uhhhh, yeah, this chapter isn't worksafe. please don't read it in public? well, i mean, you can if that's your thing, but, i mean, hey, even i would feel embarrassed for that.
happy reading.
"So, this is where the guy who made the Highwind, eh?" Reno scrutinized the house before him as he hopped off the bike. For such a technical genius, Reno would've expected maybe a slightly larger building? Or maybe something that looked less slovenly. Then again, he wasn't one to talk, seeing as his own private apartment looked only marginally better than a piece of shit.
"The one and only," Cloud replied before raising a fist and rapping on the front door loudly, "Hey, Cid, you in there? We need some help!"
No answer.
Reno rolled his eyes and brushed past the blonde, sighing, "Yo, no one's going to hear those girly knocks, okay? Here's how you do it." He took a breath and then kicked the door incessantly between yells, "Hey! Cid Highwind! Open up, yo!"
"Cut it out, you idiot!" Cloud grabbed the Turk by the arm and pulled him away from the door, hastily. "You wanna break the door down or something? If he's not there, then he's not there."
But no sooner than the words came out of his mouth, a voice called to them from inside the house. "Can't a man get a moment of peace in this goddamn town? You break your TV? I fix it! Your car breaks down? I give the repairs! I'm no mere technician, I'm a fucking pilot for fuck's sake! And I'm working on my ship! Damn it all!" The door suddenly swung open to reveal the face of a very disgruntled Cid Highwind. Clearly, the man was not happy. And with good reason.
Cid huffed a cloud of smoke into Cloud's face at the sight of him and continued furiously, "Ah ha! A pair of delinquents! No, don't deny it. I can just see from that spiked up hair of yours, Blondie! And that suspicious motorbike behind you? Ha, you think you can fool me? And you!" He pointed an accusing finger between Reno's eyes. "What kind of shitty ass hair is that? It's bright fucking red! You must think you're so goddamn cool with that long ass ponytail of yours, huh? What, you want my money?" He grabbed his signature spear out from behind the door and shoved it in the direction of the two very confused men, now unsure of whether this man really was the genius technician they thought he was. "Hey, I saved the fucking planet a couple years back! You think you can take me on?"
Cloud raised an eyebrow at these last few words. So, the man throwing the temper tantrum really was Cid Highwind. Then again from the looks of that familiar sandy blonde hair and old greying blue jacket he always wore, who else could it be? Cloud pushed the spear tip away from his face, annoyed yet thoroughly amused, "What, have you gone senile in old age? You're not even forty yet, Cid. I don't believe for a second that you've forgotten me."
Cid squinted at the two men, clearly still puzzled at the familiarity the two delinquents were talking to him with. "Fuck, you know what, forget the planet, Sephiroth should have destroyed the sun. I can't fucking see a thing while it's setting—Eh?" The pilot's eyes widened behind the shadow of his hand in front of him. "Strife! And a Turk? What, you in trouble or something now, Spiky? Who knew Rufus was this persistent—"
Reno groaned and slapped a hand over his face at the supposed ingenious creator's current incomptence, "If you actually listened to us a few minutes back, you'd know we need your help, yo."
The wide grin on the pilot's face disappeared so fast it could have been considered genuine magic. "Hey, you want an ounce of my help, you better drop the attitude, kiddo! Don't think I haven't forgotten the shit you Turks gave us underground Sector 8," Cid snapped at the redhead.
"You didn't have to fight us, yo," Reno grumbled, folding his arms in irritation.
The pilot just shot the Turk another glare before turning back to Cloud with a sigh, "Who would've thought Shera saved me so much time before repairing planes? Sure, I'll help you two out with whatever, but I'm warnin' ya, I haven't slept in a couple days."
"By the way, where is she?" Cloud asked curiously.
Cid merely shrugged as he waved for the two to hurry into the house, "Visiting relatives. Sure left me a load of crap here though." He waved off the afterthought and collapsed in a chair, propping a leg up on the table. "Well, have a seat then! Or ain't my hospitality good enough for ya?"
Reno and Cloud exchanged looks before scrambling into the extra seats. The ex-SOLDIER cleared his throat before looking at the pilot with a serious look on his face, "Better cut to the chase here. We're running out of time. Reno and I need to get to the Wutai Continent to chase after Kir Facaz and to do that we're going to need a plane. Kir Facaz is a—"
Cid held up a hand to interrupt the blonde, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I know all about him. Vincent came by a couple of days back and dropped the bomb about that bastard. If you two are on a mission to finish him off, I don't blame you. In fact, I highly encourage you. Rocket Town's been booming now that Shinra's gone, so there's no doubt Kir Facaz will come to obliterate this place too." He then paused, scratching the stubble on his chin with a frown and furrowed eyebrows. "Although, about the plane problem..."
Reno looked at the pilot completely deadpan. "Don't tell me you don't got one, yo. If you're saying we came all the way across the Western Continent to Rocket Town for nothing, I'm going to seriously have to fucking choke a bit—"
"No, no, no, that's not it," Cid said hastily, waving his hands in front of him to clear the misunderstanding. "There's just one thing." He groaned, sounding frustrated. "Oh man, you guys came at the right time, alright. Shera, being the goddamn klutz that she is, just broke my latest plane last week! I've been spending the past few days fixing it up but I can't really guarantee—"
"So, you don't have a plane!"
"Shut it, Turk! I never said that!" Cid snapped at the other man, but it seemed the redhead was already at his limit.
Cursing under his breath, Reno jumped up from his chair, kicking it out of his way. "Fuck this shit. I'm fucking outta here, yo. If anyone needs me, I'll be at the bar down the street." And with that, the Turk shoved his hands in his pockets and strode out the door, slamming it with one foot in irritation.
Cloud stared off after the other man from the window, eyes widened in surprise. Annoyed, frustrated, exasperated, cynically rude, Cloud had all seen before. But he didn't think he'd ever witnessed the usually light-hearted Turk genuinely angry. As uncaring as the other man was about the world at large, Cloud had doubted that anything could really get to the redhead. The fact that something actually did this time was intriguing to say the least.
"Yeah, if anyone needs you," Cid muttered in annoyance, the words pulling Cloud out of his thoughts. "Alright, Turk or not, here's the truth," The pilot continued in a serious voice, "I got a plane. I mean, it's not the best piece of machinery in the world, but it can definitely get you guys across the ocean. I only spent the past few days fixing it up, so it might be a bit rocky here and there, so you sure you wanna—"
"We'll take it," Cloud said hastily, "It doesn't matter how we get there, we just have to get there."
"Yeah, that's the spirit!" The pilot laughed, "Knew you numbskulls would take the chance." Cid nudged the blonde in the shoulder with his fist, grinning heartily, and jumped off his chair. "Why don't you come out back and take a look at the plane. Piece of shit or not, you two are going to be spending a hell of a lot of time together tomorrow."
Cloud heaved a sigh before sliding off his chair to follow him out the back door, "Yeah. I don't doubt it."
"Yo, can I get another shot over here?" Reno watched as the bartender briskly strode over to fill his empty glass, only to drain it once again the second it was full. The Turk and the other man exchanged glances before the redhead just waved a lazy hand towards the bottle and said unabashedly, "You know what, why don't you just leave that here, yo. Save you a couple of trips."
"Rough day?" The bartender asked as he slid the bottle across the counter on a coaster, along with a larger glass. It was a smart choice. At the rate the Turk was going through his shots, drinking out of the small glass he originally had would probably have cramped his arm.
Reno shook his head absently as he poured himself another glass of liquor, his chin propped up on his arm on the counter. "Man, you have no idea, yo..."
"I get that a lot," The bartender chuckled before moving to attend other customers farther down the counter, "Rocket Town's finest. You'll be guaranteed to have forgotten all your troubles by the time you wake up again. If you do, that is."
Reno let out a half-hearted laugh at the remark. With the high-alcohol tolerance that he already had, his highest expectations for the liquor were for it to at least knock him out for a night, much less for the rest of his life. He took one last look at the bottle before pressing his closed eyes against one palm and cursing himself to oblivion.
It really was true that there was a first time for everything. But somehow the moment he got himself on this godforsaken mission, he's been experiencing quite a few first times. For one thing, mentally imploding back at Highwind's house and walking out from sheer anger. The mere thought of it made the Turk groan loud enough that if he was less immersed in his thoughts, he might have actually been embarrassed.
He didn't get angry. Honestly, Reno didn't even think Rude had ever even witnessed a scene like that, and now Cloud and Cid Highwind had to see it. Thinking back, he really couldn't blame the blonde for looking stunned at his abrupt exit. But the true reason for it was probably the last of Cloud's own possible explanations.
Reno drained the glass once more, but paused when something in front of him caught his eye. He blinked in the middle of pouring himself another glass, peering into the mirror behind the bar counter, set as a replacement for a side of the wall. But it wasn't the presence of the mirror that surprised him, rather the somewhat unrecognizable expression he had on his face at the moment. Reno of the Turks was cynical, sadistic, loyal only to Shinra and the rest of the division. Nothing on his face used to show the care in the expression he had in his reflection at that moment.
The care he seemed to have for Cloud Strife.
At first, it was just the lust. The carefree irritation he had for his own body and its reactions to the other man. It was admittedly odd, but something of a completely natural physiological response for him – albeit just plain wrong.
But he didn't know when, or how, the man that he only seemed to respond to with his body began to mean something more to him. When the sight of the blonde in the hands of another man made him want to damn the bastard to hell. When he began to feel guilt in his heart that only used to feel apathy. When he started making fucking promises to another man because cared. When he began losing his temper over something as trite as a plane delay.
Everything was just fucking wrong.
Realizing that the glass in his hands was actually starting to crack from his grip, Reno hastily let go and shook his head fiercely. He needed to just let everything loose. Just fucking let it go. Stop caring about every little thing that had to do with Cloud Strife. Especially, the situation with Zack Fair—
"Oi..." Reno frowned, watching the alcohol merely drip out intermittently from his upside-down bottle. "Yo, can I get another one of these over here, yo?" He called out to the bartender, waving an arm to catch his attention.
...Zack Fair, he thought again, grimacing at the prospect. No, that was definitely the one thing he had to let himself care at least somewhat about. Lack of morals or not, he had to break it out to Cloud somehow.
He watched as the bartender graciously filled the glass for him and slowly let his head fall on his arms instead, staring blankly at the bar counter.
Somehow, Cloud had to find out. Better from himself, than through his own eyes. But how the fuck was he supposed to tell Cloud his best friend was still alive, tortured for years as some scientist's experiment?
Reno closed his eyes, mumbling to himself through his jacket sleeve, "Fuck it all, yo..."
How was anyone supposed to do something like that...?
A loud creak of the bar door woke Reno up from his dreamless sleep with a jerk. He squinted through the dimly-lit room to see a shadowed figure walking towards him. "Yo, Cloud," He said with a nod. The words came out of his mouth before he was even sure who the figure actually was. From actual want of the other man, or just his drunken stupor he had no idea.
"I was out helping Cid fix up the plane a bit. It's going through a bit of a rough patch, but he says it'll be ready by early morning. Claims at least." Cloud glanced around the room before collapsing onto the chair beside the red-head. "Been here a while, huh?" He said with raised eyebrows.
"Oh really?" Reno said absently, twisting around half in his chair to survey the rest of the bar behind him. The image came out half in a blur but he got the gist of it anyway. Everyone was gone. No more late-night drunkies in the corners – or if they were still there, then passed out on the floor. Not even the bartender was out working anymore. Reno could vaguely see the light on in the backroom where the man was undoubtedly camping out for the rest of the night. Although, he didn't think the bartender actually trusted him enough to leave Reno in the bar alone – well, until he saw what was scattered across the counter before him at least. There they were, nearly half a dozen bottles of Rocket Town's strongest, all empty before him.
"Wow, new record," Reno chuckled to himself, fingering the nearest half-empty bottle, "I thought I could only handle three in hard liquor."
"Looks like you had fun," Cloud said with an amused look on his face. In any other situation with any other man, he would have just rolled his eyes and turned away, but somehow the fact that it was Reno made it more endearing than annoying.
Reno reached over to grab an empty glass from behind the bar counter and placed it before the blonde. "The more the merrier," He shrugged, pouring the other man a drink, "Don't leave me hangin', yo." He watched as Cloud reluctantly acquiesced and raised the glass to his lips. Reno wanted nothing more than to tease the chocobo-head to oblivion about his obvious low-tolerance to liquor, but all that was running through his head was how his entire journey with the other man was just a huge fucking lie. With no mental plan in his head at all, he found his mouth moving before even knew what was going on.
"Zack Fair."
Cloud flinched in the middle of placing his glass down on the counter – the action nearly making him choke on his gulp of alcohol – and looked at the red-head bemused. "What?"
Reno was no less confused himself. It took him a moment to realize the words had actually come out of his own mouth and another moment to think up what exactly he was planning to follow up with after saying it. He propped his head on his arm and raised his own glass to his lips, not really planning to drink what was left in the glass but just needing something to do with his hands. "You and him... you were, uhh, pretty close, huh?"
Reno couldn't see Cloud's reaction to his question, but from the hesitance in his words the Turk could tell the other man was taken aback at the sudden topic change. "Yeah, uhh, Zack and I we were really—I mean, yeah... We were close."
"How so?"
Cloud stared at the redhead.
Reno just looked confused. Fuck. Again with the impaired nervous system. What was his mouth even saying? His mind was definitely not endorsing this. Reno pushed himself off his arm and drained the rest of his glass in one gulp. "You don't have to answer that, yo. It's not my place to ask," Reno apologized hurriedly, cursing himself mentally at the sudden increase in morality in his bloodstream. He ignored it for the sake of better things to worry about. "That's not the point," He continued seriously, "It's this assignment I dragged you on. Zack Fair. Kir Facaz. He is—he's not—"
"We were close," Cloud repeated suddenly.
This time, Reno's mouth opened to say something back but nothing seemed to want to come out.
"Zack was... a mentor to me. A hero, a role-model, a teacher, a brother, a friend... and something more," Cloud found himself saying, telling Reno more about his relationship with his former best friend than he told anyone ever.
At these words, Reno almost felt a surge of jealousy. A feeling like somehow he had more of a connection to this man that used to be his enemy than he ever wanted to have with anyone else. And he wanted it to only belong to him. Before he could even begin to ask himself why he was doing it, Reno found himself on his feet, facing the other man, and placing his hands on either side of the blonde. "What am I to you?"
The blonde turned abruptly in his chair to face the other man. "What?"
"What..." Reno slid nearer, until his legs were almost straddling the blonde's waist and the proximity between them paper thin. "What am I... to you?"
Cloud just looked at the redhead, seemingly unfazed by his sudden actions. It wasn't until he found the other man leaning in so close that his half-lidded blue eyes nearly melted with his own and his breath, tainted with liquor, became almost intoxicating that he found himself saying under his breath, "Closer."
Reno didn't know whether it was a reply to his question or an urging from desire. Either way he fucked both of them. At this point he had held back long enough that his body was just going to do whatever the fuck it wanted no matter how much morality was beginning to course through him. He felt the various bottles of hard liquor begin to hit him headstrong and, by this time, even the most pressing topic of Zack Fair was banished from his mind. Suddenly, he didn't even want to hold himself back anymore.
The impact of the Turk pressing his lips against his and pushing him back against the counter left Cloud breathless. Evidently, his body hadn't forgotten the accidental incident before at the inn because just the initial contact with the other man was getting him half hard already. But the fact that each of the redhead's movements was clearly intentional only made the situation all the more like some sort of erotic fantasy, rather than reality.
"Reno, what're you...?" In an incredible feat of will power, Cloud regained some form of logic in his mind and opened his mouth to protest, but his efforts were put to naught as Reno took advantage of the action only to slip his tongue into the blonde's mouth. Cloud felt the rest of his words almost physically shoved back down his throat as he melted against the other man, rendering him almost powerless as Reno explored his mouth and touched him in ways he hadn't felt in years. He gripped the bar stool, letting out a poorly suppressed moan.
Reno finally broke away, chuckling huskily at the sound he had wrenched out of the usually stoic swordsman. "You were saying?"
"Fuck you," Cloud muttered irritatedly, punching the Turk in the arm with a glare, "Wipe that smug look off your face, Reno. What the hell are you doing?"
The Turk shrugged, sliding an arm around the blonde's waist to pull him close up against his own. Cloud gasped softly at the contact, the other man hard and hot even through the layers of their clothes, hard enough that it couldn't have happened from just the kiss. He had to have been aroused from the moment Cloud had walked in. From the surge of pleasure that pooled deep in Cloud's groin at the redhead's electrifying touch, it steadily became clear that it wasn't a fantasy. It wasn't a late-night mistake. It was happening here. And now.
Reno pressed his lips against the side of Cloud's neck and eased up against the blonde even closer. "Gonna tell me to stop, yo?" He whispered against the sensitive skin, sending electrifying jolts coursing through Cloud's body until all previous thoughts of putting a stop to this were banished from his thoughts.
"Fuck," Cloud cursed softly to himself before gripping the redhead by the ponytail and pulling him back to look him in the eyes. "You idiot, you think after all the shit you're doing to me right now that I want you to stop?" He looked away at the ground, attempting to hide his infuriating blush under his bangs. "You think I ever did?"
Reno's eyes widened at the blonde words. At this point, he was fairly sure he was grinning like an idiot. "Seriously, yo?"
"Not saying it again." And before he knew it, Cloud had reached up to kiss the redhead himself. He felt the Turk chuckle to himself before deepening the kiss yet again, but this time with a slow thoroughness as he seemed to lick and suck every inch of the blonde's mouth – apparently taking Cloud's consent to mean that he could do whatever the hell he wanted as long as he wanted. Cloud was sure as hell not complaining about it.
And as off topic as it was, it suddenly occurred to him that he really did believe Reno when he said he cheated the Juno guys out of their money in poker, the way he clicked open the various buckles on Cloud's jacket with apparent ease - an odd contrast to the way Cloud's limbs were beginning to fail him, as embarrassing as that was.
Needless to say, it was getting increasingly difficult to ponder on spontaneous realizations, especially since Reno decided to abandon the blonde's mouth to ravage over his neck and chest instead.
"God, Reno, what the fuck are you—" His words were abruptly cut off as he struggled to suppress a heartfelt groan the moment the red-head worked his hand down Cloud's pants. What the fuck. He was actually liking this? Fucking fuck, Cloud thought, mumbling obscure curses as the other man slowly began to stroke properly. "Shit, Reno, that feels so… so…"
Reno looked up from licking the Cloud's chest to smirk at the heavy-lidded look of desire on the other man's face. "So what?"
Cloud shivered as his eyes connected with the redhead's, alike in not only the piercing blue but also the passion. He had to shut his eyes tight before the heat engulfed him and sent his hormones hurtling out of control, but even through his darkened eyelids he could still hear Reno's heavy breaths, labored from desire, and feel his hand sliding over his length, steadily becoming eased by the slick liquid being secreted by his hopeless arousal. It overwhelmed him.
"So... good... You idiot, don't stop—ah...!" Cloud jerked as Reno squeezed him teasingly. He leaned forward, burying his face in the redhead's shoulder and gripping the thick cloth of the Turk's blazer as he desperately tried to remind himself the importance of breathing.
Reno took this change in position as a chance to stroke through the blonde's hair with his free hand and bite his ear instead. "You're twitching a lot, yo," Reno whispered with a chuckle, "You like it when I touch you there?"
Cloud bit his lip against the redhead's shoulder, mentally cursing how the Turk might not be able to see his facial expression, but his body seemed to give everything away.
"Don't hold your voice back, Cloud," Reno whispered again, the breath of his words making the air clutch in Cloud's throat as it glided over his ear. "I didn't wait this long to touch you only to hear your stifled moans, yo." Reno did the same motion as before, rubbing his thumb over the the tip of Cloud's length repeatedly until the blonde couldn't have held back even if his life depended on it. If anyone was actually still in the bar – or awake – Cloud was sure he would have died from embarrassment anyway, as the breathy moans he tried so hard to suppress escaped with increasing volume and his hips were bucking into Reno's hand with each stroke.
"No, Reno," Cloud gasped into the Turk's shoulder, "No, you have to stop, I can't... I'm going to..."
Reno chuckled, moving his hand faster over Cloud's flush until the blonde's voice rose to a peak from being pushed so close to the edge. "Do it." Before the words could even register in Cloud's mind, the Turk leaned down to bite the blonde at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, and somehow the combination of pain and pleasure was the final straw. Cloud shuddered and with a sharp cry, he felt his body tense as he emptied himself to the last drop into the redhead's palm. He was so engulfed in ecstasy that he was only vaguely aware of the rapturous whimpers escaping his mouth and the dirty words of encouragement the Turk was murmuring into his ear.
Within moments the high was over, leaving Cloud hung limp across Reno's shoulders, oddly wrung out from just a hand job. Mustering any form of energy he had left, Cloud pushed himself off of the redhead just in time to see the Turk bring his hand to his lips, his tongue flicking out to taste the sticky globs smeared on his palm. "That was fast, yo. Been wanting me a little too much, huh?"
Cloud's eyes narrowed at the other man and he swung his arm back in irritation, preparing to knock the redhead a new one, but was promptly blocked by Reno's free hand. The Turk grinned devilishly, pinning the blonde's arms against the bar counter behind him as he reached down to tug the other man's pants further down until they were well past Cloud's upper leg. He leaned close with heavy breaths and whispered against the blonde's lips, "You don't think that just because I got you off this night is over, do you?" Reno kissed Cloud again; this time the Turk's movements soaked with suppressed desire as he ravaged the blonde's mouth, his tongue tangling with the other man's as he ground down on the man's thigh. "Fuck, I'm just getting started, yo."
"God, Reno, I..." Cloud let out a muffled moan into the redhead's mouth at the prospect. The feeling of the Turk's hot, hard length on his leg and his fingers probing at his hole, sticky from the remnants of their previous actions, was making his weeping arousal half-hard again already.
"Shit, I want you so bad Cloud... want you so fucking bad..." Reno murmured against the curve of Cloud's jawline. Cloud gulped, unsure of whether he should feel nervous or excited as he felt the other man's movements slow and his body press harder and heavier on his own.
"R-Reno, ah, I—Reno...? ...What the fuck."
His head hurt. Really, this wasn't even funny. His head seriously hurt like hell. What the hell was he doing last nigh-Oh yeah, he drank seven bottles of Rocket Town's finest. Yeah, that was funny. Yeah. Yeah… So where was he now? Reno slowly opened his eyes to a light beige color that was, coincidentally, the color of the ceilings of most inns in Gaia. They say beige is used as a common color for rooms because it was considered to be very soothing. Soothing his sexy ass. If that shitty color was at least one tenth as soothing as it should be, his head wouldn't still be hurting like fucking hell.
That being said, he was probably in Rocket Town's inn. Man, he'd better get his ass up before Cloud comes over to kick him out of the bed or something. Reno reached his arms out in front of his face and stretched, yawning loudly. Ahh, funny. He didn't get even so much as a hint of a tan from Costa Del Sol. His arms were still the pale color they were years ago. Not that the color of his skin really mattered to him. Skin. Skin. SKIN? Where was his shirt? Wait a minute… He grabbed the corner of his blanket and lifted it up, looking down. "AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"
At the melodic sound of his voice, the other corner of the blanket next to Reno on the bed suddenly flew off revealing the head of none other than Cloud Strife himself. "Shut up, you idiot! I'm sleeping!" He shouted at the red-head, irritated.
Not decreasing his volume one bit, Reno pointed at the blonde and yelled, "WHY ARE WE IN THE SAME BED?" He sat straight up, covering his bare chest with the blanket.
Cloud blinked a couple of times and then propped his head on his elbow, looking at the Turk with narrowed eyes, "You seriously don't remember what happened last night?"
Last night… Last night? Reno's mind flashed back to the fateful moment when he accidentally fell on top of Cloud and then, uhh, licked him for some reason and then kissed him…? Oh dear God, he kissed Cloud Strife. Wait, he kissed the Cloud Strife and he's not dead yet? Oh, sweet Shiva, Cloud couldn't possibly be actually homo-No, wait that was impossible. He must be already dead and he just hadn't noticed yet. Yeah. Yeah… Wait, what happened after the kissing? More? Less? WHY COULDN'T HE REMEMBER?
Ignoring the look of shock on the red-head's face, Cloud let his head fall back to his pillow again and sighed, "Okay, last night you were drunk and collapsed, so what could I do? Honestly, you couldn't stay at the bar all night, so I dragged you over to the inn and stuck you in this bed."
Still in utter shock and barely comprehending a word that his friend said, Reno just stared at Cloud, repeating his words over and over again in his head until he actually got what those simple sentences meant. "Then why are we in the same bed?" Reno asked, resuming the yelling-in-shock state he had a few seconds before.
"Okay, listen, Reno!" Cloud sat straight up in bed and said annoyed, "Hey, I don't know if you lost your wallet or hid it somewhere, but I couldn't find it! You know I have no money! Man, you're lucky I even found some bucks laying around the bar from other drunkies, or I wouldn't even be able to afford a one-bed room!"
Reno tilted his head a little, not gaping at the words the blonde uttered from his mouth, but rather at the words his bare chest was screaming in his face. There was really little to be said about it, but he could swear Cloud's chest had HOT SEX written all over it or something. Man, Cloud in a towel, Cloud in swim trunks, and now Cloud in bed with all his clothes off. That was so sexy… so unbelievably sexy… so amazingly, undeniably-Wait. Cloud wasn't wearing anything. And come to think of it… neither was he. "Wait, then why are all my clothes off? Why are all your clothes off?"
"What?" Cloud lifted up the corner off his blanket to look under it, only to slam it back down over his body shouting, "HOLY SHIT!" He grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it at Reno's face, slowly turning a shade of bright red, "You psychotic moron! Last night, we went to bed with all our clothes on! If anyone, you're the one that stripped me! You're the one who was drunk!"
Reno didn't even bother to dodge the pillow. He just let it whack him in the face and then fall onto his lap on the bed. Him and Cloud. Two guys. No clothes. One bed. He was probably beyond the realms of deadness now. Or this was probably just another one of his psycho fantasies. Either way, the reality wasn't possible. Although, if it was, they didn't… do anything last night, right? No, what was he thinking? Nothing happened! He kissed him at the bar and that was it! Wait, was it?
Staring once again at the amazingly shocked look on the Turk's face, Cloud just groaned to himself. "I'm gonna go put some clothes on," He said as he grabbed a handful of the blanket to wrap around his waist and moved as if to get off the bed.
Reno grabbed his edge of the blanket, pulling the blonde back, "Hey, I'm not wearing anything either, yo!"
Cloud glared daggers, "I don't care! Cover yourself with a pillow or something!" And with those words and a rather hard tug, he yanked the blanket away and stormed into the bathroom.
"CLOUD, YOU SUCK!"
Reno stood leaning against the wall, by the front door of the inn. He had bolted out of the room, after putting on his clothes of course, to stand outside and wait for the blonde instead of sitting awkwardly on that bed. He just stood there watching people go on by minding their own business, with a dazed look on his face. In reality, he wasn't really watching them, or anything for that matter, at all. This was embarrassing. This was really, really embarrassing. Him being the dirty drunk that he was actually came on to that chocobo-head… and in the middle of a bar no less! What if someone saw him? Then everyone in the world would think he was gay and his life would be RUINED. Okay, exaggeration. Although, the few recollections he had of the feeling of Cloud against him weren't that bad. They actually felt really good. He could still almost feel the touch of Cloud's lips against his…
"Hey, Reno, let's get going," Cloud said as he stepped out of the inn doors and onto the street, interrupting Reno's thoughts. "Cid's probably finished by now."
"Ah, yeah, I'm coming, yo." Reno said in reply, pushing himself off the wall of the inn. Just forget about it. Just put it all behind him, and everything's just going to go back to normal with that blondie. He was going to play it all cool, but the moment he stepped out of the shadows of the building and into the bright sunlight, a sharp shock shot through his head, making him wince horribly. He grabbed his head with one hand and covered his eyes groaning in pain, "Agh, fuck, my head hurts, yo."
Cloud rolled his eyes to himself, still walking a ways ahead of the Turk, "Yeah, that would be a common symptom of a hangover, Reno."
Reno peeked through a crack between his fingers and muttered, irritated, "Why are you so chill about this, yo?"
Cloud shrugged and glanced over his shoulder at the staggering red-head, "I didn't drink as much as you."
Reno's insides froze for a split second before they abruptly started up again. His arms dropped to his sides completely and he stopped dead in the middle of the road. "So, you weren't drunk?" He asked slowly.
Upon hearing the stop in Reno's footsteps, Cloud paused and turned around to look at him, "No, not really."
"And you remember everything?"
"…Yeah."
If this was some lame, overly dramatic soap opera, Reno would have fallen to his knees in the middle of the street, clutching his head and yelling curses to the sky. But it wasn't. And he didn't. He just clutched his head and yelled at Cloud instead. "YO, WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME THEN?" Though honestly he wasn't complaining. But if he really did steal the kid's virginity or something, or scarred him for life, at least he knew it wouldn't be entirely his fault. And that was a good thing somehow?
Cloud spun on his heel and continued walking in reply to Reno's words. He looked down at the road and said in a low voice, "You think I could?"
Luckily, the both of them soon easily had a chance for a change of subject because in a matter of no time at all, Reno and Cloud arrived at the door to Cid's house. Cloud raised a hand to knock on the door, but when his knuckle connected with the hard wood, the door slowly swung open. The door was ajar. "Huh, guess we didn't close it properly the last time we went in," Cloud said, looking at the open door oddly.
Reno pushed past the blonde and into the room, "Well, we'll just invite ourselves in then, yo! Hey, Cid Highwind! We're here for the plane, yo!" His call was quickly answered by a rather loud snore coming from some corner of the room. With raised eyebrows, Reno followed the sound to a chair at the kitchen table, seated by the rather unsightly sleeping figure of the Highwind's pilot.
Rolling his eyes, Cloud walked over to his friend and leaned high over his face. He smacked the pilot lightly across the face a couple of times, "Hey. Hey, Cid, wake up."
Cid shook his head, confused, "W-wha? What're you…?" His eyes connected with the blonde's and with one big swooping motion of his right arm, he grabbed Cloud's collar and nearly lifted him off the ground. "YOU AGAIN! What the hell are ya doin' in my house?"
Cloud kicked the side of the pilot's leg in annoyance, trying to get the man to let him go, "Cid-CID! It's me, you idiot!"
Cid squinted at the guy he actually had in his hands and then dropped him abruptly, "Oh sorry, Cloud. Still half-asleep there." He reached over to fix up his friend's collar and grinned apologetically, "You guys sure catch me at all the wrong times of the day!"
"I think you're just old…" Reno muttered from behind Cloud.
Cid reached behind the blonde and smacked Reno across the head, "I heard that, Turk!"
Cloud stopped Reno from punching the pilot's lights out and asked him, "Well, the night's over and we're here. You done with the plane, Cid?"
Cid gave them a crooked grin and motioned for the two to follow him out back, "Yeah, I fixed it, alright. It's ready for take off when you're ready." He stepped out into the clearing behind his house and ran off towards the storage room off to the side, "I got some stuff to give you guys, though. Wait here for a second."
Speechlessly, Reno and Cloud stopped right in front of the, er, plane that was going to take them across the ocean. Honestly, they didn't know exactly what Cid did last night, or if he even worked on the plane at all. It really looked exactly the same. But if the legendary airship pilot said the plane would fly, it would fly. Hearing running footsteps behind them, they then turned around to see Cid jostling towards them with rather large cardboard box in his hands.
"What the hell are you doing, yo?" Reno asked with raised eyebrows, as they watched the man drop the box on the floor and start rustling through the various items. If he was still going to make last minute adjustments to that piece of crap, he was not gonna take one step onto that plane.
"Presents, duh," Cid said absent-mindedly as he searched through the box. Finally, he straightened up and began to shove various things into Cloud's arms, "Okay, so here's an extra pair of goggles in case you're scared the wind resistance completely dries up your eyeballs, and bottle of water just 'cause it'll be a long ride over an ocean of salt water, and, oh yeah, most importantly, two sets of parachutes-"
Cloud took a step back to put a stop to his friend's ramble-ons, "Wait, Cid. What are you giving us all this crap for?" He gestured with his chin at all the items in his arms.
Cid waved him off with a careless hand, "Don't be stupid, Spiky. What are you talking about? You need this, remem-wait. Didn't I tell you?"
Reno and Cloud looked at each other and then back at the pilot. Tell them what? "Uhh, no."
"Oh. Oh." Cid laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair, "Well, I told you I fixed the plane and here it is, but there's a catch…" He glanced behind him at the aircraft and took a deep breath, " It's just, well, the thing is… this plane won't land."
"What?"
well, isn't cid just full of surprises?
yeah, and about the smut: sorry, it took so many chapters to get to it! i don't really know what else to say. hope you enjoyed it?
reviewing would be nice. no. it'd be fucking awesome.
