Chapter Text
Everyone had a phrase or two printed on their body somewhere, written in another’s hand. The first words of their soulmate. Not everyone ever heard their words said, but those who did could honestly be considered some of the happiest people in the universe. Even if that universe was in the middle of a fulsacle war with several alien races. Most soldiers were proud to show of their words and took every chance they got to try and find the one they came from. And then there was the Master Chief John-117. He kept his words covered at all times. The weren’t something that he really ever wanted to hear. Until one day he did.
“You hit like a girl.”
The words rang in the Spartan's ears for a few seconds before he snapped, “Yeah, well at least I don’t shoot like a child.”
The sharp intake of breath had him looking at the one who spoke. Out of control spiky blond hair, glowing blue eyes, black clothes of an odd design and a with a massive sword slung across his back the other man looked more than a little out of place with the rifle in his hands. Shaking his head slightly the blond threw the empty rifle at a nearby Grunt, the toss actually taking the small alien’s head. Drawing the sword off his back the blond brandished the massive weapon one handed.
“We can’t all be crack shots, now can we?” he said, voice soft and steely. “By the way, I meant that as a compliment.”
John didn’t get to reply before the blond was literally launching himself at an Elite that was trying to inspire its clutch of Grunts. The massive heavy sword cleaved the alien in two with one swing. Shrieking Grunts scattered before the blond but didn’t get far before john had picked most of them off. Blondie took care of the rest with a few quick swings of the sword. It didn’t take the pair long to help the Marines clear out the rest of the Covenant presence in the area. Once it was secure John looked for the blond. He was standing off to the side while several Marines talked around him. It was more than a little obvious that he had absolutely no interest in what was being said at all. If anything he was more focused on something beneath his shirt. He kept looking down at his right collarbone, rubbing at the spot occasionally. Squaring his shoulders the Spartan walked over.
Blue eyes snapped to the face-plate of his helmet as he got closer, “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure, why not,” the blond replied easily with a shrug.
“Hey! We still need to make our report!” one of the Marines called as the pair started to move away.
Blondie looked over his shoulder at the man, an unimpressed look on his face, “You don’t exactly have the power nor authority to make me stay.”
The man just sputtered at their backs as they moved a little farther from the group. John knew Cortana had already called in their evac shuttle so they were on a bit of a time crunch. He wanted to get this conversation over and done with before Foehammer arrived to get them. If they had to try and talk somewhere else, well, there might not be a somewhere else. Trapped on this stupid ring as they were this might be the best time to have a conversation like this. though , if the guy had that kind of skill with a sword there might be a later in all of this.
“So? What do you want?” the blond asked, snapping John back to the present.
“I think You should know that already,” John said slowly, shifting his weight slightly under that glowing blue gaze.
Signing the blond looked away, “Yeah, I do. This is not gonna be easy.”
“Easy is boring,” John was quick to say earning a faint smile from the other.
“Cloud.”
“I’m sorry?” the word confused the soldier, not having expected something so ordinary in the middle of a rather serious conversation.
“My name, its Cloud. Cloud Strife,” Cloud said again, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
“Right, sorry...” John stopped, not totally sure he could trust the other with his real name.
“Don’t trust me?” Cloud asked folding his arms across his chest after a few moments of silence.
“It’s not you, Cloud. He doesn’t really trust anyone,” Cortana said quickly before introducing herself. “I’m Cortana, by the way. I help make sure this guy stays alive.”
Cloud just nodded but he didn’t question her. It surprised both the soldier and the AI, then again most people would have known that Cortana wasn’t human. Cloud didn’t strike them as someone who would know that. He was using a massive sword for crying out loud! Though if pressed John would say that the shorter man was actually something of a decent shot, despite what he said. Hearing his words has just shocked him so much he snapped back the first thing that came to mind. It hadn’t helped things that the rifle had misfired at that exact moment. That made the Spartan stop for a moment. The rifle misfires but Cloud was standing there like nothing happened.
“Show me your hands,” he said holding out one large armored hand.
“I’m sorry?” cloud said slowly, giving him a raised eyebrow.
“The rifle you threw misfired. It had to have burned your hands,” John elaborated quickly. “Let me see them.”
Cloud shook his head slowly, “Don’t worry about it. They’re fine.”
John kept holding out his hand until the blond sighted and dropped one gloved hand into the spartan’s much larger one. Carefully he flipped the blonds hand over, not wanting to risk aggravating any potential injuries. Cloud just allowed the examination despite knowing that the super soldier couldn't find anything. The larger man was more than a little surprised not to find any mark on the soft leather of the blond’s glove. He lingered over the other’s hand for a moment longer than he probably should have before finally letting go.
“Am I clear?” Cloud asked, a faint joking tone in his voice.
“Yeah,” John said softly. “You’re clear.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth that a Pelican came gliding into view. Cloud stepped back a bit from the larger man, not quite out of his space but nowhere near as close as he had been. As soon as the ship landed everyone was quick to clamber aboard. Both Cloud and John were at the back of the ship. There was no way that the Chief’s bulk or Cloud’s sword would have been comfortable to be around. Once everyone was settled and the door sealed The ship took off. Cloud easily shifted his weight to compensate for the movement of the turbulence, which John found surprising. The blond apparently had some experience with flying contrary to his use of a sword. Shaking his head John tried to focus more on the mission at hand. There would be time to get to know the shorter man better once they weren’t in the middle of a war zone.