Disclaimer: MOUSE AND SQUEENIX.
Summary: At the Olympus Coliseum it is always bright, always daytime, and Cloud finds himself hating the sun.
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Death shouldn't smell like sweat and leather.
Cloud feels the pounding in his head, the sharp pains in his chest, and feels that perhaps it is time for him to wake up and assess the damage. He peels his eyes open (the light it's so goddamn bright) and winces. He immediately turns his head, nestling harder against whatever it is that's holding him, fiercely hating the sun (and its mother, its children, and the horse it rode in on).
He mutters, "fuck," and his lips crack and bleed against something smooth.
He is held tightly to something that is firm, something that radiates warmth and gives off a scent that reminds Cloud, very distinctly, of the weight rooms at ShinRa. It's the dusty, musky, almost glowing smell of a healthy young man.
The leather, too, is familiar, but for different reasons entirely.
His eyes slit open again, and this time he is prepared for the brightness of the sun (though this does not dull his hate for the star). His back hurts, but he shifts around anyways, trying to sit up, to see.
"Woah! Take it easy, friend. You took a bit of a beating."
He looks up into the open, honest face of the man he was sent to kill. Hercules glimmers in the daylight, the wet and crimson shape of lips covering one elegant collarbone, and Cloud Strife is struck with a sudden and acute sense of shame. Shame, because he was ready and willing to erase this man from existence for the chance at finding someone probably long gone. Shame because, for a moment, everything almost felt right again, the way it used to be, held as he was against a muscular and leather-clad torso, surrounded by the scent of sweat and the taste of copper on his tongue.
Cloud looks up and cannot help but remember: silver hair, sword polish, the graceful arch of his eyebrows and the sharp line of his jaw, and his lips, oh those thin and smirking lips.
And he can remember a time when his kisses were given in love, and not in blood.
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A/N: I've only just started playing Kingdom Hearts. I'm so behind on this fandom. XD But am I the only one who noticed that Hercules CARRIED Cloud out? Fireman style? As opposed to like, dragging him by one arm? Which, I assume, would be manlier. Oh well.