"C'mon, do it!"
He shook nervously. "A-are you sure?" he inquired in a low voice, more questioning himself than his companion.
"Go on!" the other whispered, violet hair hanging like a slanted curtain over the cadet's androgynous face. "I'll be watchin' fer ya! Remember the signal?" The blonde nodded, gravity defying spikes seeming to slump a little. "Well go on!"
Cloud looked at the door, back to his classmate, then again to the door.
"Wait a minute..." Abruptly, the other cadet seized his face, pressing their lips together. Gale released. "For luck." He grinned. "Okay now go!" he whispered, pushing the boy forward lightly. The youth stumbled, still somewhat in shock, then slipped through the crack in the door, engulfed in darkness.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The room was homely, inviting even, if not for the circumstances. The room that was off limits... the private quarters of the great General of Shinra.
Sephiroth.
And now, Cloud found himself right in the middle of it. The plush carpet, the fine drapery, the queen sized bed... a dream for any of the cadets, who were usually housed with two others in a dorm of about half this size. He looked around sheepishly, not knowing what to do with himself. One minute... sixty seconds... the duration of the dare. The dare being to go into the General's quarters and stay there for one whole minute. 'Initiation' as it was termed by his roommates. They'd both done something like this as well... Gale, emo as he was, had started a foodfight during the company picnic, while Tetsuki, not to be outdone, had hijacked the security system and snuck into the president's personal office to steal his favorite gold-plated pen. They'd both come up with this one for him.
Personally he would've rather thrown a couple of hot dogs at the president himself. With condiments.
One minute.
One minute.
He stared at his shoes uncomfortably, wishing that sixty seconds wasn't so slow.
Thirty-nine.
Forty.
Almost there. Twenty more seconds.
The blonde looked up, glancing at the silver lamp, wishing that there was a bit more light in this ominous place. The window was open, and a light breeze played across the the moonlit bamboo blinds, causing them to rattle slightly.
Fifty-three.
Fifty-four...
A low whistle penetrated the near-silence. Cloud's head snapped up, eyes wide. He knew what the whistle meant. It meant that he was back.
He heard talking. "Damnit... fuckfuckfuckfuckfuuuuck..."
The talking became louder, clearer, and there was a shuffling from outside the door. Without a second thought, Cloud dove straight into the nearest closet.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The door flew open, and the General stepped in, morose expression plastered across his artful features. Zack followed, ranting loudly. Silver hair swung back and forth as the ghastly wearer took up his usual place at the window.
"FUCK!!!"
The soldier plodded across the room, shedding numerous belts and armaments as he went. "Mother..." he swore, dropping the buster sword and almost everything attached. Heavy twin shoulder plates followed, a dull whuk marking the point of their collision with the carpet. "Those things are a fuckin' killer! I don't know how I even stand two, but six? How do you even fight with all that weight?"
He flexed his shoulders numbly, eyes the colour of mako-tainted steel flitting up to scrutinize the general, who was still fully clothed and armed. His hand was clenched tightly around the masamune, knuckles defined under black leather with the sheer force of his iron grip.
"Seph?" he cocked his head to the side, regarding the silver-haired warrior with concern. "You okay?"
"I'm fine Zachary." he replied, a bit too quickly for Zack's tastes. Piercing eyes bored holes into the far wall, just short of the closet door.
"..." He regarded the General with a knowing expression. "Well, now I know somethings wrong."
"And how do you know that, Zachary?"
"I can always tell somethin's eatin' ya when you call me by my full name."
Sephiroth sighed, looking down at his hand and willing himself to release the poor grip of his sword. The leather clad appendage hung limply at his side. "I'm alright." he mumbled. "Really. I'm fine, Zack."
"Even you know that's not true." The General accepted his Soldier into his arms. Zack responded, reaching up and entwining his fingers in lustrous silver tresses, eyes aglow with a passionate mako-flame. Sephiroth bent to match the dark-haired youth's height, pressing his lips against his. They shared warmth for a moment, Zack finally being lulled into shutting heavy-lidded eyes.
"So what happened?" he inquired gently, pressing the right side of his face into the General's bare chest, stroking his snowy mane with fleeting fingers.
Sephiroth averted his eyes, releasing the teen from his hold. Zack clung tighter, refusing to let go. "I..."
A pause. "You?" the obsidian-tressed man coaxed.
"I'm due for another treatment. One week."
He pressed his head into Sephiroth's bare chest, soft lips forming into the shape of an 'oh'. "Hojo?" he queried softly.
"Hojo."
"But this is the fifth one in under a month."
"I know."
His expression softened. "Well." he said, gripping the buckle that held the General's armour in place. "We can at least start but taking these off, hn?"
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
It was stifling. Escape was... so close, and yet so far away. The truth of the matter was that he was trapped, and that there would be no getting out any time soon. Cloud leaned his head against the wall, slowly so as not to make any semblance of a sound. He spotted a spider.
Hey little buddy, he thought, lifting his head a bit. We're in here together now, huh?
Seemingly in response, the spider turned and scuttled through the crack under the door.
Cloud resisted the urge to sigh, still untrusting of the situation. Maybe I am going to go insane...
One thing was for sure; this was going to be a long night.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Zack fought the cumbersome clasps, eventually winning, dropping the heavy leather cloak to to floor with the armour. He savoured the touch of the General's skin against his own bare arms. His tanned flesh contrasted starkly to Sephiroth's unnatural pallor, the latter seemingly lambent in the pressing darkness. He wrapped his arms around him and, receiving minimal resistance, steered him over to the bed. They fell together, limbs entwined in a flurry of silver and ebony.
"Y'know, you could make this harder..." the Soldier chided in a low, husky voice.
"But I won't." replied his superior, who flipped him over onto his back. "I don't feel like resistance today. From either end." Sephiroth knelt between the soldier's legs, silver cascades creating an obscuring veil before his face. Zack tensed as his lover maneuvered gloved hands below a single layer of clothing. He made tiny circles up his sides before removing the black tank top entirely.
"This is... an improvement..." the raven-tressed man breathed as the other nipped at his bare collar-bone.
"Hn?" he managed between ministrations.
"As I... recall... last time I... ah–– aaaahhh..." he paused as Sephiroth deemed to remove the black combat pants and everything underneath in one swift pull, stroking his erection with moderate pressure. "Nnnnnnnnnn..." he moaned, arching his back as the General grasped him harder. At last he removed his hand, lingering still for a few painful moments.
"Last time you?" he commented lightly, placing the hand on his lovers chest and planting a single kiss just below his jaw.
"I... had to... undress us... both... remember?" He took a moment to catch his breath. "You gonna finish?"
"Mmmmmm..." Sephiroth kicked off the remains of his own clothing, whispering his words near to his ear. "Soldier first class, I am going to make this as torturous for you as is within my power..."
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Up until this moment he hadn't moved. He huddled in the corner, too frozen to even shiver. Out of fear, he bit his lip, even managing to stifle his breathing. Cloud shifted his weight, trying to alleviate the prickly numbness that crawled like little insects through the veins in his legs. The cadet swore under his breath, only then noticing that something was wrong.
The talking had ceased, replaced by...
What...?
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Contact.
Sephiroth took the man in his mouth, brushing his tongue against his shaft with deliberate swiftness. Ebony hair lay in complete disarray as hands groped the sheets for handholds with little success.
Zack threw back his head, gasping with ecstasy, shouting tenuously to the lofty heavens above with fervor. A single droplet of sweat rolled down the side of his face, down his jaw, finally joining others that congealed at the base of his skull. "Sephiroth..." he gasped, clinging to the man with splayed fingers. "Seph..."
"Shhh..." he murmured, reaching up and pressed a gloved finger against his lips, silencing the half-hearted protest. "You're okay."
Zack bit down on the glove, Sephiroth abstracting his hand completely from the leather accessory. He trailed the bare hand languidly down the soldier's chest, resting the extremity against his side and continuing his ministrations.
The ebony soldier moaned delectably, digging his nails into the General's bare shoulders. Holding him steady by the waist, Sephiroth worked up a torturously apathetic rhythm. Occasionally, he brought his teeth into play, dragging them along the hard length of tender, pulsating flesh. Zack arched himself further, so as to try and speed up the tantalizing snail pace.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Grotesque vocalizations of pleasure rang out through the darkness like cavernous bells.
What was happening?
Cloud shivered... he had the feeling he already knew...
Throwing caution to the wind, he shifted his legs into a more comfortable position.
There's no way he'll hear me now...
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sephiroth started as a noise like thunder to his enhanced senses reached his ears. He paused, listening, Zack's hands still anxiously gripping his shoulders. A single gossamer thread of saliva stretching from his lover's extension to his mouth as he pulled away, eyes on the source of the little crash, leaving Zack splayed out on the bed, chest rising and falling quickly and unevenly.
"I hear something."
"Awe... Seph... 's probly nothing."
Sephiroth scanned the room. His scrutiny paused at the closet, eyes narrowing dangerously. Something was wrong here, but...
"Seph, it's nothing..." Zack whined, obviously missing the treatment prior.
Slowly, deliberately, he stretched out his hand. "Come out here." he commanded the air with a flick of the wrist. There was a long pause.
"See? There's nothing––"
"Come, and you may yet have a chance at living. Or would you rather die there?"
There was a susurration and a spoken curse. Both men perked up, watching intently, Zack sitting up and pulling the sheets over himself. A skinny blonde youth emerged, sky blue eyes wide and pleading mercy as he manifested into the dim light.
Sephiroth hissed. "Name and rank, soldier."
The boy (he couldn't have been more than 17) squeezed his eyes shut. "Cloud Strife, Cadet Class, sir!"
"Why were you in there?"
The cadet turned even paler than the speaker.
"Well?" he demanded, unsettling green orbs flashing threateningly, glowing evilly in the deficient light.
"I-it was... was a d-dare, sir." the cadet stammered, eyes directed toward the floor, obviously terrified by his superior.
"Hn." the General replied, irritated by the youth's presence. "Sounds like someone else I know." He cast his gaze toward the other man, the one Cloud knew as Zack.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, assuming the pretense of umbrage. "That was uncalled for!"
Sephiroth ignored the former's protest. "Are you attached to anyone? A girlfriend, perhaps?"
The blonde shook his head vehemently.
"Ah. A boyfriend then?"
"N-no, sir!"
"So you've never had sexual contact with anyone?"
"Seph–"
He waved his lover to silence.
The boy opened his mouth as if to answer. His thoughts again returned to the incident with Gale, unsure if a mere kiss counted as 'sexual contact'.. "N-no sir." he lied, hoping that his hesitation wouldn't look suspicious. "Never."
"Oh really?" A single strand of silver fell across his immaculate features, catching the light and seeming to split his face in two; half serious, half twisted into a bemused, convoluted smile. "A virgin hnn? Well... we may just have to amend that."
"Sephiroth, leave the poor kid alone." the obsidian tressed man interrupted, mirthful demeanor suddenly stone sober and serious. Cloud's terrified gaze turned to him in a silent thanks.
"Oh but why so? Toying with the new recruits is so fun..." Sephiroth brushed the hair away with one hand, the other resting beside him still covered by a lone black glove.
"Then do it in some other way. Don't take that from the poor kid."
Sephiroth sighed. "Very well, Zachary." He returned his attention to the trembling boy. "I may yet have need of you... later... for now, just get out of my sight."
The blonde saluted and ran, simply relieved to have escaped with his life.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Author's note: Thanx all for reading :D Wow... my first continuing story... If you find anything wrong or just have advice, drop me a line, let me know how I am doing! Again, arigatou!!! And hugs... many many hugs to aaaaaaall...
To those of you who knew this fic was coming: Sorry for keepin' ya waiting! But here it is finally. Huzzah!!! Amanda sensei, I thank you the most for aaaall of your support and help!!!