Warnings: Spoilers and foreshadowing, ftw!

Pairing: Cloud/Reno

Sassy's Note: I was ecstatic when these two were paired, and the prompt fit great. For any of you who follow my other stories – The World's Heart, hint hint – this is a sign that, yes, I will be continuing that one. Like, really soon. So here's a gift for you all.

Blood

"You're bleeding, Strife."

Cloud glanced down at his injured arm and made an unconcerned noise. "It's nothing.

Reno rolled his eyes. "Idiot. Come here."

"I'm fine," the blond snapped, jerking away from Reno when the Turk tried to touch him.

Reno froze, save for narrowing his eyes. Cloud turned away from him, and they stood there in stony silence. The redhead took the moment to examine Cloud. He was tense, muscles coiled tighter than a spring. What little of Cloud's face that Reno could see was strained, and it was obvious that the blond had not shaved in a few days. It was while he was taking in all his features that Reno realized he had never seen the blond truly relaxed.

The winds rolling across the Great Maw's canyons ruffled the blond spikes glowing golden from the setting sun, and despite the obvious rigidity of his stance, Cloud was still breathtaking. With an obvious effort – for he was perfectly content to stand and stare – Reno made forward toward Cloud.

"Hey," he said softly.

"What?" Cloud's voice was cold.

"I… I'm sorry, okay?" The blond snorted. "I was upset and surprised."

"You were upset, huh?"

Reno growled at Cloud's back, for the younger man hadn't even bothered to turn around and face him. "Yes, Strife, upset. This whole fucking mess upset me too."

"What could you be upset about?" Cloud mused allowed, sounding sarcastic.

"Oh, for Shiva's sake… I'm upset because you're upset, dumbass."

Cloud visibly deflated at that, and Reno sighed. He brushed up behind the blond.

"Can I see your arm?"

Cloud grunted, which Reno took to be consent. He carefully took hold of the blond's forearm and brought it closer to his face. Cloud just watched Reno with wary mako eyes. A droplet of blood slid down his arm, pooled at his elbow for a moment, and then dripped down to the ground below.

"Do you trust me, Strife?"

"I'm not even sure I like you…"

"But do you trust me?"

Cloud's eyes met Reno's.

"… Yes."

They both watched another bead of blood fall to the ground. It was morbidly fascinating.

"So… you don't like me, and you don't love me," said Reno, fingers ghosting over the uninjured flesh of the blond man's arm. "How do you feel about me?"

Another drop of blood slid down Cloud's arm, but it clung tight to his elbow. The blond stared at his own blood hard, willing it to fall. When it didn't, he whispered, "I don't know."

"Come on, Strife. We won't get anywhere that way, yo." Reno's lips quirked into something resembling a smile, but he was visibly nervous.

"I… really don't know, Reno." His eyes never left the quivered drop of blood on his elbow.

"Okay then… in that case, what do you want?" The redhead brushed his thumb over the blond's arm again.

"I want," Cloud started, eyes narrowing. There was no reason not to be truthful with Reno, he decided. "I want to be happy."

The drop of blood fell, and Reno smiled for real. "You think I can make you happy, Strife?"

Cloud's eyes met Reno's, and two more drops of blood fell from his arm. "You make me smile. Leon never…"

Reno glanced at the growing puddle of blood on the ground when it splashed again. "Nice to know, even though usually it's at my expense. Not that I mind, yo. You need a bit of laughter in your life. I don't mind making you laugh."

"You do it on purpose?" Cloud muttered in question, looking at the ground.

"Eh, sometimes, but apparently I'm a naturally hilarious guy."

Cloud was left a bit speechless. The knowledge that there was someone willing to make him smile at any extent – that someone cared about him that much – was not a feeling he was used to. Not since… Zack…

Reno's eyes followed the next few drops of blood as he waited for Cloud to say something. Finally, he did.

"I don't love you," said the blond slowly, watching his arm as well. "But I don't hate you. Maybe I don't even like you, but… I want you."

Reno grinned brighter than Cloud had ever seen, and that was saying something. "Good to know."

"You're not a rebound," said Cloud, voice firm. "You're just…"

"Save the romantic stuff for later, yo." Reno pulled Cloud's bleeding arm up higher. "We've got plenty of time now." He muttered a quick cure spell, and the Cloud watched as his arm mended beneath the blood. In seconds, he had healed.

"Plenty of time?" Cloud asked, flexing his hand, pleased when his arm did not start aching. A bit of blood was still smeared where the wound had been, though.

"Yeah, if you'll put up with me that long." Reno shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "With everything's that going on…"

Cloud thought about Sora and the trip to Destiny Islands, then about Riku and how much the teen had gone through and done for him. He stared at Reno for a moment, then mounted Fenrir and turned the ignition. The engine purred to life. The blond turned to the Turk.

"Come on," he said, pulling his goggles on. With a smirk, Reno slid on Fenrir just behind Cloud.

"Where we goin'?" He wrapped his arms around Cloud's waist and settled his chin on his shoulder.

"You'll see."

Reno hid his smile in the base of the blond's neck.

"Guess we will… Cloud," he muttered as the bike accelerated and carried them off across the Great Maw, leaving the small puddle of Cloud's blood to fade away without them.

-end-

Sassy: Sooo… who really understood that? If you didn't, browse through my stories a bit harder. Also, symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony all in ONE little interlude? SWEET!! College-level English is an amazing thing.

Oh, and the first one to catch all the aforementioned symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony gets… something special.

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