Trapdoor (Part 18)
by anza (10.12.05)
Nibelheim was silent like he remembered.
Then again, Cloud was so lost in his thoughts he almost didn't notice a cart missing him by a matter of millimeters. "Whoops," came the apology, and his head snapped up at the familiar tone of that voice. Instantly the noise of the station crashed down over his ears: people shouting, whistles blowing, luggage crashing into the cart, Kadaj coughing softly (and still sleepily) to his side, relatives greeting their welcomed new arrivals, the squeak of metal wheels on metal tracks, the hawking of newspaper vendors...
"Hey! Rowe my man, whatcha doing in this backwater place?"
Cloud almost twitched, but his Corporate Bullshitting Smile #56 stayed firmly on his face. There was definitely something wrong with Zack, and it wasn't just his smile. A feeling that Cloud had seen him somewhere before, a tingle of familiarity. C'mon, he urged his sluggish mind, think! I know this feeling means I've seen him somewhere before - where? When?
"Looking for a job," Cloud answered before he could stop himself. Kadaj gave a mumbled affirmative, dozing on his shoulder. The oldest brother mentally told himself to give Kadaj a lecture not to sleep so much - when Kadaj was a little more awake, that is.
Zack gave a confused, almost disgusted face. "Why d'you wanna work in a place like this? It's such a...a Hickville." Cloud gave a shrug in response. "Meh. Got somewhere to stay tonight?" Cloud nodded, but Zack read the lie in his eyes. "C'mon!" With a strong jerk, the two brothers were strung behind Zack like some sort of strange three-compartment train.
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"C'mon!" Vincent's voice was gruffer than he intended, Cloud was sure. They escaped the whirling snow into the shelter of an arbor and instantly the blond was pressed against the glass window of a cafe, Vincent's lips on his, hands seeking, pressing, finally curling around Cloud's shorter, slighter form, twining the two of them together. It was impossibly exciting, a challenge to see who would dominate, though Cloud knew it didn't matter. Fighting for the sake of fighting. Loving for the sake of filling up the emptiness in him for a little while - ahh, it didn't matter, not when the cool shiver of Vincent's hair was on his fingertips, filling his vision with the red-black dream of Cloud's nightmares.
There was a scar from those times, right over his heart. Kadaj had never seen it; neither had his brothers. One night Vincent had marked him, the night he had gripped his lover's shoulders so hard they drew blood. He knew it excited Vincent, blood - the sight of those identical sets of half-moon marks the next morning had set him off again, making them late for work. Vincent's teeth brought out the best and the worst in him - the best lover in town, as Vincent liked to tell him, and the worst Shin-Ra secretary in the history of the company. Cloud had just pulled the two of them closer.
"Vincent," he breathed, and their breaths made clouds in the air like those from the sewers in Midgar on cold days. "Vincent, the man in the club called you 'Chaos'."
His lover had nibbled his ear and murmured lowly, "Isn't it appropriate?" And privately, Cloud wholeheartedly agreed.
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"Well, here it is!" They stopped in front of an apartment building - not a bad one, mediocre and very normal-looking even though Cloud couldn't tell with all the snow piled on the front. Certainly, it was one of the better ones in Nibelheim, though Cloud was used to seeing Midgar, not Nibelheim. Nibelheim was large enough to make it onto the map - but small enough not to make a difference in the nationwide decisions.
They hiked up to the third floor, where Zack opened the wire cage around the door to prevent people from picking the lock, and then, with a flourish, exposed his apartment. "Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen I don't use! I sure hope one of you can cook - I'm positively famished. Wanna pick lots for showers? And the first person better not hog all the hot water!"
Cloud and Kadaj blinked at the torrent of words from their host's mouth, and then at the grin he gave at their nonplussed expressions. "Aww, it doesn't matter - why doesn't Kane go first, then? Rowe can cook, and I'll get your stuff into your room. Ya want the room with one bed or the room with two beds?" Kadaj looked like he was about to butt in and answer, but Zack beat him to it. "What am I thinking? You two probably want the double, the single's mine anyway. Don't wanna hear me nattering all night, do you?" Damn right, Cloud agreed in his mind, and read the same in Kadaj's "I'm-politely-listening-just-not-absorbing-anything" face.
"Well," Zack concluded with a thwack that sent Cloud and Kadaj barrelling into the kitchen counter, "let's mosey!"