Chapter Text
Cloud woke the next morning alone. Zack’s absence made him wonder if he’d imagined everything that had happened last night, or worse, if Zack was already regretting it. He didn’t know what he was going to do if Zack had second thoughts, or if he gave Cloud the we should just be friends speech. Zack had seemed just as into it last night as Cloud had been, and he wasn’t the kind of person to dick someone around, but maybe he’d just been caught up in the moment.
He had enough time for all his stupid insecurities to rear their ugly heads when the bedroom door opened and the man in question stepped inside and stalked over to the bed. Instead of stopping there like a normal person, he crawled onto it to straddle Cloud on all fours, leaning down to plant a kiss on Cloud’s lips. “Morning.”
“I have morning brea—” Cloud protested, but Zack just kissed him again like he didn’t care.
“Mmm, you kinda do,” Zack said, then yelped when Cloud hit him on the arm.
“Asshole,” Cloud said, pushing at Zack’s shoulder for him to stop smothering him with his giant warm body, very aware the bedding was doing nothing to hide his response to all the kissing. A feeling rose in his chest that was quite possibly happiness.
Zack obediently rolled to the side and propped his head on his hand, a stupid grin on his face. Cloud suspected his face was doing the same, which was mortifying but couldn’t be helped. “I was going to bring you breakfast, because Angeal made muffins. But then Sephiroth and Genesis got into it, and it seemed wiser to wait.”
Cloud had no idea how to unpack that. “What time is it?”
Zack shrugged. “Nine, maybe? We were totally right, by the way. Sephiroth has it bad for you.”
“Future me, you mean.”
“Hmm,” Zack said, sounding less certain.
Cloud couldn’t help but tease him a little. “You’re not still jealous, are you?”
“I mean, I get exactly why he’s so into you,” Zack said, in that way he had of tearing through Cloud’s insecurities and laying all his secret wants bare.
Cloud had no idea how he did that. But as scary as it was to put himself out there, Zack deserved the same honesty from him. “I think last night made it clear how much I’m into you.”
Seeing the relief in Zack’s grin was worth his split second of terror that he was reading the situation all wrong. “Yeah? Good to know.”
He threw his arm over Cloud’s waist to play with the hem of the comforter. Zack was tactile as a friend; Cloud could only imagine how he’d be in this new relationship zone. Whatever that was, exactly. “Sephiroth said something else, too. That us not talking to the other Cloud was hurting his feelings.”
Cloud didn’t know how to feel about that. Except he did: profound disinterest. “Pretty oversensitive of him to get his feelings hurt by something like that,” he said, aware that he was essentially talking about himself but not caring.
Zack pulled back to study him. “You really don’t like him, do you.”
“I just don’t understand why he’s here. Like, how awful could the future be that he came back in time just to fuck around with things here?”
Zack was quiet. Cloud knew he was overreacting, but it wasn’t Zack’s future self who had shown up out of nowhere to interfere in his life. Not that the other Cloud seemed to care about Cloud’s life. To him, Cloud was just his dumb kid younger self.
“I mean, I get it,” Zack said slowly. “I don’t know what to say to him either. He’s like you, but different. Harder.”
Cloud refused to feel sorry for him. “He’s not me.”
“He’s not,” Zack agreed. “We don’t have to talk about him if you don’t want to.”
Cloud didn’t, but he also didn’t see a way around it. Like it or not, his future self had returned to take down the company they all worked for, and he had the support of Shinra’s four elite SOLDIERs to do it. If Cloud wanted to continue to be included in the planning of it—which he did, because he thought the experiments Zack had described from the Nibel reactor were fucked up too—then he was going to have to learn how to deal with the other Cloud.
“It’s okay,” he said, aware he’d already ruined the mood. “I should probably shower.”
Zack didn’t stop him from slipping out of the bed and heading for the bathroom. Cloud didn’t know if he was disappointed by that or not as he started the shower and got in. Lifting his face to the warm spray, he wondered if the other Cloud would have had the courage to ask Zack if he wanted to join him. He tried to picture the look on Zack’s face if he had.
Maybe next time he would.
***
They retrieved a couple of muffins from the kitchen for breakfast, then spent the morning out on the beach. Zack found a surfboard in the garage, and they took turns trying it out. Despite his super strength and mako enhancements, Zack wasn’t much better at it than Cloud was, and they finally gave up after too many wipeouts to count and collapsed on the beach.
When Zack leaned over to kiss him, the weirdest thing about it was how not weird it was. It was like they’d slipped from friends to something else so naturally that Cloud didn’t know why it had taken them this long.
As private as the beach was, though, it was still visible from the house. “They can see us out here,” Cloud reminded Zack.
“So?” Zack said lazily, nuzzling Cloud’s jaw like the puppy Angeal called him. “It’s not like they don’t know.”
The thought of anyone other than Zack knowing anything about his personal life made him profoundly uncomfortable. “Know what, exactly?”
Zack snickered. Cloud pushed himself up on his elbows and resisted the urge to kick him. “Please don’t tell me they know we had sex last night.”
“I mean, I didn’t say anything, but probably?” Zack said, sounding completely unconcerned. Like he didn’t understand the potential ramifications of his superior officers knowing he was in a relationship with someone who was trying to get into SOLDIER. It was bad enough that Zack was technically Cloud’s superior officer, even if Cloud was in a completely different branch of Shinra’s military.
Finally clocking onto Cloud’s uneasiness, Zack pushed himself up. “It’s not a problem, is it?”
“It’s not a problem,” Cloud said slowly, not wanting Zack to think his reticence had anything to do with him, or at least not in that way. “It’s just that they’re probably not going to let us go out on missions together if I have to take orders from you.”
“Would it be weird if you did?”
Cloud blinked and pushed himself up. “Yes? Like, it was fine when we were friends, when you were heading missions I was on, but we weren’t sleeping together then.”
Zack hummed suggestively. “Sleeping together, huh?”
Cloud kicked his ankle. “You’re taking the exact wrong message from what I’m trying to say.”
Zack sighed and sat up, leaning back on his hands. Cloud was briefly distracted by how fucking gorgeous he was, with his combat-toned muscles and black hair slicked back, his full mouth red from kissing, currently downturned in thought.
Cloud should have kept his mouth shut. He didn’t know why he had to sabotage every good thing in his life. They could have put this conversation off; there was no need to drag it out now.
“I understand what you’re saying,” Zack said finally. “I’m not trying to downplay it. I just think we don’t really know what’s going to happen in the next few weeks, you know? But it’s definitely something we’ll need to figure out when you join SOLDIER.”
Cloud appreciated Zack’s confidence in him, even if Cloud was quite a bit more pessimistic. “If there even is a SOLDIER after this.”
“There will be,” Zack said with certainty. “There’s no way Angeal would go along with getting rid of SOLDIER.”
It was some consolation, considering all the other changes they’d had to deal with. “You think I’m making a big deal out of nothing.”
“No, but I don’t think you get how unsurprised they are by it. Angeal’s known for a while how I feel about you.”
“Oh,” Cloud said, a flush already betraying him.
“Also, we have a whole week here before we have to go back and think about all of this stuff. I was kind of hoping to get laid a few more times before then.”
Zack was right. Cloud didn’t want to ruin the time they had, or this thing between them, because aside from getting into SOLDIER, it was the most important thing in Cloud’s life. “Optimistic, aren’t you?”
“Always,” Zack said with a grin.
***
No one said anything to Cloud when they returned to the house, no knowing glances or smirks, but that was mostly because a whole other level of weirdness had settled over the house after lunch as they were all witness to Genesis braiding Sephiroth’s hair.
Everyone else seemed to be taking it in stride. Even Zack seemed unsurprised. The only other one nonplussed by it was the other Cloud, and they exchanged a mutual what the fuck look that made Cloud feel a little better that he wasn’t the only one.
When the conversation shifted to the reactors, and his future self started in on it with Angeal, Cloud was grudgingly impressed; he never would have had the courage to argue with a First Class SOLDIER like that. Cloud wondered what it would feel like to have that level of confidence in himself and lack of care for what others thought.
All those semi-warm feelings toward himself evaporated when the other Cloud left in a huff, and Zack went after him.
Cloud knew he was being irrational. It was just who Zack was—he was the good guy, the peacemaker. But it stung all the same. He didn’t know why his future self couldn’t have just stayed in his own time.
“Do you have a particular reason for feeling so strongly about eliminating mako energy?” Genesis asked him, bringing Cloud’s attention back to the three SOLDIERs who were gazing down at him expectantly.
“Um, no?” He had no idea why it was such a sticking point with his other self. The Mt. Nibel reactor had existed as long as he remembered, and the town had always been proud that theirs was the first one built by Shinra. Cloud had never felt anything about it one way or the other.
“Perhaps it was an experience you had later in life,” Sephiroth said.
If it was, it had nothing to do with Cloud. He cared about Zack and about getting into SOLDIER. Everything else was too big and out of his control to worry about.
When Zack returned with the other Cloud, Cloud tried not to stiffen when he plopped back down on the floor next to him. “Hey,” Zack whispered, nudging Cloud’s shoulder with his own. Cloud relaxed and leaned into it, catching the other Cloud’s eye in a clear hands off message.
His future self looked a little amused by it, but he didn’t challenge him, either.
Cloud resolved to put it behind him, but he couldn’t help but ask Zack about it later, when they’d retreated to their room after dinner. “So, what did you guys end up talking about?”
“Huh?” Zack flopped down on their bed. He’d already stripped off his shirt and jeans, naked aside from his boxers, and Cloud’s brain fizzed out at the sight of him. Not that he ever forgot how hot Zack was, but sometimes it would be pushed to some other corner of his mind, until bam, it was right there in front of him, undeniable.
“You and the other Cloud,” he said, telling his dick to calm the fuck down already.
“Oh.” Zack chewed his bottom lip. “I just asked him to trust the others a little more. I think he didn’t know them well in his time, or they weren’t around.” His face dropped a little at the thought. Cloud mentally kicked himself for bringing it up.
Then Zack’s face brightened, and he snickered. “Actually, he asked me what my intentions were toward you.”
Cloud blinked. “What?”
“Yeah, it was like getting the side-eye from your older brother.”
Cloud crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s not my brother.”
“I know, but you have to see he cares about you, right? Enough to make sure I’m not taking advantage of you, anyway.”
“You’re not taking advantage of me,” Cloud said, a little put out that the other Cloud seemed to think he needed looking after. He’d never asked for nor wanted an older brother, certainly not one who knew every intimate detail about himself, because he’d experienced it all as well.
Zack folded his elbows behind his head. Cloud knew he was well aware of how attractively it flexed his muscles. “I was kind of hoping you’d want to take advantage of me.”
It was high time Zack got a little of his own back. Zack’s eyes widened when Cloud stripped off his shirt, unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them down over his hips. He didn’t give Zack a chance to react before straddling him on the bed, settling on his thighs with only the thin cloth of their boxers between them.
“Fuck, Cloud,” Zack breathed, his hands going to Cloud’s hips.
“Hm?” Cloud said, running his hands down Zack’s chest, enjoying the shiver of skin at the touch. “You were saying?”
“How am I supposed to know what I was saying when you do stuff like that?”
Cloud hid his grin and moved his hands lower, Zack’s hitch of breath loud in the room as he reached the hem of Zack’s boxers.
He didn’t actually know what he was doing. A few hand jobs in the barracks had been enough to tell him he didn’t really like doing this with people he barely knew and didn’t even like that much. He just hadn’t wanted Zack to think he was completely inexperienced.
Zack’s hands caught at Cloud’s, weaving their fingers together. His voice was gratifyingly husky. “You know we don’t have to do anything, right?”
Cloud sat back and tugged his hands free. “If you don’t want to, then tell me.”
Zack’s eyes rolled upward. “Are you kidding me? You can’t tell how much I want to?” The bulge in his boxers did seem to back that up. “I’m just saying, we can go as fast or slow as you want.”
“Why is it up to me?”
Zack blinked up at him. “Huh?”
“Why is it up to me to decide how fast we go?” Cloud clarified.
That seemed to stump Zack a moment. “Because I’m older? I should be, you know, looking out for you.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re okay with me doing whatever I want to do.”
Zack’s eyes widened. “Yes? I mean, I think so.”
“And you’ll do whatever I tell you?”
Zack swallowed visibly. “Fuck, Cloud, are you trying to kill me?”
It was rare that Cloud felt powerful in this world. Seeing someone like Zack rendered to this, because of him, was a fucking rush.
He leaned down to kiss Zack’s chest, just above his sternum, power and want fluttering hot in his stomach. “Keep your hands on the bed.”
Zack groaned, but the twitch of his boxers showed how very much he was into this. “You are trying to kill me.”
Cloud still didn’t know what he was doing, but it was Zack. He could fuck this up royally, and Zack would still be there for him.
He moved down Zack’s muscular thighs and tugged at the hem of Zack’s boxers, a little intimidated by the sheer size of what was under them, but encouraged by the increasingly ragged sound of Zack’s breath. Last night the room had been dark, Zack’s hand doing most of the work, and Cloud hadn’t had a chance to really look at him. He tugged Zack’s boxers down, moving to the side so Zack could kick them off.
Zack’s cock was as gorgeous as the rest of him. Cloud let himself look a moment, ignoring Zack’s not-so-subtle smirk, then decided, why the fuck not. He leaned down to lick the tip of it.
Zack groaned, his cock jumping under Cloud’s tongue. The noise he made when Cloud licked the palm of his hand and wrapped it around the base of Zack’s cock was encouraging, even more so when he took the head in his mouth, tasting salty precome.
Zack made a strangled sound and jacked his hips up, the tip of his cock sliding over the roof of Cloud’s mouth. “You gotta let me touch you,” he begged.
Cloud hummed an affirmative that Zack took as permission by how quickly his hands were in Cloud’s hair, not pushing or directing him, just carding through his hair, fingertips light on his scalp. Remembering what Zack had done for him last night, he ran his thumb up and down the underside of Zack’s cock as he sucked the head, taking it as far as he could before his gag reflex kicked in.
By the hitch in Zack’s breath and his muttered fucks interspersed between jerks of his hips, Cloud figured he was doing a passable job of sucking cock. He paid attention to Zack’s responses, did what he thought he himself would like, and it wasn’t until he noticed how rock hard he was in his shorts that he realized how much he was getting off on it. Not just Zack’s clear appreciation for what he was doing, but the salty taste and earthy smell of him, the hot glide of skin over his tongue, the sheer fucking hotness of having Zack come apart under his mouth.
The tugs on his hair grew more insistent. “Cloud, you gotta, ahhhh fuck,” Zack moaned, and Cloud let himself be pulled off as Zack took himself in hand and jerked himself a few times before coming all over his stomach.
Cloud stared down at his handiwork, at Zack’s blissed out face, and thought, I did that.
Zack blinked dazedly at him. “Are you kidding me right now, Spike?” He grabbed his t-shirt from the side of the bed to wipe his stomach off. “How did I not know you could do that?”
Cloud shrugged. “Just naturally gifted, I guess.”
Zack growled low in his throat, and the next thing Cloud knew he was on his back with his boxers pulled off, Zack’s mouth hot and wet on him. “You know it’s not a competi—” Cloud managed before breaking into a moan, because holy fuck having his cock sucked was the best thing ever.
He didn’t mind this competition at all.
***
If Zack had his way, they would have stayed in bed the rest of their vacation. Fuck this coup thing, he was having sex with Cloud, and it was just as amazing as he’d always imagined. Better, even; his imagination had nothing on the reality of how fucking perfect the sex was. Cloud was even more diabolical in bed than he was on the gaming console. Witnessing Cloud’s natural reticence and uncertainty peel away as his confidence grew was the biggest fucking rush Zack had ever experienced.
So he fully planned on staying in bed as long as they could get away with, a plan that was rudely interrupted by the sound of fighting outside the house.
They exchanged a look and scrambled out of bed, because that was definitely the clash of steel and sizzle of materia. Considering the exchange between Sephiroth and Genesis yesterday morning, Zack wouldn’t put it past either one of them to challenge the other. He’d heard about some of their battles from Angeal, and knew they were only nominally friendly.
When they got out onto the beach, however, he saw to his surprise that it was Cloud. The older Cloud, that was. He and Genesis were battling out on the beach in a firework display of materia, Genesis’ katana and Cloud’s modular sword flashing in the sun as they sparred.
Angeal was already out there, watching. Angeal had a pretty good poker face when it came to assessing fighting ability, but Zack knew him well enough to see he was impressed.
“Genesis asked Cloud for a spar,” Angeal said, in response to Zack’s raised eyebrow. “I had no idea he was this good.”
Watching the two of them, Zack had to agree. Future Cloud was clearly enhanced, so Zack had expected he would be able to keep up with the other SOLDIERs, but this was more than keeping up. Zack had sparred with Genesis enough to know when Genesis was feeling pressure, and he was definitely feeling some now.
It was hard to believe this was Cloud pushing Genesis to his limits. It was like watching someone he knew intimately, and yet didn’t know at all. Cloud’s speed and agility, some of the moves he made that had never been taught in the SOLDIER program, reinforced just how different he was from Zack’s Cloud.
Cloud was also watching himself with a complicated look on his face.
Zack hadn’t really understood Cloud’s kneejerk dislike of his other self before, but he kind of got it now. Zack had never been faced with a version of himself who had everything Zack knew Cloud longed for: strength, ability, the qualities of SOLDIER. At the same time, it was proof that Cloud could have all of those things, too. Zack knew Cloud was willing to put in the work. Here was concrete proof that it was possible.
As Cloud countered every materia attack from Genesis, he couldn’t help but say, “Holy shit, he’s good. I want to fight him next.”
Cloud made a sound next to him. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that out loud. But it was true. Watching Cloud like this was as exciting as fuck, because if everything went the way they both wanted, Cloud would soon be in SOLDIER and it would be him Zack was training with.
Sephiroth had also joined them to watch the spar, Masamune in hand—clearly he’d jumped to the same initial conclusion Zack and Cloud had. He watched for a moment, expression stormy, then turned on his heels and left.
The match wound down not long after that when Genesis finally held up a hand to signal he was done. Cloud returned his sword to his back, not even looking winded.
Angeal’s gaze went to Zack’s Cloud. “I hear from Zack that you’ve been applying to get into SOLDIER.”
Zack barely restrained himself from fist pumping the air. Cloud’s expression lifted. “Yes, sir.”
Angeal nodded, not saying anything more, but Zack knew that nod. Angeal had seen enough to be willing to give Cloud a chance in the program, if what they were planning to do with the company all worked out.
Zack grabbed Cloud’s hand on their way back to the house. “You know what that means, right?”
Cloud still looked dazed. “He didn’t say anything definitive.”
“Trust me, I know him, and that definitely means he’ll be willing to give you a shot. Cloud Strife, SOLDIER. You’ll be giving me a run for my money soon.”
Cloud jabbed him in the ribs, but Zack saw how pleased he was. His heart swelled. Cloud was finally going to get the chance he deserved.
***
After the predictable blowup that ensued between Sephiroth and Genesis after that spar, Zack and Cloud and Genesis ended up going into town while Angeal cooled Sephiroth down. It was Cloud’s first time in Costa del Sol, and Zack was enjoying showing him around. Cloud even let him grab his hand and hold it as they walked around, not even pulling away when they joined the crowds, which Zack counted as a win.
Genesis put up with it for a while before declaring he was taking them to lunch. After arguing about the place—Zack had been traumatized before by Genesis’ food choices—they decided an open-air bar-slash-restaurant attached to one of the hotels in town that had a big enough menu to suit all their preferences.
When Cloud excused himself to use the restroom, Zack turned to Genesis. “So what was that about this morning?”
Genesis looked smugly pleased with himself. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh,” Zack said, sipping his soda. Genesis had opted for some kind of apple wine, mostly so he could compare it unfavorably to the Banora apples he grew up with. He and Angeal were obsessed with that place. “You just thought it would be a good idea to challenge Cloud?”
Genesis shrugged. “I wanted to see what he was capable of. He may be an ally now, but he’s still an unknown. I wanted to know if he was potentially a threat.”
That took Zack aback. “It’s Cloud. How could he be a threat?”
Genesis sipped his wine and made a face, returning the glass to the table. “I know you think otherwise, but he’s not the Cloud you know. He’s had years of experience you know nothing about, in a world that’s foreign to us. Angeal and Sephiroth might think it’s better not to know, but I prefer to know what lies ahead of us.”
“That was your only reason for challenging him?” Zack said skeptically.
“Well, no, I also wanted to make our Silver General jealous. It’s been taking them far too long to get together.”
There was probably some universe in which Genesis’ reasoning made sense, but it wasn’t Zack’s. “If you don’t trust Cloud, why would you want him to be with Sephiroth?”
“Purely selfish reasons, I admit. Sephiroth has been intolerable lately. It’s only gotten worse since your boyfriend’s future self showed up. He needs to get laid. If it’s not with Angeal and myself, it might as well be with Cloud.”
Zack loved his friends, but he didn’t need to hear about their sex lives. He definitely didn’t need to think about Sephiroth having sex with Cloud, even if it was his older version.
He was pretty pleased by that boyfriend remark, though. Even if it was probably not meant to be his main takeaway from the conversation. “So, um, you know Cloud and I are together now, right?
Genesis looked amused. “Yes, we’re all very much aware.”
“When did you know with Angeal? That it was the real deal, I mean.”
The question clearly took Genesis by surprise. Zack had never asked Genesis or Angeal about their relationship; it was just a thing that was, like the sky and sun. “Do you think it’s the real deal with Cloud?”
“Yeah,” Zack said, resisting the urge to duck his head. “I know we’re young and all, but honestly, I can’t imagine being with anyone else.”
“There’s your answer then, puppy. I was even younger than you when I knew. Some things are meant to be. Desire is the bringer of life, you know.”
Luckily Cloud returned before Genesis could launch into a recitation of Loveless. Once he started, it was hard to get him to stop.
Zack took Genesis words to heart, however. He knew how he felt about Cloud. All that was left was finding out if Cloud felt the same.
He brought it up that night as they were getting ready for bed. They only had a few more nights here, and he wanted to make sure Cloud knew how he felt, anyway. “So, um, when we get back to Midgar, things are going to be kind of crazy for a while.”
Cloud, who had been in the process of pulling his t-shirt over his head, paused. “Are you saying to you want to stop this when we get back?”
“No!” Sometimes Zack forgot that Cloud was wired to take things in the most pessimistic way. “I’m trying to say I don’t want to stop. Even if it’s crazy, even if things don’t go the way we’re hoping with the company and all, I don’t want this to just be a one-off. Unless you do, that is.”
“No,” Cloud said. He sat on the bed, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt. “But I’d understand if you did. I know you’re going to be helping Angeal a lot when we get back.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to stop spending time with you.” He sat on the bed across from Cloud, feeling uncharacteristically uncertain. “Like, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but this is good, right?”
The edges of Cloud’s face softened. “Yeah.”
“And once you get into SOLDIER, we can work out the whole mission thing. I’m sure Angeal can figure out a way to keep it from being an issue.”
“That’s a lot of ifs,” Cloud said dryly.
Zack shrugged. “You knew you what you were getting when you signed up for me.”
A smile stole over Cloud’s face. “Yeah, I did. So is this your way of asking me if I want to be exclusive?”
Now that Cloud said it, Zack realized that was a much more succinct way of getting to his point. “We don’t have to tell anyone about us if you don’t want to, but yeah, that’s what I want.”
Cloud shrugged. “I don’t mind. If you want to tell people, that is.”
That was a pretty big admission for him, since Zack knew how much Cloud hated other people knowing about his personal life. “Cool,” he said, relief bubbling up in him. He leaned over to Cloud, sealing it with a kiss.
He didn’t know what was going to happen when they returned to Midgar, if they could pull off this coup or not. But as far as he was concerned, he’d already won.