"Crack: Later" and the general sexiness/wrongness of "Crack: Later" is completely copyright Orin Drake 2006. Cosmotwitch alone is to be blamed for putting the idea of Cloud + Reno + Zack Crack into my head, but I did the rest... sadly. All characters contained within are owned (and sometimes "pwned") by Square-Enix. Life's unfair like that.

Background: ...I really hadn't meant to write something serious with these guys--and definitely not something sad/sweet. Sheesh. And, well, I guess technically it's just Reno and Cloud seeing as how this takes place shortly after Advent Children, but... Zack's there, too. I claim CRACK, dammit.

Crack: Later
by Orin Drake

It was late. That was pretty much all Cloud knew, stepping outside of 7th Heaven to get some fresh air. He should have been sleeping, of course. Tossing and turning had been tolerated long enough; he'd gotten up, dressed and managed to sneak downstairs. He hadn't planned to actually go anywhere, but sitting on the dark steps and gazing up at real, actually stars for a while sounded good. It was still a luxury he hadn't gotten used to, and he hoped he never would.

He'd only just gotten comfortable when he heard the shuffling of feet coming from the alley. It sounded human, so he simply sat there and listened until there was an obvious shift in tone when the corner was turned. Glancing over held enormous surprises.

Unkempt dress pants leading down to scuffed, dirty shoes. A half-buttoned shirt that may have never in its entire existence been properly tucked in, underneath a suit coat that had certainly seen better days. And there was that shock of red spikes above goggles; accessories just for the hell of it.

Cloud could hardly believe it. Only weeks ago, during the... "incident" with Kadaj... he'd known the redhead must been hurt. That flashy bomb stunt had nearly totaled a whole section of highway, something Reeve was still mumbling about. He opened his mouth to call the Turk over--then thought better of it.

Really... what was the point? It had been years. And before that, it had been years. Did they really have... anything to say to one another? Their entire lives had changed. It just... didn't seem possible to...

He shook that feeling away. Dammit, if anything had been driven home in his scrambled mind, it was that he still had friends. And yeah, maybe some of them would fall by the wayside... maybe some already had. But with Reno, he didn't know... and he wanted to find out. It wasn't so long ago that they were friends... very, very
good friends...
"Hey." Cloud found himself calling, quietly. It would be... what Zack would want.

The sound seemed to startle the redhead a bit. Upon looking over and finally realizing who had been calling to him, the startled look turned to absolute shock. "Shit. Hey!" he exclaimed--then covered his mouth, remembering the time. No, he didn't know exactly when it was, but... it was probably damn late if he was still roaming.

The warrior on the steps gave a small smile, waiting for the Turk to approach. He absolutely had to ask. "What are you doing around here?"

There'd been nothing close to animosity in the blond's voice, Reno knew that. He couldn't help but feel a little... of place, though. "I was... I was just... wandering. Happened to wander on this way, I guess."

"Come in." Cloud had meant it to be an invitation... but it came out sounding more like a question. "Have a drink."

"Nah, I... I wouldn't be comfortable in there, y'know? I'll just--"

"I'll come with you." The blond invited himself without really knowing he had. Not that he would take it back.

That familiar, amused, always cocky grin came back with full force. "You don't know where I'm going."

Cloud only shrugged, standing and locking the door to 7th Heaven. It didn't matter where they went.

Understanding that much, the redhead quite eagerly started walking. Wherever it was that they were going.

Edge at night was a hell of a lot quieter than Midgar. Not that either of them minded; peace was just as good as bustle. It was simply... quiet. And quiet lead to conversation. They both knew that much would only lead to trouble--things better left in silence.

They managed some smalltalk, though neither of them were very good at it. Cloud had never been skilled at such social things, and Reno had since learned that he couldn't find it in himself to care about stupid, trivial crap like the weather. Right at the moment when that combination could have gotten most awkward, a terribly strange thing happened: it started to rain. Even after all that time out from under the plate, it was still a surprise to have happen.

Cloud motioned. Reno followed. The blonde had a little "hide-out", away from Tifa and the kids for when he just needed to be alone for a bit. While he was quite sure the woman knew about it, at least she had never once mentioned it. It was private, hidden, and obviously enough it was safe from the rain.

Already soaked through from the downpour, Reno gladly stepped into the doorway and tried not to drip on anything... too much. Not the easiest task, he was realizing.

"It's okay." Cloud spoke quietly, closing the door and immersing them in complete darkness. "I don't have anything here that might be ruined by a little water."

The redhead smirked, watching those glowing blue eyes as they adjusted far more quickly than his own. A light switch along the wall was flipped, and he blinked back the instant pain of the artificial lighting until growing used to it--then took a look around. "Spartan." He settled upon, commenting mostly to himself.

Cloud gave the place a glance, nodding. He'd never been one to collect possessions... or furniture, it seemed. His little "sanctuary" was incredibly basic; one room, unfurnished but clean, with a couch, a few books, a bed, and a bare light bulb hanging down right in the middle. There was even a tiny little window off to the side, but it seemed generally useless for looking out. Or looking in, a certain plus.

"I wish I had a table." The blonde admitted, the thought feeling awkward. At least then they could sit and talk like two people were supposed to. As it was, however... one would have to take the bed, and the other, the couch. Sort of far away, uneven... but it would do. Perhaps it suited them more after... everything that had happened.

Reno nearly seemed able to read his thoughts, looking across to the bed and deciding to take a seat on the edge. Turk instincts, choosing a spot that faced the door. That, and... he just wasn't sure what might be acceptable. It had been a long time... a lot had happened... He sat as carefully as he could, not wanting his wet clothes to soak the blankets.

Cloud made a motion to say he didn't care so much for the blankets, then made a valiant attempt to pretend to know what the hell was going on. He wasn't uncomfortable, really... but confused. A little lost. Siting stiffly on the couch, he tried to come up with something to say.

The redhead beat him to it, as usual. "You stayed away, huh?"

It was kind of funny, even if the chuckle didn't sound genuine to his own ears. "Yeah. I... yeah." And I still am. He thought. Staying as far away as I can get. "You, too."

At that, Reno finally looked uncomfortable. "Yeah. Well. We move on. Don't we."

Cloud blinked. "Not really, no."

The redhead gave a mild laugh. "Good point."

It hurt. It hurt in ways Cloud hadn't quite expected. Bits of his past still ached, yes... and there were things he could never have again, a fact that had taken a long time to truly come to terms with. The man in front of him, though... they'd fallen apart. Become something very close to enemies, at one point. And with the moment in front of them both, finally having no reason to come back together except merely to talk, to escape to... amend... "Look, I--"

"No need." Reno's voice was soft--the kind of soft honesty that hadn't been heard from it in years. "Really. No need."

"Still." The blonde replied, his voice very quiet. Almost not there at all. They'd probably done things to each other... said things... that Zack would have been appalled by. Not that they'd meant to on any personal levels... it was survival. It was... distance. And Cloud wanted to say he was sorry, but... he didn't know how. It seemed so... stupid to even try to make up for...

"I know." Again Reno seemed to have that eerie ability to catch flying thoughts... or at least read his eyes. "Me, too." He paused for an awfully long time, thoughts swirling... slowly running into one another. Memories. "So, he's... been gone a long time."

"Yeah." Cloud willed his voice not to break. In some ways, far too long... and in others, it hadn't been long enough. Not for the ache to go away. "I... I try not to... mourn, for him. I try to... live for him. For both of us."

The Turk swallowed and looked away. Intellectually, he'd known Zack was dead. How he died. What Cloud must have been through. But seeing the man there, it... it was all hitting him on more than an intellectual level. "Oh. Yeah. Must be nice. Something to live for an' all."

The dismissive comment gave the blond a tight feeling in his chest. "Don't you have..?" Certainly the way he and Rude were always together... or the way he and Elena bickered...

"Nah. I mean... y'know. Been a while since I... well. No, not really."

"Oh."

Silence. Steady, driving silence. There was ache with every heartbeat... memories that had been wrapped in joy, eventually darkened by time.

Despite feeling the need to speak, Reno couldn't force himself to make eye contact. He looked down at his hands--hands that had grown callouses and shed an awful lot of blood since the last time they were talking in a room alone together--and tried to sound like he had even an ounce of courage in him. "Hey... Cloud... I know it might not... it probably won't... feel right, I guess, but... but I..." He was silenced by Cloud having taken the initiative; apparently the blonde had risen at some point, stalking across the room with perfect silence to press their mouths together.

"Yeah." Reno continued when they pulled apart slightly. "That was it."

The warrior let a smile ghost over his lips, kneeling before the redhead rather than simply joining him up on the bed. He didn't... start right away, though. Instead, he just sort of... rested his cheek on the Turk's lap, allowing himself that much. Just a moment of being... casual. Calm. Enjoying their time together like he used to do, sometimes... when he'd realized, every so often, that they probably wouldn't be able to keep it up after they all grew up, got assigned and moved on... but he never talked about those thoughts. He was afraid they'd have come true. It was almost enough to laugh at.

Cloud felt his eyes burn, instead, when fingers softly ran through his spikes. It was just for a moment, just a fleeting sort of pain before a strange calm took him from the inside. He rested there, eyes closed, a lazy hand gently wandering through his hair.

--Right up until the Turk decided the moment could only be made better by the question, "If you're living for him... you fuckin' for him, too?"

A laugh. A real one. "Reno. Shut up."

He grinned. Yeah, he remembered that from Zack quite often. "Shut me up, Strife."

Taking the order to heart, Cloud leapt from the floor and pounced atop the other man, knocking him back onto the bed and claiming his lips fiercely. Unafraid.

Reno could never have explained it, really... he couldn't even quite put his finger on how he knew, exactly, but... they weren't all Cloud's kisses... Not like he was complaining. He hadn't gotten that kind of eager attention for quite some time. In fact... It's just kissing, he reminded himself. But then why was he so eager himself already..?

As if to answer or just to tease, the blond pulled back long enough to start madly tugging the wet clothing off of himself. He didn't stop until his bare chest had suddenly been pulled against another.

Reno had never been one to merely watch for very long. It took a simple tug to get his shirt open, a very good thing considering how entranced he'd become in Cloud's not-so-delicate strip tease. Pulling the warrior down on top of him, feeling the toned muscles quiver a bit against his own, flesh both cold from the rain and burning from the heat inside... "Pants. Now."

A moan responded, at first--half in agreement, half in disappointment of having to break contact. The mere thought of seeing all of the redhead's body beneath him was enough; he lifted and stood at the edge of the bed, undoing the button and ripping with a growl. To his surprise, Reno laughed.

"Tseng's gonna kill me." he chuckled, taking it upon himself to kick off his own shoes. "This ain't the first pair of pants I've lost."

"Oops." The blonde responded, smiling sheepishly. "I... forgot." Last time they'd done something like that, he hadn't been quite so strong.

The Turk merely waved it off, giving no thought to being naked save for the shirt and coat hanging off of his arms, clearly aroused, and lying on someone else's bed. "He's used to it by now. Or should be."

Cloud was grateful for the smile that remained on his face as he rid himself of the rest of his own clothes. No more timidness, no uncertainty. He was finally in familiar territory... in a way. Looking down at the body below him, it was Reno, no doubt... but time had certainly passed. More muscles, more scars, some bruises that had likely come from being thrown by the bomb's force... still beautiful. That pearl-pale skin, bright red hair, eyes shining a brilliant blue-green with amusement and... something other...

The redhead took in the sight above just as slowly. Scars, yes... that big one across his chest that hadn't been there before... and so many smaller ones. So many, flattened by time but still there... still a part of him. He swallowed and failed to make it silent. While he'd been realizing his dream of being in the Turks, Cloud and Zack had been... they'd...

The warrior wasn't willing to let the negative aspects of the past interfere. He moved, again covering Reno's body with his own, both moaning softly with the contact. Cloud took the distinctly lovely opportunity to kiss the other again, very slowly grinding their erections together. Indeed, time had moved on.

Reno was immediately finding it quite hard to concentrate on... anything. But certainly on... not... what..? --Oh. He broke the kiss out of necessity. "Lay down."

Not one to argue, given the circumstances, the blond complied. As Reno left the bed temporarily, Cloud lowered himself on his back, layering the pillows to prop his head up and give him a good view of what was about to take place.

Snickering, the Turk searched his coat pockets for a small vial before letting the rest of his clothes fall straight to the floor. The raised eyebrow of the Mako gaze only brought another grin to his face. "Hey, just in case. Always be prepared."

Cloud rolled his eyes in good humor. When the Turk approached he spread his legs to make room, and as Reno settled comfortably there, the blond got the strange urge to reach out and ruffle those red spikes... something only Zack used to do. Strangely enough, the motion made them both smile.

A single finger slicked with oil pressed cautiously against the warrior's entrance as lips met again with hunger. Reno made a mild sound of surprise without breaking the kiss, not having expected Cloud to impale himself quite so quickly. Nor had he expected the whisper of, "More..." before adding a second finger almost immediately.

"I remember this..." the redhead whispered, his voice harsh with lust... and memory.

"Me, too." Cloud returned, closing his eyes, forcing his hands to stay at his sides and enjoying the feeling. There had been many after Reno and Zack... but they hadn't quite been the same. He'd never been as comfortable, felt as powerful. He certainly wasn't sure if he should be admitting it, but... after all those years... he didn't think the spoken admission could hurt him more than anything else he'd ever been through. "I missed this."

The fingers stopped--only for a moment. Only long enough to really take in the words... the sentiment. "Me, too." He allowed himself carefully. Turk training had beaten home the idea that one cared for nothing, missed nothing... but the Turks had changed. So had he. Though... maybe not so much... "I'll show you what my training really taught me." He grinned brightly--not allowing Cloud to question before he opened his mouth and swallowed the blond's full length in one smooth go.

Mako-shaded blue eyes snapped fully open at the sensation. "Ren-oooohhh..."

The redhead pulled back all the way, chuckling and trying to catch his breath because of it. "Oh, I like that. Say it again."

"Do it again." Cloud suggested, a halfway satisfied smirk on his face.

With a casual one-shouldered shrug, Reno did just that. The second moan was somewhat more disconnected; quite the compliment. He decided to play it to the hilt, allowing his tongue to dart out ever so slightly to tease that tender area just below the base of Cloud's length.

That wrung a gasp from the blond as his entire body trembled. "Reno, I--I can't, I'm g--gonna--"

The Turk grinned to himself as he continued his assault. Two fingers quickly slid to three as memory told him exactly where to go. Pressing against that most delicate spot inside, he proceeded to hum, pull back slowly, and swallow all the way down once again.

Far, far too much to hold onto; a sound erupted from the warrior's throat that was perfectly familiar. The voice had been changed slightly by time, but that sound, that beautiful angelic noise...

When the thrashing had finally stopped, Reno carefully pulled his fingers away, taking one last swallow before lifting his head and gazing at the sated, half-conscious blond. He took his work extremely seriously... when he found work that he enjoyed.

Still shivering with the aftershocks of such a glorious release, Cloud again reached down with a shaking hand, bidding the Turk to get closer. With a great deal of effort, he managed to lift the other arm, resting one on each shoulder above. "Good training." He panted.

"Oh fuck yeah." Reno grinned.

Those half-lidded Mako-blue eyes suddenly became a little... clearer. It was real. It was real and he was here... they were here... The grin seemed to be infectious. "Well, I better return the favor."

The Turk gave him a wink. "I think I'm gonna have to cool off a bit or, uh... I'll embarrass the hell out of myself."

Cloud managed to fake an appropriate hurt look--mostly. "Oh no. You don't get to look better than me."

Reno's loud scoffing sound was interrupted by legs wrapping around his waist and pulling him down. "You know I don't have that kind of self control..." he almost whined, feeling even harder than when he'd heard Cloud's beautiful cry of release...

"Let me win for once, dammit." The blond teased, reaching back to grasp both of Reno's hips. If he wouldn't do it himself, then Cloud would gladly position him.

That was really beyond what the Turk had needed--not that he wasn't quite pleased about it. Merely the brush of the head of his length against the ready target caused his hips to surge. He was as careful as he was consciously capable of, but in the end... it had been a long time.

Cloud gasped, trying to relax even as his fingernails dug lightly into Reno's shoulders. "Sorry." He heard lightly in his ear. The fact that the word carried no further meaning, no guilt, no pain, nothing from the past... he found himself able to relax completely.

Reno rocked with more care, pacing himself with every last ounce of self control--including some he didn't even know he had. As long as it had been, as many partners as they'd both had since that time... it was still familiar. Sheathing himself completely, he just... couldn't help that next kiss.

Slight surprise gave the blond pause--at first. He wasn't certain that he recognized the need behind the kiss... but he understood that he could respond in kind.

Finding himself in need of oxygen, the Turk pulled back, panting. "Cloud, dammit..."

He didn't wait. He couldn't. The warrior tensed the proper muscles, wringing a perfect sound of helpless pleasure from the other. He grinned mildly when Reno couldn't help but thrust, hard, pulling back and doing it again and again without so much as realizing he couldn't stop himself. Something raw and animal had been stricken within him, gazing down into those Mako eyes that kept shifting from blue to violet and back--claiming. Being claimed. Back to the way it was supposed to be...

Cloud felt it, in that moment. Felt memory running under the surface, felt more than just his hands roaming Reno's back. It was... warm. It was good. Familiar and almost... something close to... a thing that felt like home.

Reno managed one more great surge forward before finally falling, losing his breath and his vision temporarily as he toppled. Vaguely, he remembered a time when he would have been afraid of crushing a much smaller, scrawnier Cloud underneath his weight... though no such thought entirely made it to his brain at that moment.

There was breath. Warmth. Slickness. Quickly beating hearts.

It took the redhead several moments to piece together exactly what had happened, too weak to bother pulling away from the embrace he found himself in. "Sorry... 'bout that... It's not... usually..."

"Yeah." The warrior below him agreed.

"I mean... you should... again..." Reno continued to get his breath and bearings.

"Too tired." Cloud grinned, referring to them both. "There will be other chances."

And there it was again... that odd, sweet feeling of... something so close to home... Weird. Strange. But not unwelcome. The Turk pulled away just enough to pull out completely, then flop over beside the blond. It was a moment of rest... companionship. Knowing what was said was true: there would be other chances.

Leave it to Reno's infamous tact to interrupt their relaxation. "You know... you should settle down. With someone that'll care for ya."

The sentiment inspired tired chuckles. "Oh yeah? Like who?"

The redhead made a lazy motion with his hand in the air. "That firecracker, there. That Lockhart girl."

Cloud laughed a little harder. "No. Just... no. We're friends. Good friends. But it can never be... that." He paused for a moment, thinking. "I don't think that's... me, anyway. To settle down. Not like that."

"Yeah." Came the agreement. "I know what you mean."

Glad. The blond was very, very glad. Reno was still... Reno. "You need a shower? We can go back to 7th Heaven..."

"Nah. If I show up clean, then Tseng will really worry about me."

Again, Cloud found himself laughing... and it was good. As much as he didn't want to say it... didn't even wish to think about it... "I guess... we should probably be getting back to where we came from. That 'firecracker' will have my ass if she catches me sneaking in."

It was Reno's turn to snort and chuckle. "I don't blame ya." He finally lifted his head, turning a little... and the kiss shared was hardly anything songs were written about. But that was just it--it was easy. Natural. Felt... right, again.

The warrior didn't quite want to say how much he missed that... and would continue to do so when the other was away... but it appeared he knew. It was in the slowness with which he lifted off the bed... not glancing back, but not ignoring the situation, either.

The two of them managed to put their clothes back on easily enough, givign no thought to wetc lothes that were just going to remain so in the rain anyway... though the ripped state of Reno's pants was cause for amusement. Cloud loaned him a belt, for all the little good it did to hide... anything. Reno wasn't known for underwear.

Something else was slid into the Turk's hand just before he turned to leave. A key. A key to Cloud's little sanctuary. He looked up, not knowing what the hell to say...

"Don't be a stranger." The blond filled the silence.

"Nope." Reno agreed casually. Clutching the key and flashing a cocky grin, he simply turned and walked away. They both knew he'd be back. And he'd be sure to phone Cloud and tell him to pick up snacks first. Maybe some beer. And a refrigerator.

---

As I said before, no idea where this came from. I'd never planned on anything resembling serious between any of these guys, ever. I don't know why, but... I kinda like how this turned out. So obviously something is wrong with me. As if you didn't already know that.

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