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If you had asked anyone in Cloud Strife's platoon what kind of person he was, they would say he was a weak little pushover that was quite useful because he was too cowardly to refuse to do things nobody else would do. If there was a giant or venomous spider in the barracks, Strife would be called in to take care of it even if it took him up to a few hours to do so. If there was a snake in someone's boots or in their sleeping back when they were out in the wilderness, Strife was the one to be called then shoved into the tent while being told to take care of it. If they were out on a long wilderness exercise and were getting tired of their MREs, Strife was the one sent out to go scavenge, hunt, or fish up things and also cook the meal for that night.

All it took was some some threats and Strife would do whatever he was told to do.

If you asked any of the SOLDIERs that were aware of Zack Fair's little blonde friend what they thought of Cloud Strife, the first word out of their mouth would have been 'little.' That would be followed up with 'cranky,' 'unfriendly,' or, if Zack Fair wasn't within hearing, some would say 'cute but mean.' They would all agree that Cloud Strife was harmless, but not much could harm a SOLDIER so that wasn't saying much. However, Kunsel would say nothing since he never gives away information to just anyone. If he had to say something, he would say 'quiet and cunning.'

The SOLDIERS wouldn't bother Cloud because Zack Fair was a helicopter parent, and Zack Fair's retribution could be terrible. When any of the SOLDIERs harassed Cloud, he somehow always knew. There had even been a SOLDIER third that had gone missing just hours after telling another third that he wanted to do something highly inappropriate to Zack's 'sweet and innocent' little Chocobo friend.

Cloud would disagree to all of that. Rather, he would agree to the 'unfriendly' comment since he went out of his way to secure a reclusive and unapproachable reputation, but none of the others.

Cloud let his platoon push him around. No matter how big or venomous, collecting a spider in a jar took a matter of minutes and he was able to lounge on any bunk he wanted to read or nap for a couple hours. Killing a snake if venomous or stuffing it into his zippered pocket on his fatigues if it wasn't deadly was also done in five to ten minutes depending on how slippery and stubborn the snake was, then he would get to rummage about the tent for half an hour or so to find any blackmail material he could pass on to Zack's friend, Kunsel. If they wanted to send him out hunting, that was an all day event of getting to upkeep his hunting skills in case he was kicked out of Shinra and had to go back to Nibelheim and provide for his ma in other ways.

Cloud was not interested in making friends amongst his platoon or the SOLDIERs. Back in Nibelheim, he had his closest companion in his ma, and he had Tifa who was the single person with kindness he kind-of trusted. The rest of the villagers shunned the Strifes, and the sad expression it caused his ma made him shun them right back as soon as he was old enough to understand that people ignored her when they could. They used to savagely gossip about her, too, but Cloud deliberately drew that attention to himself to protect her from it. He didn't care what they said about him, but he did care when his ma got sad because Mrs. Dentson would make a comment about ma's inability to get a proper husband because she didn't act womanly enough for it.

Once he got to Midgar, Cloud had maintained that stance of not needing any friends. They did try to bully him, but he 'gave up' very easily on tasks that could be done so he stopped getting beat early on. It wasn't until he failed his SOLDIER exam for abysmal teamwork (and his height, but teamwork was the worst score) that he got an inkling of why having a friend might be a good idea, but it was too late to change his reputation. So he stubbornly stuck to it while he improved his teamwork in other ways (like hunting, cleaning, and cooking for his squad) even though it didn't seem to help too much.

Then Modeoheim and Zack happened, and it would take someone heartless to turn away Zack's attempts to be friendly since Zack had devastated over killing his own mentor. Cloud could tell that Zack's friendliness was because Zack just had a hole in his heart that he needed a temporary solution for. He tolerated the hugs and the head rubs even though he hated them, he allowed himself to be dragged along to the occasional outing with others though he glared at them to stay away from him, and he allowed Zack to talk his ear off and would even try to talk back though he knew he was terrible at conversation and embarrassed himself half the time when he did say something.

Cloud was not used to being touched. Physical affection was rare in Nibelheim, and verbal affection was more rare. Affection was shown through actions, hugs between close family and friends only given behind closed doors or in extreme moments, and kisses never even talked about except in hushed tones. Getting used to all of Zack's affections was hard, but he made himself tolerate them until he stopped flinching. He even reciprocated a hug once! Zack cried all over him for that, so he hadn't done it again since though Zack insisted they were tears of happiness rather than upset.

Zack was weird, but even if Zack showed affection to everyone, his hugs were honest at least. Most other physical and verbal actions Cloud had overseen or heard here in Midgar had been fake.

When Cloud let slip about why he did things for his platoon, that it was easier to go along with things than to be harassed into it, Zack had been very angry. Trying to explain why he did it and about Nibelheim made Zack even angrier. Cloud had to outright beg Zack not to say or do anything against his platoon because he was very happy with the status quo. Zack in turn wanted Cloud to become friends with Kunsel to show that not everyone was bad.

Kunsel was easier to be friends with. He seemed to know everything about everyone, and he didn't need Cloud to talk. He never hugged or tried to get Cloud to do things, so Cloud slowly relaxed around Kunsel and viewed him much like he used to view Tifa - someone safe enough to trust if he had to trust someone. Reciprocating the friendship by giving Kunsel blackmail material was easy, and it allowed him his own petty little revenge against his squad and platoon mates.

It wasn't until a few months went by that he realized that Zack was his 'Ma of Midgar' though there was no way he would tell Zack that. He implicitly trusted Zack and actually wanted to help ease Zack's heartaches. He helped Zack with his pranks to cheer him up and quietly confessed to things like his platoon or how Sephiroth was his idol that he would never tell anyone else. His little confessions always came back to bite him in the ass, but he couldn't seem to help but tell Zack things about himself because Zack would always be so happy afterwards.

Cloud had to firmly put his foot down about meeting Sephiroth when Zack learned that about him. He absolutely refused. He threatened to shoot his own foot so he would be stuck in the infirmary on a pizza night that Zack attempted to organize. When Zack tried to drag him to the 49th floor to meet Sephiroth in his office, he hit every button on the elevator and ended up escaping on the 32nd floor after a trolley filled with boxes of paperwork forced Zack to let him go. Cloud had been small enough to wiggle past the trolley and out the door as it closed, and he refused to talk to Zack for the next few days.

He told Zack that if Zack tried to bodily force him again, he would never play Chocobo Racing 3 with Zack ever again. Since Cloud was the only person willing to get his ass continually kicked in that game and everyone refused to play with Zack, Zack folded.

Zack still tried to get him to meet Sephiroth once a week and would try other underhanded tactics, but never again did he try to pick him up and carry him. Cloud used that situation to point out that if he really didn't want to be shoved around, then his platoon wouldn't be able to do it either and Zack finally stopped bringing up the topic of trying for a transfer. Better the devil you know and all that. Zack didn't give up on anything, but Cloud was very proud of how he was able to make Zack see that he wasn't just a push over.

Cloud just had to keep an eye open for underhanded tactics like 'accidentally setting up a pizza night with the two of them invited at the same time,' and Kunsel was thankfully helpful with that. He refused to embarrass himself in front of the only person he admired in the world.

*******************************************************

Zack was not expecting a call from Cissnei, but nobody expected a call from a Turk even if they were friends with said Turk. That he was needed in the Science Department was not a surprise - experiments were often escaping - but being told that he was not to inform anyone where he was going did make him a little uneasy. Cissnei also warned him to bring his 'entire arsenal' which meant that whatever it was would be dangerous, then she hung up.

Oh, and there had been a lot of screaming in the background. Screaming and growling.

He had rushed down and Tseng himself had been waiting at the elevator to discourage anyone from entering the floor. He realized it was Zack so he allowed him through, but he had kept his eyes on the other passengers until the door shut and the elevator continued on its merry way. Tseng was normally put together, but there was a strand of hair hanging in front of his face and out of place, so Zack knew it was going to be something serious. Cissnei met him before he got to the main doors - she came bursting out of them along with two other Turks that was carrying a stretcher containing a wounded third one out - and that was when Zack learned what was beyond the double doors that the Turks couldn't handle but needed absolute discretion about.

Sephiroth had gone feral because of something Hojo had done, but Hojo was dead at Sephiroth's hands so he couldn't put a stop to it. Zack was the only other First the company had, and if they sent anyone else to subdue the general, there would be a slaughter. Cissnei was hoping that Zack could talk him down, or if not, distract him long enough for them to shoot full of tranquilizers.

There was absolutely no way that Zack would raise a weapon against another friend - not after Angeal. Killing his mentor still plagued his dreams when sleeping or awake. Adopting Cloud helped a lot, and he had intended to ask about taking Cloud as a mentee once Sephiroth met him since he was in charge of these things now that there was no Lazard. However, Cloud was being stubborn and he didn't want to tell Cloud about the mentorship idea since he didn't want to get Cloud's hopes up only to have them fall later on is Seph said no since Cloud wasn't even a SOLDIER yet.

He still gave his little Cloudy sword lessons, though.

Sephiroth also needed friends! Zack could not be the only friend for these two misanthropic people, but when he would tell either of them that, they firmly said that Zack was more than enough and counted as several people because of his overwhelming personality. Well, the longer and succinct explanation was from Seph, but Cloud had pretty much said the same thing with the same dry tone but with less words and more snark. Zack thought the two of them would get along very well if they got to know each other, and he was never (so rarely that it might as well be never) wrong about these things.

Thoughts of Cloud and Seph being friends came to a screeching halt when he got halfway into the Science department and saw the blood smears on the walls, floor, and ceiling. There was no body and no Seph, so he followed the trail of gore with the occasional torn off body part through a few more rooms until he was frozen in place by a terrifying growl in a dimly lit X-ray room. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, he grimaced.

Sephiroth was aggressively standing over (probably) Hojo's unidentifiable body with his teeth bared at Zack in warning. Sharp teeth! Well, not all of them where sharp, but the canines were much longer and thicker like a sabertooth-Seph. His hands were also up in a clawed way because there were legit long and sharp black claws, and the glow of Seph's eyes were stronger than normal which meant that Seph's adrenaline was definitely up.

"I'm not going to take Hojo-" the growl got terrifyingly louder at the name, and Zack mentally made a note not to say it out loud again "-'s body away from you," he did his best to reassure. His best seemed good enough since the growls went from chainsaw-terrifying back down to snoring-black-bear-that-would-be-deadly-if-woken level. "I'm just here to talk you down, that is all. Can you tell me what happened? No? Uhm, well, I'm going to guess that Professor Idiot is responsible for this, and you finally got fed up with him and took care of the problem. Which you are very good at doing. Taking care of problems, I mean. But the Turks need to gain access to organize the mess and hopefully fix you since we can't ask Professor Idiot what he did."

Zack's nervous rambling seemed to do something since the growling petered down, but he realized he made a mistake by staring for too long since the growling began to resume. But Seph's eyes had changed! They were slowly going from slits to circles! He dropped his eyes and waited for a minute, and Sephiroth finally began to move moved though it was only to pace in the corner that Hojo's body had been dragged into.

Pacing was good, it meant that Seph was thinking. He peeked up and saw that Seph had a thinking expression going though it was hidden beneath the wilder visage since Seph was still ready to growl like a beast at any moment. Then Zack gasped because he noticed the large tail hanging out of the back of the hospital gown, and he realized that the little dark blobs he had dismissed on top of Seph's head was actually ears.

Wolf ears. And tail. And fangs. And... claws. 

He immediately dropped his eyes since Sephiroth had looked in his direction. "Right, I would also tear Professor Idiot apart if he grafted animal parts on me," he sighed. Damn Hojo and his sadistic experiments. At least Seph seemed to be calming down a bit and seemed to understand him. "Actually I wish I tore him apart before he did this to you today. Look, let's get you out of here so the Turks can do their job. I need to get you cleaned up and figure out what you can wear with that tail in the way. I'm sure this can be fixed, so-"

Zack swallowed his tongue when Seph began to approach him and stayed absolutely still when the bigger man leaned in to sniff his neck. The sudden shoulder check made him stumble back a couple steps, but he realized quickly that was just a bump meant to get him to move which meant that Seph was willing to leave.

"Great!" he exclaimed in a louder tone, then nervously laughed when Seph flattened his ears with a warning growl. "Er, right, quiet. I bet your hearing is sensitive. Alright, let's go. Just... Don't tear apart any of the Turks."

Getting Sephiroth out of the labs was easier than Zack thought it would be - he just had to bounce ahead a little and tell everyone to back far, far away - and a bonus was that Seph didn't seem interested in dragging Hojo's body along with them. When they stepped out into the brighter corridor, he took in how Seph's claws were definitely claws and not elongated nails, the tail was definitely fluffy (and he wanted to touch it soooo bad, but not at the cost of his hand!), and the inside of his black pointy ears had silver fluff that matched Seph's hair.

Seph's long hair was hiding Seph was nude under his hospital gown that would have otherwise shown off his rear for the most part which was good. What was not so good was that he could see dried blood starting at the fingertips that went almost all the way up to Seph's shoulders, then blood all down his front. His feet were also leaving bloody footprints on the white tiled floors, and Zack noted how Seph was favoring the balls of his feet a little though there was no change to the shape or the nails on them.

Also no weird patches of fur from what he could see, but there was definitely a change in Seph's body language. The controlled power was still there, but it seemed like it was barely leashed. Or perhaps more confident like Seph knew that nobody would think to challenge him... which wasn't a wrong assumption to be made, but Seph normally didn't emote that except when leading men into a fight. 'You and what army?' was definitely something you didn't say around Seph because he would just smirk and raise an eyebrow, and it would remind Zack (and anyone else) that Seph could take down whole armies and make it look like a stroll through the park. Or a bloody acrobatic dance if Seph felt like showing off a bit.

The Turks easily gave way, but Seph refused to get onto the elevator so they had to take the stairs. It was only two floors down - Science was on 67 and Seph's apartment (and Angeal, Tseng, and Genesis. Zack refused to take over Angeal or Gen's room), but Seph tried to keep going down and had to be pushed and coaxed up from the 63rd floor which was hard. It would probably have been easier to climb the stairs from the first floor to the 65th floor than it was to get Seph to go back up the four floors additional he had dashed down.

Zack got Seph to his room, but not without signs of irritation. There was a lot of snapping and growling, and dodging of half-hearted swats that left claw marks on the cement walls of the stairs and gouges on the drywall in the halls during. Plenty of bumps and dents, too, where Zack's attempts to bodily push Seph earned him a shove against a wall with a warning snap which made Zack turn to coaxing to get Seph to move along. That's what it was - pushing, dodging, and talking, and it left Zack sweaty and wrung out when they finally got Seph to his room.

"Right, let's get you a bath," Zack panted out as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll just draw it and-"

His PHS loudly rang, and it made Seph tense up. He had it out of his pocket by the second ring to turn it off, saw it was Cissnei, and answered it instead. "Can it wait?"

"No, you need to get down to the general's office and take over SOLDIER as Sephiroth's second in command. Heidegger is making a bid to completely take over, and there will be a board meeting in half an hour that you will need to attend."

"I just got him to his room and still need to clean him up!"

"Sorry, but you are the only First left and the only one that can claim authority to do this. You know what he would do with SOLDIER if he gained full control."

"Yeah," Zack sighed as he slumped against the door. He desperately looked at Seph with hope that the man was paying attention and would snap out of his mindset to take over now, but Seph was stalking around his apartment and sniffing the air like he was making sure that nobody had been in here. "I can't just leave the general, though."

"Find someone else to babysit him for the moment - some seconds that you trust that can handle wild animals. I was not supposed to say anything so I need to go."

"Wait," he blurted before she hung up. The comment about handling wild animals made him think of Cloud, and this would be the perfect opportunity to make them meet! They would probably not be happy with him about it, but if Seph wasn't thinking clearly, Cloud couldn't embarrass himself by saying things. Of course, Seph would probably want to kill him at first, but once he got to know Cloudy he would like him, so he would probably just make it some light maiming or a bit of crippling instead. "I need the Turks to request Cloud Strife from the 4th Infantry Regiment. Don't let them or Cloud know it's me requesting it, and definitely don't let Cloud know it's for Sephiroth or he will bolt like a wild chocobo. He is great at handling wild animals, and the Nibel region have those huge wolves that are hard to kill. I bet he could handle Seph just fine."

*******************************************************

"STRIFE, WITH ME!" First Sergeant Reed barked out as Cloud was getting ready for a patrol into the slums with the rest of his squad. He was mostly dressed, but a glance up told him that he was expected RIGHT NOW so he grabbed his boots, coat, pauldrons, and utility belt then rushed out to follow. He got his shirt tucked in, realized he forgot his helmet, decided he wasn't going to say anything since the First Sergeant did not bring it up, and was in the process of buckling up his coat when they entered the usually empty stock room. "This is our wild life expert."

Cloud blinked when he saw Tseng from Modeoheim and a blonde Turk in the room with them, but he didn't say anything about it. When Turks were involved, you kept your mouth shut and listened, so that was what he did as he began to wrestle his left boot on while hopping on his right. He also didn't have to salute Turks and he didn't think it mattered to them that he was in the process of getting dressed.

"Cloud Strife," Tseng greeted with a nod that made Cloud freeze with one leg up to return. To his relief, Tseng faced his First Sergeant once again. "We know of him and I have personally worked with him in the past. He is discreet and works hard, so we will take him. The paperwork to transfer him out is already filed, and he will most likely be returned if he survives. The length of the mission is indeterminate - it may just be for today, or it may be months long. Do not worry about weapons or supplies, we will be kitting him out. Strife, with us, Reeds, dismissed."

Cloud had never seen anyone dismiss the First Sergeant like that, but his superior saluted then backed away. Cloud had barely finished putting on his other boot so he was able to fall in line, and he worked on his utility belt and the suspenders for it that went over the armored coat of his uniform as they headed towards the main Shinra building. He had one of the pauldrons on once they entered the lobby, and he silently and quickly worked on getting the other on once they were in the elevator.

The silence was honestly intimidating, but Cloud knew how to hold his tongue and pretend he was fine. When the red headed Turk entered from the 49th floor meant for SOLDIER, he handed Tseng a manila folder. Three other SOLDIERs also came on, one being Kunsel, but the elevator remained silent as Tseng checked the contents of the folder. Cloud couldn't help but notice there were only a few papers in it as Tseng browsed through it, and as they passed the 55th floor it was offered to him.

"Check to make sure the information is accurate, then ask any questions you have."

Cloud quickly perused the file. The first two pages contained basic information about him, and the last page had the mission statement. "The mission is to be a handler for <REDACTED>. The target will need to be kept contained, calm, and fed, and daily updates through PHS is expected. If possible, the handler will also work to rehabilitate <REDACTED.> There will be no contact allowed outside of General Affairs, SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair, and President Shinra. The handler will remain with <REDACTED> at all times and prevent him from killing or maiming anyone that may need to enter the rooms the target and handler will be in."

It was a bullshit mission statement that gave Cloud very little information except that he was going to be training some kind of wild animal, and he gave Tseng the stink eye that told him that. "No questions, sir," he said out loud. Questions would not be discreet, and discretion seemed to be expected.

Tseng looked satisfied by the response, handed Cloud a key card with a number on it, and accepted the folder back, and he and the other two turks left on the 63rd floor. The SOLDIERs were still with him, so as soon as the doors closed, Cloud turned to face Kunsel. "What is going on?"

"I don't know," Kunsel replied. "Some kind of emergency that has a board meeting, and there was something about Hojo in there as well. I was assigned to this mission before I could dig for more."

"You will be with me?" he asked in a hopeful tone, but there was no immediate reply. He looked behind him in confusion since Kunsel and the other two were looking that way, and he saw that the elevator doors were open and the hallway looked nice. Much nicer than other hallways Cloud had ever seen if one ignored how the walls had dents and gouges in them. "What floor is this?"

"Come on, Chocobo, you are taking lead," one of the other SOLDIERs said, and Cloud hissed at him. Being called Chocobo meant that he had probably hung out with this guy a few times, and though he looked kind of familiar, Cloud couldn't recall his name. The SOLDIER seemed to be a but annoyed that Cloud didn't know him and said his name in a clipped tone. "Luxiere."

Cloud recognized that name, and he gave Luxiere a warning scowl before he turned to walk out of the elevator. "What is your mission?" he asked Kunsel. It felt strange to be the one in the lead, and he noted how his questions had gone unanswered. It seemed like this one wasn't going to be answered either. He sighed and stepped to the wall to get a closer look at the dents and gouges on the wall, then frowned in thought. "Huh." 

It looked like wolf claws. Like someone was carrying an angry wolf down the hallway going by the height of the gouge marks and the dents in the walls. It was a totally crazy thought, but that was the only sense Cloud could make of it. He followed the claw marks to a door that matched the number to the key card he had been given, and from the corner of his eye, he saw the three SOLDIERs with him exchange knowing glances. It made him scowl at Kunsel.

"What room is this?"

The three SOLDIERs exchanged another look amongst each other - or the body language of in Kunsel's case - then they signaled to Kunsel who sighed in defeat. "I guess I can tell you now that we are here," he said. "We're to protect you and keep anything from escaping that room. The door is the general's apartment, and the floor is where the Firsts and Tseng lives."

"Is this Zack's idea?!" Cloud unsuccessfully tried not to screech. "Did he-" Cloud gasped when all three Seconds drew their weapons and fanned out around him, then he realized they were not going to attack him. They were all staring at the door behind him so he strained his ears, but he heard nothing. "Is this a prank?"

"No," Kunsel replied in a serious tone Cloud had never heard him use. Serious and nervous. "There is growling in there, but you can't hear it because of the soundproofing for the rooms on this floor."

"Oh," Cloud meekly replied as he felt cold sweat break out on his brow. The hair on his neck prickled up, but he pushed that away and turned to face the door. It still felt like a set up from Zack - there was no way this was a coincidence when there were real animal trainers rather than the spider catcher he was - so he made himself think. "I'm pretty sure there is a wolf in there, then." One he suspected that Zack tossed in, though he couldn't say that because he was supposed to be discreet.

"What?" the unknown Second incredulously asked. "And he expects a dinky litt-oomph."

Luxiere had elbowed the other one hard to stop him from finishing the sentence, but Cloud was pissed off because he knew exactly what the man was going to say. "I'm NOT li-"

THUD!

All four of them jumped when the slam came from the door, and Cloud bit his tongue. Even if this was a prank from Zack, the Turks assigned him a legit mission that he had to accomplish. Be it wolf, giant dog, or Kalm Fang, it didn't matter how it got into the apartment. However, he was not going to let anyone think that his height made him weak and useless, and he knew how subdue a Nibel Wolf as long as it was one on one. It was a Strife secret his ma had taught him so that he would be safe when hunting... and there was even a Nibel Dragon technique, too, though it would only work on yearlings and younger.

"I know what I'm doing," he announced as he turned his head to glare at the Second. "You three are going to just make my job harder, though. Wolves are territorial animals, and this one can either smell or hear all of you. You can leave."

"We can't," Kunsel protested, then he held up one hand when Cloud was going to turn his anger on him. "No, seriously, we can't. Our mission is to keep you safe and act as a barrier in case you need to run. The elevator has stayed on this floor and open specifically for that. Yes, Zack assigned the orders, but still! We don't even know why there is a wolf in there, or if it even is a wolf!"

Cloud flushed and wanted to say he was being assigned to live in the general's apartment to tame and train the stupid wolf or dog that Zack tossed in because Zack wanted him to meet Sephiroth, but he couldn't say that. He couldn't say it for many reasons. Not only because he was being expected to keep his mouth shut, but also because the lengths Zack was going through to do this was embarrassing. Stupid Zack.

"The general obviously wants a pet, but he doesn't have the time to train one," he hissed instead. "Go to the elevator so you don't make my job harder! If I need to run, you guys can run to me when I run away."

Kunsel hesitated, then he hung his head a little in defeat. "Fine," he agreed. "But only because I know that Zack wouldn't let you take care of a suicide mission alone. We were only to escort you here and act as backup, but we are supposed to obey you. I'd ignore that last one if the Turks had not also been involved."

The Turks being involved seemed to make Kunsel just as uncertain as Cloud felt, though Cloud wasn't going to say or hint at that. Not after being called little, though Cloud could tell that that guy definitely looked salty about having to listen to a mere infantryman. However, Cloud was not going to back down just because he felt a small (a large) niggle of trepidation! He scowled and glared but said nothing until the three lowered their weapons, and he didn't stop glaring until they had backed up halfway to the elevator.

Ha! Little his ass! He just cowed three Seconds into a retreat! At least there was one good thing about today. He turned to face the door and thought about how he was going to tackle this.

Cloud had to wait for several minutes after the SOLDIERs retreated in hopes the wolf on the other side of the door would settle down. In that time, he kept his ear against the door to listen to the growls since he wouldn't otherwise be able to hear it. He was silent as he waited for it to calm down, and he kept an eye on the other three to make sure they didn't try to come back. 

The wolf knew he was there, he knew the wolf was there, and they both knew that the other knew about the other's awareness. A minute after the growling stopped, Cloud took a deep breath then pulled the key card Tseng had given him out of his pocket (a key card to the General's apartment!) and he stared at it as he tried to will his hand to stop shaking.

There were different types of nausea, and the one that hit Cloud at that moment was the one a person got on their very first roller coaster ride if their first roller coaster was an extreme one. That one where you were in the front seat, at the precipice of the first and largest drop, and you looked down as it hovered before the drop. That one where you wondered if your first ride was actually going to go as it should, or if it would become one of those freak accidents that ended in death, grieving families, and lawsuits.

Cloud felt sick, but there was also anticipation. It would just be him and a wolf, perhaps a Nibel Wolf, and he would probably need to clean up whatever mess it had made since Zack probably just tossed it into the room which meant that he would probably see a lot of Sephiroth's personal things. Then there was another nauseous swoop because that made him feel like a creepy creep creeping on Sephiroth, but he wouldn't deliberately dig through things! Just clean whatever mess there currently was and keep the wolf nice and calm.

A shame since Cloud (perhaps addressing him as Strife was better?) had eyes pretty enough to fascinate him. He had wanted to look a little bit longer.

Now that he was alone, he took stock of himself and immediately noticed that he was wearing a bloody hospital gown. That confirmed Cloud Strife's (he would use both names for the moment) story about being in the Science Department, and he scowled as he recalled the last thing he clearly remembered.

Hojo. Hojo was giving him his monthly booster shot, except that wasn't what he had given him. Sephiroth had known something was wrong when he was hit with pain worse than a Behemoth's charge, then he remembered... Red. Tearing. Screams. Rage and blood and more blood. Zack. An endless amount of stairs and the need to get out into fresh air except Zack wouldn't let him go down. Then getting home, trying to relax, but people kept hovering around his door and he did not feel safe because Zack was no longer there to watch his back. Then someone entered his space and he was going to attack the intruder except... They started scratching his head.

Sephiroth still felt the need for fresh air and open space, but he no longer felt as angry or paranoid as he did before. He was feeling an emotion he rarely ever felt, though... Mortification. Humiliation was a common feeling when it came to the labs, but not embarrassment over his own actions. Whatever Hojo had done had put him into some kind of primal state for a bit, but to have an animal expert pet him until he calmed down was a next level kind of humiliation. He was definitely going to tear Hojo apart the next time he saw him!

"I'm sorry, just be calm a bit longer! I can make a hot sandwich now if you want, or if you can hold off, I can do a roast since you have meat in here!"

The call from the kitchen made Sephiroth snap out of his anger, and he realized he was growling and snarling like a beast which he immediately stopped. Again. The inability to manage his actions was starting to make him irritated.

"Roast," he ordered, willing to take the excuse of hunger rather than the murderous rage (towards Hojo) that would probably chase off the trooper who had actually been brave enough to face him and calm him down. "I'm going to shower and get dressed. At ease, Cloud Strife... Make sure you cook enough for yourself to eat as well."

Sephiroth got up and hurried towards his bedroom as he began to gather his dignity and the cold shell he kept around himself to keep people away. He gathered up some clothes - or that was his intention until he noticed the claws on the hand that reached out to open his underwear drawer. He lifted his main hand to get a closer look as he opened the drawer with his right, confirmed his fingernails really had changed, and rushed out of his bedroom with only his underwear in hand so he could get to the bathroom to get a look of himself in the mirror.

Canine ears. There were fluffy black ears on top of his head, though the inner ears had silver hair that matched his hair. A small whimper escaped, and he swallowed hard so that no other unwanted noise could follow. He didn't want to look further, but he knew he needed to check the rest of his body so he ripped his bloody hospital gown off. He was hopeful that it was only ears and claws when he saw nothing but pale skin and muscles, but when he turned around, he saw the tail which forced him to hold his breath before another pathetic sound escaped.

Animal expert. Dear Shiva, Cloud Strife had pet his ears to calm him down. He had been in a murderous, paranoid, animalistic rage and Cloud Strife had turned that around so fast that he had... cuddled(?)... the trooper. Cloud Strife who apparently knew Zack well enough to use that tone that promised revenge despite him only being an infantryman and Zack a SOLDIER First. Well enough that... Sephiroth recalled Zack asking him to dinner with his friend Spike or Cloudy. Cloud Strife who had spiky blonde hair.

Never before had he wanted to cringe so bad in his life. Hojo was definitely a dead man walking. Zack was definitely going to be punished for forcing him to socialize in this manner when he could have just stayed in the apartment for the few minutes it took Cloud Strife to calm him down. He ignored that part of him that wanted to be pet some more - that was just the stupid dog or wolf in him that Hojo somehow implanted. He needed to shower, get dressed, get Cloud Strife to make vows of silence about cuddling, then track down Hojo get this crawling need to rip something apart or get out of the tower and run free.

Cloud had been terrified when Sephiroth had woken up. Terrified, but also a bit aroused at the moan he had heard. He had tried to remove his hands, but the snarl had terror completely take over, then there had been talking. Cloud could barely focus on the words because he could feel the vibrations of Sephiroth's deep voice in chest on top of him, and it was distracting. Not distracting enough to make him forget that he was afraid for his life, though.

Fear had made his voice high pitched, but when he saw how it made the fluffy ears flatten, he tried his best to control himself. Thinking about how pissed off he was at Zack helped, and going by how the ears relaxed, his venomous tone seemed to please the general so he guessed that Sephiroth felt similar. Cloud felt zero guilt about throwing Zack under the bus for this, but he also made a mental note not to bring up or ask about the Science Department since that seemed to piss the general off even more.

Pissed the general off so much that he leapt back.

Cloud's eyes widened, and he immediately scrambled back in the opposite direction because Sephiroth was covered in blood that Cloud, stuck as he had been under the general, had not been able to see. It was time for the second step of his plans to appease the general - offer food.

"I'llcookpleasedon'teatme!" he rushed out as he scrambled further back towards what he was hoping was the doorway into the kitchen. "I need to see what is in the fridge!"

Sephiroth had said nothing, had stared at him with the gleam in his eyes that Nibel Wolves had when they were (probably) thinking about eating him now or killing him now and eating him later. A predatory look that really should not have made a spike of arousal shoot up his spine even as he tried not to drown in his fear. He made sure he dropped his eyes down to Sephiroth's chest and did not turn his back until he was in the kitchen and could no longer be seen.

Turning your back on a predator was definitely how you got killed even if they were not hungry. Exposing yourself in that way was like serving yourself up on a silver platter. His scrambling continued until he got to the fridge, and he flung the door open with a prayer that there was something to cook inside.

Thankfully for him, the fridge was fully stocked. Cloud knew that Zack ate three times as much as the average person because of his mako metabolism, but Zack didn't keep this much food in his fridge. Off the top of his head, Cloud knew he could make several things, so he called out to the living room as he mentally took inventory when he heard an angry snarl.

"I'm sorry, just be calm a bit longer!" he said as he noted the cured ham and the huge chunk of Behemoth shoulder. He hoped the general didn't notice the desperate edge to his tone. "I can make a hot sandwich now if you want, or if you can hold off, I can do a roast since you have meat in here!"

There was a lot of meat in there. Protein was very important to a SOLDIER's diet since it helped keep their body mass up. Zack preferred junk food and takeout, but he still supplemented it with shakes of all kinds. Many of the other SOLDIERs he had met were more conscientious of their diet than Zack was, and when he had asked Kunsel about it, he had been told that they had little fat because their bodies were constantly eating away at it so they had to be very careful not to let it also eat their muscles. 

"Roast," Sephiroth replied, and Cloud held his breath to hold back his whimper. What was wrong with him? He admired the general, he didn't like him in that way! He didn't like anyone except maybe Tifa in that way, but Tifa never made his stomach flip when she spoke. "I'm going to shower and get dressed. At ease, Cloud Strife... Make sure you cook enough for yourself to eat as well."

Oh Gaia... Sephiroth in the shower. Cloud's knees went weak for a moment before he shoved away the image of how that long, silver hair would look when wet by reminding himself that the man had a wolf ears and claws. And fangs. Genuine fangs. And he had been covered in blood. Unsexy thoughts! He didn't need to be thinking inappropriate thoughts about his commanding officer! Well, maybe not his commanding officer, but nobody that valued their life would ignore an order from Sephiroth so still a commanding officer.

Cloud got his mind out of the gutter, but not away from the man in question though he did begin to pull out things he would need for a traditional Nibel roast even if he was using Behemoth meat rather than dragon meat. The behemoth meat would be tougher - reptilian meat was always tender for some reason - but it was no doubt just as gamey which meant he would need to a salt water and vinegar brine on it while he prepped the vegetables. He hesitated when he realized he would need to open cabinets and drawers, but he needed roasting pans, kitchen knives, and other things to carry out the order for dinner so he rummaged around until he found the things he needed to cook.

Whose blood had that been? Had it been Sephiroth's blood? Oh, and he probably needed to call somebody to give an update on the general's condition. Who did he call? He checked himself and noticed that there were flecks of dried blood on his uniform, so he removed his outer belts and his coat to keep from getting it into the food he was preparing.

Dried blood meant that it had already dried out before Cloud had been pinned, but if the general had already been in his apartment for that long, why had he not showered sooner? Perhaps Sephiroth had initially been transformed into a wolf, there had been a cure that had only been 90% successful, and he had still been under the vestiges of the wolf mentality? That would explain the growling and the thud against the door - Nibel Wolves did not like humans or other species close to their dens and got highly aggressive if non-pack got too close, so it probably wasn't a stretch if other wolves were also similar. He was pretty sure wild dogs, jackals, and other canines were also territorial, and going by the Nibel Wolf knowledge was working so far so he would stick with it until it didn't work. 

Sephiroth was also speaking after his nap, so Cloud could also ask questions to see what would be needed. Cautiously. Had he really been stupid enough to mention being Sephiroth's handler out loud? Yes, he had. Cloud cringed because his panicked babbling was horrible in hindsight.

Cloud's thoughts continued to circle in that manner as he worked on the roast, mashed turnips, made dough and prepared a Shepherd's pie with the cured ham for the meat, boiled carrots and glazed them with honey, made a spring salad with plenty of spinach in case some of the blood had been Sephiroth's blood and he needed the iron content, and kept himself very very busy in the kitchen so he didn't think too hard about dying or Sephiroth being in the shower. Or how soft the ears had been. The few minutes he would get in between prep and cooking went towards setting the table, and he decided to make one of the smoothies that Zack usually liked since there was a fruit bowl. A simple shake of banana, strawberry, yogurt, chocolate protein powder, and pineapple juice, and it was done just in time since the general entered the kitchen as he set the glass on the table.

"Oh, uhm, d-dinner is another half hour, but I can start with the salad," he offered as he stared. Sephiroth had a tail! It was sticking out of a rip on a pair of grey sweat pants that looked new - the color was not faded at all and there were no stains. A tail! Then he realized he was staring at the tail and the general had not replied and he snapped his eyes up to Sephiroth's chin. "Sir?"

"Cloud Strife," Sephiroth said like he was testing the name, and Cloud felt his face heat up. "A salad is fine, thank you."

"O-okay," Cloud stuttered, then he turned to the salad bowl and used tongs to transfer some into a plate. "Cloud is fine, sir."

"Cloud, then," Sephiroth agreed, and it did not help Cloud stop blushing at all. He quickly transferred the plate to the table without looking at the general and made himself look busy with the glazed carrots even though they were technically done and just needed time for the honey to set. Rolling them around to them coat more didn't hurt. "I need you to swear you will not tell anybody about today's events."

"I swear," Cloud quickly agreed. "I wouldn't, anyway. The Turks hired me... at the prompting of Zack probably. Do you know what animal traits you carry, sir? It might help to know."

Cloud hadn't meant to change the subject, but the general gave a thoughtful hum which relieved Cloud. It was reassuring since it meant that his promise not to tell was (hopefully) being trusted, and that meant he probably wouldn't die. "One of the wolf breeds on the Western continent, Nibel I believe," Sephiroth replied. "It matches with the thick fur on the tail and the colors as well as the claws."

Cloud peeked over to look at the claws and saw that Sephiroth had picked the seat that allowed him to watch Cloud and the doorway - unsurprising since Sephiroth seemed to have strong animal behaviors. What was surprising was how relaxed the man seemed to be even though Cloud was in his space, and for the first time, Cloud thanked every summon out there for appearing to be so unthreatening. Not that anything could threaten Sephiroth, but still. Also, hearing 'Nibel Wolf' was a relief, too. Cloud could do Nibel Wolf, had grown up seeing them often, and now that he was studying the features better he did notice they were very similar.

"You are staring again, Cloud."

"Sorry," Cloud squeaked as he turned away then quickly came up with an excuse. "I just... I grew up in the Nibel Mountains where the wolves and the dragons live, and I was comparing it to the wolves I knew!"

"Oh? Hmm, well I suppose that is okay... However I was under the impression that civilians don't interact with the wolves. You appear far too young to have been a hunter before you joined. How long have you been with Shinra?"

"Two years," Cloud replied as he quashed the annoyance he briefly felt at the mention of his youthful looks. It was a GOOD that he appear little and nonthreatening! "I'm eighteen now, but since it was just me and my ma, I was hunting on my own since I was ten. Ma taught me tricks on how to handle wolves and young dragons, and I hunted with her until I could scavenge and hunt on my own so that she could do the gardening, canning, mending, and other things that needed to be done in and around the house. Nibel wolves are not friendly, but if you know where to scratch them and you don't show aggression or appear dangerous, they will leave you alone after a bit."

"I would think they would bite off a hand if someone tried to pet them."

"They would," Cloud agreed as he glanced back for a split second. The general was looking down at the plate while eating his salad, his fingers nimble enough to use the fork despite the claws that probably made it more difficult than usual. Or would it be more like how receptionists handled things with their long and fake nails? The receptionists and secretaries that did that with their nails that he had seen since coming to the city made it look easy. "That's why timing it right is important. When Nibel Wolves hunt, one feints from the front while the others circle and look for weak points to exploit and they take turns like that. However when it is just one, it will attempt a fast ambush. It is important to fall with the ambush so that you are on your back while you avoid that initial bite. The wolf ends up confused since it had taken down prey that shouldn't have been that easy to defeat, and if you scratch their ears a certain way in that second or two of confusion, they will decide that you are... not pack, but not food. They appreciate the scritches, sir, and they will allow you to go your way as long as you remain unthreatening once they are done with being scritched."

"How long do they allow you that liberty?"

Cloud crouched to open the oven so he could check the temperature of the roast with the meat thermometer. "Depends on the wolf, but usually only a few minutes. They are quick to shake themselves free from it since they do need to hunt, but the ones that aren't hungry sometimes fell asleep on top of me. Some of them would remember me and would try to ambush again just for more scritches, and I think they ignored my ma and I since we were in the mountains a lot and were familiar. The larger packs would stalk us, but if we killed something big and only took a small portion of it, they let us keep our share and would let us leave unscathed. If we couldn't find something large, we would try to find anything to leave for the pack, but they didn't attack in packs even when we couldn't as long as we left fairly quick. They are territorial and don't like people in their space."

The last comment was said in a slightly questioning tone as he pulled out the shepherd's pie which was done. The roast would need a bit longer - it could be served underdone but not as underdone as the thermometer read. He thought that his unasked question would be ignored because there wasn't a reply or anything, or that he would be told he was getting the boot, but Sephiroth finally spoke up once he closed the oven and looked back only to accidentally make eye contact.

"I have a guest room. As my handler, I figured you would be staying in there for a day or two?"

Cloud immediately turned back to the oven and grabbed the Shepherd's pie again while telling himself he was red because of how hot the stove was! How could Sephiroth mention Cloud being his handler like it was something usual? He wanted to die of embarrassment!

"It's not- I mean that is what the mission statement said, but you can obviously talk and do things, right?" he spluttered as he stood up and closed the oven door with his knee. "You don't need a h-handler! You are a person, not an animal!"

"You handled me just fine when I was not of my mind, Cloud," Sephiroth replied. "I believe it would be best to keep you around until we are sure I have my instincts under control."

************************

The smell had been mouth watering going from the bathroom to his bedroom, however when Sephiroth had entered the kitchen, it smelled so good that it made him feel absolutely starved. Cloud Strife had also seemed to have taken his 'at ease' to heart since he was no longer in his coat, pauldrons, or the utility belt - all of those were neatly folded on a chair that had been pulled out from six person dinner table. There was a tall glass of smoothie at the head of the table he figured was meant for him, and he wondered if Zack had told Cloud about them since the bucket of protein powder that he preferred was open by the blender.

Cloud was staring at his tail as he reached down to grab it, and he took a sip as he wondered why he wasn't feeling annoyed by it. He didn't enjoy the stares, and he hated being stared at in his apartment which is why he did not like to have guests, but he figured it was because the tail was being stared at rather than him. It also helped that the shake was actually good even though he normally preferred his to contain more vegetables rather than fruits. It was sweet, but not one of those dessert monstrosities that Zack preferred.

Cloud's actions and reactions were intriguing, and he shamelessly watched Cloud as the blond trooper cooked and served him. He was pleased to be told which name was the correct one to use (Cloud, not Strife), was amused by how Cloud could go from relaxed to tense then back to relaxed so quickly, and the topic and information he was getting about Nibel Wolf behavior in the wilds was new and interesting. Sephiroth had never read anything like this in any monster manual, nor had he ever heard anyone mention these things. Had anyone had tried to tell him the subdual tactic before today, he would have dismissed them as a fallacy, however Cloud had actually applied the technique on him and Sephiroth could detect no lies anything everything else.

"I could just call Zack, tell him you are speaking and thinking just fine, then let him handle the rest, sir," Cloud deflected after he told Cloud he wanted him to stay for a day or two. "You really don't need me."

"I don't think I'm ready for Zack's exuberance and loud voice," he disagreed, then glanced at the roast in the oven and the pie on the counter then licked his lips. It smelled divine, and Cloud seemed very good on picking up cues since the trooper immediately turned around and began to look for a knife to cut the pie. "On the knife block, second on the left. Zack also can't cook like this, and I don't think I could cook with my claws. Why should I order takeout if the company is willing to provide you?"

"I'm not a great cook," Cloud mumbled. Sephiroth couldn't help but scent the air at the first slice, but he gave Cloud a neutral expression when he glanced back like he had not been sniffing. "Uhm... And this is pretty plain food I grew up with. Just shepherd's pie, roast, glazed carrots, and the salad. I'm sure you can get better things."

"I had... a friend-" Angeal "-that used to say the healthiest cooking was home cooking," Sephiroth countered. Why wasn't Cloud immediately accepting? Anybody else would jump on the offer. "And what is plain food for you would be an exotic dish out here since it isn't like we have Nibel restaurants in Midgar. We do have Wutaian restaurants, Costa Del Sol cuisine, and some with Northern continent or other areas that are fusion foods, but nothing like Nibel cuisine and I haven't been to Nibelheim. This is a treat for me."

"Oh," Cloud said, and Sephiroth almost smiled at the look he got. Every time Cloud had peeked back over his shoulder, an interesting thrill had gone through him that made his ears perk up so he kept trying to get Cloud to look at him. He couldn't pre-empt which actions would get him what he wanted yet, but the embarrassed and tiny smile Cloud wore at the moment told him that he was doing something right. It also made him feel nervous and want to retreat in the same way he felt before any major battle - and before his first few battles when he was younger - but he had been trained to forge forward without showing signs of hesitation so he shoved that feeling down. "I really wouldn't be imposing? You are probably feeling territorial, so if it changes, you will tell me if you want me out?"

"If you are cooking and helping me figure out how to control these instincts, then you aren't imposing," he logically pointed out. "I will tell you if I want you out, but I do not see that happening unless you deliberately try to do annoying things. I do not believe you will do that since you have been remarkably good at picking up what I want and what upsets me before I can say anything to correct it." He paused since he wanted to ask for more scritches, but couldn't bring himself to go forward with that and looked back down at his plate to resume eating.

"Then I'll try my best, sir," Cloud agreed making Sephiroth feel relieved. For a moment, he wasn't sure why he felt relieved, but he reflected and realized that there really had been a chance at refusal and he hadn't wanted Cloud to refuse. He had not lied to the trooper, but he knew he couldn't say 'I want you here to scritch my ears and make me happy with food' even if that was really what it amounted to. Genesis would have been appalled at that kind of social faux pas - as would Hojo which would get Cloud taken away. He wondered if he could ambush Cloud to get more scritches - he could see why Cloud suspected that some of the wolf ambushes had been specifically to get the scritches from Cloud and his ma. He was sure he could get away with it once or twice more. "Here, I hope this is okay."

Sephiroth leaned back as Cloud took his empty salad plate to replace it with the 'shepherd's pie' and glazed carrots, then he leaned in and swallowed a groan at the scent. Nothing had ever smelled so delicious! The pie looked strange though it smelled good, and the carrots looked perfect. He quickly grabbed his fork to take a bite from the pie, found it tasted better than it smelled, and dug in like he had not eaten in years.

A second plate heaped with more food appeared at his elbow before he finished the first one, and he looked up to see Cloud smiling in amusement at him. The look made his face heat up, and he realized that Zack, Angeal, and Genesis would definitely have said something about his manners at this point. Even Hojo would have said something! He hastily cleared his throat then took a sip of the shake.

"I didn't mean to be rude; it is delicious, Cloud," he complimented as he tried to will his blush away. It didn't work, but Cloud did turn pink and glance away which was even better. "I don't think I've had food this good in my life. I believe your homeland's cuisine matches my palate perfectly."

"I wasn't offended since in Nibelheim, it wouldn't be considered rude," Cloud said as he turned away and made for the stove. "We believe in actions, not in words or easy signs of affection like hugs. Dinner is meant to be eaten silently and with gusto, and we feed each other until we are so full that moving away from the table seems impossible. That is when conversation and compliments are exchanged along with hot drinks or alcohol, then the younger people take care of the dishes so the older people and the host can rest. If I had more time, I would have made a stew and baked some rolls, and some of it would have been for dinner but the rest would have been served for breakfast or lunch. It's a hard life out there, so we need hearty food to have the energy to deal with the work and the climate. We don't like wasting energy on frivolities, and Midgar manners would definitely be considered a frivolity. I'm considered rude out here, but my platoon likes my cooking so they let me hunt sometimes while they do the exercises and the chores when we do exercises outside the city."

"I would have loved to have had you in Wutai," Sephiroth mused out loud as he continued to eat. "Sit, you should be eating as well."

"I'm preparing your third plate and my plate right now, sir."

"Sephiroth," he decided. He didn't like to grant people permission to use his name this quick, but Cloud's cooking was definitely worth the it. "Tell me more about your village? It sounds nice."

For some reason, that made Cloud go quiet and Sephiroth noted how his shoulders went up in a defensive way for a brief second. "Uhm... Well, ma and I lived on the edge of the village and didn't really interact with the town," Cloud explained. He turned to bring the plates over, but he didn't look up this time which made him wonder if he had said or done something wrong. He didn't think he had - people usually liked to talk about their home towns and families. "The village is small, though... It has a name on a map, but only because it is also old. Changes are slow to occur there, and they don't like outsiders moving in. Shinra had to fight very hard for the manor and the reactor to be built, and the villagers still consider it 'new' even though it was a few decades ago. Even the water tower that was build seventy years ago is considered kind of new."

"Midgar as it is now is only about twenty years old," Sephiroth replied as he thought about that strange mentality. "Your people sound like they expect things to be as old as the mountains."

"Mhm," Cloud agreed around the food in his mouth. They both ate in silence for a few minutes, then Cloud continued. "The foundations of a few of the houses is said to be nearly as old as the mountains. Shinra manor is said to be built on an old cavern system that our people used to live in before we left the underworld for the mountains. Nibel legends are ignored or forgotten by most of them, but ma holds to the older traditions and stories. Other than us, it's mostly the older generations that still believe them. Nobody else my age did."

"I would like to hear them when we are done eating?" Sephiroth asked, and he felt a flush of excitement he didn't show when Cloud nodded an agreement. He had been intrigued by Wutai and their legends and traditions, but he hadn't dared look too deep into it since he felt he didn't deserve that right for tearing down their country. He didn't know that there were other areas with traditions and legends, but Nibel apparently had them! Maybe he would keep Cloud around for longer than a day or two... He wanted to hear more stories from Cloud.

Then the roast was pulled out, and once it had been carved and served, Sephiroth was very grateful for Cloud's version of etiquette. It was better than the pie was.

************************

They did not immediately begin talking after dinner was eaten - neither of them were stuffed to the extent of being unable to move though Sephiroth was actually close to it. He shooed Cloud off to take a shower, gave him a change of clothes when he found out that Cloud had not come with any, then cleaned up the kitchen and did the dishes while Cloud was gone. He pulled out a tablet and put it on a website for shopping, then he began to take stock of what was in the fridge.

When Cloud came back, Sephiroth was pleased to see how he looking in his clothes. The sweat pants were rolled up several times and the shirt hung so low that Cloud could have worn only and it would still have covered boxers if he wore those had he wanted. He would not have minded giving more clothes to Cloud, but he still insisted that Cloud do some shopping for clothes of his own as well as foods he needed in order to make more Nibel meals for the next few days. Cloud tried to protest the clothes, but he said it was going on Shinra's business account since they had not seen fit to send him in with supplies of his own. He told Cloud to pick out some soaps, razors, books, toys and anything else he thought he would need for a month's worth of supplies since they owed Cloud that at the very least, and when the order was sent off, Cloud's PHS rang.

The shrill noise ripped a snarl out of Sephiroth's chest as he reflexively covered his human ears, then he backed away when he saw how terrified Cloud looked. His movements seemed to snap Cloud out of his frozen state, and the trooper grabbed the utility belt on the chair and picked up the phone.

"Sorry, sir, I will put it on vibrate," Cloud apologetically said. "I didn't know. Hello?"

"Strife," he heard Tseng greet. Sephiroth definitely had very sensitive ears since his ears swiveled at the name. "Good to see you are still alive. I am going to guess the general is coherent since you are able to order things on his tablet?"

"Oh, yeah," Cloud agreed. "I was going to call Zack and report to him since I didn't know who to report to. I only have Zack's number? Anyway, he wants me to stay as his... handler... for a day or two. Until he gets it... under control. We just found out he doesn't like phones."

Cloud had blushed when he had said handler, but Sephiroth thought it was the right term to use in this instance. He had had handlers when he was still in the labs and for a short time after he was out of the labs, but none of them took much care with him as Cloud had.

"Ah, I see," Tseng said. "Will you put him on the phone?"

Sephiroth growled at the thought of talking to someone, and Cloud shook his head no as he stared at Sephiroth with his large eyes. "I don't think he wants to, sir," Cloud added out loud when seemed to remember that Tseng would not see his head shake. "Uh... And we are also engaged in a staring contest. With his current body language, if I look away or break it off, it might make him upset. Can I call you in the evening after I retire? He is giving me the guest room. And am I in trouble for the order? Sephiroth - the general, I mean - he told me to order for supplies that would last me up to a month since nothing was provided to me."

Sephiroth bared his fangs in anger at the idea that Tseng might do something to his trooper, but he dropped the expression when he saw Cloud's eyes get wider with fear. He didn't want Cloud afraid of him.

"I'll text you my number since it will show up as private," Tseng curtly replied. "You are not in trouble, though I am surprised you are already on first name basis with the general. Call me tonight and we will discuss pay for the mission as well."

"Uh, isn't my pay normal?" Cloud asked in a confused tone, and the adorably lost look made Sephiroth flush and turn away. "Oh, uhm, I won the staring match. Anyway, I figured it would just be hazard pay at most."

"No," Tseng said, and Sephiroth could hear the amusement in the Turk's voice even though most others would not have noticed it. He wondered what the Turk had picked up from that exchange, or if Tseng found his instinct predicament funny. "I can hear the growling and can guess that the call is upsetting the general. Tonight, Strife."

"Sir, yes sir," Cloud quickly replied. "Oh, he hung up. Uhm... Why were you growling and getting upset while I was talking? You don't like Tseng?"

"Instincts," Sephiroth snapped out since he wasn't sure why he was so irritated. It was illogical to feel like his home had been invaded by a simple phone call, so he dismissed that and the feeling that Tseng was going to take Cloud away. "Let's go to the living room. You can pick a movie then tell me about your legends."

"Seph! Are you okay?"

"Call me Sephiroth, Zack. I am fine, but your friend is plotting your demise for putting him in this position. I may very well assist him."

"No, you wouldn't! Cloudy wouldn't! He is far too sweet and-"

"Zack Fair, you will moderate your tone or I will hang up. My hearing is sensitive and your dramatic screeches are causing me a headache that I do not want after having an odd night."

".... Did you inappropriately touch Cloud?"

Sephiroth finally paused since the silence before the question sounded quite ominous. Or like Zack intended it to be ominous, and his office was unguarded at the moment. He had put his head in Cloud's lap, but he didn't think it was inappropriate touching. "I do not understand the question," was what he settled on since he didn't want to say yes but wasn't quite sure if it was a no.

"Gaia, Seph! You can't say things like that. I thought you had molested my Cloudy! So what do you mean by an odd night if you didn't steal his virtue or touch him inappropriately?"

Sephiroth heaved a sigh as he connected the dots. "Zack Fair, I do not have any sexual interest in your friend just as I have had no interest in others. Cloud Strife made a very lovely roast dinner, shepherd's pie, and -"

"No way! How did you get to eat his home cooking before I could! I have heard his platoon talk about his cooking skills out in the wilderness! That is so unfair! I had been trying to figure out how to get him to Midgar-Mart for weeks so that he could shop for all the ingredients, but Spiky would be offended if I paid for it all and I know he sends his ma most of his check so-"

"He thought I was going to eat him and ran to the kitchen to cook dinner," Sephiroth interrupted in a flat tone. He could practically hear every one of the exclamation marks even if Zack was being careful to quietly speak. "I also handed him my tablet and told him to order food supplies for the next three days and to shop for one month of clothes and supplies for himself. There was minimal fussing once I explained it was a Shinra expense, and I had him order books and toys since he really could have died. Why did you send Cloud Strife into my home while my mind was still clouded by whatever it was that Hojo injected me with?"

"Er, Cloudy is very good with animals? Like really good. He can catch a venomous Gongogan tarantula in five minutes. Live! Not even I can do that without getting bit, and I have enhancements!"

"Spider catching is very different from being torn apart by wolves. You are very lucky that Hojo used Nibel Wolf DNA and that your friend knows how to handle Nibel Wolves. Had it been any other canine, I have a feeling that we would be having a completely different conversation."

"Ehehehe... Er... But it wasn't, and I knew Cloudy could do it! And you seem to like him which is also good. Can I apply to be his mentor?"

Sephiroth pulled the PHS away from his head to give it a flat look before he put it up to his head again. His wolf hearing was sensitive enough that the speaker part didn't need the speaker to be up by one, and he was used to holding it to the side of his head so he was using it like a normal person would even though his regular ears were not working. "I called for a specific reason, Zackary. I find myself living in close quarters with a near-stranger in a new situation that I am not sure how to handle."

"Oh. Oooooh. Right. Well, Cloud is just as socially unaware as you are, so you should be fiiiine."

"I made him very distraught when my head ended up on his thigh. It was comfortable so I was going to settle in and continue to watch the movie since you lounge on people like that, but he felt the need to flee so I showed him to my guest room."

"YOU MOLESTED MY CLOUDY?!"

Sephiroth winced with pain at the sudden shout but he quickly tried to explain that he had not done anything sexual. "I am not sure how you have come to that conclusion when it happened on accident and was non-sexual in nature. I was getting comfortable on the couch where I was laying down at, and it made Cloud fall over. My head ended up on his thigh, and when Cloud expressed discomfort after I asked if it would be rude to remain there, I got up and showed him to his room."

"Oh Gaia, poor Cloudy... You probably scared a few years off of his life. You are probably more tactile than he is - you've had people touching you all your life and actually have things to stab! Cloudy would flinch on occasion when I first met him. but you stoically ignore me if I touch you. He has only given me one hug!"

"I have given you no hugs." He also did not appreciate the reminder of how Hojo and his assistants would grab him at times rather than ask him to move his arm or whatever it was they wanted.

"Yeah, but I don't constantly hug you to try to get you to hug me back. My little Spiky is delicate, Seph! You can't just touch him as you please! He isn't like all your other fans who would love to have your head in their lap! He barely hugs his own ma and he loves her!"

Sephiroth resigned himself to a headache since Zack would not contain his now nearly visible exclamation marks. "So I am not allowed to touch him at all?"

"Why are we talking about touching him? And you also never lay out on your couch! What are your intentions towards Cloud? You better not be after his virtue!!"

"I have no designs on Cloud Strife, Zackary Fair. None that are sexual in nature. I am... confused... since his methods of handling me means he is touching me, and I am wondering what is appropriate and what I can reciprocate without making him run away."

"Wait, Cloudy is touching you inappropriately? He can't do that! You are too-"

"If you finish that sentence, I will kill you. Address my concern - what do I do when I touch him and he does not like it? How do I stop him from running away?"

"Oh. Well... I honestly can't tell you the answer since I haven't figured it out either. I mean, he doesn't run away from me, but I could tell that he wanted to for the first month but wanted to be... er... friends even more? I mean... I didn't mean to take advantage of him! He has a big heart, you know?"

"... Fair, did you molest Cloud Strife?" Even as he asked, Sephiroth hoped the answer was no since he wasn't sure what he would do if Zack had. It probably wouldn't be anything nice at all since he suspected he would be unhappy.

"What?! No!!!! Never!!!!! Dear Gaia, how can you say that?! I meant that he didn't run away because of how we met! He was there... For Modeoheim. And he felt sorry for me and was like my therapy chocobo! He let me talk and cry and hold him and didn't say anything to anyone about it. There was nothing sexual about it! I would kill anyone that did that to my little Cloudy!"

They both remained silent for a few seconds after Zack's confession, then Zack nervously laughed and Sephiroth heaved a sigh.

"Uhm, anyway, yeah. Don't guilt Cloudy into feeling sorry for you, Seph. I still feel bad about how I cried all over him and apologized every time since I knew that Cloud was uncomfortable but did it anyway. He refuses to accept an apology for that so I want to protect him instead. His whole platoon bullies him!"

Sephiroth began to quietly growl since the image of other troopers hurting Cloud made him want protect, but he quickly choked it down before it got loud and Cloud heard it.

"Er, sorry Seph... Didn't mean to piss you off. Anyway, with Cloud you got to figure it out. He doesn't talk much because he never socializes. With anyone. Even I have to drag him around, and he likes me! It still makes him angry at times, though."

"I have not encountered that problem."

"You can't drag him around!"

"I mean that he speaks with me, not that I drag him around. I have not picked up your trooper at all."

"Ehehehe, right... Good job, Sephy! Not picking him up is a very good thing. He would probably die of embarrassment if you picked him up. He only tolerates it from me because he likes me, but he joined Shinra because he is a fan of yours. You could show him your sword collection? Wait, what do you mean when you say he talks to you? What do you two talk about?"

"We were talking about Nibelheim and its legends."

"Oh, he already told you how he and his ma are shunned?"

"Shunned?"

"Oh, shit, ignore I said that. Cloudy would kill me!"

"He already wants you dead since he suspects that you set this up."

"I mean, I kind of did. But not on purpose! Not really, anyway. Heidegger was going to make a bid for SOLDIER since everyone thought you were going to be stuck with a beast mentality, and I had to get to your office and collect some stuff to go to the board meeting to block it. However, you were still covered in blood, would probably have attacked anyone you didn't trust, and you don't trust anyone outside of me so.... Anyway, I didn't want to leave you but I had to. Cissnei suggested some seconds to keep you contained, but that would have just pissed you off more. I recalled that Cloud was good with wild animals - he is the wildlife expert of his regiment - and I figured Cloud with some seconds for backup just in case things went wrong was a good idea. I didn't expect him to chase off Kunsel and the others - but Gourde was an idiot and called Cloud little. Don't comment on his size or how young he looks, Seph... Cloudy can get pretty mean when he gets mad."

"Noted."

"Anyway, I trusted him. Tseng trusts him! He is very discreet and trustworthy. Loyal, too, if you can gain his loyalty... Which you already have. Don't abuse it!"

"Is Hojo making any progress on a cure?"

"..."

"What?"

"Er, you don't remember?"

"Remember what, Zackary?"

"Uh... You killed him."

"..."

"..."

"Is that why I was covered in blood?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Seph."

When Zack apologized, the news finally hit and Sephiroth whimpered. As unpleasant as he was, Hojo had been the only parent he had known and it made something inside him hurt. He dropped the phone, and even though there was a part of him that told him he shouldn't feel so upset, he began to howl his grief.

************************

"Strife."

"Er, sorry about earlier, sir. I don't think Sephiroth likes phones at all so I'll be leaving mine in my room. He seems to be rational most of the time, but the new instincts conflict with it and I won't be surprised if he is easily upset by other things, too. Nibel wolves are very territorial and pack oriented."

"Zack was able to draw him out of the lab so I believe that Zack is seen as pack. You as well, somehow."

"Me? No, there is no way. We barely know each other!"

"Sephiroth has never been known to be accommodating enough to allow his guest room to be used. He zealously guards his apartment, and he has only allowed Zack, Angeal, and Genesis into the common rooms."

Cloud pulled his phone away to gape at it. There was no way. Tseng was delusional to imply that Sephiroth trusted him more than he trusted Zack or the other firsts who were known to have been Sephiroth's best friends before they... went missing. He didn't dare use the word 'defected' even in his own thoughts.

"This is special circumstances, sir!" Cloud chided, upset on Sephiroth's behalf. "He is overwhelmed with new instincts and probably afraid of falling back into that mentality! I'm probably the only thing that makes sense to him, and that is only because I know Nibel Wolves very well. I've been around them all my life! Ma carried me on her back when I was too young to toddle and would go hunting, and the wolf packs left her alone when she carried me since all animals know that a mother with young is far more dangerous than anything else. She could always feel them staring and had no doubt that I could see him! She stayed away from dragon territory, though... The dragons would not have cared that she was carrying her young. I didn't start learning about them until I was eight."

"I am not insinuating anything improper is going on."

"Improper?" Cloud gasped. He had not even considered that Tseng was thinking there was something improper happening! "THERE IS NOTHING GOING ON! You gave me a mission and I'm doing that! Gaia, what is wrong with you?! I'm not going to take advantage of him like that!!!!!"

"Most would think it was the other way around," Tseng said, and Cloud would swear there was a silent huff of laughter at the end that made him scowl. "I apologize for any offense I caused, Strife. You are probably correct - he could be highly stressed out since he is a very logical man and doesn't know how to deal with his instincts. Is there anything you need outside of your shopping list? Just in case you were not aware, the front door of the apartment is on lock down. The whole floor is on lock down. The only other occupied apartment was my own so there is nobody inconvenienced. Reno - the red head that delivered the file on the elevator - will carry the shopping delivery to the floor tomorrow at five in the afternoon, and the packages will be set outside. You may call me at any time after five, and I will remotely have the door unlocked so that the supplies may be carried in. For security reasons, ensure that the general does not step outside his apartment, only you may."

"You locked me in here and didn't tell me ahead of time?" Cloud snapped in an annoyed tone before he recalled that it was a mission and Tseng was his superior. Gaia, his whole night day was strange and he felt so off kilter. "Uhm, I mean, there will be nobody else out there, so why can't the general step out and help me? He is going to go stir crazy if you force him to stay inside, and he will get destructive. There is a reason we do not tame Nibel wolves - they are not meant to be kept indoors for very long."

"Noted, Strife. I will see what I can do if it gets to that. You are to try to prevent it from getting to that. The 64th floor is a recreational floor and has a gym, pool, showers, and a lounge. Would designated hours there help?"

"Oh Gaia yes," Cloud breathed out in relief. "Can we have two hours in the morning and two in the evening? One of each might be doable, but I would rather have two just to be sure. There isn't a place to go outside and get fresh air, so I'm hoping the extra time makes up for it. Nibel Wolves are mostly active in the mornings and evenings to hunt, and they rest or play fin varying amount during the day and night."

"That can be arranged. Do you need anything that was not purchased? Something from the barracks?"

"Uhm, I'm good though I will want to send a letter out to my ma if I'm here longer than a few days. Is that okay?"

"Your current mission does not allow for outside contact, however a letter can be arranged as long as you understand that it will be analyzed by my department before it is sent."

"That's fine. I am not going to-"

Cloud dropped his phone when a very recognizable howl echoed out, and he bolted for his room door. He burst out just as Sephiroth came out of his room, got himself ready to dodge just in case he was going to be attacked. However, when he saw tears when he was supposed to dodge rather than an angry snarl, he froze and paid for it.

Being was tackled was disorienting. Rather, he thought he was tackled, and he mmphed when he got the air knocked out of him. It disoriented him, so when his back hit the wall, he originally thought he had been knocked to the side instead. But no, there was still pressure around his middle, whimpering against his ear, and he realized he was being aggressively cuddled while pinned against the wall by a crying man.

By Sephiroth.

He had no idea what was going on, but he did know how to soothe him. He brought his hands up to scritch Sephiroth's ears, and the general leaned in to melt against him. The slight relaxation meant that Cloud was no longer having his breath squished out of him, but it was still a struggle to breathe. He tried to lean a little, but there was a sharp pain that made him pretty sure he had some bruised ribs. Still, Sephiroth was very upset, and Cloud needed to know why since he had used the Nibel Wolf's Howling ability.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he wheezed.

"Hojo is dead."

It took Cloud a moment to parse out the words from the whimpers, and it took him a couple more seconds to recognize the name since it wasn't like he thought about the Science head much. "He was... important to you?" Which was strange since he was pretty sure that Hojo was not a good person at all. Not according to the stories he had heard in the barracks or the stories Zack had mentioned.

"He was my only family member and... I killed him. That was why I was bloody. I didn't know I killed him. I killed my only family. I'm a monster."

Cloud inwardly began to panic - he was not qualified to deal with this at all. Outwardly, he showed no signs of his panic. He was sure his heartbeat had just ramped up, but at least his breathing had already been ragged so there was no tell there. "You are human," he quietly said after taking a cautiously deep breath. "We all make mistakes. Was he the one that did this to you?"

"Yes."

"Then it is not your fault. He injected you with something that altered your state of mind without taking the proper precautions he should have taken," Cloud declared, then backtracked a little since he was pretty sure that accusing a dead mean of stupidity was not a comfort. "I am sorry for your loss, but you are not a monster. It was an accident. A terrible accident."

"I was thinking about killing him earlier... Or removing his legs if he could not fix this."

"Thoughts that you were not going to act out," Cloud countered as he channeled is inner ma and her good old country common sense. He wished his feet were on the ground, but Sephiroth was still holding on to him like a plushie. He might be able to wiggle down, but it would definitely hurt his ribs and end up with his lungs squished since Sephiroth probably wouldn't think of loosening his hold. Zack had done similar things when he got upset and cried all over Cloud, and even though it had only happened a few times when Zack was having a really bad day or night after Modeoheim, it was memorable. "Everyone has thoughts like that, but we don't act on it. I said I wanted to kill Zack, but I would never kill Zack if I could help it. He... Probably felt the same about Commander Hewley and would understand the guilt you are feeling better. Yes, it was under different circumstances, but he killed someone he loved and respected."

"I didn't love or respect Hojo."

Cloud was speechless for a moment, but he didn't stop his scritching. It seemed to be the only thing that was keeping Sephiroth calm enough to talk, though he was trembling against Cloud while his silent tears soaked the shirt Cloud was wearing. Hopefully not snot. Sephiroth wasn't a snotty crier, right? Gaia, what was he even thinking?

"He was family."

Sephiroth mutely nodded.

"One that you didn't love or respect."

There as another nod with a choked off whimper.

"Which is understandable if he was running experiments like this on you. Did he... hurt you often?"

There was no reply, but Sephiroth trembled harder and Cloud found himself squished against the wall again for a brief moment as Sephiroth let out a pitiful whine. Cloud was very much out of his depth, so he dug harder for his inner ma. Nothing popped up, so he thought about the villagers that had shunned and hurt him, and he scowled since he wouldn't feel remorse for them if they were idiotic enough to do something like this. Right... Saying Hojo got what he deserved wouldn't help either.

"Maybe you wished he had not hurt you, and you wished you could have loved and respected him?" he gently suggested as he flipped the problem to see if there were other angles.

Sephiroth froze, and Cloud wondered if he went too far and was about to die. But no, his hero Howled again, right in his ear, and it nearly deafened him. It did answer what Sephiroth was grieving over, but if anything else was said, he didn't hear it for several minutes. He kept up scritching, but he changed the pattern so it was more like soothing circles with the pads of his fingers rather than his nails

"I used to grieve over not having a da," he quietly stated once the ringing in his head had stopped. Sephiroth had gone back to his quiet whimpers, and Cloud interrupted the scritching a little to stroke one of his ears once. An indication that he wanted the ear perked to listen. "It's okay to wish that you had something. It's normal to wish that things had been better. Your da was not kind to you, but you didn't kill him on purpose, Sephiroth. It was an accident, one that he caused... but hopefully this is the last time he will be able to hurt you."

Sephiroth went still again as he processed it, then he began to loudly sob against Cloud's neck as he kept Cloud pinned up on the wall.

As Cloud continued to rub and pet around Sephiroth's ears to wait out the crying fit, he silently wondered if anyone else had been aggressively cuddled like this. He didn't like being held up and pinned and he would have appreciated having his feet on the floor, but at least it wasn't so aggressive that his ribs were in danger of cracking like they had been at first. Sephiroth did set him down after several minutes, then he turned his body away to hide his face behind a curtain of hair though he didn't get out of ear scritching range.

"I'm sorry, Cloud," Sephiroth rasped. "I know you wanted to go to bed and didn't want to be touched. I'm sorry I touched you."

Cloud blinked, then he scrunched up his courage and shuffled a little closer so that he could bury his fingers to the base of Sephiroth's wolf ears. "No, uh, this is different from that," he tried to explain as he rubbed the spot where ears connected to the scalp. Sephiroth seemed to like it since he carefully wrapped an arm around Cloud's waist to draw him in a little closer while he ducked his head, but there was no force behind it. Cloud went with the gesture and leaned against Sephiroth's body in Sephiroth's weird... half hug? Attempted hug? Half hug with Cloud's petting? "This is me attempting to give you comfort because you are grieving a terrible loss and are feeling guilty though the guilt is not yours to carry." He paused to grab his courage and picked out the words that would be least embarrassing and most informative for the next bit. "Earlier was... Something that very close family does. Mother and child when the child is still very young and needs comfort. Or a loving couple. It's more... affectionate than a hug. More affectionate than a kiss on a cheek. I'm not... good at any of that."

"Oh... I am not good at any of that either," Sephiroth admitted, and to Cloud's shock, Sephiroth gracefully got down on his knees. Cloud's fingers froze, and he didn't breathe for several seconds when Sephiroth buried his face against Cloud's chest, then hesitantly wrapped his other warm around Cloud's waist. Right, so full hug, but very loose. "Is this... okay?"

"Yeah," Cloud breathed out, then resumed the scritching. The new position was less painful than the wall had been, but it felt even more intimate though he didn't say either out loud. Zack sometimes left bruises on his arm or shoulder when he squeezed a bit too hard, and he suspected that Sephiroth didn't know he had hurt Cloud. No need to make Sephiroth feel guilty for causing pain or discomfort. "This is fine. Are you fine with me scratching your ears?"

"I like when you do that." Okay...? "I wanted you to do that on the couch earlier but I didn't know how to ask." What? "I didn't mean to get so close to put my head on your leg, but I thought being closer like that might get you to scratch my ears."

"Oh." That was about the only thing Cloud could say since he wasn't sure what the correct response to the stuff Sephiroth had said was. It made Cloud feel like he wanted to run, but he had a mission and he couldn't back down on it. Part of his brain wanted to get all excited about how Sephiroth wanted him to pet his head (and touch his hair and his ears!) except most of him knew it was completely wrong to feel excited when Sephiroth was obviously very upset.

"Do you not like doing that?"

"No, I like scratching them," Cloud immediately replied, glad to have something to work with. "They are soft. Your hair... is also soft." Which... was that too much honesty?

"I hate when people touch my hair but... I don't seem to mind for this."

Cloud was about to have a heart attack. He wondered if he had died as soon as he had gone through the door earlier that day, and everything to this point was just afterlife daydreams. Perhaps he was in a coma? General Sephiroth with Nibel Wolf traits holding him while getting scritches was impossible after all. Especially since Cloud was just Cloud. A simple country bumpkin trooper with nothing special.

"Did I say something rude?"

"No... I'm just... shocked," Cloud mumbled. "All of this feels impossible. I'm petting you in your hallway and you want me to. These things don't happen, so I'm guessing I'm dreaming or dead."

Sephiroth began to laugh. It was a quiet, wet laugh, but it was still a laugh. A real laugh. "No, you are not dreaming or dead," Sephiroth said as he nuzzled Cloud's chest. Cloud managed to keep himself from flinching in pain. He guessed he showed some kind of discomfort since he was immediately released before the general pulled away and stood. "Sorry, I am not trying to make you uncomfortable. Let me get you a new shirt to wear, then you can go to bed."

Cloud reached out and grabbed the hem of Sephiroth's shirt before he could get away. "I'm not uncomfortable," he insisted, then he let go and looked down. "It's just hard to believe. I don't mind... scratching your ears." He swallowed and nervously peeked up. "Or being hugged." 

"Cloud Strife," Sephiroth sighed out, and Cloud wondered if he had said the wrong thing when Sephiroth's glowing green eyes directly met his. They were red and puffy from the crying, but they were also brighter because of the tears. "I will get you a different shirt to wear. Thank you for letting me cry and... for telling me that it's an accident. I technically am a monster, the wolf ears prove it as do other things surrounding my birth, but the sentiment is appreciated."

"A monster is a being that sank into despair and tries to spread it to others," Cloud corrected with a frown. It wasn't right at all for Sephiroth to think of himself like that, and using the story he had told not even an hour ago was hopefully a good way to convey that. "You don't do that, sir, so please don't call yourself a monster."

"Yes, your legend," Sephiroth replied with a tiny smile that was gone so quick that Cloud was unsure he had seen it at all. "Thank you."

Sephiroth walked away, and Cloud didn't try to stop him this time. Things had already gotten far too awkward and way too outside of what he knew how to deal with, and his brain was ready to shut down. He knew he needed to talk to Tseng, too, but he was not going to mention the crying. He wasn't going to give any details except what he had to give to be considered a report.

Sephiroth stepped out to pass him a new shirt, but neither of them seemed to have words to say. They gave each other a cautious nod before they retreated into their own rooms, and Cloud sighed with relief once his own door was closed. He pulled off the shirt he was wearing, used it to wipe his neck free of the drying tears on it, then pulled the new shirt on and grabbed the phone. Tseng had hung up at some point, so he called the number and tossed the dirty shirt next to the door before he climbed into bed.

"Tseng. I see you survived again."

"No thanks to you," Cloud shot back. He was too tired to bother with formalities or a filter, and Tseng would just have to deal with it. "He found out he killed Hojo and was upset about it since that was his da. His howls were the Nibel Wolf howls of that are meant for those that are knocked out or near death. It would not work since Hojo is dead, but it is also used to mourn a pack member's death."

"Please do not mention Hojo's death to anyone," Tseng sighed, and Cloud appreciated that Tseng also took off his own filters. It wasn't like Cloud hadn't seen Tseng nearly dead or panicked before, so he didn't care if Tseng sounded tired. "It has not been made known to anyone except the highest members of the company. We are still discussing the best way to let people know since Professor Hojo was the creator of the SOLDIER serum and a genius when it came to doing anything with mako."

"He was a sadistic asshole that messed Seph- the general up, and now the general is dealing with the guilt of patricide. Just dump the body in a mako pit and quietly put a memorial up... People will figure it out I'm sure."

Tseng actually snorted, but Cloud was too tired to feel proud of making the normally stoic man laugh. "I will add your suggestion to the pile to present to the president, Strife. Do you need anything?"

"A potion," Cloud said. "My ribs are at the very least bruised, and I don't want Se-the general to feel even more guilty about hurting me. A few potions in a discreet box would be a good idea. Zack does the same thing where he forgets his strength, and it seems like the general isn't used to touching people or being touched by them."

"Practical. I will let you get to sleep, Strife. Stop trying to hide that you are on first name basis with the general."

"Whatever. Goodnight, Tseng." When it sounded too quiet, Cloud pulled the phone away then scowled when he saw he had already been hung up on. "Asshole."

************************

"Seph! Seph, are you there? Hello! I know the phone is still connected!"

Sephiroth had completely forgotten about the call, and he wondered how he had missed the tinny voice when he had grabbed a shirt to replace the one he had cried on. He had been a bit out of it, but was he so out of it that he had not noticed until he was lying down and trying to sleep? He made a grumbling sound in his chest that was not quite a growl and reached out to grab it.

"I heard you growling, Seph! Hey, look, I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to upset you! Please don't-"

"Zackary," he grumbled. "I'm fine. You are right, though - he is a very good therapy chocobo. I see why you cried all over him."

"Oh. Awww... Did you cry all over my chocobo?"

"I am not going to dignify that with a reply. I will say that he is very competent. We also resolved the touch issue."

"So.... what was the solution for the touch issue?"

"He explained that putting my head on his leg was intimate and something only mothers and children or lovers do to show deep signs of affection, but he agreed that hugs were okay and allowed me to hug him. It didn't last long since he flinched like you said he would."

"He allowed... Wait, was that your first hug? Seph? Did you give your first hug to Cloudy? Hello?"

"Goodnight, Zackary."

"Wait, you can't hang up! I need to know-"

Sephiroth hung up, then he grabbed his pillow to hug it. It did not feel the same at all - Cloud had been warmer and softer, and the pillow was just squishy. Still, it was better than nothing, so he curled up around it and tried to imagine it was Cloud's comforting warmth and softness so he could fall asleep.

Neither of them addressed what had occurred the night before. Cloud had made breakfast, gotten a brief and silent hug from Sephiroth which he reciprocated by leaning against the taller man to reach up and stroke his ears, then they separated and ate. Sephiroth cleaned up, and Cloud went back to his room to call Tseng. He was told that he got a two hour clearance in the morning from five to seven, but the evening one would be one hour from seven to eight when most others were having dinner, or they could have a two hour period from eleven to one which was the after hours.

Cloud thought about it, decided on the seven to eight time, then asked if the eleven to one could be open just in case there was a restless night since wolves were active on and off all day and night even if their schedules were mainly morning and evening. Tseng agreed, told him that he would be in charge of making sure that Sephiroth only used the elevator and that the stairs would not be allowed, and Cloud left the room to give Sephiroth the good news. It was already nine in the morning which meant that they had missed the window, but the knowledge of being able to leave in the evening perked Sephiroth's ears up.

They ended up on the couch, and Cloud pet his ears as they watched some documentaries on the cable. Cloud was not a fan of them - they were exceptionally boring - but he didn't say anything. It was Sephiroth's television, so he didn't have a right to complain. Zack would have complained and demanded to watch something else, but Cloud didn't like Zack's shows very much either. He did like the chocobo races and the chocobo competitions since that was one of the few channels that the Nibelheim inn's TV had, but he had not told anybody about it. The other kids in Nibelheim had laughed, so he knew that Zack would probably laugh as well though it would not be a mean spirited one.

Sephiroth would probably let him watch, but he didn't want to put Sephiroth out. Going by the question the night before about science being a belief, he figured that Sephiroth enjoyed the documentaries because of that. Science was not a terrible thing to have a belief in, but Cloud had always though it lacked the spirit of emotions which was very important in beliefs. Beliefs were deeply rooted in feelings, so stripping that away and making it all pure logic bring Cloud any comfort. Sephiroth found comfort in his logic, and Cloud was fine with that.

Sephiroth ended up falling asleep, and Cloud switched off the TV to go prepare lunch. He also set up a pot to so that he could begin a stew that would be for dinner, but lunch was going to be some BLTs with a side of potato wedges and hand made macaroni salad. He had tried a store bought macaroni salad once, and it had been so awful that he refused to try any other ones Midgar had since they all looked similar to each other. Being able to take a bite of the macaroni salad he had grown up on made him moan with delight, then he screamed and dropped the spoon he had used to taste test because Sephiroth was suddenly right behind him and had leaned in over his shoulder to sniff.

His scream made Sephiroth growl as his ears flattened, and Cloud had scrambled away. They had both stared at each other for several minutes, then Sephiroth looked away with a mumbled apology. Cloud reassured him that it was okay, he had just not expected Sephiroth to do that and was adjusting to having someone in his space, but he was fine with it. He would just appreciate a bit of noise since he didn't have enhanced hearing to know when someone was coming up on him, and Sephiroth nodded an agreement.

They both went silent once more, but Sephiroth appeared to enjoy the lunch. He even noted how the macaroni salad was one of the best he had tasted. Cloud said the secret was in the thinly sliced cucumber - it gave it a nice crisp and made it taste fresh - and the ham being proper ham rather than the more common chopped ham. He also used proper mayonnaise, not the sweeter and highly preserved Midgar Whip or low fat mayo, but he didn't say that out loud.

Sephiroth asked for another legend that afternoon, so Cloud told the one about how Ifrit gifted the Phoenix with fire. He seemed just as interested in that story as he had the Nibel creation story, and that had Cloud relax quicker than he had the first time though he had still been nervous in the beginning. He had then told Sephiroth about the deliveries that would be made soon and how they were to be collected, and Sephiroth sighed but nodded.

Cloud got up to take care of the stew, and when he returned, Sephiroth was on his phone.

"He is done so I will ask. Cloud, Fair would like to join us in the recreation room tonight. Do you believe he can?"

"If you want?" Cloud replied. Why was Sephiroth asking him? Was he nervous that he would attack someone? "You usually let Zack into your apartment, so that probably means he is part of your pack."

"Hm." Sephiroth's ears drooped a little, and Cloud wondered what he had said wrong. "Are you part of my pack since I am not uncomfortable with your presence?"

Cloud turned red out of embarrassment and glared at his inner Zack for hearing that question. "Don't ask questions like that where other people can hear!"

"Apologies," Sephiroth said and turned away a little, but Cloud felt like he had just kicked a puppy because Sephiroth's ears drooped more and he looked down. "It should be fine, Zackary."

"I might be part of your pack," Cloud belatedly answered as he turned away to hide his guilt and embarrassment. "Tseng seems to think so."

"I believe so as well. I prefer having you here more than I would prefer having Zackary." Cloud peeked when even he could hear Zack's protests on Sephiroth's PHS, and he giggled at the expression of distaste Sephiroth actually used as he held his phone away to glare at the phone. "Zackary Fair, control. Your. Volume. This is why I prefer having Cloud around. He is not annoying."

"Sephyyyy!"

The cry was loud and distinct enough that Cloud heard the nickname, and he also saw the flat glare that Sephiroth aimed at his phone as his ears flattened with anger.

"Do not call me that, Fair. I believe I will take back the implied acceptance to the recreation room tonight." There was a pause, and Cloud realized he was trying to eavesdrop and turned away as Sephiroth brought his phone back up to his ear. He turned away to sit on the couch and figured that Sephiroth would retreat, but the older man sat down next to him. "Yes, though I will have you leave if you use your ridiculous nickname. I will also not stop any murder attempts that Cloud will make on you and may even assist him. Here, he wishes to speak with you."

Cloud gingerly accepted the phone from Sephiroth and put it to his ear and ignored how it was still warm from Sephiroth speaking into it. "I will not turn down Sephiroth's help," he told Zack in his most unimpressed tone. "Are you sure you want to come to the wolf's den tonight?"

"Oh my god, Cloud! How could you?! You've turned the general against me!"

"You did that yourself when you tossed me into a locked room with a Nibel Wolf without any warning," Cloud mouthed off. "It's not my fault he likes me better than you because of my ma's recipes. You are so dead, Zack."

"Noooooo, you love me, Spiky! Have you been ignoring your phone all day because you are mad at me? I'm sorry, but I didn't trust anyone else with Seph-er-oth. Sephiroth. I did not use his nickname this time!"

"My phone is silent and in my room - Sephiroth's guest room, I mean. I only planned to call Tseng at night so there was no need for me to carry it around. The ring tone hurts Sephiroth's ears, and I'm supposed to be keeping him calm."

"Oh, shit, sorry Spiky. I didn't think about that. No wonder he has been more snappy at me on the phone than usual. You are okay?"

Cloud was not going to mention the bruises on his ribs - it wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last time. "I'm fine? I mean, he has been treating me okay if that is what you are worried about?"

"That's a relief, but I'm also not surprised. You can be so sweet when you aren't being cranky and scary! Even Sephiroth loves you! So tell me about the hug last night!"

Cloud wanted to strangle Zack right then as was about to say as much (with plenty of colorful insults), but the phone was plucked out of his hand. "Zackary Fair, you will cease that line of questioning right now. It is not your concern. No. No. Fair, if you harass him, I will be most displeased. I do not care. There is nothing inappropriate happening and we are not hiding things. No, there is not a secret relationship. Zackary Fair, if you ask that again I will skewer you. I rescind the permission for you to join us tonight."

Sephiroth hung up after that horribly embarrassing conversation, and Cloud was so happy that he had not heard those questions. Secretly dating? There was just a hug! And Sephiroth had been crying! He was definitely going to murder Zack. "I am going to strangle him," Cloud seethed. "Why am I even friends with him? He is so embarrassing!"

"He will most likely show up tonight," Sephiroth replied, then Cloud looked up with surprise because a hand had just landed on top of his head to give it an awkward pat. Sephiroth jerked his hand back like he had been scalded and he glanced away before it turned into a stare-down. "Apologies. Did I overstep?"

"Uhm, no, that is fine," Cloud carefully replied, then he thought about it. "Anything I do to you, you can do to me. I pet your head, so it is only fair that you pet mine if you want."

"I was attempting to offer comfort."

Cloud blushed a little as he looked at the television that had been playing on mute ever since story time, then he shrugged. "That's fine, but I wasn't sad?" he mumbled. "Anyway, all of it so far is okay, but only in private. Zack might be comfortable hugging people anywhere all the time, but I am not."

"Understood." Cloud looked down in his lap as Sephiroth reached out to pat his head, and he had to suppress a shiver when fingers began to explore. "Your hair is also very soft. Not as soft as my ears, though. Is this okay?"

"Yeah," Cloud mumbled as his face heat up even more. "Fur is almost always softer than hair. It is usually finer, and there is usually an undercoat that provides additional warmth. You have that down-like undercoat inside of your ears since Nibel Wolves live in mountains that can be covered in snow year-round."

"I see. That makes sense. Are you certain this is okay? You are expressing discomfort."

"I'll get used to it," Cloud deflected. No, he would not. He was going to die of a heart attack because General Sephiroth's long fingers were buried inside his hair. He would die happy, though. "You don't have to pat my head... I don't need comfort. Zack was just being stupid."

"I like this and see why you enjoy petting my ears." Cloud was definitely going to die and wished he could just disappear. Was there enough air in the room? "Zackary tends to be stupid often, but I usually ignore it. He appears to be even worse with you than he is with me."

"That's because you actually can strangle him," Cloud replied with a bigger frown. He was NOT pouting! "I could try all day but wouldn't be able to cause a bruise."

"You are intelligent and could think of some way to asphyxiate him that wouldn't require the use of your hands."

"He is going to be unbearable tonight." That wasn't a whine, either! "Oh my god, he is going to embarrass me so much!"

"I did not invite him and will hazard that Tseng wants him to help you keep an eye on me. I would not be surprised if he continues to show up for a while. Tseng's concerns are valid since I..."

Cloud reached up to hold Sephiroth's wrist in both of his hands as he peeked through his bangs. "Don't blame yourself," he said in a gentler tone while he pushed his embarrassment to the side. Sephiroth didn't need to comfort him from Zack's usual brand of teasing. Sephiroth still needed comfort to help him through Hojo's death, so Cloud made a mental note to ignore Zack's teasing tonight as well. "It was an accident, okay? You should say that out loud, it will help you believe that."

"It... was an accident," Sephiroth half-heartedly replied. "I apologize. I should be over this and should not have cried last night. I am used to death and should not have shown weakness."

Cloud's eyes had gone wide, and he held the wrist in his hands even tighter. "No, Sephiroth, you have feelings," he said in a horrified tone. Was that what Sephiroth had been taught? It made Cloud wish that Hojo was alive so he could tear him apart himself! "Anyone that tells you that grieving is a weakness is a monster - they spread despair when they do that. Don't ever apologize to me for last night. I am honored that you felt safe enough with me to cry and did not think you were weak at all."

The opposite of, really. His ribs were proof of that.

"Thank you, Cloud Strife," Sephiroth murmured. He withdrew his hand and Cloud allowed it. "Zackary calls you a therapy chocobo."

"I will kill Zack," Cloud scowled. "I'm not a chocobo!"

"I do not think you are a chocobo either," Sephiroth agreed, and Cloud gaped since he actually did see a tiny smile for a brief moment. It was a blink-and-you-missed-it, and he couldn't feel upset that he was being teased because he didn't know that Sephiroth smiled! "You are very good at helping Zack and I grieve, though. He appreciates you, and I can see why he does."

"Oh Gaia," he muttered out loud, then flushed because he had not meant to say that out loud. "I'm glad? I could help? I mean, the circumstances are insane and the reason both of you lost someone important is messed up so I'm not glad glad, but I am happy I am able to help." He shut up and closed his eyes as he prayed for someone to kill him before he babbled even more. Death at any moment would be appreciated, please. Now, if the world would be so kind.

"Why are you uncomfortable?" Sephiroth asked as Cloud begged for the world to put him out of his misery, and the question made him look down and hide his face in his hands. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No!" Cloud squeaked, then he swallowed a few times since he knew that high pitched tones annoyed Sephiroth. "Sorry. No, you didn't say anything wrong. Just. Uhm. I'membarrassingmyself. Because I am bad. At this. Zack is better at being a friend. I just say stupid things. I think I need to lay down, but I'll be back for the delivery."

Cloud didn't wait for a reply and was so quick to get off the couch that he nearly stumbled. He fled to his room, closed the door behind him, then sat down so his body would block the door. Then he kicked himself for running away, but he couldn't bring himself to even try to go out again.

************************

Sephiroth had no idea how to go about fixing Cloud who was red and trembling in front of him while he hid his face and explained that he was embarrassed and that Zack was better. He uncertainly fluttered his hands around Cloud's head for a brief second as he tried to think of a reply, but he refrained from touching since Cloud looked like he could bolt at any moment. He was going to correct Cloud's assumption of Zack being better, but that was when Cloud fled.

Zack did warn him that Cloud would die of embarrassment if he picked him up, but he had not done so. Perhaps petting his head had been too much even though Cloud had said that he could. He should not have - he knew it had made Cloud uncomfortable - but the blonde hair had been too tempting to not touch.

"You are already-"

He frowned, then picked up his phone to call Zack. "Cloud ran away."

"Oh, that explains it. What happened?"

"I pet his head and he turned red then ran away."

"I told you to be careful!"

"He gave me permission and said I could do to him as he does to me."

"Wait, Cloudy pets your head?"

Sephiroth went quiet as he realized he gave out information he had not meant to give out. "Indeed."

"Oh my Gaia, you nearly killed Gen once for trying to play with your hair and you let Cloud pet you?! Is this a wolf thing?"

"I called to talk about how to fix Cloud, Zackary."

"Yeah, but still! I knew the two of you would get along! I wish I could see it, I bet it is so cute! My two awkward and reclusive friends petting each other on the head and I'm missing it because I am stuck with your paperwork!"

"Cloud has already informed me that he wishes all physical contact to be kept private, so you will not be seeing it regardless." Zack tried to protest, but Sephiroth kept speaking. "How do I fix this?"

"Just give him some time, Seph. Cloudy usually kicks me in the shin or something then stomps away and needs a few days to get back to normal."

"He did not kick me. He just turned red, hid his face, said you were a better friend, then said he needed to lay down before he ran away."

"Well... He didn't kick you so that probably means that you didn't make him upset like I do. Did you compliment him?"

Sephiroth paused to think back on the conversation. "I suppose I did," he admitted as he turned the perspective around to see the angle that Zack was coming at. "I informed him that you call him your therapy chocobo, and he got upset and said he was not a chocobo. I agreed that he is not one, then I told him we were both appreciative of him being around to help with... grieving."

"And then he said I was a better friend and ran away?"

"No, but that was when he turned blushed," Sephiroth mused. "Or turned very red, rather. He was already red before, but he definitely got worse at that point. Then he started talking about how he was glad to help and how everything was messed up and I asked if he was okay or if I had done something wrong since he was uncomfortable. He said he was embarrassing himself, but I do not see how."

"Oh, poor Spiky... The only thing you can do is wait for him to come back and pretend it never happened unless he brings it up first. Cloud is very sensitive and thinks he said or did something stupid, and he is probably in his room right now and - oh, he is calling me."

"I will let you speak with him, then."

"Okay, just don't push Spiky to talk about his feelings when he is embarrassed, Sephy!"

"Don't call me that," Sephiroth snapped, then he scowled because Zack had already hung up.

************************

"OhmygodZackpleasehelp!"

"Hey, calm down Spiky. What's wrong?"

"I'm such an idiot and this is why I didn't want to meet Sephiroth!" Cloud was nearly in tears and was very desperate for a way out, so he was hoping Zack could do something. "I'm hiding in his guest room! Please, can we trade places? I will do your paperwork or whatever! I'm a terrible friend! I told him I was glad that his da was dead! I mean I am glad he is dead - he sounds like he was a horrible person and I kind of want to kill him for telling Sephiroth that grieving is a weakness - but Sephiroth doesn't need someone to say that when he is upset about it!"

"Spiky, you are panicking. Breathe with me. In.... Out.... Come on buddy, calm down. In... Out.... There, let's keep doing this a few more times."

Cloud was going to argue that he did not need to breathe, but Zack cajoled him to calm down and he realized that he did need to be calm. Oh Gaia... He probably upset Sephiroth by running away like he did. "I'm such a terrible person. I bet Sephiroth is upset."

"Shh, calm down and breathe with me a bit longer. Then we can talk about it, okay?"

"Okay, yeah," Cloud agreed, then he began to follow Zack's over-exaggerated breathing sounds until he no longer felt like crying in a corner. "Sorry. I don't mean to bother you when you are so busy, especially since I will see you tonight. And I'm still going to kill you - you told Sephiroth that I was a therapy chocobo. Sephiroth! You are an embarrassment!"

Zack nervously laughed. "Ahahaha, sorry Spiky, I didn't mean to. I think I was talking about how we met and that you help me a lot with Angeal. Oh, and I'm sorry about last night - I didn't know that Seph didn't remember killing Hojo. Thank you for being there to help him."

"Huh?" Cloud asked since he had definitely not talked about it. "When did Sephiroth tell you about last night?"

"Last night. I never hung up, so we talked a little longer after he got back to his room. He said you were very helpful."

"Oh."

"He also called after you ran away. He doesn't think you said you were glad that Hojo was dead. He said that you were glad you could help us."

"Oh."

"Seph is worse than you about picking up social cues, Cloudy. He grew up in the labs, you know? Me, Angeal, and Genesis did the best that we could, but we never got him to open up like you seem to be doing. He nearly killed Gen once for touching his hair and he's letting you pet him!"

Cloud scowled. "It isn't like that, Zack!" he protested. "There is a spot that can be touched to calm down a Nibel Wolf, and that is all I'm doing. Stop making it sound weird and like I'm doing something special!"

"You are doing something special, Spike! You have no idea how special you are or how Seph normally acts. He doesn't like people in his space and he doesn't like to get in other people's space, but he reached out and pet your head!" Oh god, Sephiroth had told Zack that?! Why???? Zack would now tease him about it for forever! "And he-"

"If you ever tell anyone that Sephiroth pet my head, I will dump all your game consoles into the fountain on Loveless Avenue, shave only half of your hair off in patches so that you will have to get the rest cut, then sell off all your underwear to your fan club."

"Oh my god, you are so mean! I swear I won't tell anyone, okay? Can I see you guys do it though? Just once? Pleeeaaase? Then I promise to never ever bring it up."

"If you saw it, you would bring it up every time, Zack. So no."

"Awe, come on! Then will you pet my head?"

"No, Zack."

"But I've been your friend for longer!"

"You don't need it."

"... You think Seph needs it? Hm... I can see that. He hasn't been given much affection in his life."

Cloud was stunned when he heard Zack take his words and use it like that. He couldn't argue, but he had not realized that he had intuitively known that about Sephiroth. "Oh, fuck," he whimpered. "I did not mean it like that."

"Awe, poor Cloudy... I keep saying you are a sweet person. It's because you see these things that nobody else can see! I mean, everyone else thinks I am over Angeal, but you don't. You get it, you know? And I bet Sephiroth feels the same way... We tried to help him socialize, but you actually understand him. Anyway, if you are feeling better, you should go out there and reassure him that he didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything wrong either, Spiky. You just got embarrassed, but you didn't upset him. I'll see you two tonight! Hopefully my counseling means I won't be killed, right?"

"Yeah, no. I'm still killing you since you locked me in here then called me a therapy chocobo."

"Cloudy!"

Cloud hung up, but he was smiling. Maybe he wouldn't kill Zack, but he would definitely need to mess with him. Perhaps he could plan something out with Sephiroth for revenge? It would be a good way to break the ice after he made things awkward, and he knew Zack wouldn't mind too much about being the sacrificial lamb for it.

"Sephy! Cloudy!"

Zack was already in the recreation room when Cloud got Sephiroth to it. It had only been one floor, but Sephiroth couldn't help but pace around the elevator for the very short ride. He had not liked how it had felt like a cage, and as soon as the elevator doors had dinged, he had loped out into the open space of the lounge before he glanced back to make sure that Cloud was following.

"Zack!" Cloud greeted with a large smile that made Cloud's eyes shine brighter, and Sephiroth felt a weird twinge in his chest. He raised a hand to rub it as he continued to stare, but Cloud didn't seem to notice. "I'm still going to kill you, but I won't let you stay dead."

"Gee, thanks Spiky," Zack replied as he rushed over. Sephiroth stepped in when he saw that Zack was going to bowl over his little trooper and caught his arm. "Huh?"

"You will hurt him if you tackle him, puppy," Sephiroth said as he wondered why he had grabbed Zack. "Cloud does not like hugs, either."

"It's fine, Sephiroth," Cloud huffed, and Sephiroth reluctantly released Zack. "It's just us anyway. Oof, don't squeeze me!"

"I missed you so much, Cloudy! I leave you alone for one day and you end up with a large guard wolf, too! So can I see it?"

By 'it,' Cloud knew that Zack was wanting to see him pet Sephiroth on the head.

"No."

"Pleeease? I'll let you go?"

"You will let me go anyway, so no."

"I can hold you all night!"

"You will not hold Strife all night, Fair," Sephiroth growled as he cut in as he wondered was it that Zack wanted to see. "Let him go - we only get an hour and I would like to swim. You can join us in the pool."

"Oh, is that why your hair is braided? Did you do it or did Cloudy do it?"

"I don't know how to do braids," Cloud replied for Sephiroth. "Stop making things weird, Zack, and let me go."

"Fine, fine," Zack agreed as he let go of Cloud with a pout. Sephiroth then reached out to take Cloud by the arm and pulled him behind him while he glared at Zack, and Zack look between him and Cloud with a thoughtful expression. "Huh. No, wait, you can't just take my Cloudy, Seph! He was mine first!"

"He likes me more," Sephiroth declared, and when he heard Cloud make that squeaky sound that meant that he was turning red, he gave Zack a smug smile. "See?"

"You are his hero, so that is an unfair advantage!" Zack protested. "I'm his best friend, so he likes me best."

"Gaia, you are both being embarrassing right now," Cloud complained, then he looked in the direction of the locker room since he was not going to get in between two people that could easily squish him. "I'm going to the pool. You guys can come when you have decided who I like more."

Sephiroth was unhappy when he turned to see Cloud stomp off towards the locker rooms, but he perked right back up as he recalled that they had a plan to deal with Zack. Cloud wasn't supposed to leave him, but he supposed he did embarrass him and an embarrassed Cloud needed space.

"So you like Cloud?" Zack asked, and Sephiroth turned to raise an eyebrow at the obvious answer. "No, like like him?"

"You are not making any sense, Zackary," he replied, not understanding why one of those 'likes' had been stressed in an odd way. "He is an adequate friend, so I do like him."

"I mean you like him as more than a friend?"

"I have never expressed romantic interest towards anyone, including Cloud Strife, so you can stop worrying over his virtue."

Zack stomped his foot and put his hands on his hips to show he was frustrated, and Sephiroth wondered what he had done wrong to cause that reaction. He had asked a stupid question, and if he did not like Sephiroth's blunt reply to it, then it was not his problem.

"You are so dense," Zack huffed, and Sephiroth glared at him. "No, I am serious. You are being possessive!"

"Territorial instincts. Cloud says I need exercise or they will get worse."

"Then there is the way you look at him!"

"I do not look at him any differently than I look at you."

"No, you were looking at him very differently than you look at me when we were greeting each other, Seph. You like like him. As more than a friend. You think he is pretty."

Sephiroth tilted his head a little and felt one of his ears flick. He raised a hand to still it and scowled at the smile Zack suddenly sported. "His eyes keep drawing my attention, but I do not have any designs on your friend Zachary."

"Your ear was so cute when it did that - I could see the curious flicker! Can I pet it?"

"No. I absolutely will summon Masamune if you try."

"Damn. Then you think Cloud's eyes are pretty?"

"I wouldn't say pretty," he hedged as he thought about Cloud's large, blue eyes. Pretty was too plain of a word. "Magnetic or mesmerizing, like perfectly cut flawless sapphires held up to a light."

"Oh Gaia, he would probably faint if he heard you say that," Zach said as he clutched his chest. "I had no idea you were poetic!"

"I'm not," he growled. "You are being ridiculous. I was just stating an observation. As Cloud had said, 'stop making things weird.'"

Zack didn't seem affected by his glare or growl since he bounced in excitement. "You two are so cute!" he exclaimed, then he dashed past Sephiroth who turned to keep glaring. "Let's go swim!"

Sephiroth followed at a more sedate pace as Zack went past the locker room doors, but he could still clearly hear Cloud. "Zack, don't do that!" he scolded. "You nearly scared the life out of me!"

"Oops, sorry Spiky, I didn't mean to do it. I'm just so happy to see you again! I worried soooo much, but I knew I could trust you to take care of Seph!"

"It's not a problem, and be quiet before he hears us. Stop being so embarrassing."

"Ehehehe, he can hear us," Zack nervously laughed as Sephiroth walked in. "I would have heard it, too. Enhanced hearing, you know?"

"Indeed," Sephiroth agreed as he moved past Zack to take the locker next to Cloud who suddenly looked confused and turned to Zack for some reason. Perhaps a show of appreciation would help. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Why are you taking that locker when we have all the lockers available to us?" Zack suddenly asked as Sephiroth pulled off his shirt. "Even I'm clear across the aisle."

"The answer is obvious, puppy," Sephiroth replied as he stuffed his shirt into the locker. "Because it is next to Cloud. Why would I not?"

"Gaia," Zack sighed as Cloud squeaked. "Nevermind, sorry I asked."

"Did I say something wrong?" Sephiroth wondered as he looked down at a blushing Cloud. "Should I move?"

"No, it's fine," Cloud mumbled. "I'm fine. I'll be at the pool."

Cloud left, and Sephiroth turned to glare at Zack. "What did I say?"

"Nothing," Zack denied. "I really should not have asked but... Your actions do imply that you like Cloud. You are clinging to him!"

"I do not cling," Sephiroth hissed. He did not! He was not hanging off of Cloud's arm and simpering up at him like Genesis' dates did! Well, it would be simpering down at him since Cloud was short, but still. "It is not like that!"

"I'm not trying to upset you, Seph!" Zack protested with his hands up in surrender. "Don't look at me like you want to skewer me, please. Holy shit, yeah, I don't want to die so I will shut up, okay?"

Sephiroth turned back to the locker and sat on the bench so he could pull his boots off. "There is nothing happening!" he defended even though Zack said he wasn't going to say anything more. "It is just pack mentality. It is not unusual for packmates to play with each other, so that is all there is to it. I feel safer around him since he knows how to handle me, and he has been doing a better job than any of the handlers at the labs did."

"Fucking Hojo," Zack muttered. "Okay, so you know it is not normal to have a handler, right?"

"Yes, Zachary."

"You know you are not an animal or a monster, right?"

"The DNA and extra appendages would prove otherwise."

"Oh my Gaia, you know what I mean Seph. You are not a mindless beast or a bloodthirsty monster."

Sephiroth stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

"Yesterday was Hojo's fault, Seph. If he had shot me up with an unknown substance that put strange instincts into the driver's seat, made me murder him, and sprout some wolf parts, you would not blame me for it or call me a monster."

"That is different, Zachary. You are a human."

"So are you!"

They both stopped speaking and quickly undressed when they heard coughing and splashing. It didn't sound dire, but Sephiroth wanted to get out there as soon as possible since he didn't want Cloud to be alone. And he and Cloud had a plan to stick to! They grabbed towels at the same time but Sephiroth gripped Zack's shoulder before they stepped out.

"You will not say or hint anything about inappropriate behavior to Cloud Strife," he said in a low and threatening growl. Zack turned and looked at him with genuine terror that appeased a small part of him. "He will leave my apartment if you do. I do not want him to leave. He makes very good food and tells good stories and knows how to keep me calm. He is a good handler."

He let Zack go and gave him a small push towards the door so they could check on Cloud.

************************

Cloud managed to get to the pool without making another sound, then he jumped into the deep end to hopefully wash away how hard he was blushing. He had also wondered why Sephiroth had taken the locker next to him, but he wasn't going to ask. Why did Zack have to make things sound so weird?! He was the worst best friend ever!

He ran out of oxygen before he ran out of the sulking at the bottom of the pool and had to push off from the bottom. When his head broke the surface, he immediately gasped for air and accidentally inhaled a bit of water, and he had to paddle to the side as he went into a coughing fit. By the time it was over, Zack and Sephiroth were entering, and Sephiroth was growling at Zack.

"Chill out, I'm not going to say anything else," Zack said as he held his hand up in surrender. "Spiky, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just inhaled a bit of water after seeing how long I could stay under the water," Cloud wheezed. "Sephiroth, come in here and swim to burn off some of that excess energy. You shouldn't be growling at Zack like that."

The growls cut off and Cloud tried not to stare as he watched Sephiroth's graceful movements. Oh Gaia, he had not thought this through. Sephiroth was only in a pair of swim shorts, so all of his muscles were on display. They silkily rippled like a hunting cat slowly stalking its prey, and he felt like he was the prey since Sephiroth was coming towards him.

Cloud was stuck in a state between wondering if he was going to die and... something else that was not arousal because he did not like anyone that way and it would be highly inappropriate to think of Sephiroth in that way but holy shit his skin was flawless and hewasabouttodieforstaring!

Cloud squeaked and squeezed his eyes shut as Sephiroth bent at the knees to jump, but rather than die, he felt a few drops of water splatter on him as a quiet splash sounded by him. When gentle ripped hit him, he peeked an eye open and saw that Sephiroth had dove just a few feet away.

Oh, right... He was jumping into the pool like Cloud had told him to. Not about to kill him. He hoped that Sephiroth did not notice.

"Gaia," he heard Zack say, and he flushed as he gave himself whiplash to look up at Zack. "You are both hopeless. At least I get front row seats to the show."

"What?" Cloud asked."

"Nothing, I said nothing. So how is the apartment, Spiky? Seph said you are a good cook. Why haven't I got to eat your cooking? Don't you love me?"

Sephiroth whined, and Cloud glanced back to see him come up in the shallower end and shook himself hard like a dog. His hands went up to his ears then began to rub them.

"Are you okay, Sephiroth?"

"Did something happen, Seph?"

"Water in my ears," Sephiroth complained. "I can't get it out."

I'll get some cotton balls," Cloud said, then pulled himself up out of the water. "Zack, help him get to the stairs or one of the lounge chairs. Sorry, Seph... Wolves usually don't dunk their heads in water and I didn't think about that."

"Don't apologize - I should have known this would be an issue after the shower. Please get the cotton balls, Cloud."

This wasn't part of the plan, but it did provide the opening they had planned out so Cloud took advantage of it. He rushed into the locker room as he heard Zack hop down into the pool and made a beeline for Zack's locker. Once he got to it, he grabbed Zack's PHS, popped out the SIM card, put in the one that Seph had reprogrammed, then stuck the little USB stick that had been put into their delivery by Tseng who had owed Seph a favor. The program was set to upload, so while it did that, he grabbed Zack's wallet and slipped a note inside. Then he turned to grab the first aide box, grabbed the cotton balls and individually wrapped swabs, went back to Zack's locker to pull the USB stick out, and put everything back in just as he had found it before he headed back out.

Zack had gotten Sephiroth to sit on the steps at the shallow end of the pool, but he was growling at Zack so Cloud quickly padded over. "Move down a step so I can sit behind you," he said, and as soon as there was some space made, he sat down. "Lean back against my left shoulder but tilt your head so that your right ear is facing me. Thanks."

Cloud leaned in and used the cotton swabs first, and Sephiroth's growls changed to a whine that was then cut off. "Okay, stay still," he said as he pulled out the stick. "I'm going to be gentle, but you will want to shake. Don't shake, or if you can't stop it, say something so I can pull my hand away."

Sephiroth gave a small nod, so Cloud leaned in and cupped the back of the ear with one hand to gently pull it back enough for him to see inside. The ridges were damp, but there was no standing water so he gently began to dry it with the swab. It took two to get it done and Sephiroth fidgeted only once, then he had him lean against the other shoulder so he could take care of the left ear.

"I'm going to head out," Zack said before Cloud could work on it. He looked up and was confused to see that Zack looked awkward. "I remembered I had something important to take care of real quick. I will definitely be here in the morning though, okay?"

Cloud nodded and wondered what he had done to make Zack look so awkward. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Zack said with a nervous laugh. "Just... Sephy is a bit cranky so I should go? You seem to have him well in hand."

"Oh, okay," Cloud warily agreed. That sounded closer to the truth, and he wondered if Zack was feeling awkward because Sephiroth had snapped at him. An argument would explain why there was tension, and that had started because of the teasing earlier. Or had it been an actual fight? "Are you two arguing over me?"

"What? No!" Zack yelped as Sephiroth tilted his head to give Cloud a wide eyed look of surprise. "Why do you think that?"

"Uh, no reason," Cloud said as he blushed and looked away. Why had he asked that out loud? Now he had made it really awkward. Sheesh, he was horrible with social situations. "I was just worried is all. I'll see you tomorrow. Sephiroth, please tilt your head properly so I can do the other ear."

"Right, by Spiky! Seph!"

Cloud hummed in reply as he turned his focus back on Sephiroth's ear. He was halfway done when he paused because he felt something against his leg. He looked down, blinked since it was Sephiroth's tail that was lazily swishing in the water, then Sephiroth twisted so he could slither his left arm around Cloud's waist. Cloud tensed up, and he looked around to see if there was anyone around.

"We are alone - I heard Zack get on the elevator and leave. I apologize for interrupting the revenge plan."

Cloud had relaxed a little... They might be alone but still! However, the tail was still swishing and Sephiroth was giving him a hopeful look so he sighed and tossed the swab into the little used pile so he could scritch behind that ear. "The plan wasn't interrupted," he reassured. "I bugged his phone when I went to grab these things. All that is left is to post a message on his fan club with the number from that sim card."

"Thank you for taking care of me."

Cloud turned red and looked up at the ceiling... He had never blushed as much in his life as he had been doing ever since he started the mission. "Anyone could do this," he mumbled. He still moved his other hand to the other ear and began to scritch it, and Sephiroth's tail splashed a bit of water when it tried to wag before it went still against Cloud's leg. "Anyway, uhm... You shouldn't get all upset at Zack. Why were you two fighting?"

"He... We... Were not fighting."

"You are a terrible liar."

"I do not lie very often."

Cloud was coming to understand that first hand... Sephiroth was painfully blunt. Like outright admitting that he picked the locker next to his because it was next to his. Still it made him feel wanted, so he shifted a little to partially cradle Sephiroth's head as he continued to scritch.

"He is your friend, you shouldn't be getting upset at him because of me," Cloud carefully explained. He didn't want to come between Zack and Sephiroth's friendship! "I'm guessing you didn't like him teasing you about me?"

Sephiroth went quiet, and Cloud waited for a couple minutes until he got a reply. "I believe that is accurate, yes," he said. "I... am not used to it. Nobody has cared for me as well as you have. I have had handlers in the past, but they were cold and just gave me orders. You have been providing for me and helping me through my... instincts. Moods. I did not appreciate Zack's comments since you are easily upset and might leave me."

Cloud dropped his hands so he could wrap his arms around Sephiroth's shoulders to give him a brief hug. "I am used to Zack's teasing and won't let him chase me away while you need help."

"And after?"

Cloud paused, then he lowered his head so that his hair would block Sephiroth's sight. "You won't need me," he quietly pointed out. "You will not want me in your space once you get everything under control."

"And if I do?"

Cloud shrugged then gently pushed Sephiroth towards the pool. "We don't need to talk about this right now, but you do need to exercise. Your pacing is getting worse so try to tire yourself out."

"But-"

"Please, I don't want to talk about it, Sephiroth," Cloud said as he briefly looked at the man. He would rather enjoy what he had at the moment then leave before he ruined everything once he was no longer needed. "We will cross that bridge when we get to it and no sooner."

"Hm," Sephiroth skeptically hummed, but to Cloud's relief, he moved away to go swim.

Cloud ignored how cold he suddenly felt without Sephiroth's arm around him and started picking up the trash to go toss out. "I'm going to take a shower and wait in the lounge for you," he quietly called out, then he got up to head off to the locker room. He gave Sephiroth a casual wave without looking at him as he walked by, and he ignored how he kind of felt sick and hurt. He didn't need to think about the future. Just enjoy what he had at the moment. "There's only twenty minutes left, but you can shower when we get upstairs."

"Okay, Cloud."

Cloud felt guilty about leaving Sephiroth alone in the pool, but he needed some space since he didn't want to get close to Sephiroth. It was obviously Sephiroth's new pack mentality and the need for reassurance and comfort that had Sephiroth wanting to stick close to him. Cloud was just Cloud - he was nothing special and Sephiroth would want him gone as soon as he got his bearings. It was also normal for people to like those in the caregiver role. Cloud just needed to keep in mind that this was a mission and that he needed to maintain some professional distance between the two of them, and that he was lucky he was getting to have even this much with someone like Sephiroth.

When the meeting started and Heidegger made a motion to take over the command of SOLDIER with the excuse being that Zack was too young and inexperienced to lead in Sephiroth's place, something inside him snapped. The world burned with cold clarity as he pointed out that he had more experience leading men in and out of battle, and it was because Heidegger never tried to fight his own battles. That Heidegger could always try to take control of SOLDIER, but it would only be on paper. Then he pointed out that if Sephiroth recovered and decided to defect rather than stay in a program ran by Heidegger - someone that couldn't earn the loyalty of his own men and relied on Shinra's ability to pay the army - every last SOLDIER left would also abandon Shinra with him.

Cissnei was an absolute blessing, and it was the file that she had slipped him that he used when he showed President Shinra proof on how Heidegger had been embezzling funds. "Should he take over SOLDIER, he would strip us of our resources and leave only the bare bones in place," he told the president. Tseng had entered the meeting late but was at his post behind the president, and he was palming his gun as Heidegger alternated between paling and turning puce while remaining silent from the implied threat. "You would end up with angry SOLDIERs who could end up leaving to go into mercenary work. They might even hold a grudge enough to join an opposition like AVALANCHE. We will not follow a man like Heidegger, sir. If you do not want me to temporarily take over until general Sephiroth recovers, please find someone we can respect rather than him."

"Heidegger, what do you have to say for yourself?" the president barked to Zack's relief.

"The accusations are preposterous!" Heidegger bluffed, his face red but his blustering was weak with the way Tseng was staring him down.

"The records were collected by our department, President Shinra," Tseng smoothly cut in. "We were still gathering evidence before we brought it forward to you, President Shinra, to make sure all of the funds were accounted for. However it seems as though Fair managed to get his hands on it. There is more than enough evidence for even a low grade accountant to follow, so he could be convicted in a court led by monkeys."

"Hrm, you should have brought it to my attention sooner, Tseng," the president said without taking his angry glare off of Heidegger. "Heidegger, you are suspended pending further investigation. I will have Rufus take over the paperwork until a verdict is found."

"I have worked for you for many years and you are going to trust Zack Fair's word over mine?!"

"Zack Fair is more honorable than his mentor was, and he proved himself trustworthy when he went to Modeoheim. All of his points were also valid - the military is loyal to my money rather than you. On the other hand, SOLDIERs are loyal to their commanders rather than my money as we found out with Genesis' defection. Zack Fair, you are granted temporary leadership of SOLDIER, but only under my direction. Tseng, what measures are being taken for Sephiroth? Will he need to be put down?"

Zack swallowed hard and he begged Tseng with his eyes not to say yes. "One moment, Mr. President," Tseng said, then he took a step back. Everyone watched Tseng as he pulled out his PHS, pressed three buttons, then said "Status report" into it. A couple minutes passed, then he hung up and Zack held his breath. "A wild life expert with several recommendations entered the general's apartment ten minutes ago. The SOLDIERs on the scene claim that there was no screams heard but they were barred from entering by the expert as it would just upset the general more. He warned about territorial instincts and I would agree that that is an accurate assessment when it comes to the infamous Nibel Wolves. Our expert is from the region and would know them very well."

"Ah, how lucky that there is a wild life expert like that. Who is it? Anyone I know?"

"Wildlife Specialist Cloud Strife from the 4th Infantry Regiment. He aspires to be in SOLDIER, however he failed out two years ago due to poor teamwork and because of his physical size. Since then, he has been keeping up his training, has worked hard to learn how to work with a team, is discreet, was there for Modeoheim, and has been known to tame or remove all sorts of wild creatures that his platoon cannot handle."

"Never heard of him, but give him extra incentive to succeed, Tseng."

"As you wish, Mr. President."

Heidegger was then removed by some other Turks, then he had to sit through a discussion about who could replace Hojo. Zack had no idea who anyone they mentioned was, but he was sure that Sephiroth would have known since he was a huge science nerd. He still listened and took notes just in case Sephiroth recovered soon (please please Cloud! I'm not ready to be a parent to all these SOLDIERs! I'm too young to parent!). and by the time he was released three hours later, he was hungry and exhausted and... still had paperwork to do.

Kunsel was roped as his second in command. Kunsel protested and threatened to blackmail him, but he begged then finally used tears and that Kunsel could use whatever except for the confidential stuff for his web of information to get his way. With Kunsel's help, he was able to get his paperwork completed and started a system for how to handle Seph's work (how did that man get any sleep with all this stuff? He needed to have a third in command to act as a quartermaster before he died in five years from overwork!), but he and Kunsel were still in the office when his phone rang close to midnight.

"Seph!" he cried out hand in panic and half in relief. "Are you okay?"

He wanted to know how exactly they had been sitting for all that to have happened - but wait, Seph said he was laying down only Zack had NEVER seen Seph sprawl out on his couch or any couch. There was something odd going on, but Seph didn't lie so he went at it from another direction. He dropped little bits of information about Cloud meant to subtly influence Seph to be more careful about touching or pretty much doing anything to his Cloudy.

Only to then be asked if he had inappropriately touched Cloud.

"What?! No!!!! Never!!!!! Dear Gaia, how can you say that?!" he screeched. Kunsel was not even pretending to work and was staring at him, and he knew Kunsel would be able to hear the conversation so he worked hard to diffuse even a suspicion of that. "I meant that he didn't run away because of how we met! He was there... For Modeoheim. And he felt sorry for me and was like my therapy chocobo! He let me talk and cry and hold him and didn't say anything to anyone about it. There was nothing sexual about it! I would kill anyone that did that to my little Cloudy!"

When there was no reply, he gave a nervous laugh then continued to say things. He knew Cloud, and he knew that Cloud would never say no to anything Sephiroth wanted. Sephiroth did not seem to understand what inappropriate touching was since head-in/on-thigh was definitely inappropriate even if it was not meant to be sexual in nature. How did Seph go from needing a ten foot personal space bubble to being in Cloudy's lap? Was this a Wolf Whisper thing? Did Cloudy have some kind of secret power to tame wolves that he had never told Zack about?

That was when Seph asked for a cure. Zack's ability to brain after a long day was definitely nonexistant since he dropped the news on Seph very bluntly, and Seph howled. The sound nearly burst Zack's ear drum and he dropped his PHS with a curse to cover that ear with his hand.

"Zack, that was a Howl!"

"I know, Kunsel, I am practically deaf because he howled."

"No, I mean the Nibel Wolf ability! Holy shit, the general will be able to make any SOLDIER that was knocked out get back up again if he wanted to."

"Confidential," Zack reminded Kunsel. "Damn, my ear is ringing. Give me a sec." He picked the phone up and put it to his other ear, but he couldn't hear anything so he made sure it was still connected. It was, so he put a finger to his lips to tell Kunsel he needed complete silence, then he strained his hearing to the limit. He could barely hear two people speaking, and it sounded like Spiky though he couldn't recognize Seph's voice. He could not make out the words, but it did let him know that Cloud was definitely alive and the last of that fear left him.

"They are talking," he said in a low tone. "I can't make out their words, but Cloud is alive. Seph does not sound pissed off, he isn't growling, and Cloud doesn't sound scared. It sounds like Cloud is trying to comfort Seph actually. I wonder if he went to Cloud on purpose or if Cloud came out to him?"

"I would guess both," Kunsel said after a moment of thought. "I can't imagine either of them approaching someone for any reason, but that actually makes it easier to visualize the two of them together. Did you know that Cloud is sweet on the general? He doesn't realize it, though."

"What?" Zack gasped. "No! Cloud is too young to have a crush on the big bad wolf! Seph would... Well..."

Zack trailed off since he couldn't imagine Seph intentionally taking advantage of Cloud, but there was still unintentional! What if Seph got curious about the human reproductive system? He could do that in a non-sexual way! Oh... But if Cloud was sweet on Sephiroth, what if Cloud took advantage of him when he figured it out? Seph might go along with it!

"Stop making those faces, Zack," Kunsel snickered. "General Sephiroth would never make advances on someone who was not willing."

"But Cloudy would never say no!" Zack whined. "Or what if he turned evil and took Sephy's virtue? Sephy would be so confused and he wouldn't know any better!"

"Gaia, you are so hilarious," Kunsel said as his snickers upgraded into an outright laugh. "I can't image that. Cloud would never ever make a move on anyone - he hates people too much for that - and the general would chop off the head of anyone touching him in any way he was uncomfortable with."

"Oh no, what if Seph chops off Cloud's head because he pats him on the back now?" Zack gasped. "Cloud doesn't hate Seph. He adores Seph! As his hero. Not that whole crush thing! I refuse to see it - Cloud is too young to have a crush."

"He is eighteen, Zack," Kunsel replied. "However, he is easily intimidated so I doubt he would touch Sephiroth at all unless invited to do so. That includes patting the general on the back. The only time he would do something like that of his own accord was if the general was choking on something! And if it was Gourde choking on something, Cloud would watch him choke to death after that 'little' comment."

"Oh, that reminds me... Put him on the roster for the shittiest slum jobs there are. I still can't believe all three of you let him boss you away!"

"He seemed like he knew what he was doing," Kunsel protested. "And he did!"

"If it had not been a Nibel Wolf, Cloud would be dead," he reminded Kunsel since the other had heard Seph tell Zack that. "He dashed in there and closed the door behind him, and the card had been programmed to put the room into lock down after it was used. You three would not have been able to do shit."

"I know," Kunsel sighed, then he raked his fingers through his brown hair. "Gourde gets the shittiest slum jobs, I get this shitty job, so what is Luxiere's punishment?"

Zack had not thought of it like that, but he shrugged. "I'm sure something special will come along."

************************

The next day was more hectic then the previous day since people from all over the world insisted on double and triple verifying his orders, and SOLDIERs stationed outside of Midgar were demanding information on the general's 'illness.' Hojo's experiments on Seph were an open secret in SOLDIER, but nobody knew exact details. Gen and Angeal knew details, and Zack got the by blow.

Rumors could be terrifying and many SOLDIERs suspected that the general was dead or had also left Shinra. Zack was doing his best to hold everything together, and Kunsel's help was the only reason the seams did not tear. Tseng looked grim when he told him about the Recreation room use and ordered Zack to join them during those hours, and that meant Tseng was aware of the tenuous hold Zack had on SOLDIER's loyalty. They were both aware that only Zack could have gotten it, too, and Heidegger would definitely have caused an implosion.

But Zack had that evening to see his buddy! He would be able to make sure that both were fine! He could even get Cloud alone for a few minutes to make sure there was not a scratch on him! And those happy thoughts kept him upbeat until Seph called him at 3:08pm and told him that Cloud had run away because he had pet him on the head.

And what?

He was staring at Kunsel in shock, and he had no doubt that Kunsel was returning that same look under his helmet. He had to walk Seph through the whole thing to get the story (and how did Cloud and Seph even get to the point of asking each other if touching was okay? They didn't talk to anyone unless they HAD to!), then he had to point out the very obvious reason Cloud had gotten flustered.

Sephiroth had complimented him, and poor little Spiky had gotten overwhelmed. Zack drooped as he realized he missed such an important event in Cloud's life. He got a genuine compliment from his hero, and Cloud probably looked so cute!

Then Cloud called, and Cloud never called him. When he told Seph that Cloud was on the other line, Seph was quick to hang up. Kunsel had hastily gotten up, and he could hear his (soon-to-be-ex) friend laughing out in the hallway as he was greeted with Cloud's panicked plea for help.

Poor Cloudy was having a full out panic attack, and he could hear that his little buddy was trying not to cry. Worse, Cloud's panic attack was bad enough to have twisted the events of Seph's story in a different way, so he worked on getting Cloud to calm down with breathing exercises before he coaxed a clearer story out. Kunsel was back by then and attentively listening to the conversation (he knew he would not get to have any private calls if he had Kunsel here. He just did not expect Seph and Cloud to do these things, but it was too late to change stuff around. He would need to admit to the both of them later that Kunsel knew but would not tell anyone, ever.) but Zack broke confidence a little by telling Cloud that Seph had called and gave just enough of an explanation to help Cloud break through the delusion his overwhelmed brain had made up.

"You should have been a relationship counselor," Kunsel said once the phone call was over. "There are so many rich people here in Midgar that needs a good counselor for their messed up marriages. You could be rich, not stuck behind a desk doing all this work. Then I wouldn't be stuck here helping you."

"I also would not have know Seph or Cloud, so I would rather be this," Zack said in a prim tone though he flashed Kunsel a grin. "They are so cute! I knew their social awkwardness would fit each other just right!"

"Zack... You are setting them up for a relationship, not a friendship."

"No I'm not. The are too innocent for something like that."

"Pre-schoolers do the boyfriend/girlfriend thing all the time."

"That's different! Neither of them are interested in relationships."

"Neither of them have had an opportunity or someone they liked well enough to form those kinds of feelings."

"You can't say something like that, Kunsel!" Zack cried out as he crumpled up a paper to chuck at Kunsel. How dare he use that kind of logic to try to change Zack's daydream of happy friends into something darker that neither of them were ready for? "If it happens, you can be the one to give Seph the birds and the bees talk!"

"I'm sure the general knows how that works, Zack," Kunsel said as he chucked the paper ball he had caught right back. "He doesn't need that talk."

Zack caught the paper ball and gave Kunsel an evil grin. "He knows the scientific version of how babies are made, and I'm sure it is very 'insert bar A into slot B after it is properly lubricated,'" he said with air quotes and everything. "However, he won't know about pleasure and keeping a partner happy, and the traditional user manual is male and female rather than male and male. I will give Cloud the talk, too, since he probably doesn't know what with being from the mountains out west."

Even with the helmet on, Kunsel's horror was palpable. "I'll take Cloud and you take the general," he said. "You are closer to him! He would not appreciate getting that kind of talk from me!"

"Cloud would run away as soon as he realized what you were talking about, but I know how to keep him in place," Zack replied. "You are also the one who wants to jinx their friendship, so you can do the more dangerous job."

"I don't have to do anything," Kunsel huffed. "You can give the both of them the talk, Love Counselor Fair."

"Don't jinx it, Kunsel!" Zack cried out. "If it happens, it will be your fault so you will have to do it!"

"It's already happening, Zack. Not my fault if you refuse to see it."

************************

Zack absolutely refused to believe that there was anything going on except for friendship until he greeted Cloud and saw the look Sephiroth aimed at his little buddy. Seph was checking out his sweet and innocent Cloud, and Cloud had no idea! He bounced over to innocently get in between the two, but that was a huge miscalculation since Seph did not react the same any other person would have.

Sephiroth grabbed Zack's arm with an unyielding strength that brought him to a complete stop, then he proceeded to tell Zack that he would hurt Cloud and that Cloud did not like hugs. And he used the 'puppy' nickname like Zack was still a clumsy and eager third!

Zack couldn't argue, though. Not with Cloud right there. Cloud thankfully came to his rescue, and he was released and was able to hug Cloud protectively to himself. He was going to keep Cloud's attention to himself by teasing him about wanting to see one of them pet the other's head (no, he didn't want to see it, not right now! He wouldn't be sure who he needed to defend!) but Seph growled. Growled!

Dear Gaia, this was serious if Seph was acting possessive like that. He turned his attention to Seph without letting go of Cloud and sized him up as he started a light hearted teasing about Seph's braid to see how close the two already were. He almost faltered when he noticed that Seph's pupils were round now rather than slitted, but Cloudy called him out on his bullshit and he was forced to let go.

Sephiroth immediately claimed Cloud and Zack felt like bristling. That turned into a flash of jealousy when Cloud blushed because Sephiroth claimed Cloud liked him more, and he defensively pointed out that Seph was Cloud's hero. Then Cloudy got pissed off and stomped away, and it left him alone with Sephiroth who legit looked pissed off as well. Zack switched gears to be blunt rather than subtle since neither of them would get subtle unless it was spray painted on the hide of the Behemoth that ran them over.

"No, Cloud," Sephiroth stubbornly insisted as he stood in the doorway of the kitchen. It was the next morning and they needed to head downstairs, but Cloud was not seeing reason! "I refuse."

Cloud glared up at him and put his hands on his hips. "He is your friend!" Cloud scolded. "He is my friend! And he was very upset about this last night. We have plenty!"

"Not plenty enough to give to him."

"Sephiroth, I made a huge pot of stew yesterday and I can make more today," Cloud replied. "I will tell him he will not get anymore stew or any food if he teases you, okay? It's just a small tupperware, and I feel kind of bad about the prank."

"He deserved it," Sephiroth said. He hated how his ears flattened since they showed that he was giving in. It was hard to tell Cloud no! Not when he started getting all flushed and his eyes brightly gleamed with upset. He would rather have Cloud smile at him like he had smiled at Zack, but he didn't know how to do that! "He threw you in here with me without knowing if you would die or not."

"I came in here," Cloud countered. "He did no throwing. The Turks gave me the mission. I could have hidden behind the seconds. I chose to come in here, Sephiroth."

"We both know he was the one that got the Turks to grab you," Sephiroth said as he finally broke eye contact to glare at the wall. He didn't want to glare at Cloud. Cloud might run away then. "You shouldn't reward bad behavior."

"I'm sure he is very sorry for upsetting us," Cloud said in a soothing tone, and Sephiroth went still when his handler started coming towards him. He was harmless! "And if I get him addicted to the stew, he won't want to get banned from it by teasing you." He peeked over and saw Cloud was reaching up towards his head, so he lowered it and cursed his tail for the swishing it did. "It's also good to share. He is pack, right?"

"Yes," Sephiroth grumbled. He didn't bite Zack even though he had wanted to. He didn't bite even when he had felt dizzy and unsteady, and Zack kept getting into his space. He hadn't felt unsafe with Zack at all... He had just been upset about the teasing. "Will it really stop him?"

"If it doesn't, he gets no more stew," Cloud firmly said as he began to scritch his ear. Sephiroth made a rumbling sound of content and leaned in a little more, and Cloud quietly huffed out a silent laugh. "Then all of the stew will be yours and until you forgive him for being mean."

"Okay," Sephiroth sighed. He hated how there was a whine at the edge of his voice. He didn't like the rumbles, either. The growls and snarls were nice when he actually wanted to intimidate someone, but he sometimes did them when he was irritated about something else and Cloud would move away. Then he would have to coax Cloud back over and reassure him through actions that he would never hurt him. "Thank you."

He wasn't sure why Cloud had been so upset at the pool last night, but it had taken a lot of work to draw Cloud out of his shell after they got back to the apartment. Cloud had not gone to his room - if he had, Sephiroth would have left him alone - but he had kept a distance between them that hadn't been there before. It took a movie and then another legend about how the Knights of the Round came to be before Cloud's petting was less 'tolerating' and more 'happy.'

He wanted to ask what he had done wrong, but he also didn't want Cloud to retreat so he was not sure what to do.

"I am enjoying this so you don't need to thank me," Cloud said with another huff of silent laughter. "Now come on, let's go. I want to see Zack's face when I give him his SIM card."

When the elevator opened up into the lounge room, Sephiroth realized that Cloud might have a point. Zack was on the phone and he looked exhausted, and it was very obvious he was trying to pretend to be cheerful.

"Sorry, I need to go, there is an emergency," Zack said before he hung up. "Cloudy!"

Sephiroth went from feeling sorry for Zack to wanting to bite him once or twice when Zack practically threw himself onto Cloud who staggered under the weight. He wanted to do that! Would Cloud let him do that? Cloud said he could do anything that Cloud did, but Cloud had not draped himself on Sephiroth so Sephiroth could not do that. He was also very clear that he did not need to be protected from Zack this morning, so he grit his teeth and stalked past rather than pull Zack off of Cloud like he wanted to do.

"It was so horrible! Someone leaked my number online! And I couldn't turn off my phone or let it die because the president might have called, and now I need to go to the store and get a new phone and a new number and everything!"

"Get off, Zack!" Cloud said, and Sephiroth watched Zack stand up with a laugh. Zack's phone had been left behind on the couch, and it was vibrating around as another person called. "Jeez, you are heavy. Anyway, here."

"What's this? A memory chip?" Zack asked as he picked up the SIM card.

"Gaia, you don't recognize it Zack?"

"No, should I? Is it top secret?"

"It goes in your phone. The SIM card in it right now is the fake number that was leaked to your fan club, and your phone would not have been able to turn off if you had tried."

"Cloud, you didn't!" Zack wailed. Sephiroth felt a vicious glee when Cloud slapped his hand over Zack's mouth to muffle it, but Zack licked Cloud's hand and now Sephiroth was going to have to help Cloud scrub it clean because they were both looking at the appendage in horror. "Ahahaha! You both have the same expression. I wish I got a picture of that!"

"Zack, you are a dog," Cloud griped as he began to wipe his hand clean on Zack's shirt while Zack tried to dance away. "Stay still or you are not getting any of the Nibel stew I brought for you!"

"Oh, stew?" Zack asked as he went still and allowed himself to be used like a napkin. "For me? Wait, you changed the subject! I had to answer all the called because I was expecting a call from the president last night!"

"Oh, sorry Zack, I didn't think it would interrupt your work," Cloud said looking chastised.

Sephiroth did not like how it made Cloud droop, but Zack didn't seem to like it either since he spoke up before Sephiroth could even think of a way to fix it. "Nah, don't worry about it, Cloudy," Zack laughed. "You brought me stew! And you can show me how to put this thingy in my phone to fix it, right?"

"SIM card, Zack," Cloud said as he turned to rummage through the messenger bag that Sephiroth had given. There were companies that sent him free clothes and such all the time in hopes that he would wear them, and he normally donated them every few months to get rid of it all. He was glad there had been something in the weapon room closet where he stored all of that that Cloud could use. "Here - ah ah. There are some rules to this, Zack."

"Rules?" Zack whined. "I hate rules! Rules are made to be broken!"

"Not this rule, Zack," Cloud firmly said. Sephiroth felt his tail swish and his ears perk up since he liked it when Cloud was acting confident. "You don't bend or break this one. No teasing Sephiroth. You hurt his feelings."

Sephiroth felt his ears flatten and he growled since the last bit really was unnecessary. His feelings were not hurt! He choked off his growl when Cloud glared at him and looked away.

"Wow, Cloudy," Zack said in an impressed tone, then he held his hand up in surrender when Cloud turned his glare on Zack and cowered a little. Most of it was exaggerated, but Sephiroth could tell there was some degree of caution which was good. Zack should obey Cloud since Cloud was very good at what he did. "Sorry, sorry, don't give me that look! I promise not to intentionally tease Seph, okay? I'm also sorry for any upset I caused."

"Good," Cloud said as he held out the tupperware bowl, and Zack greedily snatched it up. "It's still hot so be careful. Sephiroth, do you think running on the treadmill first is a good idea?"

"That sounds nice," Sephiroth agreed. It would feel good to properly stretch out his legs. He was definitely feeling cooped up and like he needed to do something. "Perhaps Zackary would be willing to spar today?"

"I would love to, but I've got a lot of paperwork to catch up on," Zack said with a grimace that meant there must be a lot of paperwork. Sephiroth grimaced since he realized he had two days of paperwork to catch up on and quietly swore under his breath. "What was that? I need a spoon."

"I need my paperwork too, Cloud," Sephiroth said as he turned to him. "I can't get too far behind."

"Er, about that," Zack said with a nervous laugh that got his and Cloud's full attention. "Gaia, you two are so alike in some ways. Anyway. as your second in command I've temporarily taken over. The Turks helped me sack Heidegger when he tried to take over - the idiot had been embezzling for years if you can believe it - and Shinra Jr is acting as temporary director for the SFC. I don't think the president likes handing Rufus that much power so the audit to get him fired is being forced to move fast. There is still no Science director, and that department has been frozen for the moment while it is also audited. Shinra might have all the departments audited, so I pulled Kunsel in to help me sift though SOLDIER's financial records to make sure there is nothing weird from Lazard's time."

"That sounds like a lot." Cloud commented.

"Yeah, so you are on medical leave right now, Seph!" Zack said as he opened the tupperware. "Oh Gaia, this smells heavenly. Marry me, Cloud? Er, I'm not being serious."

Sephiroth blushed as he looked away since he had not meant to growl at the question. "Cloud is my handler, not yours," he stated. "Go find your own Nibel handler."

"Oh Gaia, you are both being embarrassing again," Cloud groaned. "Sephiroth, go ahead and get changed into your gym clothes. I'm going to show Zack what a SIM card is and why it is important to know while he eats the stew. Oh, you also need to take your phone to Tseng to get the other program out of it, too."

"Tseng?" Zack asked in a tone that made Sephiroth pause. It was Zack's 'I'm connecting the dots' tone where he was about to have some kind of revelation. "Oh that mother fucker! He knew, and he was the one that told me not to ignore calls! Gaia damnit, he pranked me, too!" Zack stopped swearing and he turned to Sephiroth with a pout. "You can go, Seph. I promise I won't steal Cloudy!"

"Call me Sephiroth," he hissed at Zack before he turned and stalked to the locker room feeling like he had just done something bad and had been dismissed. Stupid growls. At least Zack suffered, too.

************************

The exercise had helped a lot, and Sephiroth was feeling more settled under his skin than he had for... a lot longer than he had been changed to be honest. He was lounging on his couch to get his ears scritched while he plucked at the hem of Cloud's shirt with his claws and wasn't sure if he had been this relaxed in his life before.

"Sephiroth, you are ruining my new shirt!" Cloud gasped, and Sephiroth felt disappointed when his hand was batted away. "This was the first time I got to wear this one!"

"We will get you more new ones on the next shopping delivery," Sephiroth reasoned. "Or you can use the ones in the closet."

"Those are your clothes, Sephiroth. Buying a new one is also a waste... I could hem this I guess. Oh, Tseng said I'm on a 24 hour hazard pay and said I would get a weekly bonus as well. I don't see why when all I'm doing is watching movies with you and stuff."

"Because I'm dangerous, Cloud," Sephiroth answered. "Not for you. You are my handler. I might rough Zack up a little one day, but I would not seriously harm him. I am not sure if I would hold back against others unless you are there. That is what it means to be a handler."

"I think you would do fine," Cloud said in a skeptical tone that made Sephiroth growl in frustration. Cloud froze for a moment, then he dug in and scritched a really nice spot. "Okay, as long as there were no idiots to piss you off, you would do fine."

"Shinra is filled with idiots," Sephiroth tried to complain, but it came out as a groan of pleasure instead. "Mmmmm.... You are the perfect handler. I would have been a lot nicer when I was a kid if my handlers back then were like you."

The fingers stopped. "As a kid?"

Sephiroth froze since he had not intended to mention how far back it had gone. How much did cloud know? "I grew up in the labs."

"Yeah, but I thought Zack meant that you went with Hojo to the labs..." Cloud focused on him, but his eyes were soft and Sephiroth wanted to hide. "Was that where Hojo hurt you?"

"I am project S and was commissioned by president Shinra," Sephiroth neutrally replied as he prepared to be rejected and could retreat. "Hojo was my creator. My mother was Jenova. I grew up in the labs and am the basis of what SOLDIER is built from. Genesis and Angeal were the same, however Hollander - their creator - was an idiot and they stopped healing and started aging, grew additional appendages, and went insane. The company no longer trusts me since they fear I will do the same, but they need me since my image is integral to the SOLDIER campaign. I am not human, Cloud Strife."

"I'm not going to hurt you," Cloud said in a gentle tone, and when he resumed scritching his ears, he realized his ears had drooped and his tail had tucked itself. "That isn't your fault. None of that is your fault. The president and Hojo are fucked up to have experimented on children like that, and DNA does not make a monster. Maybe you are only part human and the rest is spliced genes from other things. You are still a person with your own thoughts, feelings, opinions, and an ability to learn and do better."

Sephiroth slowly lowered his head so his forehead was resting against Cloud's outer thigh, and he hoped that that was not trespassing. "Then wouldn't that mean the Kalm Fangs and other creatures are also people?" he quietly argued. Was he feeling relieved he had no been immediately rejected? No, he was still waiting for the axe to fall. "They could be trained, and they have their own feelings and views of the world."

"Those are Beasts," Cloud said. "Remember the story? Most beasts would prefer to live as they are and only attack because they feel as though their survival is threatened. Then there are the ones that have gone feral and attack everyone and everything even if they don't need to eat. Those are the monsters - the unthinking ones or the ones that think that destruction is okay. That hurting others is okay. It may be too soon to hear it, but Hojo was a monster, Sephiroth. So is president Shinra for 'commissioning' you."

"I destroyed Wutai, Cloud," he murmured. "I had killed and destroyed. I did so without much thought about those I was killing or destroying."

"You were trained to do that," Cloud said after a few seconds. "You didn't have much reason to think you were doing anything wrong, not if they raised you to believe that lifeforms are meant to be destroyed like that. It was also war, and people do terrible things during war. The Nibel Peoples taught others how to despair in the name of war. You are obviously reflecting on it now if you are connecting it to the actions of a monster. Do you want to be a monster?"

"...No." And he didn't, but he also knew he wasn't a human. "There is no place in the world for someone like me."

"I think this is a good spot, don't you?" Cloud asked. "Here on the couch with me and getting your ears scritched just so."

"...Yes." And it was a good spot. "But it won't last forever."

"True," Cloud agreed, sounding as morose as Sephiroth suddenly felt. "But we can take it one day at a time and enjoy what we have now. The future is always uncertain, and being worried about it is one of the curses of intelligence and wisdom. Right now, you are on sick leave and I am your handler, and we should enjoy that rather than think about the future."

"Is that why you got upset in the pool yesterday?" Sephiroth asked. "You do not like to think about the future?"

"...Yeah," Cloud quietly admitted, and Sephiroth twisted onto his back so he could look up at Cloud. "The future has never been a good thing for me. This is probably the best time in my life."

Sephiroth reached up to pet Cloud's hair as he wondered why it was okay to use Cloud's leg as a pillow this time while it was a bad thing last time. "Me too," he told Cloud. "I don't know why you think you would need to leave, Cloud. I could request you as my permanent handler."

"You won't always need one," Cloud said with a smile, but it was a smile that Sephiroth did not like. It was forced and looked painful. "Then I will be reassigned and my life will go back to normal."

"Don't smile like that, Cloud," he said as he lowered a hand to swipe his thumb along Cloud's lower lip, and Cloud turned red as he jerked back and Sephiroth yanked his own hands back like he had been scalded. "Apologies, I did not mean to overstep."

"No, it's uhm... It's fine, Sephiroth," Cloud said the scritching transitioned to stroking Sephiroth's hair. "I was just surprised is all. That... is kind of a sign of affection."

"Isn't my head in your lap the same?" Sephiroth asked. "I feel affection towards you. Is that why I am allowed to do it this time?"

Cloud made a sound like a punctured balloon as he flopped back against the couch, and Sephiroth scrambled to sit up to see what was wrong. He frowned when he saw that Cloud was passed out and checked him for fever, then he picked up his phone to call Zack so he could find out what he had done wrong this time.

Cloud refused to leave his room. Ifrit himself could come in and it would not be able to drag Cloud out. He had embarrassed himself by fainting because Sephiroth had pretty much said 'I like you,' but it was obviously meant as a friend and he just took it wrong. He woke up to a cold damp towel pressed against the side of his face, took one look at Sephiroth's concerned expression, then bolted. And he had not left since then.

When the phone buzzed, Cloud checked the caller ID and ignored Zack's third call to him... He didn't need Zack telling him he was being an idiot, thanks. He already knew that. There were a million people that were actually qualified to do this job, but Cloud was not one of them. His phone vibrated again, and he checked it expecting to see Zack's number, but it wasn't Zack. It was Kunsel.

"If this is Zack, I'm hanging up," Cloud threatened when he answered it. "It had also better not having anything to do with what is going on right now."

"Hello to you too, Cloud," Kunsel greeted. "I'm actually calling to apologize for leaving you in the apartment before you come up with some prank that will also leave me with a night without sleep. Unlike Zack, I didn't know what was going on, but I was still an unwitting pawn."

"It feels weird to hear you say you didn't know what was going on."

"Oh, it felt even weirder to live through that," Kunsel dryly said. Cloud huffed a laugh. "Word on the street is that you make a heavenly Nibel stew that is so good that the meat melts in your mouth?"

"Oh, that happened because the meats out here are a higher fat percentage, and I'm not used to that," Cloud admitted. "I'll need to find something leaner than chocobo thigh."

"Isn't that cannibalism?"

"Shut up, Kuns," Cloud grumbled. "That joke is overdone. I'm thinking Kalm Fang."

"Nobody eats Kalm Fang, Cloud. The meat is too gamey and tough!"

"That's the perfect type of meat for Nibel Stew," Cloud said. "It's meant to cook for at least six hours, and you add more to the pot when it starts to get low. Some hearths had a stew pot that goes back several years, and the one at the inn has been going for near forty years."

"I am suddenly not feeling very hungry."

"I guess I can stick with the chocobo meat since Zack and Sephiroth seems to like their meat like that," Cloud said with a silent sigh of relief. It was nice to have something normal to talk about. He was done with all that existentialism and feelings and stuff. Sephiroth was a person, not a monster, and Cloud himself needed to stop overreacting to things. "I also can't run a pot here continuously. The pots that are here aren't meant for that. I need a large cast iron pot to do it."

"Oh, glad I don't have to worry about forty year old food poisoning. So when do I get some?"

"I can uh..." Cloud was going to offer to send a bowl off with Zack tomorrow morning, but getting Sephiroth to share that small amount with Zack had almost been impossible. Sephiroth was definitely food aggressive. Nibel Wolves hoarded food zealously. "Maybe one day?"

"I thought I was your favorite?" Kunsel whined. "I'm actually helpful, unlike Zack. He just gets you into trouble, right?"

That startled a small laugh out of Cloud. "Yeah, he just gets me into trouble," he agreed. "You are also very helpful. I'll definitely try to make some Nibel Stew for you... Just get us on a mission together somewhere remote and bring a huge cauldron along, then assign me as camp cook. I'll tell you what kills need to be brought back for the pot."

"As long as it isn't something weird," Kunsel agreed in a doubtful tone. "Have any interesting news?"

"None that I can share," Cloud said in a wry tone. "I'm actually not supposed to be talking to you. No outside contact."

"As Zack's second in command, I'm actually in the know," Kunsel said in a cheerful tone. "I'm also in a position where I can abuse some authority. Also, Tseng is in here and he is lecturing Zack. And Shinra Jr just overthrew his dad by putting him under arrest for many many things."

"What?" Cloud asked in disbelief. "Wait, I'm not sure if I want to know why Zack is being lectured more than I want to know if what you said about the president is true."

"While going over SOLDIER's past financial statements, I found out that Palmer was also embezzling funds," Kunsel explained. "I did the correct thing by passing it to Zack. Zack did the incorrect thing by sending some SOLDIERs out to arrest Palmer. Rufus found out and he overthrew his father by convincing the army and some SOLDIERs who were looking for information about our general that his father was going senile to explain not just two directors embezzling company funds, but for allowing Hojo to experiment on Sephiroth in such a way that he is indisposed for an indeterminate amount of time. He also promised better food and a couple more days of vacation time for the army, and that definitely earned him the loyalty though it will be temporary unless he can improve other conditions for them as well. Zack is getting a lecture on the chain of command because the Turks were not ready to overthrow the president yet, but they had to move because Rufus jumped the gun. Now Tseng had twice the amount of work and he plans to make Zack suffer."

"Oh."

"On a positive note, Rufus hopes to establish a peaceful resolution with Sephiroth who must be terribly upset about his predicament," Kunsel said with his glee barely hidden. "As his handler, you are expected to talk to him and put together a list of demands. This is where you should abuse your position of power and place yourself into a more permanent position close to SOLDIER! You could even demand enhancements for yourself to assist you in your duties."

"That's abusing my-"

"Yes, that is what I said. Abuse your authority, Cloud. Talk to Sephiroth about it, too. He has already told Zack and Tseng that he wants you as his permanent handler."

"He has barely known me for a couple days!"

"So?"

"So he could change his mind!"

"Then set up the contract so that it can be renegotiated on a yearly basis," Kunsel said. "And that only you or Sephiroth can terminate it, not the company."

"But that's not-"

"Fair? Neither is what they did to Sephiroth. You make him happy, Cloud. Are you going to deny him that?"

"Uh, no but-"

"Aren't you happy there?"

"Yes, but-"

"And you love him."

"Huh?"

"Stop lying to yourself. You already had a crush on him before. You thought he was pretty and strong. You are getting to actually know him and you are falling in love."

"What? No!"

"You are, and he is falling in love with you."

"KUNSEL!"

"Hey, I'm just the information guy, Cloud. You should talk to him about it. He's already told you he holds affection for you. Do you hold affection for him?"

"You are embarrassing me!!!"

"See? You do or you would just be angry, not embarrassed. Go talk to him. Or if you can't say anything, try giving him a kiss on the cheek."

"I'm hanging up on you."

"As long as you hang up to go talk!"

"Bye."

Cloud would like to say he had never felt more mortified in his entire life, however he had more embarrassing moments. Fainting on Sephiroth was still on the top if his list, but Kunsel's phone call definitely came in the top ten. Maybe even the top five. And he wished he could scream and chuck his phone at the wall, but it was Shinra issued and he didn't want to leave a dent in Sephiroth's wall. He knew what he wanted to do, but what he actually did was get out of bed and hovered at his door.

Kunsel could be a manipulative shit, and Cloud knew he was being manipulated. He had to leave his room to talk to Sephiroth because he actually had a job to do, but Sephiroth had been unprofessional and had told others about feelings of affection and making them think they were in love! That sounded about right. There was no way Sephiroth could be in love with him! So he also had to clear up that misunderstanding so that they could work together again.

"Sephiroth?" he called once he opened the door and stepped out, and the door leading into the living room opened like Sephiroth had been waiting on the other side all along. "I'm sorry. I behaved poorly."

"No, according to Zackary, I have been categorizing you incorrectly."

"Zack is getting chewed out by Tseng right now for creating a domino effect that toppled President Shinra off his throne for Rufus to crown himself king," Cloud bluntly stated to head off anything Zack might have told Sephiroth. "Worse, it wasn't even on purpose and now the Turks have extra work to try to smooth it over. Zack is an idiot so you can ignore anything he said. We need to negotiate with Rufus."

"Negotiate?" Sephiroth asked. "In what way?"

Cloud stepped forward to go into the living room, but Sephiroth didn't back away so he stopped a couple feet away. "Employment contract."

"I don't have one - the company owns me."

"And that's the first very wrong thing that will change!" Cloud angrily burst out. He stalked forward to go to the living room, but Sephiroth was still in the doorway so he pushed at Sephiroth's chest to make him step back. "That is wrong! What the hell is wrong with this company? Slavery is illegal! You are not property, Sephiroth! Dining room table. I'll grab some paper."

Even though Sephiroth had stepped back at his push, Cloud knew he had not actually pushed Sephiroth. It would take something like a dragon to push Sephiroth if he didn't want to budge. On that scale, Cloud was just a fly. Sephiroth still stepped back while Cloud had ranted, and when he had pointed to the kitchen, Sephiroth had immediately obeyed rather than argue. Cloud detoured to grab a notebook off a shelf filled with several empty notebooks, then he took a seat across the table.

"So the first important thing is that the ownership contract be immediately terminated and that you are to be recognized as a person of your own right with all the responsibilities and privileges that comes with it," Cloud said as he quickly jotted down what he was saying out loud. "They should also reimburse you for all of the trauma they have caused - including the loss of your friends - and there should also be payment for all of the work you have done for the company to this point including a retirement package. Charges should also be brought against the people responsible for experimenting on you without your consent even after you became an adult, and that includes the ex-President Shinra. He should be at the top of the list, actually."

"I also want you."

Cloud stomped on the flip his stomach had done since Sephiroth did not mean it that way. "Me as a handler with a yearly contract that can only be broken by you or I at any time," Cloud grumbled as he pushed down any and all feelings of embarrassment. Fine, so Kunsel was good for something - had Kunsel not given him the yearly contract idea, he would have floundered just then. "Or I could just be an assistant, Sephiroth. You are a person and don't need a handler. Important people have a private assistant that helps manage their personal life, and that's technically what I do I think. Kind of. Counselor? ... Not a therapy chocobo."

"No, Cloud," Sephiroth said in a firm tone, and Cloud looked up to pay attention. "I want you. Zackary asked me a series of questions that leads me to understand that I love you."

Cloud went numb in shock and didn't even feel the pen drop. He heard it, though. He couldn't... Nope. It was easier to just let his brain shut down his feelings because he had a goal he had to do which was to make sure that Sephiroth got his freedom and rights.

"Don't be daft," he snapped like his ma would. "You have only known me for a couple days."

"Zack said there is such thing as love at first sight. I admit that it wasn't at first sight since the first thing I saw was your uniform, but I can say it was love at first touch because of the scratching."

"Zackary Fair is an idiot that accidentally toppled a president," Cloud reminded Sephiroth in a dry tone. "I was your handler and caregiver, and I was in a position of authority over you."

"If I did not want to obey, I would not have. I have ignored many handlers."

"You were in a vulnerable state and I was there to care for you, Sephiroth," Cloud insisted with a frown. He was not here for feelings! Just the negotiations. He was very much separated from his own emotions so that he could do this. Damn Zack for putting strange ideas in Sephiroth's head. "Many people fall in love with their nurses, therapists, and other roles like that. You don't know me."

"You don't care much for people, but you care greatly about individuals. You believe other people's happiness is more important than your own and think you are not worth very much."

"-You can stop-"

"You talk about your legends with passion and tell the stories with great care so that you can keep it as close to what you believe is the original story. You believe that those stories are not real, but you believe in the lessons the stories tell."

"-Sephiroth."

"You are a great cook, but you grew up with it so you think it is just plain food. You-"

"Stop it, Sephiroth," Cloud commanded, and when Sephiroth gave him a hurt look, he looked away in shame. "It's not like that."

"You don't know how I feel so you cannot tell me that it is not like that."

"There are better people out there."

"I think you are the most beautiful person I have seen," Sephiroth said as he stood up, and Cloud turned to look at him again in shock. "I think you are the kindest person I have met." Cloud stared with large eyes as Sephiroth began to stalk around the table like a wolf. "I think you are the most caring person I have met." Cloud was frozen as he stared up at Sephiroth who was looming over him, but he got down on his knee so that they were at eye level and placed his hand on Cloud's arm. "Please, Cloud. You like me, right?"

Had Sephiroth asked if he had loved him, he would have bolted but... He could agree to liking Sephiroth. "I like you," he managed to say in a normal tone with a tiny nod.

"Do you like like me enough to stay?" Sephiroth asked. "Not as my handler or assistant. As yourself."

Cloud kind of wished his feelings were not squashed down as they were since he would rather pass out again than answer the question. But Sephiroth was giving him just a hopeful look that he couldn't ignore it, nor could he lie and say no.

"I... do..." he managed to force out. "It's still wrong."

"So was the slaughter of thousands by my hand in Wutai alone," Sephiroth dismissed. Cloud wanted to protest since it was very very different, but Sephiroth didn't let him. "Do you hold affection for me?"

"What?" Cloud asked in a bewildered tone. He already admitted to liking Sephiroth, so it didn't make sense. "How is that different from liking you?"

Sephiroth moved the hand on Cloud's arm to his chest. "Do you feel it in here that you like me?" he asked with an intense gaze that Cloud could not look away from.

Cloud made a choked sound since he couldn't get a word out. That was... Gaia! The hand on his chest felt like it had exposed his heart, and all of the emotions his brain had shut down came surging up and burned out his vocal cords and his ability to think. Gaia, why was Sephiroth doing this? He was just an trooper and Sephiroth could have just about anyone else in the world! He had nothing! He had no money, strength, or power. He wasn't even all that smart! Oh Gaia, why were their faces so close together?

"Breathe, Cloud," Sephiroth said in a gentle tone. "Slowly breathe in and out. If you can't answer that right now, it is okay. Zack said you might need time and that the important part was not to-mphh."

Cloud couldn't speak, but Kunsel had given him that last advice, and his brain reminded him of it when Sephiroth told him that it was okay. Leaning in the last few inches to press their lips together felt right because he would absolutely die if Sephiroth had kept talking. However, neither of them knew what to do so the kiss was an awkward press of lips and a slightly painful bump of noses. Sephiroth was the one to slide his hand up to Cloud's cheek, leaned back a little so there was less smooshing, then he made Cloud shiver by giving his bottom lip a gentle nip and suck before he pulled back.

"You were my caregiver, but you actually care, Cloud," Sephiroth breathed out. "You cared about me. You don't care that I am not human, but you do care about my health and my happiness. You also said you grew up showing affection through deeds, and you have been doing things that make me happy. You didn't reject me when you learned that I had killed Hojo, and you didn't reject me when you learned I am a science experiment. How can I not love you?"

"Sephiroth," Cloud whispered, and just like that he was no longer frozen. He slowly leaned in, and when Sephiroth leaned in as well, he carefully wrapped his arms around Sephiroth in a hug and they melted against each other. Cloud was very worried that he was taking advantage of Sephiroth, but he also didn't want to hurt him. He could go with it, slowly, and wait for Sephiroth to come to his senses about this. "I don't get why it's me but... I'm willing. To try. One day at a time."

"One day at a time," Sephiroth agreed as he smiled against Cloud's neck. "I will show you every day that I love you until you are not afraid to love me back."

OMAKE

"Zackary Fair!"

Zack had been on the phone with Seph to teach him what love felt like (all he had to do was think about Aerith) when he heard his name shouted in that tone. Hearing his name in that tone never boded well for him.

"Sorry I got to go Seph, I'll check on you later. Just give Cloudy a bit of time and he will come out of his room."

"Fair!" The door to Seph's office opened and, to Zack's surprise, it was Tseng. The usually very composed Tseng looked exceptionally pissed off, and Zack had nowhere to run even though every one of his instincts told him he needed to flee. "Do you know what you have done?!"

"Uh... Set my best friends up?"

"As long as it does not cause drastic changes with security or the company, I do not care who is dating who," Tseng snapped. "You should not have sent your SOLDIERs to arrest Palmer!"

"But Palmer was embezzling some of our funds!"

"No, he was embezzling President Shinra's funds, you idiot! Did you think I was unaware? There were plans! I already gave you Heidegger, and it was only because he would have caused all of SOLDIER to abandon Shinra had he gotten his grubby paws on it!

Well that was no fair. "How was I supposed to know you already knew?" Zack protested. "I did what was right!"

"You did what was stupid, you moron!" Tseng spat. Zack could see Kunsel making a phone call from the corner of his eye, but Tseng slammed his hands down on Zack's desk and loomed over him. Did Turks have intimidation classes 101? Cause the only thing scarier was a snarling Seph with fangs! Normal Seph was not this scary! "You should have notified me or president Shinra, not send some SOLDIERs off to do a something out of your jurisdiction. Had Rufus not deposed his father, your antics would have allowed Palmer to get away with his crime because it was an unlawful arrest! LAWS, FAIR! The company might ignore them often, but when it comes to trials there is a right way to do things and that was not the right way! Your idiocy nearly caused years of work to go down the drain!"

"Well... It worked out?" Zack offered in a hopeful tone since it sounded like Palmer was in jail. "So everything is fine, right?"

"Everything is not fine! I will be working three times as much over the next several months to make sure that the transition of authority to Rufus goes smoothly, but that means many things which needed more time to develop will have to be rushed. Rushed things mean mistakes. Mistakes mean more work. It is a vicious cycle of blood and hate, and you have dumped all of that on ME!"

"Er... I can help?"

"No, you can't," Tseng snarled. Holy shit he was really pissed off. Zack had a feeling he would need to watch all of his food and drinks for several months. Or a year. Actually, Turks could do long term revenge plants, so a decade was probably best. "The only thing you can do to help is to stop causing problems! I will be parking one of my agents next to you - not Cissnei - and they will make sure you can not cause trouble and give me more work. I still need to contact Sephiroth, but I don't trust you to do it! Rufus wants to negotiate with him for SOLDIER's loyalty, but you are too incompetent to ask which means I will need to go through Strife who was supposed to have no authority but is now in a grey legal area of having the general's authority by proxy because of his handler status!"

"You are the one that gave Cloud that rank, not me!" Zack protested. "I would have made him an assistant because handler is-"

"None of this would be an issue at all had you not sent people to arrest Palmer!" Tseng interrupted. "I am not going to get a full night of sleep for Leviathan knows how long, and I will make you suffer the same way Zack Fair. If you thought your little PHS prank was bad, you know nothing. The less sleep I get, the more I will hate the waking world. I will make sure you feel that wrath."

Tseng turned and left the office, and he took his terrifying aura with him. There was no door slam or stomping, but it felt like there should have been both. Still, the pressure was gone so Zack slumped over his desk in relief.

"Gaia, I was expecting a 'you will rue the day!' during that speech of doom," Zack bitched. "And wait, did he say that Rufus took over the company? In two hour's time? Kunsel, what do you know?"

"Cloud and Sephiroth will be in a relationship before the end of the day, but they will not publicly announce anything for months and will do so because President Rufus will force the issue. They won't tell you about it for three days, but there will not be any details. If you bother them about it first, they won't tell you anything at all and will do their best to kick you out of any activities they are doing for about a month which is how long Cloud's anger at you butting in will take to die down. Their wedding will happen in a little over a year with a very short engagement period."

"I hate you, Kuns."

For six months, Cloud spent every day showing Sephiroth that he loved him, but he could never get himself to say the words out loud. At first, he had honestly been afraid that doing so would make the illusion shatter, but Sephiroth had proved the depth of his feelings in deeds and in words. It had lessened the fear, but guilt took its place since the words still stuck in his throat and he remained silent about voicing his feelings.

Sephiroth didn't seem to mind, but that made Cloud feel worse since he knew that it was conditioning from growing up in the labs. Sephiroth accepted what Cloud could give like it was a precious treasure but never asked or wanted more because he was used to being denied basic human rights. Sephiroth's ears and tail had been a god send for Cloud to understand what Sephiroth needed even when the older man didn't know himself - his subconscious had known and it had spoken through the only body language that Sephiroth had not been trained to fully control.

Unfortunately for Cloud, Sephiroth learned to tuck those extra appendages away after a month and a half. He had to learn how to identify and control his new instincts, but once he had, they had disappeared. It had happened right after dinner when they had both been cuddled up on the couch, content, and when he had asked, Sephiroth had said that Genesis and Angeal had wings they could also tuck away. It made Cloud sad to see them gone, but he hid it and peppered kisses on Sephiroth's face as a reward before they had moved on to a make out session.

That had been the last night for the little bubble they had lived in, too. When Cloud had reported it, Sephiroth had been interviewed by Tseng the next day and he had been ordered back to work. Cloud had been sent to the Science department to check for Mako compatibility, and when there had been issues found, he had been off to be trained while the new head of science, Dr. Roberts, researched methods that would allow Cloud to safely get his enhancements. One of the concessions that Sephiroth had insisted on was that Cloud be enhanced so that he would not be accidentally hurt, so Cloud had been promised that they would do their best to find a solution to the problem.

One week later, Genesis had kidnapped him and taken him out to the wastelands to draw Sephiroth out. The ex-commander had been insane and had spouted off things like S-cells and monsters, and he had ignored anything Cloud had to say about monsters being monsters because of actions rather than genetics. Cloud did manage to get him to listen when he started talking about how the Science Department had changed and that they could look for a cure, but that was when Sephiroth had arrived and immediate attacked.

Genesis had tried to undermine Sephiroth by saying he was nothing but an experiment and demanded his S-cells, but Sephiroth was far too angry to listen and the battle turned vicious. Genesis lost his left arm from the elbow down, but he leapt back and held Cloud at sword point to force Sephiroth to stop. Cloud had not appreciated being held as a hostage, but he had asked Sephiroth to wait and resumed his conversation with Genesis, and Cloud remained Genesis' hostage as he coaxed the insane man to the science department.

Cloud had remained a hostage for three days while Genesis had been examined and Sephiroth stalked the halls outside of Science with his ears and tail out and wouldn't allow anyone to get close to him. Most of SOLDIER and Science departments had come to a pause because of the drama, and Zack had to act as intermediary between Science where Cloud and Genesis were and President Rufus. Genesis refused to speak with anyone except for Cloud and Zack, though he would spit vitriol when he would catch glimpses of Sephiroth. It had been a nightmare and a headache, but Cloud had felt bad for the man since he had been another victim just as Sephiroth had been.

The Science Department had not been able to cure Genesis, but they had been able to stabilize him so that he stopped degrading. Sanity had not returned, but without a death sentence over his head, Genesis' ability to reason got a little better. With Zack's help, Cloud was able to talk him into negotiations which took another week to finalize. Cloud was finally released, but his job had not been done since he had had to stop Sephiroth from storming in and slaughtering Genesis.

They had gotten a week in Sephiroth's apartment so that Cloud could calm him down and they could reassure each other that the other was fine. There was plenty of kissing and cuddling, and then had finally started sleeping together in the same bed though there was still no sex. Neither of them were ready for that step - Cloud was too scared he would mess things up and Sephiroth was worried he would hurt Cloud. When they returned back to their normal duties, it was to find out that Hollander had finally been apprehended and he had been singing like a canary which was helping Science progress on treatments for Genesis (who had been placed into stasis in a mako tank) and theories on how to work around Cloud's mako incompatibility.

By the time Cloud had finished his training (SOLDIER boot camp 2.0, they were extra hard on him to make sure there could be no cries of favoritism. The few who had tried had been offered to work with Sephiroth when he was getting 'wolfy,' and that had shut those people up real fast since they were the half the reason Sephiroth got 'wolfy'), it had been the four month mark and Science had a working theory they thought would work. They wanted to use the uncontaminated S-cells they had on hand since those were stable, then infuse mako into Cloud's blood stream using the mako tank rather than injections. They had warned it was all theoretical and that Cloud would probably be the only one enhanced this way since there was a finite amount of uncontaminated S-cells, and after many talks with Sephiroth (they were his cells, after all), he agreed to try.

The first treatment was done right away, and it was only a small injection of S-cells to see if it would affect Cloud in any way. When no side effects cropped up, then decided to do a weekly treatment so that they could continue to work with small doses and better control the outcome. Cloud went in every Sunday, and the S-cell shots didn't bother him but he always left the mako tanks feeling sick and week. Sephiroth would take care of him Sunday evening, he would rest on Mondays while Sephiroth worked, then Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were work out days while Wednesdays was a day off and Friday was mental evaluations with physical and blood tests to make sure nothing was going wrong.

Today was Saturday, and it was just him and Sephiroth training in the VR room. Zack had been with them for the morning gym exercises, but he had had a date with his girlfriend Aerith after lunch. Cloud spent most Saturday VR afternoons with Sephiroth anyway, and he had just struggled through and defeated Tonberries three times in a row under Sephiroth's supervision.

"Even though your eyes barely glow, you are definitely strong enough to be a third, but not a second yet," Sephiroth stated as offered Cloud a bottle of water which Cloud gratefully accepted. "How do you feel?"

"Tired," Cloud groaned after he finished gulping down the water. "Everything has been aching since the last treatment. I have to go in tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it."

"I have a confession."

Cloud immediately wondered this was where Sephiroth was going to break up with him, but he kept those thoughts and feelings to himself with a silent reprimand to stop thinking the worst about his boyfriend. He gave a nod as he met Sephiroth's eyes, then took a smaller sip of water.

"I suspect that the Reunion Theory is accurate."

It took Cloud a minute to realize what Sephiroth was talking about since it had only been mentioned in passing when the scientists had discussed the risks of using S-cells. The Reunion Theory was something Hojo had come up with, but it had been based off of J-cells and had been so far-fetched that Dr. Roberts and her team had believed it to be bunk. He lowered his bottle and made a small gesture for Sephiroth to continue since he didn't know why Sephiroth was bringing it up.

"I believe I can... feel you sometimes. It is nothing concrete, but occasionally it feels like you are brushing against my outer awareness. Additionally, for the past few days, if I try very hard, I can get a sense of what direction you are in. I did not mention this sooner since it only started happening the week before last, and I thought it was just wishful thinking at first."

"Wishful thinking is a good thing," Cloud said out loud with a smile as he began to process what he had just been told. The end result of Reunion Theory meant that he would have an urge to become one with Sephiroth, but he had not been feeling like he needed to be around Sephiroth any more than usual. "It means you are developing a sense of want." The 'usual' was often, but it had been that way since they had started dating even before the treatments began. Was Sephiroth worrying about Cloud only wanting to be around him because of it? "I can't say I'm feeling any different - not in that way anyway. I'm getting stronger, but there are no urges or... sixth sense."

Some of the tension around Sephiroth's eyes relaxed as he broke eye contact with Cloud, and Cloud caught it only because he was looking for those tiny tells of stress. "Your instincts do not have you seeking me out?" he asked.

Cloud lifted his sword to stick it to the magnetic harness on his back. "No more than usual," Cloud gently replied as he moved towards Sephiroth. "I seek you out because I want to be with you."

Cloud came to a stop less than a foot away and reached out to wrap a hand around Sephiroth's wrist. He normally didn't touch Sephiroth at all since neither of them were a 'casual contact' type of person unlike Zack, but Sephiroth must have really been bothered since he leaned in towards him so that they were less than an inch apart.

"Let's go home," Cloud suggested as he gave the wrist he was holding a small squeeze. "We can talk more there."

The trip from the 49th floor to the 65th was made in silence. It wasn't a tense silence, but it also wasn't their usual companionable silence. Cloud was turning over what all he could recall about the Reunion Theory and what parts of it might be worrying Sephiroth, and Sephiroth seemed to get more anxious. As soon as they were in their apartment, Cloud threaded his fingers into Sephiroth's hair and pulled him down for a gentle kiss.

"I seek you out for the same reason I always seek you out, Sephiroth," Cloud said without saying 'I love you.' "Nothing has changed."

"It may change."

"Would you like me to stop the S-cell treatments? I might be able to take infusions now."

Sephiroth wouldn't make eye contact, but he did reach out to start undoing Cloud's weapon harness. "I like knowing that there is some of me in you to protect you," he murmured, his cheeks going a little pink. "I also like that you might reach my strength and that I might have an equal. I will also be able to find you if you are ever taken away."

Cloud slipped the hand in Sephiroth's hair to cup his cheek, and he gave Sephiroth another small kiss before he pulled back. "I can continue it, then, and we can discuss any strange urges or needs every few days," he suggested as he accepted his weapon harness and leaned it against the wall by the door. Sephiroth stared at it, but Cloud ignored his boyfriend's need to make sure that things were in their place (weapons go in the weapons room, Cloud) since he needed to take his boots off first. "We can take that one day at a time. There is no reason to worry about what-ifs... S-cells are not J-cells, and you are genetically human with a couple extra bits. I can't see how two people would merge."

"There was Genesis and his clones."

Cloud was halfway done unlacing his second boot, and that comment made him realize how much Sephiroth really was worrying. "Genesis has G-cells which are different, and he was able to make clones only because of the degradation," Cloud reminded Sephiroth as he sat on the floor. He reached out to tug on Sephiroth's coat to join him, then he started pulling off his boots. "S-cells would need modification to try to make clones of you, and they said if they did it, it would most likely destabilize the cells and cause degradation in the clones. It is why they did not want to tamper with the S-cells they had on hand - they might still be able to find a way to fix the S(n)-Cells in your blood with it, and they used the S-cells on me rather than the J-cells to prevent mutations like the wing that Genesis has while they get me enhanced."

The J cells in Sephiroth had morphed into N-cells which had bonded to the S-cells, and that was about all that Cloud really understood. Sephiroth understood more, but Cloud thought he needed to be reminded of the basics because he could really overthink things and stress himself out until his claws and fangs made an appearance. Those were always the first things to pop out since it was a defensive survival instinct triggered by anxiety, and going by Sephiroth's pout as he pulled off his own boots, Cloud thought he was right in that Sephiroth was overthinking things.

"What if you start seeking me out only because of the cells, or what if you want to leave me?" he asked as his hair spilled forward to curtain his face when he moved to set his boots by the door. It made Cloud want to reach out to tuck it back, but he knew that Sephiroth did that when he was feeling insecure and needed to hide. "What if I hurt you because I don't want you to go?"

Cloud waited until both their boots were off to the side so he could scoot closer to cup Sephiroth's cheek. Sephiroth didn't fight it when he gently lifted his face so they could look at each other, though he did keep his eyes lowered so Cloud used his other hand to cup the other cheek to frame Sephiroth's face.

"Hey," he murmured, and when Sephiroth lifted his eyes a couple seconds later, he took a deep breath. "I love you."

Sephiroth's green eyes got brighter as they grew moist, and he surged forward to embrace kiss Cloud with a cry of relief. Cloud kissed him back fiercely as he fell back to the floor, and he silently apologized to Sephiroth with his eyes and his body for taking so long to say that out loud. He heard his clothes tear as his tongue brushed against fangs, and he twisted a little so he could wrap his legs around Sephiroth's waist. Sephiroth continued to tear off his top as he broke off the kiss and began to lick and bite down Cloud's neck.

"Nnnn, Sephiroth," he moaned as his fingers slipped back to grip Sephiroth's hair again. "I love you. I'm sorry it took so long. I loved you when you fell asleep on top of me, and you are the only person I have ever loved or been attracted to. I don't want to ever leave you."

"Cloud," Sephiroth groaned as he slowed down to lick and nuzzle the hollow of Cloud's exposed collar bone. "I love you too. Be mine?"

Cloud laughed and relaxed his legs enough to not be holding Sephiroth so tightly around the middle as he started to massage Sephiroth's scalp. "Marry me?" he countered. "I want to be yours forever."

"Yesss," Sephiroth agreed, and when he resumed his actions, he did it slowly like he wanted to savor the unwrapping of a gift and relished every taste. They spend the entire night getting to know each other's bodies better for the very first time together. They announced the engagement a few weeks later after they had decided on the rings they wanted, and they finished going all the way shortly after.

************************

"Ha!" Zack told Kunsel as they both arrived at the wedding venue together. He was to be the ring bearer for the both of them, and Kunsel was going to officiate the wedding. Aerith was the flower girl, and Genesis, who had finally come out of his healing coma a few months back, had been in charge of planning the wedding. "Their engagement was three times as long as their dating phase was!"

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not all-seeing," Kunsel shot right back before he smirked. "I was right about everything else, though."

The whole dating thing had been a bit rough for Zack. Despite the obvious closeness, Cloud and Sephiroth had honestly moved at a snail's pace, which had helped ease Zack into the idea that his two innocent friends were together. He had waited until a few weeks after the engagement was announced before he approached Cloudy to give him the birds and the bees talk. It took his sweet and innocent Cloudy several minutes to realize what the topic was about, and when he did, he had turned as red as Zack had imagined he would turn.

He didn't get to savor it long, though. Cloud had said 'we are already going it, I don't need to know!' then fled while Zack had been left standing stunned in the aftermath of a shattered reality, and when he had gone to lecture Sephy about safe sex and how to not hurt Cloud, he had had to run because Seph had immediately sprouted claws and fangs. He had hid in Kunsel's office, and Kunsel had laughed at him for trying and told him they were adults so he should have kept his mouth shut.

And that Cloud had already approached Kunsel weeks ago to ask where he needed to go to discreetly buy things like lubrication and videos since he had wanted to purchase them in person so that the Turks knowing it was on their shopping list.

Which meant that they had been having sex before the engagement had been announced! He wasn't sure if that had been more upsetting, or if Cloud going to Kunsel rather than him had been more upsetting. He had decided to be upset about both things equally and went to lecture Cloud about the inappropriateness of doing things before marriage, except Cloud called Aerith while he looked at Zack in an unimpressed way, told her what Zack was saying, and she had lectured him! Then banned him from sex for weeks. Then Cloudy had banned him from Chocobo Kart for weeks.

The punishment did not fit the crime, especially since the crime had only been that he was trying to keep Cloudy and Sephy safe, but he knew if he tried to push that Cloud and Seph would band together and get meaner. They had not done that to anyone, and Cloud had really grown into his enhancements in a short time to dual wield swords like a badass so Zack really didn't want to be a victim of that.

Cloud and Sephiroth were the power couple of Midgar, and they were in the spotlight all over the world. They were shamelessly open about their relationship in a society that didn't quite discriminate against homosexuality, but it had believed it should not be bandied about. That was in progressive Midgar, but many smaller towns like Gongaga were still firmly against any same sex relationships. However, they were so obviously in love that there had been a play released a few months after the engagement that was loosely based off them called 'The Wolf and the Chocobo,' and though it had embarrassed Cloud, neither of them could hide how they looked at each other or the tiny, chaste touches they would occasionally exchange in public. The lack of PDA endeared them to the public and made the relationship hard for the naysayers to openly speak against without sounding like hatemongers.

The wedding had been planned with only a hundred guests, and the only family member to attend was Cloud's ma who had been moved to Kalm once Cloud was given his third weekly bonus check. It had been enough to pay for a nice cottage with a small garden in the outskirts of Kalm and for a transportation ticket that included a three day stay in Costa Del Sol, and the company had paid for the moving fees. Cloud could have gotten her moved out on the first check alone, but it took him a couple weeks to talk her into it and he ended up buying her some new furniture as well.

Though Sephiroth now loathed him, Genesis had planned out and paid for a portion of the wedding. Sephiroth had only allowed it because Genesis had sworn to protect Cloud until the end of his life since he credited Cloud for helping him get cured and find a reason to live. When he had regained his sanity, he had been horrified to find out what he had done while under Hollander's manipulations, and he had been devastated that he had dragged Angeal down into his madness. Cloud had been his 'therapy chocobo,' and with the complete devotion from three Firsts, he was probably the most untouchable person there was in all of Gaia.

Rufus was very well aware of the power that Cloud wielded even if Cloud was not aware of it, so he had paid for the other half of the wedding and opened up the Shinra Mansion to Cloud and Sephiroth for a month for their honeymoon. Cloud himself wanted a small wedding with his ma and a few friends, but Sephiroth had actually sided with Genesis and Rufus because he wanted everyone to know Cloud was his. Cloud went along with it because 'Nibel Wolves, if they found a mate, permanently mated for life' and he wanted Sephiroth to also be happy. However, he had been very firm on the amount of people allowed, and that Nibelheim didn't even have a hundred people in it so a hundred was more than enough.

He and Kunsel checked in with the Turks who had tightened down the security. The wedding was being held in what was normally the exhibit room of the lobby, and floors two to five had been converted into temporary apartments for the wedding guests. Non-essential workers had the week off to celebrate, the wedding was being recorded and aired as the first same-sex wedding held in Shinra history (it was not legal nor illegal - the first president Shinra had never thought about it either way, and before Shinra's takeover, the regions themselves decided if same-sex relationships were tolerated or not), and Rufus was using this to really promote how nondiscriminatory and open Shinra now was.

Which it was. Rufus had originally tried the 'everyone will fear me' approach and was going to move things towards a military state, however when the Silver Elite somehow got a picture of Sephiroth nuzzling Cloud's neck in the pool (Kunsel), the wolf ears, how good gold and silver looked together, and Cloud's blush had skyrocketed the two into stardom while they remained in seclusion and unaware. Everyone wondered who Cloud was, and when his name had been found through his barely used MoogleNote account (Kunsel anonymously tagged a picture of Cloud brushing Sephiroth's hair to it), a fan club called the Golden Chocobo was made. When Genesis was going through his healing phase and Cloud was acting as his 'therapy chocobo,' Kunsel had somehow managed to get a picture of him crying on Cloud's shoulder and tagged it to Cloud's fan page as well as both of Genesis' fan groups.

Then Zack decided to round it off by posting one of his own pictures of him and Cloud together in the flower garden of Aerith's home with a flower crown in both of their hairs to Cloud' fan club since there was no way he was going to be left behind. Zack wished to know how Kunsel kept getting all sorts of cute pictures to put on the Golden Chocobo fan page, and Cloud still had no idea he had a fan club. By then, though, Rufus' popularity was in fourth, and the only reason it had not been fifth as it was now was because Genesis had not yet recovered enough to go out into public to work on his image.

Rufus recently decided he wanted to work on clean energy sources, so even though a majority of the exhibits in the lobby had been removed, some of the exhibits along the walls had things like windmills, solar and hydro power equipment, and there was even a weird green tank that Zack had mistaken as some type of mako the first time he saw it until he read the plaque and learned that it was algae. He had no idea that that was even a thing! There had been a lot more effort as of late to clean up the areas around the mako reactors after Rufus authorized the release of past studies done under Hojo and the previous president - who was currently serving twenty years of hard labor before he would be sent to Wutai to be executed as a war criminal. Hojo had been found post posthumously guilty of acts against humanity, hundreds of first degree murder, hundreds of torture, medical malpractice, and so much more. He had had more experiments than he had told the president about (or, more likely, there had been no paper trail for the president to be accused of), and one of them was Vincent Valentine and another his wife Lucrecia Crescent.

Hojo was going down as the worst monster in all of humanity into the history books, second only to ex-President Shinra.

The wedding itself was well done. Perfectly choreographed, really. Genesis really had an understanding of theater, and he used every bit of his knowledge to make it perfect. Cloud and Sephiroth were both in black suits and the wedding bands were mithril which were both set with a rare materia - first strike for Sephiroth and counter for Cloud. The materia had been carved by a super old Wutaian materia-lapidarist who was one of the guests at the wedding. There was apparently an ancient and secret technique that would allow you to carve a material ball into a gem, but it had to be done very slowly and the rate of success was one in twenty. That both had been done was nothing short of miraculous, and Emperor Godo had allowed it only because Rufus was attempting to amend and pay reparations to Wutai for the damage his father had done.

AVALANCHE had been a problem in the early days, but Zack did the best he could. Veld had disappeared which meant he had worked with Tseng during those weeks when Sephiroth and Cloud were in isolation together, but Rufus must had worked something out with them since they had quieted down once the reports were released. After Hojo's (heavily edited) posthumous trial had been aired, AVALANCHE had handed over a (beaten and unconscious) Fuhito. That trial had implicated that Wutai had also condoned a lot of human experimentation, so Godo had also ended up on the same shaky ground Rufus was on.

Really, Cloud and Sephy's wedding was a good distraction that both countries were grateful for. There were so many pictures snapped when the first public kiss was made that it had been flashed out of the recording and only the first couple pictures showed an image, and lips had not yet touched for them.

The rest of the wedding was a whirl for Zack. He had a speech he sobbed through, and Genesis had gone into a huge rant about how dare the new outlets ruin the picture that the wedding photographer should have captured. Cloud and Seph snuck out at some point, and they didn't even take the carriage with the wedding bells on it. SOLDIERs had all chipped together to buy the two a matching pair of Daytonas for a wedding gift, and it was the very loud roar of the engines coming from below their feet that let everyone know the two had left. That had sent Genesis into a whole new rant about messing up the schedule of the wedding reception, and that was when Zack decided to sneak off to the slums himself to seek out Aerith.

He had drank enough champagne, so maybe he had the courage to propose to her this time.