Hey guys, I didn't die. That's pretty nice, huh? I've decided to crosspost this fic here, for nostalgia's sake, but I mainly live on AO3 now, if any of you are interested in lurking me elsewhere. Do people even still go on FFnet? Nobody knows. Anyway, enjoy.
Warnings - Sexual content, mentions of drug/alcohol use, coarse language, etc. Anything particularly bad/triggering will be flagged on a chapter by chapter basis.
If there was one thing that Cloud Strife knew with every certainty in his heart, it was that he was made for big things.
Granted, he didn't feel it too often whilst shovelling mound after mound of chocobo shit out of old man Shinra's mangy stables, but it was a thought that reached him more often than not regardless.
He'd watched the chocobo racing on TV, bright eyed and slack jawed as the colours rushed by, the riders athletes in their own right as their birds buckled down and fought beak and claw for the coveted first place. He'd watched it and he had loved it and he had whined and bitched at his mother for months to let him start working at the racetrack. She'd scoffed with wry amusement as she flicked her cigarette and ruffled his hair.
"Cloud baby, you've got big dreams and I will support you as much as I can, honey," She cooed, "But there's not a chance in Hell that I'm letting you work on a different fucking continent."
At the time, he'd been angry. The sullen kind of angry that most fifteen year olds had when they were completely convinced that they knew better than most of the world, and he had accused his mother of holding him back from his dreams.
Now, as a twenty three year old, he knew a little better and had thanked the heavens above that his mother had stopped him... As he shovelled yet another mound of shit into the designated bags.
"Living the dream," He murmured under his breath, leaning on his shovel as he swiped at his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. Delica, the smartass bird that had him shovelling her droppings out of her stable, warked cheerfully and he gave her the side-eye as best as he could.
"Rub it in, why don't you?" He snapped, and she offered an apology by resting her beak square on his shoulder and nuzzling his cheek. He hated her, he swore he did, as he reached up and slid fingers through the crown of feathers atop her head. She let out a soft sigh and if he kissed her on the beak before returning to his duties, well, no one was around to see it anyway.
Days like these, with the inside of the stables sweltering hot and stinking of a mixture of manure and that nasty kind of animal smell that just came with chocobos, Cloud longed for Nibelheim once again. He'd been working here for two years now, bundled up with the housekeepers and gardeners and other spare parts that Shinra kept on permanent staff, cramped and cosy in the staff quarters out the back of the mansion a little way out of Costa Del Sol. On the rare occasions that the sea breezes rolled in, it wasn't so bad, he supposed.
There he went again, making excuses for the fact that he was still here.
He'd expected to be a racer by now, but the industry was harder to get into than he'd realised. It had been a miracle to get put into Shinra's workforce in the first place, and even then, Cloud had the feeling that was because old man Shinra liked his stable boys young and pretty more than anything on Cloud's actual resume, and wasn't that a disturbing thought he didn't dare dwell on too long.
He'd had the short term goal of getting into the industry by whatever means necessary, and then standing out enough to old man Shinra that he was actually considered worthwhile enough to race one of his birds, and he was sticking to that. He just wasn't sure how short a short term goal was meant to be. After two years of washing, brushing, feeding, breeding, exercising and cleaning the shit of chocobos, however, he was thinking two years didn't seem so short.
"Cloud!" A voice called from the other end of the stables, and the blond popped his head up and squinted at the approaching silhouette.
"Yeah?"
"It's me, feather head," The figure beamed, giving Cloud all of about three seconds to register who it was, before he was being pulled up against the bars of Delica's pen and struggling against a headlock.
"I got shit to do, man," Cloud groaned, before wriggling out of Zack's grasp and straightening his clothes, "What are you even doing here?"
The older man stood, a hand on his hip and the other running through his perpetually unkempt hair. Cloud knew those feels all too well, and watched with mild fascination as the black spires just bounced right on back up.
"Weeeeeell," Zack offered slowly, "Old man Shinra's meant to have one of his nephews traipsing around here today. Was hoping to catch a glance, just in case he's future competition."
Zack then placed his hands behind his head and yawned, curving backwards a little until a pop resounded through the stable.
"Surely Shinra wouldn't take a risk with a family member like that again?" Cloud frowned, sticking his shovel into the ground and leaning against it, even as Delica nudged at his back in a bid for attention. He absent mindedly reached behind him and scratched the top of her head as Zack gave a shrug, before leaning conspiratorially against the rail.
"Rumour has it that the guy's a bit of a black sheep in the family. Not wound as tight. He's meant to be spending the next month or so here to 'whip him into shape' or something along those lines," Zack tapped his nose then, "My sources are seldom wrong."
"You've been gossiping with Sephiroth, more likely," Cloud scoffed, and Zack snorted, grin only growing.
"Like a pair of old women. You know me too well," Zack teased, and Cloud sighed as he reached up into the saddle bag hanging from the wall and pulled out a chocobo brush, raising a brow at Zack as he got to work on sorting and separating Delica's feathers into something a little more presentable.
Zack Fair was one of the riders on staff for Shinra. He was everything Cloud wanted to be and more, and admittedly, when Cloud started working here, he had a crush the size of Midgar on the guy. Until he realised Zack was much more of a brotherly figure than boyfriend material, that is, and Cloud spent a few very confused weeks sorting out some serious hormonal confliction and enough sexual frustration to drown a whale.
Sephiroth had done him no favours in that area either.
He was tall, built, had painfully long silver hair of all colours, and Cloud had spent the first few weeks of Sephiroth being on-site steadfastly avoiding the man out of sheer intimidation at the thought of breathing the same air as such magnificence. When he had eventually met the man, he was just as beautiful up close and person, but also a massive bitch, and suddenly Cloud hadn't been so anxious. If Zack was like Cloud's brother, then Sephiroth was a definite sister figure. Sephiroth was a retired jockey, who still had the habit of loitering around the stables for joy rides and specifically to harass Zack. Being Shinra's eldest son, Sephiroth had no real need to head out into the real world, and so spent his time around home being a general nuisance and intimidating the guests.
Delica warked then, pulling Cloud from his musings as he looked up to see Franco, one of the other chocobos trotting into the stables, yet another Shinra heir perched upon him. Cloud smirked as the rider approached and wrinkled his nose at the smell of freshly shovelled manure.
"Enjoyed the fresh air, Rufus?" Cloud asked, as the man in question dismounted his bird with a frown and unclipped his helmet, setting it on the hook within Franco's pen. Franco chirped loudly, and Rufus pat him firmly on the flank as he guided him in and locked the gate behind him.
"Immensely," Rufus drawled, leaning against the railing beside Zack and elbowing the other rider playfully in the side, "And yet here I am, back with you miscreants. Life is cruel."
"You're lurking around for your cousin too, hey?" Zack grinned cheekily, and Rufus picked idly at his fingernails as he pointedly refused to meet either Zack or Cloud's gaze.
"I haven't seen him in a decent five years, and whilst I doubt much has changed..."
"You'd rather see for yourself?" Cloud offered, and Rufus nodded.
"I'm rather fond of him, if only for the fact that my father can't stand him and never has," Rufus sighed, a smirk licking at his lips, "I'm looking forward to the next few weeks."
"You're a bitch," Zack laughed, and Rufus feigned indignation, swatting at the other as Cloud huffed out a laugh of his own and returned his attention to Delica. He ran his fingers through the fluffy yellow down across her neck as she softly warbled and allowed her eyes to droop closed.
"She's a sweetheart, but she's never that docile with me, man," Zack spoke quietly, watching the exchange with a fond kind of amusement, "You're like the bird whisperer or some shit."
"They think he's one of their own," Rufus murmured dryly, and Cloud tossed the brush in his hand squarely at the other blond's chest, "Ow! Look, maybe I'm a little jealous, who's to say? Franco's troublesome at the best of times, yet I know for a fact that you took him for a ride last week and he didn't put so much as a claw out of line. It's entirely unfair."
"They say animals can smell if you're an asshole," Cloud teased, "Maybe you both need to pick your game up."
"Don't sass me, Strife," Rufus groused, shaking the brush at him in warning, before whatever other words he was about to throw at him died on his lips. Cloud turned his own gaze to where Rufus was now focusing, as a figure approached the stable with a noticeable swagger in his step.
"God, he looks exactly the same," Rufus groaned, "Little bastard doesn't age, I swear it."
"Guessing that's your cousin?" Zack asked, his own curiosity piqued as the figure approached.
"Reno, yes," Rufus sighed, and Cloud peered over Delica with growing interest.
The guy was around Cloud's height, wiry and lean, with the most ridiculously bright red hair that Cloud had ever seen. It screamed rebellion, with the entire Shinra bloodline bar Sephiroth (as far as Cloud knew), having the same shock of bright blond hair. He was pale, contrasting rather nicely against the dark suit he was clad in, and with every step he took positively screaming confident, Cloud was already a little on edge.
"Reno, always nice of you to join us," Rufus drawled, and as Reno got closer, Cloud was able to see the smirk along his lips as he snorted.
"Your majesty, always a pleasure," Reno retorted, and Cloud let the strange lilt to the newcomer's accent wash over him. It was hard to pin down, and as best as he could place it, Midgardian. He watched then as Reno lift an arm to sling around his cousin's shoulder, and Rufus' answering smile betrayed his true feelings towards the redhead's presence.
Reno turned then, nodding politely at Zack and Cloud, although his gaze lingered uncomfortably long on Cloud in the blond's personal opinion, his smirk growing a little wider.
"The blond one is Cloud, the fat one is Zack," Rufus explained airily, waving a hand at the pair of them, as Zack swatted him across the stomach and offered a few choice words.
"Pleasure," Reno tilted his head a little, his eyes still lingering on Cloud as the blond nodded politely and returned to combing through Delica's feathers.
"You any good at riding?" Zack asked bluntly, all subtlety out the window, and Reno snorted.
"Fuck no, but Uncle dearest thinks it's a good idea," Reno replied, and Cloud pointedly avoided the temptation to see if he still held the other man's attention, "Ma put him up to it, I guarantee it."
"How is she?" Rufus asked, curiosity apparent, "Last I heard, she'd developed a drinking problem and was flitting around town like a common tart."
"Rufus!" Zack gasped, and even Cloud faltered in his actions. Reno, however, burst into laughter.
"Yeah, pretty accurate, man," He huffed out between laughs, and Cloud shared a shocked expression with Zack. Maybe it was a country boy thing, but if he had have spoken about his mother like that in any context, Cloud was a thousand percent convinced she'd hear it from a continent away and materialise to whoop his ass.
Zack looked like he shared the fear.
"So, you're a rider, eh?" Reno drawled, and Cloud heard Zack hum in response, "You ever get hurt, or was Lazzy just lucky?"
Cloud stiffened, as he felt a distinct tension ripple through the air. It was an unspoken rule to not discuss Lazard's injury, after the fall had left Shinra's middle child paralysed from the waist down. It was a sore spot for a lot of people, and especially for Zack, who had seen the event happen.
"Uh..." Zack seemingly fumbled for words, before Cloud spun and met Reno's gaze full on.
"How fucked up do you have to be to drop a comment like that?" Cloud snapped, and Reno's eyes widened fractionally, as Rufus gaped beside him and Zack ran a hand awkwardly through his hair, "Lazard almost got himself killed. There isn't a person at this place who didn't take something away from that."
"Trying to make light of a bad situation, I guess," Reno lifted a shoulder in a deceptively lazy shrug, his eyes razor sharp as they focused on Cloud and narrowed, "You gotta remember that Lazard's my blood relation there, Cloud. You think I'm not affected by that kind of shit myself?"
Cloud shrivelled back a little, coiling back from his own remark as quickly as he could. In two years, no matter how insufferable of a bastard the Shinra guest of the week was, Cloud had never spoken out of line. Ever. He could easily lose his job from this, lose his dream, and he couldn't believe he'd acted so brashly. Reno was watching him carefully, and Cloud bowed his head, returning to his task at hand.
"Sorry, I just..."
"You've got a mouth on you, Cloud," Reno interrupted the stammered apology, "But maybe for the right reasons. I can kinda respect that."
Cloud's cheeks flushed and he received a loud wark from Delica as he tugged a little too roughly on her feathers.
"Anyway, it's been a blast," Reno returned to his casual demeanour and even tone, "But I gotta get set up in a room or some shit and your old man asked me to come find your lazy ass to help with that, Ru. Sorry for the misunderstanding, Zack. Catch you around, Cloud."
With that, he turned and began to leave, Rufus still standing stunned at the railing, before Zack motioned with his head for him to get a move on and he seemingly snapped out of it, trailing after his cousin.
When they were gone, Zack merely leaned against the railing, brows raised and a shit eating grin creeping across his lips.
"Fuck off," Cloud muttered, and Zack snorted.
"What was that all about?" Zack grinned, "I appreciate you sticking up for me, don't get me wrong, and some serious thanks are in order, but you just back-talked a fucking Shinra."
"I know," Cloud groaned, burying his face in the feathers of Delica's back, "What the hell was I thinking?"
"I dunno man, but maybe you were distracted by the severe eye fucking that ole Ronald McDonald was giving you," Zack teased, and Cloud flushed even darker, fixing a glare at his best friend.
"He wasn't eye..." He trailed off, because really, there was no denying that that was exactly what Reno had been doing before Cloud opened his mouth.
Zack raised a brow, and Cloud sighed, even as Delica curved her neck to rest her head on top of Cloud's.
"Even the bird feels bad for you, man," Zack laughed, and Cloud sent prayers to whatever deity would listen that the ground would open up and carry him off to the Lifestream. Or Zack. Either would work fine by him.
"That's because the birds are the only ones here who aren't complete assholes," Cloud murmured, muffled by feathers, but loud enough to cause Zack to laugh again.
"You'll be fine, kid. I gotta head into the house to..." He paused, "You know, I don't even have an excuse. I gotta go tell Seph about this, basically."
"You're an asshole!" Cloud called out, as Zack all but ran from the stable in his eagerness.
Delica cooed at him sympathetically, as he finally pulled his head back from her feathers and met her gaze.
"These next few weeks are gonna be a pain in the ass," He sighed, and she tilted her head forward, butting him gently with her beak.
"Thanks..." Cloud murmured, before putting the brush away and heading over to Franco's stall, where there was a fresh pile of labour ready for him on the stable floor.
Short term goals, he reminded himself, before fetching his shovel and getting to work.
Cloud had survived the rest of the day and managed to stumble into bed around eleven, after the longest shower of his life and a binge session of Dexter reruns on TV. He intended to sleep for at least twelve hours, knowing that he had the day off, and so he blinked blearily at his clock as a knock resounding at his door pulled him from his slumber. He then groaned as audibly as he could when he realised it was only four in the morning.
He needed his sleep, and if somebody was waking him up for anything less than a death of some sort, he'd be causing injury himself.
"Cloud," A voice urged through the door, and he croaked out an irritated "what?" before Zack stuck his head through the entrance, light spilling around him with a grimace along his face.
"Heyyy man, how's it going?" Zack offered casually, and Cloud picked up his pillow and lobbed it in Zack's general direction, the jockey snorting and stooping to pick it up.
"Zack... it's four in the morning," Cloud groaned, and Zack held his hands up in peace as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him, plummeting the room back into comfortable darkness.
"Yeah, I know. Sorry," Zack offered with a soft sigh, "We need your help though. Mara got out, and although they managed to reign her back in, she's in a foul temper and we can't get her into the trailer for this morning's race. Can't sedate her, cause of aforementioned race, and we gotta leave in like half an hour, man."
Cloud muffled a few choice words into his pillow, because of course this was his life, before begrudgingly pulling himself into a sitting position and rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to gain some semblance of consciousness.
Mara was the fastest chocobo that Shinra owned, but she was also one of the most temperamental. If she'd been spooked or rattled by anything on her adventure through the Shinra grounds, she was likely riled up and still in fight mode. Cloud, as reluctant as he was to admit it, really did seem to have a talent in calming the birds down, and he knew that there'd be no shot of getting her into a confined space if he couldn't manage it. So, he pulled on his track pants and a hoodie, dragging on his boots and following a far too energetic Zack as they began to head for the stable.
"We owe you big time, man, you have no idea," Zack gushed, arm slung around Cloud's shoulders as he basically steered the blond along. Cloud muttered something by way of acceptance of the task at hand, before they finally reached the stable, where a trailer was already waiting and Sephiroth was standing by and watching as a handful of staff tried to wrangle the wildly warking Mara.
"Morning," Sephiroth offered as Cloud returned the greeting with a glare, a smirk crossing Sephiroth's lips in response.
"Good to see you helping them," Cloud murmured, and Sephiroth waved a hand airily.
"They're doing fine. It's a team building exercise," He explained, watching in amusement as Mara drew blood from an unfortunate woman's arm in her attempts to muzzle the bird.
Cloud rolled his eyes and approached Mara with as casual of an air as he could manage.
"Hey there," He offered softly, and her gaze immediately snapped to him, the other workers cautiously easing away as Cloud got closer. Mara eyed him warily, and he held up his hands in platitude.
"Had a bit of a big morning already, huh?" He offered, and she warbled, the feathers on her head flaring in caution as he continued to slowly advance, "You got a race to go to today. Not saying you have to win, but it'd be pretty lousy if you didn't even make an appearance."
He got close enough then to slowly reach out a hand, and when he placed it against the bird's beak, she flinched away, snapping at empty air as she ruffled her wings. Cloud didn't flinch in return, however, holding his palm open in a persistent display of trust. This time, he waited for her, close enough to reach out and touch her again, but giving her the option to make the move instead.
It was a tense few moments, before she gently nudged at his hand with her beak, and he stroked his fingers along it, up and across her head, as he scratched behind her head and teased at her neck. She let out a sigh then, visibly easing into his touch, and Cloud released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding in turn. He stepped forward again, his other hand reaching out for the harness being held by one of the other staff, who cautiously stepped forward and placed it in his outstretched fingers.
"Mind if I put this on?" He asked, and she opened her eyes to inspect the item in his hand. When she made no move to retreat and instead, closed her eyes as she pressed further into his petting, he took that as all the sign he needed.
He worked quickly, still scratching as he went, as he looped the harness over her head and clasped it together, scratching along the edges he figured would likely be most itchy. She cooed, suitably calmed, and he ran a hand down the expanse of her neck, rubbing between jet black wings as she began to walk towards the trailer of her own accord. Cloud bit back the snort of laughter threatening to break forward, because really, she was as stubborn as they came and always willing to play on her terms and her terms only. She reminded him a little of his mother, if he were being completely honest, and he smiled as he walked her up and into the trailer, the other staff lifting the gate behind her and bolting her in.
Cloud scratched her behind the head one last time, before they closed the top divider and she warked happily from within.
He stepped back, fatigue still skittering along his spine, even after the morning chill had kept him suitably alert, before turning to face Sephiroth and Zack, who looked both stunned and amused respectively.
"That was some animal planet shit right there," Zack muttered, shaking his head with a grin as Sephiroth cocked a brow, his arms crossed against his chest.
"I felt like I was watching the Saddle Club," Sephiroth mused, and Zack snorted, as Cloud rolled his eyes and wished them luck, before dragging his sorry ass back to bed. He heard them packing the rest of their things as he snuggled back under his covers, but he wasn't able to keep his eyes open long enough to hear their departure before sleep had claimed him once again.
When Cloud next woke, he was pleased enough to see that the clock read ten thirty, as he stretched and fought back the growling of his stomach, the smell of something decidedly hot and greasy floating down the hall. Today may very well be salvageable.
He dragged himself out of bed and back into his hoodie and track suit combination, before taking care of his morning toilet and bathroom routine and trudging down the hall towards the kitchen.
He had a bit of a headache, but he assumed it was only going to get worse, as he stepped into the kitchen and found Zack and Rufus both seated at the table, helping themselves to a grotesquely large helping of burgers each. Cloud couldn't even figure out what they were doing there, considering Rufus usually ate at the mansion with his own family, and Zack usually ate with the other riders, so there was no reason for either of them to be with the help.
"Eh?" He managed intelligibly, as the pair of them looked up to find him in the doorway, both of their mouths stuffed with beef and cheese. Zack grinned around his mouthful and shoved a burger across the table towards him, as Cloud narrowed his gaze in tired suspicion. Rufus swallowed his mouthful and chuckled, pushing the burger even closer.
"The old man sends his regards," Rufus drawled, smirking as he took another bite of his burger, Zack nodding furiously as he swallowed his own mouthful.
"Ya. After your bird whisperer trick this morning, Mara raked in first in all four of her races. Three shorts and a long," Zack grinned, burger juice dribbling disgustingly down his chin as Cloud crinkled his nose, "I barely had to do a thing, she was just in the zone. So papa Shinra sent us over with the victory spoils."
Cloud, satisfied with the explanation, plopped down into his chair and began to devour his fill, as Zack snorted and Rufus looked on in concerned disgust.
It was about halfway through a particularly overzealous mouthful that Reno strolled into the room, and Cloud almost choked to death before Zack slammed him between the collarbones and dislodged a chunk of half chewed beef onto the table. Rufus' shriek of horror echoed off the walls, and Zack burst into laughter, as Cloud's cheeks flamed about as bright as the newcomer's hair.
"Gross," Reno teased, a grin across his face, as he reached for an unwrapped bag and Rufus slapped his hand.
"Think again, Ariel," Rufus huffed, "Those aren't for you."
"I heard the story, and I'm pretty sure they aren't for you either, Goldilocks," Reno drawled, snatching a burger up and smirking, "So shut up, fatass."
Rufus responded in turn by flipping the bird and returning to his burger, as Reno took a bite from his own, his attention drifting to Cloud, who was now taking much smaller bites of his food.
"Heard about your bird trick," Reno muffled around his mouthful, and Cloud shouldn't have found it so endearing, but he did, "You got some kind of mutant ability or something, or do they see the hair and assume you're one of them?"
"I've already made that joke," Rufus chimed, as Reno flicked a bit of lettuce at him.
"I dunno," Cloud replied with a shrug, "Maybe a bit of both. Maybe they just bond better with the riff raff, who knows?"
Reno smirked as he slowly chewed over both the food and apparently Cloud's remark.
"Meant to be giving Franco a ride today," Reno drawled, before licking a trail of burger juice from his finger, "Any tips?"
Cloud admittedly needed a few moments to collect himself from that little gesture, his mind derailing a little at the flash of tongue he'd just been treated to the sight of. He was pretty sure Reno had a piercing, and that was pretty much the worst thing that could have happened to Cloud in the history of his life.
"I, uh..." Cloud began dumbly, before clearing his throat, "He's pretty good, actually. Being a river chocobo though, he is naturally drawn to water, so if you're heading to the stream or dam, expect to get a little wet."
"Nothing wrong with getting wet," Reno smirked, throwing Cloud a wink and sending the blond's cheeks flaming, before he turned to his cousin. "Come on, your Majesty. I heard a rumour that Stuffybroth is gonna try his luck at archery again and I'm not missing out on that shit."
Rufus rolled his eyes and stood as Zack scrabbled to do the same, giggling to himself already, likely recalling Sephiroth's last attempt at archery lessons where he somehow ended up shooting himself in the foot. Cloud never asked a further question about it, because any time he'd tried, Zack would either dissolve into laughter or Sephiroth would glare him into submission.
"See you around, Cloud," Reno offered teasingly, placing the last of his burger into his mouth with a pop of his finger, as he tossed the wrapper over his shoulder and into the trash can, Cloud suitably impressed and increasingly sexually frustrated. Reno might just kill him at this rate.