oh .    OH .     that voice in his ear ,    that tone ,    that timbre ,    that tease  …  that ‘ s  all devastatingly unfair ,    in cloud ‘ s  estimable opinion .   his spine  t i n g l  e s  after the lightning strike of pleasure that FISSURES and  f  i  r e s   through every nerve ,    setting his skin alight . 

     “ naughty ?? “    cloud scoffs ,    as if it ‘ s  beyond him that he would every embody such a heinous trait .     but his hands continue to roam as they please ,    in defiance to that challenge that he ‘ s  sure is hardly meant to deterr him .    

      “ tell me you don’t like where and when and how i touch you , “   cloud insists ,     and the grin on his lips is nearly audible as he presses that smile against the line of zack ‘ s  perfect ,     chiseled jaw .     “ and maybe i ‘ ll  behave . “ 

“ or not , “     he rethinks ,     reaching down to grab at his belt and undo what he can while his hips are pressed into him .     his hands are desperate and unskilled in this position ,    but no less DETERMINED .    “ because i ‘ ll make it a goddamned hardship to leave me ,    and you know it . “

     There’s an inferno building, muscles taut beneath reckless hands and he hover statuesque between the cold indifference required to peel himself away from the inviting warmth beneath him.

     Tell me you don’t like where and when and how I touch you.

          I do..

     and maybe I’ll behave.

          Please don’t.

     or not. Because I’ll make it a goddamned hardship to leave me, and you know it.

     Oh how he knows it. Every brush of knuckle against bare skin as those inept fingers work at his belt fumbling for the clasps holding leather plate against his stomach, every bat of those golden lashes against pallid cheeks and the sultry challenge rising in the depths of mako graced eyes sets him on his heels. When he thinks he can pull away, he’s drowning in those big blue oceans and reeling in a desperate attempt to claw his way back to the surface. But he’s never sure if the surface is up or down.

     “Cloud...” It’s meant to sound firm and resolute, resigned to scampering off to do the jobs he promised he’d finish today. The slums need a cleansing of monsters, there’s medicine to be fetched, thugs to be put in their place, cats to be found... A young cadet in need of...training. Yet the name stretches into a whine and his teeth graze the bend of neck beneath and he is folding, melting around the blonde like a flan in the desert heat. He’s weak...so horribly weak. Angeal would be disappointed.

     Long limbs unfurl around the figure pressed into the dull frame of the bed and Zack shifts to put distance between them, just enough to let those hands at his belt properly, but Cloud has disobeyed. There has to be some punishment for that.

     “What did I say?” Zack’s fingers close around those wrists, lifting them back into place and he lowers again, nuzzling the sweater high enough to expose that toned stomach, tongue lavishing the warm skin and- he closes his mouth around the man’s belly button and blows a raspberry, darting out of the way seconds later to fetch his sword and attach it to his back.

     he  s i n k s  down within the down of the bed ,     letting himself be laid down as delicately as a princess .    he loves how gentle zack can be with him  …  and how decidedly un - gentle he can be .    like how his hands grab at his ass ,    or the way he pushes himself between his legs ,    or that little GROWL he gets in his voice when he gets a little too arduous and ardent  … 

just the way he likes him .

     “ is this lesson for my benefit ?? “    cloud asks ,    running his hands up zack ‘ s arms and scratching his nails down the muscled ridges of them .    his hips press needfully against zack ‘ s  hips as he tugs insistently now at the hem of his sweater .     “ i think i need a clearer demonstration .    take it off . “

     Oh those hands are his now, clutched in the grip of a man who will not be swayed and brought to the eager mouth exploring its way along collar bone and every individual pad of those fingers are kissed and splayed that he might graze his tongue between them. A warmth in his gut and a quiver in his breath his only indication of weakness, Zack nuzzles the palm of both hands and lowers them back towards the bed, stretching them far above the cadet’s head.

     “Nuh uh- you’re being extra naughty today Cloud, keepin’ me from workin’. We aren’t gonna become gillionaires at this rate.” Not that he would mind. A poor farm boy coming from a poor background to live his life in poverty with the man of his dreams? It’s a tale as old as time itself and god it sounds like heaven. Better a poor boy with a full heart than a corporate goon with an ice box in his chest he’d say. Maybe he’s a sap, but the way those legs are wrapped around him, the honeyed lilt of Cloud’s voice, the way he can feel those hips writhing against him... He’s breathless.

     the encouragement is redundant and hardly necessary ,    when cloud ‘ s  legs are already hitching themselves around zack ‘ s  waist with a proprietary ,    DESERVING sort of dominion ,    as if they BELONG there .     because they DO.    at least ,    in his esteemed opinion . 

     how was he ever meant to get ENOUGH of him ??     this unfairly handsome creature that treats him as if he were the most precious ,    IMPORTANT thing in the world ,    who adores him so  c o m p l e t e l y  that he suffers his tireless kisses and caresses and every sundry need with a sincerity like ardency ??

     “ you admiring it or admonishing it ?? “    cloud asks ,    nipping hard at the fullness of zack ‘ s  bottom lip .        “ either way ,    i don ‘ t  think you ‘ ve  got the time to do anything about it ,    SOLDIER . “

     Is that a challenge, cadet? It reeks of one and Zack is never one to back down from a challenge. Evidenced in the way he doesn’t drop his beloved onto the bed where he should be resting and dash off to finish the jobs he promised he’d complete. It’s before noon, they’ll get done...eventually.

     A firm  s q u e e z e  of ample cheeks and the utterance of a chuckle betrays the harsh furrowing of his brow. The weight carried at his fore like a chocobo feather in comparison to the sword and yet still he struggles to keep them afloat as he lowers the man to the mattress below, settling densely between thighs and encasing Cloud in a flurry of black hair and muscle.

     “I got a lesson t’ teach, I’m sure they’ll understand.” Zack murmurs against the pink lips taunting him with their idleness, chasing those words back to their source and purring his delight from the well of his chest. His hands worm from beneath the blonde to find purchase in old sheets they still haven’t bothered to fix since they’d slept, bearing the weight of his upper half while he focuses solely on the way Cloud feels beneath him, against him, filling his head with dizzying devoir and wanton greed.

     cloud twists away as gently as he dares ,    dislodging himself enough to remain within zack ‘ s  arms to RISE upon his tiptoes and tilt his head back to beg a kiss of him .    His fingers g r a s p  insistent at the knit of his sweater and PULL him down ,    if the amorous lips aren ‘ t  enough to entice . 

     “ yeah ,    don ‘ t  be an asshole ,    FAIR , “     he teases ,   yanking him down now .

     A frown threatens the corner of his lips when the warmth in his arms moves, dreamlike haze shifting to the cold sobering of reality and his grip tightens like a carnivorous plant refusing to let its prey go. He won’t let the cadet slip too far from his grasp! Hive minds think alike and he smiles down into the oceanic eyes gazing up at him, resisting that tug just a little longer for sport.