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“You’re dating who now?!”
Reno glanced up at the shout, surprised that Fair had reacted that way to his news. It wasn’t really a big deal; he went on first dates all the time, it wasn’t anything impressive.
“Some cute Trooper named Cloud,” he answered with a shrug, turning his gaze back to his phone as Rude replied to his text. He was doing something though he wouldn’t tell him what for some reason, the arsehole.
“That’s my Spike!” Zack shouted, getting right up in his face.
“Woh, woh,” he said, moving away from the irritated SOLDIER and raising his hands placatingly. “I didn’t know he was taken! You know me, I don’t move in on other people’s partners!” At least not when that person was a SOLDIER, but he wasn’t going to tell Zack that.
“What?” Zack sputtered, backtracking and waving his hand wildly at him. “No! I’m not dating him, that’d be weird!” He calmed himself after a moment, the flurry of activity dying down as he got back to the original topic. “But he’s my friend and I don’t want you messing with him!”
“I’m not going to mess with him.” He sighed, leaning his back against the wall behind him. The corridors in Shinra probably weren’t the best place to have this conversation, but he didn’t think he’d be able to convince Zack to move this somewhere else. “We’re just gonna go get drinks on Friday. His friends are gonna be there and so will mine; it’s a completely casual thing.”
“You better not do anything to hurt him,” Zack said, ignoring his insistence that it was just a casual thing. “If you do then you’re going to regret it!”
“I’m not gonna, you idiot!” Reno said, exasperated by the conversation and that Zack wasn’t actually listening to him. “Besides, he’s an adult, he can handle himself if he wants to date.”
Zack didn’t take well to his words, or more likely the eye-roll that accompanied them. He definitely shouldn’t have provoked the SOLDIER, but he really couldn’t bring himself to regret his decision, or the bruise he got when his back impacted the metal wall.
Rude called him stupid when he told him about it later, because of course he did the judgemental arse, but he was nice enough to help him rub some bruise stuff into his back so it was all good. Rude was an alright partner when he wanted to be.
When Friday eventually came around, he went to the bar they’d agreed on with Rude and Cissnei, spotting Cloud and his own group of friends within moments of stepping into the establishment. He made an immediate beeline to their table, grinning at the blond when one of his friends nudged him and gestured towards him.
The painful bruise on his back was worth it for the bright smile Cloud gave him when he saw him approaching their table.