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Bitter Medicine	By : SakikuTorakak Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male > Cloud/Vincent Views: 6055 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the associated franchise. This story is solely written for amusement, not for profit.

Chapter List
- 1-Bitter Medicine
- 1
A/N: Response to yet another kink-meme prompt: Hurt/Comfort, with Mako being the hurt.

Summary: Cloud needs Mako in order to not degrade. Vincent helps Cloud through the aftermath of one such Mako injection.

Warnings: Handjob

Bitter Medicine

“Cloud... Cloud!... Cloud!”

Cloud Strife startled and looked at Tifa, who was standing right next to the table he was morosely nursing a drink at. “What?”

“You're going tomorrow, and that's final!” She had her fists stemmed into her side and was tapping her foot impatiently. “You can't continue like this, spacing out all the time and falling apart at the seams. Don't think I didn't see you spill your Chocasm. You know what it's going to be like if you wait much longer.”

“But-”

“But nothing. I called Reeve already, and he'll be waiting for you. I know you hate doctors and injections of any kind, but this is to help you. Unless you prefer taking yet another dip in the Lifestream?”

Cloud mutely shook his head. It had been about a year after Geostigma had been cured that Cloud had discovered his healing was slowing, that he was growing more and more tired, and that he was suffering from increasing muscle tremors. Combined with night sweats, hot and cold flashes, weight loss and joint pains, he had been thoroughly miserable after a month.

Tifa had caught on about six weeks into things. She had poked and prodded at him (and unfairly engaged Marlene's and Denzel's help) until Cloud had agreed to letting Reeve do an exam on him to find out what was wrong. After all, he had never caught a single cold after his modifications at Hojo's hands.

Another month later, with Cloud's symptoms steadily getting worse, Reeve finally managed to isolate the cause of them: Cloud was going through Mako withdrawal. There had never been anyone as highly enhanced as Cloud who had gone longer than a year without direct contact with Mako; be it through injection or through contact with the Lifestream itself. The sinking levels in Cloud's blood were causing him increasing discomfort because his body needed the Mako to keep functioning. All projections Reeve had done showed that without any more Mako, Cloud would go into steadily worsening seizures until he eventually managed to give himself enough brain damage to make survival a moot point.

So Tifa (and Marlene and Denzel again) had managed to guilt-trip Cloud into taking a shot of Mako solution.

After a brief period of severe illness, the injection had worked like a charm. So when the symptoms had started creeping back after another nine or ten months, Tifa had once again bullied him into getting his shots. And ever since, it had turned into a yearly staple of life at Seventh Heaven. Same procedure as every year, Cloud.

Tifa snapped her fingers in front of Cloud's face to get his attention back that had drifted once again. “I called Vincent; he should be here by tomorrow morning. Now go pack your things; I know you don't want to stay here during the assimilation period.”

Vincent. He was the only one with enough strength to subdue Cloud during his ravings under the direct influence of Mako. The first time, Cloud had been too weakened from months of withdrawal; the second time though he had neatly destroyed his room and almost given the Seventh Heaven a new window.

Vincent though was able to keep him reasonably calm throughout the absorption and handle him during his not so calm phases. Not to mention that Vincent had been able and willing to deal with Cloud's other... mood swings. Just like Cloud was able and willing to deal with Vincent's mood swings when Hellmasker or the Galian Beast got too rowdy without Chaos subduing them.

“Yes, ma'am.” Cloud expertly hid a wince as he got up. The joint pains were already starting again, and he hadn't slept for more than four or five hours a night for the past two weeks.

What Cloud and Vincent shared was nothing more than a mutual itch-scratching, forgiven and forgotten by the time they had found back into their usual state of mind. It still didn't mean though that Cloud was overjoyed at the prospect of yet another period of such vulnerability.

He grimaced and slowly made his way upstairs under the watchful stare of Tifa.

There simply was no choice.

“There you go. Hold that.”

With a practiced move, Reeve Tuesti withdrew the syringe and motioned for Cloud to press down on the tiny wound with a pad of cotton wool. Cloud studiously didn't look at either the syringe or his arm or anything besides the chaos on Reeve's desk.

He knew that it was a concession to his time in Hojo's laboratories that Reeve did the injection himself in his office instead of demanding that Cloud present himself to the medical personnel that was responsible for thinking and mixing up the cure. It left him feeling uncomfortable to know that people were going so far for him – Reeve must have had to learn how to give intravenous injections because Cloud doubted that was part of the regular education for an engineer. At the same time though he was shamefully relieved.

Cloud pulled away the pad of gauze to see that the wound had already healed. He nodded towards Reeve and left the building, feeling small beads of sweat pearling on his forehead. For now, the Mako was still spreading through his blood stream, not doing too much. It would take about twenty minutes, half an hour before the real symptoms kicked in and he lost most of his control. By that time, Cloud had already planned to be far away from the World Regenesis Organization.

He straddled Fenrir, not surprised to see Vincent leaning against the wall next to it. Vincent just gave him a look, but didn't say anything as Cloud started the heavy machine.

Yes, Cloud knew that it was irresponsible to drive himself when he knew he was going to be incapacitated soon, but the need to get away was stronger. Without comment Vincent followed him from the rooftops while Cloud slowly drove his behemoth of a machine through the thickly populated streets.

By the time they reached the outskirts, Cloud had started trembling with fatigue. He didn't say anything when he felt Vincent perch behind him on the seat, the gunslinger's weight far less than should be possible for a grown man. Now that there weren't so many obstacles anymore Cloud could go faster, and Vincent wouldn't have been able to keep up. Gunning the engine, Cloud sped off into the glaringly bright wastelands outside Midgar.

“Turn right.”

Vincent's voice so close to his ear startled Cloud out of the pained haze he had sunk into. Oh, yes, the cabin he had built some ages ago for this purpose was further off to the south. He panted, the fire of Mako burning inside him just as the sun was burning him from the outside. He wanted to curl up and close his eyes, but he still had a ways to go.

“Slow down.”

Cloud blinked and the scenery around him was different. First shrubs and trees were growing, meaning they were at least twenty minutes outside Midgar - unless Gaia had managed a very big step in the repopulation of the Midgar Wastelands since the last time Cloud had been there.

But Cloud doubted that. His head was pounding too much to think on it any more, so he let Vincent guide him through the labyrinth of vegetation. It was nice not having to remember where exactly he had to turn, because his mind was so foggy and he just felt so hot and sick that he'd like nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep right here. Was the Mako working already?

He jerked when he realized he had almost fallen off Fenrir. The big machine was standing still, parked underneath a large awning. Cloud was still sitting in the saddle, wondering how that had happened. But he had just parked the machine – had he? - so they must be there. He hoped. Because he really didn't feel good, and if the green haze creeping in on the edge of his vision didn't go away, he doubted he'd be conscious much longer. Where had Vincent gone? Oh, he must have imagined him, too.

Trailing a hand along the wooden cabin walls – they weren't smooth and the logs didn't meet properly and the wood grain made pretty patterns – he stumbled up the stairs towards the inside. It was nice that someone had left the door open for him because he wasn't all that sure anymore of his skills in finding keys, handling door knobs and the likes.

For a few moments he thought he had gone blind; then he realized that it was just a lot darker inside than outside. The cracks in the wall and the open door though let in enough light to see because someone had forgotten to put in windows. Or hadn't they?

Head swirling uncomfortably, Cloud stumbled to the cot next to the door and sank down on it. Oh, it was soft! A mattress from straw or hay and covered with fur and even a blanket on top of it.

He went to sleep.

Vincent was gathering water from the stream less than a hundred meters behind the rough log cabin. He kept most of his attention on listening for Cloud, but he was still sleeping.

That was good. The more Cloud slept through the absorption process, the easier it would be on him. Vincent made a mental reminder to ask whether Tuesti had increased the dose, because Cloud had seemed more out of it than usual during the drive here. Vincent had had to step in a couple of times to prevent them from crashing when Cloud had forgotten to steer.

Carrying the bucket back towards the cabin, he emptied it into the water ton towards the back of it. It was nearly full, so Vincent set out to perform all those small tasks needed to make the cabin livable. He probably wouldn't have the time for it once Cloud was into the fevered delirium stage.

The roof seemed intact enough to weather the next couple of days without leaking, but it groaned enough under his weight that it probably wouldn't last much longer. Cloud and he would have to fix that before they left. At least the chimney was clear – no birds had decided to nest inside this year. Firewood was freshly stocked; Cloud had taken care of that the last time. A plastic tarp had kept it dry, so it was ready to use.

Vincent pulled another tarp from the tiny lean-to shed and threw it over Cloud's motorcycle. No sense in letting it rust or gather dust. He had already taken the small backpack with Cloud's necessities and placed it inside next to the door. Right next to the second, much bigger one that Tifa had given Vincent before he had gone to meet Cloud at the WRO.

Afterwards, he checked the surroundings of the hut to see whether any monsters had come close enough to become a danger. A couple of Mandragora had taken up residence to the West, which Vincent decided to leave alone. They only attacked when attacked themselves; otherwise they were harmless.

The Ark Dragon though that had apparently decided to wander from its territory near the Mithril Mines, was more worrying. It was no trouble for Vincent to kill it with a well-placed shot, and same for the small horde of Castanets and Crawlers that had followed it, but he spent a lot of time making sure that this Ark Dragon was a lone occurrence.

By the time he returned to the cabin, it was getting dark. Cloud was still sleeping, but his sleep had turned agitated with the rising levels of Mako. He was sweating a lot, so Vincent covered his forehead with a wet towel and got a glass of water for when Cloud woke up. Then he busied himself making a fire in the tiny oven and set their only pot to boil on top of it. Vincent did not need to eat, but Cloud would be glad for some chicken broth later on.

Settling himself in for a long wait, he leaned against the cabin wall and closed his eyes. Every now and then he put a new wet rag on Cloud's forehead, stirred the pot of soup or put a bit of wood into the embers to rekindle the fire. Twice he also went outside to check that no nocturnal monsters were trying anything.

When he came back in after the second time, he was greeted by glowing blue eyes. However, Cloud didn't seem to see him.

“Zack?” he called, sitting up in the bed. “Zack, where are you?”

Ah. Apparently the stage with hallucinations had started. “Zack isn't here,” Vincent said.

“Then where is he?”

“You should go back to sleep. He will be here.”

Cloud frowned. “But I'm not tired anymore. I want to see Zack. Now.”

Cloud was starting to sound younger by the minute. Vincent wondered whether he'd regress to pouting and crying this time. It was around three or four am, less than an hour before dawn started. Outside it was nearly pitch black, and inside it was only slightly better. Thankfully neither Cloud nor he needed much light to see, thanks to their enhancements.

Vincent suppressed a sigh and moved towards the bucket of water he had placed indoors as far away from the oven as possible.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“No. Where is Zack?”

He nevertheless gave Cloud a cup of water and Cloud drank it thirstily. Vincent wordlessly refilled it and handed it back to Cloud. Only after he had drained it, too, did Vincent go and put some more wood into the stove to rekindle the fire. The sudden flickering flames were nearly blinding after so long without any artificial light. Then he went back to resting against the cabin wall.

Meanwhile, Cloud had apparently lost all interest in continuing his previous line of questioning. In the typical forgetful way that marked the start of more hallucinations, he prodded at the damp towel that had slipped from his forehead when he had sat up.

He played with it for a while, unfolding it and then refolding it, wiping his arms with its cool side and then airing it when it became warm.

"Why's it green?” Cloud suddenly asked.

“Because you have been sweating out some Mako.”

Cloud paled. “I've got Mako inside. That's... that's not good, is it? I'm hot, Zack.”

Zack again. Vincent didn't correct him. “You need the Mako to make you healthy again.”

“I do? No, no, no, get it out!”

“That is what your body is currently doing. It is sweating out the excess Mako.”

“Make it stop!”

Apparently, Cloud was rapidly leaving the realms of rational thinking. His pupils were blown wide, far wider than necessary with the flickering flames illuminating the small cabin. He was panting and rubbing at his skin with the damp cloth until Vincent took it away. Cloud seemed to be caught in a nightmare because that didn't stop him from rubbing at his skin.

“Get it out, get it out, get it out,” he continued mumbling and scratching harder by the minute.

With a sigh Vincent grabbed Cloud's wrist and forced it down to the bed spread. “Stop it. You will not change anything by scratching yourself bloody. There is not enough Mako to do you any harm. It is helping you. You simply need to wait until your body processes it.”

Cloud didn't hear him, and Vincent was forced to grab his other wrist. Of course, with Cloud's past as lab specimen under Hojo's care, being restrained didn't help a single bit in breaking him out of his panic.

Grimly Vincent hung on and waited things out.

Cloud's breath was coming in shallow pants. He was twitching and writhing on the bed, groaning every now and then. Vincent had to use his entire body weight to keep Cloud from scratching himself bloody as Cloud became increasingly inventive in his attempts at self-mutilation – his toenails were damnably sharp. His widely blown eyes stared up at Vincent.

“Please, Zack, just let me go for a bit, I can't take this anymore!”

“You can. Just a bit longer.”

“Please!”

Cloud continued begging for a while, and then dissolved into quiet crying. No big, heaving sobs but nearly silent tears that were heartbreaking. Since the fight seemed to have gone out of Cloud, Vincent slowly released his wrists. Before Vincent could put more distance between them – he had nearly been lying on top of Cloud – Cloud wrapped his arms around Vincent like a drowning man. He buried his face in Vincent's chest and clenched his fists in Vincent's shirt while he was trembling with terrified tears.

Well, at least Cloud wasn't harming himself anymore.

Vincent doubted Cloud would let go anytime soon, so he settled himself in for the long run. And indeed, after nearly an hour of quiet crying Cloud cried himself to sleep, never releasing his hold. When Vincent fell asleep, dawn had already broken a long time ago.

The day passed with sleeping, a change of clothes, more hallucinations, a bit of food and water, and another patrol for Vincent. Cloud's fever was still high, leaving him glassy-eyed as he sat on a tree-stump outside the cabin for about half an hour. Afterwards, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep again. Thankfully his episodes weren't as bad anymore as the one during the night had been.

Sitting down in the corner facing both Cloud's bed and the door, Vincent settled himself in for another, hopefully more quiet night. He had long ago become accustomed to snatching enough sleep sitting up while also keeping watch. It had been a necessary skill for a Turk on a mission.

So when Cloud began to get restless again about an hour after Vincent's second night patrol, Vincent was awake almost immediately. He silently crossed the short distance to Cloud's side and picked up the wet towel that had once again fallen off Cloud's forehead. After washing and wringing it out, he slowly wiped Cloud's face that had once again gathered a greenish sheen of sweat.

Cloud sighed and calmed nearly immediately, still asleep. However, when Vincent wiped his neck and down to his shoulder and arm, Cloud latched onto his metal claw and refused to let go. Vincent shook his head in bemusement, but none of his careful efforts to free himself paid off. He wasn't too forceful because he neither wanted to wake Cloud nor injure him with the golden metal claw Cloud was now pressing against his face. Apparently the cool metal was soothing for his overheated skin.

When Cloud still refused to let go after ten minutes, Vincent sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. Somehow Cloud chose that exact moment to turn onto his side, taking Vincent's hand with it and so unbalancing the ex-Turk enough that he unceremoniously sprawled onto the bed. Even during his surprise, Vincent was careful not to hurt Cloud by either drawing away his metal claw or falling on the other. Apparently Cloud was sleeping deep enough that he didn't do more than grunt out something that could have been, “Lea'mme alone, Zack,” and never woke up.

Reluctantly, Vincent closed his eyes and decided to wait until Cloud released him once again.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew was spooned against Cloud from behind and Cloud ground against him in slow motions. Sunlight was streaming in through the cracks of the cabin, and they appeared to have thrown off the covers during the night.

Cloud was panting again, but this time it didn't sound pained. One hand was still clutching Vincent's metal claw to his chest, but the other one was performing unmistakable actions further down south.

Morning wood. Cloud had to better already to have such a physical reaction.

Vincent must have given himself away somehow, or Cloud was more lucid than he had been during the last 36 hours, because Cloud stopped and turned his head enough that he could smile sheepishly at Vincent.

“I hope you don't mind.”

From what Vincent could see of his eyes, they were still a bit too wide and glassy to be fully coherent. His body temperature was too high, too, but at least he seemed to recognize Vincent. And there was a hopeful, almost pleading look in his eyes.

Vincent rumbled a deep hum in his chest and didn't move away. There were times when Cloud was desperate for physical contact, and this seemed to be one of them. “Would you like me to help?”

“Please?”

“Sit up a bit.”

Cloud complied and Vincent used the room to thread his right arm under Cloud's body so that he was hugging Cloud from behind with his left still clutched to Cloud's chest. It was a bit uncomfortable to have Cloud lying on his upper arm, but now he could reach the other's waistband.

He was a bit surprised that Cloud hadn't freed his erection yet; apparently he had simply been grinding against his own palm.

Slipping his fingers beneath the waistband, he stroked the trapped member and tried to memorize things from feel alone. Cloud had relaxed against him nearly immediately and returned to clenching Vincent's glove with both hands again. He was sighing and moaning occasionally, tilting his head so that Vincent's breath was ghosting against his pulse point.

Vincent's fingers traced the thick vein down the bottom of Cloud's shaft, stroking with light pressure until the half-hard member inflated to fully engorged. He took the time to push Cloud's waistband down and free the erection, palming his testes carefully.

There was no hurry to his soft touches, and Cloud seemed to be content with playing along for now in his half-fevered, half-asleep morning haze. He was moaning nearly continuously and writhing against Vincent, but not yet trying to thrust. It was more of a languid enjoyment of the high of sexual arousal.

Vincent had no problem with drawing things out even longer.

He was stroking Cloud slowly, as much as being spooned up to his back allowed. His clawed hand was clenched tightly in Clouds' while his unarmored one was pumping the hot and hard erection Cloud was sporting. He could feel the metal glove creaking as Cloud reflexively clenched his fists when Vincent swept a wet thumb over the glans.

“Yessss,” Cloud hissed and bucked into Vincent's tight grip. “Please, more!”

Vincent continued stroking, and Cloud was writhing with more and more urgency. The hot body rubbing against him was very distracting, but Vincent decided to ignore it. Instead, he sped up his movement and added that twist to his wrist at the end which Cloud could never resist.

It was almost unexpectedly sudden when Cloud came. With a hoarse cry, he erupted and then sank bonelessly against Vincent.

With the rag that had once again slipped off Cloud's forehead during the night, Vincent wiped up the mess. Cloud's seed was nearly green from the amount of Mako expelled, a good sign. It wouldn't take long anymore and the Mako levels would be low enough for Cloud to be completely lucid again.

“Thanks.” Cloud's mumble was nearly half-asleep again, but the deliberate grind against Vincent's front was less asleep. “Want me to help with that?” he echoed Vincent's earlier words.

“Another time.” Because it was nearly as certain as the sun rising in the East that Hellmasker and the Galian Beast were going to team up again and try to drive him insane. Then it would be Cloud's turn taking care of him.

And anyway, he needed to do yet another perimeter check.

“Could you give me my hand back? I need to get up.”

“Nnnh,” Cloud complained, but he nevertheless released his grip on Vincent's glove.

Vincent patiently extracted his other hand from beneath Cloud who grumbled again but was nearly asleep despite the disturbance. Vincent grabbed the soiled rag and took it with him when he left the cabin.

The sun was bright, nearly noon. He was a bit surprised to see that it was this late already. He must have slept deeper than anticipated. Maybe they wouldn't return tonight. But with the progress Cloud was making, tomorrow was almost certain. He probably should heat up some water for a quick bath when Cloud woke up again. Cloud's fever would be down by then and he was bound to want to get the dried Mako sweat off his skin. A bit of food couldn't hurt either.

Quietly he went to look for some edible monsters.

A/N: I hope that the porn part didn't feel too tacked on, and that Vincent's refusal for reciprocity didn't feel too sudden (because to be honest I just couldn't be bothered to get up and write yet another smut scene). I'd love to hear your opinion on that!

-Sakiku
- 1
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Bitter Medicine