First of all, thanks for the reviews y'all! Always nice! And now… alright, let's see what other adventures I can imagine for our hot couple… God knows I have a twisted mind, so it should be interesting. lol

After-effects

When Reno woke up, the first thing he felt was… that his ass was sore. Fortunately, it was bearable. One bad thing though was that he'd been woken up by his cell phone, which was vibrating in the pocket of his pants which were still on the floor beside the bed… He'd call back, he thought, and he stretched before opening his eyes and turning around to look at Cloud. But he wasn't there. Reno sighed. He anticipated that, in fact… He always knew the blonde wasn't the kind of person you could really talk to and hold in your arms all you wanted. He wasn't the very dependant and affective type. And definitely not the "oh good morning honey, I love you so much, come here so we can cuddle" type either.

But the Turk considered himself really lucky, because the moments he had just lived that night were really amongst the best of his life. Hmm, probably the best. Yeah, ok, definitely the best. Damn, that man had been so good… especially for a virgin… The redhead slowly sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his watch: 10 am. Oh fuck… the boss wouldn't be happy. So he got up and took his cell phone from his pocket. Of course, a few calls missed. All from the Shin-Ra Company… He slapped himself mentally while messing up his hair and, just as he was about to call back, he got another call.

- "Yo" he answered, reaching for his cigarettes and lighter.

- "Where the fuck are you?" he heard Rude's voice shout in his ear.

Hmm, that was not good. If Rude actually sounded stressed, it was serious.

- "I'm recoverin', yo, stop shouting…" he answered, lighting up his smoke.

- "Recovering? Recovering from what? From a hangover, or from a fight with the ex-soldier Cloud Strife? Apparently, you left the bar with him and he looked quite pissed…"

Reno stayed silent and decided to wait before answering.

- "So, which is it? Or is it both?"

- "We didn't exactly fight…"

- "Well then get you ass here right now or the boss is gonna have both our heads, you idiot!"

- "Ok, ok… I'll be there in… half an hour."

- "That's too long!"

- "Hey, unless you can teleport me, I'll be there in half an hour."

And he hung up. It was a good thing Rude hadn't been in town yesterday night… Reno was sure the whole city had heard him shout Cloud's name… He gave it some serious thought, and came to the conclusion that he loved monosyllabic names. They were so easy to shout... He finished his smoke with a satisfied smile and then headed towards the shower.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

As soon as he had woken up, way before the sun rose, Cloud had taken a shower and hurriedly left the motel. He couldn't believe what had just happened to him… and he certainly couldn't believe he had opened up to that bitch of a Turk. As soon as he reached the bar, he got on his motorbike and decided to take a breath of fresh air well away from the city. He needed time to think and get everything in order in his mind. He ended up sitting underneath a tree in a valley very far away, back against the trunk, eyes closed.

Then some time later he enjoyed a sight he rarely saw, or had the time to enjoy: the sunrise. It was really stupid how… how peaceful he felt, even if he was this messed up. He had almost pieced everything together when his cell phone rang, making him jump and his heart stop for a moment. After sighing, he answered, without even looking at the number calling him.

- "Cloud?" Tifa's voice said. "Are you alright? Where are you? You didn't even get back here to sleep after you argued with Reno! What happened?"

She was so annoying… And it was then that Cloud realized he would rather endure Reno's arrogance and incessant talking than suffer a minute more of Tifa's dependant and obsessed fangirl attitude.

- "Cloud! Answer, say something, anything… You're scaring me!" Tifa said, obviously distressed.

But Cloud didn't want to joke and say "something, anything". And he didn't want to tell her the news on the phone either, he thought he'd look weak, as if he was trying to escape his responsibilities. So he simply asked:

- "Any calls for the Delivery Service?"

- "Uh… wh- what? …Well, no…" Tifa stuttered. "Cloud? Cloud, please come back home…"

- "Later."

And he hung up. Although still feeling weird and a little numb, even a little feverish, he knew he had taken the right decision. He had never, ever felt as good as yesterday night. With Reno, who was… so hot… naked… body against his… red hair loose and spread out on the pillow… panting… moaning his name… screaming his name… Cloud literally slapped himself to get out of his daydreaming. And then he realized his pants were tighter.

- "Fuuuuck."

Something was definitely wrong with his mind, but he didn't care. He had felt good. He still felt good now. And he only hoped Reno thought the same… He tried not to think about it too much, because for once in a very long time, he had taken a decision all by himself, without the help of anyone. For once, he was happy with himself. He had finally decided to trust. Some time later, his cell phone rang again. And he was surprised to see who that incoming call was from…

- "Reno?" Cloud asked as he answered, feeling his heart race.

- "Hmm, that sounded so sexy, yo…" Reno moaned into the phone.

- "What do you want?" Cloud asked, his voice neutral once again.

- "Um, well, let's see… You got a delivery service, and I need you to make a delivery for me… asap."

- "Why not call Tifa first then, like everyone?"

- "Because it's something special I want you to deliver…"

Cloud frowned and waited for Reno to tell him what that thing was.

- "I need to be at the Company in… exactly 23 minutes, and I have no way to get there. Got to the bar with someone yesterday, and that someone left me alone once we were there, so… Pfft, as usual. Anyway, where are you?"

The blonde sighed. The redhead could always take the taxi, or call someone else. Or he could've foreseen and expected this and gotten there with his helicopter… as he usually did. Ah well, it was Reno, and Reno was careless… but he was hot. And his voice had that tone to it… the ex-soldier just couldn't resist.

- "I'll be there as soon as I can."

- "Thanks, yo."

Cloud smiled faintly as he hung up. Those last words sounded sincere… He jumped on his bike, put on his glasses and rode back to the city, driving as fast as Fenrir would allow. Eighteen minutes later, he was in front of the motel. He didn't even want to think about how fast he rode to manage to do that. Reno walked casually out of the room they had spent the night in, throwing his smoke on the ground, crushing it with a foot, and then he smiled at Cloud.

- "Yo dear, thanks for comin'."

And then he froze, then started laughing.

- "Wow! Sorry, that was one lame pun!"

Cloud simply rolled his eyes, although he wanted to laugh also, and told Reno:

- "Hurry or I'll leave you right where you're standing."

- "Ah, you're no fun!" Reno said, rolling his eyes. "Really… Listening to you is making me sober."

Then the redhead sat behind Cloud, wrapping his arms around the ex-soldier's waist and doing it on purpose to press his body as close to the blonde's as possible.

- "Reno…"

- "What?" Reno asked in a husky voice, speaking really close to Cloud's ear.

- "Stop that."

The Turk let one of his hands start wandering down, dangerously close to the zipper of his pants.

- "Are you insinuating that the annoying little me has the power to make you lose your focus?"

Cloud sighed and began driving away as fast as he could, Reno suddenly holding on to him tighter than ever. They got to the headquarters almost on time. When Reno got off the bike, he had trouble standing up... He bent down and rested his hands on his knees, closing his eyes a moment to get his bearings.

- "Sissy" Cloud snorted, a little smirk on his lips.

- "Shut up, yo, you did it on purpose…"

- "Totally."

- "You know, if I wasn't masochistic I'd tell you to find yourself someone else to fuck, you sadistic bitch."

Reno stood up straight and smiled widely at Cloud.

- "But I am masochistic, and it was the best night of my life. So when's next time?"

- "Call me later. I have things to settle for now."

- "Ah, I see…" Reno said, taking out another cigarette and bringing it to his mouth.

But Cloud reached for it and threw it on the ground, taking off his sunglasses and looking really seriously at Reno, who stood stock still and looked really, really surprised.

- "No more smoking, or else no more fucking. I hate the smell and taste of tobacco."

The ex-soldier really was surprised he'd said that, straight like this… But it worked. Reno simply kept the same look on his face and threw his whole carton of cigarettes on the ground, along with his lighter. Cloud smirked before putting his sunglasses back on and riding away in a hurry. Reno smiled at himself as he watched him go, and then he looked at his pack of smokes lying on the ground.

- "Looks like being with Cloud will increase my life expectancy."

And he continued talking to himself as he turned to get inside the building.

- "Well, that's if I don't die from a heart attack doing kinky stuff with him."

The first thing he heard when he reached his office was Rude's voice. And it wasn't the most pleasant thing ever.

- "You're late. Well, I mean, even more late."

Reno just shrugged as he closed the door behind him and Rude got up from his chair, walking rapidly towards him, and then grabbed his ponytail, making him gasp in surprise.

- "I don't care what your excuse is" the redhead's partner said, as serious as ever and threatening him with a finger. "When the boss calls, you answer. Whether you're alone and near-dead during a mission or in bed with the hottest chick in the world, you answer! Or else I'm gonna pay too, for your stupidity! And if you want to get the life fucked out of you by the boss, I have no wish for that to happen."

- "Well, you see," Reno started saying, giggling, "it's funny you mention it now cause I was in bed with the hotte-"

- "I-don't-care-just-shut-up-and-do-your-paperwork!" Rude said very rapidly.

And with that, he released Reno's hair and got back to his desk, where he continued looking annoyed. The redhead sighed, did his ponytail again and went to sit down on his chair, starting to spread a few documents on his desk.

- "Know what, Rude?" he asked all of a sudden, turning to look at his partner.

Rude only let out a little sound, deciding it wasn't even worth it to answer.

- "I'm really wondering…"

Again, a moment of silence. Until Rude had enough.

- "Wondering about what?"

- "When did you last get laid?"

Rude almost choked. He turned to look at the redhead and, it surprised him even more: Reno looked serious.

- "Uh huh, what I thought…" Reno said, turning back to his paperwork. "What you need, my ever serious partner, is a good fuck. I'm sure it'd help you relieve all that tension and stress. Really. You should try. Didn't you tell me something about you liking Tifa at some point?"

Rude would have been ready to commit suicide at that point. He was utterly embarrassed. But he was a Turk… So once he composed himself a little, he managed to say:

- "Tifa's with Cloud, and… and anyway, she wouldn't be interested…"

- "I doubt it's gonna be long-lasting, between Cloud and Tifa" Reno said, fighting hard not to smirk.

And then he couldn't resist making yet another lame wordplay.

- "No one can really last long with Cloud Strife."

- "I guess not, with an attitude like his…" Rude answered.

Reno rolled his eyes. So Rude didn't get the pun… Maybe it was a good thing. What if Cloud changed his mind about them? But Reno didn't give that much thought. He really wanted Cloud to think the same. He would really be happy, and honoured, if they were in a relationship. Hmm, the mental images… He had the feeling not much work would get done today… He'd be very busy concentrating on not getting a hard-on.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

It was getting dark outside, and Cloud had had enough of driving around to clear his mind. He decided it was time to confront Tifa, so he headed for home. Once he got there, she was nowhere in sight, so he hoped she was resting. That way he could think about it a bit more. He had just reached his bedroom when a loud voice reached his ears…

- "Cloud! I was so worried!"

Tifa launched herself into Cloud's arms, but he pushed her away, not a single emotion showing on his face. Tifa, though, didn't miss to show she was totally shocked.

- "Cloud! What's happened to you? Did you fight with Reno? Talk to me!"

Cloud threw his sunglasses on the bedside table and started taking off his belt and boots. He felt his body temperature rise by the second… the more he let Reno fill his brain.

- "I didn't fight with him."

- "Wh- what?" Tifa asked, stunned. "But you looked so angry at him before you left the bar! What did he say? Where did you two go? Your motorcycle stayed here all night…"

Cloud debated internally on whether he should tell her or not. Difficult… And then he decided he was tired of always hiding everything to everyone, and he decided to tell her what really happened.

- "He said he wanted to have sex with me. And I accepted."

He sat on his bed, looking really seriously at Tifa who looked as if Death itself had entered the room. She looked absolutely mortified. It seemed time was frozen for a moment, neither of them moving, and then Tifa let out a little laugh.

- "Ha, you're so funny, Cloud! For a moment I really believed you!"

Cloud just kept looking at her with the same serious face, until she stopped laughing and got on the bed, looking panicked.

- "Cloud! Cloud, you can't be serious… You can't stand Reno!"

She tried to get a hold on to the blonde's shoulders, but he grabbed her wrists and kept her from doing so.

- "I can't stand you" he told Tifa in a low voice. "Look at me and tell me I'm lying."

It took a moment, but Tifa understood. Cloud was serious. That look in his eyes… it couldn't be mistaken. So it was all true.

- "But… Cloud… we're-"

- "No, there's no "we", Tifa" Cloud said, releasing her wrists and looking away as he started taking off his gloves.

- "Am I not your girlfriend?" Tifa asked, her voice feeble and shaky, her eyes watery.

- "I never considered you as such."

Tifa placed a hand over her mouth as she felt the tears flowing down her cheeks.

- "Please leave my room" Cloud asked. "You're a great person, you'll find someone who really loves you. But that person is not me."

It took a few seconds before Tifa got up from the bed and fled the room, crying and slamming Cloud's bedroom door behind her. The ex-soldier sighed and took off his shirt, throwing it on the floor, and then he let himself fall on his back onto the mattress, head on the pillow. It was a good thing Tifa hadn't asked him a lot of questions and had decided to just run away… Cloud was sorry he'd made her suffer, but he had his mind set. And now he was just hoping his cell phone would ring. It did, but much, much later, when Cloud had almost lost hope. Yup, Reno's number.

- "Heya there, Cloudy" Reno's voice sang. "You free tonight? I've had such a tough day at work! I need something to cheer me up…"

Oh my, the blonde could hear the smirk…

- "Can I go to your place?"

Cloud considered it, then sighed as he answered:

- "Tifa's here."

- "Oh cool! See ya in a few minutes then!"

And Reno hung up, leaving Cloud totally stunned. He was really intrigued… For what reason would the guy be happy Tifa was here? A few minutes later, he got down to the entrance hall, right after he heard some weird sound outside and after putting on his shirt, belt and boots back on. He reached the hall just when Reno literally barged in, followed by his partner Rude.

- "Reno! Rufus will kill us both, get back in the helicopter!" Rude called after the redhead who was walking resolutely towards Cloud, who was too stunned to move.

- "Fuck Rufus, yo" Reno said. "We have time to do that job later, I told ya. Oh, hi there, Tifa! Hey hun, got a few bottles of vodka or something?"

Tifa had just gotten out of an adjacent room and, after the initial shock had passed, she stared at Reno as if she was about to beat the life out of him. And she was very apparently thinking she had the right to do just that, since she started walking resolutely towards him.

- "You bastard!" she said.

Rude hurried to jump in front of her and hold her at arm's length while she shouted insults at the redhead and tried to get to him to beat him up good. Reno looked at the scene with apparent amusement, while Cloud still wondered what was really going on in the redhead's mind. After a while, Tifa just stopped fighting and pulled Rude close to her so she could cry in his arms. He didn't seem about to tell her to stop… Reno was glad his plan had worked. It was a two for the price of one tonight: he'd have Cloud, and Rude would have Tifa, so no more grumpy partner in the office. All in a few minutes' work.

- "Alright, fuck the vodka. Where's your room?" Reno asked Cloud in a low voice, a lustful look on his face.

Cloud didn't answer, simply taking the redhead's hand and leading him towards his bedroom, caring less and less about what had just happened. As soon as Reno had closed the door behind them, he pulled Cloud to his lips and let his hands creep up underneath the blonde's shirt. The ex-soldier didn't resist much. He did quick work of the Turk's jacket, letting it fall on the floor, as he passionately kissed the redhead, invading his mouth with his tongue, longing to be as close to him as possible.

They broke the kiss as briefly as they could when Reno took off the blonde's shirt, and then Cloud took off his boots and socks, Reno doing the same shortly after. Then, the blonde grabbed the redhead's ass to lift him up and bring him to the bed, where he very unceremoniously dropped him onto the mattress, resting his whole body weight on him right after.

- "Cloud…" Reno moaned as the blonde got impatient and ripped his blouse from him, the buttons flying everywhere.

- "I hadn't even noticed you didn't have your goggles last night…" Cloud said, taking said goggles from around Reno's forehead since he was wearing them tonight, and he placed them on the bedside table.

- "Yeah, well, forgot them at the office yesterday night, but I found them this morning and-"

Cloud shut him up with a kiss and resumed caressing every inch of his body. The redhead let his hands wander down until they reached the ex-soldier's pants, and he tried to unbuckle the belt there… with little success, seeing as he was shaking so much.

- "Damn you… Cloud Strife…" he said between their kissing.

- "Shut up" Cloud told him, devouring his tongue again as he undid his belt himself.

He hurried to push his pants down and then busied himself unzipping Reno's pants, making them join his in very little time, after taking out the lube from one of its pockets. While he slid his hand underneath the Turk's panties to caress his ass, Reno pushed him away a little and told him:

- "Let's skip the preliminaries, alright yo?"

Cloud got impatient again and decided Reno's idea was really good. So he ripped the redhead's underwear from him and opened the lube while his own underwear was taken off him. He settled on attacking Reno's neck while he got some lube into his hand, so the Turk used the occasion to speak. Of course.

- "Do you want me to… give you a lesson… on how to… hmmm… skip preliminaries?" he asked, panting already, but with a smile and a little laugh.

Cloud took a second to think about it, and then decided he'd get teased by Reno anyway, so he might as well let himself have some fun too.

- "If you tell me your advice with that moaning voice, then yes, I want you to."

Reno laughed again and then began playing with Cloud's hair.

- "You just need to take that… talented hand of yours…" Reno moaned, biting down on his lower lip. "And you hurriedly, and I say, hurriedly… apply the lube to your dick. Just before ramming it… inside the very, very needy and… willing uke you got underneath ya."

So Cloud did just that, reaching between them and grabbing his already fully hard arousal, and immediately started doing exactly what Reno had said, all the while kissing and nibbling at the Turk's ear and at times licking his earring, making that uke gasp and moan. Oh god how the blonde had been longing for this, even if he'd been away from the Turk for not even a day… It still felt like something new, to have Reno's body this close to his, but Cloud knew he'd rapidly get used to it. It was impossibly good…

After only a few seconds, the blonde had had enough and positioned himself at Reno's entrance, making the redhead moan even louder. Then he started pushing inside the Turk as he wiped his hand on the sheets, and his whole body started sweating at once, heat washing all over it, and Reno writhed and whimpered underneath him. Once Cloud was halfway in, Reno decided it was taking too long, so he wrapped his arms around the ex-soldier's waist and his legs around his hips and then pulled him inside him, all at once. Cloud let out a short but loud moan, while the redhead gasped and arched his back off the bed.

- "Hey…" Cloud breathed next to his ear. "Baka… Are you…"

- "No, it hurts like a bitch" Reno answered, managing to smile even though his voice was shaky.

Cloud felt the urge to slap the redhead for doing such a stupid thing, but the Turk continued.

- "Ah, don't worry… I told you I'm masochistic… and also…"

The blonde lifted his head up after a moment, since Reno didn't seem about to finish his sentence. It took a while of staring before the guy finally did finish.

- "It means that now… you must make me… feel better" he whispered with a smirk.

- "Forget about that" Cloud answered, grabbing Reno's hair to bring his head deeper into the pillow and to have him expose his throat, ready to be devoured. "When I'll be finished with you… you won't even feel your lower body anymore."

- "Hmm, it arouses me so much when… you say things like that, yo…" Reno moaned, biting down on his lower lip.

Cloud thought about whether he should really say the next words he wanted to let out, and decided he couldn't possibly say something that the redhead would use against him later that'd be worse than what he'd already said.

- "But the real question for me is…" he started whispering as he licked from Reno's throat up to his lips, making the Turk shiver. "Does it arouse you… when I do things like that?"

Reno had to take a deep breath to be able to answer, in a whisper too, not a hint of teasing or sarcasm in his voice.

- "I've never been with anyone who made me feel like that…"

When Cloud lifted his head up to look at him and judge if the Turk was being his usual self or not, Reno smiled at him, a soft, "I really love you" kind of smile which doesn't lie. At this point, the blonde knew, and smiled back. He released his firm hold onto the red hair and took off the elastic band holding it in a ponytail as he bent down to kiss Reno. A kiss that was soft, tongue-less at first and with their lips barely moving against each other, then a little more daring, tongues starting to fight, and it ended up being as passionate and uncontrolled as it could be, lips merging, teeth clashing.

Cloud didn't even notice when he started thrusting inside Reno, or how loud they were moaning or crying out, who would hear, how difficult it was to breathe… It didn't really matter. He was… complete. He didn't think about anything but this sexy Turk willingly kissing him back, that silky red hair, the heat, this tightness, the pleasure of it all. He kept one of his hands in Reno's hair all the time, spellbound by the feeling of it, while his other hand was exploring all the skin he could, and then holding on tight to this slim and fine body to help him with his movements.

Reno's thoughts were twirling around so fast in his mind that it really was dizzying, almost as much as all those overwhelming sensations travelling through his body. He couldn't keep track of time… didn't want to either… He had his eyes closed tightly, without even realizing it. He knew at some point he had explored all he could of Cloud's skin, yet he felt he'd never get enough. And now, as the pleasure and pressure built up inside him and his cheeks felt as if they had caught on fire, he could only dig his fingers in the ex-soldier's muscled shoulders as he concentrated on kissing him even though he thought he might faint from the lack of oxygen.

- "Reno…" Cloud moaned as he pulled away after a moment, an eternity, a split-second.

Reno turned his head sideways, pressing his cheek into the pillow, and held on tighter than ever to the blonde.

- "Hmm… say that… again…" he whispered, his eyes getting watery, the pleasure almost unbearable as Cloud hit that single spot inside him which made him see stars with each thrust.

- "Reno…!" the ex-soldier moaned, louder this time.

At the very beginning, he had been a little nervous, because he knew Tifa was there, and also probably a couple of other persons he knew, so he hadn't wanted to be very vocal. But hell, this was good, so he really didn't give a damn fuck anymore.

- "Ah yeah…" Reno moaned, letting out a little laugh between pants and gasps. "You don't care… anymore… for others… in the building… to hear?"

- "The city could… hear… and I'd still be… fucking you… like this… every day…"

- "Good… because… aaaah fuck!"

After a very impressive vocal performance from Reno's part, Cloud felt the redhead's entrance constrict around him, and a few thrusts later, the Turk was there.

- "Aaaah Cloud!" he screamed as he came, his back arching off the bed again to the point where Cloud thought he might break in two.

Reno kept screaming as the blonde continued thrusting into him, into his tightening entrance, doing his best to delay his climax and make this last longer… Didn't work very well though, it was just too much. So Cloud ground his teeth and grabbed the pillow tightly with a hand, Reno's hip with the other, and he let out a long moan as he came too, coating the Turk's insides with his seed. They were both panting and all tensed up, bodies held tight against each other, sweating and feeling their head spin, tired, hot, exhausted… fulfilled.

After a while, they started relaxing again, their breathing becoming easier with each passing second, the dizziness slowly dissipating, and Cloud kept his eyes closed as he suddenly wondered why he was doing this. It couldn't be sane, feeling this much pleasure… It was so foreign to him, it felt as if it was something forbidden. But it felt so good… God, he didn't even want to count the times he had thought that, repeated that sentence in his head over and over again…

- "It's really… really weird, yo" Reno finally said with a little laugh, stroking Cloud's hair.

- "What?" the blonde asked, lifting his head up, somehow not wanting, or maybe fearing the answer.

- "I… never was about to do this… and it feels weird" the Turk continued, his face dreamy.

- "What?" Cloud asked again, feeling more nervous by the second.

- "To tell someone "I love you"…" Reno finally answered.

There was this wave of… that indescribable something, that strange but definitely blissful feeling that spread all over him. And it intensified when the redhead placed both hands on his cheeks, stared deep into his eyes with his own striking green ones and whispered with a sincere smile:

- "I love you, Cloud Strife."

It took a moment for all of it to sink in, and Reno wasn't blind, he had an idea of what it was like for the blonde. So he thought he'd be patient for once and leave his partner some time to take all that information in. Finally, the ex-soldier smiled and, after taking a few breaths and opening his mouth soundlessly a few times, whispered:

- "L- love you too… Reno…"

The redhead let out a cute little laugh and caressed Cloud's cheek.

- "Wow! Big progress already, you're actually talking about how you feel!" he teased, smirking.

- "Shut up" said the blonde, but he was still smiling.

Ok, so it was definitive. If he endured Reno's sarcasm, bitching and arrogant attitude, there was no doubt anymore. Cloud did love him. They kissed again for a moment, until Cloud started carefully withdrawing from the Turk, who moaned and sighed deeply.

- "Man, you are a god" Reno said, laughing and placing a forearm over his eyes.

Cloud simply smiled and rolled off him, sitting on the edge of the bed and running his fingers through his hair. Then the urge to reply became too pressing and he gave in.

- "Yeah, I am" he said, a sly smirk forming on his lips. "How many people in the world can truthfully say that, without any money, they've made a Turk submissive?"

Reno opened his mouth to reply something, but nothing came out. So the blonde had had the last word with him. Another X on a calendar.

- "Just teasing, Reno" Cloud said after letting out a little laugh and bending down to place a short kiss on the redhead's lips.

Reno let out a little laugh and rolled his eyes, and Cloud softly traced the red crescent-shaped tattoos on the Turk's cheeks with the tip of his fingers. After a long moment during which they stared, smiling, at each other, the blonde then turned on the night lamp and got up to go turn off the lights in the room. When he turned back to the bed, Reno was lying on his side, his red hair cascading over his shoulder, and was invitingly patting the empty space on the mattress, smirking.

- "Come on, yo…" he moaned. "You won't let me be cold tonight, ne?"

Only when he slid underneath the sheets besides Reno did Cloud notice it was raining outside. He loved the rain… It was soothing. He allowed Reno close to him, holding him in his arms, caressing his silky red hair, relishing his smell and the heat of his body, all that while staring out the window at the rain. The tiny drops hit the glass panels, softly, then harder, the sound of the rain filling his ears along with the sound of their heartbeats and the slow breathing of the Turk.

Reno tried to get as much of his skin to touch Cloud's, the feeling it brought more than delightful. If someone had told him this would happen to him someday, he would have laughed in their faces. He was so glad he got to be with a person this… this perfect in his opinion. He fell asleep quite quickly, forgetting everything about Rude and Tifa, about the Shin-Ra Company, about his boss, Rufus, and about the mission he was supposed to complete.

In Cloud's mind, it was now official. The moment Reno fell asleep in his arms, he knew that… this was how he wanted to fall asleep every night. It had been the right decision. Even though it was a time of peace, there would still be deliveries for him and missions for the Turk, so they would both worry for each other for sure. But the ex-soldier found a strength and confidence he had lost long ago, and it made him feel invincible. He knew things this good were never eternal, but he'd make all the sacrifices necessary, and he would enjoy it for as long as he could and as much as he could, that was for sure.

Reviews always much appreciated, and there's another chapter on the way! Hope you enjoyed, cause I really enjoy myself writing down my CloudxReno fantasies. lol XD