hung in his face, fearing that he tore open his healing wound from a week prior. He pushed his head side to side, leaning into him to see better.

More blood ran down his face and he had to close one of his eyes as it drizzled across.

"Where does it hurt, yeah?"

"Nowhere, Ratcliff." He tried pulling away from Ratcliff's motherly hold. "Let go of me."

"Hey jackass," Graves said.

Ratcliff twisted Cloud's head around through his boyish protests. "It's got to hurt somewhere, Cloud, yeah?"

"Jackass!" Graves said again.

Ratcliff threw his head up. "What!?"

"Yer the one bleedin', fucker." Graves nodded his head at Ratcliff who finally released Cloud's head from his hands. "I decked ya good, too. Right in the brow. Gonna leave a real nice scar."

"Go to hell, Graves, yeah." Ratcliff grumbled to himself, pressing a hand to his brow which was leaking quite a bit of blood. It was a wonder he couldn't feel it.

"I'd tell ya to suck my dick but ya'd prolly enjoy it." Graves scoffed and walked past them, shaking a head, seemingly unharmed through it all. He was just forcing back the limp, however, as Ratcliff had kneed him pretty good in the thigh.

"What a monster, yeah." Ratcliff sat down on Elici's bed, putting his head in his hands.

"Love ya too, sweetie," Graves just called from across the barracks as he made his way to the showers.

Ratcliff removed one of his hands from his face and flipped the man off silently.

Cloud was at his side, holding out his washcloth. Ratcliff took it, mustering forth a rather shaky smile.

"Thanks." He waited until Cloud sat down next to him before he began cleaning Cloud's face with it, having no intention of cleaning his own first, since it was his blood on Cloud's skin.

"Ah jeez, what the hell!" Cloud jumped up, growling at him. "For once think of yourself! You look like shit." He just wiped at the blood with his hand instead.

Ratcliff laughed, his shoulders bobbing. He folded the cloth several times and obeyed, pressing it against his brow. "Not like we haven't gone through that before, yeah."

It was true; they had gotten into a couple of scraps before, but none that were this heated. Punches were thrown, derogatory names towards sexual preferences were called, and groins were kneed. Blood was never spilled, however. Cloud had seen these before, but Elici was the one to break it up. And when the fights were between Graves and Elici, Ratcliff was the one to break it up. But there were never fights between Elici and Ratcliff, as they both were fairly passive towards each other. Graves was just the key factor in it all. Sometimes Cloud thought that he actually enjoyed picking fights with his friends, almost like asserting his position among them.

"It'll blow over, yeah," Ratcliff reassured the blond, as the face that he was expecting Cloud to wear earlier as they were fighting was now crawling onto his face, a bit late for duty.

"Do you...really think Mejia killed him?" His voice was low, sorrowful.

It was past the point of apologies for Cloud now, and Ratcliff just simply shrugged. "I don't know, Cloud. I really don't, yeah. They're still investigating. The man's been M.I.A for two days now. He could be dead too, yeah."

They fell silent for several moments.

"Go clean yourself up, Cloud. Don't worry about me, yeah." He just waved a hand dismissively at Cloud who was frowning.

But Cloud obeyed, walking into the shower area. Graves was already underneath the falling water, his hand kneading his right thigh and muttering to himself angrily.

Cloud stripped down and joined him several shower heads away, attempting to create an invisible wall, in hopes of deterring him from talking as Cloud knew Graves could never simply just talk.

"Fuckin' idiot's blind."

Cloud's little invisible wall was just that. Invisible.

"Can ya believe this shit, Cloud!?" He was shouting over the hiss of the shower heads of course, but was mostly shouting just to shout. "Mejia killed Elici, both you and I fuckin' know that."

"I don't know that," Cloud said, a bit coldly as he stuck his head under the water and rinsed away Ratcliff's blood on his face. "It's still being investigated."

"Aw fuck you Cloud, ya know that mother fucker killed him! Elici's the one who ratted Mejia out for tossin' yer ass against the rack!" He was scrubbing his head vigorously with his fingers, lathering up his fuzzy black hair. "Don't be a little bitch 'bout this."

Cloud just scoffed, choosing to ignore him until the man calmed down. He closed his eyes, enjoying the hot water flowing over him, rinsing away the tension in his body over the incident. The heat of the shower engulfed him, reminding him of how he felt in Zack's arms the night before, and it caused a small smile to break out onto his face.

And his mind went to their kiss. The feeling of their tongues lapping at each other, the sound of Zack's breath being released through his open mouth as they explored feverishly. The feeling of Zack's arousal pressing against his groin as Cloud grinded against him.

Cloud opened his eyes, feeling the familiar warming sensation between his legs. He immediately reached for the shower knobs and turned down the heat. He grimaced, the feeling of the cold water pelting his skin as it did what it was supposed to. He relaxed, giving Graves a quick glance to see if he had noticed his growing erection, but the man had his eyes closed and his head tilted back, rinsing out his hair.

Cloud quickly began to do what he needed to do to get himself cleaned up. He was excited as Kunsel had given them the rest of the day off. He hoped that Zack was free so he could wander over there and spend some time with him.

"Fuck, man!" Graves was suddenly screaming as he threw a fist into the tiled wall before him. "He had motive, Cloud!"

Cloud let out a very low, steady sigh.

"He left Elici for dead!" He threw an open palm into the tile, the sound of his skin striking the wall sounding through the shower. He did it again with another curse. "I'm gonna get that mother fucker."

"Goddammit Graves, will you just drop it!?" Cloud found that he was shouting now. He ignored the soap that was running down his face as his eyes were flashing with anger towards his friend instead of stinging from the shampoo.

"Mejia tries to rape ya up the ass and then puts a fuckin' bullet into yer friend's skull, and that's all ya hafta say!?" They were facing each other now, Graves looking as if he were about to rush him and if it weren't for the ire in Cloud's body at that moment, he probably would have been rather frightened for his safety.

"You need to learn to bite your tongue, Graves," Cloud said, his shoulders beginning to shake from the immense wrath he was feeling. He paused for a moment, his breathing making a poor attempt to steady itself. He began to speak again, his voice cracking in his throat. "Saying all of this won't bring Elici back."

And that was what caused Graves to finally realize what he had said to Cloud, and his face fell. Hard.

"Cloud, shit I'm sor-"

Cloud cut him off. "Don't bother, Graves. Saying 'sorry' won't stop you from doing it again." Cloud slammed the knobs shut, his body shivering from the cold water he forgot he had left on. His skin was riddled with goose bumps. He threw his towel around his waist and left the shower before Graves could say anything.

But he didn't. He just stood there in the falling water, his eyes cast down to his bruised thigh.

Maybe biting his tongue wouldn't have been that bad an idea.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...To be continued in Chapter Eleven: Melody.