Aftermath

Author’s Note: Main warnings are language and M/M sexual situations. Yeah, I thought that might get your attention. ^_^;

Thank you to...
- Iggy Lovechild, for your beta read over and review. Your insight is appreciated more than you know.
- DrownedWednesday, for your review. The update is here.
- kamizuki, for your review. Sometimes ya just gotta do strange things. ^_^
- Squallfan, for your review. Thank you. Funny thing about Rude, well, you'll see.
- Mirel, for your review. Glad you enjoyed it!
- Overdose Delusion, for your review. Oh, don't worry. The hawtness continues. Now.

☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺

Chapter 9: Indulging

Cloud felt cold fingertips run down his stomach and stop, pulling urgently at his belt. He gazed down at Reno, who was looking like he was completely intoxicated with the thought of something rather scandalous. The ardent expression on the Turk’s face was unlike anything Cloud had ever seen. Yet for some incomprehensible reason, Reno was sitting there with his eyes closed, holding himself back. Cloud was impressed with the self control Reno was exhibiting considering the fact that he knew that the Turk was completely aroused. Cloud almost smiled at the thought, but couldn’t quite make himself do it.

Cloud stared unblinkingly at Reno’s moist tongue as it curled up over his top lip and quickly disappeared back into his mouth. Cloud licked his own lips, remembering how long and slippery Reno’s tongue had been as it had sought the depths of his throat just a few moments before. Desire flared within him and he shifted his hips unsteadily toward the wanton Turk who sat kneeling in between his legs.

Reno’s eyelids lifted as soon as Cloud pushed toward him. Without saying a word, Cloud had just given the Turk the go ahead to do whatever the hell he wanted. Reno sat up, straightening his back and his fingers began to unbuckle Cloud’s belt. It didn’t take very long; Reno seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Cloud felt his pants being unzipped and Reno’s fingers sliding greedily into his underwear.

Grasping him firmly with one hand, Reno’s mouth ferociously savaged him and his tongue swirled in rapturous spirals until all Cloud could feel was delicious wetness. A light breeze stirred between them, causing Cloud to shudder with chills as the Turk’s other hand dug into his leg, urgently pulling him closer. Reno gulped him into his mouth with one quick draw, taking his entire length into his relaxed throat. Cloud’s chest heaved as he felt Reno’s nose gently collide with his groin. He leaned forward, compulsively entangling his fingers in Reno’s wild hair as he lost himself in the damp warmth that engulfed him.

Cloud admired Reno’s expressive face as the Turk pulled and sucked on him eagerly. He was amazed at the raw enthusiasm the red-head was demonstrating. Why had it taken so long for him to recognize how attractive Reno was?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he already had the answer. Despite any good qualities the Turk might have had, he and Cloud hadn’t been friendly to each other at all until very recently. Attraction had been the last thing on his mind.

They’d known of each other since Cloud had been a new Shinra recruit and Reno had been treating him in a very aloof and uninterested manner for as long as he could remember. It made sense though, considering their respective positions. Both the SOLDIER ranks and the Turks had treated all the grunts like disposable peons and there had been very few exceptions.

Once or twice over those early years, Cloud thought he had caught Reno looking at him with a little more interest than usual, but nothing had come of it. Cloud had belonged to Zack anyway; the Turk wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell at starting anything up with him. Cloud had been one of the so-called “lucky ones”, after all. He idly wondered if Reno had known about his relationship with Zack.

Then there was that whole AVALANCHE business, which had pitted them against each other very violently and directly. He hadn’t wanted to join up with the organization and probably wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for Tifa’s insistence that he owed it to her to help out. AVALANCHE had sought the destruction of Shinra and with it everything the company stood for. That mantra included all of the employees, including the Turks, regardless of the fact that he had known quite a few of them personally.

Cloud hated old man Shinra for ordering the Turks to destroy sector seven, and he had hated Reno for following orders and being the one to set the bomb. Cloud squeezed his eyes shut for just a moment, as pleasure combined with his overwhelming guilt, threatening to drown his senses. Not too long ago, his hatred of Reno had died down significantly and become more of a vague annoyance instead. As Reno continued to smother him with lustful attention, Cloud silently thanked the planet for allowing him this small happiness. He was feeling particularly grateful that he hadn’t killed the red-head on that fateful day so long ago.

Feeling faintly nostalgic, he ran his gloved finger along the side of Reno’s face, lightly touching the dark crimson tattoo under the Turk’s right eye. Color smeared behind the trail left by his finger grotesquely, giving the appearance that the color in Reno’s tattoo was bleeding out across his normally flawless complexion.

As far as Cloud knew, tattoos weren’t supposed to bleed; they were permanent. Cloud strained his eyes and lowered his index finger to Reno’s cheek and rubbed a line horizontally just under his cheekbone. More faint lines, the color of dried blood, streaked across his cheek and Cloud’s eyes widened with mild shock. There was faint blood spatter coating Reno’s face, shirt, and suit. The light mist had been damn near impossible to see until Cloud had accidentally disturbed it.

“Blood. . . ah,” Cloud said, whispering. Reno’s mouth left him for a moment, ending with a playful lick and a puzzled expression on his face.

“Huh?”

“You’ve got blood on your face,” Cloud said, forcing the words out.

Reno opened his predatory eyes and deliberately caught Cloud’s gaze. His top lip curled up and he leered seductively, leaning forward into Cloud’s lap. Reno slid his arms up the length of Cloud’s chest, scraping his fingers lightly against Cloud’s throat and neck.

Cloud couldn’t believe how far up his body the red-head could reach from his kneeling position. Gradually Reno’s hands started drifting lower and Reno leaned his head forward, touching his lips to Cloud’s exposed chest. He felt Reno’s warm saliva trail down his chest and past his stomach. His muscles rippled and jerked involuntarily, reacting to the sensation that Reno’s soft tongue was causing as it touched him.

“You’re fuckin’ enjoyin’ this, yo,” Reno said confidently, his voice drawling in an unusually dirty Wall Market accent that Cloud was surprised to hear.

Cloud knitted his eyebrows together, trying to make sense of what Reno had just said. He wasn’t sure if the Turk was talking about the blood on his face, or the things he’d been doing with that talented mouth of his. Either way, Cloud was keenly aware of the aching tightness in his groin telling him that he wanted Reno to finish what he’d started. A little blood certainly wasn’t going to make or break anything.

“Don’t fucking stop,” Cloud said quietly, his voice taking on an intense undertone.

“I wasn’t plannin’ on it.”

The Turk stood up and paralleled his body against Cloud’s. His mouth lunged forward, nipping sharply at Cloud’s lower lip. Cloud wrapped his arms around Reno’s waist, pulling the red-head tightly against him. Reno tilted his head to the side and had just touched Cloud’s cheek with his tongue when suddenly Cloud felt like he was falling.

The old stone fountain they’d been leaning against was crumbling to pieces, unable to support the force they were exerting upon it. The ledge Cloud had been sitting on shattered, and both men plunged to the ground. Cloud tightened his grip on Reno, holding him protectively as they fell, taking the full impact of the fall upon himself. Cloud grunted when Reno landed on top of him. The Turk rewarded him with a very grateful sounding laugh.

Reno wiggled out of Cloud’s grasp and slithered back down to where he’d been only moments before. He paused and Cloud looked at him hoping for an explanation for the sudden hesitation.

“Hmm, I forget what I was doin’,” Reno said playfully, clearly teasing him.

“Reno—”

Reno spread Cloud’s legs apart enough that he could comfortably position himself between them. Cloud propped himself up into a half-seated position, placing his palms flat against the rocky ground, wanting desperately to see what Reno was planning on doing to him.

“You wanna watch?”

With an expression that looked downright sinister, Reno plunged his face into the blond’s open pants. Cloud squeezed his eyes shut as the familiar warmth of Reno’s mouth tormented him sweetly.

Cloud forced his eyes open and was instantly mesmerized by what he was seeing. Reno bobbed his head up and down; his expression was affecting, causing Cloud to pant with fascination. Reno closed his eyes and seemed to be taking great care in allowing Cloud to see his raw pink lips curl up and down as he inhaled and released Cloud’s entire length.

Cloud crashed breathlessly against the walls of Reno’s throat, occasionally thrusting his hips forward with the rhythm Reno was creating. Cloud pressed his lips together tightly, trying to stifle the sounds that were threatening to spring from his mouth. Feeling his orgasm rise to the surface, Cloud gasped, unable to remain quiet. Reno pulled him in deeply, saliva escaping the corners of his mouth as he forcefully sucked on him.

Panicking slightly, Cloud tried to pull out of Reno’s mouth, but the Turk had a firm grip on the front of Cloud’s pants and was blocking the only possible escape route with unyielding firmness. Unable to hold on any longer, Cloud’s face contorted in beautiful agony and his hips bucked sharply as he spilled himself deep within Reno’s throat.

Reno swallowed and tossed his head back, finally releasing Cloud from his tight grasp. Taking a deep breath of air, Reno pressed the lower half of his body against the blond and draped his arms around Cloud’s chest, looking very pleased with himself. He laid his head against the blond’s shoulder and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

Cloud grabbed the back of the red-head’s neck, pulling him to his lips, wanting to taste himself on Reno’s tongue. Reno obliged willingly, grinding his hips against Cloud’s thigh while they kissed.

“What about you?” Cloud said finally, giving them the chance to allow air into their lungs.

“I was hopin’ you’d let me fuck you,” Reno said with a wicked grin.

The Turk reached for Cloud’s pants, probably intending to explore further than he had before, but there was no way in hell Cloud was going to allow it. Cloud snatched his wrist tightly, wrapping Reno’s hand around the back of his neck.

“I don’t think so,” Cloud said. “You just leave that hand right. . . there.”

“Oh, you want to fuck me then? I’ve got a really tight—”

“No!” Cloud said sharply through gritted teeth, interrupting the Turk before he could finish his thought. Cloud tried to think of a way to explain that this wasn’t the time or place for such a brazen indulgence. As it was, what they had already been doing was more than he’d bargained for. “It’s broad daylight and anyone could see us.”

“I know,” Reno said, his voice nearly purring as he dug his nails into Cloud’s neck.

The thought of being seen didn’t appeal to Cloud; he’d never really thought about it before and he wasn’t ready for anyone to find out that he had an interest in the Turk yet. Clearly the thought of being watched had the opposite effect on Reno. Although he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, Cloud felt that there was something terribly arousing about the whole situation.

Cloud took off one of his gloves, tossing the piece of leather armor to the ground next to him. He slid his hand down Reno’s chest and Reno shifted to his side, allowing Cloud the access he was looking for. With one hand, he loosened Reno’s belt, unbuttoned his pants and slid the zipper all the way down. Slipping his hand into Reno’s underwear, he gave the soft cloth boxers a solid jerk downward. Cloud heard Reno breathe sharply out through his nose as soon as his hand suddenly withdrew.

Cloud rolled his tongue around, working up extra liquid in his mouth. Curious whether or not Reno was watching him, he allowed himself to seek out the red-head’s eyes. As their gazes locked, Cloud brought his hand up to his mouth and licked it ever so slowly, slicking his palm generously with his own saliva. Reno’s short nails impaled Cloud’s skin adamantly, sinking in a bit deeper.

“Easy,” Cloud said.

Reno relaxed his grip and squirmed eagerly against him, as Cloud’s moist palm made contact with his insatiable hardness. The sound of wet sloppy friction filled the air as Cloud moved his wrist up and down rhythmically. The red-head bit his lower lip and moaned so softly that Cloud could barely hear him.

“So fuckin’ worked up,” Reno said, suddenly sounding breathless. “This ain’t gonna take long.”

A very quiet chuckle escaped Cloud’s lips before he realized that he’d actually allowed himself to laugh out loud. He stared at Reno, mentally absorbing the varied uninhibited expressions painting across the Turk’s face. Cloud blinked in surprise; the red-head was starting to be a good influence on him.

As he worked his hand, gradually discovering where Reno liked to be touched, Cloud became distracted by a faint scratchy electronic sound. After a few moments he realized that the noise was coming from the earpiece dangling from Reno’s jacket pocket.

“You’re buzzing,” Cloud said.

“I ain’t drunk,” Reno said, pressing his nose against Cloud’s neck.

“No, your earpiece. . .”

Reno’s eyes opened wide as comprehension flooded his face. He lifted his head off of Cloud’s shoulder, glancing both up and down the alleyway. Cloud watched Reno’s expression turn into one filled with urgency and disbelief. Reno knitted his eyebrows together tightly and his hand went to his crotch, as he covered Cloud’s hand with his.

“Shit-shit-shit,” Reno said. His words tripped over each other, hurriedly trying to escape from his mouth.

Not fully understanding why Reno was suddenly so intent on getting off, Cloud didn’t really know how to ask what was wrong. Reno’s fingers intertwined with Cloud’s as he furiously pumped himself with both of their hands. Spiky red hair bounced back and forth as Reno’s entire body shook with frenzied effort.

“Reno?”

“Gotta hurry,” Reno said, closing his eyes.

Sensing that Reno was almost there, Cloud tightened his grip on the Turk, allowing his wet fingers to slide up and down him smoothly and quickly. Reno was shaking and shuddering, his breaths coming and going like the ragged chugging of an overloaded steam engine. Reno didn’t appear to be holding anything back as his hips lurched forward violently and his voice stuttered out Cloud’s name.

“Ah, fuck!”

A moment later he was losing it all over Cloud’s pant leg. Reno stroked himself once or twice more after Cloud pulled his hand away, then he quickly adjusted his pants, working furiously to put his clothes back together.

“Reno, you son of a bitch!”

Cloud recognized that voice and glanced up. Rude was about midway down the alleyway looking extremely pissed off. He had a gun pulled and was running in their direction.

Cloud pushed the red-head off of him and stood up. Skimming the extra wetness off his leg, he flicked as much of it as he could to the ground with mild disgust and wiped the rest off on the edge of his sweater. He fastened his pants and zipped his sweater, feeling completely annoyed at Reno for starting this shit in such a dangerous place; he was even more frustrated with himself for going along with it.

Cloud stood by silently as Rude and Reno argued loudly. Their voices were escalating and both seemed to be damn close to decking each other. Cloud wasn't paying attention to what they were saying exactly; he suddenly had other things to think about. His phone was ringing and the caller I.D. said it was Vincent.

“Hello?”

“I wasn’t sure I should interrupt.”

Cloud looked around for his friend and his stomach lurched nervously. He didn’t understand exactly what Vincent was talking about, but it sounded like the ex-Turk was hinting that he had seen Cloud getting personal with Reno.

“Look up,” Vincent said.

Vincent was standing on top of one of the few gutted buildings that still had a semi-intact roof. His ragged cape billowed around him and a glint of sunlight reflected off his golden arm as he waved. Cloud closed his eyes and cringed with embarrassment, sighing deeply.

“Did you find the address?”

“Yeah, sort of. Reno said it’s over there in the crater,” Cloud said.

“You asked Reno?”

“It’s a long story,” Cloud said. “You might as well get down here.”

Cloud ended the call and watched Vincent leap off the building and land close by. He glanced at the bickering Turks. So intent on their conversation, neither had noticed Vincent’s arrival. Reno was in the midst of explaining something quite vehemently to his partner and a lit cigarette dangled from his lips.

"You woulda done the same thing if it had been her," Reno said, growling in frustration.

“No, I fuckin’ wouldn’t have,” Rude said. “We’re on duty.”

“But we got what we came for.”

“We ain’t done until we report in,” Rude said. “You know that excuse won’t fly with Tseng.”

“You can’t tell Tseng about this,” Reno said, protesting. “He’ll dock my pay. Besides, you owe me.”

“Like hell I do,” Rude crossed his arms and shook his head, frowning deeply. “The thought of tellin’ Tseng is the only thing keepin’ me from kickin’ your ass right now.”

Reno shifted his gaze and looked at Cloud briefly, then back at Rude. He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

“Can we do this shit. . . later?”

Rude shrugged and turned to look at Cloud. His head tilted forward, finally noticing Vincent and he adjusted his grip on his pistol.

“Oh, look. It’s a regular fuckin’ party.”

“It’s cool,” Reno said with a smirk, not seeming bothered at all by Vincent’s presence. He held his hands up at Rude. “Don’t make trouble.”

As Reno swaggered over to him, Cloud stood rigid and still. He was suddenly terrified that Reno was going to kiss him in front of their audience, but Reno must have sensed the terror that was running through him, because he spared him the embarrassment. Reno flipped a business card out of his pocket and pressed it into Cloud’s palm. Gripping Cloud’s arm, Reno leaned forward, placing his mouth next to the blond’s ear.

“Call me,” Reno said, pulling away just as quickly as he had moved in. He adjusted his goggles, pushed his earpiece back in and put both of his hands into his pockets.

“Alright, let’s go,” he said to Rude.

Cloud watched as the two Turks made their way back to the end of the alleyway and disappeared around the corner. He looked at the card for a few seconds, trying to figure out what exactly he was going to say to Vincent about the situation. He spotted his forgotten glove and went to pick it up, feeling heat creep up onto his cheeks.

Vincent had been respectfully quiet and Cloud figured that his friend wasn’t really sure what to say either. As a result, they both started speaking at the same time.

“It’s really none of my—“

“Sorry you had to see—“

Vincent cleared his throat awkwardly, “Go ahead.”

Cloud took a deep breath before he began. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Vincent.”

“Does Tifa know?”

Cloud shook his head. “It’s not really been going on that long.”

“You know, that’s really none of my business,” Vincent said. “I just don’t want to see her hurt.”

“I never meant to hurt her,” Cloud said quietly. “How am I going to explain this? I can’t even explain it to you.”

“Just tell her the truth,” Vincent said.

Cloud looked forlornly at the ground, avoiding Vincent’s gaze, knowing that telling the truth was the right thing to do. He’d been avoiding the subject too long with Tifa and now he had an important reason to finally clear the air between them. He didn’t want her to find out about this from someone else; it really needed to come from him. Inside though, he was dreading the conversation. It made him feel awkward and worried. What if she kicked him out of the house and never wanted to see him again? Even though Tifa wasn’t his girlfriend, she was still his best friend. If he hurt her and destroyed their relationship in the process, he’d be hurting himself, too.

Cloud pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it up to his ear. He spoke Tifa’s name and listened to the phone autodial their shared number. Under Vincent’s watchful gaze, Cloud waited for her to pick up.

“Strife Delivery Ser—“

“Tifa, it’s Cloud.”

“Cloud!”

“Hey, listen. I was thinking maybe you could close up the bar early tonight.”

Tifa gasped on the other end of the line. Cloud knew that she was surprised at what he was suggesting and probably hadn’t actually expected him to make good on the promise he’d made her a few days ago.

“Really? I can do that,” she said, sounding excited. Her tone quickly sobered, “but who will watch the kids?”

“Hold on,” Cloud said. Covering the speaker on his phone, he looked up at Vincent who was still standing by patiently. “Could you watch the kids tonight for a few hours?”

Vincent nodded without hesitation. He quickly hid a gentle smile behind his cloak. Cloud’s eyes softened toward Vincent, glad that he could count on his friend to help him in a pinch.

“Vincent said he can keep an eye on them tonight,” Cloud said into the phone.

“That’s awesome,” Tifa said. “Tell him I said thank you.”

“I will.”

“What time?”

“How about like six? We can stay out all night. . . if you want,” Cloud said.

He wasn’t actually feeling too confident that Tifa would want to spend time with him after their discussion, but he figured he’d put the thought out there anyway. Tifa had expressed an interest in going dancing and if she still wanted to hang out with him once they’d cleared the air, his guilty conscience was perfectly willing to do almost anything she wanted.

“Sounds good,” she said. “I can’t wait.”

“Alright, I’ll see you soon.” As he hung up the phone, he took a deep breath to steady himself.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Vincent said.

“I guess not,” Cloud said, casting a sideways glance at his friend.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Vincent said, surveying the area around them. “Not to change the subject, but we really ought to get out of here. From the looks of things, there’s no telling what Shinra’s been stirring up.”

“I wish we’d found something,” Cloud said, as he and Vincent began the short journey back to his bike.

“Oh, I think we will,” Vincent said. “It’s just a matter of time.”

☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺♫☺

A/N: Please review, and be kind. ^_^