Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

Blonde Ambition	By : sephcounttheways Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2097 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Cloud opened his eyes and was looking into Sephiroth’s. But upside down.

He stared for a few moments before closing his eyes, then opening them again to try and make sense of it. The length of Sephiroth’s body was pressed close behind him, but he was leaning all the way over Cloud so that his head was pressed upside down into the pillow, his silver hair spread across the bed like tinsel.

“Mornin’.” He drawled.

Cloud grinned widely and closed his eyes again. He went to shift, but found his limbs completely entangled with his bedmate’s. Sephiroth moved right side up, disappearing behind Cloud, and unhooked a relaxation-heavy leg from around him to let him move. Cloud rolled over and curled up against Sephiroth, pressing his face into the warm, smooth skin of his neck. Under his lips he sensed Sephiroth’s pulse beating softly through his veins, and kissed. Sephiroth turned his face and returned the kiss between Clouds eyes.

Love.. was Cloud’s first happy, coherent thought before he felt his brain bloom into wakefulness with horror.

Absolute horror.

“Wanna take a shower?” Sephiroth suggested with fingertips tracing languidly up and down Cloud’s arm.

He swallowed, “…Sure. Yeah.”

Sephiroth kissed Cloud’s hair and then threw his legs over the edge of the bed with a sigh, “Gimme like two minutes first.”

Cloud furrowed his brow, “Huh?”

“I gotta mail a package.” Sephiroth rose out of bed with a stretch, making himself impossibly long, then shot a playful glance over his shoulder, “…But you can come watch if you’re into that.”

Cloud gave a snort and burrowed farther down into the covers as Sephiroth’s lovely, naked ass disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door, kindly leaving Cloud alone to fully chew and digest his utter and absolute misery.

He grimaced bitterly in the sudden coldness of the room, thinking a million things at once. The one most prominent thought of all was : Why does love have to be such a big goddamn deal?

Last night Sephiroth had run big, strong hands all over his body. Kissed him. Held him. He had the chance to look up into green, pleasure clouded eyes. Feel Sephiroth’s body in a way that nobody had ever felt it before. He got to wake up next to him.

So, couldn’t that be enough?

Cloud could almost envision it; the gathering of his clothes, the hardwood under his bare feet as he walked to the couch to put his shoes on. He could see Sephiroth heading into the kitchen as he tied them, then coming with a cup of coffee, giving him a small, friendly peck goodbye as he made his exit. He could see the door close and hear the lock from the outside. Cloud could just about see himself waiting at the train station, getting some coffee of his own for the ride back home. Entering his room, unpacking, and showering this experience, this obsession, this love off of him.

Cloud recalled the expression Sephiroth wore when he had spoken the dreaded ‘L’ word. He had never seen a face be so blank, and so clashed at the same time. What could he possibly have been thinking inside his precious head? The closest estimation Cloud could make was that... perhaps Sephiroth felt a bit sorry for him.

Cloud’s cheeks tinged sadly as his face sank into the side of the pillow Sephiroth had slept on. His nose was filled with the warm, sweet scent of Sephiroth’s hair, while his head filled with even sweeter memories of the previous night. Kisses, cuddles, body heat. Hands, fingers, lips. The most incredible, indescribable wholeness he’d ever felt before. He recalled Sephiroth’s hand clasped tightly, reassuringly, protectively against his neck, his thumb stroking his lips. Cloud then recalled the taste of that thumb. And of Sephiroth’s sweat. And how he pushed into his body like he’d never stop, never have enough.

Why!? Why did Cloud have to ruin what was a beautiful, perfect first fuck? Why couldn’t he just let well enough alone? Just let it be a fuck?

Because it was not just a fuck.

He cares, probably... Cloud decided ...He just doesn’t love me. That’s all.

His entire life Cloud had been overly prone to crying, and he had done it so much and so often that he knew the nature of his own tear glands in a way that few people ever really did. He cried now like a person wrings out a towel, hasty and unfeeling, pushing the wetness out all at once so it didn’t trickle out slowly. There was so much palpable, liquid sadness in his skull that it almost alarmed him. He felt like there would be no end to how many tears he could cry at the simple truth that Sephiroth did not love him.

Sephiroth vaaalued him.

Cloud made a face of distaste behind his tears. Oh, he had a fucking hatred for that word this morning. Value. It sounded cheap, and it made Cloud feel cheap.

I guess I am sort of cheap... he thought to himself, and despite the rocky state of his emotions, he cracked a smile into the pillow.

A flush, and the bathroom door opened slightly. “Safe now,” Sephiroth called, then made a loud noise of shivery discomfort, “Watch out, the floor’s fuckin’ cold. Run.” And then his shadow disappeared again into the light of the bathroom.

Watery blue eyes blinked from the nest of pillows and blankets.

Cloud had to love him. The man was as sweet as fucking sugar. He really, really was. Cloud couldn’t not love him. So, was it really so terrible to be... valued by this man? To be anything to him?

He would take anything. If it was just a fuck, he’d take it. If Sephiroth had confessed to loving him, he’d take it that too, as much as he could get. If Sephiroth kicked him out right now without explanation or cause, he’d obey, then spend the rest of his life trying to get back into this bed.

The fact that Sephiroth valued him didn’t make Cloud feel cheap. Not his intense, unrequited love, either.

Complete and total emotional slavery. That’s what made Cloud feel cheap.

He then heard water rush through the pipes high up above on the ceiling, and a thought occurred to him. Sephiroth was, at this very moment naked and wet and had extended an invitation to the show. Cloud felt a tiny burst of positive energy blip in the bleakness of his mood like a drop of white ink. He almost smiled as he rolled, finding the edge of the bed and standing. He stretched up a little to crack his back, wincing at a tiny ache in the most obvious place, then shyly wandered to the slightly ajar bathroom door.

He pushed it open with his fingertips, appreciating its smooth, well oiled hinges. He then quickly closed it behind him with a soft click. Stepping quietly up to the tub, he put one finger to the curtain and parted it, peeking in.

Cloud felt like his eyes must have popped out as they took in the heavenly sight that Sephiroth made standing with his eyes closed under the shower head, his hands running through his wet silver hair, trickles of water cascading down his body. His creamy skin made a mockery of the fluorescent bathroom light, the sort of light which prided itself on enhancing imperfections.

Sephiroth didn’t have any.

Cloud batted his eyes and then glanced down at himself, keenly aware of the myriad of blotches, bruises, scars, cuts, scrapes, and other unsightly detours on the map of his own skin. He was certain Sephiroth saw nothing when he looked at him but his flaws. Cowlicks, knobby knees, no abs, and cheeks prone to turning that goddamned shade of pink.

What’s to love? The voice in his mind wondered cruelly.

“You’re lettin’ in the cold.” Sephiroth’s rumbling morning voice complained.

The pink shade deepened as Sephiroth opened one eye to look at the blonde peeping tom and shot him a grin. Cloud stomped quickly into the tub and then shut the curtain, holding it to the wall to avoid letting in any cooler, unwanted temperatures.

He turned around, prepared to stand and wait until Sephiroth was done with the water, but wet hands caught his. Cloud was pulled until his feet were between Sephiroth’s and his body pressed against the warmth and wetness he was covered in. Goosebumps ran along Cloud’s skin as he was coaxed slowly under the stream of hot water.

For the love of God, he felt so terribly shy standing there naked with Sephiroth. A sort of deep shyness that hadn’t touched him in a long time, and he had not been expecting to be touched by it again, all things considered. But his face turned the dial from bitch boy pink to blood red in five seconds. Sephiroth ran hands up and down his back, clashing further his feelings of virginal shyness, the knife depression had in his back, and now the cruel tease of arousal.

Sephiroth tipped Cloud’s head back under the stream, brushing all of his hair off of his face, watching his long throat swallow.

“Did you just cry?”

“No,” Cloud lied.

Sephiroth smoothed his thumbs slowly under Cloud’s eyes, staring at him with a question on his face, and then ran his hands up into Cloud’s wet hair, “How does this happen?”

Cloud assumed he was referring to the fact that when wet, his hair turned into a dark honey colored bob. He just shrugged and smiled, then reached up to push back the fringe plastered to the sides of Sephiroth’s face, slicking it back so there was nothing at all to for him to hide behind either.

Cloud giggled softly at a new discovery this enabled, “Seeeph.. You have such big, cute ears..”

Sephiroth’s face went blank, then turned to dry disbelief.

Cloud put his hands over both of them and gently tugged, “Cute...”

Sephiroth snorted and turned, taking a bottle of shampoo and squirting a dollop on top of Cloud’s head. His mood feeling lighter, he smiled and began to scratch it through his hair, sliding past Sephiroth to take a better look at his shower supplies. He scanned the bottles and containers for something cookie scented, but alas, they were all completely normal, masculine, boring items.

Cloud turned back to catch Sephiroth, in a movement that was quick and practiced, twist his hair into a long, wet rope. He watched him take a handful of shampoo and slick it around the rope in two or three long motions of his arms.

“Please don’t ever cut that,” Cloud sighed, rinsing the shampoo off of his head.

“I’ve truly considered choppin’ it all off a few times...” Sephiroth muttered as he worked another handful of shampoo into his scalp.

Cloud chuckled, “Noo! You’re not allowed to.”

“Aww, you wouldn’t love me anymore?” Sephiroth asked playfully, dunking his head under the water for a rinse.

Cloud stared up at him, unsure of how to respond to that. So, he just opted to gawk in shock with his mouth hanging open.

Sephiroth paused, wiping the water off of his face, “...What?”

“...Nothing.” Cloud said deeply, slowly.

He could almost see the gears in Sephiroth’s mind turning, the mental chewing of information. He reached for the conditioner and helped himself to a handful, then held it out to Cloud.

Cloud looked at it for a moment before holding out his palm. Sephiroth gave him the recommended dime sized amount, then clicked it closed.

Noise was a constant in their experience of each other. Cloud more so at the strange start of things, but Sephiroth’s volume had turned up considerably. Breathing, laughing, speaking, sighing, grumbling, humming, bitching, drumming. Silence usually meant that Cloud was doing homework in the dorm hallway and Sephiroth had fallen asleep on the other line, or apparently, that someone was upset. Not looking at each other, they began to condition. Something began to turn and turn in the air between them, tightening.

Cloud stood totally still as he rubbed the conditioner into his hair, taking way too long and thinking way too much about it. Sephiroth seemed to be especially painstakingly careful in working it into the ends of his rope of wet, shiny silver.

When he couldn’t imagine another inch of his head that wasn’t thoroughly conditioned, Cloud decided rinsing was now appropriate. He moved into the water stream next to Sephiroth.

It wasn’t that he made a conscious effort to not touch the man, but it happened that way. He stood straight, bowed out and arched to leave a space between them.

Sephiroth touched the back of Cloud’s shoulder and he moved slightly to make room.

He touched Cloud again, and again he moved.

The solid touch of a full palm replaced the fleeting brushes, and Cloud looked up to find Sephiroth almost pouting. Just almost.

He finally mumbled something that sounded like, “What s’matter?”

“Nothing,” Cloud said again, full of acid and obvious sarcasm. The sound of it surprised even him, and he was immediately regretful.

Sephiroth stared at him, chewing the side of his mouth for a moment before turning into the water, continuing his rinsing. Cloud stood awkwardly, completely baffled at being turned away from, before squeezing past Sephiroth to stand under his runoff, looking up into his confused, agitated green eyes.

After a few moments, Sephiroth finally asked, “Why did you cry?”

“I...” Cloud found his voice wavering in the middle of his lie, so he made a new one, “... I don’t know.”

“Why are you lyin’ to me?” Sephiroth asked with such a degree of innocence that Cloud felt his chest almost heave with nausea. Sephiroth hadn’t meant to be an asshole with the ‘you wouldn’t love me anymore’ comment… he was just playing, flirting, as usual. Cloud wanted an eject button from this situation, he wanted to rewind, he wanted to just cut off the part of his brain that was fucking everything up so things could be good again.

He closed his eyes, “... Because I don’t know how to say why.”

“Find a way.”

“Please, Seph. I don’t want to. Don’t be mad…”

“I’m not. Or I wasn’t. I don’t know what’s goin’ on.”

Cloud frowned up at him, “... I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Sephiroth said lowly, and took a step back with Cloud to get them out of the spray of water, “...just tell me what I did that was so fuckin’ god awful.”

As he tried to think of some wording, something to dig himself out of this hole, anything at all, the only sound was the rushing water. Sephiroth didn’t move, he just looked down at Cloud with eyes that for their color and composition should have been cold, but were filled with only concern and warmth. Cloud decided to just open his mouth and speak, “Sometimes I get... sad.”

“Sad?” Sephiroth became a being of motion and noise at that. “Why?”

“I really don’t know. It’s just that something, or maybe nothing sets off this...” Cloud made a spidery finger motion, “... inner yuck. Like, I could be with you, at an Anal Orgasm concert in the fucking sunshine and I could just become miserable with everything. It doesn’t happen that much anymore. Maybe because I’m getting older... or just too fucking busy to notice. And dammit Sephiroth, I’m so happy to be with you. It’s just that last night, I... got sad. Over something stupid. It was stupid.”

After a few moments of consideration, Sephiroth said, “If it was stupid, just tell me.”

Cloud opened his mouth, then closed it. He wished he could make him understand everything without words, because the only ones he could think to say were terribly wrong.

Sephiroth saw the inner struggle on his face and softened further, touching Cloud’s shoulders and neck, “Baby... did I hurt you? Did I do something’ wrong..?”

Cloud’s heart broke, “No! Seph! God, you were so perfect! Everything you did was.”

Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed. “Just spit it out.”

The words fell out of Cloud’s mouth, “You don’t love me.”

Sephiroth’s eyebrows shot up, “Cloud...”

Cloud hid his face in his hands and visibly shrank an inch, “I’m sorry! Please, I’m sorry. Please. Forget it.”

“Baby...”

“Please, Seph.. please don’t respond to what I just said. Please. Please...” Cloud whispered miserably, “...you don’t have to.”

Sephiroth’s fingers gently tried to curl underneath Cloud’s and remove them from hiding his face, “I never said I didn’t.”

Cloud growled behind his hands, “You don’t have to say anything! Please! It’s okay!”

“Look at me, baby.”

“No...”

“Cloud.”

“No!”

And then, Cloud was an inch from Sephiroth’s face with his wrists pinned to the wall.

After a perfect moment of senseless shock passed over him, Cloud’s heart hammered at his chest like it wanted to be let out. Partly from the conversation, from his racing emotions, from total jarring shock at the ease and speed with which Sephiroth had rendered him completely and totally vulnerable. He couldn’t look at him, the humiliation was too much. The only safe place he had was behind his eyelids.

He heard Sephiroth’s voice, “You said you love me. And I said I value you. Doesn’t that mean the same thing?”

“I don’t know. I... don’t think so.”

Sephiroth flattened Cloud’s hands to the wall and laced their fingers, “...Open your eyes.”

“No,” Cloud said with just a touch of indignancey.

A tiny smile wormed its way to Sephiroth’s voice, “Brat. You don’t know how I feel for you by now?”

“No, I do know. I know...”

“Cloud..?”

He opened his eyes looked up at Sephiroth, who smiled softly, “I think I know a little bit about how your head works by now.”

Sephiroth’s eyes burned into his, and there was enough of a pause for Cloud to wonder if there was more to that statement. Just when he began to construct something intelligible to respond with, Sephiroth continued, “…Here’s the deal. If I tell you what you wanna hear, right now... you’re gonna wonder if it’s because I know you wanna hear it. So I’m not gonna say it to you. Not right now... but you gotta know that you’re the best thing in my life.”

Cloud stared up at him in bewilderment for a few moments. Bewilderment because he still hadn’t gotten what he wanted, but had just been given everything he needed.

The eject button. Sephiroth had it, and he knew just how to use it. And much like before, his sadness was wiped out entirely, and what was left behind was a thick mix of humility and admiration. Cloud wore the emotions on his face as his mouth moved between a small, shy smile and wider one of barely suppressed joy.

Sephiroth let go of Cloud’s hands, but he followed along, willingly trapping himself, and in turn, trapping Sephiroth.

Sephiroth took what he gave, “...You know what I wonder sometimes?”

Cloud shook his head, too enamored to speak.

“You get out of class everyday at 4. And you call me everyday at 5, always on the dot. I wonder sometimes what you do in that hour. I wonder if maybe you just wanna lay down for a while. Maybe you finish up some kinda homework, or maybe you talk to your friends. But I wonder if the real reason you call at 5 is because you don’t want me to assume you have nothin’ else to do. Am I way off base with this?”

Totally vulnerable again, but this time it was different. It was okay. He felt no urge to lie, and quietly, slowly confessed, “...I wait by the phone until 5.”

Green eyes narrowed slightly. “Just call me, baby. I’m waitin’ for you to.”

Cloud made a large noise that was music to Sephiroth’s ears, and he reached up and threw his arms around his neck. Sephiroth returned the embrace, holding Cloud against him.

Neither had brushed, but neither much cared as they sought each other’s lips out. Their tongues mixed with the taste of warm water, caressing and apologizing to each other for things they didn’t fully understand. Sephiroth didn’t know how deeply Cloud ached to be told he was needed, wanted, and loved. And Cloud couldn’t possibly have known how terrified Sephiroth was of being ignored, lied to, and abandoned. They didn’t know how catastrophically they had shaken each other during a mere 10 minute lover’s quarrel in the shower.

What they understood perfectly though, was that they were both okay now.

The kiss came apart, both set of lips drifting to other locations, Sephiroth’s upwards to Cloud’s forehead, Cloud’s sideways to Sephiroth’s ear.

“I love you, Seph.”

Sephiroth absolutely ached to return the words. As before, something inside held him back, as though it would feel strange coming from his mouth. What felt natural to him was to soak in the warmth of the pretty words, pick Cloud up, and squeeze him to the point of mild discomfort.

Cloud didn’t expect words, and felt no lack or want for anything at all. He hugged his beloved back, and breathed the moisture of his skin. Even though Cloud didn’t have the arm size or strength to match him, Sephiroth’s eyes fluttered closed at the feel of the small male clinging to him with everything he could muster.

After a few long moments passed, Sephiroth loosened his hold on Cloud and lowered him to his feet. Cloud solidified and stood straight, giving his face a wipe and his hair a firm slick back. He looked behind Sephiroth, then slipped around him with distinct purpose.

Taking up the boyish body wash, Cloud made a tiny lather in his hands, looking up at Sephiroth with a smile that enchanted him with its unusual mixture of shyness and suggestion. Sephiroth smiled back, and made himself available. Cloud moved forward and let his soapy fingertips rain down Sephiroth’s torso.

Sephiroth jerked and snorted, “Don’t tickle.”

“I want to, though...” Cloud giggled, making his hands flat and applying more pressure to alleviate the sensitivity. “Your stomach is ridiculous, you know.”

Like a true show off, Sephiroth sucked in, and it somehow became even more tight and defined. Cloud tsked and rolled his eyes, and veered away from that area entirely. He moved his hands up Sephiroth’s chest, shoulders, and down around to his back, spreading trails of little bubbles in his wake. This put Cloud close to him, and the washing turned into more of another extended embrace as his hands went up sharp shoulder blades, between, then down over his rounded ass to just beneath, where the length of Cloud’s arms prevented him from going down farther. Instead he ran his hands around to the front of the long thighs before him, where they hesitated momentarily.

Sephiroth looked quite content to be washed to the fullest extent. So, Cloud slipped a sudsy hand between his legs.

Sephiroth’s cock was big, but he was a grower, not a shower. In its soft, casual state, it was compact, perhaps even a bit unremarkable in size. The presentation was gorgeous however, with the delightful cushion of soft, bright silver fuzziness surrounding it and reaching halfway up to his bellybutton, almost unnoticeable unless in certain lighting or at certain – ahem, distances.

Cloud’s eyes were glued to the entire situation as he gently moved his palm underneath Sephiroth’s balls, cupping and feeling for a moment before letting them fall from his fingertips, then wrapping his fingers around the already stiffening shaft. TheTheNow without a single intelligent thought in his head, Cloud pulled the thickening cock with a slow twist, feeling his own swell against Sephiroth’s slick thigh. There was an attention-requesting cough emitted from Sephiroth’s throat that pulled Cloud up from his hypnosis. He quickly retracted his hands and looked up to hear Sephiroth’s opinion of being molested in his own shower.

Amused green eyes stared down as Sephiroth reached for the body wash and made a lather of his own. Cloud looked down and watched Sephiroth’s hands on his chest and stomach spread wide, covering the span of him almost entirely. His fingers dug into his muscles, raking them slowly, causing Cloud to moan softly and Sephiroth to smile. The treatment traveled up to his shoulders and down his arms, where both soapy hands took one of Clouds, putting suds in between every finger.

“So, you know I gotta ask...” Sephiroth murmured, drawing Cloud up from a heavy lidded, relaxed place. “How was it?”

He tilted his head with a sigh as Sephiroth made deep, heavy strokes up his wrists and palms with his thumbs. “... Even better than I thought.”

“You thought it might be bad?” Sephiroth let go of Cloud’s hand and took up the other, the fresh sensations causing Cloud to bite his lip.

“I was scared a little. But… it felt good.”

“Good enough to repeat sometime?”

Cloud laughed a little through his nose, “Hell yeah.”

“Good... because the whole time I was thinkin’ ...there’s no way Cloud’s gonna let me pull this bullshit again.”

Cloud giggled, “Ohh, so that’s why you were like the energizer bunny!”

“I wish... I’d prolly still be fuckin’ you right now.”

“Seph, do you... want to..?”

Sephiroth’s eyes widened in surprise and his lips parted slightly, a sight that amused and elated Cloud to no end. Then, handsome features quickly composed and melted down into a more appropriate leer.

“So soon?” Sephiroth asked softly despite the fire lit behind his eyes.

Cloud answered on his tip toes, pressing and folding his lips with Sephiroth’s in decisiveness. The whole slipperiness of the situation enabled the sloppiest kiss they had yet shared. Cloud took the chance to devour Sephiroth, sucking and licking his lips and face with no consideration of propriety, shame, nor cleanup. They both felt the desire to be messy, haphazard, and a bit needy, for they had just experienced a tiff. Feelings had been hurt, problems shucked, and now the wounds had to be licked.

Cloud let out a small cry of surprise and sudden desperation as Sephiroth scooped him up and again held him against the wall, this time wringing shudders of desire rather than anxiety. Cloud leaned against the wall, locking his hands behind Sephiroth’s neck and his ankles loosely behind his back as he kneaded and cradled his ass, rubbing their already aching erections together with an edge of impatience.

He felt Sephiroth’s fingers, slicked by water and perhaps something more, carefully push into him. A heavy rush of jarring pain made him tremble, then fret a little inwardly. This had felt good the night before... hadn’t it? He gritted his teeth as the fingers pushed further inside, twisting a little. Just when they were both about to become discouraged, Cloud suddenly cried out and bucked his hips, just about getting dropped on his ass in the process.

Sephiroth bounced Cloud in his arms to get a better grip on him, and continued to very gently explore the fun little spot inside him. The General had spent a little bit of time ‘studying up’; he would never do something to Cloud without first trying it on himself.

“Seph...” Cloud panted, grabbing for Sephiroth’s very manly bathing products, knocking a few loudly down onto the tub floor before gripping hold of a bottle that felt like shampoo. Almost wild, he popped it open, squeezed some out onto his palm and grabbed a hold of Sephiroth’s cock, caressing as he coated it slick.

Sephiroth moaned in his throat, “Lemme go grab a – ”

“No!” Cloud tightened his limbs around Sephiroth, “…I don’t want one.”

Sephiroth was stunned by the blondie for the umpteenth time this morning. “...Are you sure?”

“Yeah – ” Cloud gasped and cut off his own sentence with a needy groan.

Sephiroth smiled a little, “...Positive?”

“Yes...” Cloud gritted, restlessly writhing in Sephiroth’s when his fingers were slid out, and the tip of his slick cock kissed the opening.

“...You were fairly insistent about it last night...”

Cloud had gone full circle past feral and now spoke in a strained, yet articulate whisper, “I just wanna feel what it’s like... you inside me... coming..”

Sephiroth had already started to ease into him, and Cloud licked his lips in concentration, the feeling not yet familiar, but known. Just when he thought that Sephiroth couldn’t possibly get deeper, that his body couldn’t possibly open wide enough to accommodate his thickness, their hips met, and Sephiroth stopped.

“Look,” he urged gently.

Cloud’s eyes drifted down the muscles and lines of Sephiroth’s stomach to where they were now connected. He found his own throbbing erection, and beyond it Sephiroth’s hips slanted and pointed towards his.

The sight was breathtaking in and of itself, but then Sephiroth arched his back to pull his groin away slowly. Cloud watched with fascination as the base of Sephiroth’s cock appeared, inching out. The tiny opening hugged it, lapping out in a wet, pink ring around the blushed complexion of Sephiroth’s length. Cloud gasped.

“I wanted you to see last night,” Sephiroth told him softly, “…Isn’t that fuckin’ beautiful?”

He ripped his blue eyes away and closed them for fear of exploding on the spot if he looked at either Sephiroth, or the erotic display their bodies created. Sephiroth’s lips touched his, seeming to understand but not letting Cloud hide entirely.

He felt a slow, languid pace begin and become regular, and his composure stabilized enough to open his eyes and look. Last night it had been almost pitch dark, except for the green glow coming in from the windows. And his focus had been more inward, paying more attention to how Sephiroth was making him feel versus how he looked while he was doing it. He was dying to see how Sephiroth moved, how he looked while he made love in the light.

Cloud drank in the vision before him. Sephiroth curved his hips up and into Cloud in a way that was beyond all comprehensions of sexy, rolling along with a rhythm that he made up out of air, just seeming to know what was needed.

Cloud tore a page from Sephiroth’s book, “Goddamn, Seph...”

Sephiroth smiled widely and proved that his sensual moves were indeed natural, for when he actually made an effort to be visually stimulating... rolling his hips slowly... allowing his muscles to flex... digging his fingers further into Cloud’s ass... Poor Cloud was so profoundly affected that he threw his head back and slammed it right into the shower wall.

He squinted one eye and dumbly droned, “…Ow.”

And while he was almost grateful for the brief starburst behind his eyes and moment of painful distraction, Sephiroth took his head, cradling it and kissing his forehead.

“Careful, baby...” he said, all pretensions of sex gone from his voice as he stilled, allowing Cloud a moment to recover.

Cloud didn’t need it. He continued the tiny thrusts and nudges that he had been using to meet Sephiroth, only now working alone. Sephiroth watched this new display, supporting his weight entirely while he found himself being climbed and clawed at like a rope in gym class. The sight of him, the feel of him, the sounds of his whimpered, but insistent moans…

“Cloud... show me how you like it,” Sephiroth hissed, all concussions forgotten about. “Show me how to fuck you.”

Cloud mewed in desperation, and although he was certain he was going to be teased later, his mouth burst with a sudden cry of, “Hard!”

Sephiroth’s lips lifted into a smile that looked in no mood to tease, and in half a second he hooked his arms up underneath Cloud’s knees and began to thrust up into him at an angle that had Cloud absolutely vicious in his arms. Sephiroth wasn’t careless however, he knew he had to keep it fairly gentle, but he quickened the pace to excite Cloud, watching as he hissed and cried out with every deep stroke. He had no leverage to throw himself back at Sephiroth, he hooked his arms around his neck and kissed him with all the pent up need that he had.

Cloud’s hands went in separate directions, one to the ache between his legs, while the other five fingers tangled into the thick, wet silver hair, attempting to comb through as he was accustomed to. But instead, his fingers caught on small tangles of semi-dry hair and unintentionally pulled. Sephiroth found himself not only not minding, but tilting his head to feel more of the soft tugging, groaning into the mouth of the beautiful, sexually electric creature in his arms.

Sephiroth felt himself rushing up to the edge, then backing off, then rushing forward full speed, then having to pause to back off again, until he could no longer call on any outside help. Cloud was surrounding him too tight, too wet, the sound of his name being cried out, punctuated by the wet smack of their bodies, too delicious to be ignored.

Cloud always thought that an orgasm was the pinnacle of sex; the point. But as he watched Sephiroth watch him, he thought that this was the point. The drowning out of the rest of the world, the narrowing of existence to just them, and turning the volume on their passion up to fucking blare it. He licked his lips and stared Sephiroth down in pleasure, the luminous burn of his green eyes inhuman as the cat slit narrowed to almost nothing, moving away from Cloud’s blue gaze to something on top of his head.

Parts of Cloud’s hair were beginning to air dry. Sephiroth noticed with a lustful sort of awe that his telltale spikes were clumping together, slowly and almost supernaturally beginning to lift by the root, the feathery texture bouncing in time with Sephiroth’s thrusts. Something about all that was so fucking sexy that Sephiroth’s cock jumped, and he emitted a brief sound that was suspiciously whimper-like in quality and tone. He growled, cutting off the noise abruptly.

He didn’t mean to command Cloud...

…but he did, “Come, baby. Now.”

Cloud wrung himself twice more before shattering in Sephiroth’s arms, crying out his name and spilling himself across Sephiroth’s stomach.

Sephiroth dug his fingers into Cloud’s cheeks as he pounded out his own climax for a few brutal moments, then stilled himself save for the trembling of his knees. They both gently finalized their releases, Cloud milking himself slowly, Sephiroth letting himself jerk and spasm inside his little blonde lover.

They panted in each other’s arms before Sephiroth loosened his hold on one of Cloud’s legs, and it found the floor of the tub. He then let Cloud slide down to his feet, where he immediately went on tip toes to catch Sephiroth’s lips in a sweet kiss.

Cloud then gave the sort of sigh one makes when reaching the summit of Mt. Nibelheim.

Sephiroth echoed the sentiment, giving himself a rinse of the various liquids he was now covered in. Cloud watched him wipe at the mess on his abs with a slightly smug smile before feeling a hot warmth slowly run down his inner thigh.

“Mom’s gonna kill me.”

Sephiroth knitted his eyebrows at this, “Why?”

Cloud pouted in thought, and then slowly shrugged one shoulder, “...I guess it doesn’t really matter... as long as we’re together, right?” And then a downright cheery smile broke out onto his face, “Besides! I like it much better without one!”

Sephiroth rolled his eyes when he realized they were talking about ridiculous condoms. He’d heard all about the drug store sex education story, and while he applauded Mrs. Strife on not giving Cloud a whole old-fashioned disappointment schpeal, he had to question her taste in products. Pleasureglide?

“Oh, who gives a shit if we use a condom or not?”

“Not me!” Cloud chirped, then turned his back to the water, bent over slightly and spread his cheeks, happily rinsing his ass out.

Sephiroth bit his lower lip before roaring in crude laughter at the sight.

“What the hell else am I supposed to do?” Cloud shrieked indignantly, still bent into the stream, “Slide around all day?”

Sephiroth snorted and fell against the wall in his delight, and it warmed Cloud’s heart, even if it was at his own ass-rinsing expense. Sephiroth had a lot of different laughs, and Cloud definitely liked this one the best. It was the most unhinged, hysterical, and absolutely handsome noise he had ever heard.

Once satisfied with the cleanliness of his rectal zone, Cloud gave himself a little once- over rinse and then moved aside to let Sephiroth shut off the faucet. Instead of taking the little route Cloud had offered him, he flirtatiously pressed and leaned against him, reaching out to push the dial in.

Cloud then let himself be led out of the tub. He let Sephiroth go to retrieve towels from under the sink, staying on the bath mat. He didn’t want to let on that he knew the location of every item in Sephiroth’s bathroom, thus revealing that he was a complete snoop.

Sephiroth threw a towel on Cloud’s head, and he shook it carelessly through his hair as Sephiroth wrapped his own around his hips. He seemed to be casual and relaxed, not trying to put on a show, which led Cloud to believe that every morning after his shower, he could be found looking like a wet, beautiful fucking mythological merman with a towel slung perfectly low on his body. It was preposterous. It was ridiculous. And Cloud wanted to be there to catch it every morning.

“What do you wanna do today?” Sephiroth asked, opening his mirror and making no secret of its contents. Although he had already explored it, seeing the rows of prescriptives made Cloud flush slightly, and he focused on drying himself.

“I dunno. If I was alone I’d probably just sleep all day...” Cloud chuckled, although it was slightly humorless, “...but um... what do you wanna do?”

“Not much,” Sephiroth sighed, popping open bottle after bottle and making a large, multicolored pile on the edge of the sink, “I’m fuckin’ lazy. I’d be fine with sleepin’ with you all day. But tell me if there’s somethin’ you wanna do.”

It came out more serious sounding than Cloud intended it to be, “I’ve got everything I need.”

He caught the glow of Sephiroth’s warm smile in the mirror before he swiped the collection of capsules into his palm and threw the entire mess back, swallowing with almost no effort. He tilted his head to the side for a moment, then reached for his toothbrush, helping himself to a huge turd of toothpaste.

“Wait!” Cloud gasped and rushed past him, wrapping and tucking the towel around his chest in the sudden temperature change of the room, and for the fact that he was flitting past those enormous windows. He retrieved his toothbrush, and then galloped back beside Sephiroth at the sink. He took a little squirt of paste for himself and began to brush alongside Sephiroth, who smiled down at him around his red toothbrush.

Little did Sephiroth know, he had just fulfilled a very odd, but very important dream for Cloud.

When they were finishing up and Cloud spat out the blue-green residue, Sephiroth smiled slyly, “Not used to seein’ you spit...”

Cloud didn’t reply, only reached out, pushed a single finger under the loose knot of Sephiroth’s towel, smiling in victory as it unraveled and fell to the floor. Sephiroth was amazed to find that his desire for Cloud was already sparking again. What sort of depravity would finally satisfy his carnal cravings for the blonde? Maybe it would never be satisfied, a notion that Sephiroth found both comforting and somewhat confusing.

But instead of dwelling on that shit, he threw up the back of Cloud’s makeshift towel dress and gave his cute little ass a squeeze.

Cloud winced in real pain, but then folded it over with an uncharacteristic look of annoyance. “Heey.”

“…You hurt there?” Sephiroth asked seriously.

“Just a little,” Cloud assured flippantly. In actuality, his ass was a throbbing ache. Last night wouldn’t have been so bad in and of itself, but an encore so soon… while well worth it in Cloud’s opinion, the universe was obviously punishing him.

“Lemme cure it?” Sephiroth offered gently, brushing his fingertips gently over the rounded surface, letting them fall into the crevice.

Cloud smiled and rested his elbows on the sink, popping it up. “...You going to kiss it?”

Sephiroth grinned and gave it a sharp smack instead. Cloud bellowed dramatically, but the thwack echoing around the bathroom lasted longer than the split second sting. Then he was as good as new.

Cloud straightened up quickly and with his tongue half out of his mouth, raised his hand for some payback, but then stopped himself. As much murder as Sephiroth let him get away with, he couldn’t see striking the General. And with his hand held back for one huge baseball pitch of a spank, he felt himself go sheepishly flaccid.

Sephiroth only grinned and leaned his palms on the counter, “Do your worst, little man.”

…Little man?!

Cloud snapped it back and let it fly. When his hand made impact onto Sephiroth’s perfect white ass, he immediately retracted it, blowing on his stinging palm with a wince. He then gauged Sephiroth, who hadn’t moved.

A silver eyebrow drifted up slowly, “...Maybe it a couple years.”

Cloud’s face fell. Not even a handprint!

Sephiroth shrugged a shoulder and offered, “Well... I felt it?”

Cloud crossed his arms in secret evil plotting. He wasn’t one for spanking, anyways, that was Sephiroth’s department obviously. But, one day. He imagined for the millionth time biting down onto the luminescent cheek of Sephiroth’s chewy, delicious ass. One day.

Cloud followed Sephiroth out into his bedroom. “What are you wearing today..?” he asked, wanting to tear open the hinges of the closet that was still unexplored.

“Nothin’.” Sephiroth smiled, walking out into the middle of the room.

Cloud squeaked, “Seph! Seeeph! You’re walking right in fucking front of those windows!”

Sephiroth stopped and smiled wider, motioning casually to the floor to ceiling panes, “Those windows?”

Cloud’s mouth fell open, “You’re an exhibitionist!”

Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder, “This block is used to it.”

Cloud gasped loudly, partially in shock at Sephiroth’s behavior, and partially because... that beautifully chiseled body was his only to gawk at and possibly take tabloid pictures of!

“Nooo! Get away!” Cloud waved, hiding in a safe spot near the bathroom.

Sephiroth then laughed loudly, “My bare ass would be on t-shirts by now, baby. Don’t worry, you can see out, but not in.”

Cloud let that sink in, and then exhaled in relief and trotted out into the room, passing Sephiroth and going to his bag, “Thank Christ Almighty. Although... I’d probably buy one of those t-shirts.”

Cloud pulled on his black jeans. Sephiroth watched in wonder at how he fit and filled such a tiny, unimpressive garment. Once zipped, they seemed to suddenly be electrified to life, hugging his narrow hips and long legs. He then pulled a simple tight white t-shirt over his head, a small, cheap thing, almost see-through and surely years old. Sephiroth truly wondered if Cloud knew how drop dead gorgeous he was.

Cloud turned and said something that Sephiroth wasn’t prepared to listen to. He said it with a smile, then his nose turned pink, he scrunched one shoulder and stuffed his hands in his back pockets.

“I didn’t catch that, what?” Sephiroth said after a moment, blinking softly.

Cloud rolled his eyes and made an unidentifiable, high pitched clicky noise, “I saaaid: can I dress you today?”

“What is it with you and dressing me?”

Cloud rushed towards him with open arms, “It’s fun!”

Sephiroth caught him and took his face for a quick kiss, “Go for it, then. Just don’t put me in work clothes.”

No skin-tight black leather? Too bad.

Cloud squealed anyways and ran towards the closed door that was not the entrance. “This is your closet, right?”

He opened the door before Sephiroth could affirm, and found a walk-in; three walls of black garments. One seemed to be deemed for his work uniforms. Cloud reached out and touched one of the hanging coats, it seeming much more like a leather coat on the hanger and much less like a tight black coating of sexiness. He then went to a rack of more casual clothes, spotting a few items that he had seen Sephiroth in, along with other, related types of things. Sephiroth wasn’t showy, his style was simple and cozy. He seemed to like soft, dark fabric, plain shirts, and fitted pants.

Fine with me, Cloud thought with a sigh, checking out labels. More Marc by Marc Jacobs, Missoni, Diesel, Armani, Louis Vuitton...

“Label whore,” Cloud muttered over his shoulder as Sephiroth hung through the door frame and watched with a relaxed smile as his closet was sifted through.

“Not really. They just sort of… give shit to me.”

Cloud shot a look of pure poison, “Tell them to send some smalls next time.”

Sephiroth smiled and brought his arms down to wrap around Cloud’s shoulders, “Hey. You might like this.” He dug through the rack and then pulled out the sort of shirt that was sewn from wet dreams. It was black, long sleeve with rusty red patches on the elbows, with a white dress shirt details poking from the collar and sleeves. Then Sephiroth turned it around to reveal that the back was vintage-y screen printed with an ancient Wutian painting of a Masamune.

Cloud took the shirt from Sephiroth and discovered that it was Vivienne fucking Westwood.

“Vivienne made this for you?!”

“I thought it was sweet. But why would I wear this? …Seriously, why?”

“Because it’s awesome?”

Sephiroth pushed it into his hands, “Then take it.”

Cloud took the one of a kind garment and reverently bellowed, “It’s fucking priceless!”

Sephiroth rolled his eyes, “It’s a fuckin’ shirt. Put it on.”

Cloud pulled it over his head like a bomb, and it fell down around him, hitting the top of his thighs and hugging his form only slightly. Sephiroth nodded in approval, then began to dig out piece after unwanted designer piece.

“Too tight. Too short. Too... weird. Don’t want this. Won’t ever wear this. I can’t wear green.”

Cloud caught them all like raindrops in his mouth, “I can have these?”

“Take ‘em if you like ‘em.”

Cloud began to examine the goods, “Why can’t you wear green, again? It’d make your eyes go boom.”

“My eyes don’t need more boom. I can’t wear any color.”

“Why? Got an image to uphold?” Cloud cooed, thumbing through the rest of the glorious wardrobe.

“I’ll demonstrate.” Sephiroth pulled the green t-shirt over his head.

It’s not that Sephiroth turned green... he just sort of...

“You turned green.”

“No shit.” He shirked it off, then pulled a red Diesel tank top over his head. He looked fucking sexy as all get out in it, except for the sudden sunburn.

“You’re like a chameleon!” Cloud declared joyously.

Sephiroth nodded, “Somethin’ like that. So, white, black and gray only. But I don’t mind, it’s sort of hot.”

“It is hot. But there’s not one single color you can wear?”

Sephiroth thought. “Light blue, sort of. But I look like a fuckin’ ice princess in it.”

After Cloud had a liberal guffaw at that, he said, “Put these on.” And handed Sephiroth a pair of light gray jeans, “And... this.” It was the black turtleneck that he had worn the day of their fateful copy room rendezvous.

Where they really those same people? Cloud pondered that thought as Sephiroth pulled on the outfit, the jeans fitting him perfectly with that “I’m your boyfriend, suck my cock” looseness around the knee, and the shirt hugging his frame beautifully, of course.

Cloud stepped over the pile of pilfered clothes to wrap his arms around Sephiroth’s waist, the way he had wanted to do so badly that morning forever ago.

Sephiroth laughed, “What’s this for?”

“I’m happy.” Cloud said softly, not letting go.

“I am, too.” Sephiroth answered, not letting go, either.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When an elevator door opens, there are certain expectations.

There could very well be someone exiting. Vincent was prepared for that, standing back a few feet to give adequate ‘get the fuck off and let me the fuck on’ space.

It could be empty. That was ideal, because Vincent had a long ride ahead of him and wanted to sneak a smoke on the way up.

It could be several people aboard. That was okay, even if it was at full capacity, someone would get out and make room for a Turk. Probably the whole group.

But when the elevator opened, nobody tried to exit. It was not full. And it was not empty.

There was a very tiny person. A toddler, from the looks of it.

Well, that defied just about any expectation Vincent could have come up with.

He looked around, and finding no one in sight, got in. He hit the button for his destination, and crossed his arms.

After a few floors, curiosity got the better of him and he peeked over his shoulder. The child hadn’t moved a muscle. He was leaning forward with his forehead and both hands pressed to the glass, watching the city fall away.

His hair looked like a wreck to Vincent. One entire half of his white-blonde head was a simple, short cut, while the other was completely buzzed. He decided that it was some sort of street style; the little guy was probably the coolest kid in nursery school for it. He still had a baby’s iridescent glow to his skin, the web work of red veins visible through the light of the window where his small hands were rested. He looked like he was dressed for sleep, in thin, light green garments. No shoes or socks.

Vincent suddenly got a chill, as this was a right proper set up for some sort of creepy horror movie shenanigans.

If the kid turned around and was a brain hungry zombie, well, he could easily shoot him in the head before he leapt to feast upon his flesh.

If the kid turned out to be a ghost, well, that was fine just as long as he just stayed on his side of the elevator.

If it was some sort of blonde-ass Village of the Damned nonsense, well, he was probably shit out of luck.

Vincent cleared his throat, “Do one of your parents work here?”

His gun fingers tingled with anticipation, but the little boy didn’t speak or move.

After a few completely still, silent moments, Vincent turned back towards the door. It was then that he heard a soft, barely audible whisper.

He turned again, “You say somethin’?”

And no reply.

Instead, the elevator halted. He glanced over his shoulder, and noticed that they were between floors.

“Shit...” Vincent groaned.

“Shit.”

“Don’t repeat that!”

Vincent took a step to the button panel. The emergency light was blinking. He rolled his eyes and picked up the help receiver.

After a couple of rings, a man answered, “Security.”

“Don’t ‘security’ me, it’s Valentine. North elevator is stuck.”

“Not stuck; stopped. There was a security breach.”

“Well, thank God I’m safe in this elevator. Let North go, man.”

“Everything’s stopped, Sir. I apologize.”

“What the hell happened?”

“Something crawled up out of the fucking lab again.”

Vincent rolled his eyes, “Well, I’ll let you know if I see any freaks wanderin’ around in the elevator.”

The man laughed, “Keep us abreast, Sir.”

“Oh hey, I have a kid in here with me. Real little dude. If anyone is freakin’ out because they lost him, let ‘em know he’s in here.”

“I will right now.” And the conversation was cut off.

Vincent punched the receiver back on the holder with a sigh, “We might be here for a bit, kiddo.”

He looked down at the child, his small face completely smashed flat into the window.

Maybe he was having a good time.

“It’s kinda fun being up in here, right?” Vincent chattered, putting his hands in his pockets, “Not scary. These elevator cables holding us up are thick. Thick! They’re not goin’ anywhere. They won’t snap. They can’t! Shin-Ra inspects these things constantly ...insurance purposes...” He brushed his hair out of his face and started making a game plan for when the elevator room began to freefall.

After a moment or two, the little guy uneasily turned away from the window and went to the door.

“We’re stuck, smalls...” Vincent said apologetically, “But if you got some magic powers, now would be a good time to use ‘em.”

And then the elevator began to move. On the other side of the child, Vincent had a full view of the buzzed side of his head. There was a small hole in the center, a line of red blood trickling out. Vincent didn’t have a chance to react to that, as the elevator stopped on the very next floor.

The child slowly laced his hands on the back of his head like a felon.

Vincent watched in dumb, perfect, calm shock as four huge security beefs stormed into the elevator and surrounded the small figure.

One pushed the kid’s face into the floor while the other cuffed him. The third officer shackled his feet. The fourth didn’t have anything to do, and just watched with his hand on his nightstick.

It was when they picked him up off the floor that Vincent saw his face.

It could have been Lucy’s face.

He paced for weeks, and then went to the lab.

As always, it was dark and ominous and stinking of evil. Vincent wasn’t afraid of anything that the lab might hold, because he knew damn well what he was surrounded by down there. He knew there were monsters, knew there were zombies, and if there weren’t any ghosts, there should have been.

As Vincent wandered through the area, he began to wonder what it was he had been doing the last time he had been down in the lab. When it dawned on him, a sloppy smile crossed his face, then immediately he shook it away.

That was disrespectful to think about.

He walked through to the brightly lit office wing that could have almost passed for normal. He went to the receptionist, a young, cute little nerdy girl that must have been new. He approached her, and she immediately turned from her monitor to give her attention.

“How can I help you, sir?”

He wasn’t in the mood to flirt or chat, so he got down to business, “A month or so ago there was a security breach. I’d like to see some information on that.”

The girl hopped to it, pulling up the report and giving him a warm printout.

He read it there in front of her.

Sephiroth. 25 months old. Escaped due to the gross negligence of his morning caretaker. The reports wording was that he had “unplugged” himself, and wandered right out the front door. Found and reported by Turk Valentine. Sephiroth had been properly punished, the caretaker had been replaced, the elevator had been sterilized, and everything was right as rain again.

He set the printout back on her desk, having no reason to keep it, “Where is Sephiroth now?”

She shook her head with a shrug, “I don’t really know these things. I’m just a receptionist.”

That meant she was trying to protect her conscience.

Don’t kid yourself, honey. Vincent thought ruefully, finding her a lot less cute. He left with a nod.

He walked back out into the lab. He knew it was teeming with people, but it always had certain qualities of emptiness, darkness, always wide open and vacuous.

His legs, despite protests from his mind and heart, went to the station that used to be Lucy’s.

He could almost see her desk there. Her stupid kitty cat screensavers, her candy wrappers, her pantyhose bunched up in the garbage can.

Vincent could almost see her sitting there, scratching the back of her neck with a pen. How she liked to tear pages out of vintage science textbooks that she found funny and post them up, trying for hours to explain math jokes to him to no avail. He remembered how she liked her coffee bitter, how her face lit up when he rounded the cubicle corner everyday, how her high heels clicked against the floor. He recalled with a sad smile the time she trickled an entire glass of kool-aid onto the breakfast table without realizing it, she was that engrossed in whatever goddamn new project she was getting herself into.

She was beautiful, clumsy, brilliant, secretive. Too secretive.

Her desk was gone. It was just a file cabinet, a fake plant and a copy machine now.

Vincent stood and stared.

He should have gone to her desk after it happened, taken something. Anything. A pen. A paperclip. Something.

Vincent turned away.

“Haven’t seen you here in a long time.”

It was Doris, ever soft, ever quiet, ever taking her tiny, limping steps through the lab. She was getting older, close to her much awaited retirement. He remembered eating dinner in her home on several occasions, her and Lucy gossiping about the other female scientists, claiming they had no real ill feelings about any of the colleagues they cut down with their identical, braying laughter.

Vincent put a hand on one arm in habit, “What’s cookin’?”

Her wrinkles shifted as she smiled, and it was genuine. Vincent looked away, not wanting to see a genuine smile at that moment.

“I heard you were the one who found our little runaway.”

He smiled sideways, “Didn’t mean to.”

He could still hear that genuine smile in her voice, although he didn’t look, “Is that why you’re here?”

Vincent got to the point, because he was just in that sort of fucking mood, “Is he Lucy’s kid?”

“He’s her biological son, yes.”

“So... where is he now?” The question implied more than just wanting to know the child’s physical location.

“Tricky,” she sighed.

“Tricky?”

“He’s been catalogued.”

Vincent looked up at that. The green pajamas. Sephiroth belonged to the lab. A specimen.

“Where is he?”

“Vin... You know you were never supposed to see him.”

Vincent put a hand over his eyes, “But I did. I’m not gonna do anything fucked up. I just wanna... look.”

He knew he was acting downright vulnerable. But it was Doris. It was Lucy’s mother. It was okay, in front of her.

The skin of Doris’ hand felt thick and lined as it took his, and she led him through the maze of neon and wire and glass. She led him to a door, more narrow than a usual door. In Shin-Ra font it read, ‘Sephiroth’.

She took a large ring of keys from her waist, fished through, and unlocked it.

There was a bright florescent tube light on the cement ceiling. A crib. That was all.

Vincent took one step inside and his legs hit the metal bars.

He looked down upon Lucretia’s child.

Sephiroth was sleeping, buzzed side up. There was a thick tube connecting his head to a monitor on the wall. Brainwaves. Pulse rate. Blood pressure. Mako flow.

He could hear the heavy breathing, the thin rattle of snoring. Sephiroth’s eyes were shut, but Vincent recalled their color.

Vincent’s hand moved on its own down to Sephiroth’s hand. The delicate fingers tightened, and it was too much.

Just when he thought he was about to lose it, the door closed quietly behind him.

Vincent quickly recovered at the sound, and reached in and down, scooping Sephiroth up. He didn’t care if he woke him, he didn’t care if he cried. If anything a child’s scream would shake him out of this reverent stupor.

Sephiroth’s eyes fluttered upon being moved, and blinked a few solid times before focusing. He seemed to be a bit confused, as he uneasily looked behind Vincent to the door, and then at him.

“Hey, Sephiroth,” Vincent said to him.

The kid still seemed to be a little perturbed, almost as if he’d never been held before. His bright eyes blinked again, still sleepy. Sephiroth slowly lay forward, resting his head on Vincent’s shoulder. Tiny hands balled up, gripping his lapel.

Then came a low, keeling whine.

“Aw, I know. Life sucks, don’t it?”

The two year old wholeheartedly agreed. He cried raggedly, grumpily, wetting Vincent’s suit with tears and slobber.

“Tell me all about it,” Vincent tsked softly, running his hand up and down Sephiroth’s small back.

When the baby had calmed down, and slipped back into sleep, Vincent exited the room quietly. Doris had taken a seat at a nearby desk.

“He’s your grandson,” Vincent said, an accusation clear in his voice.

“Technically,” she said evenly. “But Lucretia wanted to give her firstborn to this project. These were her wishes. Oh Vincent, don’t look that way. If she were alive today, this is what would have been happening. This was what her sacrifice was for.”

Vincent would never forgive himself for saying this: “Fuck Lucretia’s sacrifice.”

Doris never held it against him, though. And she stood out of the way when Vincent did what he had to do.

Dr. Hojo didn’t notice the Sesame Street pajamas. Or the puppy dog overalls, or the dinosaur t-shirts, or the tiny Transformers sneakers. Fashion was far, far away from his realm of observation.

He didn’t notice that Sephiroth now wore Huggies diapers adorned with Smurfs that turned blue when he soiled them, versus the plain, rough dollar store generic ones. He didn’t notice the storybooks and tiny toy box in Sephiroth’s closet. Hojo wasn’t aware that his cell even had a closet.

What he did notice, however, was the finger paint.

“What is this?” He murmured to himself, scratching at the green and blue dried around Sephiroth’s tiny fingernails.

“I paintin’,” Sephiroth answered casually.

“He can speak?” Hojo demanded of his colleagues. They all looked impressed and proud, until they caught his icy glare, “Who taught him how to speak?!”

And when Hojo purged Sephiroth, he found spaghetti-O’s and apple juice.

“Who’s been tooling around with his diet?!”

And then Sephiroth began to hum the theme song from Hawaii Five-O.

“Who’s been letting him watch television?!”

The lab workers all looked at one another in false bewilderment.

Who says the entire Shin-Ra science faculty is cold blooded?

“I’m a monster,” A five year old Sephiroth had said one day. It must have been in the winter, because Vincent remembered looking down and seeing an adult sized coat with a hood, and little feet poking from under the bottom, walking along.

“Who said that?” Vincent asked around a cigarette.

“Everybody.” Sephiroth said glumly, looking up from under the hood, “They said I’m an extra testicle.”

Vincent had made a face at that. He’d never really looked… but when he changed diapers on occasion the child had appeared normal...

“They said my mother’s an extra testicle, too.”

Vincent rolled his eyes, “Jenova?”

“Yeah.”

“Jenova’s not your mother. Lucretia is your mother.”

“Is she an extra testicle?”

“No, and neither are you.”

“Who’s my father? Maybe’s he’s the extra testicle.”

“…Terrestrial, Seph.”

“Huh?”

“...Nothin’.”

“So… am I a monster, or not?”

Vincent stopped walking and took a seat on the playground bench, “What if you were? What’s wrong with that?”

“They’re scary and bad.”

“You’re not scary or bad. So, so what if you were a monster? Some monsters are pretty wicked cool.”

Sephiroth shook his head, “They suck.”

Vincent grinned, “They do not! Would I lie to you? You ever see Alien? Those guys are extra terrestrials, and they’re awesome dudes. And have you ever heard of Godzilla? Or how about Freddy Krueger? Very cool guys!”

“They are?”

“Absolutely! The next time someone calls you that, tell ‘em what I said. Monsters are awesome.”

No matter how big he got over the years, Vincent still vividly recalled the soft headed baby.

Even during his teenage mako tantrums.

Vincent remembered standing in the hallway and listening.

“Sephiroth! You must stop this foolishness immediately!”

Sephiroth’s voice was already beginning to dip down into manly octaves intermittently, but he sounded like the fucking demon from The Exorcist when he howled, “Stupid fuckin’ biiiitch!”

Vincent covered his mouth to hide his smile as a herd of nurses lost their composure and fled from the room, one in tears.

“Put that fuckin’ thing down!” Sephiroth roared, “And get the hell out!”

“Se- ”

“Take it with you! I don’t wanna fuckin’ look at it! Or your fuckin’ old stupid face! Go fuckin’ die already!”

“Sephiroth! There’s no reason for– ”

There was a wordless, hellish terror of a scream, followed by something smashing harshly, followed by the exodus of the remaining nurses and the elderly doctor. Then a steady, quick pounding.

Vincent rubbed the back of his neck as he poked his head around the corner, making a real, honest to God effort to look concerned and unamused. His effort wasn’t needed anymore when he spotted his young friend punching the cement wall over and over, leaving red smeared fist prints.

A chunk of the ceiling fell down next to him and he turned his attention to it, kicking it across the room to shatter against the opposite wall. Vincent noted that the dramatic smash must have been the gurney that was now a tangled, metal mess in the far corner next to a dented pile of grape flavored “happy gas” tanks.

Vincent considered taking a hit as he walked to the center of the room. Sephiroth went still, turned around, then threw up his hands as though someone with sense had finally walked into the vicinity.

“Have I ever got fuckin’ problems!” Sephiroth declared loudly.

“Cavities?”

“No! Fuckin’ stupid ass sonsabitches wanna yank the fuckin’ teeth outta my head again! No! Fuuck thaat!”

“No more curse words. Why do they wanna take your teeth out?”

Sephiroth crossed his arms moodily. Then bared them.

Vincent stepped forward for a closer look, “..So what?”

“..They said I’m gonna hurt myself. Bite off my tongue in my sleep or somethin’.”

Or find out if he had a fourth set. Vincent recalled a six year old Sephiroth losing all of his teeth at once, suddenly spitting out mouthful after mouthful one evening. Within the week he had grown his adult set, far too large and sharp for his mouth, earning him the short lived nickname of “Sharkface”. The next year, a seven year old Sephiroth awoke one morning to find that once again he had no teeth, this time by less natural means. Yet another couple of days, a full new set, same as before. There was a meeting held by Hojo and the science department heads concerning the cosmetic and potentially greater benefits of this. Turks and military personnel alike tended to loose teeth, as well as other body parts.

Vincent sighed, “I won’t let ‘em take your teeth. Okay? Chill.”

Sephiroth spread his trembling fingers, and all but quaked, “I can’t. I can’t chill. I literally cannot. I’m full of the green shit. I can’t.”

Vincent rubbed his neck again. Mako was making the kid look, sound, and act more and more like a crackhead with each passing day. Something needed to happen. The tantrums had to stop, or Sephiroth was going to end up on whatever painkiller morphine cocktail Hojo had in mind to control him, then probably fucking addicted, then in rehab by age 15, then a vegetable by age 20… ohhh... Vincent was simply tired.

“...It’s just puberty, kid. I swear you’re poppin’ up a foot every time I see you. You’re lettin’ yourself get too keyed up, you just have to – ”

Sephiroth screamed and pulled at his chin length bob of sleek, white hair, “Do you realize

how much I have to fuckin’ talk about puubeerty!? I’m soooo sick of puberty! I’m wicked fuckin’ sick of it! I’m sick of the word! I’m sick of talkin’ about it! I’m sick of bein’ in it! What’s the fuckin’ poooint!?”

Vincent hid his smile again behind a cough, “You’ll be glad when you’re older.”

“Why!?”

Vincent smiled knowingly, “So you can do a little bit more than just stare at pretty nurses all day...”

Sephiroth froze and treated Vincent to a full faced, hot pink flush, and he couldn’t stop his bright gale of smoker’s laughter.

The pouting teenager put his hands on his hips, “I don’t need nurses. I need to get the fuck outta dodge.”

“I really am gonna smack you if you keep talkin’ like that. Now where do you wanna go? I’ll take you there right now.”

Sephiroth spread his fingers again and looked as if words were dammed in his mouth, when suddenly the dam snapped, “Not like that! Not just today! I want outta here, Vin! I’m goin’ goddamn nuts! I’m gonna... fuck!”

He looked as if he would burst out of his own skin. Vincent watched his thin, lanky form as he stormed to the other side of the room, jerking, shaking his hands as if he were hot. Moving, just trying to burn off some of that...

“...Hey, Seph.”

He stopped and snarled at Vincent in question.

“C’mere.”

Sephiroth stormed towards Vincent before landing suddenly and unceremoniously on his ass across the room. He immediately popped up to his elbows, gawking at Vincent. He touched his newly swollen lip, checking and successfully finding a small deposit of blood.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, he carefully, cautiously rose to his feet, looking for all the world to see like a kicked puppy.

Vincent grinned. Still conscious. After a direct, moderate hit from a Turk. That said novels, volumes, and enclopedias about the 13 year old’s composure.

“Wanna go to school?”

Sephiroth’s frown slowly lifted into curiosity, “…What?”

“New semester at the academy starts in August. Four months. Do you wanna go?”

Sephiroth’s eyes became moons, “...Can I?”

“Can you act like a fuckin’ human being for four months? No more of this Incredible Hulk bullshit?” He motioned towards the mess of ruined equipment and the overturned, destroyed gurney.

Sephiroth blinked at the mess and at the fact that Vincent had just used swear words, then toyed with the edge of his shirt, “If I’m good, I can really go? Really?”

Vincent didn’t want to know that Sephiroth never left unless it was with him. He liked to pretend that it was only when he was around that shit hit the fan, only when he happened to walk in that Sephiroth was about to have his entire mouth of teeth pulled, or his hair buzzed off, or in some sort of tube full of liquid, or nutritionally deprived, or sick with some rare, strange disease, or hanging upside down from the ceiling with a three day old nosebleed dried to his face.

Vincent felt like a coward. But he preferred his fantasy that Sephiroth was just a normal teenager.

He recalled Sephiroth’s attitude after starting at the academy. He wore himself out everyday. He dragged his ass across the threshold of the lab and fell into bed, too tired to scream at the lab for simple tests, and too busy to participate in the more horrific ones. Vincent fanaticized that his life became peaches and cream, although he saw his little friend less and less. He didn’t feel needed anymore. Sephiroth was okay.

He was the General, now. More than okay.

Vincent wasn’t thinking about Sephiroth when he saw him sucking down a big gulp on the side of the road. He thought about him often, but not at that moment.

Vincent was on call, stalking out the perimeter of 110th Avenue as preliminary work for a job. It was nothing he was too focused on, but he always was thorough in his work. He was prepared to call in the report when he saw silver hair shining in the sunlight.

Sephiroth. Sephiroth was talking, subdued but enthusiastic, involved in what he was saying. He stopped to listen to his companion, then laughed and shoved food in his face.

Some things never change, Vincent thought with a smile.

Well, maybe they did. Because just as Vincent was prepared to turn and let the portrait of a happy, well adjusted, handsome young man fade into his memory, Sephiroth leaned over and kissed the man he was with.

Kissed. The man he was with.

Vincent could have pulled out his gun and popped the skinny blonde faggot right through the forehead on the spot, but instead turned, and left.

He became plagued by memories of the strange 17 years of his life devoted to keeping Sephiroth safe, keeping him normal, keeping him happy.

He’d failed miserably on all counts. Just as he had with everything fucking else.

Chapter Image can be found here!

owmyhearteries dot deviantart dot com / art / Blonde-Ambition-ch-13-86737548

A/N

1-     1-     Recently, I was asked an age old question : “If you made Blonde Ambition an anime, who would be the voice actorz?” to which I responded, “Fuck that. I would make a live action feature, biznatch!” So, if BA became a movie, these would be my holy and absolute picks for the parts :

Cloud Strife – Ryan Ross

Sephiroth – River Phoenix

Zack Fair – Ashton Kutcher

Vincent Valentine – Jake Gyllenhaal

April Strife – Naomi Watts

Cameron Wedge – Zac Efron

Skylar - Wang Dong Cheng

Dr. Hojo – Steve Buscemi

Nurse Rhonda – Janine Garofalo

Aerith Gainsborough – Megan Fox

I’m a little sad looking at this incredible list… because I know this can neeever haaappen.. boo hoo hoo!

2-     2-     Thank you again, so much, and eternally for reviewing. It really does help, it really does make me feel great about what I do, and it really does make Sephiroth horny. Just sayin’.
- 12
- 13
- 14
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Blonde Ambition