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
- 26
- 27
- 28
When Cloud finally woke up, he was confronted with the fact that he had been sleeping face down in Sephiroth's armpit.
Yesterday had all led up to this. A rigorous school day, reuniting with Sephiroth, the Halloween party, a million alcoholic beverages, and then two solid early morning hours of beautiful, poetic story book passion.
It'd have to be a fucking filthy story book, but Cloud certainly felt like he was in love with a charming prince. It had been a perfect first anniversary.
And now Cloud felt like pure hell.
It was a supreme hangover that made him wish to evacuate his own body. His head was killing him, his stomach ached, his limbs were sore, his throat was that special brand of blowjob raw, and his ass was blasted apart. He needed to perform so many bodily functions that he didn't even know where to begin.
He was still face down in Sephiroth's armpit, but that was the least of his problems.
It occurred to Cloud that this was supposed to be an unattractive and humorous part of human anatomy. Maybe it was due to Sephiroth's questionable humanity, but his armpit was anything but unattractive.
It was... inviting. And it fit Cloud's face nicely. All he had to do was pucker his lips in order to kiss it, so he did.
No reaction from Sephiroth.
Cloud kissed it again, even daring to swipe at it with his tongue.
"Stop..." Sephiroth brought both arms down and curled onto his side, forcing Cloud to move off of him. The sudden movement made Cloud clutch his head and moan.
"Seph, I'm ill. Do you have anything for a headache?"
"The fuck?" Sephiroth groaned, making a series of snort-like noises. He only managed to crack his eyes open, and the glare that glowed through his lashes was deadly.
Cloud whined and cuddled closer to reclaim some real estate on the pillows, "I'm hung over and fucked to death. I need help."
"Eat... you're dehydrated an' blood sugar... prolly..." Sephiroth lost interest in what he was saying, shut his eyes, and began to snore again.
Cloud considered finding a new way to bother him, but decided to leave him alone. It was almost three in the afternoon and food to settle his tummy sounded nice.
Cloud lifted himself from the bed and knotted a pair of Sephiroth's sweatpants around his hips. He then snatched both his and Sephiroth's cell phones off the floor. The "snatch" was slow, and the vertigo afterwards caused him to stumble most of the way to the bathroom, where he enjoyed a very long, very satisfying whizz.
He brushed his teeth and headed to the kitchen, where he insatiably downed three large glasses of ice water, rapid fire. The General was right about being dehydrated. Cloud felt his headache slowly abate, and ravenous hunger take over where nausea left off.
He phoned his mother while he made himself a late lunch of fibre cereal and a sliced banana. He added some honey to the bowl, in hopes of replenishing all the calories he'd lost last night dancing and being sexually tormented.
While it rang he threw in some coconut shavings he found in Sephiroth's junk food cabinet. Then some walnuts, mini marshmallows, and chocolate chips. There was now more bullshit in the bowl than cereal, and it was gorgeous.
"What?" April finally answered.
"That's a fine fucking way for a mother to greet her only son," Cloud responded through a full mouth. He took his breakfast to the living room.
"Make it quick, I'm on the highway and jamming."
He spooned more of the high calorie cereal mix into his mouth, "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Well?" He repeated. "What happened last night with Zack?"
"That's a rude question, Clow. Not to mention none of your fucking business."
"It is so my fucking business!" Cloud cried out, and then lowered his voice when he remembered that Sephiroth was still trying to sleep. "Just confirm or deny!"
"Have I ever called you to see what you did the night before? No - because I respect you. And I'm completely repulsed by the idea of you getting screwed."
"It's not like I'm asking for gross details! I just wanna know!" Cloud cried. "Zack's not some random asshole, he's like... my big brother."
"Deny."
Cloud was stunned, bewildered, perplexed. "So... you didn't sleep with Zack?"
"No."
"Why the hell not?" Cloud cried, wiggling excitedly on the couch as he dished more food into his mouth. "What'd he do wrong? Oh God tell me!"
"I can't talk about it right now, I'm trying to drive," April lied as she lit a cigarette. She had a hundred hands while she was driving, and she used them all to talk, smoke, eat, change CD's and smack her passengers.
"C'mon!"
"Zack is a child," April told him. "All he wanted was for me to listen to him talk, so I listened to him talk. He's a nice boy... a very nice boy in fact. Emphasis on boy. Get it?"
Cloud didn't get it at all. Zack was basically irresistible.
He loved Sephiroth with a hungry, tireless devotion. But if the circumstances were different, Cloud would drill deep into that juicy, heterosexual, squat-rounded ass until Zack forgot what women were.
In essence, Cloud was not a nice boy, "Did you at least go down on him?"
"I don't go down on anybody anymore," April stated. "I've had enough dick down my throat to last a lifetime. Until I find somebody I love, that I actually want to go down on, I'm on strike."
"Did you kiss him?" Cloud bargained, suddenly desperate for his mother to be the slut the wives of Nibelheim feared and loathed. Usually she bragged about these matters in order to humiliate Cloud, but now she was acting downright prude. Something about it was unsettling.
"Clow, what's your problem? I'm telling you that nothing happened."
"Well why the fuck did you even stay with him?" Cloud squawked.
"Since when do you police what I do, you little shit? Why am I even discussing this with you?"
"Because I'm your son and I care," Cloud said evenly, pulling his voice down into the most grown up tone he possessed. "I don't want you to live alone, mom. I want you to find someone who's great, and I just... I like talking to you about these romantic things. You're more than just my mom, you're like my best girl friend. You've helped me so much with Sephiroth, and now I wanna help you."
"... You're gonna make me cry," April said softly. "... Clow. When you get to be my age, you'll find that a decent conversation can be a lot nicer than a random fuck. I stayed with your friend because he can carry on, and I guess I needed to talk as well. There, now you know."
Cloud pondered over the issue, and wondered if perhaps his mother was simply a bit... Lonely. Coming from Nibelheim he could see how a larger city could lead to feelings of isolation. He was crammed in with hundreds of other teenage boys, but often felt completely alone in the crowd. "What's the situation in Junon? Have you uh... 'met' anyone yet?"
"You mean fucked?" April asked dryly.
"Well, 'met' is a nicer way to put it."
"I haven't lost my touch, yet. I have met some people. Some very unimportant people," April admitted. "And from one friend to another... I'd slit your scrawny throat if it meant I'd meet a decent looking, grown man with no baggage and a real job. And if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about it anymore right now."
There was a beat of silence before he cleared his throat. "Love you."
"Love you too, kiddo," She said before hanging up.
It left a melancholy residue, but at least he had his question answered. He had to admit that it was a small relief that Zack hadn't fucked his mother. But still… it was a little anticlimactic.
Perhaps the Rufus situation would be more fruitful! Cloud scrunched his shoulders in delight as he opened Sephiroth's phone to hunt down the Vice President's number. Cloud wanted to know the gritty details about Angeal Hewley! Inches, diameter, mass, circumference, elasticity...
Cloud paused, holding his breath and listening for any sign that the General might be awake. There was only steady breathing coming from down the hall.
Cloud realized that he was nervous. Sephiroth had never given him a chance to look through his phone before. Wasn't it every boyfriend's right to inspect his man's belongings?
He went to the pictures first, searching for anything that might incriminate Sephiroth as a cheater, a scoundrel, or a pornography addict.
But all Cloud discovered was an embarrassingly vast folder of photos of... himself.
Some were explicit, downright pornographic, but most weren't. Along with surprise snapshots, unflattering angles, funny incidents and even a romantic looking kiss or two, Cloud revisited all the dirty pictures he'd sent to Sephiroth during his time away. In the back of his mind, he always wondered if the General laughed at, or was bored by the naughty pictures... but it was obvious that he thought they were worth keeping.
Cloud also found loads of other things Sephiroth had taken snapshots of, and they were even more interesting. There were views from airship windows, dead monsters, candid photos of the other Generals, Zack doing and wearing goofy things, Vincent Valentine smoking, Rhonda and her babies, random bits of architecture, and somewhat artistically presented plates of food.
Cloud lost himself for several long minutes, looking through images of the things and people his favorite person cared about.
Cloud then went to the messages. Sephiroth apparently didn't delete texts, ever. There were over four thousand from himself alone, stemming from Christmas day when he first got his cell phone.
It was like a digital time capsule, every fight, flirtation and frustration was preserved to the day, hour, minute, and second. He hoped Sephiroth would keep them forever.
There were another couple thousand from Sephiroth's friends and coworkers. It was way too overwhelming to even begin to read them all.
So Cloud finally went to his destination, which was Sephiroth's address book. He scrolled through the endless list of names twice.
Rufus' personal phone number wasn't in there... but Angeal's was.
Would Angeal really answer a text from Cloud? ... Probably not. Cloud hadn't even really spoken to the man. Especially not enough to be asking random personal questions.
He'd answer Sephiroth, though.
Cloud bit his lip as he carefully crafted a message to the most honorable, beefcaked General of all. He imitated Sephiroth's texting style almost too perfectly : hey so whered u go last nite fuckeeer lol ;0
Cloud immediately felt naughty and dirty, but there was still snoring coming from the bedroom. And he could easily delete the messages later, so fuck it!
Cloud was almost done eating his breakfast when there came a vibrating reply from Angeal. He scrambled around on the couch as he seized Sephiroth's phone and eagerly checked the message.
Angeal - Drove the losers home, had a few drinks... blasted Rufus good. Gen fell asleep early, a two pump chump as usual.
Cloud literally shoved his face into a couch pillow in an attempt to stifle his laughter. When it was under control he replied : LOL! Good for u!
It only took a few moments for Angeal to reply : Why are you texting me, dork? Enjoy that hot little piece you never stfu about
Cloud squished his face back into the pillow, and kicked his legs wildly. Angeal Hewley had called him hot! And little, but that could be forgiven. Everyone was little compared to Angeal.
He quickly deleted the message trail, and stood in the living room to stretch. He felt much better, and decided to surprise Sephiroth with some food and a sloppy blowjob. He quickly put in an online order to Sephiroth's favorite pizza place, then slipped back into the bedroom where he had approximately twenty-five minutes to suck him off.
He silently placed Sephiroth's phone back on the floor near his discarded costume and crawled onto the bed, smiling down at his beautiful, sexy sleeping angel.
Except that Sephiroth wasn't sleeping, "Why'd you take my phone?"
Cloud's entire body seized in shock. "G-god! What's wrong with you?"
Sephiroth opened his eyes and repeated the question, "Why'd you take my phone?"
Cloud sat up on his knees and put his hands on his hips. "... I was checking for signs that you might be cheating on me."
"You're so full of shit."
"I know!" Cloud laughed merrily as he bent over Sephiroth to steal a kiss. "I was just looking at your phone for a - "
"You didn't delete any pictures of you, did you?" Sephiroth gasped, drawing himself up onto his elbows. "I need those!"
Cloud's face heated and he waved his hands to silence Sephiroth's paranoia. "I didn't delete anything, I promise! I just wanted to find out about... Rufus and Genesis and Angeal. Remember?"
Sephiroth looked confused for a moment, and then scratched the top of his head with a faint smile. "Oh. Whadja find out?"
"Angeal totally did it with Rufus! And apparently Genesis is a minute man!"
"Big fuckin' surprise, that selfish mother fucker," Sephiroth snorted, "... I can't believe Angeal actually told you that."
"No... He actually told you..." Cloud admitted meekly. "I just asked him in a text from your phone, that's all."
Sephiroth stared at Cloud for a beat, and then narrowed his eyes. "... So you impersonated me to get information out of another General?"
Cloud's mouth dropped open, "Oh. Uh. I didn't mean it like that..."
"You do realize that's grounds for formal punishment and losin' rank. If you had any."
"Well..." Cloud frowned, crossing his arms over his bare torso as he shrank in on himself. Even though he was wearing more clothes, he suddenly felt far more vulnerable. "I was just being nosy and having some fun. I was going to tell you about it, of course."
"Angeal is a General, your superior. Genesis is a General, your superior. Rufus is the vice president of the company you're contracted to work for... he's superior to all of us, as fucked up as that is. But what they do in private is none of your business, and unless they volunteer that information to you in a casual setting, you keep your little nose out of their shit."
Cloud's stomach tightened and he felt supremely embarrassed of his childish actions. "... I guess I... feel close to them. They're your friends, but sometimes I feel like they're my friends, too."
"I'm not tryin' to be a dick, but you crossed a line," Sephiroth's face didn't soften, although his monotonous voice held a gentler tone. "I'm gonna tell you this once, then I'll drop it... You don't wanna get caught up in the drama that goes on in this company. There is so much shit floating around that people drown in it while their careers go nowhere. I'll be damned if that's gonna happen to you. You're better than that."
Cloud looked down at his hands, unable to meet Sephiroth's cool, wise gaze. "... I guess."
The hard tone returned to Sephiroth's voice, "And if you ever, ever take my phone again for such a dumb fuck reason, there'll be some consequences... You look really cute in my sweats right now so I'm not sure what they'll be, but there'll be some and they'll suck. I'll share everything I have with you, but not information that could damage someone. Your superiors deserve their privacy and your absolute respect. Got it?"
Cloud bit his lower lip to halt it from trembling. Sephiroth had slid flirtation into his scolding, but it didn't ease the embarrassment, "...Yes, Sir."
Sephiroth rolled onto his back and lifted his arms, "C'mere. I have a hangover, I'm bein' a grouch."
Cloud was slow to approach, but gingerly laid his head against his lover's collarbone. He was stiff, but allowed Sephiroth to fold him into an embrace. "... My friends like you. Everyone likes you a lot. People tell me all the time that you're so handsome, that you're good for me, and that I'm lucky to have someone who puts up with me so well."
Cloud softened a bit at that and smiled, "... Really?"
"Yeah. Even Zack says you take good care of me."
"More like I fuck up, complain a lot and get in your way," Cloud shrugged helplessly. "I know I'm a crappy boyfriend sometimes."
"But you make me happy all the time."
Cloud felt the awkward tension leave his body. He curled against his lover and dared to brush a kiss across his lips, and nearly melted when they responded against his.
"You taste nice. What'd ya eat?" Sephiroth asked, licking his lips.
"Just some cereal," Cloud lied, and offered more of the taste. After a few teasing kisses he pulled back with a sober, militant expression that was rare to find on his face. "... I'm sorry, Seph. Really. I knew it was wrong when I did it. Nothing like that will happen again."
"Alright," Sephiroth accepted the apology, but did not offer one for being a hardass about it. It was innocent and frankly no big deal, but if he let small things slide Cloud could someday make a mistake that could cost him his career, or worse.
Nobody on Sephiroth's speed dial had a huge problem with killing people. Even if they acted like morons.
"What are you smiling about?" Cloud asked softly, letting his fingertip fall into one of Sephiroth's shallow dimples.
"... This is completely hypocritical for me to ask, but off the record... what did Angeal say exactly about Genesis?"
"The term he used was 'two pump chump'," Cloud leaned on his elbow with a grin, taking his weight off of his lover to allow him room to laugh.
There came a knock at the door, and Sephiroth's features blossomed with unabashed delight. "You ordered me a pizza?"
"How'd you guess?"
"I know that knock!" He grinned, rolling himself out of bed and groping underneath for clothes. He quickly shimmied into a pair of jeans, and then leaned over Cloud to place a kiss between his eyes. "See? You totally take care of me."
Cloud yelled after him, "Tell me about it! I was about to blow you before you got all mad at me!"
After murmuring with the friendly delivery man, Sephiroth came back with the sodas and pizza boxes Cloud had ordered. "You couldn't blow me right now if you tried - there isn't a drop in me. Besides I'm savin' it for later."
Cloud went after his own smaller pizza. The cereal had only temporarily satisfied his teenage hunger. "So... What are we doing today?"
Sephiroth took three massive bites but still managed to communicate, "Hmg?"
"You said you had a surprise activity today... for our anniversary?" Cloud's face heated a little. He'd been ecstatically looking forward to the anniversary surprise Sephiroth had mentioned, but hadn't brought it up for fear of seeming selfish. He'd feel pretty lame if the busy General had forgotten all about it.
"Mm-hm," Sephiroth nodded before cracking open a soda to wash down the food in his mouth. He swished it around thoughtfully before finally swallowing. "... I don't think you were serious at the time, but you inspired an idea and I can't stop thinkin' about it."
"Okay..." Cloud began eating quickly, trying to only allow a fraction of his curiosity show.
"And I know I'm probably talkin' about thousands of gil here, and I don't care. We've been together a whole year and all we ever do is cheap shit - when we're together at all. Money is no object to me today, I really don't care how much it costs - "
Cloud's eyes were bright and wild, "What are you suggesting?"
After another attempt to better articulate, Sephiroth finally just blurted it out, "You wanna go get one of those big ass weddin' cakes from that bakery on 4th street? Then get naked and have a cake fight?"
After an extended silence, Cloud answered with utmost earnesty, "... More than anything in the world."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It was 4:30 AM and even the brightest of morning people were dragging ass around the Shin-Ra headquarters. Sephiroth had slept the previous day away with the help of his lovely assistant Valium. He was ready to be briefed and to run head first into another weird, unpredictable day of his life.
"Mornin'," He greeted Shelly, the floor secretary. He dipped his hand into her candy dish and hoped to come back with something good, but it was only a mint. He popped it into his mouth anyway.
"Mm," She responded, sleepy yet engrossed in a college textbook.
Five minutes passed before Sephiroth poked his head back out of his office with a dark expression, "Shelly. My schedule's empty for the whole week. Don't tell me I woke up at three this mornin' for nothin'."
His secretary looked up slowly from highlighting a passage in her college textbook. "Oh. You have beta testing at the medical lab today. Tomorrow you have off for recovery."
"Oh yeah?" He asked, coming out of the office and crossing his arms.
"The lab just called about an hour ago and cleared you off," she said, capping her highlighter while shifting in her seat. "Sorry. I have midterms next week... I'm a little distracted."
"You're fired."
"I said I'm sorry."
"Prove it by cleanin' my office."
"... Can I be fired instead?"
"No," He shoved his hand deep into her candy dish and impolitely dug around until he found the good stuff.
She frowned at the bare man hand molesting her candy, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but since you'll be out of office the next two days I'll just tell you now," She thrust a folder in his direction, ignoring his groan. Blue folders always contained briefings for business trips, which were much more involved and boring than missions. "Wednesday afternoon, you have to fly to the Crater to perform an inspection. You'll be back Sunday morning; complete briefing is in the mission packet."
Sephiroth scowled as his annoyance graduated to actual anger. He hated trips that stole his weekend days, it interfered with the only time he had with Cloud.
He opened the folder and scanned for his trip mates, fully expecting to see names of a contracted inspection team. Instead there was only one name; Vincent Valentine.
The Captain of the Turks was accompanying him to perform said inspection of the new Northern Crater Turk and SOLDIER training facility.
Shelly was rattling off information that he wasn't listening to, and finally sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Anything else and you'll have to talk to Lazard about it."
"That'll do," He tucked his file under his arm. "Will you brush anything on Sunday off 'til Monday?"
"Already done, I figured you'd want some lovey dovey time. You won't have to come back to the office until next Monday. Hence the empty schedule this week - you're welcome in advance."
"Thank you," He remarked, deliberately keeping a smile off his face.
"I need lovey dovey time, too! I have a new boyfriend!" She slapped her textbook shut. "And do I really have to clean your office? There were toenail clippings all over the floor last time."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The second quarter of Cloud's second year at the academy began. It was one more eight week chunk of time that would bring him closer to the SOLDIER entrance exams.
His time at the Shin-Ra Military Academy was nearly halfway over. It was enough to make a boy shit himself.
After retrieving his new schedule, he had to line up for an unexpected inspection before even getting a chance to look at it. He cursed the fact that he was standing between Skylar and Cameron, because his friends had both coasted into the 'six feet and over' club. Cloud's modest height created a very noticeable dip in the lineup of young men.
The inspection sergeants were mostly silent, only stopping to fix uniforms, or to offer disapproving glances. When they arrived at Cloud, they both paused. One straightened his tie while the other looked him over like a recently evolved sea slug that had just learned how to stand upright.
Cloud knew his slender body suggested laziness, but never expected to hear it aloud. "Are you aware of the minimum weight class for SOLDIER, Strife?"
Cloud nodded eagerly, although emotionally unprepared for the question. "Sir, yes Sir."
"Are you aware that you are not in it?"
"Sir, yes Sir," Cloud swallowed before he added, "I will make the minimum weight class by August, Sir."
Something like condescending pity passed over the man's face before he moved on. But not before nodding approvingly at Cameron as they continued down the line.
Cloud's stomach dropped into his balls. His instructors, his coaches, Sephiroth... Everyone always encouraged him, remarking on his work ethic and improvements and strength and potential...
With one burning, loaded question from a random sergeant, Cloud's confidence had been decimated.
As the lineup was dismissed, Cloud unhappily regarded his new schedule.
6:00 Run, 7:00 Survive II, 8:00 Intermediate Sword Training, 10:00 Introduction to Infantry, 10:50 Wutainese Linguistics, 11:45 Lunch Break, 12:25 Literature II, 13:15 Field Emergency Medical Preparedness, 14:00 Chemistry, 15:00 Materia I, 17:00 Baseball.
Cloud's eyes bounced over the schedule again. No drum class? And... Infantry Intro?
"Cam, let me see yours!" Cloud cried, snatching his paper away. There was nothing about infantry on Cam's schedule.
"Wha's wrong?" Cam frowned as Cloud smacked his schedule back into his chest.
"I need to talk to someone before class starts!" Cloud yelled, already running to the administration office.
"Can I help you?" The office manager asked as Cloud burst into the building.
"Yes ma'am! I need to speak to an academic advisor," Cloud said as calmly and politely as he could manage. "I only have ten minutes before my first class, but I would really appreciate it."
"What's your question?" The lady inquired, looking curiously at the schedule clutched in Cloud's hands.
Cloud really didn't want to be cock blocked from seeing an actual advisor, but wearily shared his concern. "... Well ma'am, I just got my schedule and I have this strange class called Intro to Infantry - "
"Oh, that," The lady waved her hand dismissively. "They gave it to you because you had an empty slot. Go to class."
Cloud lost his small town politeness, and replaced it with searing Midgarian sass, "I chose Advanced Drumming! I didn't have an empty slot, someone in this office fucked up! ... Ma'am."
"Live with it. We don't change schedules. Ever. Academy policy."
Cloud pushed away from the desk with a growl and flew across the campus towards the band room. There was a note on the door indicating no entry due to creating music, but Cloud ignored it.
Inside he found trumpet players and flutists. They were chumming around and putting their instruments together for class, while Coach Hendrix brewed coffee in his office.
Cloud barged right in. "You fucked up my schedule!"
Hendrix tensed at the surprise intrusion, but relaxed when he realized who it was. "Mornin' Cloud. I meant to talk to you - "
"They gave me some bullshit Infantry class instead of advanced drumming! Will you fix it?"
The coach shook his head, "Sorry man, we got a lot of new sign-ups for drumming this quarter. It's pretty exciting; we even got a little extra funding! To make room for the new sign ups, I had to cut advanced drumming. Next quarter I'll probably have enough room for you original guys to come back."
Cloud felt like he'd been punched in the throat. "... You don't want me on the squad, anymore?"
"Oh buddy, it's not that! You're a vet, you helped get the band department all this great attention... you're very valuable to me. But you already know all the tempos. It's better to teach new guys and have a bigger squad... Right?"
"... I guess." All Cloud heard was rejection, no matter how logical the reason. He didn't have drum class, anymore. And instead of another sword class, or something useful like SOLDIER exam preparation classes, the school saw it fit to prepare him for... infantry.
Hendrix frowned as the coffee pot completed brewing with a crescendo of bubbling noise. The man glanced uncertainly between the emotional teenager and the fragrant brew. "... Want some coffee?"
Cloud's vision swam with tears, and he turned his face to hide them. "No thank you, I have to get to class."
"Just keep sharp on your own in case we need you, Cloud. You're first pick if there's a conflict. You're one of the best I've got! ...Okay?"
"Goodbye," Cloud sniffed, and turned his back in time for tears to fall as he hurried from the band room. Probably never to return!
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
As masochistic as he knew it was, Sephiroth felt at home in the cold, dark medical labs of the Shin-Ra building.
There was a distant shout for help, followed by a gunshot. Somewhere, an animal made unnatural cry in response to the noise. The clicking of a woman's heels, the snapping of a pen, the smell of burnt wire.
Childhood.
When the moment of nostalgia passed, Sephiroth exited the elevator. Instinct made him take a route past his old room, and as usual he felt the need to peek inside.
He always wondered if he'd find someone in there. But it was still just a closet for cleaning supplies.
Once he neared the testing area, he was greeted by Rhonda. They shared a warm hug and a few exchanges on their personal lives.
Rhonda was eager to talk shop, and deliberately steered Sephiroth away from zones that were heavily monitored. She whispered, "So hey, there's some weird shit going on around here lately."
"What kind of shit?"
"A whole lot of those weird clones."
Sephiroth's lip curled in annoyance, "Are you tellin' me I came here today to kill clones? Jesus Christ, I'da brought a book."
"No, Seph. When I say a whole lot, I mean a whole fucking lot. Lot 12 is completely renovated as a living facility and full of fucking clones. I think they got something right this time," Rhonda said, morbidly excited. "You're gonna fight the best ones today."
"Fight?" Sephiroth asked, mildly interested but feigning an aloof demeanor. "Like an actual fight fight?"
"It's just what I heard. Hojo's team has been pretty obsessed lately."
"Must be why he hasn't been up my ass lately," Sephiroth muttered. He let Rhonda loop an arm around his waist and lead him further into the lab.
Sephiroth had come into contact with dozens of clones of himself throughout his life.
They were always kind of a drag to be around. Sephiroth was an intelligent man, and was fully aware that he was cut from the same cloth they were. But he also knew he was a special one, better than they were, far more complete. They were pieces of him, and Sephiroth didn't want them around.
Maybe it was some brand of self-hatred, but how else was he supposed to think of them? They were an embarrassment. When they were spared a moment to speak, they rambled about Jenova and wanting to become "one" with him.
Yeah, "one". Clones were in a constant state of arousal, and completely perverted. How could he not be disgusted with the sight of them?
And really... It was kinder to kill them, because there was nothing else to life for them. Either they were half formed, had no coordination to fight, or had a severe mental handicap. Sephiroth supposed there was no substitute for a cold mother's uncaring womb, the right amount of Jenova juice, and Vincent Valentine's swimmers. The three had created a monster, but a highly functioning one at least.
Once he arrived at the testing arena, Sephiroth greeted Hojo's team. A few of the men remained aloof and professional, but most behaved like doting old uncles, patting his back and reminiscing about the days when Sephiroth stood no taller than their knees.
Sephiroth was then stripped naked, sanitized, covered in sensors, and was redressed in a motion sensitive rubber suit. He looked over at his reflection while he tied his hair back, and to him it was a familiar sight. He'd been doing this since he was a little boy.
The clone was brought in, but not on a stretcher or floating in a tank. It walked all on its' own, confident, aggressive and clearly ready for a fight.
Sephiroth didn't like the way the thing stared directly at him. The gaze was stony, pale and fierce. The face looked like a distorted version of Sephiroth's, and his hair was buzzed clean. It was clearly able to keep weight on, and carried itself as though it was... somebody.
For the first time in months, Sephiroth felt pre-battle shakes, and fought with his will to keep his fingers steady. He was thrilled at the prospect of murder, of permanently erasing this clone and the look of condescending challenge on his pasty face.
There was a buffet of weapons to choose from, but Sephiroth wished he could use Masamune. It gave him the luxury of distancing himself from an opponent. He didn't want to get close to the clone, who had the gall to walk directly up to him.
As if that wasn't irritating enough, the thing fucking spoke to him. "Hello."
Sephiroth ignored it, uninterested in anything it had to say by default. There was a butcher knife on the table, and Sephiroth smirked at it. Probably a joke from Hojo.
"We're going to fight," The clone said evenly. "Winner gets to be the Sephiroth."
Sephiroth almost ignored it again, but decided to reply out of pure curiosity. "What?"
"Winner gets to be the Sephiroth."
"Step back and wait 'til I'm done decidin' how to murder you," Sephiroth gritted out tightly. He felt his accent come out strong, almost like a twin needing to differentiate itself from the other. It bothered him that he even felt the need to.
"Winner gets the tank," the clone continued. "Winner gets to be the Sephiroth."
Sephiroth chose a machine gun just to test the weight of it in his hands. He closed one eye and pointed it at the clone, but set it back down in favor of a switchblade. How very 'West Side Story'; he smirked and flicked his wrist a few times to see how easily it opened and closed. It was damn sharp, and Sephiroth was almost tempted to use it.
The clone reached for any weapon, running its fingers perversely close to Sephiroth's. "... Winner gets Cloud."
Sephiroth's body reacted, and the clone was sent sprawling. The thing leapt up to its feet before crouching low, smiling like an idiot. Sephiroth flipped open the blade and attacked, concerned only with permanently closing the mouth that had Cloud's name in it.
To the clone's credit, it managed a mild scuffle before its neck was slit wide open. Sephiroth dug the blade in to the bone, then immediately backed off when he realized he was mutilating a corpse. The fight was over and this wasn't fucking personal. He refused to let it be.
His chest rose and fell as he looked down at it. It lied there in a heap, staring up at nothing. The gray eyes seemed no more empty now than when they were alive.
He had an urge to let a long rope of saliva fall onto the thing's dead face, but instead turned away to clean himself up. He accepted sanitized and a hot towel, catching droplets of blood on his face, in his hair. The more blood he found the angrier he became, and paused when the doctors began to talk amongst themselves.
"... Tits," one of the doctors blurted. "I thought we had something this time."
"We have the rest of the batch," Hojo reminded him. "That one was only the runt. Relax."
"Are they well aware of the incentives to staying alive? Remember how we had that suicide pact to deal with last year, they didn't even try. That was a huge waste of time."
"They seem to be stronger when they're able to communicate with each other," One of the female doctors stated clinically. "But I'm not sure allowing them to know that they're copies of Sephiroth is beneficial. There's no evidence supporting – "
Sephiroth made a fireball large enough to engulf the entire weapons table in flames. It quickly spread up onto the wall and set off the sprinkler system.
"Was that really necessary?" A tech yelled, scurrying to cover the computer equipment before it became waterlogged.
Among the frantic assistants and cursing doctors, Sephiroth approached the director of the entire fiasco with rage written across his face, "What are you tellin' these asshole clones about Cloud for?"
"Nobody told it anything," Hojo said in a placating manner, standing beneath an umbrella held by a drenched intern. Throughout the years, the team had become well aware to be prepared for any element where Sephiroth was concerned. Water was pouring out of the ceiling, but he spoke with his usual brand of relaxed cynicism. "That's actually called memory assimilation, which allows the clones to overcome that pesky inability to thrive syndrome."
Sephiroth chewed that over for a moment, his chin raised despite the fact that he was becoming soaking wet. "... Huh?"
"Don't concern yourself with it, General."
"I'm very fuckin' concerned with it. I'm an adult now, and I have a right to know what the hell is going on."
The sprinklers were finally turned off, and the fire was under control. Hojo stepped closer to Sephiroth from under the umbrella, looking up at him almost fondly. "Do you really want to know?"
Sephiroth felt the urge to take a step back, but stood his ground with a confidence that was shrinking.
"Everybody dry off and take ten," Hojo announced to the room, then took another step closer to Sephiroth. "Come this way, I'll show you what I've been making."
With a struggled limp, he led Sephiroth through a series of hallways and doors. The silence of words highlighted the sounds of uneven footsteps and the doctor's slightly obnoxious wheezy breathing, so Sephiroth finally spoke. "Did you say memory assimilation?"
"Yes."
"What does that mean?" He asked, picturing the clones having mechanical minds that could simply accept the input of outside memories.
"Suggestion is a powerful tool. If you show an artificial life form a newsreel on a very famous person, let them read a few very revealing magazine articles about that person... and they easily pick up on the smaller details themselves. Were you concerned that we were dangling your accomplishments and belongings in front of these artificial clones as an incentive to killing you?"
Sephiroth tilted his head. He always felt so stupid and inarticulate when speaking with Hojo. "Well… I guess that's what it sounded like. He was sayin' that the winner of the fight would 'get' Cloud."
"Cloud," Hojo said with an odd tone, almost as though the Cadet were an imaginary friend come to life. "Your… lover is mentioned in many articles. The clones are fascinated with him, and with you. You can hardly blame them. Most of the world is fascinated with you, and they should be. You are my finest work. There's a step here, be careful please."
Sephiroth felt chills lick the back of his neck as the lab became colder the deeper they traveled into it. "Even if they aren't real people, it seems cruel to show them somethin' they'll never have."
"When you were small, Vincent Valentine showed you a movie called 'Halloween.' Afterwards, you became convinced that you were Michael Myers. You swore that this was your mental asylum, chasing nurses with knives. Do you remember that, Sephiroth?"
"... Vaguely," he admitted, wiping his dripping face.
Hojo nodded. "A very normal thing for a human child to do - dream, play, pretend. It troubled me at the time, because you were neither of those things. But you grew out of it, and looking back it was probably the greatest thing you've ever taught me. I realized that such an unfortunately human trait could be very useful."
Hojo led Sephiroth to Lot 12, a place that was usually vast and empty, but it was now a large containment center. Hojo passed through the additional measures of security, and Sephiroth watched him type numbers and codes, committing them to memory as was his habit. He knew the pin codes and passwords of everyone in his life, it was a feature that had been given to him from birth. As though he realized the error he'd made, Hojo suddenly covered the keypad over with one hand. It didn't matter, because Sephiroth could still decipher the code by the tone of the keys.
If Hojo was bothered by the fact that Sephiroth had access to Lot 12, he didn't show it. He continued to limp along until they were at the business end of a two-way window monitoring station.
Hojo gestured to the crowd of silver haired beings inside what appeared to be a common room, "I've come to accept that I cannot artificially engineer another like you. Even if I could, your level of combat experience is untouchable. But I'm trying to create men who could someday, under your tutelage, become great warriors. They are the makings of your future army, and you should be honored."
Sephiroth winced, but bent over slightly to peer inside the dark, depressing room. There were clones in wheelchairs, some child sized ones sitting cross legged on the floor, some standing with crossed arms. They were all crowded around a small television, and watching what appeared to be Family Matters.
"Vincent Valentine, the fool that he is, did you a favor I could never have foreseen. You're a success, Sephiroth, because you had someone's strong personality to assimilate. The best success so far, anyways. Replicating the perfect balance of foolish pop culture and combat schooling is a delicate science. Fate surely had her hand on you."
Sephiroth opened his mouth, but could think of no reply. Before he could speak, Hojo stepped towards a microphone. "Number 310, please report to the exit."
One of the child-sized ones eagerly scrambled to its feet and ran out of the room.
Hojo gave Sephiroth a small shrug. "Your next opponent. We need to test out one from the newest batch. Should only take a minute, then I'll throw another big guy at you. Hopefully most of that water has been dried up by now."
Hojo hobbled out of the room. Eventually Sephiroth followed.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
The rest of Cloud's day was sour. The classes were the same standard military affair, but with a bitter glaze of unhappiness they were completely intolerable.
Lunch was shitty, he didn't get any texts from Sephiroth that afternoon, and as expected the dreaded Infantry class was full of slackers who didn't want to be in the army in the first place, fat guys with no athletic hope, and uncoordinated geeky losers.
And now this.
Cloud glared at the tiny orange ball in his hand. He'd been glaring at it for several minutes.
"You're not trying to instigate a bar fight back home on Buttfuck Mountain," grunted Coach Bellamy, the Materia 101 instructor. It was a racist and homophobic remark, but Cloud expected it.
Bellamy had been tearing into anything that made his students stand out; skin color, stench, ugliness, acne, even the poor kid with braces heard all about it from the cruel coach. He'd decided Cloud's unique heritage and blatant homosexuality were his targets. "Do more than just stare at the damn thing, sweetheart."
"Yes, sir..." Cloud answered. Materia I was already a complete bitch, and it was only the first day.
He hated the coach, he hated the area of the field they held class in - which was right next to the Junior SOLDIER arena, and he hated materia in general.
It felt weird in his hand. Like an infected egg with something unnatural moving inside it, a shifting weight of murky energy. It was completely off putting; he much preferred holding a solid steel sword in his hand over a stupid orb.
Cloud had been dreading this, knowing he was going to suck at magic. He didn't even like the idea of it.
Maybe it was cultural. No magic went on in Nibelheim, a pretty rigid Catholic town that held its last witch burning less than thirty years prior. Cloud liked God and Jesus and church a whole lot, but being gay left him feeling sort of excluded from that club. Plus he really didn't like setting people on fire.
And even though Cloud had witnessed feats of magic, it still felt so unlikely that a miracle would happen as a result of something he himself did. Where to even begin?
Cloud let his attention wander to the Junior SOLDIER training area, where a seasoned vet was showing them the finer points of casting magic that could cure somebody of nearly any superficial wound.
But who needed cure spells when you had potions? Science was more reliable than nature or summons or whatever the fuck. What if the summon didn't feel like answering? What if the materia went haywire? People probably died all the time as a result of malfunctions.
Cloud supposed the useful thing about materia was equipping it to make weapons stronger, not so much casting spells.
And the theory of warriors having something called MP was so abstract that Cloud had a hard time buying it. Energy output had to come from somewhere he supposed. The theory said that some men naturally have more disposable MP, while others slowly gain more with experience.
"Strife, you have about half a minute to make some sparks, otherwise you're getting no points for today," Coach Bellamy announced.
Cloud balked, coming out of his thoughts. "Nobody else made sparks!"
"Everyone else at least tried," the coach pointed out. "That's more than I can say for you. Plus I'm bored. Make something happen."
"What if I don't have any MP, yet?" Cloud countered, easily hiding behind a theory he had no real faith in. A true Catholic.
"If you don't naturally have enough MP to make sparks you don't belong here. I'll pen a recommendation for your removal from the program myself. I'm sure they're hiring cocksucking barbacks back home on Mount Goatfuck."
Cloud tightened his fingers around the materia, in hopes of squeezing some magic out if it so he could get credit for the day. He knew it was in his head. If he just stopped focusing on how stupid he felt... he could concentrate on like, communing with nature. He could totally do it!
Cloud opened his third eye and allowed the forces of nature and planet Earth to fill the void where his doubt used to be.
But not really.
"I don't know what to do!" Cloud panicked.
"You cast the materia. That's what you do," the coach droned. "Don't you have materia on Brokeback Mountain?"
"It's called Nibel!" Cloud snapped. "The fucking mountain is called Nibel. The town is called Nibelheim. Okay?"
The coach appeared bewildered in jest, "Oh well excuse me! I've never met one of you sister fuckers before. Do you see any Nibelheim SOLDIERs around here? There's never been a single one. That's because SOLDIER doesn't need inbred, retarded lumberjacks. We need warriors. You're not a warrior, you're not even a lumberjack, you're a pansy, cocksucking faggot. I bet the only girl you ever fucked was your sister you sick piece of garbage."
Cloud mewed in frustration, and the keening noise grew in his throat until it finally emerged from him as a roar. "Why do you have to be such a nutsack? Why don't you do your job and teach me how to use materia instead of vomiting ignorant bullshit?"
The man seemed to welcome the outburst, "Excuses on the first day? You'll never be able to use materia. You're not even trying you weakling, you disgrace. Not even General Sephiroth is going to help get you into - "
Cloud opened his mouth to interrupt, but instead cried out in fear when a tiny firework burst in his palm.
He dropped the materia, too shocked to feel the raw wound on his palm, yet. He was too busy watching in awe as the red sparks floated down towered the ground, disappearing before they reached the perfectly manicured blades of grass.
"That," Coach Drummond announced, "... Is why I'm such a nutsack. Beginners learning how to harness intangible power will need to rely on emotions. The easiest one to invoke, especially in young men, is anger."
"You're mean to us on purpose?" Cloud cried, waving his burnt hand in futile attempts to relieve the stinging pain. He snatched the materia back up with his good hand, fully intent on hurling it at the man.
"With different types of materia we'll be delving into different emotional territory. Water is best conjured by sadness, air by joy, earth by humor oddly enough. I'm not gonna be your therapist, but do expect to shed a few tears during this quarter. I'm gonna be using any emotional triggers I can to help you pick this ability up as quickly as possible. Once you do it a few times, it'll become second nature and you won't need me in your face."
"So you didn't mean what you said about Nibelheim?" Cloud asked in wonder.
"Actually I did. I've been there, and you people really are all retarded sister fuckers."
"You're an asshole!" Cloud cried, and yelped when the materia flared in his good hand, though not quite hot enough to burn him.
"It was easier to heat it up that time, wasn't it?" The coach asked with a smug grin. Cloud was about to accuse the man of blatant mother fuckery when he turned his back to whistle to the Junior SOLDIER class. "We need a cure! Send over your cutest medic for blondie, here! He deserves it!"
The rest of his class, who had remained morbidly silent to not be a target of Bellamy's wrath of rudeness, began to snicker and whisper amongst themselves.
Cloud closed his eyes, not even thinking about shedding a single teardrop. Not in front of the Juniors. Not in front of his most important coach... biggest asshole coach maybe, but Cloud needed materia training to become a SOLDIER, and apparently he needed to be pissed off to achieve that. He wouldn't be pigeon holed as a crybaby who couldn't take a little ribbing. So what if it was true that he liked whiskey, anal sex, and sucking cock? So what?
A shirtless, sexy, hairy chested Junior came over with a cure materia equipped. "Who's hurt?"
Cloud showed his hand, and waited patiently.
"This might feel a little strange," the Junior spoke as if he were a toddler, and the benevolence coupled with physical attractiveness only made Cloud that much more enraged.
"I've had plenty of cures before, just get on with it!" He spoke in the clearest, most confident, least about-to-cry voice he could muster.
"When have you ever needed a cure?" His coach asked curiously, overseeing the Junior's application of magic.
Rough sex injuries were the first thing to spring to Cloud's mind. Sephiroth sometimes lost self-control, but always took the time to cure away stretched muscle pain... as well as handprints, bruises, scratches, bite marks...
Cloud then realized his coach was still waiting for an answer to his question. He tripped over his tongue for a moment before reaching an acceptable answer, "The, uh, Northern Crater battle. I got some shrapnel taken out up there."
The coach nodded his head respectfully. He didn't even make fun of the way Cloud said 'shrapnel', which was appreciated.
The Junior blew against Cloud's palm, glancing up with a scruffy, handsome smile. "Is that better?..."
"Thanks," Cloud grunted and blushed as he jerked his hand back, incredibly annoyed that a super hot Junior was choosing now to flirt with him.
"You're welcome," the Junior smiled again before he turned to jog back to his group.
"Do you wanna get his phone number or are you ready to take a seat?" The coach chuckled, cleverly snatching the materia away from Cloud's hand.
Cloud slithered away bashfully to sit among his classmates. It seemed he'd broken the ice, because now they all were suddenly able to spark the materia.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Hey babe what's - "
"Seph! I have had the worst day of my life!" Cloud recited the entire tale of woe without interruption.
Sephiroth was patient and kept silent until 'sister fucker', and then he totally lost it. He laughed long and hard, and Cloud loved the sound so much he had to join in despite his annoyance.
"Shut up!" Cloud cried after a length of laughter. "Someone insulted your boyfriend, shouldn't you be mad?"
"He's a Sergeant. That's basically in his DNA."
"He even invoked your name!"
Sephiroth began eating something crunchy. "You were the first one in your class to make sparks though. Did it occur to you that that's pretty awesome?"
"Well, after Materia, I had this stupid baseball cool down class. I'm fucking awful at it; I struck out both times I was at bat! Now I'm gonna get picked last for teams all quarter!"
"Who cares?" Sephiroth crunched away, unbothered by Cloud's lack of hand-eye coordination.
"Someone cruised on me in the locker room!" Cloud hissed, changing the subject and barreling right into the final horrible point of his day. "I was aggressively cruised!"
"Say what?" Sephiroth continued to crunch, only pausing to slurp loudly at some sort of beverage. "What the fuck happened?"
"He stuck his gross dick underneath my shower stall like I'm some common glory hole slut! I told him to beat it, and he started... well, beating it. Then I had to walk across campus naked in a towel with shampoo in my eyes to finish my shower in peace!"
"Okay, that might piss me off. Who did it?"
Cloud perked up at the possessive attention, but kept his voice bewildered and tortured. "I don't know. All I saw was his gross, ugly package. His balls were mismatched and his pubes were unkempt and it was awful!"
"Could you..." Sephiroth snickered. "... C- Could you point it out in a line up?"
"Seph!" Cloud shrieked indignantly. "This is not funny! I was sexually harassed! Molested, abused, practically raped!"
"You've chosen a hard life path, Cloud," Sephiroth chuckled, "When you're in an army, you're gonna have more bad days than good ones. Life's gonna suck sometimes. Throw in the fact that you're drop dead gorgeous, and life might even hand you some anonymous cocks in your shower now and then. But I'm not worried because I know you can take care of yourself. You're tenacious and badass and you can handle anything."
Usually that would have felt awesome to hear, but Cloud needed a little sympathy. "Sephiroth, I know you're trying to make me realize how insignificant my woes are, but would it kill you for once just to say, 'poor baby' and let me throw myself a pity party?"
"Wanna get some food and make out?"
Cloud's eyes widened. "... What?"
"You've got four hours before lights out. Lemme take you somewhere for this pity party of yours. But be forewarned... I might try to show you my cock."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Within the hour, Cloud was full of Burger King and pressed against Sephiroth in the backseat of his tank.
Cloud wasn't used to being able to call upon Sephiroth for actual physical comfort, and instead self-medicated while the General was away or busy. It never occurred to him once throughout his horrible day to ask Sephiroth to see him.
What an obvious solution, though. Kisses, closeness, and a little flirtation over fast food made the horrible, frustrating day fade away into the past.
When their lips became sore, Cloud found himself lying on top of Sephiroth, listening to his even breathing, the rumble of the engine and the soft noise of the car stereo. It was just chilly enough outside to need the heater, and between that and the natural heat from Sephiroth's body, the tank was a cozy cocoon on the autumn night.
Comfortable silence blanketed them. Cloud was dozing, while Sephiroth became consumed with smoothing his blonde spikes only to let them spring back up against his palm. The way it bounced gracefully back up no matter how he twisted, flattened or otherwise abused it was relaxing in and of itself, almost like Cloud had a built in stress ball.
"I love you ..." Cloud purred, and he became a bit heavier against Sephiroth's chest. "... I needed a big, long cuddle with you."
"I needed one, too," Sephiroth told him. He almost wished Cloud would ask him about his day. Not that he planned on telling him anything... but given an invitation he might have.
"Seph?" Cloud asked suddenly.
"Yeah?" He responded, pausing in the abuse of blonde hair. The little fucker couldn't read minds, could he?
"Are you good at baseball?"
"Who gives a shit about baseball?" Sephiroth murmured, relieved as well as annoyed with the useless topic. "I was just okay at it, but it was easy to cheat. I'm a lefty, we have an edge in most sports."
Cloud gave an acidic chuckle. "I've noticed. You lefties are full of dirty tricks."
"Tell ya what. I have tomorrow off. How 'bout after school we go to the park and I'll teach you to swing from the left. It'll help when sword fighting lefties, too. I can show you some dirty tricks."
Cloud gasped, "And even if tomorrow sucks like today did... I'll still get to cuddle with you again at the end!"
"You got it," He smiled as Cloud leaned down to otherwise kiss his face off. But mentioning his left hand caused Sephiroth's to pronounce its' usual ache from a combat-filled day. "... Can I maybe get a hand massage?"
Cloud smiled at the innocent request, happy to return a fraction of the comfort he'd been given that evening. He sat up on Sephiroth's hips and began diligently working his thumbs soothingly up and down his callused fingers, across his rough palm and over his wrist.
Sephiroth's long fingered hands were all bone, vein and sinew. It was rough, warm and capable; exactly what a SOLDIER's hand should look and feel like. It was somewhat of an honor to be so intimately trusted with a part of Sephiroth's body that he relied on to wield the most badass sword in combat history.
Then Cloud reasoned that if he could be trusted with Sephiroth's dick in his mouth, his sword hand should be no big deal. He smirked at Sephiroth, who was basking in his massage. The General was even wearing the same relaxed overbite he did when receiving oral sex.
Cloud supposed an innocent massage was much the same idea as something more erotic; it was a nagging bodily ache answered by a firm touch, producing pleasure. These things were best received from someone who really loved you, who cared about making you feel good without selfish intent.
With that tender thought, Cloud began to supplement the massage with kisses to Sephiroth's fingertips. "I love you."
"Mm-hmm," Sephiroth agreed dreamily.
Cloud's mouth twisted in thought. "... I still don't see why I'd get an infantry class. Why not something else?..."
Sephiroth made no reply, only laid under Cloud with a thoughtful expression. It was a farce; he wasn't listening to a word Cloud was saying.
"Seph?... I have an uncomfortable but necessary question for you. And really consider before you answer."
Sephiroth made an inquisitive hum as he continued to mindlessly enjoy his massage.
"The truth won't change anything right this minute, but I need to know," Cloud's voice had that dreadful waver to it that usually signaled a forecast of tears. He stopped massaging and clutched Sephiroth's hand to his chest. "We should both know..."
Now Cloud had his attention, "Christ. What?"
"Will you still want me to move in with you, even if I don't make it into... SOLDIER?" The last word fell apart as a fat tear rolled down Cloud's cheek. More followed and he hung his head slightly, knowing he was hideous when he cried, but unable to bear giving voice to the reality of an imminent break up.
"Cloud," Sephiroth scowled and took his hand back. He passed his thumbs under Cloud's eyes over and over, catching every tear with determination. "I'm in a relationship with you, not the outcome of your exam. You're not gonna lose me or let me down by not gettin' accepted. Stop this. Right now."
Cloud couldn't, and continued to weep against Sephiroth's hands. "You won't be a little bit ashamed? Living with an... an infantryman?"
"Will you get a grip?" Sephiroth held Cloud's head with both hands and kissed his forehead. "You'll make it, Cloud. I know it. Nobody in that whole fuckin' academy wants this more than you do, and I am not the only one who can see that. Besides, it's not like you're damned to infantry because you took one class. And it's not like infantry are scum either, those guys are important to me. There's over a hundred job titles in our army and they all start there."
"One hundred and twelve. But only one in all caps," Cloud remarked bitterly, wiping his own face.
Sephiroth wasn't sure how to respond to that. He thought for a moment, trying to choose his words with care. But as sensitively as he chose them, it came out harshly, "The only thing that could hold you back is this shitty attitude."
"I do not have a shitty attitude! Besides, there are lots of other random, uncontrollable factors that could keep me from SOLDIER!"
"Like what?" Sephiroth grunted doubtfully.
"What if I can't tolerate mako?"
Sephiroth then shocked him with a sudden kiss. He cupped Cloud's neck with both hands and took his entire mouth, overlapping Cloud's unspoken questions with wide undulations of his lips. It didn't end until Sephiroth finally allowed it dwindle into wet, tiny kitten kisses.
"... You like that?" Sephiroth asked. "The taste of me?"
"Love it," Cloud grinned somewhat shyly.
"... And the taste of the junk that comes outta me?"
Cloud's grin then expanded into one of the widest smiles Sephiroth had ever seen, but he seemed to be too smitten to respond verbally. Instead he bashfully nodded, bumping his nose into Sephiroth's.
"You can tolerate mako, case closed," He reached down to smack Cloud's ass definitively. "I think you might even be an addict, baby."
Cloud shied away from the slap with a squeal, but then immediately arched out just enough to leave himself defenseless for another. "Do you really have that much mako inside you? To like... expose me?"
"Little bit," Sephiroth smirked, his neon eyes moving back and forth slightly as they gazed into Cloud's, a warm and deep blue in the dark of the tank.
Cloud leaned down to take another kiss. "... Maybe what I need tonight is a fix."
"In my car?" Sephiroth grinned, stretching out beneath him.
"It won't be the first time..." One of Cloud's hands slid down, and he easily thumbed the button of Sephiroth's jeans open. "I'll take my medicine anywhere I can get it... as long as you're willing to give it to me."
"Medicine, huh? I thought you were supposed to be my nurse," Sephiroth chuckled, his thighs unconsciously parting in anticipation.
"Great nurses always work under a great doctor. We get sick too sometimes," Cloud's fingers teased down past the band of Sephiroth's boxer-briefs and brushed through trimmed pubic hair to cup him. His cock quickly stiffened against Cloud's palm. "... And I feel so sick right now, Doctor."
"You are sick..." Sephiroth agreed, combing Cloud's hair off of his blushing face. "You appear to have flu-like symptoms."
Cloud pouted, oozing false innocence while grinding his obvious arousal against Sephiroth's thigh. "Do you feel that?"
"Yeah, I do."
"It happens when you kiss me... When you're near me... Sometimes all I have to do is think about you," Cloud admitted with a concerned frown. "Do you have any idea why?"
"That is a long, hard problem..." Sephiroth drawled pensively, and Cloud would have laughed if it weren't for the mesmerizing lust glowing in his eyes. Sephiroth pushed the edge of his underwear down and tucked it beneath his balls. "Maybe try puttin' some of this in your mouth?"
Cloud scooted down, leaning comfortably across Sephiroth's lap and the backseat. Once he was settled he kissed Sephiroth's arousal, exhaling warm breath onto it. He smiled to himself as it involuntarily twitched in response, then innocently dragged his tongue over the tip. "Like this, doctor?"
"That's a great start," Sephiroth's eyes lidded as he melted against the seat. He patiently bided his time, letting Cloud slowly tease him with his wet tongue and the warm metal piercing in the center of it. Cloud's lips were soft and relaxed as they moved along the hardened ridges of his cock.
Only when Sephiroth let out a low, quiet groan did Cloud glance up at him. He met his lover's glowing eyes, his lips noisily suckling over the weeping tip. "I can taste my medicine already. You're the best doctor ever."
"Take more in and you'll get your... uh... medicine," Sephiroth chuckled at the ridiculousness of it all, but it was a distracted sound. He needed this far too much after what he'd been through that day, and the role-play shit felt somewhat like a huge middle finger to all of it. It was necessary.
Cloud giggled back as he flicked his outstretched tongue, "You know just how to make your nurse feel better."
Sephiroth's back arched off the seat slightly, and he tried to keep in character. "Uh huh. Now open wide and suck it."
Cloud stared up as he lapped at it again before taking it deep into his mouth. Sephiroth looked way too sexy to deny with his strong thighs spread wide. He loved this man, and it was okay to lust after him, to play games and give him something to crave. Cloud's innocent act faded as he worked his skill and relaxed his throat, taking that thick, wonderfully heavy cock all the way down.
He backed up with a wet slide, and ducked down a bit further to take one of his lover's big, smooth balls into his mouth. He moved his tongue over the perfect roundness, feeling it slip and slide under loose skin. He kissed it before giving the other one the same gentle, loving treatment. He then ran his tongue down further, poking a wet greeting against Sephiroth's hole, and flicking it enough to let him know it wasn't an accident.
It clenched tight in surprise, and Cloud moaned against it. He wanted Sephiroth so badly, every part of him. It almost made him wish he was two people, one to fuck him and one to get fucked by him. That delicious notion played out in his mind as he continued to lap Sephiroth's ass, while running a hand down over his own.
The tiny, impatient growls Sephiroth produced were like music. Cloud licked his way back up to the head of his cock and spoke around it, letting his lips slip against the slit. "Hey Doctor, won't the medicine get into my blood stream more quickly if inserted anally?"
Sephiroth barked out laughter, then bit his mouth against a wide smile, "I don't think we have the proper equipment for that procedure."
"Surely such a seasoned medical professional such as yourself knows how to improvise," Cloud told him breezily, before giving an especially wet pass down to the base of Sephiroth's cock. He sucked his way back up slowly, pausing at the tip to bob his head a little, giving it the hot, tireless suction that Cloud knew made Sephiroth's toes curl.
"You have school in the morning," Sephiroth whispered, as if keeping the out of character comment away from their medical flavored game. "How 'bout we keep it simple?"
"How 'bout we fuck?" Cloud answered cheekily, his fingers dragging longingly down Sephiroth's spread thighs. He felt himself blush at the masculine, demanding tone of his own voice, and quickly added with a meeker earnest, "... Make love to me?"
"If you're willin' to submit your body to a little bit of experimentation... I'm sure I can manage that," Sephiroth drawled with flirtatious humor lifting his volume.
Cloud leaned forward to lick at Sephiroth's lips, "I trust you."
"We'll need to get these pants off you," Sephiroth said judicially, sitting up and collecting Cloud into his lap. He kissed him with a lazy passion, while his hands fumbled with the task of getting Cloud's pants off.
There were few things more erotic than letting his boyfriend undress him. Cloud enjoyed the kiss and submitted to being disrobed at Sephiroth's pace, but as time stretched out he realized it was taking way too long. Cloud looked down with an impatient chirp of a noise, "What are you doing down there?"
"I really dig these jeans on you, but the damn zipper always..." Sephiroth muttered around the kiss, still working to tug the tiny, stubborn metal zipper down over the solid bulge Cloud was sporting. Sephiroth paused to rub his palm against it, which charged the atmosphere with frantic urgency. The zipper finally pulled loose, and they moaned together in relief.
Sephiroth only pulled the tight little jeans down to Cloud's thighs before dropping him down on the seat. He pushed Cloud's knees together and back, wolfishly savoring the sight of Cloud's stiff cock and tight balls peeking out from between his closed legs. "For a sick boy, you are so fuckin' sexy."
Cloud faked a cough. "Please doctor... make me feel better."
He sputtered out a real cough when his cock was suddenly engulfed in the heat of Sephiroth's mouth. He reached up to shove his jeans down and over his sneakers, and spread his legs out wide for Sephiroth to work. He lifted the hem of his hoodie up to reveal more skin, his hand absent mindedly running over his stomach and down to the fringe that framed Sephiroth's face.
He sucked Cloud while letting his fingers roam between the curve of those pretty ass cheeks. The taste of his skin was delicious enough to crave, and it got sweeter the further down he went. Sephiroth closed his eyes and listened to the throaty, purring moans Cloud emitted as he eased his mouth off of his cock with wet, slick kisses.
"How do you feel now?" Sephiroth asked, his green eyes glowing bright in the shadowed dark of the backseat.
"Ugh, worse than ever," Cloud groaned, his features pulled tight in helpless arousal.
"Tell me where it hurts, baby," Sephiroth teased, showing his teeth as he nibbled Cloud's inner thigh.
"Right here," Cloud's hands snaked down to his ass and dug into the firm flesh, pulling it apart and completely exposing his hole. It was uninhibited and shameless, and made Sephiroth catch his breath. "Will you kiss it better for me?"
Sephiroth laid several nibbling kisses across Cloud's ass before pushing his entire face against it. Cloud couldn't help but cry out as he watched the reverent way Sephiroth's tongue moved against him. The way his eyes fluttered and his head tilted made it appear that the General was savoring some great delicacy. His nose pressed against Cloud's balls and that familiar, wriggling warmth nudged inside.
Sephiroth pulled his mouth away and pushed his fingers in, causing Cloud's back to jerk up off the seat.
"I would have warned you of the pinch..." Sephiroth slid his fingers back and forth, working the tight opening. "But anticipation usually makes the pain worse."
"It doesn't hurt," Cloud sighed, his arms folding behind his head. "It feels nice..."
"How nice is this on a scale of one to ten?" Sephiroth asked as he began to work his fingers deeper, searching for that lovely pressure point.
"Six... Five..." Cloud bit his lip, his entire body lifting up into the touch. Sephiroth's little medical fetish was catchy, and Cloud could easily imagine himself as a patient who had struck the lottery of having a hot, slutty doctor. "... Six... Mmm eight... Oh!"
Sephiroth stopped when Cloud moaned and moved his fingertips in a small, knowing circle. "Oh? Does that mean zero?"
"Fuck... Ten," Cloud's tongue wet his lips as he watched Sephiroth's long fingers disappearing inside him. "Do you think you could put my medicine right there, doctor? ... Right on that spot?"
"Oh definitely," Sephiroth sighed through his nose heavily, his eyes roaming over Cloud as he pulled his fingers back. "Would you mind bending over? I wanna give that ass a shot from behind."
Cloud nodded eagerly and sat up. He wasn't sure where he was going, but followed Sephiroth's hands and wound up with both knees on the seat and his chest against the backrest. Sephiroth crawled up behind him, his hands moving up his outer thighs.
"... It's not strictly necessary to take off this garment, but would you mind?" Sephiroth asked against his ear as he inched Cloud's hoodie up.
"Whatever you think is best," Cloud smiled and pulled it over his head, flattered that Sephiroth wanted to see more of him. He knew what else his lover liked to see, and pressed his chest into the backrest to arch and lift as deeply as he could in the cramped space. "Better?"
Sephiroth affirmed that it was with a heavy smack against Cloud's upturned ass, before reaching behind his head to pull his own shirt off. Cloud watched over his shoulder as Sephiroth spit twice against his fingers and rubbed them over the head of his cock.
When he felt a warm touch against him, Cloud shivered in excitement, "Mm..."
Sephiroth then paused and held a cupped hand below Cloud's chin. "Could I have a saliva sample, please?"
Cloud had to force himself to stop giggling so he could work up some spit, but managed to get enough out for Sephiroth to work with.
"Chill," Sephiroth instructed with a warm hand cupping Cloud's neck, and he began to ease his way in.
There was that sharp stretching pain, but it was something Cloud had become used to. He focused on the fact that this was Sephiroth's body pushing inside his, his sex, his love. No amount of discomfort was worth telling him to stop, especially when so much pleasure would follow.
Cloud continued to breathe and relax despite how much it burned, especially as Sephiroth became a little wider towards the base. But making love with Sephiroth had trained him to crave a little bit of pain, and Cloud often needed it to get off. Not in a weird, masochistic sort of way... but it made the experience so much more complete when it left him aching.
The bare skin of Cloud's back and Sephiroth's chest met, and he was glad they'd shed their jackets. He felt Sephiroth's hard stomach, wide chest and the two little rough points of his nipples, rub against his back. He reached behind to grab Sephiroth's thigh, "... Wait a second."
"'Kay," He buried his face against Cloud's neck, "... This is gonna be a deep one."
Cloud understood they had very little room in the backseat of the tank. But he had a little bit of wiggle room, and was able to use it to move experimentally. "Deep is good. Just... go slow."
Sephiroth sucked gently on the curve of Cloud's shoulder "... You feel so good right now."
Cloud curled his hands around Sephiroth's wrists, holding him close. He felt kisses against the back of his neck, and the thrumming length of Sephiroth's cock buried all the way inside. He began to press even deeper, only backing up a fraction of an inch before sinking in all the way. It stole Cloud's breath over and over, only allowing him tiny bursts of air.
The thick base rolled gently with tiny, nuzzling motions of Sephiroth's hips. The head was buried too deep to jab Cloud's most intense point, instead the rigid mass massaged against it as more of an afterthought.
Eventually Cloud's teeth clenched in pleasurable frustration, "More, Seph. Harder."
One of Sephiroth's hands moved down Cloud's tight stomach and teased his cock with a brush of warm fingertips. It had been slightly deflated from the rough entry, but snapped back to attention under Sephiroth's calloused palm.
"Can't go much harder. If the tank starts bouncin' someone'll call the cops."
Cloud keened out an agonized giggle. "Unn... I just wish there was more room in here."
"I know baby," Sephiroth scooted back and pushed his flexibility to the limit, sacrificing any comfort in order to make more room. He was able to pull his hips far enough to create some friction.
Cloud stole a breath before letting out a booming moan. He arched on the seat, offering up an angle that sent Sephiroth's cock scraping along his favorite places inside.
"That's better, huh?" Sephiroth asked, and was surprised when Cloud turned his head to yank him into a fierce kiss.
"I like this..." He whispered, slipping his tongue messily past Sephiroth's parted lips. "This position. I fucking like it."
"Good," Sephiroth continued to push into Cloud from behind, and he purred in unspoken agreement. He loved the way Cloud's slender back fit against him, the way his shoulder blades dug into his chest, the way Cloud's slim calves and socked feet wrapped around his knees on the seat to trap him close. His hands, his hair, his cheeks, his nose, his eyelashes... there was no doubt in Sephiroth's mind that Cloud was made for him. Only him.
"Seph..." Cloud moaned, making beautiful noise as he was pressed between Sephiroth and the back seat. He cried out with every movement, rambling half formed thoughts. "Fuck me... give me... I want everything. Every fucking thing."
"Like what?" Sephiroth breathed into his ear, intrigued by Cloud's words but more distracted by the way he was wriggling his hips. He dug his fingers into to soft flesh and rolled with Cloud's movements, which were unconsciously in time with the beat from the tank's stereo.
"Everything," Cloud choked out, unable to elaborate any further.
"I'm yours, baby," He said, tightening his fingers into Cloud's hair to draw his face out of the seat. The expression he wore was the stuff wet dreams were made of, and Sephiroth stretched over his narrow back to kiss him. "You tell me what you want... I'll do anything for you."
"Can I fuck you?... Like this?" Cloud gasped with a slight hint of a smile on his open mouth. He had no intention of changing positions at that point in time, but it was fun to fantasize aloud and tease his lover's brain with suggestions.
"Yeah," Sephiroth whispered, and suddenly bore down on Cloud heavily, pinning him against the seat with enough iron force to knock the air out of him. The message was clear that Sephiroth would allow Cloud to top him, and in fact allowed him to survive moment to moment in this enclosed space.
Sephiroth might have been Cloud's bitch, but only because he was happy to live in servitude to the one he loved. But inside was an animal, a predator, a wired mix of every evil bit of DNA that his makers could find. He snarled as his mind began to really process what he'd done and seen that day, and expressed it through roughness towards Cloud's body.
Cloud looked back. The warm, blue eyed gaze Sephiroth's eyes were met with was pure trust. No amount of excessive force, no display of sharp teeth or physical dominance would ever make Cloud think twice about giving his body and heart to a monster.
Sephiroth's heart suddenly throbbed as though it was being ripped apart, "Fuck… I love you. I love you."
Cloud locked his fingers between Sephiroth's, "... I know."
The lack of room and the threat of being discovered by nosy civilian police suddenly didn't matter. The blip of raw emotion was gone and all that was left was heady, boyish passion.
Cloud was engrossed in sensation so mindless that he began to literally drool against the seat. Breathing wasn't an option, but he chose his final word, "Seph!"
Sephiroth punctuated his thrusts against Cloud, and his thighs burned with the effort to keep himself at the perfect angle. He nipped Cloud's cheek and mumbled, "Ready... for your... medicine?"
Cloud laughed breathlessly and nodded, surrendering himself to everything Sephiroth gave him. "Yeah..."
The fluttering sensation of Cloud's laughter from the inside made Sephiroth's spine crawl. He yanked Cloud's head upright to attack his lips and shoulder with his teeth.
"I'm..." Cloud groaned on the very last of his breath, and his spine bowed inwards as every nerve in his body was sent into shock.
There was a different feel to sex after a day of severe stress. The best part wasn't the pleasure or even the release, but the rushing wave of relief and relaxation afterwards. It was more permanent than the build up. He was so warm, so satiated, and full to the brim of the most wonderful man in the world.
Sephiroth was thoroughly lost in the moment and inching towards climax, working hard at it, nearly desperate for it. Cloud held himself tight, moving his hips and giving as much back as he could under his lover's weight, "Seph, please do it for me. You feel so good... I want it all. Please?"
"God... damn..." Sephiroth muttered, his arms tightening hard around his waist as he hid against Cloud's shoulder.
Cloud gasped as he felt Sephiroth's cock pulsing inside him. It slid slowly, nuzzling, giving him sticky kisses from the inside out.
They landed together somewhere between embarrassment and ecstasy. The stereo continued to play away, almost as a tether they could grip onto to be taken back to reality.
When Sephiroth finally lifted his head, he had to swallow several times to coat his dry throat. When he found the voice to speak he rumbled, "... Feel better?"
"... Better," Cloud sighed with a drowsy enthusiasm. "... Are you okay?"
"Wrecked. I'm glad I don't work in the mornin'," he kissed the side of Cloud's face and lifted his weight off of him, muscles popping and bones grinding. He was about to complain, but instead had to stifle a sudden moan as he felt another pulsing aftershock, leaving a long, milky string of semen that connected his cock to Cloud's opening. Even more thick fluid was bubbling down the back of Cloud's balls.
"Seph! Help!" Cloud chirped innocently, not realizing how tantalizing the view was. "Do we have napkins?"
Sephiroth tore his eyes away and searched through the fast food bags for napkins, and discovered that the drive thru had been stingy in that department, only giving him two to complete the job. He had to choose between wiping Cloud's sweet, come dribbling ass... or the heavy, sticky load that Cloud had spurted all over the leather seat of his precious vehicle.
Sephiroth begrudgedly chose to clean Cloud with the napkins. He used his own shirt to wipe off the seat and any stray fluid on Cloud. Ever the servant to his babies.
Once Cloud was wiped dry, he turned on his knee and collapsed against the seat. "... Seph? Are you really okay, you were kind of - "
"Not to sound like an asshole, but we only got like half an hour to get you back," Sephiroth said, handing Cloud back his discarded clothes.
"No cuddles?" Cloud grumbled, forgetting his concern as he went about shaking loose his inside-out jeans and yanking them on.
Sephiroth collected his own clothes. "We'll have some more time tomorrow. I'll take you home for a while after the park. I'm sure the cuddle quota's gonna be balanced out."
With a happy little noise, Cloud wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's bare waist in a long, greedy hug.
Poets describe epiphanies as a stroke of lightning, or an earthquake, or some roaring internal event. However, the one that Sephiroth experienced at that moment was nothing more than a sense of easy, cool clarity.
Sephiroth hoped Cloud didn't make it into SOLDIER.
He'd been struggling with this feeling, warding it off in favor of being proud of Cloud, of listening to and supporting his wishes. But Sephiroth had his own wish, and formed in his mind against his will but it was there and it was the truth.
He wanted Cloud in the army. But as a pilot, as dispatch, an infantry sergeant, an instructor, a desk jockey. Anything at all but a SOLDIER.
For Sephiroth, a life of service to the Shin-Ra army was freedom. He loved SOLDIER. But he loved Cloud so much more, and couldn't imagine why he would choose this life when there were an infinite number of other options.
"You having deep thoughts up there?" Cloud murmured.
"... Just thinkin' how goofy you'll look next year in a Third Class uniform."
Cloud grinned. "You'll get used to it!"
"Yeah," Sephiroth agreed. "I'll have to."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A/N
1. I recently uploaded this story called 'The Best Memories' about how shitty Cloud's life would turn out if things ended canonly, and a bunch of people asked me if that was how BA was going to end, or some sort of foreshadowing. Why would you think I would post the end of a story before the story is even over? Gimme a fucking break. I already said that BA is a happy story, so take some Oxycontin and relax! Why are you guys so high strung lately? Is it because I haven't updated this summer? I'm sorry!
2. Updates take forever, I know. I guess if I posted shorter chapters it might make for more numerous postings, but I feel more comfortable with longer chapters. And it takes a long time for me to write – especially since I haven't had a laptop since like June. This entire chapter, start to finish was written on my iPhone. That is love, so don't ever doubt my appreciation and dedication to you.
3. There's still no art up from this chapter or the last one due to my technical issues. I should be getting a new computer this month sometime, so I'll have things up then. I have put up art from the school lab recently, but I don't really feel comfortable working on 'romantic' art at school. Doing art in public is murky business, but I need sanctuary to make porn. But once I get up and running I'll have lots of fun things for you to look at. Art is kind of my way to thank reviewers, and I feel real shitty that I don't have a gift. It's like you coming into my house but I don't have any booze or hookers to offer you. Soon!
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Blonde Ambition