Work Text:
Unimpressed with it all, Cloud loudly sighed behind me. I knew he wouldn’t admit it, but he was here because of me. Because he knew how much I liked chocobos and how fun I thought riding them was.
He iddly sat behind me, arms crossed over his chest. If only he lightened up a bit... I did love chocobos, but this was also an excuse to do something with him. To hopefully... well, get closer to him. But he always kept his distance even as we shared a saddle.
I felt him peeking over my shoulder, and butterflies flew in my stomach when his hair tickled my cheek as he did.
“You done yet?” He muttered in boredom.
“Not quite” I smirked, urging the chocobo to go faster.
The animal uttered a ‘kweh!’ and began speeding. Cloud gasped behind me, not expecting me to do that. My grin widened, amused to have taken him by surprise for once.
“Y/N!” Cloud exclaimed as I pushed the chocobo even further. The wind blew in our hairs and loudly wheezed in our ears. “We’re going too fast!”
“Live a little!” I giggled, enjoying the rush of adrenaline only intensified by the moment when his arms wrapped around me from behind.
“No!” He argued, tightening his grip around my stomach. “We’re gonna fall!”
“We’re not, party pooper!” I laughed, even more so when he let out a disgruntled noise of annoyance. “It’s okay, I have everything under... ah!”
The chocobo took a sudden turn, throwing me off balance with the speed we were moving at. Indeed, I felt myself falling as the inertia threw me off the saddle. Then everything happened really fast.
I felt Cloud’s arms tightening around me even more, so much so that I couldn’t breathe. For a moment I couldn’t hear anything over the thunderous sound of my racing heart and ragged breath. Everything turned to chaos as I tumbled to the ground with him following closely. Then the calmness returned once we landed.
“Ouch...” I whined when a force around me crushed me.
Then I realized what was happening. My face was pressed against Cloud’s shoulder, and it was his arms around me still that were squeezing me against him. He had clutched to me with such intensity that it still took my breath away.
Or maybe it was the fact that I was mere inches away from his face, as I discovered when I looked up at him. That our bodies were resting against each other as I lay on top of him.
“Cloud...” Was all I managed to say, still breathing heavily. “You okay?”
He nodded his head, heaving laborious breaths himself. Then he frowned, look to my hands on his chest, to my face so close to his, and averted his eyes. When he did, I smiled when I caught a glimpse of his blush.
“Thanks for breaking my fall” I said to break the ice, knowing he did it to avoid me geting hurt and enjoying the moment for just a bit longer. It didn’t last, since Cloud gently pushed me off him.
“Are you hurt?” He asked me as I kneeled down beside him, in the soft grass.
“Not a scratch” Feeling his piercing eyes settled on me again, I timidly looked away myself. “Thanks to you”
My coy demeanor earned me a sigh from him. I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed at it or just resigned. Nonetheless, he nimbly stood up and dusted his pants off dirt.
“Told you we were going too fast” Cloud held his hand out for me to take.
“It was fun, though” I took his hand and yelped when he firmly tugged at me.
He pulled me to my feet with such force that we were face to face again. Our palms still pressed together. My face started burning as we stared into each other’s eyes. Cloud gawked at me and paused before letting go of my hand.
“Let’s go” He cleared his throat and faced his back to me. “I think you’ve had your fun”
“I’m right behind you” I cheerfully told him, indeed follow in his footsteps.
When he wasn’t looking, though, I smiled to myself. My hand itched with the absence of his warm palm against mine.