Tease - COMPLETE

TEASE





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Warning:

A Zack and Cloud and possibly others (not telling yet ) fic, can guess who they are… yaoi…if you don’t like that…don’t read.



Pre-Authors Note:

I plan on having a lot of fun with this fic and bringing in some others into the mix. You can probably guess who they are by now…now it is just how will it all come together.



Thanks to ZiggyPasta for being my Beta…thanks and more thanks…



Well, it is all about the big yellow birds right now…

Cuteness.

This chapter solidifying the Zack and Cloud relationship a little further…enjoy.



Disclaimer:

Don’t own, just using for my own amusement





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CHOCOBO





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Zack was thrilled that Cloud was going on the mission with him. He just had to figure out how he could get some private time with Cloud with the twenty men that had been sent on the mission as well.



Of course, that was before the mission started to go sideways.



They got to the village and took care of the monsters. That part went well. The monsters were not that strong and they hardly needed his skills to deal with them. He let the troops take care of most of them and ensured that everything was properly cleaned up. They were the heroes of the day. There were only a few minor injuries –mostly muscle strains and a few scratches - among the troops, and he had been proud when it was Cloud that stepped up to take care of the injured.



~silly to be proud~



But he was. Cloud was quick and efficient in ensuring the potions were given out, and that the wounds were properly cleaned before any materia was used. ~almost could imagine him in a nurse outfit~



Cloud even did some massage thing with the injured troops. The guys seemed to take it in stride, like it was nothing unusual. He didn’t like how Cloud touched a trooper that had a headache by massaging behind the trooper's temples before he passed out. And yet with another, Cloud pressed his hands into his shoulder and caused a moan.



~didn’t like it, but it seemed to be helping the troops~



He had been dragged away by town officials before he could ask Cloud why he was touching the other men like that. The village thanked them, and they had rested there. He was forced to talk late into the night with the mayor of the town, while Cloud bunked with the other men in the town’s hall.



~not even a good night kiss~



Zack did get his kiss in the morning. He was cornered by the blond before they went for breakfast. Zack was pleasantly surprised to be pushed into a doorway and have a warm mouth attach to his.



Cloud laughed at him as Zack tried to push him away, but at the same time was kissing him back. “We’ll get caught,” Zack had protested, but not all that strongly.



“Just a little more,” Cloud whispered into his lips and took them again. Zack had been shocked when Cloud palmed his crotch. Zack was so taken aback by the hand squeezing his package that he gasped, and before he could retaliate...



~have to remember that he is not as shy as he acts~



…Cloud slipped out of his grasp and joined the other men for the morning meal.



~damn tease~



He noticed that Cloud ate light. He didn’t forget that he sometimes got motion sickness and ensured that he took an anti-nausea pill before they boarded the two trucks. Cloud had been a bit green when they had disembarked from the truck and Zack didn’t want him to get queasy on the way back.



They boarded and went on their way. Zack sat beside the driver and was able to look back and see Cloud talking with that pesky Joseph. He had to admit the blue-haired man was a proficient fighter… when he wasn’t being an idiot.



That was when the truck broke down.



Zack had stared at the steaming engine. He knew nothing – absolutely nothing - about mechanics. He just used the stuff; he didn’t know how to fix it. ShinRa equipment wasn’t supposed to break down.



~normally they made such good stuff~



“Anyone know how to fix an engine?” he asked the group of men.



Cloud shrugged and came forward. “I can take a look.”



He smirked and stood back. “Have at ‘er.”



While Cloud worked on the truck, he admired the view and tried not to be so obvious about it.



~very nice ass, and it’s mine~



The troop's Captain, Dean, leaned next to Cloud as they fiddled with the engine, and they conversed for awhile. Dean brought a tool kit and they tinkered on the engine.



“You sure?” Zack heard Dean say after awhile. Zack had stopped the squat competition that he was having with the other infantrymen.



“Yep,” Cloud said as he stood up and turned around. “The seal broke on the water pump. I can fix it. Get me the first-aid kit and I’ll make it right as rain.”



Joseph laughed. “First-aid kit?” Some of the others laughed as well.



How could a first-aid kit help fix the truck? Had Cloud been huffing too many engine fumes? It was a truck, but being in his First Class SOLDIER mode, he had to be a little more serious, even though he did want to ask the same question as Joseph did.



Cloud sighed, and in a perturbed tone of voice, “Just get it. It’s so we can get back, okay?” Cloud turned and leaned over the engine again. “I need to take this apart, and I will replace the seal temporarily using some of the rubber of the tourniquet. It won’t hold for long, but it should be enough to get us back to Midgar. We will also need to put some water in the coolant chamber. We'll have to stop every half-hour to ensure that it's filled. Water is not as efficient as coolant and we may still overheat the engine. We are lucky that it's fall, or this would be a much more difficult task.”



“Wow,” Zack found himself saying, “you’re a grease monkey.”



Cloud turned and gave him a small smile. “It’ll take me awhile to fix the seal. Maybe an hour.”



Zack nodded. He ordered the other truck to take the troops that were hurt the most back, while the more able bodied men remained behind. Unfortunately Joseph was not sick enough…



~at least in the body~



… to go with the first truck.



Zack watched in fascination as Cloud worked on fixing the water pump seal. Dean helped him, mostly by yelling and pushing Joseph around. Cloud also didn’t seem to have a problem yelling at the pesky blue-haired man to screw off as he did whatever he did to get the truck fixed.



It took Cloud only thirty minutes to fix the engine and get the truck moving again. Zack had never felt so much pride, and was kind of disappointed that he couldn’t share it with anyone.





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Cloud’s fix was holding, but the truck was guzzling the water. They would watch the temperature gauge to determine where they should stop. They were going to get back late, if this kept up. Cloud had been right - it was almost every hour that they stopped and had to fill the truck up with water.



There were eight infantrymen in the back of the truck. Dean was driving and Zack was sitting beside him. He longed to be in the back of the truck, even if Cloud was looking a little green. Everyone else was laughing and having inappropriate conversation about the girls at the Honeybee Inn, and the trouble they got into the last weekend. Cloud just smiled and tried to keep his rations down.



One of the troopers complained that his head was hurting, and he moved to sit by Cloud. Zack frowned as he watched Cloud massage the temples of the trooper. He noted that this was the same man that he had done it to back in the town. He did not like the groan the guy gave at Cloud’s touch.



He narrowed his eyes.



Dean snorted as he looked back in the rear view mirror. “Cloud’s at it again, huh?”



~at it again?~



“In what regards?” Zack said formally. He couldn’t ask, ‘feeling up the other members of his troop?’



“With that voodoo touching stuff he does,” Dean said, and focused on the road. “Kinda weird, but it does seem to work.”



~voodoo touching stuff?~



“Pardon?”



“Yeah,” Dean said. “For some reason, he does this thing where he uses pressure points to help with aches and pains. Never had the kid touch me, though. Too weird for my liking. Other guys like it, though. They all want Cloud in their troop because of it.”



“I was not aware of that,” he said and looked back. The guy that Cloud was rubbing behind his ears now had his jaw slack and his eyes closed. No one else even blinked at what Cloud was doing.



Dean snorted. “Most guys go to him when they want to get rid of a headache.”



Cloud stopped the motions on the infantryman and leaned back in the truck, looking a little nauseous as he did so. The man patted Cloud on the leg and returned to his seat and allowed Joseph to sit beside Cloud again.



Zack felt that jealous pang in his gut. His Cloud was touching another man. It wasn’t sexual, but it could be, and he didn’t like that.



~he had other experiences before you~



He couldn’t begrudge Cloud with that. It wasn’t like he didn’t have experience before, as well. He knew it was irrational to be jealous about things in the past. He had no right to feel that way, but Zack couldn’t help but wonder if the guy that Cloud had been rubbing had been one of his past experiences. He knew that he didn’t even have the right to ask that, but now it was bothering him.



~why hasn’t he tried that stuff on me?~



Cloud looked up and smiled weakly at him. Zack returned the smile and felt a little sorry for him and his motion sickness. When they stopped next, they would have to ensure that he took another anti-nausea pill.



“Shit!”



The truck stopped abruptly, throwing him rudely against the dash. He turned around quickly to see a group of large yellow birds run around the truck. Panicked sounding ‘warks’ could be heard. One of the birds bounded up and smashed its foot into the hood of the truck and bounded after the others. Zack looked over from where the birds were running from.



It was his turn to swear. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. In the field a large lumbering Grand Horn was throwing its head around. One of its horns was covered in blood, and a body of a chocobo lay under its feet.



“What do we do, sir?” Dean asked.



Zack didn’t respond. He darted out of the truck. He really hated Grand Horns. Damn things had thick skin and were hard to take down. This one looked completely pissed off, so he knew that shooing it away was not an option. He pulled out his sword and with a heavy sigh, started to fight the pesky thing.



~really hate Horns~



An hour later, he finally finished off the monster. He was tired from all the bouncing and twisting he had to do, to avoid getting gored by its horns. The infantrymen had all been watching as the monster finally collapsed in a heap.



~how does Sephiroth take the things down with one swipe?~



The men cheered him and he smiled, twirling his sword in his grand finishing move before holstering it on his back. “Finally got ‘em,” he decreed.



That was when he noticed that there were two other men standing beside Captain Dean. They looked like brothers, both with dark red hair and similar builds. One of them was sitting on a blue chocobo and the other was holding its reins. They were also dressed in simple clothes, of well worn jeans and thin t-shirts.



He gave a little nod to the infantrymen and saw that Cloud was grinning widely at him. He wished he could go over and kiss Cloud.



~nothing like a good fuck after a well fought battle~



He shook the thought out of his head as duty called, and he walked over to the two men.



“Thanks, ya,” the one on the chocobo said. “That there monster's been terrorizing my birdies, ya.”



Zack just about laughed at the atrociously thick accent, but was able to keep the threatening smirk from appearing on his face. He could barely make out what he was saying. “Not a problem, sir,” Zack said.



Dean introduced the two. The one on the bird was named Flint, and the one holding the reins was named Flare. They were indeed brothers, and the monster had been terrorizing the two chocobo ranchers' birds for the past month or so.



“Been losing birdies lately, ya,” Flare said. His accent was almost thicker than of his brother's. “Lost ‘er ‘ood, ya”



~what?~



“We’s know that it not yours job, sir, an all, ya. Can I ast ya ta help us round up them there chicks, ya,” Flint asked, and Zack had to think about what he said to get the gist of his heavily accented words.



“You want us to help you round up your chocobos?” he asked.



“If yer think it won’t be much trouble, ya,” Flare said.



Zack smiled and announced that of course they would. They were already three hours late returning to Midgar, and with the truck being in even worse shape now, from the look of it, what was an hour chasing some birds?



It turned out to be more like three hours.



There was supposed to be twenty-five chocobos and three chicks. A hell of a lot of birds to round up, especially since they were fast.



Flint had explained that they were bred for racing so they all had a good set of legs on them, but their temperament was a bit on the difficult side. He provided greens to try to get them to calm down enough to ‘wrangle’ them up. Flint raced them around on his blue bird, and much to everyone’s surprise, Joseph took up riding one of the caught birds.



Cloud had laughed at him. “Never knew you were a bird brain,” he taunted.



“One of the best,” Joseph said, not even flinching at the insult. “Dad raced for awhile. Best warker* a couple of years back. I trained for a bit, too.”



“Did you say warker or wanker?” Cloud chuckled.



“I do both well.” Joseph preened as they both laughed.



“You should be on the blue one, so at least it matches your hair,” Cloud teased as he tossed up a bag of greens to Joseph.



“You want this one then?” Joseph said as he strapped the bag around his shoulders.



“Why would I want it?”



“I believe that it matches your hair - crest and all,” Joseph snickered.



Cloud’s face went red. One of the other men came up behind Cloud and ruffled his hair. “Yeah, make sure that one of them doesn’t mistake you for one of their chicks.”



“Whatever,” Cloud responded, trying to smooth out his hair.



“Better watch out or one of those big males might take you for one of the girly ones.”



“Do you think I could ride you?”



“Soft enough to be feathers.”



“Don’t get put in the stable.”



“Too small to mount.”



“I’ll be your warker!”



The men around him teased and laughed.



Zack bit his tongue and fought the temptation to join the light-hearted taunting. Cloud's shoulders straightened as he glared at the guys around him who were teasing him and tousling his hair.



“Just go chase the birds!” Cloud protested. “Leave my hair alone!”



Zack had the strong urge to go over and ruffle that yellow hair, but Cloud looked flustered as he finished handing out the greens that he had been given to distribute. Zack chuckled and started to help the infantrymen round up the birds. Zack didn’t think that it would be difficult to hunt down the chocobos.



Three hours later, and they still had to hunt down two more of the birds and one of the chicks. Joseph and Cloud were expertly riding around on chocobos, as well as one of the other men who was travelling with Flint. The rest of the men were at the barn getting the stable set up for them to rest and prepare an evening meal, since it looked like they were stuck there for the night.



The birds had done quite a bit of damage to the truck and they had to call to get another transport, but it wouldn’t be available until the morning.



Zack waved and called out to Cloud. Cloud moved his bird towards him while Joseph rode his over to where Dean was standing.



“I didn’t know you could ride,” Zack said as Cloud dismounted. Cloud shrugged as he struggled with a bundle in his arms.



“You don’t grow up in the mountains without learning a few tricks. It's a little easier since these ones are pretty tame, just spooked. These guys would have come home when they got hungry. They know where the easy food is,” Cloud said as the bundle in his arms, ‘kweh’ed. It seemed that Cloud found the last chick.



“What’s that you got there?” Zack said and poked at the feathery ball. It gave an annoyed ‘wark’ and a sharp beak nipped at his fingers. The bird seemed to give Zack an angry look before rubbing its head against Cloud’s chest with a 'kweh'.



“Aw,” Zack said, “it thinks you’re its mommy.”



Cloud narrowed his eyes. “I get enough of that from the guys. I don’t need to hear it from you, too.”



The little green ball of feathers made appreciative ‘kewh’ing noises as Cloud scratched its beak.



Zack grabbed the reins of the large yellow chocobo and they started to walk to the farm’s pen gate.



“The way you fought that Grand Horn was amazing. It was almost like you were dancing,” Cloud said.



“I hate those damn Horns,” Zack said, feeling slightly embarrassed at how Cloud was looking at him. It was one thing to have the admiration of the troops, but for Cloud to look at him with that awe was a little strange. It made a pleasant warmth spread through his chest that he never encountered before. It made him want to blush and puff out his chest. It was a nice feeling, but scary at the same time.



“Those Horns sure seem to have tough skin,” Cloud said.



“Like stone,” Zack said. “Hope you never have to fight one of them.”



“Neither do I,” Cloud said as he jostled the bird in his arms. “Don’t you have a Costly Punch? Isn’t that what works best on them?”



“Well, yeah,” Zack said and let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t have enough gil to buy it.”



Cloud chuckled. “I heard that not even Sephiroth uses it.”



“He doesn’t need it.”



“Really? Have you seen him take down a Grand Horn before?” Cloud asked.



“Yeah,” Zack said and looked back at his boyfriend. “It’s quite a sight seeing him fight.”



Cloud gave a small smile and a low hum as a response. Cloud’s blue eyes glazed over a little bit. “I bet,” he said in a dreamy voice.



~was he thinking of Sephiroth?~



The bundle of feathers in his arms made another distressed noise and the glazed look was replaced with a small worried frown.



Zack was tempted to start teasing him about his crush on the General, but decided against it. It was nearly disastrous the last time he teased Cloud about what Zack suspected was a little bit more than just a crush. He knew that half of the troop would get that glazed look on their face when they thought about Sephiroth.



Zack smiled at his young friend, resisting the urge to ruffle the wild yellow hair. “You did well today too, Cloud,” Zack said and looked at Cloud to see him blush slightly.



~damn, he’s so cute with that chocobo in his arms~



Zack was not watching where he was going and stumbled on a root, and nearly fell. Cloud rolled his eyes at him. “Quit ogling me and watch where you’re going.”



“I’m not ogling,” Zack said.



Cloud grunted with a crooked smile as he stroked the head of the small bird.



“Where did you learn to do all that stuff?” Zack asked.



“Huh? What stuff?” Cloud said as he stopped walking. He arranged the chick in his arms, causing it to ‘wark’ in a pained tone. The larger bird turned its head to the distressed chick.



“You know,” Zack said, “fixing the truck, and all that voodoo touching stuff.”



Cloud snorted and in a tight tone said, “You’ve been talking to Dean.” Cloud pushed the larger bird away and then went to place the chick on the chocobo’s back.



“Yeah. A bit,” Zack said and rubbed the back of his head.



“Mom didn’t have too much money and when things broke, we fixed them,” he said. “And the ‘voodoo’ touching thing - it helps the guys,” Cloud said with anxiety in his voice. “It is not voodoo.”



The large chocobo gave out a loud complaint and swiped at Zack with its beak, obviously reacting to Cloud’s emotional outburst.



Zack chuckled. “I think she has adopted you.” He had to take a step back to avoid the bird’s sharp beak as it twisted its neck in a protective fashion to separate them.



“Whatever,” Cloud said angrily and pushed against the bird’s neck. Cloud grabbed the reins from Zack, giving them a hard tug. Cloud’s blue eyes narrowed at him and he set his jaw.



“Come on. I’m just teasing,” Zack said quickly.



“We should get these two back, and I’m hungry,” Cloud said and started walking. Zack fell into step beside him.



“Of course,” Zack said.



He didn’t want to upset Cloud further, but he did have another burning question in mind before they joined the rest of them in the barn. “I do have something to ask before we head up,” Zack said a little nervously.



Cloud looked at him with a stern look. “What is it, sir?”



Zack inwardly winced as he was called ‘sir’.



~here goes nothing~



He slowed his walking so that he was right beside Cloud, and leaned a little closer to him, not wanting to risk anyone over-hearing him. “About that touching thing you do - do you use it on the guys all the time?”



“Yeah,” Cloud said. “You aren’t going to get all jealous?”



~a little~



“No,” Zack said. “I just haven't seen you do that before.”



Cloud shrugged and ensured that the green ball of feathers was still secure on the back of the larger yellow one. “I used it once on one of the guys who had pulled his shoulder out because the medics weren’t around. I helped relieve his pain until the proper medics could tend to him.”



“So, you use it quite a bit then?” he asked. He didn’t like the idea of Cloud always touching all these other men.



“Yeah,” Cloud sighed. “I usually end up helping the medics now because of it, as you saw.”



“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Zack said. “They seem to respect you for that.”



Cloud shrugged, “It can be a little annoying. I mean, I want to be able to fight and to get stronger. Pretty hard to do that from the medical tent.”



“I wouldn’t worry about that. You fought well today. You’ll make SOLDIER, and then you won’t be delegated to the medical tent,” Zack said and patted Cloud on his shoulder.



Cloud smiled at him, but Zack could tell there was a little bit of doubt in it. He didn’t know how to comfort Cloud in this. He had always been the top of his class when it came to the fighting, whereas he had a little bit of difficulty with the books. Cloud was opposite of him in that regard, but it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t make a good SOLDIER. Zack was positive that Cloud would make an opposing force on the battlefield.



~if he would just stop brooding~



They were getting closer to the barn. He didn’t have much time to ask the other most important question about the massaging. “The touching thing? Why haven’t you used it on me?”



Cloud stopped and looked at him like he said something strange. “What do you mean? I used it on you.”



“You did?” Zack was pretty sure he would remember Cloud massaging him like he was doing the others.



“Yeah. When we were returning from Modeoheim, when I was holding your hand.” Cloud grabbed his hand and held it. Zack watched as Cloud fingers massaged between his thumb and fingers in a firm but gentle motion. “Remember this?”



Zack remembered. It had calmed him so much that he didn’t break down in front of the other men. He didn’t think anyone else saw, but maybe it was because they were used to Cloud doing stuff like that. They may not have thought it odd that they were sitting so close because of what he had done for others in the past.



“I remember,” he said, “but that is not what I am referring to.”



Cloud furrowed his brow in confusion. Zack looked at him and waggled his eyebrows and let his smirk do the talking.



“What? I –oh,” Cloud said. His eyes grew wide and he covered his mouth in shock. “Oh.” His pale cheeks turned bright red as he covered his eyes and groaned. “I-I never thought of using it that way!” Cloud exclaimed and ran his hands nervously through his hair.



Zack chuckled. He felt a little better knowing that Cloud hadn’t thought of his touching in any sexual way.



~even though others might have~



He watched Cloud's face change from brilliant embarrassment, to dark worry, and then melt into a look that he enjoyed seeing on his boyfriend - sexy teasing. “I guess we will have to try that out,” Cloud said in a husky whisper before starting to walk again.



Zack grinned, adjusting himself slightly as he started walking, thinking of the new possibilities rolling around in his head. The chocobo warked angrily as they started to walk again. It seemed to be making sure that he was separated from Cloud.



“Hey!” It was Joseph that came running over. “You two, quit lollygagging! Let’s get that chick back to its mother.”



Cloud nodded and trotted forward, giving Zack a nice view of his bottom as he did so. He forced his eyes away as he walked forward to talk to Dean and the chocobo ranchers.



Being a First Class SOLDIER meant that he was the one in charge, which meant that he had to be courteous to his hosts. He listened to Flint and Flare, with their heavy accents, thank him for helping. He watched as the other men rested in the hay and ate some of the warmed rations and drank some coffee that must have been provided by the ranchers. He wanted to be in with them, not having to worry about image and protocol.



~now I understand what Sephiroth goes through~



Flint and Flare offered him a room in the house for him to sleep in, but Zack declined. Not that Zack was looking forward to the night in the barn. Nor did he have a problem with roughing it, or that they would have to sleep with blankets over top of hay. It was because he knew there would be no way to sneak off and get Cloud to try using those hands in a new way tonight.



~teasing backfired on you again~



At least he would be with the men, even if he couldn’t have some alone time with Cloud. He did join the ranchers for a drink, to be polite, before he returned to the barn to retire for the evening. Dean and Joseph were first guard, and the plan for watch rotation was already set when he inquired. He checked on the others and saw they were already sleeping peacefully, with a few snoring loudly.



He was tempted to join Cloud who was alone in his stable, but knew very well that he would crawl all over him, and that would not look good in the morning. He could see that there was another set of bedding in the stall. Most likely that pesky Joseph would be bunking with him once his night shift was done.



He gave out a heavy sigh and went to the stable that was assigned to him. He never thought it could be so hard knowing that Cloud was just sleeping one stall over.





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Zack woke with the last shift change. He ordered the two men back to their stalls, so that they could get more sleep before the morning transport would come. He grabbed some of the coffee which was thick and extremely bitter, but at least warm, as he walked down the array of chocobo stalls.



He took a sip of the warm drink as he looked in to check on Cloud. He swallowed incorrectly and tried to stifle the coughing fit, so that he didn’t wake anyone.



~cutest thing ever~



Cloud was sprawled out in the stable, flat on his back and oblivious to the world. The green chick and a yellow chick lay curled on his belly; one of Cloud’s hands was resting on the green feather ball's back.



Zack pulled out his PHS to take a picture. He knew that he could never show it to anyone, not even Cloud, for Cloud surely would delete it and get mad at him for taking the picture.



He typed in the picture name: 'My Chocobo'.





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Author's End Ramble:



The Grand Horn is the type from Crisis Core not the FFVII version. Just to clarify. Damn bitchy things to fight, if you played the game. Hate the Horns! Anyhoo… The Grand Horn is extremely resistant to all physical and magical attacks… it damages, but it takes like hours (at least that how it feels) to defeat the beast if you don’t have Costly Punch or Dispel Blade. And Zack just can’t afford Costly punch… he doesn’t have enough money for that, after all he is in SOLDIER and they don’t get paid all that well.



And well, Zack really doesn’t like Grand Horns, they did cause him a lot of problems in the past…





*Warker: I decided to make up the word… Jockey, just doesn’t sound right for riding birds and I know that it is weird but… well, I made up a word for what the Chocobo riders are….and its funny too….



Well there we have it.