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The Honeybee Inn glowed across the street, all gold and crimson beneath the endless neon of Wall Market.
Reno shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. “…Well?”
Cloud’s eyes lingered on the entrance before returning to Reno.
“…Fine.”
Reno blinked. “…That’s it?”
“You wanted a drink.”
“I was expectin’ a lil’ more resistance.”
“There isn’t any.”
“Huh.”
Something unreadable flickered across Reno’s face before the familiar crooked grin slipped back into place.
“…Careful, Blondie.” He started toward the entrance. “People might think you’re actually enjoyin’ my company.”
Cloud followed without answering.
When they stepped into the Honeybee, the music hit them first. Soft jazz layered beneath louder voices, perfume hanging in the warm air. The Honeybee Inn was exactly what it had always been—bright enough to hide secrets instead of exposing them.
Neither of them paid much attention to the people around them. They found a table in one of the quieter corners, far enough away that conversation stayed private. Reno ordered whiskey, Cloud asked for beer. The first round arrived. For a while, neither of them touched it.
Eventually Reno lifted his glass. The first drink disappeared slowly. The second, more easily. When the waitress returned, Cloud shook his head.
“I’m done.”
She looked at Reno.
“Another.”
The third whiskey arrived. Reno took a sip instead of knocking it back. Cloud noticed. He was pacing himself, which meant the alcohol wasn’t the point.
“You said you were off duty.”
“I am.”
“You want to get drunk?”
Reno gave a lazy shrug. “Wouldn‘t help.”
“… or do you want an excuse?”
Silence.
“…You’re gettin’ annoyingly observant.”
Cloud didn’t answer. He rested one forearm against the table.
“You knew I’d be here.”
Reno’s eyes lifted. “…Did I?”
“You came to Wall Market.”
“So?" A corner of Reno’s mouth twitched. “You came to me first.”
Cloud held his gaze. “Don‘t tell me you didn‘t want me to.”
Reno looked away. For the first time this night, he didn’t have a sarcastic answer ready.
Cloud spoke quietly. “You came looking.”
Reno let out a short breath through his nose.
“…You really gonna make me say it?”
Cloud said nothing. Reno stared into his glass.
“Fine…” he began, before stopping himself. Another swallow. “I figured if there was anywhere I’d run into you…” His mouth twitched. “…it’d be here.”
Cloud didn‘t look away. “You were hoping.”
Reno laughed once. Softly, but without humor. “Don’t make it sound pathetic.”
“I didn’t.”
“It kinda is.”
“You came anyway.”
Reno looked down at the amber liquid. For several seconds he said nothing.
“…Yeah.” Barely audible. “…I did.”
The admission hung between them.
No joke followed it. No grin. No attempt to take it back.
Cloud watched him quietly. For months, Tseng had deliberately kept them apart, assigning Reno only to missions where their paths would never cross. Cloud had understood why. That hadn’t meant he’d liked it.
“So…” he said carefully, retreating toward safer ground. “…You miss fightin‘ me?”
Cloud’s expression didn’t change. “No.”
“No?”
“Without you there were fewer fights.”
Reno grinned. The room around them faded beneath the quiet between them. Cloud hadn’t looked away once. Neither had Reno.
Reno ordered another wiskey. The glass remained half full.
He turned the glass a few times between his fingers before finally pushing it away.
“…That’s enough.”
Cloud looked at him. “I thought you were off duty.”
“I am.”
“But?”
Reno let out a quiet breath. “…I don’t wanna forget tonight.”
Silence settled between them.
Cloud looked at the whiskey for a long moment. “You weren’t drinking because you wanted to.”
“Nah.”
Reno gave the glass another absent-minded nudge.
“I just needed somethin‘ to do while you kept lookin‘ at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“…Like you were tryin‘ to read my damn mind...”
Cloud didn’t argue, instead he simply stood.
“We should go.”
Reno looked up. “You dismissin‘ me now?”
“It’s late.”
“…Fine.”
He rose more slowly than Cloud, tossed enough Gil onto the table to cover their drinks, and ignored Cloud’s brief glance toward the money.
“My treat.”
“You’ve already paid enough.”
Reno smirked. “Humor me.”
Cloud didn’t press the issue.
Outside, Wall Market was beginning to thin. The loudest crowds had drifted elsewhere. Music still floated through the streets, softer now, blending with distant conversation and the hum of neon signs.
They walked without deciding who should lead. For several minutes, neither spoke. It wasn’t uncomfortable. It almost felt… practiced. Like something they’d forgotten they knew how to do.
Reno broke the silence. “So...”
Cloud glanced sideways.
“You could’ve walked away.”
Cloud’s answer came without hesitation. “... I know.”
Reno looked ahead again. His smile was small. Gone almost as soon as it appeared.
That simple admission carried more weight than either of them seemed prepared for.
The streets gradually emptied. Eventually they reached the junction where the road split. One path lead to the train station, the other one to Sector 7. Both of them slowed. Neither immediately stopped, neither kept walking.
Finally, Reno sighed.
“…Guess this is where we pretend we ain’t lookin’ for reasons to drag this out.”
Cloud stopped. “So we’re pretending?”
Reno looked over. There it was again. That quiet honesty Cloud seemed determined to use against him tonight.
“…No,” Reno admitted.
The distance between them was barely an arm’s length. Close enough that neither had to raise his voice.
Cloud folded his arms loosely across his chest.
“You know…” Reno's voice lost some of its usual edge. “…I’ve been thinkin’ about somethin’.”
Cloud waited.
“If Tseng keeps us apart… there’s probably a reason.”
“Yeah...”
Reno looked directly into his eyes. “Doesn’t make me wanna stay away.”
Cloud held his gaze. “It should.”
“Probably.”
“It would be safer.”
“For who?”
Cloud didn’t answer. Reno already knew.
“For both of us,” he then said quietly.
Cloud inclined his head once.
“And yet…” Reno stepped closer. Not enough to crowd him, just enough that Cloud could have stepped back if he wanted.
He didn’t.
His heartbeat suddenly felt much louder than the city around them.
“…You know what’s really unfair?”
Cloud waited.
“You’ve spent the whole night sayin’ exactly enough to make me stop jokin’.”
A faint crease appeared between Cloud’s brows.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know.”
Reno smiled—a tired, genuine smile stripped of its usual bravado.
He searched Cloud’s face one last time.
Looking for hesitation, for an excuse to walk away.
Cloud’s expression remained composed, but he hadn’t moved. He hadn’t increased the distance between them either.
His eyes stayed on Reno’s. Steady. Open.
“…Tell me to stop.”
Cloud was quiet. Seconds passed. He didn’t speak.
Reno gave him one last chance.
Then, very slowly, he lifted a hand. Not to pull Cloud closer. Just enough that his fingertips brushed lightly against the side of Cloud’s jaw.
A question.
Cloud leaned into the touch by the smallest fraction. Barely perceptible, but enough. Reno closed the remaining distance.
The kiss was gentle.
Tentative for only an instant before months of restraint settled into something deeper—not hunger, not urgency, but relief.
It lasted only a few seconds.
Neither of them tried to deepen it. Neither forgot who they were. When Reno finally drew back, they remained close enough that their foreheads nearly touched.
None of them spoke. Cloud’s breathing was calm, only slightly slower than before.
Reno searched his face, waiting for regret, for rejection, for the walls to come back up. Instead, Cloud looked at him with the same quiet intensity he had carried all evening.
Then, after a long silence, he spoke.
“…You were bold.”
A crooked smile returned to Reno’s lips.
Another quiet beat passed, then Cloud lifted one hand and rested it briefly against the back of Reno’s wrist—the same hand that had touched his face.
A fleeting touch.
No more than a heartbeat, but unmistakably deliberate. When he let go, Reno understood it for what it was.
Not permission. Not a promise. But not a mistake, either.
Cloud took one step back. “We should go.”
Reno nodded. “…Yeah.”
Neither of them wanted to. Both of them knew they had to. They turned in opposite directions.
After only a few paces, Reno glanced back. Cloud had done the same.
For one suspended moment, beneath the neon glow of Wall Market, they simply looked at each other.
Then they walked away.