Becoming SOLDIER

Cloud and Zack had finally arrived; all they needed to do now was board the train to Midgar. Signing up had been easy enough, it seemed it didn’t matter who you were, Shinra took in everyone and anyone they could get. At least that how Zack had looked at it. There were men short; tall; skinny; fat; bulky; rude; stammering; every type of appearance and personality you could imagine. Shinra accepted them all; this didn’t comfort Zack and Cloud’s nerves in the slightest. Zack had reasoned to Cloud that perhaps when they got to Midgar they would sort through the grunts to find those worthy of moving up and the others were just there to keep the cadets high in number. Quantity not Quality; Zack finished when explaining how Shinra must view the grunts, and it would be opposite for SOLDIER. Cloud had only nodded and forced a brief smile.

The train wasn’t too stuffy; being in such a rural area there weren’t too many people who had been recruited that day for Shinra. Zack didn’t seem to pay mind to anyone in the train his thoughts were buzzing with excitement; Cloud however scanned over the area carefully watching all the other recruits. He was damned if he’d let his guard down around these strange people. Some men gave the two side way glanced and trailed their eyes over them. Zack again didn’t notice, but Cloud was on the defensive. Cloud rested himself into the uncomfortable seat behind him and Zack just stood a few inches away; Cloud would have laughed at the boy had the surrounding not made him tense. Zack, much like a child cloud mused, refused to sit and couldn’t even manage to keep himself to stand still. He kept fidgeting with his pockets and scuffing his boots against the ground; his eyes glancing each and every way, not looking at anything really, just glancing around. The other recruits seemed to have small groups already; others sat alone; and Zack and Cloud were left alone for the most part. There would be exchanged looks and stares; a couple of comments that Cloud couldn’t catch over the train scrapping along the rails. He must have looked nervous; and he most certainly was. Zack picking up on this with a raised brow and a smirk reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair. As he ruffled the boy’s hair he saw Cloud nearly jump out of his skin; the boy was so intent on focusing on everything around him he didn’t bother to pay attention to Zack and the other had caught him off guard.

“Z-Zack,” Cloud nearly shouted and sunk into his chair with a slight blush as all eyes focused on him min the train.

Zack just snickered, “Aww, Come on Cloudy boy, don’t be nervous! We’ll be in Midgar in no time.” Zack said this even though the suspense of getting there was killing him all the same.

Cloud muttered a few choice words under his breath and crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest. Zack couldn’t help but smile at the childish gesture; Cloud really was too cute. Zack raised a brow at his own thought but shrugged it off; ‘cute like a kid kind of cute’ Zack corrected himself mentally.

An hour had past and finally Zack’s pacing in place stopped as he plopped down on the seat next to Cloud with an aggravated sigh. The train would take a couple of hours to get to Midgar; he knew that but still.

“This is maddening!” Cloud raised his chin off his chest slightly tilting his head back up. He raised his brow in question his eyes half lidded from dozing off. Zack flung his arms behind his head and slouched in his seat as he whined, “I’m so boooored!” Cloud only shook his head a bit and chuckled. When he saw Zack twitch and tense his brows creased and he followed Zack’s eyes to the figure looming over them. Zack let out a cheeky grin, still a bit tense but not allowing the elder man to see it, “What can we do for you buddy?”

Cloud nearly gulped; this man was massive. Cloud noticed him before with a group of others but he had been sitting at the time. And now, Cloud could really see just how large the man was. He was aged a few years older than the two boys, and he easily towered over Cloud. Being almost five or six inches taller than Zack was a feat in Cloud’s eyes; Zack was nearly six foot already and this man easily was six and a half. His shoulders were broad and his shirt pulled tight against his overly defined chest. Cloud could just imagine Zack making fun of the man’s ‘boobs’ as Zack would say and prayed that he wouldn’t be as stupid to do so in this situation. His statue was bigger than both Zack and Cloud combined; muscle, height, and Cloud guessed strength as well. Cloud took in a deep breath as quietly as possible; he would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared of what the man before them wanted.

The man’s voice was raspy and low as his narrow eyes gestured to Cloud, “Good lookin’ kid, he anything to you?”

Cloud’s eyes blinked a few thousand times; or at least he felt like they did. ‘Good looking kid?’ Cloud repeated the words a few times in his mind and gulped softly as he brought his eyes to cautiously to Zack who looked like taken back by the man’s odd question. Zack face scrunched a bit, “Excuse me?”

The man chuckled; it sounded unnatural against the man’s deep and rasped voice. The man’s large calloused hand reached out to Cloud’s neck and he ran the back of his fingers against the soft skin; Cloud bolted backwards away from the man’s intruding touch ignoring the grunt that left his lips as he hit the back of his seat rather roughly.

The man smirked wickedly, “A shy one, aren’t we…”

As the man went to reach out to caress Cloud’s skin he felt a tight grip catch his wrist; his eyes narrowed as he glanced at Zack’s own narrow slit eyes. Acid dripped from Zack’s tongue, “Don’t touch him…”

The man grin widened, “Jealous? I didn’t see you trying anything, what does it matter to you?” The man’s words chimed in the air making Zack tense. ‘What the fuck is this guy’s problem,’ Zack mentally screamed.

Cloud’s eyes darted between both men and he felt a shiver run down his spine as Zack’s words pierced through the thick air once more; the tone of his voice threatening.

“Don’t. Touch him.”

Cloud held his breath as the short threat left Zack’s lips. The promise of death lingering behind his words; it was frightening how effective Zack’s tone of voice was at making the air around them freeze sending shivers down Cloud’s body. He never heard such a threatening tone from Zack before, and he prayed he would never have to hear another one like it ever again.

The large man’s grin only lowered slightly as amusement played in his dark eyes as he tugged his wrist out of Zack’s grip. He glanced over to Cloud’s direction and his next words made Cloud feel the goose bumps rise on his skin, “Maybe we’ll meet again in the barracks, when your boyfriends not around… Than we can play beautiful…” Zack resisted the urge to kill the man as he turned heel and strode away from the two to seat himself on the opposite side of the train. Zack balled his fists at his side and hardly noticed the blood tickling from underneath his nails.

“Zack…,” Cloud’s voice called to him softly as his eyes watched Zack’s white knuckles and now crimson palms in worry.

Zack took in a shaky breath before turning to face Cloud with a goofy grin bring his hand to the back of his head scratching it lightly; he tried desperately to act cool.

“The nerve of some people right,” Zack stated rather than really asking as he took his seat next to Cloud once more. Zack shoved his hands into his pockets and stared up towards the ceiling of the train, “Don’t worry bout’ that guy Cloud. He’s not going to give you any more trouble.” Cloud noted the protective and determined tone that swept over Zack’s voice and just nodded with a small uneasy smile.

Zack remained glaring at the train’s ceiling. ‘Jealousy…? No, it wasn’t jealousy, I just… I didn’t… Cloud didn’t want that man to touch him… And he had no right to… I was just protecting him like I promised I would.’ Zack shifted a little uncomfortably, ‘So…Why did I get so… angry… I’ve never really felt like that before. My chest hurt it tightened so much and I could feel the blood boiling in my veins. Was that jealousy?’ Zack scolded himself, ‘No you idiot he made Cloud uncomfortable, and I didn’t… No… Cloud didn’t want that man to touch him, I was only looking for our… Cloud’s best interests…’

*Ding* the train will be arriving at Midgar station platform shortly; wait until the train comes to a complete stop before exiting the train. Thank you. *Ding*

Zack pushed his thoughts aside and smiled over to Cloud before nudging Cloud’s arm, “We’re finally here buddy!”

Cloud smiled weakly back; he knew Zack would keep his promise but what would happen if they were separated… He tried not to dwell on it. They would prove themselves and soon realize their dreams; nothing would take that away from them. Cloud smiled and lifted his arm up as Zack mimicked his gesture and they bumped together their forearms, “…SOLDIER…”