Clearview
This is an Alternate Reality FF7 story. Eh.. Yaoi undertones, but nothing explicit, so Koji says it's just shounen-ai. ..He's our resident expert, so I'll take his word for it. ^^;;... Anyways, if that sort of stuff offends you, go away. There isn't really anything else flame-able in this one... I don't think. o.o;;
Awakening
He woke to silence, kept his eyes closed as he analyzed his surroundings, trying to figure out what had woken him. Something wasn't right. He was warm, dry, lying on a soft bed. It was quiet. Back in the deepest recesses of his mind, something told him that he should be wet, cold, lying on rough stone, with the insistent hum of a malevolent something all around.
But, he realized with a start, he could not remember why he felt that way.
Or his name.
Or anything.
He sat upright, the sheet sliding from his bare chest to pool in his lap. His breath came rapidly, raggedly, chest heaving. He looked around, wide, panicked eyes darting to and fro.
The room slowly registered. White walls, floor, ceiling. Soft blue light filtering down. The bed was white as well, built for one, the sheets below him crisp. IN the corner, over by a metal table, was a white chair. In that chair sat a man in white shoes and scrubs, crimson hair creating the only slash of color in the room.
A pale, slender hand wrote carefully on a clipboard held in his lap.
Calming down, the one on the bed cleared his throat.
The redhead looked up, fixing the other with an intense gaze from the most beautiful green eyes the boy could imagine. "Rufus! You're awake; great." The man stood.
"Rufus? Is that my name?"
"Oh, amnesia, that's right. Yes, your name is Rufus. My name is Reno. Welcome to Clearview."
~
"Everyone who comes here remembers nothing of their past. I work here now, but I started as a patient four years ago."
Rufus had to hurry to keep up with Reno's long-legged stride. He had been given a long-sleeved, seamless white shirt, slacks, and tennis shoes.
"You, like most of the first-year patients, are eighteen."
"So you're twenty-two?" Rufus asked.
"Correct. This is the residential hall. Your room number is twenty, and it coincides with the number of your washroom."
"Where are washrooms?"
"Far end of the hall."
"Alright."
They stopped at a door with the number '15' stenciled in black on the surface.
"The young man here came to Clearview about two months ago. He's a bit odd, but you need friends if you're going to adjust well." Reno knocked sharply on the door, twice, then opened it. The room layout and decor--or lack thereof--were exactly like Rufus's room.
The main difference was the golden-haired young men lying on his back on the bed. Atop him, straddling him, and kissing him with a fierce passion, was a slender man with long, fine silver hair. The figure lying on the bed was dressed in the same outfit of white as Rufus, while the silver-haired one wore a button-up gray shirt--the top several buttons undone--with gray slacks and shoes.
Rufus felt himself blushing, half with embarrassment at seeing this, half with some emotion he couldn't identify, an emotion that twisted and tightened his stomach into knots.
Next to him, Reno's face had turned as red as his hair with anger. "Sephiroth!' The name
exploded form the man's lips, and the silver-haired young man jerked up, breaking the kiss, glowing aquamarine eyes jerking to the door.
The startled look of terror on his face quickly and easily melted into an arrogant smirk as Sephiroth slid off the bed and stood.
"Get to your own room," Reno growled, his entire body shaking.
Sephiroth moved to the doorway and stopped between Reno and Rufus.
"Jealous?" he murmured to the red-haired man, their lips a few scant centimeters apart. Reno drew in a breath to say something, his face pale, drained of blood, but Sephiroth turned to look at Rufus with an appraising glance. Without another word, he moved down the hall.
Rufus watched Sephiroth until the silver-haired man disappeared into a doorway down the hall, then let his eyes wander back to the young man on the bed.
He lay with his fine golden hair straying over the breast of his shirt, misty blue eyes focused on Rufus, cheeks flushed, and a dreamy smile on slightly parted lips. He lifted one hand to wiggle his fingers in a slow, lazy wave, then rolled onto his back again and stretched. Sinuously, he slid from the bed and stood upon white-shod feet. One slim hand brushed at the rumpled shirt as he leisurely made his way to the pair in the door.
"Hello there," he all but purred in a voice of a pitch somewhere between male and female. He stretched a hand out, the movement as lazy and fluid as all of his others. "My name's Cloud. You're new?"
Rufus hesitantly took the hand--the skin was lukewarm and soft--and shook it. "How did you--"
"--guess? Reno doesn't get upset about Sephy being here if he's dragging a boyfriend around. Besides, I've never seen you before." Cloud released Rufus's hand and moved one foot backwards, shifting his weight and eyeing the red-haired man with an incredulous look. "Why are you such a jealous bastard, Reen? I know Sephy's a babe, but you don't need to be so possessive."
Reno mumbled something about a "direct violation of rules regarding public displays of affection."
"What's so public? It's my room." Displaying what Rufus saw as uncharacteristic assertiveness, Cloud moved into Reno's personal space, toe-to-toe and nose-to-chin with the older man. He tilted his chin defiantly, blue eyes glaring up at Reno's green orbs. "It's no worse than what goes on in your room, Reen! And I have first- and secondhand knowledge of THAT!"
Reno's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he put a hand on Cloud's chest, pushing the ethereal young man back into the room and onto the bed with seemingly no effort. "You know better than to let your tongue run away with you in front of newcomers, Cloud! I believe you need some time to think about that." He gripped Rufus's arm and pulled him away from the door, closing it to leave Cloud by himself in the room.
A lock clicked, and a horrific, blood-curdling shriek sounded inside. Rufus covered his ears with both hands as the sounds of thrown furniture reached him.
"I told you he was odd," Reno murmured as he led the boy further down the hall.
"You haven't introduced me to our friend, Reno," a low voice spoke from a darkened doorway as they passed.
Reno paused and sighed, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't planning on it, Sephiroth."
The silver-haired man slipped into the light. "You're cruel, boy." His glowing eyes settled on Rufus, and he held a pale, long-fingered hand out. "My name is Sephiroth. What is yours?"
Rufus took the other's hand, shuddering as the cold fingers closed around his own; then Sephiroth lifted the boy's hand and pressed his lips to it. Chill's raced up the blonde's spine. "I'm Rufus..."
"Pleasure," Sephiroth whispered.
Rufus jerked his hand away and backed up, the unease he felt at Sephiroth's predatory gaze evident in his face. The silver-haired man laughed.
"Reen, Tseng was looking for you. I think he wants you to take the newcomer to the boss."
"Right." Reno started to lead Rufus away, but Sephiroth grabbed the red-head's arm and pulled the man close to his slightly taller frame.
"What, no goodbye kiss?" he whispered.
Reno pushed him away. "If I catch you in Cloud's room again," he hissed, "I'll make sure you find out first-hand what the outside world is like." Reno and Rufus started away again.
Sephiroth's laughter sounded behind them. "Are they still scaring you with nuclear fairytales, Reno? There is nothing to fear out there!"
Reno didn't so much as pause.
~
A/n: Eh.. not much to add. Please, review! I love to hear comments from my readers!
~Anberu Musashi Roquet