Dreams
Prompt: 2 a.m
Some may call Midgar, with its bustling city-life, its animated characters, and the figurehead that stands above it all, The City That Never Sleeps. And in many cases, they would be correct. On the inside, deep inside the heart of it all, there was still life, movement among its walls. And one floor in particular had been especially busy.
Step.
Step.
Those heavy, steel-toed boots thumped along the steel walls of the SOLDIER floor, where one particular, restless puppy had been wandering about. At this hour, and considering the mission he'd taken on earlier in the day (or was it yesterday?), he had been given strict orders to rest early, and be at his best for the next morning.
Zack Fair hadn't even bothered to undress.
So here he was, wandering the halls, unable to sleep and unable to find anything to do. As a First, he reserved the right to refuse direct orders, and for how he was feeling? This was being put to the test. He could already see the confused glances of the lower-ranked cadets, gearing up for missions of their own. They probably thought he was nuts to even be out at this hour. And maybe he was.
Still... there was a certain someone else that needed checking up on, after all.
And with that, he was moving with ease through the various doors and corridors to a very specific door, quietly walking up to keep from making too much of a racket. The glass barrier between them whirred up quickly, the SOLDIER wincing at the intensity of the sound. But as there was no protest from within its confines, the younger man slipped in, allowing the door to slide shut behind him.
The room itself was dark, lit only with the scant light protruding from the edge of the hallway, reflecting a long shadow hunched over what appeared to be a desk. It wasn't moving, and Zack couldn't help but blink at the sight. Shouldn't the General be around the room, filing out reports, or at least preparing for bed? It was a little concerning, and the long-haired Gongagan man quickened his pace to see.
The confusion quickly turned to a fond smile, however. In the center of several mountains of papers and documents, some even laying over that gleaming, silver hair, was no other than Sephiroth himself, having conked out sometime earlier in the middle of his duties. Ironic, in the way that the General had been the one to order Zack to bed, concerned about how exhausted he'd been earlier.
The younger First moved, brushing off a few papers to sling the taller man's arm around his shoulders, using his free hand carry the other around the waist. Sephiroth gave a small murmur of protest, but didn't otherwise pull away.
"You really need to take things slow." Zack murmured quietly, though it was unlikely Sephiroth could even hear him. "And don't worry about looking weak. Everyone needs their rest from time to time. Okay?"
A slight shift of the head, silver bangs falling into place over that light-skinned face.
On a subconscious level, he knew it was Zack who had come to pull him out. Who else would dare to barge into the General's office at two in the morning, to pick him up like a lazy cat? They moved carefully to the older man's bunk, taking care not to trip over anything and make this any more embarrassing than it needed to be.
It didn't take long.
With the care and cautiousness of someone who had clearly done this before, Zack laid his friend down on the plush mattress, ignoring the small envy of what the General was able to afford. In fact... all this moving around, helping his friend, and the weariness of the day were beginning to catch up to him. He could feel it, even as he began to slip off his friend's coat, resting it on a nearby chair for when the other eventually woke up. The boots were also removed, though the pants should have been alright. If Sephiroth was willing to pass out in a chair of all things, fully-clothed, then leather pants would be no issue.
Once that was done, the younger First moved back to keep watch over his friend, the slow, peaceful breathing easily distracting him from any other thoughts. He wanted to lay in that bed as well, wondered what the stern, upright, powerful hero of Gaia dreamt about. A slow smile was on the younger First's face, his posture relaxing in the wooden chair by the side of the bed. As an afterthought, the thin, almost silky sheets were pulled up across the prone form, gentle as a brother, looking over his ill sibling. Except Sephiroth wasn't ill.
...was he?
At a spike of concern, one hand moved forward against the silver locks, the glove quickly removed in his haste. No... no, he wasn't sick. Good. He couldn't remember the last time Sephiroth had been sick, but it didn't hurt to be sure. Glowing, bi-coloured eyes trailed over the sleeping man, the bare hand resting gently on the other's arm. Again, in watching that face, he wanted to know if Sephiroth's dreams were more peaceful than anything on the outside. Did he have nightmares? Did he dream about family? Friends?
Did he have any family to dream about?
That brought a frown to his tanned face, the light grip tightening a bit against the muscular arm. He never heard the General talk about home, about family, about any kind of siblings. He was always the cool, collected, down-to-brass-tacks General. Family didn't seem to matter to him.
Zack knew better.
Even as he started kicking off his boots, pulling back the sheets, and carefully laying down next to the silver-haired man, his head on the other's chest. One arm of his own wrapped around the other SOLDIER's thin waist, keeping him close. Sephiroth stirred momentarily, but only to shift his head closer to the spiky-haired man. Zack couldn't help but chuckle softly at that. Man, was he out of it.
"I'm gonna give you things to dream about." He said at last, starting to close his bright blue eyes. "So you can look forward to bed at night." Whatever memories Sephiroth shared, Zack wanted them to be good ones. No matter how long it took, or what they faced in the future, Sephiroth would know what a family felt like.
At two-thirty a.m., the silver-haired figure shifted a little closer to the smaller form. This, moments like this, made him thankful for the family he had.
fin.