FIC: Givin' It a Shot is Good Enough, Right? [2/4]
Title: Givin' It a Shot is Good Enough, Right? [2/4]
Author:![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
dmitchell1985
Betas: misumisu84 and polaris_etoile
Summary: And we're off to the races!
Rating: PG-15 - for some language.
Pairing: Cloud Strife/Barret Wallace
Warnings: Game spoilers for the second visit to Gold Saucer, but it follows my own line of what the evening/storyline entailed, with the exception of the canon character/secret reveal bit. And, er, the language.
Disclaimer: We all know the drill. I don't own the characters or canon information included in my fic and I agree to give the characters back when I am doneruining them beyond repair playing nicely with them.
Chapter Word Count: 1,256
Total Word Count: 8,181
Author's Notes: Well, here is the second chapter of the fic. I was quite surprised that so many people would be open to the Cloud/Barret pairing. I was absolutely thrilled and flattered that so many of you took a moment to leave a comment for me. Thank you! As always, thanks goes to my betas, misumisu84 and polaris_etoile, for double-checking my work for me. Also, all "Star Wars" mentions belong to George Lucas. See the end of the very last chapter for a few extra notes that address Canon Correctness (Copyright rights on that?) and such.
Crossposting: my InsaneJournal, ffvii_yaoi, barretcloud, and ffvii_yaoi
Chapters:
Chapter One
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
-
Cloud cleared his throat to get Barret's attention as he rose from his seat. They had reached the end of the line and would now have to walk to the area where the races where held. His lingering insecurity over whether it was truly a good idea to accept Barret's invitation to spend the evening in the park together returned to full force in the face of Barret's worrisome silence. Barret was known for a great many things, but long stretches of silence were not among his various talents.
Cloud began to worry whether he had said something offensive in passing that he had taken no heed of previously. He thought back over the evening and diligently searched through his recent memories of anything he might have said or done that would upset Barret's less-than-delicate sensibilities. When he could think of nothing, he pushed further back into his mind, thoroughly checking every rumpled corner of his consciousness.
Cloud gestured for Barret to exit first as he continued to flip through his recollections. There must have been something. What else could explain Barret's behavior? Cloud decided to try distracting his friend until he could locate the cause of his unease.
"It's a nice night out, huh?" Cloud asked, sidestepping an embracing couple that appeared to have never memorized the definition of the word 'privacy.'
"Uh, yeah. It's great. No rain. Nothin'," Barret replied automatically, stumbling over his words only once as he felt his accent thicken with every twist of his nerves. His eyes shot about in every direction as he took in their surroundings. He made certain to look everywhere, except for directly at Cloud.
Disheartened by the lack of response or even a glance in his direction, Cloud tried again.
"You know, I've always heard that Gold Saucer was pretty great. Lots to do. It's nice to be here with. . . friends." Cloud paused then to study the side of Barret's face. It would be nice to have Barret's eyes focused on him, instead of turned elsewhere on the one night when he wouldn't have to share their regard with anyone else.
Barret eyed Cloud from the edge of his vision. The blonde was looking at him expectantly, as though he was required to utter something truly inspired, or at least longer than a few muttered words in length. Barret ignored the urge to take a deep breath in hopes of calming himself before he answered.
"I heard tha' same thing. I've always been reluctant to come and see it, because of how it was built and all. I jus' didn't see tha' point, ya' know? I guess that none of that matters now, because here we are." Barret turned his head slightly figuring that it was better to give in to his accent and grinned at Cloud. "I mean, now that we're here and all, we might as well enjoy ourselves to tha' fullest!"
Cloud felt a grin spread across his face. This was the Barret he had come to know and like. This Barret had plenty of good cheer and a ready smile. He missed seeing this Barret. In the wake of the stress that threatened them all day-in and day-out, this Barret made all of his appearances with an increasingly subdued expression plastered across his face. Cloud knew that Barret himself was not to blame for his frustration, but he still missed their occasional relaxed conversations and shared amusement all the same.
"I've never had cause to come here before either, but it seems that the strangest reasons will take you to the most unlikely places. Still, I'm glad that we came." Cloud gave Barret a tiny grin and motioned for the larger man to move underneath the garish entrance of the racing area first.
They both looked up at the racing schedules displayed on television screens that hung from both the walls and the lower parts of the ceiling. They watched the odds for each chocobo's chance of winning their respective races and which round they would compete in flash on the brightly lit screens. Sighting the chocobo Cloud had heard encouraging comments about, they approached a betting window to place their bets on Spark's Lightning to Win. The girl behind the Plexiglas collected their money and handed them slips of paper with a listing of their chocobo's stats, assigned race for the night, and betting amount they had riding on the bird's performance. Cloud immediately stuffed his ticket into his pocket for safekeeping.
They pushed through the crowd toward the seats and standing room only railings that would allow them a view of the track. At one point, a rowdy group of men stepped between Cloud and Barret as they moved through the crowd. Cloud merely shoved them to the side and grabbed hold of the back of Barret's shirt. He had no intention of losing his friend in this madhouse; therefore, he felt no remorse when he glared back at the men until he and Barret had passed them by.
A threatening sense of alarm flared inside of Barret's head the moment he felt a hand suddenly clutch the material of his shirt. A glance over his shoulder informed him that it was in fact Cloud, and not some grabby stranger who felt that it was okay for them to put their hands wherever they so chose. He then spotted the group of men that Cloud was defiantly staring down. A whirl of familiar excitement settled in his stomach. He liked watching the kid work, but he found that he liked Cloud's nonverbal threats of death and maimed limbs just as well.
He reasoned that it was not so much that he wanted to see someone have their skull crushed in by the blonde, but more that it reminded him of the fact that small though Cloud might be, he wasn't a pushover for anyone, not even for Barret himself. Something about that thought tempered Barret's occasional annoyance at the way some people shrank away from him when he entered a room. Here, Cloud refused to be intimidated by anyone, while he himself was reluctantly growing accustomed to the prospect of never finding anyone to simply accept him for who he really was, the way Myrna had.
Of course, that was before everything had gone to hell and his arm was busted by that Shin-Ra bitch. He still had a couple of issues to settle with her, and as soon as he shot her in her fucking arm, then they just might be able to begin working on his more serious complaints. Barret smiled to think of it. He even had his gun ready and waiting. Just wait until that bitch saw what she did to him.
Cloud caught Barret's smile and grinned in return. The snap of Barret's eyes to Cloud's face made Cloud wonder if the smile was truly meant for him at all. However, he forced the grin to stay on his face as he dropped his hand away from Barret's shirt and drew level with his friend.
"How about we get a spot by the railing. We can see better from there anyway. Besides, who wants to walk up all of those steps to try and find a seat, when the race'll probably be over before we can sit down?" Cloud raised his eyebrows slightly and hoped that he merely looked excited about the race instead of concerned about whether he'd caught Barret checking someone else out or not.
"Sounds like a plan, Spiky."
exhaustedAuthor:
dmitchell1985Betas: misumisu84 and polaris_etoile
Summary: And we're off to the races!
Rating: PG-15 - for some language.
Pairing: Cloud Strife/Barret Wallace
Warnings: Game spoilers for the second visit to Gold Saucer, but it follows my own line of what the evening/storyline entailed, with the exception of the canon character/secret reveal bit. And, er, the language.
Disclaimer: We all know the drill. I don't own the characters or canon information included in my fic and I agree to give the characters back when I am done
Chapter Word Count: 1,256
Total Word Count: 8,181
Author's Notes: Well, here is the second chapter of the fic. I was quite surprised that so many people would be open to the Cloud/Barret pairing. I was absolutely thrilled and flattered that so many of you took a moment to leave a comment for me. Thank you! As always, thanks goes to my betas, misumisu84 and polaris_etoile, for double-checking my work for me. Also, all "Star Wars" mentions belong to George Lucas. See the end of the very last chapter for a few extra notes that address Canon Correctness (Copyright rights on that?) and such.
Crossposting: my InsaneJournal, ffvii_yaoi, barretcloud, and ffvii_yaoi
Chapters:
Chapter One
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
-
Cloud cleared his throat to get Barret's attention as he rose from his seat. They had reached the end of the line and would now have to walk to the area where the races where held. His lingering insecurity over whether it was truly a good idea to accept Barret's invitation to spend the evening in the park together returned to full force in the face of Barret's worrisome silence. Barret was known for a great many things, but long stretches of silence were not among his various talents.
Cloud began to worry whether he had said something offensive in passing that he had taken no heed of previously. He thought back over the evening and diligently searched through his recent memories of anything he might have said or done that would upset Barret's less-than-delicate sensibilities. When he could think of nothing, he pushed further back into his mind, thoroughly checking every rumpled corner of his consciousness.
Cloud gestured for Barret to exit first as he continued to flip through his recollections. There must have been something. What else could explain Barret's behavior? Cloud decided to try distracting his friend until he could locate the cause of his unease.
"It's a nice night out, huh?" Cloud asked, sidestepping an embracing couple that appeared to have never memorized the definition of the word 'privacy.'
"Uh, yeah. It's great. No rain. Nothin'," Barret replied automatically, stumbling over his words only once as he felt his accent thicken with every twist of his nerves. His eyes shot about in every direction as he took in their surroundings. He made certain to look everywhere, except for directly at Cloud.
Disheartened by the lack of response or even a glance in his direction, Cloud tried again.
"You know, I've always heard that Gold Saucer was pretty great. Lots to do. It's nice to be here with. . . friends." Cloud paused then to study the side of Barret's face. It would be nice to have Barret's eyes focused on him, instead of turned elsewhere on the one night when he wouldn't have to share their regard with anyone else.
Barret eyed Cloud from the edge of his vision. The blonde was looking at him expectantly, as though he was required to utter something truly inspired, or at least longer than a few muttered words in length. Barret ignored the urge to take a deep breath in hopes of calming himself before he answered.
"I heard tha' same thing. I've always been reluctant to come and see it, because of how it was built and all. I jus' didn't see tha' point, ya' know? I guess that none of that matters now, because here we are." Barret turned his head slightly figuring that it was better to give in to his accent and grinned at Cloud. "I mean, now that we're here and all, we might as well enjoy ourselves to tha' fullest!"
Cloud felt a grin spread across his face. This was the Barret he had come to know and like. This Barret had plenty of good cheer and a ready smile. He missed seeing this Barret. In the wake of the stress that threatened them all day-in and day-out, this Barret made all of his appearances with an increasingly subdued expression plastered across his face. Cloud knew that Barret himself was not to blame for his frustration, but he still missed their occasional relaxed conversations and shared amusement all the same.
"I've never had cause to come here before either, but it seems that the strangest reasons will take you to the most unlikely places. Still, I'm glad that we came." Cloud gave Barret a tiny grin and motioned for the larger man to move underneath the garish entrance of the racing area first.
They both looked up at the racing schedules displayed on television screens that hung from both the walls and the lower parts of the ceiling. They watched the odds for each chocobo's chance of winning their respective races and which round they would compete in flash on the brightly lit screens. Sighting the chocobo Cloud had heard encouraging comments about, they approached a betting window to place their bets on Spark's Lightning to Win. The girl behind the Plexiglas collected their money and handed them slips of paper with a listing of their chocobo's stats, assigned race for the night, and betting amount they had riding on the bird's performance. Cloud immediately stuffed his ticket into his pocket for safekeeping.
They pushed through the crowd toward the seats and standing room only railings that would allow them a view of the track. At one point, a rowdy group of men stepped between Cloud and Barret as they moved through the crowd. Cloud merely shoved them to the side and grabbed hold of the back of Barret's shirt. He had no intention of losing his friend in this madhouse; therefore, he felt no remorse when he glared back at the men until he and Barret had passed them by.
A threatening sense of alarm flared inside of Barret's head the moment he felt a hand suddenly clutch the material of his shirt. A glance over his shoulder informed him that it was in fact Cloud, and not some grabby stranger who felt that it was okay for them to put their hands wherever they so chose. He then spotted the group of men that Cloud was defiantly staring down. A whirl of familiar excitement settled in his stomach. He liked watching the kid work, but he found that he liked Cloud's nonverbal threats of death and maimed limbs just as well.
He reasoned that it was not so much that he wanted to see someone have their skull crushed in by the blonde, but more that it reminded him of the fact that small though Cloud might be, he wasn't a pushover for anyone, not even for Barret himself. Something about that thought tempered Barret's occasional annoyance at the way some people shrank away from him when he entered a room. Here, Cloud refused to be intimidated by anyone, while he himself was reluctantly growing accustomed to the prospect of never finding anyone to simply accept him for who he really was, the way Myrna had.
Of course, that was before everything had gone to hell and his arm was busted by that Shin-Ra bitch. He still had a couple of issues to settle with her, and as soon as he shot her in her fucking arm, then they just might be able to begin working on his more serious complaints. Barret smiled to think of it. He even had his gun ready and waiting. Just wait until that bitch saw what she did to him.
Cloud caught Barret's smile and grinned in return. The snap of Barret's eyes to Cloud's face made Cloud wonder if the smile was truly meant for him at all. However, he forced the grin to stay on his face as he dropped his hand away from Barret's shirt and drew level with his friend.
"How about we get a spot by the railing. We can see better from there anyway. Besides, who wants to walk up all of those steps to try and find a seat, when the race'll probably be over before we can sit down?" Cloud raised his eyebrows slightly and hoped that he merely looked excited about the race instead of concerned about whether he'd caught Barret checking someone else out or not.
"Sounds like a plan, Spiky."
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