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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
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Sephiroth had the weirdest hangover.

He couldn't recall a time in his entire life when he'd felt so invisible and alone. Even when he was near death from a wound, infection, or something the lab had done to him on purpose, he still found some supernatural drive within himself to carry on.

Nothing ever immobilized Sephiroth.

He wasn't sure if he was awake or not. Time was marked by the drifting in and out of dreamless sleep, broken up by frantic moments where he was made aware of the fact that he couldn't move. After fighting with himself to get a grip, he'd slip back into the same uneasy coma.

He was waiting. Just waiting.

Eventually he was able to move his fingers a bit, and soon thereafter he opened his eyes.

It was dark. Sephiroth reached out and felt around for his cell phone, another person, anything at all. The effort it took to move that little bit sent him propelling back into darkness.

He didn't dream about anything. It made sleep restless and lonely.

He didn't want to sleep. He craved color, light, sound, stimuli. He wanted to laugh at something, get pissed about something, hit something, kiss someone. He needed to talk to somebody, but wasn't sure if he had anything to say.

Sephiroth just had a desire to be.

This was the weirdest hangover ever.

Sephiroth wondered if he was drugged in the lab. He doubted it; being in the lab brought about some very specific senses and feelings. There was no disinfected medicinal odor, no whirring vibration of power generators and machinery, no distant cries for help or doctors' feet shuffling around.

There was an odd feeling that this was somehow his own fault, and he decided that he was never drinking again. He wanted to use the bathroom, take a shower, and get into bed under a blanket.

Was he cold? He was very cold. As a matter of fact, he didn't even know how he'd slept for so long in this fucking cold. He imagined that he was on the freezing bathroom tiles. And if he was hungover, that meant Cloud was probably somewhere in the apartment fast asleep and bundled up without turning the heat on.

That might make sense.

But did they go out last night? He didn't remember what he'd been doing the night before. Or the day before... or even the day before that. He couldn't even recall what day it was now.

That didn't make sense.

Sephiroth would never consume enough alcohol to get to this stage. It was possible if he tried to keep up with Cloud, because that boy could drink almost anyone into the emergency room, but Sephiroth always paced himself. He was only twenty-three, but he had too much responsibility to let himself become shit face drunk.

"Hey?..." Sephiroth called, lifting his head off the wet floor, which was probably the worst idea he'd ever had. The most demonic pain he'd ever felt stole his breath until he literally saw flashing lights behind his eyelids. They pulsed in time with his racing heartbeat, and Sephiroth prayed that he would just drop dead.

'I'm never drinkin' again,' he thought as he withered tightly into the fetal position he'd woken up in. Even the echo of his own voice bouncing around the room added to the torture, and the stench of ice and cold threatened to make him heave.

Sephiroth paused. His bathroom didn't echo, and it didn't smell like ice.

He was outside somewhere. This wasn't just a hangover, this was dangerous.

The pain wasn't so bad now that he was expecting it, and he began the task of getting up off of his side. Tight, new leather creaked along with his movement, and with a sweeping brush of his palms, he felt down his frame and found harnesses, belts, and unfamiliar zippers. It was a one piece leather fucking cat suit.

"Fuck me," Sephiroth groaned as he moved up onto his knees, his brain now on red alert. He tried to light an organic match in his palm, but was so weak he couldn't even manage simple magic.

It wasn't normal to wake up in a dark, echoey place outside, weak to the point of death and dressed like Rob Halford. This had all the makings of a horror movie; he almost wanted to check to make sure a stranger's lips weren't grafted to his asshole.

He touched his butt to just to be sure. All clear.

He clumsily batted his hand around on the ground nearby, blindly searching for Masamune, his cell phone, another person, anything at all. There was nothing but the wet smack of his hand hitting a bit of shallow water.

More determined to figure out where he was, he managed to stand up. Just walking was a huge challenge, and he stumbled down to his knees several times before he got his footing right. His legs felt like rubber, and it was almost as though his feet were too big for his body.

Using the wall as a crutch, Sephiroth shuffled along in search of an exit. It taxed so much of his energy that he slid down onto his knees over and over. But he forced himself to keep going, the desire to escape propelled his efforts along, as slow and labored as they were.

He slid down to his knees once more, completely exhausted. He tumbled into another bout of unconscious restoration, and fought the entire time to wake back up.

He didn't know how long he remained there like that. He wasn't even sure when he'd opened his eyes, but a gentle stream of light cut through the dark, and illuminated the space.

Snow and ice glittered on the ground and sparkled up the steep walls. Sephiroth was overwhelmed at the sudden illumination, and squinted a little as his eyes followed the path of light until he was looking straight up.

He was crumpled at the bottom of the Northern fucking Crater.

Not even in hangover logic could that make sense.

He glanced down at himself, and realized he wasn't wearing some leather daddy costume - it was a one piece, lightweight battle suit. He'd never seen it before, but it was just his taste.

At least he looked good.

Sephiroth pushed off of the wall to his feet, and carefully walked to the center of the Crater, searching for any sign of another person. He refused to call out 'hello' like a horror movie vixen about to get thrashed. Instead he opted for a manly sound; he coughed and cleared his sinuses, and spat it at the ground. It echoed around a bit, not sounding very manly at all. It sounded young and scared, but fortunately no other sounds followed.

He wondered where his phone was. He looked around on the ground, hoping for footprints on the icy cave floor, but didn't spot any. An unwelcome blast of arctic wind rushed down from the mouth of the Crater, sending a million goosebumps down the back of Sephiroth's neck. He rubbed them away, and then paused.

He was touching the back of his neck. There was no curtain of hair in the way.

Sephiroth ran his fingers over his scalp over and over, finding no strands longer than a quarter inch. For a moment he didn't even feel the cold anymore, and a helpless, brief cry escaped him.

He felt something on his scalp, and with a sharp tug he pulled it off. It was a piece of chewed up gum, frozen solid and stuck in what little hair he had left.

There had to have been some sort of fight, some sort of mission... he'd been beaten by someone. And upon his vulnerability, they had taken it upon themselves to buzz his head. It was an attempt at humiliation, a chance to strip him of his identity.

Sephiroth was consumed by a fury like he'd never known.

He gave himself permission to hunt down whoever had done this to him like a fucking dog. When he found them, he wasn't going to hold himself morally responsible for whatever he was going to do.

He wanted more than they took, he'd have revenge for this multiplied by a million. He laughed a little as both hands brushed the short hair dusting his skull.

He was going to find them, and eatthem alive. He would take a bite out of their face and fuck the hole it left behind. He was going to round up Zack and Angeal and Genesis and get medieval on the ass of whoever had done this.

Sephiroth then became suspicious of those people in particular. Who else could have triumphed over him but one of his first class comrades? It was possible... After all, taking his hair was such a Genesis thing to do.

It had to be Genesis... Sephiroth never liked him that much anyway, and would have no problem shredding his shallow, jealous, perverted, self righteous, condescending ass. Sephiroth would have more mercy on ruthless Wutain spies than he would on someone he had grown to trust, who then turned out to be a traitor.

He was too furious to feel weakness or pain anymore. It was a relief to feel more like himself again, and with a series of ricochets off of the Crater's ice shelves, he was out of the pit in moments. Even though he'd found enough strength to get out, his landing was horribly botched and unbalanced, and he stumbled to his sore knees. But he was out and that was all that mattered to him, so he scrambled up to his feet and tried to regain some composure as he marched toward the Northern Crater Base.

"Hey there!" A militant voice shouted, and Sephiroth bristled at the thought of another person seeing him in this vulnerable, hairless state.

Sephiroth squinted at the approaching figure. Nighttime at the Crater had an oddly luminescent quality when the moon was reflecting off the snow, and he could see that it was the exact same grunt that was always guarding the mouth of the cave. Somehow the guy had become a real moose since Sephiroth had left the Crater base. He was huge. Like really, really fucking huge.

He looked up at the grunt for a moment in startled wonder, before snorting a little as he began to make his way toward the base. He didn't mean to be rude, but he couldn't spare the time to greet someone when he'd woken up mentally raped.

"Hold it!" The grunt called.

Sephiroth stopped to glare up at the brazen infantryman. He didn't care what kind of insoles this dude was wearing, nobody in the army talked to him like that. It occurred to Sephiroth that he might not have been recognized because of his hair, and that made him even more indignant.

The guard had the nerve to have his hand on the handle of his machine gun, ready to draw the weapon. "What are you doing alone out here? How'd you get here?"

"You're about to help me figure that out," Sephiroth barked up at him. "I wanna know everything you know. What have you seen here tonight? Who came up out of that pit before me?"

"Does your dad work here?"

Sephiroth couldn't school his features before they twisted up into a confused scowl. He didn't answer to army, especially a bizarre question like that. And if this guy had a recognition problem just because his hair was shorter, he was about to become very embarrassed.

Sephiroth tried to maintain some composure, "I am your General."

"... That's enough. We're going inside," The guard readied his weapon, "Put your hands up where I can see them, and start to move towards the base."

Sephiroth remained where he was. "... You're makin' a huge mistake right now."

The guard dislodged the safety on his rifle and pointed it at Sephiroth's lower body. "Kid... if you won't follow instructions, I'll be forced to disable you."

Sephiroth snapped the grunt's spinal cord.

Strictly speaking it was not necessary, but he was cold and tired and hungry and he didn't like when people pointed guns at him. And for all he knew, this asshole was working for whoever had left him for dead in the Crater. He couldn't trust anyone until he figured out what was going on.

He'd been well within his rights... the man refused to stand down...

After a moment of gazing down at the broken body of a member of his own army and trying to justify it to himself... Sephiroth nearly wept. The adrenaline of the confrontation eased away, and his rage was replaced by horrible guilt.

He'd just killed someone out of frustration. How could he have done that?

Sephiroth crouched down over the man's body and unhooked the radio from his belt. He needed to make a call to the Crater base's coroner, and then hopefully get the base's Lieutenant to come and possibly shed light on his current situation. He'd stay by the body until it was all taken care of properly.

Sephiroth paused, and tilted his head slightly as he looked at the enormous radio in his hands. It was so big that he needed both hands to hold onto it. While pondering the odd size of the thing, he glanced down at the nighttime shadows that he and the dead guard made in the snow.

He looked down at his body. His very small, very skinny, very adolescent body.

"This is the weirdest hangover..." Sephiroth breathed thoughtfully, slowly replacing the radio back into the grunt's belt. "Okay... Alright."

He would make this look like an accident.

With two tiny hands, Sephiroth grabbed the dead guard's boot. He groaned a little as he dragged his heavy ass down into the Crater.

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

"I'm not going to make a long speech," Coach Dunn began, which informed the class that this was going to be a long speech indeed. "But starting today, we're taking the rubbers off."

The Intermediate Sword Training class erupted with boyish laughter.

"Shut up," Coach Dunn ordered, and they did. When they were totally silent, he continued. "We're taking the rubber guards off the swords."

Cloud sat cross-legged on the grass with his Sword Training class, eager and amazed when the instructor unsheathed one of the practice swords, which was free of the thin rubber lining that had previously hugged the sharp edge of the blade. It felt a little childish, but certainly hurt to get stricken with. Cloud had often been left with nasty red bands bruised underneath his skin from sword slaps.

That was nothing compared to what the sharp edge of an actual steel blade could do, as the coach demonstrated by tossing the sheath into the air and splitting the thing in two. Like a true SOLDIER, he even ended with a cool pose.

Cloud refrained from clapping as though he were in a magic show, but it took effort. He loved watching his teachers perform tricks, and his adoration for SOLDIERs did not stop at Sephiroth or Zack. Any man in that uniform held a little piece of Cloud's heart, especially his instructors.

Coach Dunn continued, "With the safety rubber in place I was a little bit lenient about the body hits. But starting today any hit is going to result in an injury, and this is when cadets get injured the most. The next month or so is going to be the most dangerous of your career here at the Academy. You're all going to get cut, I can guarantee that. If you're hurt badly and miss a substantial amount of class time, I may decide that you need to repeat the course. If you have to repeat, you can't qualify for the SOLDIER exam in August."

One of his classmates let out a long sigh at that, and Cloud would have joined in if he could find the breath. Any time his participation in the SOLDIER exam was threatened, it felt like the air was physically knocked out of him.

Coach Dunn openly smiled at how cute and wide-eyed his class became, but it registered as a cruel smirk on his stony features. "Has anyone spent a weekend with a General yet?"

Cloud's hand shot up very confidently.

The coach gave him a doubtful look. "I'm talking about a weekend training seminar."

"Whoops," Cloud blurted, and yanked his hand back down.

The rest of the class remained silent.

"I have some great news for you guys. I pulled some strings and my intermediate sword training students are being offered first dibs on a seminar this weekend with Angeal Hewley. It'll be a wilderness retreat away from the city to hone sword combat skills. It's an immeasurable privilege."

Cloud shrank down a few inches. Surely this immeasurable privilege would be optional... he and Sephiroth had made plans to go the Dragon Museum.

It was the biggest and most complete collection of dragon information in the world. They had a new exhibit about prehistoric dragon mating, where the bones were all set up like they were fucking - which was Sephiroth's main reason for wanting to go. Cloud wanted to go for the baby dragon petting zoo, where he planned on giving hundreds of kisses to the kitten-sized domesticated babies. He even convinced Sephiroth to allow him to put one on top of his head and take a picture - in exchange for a sexual promise.

Cloud didn't know what he was going to have to do, yet... but was perfectly willing to find out. He'd be damned if he was going to pass that up to spend the weekend with his stinky classmates in the fucking woods.

"If you choose to pass up this seminar, I will not understand why. So in order to make me understand, you'll have a five page written assignment due Monday telling me why you didn't attend. Of course, I will expect the university caliber writing that's required of you from your academic classes, as well as external references and documentation of where you're going to be. And since your classmates will be out on Monday, you will learn a new series of maneuvers to demonstrate to the class on Tuesday, which should take you roughly all weekend to master. Don't be stupid. Just sign up."

The sheet went from boy to boy, and all of them committed themselves to a weekend of torture. With a heavy heart, Cloud also added his name to the list.

Their trip to the Dragon Museum would have to be postponed. It was only Tuesday...so it'd be two full weeks until he would see Sephiroth again. Provided he didn't have a mission, of course. Faced with so much time away from his beloved, Cloud felt his vision blur with tears.

No, no, no. Over dramatizing shit and making himself cry was a lot like thinking sexy porno thoughts and ejaculating prematurely - he had to get better control over what his mind and body did to embarrass him.

Cloud still couldn't do much about his sexual performance, but he felt lucky that he'd never had a huge crybaby meltdown at school. He wanted to keep it that way, so he completely emptied his brain until he was a shell of a person, refusing to allow himself to even finish a single thought.

Coach Dunn took the signup sheet and ensured everyone had enlisted, and then continued on with the day's lesson, "In order to prepare you for General Hewley's seminar, we need to get used to training on ordinary steel, and wounds are expected... but major injuries cost you class time. I don't like blaming the victim for a wound, but if you can't defend yourself against another student, what hope do you have against someone who wants to kill you? On that note, if you injure one of your classmates because you were fucking around, it's also up to me to decide whether you can handle the responsibilities that a swordsman in this army carries. Nobody takes the SOLDIER exam without passing my class, and I make it my personal business to keep douchebags out."

Cloud really respected Coach Dunn, but he also really hated him in that moment. He didn't need to be preached to about the lack of safety rubber, he needed to fight and get angry before he started to cry.

"Come and take a weapon, then get into your positions," Cloud's coach finally ordered.

Cloud clamored to be first in line, and peeked hesitantly up at his instructor before grabbing one of the sheathed swords from the rack. He almost expected to be called out as an imposter; surely he wasn't to be trusted with a real fucking steel sword.

But instead of squashing him back, Coach Dunn patted him on the shoulder and gently pushed him out of the way to allow the rest of the class to collect a weapon. With higher spirits, Cloud pranced back to his usual spot on the grass, not daring to unsheathe the sword until he was instructed to do so.

They went through their warm up drills perfectly, and then it was time for one-on-one training. The sparring sessions were slow and hesitant but they sounded beautiful, all sharp clangs of metal instead of dull thunks of rubber edges. Cloud watched his classmates fight with wide eyes, amazed at the small, bloody cuts people were receiving from each other.

"Cloud, you're up," Coach Dunn finally said.

Unable to suppress an eager grin, he stood up and darted to the clearing. His excitement deflated a little when nobody offered to join in to practice with him.

Unbeknownst to Cloud, sword fighting wasn't like other sports. People who were good at it often needed to be told how good they were. And nobody had yet told Cloud that he was getting really mother fucking good at it.

In order to keep him humble for as long as possible, Coach Dunn said nothing to Cloud about his emerging talent. Mostly it was due to the fact that his attacks came from such low, odd angles, but also because Cloud was by far the lightest and quickest in the class. The other cadets sure as hell weren't going to compliment him, either.

Cloud knew he did rather well against his classmates, but was beautifully ignorant to how terrifying he appeared to them holding a sword with no rubber safety guards.

Nobody made eye contact with him as he stood waiting for a sparring partner. Cloud's narrow shoulders slumped, and he loosely swung the dangerous weapon like a child. "C'mon guys, don't leave me hanging. Won't somebody fight me? Jesse? Taylor?"

Jesse became interested in his boot laces, and Taylor made an indignant noise of pure disgust at the idea. Other than that nobody moved a muscle.

"Taylor, go fight him," Coach Dunn finally ordered.

Taylor was a tank, the sort of guy that managed to remain husky despite constant physical exercise and activity. Some people were just lucky like that, but the drawback was that he was very slow. During a swordfight, he was like a slow moving wall. Very predictable, but nearly impossible to stop.

His size didn't scare Cloud; he thought Taylor was cute. He had deep dimples when he smiled, and pretty hazel eyes that were always downcast and shy. Cloud was willing to bet he was going to get a boost of confidence from a girl someday soon, and would mature into a really sexy man.

"Hey handsome!" Cloud flirted, trying to overcome Taylor's reluctance to spar with him.

Taylor did not return the smile as he approached Cloud.

"Okay fine, be that way," Cloud huffed and took his position.

Taylor's only response was to take his own position and wait until the whistle to begin. Once the whistle came, Cloud became a yellow, spiky blur. Taylor never had a chance.

It was like a puzzle piece had been put into place. Cloud finally got it.

Magic was frustrating, guns were cumbersome, and hand-to-hand was something that Cloud simply lacked the physical strength to excel at. Sword fighting was what nature had intended for him, and Cloud knew it all along. But now that his instrument was a deadly weapon and not a neutered, safety guarded toy, his classmates were taking him seriously.

It felt marvelous.

At the end of the fight, Taylor was bleeding in three places. They were merely scrapes, but if Cloud were of the mind... he could have killed him. He really could have!

Cloud was so excited that he couldn't stop bouncing in place. His voice was shaking a bit, but he managed to call out to his instructor, "Can I-I go again? Please?"

"If you want," Coach Dunn shrugged indifferently, although he was very proud. It was nice to know that the potential he thought he saw in the smallest cadet was real, and not a mistake of judgment on his part in hopes that Sephiroth's boyfriend would amount to something. He was relieved to be able to report good things to his long time friend. "Why don't you just play opponent to everyone in the class for a round? Or until you get tired."

"I won't get tired!" Cloud's voice cracked at an octave reserved for teenage girls. Usually it would have earned him some laughter from his classmates, but in that moment it merely cemented a terrifying image of gleeful, murderous enthusiasm.

Danger was now Cloud's middle name. Actually it was Duffy, but nobody had to know that since they both began with the same letter.

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

Sephiroth was in a horrible mood and didn't particularly feel like talking, but he answered Cloud's daily post-school phone call anyway. "Hm."

"Listen!" Cloud squawked, and proceeded to chatter away.

Sephiroth couldn't understand a word he was saying, of course. But Cloud sounded excited and happy, and he found himself smiling for the first time that day. Zack had brought him some dinner, so he unwrapped his tacos and began to eat while they were still warm.

Cloud spoke for five solid minutes before he gave Sephiroth any room for a response. "... So?"

"What?" Sephiroth asked, sucking unidentifiable taco meat from between his teeth.

Cloud gave a loud sigh. "You weren't even listening!"

"I was listenin'. You did that thing where you talk really fast and your accent swallows your words."

"Oh, sorry!" Cloud laughed. "So am I allowed to tell you all over again, then?"

Sephiroth couldn't help but grin at the positive energy that radiated over the phone. "Sure, just slow it down for me a little."

Slowly, and with pauses for breath, Cloud retold what happened in his sword training class.

"So... what does that mean?" Sephiroth asked.

Cloud danced around an answer, feeling a little shy and unsure how to put it. "I dunno! I guess I'm getting better at sword fighting! Coach Dunn said that like... that I'm the best in class or something."

"So you're Jake's class pet, now?"

Cloud gave an embarrassed warble at the fact that Sephiroth knew his coach on a first name basis. "No I'm not his class fucking pet, I'm saying that he thought I was good. And I fought every kid in class, and I fucked them all up. All of them! Nobody could touch me, Seph. It felt like... like I was way better than anyone else! It felt really, really good!"

Years in the upper ranks had filled Sephiroth with a certain brand of contempt for rookie swordsmen when they began to get cocky. That cockiness always led to an early death, Sephiroth witnessed it over and over again.

But this was Cloud, and Sephiroth loved him and wanted to be a source of support in his life and all that shit. Cloud's ambition was to become a SOLDIER, and he was tenacious and willful and spoiled rotten, so one way or another he would see that goal. If for no other reason than because Sephiroth didn't want him to.

Sephiroth rarely got what he wanted in life, and if he did it came with a severe downside.

Pro : He was incredibly in love with Cloud Strife.

Con : Like many SOLDIERs, Cloud Strife would probably not live to see twenty.

These bitter thoughts made Sephiroth physically ill, and it all translated to an arrogant sigh, "... Best in your intermediate class? It's a start. I want you to be the best at that whole fuckin' school. You hear me?"

"Yes Sir!" Cloud agreed amicably.

"So you're gonna be with Angeal this weekend?"

"Yep!" Cloud nodded. "I'm so excited! I don't wanna do anything else but train on steel, I love it!"

"Guess I won't be seein' you then."

"I'm sorry, Seph... I'll be back Sunday night. Do you think I could spend the night?"

Although he wanted Cloud to stay over, he also wanted to punish him for being busy, for making him worry, for making him feel anything at all. It was a petty emotion without a real name, but it was one Sephiroth couldn't control, "No. Monday I'll be in early."

"Nooo!" Cloud sighed regrettably. "Don't you have any time at all this week? Maybe at night?"

"I gotta sleep at some point."

"O-oh, of course! I understand..." Cloud then floundered a bit under an extended silence. "... Are you mad at me, dear?"

Sephiroth stretched in his chair and then slid down until his chin was resting on his collar bone. He looked like a moody teenager, and felt just as stupid for making such a big deal out of nothing. "Sorry baby, I'm in a bad mood. You can stay Sunday night if you want to."

"You hate when I'm there and you have to work," Cloud reminded him. "I make you late every single time."

"You're movin' in this summer. I'm gonna have to get over you and go to work every day. Might as well start gettin' used to it, right?"

Cloud smiled at that and hesitantly agreed, "I guess that's true."

Sephiroth felt even guiltier for putting that hesitance in his lover's voice. He wasn't sure what the reverse of nostalgia was, but he was feeling it, and he felt stupid for it."I have some time tomorrow night if you wanna hang out after school. Wanna go get some food or somethin'?"

"I have work at the store tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Sephiroth swallowed a lump in his throat, imagining a day in the future when Cloud might actually meet that early death that waited for new SOLDIERs. Was he going to look back on this moment as a failed opportunity to be with him? He couldn't live with that kind of regret. "Is it alright if I come see you at work?"

"Sure! But it'll be boring for you... you'll just be sitting there watching me clean stuff."

"You don't wear nothin' but underwear, though?"

"Well... yeah, I dress slutty."

"I'll be there after I'm done with work tomorrow."

Cloud giggled, "You really wanna do that?"

"Sure. Why don't you sleep over tomorrow, too? I can take you to school on my way to work."

"Okay!" Cloud agreed, slightly weary of his lover's sudden mood swing. "... So you feel better about missing our weekend?"

Sephiroth felt a pang of dread again, but shook it off and sat up straight in his chair. "You need the time with Angeal. I wanna hear good things about you. I want you to kick his big, fat ass."

Cloud laughed merrily, "I'll try! Will you miss me?"

Sephiroth paused. It felt like the more he tried to squash this dreadful feeling of doom, the more intense it bit back. He wanted to talk to Cloud about it, but he wasn't used to that kind of shit. He usually let Cloud chatter away about his feelings and happenings, and let the heavy stuff dissipate on its own. Any feeling, any pain, any thought would go away if it could be ignored long enough.

Sephiroth didn't want to scare him, but ventured toward actual communication. "Cloud..."

"What?"

"I feel weird."

Cloud was instantly concerned, "Weird? Why? You sick?"

"Don't get worked up. I just feel weird."

Cloud gave him a long coo of pity, "My poor dear. Tell me what's wrong."

Sephiroth slumped further in his chair, unsure of how to give a voice to his odd feelings, or even if he wanted to. "Do you ever feel like somethin' bad is about to happen?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno," Sephiroth lowered his voice. It was useless against the monitoring devices placed throughout the Shin-Ra building, but it was an involuntary effort. "I guess I'm just thinkin' a lot about, like... bad stuff that could happen to you or me. Just feel like somethin's gonna happen soon."

Cloud matched his quiet tone with a whisper, "Do you feel like a lot of good things have happened lately?"

"I've never been happy like this before," He mumbled, not sounding very happy at all.

Cloud found his pouting, moody lover precious, but kept his voice as serious as he could, "You're being stupid."

"I'm not. Everything balances itself out like that. It has to, that's how shit works."

"Sephiroth, nothing bad is going to happen," Cloud told him. "And if it does, we'll deal together. We'll always have each other, right?"

"What if one of us dies?" Sephiroth asked, although his concern was more about Cloud's untimely demise rather than his own. "I hate this heavy shit. But what if somethin' happened to me? What if it happened like, tomorrow?"

Cloud took a few moments to respond. "... It's not an 'if'. We're both going to die someday. Whoever goes first will just have to wait in the Lifestream, and whoever survives will just have to go on living. And when we see each other again, it'll feel like hardly a moment had gone by. Then we won't have to work anymore, and will have nowhere to be but wherever we happen to be. Death isn't anything to be afraid of."

"I'm not scared to die at all. What scares me is livin' with, like... the loss," Sephiroth admitted. "I should have died a hundred times, but my body just won't. At this point I think the only thing that could kill me is if I lost you. I don't think my heart could take it. Thinkin' about possibilities like that is drivin' me crazy."

"Seph..." Cloud breathed, touched so deeply that he could hardly stay in his own skin. He was beyond flattered, nearly to the point of humiliation that Sephiroth would say such a thing. He scratched his eyebrows and pondered what to possibly say to a man who loved him so much. "... There's only one solution to this problem."

Sephiroth eyebrows lifted a little, "What?"

"I'll make sure you die first."

"... You're a dick."

Cloud giggled, "What do you think I keep you around for? If shit hits the fan, you're my meat shield!"

"Alright. Cut me open and sleep inside me if you need to."

"Ew!"

"Then eat me."

"No!" Cloud bellowed. "You're all muscle; it'd be like chewing on rope! I'd need a ton of ketchup!"

Sephiroth didn't know why, but he was now completely at ease. He wanted a little more pity, though. "I'm already on my way to the grave, listen to this shit... I worked out too hard this mornin', and I actually hurt myself."

"What?" Cloud cried. "How?"

"I pulled a muscle in my right shoulder. So I went to the lab and they fixed it, but it's still sore. I got grounded in my office for the next couple days. I was supposed to do a trainin' exercise tonight and it was gonna be really fun, but I had to miss it."

"What was the training?" Cloud inquired.

"Shovin' Junior SOLDIERs out of a chopper without a parachute for the first time," Sephiroth muttered. "It's my favorite thing."

"Maybe that's why you're in such a weird, gwouchy mood?" Cloud asked in the stickiest, sweetest baby talk he dared.

"... Maybe I'm gettin' old..." Sephiroth whined back, and in his low vocal register it sounded more like a creaking door in a horror movie.

"No you're not!"

"Baby, I'm fallin' apart. My whole fuckin' body hurts. And I was lookin' forward to Friday with you... 'cause I need a backrub."

"Aww sweetheart!" Cloud cooed before covering the phone in noisy kisses. "I'll give you one tomorrow, I promise! I'll give you a hundred kisses! I'll count them all out to make sure I don't miss one! And they'll get you through the weekend until I can see you again."

Sephiroth found himself taking complete comfort in being treated like an infant. "I'll find somethin' to do at HQ this weekend. Probably just train, maybe get roped into a mission."

"Take a fucking day off, Seph."

"What am I supposed to do all alone?"

"Order a pizza, look at naked pictures of me and touch yourself."

"Okay," Sephiroth thought aloud, finding that option to be quite appealing.

"I promise Seph, I'm missing our quality time for a good reason. You're gonna be so proud of me when you see how much I'm improving. I can't wait to show you someday!"

"Someday?"

"Well, it's not like I can really show you now... you can wipe the floor with me. But maybe someday when I'm a SOLDIER we can train together. You could teach me how to fight like you do. I would love that."

"I want you to be better than me," Sephiroth said, and almost regretted voicing that wish aloud.

Cloud took it as the joke that it wasn't. "Oh yeah right! That'll never happen!"

"That should be your goal, though."

"Let me work on getting up to your level. I can work on kicking your ass afterwards."

Sephiroth found himself smiling at that. "... Let me train you."

"No way! You told me on the very first day that you would not be helping me like that."

"Things are different now. I want to."

"I can't concentrate when I try to do anything physical with you, it turns me on too much."

"We'll fuck beforehand so you can concentrate. Plus sword combat is way different than hand-to-hand," Sephiroth pointed out. "Maybe I can show you somethin' tomorrow night after work if you're up for it? And if you like how I teach, we'll make it a thing."

"Do you have any spare swords at your place?"

"Who do you think you're talkin' to?"

Cloud, obsessed with the idea of holding a sword and swinging it at things, instantly agreed. "Okay!"

They talked for a few more minutes before Cloud left Sephiroth to head to the gym with his friends before dinner. Once again, Sephiroth opened his laptop to find his inbox full of emails from personnel.

He stared at the screen for a moment, and felt the same dread creep back up on him. Cloud was fine, nothing was going to happen to him at school. Genesis and Angeal were both in the building, Zack had gone drinking with Kunsel, and Vincent was probably somewhere being sneaky and creepy and was never in danger by default.

Everyone he cared about was okay.

So why the negative vibe? What good was intuition when it wasn't specific?

Sephiroth sat there, running fingers over his hair and playing with the ends. Eventually he got up, and despite an order from the labs to remain at his office and rest his shoulder, he went to the training floor to find someone's ass to kick.

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

Zack rarely got calls from mysterious people that weren't on his contact list. Intrigued, he answered with a very deep, grown up, "Yes?"

"Hey."

And the grown up act was immediately dropped, "Hey Seph, what's up?"

"Nothin'," He lied.

"Where are you calling from? Your voice sounds weird, like you're in a tube of helium or something."

Sephiroth was currently hiding in an officer's private quarters at the Northern Crater barracks and inhabiting the body of a child. He was working hard to not have a full blown panic attack.

He'd managed to sneak into the base rather easily, but was spotted by three more guards and two construction workers... and they had to be disposed of. The body count up to six, and Sephiroth was getting more terrified by the moment.

He didn't wanna have to kill anyone else. In an effort to get some information without seeming suspicious, he decided to call the dumbest person he knew : Zack Fair.

Sephiroth did his best to put a little more rumble into his voice, "Don't blame me, this connection sucks. I'm on a landline."

"Why?"

"Who cares? Listen, are you busy?"

Far from it. Zack was lying in a church pew while Aerith tended to her garden. It was his job to keep her company while remaining completely silent; his presence was required but verbal communication was undesirable.

It was incredibly boring, but not so much that he wanted to get roped into going back to work. When Sephiroth asked if he was busy or not, the result was usually dangerous and tiring, so Zack lied. "Not really, I'm at the bar with Kunsel. Ya know, getting really drunk. Way too drunk to do any kind of work..."

"I just need to talk to you," Sephiroth said, and it came out sounding childish and vulnerable. Then he cleared his throat and added a deep, rumbling, "No homo."

"Of course, no homo," Zack agreed, but felt a little lost. Sephiroth wasn't the type of dude to just call him up to chit chat, unless it was work related. "... What's on your mind, boss?"

Sephiroth paused to think of a way to phrase this bizarre question, "... What's the very last thing we did together?"

"What do you mean?"

"What was the very last thing you and I did together?" Sephiroth repeated.

Zack winced, "Okay, look... the burritos weren't just for me, okay?"

"Eh?"

"I should have given you some. I wanted to give you some. But they were for... well... I have a confession to make."

"What the fuck are you talkin' about?"

"The burritos were for my son. He loves burritos."

So he'd woken up at the Northern Crater in a kid's body, but now it was clear to Sephiroth that he was in an Alfred Hitchcock alternate universe where Zack had reproduced. "You have a son?"

"Well, he's living inside Aerith at the moment."

Sephiroth closed his eyes in relief as realization swept over him. "So she kept the fuckin' baby afterall?"

Zack laughed briefly, "Yeah, it's a really long story."

"Wrap it up in six words or less."

"We're back together," Zack explained simply. "I didn't want to tell you on the phone, but - "

"Zack. I don't care if you and Aerith are together."

"You don't?"

"I knew you guys were probably gonna fix it, you always do. I honestly just don't give a fuck right now - "

"Great!" Zack let out a whoosh of relief, clapping his chest. "So I'm a father-to-be! And she really digs burritos right now - "

"Why do you keep mentioning burritos?"

Zack heaved a sigh, "You wouldn't fucking let it go! You were acting like I was killing you. I mean, you should be happy enough that I went out to bring you dinner anyways you're so ungrat- "

"When was this?" Sephiroth interrupted.

"Uh. Tonight."

"We were together tonight?"

"No shit."

"How many hours ago?"

"What are you talking about?"

Getting information from Zack was frustrating enough, but Sephiroth wasn't in the mood to fuck around. He switched from leading questions to full on interrogation mode, "What time did you come into work this morning?"

"Dude, you saw me come in."

"What time?"

"... Is Lazard suspicious about my time card?"

"What time, Zack?"

"Five this morning."

"Bullshit!"

"Ten," Zack admitted.

"What time did we leave HQ?"

"You said it was alright if I left at four, as long as I brought you some tacos. Do you need me to come back to finish something? Just tell me, I can't take this pressure."

"What time did I leave HQ?" Sephiroth clarified.

"Aren't you still there?" Zack wondered.

Sephiroth pursed his lips as his understanding began to slowly lead him to a very uncomfortable reality. "... Yeah, I'm still here. I'm just uh... can I talk to Kunsel?"

"No, I'm at the church with Aerith. Did you know that pregnant chicks can't hold in farts? Aerith has pretty rancid gas because of those burritos!" Zack cried, and in the background a female voice shouted in the distance.

"I'm so sorry that I chose to call you," Sephiroth grumbled, touching his forehead where a headache continued to give a dull pound every few seconds. It led his small, thin fingers to a short hairline, where they played restlessly in the trimmed silver hairs.

"So you really are okay about me and Aer getting back together?"

"I never said I was okay with shit," Sephiroth muttered. "I just said that I don't give a shit."

"What about me being a daddy? You're gonna be a godfather! You'll be just like Al Pacino!"

"No."

"It'd mean a lot to me, though! I have to pick a godfather and I need someone reliable. And you never know, you might have a gay adoption baby someday. And I'll be proud to be your kid's godfather!"

"I'm not adoptin' a fuckin' baby. And even if I did, I wouldn't want my hypothetical adopted baby goin' to live with you, your cunt girlfriend, and your bastard child. My baby sounds like it had a hard enough life as it is."

"Who else can I trust?"

"Ask Angeal."

"Someone who won't just use the baby as a pussy magnet," Zack amended. "That's the only reason he takes his dogs to the park! To pick up single moms! Isn't that gross?"

"Pick a lesbian, then..." Sephiroth said, still running his hand over the short hairs on the back of his head.

"I guess Ronny would make a decent godfather," Zack laughed. "So did this conversation clear anything up for you, Lazard? I know you're listening. You can dock my pay if you want, I came in at ten and I'm not ashamed of it, I'm a father-to-be and I have shit to take care of - "

"Lazard's not listenin', Zack."

"Whatever. I'm gonna let you go because Aerith wants me to sit in silence and pay attention to her exclusively. But just not say anything while I do it."

"Sit and be pretty, Zack. It's what you do best."

"You called me pretty, but forgot to 'no homo'!" Zack cried.

"I don't want to 'no homo' anymore. You're pretty, I can say that."

"Alright," Zack conceded. "You're pretty, too. You have great bone structure."

"Thanks..." Sephiroth slumped down and rested his forehead on his hand. "I'll see you later."

"Something wrong?"

"I'll see you later."

"Later boss," Zack replied cheerfully, and hung up.

Sephiroth replaced the old fashioned landline phone on the receiver, and was once again by himself in the cheerfully furnished officer's room. He hadn't realized he was smiling until it faded from his features. Zack could always be counted on for that, if not for gaining much useful information.

But at least Sephiroth now knew a few important facts. He'd lost a significant amount of time, and nobody knew he was gone yet.

Perhaps the next call he should make should be to the medical labs...

When Sephiroth was a child, they'd done things to him that no human being should have ever had to endure. He'd withstood pain so terrible he wished for death before he even knew what life really was. He'd been humiliated, used, and only shown just enough warmth from Vincent to retain any sort of sanity. But Vincent and everyone else involved in Sephiroth's upbringing knew that he was livestock bred in captivity.

Sephiroth couldn't go through that again. Not knowing what he knew about friendship, normal life, and the wonderful ability that adults have to eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

Besides... who wouldn't want to start over as a kid, knowing everything they'd known as an adult?

Sephiroth entertained a daydream of roaming far away. He could drain enough from his bank account to survive until he was old enough to get a job as a mercenary... he could be a badass teenage assassin and take out all the bigwigs at Shin-Ra. Or maybe just be a normal jack-off working in a store, or a waiter in a restaurant, or a fisherman on one of those huge barges in the giant rubber pants.

He could do anything he wanted to.

He'd just lay low off the grid somewhere quiet, earning an honest living and shooting the shit with civilians. He'd dye his hair, and live the normal life he'd always secretly fantasized about; a quaint little house done in a warm color palette, a few dogs, and probably even some wind chimes. He could have the house the Golden Girls lived in.

General Sephiroth would simply go missing and eventually be presumed dead, thus giving an appropriately mysterious ending to the strange legend of his life.

It'd never work, of course. They would find him.

And he couldn't imagine a future that didn't have Cloud in it. Could he really just disappear forever to forge some new identity, and leave Cloud out of the equation?

What would break Cloud's heart more though? If the love of his life suddenly vanished, or if he showed up as a fucking little kid? There was absolutely nothing that could be done to remedy the sickness of their relationship with a body like this. Cloud would not want him anymore, and frankly he wouldn't want to put Cloud in the position of having to look past the obvious perversion of seeing a child in a romantic light. God forbid a sexual one.

Sephiroth estimated his body to be about six years old. Cloud would have to wait nearly a decade before his lover would be half the man he used to be.

Their love story was over.

Sephiroth's throat made a broken little sound. He closed his eyes tight, hoping in a childish way that this was all some really stupid dream. He'd wake up with a breath of relief and laugh, roll out of bed and go call Cloud and tell him about it...

It was with that futile wish that Sephiroth knew a greater loss than he'd ever known in his entire life.

That thought felt like poison in his mind, and Sephiroth mentally snapped that line of thinking shut. It was still there though, like a muffled voice from the trunk of a car. It couldn't be kept quiet for long.

Cloud wouldn't love him anymore.

This truth continued to grow in mental volume and repeat itself into a blaring mantra. It sounded through his mind like the trumpet of an angel of death, awful and final and inarguably true.

Sephiroth suffered a very physical wound, like his heart was slowly caving in on itself and grinding to an agonizing halt, then combusting into a bouquet of knives and carving him open from the inside. He hugged the bed's new, starchy blanket in an effort to keep the contents of his chest from spilling across the mattress.

Sephiroth couldn't breathe. He was going to die.

But his chest wasn't actually gaping open to let his insides out. The only thing that actually escaped Sephiroth's body were tears, and they burned his eyes as they poured out onto the pillow. The childish sound that accompanied them only fueled more furious sobbing.

Sephiroth had never cried like that in his life, and he couldn't stop until he was too exhausted to continue.

Once he'd caught his breath, Sephiroth lifted his hand to wipe some of the wetness off of his cheek. These hands were bound in brand new baby skin. No sores, no calluses, no rough, raw blisters. Even the crisscross shaped imprints from gripping Masamune's handle had been smoothed out.

Some philosophers say that bodies are temporary vehicles for the human soul, and that the most permanent part of a man's being was intangible. Just the same, beings are obsessed with the appearance of their vehicle, and certainly would be able to tell the difference in the smallest details of their body compared to another person's body.

Sephiroth knew for a fact that this was not his body mutated back into a child-like form. This was a new body entirely. He'd been reborn.

But why? Had he died? Had he been resurrected? Had he gone through time?

"I need a bath," He announced to the room.

He was not going to think about anything for at least twenty minutes. He was going to chill the fuck out.

Sephiroth flipped on the bathroom light, and groaned at what he saw in the mirror before turning it back off. After a moment, the light was on again and he was staring at himself.

He stood on the toilet so he could get a better look.

He looked closely at his face, his eyes, his teeth, and his tongue. It all looked the same as it was when he was a little kid. He teeth were too big for his face, and he tested them out and found several wiggly ones. The ordeal of gaining his adult teeth would be suffered again, and he moaned a little with dread.

Sephiroth searched for the zipper to his tiny, stupid little leather battle suit. Seriously, who the fuck made these things in kid sizes? Once he located the zipper and pulled, the garment vanished into a plume of thick black smog, leaving him nude.

... Highly unusual. But not the weirdest thing to happen to him that day.

Sephiroth groaned at the mirror again upon the sudden nudity of his tiny little pathetic body. He was built strong, so killing the low level guards had been no big deal, but god forbid he get into any actual danger.

He rubbed a hand over his narrow ribcage, seeing no tattoo there. That had been an enormous deal to him, because he'd never done anything truly spontaneous or rebellious in his entire life. He had to admit that a tiny part of the reason he'd done it was because he knew Cloud would find it sexy, but the greater reason was to claim his body for himself. And since he'd gotten the tattoo, he'd not heard a word from Jenova.

But now it was gone, and this new body was defenseless. Sephiroth traced the Jenovian phrase where it used to be with his fingertip, and realized it was probably a futile wish. His body never belonged to him.

Sephiroth sadly perched on the edge of the tub and turned the dials to scalding hot, and waited for it to fill. He couldn't help but look down at his long, skinny legs that were capped off by huge feet. He stretched them out, shaking his head at the pain of puberty, and the uncontrollable growth spurts he'd suffered. There would be pain, hunger, moodiness, pimples, spontaneous erections... but eventually his big hands and long feet and shark teeth would match the rest of him. Now it was just gawky, clumsy, and awkward.

He eventually mustered up the nerve to check himself out below the waist. He didn't quite remember what his childhood junk looked like, but there it was. His dick kind of looked like Cloud's after he shaved his pubes off.

"Chill," Sephiroth reminded himself. The water was ready, and he dropped down into it.

He wasn't searching for an upside to this situation, but he found one in the bathtub. He was able to stretch out in ways he'd forgotten in a grown man's body. With arms and legs both completely outstretched, he floated in the hot water and totally relaxed.

It was kind of nice.

He found a small bar of complimentary soap waiting on the shower ledge, and used it to wash up. As he was using it, he thought for a moment that it kind of looked like a barge in this large, hot ocean of water.

"Brrshhh," Sephiroth rumbled, sailing the soap ship across the water's surface. With his other hand, he splashed a little and created a whirlpool. The ship fought hard against the raging sea, and eventually a pinpoint of sunlight shone through the clouds, illuminating the sparkling ocean and the survivors of the storm.

Before they could get too comfortable with their victory over nature, a large, white creature poked it's snout up from the water's surface. The captain removed his eye patch slowly, "... Oh no. Ah, fucking Christ Almighty! Oh sweet fucking Jesus! It's a... sea monster!"

"We're goners!" The second mate cried. "Tell my boyfriend I love him!"

"Your next boyfriend is gonna be Davy Jones! You fagggooooot!" The captain bellowed, and the ship was engulfed by the terrifying white creature.

Sephiroth sat there, holding the bar of soap in a washcloth and feeling like he'd just come out of a dream. A fierce smile slowly faded from his face as he realized just what the fuck he'd been doing.

He was playing.

With a shudder, he abruptly stood up to drain the tub of water. He wrapped himself up to his armpits in a towel, and it dragged on the floor as he made his way back into the room, pacing in worry.

This was crazy. He had things to do, an army to lead, a boyfriend to take care of. He could not let this reality swallow him. His clothes had vanished... or something. So he had to steal a uniform from the base's uniform supply warehouse. He had to figure out what to do, perhaps there was a way to expedite the process of growing up with the lab's help. Surely they could give him some hormones or something. They could incubate him. Or something.

This was crazy, though. Sephiroth imagined that this must be the same brand of confusion a clone felt when coming into existence.

Sephiroth considered that option. He actually smirked about it for a moment, because it was ludicrous. But as unlikely as it was, the thought wiggled in his brain until he sat down on the bed, violently drying himself with the towel as he once again plucked the phone up from the cradle.

Sephiroth dialed his own private cell phone number.

Nobody would answer. It was abandoned in a pocket somewhere, in an empty pair of pants that Sephiroth was last wearing before he'd been reborn. After all, nobody even knew he was gone, yet.

What if someone answered, though? What if he himself answered?

Just as expected, it went to voicemail. Sephiroth heard his own voice ask for a brief message, and upon the tone, he emitted a noise that only occurred in the center of a death rattle, a mourning moan and helpless laughter.

After he hung up, he remained unsatisfied.

Getting his own voicemail was not enough. Sephiroth needed to know that he was gone out of that building, and that there wasn't some imposter running around and claiming his identity. He dialed his secretary Shelly, who answered with a friendly chirp, "General Sephiroth's office, how may I help you?"

"Is the General in?" Sephiroth asked, biting his fingertips as he listened for the answer.

"The General is not in his office at the moment, but is in the building if you need to speak with him urgently."

"Are you sure?" Sephiroth demanded.

Shelly seemed hesitant. "May I ask what this is in regards to?"

There was a shining beam of hope in Sephiroth's mind that perhaps Shelly didn't know he was gone yet, either. But he needed confirmation, he wanted her to say that he was gone.

So he thought for a moment, wondering what kind of call he would take no matter how busy he was. Even if he was balls deep inside of Cloud... what would the real and only Sephiroth stop everything to answer?

"... This is... Bruce Campbell's personal assistant. Mr. Campbell has gotten wind that the General is a fan, and is interested in negotiations about a private viewing of Bubba Ho -Tep."

"Oh yeah? Have the General's love letters finally paid off?"

That stung a little. "... May I speak with the General?"

"Hold please."

Time dragged on, and every agonizing minute was torture. But as fifteen minutes went by on hold, he began to feel quite good about it. They were having trouble finding him because he wasn't there.

Sephiroth was just about to hang up in victory when someone finally picked up the line.

It was a man with a deep, rumbling, jerky, Midgar-accented voice. It was out of breath and impatient, "General Sephiroth speakin', this better be good."

It was him.

Sephiroth was stunned, and his mouth hung wide open. He couldn't even compose a single word to respond with. He slowly replaced the phone back onto the receiver.

Then the crying came again, and Sephiroth simply let the tears fall. He really was a little kid, so he could indulge. Come to think of it, he would cry all fucking night long.

There was nobody to prove anything to. Nobody cared. He shouldn't even refer to himself as Sephiroth, anymore. He could disappear if he wanted to. Nobody would miss him. Nobody would know the difference.

Even as a clone, he still felt that he was better than the ones at the lab. Clones really were the lab's livestock, just underdeveloped copies of Sephiroth. He felt strong... he was intelligent, functional, and he felt like he had a good handle on Sephiroth's memories and life. He could recall everything, from childhood, to his professional life, to his love life.

The greatest difference between himself and any clone he'd ever encountered was that he was on the outside. But why?

Sephiroth gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth, ideas racing through his mind. What if there were other clones on the outside? What if he was dropped in the Crater while Hojo sat watching him from afar? Maybe this was like a boot camp for a new model SOLDIER, maybe he was supposed to take out the old Sephiroth to claim his place.

Or maybe it was something more organic. Maybe there was some mystical, otherworldly, Jenovian nonsense afoot? Maybe Jenova made him to execute the old Sephiroth, who was rebellious against her wishes? Not that he felt any inclinations towards obeying Jenova, but clearly there was only enough room in the world for one true son.

Sephiroth dried his tears with his towel, resigned with solemn determination. If Hojo was watching, he knew what the old bastard scientist wanted. And if Jenova did it, he knew what she wanted, too.

He also knew what he wanted. He wanted Masamune, his home, his job, his friends, and his precious boyfriend. To hell with how old he appeared to be! Cloud would wait for him. And the army would submit to him. And the lab absolutely would not reclaim him as their toy.

He didn't want to run away and be someone else. He wanted his life. But it was going to be even better this time, because he was not going to put up with an ounce of bullshit from the labs, from the President Shin-Ra, or even from Cloud.

First he had to kill Sephiroth.

He was sleepy though, so he'd need a nap first. And then he had to find some clothes that would fit him and sneak onto an airship to catch a ride home to Midgar. And he was really hungry, he'd definitely need to find some snacks for the ride. And maybe he could swipe someone's phone to play games on, it was almost ten fucking hours by airship after all.

But after all that, he would kill Sephiroth.

"Get obsessed about it," Sephiroth told himself. He turned off the light and curled up in a small ball under the covers.

He was asleep in moments. There were still no dreams.

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

After a few hours at Dirty Rubbers, Cloud was dragging ass.

He'd managed to get cut that day in sword class, and had a big Batman band-aid on his cheek to prove it. That, compounded by the physical stress of the rest of the day had left him feeling especially tired.

So he chugged four energy drinks on the train ride downtown, and was left feeling violently awake and full of burps. When he'd arrived, Gus told him to wear whatever he wanted, so he decided to coordinate his Batman band-aid with a tiny pair of little kid-style Batman briefs. With a pair of yellow thigh highs and black Converse, he was feeling pretty damn sexy.

Then the night wore on, and the novelty of his outfit and the taurine of the energy drinks wore off. Cloud was kept too busy by customers to watch the door for Sephiroth, and eventually become so engrossed with work that he nearly forgot he was coming.

It was around ten o'clock when the store began to get a nightly rush of sexual business that Sephiroth finally arrived. He was pretty fucking delighted that Cloud didn't realize he was there - he was deep in conversation with two female customers about dildos. They were both blonde and dressed like private school girls, and upon closer inspection it was evident that that wasn't just a kinky costume. They were both younger than Cloud, and nervously considering what was going to be their first sexual purchase.

Cloud was selling them a very large dildo that came complete with remote control and disco lights. "This one's my favorite in the store, I totally want it for myself! It says on the box that when you shove it in your ass, you can see the flashing lights through your skin! I'm sure it works for your twat, too."

"Maybe something simpler? We've never really... done anything..." The taller girl was saying as she gently pulled on her ponytail.

"Why not?" Cloud asked incredulously. "How long have you two been dating?"

"Four months," She answered shyly.

Cloud's eyes widened, "And you haven't munched rug at all?"

They looked at each other nervously before muttering a, "No ..." and a, "... Not yet."

"Oh," Cloud blinked, feeling his face go red. "But surely you two have like, masturbated before?"

They both quickly shook their heads, and the smaller one added, "Do we even really need a dildo? I mean... we're lesbians. What do we need it for?"

"Because penetration is what nature intended!" Cloud cried, lost on the irony that he was currently holding a plastic phallus with a built in disco ball. "And it vibrates! Chicks dig that in their quadrants."

"What's a quadrant?" The little one laughed.

"A division of the abdominal cavity," Cloud answered confidently.

"I totally get that you're gay, but have you ever seen a naked girl?" The taller one accused.

"Well, not up close..." Cloud admitted.

"But you've gone to school, right?"

"Be sensitive," The shorter one whispered to her companion. "Maybe they don't teach health class in Bone City."

"I'm not from Bone City! I'm from Nibelheim, and yes they do teach health there! I passed the vagina diagram test!" Cloud declared indignantly before adding, "... I mean, I got a 'D' but I did technically pass."

The girls had a good laugh at Cloud's expense, and Sephiroth covered his mouth to stifle a rude chuckle.

Cloud was quite done teaching sexual education, "Just stick the dildo up your twat. Maybe even your ass. Life's short."

The petite girl continued to giggle, "I would never do that!"

"You should at least try it out! Would you like to put some tester batteries in and see for yourself what it does?"

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Putting batteries into stuff is something that I actually know how to do..." Cloud trailed off as he realized that his boyfriend was leaning on the counter and had witnessed that entire conversation.

He was a strikingly handsome vision, like a tall, hunky, pale James Dean from outer space. Sephiroth was incognito that evening underneath his cadet cap and behind thick glasses, and wearing a black bomber jacket, a plain white v-neck and his leather uniform pants.

Cloud felt instantly flustered. He had no problem talking to an underage lesbian couple about girl sex, but for some reason it was humiliating under Sephiroth's cool, green stare. Instead of giving him a greeting, Sephiroth pushed off of the counter and made himself busy studying a rack of shirts nearby.

Cloud hid behind the counter and tried to keep the embarrassed smile off of his face as he located the correct battery size. He inserted them into the vibrator and used the remote to show the girls the lowest setting, and the colored strobe hypnotized all three of them.

"Oh, that's nice," The taller girl commented, taking it out of Cloud's hand with fascination. Never masturbated before? Yeah right.

"Hold on," Cloud said to her, and pushed the controls, making the thing nearly rumble right out of her grip. The lights went insane, and the whole thing looked and sounded like a Skrillex concert.

"Wow!" The girls cried.

"See? You don't even have to put it in your snatch to enjoy it, but I know I would!" Cloud smiled, unable to stop his eyes from flicking in Sephiroth's direction. The General was trying his best to look indifferent while turning the rack of sunglasses.

The girls were way too busy to notice Cloud's attention periodically diverting to Sephiroth, and after a little teeter tottering over the expensive cost, they finally decided to split the difference with their allowance and buy it. Cloud cheerfully completed the transaction, and wished them luck as they left hand in hand.

Although there were still people shopping in the store, Cloud bolted towards Sephiroth once the girls were gone. He wrapped both arms tight beneath his jacket to pull him into a hug. "Hi! Mmm, you're warm!"

"You're naked," Sephiroth greeted, feeling a chill on the surface of Cloud's bare skin and wrapping the ends of his open jacket around him.

Cloud went up on his toes, tilting his head to steal a kiss beneath the rim of his hat. It was hot and quick, and left them smiling at each other up close. "Do you feel better today?"

The mental worry of yesterday was non-existent with Cloud pulled up tight against him. Sephiroth said nothing, but began obnoxiously pushing kisses across Cloud's face. His lips became gentle when they reached the band-aid on his cheek, and then became noisy and sloppy again once they'd crossed that border and traveled onto his ear.

"Security!" Cloud laughed, but couldn't resist turning his head to catch Sephiroth's mouth again. The tone of the kiss he stole was unexpected; despite the rough handling, Sephiroth's lips were sweet and needy. Cloud felt himself relax right into it, and he was transported to a place where anything outside of Sephiroth's mouth was too unimportant to consider.

Cloud breathed against Sephiroth's face, their tongues leisurely slipping against one another. Sephiroth actually sighed, a silent affair that only Cloud would notice due to the tiny, warm puff of air against his cheek.

Sephiroth pulled back. "You're givin' me wood. Which means you already have wood. We gotta stop."

"Definitely," Cloud gave a silly laugh, groaning a bit as he hid against Sephiroth. "Have you been eating Red Vines?"

"Yep," Sephiroth smiled, remaining close to give Cloud a chance to rearrange the stiff contents of his underwear.

Once he was all tucked back, he nudged Sephiroth towards the counter, "There's a stool for you behind the register. Take off your jacket. Take of everything if you want..."

"Knock it off," Sephiroth growled as he shrugged out of his coat. He spotted Cloud's backpack and shoved it inside for the time being. While he settled onto his designated stool, he watched Cloud crouch down in front of the store's stereo to change the music.

In a departure from Social Distortion which had been roaring previously, Cloud put on the CD that Sephiroth had made for their first anniversary.

Sephiroth tried to put thought into the CD when he created it. It was really just a mix of his recent favorites that had any sort of romantic connotation, and consisted of slightly mopey electronic music. He'd very nearly thrown the thing into the garbage at the last minute; it was embarrassing and he didn't even think Cloud would like it all that much.

Little did he know Cloud would obsessively listen to every lyric and note and assign them all very specific meanings. To Cloud, it was the greatest and most profound love letter ever written. When he revealed that he'd sobbed like a baby the first time he'd listened to it, Sephiroth felt oddly proud of himself.

It didn't seem to be negatively affecting Cloud then however, and he draped himself around Sephiroth's shoulders from behind. After a brief embrace, both of his hands slipped up the back of Sephiroth's shirt, and his thumbs began to rub firm, soothing circles into his shoulder blades. Cloud seemed to sense exactly where it was sore, and exactly how to touch.

Sephiroth's eyes closed and his chin dropped to his collar bone. He was putty in Cloud's hands, but it only lasted a moment before Cloud kissed the side of his face and was gone.

"Where you goin'?" Sephiroth asked, disappointment clear in his voice as he lifted his head and opened his eyes.

"To get some new stock from the storage room. I get to redress the mannequins in new outfits that just arrived for winter! And some pants came in with these rips right below the ass, and I want you to try them on. They're so cute!"

"I have too many p - "

"Try them on, anyways!"

"Okay," Sephiroth folded his arms on the counter. The moment Cloud was gone, he was approached by a hefty man with a face full of angry acne, who dropped a heavy metal t-shirt and a big tit porno magazine for purchase. "... Cloud, you got a customer."

"They're called dirtbags!" Cloud shouted from the back.

"There's a dirtbag, Cloud," Sephiroth called back dryly, crossing his arms.

Over the sound of shifting boxes, Cloud's voice came straining. "I'll be there in a minute!"

Sephiroth was forced to share an awkward silence with the metal head. Sephiroth had experienced many staring contests in his lifetime, but none quite as ripe with tension as this. The guy even had a twenty gil bill extended in his fist, and it hung in the air like a heavy testicle repeatedly hitting his forehead.

"... He said he'll be here in a minute," Sephiroth eventually said.

The fat dude didn't move a centimeter. "Why can't you ring me up?"

"Because I don't work here."

"Then why are you behind the counter?"

Sephiroth couldn't bear another moment of intimacy with this civilian idiot, so he uncrossed his arms and stood up from his stool. "How much is this stuff supposed to be?"

The dude shrugged, "I think the magazine's supposed to be five. The shirt is like seven, or somethin'."

"So I'll take twelve and give you back eight. Easy..." Sephiroth pushed up his glasses and squinted at the cash register, then experimentally pressed a few buttons that he thought might open it. A slip of paper came printing out that read nonsense, and Sephiroth threw it in the garbage and tried again. This time, a slip of paper came sliding out and didn't stop, eventually curling in a pile onto the floor.

"I have a better idea," Sephiroth pulled his wallet out to see what cash he had on him. "How about the shirt and the magazine for ten gil, and I'll give you ten back?"

"Sounds good to me!" The man agreed enthusiastically.

"Cool," Sephiroth nodded and they exchanged the money.

"Oy!" Cloud cried, dropping a large box of unopened merchandise near the counter and swooping in to rescue the sale. "Sorry sir, he doesn't work here. I'll ring you up properly."

"No way, I like his system better," The metal dude flashed a rock n' roll sign with his pinkie and forefinger before slipping out the door with his purchases.

"What an asshole..." Cloud fumed as he rang up the purchase properly for the store's inventory. He then whirled around to shove money at Sephiroth, "Here's your change! You're paying the difference! And you're buying me an energy drink!"

"I feel unappreciated," Sephiroth complained as he took his money.

"Thanks for trying to help," Cloud gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before going to the store's drink cooler and helping himself to a beverage. He took a few gulps as he made his way to the abandoned boxes. "I've been trying to get this stuff from the back all night, but people keep stopping me."

"Kinda tough bein' the only one here?" Sephiroth assumed.

"I dunno," Cloud sighed and began unpacking the boxes of new clothes to put out. "I'm calling my boss tomorrow and quitting."

Sephiroth watched curiously as Cloud began to undress a female mannequin. There was something erotic about the way Cloud's long fingers worked buttons and zippers, even if it was on a dummy. "... Why do you wanna quit? You get to talk about sex and play with clothes and have people drool all over you. This little gig seems perfect for you."

"I'm tired," Cloud responded humorlessly.

"... You're gonna die tired," Sephiroth reminded him, fascinated by the way Cloud's hands clinically spread across the surface of the mannequin's skin. "You may as well do somethin' you enjoy in the meantime. Once you're officially drafted, no more chances to do civilian work like this."

"Whatever," Cloud yawned, trying to twist apart the mannequin's legs, and was dismayed to find that they were attached to the body. He then began to wrestle to get the stiff, unworn leather lingerie off of her. "... Hey Seph, is it true that Turks stay awake for days at a time?"

"Everyone stays awake for days at a time."

"I quit the army, then..." Cloud sighed irritably, shoving the mannequin to the floor in an effort to find a better way to undress her. He ended up straddling her chest and taking on a very provocative position.

Sephiroth smiled as Cloud became more and more frustrated with his task. "You can't ever quit, you're too deep into it now."

"Yes I can! I wanna be your stay at home army wife!" Cloud declared, finally winning the battle and was rewarded with a naked plastic lady.

"I don't need a wife."

"Won't you marry me, Seph?" Cloud asked, feeling his heart skip a little at the realization that he was very literally proposing. His mouth was working on autopilot and he just... wasn't thinking. It slipped out!

... It slipped out while he was straddling a mannequin's hard plastic boobs, but Cloud held his breath while he waited for a response.

"No," was Sephiroth's answer.

Cloud almost reacted negatively, but the sparkle of humor in Sephiroth's eyes gave way to the fact that he did not consider this a serious question. And really, it wasn't.

However... if he'd said yes... there wasn't a single doubt in Cloud's mind that he'd grab Sephiroth's hand and leave this store to start planning their fucking wedding.

If Sephiroth had said yes... but he didn't.

"Well fine!" Cloud giggled and kept the conversation afloat with nervous babble. "But before you make a hasty decision, really consider it! I could blow you every morning before work and before bed every night. I'd keep your place clean, cook your dinner every single night... raise our children..."

"You can clean my place and blow me without bein' my wife."

"That's true, but... what about cooking? You like my cooking!" Cloud cried, yanking wool booty shorts on over the mannequin's leggings.

"It tastes good baby, and it's nice once in a while... but it's dumb to spend all day cookin' shit when you can order it."

"That's a horrible habit, though!" Cloud laughed. "You eat nothing but pizza, you're like a Ninja Turtle. You need me to be your wife, and I'll make real food for you and put love into it!"

"You're so stupid. It's just fuel to me and I'm hungry again in an hour."

Cloud let that go, and instead focused on another aspect of his marriage proposal : "What about raising our babies?"

"Don't go there."

"I've got news for you Seph, I want kids by the time I turn thirty."

"Is that a fact?"

"Two," Cloud told him. "A boy and a girl. I decided that for myself a long ass time ago... if we don't have any kids by then, I'm gonna adopt two of them on my thirtieth birthday."

Sephiroth found an endless supply of amusement in this strange logic, "If we don't already have kids? Meanin' you're prepared for the possibility of havin' a kid accidently? By havin' sex with me?"

"That's not what I meant! We might wind up with a kid some other way, ya know. You don't need to fuck girls to have kids."

Sephiroth removed his glasses, a pained expression on his face as he stared at his lover. "... I know you got a 'D' on the vagina diagram test, but you do know where babies come from, right?"

"Shut up!" Cloud screamed. "Rhonda and Julie had two babies!"

"Oh please," Sephiroth drawled.

"The clock's going to start ticking one day, so you'd better get used to the idea! Two kids when I'm thirty! Two kids when you're thirty-six! We're gonna be DILFs!"

"It's a good thing neither of us will live to be that old," Sephiroth muttered bitterly, and immediately regretted it. He saw the words physically harm Cloud as he said them, and wished he had a way to reel them back in, or turn back time just a few seconds to think before he spoke.

Cloud stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, unable to reply. There was a customer at the counter, and more followed. Cloud became busy with them, and even when they were gone, task after task presented itself and kept Cloud occupied.

Their mutual uneasiness had to hang in the air until there was an opportunity to talk.

Sephiroth waited impatiently for another small rush of customers to be served, and in the tiny window of privacy, he caught the back of Cloud's underwear and physically dragged him into an embrace. "Hey."

"Hm?" Cloud asked with a yawn, the weariness of work setting in.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Cloud asked, his blue eyes dim as he blinked the yawn away.

"Ya know."

"Whatever, I get it. You're having a quarter life crisis or something," Cloud smiled a little at that. "... But do you have to be so mean?"

Sephiroth gave a series of kisses to Cloud's forehead and nose, "Sorry."

"Do you think it's stupid that I want a family someday?" Cloud appeared unsure as his eyes averted to the side. "I just always saw myself as being an awesome dad someday, and like taking care of someone. It is lame, isn't it? "

Sephiroth considered that for a moment, "... Do your kids have to be human?"

"Huh?"

"Let's get a puppy when you move in."

Cloud was suddenly wide awake, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I work too much to take care of one by myself. But between the two of us, maybe it won't be so bad, ya know?"

"We'll be great daddies!" Cloud agreed, joyously throwing his arms around Sephiroth and smothering him in an eager hug. He had twelve whole years to nag him into changing his mind about a baby, so instead Cloud focused on a more immediate addition to their family. "What kind of puppy do you want?"

"I don't care what it looks like as long as it's big."

"Why does it have to be a big dog?" Cloud inquired.

"They're more fun. I want somethin' I can take to the park and run with, or take to the beach and actually play with. Tiny dogs don't do shit. And what if I roll over onto it when I'm sleepin' and kill it?"

"You want a dog in the bed?"

"The floors get too cold at night. I guess it'd go on the couch if not the bed with us."

"It belongs outside at night!" Cloud laughed, completely ignorant about how to treat a dog in a big city like Midgar. In Nibelheim, domesticated animals became the entire neighborhood's pet, and were left outside at night to protect gardens from rabbits. It never occurred to Cloud to have it in bed with him. "You're planning to spoil our dog!"

"No way," Sephiroth argued with a grin. "I already have one spoiled bitch to deal with."

Cloud smothered Sephiroth in a biting kiss. He nibbled on Sephiroth's lips with his teeth, and snipped hard enough to draw a soft noise from the man. After the point had been made, Cloud pulled back with a thoughtful expression. "... I'm very surprised you want a dog. I was sure I had you pegged as a cat man."

"Why?"

"Those sexy kitty cat eyes of yours," Cloud told him, sticking his tongue out just enough to lick the red mark he'd left on Sephiroth's lower lip.

"Um..." An older woman interjected from the other side of the counter. "I have birds."

After Cloud tallied her purchases, there was work to be done. There were four more mannequins, and they were all systematically redressed in stylish winter clothes, and corresponding merchandise arranged next to them on racks and tables. Cloud then got rid of the boxes and swept the floor, all while helping people fetch sizes and give them advice on what to try on next.

That night Sephiroth was made keenly aware of the fact that he had a great fucking catch in Cloud Strife. Not only did he look like a little porn star in his snug little undies, but Cloud also had an enormous heart, which was something that Sephiroth knew he took for granted. It was hard to always be aware of how much he loved Cloud, but for some reason, watching him work in the store that night made him ill. Lovesickness was a real phenomenon, and Sephiroth felt it all over.

He mentally separated himself from his own life, and considered Cloud from an outside perspective. He supposed that if he were a customer, just walking around downtown and poking into this shop out of curiosity, he'd have fallen to pieces at the sight of Cloud in his snug little undies and matching band aid.

He was falling to pieces, anyway. But Sephiroth remained cool and impartial on his stool, just smiling a little whenever Cloud's eyes met his.

Once midnight hit, the final customers were ushered out and Cloud finally locked the door and closed the gates behind the windows. He shut off the main lights and came around the counter to turn the music down a bit as he performed his final duties.

"We can go in a minute. This won't take me long," he said, running his fingertips over Sephiroth's forearm as he passed by.

Sephiroth felt a chill to the bone at that fleeting touch. He remained seated on the stool, but scooted up close behind Cloud. He rested his chin on Cloud's shoulder and watched as he began to count out neat little piles of money on the counter.

After a few moments, Sephiroth spoke softly, "Hi."

"Shh, I'm thinking."

"'Kay," Sephiroth whispered. Although he remained quiet, his hands refused to be ignored and slipped down Cloud's smooth arms, squeezing a little to appreciate a noticeable change in girth. Sephiroth let his fingers dip into the ridges of muscle, then brush around the front to his narrow, but strong chest. He felt the two tiny, peachy points of his nipples against his palms, and brushed his fingertips over them. When there was no response, he pinched.

Cloud arched a little, but continued to silently count.

Sephiroth leaned back a bit and let his fingers trace back around Cloud's shoulder blades to follow the deep, long line carved into the center of his slender back. Coupled with the dimples of his tail bone, it all pointed like an arrow to his round little ass.

Sephiroth liked the way Cloud looked from behind. He ran his fingers over every ridge of bone and indent of muscle, and finally wiggled them into the elastic waistband of Cloud's undies. He pulled, only to let them snap back sharply.

"That does it!" Cloud cried out, grabbing both of his hands and pressing them flat against the countertop. "I'm gluing your hands right here. Don't move them until I say so!"

Sephiroth snickered and rested his cheek on Cloud's shoulder again, looking over at him patiently while breathing in the soft, masculine scent of his hair and skin. The magic glue technique eventually failed, and Sephiroth's hands slowly migrated off the counter and to Cloud's hips. He let his palms coast down the outside of Cloud's thighs, looking for hair but not feeling any. He knew it was there though, but it was only the softest of downy peachfuzz.

Sephiroth felt up Cloud's firm stomach, where there was a trail of blunt, wiry hair leading to the front of his briefs. Cloud had made the mistake of shaving it all off, but in response it was growing back in hard and dark, and Sephiroth fucking loved it.

After one more pass back down Cloud's thighs, his fingers hit the slightly scratchy material of his black stockings. They were cheap nylon things, but Cloud's long, tan legs made them look so fucking good. Sephiroth clawed at them with his short, bitten fingernails like a happy cat, liking the static noise it made.

Cloud bent over to write, completely indifferent to all of this. Sephiroth stopped scratching, and instead dug his fingers into the tight nylon and began to slowly inch them down.

Cloud brought his thighs together tight, preventing them from being pushed down any further. The action pushed his ass up beautifully, and it was only centimeters away from the front of Sephiroth's pants. He could feel Cloud's body heat from the tiny distance, and it made his cock jump against the snug leather.

He plucked at the back of Cloud's underwear and slowly pulled up on the black elastic band. A wedgie crawled up into Cloud's ass until his creamy, smooth cheeks popped out of the bottom of the tiny briefs.

Cloud squeaked, "Do you mind?"

"Christ, you're so hot when you're doin' stuff."

"Let me finish!" Cloud begged, his voice trembling.

"Does your boss come back at night?" Sephiroth asked, unable to resist sinking his teeth into the back of Cloud's shoulder.

"Ow - Ah!" Cloud gave an elongated gasp and leaned back against Sephiroth. "... No, he doesn't come back... but let's wait 'til we get home!"

"I can't," Sephiroth rumbled, scooting that tiny bit closer on the stool to finally press his groin against Cloud's ass. Once that contact was made, his self control quickly unraveled. He kissed the side of Cloud's face as he pushed the underwear down off his hips.

"Oy! Hey now!" Cloud shrugged violently, shaking Sephiroth off of his shoulder before he pulled his underwear back up. "You won't let me fuck you at your job, so why would you wanna fuck me at mine? You aren't worried about cameras here?"

"You know there aren't any cameras here..." Sephiroth roped his arms around Cloud's waist and purred against his cheek. "... You got dressed for work thinkin' about gettin' fucked tonight."

"I'm supposed to dress like this!" Cloud said, doing his best to ignore the advances as he cleared off the counter. He squatted down to throw the cash into the store's safe, which put his head level to Sephiroth's groin. When he felt a bump against the back of his hair, he had to laugh. "Seriously?"

Sephiroth smiled down at him, "You love it."

Cloud stood up and turned around to face Sephiroth. A very long bulge was outlined beneath his undies, but he poked Sephiroth's chest with his finger sternly. "I have to keep my hands off of you when I'm at your job, so you have to keep your hands off of me when I'm - SEPHIROTH!"

Cloud's lower body was suddenly naked as Sephiroth peeled his underwear off and shoved them down his thighs. When they were to his knees, Cloud instinctively raised his foot to let Sephiroth push them over his shoes.

Cloud growled and hopped up onto the counter, losing all pretenses of pretending he didn't want this. Free from the confines of the Batman briefs, Cloud's cock was straining up almost to his belly button. Sephiroth stood up from the stool and took a place between his thighs, running his hands over the expanse of Cloud's legs as they wrapped around him and tugged him closer. He was tall and looming, and Cloud leaned back on his palms with his thighs spread wide, completely open for whatever Sephiroth wanted to do.

This was a high contrast to Cloud's previous attitude, and Sephiroth found himself nearly frantic to get his own clothes the fuck off. He pulled the cap off his head and tossed it, and Cloud reached up to help him yank his thin, white shirt over his head. His fingers then busied themselves pulling Sephiroth's hair tie out of the chaotic silver bun found underneath his hat.

"Just leave it," Sephiroth said, irritated at the pulling on his scalp and unable to move while Cloud was unraveling it.

"Sorry, almost - got it!" Cloud let out a little cry of victory as he finally freed his hair. It was slightly bent from being held back, but no less lovely as it slipped over Sephiroth's shoulders.

"Happy now?" He asked.

Cloud nodded up at him, twisting his fingers through it and pulling him down. Sephiroth leaned over him to press their bare chests together, and met Cloud's open mouth in a kiss. There was a deep blush on Cloud's face and chest, but it certainly didn't stem from embarrassment, but rather the rush of heat from Sephiroth's body. There was so much humidity between them that Cloud felt sweat spring up on his skin despite the early winter chill in the air.

"... I did think about you when I got changed for work... I wanted to look good for you," Cloud panted, looking up into his boyfriend's glowing feline eyes for approval as he quickly undid his belt and zipper. "Did you like it?"

"I couldn't look away..." Sephiroth began to pant slightly as Cloud eagerly pushed the leather pants down his hips, finding no underwear in the way. He dropped his cheek against Cloud's shoulder as warm hands wrapped around his cock, which had been aching since he'd first walked into the store. "Where can we do this? There a break room or somethin'?"

"No break room... and the storage room is dirty and full of bugs," Cloud told him, his chest rising and falling to catch a breath. "There's the dressing room, though."

"Good enough," He said, collecting Cloud and lifting him off of the counter.

"Sephiroth?" Cloud whispered urgently.

"Mm?"

"Did you tell Elena that you were picking me up tonight?"

"Huh?"

"I think she's here."

Sephiroth's head snapped up and he spotted her car idling by the curb in front of the store. "... Fuck. I forgot about her."

Cloud's limbs tightened around him. "Can she see us?"

"I dunno. Maybe. Probably."

Cloud went boneless and slid down out of Sephiroth's arms. He landed in a squatting position, snatched his backpack from the floor with his teeth and began to hastily crawl away.

Despite his intense sexual frustration, Sephiroth couldn't help but laugh at the picture Cloud made scurrying away with his backpack in his mouth. "Where ya goin'?"

"Mmph!" Cloud said around the strap of his bag, and vanished into the dark of the store.

"Don't get dressed!" Sephiroth begged, and then gave a long, miserable moan as he zipped his pants up and searched for his shirt. He yanked it back on inside out, and then pushed all of his hair over one shoulder to appear as tidy as possible.

He unlocked the door with an awkward smile, and waved at the sleek black vehicle parked in front of the store. "Yo!"

The dark tinted driver's window slid down and Elena's tiny face was not pleased, "What are you doing here?"

"I got him tonight! Didn't you get my text?"

"What text?"

Sephiroth sighed a little and approached, bending down to peer regrettably into the car. "The text telling you I came to get Cloud, and not to come...?"

"There was no text."

"Shit..." Sephiroth sighed, crossing his arms on her open window and staring up at her innocently. "My phone never works right down here; the service is so damn spotty. I'm pretty sure the metal in the plates scrambles up the signal - "

"The power produced by mako is not electromagnetic."

"...Oh yeah?"

"Therefore, metal cannot absorb mako waves," She said, narrowing her eyes at him. "... So do not give me that tired excuse about the plate screwing up cell phone service."

"Of course," Sephiroth nodded with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. "Then there must have been a solar flare and it fucked up the non-electromagnetic - "

"Don't you dare give me puppy eyes and lie to my face. You never sent a text, just admit it."

Sephiroth felt so justified in his lie that he wondered if perhaps he did send a text. His angelic expression dropped into a scowl, "Well maybe your phone is fucked up?"

"You are so inconsiderate!" Elena roared, startling the little Turk trainee in the seat beside her. "I drove forty-five minutes to pick up your boyfriend! And you couldn't have even texted me to tell me not to come?"

"I forgot," Sephiroth conceded. "Sue me."

"I hate you!"

"Don't be like that."

"I'm missing Real Housewives of Mideel!" Elena hissed. "You owe big time me for this!"

"I'll pay you anything if you let me off the hook and get the fuck out of here," Sephiroth leaned closer to add with a whisper, "You are seriously cock blockin' me right now."

"Fine, I'm leaving! But know this, General Sephiroth... You've made an enemy tonight! I'd be very careful if I was you!"

Sephiroth chuckled warmly at his shortest, smallest, and most serious friend. "What are you gonna do?"

"I could start by shooting you in the nuts."

Sephiroth continued to chuckle until Elena pulled out a Mini Uzi and smacked a magazine into the grip.

"Call you later," Sephiroth amicably yelled as he made long strides back to the door and quickly locked it. He then peeked out through the metal grating, fully anticipating bullets to rain against the door.

Instead Elena veered away from the curb, a rare laugh echoing off of the dark, empty streets as she rolled up her window. He let out a small breath of laughter, and felt somewhat guilty for wasting her time, but really couldn't claim to give a shit at that particular moment. He could smell Cloud, and the scent made him hungry.

He ripped his shirt back over his head as he made his way towards wherever Cloud had crawled off to hide. The store was dark and shadowy, illuminated only by the lights from the street. The mannequins added a touch of creepiness to the situation.

"Cloud," Sephiroth called.

"Is she gone?" Cloud's voice answered anxiously from the dressing room, and his smell involuntarily spiked hot. Nature intended for prey to be captured, and silent, secret clues made it impossible to hide from a predator.

Sephiroth entered the room and closed the door behind him. It was a pool of perfect darkness, and although he could guess where the light switch was, he let the dark remain. "C'mere."

Sephiroth could hear Cloud's breathing stop for a second, and then very quietly pick back up. There was a shift in the dark, and a slight creak of the floorboards that grew as Cloud crawled near.

Sephiroth unzipped his pants and began to push them down, before Cloud's hands bumped into his and took over the task. His cock was briefly teased with warm breath as Cloud quickly untied Sephiroth's combat boots and yanked them off his feet. The creaking of leather coupled with the sounds of material moving against skin created a short symphony in the otherwise still space, and once he was naked Cloud's mouth was everywhere.

Cloud's tongue slid down Sephiroth's lower stomach, dipping into his belly button and across the hard ridges of his hip bones. Cloud's soft hair brushed against his cock as he pressed wet kisses to his upper thighs, and there a silent giggle against his skin when Sephiroth buried a hand in his hair to urge him to the central goal.

Cloud shook the hand off his head, and deliberately stalled. Instead of opening his mouth, he brushed his nose against Sephiroth's pubic hair, and paused to breathe in the sweet, potent scent found there. He smiled against Sephiroth's groin when he recognized a certain cologne... meaning Sephiroth had to have sprayed it down his pants. Cloud took a moment to inhale appreciatively.

It fucking tickled, and Sephiroth arched a little against the wall in an effort not to slip away from the feeling of warm breath against his sensitive skin. Cloud smiled in satisfaction as he felt Sephiroth squirm, and rewarded him by giving the underside of his cock a firm lick. His hot tongue slid along the length, and down to his balls.

Sephiroth kept quiet, listening for the soft sighs and wet sounds Cloud created while he worked. One deep breath was the only warning Sephiroth got before his cock was down Cloud's throat. He pulled away, dragging his lips up to the head before pushing them back down again.

The sound and the sensation illustrated a beautiful picture in Sephiroth's mind, and he felt along the wall for the light switch, itching to see it happen. When he found it, he ran his fingers over the switch for a moment, waiting for the perfect moment. He felt Cloud's tongue move against him, heard another deep breath, and then he was swallowed down between soft lips.

When he felt his cock rub past the ridges on the roof of Cloud's mouth to the slick smoothness of his throat, Sephiroth turned the light on.

Cloud squinted and seemed annoyed to be caught in the act, but his mouth was far too full for him to complain verbally. He was paused, looking up with narrow eyes, until he adjusted to the light and the lack of privacy and got back to work.

There was definitely something freeing about sucking cock in the dark, or with his back to Sephiroth. Being watched was a little unnerving, but Cloud refused to let self consciousness hinder his performance. He'd been dying to get into Sephiroth's pants all night long, and if he wanted to watch him work it was slightly flattering.

When Cloud worked up the courage to glance up, and was surprised that Sephiroth wasn't even looking at him, but rather off to the side. Curiously, Cloud's eyes moved to see what was so interesting, when he realized the entire fucking wall next to them was one giant mirror.

He had never been remotely curious what he himself looked like while Sephiroth's cock was rammed down his throat, but he imagined it wasn't a very pretty picture. With a life-size display of the entire situation, he saw himself as a teary, snotty, red-faced, saliva-covered mess.

Cloud gagged and propelled backwards, spitting Sephiroth's cock out with an indignant cry. Before he could say anything, Sephiroth's hands were gripping his hair and silently urging him to continue.

His wet lips bumped against his abandoned cock, and Cloud gave a raspy squeak, "Turn the light off!"

"No."

"Please?"

"I wanna see."

Cloud's eyes couldn't help but dart over to the mirror. "... Lemme wipe off my - "

"No. Leave it..." Sephiroth cut him off, his thumb slipping between Cloud's teeth to gently pry his mouth open. "... Please?"

Cloud's tongue slid over Sephiroth's thumb, and he watched his lover's icy features darken. Sephiroth seemed to like things a little dirty, and Cloud often found himself embarrassed as a result. But now some wire in Cloud's brain was crossed, because he found himself sharply aroused by this humiliation, and by Sephiroth's desire to experience more of it.

There was spit and tears all over his reddened face, but he left it there as he opened his mouth wide to pull Sephiroth's cock back down his throat. Sephiroth's eyes averted to the side, and he appeared consumed with whatever was happening in the mirror. Cloud closed his eyes and worked, placing his hands on the back of Sephiroth's thighs for balance as he sucked deep, every so often pulling back to get some air and work the head with his lips and tongue.

Sephiroth let him continue for several minutes, and Cloud eventually tasted heavy salt leaking from the slit. Sephiroth's cock was straining and thick inside his mouth, and he felt it twitch and leak against his tongue. Cloud wanted to fuck, but became determined to see this through to the end if Sephiroth was enjoying it so much. He forced it down past his gagging point, letting his throat involuntarily pulse around it before backing up with a gasp for air.

Before he could repeat the action, Sephiroth gripped a handful of Cloud's hair and held him at bay. Cloud looked up at him, mouth open and gasping for air. "... You alright?"

"'M tryin' not to come all over your face right now," Sephiroth admitted.

"You can if you want," Cloud invited, stretching out his tongue and making contact with the leaking slit before Sephiroth nudged him back again, and slid down the wall.

Once his ass touched the ground, Sephiroth tugged Cloud into his lap, and helped himself to two appreciative handfuls of his ass. "I want this."

Before Cloud could reply, Sephiroth teeth were plucking at the skin of his neck and shoulder, and hot, calloused hands were spreading wide across his thighs and ass. Cloud scooted closer, shuddering at the feeling of so much moist, heated skin pressed against him. He rubbed his erection against Sephiroth's, feeling his own saliva slide between their cocks.

Cloud pushed his hips against him desperately. "Seph... please help..."

"Hold still," Sephiroth instructed, licking his fingers before reaching behind him to press them between Cloud's ass cheeks.

Cloud's breath left him in a rush as those long fingers worked their way inside. He groaned a little against Sephiroth's shoulder, and couldn't help but glance over at himself in the mirror. For a moment he didn't feel the discomfort of being stretched because he hardly recognized himself; there was a disheveled blonde in the mirror who was being finger fucked by the most angelic creature the world had ever seen.

"You like lookin' at yourself?" Sephiroth asked softly, meeting his eyes in the mirror's reflection.

"No, I'm a train wreck," Cloud lied on a gust of laughter, taking a moment to wipe residual wetness off of his face. But his eyes remained fixed on the mirror as he arched his back a bit and moved against Sephiroth's fingers.

"You're gorgeous," He gave a small groan as he used his free hand to give Cloud's ass a firm smack.

Cloud gasped and squeezed his eyes shut, "Ah!"

"How do you wanna watch yourself get fucked?"

"I dunno..."

"Don't get shy now," Sephiroth said with humor in his tone but a smile absent from his face. He was concentrating on gently curving his fingers upwards while the rest of his palm cupped Cloud's balls from the outside. With literally an entire handful of Cloud, Sephiroth tightened his hold. "Talk to me."

When Cloud was aroused he usually wasn't one for much conversation or thought, but Sephiroth wanted an answer. He recaptured Cloud's intellectual attention by jabbing his fingers against his most sensitive inner spots, while his thumb and palm pushed his balls against his abdomen.

The sound Cloud made was definitely not one of pain, although he knew it had to have hurt a little. He eased up on his grip and repeated the question, "Tell me your favorite way to get fucked."

Cloud cupped the back of Sephiroth's neck and pulled him close. "Just take over."

"Missionary?" Sephiroth assumed, slightly confused.

"No... I don't mean the position. I could be on my back or stomach or even when I'm on top of you, doesn't matter. Just... I love it when you take it over. It's scary, but it's the best."

Sephiroth continued to move his fingers up inside of him, "Keep talkin' to me."

Cloud wet his lips, turning his head to watch the mirror. His eyes were drawn to the movements of Sephiroth's hands on him, the flicking of muscle beneath the skin of his forearm, and spread of bone beneath his free hand as it rested wide and dominant on his ass. "... Sometimes you scare the hell out of me. It's... like you're gonna snap at any moment... totally lose your mind and tear me apart. When I get kind of scared like that... it makes me come so hard."

Cloud turned his head back to gaze at Sephiroth, his bright blue eyes large, wet and yearning for some sort of reply. Sephiroth never saw a masochist there before, and he didn't see one now.

They both had similar needs, and a few different ones. But that was the interesting effect of being each other's first partner... they experienced everything for the first time together, and there was an unspoken agreement when things worked or didn't work.

Some things needed to be asked out loud though, and so Sephiroth asked in plain terms, "You want me to hurt you?"

"No! I think I'm the only person in the world you wouldn't ever hurt, and I like that feeling. But you're... you. When you're making love to me, you can't help but hurt me a little bit... and I think I like that feeling even more... I like having bruises. I also like leaving them on you..." Cloud sighed and hid his face back against Sephiroth's jaw. "I don't know what I'm saying, Seph. It sounds so stupid when I say it out loud. Why do you make me talk about this shit?"

"So you like it rough?" Sephiroth asked with a smile.

"... Maybe. But not rough like that stupid, cheesy whips and chains bullshit we sell in the store," Cloud quickly told him, wrinkling his nose a little at the thought of cliché accessories and cumbersome props cluttering up their love life. He dragged his blunt fingernails down Sephiroth's defined chest, certain that his body alone was going to be enough to excite him for life. "... I think I like when you're rough with me because you're so perfect, and I'm so ordinary... but I can give you something you need."

That was all that Sephiroth could take. He pulled his fingers from Cloud and grabbed his ass with both hands, pulling him as close as he could get. He was met with an eager kiss, and Sephiroth could taste himself on Cloud's lips. He growled mournfully at the lack of lubricant as the tip of his cock pushed against Cloud's tight hole.

Cloud pulled away with a sharp cry, and winced a little as he lowered himself onto it. His opening puckered around the tip of Sephiroth's cock, and he hissed in pain and frustration.

"Baby," Sephiroth said shakily, apologetically kissing his cheek as he eyed the exit. "You sell lube in the store, right?"

"There's some in my bag!" Cloud cried in remembrance.

Sephiroth dug his fingers into Cloud's hips and gave him a hot, frustrated kiss before pushing him away, "Well go fuckin' get it, what're ya waitin' for?"

"I was kinda busy!" Cloud sassed, his eyes lingering on the way Sephiroth gripped his own cock against the loss of body heat. He tore his attention away to retrieve his backpack.

He threw his clothes and Sephiroth's jacket across the dressing room in search of the small tube of Pleasureglide, and made a triumphant noise when he found it. With a giggle, he put it between his teeth, and did his sexiest Tyra Banks crawl back towards Sephiroth before dropping it onto the floor next to him.

He grinned, "I feel like Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary!"

"Get the fuck over here," Sephiroth demanded, a dark smile on his lips as he forced Cloud back into his lap. He took a dab of gel on his fingers and pushed them inside, hastily spreading just enough to get it in. He pulled them out and gave a moist smack to Cloud's ass as he urged him up higher onto his knees.

"Do that again," Cloud requested, and closed his eyes to savor the shock of stinging pain when it came to the other cheek. He could feel Sephiroth's heart thundering, and he raked his teeth along his collarbone. "Mm, again."

Sephiroth clapped both hands against Cloud's ass, and lifted him up by it. He positioned Cloud over his cock, and he could feel it twitching between his thighs, desperate to enter. Instead of complying, he returned the line of inquiry, "... Seph, what's your favorite part of like... sex with me?"

Sephiroth laughed a little and bumped the back of his head against the wall to gaze up at Cloud beneath lidded eyes. "Any time you forget that you're supposed to be shy an' embarrassed, and get down to business. It is so fuckin' hot when you make shit happen."

Cloud took the opportunity to sink down onto his cock, and the look of surprise on Sephiroth's smug face was well worth a shock of pain up his spine. He forced himself to keep his eyes open and watch Sephiroth's features melt down into a warm, heavy-lidded expression of satisfaction. Cloud then rose up on his knees a little, working himself to open up while watching Sephiroth's fine eyebrows push together.

Cloud paused there, breathing deeply and waiting for the tension in his lower body to ease up as he hugged Sephiroth's neck, "... Am I making shit happen?"

"Fuck yeah you are," Sephiroth agreed, leaning away from the wall to push his body against Cloud's, holding him close as he began to work himself down.

He let out a sigh against Sephiroth's skin, "Why can't my ass just expand and stay this size?"

"It wouldn't be fun if it was easy," Sephiroth laughed huskily, running his palms soothingly down Cloud's back. "... Is it bad for you?"

Cloud quickly shook his head, and took a breath before lifting up from Sephiroth's lap. "It's never bad. I want all of you inside."

"You can take it, baby."

It took time to establish something like a rhythm, but even the jerky, slow, experimental motions felt like bliss to Sephiroth. Cloud was always hot and tight, and his pretty pink hole hugged every inch of him. Just the tip inside was enough to make Sephiroth catch his breath, but digging in deep while Cloud's slim legs trembled against his outer thighs was almost torturous. He closed his eyes and worked to maintain control, allowing Cloud to ease himself slowly up and down.

Cloud was fixed on Sephiroth's face. His long, black eyelashes were splayed out against his cheekbones, and he looked so smooth, so delicate and pretty... until he opened his eyes. They glowed like the color of lust, punctuated only by two tiny black knife slits down the center.

They paralyzed Cloud, but he couldn't look away.

He saw Sephiroth's arm move out of the corner of his eye, so it came as no surprise when his hand circled around his cock. Cloud couldn't help but close his eyes then, and very carefully turned his ass up, only to come back down and work himself on Sephiroth's cock. Sephiroth seemed to like the way his hips began to move, and encouraged it through the rhythm of his actions.

Cloud rested his cheek against Sephiroth's shoulder, consumed with the sensation of taking his body in so deep. He finally couldn't breathe through his nose any longer, and gasped on air as he opened his mouth and began to moan. The sudden burst of sound awakened something in Sephiroth, and he was pushing and pulling on Cloud's hips to guide his movements. He wasn't gentle about it, and Cloud received another sharp slap on his ass.

He wasn't prepared for that one, and reared up to glare down at Sephiroth, but the anger was lost as he hit just the right angle. Cloud rewarded him with a beautiful sound between agony and bliss as he wriggled his hips in tiny, hesitant circles against that little spot.

Sephiroth loved the way Cloud moved, especially when he was on top. He was curious about seeing it from another angle, and turned his head to watch him ride his cock in the mirror. Cloud was sexy from the side, all slim, toned lines and fluid motion. He could also see the bottom of his shaft appearing and disappearing against the tight curve of Cloud's ass.

Suddenly it all stopped, and he felt a tug on his jaw. He faced Cloud, who was bashfully frowning down at him. "Don't look at that."

"Why not?" Sephiroth asked, nudging his hips against Cloud's to spur him back into motion.

"Just don't look over there, okay?" He pleaded earnestly. "... I want you to look at me."

"I'm lookin' at you, I promise."

Cloud buried both hands in Sephiroth's hair, keeping his head still and intently staring at his face for absolute terror of either of them looking at the mirror. He didn't want to know what he looked like while he was having sex, and he didn't want Sephiroth to look either. All he wanted to focus on was that shattering burst of pleasure every time he dropped down onto his lap, and not fret if he looked silly while he did so.

They eased back into the groove of making love to each other, and without even meaning to, Sephiroth glanced to the side out of curiosity. He was punished with a disgruntled noise from his lover and another tug on his chin.

Sephiroth couldn't understand Cloud's apprehension about the mirror, but knew it was holding him back from finally letting go completely. He couldn't be bothered with the distraction of Cloud's anxiety, and wanted to allow the moment to consume them both.

His arms flexed for a moment as he held onto Cloud, and used his feet to scoot himself across the floor. In a few short moments, Sephiroth's back was pressed against the mirror.

"What are you - " Cloud panted, not finishing the question as he stared at his reflection in confusion.

"I can't see it now," Sephiroth explained briefly, nudging himself up into Cloud to resume their previous beat. "I'm only lookin' at you, baby. Just keep doin' that..."

Cloud wilted slightly in his arms, utterly relieved by this solution. He eagerly found his pace again, and even worked himself a little faster and arched his back a little deeper now that he wasn't so insecure about how he might look reflected.

He didn't mind Sephiroth's hungry stare on his flesh, though. Sephiroth began to meet Cloud's breathless little sighs with a deep rumble in his chest, and with every pop of sweat slick skin against skin, he wrinkled his nose just a little.

Cloud kissed the wrinkle a few times, and then moved down to smother his soft, full lips with one. He dipped his tongue into the dangerous territory of his mouth, and felt Sephiroth's sharp teeth nip against it.

Cloud came up from the kiss with a gasp, and laced his fingers behind Sephiroth's neck. He bumped his forehead against Sephiroth's affectionately, bouncing on his thick cock until his thighs began to tremble in fatigue, and he buckled just slightly before going up onto his feet. He pushed himself down deep, then went on the balls of his feet until just the tip was gripped before dropping back down all the way.

"Now you got it," Sephiroth muttered, shoving his back against the mirror for some leverage to push his hips up against Cloud's ass.

Cloud dragged his cock against Sephiroth's body, rubbing it up between firm, defined rows of muscle. He stared at the sight of his cock drooling against Sephiroth's stomach, leaving a shiny trail of precome that pooled in his tight belly button. Cloud's eyes rolled back a little, and his entire chest broke out in a blood red blush. "Seph... Seph!"

"Shhhit," Sephiroth drawled, elongating the word throughout several up and down passes of Cloud's slim hips. He recognized the signs Cloud's body gave before he climaxed, and decided that he wasn't ready for it.

He let Cloud ride his cock until they both were on the cusp before shoving up on his hips. He was jerked out of Cloud's body with a wet pop, and Sephiroth's cock throbbed in the cold air of the room.

Cloud's entire body quaked, and he squawked down at him, "What are you - Mm!"

Sephiroth let Cloud drop back down onto him. The tension was faded and in the background, but after a few moments of pushing and breathing against each other, it began to build again. Cloud began to hiss Sephiroth's name through his teeth, red up to his ears and his long, rock hard cock sliding against his stomach.

Sephiroth felt his lower body tighten, his balls were heavy and tight against the underside of his cock. After a few more moments of slick, gripping heat, he feuded with his own mind, waiting for the very last moment before it was too late.

And then he hoisted Cloud off of his cock again, and curled his feet against the floor in self imposed torment.

"You're so fucking mean!" Cloud panted, his white teeth showing in anger.

"Wait a sec..." Sephiroth growled, swallowing deeply as he fought against what his body was craving. Prolonging it was turning out to be fun though, and he was curious to see how long he could stand it.

"Give it back," Cloud begged like a child who wanted their favorite toy, making his lower body heavy to possibly slip out of Sephiroth's hold.

Sephiroth took a breath and allowed Cloud to move, reconnecting with that snug, hot ass once again. Cloud shoved his hands against the mirror, planting himself in position, "Nng, Seph... that's so good right there."

"There?" Sephiroth asked, wriggling his hips up underneath Cloud to work whatever spot he'd found. "... Do you like edging?"

"I hate it," Cloud gasped, a desperate groan following as he finally comprehended what Sephiroth was doing. "Don't do it anymore. Let it go... I want you to come."

"Convince me," Sephiroth smiled.

"Let me fuck your cock," Cloud whispered. When he felt those strong fingers loosen on his hips, and he began to quickly bounce his ass up and down against Sephiroth's upper thighs. "Feels ... so... good..."

"Like that?" He grunted, holding onto Cloud's thighs but not guiding him. He instead twisted his fingers in the tight yellow nylon thigh highs and held on.

"Unh, yes," Cloud's smooth voice cracked into a squeaking growl. "Seph... please tell me you're close. Please, please, please."

"Not yet," Sephiroth warned, although it was a false threat because Cloud was a master of providing stimulation to every single one of Sephiroth's senses. He provoked Cloud though, forcing more like a true addict. "I don't wanna come yet."

"Come inside me," Cloud uttered against his ear.

Sephiroth's mouth parted wide, and he emitted a noise close to a whimper.

"Please, Sir, come inside me..." Cloud repeated, finding a dark thrill in saying these words out loud after years of thinking them while he touched himself. He set a steady, punctuated beat, a delicious tension tightening between them. Every drop of his hips keyed that tension higher, and soon Cloud was crying out and ready to let go.

"Come inside me, Sephiroth," Cloud sobbed, every part of his body working to milk his lover. "Please do it... for me... I wanna feel you... come inside me, Seph - "

There was a sudden, helpless cry from Sephiroth. He ripped Cloud's tights like paper and grabbed the bare flesh between his fingers, a flood of palpable heat rushing from Sephiroth's pores like a volcano. Cloud felt like lava was pouring over him, up inside him, and melting every part that it touched.

A wave of pure adrenaline shocked an orgasm out of Cloud that stole his breath, and ripped through his body inside and out. He thrashed against Sephiroth, grinding his cock through a release that shot up high enough to hit Sephiroth's face. He could still feel Sephiroth throbbing hard inside, and he heard himself shouting his name over and over as he desperately held on.

Sephiroth felt his semen run down his cock and over his balls, but kept pushing up his hips in an effort to see Cloud's pleasure through to the end. After a few more moments, he was so sensitized that he had no choice but to push Cloud's hips up to separate from him. He felt a hot stream of his own release follow, and shuddered through another aftershock.

Cloud blinked wearily at him before dropping against him like dead weight, so wet with sweat that it looked like he'd just stepped out of a shower. He wasn't sure if Cloud needed one, but he didn't ask before tossing a Cure on him.

Cloud didn't move or respond at all. He was completely spent, and Sephiroth might have panicked if he couldn't feel his heartbeat and deep breathing against his shoulder. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through the soaked, short hair sticking to the back of Cloud's neck.

"Hey," Sephiroth eventually said.

"Hm?"

"You alive?"

"Brains ...fucked out."

Sephiroth laughed and squeezed him into a brief hug, "Let's get outta here."

"Mmm," Cloud whined wordlessly, lifting his head off Sephiroth's shoulder. An unexpected, wide smile was hiding there, and he tilted his head. "... Got your face."

"Huh?"

Cloud leaned in and brushed his tongue against Sephiroth's jaw, taking away a large glop of his own creamy white semen. He seemed to like his own taste, and sucked the remaining drops off of Sephiroth's cheek and chin.

He licked his lips with a smile, "Did... something weird happen just now?"

"You licked your own jizz off my face."

Cloud giggled, "No... I mean... You got so hot..."

"I'm always hot," Sephiroth shrugged.

Cloud gave him a sideways smile before leaning back and moving away from him. He slipped off his shredded tights and used them to wipe his ass and between his legs, and then shimmied into his jeans. Sephiroth took the time to stretch and crawl lazily up onto his feet.

He was stepping into his pants when Cloud let out a shrill screech of terror. "Sephiroth! What the hell is that?"

"What?" he asked, following the point of Cloud's outstretched finger to the floor, where a smoking, ass-shaped burn mark tarnished the tile floor.

"I knew something weird happened!" Cloud crowed, going onto his knees next to the ass print and wiping at it with his finger. It was still extremely hot, and he waved his hand through the air with a scowl. "This is exactly like the time you melted your shoes! Is this something weird with you? Do you have materia equipped or something? Are you on the verge of like, causing a supernova 24/7?"

"No..." Sephiroth was extremely embarrassed, but kept it hidden as he physically shrugged it off and resumed pulling his pants on.

Cloud laughed and poked at the mark again, "It smells like burnt cookies! And it's not coming up. That's a full on scorch mark!"

"Sorry," Sephiroth said, but didn't sound like he meant it. He shoved his feet into his boots and lingered near the door. "That's never happened to me before."

"Now we know not to let you edge yourself..." Cloud seemed incredibly disappointed. "I guess I won't ever be able to tie you up. Damn!"

Sephiroth's cheeks were flushed a sugar pink. "Can we go?"

"How do I explain this to my boss?"

"Whaddaya mean?" Sephiroth asked, one foot out the door. "Nobody'll blame you. Say you found the room like that, they'll think some dumbass customer did it."

Cloud looked down at the burn, and tried to reason in his mind what else it could be. But there was simply no mistaking it, "It's an ass print, though. How do you burn an ass onto tile? This requires some form of an explanation."

"You said you were quittin' anyways."

"Yeah... maybe... I didn't wanna wreck shit before I left, though."

Sephiroth gave his handiwork an appraising frown. "... I have a nice ass."

"Yeah it's a work of art, but that's not the point. I have to come up with a story for this."

"Do it in less than two minutes, because I'm hungry."

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

Gus arrived at Dirty Rubbers around noon the following day. He'd come to expect the place to be extremely clean after help from Cloud, and wasn't disappointed. All of the grunt work that the other employees refused to do was accomplished in one short shift - the mannequins were redressed, the place was orderly and spotless, and every dime was accounted for. The honest foreign kid didn't even help himself to some cash from the register - a model employee.

Gus was surprised to see a loose piece of paper taped to the counter, and picked it up curiously. In what appeared to be Cloud's bubbly handwriting, it read:

To the Gus it may concern;

When you go into the dressing room, you will find a very odd stain on the floor by the mirror. It is, I daresay, a burn mark.

I am a man of Catholic faith, and I believe that it is a sign from the Lifestream

You know how those ladies out in Correl sometimes see like, the Virgin Mary on burnt toast? Well, I believe that burn mark on your tile floor is the ass print of Jesus Christ. I don't know who else in the galaxy would have such a bouncy, toned buttocks.

It's an unexplainable, supernatural phenomenon. I don't know why your store was chosen for the holy buttprint of the Lord and Savior, but it is and I hope you feel as blessed as I do.

See you next Wednesday!

Touched by Jesus,

Cloud Strife.

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

Angeal Hewley's seminar began at 4:10pm on Friday afternoon. Coach Dunn had made it clear that there would be a roll call, and then the bus was leaving by 4:20. Whoever wasn't on it was shit out of luck.

When his final class of the day ended at 4:00, Cloud hurried to his locker to change into fresh fatigues, boots, and his future SOLDIER hoodie. He then grabbed his bag before making his way to the parking lot.

Cloud had already resigned himself to the fate that he was going to smell bad and be ugly all weekend long, so he packed light. All he had were the clothes on his back, an extra shirt, a couple pairs of boxer briefs, a box of bonbons, his cell phone, and his mp3 player to listen to at night. That was all he needed to survive the weekend.

He didn't really think about like, food or a tent or anything. He realized he might have made a mistake when he noticed the amount of shit the other boys were toting - multiple duffle bags, tent kits, a nerd with a rolling suitcase. One guy had a fucking trunk with him.

Cloud got into lineup in front of the bus with his mostly empty shoulder bag, a feeling of doom creeping up on him. He thought back to what he'd learned about wilderness survival in classes, and decided that he'd just nosh on whatever mushrooms he came across. Either he'd trip or die, and both were preferable to this stupid seminar.

Cloud stopped mentally bitching when Angeal Hewley came striding up to the group with a couple of eager, helmeted assistants following closely behind him. They were practically prancing through the snow to keep up with his long legs.

Angeal was a fucking hunk. He was hotter than Wolverine, larger than life itself, and had one of the most piercing gazes that Cloud had ever seen. Sephiroth was an exotic, otherworldly beauty that demanded worship, and Genesis was a polished, handsome brat that screamed upper class privilege. But Angeal came off as an everyday man who worked hard to become what he was, and was everything that a boy wanted to be when he grew up.

If Cloud could trade bodies with Angeal, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Cloud had spent a little time with him over the past year, and Angeal was always extremely polite, even tempered, and eating something. But while his personality was warm and calm, from what he knew and from what Sephiroth had dished, Angeal was a prowler and a bisexual opportunist.

Cloud found him a little bit fascinating.

"Let's take roll, everyone line up," Angeal announced, clapping his hands a few times as he swaggered back and forth a few steps. He was relaxed and in his element, a born teacher.

There were twenty spaces on the weekend seminar, and nineteen boys had shown up. The missing boy had been hurt in a Materia incident, and was excused from the weekend without repercussion. Once everyone was accounted for, Angeal folded his hands behind his back and walked the line-up, his face full of gentle, constructive criticism although he said nothing.

Angeal looked directly at Cloud, who schooled his features to maintain a passive expression of militant respect.

A dark smile emerged on Angeal's face. He didn't stop walking, but his low voice rumbled a message that was unmistakable. "Seph told me to break you."

Taylor was standing next to Cloud in the lineup, and once Angeal was out of earshot he whispered down, "Did he say what I think he just said?"

"Yeah," Cloud giggled with a gulp. "He's teasing. I kind of know him. It's our thing, our little inside joke, our rapport - "

"Who's the best swordsman in this class?" Angeal called out, arms crossed jovially over his broad chest. "I want a name."

Nobody spoke. A full minute of silence passed the lineup of boys, who were all unsure, uncomfortable, and unwilling to answer incorrectly to a General.

Angeal turned to their teacher, "Coach Dunn, these are your boys. Who's the best in class?"

"Gotta be Cloud Strife," Coach Dunn supposed.

The rest of the cadets eyed him wearily. Phillip, a lanky guy with a deep purple birth mark covering a good portion of his throat chimed in, "Cloud's the best, for sure."

"I think he's pretty good," Taylor agreed. The rest of the peanut gallery was reluctant, but did concede to the fact that Cloud was an okay swordsman, kinda sorta maybe, if they had to pick someone who outshined the rest.

Cloud was blushing ferociously.

"The word on the street is that it's you, Strife," Angeal said to him. "And that makes you my favorite student for the whole weekend. My favorite student always gets to load the bags onto the bus."

Cloud's mouth dropped open.

Angeal raised an arm, "Alright, gang! Get on, take a seat, relax. We've got a long ride out of this dump of a city to the foothills. Cloud, you've got three minutes to get this luggage loaded and your ass in a seat, or we're leaving without you."

And with that, General Hewley dropped his bags to the ground and pranced up the steps to the bus with the assistants in tow. The other cadets quickly followed, purposely not looking at Cloud as he stood there in shock.

"Have an educational weekend," Coach Dunn gave him a wave before turning back to the school.

Cloud began to collect everyone else's bags and toss them carelessly into the open luggage compartment.

Immeasurable privilege, indeed.

A/N

CHAPTER IMAGE! - owmyhearteries dot deviantart dot com / # / d5orlmv

1 - Here's the anniversary CD that Sephiroth worked so hard on for Cloud :

Underworld - Born Slippy

The Black Keys - Tighten Up

Violent Femmes - Promise

Friendly Fires - Hurting

M83 - Midnight City

Ladyhawke - Magic

Arcade Fire - Wake Up

Modest Mouse - Sleepwalkin'

TV On the Radio - Love Dog

2 – Thanks for being so patient, it's been a while. I've been pretttty busy this year, what with having two jobs for most of the year, taking 5 classes each semester, so on and so forth. I'm REALLY happy to have this chapter ready, and am very happy to report that the next chapter is almost finished as well! Ahead? MOI? Maybe it IS the end of the world today. But damn it, I updated!
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Blonde Ambition