Cloud rested his head in his hands. Staring very intently ahead of him, he found that he had absolutely no clue what to do. The chess pieces on the table in front of him seemed to all be staring at him, waiting for an order from their fearless leader. As general of his army, however, he was seriously considering running up a white flag.
"Zack, could we please do something else."
The raven haired commander just laughed. He surveyed the battlefield, and realized that it had gotten so bad that he was now outnumbering Cloud's pieces four to one.
"This is practice for strategy. You need to be able to pass the written part of the Soldier exam, and part of that has to do with battle plans."
Cloud whined loudly before reaching out and moving one of his pieces. The snort from across the way gave him a hint that the move was not a good choice. Instead he moved it to another spot. Zack chuckled again and Cloud could feel himself blushing.
"Quit laughing! You know I'm not good at this," he said as he ran a hand through his hair.
Zack calmly reached out and moved his knight onto a new space. Cloud's jaw dropped open.
"Checkmate kid. That's five in a row."
For a second Zack was worried as Cloud's eyebrow twitched. He looked like he was seriously considering murdering one of the chess pieces. Zack instead got up and walked into his small kitchenette. His head disappeared into the refrigerator. Cloud kept staring at the chess board, hoping that somehow the pieces would tell him how he could get better at this.
"Want a soda Cloud?"
"Sure," he replied halfheartedly. Zack grabbed two sodas but stood by the fridge for a minute. Cloud was sitting with his head on his hands and was giving the chess board a serious death glare.
Looks like we need to take a break.
"Hey Cloud, how bout we watch a movie?"
This seemed to catch the blonde's attention and he quickly nodded his approval. Zack filed through his collection of movies and grabbed a few that were his favorites.
"So what do we want, scary movie? A comedy? Mystery? Swashbuckling?"
"Scary," Cloud replied with a crazed grin. He looked to the large window in Zack's apartment and saw that the sun was already setting. Normally he'd be back at the barracks by now, but he had the strange desire to not leave. He wanted to stay with Zack longer.
Zack popped the movie in and as it queued up, he turned off the light. The room was painted a dark orange from the sunset, and Zack loved the way it seemed to dye Cloud's hair to a darker shade. Despite his desire to stare at Cloud in the sunset colors, Zack drew the curtains and the room was suddenly very dark, with the exception of the glow from the television.
The two sat on the couch next to each other, a comfortable six inches or so separating them. Zack had seen this movie a million times, it was one of his favorites, but apparently Cloud hadn't. His wide blue eyes were completely fixed on the screen, barely blinking. Every time something jumped out and Cloud leapt from his seat, Zack burst into laughter and was usually smacked playfully for it.
"Don't worry, it gets even better," he grinned maniacally.
Cloud seemed to pale at this thought before looking back at the horror flick. He nearly screamed when he felt a hand on his right shoulder, before realizing it was just Zack. He pulled Cloud over by his shoulder, and Cloud went willingly, albeit slightly confused. When he felt Zack's warm arm on his left side, he couldn't help but curl up against it, resting his face against his shoulder.
Zack's arm was still gently lying on Cloud's shoulder, and every now and then would stray up and play with the longer strands of Cloud's hair. This seemed to calm the boy leaning against him and Zack continued.
"My neck hurts."
Zack chuckled softly and shifted over to the arm on his end of the couch, propping himself up in the corner. Cloud eased himself down until his head was resting on Zack's stomach, his body and legs almost falling off of the couch as Zack's were placed behind him. The fleeting thought of how odd it was to be spooning with his commanding officer came into Cloud's mind, and just as quickly left.
The movie continued on, causing Cloud a few more jerks as it reached the end. Zack's hand was still running along Cloud's scalp, combing through his hair. As the main character triumphed in the horror movie, and the villain was supposedly dead, Cloud had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
When the movie ends we'll have to move.
The credits began rolling, and Cloud waited for his appointed pillow to get up. But he stayed exactly as he had been throughout the movie, and continued to stroke Cloud's hair. Eventually even the credits ended, and now a painfully silent blue screen appeared.
Feeling movement underneath him, Cloud got up quickly. He stared at a spot on Zack's wall across from him as he got up, but then gathered his courage and looked over. Zack had twisted around and was reaching for the remote control which was behind him on a side table. Pressing the off button, the tv blinked into darkness.
For a second Cloud was torn between getting up and excusing himself, or waiting for Zack to turn a light on first. He certainly didn't want to trip or run into something and hurt himself in the darkness of the apartment.
Before he could choose, Cloud felt a gentle hand take him by the shoulder and maneuver him back down to the couch. But this time Cloud's head found the cushion. Zack curled up behind him completely, one arm propping his body up and the other still playing with Cloud's hair.
Feeling the body behind him, and Zack's soft fingers trailing down his neck as they ran through his hair was driving Cloud nuts. He had no clue what to do. He was lost and was sure that Zack must have been able to sense it.
As if this wasn't bad enough, Zack stopped playing with his hair and draped that arm around Cloud's chest, hugging him back against him. The smaller boy seemed to fit perfectly against the Soldier behind him, his back curving to his chest, and his knees bent just enough against Zack's legs. Pressing against his neck, Cloud was suddenly aware of the soft lips barely kissing him.
Cloud could practically feel every tiny hair on his neck standing straight up.
Okay. This is weird. What do I do? Man, how'd I get myself into this?
As suddenly as they had started, the barely-there kisses against his neck had stopped. But now Zack's arm was gently rolling him over to face him. Cloud went along with it and the farther his body turned, the harder it got to keep his breathing natural.
When he was finally turned around, it seemed like he didn't know where anything should go. His knees were bumping against Zack's, and his arms were tucked uncomfortably tight against his chest. Cloud ignored this and looked up into Zack's eyes. In the barest glimmer of light that entered the room, Cloud could barely see anything. But the soft aqua glow in the center of Zack's dark sapphire eyes seemed to glow in the dark.
"Your eyes..."
Zack smiled down at Cloud, glad that he had said something to break the semi-awkward silence that they had been in. Although this wouldn't allow Zack to get right to what he had planned, he didn't really mind.
"It's from the Mako treatments. It makes your eyes have a soft glow. It's a lot easier to see at night." Zack could see Cloud nodding his head a few inches away.
Now or never. Come on Zack. You're a first class Soldier for crying out loud.
Leaning forward, Zack brought his forehead to meet Cloud. Taking a brief look over his shoulder before jumping off the ledge.
Cloud didn't move when Zack changed the angle his head was at and leaned in and kissed him. The lips were soft and barely there, just as they had been on his neck. Then Zack pulled away and rested his forehead against Cloud's again.
He really just kissed me. Did I like it?
Cloud felt rather than heard the soft laughing coming from Zack.
"What?" he said, slightly flustered. His first thoughts were of course that his kiss had somehow been bad.
"You just had the greatest expression on your face. If looked like you were really intent on figuring something out."
Cloud was thankful for the blessed dark in the room. He knew that in the shadows of the room Zack couldn't see his blush. Unable to convince himself of a reason to move, Cloud just lay there, letting Zack run his hands though his hair again, that equally irritating and at the same time comforting motion. Their foreheads still touched and Cloud was slowly but surely able to breath naturally again.
"I'm sorry Cloud. I..." Zack pulled back slightly so that he could look his friend more clearly in the eyes. In the darkness of the room, Cloud still found it eerie to no end that he could so easily find where Zack's face was by his luminescent eyes.
"Why are you sorry?"
When Cloud propped himself up on one elbow to match Zack, he cocked his head to the side. Zack couldn't take it and leaned forward, pressing another equally simple kiss against the boy's lips. As he pulled away, he was happy to see that Cloud was smiling at him.
"Sorry that you knew you were gonna kiss me again?" Cloud supplied cheekily.
"Do you mind?" Zack's voice was flat, not wanting to see too eager, or too pressuring.
Cloud gently shook his head. He had never really thought about liking guys, at least in the way he now liked Zack. Coming from a small town like Nibelheim, he'd never actually met anyone gay. But since coming to Midgar, he'd seen things even stranger to him.
Zack slowly sat up, stretching his arms and cracking his neck as he always did. As much as he wanted to stay with Cloud all night long, even if it was merely laying on a couch talking, he knew they couldn't.
If it weren't for the mako treatment tomorrow...
"You should probably go back to the barracks. I have a really early morning."
Cloud saw the smile Zack had on even through the darkness in the room. It probably had to do with the fact that their faces were barely a foot away. Cloud bit his lip hesitantly. He wanted to know what was going to happen. How this was going to change their relationship. If anything was going to happen after all.
A gentle hand tipped Cloud's face up and Zack kissed him again. This time the kiss was longer, and Zack opened his lips, slightly licking and sucking on Cloud's. Cloud felt a tingle go through his whole body at the daring, yet somehow still chaste-feeling kiss.
Zack pulled away after the brief kiss and stood up, walking deftly through his dark apartment and turning the light on.
"Ack..." He shielded his dark eyes as they slowly adjusted to the light.
"Thanks Zack," he mumbled quietly as he stood as well.
"No problem. But don't get any ideas okay?"
Cloud felt something tighten in his chest. He felt his face turn red.
Of course Zack didn't mean anything. I'm just a pathetic Shinra cadet anyway...he's a first class Soldier. He deserves better.
"Just cause I like you doesn't mean I'll go easy on you in training." Zack smiled when he saw Cloud's blush increase tenfold. Then the boy laughed, shaking his head at the floor.
"Right Zack. I'll see you tomorrow then?"
Zack shuffled around the apartment, obviously looking for something. He picked up his coat and threw it over the couch as he continued to search.
Where did I put my phone. How can I keep losing that stupid little...
"Zack!"
The dark haired Soldier leapt in the air as Cloud yelled in his ear.
"Yeah sure, of course. Help me find my cell phone before you go."
Cloud laughed and started to look around as well. After finding the phone in the refridgerator, and promptly laughing at his commander for a good five minutes straight, Zack ushered Cloud out of his apartment door. Before leaving though, Zack leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.
"Night."
"Morning if you want to be technical about it," Cloud said as he winked and walked away.
Alright then...look...I made Zack and Cloud kiss and spoon. rejoice readers who have been waiting for them to officially hook up. In all honesty, I'm running out of ideas for vignettes to make this story longer (with the exception of the ending chapter which I already know). If there's something you'd like to see happen, put it in a review and maybe I'll use it. Later readers!!
