FIC: Givin' It a Shot is Good Enough, Right? [3/4]
Title: Givin' It a Shot is Good Enough, Right? [3/4]
Author:![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
dmitchell1985
Betas: misumisu84 and polaris_etoile
Summary: Race winning and losing and chocobo-kicking, oh my!
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: 2,370
Total Word Count: 8,181
Author's Notes: 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 Two
Chapter Four
-
They both pushed through the clump of spectators that stood between them and the railing. Ignoring the hisses of outrage that followed them, Barret and Cloud leaned their forearms on the cool, painted metal. Barret sighed in contentment, but Cloud stayed quiet.
A buzzer sounded from somewhere over the PA system and the stalls at the end of the track opened. The sound of thundering feet filled the area as different colored chocobos ran by, kicking up dust as they headed toward the finish line. The race was not the one they were anticipating, but it was thrilling to watch the birds speed by nevertheless.
Barret could hear an announcer giving a play-by-play of the action for those who could not see the race or didn't know each of the chocobos by name. Given the number of chocobos that raced here every year, there was a very small chance indeed that many park visitors knew all of the birds' names. As a result of the growing number of racing participants, most spectators didn't know any name beyond that of the bird they had bet on.
"And Devil's Run takes the lead!" Barret heard the announcer scream over the PA.
"Now it's Cake Legs!"
Someone nearby growled loudly and began screaming for Devil's Run to get his ass in gear. Barret chuckled and knew that he would be in the same state by the time his own race came along.
"Now it's Devil's Run! No! Now it's Christine's Luck! Devil's Run fights for the lead, but Christine's Luck doesn't look like he's going to give the spot up! Cake Legs is trying to move up from third, but he's fallen behind Jabba Hutt into fourth place. Henry the King is on Cake Legs' tail and is pushing up from fifth into fourth place. Cho Cho Paq has been left behind in sixth place, and it doesn't look like he's going to be moving up anytime soon!"
The crowd around Cloud and Barret were all screaming now, shaking their tickets in the air and willing their own birds on to the finish line first.
"It's Devil's Run! It's Christine's Luck! Oh god! It's neither! Jabba Hutt takes the win! Jabba Hutt takes the win! What an incredible race here, people! I did not see that coming! Stand by for the next race momentarily. Hey! Somebody get that guy off the track, will ya'!" The announcer chuckled over the PA and both Cloud and Barret leaned over the railing to see down the track.
A bulky man with purple hair had jumped over the railing onto the track in his frustration. He had just reached the side of a blue chocobo and was drawing his foot back to kick it, when security tackled the man to the dirt. Three uniformed guards wrestled the man away and dragged him toward the side of the track, where a fourth guard was holding the crowd back.
"I think we all know where he's going, don't we, folks? Say hello to Mr. Coates for me while you're there, won't ya'?" The announcer laughed louder than ever over the PA system and Barret just shook his head solemnly. It would be a long time indeed before that guy was able to say anything at all, let alone deliver the announcer's greetings to the head of the Desert Prison.
"That guy's sure goin' to be in for one hell of a time where he's goin'." Barret shook his head again.
Cloud nodded and said, "Sure is. I guess that'll teach him to try and kick a chocobo. I have to wonder if he'll still be able to have a chocobo race for him if he tried to hurt one of them."
"Don't know. I wouldn't count on it if I were him. It takes long enough as it is when you're just tryin' to win under normal circumstances. If anything, I expect them to let that chocobo kick him, and then throw him into a cell with a friendly roommate." Barret could not help but chuckle as he thought of the man's possible punishment. The thought of the bird he had intended to attack harming him instead was laughable.
Cloud chuckled to his right and Barret looked over at him. Barret beamed down at his friend before looking up at the monitor behind Cloud to see when the next race would start.
"Yeah, that would be something," Cloud admitted, but he stopped speaking when he saw Barret look away from him. He was doing it again, being avoidant. When Cloud followed Barret's line of sight, he realized that Barret wasn't being avoidant, he was simply looking at the screen hanging just behind him. His cheeks reddened with embarrassment. They'd only gone out this one time, and already he was behaving as a jealous lover would. The thought of himself as Barret's lover, and all that it implied, made Cloud's cheeks redden all the more.
Catching the blush on Cloud's face, Barret couldn't help but wonder what had set the kid off. "What? Ya' finally figured out some of the other things that might happen to that guy down in the prison?" Barret asked, a jaunty grin stretched across his lips.
Cloud shook his head, but Barret's mention of the 'other things' that take place in prison only made him blush further. Those things made him think of Barret or himself in that same position. He wondered which of them would spread out the way he was unwillingly imagining some of the prisoners did. He decided that either way might just be okay with him.
Pushing the thought away, Cloud finally answered Barret's question. "No, it's just hot is all. Too many people." Cloud gave a tiny smile to cover his embarrassment.
"Ah," Barret said intelligently. "Do ya' want to get a soda or somethin'? My treat."
"Maybe later. I don't want to miss the race." Cloud nodded his head toward the track.
"Right. Me, too. I sure hope that our race is like that last one. Only, I'd like our bird to win." Barret coughed to cover the awkward taste the word 'our' left in his mouth. It almost sounded like they were already together, instead of merely giving it a shot to see what would happen.
"Me, too. Although, we could do without someone jumping onto the track."
Barret nodded his head and vaguely registered the fact that the next race he claimed to want to watch had come and gone in the time that he and Cloud stood talking. He found that he honestly didn't care, because there were better things to do than watch birds run along a dirt track. One of which was standing there beside him.
Realizing that they had missed the next race, Cloud glanced over at the finish line. "Looks like we missed that one."
"Yeah, but that's okay, because Spark wasn't in that race." Barret checked the screen behind Cloud again and saw that Spark's Lightning was listed among the next race's participants. "We'd better watch this race comin' up, it's ours."
There was that word again. Barret was relieved to see that Cloud didn't flinch or even blink to hear it.
"I guess so." Cloud smiled up at Barret before he turned to face the end of the track where the chocobos would enter.
Barret studied Cloud using the awkward peripheral slant of his vision and hoped that maybe they could do stuff like this more often. The kid really wasn't all that hard on the eyes, not to mention the fact that he could hold up his end in a conversation, when he wanted to. The sound of a buzzer shattered his current thoughts and his mind turned toward the race.
The announcer took up his post again and Barret listened to the play-by-play as though his life depended on him catching every word.
"Trinket takes the lead right out of the gate! Long Legged Sue is catching up quickly! Gohen is pushing his way to the front! Spark's Lightning is gaining on Belkin's Heat's position in fourth! Spark's Lightning takes third! He takes second! Gohen puts on a burst of speed and is now in first place! Danke is closing in on Belkin's Heat now and passes him up!"
Barret groaned and swore at Gohen and Spark's Lightning to switch places. The end of the track was quickly approaching, and it wouldn't be long before the race's winner was decided.
Cloud, however, remained quiet and watched Barret wave his arms about, seemingly heedless of the direction his gun arm pointed. He knew the older man better than that. No matter what was going on around him, Barret always knew where his gun arm was pointed, for fear that he would accidentally shoot someone he hadn't intended to.
Barret screamed louder for Spark's Lightning to run his ass off if he knew what was good for him. Amazingly, the chocobo did just that.
"And Spark's Lightning takes the lead! He's pulling a remarkable feat, folks! Look at him go! Trinket, Gohen, Long Legged Sue, Danke, and Belkin's Heat all fall behind. Spark's Lightning is your winner. Spark's Lightning is your winner!"
Barret cheered with the crowd around them and turned to hug Cloud in a breath-crushing embrace. He then turned to the guy next to him that was jumping up and down and shrieking out his delight at the outcome of the race and hugged him, too. Barret then slapped the man five and they both turned to hug and slap five with several others in the crowd before untangling themselves to rush over to the betting windows to collect their winnings.
Barret caught Cloud's hand in his own and dragged him over to the line, shoving and bumping through the crowd like all of the other winners. Barret laughed loudly as he ran and merely clasped Cloud's hand harder.
Cloud allowed himself to be towed along behind Barret as they made their way back to the betting windows. The pressure on his hand ground his bones together, but he didn't really mind. Barret was holding his hand without any hints of the earlier awkwardness that had begun to worry Cloud. They were just out having a good time, and that was more than enough for him.
Cloud joined the growing line behind Barret and glared at several men that were aiming to push past them toward a better spot up front. He wished that he'd been able to bring his sword with him, so that the men around them would readily get the point that trying to skip ahead of them was going to be the worst idea they'd had all day.
The men Cloud glared at sneered right back, but stopped shoving long enough to form a line behind Cloud. Satisfied that he wouldn't have to ram his elbow into anyone's throat just yet, Cloud turned back to Barret. He was pleased to see that the line had moved up a couple of feet while he was distracted. Cloud dug his ticket out of the pocket he had stuck it in and smoothed out the crumpled paper as best that he could with his one free hand, as Barret had yet to release him.
Cloud could feel Barret's own ticket pressed against his skin inside of the other man's grip. How he had managed to hold on to the slip of paper and grab Cloud's hand at the same time, Cloud didn't know. He was certain that if he'd tried to do the same, he would have simply lost his ticket, and then he would have been stuck out of his winnings.
When it was finally their turn to approach the window, Barret dropped Cloud's hand and presented his ticket to the woman behind the Plexiglas. He slid the paper underneath the small opening at the bottom of the window and moved to the side so that Cloud could do the same. The attendant checked their tickets and began counting out their GP.
Barret scooped up his money from underneath the window and shoved it into his pockets. Once Barret plucked the last of his money from the counter, the attendant pushed Cloud's GP out, and he, too, retrieved his money and pushed it all into his pockets.
"Jus' think of all of tha' stuff we can buy now!" Barret crowed gleefully. "Man! There are some things that I want to pick up for Marlene. I'd bet she'd love a stuffed chocobo or some hard candy on a stick. Wha' are ya' going to buy?" Barret looked over at Cloud, who was still busy making sure that he had picked up all of his money and stored it away safely.
"Huh?" Cloud asked, when he realized that Barret was speaking to him.
"I said, what were ya' plannin' to buy with your money? Your GP," Barret clarified and motioned toward Cloud's very full pockets.
"Oh," Cloud said, "I don't know yet. Maybe another ride or something. Maybe something to eat. I'm pretty hungry. You?"
"Yeah, me, too. I could eat a whole chocobo by myself." Barret grinned at the startled gasps that surrounded him. "But maybe not from here jus' now, eh?"
Cloud chuckled at the disapproving stares Barret drew and shook his head. "Yeah. Let's see what we can find. I think that the hotel has some pretty good stuff. We could order room service."
"Sounds good." Barret hesitated for a moment as he tried to decide whether he should reach for Cloud's hand again. The first time had only been due to his excitement and desire to reach the betting window before a long line formed in front of it. Even though he had enjoyed the feel of Cloud's smaller hand in his own, Barret was now unsure as to what he was supposed to do in this situation. This time, the action would be much more deliberate, more intimate - almost.
Cloud solved the dilemma by punching Barret lightly in the arm when he stood silent for too long. "Are we going or not?"
"Yeah, let's go," Barret mumbled, feeling rather disappointed that he hadn't taken the initiative to reach for Cloud's hand again.
GlumAuthor:
dmitchell1985Betas: misumisu84 and polaris_etoile
Summary: Race winning and losing and chocobo-kicking, oh my!
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: 2,370
Total Word Count: 8,181
Author's Notes: 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 Two
Chapter Four
-
They both pushed through the clump of spectators that stood between them and the railing. Ignoring the hisses of outrage that followed them, Barret and Cloud leaned their forearms on the cool, painted metal. Barret sighed in contentment, but Cloud stayed quiet.
A buzzer sounded from somewhere over the PA system and the stalls at the end of the track opened. The sound of thundering feet filled the area as different colored chocobos ran by, kicking up dust as they headed toward the finish line. The race was not the one they were anticipating, but it was thrilling to watch the birds speed by nevertheless.
Barret could hear an announcer giving a play-by-play of the action for those who could not see the race or didn't know each of the chocobos by name. Given the number of chocobos that raced here every year, there was a very small chance indeed that many park visitors knew all of the birds' names. As a result of the growing number of racing participants, most spectators didn't know any name beyond that of the bird they had bet on.
"And Devil's Run takes the lead!" Barret heard the announcer scream over the PA.
"Now it's Cake Legs!"
Someone nearby growled loudly and began screaming for Devil's Run to get his ass in gear. Barret chuckled and knew that he would be in the same state by the time his own race came along.
"Now it's Devil's Run! No! Now it's Christine's Luck! Devil's Run fights for the lead, but Christine's Luck doesn't look like he's going to give the spot up! Cake Legs is trying to move up from third, but he's fallen behind Jabba Hutt into fourth place. Henry the King is on Cake Legs' tail and is pushing up from fifth into fourth place. Cho Cho Paq has been left behind in sixth place, and it doesn't look like he's going to be moving up anytime soon!"
The crowd around Cloud and Barret were all screaming now, shaking their tickets in the air and willing their own birds on to the finish line first.
"It's Devil's Run! It's Christine's Luck! Oh god! It's neither! Jabba Hutt takes the win! Jabba Hutt takes the win! What an incredible race here, people! I did not see that coming! Stand by for the next race momentarily. Hey! Somebody get that guy off the track, will ya'!" The announcer chuckled over the PA and both Cloud and Barret leaned over the railing to see down the track.
A bulky man with purple hair had jumped over the railing onto the track in his frustration. He had just reached the side of a blue chocobo and was drawing his foot back to kick it, when security tackled the man to the dirt. Three uniformed guards wrestled the man away and dragged him toward the side of the track, where a fourth guard was holding the crowd back.
"I think we all know where he's going, don't we, folks? Say hello to Mr. Coates for me while you're there, won't ya'?" The announcer laughed louder than ever over the PA system and Barret just shook his head solemnly. It would be a long time indeed before that guy was able to say anything at all, let alone deliver the announcer's greetings to the head of the Desert Prison.
"That guy's sure goin' to be in for one hell of a time where he's goin'." Barret shook his head again.
Cloud nodded and said, "Sure is. I guess that'll teach him to try and kick a chocobo. I have to wonder if he'll still be able to have a chocobo race for him if he tried to hurt one of them."
"Don't know. I wouldn't count on it if I were him. It takes long enough as it is when you're just tryin' to win under normal circumstances. If anything, I expect them to let that chocobo kick him, and then throw him into a cell with a friendly roommate." Barret could not help but chuckle as he thought of the man's possible punishment. The thought of the bird he had intended to attack harming him instead was laughable.
Cloud chuckled to his right and Barret looked over at him. Barret beamed down at his friend before looking up at the monitor behind Cloud to see when the next race would start.
"Yeah, that would be something," Cloud admitted, but he stopped speaking when he saw Barret look away from him. He was doing it again, being avoidant. When Cloud followed Barret's line of sight, he realized that Barret wasn't being avoidant, he was simply looking at the screen hanging just behind him. His cheeks reddened with embarrassment. They'd only gone out this one time, and already he was behaving as a jealous lover would. The thought of himself as Barret's lover, and all that it implied, made Cloud's cheeks redden all the more.
Catching the blush on Cloud's face, Barret couldn't help but wonder what had set the kid off. "What? Ya' finally figured out some of the other things that might happen to that guy down in the prison?" Barret asked, a jaunty grin stretched across his lips.
Cloud shook his head, but Barret's mention of the 'other things' that take place in prison only made him blush further. Those things made him think of Barret or himself in that same position. He wondered which of them would spread out the way he was unwillingly imagining some of the prisoners did. He decided that either way might just be okay with him.
Pushing the thought away, Cloud finally answered Barret's question. "No, it's just hot is all. Too many people." Cloud gave a tiny smile to cover his embarrassment.
"Ah," Barret said intelligently. "Do ya' want to get a soda or somethin'? My treat."
"Maybe later. I don't want to miss the race." Cloud nodded his head toward the track.
"Right. Me, too. I sure hope that our race is like that last one. Only, I'd like our bird to win." Barret coughed to cover the awkward taste the word 'our' left in his mouth. It almost sounded like they were already together, instead of merely giving it a shot to see what would happen.
"Me, too. Although, we could do without someone jumping onto the track."
Barret nodded his head and vaguely registered the fact that the next race he claimed to want to watch had come and gone in the time that he and Cloud stood talking. He found that he honestly didn't care, because there were better things to do than watch birds run along a dirt track. One of which was standing there beside him.
Realizing that they had missed the next race, Cloud glanced over at the finish line. "Looks like we missed that one."
"Yeah, but that's okay, because Spark wasn't in that race." Barret checked the screen behind Cloud again and saw that Spark's Lightning was listed among the next race's participants. "We'd better watch this race comin' up, it's ours."
There was that word again. Barret was relieved to see that Cloud didn't flinch or even blink to hear it.
"I guess so." Cloud smiled up at Barret before he turned to face the end of the track where the chocobos would enter.
Barret studied Cloud using the awkward peripheral slant of his vision and hoped that maybe they could do stuff like this more often. The kid really wasn't all that hard on the eyes, not to mention the fact that he could hold up his end in a conversation, when he wanted to. The sound of a buzzer shattered his current thoughts and his mind turned toward the race.
The announcer took up his post again and Barret listened to the play-by-play as though his life depended on him catching every word.
"Trinket takes the lead right out of the gate! Long Legged Sue is catching up quickly! Gohen is pushing his way to the front! Spark's Lightning is gaining on Belkin's Heat's position in fourth! Spark's Lightning takes third! He takes second! Gohen puts on a burst of speed and is now in first place! Danke is closing in on Belkin's Heat now and passes him up!"
Barret groaned and swore at Gohen and Spark's Lightning to switch places. The end of the track was quickly approaching, and it wouldn't be long before the race's winner was decided.
Cloud, however, remained quiet and watched Barret wave his arms about, seemingly heedless of the direction his gun arm pointed. He knew the older man better than that. No matter what was going on around him, Barret always knew where his gun arm was pointed, for fear that he would accidentally shoot someone he hadn't intended to.
Barret screamed louder for Spark's Lightning to run his ass off if he knew what was good for him. Amazingly, the chocobo did just that.
"And Spark's Lightning takes the lead! He's pulling a remarkable feat, folks! Look at him go! Trinket, Gohen, Long Legged Sue, Danke, and Belkin's Heat all fall behind. Spark's Lightning is your winner. Spark's Lightning is your winner!"
Barret cheered with the crowd around them and turned to hug Cloud in a breath-crushing embrace. He then turned to the guy next to him that was jumping up and down and shrieking out his delight at the outcome of the race and hugged him, too. Barret then slapped the man five and they both turned to hug and slap five with several others in the crowd before untangling themselves to rush over to the betting windows to collect their winnings.
Barret caught Cloud's hand in his own and dragged him over to the line, shoving and bumping through the crowd like all of the other winners. Barret laughed loudly as he ran and merely clasped Cloud's hand harder.
Cloud allowed himself to be towed along behind Barret as they made their way back to the betting windows. The pressure on his hand ground his bones together, but he didn't really mind. Barret was holding his hand without any hints of the earlier awkwardness that had begun to worry Cloud. They were just out having a good time, and that was more than enough for him.
Cloud joined the growing line behind Barret and glared at several men that were aiming to push past them toward a better spot up front. He wished that he'd been able to bring his sword with him, so that the men around them would readily get the point that trying to skip ahead of them was going to be the worst idea they'd had all day.
The men Cloud glared at sneered right back, but stopped shoving long enough to form a line behind Cloud. Satisfied that he wouldn't have to ram his elbow into anyone's throat just yet, Cloud turned back to Barret. He was pleased to see that the line had moved up a couple of feet while he was distracted. Cloud dug his ticket out of the pocket he had stuck it in and smoothed out the crumpled paper as best that he could with his one free hand, as Barret had yet to release him.
Cloud could feel Barret's own ticket pressed against his skin inside of the other man's grip. How he had managed to hold on to the slip of paper and grab Cloud's hand at the same time, Cloud didn't know. He was certain that if he'd tried to do the same, he would have simply lost his ticket, and then he would have been stuck out of his winnings.
When it was finally their turn to approach the window, Barret dropped Cloud's hand and presented his ticket to the woman behind the Plexiglas. He slid the paper underneath the small opening at the bottom of the window and moved to the side so that Cloud could do the same. The attendant checked their tickets and began counting out their GP.
Barret scooped up his money from underneath the window and shoved it into his pockets. Once Barret plucked the last of his money from the counter, the attendant pushed Cloud's GP out, and he, too, retrieved his money and pushed it all into his pockets.
"Jus' think of all of tha' stuff we can buy now!" Barret crowed gleefully. "Man! There are some things that I want to pick up for Marlene. I'd bet she'd love a stuffed chocobo or some hard candy on a stick. Wha' are ya' going to buy?" Barret looked over at Cloud, who was still busy making sure that he had picked up all of his money and stored it away safely.
"Huh?" Cloud asked, when he realized that Barret was speaking to him.
"I said, what were ya' plannin' to buy with your money? Your GP," Barret clarified and motioned toward Cloud's very full pockets.
"Oh," Cloud said, "I don't know yet. Maybe another ride or something. Maybe something to eat. I'm pretty hungry. You?"
"Yeah, me, too. I could eat a whole chocobo by myself." Barret grinned at the startled gasps that surrounded him. "But maybe not from here jus' now, eh?"
Cloud chuckled at the disapproving stares Barret drew and shook his head. "Yeah. Let's see what we can find. I think that the hotel has some pretty good stuff. We could order room service."
"Sounds good." Barret hesitated for a moment as he tried to decide whether he should reach for Cloud's hand again. The first time had only been due to his excitement and desire to reach the betting window before a long line formed in front of it. Even though he had enjoyed the feel of Cloud's smaller hand in his own, Barret was now unsure as to what he was supposed to do in this situation. This time, the action would be much more deliberate, more intimate - almost.
Cloud solved the dilemma by punching Barret lightly in the arm when he stood silent for too long. "Are we going or not?"
"Yeah, let's go," Barret mumbled, feeling rather disappointed that he hadn't taken the initiative to reach for Cloud's hand again.
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