Mind Games

Summary: The facade starts to fall away.

(A/N: Special thanks to toxictattoo for his wonderful beta, and much-needed cheerleading to get me back on track. Any mistakes due to changes afterward are mine.)

No More Games (Interlude)

Restlessness pulled at Yazoo's body, spreading out through his limbs until nothing satisfied him. He was too keyed up to sit, too restless to clean his gun, and too full of nervous energy to even care about Loz's rough commands to just sit the hell down.

The room at Forgotten City was stifling. Too small. Too close. Kadaj was intensely studying his maps in his search for Mother, his attention riveted and no area too small for his searching eyes. Always Mother.

Loz was sprawled out in the chair in that familiar, relaxed pose like a lion conserving his energy for the hunt. Always the same.

Yazoo needed something different. His thoughts snapped immediately to Cloud.

The feeling had been building in his body for days, growing ever more intense. The call between them had heightened to new levels. It was a bond that had started with the insidious cells of Jenova… but was evolving into something more.

Yazoo finally flipped a hand at his brothers and left the structure with no explanation, heading to his bike with long strides. It felt freeing to be out of the room. The knowledge of where he was headed played a huge part. He knew that. He wasn’t blind to what was happening. And he felt strangely at ease with that.

His bike took him unconsciously to the bluff as anticipation invaded his body. It was the thrill of taboo, of pushing past yet another boundary between him and Cloud. The bluff was Cloud’s refuge. His quiet spot reserved solely for himself. Yazoo was going to invade it with the sole intention of crashing through one more wall of Cloud’s carefully constructed world.

It was a familiar trip that needed little attention. He knew the area of soft sand to avoid that sent his bike in a skid. He knew the stretch of rocks that kicked up under his tires. He knew instantly when he could gun the throttle to get there faster.

He had visited the bluff often, to watch Cloud in silence from a distance. He respected Cloud’s space, simply staying on his bike while eagle-sharp eyes allowed him to take in every detail from afar. Cloud’s hair ruffled by the wind. The unconscious fingering of the silver wolf on the left side of his sweater. The clenching of his cheek when a particularly hurtful memory hit.

Yazoo could tell by the slight stiffening of Cloud’s back the moment he felt his presence. But Cloud never acknowledged him. And Yazoo had never come any closer. When he’d had his fill, he’d roll his bike behind a large rock before revving the engine to life to turn back home.

This time he wasn't turning back.

When he rolled up to the edge of the bluff, Cloud wasn’t there yet but Yazoo knew he would come. He knew it in that same way he knew the exact spot to send Cloud’s back arching under his hand. The exact amount of pressure to exert on Cloud’s cock when the weight of it was inside his mouth. The way Cloud’s eyes darkened when he was ready to come. Yazoo knew.

He bent his legs to fold down into a relaxed pose, legs in front of him, one arm wound around a bent knee. He looked over the drab brown landscape spread out beneath the bluff and saw an almost poetic beauty in the stillness, the dryness, the emptiness.... Destruction was what he and his brothers did, after all, in their single-minded pursuit of Mother. But he knew Cloud saw it differently.

He waited for Cloud with a calm air as he accepted the undeniable difference between them. The desolation troubled Cloud. It fueled Yazoo.

Yazoo didn't have anything against beauty. He appreciated it in males and females alike, though males affected him more viscerally, deep in his gut. Men fascinated him with their hard bodies and slim hips. It was a sharpness and definition that few women had, instead possessing uncomfortable curves and a discomfiting softness.

Men responded to his appreciation, sending him looks in return that fueled his ego and affirmed his appeal. He knew he was pretty. Desired. But, lately, the intense gazes and licking of lips as he walked by did nothing for him. They were inconsequential.

There was a rustle behind him, and Yazoo lifted his head without looking over his shoulder. "You walked today."

He could feel Cloud hesitate, then continue his steps to sit beside him and stare out at the view. "You stayed."

Yazoo simply nodded in silent acknowledgement as Cloud accepted his presence in his personal space.

Neither looked at each other as they maintained the silence, stretching it out as if breaking it would ruin the spell. Cloud finally spoke first.

"Why do we do this?"

Yazoo tilted his head and ran his hand through the loose dirt, letting it spill out from his fist as he thought about it. Why did they do this? He was the one who had pushed the issue from the start, as a game at first, but something more was behind it now.

He didn't know how to answer.

A mask fell back over his face. "Because it feels good. Isn't that enough?"

He reached over to run his hand over Cloud's shoulder, and Cloud shied from the touch, never looking his way. "It doesn't feel good. It feels twisted. And wrong."

Yazoo looked over, peeking up through his bangs. "But you still keep coming back, don't you? You do want it."

It was a fact, and Yazoo knew it as well as he knew Cloud's body. The pull always got stronger when Cloud focused his attention on him. And even though Cloud wasn't looking his direction, even though Cloud had initially pulled away, Yazoo could feel every bit of Cloud’s body focused on him and him alone.

It was heady, and electric, and something that he hadn't been getting from Loz and Kadaj lately. That may have been why he went after Cloud in the first place. But it had gone beyond that now. Far beyond that.

Yazoo needed Cloud's attention. It was the only thing that would settle the restless feeling in his body, like an itch that needed to be scratched.

He tried again, running his hand up Cloud's back towards the back of his neck, an area he knew was one of Cloud's sensitive spots. He could sense the slight shiver in Cloud's body at his action, and Yazoo pushed further. Daring Cloud to stop him. Knowing he wouldn't.

Turning towards Cloud, he pulled his knee up underneath him and pushed against the center of Cloud's chest. It was the lightest of touches, a simple request to have him lay back on the ground.

Cloud went back with the push slowly, holding Yazoo's gaze the whole way down. The look made Yazoo instantly hard. He gave Cloud a quick shake of his head, one that said 'don't move', and rose gracefully to take off his leather before helping Cloud shed his. It was a slow pace, languid and luxurious, and so at odds with any other meeting they'd had before. It felt undeniably right.

The warm sun beat down on their bare skin, and the rough ground under Yazoo's knees scratched against him, in stark contrast to the softness of Cloud's skin under his hand. The wind played over their bodies and blew the strands of Yazoo's hair up into the air in small gusts.

He covered Cloud's body with his own, his leg twined between Cloud's as he lay half on his side, half on Cloud's chest. He took time to place his head against Cloud's chest to hear his heartbeat, luxuriating in the simple feel of contact and the ability to explore. Cloud's heart beat faster as Yazoo smoothed his hands over his body.

He propped himself up on an elbow, his hair falling down in a curtain that created a small area of peace, blocking out the rest of the world, and ran his fingers over Cloud's lips, soft and questing. Yazoo watched, entranced, as he slid one finger between Cloud’s lips to gently slip inside his mouth. Cloud still had that haunted look in his eyes but he took the finger in to work over it with his tongue, never taking his gaze off Yazoo's face.

Yazoo slowly leaned down to replace his finger with his tongue, and he could feel Cloud melt underneath him. They went to a place where Mother and Nibelheim and cross-purposes didn't exist. He covered Cloud with his body, wanting to take that look from his eye, to replace it with something else. He slid down to take Cloud in his mouth, working gently over his cock with his tongue.

If Cloud felt the need to remove himself a step from the act, to withdraw from the intensity and retreat to a spot in this mind, Yazoo knew it was his right. But Yazoo wasn't going to back down.

Cloud would open up for him. He always did.

Yazoo pulled his mouth off of Cloud's cock with reluctance, but the move was necessary to reach over to his leather to slip out the tube of lube. He held Cloud's eyes through every move, not needing to look to know where the tube was, closing his hand around it with the ease of long practice.

The anticipation increased as he perched himself on his knees and leaned over Cloud's body to prepare himself. The familiar, delicious was already starting to engulf his senses.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his fingers sliding inside himself as he stretched himself. Stretched himself for Cloud. He heard a small sound underneath him and opened his eyes. The look in Cloud's eyes was already starting to change. It only increased Yazoo's desire for the enigma underneath him.

He settled back to push his body down on Cloud's cock, taking in his length with a long exhale. It was the fullness his body had been craving. A feeling that hadn't been taken away by faceless, nameless encounters searched out after dark in any of the many pubs in Edge.

He held himself still until he finally felt comfortable enough to start the up-and-down motion his body had been calling for.

A small knot in his chest loosened when Cloud pushed his hips up underneath him. Yazoo took charge of the movements, working over Cloud with purpose, and watching his face in response to his careful attention. The writhing of Cloud's body and the small whimpers of his name were his reward.

When he could see the familiar look on Cloud's face, the look that showed he was close, Yazoo felt his own body instantly respond, reaching a new height in their encounters.

He dropped his hand down to his cock to bring himself to the edge along with Cloud. Long, slow strokes. Only the slightest touch needed under the weight of Cloud's half-lidded stare. Time slowed as Cloud's body rocked underneath him, the silence of the landscape intensifying every move and harsh breath.

The muscles in his body tightened as he felt his orgasm approach, a quiet moment as a slight breeze swept over his sensitive body. His back arched and he gave one final stroke over his cock, squeezing tight around his length and giving in to the need to let go. His release landed on Cloud's stomach as his muscles clenched hard around Cloud's cock. Cloud never closed his eyes as he followed right behind, quiet and focused and gasping small breaths.

Yazoo melted down over Cloud's body while they both caught their breath. He closed his eyes to hang on to the feeling as long as possible, grasping at it and refusing to let it slide away. Small aftershocks ran through his body when Cloud brought his hand up to smooth over his hair, and his scalp tingled at the soft brushes.

Pushing himself up to rest on shaky elbows on either side of Cloud's head, he dove in for a demanding kiss, refusing to let Cloud back away and retreat back into his mind. He demanded Cloud's attention. And Cloud responded to his sheer force of will.

Only when he needed to breathe did he roll off to the side, still keeping as much of his body draped over Cloud as he could. He looked up, questioning.

"Do you have to leave right away?"

Cloud adjusted Yazoo slightly against his shoulder and played with the ends of his hair as he gave him an undecipherable look.

"I can stay."

~~~