A Multitude Of Sins

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The screams of the dying, and the blood of the innocent. These were truths of the world. Bitter truths, of course, but one could not stand against the fate of all existence. Those who tried were always easily brushed aside. However... he had tried. He had tried to save the world, and while he felt he had done this effectively... there was a part of him that was aching. The stench of death was everywhere, and as soft blue eyes opened, they were pierced by bright and radiant light.



His lips parted, and the noise that fell from his mouth was one of dry and rusty questioning, an arm raising heavily to shade his squinting eyes. He was on his back, clothed, but barely. Tattered and dirty remnants of a once proud and dignified uniform. The flat and muscular landscape of his stomach was displayed through torn and hanging blue fabric, and he saw that his pants were covering only the most secret and sensitive areas of his lower body.



He raised himself into a sitting position, scanning the area and finding it bland and lifeless. The dirt was richly dark, near black; and a pale hand moved out to scoop this loose soil up into the cup of one palm, and let it filter itself between his spaced fingers. A blond head rotated then, as the sound of approaching footsteps startled him from his meager sightseeing.



His heart stopped... and his eyes did not fill with tears but were flooded with the thick and stinging liquid. Suddenly, he was scrambling to his feet and trying to reach the man who was approaching. There was no thought as he did this. It did not dawn on him that this man he was stumbling towards was long since a phantom. Long since stolen. All that mattered was that his face was nothing but calm and beautiful peace; he was the shelter to the storm. The promise to the hopeless. He was the bastion of sanity in a crumbling and senseless world.



Cloud craved him. His touch, his presence, a little of all he was. And whether or not his appearance now made any sense, Cloud ran to him on dirty and bare feet. He blinked, but quickly, so as not to lose sight of the beautiful man for long. Black hair slid down to shade his deep and lovely eyes; the spiked strands laying across his back in a cascading wave. His jaw was strong and solid, his chin the same; though the blond that moved towards him was nothing but a trembling mess. Overhead, the sky rumbled with the threat of rain... but neither man looked upwards. Their eyes were locked, ensnared, passionate pools of devotion.



From somewhere beyond this dream, he heard a fading voice; the last breath of his life, the last moment of his existence. And if it had been a pained and damaging existence what of it? Sephiroth had his reasons, as surely as Cloud had had his own reasons to draw that existence to an end. The man had lived a life of solitude, and within this loneliness, he had slowly slipped into insanity.



' "Zack... hello." '



"Zack!"



They fell together then, and the rock hard substance of his body made Cloud's heart shiver. The utter reality of him was breath-taking... and he was sobbing and unaware of the tears that crawled down the contours of his face. Oh, but he was so warm, and Cloud buried his moist face into his neck, and felt the pulse of his life. The promise of his existence. Strong and masculine arms wrapped themselves around him, his hands; so knowledgeable and quick, found the naked flesh here and cleared it of the unnatural ground. A sigh was let out as they found a way closer, and Cloud breathed in the precious scent of him, and gripped him as a child will their final, fleeting hope.



"Cloud. You've found me."



What a strange thing for the man to say. What a strange thing to fall from his lips when they were at last reunited. What of the memories of this man's blood splattering the ground in thick and gushing pools? What of the memories of a glinting blade slipping within his body and puncturing that tanned and glorious flesh? These meant nothing when Cloud now held him close. These memories were faint and meaningless whispers.



"Yes," Cloud said, and he pulled back to brush a hand across Zack's face. God, but he was so beautiful. His eyes were flashing sapphires that cut into Cloud's heart like a knife; but at this piercing he felt only pleasure. Only exhilaration. "I found you."



"You've come a long way, haven't you? From that boy I knew."



Cloud felt a burst of pride with this, and as he pulled further back his chest puffed with an arrogant and bragging air. Zack saw this and smirked, and Cloud's chest deflated at the simple perfection of those upturned lips. He felt so small and worthless before such beauty, but he was captivated and in love... and that was enough to make him stand tall. Zack moved his thick and heavily clothed body nearer, the cape he wore fluttering in the soft breeze, his hair being picked up along with the brown and dingy fabric. A hand moved to rest on the gentle curve of Cloud's hip, thumb pressing in teasingly on the point he knew made Cloud whimper. It was a success, and the man whimpered like some wounded animal and tucked his full bottom lip into his mouth; sparkling light blue eyes staring up into Zack's face with almost a childish glee.



Zack was taller by a few inches, and as he bent his head slightly, Cloud realized he was shielded by the rain. This spoke so heavily of protection and sacrifice, and he could not help but slide his arms to lock around the other's neck, raising himself slightly to meet his lips. "I've missed you," Cloud whispered onto Zack's soft flesh, "It's been so long."



"Yes," Zack agreed, and the hand that laid on that slender hip slid forward to cup and fondle the twitching cock Cloud's meager clothes hid. The blond gasped, and this was eaten alive by Zack's hungry mouth. His tongue, slick and strong and skilled, dove into that sweet mouth he had explored so long ago. Back on cold nights when the war was long, the dawn was non existent, and the promise of togetherness was a promise they both longed to keep and hold. As children, they had touched, teased, and explored one another into trembling ecstasy; and now, they did the same as men. Hardened men who had seen too much, and wished now, to be blind in passion.



Their tongues did not battle for any dominance. In their love and need, they were slaves to one another; there could be no fighting among them, when they had wounded so many in the name of justice, and now danced their tongues together in almost apology. Cloud entangled a fist into those thick black locks, and gave an insistent tug; never hard enough to cause Zack pain... but hard enough to be demanding.



Zack's hand squeezed with the utmost care, thumb raising to find the indentation of Cloud's bellybutton. Rain traced down him in streams and rivers of salty liquid, and one ran within this cupped opening on his stomach, making him shiver and thrust with his hips, making his swollen cock press firmly into the palm of his lover. A moan vibrated from him then, muffled by Zack's mouth, and Cloud felt a heat spread all across him. It warmed his cheeks into a flushed and pretty pink, and his eyelids fluttered as it rolled through his chest and stomach; pulsing the thick organ Zack was ready to tease. The kiss was broken, and Cloud chased those fading lips and whined like some neglected puppy when Zack placed a strong hand to his chest and made him stop.



"For so long," the raven haired man dictated breathlessly, "I've been missing you. Tell me you're alright, Cloud Strife. You haven't... failed?"



Cloud's lids raised hesitantly, and he gave the taller man a baffled expression that made him regain some of the youth he had once held. Back when they had been boys and the world had seemed kinder. But he knew, and knew well, that the world had never been kind or civil. In the rose colored glasses he had viewed it through as a child, things had seemed simpler. Now, however, things only seemed cruel. He thought then of that cold touch to the back of his neck, and that final exhale into the chasm of his mouth. His heart shivered, even as a soft fingertip found his tear and flicked it away effortlessly.



"Failed? What do you mean?"



The moistened finger moved to his lips and pressed in a hushing gesture. Cloud obeyed, and silenced himself. Obviously, he had not given the answer Zack had desired, but it mattered little, really. The man dropped to his knees into the dark and unnatural soil, and stared up into Cloud's downward, mystified expression with one of cool and calm seduction. "Give me a taste," Zack said, and his pinching fingers found the zipper of the pants Cloud wore, "Just one more taste for me... Cloud Strife." Oh, his full name from those sinfully sweet lips made him pulse and yearn, and the soft flesh of his nipples stood at immediate and near-painful attention. He could not answer, and so the spiky-haired blond nodded numbly, and forced his gaping mouth to snap shut.



Zack undid the button with his expert mouth, and what little coverage Cloud had possessed on his bottom half was lost. His ragged pants fell down around his bare ankles, and the warm wind of this place tickled and brushed along his naked rear and thighs. The considerable size of his cock was swallowed into one hand, which guided the dripping organ insanely and teasingly close to his trembling, parting lips. A tongue snaked out to dab at the pre-come that was forming, and Cloud could contain himself no longer, thrusting his slim digits into his dark hair and digging dull nails into his scalp. "Please," Cloud breathed, "Put your mouth on me, Zack." This was much too fast, however, and the jet-black head that was so close to him tipped upwards to give him a sly look.



"Would you rush me?," Zack asked in a voice as low and complete as the thunder that made the earth tremble, "Or would you have me slow...?" As he posed this new question, he gave a firm and pressured squeeze to the loose flesh below the throbbing shaft he had dropped. Cloud arched his back and slid his hands down to grip the back of Zack's neck, thick hair laying in a blanket across them and shielding them from the rain. He was making Cloud crazy, alternating his touches and forcing him into a state of unease that was quite acceptable. A tongue rolled down a pulsating vein on the underside of his cock, trembling tip wandering across the sensitive skin Zack had moment's earlier fondled. Cloud gasped and rocked his hips, searching for a hot mouth to engulf him, and being resolutely denied.



Rain poured now, and it made his spiked hair go slack around his face, streams running down his cheeks as he tipped his face up to the weeping sky and trembled at Zack's touch. A hand wandered up the back of his thigh, finding the firm meat of one cheek and squeezing as his hot lips wrapped around his sack, tugging and sucking with deep and passionate length. He pulled his head, and released the loose skin he suckled with an audible pop, spit sliding down the gentle curve and mixing with the rain. Zack parted Cloud's cheek with a splayed palm, fingers pushing down on his tight opening and pleading for entrance. Cloud looked into Zack's face; water falling from the tip of his nose and landing with a splash on Zack's forehead.



"I love you," Cloud told him in a voice that was both unquestionable and thick with emotion, "I missed you when you went away." Where ever he is, he does not wonder where Zack went. Where he was when Cloud had needed him so desperately. Cloud felt a finger push into the restrictive ring of his opening, and slide its way dryly in to the knuckle. The pain was slight but there, and Cloud winced as Zack rotated his finger and probed another to his puckered flesh. A drop of rain ran down the center of his back and the ridges of his spine, and Cloud felt his nipples harden and his breath catch. The now bobbing head of his cock brushed Zack's chin; and before he had time to situtate and familiarize himself to the feeling of that digit within him, warm lips were sliding down around this twitching organ.



Cloud growled like some primal beast and fisted his hand in those dark locks, his other falling behind him to spread his clenching cheeks. "More," he demanded, "Fill me up, Zack." Zack issued a brief and vibrating moan around the thick cock he sucked, and immediately complied, pushing in a second finger to join his first. The flesh he parted trembled and tore slightly, and Cloud yelled into the storm-heavy air. Zack grew alarmed and placed his free hand to that gently curved hip, soothingly stroking his skin and calming him with his loving touch. His head bobbed, invisible tongue swirling and flitting across the burning skin in his mouth. Cloud felt his heart race into triple time; galloping and pounding all through his ears. Fingers pushed, scissored, and pulled, stretching him wider, hurting him necessarily. The hand on his hip climbed up, running nails down his stomach and then climbing high to pinch and tease one pink and stiff nipple. This was rolled between two fingers, plucked and twisted until Cloud was nearly sobbing in pleasure.



He thrusted roughly into that mouth and struck the back of Zack's throat, the man gagging but keeping his pace, taking Cloud's cock in to the hilt and allowing it to press on the constricting ring of his throat. Tears leaked from the corner's of his eyes as he choked and gagged, and Cloud softened up immediately, keeping his asscheeks spread wide for his widening fingers.



"Fuck," Cloud roared, and his voice shook like the black sky above them, his muscles tightening reflexively, tugging in those digits more. Every movement was fluid and beautiful, and the pain was giving way to nothing but deep, sweet pleasure. His prostate, that bundle of nerves that laid deep within him, was first brushed, found, and then deeply pressured. Cloud's vibration of noise from his throat swelled, and the storm seconded. Wind whipped their damp hair, and chilled their wet bodies; and Zack's clothes were now drenched and tightly clinging to his strong, fit body. Cloud could see the rippled promise of muscles beneath the fabric, and his clenching hands itched to explore him. However, Zack kept his head moving, and kept hitting his prostate until his orgasm was drawing down upon him in a blissful rush of ecstasy. "Sh-shit! Zack, I... I'm---!"



Zack pulled back and opened his dark, swirling blue eyes. His fingers kept their motion, but they lost their deep and plunging insistence. Cloud's sack tightened up dangerously still, and he watched -captivated, intensely involved - as Zack's pink, flicking tongue moved out to catch his pre-come, slathering the head of his cock in spit and hot breath. Cloud kept tensing, stomaching rolling, hands smoothing back Zack's bangs and begging him with his light blue eyes. Zack nuzzled into his stomach, nose brushing across his bellybutton. His hot breath tickled the smooth flesh above that needing organ, and Cloud was soon falling to his knees in need and yearning, covering the other's mouth passionately with his own. Their tongues danced, their bodies pressed, and Cloud was soon freeing the other of his drenched clothes.



Dirt stained them now, turning to mud with the falling moisture. Thunder rolled across the land, lightning slashed and parted the sky, and threw the lover's into a bright and illuminate spot light. Cloud found the knot that cinched Zack's cloaked cape and let it flutter to the ground in a wave of fabric. The tight black shirt he wore was grabbed by its collar, and Zack gasped and swallowed Cloud's chuckle as this was ripped in two and laid to rest with the other garbage his clothes were becoming. Rain drenched hands explored an equally rain drenched chest, and Cloud wandered to his abs, which flexed and tightened beneath his touch. Zack's pants were grabbed by their waistband and tugged, Cloud moving closer to lower his blue orbs and observe the thick part of him that lay in shadow. Cloud broke their sloppy and heated kiss, a line of saliva connecting their soft and quivering lips. "So big," he purred, dipping a hand within the restrictive garment to lock on to this wanting part of his man. "I'll enjoy having you inside of me again Za---"



Fingers closed around his wrist then, hard enough to raise nasty purple-black bruises. Cloud flinched and snapped his eyes to Zack's face, feeling the world shift; feeling his heart shiver. The sky now was filled with red and bloated clouds that rained almost painful drops, and one ran stinging into his eye; which he closed in reflex. Zack looked close to angry, his upper lip twitching as if he meant to sneer.

"Did you kill him?"



Cloud's heart froze, and he could only gape at this man. Gape at the man who had meant so much to him for so long, and was now hurting him. But then, Cloud realized that Zack wasn't harming him at all. The hand that grabbed him was growing misty and insubstantial. He was fading before his eyes, and Cloud began to scream and plead, trying to clutch the man and keep him where he belonged.



"You killed him," a voice said, and it was not Zack's sweet tone, but that of someone cold and heartless; someone who sounded a little like Cloud did himself, "You saw your own soul in his eyes, and you killed him still."



"Sephiroth," Cloud said softly, and the thunder boomed once more, "Sephiroth had to... die. He was trying to hurt the planet! I had to!"



Zack was nearly gone now; Cloud could see the mountainous landscape through him. The black peaks that forked up at its twin sky, the rolling landscape that stretched further than he could see. He was sobbing, and he could now feel his tears, and taste them through the rain that fell down his face. His lover spoke then, in a gentle and tender tone that defied the bruise on his wrist.



"I know. I understand. But you..."



"Zack, please don't leave me..."



"You... you don't understand..."



****



He did not awake with a start, nor a scream. He did not awake and wonder where he was, or what had happened. He awoke with a clarity that was almost surprising; but he had already waded the recesses of his subconscious, and cleared out all dust and baggage. All that was left now was a mind torn by regret and unease; but this was his human nature, and he damned it. His room was dark and silent, save for the nearly unheard sound of his breath, and his naked body rose, sheets a soft and silky puddle around his waist. Tears hung in his eyes, and when he blinked, they trickled unseen down the contours of his face. What did this matter, however? In the dark, and in his solitude, Cloud could cry with little shame. And yet, shame came... and it humbled him miserably.



He was hard, but this was fading. He raised his wrist up, but could make out no definable shape in the darkness, certainly no bruise. And why did he search for one? There was no pain from a phantom in a dream. The stab of pain this brought his heart was intense and horrible, but it, like his arousal, soon passed.



Cloud pulled his sheets aside and stood from his bed, walking through the darkness with his arms splayed before him to intercept any objects that might arise. His feet shuffled forward, and slammed into an endtable that stood feet from his bed. Cloud swore into the darkness and dropped his arms, his head seconding as he stood there in total loneliness and felt everything crashing down upon him. Had he not done what was needed of him? Cloud had always assumed that when Sephiroth fell, his troubles would end. Now, however, he was made to feel guilty for the life he had stolen.



For a moment, he thought of cold nights on the rocky terrain; the outskirts of his hometown. He thought of a warm tent that always flickered with lantern-light. Shadowy shapes that fell together and caught the flashing light with ease; shadows in the natural hollows of their bodies, an orange glow along their flesh. Prickled skin, bumps licked and caressed with care. On these wind-whipped nights they had found one another; they had loved one another. Leader, and followers. But in their shared heat and passion, they had all been servants to one another. Cloud had stumbled upon the two one night when his guard duty had been relieved. Zack on his hands and knees, black hair a swinging pendulum that trickled down to the rocky bed of the tent's floor. Sephiroth behind him, tongue tickling at an area Cloud himself had thrusted himself within on many ocassions.



Jealousy had seized him and dug in dangerous claws; and then Sephiroth had straightened and slid his massive cock between Zack's cheeks, keeping it free of his prisonous hole, merely moving his muscular hips and brushing across it with the base of his shaft as he moved, sack pressing on Zack's own as the other picked up this rythmic dance and learned the steps fluidly. There they had rocked, two pairs of eyes glinting in the light at Cloud.



"Come in," Zack had breathed, and his arms had slid forward and placed his ass and hips into the air, his shoulders taut with strain as he rested his cheek to the floor and looked to his blond lover with half lidded, sweetly intoxicated eyes. "It's so cold out, Cloud." Sephiroth, pale hair almost modestly covering his firmed and hardened nipples, had chuckled something both teasing and inviting, and his emerald eyes had caught the light and flashed like the true gems. His hands; rough, large, calloused, the hands of a true warrior, laid themselves to Zack's coiling back, nails raking down in a smooth, painful motion. Zack had hissed through his teeth, and whimpered enticingly. "Come in and join him. Make me yours."



"Zack," Cloud had whispered, for he had been young, and this man had been his heart, "Zack, I can't." "Come now," Sephiroth had spoken almost sternly, and when the man spoke, everyone quieted and listened, "Come in and let me show you a good time. Your work has been impeccable really, and your night has been long. Come inside and relax."



Cloud had swallowed, and tightened his hand on the fabric he had thrown aside, watching as Sephiroth moved his considerable girth and with a harsh movement of his hips, invaded the shaking body before him. Zack had screamed and clutched at the ground, face contorting in a look of both pleasure and torture. Cloud had moved to him then, and fallen to his knees beside him, brushing at his hair with a true lover's touch and moving to kiss his face. Sephiroth had laughed and then moaned, a hand finding Cloud's hair and petting at it as he began to gyrate his hips and vibrate sensuously within Zack. The raven haired man licked his lips, and tightened his hole around the man's enormous width. There was another little cry of pain, and then Cloud had slid beneath him, and Zack had been muzzled and muffled by his rigid cock. Cloud had wrapped his moistened lips around his lover, and together they had all three reached their shivering peaks; thrown overboard into explosive and exhausting orgasms.



It had not taken long for their rendezvous to mount him upon Sephiroth. Sitting in his lap like a child, legs wrapped around his waist, face tucked into his neck. "Be easy on me," Cloud had begged in a vibrating voice, and almost tender hands had cupped the swell of his ass and parted the firm cheeks, the head of that massive organ pressing onto his puckered skin with deliberate intentions. "I will," Sephiroth had swore, and then the world had dissolved into the hazy atmosphere of pain and nerve wracking bliss.



Cloud returned from his reverie and raised his golden head, cursing his erection that had returned with such ease. Those nights were now over, and as little as he liked to admit it; they would never return. The two were gone, buried into the earth and laid to rest in as much dignity as they could muster. Cloud had watched one die, and seen the life fade from his sapphire eyes; crying tears that had hurt the soul. Shattered the heart. The other...



Cloud shook his head and sighed out into the stillness of his room, pressing the heels of his palms to his burning orbs. Goddamn his fragile emotions, Goddamn his wasted time. Goddamn his justice.

Arms surrounded him in a rustle and swish of fabric, and Cloud dropped his hands to thin forearms and gasped softly, sharp teeth nipping at the curve of one ear. These were immeasurably strong and the body that pressed to him was firm and supportive.



"Dreams ache," a low voice said into his ear, "Let me help you."



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More soon! ^_^