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
- 16
- 17
- 18
Cloud only returned to his bedroom to snatch some boots and a jacket, and tugged them all on after he was already outside in the snow, tying his laces as he hopped down the sidewalk on one foot. He made it to the administrative offices in under forty seconds, drawn to the single light still on in the front office like a moth to a flame.

He burst into the place, immediately calling out, “Hello?”

Nobody answered, and in those wasted few seconds, Cloud had a terrible inkling that they would somehow be operative, that they somehow could be the difference between Sephiroth well and Sephiroth.. not well.

He hadn’t sounded himself on the phone, in fact he’d sounded downright vulnerable.

Whatever ailment he was suffering from was surely serious, and Cloud wouldn’t be found wasted another fucking second if he could help it. “Helloooo?!”

Mrs. Yates, the lovely and flowery office manager emerged from her office with a finger held up to her lips and a phone to her ear.

Cloud ignored the pantomimed request for silence. “I need to find Nurse Rhonda!”

“Just a moment…” She murmured politely to her conversationalist on the other line before pressing the receiver into her shoulder. “You’re being very loud and rude, in case you were raised by wolves and didn’t already know.”

“It could be life or death!” Cloud dramatized, trying to make her see the urgency of the situation in as little words as possible. “Someone is very sick, and I need Nurse Rhonda!”

Mrs. Yates looked alarmed and opened her mouth to speak, but Cloud didn’t have time for whatever she was about to ask. “It’s not a student here, I need her for a personal friend who contacted me.”

“Why would a friend of Rhonda’s contact you?”

Cloud clenched his fists. “Because he’s my boyfriend! And he might be hurting! Please, Rhonda’s address, any phone numbers she has listed? He’s tried her cell and can’t reach her!”

“The first thing we should do is call 911,” Mr. Yates announced, and began to abruptly end her phone conversation.

Cloud couldn’t argue that they should call 911, it was the first thing he thought when he awkwardly hung up with his beloved. But Sephiroth had asked for Rhonda specifically. He obviously had access to a phone – he could have called 911 himself if he felt it was appropriate.

Already out of patience, Cloud finally burst, “On the authority of General Sephiroth, if you don’t give me Rhonda’s information immediately, I’m gonna throw a FUCKING fit.”

Little did Cloud know, Mrs. Yates was formerly Lt. Yates, only retiring her lustrous military career in favor of making babies. While she wouldn’t have traded her children for anything, she greatly missed the military gossip, and therefore had several friends in the Shin-Ra building who filled her in on all the juice. Any fool knew that Sephiroth was dating a young man at the academy, and blonde, short, and cute were repeated adjectives concerning his lover.

But this uppity little baby-faced prick? She decided to test him. “What gives you the right to call upon the authority of the General?”

Cloud stomped in frustration. “He’s the one who needs Rhonda! It was an order!”

Ms. Yates would have taken her interrogations further, but Cloud had begun to hiccup from stress. She decided to assist.

She went to the employee directory and pulled out Rhonda’s contact sheet, making her way to the copier when she suddenly realized she was no longer holding the paper and Cloud was sprinting towards the door.

“Hey!” was all she could say.

“On the authority of my boyfriiiieeend!” Cloud yelled behind him as he hit the snow once again.

Cloud squinted at the paper and turned it right side up, never faltering his running speed although he didn’t know where he was running to, yet. In Communications class, it was taught that is was essential for a SOLDIER to be familiar with the layout of whatever area he’s in, and they were given assignments to navigate their classmates via radio around Midgar twice a week. He rolled his eyes dismally, as Rhonda apparently lived quite a ways away, it seemed. But, she was relatively close to Sephiroth’s loft, so as soon as he got to her, Sephiroth was as good as taken care of.

But then he frowned... what if she wasn’t home? Then what?

He was pounding his boots past the Shin-Ra building when he had a thought : Julie! Julie would know exactly where Rhonda was! But damn, she was knocked up and wouldn’t be there for work… Elena! Elena might know where they were! Or maybe he could find Zack, and he could help! Or maybe Rufus could give him a ride! A SOLDIER should always use every single connection available to him!

So Cloud swerved himself into the white, massive reception room of the Shin-Ra building, dashed to an available receptionist and banged on the desk while he caught a quick breath to speak. “Ma’am! I’m looking for a Turk named Elena.”

Several people stopped and stared. The lady receptionist went wide eyed, then leaned forward to say in a hushed tone, “You can’t just come up asking to see a Turk!”

Cloud swallowed, not even nearly understanding his transgression, and not exactly caring, either. “…I’m looking for a lovely woman named Elena.”

She leaned back a little bit, eyeing the people that had stopped to stare until they went about their respective businesses. “What’s her last name?”

Cloud almost choked on his frustration. “Ma’am, it’s an emergency. I’m just trying to find Elena so she can tell me where Julie is, so she can tell me where Rhonda is.”

“Without a last name I’m afraid I – ”

“Fuck it!” Cloud cried and rushed to the elevator, jumping on as it closed full of suited businessmen. The receptionist only shrugged.

Cloud felt sheepish in the silence, not having any idea what he was doing. He remembered what floor Sephiroth’s office was on, and what floor the SOLDIERs were training on, but wasn’t sure how that information could be useful.

“Um…” Cloud murmured softly to a portly fellow beside him. “If I want to go to a floor, all I have to do is press the button, right?”

After the awkward affirmative, Cloud found the button for Sephiroth’s floor, smacking it although it was already lit. He closed his eyes as they ascended, trying not to think about the movement.

You’re still, Sephiroth told him in his mind, that unearthly gorgeous smile glowing on his pretty, angelic face.

His vision was interrupted. “Excuse me, son. You’ve chosen the executive floor. Do you have clearance?”

Cloud looked at the portly fellow, noticing that he had a very tiny, unfashionable moustache. He was about to go off on a mental tangent wondering what went through the man’s mind when he looked at himself in the mirror, when he remembered to address the very non-important issue at hand.

He couldn’t help but sound like a little punkass. “No, I don’t have clearance. Do you?”

“Of course.”

“Then you’ll be my clearance.”

Displeased and beaten, the mustachioed fellow looked straight ahead and ignored Cloud for the rest of the ride.

Cloud refocused on his task as he arrived at the floor, slipping off with Tiny Moustache, as well as a few of the other men. He tried to remember where to turn and when, only seeing in his mind’s eye the strutted jerk of Sephiroth’s hips as he walked, his long hair swaying in front of his ass like an erotic pendulum. But he followed the image in his mind, and was relieved to find familiar surroundings. Very familiar, in fact. He expected people to be gone and the floor to be half dark, but most of the same people were there, and it was bustling as if it were noon and not almost nine o’clock at night.

The young secretary closest to Sephiroth’s office was busy doing what looked like college homework. Cloud approached her, feeling a spurt of shyness. “…Excuse me, miss. Do you remember me?”

She looked up, quite surprised to see him of all people. “Sure! Is Genny working tonight...?” She cleared her workspace of schoolbooks and was already flipping through files while her eyes darted around, trying to look busy.

“No, he’s not. He asked me to find Nurse Rhonda for him, and I just didn’t know where else to start looking.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“Because,” Cloud growled.

She made a face, realizing she was dealing with a mini-sized Grumpyroth. So she put a finger to her cheek in thought. “Umm... I know Julie is out for her babies... but Rhonda... did you try calling her?”

Cloud rattled off the information yet again. “Sephiroth is sick, he couldn’t get her on her call, so he asked me to find her. There aren’t any other phone numbers listed for her... and I didn’t want to go all the way to her house if there’s a chance she isn’t there.”

She seemed only slightly alarmed with all of this information. “Oh. Oh, okay... weeell... umm... Why don’t you try calling her again?”

Cloud gave an exhausted sigh. “Is Zack around?”

“Who just said my name?!”

Cloud spun around and almost jumped into the air to click his heels together in joy. “Zack! Thank God!”

Zack smiled ear to ear, almost distracting Cloud with his underwear model good looks. “Now that’s how I like to be addressed when I enter a room – …what? What is it?”

Cloud approached Zack and said softly, “Seph’s sick. He needs Rhonda.”

“Sick...?” The big, dumb, blindingly handsome man frowned. “I just saw him a couple hours ago.”

“He sounded really bad, Zack,” Cloud fretted, wringing his hands in impatience. “And he can’t get a hold of her. He asked me to try and find her.”

“…You think maybe it’s an elaborate ruse because he’s planned a surprise party for you?”

Cloud blinked, trying to wrap his mind around what had just been suggested. “Wh – .. No! C’mon, Zack! Do you have any idea where any of the dykes are? Any dyke’ll do!”

Zack raised his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed, winking softly at Cloud. After a few moments, he smiled brightly. “Elena!” There was a pause. “Yeah well, pause it, I just need a minute. Where’s Ronny?” Another pause. “Ohh. What?” Another pause, and Zack laughed. “Now why the fuck would she do that, is the bitch crazy? No, no, don’t tell me any more! I haven’t gone home to watch it yet, I Tivo’d it – ”

Cloud gripped Zack’s suspenders and shook as hard as he possibly could, which certainly got Zack’s attention. The unprepared, 1st class SOLDIER was shaken like a rag doll by the hands of the smallest 1st year cadet at the academy.

“Where is Rhonda!?” Cloud bellowed as he gave Zack whiplash.

Zack grimaced, “Julie’s on bedrest, so they’re at home. Want a ride?”

“Yes!” Cloud stopped giving Zack shaken baby syndrome long enough to wrap his arms around his waist in relief.

“Okay, lemme just finish up some papers and shred something and then we’ll be off,” Zack turned back into his cell phone, where Cloud could hear Elena’s deep voice still chattering.

Cloud yanked on his suspenders again, “No, Zack, now!”

“Seph’s tough as shit, smalls. I know you’re worried, but he’s probably fine, okay? Besides, he’s the one that’s sooo intense on me finishing this tonight... sis?” Zack frowned as Cloud was already running back to the elevators, pounding on the ground floor button.

He had a general idea of where Rhonda’s place was from the easy address system of the plates. Knowing what he knew, if he could slide onto a departing train, it would only be a few stops away. Fifteen minutes, max. Then it would be a quick drive to Sephiroth’s loft from there.

Twenty minutes. Surely Sephiroth could wait a mere twenty more minutes…?

He would have to.

Cloud dashed outside, folding Rhonda’s contact paper and tucking it into the back of his pants as descended the staircase to the underground station three steps at a time. He hopped over the turnstile like a hurtle jumper and raced up to the ticket window. “78th Street,” he barked impatiently. “When does it leave?”

“This one’s departin’ now,” the sexy, tattoo’d ticket boy drawled. “Gotta wait for the next, arrives in fifteen.”

Cloud stomped his boot into the ground. Another fifteen minutes would mean Sephiroth would have to wait over half an hour longer. Half an hour?

No!

He threw fare gil at the sexy ticket boy as if he were a stripper and reached into the tiny window to snatch a ticket, and ran towards the loading dock.

The automatic doors to the train were already closing. There was no way in hell to make it, but Cloud tried anyways. He stopped in front of them in momentary defeat, before he remembered that the little passenger windows were able to pop and crank open to accommodate smokers, of which there were plenty in Midgar.

He slapped at the nearest one furiously, and only a few passengers glanced his way with classic Midgarian indifference. He walked down until he found one with an old man seated close by, and knocked firmly.

When he was ignored, he punched the damn thing until the elderly gentleman looked up at him, and croaked, “What’s ya fuckin’ problem?”

“Open the window! Please! I have got to get on this train!”

Cloud could tell the gentleman was seriously considering ignoring him, and pleaded, fogging the window up with his nose, “Someone I love needs me! He means everything to me! Please?!”

The old man’s tiny, wrinkled eyes rolled upwards in a look more suited to a bored teenager and eased himself up off of his seat with the heavy aid of his walking cane. He took a moment to adjust his cockney hat before turning around and inspecting the window, seeing how it operated.

The train whistle blew, and Cloud slapped at the thick glass again. “I apologize for being rude sir, but can you please hurry the fuck up!?”

“I outta just leave ya skinny fuckin’ foreign ass out dere…” the old man grumbled, slowly and shakily turning the crank as though it weighed a million pounds.

The window popped open, and slowly, way too slowly tilted inwards. Cloud pushed restlessly at it, trying to help hurry the process along.

Somehow this offended the old man, who stopped cranking. “Leggo, shit for brains! You’s is makin’ it harder!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Cloud whined, resting his palms on either side of the window and gripping the metal. “Do your thing! Get it open!”

The old man reached slowly for the crank, and taking his sweet ass time, continued to gingerly crank it.

The train shuddered before it began to move.

“C’mon!” Cloud roared, gripping the bottom of the half open window and walking along with the train.

“You gonna yell at me? I ain’t doin’ nothin’ for ya!” The old man grumbled and cursed, turning away. “Go back to Bone City ya little bastard!”

Cloud balked at the tiny opening, and for the first time in his life, prayed to God he was small enough.

He was beginning to be dragged by the train as it picked up momentum, and he hoisted himself up, digging his toes into a skinny ledge that lined the train. He told himself that it was just like climbing up the vertical rope wall in Boot Camp class, only instead of a plush padding to break his fall, it was a fast moving, blurred concrete plane littered with buzzing, electrical train tracks. His fingers dug into the ledge harder as his palms began to sweat, while nobody on the train nor at the station saw anything odd about this, or offered the slightest bit of help. He considered just hanging off of the train as he was, as it would surely save time in the exiting process, but Cloud could see that there would be certain obstacles.

Namely, the fact that this particular route was about to take the train into a tight underground tunnel.

Cloud stilled the involuntary squeaks that had been escaping his throat and took a deep breath, as it was way too late to reconsider this, a point driven home as the world blurred around him. The speed caused the train to tremble a bit, shaking his booted toes loose of their ledge. Cloud put all of his weight on his palms and ducked his head under the window, pushing with all he had.

There was blinding white hot pain as Cloud roughly scraped his scalp on the metal underside of the tiny window, but he was in the train… up to his armpits, anyways.

He kicked his legs in the cold, fast moving air and tried to slide the rest of the way through the opening. The unforgiving metal scratched and squeezed the broadest part of his shoulders, but as his body naturally narrowed towards his hips, he felt himself slide relatively smoothly under. That is, until the bottom of the window hit the tiny, but abrupt curve of his ass and wouldn’t budge any farther.

He couldn’t believe it. He had too much junk in the trunk!

Too terrified to feel properly smug about it, Cloud looked for something to pull himself with. He was in far enough to almost grab one of the safety poles, but only almost, his fingertips touched it but he couldn’t get a grip. So instead, he leaned every ounce of his weight forward, pushing himself against the metal wall with his hands. No good.

Then as if the Virgin Mary herself whispered the suggestion in his ear, Cloud realized he was in; he could crank the window open himself! He reached up behind him and clutched the crank, and turned it mere millimeters before the window gave enough to allow his ass to slide under, his long legs tumbling in after him.

He landed upside down and on his neck in a graceless pile with his legs in the air, and just stayed that way.

He was trembling something violent, gasping in air desperately. He swiped the sweat that poured down his forehead after he caught a decent bit of breath, and groaned in pain as flopped over onto his side.

Cloud slowly stood up on his quaking legs, turned around, and saw a train car full of Midgarians chewing gum at him in transfixed, but lazy interest.

He looked back to the open window to see how narrow of an escape he had made, and saw that he still had a few moments before they entered the tunnel. As the train rushed past the threshold, Cloud gave a brief shudder, as he would certainly have been knocked off of the train, or squished like a bug.

Breathing a big sigh of relief, he dropped down, taking a seat near the crotchety old man.

“That how they get on trains in fuckin’ Bone City?” the old man scoffed at him ignorantly.

“I’m from Nibelheim,” Cloud frowned, the pride for his hometown a little too large of a pill to swallow not to correct the mistaken assumption.

The old man shrugged. “Same difference.”

Cloud only laid his head on the seat and closed his eyes.

The train ride only seemed to take a moment, and soon Cloud was pushing his way off through the crowd. Taking another look at the contact paper, he dashed off in what he hoped was the right direction.

Within a few minutes, he was knocking on a door. When it didn’t open immediately, he pounded his fist into it until it did.

“Jesus!” Julie cried, then seeing it was Cloud Strife of all people, felt comfortable being pregnant and bitchy, “What the fuck is your problem?”

Cloud swallowed air, then reiterated the story yet again. “Seph needs Nurse Rhonda. Couldn’t get a hold of her. Needs her.”

Julie’s eyebrows lowered slightly. “She left a while ago to see him. She had her phone on silent, I guess. What’s going on?”

Cloud leaned desperately on the doorframe. “…How long ago did she leave?”

“About fifteen minutes ago.”

Cloud barked on ironic laughter. “Fuck! No, but that’s good. I’m gonna go, sorry to bother you.”

Julie made a movement as though she were thinking of coming along. “Should I be fucking worried, here?”

“No, it’s freezing out, go inside or your babies’ll catch cold!” And with that Cloud took off towards Sephiroth’s place. After a few blocks, he could see the apartment complex in the distance, and Sephiroth’s windows dark and large against the gray building. He began an all out sprint.

He bounded up the stairs to Sephiroth’s hallway but halted so suddenly the carpet beneath his boots squeaked.

Sephiroth’s front door was slightly ajar.

Cloud approached slowly and pushed it open, blinking as it wobbled uselessly on its hinges. He swallowed, looking into the apartment and not seeing anyone and not feeling anyone’s presence from within. He somehow felt that he was pushing a boundary. He’d never entered Sephiroth’s apartment alone before.

“Seph? Rhonda?” Cloud called gently, waiting at the threshold for a reply.

When there wasn’t one, he stepped carefully past the kitchen and down the hall to Sephiroth’s bedroom.

The light was on.

“…Seph?”

After strolling around the room, he decided that Rhonda must have taken Sephiroth to the hospital. But which one? And how would he find him? Surely the security at a hospital wouldn’t let him slide under the radar as easily as the bustling Shin-Ra building had…

Cloud frowned, and decided to think on the toilet, as all the stress and running had his insides a mess. He went into the bathroom, but stopped in his tracks.

There was blood smeared across the tub floor, a broken mirror, more blood dripped on the counter and floor…

Cloud whimpered loudly when he realized he was standing in some of it. He had a sudden, hope that it wasn’t Sephiroth’s blood, but maybe an intruder or a paramedic that got too lippy. He quickly exited back into the bedroom and was greeted by a terrified female shout.

Cloud screamed in a higher octave, and found Rhonda clutching her stomach, breathing hard. “Good God, Strife! …You scared the shit out of me!”

Cloud made an unidentifiable, pitiful noise, “Where is he?”

She exhaled and crossed the room, “Seph’s on his way to the Shin-Ra building... They have a medical lab there that’ll take care of him. I just came back up to get some stuff for him.”

“What happened?”

She slid her hands into her pockets. “I’m not sure, yet.”

“Is he alright?”

“He’s had a really rough night. But he was calmed down enough to sleep when the van left, so that’s a good thing.”

“How long will he be at the lab?”

“I don’t know.”

There was an awkward pause. There was the teacher, the nurse, the dyke, the early morning torture master dominatrix herself. Then there was the student, the cadet, the faggot, Sephiroth’s first real lover himself. Which one of those things would they be to one another in this moment?

Cloud said, “…I’ll make his bag, then.”

Rhonda took half a pause before nodding. “Just… basic stuff, like for a hospital stay,” She rubbed at her forehead. “Cloud, um…”

Cloud turned, already flipping on the closet light. “Hm?”

“Nothing, hon. I’m gonna get the mess in the bathroom. Fucking Turks can’t do anything right...” She grumbled as she left the room, probably in search of a broom.

Cloud wasn’t pleased with the vague responses, but said no more as he walked into Sephiroth’s closet, and made a sound of disgust before covering his nose and mouth.

The closet absolutely reeked of sugar, and Cloud never in his life imagined that that smell would be offensive, but it was. It was very different from Sephiroth’s warm, romantic, lingering cookie scent. No, this one reminded Cloud of ignoring his mother’s warnings that too much candy would make his stomach hurt, it was literal smell of that sweet, sea-sick feeling inside. It was almost overpowering.

Jenova’s presence had temporarily stained the small room. She watched, knowing she couldn’t have touched or entered him, as he had none of her cells to latch onto, and not particularly wanting to. With his big blue eyes, little button nose and spiky shoots of yellow hair, Cloud Strife appeared very rodent-like to her.

Disgusted, her consciousness departed, and the smell was gone.

Instead of fleeing for the hills as he would have surely done if he’d known he was just in such close proximity to a psychopathic alien demon, Cloud only took a deep breath of surprisingly fresh air, figuring the odor had wafted out through the open door. He made a mental note to remind Sephiroth not to store dirty, sweaty clothes in his closet, and went about locating some sort of duffle bag. He accidentally kicked something with his boot, and looked down to find Sephiroth’s cell phone lying on the floor. He slid it into his pocket to return to him. Then he found a bag that looked like it had surely seen the dirt of Wutai, and hugged it for a moment before setting to work.

He began pulling clothes off of hangers, folding them loosely and quickly against his hip. As fabulous as Sephiroth looked in skin tight jeans, they probably weren’t the best things to lie around and be sick in, so he added only one fashionable ensemble to the bag, and filled the rest with things that were soft and good for sleeping in; cotton t-shirts and drawstring flannel pants.

He also added a pair of Sephiroth’s gigantic black and red sneakers, taking care to tuck them underneath the clothes as to not get anything dirty, and he realized he had no socks. He found a few drawers near the back of the closet and discovered the sock drawer easily, throwing several messily balled up pairs into the bag.

He opened the second drawer curiously and found clothes that Sephiroth probably worked out in, plus a very sexy pair of bright solid white, surfer style swimming trunks that didn’t look like they got nearly enough use. Dior. Dior swimming trunks. Cloud shook his head in humor, just needing something to smile at. He closed that drawer, decided that Sephiroth didn’t need to work out or swim while he recovered from whatever it was that he needed to recover from.

The third drawer made Cloud smile again. Their stuff from Dirty Rubbers, Cloud’s little nurse getup, and Sephiroth’s rubber gloves, deli hat and apron. Also, the dildo had been thrown in, which Cloud had affectionately named their Boyfriend. Cloud was digging into the drawer farther when his fingers hit something solid. He brushed their fetish clothing out of the way and saw a glimpse of brightly colored Christmas paper. He immediately closed the drawer with a grin, as Cloud Strife was no present-peeker.

And in the drawer underneath that, surprisingly enough, was underwear; all colorful, cute, tight-fitting designer boxer briefs, and Cloud liked them very much… Sephiroth would have looked catastrophically desirable in them. Did he plan on modeling them someday? Did he keep the drawer there to protect his commando-ism secret from the general public in the event of an untimely demise? Did he sometimes wear underwear? Were they a gift from someone with impeccable taste?

Cloud didn’t know. He didn’t know why Sephiroth had a drawer full of underwear.

Finally, after all the drama of the evening, Cloud sobbed loudly.

“…Cloud?” Rhonda asked carefully, peeking into the closet.

“I’m alright, I just found some underwear,” Cloud sniffed.

“Okaaay... well, hurry up. I wanna be out of here in two minutes.”

Feeling the bag was complete, he began to exit the closet before he paused. Uniforms. Sephiroth might feel the need to have one handy.

He was more precise in the way he folded up a pair of leather pants and one of the SOLDIER belts, plus all the straps and extra bells and whistles to hold everything in place. He left the iconic shoulder armor, as he didn’t have enough room in the bag. He draped one of the long leather coats over his shoulder, trying not to let it touch the floor, and tucked a pair of the thigh high boots under his arm.

He laid everything on the bed and went to the bathroom, finding Rhonda with a broom and dustpan, just finishing cleaning up the glass.

The blood was gone.

Cloud smiled at her, having nothing at all to say as he took Sephiroth’s toothbrush and toothpaste, his shower stuff, and his Proactive – the essentials. He stored the personal items in an outside pocket on the duffle bag, and pulled the strap across his chest, folding the heavy leather coat and boots in his arms.

“Okay, I think that’s it…” Cloud thought out loud, before noticing Sephiroth’s wallet and keys on the nightstand. He carefully added those to his pocket as well, his stomach jolting a bit, as these items seemed far more personal than socks or mysterious underwear.

Rhonda shut off all the lights and Cloud locked the door behind them.

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

“…Aw, shit.”

Nurse Rhonda had been dead asleep when she jolted awake. She had muted her cell phone earlier that afternoon during Julie’s lab appointment, and the realization that her phone had been left on silent for the entire day roused her from sleep.

“What?” Julie asked, restless and awake because the babies were restless and awake, and so was passing the time cleaning her automatic rifles in bed.

“I left my stupid phone off...” Rhonda grumbled, lifting herself out of bed to search for it.

“Bad girl,” Julie clucked nonchalantly, peering down the barrel before blowing into it.

Rhonda searched through the pockets of her crumpled jeans on the floor until she found it, and sure enough, the damn thing had been blowing up all night. She frowned, as most of the calls were from Sephiroth.

She was already pulling on said crumpled jeans as she listened to her messages.

The most recent from Zack, asking her to go check on Sephiroth.

One from Elena, asking her to go check on Sephiroth.

One from a young and frightened sounding Turk from Sephiroth’ surveillance team, asking if he should proceed with caution. It was common knowledge that Sephiroth had warned the Turks with threat of death never to approach him at home, but both Zack and Elena were yelling at them to check on him.

And then, a dozen or so from Sephiroth himself. Slow messages that were slurred, confused…

“Put that back together and load it,” Rhonda commanded Julie, whose puzzled facial expression didn’t match her quickened and skilled hand movements.

“Why? What happened?” Julie naturally inquired before smacking her palm against the full magazine and throwing it to Rhonda.

“I’ll call you later,” she answered, ignoring the question as she finished tying her sneakers.

“Oh, that’s so typical!” Julie roared, following her down the stairs, “Gotta hog all the action just because I’m pregnant! I don’t think so! If there’s some shit going down I wanna know about it – ”

“Just go back to bed!” Rhonda commanded Julie in misplaced frustration as she fled their home as fast as she could, leaving her partner looking forlorn on the stoop of their townhouse.

“Can’t you just tell me what it is?” Julie called, sounding young and curious. “A monster? A bomb threat? Terrorists? It’s fucking terrorists, isn’t it?”

“It’s just Sephiroth.” Rhonda called, already small in the distance.

She ran into a little bit of trouble breaking down his front door, as the damn thing was made out of iron. She wondered briefly if shooting off the handle worked like in the movies, but she didn’t want to open fire in Sephiroth’s complex. Not unless she had to.

Then she heard a mousy, yet masculine voice, “R-Rhonda? Nurse Rhonda? Sir?”

Rhonda turned to see a trio of baby Turks huddled at the top of the stairs. One was husky, handsome blonde. One was a lanky, tall, dark haired thing. The third had spiked brown hair that he had earnestly attempted to gel down. She couldn’t recall their names, but instantly recognized them from previous years in her running classes. They were junior Turks, now. Their shoes were still shiny. The spiky one was shaking a little bit.

Precious!

She easily batted away the urge to cuddle them, “What do you numb fucks want?”

“Julie and Elena and Zack said…” the tallest one cooed, digging his toe into the floor.

Rhonda smiled, “You’re Sephiroth’s Turk surveillance team?”

They all nodded, quivering with fear that she’d order them to do some sort of physical activity for interfering in whatever she was doing. It warmed Rhonda’s heart to know she had such an effect on supposedly grown men.

“Get your Charlie’s Angels asses over here and help me kick in this door! NOW!”

The three baby Turks hopped to it, and with their combined efforts, the door went wobbling halfway off the hinges.

“You boys stay here until I give you the word.”

“Yes, sir!” The three readily agreed.

She went to Sephiroth’s bedroom immediately, and refused the urge to tuck her nose under the collar of her shirt to escape the acrid Jenova sugar odor. She’d smelled it before, and she figured she’d smell it again.

She marched to his closet door and fearlessly threw it open.

Sephiroth froze as if he were a teenager that had been caught masturbating. The fact that he was currently choking himself blue did nothing to quell that particular illusion.

But she knew that Sephiroth would have heard her coming, and expected her, at least eventually. It was Jenova that was surprised. For all of the being’s greater intelligence, she was incredibly linear, often so focused and obsessed with Sephiroth that she often didn’t even realize other people were in the room. So intelligent, and yet rather simple minded.

Using that precious moment of shock to her advantage, Rhonda cocked the rifle and shot Sephiroth in the right shoulder.

As she’d hoped, the hand let go of the belt around his neck. Sephiroth gasped sharply, but it didn’t echo with pain, he was getting in some much needed air.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart!” Rhonda tsked anyways.

Sephiroth, sharing half of his body with an alien being, actually managed to roll his eyes.

It was a fact that Jenova absolutely abhorred pain that she didn’t inflict herself, but the bullet wasn’t nearly enough to drive her presence from Sephiroth completely. To be exorcised out of Sephiroth, Jenova usually needed to feel that his body was in peril of dying, from which she would flee him like a rat off of a sinking ship. When he was a child, electric shock therapy had been useful, but as a teenager, he had to be all but torn apart. Then they had found that the slowing down of his vital systems, simulating the shut down of the body before death was the perfect one-two punch of getting rid of Jenova and calming Sephiroth, hence the tranq prescription.

He was slowed down alright, the fact that he actually took a bullet was proof enough of that, but Jenova was still kicking through his system. Rhonda didn’t want to have to shoot him again, but she watched his eerie, unnatural body movements as he stood up on two feet, half of him exhausted and lagging, the other half quick and alert.

Rhonda shot him again, this time in his right thigh. Sephiroth crumpled to the floor.

She didn’t give him a chance to start crawling; Rhonda emptied the rifle into him.

He laid there for a few moments in the heavy, buzzing quiet and she didn’t budge, only kept her now useless weapon aimed.

It was awfully easy.

Could Jenova be getting smarter? It was never in her nature to attempt to trick anyone.. not yet. And Rhonda knew that herself and three Turks would be no match for him if he lost consciousness if Jenova completely took over. In fact, she was glad that the babies were too scared to enter this apartment on their own. Half of Sephiroth would have been enough to tear them to pieces.

Her palm was slick with sweat and she curled it around the gun tighter, “…Seph?”

“...All clear,” Sephiroth moaned slowly against the floor.

Rhonda threw the rifle over her shoulder with a relieved smile, “Tuuurkeys!” She called, rolling Sephiroth over onto his back, quickly tearing off pieces of his thin cotton v neck to dab at his wounds. They were already closing on their own and rejecting the bullets, but it was too slow for her taste. She didn’t want to risk an infection; Sephiroth didn’t do well with it.

The three young Turks were terrified at the sound of gunshots in Sephiroth’s apartment, and probably a little terrified to even be in Sephiroth’s apartment. They were all so green that Rhonda wondered if they’d even fired their own guns, yet. As they popped their heads into the door one by one, Rhonda waved them over.

“General!” They all saluted.

Sephiroth’s green eyes rolled over to them, and narrowed. From somewhere deep in his muscular chest came a rumbled sound of warning. All three gulped simultaneously.

Rhonda couldn’t even begin to stifle a chuckle at that. “I want you two to start a clean up. And I want blondie to call the Shin-Ra building and get a medical van over here for the General. Do it!”

They scattered, all three bumping into each other. Two returned with cleaning supplies found in Sephiroth’s kitchen and got to work mopping up the blood on the floor.

Rhonda gingerly undid the belt around Sephiroth’s neck while they waited, his long, butterfly eyelashes batting rapidly, obviously trying to keep himself awake and aware until further help arrived. That was a good idea. If Jenova decided to re-enter, he would probably have her head ripped off before she realized what had happened.

“Sorry I didn’t pick up,” Rhonda said to him, initiating conversation.

“S’okay,” Sephiroth said slowly, looking for all the world to see like little kid trying to stay awake during late night T.V., “…N’ver been shot before.”

Rhonda tugged on Sephiroth’s ear. “I told you this would happen.”

Sephiroth frowned hard. “…I know.”

“If you would done the mako dialysis when we told you to, when I told you to, it wouldn’t have happened at all.”

“I know.”

“This could have been a crisis situation,” Rhonda muttered, still fussing over his wounds to ease her nerves.

“…S’been a long time. Years,” Sephiroth mused, sounding very young as he stared at the ceiling. “…Thought maybe I got better.”

“You never will!” Rhonda ranted at him, plucking out a couple of the bullets that had halfway pushed themselves out of his skin. “This is something you have to deal with for the rest of your life. So do us all a favor and stop ignoring it.”

Sephiroth’s silver eyebrows knitted, turning up slightly. “’Kay.”

“And stop being such a cock when we tell you that you need a procedure. I know it hurts, and it’s no fun, but Jesus Christ! This isn’t any fun, either!”

Sephiroth smiled, and Rhonda knew it for what it was; the smile of a SOLDIER after a successful battle. “…S’kinda fun.”

That earned him a sharp yank on his cheek. “No. Seeing you hurt isn’t any fun at all. I love you,” Rhonda said roughly, her fingers pushing the sweat damp fringe off of his forehead to plant a kiss there.

Sephiroth’s expression didn’t change. “…Nuh-uh.”

“Yes huh,” Rhonda argued, slapping his cheek gently. “We all love you, ya know. We do. Me and Julie and Elena and Cessnei. And Zack and Angeal and Genesis. Maybe even that miserable faggot Rufus. And you know who loves you the most of all.”

Sephiroth was silent for a long while, so long that Rhonda wondered if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open. Then he said thoughtfully, “S’fucked up.”

Rhonda took his chin and wiggled his face when his eyes fluttered closed again. “What’s fucked up?”

“I fucked up.”

“Specify. You fuck up a quite a lot.”

Sephiroth only peered up at the ceiling, narrowing his eyes shrewdly. Rhonda’s demeanor softened when she realized they were almost brimming with tears, and he choked softly. “I fuck’did up with Cloud. I shoulda said it.”

“…That you love him?”

Sephiroth nodded painfully, swallowing as though it hurt, and it probably did if the welts on his throat were any indication. Then, after a moment of slow, hazy drug-induced non-filtering of emotions, he shook his head slowly. “I n’ver shoulda. He doesn’t know anythin’...”

“He absolutely adores you. He knows that.”

Sephiroth closed his eyes, only to quickly open them again when he felt himself immediately begin to slip out of consciousness. The quick blink caused one fat tear to slip almost unnoticed down the side of his face. “But Baby’s jusso little. An’I’m way too big. I’m so fuckin’ big.”

Rhonda wiped away the rogue evidence of emotion with her thumb, then cleared her own throat of a threatening gale of emotional hiccupping. “…I thought that was an asset for guys.”

Sephiroth didn’t get the joke immediately, but he smiled humorlessly up at Rhonda, exhaling a little. “What iffI hurt ‘im?”

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“M’not,” Sephiroth swallowed gravely. “I could’ve killed ‘im. Like ya said, what if it was a crississitu... a crissisutitian... a crisssscross salutation...”

Sephiroth was having a great deal of difficulty saying ‘crisis situation’, so Rhonda tugged on his hair again, just for the hell of it, “It won’t ever happen if you take care of yourself, and let us take care of you. Which you will do from now on. What are you gonna do? I wanna hear you say it.”

“Make more visits to tha lab,” Sephiroth grimaced.

“Fill out your daily psychological journals, don’t just write a bunch of bullshit ten minutes before your appointments,” Rhonda ticked off on her fingers.

“Take all my meds. Eeeveryday,” Sephiroth grumbled.

“Less greasy food,” Rhonda decided sternly.

“More sleep,” Sephiroth sighed.

“Less stress,” Rhonda ticked, the old topic of Zack taking on more responsibility as his second in command fresh in her meaning.

They were quiet for a moment, thinking of all the wonderful and healthy things that Sephiroth may or may not do when he suddenly broke out in a grin. “More sex!”

He chuckled when Rhonda slapped his cheek again, even though he was right. Sex released endorphins, which Jenova was repelled by. Sephiroth’s expression suddenly changed, closing off a little bit into a wry smile as a shadow fell over the both of them, and a gum popping Zack smiled down. “And here I thought you were bullet proof.”

“I am,” Sephiroth corrected decisively.

Zack’s smiled warmed, “I came down with the van. The lab is all ready to roll out the red carpet.”

Sephiroth sighed, “Y’whatever.”

“Can you walk?” Zack asked uncertainly.

“A’course I can...” Sephiroth groaned, sitting up painfully slowly. Rhonda’s trained eyes could see the tranquilizers were taking stronger effect the more Sephiroth tried to move.

Rhonda pouted, “I can make the baby Turks give you a piggyback ride downstairs…?”

Sephiroth only grunted grumpily, waving his arms as though he were batting the suggestion away, and scooted up to his feet. “Shit. I need… shit... I need my fuckin’ phone. Shit.”

Rhonda only gave him a gentle push that was really a guarded means of support. “Don’t worry, I’ll come back for your shit in a minute.”

Sephiroth shook his head a little, but let himself be guided towards the door. “But I needta call him, he’s ... I dunno where Baby’s at.”

Zack laughed softly, “Cloud? He’s probably banging on every door in Midgar to see if Rhonda’s inside.”

Rhonda frowned, “What?”

Sephiroth held onto the hand rail and stumbled gracefully down the stairs. “I toldim to findja.”

Rhonda groaned loudly, “Oh, great. When?”

Sephiroth had no concept of time or space at that point. “…Little while ago.”

Zack walked down, slowly and nearby Sephiroth, “He was tearing through HQ last I saw him. Fierce little motherfucker when he wants to be – he manhandled me like a piece of meat! Did you hear what I said, Seph? Cloud manhandled me!”

The drugs almost caused Sephiroth to shed another tear at the thought.

Rhonda slapped Zack’s arm. “I’m gonna manhandle you if you don’t shut up, you’re distracting him. Don’t worry, Sephy, I’ll keep an eye out for Cloud.”

“…Okay...” Sephiroth agreed, his usual growling monotone so dreamy and soft-hearted that Zack and Rhonda both held back snickering. They’d save it for later, when Sephiroth was sober and could be fully embarrassed at his drugged up and flighty behavior.

Zack decided to press his luck anyways. “Speaking of your loverboy, has he come up with any good pet names for you, yet?”

Sephiroth smiled. “Pretty. He’scalled me pretty.”

Zack’s eyes rolled back in his head, and Rhonda was certain that he must have just creamed some area of his brain. His ice blue eyes then flicked to Rhonda, who got the hint.

She coughed a little. “Hey, um…has Cloud turned out to be a little butch, or what?”

Sephiroth hummed as if he were considering it, then declared, “He can’t reach it, s’kinda short.”

Rhonda and Zack were completely silent, but almost wet themselves.

They were almost to the van, following behind Sephiroth whose usual confident and slightly sexualized strut had turned into a drunken college-girls-gone-wild stumble, but she had one more good question. Something that she and Julie had discussed as lesbians, and were dying to know.

“So Seph, tell me… when you and Cloud get it on… where does his thing go?”

“In my mouth.”

Zack and Rhonda forgot to laugh. They were baffled.

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

Cloud had never been patted down before, but he felt that the security to the lab was awfully liberal in the crotch area. Seriously. His pants were tight enough to creep halfway up his ass, there wasn’t room for much else but meat.

But he was obedient in removing his shoes, then his socks, then his hoodie, then his shirt, and even let them peek down the back of his jeans with a flash light.

“Pull them down and bend over onto the table, please.”

There was an unmistakable snap of a latex glove.

“Is this really necessary?” Cloud asked, gingerly beginning to unzip.

“It’s strictly protocol,” the older one answered.

He obeyed, hoping Sephiroth would understand why he needed to let two strange men peer up his asshole with a flashlight. He needed to see him, and if this was what he needed to do in order to see him, he’d do it. But he didn’t have to be happy about it, and never took his eyes off of the intruders, peering shrewdly down over his shoulder as they got an eyeful of things previously only seen by his mother, and the General. While one security guard did this, another gave his crotch yet more seemingly uninterested pats.

I need an adult! Cloud gulped.

They asked him for his ID, and he took his school badge out of his back pocket and showed it to them. After they ran him through the system, they wiggled the card, fucking tasted it, and held it up to the light.

Finally, Cloud was given clearance to be on the medical floor. He exited the security office feeling rather violated and ultimately unfulfilled, before stopping to scan around for Rhonda.

She had already swung into action, her hair pulled back into a fierce ponytail and a lab coat donned. She waited loosely around the entrance for Cloud, and made eye contact with him before turning away and storming into the strange darkness of the place. Cloud hoped that was a sign for him to follow, because there was no way he was leaving her side.

The lab was a very noisy place, nothing like any hospital Cloud had ever been in. There was an ambiance of strongly humming machinery, loud chattering conversations between the doctors walking to and fro, and cries of agony from whatever creatures were currently being worked on.

Cloud tried to drown out the anguished noises with his mental jukebox, but it was difficult, as some part of his brain reveled in the noises, fascinated by hearing another creature’s pain, while the rest of his person revolted against it. He’d never had a strong stance on animal testing, but he was now leaning towards the PETA end of things. Cloud sighed in relief though, knowing that Sephiroth was the General, and that he’d be very well taken care of.

He followed Rhonda around the compound-like area, keeping his eyes on her back and attempting not to peek nosily into doorways or down corridors.

Rhonda finally stopped to open a door and he followed her into a small, completely stark hospital-like room. Sephiroth was lying in bed like an angel, graceful even in his sleep.

“He’s gonna be out for a long while,” Rhonda told Cloud. “Probably a few days, so don’t worry.”

Cloud let out a quiet sigh of relief just to see him. The solidness, the wholeness of him. The rise and fall of his chest. Cloud went to the side of his bed and curled his hand into Sephiroth’s limp, sleeping one, entering the realm of his heat. It was intense to the point of feverishness when he slept, and Cloud could remember the burning at his back when Sephiroth’s long, lean frame enveloped his.

Cloud smiled fondly until Rhonda flipped on a tiny, unobtrusive light next to his bed, illuminating the room further than just the glow of machinery.

“Oh, my God!” Cloud gasped, then bellowed, “Jesus Christ!”

Rhonda jumped a mile into the air. “What?”

“What did they do to his HAIR!?” Cloud lamented.

Someone had haphazardly buzzed two small vertical strips of sliver clean off, one on each side of Sephiroth’s temple. In place of luscious silver silk, were multicolored tubes. The Cloud could see that his beautiful face was cut and scratched, open wounds dried with blood, and covered from the nose down in a large, ugly breathing mask. Bandages dotted along his muscular arms, and an IV protruded from one surprisingly delicate inner elbow, along with several more multicolored wires.

Rhonda rubbed her palm between Cloud’s tense shoulder blades, “He can probably do some sort of comb over for a little while. The doctors just needed to get to plugs.”

Cloud gasped helplessly and gently placing his hands on Sephiroth’s face, inspecting the damage and running his fingertips over the wires burrowed into his precious lover’s scalp, “What’s all this shit for? What does it do? Is his brain alright?”

“I don’t know what to tell you.”

Cloud leveled her a hard glare, “Look. You’re my teacher, so I’m sorry to say this, but... I’m not fucking stupid. I love him. If there’s something going on with him, I wanna know what it is.”

Rhonda knew. She so fucking knew. The look on her face, in her eyes all told that she knew.

But all she said was, “I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

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

Every single day, Cloud went to the lab after school hoping to find an empty bed. However, the man of his dreams was still lying there everyday. It wasn’t a coma, the nurses who would talk to him said, reiterating what Rhonda had told him the first night.

Sephiroth was healing himself.

Cloud found out that Sephiroth had been shot, repeatedly. He found out that Sephiroth had experienced a few minutes without oxygen. He found out that time in something called a mako tank would heal him within hours, but he had given a strict order to never be placed in one again. Meaning he had been placed in one before, meaning that in some horrific past event, Sephiroth had been hurt worse than this. Probably in the war.

There were so many experiences that Cloud had yet to share with Sephiroth. What did they have between them? One lopsided declaration of love, a handful of dates, a few hot, blissful, sexual encounters, and hours upon hours of words. But they hadn’t gone to the beach, or climbed up a mountain, or played in the snow. They hadn’t watched a parade, or shared a birthday cake, or seen a ghost. They hadn’t cooked a meal together, or sung together, or gotten a pet together. Sephiroth hadn’t seen Cloud become a SOLDIER, yet. They hadn’t been on a mission together, yet. Sephiroth hadn’t seen Cloud with drumsticks in his back pocket, yet. And surely there were places on Sephiroth’s body he had yet to lay his lips on.

He tried to quell any fear he had through the primitive act of touch; lying in Sephiroth’s narrow bed, curling around his body, careful of his wires and injuries, lighting kisses over Sephiroth’s soft face and neck when he was fortunate enough to be alone with his resting, unresponsive form. He wished he could have kissed his lips, but they were locked away underneath a breathing mask.

It was torture.

At Cam’s suggestion, Cloud talked to him, telling him what he normally would about the dramas of the day, telling him not to worry about his army because Zack was taking good care of everybody as the acting General, but to hurry the fuck up anyways and heal because there were people that needed him.

He needed him. He told the man point blank. But the General only slept and slept.

He did move from time to time. Rhonda usually had a new humorous story every day of how Sephiroth either batted away a nurse who was trying to adjust his tubes and was unconsciously tickling him, or of how she would often tuck him under his blanket only to have him kick it right back off. Cloud inquired about the obvious lack of a bedpan, and Rhonda informed him that Sephiroth got up once a day to groggily use the bathroom, wash himself up, and brush his teeth. He’d then lay back down, cooperate in the replacing of all of his wires and tubes, and then promptly fall back to sleep. He said nothing during these extremely brief bouts of consciousness, and was more or less sleepwalking.

Only once in the entire week and a half had Sephiroth stirred in Cloud’s presence. Cloud had been lying next to him on his narrow hospital bed doing Mako Science homework, when Sephiroth’s right hand had lifted and laid itself on Cloud’s thigh, curling to squeeze it affectionately before going slack again.

Cloud had frozen, pen poised, and didn’t breathe for nearly a full minute. When his lungs screamed for air, demanding it, he slowly let his breath out, watching Sephiroth’s face. He waited for him to come to life, to shout, “Gotcha!” in that strange, beautiful monotone of his.

So unnerving it was, lying there with Sephiroth’s hand on his thigh, that Cloud closed his book and seriously pondered whether or not he had placed that hand there himself, only imagining Sephiroth was trying to comfort him from some deep place within himself.

On Wednesday evening, Cloud was ushered to a chair in the far corner of Sephiroth’s room. He was beginning to wonder why, when a group of male orderlies came in, moved Sephiroth onto a stretcher, and took him away. One turned back to look at Cloud. “We’re doing his dialysis, now. It might be better for you to come back tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Cloud said, before slowly standing. “Can I watch?”

“Watch...?” The orderly looked at the others, who all shrugged. He turned back, “Sure, c’mon.”

Cloud followed them to a large room that was teeming with medical professionals. He already knew Nurse Rhonda had the evening off, so he didn’t bother looking for her in the crowd to latch onto. Staying near Sephiroth proved to be a challenge, and then an impossibility as he was taken inside a glass cubicle. Cloud watched with all the others as Sephiroth was stripped down to nothing on the gurney. They were clinical and careful in their actions, although Cloud blushed for him, as he was fully exposed in front of so many strangers – not that he had anything to be ashamed of, of course.

Then, they removed the breathing mask. One doctor hooked a latex-gloved finger onto Sephiroth’s bottom lip, parting his mouth to insert a tube down so far down his elegant throat that Cloud shuddered in revulsion. When Sephiroth actually gagged a little bit, silent behind the glass, he felt a fierce spike of protective rage. He swallowed it though, as the doctor seemed satisfied and went on to other duties.

There were tubes cut into Sephiroth’s skin in the oddest places. The patches of skin at his temples, the bottoms of his feet, over his heart, the palms of his hands, and his completely smooth armpits. There was very little warning before runny green fluid that Cloud knew from his class to be mako began to get sucked out of Sephiroth’s body, tiny chunks and red swirls of blood mixed in. Every so often Sephiroth would tense up a bit, visible in the clenching of his fingers and an arch of his back, in the furrowing of his eyebrows and the constant swallowing of his throat. This all wouldn’t have been nearly so hard for Cloud to handle if Sephiroth hadn’t started vomiting.

Apparently that’s what the tube in his throat was for. Cloud saw his glowing green eyes flutter open and shut, and a look of pure pain mar his features as the thick bile was sucked out of his throat. Out of all the people in that cubicle, only one put a hand to Sephiroth’s forehead in the smallest of calming gestures.

Cloud wrapped his arms around himself, an empathetic wave of nausea close to overpowering him. Thankfully, Sephiroth either got too tired to look sickened and pained, or the pain itself ceased, for he settled back down onto the table. Eventually the tubes ran dry, and no more green substance was pumped from him. It was all collected in barrels marked toxic and taken away.

Cloud was slightly dumbfounded, until new barrels were brought into the cubicle and pumped back into Sephiroth’s body. The jerking began again, but this time it wasn’t in pain, but rather in restlessness.

It had been totally silent in the room for most of this procedure. The windowless and clockless environment didn’t communicate the passage of time well, but it had been almost two hours, affording Cloud much time to think. He turned to a white coated doctor standing nearby, not knowing that his voice would echo and carry throughout the room and even clearly into the glass cubicle as well, “In my Mako Science class, we just started learning about metabolics. If they’re like, giving him so much at once, and he’s sleeping…how’s he burning it off? Couldn’t he get mako poisoning?”

Without anyone saying a word in response, Cloud was immediately escorted out of the lab by security. He came sheepishly creeping back in the next afternoon, and was quickly snatched up by Nurse Rhonda, who gave him a stern lecture about disrespecting the senior staff.

“Who the fuck do you think you are? You can’t boss around the doctors!”

“I didn’t boss anyone!” Cloud pled the truth, daring to talk back. “I only asked a question!”

Rhonda went ballistic, “That’s worse! Do you know how hard I had to fight for you just to be allowed in here again?! Now drop and give me TWO HUNDRED!”

Cloud had no choice at all but to assume guilt, and obey.

“The doctors know better than you what’s best for Sephiroth,” Rhonda reminded him as he dropped to his palms and performed all two hundred pushups perfectly. “It might not have been pretty to watch, but it needed to be done. Sephiroth is better now than he’s been in a long time.”

When Cloud stood, Rhonda spun him towards the direction of Sephiroth’s room and swatted him on the ass hard enough to send him up off of his feet.

He had pouted and glowered, rubbing his bottom as he sulked into the room to tell Sephiroth all about it. But first, he checked out the beautiful man’s feet and hands. Not a scratch on him. He then looked closely at his face. His eyelids indicated that he was dreaming, and the stillness and tranquility that surrounded him made Cloud assume they were pleasant dreams despite the traumas of the night before.

Instead of disturbing Sephiroth’s thoughts with tales of being rough housed by both lab security and Rhonda, he only climbed up on the bed and began to do his homework.

The end of the second week brought about another Friday with little to no hope of kisses or fun. While staring at his book idly during Geometry class, Cloud realized that the very next week was indeed Christmas. He was going to be terribly regretful if Sephiroth awoke just in time for the holiday, and he was unprepared with a gift.

And privately, Cloud was getting awfully… antsy. He hadn’t had any sex, nor had he been in the mood for self gratification since last being with Sephiroth, and frankly, awake or asleep, the man was still the hottest creature in the solar system. During the middle of his studies the afternoon before, Cloud had begun to fantasize about doing… things to his unconscious lover.

Lying chastely beside Sephiroth on the bed, Cloud could feel his heat, the strong length of his arm resting against his own, his soft skin and silky hair. In that long moment, he realize that it would be so easy to just… fuck him.

Cloud would pull down his loose drawstring pants, knowing damn well that even in this sleeping state, that big, thick cock would respond to him. He’d suck it, getting it hard and wet while taking the briefest amounts of time to stretch himself out, just the way that Sephiroth had taught him. Then he’d straddle that gorgeous man, take him all the way in… ride him… call his name… work him over until those hard, narrow hips bucked up into him and those eyes opened to look at him.

If that didn’t wake the General up, nothing would.

Cloud had become completely erect daydreaming about it, turning his face to inhale Sephiroth’s scent. That’s when he abruptly decided to call it a night, holding his messenger bag in front of his groin as he gently kissed Sephiroth farewell on his cheek, igniting even more lust within himself before he hobbled out of the lab.

Cloud sat grimacing at his own perversion in the middle of his math class. Sephiroth was terribly sick, full of fresh mako, concentrated on his own healing, and all Cloud could seem to think about was getting him off. He sheepishly decided to take the afternoon off, instead.

He’d been in the lab everyday for nearly ten days. He needed to get outside. Get fresh air. Get away from the beautiful sleeping angel before he went necro.

Christmas shopping would be the perfect distraction. He decided not to bother with the upscale plate malls – anything there Sephiroth could all too easily get if he wanted it, and probably for fucking free. So downtown it was, Cloud’s favorite place in the world.

What he wanted to get Sephiroth was something sexy. His clothes were so cozy and casual and soft… the exact polar opposite of his work uniform. He needed some hot pieces that would mesh with his usual, cotton, soft, designer fare. He also needed to get things besides gifts for his beloved; he wanted to find some respectable outerwear for Cam, a treat for Psycho, and something special for his mother.

He would’ve really liked to have sent his mother a current photo of himself and Sephiroth together. That could still be easily arranged, as posing the General would be no problem in his current state. How creepy would that be!? Kind of like his great grandma’s photo album full of their dead relatives propped up for a final photograph.

The association between his sleeping beloved and a bunch of lifeless corpses almost had Cloud doing a u-turn right out of the train station and back to Sephiroth’s bedside, but he calmed himself down.

The General wasn’t just anybody. He was the strongest man, ever. He was a professional ass kicker. A SOLDIER extraordinaire.

He was going to be fine. As much as he tended to fret and worry, Cloud knew that.

Cloud exited the train station to find familiar streets, and supposed that Dirty Rubbers would be a fine first stop of the afternoon. Taking his time to look through the mass of clothes, and found a lovely, sleeveless v-neck ice blue shirt, a black t-back vest and a leather tie that completed a cute, totally flaming little number that sure to cause mass hysteria if Sephiroth actually wore it. Cloud wasn’t sure about Sephiroth’s size, as his shoulders were broad, but his waist was so long and narrow. Not to mention he had really big arms. Cloud then wondered if he would have that sexy proportion problem when he became a swordsman, himself.

He decided that if the shirt hit him at a little past his hips, it would fit Sephiroth fine. Medium, it was. He was just going to check out when, humiliatingly enough, he found something that would look really cute on… his mother. It was a dark blue miniskirt with just a little bit of flounce.

She had killer legs, and wore miniskirts often. Did he dare buy her one? He did.

He picked up the skirt and was sold immediately when he saw little nautical touches, like little anchors on the buttons and a red contrast stitch. So cute! As for the size, anything that fit his hips comfortably would have fit her’s, as she was the one he got his long legs and slim hips from.

He stole away to the dressing room and tried on the skirt for like, two seconds.

Real quick. On and off. And with a minimal amount of sashaying.

Satisfied and strolling along the sidewalk, he found in a convenience store a pack of lighters with kitten paws on them for Psychopath. They weren’t automatic, so he wouldn’t be able to lick the flames without assistance, but that was probably just as well – the little cat would probably burn down the dorm in a fit of pyromania.

Further along on his journey, he came across a little shop of knick knacks for the garden. He found a smiling ceramic frog flipping the bird, and decided it would make the most charming addition to his mother’s outside smoking area. She never actually used it, because most of the year it was too fucking cold to go outside. But the frog was cute anyways, and she was sure to love it. Plus, it might piss off the neighbors. Two birds with one frog.

Cloud stepped into a large, urban sort of store, and decided to forego outerwear for Cam, and instead picked him up a ‘Jane Austin is my Homegirl’ t-shirt. Then he lucked into finding a cute light blue top that went well with his mother’s new skirt. He also came across a pair of sexy little Superman boxer-briefs for Sephiroth. Even if the underwear drawer was for show, he’d be able to get him to model them at least. Maybe he’d even rip his pants off and reveal them like Clark Kent… glasses and all. Cloud dabbed his nose to check for a nosebleed.

He was tired, but extremely satisfied with his purchases. His shopping work for the Christmas holiday was complete.

That is, until he saw something that made him stop in his tracks, and he was immediately run into by the sidewalk of shoppers behind him, who were none to happy about the new blonde roadblock.

“’Scuse me. So sorry. Cheers,” Cloud mumbled, patting and batting everyone away as he stepped closer to the window, and closer to the DVD in question.

His world stopped, and he tore through the entrance of the XTC Adult Specialty Store.

He went right to the window display and plucked the DVD up off of the showcase rack to get a better look at it. He couldn’t believe it!

The DVD was titled Military Men, and there, right on the cover… was a male porn star obviously hired due to a physical likeness to Sephiroth! Cloud squinted at the man in wonder, seeing that he was nowhere near as beautiful as the General, but was sporting a fantastic wig, colored contacts, and a cock that almost trumped Sephiroth’s …almost. Cloud turned the case over, and covered his mouth with his hand to stop a fierce scream. Right there on the back, an explicit picture of the Sephiroth imposter brutally fucking a man whose long dark hair had been cut and hairsprayed to resemble Zack’s!

Cloud held the DVD against his chest in pure wonder. Were his boyfriend and his friend really that famous? He read the caption on the back;

Commander Sitonmyface is the unrivaled leader of the Schlong Army! Follow him and Zed Tight, his second in command, through seven military hours of fucking the eager asses of his army and shoving his power down the throats of the enemy! That’s right! Over seven hours of hard cock, heavy artillery, and the most powerful man in the world! Any resemblance to actual persons alive or dead is purely coincidental – all actors over 18! Come bitches, come!!!

It was too good. It was just too fucking good.

He tucked it under his arm, prepared to pay any price for it, when he had a thought. While the pornographers’ hearts were in the right places – obviously reverent of Sephiroth’s beauty and raw sexuality – Cloud was unsure as to how Sephiroth would take the existence of such an item. Would he be upset? He didn’t want to irritate his lover… but then again… if there was an entire porno that he was the focus of, he would definitely want to know about it.

So, he took it to the register, which was being jockeyed by a middle aged woman with a purple cardigan. Cloud laid his selection on the counter with a sheepish smile. Surely she was picturing him doing all sorts of terrifying solo sex acts, and she probably would have been right on the money.

“You know the 45 gil movies are buy one, get one free?” she informed him in a sweet voice.

Cloud was expecting her to ask for an ID that didn’t exist, so forgot his embarrassment and made a thoughtful sound, turning around to face the store. There were an awful lot of sweaty breasts and vaginas. He stared into one, and felt himself get a little woozy, “Oi… Is there a comedy section?”

“Fine is the line betwixt comedy and horror.”

Cloud snapped his fingers, “Horror! That might actually be better. Does such a thing exist in porn?”

She pointed. “There are some theatrical films along that wall. There should be a few to choose from.”

Cloud was impressed. He followed the line her finger made to the wall, and found a few terrible looking features. Pussy Vampire – which seemed to be centered around the mystery of menstruation. Edward Penishands. Jerk My Cock Off, Literally. Semen Demons. Beast Masturbator.

Then Cloud grinned, finding just the thing for his big, sexy spooktard. Night of the Living Cock. And hot dog, it even sported an all male cast.

Then Cloud paused at the register as he was about to hand over his debit card, biting his lip. Raunchy porn for Christmas? The birthday of the Lord and Savior? Was he really becoming this trashy?

No, he wasn’t.

He’d give it to Sephiroth on New Year’s.

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

Cloud crept quietly through the lab, sticking to dark corners and scuttling down hallways, knowing that if he were to be seen by a nurse, they would probably kick him out due to the late hour.

Fuck those bitches. He had a man to kiss goodnight.

He silently opened Sephiroth’s door and closed it again, leaving his purchases by the door before tiptoeing over to the bed, not bothering with the light.

He crawled up next to Sephiroth, carefully wrapping his warm body in his arms, nuzzling into his neck, “Sorry I didn’t come by after school. I had to go find you your Christmas presents. I wanted to say goodnight, though.”

Cloud cupped Sephiroth’ chin, and his thumb brushed against soft lips.

Lips? Sephiroth’s breathing mask was…

“Can I have my presents now?”

Cloud’s reaction was greatly delayed, and while his body numbed with initial shock, he felt Sephiroth turn in bed to face him, his strong arms wind tightly around him. He bellowed in a sudden rush of startled fear, then squealed in jubilation, hugging the man fiercely. He finally opened his eyes to find two lovely green sources of glowing light staring down at him, the beautiful, strange cat iris slit wide and relaxed.

“How do you feel?” was the first thing Cloud thought to ask.

“Tons better,” Sephiroth answered. He spoke!

Cloud squeezed his neck and shoulders tightly in his grip, unable to wipe the smile from his face. He instead crushed his smiling lips into Sephiroth’s. His blue eyes rolled back into his head at the feeling of that soft mouth moving and opening for his tongue, offering a sorely missed taste.

The kiss was hot but brief, Cloud backed his head away to look at Sephiroth. He eagerly ran his hands over Sephiroth’s arms and down his side. “When did you wake up?”

“Early this afternoon,” Sephiroth said, kissing Cloud’s neck and shoulders through his jacket.

Cloud huffed happily, too content truly to worry about his crappy shopping timing, “When do you get to go home?”

“…You got anythin’ to do tomorrow?”

“Just be with you,” Cloud answered into the side of Sephiroth’s neck, reveling in the fact that all the wires were gone from Sephiroth’s body. He ran his fingers through his scalp, uninterrupted by plastic. He felt the two little fuzzy patches of shorter hair. They were growing in quickly, but he still tsked sadly.

“They cut your hair…”

“Baby, it could have been much worse,” Sephiroth smiled and kissed him again, his thumbs brushing across Cloud’s cheekbones to meet his fingers in combing back through his hair. Cloud melted all over again, his body all too easily ignited. He knew he had a similar effect on Sephiroth, if his wandering, greedy hands and hard core of arousal pressed against his hip said anything about it.

When Sephiroth’s tongue became dominant and forceful, his sharp teeth plucking at his bottom lip, Cloud knew he had about five seconds of cognitive thought left, and he used it to squirm a little bit, backing away from Sephiroth.

Cloud panted a little, unsurely asking, “…Here?”

After Sephiroth found his meaning, he shook his head against the pillow, “No, I don’t wanna have sex. I’m just happy as hell to see you.”

Cloud tsked and ‘aww’ed sentimentally, nuzzling his forehead against Sephiroth’s. Then, realizing what was fully said, he balked quietly, “…You don’t wanna have sex?”

“Camera there,” Sephiroth informed, motioning to the ceiling above the bed. Then he pointed to the mirror, “Camera there,” and then he pointed to the headboard, “Microphone here,” and then he pointed to the far corner, “Surround camera over there. Tracks movement in case you somehow get outta the path of the other cameras.”

Cloud whispered, suddenly paranoid, “Why are there cameras in your room?”

Sephiroth chuckled, resting his cheek in Cloud’s babysoft plumage. “’Cause they wanna know everythin’ about me.”

“I wanna know everything about you,” Cloud murmured.

“What for?” Sephiroth asked with a smile.

“Because...” Cloud nuzzled him just a little bit as he explained, “I want to understand your motivations in life.”

Sephiroth blinked a little at that. “...I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know, then.”

“What was your first word?”

“It was ‘no’.”

Cloud smiled into his shoulder. “Not at all surprising. Were you a bossy little baby?”

“Prolly.”

“Were you cute?”

“Prolly not.”

Cloud very much doubted that. “Do you have any pictures of yourself? Like baby pictures or family pictures or anything?”

“No.”

Cloud made a slightly disappointed face, then brightened up. “Did you have silver hair all your life?”

“It was always this color, yeah.”

“Do you like it?”

Sephiroth hummed. “I’ve made my peace with it.”

“Did you always keep it long like that?”

Sephiroth shrugged a shoulder. “I kept it at my neck most of my life, then it started getting’ longer in the war. When I got home after my first tour, it was halfway down my back. So, I got it chopped up to my neck again, but... I sort of missed it. So that was the last time I cut it, about four years ago.”

Cloud nuzzled him. “You know it makes you look like an angel, right?”

Sephiroth gave him a cocky grin. “If you say so...”

After a moment of happy quiet, Cloud then asked, “What’s your dad’s name?”

Sephiroth breathed through his nose. “...What’s your dad’s name?”

“Aiden Donahue. What’s your dad’s name?”

“…Vincent Valentine.”

“How long do we have to be together, before you think it’d be appropriate for us to meet?”

There was a long pause. “…I already toldja, Cloud. My dad and I don’t talk.”

“Don’t you think you should?” Cloud pressed innocently. “It’s almost Christmas.”

“Cloud…baby..” Sephiroth began, sitting up on one elbow. He couldn’t bear it anymore. The white lies were turning into bigger ones. And if he was to teach Cloud how to protect himself in the event of another attack, he would need to know the truth about him, about his parentage, about his everything. “I have stuff to tell you.”

Cloud turned onto his side to sit up on his own elbow. “I know you do.”

His lover was selectively intelligent underneath all those blonde spikes. Sephiroth smiled in the face of his own apprehension. “I have a lot of stuff to tell you.”

“…Okay, Seph.”

Sephiroth told Cloud his life story. The real, entire truth of his history, as much as he had knowledge of. He told Cloud some things that he had never even said out loud before.

Eventually, morning sunlight peeked through the blinds. The two were still awake in the creeping, hesitantly moving light, Cloud lying with his head in Sephiroth’s lap.

Sephiroth stroked the hair off of Cloud’s forehead, the slow, heavy petting motions calming him. He’d spent a long while weeping.

“Why didn’t I already know this?” Cloud finally asked, his voice deep, even and somber. “Did you think I wouldn’t want to be with you?”

“It’s not like that,” Sephiroth stopped petting his forehead, and instead moving his thumbs over Cloud’s eyebrows. “It feels good with you. Makes me forget about shit that happened, just makes me happy in the now. I didn’t wanna bring this up, make you sad for me.”

Cloud wiped his face dry. “Will I still feel good? Now that I know?”

“Always. You always would’ve.”

Cloud sighed in relief, squirming up Sephiroth’s body to lie against him. “I’m sorry if it made you sad to tell it all… but it’s all over. You’re not a monster.”

Sephiroth smiled warmly. “Yes, I am.”

Cloud smiled back with a little sniff. “Am I the dumb blonde bitch that falls down and gets eaten by the monster?”

“Sure,” Sephiroth nodded, then said seriously, “But I don’t want you to forget it. I’m not normal, and that’ll never go away. It might even get worse.”

Cloud pleaded, “Will you please take better care of yourself? Please? For me?”

“I will. I swear.”

“I couldn’t stand to lose you like that. I wouldn’t even be able to cry… I’d break.”

Sephiroth held Cloud, not knowing how to respond to such a statement. He kissed him gently, held him, warmed him. It’s all he knew how to do.

“So…” Cloud finally said, lifting his head to look around the small room. “Is this where you grew up?”

“Nah,” Sephiroth said, then his hand stilled on Cloud’s face. “My old room’s a closet now.”

Cloud giggled quietly at the obvious innuendo about Sephiroth coming out of the closet, and rolled over to lie on his lap, looking up upside down at him in the pink morning light. “Let’s not sleep here. Let’s stay up and finish whatever you need to here, and go home to sleep.”

Sephiroth nodded. “Good deal.”

“And let’s get a pizza.”

“Better deal.”

“And eat it in your bed. Naked.”

Sephiroth just smiled, resuming his petting.

“And let’s do it,” Cloud rambled with a sleepy smile. “Please? Over an’ over an’ over again. Like, even if we don’t even feel like doing it anymore.”

Sephiroth leaned down into his lap to press Cloud’s lips with his. He then kissed Cloud’s chin, feeling his soft lips press against his in return.

Cloud was emboldened. “Can I stay with you for Christmas?”

Sephiroth smiled, “Of course you can.” Then he pulled away, looking down into the sweetest, most innocent blue eyes in creation. “You love me, Cloud?”

Cloud nodded. “I love you. Do you love me?”

Sephiroth nodded in return, “So much it hurts.”

Cloud pulled him down to smear his face with lips and tears. And this time, Sephiroth was absolutely positive that they were happy ones.

And the three baby Turks who had been surveying the conversation for the entire night over a vast spread of chips and dip were all weeping happy tears as well.

“He finally said it!” Marty, the husky one with long blonde hair sniffed.

“Nooo!” Cole, the tall, dark haired one complained, stuffing another salsa’d tortilla chip in his mouth, “He didn’t say it, yet. He almost said it.”

Jack, the brown haired, typically quiet one was crying the hardest of all. “But he said it as much as he can say it. The General is so... just emotionally… he’s been through so much, guys. And worst of all is that he thinks Captain Vin hates him! He’ll never know that he visited three times this week!”

Marty slowed down his chewing. “Unless…”

“Nooo waaay!” Cole bellowed, “We cannot interfere in the General’s or the Captain’s lives. That’s like asking to become a human shish kabob, then tossed off a building, while being set on fire.”

Marty waved him quiet. “How would they find out if we just happen to steer the General into Captain Vin’s path? Yeah? I’m sure if they just see each other in a non- threatening, non-work atmosph –”

Cole rattled his bag purposely over Marty’s voice. “Nooo. This isn’t some interactive soap opera. We just need to sit here, make sure the General’s life isn’t threatened, that’s all. I wanna be a fully sworn in Turk in six weeks, not kicked out by the Captain or fucking killed by the General. Thanks.”

Marty looked incredulously at his future partner. “Where’s your soul, man?”

Cole pointed at the third, silent party. “This can be a democracy. What say you, Jack?”

Jack looked from one to the other. He was usually piloting the helicopter, and wasn’t exactly used to making decisions, as he preferred to be told what to do. He bit his lip before shrugging. “I mean, if no one ever finds out…”

“It’s settled!” Marty shouted joyously. “After the New Years when Captain Vin’s schedule isn’t so busy... we gotta get those two back in good graces.”

Cole pursed his lips, then sighed, “How?”

“We’ll think of something.”

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

The apartment reeked when they came lumbering in with the General’s luggage, Cloud’s overnight bag quickly thrown together at the academy, and armloads of get-well loot.

It wasn’t the sugar odor. It was the stench of death.

Sephiroth went to the kitchen to drop the boxes of candy on the counter and to find the source of the smell. Cloud skipped to the bedroom to drop their bags off, then came back into the kitchen, pinching his nose.

It turned out to be the garbage can. He pulled the can out of the under-counter cabinet it was stored in, and thrown in and forgotten about were towels soaked with blood and dirty water. An army of teensy flies were buzzing, mating, shitting, and laying eggs in the filth. Cloud gagged before clamping one hand over his mouth. Sephiroth took it from the apartment immediately, flies and all, and ran it through the snow to the dumpster.

He returned to have sweetness pervade his senses. Cloud had a little bottle of his cologne, the familiarly misty, almost fruity scent that hovered over and mixed deliciously with his natural woodsy musk. He was taking the liberty to spritz it around Sephiroth’s kitchen and into the empty garbage bin.

Sephiroth watched him put in a new trash bag and close the cabinet.

Cloud stood up straight and smiled at him, his hip falling against the counter. “I have another question for you.”

“Hm?”

“Why do you have a drawer full of underwear in your closet?”

Sephiroth didn’t skip a beat. “I wear ‘em when I run. It hurts to have my shit bounce.”

Cloud didn’t skip a beat, either. “What if you have to run on missions?”

“My pants are tight enough to keep it all under control.”

Cloud giggled at the thought of those pants being able to handle that much bounce, then declared, “Alright, I have stuff to do. Get on your bed.”

“Stuff?” Sephiroth asked, an eyebrow hiked. “What stuff?”

Cloud ignored the question. “And take your shirt off. Nah, just take all your clothes off.”

“You’re gettin’ bossy, short shit.”

Cloud snorted, leading Sephiroth to the bedroom by the hand and pointed to the bed. “Strip and sit.”

Sephiroth slowly undressed, watching with curiosity as Cloud entered his closet, closing the door behind him. When he came out, he had removed his own shirt and had donned his little nurse hat.

Sephiroth barked on laughter, an edge of nervousness not unnoticed. “What are you up to?”

Cloud adjusted his nurse hat, “I told you. I have stuff to do.”

“Like?”

“Standard procedures. Rhonda gave me a to-do list, I’ve been watching her and the other nurses do this stuff to you all week. She told me to do it immediately when we got home, before we go to bed tonight, and first thing tomorrow.”

“I see…” Sephiroth said softly, tracking Cloud with his eyes as he went to Sephiroth’s duffle bag and pulled out a small paper sack with the aforementioned list stapled to the front of it.

“Alright,” Cloud was all business. “First thing I have to do is check your temperature,” He pulled out a simple, old fashioned thermometer and hovered it before Sephiroth’s mouth. “Open up, please.”

Sephiroth obliged, and chuckled a little in his chest as Cloud ran the tip of is across his bottom lip before pressing it down under his tongue. “Suck on that for a few minutes.”

Sephiroth chuckled louder, and a small smile cracked through Cloud’s routine as he went back to the list. “Second item… I need to check your blood pressure.”

Cloud took out a small, simple blood pressure cuff and ripped it open, wrapping the Velcro around Sephiroth’s arm, his fingers lingering over his firm bulge of muscle for a moment before taking up the pressure gauge.

“Breathe normally,” Cloud commanded, squeezing the thing until it hugged at Sephiroth’s arm like a vise. “…Is that tight enough for you?”

Sephiroth affirmed in his throat with a small smile, and slowly the band loosened, just as his hand became somewhat tingly from blood flow blockage, and Cloud jotted down some numbers.

“Now let’s check this…” Cloud thought aloud, sliding the thermometer from between his lips and jotted that down as well. “Know what I learned about you?”

“Can’t imagine,” Sephiroth smiled, just about ready to attack.

“Your natural body temperature is 105 degrees,” Cloud informed him, chewing on his thermometer thoughtfully.

“S’that so?”

Cloud nodded. “I have to listen to your heart, next.”

Cloud then pulled out a little miniature stethoscope, putting it into his ears and planting his hand on the bed between Sephiroth’s thighs, leaning in close enough to tease Sephiroth’s lips with his breath. Cloud opened his mouth to puff hot breath on the cold metal before pressing it to the General’s chest.

“Big breath in, and hold it…” Cloud said, smiling as Sephiroth obliged. “…hold it… now let it all go for me...”

They did this three more times, and when Cloud was satisfied he straightened up, letting his fingers idly brush along the underside of Sephiroth’s fully erect cock before jotting down his information.

He looked back to the list. “One more thing, and that is to make sure you take this and this.” Cloud produced two small bottles of pills and shook out one from each, clasping his fist around them instead of dropping them into Sephiroth’s awaiting palm.

Cloud batted his eyelashes at Sephiroth innocently. “Do you need something to swallow these with?”

“You know you’re about to get fucked, dontcha?”

“Oh yeah…” Cloud purred with a grin. He dropped them into Sephiroth’s palm, which he effortlessly swallowed dry.

When that was done, he snatched Cloud wrists and rolled him onto the bed, trapping him in his rightful place underneath him.

Then, time seemed to slow. Sephiroth let go of Cloud’s wrists, letting his hands slid naturally up into silver hair. Their lips collided tenderly, folding and caressing in a freedom that wasn’t present in the hospital room.

Cloud was overjoyed to have Sephiroth alive and well, and Sephiroth was frankly grateful to be alive and well. Just before Nurse Rhonda had arrived, he had been certain he was about to die. His thoughts were slow and scattered, but he recalled the quietly ominous feeling of doom, the faraway pain, the fuzzy, muffled terror. He recalled that his greatest regret had nothing to do with money, war, his career, or even Cloud.

Sephiroth’s greatest dying regret was never enjoying the company of an animal. How he had longed for a puppy as a little boy. The animals in the lab were always deranged, rabid, or worse – completely beautiful and innocent, and in constant pain. He still wanted a puppy as an adult, but never had the time. Angeal often offered up Zack, but that little dynamic between the two of them always creeped Sephiroth the fuck out, and he refused to refer to Zack as such.

But he remembered almost nothing after the excruciating relief of seeing Rhonda. He was able to recall only a flash of Zack. The subsequent week and a half was a blur of emotional, garbled mako dreams and bits of actual reality. He remembered once coming into full consciousness in the middle of brushing his teeth. A snippet of nurses, a tiny bit of discomfort during the dialysis, and he was a few times aware of Cloud’s soft, extremely welcome, hovering presence.

He’d flirted with death in the past; a few bad infections as a child, one bad injury in Wutai, and one other serious, yet heavily monitored brush with Jenova. Now this occasion, by far the worst.

And he was fine. Better than before. Stronger than ever, in fact. He felt good. He felt cleaner, more distanced from Jenova than he had in months. And he even thought his buzzed strips on his head looked kind of cool.

The act of surviving turned Sephiroth on.

Of course, it was mostly Cloud’s hips against his, Cloud’s lips against his… but his erection strained to fuck away the deep satisfaction of being able to feel Cloud again.

It was a heavy rush, a natural high.

He unhooked Cloud’s long legs from around his waist to unbutton, unzip and tug his jeans up off of his legs, leaving them spread wide open in the air. They folded naturally back around Sephiroth’s waist, transporting him with lust at the view of Cloud’s hard cock, the tiny, pinkish hole tucked between his legs, his tanned skin that was just a little creamier south of his low waist line.

Cloud shifted under Sephiroth’s gaze, bringing his legs closer together at the knees. He softly giggled. “You look like you wanna eat me...”

“Just a little,” Sephiroth smiled, spreading apart Cloud’s knees to duck his head down between them. The taste of Cloud’s skin was clean and tinged with a hint of something soft, which Sephiroth decided was lavender. He swirled his tongue around the sweet little protruding bump of Cloud’s outie belly button, and sucked loudly along the developing ridges of his abdominal muscles. He couldn’t resist in flattering his little lover, throwing his own cute word back at him. “Mmm, looks like baby’s gettin’ ripped…”

“Seeeph…” He squirmed bashfully. Being spread eagle in the air was fine with Cloud, but making the slightest remark about his abs turned him red as a beet.

Sephiroth couldn’t get enough of it. “You’re already the sexiest thing ever... but pretty soon here, you’re gonna make me fuckin’ wish I had a second dick.”

“SEEEPH!”

Sephiroth laughed, his hot breath rolling across Cloud’s skin, which danced with goosebumps. He made his tongue wide and flat as he curled it across the underside of Cloud’s cock, stopping at the end to lap at the flushed head, tasting Cloud’s desire already.

Sephiroth’s full lips enveloped the sensitive head, and he slurped around it, seeming to get wetter and noisier when Cloud closed his eyes against the sight of it. He was on edge. No, really. He was about to shoot off in his jeans from just the predatory gaze Sephiroth had given him during the nurse routine. Having that beautiful mouth sucking on him like a delicious treat was too much, and it was too soon.

Cloud whimpered, “Slow down, Seph...”

He smiled up at Cloud around a mouthful of his cock, then let it go with a wet pop. “Anxious?”

Cloud nodded sheepishly. “It’s been a little while. I wanna last for you.”

“You’re sixteen,” Sephiroth waved at him, unimpressed. “You’ll get it back up again in no time.”

And then he ducked his head down to continue his merciless sucking, and Cloud wailed in protest, “Seph, no! It feels so good, but mmm… please? I want you inside me…”

Sephiroth tsked, sending a shiver up Cloud’s thighs, but decided that he couldn’t turn down such a sweet request. He reluctantly let the cock go, bringing his reddened, wet lips up to Cloud’s. “Sometime soon I’m gonna stop bein’ so nice, ya know.”

“It’s nice either way,” Cloud purred between hot, sticky kisses. “But just this one time…Together?”

Sephiroth smiled, pressing one more kiss onto Cloud’s lips before reaching far over to the bedside table. Cloud saw something happen, a tremor go up through Sephiroth’s body to his eyes, and they winced almost unnoticeably. He came back with their lube, and rolled his shoulders slightly, bending his neck.

Cloud stuck out his bottom lip, “Aww! Are you sore?”

“Eh,” Sephiroth bent his neck the other way for a moment. “Maybe a little, from layin’ so long. Nothin’ I can’t work through.”

Cloud beamed. “Can I give you a back rub?!”

“No, I’m alright.” Sephiroth shook his head, loving the pretty flush on Cloud’s cheeks and chest, and wanting nothing more beyond seeing it go deeper with heat and lust.

“Pretty, let me…” he insisted, pushing Sephiroth gently onto his back.

Sephiroth turned to butter when Cloud called him that. He smiled and rolled over onto his stomach, taking his hair and throwing it into the bed and out of the way. Cloud kissed along his arms and shoulders as he sat down on Sephiroth’s ass.

Alert! His brain cried. Hot ass! Repeat, damn hot ass at 6 o’clock! He tried to ignore it, instead feeling along his spine, remembering the strange knot he’d seen last time. His mother had him well taught in the art of working out kinks and rubbing sore feet. She insisted it was payment for giving birth to him. He was glad for the skill, as he could usually reach around his own thin form and rub his own back and shoulders, although it was always nicer having someone else to do it for him. Maybe Sephiroth would return the favor sometime…

He moved the palms of his hands down Sephiroth’s broad back, feeling a slight shudder almost immediately. He repeated the movement, this time raking his knuckles in gently, and the shudder came again. He did it a third time, slowly… digging and twisting his knuckles into the muscles of Sephiroth’s back.

The General sighed a little, digging his forehead into the mattress.

Fucking hell! Cloud clamped down hard on his lip, reaching down with one hand to squeeze the head of his erection to the point of pain. Feeling calmer, he took a deep breath and with long, thin fingertips, began to work Sephiroth’s back muscles.

He found a particularly hard knot of stress right between Sephiroth’s shoulder blades, and began messaging it in a calm, smooth circle.

There came a guttural rumble from the mattress. “Harder.”

A few of Cloud’s fingers slipped. “Wh-where?”

“Right there. Harder.”

Cloud took another breath and dug his fingers into the soft skinned tissue, every so often slightly alternating the patterns his fingers made. He heard another long sigh, and the tension pocket dispersed.

He moved upwards to his long neck and wide shoulders, working them deeply, greatly enjoying the gentle squirming of Sephiroth’s body. Cloud then curled and dug his fingers into his scalp, and felt himself rise up a little. He turned around to look, and saw that Sephiroth’s knees were digging into the mattress, lifting his ass up slightly. Cloud pointed his fingers a little, kneading gently with his nails.

“Oh fuck, yeah.”

Cloud snickered softly, and teasingly raked his fingertips out of Sephiroth’s hair, and felt his ass lower back down to the mattress. He worked his fingertips down Sephiroth’s spine to his tailbone. He’d read in Men’s Health that swordsmen carried a lot of stress there from the excellent posture they kept, and it was definitely right in Sephiroth’s case.

“Harder.”

Cloud couldn’t go any harder with his fingertips, so he twisted and dug in with his knuckles.

“Harder.” Sephiroth demanded, his knees digging in again to lift Cloud slightly.

He scooted back a little and leaned down with his elbows, digging them both into the spot. Sephiroth hissed, arching a little and nudging Cloud’s cock right up between his beautiful ass cheeks. He glanced down curiously, and for the first time, he actually saw Sephiroth’s opening.

Cloud blinked a couple of times. It was so cute!

He giggled a little, and must have faltered in his elbow grinding, because Sephiroth made a very dissatisfied noise. It was a noise he never wanted to hear again, so he dug his admittedly bony elbows in until the arching stopped and the tension was gone.

Cloud draped himself over Sephiroth. “Was that good?”

“More,” Sephiroth grunted.

Cloud smirked, and gave him an all over rub down, not concentrating on any one place or one movement for too long. He moved flat palms over him, dug his fingers in tiny circles, twisted his knuckles, and tickled with his fingertips. Cloud then gently scratched down the long length of his back with his fingernails.

“Yeah,” Sephiroth groaned softly. “Use the nails.”

Cloud sighed a little, and did as he was asked. He scratched down his back again, then back up with the backs of them. They were blunt and short, but seemed to do the trick, and thin red lines followed along in his wake, clearing up almost immediately.

“Harder.”

Cloud scratched them down again, riding the sudden buck of Sephiroth’s ass. His blue eyes rolled back under his eyelashes as he grinded back, forcing his muscular hips back down onto the mattress.

“Damn,” Sephiroth cursed, deliberately grinding back up into Cloud, who then raked his nails down again. “Fuck.”

Cloud moaned back a little, hardly realizing it. He scratched his nails down Sephiroth’s sides, fresh territory. That hot, beautiful, round ass bucked up, and Cloud pushed it back down, clawing another eight bright red lines down Sephiroth’s flesh.

He leaned far forward, digging his nails into the hard flesh near Sephiroth’s elbows, and raked up his muscular arms to his shoulders, and all the way down to his lower back. Sephiroth’s ass rolled up, and Cloud rolled against it. They both groaned in unison, Cloud simply echoing the deep rumble from Sephiroth.

He was leaking across the hot crack of Sephiroth’s ass, the little bit of wetness all that he needed to send himself into a heavy frenzy. He clawed Sephiroth’s skin again, and when that ass came up, he grinded against it purposely. When he felt a tremor vibrate through Sephiroth’s core, Cloud was so close he saw spots in his vision.

Gasping, he dug his nails into Sephiroth’s ass, raking their rounded surface from the inside out. Sephiroth let out a deep, booming moan as his ass came up one last time, grinding hard. It was more than enough. Cloud cried out and blew his two week long, stress, love, trauma, and relief-laden load across Sephiroth’s backside, the more ambitious spurts shooting his between his shoulder blades.

He panted, falling down onto Sephiroth, who was trembling. Cloud wrapped his arms around him, wondering if maybe he’d come as well, when he caught a glimpse of utterly amused green starlit eyes. He realized the trembling was a very poorly concealed bout of rude laughter.

The noise escaped as soon as Cloud noticed it. “Daaamn, I’m good!”

“…I’m so sorry...” Cloud moaned, his mouth becoming a thin line.

In less than a moment he was on his back, and Sephiroth’s already-slick fingers were pushing inside of him, “Don’t be sorry,” He pressed smiling kisses all over Cloud’s face. “It was so fuckin’ hot.”

Cloud dug his head back into the mattress, still jerking from his abrupt orgasm and jerking anew at the feeling of being gently probed. “It’s… embarassing…”

“Stop it,” Sephiroth insisted, lapping at Cloud’s spent erection, his long fingers burrowing inside of him, sliding and stretching. Cloud moaned freely, not feeling the usual cut-off he felt after an orgasm. It might have been the fingers, or the tongue, or the smell of Sephiroth’s cookie-laced sexual musk, but Cloud felt heat pooling around his groin again already. He was in it to win it, as they say.

Sephiroth either had a keen sense of knowing when Cloud was prepared enough, or he simply lost patience, because he gave himself a quick twist of lubricant and loosely hooked Cloud’s ankles over his shoulders.

His eyes fluttered closed, and he pushed in. It always seemed to be a pivotal moment when Cloud was breached, echoing the somber, hectic moment in which they lost virginity together. Sephiroth ran his hands up and down Cloud’s thighs, stopping to suck the skin on the inside of his knee. Cloud giggled at the ticklish feeling, squirming and bucking against Sephiroth’s hips, which was probably the point.

They shared a little laughter, and then Sephiroth licked his lips, setting the rhythm that would drive them to the edges of sanity and propriety. Cloud found it suitable, and showed it by lifting his own hips up a little to meet Sephiroth’s, but not wanting to lift too much, as his beloved had found a wonderful, virtually painless angle.

The size of his cock was inescapable, however. Cloud groaned with the smallest of winces as the thickness pushed him apart and slide deep inside, over and over in a waves of beats he couldn’t control. He was never exactly certain what to do with his hands during sex, so he usually tucked them beside his chin or hid them in Sephiroth’s hair. But he wanted to try something; he reached between their bodies and with both hands, pulled his cheeks apart, somewhat easing the stretching sensation.

“Oh, hell yeah,” was Sephiroth’s response. “…Spread it open for me.”

Cloud gasped in agreement, letting go of one cheek to wrap his fingers around his recently revived arousal, knowing he’d need something big to drive him over the edge a second time.

He gazed up at Sephiroth, his creamy skin gently flushed from arousal and exertion. Sephiroth hissed down at him, kissing the edge of his thigh. It was a sight he didn’t always get to enjoy, as he was usually half mindless with lust. Not in his usual state of diminished IQ, he smiled up at Sephiroth, who smiled back. The look of pure desire was unspoiled on his delicate features, and Cloud almost felt as though he were looking up at a powerful incubus. He tightened a little at that thought, and Sephiroth gasped in response, displaying those razor sharp teeth, cementing the illusion.

Cloud let go of himself, and instead gripped the backs of his knees, pulling them down to his chest. Sephiroth took the hint and followed along with them, ever insistent in dipping his cock into Cloud. He wrapped both his legs and arms around Sephiroth’s neck.

“I hope you know…” he growled down at Cloud, “I’m poppin’ you off... once before we fuck... from now on.”

Cloud threw back his head as Sephiroth grinded his hips right against that delicious spot inside him. When his hard beat resumed, Cloud smiled, panting, “How come?”

“You’re more with it. I like it,” he commented, sticking his tongue out towards Cloud, who obediently opening his mouth and accepted it.

The combined feeling of Sephiroth’s cock and tongue slipping in and out of his body, Cloud began to quickly lose that commendable consciousness, the usual haze settling behind his eyes. But he could still speak and comprehend the importance of his words. He knew what he was doing when he said against his lover’s lips, “Fuck me...”

Sephiroth planted his hands beside Cloud on the mattress and slapped his hips against Cloud’s upturned body. As much stress and trauma as Cloud had been through, Sephiroth had been through quadruple, and while he prided himself on a measure of self control when it was needed, he found his resolve to make this fuck session with Cloud last for eternity quickly slipping away. The massage had done wonders for working out the stresses of the past week. But Sephiroth needed to come, and badly. He needed to feel whole, to transcend reality within his partner.

“Seph… Seph! Fuck me...”

It was better than music, and Sephiroth reached a hand between them to search for Cloud’s erection, and bumped into Cloud’s hand. He shooed it away, caressing Cloud in unison to his hips.

“Fuck me, Seph!”

“Fuck me back,” Sephiroth growled, using the other hand to slap Cloud’s tight, round ass.

Cloud immediately obeyed, clinging to Sephiroth with every limb he owned and grinding his hips up into Sephiroth’s as they crashed down. Cloud’s lips released his beloved’s name over and over, marking each time the tip of his thick cock gave a sharp kiss to that place deep within him. Another thick, strained spurt of Cloud’s semen washed over Sephiroth’s fist, his upturned hips twitched and jolted, his body all tightness and heat.

Sephiroth let go of him, grabbed onto his ankles, and for a few moments, with the most loving, trusting and explicit permission, Sephiroth used Cloud’s body for exactly what he needed.

Cloud cried out and grabbed at Sephiroth’s arms, utterly spent, but still shivering and entirely caught up in the moment, empathetic in his sharing of it. He watched Sephiroth, his body, his face as he seemed to tighten up into a wire of tension, and then slowly melt.

Sephiroth’s cock stalled deep inside him, and Cloud felt the volcanic rush of wet heat. In that moment, Sephiroth’s face held the greatest of peace, and he rested his cheek against Cloud’s calf, slowly and gently moving his cock within his tight walls, until he eventually pulled out, collapsing onto his little lover.

Kisses were immediate. Cloud’s legs were slowly unhooked from his shoulders. Sephiroth’s limp weight pressed him into the mattress.

After a breathless passage of time, Sephiroth whispered against Cloud’s ear, “You’re so good to me, baby.”

“It’s because I love you.”

“You know I do to you, too, right?”

Cloud smiled, “Yes, Sir.”

THREE NEW CHAPTER IMAGES!

http://owmyhearteries.deviantart.com/art/Blonde-Ambition-ch17-OOMPH-103821274

http://owmyhearteries.deviantart.com/art/Blonde-Ambition-ch17-Rest-103821375

NSFW … http://owmyhearteries.deviantart.com/art/Blonde-Ambition-ch17-Sour-103821584

A/N

1-     Many thanks to everyone for their generous and uplifting reviews! This is the longest, yet. Well over 18,000 words, yo. Although, I think most of them are curse words.

2-     I have to give credit where credit is due. I have an awesome friend (who shall remain nameless to protect his identity) and he’s a big old whore. He helped me out quite a bit with the lemon for this chapter. Thank you, you know who you are! Hope it sends your bits into a frenzy!

3-     Also, thanks to The Israel Project, who betas not only this beast, but Kittens as well. I love you, genuinely and forever will love your feedback, and I sincerely apologize for the length of this fucking chapter!!
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Blonde Ambition