Chapter Text
It was a perfectly normal quarterly departmental meeting…
President Shinra blathered on about something. The others pretended they cared. Being practical, Zack and Cissnei used Morse code to trash talk others around them. Sitting across from each other helped, but they still had to be careful. Zack usually tapped his pen obnoxiously to translate his strongly worded opinion about where Hojo could stick his new mako injection requirements. As a Turk, Cissnei was a bit more subtle. A twist of the hair here, a quick round of blinking there... She also pointed out that Hojo mansplained so much, he must have a severe case of correctile dysfunction.
Reno often eavesdropped, but couldn’t participate, as he usually ended up within Tseng’s shin-kicking range. One of Palmer’s people was in on it too, but spent most of his time trying not to laugh out loud during Reeve reporting on how many workers were injured making reactor repairs. Sephiroth caught bits and pieces of the conversation, doing what he could to ignore it. Especially now that Zack was trying to bring the rocket scientist in on his own brand of crazy.
If moonlight is technically sunlight, why doesn’t it kill vampires?
…You know vampires aren’t real, right?
That doesn’t answer my question.
I’m an aerospace engineer. I do logic, not make believe.
I’ve fought a flying Ghost Ship manned by a skeleton who beats people over the head with an oar! You can’t tell me that’s more logical than vampires!
Credit where it was due, the three of them kept up with the rapid tapping remarkably well. Genesis probably would have appreciated the entertainment without participating, while Angeal would never have condoned such a thing…but he wasn’t exactly around to protest, so Sephiroth allowed it. Even when he had to ignore the stab in his chest at considering the opinions of defected SOLDIERs out of habit. He thought he was done with this feeling. Whatever friendship he thought they had was a ruse. Both were now enemies of Shinra with means to attack at any moment. Sephiroth couldn’t afford to drop his guard.
Zack shared the overall sentiment, but focused on strengthening everyone else’s guard. Protecting others was his job and he was damned good at it, but… well, it was hard to forget his last encounter with Angeal ended with punching a one way ticket to the Slums when he refused to fight his mentor. If anything, it was a good demonstration of how durable SOLDIERs are. Not many could walk off a Plateside fall to impress a cute girl. Angeal couldn’t control fate, but the fall was the reason Zack met Aerith. The country boy couldn’t explain it, but he knew Aerith was special. They met for a reason whether it be for healing, overcoming fears, or trying to enter Cloud in the Miss Shinra Beauty Pageant (hey, a grand prize lifetime supply of Stamp’s Special Sugar Cookies was nothing to scoff at, and Shiva would take up suntanning before Aerith entered anything with ‘Shinra’ in the title).
Ugh…now I’m bored and hungry…
The call of the lunch hour freed everyone from the meeting. Slowly, departmental cliques dragged their feet to the exit. The newly appointed First didn’t jump out of his chair to cheer, but it was a near thing. Instead, Zack congratulated his SOLDIER colleagues on another successful survival mission.
“Nice work guys,” he slung an arm over Kunsel’s shoulder. “But where is Emerson, and how did he dodge meeting duty?”
“Paternity leave,” Kunsel replied, eyes never leaving his PHS.
“Oh, crap. That’s right…”
“Maybe I should have a kid too…” another SOLDIER grumbled. Despite all it’s misgivings with workplace ethics and mandatory overtime, Shinra had a bomb-ass parental leave policy. Partially so President Shinra could count it towards his bastard children he seldom interacted with.
“You want a baby in this economy?!” exclaimed Sebastian. “Zack, get back here! We gotta tell this guy about dogs!”
A little good-natured ribbing went a long way in de-stressing his buddies. The building was a bundle of nerves since the Red Idiot Rebellion and Zack wasn’t going to lose any more good people to that. Sephiroth watched in curiosity as the world’s most sociable SOLDIER weaved between group after group to partake in ‘non-work jabber.’
“Damn, Essai! Is that a new helmet or did Lux want something else to stare at his reflection in?”
Sephiroth failed to see how insulting the official uniform brought on any form of respect. Yet somehow Zack was able to raise their comrades spirits through the power of banter and joking around. Even the Infantrymen posted by the door staring at the wall for the last two agonizing hours perked up after Zack clapped them both on the back. The one addressed as ‘Spiky’ looked like he was about to ascend on the spot when Zack offered to ‘introduce him real quick’ to Sephiroth.
“Just sit tight, and I’ll go grab him!”
“I just…I don’t want to waste anyone’s time…”
“You are 100% worth his time, Cloud!” the swordsman gave him some kind of cross between a supportive, one-armed squish and a headlock. This was a man who had zero issues dishing out more hugs than the entire HR Department sending off ‘Whoops, your spouse slipped in the deadly glowstick venom. Condolences on the Mako Poisoning’ notices.
As baffling as the entire series of interactions was, Sephiroth couldn’t deny its effectiveness. Zack knew exactly when to shake a hand and when to substitute it for that bizarre maneuver of grasping a wrist to pull in for a hug. Even on the battlefield, Zack could tend to the injured with a surprising amount of gentleness. His speeches lined with shoulder pats boosted morale (especially among the starry-eyed recruits). Social touches sealed deals. They empowered soldiers. They were a useful tool that Sephiroth had no idea how to wield. And given his…inadequacy with verbal interactions that didn’t involve military tactics, perhaps it was time he learned how to use them.
Which is why he went along with Zack’s request to meet a SOLDIER hopeful and offer a ‘fistbump.’
“Why not shake his hand?”
“Because handshakes are boring and overdone!” Zack tapped Sephiroth’s knuckles with his own. “You remember how to do a fistbump, right?”
Cue the disapproving look. Of course he did. Sephiroth was about to remind Zack how he had full authority to put the little shit on guard duty and monotonous escort missions for the foreseeable future, but stopped short upon seeing Cloud. The feather-haired blond boy (‘teenager’ seemed like a stretch) stared up at him with barely restrained wonderment sparkling around him. Sephiroth trusted Zack’s judgement on many things, but this literal child looked like a soft breeze would send him toppling over.
“Seph, Cloudy. Cloudy, Seph,” the dark-haired man grinned. “I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to introduce you guys.”
“It-it’s an honor to meet you, General Sephiroth, sir!” If Cloud heard Zack use his dreaded nickname, he showed no sign of it. Meeting his childhood hero made for a decent enough distraction.
“Likewise.”
Sephiroth ignored Zack mouthing the word ‘fistbump’ behind Cloud’s back, as if the General was a second-rate actor missing his cue. His fingers curled into a fist. He already said he remembered how to do a fistbump…
But did he remember how much force to give it? Absolutely not.
“Crap! Cloud!”
Which is where Cloud’s introduction to Sephiroth went horribly wrong.
Mr. Silver Elite took a mortified step backwards. Too much time spent with other SOLDIERs caused Sephiroth to give it too much power. Cloud’s shaky fist snapped back into his own face like a slingshot, laying him out. The twinkie was down!
“Spiky? You okay?” Zack managed to catch him before he took any more brain damage.
Cloud responded by drooling on his arm.
Sephiroth felt awful about injuring the toothpick wearing an Infantry uniform in such a careless manner. (Moreso because the boy was a friend of Zack’s). How could he have been so foolish? Absolute control over his strength was essential for the SOLDIER who could rip apart a Dual Horn with his bare hands. It had been years since his last slip-up, but then again this was exactly why he avoided interacting so openly with people… A quick Scan spell showed no permanent damage to ‘Cloudy.’ Sephiroth also tried to make amends by healing the fistbump victim on the spot. The bruise on Cloud’s face faded away nicely.
“I did not mean to…” he trailed off, his own voice grating his ears with weakness. He watched Zack tuck Cloud’s helmet under one arm (he’d pulled it off to check for a concussion) and scoop the teen into his other arm.
“He’ll be okay,” Zack adjusted Cloud’s weight across his arm. “I’m gonna take him to Medical, if you can cover me in the office for a bit.”
“Of course,” nodded the General, pushing a twinge of guilt back down his gullet as he watched his friend speedwalk the baby chocobo to the doctor. Cloud’s head lolled to the side, resting on the crook of Zack’s neck and shoulder. Ever the optimist, Zack was telling his friend this would be a hilarious drinking story later on. Not many people can say they’ve given Sephiroth a fistbump and got KO’d by him at the same time. Somehow, the First could provide comfort to others even when they were unconscious.
Sephiroth returned to his empty office. He started on his paperwork, pausing to examine his hands. Slowly rotating them, from his knuckles to his palms. He could feel the callouses from a lifetime of swordsmanship under his gloves. Sephiroth couldn’t remember his hands without them. His hands were weapons. He could never use them to provide the same level of support and care Zack did on the daily. When it came to any kind of physical touch in a relaxed social interaction, Sephiroth was really quite bad.
“Everything okay, Seph?” Zack had returned and was understandably confused at his friend staring intensely at his hands.
“Yes,” was all he said, before returning to work.
“Hey, don’t worry about Spiky,” Zack playfully punched his bicep. “Doctor said he was gonna be fine. He even woke up before I left and we had a good laugh about the whole thing.”
Because terribly embarrassed, emotionally-distraught laughs still counted as laughs.
Sephiroth’s shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Perhaps there was something to be said for the security officer’s grit.
“Anything fun happen while I was out?”
“No,” Sephiroth cast his gaze down at his desk, avoiding direct eye contact with his companion. It was usually enough to dismiss any ordinary SOLDIER.
But Zack was anything but ordinary.
“Seph…” his voice was reassuring, but firm. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Reconnaissance Exploitation Reports.”
“Tell me what else is on your mind.”
“The quarterly financial report underneath it.”
“Oh, you mean thiiiis report?” Zack, who had long since traded any self-preservation skills for Midgar pizza and giant swords, leaned over, covering up the small stack of papers. Anticipating the trouble-maker would take off with his time-sensitive busywork, Sephiroth locked a hand around Zack’s wrist and gave him a warning look. Zack’s free hand flew on top of the General’s. Right around there Sephiroth caught his mistake. His friend had never planned on escaping with the papers—Zack’s goal had been eye-contact.
Dammit.
It was too late to look away. The only thing stronger than a world-famous, Zack Fair wrap-you-up-like-a-tortilla-of-sunshine hug were…The Puppy Eyes.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong.”
“Seeeeph…” Zack lowered his head closer and the Puppy Eye intensity rivaled a solar flare.
“I was…reflecting,” Sephiroth resisted the urge to grit his teeth.
Zack gave him a supportive squeeze on his hand, backing up slightly to give the man some space to collect his thoughts.
“I am…a difficult person to interact with. Socially.”
“You gotta hang in there, man! I think you’re awesome to spend time with!” Zack clenched his fist. “Hell, you’re my favorite person to spend time with!”
“The rest of the population would claim otherwise.”
“Who cares what they think? You’re making all kinds of progress!”
“Earlier today a visitor asked me to identify my favorite song,” Sephiroth frowned at admitting to a mistake to prove a point. “I instantly lost all object permanence, stared off into the distance for answers, and told him it was difficult to choose.”
“Slow and steady wins the race,” Zack waved a hand in the air. “Besides, most of the world thinks you’re so impossibly cool that they don’t notice any mistakes. Even Cloud was trying to figure out what he had done to offend you, before I explained super strength mishaps happen to the best of us.”
Sephiroth shook his head. He needed to reset the parameters.
“I would like to ask for your assistance in a matter.”
“Whatever you need, buddy!”
“I would like for you to teach me the ways of carefully regulated, social touch interactions.”
“You want me to teach you what now?”
Sephiroth elaborated. Once Zack understood it meant hugs and high-fives, he was sold. Taking the request as an open hug invite, Zack locked his arms around the taller man and squeezed with enough force that a normal person would find their spine in separate pieces.
“I’m going to teach you all of the regulations!”
“I am already having regrets,” sighed Sephiroth.
But he didn’t push Zack away.