Again with the lack of ownership of the Final Fantasy World.
OK this chapter is kind of long. Sorry I will try to keep the next one a little shorter. Not quite as daunting that way.
And so goes Chapter 2
Once again Cloud surveyed the cafeteria for something secluded. It was not that he had not tried to make friends because he had. It's just that everyone hated him. Cloud has always been a little shy, but after his father shamed the family when Cloud was eight the few friends that he had turned their backs on him.
The Strife family name seemed to carry with it a stigma. Cloud had grown used to the glares and name calling. His father had made a monumental mistake on the job and a lot of people lost their lives because of it. No one seemed to care that Cloud was nothing like his father, he hated him, always had.
"Hey Spike mind if we join ya." Cloud jumped a little at the sound of Lieutenant Fair's voice. 'Oh yeah I'll make a great soldier' When he realized his two teachers were waiting expectantly with trays in hand he muttered "Um yeah sure I guess."
He was a little surprised when his Materia 101 teacher circled the table to sit next to him and her boyfriend sat across from them.
"So Spike, It's been a little over a week, what do you think of our little program here." Zack asked grinning.
"Um well, Lieutenant Fair sir…."
"It's Zack," Inara interrupted, "and I am Inara. Outside of class our friends refer to us by first names. You still have to use titles in class, butt not here. And please, no sir or ma'am."
Cloud blushed a little when he realized she had implied that they were his friends. "OK Zack then. It's OK I guess."
"What's your favorite class?"
"Definatly combat and weapons class."
Zack noted the cadet actually smiled and sounded enthusiastic. He also saw Inara had stuck her tongue out at him.
Cloud also caught the action and quickly added, "But Materia is my favorite academic class."
Zack laughed "Of course it is. The teacher is hot." He winked at Inara who replied, "Yeah well I hear the combat and weapons teacher is pretty hot too. I wanted to retake it, but they wouldn't let me. They were afraid I might hurt the newbies."
Zack continued his teasing with "Well yeah most people find blue balls painful, I think one full hour long class with a hard-on is enough."
Inara threw a french fry at him "Shut up pervert."
Cloud's face was bright red and he was obviously uncomfortable, so Inara quickly changed the subject "So Cloud, What do you do in your spare time?"
"Um mostly I just study and work out."
"Wow Spike that is really pathetic." Zack yelped a little when Inara kicked him under the table.
"Ignore him he is only teasing. His first week here was spent crying about missing his Mommy." This comment made Cloud smirk at the thought of Zack being a Momma's boy. Inara continued with "So I guess your weekends are free then?"
Before he could answer Zack said "Inara and I were planning on going into town Friday night. There is a bar on the bottom plate we like to hang out at. Wanna come with?"
"That would be great, but I am not old enough to get in."
Inara smiled and said "It's not like a night club with bouncers and such. It is small and quiet and we know everyone there."
"Well OK then if you are sure you don't mind."
"Not at all Spike, just be in the commons area at around seven Friday night." Zack stood to leave since lunch was pretty much over. He leaned across the table and planted a big wet kiss on Inara. Cloud blushed a little and then noticed tenderness in the SOLDIER's voice that he figured few people witnessed as he whispered "I love you babe."
Inara smiled and said "I love you too." Then she turned to Cloud "Come on you can walk me to class if you don't mind swinging by my apartment to grab today's lesson plans."
Once at the apartment Inara unlocked the door and entered. Cloud stood in the doorway unsure of what to do. "Well come in. We have a few minutes may as well give you the grand tour."
"OK" Cloud said glancing around the small well kept apartment. The living room contained a sofa, a bookcase, and a huge flat panel TV with various gaming systems hooked up to it. He also noticed various pictures of Zack and Inara and noted how happy they looked together.
Inara continued the tour down the hallway; they passed a room with a twin bed, a small dresser and a computer desk which held a regular PC and a laptop. Inara told Cloud "This would be occupied since there are two officers per apartment, but Zack and I share a room so we have a spare."
Cloud was surprised by this bit of information "They let you guys share an apartment."
"Yeah, we are two of the General's favorite officers and since Zack is a lieutenant he is entitled to a one bedroom that he does not have to share. They always run short on one bedroom apartments because no one wants a roommate if they don't have to have one. So Sephiroth gladly 'pulled some strings' for us."
She finished the tour with the small bathroom and another bedroom which was a little messier than the first and obviously lived in. "Well that's it. Let's head to class."
The rest of the week seemed to take forever and when Friday finally got there Cloud was very excited about going out with his new friends. At about 7:20 however his confidence began to sink. 'I can't believe I could be so stupid. Like people as cool as Zack and Inara would ever hang out with me.'
Cloud had decided this was probably some horrible SOLDIER prank. His eyes began to water as he tried to get his feet to move. He just knew everyone was about to start laughing and pelt him with paintballs or strip him naked and tie him to a tree or something.
He was turning to leave when he heard the laughter. Cloud froze and waited for the inevitable. Then he heard the shout "Hey Spike you were not about to leave us were you."
Cloud turned and saw Zack and Inara crossing the courtyard hand in hand. He inhaled sharply when he saw Inara. He had only ever seen her in her SOLDIER attire and seeing her standing in the moonlight in jeans and a light sweater he decided she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair which was usually in a ponytail was loose and the dark curls fell a little passed her shoulders. He also thought she had the prettiest brown eyes he had ever seen, they were big and innocent and surrounded by long dark eyelashes. Zack spoke up pulling him out of his trance "Sorry we are so late kiddo. Inara was attacked by the angry beaver."
Cloud glanced at Inara and was thoroughly confused. Inara looked horrified and smacked Zack in the back of the head as he busted out laughing. "I am so glad my pain amuses you."
Cloud was becoming distraught at the thought of Inara being hurt. He looked at her again and could see no visible injuries, "They have beavers on base? I didn't realize they would attack people."
This comment caused Zack to double over with laughter and Inara turned a darker shade of red as she explained "I took a nap because I had really bad cramps and I had a hard time getting back up."
Cloud's face turned a bright crimson at the realization of what Zack meant by 'angry beaver' he mumbled "Oh my god, OK sorry I asked. So are we not going then, because I mean if Inara doesn't feel good we shouldn't go?"
"Awww thank you Cloud that is so sweet. Did you hear that sweetie Cloud is concerned for my well being?" Inara kicked her boyfriend in the ass since he was still lying on the ground laughing like a maniacal jackass.
Zack stifled his laughter and said "Dammit Spike you are making me look bad." Turning to Inara he continued "I already told you we don't have to go babe."
"No I am fine, besides my poor truck never gets taken anywhere, and hopefully I don't have a flat."
"Yeah too bad we can't take my bike since we have the third wheel along." When he said this Zack threw his arm around Cloud and squeezed his shoulder to let him know he was just teasing.
The truck which was a little red Ford Ranger didn't have a flat. Inara got in the middle with the two boys on either side and they were on their way. As they rode to town Cloud caught himself starring at Inara's hair. It was so shinny and curly. He was pretty sure if he pulled a curl it would spring back up and desperately resisted the urge to try it. The cab of the truck was small for three adults so they were sitting very close. Lots of touching and they hit one bump and Inara's head came even closer to Cloud, he inhaled sharply. 'She smells tropical like coconut or something.'
Zack looked over and snorted when he saw Cloud nearly burry his nose in his girlfriend's hair. Cloud looked up and saw Zack raise an eyebrow at him 'oh shit' Cloud thought, but then the raven hair teen just broke out into one of his signature grins.
As they continued into the bottom plate Cloud began to get worried. He had heard stories about how dangerous it was, but this was just scary. Run down buildings lined the streets and each alley they passed appeared to have shady dealings taking place in the shadows. Drunks and hookers littered the streets and a couple of bums that appeared to be sleeping may well have just been dead bodies.
They pulled up in front of a dive called the Sleeping Dragon. Cloud was looking around when Inara leaned over and popped the glove box. Cloud's eyes widened as she withdrew a handgun and a clip, loaded the clip and handed the gun to Zack who tucked it in the back of his pants under his shirt.
Noticing Cloud's panicked expression Zack chuckled "Don't worry Spike it's just a precaution."
When they entered the bar Cloud was surprised at the relatively clean interior of the place. His stomach growled as he caught whiff of the aromas coming from the kitchen area. They sat in a corner booth with Inara once again in the middle. An older looking blond woman came over and set two beers down in front of Zack and Inara.
Inara smiled at the woman "Hey Kathy. How have you been?"
"Oh you know same ol' same ol'. Got us some loud mouthed bikers on the tables hustling a bunch of the kids out of their money."
Zack glanced toward the trouble makers "Do you want 'em to leave."
Kathy just shrugged and replied "Nah they are not bothering me, I just thought I would give you a heads up." Turning to Cloud she continued "How 'bout you cutie, what are you drinkin'"
"Just give him whatever's on tap. And we will take three death burger specials and an order of dragon wings." Zack said.
"Alright sugar. I'll put the order in and bring the blue eyed cutie his drink."
About five minutes later she returned with a beer for Cloud another for Zack and a basket of Dragon wings. Zack dove into the wings enthusiastically and Cloud sipped his beer and tried a wing. "Holy shit" he yelped quickly realizing why they were called dragon wings. Tears started to spill as he chugged his beer. Luckily Kathy had anticipated this and was on her way with an ice water which Cloud quickly chased his beer with.
After that he decided to follow Inara's lead and stay away from the wings, fine with Zack, more for him. The rest of the food was great. Cloud was pretty sure this was the biggest burger he had ever seen and the mountain of fries that came with it was equally intimidating. The most amazing part of the meal was when Cloud noticed Inara's empty basket "Where the hell did you put it all?" he blurted, already feeling a nice buzz from his two beers.
Inara laughed "I have bitchin' metabolism, and I LOVE food." Zack had just finished his fifth beer and seemed unaffected. Inara had switched to water figuring she would drive home. "Well boys that was tasty now I feel like a friendly game of pool." Pushing Zack from the booth she sauntered over to the rowdy trouble making bikers "I call next game."
The biggest one who looked to be about 6'3" and 280lbs sneered at Inara "Whatever you say pretty lady, I'll be happy to play with you." He punctuated his meaning by rubbing his crotch and licking his lips.
Inara rolled her eyes and said "Would you like me to rack your balls for you?" She smiled sweetly while thinking to herself 'I am so gonna wipe the floor with you.'
Zack and Cloud sat at the table drinking and talking. Zack was impressed with how much Cloud was opening up after a little more liquor. He ordered a couple of more beers and glanced back to make sure Inara was not in any trouble.
Kathy kept them updated as she brought their drinks. Inara had already beaten them five games in a row and the big guy was about 400 gill in the hole. Zack laughed "Morons. Never play pool with a genius; they start breaking out math and physics shit to clear the table."
He turned to see Cloud had already taken the shot Kathy brought him and was now happily guzzling his beer. Zack started to tell him to slow down when he heard breaking glass and a drunken slur "You shtupid bitch."
In the time it took Zack to cross the room Inara had wretched the broken bottle from the big bastard and had him shoved face down on the table with his arms twisted awkwardly behind his back. His buddies were debating helping him when they noticed Zack and the gun he held discreetly by his side. They looked at him and he shook his head letting them know they did not want to go there he would shoot them.
Inara got her money and the humiliated bikers left the bar. As they headed back to the table Inara saw Cloud desperately trying to remain upright with a death grip on the table. She got within a foot of him and he let go and fell into her causing her to fall back into Zack who of course remained planted like a frackin' rock.
Zack did however flinch when he felt Cloud's arms encircle Inara's waist since her waist was against him which meant the blonde's hands brushed his crotch. Cloud didn't seem to notice, but Zack sure as hell did.
Thankfully Inara managed to get her footing and hold up herself and most of Cloud's weight too. Cloud slurred "That wass bad ash. I wash gonna come help, but there ish shomthing wrong wiff my feet."
Zack laughed "OK maybe the shots were not such a good idea."
Inara rolled her eyes "Help me get him out to the truck." They half dragged, half carried Cloud out.
On the way home Cloud was having a lot of trouble remaining up right. He slumped over on Inara, but she gently nudged him "Sweetie I can't drive with you like that."
Cloud was not to offended he just shrugged and turned toward Zack. Zack nearly yelped when Cloud wrapped his arms around his waist and laid his head on his arm and slung his legs across one of Zack's. Inara glanced over in time to see Zack lift his arm and slip it around the blonde's shoulders. She smiled then giggled when she heard Cloud mumble "you shmell like beer. Beer ish good."
As Inara parked the car she saw that Zack had slumped over and fallen asleep against the door with Cloud still in his arms. She almost thought they looked too cute to wake up. Then a more alarming thought 'Shit I hope I can wake them up. I think I can carry Cloud, but not Zack."
She was relieved when she poked Zack in the side and he woke up. He climed out of the truck and pulled Cloud to the edge of the seat where he could easily toss him over his shoulder.
They went into the apartment and he put the sleeping cadet in the spare bedroom. He removed his shoes, tucked him in, and placed a trash can by the bed. 'If he pukes in the floor Inara will make me clean it up for giving him shots.'
He paused in the doorway to stare at the sleeping cadet. He felt Inara's arms wrap around his waist as she whispered "Whatcha thinkin'"
Zack hesitated only a second before replying "I was thinkin' that we might have to keep this one."
Inara smiled and felt all warm and fuzzy inside. She had hoped he would feel this way because it would not work out otherwise and as much as Inara adored Cloud she could not live without Zack.