Trapped in Paradise(With Someone You Hate)

Part VII: The Big Come Down

Reno woke up slowly, feeling somewhat sore but absolutely fantastic.  A night of truly amazing sex had a tendency to do that to him.  He was feeling tender toward his new lover and sought out Cloud’s body with his hands.

The blonde squirmed a little bit but moaned softly as he began to wake up.

“Hm…” Cloud’s unnaturally blue eyes opened slowly, “Reno…?”

He nibbled on one of Cloud’s earlobes playfully, “Let’s take a shower together.”

Cloud smiled sleepily, “Um…okay.”

“So…how do ya like your water?”

“Hmm,” Cloud was already starting to seem quite awake and coherent despite his lazy tone, “Hot but not scalding.”

Reno nodded as he slipped out of bed and headed toward the bathroom.  He could feel Cloud’s eyes on him and put a little extra slink into his swagger.  Reno couldn’t keep the wide grin from crossing his lips when he heard Cloud make a small, needy sound behind him.

In the bathroom, Reno fiddled with the faucets, carefully testing the water temperature every few minutes.  After awhile, he decided a bath might be a bit more fun.  He knelt on the cold tile and watched the large bathtub fill with water.  Reno daydreamed a little and imagined Cloud’s hands on his body, skin warmed by the hot water.

When it was filled, Reno shut off the water and ambled back into the bedroom.  “Hey, I hope ya don’t mind….”

The rakish grin that he’d been wearing faded from his lips at the sight of Cloud.  He was sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, and staring at the cell phone in his hand.

“Cloud…?”  Reno trailed off, feeling a sick sensation of dread crawl over him.  “Hey…so what’s up?”

Reno got his clothes thrown at him instead of a proper response.  Cloud wasn’t meeting his eyes and that made Reno very fucking nervous.  When people didn’t look you in the eye it meant they were hiding something.

Reno didn’t wait for Cloud to say anything and pulled on his clothes in silence.  His arousal and expectation of sex had long since abandoned him in the face of Cloud’s serious, almost angry expression.

When the quiet tension became too unbearable, Reno finally spoke again.  “Is somethin’ wrong?”

“Yeah,” Cloud replied quietly, his voice devoid of emotion, “You need to listen to this and tell me what’s going on.”

“What the hell are you going on about?” Reno was beginning to feel a little bit pissed off. 

Cloud stood up and walked toward him.  He thrust his cell phone into one of Reno’s hands.  “It's important." 

Reno sighed as he looked at the phone in his hand.  There was a message from Tifa highlighted on the little screen and he supposed that was whatever had upset Cloud so deeply.  He pressed a button in order to initiate the re-play as he put the phone to his ear.

‘Hey, it’s me.  I just found out something really strange from Vincent.  It’s about the transport ship.  According to him, there’s no reason why you should still be in Costa del Sol.  The issue’s been taken care of and the ship’s fine.  I think you’d better be careful around Reno because something funny is going on with the entire situation.  When you get this message…call me, okay?  I just want to know that you’re safe.’

The message ended and Reno felt shock numbing him.  He was completely speechless.  What the fuck? Reno thought as his mind blanked.

“I think you’d better tell me what’s going on,” Cloud’s voice was very quiet.

As Reno looked into his eyes, a wave of regret washed over him.  They should’ve been kissing right now, relaxing together in the bathtub, not having this conversation.

“Reno please…tell me what’s going on,” Cloud repeated almost pleadingly.

He gave the phone back to Cloud as he shook his head.  “I don’t fucking know.” 

Reno hated feeling so helpless and uninformed.  If what Tifa claimed was true, it meant that he’d been lied to as well.  Unlike Cloud, he really didn’t have to wonder why because he had a pretty good idea.  Rufus had given him a nice, long window of opportunity to get chummy with Cloud.  It certainly wasn’t the worst thing Rufus had ever done, but Reno still felt a touch of resentment for having been kept in the dark.

Cloud’s voice was deceptively calm.  “You’re a Turk,” he reasoned quietly, “If Shinra is up to something you would know about it.”

Reno sighed and decided he might as well come clean.  It wasn’t as though it would make the situation worse than it already was.  “Listen…okay, so I’ll admit that Rufus wanted me to stick close to you while I was here,” Reno explained, carefully choosing his words, “but that’s all I know, Cloud.  This shit with the transport ship is news to me.”

“I suppose that he figured that it might take a little effort for you to seduce me,” Cloud replied coolly.

His words were like a swift kick to the gut.  “What?” Reno’s voice was harsh and sharp even to his own ears, “Fuck you, Strife.  If you think last night was about my job….”  Reno shook his head, vaguely repulsed by the emotions that tightened his throat and made his chest burn, “I guess you weren’t paying all that much attention.”

Cloud’s expression softened just a little bit, “So what was it about?”

Reno chuckled humourlessly, “C’mon, don’t make me have to spell it out to ya.  I like you a lot and last night….”  He chewed his lower lip.  Reno barely had words for what happened last night.  It had been so much more than a release from the sexual tension that had been tying them up in knots.  He struggled for words anyway, “Last night I thought that we’d…made a real connection.”

Cloud looked away, his eyes nearly hidden by the heaviness of his lashes.  “I…thought we had, too.”

Reno cautiously took a step forward, wanting to touch him but uncertain.  His mind raced as he searched for the right thing to say.  He didn’t want to lose Cloud.  Reno came to this realization with some shock.

“It’s true that Rufus wanted me to get close to you,” Reno spoke quickly, “but he never told me to seduce you.  That part was all on me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Cloud murmured, “Rufus has been pulling both our strings.”

“Oh?” Reno raised his eyebrows.

 “It’s funny,” Cloud sighed even though he wasn’t smiling or laughing, “The only reason that I came up to you at the bar was because Rufus had asked me to keep an eye on you—for your own safety of course.  He said that you…tend to get into trouble without anything to do.”

Reno snorted; that certainly sounded like something Rufus would say.  He was already piecing together a situation borne of innocent coincidence.  Reno was pretty sure that Rufus hadn’t orchestrated the whole thing, but the fact that he was only “pretty sure” annoyed him.  As soon as he got back to Healin, where he could talk to Rufus face to face, he intended to clear all of this up.  He didn’t like the idea that he had been used and he wanted Rufus to know that fucking with his personal affairs like this was very fucking unappreciated. 

Despite all this, Reno still didn’t understand why Cloud was acting so distant.  He didn’t like the ugly notion that he was being punished because his boss had too much time on his hands and tended to be a bit of a controlling bastard at times.

“So now what?  Where do we go from here?”

Cloud closed his eyes, “I don’t know.  I…I don’t like the feeling that I’ve been used.  This is becoming way too complicated for me to just ignore.”

“Okay,” Reno nodded slowly, “I understand.  So what do you want me to do?”

Cloud inhaled deeply and then let the breath go on a slow exhalation as he opened his eyes.  “I need to think things over carefully, and to be honest, you’re not exactly conducive to my thinking clearly.”

“You want me to leave?” Reno was incredulous.

Cloud averted his eyes, “It’s not really a matter of wanting you to leave, but I need you to.”

Reno really hadn’t been expecting that.  Yet he knew he’d have to comply with Cloud’s request if he wanted to retain any possibility of pursuing their relationship any further.

“Right…fine,” he muttered, unable to keep all of the sullen disappointment out of his tone, “Lemme just get my shit together.”

It only took a few minutes.  His original reason for being in Costa del Sol hadn’t required much luggage.  Even as he gathered up his things, Reno was secretly hoping that Cloud would start missing him and seek him out before the transport ship arrived.  Make up sex was some of the best brand of sex, after all….

They stood together in the foyer and Reno was pleased that Cloud seemed a little reluctant in making his decision.  To Reno, it was a sign that they had a future to look forward to even if things were currently stalled between them.

“Reno…” Cloud faltered and Reno hoped that Cloud was going to change his mind.  “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged, tapped his EMR against his shoulder as he spoke, “It’s cool.  I don’t really like it but I can respect your wishes.” 

Reno caught Cloud’s gaze and held it, “But you’re gonna fucking miss me.”

To be continued….