[ Inspired a while ago by going to see Fast and Furious 7. Silly little drabble that resulted from that. Characters belong to Squeenix. I only wish I owned an Evo or a Skyline too. ]
Fast Cars and Faster Hearts
Bright lights and a steady stream of artistically designed cars were the things that had first lured the brunet out to the slightly more run-down side of Edge, where construction materials were in abundance and roads were currently unfinished, lined by the supports that would one day become blocks of flats or houses or businesses. The first time that Squall had ventured out there had definitely been eye-opening. And then the loud squeal of tires had been almost deafening beneath the overpass where the noise echoed back at them, momentarily drowning out the pulsing beat of music being played far louder than would be acceptable in the built-up parts of the city.
Squealing tires were quickly replaced by revving engines and loud cheers and excited chatter as the scarred brunet eased his customised Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution around one of the overpass' support pillars and along a passage lined on either side by such an assortment of cars and scantily clad women leaning over them that a straight man would have blown his load long before reaching the end of the first line.
It didn't take too long to weave his way over to his customary spot and he climbed free of midnight blue custom import with the ease of long practice, smirking faintly as immediately two newcomers to the party made their way over to admire the machine that Squall had poured far too much Gil into.
He didn't have eyes for them. There was only one person he was there to see and after turning to Zell who was also attending and asking him to look after the cubs pawing at his machine, he turned his attention to the crowds around him, grey/blue eyes scanning the masses for a head of wild blond hair.
It didn't take him long.
Cloud Strife was sat on the hood of a black 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with his legs parted to allow for the tall, muscular man he was with to be stood between them comfortably. Leaning back with his hands braced on the hood, the blond appeared to be relaxed, the tilt of his head indicating that he was in conversation with that same man.
Jerked out of his observation by a shove to the shoulder, Squall turned to see Zell with his brows raised and he nodded towards the pair the next row over that the brunet had been watching. It made Squall roll his eyes before looking back over in time to see the bigger man lean in, bracing himself on his arms to cage the smaller blond between them and the brunet's cheeks heated as the pair indulged in a lingering kiss that made Squall look away in embarrassment at having seen them do it.
"Just go over there man," Zell encouraged from beside him. "Seriously, I'm gettin' kinda sick of watching you stare at them like some lovesick puppy."
Resenting the comparison but admitting to himself that it was the fourth night he'd spent on the outskirts just watching the one he wanted to meet without being able to approach and it was about time he either grew some balls or left the pair well enough alone, Squall sighed, rubbing at the scar that crossed the bridge of his nose.
"Alright, fine."
Pushing away from his Evo at last, Squall watched a particularly nice Porshe drive by before crossing towards the pair who had parted at last and were in conversation again, this time with another driver. Perhaps contrary to what one would expect, the girls clad in skimpy little mini-skirts hanging on the arm of the male driver were taking in the technical terms of racing as if they understood every word and drove themselves. They probably did. The races were for everyone, regardless of race or gender.
The driver glanced at him as he approached and Squall was grateful when he rounded off his conversation and steered his girls away towards a Mitsubishi Eclipse with its boot open wide to display an enormous set of speakers glowing blue and blasting dance music.
"He approaches at last," the raven announced with a small smile that could have been teasing. He straightened up and grinned when the slighter blond did too, sliding from the hood of the Camaro to put his booted feet on the ground.
"Angeal," Cloud warned quietly, not taking his eyes off the leather-clad brunet opposite. "Be gentle."
It was too late for gentle though, that was for sure. Squall was already embarrassed that he'd been caught looking, and more than once by the sound of it. Folding his arms across his chest in a way that could well be read as in his own defence, Squall shrugged. "An opportunity arose," he replied with only a little stiffness, ignoring how Angeal was still wearing that knowing look.
"And I'm sure that you have Zell to thank for that," Angeal announced, chuckling softly when he received an elbow in the ribs from the blond for the comment. "We'll have to thank Zell too, I think."
"Ignore Angeal," Cloud suggested, stepping away from the raven. "He's just trying to distract you from how he's been looking at you, just as much as you've been looking in my direction." The comment was of course rewarded by a bit of colour rising in the raven's cheeks before Angeal waved them off.
"Go get acquainted, I've a race to win," the raven announced, glancing over towards the starting line where there was only one more race to start before his own before he moved to the driver's side door and slid behind the wheel. There came the sound of the engine starting, the roar of Angeal showing it off and then the black modified muscle car was moving off to line up with his opponent.
Cloud watched the raven go before turning back to the brunet he was with, a small smile on his lips. "Come on, show me yours and I'll show you mine," he invited, quietly teasing.
Still not entirely relaxed, Squall nodded and led the way over to the Evo that Zell was still hovering next to, happily showing off the engine to a small group of onlookers as the pair of them approached and on seeing them, Zell's face broke out into a wide smile and he began making shoo-ing motions at the small group of spectators.
Shuffling forward as he ushered the group away, Zell looked back over at them long enough to call out 'let the lovebirds through, go on, give 'em space, move along, nothin' to see here!'
Wearing an amused smile, Cloud gestured at the silver highlights to the car's bodywork. "You do all this yourself, or you have a team?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"Zell did the paintwork," Squall explained, trying to just forget about how that same blond had caused him a great deal of trouble that night so far, and the night was young yet. "The modifications under the hood are all mine."
Whistling softly, impressed, Cloud looked over the car with approval as Squall lifted the hood to show him the engine with its N0S injection wired into it and Cloud had to admit that it was impressive. "You use onboard computers?" he asked, looking over at the brunet who waited anxiously for the blond's opinion.
"No," he replied simply and he watched as Cloud's smile widened just a little and he gestured for Squall to lower the hood once he'd finished having a poke around. Setting it back into place, Squall watched as the blond moved around to look at the rear spoiler and the exhaust before making his way back around and the brunet thought that his heart was about to skip a beat.
"Nice. Very nice. I'm not sure that it's a match for this though," Cloud announced, nodding towards a car that Squall could just about see between others that had been parked up. He knew even without seeing it though, that it was a silver and blue Nissan Skyline that hadn't ever been looking at a set of taillights as it crossed the line. Cloud Strife was as yet unbeaten.
"I'm willing to give it a try," Squall announced, looking across at the blond and smirking faintly in response to the twinkle he could see in those blue eyes.
"See if you're still so cocky after you've taken a look at Fenrir with your own eyes," Cloud invited as they came up on the striking machine, its undercarriage lit by neon blue lights. However, even as he showed the brunet the car and its workings as he had done for dozens of people already that night and on dozens of other occasions, he knew that for all the brunet clearly had an appreciation for fast cars, it wasn't the Skyline that had Squall's attention right then.
"Alright, I get it," he conceded with a soft laugh, head tilted slightly in amusement. "Go get behind the wheel. If you do well, maybe… maybe I'll let you in on a little secret."
Smirking at the challenge and coming into himself a bit more now that he was more relaxed, Squall nodded and without waiting for Cloud to slide behind the wheel of the Skyline, Squall was bee-lining back to his Evo.
By the time he made it to the starting line for the race, almost everybody at the party was crowding around the starting line and the start of the track to see who was foolish enough to challenge the best racer in Edge. They didn't have a clue just how much was riding on that race. It was far more important than the pink slips that most raced to win.
Stood in front of them, apparently done with his own race was Angeal who shared another one of those knowing looks with the blond through the windscreen of the Skyline. If Cloud had responded to that, Squall didn't see it. His world was centred around the car he was in for a precious few seconds. The feel of the wheel beneath his hands, the pedals beneath his boots, the chassis and bodywork around him, all of it was of the utmost importance right then and he let his foot ride the accelerator to rev the engine, getting the crowd going as Cloud did the same.
With his arms in the air, stood a ways back from the starting line but between the two cars, Angeal grinned, looking over the gathered crowd as they cheered before quieting. "Ready?" the raven called, pointing with flair at the Skyline. Cloud revved the engine again in answer. "Ready?" he asked again, pointing with a similar flair at the Evo and nodding as he received more engine revving in answer.
"Set!"
Squall looked at Cloud and the blond looked back at him for just a moment.
"GO!"
With a squeal of tires and smoke rising from burning rubber, both cars rocketed forwards as Angeal brought both arms down. His clothes and hair rippled in the wake of the pair as they shot past him and he pivoted on the spot to watch them go, grinning widely as they both quickly disappeared from sight around a corner to several whooping cheers from the crowd as they moved en masse towards the finishing line.
Angeal waited only a moment before joining them.
They didn't have long to wait for the pair to reappear.
They were both vying for position coming into the last turn and cheers rose in volume as the Evo took the racing line through it, only for the Skyline to duck through on the inside, millimetres away from scraping paint from the body of the Evo before Cloud put his foot on the accelerator, racing out of the corner and leaving the brunet scrambling to catch up.
The cheering seemed to get impossibly louder as both cars approached the finishing line but there could be only one winner.
Cloud and his Skyline crossed the line first.
As he pulled back around to his place, he was followed by cheering onlookers all jostling for a place to see the winning car once again and give the unbeatable blond a pat on the back. He caught sight of Angeal approaching too and as he climbed free of the car, looking as unruffled as ever after winning a race, he gave the raven a subtle nod even as he smiled and shook hands with one or two people as he passed them to make his way out of the crush. Gradually the crowds got the hint and returned to their music and their cars and their races and before long, everything was back to the boasting, the racing and the dancing that was a normal night under the underpass.
Angeal joined him as he moved towards where the scarred brunet was just climbing free of his own car, presumably having sat behind the wheel of the Evo for a few moments longer than he needed to while he had the privacy to do so, with the crowds having followed Cloud.
Straightening up and shutting the door behind himself, he looked between the pair in silence as they too looked over him.
"What do you think, Geal?" Cloud asked at last, looking over at the raven with a slender blond brow raised. "Yes or no?"
Angeal didn't take his eyes off the lithe young brunet before them and was that a hungry glint in his eyes?
"Yes. Most definitely yes," he replied, leaving the brunet to look between them once more, confusion written clearly across his scarred but not unattractive features. "As if there was any doubt."
"Well then, Squall Leonhart," Cloud announced, stepping close enough to whisper in the brunet's ear, slipping a folded piece of paper into his hand as he did, "The attraction's mutual so I guess we'll be seeing more of you later…"
And with that, Cloud turned, nodded at the bigger male and together the pair of them returned to the Camaro Squall had seen them with earlier.
Looking down at the slip of paper in his hand, Squall looked over at them one more time before unfolding it to see what it contained.
A time, a little later that night.
And the address of a bar back in town.
Squall smiled, pocketing the slip of paper before sliding back behind the wheel of the Evo.
Seemed as though he'd gotten his chance after all.