Characters/Pairings: Cloud-x-Squall Rating/Warnings: K+/Homosexual relationship (not graphic)

Silly little fic I did after realising this pairing is kinda cute. I do have a backstory to their relationship in this universe but it needs work...

"You know, you got lucky this time, Squall."

"It wasn't a big deal. I'm alive, right?"

"Yeah, because Cloud found you in time."

"As you keep reminding me."

"You know, you could act a little more grateful. He did save your life after all."

"Terra, give me a break. Taking on a few manikins does not make him a - Ah. Ah!"

Squall grasps tightly at the blankets beneath him, holding back screams as the esper uses all of her strength to tighten his bandages to an uncomfortable grip. She only does it for a while, than relaxes, allowing his blood flow to return to his toes.

"Whatever Cloud did or didn't do does not matter right now," she huffs at him. "Your actions were not clever at all. Now look at you: battered and bruised with a broken ankle and you knew we have no potions. Not until we find the right moogle at least."

Squall crosses his arms. "I already had Mr Leader telling me off. I don't need your judgement too."

Terra frowns, a little pout form on her face. "It's only because you worried me so much by running off like that."

The soft, soothing tone of her voice gets to the lad and he starts to feel bad. "I know..."

"Well, the most important thing now is that you are safe and sound." The woman smiles and neatly ties off the last of the sterilised cotton around his shin, before carefully moving his foot from her lap back down onto the cot. "And apart from the leg and a couple of scratches you are perfectly fine."

"Good. Thanks, Terra... Are we done here?"

"Not quite. Your wounds need cleaning now or they will get infected." Reaching down to the medical kit on the ground, Terra fishes out a cloth and a bottle of green fluid. "Take off your shirt and we can get started. Sooner we do this, the better."

"Fine... But I'm not looking forward to it." With a grunt, Squall manages to get his stiff arms to move and starts to pull his vest up over his head.

"Hey, Ter... Hm. Am I interrupting something?"

Squall can't see, but he recognises the low voice straight away and his shoulders slump. He pulls his shirt all the way off, and sees Cloud standing in the doorway of the tent, blue eyes aglow in the dim dusk light. The boy furrows his brow at him.

Terra ignores him and smiles at Cloud. "I was just going to clean Squall, that's all. Is something the matter?"

"Uh, yeah." Cloud throws a casual hand back outside. "Zidane is making a mess of dinner out there. I tried stopping him but he's too far in to listen. Maybe you can talk some sense into him?"

Terra's lips twist into a crooked line. "What about Squall?"

"I can clean myself up. No problem." The boy reaches for the bottle but the woman pulls it away, shaking her head.

"What about your back?"

"I can do it." Cloud raises a hand, volunteering. "I don't mind."

"I don't think so," Squall growls. "I can do it mys- Ah!" He yelps again, unable to hold it in as slim fingers twist his purpled big toe sharply.

"Don't be so mean, Squall." With a sigh Terra stands, straights out her skirts and works towards Cloud, handing him the cloth and bottle. "He has a major wound across the left shoulder blade and across the lower back. Make sure you get into them deep, and don't let Squall's whining put you off."

"I think I'm used to his whines by now" Cloud says, letting a small smile appear on his lips. He glances over to the mercenary in the cot, but when he sees the look of rage on Squall's face, he lost his smirk pretty quickly. "Leave it to me."

"Good. I'll see if I can save dinner." With that Terra drifts out of the tent, leaving the two men alone. The two of them stare at each other for a while in silence; outside, a scream and a chorus of laughter echoes in the valley as a tail is caught by an ice spell.

"...Should we get this done with?" Cloud asks cautiously, lifting the bottle up an inch. Squall, his face dark and moody, slowly gives in, grunts, and tries his best with his aching joints to roll over onto his stomach, the old wooden frame of the cot creaking loudly as he shifts his weight.

"Just do what you have to do."

"Right."

Sitting down on the edge of the mattress, Cloud twists off the top off the vial and carefully dampens the cloth with the liquid. It is clear and smells potent like a potion but it has the odour of chemicals, not at all natural.

"This is going to sting a little."

"Just do it, Cloud."

The blond's mouth tightens into a pale line, looking at the back of the boy's head for a moment, his unruly hair and his shoulders. Squall keeps his face half-buried in the pillow.

Gently, Cloud brings the cloth to the lower wound, and makes little fast pats up and down its length. It raises a growl out of Squall and he presses his face deeper into his pillow.

The wounds are not as bad as they were before. He had been struck with a blade, slicing through his clothing with two quick strikes. Really, they are not serious. Long in size but not in any way deep; just cutting his flesh, making it hot and inflamed. They were bloody and he picked up a lot of mud, so he had bath straight after they returned to camp. They are no longer brown and black, but red and tender pink, striking against his tan skin.

Cloud pours on a little more solution, and is kinda amused by the muffled gasps from his patient.

"Are you biting the pillow?" he asks, trying not to sound too entrained about it.

"Hhrg!" Squall barks, which Cloud guesses meant 'shut up' maybe. It is hard to tell.

"Don't worry. It won't take long..." Cloud bites his lip for a second, pondering. "...This stuff is the worse, is it?" He tries to make conversation, even though Squall does not seem to be in a chatty mood. "I had to use this on my arm once and it stung like heck... I know potions are not pleasant, but it's more a weird stretching sensation then pain. Much better than this, right?"

"Hey, Cloud." With a lot of effort, Squall manages to lift his head a little and look over his shoulder. There is a wet patch where his teeth had been clamped down on his pillow. "You said you were going to help with my back, not start boring chit-chat. Maybe you can shush a bit so I can suffer in peace, please."

"Charming." For punishment, Cloud pours a splash of the cleaning fluid straight onto the boy's back; not a lot but enough to get a gasp out of him. "Why are you so annoyed with me?"

"...I had everything under control."

"Ah. I get it know. You think I've shown you up in front of everyone else."

"It's not that. It's just... It's..." Squall pauses for a moment, trying to get his words together. He turns over a little bit, looking up at Cloud. "I didn't need your help, that's all."

"You were on the ground, Squall."

"They had a lot of luck, that's all. They were not even that strong."

"But they had strength in numbers, which was something you didn't have that time because you were reckless and ran off."

"Look. I'm not like the kid; I'm old enough to look after myself."

"At least he knows when to back down." Cloud furrows his brow, but he can't put up with it for long, seeing Squall turn away from him again, shoulders limp. "...Look, I would have saved anyone in that situation, and I would expect everyone here to do the same for me... I would expect you to do the same for me." Cloud pauses for a response but gets nothing. He sighs and leans down to reach the wounded shoulder. "None of us would be happy if you died. I was only trying to look out for- Hm."

All of the sudden, Cloud finds himself unable to talk, as a pair of rough, chapped lips press themselves against his. It is a brief, fleeting peak, and far too soon Squall pulls away, staring up with a bored and tired expression, eyes half-lidded. Cloud looks down at him, not in shock or surprise, but wondering why.

"See?" Squall asks. "I'm not angry with you any more. You can stop being a nag now."

Cloud smiles a bit. "If you are trying to be cute, it's not working."

"I'm never cute."

"You don't have to tell me that." He quickly wipes the last of the damp on the cloth across the wound, and allows Squall to roll over. "That should do for now. I can put more on if it ends up going bad anyway."

"Thanks." Squall finally cracks a smile, and he glances over to the tent door. He does not see anything much, save for the odd unidentifiable figure that wanders some distance away and disappears again. "You know, if Zidane has completely ruined dinner, I bet we have quite a while before anyone comes calling us out."

Cloud arches a brow. "Meaning?"

Squall doesn't say a word. He just simply reaches over and grabs the blond's hand. He gives it a strong tug, pulling the other man until he had to move to avoid falling straight on top of him. Cloud dropped his equipment onto the ground, and supports himself on the heels of his hands; one of each side of the younger's head, their legs now in parallel.

"What are you doing, Squall?"

"Think of this as payback for helping me." The brunet has a smirk now. A slightly wicked smirk. He places his hands on Cloud's face and gently pulls him to towards his. He lightly brushes his teeth along the blond's bottom lip. "I don't mind."

"I can tell." A little concerned, Cloud glances behind him towards the door. He had heard the low hum of banter coming from around the camp fire. "What if they hear us?"

A bit annoyed, Squall grabs him by the hair roughly and makes him turn back around.

"They won't if we keep quiet, you idiot."

"...What about your back?

"You worry way too much." He hooks his fingers into the front pockets of Cloud's trousers and yanks him straight down on top of him. "I'm fine. It's not that bad. Just watch my foot."

"Okay, okay... Come here." Bowing his head down, Cloud kisses Squall full on the mouth, sweeping his tongue across his lips. He soon pulls away again, as he finds himself desperately struggling with the other's belt buckles. They are bulky and large and very frustrating. He frowns and grunts angrily. "Damn your wardrobe."

"It's not that hard to- stop pulling me about. It's not helping- oh, give it here!" Giving Cloud's hands a quick slap away, Squall unbuckled the belts in a couple of clicks and promptly throws them onto the floor. "I hope to the gods that you know how to undo a zipper at least."

To shut him up, Cloud forces him hard into another kiss. To get back at his cheek, he grabs a handful of brown tresses and pulls hard and tight. He is a little surprised to find that Squall might be enjoying it after all, as he lets slip a moan and grasps into the back of the blond's jumper with firm fists, to start pulling it up over his head. Well, Cloud can't say he wouldn't be pleased either way, and he smirks broadly.

"Guys, grub's up!" Bartz cheers as he bounds through the doorway. "The pheasant has no flesh any more thanks to the monkey out there, but Ter said the meat itself is perfectly fine..." He trails off slowly, blinking. Cloud is packing up the medic kit. Squall is sat up in bed, and is putting his vest back on, wounds clean and slightly stinging. "...did I walk in on something here?"

Squall looks at the wanderer as if he had asked something in gibberish.

"What?"

"I don't know. The two of you just seem very quiet. Well, quieter than normal..." While a curious look on his face, Bartz tilts his head to the side. "Where the two of you fighting again?"

"No, no." Cloud shakes his head, standing by the cot with his arms crossed. "We are done fighting."

"Ah. Good." Bartz nods, humming understandably. He casually pulls at the sleeves of his tunic. "...so what were you doing then?"

"I was just cleaning Squall's back."

"Yup, then what happened?"

"Nothing, Bartz."

"Come on, guys. I'm not stupid." A sly, wicked little grin dresses the man's face, as if he is in on some private joke. "You did something bad didn't you? Don't worry. I won't tell on you."

"Go away, Bartz," Squall snaps. "Stop looking for trouble where there isn't any."

"Fine," Bartz sighs, rolling his eyes and planting his hands firming on his sides. "Jeez. You two really live up to your names sometimes..." One hand still on his side, he bows down for a second and whips back up instantly, his fingers hooked around silver buckles jiggling together. "By the way, you dropped your belts. Off your hips."

Squall violently snatches his belts back, his brow furrowed and burning, and tries to lash at the other lad with the leather straps, just missing his thigh as he leapt out of the way.

"Get out, Klauser!"

"Fine, fine," Bartz grins, escaping to the door. "My dinner is getting cold anyway."

He leaves them in the quiet again. Cloud is still standing there, staring at the door for a moment, then drops his gaze to Squall, who was rolling about trying to get his belts back on.

"Gods help me. He is very annoying sometimes."

"...Your face is red."

"Thanks for pointing that out." He manages to get himself properly dressed, and drag his feet over the side of his squeaking cot. "How do you put up with it?"

"I don't know," Cloud shrugs. "You just get used to things like that as you age... Let's go and get some food before it's all gone. Do you need help?"

"No, no. I can- ah!" Squall tries to stand, but the sudden pressure on his ankle is too much, and he falls back down, hissing a curse. As the pain dulls, a hand grasps him under his arm and pulls him up easily enough. He wraps an arm around Cloud's shoulders, leans up against him, and finds his balance on his one good foot. He scowls and glares up at his support.

"I said I could- Hm." He is startled a bit, not expecting it but after a moment, he lets Cloud strengthen the kiss a little more, just for a little while before pulling away. "Stop that."

"Fine," says Cloud. "Watch your step." With careful pacing they stumble across the tent, the smell of roasted meat and the noise for their friends drawing them to the camp fire. "You are never satisfied with anything."

"Sometimes I am..."