A/N: Releasing this simultaneously as the prev chp because somone wants to take a writing break for the rest of the year! 😂
It has been 30 minutes since Cloud's driving his Highwind 4WD SUV up the uneven winding roads towards the summit of Mount Nibel.
If you have no clue about life in Nibelheim, you would probably think that there's something wrong with him.
Like why would anyone risk dying to ride up a mountain, let alone reach its peak?
The answer is… if there's anything that's attractive about Nibelheim, it's whatever's offered by the mountain.
Experts flock to this mountain daily just to collect and research on rare plants that grow exclusively at its slopes. Supposedly, a lot of them have medicinal properties that can cure malignant diseases like cancer.
But Cloud has some other reason to be at its summit.
It's 7.47pm when he finally reaches his destination.
Zack's first to step out, yawning and stretching his limbs.
As the other man lifts his head up, whatever he's seeing in the sky seems to arrest him.
"Holy shit… you're right, Cloud. It's fucking gorgeous out here. You can't find these stars anywhere in the city because of the lights."
"Told you so. There's a reason why most people in town dub this as their favourite spot."
Zack's helping him carry their camping tools to the fire pit when the other man asks, "So… you and Tifa went here a lot?"
Cloud smiles, plopping their sleeping bags down to the ground. "We did. But then again, most of us who grew up in Nibelheim did. It's hard not to when the stars are like this here, no?"
Zack hesitantly nods.
He's unfurling the sleeping bags when a thought strikes him, "You know… I think there's a better place to look at the stars."
He returns to his SUV, then pulls a ladder out of the back storage area and leans it against the car.
With the ladder, he climbs onto the roof.
He beckons for Zack to join him, which the other man does.
The stars loom overhead like there's barely anything separating the pair from the sky.
A comforting stillness passes.
"Thanks… for what you did back there," he speaks, ending the silence.
Zack's flickering a lighter, trying to light up the cigarette in between his lips.
"Anything to save a kid's life," the other man says, breaking off to take a puff before he adds, "I also can't just sit and watch the person I love go through a hard time and do nothing."
Cloud smiles.
Colour rises to his cheeks.
Acidic smoke floats in the air as Zack continues to take his drags.
"Aerith had asked me… about our future. About what I wanted for the two of us," Zack tells him, eyes set on the star-laden sky.
Cloud braces up for any coming information that might hurt him.
"But I couldn't see it. I couldn't see the future if you're not there," Zack continues.
Cloud's heartbeats quicken.
He feels himself getting dizzy.
When he looks at Zack, the other man's already looking at him.
Zack tosses his cigarette away, then tilts himself closer.
The space between them narrows… until Cloud finds his lips pressed against Zack's.
Their lips lap each other – slowly and mindfully. It's almost like they're trying to re-learn the feel of one another again.
To get used again to the tenderness they've briefly lost and regained.
Cloud nearly cries.
Before he realizes it, the kiss ends and he isn't sure who takes the lead back to the fire pit.
All that he's aware of is the endless kisses he's having with the other man on one of the sleeping bags as they painstakingly undress themselves.
When Zack's lips won't leave his neck alone, he moans and pushes the other man down onto the sleeping bag.
The nearby flames blazing in the pit gives him plenty of light to inspect Zack's bare torso.
Across the other man's chest, there's a new, hardly unnoticeable large tattoo: the head of a wolf between two spread out wings.
Zack grabs one of his hands and rests it onto the tattoo.
"You used to talk about that wolf a lot, didn't you?" Zack says, grinning.
Fenrir. The mythical wolf that represents one's persistence against all odds.
Cloud has his earrings, keychains and everything else designed with Fenrir's image.
He darts his eyes to the tattoo just below Zack's left breast and finds that it has been replaced with a tattooed barcode.
"If you scan this, you'll get the numbers 11081986," Zack hints.
It's not even a riddle.
He knows what those numbers represent.
"Really, Zack? My birthdate?"
Zack nods, almost too proudly.
He looks at the flowers tattooed on the other man's lower right stomach, expecting them to be yellow and white.
They're blue.
"The colour of your eyes," Zack remarks, stroking a thumb along the area underneath his right eye.
Cloud stifles a laugh.
His chest feels like it's about to combust.
"You're so fucking corny!"
Zack smiles, not the least slighted. "I just wanted you marked all over me."
That's it.
Cloud can't take it.
He wants Zack to destroy him in and out a.s.a.p.
He kisses Zack once more on the lips, then crawls downwards to level his face near the other man's cock.
By the time he sinks the shaft deep into his mouth, it's already as hard as a rock.
Fuck. He misses this too much.
Soft flesh over hard veiny muscle.
And the smell. The fucking smell. Zack's smell.
Cloud wishes he could keep Zack's cock in his mouth as long as he wants.
He relishes the sound of Zack grunting at every waggle of his tongue and sucks harder when the other man's grip on his head tightens.
Strings of his saliva and Zack's pre-cum leaks out of his mouth as he pulls away.
It has been a year since they last had sex, so he knows that it's going to hurt if Zack enters his ass without enough preparation.
But he doesn't care.
He's angling the tip of Zack's cock near the rim of his opening when the other man suddenly grabs him by the arm.
"I want you to do me, Cloud."
"Are you… serious?" he counters.
He can hardly believe what he's hearing.
Zack points his chin to his carryall bag. "Check the front zips. I've brought some lubes with me."
Cloud does what he's told and sure enough, finds the lubes Zack's referring to and some condoms.
"Let's try this as many times as we can," he suggests, as he returns to the sleeping bag.
It's going to be a first for both of them – his first to enter someone else's back passage, and Zack's first to be entered – and the thought of hurting Zack worries him.
"That's fine. As long as we go all the way," Zack replies.
The other man seems to understand where he's coming from.
So that's what they're doing for almost an hour: try as many times as they can.
He lubes up his fingers and enters Zack's opening until the other man flags his discomfort with a wince on the face or a whine.
Lube up. Enter. Lube up. Enter. Lube up. Enter.
Over and over again, until Zack decides that it's time to move to the next stage.
"I think I'm ready," the other man tells him.
"You sure?"
"Not really. But I don't think I can wait much longer."
He nods.
He's about to tear open a wrapper when Zack catches his hand.
"We don't need that."
"But I might…"
"It's alright. I want you all in me."
Zack leaves him with no other choice.
He smears his cock with the lube, then scoots close to Zack.
Taking Zack's smile as a signal, he plunges himself into the other man as gradually as he can.
The snugness around his rod feels incredible.
His teeth dig deep into his bottom lip as he struggles to keep himself grounded.
Zack who's grunting beneath him as he starts swinging his hips resembles a dreamlike figure.
He dreams about this for too long and too many times.
He doesn't think he's going to last.
He tries to pull out but is quickly thwarted by Zack's legs that cling onto his hips.
"Zack, I'm about to-"
"I know. Do it in me."
He shivers.
A second is all it takes for him to lose control.
His cock pulses, pouring cum into Zack with no restraints.
By the time clarity dawns onto him, he's remorseful.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that. You'll get cramps," he apologizes, fumbling to get some tissues.
Zack laughs. "It's fine. I wanted it."
The other man taps the empty space next to him in the sleeping bag. "Lie down. Let's take a few minutes of break."
Cloud obliges.
He observes Zack who's gazing up at the sky.
Without warning, tears start leaking out of the corners of Zack's grey blue eyes.
"What's wrong? Did it hurt?"
"No… that's not it…" Zack covers his eyes with his arm and continues, "It's just… it doesn't feel empty anymore. Like it has been mended or something."
"What is?"
Zack pats his chest. "Here."
Cloud's lips arch into a smile. "I feel the same way."
Zack moves his arm away.
A moment goes by with them just locking eyes with one another.
Zack snorts, rubbing away the wet marks along his cheeks with his hands. "This is fucking embarrassing…"
"It's not," Cloud reassures, reclining back onto the sleeping bag.
The stars seem brighter than they were minutes ago.
"Hey, should I get tatted up too?" Cloud asks, already conjuring in his mind images he would like inked on his skin.
"Sure. But if you do, get my face tattooed on your ass first."
"In your dreams."
Zack laughs again.
It's music to Cloud's ears.
And this won't be the last time he's hearing it.
A/N:
If I'm going to be completely honest, writing this has taken an emotional toll on me. I just wanted these two freaky hoes to love unconditionally but I had to put them in such a toxic relationship because I wanted to explore what it feels like to be with someone who's constantly in and out and never fully committed to you.
The good thing about writing this though is it makes me appreciate Cloud/Zack more and I won't rule out the possibility of writing something for them again in the future!