Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Squaresoft and various other interested parties, not me. I'm not making any money from this, and no infringement of copyright is intended. This is a work of fandom, intended as appreciation of the original work.

Chapter 11

"Hey lazybones! Up and at 'em!" Zack kicked the side of Cloud's bunk, far too awake and cheerful considering reveille hadn't even finished playing yet.

Groaning, Cloud burrowed further under his blankets and pillow. "Where do you get your energy from?" he mumbled, disgusted. There were moments when he didn't really like Zack, and they all seemed to happen in the very early morning.

"I siphon it off from you, clearly," Zack said, amused at Cloud's reluctance as always. "I'm hitting the showers. Don't go back to sleep! We don't need another punishment duty for being late to morning inspection again."

Freeing one hand from the tangle of blankets, Cloud made a rude gesture in his direction. Zack laughed and wandered off, and Cloud couldn't resist the temptation to peek out from beneath the pillow. From behind in nothing but boxers, Zack's body was one long sleek line of tanned muscle. Cloud hadn't figured out yet if the golden tone was just Zack's natural skin colour or if the older boy was sneaking off to sunbathe somewhere, but either way it was absolutely gorgeous.

There was one advantage to Cloud's well-known reluctance to get out of bed in the mornings; it gave them an excuse not to shower at the same time. They hadn't needed to try it once to know that would lead to a potentially embarrassing situation, now that things had changed between them. So Zack went first, returned and chivvied Cloud out of bed, and if they were late to morning inspection more often than not it was a small price to pay for keeping their dignity.

Not that there was really any way to tell that anything had changed between them. As predicted, they hadn't had so much as a moment to themselves on the crowded ship on the way back to Midgar. The closest they'd come to privacy was when a bemused Zack was rubbing Cloud's back as the younger boy threw up over the railing, and that was hardly a situation likely to induce feelings of romance.

Nor had there been any more opportunities once they'd reached Midgar. Even when they were alone, such as when they were patrolling deserted corridors together, they didn't dare so much as steal a kiss. The Shinra tower was riddled with security cameras, and they had no way of knowing if someone was watching or not.

There were days when Cloud even wondered if he'd imagined the whole thing, a fantasy created by his hormones in collusion with the potent rum.

Then he would glance over and catch Zack looking at him with that banked fire burning deep in his eyes, and a shiver would go down his spine as his body responded with an equal heat. At those moments, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that the tension between them was real.

And so they continued to shower separately, for fear that if they didn't then one of these days one of them was going to snap and jump the other. Teenage hormones were not a force to be denied for long, but neither of them particularly wanted to give their toonmates that kind of ammunition against them. At best something like that would make great blackmail and teasing material; at worst, it could earn them dishonourable discharges or even a court martial.

Although, given the knowing and indulgent smirks Cloud sometimes caught the other men in their company giving the two of them, he thought they might not be as subtle about the whole thing as they thought they were.

Of course, the fact that neither of them was capable of listening to the other jerk off without giving in to the urge as well probably didn't help their cause any. So far nobody had said anything though, and Cloud was just hoping to maintain the status quo.

Even if it did cause him to die of sheer frustration. Groaning again, he hauled himself out of bed and groped sleepily for his shower kit, knowing Zack would be back shortly.

Once he saw the familiar black spikes heading back towards their bunk, Cloud yawned and shoved himself to his feet, shambling off towards the showers. Zack clapped him on the shoulder as they passed, and even that casual touch was enough to make Cloud shiver. They really needed to find an opportunity to ease some of this tension, before one or both of them exploded.

At least it helped wake him up a little, so that by the time he was under the shower his eyes were actually open all the way. He washed up quickly, not really wanting another round of punishment duties for being late.

For once he actually wasn't running late as he stepped out of the shower room, towel wrapped around his waist, and went to go deal with his untameable hair. Somebody coughed as he walked by, and it sounded suspiciously like a muffled snicker. Cloud gave him a narrow-eyed look, but the man wasn't looking at him.

Further down the room somebody else choked, and there was another snicker from somewhere Cloud couldn't identify. Now thoroughly suspicious, he all but ran for the mirror and jostled for a spot in front of it.

Only to pull up short, staring in a sort of fascinated horror. His hair, the usual spiky locks flattened by water and mussed by sleep, was a bright, vivid green. It looked like someone had decided to grow tantal greens on his head. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, lifting one hand and tugging on a lock of his hair, just to make sure it was real.

When he pulled a bit down over his face he could see that yes, it wasn't just a trick of the light in the mirror, it really was green. Behind him the snickers had grown into muffled laughter, and everyone was carefully looking away from him. Glancing down at his shampoo bottle, Cloud glared as he realized the liquid in it was the same verdant green colour.

"Who put dye in my shampoo?" he demanded, incensed. It was a fairly popular prank among the troopers, though he'd never been subjected to it before. Apparently someone had decided that his typical zombie-like state in the mornings made him a prime target, since he could be counted on not to notice the altered colour of his shampoo.

The laughter got louder, but nobody owned up to it. Fuming, Cloud went to tug a brush through his hair anyway in a futile effort to make it look more presentable.

"I'm going to kill whoever did this," he declared as he stalked back through the barrack to his bunk. "Don't you know dye doesn't wash out of blonde hair the way it's supposed to?" He was going to be stuck like this for weeks, and he'd probably end up having to practically buzz cut his hair to get rid of it. He'd look like a prime idiot, either way.

Zack took one wide-eyed look at him and burst out laughing, doubling over to clutch at his stomach. "You look like a walking shrub!" he proclaimed, wheezing with the effort of breathing through the laughter. "You better not go near any chocobos, they'll try to eat you!"

"You're not helping," Cloud muttered. Zack was already half dressed, and most of the others were finished or nearly so.

Wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, Zack grinned at him. "Aw, we'll find some dark dye for you later. At least that'll make it an acceptable colour, you'll only get in trouble at this inspection. Now hurry up, you don't need to be late as well as green." He snickered again and ducked the shampoo bottle Cloud chucked at him.

Grumbling about best friends and toonmates with reprehensible senses of humour, Cloud reached for his footlocker to get his uniform.

Half a dozen long, slinky objects burst out at him, and Cloud fell back on his ass with a startled yell in an instinctive attempt to dodge. Automatically he mentally reached for the magic of the Fire materia that had never left his bracer since that night in Mideel, but the bracer was still in the trunk, and his weapons were all out of reach.

When the initial moment of blind panic had passed and his heart had started beating again, Cloud looked more closely at the dangling objects now hanging out of his trunk. Nudging one cautiously with his foot, he scowled at the way it gave beneath his touch. "Plushy snakes?" he blurted out, incredulous. Scrambling back up into a crouch from his undignified sprawled position on the floor, he peered into the locker and saw the spring mechanisms that had been set up to make the snakes jump out at him the moment he lifted the lid. "What is this, official 'pick on Cloud' day?"

More badly muffled laughter was his only answer, and he glared around the room. "You guys suck," he declared, grabbing his uniform and dressing with quick, jerky motions. This was a little too reminiscent of the bullying and pranks that had been pulled on him back in Nibelheim, where he'd been the kid nobody wanted anything to do with. He knew this was more good-natured than that had been, but two pranks in a row was a bit much.

He sat down on the bunk and yanked on his combat boot. Immediately a very odd expression crossed his face, as something soft and squishy worked itself through his sock and around his foot. "Ew! Augh, gross, what the..."

Hastily pulling his foot back out again, he stared at the foamy white globs clinging to the wool of his sock. Scooping up a finger's worth, he sniffed it cautiously and his suspicions were confirmed. "Shaving cream? Come on, guys!"

Fuming, he looked around to see if anyone else thought this had gone too far. Zack, the traitor, had turned to face the wall and was leaning against it, his shoulders shaking with laughter that was so hard it was silent. "Zack, you bastard, is this your doing?" Cloud demanded, trying not to show how hurt he was.

"Nope, not me," Zack said, but his voice was strangled with the laughter he wasn't voicing and he still wouldn't look at Cloud. Neither would anyone else, for that matter.

Biting his lip, Cloud glared down at the shoe in his hands, trying not to do something stupid like explode in anger or start crying. He'd always counted on Zack being the one he could trust not to pull this sort of crap on him, but it seemed like his best friend was as much a part of this as everyone else.

Everyone... Cloud's eyes narrowed. "Wait. What day is it?" He tried to reckon the date in his head. He'd lost track of the exact date somewhere in the jungles of Mideel, and it was easy for the day-in and day-out sameness of military life in Midgar to cause one day to blend into the next.

"August nineteenth," Zack choked out, finally turning to give Cloud a grin that was so huge it should have split his face in two. "Bout time you figured it out, kid. Happy birthday."

Flushing, Cloud ducked his head again as the whole platoon started whooping with laughter - and adding their birthday wishes to Zack's. It was a company tradition that birthday victims got picked on by their whole platoon. Hell, Cloud had helped to TP every item in another private's kit just last week. It hadn't been maliciously meant at all - was in fact just a way of including him in the group, showing that he was no different from anyone else.

Suddenly very grateful he hadn't started yelling or something equally embarrassing, Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes at all of them, shaking his head. "Somebody toss me a towel, please?" he said over the laughter, fighting his blush at being the centre of attention. "I have to wear these boots, you know!"

"You realize that officially, you're older than me now?" Zack asked him, still laughing as he handed over a small towel. When Cloud gave him a confused look, he shrugged. "They would have had to put your age as sixteen on the paperwork, or it wouldn't have been processed. So, since it's your birthday, that means you must be seventeen now. And I'm still only a few months into sixteen."

The idea that he would be listed as older than Zack was so absurd that Cloud burst out laughing as well. "Should I be the one calling you 'kid', then?" he asked, amused.

"Nah, they'll just keep listing your age as sixteen until you actually are sixteen," someone else put in, chuckling. Everyone in the platoon was aware that Cloud was underage; it would have been rather difficult to hide the fact, really. But mostly they didn't mention it, since it was tacitly agreed that Cloud had more than earned his place among them, young or not.

Thankfully it was also a company tradition that the officers would look the other way regarding certain irregularities for this one day, so Cloud's vibrant green hair didn't get him more than a stifled grin from the lieutenant doing the morning inspection. After that Cloud was sufficiently warned that he managed to avoid the worst of the pranks, and was able to just patiently suffer through most of the others.

By the time they were released from their duties at the end of the afternoon, though, he was more than ready for his birthday to be over. He and Zack had been assigned to stand guard at the building's main doors, and that meant standing motionless and straight-faced for hours. That in itself was hard enough, but the civilians coming in and out were forever trying to make the guards laugh or otherwise break their composure. Today, of course, everyone in alpha company had made the time to pass by and do their best to tease Cloud into breaking. At least the helmet had covered his awful hair.

"Aw, cheer up," Zack said, ruffling his green spikes as they changed out of their dress blues and back into their casual uniforms. Cloud had been scowling at his locker, which had proved to be stuffed full of confetti that spilled out the moment he opened the door. "At least we don't have any night duties today."

"That just means everyone has more time to pull pranks on me!" Cloud exclaimed, batting Zack's hand away irritably. "They can only go so far while I'm on duty, but free time means open season. Think I could volunteer for some kind of extra duty for the evening?"

"Nah, you don't want to do that," Zack laughed, nudging him in the ribs with an elbow. "C'mon, let's grab dinner in the mess, I'll scrounge around and see if I can find some dark dye for you, and we'll head back to the barrack. I bet the guys have organized a party or something for you, since we've all got the evening free."

"That's not a prospect that's likely to work as an incentive to make me want to go back!" Cloud pointed out, though he was fighting a reluctant smile. "They're just going to try to get me smashed, and then get me into compromising positions so they can take pictures for later blackmail."

"You don't think I'd let them get away with that, do you?" Zack asked, affecting a hurt look. Cloud swatted at him, and the older boy ducked away with a mock pout.

"I think you'd be right out in front with your personal camera," Cloud retorted. "Why don't you do something useful like give me a hand cleaning all this confetti up, instead of giving me more reasons why I should go find a dark corner to hide in for the night?"

"If you find one, let me know where it is and maybe we can take advantage of it sometime," Zack muttered under his breath as he leaned down to help Cloud gather up the bits of paper. Cloud flushed at the look of heated frustration Zack gave him, and nodded shortly.

Every time their hands touched as they scooped up piles of confetti, it felt like tiny sparks of lightning jumped between them. Cloud might have suspected Zack of doing something unorthodox with the Lightning he had equipped, except that he knew this particular electric tension had nothing to do with materia.

As they walked together back to their barrack after dinner, their shoulders bumping every so often, Cloud wondered if there was any way they could get away with heading into the city on a weekend leave sometime and just getting a hotel room. It seemed like the only way they'd ever get any privacy, and he was sure he was going to die of frustration soon.

The SOLDIER exams were coming up fast, though, and by unspoken agreement Zack and Cloud had both been spending every free moment they had studying and practicing. They weren't the only ones in their company who were planning to take the exams, but everyone else had been through them at least once before. Very few people passed the exams on the first try, though Zack and Cloud were equally determined to be among that number. Wasting a whole twenty-four hour leave just for a few hours of personal gratification would be shooting themselves in the foot.

On the other hand, Cloud reflected as their hands brushed and they both flinched away, carrying this level of tension into the exams with them might not be a great idea either.

As predicted, the platoon had gathered together a stash of distinctly against regulation beer and snacks, and proceeded to mob Cloud the moment he walked in the door. Really it was just that troopers would take any excuse for a party, but Cloud still felt warmed by the evidence of affection from the rest of his toonmates.

Despite the healthy dose of Tabasco sauce someone had apparently dumped into the first beer they handed him. Coughing and spluttering amid the laughter of the others, Cloud grabbed another bottle - an unopened one - and chugged the whole thing to wash the spicy taste out of his mouth.

After that, things got lively. People from other platoons and even other companies wandered by, attracted by the signs of revelry. It didn't take long for the reason for the party to be forgotten completely, as it simply became the sort of party troopers everywhere threw themselves into with abandon. Nobody got drunk, since they all had duty the next day and there wasn't enough beer for that anyway, but everyone was pleasantly buzzed.

At some point not long before lights out, Cloud wormed his way through the press of the crowd and out the back door of the building, gulping in the cool night air gratefully. His head was swimming, more from the heat and lack of air inside than the beer. He ran a hand through his hair, soaked with sweat and yet oddly dry from the bleach they'd ended up using on it. It was a paler yellow than usual, but at least it wasn't green and it wouldn't look as odd as it grew out as it would have if he'd dyed it dark.

Moving away from the door so he wouldn't be disturbed by anyone else coming out for a bit of fresh air, he leaned against the wall and let the breeze play over his face, his eyes closed.

His only warning was a soft rustle of fabric and the brief scuff of a boot against the gravel, and then warm lips covered his. Cloud went stiff and his eyes flew open, but before he could punch out the person assaulting him his brain registered familiar grey-violet eyes laughing at him from inches away.

"Zack!" Cloud gasped as the older boy pulled away a bit, his hands on the wall on either side of Cloud's shoulders. "You idiot, what are you doing? I almost decked you! And someone could see us."

"Oh?" Zack raised an eyebrow at him, and looked a little disappointed. "And here I thought you followed me out on purpose. But if you want me to leave you be..."

Instinctively Cloud's hands flashed out and fisted in the older boy's shirt, preventing him from pulling away. He knew he should let go, that someone really could come out at any moment and see them, but the feel of Zack's body a mere breath away from his was more intoxicating than any beer could ever be.

"I didn't know you were out here," Cloud admitted, his voice low and aching with barely restrained desire. "I lost track of you an hour ago. It's way too crowded in there, I just came out to get some air." He tore his gaze away from Zack's mouth long enough to see there was still a hint of disappointment in the older boy's eyes. "If I'd known you were out here, I'd definitely have followed you, though."

That worked, and Zack's smile was easy again. "Come on," Zack said, grabbing his hand and urging him to follow. He led Cloud into the space between B and C platoons' barracks, where the shadows wrapped around them like a lover's embrace. It wasn't exactly out of sight, since the space between buildings was wide enough for two to walk abreast, but it was a little more secluded.

Leaning in again, Zack pinned Cloud to the wall with his whole body, kissing him like a drowning man gulped at air. Melting willingly beneath him, Cloud kissed him back no less fiercely, his tongue warring with Zack's for dominance in their mouths.

"Shit," Zack muttered against Cloud's mouth as they broke away for air, not bothering to pull back far enough that their lips didn't brush with the movement. "Shit, Cloud."

"Yeah," Cloud gasped, in perfect agreement. He'd thought maybe he'd exaggerated how good it had felt in his own mind, that his frustrated hormones had blown the experience out of proportion and the real thing would never be able to live up to his expectations. If anything, this was even better than he'd remembered, all the hotter for weeks of denial.

Rocking against him, Zack ground his groin into Cloud's and made them both moan. They were almost the same height now, Cloud having had a recent growth spurt, and that meant their cocks were pressed together in the most delicious way. They kissed again, and this time Cloud tipped his head back and let Zack dominate the kiss even as Cloud's hands searched to find a way under the older boy's tunic.

Anyone walking along on either side of the buildings could glance down the narrow alley between and see them. At that moment, Cloud discovered he really didn't care. They'd been denying themselves for too long, and now that he had the taste of Zack in his mouth and the feel of Zack under his hands, he couldn't bring himself to let go again.

Despite Zack's muscled, heated body pressed against every inch of his, it still wasn't enough. Finally Cloud got his hands under Zack's tunic and pulled the thin undershirt out from under his belt, allowing his fingers to glide over smooth skin. Zack's abs were well defined, and he groaned and shuddered as Cloud explored each dip and swell by touch.

"Tease," Zack accused him, his lips trailing away from Cloud's mouth to slide down the sensitive side of his neck. "You are such a tease. Hades, but I can hardly stand to even look at you some days. I want you so bad."

"Who's teasing who?" Cloud asked, moaning as Zack latched his teeth into the juncture of his neck and shoulder and suckled. He was grateful the collars of their uniform were so high, because otherwise the mark Zack was going to leave would be highly visible. He was still going to have a bitch of a time hiding it in the showers.

Sliding his hands up, Cloud found the hard nubs of Zack's nipples and pinched them, rewarded by Zack's shuddering groan. Zack rocked against him again, pushing his thigh between Cloud's legs and lifting him by the waist until his toes were barely touching the ground. He squirmed, grinding himself up against Zack's groin, pressing against him to get the friction they both wanted so badly.

"One of these days," Zack murmured into his skin, licking at the bite mark he'd made, "I am going to drag you down into the city, and we are going to find a room with a bed somewhere we don't have to worry about being caught or interrupted. And then I am going to strip you down, tease you until you beg me, and fuck you into the next week."

It wasn't anything Cloud hadn't fantasized about half a hundred times since Mideel, but somehow hearing Zack vocalize it like that made it seem real and immediate. Not to mention very, very hot. "Y-yeah?" he stammered, voice rough and deeper than usual. "You talk big, but I haven't... ah, don't stop... haven't seen any evidence that you're prepared to back it up."

"You want evidence?" Zack thrust against him again, pushing him into the brick wall hard enough that he'd probably have bruises on his back, but Cloud only moaned. "I'll give you evidence, you little brat. Fuck, Cloud."

"That's th-the general idea," Cloud agreed breathlessly, pinching at Zack's nipples again before sliding his hands around to rake his fingers against the strong muscles of the older boy's back. He knew they couldn't, not really, not here. Nor did he really want his first time to be up against a rough brick wall in an alley, though at that moment he'd probably have agreed to it if Zack suggested it. But with Zack plastered against him and rocking into him, just the thought of having Zack buried inside him was enough to make Cloud shudder.

Dropping one hand, Zack fumbled at the fastening of Cloud's belt. It took him longer than it should have, but eventually the buckle fell free and he was able to undo Cloud's pants. As he slid his hand inside and curled his fingers around Cloud's cock, the younger boy squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that this time nobody would interrupt them.

The helpless moan Cloud gave as Zack rubbed a thumb over his tip was wild and more than a little loud. Shushing him, Zack fastened his mouth to Cloud's again to help him stay quiet. It was a good thing he did, because as he stroked his hand over Cloud's cock the younger boy found himself completely unable to stifle his cries.

Writhing and pushing his hips up to thrust into Zack's grip, Cloud gasped for air around Zack's mouth. Guilty simultaneous masturbation was no substitute for any kind of real satisfaction, and Cloud knew he wasn't going to last long.

A little desperate, he forced his hand past Zack's belt and pants, running his fingers over the older boy's rock-hard cock. Now it was Zack's turn to jerk into his hand and groan loudly, and Cloud tugged at his belt with his free hand. When it came loose, he was able to get his hand farther down Zack's pants and get a better grip on the older boy's erection.

They settled into a rhythm, not unlike the one they shared when they were lying in their bunk, listening to each other and wishing they were doing this instead. Sucking at each other's tongues, snatching quick gasps of air between heated kisses, they pushed each other closer to the edge. Cloud's whole body was trembling with need, and he could see the pulse beating frantically in Zack's throat.

Tearing his mouth away abruptly, Zack buried his face in Cloud's shoulder and the motion of his hips turned jerky. "Fuck, fuck, Cloud," he muttered, his voice breaking on a deep moan that made the tension in Cloud's groin pull tighter still. Then he muffled his cry in Cloud's shirt, sticky hot liquid spilling over Cloud's fingers as he came.

His hand squeezed down as the muscles in his body clenched and relaxed with release, and that was enough to push Cloud over the edge as well. Stifling his shout into a high keening noise in the back of his throat, Cloud threw his head back hard enough that he saw stars when it impacted with the wall. Or maybe that really was from the force of his orgasm, a hundred times stronger than anything he'd ever felt at his own hands.

For a long moment they stayed that way, hands still loosely wrapped around each other's softening cocks and bodies supporting each other to help them stay upright, as they drifted back to reality. Finally Zack gave a shaky chuckle and pulled his hand free, wiping it on his white undershirt where it wouldn't show as badly.

"You are something else," he murmured to a still dazed Cloud, kissing the younger boy again fiercely. "When we get through the exams, the first leave we get I'm taking you somewhere we can do this properly."

"Yeah," Cloud agreed, his voice still husky with the shouts he'd been struggling so hard to swallow. "Sounds good."

"C'mon, clean your hand off and let's get back in there before they miss us and someone comes looking," Zack urged him, pulling away slowly and letting Cloud slide back down the wall to rest on his own feet. Cloud swayed, putting his other hand against the wall to steady himself, feeling a little light headed.

But entirely content and relaxed, for a change. He followed Zack's example and cleaned his hand off on his undershirt, then tucked everything back in where it was supposed to be and straightened his uniform. Zack had done the same, and except for a faintly smug smile and an unusual look of satisfaction in the older boy's eyes, Cloud wouldn't have been able to tell what they'd been up to if he hadn't already known. He hoped he looked as casual; he had a feeling he might have a stupid smile on his face, but he couldn't seem to do anything about it.

"Shit, they're sounding lights out," Zack exclaimed, as the familiar notes of taps came over the loudspeakers. Swearing and laughing, they scrambled back towards the door and into the barrack.

The party had calmed considerably, and the last remnants of the troopers who weren't part of their unit trailed out as Zack and Cloud entered, heading for their own beds. Hoping the dimming lights hid the flush on his cheeks, Cloud followed Zack back to their bunk.

"Sleep well," Zack murmured as they stripped hastily down to their boxers in preparation for sleep. Cloud dared a glance at him, admiring the sleek muscles his hands had been running over just minutes before, and he could tell by the look in Zack's eyes that the older boy wanted to kiss him. He smiled back, which was enough to tell Zack that Cloud felt the same, and that was almost as good as actually doing it.

"G'night, Zack," Cloud replied, his voice soft and satisfied. As he pulled back his covers and slipped into his bed, he decided he'd never had a better birthday than this.

That conviction lasted about three seconds after he got into the bed. "All right, that's it! Which of you bastards short-sheeted my bed?"

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