Angeal reached out of the open window and grabbed hold of Zack with one hand, yanking him back inside the building before he could fall fifty-two stories straight down and finally put to test the rumor that a First Class could jump off ShinRa Tower and survive.

"Hey!"

Angeal kept hold of him as he tried to wriggle out of his grasp. Knowing Zack, he'd jump right back out the window if given half the chance.

Zack made a few more futile attempts to break free before finally giving up. He rested back against Angeal's chest, a small pout beginning to form at the corners of his lips. Angeal kissed that pout. It helped him focus on something other than his racing heart. Or how he was considering marching right back into Lazard's office and demanding he demote Zack back down to Second. For sheer stupidity.

"Mind telling me what you were doing out there?" Angeal eyed the suction cups hanging loosely from Zack's fingers. If the Science Department had convinced him to join in on another one of their ridiculous experiments…

"Can't you hear them?" Zack flung his hands out towards the window. Angeal tightened his grip around him in case he lunged. "Every morning they're out there! Just chatting away! I want to- to-" Zack made a strangling motion with his hands. It caused the suction cups to get stuck together, and Zack was momentarily distracted trying to pull them apart.

Distracted enough for Angeal to risk pressing a hand to his forehead. A little warm, but not 'delirious with fever' warm.

"I don't hear anyone outside the windows," Angeal said, just to keep Zack's attention away from the fact that he could break free from Angeal's one-armed hold at any moment while Angeal fished his PHS out of his pocket. He kissed Zack on the neck as he sent a text to Genesis.

"You don't have to keep me busy. I'm not going to bolt."

Angeal slipped the PHS back into his pocket and secured both his arms around Zack's waist. "I'll be the judge of that."

Zack slumped into Angeal's hold, forcing him to bear Zack's sudden dead weight. Clever.

"I can't take it anymore," Zack muttered, "I hear the stupid birds every morning and they just don't. stop. chirping."

"…The birds."

It was better than what Angeal had been imagining, at least. Silver linings.

"I used to like the sound." Zack's tone was downright gloomy. Angeal felt the suction cups bounce off his foot as Zack let them fall to the floor.

He glanced towards the apartment door. A gloomy Zack Fair was not something he wanted to risk handling himself. Not now, when there was just as much mako flowing through his veins as Angeal's own.

Another kiss for Zack, this time between his shoulder blades. "Your hearing's still sensitive?"

Zack nodded dejectedly.

"And that made you want to climb out the window. To fight the birds."

There was a long moment of silence.

"…The mako might be getting to me."

"You don't say."

Zack straightened, taking the pressure off Angeal's arms. Angeal didn't comment. No reason to let on that he'd known exactly what Zack had been up to with that full-body 'faint' of his.

"Are you gonna hold me until someone else gets here?"

"Yep."

"Can I spin around?"

Angeal loosened his hold enough for Zack to shuffle around until he was facing him. He rested his chin on top of Zack's head when he pressed his face into his chest.

"Who'd you text?"

"Gen."

"Okay."

Angeal was gently rocking him back and forth when Genesis burst through the apartment door. He strode over to them, a Sense materia in hand. A dim yellow light swirled around Zack, and Gen's eyes roved over him, taking in information that only he could see.

"He's fine now. No delirium. Only a minor case of confusion. He was hearing people outside the windows?"

Zack groaned and pressed his face deeper into Angeal's chest. Angeal could barely make out the muffled "super creepy."

"I misunderstood. It was the birds."

"…The birds."

"That's what he said," Zack mumbled.

"Sensitive hearing," Angeal clarified. He reached up to thread his fingers through Zack's hair.

"You live with four other people."

Zack pulled back enough to talk properly. "You guys don't bother me. That's the usual noise. But then I'll focus in on something far away without meaning to, and I just can't stop focusing on it. It's way worse than when I made Second or Third."

Yes. First Class SOLDIERS received the First Class treatment: they were to be not just stronger, faster, and all-around better than non-enhanced people, but superior to other enhanced individuals as well. It required a lot of mako. More mako than people were meant to handle all at once. Strange side effects were known to result.

"I have an idea." Genesis held out his hand.

Zack didn't say anything as he took it. Gaia. A silent Zack. He really was feeling the mako, wasn't he?

Angeal allowed Genesis to tug Zack out of his hold. He followed behind as Zack was guided towards the bedroom.

"Sex?" Zack asked, and the quirk of his lips was almost enough for Angeal to say yes.

Angeal shared a look with Genesis. Later. Right now they had more important issues to handle.

Genesis brought Zack over to where they kept their toys - and by 'their' he meant him, Gen, and Sephiroth - and squatted down to riffle through the treasure trove of goodies housed in the bottom left drawer of the dresser.

"Uh, I don't know if I feel like that right now," Zack said, an unmistakable apology in his voice.

Genesis patted him on the leg without looking while Angeal pressed a kiss to his temple. No need to be upset. If he wasn't in the mood, he wasn't in the mood. And besides, that wasn't what they were here for anyway.

What they were here for was made clear when Genesis pulled out a pair of simple black earmuffs. He held them up for Zack to take.

"I use these for my sensory deprivation play. For when everything's too loud. We can get you a pair of your own if you want, but until then you can use mine if you need to. They've been specially designed to block out a SOLDIER's enhanced hearing."

Zack took the earmuffs from him. He ran his fingers over them with the sort of reverence normally reserved for the latest entry in his favorite video game series. Neither Angeal nor Genesis commented on the reaction. Genesis didn't like for the others to see him when he was in one of his rare submissive moods. He didn't want them to see him so vulnerable. It was one of the only things saved for Angeal, his first lover.

"What do you think?" Angeal asked after enough time had passed that Zack could have considered Gen's proposal. Zack wouldn't have considered it yet, not with the way his eyes had gone unfocused as he stared down at the earmuffs, but asking was better than standing around hoping Zack would eventually remember there were other people in the room.

"Yeah," was the soft response. And then Zack said "yeah" again, louder this time, as if it'd taken him until the second yeah to fully process the question. "Thanks."

Genesis waved his hand airily, as if to say 'think nothing of it.' He stood, kicking the drawer closed as he did. His hand came up to rest on Zack's shoulder. "We could test them if you'd like. See if you can sleep?"

"Nah. I'm awake now." Zack placed them on top of the dresser. "Maybe we could do other things?"

This time it was Genesis who wrapped his arms around Zack. "Yes?"

"You could show me how to do that thing you do with Hell Firaga?" Zack's eyes were wide as he looked up at Gen.

Angeal chuckled while Genesis sighed.

"Fine. But if you light yourself on fire again, I'm confiscating all of your fire-based materia."

In the end, the earmuffs were enough to calm Zack in the mornings and none of them found him outside trying to fight the birds again. His mako levels evened out over time, and they didn't worry about watching him for any more signs of delirium. All in all, things were good.

He didn't even light himself on fire again.

He lit Genesis on fire.

AN: Let me know what you thought! :3 All reviews are loved and constructive criticism is more than fine.

Also, feel free to follow me on AO3 if you also want to see my explicit fics (username pt_tucker).