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[Feels as though it's been ages since he fought like this. Coming out of Nibelheim, fresh, weak, atrophied, and hampered by the dull haze of mako and Cloud's weight on his back, he'd relied heavily on the hefty swing of the Buster to take out most of his enemies. Even without using the edge, the force of each blow alone was enough to take down the usual troopers in one hit, two if he was unlucky. And hand-to-hand was never much good against them, or most of the monsters en route to Midgar; guns or magic, hard to combat with feet and fists. The last time he'd focused so heavily on fighting like this was... Wutai, probably? Their soldiers moved too fast and got in too close. Made swords impractical a good chunk of the time. It was years ago, but the training stuck.

If you won't think with your head, Angeal used to scold him, because he'd never been much of a strategist, think with your fists. Your instincts are alright.

So he thinks with his fists, more often than not. He ducks and moves side to side, step-step-step, one move to the next without thinking ahead, and he's full of that old puppy energy that used to drive everyone up the wall when they were stuck with him in small spaces. He takes a hit he can afford to in order to utilize an opening, dodges when he can, rolls when he can't. Cloud's not bad. He can see the flickers of basic, the beginnings of instinct and the improvements on what it was like when they started doing this. It's a bit like when he himself was just learning.

It's... cathartic, in a lot of ways. Being on the other side. Weird, but he doesn't hate it.]

You're too stiff. Gotta loosen up, or your every move's predictable.

[Zack is...a surprisingly good teacher. Not sure why he thought he'd be terrible, but he's actually good; he doesn't hold back, doesn't coddle Cloud or let down his guard, knocks him down with brutal efficiency but then draws him back in. He leaves deliberate openings, and then closes them a little more each time, shortening the window or using it as a trap.

Cloud's M.O. has always been brute force for as long as he can remember; just keep swinging and hacking until your opponent isn't moving anymore. Somewhere along the way he picked up a kind of style and technique that's all his own, but there's no practice in it, no basics. His hand-to-hand is much the same, and slowly Zack starts finding those flaws and fixing them without hardly saying a word.

He leaves quite a few bruises too, but Cloud's fine with that. He knows he's left a couple of his own.

So when Zack tells him to loosen up Cloud actually listens, rolling his shoulders and head until he his neck cracks. He shakes out the tension through his arms and brings his fists up again, determined to knock Zack down at least once before they have to call it quits.]

[Zack doesn't make it easy for him, but that's kind of the point; training is to hone your skills, to learn, not to have the quick and easy route. Cloud knows that, and he'd probably know if Zack took it easy on him anyway. He was in the army, he's had a rough life. You don't just get things handed to you when you're a grunt from the boonies.

He's fine with that. He takes plenty of punches, because Cloud's fast, and he hits as hard as any SOLDIER would- harder, sometimes it feels like, because they'd been built a little differently in Nibelheim. The guy who fought and killed Sephiroth can't compare to a standard trooper back home, even with enhancements. He offers up some pointers when it feels appropriate - criticism on Cloud's stance, praising a particular hit, realigning his feet so his stance isn't so unbalanced, stuff like that - and lets Cloud figure the rest out on his own as they go.

Before too long Cloud catches him off guard just enough to knock his legs out from under him, and with a swift twisting motion flips him and- whump! he's on his back, properly winded.]

...Wow, hey! That was a good one.

Tifa showed me that. Hip throw. [Cloud's breathing heavily, sweaty and beat up but obviously proud of himself as he sticks out a hand to pull Zack up to his feet.] She said it works better against people bigger than yourself. Guess she was right.

She sure was.

[Zack accepts the hand, letting Cloud drag him back to his feet, stretching his arms up over his head.]

You're getting better, and fast too. My knuckles actually hurt a little.

[Nothing a good sleep won't fix, but that's still a testament to Cloud's durability.]

Just a little? [Cloud's tone might be aloof but he's totally preening. You damn right, he's a tough motherfucker. He can beat up ANYBODY now!!!! probably] You're a good teacher too. I was surprised.

[he's precious. someone give this champ a cookie.]

To be honest? I'm surprised, too. Never pegged myself as the teaching sort- didn't have the patience for it. At least, that's what my teacher used to say.

[Cloud frowns, still hanging onto Zack's hand as he tries to remember. Zack talked about him a lot, he remembers that now.] ...Angeal?

[oof; got it in one. well, he hasn't really been subtle about it. Zack doesn't pull away, merely shrugs a shoulder and smiles.]

You remembered.

[Lets go of Zack, shaking his head.] Just the name. I don't know if I ever met him.

[He gives Zack another look, squinting as he tries to recall before suddenly reaching up to push the loose hairs back from Zack's forehead, holding his hand there.] I remember this was partly because of him too...right?

[Zack's brows furrow for a moment, because what does he- oh. Ohhh, yeah. He doesn't draw back; as strange and unexpected it is to have Cloud so up close and personal, it's not unpleasant. More familiar than anything, actually, though he can't recall it ever happening before. Weird.]

It was... half, I guess, yeah. Part of it was me. I wanted to change, look more grown up. Be less of a puppy.

[He lifts a hand to tap his cheek, over the horizontal scar.]

This was him, though.

I remember this. [Cloud automatically reaches out to touch it before hesitating, then jerking his hand back and taking a couple steps away to put some distance between them. He gestures to his own cheek instead.] Was kinda like your trademark. Some of the guys in my squad would put fake scars on before dates, tryin' to impress girls or whatever.

[Zack gives the scar an idle scratch, resisting the urge to chase Cloud; doesn't want to make him antsy, but he kinda wishes he hadn't moved away.]

Yeah, that's not too unusual. SOLDIERs don't scar that easy- you know that, you got that perfect face of yours- so aside from the mako eyes sometimes people don't believe the smaller guys are even in the army. I had this one friend who became an expert at stage makeup just for the scars.

[Rolls his eyes at that -"perfect face," Zack, what- but the stage makeup thing sounds plausible enough that he'll buy it. With a snort, though.] God, we were all so young and dumb. Painting on scars and going around saying that you're friends with SOLDIERs and stuff... [He meanders over to the water cooler to pour out a couple paper cups and brings one over to Zack.]

[go ahead and try to tell him he's wrong, it's totally perfect]

You say that like you know from experience.

[come on Cloud tell a squad story]

[COUGH] I- no I don't. What? [GOES TO GET MORE WATER]

[omg.]

You did! I thought it was weird how happy you looked at lunch that day, even though you were about to puke. You were preening like a cockatrice weren't you!?

[Throws a sweat towel at] Shut up Zack! When you gotta stand still twelve hours at a time in front of a stupid door, knowing somebody famous is as good as it gets!

[ewww gross dude]

Hey, don't sweat it, man! I get you. I was a trooper once upon a time too, y'know? And hey, I'm a very cool guy. I'd brag about me, too.

You're a jackass, [Cloud informs him, feigning exasperation to avoid sounding too fond.] Who is maybe only a little bit cool.

[cloud

cloud

what have you done, cloud]

Oh my god, Cloud Strife thinks I'm cool! I'm gonna shout it from the mountain top, I'm gonna tell everyone I know. Zack's coming out on top, baby! This is the best. Day. Ever.

[FONDNESS GONE

Cloud just outright tackles Zack down to the mats to wrestle him into submission. Whether Zack is being serious or if he's making fun of him, either way he deserves this!!!] Shut up! God, you're so embarrassing!

[and he just laaaaughs and laughs, fighting back about as lazily as you can get. fine, fine, show how tough you are, punk.]

Oh nooo, he's touching me now! The great hero of the world! I'm never washing my hands again!

[nevermind he's wearing gloves anyway]

You're such a dumbass, [Cloud growls, putting Zack into a headlock both so he can keep him from squirming around and so he can fuck up his hair something fierce. TAKE THAT]

[fuck it up all you like but that's not going to stop Zack from rolling over, even in the headlock, trapping Cloud beneath his deadweight.]

Ahhhhh, okay! Time for a nap. This dumbass needs to rest his brain.

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