Way of Living
CloudxReno; occasional other pairings.
xXx
It would have been a day like any other.
Reno had woken up, silently got up and made coffee, sitting on the kitchen's counter for a while before deciding that a shower was in order. Having done so, he would return to the kitchen in his boxers and drank a big mug of the black liquid without any addiction of sugar to it, successfully waking him up completely. The next step was getting dressed and only then he would pick up his EMR, keys and an apple to eat on the way to work.
Having driven to Shinra's new headquarters, he would make his way to the last floor where he and his fellow Turks worked on a daily basis when not on a mission and then to their office, greeting everyone with a single 'Good morning' before sinking into his chair and pull to him his daily pile of paper work.
No-one would say a thing till lunch time besides the occasional comment about a particular file or the particular inside joke that was starting to lose its fun for being used so many times. After lunch it was no different.
It could have been a day like any other... If Reno hadn't seen who he had been trying to find in over a year, walking around like nothing had happened.
He looked thinner.
His once tight, sleeveless blue top was now baggy against his chest; his pants waving so much with the cold wind that he doubted his legs were thicker than Reno's arm at the moment.
Even his golden spikes were now dull and gravity seemed to have gotten to them.
To sum up, Cloud Strife looked like shit.
Reno didn't hesitate. He ran to the man and grabbed his shoulder firmly, turning him around.
"Hey, what do you th--?" Cloud never finished his sentence, his words having stumbled on each other and formed a large lump on his throat. Reno was there. The man to who he never
came back because he never built the courage to do so and from which he had ran away for almost a year... was right in front of him.
"Shit, Cloud..." The redhead whispered, slipping his hand from the blonde's skinny shoulder to his prominent collarbone. "Just... Shit, you look horribly skinny yo, where have you been?"
Cloud flinched away from Reno's touch, swallowing hard. "Around."
"What do you mean, around? You disappear for a year and all you have to say is 'I've been around'?!"
"What do you want me to say?"
"You can start by explaining why the hell you disappeared all of a sudden!" Reno exclaimed, eyeing the smaller blond.
"I... I had to, I'm sorry." Cloud whispered clearing his throat as his voice cracked: maybe it was the lack of use, maybe the bottled up emotions... Who knows?
"Why did you have to?" Reno pressed. "I... I thought we were okay... After that fight."
"Reno..."
"I thought we had decided to support each other, Cloud." The redhead hissed. "And then you gave up on me!"
"I couldn't do it!" Cloud snapped, holding his breath and snapping his eyes tightly shut.
Reno narrowed his eyes, letting them fall on the blonde's stomach. "... Where is he, Cloud?" he asked almost calmly. "It's been a year. You were four months long."
"Re—"
"Where is he?"
Cloud looked away, torn between wanting to run away or just circle his arms around his stomach and sob. "... I couldn't do it."
"What?"
"I couldn't do it." Cloud repeated strongly. "I... It wasn't a kid, it was a monster."
"It was a baby--"
"I didn't have a womb, I don't have a womb! It was only a parasite!"
"It was a baby and you went and killed him behind my fucking back!" Reno exploded. "Was that why you ran away? To take it out without me knowing about it? Did you even see him after killing him, you... filthy murderer?!"
"There was no point in seeing a monster!!" Cloud yelled, out of his mind. "It was the result of one of Hojo's experiments, there was no way it would have been anything else but a disgusting ogre!"
Reno saw red. Grabbing his EMR with a twirl of his wrist, he smacked it hard against the side of Cloud's face, watching as the blond turned violently and hit his head on the wall behind him, leaving a splatter of blood in it when he gasped. "You... are the most disgusting guy I ever known!" He yelled in the silence of the night, raising his EMR once again and hitting Cloud's back, over and over again as pained words left his lips. "You're not worth shit! We were happy! When you got pregnant, I gave you support, looked into your files left behind by Hojo to help you understand what had been done to you all these years ago, I went and furnished on of the rooms in my apartment so that we could receive the baby, I went on night trips to get what you were craving at the moment even if at 7am I had to be up and about to leave for a mission!" he screamed hoarsely, letting him EMR hang loosely on his wrist and starting to kick the now fallen blond. "Didn't it matter to you??"
Cloud coughed blood onto the pavement, curling into a ball on the floor as pain racked his body. "I... couldn't bring... a kid to this world... knowing what h-had to be done... so that he could walk a-around." He coughed. "I would only see an m-monster... And I'd rather... not bring a c-child to this decaying world... if it wasn't g-going to be loved."
"I would be there!" Reno snarled kicking Cloud's chin and watching as the swordsman's head shot up. "I would have loved him! Given him the education he would need, have taken care of him! You're the monster here, yo! How... How could you...?" The redhead snarled, blinking as his eyes became wet. His lover... Once so calm but so tender, so warm... Now nothing more than a heartless shell. Had he been blind? "I... I fucking loved you." He whispered, shaking.
The blond sat weakly on the floor, shaking as well but because of his bruises. "Reno..." He whimpered, reaching for the Turk but being turned away as Reno walked away.
"I spent a year after you." Reno snarled. "I spent a year running after our child. You... You should have died with the child." He yelled, spitting to the floor in complete disgust before running away, feeling hot tears running down his angrily flushed cheeks.
Cloud just sat there, still with his hand in the air.
He sat there for a long time, even after it started raining. He began crying his eyes out, now that his tears couldn't be seen.
"Please..." He sobbed, getting up shakily. "Please..."
The blond didn't know what he was begging for.
Forgiveness? A way out of all the pain he was in?
He had no idea.
Stumbling down the alley way, he leaned heavily against the wall, panting as his sobbing died down. It was pouring; he could barely see what was in front of him. Swallowing down, he moved forward and walked for a bit, eventually tripping and falling on his knees as his tears returned, making his shoulders shake with grief. He should have lied, told Reno he had lost the kid during an accident during a delivery. "Am I a monster? Am I the monster in this?" He sobbing, crying out.
His answer was a loud horn and two blinding lights, heading towards him. Looking up, Cloud allowed his eyes to widen in shock before a small, understanding smile came to his lips.
"... Karma."
And everything went black.
xXx
Theme: Karma
Word count: 1305
Depressing, I know. Sorry for the lack of updates I just... haven't been in the mood to write at all.
Here are the themes already done and waiting to be done (I'll be removing the ones already done!):
Valentine's Day / waterfall / treasure hunt - SWW
Beach / Hula - WIP
Snowboard - SWW
Cinema - SWW
Dentist - SWW
Cherry blossoms - SWW
Fight / Break Up - SWW
Reno fights over Cloud -SWW
Long business trip and reunion scene - SWW
Aerith's Birthday - SWW
Snowball fights / snow angels - SWW
Caffeine/Sugar - SWW
Porn Collection - SWW
Videogames - SWW
Disneyland - SWW
Painting Lesson - SWW
Session with a Marriage Counsellor - SWW
Popular Reno / Smart Reno - SWW
Lotion - SWW
Yazoo flirting with Reno - SWW
Kidnapped - SWW
Claustrophobia - SWW
Interrogation - SWW
Picnic - SWW
Disguise (Reno disguised as a woman XD) - SWW
Hurt (alternative, sad ending to Disguise) - SWW
Concert - SWW
Rain and Boom (RudexTifa, Reno gets a brother named Axel XD) - SWW
Cloud mistakes Axel for Reno who is dead - SWW
Vacation - SWW
Reno's twin scars - SWW
Pets - SWW
Song - SWW
Dinner - SWW
Teddy bear - SWW
Birthday - SWW
Stalker - SWW
Spin the Bottle – SWW
Seduction – SWW
Proposal – SWW
Cutter – SWW
Dead Pet – SWW
Role-playing on the Bedroom – SWW
Purple Nail polish – SWW
Gift – SWW
I'm Fine – SWW
New Year – SWW
Comparison – SWW
Glasses – SWW
Photo Album – SWW
Karma – done
Hugs – SWW
Cloud teaches Reno how to cook – SWW
Addition – SWW
Breakfast – SWW
Puzzles – SWW
Turkey – SWW
Cheerleader!Reno – SWW
Reno fooling Kadaj – SWW
Shattered Dreams – SWW
Horror movie – SWW
Reno without hair gel – SWW
Hidden Truth – SWW
Long anticipated answer – SWW
Shopping – SWW
Setting an Example – SWW
Left Alone – SWW
Boredom – SWW
When The Fangirls Attack – SWW
Pups – SWW
Nightmare – SWW
Blood – SWW
Exorcism – SWW
Promised Land – SWW
Island – SWW
Can't stop the rain – SWW
Ramen – SWW
Zoo – SWW
Purring!Reno – SWW
Senses – SWW
Pillow Fights/Feathers – SWW
Shadows of the Past – SWW
Cloud stalking Reno – SWW
Surfing Cloud – SWW
Electric kiss – SWW
Drunken Singing – SWW
Sister – SWW
Baby issues – SWW
Acceptance – SWW
Slowly Dying Inside – SWW
Darker side – SWW
Silence – SWW
Death – SWW
Dying – SWW
Rage – SWW
Dreams – SWW
Love – SWW
Drunk!Reno – SWW
Night on Town – SWW
Pirates – SWW
Schizophrenia – SWW
Morning – SWW
Santa!Cloud – SWW
Sequel to Phobia – SWW
Obsessive!Cloud – SWW
Housewife!Reno - SWW
If you're thinking about any other theme, please ask for it on a review, signed or not :D I'm aiming to the 200 drabbles! (And if I forgot about any theme you already requested, please point it out Dx)