Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There is an old legend in the land of Midgar of a chocobo racer who was the best, the most athletic, the most in tune handler of chocobos. One day he was so concentrated on his race that he did not notice when he had won. He and his black chocobo raced around and around the track, getting faster and faster and surpassing themselves every lap. Eventually the chocobo and rider decided to stop and found that the world around them had moved on. It had been hundreds of years since they started the race. The rider bemoaned the loss of his friends and family that he had left behind, before he got onto his mount again. They ran together until the end of time.

Like our hero, they were outside of time. Unlike our hero, the racers never found a way back. Instead, our hero lost his ability to go forward. He lost his way through time. And the Planet followed.

OoOOo

“I think what Seph needs is a little one-on-one time.” Zach mused. “Someone who is there just for him. More than just us. We're his friends.”

“Uh...” Cloud gave him a sidelong look. What had they been trying to do this whole time?

“I know, Spikey! But it's not working. He won't take a second glance at any of the women we keep throwing at him, even if they are drop dead gorgeous. And not even a first glance at the men.” Zach pouted.

“Probably because they are pale and sweating at the sight of him.” Cloud scoffed. “They probably would piss themselves if he did show interest.”

“Exactly! We need someone who isn't intimidated by him.”

“Well, then that leaves two decaying deserters and the two of us, Zach.” Cloud shook his head. “And exactly no females.” Except maybe Aeris... that was a thought, but meeting an actual Cetra tended to make Sephiroth lose it even faster than thinking he was a Cetra. If he could abduct one of his old AVALANCE teammates and level them up, that might work... though the idea of raising someone to be someone's mate was pretty sketchy. If only Yuufie was older. That could be a classic political mairrage right there. And Heavens knew that that girl wasn't afraid of anything. Even when she really, really should be. But she was barely born at this point. Sephiroth would be irrevocably insane before she was even pubescent.

Zach started to look at Cloud with a gleam in his eye that was a bit too speculative. The blond eyed him warily.

“Oh, Hel no!” Cloud snapped, jumping to his feet.

“Just think of it, Spikey! It can't be me- I'm too straight...”

“I'm not attracted to Sephiroth!” Cloud protested. His fated nemesis? It was hard enough not attacking him on sight just by reflex. And not just Sephiroth, he had never been attracted to a man; not in any of the loops. He'd -tried it out just for variety as there was only so many times you could have a 'first' hook up with the same women before it was depressing, but it was at best 'meh'. If Reno's best efforts were just 'meh' he figured he was pretty freaking straight. The man was a certified sexual genius. "And...” He continued desperately, “Sephiroth isn't attracted to me, either. Or men- like you said, not even first glances.” He thought about what he had just said. “Probably.” It was hard to tell what the Silver General thought since his face was stiff and flat so often.

Zach kept going over the protestations of his friend. “And besides, my shoulders are way too broad. I would never fit in a dress. You, on the other hand- you could make it look good.”

Cloud didn't really feel like he could argue that point as he had, once upon a future, looked extremely good in a dress and been, essentially, a highly paid hooker. He shuddered.

“And it can't be Angeal for the same reason as me. And Genesis is really sick and sort of crazy to boot. No way he could stop spouting poetry long enough to be a convincing woman. You're our only hope.” Zach looked up at Cloud with his most impressive puppy dog face. Cloud, despite his intense desire to never be caught dead in a dress again- who knows how far he would go this time? Or if there would be friends to come bust in and save him from making out with some fat old dude? His brain flash-backed in a way he really thought he had gotten over and he grunted a bit before clutching his head.

Despite his deep-seated, trauma-induced fear of crossdressing, the puppy face was starting to wear him down. Cloud blamed the flash-back-igrain. But thinking a bit more, it was Sephiroth, not some obese crime boss. Would it be so bad to make out with someone as gorgeous as the General? Not that he was attracted to him! Just, like, objectively. Hel, he had long hair like a woman and everything.

Zach's next comment broke through his musings. “And let's be honest. If there is one guy you would go gay for, who else but Sephiroth?”

“If you think so, then why don't you sleep with him?” Cloud groused. “And if I'm 'going gay' why the Hel do I have to wear a damn dress!?”

Zach dramatically put his hand on his chest, sighing forlornly. “Appearances, Cloud! You can't be sleeping with young male Regulars when you're the General of the Army.” Cloud didn't see why not. It wasn't like the rumors about Angeal and Zack before he got into SOLDIER had been met with Turks investigating. Well, that anyone knew about. Possibly it had happened. “Our dear Seph needs someone who can be emotionally involved with him. You know, not just use him like everyone else.”

“I don't see why that means that I should do it.” Cloud had to concede the point, but was confused about the approach. How would getting him to do... things with the General mean anything emotionally stable and healthy? He killed the man almost as much as he died and looped back in time. (Maybe more? It was confusing to try to remember the lives he'd not fought him at all versus the ones he'd resurrected in- up to 20 times that one loop... ugh).

But this plan would certainly precipitate the guy's psychotic break. If one more person used Sephiroth, especially in the way Cloud was sort of sure he couldn't help based on what Zack was proposing... let's just say it would be an interesting end of the world.

Cloud turned to Zack desperately. “You don't just want me to give the guy a little relief, you want me to date him? You do realize that I don't really want to have anything to do with him?” The General still left him extremely confused when he was only not trying to kill him. Since Cloud knew that he would. Cloud had tried to get Sephiroth to not destroy the world... but someone else, usually even worse, would take his place (usually after grafting Sephiroth onto themselves somehow). Or someone would just resurrect Sephiroth. Or try to use the Planet to destroy itself for kicks. Hel, the Deepground people hadn't even had the excuse of being driven mad by a troubled childhood and being possessed by an alien. "And anyway, how am I going to date him when I start it off by tricking him and ambushing him. How is that going to make him happy? Or anything but freaked out and betrayed?"

“Well, when you put it that way... it does sound a little bad.” Zach mused.

“Thank you.” Cloud slumped in the chair and cracked open another beer.

“We'll just have to get him drunk.” Zach said firmly. Cloud spewed beer all over himself and started cursing, but the other man ignored him. “Alcohol won't work of course. But he's pretty loopy after the sessions with Hojo where he gets all the mako. You should jump him when he's out of it.” Zach smiled devilishly.

“Absolutely not.” Cloud said flatly.

OOOOooOoo

Cloud sat with his arms crossed over the generous padding in his bra. Despite the rapidly mounting evidence that time looping had driven him insane (Exhibit A: him sitting in a dress on Sephiroth’s couch) he was very annoyed with Zach at the moment. Persistent puppy eyes had worn away at his resolve for the past few weeks. He had finally caved to the pressure a few days ago. Of course the 'perfect opportunity' had happened right after Cloud had given in. He was pretty sure that Zach had planned it that way. If he could give Zach enough credit for being that sneaky...

Cloud didn't know and didn't want to know where and how Zach had gotten a very familiar blue dress (soft and slinky!) and blond wig, but that wasn't really relevant. At least there was no damn tiara.

Zach had not let up even when Cloud begged him to see that there was no reason for him to dress in drag if they were trying to make this a 'dating' thing. Cloud pouted at Sephiroth's completely impersonal apartment. The leather couch still squeaked newness, the cushions so plump they obviously had never been sat on. Everything about the room was clean not due to hygiene, but lack of use. Did the General even sleep in here? Maybe Cloud would get lucky and just sit on the couch all night.

A few minutes later, Cloud sat back a bit and sighed. At least this was something that he hadn't done before. What with the Planet's seeming inability to tolerate him in the Lifestream for more than a few hours, he had done basically everything and every female Midgar had to offer. Over and over. It just seemed pointless and, well, boring to do things like fight monsters, have sex, do anything really. Even being friends with Zach was painful as he had to start from scratch each time. It made him feel so old.

Cloud idly wondered if this would be considered a 'save point' and he would have to seduce Sephiroth until he got it 'right' or ran out of 'lives'. Knowing that the current living Zach had set him up for this whole thing, probably the Zach in the Lifestream would get a kick out of just that. Cloud winced. It could be one of those situations where only Aeris was standing in the way of Zach's Operation: Settle Sephiroth Into Happy.

Cloud had wanted to call it Sephiroth Happy Is Terrible, both because it was true- Cloud had only ever seen the man happy when he was psychotically destroying the world, and because any plan that Zack came up with to try to make Sephiroth Happy ended up SHIT-ty to the extreme. At least so far as Cloud could see. He was always vetoed. How SSIH was better Cloud never knew, though Zack got a kick out of going 'shhhhhhh' every time he saw Sephiroth. A good way to get oneself run through with Musume, in Cloud's opinion, especially with how the General's eyebrow tended to twitch when he saw Zack lately. It was definitely the 'I'm about to kill you' eyetwitch with a hint of 'I may or may not be sane while I do it'. In comparison, squeaking 'shit!' and running away was an extremely common reaction and did not even register in Sephiroth's mind. It probably meant that when Cloud finally had to kill him the man would ask who the Hel he was, but then, Cloud was used to that. And much better than the few times he had become friends with the guy. The added betrayal made Cloud feel extremely guilty. Yes, definitely better to keep distance. Sort of like the opposite of what about to do.

The beep of the lock disengaging sent a shot of fear through Cloud's chest. “Shit!” He squeaked, sounding annoyingly feminine. He straightened in the seat and brushed his hands nervously down the pleats of his skirt.

The General walked in and closed the door with a definitive click. The tall man sagged and sighed, brushing his hand over his face. Sephiroth stood and walked unsteadily into the room, his usual poise dropped for the moment and revealing how tired and drugged he was.

Cloud could tell the second Sephiroth saw him as the other man straightened and his expression froze over.

They stared at each other in silence for many long moments before Cloud shrugged in a what-the-Hel gesture and spoke. “Hello.”

After all that build up, it was a pretty lame opening. Oh well. It wasn't like any of the usual pick up lines would do anything besides make Cloud break out in hysterical laughter. Though this did present some unique opportunities. Such as: Is that Masamune or are you happy to see me? Cloud smirked slightly at the thought, though he was trying very hard to keep his face straight.

“I am not in the mood. You may go.” Sephiroth growled. Cloud tilted his head in interest- did that imply that he was sometimes in the mood? Had he actually done this before? Or was that a throw away sort of line?

The General walked past the couch stiffly. He lacked his usual grace but was no longer obviously tired and drunk.

Cloud's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He hadn't gotten himself all worked up to be dismissed so easily. It didn't even occur to him to be relieved at the way he had obviously been forgotten. The General was walking the walk of a man who was having intense desire for being flat and, well, sleeping. That could have been another pick-up line, but Sephiroth really did not look like he was in a state to appreciate humor. Or potentially speech in general. However, Cloud was much too used to confrontations with the man ending up life or death and emotionally draining to even consider leaving it at that.

Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's arm and tugged on it firmly. Both were rather surprised when the taller man fell sideways onto Cloud's lap. The General blinked and looked a bit dazed at the sudden shift. Cloud wondered just how drunk Hojo's experiment had left the other and felt a slight twinge of guilt. He pushed that to the side as he steeled himself, grabbing Sephiroth's face on either side of his jaw and bringing the him down for a kiss. Cloud put all of his considerable experience into the effort, feeling annoyed at the whole situation. If he had to do this, then it would at least show off the skill that made many if not all people he'd tried it on swoon; it cut down considerably on the foreplay, which is why it was something he had put a lot of effort into learning. Besides, there was his male pride to consider.

Cloud was totally unprepared for the effect of the little moan that Sephiroth let out. He was prepared for the sound itself, seeing as that was almost always an effect of the technique he had just used (in his mind, he called it his Kissing Limit Break, level 4). But in casual hook ups it just made him feel smug. In Sephiroth, General of SOLDIER, hero of Wutai... The feeling of power went straight to his head and shot like a bolt through his body. Cloud shoved Sephiroth back onto the couch and levered his knees between the other man's legs, growling as he bit the other's neck. Sephiroth gasped and grabbed Cloud's hair. Or rather his wig.

“Mn?” Sephiroth muttered as he looked at the wig in his fist. The General's eyes flicked to Cloud's eyes and he blinked in confusion. His eyes were quite dilated and Cloud was unsure why. “Cloud?” Sephiroth asked, shaking his head. He threw the wig away and grabbed the dress, which did not last long against the mako enhanced strength.

Cloud froze as he found himself suddenly naked.

“Hmm.” Sephiroth purred. “Much better.”

Cloud blinked in surprise, earlier questions about the man's sexual preferences non-withstanding. Though the General had never seemed interested in either sex, he would at least put up with the women on occasion. Why the Hel didn't the silver haired annoyance ever take up with any of the SOLDIERs? Or was it something specifically about Cloud that Sephiroth liked? That thought made Cloud's rational side fly out the window and straight off the edge of the Plate.

Cloud growled and ran his hands down Sephiroth's front, humming in satisfaction as the General rose into his touch. He struggled a bit before he popped that one stupid clasp on Sephiroth's coat. He grinned as he could finally push the leather off the other man's shoulder. This is a bad idea.... came a faint throught from the back of Cloud's mind. But Sephiroth's whole body arched up as Cloud's hands went behind the other's back until their bare chests were flush against each other and he found he couldn't stop. No more than he could stop in the middle of one of their battles. It was too intense and even better than a fight... it was addictive. He maneuvered himself more securely between the other's legs and practically purred in satisfaction at the proof that Sephiroth was enjoying himself as much as he was.

Then it all went black.

OoooOoOO

“I am so sorry Cloud! I do not know everything when we are alive, you know that. I would have never asked you to do that if I had know.” Zach glowed slightly in the Lifestream.

“What the Hel happened?” Cloud felt slightly bad to see his friend that distressed, but really- he deserved it. Never mind that Cloud felt more satisfied that he had in an almost unknowable amount of time. He hadn't been this excited, confused, worked up and basically... feeling something in longer than he cared to think about. Thankfully physical states did not translate into the Lifestream otherwise he had a suspicion he would have a horrific case of blue balls. That had been so... so... holy Hel... so HOT.

“He cast Sleep on you, wigged out and ran you through with Masamune.” Zach explained.

At the description Cloud could remember a brief moment of lucidity when he had woken up looking up the length of Masamune protruding through his chest to a very irate... naked... flushed... mmm...

“Cloud? Are you ok? I am so sorry that I made you get stabbed by Sephiroth again.” Zach gushed.

“Zach, relax.” Aeris sighed, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. She could actually hear the thoughts running through Cloud's mind and the rather catastrophic failure of his heterosexuality, so she wasn't worried about the Weapon's glassy stare as Zach was.

“I'm fine.” Cloud said absently. He couldn't quite get his mind off of his death... and what had lead up to it. What the Hel had even happened? He felt confused.

“I didn't know yet that he got so aggressive and emotionally unstable on the mako treatments. I usually learned later in the timeline that it makes Seph have massive mood swings and homicidal tendencies.” Zach apologized again.

“Huh. Than being crystallized in it for four plus years...”

“Yeah. Did not help him to get over his delusions of godhood and desire to destroy the world.” Zach said with a sad smile.

“Well, time's up Cloud. What do you want to do?” Aeris asked.

“I think I need a vacation.” Cloud mused. “I'm obviously losing my mind.”

As Cloud faded from the Lifestream, Aeris shot a sad look at Zack. “Are you sure you're going to be alright?” She asked him.

Zack shrugged. “There isn't much that can be done about it, is there?” He asked philosophically.

“But... maybe if you told him?”

Zack laughed humorlessly. “Tell him that I'm not the Zack he thinks I am but a splintered mirror of a soul that gave him schizophrenia? I don't think so. It was enough that I made him bear that burden to begin with. He doesn't need another. What he needs is for this shit to end.”

“You know that can't happen, Zack.” Aeris said sadly. “The Planet needs to live, and its old method of packing up and leaving, well... it didn't really work, did it?”

“I know.” Zack sighed. “But why does he have to be aware of it?”Zack shook his head. “Don't answer that.” After all, the answer to that question was the same one that he was not telling Cloud. Zack/Cloud trapped in the Lifestream both prevented the real Cloud from staying, allowed the Planet to maintain a timeline for the loops and thus have them work at all AND meant that both he and Cloud were never going to have the blessed gift of forgetting and ignorance.

“In a way, you saved the Planet, Zack.” Aeris said sadly as she began to fade into her reincarnation.

“Yeah.” Zack said as he watched her completely disappear. It didn't matter that it was the Planet that had twisted his already rather bizarre attempt at comfort by quoting his mentor into shattering two souls... it was still him that set up the situation. It hadn't happened to Angeal when he'd said the same time, after all. “Yeah, I'm a real hero. Whoop dee do.” He sighed and contemplated the endless, empty fields of the Promised Lands. “Being a hero fucking sucks.”

Chapter Text

Cloud looked around. He appeared to be somewhere rural. Interesting. It must be one of those loops where he was dumped somewhere random. It happened that way sometimes, either with or without his younger other-self being alive. The more loops he was in, the less his personal experience seemed to correlate to his 'real life'. It was a good thing, really, otherwise he would have long gone insane. Or gone insane faster... or something.

There was the one time where he got sent long into the future and the few times he had been far in the past... that had been interesting. Living tens of centuries before Sephiroth killed him and the Planet died or coming right as the Planet was gasping its last breaths... at least there was variety. Cloud wasn't sure any of them- the Planet, himself, Aeris or Zach, even really knew what the point and the motivation for the looping was anymore. That was fine. Cloud didn't care overly much. But this time, in some random rural place... hopefully he could avoid Sephiroth. He shifted uneasily at the thought of the man, somewhere between aroused and uncomfortable. He decided to just ignore it and hope it went away.

Cloud headed off into the distance, patting himself down as he did so. A broadsword of no particular make over his back, a Full Cure materia half-mastered, a Tunderaga on his person... he estimated that he was about 60% of his ultimate high. “Level 69.” Cloud said to himself, then smirked. “Or perhaps 66.6?” He mused. “Either way I should stop talking to myself.”

First order of business would be to upgrade the sword with some purified mako. He was high enough level in general that nothing much would bother him, but it would be annoying if his sword broke or wasn't sharp enough to actually do damage. It wasn't anywhere close to his level. Then maybe he could get some gil killing monsters on the way to the beach... There was that one girl that he'd shacked up with around this time before. That had been fun. Or maybe he could do something different? Was there anything left to do?

Well, in order to upgrade the sword, he would need to master the Full Cure materia. And possibly get a regular Restore for general use. There was nothing more irritating than dying because you ran out of potions and didn't have a way to Cure yourself.

OoOOOoOoo

Some time later Cloud was happily walking into the town with gil in his pocket and a mastered Full Cure in his hand. Letting a bunch of monsters hit you over and over was admittedly a bit degrading, but subsequently healing oneself sure made the materia level quickly. It also had the side effect of having the monsters get bored and wander off. Ironically they tended to leave behind more lootables than simply killing them. It was rather amusing seeing the monsters pull gil and potions out of places that really should not hold any item and chucking them at a human in frustration... it was a very satisfying way to battle. Or rather, protest for peace. Or something. “I'm on vacation, dammit!” Cloud grumbled. “It's perfectly valid.”

He tossed the materia up and down lightly and suppressed the urge to whistle. He ignored the calls from stall vendors until he smelled a heavenly aroma. One detour later and the materia was back in his pocket and he was gnawing delicious, juicy meat off some creature's bone. He wasn't sure what it was, exactly... and how did one get meat anyway if things went back to the Lifestream when they died? Hmm. A delightful conundrum. Perhaps he could become some sort of herder this time?

OoOOoOoo

The reactor was well guarded, but when you can leap several stories it isn't terribly difficult to make your way inside. There was even a hole in the upper levels that lead straight to the mako.

Cloud found an isolated pool of mako and dropped the Full Cure into it. He spun the sword lazily before gathering himself and his MP and stabbing the Full Cure through the mako. It exploded into pleasing glitters of sparkling essence. The mako flashed and then turned clear and parts of the top layer started to evanesce.

“What are you doing?” Came a challenging demand behind him.

“I'm done.” Cloud pulled the now unbreakable sword from the mako and flicked the fluid off of it.

“'Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess.'” A different voice murmured in irritation behind him.

Cloud's brow furrowed as he spun on his heel. And yes, it was who he thought it was. The two deserters, sporting mirror opposite wings, black and white. Genesis had a bit of grey in his roots but Angeal looked rather normal. “Hnn.”

“I said, 'wha...'” Angeal began again but didn't get to finish his sentence. Cloud had grabbed both of them by their collars and thrown them into the vat behind him.

“What the hell!?” The two Firsts came spluttering out of the mako, treading to stay afloat.

“I am on vacation.” Cloud announced.

“And that means you decided to dump us into a vat of mako?” Genesis snapped.

“Yes. It's Full Cured mako, which means it is basically Lifestream, really. It's a tricky thing to get right. Because, of course, if you make it too close to Lifestream it evaporates away much like a body. Speaking of which, how is it that we are able to eat anything? Do you know?” Cloud replied.

The two in the vat turned to look at each other then back at the crazy man with a head of hair like a chocobo's butt.

“Why did you throw us into a pool of mako?” Angeal said, drawing on all the patience earned dealing with his puppy and Sephiroth on a daily basis to not leap out of the liquid and throttle the man.

“Well, I got the idea from the time... I guess it wasn't me... but these memories can be rather confused, you know? But anyway...” Cloud paused to knock both SOLDIERs back into the liquid when they tried to climb out. It was a tricky situation since they couldn't get leverage and their ability to fly didn't seem to be working for them presently. Why being wet would affect the wings when only having one didn't seem to be detrimental to flying wasn't something anyone in the room questioned. Out loud anyway.

Cloud might have, if he hadn't already been ranting. “There is the pseudo-science/genetics way of curing the degeneration that leaves you open to attacks from Jenova, or there is the Planet way of being infused with Lifestream. I want to enjoy my life for a while, which means no clones of either of you running around and no civil wars thank-you-very-much.” Cloud continued, knocking the two back into the vat enough times that they decided to bide their time. It wasn't giving up to a clear superior... it was tactical submission.

Surprisingly neither Genesis nor Angeal seemed to be having any ill effects from the dunking, though their tolerance was high generally speaking. Genesis scratched absently at his shoulder and started in surprise when it didn't really hurt all that much. He twisted around so fast he dunked himself double checking. But it was his previously wounded shoulder that he was poking at. And the bone-deep ache that had been there was receding rapidly. “'My friend, your desire/ Is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess.'” Genesis whispered in shock.

“Your hair...” Angeal gaped at his long-time friend. Whose roots were now the same auburn as the rest of him. “Your coat!” And indeed, the garment seemed to be healing as well.

“Who is this?” Genesis shifted his hand to avoid it being struck by the sword wielded by Cloud. He had grabbed onto the edge to keep himself from sinking, no longer from any desire to get out of the fluid. “Who are you?” This question was directed at Cloud.

Cloud blinked. “A traveler.” He replied enigmatically. “Who is tired of fighting. This is much better than trying to kill one another, don't you think?”

“Yes?” Angeal answered dubiously. “How did you overpower us? Where did you come from? Your eyes aren't even glowing!” His voice rose with every interrogative.

“You don't need mako to be awesome. Plenty of regular soldiers can leap up flights of stairs. Hel, some civilians can!” Cloud shook his head. “And it is quite hard to go through life anonymous with glowing eyes. Admit it.”

“'My soul, corrupted by vengeance/ Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey/ In my own salvation.'” Genesis quoted slowly. “Is this really happening, Angeal?”

“It seems to be.” Angeal replied dubiously.

“I... how am I supposed to interpret 'Loveless' with this new information! He has completely derailed the plotline and the three main characters... it's all done. Will it be the ending they give to children? What a mundane existence...” Genesis muttered.

Cloud took a step forward intently, causing the both of them to twitch in the mako. “I need to ask you a very important question.” He said seriously. “Do you think Sephiroth is super attractive? Would you have sex with him?”

“What?” Angeal sputtered.

“No way- he is like a brother to us.” Genesis retorted. 

“A brother...” Cloud mused. That might make it difficult for Operation: Settle Sephiroth Into Happy. But maybe renewed friendship and pseudo-family bonds would be enough? Well, not that it really mattered. He was not going to try this time. But maybe the change would allow him more time before the world was destroyed. If he could stop thinking about how he was suddenly an eager volunteer for SSIH, though, that would be great. Women didn't even seem exciting anymore. Was it possible to have a mid-life crisis and become strictly Sephiroth-o-sexual??? He just was having a surprisingly difficult (impossible) time recovering from how hot the power dynamics and Odin forsaken responsiveness of Sephiroth had been... he had a nagging suspicion he was ruined for anyone else...

“I mean, you're in good company, friend, considering the Silver Elite. I would like to point out that all three of us have fan clubs, but that one is definitely the most rabid. Perhaps because I actually have sex with a good chunk of mine?" Genesis mused. "But if I were going to go for a guy, I think it would be Rufus Shinra.” Genesis finished decisively.

“Genesis!” Angeal exclaimed, appalled. 

“What?” Genesis said defensively. “He's a fine specimen. Admit it- there's a reason our boss has so many bastards running around. Before he got old and fat he was a real looker. And he has all that power! With overtones of Daddy-syndrome and so much potential.”

“Genesis.” Angeal sighed. "It is not honorable to lust after your boss."

“You can't have sex with honor, Angeal, no matter how hard you want to try. I said if. The man is hot, confident... powerful. I am not actually attracted to him, I'm just saying at least he has expressions unlike our dear friend. Women, though..." Genesis spread his hands with a smirk. "'She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting.'”

“Genesis!” Angeal snapped. He turned back to yell at the stranger, but... “He's gone.” And with that, the larger man pulled himself out of the mako vat and dropped to the floor.

Genesis dropped down after his friend. His wing felt heavy, though the mako was hissing off of it like it would a corpse. Which was, admittedly, a bit concerning. He pulled the wing back into his body and patted down the now healed shoulder and coat. “Interesting.”

“Indeed.” Angeal leapt after the blond. Genesis quickly followed. But they were too late. Cloud had already highjacked a gryphon Angeal clone and was flying off into the horizon. Try as they might, the two friends could not get their wings back out to follow. “'The arrow has left the bow of the goddess'” Genesis muttered.

OoOoOOOoo

Cloud went into a trance on the back of the beast. Once the two of them had worked out that no, Cloud was not going to get off and that no, the beast would NOT be directed, they had ended up in an uneasy but stable alliance. It wasn't until Cloud started to shiver that he came back to himself.

“Of course you came here.” Cloud sighed. Apparently this damn thing was part homing pigeon. Going back to where it was created. In this case, Modeohiem. “At least it isn't Nibelhiem.” Cloud groused. He leapt off of the creature's back and calmly fell through the air. About halfway to the ground it suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't sure how high a height he could currently survive falling from. He certainly had survived this sort of plunge in the past, but that had been mako-enhanced. And assertions of fully-mad scientists to half-mad failed experiments aside, there was something to be said for the healing properties of SOLDIER enhancements as well as the increase in stamina and durability. At this point, though, it probably didn't matter. And Cloud had absolutely zero fear of death. If he could manage to stay dead it would be a Planet-wide miracle.

Unfortunately or fortunately, he survived the fall just fine. He may as well have just jumped over the last stair in the staircase for all the impact it had on his legs. The ground ended up with a relatively large crater, however.

A considerable while later he managed to get to the town. Not because it was particularly far, but more because he used his new 'outwait' method to deal with the local monster population. The only change in strategy was to dodge attacks instead of taking the hits and then healing as he currently had only the Thunderaga.

Correction- a Modeo wolf tried to hit him with a potion but Cloud caught it and stuffed it in his pockets. Cloud had wondered while dancing with the monsters if his pockets were ever going to fill or if this was another one of those things, like food, that one just didn't discuss in polite company. Certainly the origin of said potion was not the least bit pleasant. It was probably pretty uncomfortable having glass up the....

“An inn! Perfect!” Cloud said a bit too brightly, interrupting his own thought process. “And good old-fashioned mountain food I hope.”

Cloud entered the dark but thankfully warm inn gratefully and sat down at a table with his back to the wall and eyes towards the most obvious exits.

“Hello there. Would you like the special?” The waitress came over rather quickly seeing as the place was mostly empty. “It is a cold weather soup with vegetables and goat.”

“Absolutely.” Cloud said gratefully. “And tea, please.”

“Are you from the area?” The waitress asked dubiously, eying Cloud's non-sleeved shirt. On the one hand, only an idiot would walk around without proper gear in the mountains. But on the other hand, only a native would consider no sleeves as proper wear for this weather. It was, after all, still warm enough the sun could potentially melt the top most layer of snow during mid-day.

“Why?” Cloud asked. “Oh! The tea?” The waitress raised an eyebrow. Cloud put his hands up to his heart and smiled with a trembling lip. “Oh, please tell me you can make it with butter and salt?”

The waitress's other eyebrow rose. “We most certainly do.” She eyed the stranger again. She was leaning toward native, but you never knew when an insane tourist would want to 'go local' and would end up spewing the brew all over the table.

“You have no idea how much I miss a proper tea. They have no concept of it anywhere else. I have been drinking coffee of all things.” Cloud shuddered.

Mollified that this was, indeed, a local, albeit one from another town and quite possible mentally unbalanced, the waitress nodded. “I have heard the stories, of course.” She commiserated. “It must have been quite horrible for you.”

“You have no idea.” Cloud replied emphatically.

“I'll bring your order right on out, alright?”

“Thanks!” Cloud said, feeling much more cheerful than when he had landed. Maybe a vacation in the mountains was just what he needed after all. The beaches were over-rated and rather boring, really, when you came right down to it. And they certainly did not have meals that could still instill such a sense of nostalgia.

OoOoOOoO

“Genesis! Angeal!” Lazard looked at the two of them with such a look of shock on his face that it was quite comical.

“Hello Director.” Angeal said genially.

“'Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul/ Pride is lost/ Wings stripped away, the end is nigh.'” Genesis muttered. Only Lazard did not hear the comment. The others in the room had enhanced hearing and had no troubles making out what he said. Although Sephiroth continued to stand ram-rod straight without expression and Zach's swings between elation, confusion and anger only shifted marginally more into confusion at the quote.

“What... you.... how did you... This is a secure building!?!” Lazard sputtered.

“Our vacation was quite satisfactory, thank you.” Angeal inclined his head.

“Your vacation?!?!” Lazard exploded, throwing his arms into the air.

“Did you not receive our leave request forms?” Angeal asked innocently. “Genesis was supposed to file them. Genesis?”

The red head threw a startled look at his friend before raising an eyebrow. “This is the first I have heard of it.” He replied honestly.

Angeal sighed. “I suppose it was inevitable, leaving such things to a thespian.”

Genesis clutched his breast dramatically and quoted sorrowfully. “'My friend, the fates are cruel/ There are no dreams, no honor remains!'”

“Well...” Lazard started hesitantly. He knew for a fact that the two had been... and should still be... being experimented upon by Dr. Hollander. But neither of them looked like they were suffering degradation anymore. Had they been cured? Why had he not been told about this? And just the thought of the paperwork that would be necessary to bring them back from the dead (and more challengingly) off the deserters' list was frankly horrifying. “I am glad your vacation was so satisfactory.” Lazard sighed in defeat. It wasn't like he could say no to the second and third most powerful SOLDIERs and two of the three with Jenova cells.

“We threw out your 'Loveless' collection.” Sephiroth said flatly, his voice ice.

There was a moment of stunned silence in the room.

“You what!?!?” Genesis shrieked.

OoOoOoOoO

Cloud sat back against his glowing backrest and sighed contentedly. The barley bread and spicy meat had definitely hit the spot. “It's too bad I can't share.” He mused. “You haven't eaten in, what? Three thousand years? That's got to be some kind of gnawing hunger.” He looked over his shoulder at the glowing eye of JENOVA. He couldn't decide if the eye was looking at him, or just glowing at the room indiscriminately.

“I mean, ok, trying to kill every living thing on the Planet maybe wasn't a nice way to greet your host, but it's not like the Planet hasn't tried to do that, too. Hel! The Planet would up and leave us all and bail if it decided it needed to. Omega WEAPON- what kind of good idea is that? I say it can't possibly be hard to snap up everyone into the Lifestream and bounce on over to a new Planet together instead of going about traumatically killing them and then deciding, oh no, actually, I'm just going to drop you like a teenage girl drops her newborn baby in the dumpster.” This time there was definitely a flicker of the eye in his direction. Cloud smirked. “I know you can talk to people, you know. But you can't control me if that's what you are waiting for.” He said seriously. Ever since finding JENOVA he had been coming up for a picnic lunch at the base of her prison.

Cloud shrugged and started to pack up his lunch basket.

“You know what I am.” The voice skittered against the edges of Cloud's mind like hasty nails across a chalkboard. Only experience kept Cloud from reacting. “Why are you sitting here... chatting.”

“Instead of killing you or something, you mean?” Cloud shrugged. “Been there, done that.”

“Yes, I can feel my death upon your soul. And the remnants of non-linear time. What is the Planet playing at?” She hissed into his mind.

“Honestly? I just don't ask the question anymore. He sat down on the floor with his legs crossed and rocked back and forth a couple times in contemplation. “Sort of like I don't ask why you want to kill everyone on the Planet. It's just better to accept these things.”

“I wish to leave this planet. I am trapped so long as the Planet inhabits the soil. I must make it leave.” The voice in the head was growling now, and Cloud was glad that he did not currently have any cells that would allow him to experience the emotion going alongside the comment.

“That... makes a strange amount of sense.” Cloud allowed.

“If They did not want me here in the first place, They should not have pulled me from my Path through the stars.” JENOVA said bitterly. “I had no interest in this Planet. I have met such Creatures before and no good has come of it.”

“Really?” Cloud asked in surprise. The thought of more than one Lifestream-blooded Planet out there had honestly not occurred to him. The way it had been explained to him the Lifestream built up as things lived on the planet. JENOVA seemed to be implying that it was the other way around. That there were more than one Planet... an interesting concept.

“You are surprised at their duplicity? How has your own life been, WEAPON?” JENOVA said with faint irony. Which lead to a slightly less abrasive mental voice.

Cloud eyed the alien warily. “I am not going to be brainwashed into working for you, but I can concede the point.” He said finally. He ruminated on what she had said for a while. He could choose to believe her or not, he supposed, but it was a rather outrageous claim. And this JENOVA didn't know him at all and was powerless currently. Why she would lie about it was somewhat beyond him. “Why not use a rocket then, to leave?”

“The rocket failed.”JENOVA said flatly.

“It did, didn't it.” Cloud said slowly. Not that ShinRa would want to lose their valuable asset and source of their perfect SOLDIER.

“ShinRa... betrayers!” JENOVA screamed.

Cloud winced, but did not grab his head as he knew the pain was all mental. Physical means would do nothing. “Yes, they are absolutely jerks.” Cloud soothed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The glowing eye narrowed at Cloud, turning an unhealthy red color.

“If we work together, maybe we can get you off this rock, eh? Hel, even if you came back for revenge and killed the Planet... disappearing into nothingness has a certain appeal at this point, though I would prefer to be able to stay in the Lifestream.”

“I would... very much like to leave.”JENOVA said so softly that it was almost gentle. “There is no possible way I would come back Here!” She finished with a shriek.

Cloud winced again. “Maybe not you, but perhaps a relative of some sort? Do you even reproduce like we do? Have a parent or something.”

“They know where I am.” The alien replied petulantly. “They could have rescued Me if They so chose. They warned Me about the danger. I knew the danger. I ignored Them and They probably think I will 'grow' and 'learn' from this.”

Cloud had a budding suspicion. “How long do your kind live. You know, on average.”

There was a long pause and Cloud wondered if maybe he had overstepped some boundary. Last time he had done that he had ended up with Masume through his ribs. And the time before that... and before that... it was a rather common way to die. Now if only he could always get Sephiroth to do it while disheveled and half naked... or fully naked... or.... Cloud blinked and focused on JENOVA. Think about mako... the Calamity... Hojo in his underwear. Eugh! Cloud shuddered. That worked.

The feel of JENOVA in the back of his mind assumed a distinctly puzzled flavor. “Human, you are very odd.” She said finally. “But your suspicion is correct. When I first crash landed, I was very young for my race. Even now I would be barely considered an adult. They might not even think of the millennia I have spent here as truly aging me.”

“I see.” That certainly changed the perspective. Not a malicious force come to subvert and destroy but a young adult having a temper tantrum. Assuming that a word coming out of her.. uh... mind could be trusted.

“Though this time has likely assured I will not resorb into my parent when we meet again.” JENOVA mused.

“Resorb?” Cloud asked. He had a suspicion that she meant a Reunion type event, but on a larger scale.

“You have the concept of it, yes. Sent from out father, we fly to new horizons. Back too soon a messenger. Kept apart a child.”

“That's... one way of procreating.” Cloud allowed. And it was rather like what the Lifestream did, to be honest. On a massive scale and with a rather sinister vibe. “Are you, by chance, a fan of 'Loveless'?” Cloud asked finally. That last conversation had a somewhat bad poetry feel to it.

“'Loveless?'”

Cloud's grin turned feral. “Oh, you are definitely going to owe me a favor for this one.”

Chapter Text

“How could you abandon me?” Zach yelled at the cornered Angeal.

“I didn't abandon you, Puppy...”

“Don't call me that!” Zach growled.

“You did abandon and betray us. Both of you.” Sephiroth said with no more emotion than he had shown this entire time. All three flicked worried glances at the General. Angeal's and Genesis' held an element of guilt, Zach's a bit of surprise. He had almost forgotten the man was standing there, he was so still.

“It... wasn't like that.” Angeal said hopelessly.

“We were sick.” Genesis said flatly, not hiding behind metaphors to show how serious he was. “We were dying. I don't know if it would have taken weeks or months or years, but our bodies were decaying. That wound I got in the spar? It never healed. A fucking giant black wing sprouted out of it instead!” Genesis waved his arms around in agitation. “But that wasn't the worst part. It did something to our minds. It was so difficult to think properly. Everything was... it was a conspiracy. It seemed that way.”

Angeal nodded and sighed. “I thought I was a monster. I felt I should act like one. I.... I gave up my honor and pride. It was... it seemed like what I should do.”

“Angeal...” Zach said sadly, his eyes getting wide and watery.

“How, then, are you healed?” Sephiroth asked, the barest hint of confused emotion cracking through his mental ice shield.

“That's the oddest part of the whole thing.” Angeal lifted his hands in a helpless gesture and shook his head.

“'My friend, your desire/ Is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess.'” Genesis said reverently.

“Speak plainly.” Sephiroth snapped.

“There was a man. He had blond hair and looked like he was in an extremely outdated SOLDIER First jumpsuit.” Angeal replied in bewilderment. “He did something very odd to a vat of mako. When we asked him what he was doing he started spouting nonsense. And then, before we could counter, he had grabbed us and flung us in.”

“He was so fast it was like we were regular army. Barely seen!” Genesis added.

“Impossible.” Sephiroth denied.

“But somehow possible.” Angeal shook his head. “I don't understand it either.”

“And then, we were healed. A 'gift of the goddess', it must have been.” Genesis said excitedly. “Of the Planet? Of Jenova? Who knows. Erk!”

“What do you know of Jenova?” Sephiroth asked, his focus eerily intense on the other SOLDIER he had dangling from his fist.

“She is an alien. We were injected with her cells. It was why we were dying.” Angeal replied for the suffocating man held in Sephiroth's steel grip. “As you were, likely. You were made...” Angeal winced at the closing off of his silver-haired friend's expression. “Sephiroth, there is no shame in it. We could not help our births. We thought we were monsters because of the madness. It...”

Sephiroth dropped Genesis, who landed mostly gracefully on his feet. “My mother if Jenova.” Sephiroth said, not looking at anything in particular. “I am not human.” He turned and walked out of the room. If he had been any less controlled about it, the other three might have been tempted to call it fleeing.

“Nice work.” Genesis coughed. “You handled that very smoothly.”

Angeal frowned at the redhead before turning back to look out the door.

“Could Seph get this madness, too?” Zack asked hesitantly.

Angeal and Genesis looked at each other worriedly.

“I mean, not that he was terribly stable and emotionally healthy to begin with.” Zack continued nervously into the horrified silence.

“Oh shit.” Genesis cursed.

“If you wanted to take over the world...” Angeal said slowly, not wanting the thought to be finished.

“And you were set to become a monster...” Genesis continued. He allowed that he was not the most grounded of the SOLDIERs, but Angeal certainly was up there on the stable scale. And if it had affected him that much... “'But the three are still bound by a solemn oath/ To seek the answer together, once again.'” Genesis said solemnly.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Zack asked in confusion.

“It means that we need to go after him and make sure he doesn't try to destroy the world.” Angeal said grimly. “We are the only ones who might be able to reach him. And I, for one, refuse to abandon and betray him again.”

OoOoOoOoOoo

Cloud was cranky enough entering the Midgar slums after his long and overly complicated journey that the sight of the empty church started his eye to twitching. “Ok, calm down.” He said to himself. “No need to become a Calamity yourself. No matter how temping it would be. Just a little, local one...”

“Hello.”

The voice was soft but Cloud jumped regardless. He landed facing the owner of the soft voice and felt some of his annoyance fade while other parts of it grew. “Aeris, I need to talk to you.” Cloud said, crossing his arms across his chest.

“I'm sorry, do I know you?” She asked in puzzlement. The emotion deep behind her eyes was fear however.

Cloud sighed. “Just...” He looked behind her and prodded the door to the church closed with the tip of his sword, causing Aeris to flinch out of the way.

“Are you a SOLDIER?” Aeris whispered fearfully.

“Not today.” Cloud replied. It didn't serve to console her much. But then, Cloud supposed it wasn't really all that comforting a thing to say. “Listen, just ask the Planet, ok? I get really tired of explaining it to you all the time. And I could really use the Aeris in the know, you know?”

Aeris' eyes were even wider and she was getting alarmingly pale.

Cloud sighed. “I'm a WEAPON of the Planet, Aeris. I've been sent back in time an unknowable number of times and I'm starting to have this suspicion.”

“Suspicion?” Aeris asked faintly.

“Yeah. I talked with JENOVA, you see...”

“You spoke with the Calamity!?!” Aeris squeaked. Cloud began to have a bit of doubt about this conversation. Maybe Aeris was just too young to handle this sort of stress?

“Yes, I did. I wonder why I never did before, you know? If you don't have her cells in you it can be an actual conversation. But it wasn't just what she said that got me to thinking.” Cloud hurried to assure Aeris. “She was just sort of a catalyst.”

“A catalyst.” Aeris said weakly, sinking into one of the pews.

Cloud huffed in annoyance. This was not going well. Maybe he should just make a mental note and ask Aeris next time he was in the Lifestream. “You know what, forget it. I'm on vacation and I already ended up back in gods-cursed Midgar all agitated. I need to find a cave somewhere to hole up in and ignore the world or something.” He winced. If he could stand the boredom. “Or maybe go wake up Vincent and spar with him or something.” Or go see if he could finish what he started without Sephiroth skewering him. With the sword, that is. And preferably without the dress, though if that was what it took to get things going maybe... “Argh! I will kill Zack for corrupting me!” Cloud growled. “And I'm not letting him stab me with anything!”

Aeris looked at him worriedly. “Do you always talk to yourself?” She asked softly.

Cloud crossed his arms over his chest and glowered. “I seem to, yes. It seems to be a bad habit I picked up somewhere. Probably the Lifestream. It's not like you can keep anything inside your mind in there.”

“You remember the Lifestream?” Aeris asked with wide eyes.

Cloud felt a sudden pang of sorrow. It was rather rare now, but he did miss that distant memory of having people who actually knew what he was talking about. When secrets were simple and kept because they were embarrassing, not because it was easier to let it go than to explain and oh-by-the-way it could end the world earlier than usual if it got out. Cloud sighed heavily. “Never mind.”

“Ok.” Aeris said in worried confusion. “Here, have a flower.” She pulled out a spikey yellow one and handed it to him. “See, this one looks like you.” She smiled.

Cloud smiled sadly. “Thanks, Aeris.”

“You're welcome.” She patted him on an arm. “Don't let this Zack fellow get to you. I don't think you should stab him or let him stab you.”

Cloud blanched. “Eugh!” He shuddered. That mental image was too disturbing to even use to cool his libido next time it reared its ugly head.

“Sir?” Aeris asked worriedly.

“Don't worry about it. My mind has apparently become stuck in a deep, dark gutter right next to the rotting corpse.”

Aeris looked disturbed.

“Yeah. Exactly.” Cloud muttered. Now it was time to get out of Midgar before someone or something else happened.

OooOoOOOOoo

“You got the PHS text, too?” Zack asked Genesis. He was bouncing next to his mentor, somewhat nervously and somewhat elatedly. It still hadn't totally sunken in that the Firsts were back.

“Nope. Just you so far.” Genesis grinned. “I was with Angeal when he got your message and decided to come along.”

“Oh.” Zack looked confused. And then downright shocked as the General swept by them without so much as a word and entered the Turk domain. The three of them had been avoiding actually stepping into the hallway even though that was where the summons directed them to.

“'My friend, do you fly away now?/ To a world that abhors you and I?'” Genesis called after Sephiroth, who twitched minutely. Or he may have just been rounding the corner.

“Let's go.” Angeal started off after the silver mane with squared shoulders.

They entered into a room filled with all sorts of recording equipment. Sephiroth was already in one corner, arms crossed over his chest and looking like a grouchy gargoyle for all he was moving.

“Zack.” Tseng acknowledged the Second and swept an eyebrow at his two tails. “We detained a subject down under the plate today for suspicious activity. He mentioned your name.”

“My full name?” Zack asked. He tried to think of anyone that he knew in the slums and came up rather blank.

“No, just 'Zack'. We are not certain he meant you. But we have been unable to get him to say anything after we apprehended him. We are hoping that perhaps you can give us an ID or something to work on.” Tseng replied.

“Uh, sure. Ok.” Zack rubbed the back of his neck.

Tseng motioned to the Turk manning the equipment and the window became clear. Zach looked at the lean blond in confusion. “I don't know...”

“Him!” Angeal and Genesis burst out at the same time.

“You know this man?” Tseng focused on the two like a hound on a scent.

“Well, not really.” Genesis shrugged. “He...” Genesis shook his head. “'Though the prisoner escapes, he is gravely wounded/ His life is saved, however.'”

Tseng looked mildly irritated by the quote. Which probably meant that he was extremely annoyed.

All eyes turned to the mystery man as he stood and walked over to the window and tapped on it. His mouth started moving and a few seconds later the words were piped through speakers at Tseng's nod.

“Hey, I appreciate your concern and all, but I'm on vacation. So if I could just be on my way that would be fabulous.”

“He said that to us, too. What does he mean 'vacation'?” Angeal asked.

“Why don't you ask him.” Zack offered.

“He said something about not fighting, but he had just done something with his sword and materia before we confronted him and then attacked us, so I am not sure how sincere he is about this 'peacefulness.'” Angeal shrugged.

Tseng leaned down and spoke into the microphone. “What do you mean you are on vacation?”

This time the reply was real-time as the speakers were on. “I mean that I refuse to kill anything, attempt to get stronger, or be stressed out.” The man said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And being stuck in a lab is not conducive to any of these things.” Sephiroth twitched in the corner.

As did Tseng, but for different reasons. “We're the Turks not some damned collection service for the Science Department.”

“I'm going to go speak with him.” Sephiroth announced.

“Wait! This is Turk jurisdiction. You already barged in here without being asked with different SOLDIERs than I requested.” Tseng protested.

The three other SOLDIERs looked at each other in surprise. They had assumed Sephiroth had gotten a summons as well. How else would he have known where to go?

“My Firsts just reported that they were assaulted by this man, making it also my jurisdiction, regardless of what you arrested him for.” Sephiroth said coolly as he turned the corner, not bothering to further comment on Tseng's indignant growl.

OoOoOOoo

Cloud was bored. And a bit anxious, he had to say. It wasn't the first time he had ever been picked up by the Turks. He should have realized it was a possibility when he went to Aeris, really. Especially with all the crap he was saying. He sighed. Refusing to be stressed out apparently led to a big case of foot-in-mouth disease.

He looked up hopefully as the door lock disengaged. And then went utterly still in shock.

Sephiroth had closed the door again and took two steps towards him before Cloud snapped out of it.

“I have the worst luck!” Cloud whined.

Sephiroth's demeanor stiffened even further. Cloud knew to interpret this as a sign of the General hiding something. What? Good question. He had a feeling that even being able to read the thoughts behind those cat slit eyes would not leave him any more knowledgeable.

Cloud thunked his head onto the window in front of him.

“Why did you assault my SOLDIERs?” Sephiroth asked coldly.

Cloud leaned against the window and said nothing. He raised an eyebrow.

Sephiroth took a step closer.

“Stay back!” Cloud said, his voice a bit higher than it really ought to be. He was not ready to do this. Why the hell had he come to Midgar? Oh right, because he had had a sudden thought and needed to rush to get it answered, obviously. It wasn't like he was an immortal time traveler with all the time in the universe or anything.

Sephiroth deliberately took two more steps forward. “Why did you assault my SOLDIERs.” He repeated.

“You, sir, are asking for it.” Cloud warned.

Sephiroth took another two steps forward. Cloud felt his sword holster- sans weapon at the moment- brush against the concrete wall. “Why...” Sephiroth began again.

Cloud poked the General in the chest, ignoring the delighted tingles his body serenaded him with originating from the fingertip in question. Sephiroth blinked with a sudden blank look. Cloud was pretty sure that the look was due to shock not emotional walls. The General's hand was uselessly raised halfway to block, but the movement had been too slow.

“I told you to stay back.” Cloud said firmly. Sephiroth moved as if to walk forward. “Do you want me to poke you again?” Cloud demanded. And then tried to suppress the mental images. “Dirty, dirty...” He muttered to himself.

Sephiroth looked confused, then angry before his face blanked again.

“Not you. Me.” Cloud said, wanting to nip that in the bud before it became a full blown angsty drama about 'not being human' and 'cleansing the world' etc.

Sephiroth still looked confused.

“Never mind.” Cloud sighed. He seemed to be saying that a lot lately. “The crux of the matter is that I really do want to just relax for a while, but I think I've become an habitual meddler.” He confessed. “Ok, fine.” Cloud said after there was a long moment of silence. “Go ahead and stab me. Right through the heart if you would. I don't want to suffer unduly.” Cloud tapped the familiar spot on his left breast.

“Do not stab the subject!” Tseng's voice came over the speakers.

Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Cloud steadily, studying him.

“Well either way, back off.” Cloud said, stepping away from the wall. This put him only one step away from running into the General. Cloud brought both his hands up and was about to push the other back when his wrists were grabbed. Cloud lowered his hands from the flat push position and flicked Sephiroth's shoulders.

“Do not touch me.” Sephiroth bit out.

“I will touch you if I want to touch you.” Cloud smirked, poking the General again, though the other tried to force his hands away, Cloud would not let him. “See?” He poked him again. He knew he was heading for an impaling, but it was sort of fun to rile up Sephiroth like this. Plus that heady feeling of doom rushing towards him. Cloud was pretty sure he was addicted to it. Sort of like he was addicted to Seph... “I am not!” Cloud snapped, pushing forward until he almost was pressing against the General's body but not moving him an inch.

“You are not... what?” Sephiroth demanded, and odd gleam in his eye.

“I am not discussing with you my irritating habit of talking to myself, that's what.” Cloud grumbled.

“I believe that you are.” Sephiroth noted. The gleam was getting stronger. Was that... humor?

“Sir, stop groping the detainee and let the Turks do their job!” Came a playful voice over the speakers.

The gleam was gone and Sephiroth's icy stare was back. Cloud could practically feel the chill... because he was about an inch away from the General's nose. With a start of surprise he leaned back out of the way. Sephiroth released him and Cloud let his hands fall to the sides. “Isn't that Genesis?” Cloud asked.

Sephiroth inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement.

“Aren't you... friends?” Cloud asked. Sephiroth's gaze flicked to the window and back and his face went to solid stone. Cloud frowned. If Genesis wasn't a friend, then would the healing thing backfire on him? Oh well. It seemed either way he was going to die soon.

“'One becomes a hero, one wanders the land/ And the last is taken prisoner.'” Comes over the speaker again, followed by a brief racket then a mechanical squeal as the audio cut out.

“'Loveless' Act 1. But I can assure you it's only me. If I have to, I would really like to be the one wandering the land, though.” Cloud said. His eyes didn't leave the General's. He was waiting for something to happen. “If I defeat you in a duel, would you let me go?” Cloud asked.

Sephiroth's mask thawed slightly with a modicum of interest, quickly shot down by disbelief. “You could not defeat me.”

“Oh yeah?” Cloud rocked onto the balls of his feet. This, at least, was familiar. And he could admit that he enjoyed a good challenge. A non-lethal battle with Sephiroth? Sure. Though it would be pretty stupid to think that if he beat the man that he would be leaving the building any time soon.

“You do not have any mako enhancements.” Sephiroth said dismissively.

“Mako does not a warrior make.” Cloud said, his eyes twinkling in excitement. “I can poke you rather well, can't I?” Cloud refused to let his face leer at that comment.

Sephiroth turned dismissively and started to walk toward the door. Before he could close it, however, Cloud had wedged himself half out the door, only the General's braced arm keeping him nominatively contained. Shocked again, Sephiroth looked down at the chest pushed up against his elbow and then back to Cloud's face.

“See?” Cloud winked, then stepped back into the room. Sephiroth frowned thoughtfully before finally allowing the door to shut.

OoOOoooOo

“What just happened?” Tseng looked like he was getting a SOLDIER sized headache. He had a pretty good idea, but all the training in the world could not prepare a Turk for the complete black box that was Sephiroth. And this stranger was giving the General a run for his money on enigmatic. Though in the stranger's case it seemed to be due to madness.

“It looked like he was flirting with you, sir.” Zack shrugged.

“'He begins a life of seclusion with her/ Which seems to hold the promise of eternal bliss.'” Genesis quoted, spinning as much as the small space would allow and looking at Sephiroth with an over-exaggerated smitten look. The General's lip twitched, then he looked thought the window with a puzzled frown. “Aha! Success!” Genesis smirked. “'Loveless' can soften even the most frozen of hearts.”

“Thank you for your help, gentlemen.” Tseng said in dismissal. “We'll take it from here.”

“You mean torture him, don't you?” Zack pouted.

“I don't know how much you are going to get out of him.” Angeal said dubiously.

“We do have techniques for the insane.” Tseng sighed.

“You could let him fight Seph.” Genesis offered. “You could make a deal with him. When he loses he has to answer all of our questions. And we tell him he is free to go if he loses.”

“Finally admitting that Sephiroth is too powerful for you, Genesis?” Angeal asked slyly.

The redhead sniffed. “As you recall we just came back from an extended holiday. With that and the inspired attitude of our prisoner, I find myself still in a vacationing mental state. But if the General does not want to battle some nobody, I would be happy to pick up the slack.”

“This is against procedure.” Tseng commented without much hope that that would matter to the assembled men. If there were one group that was pampered almost as much as the Science Department it was these men. Perhaps more so since the return of the two other Firsts. Especially since other SOLDIERs were trickling back in as word spread that Genesis had returned. There was an amazingly generous amount of 'retrograde vacation time' being handed out.

“Aw, let us take him for a run before you make him disappear.” Zack whined, giving Tseng the puppy eyes. The Turk was, of course, immune. Mostly. But he decided to let it go for now.

“I will fight him.” Sephiroth stated.

And that pretty much settled that.

Chapter Text

Cloud was quite surprised to be outside under a blue sky once more. Even if it was computer generated. The weight of the weapon in his hand was even more puzzling. Had ShinRa gone mad when he wasn't paying attention? Giving him a weapon was insane enough... but giving him back his own weapon?

Although, perhaps this was more of a Turk operation and being kept on the DL? Still seemed more like a mako-dream than reality. He pinched himself a few times just to be sure. “Nope... still awake.” He muttered.

“Are you prepared?” Sephiroth asked.

Cloud shrugged and lifted his sword and gave it an experimental swing. It was certainly no First Tsurugi but he had modified it to at least not break on him if he blocked Masamune. Cloud ran his hand along the blade and it began to glow faintly purple. He settled into a guard position. “Ready when you are.”

The two waited, staring at each other. At the same instant they burst into movement and came together in a shower of sparks. Cloud smirked and Sephiroth's eyebrow twitched upwards. The two leapt away from each other, then raced around the simulated field. Cloud jumped high, tucking his knees up to his belly in order to dodge the deadly point of Masamune as he bore down on Sephiroth. Sephiroth dodged to the side of Cloud's blade and punched with his free hand. Cloud kicked off the other's fist and did a spinning back flip out of Sephiroth's considerable range before running off to the left.

The General gave chase and Cloud had to run sideways in order to fend off the slashes coming at him from behind. Sephiroth disappeared and instinct (and possibly habit) had Cloud blocking over his head just in time to stop the downward slash. Cloud pushed Sephiroth off of him and the other arced gracefully away through the air. But Cloud wasn't done. He leapt after the General and they crashed into each other furiously, trading blows before they had to separate in order to land.

The two paused, assessing each other.

Cloud could feel his mouth stretched into a large grin. Who had he been kidding? There was no way that he was going to be able to keep away from fighting. He just loved it too damn much. A vacation might just be camping out in this holographic training room for as long as he could- destroying fake enemies through all sorts of terrain. It was almost realistic enough to be satisfying. Now if he could spar with Sephiroth the whole time... that would be even better. No need to talk, or think about all the crap that came with the man. Just fighting. They were almost perfectly matched at the moment. Sephiroth was a bit more skilled than his body currently was, but Cloud was more experienced battling his counterpart.

With a cry somewhere between bloodlust and joy, Cloud pounced again.

OoOOoOooO

In the observation room there was a stunned silence.

“'When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end/ The goddess descends from the sky/ Wings of light and dark spread afar/ She guides us ...'” Genesis began quoting, only to be interrupted by Angeal's annoyed cuff and comment.

“You can't just start reciting the whole damn thing.” Angeal shook his head. “Quoting it in context is one thing. But I draw the line.”

Genesis patted his hair back in place and winced slightly. “Well what the hell am I supposed to say to that?” He waved a hand at the fight currently happening below them. “He made Sephiroth use his off hand.” The redhead pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. The jealousy was palpable.

“How did the Turks bring this guy in?” Zack asked in disbelief. “Sephiroth can beat him, though, right?”

OOOoOoOo

Sephiroth wasn't totally confident that he could defeat this stranger. At the first locking of blades he had expected to overpower the other and be done. The shock when he was matched in strength had almost made him take a step back. And then somehow a sword was in his face and his desperate fist was being used as a launching board. It was the most baffling spar he had ever participated in.

He was having the time of his life.

No one could really make him constantly think like this. Not even two or more on one could provide near as good a challenge.

Sephiroth's musings earned him a nick to the face as he barely managed to avoid being slashed. His eyes widened in surprise and he leapt back. The other did not follow, content to flick the blood off his blade while Sephiroth sized him up again.

“You want to see a neat trick?” The blond asked, his shit eating grin firmly in place.

Sephiroth shifted suspiciously.

“Well, too bad if you don't.” The blond sniffed. He lifted his softly glowing blade upright and placed his left hand flat against the blade.

Sephiroth stiffened, waiting for the spell. There was a brief flash and then a tickling sensation on Sephiroth's cheek. He brought his fingers up to the wound suspiciously... and there was nothing there.

The blond swept the sword in a flourish. “Tada! The Full Cure Blade! A bit of a mouthful, admittedly, and somewhat self-defeating as an effect. But great for upgrading a crappy blade so that it won't break when faced with one of the more powerful weapons.”

“That is what you were doing with the materia at the mako factory?” Sephiroth clarified.

“Yup. It takes a while to get the timing down. Usually I use a restore materia, but I had the full cure on me, so...” The blond shrugged. “Plus it goes with my non-violence policy that I'm testing out for right now.”

“Non-violence?” Sephiroth said dubiously.

“Well, non-killing anyway.” The blond shrugged again. “You can take the swordsman out of the fight, but you can't take the fight out of the swordsman. Apparently.” He sheathed his weapon, much to Sephiroth's chagrin.

“Why did you put away your weapon?” He asked curiously.

“Well, it was fun, but you weren't going to honor your end of the bargain anyway, and I'm sort of already answering your questions. So it seems rather pointless to continue.” He sighed. Then suddenly perked up as a thought hit him. “Do you want to spar with some random weapons?” He asked, bouncing on his toes sort of like Zack did when he was particularly excited. “We could use bully sticks and maces and... and... whips or something?”

“Whips?” Sephiroth asked incredulously, feeling both of his eyebrows shoot upwards.

“Well.... it could be fun.” The man grumbled. “No sense of adventure.” He muttered.

Only Sephiroth's extremely enhanced hearing picked it up. The General decided to ignore the comment as he had absolutely no idea how to respond.

Sephiroth instinctively stabbed with his sword when he sensed the other approach, but was deftly evaded. The General jumped in surprise when an arm landed on his shoulder and moved to throw the body attached to it over his hip, but the other shifted with him and avoided the throw. Sephiroth felt fear shoot through his chest... or at least he thought it was fear. It felt decidedly different and actually a bit pleasant. He looked over at the blond's arm slung over his shoulder in confusion, his face coldly blank. His hip felt rather tingly where it pressed against the other's.

“You'll be happy to note that I have decided to throw caution to the wind and go along with you guys. Just on one condition.”

“What condition?” Sephiroth said flatly. His emotions were swirling confusedly and he had no idea what they were doing so he suppressed the hell out of them in order to continue to function.

The man smirked. “I'll think of one.” He bumped his body against Sephiroth's companionably, though Sephiroth only moved minutely. The man then disengaged, slapped Sephiroth on his pauldron and walked off.

Sephiroth shrugged his shoulder to resettle his armor and wandered after the stranger. He didn't realize he still had his sword out until he could not fully walk through the door without the point of Masamune running into the opposite wall. He stared at his betraying blade in consternation before backing out of the hallway to sheath his weapon.

Chapter Text

“So.” Tseng shuffled some papers. “Your name.”

“Cloud Strife.” Cloud replied. He'd learned that it usually didn't pay to try to keep it a secret. Hel, his younger self might not even exist if he had somehow replaced him. The timelines were getting quite tangled.

“And were are you from?”

“Nowhere.” Cloud said mysteriously. “And everywhere.” Tseng looked annoyed with him. “I travel a lot.”

“Where were you born?”

“Not sure.” Cloud replied honestly. Usually Nibelheim. And his consciousness certainly had been. But who knew if this body was? Or if it had been formed whole from the Lifestream or some shit.

“Age?”

“Uh...” Cloud tried to think. Had he seen a mirror recently? “No idea.”

Tseng was definitely irritated. “Previous occupations?”

Cloud looked at the man suspiciously. What kind of question was that? “I delivered stuff for a while. I killed monsters. Explored.”

Tseng scribbled on the papers. “Any allergies?”

“No...?” Cloud said slowly.

Tseng finished writing and looked up. “And which department of ShinRa would you like to apply to work in?”

Cloud stared at him with his mouth hanging open. “Wha...?”

“What department.”

“You are offering me a job?” Cloud asked incredulously. Tseng looked as irritated as Cloud was shocked. Tseng must not be the Director yet to be dealing with something like this. Unless they were putting a higher priority to Cloud than he probably should warrant.

“We certainly cannot let you go. Not with the documented conversation for which we took you in. And more especially after you proved a match for Sephiroth.” Tseng tapped the papers on the desk to settle them. “Do you need a list of departments? Or would you like to be assigned to one based on your known talents.”

“Hel no!” Cloud exclaimed. He could be assigned to the Turks. Or worse- SOLDIER. Or worse still- the Science Department. “Uh... the Space Program.” Cloud blurted.

Tseng looked surprised.

Though more because he didn't know the other departments than for any other reason, the idea definitely had merit. Ability to help fight Meteor, or at least have more knowledge about the rockets, and to get JENOVA the hell off the Planet. “I've always been really interested in rockets.” Cloud lied. “I would love to get involved with that.” Although... that would mean that he was actually trying to Save the Planet again. He sighed. What the Hel. It was a longshot anyway. Why not try. And spend vacation living off of ShinRa's dime.

“I am not sure that there is enough funding in that department to fund a new position.” Tseng said cautiously.

“You asked what I wanted to do.” Cloud replied reasonably.

The Turk shrugged and wrote it down. “Sign here, please.”

Cloud read over what Tseng handed him. It appeared to be a contract. “I don't really want to sign this.” Cloud confessed. It had the same sort of language that had robbed him of his freedom in too many lives.

Tseng pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well we were willing to offer you a position in SOLDIER...”

“I am not joining SOLDIER.” Cloud said flatly.

“Which is why you need to sign the general application.” Tseng explained calmly.

Cloud growled.

Tseng shrugged.

“Could I be... an independent contractor or something?” Cloud wheedled. “I could float between the departments."

“I'm not authorized to make those sorts of arrangements. I will have to meet with some people from Human Resources.” Tseng said finally. “And I would probably leave a large portion of the negotiations between you and them.”

“Well, alright.” Cloud certainly wasn't fond of paperwork... but it was something different certainly. He hadn't ever played hard to get with ShinRa before. It was working out surprisingly well, considering.

OoOOOOO

Genesis paused before he turned the corner. He could hear the voices of two Seconds. They had apparently used his disappearance as an excuse for a 'vacation'. Though no one had actually followed him when he ran off, but going to Wutai and disappearing had become quite fashionable. Admittedly, it may have been rather justified, considering he, Angeal and two different Science Department heads had taken some of the SOLDIERs as test subjects and turned them into clones in their more insane moments.

“I'm not saying that he should definitely come back if he is really that strongly opposed. What I am saying is that now that enough of us are coming back in and the Firsts are back and seemingly loyal... it's only a matter of time before they start ordering us to go after the missing people. And I do not want to be ordered to hunt down my friends.”

“They wouldn't make us do that for a while. The whole thing is so unstable now. There are only a handful of SOLDIERs that stayed and stayed loyal. Would they really start another cascade of desertions by pulling that shit? I hear they were going to send the General after the Commanders and he was going to refuse. What if he had gone? What if he had deserted? They backed off pretty quick on making him go. And they were still trying to get the Commanders to come back, not just terminate.”

“Ok, fine. But that's the Firsts. Jack is a Third. They are way more disposable than the precious Firsts. Especially with people coming back. And especially how they ramped up the recruitment and promotion in order to replace all the 'vacationers'. If anything we have an excess of Thirds. Some of them are even being fast-tracked to Seconds with the individual attention. It might not be one of us to go after him. They would probably prefer someone like that who has never given them reason to question.”

“That... could be true.” The second voice sounded less confident and now a bit worried. “But he's really against this war. His mother's side is Wutai and his girl's family is stuck over the border.”

“This is such a fucked situation. Why couldn't the Commanders just stayed away? Then ShinRa would have had way bigger fish to fry. Now it's just an unholy mess.”

Genesis crept back the way he had come and detoured around the two Seconds. But not before he had made a mental note about the two.

OoOOOOoo

Cloud was no lawyer, and he was sure there was some clause in the contract he was signing that was going to come back and bite him in the ass... but he had been at the shit end of enough loop holes that he thought he had caught the glaring ones. As far as Cloud could tell, he could be assigned to any of the departments, he was guaranteed an office and access to the rocket information, and he had the right to refuse any request (though he had only three vetoes a month, he had gotten them to let those vetoes roll over to the next month, expiring at the end of the calendar year. For this he had traded some vacation days...)

“And we have an apartment waiting for you Mr. Strife.” The human resources aide filed the papers and tucked away the various input devices for his fingerprints, retinal scan, etc. “You can follow Suzanne. She has your keys.”

“Thank you.” Cloud stood, tucking his copy of the contract under his arm so he could shake the woman's hand.

“I hope you find everything to your liking.”

“I'm sure I will.”

And at first glance it did seem to be a very nice apartment. It was only one floor up from all the company rec equipment which he had full use of. Though not SOLDIER level of facilities, it was certainly nicer than doing chin ups on tree branches and lifting large rocks in between killing monsters.

Something in Cloud's pocket made a buzzing noise, startling him. He grabbed at it and pulled out his PHS. “Hn. A new assignment already?” He read the details quickly. A group of monsters to be cleaned out of Midgar. With Genesis as his observer. “What part of 'pacifist' did they not understand?” He grumbled. “Probably the whole idea.” He finished with chagrin. Well, the orders told him to meet at Genesis' office, so he made his way down to the SOLDIER floor. He wasn't entirely sure where it was, but he had a room number and the hallways were well marked. It wasn't like he didn't know the tower really well for various reasons.

“Who are you?” Two SOLDIER Seconds stopped Cloud in the corridor.

Cloud was a bit shocked to see them. They were some of the ones that usually ended up being a part of AVALANCE. “I have orders to go see Commander Rhapsodos. Something about a nest of Poodlers.”

“You're not a SOLDIER.” The one said suspiciously.

“You are correct.” Cloud replied. He waited patiently for them to get out of the way or make their point.

“Why are you going on missions?” The other one said hostilely.

“I honestly have no idea. I already told them I wouldn't kill anything.” Cloud sighed. “I'm not about to break that vow for a bunch of low level crustaceans.” First cracking shells, then cracking the skulls of certain silver haired General. It was a slippery slope.

“You don't kill?” The first Second looked rather interested.

“Not anymore, no. Did you know that most monsters will get so bored with you that they will literally throw items at you if you just sit there and stare at them long enough?” Cloud asked.

“Uh... no?”

“Well, they do! And you can train up almost as easily with gym equipment, though less efficiently, granted...” Cloud mused. “And I swear I got experience fighting Sephiroth yesterday. If only he would take me up on the whips...”

“Sephiroth?”

“Whips!?!”

“You don't think it would be fun?” Cloud asked in surprise. Ever since the idea had occurred to him he was obsessed. It would be slightly more reach that Masamune but with the added flexibility of the weapon. Plus he, at least, had never used one before so that in itself would be a huge learning experience. Hopefully Sephiroth hadn't used them before either since then the battle would be really one-sided. “Well I have to go. See you two around.”

Genesis' office ended up being in the same suite as Sephiroth's, which Cloud had been to before... or in the future... or something. Anyway, he knew where it was.

“Let's go.” Genesis pushed past Cloud before he could even step fully into the anteroom to the office suite.

“Alright.” Cloud followed after the redhead. No poetry? No smirk? The guy looked preoccupied and sort of annoyed. “I think I'm feeling neglected.” Cloud mused.

“What?” Genesis snapped.

“Nothing, nothing. Just commenting on the lack of serenading with poetic lines. I almost had it memorized, too. Now I think it's slipping away.” Cloud mused.

Genesis turned and actually focused on the blond. He blinked in confusion.

Cloud smirked and slipped through the door and jumped down the stairs.

Chapter Text

Sephiroth exerted all of his considerable self control to keep from clenching his hand into a fist. It would crumple the paperwork he was holding and that would not do. Then it would be obvious to all that he was upset.

On top was a list of the returning SOLDIERs. Beneath that, the ones still MIA and last known locations, length of time missing, pertinent personal information... and on the desk all the files of all the SOLDIERs in both categories. Sorting through the information was a nightmare. One that had previously been Lazard's problem and that of his staff. But now with all the 'vacationers' it was being left to Sephiroth to determine what their loyalties were. At least officially. But the General was in no mood to leave his SOLDIERs to the hands of the Turks if he was not thorough enough on confirming their allegiance or brutal enough with their punishment.

And then came the matter of assigning someone to track all the remaining missing down. Command would not let him go to find them as the idea of so many questionably loyal mako-enhanced fighters, including two only beatable by himself, in the Headquarters without any form of security... basically it was not an order he could countermand. But they certainly would not let any of the defectors go on a bring-back mission for fear they would disappear again (potentially with more ShinRa secrets). Which left Zack and Kunsel. Who were off haring about the countryside already trying to track these cold trails. And reporting disturbing news that not all of the trails led to voluntary leaving. Some trails definitely pointed to capture by Wutai... and some to capture by ShinRa Science Department. Not that Zack or Kunsel put that in their reports, of course, though Kunsel might have known that was what the descriptions in the report implied.

Sephiroth set the lists down and felt his face become cold and emotionless as he contemplated the situation. He could not get management to trust the returning SOLDIERs. And he did not have enough people on the search. Even if he were to be allowed to go, there would not be enough. Even if he did get enough men... could he go against ShinRa? The very idea made him uneasy.

And what to do about the war in Wutai. Without any SOLDIERs more experienced than a few novice Seconds helping the regular army, progress had ground to a halt.

Sephiroth gathered the files and strode around his desk and out the room.

“General.” Lazard looked up in surprise.

Sephiroth slapped the files down on the Director's desk. “We need to negotiate a cease-fire with Wutai.”

“What!?”

“SOLDIER is unable to support the Army any further with this effort. We need to focus on internal affairs. The operation is too much of a drain on our resources and has been for some time. It needs to end.”

“We can't just pull out.” Lazard protested.

“Yes, we can. Wutai cannot send more than raiding parties to harass ShinRa. They will not have the capacity. This we can handle.”

“If we just show them a tremendous force...” He trailed off. The original plan had been to send Sephiroth. Had been about to deploy him when news of Angeal and Genesis' return had spread.

“There is no display of power that at this juncture that will not leave us weak. We must accept that there is going to be a competitor for the time being. We already hold an almost perfect monopoly. Perhaps the Wutai can serve as another target for the environmental terrorists.” Sephiroth said dryly.

“More likely to serve as a base of power for the terrorists.” Lazard retorted.

“Perhaps.” Sephiroth shrugged. “I do not care overly much for the politics of the situation. I just know that my hands are tied with the restrictions.” He added a stapled report to the files. “Here is my official statement.”

Lazard looked at the stack of papers as if it were Masamune... or perhaps, that he would prefer it was a sword.

“I leave it to you to bring this to the proper attentions.” Sephiroth said flatly. “I have already posted the report to the appropriate offices.”

Lazard looked pale but he accepted the report and pulled it to him. “Thank you, General.”

Sephiroth nodded and spun gracefully on his heel and walked out of the office. He still felt disgruntled about the situation, but at least he wasn't the one who had to deal with President Shinra or Heidegger.

OooOOooo

Genesis was irritated. Irritated that he was trailing after the chokobo-head, irritated that he was a second-class employee, irritated that Angeal seemed to think it was only right due to their breach of 'honor', irritated that his god-dammed hair kept falling in his face! He blew an errant strand away from his mouth for the umpteenth time. His damn hair was growing so fast ever since that mako dip. Which lead him back to being irritated about the little blond in front of him. The man was far too happy to be sent on a monster extermination mission. And much too relaxed. Poodler were no joke enemy. Even Genesis was going to be a bit cautious dealing with the numbers that had been reported. But the blond was practically skipping!

“Lighten up, Genesis!” Cloud said cheerfully. “It's not every day you get to go down to the slums.”

Genesis stared at the blond, too at a loss to even quote his favorite play.

“And here we are!” Cloud enthused, leaping into the abandoned warehouse with a battle cry.

The SOLDIER stood back, peering into a window to see if he would need to rescue the idiot. Not that he would if the other needed it. It would be his own damn fault. But the scene that greeted his eyes was not one of wanton massacre of chocobo-like humanoids. “What are you doing? Where the hell did you get that much duct tape?!?” Genesis shouted hysterically.

Cloud looked up from where he was stuffing the soft end of the Poodler into its shell in confusion. “Well I can't leave them hanging out. They can still attack that way.”

“'When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end...'” Genesis muttered in shock.

“And then we'll have to find a Wutai restaurant.” Cloud muttered to himself. He slapped another piece of duct tape into place with an air of satisfaction and began wrestling the next Poodler into submission. He seemingly ignored the jets of fire shooting out of the four remaining Poodler and the occasional shell slamming into him.

“A Wutai restaurant?” Genesis sputtered. “You do realize we are at war with them, right?”

“Oh we are?” Cloud looked up in surprise. His moment of inattention let the Poodler wrap its tentacles around him and try to choke him. Cloud groped the tentacles and pulled them out of his shirt before stuffing it into the thing's shell and taping it closed. “That's odd you're still are, considering the disparity of forces. Why don't they just send Sephiroth?”

“It's complicated.” Genesis grit out.

“What, like 'we don't trust all you people that were probably going to destroy our company' complicated from ShinRa's perspective?” Cloud asked with a wry grin.

“'Their fates are scattered by war...'” Genesis quoted with a groan.

“You brought it on yourselves.” Cloud said with a complete lack of sympathy. He secured the last Poodler and surveyed his handiwork in the twitching shells in front of him. “What a haul, huh? We're going to eat well tonight. On to that restaurant.”

“There is no Wutai restaurant, and even if there was, you can't just go there when we are at war with them.” Genesis growled in exasperation. “And what the hell are you doing with those Poodler? You were supposed to kill them.”

“No.” Cloud grinned broadly as he stuffed the shellfish into a sac. “I was supposed to get rid of them. Note me getting rid of them.”

“Just kill them already!”

“No way. I have a vow of...” Cloud gave a funny look. “Er... whatever you call not killing things.”

“Non-violence?” Genesis hazarded.

“Absolutely not. Did you see me with those things? That is no time for 'non-violence'. I just am not going to kill them.” Cloud hmmed into his hand and looked up contemplatively. “At least, not on purpose.”

“'He is guided by hope that the gift will bring bliss.'” Genesis quoted sarcastically. “Why did I get assigned this fool?” He muttered under his breath.

“Don't worry, Genesis. You'll love Wutai food. Nice and spicy. And they have a real way with shellfish.”

Genesis scowled and headed off in a random direction. There was no way he was putting up with this crap.

“Hey, wait! It's this way.”

Genesis growled and tried to avoid the hand grabbing at him, but finally surrendered to the inevitable and let himself be dragged along. Though not without a pathetically moping face.

OoOoOoOo

“Well?” Cloud prompted.

Genesis scowled at him, but internally he had to admit that Poodler stir fry was extremely tasty.

Cloud happily continued slicing the monsters to the exacting standards of the ecstatic Wutai chefs. They were becoming annoying with the constant exclamations of joy and incredulity.

“So if you cut it just so it does not return to the Lifestream?” Cloud asked the head chef.

“Exactly so. If they are separated in a certain way from the body, then it does not fade away as do the rest of the organics.” The man said enthusiastically, his damn squinty eyes alight with excitement.

Genesis stuffed food in his mouth to refrain from commenting on fraternizing with the enemy. It helped that the flavors practically made him swoon.

“Thanks a lot, guys. I feel like I have learned a lot.” Cloud said happily.

“We appreciate your efforts to get us the ingredients and to help us properly prepare it.” The chef bowed low before the blond, who rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Oh, no problem! I'm getting paid for the mission by ShinRa and now by you, too, with the food!” He said happily.

Genesis sighed and stood up. “We should get going.”

“'The wandering soul knows no rest.'” Cloud mourned.

Genesis looked at the blond in shock. Had he just...

“What? You aren't the only one who can quote from plays.” Cloud huffed defensively. “In fact, I think I will usurp your position and start to quote from other plays. What do you think? Then we could get into a contest of who could discern the most references.”

Genesis slowed and then stopped, turning to face Cloud. “You... want to quote 'Loveless'?” He asked incredulously.

“Sure. Can't let you have all the fun.”

Genesis felt tears welling up in his eyes and furiously thought about something else to get the prickle to disappear. He didn't realize how emotional he could get about the damn play- even if it was the best work ever done by man. “Don't expect me to take this lying down.” Genesis cautioned.

“'To seek the answer together, once again'” Cloud replied smugly.

“'There is no hate, only joy'” Genesis replied with a quirked eyebrow.

Cloud grinned at Genesis and sauntered off, leading the way back to the trains and the upper Plate.

OoOOoooooo

Zach let out a loud sigh of happiness as he flopped into the couch near his mentor. He quickly stripped the wrapping off the candy bar he'd just bought and bit into it with a loud groan of bliss.

Angeal looked at him sideways, but otherwise did not acknowledge his student. Which was sort of odd, actually. And was he wearing earphones? What the...

Zach frowned and looked around. Nothing seemed particularly amiss in the SOLDIER lounge. There were several other people there, though most of them seemed to be rushing in and back out again. Actually... maybe it just looked like a normal number of people because there were more SOLDIERs back at ShinRa? Zach had gotten rather used to it being deserted and when he left it had just been getting more populated again. The only people who were not really just passing through were Angeal, Genesis and that strange blond guy that had fought the General a bit before he got sent on all the recovery missions.

“Hmm.” Zach watched the redhead and the blond, trying to figure out the conundrum. That's when he actually tuned in enough to realize what they were saying.

Genesis was flinging his arms out wide as he propped up a foot next to where the blond was sprawled on a loveseat, causing his crotch to be in the man's face. “We that are true lovers run into strange capers!”

The blond grabbed Genesis' ankle and flung him backwards. “'Tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

Not to be deterred, Genesis used the momentum to pivot around dramatically. “Or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them!” He protested hotly.

The blond rolled his eyes. “So wise so young, they say do never live long.”

“All the world's a stage! And all the men and women merely players!” Genesis huffed, clearly affronted. Though Zach had no idea why. They were quoting at each other. How could that possibly be offensive? Well, offensive to Genesis, anyway- he loved plays-stuff. It had clearly already gone beyond Angeal's tolerance if the headphones were anything to go by.

“I pray thee peace, I will be flesh and blood.” The blond rubbed his eyes with a hand, looking tired. He then dropped his hand and shrugged.

Zack stared at the two of them. Were they having a conversation? How could they be having a conversation??? It was so quick! But they were definitely quotes- it had a sing-song quality to it. He was distracted when the General walked in- the vibe coming off of Sephiroth could freeze steam. But the two didn't seem to notice.

“Come, madame wide, sit by my side, and let the world slip, we shall ne'er be younger.” Genesis put a hand to his chest. Neither seemed to care that the blond was the one sitting whilst Genesis was still on his feet.

“Do they do this a lot?” Zack asked, wondering what he had missed being gone. It was so confusing...

“Lately.” Sephiroth grit out.

Zack looked at his superior in surprise. He could actually see the muscles of his jaw clenching. Zack's eyes bugged out slightly. He obviously had missed a LOT if the General was being so blatant with emotions. Zack wondered worriedly if the man might be going insane...

“That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man if with his tongue he cannot win a woman.” Cloud replied to Genesis haughtily.

“Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly at your service!” Genesis swooned right into Cloud's lap.

The blond turned bright red and spluttered. “I pray you, do not fall in love with me, for I am falser than vows made in wine!” The blond growled, trying to shove Genesis off of him. The red-head expertly maneuvered so that instead of being bucked off, they became even more entangled.

“I am starting to understand why everyone was fleeing the room.” Zack said wonderingly.

Angeal snorted at this but did not pull out the headphones.

“You have witchcraft in your lips!” Genesis sighed, nuzzling the blond's neck.

Zack noted with some concern that the blond was not back to being white... and he looked rather furious. The Second would have been convinced that a fight was going to break out if the blond's lips weren't twitching in amusement as well as his eyebrows dancing in annoyance.

“He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf.” The blond warned Genesis.

Genesis stopped nuzzling to give the blond puppy eyes. “Pleas'd not the million, 'twas caviar to the general!” He licked his lips and moved in closer to the blond's.

A wind swept Zack's hair forward and he blinked in confusion. That movement very nearly had him miss seeing the General suddenly appear.

Sephiroth snatched Genesis by the back of the neck. The redhead made a sound close to 'urk' as he was lifted bodily away from the blond, who burst out laughing.

“My friend, the fates are cruel!” Genesis choked out.

“Hah!” The blond crowed in between wheezing laughs. “Loveless!”

Genesis scrabbled behind him with his arms, trying to pry the silver-haired General off of him. He only managed to look like an idiot. But since the guy was starting to look pretty blue in the face, Zack felt like he needed to say something. “Um... Seph? Maybe you can put him down now?”

Sephiroth turned and glared at Zack, making him 'eep' and slouch down in the chair.

The General did look at Genesis and seemed to note his coloring as well. Or he just decided to throw the red-head across the room. Zack was never completely sure on the exact motivations for the enigmatic First.

Genesis stood with a groan, rubbing his head. Two packets of candy dropped from the abused vending machine he had slammed into and Zack licked his lips greedily. As long as the others didn't notice...

“Dammit, Seph! You made me lose the battle!” Genesis pouted. “I was convincing him, too!”

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. Perceptibly even! “Persuasion does not involve pinning Cloud down and licking him.” He said flatly. That was the guy's name... Zack should have remembered that- it was so... weird.

“Shows what you know.” Genesis waggled his eyebrows.

“It's alright.” Cloud stood, wiping his eyes from the tears of laughter. “He's an idiot- don't mind him.”

“An idiot!” Genesis scoffed. “Literary genius more like...”

Cloud tapped lightly on Sephiroth's forearm, eliciting an instinctive swat, which the blond used to duck under the moving arm and tuck himself against the General. Zack's eyebrows rose not so much at the move itself- he had seen a similar one at the end of their fight, after all, but more at how Sephiroth just... accepted it.

“Thank you for saving my virtue.” Cloud simpered up at Sephiroth. “You're my hero.”

Genesis made a gagging noise before bending back over and picking the candy out of the machine (damn!). Cloud laughed and twisted himself out of retaliatory range from Sephiroth, walking over to where Angeal and Zack were sitting. Sephiroth looked vaguely pleased by the whole ending, which Zack decided he was best off ignoring, just as his mentor seemed to have concluded already.

“Hey, Angeal, we're all done.” Cloud said as he plucked the headphones off of the much taller man.

“About time.” Angeal grumbled.

“Oh, it's just fun for the two of us.” Cloud laughed.

“You are encouraging him.” Angeal sighed.

“Oh, yes.” Cloud's eyes were dancing with mischief. “I had no idea how fun it would be.”

Angeal just grunted and stood.

“Well, Zack- good to see you back.” Cloud extended a hand, which Zack took, though he wasn't sure if it was an offer of help in standing or a hand-shake. It ended up being the latter, so Zack just went along with the gesture. It was surprising how much strength was in that hand- even though the blond was holding back, it was rather like being scruffed by Sephiroth. Since the General never shook hands, he couldn't say if it was anything like the man's hand-shake or not.

“Good to be back.” Zack replied honestly. As fun as it was to travel, finding- or worse, not finding, but instead getting those awful clues... Missing SOLDIERs could stay missing as far as Zack was concerned, unless ShinRa was about to start authorizing rescue missions from their own Departments. He hadn't even needed Kunsel's hints on some of the last few. He shuddered.

“Rough mission?” Cloud asked.

“Yeah.” Zack rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, don't let them work you too hard. If you don't take vacations, you can really go mad.” Cloud said, then laughed in a way that didn't make Zack feel all too good about the advice- it certainly hadn't worked for the blond. Or maybe Zack should really pay attention since the guy was speaking from experience? He eyed the obviously unhinged guy warily.

“So what did you want to see us all for, Sephy?” Cloud asked, putting his hands behind the back of his head and rocking back on his heels.

Sephiroth's eye twitched and Cloud grinned at him.

“We need to coordinate mentoring of the new Thirds.” Sephiroth sighed. “There are too many of them at the moment so we have had to non-select some promising recruits in the regular army. I want the ones that have potential moved up quickly.”

“We have been doing that already.” Angeal raised an eyebrow.

“But not in a coordinated fashion.” Sephiroth shook his head, then turned to look at Cloud. “In the mean time, there is going to be a massive expansion of the space program.”

Both Cloud's eyebrows shot up. “Wow. That's random... 'sorry kids, you can't be SOLDIERs right now, here's a rocket?'”

“Yes.” Sephiroth agreed. “And you are in charge of the new section. I expect that they will be doing physical work to aid them in their mental activities as you try to revitalize the attempts to breach atmosphere.”

Cloud's face stretched slowly into a broad grin. “Oh, this is going to be fun!” He cackled. “I will get that rocket into space if our group has to throw it ourselves!”

Zach had a sneaking suspicion that the blond wasn't entirely joking.

“They will not be authorized for mako injections.” Angeal warned, giving a quick glance to his commander, who verified that with a nod.

“Even better.” Cloud smacked his fist into the opposite palm. “I'll make them all chefs for sure... super powered, rocket-launching chefs!”

Sephiroth just sighed and left the room.

“Chefs?” Genesis quirked an eyebrow at Cloud.

“Wutai.” Cloud nodded sagely. Though this seemed like a treasonous phrase to Zack, both Angeal and Genesis got a dreamy look on their faces.

“It's gonna be good to live in Midgar.” Genesis sighed happily. “'Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul...'”

Chapter Text

“Cloud- if I might have a word.” The General called after Cloud as the meeting broke up.

Cloud jumped a little at the sudden comment; he had been half way out the door with a mind to find another delicious removal mission for lunch. He should have been expecting it, though. After the discussion, he needed to know more details on these recruits and what to do with them. That was probably what Sephiroth wanted to talk about... but Sephiroth had an ungodly ability to ask pleasantries in a way that basically just led to bitterness and insane laughter.

Cloud turned around and shrugged. “Sure. About the recruits?”

“Yes. If you would follow me to my office.” Sephiroth nodded his head in the direction of the executive elevator.

“Oh, alright. Can't you just e-mail me the files?” Cloud scratched the back of his head.

Sephiroth gave him a sharp look. “You need to select which ones you will accept.” He started to walk and Cloud followed him, acquiescing to the silent demand to follow. Cloud wasn't dumb enough to ask the same question again... but it would be nicer to just read them on a computer. Although... he wasn't entirely sure he could find the office they had given them. He had been having too much fun on missions. Actually... they had given him some card or something to log in and a password... he couldn't really remember where he'd put the card or what the password was...

He patted himself surreptitiously and, to his surprise, found his card slipped into his front jumper pocket. Interesting... ShinRa support staff were better than Wutai ninjas.

Well, Cloud had not agreed to not to stop asking questions. He decided to try to get some more info. Since the questions were related, Cloud might be able to avoid any violence coming from the silver-haired man. “How many are there?” Cloud asked, a bit concerned at the thought of a horde of young, violent men under his command.

“There are twelve candidates.” Sephiroth replied easily enough.

“Alright.” Cloud started to muse- how many could he handle? He wasn't really used to working in groups larger than three, or two groups of three for a total of six. He'd never really been much of a social person or even much of a leader.

The elevator ride was a bit of an awkward silence. Cloud felt like maybe he should say something, but he found it uncomfortable for the most part to be around the General. Even in lives when they had been friends of sorts... well... they always ended up trying to kill each other. And that was about as chatty as Sephiroth seemed to get. Cloud wasn't sure what to say when Zack or someone else gregarious wasn't around as a buffer.

Sephiroth gestured Cloud into his office and the man went behind his desk to grab a stack of files. He placed them down on the small conference table in his office and gestured for Cloud to take a seat. After a brief battle between wanting to be close enough that maybe he could 'accidentally' lean on the other man, his survival instincts, and his introverted/PTSD desire to stay well away from the General; Cloud ended up sitting next to Sephiroth. To see the files better, of course.

“I have weeded out the obviously unsuitable, but they will be your team.” Sephiroth said, his long fingers splaying over the files and spreading them so that the names on the tabs were visible. “So you must determine who you think you would be able to work with and train.”

“Tall order.” Cloud muttered. At Sephiroth's quirked eyebrow, Cloud shrugged. “I'm just determining their fate, is all.”

“They will have another chance if you pass them over.”

“In the regular army.” Cloud scowled. He knew from personal experience just what kind of a chance that really was.

“Or in another capacity for ShinRa.” The General agreed easily. “We are not a charity, Cloud. We are a business.”

Cloud's lip twitched at that bald statement. “Yeah, I know.” It still was odd to be doing all this, though. How the heck did he get here, again? “So... how many am I to take?”

“The company has said five, but if you need more I will see if I can... persuade them.”

“Ok. Well, I'll look at the files, then.” He almost reached for the folders while Sephiroth's hand was still on them, but at the last second decided he liked it attached to his body rather too well to do so. He squirmed a bit until Sephiroth stood and walked back to his desk. Cloud followed him with his eyes and unconsciously shifted slightly so the man would be in his peripheral vision as he picked up the first candidate from the stack.

“Let me know when you are complete. Familiarize yourself with all the files and reject the obvious in the next two hours- we are to meet them if you are agreeable at eleven hundred.”

Well. Cloud huffed a small noise somewhere between amusement and annoyance. The man did know how to order people around. But he got to it anyway- no reason to not.

The first file Cloud immediately rejected- Hadrian had the look of a bully and the first page of notes confirmed that assessment. No apparent creativity or sense of humor, either, which was going to be necessary for what Cloud was going to have them do. Sorting through the rest of the files there were many different background. They varied in home towns from Nasir of Gongaga, where Zack was from and like Nibelheim in the middle of nowhere, to the just over half from Midgar itself. They also varied in knowledge of rockets, not that Cloud was going to hold it too much against them if all they knew was the basics that ShinRa taught on engineering geared towards mech operation. It's not like he knew much more, that was for sure. One, though, Romeo- he seemed to have something of an interest in the subject, so Cloud hoped that he would work out. Nothing in the file seemed to suggest he wouldn't.

Other than Hadrian, there was one other boy that he rejected as well- Jorge had such abysmally bad materia marks that Cloud didn't think that he would be able to train him. It wasn't just skill level- everyone could gain levels- it was his attitude as noted in the file- he actually said that he had no interest in ever using materia unless absolutely necessary. Not only would that not work for Cloud's schemes, but it was generally a poor attitude. If nothing else, everyone on a team should be able to cast Cure.

“Ready?”

Cloud started slightly, even though he had seen the other man move. He needed to calm down- it was Hel cursed paperwork, not a boss battle.

“I'm done.” Cloud replied, standing up. He followed as Sephiroth lead the way down to the elevator going to the barracks. Just before the barracks floor they got off- these were the rooms where cadets had classes. Sephiroth went into one quite close to the elevator that had been cleared of all furniture except a long table on the wall opposite the door with chairs facing the entry and a chair in the middle of the room facing that set up. Cloud recognized this set up well and with some trepidation.

Sephiroth sat at the middle of the three chairs and Cloud sat down next to him, putting the files in front of him.

A hard looking man can in shortly thereafter, wearing regular army fatigues, but Cloud recognized him as someone who screened cadets from previous lives. He was trailed by a junior man, but not one of the candidates. The older man sat on Sephiroth's other side with a polite nod, then gestured to the younger, who went out to presumably get the first candidate.

The first was Kobe Sedgwick, a beefy boy with a calm, square face and large dark eyes. He saluted and sat when told to do so. The other two men then looked to Cloud.

“So, Kobe.” Cloud cleared his throat. “How do you like materia?”

Kobe's eyes flicked to the General, his teacher and then back to Cloud before he licked his lips to answer. “Sir, I am not very good at them, but I have no particular feelings against using them- I think that they are very useful as a renewable resource as opposed to potions, sir.”

Cloud nodded. A good answer. “And how would you say you like to operate in a team?”

Kobe blinked. “Sir?”

“You like to be the leader?”

Kobe's eyes flicked again and now he seemed to be nervous. “Sir... I.... I do like teamwork, but I can work on my own, too, I don't need to have someone else there. Sir.”

Cloud hmmed thoughtfully and looked again at the file. Looks like this particular young man had been noted as lacking enthusiasm for working alone. Which actually was good for Cloud. “Ok. One last question.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What experience do you have with cooking from fresh ingredients?”

Those dark eyes did a long, slow blink at Cloud. “Uh... none, sir- I grew up in Midgar.”

Cloud nodded. “Ok, thanks.”

The man at the door escorted Kobe out and brought in the next candidate; Jarod Bamford, a wiry young man with black hair and a guarded sort of posture. Then Gianni Kinne, an olive-skinned shorter boy. Both seemed fine. Matthew Croucher was no good- he took one look at Cloud's lack of glow in his eyes and dismissed him as a leader. Romeo Berens was next.

“So, Romeo. It says here you like rockets?”

Romeo's face lit up, his expression making him look like a lovechild of Rude and Reno- the boy was dark with hair so short the tight curls made him look almost bald, but the smirk indicated glee, mayhem, and a love of explosions. “Oh, yes, sir! Anything mechanical is just great. I am hoping that I can work with some of the mecha droids coming out of ShinRa! Sir.”

“Then why not join the regular army or the Turks?” Cloud asked, genuinely wondering.

“Because SOLDIER is the best! I can pick a specialty where I work with the robots. And only in SOLDIER can I be fast enough to fight alongside them. Otherwise you have to be inside them or on the sidelines, sir.” Romeo pumped a fist in the air and now Cloud wondered if maybe the boy was related to Barrett. “And rockets are the best, sir!”

“I see.” Cloud smiled. “Thank you Romeo.”

“Sure thing, sir!” Romeo grinned as he left.

“That one I definitely want.” Cloud smiled. “Enthusiasm for the topic and quite the inventive mind.”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow but had no comment to add.

Nasir Lauricella and Aiden Thurm seemed decent candidates, both Midgar above-plate born and thus better educated on math and science. Steven Banton couldn't stop talking about swords and killing things, so Cloud quickly crossed him off the list. The next was 'Trace' Slobin.

Trace was very thin, tall and wiry, with cropped short red-brown hair over fierce blue eyes. Trace was also pretty obviously a woman. Cloud snuck a look at the other three men in the room but none of them seemed to be batting an eye. And the file said 'male'. But Cloud knew. He had been around too many fighting women- it was something in the stance, the attitude... he wasn't sure. But he was absolutely certain the person in front of him was a woman. Ballsy of her to try to enter SOLDIER, as they did not accept women. Cloud wasn't sure where she thought that would get her.

“So. Any interest in rockets?” Cloud opened up, putting a slight emphasis on 'rocket' that would piss off any feminist listening for it. And, yup- there was the tightening around the eyes.

“Not really, sir.” The voice was maybe a smidge high for a teenage boy's. But...

Eh. To Hel with it. Vacation! “Alrighty. Thank you.”

“The last two boys have dropped out, sir.” The escort said. “We told them this was a hand-picked alternative path by the General but they declined.”

“Thank you.” Cloud nodded.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at Cloud.

“You obviously aren't taking the last one, then.” The sergeant stated.

“Oh, no. I like him.” Cloud patted himself on the back at not slipping up on pronouns.

“You did?” The man blinked.

“Definitely.” Seeing a possible-woman-in-disguise made Cloud realize that he hadn't even seen much less talked to a woman in... well, months, aside from at the restaurants and the occasional secretary or cleaning staff. ShinRa must be extremely sexist, which he couldn't believe he'd just noticed. Which was why he was sort of wondering if he had been hallucinating about Trace. “I like him, Kobe, Jarod, Romea, Gianni, Nasir and Aiden.”

“That's seven.” The sergeant frowned. “I guess two teams of four...”

“Inform them.” Sephiroth said, standing up.

The relief on the man's face was clear. “They're not to be kicked out?” He asked for confirmation.

“Well, in a manner of speaking...” Cloud hedged. “I am an... alternate track. But they will get strong with me. I guarantee it.”

“As you know, there are no openings for Thirds.” Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow. “I suggest that they take this opportunity.”

“Yes, sir, of course, sir.” The sergeant saluted. “What about the rest of the class?”

Sephiroth shrugged. “The usual options.”

“Yes, sir.” The sergeant looked less thrilled but left the room to go inform the recruits along with his second.

Which left Cloud alone with Sephiroth.

Cloud fidgeted a bit in the sudden silence before turning on his heal and making a go for the door.

“Cloud.” Sephiroth's voice was not loud, but Cloud stopped dead nonetheless. “Do you have an urgent matter to attend to?”

Well, not really.

“I see.” Sephiroth replied, whether to Cloud's facial expression or because he had said it out loud he wasn't sure. “Then why are you avoiding me?”

Cloud rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I'm on vacation.” He reminded the General.

“I fail to see the relevance.” Sephiroth frowned. “You find plenty of time for Genesis.”

Cloud thought in bemusement that only in his bizarre life would Sephiroth be jealous of him spending time with someone as raunchy, annoying and... well, like Genesis. The very uncomfortableness of this conversation and the fact that Cloud was both afraid for his life and unreasonably turned on at the same time every time he was in the same room as Sephiroth made it perfectly understandable that he avoided the man. Though Cloud's repeating life undoubtedly revolves around the silver haired general, only the fact that the red-headed First was refreshingly sane and somewhat shockingly alive meant that, well, “He's different.”

“What do you find so interesting about him?” Sephiroth asked coldly.

Cloud shrugged. He almost could tell what Sephiroth was really saying, but he didn't quite have enough practice at interpreting the odd statements. Considering their history and the magnitude of experience he did have, though, it was possible that there was no possible way to interpret the man. “He's your friend, isn't he? You tell me.” Cloud groused.

Sephiroth just looked away sharply.

Cloud frowned slightly, thinking of Genesis' seemingly pathological attachment to him especially since Angeal had been so focused on Zach and trying to repair that relationship. In hindsight, it was a bit odd that Genesis would be spending so much time with someone he barely knew, rather than someone Cloud had thought was a friend of his.

“He just likes me because I quote Loveless at him.” Cloud smiled faintly, deciding to ignore what he couldn't fathom .

Sephiroth twisted back to look at the blond with affront in every line of his body. Cloud instinctively attempted to locate Masumune. But the General chose to cut with words... for now anyway. “You find that play to be more interesting than...” His mouth snapped shut abruptly.

Cloud's eyes widened as he mentally completed the sentence. He easily could imagine 'than me' finishing off the question, down to the intonation. Cloud was literally stumped. Surely Sephiroth was tired of being the center of attention? But something about the way he had shifted his posture after almost slipping the full statement... almost as if he was unsure.

Suddenly Cloud blinked as something in his mind shifted sideways with an almost physical thunk.. Even when Sephiroth was talking about being a god there was always an almost implied inferiority complex behind the words- some sort of fear, like he needed to absorb an entire world to prove he existed. Like he had needed someone to chase him and to know why- a need to discuss the whole thing. It had always been one of the more confusing parts about trying to stop Sephiroth from destroying the world, or so Cloud had always thought. But maybe... maybe Sephiroth was... no...

At the continued silence Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest protectively, turned his face slightly to the side and looked at Cloud warily out of the corner of his eye.

But the root of the matter was- how could anyone possibly compare to Sephiroth? No one else could kill the Planet with that amount of flair (if at all). Certainly no one else had the temerity to ignore death like it was not even an inconvenience... Cloud realized that even as insane as the time looping had made him and the splintering of reality that seemed to follow had done little to break the odd orbit the two of them seemed to share. Sephiroth was basically the one constant in Cloud's existence.

When Cloud continued to stare at Sephiroth a silver eyebrow started to twitch in some bizarre form of anger. It wasn't pure annoyance-I-am-going-to-skewer-you, though it did definitely have elements of homicidal impulse.

Cloud finally shook himself and answered the question. Sort of. “How could you possibly be less interesting than...” He made an aborted, fluttery gesture. “You think...” Cloud just shook his head helplessly. Unlike previous times when Sephiroth had left Cloud tongue-tied when Cloud had been young: worried and did not want to embarrass himself in front of his idol, or set off the end of the world or get shish-ke-babbed; this time his inability to form coherent words was due to sheer disbelief.

Sephiroth turned somewhat to look at Cloud, though his eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion.

“Hel. Saying you aren't interesting is like saying Midgar isn't polluted. Not only is it obviously untrue, it's the reverse of the truth.”

Sephiroth was silent. He didn't look entirely sure what to make of the declaration.

Cloud shook his head and tried again to exit the room. Saying that he did not want to deal with this conversation was an understatement.

Sephiroth gripped his arm to keep him still and Cloud felt a flash of adrenaline and a shiver of pleasure at the touch. He looked up into the cat-slit eyes trying to gauge motivation. But Sephiroth just looked a little lost and only nominally mad, so Cloud relaxed into the pull and let himself be drawn back closer.

“How is Genesis different?” Sephiroth asked, his hand tightening on Cloud's arm in some unknown emotion.

“Uh...” Cloud held up his hands in placation as his eyes involuntarily twitched to Sephiroth's sword arm. Currently clenched into a fist, but not armed.

“What are you looking at?” The General demanded.

“Just checking for a weapon. You look ready to impale me.” Cloud replied.

“Answer my first question.” Sephiroth growled.

“Well... he's...” Cloud shrugged helplessly. “He's just fun.” And then winced at the reaction that caused. He meant that there wasn't any baggage- but how to express it?

“I see.” Sephiroth said flatly. “Of course that is an obvious conclusion.” He turned to go, and this time it was Cloud grabbing him, though his lie flashed before his eyes, such as it were, as he did so.

“Wait...” Cloud frowned. “That's not what I meant...”

It occurred to Cloud that without Angeal around, with Zack never befriending the General, really, since he was off hunting down deserters and the two Firsts hadn't been gone all that long... and how Sephiroth seemed to be no longer on speaking terms with Genesis... the man had no one to talk to. Except in meetings with bureaucrats, being annoyed by fans and giving orders.

“You want to be... friends?” Cloud asked hesitantly.

Sephiroth's posture tightened up again.

Cloud considered. He already knew he wouldn't kill the General, he refused to kill anyone. He also refused to care about the fate of the Planet this iteration of his life. So why was he avoiding the man? Was that not, really, a kind of caring about the situation?

“I said nothing of the sort.” Sephiroth said shortly.

Though he kind of had, in the stilted I-ask-about-your-hometown-then-laugh-in-mad-despair-as-I-don't-have-one kind of way.

Decided, Cloud squared his shoulders. “Why don't you come with Genesis and me? We were going to go kill something for lunch.”

Sephiroth looked pained at the very thought and at the same time completely disappointed, among other less discernible thoughts.

Sheesh, Cloud hadn't thought that Sephiroth disliked Genesis that much... But... disappointed? “You want to hang out?” that phrase seemed wrong when talking about the General, “just the two of us?” Cloud asked dubiously.

“It is obviously a horrifying idea to you.” Sephiroth snapped, his arms snapping back into a crossed position against his chest as he seemed to loom even taller.

Cloud had to acknowledge that truth, but when his unconscious nod caused a flash of what looked like legitimate pain to skitter across the man's features, the damnable hero in Cloud made words spring from his lips before he could really censor them properly. “We could do something together.” Ok, so that hadn't come out so bad.

“What...” Sephiroth trailed off, looking uncertain again.

Cloud tried to finish the question. Maybe 'what do you like to do with people? I am totally isolated and have no idea what people do for fun' or 'what do you mean, that it isn't horrifying or that you would actually want to' or 'what weapon would you like to defend yourself with.'

“Probably not the last one.” Sephiroth said, his lip twitching slightly.

Cloud stared at him blankly. “What?!? I said that out loud? Hel take me to my deserved fate!” He cursed.

The lips twitched again, this time almost resembling a smile, though it soured quickly. “You missed 'what are we supposed to say now?' I suppose the normal pleasantries.” He said emotionlessly.

“Hel no.” Cloud denied emphatically. He knew how well that would go. “Neither of us want to talk about that...” He waved vaguely. Not to mention that Cloud knew Sephiroth's history much better than the man in front of him did (or ever really learned, usually) and, ironically, better than he knew his own history. Between confusing himself with Zack and appearing in this world as an adult, Hel if he knew anything about his life.

Sephiroth looked surprised and relieved, but also confused.

“Uh... we could talk about...” Cloud reached for a topic. He looked at the silver-haired man sheepishly. “I have no idea, really.”

Sephiroth's crossed arms lowered slightly, so that he was only holding on lightly to his elbows rather than hugging himself tightly.

“Which is why I've been avoiding you.” Cloud sighed.

“I don't believe that is the entire truth.” Sephiroth noted. Rather astutely, damn his intelligence.

Cloud shrugged. Not going to deny it any more than he was going to explain it. But what could they do? Anything physical was out of the question... Cloud blushed slightly. “Because we are too coordinated to have fun bowling.” He protested hotly. Out loud again, oops. He really needed to kick that Lifestream habit.

Sephiroth eyed Cloud in a mix of wariness and interest at the outburst. He looked more relaxed, his stance opening up. “If you think so. I have never been 'bowling'.”

“Me neither.” Cloud confessed. Seeing movies? Too much like a date. Dinner, ditto. Sparring? They had done that before and Sephiroth had offered that as almost a bribe to keep Cloud from running away. If they were going to do this 'friend' thing, it needed to be something else. “I don't know. What do you like to do?”

“I thought we weren't trading pleasantries.” Sephiroth snapped back.

“You don't have any hobbies?” Cloud asked incredulously.

A.....nd the crossed arms are back.

“Well, one of my favorite things to do is riding chocobos. Or breeding them.... or finding them in the wild... or watching them dance...” He drifted off happily.

“One would think, with your hair, the comments would have made you resent them.” Sephiroth said dryly.

Cloud snapped out of his daydream and looked at Sephiroth incredulously. The other tensed. After a moment it fully sank in what Sephiroth actually had said and Cloud beamed. “Did you just tease me about my hair?” He asked in delight. “Excuse me if I don't spend hours primping my hair until it is perfect.” He shot back.

Sephiroth eyed Cloud then relaxed marginally. It seemed that someone- probably Genesis- had introduced him to teasing. “Appearances must be kept when one is not a wanderer employed by ShinRa as a bribe.”

“Oh, please. Like you don't have whatever you want so that they can keep you under control.” Cloud scoffed.

Sephiroth face went to ice again.

“I'm sorry.” Cloud apologized. “That came out wrong.”

“No, you are perfectly correct. Have a good lunch with Genesis.” Sephiroth said, then swept off.

“Reverse S.H.I.T.” Cloud cursed to himself. Sephiroth Happy Is Terrible might be true, but pissing the guy off was worse. After struggling internally for a half second, he trotted after the other man. “Look, sorry, ok? I'm not...” He shook his head. Sephiroth still was walking away briskly, not looking at him. “Open invitation- whenever you have an idea to do something, just let me know. When... whenever you want, ok? Even if I'm in my room or something, just knock.” Still nothing.

Cloud gave up and slowed to a halt, looking at the back of Sephiroth's back. Well... there was nothing that he could do about it, he supposed. He didn't think that there was really anything that the two of them could say to each other that could be... non-painful. Too much history, even if Sephiroth wasn't aware of it. Cloud sighed.

Talk about a mood kill. Now he didn't want to butcher something and bring it to a restaurant, he just wanted to brood.

Chapter Text

“Um... hello?”

Cloud looked up from his position sprawled on the floor and sighed. “Hi, Aeris.”

“Oh! It's Mr. Not Today.” Aeris tilted her head. “Why are you lying in the floor of my church?”

“I needed to mope and it's really hard to do that at the ShinRa tower.”

Aeris stiffened. “You said you weren't a SOLDIER.”

“I'm not.” Cloud smirked, closing his eyes. “I work in the department of space engineering. I'm trying to build a rocket so that the Calamity can leave the Planet and go off and bother someone else.”

“Er...”

“It'll work.” Cloud said confidently. And if it didn't... loop time! “And anyway, she wants to leave, that's why she keeps trying to destroy the Planet.”

“Oh, my.” Aeris said faintly.

Cloud cracked an eye open. “Did you consult the Lifestream about me?”

Aeris sighed and sank to her knees beside him. “I did.” She looked at him sadly. “I'm sorry.”

Cloud turned his head, feeling suddenly and overwhelmingly choked up. “It's not your fault.”

“So... did you figure yourself out with Zach?” Aeris asked.

Cloud frowned. “You know, that's a good question.”

“Hmm. If you don't know the answer to it, then maybe you should talk to him.” Aeris pointed out.

“You may be right. But I don't know that he likes me all that much.” Which was an interesting development, actually.

“Oh, I'm sorry. You'll find another boyfriend.” Aeris soothed.

Cloud choked, sitting up abruptly. He turned to Aeris, mouth open to protest hotly, but saw the mirth dancing in her eyes. “Oh, ha ha.” Cloud scowled. “Very funny.”

“I thought so.” Aeris quipped.

“I should get back.” Cloud sighed. He had recruits to train, mountains of paperwork to do, and... sigh. He was still hungry....

“Ok. But don't be so long next time.”

Cloud blinked at her.

Aeris shrugged. “You were a bit startling last time, but I know that you know me, and I feel that I know you.” She looked around the empty church, her eyes not landing on the flowers but rather the empty space up in the rafters.

Cloud realized abruptly that Sephiroth wasn't the only one who could use a friend. “Yeah, ok.” He agreed.

“And next time, bring your boyfriend.” Aeris' eyes glittered in amusement.

“Aerrrrrris!” Cloud drawled out her name. “I don't have a boyfriend!” Zack wouldn't come with him, for sure. The thought of Genesis in the church.... or worse... Sephiroth! No, bad idea.

“That's too bad.” Aeris patted him on the arm. “Everyone deserves somebody.” She said with a mostly straight face.

“I'm leaving now.” Cloud stood, turning on his heel and shaking his head.

“Goodby Mr. Not Today!” Aeris called after him.

As he walked away, Cloud couldn't help the way his mouth tilted up. Aeris always had a way of getting him out of his moods. Which is why he had jumped down here. Now to get back up.... maybe he'd jump on the top of a train again. It was such a pain to climb the support pillars.

OoOOOoOOo

“'Of course... I'll come back for you. Even if you don't promise to wait. I'll return knowing you'll be there.'”

At the first sound, Aeris had turned with an 'eep'. “Who's there?”

Genesis leaned forward off of the wall he'd been leaning against and came more into the light. “Someone curious who has our friend so intrigued.”

“Are you the boyfriend?” Aeris asked.

Genesis almost physically stumbled at the non sequitur. “What!?”

OoOOOOOoOo

Cloud lounged back in his chair, ridiculously pleased with himself. In front of him his recruits were leveling up. By doing paperwork. The mysterious They had said it was impossible, but They were absolutely rubbish at using materia in an optimum fashion. He had a good feeling Genesis at least would have been game to try, if he had asked, though the man had seen him use duct tape as a main weapon, so he might have just been going with the crazy.

Anyway- his minions were currently using Firaga instead of pens, burning the letters into the paper. As Cloud lounged another fire started and he lazily gestured for Kobe to put it out- not with a water spell, as might be expected, but with a tightly controlled Aeroga sucking all the oxygen away from the flames and snuffing them. This time Kobe succeeded and he grinned widely.

“Good job, Kobe.” Cloud smiled. To his left Jarod stood down with the Quaga spell half-cast. That was the back-up of the back-up. Which was why they were outside. Plus the sunshine was nice.

“So, Romeo- What have we learned?” Cloud asked lazily.

The sheepish young man who had caused the whole thing rubbed the back of his neck. “That dotting 'i's does not take more than the tiniest bit of power?”

“Very good.” Cloud nodded. “Now do the dance.”

Romeo sighed but complied. He picked up the pen with it's modified materia slot where the ink should be and clicked the end of it with a flourish before sheathing it in the pocket of his button up collared shirt.

Romeo had almost gained a level- good. He was the last one to get to a decent level with the fire spells. Maybe soon they could actually get work done. While his minions were practicing, Cloud had been reading the reports he had been neglecting in lieu of discovering fine dining.

Cid's accusations in the future weren't far off. Cloud knew enough to understand Cid's work- both from his various lives as a bike mechanic and that one masochistic loop where he had decided to work in one of the reactors as a technician. At least twice he had found weird inconsistencies and just a bit of digging on his portable terminal showed memo traffic where various officials had deliberately and rather unsubtly changed things. Obviously they wanted to sabotage the whole project, though why wasn't as clear. Cloud had a feeling that his motto or 'when in doubt, blame Hojo' was probably pretty accurate. Something about competition for grant money or something, if not outright Jenova induced.

Regardless of the politics or insanity of the situation, Cloud had an alien he needed to shoot into the great beyond.

Cloud's stomach started to rumble so he pulled out his PHS and sent a quick text to Genesis. He smiled when he got the reply. “Alright, kids- that's enough for the moment. Let's go get some lunch.”

“In the cafeteria?” Gianni asked.

“Oh, no.” Cloud grinned. “We're going to get it fresh.”

“Fresh?” Jarod asked dubiously.

OoOooOOO

“So you see-” Cloud paused to intercept the claws slashing at Romeo- “You just truss them up like so, and now they can't do anything.” Cloud tightened the last knot on the Bagrisk, which was hissing and rolling its swirled eyes and lolling its tongue at them. He handed the Bagrisk off to Trace, who slung it onto his back with the other six-legged creature he already had.

“I got this one!” Kobe cried, rushing forward to try to grab the last Bagrisk. Cloud saw the little animal take a casting stance and he raised his arm to call Kobe back. Too late. The earth shook and all eight of his troops/ office workers froze solid. Not exactly literally- they were not cold. No, they all were petrified.

Cloud shook his head and pulled out his Soft pins. It was probably more fun that it needed to be stabbing all of the young men with the pins, reversing the paralysis.

“What was that?” Gianni asked, wobbling slightly.

“Quake.” Cloud replied. “Let's try again, then.” As much as it was sort of painful watching these kids with a power level in the single digits trying to take on monsters well into the teens, but Cloud was able to sit back with relative ease. He blocked all of the fatal attacks, after all, had several Phoenix under-feathers and potions. No one was in any real danger. And they could actually get good experience this way... though again, it was not the traditional method and thus the results were somewhat odd. Sometimes it resulted in no discernible increase in level, and sometimes it caused a glitchy skyrocketing of ability.

Cloud and Genesis had gained four and eight levels, respectively, the last time they had taken out a pair of Mandragora. It had been extremely confusing to see the jump in Genesis in particular, just for cutting off the tops of the things and letting them go (a crucial herb for Cloud's chocobo breeding scheme). Genesis had of course immediately attacked Sephiroth and been knocked out, which Cloud could have told him would happen- the other was still a good dozen or more levels under Sephiroth.

Finally the last Bagrisk was secured and Cloud shook off his thoughts. The nine of them set off walking, following Cloud's lead.

“What are we going to do with them?” Aiden asked, finally, confused.

“We're going to a Corel food joint. I know one that makes food traditionally.” Cloud grinned. “And we're not going to have to spend a dime.”

“Free food!” The boys crowed happily.

OOOOOoOo

“Hey, there, Cloud!”

Cloud turned to see Genesis racing down the hallway. Seemed he had gotten over his latest challenge of Sephiroth without any hospitalization-worthy damage. “Genesis.” He quirked an eyebrow. “The wandering soul knows no rest?”

“Oh, pfft!” Genesis waved his hand. “I know I could have beaten him.”

“Uh huh.” Cloud rolled his eyes. “With a lot of luck, a good summons and maybe a battle buddy or five...”

“If you ever agreed to team up with me.” Genesis pouted.

“Then it would be me defeating him with you buzzing about the outsides.” Cloud teased.

“Would not!” Genesis protested hotly.

“Well... I'm going back to my room, so...”

“But it's Friday!”

Cloud raised an eyebrow. “So?”

“So!?” Genesis just shook his head. “You're as bad as Sephiroth and Angeal. Come out with me. There's a promotion party.”

“Oh? Who got promoted?” Cloud asked, not really caring all that much.

“The puppy did. Something about his doing a good job on all the reconnaissance missions. Him and that friend of his that never takes off his helmet.” Genesis wheedled, sensing weakness when Cloud turned to look at him fully at mention of Zack.

“Oh...” Cloud frowned. That meant time was passing. Only a matter of time before someone went crazy and tried to destroy the Planet. It might be worth it to have a little fun. “Alright.”

“Well, let's go! There's cake at the bar.”

Cloud allowed himself to be dragged along, feeling a bit depressed. The cycle would never end, it seemed. And he wasn't even sure if he could get properly drunk. Not having mako this time around was promising for the prospect, but it may well end up that his metabolism was too high, regardless.

“Hey, Commander! Good of you to make it.” Kunsel greeted happily. Cloud assumed he was smiling, but the SOLDIER still had his helmet on and the reflective surface obscured his face.

“'Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return.'” Genesis quoted, the hand not holding onto Cloud's wrist over his heart.

Cloud blinked and looked around, Judging by the wood accents, bar stools and smell of alcohol and people pressed in too close, it seemed they had arrived at the party.

“I didn't think you would be able to bring him.” Kunsel's visor swung towards Cloud.

“Oh, hey! New people!” Zack bounced over but skidded to an uncertain stop when he saw who it was, which made Cloud feel a little cold inside. When had Zack become wary of him?

“Cloud needs to get out more. I bet you he hasn't seen a woman in months.” Genesis swung his gaze over to the blond for confirmation.

Cloud shrugged.

“Not like he needs it...” Zack muttered.

Genesis' eyes narrowed and he blurred forward to catch Zack in a headlock. “What was that, puppy? I thought I heard a bark.”

“Get off me!” Zack whined. “You've already dragged me into your weird love-triangle.”

Not that Cloud couldn't see Genesis in an awkward romantic situation... “What love triangle?” Cloud asked Kunsel.

“You, the Commander and the General.” Kunsel shrugged. “Everyone knows about it.”

Cloud looked at the sleek mask incredulously. “Knows about what exactly?”

“The puppy is convinced.” Genesis released the dark haired teen and shoved the promotee over good-naturedly. “Which is why I knew you needed to come on out. All work and no tail makes for a gloomy Cloud, don't you think?”

“Uh...” Cloud looked around the bar dubiously. There were only SOLDIERs there so far.

“Yeah, this place is kind of a sausage fest.” Zack shrugged. “But we're only here for the cake. After that we have a route planned through all the good bars. No one bar can keep up with how much alcohol a SOLDIER can drink, anyway.”

Cloud gave Genesis a long look. “I don't need help with women.”

“My friend, the fates are cruel.” Genesis patted Cloud's shoulder in consolation.

Cloud felt his eyebrow starting to twitch.

“Here.” Kunsel pressed a beer into Cloud's hand.

Cloud gratefully took a long pull. The appeal of women in Midgar... not high. And he certainly didn't need any help with any of them! He knew all of them from one life or another. It was... just damn depressing. He chugged the beer and snagged another one from a SOLDIER Third just before he could take his first sip. Cloud gave him a glare when the guy went to protest, then punched the fist that came flying at him, causing it to crunch. While the Third howled on the floor, several others laughed and Zack gave him another beer. Cloud downed the stolen one and then started on the third, growling. There was nothing that was really going to make this night better.

OooOoooo

“Well. It's certainly obvious that he doesn't have mako.” Zack laughed as he doodled on the passed-out Cloud's face with a marker.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Kunsel asked, giggling so much that he fell over.

“Yes.” Zack said seriously. He added a few pubes to the penis before sitting back to admire his handiwork. “This has been a good night.”

OooOOooo

Cloud was too surprised (and hung over, if he was being honest) to make a sound as he was suddenly pulled to a halt in the corridor. He looked down at the thin fingers firmly wrapped around his bicep and slowly turned to give his attacker a raised eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I want to spar.” Sephiroth stated.

“Oh...” Cloud blinked. Would that a herd of Gighees weren't galloping through his head singing at the top of their lungs. Sure, he could fight, he could always fight... but... his head...

“You said any time I thought of something.” Sephiroth pointed out somewhat petulantly.

“Yeah, you're right, of course.” Cloud thought longingly of a big glass of water and something salty and greasy. “How about breakfast first?” He asked hopefully.

“It's one in the afternoon. We spar.” Sephiroth started tugging Cloud along after him.

“Hey! I'd like to see you you like getting manhandled!” Cloud grumbled. Actually, yeah, he really, really would, especially since he was pretty sure Sephiroth had liked it that time.

“I would like to see you try.”

Cloud looked up into Sephiroth's eyes a bit in surprise. That had almost sounded... and yeah, there is a bit of a sparkle in the green cat-slit eyes. The man was trying to provoke him. “You changed your mind about the whips?” The time-traveler asked hopefully, starting to actually keep up instead of being drug behind.

“If that is the only way to motivate you to repeat our duel, then I suppose alternative weapons might be used.”

“You sound so enthusiastic.” Cloud said, feeling one corner of his mouth pulling up in amusement. He pulled free and stopped in the corridor, stroking his chin in thought. “I suppose I could always start organizing the Space Department's files. That sounds pretty exciting.” It did certainly need it. Being deliberately sabotaged had done Hel to the cataloging system and Cloud really did need to get a working rocket output. Though just throwing Jenova into space was an idea, he was only sixty percent sure it would work.

Sephiroth scowled. “You will duel me.”

Cloud pursed his lips contemplatively. “I dunno... maybe Genesis can...” Once again Cloud is surprised. Sephiroth's eyes flashed with... literally glowing intensity, making Cloud automatically settle down into a defensive stance, a Shield already growing in his mental reserves. It was an instinct so thoroughly reinforced every life that he didn't actually need to have the materia equipped to cast it. Yay for being dead-ish all the time.

“Genesis has been taking too much of your time.” Sephiroth said slowly. “And he is no match for me.”

“I was teasing.” Cloud replied slowly, frowning as he looked at Sephiroth. “I would love to spar you.” What was a good way to ask if someone was hearing voices?

Sephiroth's eyes suddenly snapped to Cloud's tense posture and then his expression frosted over. He spun on his heal and took off in the direction of the simulator.

Cloud followed, somewhat bemused. What had set Sephiroth off? He hadn't looked that insane yet in this time loop... and he had looked about as crazed there for a split second as he tended to when resurrected into the middle of a battle. Which is to say really fucking nuts. The adrenalin was still pumping in Cloud's veins as they entered the room.

“Swords.” Sephiroth said shortly, basically daring Cloud to argue.

Without speaking, Cloud loosened his sword and pulled it from the scabbard on his back. Sephiroth huffed out a breath and punched a few buttons. The room transformed into a desert. They were on top of a mesa, or actually more of a butte, Cloud supposed... he did sometimes make money as a cartographer since he traveled so much, so he really should be specific. Anyway- a large outcropping of rock about maybe 100 meters high and 80 in diameter, looking out over many similar structures extending into the far horizon under a perfect blue sky. The closest one was maybe 20 meters away- jumpable, especially if he used Sephiroth as a stepping stone half way through.

Some small part of Cloud's mind that was not tracking Masumune was relieved that the desert view did not come with the unrelenting heat that it should have. It was close, but no indoor facility would be able to punish like the actual sun.

Sephiroth turned to Cloud, raised an eyebrow and flicked his seven feet of steel back and forth, indicating that he was ready.

Cloud smirked and ran at Sephiroth, who predictably dodged. But that was fine- Cloud hadn't been intending to engage. He kept going to the edge of the butte and took a flying leap off of it, his laughing cry almost drowning out the General's shout of alarm. Cloud spun in midair with a practiced kick of his legs, turning just in time to use the momentum to bring his sword to bear on Sephiroth. Who... almost got his face sliced before he was able to bring his blade to block. The momentum was enough to let Cloud bounce off the force and land on the next large rock formation as he intended, but he looked on with mild worry as Sephiroth fell into the side of the hard wall of stone. The cloud of dust that resulted was pretty impressive and the loud crash that followed it a second later made Cloud wince a little. But not enough that he missed Sephiroth leaping out of the cloud trailing bits of rock and debris.

Cloud danced out of the way as his opponent landed rather dramatically in a crouch with the dust sparkling around him in the reflected light.

Sephiroth straightened but did not attack. Cloud looked him over for any sign of injury. Something like that shouldn't have hurt the mako-enhanced SOLDIER, but maybe Cloud was overestimating the General's ability to withstand smashing face first into solid rock. It was pretty early yet- he was probably only in the 50 to 70 range.

“Why did you leap off the cliff?” Sephiroth asked with, for him, no small degree of heat.

“I was fairly sure I would make it, and almost as sure that you would follow, so then I definitely could have.” Cloud explained his earlier calculations.

Sephiroth looked... a little stumped, actually. “You were planning on pushing off of my attack mid-air?”

“Yes..?” Cloud cocked his head. What was wrong with that? They did it all the time.

“What if I hadn't attacked?”

Cloud scoffed. “Right. Like that would ever happen.” Sephiroth glowered. “But if it did,” Cloud allowed, “and I didn't make the leap, then I would have been able to jump off the side of the butte. Or just landed down in the desert.” He shrugged.

Sephiroth, however, wasn't really looking at him, he had a distant look to his eyes.

“You know what, let's postpone this. We can leave it for when we can plan it a bit better.”

“No.” The silver headed man shook his head, the hair falling over his shoulder.

Cloud spotted a telltale greenish tinge to the very ends of the General's hair. He retrieved his sheath and put away his sword, which caused the other to start growling. “I swear on the Planet that I will spar with you every day if you want to.” Cloud promised. “But I think maybe we should pause for a bit, ok?” Besides the hangover, Cloud knew that fighting right now would not end well. Sephiroth was compromised- Cloud was almost totally certain the other man had just come from a 'treatment' of Hojo's.

“But not today.” Sephiroth growled. “Today you are going to go with Genesis.”

Cloud put out his hands placatingly. “I don't have to go see him, we can go together, ok?”

“I...” Sephiroth looked confused. “I thought you were...” He trailed off, frowning in confusion.
Cloud stepped slower cautiously, trying not to make sudden movements. “It's ok, Sephiroth. Whatever you want, ok? I know it's not dinner yet but we could go get some chocolate or something, ok?”

Sephiroth looked down at the floor, his expression lost. “I do not like these emotions.”

“Chocolate will help.” Cloud reassured him as he inched cautiously inside Masamune's reach.

“No... I know what will.”

“Ok, great!” Cloud smiled. In retrospect he should have seen where this was going. As it was, however, he just had time to roll his eyes in annoyance and cough a little before the sword piercing his heart caused him to bleed out to the point he lost consciousness.

Chapter Text

Sephiroth's mind was drowning in green-tinged haze. Nothing felt quite real, but then again, it also felt too much. But also... it felt... off kilter, sideways. Hard to focus.

That is, until the razor sharp blade slid expertly between his opponent's ribs. Suddenly everything was in crisp detail and Sephiroth sucked in a horrified breath, instinctively pulling back on the blade, starting to tug it out... but wasn't that not what you are supposed to do? His indecision caused Masamune to sink several inches deeper as Cloud listed forward and began to fall.

Sephiroth felt his heart pounding so fast it was one long, painful squeeze, his head spinning and still mako-tinged, his emotions unable to settle on anything but certainly not anywhere positive.

Why had he done that?

Why. Had. He. Done. THAT?

Zack burst into the room, a Cure already glowing in his bangle. Right. Materia. Sephiroth had forgotten. But... did he have support Materia? His cat-slit eyes followed the desperate castings. Maybe it wouldn't matter. Sephiroth had stabbed Cloud through the heart. Surely that was a fatal wound?

The thought made Sephiroth's throat feel tight and painful, his stomach was not feeling well, either.

Genesis darted into the room, Angeal and several other SOLDIERs and a medic not far behind. Sephiroth could tell that they were saying things. Well, really it looked like they were shouting. But he just stared at them blankly.

Masamune still drew a terrible line precisely to Cloud's left ventricle.

Suddenly Sephiroth couldn't take it any more and he ripped his sword harshly backward. He flicked it to get rid of the blood. He shouldn't be able to touch something like that. The life blood of the only person who... who had...

Everyone else in the room froze. They were staring at him. Staring at the monster. Sephiroth's vision sharpened and the edges bled green. No. No!

He flung his weapon with all his might, watching it bury itself into the wall. Finally, finally to simulation desert flickered and died. Like Cloud was...

Sephiroth sprinted from the room.

OOOoooooooooooO

Cloud came to consciousness running through the usual checklist. Floating? No. Energy flowing through his body? No. Not Lifestream. Pain? Hel! Yes, yes, oh dear Planet.... ok, that should have clued him in to the being alive thing. Pain centered where? Not the hangover from this morning (or... tomorrow? Or when...?) Pain mostly from the chest. Ok... familiar pain, when was the last time it was felt... “I feel like I got run through by Masamune....” Cloud whined.

“He's awake!” Comes a familiar voice.

Hmm... Zack is with him? But not in the Lifestream? Maybe he had died and this was a loop where he landed smack in the middle of the Wutai War or something. The thought makes him sad, though- he had really been enjoying this latest loop. It was oddly comforting to not care- especially since everything was falling so nicely into place. Now that he had talked to Jenova would she be conscious of the loops? Would Sephiroth? That would make them a lot harder to get through...

“Yo! Come comfort your boyfriend! He's in pain!” Zack bellowed.

… Boyfriend?

“Cloooooooud!”

Cloud cracked open one eye in time to see a red blur swoop down on him, landing on his belly. “Oomph!” Cloud grunted.

“Genesis, he is still wounded.” Zack chuckled.

“I didn't die?” Cloud wondered out loud.

“Close thing!” Zack noted. “Good thing there are vital sign monitors in the holo-suites and emergency protocols in case someone gets seriously injured. Otherwise you definitely wouldn't have made it.”

Cloud groans emphatically. “Just let me die...” It would be so much better. He almost certainly had a save point. Probably right before he woke up with the mother of all hangovers, but at least that would be better than this! It felt worse than being pinned like a flailing butterfly on the end of Masamune- the adrenaline kept that at bay. But now it just burned and throbbed and ached and... “Or kill me with an overdose of pain meds...” Since they clearly weren't working.

Genesis started squeezing his abdomen hard enough Cloud was sure he was going to be bruised later. “Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty” (1)

“Genesis I swear to the Planet if you don't let me go I will show you how beautiful death can be.” Cloud growled, then coughed. “Ugh...”

Genesis sniffed and sat upright, smiling in a watery sort of fashion.

“You realize that quote doesn't even make sense in context- I'm not dead yet. Somehow.” Cloud muttered.

Genesis shrugged then started to grin. And cry a little. “When a good man is hurt, all who would be called good must suffer with him. (2)”

“Oh Hel...” Cloud threw an arm over his eyes. He hadn't died. He hadn't looped. He'd survived being skewed by Sephiroth. Well, it had happened before, but usually not without Hojo interfering. Speaking of... “Where is Sephiroth?” Cloud lowered his arm, looking around the room.

“He... he's the one that tried to kill you.” Zack started hesitantly.

“He's not coming anywhere near you, we promise!” Genesis growled.

Cloud regarded the two of them in surprise. Didn't they know? Well, maybe not. Zack had said that it was later in the timelines when he usually discovered about the mako making Sephiroth homicidal. “It's ok, he was under the influence of some treatment. He wasn't in his right mind.”

“Cloud... you didn't see him. When we came in he'd stabbed you twice, then ripped out Masamune and tried to skewer Zack by using it like a lance.”

“He threw Masamune?” Cloud asked incredulously. He had never seen Sephiroth willingly give up his weapon.

“Yeah... it was pretty weird. Thank the gods he's not very good at it, though!” Zack chirped happily. “I almost had to get a new hairdo.”

“First off, Sephiroth wouldn't throw Masamune to attack.” Cloud can say this confidently because even when completely over the moon mad off his rocker, the man had not only kept a death grip on his sword, but had been able to summon it. Disarm Sephiroth? That was called killing him. “And second off, even if he would throw it as a bizarre ranged assault, he would definitely have killed you.” Cloud continued. “He needs to be found before he does something...” Cloud frowned, he felt kind of lightheaded. “Something...” He wheezed then started to cough.

“Cloud! Your heart is barely put back together, you need to relax.” Zack started to flutter around the blond as a nurse rushed in to frown at him and fiddle with the IV lines.

“Worship with the fulness of heart the weak memory of heaven.(3)” Genesis tried to push Cloud back onto the bed. Somewhat successfully, Cloud noted in annoyance.

“To the last, I will grapple with thee... For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee! (4)” Cloud growled. “I want my sword.”

Genesis grinned at him and opened his mouth.

“Sir! Stop antagonizing him.” Zack interrupted before his commander could speak. “Cloud, let's not be hasty...”

“Zack. Sword.” Cloud narrowed his eyes at him. “Unless you want me stressed out?”

“It's right here, Cloud.” Zack handed it to him nervously.

“Thank you, Zack.” Cloud smiled. Then stabbed himself in the chest. Yes, that really hurt worse actually. By the Planet!

“Cloud!” Genesis screeched, turning so pale he almost seemed translucent.

Cloud ignored him and activated the blade as he pulled it out. He sighed with relief and dropped the weapon beside him.

“What in the seven hells did you just do!” Genesis looked actually a bit green. Cloud eyed him warily- was the man going to pass out? In the distance Zack bellowing for a nurse could be heard.

“The sword heals. I made a bigger wound than the one Sephiroth gave me and healed as I came out.” Cloud shrugged. Hel if he was going to sit in bed forever waiting for it to heal naturally. “If you didn't want me to do something so drastic you should have done a Full Cure or let me die and done a Phoenix Down or something.”

“It...” Genesis started to sway slightly.

“Oh, honestly.” Cloud rolled his eyes.

“Genesis I...” Angeal stopped in the doorway, taking in the chaos of doctors and nurses ineffectively fluttering about not sure what to do or even if they were needed, Zack looking like someone had hit him in the back of the head harder than usual and Genesis like he'd seen a ghost. “What have you been doing in here?”

“Hi Angeal. Good to see you.” Cloud replied as he started to tug at his lines. The doctors swatted him away but, after looking at the monitors, shrugged at each other and started to pull them out. “Ooo... that feels really weird.

“As it should young man this is a central line.” One of the doctors chided him as she held down pressure on the small hole in his arm. “You SOLDIERs...” She shook her head.

Cloud grinned at her sheepishly.

“So... you are better?” Angeal hazarded.

“Yup.” Cloud nodded. The other two were still slowly recovering from their shock. “Where's Sephiroth?”

“I lost him.” Angeal admitted. “He is too fast for me.”

Cloud frowned. “That's not good. I'll go track him down.”

“You just healed yourself from your last fatal encounter with him.” Zack protested.

“Sephiroth is not stable, Cloud, what if he...” Angeal started.

“If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back at you. He who fights...(5)” Genesis started.

“Do NOT finish that.” Cloud growled. “His is NOT.... I can't believe you would even...” He was too angry to even finish that. Sephiroth would become a monster, but not yet, not today. That was unacceptable.

Genesis just blinked at him as his mouth snapped shut, not a drop of blood left in his veins from the look of it. The First was surely running on pure mako at this point as anyone else would have passed out by now. The shock of Cloud stabbing himself on top of the vehement defense left him momentarily mute.

Cloud sprung from the bed and deftly dodged nurses, doctors and SOLDIER Firsts who were trying to keep him in the room, check his vitals, or shove him back in bed. He quickly hacked the PHS he'd swiped from a nurse. Sephiroth hopefully hadn't had enough time to have gotten too messed up stewing on the issue yet. And hopefully the mako had a chance to get out of his system a bit. Though Zack had never said how long the homicidal tendencies lasted... damn.

He pulled out his borrowed PHS and flipped to the e-mail. “Hah! I thought so.” The nurse had seemed like the type to be part of the Silver Elite. Checking recent messages he has a location.

OooooooooooOOOOOoOO

“Great.” Angeal sighed. “Now I've lost both of them.” Well, unlike his minion and Genesis, Angeal had faith that the two would sort things out. Or Cloud would get killed. Possibly Sephiroth, but Cloud had not shown himself to be that kind of aggressive. And Angeal was therefore not worried. It wasn't like he could do anything about it. He had a realistic idea of his level compared with the two, unlike a certain redhead. “Someone get Genesis some smelling salts.” Angeal waved his hand vaguely in the direction of his fellow commander, then spun on his heel and left the hospital. With Sephiroth having a freak out, that meant there was going to be a lot of paperwork. So he might as well get started before he was called to pick up the pieces later.

OOooooooooOOoOoOOo

Cloud levered himself up and over the last ledge and collapsed dramatically on the flat surface. “How did you get up here, Hel...” He muttered, looking up at Sephiroth with a grin.

The other man, however, was frozen with an almost horrified look on his face. It would be, that is, if it wasn't mostly just blank and stiff.

“Hey, Sephiroth, what's wrong?” Cloud asked. Then winced because that was kind of a stupid question. But he hadn't expected the man to be this affected. “You know, though it is great for your fans with telephoto lenses, standing up on tall spires and being broody isn't good for your health.” That joke also fell flat.

Cloud sighed and came closer to Sephiroth, stopping uncertainly when the other man started to look a bit ill and panicky.

Cloud tilted his head to the side and instead moved sideways and into a small alcove made by a power converter, the base of the very tip top of the antenna they were perched on and some cabling. “Why don't you step away from the ledge and we can have a chat?” Cloud patted the metal beside him, making it clank and clang. He smiled ruefully. Not the most inviting of surfaces.

But despite this, Sephiroth slowly inched closer and sat down beside Cloud.

“There! Now all of Midgard can't see us.” Cloud scratched his chin thoughtfully. “At least, their telescopes.” He grinned at Sephiroth and tried not to twitch when a gloved hand started towards his freshly healed chest... and the hospital gown with the large hole in it. Hmm. He probably should have changed. Now all that fans have pics of his naked ass hanging out as he climbed. “At least I have a nice ass...” Cloud mused.

“You are really uninterpretable sometimes.” Sephiroth rasped.

Cloud blinked at him, wondering why it sounded like he'd been yelling. Or... crying?

Sephiroth held Cloud's gaze and finished extending his arm, until his gloved palm was pressed against Cloud's skin. His fingertips twitched. Finally Sephiroth looked away and down at his own hand contemplatively.

“What are you doing?” Cloud asked, curious.

Sephiroth removed his hand, tugged off his glove with his teeth and placed it back.

The warm skin on skin made Cloud suck in a breath and start to feel hot and tingly despite the wind and chill up this high. “Sephiroth?” Cloud asked, his voice coming out a bit breathless.

“I'm feeling your heartbeat.” Sephiroth murmured in return.

“Oh.” Cloud gasped, sucking in a breath as the long fingers moved slightly to better get inside the large tear, under his gown and on his skin. He started to feel a bit lightheaded. “Ok.”

Sephiroth moved suddenly, his hand tearing the hole wider and moving his hand along Cloud's ribs to his side. He lowered his head and rested his ear against Cloud's chest, closing his eyes.

“Ok.” Cloud repeated, licking his lips. He could feel his heart thundering and he wasn't sure what emotion exactly he was feeling.

“You are afraid.” Sephiroth said sadly, unknowingly trying to answer Cloud's confusion.

“I don't think so.” Cloud replied. At least, not only, though there were certain kinds of terror mixed in.

“Your heart is beating twice as fast as is normal in the average human. As someone much more fit, yours should be lower even than that.” Sephiroth commented. And damn if his breath wasn't puffing against the skin. Noticeably, despite the wind, since he was just that close to Cloud. Cloud had felt the man's lips move against his upper abdomen and it was making his abs twitch.

“You don't usually touch me.” Not like this.... Cloud managed.

“You're alive.” Sephiroth explained, as if that was adequate. And maybe it was, if he regretted his moment of insanity.

Cloud wondered if Sephiroth had had moments of clarity in his other lives. If he had regretted it then, too. If it had driven him more insane or off the deep end quicker. The thought chilled his libido enough that he could think of something besides all the points where Sephiroth's skin was in contact with his. Saddened, he wrapped one arm around Sephiroth's shoulders and used the other one to stroke the bangs out of Sephiroth's face.

Sephiroth sucked in a sharp breath and tensed, before leaning into Cloud and shuddering out a sigh.

“Hey, it's ok.” Cloud carded his hands through the long silver hair speculatively. It was not as soft as it looked but was surprisingly sleek. He encountered no knots at all. Not really fair... “This is just a really super awkward hug.” Cloud said, mostly to himself.

“Is it?” Sephiroth asked. And damn... if he kept doing that Cloud was going to get (more) ideas.

“Erm. Yes. Yes, this is a very awkward hug.” For a lot of reasons.

“I thought that hugs were supposed to be more like this?” Sephiroth asked, as he snaked his other arm around Cloud's back and under his Odin-be-damned gown flap.

Cloud tried not to think about Sephiroth's hand just inches from his bare ass. He thought of all the fans and undoubtedly Hojo watching and sucked in a long breath. That helped. Sort of.

“Is this not correct?”

“Sure. Yes.” Cloud babbled. “Very good. Not entirely usual technique but good adaptation considering how we're sitting.”

Sephiroth hmmed. “I have always been good at adapting theory.”

Cloud nodded. That was certainly true. Wait. “Theory?” Surely someone has hugged him before. But, well, who? “You... I mean, this isn't your first... er... hug?”

“I can see why Zack always is saying I should try it.” Sephiroth allowed.

Something in Cloud's heart just... clenched and he shifted so he could gather Sephiroth closer. It was unbearable, the thought. He felt a bit ridiculous clinging to his arch nemesis on the tallest antenna in Midgar about to cry like a baby but... it also felt right. All... well, ok not all but most of his horniness fell away. Now was not the time for it. “I'm ok, Sephiroth.”

“I deeply regret...”

Cloud interrupted him. “Hey, there's no need to apologize. I forgive you.”

“I killed you.” Sephiroth told his heart, sounding broken and shifting somehow closer.

Cloud swallowed and tried to remember how to breathe. “I know. And I forgive you.” He had to, to retain even a shred of sanity in this crazy situation. How the man was now... even how he was without getting to know him... he wasn't the monster that tried to destroy the world. Not yet. Soon, probably, but judging someone based on actions they may take based on how things had played out before... Cloud had started off doing that and it had almost broken him. Friends didn't know you and could become enemies and betray you. Enemies similarly had no grudge and could try to be your ally. It... wasn't worth it to not forgive. It hurt too much.

Sephiroth swallowed. “I can't say I won't try again in the future.”

“Sephiroth, you could try to destroy the Planet and I will forgive you.” Cloud said wryly. “Try to stop you, yes, but I will also forgive.”

Sephiroth made a skeptical noise.

“Soooo... ready to get off the ledge yet?” Cloud asked, starting to feel awkward again with the much taller man practically curled up in his lap.

“No.”

“Ok.” Cloud sighed and rested his chin on Sephiroth's head. He started to nod off- it had been a pretty tiring day. He had, after all, almost died.

“You are tired. You should probably get to your bed.” Sephiroth woke Cloud up from his half-sleep, causing him to start.

“Oh, yeah, probably.” Cloud yawned. He noted that if anything he was being gripped harder. “Erm. You need to let go for that.”

“I'm finding that I am reluctant to do so.” Sephiroth mused.

Cloud huffed a laugh. “How about you let me go for now. We can do this again, I mean, if you want.”

Sephiroth let up enough to look Cloud in the eyes. His hands rucked up under the hospital gown and Cloud tried not to shiver. “Yes?”

“Absolutely.” Cloud replied. And tried not to feel like he was taking advantage. Sephiroth clearly didn't mean it that way, but... Cloud could keep himself under control and just enjoy this. Right.

Chapter Text

“Sir, please stay calm.” The doctor tried to get Genesis to keep the oxygen mask over his face, but she wasn't having much luck.

“He's in a very complicated love triangle.” Zack said with a false-solemn face. “You know how relationships can make people so emotional!” Since Angeal hadn't been worried, Zack wasn't worried. Watching Genesis basically mute and suffering from some kind of panic attack, though? This was prime blackmail material. And he'd already snapped off a couple of shots and sent them to Kunsel for archiving. Muahaha!

Genesis glared at him and opened his mouth to undoubtedly spout an insult in the form of an incomprehensible quote from a presumably important reference. However, Zack was spared by the buzzing of an incoming PHS text message. With one more glare for good measure Genesis checked his PHS. And growled.

“Your boyfriends breaking up with you?” Zack asked cheerfully, doing a couple victory squats.

Genesis got a sickly sweet look to his face which made Zack instantly wary.

Turning to the nearest nurse he asked the man, “Could you be a dear and fetch me a pair of scrubs? Size medium I think will be best.” The man seemed about to refuse but Genesis turned on the charm that had temporarily abandoned him due to the shock. With a quick glance at the doctor, who nodded her acceptance, the nurse went off to fetch the clothing.

“Sir, though SOLDIERs are, of course, able to regulate their medical status to a certain point, I would like to keep you for a bit longer. You were a worrying shade of green and we want to make sure your mako levels aren't destabilizing. We already have the first test and your baseline, but will need one more to be sure.” The doctor said to Genesis in a stern but resigned voice. “It really would be for the best.”

“Oh, is that so, Doctor?” Genesis capitulated immediately. “Of course, whatever you want. Since it is so medically important.”

Now Zack was even more suspicious and starting to think he should have run away with Angeal when he had the chance. The doctor similarly had a skeptical glare on her face. The potential for being sucked into paperwork with his mentor was why he hadn't... but the sly looks Genesis sent Zack as he replied to the doctor made a shiver run up Zack's spine.

The nurse brought the scrubs and Genesis immediately pressed them against Zack's chest and glared at him until Zack gulped and accepted them.

“Now, my dear subordinate, this quest I send you on seems entirely appropriate for one such as yourself.”

Zack groaned. “Who needs the pants and where are they?” He was tired of the 'puppy- fetch!' joke. No one even had to full out say it anymore, it was just understood. It was a travesty! He was a SOLDIER, dammit...

“Top of the north communication antenna.” Genesis idly inspected his nails.

“WHAT!?!”

“Don't bark, so, puppy!” Genesis pouted.

“That... that's the tallest point in Midgar!” Zack had a sudden, terrifying realization. “You're sending me to where two crazy assholes are potentially trying to kill each other?!?”

Genesis frowned. “Respect your superiors, SOLDIER.”

“Yes, sir, sorry, sir...” Zack replied automatically. But... really? Even his mentor and Genesis couldn't scratch one of the two men and he was supposed to go up there alone?

“Relax, Lieutenant. I doubt anyone is trying to kill anyone. Why would Sephiroth request pants?” Genesis asked rhetorically and shrugged. “I would go myself, but you heard the doctor's orders.” He grinned maliciously.

Zack pouted, but he knew this was it. This was the end. Killed delivering a pair of pants to the top of a gods-be-damned antenna. “Yes, sir.”

OoOOoOOOooOOOooOOOO

Zack complained the entire way up the metal scaffolding. Not just because the thing was a bitch and a half to get up with rusted sections that tried to fall away when you grabbed them, sections slick with bird droppings, and handholds you had to make enhanced leaps to get to; but because he wanted to be very sure that anyone up at the top of this thing knew he was coming. Whether that be his General, the blond menace, both or neither, he didn't want to get skewered this far from medical attention.

“Doctor's orders my ass! That jerk didn't want to climb this giant monstrosity...” Zack grumbled as he finally made it to the last platform. He pulled himself up with a groan and looked around. And promptly lost all his cool points at the squueee noise that came out of his mouth. Before he had even consciously processed the scene his PHS was out, several pictures snapped, and sent on to his partner-in-blackmail.

“Are you capable of even a modicum of silence?”Sephiroth's eyes glittered at Zack menacingly. Well, as menacingly as they could. Considering the tall man was cradling a passed-out Cloud in his lap, the two of them wrapped around each other like tired puppies, it wasn't really up to usual Sephiroth standards.

“Oh. My. Gods! You two are so damn cute!” Zack couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight. He needed Kunsel to print out a picture so he could have it on display. Right next to the pic of Angeal holding Genesis up about to throw him like a spear that one time his mentor had forgotten his headphones and the redhead had spouted one-too-many lines. “So....” Zack crouched down and smiled. “Hugs, huh? What do you say to me?”

Sephiroth sighed. “You were correct, Zachary- hugs are pleasant.”

Zack crowed and did a little happy dance. “The climb was worth it. I am going to rub it in Genesis' face that he missed something so adorable. Hah!”

“Zack?” A sleepy voice called. Zack looked down just in time to catch a sleepy yawn. The click of the PHS camera going off again roused Cloud to full awareness. “What the Hel, Zack?” Cloud grumbled. “What? Why are we still up here?” Cloud asked, then shivered slightly and burrowed closer to Sephiroth.

“I should seriously just be taking a video of this.” Zack mused.

“Zachary.” Sephiroth eyed his SOLDIER firmly.

“Oh, right.” Zack pulled out the scrubs and tossed them to Cloud. “Here you go. Pants that will only show a discrete amount of ass-crack, instead of the full Monty.”

Cloud let out a wide, genuine smile, much to Zack's confusion. The SOLDIER hadn't thought that Cloud had such positive feelings towards him. But that was almost how you would smile at a... friend. Even, perhaps, a brother.

“Thanks, Zack.” Cloud proceeded to wiggle into the bottoms without bothering to stand up. Which was probably due to the fact it was the only cover from flashing all of Midgar... but the expression on Sephiroth's face was simply divine. Zack didn't know how to even begin characterizing it, so with another snap, he saved it for posterity.

Cloud looked at him curiously. “I will be needing copies of all those pictures.” He said, tying the straps to his pants.

“Ehehe... copies of what pictures?” Zack started to sweat a bit. He typed out a quick message to Kunsel to lay low and avoid chocobos.

“Hmm.” Cloud stood finally off of Sephiroth's lap, which resulted in another extremely interesting if repressed expression from Sephiroth (Zack had seen more facial twitches from the man in the past ten minutes than in their entire relationship thus far- he had been almost about to give up that Sephiroth even had any).

With an innocent expression, Zack snapped another photo with Cloud looking directly at him. “I'm not taking pictures.” He lied blatantly. “I'm archiving.”

Cloud's eyes practically twinkled in humor. “Then, as a historian myself, I would love to help you... archive.” He winked.

“Aw, man! Don't pull me into the triangle! That would make it a square or something and that's just not ok.” Zack whined.

Cloud tilted his head back and laughed.

Sephiroth stood, looking annoyed now- something that was not uncommon when around Zack so he didn't feel the need to take a picture. That was, until Sephiroth started to untie the top of the hospital gown and Cloud's face kind of froze-fell and it looked like he completely stopped breathing.

“This will be more comfortable if you put the scrub top on then wear it with the open part in front.” Sephiroth suggested.

Cloud made a squeaking sort of noise that sounded vaguely like 'ok'.

Zack raised his PHS again but now that Sephiroth was standing his gaze had significantly more power. Zack's arm lowered in unconscious submission. Right after the practiced click-swoop of a picture taken and sent away. Zack put on his innocent puppy face in instinctive self preservation as something sharp, focused and full of intent entered Sephiroth's glare.

Cloud patted Sephiroth absently as he finished settling the top and swinging the gown around. Sephiroth's glare fell away from the sweating Zack and onto Cloud. Zack wasn't sure why, exactly. Fully dressed Cloud looked like an escaped mental patient, but it was probably a step up from being half naked. Probably.

Cloud peered over the edge of the service platform. “Hmm. I'm kind of tired, still, even with that nap. I'm not sure I can stick the landing.” Cloud mused in that kind of voice that probably meant he hadn't meant to say that out loud.

“I have told you before not to jump from heights.” Sephiroth scolded. No, really- he had inflection and everything! Sort of like 'Zachary, what have I told you about signing your paperwork with stick figures?' but with more 'oomph'.

“Eh...” Cloud was surveying his options. Because apparently they weren't just going to climb back down. “How about that roof over there? If you give me a boost I think I can get to it... then you jump off of that brace there, and I'll meet you over by that rebar.” Zack followed Cloud's pointing hand and felt his mouth drop open. That must be... hundreds of meters! Down! Not to mention how far it was out.

Sephiroth, fortunately, seemed equally as unimpressed with the plan as Zack was. “Or we could just hop down the platforms.”

“What platforms?” Cloud protested.

Sephiroth nodded to the other side of the antenna. Zack peeked over the edge with Cloud and felt a little bit of vertigo. This side was the edge of the plate. It just went down, down, down... until the desert below.

“Argh! You got to be kidding me!” Cloud looked annoyed. “How do you get to them from the Plate, though?”

Them? Zack wondered.

But there was a silver blur in front of him and suddenly he could see his CO floating off into empty space. Zack felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest and dumped in a bucket of cold water. Suddenly he could empathize with Genesis.

But Sephiroth didn't continue falling and instead changed trajectory several times in quick succession in seemingly open air. Looking closer now Zack could see the little protrusions of the support struts. If those were 'platforms' he was a Nibel wolf!

Sephiroth looked up with a raised eyebrow then changed course more radically and disappeared around the corner. Zack darted to the other edge of the antenna and saw the man calmly perched on a post maybe a hand's breadth wide. Once Cloud was also looking Sephiroth continued his graceful jumps until he was on top of one a train station- an easy jump down even for Zack.

“That man is insane.” Zack said in awe.

“Hmm- well, he does have more floating power than the average enhanced.” Cloud agreed. Maybe. Was that odd ball statement agreeing or a counter argument?

Zack turned around to ask but nearly had another heart attack as he saw the tail ends of Cloud's hospital gown/cape disappearing over the edge. He rushed to the side but Cloud had no more trouble hopping down than Sephiroth had. The two of them met up on the train station roof and looked up at Zack.

Zack just stared at them until he felt his PHS buzz. He pulled it out and read 'r u coming?' He just looked at the two of them incredulously, shaking his head. They might be able to make that but he didn't want to end up a Zack pancake, thank you. If there had been some stuff to slow his fall- many impacts and a therefore slower descent- maybe. Maybe he could survive it. But freefalling? The height looked like enough time to hit terminal velocity and that was a harder hit than a Midgar zolom. It would at the very least knock him out and injure him severely. And then in the desert, who would find him?

With another shiver at the crazed acrobatics of the two, Zack turned back to the side he'd come up and started the slower, safer way down. Which wasn't to say he didn't jump to another building a little over half way- he did of course. But he'd made that height of jump many times before.

OoooooooOOOOOooOOOO

Angeal looked up from his paperwork as his sweaty and confused looking subordinate walked into his office on autopilot and sat in the chair across from his desk. Raising an eyebrow Angeal slid some reports on monster stats over to Zack. His second eyebrow joined his first when Zack actually started to tally numbers, average various stats, and begin writing up geographic-based strength sheets. Not that it wasn't something that Zack had done many, many times and could, apparently do without really being mentally present. But usually his hyperactive protegee couldn't sit still long enough to do so without whining about it being boring. Something big must be on his mind. Or something had happened with the Sephiroth/Cloud situation. Hopefully no one had died. He thought someone would have let him know if that happened.

The outburst, when it came, startled Angeal so much he snapped his pen in half.

“I mean, Cloud's obviously smitten, what the hell!?!” Zack threw up his hands, growled, then grabbed his head and hunched over in the chair.

Angeal grabbed tissues and started to frantically blot up ink before it completely ruined the work of the past hour. Thankfully it didn't look too bad, and Shinra was used to getting reports from SOLDIERs with ink splattered all over them. Not usually from their Firsts, but everyone could forget their strength. Or get startled. “Zack, what is your point?”

“I was kidding about the love triangle... but they are so cute!” Zack looked at his mentor pleadingly. “How can I do anything but love the guy when he's so adorable like that?”

Angeal blinked. “I thought you said that it was Genesis, Cloud and Sephiroth?” He was confused. “Now you're in love with them to?”

“What?” Zack blinked. “No! Nonononono!” Zack shook his head to emphasize the denial. “No, like, love him like a teddy bear. I want to just.... smoosh the two of them.” Zack starting making frankly disturbing pinching motions with his hands.

“Zack... I need some context.”

“Oh, right. Well!” Zack, of all things, pulled out his PHS. He tapped away at it, leaving Angeal bemused. Was he going to call someone? Zack thrust the PHS into Angeal's hands. “There, there... how can you not want to just squish them?”

Angeal looked down at the screen. On it was a picture of Cloud curled up on Sephiroth's lap, asleep, while the General gave his patented death glare at the camera. “Oh.” Angeal wasn't sure what to say about this... or how it had survived being deleted. Sephiroth didn't seem to care about pictures of himself, up to and including that one of him naked that the Turks had had to 'take care of'. Sephiroth had just stared at them blankly when they went in to tell him about the leak. It wasn't until Genesis had pointed out that it was causing havoc in the ranks that the man had seemed to get some kind of grasp on why it was an issue.

Angeal clicked to see more pictures and saw Cloud waking up, then Sephiroth undressing him... “Zack!” Angeal barked. “What have I said about Sephiroth and his lack of understanding normal social cues? You can't just take a picture of something like this!”

“What?” Zack pouted. “He was wearing pants.”

Angeal started to rub his temples with the hand not holding the phone.

“But look at Cloud's face.” Zack insisted. “He's twitterpated.”

“I have no idea what that means, Zack, but I was aware that he was attracted to Sephiroth.” Zack made a betrayed noise, but Angeal raised his hand for silence. “As long as he's not taking advantage, I don't care. You know how Sephiroth is socially. But Cloud's been very... restrained.”

Zack snorted.

Angeal closed the PHS and handed it back to Zack.

“What do you mean, you knew, though?” Zack mumbled, reaching for his PHS.

Angeal held it out of his reach and raised smiled. “Zack, the two of them are probably the most awkward set of semi-asexual confused and awkward lovebirds to grace the face of the Planet. They are almost always like that. Further... I think it was the first thing Cloud ever said to me- asking if I was attracted to Sephiroth. I think he used the term 'Sephiroth-o-sexual'.”

Zack's mouth fell open. “No!”

“Now stop gossiping like a teenager, delete these photos, and leave your commanding officer's private life alone.” Angeal commanded. “Until and unless you think that he is being manipulated, pressured, or otherwise hurt by their... weird almost relationship. Thing.”

“Erm.” Zack snatched back his PHS. “Cloud's like... only attracted to Sephiroth? Is that what that means?”

“I don't know, Zack. He's insane.”

Zack nodded with a shrug. Clearly true.

“Now help me with paperwork or get out.”

“Yes, sir!” Zack jumped from his chair and was out the door before Angeal could retract the second option.

Or realize that Zack hadn't promised to destroy those photos.

“Dammit.”

OOOooOOOoOoOOOoOOOO

“Hey, there, Kunsel.”

Kunsel felt a deep feeling of dread shoot down his spine. He turned around slowly. Cloud was leaning towards him with a very... intense expression on his face. Not helped by the scrubs that were too long in the leg, too tight on the shoulders, barely held up by the drawstring and covered by a hospital gown worn like a cape. “Erm...”

The guy was going to gut him. Well, it had been a good life. All the data back ups would go to his various approved persons to blackmail for money for his mother, keeping Shinra out of his family's business, or destroyed (as appropriate). It was really too bad because they were such cute pictures. Zack wanting it framed with cartoon bunnies as a matte maybe was a bit far, but the man really didn't have any taste at all so it wasn't a shock...

“Hey, you there?” Cloud tapped on his helmet, bringing Kunsel out of his life flashing before his eyes.

“Erm. Yes. Hello, sir.”

“Great. I'm going to need copies of all those photos.” Cloud rubbed his hands together. “In triplicate. High rez.” He squinted his eyes in thought. “And I'm going to need you to go through everything the Silver Elite is putting out. I'm ok with my ass being caught... just so long as they don't have a flash of the goods, if you know what I mean. And we need to protect Sephiroth, obviously.” He peered into Kunsel's helmet and the SOLDIER could swear the man could see through the tinted glass. “If I so much as hear a rumor that these pictures have got out to those sickos, I will find you, understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Kunsel replied quickly, holding his hands up placatingly.

“Good.” Cloud nodded. “Last thing we need is Hojo with evidence Sephiroth has a soul, no?” And now he was cheerful again. “You know where to find me. I want those pictures. But guard them like a Bahamut summons materia!” Cloud clapped him on the back. He must have been excited or thought that Kunsel was stronger than he was, though, as the SOLDIER staggered under the hit. “Oops. And maybe better than the materia- I know how that got stored. Ok, yeah, secure-ish, but leaving the numbers lying around was just sloppy.”

Kunsel nodded in agreement. Though what he was agreeing to he had no idea. The man probably needed to be in the mental hospital it looked like he had escaped from. Or needed coaching on how to keep thoughts as thoughts and not run-on rambles.

“Good man! Find me later for some food. I know all the good places.”

And with that non-sequitur, he was gone.

Kunsel slumped with relief into the nearest chair. He was going to kill Zack for dragging him into this!

Chapter Text

Supposition: Hugs are 'good'.

Null Hypothesis: Disproven, statistical power needed.

Further experimentation necessary.

Pilot study complete, results confusing. What part of encounter was 'good'? Likely not location-dependent, but may have been the result of any of a number of possible variables. Initial experiment is clear.

OoOoOoooo

“Oh, hey, Seph! Did you want to spar?” Zack lowered his sword, panting a bit. He and Kunsel had been trying out their new First strength. The injections since being promoted were really a kick in the teeth. He'd already broken four door knobs, six coffee mugs, jumped into the ceiling doing squats three times and broken who knows how many writing implements. “Seph?” The guy was practically... stalking him. Zack started to sweat for other reasons.

“Zachary... I see you are not alone.” Sephiroth's eyes slid over to Kunsel appraisingly.

As if that didn't intensify the creepy-meter by about a hundred times.

“Er, no...” Zack looked over at his buddy... while keeping an eye on the General.

“Hmm. I will have to wait until you are alone.” Sephiroth mused, seemingly to himself.

“Uh... sir....? You are really creeping me out.” Zack hoped that wouldn't get him skewered. He remembered quite well what had happened to that Cloud guy only a few days before.

“Noted.” Sephiroth replied stiffly, then spun on his heel and left.

“What.” Zack blinked.

“It's probably one of those times it is better not to ask.” Kunsel adjusted his helmet nervously, making sure it was covering the weak points in his neck. “Unless it is about those pictures. I will throw you under the bus on those so quickly you will not be able to deflect it, I swear to Gaia.”

Zack turned to his buddy, putting on Puppy Eyes level 2.

“Oh, no, that is not going to work you asshole.” Kunsel made a cutting gesture with his hand. “I already had to deal with almost being killed by Cloud. There's only so much my heart can put up with when such high level guys look at me like that, ok?”

Zack rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, ok, Kunsel, but seriously- how could I not take those pictures? They were so freaking cute! It was hardly even a conscious decision!”

“I hope you still feel that way in the afterlife.” Kunsel retorted.

“Yeah...” Zack thought he probably would.

OOOOOOOooo

Presence of others confounds data. Make sure to assess when subject is alone and/or may need a secondary arm to study for effects of multiple participants and/or observation whilst performing task.

OooOoOOoooo

“Oh, hey, Seph... you know I would never do anything with those pictures, heh, right?” Zack twitched nervously as Sephiroth came up to him. He closed his eyes when his superior rushed him, knowing that he stood no chance and attacking would only get him court-martialed. His brain hysterically babbled that it was self defense, honest.... erm.

“Seph, are you hugging me?” Zack asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh.” Zack cautiously patted Sephiroth on the back. “Er... want to talk about it?” He started to try to peel away. Sephiroth let him go, reluctantly.

“I have nothing I wish to discuss.”

Zack blinked. “Ok.” Sephiroth moved forward again. “Whoah, um, ok... so... it's really great that you have taken my advice but maybe work on timing?”

Sephiroth's eyebrows pulled together slightly and he stared at Zack like a bug caught in a jar.

“Erm... you know, when it's appropriate and stuff. Because... staring at someone is weird, right?”

“Hmm.”

“Ok, so... I'm going to go now.” Zack cautiously crept out of the doorway. Why had Sephiroth suddenly glomped him? How weird . Maybe he was on his mako or something. In which case, best to mosey before the impulse flipped aggressive.

OoOOoOoOoo

Data partially successful, though giving subject opportunity to escape from experimental conditions can lead to failure. This has been a well-known fact established by many trials on the experimenter.

OoOooOOoooo

“Sephiroth, what!?” Angeal held his arms out in shock, before rolling his eyes. Zack had told him about this. “Ok, here's your hug.” He patted Sephiroth awkwardly. Honestly, a grown man acting like a five year old- it was embarrassing. And the behavior was making the lower Soldiers actively avoid their General or get... inappropriate trying to be the next huggee. “Ok, we're done.” Angeal peeled Sephiroth off of him. Which proved surprisingly difficult, to the point he heard something pop in his chest and had a feeling he'd just dislocated a rib. “Sephiroth! That hurts! Get off of me!” Angeal flung Sephiroth away angrily. Superior or no, that was just not ok. “You can't just assault people!” He snapped, before spinning and walking away.

OoOOoOOOOo

Hurting of subjects is counter-productive to intended goals. However, reluctance evident. Stemming from hitherto unknown social rule? Limit to type, duration, location or number of encounters as set social norm? Unknown.

OoOOoOooooo

“Genesis.”

“Oh, er... hi, Sephiroth. I was uh...” Genesis looked down at the bottle of grape ShinRa-Aid in his hand then back at his General sheepishly. Of course the man had caught him sneaking into his office to steal his stash of electrolyte drinks... Sephiroth was nothing if not good at showing up at the exact right moment. Genesis just hoped the retribution wouldn't be too bad.

Sephiroth took a step forward.

“Ok! Ok!” Genesis put his hands up, wincing as Sephiroth tracked the bottle in his hand. “'The thirsty earth soaks up the rain,/ And drinks and gapes for drink again; /... Should every creature drink but I'?!” The vending machines were down to that fake stuff that tasted (and looked) like goat piss and they don't restock until Monday and all the shops were closed on the weekend unless you went down below the plate and... Genesis dropped the bottle as Sephiroth continued to approach. He felt himself go stiff. Sephiroth couldn't kill him this close, right? Well, not with Masumune, anyway, but probably the stronger man could snap his neck without too much fuss... oh, kami.

“We can discuss the drinks.” Sephiroth said with an odd look. He was standing no more than four inches from Genesis and practically vibrating.

“Um...” Genesis replied weakly, feeling a bit faint. He didn't even see Sephiroth move until he was swept up against a rock hard chest, with his arms pinned to his sides. Genesis stiffened so much he almost broke his own neck. “Urk!”

“You are not making this very satisfactory.” Sephiroth noted, sounding clinical and detached.

Genesis' mind spun. Making what satisfactory!? Was this... the love triangle was clearly a joke, but Sephiroth could be so literal...

“Was it too fast?” Sephiroth asked.

“Yes.” Genesis gasped out gratefully. Whatever this was, it was definitely way too fast.

“Hmm.” Sephiroth released him.

Genesis backed away, eying his superior warily. Sephiroth started to come towards him again, this time quite a bit slower. “No, ok, you know what? Once was enough.” Sephiroth stopped and his lip twitched in almost a... pout? What the hell? “Once was definitely enough. More than enough, ever.” Genesis babbled, not even quoting anything just so he could be clear. Getting glomped by Sephiroth was definitely the closest he had ever come to pissing his pants.

Sephiroth let his arms drop and stood still as Genesis edged out of the room, only turning his head to track the movement.

“'Our song and feast shall flow... / When the storm has ceased to blow.'” Yes, he will definitely be buying Sephiroth a case of his favorite flavors... Fruit Punch, Lemon Lime, Grape, all the good stuff. Even that light blue one that the Seconds stabbed each other for- Freeze or something. Making his escape, heart pounding, Genesis desperately tried to figure out what that had been about. “My friend, the fates are cruel...”

OooOOoooooOO

Sephiroth frowned at the dropped bottle of hydration supplement, thinking. He was clearly doing something wrong and his experimental evidence was getting to be too hard to distinguish from the noise of social interaction. As per usual. Why he even bothered was a good question and one he had temporarily forgotten after the success with Cloud... or maybe that hadn't been success at all?

He picked up the purple bottle and placed it back in the minifridge, slowly closing the door.

Experimental arm 1b- control against random samplings and exploration of the effects of gender.

OooOoOooo

“Seph is acting really oddly.” Zack burst out randomly the second he saw Cloud.

“Um... ok?” Cloud finished mixing in the sugar in his coffee and sipped it.

“Well?”

“Why do I have to do something about it?” Cloud asked.

“Because he already tried to kill you and you didn't seem to mind. The rest of us want to live!” Zack gestured wildly. “He's been, like, hugging us all, it's weird. He hurt Angeal doing it, too, and Genesis is mumbling the whole Loveless play to himself and staring off into the air. Kunsel won't even talk to me. It's not right.”

Cloud blinked at Zack. Well... this was certainly different. “I'll talk to him, but I am still on vacation.”

“One, no you are not, because you are literally working full time for Shinra.”

“By using materia to do paperwork and pursuing my dreams to become a fresh-ingredient chef.” Cloud pointed out.

“And two! You and Sephiroth are definitely something and he's not listening to anyone else, so you have to. And, you know, try not to almost die again.” Zack finished stubbornly.

“Fine.” Cloud sipped his coffee and turned back to his report.

“No, I mean, right now! Look!” Zack shoved his PHS underneath Cloud's face. Cloud went cross-eyed looking at it, but once he could comprehend the picture he set the mug down so hard the handle broke off and dark liquid splashed on the table.

“What does he think he is doing? They will eat him alive!” Cloud asked in horror.

“See!”

But Cloud had already darted off by the time Zack pulled his PHS back to his chest. The Silver Elite message boards were alight with a call for some 'contact time' out in the courtyard, complete with the picture in question. There were already over a dozen people surrounding Sephiroth, one in his arms.

“What are you thinking, Seph?” Zack muttered worriedly.

OooooOooo

Sephiroth tried to pry the females off of his person gently enough so as to not break their fragile bodies but was not having much success. They were clinging like limpets to his person, which he supposed was a success, but he was starting to get an odd hot-cold feeling in his chest that seemed too similar to the sensation of when Professor Hojo told him it was time for a 'major check up' to be anything good.

One of the females started to rub her crotch against his thigh, groaning, whilst another was trying her damndest to pluck off pieces of his clothing. Sephiroth grabbed the gyrating one but it caused her to cry out. He let go of her in surprise but she crumpled down on her own after that, being replaced by two more females. He stiffened at the sensation of a hard something being rubbed against his ass.

There was a scuffle off to the side.

“What is wrong with you?!” Cloud’s voice growled. Sephiroth looked up, thankful for his height as he watched Cloud ripping the bangle off of the closest Third.

“Hey!” The Soldier protested, until he saw who it was and he gulped and held up his hands instead. “It's not like the General can't handle a group of civilians.”

Sephiroth agreed, these civilians were weaker than even the most pathetic monsters, but he was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable with all the touching. He didn’t really understand why- he had wanted people to touch him, but something about the current way it was happening was… not good?

A Sleepel washed over him. He jerked at the sensation- he suddenly knew with dire certainty that he didn’t want to be in this mob and also incapacitated. But it appeared it was a very weak Sleepel All. The normal humans around him dropped but it barely registered enough to his senses to identify it.

“Hey, you ok?” Cloud asked, now fully revealed at the edge of the comatose crowd. He was standing there with his sword over his shoulder and a bangle he'd obviously stolen from a Third in this left hand.

Sephiroth felt himself immediately relax. Curious, but welcome. “I am.” Sephiroth replied, stepping over the unconscious bodies, but not taking much care not to put his booted feet where they might cause some damage.

“Are you sure?” Cloud took his elbow gently to help him over the last few, looking up into Sephiroth's eyes with what the General felt was a concerned expression. Sephiroth didn't need the help, but he leaned into the touch regardless.

“Why wouldn't I be?” Sephiroth asked. He hoped Cloud would answer that, actually, since he wasn't sure he was and he was definitely not sure why he would be upset by what had happened. It was a very bizarre set of circumstances and he wasn't sure what the proper way to react was.

“That was...” Cloud looked at him with a frown. “None of them hurt you?”

Sephiroth blinked in surprise. “They would not have been able to.”

“I mean...” Cloud stopped, then looked around. Sephiroth followed his gaze and saw the Turks and Thirds who were looking at him in a way that he was not sure he liked. “Let's get out of here for a second, ok?”

Sephiroth nodded and followed along with the arm at his elbow. He hoped that Cloud might keep his hand there but once they were walking Cloud dropped his grip.

Once back in the tower Cloud glared at the first person in an office they came to until the poor woman fled- which admittedly did not take very long.

“They were sexually assaulting you, Sephiroth- are you ok?”

Sephiroth looked down. Was that what that was?

“Sephiroth?” Cloud's arm moved into his field of vision but when Sephiroth looked up the arm dropped. He wished he hadn’t noticed the movement. Maybe Cloud would have touched him? He did want this touch, even though he wasn’t sure what was different between Cloud and the mob. It was all

Sephiroth told himself it was because he needed some control data, but really, it was desperation that made him lunge and grab for Cloud. He felt that hot/cold feeling in his chest become a sort of inward crushing when Cloud evaded him. He gulped around a tight feeling in his throat.

OooOoooOo

Cloud had seen red when he saw the one guy start humping Sephiroth like an ill mannered dog. Having to glare half of Shinra into submission to keep them from following hadn’t helped cool his ire, either. So when six feet of muscle lunged at him, his battle senses were on high alert and he instinctively dodged.

Cloud realized immediately that was mistake when Sephiroth just looked... devastated. Not that his face moved much, but it had just... frozen and that slightly insane glint was in his eyes. Or maybe tears?

By the Planet... the man looked like he needed a hug.

Oh.

Sephiroth reared back and started to spin around, clearly about to flee.

Cloud felt his heart leap in his throat and he instinctively grabbed at the retreating arm. Sephiroth leaned towards him like he had when Cloud had grabbed him outside and this time it made sense. Towards, not away, as Cloud had been expecting and had unconsciously reacted to as if it was a flinch.

“Ok, come here, I'm sorry.” Cloud murmured as he reeled in the stiff arm until he could snag the front of the coat to pull Sephiroth all the way in. “You move like that and someone is going to think you are attacking. But you really wanted this, right?” Cloud folded his arms around Sephiroth's ribs- about as high as he could get, curse his (still) short stature.

Cloud didn't need to wait for the barely audible 'yes' to know he had guessed correctly. Sephiroth melted into the hug, his arms coming up to awkwardly grip the back of Cloud's head and his neck... which was, yeah, a bit alarming as that's how you could kill someone with a sharp twisting motion, but Cloud kept himself relaxed. Sephiroth rewarded him by burying his face into Cloud's hair and knocking his pointed chin on Cloud’s skull.

Ow… that chin could be a Weapon.

Clearly, there needed to be some more practice... and a talk with the others that Sephiroth hadn't been trying to murder them all, he just... wanted to cuddle. Yup. That sounded bizarre even in his head. Cloud wasn't sure how he was going to explain this. Maybe it would be best to get everyone drunk first...

Cloud started to rub his hands up and down Sephiroth's back, soothingly. Sephiroth shifted so his cheek was on top of Cloud's head, one arm dropped to be draped over Cloud's shoulders and gripping his ribs in a way that made him twitch slightly at the tickling sensation, but the arm that wrapped around his back and then curled around his throat distracted him enough he could hold still. Seriously- Sephiroth needed to work on holding someone in a manner other than that conducive to a quick kill.

“Are you going to let me go any time soon?” Cloud asked finally, when the hug was edging into full on cuddle for length and intensity. Apparently, this was going to be a theme. Not that he minded per se, but they were in some poor soul's office who clearly needed to get something done if they were here this late on Sunday.

Sephiroth just tightened his grip, causing flashes of sensation... not entirely sure fear or pleasure... to shoot through Cloud when he felt his neck being wrapped with long, slim fingers.

“No.” Sephiroth said it like a challenge.

“Ok... it's just an awkward angle.” He muttered into where his face was being pressed into a half-clad, rock hard pectoral.

Sephiroth moved backwards, making Cloud eep as he followed. Their hips came together and Cloud's mind blanked as heat flushed through him. But he eventually realized that Sephiroth had simply sat down on the desk and was now cuddling at a more normal height, his face pressed into the curve of Cloud's neck, not his hair.

Ok, so this was nice... but why? “Sephiroth, are you ok? You want to tell me why you don't want to let go?”

“This is already twice. My investigation suggests 'once is enough.'” Sephiroth replied.

Cloud thought fiercely of Hojo in a tiara as lips moved against his neck. “Ah...”

“I can't... can't not have another.”

Cloud only heard that because Sephiroth was basically speaking into his ear. But it still took him a while to process. When it did he realized he was going to have to go kick the crap out of at least one if not all of Sephiroth's 'friends'. “Uh, ok, well, that's not true, ok? You can have as many... hugs as you want. From me. You know, as long as we're not... fighting or busy doing something. You know, because two things at once and all that.”

Sephiroth pulled back slightly. “Yes?”

“Yes.” Cloud replied emphatically.

Sephiroth’s smile was small but still drove all intelligent (and non-intelligent) thoughts completely out of Cloud’s head.

When he’d recovered enough, though, part of the conversation came back to him.

“What did you mean by ‘investigation’?” Cloud asked finally.

“Hmm?” Sephiroth’s eyes were half lidded and he was warm and loose leaning against Cloud. Damn- if (when…?) he had to fight the man again maybe they could just hug it out instead. This was a much easier way to defeat him.

“What investigation and what do you mean about only getting once?”

“You want to know my results?” Sephiroth’s eyes opened and his focus locked onto Cloud.

“Erm- yes.” Cloud hoped that wasn’t a mistake. He had been subjected to more Hojo rants about his results than he really wanted to think about. But Sephiroth hadn’t been torturing people and combining them with random monsters. Probably. Hopefully.

It didn’t turn out a mistake, per se, though it did not help Cloud’s blood pressure. Sephiroth had felt the need to do experiments to get the rules of social engagement- and had done so as his standard throughout his life.

Cloud ended up having to describe more social rules than he realized he knew, considering he was usually not that touchy-feely and introverted. But growing up the runt bullied in a backwoods was obviously better than being a specimen for gaining social cues.

Which is how they ended up in the Generals’ lounge along with Zach, Genesis and Angeal. Cloud was valiantly and somewhat successfully glaring the other three men into submission.

Not because he wasn’t intimidating… it was just hard to be when he was sitting in Sephiroth’s lap, long arms wrapped around him and glowing cat eyes visible over his shoulder. Or maybe that was more intimidating actually????

Anyway the others were wary with how the most powerful man on the Planet and possibly the least sane man were staring at them.

“So.” Cloud started. “I asked you all here to yell at you.”

Zach, Angeal and Genesis blinked at him.

“Pride is lost/ Wings stripped away, the end is nigh.” Genesis quoted, looking confused and nervous.

Cloud nodded, as if that made sense, making the other two more tense. “I would like to point out that a man that all three of you consider a friend was seeking physical affection and as a one you thought he was losing his mind and/or attacking you.”

“Is this about the hugging?” Zach asked. “I knew he needed it! I just told him that he needed to work on timing and not stalk and pounce on people like he was trying to kill them.”

Cloud considered. “Those are good points, Zach. I am happily taking you off the shit list.”

Zach grinned.

Cloud pinned Genesis with a surprisingly petrifying glare. “Angeal has cracked ribs so I can give him a bit of a pass, but what possessed you to tell Sephiroth you’d only hug him once?”

Genesis blinked. “To a world that abhors you and I?”

Cloud’s glare sharpened to an almost physical pressure as Sephiroth’s arms tightened around his stomach.

“Plain English would be better to avoid misinterpretation.” Angeal suggested.

“Woe, my thespian counterpart cannot interpret that I feel attacked and don’t know what he is talking about?” Genesis asked, sweating.

“You told Sephiroth ‘once is enough’.” Cloud elaborated.

“Oh.” Genesis scratched at his auburn hair. “Well, yes. But he’d just grabbed me after I’d stol… er… borrowed one of his electrolyte drinks.” Genesis looked at Sephiroth. “Which I have replaced! I got you a whole case of all your favorite flavors.”

“I noticed and appreciate it, Genesis.” Sephiroth’s voice rumbled out from behind Cloud. Cloud shivered and his eyes unfocused, leading the other three to share a speaking look.

“Ok, so, now that we’ve cleared up the misunderstandings, are we good?” Zach asked.

Cloud gathered himself with obvious effort. “No- we still need to practice what I showed Sephiroth.” Cloud peeled Sephiroth off of him and stood, turning back to the larger and now pouting silver haired man. “Ok, Sephiroth- ask for a hug.”

Sephiroth turned to Cloud, who shook his head and waved at the other three.

Sephiroth eyed his friends and raised his two arms, opening them in a close imitation of the universal ‘can I have a hug’ posture.

Zach grinned and stepped up first, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth, who did the same but in an awkward way around his head and neck.

“Remember how we discussed you’re not trying to snap someone’s neck who’s giving you a hug.” Cloud said in an even and unconcerned tone.

Zach’s eyes rolled up at Cloud at that comment, getting sweaty and pale.

“Hmm.” Sephiroth tilted his head and then moved his arms down to be around Zach’s shoulders.

“Fantastic.” Cloud looked very pleased with himself. “Next!”

Angeal shrugged and moved in for the next one. Since he was taller, it was easy for Sephiroth’s arms and Angeal’s to be at a more natural height.

“Next!”

“There is no hate, only joy.” Genesis muttered as he came in for his hug. He was definitely the most tense, likely due to how often he’d provoked the Silver General to duels that he was absolutely going to win one of these days.

“Fantastic.” Cloud grinned. “See, Sephiroth! I told you asking and practice is better than experimenting on your friends.”

The other three gave each other another look.

“Hmm.” Sephiroth considered. “I can see the benefits of non-invasive social research. It is not something that Hojo ever had anything good to say about.”

“For some things, especially something social, it’s better though, right?” Cloud prompted.

“Yes.” Sephiroth confirmed.

“Why did you start experimenting at all?” Angeal asked. “I knew somewhat what you were trying to do and only stopped you when it hurt.”

Sephiroth’s shoulders bunched. “I apologize. Cloud has informed me that touch shouldn’t hurt. And thank you to Zach for prompting me to perform the ‘hug’, a type of touch that not only doesn’t hurt but is actually pleasant.”

Cloud’s smile froze and a homicidal look that flashed across his face before he could suppress it. He always wanted to kill Hojo, but rarely did he want to go back in time and kill him. No… torture was much better. Lots of torture. He tried to reign himself back in though, considering that now was not the time to give weird responses to Sephiroth opening up.

Cloud looked around at the other three who had seemed to come to similar thoughts- they were either devastated and nearly weeping (Zach), horrified (Genesis) or way too compassionate (Angeal).

Sephiroth waited patiently as his friends cycled through emotions- not that he understood them, he was just used to them occasionally blue screening on him when he made comments about his childhood.

Cloud was the first to recover and glommed on to Sephiroth like a baby monkey wanting its mother. “Group hugs are even better.” Cloud stated, pointedly looking at the other three, who quickly got with the program and embraced Sephiroth as well.

Sephiroth wasn’t entirely sure how to process what was happening. His chest felt like it had a reverse gravity spell cast on it or something. But- in a good way? It was confusing but also warm and pleasant.

Cloud cleared his throat and made sure he had everyone’s attention. “There’s just one caveat- if he is ever glowing green at all, or his pupils are like super thin, do NOT hug him, or even get close. If he says he wants one, come get me.”

Sephiroth nodded in understanding. “I am much less likely to succeed in killing you than anyone else.”

“What.” Zach said flatly.

“‘There is no hate, only joy.’” Genesis muttered.

“Don’t get stabbed by Sephiroth when he’s post-mako-treatment homicidal.” Angeal summarized.

“Good talk!” Cloud chirped, grinning a bit maniacally.

Chapter Text

“A wandering soul needs no rest.”

“Hello, Genesis.” Cloud didn't look up from where he was trying to get a few dings out of his blade. Which, due to its unique nature, meant that he was casting a very directed full Cure at the edge to try to get it to reform.

Masumune was not something to go against lightly. Cloud really hoped Sephiroth would agree to alternative weapons. It would help both of them level faster to not have to stop all the time for repairs. Though the training they'd just done had been pretty fun- no strategy or trying to win per se, they had gone through various stances as fast as they could (which with the two of them had been blindingly fast) until one of them broke from the form they were on and 'lost' then they continued in the form that had been the mistake. It had been quite the challenge to identify the forms, use the various moves of that form in a proper rhythm, switch when there was a 'mistake' (or one of them got bored)... it had been a lot of fun. And helpful, actually, as it was easy to get trapped in complacency and a single style.

“So. You've been fighting Sephiroth.”

Cloud looked up, surprised that Genesis had said it so baldly. “Yes.” Of course he had- who else could keep up with them? And the man was being positively clingy lately- better to direct that to something to burn of some frustration like fighting epic duels. Sephiroth was even eying the two of them over by the entrance to the First gym where Angeal was talking with him. Cloud gave a little wave which made a silver eyebrow twitch.

“You have been neglecting the rest of us.” Genesis grumbled.

“Oh?” Cloud felt his mouth stretching into a wide (and probably not nice) grin. “You want to try one on four? Angeal is here, and I'm sure you could get the Puppy and his helmeted friend to join in.”

“Four!” Genesis was affronted.

“You're right- that's hardly fair. You can have a few more to fight me.” Cloud smirked.

Genesis sighed dramatically. “While your penchant for exaggeration is amusing, I'm sure, I meant to suggest a team effort.”

Cloud cocked his head. “What teams?”

Genesis grinned. “You and I against Angeal and Sephiroth.”

“Grace versus power?” Cloud laughed. “It does sound like fun.” He paused, gripping his chin in his fist. “Do you think this could be the time we use whips?”

Genesis laughed. “You are truly a 'gift of the Goddess.' We can do whips just the two of us later.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Cloud rolled his eyes. “Save it for Rufus Shinra.”

Genesis grinned. “I've booked the large training room for the whole morning. 'The arrow has left the bow of the goddess?”

Cloud considered. At some point he did need to get to his office. He remembered last time getting into a bureaucratic battle involving far too much paperwork... But, compared to a four-way battle the machinations of Palmer could wait for later.

“Yeah, let's go.” Cloud sent one last Cure to his blade and bounced out of his chair.

This should make Palmer happy(ish) he was always trying to reprimand him or something for actually getting work done. But Cloud had an alien to rocket off (who was apparently impatient enough to capture and torture him to death). Political sabotage was not in keeping with him enjoying his vacation. Maybe he could throw the man out the window or convince one of the Firsts to 'go mad' briefly and skewer him...

Cloud's thoughts brought them out of the main gym area and to the training room entrance. Cloud gleefully bounced inside, nodding to Angeal and Sephiroth. Angeal narrowed their eyes at him before he turned and activated the scene, which changed the huge, bland, square room to a large open canyon with tall, lush walls of dripping waterfalls, vegetation, and a cool breeze blowing through it.

“Huh. This is different. We're going to utterly destroy it, of course, but it's nice to look at to start with.” Cloud commented.

“This is a team game, myself and Sephiroth versus you two.” Angeal brandished his sword and gave it a few warm up swings. “Are you ready?”

Cloud unsheathed his weapon, calling its power to it with a wave of his hand. Beside him, Genesis did the same. “Might it have been more fair to put one of the magic users per team?” Cloud questioned.

“We did it by height.” Sephiroth noted, his sword out and in his ready position- which was essentially no different than just standing there looking bored. Maybe a bit more wind flapping his coat.

Cloud tried to keep his eye from twitching at the height comment, but he didn't quite succeed. “Well, you know what they say... 'the bigger they are...'”

“The harder they fall!” Genesis crowed before launching himself at Sephiroth, who countered with a lazy raising of his arm to block the rush. The two leapt away.

Cloud shrugged and turned to look at Angeal. Who was already rushing him. Cloud smirked and knocked the broadsword out of its dangerous path. “If you would only use the Buster sword, maybe you would have a chance.” Cloud taunted.

“Let's see how you fare against another opponent.” Was all Angeal said in reply.

They traded blows- pretty standard and even a bit bland to Cloud. It took him a while to figure out why, though- it wasn't as if Angeal wasn't a skilled swordsman. It was rather because Angeal fought like Zack, or more accurately, Zack fought like him. And Cloud's weird history meant that therefore his base style was Angeal's. But... that had been many Sephiroths, infinite lifetimes and some ninjas ago. Cloud's style had seriously and fundamentally evolved from that base style. Angeal, simply put, didn't have the experience to match Cloud, especially when Cloud was fighting as if he had been taught by the man- Cloud was very familiar with what moves Angeal was going to do, but Angeal had no way to know some of the moves that Cloud did. Seeing as they included some extremely bizarre alternate worlds like the one with the mouse king, or the one where he and a bunch of emo heros like himself had battled their various nemesis. Both of which had served well to unhinge Cloud from taking reality all that seriously, as a matter of fact.

Basically, he was bored.

Cloud looked over to Sephiroth and Genesis and saw that the silver-haired man was similarly blocking without really paying attention. Well... this had to change.

Cloud shoved Angeal hard, hooked his sword while he was off-balance, and sent it spiraling off into a pond at the base of one of the waterfalls. To the man's benefit, he was prepared and reacted quickly... but Cloud wasn't attempting to press his advantage. Instead he spun on his toe, throwing up a Wall to reflect Genesis' fireball back into his face, causing the redhead to yelp in surprise. Cloud raced forward, used Genesis' shoulders as a catapult, and leapt through his barrier. As boring as the battle with Angeal had been, it had gotten him to a Limit, which Cloud brought to bear in his downward slash.

His sword stopped in a clash so strong it was more like a wave of light. For a second, everything seemed to freeze as he was held aloft only by the point where Masumune and the Cure blade crossed, entirely supported by Sephiroth's one arm.

And then the force of it released. Cloud was sent shooting up into the air, a wild grin firmly on his face. Sephiroth was a bit more stone-like than normal for a brief second before he crouched and shot up after Cloud. The two of them traded a flurry of blows, Cloud cackling gleefully as they both directed the force downward and out. They slowly rotated and continued to rise, the flash of the blades flaring bright between them. Cloud, given his head start, was still above Sephiroth when he suddenly felt his proximity awareness screaming at him. Confused he fumbled a parry. Masumune speared into his side- but Cloud ignored that. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However, the scream of metal twisting above his back and the hissing snaps of electricity sparking all over his skin- that got his attention.

“Ow! Hel! What in the! Hel and damNAtion! Oooh! Odin's balls!” Cloud ranted, every spark causing an increase of volume. Sephiroth below him had managed to pull most of the power of the strike past the initial piercing- partly due to the resistance as it hit concrete, but more so due to his unfair floating ability. He didn't even have a wing. Well, out anyway. “Mother of a common whore!” Cloud swore. He was pinned to the electricity. “Stop staring- Hel's bells! At me and pull- Thor's beard! That damn toothpick Hel! Ow! Out of my side!”

Sephiroth shook himself out of his shock or momentary sadism or whatever and placed his feet on either side of where Cloud was dangling from the fake sky and tugged. He started to fall (gracefully, of course) whilst Cloud began to spin in a bloody free fall, droplets of gore trailing him.

Cloud grunted and stabbed himself with his own blade, causing Sephiroth to almost fall out of his float- he had heard of Cloud doing this of course but it was a bit shocking to actually see. The blade did what it was supposed to when Cloud activated it, and healed the much larger wound, and subsequently the one he had suffered from Masumune.

Sephiroth touched down as if he had been standing still the entire time, the only sign of his movement a slight flaring to his hair and leather coat tails.

Cloud smashed into the fake ground and could faintly hear an ominous rumbling of distressed reinforced concrete. The image did not form a crater like the real ground would, mostly because it was too busy flickering out of existence.

“Cloud!” Genesis yelped, his mouth hanging open.

“Why is there a ceiling in the sky?” Cloud grated out.

“Because... it's a room.” Angeal quirked an eyebrow, looking interested to see that Cloud seemed likely to live after the whole ordeal.

“Yeah, and?” Cloud huffed as he levered himself up with the help of his blade.

“You got too far away from Genesis and I.” Angeal smirked. “Some of us can't fly.” The anymore went politely unsaid.

“Gah- my spleen!” Cloud whined.

“Sacrifice, at world's end...'” Genesis quoted absently, his face looking a bit white.

“Oh, Genesis, stop being a baby. You've seen me do that before. Are you or are you not a SOLDIER?” Cloud teased.

“'Where never lark, or even eagle flew — / The high untrespassed sanctity of space.'” Genesis flourished his blade dramatically.

Recognizing the poem, Cloud's eyes widened. “'I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth/ And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; / Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth/ of sun-split clouds'” Cloud quoted the first few lines. “Genesis, you are a genius!” He grabbed the man and hugged him before Genesis could transition his mind from literary to combative. Genesis had barely opened his mouth to protest before Cloud was off and running out of the gym.

“I don't understand you three at all, but I am seeing the 'love triangle' theory.” Angeal noted.

“There is no 'love triangle'.” Genesis straightened his coat with a huff.

“Correct.” Sephiroth said. He gave such an intense look at Genesis' back it caused the other First's skin to spring into twitching unease until he looked over his shoulder cautiously. The glowing look in the cat-like eyes made Genesis gulp and decide to just leave as quickly as he could. It was lunch time. He was hungry... that's why he was running. Right.

OoOOOOOo

Cloud had a brilliant and glittering idea about how to get a certain parasite launched into space. And it didn't even involve much learning of rocket science. Thank the gods...

“So- today we are going to learn how to jump off of things. You all are at a high enough level where you should be able to get some decent hang-time.” Cloud gestured around at the trains scattered about the open area. They had cleared out all of the monsters and boxed, trussed or otherwise disabled them for later eating. It was a good location for this- his troops should be able to jump to the top of the trains with the help of some of the strewn beams, ladders and other metal leaning against the sides of them. For Cloud... the sides of the area should prove more interesting. There were the remains of service platforms between many of the pillars holding the plates up. He should be able to leap from one to the other. The trick would be to do so without stopping for a rest on the platforms and instead jumping all the way up.

“Jump off of the trains?” Kobe asked.

“Exactly. Like you were doing catching the mobs, but this time, you are going to try to hit each other mid-air.” Cloud nodded.

“Hit each other?” Nasir asked dubiously.

“Well, not actually hit each other, of course, but you will want to hit off of each others' weapons in such a way that the force will propel you up into the air.” Cloud explained.

“How does that work?” Nasir scratched his head. “That's totally against physics.”

“That's because we aren't using physics, we are using our Limits and attacks.” Cloud replied patiently.

“But...” Nasir protested.

“No buts! It just works, alright.” Well, Cloud's patience was apparently not all that long-lived. Especially when he didn't know how these things could work. Nasir was right- they really shouldn't. “Ok, so if one of you will jump up and attack the air, I'll bounce off you to demonstrate.” All eight immediately found their shoes overly interesting. “I won't hurt you.” Cloud huffed.

“Not on purpose.” Kobe muttered. The others followed suit.

“I'll help you demonstrate.” A voice came from over Cloud's shoulder, causing him to stiffen in instinctive panic. Sephiroth had got behind his back! He found himself immediately relaxing as the heat of the man came up behind him, which was if anything more disturbing. Sure they had slept together for a week (from Cloud's perspective) but... Sephiroth had been his nemesis for so many loops and lifetimes- surely that couldn't have been erased so quickly?

“Sir!” The eight recruits snapped into attention while Cloud had a mini-crisis.

“At ease.” Sephiroth muttered. He moved around a dazed Cloud to look the blond in the eye. “If you will allow.”

How had he not sensed the other approaching? He could always sense him. What was going on? “Uh... sure.” Cloud shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “We can probably get halfway to the plate without touching down anywhere.”

Sephiroth frowned and looked up at the gloom and haze that was the underside of the upper plate. “That is quite a distance.” He commented, though he looked like he was mentally measuring against the height of the training room and coming up at 'reasonable'.

“Well, I think with a bit of practice and some luck we can get all the way up there, but the boys won't be able to see how we are doing it.” Cloud shrugged.

“Hmm.” Sephiroth continued to look up.

“Well, let's do this then.” Cloud rubbed his hands together. This was going to be interesting.

“Won't you get injured falling from that height?” Sephiroth finally looked at him. “You hit rather hard this morning.”

Cloud felt his eye twitch. “No more than you would.”

Sephiroth nodded then leapt backwards and Cloud followed suit. They both sprung off of debilitated trains and came together with swords clashing. Clashing very carefully downward. The force sent them sailing up into the air. They both twisted expertly and fell back together. This time Sephiroth hit him a bit harder and Cloud almost fell back out of the air, but he managed to barely come back and hit Sephiroth with a Limit Break, which caused both of them to shoot upwards from the force of it.

Cloud grinned as the wind whistled through his hair, his eyes tracking Sephiroth as the other gracefully, almost weightlessly fell through the air and back into a striking position. This time Cloud locked their blades, even as Sephiroth shook at him to get him to release, the two of them spiraling down towards the ground.

“We are going to crash.” Sephiroth intoned.

“Plenty of time.” Cloud smirked, looking into the cat-slit eyes and seeing the sparkle of amusement there. “Ready?” He asked. At a minute nod of confirmation, he broke the lock and the two of them shot apart, ricocheting off of train carcasses on either side of the yard. They came together in a clash of sparks to destroy the momentum and touched down gracefully in the dirt, a mere twelve feet from where they had started.

“Wow.” Romeo said, his eyes wide.

Cloud broke his stare with Sephiroth to spin and address his class/helpers, though he kept the silver-haired General in the corner of his vision. “So! That's how you do it. Obviously, you won't get that much lift until you have a lot more practice, but it is something that can be learned to a reasonable extent even at your level.”

“Alright!” Gianni crowed, racing to attack Kobe, who laughed and darted away from the other boy.

Cloud chuckled after their antics but stiffened as Sephiroth got closer.

“I'm sorry.” Sephiroth said lowly.

Cloud blinked. “What?”

Sephiroth wasn't looking at him, exactly, and seemed embarrassed. Cloud swallowed nervously. “I am sorry.” He turned to look at Cloud more fully. “I obviously did something that day that has made you uncomfortable.”

“Er...” It was times like this that Cloud was glad that his response to stress was monosyllables, unlike some of the Turks who seemed unable to help babbling when things weren't going their way.

“You said I could have as many hugs as I wanted.” Sephiroth accused.

“I... you can... it's just... I don't sense you anymore.” Cloud frowned. Sephiroth mirrored his expression, looking too much like a kicked puppy for Cloud to stand. Cloud stepped forward and folded himself around Sephiroth with a sigh, immediately feeling better, even with the neck-snapping grip the other man had under his chin.

“I'm too comfortable.” Cloud muttered, though he wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself, the lifestream, or Sephiroth (or all three… and Sephiroth’s rock hard chest- he realized he was nuzzling it and made himself stop moving). This wouldn't end well. They would go back to being enemies and Sephiroth wouldn't recognize him. Once this vacation was over. It would be back to the same hellish loops. He wasn’t sure if he could take any more after having this.

“I see.” Sephiroth said. Which Cloud didn't even try to interpret all the meanings behind. “Would you like to try to reach the Plate?”

“Oh, Hel yes!” Cloud said gratefully. This whole conversation was getting much too heavy for him. “Hey, guys! We're going to see how high we can go- will you be ok bringing the fixings to the restaurant?”

“Yeah, boss!”

“Ok, we’ll meet you there!” Cloud said.

“Sure!” Romeo chirped from where he was sailing through the air after bouncing off of an overturned dumpster.

Cloud shook his head before turning back to his adversary. Sephiroth took that as a sign and leapt into the air. Cloud grinned and took off in a surge after him. Their lightning fast blows left sparks glittering into the train wastes.

They came together over and over, pushing off of each other. Sephiroth was actually smiling and Cloud felt his answering grin- in the middle of a life or death battle they did this all the time. But it was hard to enjoy it in that situation. Right now, though, they could focus on getting as high as possib…le…

“Hel take it.” Cloud growled as they hit the bottom of the plate. There wasn’t a single hole they could aim for, nor a platform in easy reach.

He kicked off of Sephiroth one last time and hit the plate at an angle, sword first. With the Cure Blade stuck into the metal above them, Cloud held onto the handle upside down, braced against the plate and clinging there as he looked around.

Sephiroth stuck his sword into the plate as well and mirrored Cloud’s feet up position, though he probably didn’t actually need to.

Well, Cloud considered, maybe he did? He didn’t have a wing out after all. Regardless, he looked pretty amusing upside down. His long hair and the tails of his coat hung freely, but with both of them upside down it looked like Sephiroth had been hit by a low level Gravity or maybe just been exceptionally surprised.

“Now what do we do?” Sephiroth asked, looking completely at home in his ridiculous position.

“Yeah, I dunno. We have to get back to the slums to eat the spoils of battle, but the ‘how’ of that is a bit up in the air.” He snickered a little at that wording, though Sephiroth either didn’t get the joke or didn’t find it amusing and just raised an elegant eyebrow at him until he sobered.

“You mentioned eating before- what does that have to do with anything you’ve done today?” Sephiroth asked.

“Yeah! It’s super cool!” Cloud grinned, though it felt weird with his skin dragging against his muscles. “If you catch monsters alive and then cut them up in very specific ways, or kill them in certain ways to start with, then they don’t immediately go back to the Lifestream. That’s how we are able to eat! Otherwise we’d have to inhale the effervescent particles or something…”

Sephiroth blinked at him. “There are things called farms.” He pointed out.

“And how do they slaughter their stock, huh? It can’t just be that they kill the whole herd and hope some of them have drops. They’d go out of business so fast.”

“Hrn.” Sephiroth considered.

“And anyway, food made from monsters is way tastier. Especially because it’s fresh. I’ve been plying all the restaurants down here with still alive monsters so they show me how to kill all the different kinds then how to make the dishes.” He took one hand off the sword so he could make a ‘chef’s kiss’ gesture from his lips.

“And… I’m invited?” Sephiroth asked, as tense and blank as one could be with their face turning red from inverted blood flow.

“Of course.” Cloud said softly. “You helped us today.”

“I see.”

“And… and you are welcome any time, too!” Cloud hastened to say, disturbed by how resigned the other had sounded. “You don’t have to do anything, just show up and we can eat together.

Sephiroth gave him a long look before he gracefully flipped over and began to float towards the ground. Much faster and more like falling than when his wing was out, but still much slower than Cloud’s facing-terminal-velocity type speed.

“Hey- if I sit on your shoulders do you think you’d fall faster or we can both get the benefit of your slow fall?” Cloud called, mostly sarcastically. Probably. He was jealous of the floating- it was all fun and games clashing into the sky until the coming down part. Usually Sephiroth batted him into a nearby building, rock, other hard object…

Sephiroth held out his right arm to Cloud, Masume on his other hand still.

Cloud blinked, looking at Sephiroth to make sure he was inviting him like he thought… well, alright!

Cloud cocked his head, calculating Sephiroth’s fall/float speed, the distance, timing, angles… then pushed off the underside of the plate and jumped into Sephiroth’s arm. Gravity still fully affected Cloud so he slipped like a kitten on a motivational poster before he was able to wrap his legs around Sephiroth’s waist and keep himself up. He was so pleased to be floating the fact he’d just climbed Sephiroth like a tree (a floating tree? A griffon?) didn’t click immediately.

Anyway- he looked at Sephiroth, who was looking at him… very intently.

“Oh, uh, sorry- I’ll just limit break the ground or something. This is pretty awkward.”

Sephiroth’s arm tightened around him. Between that, the fact he was basically sitting on Masumune’s sheath like a bench and that he didn’t really want to try that hard he was pretty stuck.

“Ok, sure, this is good, too.” Cloud said. He looked down at the ground- at the rate they were going it was going to take a while. Usually he was perfectly happy with his loose pants and the range of motion that they afforded him. But pressed up against his usual arch nemesis, current friend (?) he was wishing he’d gone with stylish tight leather. Sort of like the tight leather of the muscular thigh he was straddling. Oh, Hels, he shouldn’t have thought about that.

Why were muscular thighs such a weakness of his?? That’s how he’d gotten into trouble with Tifa so many loops. They were completely incompatible, but every time she killed a monster just with her legs he lost it. That plus the fact that sex after a battle high was just amazing…

What would sex after a battle with Sephiroth be like? Oh no. Hojo in a dress! Nope, not doing anything. Um- think about the monsters they were going to eat. And the dishes they would be made into. Mmm- ok, yes, that was working. Battery cap monsters were really good as a substitute for mushrooms. Cloud let his mind wander to daydreams of those monsters trussed up, wiggling like excited penises… wait.

First of all, when had penises been something he was thinking about? And also- really!? He was so far gone that mushroom monsters were arousing?

“Are you?” Sephiroth asked.

“What?” Cloud’s attention snapped back to Sephiroth.

“Are you aroused?”

Cloud stared into the glowing, cat slit eyes, at a loss for words. “Wh-why would you ask that all the sudden?”

“You are the one babbling on about it.”

Cloud closed his eyes for a second. He was trying to gather himself- he really needed to stop speaking all his thoughts.

“You are still talking out loud.” Sephiroth pointed out helpfully.

Cloud cracked his eye back open to look at the other man. Sephiroth’s face was smooth, without any microexpressions giving away if he had any sort of idea what, if anything, Sephiroth might be thinking about the situation.

“I’m sorry.” Cloud finally settled on.

“For what?”

“Well…” Cloud frowned. “For making you uncomfortable?” He meant that as a statement, but it came out too confused and more like a question.

“Should I be uncomfortable?” Sephiroth tilted his head, seemingly asking a genuine question.

“Well.” Cloud considered. “This seemed innocent enough to start with, and admittedly floating down is much nicer than smashing into something hard.” He winced at that phrasing. “Like a wall!”

“That is an odd thing to specify so emphatically.” Sephiroth noted. Then he moved. Cloud tensed but Sephiroth was just sheathing Masumume. Into the sheath underneath Cloud’s ass. He could feel the vibration as the long sword slid home.

“Thor’s thunder balls.” Cloud gasped out.

“We are on the ground if you want to get off.”

Yes, Cloud desperately wanted to get off. Almost as much as he wanted to take a cold shower and relieve his problem that way.

“Did I say something that has a different meaning colloquially?”

“Yes.” Cloud replied. He considered if he wanted to explain and caught Sephiroth’s eyes flicking away in disappointment. Like perhaps no one ever bothered to explain to him. Cloud sighed. “Getting off is a euphemism for…” Cloud paused- there were so many other ways to refer to it.

“For what? What are the other euphemisms?”

Cloud actually squirmed- damn his talking aloud to Hel and back. How was this his life giving freaking Sephiroth a sex talk, while… actually, he should quit the squirming it was not helping. Or totally helping, depending on your point of view.

“It has something to do with this, correct?” Sephiroth asked, before he grabbed Cloud’s crotch.

“Yrgdrassil’s deepest roots!” Cloud squawked. Sephiroth was holding his cock. Sephiroth. Was. Holding. His… Cloud groaned.

“Tell me what it means.” Sephiroth purred, sounding much too pleased with himself.

“Having an orgasm!” Cloud squeaked. Both an answer to the question and almost a description of what the combination of that hand and that voice were doing to him.

“Just like this?” Sephiroth sounded confused and his grip tightened.

“Ah! Too hard, Hel.” Cloud had a sudden, awful flash of Zach in the Lifestream laughing his ass off after he died from hand job.

“Pain is not needed?” Sephiroth asked quietly.

Cloud valiantly rallied, as that was a potentially heartbreaking question. “No, pain is not needed. It… ungh…” Sephiroth loosened his hold and started to gently run his fingers along Cloud’s bulge. “Some people like pain… hrn… but only with c-consent.”

“This is a potentially valuable interrogation technique.” Sephiroth commented.

Ok, they needed to have a conversation where Cloud could focus. He didn’t care if he fell a hundred meters into the concrete, he needed to be on his own feet. He pushed away from Sephiroth, though breaking that grip was some of the most challenging grappling of his life(lives) and fell… maybe a meter.

Sephiroth was standing on the ground. Right. He had said that, hadn’t he. Cloud’s brain didn’t seem to have much blood getting to it at the moment.

Cloud ignored all the myriad ways he should be really embarrassed and looked up at Sephiroth, holding up one finger in a ‘give me a sec’ gesture.

“We landed some time ago.” Sephiroth said helpfully.

“Yeah, got that.”

“You didn’t seem to want to get down.”

Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Was that also a euphemism?”

“No.” Cloud replied. “Well, yes. Also for sex. But not what I was thinking about.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“That we need to have a talk. About a lot of things, but obviously boundaries is a big one. And healthy sex, probably. And gods, consent…” Cloud felt overwhelmed. How was this his life??? How was he going to survive discussing all this with freaking Sephiroth????

“I would appreciate that.”

Cloud looked up at Sephiroth, thinking the man was being sarcastic. But he looked completely earnest and… grateful. Hels take it- how could he feel upset when the reaction to something so embarrassing, potentially condescending, and just… he just… was happy? Was that a tiny smile?

“I’m doomed.” Cloud realized.

“You don’t have to.” Sephiroth said as he froze up.

“No, I am definitely going to.” Cloud said as he stood up. And adjusted himself. Thankfully(?) getting depressed thinking about how Sephiroth’s past must have been and in general this conversation was a libido killer. “And I’m also going to wank first. For sure.”

“Wank means?” Sephiroth asked as Cloud cursed himself out (hopefully) in his head.

“I’m on vacation.” Cloud reminded himself. “I do not need to be embarrassed or stressed by anything.”

Sephiroth stiffened again and looked faintly hurt.

Cloud put his hand on the other man’s arm. “It’s not you, ok. I am having an internal issue based on my own socialization. It’s almost surprising considering my past, so if anything I should be thanking you.” Good- he was back to looking confused. “And it means to manually bring oneself to orgasm.”

“Oh.” Sephiroth’s brows furrowed. “Can you show me how you do that?”

“We are going to go to the restaurant.” Cloud said as he tried very hard to ignore that request. “We are going to have a nice meal. We will not mention anything to do with orgasms or penises or manual stimulation because that’s not polite dining talk.”

“Oh.” Sephiroth looked disappointed.

“And we can discuss those things somewhere that we won’t be recorded by the Silver Elite. Later.” Cloud continued.

Sephiroth perked up. As much as he ever did- a slight gleam of mako in his eyes, the tiniest raise of his eyebrows. “Tonight? In my room?”

“Yes, that’s not a terrible idea at all. We can go over all sorts of sexual escapades. No problem.”

“Your words are agreeing, however your tone is odd. You sound like the times the others call you ‘insane.’”

“That is probably an accurate description, yes.” Cloud said as he turned towards the road leading to the restaurant. “Come on, Sephiroth. Our delicious reward awaits.”

Cloud took only ten steps before he abruptly spun on his heel, pointing his finger at Sephiroth. “And absolutely do NOT grab anyone by their penis.”

“Why not?” Sephiroth asked, looking intrigued.

“It’s… I can tell you why tonight.” Cloud said finally. “I’m going to need some visual aids.” He muttered to himself. “But basically- it’s because it’s like attacking someone for no reason, but worse in some ways.”

“So until I know when someone is trying to provoke a fight, or in this case penis touching, I should refrain?” Sephiroth hazarded.

Cloud fervently regretted being bored and wishing for something different. Bored was good, actually. Much better than this conversation anyway. “That is… essentially correct.”

“I see.” Sephiroth mused. “Like the hugging- there are rules.” He nodded to himself. “Tonight, then.”

“Fantastic.” Cloud said, very sarcastically.

This was not how he had wanted to get invited to Sephiroth’s room. He was probably going to end up like last time- stabbed. With a sword. Not pleasant things. Not that he wanted to be? Or did he?????

At least he wouldn’t be in a dress.

Chapter Text

After the kids kept retreating from Sephiroth at the table, Cloud sighed and wedged the huge General all the way into the booth then took the spot right next to him, glaring at his subordinates until they took the spots across and to his right. 

Even with some space Gianni, across from Sephiroth and getting the full weight of his stare, was slowly sinking below the table top. It wasn’t a far trip considering he was starting with the advantage of being pretty short to start with. Cloud leaned into Sephiroth pointedly until the taller man broke his assessing gaze and looked down at Cloud instead, a considering expression on his face at their closeness.

The tension broke as happy restaurant staff brought out the steaming, family style platters and plates. The youngsters kept sneaking looks at Sephiroth, most of them going pale and sweating every time they did. 

Cloud cleared his throat pointedly and they started to take (much smaller than usual) portions of their favorite dishes. Clearing out the train yards was fairly standard now, so none of these dishes were new.

Sephiroth looked over the plates interestedly, his slit pupils widening almost to ovals as he inhaled the smells. Cloud really loved when hey did that.

Cloud grabbed a dish. “Here, I’ll make up a plate for you- this one is good on top of this one, see, like this… and here’s some bread to sop up the stew- yeah, this one’s better with the dark bread. And the white bread is good with this other meat on top, since it’s sweeter.” 

He piled some of the meat dripping in sauces up on the flaky crust white bread just like he preferred to demonstrate and offered it to Sephiroth.

Instead of taking it with his hand, though, the silver haired man leaned down and took a bite right from Cloud’s hand. 

Cloud felt heat rush up his neck and into his cheeks as well as rushing south. Oh… well… he swallowed slowly. That was apparently a kink he had somehow managed to avoid discovering. Kind of impressive, really, right? Not even in so many loops he’d lost track... He realized he was staring at Sephiroth’s pink tongue as it chased a drop of sauce that had escaped. “Gungnir stab me in the kidney…” Cloud choked out. 

“Hmm? Something wrong, Cloud?” Sephiroth purred.

Cloud made a strangled noise and slid the plate in front of the other man to try to encourage him to feed himself. Otherwise he was going to have his most embarrassing Sephiroth induced death yet- he hadn’t thought it was possible to top being murdered in a ripped silky dress but there you go... 

Sephiroth lifted his right arm over the back of the booth behind Cloud and leaned into him. “No more recommendations, Cloud?” Sephiroth’s expression looked perfectly innocent- but considering the man usually looked blank that was very suspicious. 

Cloud cleared his throat. “Don’t you need that arm to eat?” 

“I’m left handed.” Sephiroth said.

“Mmmhmm.” Cloud said helplessly, melting into the leather coated side despite himself.

“And you said I could have as many hugs as I wanted- any time I wanted.” 

“I did say that.” Cloud agreed.

“I think we can eat and sit like this at the same time, no? It actually saves space so your disciples have more room to get away from the big, bad General.” Sephiroth noted.

Said disciples jumped guiltily before taking suspiciously large bites or drinks to avoid getting roped into the conversation.

“That’s very thoughtful of you.” Cloud said wryly.

“Hmm.” Sephiroth agreed, before taking a bite of the darker bread with the blugu meat on top. He closed his eyes and chewed thoughtfully before making a soft humming noise.

“Good, right?” Cloud asked excitedly.

“Yes. Very good.” Sephiroth said as he opened his eyes and caught Cloud’s gaze. 

And held it. For a lot longer than Cloud thought was really warranted- it was good, sure, but not like… several minutes of intense eye contact good. 

What were they doing again?

“Thank you for including me, Cloud.” Sephiroth said softly.

“Always.” Cloud squeaked. “Of course.”

“So I would be welcome again?” Sephiroth asked, strangely hesitant.

The kids made choking noises but Cloud ignored them.

“I’m sure all these younglings, in desperate need of tutoring, would be very willing to have the most powerful man on the Planet give them tips and mentoring.” Cloud said pointedly and loudly as he side eyed his proteges.

“Isn’t that you, Cloud?” Sephiroth asked with a gleam in his eyes (metaphorical- he wasn’t actually glowing at the moment).

Cloud rolled his eyes. “Ok, fine. The two most powerful men tutoring them.”

Sephiroth huffed out a laugh. “I am happy to trade some tips for such delicious compensation in such pleasant company.” 

Cloud felt his lips stretch in a pleased smile then slide back to neutral as Sephiroth held their gazes locked. He had really been doing that a lot lately… very strange.

Without looking at his plate Sephiroth picked up another morsel and ate it. Really slowly. Eyes still on Cloud’s face. Not like his usual laser beam focus like in battle, though, softer somehow.

Finally Cloud ducked his head and took a large bite from his own plate, his face warm for some reason. He glanced up at his proteges, frowning at their appalled (Romeo), sly (Trace, Nasir and Aiden), surprised (Jarod) and complicated (everyone else but Kobe, who was eating and not interested in the drama). They all hurriedly went back to their meals, though Trace broke out his (her) phone and was texting suspiciously quickly.

“I’m glad your students look up to you so diligently.” Sephiroth said in that false-innocent sort of tone again. Cloud almost called him on it, but the other’s fingers started to glide along the back of his neck. He almost inhaled his gorkii meat in surprise- almost as much from the fact it wasn’t a pre-lethal grip as his touching him there at all.

“Yes.” Cloud cleared his throat. “Definitely.”

Someone snickered but Cloud was too distracted to catch who.

OOooOOOoOooo

“Reno!” 

The Turk jumped at someone suddenly calling his name. He blinked and turned slowly- the voice had hailed him familiarly, like they knew him, but he didn’t recognize them. The short-ish man with a huge sword and a chocobo-butt head wasn’t someone he’d met, either, but he wasn’t a Turk for his good looks or charming personality. Well, not only because of his good looks and charming personality.

So of course Reno could recognize the number one confounder for all of Shinra trotting towards him. The question was why the stronger-than-a-SOLDIER, for some reason rocket obsessed crazy person was approaching him.

“Erm, hello.” Reno said tentatively. “Cloud, isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes.” Cloud came up beside Reno and clapped him on his shoulder. Fortunately not with his full strength as Reno only took a half step instead of being batted through the wall. “I have a favor to ask.”

“Yeah?” Reno said cautiously. He certainly should take this opportunity to get some more info- such as what ‘Shinra always falls’ or ‘damn, is this the cause of Geostigma’ might mean. Crazy mutterings or possibly signs of foresight? The Turks had several betting pools, got into fights almost daily, and Reno would get massive cred and hopefully a bonus to settle any of the many items of interest…

“I need your sex ed materials.”

Reno blinked. Of all the possible requests, that hadn’t even been one he’d considered. “Er… I think you might have me confused with someone…”

“No, no- I know you have it. The one with all the notes on the Shinra basic HR orientation. About consent stuff, that the Science Department doesn’t count as ethical BDSM, how to communicate effectively in polyamory and…”

Reno slapped his hand over the blond’s mouth, then regretted it and hoped he wouldn’t die for attacking someone with battle instincts that could take out Sephiroth. Fortunately the other just smiled, plucked Reno by the wrist and pulled his hand off his mouth.

“So you do know what I am talking about?”

“Those aren’t notes.” Reno hissed. “Those are what I wrote in the margins to avoid falling asleep in that terrible, vanilla, gas-lighting joke of a brief.”

“I dunno, that sounds like notes to me.”

Reno groaned. “Don’t get me fired, man- I’m actually good at this job.”

“I need them for something.” Cloud said. Overly vaguely.

Reno gave him an unimpressed look. “What, to give Sephiroth the Wind Wing and the Zuu talk?” He asked sarcastically. 

Cloud’s face got a strange combination of pale and flushed and he broke eye contact.

“WHAT!?!”

“Shhh!” Cloud hissed. “Listen- he’s only ever had the Shinra one, sort of, maybe… and he was essentially raised by Hojo so I would like to refer back to the ‘Science Department is not ethical BDSM’ point. And… um… I just don’t think we’d be er… healthy you know, like emotionally… if that’s possible. Because of all the…” Cloud gestured vaguely. Fortunately not in a way that meant a sex thing, more like the ‘everything is messed up what can you do’ sort of way. 

Not that Reno was generally opposed to sex things (obviously) but maybe he was a little bit opposed when it involved a complete nutjob and a usually uninterested stab-happy superior.

“Right.” Reno said, that word putting in a lot of mileage and he wasn’t even sure which of the interpretations he meant. “I want something in return.”

“Obviously.” Cloud nodded in agreement.

Reno eyed him warily. His eyes flicked up to the closest camera before he pulled Cloud out of range of the speaker. He wanted to get credit for whatever nonsense came out of Cloud’s mouth next. He wasn’t an idiot, though, so he pinched his cuff link to activate his personal recorder. “What do you mean by ‘Shinra is destined to fail’?”

Cloud blinked at him. “Did I say that?”

“You mutter it a lot.” Reno confirmed.

“Huh.” Cloud scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Well, sure. See- the ‘Promised Land’ is really the Lifestream, which is just where you go when you die. Sort of. For the Cetra they maintain much more of their sentience, though, so for them they don’t die like the rest of us. Like, they die, but um… anyway, not important as that hardly applies.” Reno leaned so heavily on his training at staying impassive he felt his brain start creaking. But he kept his lips zipped you better believe it. 

Cloud continued. “But mako messes with the Lifestream and poisons the land. And SOLDIERS of course will eventually get Degredation. Or Geostigma, maybe- but I don’t know if there’s a super direct correlation there. Anyway- all that is actually too long term. Shinra will inevitably fail because it is based on imperialism and exponential growth. Obviously since they’ve basically run out of new areas to exploit they will collapse from over consolidation of power and wealth to an unsustainable degree.”

Reno squinted at Cloud. That did not clear anything up at all and was going to spawn at least four more betting pools.

Cloud blinked at him innocently.

“I’ll get that packet for you.” Reno said finally in defeat.

OoOoOooOOOO

Packet secured in his room, Cloud waited for Sephiroth to find him again. He assumed with the handsiness that it would be fairly soon, but he didn’t see a single silver hair for the rest of the day. 

Well, that was alright- he had a lot of paperwork to do to get the rocket project moving along. They were getting so close! Romeo was a rocket genius or… whatever that was called. Getting the kid in on the older work had led to identifying thirty seven separate incidents of sabotage of data, equations, fuel ratios… he was all over it and fixing it. 

And the paperwork/Materia practice was having potentially awesome and definitely hilarious side effects. Like Kobe’s limit break of ‘No Bullshit’ which basically reverted sabotaged documents to their original version… talk about changing the world. Who needs super soldiers when they can have version control. 

Cloud didn’t think much of the missing General- the man did have responsibilities, missions, training. Plus rockets were almost as interesting as battle and something new besides. His cute little minions were so close to fixing the JENOVA problem. With science! He could almost see how Hojo and Hollander had… yeah, no, never mind. Once you cross the line of torturing sentients Cloud lost sympathy.

Anyway! The initial thrust problem was so much easier if they leveraged Sephiroth’s unfair floating ability and Cloud’s and his sword thrust (hah- rocket thrust, but with swords!) getting the initial velocity. 

They just needed some specifics on what the actual ‘package’ was, which meant Cloud would probably have to go talk to Jenova. And steal her. And maybe her cells? How much of her consciousness was decentralized? Could she pull it all into a small packet? Or… maybe it needed to be just some high percent of the cells or… would leaving cells on the Planet cause issues still? He sure hoped not since he wanted to keep Sephiroth not launch him into space.

Wait.

Cloud replayed that last sentence in his head. Possibly aloud based on his conversation with Reno. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to launch all the Jenova cells into… he couldn't even finish that thought before something fundamental in his person violently rejected it.

Oh.

Cloud was rubbing his face and having an existential crisis when Genesis kicked in his office door.

“Cloud! You need to come right now!”

“I… what?” Cloud was slower on the uptake than usual after his revelation.

“Sephiroth broke out of the Science Department and he’s been grabbing people- we’ve got six cases of mako poisoning already and he might start stabbing…”

Cloud leapt over his desk and Genesis cut himself off to spin on his heel and start running. Cloud followed.

“Does he have his sword?” Cloud asked urgently.

“No, thank the Goddess.” Genesis looked worried. “He gave it to Angeal when Hojo came for him and Angeal put it in his office.”

“Ok, that’s good.” Cloud started running scenarios in his head- damn. He was going to split Hojo’s skull with the Cure blade next time he saw him and see if that healed the fanatic’s broken ass brain, he swore to Odin. 

The two of them skid around a corner and there he was- in the middle of a ring empty of people (tense around him) and chairs (flung to the corners of the lounge).

“Oh, Sephiroth…” Cloud said sadly. 

Sephiroth’s eyes shot to Cloud, glowing intensely and pupils such tiny slits they were almost invisible. He was in his usual leather outfit, but his clothes and entire body were covered in thick, effervescing mako. His skin was so pale that either the exposure or the light radiating around him made him look sickly lime green. He was hunched over, a SOLDIER Second held to his chest with one arm.

“Hey, let him go, ok?” Cloud said, holding his hands out soothingly as he approached slowly. “Why don’t you come with me? It’ll be alright. I won’t let anyone hurt you, ok?”

Sephiroth dropped the Second unceremoniously and stumbled towards Cloud. Another SOLDIER grabbed him and pulled the groaning man over to what looked like an already fairly busy decontamination tent.

“That’s right.” Cloud cooed to Sephiroth. “Just come over here.”

“Where… where am I?” Sephiroth’s voice was gravelly and utterly unlike his usual smooth baritone.

“You’re with me.” Cloud said as he reached the man and held onto his elbows, steadying him. Cloud did a quick visual and there didn’t seem to be anything life threatening. Just rage inducing tubing sticking out of he neck and bleeding sluggishly. “I got you.”

“Cloud?” Sephiroth asked, his voice faint. 

“That’s right.” Cloud reached up and grabbed the tubing. “This might sting a bit but I’m trying to make you feel better, ok?”

“I…” Sephiroth blinked. The first time he had since Cloud arrived actually. Dammit. “Yes.” 

“Ok, great- you’re doing great.” Cloud said as he yanked the tube out then pressed his hand to Sephiroth’s neck to stop the bleeding. As pumped up with mako as the other was, it only took a few seconds. 

“Please…” Sepiroth said.

Cloud didn’t know exactly what he wanted but he was pretty sure what he needed. “Keep people out of the path to his rooms.” Cloud ordered Genesis, who nodded in agreement before starting to bark orders at the various SOLDIERS and Shinra employees tense on the periphery of the lounge.

“We’re going to get you cleaned up, ok?” Cloud said. And himself, too. Damn- he’d really been trying to avoid mako poisoning on his vacation. So much for that! Thankfully he wasn’t like in his first loop… er, life. His tolerance was much higher. But the edges of his consciousness were definitely starting to fuzz.

Sephiroth collapsed on top of him.

Chapter Text

“I gotcha, Seph, I gotcha.” Cloud murmured as he walked determinately down the hallway, Sephiroth draped over his back. Cloud hacked into Sephiroth's room when the other showed no inclination to produce his magnetic card… or move really.

“All that waits you is a somber morrow?” Genesis asked as he fluttered at their side, trying to help but unsure how. He looked like a redheaded mother hen with Cloud’s protegees as worried chicks. Cute chicks taking out their worry by aggressively brandishing pens at confused and intimidated Shinra employees.

Keeping the hallways clear as Cloud fought off the mako poisoning long enough to get somewhere safe-ish was enough, really. He felt a rush of affection for all of them.

Cloud’s lip quirked as he translated Loveless and replied. “That’s a stretch on the quote, but yes, we should be fine if we just sleep it off. Thanks, Genesis, you’re helping.”

“Not enough… Nothing shall forestall my return.” Genesis intoned sadly.

“'He is guided by hope that the gift will bring bliss And the oath that he swore to his friends.'" Cloud quoted back. "Thanks, Genesis.” Cloud fumbled slightly before he was able to shimmy the door open and the two of them through. “We’re just both sedated and strung out on mako- no big deal.”

The cadets looked worriedly at Cloud.

“I’ll be fine, kids!” Cloud waved Genesis off as well as his posse when they tried to follow him into the room. Truth be told, if Sephiroth went from drooling to any other state, he would probably kill all of them. At least Cloud had a chance to loop if it came to that. He shut the door firmly and punched it until it sparked, melted a little and had the happy side effect of disabling the override.

Sephiroth woke up slightly and seemed to recognize he was in his room. He started to almost automatically pull off his outerwear; the harness, his coat and gloves. Still leaning heavily on Cloud he dropped them listlessly on the floor with uncoordinated and trembling hands.

Cloud hesitated. He glanced at the couch… if he could maybe lower the man down and pull off the rest of his clothes… maybe that would be enough that he could recover? But if he was flopped passed out on the couch how could Cloud ever get him back up again? As a compromise, Cloud lowered the semi-conscious Sephiroth onto he arm of the couch. Cloud tilted his head back and forth as he considered how to get of the mako-drenched clothes off. He figured he could start easy and knelt down to pull off one boot and sock after the other. Sephiroth raised his legs dizzily to help as he grasped the leather with desperate fingers. Sephiroth swayed alarmingly but didn't topple from his perch.

Cloud suddenly realized that he needed to get his clothes off, too, he was still getting an increasing dose just standing here. All their clothes needed at least a day for the mako to evaporate, if they could be salvaged at all. He looked up at Sephiroth's half naked form and hesitated. They had been getting closer… but with that much drug in both their systems and the mako making them off-kilter… maybe he should go. The last time (in another lifetime but still...) they were naked and mako-drunk in this room hadn't gone well. But he probably should have thought of that before he had turned the door/frame/surrounding wall into slag. He looked ruefully at the mess that used to be the entrance and wondered if anything short of a arc welder would get them back out again...

“Don't want to be in the same room as the monster?” Sephiroth laughed hollowly.

“I don't think that you are a monster, Sephiroth.” Cloud replied softly. Sephiroth wasn’t a monster, not yet, anyway.

Sephiroth scoffed, clearly not believing him.

“Listen- I know you are not feeling quite yourself right now.” Cloud blinked when he stood and his vision swam. He tried to get the four Sephiroths to get themselves sorted and back into one body without much luck. He moved to grasp the most likely shoulder but chose poorly as his hand whiffed through a duplicate Sephiroth. He let his hand fall to his side and wobbled at the change in balance.

“You can't even touch me.” Sephiroth growled, lashing out with an arm to knock Cloud away from him. Cloud fell on his butt with a wince and then had to steady himself with his arms propped firmly behind him. “Look at you! Trying to get away from me!”

Cloud gingerly moved one arm and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was too mako-drunk for this conversation. He tried to not think about puking. “You are not a monster.” Cloud said firmly. “Hojo is a monster for what he did to you, but you are not a monster. I'm just trying not to fall over. Again. More...”

“How do you know?” Sephiroth asked brokenly. “How can I not be? Look at my eyes!”

Cloud steeled himself, got unsteadily to his feet and stumbled forward. He flopped down onto Sephiroth, straddling the couch arm precariously. Sephiroth tensed as if to pull away at the same time he clung to Cloud desperately. Cloud rubbed up and down the bare skin of Sephiroth's back.

Sephiroth practically folded himself in half as he melted into Cloud then suddenly stiffened and sprung straight. “Get off of me! You cannot defeat me! I am a god!” Sephiroth snapped, then shoved Cloud back.

Cloud bunny hopped and flailed to get his balance. Fortunately Sephiroth swayed also and slipped off of the couch as well, tilting wildly even as he tried to attack. Cloud tackled the taller man to the ground and pinned him using all the dirty tricks that anyone had ever taught him for hand-to-hand.

“Hoo boy.” Cloud grabbed Sephiroth by the jaw and looked him directly in his feverishly burning eyes. “Sephiroth- you are NOT a god, ok, you are a normal-ish person... Soldier... person. I will kick your ass if you get delusions of grandeur but I won’t leave you, ok? We’re going to get through this together.”

“Why?” Sephiroth asked, his voice strangled and rough.

Cloud looked into his glowing, almost pupilless eyes that looked frantic, despairing. He sighed heavily, thinking about his revelation from earlier. He hadn’t had a chance to live a life Sephiroth free, not really, but for the first time, he didn’t really want to. A vacation with Sephiroth- hah! “I care about you, ok? And I’ve been where you are. I know it sucks. I’m going to help you through it.”

Sephiroth looked at him like he didn’t understand the words coming out of Cloud’s mouth. And maybe he literally couldn’t. Or maybe he couldn’t because no one had ever had said something like that to him before which was really depressing but also likely true.

“Ok... let's get you cleaned up a bit and to bed.” Cloud said shakily. He still felt ill but the adrenaline and (unfortunately a lot of) experience was compensating.

Getting them both back on their feet was complicated as both of them were weak and uncoordinated as new hatched chochobos. Then they had to maneuver to he bathroom- after slipping all over each other from the slimy mako. Cloud sighed that nothing short of the decontamination tents or, since that was an option, a thorough shower, was going to get them deconned enough to not lose their minds (again). Just lying down on the floor was so tempting.

Cloud carried Sephiroth/used him as a limp human crutch to the bathroom. He leaned Sephiroth in the shower, ignoring his whimper of complaint as Cloud quickly extracted himself from all his mako-drenched clothes and chucked them into the corner of the bathroom where the continued to smoke and glow faintly.

Cloud got the shower on and both of them under it, letting it rinse the mako out of their hair and off their bodies. Cloud braced against the wall before trying to peel off Sephiroth’s glowing pants. The leather was sticking against the man’s skin especially in the water. Sephiroth shuddered before smashing his shoulders against Cloud’s head for leverage and peeling out of them himself. The leather smacked on the tiles and green trails of glowing mako swirled from the wet pile. Now that they were both nude the water was quickly sluicing the mako off, except for Sephiroth’s freaking long and heavy hair.

As Cloud was manipulating the almost limp man for the rinse he found the sites where darts had obviously hit. He growled at that- not just mako poisoning, then, also who knew what sedation and dysphoria from the combination.

Sephiroth stared at his arm as he moved it in and out of the shower flow listlessly, flexing his hand and watching the water running over his white skin without comprehension.

“Ok, bed time.” Cloud staggered with the larger man to his bed. “There you go.” Cloud said as he flopped Sephiroth on his bed with a feeling of great relief. Sephiroth’s long arm snatched at him and made Cloud fall into his chest with a wet smack and a startled yelp. Cloud considered trying to get up… but it was slippery and his extremities were tingling and the whole room was spinning. It was probably worse for Sephiroth, who just groaned and shoved his face into Cloud’s neck, shuddering and looking green from nausea (and maybe still mako).

Hopefully neither of them completely lost their minds and murdered everyone/anyone/each other before they recovered.

OooOOooo

Cloud came to slowly. He really needed to lay off the drugs...

Cloud’s face was stuck to something by drool. He sniffed then swallowed, peeling his cheek away. He smelled something heavenly and he was so perfectly warm. His arm was flung over someone, covered by something that was soft and tickled him slightly. Cloud looked up at a faintly quivering ceiling of black feathers.

“Well, that's interesting.” Cloud murmured. He had no idea where he was.

The feathers abruptly disappeared and Cloud turned his head to track their retreat. The feathers were attached to a wing, which was attached to Sephiroth.

“Ah.” Cloud nodded. He had obviously been sleeping draped over Sephiroth. “I hate drugs. Don’t do drugs, kids… I feel like Thor was using my head as a croquet ball…”

Cloud's eyes were drawn to where Sephiroth's wing sprung from his naked shoulder. It looked perfectly natural and the transition from flesh to feathers was beautiful and he just really, really wanted to pet those little tiny feathers to see if they were as soft as they looked. But that did beg the question - how did something so delicate appear through clothes so neatly? It never seemed to rip the leather of Sephiroth’s coat, or have blood from the skin- when put away, the coat was unaffected. Was the skin? Cloud tried to remember if he’d seen Sephiroth’s non-winged shoulder lately. Or ever.

A cat slit eye rolled open and blinked at him. Sephiroth was not really awake, confused and blinking as he tried to gather himself.

Cloud looked up at that sleepy face and felt his lips curl up into a soft smile. “It’s alright, Sephiroth. You’re safe.”
Something rumbled in Sephiroth’s chest as he huffed out a tired sigh.
Cloud lost his battle with his intrusive thoughts and reached out a finger to the soft feathers at the junction of shoulder and wing. He ran his finger along the edge where they sprang out of the flesh. The absolutely adorable feathers were smaller than a baby’s fingernail that were so, so soft. Sephiroth’s eyelids fluttered shut and he let out a shuddering sigh as his wing lifted for better access. 

“I’ll protect you.” Cloud whispered as Sephiroth’s eyes closed and he relaxed back to sleep. His wing drifted down and laid across Cloud, who belatedly realized that he was still totally naked. And that he might have yet another new kink- the feathers on his bare flesh felt like being burned alive or dumped in mako, but instead of it being a bad sensation, it was amazing.

Sephiroth nosed Cloud's hair before going bonelessly, trustingly still, only his slow heart beat and breathing showing he was still alive.

Cloud felt his heart clench as he realized how much Sephiroth was trusting him. And how safe he felt, completely wrapped up in the other’s arms, legs, wing… 

He pulled Sephiroth closer and closed his eyes. He was tired- he could have an existential crisis about how he felt safe with Sephiroth after he had a few more hours of shut eye. And cuddles. Since that was apparently something he needed now.

Chapter Text

Cloud flailed awake, confused and falling. He half-suffocated until he managed to prop himself onto an elbow. Oh… right, he was in a bed. Ah ha… Sephiroth’s bed. 

Sephitoh who was staring at him, similarly propped up by one elbow with his wing swept behind him, his pupils sliver thin and irises glowing.

“Why are we awake?” Cloud whined. “Are we fighting someone?”

“No.” Sephiroth said flatly.

“Are we fighting?” Cloud asked dubiously, considering that historically that would have been his first question.

“No.”

“Hn.” Cloud groaned and flopped back down. His head still felt like it was being squeezed in a vice and he just was exhausted/hung over in that special mako way. Without a pressing world ending event, presumably, he just wanted to go back to sleep. Preferably curled up with his new favorite body pillow/feather blanket, but that one was potentially negotiable considering the look Sephiroth was giving him right now.

“You are still under the effects of the drug.” Sephiroth's voice came out strangled and Cloud looked up at him in surprise. Oops- how much of that had he just said out loud? 

Cloud’s chagrin turned to concern. Sephiroth didn’t look like someone on their way to recovery. The man looked, well, sort of terrified- his nostrils flared slightly and muscles so tense he was vibrating - most evident at that wingtip, bobbing up and down. 

Cloud moved without thinking and slid his finger around the wing again, contemplatively, and Sephiroth's eyelids drooped despite his tense posture. Cloud let his fingers continue to move back and forth, enjoying how the other's eyelids followed whether he was stopping or caressing.

“I may still be drugged.” Cloud agreed. There was no other way that he would be allowing himself to do what he was doing. Sometime later, he was sure he would freak out about this whole situation, but right now he was just feeling smug. He had always wanted to touch the wings. He had definite wing-envy. It was damn hard to fight someone who could fly, even or especially despite all the laws of physics. 

Cloud hummed as he swept his palm up along the underside of the wing and let his fingers sink in through the pliable over feathers and the soft, soft under feathers to the firm and quivering muscle and bone. Wow… just like a real wing… but how did it really allow flight? Certainly not through standard aerodynamics (which he knew a lot about now, actually. Hooray rockets).

“Cloud.” Sephiroth grabbed his wrist, muscles clenched to the point he was quiverings.

“Why are you so tense?” Cloud asked.

“ Why am I so tense? ” Sephiroth snapped. He stood abruptly, jerking his wing out of Cloud's reach. His countenance went glacial.

Cloud found himself in a fighting stance without being really sure how he had gotten there. “Are we fighting?” He asked, very confused. “Sorry- I thought you liked me touching you?”

“!!” 

Cloud blinked, deliberately straightening and holding out his hands in a peaceful gesture. “Whatever you think is wrong, we can fix it.” Cloud lied.

“Fix it!?” Sephiroth's eyes flashed. “You start... your hand...” His face drew down into a frown and he gestured to his right.

Cloud followed the gesture, thinking furiously. Sephiroth swept his wing back angrily, looking anywhere but at it, which was a bit odd; that he seemed so awkward with it. He usually used it to such good effect...oh! 

“Oh!” Cloud repeated out loud. “You have a wing! ”

Sephiroth looked like he wanted to smack his face into his hand, but was too proud, irritated and insecure to do so.

“Aha- yes, sorry about that.” Cloud rubbed the back of his head. “Is it new?”

Sephiroth was speechless for a good long second. “Of course it’s new.” He finally growled.

“Oh, ah… I mean, they can usually go back in. Angeal and Genesis didn’t have them out all the time.”

“Angeal and Genesis have wings?!” Sephiroth asked sharply.

“Well, maybe not anymore-”

“What does that mean?!” Sephiroth’s wing started puffing out in agitation. Sheesh- crack that icy exterior and the man was talking half in italics…

Cloud held out his hands in a calming gesture. “Well, when I cured them of Degradation the wings disappeared and I haven’t seen them since-”

“I’m degrading?” Sephiroth visibly slumped. “I’m dying?”

“Oh, no!” Cloud rushed over and patted Sephiroth on his shoulder and wing and a bit on his chest. He realized he was terrible at reassuring someone. “You’re stable! They didn’t have Jenova cells in utero-”

“WHAT cells?!” Sephiroth shot back upright and took a step back from Cloud.

Cloud broke out in nervous sweat, which reminded him again about their nakedness. This conversation was going terribly and nothing made things more awkward than not having pants on. “Um…”

“What do you know about my mother?” Sephiroth growled.

“Er…” Cloud dug deep in his memory; it had been a while since he’d last gone to that cave. “Her name was Lucretia, how you ended up with Hojo or even how she did I have no idea- it's not like the man was ever a looker, especially considering who she hooked as her other lover...”

“Who? She did… what?” Sephiroth’s voice broke. Cloud had never heard a devastated tone like that in Sephiroth’s voice before.

“Oh, um…” Cloud reviewed what he had just said and winced. He realized Sephiroth had probably meant Jenova and here he started spouting off about a woman the other man didn’t even know existed but who had left him, too. That wasn’t exactly the best way to break that info, right? He had made a vow to enjoy his vacation and not worry, but also being so sloppy with the delivery was bad, right? This was after all the information that usually precipitated Sephiroth snapping. 

Now that he was thinking about that… Sephiroth did have a look to him that was giving Cloud Nibelhem-in-flames flashbacks. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Sephiroth, or even unwilling to tell him about his messed up childhood, but he also didn’t think he was disclosing this properly. Maybe if he could tell Sephiroth in a less haphazard way it would go over better?

Looking at Sephiroth’s pale face, tiny slivered pupils and distraught expression, Cloud decided to take a tactical pause. “I think I need to gather my thoughts for a second…” 

Sephiroth abruptly deflated and turned away, his shoulders going stiff.

Cloud stared at the hard lines of Sephiroth’s back, how the muscles were bunched so tightly his wing was bobbing, feathers slicked an to upset looking flatness. Overall he wasn’t moving at all and with a thick leather coat Cloud probably wouldn’t have been able to tell. But he could now. He hesitantly moved closer and placed a palm on the tightest knot right below Sephiroth’s shoulder blade.

Sephiroth flinched.

“Hey, it’s ok.” Cloud said. “I’ll tell you- you deserve to know.”

“Do I?” Sephiroth asked as he turned around.

Cloud swallowed nervously at the blank look on the other’s face. “Of course.” He frowned as he tried to think how to start trauma dumping on the tramatizee. Trauma victim? Person who didn’t realize that they were traumatized because they didn’t know the extent of the fuckery?

“Cloud.”

Cloud blinked and focused back on Sephiroth’s suddenly intense, almost manic looking face. His very close face, actually. Wow, like, super close. 

“You said you would show me something else.” Sephiroth said, eyes glittering. That was a really suspicious look, ok.

“I really should tell you some- urk!” Cloud cut off as abruptly as the suddenness of the hand on his penis. His brain derailed and what blood wasn’t rushing deliriously south abandoned his brain to cause what felt like most of his body to flush and/or prickle with goosebumps.

“Can you show me?” Sephiroth asked as he bent down and squeezed.

“Ah- not so hard. Hel, gentle!” Cloud squawked. “I- um- this- we need to talk about this. Oh sweet apples of Idunn!” 

“We don’t need to talk at all.” Sephiroth hissed. 

Cloud tried to scrape together enough processing power to continue his rapidly derailing train of thought. “No, we really do. I have a packet, actually… Oh, wow- you are a fast learner.” 

“Hmm.” Sephiroth hummed in pleasure.

“I just… oh mmm… we can put a pin in that other thing, but I think erk…” Cloud’s legs decided they didn’t want to hold him and he fell forward to lean on Sephiroth, which halted his movements for a second. “There’s just a lot that I feel we have to go over to have a healthy relationship!” Cloud gasped out while his brain cells weren’t being squeezed out of him by a rapidly improving grip on his delicate anatomy.

Sephiroth pushed him backwards hard enough he lost his balance and toppled onto the bed. “Relationship? I thought you were just going to show me how to orgasm?”

Cloud’s brain fried and took too long to reboot- before he could regroup the long, lean expanse of One Winged Angel was pressing him down into the mattress, the feathers brushing along his side. 

“The wing is not fair .” Cloud moaned.

“You like it?” Sephiroth asked as he started more deliberately brushing his primaries over Cloud’s hip.

“Dear Odin…” Cloud grabbed Sephiroth’s face with both hands. “Fine- orgasms first, but then we talk. I don’t want to just have orgasms with you.” And then he froze for a second as he realized the words that had just left his mouth. What even was his life this loop? Seriously.

Sephiroth had definitely been acting weird, but at that he seemed to relax, his body losing the extreme Firaga-firing-flashback-like tension. 

Cloud felt himself relaxing (hah- with one significant exception!) as well. If Cloud had more than one free brain cell at the moment he felt he could maybe figure out why it was weird, but at least now Sephiroth seemed to be… present? Not about to snap? Enjoying himself?

“Sephiroth… just, one question, ok?” Cloud asked hesitantly.

They were so close together Cloud could see the cat-like pupils flashing wider and smaller like an excited bird. “What is it?”

“You do want to do this, right? I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything.”

“Why do you think I don’t?” Sephiroth looked more curious than anything.

“You’re just… maybe in a weird emotional place? Or still mako poisoned?” Cloud replied tentatively.

“Hmm.” Sephiroth considered. “True. But also…” He looked up into the corner of the room as he contemplated.

Cloud waited, even though every inch of his skin that was touching the other man was singing in pleasure and he was so hard it was painful. This was important. If Sephiroth wasn’t ready then it was time for a cold shower, not the time to take advantage of him.

Sephiroth’s beautiful glowing eyes came back to lock with Cloud’s. “There have been many who have tried to force me into sexual situations. I have never felt any kind of desire for it. It has always seemed at best unsettling.” He paused, his mouth quirking. “Until you.” He stared down at Cloud, who was trying valiantly not to make embarrassing squeaking noises in his throat. 

“Oh.” Cloud squeaked. (Dammit!)

Sephiroth smiled then, shyly, and Cloud’s heart tried to simultaneously clench itself into oblivion and burst out of his chest. “Is that alright?”

“Yes.” Cloud squeaked again, then he cleared his throat self consciously. “Very alright.” He felt a loopy besotted grin stretch over his face but couldn’t feel particularly embarrassed about it when Sephiroth was watching his face like it was something unexpected and precious. 

“I have this thing I call ‘Kissing Limit Break IV’.” Cloud said finally, after they had stared into each other’s eyes for quite a while.

“Like a battle?” Sephiroth’s eyes gleamed.

“A battle but we’re not trying to hurt each other. Only pleasure.” At the moment anyway- he still needed to grab Reno’s packet if they were going to get into anything more advanced.

“Touching not to hurt?” Sephiroth frowned slightly. “Like hugging?”

Cloud’s heart clenched for another reason. “For pleasure.” He confirmed. “Like this.” He said, as he pulled Sephiroth’s face to his and gently brushed his lips against the other man’s before moving to deepen the kiss.

Kissing Limit Break IV was as successful this time as in the previous loop. Arguably more so, considering he didn’t immediately get Sleepel’ed and run through with Masumune.

Chapter Text

Sephiroth had acquired a large number of data points for various conclusions in the past… he wasn’t sure how long, actually. But he was going to term this entire period an experimental success. He had learned many things about himself and Cloud that he previously would have considered useless, but now he knew to be critically important.

He had compiled the following mental list:

-Pulling Cloud to him with his wing was far superior to using his arms. The feathers set Cloud off every time and the wing was both more sensitive and stronger than his arms.

-Letting Cloud order him was extremely pleasant, especially if Sephiroth called Cloud “Master” and referred to himself as “your puppet” (exact why still under investigation)

-Using his mouth on various parts of Cloud, and only Cloud (even thinking about licking someone else made him shudder) was highly enjoyable

-Genitals were in fact useful and interesting, both his own and only Cloud’s. See above point for synergy.

-Lubrication and more intel was necessary for more advanced sex acts, neither of which were present in the apartment. (Sephiroth mourned his lack of foresight).
Proper hydration, electrolyte management and nutrients were needed, even for mako enhanced individuals. Being mostly prone did not discount the amount of exercise involved. Sex acts also involved much more secretions of various viscosities than other forms of exercise.

-Showering was actually a way to both clean up from the above point and have some more interesting variations on all currently known sex acts. Subpoints- water, soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion were all acceptable external lubricants only and additionally did not taste at all pleasant.

-Despite some things remaining unpleasant, being aroused dampened almost all reflexive disgust reactions and in some cases flipped those reactions to excitement.

-Objectively normal elements of Cloud’s physical body were actually fascinating and irresistible to touch with hands, wings, mouth and basically any body part, with some exceptions due to physics and the limits of flexibility.

-Cooking could be erotic but it was a good thing both of them healed quickly and probably they should stop trying to use things that got overly hot because it was also easy to be distracted enough to forget something was hot until it got accidentally touched and/or something(s) started to burn.

Cloud was still only mako poisoned, not actually enhanced, so he had passed out on the bed, a pleased smile on his face. Sephiroth couldn’t help kissing the commissure of his lips and then nuzzling his way into the damp hair at his temples. The water was mostly from the shower, though they had gotten energetic enough during and after that it was mingled with sweat as well.

Cloud stirred and Sephiroth cursed his willpower at having disturbed him.

“Mmm… hello.” Cloud said with a slow and lazy smile. Then his brow furrowed as he started to think.

Sephiroth needed to distract the other man before he…

“Hey I think now would be a good time to tal… KOH!”

“We don’t need to talk.” Sephiroth said hurriedly, using all of his considerable new knowledge to distract Cloud away from conversation. Primary feathers brushing up his sides, hands palming his genitals and down his back…

Cloud wriggled away until he fell off the bed with an ‘oof’ then battle rolled to dodge Sephiroth’s grab. Cloud popped to his feet and held his hands out in front of him. “Seph, ok, this has been… amazing, but we can’t just keep getting each other off until the Planet dies.”

Sephiroth crouched low and got into a wrestling stance, feeling amusement tugging at the corners of his mouth. That did sound like an interesting scenario.

“That was not a challenge!” Cloud protested as he dodged the next grapple.

“You’re enjoying it, right? Why stop?” Sephiroth asked, trying to sound reasonable and hoping he succeeded, but concerned his voice was actually conveying the gnawing pit in his stomach.

“Gods yes.” Cloud shook his head and muttered to himself “focus, man!” before looking back up at the other with a desperate sort of look. “Sephiroth, please, I need to tell you things. We have other mission to do than just continue devolving into plot-what-plot!”

Sephiroth was confused enough at that comment to straighten. “Plot?”

“Yes.” Cloud replied in relief. “There’s so many things we’re just leaving hanging here and as much as this has been possibly the most amazing experience I’ve ever had, we do need to talk. It just doesn’t feel like a balanced relationship, ok?”

“Cloud, please…” Sephiroth tried once again to grab onto him.

Cloud expertly avoided him. “Sephiroth, no, I mean it. It feels weird that I know more about you than you do.”

“Please, Cloud, just a little longer.” Sephiroth didn’t like the pleading in his voice or how he was curling into himself, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want this to end. There was nothing positive for him outside of this moment right now. Go from this to more missions killing people and monsters? To the lab where Hojo would surely think he’d become defective? To his friends who flinched slightly at him when he did something not quite human?

“See, this is what I’m talking about. You’re acting weird. Are you sad? Or starting to go mad? Something isn’t right about where your head is right now and no amount of amazing orgasms is going to cover the fact that something feels off!”

“Don’t… don’t take this away from me.” Sephiroth finally stopped moving towards Cloud, feeling listless. It was over. Maybe Cloud would kill him quickly once he’d become a raving animal. He sighed heavily.

“I’m not taking anything away, ok, we just need to take a pause and discuss some things.”

“I’ll try not to resist when you have to kill me.”

“WHAT!?!?” Cloud shouted, his body going ramrod stiff and for once his ubiquitous monologue ceasing.

“That’s what happens, as you say, in every iteration of your life. I go insane and either you kill me or I kill you.” Sephiroth said unhappily.

“I… uh… what…?” Cloud stuttered, his eyes wide in shock.

At that Sephiroth felt a spark of anger. “Do you think I’m unintelligent? That I can’t piece together all your constant muttering? It’s clear you either have visions of the future or are reliving your life in some sort of temporal paradox. Regardless, you have made it clear that you expect to murder me or die at my hand every time you see me.”

“Oh.” Cloud said weakly. “I… um… wasn’t trying to… I mean, I’m sorry…”

“So is it so surprising that I don’t want to know what fucked up, awful specters from my past will break my sanity and make me want to destroy all life on the planet?” Sephiroth snapped.

“Oh, Sephiroth…” Cloud said sadly, slowly moving towards him.

Sephiroth spun on his heel and put his back to Cloud, unable to look at his face when it was full of pity.

Cloud’s voice was rapid and worried. “I didn’t realize that I was telling you, telling everyone… about all that. I mean, I guess it makes sense since that weird conversation with Reno. I just didn’t realize I had been telling everyone about the future constantly and wow, that must have been awful for you actually…”

Cloud’s voice kept getting closer until a hand pressed against Sephiroth’s shoulder blade. The taller man flinched. “You’re so tense. Even if I knew that we’d end up in a death duel at some point I was never trying to hurt you.”

“Cloud.” Sephiroth snapped. “You’re still talking out loud.”

“Ah…. SHIH…” Cloud said something that sounded like ‘shit’ but it was that odd pronunciation that made Sephiroth think maybe it was some other word. “How… how long have you known about er… the killing stuff?”

“You bring it up almost every time you’ve seen me. From the very first time we fought. When I thought I’d killed you but you just used my attack to jump to the other mesa.” Sephiroth replied stiffly. He wanted to turn back around and try to savor these last moments but something just wasn’t letting him. He felt like something was physically stopping him from turning back around.

“Oh.” Cloud sounded totally defeated. “That was a really long time ago.” He paused. “But… then you’ve been… I mean, we’ve been getting closer and, well, ending up here… all of this while that was in your head the whole time?” Cloud sounded lost and confused.

Sephiroth felt his wing fluff up unhappily but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Cloud came up behind him and tucked himself into Sephiroth’s wing pit. “Hey- I won’t kill you this time. Ok? I um… well, I don’t think I could survive it myself, you know?”

Sephiroth turned his head to look down at where Cloud was leaning into him, his curiosity humming in him enough that Cloud seemed to sense it.

The other ran his hand through his ridiculous yellow hair uncomfortably. “This loop has been a lot different. Which is good, not like the kind of different where everyone was a talking animal or the time all of us that had been in a ‘Final Fantasy’ were all set at each other in battle.”

Sephiroth mouthed ‘Final Fantasy’ in confusion. Talking with Cloud had always been confusing but it seemed acknowledging that he knew about some of the weirder aspects of the other’s life (lives?) was leading Cloud to be even more relaxed about his experiences (hallucinations?).

“Dissidia’s eternal, mindless fighting aside, there were times when I couldn’t take it before and I just had to shut down. I don’t even know what happened those loops. But…” Cloud sighed and leaned even more into Sephiroth. “But the… hope? I don’t know, something about what’s happening now. I can see a way out, you know? And if this falls apart I just. I don’t think I’ll be able to recover.”

Sephiroth turned finally and pulled Cloud to him with his wing so he could wrap his arms around him also.

“See- this is what I mean.” Cloud said into Sephiroth’s pectorals.

“That’s why I want to hold on to right now, Cloud.” Sephiroth said softly. “I think that what I am feeling is happiness.” Cloud made a whimpering noise. “And I just can’t see a way to keep it past this moment we are in.”

Cloud sighed heavily and then wrapped his arms tightly around Sephiroth. “I’m strong enough to protect your happiness, Seph.”

Sephiroth grunted, unimpressed and unconvinced.

“I mean it.” Cloud looked up at him. “I will tell you all the messed up shit, in as gentle a way as I can. And if you go insane, it’s ok. I’ll pin you to the ground and not let you up until you’re better.”

Sephiroth felt warmth bloom in his chest, but felt compelled to point out. “You can’t promise you can bring me back from that.”

“Well, if not, I’ll join you. We can kill Hojo together and burn Shinra to the ground. Just let’s wait until we shoot Jenova off into space, ok?”

Sephiroth was surprised to find himself chuckling. “Alright.”

OooOoOOOOOOOoo

“They have to come out at some point, right?” Trace said worriedly.

“I dunno. Eventually they’ll starve.” Zach said absently as he did squats against the wall.

“But, like, shouldn’t we do… something?” Trace pressed.

Zach rolled his eyes. “Like what do you propose?” He huffed out a laugh. “Genesis and Angeal flat refused to try to go in there as did the entirety of the Turks and all the other Soldiers. I mean, no one is that stupid as to try to bust in on those two mooning at each other or whatever it is that they are doing in there. Even the Science Department basically said ‘oh Hels no’ when it was brought up.” Which Zach knew because he, unfortunately, now had to go to meetings as he was somehow fourth in charge. Sephiroth was, of course, still in his apartment. Angeal said his honor wouldn’t allow him to politic and Genesis had been barred after he refused to talk in anything but Loveless quotes.

“Yeah… everyone says Hojo’s been acting er… weird.” Trace mused.

Zach snorted. “You should hear some of the threats that come out of Cloud’s mouth whenever he spots or thinks of that guy.”

“Oh, I have. Though I think it is an interesting question- can you hack into someone’s head and use the Cure blade to heal it on the way out and not kill them?”

Zach paused his squats to give the rocket department cadet the side eye. “That’s not an interesting question- that’s definitely playing with someone’s life unnecessarily.”

“Cloud stabbed himself in the chest to cure himself and that worked.”

“Cloud is also insane!”

“That doesn’t mean things he tries won’t work.”

“This is the sort of thing that led to Cloud wanting to stab Hojo in the brain in the first place!” Zach protested.

“Only because people didn’t consent to it.” Trace rebutted.

Zach threw up his hands. “Who would consent to-”

He was cut off by a fist shaped dent showing up in Sephiroth’s door with a loud bang.

“Back up!” Zach said, grabbing Trace and finding it surprisingly difficult to pull the cadet back. Damn- what kind of paperwork were they doing over in the rocket department???

Two more bangs and accompanying dents showed up in the door before it blasted off (the remainder of) its hinges and slammed to the opposite side of the corridor.

Out walked Cloud wearing…

“Uh, Cloud…” Zach said hesitantly, even as his hand reflexively came up and snapped a picture. “Is that Loveless boxers?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Cloud growled.

“Why are you only wearing boxers, though?” Trace asked, holding up a PHS making shutter sounds.

“Why are you both snapping pictures?” Cloud glared at them.

Zach and Trace jumped guiltily.

“You know what, never mind.” Cloud sighed heavily. “This is the only thing in his whole apartment that fit me.”

“None of my pants fit Cloud. Fortunately Genesis had gifted me these which were stretchy enough.” Sephiroth supplied helpfully from where he was struggling to get out of the door for some reason.

“Cloud’s ass would never fit in your skinny leg pants.” Trace replied solemnly.

Cloud glared and Sephiroth nodded in confirmation.

“So um, why only Loveless boxers and no shirt though…?” Zach asked, not sure he wanted to know.

“Do you ever see this man wearing a shirt??!” Cloud snapped, stalking off, 'Gift of' tramp stamped above 'the' right between his butt cheeks and 'GODDESS' cupping his firm backside.

“Regular undergarments and clothing dissolves in the kind of mako the Science Department used, which is why I don’t bother.” Sephiroth commented as he finally maneuvered himself and his… what the???

“Um… wing?” Trace squeaked.

“It is very helpful to have another thoracic limb.” Sephiroth somehow said with a straight face.

Zach started furiously typing into the group chat. He didn’t get very far before it rang.

Sephiroth plucked the PHS out of Zach’s hands and answered. “What is it, Genesis?”

A tiny voice could be heard shrieking on the other end of the line. “‘Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul Pride is lost Wings stripped away, the end is nigh!!’”

“Cloud assures me that I’m stable and not degrading.” Sephiroth replied.

Or said randomly- Zach wasn’t sure the Loveless quote and the General’s statement were linked but assumed they were both talking about the wing.

“‘My friend, do you fly away now?’” The PHS asked.

Sephiroth sighed heavily. “Cloud and I do need to go… on a mission. But I’ll be back. We need the rocket.”

Zach squinted at the silver haired man. He didn’t usually hesitate when speaking like that. Something was up.

“Oh! We’re almost done with that!” Trace said helpfully, looking up from frantically sending off a bunch of images if the ‘ping’ noise of uploads was any indication.

“Indeed- we need to gather…” Sephiroth paused uncharacteristically again. “Cargo.”

“Cargo- for an unmanned rocket launch?” Zach said slowly.

“Yes.” Sephiroth nodded, then wandered off after Cloud.

Zach looked over at Trace still tapping away at the PHS before snatching it. “What’s ‘DAT ASS’?” Zach asked suspiciously.

“Um… nothing…!”

Zach squinted at it. “Is this another name for Silver Elite?”

“What!?! We’re much more sophisticated than those parasites!”

“Oh, ok, sure.” Zach said sardonically. “With a fan club name ‘DAT ASS’- very sophisticated.”

“It’s an acronym.” Trace bristled.

“Oh, yeah- of what?” Zach replied sweetly.

“Give me back my PHS!”

“What is your unenhanced- hey!” Zach shouted in surprise when Trace actually was quick enough to grab the PHS back and bolted around the corner. “What the heck kind of paperwork is Cloud having these kids do?”