The Experiment
Authors: Yahnkehy and The Prince's Jewel
Notes: This is a collaboration fanfic, not role-play, per se, but similar being as it is a joint effort.
Genre: Final Fantasy VII, post AC, post DoC
Spoilers: Possibly a few, but mostly just mentions of major happenings in the original FF7 game, some for Advent Children.
Warnings: Uniquely done MPREG *ducks rotten tomatoes*, angst, broken Cloud, pissy Reno, slight OOC, hurt/comfort, yaoi, kissing, brat.
Pairing: Cloud x Reno
Disclaimer: Not mine; there'd be more yaoi if it was.
Chapter 17: Hell Has A Sense Of Humor
Cloud plotted angrily. Tempie was crying again. Reno wouldn't let her have her milk, was making her drink that yucky bottle. He'd tried the bottle, and it was YUCKY. So he was going to help Tempie get her good milk back.
Mad crayon scribbles covered a great many pages of reports. Course, the reports weren't good for anything but being colored over, but he'd had to have something to work out his plans on, hadn't he? He and Tempie both gave Reno dirty looks when he came over with another bottle. Reno just gave them a tired look and retreated back to the bedroom.
Hey! He slept with Reno, and and… Mama? Can I… He presented a complex parade of crayon-imaged ideas. She replied with memories of when he'd done something similar.
"Tempie!" he hissed. "I know how to make Un-Da give us our milks back!"
Violet eyes went wide and she crawled over to Ah-Da, using his thigh to pull herself upright. "Good milks?" she asked, black spikes swaying as she tipped her head. "Un-Da no mad?"
She'd learned that making Reno mad was the worst thing ever; the sour stuff in the bottle was torture! She scrubbed her hands over her face, wiping away her tears of frustration and looked hopefully at Cloud.
Cloud frowned. "No, Un-Da be mad," he answered finally, "but Un-Da give us our milks anyway! Cloud is bigger than Un-Da, though, and Mamma scares Un-Da. One way don't work, other will." Cloud nodded decisively.
"Why bigger matters?" Black brows pinched in question. Then she looked at the vile bottle sitting innocently on the table and frowned. "Good milks back."
"Bigger matter 'cause was the one in control," Cloud explained. "Have key to toys… Un-Da don't know where. He falls sleep, I uses key to get toys to keep him from run away. You gets your milks, and Cloud is big enough to hold him still if he tries anyway, then Cloud can have his milks."
Cloud nodded. "An', so's he knows how yucky that is," a disdainful finger pointed at the bottle, "we feeds him yucky bottle."
Tempest clapped her hands and hugged Cloud's neck. "Okay! Good milks! Hungry, Ah-Da!"
Cloud hugged her back, grinning. "We gets our milks. Un-Da has to go sleep… we need nap! We go cuddle Un-Da, he sleep good. Cloudy get up go potty, and get stuff when Un-Da sleepy 'nuff."
Black spikes bounced; Tempest nodded vigorously and turned to hurry into the bedroom, falling once on her way before shoving herself back up to her feet. One of these days she'd be able to stalk off like Un-Da and Ah-Da instead of falling down all the time; she found it annoying that she was so clumsy.
"Tempie pooped!" Cloud announced when they arrived in the bedroom. "She stinky! You change!" He crawled up onto the bed. "Then naps for everyone."
Reno looked up from the letter he was writing and grimaced at the announcement. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Did you finish your coloring?" he asked, moving to the door and hefting Tempest up into his arms. He took her to the changing table, slid a nose plug on, and opened the diaper. Turns out that the formula gave baby poo a terrible smell; well, worse than usual, anyway. He cleaned her up, powdered her bottom, and fastened another around her tiny hips.
"There. Naptime for everyone." Reno carried Tempest over to the crib and settled her in, frowning when she started crying.
"Wanna sweep Ah-Da!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, unable to wait around for her meal; she was starving but she trusted Cloud to come through for her. "Gimme mine Ah-Da!"
"Finished coloring. Tempie sleeps between Un-Da and Ah-Da," Cloud replied firmly. "Wants Tempie sleep with us."
Cloud pouted about being shoved over against the wall. He hated sleeping by the wall, that's why Reno usually slept there. "Don't like wall! Never sleep on the wall. Un-Da knows that." He crawled carefully over Tempest and put a knee in Reno's gut getting away from it. "Un-Da sleeps by wall."
Reno grunted and wrapped an arm around his abused belly. "Fine! But I don't wanna hear you cry if you fall out of bed again, you hear me?" He lifted Tempest, scooted over to the wall and laid her back down between them again, grumpy and irritated. He really pitied Cloud's mother; that woman had to have nerves of steel if Cloud was even half as demanding as a child as he as now. "Now, go to sleep, damnit."
He didn't, of course, but Reno did. He waited until he was sure the redhead was soundly asleep, then slipped from the bed and padded off to the bathroom. He fished the key out of its hiding place and opened the toy chest.
Lemme think. I gotta have these to keep his hands from wiggling, and these so he can't kick me. Ooooo! This'll keep him from being able to keep that yucky bottle out of his mouth! That'll teach him to give Tempie that yucky stuff! I'll have to tell her sorry that I did that to her. Ooooo! I've given Tempie bottles! He examined his newest coherent memory, then set about engaging his plan. He left the bathroom and went back to collect the bottle, fitting it to the adjustable gag. Hmph. Well, if this doesn't work, I can always go to plan b.
No, you can't.
Why not?
This. She gave him another memory, one he would have preferred to avoid because he'd hurt so much in it. He was whimpering a little from the memory of the pain when it ended, but he decided plan b was out. If Hojo's lab assistants thought the man was going too far by making his daughters drink his boy milk, then Tempie shouldn't have Reno's. Ever, at all. Not even a little taste.
Plan c could work, since he wasn't really Tempie's daddy, but… ewww! He didn't want little girl cooties on him. He'd have to wash and wash and wash to get them off. So, plan d if plan a didn't work. It should, though. He didn't really wanna call the wrath of Mamma down on himself… but he'd do it for Tempie if he had to. But only if he had to! Besides, Mamma would yell at Reno too, and he wouldn't have to get girl cooties.
Resolve firmed, he went back into the bedroom. Stealthily, he fastened the handcuffs to Reno's wrists. A little smirk quirked his lips as Mama reminded him just why Reno had approved of the bed. Two longer cuffs ensured the fiery redhead wouldn't be able to kick him. He fastened the bottle in place last, and then set about getting Reno's buttons unbuttoned.
"Here, Tempie!" he crowed, shoving Reno's shirt aside. "Good milks!" Then he plastered himself on Reno's body to ensure the other man couldn't escape.
Tempest moved in before Cloud even got the shirt pushed out of the way, clamping her mouth over one nipple and feeding hungrily. She made a small happy noise in the back of her throat as she fed and pushed her palms against Reno's breast to milk them for more.
Reno's eyes snapped open and he jerked but the action was stymied by the heavy, familiar body over top of him. And then, the familiar feel of Tempest feeding caught up to his quickly waking brain. He grumbled and jerked at his arms, growling behind the terrible tasting thing in his mouth when he found himself handcuffed down. Instead, he bucked his hips, trying to move Cloud off of him.
What the hell was that? He shook his head and his eyes widened in horror as he realized that it was a bottle in his mouth and the damn thing was fastened there in one of his gag mounts. He was going to kill Cloud for this!
Cloud rode the first couple of bucks, then shifted his hips against Reno's. That caused a reaction he knew meant Reno could give him boy milk, and it felt good, so he rubbed against the redhead's groin again. He checked, but Tempest was still feeding happily. "Tempie gots good milk?"
Tempest popped off. "Good milks! Ah-Da try?" She patted the breast she wasn't feeding from.
"Okay." Cloud pressed his weight more firmly against Reno to try and still the bad case of wigglies the redhead had suddenly developed. He brushed his thumb over the free nipple – Tempie was eating again – and grinned when it got bigger. He licked at it delicately, but couldn't taste any milk. So he wrapped his lips around it and licked while he sucked.
That made Reno's wigglies worse, and his milk spout harder. Cloud reached down, stroking over it to see if it was quite ready yet, decided it wasn't, and went back to little licks between sucks. He only took a few sips, though, because he didn't want to steal Tempie's good milk. And it was good milk! Sweet, without the salty in his boy milk.
Cloud slid down to compare flavors. There was a little bit of boy milk leaking from the milk spout. Except, he frowned, that wasn't what it was really called. He licked at it while he tried to remember the right name, and decided it didn't matter. It spouted milk: It was a milk spout. He gave his head a firm nod and set to sucking in earnest. He'd been right; the boy milk was definitely saltier. He liked it better.
He licked and sucked, memories of things he'd done to Reno before drifting through his mind. There was a way to make him make even more nummy milk! Good, he'd do that. He moved his hand, rubbing at Reno's balls – he liked playing with balls! – with his thumb while he licked and sucked on his fingers as well as Reno's spout. He was gonna get lots of milk!
It was wrong, utterly and completely despicable, but there was no way to help the reaction that sprung up due to Cloud's movements, and what the fuck was he doing?! Tempest was right there! She could see what Cloud was doing! Reno squirmed and wriggled and tried like hell to get one of the two—preferably both presently—off of him. He whimpered and a sobbing, guilty moan worked its way up out of his throat. He'd never be able to breast feed again without getting a hard on and that was just wrong!
Reno shoved at the nipple in his mouth with his tongue, almost gagging when the fluid dribbled into his mouth. Ugh! No wonder Tempest hated that shit! It tasted like unwashed, molded ass! Breast pump was the only other option, but he'd have to get these two off of him first.
Tempest mewled softly and her feet twitched with each squirming, wriggling movement made by both Reno and Cloud. Her lids were growing heavy but she refused to give up her meal now that she finally got what she wanted. Her belly was starting to hurt a little bit, but having the real thing after three days of nothing but that icky bottle was too much of a temptation.
Her little head wobbled and dipped and finally she couldn't hold her head up anymore. She released the nipple and gurgled happily as she snuggled into Reno's side, ready now for the nap that he'd suggested.
Cloud's head popped up. "Tempie? You all done?' He got a sleepy murmur for an answer. "Ah-Da's not done! Tempie can go to crib so Ah-Dah can get all his milks, too." He rolled off the bed and gathered up the little girl. It was only a few steps to the bed, and he put her in and tucked the blanket around her. "Tempie sleeps now. Ah-Da gets his milk."
He turned around to see Reno glaring – and wincing – around the bottle. "Bottle yucky," he said. "You drink bottle, you not give to Tempie. Now Un-da give lots of milks to me!"
Cloud settled onto the side of the bed, just looking. Reno looked pretty all laid out and tied up. He'd have to remember that, and do it again when he was all together again. But now, he wanted his milk. Well, and maybe some more of Tempie's, since she was all done now. She'd left him some, he could tell. The breast he'd gotten his sips from was still fat and full, and the other one looked more limp and drained.
He crouched over Reno, licking at the nipple until it was nice and hard and leaking, just like his milk spout. Cloud shot a quick look to make sure it was still hard and leaky too, then set about sucking on the first treat. He rolled the teat around with his tongue, having fun making it squirt different spots in his mouth, and nibbled just a little to see if it would make more come out.
It made Reno twitch and jump, and that was lots of fun too. He slid his free hand down to the milk spout, stroking it like he would later with his tongue. Reno wasn't giving him as much milk now, though, so he sucked hard a couple times and let the nipple pop out of his mouth. The sound made him giggle, but it looked hurt, so he kissed it better.
Reno whined around the bottle in his mouth, arms straining at their bindings. Cloud's a raging psychopath! he thought; eyes wide and a little dazed. He felt a little better now that Tempest wasn't right there, but still! She wasn't far away and Cloud had been sucking his dick and playing with his balls while she'd been feeding, which was a bit no in Reno's book. Babies and sex of any kind do not mix!
Cloud was out of his mind if he thought that Reno was going to drink that vile stuff; one squirt of it into his mouth and that was more than enough. Thank you very much. And just what was Cloud doing? Whatever it was felt strange and then the laugh clued him in. Is he… playing with the milk? he wondered, Nope, he's kissing my nipple. Shiva, but I'm gonna have to talk to Mamma about this.
"Ah-Da gives good milk," Cloud said huskily. It was fun, and kind of exciting, to be able to get his milk from Reno without him being able to fuss about it. Well, not out loud, anyway. He kissed the nipple again, then stripped off and crawled over the redhead. "Now, I get the good stuff."
He paused for a moment, because touching Reno without clothes on was different than when he'd had his pants and rubbed against him. He rubbed again, experimentally. "That feels nice… do more later, want my milk now… and Reno likes… kisses?" Cloud cocked his head uncertainly, looking at Reno's stomach.
"Little kisses!" he crowed a second later, and promptly began laying a trail of tiny kisses from the tip of the breast he'd been suckling to Reno's navel. "And got to tickle tickle," Cloud whispered, wetting the inviting bellybutton with his tongue, then blowing over it. He groped down, sliding his hand down the spout to the balls. Was it a bat? Bat and balls go together.
Tongue in bellybutton, blow on it and tickle the balls. Kisses all around, and stroke up the spout. Lick the tummy, stroke it down. Nip right there, just on the very tip, and pinch there. Then all the way in until he had to swallow to get it further, so he swallowed, and hummed, and tugged on the balls. Yep, that was right! More milk already! Just wait until he did that other thing!
He shifted his grip, again stroking the balls with his thumb so he could suck on his fingers too, and started bobbing his head and licking instead of sucking. "Build it up, build it up, watch it explode," he muttered, giggling. He moved back up, rubbing against Reno with his own… "Hey. I'm bigger than you, so why isn't my milk spout hard too?"
Irritated kitty slits stared down at Reno. "And you drink that. I'm not letting you go until it's all gone!" Then he started rubbing again, stroking himself as well as Reno. The longer it lasted, the more milk he'd get.
In a perfect world, none of this would affect him; he'd be able to ignore it or feel disgusted that his lover of over a year who was mentally handicapped at the moment was trying like hell to make him come just so that he could drink it down. In a perfect world, Cloud wouldn't be losing his mind.
But it was by no means perfect; Reno was aching and gasping for breath, gulping down the contents of the bottle only so that he wouldn't drown in it, and thoroughly enjoying the torture. Perhaps he really was a sick fuck, but he loved Cloud and seemed to always want him no matter the situation. And being tied up, helpless, and at Cloud's mercy was more than a little bit of a turn on.
Sadly, he twitched in Cloud's grip and hungrily watched the blonde stroking himself; Cloud was usually a little shy about letting Reno watch so this was a rare treat. Now if only he could get rid of the fucking bottle and voice some of his enjoyment! It was half gone, surely that was enough! A shiver ran the length of Reno's spine; the warning in those kitty-slit eyes was unnerving but the added hint of danger was exciting.
Whining whimpers crawled up Reno's throat, hips moved in tandem with Cloud's, and shivers of anticipation scuttled down his spine; he was almost painfully aroused and it wasn't looking like Cloud would be ending the torment any time soon. Reno recalled grumbling about the lack of sex he'd have now that Cloud's memories had failed him, but it was looking like he'd get what he wanted whether he could consent or not.
It felt good. Really good. But it wasn't what he wanted. Cloud bent himself double, showing off a flexibility gained from more training than he wanted to remember when he could remember, and licked them both. He was just as hard as Reno now, and his milk was… EWWWW! He tasted YUCKY!
He shifted to lie between Reno's legs, sucked him down. His fingers were still good and wet, so he started exploring. Somewhere down here… no, lower… not on the leg… back here? Cloud came off the spout with an irritable grunt and shifted Reno so he could see what he wanted, then pressed one freshly-wetted finger into the hole. Very tight, very hot. That was it, all right. He settled back to sucking, humming contentedly, and probed around for that thingy that would make Reno give him lots of milk. It was in there somewhere… maybe he needed two fingers?
Reno pulled in a sharp breath and started choking on the formula that suddenly flooded his mouth. Milk seeped from the corners of his lips, rolling down his jaw and into his hair. What a perfect way to distract him from the amazing blow job plus finger wriggling around in his ass!
His eyes watered and he tried to cough the milk out of his lungs but every time he tried to suck in a breath he ended up pulling more of the horrible fluid into his mouth. Reno started struggling again, hands clawed and reaching for the bottle while he tipped his head back, hoping that he could grasp it and yank it out. Three-fourths of the milk was gone and a good deal was in his lungs and mouth, currently attempting to drown him in his own bed.
Cloud's head snapped up. He lunged up, grabbing and snapping the leather strap holding the bottle in place. He flung it to the floor with one hand, the other reaching for the cuffs. He grabbed the chain above Reno's right wrist, yanking it over to snag the left, and pulled. The chain snapped, allowing him to pull Reno up and against him while the redhead coughed the fluid free.
"Un-Da okay?" Cloud asked anxiously, his Mako-bright, wide eyes clearly showing his Jenova heritage. "Un-Da not dying?"
Reno coughed up the fluid in his lungs, sagging heavily against Cloud. Heaving breaths finally gave Reno the oxygen he needed. "Yeah," he managed to spit out before sucking in much appreciated air, "better now."
Now was his chance to give Cloud hell, to shove him off and tell him that this sort of things wasn't acceptable. Reno tipped his head up, mouth open to yell at the blonde for taking advantage. "You're really sure ya wanna do this?" And where had that come from?! Oh, the pretty blue eyes staring at him with worry and the painful hard on in his lap was where. He might as well face it; if Cloud wanted something then he'd get it as far as Reno was concerned. Sucked sometimes, but that was a consequence of being in love.
Reno's warm weight rested against him, no longer heaving, though the redhead was still taking deep breaths. His cock – Cock? No, a cock was a boy chocobo. Why couldn't he remember? He had one of the damned things too! – thing was still hard, pressed against Cloud's belly. They hurt when they were hard like that, if they didn't get to spurt. Cloud could remember that, remember the aching need he'd felt only a few minutes before. Reno still felt it, but Cloud…
… Cloud was scared. He had nearly killed Reno, he knew he had. He knew the bottle was nasty, but he'd made Reno drink it anyway and had nearly killed him. He didn't deserve to get to drink from Reno. But he couldn't leave Reno hurting, could he? Indecision tore through him. Indecision, coupled by the growing understanding that what he'd done really was wrong because he wasn't right anymore, wasn't grown up. Except, he was… and he wasn't… and Reno had been fighting him, fighting the bonds, and he knew Reno liked to be tied up…
… and…. Oh. You're really sure ya wanna do this? The question finally penetrated, the tone, the look. Reno only wanted it to go on now because he wanted to stop hurting. Cloud had hurt him. Almost killed him. He shouldn't do it. He wouldn't… again. But he wouldn't leave Reno hurting. He wouldn't. Even though he'd let Reno go and was unfastening the broken wrist restraints.
He kissed the wounds Reno'd made trying to free himself, and then the ones he'd made trying not to die. Funny, how he could tell the difference. Funny, how he seemed to almost be able to understand the logic that had him unlocking the ankle restraints and kissing those injuries as well. The metallic tang of blood hit his tongue, letting him know just how desperately Reno had wanted loose.
He owed Reno release now. Cloud didn't deserve to be the one who gave it to him, not after what he'd done – would he ever not hurt/kill/maim the ones he loved? – but Reno hadn't been bad, and he didn't deserve to hurt.
He'd killed… killed…. More than once. How? Blood, staining a hastily wrapped, make-shift bandage around a taut stomach. Long hair flying as he fell, green eyes wide with shock and a sudden stunned horror. Blood, pouring down pale skin to spill over leather pants, staining silvery hair. Narrowed green eyes sparkling with pain and rage, suddenly widening with betrayal before dimming, dying. There was no blood in the next memory, just the sight of eyes open in confusion and pain before all emotion was ripped from them, and they gazed so coldly, so very unforgivingly, at him before vanishing from his life again.
His littlest brother, falling, pleading… but he hadn't given him anything but pain, death. The others… broken, then killed by his hands. He looked at his hands, expecting to see their blood. Nothing.
Would Reno be dead too, if he… if they… but he couldn't leave him like that!
"Did I just call you Un-Da?" he asked bewilderedly, as that little fact finally weighed in as wrong, and gave Reno his best 'please help me, I'm hopelessly confused and lost' little boy look.
Reno blinked at the blonde stupidly for a moment and then cocked his head to the side, contemplating the situation. Had Cloud just reverted forward—and was it possible to revert forward?—or was this another spell where he'd remember for a moment and then revert back to the child-like attitude that had almost become normal in the last few days?
"Yes," Reno replied hesitantly, "You're sick, baby. I've been trying to take care of you while Mama works out a way to fix it, but it's taking a little while." He cupped Cloud's head between his palms and smoothed his thumbs over baby-soft cheeks, a patient grin curving his lips. "Don't worry about it, baby. Come on, lay down and take a nap with me. You'll feel better."
Cloud let himself be pulled down, now hopelessly confused. Reno was still rock-hard, pushing against his belly, but…. Wait a minute! He knew he wasn't sick! He wasn't throwing up and he didn't have a fever… and Mama knew damn well what was going on. Speaking of which, what was going on? Didn't Reno want him to suck him off after all? Didn't he need it? Felt like he did.
He wasn't sick! Broken, maybe, but not sick. He'd bashed the hell out of his head, and it still hurt, and his memory was about as good as ever – that is to say, it sucked – but he wasn't sick! "'m not sick," he pouted sullenly.
"Okay, you're not sick," Reno conceded, "Your mind is a little messed up and we're waiting for Mamma to come up with a way to fix it. Just rest, baby." He straightened his clothes and lay down with his head on Cloud's shoulder, an arm draped over the blonde's waist.
"Tempest is gonna be upset that she doesn't have a partner in crime anymore, but I'm glad you're back to semi-normal, at least for a little while." Reno almost didn't want to sleep. His gut was twisting with the need to get off, but aside from that he wanted to spend as much time with almost-normal Cloud before he reverted back to toddler mentality again.
Wrong mother-figure. Cloud grimaced slightly, the grimace becoming a scowl when Reno tidied himself. Herself? Fuck, and he wasn't supposed to be a little messed up?
"Dammit! Fucking boy chocobos!" he exploded suddenly. He shoved Reno over and went back to sucking before Reno had any chance to comment.
"Fuck!" he yelped in surprise at the sudden reversal from docile to aggressive. Reno clenched his hands in Cloud's hair, trying to still that busily working mouth, and failing miserably.
"Cloud," he groaned, brows twisted with conflicting emotions. On one hand Reno was all for finding his release, happy to have the ache relieved. But on the other hand he was still unsure if this was a holdover from the toddler mentality—which the exclamation about boy chocobos sort of supported—or out of a sense of responsibility.
Despite the redhead's inner turmoil need twisted and heightened in his lower belly, climbing the high that had been so close just minutes before. "Cloud, fuck, d-don't…" Reno's fists tightened and his head tipped back, hips rocking upward into the blonde's mouth despite his denial.
Cloud growled, but kept on for just a bit longer. Long enough to feel the little surge that meant Reno was going to come. That's when he quit, but it was so soon after the redhead said it that he might as well have not given the extra lick-suck-growling swallow combination. He pulled away, leaving blond strands in clutching fingers, watching as Reno spurted all over himself. Herself. Whatever the fuck he was now! Then he went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, flossing to get out some particularly reluctant pubic hairs.
He tossed a warm, damp cloth on Reno's cum-covered belly when he came out, and swiftly unfastened the chains from the bed. Cloud picked up the broken wrist restraints and gag, dropping them in the trash on his way back to the bathroom, where he put the ankle restraints back in the toy box.
Still nude, he went out into the living room, curled up on the couch, and grabbed at the nearest papers. One perfectly formed sweat drop appeared when he looked at the crayon notations decorating its surface, though it took him only a second to decipher the code. It was his old one, after all. He agreed with his notes, laid it aside, and picked up the next one. "Remind me to kill Hojo, again, will you? Twice just wasn't enough," he said almost conversationally when Reno appeared in the doorway.
Never had Reno ever felt the urge to be timid, but then again he'd never really had an experience like the one he'd just had.
Once he and Cloud had gotten together as a more permanent couple, Reno had sort of gotten used to Cloud's strange ways of doing things and the lack of regular sex. But, something else he'd gotten used to was consensual, mutual sex with a bit of soft touching and cuddling afterward. And what had just happened felt a little too like what he'd done in the past to satisfy the craving.
Now it almost felt like rape, even though it wasn't. Right? Reno tightened the robe he'd tossed on before leaving the bedroom and crossed his arms over his chest, biting his lips together while he tried to think of what to say first.
"I think I should sleep on the couch from now on. Just until Mamma can find a way to fix some of what's wrong in your head," Reno said quietly, looking at his pink toenails as if they were the most fascinating thing on the Planet. "What just happened in there… it wasn't right. I don't want such a careless relationship with you, and what just happened didn't have a shred of emotion in it."
No emotion? Cloud found himself glad he was curled on the couch, paperwork in his hands. He crumpled the one he was looking at and tossed it unerringly into the trash. No emotion? He picked up another paper, scanning it without reading a single word. It followed the first. "Sleep on the bed. You'll be closer to Tempest and I can get my work done."
He couldn't help that he sounded cold and flat – he felt cold and flat. Now. He'd been angry, but the anger… was gone. A feeling of… what was it? Acceptance? Inevitability? Forced calm, maybe? Or was he waiting? He thought he might be waiting, but he wasn't sure exactly what he thought he was waiting for. Foreboding. That sounded a little bit more like it, but it wasn't right either.
Another paper made its way to the trash. "I wonder how many of these guys fucked their way to the top. I don't see any other way they could've gotten so high up Shinra's hierarchy: they've got no brains."
A short bark of laughter met Cloud's comment. "Point taken." Reno sighed and shook his head. "Fine, I'm stupid on top of being a slut, and I feel like I'm…. Heh, fuck it." He slid down the wall, arms draped around his shins and forehead pressed to his knees.
"Ya know, you said I was an idiot when I first went into labor because I didn't know you gave a damn," Reno lifted his head, staring at the wall, "And for awhile I was sure that you loved me, but I'm not anymore.
"You forgot the last few years, and you didn't love me anymore, then you were a kid and I was just taking care of you because Sheila couldn't work on finding something to help fix your mind, and now…" blue eyes flicked over to Cloud and then he dropped his head again. "And now I have no idea what the hell is going on."
"Ah-Da's all broken," Cloud answered in a sing-song voice that turned faintly menacing, "and Cloud's mind ran away because no one wanted Cloud to be Cloud. Everyone wanted someone else, but no one wanted Cloud."
He laughed a little, the kind of low laugh that Sephiroth had laughed when he'd been dying inside, with no one able to understand him either. "Maybe he went to see his brothers, maybe he's swimming the LifeStream. Want him to come back?"
Another laugh, this one higher, freer, more childish. "Un-da, you wants Ah-Da back, don't you? Doesn't want Cloudy, nobody wants Cloudy." The childish tone dropped sadly. "Nobody ever wanted Cloudy, 'cept Mama, and nobody wanted Cloudy to be with Mama."
Mama? For some reason, Reno got the feeling that Cloud wasn't talking about his birth mother or Sheila. He lifted his head again, eyes wide. "You mean Jenova, don't you?" He scoffed and shook his head.
"You used to know why Jenova was a bad thing. 'The calamity from the sky'; the death and destruction of everything, the one being that wants nothing more than to devour our Planet. Shinra used to be in bed with her, unknowingly, but we cleaned up our act. You fought against her, fought to keep Sephiroth from going along with Jenova's desire to destroy the Planet.
"And I have no fucking clue what you mean; nobody wanted you, ha! That might be how it seemed when the world was looking at you to save us, but you're ignoring the fact that even when things weren't falling apart I stayed with you. I don't give a shit if I get the fucking toddler, the crazy bastard who hates me, or my—the husband I got used to having, because all of them are you, moron!"
"Jenova?" Cloud looked up from his papers. "What about Jenova? I thought… after Sephiroth and the clones…." He sighed, set the papers down, and stretched.
"What does Shinra need this time?" he asked tiredly. "What genetic horror Hojo created that Shinra wanted made got loose now?"
"And, where are my clothes?" Cloud glanced down the length of his nude body, frowning slightly. "My head hurts…."
Reno twitched, blinked and then started giggling hysterically. It built up into gut-clenching laughter, tears of mirth rolling down his cheeks and then he broke down sobbing. It was too much, the shift between points too drastic and too fast; he just couldn't deal with it all.
"No, no, it's n-nothing," Reno tried to laugh it off, scrubbing away his tears, but they just kept coming; faster and more until he gave in, lay down on the floor, and buried his face in his arms. Narrow shoulders shook, but if he was laughing or crying he wasn't sure.
Cloud blinked, cocking his head slightly to one side as he regarded what he'd thought was Reno, but looked more like a hysterical Rena. I think you broke him.
Good.
Good?
Mama, I'm confused, my head still hurts, and I know he pissed me off, so I don't really care if he's upset or not. She? He? It. It's upset or not. What the hell is going on? Aren't I not supposed to like you?
I think you're both broken, came the rather dry rejoinder, along with a series of memories that slotted themselves perfectly in order.
Cloud blinked. A couple times. Glanced down the length of himself again, then over to the mess of what was supposed to be Reno, but wasn't exactly, because Hojo'd done a shit job on him, too. He stayed quiet, though, because Mama wasn't through rearranging his brain, and her fixing hurt.
Still and all, for having Jenova in his head, he felt a little not off his rocker. Probably because his rocker was broken, but he wasn't crazy. Just… scrambled, a bit. More than a bit, child. Fine, more than a bit. He'd had his memories scrambled as far back as he could remember, which was actually pretty far, now that he was thinking about it and following what Mama was doing to his head.
"Hojo did WHAT!" he yelped suddenly as another one of the experimental memories filed itself where it belonged. "Oh, gods, no wonder I hate sex so much…. I think I need to be sick."
Cloud was talking to someone, someone that wasn't Reno. Someone that another past lover had spoken to like that. She was there. She was taking Cloud away from him. He didn't know who exactly 'she' was at the moment, too wrapped up in trying to figure out what was going on and trying to calm down, but 'she' was not something he wanted to have near his child. Reno shoved himself to his knees and, falteringly, scrambled into the bedroom.
The door closed with a slam and he put his back against it, shaking hands twisting the knob lock with a yank. "Oh god," Reno muttered, wide-eyed and panting, and he scrubbed furiously at his eyes to clear his swimming vision. "She's here, she's here; Shiva, she's got Cloud!"
Panicked blue eyes went to the cell phone sitting on the bedside table and then back to the door. Would Cloud come in? Would he do like Sephiroth had done in Nibelheim and burn the place down? Shiva, there was no one alive who could beat him! And now he and Tempest were trapped! There wasn't a fire escape outside the bedroom window and there wasn't access to another room from this one other than the door he was currently blocking. Again Reno's eyes went to the cell phone; it seemed so far away…
Could he make it there and back without taking the chance that Cloud would come in and kill them? "Oh god, Tempest!" Reno was on his feet and over to the crib before he'd even been able to think about it. He snatched her out of her crib, grabbed the phone and hurried back to the door, bracing his back against it in a paltry effort to keep Cloud out.
Tempest whined and mewled and Reno clamped a hand over her mouth suddenly, a shaking finger held up to his lips. He knew she understood a lot of things, despite her age, and he hoped that she'd take the hint and keep it down. She did, but she was staring at him oddly.
Reno dialed Sheila's number with shaking hands and got her machine. He left a short message, garbled and confused, filled with a lot of crying before he hang up and dialed Rude.
"She's got Cloud!" Reno barked into the line as soon as he heard the line pick up. "She's got him, aibou! He's here and she's got him and I don't wanna jump out the window with Tempest; we're too high and she'd get hurt and I can't stay here!" he cried hysterically into the line, his voice rising with each word. Tempest was shoving at him, trying to wriggle out of his grip but he held her tighter and closer as if that alone would protect her from the horrors were swimming through his head.
Cloud stared at the bedroom door, trying to figure out what had just happened. Garbled bits of words made it to his ears, and then Reno's voice rose enough for him to hear exactly what he was saying, but he still couldn't figure out what was going on because Reno wasn't making any sense whatsoever.
He means me, I think. Oh, Mama. Who, incidentally…
I am supposed to hate you, so why do you feel so comfortable?
Jenova didn't answer for two entire minutes. Cloud knew, because he'd been idly watching the second hand of the clock make its way around the face. Perhaps it is because I am helping you, or perhaps because I am cushioning the worst of these memories. I have managed to restore to order up to the end of your fifteenth year, but your memories after that… child, your life was not one I would have had for you, so harsh and full of pains.
Yeah. He remembered enough, in the jagged bits that were his own to understand, that life after fifteen had been ever more miserable, painful, and Hojo-centric. He really didn't like that man. Mama, how old am I, anyway? How long before I remember simple shit like that on my own?
He had the feeling of someone rummaging carefully through his head, and pressed one hand to his temple. You are twenty-eight, very close to twenty-nine. Your birthday is only a month away. I am restoring order as quickly as I can, but I am at the first point where you were exposed to Mako – and that thing had a LifeStream tap in the Nibelheim laboratory. He piped it into your tank, and the memories are not all your own. Still, I expect by your birthday, I shall be done and my gift to you will be that you will be wholly yourself, and knowing your memories from those of your LifeStream immersions.
That one person, one living person, survived so many immersions…. Child, there is no doubt that you are one of my own true descendents, not just activated as one by that horrid creature that called itself a scientist.
"True descendents?" Cloud murmured so softly he barely heard himself. It had never occurred to him that Jenova had actually had children of her own, that Sephiroth and the clones might actually have been truly her family.
Sephiroth truly was, through his mother. That thing was no true child of mine, for all that he tried to make himself so. Still, I could manipulate him to do my son's bidding because of his foolishness, but by then it was too late for most of my children. I did not begin to truly wake until after my son died the second time, and the third, I only wanted to gather my family, but the… aberrations from its experiments interfered.
Don't you want to destroy the planet?
I live here, idiot child. My entire family is here, though there are so few true descendents. Only you, your brother, and your adopted child, through her mother on her father's side remain. There are still made ones, from the SOLDIER troops, but the connection to them is very much weaker.
Zack! Zack! Cloud repeated. Zack Faire? My Zack? He was… my brother, too?
Try thirty-eighth cousin twenty-seven times removed, Jenova suggested drily, and you will be a bit closer to distancing the relationship properly. You were more closely related to Sephiroth, and the babies, than to Zack, since the Valentine man was your grandmother's cousin.
Okay. Genealogy overload. He was related to Vincent, too? And he was still naked, on a couch, at a hotel, with Shinra paperwork spread out in front of him. And, from what Mama'd just said, he was mentally restored to fifteen, with access to older, but…. Well… he was naked. And basically fifteen. In an adult body. That required a more thorough investigation… even if Hojo had … and eww, that was one memory he wouldn't mind tossing in an out box! Or a locked file cabinet with the key in a haystack…. Just ewwww!
Exploring fingers checked if he was still sensitive to – oooh, yeah, he was. Do that later then. And if he was fifteen, shouldn't he be rising to the occasion? He gave his cock – with a mental snort of fucking boy chocobos that made Mama laugh at him – an accusatory look, until he remembered exactly why it was he wasn't rising, and then he pouted because dammitall, he was fifteen and horny! Anyway, he thought he was, so he would be!
Still, even as he explored to see what old sites were still sensitive on his older body – and what new erogenous zones had developed – he couldn't help reviewing what he could remember now and trying to compare it to the somewhat hazier memories of being older, since he was fairly certain he wasn't thinking like the average fifteen-year ol – SUCCESS!
He spread himself out more comfortably on the couch, groaning softly as he stroked his happily risen flesh, and gave himself over to the memories of losing the last traces of his virginity to Zack. That was one memory he never wanted to forget. Zack had been sweetly tender, breaking him in oh so gennnn..mmmm yeah… and then… then… gods! How could he have ever forgotten the first time he'd been with Sephiroth, when the general had come home to find his lover in bed, cock stuffed in the ass of a – and now he could hear that voice – "lovely young blond treat you've brought home to share" and he came with a vengeance to the memory of Sephiroth's savage claiming of his newly-devirginized self.
So really, who could blame him for screaming "Sephiroth!" at the top of his lungs as he came? Cloud sank back into the couch, idly stirring the semen on his belly, and tasted. "Ew, hell! I taste like shit! No wonder he never liked losing! I like having my dick sucked. Huh… Reno's in the bedroom… and he said… yeah! He said he was my… wait a sec!"
Cloud sat straight up. "Reno! Are we married? How could we get married! We're both bo – uh, men! We're both men! Did old man Shinra finally legalize that so he could marry that one boytoy he was so fond of?" His voice dropped. "No, wait a sec, that's not right, because the old guy died… and … well, maybe Rufus did then, because he sure had a taste for the SOLDIERs…. Reno?? Are my clothes in there? And I gotta pee! And take a shower. Man, if I ever forget that memory again, shoot me! Just… not so I die, I wanna remember it again, because fucking Sephiroth and Zack was hot!"
He couldn't breathe; there wasn't enough air in the room. Reno gasped and panted, the phone open and hanging limply in his half-open hand. He could hear some of what was happening in the other room, and from the sound of things Cloud was having a very good time.
But that didn't matter at the moment. The fact that Cloud was busy meant that Reno had time to prepare an escape that wasn't possible before. That alone gave the confused and severely shocked redhead a burst of hope that set his already hammering heart racing that much faster.
"U-unnn-d-der the—the b-b-bed, T-T-Temp-p-pessss-t," he stuttered, shivering and shaking heavily as he tried to put the baby down only to nearly drop her. He fell to his knees, and let her roll out of his embrace, breath coming in rapid, jagged bursts. The corpuscles in his eyes showed in stark red lines, pulsing in his vision as Cloud's voice came closer. "H-h-hurrrrr-hurry!" he hissed, shoving at the little girl in a panic.
"Gwamma no take Ah-Da," Tempest pouted, crossing her little arms and refusing Reno's weak attempts to push her under the bed.
The adrenaline was quickly fading from Reno's muscles and he tried to tense when Cloud's voice sounded right outside the door. "G-g-go, T-T-Temp-pessss-t!" He pushed at her again and his heart faltered. Reno fell over, head thumping soundly to the floor.
"Un-Da!" Tempest cried, shaking Reno's shoulder. When he didn't respond she climbed over him and went to the door, beating against it with little fists, screaming for her Ah-Da.
Cloud tried the knob, hearing Reno talking to someone – Tempest, he reminded himself – on the other side. "Hey, Reno? Where's…" The thump, and then the baby screaming, cut off his question. The door was locked, though.
"Move, kid," he ordered, and waited a moment to give her time to comply before he kicked the door in. A frantic toddler promptly attached herself to his leg, and he just dragged her over to where Reno was passed out on the floor. He picked up the phone while he checked for a pulse.
"Hey, who's on the other end of this thing? Reno just passed out and scared the shit out of Tempest."
"Rude."
"Rude… oh, you're the bald Turk with the shades, right? Reno's mentor?"
Silence.
"Um… Reno didn't happen to tell you that my memory's a little shot, did he? I can remember what happened up to when I was fifteen, but after that's kinda hazy."
Silence.
"Well, you know, a little help would be nice! What do I do with him?" He patted the crying baby on the head. "Hush, you. How'm I supposed to hear Mr. Silence if you're making so much noise, anyhow? Rude? What do I do with a passed-out Reno?"
"Put him in the bed. Tell the guards at the door to let me in when I get there."
"Uh, guards? At… okay… hold on a minute." Cloud put the phone down and got Reno into the bed… though not without a couple gropes and some fantasies. He grabbed the phone back up when he was done, and headed for the door.
"Hey, uh, Rude will be here pretty soon, so just let him in, okay? Thanks!" He closed the door and put the phone back to his ear. "Okay, done."
"I'll be there in ten." The line went dead.
"Joy." He pried the baby off his leg. "So, kid, where's the bathroom?"
Spiked black hair bobbed as Tempest looked up at Cloud, looking at him curiously for a moment before understanding dawned and she reached up and took his hand. "Come, Ah-Da, Tempess, show!" She tugged once and when he started to follow, turned her head in the direction of the bathroom. Really, Gwamma couldn't have messed his brain up that much; the bathroom was right across the hall from the bedroom, for pity sakes!
Cloud followed the little girl, frowning a bit when she stopped in front of a door he could have sworn lead to a closet. But, it was the bathroom, so he went in and pissed to his little heart's content. Then took a shower and wrapped a towel loosely low on his hips. From what he remembered, Rude was kinda hot, and Reno was… um, yeah. Might fuck him… her?… it later anyhow, since Reno was still hotter than hell. Almost as hot as he was, he decided, examining himself in the mirror.
He walked out of the bathroom to find Tempest on the couch, and Rude and the perfectly exotic Tseng coming through the door. "Sweet! You're here!"
"We came as soon as we heard, Mr. Strife," Tseng replied. Cool black eyes flit over the towel slung low over Cloud's hips and a slim brow rose in mild question. "Perhaps it would be best if you directed us to Reno while you get dressed."
"Want!" Tempest had stood up on the couch as soon as the door opened, little arms reaching out for Rude. "Big, gwasses, want, Ah-Da! Gimme!"
"Heh, maybe." Cloud sauntered up to Rude. "Kiddo wants the shades from the big guy, though, and since he won't be able to see to Reno proper with them…." A quick flick of his wrist earned him Rude's shades, and Rude grabbed to late to get him before he was over handing them to Tempest. "Here you go, kid. So, Reno's this way."
He let his hips do that little shifty thing that always made Seph and Zack wonder aloud how the towel managed to stay up, and led the two men into the bedroom. "And I'll just get dressed, then." He gave the extra wriggle that would drop the towel, and opened up one of the dresser drawers.
Tseng took a seat beside Reno on the bed, checking the redhead's pulse while lifting a pale eyelid. He looked for a moment and then turned and nodded to Rude. "Shock, as expected. I'll need my kit, Rude." Thin lips turned down in a miniscule frown as Cloud's naked form took up residence in the corner of his vision.
"I gots gwasses!" Tempest toddled into the room, fell, breaking one of the arms off of the glasses, and continued over to the bedside. "Look, Un-Da, gwasses! Mine. Ah-Da take from Big and give to Tempess. Un-Da?" The little girl gripped a rope of red hair that trailed over the edge of the bed and yanked, causing Reno's head to turn but no other reaction.
"That is enough, Miss Strife. Mr. Strife, if you would please dress yourself and take your daughter Rude and I may be able to do something for Reno."
"I would but these aren't mine. Hey, kid, where do I keep my clothes?" Cloud had been through all the dresser drawers, full of women and baby things, and found only dresses in the closet. He had been staying here, right? Or had he just come over for a quick fuck? No, his memories were hazy but he knew it wasn't that… Reno'd called him husband. "Oh, and did Shinra legalize homosexual marriage or not?"
"No." Rude turned to Tseng. "His brain got scrambled, he thinks he's fifteen."
"I see." Tseng stood and went out to the living room, retrieved his bag, and returned to the bedside.
"Is there anything that you recall from the present, Mr. Strife?"
"Ah-Da so dumb." Tempest shook her head and went to the closet, pushing the door to the side and pointed at the suit case. "Leave quickie Ah-Da say, mergeny fuffs."
"Cloud's brain's fried," Cloud shot back at the kid. He pulled a pair of pants from the case, holding them up to himself with a frown, and turned to Tseng. "I have… a hazy idea of what's going on, but as far as actually remembering anything? Not really. I mean… are these really mine?" he demanded almost plaintively. "They're ugly! And… baggy."
"Ah-Da ugly clothes," Tempest giggled, plopping down on the floor with the broken sunglasses.
"Then allow me to give you a small amount of information." Tseng ignored the comment about the clothing and bent over his bag, rummaging around for the items he needed. "You and Reno are posing as a married couple to protect both Reno and the child. You own Shinra, which means that you are now our boss." The Wutaiian left it at that.
A small green case emerged from the black bag, which Tseng settled on his knees and opened. Inside were two hypodermic needles filled only slightly with hazy blue fluid. He rolled up one of Reno's sleeves, swabbed the area, and made to inject the contents of the syringe, but a small hand stopped him. "You be good Dot-man to mine Un-Da!"
Tseng raised a brow and then looked at Rude. "Would you please remove the child so that I might give Reno this injection that will help keep him from falling into a coma, Rude?"
Rude picked the baby up, and carried her from the room. Cloud just stared at Tseng for a long moment before crawling reluctantly into the pants. He walked closer, watching as Tseng injected Reno. "That shit looks familiar. Is it… is it something a SOLDIER would have had access to? Or… oh."
He stopped abruptly, remembering where he'd seen it before. "Hojo used it. He didn't like his experiments to be unaware of what he was doing." Cloud hugged himself, not noticing that his pants, being baggy, promptly started edging floorward. "He… I remember… that stuff." His voice shook almost as much as he did, and he bit his bottom lip, looking at the case. "Why… do you…?"
"It is a stimulant used in every hospital after minor surgery. It is not a concoction created by that demon. Reno is a fellow Turk; I would not pollute his body with toxins which would harm him." Tseng removed the needle, capped it, and broke off the tip before dropping it into a portable sharps box.
"We only need to wait. He should awaken in a few hours. Keep him calm, keep him still, do not allow him to breast feed or the chemicals could pass into the child. There is a good chance that he will have no memory whatsoever of the events that occurred to bring him to this state. Do not remind him." Tseng dropped the case into the bag, closed it, and stood. "Keep me informed. Good day, Mr. Strife."
Cloud made it two steps closer before his pants fell around his ankles. He flushed, and yanked them back up again. "But… what do I do? I don't know how to take care of a baby! Or a… um…" He motioned at Reno. "Unconscious girl-boy? And how can I remind him about what I don't know? I know that I forgot a lot, and that some of what I know is from stuff I can't remember, but I don't know what to do!" he ended on a rising, hysterical note.
"I see." Tseng stepped out of the room and took in the large Turk sitting on the floor, listening patiently while Tempest showed and explained all of her toys individually. "Rude, I need you to babysit. Mr. Strife is presently not capable of caring for himself or his two charges. I'll book a room next door for you. Mr. Strife, I will need your signature on the forms to charge the cost to the company, as it is at your request that help is given."
Rude looked up, nodded once, and returned his attention to the baby. Cloud sidled closer to Tseng, latching on to one arm. "Wait, I've got money? Do I have enough to bring Mother here? I want Mother!"
Cold black eyes watched Cloud for several silent moments and then turned to look at Rude. "Rescind that order; we're taking Reno and the child with us." Tseng turned to face Cloud once more. "Being as how your biological mother is dead and that you call Dr. Sheila Wuggenisterin 'Mamma', I am left to wonder whom you are referring to."
Cloud's eyes widened, his hand falling from Tseng's arm. "Mother… Mother is… Mother is dead? How? When? What happened to her? She was fine!"
"I see. Negate that rescind order. We'll be staying until Reno awakens." Tseng took Cloud by the arm and led him down the hallway, pausing outside the bedroom door. There really wasn't anywhere they could have this conversation.
"There was an attack in Nibelheim several years ago. Very few people lived to tell about it."
"An attack?" Cloud repeated blankly. "An attack." Wide blue eyes fixed unerringly on Tseng's face. "There was… a… fire? A fire." A short, sharp nod. "And… Zack! Zack was there. And Sephiroth. I was… there. Another guy. Johnny? I think… it was. I think so. Am I right? It was a fire. Not an attack, or we would have fought the attackers."
"You are partially correct. It was a fire, and you did fight the attacker."
Cloud sagged against the Wutaiian in his relief. "I knew it," he murmured. "I knew we fought. But… we didn't save Mother. Why… why couldn't we have saved Mother? She didn't… didn't care much for me… but she was my mother!" He couldn't keep the hurt, or the loss, out of his voice. "So I'm… an orphan… all over again…."
Tseng patted Cloud's shoulder comfortingly for a moment. "Perhaps, but Dr. Sheila Wuggenisterin has taken you under her wing. You refer to her as 'Mamma', so I would assume from that and the reports that the two of you have a deep sort of relationship." Tseng dropped his hand from Cloud's shoulder and tugged up the pants that refused to stay on the blonde's lean hips.
"Yeah, Seph and Zack both like her really well, too." Cloud just leaned against the taller man. "We all call her Mamma. Oh, man… they're gonna give me all kinds of shit for not being able to remember anything, aren't they? But at least Zack'll buy me some pants that fit!" he added fretfully, giving the pants another yank.
"Perhaps you should take a seat and wait for the memories of those two particular individuals to resurface on their own. I'm afraid that they won't be able to join you here, though, Mr. Strife." Tseng cut a look at the top of Cloud's head, finally realizing what had caused Reno's shock and stress.
"Take a…" Cloud gulped, hard, one hand rising to fist in Tseng's suit jacket, even as he tried to burrow under his arm. "They're dead, aren't they? That's… that's why… they can't come? Because…. But that means... I'm... there's nobody...." He trailed off into whimpering sobs, clinging to Tseng. Everyone he cared about… dead.
"I apologize for having you recall their deaths this way…Cloud," Tseng replied quietly, "Had I realized that you were older than fifteen when these unfortunate things occurred, I would not have mentioned it so bluntly. For that, I am sorry."
"He was sixteen," Rude said quietly from the hallway door. He held a sleeping Tempest, and was obviously on his way to the crib. He edged past the two, noting that Tseng's jacket was tear-soaked, and that the half-naked Cloud was still crying. "I'm putting the kid to bed, and fetching my gear. Want me to pick yours up from the office?"
"If you wouldn't mind, Rude, I would appreciate that. And, if possible, something more fitting for Mr. Strife to wear so that he isn't left sobbing and naked while latched onto me when his pants fall again, if you don't mind. Go to Reno's apartment and bring something less feminine for him as well. For my sanity."
Rude dipped his head sharply, and finished putting Tempest to bed. Cloud was still holding onto his boss when he came back out, but he noticed the blond had one hand clenched around the waistband of his pants.
Nobody left. Nobody. Not that he could remember, anyway. He could feel the memories, but all he felt was loss and emptiness and pain, so he didn't want to remember what went with the emotions. And he didn't want to be crying in the arms of some jerk who made fun of him for having shitty taste in clothes as an adult, either, but he couldn't stop.
He'd already bitten his lip through, and he was sucking desperately to keep the blood from staining Mr. Perfect more than it had already, but he just could not quit crying. It was like he hadn't cried in years, and for all he knew, he hadn't. His tongue swept the blood back and he swallowed again, choking on the sob that tried forcing its way out as he did.
That's when he had to let go of his pants, or he would have wound up on the floor from the coughing that followed the choking, and fuck, he was literally spraying the uptight suit with blood every time he coughed –ah, shit! There went his pants! – and he supposed it didn't matter anymore and hit his knees, coughing and gasping, hanging on to Tseng so he wouldn't fall any further, arms around the man's waist now and his head right in the nice little hollow where his leg met his hip – and the stuck-up snob wasn't as unaffected as he talked, but there wasn't anything Cloud could or would do because he was still crying even though he couldn't breathe right anymore.
A deep sigh precluded Tseng's unwrapping the death-grip Cloud had around his waist, squatting down, and heaving the boy up into his arms. "You should rest, Cloud. I'm afraid that the stress has gotten to you." He toed open the bedroom door and strode to the bed, depositing the sobbing blond into the bed beside Reno.
He stared at the pair for a moment with his head cocked to the side, and then took a seat beside the crying blonde, almost reluctantly pulling the boy into a loose embrace. "There, there, child," Tseng spoke softly, soothingly. This wasn't the sort of job he had envisioned when he'd been told that Cloud Strife had bought Shinra.
Cloud clung to Tseng for dear life, his hiccupping sobbing not ceasing, though it was occasionally punctuated by hysterical barks of choked-off laughter. Everyone he'd ever cared about was dead, the guy he was supposedly posing as a husband for was sexy but half-girl for some weird reason, he couldn't remember jack shit… and his pants were out in the hall where they'd fallen when Tseng picked him up. Hell had one hell of a warped sense of humor, and if he ever quit crying, he'd … do something drastic!