a/n: fill for a tumblr prompt

"Man...this is really where Reno wanted to meet us, huh?" Zack muses.

Cloud is too miserable to let Zack know he couldn't make out a damn word he said. It's too loud in this club. It's crowded. The only lights are colored and moving while they flash. The music is already pounding but to Cloud it's an earthquake ripping into his head.

This fucking sucks.

Zack doesn't seem too bothered by any of this; he's always been immune to the stuff that gets to Cloud the most. Cloud is kicking himself over not thinking to bring those ear plugs Tifa got him. He knows exactly where they are and yet he left them behind like an idiot. He's going to strangle Reno.

"Let's get this over with," Cloud says to himself, refusing to even try projecting anything he says to Zack.

"Let's get this over with!" Zack yells down at Cloud who grimaces. Cloud nods and follows Zack closely, barely processing anything that's going on around him.

He can vaguely hear Zack asking dancing people if they know who Reno is. When the answer is affirmative, which is most of the time, he asks if they've seen Reno around. Everyone says no.

"What a guy!" Zack shouts in Cloud's direction and the tone is completely lost. "So private that he won't come to you, not so private that everyone knows him, but then so private that no one knows where he is!"

Cloud does not give a shit anymore. This is a nightmare. This is too damn much just to get whatever Reno wants delivered. Why did he agree to pick it up from him? Why does he do anything for Reno anymore? When did Reno even get his personal cell phone number?

At some point—it feels like hours to Cloud—Zack realizes that Cloud isn't all there. He grabs Cloud's hand and starts leading him through the swarm of sweating, twisting bodies. Cloud is floating along, he barely feels the heat anymore and can only process the music as mind-numbing vibrations; lights aren't supposed to be purple and blue and they sure as hell aren't supposed to move. Maybe Reno tricked him into entering an alternate reality.

Suddenly he's thrust into a small room lit with white light. He flinches and shuts his eyes tight. There's no more deafening thunder and no more hordes but the light is too bright for a while.

"Hey...sorry buddy, I was trying to get us in and out and didn't check on you. You alright?"

Cloud takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah...yeah, now I am. Forgot my ear plugs."

Zack rubs Cloud's back until Cloud opens his eyes. Cloud looks around. They're in a bathroom—a well kept one, at that. He's not the biggest fan of white light but anything's better than colorful strobe lights penetrating the darkness. He sighs and leans back against the wall.

"Is Reno trying to kill me…?" he groans. Zack chuckles.

"Just think of it this way: if he did, he wouldn't have anyone to deliver his stuff."

Cloud snorts. "I guess so."

He holds his head for a moment and then looks up at Zack. Zack gets closer, places one hand on the wall and the other squeezing Cloud's upper arm for comfort. "Need more time?"

"...Yeah."

Zack nods. His eyes are so enchanting, beautiful. Cloud may only be half-present but he's fully attracted to his best friend. He gets called "buddy" and he's split between wanting to be with Zack more and trying to force the crush to stop. It's been a few years and struggling to stop being into Zack hasn't worked at all.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Zack offers.

Cloud sighs and shuts his eyes again.

"Be nice if you kissed me," he murmurs, his lapse in presence making him briefly forget that Zack, who is in very close proximity, can hear him in this quiet bathroom. It takes him until Zack says something to realize what he did.

"Do you...really want to?" Zack asks for clarification. Cloud freezes up. This is...bad. He didn't actually plan on this. He was ready to wait until the most tension-heavy moment to do or say anything, fully prepared for that opportunity to never arise.

But here he is. Stuck between Zack and a hard place being asked if he really wants to kiss Zack.

Great.

Cloud stammers for a moment, loses his cool. Zack is being patient and not giving any drastic reactions. He hasn't moved away and hasn't stopped applying pressure to Cloud's arm. Cloud swallows. This is too much.

"...Yeah," he admits, averting his gaze. "That wasn't how I wanted to bring it up."

Zack grins. "What? Were you gonna wait until we couldn't take it anymore?"

Cloud pouts and Zack laughs. Zack knows him too well.

"I'm sure we have a little time to ourselves...unless Reno comes through that door in the next minute," Zack suggests with a wink. Cloud rolls his eyes.

"Don't summon him. Please."

Zack smirks. "I think we'd have to say his name three time in the mirror or something, what do you think?"

Cloud shrugs. He looks into Zack's eyes and relaxes his jaw; he didn't know he was clenching it in the first place. "I think you should stop talking about Reno and kiss me," he answers. Zack nods.

"You got it."

There's a moment before Zack kisses Cloud that feels like an eternity. Cloud closes his eyes and waits for that whole flash of time for Zack to kiss him. He's struck with relief when Zack's lips land gently on his own, when they pucker for a bit then lay on more pressure. Kisses are shorter than Cloud expected and he feels like Zack is backing up too soon.

Unable to stop himself and eyes still closed, Cloud gasps, "Wait."

"Don't worry," Zack chuckles. "I just wanted to get a good look at you."

Cloud rolls his eyes even though they're still shut.

Zack comes back with a more intense kiss that gives Cloud the chills. It almost feels as if Zack has been holding back, too. Cloud starts to kiss back, utilizing his jaw to get Zack's lower lip between his-he might have bitten him a little. He repeats sliding off and latching back on over and over. Cloud isn't sure who's producing the small breathy grunts or if it's both of them; he feels like he's breathing too much through his nose, but it's not like his mouth is unoccupied.

Just as Zack puts a hand behind Cloud's neck the bathroom door slams open.

"Okay, who the hell is—oh. Woooooow, really guys?"

Zack pulls off Cloud and steps away, deeply red in the face. Cloud suspects the warmth taking him over is from certain feelings from the kiss but then being immediately overridden by annoyance from being interrupted, particularly by who.

"Reno," Cloud chides as if nothing happened. "If you were going to make us come out here then why weren't you—"

"Woah woah woah!" Reno interjects, thrusting a finger at Cloud. "Don't come at me when you two were getting chummy in the only bathroom! Jeez, people have to piss, you know."

Cloud is too frustrated to feel embarrassed or ashamed. "Can you at least close the door? It's too loud."

Reno squints at him while he does so. "It's a club, what did you expect?"

"I expected you to be easy to find so I could pick up your package," Cloud responds, pushing himself off the wall. "Do you have it?"

Reno sighs dramatically and produces a thick, letter-sized envelope from somewhere in his sports jacket. Cloud finally takes a closer look at Reno's appearance, namely his fully opened button-up shirt, clearly tailored to fashionably hang open and never close. Everything else looks normal—fancy jacket, slacks, boots, pointless goggles—but the open display of his upper body is new. Cloud is sure that if he took a wet wipe to Reno's torso he'd erase a good amount of, honestly unnecessary, ab contouring.

He snatches the envelope from Reno. "Just drop off your packages like everyone else next time."

Reno shrugs and smirks. "Nah, I can't be seen in the public eye like that."

Zack snorts. "Uh huh, says the guy everyone in the club knows by name," he chimes in, hands on his hips. Reno, taken aback, grumbles to himself and dismissively waves his hand at the two.

"Okay, okay, whatever. Why don't you two go home and get a room, we kinda need this bathroom for the guests."

"Why did you make a club with one bathroom?" Cloud deadpans.

Reno makes a show of groaning. "Man, everybody's a critic, huh?" When he notices Cloud's expression he straightens back up and clears his throat. "Okay, know what? For all your trouble I'll hire a courier next time to bring the goods to you, how's that sound?"

Cloud tucks the envelope under his arm. "So you'll send Rude."

"That obvious?" Reno snorts. "Anyway, call me about postage and I'll get that to you later."

Cloud can at least trust Reno to do as he promises; he's never botched a transaction, at least not on purpose. "Sure."

Reno opens the bathroom door and lets it swing wide open. "Alright, get out."

"Gladly."

Zack follows Cloud close behind as they use the wall to guide themselves out of the club. Cloud manages to escape the building without going into a near-shutdown state again. Once they breach into the outside world Cloud feels much better than he has in the past however long they were trapped in Reno's stupid club. He takes the envelope and turns it around a few times.

"Another fake name, probably," Cloud mutters, examining the to/from information. Zack chuckles, pitched higher from disbelief.

"You sure know some characters, huh?" he comments. Cloud looks tired.

"They find me," he replies, annoyed. "And they refuse to un-find me."

Cloud retrieves his keys out of his pocket and puts Reno's envelope in the compartment under his bike's back seat. He grabs two helmets from the same place and tosses one to Zack. Zack struggles—as he usually does—to get his on while Cloud mounts, secures his own helmet, and starts Fenrir.

Zack hops on behind Cloud and gets noticeably closer than every time before. "Y'know, it's nice to actually hold onto you like this without feeling like I'm coming onto you," he remarks and Cloud blushes. Zack would usually either hold onto the back seat or awkwardly hold onto Cloud's hips—but that was for safety reasons. Now, Zack has his arms wrapped around Cloud's waist for more than safety reasons.

"Good. Now I won't have to worry about you flying off the back."

The ride is mostly quiet and Cloud gets to enjoy Zack pressed up against his back the entire time. When Cloud drops Zack off, Zack gestures for him to take off his helmet. He does and is caught a little off guard when Zack kisses him. It's quick, nothing like in the club bathroom, but it feels nice all the same.

"Talk about a fun get-together story, huh?" Zack says, clearly lingering. Cloud nods.

"I would rather not have had Reno there but what's done is done," he confirms. Zack ruffles Cloud's hair and kisses his forehead.

"Shoot me a text when you're done with deliveries tomorrow," he requests, "we could pick up where we left off." Zack winks and Cloud smiles a little.

"Sounds like a date," he suggests.

Zack grins. "Know what? Pick a place or a thing to do and I'll take you out on a real date."

"No clubs."

"Yes sir, no clubs."

Cloud puts his helmet back on and revs his engine. "I'll think about it. I don't usually go out anywhere."

"As long as you'll be okay with something, I'm down for anything."

"My bathroom is pretty nice, actually."

Zack laughs. "Alright, alright, go home, man. I'll see you tomorrow."

Cloud nods and drives off into the night. He has a lot to tell Tifa, including to prepare for Rude to be a mess around her sometime in the near future.