~Tease~

Chapter 11- Key Card​

Cloud doubted that he had ever felt more comfortable in his life than how he felt at that moment. He felt something soft touch his lips. He smiled. This was the best way in the world to wake up. He kissed the lips back and heard a soft and gentle voice calling his name.

~you feel asleep dummy~

He opened his eyes quickly and saw that Zack was hovering over him. His violet eyes and smiling lips looked amused.

"Glad to see that you are finally awake, sleepy-head," Zack said.

He felt himself blush. He had fallen asleep after Zack had given him the most amazing blowjob of his life. "Zack, I am so sorry," he said and then he saw that Zack was fully dressed. He blinked a few times as he looked at him in his dark uniform and he even had his sword strapped to his back. "Zack?"

Zack stood up straight and rubbed the back of his head with a light chuckle. "Got a call from Lazard. Got to go, but I didn't want to leave without waking you up."

He blinked a few times as he stared at the fully clothed Zack. "I am so sorry," he said again. How he could he fall asleep on him like that? He glanced at the bedside table clock. He had been out for 3 hours!

3 hours!

Zack chuckled. "Don't worry about that," he said with his characteristic disarming smile. "I already scheduled you in on my calendar for tomorrow night." He said. "You can pay me back then."

Cloud frowned. "But…" he said and realized that he was still very naked. "I…I..." What else could he say? He grabbed the blanket to keep it from uncovering him as he sat up more fully. "You didn't…you know…get any," he flushed as he said that. He sounded so pathetic.

Zack just smiled. "I'll survive." He moved around the bed. "Did you enjoy yourself?" He put his hands on his hips and cocked his head to the side. He then absently pushed his thumbs into his belt. He was so sexy and he had been so selfish! How could he fall asleep!

"Hey," Zack said and sat on the edge of the bed. "Don't look like that!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered again. He didn't know what else he could even say. He had fallen asleep! He was pathetic!

"Quit saying that," Zack said and he felt his leather glove on his chin, lifting his head up. "I'm not sorry for anything that happened."

Cloud blinked at him.

~Really~

"Well, okay, I am kind of sorry that you fell asleep on me but I'm not mad at you," Zack said and leaned in for a soft kiss. "You get all rested up and you will make it up to me tomorrow night. Okay."

He didn't sense any anger in his voice or his stance. Of course, Zack was never one to be angry.

"Geez, quit looking like I am going to beat you or something," Zack said and kissed him again. "Plus," he said with a small cough and his voice trailed off, "I need to…" the rest was left to mumbles as Zack straightened himself.

"What was that?"

Zack's smile was nervous now, "Well, you know. My place was not exactly, um, stocked, if you know what I mean."

~stocked?~

He just blinked at the embarrassed looking Zack.

"You seemed to have plenty of food." Cloud said. If he remembered, Zack always had lots of food and why would he be embarrassed over having lack of food in the apartment?

"Well, I always have food," Zack said nervously and stood from the edge of the bed. "Other types of supplies."

~other types of supplies?~

He looked at Zack with what he was sure was a confused look on his face.

"Okay. Okay. Okay. It is that I don't have any you know…" his voice softened as he spoke and looked at the floor when he spoke. "…lube and…stuff."

~he didn't have the right tools to sex you up~

Cloud tried really hard not to smile or laugh.

"Hey, it has been awhile for me okay!" Zack said crossing his arms and looking down at him.

Cloud couldn't help but grin then.

"Is that why you didn't wake me up?" Cloud said.

"Part of it," Zack admitted and rubbed the back of his head and was standing a bit awkwardly.

"What was the other part?" He said as he knelt on the bed. He made sure the blanket was wrapped around his waist for the sake of modesty. "I could have given you…" he flushed slightly. "…you know."

~A blow job~

"We don't need supplies for that." He had to look away when he said that. He was not used to being so forward.

Zack gave a small chuckle again. "Well, it was just that…" he swallowed, "You were…um… so cute sleeping there; I really didn't want to disturb you."

He wrinkled his nose. "Cute?"

"Yeah," he said and looked back at him.

"That is hardly what a guy wants to be called," Cloud frowned at him.

"I know, but that is the best word for it," Zack said and then stooped for a kiss. "Hmpf, I really gotta go."

~don't go~

"I left you my spare key card on the table so you can get back in tomorrow," Zack said in a way too casual sounding voice for something so serious. "It will give you access to the elevator and all."

~ Zack just gave him his key! ~

He must have looked stunned. Zack chuckled. "You can come whenever," he said and started to walk to the door. "I will see you tomorrow."

Cloud blinked a few times as he heard Zack putting on his boots.

~ Zack just gave him his key! ~

Cloud jumped out of the bed, aware that he was naked and didn't care. Zack gave him a startled look as he had his hand on the door knob. He rushed the startled SOLDIER and gave him a passionate kiss as he pushed him against the door.

Zack winced. "You are making it really hard to leave," he gasped as the kiss broke. Zack stroked his naked sides.

"I know," he said with a smile.

~ A key to Zack's place ~

"Wanted to thank you," Cloud said. "Best way to think of it."

"Indeed," Zack said and kissed him again. Cloud was very aware at how Zack was looking up and down his body and saw how he licked his lips.

Cloud smiled at him. "You will have supplies for tomorrow, right?"

Zack groaned. "Oh yeah."

"Good," Cloud said and took a step back from Zack.

Zack frowned at him and narrowed his eyes. "You're still a tease when you're sober."

Cloud smiled but feeling graceless standing there naked. Zack didn't seem to notice. "I really got to go," he said with a tone that sounded like he was disappointed. "Tomorrow."

Cloud smiled. "Tomorrow."

And they parted with a kiss and Zack groping his butt before he walked out the door.

He was tired and not the type of tired that he like to be. He was tired from the stupid meetings that he was forced to attend and trying to hide his levels of annoyance at how pathetic his day had turned out.

He was so tired of people whining for money for whatever project that they were doing. He was tired of people swooning over him and tired of people thinking they could win his affections with gifts and invites to dinner.

Meetings. Phone calls. Papers. Everything he absolutely hated.

He didn't know how he managed to endure such a boringly painful day!

He never once got to draw his sword.

That was the definition of a bad day.

As he got out of the elevator, he saw an unwelcome sight. What was an infantry man doing on this floor? The blond boy was busy looking at his phone and had a goofy smile on his face.

He had to step aside to let the boy by. The boy didn't even notice him.

~ What the hell?~

He was not used to going unnoticed and it irked him that the boy seemed to be in his own world, scrolling through messages on his PHS.

He scowled as the boy stepped into the elevator and seemed to chuckle on his phone.

And why was the infantry man wearing one of Zack's shirts?

He watched the door close.

He glared at the doors for awhile. He did not like the ignored feeling that he was feeling right now. It was making more irritable than ever before. A small boy wearing Zack's clothes, with wet hair, smirking at a PHS and ignoring him!

~no one ignores me ~

He wondered who the hell the boy was to have such audacity to be on the 1St Class SOLDIER floor and ignore him!

He took a couple of deep breaths. The theory was that it was supposed to calm him. That was what people kept telling him. It seldom worked but it forced him to think and rationalize. There were few things that calmed his anger.

But he did not have any rationalizations for why the boy was exiting the SOLDIER floor. He also could not think of any explanation as to why he was wearing Zack's clothes!

He frowned.

He started to walk down to the end of the hall, to his room.

The blond had just walked past him like he wasn't even there!

~ HE IGNORED YOU! ~

He was tempted to go back to the elevator, hunt down the kid and give him a piece of his mind!

~ Who the hell do you think you are? ~

He entered his own apartment, even more frustrated and angry than he had been before, and it was all because he was ignored by a boy that was wearing Zack's shirt.

 

Chapter 12- Text​

Bud: Way to go!!

9099: U R A HERO

7877: Where R U?

Red Menace: Turn on your phone, you idiot!

John: Hey, are you okay?

Len: Did you really drink him under the table?

Buster: Saw Reno. He looks pissed. Way to go.

John: Lunch?

Red Menace: Call me when you are done with Zack.

9981: You are legend.

Greg: I by u a drink. Way to go!

Sissy: Thanks for the amusing material to use on Reno. He's quite grumpy today. Thanks for making the stake out so so so so so much more enjoyable.

Cloud frowned. Sissy? He didn't remember programming that number into his phone. Who was Sissy? Reno must have had his phone again. He always was changing the names in his phone. It must be someone that worked with Reno but it sure didn't sound like Rude. Hell, he didn't think Rude knew how to text.

Pete: WTFRU??????

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Pete and his stupid short cuts; they did not do any good when nobody knew what they meant. He smiled as he figured it out. Where The Fuck Are You. Yeah. Pete was like that and he was almost used to the strange letter combinations that he came up with.

John: Hey, did you survive?

8871: What the hell? Is it true? Did you out drink Reno?

9099: I will bear your children. Even get the operation to do it!

9099? Who was that? Man, that guy was ill. Oh. That must be Joseph. The guy was most effeminate guy had ever met and a very agile fighter, but the ultimate form of girly. He was uber masculine compared to him. Yeah. Joseph would say something like that. He would have to hit him when he saw him next and maybe block his number.

Bud: You are totally famous!

Famous? He wondered who else knew.

Pete: Again! WTFRU!

Kunsel: Way to go kid! Hope you're doing well. I didn't mean for the whole place to know. I just told a few people, I have to avoid Reno for awhile.

So that was how the word got out. Kunsel told everyone. Cloud remembered that Zack had talked to him that night at the bar. He wondered who else saw Zack dragging his drunken ass out of the bar. He wondered who else saw him drinking with Reno, but he guessed it really didn't matter. From the text messages, it was quite clear that everyone knew.

Reno was going to be pissed.

Red Menace: I hate you

Yeah. Reno was mad at him. He noticed that he had sent that text to Kunsel and Zack as well.

3253: way to go

1123: I love you man.!!!

*unknown*: no one can out drink reno. Quit spreading lies.

Great. He had fans and haters because of that drinking contest.

MEETING REQUEST: Debriefing: Zack Fair has scheduled a meeting with you for X date at X time. Please respond to confirm the meeting and location (Zack's quarters)

He DID book him in for a meeting.

~debriefing~

He shook his head as he read that. He actually put that in the calendar! And that silly lunk-head had named the meeting 'debriefing'. Man, that was embarrassing but he accepted the meeting request.

It would be on his official and public calendar. He knew that people would not think that it was that type of debriefing, but he did and that was embarrassing enough.

7992: Ha! You put Reno in his place!

He cringed. He was going to have to delete these before Reno saw them. He was going to be so mad.

It was a drinking contest and it was not like he won gracefully or anything. Man, if anyone saw how he had behaved. He blushed at how he had behaved in public. He really hoped no one saw him

8887: Just a warning. Joseph is mooning over you. Run.

Great. Now he had a fanboy and it was the creepy Joseph. And speaking of Joseph, there was yet another message was from the strange fanboy.

9099: Hey Cloudy. I got a present for you. ;P

Zack: Wow. Everyone knows that you out drank Reno, mountain boy. I'll phone Reno after my meeting to try to calm him down. He sent me a hate text. Did you get one?

Yeah. He would have to call Reno to. He was a little bit put out obviously. He would have to thank Reno for kind of setting them up. Sort of. Drinking yourself silly was a painful but still pleasurable way to get a boyfriend.

~ boyfriend~

He stopped in his tracks.

He had a boyfriend. A real one. Not just a fuck buddy, because that was all he really could call his relationships before, but a boyfriend. Zack had given him his key after all and promised…

~supplies~

…him a date.

That felt good. Real good.

Red Menace: Got you and princey reservation. Sat. 7. Make sure you amatore's can make it. Private room. Bastards.

He got them a reservation at Monteno's! Amazing. And what the hell was Amatore's mean? He wondered if it was something dirty. He wouldn't put it past Reno to do that. He would ask him later. It must be since he signed it off with calling him a bastard.

He grinned as he continued to walk down the hallway. He was nearly at the barracks. He didn't even really remember walking there. He was so engrossed with all the text messages.

He was not used to being the center of attention.

He was about to dial up Reno when he walked into the barracks. Someone clasped his shoulder as he was walking in and said: "Never knew you had it in you," and walked out.

He blinked a few times and walked to his bed and saw that it was occupied. It was occupied with a couple cases of that lemonade that he never wanted to see in his life again. It almost upset his stomach again the sight of those cases.

"Cloud!"

He turned to the loud yell. It was John. The tall short dark haired, almost like he was bald, man smiled brightly at him. Thank god it wasn't Joseph.

"I was worried, man." John said and grinned at the boxes of liquor. "We thought that you could use some more practice material."

He must have made a face, because John laughed at him. It was the next sentence that he spoke in a low whisper. "Joseph is hunting you man. He is like, obsessed. It is a little scary."

He rolled his eyes.

"Let's go get something to eat and you can tell me all about how you out drank Reno and where the hell you have been all day. You wouldn't answer your phone!" John said and started to escort him towards the mess hall. He wasn't hungry, but he didn't want to look at the array of drinks that were on his bunk. He hoped that someone stole them before he went back to bed for the evening.

After all, he needed to make sure that he was well rested so that he didn't fall asleep on Zack again.

"Will you stop it?"

"What?"

Yeah. There was no innocence in her voice. At all! He wanted to throw his phone at her. He deleted the message that she had been sending him every hour.

"You are such a child, Sissy," he grumbled at her.

"Cissnei!" She said simply but was not really mad anymore. It was like it was reflex for her now.

Did Rude chuckle?

"I will kick your ass later," he grumbled. Man. It was supposed to be a fun drinking contest and it was looking like he was an absolute failure because of it. He did not like this at all. How was he going to redeem himself in the eyes of…of everyone for losing to Cloud!

His phone rang.

"What!" He snapped into the phone without looking at the caller ID.

"Ouch. That kinda hurt. Is that how you normally answer your phone?" A calm and amused voice answered on the other side.

Zack.

"Yeah. Whatdayawant?" He grumbled. He just got the reservation done and texted out the notice to the two. He made good on his bet, he didn't want to hear his voice right now.

"Well," Zack's voice drew out. "Kind of wanted to apologize for throwing you out like that. I mean, I was just a little wrapped up in all of the…well…um…just…I was…I mean. Damn it. I was distracted and I know that I pissed you off and all with throwing you out by the scruff of your neck…" There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. "I got your message about the reservation. That must cost a fortune. I'll help pay the cost of that. You don't have to foot the whole cost and we don't have to tell Cloud. Private room must cost a fortune. You also don't have to pay me back for the night out. I can eat the cost but Cloud will insist that you pay for the next outing. So, bud, are we still buds?"

Reno shook his head at the longwinded speech his friend just gave. How could he stay mad at the…

~absolutely gorgeous~

…guy?

"You don't have to pay. I make more than you anyway," he grumbled into the phone, very aware that Sissy and Rude were listening to him.

"You don't have to rub that in," Zack mumbled.

"And we are still buds. I am pissed at Kunsel right now though," Reno said. "Damn blabber mouth."

Zack laughed.

~ damn sexy laugh~

"Sorry about that man," Zack said. "So we are cool, right?"

"Cool," Reno said with a bit of sadness.

"You sure. You sound a little down?" Zack said in a low concerned tone.

"I'll get over it," he said.

~doubt it~

"Okay. Oh and thanks, Reno. I do owe you," Zack said. "Got to go. Lazard will chew me out if he sees me chatting on the phone." And the phone went dead.

He ground his teeth. Rude gave him that annoying knowing look again. Sissy just sent him another annoying text message.

"I am gonna kill you in your sleep," he grumbled to her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said and was already tapping something into her phone. It was getting very annoying.

 

Chapter 13- Living Room ​

Zack raced home. His phone had already alarmed alerting to him that he was late for his booked meeting. He was so late and he had to get home now. He had Cloud…

…your debriefing…

…waiting for him back at his place.

Late!

Damn it! It was the last thing that he wanted of all days and he was late! And what the hell did Sephiroth want to talk about anyway. The guy was not one for conversation but seemed to be purposely delaying him today. Normally, he would have thought it was great that he wanted to talk but today was not one of those days. The whole conversation was going nowhere and he never got to the point before finally being dismissed.

Sephiorth could be just so weird at times.

He was nearly there. Damn elevator was so slow and he knew better than to keep pressing the buttons. He had done that before, it stalled the elevator and he was not going to take that chance tonight.

Cloud was waiting for him.

He refrained from dashing down the hall to his place. It was hard, but he walked down the hall to his door, just about gave him a heart attack when he thought he lost his key card, but found in his left pocket, instead of his right.

He opened his door. "Cloud?"

He looked around. His place was a mess. He hadn't been back to clean up after he had to leave earlier. Coffee cups were still on the coffee table, dishes still on his small dining room table, a frying pan still on the stove; a complete and utter mess. There were two pizza boxes on the counters. He saw Cloud's boots by the door. Cloud was here and he brought supper!

~and you forgot something to bring what you promised!!~

He smacked his own forehead and groaned.

Cloud emerged from the bathroom. "Hey Zack," he said cheerfully.

He smiled but the smile quickly left his face.

~Dear Gaia!~

"Cloud!" He said in a startled voice. "What happened to your arm? And your face?"

Cloud just shrugged which seemed to cause him a bit of pain and he winced. He gawked as he saw Cloud's right side of his face was slightly swollen, but the biggest problem was the bluish bruise that ran up the left side and beside his eye. He didn't have a black eye, but his eye looked red and slightly watery. And then there was his right arm which was in a sling.

"Training," Cloud said simply. Cloud screwed up his nose. "What were you doing today? You stink."

~damn he's cute even if he was insulting him. ~

"It was a busy day," Zack said. "What the hell happened to your arm?" He started to walk towards Cloud but Cloud covered his nose and took a couple of steps back.

"Seriously, Zack. You smell like a skunk. You should go have a shower," Cloud said making a nasally sounding voice.

"How about a kiss first, hmm?" He said still walking forward. Cloud skirted the couch, still keeping the distance between them.

"Uh-uh," Cloud said. "Shower first."

He let his shoulders fall and gave his best crestfallen look and could see the look on Cloud's face changing to a concerned one. He looked at the infantryman and tried to keep his smile to a minimum, "Join me? You can wash my back." The smile didn't stay small for long.

Cloud gave him a sheepish grin, "Can't get my bandages wet."

"Bandages?" Zack said, alarmed. "What the hell happened in training?"

"Just some burns on my back. Some materia casting got carried away," Cloud said.

"Why didn't they heal you?" Zack said and took a step forward. Cloud crinkled his nose again and took a step back. Did he smell that bad? No one else commented. Maybe that was why Sephiroth never got to the point.

Cloud shook his head and cleared his throat. He spoke in a practiced and rehearsed tone, "Can't expect to heal the instant you are hurt. Can't expect to have enough energy to cast. Can't expect to have a potion at hand. Now, learn to embrace the pain. Live with it, maggot. You want to be a SOLDIER? Learn to love the pain. So suck it up, princess."

Zack sighed, "Instructor Clark." He remembered getting that speech a few times when he was still trying to make it into SOLDIER. He really hated instructor Clark back then and hated him now even more.

"Yep," Cloud said. "I took some of your painkillers. It just looks worse than it is. Really, um, Zack, you need to have a shower." He put his hand over his nose again. "Were you down in the labs or something? You absolutely reek."

"No kiss?' Zack pouted.

"After you shower!" Cloud demanded.

"Geez, a little demanding aren't you." Zack said with a smile and walked toward him again. Cloud bumped into the coffee table, trying to back away from him. He crinkled his nose so adorably.

"Just go wash!" He exclaimed.

Zack sighed. "All right, all right, Geez. I just wanna kiss."

Cloud smiled. "After you shower."

Zack had to scrub his hair at least three times, to get the smell out and was in the shower longer than he had hoped. The fumes down at the lower levels really were pretty strong. He wondered what it was, but at the same time, he didn't want to know. Sometimes it was just easier to be in the dark about some things.

He wanted to kiss Cloud and he was also concerned about the extent of his injuries. He was so vague about them and he was anxious to make sure that he was really okay. Instructor Clark was a bastard and this proved it even more in his mind. He understood the philosophy. He had been injured in the field unable to be healed for a couple of days, but now it was interrupting his…

~nooky time~

… personal life.

He quickly dried and pulled on a pair of boxers and went into living room, where Cloud was sitting on the couch, looking like he was uncomfortable. He was leaning forward in the seat.

"How bad is your back?" he asked as he sat beside him and tried to look through the t-shirt to see if he could see the bandages.

Cloud shrugged. "It is just a few burns."

"Take off your shirt," Zack said sternly.

"What? Don't I get a kiss before you strip me?" Cloud sneered.

He laughed and leaned forward and gave Cloud a gentle kiss. He didn't want to hurt the already hurting Cloud. It looked like a flat of the blade had been smacked against his face. "Good. Now, take it off so I can see how bad you are hurt."

Cloud sighed. "I'm fine, Zack." He protested but he winced at the same time.

"Humour me," Zack whispered. He reached out and took Cloud's hand. "I can get some potions…"

"No," Cloud said. "If I show up to training fully healed, I will be called a wimp again." Cloud smirked and looked at him with his bright blue eyes.

"Wimp?" Zack said. He hardly thought of Cloud as a wimp. The guy was always up for a challenge, more than a few of the military that he had dealt with in the past.

"Don't worry about it," Cloud said. "It's just the usual idiots."

Zack didn't like the idea of people picking on Cloud. There were always bullies. He remembered that there were always a few jerks that made people's lives miserable. He was one that made the bully's life miserable and he would do it again to protect Cloud.

~over protective much~

"Don't worry about it!" Cloud said. "They've backed off a bit."

"Backed off?" Zack was beginning to wonder if he was just going to parrot Cloud for the rest of the evening. He was a little disturbed that he was hurt and now he was finding out about bullies.

"Yeah. Well. The whole drinking Reno under the table thing," Cloud said. "I mean, they backed off, they don't know what to make of a 'half pint' like me out drinking that notorious booze hound. It's kinda nice."

Zack frowned.

"Don't worry about it Zack," Cloud said and gripped his hand. Zack turned his focus to the touch and smiled.

"I'm more worried about your injuries," Zack said looking back up at his face and all he could see was the horrible bruise. He touched it gingerly and Cloud moved his face away with a small whimper. "They're not minor injuries."

Cloud gave a little sigh and a small smile. "You'll have to help me with the shirt. My shoulder movements are pretty limited right now."

"Your shoulder?" Zack said as he looked at the sling again. "What happened there?"

"Got thrown and it got pulled out of its socket. They put it back in," Cloud said. "Ow."

Zack was already removing he sling and touching his shoulder tenderly. He wanted to know how bad it was. He tugged on the bottom of Cloud's shirt and removed it for him and he first looked at the shoulder. It didn't look bad, a little swollen and would be stiff for a few days. He remembered how much that hurt. He leaned in and kissed the shoulder and looked back at Cloud's eyes.

"See, not that bad," Cloud said in a whisper and his eyes even smiled at him. "The pizza is most likely cold already. We're going to have to heat it up," Cloud looked towards the kitchen. "I just got Pepperoni and extra-cheese."

"Sounds good," Zack said and his stomach rumbled in appreciation for the food.

Cloud gave a small laugh. "That is why I brought it. I didn't want your stomach to interrupt."

"How thoughtful," Zack said. "I'll bring it here. You stay there and don't strain yourself."

~yet~

Zack stood and walked to the kitchen and brought the two boxes back. He was able to see the three bandages on Cloud's upper shoulders on his return. One of the bandages was showing signs of blood seeping through.

He must have made a gasp. "It doesn't hurt that much," Cloud said. Zack walked around and placed the boxes on the table and quickly handed a piece to the shirtless man and grabbed a piece for himself.

"Any other injuries?" Zack asked and took another bite. It was a little cold, but pizza was good no matter what the temperature. He could have heated it up, but that meant that he would have to be in the kitchen and not in his living room. He let his eyes wander over the blond and wondered if he was hiding other injuries. He hoped that he wasn't.

"No," Cloud said with a mouthful of cold pizza. "I brought over some of the presents that were left for me."

"Presents?" he asked.

"Damn lemonade. Just looking at the boxes make me ill," Cloud shook his head and smiled. "Captain Bard told me to get rid of the liquor. I have a whole storage locker of it. Everyone is saying that I have to stay in practice." Cloud was smiling as he spoke.

"Wow, so everyone does know. You're enjoying the attention, huh?" Zack said and grabbed for another piece. Running around for 8 hour chasing loose stinking monsters in the lab was hungry work.

Cloud looked right at him, "Kinda like this attention better." And then he blushed, flicking his eyes up, trying to see what kind of reaction he was getting.

Zack smiled widely at him. How could he not. How could he say something so bold and then blush right after that. It was so damn sexy!

Zack reached over and placed a hand on his leg and gave it a squeeze. Cloud made a small noise. He frowned. Was he hiding a leg injury as well?

~ idiot! You are turning him on! ~

But he was injured. He was burnt, bruised and battered. Cloud was hurting and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

~kiss and make it all better~

"Zack?"

He looked at Cloud. He was giving him a concerned look.

"You're looking at me funny," Cloud said. He was holding another piece of pizza but he wasn't eating it.

"Am I?" Zack said. "I was thinking about what you had to do to make it up to me." He spoke it before he could stop himself. That was supposed to be the voice inside his head.

"Make it… oh…right," Cloud said and tried to hide a smile. He also made an attempt to shrug his shoulders causing him to hiss in pain.

"We don't have to tonight," he quickly added. "You need to heal up first."

~especially for what I have in mind for you~

Cloud ate some more pizza and was giving him a look that made his heart skip. "There is still stuff…you…we…" Cloud coughed on his pizza and flushed a bright red and looked away from him. "Man." He finally said.

"What are trying to say, Cloud?" Zack said purposely lowering his voice. He could see Cloud flushing and looking embarrassed. He liked this side of Cloud. He knew how easy it was to start an argument with him.

Cloud licked his lips in that utterly delightful way of his. The way that he had no idea was so adorable, Zack was sure. It looked like he was trying to say something but the words were caught in his throat.

~ don't call him cute!~

He wanted to. He knew that Cloud hated that, but he was damn cute the way his cheeks blushed like that and how he was so damn…well...cute.

Cloud discarded his half piece of pizza and reached his over and touched his bare leg. "I'm not that hurt," Cloud whispered as his hand moved up and down his thigh, touching and tugging at his boxers. Damn, his touch was causing his whole body to tingle.

~you forgot something~

He felt his heart sink. Yeah. He forgot something very important.

~you are a complete idiot~

"Man. I didn't get to the store," Zack said as the hand continued to move on his thigh. He looked at Cloud who was looking at him through his spiky yellow hair with those brilliant blue eyes that was…

~pure sex~

…utterly adorable.

"Um," he said and licked his lips slightly. His eyes focused on his leg and his boxers. It was hard to hide the fact that Cloud was causing him to

…become aroused…

…become uncomfortable.

"Cloud?" He whispered.

"I have to make it up to you, right?" Cloud whispered. "I…I can do that much," he said and Cloud's hand moved on this thigh.

"I can wait," Zack said.

~yeah right, you may need to take another shower~

Cloud's hand was playing with the hem of his boxers.

~won't be able to hold back if he keeps doing that~

Cloud leaned in for a kiss and he accepted the lips greedily.

~especially if he keeps doing that~

Cloud's hand rubbed his inner thigh, like how he did on the train, but it was so much more. There was more control in his hands and it was amazing.

"Cloud," he murmured against his lips. "You shouldn't excite yourself."

~or me like this~

Cloud made a noncommittal type sound and kept kissing him, become more aggressive with his tongue and Zack was forced to retaliate. He was getting so wound up and he didn't have any supplies and Cloud was injured.

~you have all the luck with this one~

It was going to be another long night.

He didn't stop Cloud's hand. He should have…

~you couldn't do it on the train, you can't do it now~

…stopped the hand but it felt so good. Cloud leaned into him and placed his leg between his. Before he could stop the movement, he saw the most wondrous and …

~yummy~

…sight in the world!

Cloud moved so that he was kneeling between his legs and had spread his legs open so he could lean into him.

"Ah," was all that his feeble mouth was able to say. Cloud's good hand had already hooked on his boxers.

"Have to return the favour," Cloud said leaning forward and breathed against his belly.

He couldn't think anymore with him between his legs and his mouth so close to him. Zack brain was frozen. All he could do was stare at the blue eyes that were sparkling up at him, and Cloud licked his lips.

~gonna have to buy him some Chap Stick if he keeps licking his lips that way ~

No words would come out as he looked down at Cloud.

Cloud's hand pulled on his boxers and tugged hard. He lifted his hips to ensure that Cloud could push down his boxers. Cloud's hand pushed on his hip, once he was exposed and he breathed against him.

~Shiva~

He stared as the slightly parted lips so close to him. Breathing on him and causing his whole body to shiver at the thought and those eyes…

~teasing him~

…looking at him with the most amazing glimmer, despite the one red rimmed injured eye. He wanted to say something but all he did was groan. Cloud chuckled at that and it seemed to come from deep in his throat. He felt so exposed with Cloud looking up at him, his left hand massaging his thigh and moving up to his hip bone.

He was finally was able to get a word out of his mouth, "Cloud."

"Hmmm," Cloud hummed and his tongue darted out form his lips and …

~Odin~

… that tongue ran over the head of his penis before that silken tongue darted back into his mouth. All he could do was gasp. He felt his hips buck involuntarily but only hitting air as Cloud leaned back slightly with another humming sound.

"Damn tease," he muttered.

"I thought you liked that," Cloud murmured.

Zack was about to respond about how he didn't want to take another shower because of him being such a tease, but Cloud decided to stop teasing.

He gasped as that warm mouth consumed him. He bucked his hips only to have them pushed back down by Cloud's strong hand. Cloud made a humming noise with his mouth that caused a sensation to ripple through his whole body and caused his spine to tingle and his stomach to clench in the most pleasurable way. He brought one hand to touch the hair of the man that applying gentle suction to him. He gripped his other hand tightly against the back of the couch.

~Bahamut~

Then Cloud's head started to move up and down. He tried to move with the mouth but that hand held him firmly pressed into the couch. He let his fingers run through the blonde hair and refrained from wanting to push him deeper into his throat. It was good!

~Best! Blow job! Ever!~

Then the tongue in that mouth started to move.

~Sweet Gaia!~

How did he get his tongue to do that? It seemed to be stroking the tip of him while the rest of his mouth moved up and down on him. Zack didn't think it was even possible, but he wasn't going to stop Cloud.

He groaned and threw his head back. Every time he tried to thrust forward, Cloud pressed against his hip to keep him still and even dug in his nails into his hip. Hell, that even felt good.

"Cloud!" He whimpered. He couldn't get a stronger voice than a whimper. He looked down again and found that he was gripping Cloud's hair tightly and had to force his fingers to loosen.

He shuddered as Cloud took him all in to his mouth. Cloud's hand moved from his hip and squeezed his tight balls.

~Titan's balls!~

"Damn it!" He grunted through clenched teeth and throwing his head back. Those fingers dancing and squeezing him was sending thrilling chills through his whole body. He wasn't going to last much longer against the skilled mouth of the young man kneeling between his legs.

He thrust himself forward and Cloud made a small grunt but didn't stop his motions. He felt his stomach tighten and he tried to control his hips, but he just wanted to take Cloud's…

~in every way possible~

…glorious mouth even harder.

With a warning grunt, he couldn't hold back any longer the tension in his belly reached a fevered pitch that he couldn't hold back as he came.

It seemed to last forever.

Cloud's hand squeezed his balls tighter which seemed to make it all the more divine and explosive.

He felt Cloud's mouth still holding him as he softened and as he tried to get some air in his lungs. Just like how he did to him the other night. Zack looked down at him as Cloud lifted his head wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

They stared at each other for awhile. Cloud was stroking his hip in a gentle manner and then rested his uninjured cheek against his bare thigh.

~utterly adorable~

"Come here," Zack finally was able to speak. He reached down and pulled on his arm. Cloud responded and pushed himself up. Cloud moved to sit beside him, but Zack was not going to allow that. He positioned Cloud so that he was on his lap, with his uninjured shoulder resting against his own. He tilted his head so that he could kiss the injured infantry man who moaned against the kiss. He wrapped one arm tightly around his waist and the other pressing tightly onto his thighs, pulling him as close to him as possible.

"Better," Cloud muttered. "Did I make it up to you?"

"Hmm," Zack hummed. "Indeed. It was worth the wait."

Cloud sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Hmm," Zack said and went in for another kiss. The hand that he had held the still clothed thigh, moved to the button on his fatigues. He was very aware that Cloud was still very much aroused. "Shut up with the sorry crap," he said breathlessly against the panting lips and unbuttoned the pants with his one hand and undid the zipper. "Nothing to be sorry about," Zack said slipping his hand into Cloud's pants and kissed back the gasp that came to Cloud's mouth.

He massaged the bulge through the underwear and could feel a wet spot growing there as Cloud wiggled on his lap.

Cloud started to moan.

~beautiful sounds~

Zack squeezed the waist and kissed the throat that was exposed. His actions treated him to another wondrous moan escaping those lips and his hips wiggling on his lap further. He kept massaging the stiffness beneath the cotton and kissing the wonderfully flushed skin on his throat.

"Aaah," Cloud murmured and thrust his hips on his lap and then he made a small whimper and hissed with pain.

"Let me take care of it," Zack whispered in his ear. "Don't strain yourself."

"I'm okay," Cloud whispered as his voice hitched a bit. Zack felt the man shudder in his lap. "Don't stop," his voice uneven and breathy.

Zack smiled and continued, making sure his grip was firm around his waist and kissing that exposed throat again. He increased the pace of his hand and squeezed a little harder.

"You're teasing," Cloud gasped.

"Mmh," Zack said against the collar bone that he was currently kissing.

Cloud wiggled in his lap further. Cloud kept making such wonderful sounds that were getting him excited again. Zack wiggled his hand into his underwear so that he could feel the over excited shaft in his hand. He was rewarded as Cloud gave out a sharp excited noise that was almost between pain and pleasure, but it sure sounded good. It also told him that he wasn't going to last long.

"Come on, Cloud," he moaned, his own voice not being that strong as he squeezed and tugged on the rigid member, rubbing his thumb over his round and moist tip.

~if only he wasn't injured, think of all you could do to him~

He sometimes really hated his inner voice. He was going to get all excited again. Of course, a wiggling erotically moaning Cloud…

~had everything to do with it~

…wasn't helping the situation at all.

Cloud pressed his head against his shoulder and he could feel the short panting breaths against his throat. He murmured into the soft yellow hair that was against his cheek. "Cloud," in a simple whisper, "Come."

That seemed to push Cloud over the edge. Cloud shuddered against him and spattered against his own stomach and Zack slowing hand. Cloud's whole body curling into him with a whimpering moan.

~that was good~

Cloud's breathing calmed and his arm wrapped around him in a comfortable hug, his head still resting comfortably on his shoulder.

Zack enjoyed the position for awhile, feeling more relaxed than he had in ages.

Cloud's breathing became slow and regular.

Zack made a small frown at how relaxed Cloud was on his lap.

He removed his hand from Cloud's member. Cloud didn't protest. Zack then poked Cloud's side. Cloud twisted, hissed and cursed when he did that. Zack had to hug him tight to keep him from jumping off of him.

Cloud frowned at him. "Why did you do that?" He protested and gave him a frown as he winced.

"Don't want you to make it a habit of falling asleep on me," Zack said with a smile.

Cloud gave him a pout and rested his head against his shoulder. "Jerk," he whispered but Zack felt him kissing his neck again.

"Just want to make sure," Zack said and reached up and ran his hand through the wonderfully soft hair.

"Still a jerk," Cloud muttered but there was no venom in his voice.

"That is what you get for being a tease," Zack said and received a grunt and a kiss in response.

~next time you will be prepared and he won't be injured~

Zack was grateful that Cloud couldn't see his wolfish grin that was surely all over his face.

 

Chapter 14- Shops​

"What!" Everyone in the room turned and looked at him. He didn't care though. He crinkled the assignment sheet in his hand and saw red. Damn it, why did this have to happen to him?

"Is there a problem with your assignment, Reno?" Tseng said in a cool voice as his dark eyes fixed on him. A couple of people snickered at him, Rude just shook his head and he was pretty sure that Sissy was pulling out her phone.

He was going to have to find a way to disable her text feature.

~maybe break her fingers~

"No, sir," he said and slunk in his chair.

~big problem~

He scowled at the sheet of paper that was crumpled his hand. This was some sort of cruel joke of fate for this to happen to him.

Tseng continued to talk to the other Turks in the room in his low calm voice, but he wasn't listening any more.

~ waste of fucking time~

Reno scowled at the piece of paper and glared at his boss. He knew that they were going to have words after this meeting. This was garbage! He didn't want to do this.

~on Saturday of all nights ~

Tseng was talking about some cooperation with some SOLDIERs and blah, blah, blah, something, something, something and boring, boring, boring!

~and I get stuck with this~

"Dismissed," Tseng's voice finally said. He stood but Tseng pointed to him. "Sit."

~I don't like this trend of being treated like a mutt~

But he obeyed and sat back down as the other Turks left the conference room. He sat back in chair and placed his shoes on the table. He doubted that he could get in to anymore trouble from his outburst. He looked at the paper in his hand.

"Explain your outburst," Tseng said simply with a frown. Reno smirked. He knew how much his boss hated when he was so casual about things, especially when it came to being in the office. "I believe this type of assignment that you enjoy." Tseng walked beside him.

"What? Being a useless bodyguard?" He snorted and crinkled the paper further. "We are not needed for this, yo."

Tseng grunted. "I agree with your assessment," he said.

~Tseng. Agreeing with me? Is he sick or something?~

Tseng continued. "Rufus wants to put a show on for this troupe. I guess he is quite fond of the lead dancer. He wants to make a strong impression on them."

"Pfft," Reno said. "He has Sephiroth joining them. Why does he need to have two Turks guarding him to get a girl into his bed?"

"This is the way it will be," Tseng said. "You know Monteno's better than any of the other Turks. You know the staff. You know the location. You will know if there are any threats. Plus, Rufus requested that you be assigned to this."

~Great. Personal request for an appearance. I should start to charge people. ~

"Wonderful," he mumbled.

"I know you already had plans," Tseng said, "but I need you there."

"Wonderful," he repeated.

"I will be escorting the dance troupe to the restaurant. You will be escorting Rufus there," Tseng said simply. "And you will not be sloppily dressed for the occasion."

"What's wrong with this?" Reno said with a grin. He knew it got Tseng's ire up the way he dressed.

Tseng gave him a little sigh and rubbed that red dot on his forehead, as if he was developing a headache. He made him do that a lot. It was a point of pride actually. "I have already made arrangements for you to pick up a properly pressed suit at Lore's. You will wear it WITH the tie."

~Wonderful. Icing on the cake. ~

Tseng dark eyes looked down at him. Reno wished he could read those dark eyes of his. "Understand, Reno!" Tseng voice said. "You can try to get your drinking title back from that young man on another weekend."

He just grunted. How could he tell his boss that he didn't want to go because the room he booked was for two other guys that he had apparently set up? They would be eating together in an expensive restaurant…

~that I am paying for~

… in a room down from where was standing listening to some boring conversation with Rufus, Sephiroth and some dancer queen.

"The suit will be ready for you to pick up at four," Tseng said, "Pick up mine as well."

"What the hell? When did I become your slave?" Reno blurted as Tseng passed him another piece of paper. It was a clothing ticket.

Tseng gave him an amused smile, turned his back to him and left the conference room.

"What the fuck!"

Reno scowled as he arrived at Lore's with the stupid clothing ticket in his hand.

~Now I am fetching. Zack's had the puppy nickname. When the hell did this happen to me? ~

He drove to the damn store. Picking up his own and boss' suit was humiliating enough and even more humiliating knowing that the store would deliver to ShinRa offices and had delivered to Tseng before too.

Rude had offered to come with him but he had way too smug of a look on his face. Rude was way too amused by his misery, so he had brushed him off.

He walked by the store window and saw a shocking…

~delightful~

… sight.

He was not expecting to see the three infantry men in the store and least of all one of them Cloud.

~hot damn~

It totally made up for becoming an errand boy.

He ignored the other two boys, especially the one with the blue hair and makeup. Was that even allowed in the army? He had seen the guy bouncing around before, but he had not been aware that he was one of Cloud's friends.

He focused on Cloud.

The blue haired guy was fussing between the collar and the cuffs of a sky blue shirt that Cloud was wearing.

~blue is his color~

It wasn't the ShinRa army blue; it was beautiful soft blue that seemed to make Cloud's eyes seem as if they glowed from mako, like the SOLDIER he wanted to become.

He was wearing a dark brown pair of pants that were little low on his hips, hugged his thighs, and flared slightly at his ankles, so they almost hid the ugly army boots that he wore on his feet.

~those pants are sooooooooo tight~

He whistled and was thankful that he was not in the store, even though someone walking by gave him a strange look. He just glared at the guy and went back to looking at Cloud.

~peeping tom~

He watched as the guy with the long blue haired kid flitted around Cloud only to get punched, and all three of them laughed.

Cloud looked at the price tag on the shirt and frowned.

He wished he could hear the conversation of what was going on. Cloud was shaking his head and had to push the blue haired one away again, turned on his heel and went into a change room.

He watched as those two sorted through clothes as they waited for Cloud to walk out of the change room. The one with the blue hair was quite clingy and kept getting hit by the one with the extremely short black hair.

Cloud exited the change room and he was back in normal boring military casual clothes. He put the tight brown pants and blue shirt on a rack.

The two guys were talking to him and Cloud kept shaking his head. Then he realized that they were leaving the store. He was thankful that there were plants for him to hide behind. He did not want Cloud to see him. He hid behind the plants that allowed him to still view Cloud.

~turning into a stalker~

"…worth the cost!" The blue haired man said as they walked outside.

"Shut up! I don't have the money for that!" Cloud said. "That shirt was just 100 gil! I don't have that much money."

"But you looked so hot in it," the blue haired man said with a whine. "Whoever your new sugar-daddy is would give you anything you wanted in that shirt!"

~sugar-daddy?~

"Quit being a jerk, Joseph," the one with the short black hair said.

Cloud groaned and blushed.

"You need to look debonair to go to Monteno's," Joseph said and pounced on to the shoulders of Cloud. Cloud shrugged him off. It seemed that Cloud was used to the boy's behaviour.

"Guys," there was a small whine in his voice.

"You can get those simple black pants and white shirt from Genes," the dark haired man said.

"Pft, he will look like a Turk in that outfit, John," Joseph said with a whiny tone to his voice. Joseph then proceeded to cling to the one named John.

"He'll look fine!" John said.

"I don't have a sugar-daddy," Cloud sighed.

"Oh, whatever, sugar-daddy, sugar-mama, whatever," Joseph said. "I mean, you are going to Monteno's. You need quite a bit of dough and connections to get in there."

"Quit it," Cloud said.

"Then tell us who it is!" Jospeh said. If it was possible, there was even more whining in his tone. They stopped walking, which was good, because he wouldn't have any place to hide if they kept walking.

~eavesdropper~

"Yeah!" The one named John said. "You snuck off on Monday night, you have switched 2 night patrol shifts to get Saturday off and you have brushed off your training sessions with Zack. Who ever it is, the person must be hot."

"Soooo, you need to look hot!" Joseph said and put his hands on Cloud's shoulders again and bounced around him.

~annoying ditz~

"I know. I know!" Cloud said and shook his head and they started to walk away. "Maybe I can borrow…"

Reno frowned as the group walked out of earshot. He had never thought that Cloud would not have a set of nice clothes before. He was used to seeing Cloud in his usual casual clothes..

~which he looks good in~

…or the military uniform. He kept those meagre clothes in good shape and they fit him well.

He walked into the store and looked at clothing ticket that Tseng gave him. He smirked as he looked at it. Tseng didn't sign it.

He should know better than to leave him a blank cheque.

Zack wondered if he bought too much stuff.

~or maybe not enough~

He rubbed his forehead as he looked at the bag he was carrying back to his room. He had been so nervous in the store. He had just planned on going down to the drugstore and grab the basics but the last couple of days his dreams had been giving him way too many ideas, so he went to…

…Loveless Delights…

…the other store. The other store had given him way too many ideas for all the things that he wanted to do Cloud.

The fleeting glimpse of Cloud was enough to make him almost want to cancel the date completely and just drag him back to his room and ravish him. He had cancelled their training sessions. He couldn't after all have Cloud hurting his shoulder anymore. He regretted it now though. They didn't need to use it to train after all, they could have…

~had some heavy make-out sessions~

…done other things.

Cloud had been his friend for months and now they had more than a friendship. He realized that he had been almost seeing him every day in one way or another; passing him in the hall, seeing him in the mess hall, the bi-weekly extra training sessions, their Saturday night either on the town, or playing cards in the quad. He had seen Cloud almost every day!

How did he not realize that it could be construed that they were dating to begin with! He would always give him a wave or a pat on the back.

~now you have to refrain from patting his butt~

He didn't even realize that he had been so smitten with the boy until he…

~teased you on the train~

…they were getting serious.

He missed him, even though it had only been a few days, and was now getting extremely impatient. He had to wait one more whole day for their first official date and to use some of the…

~heavy~

…bag of goodies on him.

The elevator dinged. 32nd floor. The door opened and Sephiroth got in. He suppressed a frown. Sephiroth had been acting weird lately and didn't want to get drawn into another conversation that didn't make any sense. He wondered if he had been down in the labs and have sniffed something wrong.

"Zack," Sephiroth said.

"Sephiroth," he said with a smile as the large man pressed a button to go to the upper most floors.

"Been shopping?" Sephiroth said and his green eyes were focused on the bag in his hand.

Zack was thankful that the store just had a discreet black paper bag. He was not ready to answer those types of questions from Sephiroth. Of course, his mouth was ahead of his brain sometimes, "Got a date on Saturday."

~why the hell would you tell him that?~

Sephiroth raised his eyebrow at him and his green eyes looked him up and down. "Who is the lucky girl? Is it the one from the slums that you mentioned before?" He asked. He turned slightly towards him.

~you brought it up, you dolt!~

"Well, no," he said and paused and gave a small chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. He couldn't look at Sephiroth with thoughts of Cloud in his head. Thankfully, Sephiroth didn't wait for a proper answer.

"Where are you taking your lucky date?" Sephiorth asked.

~when did he start to care about his personal life?~

"Monteno's."

~stupid mouth~

"How did you get a reservation there?" Sephiroth said with a smirk. He had such a warped sense of humour!

"Hey, I got connections too, you know," Zack said glaring directly at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth smirked, not quite a smile, "I am sure that you do. I have an engagement there on Saturday as well."

"Oh, yeah. Heard about that," Zack smiled brightly then. He was so glad that he was not a figure-head like Sephiroth. "Being forced to sit through a dinner with a bunch of artsy fruits and Rufus. Sounds like a riot." He didn't bother to hide his sarcastic tone with that comment.

Sephiroth frowned. "Yes. It is a part of this job I loathe," he said in a low tone. "I am sure, if you succeed at your upcoming mission, they will be requesting you for such menial tasks."

"Gaia forbid," Zack responded. Sephiroth was definitely developing a twisted sense of humour.

The elevator dinged and opened. He had never been so thankful to get out of an elevator in his life.

"Zack," Sephiroth said, holding his hand out to keep the door open. He turned to look at the General. "I am to arrive at Monteno's at six. What time is your arrival expected?"

~what?~

"Seven," Zack said. His mouth was running ahead way too quick lately.

"Then we can take my transport together," Sephiroth said and allowed the elevator door to close.

Zack stared at the closed elevator door for a moment. Sephiroth was acting so weird lately and this was just the icing on the cake.

~just hope he doesn't want to travel home with you too ~

 

Chapter 15- Clothing ​

Reno grinned as he admired the suit he was wearing in the limo window. Tseng would not be pleased, but it would teach him a lesson for sending him to get clothes. He would not approve the cut or color, or the fact that he changed the order and had added things to it.

He was going to be right pissed.

~ I bet he's developing a headache right now~

The suit was a dark red pinstripe suit. The jacket, when buttoned hugged his thin waist. The pants were straight and he even wore a new pair of patent leather shoes that were soft and comfortable. He wore an even snugger vest over a stark white shirt and he wore a same color tie as the suit. The EMR didn't go well with the suit, so he had two guns strapped under his jacket. It was cut well.

He knew that he looked hot.

~smoking hot~

Better than the stupid blue that Tseng had originally wanted him to wear. There had been no style in the clothes that he had picked out. He smiled at the thought of what Tseng would think when he opened up his clothing bag. He knew that he would be paying a heavy price for that, but he didn't care.

~it was so worth it~

He even tamed down his hair and left his goggles at home for the occasion.

He waited at the limo door for Rufus to come down so he could escort him to the restaurant. He lit a cigarette; he knew it would be awhile before he would get another one. He hoped that Rufus was not going to be fashionably late. That would be just annoying to make a grand entrance.

~in all ShinRa pompous style~

Rufus finally emerged through the door.

Reno smiled at how the brat was dressed. He always wore a white suit. That was his trademark after all. He was wearing a different cut than his normal white suit; it was more form fitting, with a flash of bright red with his ascot at his throat. The jacket was shorter that showed his narrow hips a little more prominently than he usually wore, with a thick white belt. The pants flared to hide the white leather boots with a slight heel that he was wearing.

~brat's hot~

Reno shook his head. Man. He needed to get laid if he was thinking of the ShinRa brat like that. He blamed Cloud and Zack for turning him to the dark side of these…

~sexual~

… thoughts.

Rufus ran his hand through his ash blond hair and shook his head at him. "I presume that is not the suit that Tseng designated for you to wear." He had an amused look on his face.

"Nope, but it's hotter than what that fuddy-duddy picked out," Reno grinned.

Rufus gave a low, amused laugh. "I do agree," Rufus said and crossed his arms. With a sigh, "Are you going to open the door?"

Reno flushed. "Yeah. Yeah, sorry," he said and opened the door and watched as he elegantly slid into the white leather seats of the limo. Reno walked around to the other side and seated himself across from him. He tapped the window and the limo started.

Rufus was sitting with his legs crossed, with his elbow on his knee, holding his chin in his hand. He seemed like he was lost in thought as he looked out the tinted window.

"Hey, boss," Reno asked as he fiddled with the hem of his red jacket. "So, you hot on this dancer, hey?"

Rufus turned his lazy grey eyes towards him, "Hmmm."

~what kind of a response is that?~

"Saw the posters. Hot, yo," Reno said as he reclined against the limo seats. Riding in style was one of the perks of this job. He was pretty sure he would be taking a stinking cab home if Rufus got his dancing queen.

"Hmmm," Rufus said again and straightened himself out. "Indeed."

~boring stick in the mud~

"So, you got intentions for tonight?" Reno said. "I mean, I need to know who I will be escorting back home and all."

Rufus gave him a sharp look, but with a sigh he said, "We shall have to see what shall come of the evening. I am sure they are used to people praising their performance."

"Yeah, but you are Rufus ShinRa," Reno said. "You are like, at the head of the food chain and all."

Rufus laughed lightly.

~a bedroom laugh~

"I suppose," Rufus said, "But that does not guarantee that he will be interested in joining me for a late evening nightcap."

~he?~

What the hell? He didn't know that Rufus swung that way.

"Have you seen the ballet?" Rufus asked.

"Only what they had on TV," he said. He was now frantically trying to remember what the lead male dancer looked like. He had focused on the near anorexic woman that was the lead female dancer. He tried to remember the male. He remembered him being sharp and bony looking.

"That does not do them justice. They are most magnificent to see on stage," Rufus said as he uncrossed his legs and leaned back in the plush limo seats. He closed his eyes and had a small smile on his lips. "It is one of the luxuries that my father allows."

Reno nodded. Rufus, even though being the vice-president, was held on a pretty tight leash by his father. He was seldom on guard duty for Rufus. Tseng thought he would be a bad influence. Once he thought of that, didn't Tseng say that Rufus requested him to be his escort for this?

"They put on a wonderful show, and even did an additional set, in my honour. It was quite lovely." Rufus readjusted his legs so they were crossed the other way and was now looking straight at him. "He has the most magnificent legs." Those eyes slowly blinked and seemed to be checking him out. Was he imagining that?

~holy crap~

"I believe they even surpass yours," Rufus said with a small smile. Definitely not imagining that!

~brat is hitting on me! ~

How does one respond to that? He felt his face heat up slightly and he swallowed. His teasing nature took over though and he found himself stretching his legs a little bit longer, glad that the new red suit was snug against his legs. "Are you sure about that, yo?"

~shouldn't be teasing the brat~

Rufus' smile grew slightly wider. "Well, I will hopefully be able to determine that tonight." He then, gracefully, went back to staring out the car window, with his chin resting in his hand, contemplating the landscape they were driving by.

Reno sat a little straighter and adjusted his jacket, made sure his guns were still holstered properly. He tried to get the flush off his cheeks, and the thoughts about brat ShinRa out of his head.

~you are going to turn into a flaming homo if you keep thinking about guys like that~

Zack opened the door opened to see Sephiroth standing there. He was not used to seeing the General dressed in anything but his leather uniform, but he had to admit that he looked good in a suit. It was black of course. It was a long jacket that nearly reached his knees and buttoned nearly to his graceful throat. You could see that high collar of a silvery grey shirt, pinned with an emerald green collar clip, with cufflinks, that matched his eyes. Even his shoes had a green stone in the soft leather penny loafers. Sephiroth's long silver hair swept back in a long soft looking wave over one of his shoulders. It dangled down, and was easily seen past his svelte waist

~Sephiroth always looks good~

Sephiroth frowned at him. "You are not ready yet."

"Working on it," he said around his toothbrush. "A little behind schedule."

Sephiroth crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I can see that."

Zack was very aware of how he looked. He still hadn't gotten his shirt on and was scrubbing his teeth. He still had to finish his hair and get the rest of his clothes on. He should have known that Sephiroth would be right on time. The guy was a stickler for schedules.

~you should have known he would be right on time~

"I just need ten more minutes," he said as he scurried back into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth. Sephiroth stepped into his apartment with a small sound that he wasn't sure if it was disdain or just because he was disturbed that he wasn't ready yet. He knew his place was much smaller than his place. Hell, Sephiorth had a place that was about four times as big as his. He had only seen his place once and that had been under stressful circumstances, so he didn't really get a good look.

He finished brushing his teeth and gave his face a scrub as well and then went into his bedroom and stopped cold.

~Sephiroth is in my bedroom~

"You have picked horrible clothes to wear for tonight," Sephiroth said, simply not even turning to look at him as he was going through his closet.

~Sephiroth is going through my closet~

"I will not have SOLDIERS looking like they cannot afford appropriate attire for such a fancy restaurant," Sephiroth said as he turned with some different clothes that he pulled out of the closet. "You will wear these. Those pants are far too military and the shirt you have on the bed should only be worn for casual. You are not going out to the bar."

He blinked as Sephiroth put the clothes on the bed. "Wear that leather jacket of yours over top of that. I will be expecting to leave in five." He turned on his heel and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

He blinked for a few seconds.

~was Sephiroth dressing him?~

He looked at the clothes that his superior set out for him. He liked the pants that he was wearing; the ones that Sephiroth picked out were snug around his hips and were a charcoal grey in colour. The shirt was one that he liked though and it was a deep violet with a charcoal grey vest to wear over top of it. He frowned as he even saw that Sephiroth had picked out a pair of socks and shoes for him.

~When did Sephiroth get a fashion sense? ~

He sighed and got dressed in the clothes that were picked out for him and had to admit that Sephiroth picked well. He fussed with his hair a bit, trying to make it not so wild, even knowing that it would fall back into the black spikes by the end of the evening.

~won't matter then~

He smiled at looked over at the drawer where he had placed all of his recent purchases.

~can't wait to play…~

"Zack!"

Sephiroth's sharp voice brought him out of his daydreams.

~gotta ditch Sephiroth as well~

"Coming," he called and walked out of the room. "We aren't going to be late," Zack said as he looked at Sephiroth standing by the door, holding his leather jacket.

~how did Seph know where he kept all his stuff?~

"Thanks," he said and threw the light leather jacket over his shoulders.

~can't wait to see Cloud ~

~Fair indeed~

Sephiroth couldn't help but look his 2nd in command as he shrugged on the leather jacket.

"Am I ready now?" Zack said with his voice thick with sarcasm.

Sephiroth reached out and fixed the flipped collar on the leather jacket, aware that the man beneath the jacket jumped a little. "I believe that we are now," he said simply and moved to the door.

He led the way to the elevator.

Zack's announcement of a date the other day startled him. It also annoyed him. It took him awhile to figure out the reasons for it. He did not normally care about the escapades of those under him. Why should he care? It was truly was no concern of his, but Zack…

~was more~

…was his second in command. He did not mind the thought of the man dating that girl from the slums for she seemed meek and calmed him, but for the past week he had been actually quite distracted and he did not like that in him. The girl from the slums did not cause this type of distraction.

He had listened to the 'water-cooler-talk' to try to discern if there was a new interest in his life but had found none. He had tried to talk to Zack but was amazed at his failure to get the right questions out of his mouth. He was also aware that Zack was trying to avoid him as well, most likely because of his failure to string together the correct words, which had turned him into a babbling fool. The biggest talk Zack was able to glean was about that red-headed pest losing a drinking contest to some lowly infantry man. It was interesting but it had no connection to Zack as far as he could determine.

He wanted to ask Zack about his date, but figured that it would be a waste of time. Plus, he would see soon enough who it was once they got to Monteno's.

He would find out why his second in command was so distracted soon enough without his muddled social skills getting in the way.

Reno had to remind himself to be cool when he saw Zack enter Monteno's and was a little shocked to see Sephiroth enter with him. Zack was looking quite hot in the outfit he was wearing and the large silly grin on his face. He said a few words to Sephiroth before he went to talk to the hostess. He didn't realize that Zack and Sephiroth were arriving together. He would have to ask Zack about that later.

Reno had already placed Rufus in the private room that they had specified and had the waiters already bustling with his expectations of wine and starters for his fancy dancers.

Seeing how Zack looked wanted to make him go into the private room that he had booked for him and…

~do what? Confess that you have the hots for him? ~

Yeah, that was stupid.

~you wanna though~

He watched as the cool and scary Sephiroth walked into the room without even a second glance in his direction. Zack was talking with one of the waiters. With a small wave to him and a wink, Zack went into the room as the attendant pulled back the screen.

He focused back on the door as it opened again.

He tried to suppress a smirk, but knew that he had not succeeded completely from the glare that Tseng was giving him.

Tseng looked sharp. He knew that it was different from his usual attire but Tseng looked damn sharp in the suit. He was not stupid enough to vary too far from his usual attire. He stuck with a dark navy blue double-breasted suit jacket that hung to hide the multitude of guns that he knew his boss like to wear but didn't detract from his wide shoulders. The shirt color was a nice pale pink with a dark blue tie. He knew that the pink shirt was most likely getting his ire up as the style was different from his normal. He knew that annoyed Tseng.

He noted that he was wearing the normal shoes and not the ones that he sent. Well, he couldn't win them all.

Tseng escorted two nearly emaciated looking people into the room. He recognized the girl with the long blond hair as the lead female dancer, Mina, and the young man, Drake, with dark brown hair that was tied back in a tight pony tail.

~Rufus had weird tastes in men~

There was nothing to him. He was not as emaciated as the woman and did seem to have some muscle tone…

~decent legs and ass~

…but his sharp bony features were a little disturbing. He liked to see a little bit more in a figure…

~more like a SOLDIER or a SOLDIER wannabe~

…to grab a hold of.

Man. He had issues.

Tseng stood beside him. "I will deal with you tomorrow," Tseng hissed at him as he entered the room. Tseng's lips didn't move when he spoke.

~you are going to get crap assignments for a year~

He smirked. Yeah. He knew he was going to be paying for it, big time, even more when Tseng saw the bill for all the extra stuff that he bought as well.

~going to be guarding the dump~

His leg wouldn't stop vibrating. He had to reset the glasses on the table twice from his errantly bouncing knee.

~can't believe I am so eager~

He was getting impatient waiting for Cloud. He had taken off his jacket and had it hanging over his chair. He almost phoned him a couple of times and kept staring at his watch. He wasn't late, but he just wanted to see him. He didn't want to seem too anxious either. He never remembered feeling this way about anyone else before.

~you are as pathetic as a teenager on your first date~

He wondered how much Reno was going to pay for the evening. He looked at the menu and was astonished at the cost. Man, he hoped Reno could cover it.

The screen pulled aside.

He turned and saw Cloud being escorted in by the hostess.

~finally…wow…damn it~

Where did he get those clothes? Man, he looked awesome. He hadn't seen Cloud wearing them before; the powder blue shirt hung loosely around him but still seemed to meld to his muscular shoulders and narrow waist. He couldn't help but gawk at how Cloud moved to the other chair and how his tight brown suede pants hugged…

~his ass~

…his hips.

"You look good," Zack said as Cloud sat down. Cloud flushed lightly.

"So do you," Cloud said. "This place is fancy." He sounded a little bit nervous.

"Sure is," Zack said. "How much do think Reno can cover?" He said and leaned forward a bit.

Cloud laughed. "It shouldn't be a problem," he said as he fiddled with the menu. He looked like he was nervous as well. "He is a Turk after all; they make more money than SOLDIER."

Zack sighed, "Don't remind me." Zack adjusted his chair. "What do you want to start with?" He picked his own menu.

He had to refrain from moving his chair beside him and groping him under the table. This place was too classy for that no matter…

~how incredibly tempting~

…how he wanted to touch him. He would be a proper civil person in the restaurant. He knew how to wine and dine, even though he knew that he already had the man sitting across from him…

~and would have in every possible way soon enough~

…it didn't mean that he didn't deserve the special treatment.

He smiled brightly at the blond haired man as he was studying the menu. He would have to make sure to buy him more shirts in that color for him. It positively made his eyes glow.

 

Lol Wow Reon.

 

Chapter 16- Montenos's​

Cloud was no longer nervous about being in the fancy restaurant, and quite relaxed now. The couple of drinks helped, and the fact that Zack was more relaxed himself, as well. Zack's knee wasn't bouncing and shaking the table anymore.

Zack had already queried him on his injuries and he told him that he was feeling quite fine now. His shoulder had full range of movement and the bruise that was across his face was almost completely gone, thanks to materia practice where they were using some Cure. They weren't that efficient in the use of magic, but it sure helped.

~wanna be limber for later~

The conversation was light, as it usually was, between them. The food was rich and good. Expensive too; Cloud was glad that Reno was paying for it.

He was beginning to feel like he had a few too many drinks, for he was starting to feel…giddy. What did Zack call them, Mojito's? He would have to remember that for next time they went out.

Zack smiled at him. "Are you going to start giggling on me?"

Cloud pouted. "I'm not that drunk," he said, even though he was feeling rather warm. He never wanted to get as drunk as he did last weekend, ever again. "You won't have to carry me back to your room."

Zack closed his eyes for a second and made a happy humming sound. He opened his violet eyes with an…

~smarmy~

… evil smirk on his lips.

"Don't get any evil ideas," Cloud said and gave him a stern look that quickly faltered into a smile.

"I got plenty right now," Zack whispered and leaned across the table a bit, spearing a chocolate dusted piece of fruit that they had picked for dessert. He held it out to Cloud and Cloud obliged, leaning forward and took it off the fork, making sure that he licked his lips in the fashion that he had been practicing.

The shiver from Zack proved that he had done it correctly. He liked how his teasing affected him. Cloud speared another piece of fruit and offered it to Zack in the same manner. Zack leaned forward and took the fruit and made a small moan.

In a whisper, Cloud asked, "Did you make it to the store?"

He was pleased to see that he made Zack blush and try to stammer out the answer. "Y...yeah, I made it to the store," he said.

"What did you buy?" He asked.

Zack dropped the fork that he was using to try to get another piece of fruit, and his blush deepened.

~what kind of stuff did he buy? ~

"I b-bought a bunch of stuff," Zack said, retrieving his fork and trying to set his eyes in a stern look.

"Stuff?" Cloud questioned. "Anything interesting?"

Cloud raised his blue eyes to those violet eyes. Zack's were wavering though, like he was trying to avoid the question, maybe even a little embarrassed.

~must be really interesting stuff ~

"A few t-things," Zack whispered back.

"Uh-huh," Cloud said. "Like what?" He smirked at the thought that he was causing Zack to stammer like that.

Zack's eyes faltered then and darted to the side. "You'll have to wait and see until we get to my place," Zack said and leaned back in his chair. Zack had unbuttoned his vest earlier and could see the muscles bunching under the shirt. He wanted to touch…

~kiss and fondle~

…him and his own body was reacting to how excited he was becoming with thoughts of how they would…

~make it officially, official, official~

…spend the evening. He was pretty sure the couple of drinks were helping him along as well.

Zack changed the subject, "Where'd you get those clothes? I don't remember them."

Cloud smirked as he remembered the brown box that was left on his cot. "Secret admirer," he said. The note attached had only said to enjoy the new clothes and dinner. No signature. It could only be Zack that bought the clothes. After all, who else would do such a thing?

Zack frowned a bit. "Secret admirer?"

"Oh, come on Zack. I know you got them for me," Cloud said and leaned, smoothing the blue shirt against his chest. Cloud was amused by the possessive streak that he was seeing in Zack. "Who else could have done it?"

Zack blinked, and gave a deep sigh. "They do look good on you."

Cloud smiled brightly. He just had a wicked thought. He knew he wouldn't do it without a little bit of alcohol in his system. He knew it was a little…

~slutty~

…bold of him. He leaned forward and crooked his finger to get Zack to lean forward as well, and in the huskiest whisper he could manage, he said, "I can't wait until you take them off."

That caused his face to rapidly flush. Zack abruptly stood.

"I think we are ready to leave," Zack said, his voice breaking a bit as he spoke. Cloud laughed lightly and stood himself.

Zack moved quickly and put his arm around Cloud's waist and then gave him a kiss. A quick one, before he pulled his lips away. "You shouldn't tease me in public."

"Nobody's watching in here," Cloud whispered back and gave him another kiss, then deliberately pulled away. He could feel how excited his…

~most definitely his! ~

…dark haired man was. He was pretty sure that he heard Zack growl slightly, and most likely was going to try something else, when the screen opened and a waiter entered. Zack quickly announced that they were going for the evening.

Reno didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse to be the one by the screen door. He could catch glimpses of the two…

~studs~

…in the private room that he had set up for them. He was quite happy to see that Cloud was wearing the clothes that he had bought for him and they looked even better than they did when he…

~peeped~

…observed him in the store window. Cloud seemed to know it too as Reno saw them flirting with each other across the small, private table.

They were more interesting than the room he was in anyway. Sephiroth was not exactly the best at conversation and it was mostly Rufus talking to the two dancers who were more than willing to talk about the performance and the next performance and the next dance move and the next challenge…blah, blah, blah.

He was pretty sure that Rufus really was into that conversation and both Drake and Mina seemed to be thrilled with the attention that…

~the brat~

…Rufus was giving them. He had a feeling that Rufus was going to be disappointed. From where he was sitting, he could see how Drake was constantly touching that bony Mina's legs under the table. He doubted that Rufus saw it and he didn't want to burst his bubble. He would let Drake do that.

It did seem like Mina was interested in Sephiroth and she tried to have a conversation with him on occasion but Sephoroth's lack of personality did not deter her in the least. She did let Drake's touches deter her hands from wandering towards Sephiroth or Tseng.

~guess she is just keeping her options open~

Of course, he was a little upset to see that Tseng was sitting at the table and he was the one that was standing like a stupid beacon. He had made the silly assumption that Tseng was going to be standing as a guard as well. Boy, was he wrong. He didn't know if he liked the idea of being tricked by his boss like that. He could see the pointed look that Tseng gave him from time to time.

He got to watch everyone eat the delicious food, while his stomach grumbled. He knew that he would eat well after, but it still was torture and he found the suit getting a little warm, and seeing glimpse of the two…

~hotties~

…love birds in the other room was driving him absolutely nuts! Every now and then, he could hear one of them laugh or raise their voice. He wished he had the foresight to bug the room, so he could see what they were doing. Oh. He should have bugged Fair's apartment.

~that would be something to watch~

He shook his head to get those thoughts out and frowned as he listened to Drake drawl on about how much he has to train in a day to do some fruity ballet move that Rufus seemed absolutely engrossed in hearing. He really didn't think his boss was into this kind of stuff. It seemed so strange.

Tseng tried to hide a smirk behind taking a sip of his drink, despite how his dark eyes showed amusement, as he looked at him.

Did Tseng know that this was torturing him? He was pretty sure Tseng knew that he was miserable, even if he didn't know the true reason why.

He heard the screen open to the room that…

~his two SOLDIERS~

…the two were in and saw them step out. Man. They looked hot together. Zack gave him a look and there was fire in his eyes and it wasn't just the lust that he had for Cloud.

What the hell? He didn't do anything to piss him off? Did he?

~could be the clothes you snuck Spiky? ~

Cloud just smiled and walked towards the door with Zack following closely behind. Cloud looked like he was already in dream land and gave him a small, but very content smile.

~I would be content too, if I was going back with Zack. ~

Man, he really had to get laid to get those two out of his head! Since that stupid kiss between the two, he could think about nothing else and it was getting annoying!

"Sir."

A familiar waiter came over to him with a bill to sign. Zack and Cloud's bill. He looked at the list of purchases and was grateful that they hadn't been all that expensive, but he wasn't going to let them know that.

Mina was an annoying woman. Sephiroth noticed that they ordered expensive food but ate very little of what was on their plates. They seemed to enjoy the drinking more. He tried to hide his revulsion at how Rufus was unashamedly flirting, and Sephiroth wasn't sure if it was with Drake or that Mina. He was as civil as he could be, even with the bony Mina pawing at his arm for most of the evening. She seemed to alternate between himself and Tseng, and thankfully, and Tseng seemed to be enjoying conversation with the irritating woman.

Drake was annoying as well.

Rufus was extremely annoying.

Tseng was being smug.

Reno was distracted.

He noted that Reno seemed to be very concerned with what was happening in the other private room across the hall. He kept his eye on what Reno was observing and was startled to see that was the room that Zack had his date.

~how could he get a private room? ~

He had yet to see who Zack's date was, though. He was very curious to see who was tickling Zack's fancy.

Reno scowled or crinkled his nose when he heard laughter coming from the area. Once, he even heard Reno silently curse at the sounds. Sephiroth noted that he only seemed to hear masculine laughter coming from the room.

Zack said he had a date, so he must not just be hearing the female.

~there is definitely two men laughing in that room~

He was forced to answer a question about his ranking and life as a SOLDIER to that bony looking Drake. He avoided sneering at how Rufus was looking at the two dancers. Sephiroth did not understand the thrill of dining with them. They were nothing but frail people that happen to be on stage. He had been forced to watch the play with President ShinRa and Scarlet. They were graceful, but that was all he could say about it. It was pointless flitting about on stage to some apparent story that he had no interest in.

~Genesis would have loved it~

He frowned and pushed the thought aside. He did not need to bring up those painful memories.

~Genesis would be explaining all the plot holes and re-enacting it at the table~

He took a drink of the awful wine that Rufus had picked to drown out the thoughts. He did not want to start pining over his lost friends. He had worked hard to get past that.

~past them leaving him~

His only friendship now was Zack.

~who is on a date~

He heard Reno shift from his position and observed that Zack was emerging from that other private room with…

~the boy who ignored me~

…his date. He frowned as he watched how protective Zack seemed over the smiling blond who was walking ahead of him. Zack seemed to be scowling at Reno as he walked by.

He focused back on the painful dinner in front of him and took a couple of deep breaths. He knew this feeling and he hated it. He had no right to feel…

~jealousy~

… for he had not laid claim to Zack. He did not want to lose the friendship that he had with him, and for that matter, he did not think that Zack was interested in other men. He only talked of girls.

~obviously something changed~

Sephiroth heard Reno mutter under his breath about them being expensive as he signed something a waiter brought.

He had to find out who that young man that Zack was with, and it seemed that Reno knew.

 

Warning: Mild Lemon in this chapter….*cringe* don't be too mad now.

Chapter 17- Cab​

Zack wished that he hadn't hitched a ride with Sephiroth to get to the restaurant. Not only would it have been an awkward situation, but now they had to hail a cab. He didn't think about that until halfway through the meal, and was thinking of ways they could get out of there quickly, and go back to his…

~bed~

…apartment.

He really wished he had ridden his bike.

The thought of Cloud putting his arms around his waist and leaning against his back, or - even better - sitting snugly in front of him while they sped through the streets made him want to run and get his bike.

~hmmm, I wonder if I could steer the bike with one hand~

He felt a sharp poke in his side.

"Ow! Hey!" Zack jumped.

Cloud gave him a suspicious look. "You were in la-la land. Are you going to hail a cab, or what?"

"The hostess called us one. It'll be here soon," Zack answered.

~not soon enough~

Cloud made a little sighing noise and his eyes turned to the starless sky. "We could walk. It's nice out." If one could see the stars in Midgar, Zack would have been tempted.

~definitely would not be soon enough then! ~

"I would rather wait for the cab," Zack said, taking a step closer to Cloud as he lowered his voice into a husky whisper. "I've missed seeing you all week."

"Missed me?" Cloud said.

"Oh, yeah. Missed you," Zack said, and put his hand on Cloud's shoulder. He wanted to pull him into a quick embrace and kiss those lips again. The little taste he got in the restaurant was not nearly enough to satisfy him.

~you can get him to satisfy you as soon as you get home~

"I had to change a few guard shifts to make sure I had tonight off," Cloud said. "I think it'll be worth the lack of seeing each other for a few days."

~most certainly~

Zack smiled and examined Cloud standing at the curb looking down the road at the vehicles passing by. He had a determined look on his face.

He really couldn't wait until he could get those…

~strange~

…clothes off of him.

"Ah," Zack said. "Here comes our ride." Zack wanted to ask some more questions about the clothing. Zack knew that Cloud had thought he had bought it for him. The question truly was: Who had bought them for him? Did Cloud have another suitor? Cloud had never indicated that he had any other love interests. Hell, he knew that Cloud had to have some experience. Zack knew from experience that people didn't stay innocent in the barracks for long with all the aggression and hormones, even if you denied that you were gay. And then there was how wonderful Cloud's tongue had felt from that last time they were able to spend together.

~you don't just give great head without some practice~

Of course, it wasn't something that they talked about. And how did the person know that he was going on a date…

~Reno~

He would deal with Reno later. He did not want to think of Reno right now. He was going to focus on Cloud.

They slipped into the cab and he moved himself close to Cloud as he gave the driver the address. He absent mindedly put his arm behind Cloud's back and leaned into him as the car started to move.

"All I could think about was how you looked when you were kneeling before me," he whispered into Cloud's ear.

Cloud shivered, then turned to glare at him. "No teasing, Zack," Cloud whispered back.

"Why not?" Zack said, as he allowed his hand to roam up and down Cloud's spine.

~ He's getting anxious ~

There was more than enough evidence of Cloud getting excited in front of him. Cloud's brown suede pants were a little snug in the front and it did not hide the growing problem in his lap. Zack was glad that his own pants were a little loose there, so he could hide that problem.

~at least while you're sitting~

Cloud just glared at him.

Zack laughed.

"Stop it," Cloud said with a low annoyed tone, while nodding his head toward the driver. The driver was ignoring them.

"You didn't care when you were on the train," he stated.

"I was completely blitzed!"

"Yeah, I remember," Zack said and moved his hand into the back of Cloud's pants.

Cloud made a small squeaking sound. Cloud's face turned red and he tried to push Zack away. Zack was determined to kept his hand firmly in place.

~he's not wearing any underwear!~

All he felt was skin and suede! How could Cloud be such a tease when Zack was the one trying to tease?

"You are not playing fair," he said simply as he pushed his hand further into those tight pants. Cloud flushed and wiggled in his seat.

"Neither are you!" Cloud said in a voice that was higher than normal, but tried to keep a cool look on his face. Cloud's hand moved to Zack's thigh, not as snug as the train ride, but still so warm and alluring.

"Well, it's still early," Zack said, near Cloud's ear. It took all this strength to nibble on Cloud's earlobe and see if he could get some of those enticing moans of his out of Cloud's mouth.

"Doesn't mean I want to finish early," Cloud said with a crooked smile.

~He's really going to be the death of me. ~

"Are you sure you can handle staying up late?" he joked. "Hate to have you pass out on me again."

"Quit bringing that up! I made up for it!" Cloud snapped and squeezed Zack's leg.

Zack laughed. "Nope. You're never going to live that down!"

"I didn't mean to," Cloud whined slightly and leaned against him, his hand moving closer to Zack's groin.

Zack made a small groaning sound and smiled at the blond. Cloud's hand was making those gentle movements that were rather arousing.

~Pinky, ring, middle, index and the twirling thumb ~

They sat mostly in silence for the rest of the trip. Zack had wiggled his hand further into Cloud's pants, and Cloud's hand kept the slow steady…

~maddening~

…movements that were going to drive him over the edge. It was a silent battle that Zack felt like he was going to lose, if the cab didn't come to a stop.

"Twenty-four fifty," the driver said. Cloud opened the door.

Zack made a small grunting sound as he was forced to pull away from Cloud to reach into his back pocket to pull his wallet out.

~in the other pants~

He patted his other cheek and groaned.

Sephiroth had made him change his pants, and in his rush he had left his wallet in them. He groaned at being such an idiot for leaving his wallet in the sitting in his discarded pair of pants.

"Why're you feeling yourself up?" Cloud asked with a small curious look that would have been funny if Zack hadn't forgotten his wallet.

"Um…Ah… Well," Zack stammered, "It looks like I, you know…I …forgot my wallet," Zack said, feeling like a complete idiot with both his hands covering his ass.

Cloud blinked at him and his brows furrowed in confusion. "How'd you accomplish that?"

"Well, Sephiroth came over and told me that my clothes were inappropriate, so he had picked some out, and he is such a stickler for schedules and all and…what?" Zack said as he looked at Cloud. As he had spoken, the smile on Cloud's face grew to the point where it looked like his face was going to burst.

"Sephiroth dressed you!"

"NO! He just picked… out… my clothes," Zack said and felt his face burning as he looked away from the younger man.

~sounds pretty pathetic~

Cloud burst out laughing and nearly fell out of the cab door.

"It's not that funny," Zack said.

~especially since I can't pay for the cab! ~

Cloud took in a deep, heaving breath and then started laughing some more.

~giggly drunk laughing is cute. Malicious laughing is not!~

"Cloud!" He sighed and looked at the most displeased looking cab driver.

Cloud was still laughing and wiped a tear off his cheek.

~it really isn't that funny~

"It's alright. I-I-," Cloud snickered and pulled out his wallet, leaned over to had the gil over to the driver.

Zack frowned at his greatly amused friend.

They exited, and Cloud calmed his laughter as the cab drove away.

"How did that even happen?" Cloud blurted.

"What?"

"Sephiroth picking out your clothes!" Cloud demanded with that face splitting smile.

~Awww man~

"Well, I let it slip that I was going to Monteno's, and that I sorta had a date," Zack said.

The amused look left Cloud's face. "What?"

"Yeah, well, he said he was there as a guest of Rufus' and his little dancer party and all, and insisted that we share a ride," Zack mumbled as they started to walk toward the ShinRa building. "He didn't like what I was wearing so… hey?"

Cloud had stopped walking with a look of horror on his face. Cloud had stopped a couple of steps behind Zack.

~what the hell with the mood swings? ~

"You told Sephiroth – THE Sephiroth – that you had a date?" Cloud gasped and acted like he was having trouble breathing.

"Yeah," Zack said.

"With me!"

"I didn't tell him that!" Zack said. "And the date thing just slipped out."

"Slipped out!" Cloud's breathing was a little rapid.

"Yeah."

"So, then he picked out your clothes?" Cloud said, getting his breathing under control, but still looking a little spooked.

"I know it's weird," Zack said. "Weirded me out a little bit, but I think he picked well," Zack said and posed slightly trying to get rid of that scared look on Cloud's face.

~fail~

Cloud shook his head at him. "But you told him that you had a date!"

"Yeah. So. I did."

Cloud made a gasping sound, took a couple of breaths and looked at him with horrified blue eyes. "Sephiroth!"

Zack grabbed his shoulders and shook him slightly. "Easy there, Cloud. I didn't tell him who I was going on a date with, or give him any details there. Is that what you are freaking over?"

"I mean Sephiroth," Cloud said, "Sephiroth!"

Zack shook his head and grinned down at Cloud. He put his hands on Cloud's hips and Zack noticed a flush across Cloud's cheeks. "Yeah, he's Sephiroth. What? You got a thing for him?"

Cloud made a small choking sound, followed by some stammering noises that Zack assumed were supposed to be words with his face turned bright red.

~Cloud has a crush on Sephiroth!~

Zack couldn't stop the laughter from surfacing and regretted it when Cloud gave him a narrowed look.

"No! Not like that! I mean, he is a hero and all and…"

"I know. I know. The reason that you wanted to join SOLDIER. I think that is the reason that ninety percent of people join," Zack said, seeing that Cloud was relaxing now.

They started to walk into the building in silence. Cloud was brooding a bit.

~man, did I ruin the mood? Stupid mouth, shouldn't have accused him of having a crush on Sephiroth ~

Zack punched the elevator button to open the door. He pulled Cloud into a quick embrace and before Cloud could protest, he gave him a kiss in the empty lobby. Some of the tension at mentioning Sephiroth left Cloud after the kiss.

Cloud gave a little sigh. "Sorry. I got jumpy there." There was a smile on his face again, but not as bright as before.

"Sephiroth can make anyone jumpy," Zack said.

~been making me jumpy all week~

The elevator dinged and they walked in together. Zack was pleased that Cloud calmed down, and was now relaxing against him with a small content type noise.

~another wonderful sound~

As the elevator door closed, Cloud whispered. "Still funny as hell that Sephiroth dressed you."

~ I am never going to live this down~

 

Chapter 18- Limo​

Reno couldn't tell if Rufus was annoyed, or frustrated. Rufus was sitting stiffly, staring out the window while watching the bony dancers get into the other limo. Reno sat opposite him, watching the boss' hands clutching his thighs a little too tightly. The woman was pawing Sephiroth, who was placing her inside the car after a small kiss on her hand.

~Sephiroth kissing someone. Strange~

He wondered for a second if Sephiroth was going to join the dancers in the limo. The General stood straight, allowed Tseng to enter the limo, and promptly closed the door with a stiff - maybe even a little - overly hard slam.

~not impressed with the dancers, I guess~

Sephiroth then retired to his own sleek car.

Rufus waited until the dancers' limo left, silently staring out the tinted window. It was a few minutes before Rufus leaned back in his seat, and fixed his eyes on Reno.

"Bummer end of the evening, huh?" Reno said as he observed the stiff looking Rufus, but Rufus didn't say anything. Rufus' hands were still pressed hard against his thighs, and it looked like he was grinding his teeth.

~yep, frustrated~

"Well, at least the food was good," he grumbled sarcastically. Reno hadn't eaten or had a smoke since he had arrived at Monteno's. It was nearly three in the morning and he was starving, frustrated …

~SOLDIER boys most likely had a fun evening~

…and he was starting to get a little grumpy.

Rufus' demeanour changed as he unclenched his hands from his thighs. A strange, small smile formed on his narrow lips. Rufus gently tapped on the privacy window of the limo. The window rolled down.

"Sir." The calm voice of the chauffer said.

"The long way," Rufus said simply, without turning his head to look at the driver. The man didn't say anything in response, but the window rolled back up. There was a sparkle in Rufus' cool eyes.

~the long way?~

"Sir?" Reno said, sitting a little more erect in his seat. Rufus gracefully slid beside him in a slightly reclined pose. Little Boss was always a graceful man.

Rufus gave him a slight smile, just enough to see a glimpse of his white and straight teeth. "I always have a back up plan."

~back up plan?~

"Wha?" he said stupidly.

"Where did you get that suit, Reno?" Rufus said as he leaned a little closer to him. "It is quite becoming." Reno was too stupefied to talk as the boss' hand moved to his jacket, opening it slightly. "Nice material." Rufus' fingers rubbed the lapel of his jacket.

"B-b-boss?" he said as Rufus leaned closer. Reno could feel the warm, tempting body, and felt his own body betraying him, yet again.

"There are quite a few layers," Rufus said as his hand moved to the vest and fiddled with the buttons there. "You picked a fine suit."

~holy crap~

Reno felt his breath speeding up as the agile fingers of his boss undid a button on the vest. Rufus leaned into him.

~brat is putting some pretty heavy moves on! ~

Rufus placed the hand that undid the vest button onto Reno's thigh. Reno just about jumped out of his skin. "Whoa, Boss. Flattered and all…" Reno faltered as the hand squeezed him firmly.

"Reno. Relax. I won't bite," Rufus whispered, and then his voice took on a purring resonance. "Just a little bit of nibbling." Reno's felt his spine began to tingle. The other arm from his assailant snaked behind his neck. Rufus' finger deftly touched his tattooed cheek. "I always liked these."

Reno gasped, but he didn't pull away. The touch was like liquid fire, as the finger ran from his tattoo, down to his cheek and throat.

"Ah…"

~say something you idiot!~

"Got the suit at Lore's," he said stupidly.

~that is not what you should have said~

"Hmmm," Rufus said. "Good choice."

The finger continued to his shirt collar. "I am used to seeing your throat. This look is a little stiff for you," Rufus said in a whisper, as he pulled on the tie with the hand that had been on his thigh.

"Uunh."

"Is that better?" Rufus said as the tie was discarded onto the seat across from them, the red strikingly bright against the white leather seat.

Rufus leaned heavily against his shoulder so that he was almost breathing into Reno's ear. The aura of the boss was surrounding him and it certainly was getting warm in the car.

~fucking hot~

"I always liked the look of your throat," Rufus whispered into his ear. Reno couldn't help but shudder. The tingle was going straight to his…

~groin~

…core and made himgasp involuntarily. Reno was able to focus his eyes enough to see the amused face of the ShinRa brat.

~so close~

He had never really thought of him that way before. Well, he was hot and all, but he was the ShinRa brat! He was the next in line to be the boss.

Rufus was the little big boss! Rufus was the brat boss!

~and his hand is undoing your shirt~

"Aaah, ha-ha, Boss," he said. Why was he allowing this to happen?

~You've been riled up for a week, and any touch is feeling good. His touch is unquestionably good! ~

"Hmmmm," Rufus hummed between parted lips. One of Rufus' hands was running over Reno's throat and the other was fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.

"Unnn…"

Rufus chuckled, "Since when are you the quiet one?"

"Aaah," was the only sound that he was able to make.

~yer acting like an idiot~

Rufus grinned and undid another button on his shirt so that he could delve his soft hands further down Reno's chest. Rufus' face was so close to his that he could see that his eyes were sparkling with amusement.

~sexy brat~

"Yo," Reno said and pulled slightly back, only to have the brat lean in further, and the hand on his throat tighten slightly. "I don't think…ha-ha-hooo, man. Reno swore his heart stopped as the brat took his ear into his mouth. Reno found himself wiggling against the mouth, and made more involuntary sounds.

~you're a whore, man~

"Hmmm," Rufus hummed against his ear.

Reno thought he was going jump out of his skin, but he somehow managed to gather the strength to pull away and sit across from the ShinRa brat. He didn't like the way he was panting.

~wanting~

"Are you going to become bashful?" Rufus said, looking completely unruffled and calm.

"Just-uh...you know…ah… not used to… ah," Reno stammered, feeling like a complete moron that he wasn't able to string together a sentence right now. Of course, his body wasn't reacting like it was supposed to,either.

~body's been a traitor all week. Why would this day be any different?~

"I didn't think you were so shy," Rufus said, and was suddenly right there! Hovering over him, Rufus pressed one hand against his right shoulder and placed his knees on either side of Reno's thighs. This had effectively surrounded Reno into a warm trap. "I am curious to see if those legs you teased me with earlier are as tempting as the dancer's." Rufus was nearly sitting in his lap!

~see what trouble your teasing got you into~

"Hmmmm," Rufus hummed again. The hand that was by Reno's shoulder moved into his shirt again and the little boss' hand roamed over his skin on Reno's upper chest. Rufus was hovering over his lap and Reno realized that his boss smelled nice.

"Aaaah."

~do something~

Reno tried to move again, but this time Rufus pressed his hand against his chest. "Come on, now, your vest is getting in the way of my exploring." Rufus' hands went down to Reno's vest and worked on his buttons.

~he's gonna strip ya~

"Ah, boss." Reno swallowed. "I don't know if this is such a good idea, yo."

That hand didn't stop moving as it finished with the buttons and deftly moved the vest aside so that his belly felt very exposed, even if the shirt underneath still covered it.

"And why not?" Rufus said. Rufus' knees were trapping either side of Reno's thighs, making it so that he couldn't move away, even if Reno tried. Rufus leaned back slightly so that Reno could feel the boss' bottom resting slightly on his knees.

~trapped by the brat~

Rufus had stopped moving as if he were waiting for an answer. He had a patient look on his face, relaxed even.

~I have never been more tense in my life~

The stupid thing was that he had an answer, but it was an extremely dumb one and he couldn't get it out his mouth. He didn't think there was any refined or diplomatic way of saying that he had a crush on a SOLDIER and a SOLDIER wanna-be, and he didn't think he should be dabbling in anything else at the moment.

~you don't have a chance with them~

"Hmmmm?" Rufus hummed and his hand started to work on the remaining buttons on his shirt. "Thought so."

Reno swallowed as he looked down when the nimble fingers of one hand unbuttoned his shirt, and the other set of agile fingers crept up into his hair. Rufus gently tugged his head back, exposing his throat.

"You have a wonderful neckline," Rufus whispered.

~he's totally sexually harassing you~

"So swan-like."

~animal analogies? ~

"Graceful."

~whoever heard of a red swan?~

Rufus' fingers ran down the side of his throat, as the other hand was now massaging his scalp. Reno couldn't help but lean his head further back, baring his throat even more. "Tempting," Rufus breathed.

~Fucking tease!~

"Ruf-Rufus," Reno whispered, and was shocked at how his voice quivered as he spoke.

"Hmmm?" Rufus said as his finger ran over Reno's adam's apple. It caused Reno to swallow hard, and he let out a shaky breath. "I wonder if you want a kiss, hmmm?"

~Shit, yeah!~

The hand in his hair kept Reno from moving on his own to claim a kiss for himself.

~why don't you move your hands? ~

That was a wonderful thought! He moved his hands to reach up to touch the brat that was straddling him. Rufus gave out a small laugh. "Ah-ah-ah," Rufus said shaking his head lightly. "I am having fun. Put those hands back down." Rufus gave Reno's hair a little tug.

~No way~

But he did. Reno obediently put his hands back down to his side. It took a lot of effort, and he was shaking slightly.

~Boss's having fun?~

"I think you want more than a kiss, hmmm?" Rufus said, leaning close using a wonderful sinful tone of voice.

~Do it already!~

Reno found that his heart was racing, and his breath was coming out in short, small gasps as the brat's fully clothed chest pressed against Reno's exposed body. Rufus had tilted his head to the side and breathed against his throat.

"A little nibble?"

~Come on!~

"Uh," Reno was able to moan, as he tried to turn his head to meet the brat's lips. He wanted the kiss; he wanted the touch. He didn't want the teasing!

~two SOLDIER boys do that enough~

The hand in his hair held him firmly in place, and those damp lips kissed his throat. Reno knew he was panting. The panting accompanied small needy sounds that he didn't even know that he could make. Rufus' lips moved to his jaw, exploring and teasing him.

Reno couldn't help but lift his hips. He doubted that he ever had such an uncomfortable tightness in his pants.

~maybe the brat will help with that~

"Boss!" he said with a voice full of desperation.

"Hmmm?" Rufus said as he dragged his lips up his cheek. "Are you enjoying this?"

~Boss is such a tease!~

"Hell, yeah," Reno whispered and tried to move to claim his boss' mouth, but the hand in his hair kept him from doing so.

He raised his hips again.

"You need to relax, my guardian," Rufus said. "Enjoy the ride I am giving you."

~need it~

"Please, Boss." He desperately panted. Rufus gave him a small chuckle and…

~finally~

…touched his lips to his. Reno wanted to consume the mouth that was only just touching his lips. Reno had never felt so desperate for a kiss in his life, and the barest whisper of a touch was not nearly enough.

"Boss," he said and despised the pained whimper that followed. He ignored the pain in his scalp as the hand in his hair tried to hold him back.

~want~

Reno pushed his lips against the soft ones of Rufus. Reno forced his tongue into the warm cavern of a mouth. Rufus made a small sighing sound and forced the kiss to his aggressive favour. Reno let him as the hand that was in his hair relented, and began to pet him. Reno felt the other skilful hand reaching in between them, and could feel his shirt being unbuttoned.

Rufus pulled back and Reno wanted to follow him with the kiss, but a hand pushed against his bare chest to keep him against the back of the white limo seat.

"You kiss well," Rufus said in a low, sensual grumble. Rufus licked his lips and Reno was glad to see that he made the boss pant.

~so want!~

"Wouldn't expect any less of me, yo?" Reno managed to whisper.

Rufus laughed. "No, I would not." Rufus' fingers finished with the buttons on his shirt, and he now pulled it out of Reno's pants so that his chest was revealed. Reno's guns were now uncomfortably lodged in his armpits, but he wasn't going to complain. Rufus' hands were now caressing his sides, and his grey eyes did not leave Reno's sparkling blue ones as he spoke. "You are quite enticing, Swan."

~Swan? Whatever turns you on, Boss

"You too, Boss," Reno said as those wandering hands moved to his ribs.

Rufus' eyes lowered and he made another humming sound. "My. You even have tattoos here." Reno felt the hands run over the markings that he had that covered the front of his ribs and curled to his back. They were in the same red ink that marked his cheeks. "You will have to tell me sometime, what it all means."

"Anythin' ya want, Boss," Reno whispered.

~and I mean anything~

"Hmmm," Rufus hummed. Reno gasped as Rufus leaned in and kissed his chest.

~gonna burst if he keeps this up~

"Wanna touch ya." Reno gasped as he bucked his hips and threw his head back.

Rufus continued to give small kisses across his chest. Rufus' eyes turned up at him and made that cat-like resonance again. "Do you?"

"Hell, yeah," Reno said and tried to move his hands. Rufus grabbed his hands and pressed them hard into the limo seats.

"I am still having fun," Rufus said. "Let me touch you."

~touch me already!~

"Feels…ah…good, boss," Reno muttered as those hands moved down to his belly. The touch caused his skin to tingle and feel like he was going to spontaneously combust.

"I can hear that," Rufus purred. "Your tongue seems to be working again." Rufus smirked and flashed his expensive white teeth. "I will have to remedy that."

"Wha..humpf," Reno whimpered as he was greeted with an aggressive kiss, and ended up fighting the tongue of his boss which seemed to want to consume him.

~burning up here.~

The kiss lasted until they couldn't breathe anymore, and they parted, gasping.

"Aren't ya gettin' hot in that suit, Boss?" Reno quickly asked, and tried to lean forward to plant a kiss on the boss' throat, but Rufus pulled back. "I can help ya with that."

Rufus laughed as he leaned back, putting more pressure on Reno's knees, and traced his hands down Reno's chest to his belly; those dexterous fingers dancing around the hem of his…

~groin~

… fancy red suit pants. "I am sure you would, but I am quite comfortable right now, my sinewy Turk."

~I'm not. Pants are too fucking tight.~

"You are flushed," Rufus said with his fingers moving under the waist line in a soothing, smoothing motion.

~quit teasing Boss, and just damn well do it already~

"Let me touch you," Reno begged and bucked his hips. "Boss, please."

~begging? You have become –so- pathetic~

"Hmmm?" Rufus said and leaned forward to claim another kiss. Reno gladly leaned forward as well, to accept the aggressive tongue into his mouth.

~damn he can kiss~

They continued to kiss with the boss' hands in between them; those fingers delving deeper into Reno's pants as they kissed and panted into each other. Reno wanted to touch the brat, push him down into the seat and strip that pompous white suit off of him.

Rufus pulled back from the kiss and Reno found himself moaning and wanting more.

~don't start begging again~

"Boss," Reno whispered and hated the way that his voice had taken on a whinny…

~pleading~

…tone to it.

"I believe we have arrived," Rufus said.

"Wha?"

Rufus laughed slightly. "You do amuse me, Reno," Rufus said and moved his hands from the red pants and tugged at Reno's shirt, covering up his bare chest and belly. "It seems that I have arrived home."

~that was the long way?~

Reno felt a smile creep across his face. "Yo, need help gettin' back to…

~your bed~

…your place?"

"Oh. I think I can manage," Rufus said.

"Wha?"

Reno swallowed hard as Rufus pulled back from him and made him feel absolutely naked. Reno sat, feeling like a complete moron staring as his boss, who simply smoothed his completely unruffled suit…

~with those elegantly soft hands~

… and with a strange crooked smile plastered on his face. "Thank you for the escort, Reno," he said as the limo door opened.

"Wha?"

Rufus slipped out of the limo with his usual elegant grace.

The door closed.

Reno sat there feeling very naked, very used, and very frustrated.

~what the hell just didn't happen here?~

"What the hell!" he yelled into the now empty limo.

Reno moved his arms from his side. He hadn't realized how sore he had become from not moving.

He was about to bolt out the limo, grab Rufus and drag him back in, and ravish him right there on the white leather seats!

The dividing window rolled down.

"Is there somewhere you would like to go, sir?"

~I am so going to kill someone~

Reno mumbled an answer and started to button himself back up. The driver didn't bother to roll up the window as he started to drive away from the ShinRa manor.

~I hate men~

"Never even gotta look at my legs, yo," Reno muttered, as the limo started to move again.

 

Chapter 19- Garage​

Sephiroth brushed his sleeve against his mouth again. Whatever type of vile hand lotion that skeleton of a woman used, was still lingering on his lips. He shouldn't have kissed that chilly hand of hers.

~courtesy is expected~

Courtesy.

He scoffed.

~sucking up is more like it~

He hated that he had to sit through that meal and deal with the political niceties of having the brat boss, head of the Turks, and of course, him being the figurehead General of SOLDIER at the table all to…to impress some dancers.

Not a princess; not a prince.

Not a corporate leader...hell, not even a mayor.

Dancers!

Damn Dancers!

He hated that he was thinking about how much Genesis would have enjoyed that dinner, and most likely would have convinced him to take up the dancers' invitation to join them back to their hotel.

~Gen~

Angeal would have berated them for such dishonourable actions.

~Angeal~

But they had left him behind. Leaving him with the feeling of being confused and alone was even more painful than before he had friends in his life.

Sephiroth turned; he had delayed making his way back to his cold apartment for long enough. He was getting tired from driving around and seeing couples walking hand in hand on the street. He was tired of thinking of couples that he imagined were in each other's embrace behind the dark windows he drove by. He desired that warmth once again, but he knew that it was not what greeted him upon his arrival of the place that he called home.

~coldness~

Very cold. The evening was nothing more than a chilly reminder of how frigid his life had become.

~again~

He had that warmth. A taste of what it was like to be more than just the General, and to have a warm body nestled beside him as he slept.

~miss that~

He truly did miss it.

~want it~

He had hoped that Zack would take that place. Zack was the closest thing he had to a friend. He thought Zack needed time. But it had appeared that Zack had his flower girl interest from the slums and now it seemed he had a yellow-haired infantryman in his apartment. He doubted that there was room for him to pursue his second in command.

Sephiroth frowned as he drove into the garage. He would have to pass the door of his comrade and be aware that Zack had someone else warming his bed.

~maybe he didn't bring him back to his place~

Sephiroth remembered the black bag that Zack had carried the day that he announced he had a date. Genesis had come back from a shopping trip with a similar anonymous looking bag…

~didn't sleep that night~

…and it had been full of wonderful surprises.

~didn't sleep for a couple of nights~

Sephiroth didn't think he liked the idea of Zack enjoying such delights with another, when it should be him.

~you haven't even asked~

That was the problem. He didn't think Zack would be interested in joining him in his bed, but it was quite a shock to see that he went both ways, as it were.

~with an infantryman~

He frowned heavily as he parked his car in its designated parking spot. He dreaded the thought of walking past Zack's apartment door. He hesitated as he shut off the engine. For a moment, he thought that he should put his car in reverse and go for a longer drive. He did not want to go back to his cold and empty apartment knowing that Zack was getting warm and comfy in his own.

~with an infantryman~

He shut off the car and exited, immediately grimacing at the strange smell that was filling the garage.

~ cigarette smoke ~

He frowned. He knew the source of the smell was usually Reno. Sephiroth walked in long graceful steps towards the elevators. The smell was stronger as he got closer. He hated those damn cigarettes that Reno smoked. He had threatened Reno a couple of times about his bad habit of smoking in the garage. It looked like he was going to have to do it again.

Sephiroth saw the obnoxious Turk slightly hunched on the northern side of the elevators. The redhead was slouched against the wall, and in a slender hand he was holding a smouldering cigarette.

Sephiroth felt his lips twitch at the sight.

Reno was a mess.

There was not a button that was on the Turk's shirt that was connected properly. The white shirt was hanging out of his pants, and was twisted so that a glimpse of Reno's white belly was clearly visible above the waistline. The formerly snug vest hung loosely and twisted underneath the heavy red jacket. With Reno's slumped shoulders and slightly arched back, his guns that would have normally been hidden, were visible. Reno's normally wild hair looked even worse as half of his rat tail was no longer contained in the elastic that he bound it with, and his necktie was nowhere to be seen.

Reno had been strangely neat and orderly when they had left Monteno's; quite an accomplishment for the normally rough Turk. His appearance made it apparent that he had some difficulties with Rufus.

Reno sucked hard on his cigarette and then exhaled with a long sigh. Sephiroth noticed the redhead's hands were shaking, and the horrid cigarette quivered precariously in those fingers.

"Full of fuckin' teases," the Turk muttered as he took another drag. "Hate them all."

Sephiroth did not have to ponder what he was talking about. Obviously the Turk had a difficult ride home. It was pretty evident that Rufus had something to do with the condition of the smoking fool.

"I presume…" Sephiroth started.

Reno made a startled sound and looked like he was going to jump out of his skin. He nearly dropped the cigarette, but recovered it with a little bit of juggling, somehow not managing to burn his fingers. "What the hell!"

"… that you had some difficulty escorting the Vice-President home this evening," Sephiroth finished, ignoring the amusing nervous reaction from the Turk.

The Turk yelled, and glared at him. "Don't fuckin' scare me like that Seph!"

~Seph~

He glared at the redhead.

"..iroth."

~terrible save~

The shaking hand brought that cigarette to his lips again.

"Jumpy, aren't we Turk?" Sephiroth spoke and walked closer to the jittery man. The cigarette vibrated in Reno's hand as he held it to the side, at least attempting to be considerate.

"Fuckin' horrid night, bro."

~bro~

"Who was that boy?" Sephiroth blurted. It was the perfect opportunity to get information out of the nervous redhead. It would save him hunting him down later or asking Zack directly. The image of the boy walking past him, staring at his phone and ignoring him became brilliant in his mind again.

"Huh? Boy? Who?" Reno blinked.

"The boy that was with Zack at Monteno's," Sephiroth grumbled.

"Boy?"

"The blond that was with Zack!" Sephiroth was beginning to wonder if getting information out of the Turk was going to be possible. Obviously Rufus had rattled his nerves.

"SOLDIER wannabe?" Reno blinked and threw his finished cigarette butt onto the ground, then stomped on it. He straightened slightly as he pulled away from the wall and looked like he was searching his jacket for something. "What about 'em?" He pulled out his cigarette pack.

"What is the wannabe's name?" Sephiroth demanded and tried not to clench his fists in frustration at the horrible manner of speech from the former street urchin.

"Cloud?" Reno said. His quaking fingers pulled out another cigarette and placed it against his lips.

"Is that his name?" Sephiroth said. Cloud. He did not know of this infantryman. "What is his last name?"

Reno pulled out a lighter to light his cigarette. "Strife," he said and exhaled the smoke sharply, and he slumped so that the line of his belly beneath his disjointedly buttoned shirt could no longer be seen.

"Cloud Strife," Sephiroth repeated. The blond hair and blue eyes should have been easy to spot among the mostly dark haired infantry. How did he miss the young man, and Zack take notice of him? There was a bunch of questions about the boy: Where was he from?; How long had he been in Midgar?; How long had he been working for ShinRa? From Reno's comments, he understood that Cloud wanted to be a SOLDIER. Was that why Zack was interested in him? "Why was he with Zack?"

Reno mumbled something around his cigarette. He was looking at his toes and twisting like a scolded child.

"What's that?" Sephiroth leaned in a bit toward the other man.

"I lost a stupid bet," Reno mumbled, and his eyes darted back to his shoes. Sephiroth barely heard the mutter that came after. "Stupid amatore bastards"

~amatore

That word disturbed him, but he would question that later. Reno calling them lovers was very disturbing. How long had Zack been seeing this Cloud?

"Bet?" Sephiroth asked, moving to safer ground than Zack's personal life for the moment.

Reno mumbled and began to squirm in his childish manner again.

"That is an exceedingly bad habit of yours," Sephiroth grumbled. "Look at me when you speak."

Reno looked up at him. "I lost a damn bet!" he snapped. "Alright. I lost a drinkin' contest to that half-pint, emo SOLDIER wannabe and…" Reno's voice trailed off and his face went red.

"And?" Sephiroth pressed. He watched as the Turk took another deep, shaky drag off his cigarette and refrained from looking at his feet again.

"Nothin'," Reno said.

~liar~

The Turk had a lot of anger in his eyes at the moment. Sephiroth guessed it had something to do with the Vice-President. He would have to broach that topic as well, but first, he had to clear up this bet issue. "You lost a drinking contest and you had to provide a fancy dinner for this Cloud?"

"Hmpf. Yeah," Reno said.

"And so, why was he there with Zack?" Sephiroth asked, seeing the strange discomfort and glaze flash in his blue eyes.

"The idiots were jus' tryin' to break my wallet, yo," Reno said in a rushed voice. He obviously was covering up something else that was still sitting behind his eyes. Reno's eyes wavered and fell to his feet once again.

"Zack stated he had a date."

Reno was in the process of inhaling that horrible cigarette when Sephiroth spoke that simple sentence. Reno made a gasping sound and looked up at him with a horrified look on his face.

"Now, I know who it was with. He neglected to tell me," Sephiroth said. "I was not aware that Zack's... attentions have shifted."

"Yeah, um..." Reno said.

"How long has this been occurring?" Sephiroth demanded, even shocked at how his tone had become somewhat fierce.

"Shit, I dunno," Reno said, finishing off his cigarette and discarding it with the other dead butt on the ground.

~Liar~

Sephiroth pressed the elevator button. He was tiring of the smell and the conversation with the redheaded Turk. He decided to switch topics. "How was Rufus?"

Reno had been fiddling in his jacket again but froze as Sephiroth spoke those words. His eyes grew wide for a moment, but then he sneered. "Fuckin' tease, yo."

It was as Sephiroth suspected. Rufus was up to his old tricks and had targeted Reno this time. It also seemed that Reno realized, at that moment, that he had buttoned his shirt wrong and began to mutter another series of curses. If nothing else, the Turk was always amusing.

"Tease?" Sephiroth asked. He was well aware of the Vice-President's tendency to want to control every situation, and had seen the aftermath of some of Rufus' play.

~Gen got teased by him, as well~

The shaking of Reno's hands grew as he reached for another cigarette. "That will be the third," Sephiroth said unnecessarily.

"Yeah. So. Whatever. I damn well need this, yo," Reno said as he pulled it out of his pack.

"I had warned you repeatedly about your bad habit," Sephiroth said, reaching over and pulling the cigarette out of his hands.

"Yo!" Reno protested as Sephiroth crushed it between his fingers. Sephiroth even hated the smell of even the dry tobacco and wished that he had just tossed it aside. "I said that I needed it!"
"You should try a less harmful habit," Sephiroth said.

"Everythin' is fuckin' damaging to my health right now. This is the only thing that de-stresses me!" Reno growled angrily as he pulled out another cigarette. Sephiroth grasped the pack and crushed it, tossing it down the length of the garage along with the lighter.

Reno looked horrified at his actions, and with another growl, "You owe me, bro."

"I owe you nothing," Sephiroth said as he looked at the angry redhead.

~you always did like the ones with red hair~

He found himself tensing at the thought.

~especially with a wild temper and hot mouth to match~

He must have been thinking about Genesis too much tonight if he was equating him to Reno. Reno was nothing like Genesis and there was no reason that he should be comparing the two.

~bet he's just as wild in bed~

He rubbed his forehead and tried not to think of the disturbing thoughts. He knew that it had been awhile, but the thoughts of Reno were not welcome ones!

"I need another damn smoke!" Reno pouted. "Damn it, Seph. I already had a tense enough night. I need to calm my nerves! Those," Reno flailed his arms in the direction Sephiroth threw the smokes, "were my last pack, yo!"

"Good." Sephiroth found himself angrily leaning in towards the Turk. "Maybe you will then quit that dirty habit."

"I like my dirty habits," Reno glared back.

~I bet he has some really fun dirty habits~

Sephiroth realized that he was leaning much too close to the agitated Turk. He stood straight and took a step back, only to have the angered man step into his personal space. Reno pushed a finger into his chest. "Been a pretty shitty week and I'm not in the mood to deal with another one of ya flirty bastards, yo."

~flirty bastards?~

"I think you should keep your hands to yourself, Turk," Sephiroth warned.

"I have been!" Reno said and poked his chest again. "It's gettin' damn annoyin' that I am expected to keep my hands to myself."

Reno made the bad choice of poking the General again.

~that's it!~

Sephiroth grabbed the Turk's arm and quickly twisted it behind his back in a swirling motion, and then he thrust the redhead against the wall in a brutal push. Reno made a satisfyingly scared grunt. Sephiroth placed his other hand on the hip of the Turk and leaned against his body, knowing that he was way too wiry to be held back by just by his arm.

"I do not appreciate being poked by you," Sephiroth growled close to the Turk's ear. He heard Reno's breath hitch in his throat as he did so, and Reno let out a moan.

~nothing like up against the wall ~

Sephiroth let go of the Turk and backed away, very aware that he did not like the feeling that the redhead was giving him.

~he's very warm~

The Turk whirled on him.

The elevator dinged and opened beside him.

Sephiroth released the breath that he didn't realize that he was holding, and walked to the elevator.

He didn't take his eyes off of the flustered Turk, who was still standing with his back straight against the wall. The skin of his belly was showing again in that stance, and Sephiroth found that he had to force his eyes up.

~redheads make things interesting~

He pressed the button for the door to close.

He heard Reno mutter, "Fuckin' tease."

 

Chapter 20- Kitchen ​

Zack had his hands on the firm ass of the younger man. As soon as they walked into the door, he had thrust him onto his kitchen counter to enjoy the feeling of the warm, and inviting body. Zack had his mouth firmly latched onto the supple mouth that was fighting against his with his tongue. Cloud had that pale blue shirt unbuttoned and pulled to the side, and Zack had spent a few moments admiring the lithe body of the man, before starting to devour his mouth.

Zack broke away from those lips and moved to Cloud's bare shoulder. Cloud made a soft moan and tilted his head back to allow him easier access. Zack squeezed that wiggling and suede covered bottom.

~want him~

""Z-Zack," Cloud whimpered, and squirmed against him. Zack did not move his mouth from Cloud's neck.

~tastes good~

"Zack." Cloud was moaning more urgently, and his hands pushed against Zack's chest, forcing him to pull away.

"Hmm?"

Cloud was looking at him with a flush on his face, and short quick breaths escaping his slightly swollen lips. He looked amazing.

~cute~

The normally stoic young man was pure wildfire when he was turned on, and Zack planned on enjoying each moment he could with Cloud like this; it was empowering.

Cloud opened his mouth as if he were to speak, but then let out a sad sigh. Cloud lowered his eyes, and his hands dragged down his chest. Zack wanted to pounce on him again, but he held back his urges. Cloud mumbled, "Oh, man."

~that didn't sound good~

"What's wrong?" Zack queried, and moved his hands from the softly clad ass, so that Cloud was now sitting on the counter. Zack placed a hand under the blond's chin to force Cloud's blue eyes up to his violet ones. He moved his other hand to Cloud's side so he could rub him gently.

"N-nothing's wrong," Cloud said, a little hesitantly.

~that sounds like something's wrong~

Zack tilted Cloud's head and examined his frowning face. Cloud's eyes no longer contained that lustful sparkle that had been there when he had thrust him onto the counter. Cloud was having another one of his mood swings.

~not now~

"Cloud," he said softly, and continued to rub his warm side.

Cloud's chewed his lip and shyly looked up at him.

~damn cute~

He let out a big sigh. "I-I should tell you something."

~tell me something?~

Zack swallowed hard. What could Cloud want to tell him? They had been friends for so long; was there something that he didn't know?

"Well?" Zack tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

~this better not have anything to do with Sephiroth~

Cloud sighed heavily. "It's not that easy," Cloud said as his fingers ghosted over Zack's belly. Zack held back the shudder that threatened to cause him to burst out of his skin.

"Well…" Cloud whispered. "...It's just…."

~spit it out!~

He had never wanted to shake someone more in his life than he wanted to shake Cloud right then for being bashful. "What?"

Cloud gave another sigh, drew himself up straight, looked him directly in the eye and...crumbled into a slouch. Cloud pulled his hands from Zack's side and covered his face. Zack was about to ask him to spit it out already, when Cloud starting talking into his hands.

"I haven't..." he paused and threw his hands in his lap. "I haven't gone all the way before."

Zack blinked.

~virgin~

Cloud still looked at his lap to his twisting hands. "Me and- well – It wasn't like," Cloud sniffed. "I mean, you have to be quiet in the barracks and…"

~don't need you to be quiet here~

"…everytime, well, we tried, I would get too loud and we would have to stop."

Zack smirked and refrained from laughing. Cloud was worried about not having gone all the way. "That tongue of yours tells me that you have more than enough experience."

Cloud twisted a little and Zack could see that flush on his cheeks. "Yeah, well. I'm quiet when I do… that."

Zack chuckled lightly at him.

"It's not funny," Cloud said, lifting his chin up to look at him. Cloud's eyes flashed with a strange determination.

"What are you worried about?" Zack asked, caressing his face. He leaned in for a gentle and reassuring kiss before pulling back to look at Cloud again.

Cloud chewed his lip, and his eyes showed a little bit of fear. "I haven't done this before!" he said loudly. "I mean… I… I…"

Zack gave him another gentle kiss on the lips, aware of how big Cloud's blue eyes were. "We don't have to rush anything," Zack breathed into his mouth. "You still want to, right?"

"No!" Cloud said quickly.

~WHAT~

"Yes- I mean, yes! Don't confuse me!" Cloud said, shaking his head. "I want to. I mean…don't look at me like that." Cloud's hand reached out to his shoulder and held Zack firmly. "I just haven't done it before!"

Zack let his heart calm down as he looked at him; Cloud's eyes were so large and bright. He also looked a little scared at his own bungling words. Cloud's mouth was moving as if he wanted to say more, but was unsure if he was going to muddle his words further.

~he is just nervous~

"Are you worried that it will hurt?" he whispered.

Cloud nodded. "I want to, Zack." Cloud lowered his eyes. "I really, really want to."

~by Gaia, I want you~

Zack took another gentle kiss from Cloud's lips. Cloud was a little tentative, but returned it.

"I'll take it slow," Zack said, and wrapped his arms around Cloud's waist. "I'll do whatever you want."

Cloud flushed again, and that lustful sparkle returned to his eyes. Zack was a little startled when brown, suede-covered legs wrapped firmly around his waist, and Cloud's arms clasped frimly around his neck. Cloud lifted himself off of the counter, and pressed himself against the dark haired man's chest, their mouths crashing hungrily together. Zack had to stagger back, hurriedly placing his arms around the slender man's waist, and found his back pressed against his fridge.

~not acting like a virgin~

Zack didn't waste anymore time in the kitchen. With Cloud clinging to his body and his tongue trying to force its way down his throat, he carried the blond into the bedroom.

~bedroom, here we come~

Zack was forced to break the kiss to catch his breath. Cloud moved his mouth so that he was nibbling on his ear, which caused Zack to lurch, as they neared the bed.

"Damn it," Zack muttered and staggered forward, nearly falling. Cloud was not letting go of him, and seem to squeeze his legs tighter around him. Whatever doubt or fear that Cloud had, was obviously gone.

~time to play~

He stood beside his bed and released his arms from around Cloud waist. Cloud's legs just gripped him even tighter and his arms pulled himself closer, as if he was afraid to let go.

Zack sighed, trying to control himself somewhat. The nibbling, and the tight grip around his waist, was making it hard for him to breathe. "Cloud," Zack gasped, and put his hands back on those hips.

"Nrgh," Cloud murmured against his ear.

"We're in the bedroom," Zack whispered and ran his hands up his sides again, causing Cloud to shiver.

"Unnn," Cloud whimpered and pulled away from his ear. "We are?"

"Uh-huh."

Cloud moved his mouth back to his ear with another incoherent sound. The grip around his waist loosened. Cloud's teeth stayed on his ear, forcing Zack to bend as Cloud slid down his body. Zack groaned against his will as Cloud let go. Zack stood back up, taking in a shaking breath.

"You sure don't act like you don't know what you're doing," Zack said, as he grabbed the blue shirt that was loosely hanging off of Cloud's shoulders. He threw it to the floor.

A strange, sensual smile spread across the young's man's face, which made Zack shiver.

"You're teasing again," Zack whispered, surprised that he couldn't raise his voice.

"Am I?" Cloud said, and his fingers moved to Zack's shirt to begin undoing the buttons. "I thought you liked it when I tease."

~damn it~

Every move that Cloud did was teasing. Every word, every breath; everything about him was teasing. Zack whimpered as Cloud tossed his shirt and vest to the floor beside the pants he had discarded earlier, when Sephiroth had dressed him.

~don't need to think about Sephiroth, right now~

Cloud's hands were on Zack's chest, and his mouth was at his throat. Zack refocused and was able to move his hands to those snug pants. Cloud mimicked his movements as his fingers went to the front of Zack's pants. Buttons and zippers were undone.

~Cloud is commando~

Zack suddenly remembered how wonderful it felt feeling up the blond, who had not been wearing underwear, in the cab ride home. He groaned uncontrollably as he tugged at those tight pants. Cloud effortlessly pushed Zack's down and they fell around his ankles. Zack wished he had thought of going commando.

"Your pants are too tight," Zack mumbled as he tried to peel those pants off his hips.

"You bought them a size too small," Cloud said as his thumbs rubbed underneath the hem of his boxers.

~gonna have to have a little talk with Reno later~

Zack hummed and kissed Cloud again, with his hands trying to get Cloud's pants down those slender hips. It wasn't nearly quick enough.

~desperate times call for desperate measures~

Zack gripped the hem of Cloud's pants and dropped to his knees, yanking the tight piece of clothing down with him. Cloud gave a pleasing, yet sharp gasp. Thankfully the pants slipped down with the force, and now…

~oh yeah~

…he had the most delightful sight twitching right in front of him. Cloud swayed a little bit and placed his hands onto Zack shoulders so that he wouldn't fall.

~mine~

Zack was not in the mood for any more teasing. He was so wound up and wanted the enticing man. Zack did not hesitate to move his hands and grab his hips to still him, and allowed his mouth to descend on the waiting cock that was right in front of his face. Cloud pressed against him. The sounds that he was making was beyond anything he had heard Cloud, or any other lovers, make before. The pleading, mewling sounds caused his stomach to flutter and his skin to feel like it was going to start on fire.

~music to my ears~

Zack swirled his tongue around the warm, throbbing member and applied some suction to it.

Cloud's pleading noises echoed in the room. One of Cloud's hands tugged at Zack's hair, as if he was trying to push him away, but Zack was not going to allow that to happen.

Zack rolled his eyes up, so he could look up at Cloud. Cloud was looking down at him with eyes that were absolutely glowing…

~will be amazing when he becomes a SOLDIER~

…with lust and passion. His face was flushed as he opened those lips, and let out another wonderful moan. Zack could feel Cloud's whole body shaking as he stood there.

"Zack!" Cloud said urgently, and let out a groan. "I…I...un…coming…Zaaa."

Zack stopped his suction and his tongue to listen to Cloud's panting. Zack pulled back slowly, keeping his lips tight around his cock before he let it bounce up against the taut belly.

Cloud frowned and looked down at him. "Why…why did you stop?" Zack was amused by the annoyed tone and narrowed eyes that were directed at him.

Zack smirked. He tightened his grip on his hips and tossed Cloud onto the bed. Cloud gave a small yelp as he bounced on the mattress. Zack quickly pulled the suede pants off and threw them across the room. Zack made sure that his legs didn't get tangled up in his own pants that were wrapped around his ankles.

The naked and excited Cloud looked up at him expectedly.

Zack grinned and went to his bedside table.

"You did make it to the store," Cloud said with grin as he moved to the centre of Zack's bed.

Zack nodded. It was Cloud's first time tonight.

~you get to deflower him~

Zack tried not to react to the thought. Zack's stomach tightened with anticipation. He never wanted anyone so much, and wanted to make sure that Cloud was not going to regret his decision. Zack sat on the edge of the bed and opened the drawer to pull out a package of condoms, and lube.

~the rest will be for later~

He closed the drawer and turned to Cloud, whose eyes were wide and his teeth on his lip.

~so damn cute~

He placed himself beside the younger man and kissed him, allowing his hand to roam over Cloud's chest and belly.

~way too loud for the barracks~

Zack resumed kissing him, enjoying the feel of the warming body that was wiggling against him.

"Zack!" Cloud said as he threw his head back.

Zack moved his hand down to that firm bottom again, as he kissed and sucked on Cloud's neck. Cloud's hands were clinging to his back in a nearly painful way. Another delightful moan filled the room that had started from Cloud's lips. Zack knew that Cloud wanted him to pay attention to his cock that he was rubbing against his thigh, but Zack had other plans.

~big plans~

Zack's hand went between those clenching cheeks.

"Relax," he whispered into Cloud's ear. Cloud nodded and he began to relax and Zack moved his hand deeper to touch that wonderful, tight entrance.

Cloud made a small squeaking sound as he tightened up again. Zack smiled and moved his hand away to now receive a slight moan of disappointment.

"We need to get you ready," Zack whispered.

Cloud's whole body shuddered against him. That movement caused the tightness to coil in Zack's belly. Zack knew that he had to take his time, but he was starting to get anxious himself.

~calm down~

Cloud rubbed against him again and he felt the wetness of his excitement.

~make him scream your name again~

His inner thoughts were not helping him calm down. He had to pull away and reach for the bottle of lube.

Cloud moved impatiently against him as Zack handed him the bottle. "Hold this," Zack said and kissed Cloud's already swollen lips. Cloud's pale fingers grabbed the bottle and looked at him with wide eyes. Zack positioned himself a little lower so that he could reach down between his legs easier. He gave Cloud a little tug and was rewarded by thrusting hips and a panting gasp of his name.

"You drive me nuts," Zack said.

"You're teasing me," Cloud whined.

"Turnabout is fair play." Zack moved his hand and squeezed Cloud's tight balls to get another squeak out of him. "Open it," Zack whispered, squeezing a little harder. He was pleased to not only have Cloud pressing against him again, but toss his head back with the most pleasure-filled moan rumbling from his throat.

~just give up trying to tease him~

Cloud shook as he tried to open the bottle. Brilliant blue eyes focused on the cap and then the label. "Cherry?" A strange smile crossed Cloud's face.

"Don't like cherry?" Zack asked as he moved his hand to touch that puckering hole. He allowed his finger to circle it.

"Did you…ah…you buy-y this on purpose?" Cloud squirmed against his finger, but complied and flipped the bottle open.

"Yeah," Zack hummed against Cloud's ear.

~flavours are more fun~

Cloud chuckled.

~he picks the strangest times to laugh~

"What's so funny?" he said and gripped his delicate sac a little forcefully.

Cloud made a startled gasp, and he bucked his hips. The laughing was replaced with a lustful moan of the word 'cherry'.

~deflower. Pop his cherry~

Zack groaned.

~don't be so dense~

"I should have just gone to the drugstore and got plain stuff."

Cloud kissed Zack's lips in a gentle manner. "What store did you go to?"

~time for a distraction~

He pressed his finger against the entrance without penetrating it. "This is what you want, isn't it?"

Cloud nodded and moaned. "Please."

Zack removed his hand and brought it up to Cloud. "Put some lube on my fingers."

Cloud obliged. Zack felt the cool gel go onto his fingers.

~relax~

"That's good for now," Zack said when Cloud kept squeezing the bottle. "Keep it handy, though."

"Uh," was the only sound that Cloud seemed to be able to get out of his mouth, as that lithe body shivered with lust.

Zack moved his lubed fingers down. Zack pressed his lips against those moaning ones. He didn't want to waste any more time in getting the eager young man ready to go.

Cloud was very tense.

"You need to relax," Zack purred.

Cloud made a small gasping sound. "Cold." Cloud spread his legs a little wider, to allow Zack access; he was obviously trying to relax.

Zack rubbed his finger against the tight little opening. Cloud twisted his hips slightly and tossed his head back and forth. Zack nuzzled into the soft blond hair, and whispered into his ear. "Do you want it?"

Cloud made a positive grunt as Zack twirled his finger teasingly. Zack's own erection was throbbing, and painfully pressing against his boxers. He wanted Cloud; he wanted to feel him writhing beneath him.

"Damn it, Zack," Cloud muttered as he grit his teeth. "Please."

Zack smiled and obliged.

He pushed a finger into the tight little hole.

~so tight~

Cloud thrust his hips forward with a grunt. Cloud's own erection was twitching anxiously against his belly. The tip was leaking as Zack twirled his finger inside the man.

~think how good it'll feel when you are in him~

Zack shuddered, and pushed his finger deeper.

Cloud gasped and made a startled sound.

"Are you okay?" Zack said, and slowed his movements. He remembered the first time being so precarious between pain and pleasure. He wanted to make sure that Cloud only got pleasure.

Cloud's eyes were glazed over. "Oh, yeah," Cloud breathed and closed his mouth onto Zack's. He muttered against his lips. "Don't stop."

It took a lot of control for Zack to stop from forcing another finger in. Cloud was still too tight with the one finger. He wasn't ready for the next one, as much as he wanted to hurry it…

~get inside~

…along.

Zack curled his finger, and Cloud gave out a startled, yet pleasured scream. This time Zack did not stop as he stroked his finger against the spot that caused the scream.

"Zack!"

~he screamed your name, again~

"How does that feel?" Zack whispered near his ear. He stroked his inner spot again.

Cloud made a series of inarticulate sounds. Cloud's hips moved forcefully forward; his hand gripped the sheets; his back arched; his beautiful, throbbing cock burst over his smooth white belly.

~you made him come with a finger~

Zack slowed his motions and let the enthralled young man come down from the orgasm that had coursed through his body. He kept moving his finger, relishing how the body squeezed his smaller digit.

~wait until you can feel it on your bigger one~

Zack quickly kissed Cloud's breathless mouth. Zack was hurting now; he was hurting so bad, and his body was screaming from watching Cloud orgasm.

"Relax, Cloud," Zack hummed against his mouth that was trying to still catch his breath.

"Zack," Cloud said, as he let out a sated breath.

Zack realized that Cloud was more relaxed now, despite the mess that he had just made. "There you go," Zack said as he moved another finger in. "Still so tight."

Zack worked faster in preparing Cloud. Once both his fingers moved in easily, he started to spread his fingers apart. Cloud continued to make wonderfully lust-filled noises.

~loud~

Cloud's hand was now grabbing at Zack's boxers. Zack had been so focused on preparing Cloud, that he was not aware that Cloud was almost hard again.

"Want to," Cloud rasped. "Zack!"

Zack refrained from ripping off his boxers and throwing them across the room, before pouncing on the young man. He pulled his fingers out and was pleased to hear the disappointed groan from Cloud.

Zack stretched over to his end table to grab a condom from the package. Cloud took it as an invitation to start tugging at his boxers, and a fevered hand quickly surrounded Zack's member.

"Easy," Zack hissed.

~gotta stay cool or you're gonna blow before you even get in~

Zack ripped open the package with his teeth and took out the piece of latex. Cloud's eyes were wide.

"You need to let go," Zack said as he looked down at the hand that gripped him.

Cloud blinked and complied, but still stared at him. Cloud visibly swallowed as he looked at Zack's stiff member. He had a worried look on his face. "Will it fit?" Cloud whispered.

Zack rolled the condom on his cock, and that sparkle returned to Cloud's eyes again. "It won't hurt. My fingers didn't hurt, did they?"

The drying cum on Cloud's belly was evidence that he certainly enjoyed it.

"But you are…are big." Cloud flushed as he said that.

Zack leaned in and kissed Cloud, almost chastely. "Relax. I'll be gentle."

Cloud shivered and seemed to calm at the words.

Zack motioned toward the bottle of lube that was near Cloud's hand. "Lube me up."

Cloud's eyes grew wide again, as he quickly grabbed the bottle. Zack revelled in how he saw an anxious quake in those fingers as they opened the cap again and squeezed out some of the cherry lube onto his hand.

Cloud reached forward and Zack hissed as the gel was cool, but it did nothing to cool his raging and stiff erection. After a couple of strokes he had to grab Cloud's arm for him to stop.

"Lie back," Zack said, after he regained control. "I want to see you when I make you come again."

Cloud's chest heaved, and a soft moan escaped his tempting lips. Zack twisted out of his boxers and moved to position himself between those slender legs. He lifted Cloud's legs on to each of his shoulders so that the exercised entrance was exposed to him. Cloud was hard and ready to go once again.

Cloud was looking up to him with large blue eyes that held a mix of lust and fear.

~make it good~

Zack leaned forward, pushing his tongue into his partner's mouth in a heavy kiss, as he folded the flexible young man in half.

"I'll make it good," Zack whispered as he leaned back. He twirled the head of his cock against the small dark hole. Cloud arched his back, which made Zack want to just thrust all the way in. He pulled back gently, however.

"I'll take it slow," Zack whispered.

Cloud panted. "Hurry up with it then!" Those blue eyes were focused on him, and there was frustration written all over his face. Zack chuckled and gave in to his own urges, as well as Cloud's. He pushed his slick head in.

~heaven~

Zack panted and closed his eyes. The warm body beneath was everything that he had fantasised about the whole week, and more. He was so warm and snug…

~and needy~

He wanted to bury himself in a quick stroke and have him completely. He took in a shaky breath and opened his eyes again. Cloud looked at him anxiously as Zack pushed forward gently, and with care. Cloud's eyes grew wider and a pleasing tune of passion rose to his ears. Cloud's pushed against him, forcing Zack to move in a little more.

~Damn it, he's going to make me lose it too soon~

Cloud's eyes grew wide and made a small startled yelp.

"Are you okay?" Zack asked and stopped moving.

Cloud groaned. "Don't stop!" Cloud's raised his hips and pushed his legs hard against Zack's shoulders. Zack had to use a lot of control at the command the younger man gave. The panting, sweating young man was so impatient, and was testing his stamina.

~doesn't act like a virgin now, either

Zack pulled back a bit and then slid further in. The warmth of the man beneath him made him want to push in further, as he tried hard not to let his carnal urges take over.

~want it to be good~

Cloud started to murmur Zack's name while he tossed his head. A few slow and easy thrusts, and Zack was fully seated inside of him.

~absolute bliss~

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the tightness surrounding him. He revelled in the warm feeling of completely filling Cloud. Everything was perfect. He opened his eyes and looked down at the beautiful man. Zack ran his hands up and down the legs that were pressed against him and felt them quiver. Cloud's breathing evened out as he became familiar with Zack inside of him. Zack would have stayed still for longer if that warm body didn't shift beneath him.

"Move!" Cloud demanded with fire in his eyes.

Zack chuckled and opened his eyes. "As you wish." He moved slowly, pulling nearly all the way out before sinking back in. Zack loved how Cloud's face looked. His eyes were wide with pleasure, and his mouth was in the shape of an 'o', as Zack moved within him.

"Like that?" Zack asked.

Cloud started to make those inarticulate sounds again. The low grunts and gasps for air were making it hard to keep steady and smooth motions, but he found his pace, and the grunts matched his thrusts.

~that is so a yes~

Zack started to move faster as the tightness began to loosen slightly. Cloud's legs pushed against Zack's chest, trying to match the rhythm of his thrusts. The sounds of their flesh hitting together meshed with the moaning, and it filled the room.

~music to my ears~

Zack knew he wasn't going to last much longer and he wanted to see Cloud come again. He moved a hand, which had been gripping those legs pressed against his shoulders, and reached down to grip the fully excited blond.

He didn't think Cloud could make more noise. His moans switch to a higher pitch of passion, and his movements increased. Zack realized that some of those noises that were echoing in the room were his. He was starting to feel his control going as he raggedly pumped his hand around Cloud's cock, and his hips couldn't move to match, either. His control was nearly shattered.

"Zack!"

~I could make him scream my name all night!~

Zack didn't yield. He saw the body beneath him arch; he tossed his head back in a breathless throw of passion and felt Cloud's insides grip him impossibly tight, as Cloud came again. The tight hole quivered around him as Cloud's member twitched as he exploded in Zack's hand. The tension that was coiled in his stomach was almost unbearable.

~too much~

With Cloud pressing against him, he was pushed over the edge. Zack gasped as he gave one last deep thrust, and was lost in the wave of passion. Zack's muscles froze, trying to understand the blissful feeling that was consuming him.

Zack's moans mingled with Cloud's. Zack was never one to be loud, but it was pretty hard to be quiet with someone as loud as Cloud. Zack opened his eyes and examined the man beneath him. Cloud still looked like he was trying to control his breathing. His face was flushed and some of his wild blond hair was sticking to the side of his face.

~more adorable than ever~

Cloud looked up at him with hooded blue eyes, and a relaxed smile took over his face. He unhooked Cloud's legs from his shoulders, as he placed his fingers on the condom. He slowly pulled out with a hiss, and this made Cloud whimper.

Cloud was a mess; his belly and chest displaying how much he had enjoyed himself. "Wow," Cloud whispered in a hoarse voice. "That was wonderful."

"Would you expect any less?" Zack joked.

"Nuh-huh," Cloud said, and stretched out on the bed, absentmindedly rubbing his hip.

Zack smiled as he leaned forward to give him a kiss. "I'll go get a cloth to clean you up," Zack said and walked to his bathroom.

Cloud nodded, and smiled.

Zack hurried and disposed of the condom. He cleaned himself up quickly, and took a damp cloth back into the bedroom. Cloud was still lying there and looking a little bashful and slightly embarrassed at the mess on his chest and belly. Zack lay beside him and gently rubbed the cloth over Cloud in gentle, smooth strokes. The motions seemed to relax Cloud further as the flush left him, and he seemed to sink into the bed.

Zack doubted that he had ever seen Cloud looked so calm, and relaxed. Cloud usually had his guard up about something, or there was always something that he was worried about. He was grateful that he was able to take those worries away from him.

~keep them away forever, if I could~

He realized that Cloud had been smiling a lot lately, and he liked that. He still had his moody moments, but there were a lot more smiles coming from the man, now. And Zack realized that he was smiling a lot more than he had in a while, as well.

~lots of smiles~

He nestled himself beside Cloud and pulled the covers over the both of them. Cloud pressed against him and wrapped his arms around him in a clinging manner. "That was wonderful," Cloud whispered.

"You said that already," Zack chuckled into the messy blond hair.

"Well, it needed to be said again," Cloud said in a now sleepy voice.

Zack hummed as they moved into a comfortable position. Cloud looked like he was starting to doze. Zack doubted that he had felt this level of contentment in a long while, as well.

"Wished ya woulda stocked up sooner," Cloud mumbled against his chest.

"So do I," Zack said and watched as Cloud fell into a satisfied sleep.

 

Chapter 21- Drawer​

Cloud felt sore, but wonderful. He opened his eyes to the familiar room and looked over to the sleeping form beside him.

Zack looked magnificent sleeping there. He had a smile on his face and his head was turned slightly towards him.

~absolutely gorgeous~

Cloud smiled as he examined Zack. His hair was wilder than normal, and lay in random spikes around his face. His smooth jaw line, slightly parted lips, hell, even the slope of his nose was kissable. Zack's eyes were closed and his dark lashes lay against his sun kissed skin. Cloud wanted to run his fingers over those thin, dark eyebrows and smooth skin, but refrained. He did move an errant spike from the cheeks of the satisfied looking SOLDIER, however.

Cloud shifted and groaned. He had never had such a rigorous workout before.

~didn't know you could fold in half, either~

Cloud rubbed one of his hips. He didn't think he was that flexible, and didn't think that position was possible, either.

~glad it was, though~

He did not expect it to be that intense. He knew that it was going to be good, it was Zack after all, but he never imagined the intensity or the pleasure that he experienced. He had been a little embarrassed when he came, just from Zack stroking that spot inside of him, and he couldn't hold himself back. Zack didn't seem to notice his embarrassment, or he didn't care. Zack had seemed quite content to continue what he was doing, despite the fact that he already blew his load all over his belly.

It was good.

~Never felt anything so good in my life~

Of course, it was the first time that he had ever had sex. Zack had kept his promise and made sure that it was good for him. Blow and hand jobs had nothing on being folded in half and being impaled on that stiff cock of the SOLDIER.

~so very good~

He stretched and moved slightly away from Zack. He had to go to the bathroom, but at the same time he didn't want to leave the bed. He was warm, comfortable and content right now, but his bladder was ruining it for him, and then his stomach rumbled to throw in its protest, as well.

He took another longing look at the man. With a resigned sigh, he slid out of the warm comfortable bed and went to the bathroom to take care of his bladder.

Or at least that is what he was trying to do. It hurt to walk and he ended up stiffly trying to walk without wincing too much. He was grateful that Zack was sleeping as he waddled to the bathroom. He didn't want Zack to laugh at him. He groaned as he moved, but he made it.

He didn't know how to describe the discomfort. It hurt, but it was also an unanticipated, yet nice reminder of the night before. It was almost like the feeling that one would get from a long stretch, or a rigorous workout. But, of course, this was better.

After he finished in the bathroom, he wandered to the kitchen and took an apple from the fridge to tide him over. He stretched a bit as he ate, to get rid of some of the ache. His hips still hurt a bit from being folded like that. He would have to make sure that he stretched more at the gym, so that his hips wouldn't be as stiff, if they did that position again.

~gotta try other positions first~

He could get used to this. He smiled to himself as he chewed on the apple.

Coming to join ShinRa and trying to become a SOLDIER was the best thing that he had ever done in his life. He knew that he had done it for some pretty pathetic reasons, as he had been tired of the bullies of his home town, berating him because he didn't have a father. It wasn't his fault that he didn't have a father. He didn't have a choice in that matter and his mom was doing the best she could. Tifa had sort of been his friend. He had been so childish in telling her that he would come back a hero; a SOLDIER. It made him feel like he had to prove himself to her; he was going to prove himself to the whole town. He was going to go back as a SOLDIER, and then leave again. There really was nothing in that town for him, and everything he could ever want was here, with ShinRa.

~Zack~

He still wanted to prove himself to his mother. She counted. He wanted to be able to prove that he was more than that wimpy, scrawny kid that was always getting picked on. He had to prove to his mother that she did raise a decent boy, and that he wasn't just a bastard, like the town called him. He would be able to take her out of that town and set her up in Midgar. He would take care of his mother and take her away from the town full of pompous assholes that had hurt them both.

When he joined ShinRa, people didn't judge him the same way that he had been judged back in Nibelheim. Of course, he still had to deal with a few assholes, but he was able to handle them. It would be better here, for both of them.

He had real friends…

~and a lover too~

…that cared about him.

He finished his apple, and threw the core in the garbage. He pushed out all those negative thoughts and stiffly walked back to the bedroom. He wanted to be beside Zack again, and was amused that he was still sleeping. The smile returned to Cloud's face as he saw that Zack had not moved, and still lay with that blissful…

~kissable~

… smile on his lips.

Cloud crawled in beside the larger man, craving his warmth against him again. Thinking of sleeping in that warmth was the most comforting thought he could possibly think of. Before he could get comfortable, his hand connected with a smooth, cold container.

The cherry lube.

He smiled as he picked it up. He chuckled lightly at remembering Zack taking his time in understanding the cherry pun.

~Zack can be so dense at times~

He remembered Zack changing the topic when he asked him where he bought it. It was not the type of lube that could be bought in a drugstore.

~they didn't have flavours there~

He would have to ask again when Zack woke up. He leaned over to the drawer and opened it, only intending to put the lube and condoms away, but he caught a glimpse of something…

~shiny~

…unusual in the drawer. "What is that?" he whispered, and opened the drawer wide so he could get a good look inside. He gasped, and pulled out what had caught his attention in the drawer.

~Zack is kinky~

He held the cuffs up to the dim light in the room. He wondered what other surprises were in the drawer. He placed the cuffs on the table, beside the condoms and bottle of lube, as he peered inside again. He pulled out, what at first he thought was a dildo, but it wasn't shaped right for that. He fondled the strange object for a moment, trying to figure out how one would use the blunt, cone shaped thing that had a handle. He put that on the table, beside the cuffs and went to the next item. He didn't immediately know what it was for either, as it didn't even look like a sex toy at all. It was just a leather strap with a bunch of snaps. It was too small to be a restraint. He fiddled with the small straps until he realized what it could be used for.

~cock strap~

He had never seen one of those before. Had Zack planned on using all this stuff on him? He put the strap on the table and reached inside and found a blindfold that he could see using.

~with the handcuffs~

All sleepiness was leaving Cloud as he was getting wound up again when he looked at the strange supplies that Zack had stocked up on.

~really can sex you up now~

He looked in the drawer and pulled out a strange silicone type covering that had small bumps over it. It fit over his finger.

~that would have felt real good when he was getting you ready~

He took it off his finger and was nearly panting as he pulled out another item that was in the drawer.

~not sleepy anymore~

The next item was a dildo. He wondered if there were batteries in it. It was a strange color, or maybe it was just the dim light in the room, and it was covered in ridges.

Zack sighed.

Cloud jumped, nearly dropping the toy in his hand, and looked over to the dark-haired man. He was grateful that Zack was still sleeping. He tried to catch his breath and realized that he had nearly emptied the drawer of all of Zack's toys out onto the end table. He quickly put them back into the drawer and closed it.

~didn't know Zack was so kinky~

Cloud took a couple of deep breaths before he crawled over to Zack again and pressed against him. Cloud was hard again. He didn't think it was possible to be turned on so much, or to be ready to go again, but those toys…

~wanna play again~

Cloud ran his hands over the taut belly of the SOLDER. Cloud admired his perfect, flawless skin.

~except his ear~

Cloud examined the ear that he had been chewing on earlier. He must have been chewing a little hard because he could see a tooth mark in the lobe, and it looked a little red. Zack had not complained. He moved the hand from Zack's warm belly and touched his ear. Zack made a soft sound; a soft sigh of contentment. Cloud moved the hand back down to Zack's muscular chest. He was so warm. Zack's lips moved, and his tongue peaked out slightly to dampen his upper lip.

~damn it~

Cloud rested his head against Zack's chest so he could hear his healthy, strong heart beating in it. He ran his hand up and down his muscular chest. Zack felt so good. He kissed the nub that was near his mouth. It tightened quickly beneath his lips.

~hot~

He looked down Zack's body. He could see that Zack was starting to tent the sheets. He closed his eyes and tried to control a shudder, thinking about how filling and thrilling it had felt inside of him. He couldn't believe that he had been worried, he knew how big Zack was before they had sex.

~you blew him~

He was able to take him into his mouth and swallow him. He had acted like a fool when Zack had put the condom on. Zack had seemed amused and had proven to him that he fit just right.

He ran his hand in small circles, making his way down from Zack's chest to his belly. Zack's chest movements increased slightly but Zack gave no other notion that he was waking yet. Cloud kissed his chest again. Cloud pressed his groin against the SOLDIER's thigh, pleased with how it felt to rub against his slightly rough skin. Zack's tent twitched under the blanket. Cloud chewed his lips.

~mine~

Cloud moved himself down and pulled the sheet back from Zack's body. Cloud's roaming hand moved down to Zack's hip. He levered himself so that he was over the semi-erect cock. He looked up at the sleeping man and wondered how he would react to this...

~only one way to find out~

He moved his mouth down and took the heart shaped cap into his mouth and sucked lightly. He kept his eye on Zack, who made a small moan, and turned his head to the side slightly. He allowed his tongue to twirl around the ridges as he applied more suction.

Zack's hips bucked slightly. Cloud took the now fully erect member deeper into his mouth, swirling his tongue along a throbbing vein. Cloud looked up again as Zack gasped. Those violet-blue eyes opened and looked down at him, and a soft and confused voice came to his ear. "Cloud?"

Cloud hummed and their eyes met, but he didn't stop his movements. Zack blinked a few times and his hands moved. One of those sword-calloused hands moved to Cloud's hair, and the other clutched the sheets.

"What are you doing?" Zack said.

Cloud chuckled and took him deeper into his mouth, relaxing his throat. Zack's hand tugged gently at his hair.

"Damn it, Cloud," Zack muttered; his voice was rough. Zack turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, his dark hair becoming more mussed as he tossed his head.

~sexy~

Cloud continued the motions, concentrating on taking him all the way into his throat, and keeping his breathing regular as his nose went into the dark crown of hair. He kept his hand pressed against Zack's hip to try to keep some of his thrusting under control. Zack was going to come soon. Zack was starting to whimper and his fingers tugged at Cloud's hair even harder. Cloud heard his name being uttered as a warning. Cloud quickened his pace and sucked harder.

Zack's hips lifted, and a deep growl filled the room. Zack's other hand joined the one tugging on Cloud's hair, and now pushed down as if to make sure that Cloud could not pull way. Cloud held the throbbing and spurting member in his mouth while trying to swallow the salty emission, but he had to breathe. Zack was holding him too tight. He was able to swallow, but he had to twist his head to catch a breath. Zack was still pulsing inside his mouth and some of it leaked onto his chin.

Zack calmed and released his head with a sort of muttered apology that Cloud ignored. Cloud pulled up wiping his chin, and moved up Zack's shivering body to lie beside him again.

"That was a hell of a wake-up call," Zack whispered, and reached out to him. Cloud smiled, and as what started out as a gentle kiss, turned into a fight for dominance; their tongues stroking and fighting over entrance.

Cloud pulled away, gasping for air. He didn't realize that he was pushing against Zack's thigh until a hand grasped around him and tugged in a rough manner. Cloud just moaned. No matter how harsh it may have initially been, Zack's touch was always good.

After rooting through all those…

~tantalizing~

…sex toys and the act of giving Zack the blow job, it didn't take but a few more strokes before he came. Again. It hurt a bit as he did so, and he curled into Zack as he shuddered in release. He didn't think it was possible to have three orgasms in one night, but he had done it.

~almost too much~

Cloud caught his breath, and he then became aware that he had come all over Zack's leg. Zack easily reached to the cloth that he had used earlier, and cleaned it up without so much as a word. He wasn't bothered, so Cloud tried not to be embarrassed about it, and reached down for the sheet so that they were covered once again.

Zack gave a low chuckle. "When you want something, you go for it, don't you?" Zack said and pulled him close.

Cloud found himself cuddling against Zack's chest, feeling sleep tugging at him again. "Uh-huh," he said sleepily. "Next time, we can use the other stuff in your drawer."

He heard Zack's heart start to race in his chest, and his arm gripped him tight.

"Damn it," he heard Zack mutter. Cloud was too sleepy to ask him why he was cussing again.

 

Chapter 22- Punishment​

Reno wanted to sit alone.

He sipped a bitter, cooling cup of coffee and sat in the far corner of the quickly filling lunch room. He didn't even know why he had bothered to enter the room, when he wanted in no way interact with the rest of the Turks. He would have preferred to stay curled up in his bed and ignore the cruel world.

~especially Sissy~

He was wallowing in his own misery, and he was not sure how to deal with how everything had been turning against him lately.

~how did it come down to this?~

Saturday night was a horrible mess, which left him disgruntled and edgy. He had phoned his few regulars, and not a single one had returned his call. He got pissed off, shut off his phone, and seeing that there was no other option, he had been forced to take matters into his own hands.

~literally~

He stayed home all of Sunday, thinking about how terrible it was to be iholed up in his apartment, alone, after all that teasing. Rufus had done it on purpose. The Brat was going to pay, once he figured out how he was going to retaliate. Reno was also determined to find a way to torture the two spike-brains. They did not have to kiss in front of him like that, and have the audacity to throw it in front of his face as they left Monteno's. It was those two flirty idiots' fault that he was wound up so tight, anyway.

~and then there was Sephiroth~

Reno held back a groan at the thought of the silver-haired General. He had been trying - very hard - to forget how it felt to be brutally pushed up against that wall, feeling the full length of the General's body pressed against him. Reno tried not to remember how he had been unable to stop the groan when Sephrioth breathed that threat into his ear.

~so fuckin' hot~

Way too hot. He was the General. The General never lost his cool. Reno wondered what had set off 'Mr. Frost', as he should be called. Reno knew that it couldn't be just his smokes. Reno prided himself on pissing people off, but even he knew that Sephiroth was not one to push too hard. Maybe he did press a little hard, after all, he poked the General. That was a little bit reckless.

~extremely stupid thing to do~

Of course, Sephiroth was a little edgy…

~frustrated~

…at dinner. He wondered why? He would have to ask Zack if he knew what was bothering Sephiroth.

But that wasn't Reno's biggest worry. He was concerned that Sephiroth seemed to have known about Rufus and his teasing inclinations. Sephiroth had even taunted him with the knowledge, even had the tenacity to look amused at how flustered Reno became.

~it's just easier to hate all men~

Cissnei came and sat beside him.

~and her too~

She smiled brightly at him and gave him a way too cheery 'good morning'. She was enjoying his misery all too much, and still seemed to be enjoying taunting him.

"I hate you," he grumbled at her and slouched further in his chair.

"I know," she said, just as cheerfully as her greeting. "How was your weekend?"

He glared at her as she sipped her coffee. At least she could have brought him a new one; his was cold. "Why do ya care, Sissy?" he muttered.

"Cissnei," she corrected him, like clockwork. "Don't really care. Just need something to make it through the Monday."

"Glad to make your day, Sissy." He glowered at her. She had a silly smile on her face as she sipped her steaming coffee. He narrowed his eyes at her; she was way too happy for a Monday.

"What did ya do?" he ventured. Not that he really cared, but he had a sneaky suspicion that it was something that he didn't get on the weekend. Before she could answer, he blurted, "Did you get laid?"

"None of your business!" she exclaimed, and glared at him. He doubted that he had ever seen her face turn so red before.

~Was EVERYONE else getting some action? Even prissy little Sissy got laid!~

"Then don't bring up the weekend!" he snapped and took a drink of his coffee, grimacing at the plain - and now cold - drink. He needed his flask, which was currently hiding in his desk.

"What the hell is up your butt?" she snapped back at him.

"That is the fuckin' problem! Nothin'." Reno realized what he said, once he saw the look on Sissy's face twist into one of great amusement.

~stupid mouth~

He watched as the slim woman burst into giggles so vicious, that she was forced to put her drink down before she slopped it over her hands.

"Laugh it up, yo," Reno grumbled, and narrowed his eyes at her.

Damn woman was still giggling, when Rude walked over. He had his phone firmly in his hand, and a concerned look on his face. He was grateful to see his partner. Rude was a good reason to ignore Sissy; she was way too happy at his misery.

~and she got laid, too. She was able to get what you can't~

"You haven't been answering your phone," Rude said, always straight to the point.

"No good mornin' or anythin'?" Reno said, looking up at the stern face.

"No," Rude said. "Is there something wrong with your phone?"

"Nope," Reno said and took another drink. He grimaced. He pushed the cup away from him so that he would remember that he needed a new cup, and would have to add a little bit of flavouring. He knew that it was still too early to technically start drinking, but he didn't care that it was not even nine in the morning yet.

"Then why haven't you answered your phone?" Rude stood there and looked down at him with those damn sunglasses, and sternly gritted teeth.

"Turned it off, yo," he said. "Someone," he said, and looked over to Sissy, "has been sending me way too many texts." It was one of the reasons he shut off his phone.

She just smiled.

~hate her soooooooooo much~

"Turn it on," Rude said.

"Don't wanna," Reno said, realizing that he had crossed his arms and was looking away from Rude.

~pouting like a child~

"Turn. On. Your. Phone."

"No!"

Reno looked up at Rude and tried to stare him down. An impossible task, but he tried. Reno did not last long before he resigned with a sigh, and reached into his pocket. "Damn you, yo," he grumbled and turned on his phone.

It rang as soon as it started up.

Rude closed his own phone and tucked it into his jacket, "Tseng is wishing to speak with you."

The words 'Boss Man' flashed on the call display. He let the phone ring.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Sissy said.

"Don't wanna," Reno said as he stared at the phone.

"Answer it," Rude demanded.

"Don't. WANNA!"

"Quit being a baby," Sissy said. "What did you do to piss him off?"

"Nothin'," Reno muttered. He knew that he was going to get ripped a new one over the shopping trip. He was going to have to explain those clothes to Tseng, and then of course, having his phone off was a big 'no-no', too.

Rude stood, unmoving and seemingly unimpressed.

Reno sighed as the phone stopped ringing and started to beep at him.

"You can't hide from him forever," Sissy said.

"Wanna see me try?" Reno said. He wondered how long it would be before they would drag him up to Tseng's office. He figured he had until noon.

Rude crossed his arms, still giving off the silent demand by his stance.

The phone started to ring in his hand again.

"Answer the damn phone." Rude was looking pissed. It took a lot for Rude to get pissed and he seemed to be on the verge of scowling.

~that would be thirty-two times, if I got him to scowl~

"Alright, alright," he mumbled, knowing that if he did make Rude scowl, it usually some extra paperwork being dropped on his desk, in retaliation. He flipped open the phone and held it to his ear, "Yo. Reno here."

"Reno," Tseng's voice cut through him. Tseng was angry, and it was directed at him. "My office. Ten minutes. Do NOT be late."

~my life sucks~

He snapped his phone shut and looked at the two amused faces. "You both can go screw yourselves," he said and stood.

He saw Sissy blush, and give a shy look that was directed at Rude.

~Holy crap!~

He looked over at his bald partner and saw a small smile on his lips. Rude never smiled like that, unless he got laid.

~no way!~

"Yo! Really," he said and looked between both of them. "Really. You two got laid. With each other? Yo, what the hell?" he said and pushed Sissy's shoulder. Her face turned almost as red as his hair, as his partner shrugged and pushed up his glasses.

"Don't be a jerk!" Cissnei yelled at him.

"Get out of here," Rude said. "If I get another call from Tseng, I will drag your bony ass up there and leave you there to rot."

~no denials there~

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Reno said looking at the two of them, who were now standing side by side. He never would have thought of them together. Reno smirked as he looked at the two. He focused on Rude. "I've seen ya in the shower, yo," Reno said as he started to walk away. "I'm amazed Sissy can walk."

Reno had to dodge a flying coffee cup.

Reno had been standing there for five minutes, staring at Tseng tapping away at the computer. The only thing that Tseng said, when he entered the room, was for him to stand and be quiet.

And for once, he actually obeyed. Not being able to talk was killing him.

Tseng's fingers stopped tapping on the keyboard. Tseng leaned back in his office chair, and Reno felt Tseng's dark eyes focus on him.

~yep, gonna be guarding the dump~

"You did not answer your phone yesterday," Tseng said in a clipped tone.

"Was busy," he lied. Lying in bed and dreaming about SOLDIERS and SOLDIER-wannabes…

~don't forget about the Brat~

… and wanking off really doesn't constitute as 'busy'.

Tseng didn't let any emotion show on his face. His voice was low, almost threatening, "We have to rectify this billing situation."

"Ya looked good in that suit, yo," Reno said. "Should change up yer style from time to time."

Tseng ignored the comment.

~Boss doesn't know how to take a compliment~

"You were lax in your duties, as well," Tseng said. "You were distracted."

~hot SOLDIERS in the other room, of course I was distracted~

"It was a lame-ass assignment," Reno said, relaxing his stance. He remembered Tseng agreeing with him on that.

"It doesn't matter. I still expect you to perform, at all times, as a Turk," Tseng said, and stood. "That red suit was not Turk issue."

"It was much hotter," Reno said.

Tseng's eyes narrowed, and Reno saw his jaw clench.

~really pissing him off~

Tseng took in a deep, calming breath. "You are lucky that Rufus was quite pleased with how the evening went."

~damn teasing Brat was pleased, huh? Wish I was

"Or your punishment would be more severe," Tseng continued.

~here we go~

"First, your next pay check will be docked."

Reno had been expecting that.

"Second, you will attend some extra training to help you focus a little better."

Training? He wasn't that expecting that.

"You will train every day for two hours at the four a.m. boot camp at Sector 3 centre. You WILL attend, and complete said boot camp."

Reno opened his mouth to protest, but Tseng raised his hand. Reno shut his mouth closed with a click of teeth.

"At least seven days of that should ensure that your attention will be back to where it belongs."

~doubt it~

"Third, you will have the in-house surveillance duties, until I decide to change them. I believe the Mess will be a good place for you to work."

~not much better than the dump~

"Rude will be reassigned to Cissnei for this time, so do not worry about your partner."

~great, they can go at it like rabbits, now~

"You really should think twice, before you do such..." Tseng hesitated a bit. "Silly actions."

"Yeah, well, it was a good idea at the time," Reno said.

~it was worth seeing Cloud in those clothes~

"You think a lot of things are 'good at the time'," Tseng said, and took a step forward. Reno grinned at him.

"It's what makes me such a great guy," Reno said with a smirk.

Tseng sighed and rubbed that dot on his forehead.

~that is now the two hundredth and thirty-eighth time I've made him do that~

"You are dismissed."

Reno slouched and turned to walk out. He thought himself lucky, really. Waking up at four a.m. was going to suck, but a little training wouldn't hurt. Maybe it would tire him out, and he would be too tired to think about the SOLDIERS and the Brat.

~so unlikely~

He could survive the pay cut for one month, but being on watch in the Mess Hall was going to be rough. He hated that place, with all those grunts running around and horrible smelling food. It made him ill.

~you will get to see Cloud~

So maybe it wasn't going to be so bad, after all.

"Oh. Reno," Tseng said.

Reno stopped and turned. "Yeah, Boss?" Reno froze and took in a sharp breath at what he saw in Tseng's hand. He was holding his missing red tie.

"You seemed to have forgotten this in the Vice-President's limo."

Reno was still frozen.

"You wouldn't want to lose the matching tie to that expensive suit of yours," Tseng said as he walked forward holding the tie in front of him.

~does he know?~

From that small twitch of Tseng's lip, Reno was pretty sure that he knew.

"Thanks," Reno said as he took the tie. Of course, he wanted to ask him if he knew that he was the Brat's back-up plan all along.

"You should be careful, if you are involving yourself with Rufus," Tseng said with a smirk. "He has broken bigger men than you."

~what the hell was that supposed to mean?~

Tseng's face changed to his professional one. "Report to the Mess. You will start today."

"Right, Boss," Reno said as he pocketed the red tie. Reno remembered how skilfully the Brat had removed it from him. He had to suppress a shiver at the thoughts of how it felt to have those fingers ghost over his throat.

~broke bigger men? Who?~

Reno left, shutting the door behind him. He swore he heard Tseng laughing.

Reno was beginning to think that Gaia really, really, hated him.

 

Chapter 23- Red​

He was seeing red, and it was not just Reno's hair.

Zack had come down to the Mess to grab something to eat. He often came down to join the lower classes and infantrymen; it raised the morale to see a First Class joining in with the 'common' folk. It was fun to eat with them, and honestly, Zack liked the food. He didn't care that everyone thought it was gruel. It was warm, greasy and bad for him; that was what made it so great.

Also, it was a place where he could sit and talk with Cloud and his friends. Sometimes, that was the only way that he could see his…

~lover~

…friend.

But today, Reno was hovering over Cloud. Reno had his hand on the back of Cloud's chair, and the other pressed against a tilted hip. His head was dipped slightly as he talked to Cloud, while Cloud's head was tilted up, exposing his throat with an amused smile on his lips.

~that smile is mine~

Cloud was sitting between his two friends, Joseph and John. John, Zack liked. He was a straight cut guy that was bound to make it into SOLDIER. Joseph, Zack did not like. Joseph was a flitting moron, in his opinion. When he was on duty, he could blend in with the infantrymen. However, it didn't excuse his obvious flamboyance off-duty. But now, he wasn't wearing his eyeliner or lip gloss, and his normal wild blue hair was in a tight pony tail. But he was still a moron, and his hands were on Cloud way too much.

~it's Reno's hands you need to worry about, now~

He refrained from dashing over and breaking the redhead's arm. The hand that had been on the back of the chair was now rubbing Cloud's shoulder. Cloud laughed slightly, and Zack heard it over the din of chatter in the room. Reno gave Cloud's shoulder a pat and started to walk away.

Zack narrowed his eyes, and followed the Turk.

Reno slunk into a corner, fiddling with a pack of cigarettes.

"Hey, Zack," he said as he noticed him. "Whatcha doing down in these dregs for?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," Zack said.

Reno smirked and leaned against the wall, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "It's my job, now, yo," he snickered. "Really pissed off Boss Man."

"That doesn't explain why you, are here," Zack said, poking the redhead in the chest.

"Hey!" Reno said, rubbing the spot that Zack poked. "What the hell was that for, yo?"

"Answer the question, Turk," Zack demanded. "Why were you talking to Cloud?" Zack took a wide stance and crossed his arms, as he glared at Reno.

"Geez," Reno said, smoothing out his suit, "Jus' talkin'."

"Why?"

"I was just buggin' him about your date and all," Reno said with a smirk. "Relax! I was jus' complainin' about how expensive you two were."

~you touched him!~

"Bugging? Why?" Zack said leaning toward Reno. He was aware that Reno had leaned away from him slightly.

"Man. I gotta have some fun 'round here, yo," Reno answered. "You may have had fun, but my weekend sucked!"

Zack looked over to the table where Cloud was sitting. Joseph was whispering something in his ear, which caused Cloud to blush and push Joseph out of his chair.

~gonna have to teach that boy to keep his hands to himself~

"Whoa! Calm down there, SOLDIER," Reno said with a chuckle. "Ya need to get that green demon under control, man."

"What? Green demon? What the hell are you talking about?" Zack said turning to Reno.

Reno raised both of his hands in a submissive gesture and ended up with his back against the wall. "Easy, man, okay. I know you and Cloudy had a good ol' time and all, but you're actin' like a bossy boyfriend, yo."

~bossy boyfriend?~

"It's not like that," Zack denied, crossing his arms.

"Oh, I think it is exactly like that," Reno said taking a step towards him. "Come on. I saw how Cloudy looked when you guys left Monteno's. He was in bliss world, and you were givin' me the evil eye, bro."

"Those clothes. Did you buy them?" Zack said, leaning into Reno again. He was beginning to feel annoyed. He gripped his arms tightly to prevent his hands from forming fists.

"Couldn't have Cloud lookin' like a slob, yo," Reno said, looking over at Cloud.

Zack looked over at the blond and saw that Cloud was giving him a curious, and serious look. He gave a little wave and Cloud waved back.

"Seen him and his buds there, checkin' out the duds at Lore's. Thought ya'd appreciate it there, Zacky-boy."

~he bought his pants too tight~

"He thinks I bought them for him," Zack said, and was pleased to see that Reno looked a little bit disappointed.

"See, made ya look good, bro," Reno straightened, and fiddled with his cigarettes. "I didn't tell 'em that I bought 'em."

"Why were you at Lore's?" Zack demanded. He tried to calm down the tension that he was feeling.

~jealousy~

Reno snorted. "Well, ya saw my suit, eh?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's not exactly Turk attire. Kinda changed the order that Tseng gave me. Hence, why I'm stuck in the dregs," Reno explained. "Wanted to be stylin'."

Zack snorted and uncrossed his arms. "It was a nice suit."

"Darn right! It was fuckin' hot, yo. Tseng doesn't appreciate a good thing when he sees it," Reno said, and was fiddling with something in his pocket.

Zack just shook his head at Reno. "Why must you aggravate Tseng so much?"

"Two hundred and thirty-eight times, yo," Reno said.

Zack looked at him confused, and decided not to ask what the number meant. Sometimes with Reno, it was just better not to know. If he cared so little for his life, he could keep taunting Tseng. Zack was sure that Reno would pay the price for that, eventually.

"You're being punished over a suit?"

"Yep," Reno said, twirling a cigarette in his fingers.

Zack snorted again. He knew that Tseng would do more than just make Reno patrol the Mess Hall. "What else is he doing to you?"

"Oh, a little bit of this and that," Reno said.

"Tseng doesn't punish lightly," Zack said.

Reno just shrugged. "Don't I know it."

Zack looked back over at the table. Joseph had his hand on Cloud's shoulder where Reno had been touching him not that long ago. Zack was going to teach that boy to stop touching what was his.

~possessive much?~

"If you're done bein' all jealous, I need a smoke." Reno twirled his cigarette and nodded his head to the door.

"I am not being jealous!" He glared at the pesky redhead.

~denial~

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Reno said. "I'm seein' that green-eyed monster, and Sephiroth is nowhere to be seen." Reno said smugly.

Zack rolled his eyes. "Don't let Sephiroth hear you say that."

"I plan on stayin' as far away from Mr. Frost as possible, yo," Reno said and put the cigarette to his lips.

"Am I acting that jealous?" Zack said and rubbed his face, trying to shake the tense feeling that was coiling in his chest and belly. He had never been the jealous type before.

~never had a reason to, before~

"Like a wolf protectin' her pups, yo." Reno said, flicking his lighter.

Zack sighed and ran his hand over his eyes. He needed to calm down and think about how he was behaving. After all, he had harboured the thoughts of breaking Reno's arm when he touched Cloud.

~jealous indeed~

Reno may be a crazy Turk, but he was still his friend. He shouldn't be harbouring such feelings towards him. He hasn't tried any moves on Cloud…

~what do you call that touching?~

…and they have been friends for a couple of years. He needed to calm down and think clearly about this whole thing.

~lock Cloud in your closet, and it won't be a problem

Zack shook his own thoughts out of his head.

"Comin'?" Reno said, nodding to the door again. He was getting edgy; he must be on the verge of a nic-fit.

"I don't smoke," Zack said and looked over to Cloud and his friends. Joseph was stuck in a headlock by one of the other men. Cloud was shaking his head at the scene, and it looked like no one was helping out the blue-haired boy.

"Suit yourself. Gonna go talk to Cloudy?" Reno smirked as he looked to the scene at the table, with obvious amusement.

That was why he was down here. He wanted to have lunch with him and…

~steal a kiss~

…make sure that Cloud was going to make it to the extra training practice on Tuesday. He had been disappointed when it wasn't Cloud that woke him in the morning, but was his phone. He didn't like this trend of being called by Lazard and being dragged away from Cloud.

~couldn't play with the stuff in the drawer~

Cloud had seemed equally disappointed in the phone call, and had even looked at the drawer with a deep frown. There was even a whine in Cloud's voice as he complained about Zack leaving early on a Sunday morning. Again. Zack had dressed and told Cloud to use anything in his apartment, and that he would call him as soon as he could. It was hard to explain that being on call, was a consequence of being a First Class SOLDIER. Cloud had so cutely pouted and pronounced that he didn't have to like it.

The mission had kept him busy until now, and he was anxious to talk to Cloud. The blond had been so disappointed and upset when he had left so abruptly. He wanted to see him before he had to go to his debriefing with Lazard.

~would rather be debriefing Cloud~

Zack opened his mouth to respond to Reno, when his phone interrupted him. "Damn it," Zack muttered as Lazard's name showed up.

~Damn it all to Hades!~

"Hmpf," Reno muttered around his unlit cigarette. "See ya, Zacky-boy."

Zack looked over at Cloud again with a sigh, then answered his phone.

Cloud watched as Zack and Reno talked. He was glad to see that Zack was back, and looked well. He missed Zack, even if it had only been a day.

~thirty hours~

Zack had answered the phone and announced that he had to go to work. Cloud wanted to smash the phone for ruining the morning plans.

~didn't get to finish playing~

He knew that missions could take him away for long periods of time, but that certainly didn't mean that he had to like it. He wanted to smash the phone so that it wouldn't interrupt them again.

Joseph leaned close to his ear. "You know, I bet those two are screwing."

"What!" Cloud yelled and pushed Joseph - a little too hard - and he toppled to the floor. "Why would you say that?"

~Reno was looking at his butt too~

"Oooow," Joseph whined as he pulled himself up from the floor. John was chuckling at him as he sipped a drink.

"That's what you get for being a moron," John said without even looking at the blue-haired boy.

Cloud ignored John.

Joseph nodded in the direction where Reno and Zack were standing, after making sure to glare at John. "Oh, come on. Look at Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome over there, all jealous over Hot Stuff talking to you," Joseph said with a chuckle. "You should tell them about your sugar-daddy, so they won't get all jealous at each other."

Cloud blinked. "Whatever," he muttered as he watched his…

~lover~

…friends talk tensely. Was Zack being jealous? They hadn't been together, in that way, long enough for him to notice. Zack had always been a little of the overprotective type, but he hadn't noticed anything unusual.

~except for the way Zack is glaring at Reno~

He watched as Reno's hands rose in a defensive pose, while Zack seemed to be intimidating him. Reno seemed a little edgy, but then again, he looked like he was dying for a smoke.

~Is Zack jealous of Reno? ~

He watched them seriously for a moment. Zack looked over at him and gave him a small smile, and a wave.

Cloud smiled and waved back, as his stomach did a little flip at the sight. He couldn't help but think of how they had kissed…

~and all the toys that Zack had bought~

…and the warmth of his arms, surrounding him as he slept; never mind the other activities that he craved, now that he had a taste.

Cloud watched the conversation between the two remain serious.

"See?" Joseph said. "Zack is all jealous. Do you see the way that he is leaning into him?"
Joseph was right. Zack did look like he was trying to threaten Reno. It really looked like Zack was jealous, or at least pissed at the redhead about something.

"I bet Reno bottoms," Joseph said and patted Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud gave Joseph a shocked look. Joseph looked with a nod towards the First and the Turk.

~Reno underneath Zack?~

"Will you quit talking like that?" John said, leaning around Cloud. "All you think about is sex!"

Joseph grinned widely. "Of course. Oh, like you don't think that those two over there wouldn't be a hot couple."

~that would be hot~

Cloud took in a deep breath at his betraying thoughts. It would indeed be hot. He wondered why he wasn't bothered by the idea of Zack topping the Turk. He schooled his features to look calm and make his betraying body calm down, as well. It was bad enough that he was having enough inappropriate thoughts when it came to Zack, he didn't need to add Reno into the mix.

~bet he would be flexible~

"See?" Joseph said. "Cloud thinks it's hot."

Cloud blushed furiously as Joseph laughed at him.

John groaned, "You are such a perv."

"I will never deny that!" Joseph said, his hand massaging Cloud's shoulder. "Hey, Cloud, you go out with them all the time. Maybe you can join them, if you ask."

Cloud gasped.

~great idea, though~

"Joseph," John whined.

Cloud was grateful at that point that Dean, their squadron's Captain, decided that he was going to pick on Joseph. He expertly put Joseph into a headlock, jerking him out of the chair with a heavy grunt.

"Hey there, Twink," Dean said, tightening his hold around Joseph's neck.

Cloud grinned as he watched the nearly daily ritual of Dean picking on Joseph. It was either a headlock, or a shove, or even hard swap on his ass. Everyone knew that Dean had it bad for Joseph, but was still too macho to admit to it.

"Bear," Joseph said, not really minding the headlock. It allowed him to push up against Dean. Joseph had it bad for Dean, as well. Dean was older by a couple of years and it showed in his size and his rank. The guy was a bear; in size and the amount of hair that he had on his body. Cloud had no idea why Joseph pined for the hairy man, but to each his own.

John snorted and rolled his eyes. "Good. Go drag the perv out of here." John enjoyed taunting the two.

"What are you perving on now?" Dean said, and looked down at Cloud. Cloud was aware that Dean saw him as a threat, even though he had already made it clear that his relationship with Joseph was not like that. Of course, the way that Joseph flirted and touched him, it wasn't a surprise.

Joseph laughed.

"He's perving on the Lieutenant and the Turk over there," Cloud pointed out.

~almost as bad as you are~

Dean made a grunting noise and released Joseph from the headlock with a push. Joseph gracefully took the rough push and seated himself on the table.

"We got drills! Finish up and let's move out. You have five minutes," Dean announced.

"Yes, sir," they all said at once.

Dean turned on his heel and went to announce to the others in their troop that lunch was over.

Joseph grinned. "He held me longer that time."

Cloud and John opted to ignore Joseph's statement. There was no need to encourage his already flamboyant behaviour.

Cloud looked back at Zack who was talking on the phone, now. Reno must have ducked out for a smoke.

He was hoping to talk to Zack, but he was on his cursed phone again and was looking over at him with large apologetic eyes. Cloud waved as he stood. He saw the panicked look cross Zack's face.

Zack hurriedly started to walk towards him. Cloud couldn't help but smile at his rushed pace. Zack called out to him; Cloud stopped and waited for the First to catch up. Zack held the phone to his side. "We're still on for tomorrow night, right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. I'll be there."

Zack smiled; he had a great smile. Cloud felt his stomach flip again. He had always liked his smiles, but there was so much more feeling behind them, now.

Cloud grinned back at him, as he took a step forward. "Regular time?"

Zack nodded. "Got some moves I want to have you try out."

Cloud blinked and shifted uncomfortably as his body reacted inappropriately at the comment. His head knew that Zack was talking about training, but his body was still in pervert mode, thanks to Joseph's comments.

Zack flushed. "Oh man. I-I didn't mean that!"

Cloud blinked, enjoying watching Zack squirm. "We can do that, too."

It was Zack's turn to shift uncomfortably.

Cloud saw that John was waving to him and giving him that 'hurry up' look. "Gotta go, Zack. Tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow," Zack said.

Cloud enjoyed that lustful look on Zack's face as he rushed to join the rest of his troop. Zack smiled brightly as he brought the phone to his ear again, and returned to his serious phone conversation.

 

Chapter 24- Plan​

Reno had a plan. He had thought about it all night. Of course, he was dreaming about the 'plan' when his alarm went off at three-thirty in the morning. It took him ten minutes to realize why it had went off.

~boot camp~

He cursed Tseng as he went down to Sector 3 and joined the stupid boot camp. He had a plan, and he just about forgot what it was after the two hours of being put through the paces. Two hours of boot camp!

~more like hell~

He didn't remember it being so hard when he was training. Of course, everyone was amused by his showing up for the training session. It seemed the Drill Sergeant…

~demon~

…was expecting him. He didn't like the looks that he was getting, but ten minutes in, he didn't care anymore.

His legs were numb, and his arms and shoulders ached by the time the hellish session was finished. He managed to make it to the Turk locker room, have a shower and change, as he started to remember his plan again. Thoughts of his plan were the only thing that kept him moving.

He made his way to the Mess Hall to serve the next part of his sentence. He even ate there. He kind of understood now why the grunts liked the food. After that workout he was starving to death, and the horrid food actually smelled good.

He did his job. He watched and hated it. He knew all the people that trudged through. He already knew the troublemakers, and who were the bullies that were of concern. It was a stupid assignment that really was not necessary.

And Tseng knew that.

Reno knew that he would have to file a report before the end of the day, and knew that it would be filed without so much of a glance, but he had to do it. Tseng would give him more horrid things to do, if he did not perform as expected.

He went back to his corner and sulked, thinking about his plan.

He was going to go to the Spike-Brains' training session and ask to join them.

~didn't say it was a good plan~

He was still working on what he was going to say and do. He had no clue how to say that he thought their kissing was hot, and that he wanted to get some of that action too. He could say it like that, but he was pretty sure that Zack would grab him by the scruff of his neck and throw him out the door.

~again~

And what would Cloud say? He knew that Cloud wasn't a prude, but asking for a threesome was a little much. What would he think of that?

~he could hate me~

Reno certainly didn't want that. Cloud was hot. Zack was hot. Cloud and Zack kissing was like Firaga going off in a chocobo barn.

He wondered if he could just throw himself in Cloud's lap and start to kiss him?

~Zack would kill you~

He wondered if he could do that to Zack?

~Cloud would hate me~

It was stupid. They were all stupid thoughts to begin with. Zack was being overprotective as it was, and if he tried to get in on the action, he was pretty sure that Zack would kill him.

~fuckin' depressing~

He would just ask to join their little training sessions, not their beds, to test the grounds. That was a much better plan, even if it was going to be painful

~arousing~

… being near the two sweating, hot men.

After this morning's hellish boot camp, he did not think that he would be able to even raise his EMR. Not only were his legs stiffening up, but the million push-ups they made him do made his arms feel like mush. It was an effort to have his hourly cigarette, never mind think about training.

~they will think you're a wuss~

He most likely would have to put off his plan, and he didn't like that thought either.

Reno had never been so happy to see his office chair before. The hours of standing in that cesspool of a Mess Hall had worn his nerves down, and his body. He didn't even get a glimpse of Cloud today, which made it so much worse. His legs were sore and stiffening from the morning torture session. His arms were so rubbery that he thought that he was going to have his hands fall off.

He collapsed into his chair with a thankful sigh, glad to see a friendly familiar face in the office.

"Hiya, partner," he called out.

Rude just nodded and went back to whatever he was reading on his computer. Reno saw that there was a pack of smokes sitting on his keyboard.

He grinned widely at the sight. They were top notch smokes; the type that were only made in Gongaga. He had been begging Zack for years to get his parents to ship back a carton or two for him.

"Hot damn!" he announced, forgetting for a moment that his arms did not rise above his head. He ran out of smokes halfway through the day, and he could really go for another one. He looked over to his partner. "Did ya leave these here?"

"I don't buy you smokes."

That was true. Rude had never bought him smokes before, even when he had begged.

"Did Zackers drop them off?"

~maybe he felt bad about how he talked to me yesterday~

Rude shrugged. "Were there when I got here." Rude didn't look up from his computer. Reno shrugged; it didn't really matter anyway. Free smokes were still free smokes.

He opened the pack just to get a smell of that wonderful tobacco, when he noticed that there was writing under the tab. He didn't recognize whose script it was. It wasn't Rude's, he always printed everything; his writing was atrocious. It wasn't Zack's crazy scribbles either. The writing was smooth, controlled, and gave him a disturbing message.

'You will need these later.'

"What the fuck," he snapped. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

Rude raised his eyebrow.

"Come on! Rude, who left these here?" he demanded as he looked at the message in the smokes.

Rude shrugged and tapped at his computer.

Reno knew he wasn't going to get anything out of Rude. Rude was not one to answer questions that he already answered. It was annoying as hell, especially when he wanted to know who had left him the smokes.

~expensive and good smokes~

He sighed and cooled himself down. Did it really matter who left him the smokes? The message was a little creepy, but, whatever. He would need these smokes later, and it saved him a trip to the store.

He closed the pack and placed it inside his blazer pocket. He had to get his silly and stupid report out of the way; he turned on his computer. It felt good sitting down, but at the same time he knew that he was going to have problems getting out of the chair.

~forget training with the Spike-Brains~

He wondered if they would freak out if he just watched.

~or asked them to massage your aching muscles~

He closed his eyes and took a calming breath as his body wanted to twist uncomfortably at the mental image he just created for himself. He cursed his imagination at times like these. He had a report to get to Tseng about the nonsense gossip that was going to be filed into the circular folder.

His computer made offending beeps as he opened his email. "Ah, man," he complained, as he read it. "Wha' did I do now?"

An urgent meeting request from Tseng was not how he wanted to end the day.

"There is always something," remarked Rude.

He narrowed his eyes at his partner. "You've been spending too much time with Sissy."

Reno had a paper copy of his report, even though he had sent it through the electronic filing system, as per protocol, but he wanted to make sure. He didn't know what he had done to piss off the Boss this time. He was pretty damn sure that he was suffering enough. The hour sitting at the computer had significantly stiffened the muscles in his legs, but at least his arms were getting some of the feeling back, and his shoulders didn't feel like rocks had landed on them.

He had gone through what he had done during the day, and tried to figure out what he had done to piss off Tseng. He hadn't had the time to irritate anyone today. He tried to think if there was something that could have caught up to him, but there were so many of those instances, that it could nearly be anything.

~perfect ending to a perfectly sucky day~

He approached Tseng's office and thought it odd that his secretary wasn't there. She was usually a permanent fixture there. Tseng made it a policy that no one enters his office unannounced, and Mary-Beth did the announcing. He wasn't going to wait around until she returned though, as he saw that Tseng's office was open. After all, he had an appointment, and Tseng was expecting him.

Reno moved his tired legs to face the music.

"'Ello?" he called as he entered the office. He took two steps in before he realized that everything was wrong; Mary-Beth being absent was just the first sign.

The second was the white jacket that was folded on the back of the black leather chair by the entrance of the room. The third was the fact that the lights were dimmed. Tseng never dimmed the lights in his office, something about energy flow, Feng Shui stuff. The fourth was the fact that it was not Tseng leaning against his desk, with arms languidly resting behind him, and his legs stretched out with the ankles crossed.

"Ah, Reno. You got the invite."

~shit~

Reno was no chicken. He was usually the first to go headlong into a horribly bad situation, but he really wanted to run right now. He took a step back to only hear that the door clicked behind him.

The light chuckle that filled the room made his stomach flip nervously.

Reno looked towards Rufus, who had leaned back and obviously pressed the lock button for the door. Rufus drew his arm slowly so that they crossed his chest, tilting is head with a small smirk.

~trapped like a rat ~

"I have some questions to ask you," Rufus said simply.

~questions? ~

Reno tried to control his breathing. He didn't want Rufus to know how much he affected him.

~maybe he wants more of me~

It wasn't that comforting of a thought. As much as the Brat Boss was attractive and all, it absolutely terrified Reno the amount of control that Rufus had over him. He wasn't sure he liked this teasing game and how it affected him.

~turned ya into a puss~

Rufus gave another chuckle and pointed to the chair in front of him. "Sit."

"I'm fine here, thanks," he said.

"Really, Reno," Rufus said. "Take off your coat and relax."

~can't relax around you, you teasing brat~

"I'm fine, sir," he said.

"Come on now, Reno," Rufus' voice was low and calming. "We can't have a civil conversation with you standing over there." Rufus flashed his expensive white teeth.

~how much bridgework does he have?~

Rufus scooted up so that he was sitting on the desk now, and had his ankles still crossed. Reno didn't want to, but he found his stiff legs walking towards the Boss.

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Has Tseng been pushing you too hard?"

"Nothin' I can't handle," he quipped. He knew that if he was forced to sit again, he wouldn't be able to get out of the chair easily. It had taken a lot of work just to get out of his office chair; he didn't want to look like a gimp in front of the Boss. He stood beside the chair, but didn't seat himself. He was eye to eye with the Brat now.

Rufus tilted his head as if he were pondering something. Reno didn't want to know what the Brat Boss was thinking. "That's good. I don't want Tseng to be too hard on you," Rufus said, slowly blinking his grey eyes.

~is he flirting?~

"What did ya wan' to talk 'bout, Boss?" Reno licked his lips and regretted it. The corner of Rufus' mouth twitched as he did that.

~oh man, I hope I didn't set him off!~

Rufus gave a sigh and ran his hands over his white clad thighs, his eyes boring right into him so much that Reno was afraid to turn away. "There are a few questions that I have, about those marks on your face. I want to know their meaning. I am afraid that thinking about them has been…distracting."

~I distracted Boss? Cool!~

Reno ran his fingers over the marks on his cheeks, unable to hold back a smirk. "Ya interested in my tatts?"

"Indeed. I do believe that you said that you would tell me about them. Did you forget that you had said that?" Rufus ran a hand through his ash blond hair as if he were trying to brush it out of his eyes, only to have it fall back down in the same way.

"I remember, yo," Reno said. Of course he had only said that when he thought he was going to get a little bit of action.

~I remember that whole fuckin' limo ride all too well~

Rufus scooted off the desk in a smooth motion and stood before Reno. Reno felt the urge to run, but remained where he was standing. He didn't want to be a plaything for the Boss, and he knew all to well how he could tease.

~so does everyone else~

He was also very aware of how good the Boss' touch was, and the fact that his body would not be in the best of shape to handle such things…

…sex…

…right now.

"You look a little stiff," Rufus said, and started to walk around Reno. Reno wanted to bolt; he didn't want to be trapped again. "Your new morning workout routine seems to be a little much for you." A perfect, strong hand rested on his shoulder and started to move.

He couldn't help but groan as those fingers danced against the tense muscles in his shoulders. Boss' hands were giving him the most amazing massage.

~he is teasing you again~

"My, you are stiff," Rufus whispered. "You weren't this tense the other night."

"Are ya gonna let me touch ya this time?" he whispered, as those fingers prodded his sore muscles in a very relaxing manner. He felt himself melting at the touch.

~damn, Boss is dragging me down him again, and it feels so good~

"Maybe," Rufus said in a soft whisper against his ear. Rufus' hands were rotating on his shoulders to his shoulder blades. That simple word sent chills running up and down Reno's spine. That word held so much promise for things that could be done.

A polished finger came up and stroked his cheek. Reno found himself turning his head to meet that touch. "When did you get these? They do emphasize your cheekbones nicely, and I believe the color of your hair is the same as the ink. How novel."

"Yeah. Got 'em when I was twelve," Reno said in a hushed whisper. Rufus' finger ran under his eye and up the side of his face, following the curve of the tattoo, only to run back down again.

~Boss' touch is so gentle~

"Twelve?" Rufus said with a little bit of shock in his voice. "Why so young? I thought it was illegal? Who would mark you at such a young age?" Rufus' hands were on his shoulders again as he spoke. They were gently massaging him and relaxing him.

~disarmingly so ~

"Uh… well, kinda was in the wrong crowd," Reno said. He really didn't want to elaborate. He had put it past him. He didn't really want to talk about it.

"Wrong crowd indeed. At least they made it becoming. Why your face?" Rufus gave a questioning hum. "Tell me why this was done to you."

He hesitated to speak and Rufus seemed to notice this. "You need to relax, my Swan." Rufus' hands reached over his shoulders and pulled his jacket open and then down with practiced ease. Reno didn't have time to protest the removal, as the Boss swiftly tossed it onto the chair he was supposed to be sitting in. He felt himself being turned and pushed, so that the Brat was in front of him and Reno was pushed against Tseng's mahogany desk. Rufus stood in front of Reno and brought both his hands to his face, caressing the marks with his thumbs.

"Tell me, Swan," Rufus said with a curious and concerned look on his face. "Who would deface such soft skin with ink?" Rufus' smooth thumbs kept gently stroking his face.

"Just the wrong crowd, Boss," he said, relaxing under the touch. He didn't realize being stroked like that was almost going to make him purr. Damn, it felt good.

"What kind of crowd was it? Hmm? I have read your file and there was no mention other than that you grew up in the slums. Who did you hang out with in the slums?"

"G-gang," Reno whispered and closed his eyes, becoming absorbed in the touch. He didn't even know that it could be a sensual spot.

~Boss knows how to calm a guy down~

"What kind of gang?" Rufus asked. "Did you not have family?"

Reno opened his eyes to look into the concerned grey ones of his boss. Was he really concerned? He couldn't really tell with him. "Just a gang," Reno whispered. He vaguely remembered a woman that looked after him, but was sure that she wasn't his mother. He didn't know who his father was either, and didn't care. He did remember that he had to take care of himself a lot.

Rufus repeated, "Just a gang?"

Reno nodded. Rufus stopped stroking his cheeks and moved his hands to rest them onto Reno's shoulders lightly. "I do not seem to recall any other gang markings like this. Why were you marked like this?"

"It's nothin' special," Reno said. Reno never had people who were really interested in how he got the marks. He had not even told Rude or Tseng. The only guy that knew the reason, and what the markings meant, was Legend and maybe Verdot. Hell, Legend was the reason why he was in the Turks. Usually just mentioning that he was part of a gang was enough to get them off his back about the strange markings.

"I think there is a heavy story behind these," Rufus said and dragged his hands from Reno's shoulders down his chest, so that his hands were resting at the bottom of his ribs. Reno gasped at the touch and tried to regulate his breathing. "And the ones that I glimpsed the other night." Rufus' fingers were massaging just beneath his ribs where his other tattoos wrapped and connected. Not many people had even seen them. The gang story worked well for that as well, if they happen to be seen. He doubted it would cut it with the Boss.

"Yeah," Reno said, glad that he was able to get his breathing calmed down, despite how his groin betrayed him.

Rufus tilted his head to the side, as if pondering him. "Is it a painful story?"

"A bit," Reno whispered, and daring the touch, he put his hands on his Rufus' wrists where they were touching him. He was grateful when Rufus didn't push him away and allowed the touch. Reno ran his hands up the black clad arm so that he was cupping his elbow. He looked up to meet Rufus' eyes and saw concern there.

~maybe I am not just a plaything~

Rufus leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss.

~amazing kiss~

It started off as their lips touching together. Reno knew he was pushing his luck by deepening the kiss, but Rufus didn't seem to mind when Reno pushed his tongue into his mouth. Reno tightened his grip on Rufus' elbow, afraid that he was going to pull away. He would have leaned more into the kiss but his body just wasn't going to move that way, so instead, Reno moved his tongue so that it stroked the Boss'. He was pleased to hear the small moan that he was getting out of the Boss.

The kiss finally broke and Reno realized that Rufus was pressed against his chest and his hands were gripping Reno's sides almost painfully. Reno was aware that his erection was pressing against his boss' hip, and there was no hiding it.

"I want to know," Rufus said. "No more distracting me with that tongue of yours." Rufus hummed lowly and moved a hand to stroke the tattoo on his right cheek in that wonderful, soothing motion.

"It's sorta an underground thing," Reno whispered, finding his eyes closing as he nuzzled into the touch.

"Underground?" Rufus said. "What did you do in the gang?"

Reno sighed and tried to lean further into the touch against his cheek. "Stuff. Some of it pretty bad," Reno whispered. "Had to do it to stay alive, yo."

Rufus made a humming sound and Reno felt his lips touch his again.

"I-I don't talk about it much," Reno murmured against Rufus' lips.

"That bad?" Rufus whispered back. Reno felt the hand on his side start to stroke up and down. He knew that he shouldn't be soothed by what was happening. He knew that he should be disturbed and upset.

~He smells so good~

He wished he could place the scent but it was calming…

~maybe it's a drug~

…and soothing. He wanted to bury his face into his hair. Reno rested his hands on the Boss' hips, but still not opening his eyes.

"Sometimes," he mumbled back, leaning forward blindly, hoping to capture a kiss and was grateful when he was greeted with the sensuous lips.

"Your tattoos tell what you did for them?" Rufus asked lowly.

Reno nodded and opened his eyes. He wished he would have kept them closed.

"Yo, I don't need your pity, Boss," Reno said as he saw the serious face of Rufus.

"I want to understand," Rufus said.

"Life sucked. Real hard, but I am past it, yo. They're just marks," Reno made his voice strong, but he sure as hell didn't feel strong. Rufus was still stroking his cheek and it was calming him again. Rufus' lips took his again and he hungrily accepted them, as long as he didn't have to talk anymore.

~damn sexy interrogation technique~

The thought made him pull back from the kiss. Is that all this was? An interrogation? He wondered if Rufus was just putting on the moves to get him to talk.

~oh yeah, like your tatts are really that entertaining~

"Reno?" Rufus whispered, still stroking him. Reno was glad that he was allowed to touch this time. Feeling the warmth and steady sides against his hands told him that it couldn't all be teasing.

~has to like me a little bit to kiss like that~

"I ran drugs," Reno blurted. "I was small, and fit into tight places; came in handy for gettin' away. Did a little of the product too, for testin' purposes, ya know."

Rufus hummed, and Reno closed his eyes again. He didn't want to have them open when he said the next part. "They marked ya when you were willing to do… do certain things." He took a shaky breath. Rufus' hand squeezed his side and Reno felt a little bit reassured by it. "Hell, they all thought I was gonna die before I turned 14." Reno chuckled. "So did I."

Reno felt small kisses being placed along his jaw line, and then one on his nose. He didn't open his eyes. He couldn't just yet.

"I was heavy into the drug by then. Real heavy, man. I agreed to a-a few things. Don't remember most of 'em. These face tatts were part of it," Reno whispered. "It marked me as owned."

"Owned?" Rufus said next to his ear.

"Made sure that the dough went to the right owner," Reno said. "It made sure my drugs came to me when I needed it, and I got returned to the right room."

"You were a child," Rufus stated.

"Yeah, well, I had my uses," Reno said. "I may have been a child, but I was never a kid, ya know."

There was a cold sparkle in Rufus' eye as Reno finished speaking. The ruthless boss was sneaking out. "The one that owned you, is he dead?" Rufus asked.

"Yeah, Legend took care of him, good."

"Good," Rufus said and the coldness left his eyes, and amusement replaced it. "I want to see the rest of your markings."

"Nothin' spectacular there, Boss," Reno said.

Rufus made that humming sound again.

~like the Boss is purring~

"Do not sell yourself short," Rufus whispered, and moved in for a kiss, which Reno gladly took. The kiss and warm caressing hand against his cheek was so distracting, Reno didn't notice that Rufus was unbuttoning his shirt until he felt the fabric being parted.

"Whoa, dude," Reno said a bit startled and slightly embarrassed that he just called his boss 'dude'. Rufus leaned back slightly so he could look down Reno's body, his fingers dancing to the red marks that were at the bottom of his rib cage.

~he got me nearly naked again~

"Were these to mark you as owned, as well?"

He nodded as Rufus' hands ran up to his shoulders under his shirt, where they resumed their relaxing, gentle massage. Reno wanted to keep his hands on the Boss' hips. He didn't want to stop touching him, because that meant that he had some control over this situation.

"The ones on your back? How old were you when you got them?" Rufus asked as his hands continued to massage.

"Uh," Reno said and gripped his boss' hips tightly, even pulling him a bit closer. "I started it when I was – uh- ten," he whispered, pleased to feel that Rufus was becoming aroused as he was. There was even a warm glow that crossed Rufus' cheeks, and his lips were pinker than he remembered seeing before.

~did I make Rufus flush like that last time?~

"Ten?" Rufus said and started to move his hands down his arms, taking the shirt with them.

"Uh-huh. Hides the scars," he breathed the answer, and was suddenly aware that Rufus' motion was making him remove his hands from his hips and forcing them slightly behind him, trapped in the sleeves of his white shirt.

"Scars?" Rufus queried, tilting his head slightly, so that his ash blond hair covered one of his eyes.

Reno's heart began to race as he started to feel trapped. Rufus' hands were firmly down on his wrists, and his own shirt was keeping him from moving his arms to free himself.

"From what?" Rufus asked.

"Got caught," Reno whispered and tried to move his arms out of the impromptu bindings, feeling a little panicked. "Boss?"

Rufus blinked slowly and a smirk came over his lips. "Got caught doing what?" Rufus ignored the plea in Reno's voice.

"Boss?" Reno asked, starting to come out of his daze and becoming a little alarmed that he allowed this to happen.

"Reno," Rufus said and moved forward to give him another mind blowing kiss. "I want to know about you," he said, his lips still touching Reno's as he spoke.

~does he mean that?~

The way Rufus spoke was enough to melt Reno. "Who hurt you?"

"It-it was a run gone bad," Reno whispered, his lips moving against Rufus', who seemed to be breathing with him. "Got caught. The guy liked playing with knives. Tatts hide most of the scars, ya know." Reno leaned forward to capture those lips, and was grateful that Rufus allowed it and deepened the kiss.

~wanna touch~

Reno tried to move his arms but Rufus' firm grip held them still. Rufus seemed to see that he wanted him to move. "I want to see," Rufus whispered, his eyes looking over his body, and it seemed as if he didn't just want to see his tattoos.

~damn hungry eyes~

"I wanna touch," Reno replied.

"Of course you do," Rufus said with a suddenly wide, amused smile. "But I get to see you first."

Reno felt his arm being pulled and tugged as he was twisted around so that his hips…

~and groin~

… were pressed painfully against the desk. His leg protested the sharp movement and one of his knees gave out. Rufus had to grab him to keep him from falling, and in the movement he pressed against him, pushing him forward on top of the desk. His arms, being held by his shirt, painfully stretched behind him. Reno hissed in pain and gave a small yelp before he could get his knee back under him. He straightened his back so the position wasn't as uncomfortable.

Rufus hummed. "I forgot about your taxing morning workout."

"You could give me a break, Boss," Reno said.

"I let you touch me, earlier," Rufus said, and Reno felt Rufus pressing against his bottom…

~still excited~

…and talented hands stroked him from his hips to his shoulder blades, and back down again. Reno tried to turn his head to see what Rufus was doing, but then he realized that he could see the reflection of Rufus in the window in front of him. Rufus looked enamoured by the tattoos that covered his back. It started between his shoulders, in blade like swirls which rolled down his spine to the middle of his back. He could feel Rufus use one of his fingers to trace the lines, and it caused him to shiver at the mysterious, gentle touch.

"Almost tribal," Rufus whispered. The reflection showed that Rufus had a curious smile melting into a look of concern. The middle of his back was the worst of the scars, and the lines were a little thicker; they didn't really hide the old wounds all that well. It was the only place where the tattoo artist used a different color ink, to place an image of a blade; the same type of blade that was used to give him the scars. His hand rested there for a bit and Rufus made that humming sound before he continued down to his lower back.

"The guy that cut me had enough courtesy to be symmetrical, ya know," Reno said as fingers traced to his lower back, where some of the marks disappeared into his pants. Reno had to shift his stance a little as the touch was making his groin uncomfortably hard against the desk.

"How kind of him," Rufus said sarcastically. Reno watched his head duck down and he felt Rufus' lips pressed between his shoulder blades. Reno bowed his head forward and closed his eyes. He heard a sound and realized it was his groaning.

"They're beautifully done." Another kiss further down, before he felt his boss give out a heavy sigh. Rufus stood erect behind him and wrapped his hands around Reno's waist, placing him in a tight hug. Reno could feel Rufus pressed firmly against his back, and a kiss was placed against his neck. He leaned into it, wanting to kiss that hot mouth again.

It felt kind of weird and strange to be held like this. It was almost like he cared about him, or something.

He wasn't used to that.

"Boss?" he said. He tried pulling his arms around so that he could embrace the arms that were holding him, but his damn shirt was preventing that. "Can I touch ya now?"

"I haven't seen it all yet," Rufus whispered against his ear, and Reno felt Rufus' hands moving down his belly to his pants.

~fuck~

He closed his eyes as he felt those nimble fingers undo the button and start to pull down his zipper.

~this is way too much~

Reno gasped in a couple of breaths as he felt himself being exposed, and wished he hadn't put on underwear after his shower. Rufus ran his fingers over his bulge.

"Fuck," he gasped and pushed his bottom against Rufus, who was obviously enjoying the interaction as well.

"Maybe," Rufus whispered against his ear before nibbling on his earlobe.

Reno didn't care how sore he was from the morning workout. That word was making his heart race...

~and your dick twitch~

…wildly again. If Rufus was going to screw him, so be it. He had never wanted it so bad in his life before. He had never been so turned on…

~fuckin' horny~

…ever, and now he really wanted to get screwed into the desk. Or if Boss wanted to be screwed, Reno was more than willing to do that, too. Hell, he would take a damn hand job right now from those pampered hands.

~that would be so damn awesome~

Rufus hummed against his ear again, and a hand was pressed a little more purposefully against his crotch. A finger rubbed his tip through the cloth of his underwear. "I may have overexcited you."

"No shit, Boss," Reno said, and was greeted with a deeply amused chuckle.

Reno turned his head to the side as far as he could, and was pleased to see that Rufus moved to greet him with a greedy kiss. Reno's heart began to beat faster and his breathing quickened.

~Won't need to worry about my plan, now~

That was when the room suddenly got bright.

It took Reno a couple of blinks to realize what was happening. He was a bit startled by the abrupt warmth of Rufus' body leaving him and no longer being wrapped around him, or even leaning against him. "Oh, Tseng. You are back early."

Reno groaned and turned his head to the side, seeing a very shocked-looking Tseng standing at the door with his hand on the light switch.

"Mr. Vice-President?" Tseng said, his dark eyes widening at the scene in front of him.

Reno groaned as he realized what he looked like. His arms pinned down at his side by his own shirt, his pants open and nearly exposed on top of Tseng's desk, all accomplished by the Vice-President himself.

Reno stiffly put his shirt back on his shoulders and fiddled with his pants, nearly catching himself in his fly. He felt his face burning as he stole a glance at Rufus, and he didn't see him the least bit ashamed at what he had done.

~Brat set me up~

"I needed to use your office for a personal meeting," Rufus said, and straightened his slightly askew vest. At least he had to adjust his pants a bit.

~at least I know I turned him on~

"I see," Tseng said, obviously trying to school his features. Reno couldn't decide if he was hiding amusement or shock, but he wasn't going to hang around to find out. Reno grabbed his jacket, ignored the pain in his legs, and darted out of the room.

~never look at that desk the same again~

Reno ignored the shocked-looking secretary as he darted out as quickly as he could, very aware that his shirt was still open as he struggled to get his jacket over his shoulders.

He wanted nothing more than to hide from the world right now. He needed a cigarette to calm his nerves. He would have to wait until he got into his apartment and stumbled onto his balcony, but he still pulled out the pack of Gongaga smokes anyway. The pack of smokes with the ominous message that was inside it.

"Fuck!" he shouted, and nearly threw the cigarettes away.

 

Chapter 25- Training​

"My, you're aggressive today, aren't you?" Zack laughed as he looked down at a panting Cloud. They were an hour into their usual training session, and Cloud was absolutely wired. They had gone through about twenty minutes of motions and warm-up, and then they started to spar with those new moves…

~new positions~

… in mind.

Cloud huffed. He was flat on the gym mat; his sword thrown aside after Zack had knocked it out of his hand, and kicked his feet out from under him. Zack was sitting smugly on his stomach and had Cloud's hands pinned firmly at his sides.

"Not exactly a regulation hold, sir," Cloud grumbled and tried to free his hands.

Zack laughed. "Are you questioning me, Private?" He had the biggest…

~sexiest~

… grin on his face.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Cloud firmly spoke and bucked his hips, trying to dislodge Zack from his position. The attempted escape caused Zack to laugh, hold Cloud's hands tighter, and squeeze his belly harder with his thighs.

"Well, I don't think you should be questioning your superior officer, Private," Zack said. There was a sparkle in his eyes, and his grin grew wider.

Cloud was all for this game. "What're you going to do about it, sir?" Cloud tried not to smile, but he knew that his frown was slipping.

Zack leaned forward, and in a low – and most definitely - sexier voice said, "I can think of a few things." They were almost nose to nose and Cloud refrained from pressing forward to kiss Zack. The training rooms were monitored and he didn't want to end up on the surveillance gag reel.

~still might if he keeps this up~

"And what would that be, sir?" Cloud taunted. He knew that his lips were twitching with the effort of keeping a grim look; he could tell by Zack's face that he was failing.

Zack pulled back sharply and cleared his throat. "Well, I think we should take up those issues in a more private area, Private." Zack bounced up and offered his hand down to Cloud. Cloud quickly took it, and purposely leaned forward a little too much from the momentum of the tug, so that he ran his hand over…

~yeah, he's hard~

…Zack's crotch. Just a fleeting touch, but it caused Zack to groan and his cheeks to flush.

"Quit doing stuff like that," Zack whispered and adjusted his pants.

"Like what?" Cloud said, trying to keep his tone as innocent as possible, and his eyes a little wider than normal. It was his version of the innocent puppy eyes. He used it on his mom, and usually got what he wanted, but he didn't know if it was going to work on Zack.

"I am the king of the puppy look, don't try that on me," Zack said, quickly throwing his arm around Cloud's neck into a headlock, and ground his knuckles into his head.

Cloud laughed and fought against the hold. "So," he finally managed to get out, still firmly lodged under Zack's arm. "Are we done for the day?"

"Oh. Nowhere near done," Zack said as he dragged him out of the training room.

~totally the answer I wanted~

Cloud could barely think. Zack's tongue in his mouth was driving him insane and making any coherent thought leave him. He was being smothered by the large, warm bare chest and he could only think about what that body could do to him.

Zack broke the deep kiss and lifted slightly off of him. Cloud just looked up at him, knowing that he had a silly smile on his face. "You are so damn cute," Zack whispered.

~cute~

"Don't call me 'cute'," Cloud muttered. "I am not cute!"

"Oh, but you are," Zack said and ran his hands over his face.

Cloud wrinkled his nose and glared at the other man. "Quit calling me cute!" Cloud had been called 'cute' all his life. He didn't care when he was little, but as he got older, 'cute' just got him picked on. 'Handsome' made a person popular, 'cute' made a person the one the handsome one picked on.

~in this case, he wants to screw you~

Zack chuckled lightly. "I love it when you get riled up like that."

~I'll show him riled up~

Cloud couldn't help but smile. Cloud put a hand in the dark spikes and pulled Zack's ear to his mouth. "Wanna play with those toys," he huskily whispered. "Now."

Zack's whole body shivered over him, and he let out a shaky breath. "Demanding, aren't you?" Zack managed to say, even if his usual, confident voice was a little shaky. Cloud proceeded to chew on the earlobe, knowing that Zack enjoyed it.

He got a groan out of Zack. Now, he just had to get him to take the rest of his clothes off and get something from that drawer. They both still had their boxers on; the rest of their clothes were strewn around the room in the flurry to get into the bed. Zack twisted his hips and Cloud felt Zack's arousal pressing against his own, and now he really wanted the boxers off of the SOLDIER.

Cloud stopped chewing on Zack's ear and wiggled to try to reach down to remove the last bit of restrictive clothing. The movement seemed to cause Zack to grind into him harder. Zack's mouth latched onto his neck and nibbled his skin, causing Cloud to close his eyes and take in a deep breath. He arched his back to help alleviate the tingle that was racing down his spine, only to be stopped by the firm body pressed against him.

"Eager," Zack mumbled and nipped his collar bone.

Cloud whimpered.

~understatement~

Zack rolled off of him. Cloud felt cold with the removal of the warm body, but was pleased to see that Zack was reaching for the bedside table. He eagerly removed his boxers in anticipation of what was to come. Zack was sitting on the side of the bed as he placed the condoms and lube on the nightstand, and was looking in the drawer with his tongue between his teeth.

"Zack?"

Zack flushed and looked over at him, releasing his tongue from his teeth. "Well, you know," Zack said, and looked over at him sheepishly, "I may have been a little over-zealous when I went to the store."

"I don't think so, and even if you were, it would be a shame not to use the stuff," Cloud said and reached for Zack's boxers. He was going to get some tonight, and he was going to get Zack to use those toys that he was dreaming about since he saw them.

Zack obliged and removed his boxers.

Cloud licked his lips to refrain from wanting to kiss Zack's swollen cock.

"Well, I…" Zack said and looked over at the drawer. "You don't think I'm creepy or anything?"

"Just kinky," Cloud mumbled and scooted close to Zack so that he could rest his head on his thigh.

~just a little kiss~

He kissed the flushed tip of Zack's erection. Zack gasped and thrust a hand into the soft yellow hair.

"Kinky?" Zack said and stroked the blond head on his thigh.

"Uh-huh," Cloud said and licked his lips. He wanted to kiss it again.

"So," Zack said, and then hummed. "Did you see everything in the drawer?"

"I saw enough," Cloud said and kissed the cock again. Cloud smiled as it jumped, and Zack's grip increased in his hair.

"What do you want me to use on you?" Zack panted.

~dear Gaia~

Cloud nearly lost it. He groaned and closed his eyes. His could feel his face blush as his groin painfully tightened. There was not a single coherent thought in his head. He heard Zack laugh and reach into the drawer.

"I think you will need this."

Cloud didn't see what he pulled out, as he was still recovering from the question. Zack pushed him back into the middle of the bed. Cloud tried to see what was in his hand, but Zack leaned over his chest and blocked his view of what he had. Zack grabbed him…

~feels so damn good~

…at his base and gave him an appreciative squeeze.

"Zack!"

"Easy there, Cloud," Zack said, and then in a whisper, he added, "You are so horny."

~no doubt about it~

"This'll help," Zack said. Cloud felt something wrap around the base of his cock.

~tight~

Zack moved so that Cloud could see what Zack placed on him.

"Is that okay?" Zack asked, but didn't wait for an answer as he moved in for a kiss. Cloud wanted to protest, but Zack's talented lips and tongue cut off any words that he had. Zack's hand was wrapped tightly around his cock and squeezed, causing Cloud to wiggle against the touch and the odd binding.

"Gaia Cloud." Zack's mouth gaping as he broke the kiss. "I don't know if I can take it slow tonight."

"Then don't," Cloud whispered and kissed him again, enjoying how the larger man tensed above him.

Zack pressed against him so that both of their cocks were touching, and started to rub them together. "Damn, do you know how sexy you are?"

Cloud was in heaven. His whole world was in this bedroom with Zack crushing him and gently rocking against him.

Zack grunted.

Cloud felt the familiar tightness in his belly spread to his groin. He gasped and thrust against Zack. His body didn't finish though, and all he could do was twist, moan, and pant.

Zack chuckled and kept rubbing. "Glad I strapped ya."

"Uh," Cloud said as the feeling let up a little bit. "Take it off," he whimpered.

"Not until I fuck you," Zack said.

Cloud forgot to breathe for a moment. Zack chuckled and rolled off him again and reached over to drawer. Cloud watched the muscles move in Zack's shoulders.

~hottest guy in the world~

Zack turned back to him. He had delved into the drawer again and he pulled out that finger-covering with the bumps on it, and the bottle of lube.

~Gaia~

Zack didn't hesitate to place some lube on the toy.

~can I handle that?~

Zack handed Cloud the bottle and he took it. Zack's weight returned to his side, and his hand…

~not wasting any time~

…went down to his bottom. Cloud could only gasp as he felt the cool, gel-covered finger hover over his entrance.

"I want you so bad," Zack said. "You're all that I think about."

Cloud glowed at the thought, and wiggled against the finger that wasn't entering him yet. For someone that wanted to rush, he sure was taking it way too slow.

"Zack," he begged and moved to meet his lover's neck.

~lover~

"Gonna fuck your brains out," Zack growled.

Cloud's small groan at hearing those words turned into a small yelp as the finger pushed in, but not as gently as the last time. It hurt a little, but that was quickly replaced by a warm sensation; he remembered that wonderful sensation from the last time. Zack's finger curled around the spot that sent fire running through his whole body. His body tried to come again, but that stupid strap stopped it from happening.

"Anxious," Zack said as he moved his finger against that spot again.

Cloud couldn't help but to squirm and twist. He reached down to his cock, only to have Zack stop stimulating him and slap his hand away.

"Not yet. Wait until I'm in you," Zack said.

Cloud panted and tossed his head back. His mind was racing, and none of the thoughts were very clear at the moment. Zack's finger moved back to his entrance and pushed. He gave out a little squeak that was none too manly.

~no wonder he is calling you cute~

Zack made a hard grunt.

~that was manly~

He could feel that velvety cock rubbing against his thigh, and all Cloud could think about was how wonderful it felt when it filled him. He wanted to feel how full he could become when Zack pressed him into the mattress.

"Does that feel good?" Zack panted. Cloud tried to say 'yes', but Zack added another finger, and all he managed was a whine. "Yeah, baby."

~baby?~

Zack started to move his fingers in a circular motion, making him ready. Cloud tried to reach for his aching member again. He wanted the strap gone. He wanted to come. He wanted Zack in him.

"Nu-huh," Zack said. "Put that hand back down at your side." Cloud groaned, but those passion-filled eyes looked directly at him, and those fingers slowed. Cloud complied and he was rewarded with a curl of that silicone-encased finger. He couldn't help but buck his hips at the touch. His whole body was on fire at the intense feeling that was consuming him.

"Please, Zack," Cloud moaned as that finger stroked the most maddening spot.

"How do you want it, Cloud?" Zack asked with a voice thick with lust.

~every which way~

Cloud had a very good imagination and it was going into overdrive. He was only able to get a few grunts out as those fingers were still moving with slow, teasing motions.

Zack's cock was pressed hard against Cloud's thigh, and his breath was hot against his ear. He repeated, "How do you want it?"

"I-" Cloud blushed. "I just want it."

Zack's hand kept stretching his entrance. "I think you're ready," he chuckled lightly. "I'm going to screw you into the mattress."

~sounds great~

Zack moved quickly. He removed the silicone wrapping on his finger and grabbed a condom, expertly opened the package and rolled it quickly over his cock.

~fuck me~

"That's just what I am going to do," Zack grinned wolfishly as he turned towards Cloud.

Cloud blushed brightly. "Did I say that out loud?" He put a hand over his mouth.

"Yep," Zack said. "Don't have an inside voice when you're all worked up, huh?" Zack leaned over and gave him a deep kiss as he positioned his body between Cloud's spread legs. Zack broke the kiss, as he knelt in that position.

~is he going to fold me in half again?~

Zack sat on his heels with his thighs together. Strong hands gripped Cloud's hips as Zack pulled Cloud up his thighs, and Cloud instinctively wrapped his legs around Zack's muscular waist. Cloud smiled and wiggled a bit higher, so that Zack had easier access.

Zack didn't waste any more time. He leaned forward slightly and Cloud could feel Zack's cock pressing for entrance. Cloud relaxed as he felt the pressure. ~perfect~

Zack was not as gentle as before, as he pushed forward forcefully, causing Cloud to hiss at the discomfort. Zack paused a bit and waited for him to get used to being filled again. Cloud moved his hips to encourage Zack to move again as the pressure eased, and the pleasure increased. Cloud cried out as Zack sharply pushed all the way in and kept moving.

Cloud felt the heaviness coiling in his stomach again. He reached down to that strap only to have Zack grab his hands to prevent him from removing it and touching himself.

"Not yet," Zack grunted.

"Please," Cloud whimpered. He wasn't coherent enough to say anything else. He tried desperately to get his hands free, but Zack had complete control over him. The pressure was getting too much, and all he could do was push against the SOLDIER and gasp. Cloud shuddered violently as his body tried to reach its climax, but was denied. He yelled his protest and gripped Zack's hand tightly. He didn't even realize that he was pleading with Zack to let him come until he had to take a breath.

Zack's pumped harder into him and Cloud met his thrusts helplessly. He felt his whole body break out into a fine sweat as the pleasure was becoming too much.

~want the strap off~

Cloud whimpered as he tried to force Zack's hand toward the piece of leather that was preventing the final climax. Cloud looked at the man that was pressing into him and saw that he had broken into a sweat as well. Zack had his teeth on his lower lip and a look of complete concentration…

~lust~

…on his face.

Zack let go of his hands and put his sword-hardened palms back on to Cloud's narrow hips. Cloud immediately reached for the strap and tried to remove it. Zack used his hands to pull him tighter to him. The grip changed the angle just enough so that Zack was now thrusting right against that tight little spot that sent explosions of pleasure right through him. Cloud gasped and for a moment, forgot about the strap.

He heard Zack swear.

He remembered how restricted he felt and grabbed at the strap and…

~damn it~

…couldn't get it undone. He pulled on it and it only made it tighter. He whimpered in protest. One of Zack's hands pulled his hands away from it and he just about screamed a protest until he realized that Zack was undoing the restraint.

It was almost instantaneous. Cloud's whole body roiled with pleasure as he arched his back. He always thought people were making things up when they said that they saw fireworks, or said that they blacked out. His vision became fogged with spots that rolled across his vision, as his body shook and quivered as the orgasm consumed him.

He heard Zack growl as he leaned forward when his own orgasm took him.

~how can it be even better than last time?~

Cloud smiled and looked up at the panting man who was still recovering. "That was wonderful." Cloud was surprised at the hoarseness of his voice as he spoke.

~was I too loud again?~

Zack nodded and leaned forward to kiss him. It was a gentle kiss that moved from his lips to his neck.

"You keep saying that," Zack said.

"Well, it was," Cloud said as he felt Zack slip out of him. He moaned at the loss of having him inside, as well as pressed against him, as Zack moved to dispose of the condom. Cloud was very aware that he had another mess across his chest and belly.

"We should make sure we have a wash cloth ready before we have sex," Cloud said.

Zack chuckled lightly as he walked across the room to the bathroom. "We'll have to keep that in mind."

Cloud stretched out his legs and pulled the sheet over his nakedness, but not over the mess on his belly. Zack returned and cleaned him up with the warm wash cloth, kissing him as he did so. "Did I hurt you?" Zack asked.

"I said it was wonderful," Cloud murmured as Zack cuddled up against him under the sheets. Cloud stroked the muscular arms that wrapped around him. "What are we going to play with next?"

Zack chuckled, "Insatiable, aren't you?"

"You started it."

Zack laughed. "I believe you started it with your drunken teasing."

"You kissed me first."

"You grabbed my ass."

"You got a drawer full of toys."

They both laughed. Cloud kissed Zack's jaw line. "I was serious, Zack. What are we going to play with next?"

 

Chapter 26- Gift
​

"You look like shit."

"Geez, thanks, Cloud. Nice to know I look as good as I feel," Reno grumbled. Reno sat with a tray of food beside him. He looked tired and looked more ruffled than normal; he was pale, and there were dark circles under his eyes. His slightly dulled blue eyes glanced fleetingly over at Cloud. "You look chipper."

Cloud cleared his throat, and switched the topic back to Reno. "You've been in the Mess a lot lately." Cloud could see Reno's shoulders slump a bit as he twirled the noodles on his plate. "Since when do you eat down here? You hate this place."

Reno chuckled. "I loathe this place. Life is just kinda suckin' right now, ya know."

There was something bothering the normally chipper redhead. He watched as Reno took a fork full of food and brought it to his mouth. His brow was furrowed and Cloud was sure that it wasn't just his normal disdain for the food.

"What happened?" Cloud asked as he continued to eat his meal.

Reno shrugged. "This and that."

"This and that?" Cloud tilted his head. Obviously, Reno didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him. Reno's eyes hardly moved from his food.

"Yeah," Reno said with a mouthful of food. "This stuff sucks. What's it even supposed to be?"

Cloud chuckled at the face that Reno made as he put another forkful in his mouth. "Its chicken linguine in mushroom sauce," Cloud said, and heard Reno grumble about the food. "If you don't like it, why are you eating it?"

"Didn't eat breakfast. Wakin' up at three really sucks, yo," Reno mumbled as he speared a mushroom. "Gag me - is this a piece of chicken or a mushroom?" Reno shook the offensive piece of food off his fork and went for the noodles.

"It's not that bad," Cloud said, spearing the mushroom from Reno's plate and eating it, "and it's a mushroom. But why are you up so early?" Cloud took a sip of his juice.

Reno mumbled something and gave Cloud a glance, but quickly focused back on his food.

~what did Zack say to him?~

"Pardon?" Cloud said, and leaned a little closer to Reno.

"Tseng wants me to learn to focus, and forced me to do the Boot Camp in Sector 3." Reno grumbled. "I think he's tryin' to kill me."

Cloud shook his head. He wondered what he did to get sent to that camp. He remembered the torture of going through the motions there. It was an advanced class and was quite brutal. "The Boot Camp isn't that bad," Cloud said, trying to make Reno feel better. He looked depressed, so Cloud wanted to cheer him up.

~he has hardly even looked at me~

Reno shook his head. "I can't feel my legs, man," he said, finally looking at Cloud. It was a fleeting glance, and there was a worried look on his face. "That demon Sergeant is singlin' me out." Reno's eyes went back to his food. He was currently trying to remove all the pieces of mushroom and place them on the side.

"Did he make you do squats?"

"A million of 'em," Reno said and put down his fork, giving up on separating the offending pieces of food. "I can't eat any more of this crap."

"Are you okay, Reno? What else is going on?" Cloud said in a lower voice. He reached over and placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "You seem really out of it."

Reno turned his head and looked at him. He looked kind of torn. "Man, Cloud. It's complicated, yo," he said, his voice low and strained.

"Have you been sleeping?" Cloud noted that Reno's shoulder was tense. Reno was one of the most relaxed guys that he knew; this was not like him at all. His eyes were rimmed with red, and looked bloodshot.

Cloud remembered how Zack had been talking to Reno the other day. He wondered what Zack had said to him, and if it had anything to do with the Turk's current mood.

"Been a little deprived lately," Reno said.

~deprived? What does that mean?~

"Nothin' to worry about kiddo." The smile that Reno put on looked fake, but Cloud let it slide. If he didn't want to talk, he wasn't going to force him to.

"If you say so," Cloud said and took in another forkful of food. "What did you do to piss off Tseng to end up in the third ring of Hell?"

Reno's smile became genuine then. "What the hell? One moment you are saying that it's not bad, and now it's got its own level in Hell?" Reno winced and rubbed his legs.

Cloud laughed. "Did you stretch?"

Reno glared at him. "I'm not a moron. Jus' not used to the abuse, yo." Reno shook his head. "I need some real food."

Cloud finished the last bite of his. "You didn't answer my question. What did you do?"

Reno snorted. "Doesn't take much, yo."

~avoiding that question too~

"Did you screw up a mission?" Cloud asked. He could understand if he didn't want to talk about that.

"Somethin' like that," Reno said. "Anyhoo, Cloudo, you and Zacker's still all good? Ya?"

Cloud looked away and tried not to fidget as he felt a blush creep across his face. He couldn't help but think about how good it was between him and Zack right now, and the coiling tension in his belly was evidence of that.

~absolutely wonderful~

Reno laughed. "That good, huh?"

"Shut up," Cloud muttered. "And don't say that too loud."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Reno said and winced again. He must have been in a lot of pain, and Cloud refrained from reaching out to touch him, wanting to soothe the Turk. "Hey, do ya know if Zacker's got in a shipment of smokes?"

Cloud furrowed his brow, a little confused by the switch in the conversation.

Reno pulled a nearly empty pack of cigarettes from his jacket. "Found some good'ns on my desk. Tryin' to figure out who it was, ya know."

"Zack doesn't smoke."

Reno frowned. "Yeah. He didn't get any in or anythin'?"

"Not that I know of. Why are you asking?" Cloud said as Reno pocketed the smokes again.

"Jus' tryin' to figure out who dunnit," Reno said. "Didn't think it was Zack, but I thought I would ask."

"What? You have a secret admirer?" Cloud gave Reno's shoulder a gentle push.

Reno flushed and muttered something under his breath.

"You really have to speak up. I can't hear you," Cloud said.

Reno's eyes suddenly flashed with anger. "Ya know," Reno said, and pushed his chair from the table as he tried to stand, but he just ended up sitting there.

~what is he trying to do?~

Reno opened his mouth and then snapped it shut; frustrations bleeding into a pitiful sounding sigh. "So much for dramatically storming out."

Cloud chuckled at the flustered Turk.

~he needs to loosen up~

Cloud stood and held out his hand to Reno. "I'll help you out. I don't start lessons until one. We can use one of the training rooms, and I can have a go at your stiffness."

Reno's eyes sparkled and his eyebrows rose in a suggestive manner. Cloud groaned and his face started to heat up when he realized what he had said.

~oh, that can be taken the wrong way~

"Don't be such a perv!"

~should take some of your own advice~

Cloud tried to control the blush that he felt across more than just his face. "I didn't mean that! I meant I want to help stretch your legs out. I mean, so they aren't so stiff… I mean- oh man." Cloud rubbed the back of his head and gave up trying to recover from his Freudian slip.

Reno seemed overly amused by his bungling.

~not that you would mind going after his stiffy~

Cloud tried to remain composed as he helped the Turk out of his chair. Ever since stupid Joseph had put the thought of a threesome in his head, he had had a couple of fantasies about it. The thought of Reno in bed with him and Zack… he shuddered involuntarily as he took Reno's…

~firm~

… hand in his and tugged the grunting Turk out of his chair. He was with Zack now, and now was not the time for such…

~tantalizing~

… inappropriate thoughts.

"I think I'll take ya up on that. The stretchin' thing," Reno chuckled and gave him a solicitous wink. Cloud just about told him to stop being such a flirt when a groan left the normally agile Turk's mouth. Reno put his hand briefly on Cloud's arm to steady himself before he started to walk as if he was trying to suppress a limp.

"I don't need to see this!"

Cissnei got off Rude's lap and moved a couple of steps away from him. Rude rolled his shoulders and straightened his glasses, clearing his throat lightly.

"Get a damn room," Reno blurted. He collapsed into his chair and glared at his partner.

~show off~

"Well, I have to be going anyway," Cissnei said. She kissed Rude on the cheek and quickly left the office.

Reno glared at her as she left, and then turned the glare to Rude. "You two are progressing well." He knew he sounded bitter, but his nerves were too shot to care. He should be happy that Rude found a woman that wasn't all uptight about Rude's naturally untalkative nature. Seeing his partner making out with the Prissy Sissy was not making him feel any better, however.

After spending a half-hour with Cloud's hands pressing into his feet and knees in a non-sexual way,

~damn it all~

… was testing his already frayed nerves. Cloud just did not realize what he did to him. The SOLDIER wannabe had no idea how his sexy innocence was just so damn – well, sexy.

Rude gave a small affirmative grunt and looked down at his computer keyboard, almost as if he was embarrassed that he got caught in a smooching session.

Reno started his computer and rubbed his thighs, and was quite amazed at how better his legs did feel. It wasn't one-hundred percent, but they didn't feel like they were going to give out on him at any moment. The ache was noticeably less pronounced, and some of his movement had improved.

~yah, you felt his hands all too well~

He tried to distract himself with the emails that were popping up on the screen, but his thoughts went to how Cloud had told him to lie down on the floor and remove his shoes.

~body reacted totally inappropriately~

Reno couldn't bend to reach his shoes and Cloud had to remove them; he had laughed and taunted him about his lack of flexibility.

"Thought a Turk could handle anything?" Cloud had said. Reno couldn't even think of smart remark to throw back at him – all he could manage was, 'Shut up'. Cloud had laughed as he sat cross-legged on the mat by Reno's legs, taking a foot into his hands and pressing his fingers into them.

It hurt at first.

~stung like hell. Whimpered like a baby~

Cloud told him to stop being a wimp as he pressed his fingers across his arch, and then kneaded the outer edge of his foot in the most painful way. "My mom used to do this reflexology stuff until people started to call her a witch. She taught me. It works to get through some of the torture that they put you through around here."

After awhile, the touch became very…

~sensual~

…relaxing. He had propped himself up, leaning on his elbows as Cloud manipulated the outer edge of his feet with his knuckle. He felt his legs start to feel better.

"Crap, I think it's working," Reno had blurted as he felt the pressure and tension around his knee give a little.

"Of course it is," Cloud said as he went to remove Reno's other shoe. "Do you think I want to touch your stinky feet?" Of course, the way Cloud ducked his head and hid behind his bangs, told Reno that he wasn't minding all that much.

~Strife is so damn cute~

Stupid thoughts of pinning and kissing the SOLDIER wannabe to the mat started to infiltrate his thoughts. He wanted to. His plan was coming back to him, and he was beginning to think that it would be a good idea again.

Of course, that was when Cloud started to ask him what was bothering him. "I can tell it's more than just the training session."

Reno just about gave into those large blue eyes looking down at him. He just about spilled his guts over what had happened in the last couple of weeks about Rufus, about the clothes he bought him, about how the two amatore's kissing was unbelievably hot, about his plan, the message in his smokes, even about Sephiroth.

But he didn't. He just laughed it off like he was being overworked and mistreated by his boss.

~only a small fib there. It wasn't Tseng that was mistreating him ~

Cloud seemed to accept that, told him to drink lots of water and go to bed early…

~stupid Spike-Brain even put my shoes back on~

… as he helped him up from the gym mat and announced that he had to get to his lesson. Reno grumbled about getting back to watch the kiddies eat their lunch. Cloud had placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it gently. And in a soft, concerned voice, he said, "If you need more help, give me a call."

~did Cloud realize what he did to him? ~

"How was your meeting with Tseng?"

Rude's voice brought him out of thoughts. "Huh? Meeting? Oh. Right. Meeting. Uh. Fine. No problem." He knew his voice sounded clipped. He really didn't want to talk about that, with his partner.

Rude was staring at him. Reno could feel his partner's hidden eyes analyzing him; he hated Rude's intense stare. Sometimes, he wished his partner was more vocal so that his head didn't fill in the blanks. He was pretty sure that Rude knew about his thing for Cloud and Zack. Reno was aware of his drunken banter the night of the drinking contest; he had never been one to hold his tongue when he was drinking. He just wished he remembered everything that he had said, and it was not something that he really wanted to ask his partner.

"What did you get in trouble for?"

Reno had to think quickly. "Uh. There was something wrong with my last report."

~lame~

One of Rude's eyebrows rose over his sunglasses. "Your report?"

"Yeah, my report. You know how I suck at that stuff, yo," Reno said. He could see that Rude wasn't buying it. Rude stared at him, and Reno felt the urge to speak again. He needed to break the silence that was eating at him. This was how Rude got information out of him. He was thankful when Rude spoke.

"Is seeing Cissnei with me bothering you that much?" Rude asked.

He thought he was bothered with him screwing Sissy? Reno chuckled and quickly moved into full blown laughter. He tried to stop when he saw the annoyed look on his partner's face. "Oh, man!" Reno had to take in a deep breath to continue talking. "I needed that laugh, there, partner. Man. Nah, that's just kinda weird and all, but it's not buggin' me like that, yo."

~what's bothering me is my lack of action~

Rude shook his head and grunted.

Reno continued to snicker and focused on his computer. He started to cut and paste the day's lunchroom mayhem report together. The emails that were in there were tasks that could put off until later.

His phone rang and he absently picked it up. "Yo, Reno here."

"Reno."

"Boss," he said and felt his whole body tensing. He didn't want to actually talk to Tseng. He wanted to let the memory fade a bit before he was confronted.

"I need to speak to you," Tseng said formally.

"Is this another trap, yo?" Reno had to ask. Tseng did seem genuinely shocked as he darted out of the office after the interruption, but he didn't want to be set up again.

"No, it is not," Tseng said.

"Did you leave me those smokes?" Reno said as he patted the pocket that contained the package with the mysterious note.

"Pardon?" Tseng said.

"Never mind, Boss. Yo, what do ya need to speak to me 'bout?" Reno said, shaking his head. He didn't like where this path was leading. It was starting to freak him out just a little bit more. There were only two more people that were on his list that could have left him those smokes, and both options bothered him.

~why is my life becoming so complicated?~

"I was hoping that you would come to my office," Tseng said.

"No fuckin' way!" Reno blurted. He heard Rude gasp and felt that intense look on his face.

Tseng was silent on the other end of the phone.

"Sorry, Boss. I just can't do that," Reno said. He felt himself start to shake a bit. Rufus was affecting him way too much. There was no way he could go to that office; it just felt like it was another trap. "Sorry, yo."

~man, I am so stupid~

The silence was long on the other end of the phone before he heard Tseng speak again. "I was not aware that the Vice-President was using my office for a private meeting."

"Whatever," Reno mumbled.

"He is fond of you," Tseng said in a soft voice.

"No shit, Boss." Reno snorted. "Is it just a game with him? I mean, one moment it's like, caring, and the next it's all serious control freak-like," Reno stumbled over his words and looked across to see a very confused-looking Rude.

~I just can't keep my mouth shut~

"I don't know, Reno," Tseng said. "I did warn you that he has broken bigger men than you."

Reno clenched his teeth together. "Yeah. You warned me, Boss. I heard you laughing."

~Sephiroth warned me too~

"Is this part of your amusement as well?" Reno heard his boss trying to interrupt him. "I'm not somethin' to be played with, and I don't feel like being a fuckin' toy for all you bigwigs' amusement."

"Reno!" Tseng voice spoke sharply through the phone.

"Is there anything else, Boss?" Reno said, keeping his voice as even as possible, even though his hand holding the phone was shaking.

"No," Tseng said. "We will discuss this further, when you have calmed down."

"Whatever," Reno said and flipped the phone shut.

~I'm gonna die now~

He let his head crash into his keyboard, and he groaned.

"What was that all about?" Rude demanded, now standing at his desk.

"Stupid report," he mumbled, not bothering to look up. He had just told his boss off, and Rude would be more than aware that it had nothing to do with a report.

"You just told off Tseng, because of a report?"

"Sure, why not?" Reno said and looked to where Rude was supposed to be standing. He wasn't at his desk, but was now beside him. Rude looked like he was going to say something, but was stopped by a ringing phone. Rude dutifully answered it with a few 'sir, yes, sir's and flipped his phone closed. Reno suspected who it was on the other end of the phone.

"Go home," Rude said. "I will escort you."

"Gotta write a report," he protested.

Rude grabbed his arm and pulled him out of his chair. He protested again, but Rude shook his head. "Let's go," he said, and started to drag him out of the office.

Reno had a moment of panic arise in him. "You aren't settin' me up, are ya?"

Rude grunted. "Do you need to be sedated?"

~a nice bottle of vodka would be nice~

"I'm fine."

"You just told Tseng off. I don't think that you're okay," Rude said, still dragging him along. Reno was glad that Cloud had helped him with his legs; he wouldn't have been able to handle being dragged like a bag of potatoes if it were a couple of hours ago.

"Need a smoke, yo," Reno protested, once more.

"You can't wait until you get home?" Rude said as he dragged him into the elevator. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothin'," Reno said. "I just need a nap!"

~and a good long screw~

Rude grunted again. Rude looked at his partner, and he was waiting for more of an answer than that.

The elevator opened and Rude dragged him down the hall, opened up his apartment and shoved him inside. Rude slammed the door hard behind him, and stood blocking it. "Spill it."

"Don't wanna," Reno said, hating the whinny sound of his voice.

Rude crossed his arms.

"Listen, partner." Reno sighed. "I jus' need to get a good night's sleep, maybe some good food, a little drinky, and I'll be right as rain, yo."

~liar~

"You told off Tseng," Rude said, again. "You are not okay."

Reno mimicked Rude's stance and stared. Reno lasted three minutes before he threw his arms up in the air. "I don't wanna talk about it right now!"

"Do you even have food in the fridge?"

Rude knew him all too well when it came to his eating habits. "I think I got somethin' I can nuke." Reno liked good food, but he was not much of a cook. He ate out a lot, and his fridge was either empty or full of take-out boxes.

Rude let out a small sigh and shook his head, his body showing that he was giving up on asking the questions. "Do you want me to bring you something?"

"Nah," Reno said.

Rude tilted his head slightly.

"I'm sure. You gonna write my report?" Reno prodded.

Rude reached for the door. "Call when you aren't so crazy," he said and left.

"Never gonna happen, bro."

Rude didn't respond as he left.

~alone at last~

Reno walked into his little dining area, and had to stop and rub his eyes.

~what the hell?~

The anxiety that had been leaving him returned with full force again.

~what am I, a fuckin' girl?~

There, sitting on the dining room table, sat a vase of fancy red flowers. Beside it was a clear bottle with a big red bow and attached note. He was almost scared to approach it.

~another gift~

He was still trying to figure out who gave him the cigarettes, and now someone got him flowers and…

He approached the table and saw that the bottle was that of a expensive vodka. Banora apple flavoured.

~yummy~

With a shaking hand, he reached for the folded piece of paper that had his name written in large flowing script. He then looked at the flowers.

~where do you get flowers in Midgar, anyway?~

He decided that he was going to have a little drink first, before he dare open the note. He sat down at his table, keeping the note near as he opened the bottle and took a drink straight from it. Sweet and bitter, all in one; just what he needed to open the crazy note that was now under his hand.

He pulled out his smokes and opened it to see the note that was left for him there. He focused on the new note as he unfolded the piece of paper; he examined the words written in a large scrolling, elegant script.

A small token. I hope you accept this as an apology for the interruption. Rufus.

He stared at the message with Rufus' flowing signature and the unsigned note inside the smokes. He took another drink.

The writing did not match.

All his fears were made real then. He had wished that it had been Rufus that had given him the smokes. Knowing that Sephiroth had replaced his damaged smokes was almost as disturbing as Rufus giving him the flowers, and his teasing.