Chapter Text
His nightmares never got any better, they were worse on some days and terrifying on most. Moments like these were hard for the younger blonde due to his nightmares blending in with reality or even his personal life to the point even his own mind betrayed him more then it usually did. Unluckily for the younger man none of this went unnoticed not even by the other infantry men and word tends to run rampant down in Shin-Ra Head Quarters, not even Cloud was aware of the others knowing of his nightmares or more like night terrors at this point from which he suffered with. Of course by the time it made its way to Zack Fair, SOLIDER 1st Class and Cloud Strife's boyfriend (more unannounced boyfriend, Cloud wanted to keep their personal life on the down low from prying eyes) the whole story was just oddly worded.
"Of course Spikey wouldn't tell me." Rocking back and forth on the heels of his boots Zack's mind kept pacing. He knew it wasn't his place to pry those words from his ball of sunshine, the only way Cloud would even admit to having these night terrors was either A.) He snuck Cloud into his own bed and snuggled them out of him or B.) It was effecting his performance and duty to his job. Turned out the latter would be the option Zack was cornered into when his anxious pacing lead him to where the love of his life, the ray of his sunshine, the.. No No, he was getting sidetracked with all these cutesy puns he could use to get his lover to flush. His slower walking pace soon turned into a normal walk and eventually into a burst of speed. Zack was minutes away from his destination until that blasted PHS buzzed in his pockets, that normal smile on his face replaced with an annoyed one. 'Of course it had to be a summons from the director himself. Well, finding out what's wrong with Cloud will have to wait.'
With a soft exhale and a silent PHS now deep in his pockets Zack back tracked towards the directors office, stumbling inside with a loud "Now the party can start, I'm here!" Deep blue eyes scanned the room until it landed on a single infantry man, a rather pale one at that. But Zack knew right away who that was. "Cloud.." With a soft whisper under his breath Cloud gave him a small wave with a slight smile before straightening up, before Lazard could even speak Zack beat him to the punch and for some reason decided that doing a few squats while speaking would help clear up his mind. "So did Spikey and I beat everyone to the punch? Early worm beats the bird?" Earning a response from Cloud with a muffled laugh the blonde straightened back up. "I think you got it wrong... Early bird gets the worm." Feigning a look of hurt on his face Zack let out a rambunctious laugh before ceasing his squats. "Well looks like I got it wrong I'm glad I have-" A rather loud cough echoed in the room before both of them silenced. Lazard after watching the scene unfold finally spoke.
"No,Zack, you didn't beat anyone but to add some clarity to your question this young cadet was rather immediate with arriving here rather quickly so thank you for that. And for the second question you're probably think, no one else will be coming. For this mission it'll only be you two we are sending. " Fingers crossing and firmly locking into place now under the directors chin he let out a loud sigh. "We're having issues in the Junon region currently, we sent a group of about 10 men and two 3rd Class's to check out the Mythril Mines due to sightings of rare materia as well as a strange monster. It's been about 17 days since we had last seen our men and to refrain from sending even more men I have decided.." Leaning back in his chair, eyes narrowed while glancing between the two men standing in front of him. "To send you both seeing as you two have no problems fighting together, I would rather send you and young Cloud over here then send more men who do not know what they're doing." Another sigh leaving his lips and fingers rubbing at the bridge of his nose it could be seen how worn out Lazard looked. "You two are to leave right away, there's no time to delay and the sooner the better to find out if they're even alive. If they are your first mission is to find them and escape with them, if they are dead or you both cannot find them then I want your next objective to find that rare materia and take out the beast in the cave. Not only to prevent another casualty but to avenge our fallen warriors. Zack and Cloud, dismissed and please return back to us alive." The last words were more of a plead then a command.
With a salute from the two they left the room and quickly as they prepared their weapons,Cloud making sure he was fully stocked on ammunition for his gun. The younger boy lost in thought, he felt too stuffy and by that almost suffocating and the moving vehicle didn't help keep the contents of his stomach in place. At some point he lost that helmet probably thanks to Zack removing it for him, eyes clenched shut, head between his knees and arms wrapped around his mid section endless groans never seeming to stop either. Motion sickness mixed with his little to no sleep? Cloud never realized how fucked he was on this mission until he entered the vehicle. A strong hand resting on his upper back while Cloud was going through his many stages of regret with this blasted truck. The soothing circles being rubbed on the middle of his back helped more then he knew. The silence being sickening but even if his boyfriend was speaking to him Cloud wouldn't be able to hear it over the loud ringing persistent in his ears, all Cloud wanted was two things and those were for this vehicle to stop along with his motion sickness. Though it seemed that one of those two things would be given to him as the blasted truck finally stopped moving. Before Zack could even ask Cloud if he was okay the blonde immediately bolted out of the trucks bed only to be greeted with the ground and the contents of his stomach emptying out all over the ground below him. 'How embarrassing..' Cloud groaned out, gagging and dry heaving while he once again felt that all too familiar hand on his upper back. Roughly around ten minutes later the younger male wanted to curl up in a ball and hope the ground would eat him up but that didn't happen as strong arms lifted him up.
"You alright Spikey?" Zack spoke, concern lacing his voice as Cloud only gave a quick wave of the hand. Cheeks tinged with red and a hand rubbing at his stomach. "Fine.." With a mutter,Cloud swayed before Zack steadied him against his chest. "We can always stay for a night in Junon, it is rather late and close to the cave. If we tried to tackle the cave tonight we'll end up as fiend food." Zack laughed out, ruffling at the blonde locks of his boyfriend pressed firmly against his chest. If Cloud's face wasn't pressed against his boyfriends chest he would have seen the sudden look of panic in the smaller boys face. "Are you sure? I-I mean I don't mind just getting this over with now" Fingers clenching at the material in a near deadlock he couldn't even come up with a good reason not to stay in an Inn for the night. If Zack found out about the night terrors that plague Cloud's nights then he was sure to worry.
Which of course was evident by the look on Zack's face. "Mmm, nah. It's better to sleep first and come to the mines first thing in the morning, a good nights sleep will give us more strength seeing as we only have a few hours until the sunsets. Less monsters to deal with the easier our job. Unless, you have something to hide from me?" Fingers curled under Cloud's chin to lift his head up for eye contact. Zack disregarded the fearful look in his lovers eyes, he could fully see all the concerning features that liter Cloud's face. Skin paler then it normally was, dark circles dug deep under those soft blue eyes, little bits of sweat glistening off that ghostly pale like skin. "Cloud? Have you been sleeping well at night?"
With that being the final nail on the coffin Cloud went slack, body unable to hold itself up any longer he collapsed against Zack. Fingers clenching feebly around soft fabric and breathing hitched the blonde shook his head. Trying to swallow to clear his throat he knew better, this could put the whole mission in danger but the words to say that fell short. Luckily Zack was the kind of guy who could pick up on those subtle hints before Cloud was lifted up in a bridal carry. They weren't too far from Junon so the walk would only be a short one roughly around thirty minutes or so. Fingers curling and uncurling, if it was any other time Cloud would have preferred to walk to where they were going on his own but due to his motion sickness still wrecking every fiber of his body and the lack of sleep left Cloud feeling weak. Maybe staying the night in that Inn had been a good idea. The rest of the walk there was filled with a chatty Zack trying to fill the lack of talk and uneasy silence that wasn't between them but the ominous silence in the field. That's what helped him to finally speak after what felt like his long period of silence. "Something out here doesn't feel right, and I have a feeling it's from what Director Lazard was telling us..." Cloud's voice still shaky and quiet but he had to say something so it didn't seem like he was ignoring Zack. Glancing up he could see a small smile form on Zack's lips which in turn became a large grin. "Yeah, probably right. We can talk about it more once we get all checked into a room. " All at once his normal bright, happy smile turned dark and solemn. A look that didn't suit that happy face, it seemed like so much was running through that brain of his while the wheels were turning. Cloud needed to change that, his hand rising up to pinch and pull at his cheek to get Zack's focus down on him. "I can smell the smoke from down here." Brows furrowing but hand never leaving his boyfriends cheek, keeping his fingers lightly pinching at that cheek. "Besides... that look is reserved for my own face not.. not yours." A puff of breath escaped Cloud's lips until Zack let that foreign look leave his face to only be replaced with his usual look. Mouth only turning into a wide, happy smile as he let out another happy laugh. Pulling Cloud's head up closer to his own he made sure to plant a wet kiss on those pale pink lips, letting the kiss linger for a few extra seconds after feeling those soft lips press back. It was over before Cloud could enjoy more of the kiss. With a whine the blonde now wiggled around to get Zack to put him down. "Zack... I'm feeling better now so you can put me down."
The struggling only resulted in a tighter hold around the slender man, a pout and an exchange of looks between the two men. Zack shaking his head, pondering what to say before he would speak. "Nope! You didn't tell me about you not sleeping well at night again so as punishment I get to carry you like the princess you are and!" Cloud audibly groaned, hand quickly moving up to cover Zack's mouth to stop him from completing that sentence only to be returned with the whole palm of his hand being drenched in saliva. A quick gasp Cloud ran his hand along Zack's shirt to get rid of the nasty feeling,"Are you a 5 year old?" Making sure to be quick to try to cut off his oh so lovable boyfriend "Zack I swear to gaia if you-"
"Oh Cloud,I have to-"
"Zack don't you dare-"
"I need to snuggle the nightmares away from you! I need to know what it's like to sleep with a cloud! I need to be on Cloud 9!"
A huff,Cloud tried to act annoyed by that but the attempts at a pun whenever he had the chance was kinda endearing. "You're lucky if you put me down in that moment I would have chosen the truck over you." That earning a whine from Zack the man couldn't stop himself from laughing as they finally made it into Junon and towards the Inn. "Yeah but who needs a truck when you can have the ZackMobile! No motion sickness, a gorgeous boyfriend willing and wanting to carry around his precious cargo and kisses?! Can't beat that." Where as one laugh came it followed by a groan from the other.