Malady
folder
Final Fantasy VII › Yaoi - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
33
Views:
972
Reviews:
17
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Final Fantasy VII › Yaoi - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
33
Views:
972
Reviews:
17
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
Don’t own anything with Final Fantasy 7 Unvierse, just using for my own amusement. Do not profit from this endeavour.
Fun and Lying
Chapter Seventeen: Fun and Lying
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He could hear his name being called from far away, and he struggled to gain his senses back from the darkness of his slumber.
"Strife! Get the hell up!"
He could hear the large double doors closing to the barracks, and he could hear a familiar voice muttering with another familiar voice about him being asleep. Of course he was asleep, what else would he be doing? He felt warm, he felt enveloped in an intangible darkness full of equally intangible comfort...it was very nice.
"Strife, seriously, get up!"
He could feel his shoulder being shaken, and he could hear himself groan in disapproval. A few more minutes, and he would have been okay...
That intangible comfort was not so much comfort any longer, as he could feel blankets being stripped off his body, and his pillow being tugged out from underneath his head. He heard a few curse words leaving his mouth, but he had no control over what he said, or how he said it. It did receive a slightly amused chuckle from one of those two familiar voices above him.
"He's totally out, yeah?"
He heard his voice once more, slurring this time. "I'm not out. Just sleeping." Did he really sound like that when he was waking up?
"Strife, you have five seconds to pry those baby blues open, and get your ass outta bed and into formation."
And those baby blues opened, not as fast as they probably should have, but they did, nonetheless. "Sir?" He looked up to find the owners of the two voices to be Ratcliff and a very irked-looking Kunsel. It took a lot to get him to look that way, so they must have been trying to wake him for quite some time.
"Don't 'sir' me, Strife. I oughtta have you clean out the Turks' locker room for this."
Cloud rolled onto his back and sat up, blinking slowly. He was quite groggy – and it showed. "Lockers?" His hand went to his head and he groaned slightly. Waking up with two people yelling at him, let alone waking up with a throbbing headache, was not his idea of an enjoyable morning.
"Get dressed, now. We have Hand-to-Hand! Your ass should be up and out the door with the others!"
He closed his eyes momentarily while Kunsel spoke, but a moment lasted too long and his head dipped down to his chest. That darkness was pulling him back again, and it was still nice.
"He must've been out partying to get like this."
"He's usually an early bird, yeah," Ratcliff said, shaking Cloud's shoulder once more. "Hey, wake up before Kunsel goes ape shit on you, yeah."
Cloud groaned again, quite boyishly – like a child being dragged out of bed for the first day of school. "Okay..."
Kunsel folded his arms across his chest, perturbed at this unusual behavior. Cloud never went out on liberty, and he certainly was never late in waking up and joining in the formation. "Strife, what were you drinking last night?"
Cloud's eyes peeled open, and finally his senses were returning to normal. "I wasn't."
Kunsel snorted, and Ratcliff smiled.
"You sure as hell look like you were," Kunsel said, shaking his head. "Just get up."
Cloud kicked the remaining blankets off and stood, wincing with the throbbing in his head. "Sir."
"Two minutes, Strife. And remember that it takes me far less time in thinking of a punishment, so you better make good use of your time." Despite these firm words, Kunsel gave Cloud a friendly slap on the shoulder – or perhaps it was to jar him into reality as his eyes began to sink closed again.
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."
"Ratty – back to the formation."
Ratcliff nodded, before shooting Cloud a look of concern and confusion, and he turned stiffly on his heel and exited the barracks.
"Seriously, Cloud," Kunsel said, dropping formalities as they were alone, "this isn't like you to sleep so late. What did you do last night?"
Cloud began to make his bunk quickly, shaking from the depleting drowsiness, and also from being rather angry at himself for sleeping too late. "Sorry, sir, I just..." he trailed off, his mind going back to his night with Zack. His mouth twitched slightly, but he fought back the smile. "...There was a bookstore that was having a sale, and I got caught up reading there and lost track of time..."
Kunsel scoffed. And here he thought Cloud was out getting laid. "Well, just don't do this again."
"Sir."
"Suit up."
Cloud nodded and jogged past Kunsel towards the lockers. He dressed in their issued P.T. gear and washed up as fast as he could. He nearly forgot to put the toothpaste on his brush as he tried to move quickly.
Kunsel was at the double doors waiting for him. He watched as Cloud walked past looking frightfully pale and, frankly, unnerved. As he exited, Kunsel could smell smoke on him, and a hint of something else, but he couldn't quite figure it out. It reminded him of something, or someone.
"Never heard of a bookstore that cooks barbeque."
"W-what?" Cloud stopped, turning to face Kunsel who was grinning rather triumphantly over something.
"You heard me."
Cloud shifted on his feet, just staring back at Kunsel a bit dubiously.
"So, what's her name?"
"Sir?"
"Don't lie to me. You were out on a date, weren't you? Why would you be smelling like you bathed in a fire, in a bookstore of all places?"
Cloud was surprised with himself that he was able to fight back the blush that threatened to surface on his face then. "Shouldn't we be going down to the gym, sir?"
Kunsel just peered at him from beneath his SOLDIER helmet, surveying each minute movement of the muscles in Cloud's face. When Cloud's eyes darted to the side briefly, he knew his suspicions were right.
"Alright, Strife. Get into the pack." He smirked as Cloud nodded and joined the waiting unit.
The men disbanded the formation line after Kunsel explained and demonstrated some old and new moves. He paired them in their usual, and Ratcliff and Cloud faced off, due to their similar size and strength. It would just be a bit reckless to pair up someone like Cloud with someone like Graves.
"Remember," Kunsel said, surveying as his unit began to assemble with their opponents, "the point of this exercise is to control your opponent, and to advance your position for submission."
A few men chuckled at that, but quickly quieted as Kunsel shot them a rather intimidating glare. He was a friendly man, but certainly not one to trifle with. He was a SOLDIER, after all.
"And remember, I don't want anyone to have to be sent to the infirmary. This is a training exercise, not actual combat. Got it?"
The collective cry from the unit was met with a nod by the SOLDIER, and they began to lock themselves into various grapple holds. There was scuffling all around, the sound of the mats beneath them squealing with disapproval as men were tossed down on them. There was some grunting, laughing and angry cries of testosterone that mixed between as they squared off.
The two blonds were hunched over, their hands blindly grabbing one another in an attempt to overpower the other. They tried to sidestep, and they tried to outsmart. Their weight was used as leverage, and their shirts were balled up in their fists almost as a source of balance.
Cloud widened his stance as he tried to jab at Ratcliff's neck for a frontal choke hold. Ratcliff brought his left hand up and pressed it against Cloud's outstretched elbow. He brought his right hand up between them as he sudden stepped around Cloud, snaking that hand up around his neck. He rotated his hips into Cloud's stomach and caused him to suddenly double over. With ease, Ratcliff stood, picking Cloud up off of his feet on his back. He flipped him down onto the mat with a hard slapping sound.
"C'mon, Cloud. You have to do better than that, yeah?" He offered his hand down to him, and Cloud just pushed it out of the way, a bit angrily. He always got visibly upset when he didn't have the upper hand in their ground fighting training. It was either from being a sore loser, or just being frustrated with himself. Ratcliff always figured it was the latter.
He stood on his own, wobbling a bit from the jarring take-down. He lunged forward a bit clumsily, his hands gripping at the shirt over Ratcliff's shoulders. He was gritting his teeth, and looking more endearing than intimidating, or at least so Ratcliff thought.
Ratcliff wiggled a bit, trying to dislodge Cloud's grasp, but only managed to have his shirt slip up his torso in the process. "Trying to strip me?" He laughed breathlessly when Cloud just growled in response. "Feisty today, yeah?"
"Where's Graves?" Cloud suddenly asked, his teeth now grinding and creating a rather disturbing noise that sent a chill down Ratcliff's spine. Or perhaps it was his question that disturbed him.
"Dunno," he said, and it was partially true, of course.
"He," Cloud said, and then grunted as they changed positions a bit, "didn't come back last night."
They circled around while still in each other's hold, each trying to find an opening that would allow the other to take over.
"Maybe he got caught for skipping out on his punishment yesterday. He's probably in trouble with the Brass as we speak, yeah!" Ratcliff tried to dart around Cloud in an attempt to get him into a sleeper hold, but Cloud moved to stop him.
Cloud reached up and grabbed the right side of Ratcliff's neck, and thrust him downwards. He dove forward, wrapping his right arm underneath Ratcliff's neck, and grabbing his jaw in his hand tightly. Ratcliff uttered a small cry of surprise and pain. Cloud slipped his other arm underneath Ratcliff's armpit and grasped his other wrist as it let go of Ratcliff's chin. He began to dig his hands into Ratcliff's Adam's apple, and he could hear him begin to cough.
Cloud took that opportunity to suddenly jump up, wrapping his legs around Ratcliff's waist, causing him to buckle and fall with Cloud's weight onto the mat below. He landed on top of Cloud as his grip finally released.
"Strife!" Kunsel ran over and a few people stopped to watch Cloud finally take someone down. Ratcliff was scrawny, but he certainly was no pushover. "That was a perfect submission take-down! Why did you let him go?"
Ratcliff sputtered a bit, finally picking himself up off of laying on top of Cloud after he caught a much needed breath. He wasn't expecting Cloud to pull out something like that, let alone fall on top of him, pressed against his chest. He admittedly didn't want to get up.
Kunsel leaned down, lifting an eyebrow at Cloud who just lay there panting heavily. He seemed more exerted over his actions than Ratcliff. "You all right, Strife?"
Cloud tried to sit up, but fell back down to the mat with a small groan.
"C'mon Strife, get up. I don't know how many times I have to say that to you today," Kunsel said, shaking his head. "Ratcliff, help him up."
Ratcliff grabbed Cloud's arms and tugged him up into a sitting position.
Kunsel turned to the rest of the unit as they had stopped and were watching the scene in front of them. "'Ey! Did I say your asses could stop?" They all scrambled back into their positions and resumed their exercises. "You must have one hell of a hangover, Strife. And unless you're actually sick, hangovers won't cut it with me. Better get up," Kunsel said as he squat down next to the blond who was still panting laboriously.
"I don't," he finally managed. "It's not a hangover, sir."
Ratcliff shook his head to Kunsel. "He wouldn't, sir."
"Yeah right, that's what he wants us to think," he said, jokingly. "Can you stand?"
Cloud nodded and slowly got to his feet, with a little help from Ratcliff. "Sorry, sir."
"Can you continue?"
He nodded again, but only caused the two men to frown in disbelief. But they allowed him to continue.
After a few more rounds with Ratcliff, each time submitting, Cloud seemed more and more passive about his losses. And with each bout, he was easier to take down. He seemed distracted.
Finally, they were told to form up again, and head back to the barracks for a much needed shower before they were to hit the cafeteria for lunch. They headed down to the barracks, and the conversation between Ratcliff and Cloud was nonexistent. Ratcliff couldn't face him, he could barely look at him once he mentioned Graves' name. What was he supposed to say to him? He had no idea where he went, or why he had gone.
And of course, Cloud could tell that he was lying.
"Tseng, can we talk?"
Tseng looked up from his desk to see Zack standing in the doorway, peering in from the side as if he were afraid to enter.
"Come in," he said, a bit surprised at Zack's almost professional demeanor. He watched as the SOLDIER took a seat, which he seldom ever did when they needed to speak with one another. "Keep this short, I have a lot of work to do."
"Now that's not very nice. I come in here with respect, and you greet me with nothing but ice. And you wonder why I'm so disrespectful with you."
"Zack."
"Okay, okay." He fidgeted in his seat, frowning briefly. "Any word on Mejia's whereabouts?"
"Why?"
"What do you mean, 'why'? I want to kick his ass, that's why."
Tseng let a quick smirk grace his face, before it dissolved into his usual blank mask. "Lazard has sent out a few scouting units, but they have yet to uncover his exact location."
"Will the Turks be sent out?"
Tseng set down his pen and leaned back in his chair, which was a sign that he was willing to talk. He picked up his coffee cup and took a small sip, his gaze never leaving Zack's.
"So they will."
"Get to your point, Zack."
Zack reached out and grabbed a blue stress-ball that sat rather befittingly on Tseng's desk, although it hardly looked used. He began to toss it between his hands, instead of using it for its intended purpose. "I want to be the one that goes to get him."
Another sip of his coffee, this time a bit longer.
"I'll bring him back alive, I promise."
"We received a tip that he was spotted near the plains in Kalm, heading towards the Chocobo Farm. There's a cave that passes through the mountains to the other side of the continent. He could be planning to head towards Junon to cross the ocean."
"That'd be stupid, there's a base there. He'd be spotted instantly."
Tseng grinned, albeit scarcely. "Well, he was never the smartest individual, was he?"
Zack began to squeeze the stress-ball in his hands.
"I can deploy you and another Turk to the cave via helicopter. He's on foot, as far as we know, so you should be able to intercept him by the time we get you there."
"Really?" Zack tossed the ball up into the air, and it spun around as it fell back into his palm. "When can I go?"
"I'll have to run this by the Director, but hopefully by tomorrow afternoon. You'll touch down by late evening." He began stamping several documents on his desk methodically. A bit too bureaucratic, and it seemed as if Tseng was destined to file paperwork for the rest of his life in this fashion.
"That's great! Who'll I work with?"
"I haven't decided," Tseng said, finally looking up from his robotic movements. "I'm not sending you with Cissnei, if that's what you're thinking."
Zack snorted a laugh. If Tseng only knew he wasn't interested in her any longer. And it's not like he was interested in men only at this point. He was just interested in...Cloud, really. "What about Sephiroth?" Zack asked, his laughter finally dying down.
"He's on a mission of his own in Junon."
"Oh." Zack was a bit disappointed. He hadn't worked with Sephiroth in a long time, and hadn't even seen him much since the day he informed Zack of the molestation incident. He wanted to thank him again for having saved Cloud. He did what Zack was unable to do, and as he was thankful that it ended as best as it could, he was upset with himself for not having been there for Cloud.
"Strife is being sent out tomorrow, too."
"...What?" was Zack's bewildered reply.
"Just a simple mission. Nothing too strenuous, for your peace of mind."
"I'm fine, I thought I told you and the shrink that."
Tseng just ignored him. "There's a festival in Kalm tomorrow night, and they requested for some law enforcement to be sent there to keep order."
"Festival? For what?"
"The town thrives off the mythril they get from the mines. It's a dangerous job that has a lot of the townsfolk away for weeks to months on end. When they come back, the people just like to have something to celebrate."
"Wish I would get a welcome party like that when I came back from my dangerous jobs."
Tseng smirked, but continued on. "Apparently the previous year there was a bit of a drunken riot that ensued during one of their celebrations. It would have been easily dealt with had there been some sort of established order there, but you know how those smaller towns go."
"I'm from a village, and I can't say we've ever had drunken riots break out there. Hell, if that'd happened, I'd probably had stayed; it would've been more interesting."
Tseng chuckled, until he realized he had chuckled, and immediately decided to change the direction of the conversation. It was getting too personal. Zack always had that ability – he was just too comfortable a person to be around, even for someone like the hardened Turk. That was half of the reason why he was so quick to kick the SOLDIER out of his office whenever he came in. He didn't want to cross that line and actually converse with him in anything other than a professional way. The other half was that, well, Zack was that excited puppy.
But the puppy wasn't too excited at the moment as the reality of it settled in. "How...many people is he going with? I don't think he could handle any riots that broke out on his own."
"It'll be Strife, four other infantrymen, and one SOLDIER."
"That's it? For an entire town?"
"If one SOLDIER and five Shin-Ra infantrymen can't handle a few drunken idiots, then my faith in this company might waver, and I'll call my stock broker up to sell my stocks immediately."
"Good...point." As if he understood stocks at all, anyway. He chuckled like he did, however.
"Besides, maybe he'll have some fun."
Zack frowned for a moment, but then forced himself to smile. "Yeah, maybe." For Tseng to say a sentence with the word 'fun' in it, it frankly unnerved him.
Cloud showered, and immediately began to feel a bit better. He wondered if he had caught something that might have been going around the barracks. His body just didn't feel as if it wanted to wake. His head felt rather murky throughout the morning, and it was hard for him to concentrate on Kunsel's instructions. But as far as he knew, no one had been ill for quite sometime. As the day went on, and he became more active, his body began to feel stronger. He still had that headache, however, and he realized that he was in need of some food. He hadn't eaten since his dinner with Zack the night before.
His stomach tightened at the memory of his night with the SOLDIER. He was held in Zack's arms for the remainder of their time together, cuddling up on the couch and basking in the glow of the television.
They didn't speak much, and there was no kissing. It was just gentle holding of each other. Zack would occasionally reach up to caress Cloud's arm or face, and they would smile in harmony, but neither would speak. They were afraid to say anything to each other, as if they were to disrupt the tender mood that fell around them. Even as they parted, nothing but a simple, modest kiss was shared between them. Cloud could hardly look at Zack, not out of shame, but out of being enamored from the feelings they shared.
And he still felt that way, and the burning of his skin reminded him of it so persistently. He couldn't help but smile.
The cafeteria was its usual – packed and full of rowdy men. And the food was its usual – inconsistent temperatures and taste. But with Cloud's complaining stomach, it didn't matter much. He grabbed macaroni and cheese, as it was the hardest of the foods they served for the chefs to botch up. Pasta and melted cheese. It was simple, and full of the calories and carbohydrates his body craved after a workout. Probably not the healthiest of choices, but no matter how much he managed to eat, he never gained a pound.
He was concentrating hard on getting a lump of it to stay on his fork long enough to make it into his mouth. It was overcooked a bit – so much for his choice – and wouldn't stop sliding off his utensil. He didn't notice when someone took a seat awfully close to him.
"Are you finally going to talk to me, now?" Cloud said, figuring it had to have only been Ratcliff, seeing as Elici was dead, and Graves was nowhere to be found.
"That's funny to hear coming from you."
Cloud choked on the bite of food he attempted to swallow, and felt a gentle hand patting his back.
"You okay?"
"Zack," he said, catching his breath. "What're you doing down here?"
"Food, of course."
"Of course."
They both smiled, but Cloud wasn't looking at him. He was too busy stabbing his food.
"Who'd you think I was?"
"Ratcliff." Cloud let out a shocked noise as Zack grabbed his fork from his hands and expertly snagged a good forkful full of pasta.
"Don't you dare feed that to me," Cloud began, but watched as Zack ate it himself, and he trailed off.
"Overcooked," Zack said, after swallowing. "I might go for the soup."
"Well, I'm glad that sampling my food helped you decide," Cloud said, flatly. He took his fork back with a frown, and resumed eating.
Zack watched him eat with a large smile. He had considered feeding him, but realized he might not have been too happy with that, regardless if they were in a public place or not. "Something going on with you and Ratcliff?"
"No, not really," he said, partially lying. After he had left Zack's apartment, he tried to wait up late for Graves to show, as it wasn't unusual that the man snuck in well after lights out. But he had grown very tired very quickly and fell asleep before he had a chance to confront him and apologize. He wasn't sure how long he stayed up for but cursed himself for doing so, which was probably the reason why he had such a hard time waking up in the morning. After all that waiting, he never showed, and during training he was nowhere to be seen, as well.
Ratcliff was a terrible liar.
"'Not really'?" Zack lifted an eyebrow. Cloud was a terrible liar, just as well.
"Don't worry about it, Zack. Go get something to eat."
As much as Zack wanted to sit there and prod at Cloud more, his hunger was taking over. After a few minutes in line, he finally came back with macaroni and cheese, and came back with that same large grin.
"I thought you were going to get soup," Cloud said.
"I lied."
Cloud frowned, finishing off his meal.
"Are you scheduled for anything later on this evening?"
"Just some Land Nav out in the wastelands. Why?"
"I want to see you tonight," Zack said softly as a few people walked past. He saw Ratcliff in the corner of his eye sit down at a table across the cafeteria. He scooted to the side, obscuring himself behind a cluster of people. "We won't be able to see each other for the next few days."
"You have a mission?" Cloud's eyebrows lifted, looking rather eager to hear the details. Cloud loved to hear of Zack's tales and journeys.
"Yeah, might last for a night or two. Going to investigate a cave."
Cloud shot him a baffled look. "Investigate a cave? They need to send a 1st Class for that?"
Zack chuckled. "Seems like it."
"For what reason?"
Zack chewed his bite of food slowly, staring into Cloud's eyes, emotionless. He finally swallowed, realizing he had to say something to him. "It's rumored to have some rare materia there."
"Why send SOLDIER? I thought that was our job as the army. I've done that tons of times."
"I guess it must have some really good materia, then." Zack reached up and ruffled Cloud's hair, just as he was about to say something in protest.
Zack was also a terrible liar.
"But tonight, I'd like to see you before I go. That is, only if you want to."
Cloud rubbed his forehead after the ruffling, but not out of irritation; that headache just didn't seem to want to go away, even after eating. "Yeah, maybe, Zack."
"Maybe?"
Cloud lowered his hand to see a rather hurt expression on Zack's face. "Well, what did you have in mind?"
That expression disappeared. "I dunno, there's a stupid monster movie playing at the theater."
Is this...another date?
Cloud couldn't help but smile. "Sounds stupid."
"Great, then stop by my apartment when you're released from duty and we'll go."
They shared an amused chuckle with each other and finished their meal together. Zack watched with interest as Ratcliff slipped out of the cafeteria a short time later.
"Well, Cloud. I gotta start some paperwork for my mission tomorrow," Zack said, slapping Cloud on the shoulder as he stood. "I'll see you later."
Cloud just nodded with a bottle of water between his lips as he took a sip.
Zack chuckled and wondered if Cloud knew what else he was picturing between those lips. But he just gave him one more friendly pat on the shoulder before he exited, and followed Ratcliff.
"Hey," Zack said, his voice cutting through the group of men being rather loud in the hall.
Ratcliff stopped walking, his shoulders rising as if he had been caught in the act of something he shouldn't have been doing. But he turned slowly, smiling to Zack as best as he could. "Good to see you, sir."
"Walk with me."
"...Sir?"
Zack continued past him, and Ratcliff followed along, having to trot to keep up with Zack's long stride. "What's going on between you and Cloud?"
"Nothing, yeah."
"That so?"
Ratcliff was growing nervous. There seemed to be a strange aura about Zack that Ratcliff had never seen before. Or perhaps it was just his imagination, as he fidgeted in his skin. He was never good at lying, or keeping secrets from anyone. The more he thought about it, the more it ate away at his conscience.
He followed Zack into a bathroom, and watched as he stepped to a urinal and unzipped his pants. It was a bit awkward to be standing there talking while Zack urinated, so he joined in next to him. He hoped his nerves weren't too shot to use the restroom.
"Cloud said that you weren't talking to him."
"That's not entirely true, yeah. I just..." he paused for a moment, frowning as his body refused to react. "I just can't see him right now."
"What the hell is going on?"
There was a short pause, and they continued standing there, staring at the bland wall in front of them.
"Graves...deserted." He tilted his head back with a content sigh, whether that was from finally admitting what had been eating away at him, or because he was finally able to take that much needed piss.
"What!?" Zack began to face him.
"Don't turn!" Ratcliff motioned down to the fact that Zack was still urinating.
"Shit, sorry," he muttered, correcting himself. "Now what the hell are you talking about?"
"Graves – he, his...his locker is empty and he hasn't showed for two days, yeah. Last I saw him was Friday night."
Zack fell quiet as he finished, slowly zipping himself up and nearly catching himself in the fly.
"I...don't have the heart to tell him, yeah."
"He'll find out eventually."
Ratcliff nodded to himself, and zipping his pants up. "I know that, yeah. I know."
"And you can't avoid him forever."
"Well, it's not official that he's AWOL yet, and-"
Zack growled, slamming the tap on as he began to wash his hands. He shot Ratcliff a glare through the mirror in front of him. "Think about what you're saying before you say it."
"Sir," he muttered, joining him slowly at the sinks. "I know, it's naïve of me, yeah. But..."
"I've been through this already. You can tell yourself that it's not true all you want, but in the end, the truth speaks for itself." The tap was slammed shut again, and Zack walked past, shaking his head.
"I don't want to see him upset, yeah. He's still not over Elici."
Zack's tense demeanor finally diminished, and his shoulders sank. But he couldn't help but think of Angeal. "I know. But..." Zack wanted to say that Cloud should be able to handle it, and that death and tragedy was all around, even outside of Shin-Ra.
But the image of that boy in his lap, with eyes drenched with agony, and tears that greedily claimed his face the night of their first kiss...he never wanted to see that again, as hauntingly beautiful as it was.
And then he thought of the mission Cloud was going on. If he were to find out about Graves before the mission, Zack wouldn't be able to look after him there, and comfort him if he needed it. He had to be there for him, in case he cried. "...We'll tell him after his mission."
"Mission, sir?"
"Should be nice and easy, boys," Kunsel said, looking over his five men who stood before him. "Kalm is, well, calm for the most part. Although festivities and alcohol don't make for a calm party sometimes. They just need some order established. So we'll set up a perimeter around the center of the town."
The men leaned in as Kunsel smoothed out a map of the city onto one of the tables in the barracks. They had just completed their Land Navigation course, with only one or two little snags along the way with some of the groups. Apparently a compass and a map wasn't enough to get a few groups back to the meeting point in the wastelands on time.
"The town will have their booths set up in two rows in the center of the town. Zabalza – you'll take the western side. Haskin – take the town entrance, Strife – you'll take the south side, by the stone steps." He turned the map to each man, tapping where they were to patrol. "Kumpf, you'll be eastern, and Ratcliff, you'll be in the center of it all with me."
They each nodded and surveyed the aerial map, staring at it until they became somewhat familiar with the layout of the town and placement of the festivities.
"We'll be wearing radio headsets to communicate with each other. Just don't goof off on it too much."
A mischievous grin broke out on several of the men's faces. Kumpf was a rather lazy fellow. Somewhat round in the belly, and quite tall. He was always for relaxing and having a bit of fun whenever possible. He had earned the nickname "Comfy" due to his teddy bear-like physical appearance, and lazy attitude towards everything.
Zabalza was good at what he did in the army, but when the opportunity came to have a bit of fun, he would partake in good times with Kumpf rather zealously. Debauchery was never too far behind those two, and to send them to something like a festival was just begging them to have fun on duty.
And Haskin was, well, he earned the nickname 'Boss' for his stern and methodical views on everything he did. Hardly one to crack a smile, or even speak any unnecessary banter, he was going to ensure that the mission would play out how it was intended by the company. It was rumored that he was related to Tseng, but that was hardly the truth.
Cloud had been on several missions with each one of them, but never all three at once. He wondered how this was going to play out with the fairly easygoing Kunsel, the intense Haskin, and the two slackers.
"Well, that's it, boys. You're free to take the rest of the day off. Just make sure you guys don't stay out too late and sleep far into the morning." Kunsel shot Cloud a pointed look, but it was followed by a smirk when the cadet shrank into himself. "Be back by Cinderella time."
They all relaxed and chatted for a few minutes about their mission, Kumpf of course already delving into all of the foods he was going to eat at each booth and such. Cloud glanced at the wall clock above the double doors. He wanted to get to Zack's apartment on time, as the movie started soon. He looked to Ratcliff, who just smiled weakly at him, and decided he'd rather spend time with Zack than trying to get this man to talk.
Cloud said his quiet goodbye to the group, who only seemed to ignore him, and he left.
They exited the movie, laughing to themselves about how cheesy and unrealistic it was. But they laughed more about how they paid ten gil each to actually see it. They sat on a bench outside the theater, waiting for their cab to arrive. Cloud was a bit reluctant at first to use the cab going to the theater, but Zack managed to get Cloud distracted enough with conversation so that he wasn't too nauseous during the ride. Cloud looked almost proud of himself when they exited the vehicle, and Zack just smiled at him warmly. He really was cute in every way, although this he would never say to him.
"So what do you think of your mission? Sounds pretty fun, doesn't it?" Zack said, sucking on the rest of his beverage.
"Not really."
Zack chuckled, patting him on the knee. "Well, it does to me. Kunsel might let you guys take turns having a bit of fun, if everything is under control."
"Not interested. I just want to get it done and over with."
"Don't be a stick in the mud, buddy."
"Well, I'm not really friends with some of the guys there, except for Ratcliff. But I doubt we'll have time to do anything, anyway."
"Want to trade, then? I'm going to be stuck in a dark, damp cave."
Cloud chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "Guarding a festival doesn't seem all that bad, anymore."
"Gee, thanks," Zack said flatly, but then smiled.
They sat for a bit longer until their cab arrived and drove them back to the Shin-Ra building. Conversation didn't seem to work as well this time around with Cloud, but they managed to get back before he became too ill-feeling.
The television was turned on once more, and the couch squeaked beneath them as they sat next to each other once they reached Zack's apartment. Zack took note of how Cloud willingly sat a bit closer to him this time, and was within an arm's reach. He wasted no time in wrapping his arm around him and pulling him close.
Cloud rested his head against Zack's chest, shifting his legs up onto the couch to get closer. It was a bit surreal for him still, and it was hard for him to relax enough to allow his body to accept Zack's cuddling so easily. But when Zack began to twirl his fingertips into Cloud's hair, he smiled and let himself get lost in the embrace.
After a while, Zack began to muse about his mission, as the television in front of him soon went unnoticed. Could he really trust himself to not kill Mejia if he were to find him? He hoped that whatever Turk he was paired with tomorrow had enough discipline and strength to stop him if he were to suddenly lose it and tear the man limb from limb. To bathe his hands in that man's blood seemed more of a logical thought than absurd, as his thoughts of what Mejia did to Cloud and Elici went through his head.
Would he even use his hands? Perhaps trying out his sword would bring about some delight, but then he felt that using it on such a low form of life would dull the blade. Perhaps frying him with a plume of Firaga might suffice? Or perhaps encasing him in an elegant tomb of Blizzaga would be far more entertaining to see. He could put him on display in the Shin-Ra lobby for all to see. And if it began to melt, he'd take his frozen body to the largest mountain and ride it down like a sled until it crumbled into billions of microscopic pieces beneath him.
He was so lost in his sadistic, yet satisfying thoughts, that he didn't notice when Cloud had lowered his head down onto his lap, and began to rub his inner thigh. All was dangerously close to his groin. He was shocked back into reality when that hand on his thigh migrated between his legs.
"Cloud!"
Cloud hummed a reply, his voice heavy with lusty emotion.
"What're you doing? I thought we were just watching TV..."
"We are."
Zack shifted a bit, slumping in the couch so that his hips were farther down on the couch, giving Cloud a bit more room with his groping. He could hardly believe this was happening without any sort of coaxing to the boy. He glanced down and saw that Cloud was displaying a rather obvious erection himself. Had he just been aroused by simply cuddling?
"You were suddenly tense. I wanted to relax you a bit."
Zack choked out a small whimper as the hand began to massage the growing bulge in his jeans. "T-there are other ways to go about doing that."
"I know," he muttered as he slowly began to unzip Zack's pants.
"You've got to be kidding me, Cloud."
He looked up, confusion surfacing across his face. "Am I doing this wrong?"
"I'm just...surprised you would initiate this."
Cloud slowly sat up, and the aura of confidence that had been surrounding him finally slipped away. His eyes darted away from Zack's, and he neatly folded those wandering hands against his own stiff lap, as if to hide his arousal. "But...I thought we're supposed to do this."
"What are you talking about?"
"I thought that this is what people who were...together...were supposed to do for each other."
"Well, yeah, but not all the time. Remember what I said about forcing yourself?"
"But you like it."
"Well, yeah."
"And...I like it."
"Well, yeah– wait...really?"
Cloud was suddenly red in the face, and he tried to hide that with his hair in his eyes. "And...we're not going to see each other for a few days, so I thought...it would be...fun."
Zack couldn't really help but to flick the button of his pants open, and watched as Cloud looked over at him with a smile he couldn't really help.
...To be continued in Chapter Eighteen: Need.