A/N:
It's my birthday but instead of celebrating, I spent hours writing this! 😂
PS: I've inserted a passage that alludes to my ethnicity (and culture/belief?) and it might not make sense to those who're unfamiliar with the concept.
Stay away from Zack?
Yeah, right. So much for that.
The one single kiss Cloud had with Zack in that alley was enough to send him flying back into the other man's arms.
It makes him wonder sometimes if Zack had bound him with a spell or something.
Like the man could have met someone and poisoned his wind, food or whatever it is that can be messed with, so he would fall madly in love. It's no secret that there are witch doctors in Midgar who're good at this kind of practice.
But Cloud isn't a superstitious person to go as far as believing whatever his mind thinks that Zack's doing.
Zack just has a knack for lowering his guard.
The private conversations and lessons at work were first to return. Then, the bantering and inside jokes. Gradually, he's comfortable again with staying over at the man's place for games and movie nights.
Typical of Zack, he's not one to waste any time in making a move.
Zack kissed him once more during one of those late stayovers. He welcomed the kiss… which makes it automatically okay for them to be kissing again.
Kissing leads to touching. Touching leads to wanting more than just exchanging spit and doing things to each other's lips and tongues.
And so the sex bouts are back, as frequently as they were before… but perhaps, more daring this time.
It's almost like those 2 weeks of being apart have heightened their need for each other.
The racy texts. The edging and jerking off one another at work and other places where you shouldn't be so openly horny. The toys.
And then the kinky sex plays.
Zack has called him names, tied him up, spanked him and choked him for far too many times. Too many to count.
He doesn't mind them at all. He let the plays go on because he wanted them as much as Zack probably did. They also have their own safe words and signals to keep the plays from going too far.
What really bothers him are those times when sex feels a little too uncaring on Zack's part.
They could talk and laugh like they normally would. But then sex happens and it would give all sorts of reasons to believe that something's off.
A month goes by like this, making his time with Zack feels like riding a rollercoaster with a blindfold on.
Always a thrill. But you don't know if it's going to be a good thrill or a bad thrill.
Cloud can take a guess though as to why Zack's behaving the way he does.
It always starts with a bad phone call or a date gone wrong… with her.
He just doesn't know what the correct response would be.
Should he continue to tolerate it? Should he address it and risk having a huge fight with Zack? Should he confront Zack about it and finally end whatever's going on between them for his own sake?
He always chooses the first one. The thought of losing Zack again is unbearable to him.
But Cloud knows that he can't keep looking the other way.
It's clearer than ever now, when he's on all fours, getting his rear fucked in Zack's bedroom and he can't find it in him to enjoy it at all.
All he feels is pain.
"Hey… dial down a little," he tries telling at some point but to no avail.
Zack neither stops to lube him nor slows down his pace.
The man just keeps on roughly thrusting in and out of him.
It makes him feel like nothing but a toy.
As soon as Zack pulls out of him, he turns around and scowls at the man.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Zack asks, seemingly taken aback.
"It fucking hurts, you cunt!"
"If it hurts, you should have fucking told me."
"I did! Didn't you hear?"
Zack looks at him like he's speaking some kind of a bird language.
"I don't even know why I'm still here with you," he mutters, climbing down from the bed before grabbing his clothes that are strewn all over the floor.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not just a hole for you to fuck your frustrations out!"
Zack's eyes broaden at his tantrum.
"How can you say that? I never thought of you that way," the other man argues, sounding almost desperate to convince him that he's wrong.
"Well, I sure feel like one."
"You know that there's no one else but you…"
"No one else but me and Aerith," he corrects.
Zack purses his lips, looking almost distressed that he doesn't have a comeback.
What's there for the other man to dispute when what he said is all true?
Zack might have stopped having random one night stands but the bitchy bitch's still the girlfriend – the actual beloved, while he gets the sidepiece title.
These aren't assumptions. They're facts.
"You don't even realize what you're doing to me when she puts you in a bad mood," Cloud says, putting his pants on.
They're quiet for some time as he dons his shirt.
"This can't go on as long as you don't even know what you want," he continues, all set to take his leave.
"You're being unfair, Cloud," Zack counters. "I don't see you leaving-"
"Don't you ever put this on me. This is on you!"
He refuses to turn around and let Zack see that his eyes are watering.
"That's bullshit, Cloud!" Zack starts yelling, clearly not ready to back down.
"I can't fucking do this, Zack! I'm done!"
Cloud marches out, blocking his hearing from everything that comes out of Zack.
By the time he gets into his car, he realizes that the other man has been following him.
Zack's standing at the doorway of his home entrance, still shouting things that he no longer wants to hear.
Then he drives away, feeling like everything inside him is being ripped apart.
A/N: I'm genuinely hurt for Cloud 😔