"No, the main character is supposed to be chivalrous," Genesis scowled as Zack frowned curiously whilst listening to the teacher's ramblings of his books "Honestly, Zack, can you not see by the way he behaves around Lady Sophia?"
"Um, no, not really," Zack frowned "He kinds of dismisses her…"
"Can we not talk about literature at the table please?" Sephiroth asked as he massaged his temples.
"Hey, where's Cloud?" Angeal asked with a frown.
"Oh, he's meeting up with his childhood friend for dinner tonight," Genesis replied "It's just us four for the evening."
"I see," Angeal hummed as he set out the plates of steak before them "He can have his steak tomorrow then."
"Or I could have it instead of him," Zack said with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
"No," was the stern reply from all three boyfriends.
"And that's why he's acting so combative," Genesis sighed as he pointed to the TV screen whilst stroking Maria, one of the ginger kittens.
"Nah, I still don't like him," Zack frowned as he sat on the sofa with Genesis, cuddling Patches "And what does combative mean anyway?"
"Aggressive," Genesis snorted as he turned the TV off.
"Cloud's not back yet?" Angeal said as he walked in.
"Nope," Zack shook his head "Why?"
"Well, it's nearly eleven and I'm starting to get worried," Angeal sighed.
"He isn't replying to his texts," Sephiroth said from his place on the sofa whilst looking at his phone.
"Well, maybe he ran out of battery on his phone," Genesis shrugged.
"Or maybe he's been mugged!" Zack gasped "What if a bunch of backstreet boys took him into a dark alley and beat him to death?!"
"I highly doubt that," Genesis snorted "A bunch of backstreet boys beating our dear Cloud? Not very likely, he might be running a little late is all."
"I want to lock up but I'm not sure if he has a key cut yet or not," Angeal said "All the cats are in and they know what it means when I lock the door."
"Cloud has my key, Angeal," Sephiroth said.
"Alright, I'll go and lock up then," Angeal said as he left.
Sephiroth woke up, sandwiched between Genesis and Angeal, smiling as the auburn haired teacher nuzzled his neck. He lifted his head and frowned when he noticed the absence of Zack but saw the mother cat, Seraphina, pawing at his hair, probably wanting food.
"Cloud's not back!"
Oh, there is Zack. Zack landed on the bed with a loud thud, jolting the mattress and making Genesis groan in frustration as Seraphina jumped off and ran out.
"It's too early, Zack, go back to sleep," he mumbled.
"But Cloud isn't home!"
"Is he in his room?" Angeal asked tiredly.
"No!"
"Is he in the bath?"
"No!"
"Is he downstairs?"
"No!"
"Is he answering his mobile?"
"No!"
"Have you checked if he's down at the convenience store?"
"No!"
"Then go!" Genesis snarled.
"Hey, that's a great idea, thanks, Gen!" Zack said as he rolled off the bed and dashed around to get dressed.
The three men relaxed in the bed once the door slammed shut and Angeal planted kisses on his boyfriends' foreheads.
"Morning," he murmured.
"Angeal, I want noodles for breakfast," Sephiroth murmured as he reached up to stroke Angeal's stubble.
"Me too, and I'd like breakfast in bed," Genesis murmured.
"Later," Angeal promised.
"No, now!" Genesis whined.
"Genesis, I'm not your servant so don't be so bossy."
Genesis pouted and Sephiroth made it go away with a soft kiss to his lips.
"You'd better hurry to that meeting, Sephiroth," Angeal said as he cleared away the bowls.
"I know, I know," Sephiroth sighed as he picked up his travel mug and made his way towards the door.
"He's not there!"
"Ow!"
Zack gasped as he ran through the door and crashed into the politician, pushing him over and making him spill coffee all over his suit.
"Zack!" Sephiroth snarled as he pushed him off "I'm already late enough, where did all this energy come from?!"
Zack whined as Sephiroth stormed through, dabbing his shirt as he ran upstairs to change it.
"So he wasn't at the convenience store?" Genesis raised his eyebrows as he lifted his mug to his lips.
"No!" Zack said as he jumped to his feet "I think we might have to call the police, he's gone missing!"
"Zack, you're a police officer," Angeal said as he folded his arms "What would you do next in a situation like this?"
Zack paused briefly then perked up.
"Fire up the engines and go look for him!" he declared as he ran out of the kitchen.
Genesis rolled his eyes as Angeal sighed, drying up the bowls.
"I am getting concerned, Angeal," he said as he lifted his phone up "Cloud hasn't replied to my texts or answered his phone."
"He hasn't texted me about anything either," Angeal shrugged as he fed the cats when they came into the kitchen "Maybe he has bad signal?"
"Hm, either way it's kind of worrying to think he hasn't come back yet…" Genesis hummed "But still, it's kind of over the top with the way Zack's agonizing over this."
Later that afternoon, Angeal and Genesis relaxed in front of the TV, watching the start of the documentary about Banora Village's apples when Sephiroth came in.
"Hey, how did it go?" Angeal asked as Sephiroth cast his tie aside and sat next to him, snuggling into his side.
"Don't want to talk about it," he muttered "Has Cloud been found yet?"
"No, he hasn't texted you about anything has he?" Angeal frowned.
Sephiroth shook his head and Genesis looked up at them.
"Maybe he did run into a bit of trouble," he theorised "Or worse, maybe he ran off with that childhood friend of his!"
"Genesis, learn to sort out your priorities," Angeal raised an eyebrow at him.
"I can't find him!" Zack wailed as he came running into the room, covered in dirt.
"Where exactly have you been looking?" Genesis asked as he and the other two men lifted their eyebrows at him.
"Well I had to check the unmarked graves, didn't I?" Zack said with an obvious tone "Oh, hello, Patches."
Patches meowed as Zack picked him up and looked back at his boyfriends.
"That's odd," Sephiroth frowned as he saw the kittens playing in the next room and counted them "One of them is missing, I think it's Felix."
"Oh no, first Cloud and now Felix?!" Zack exclaimed "What's the world coming to?!"
"Zack, calm down, I'm sure there's a reason…"
"No, Cloud is gone and dead and now Felix is out there, lost and alone!" Zack wailed "Oh, Cloud, why did you have to go?!"
"I'm right here."
Four heads turned sharply towards the door as Cloud pushed the hood of his jacket back, holding the little black kitten.
"Is something wrong?" he asked with a frown.
"CLOUD!"
Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal winced sympathetically as Zack dropped Patches onto the sofa and tackled the blonde delivery boy. Felix ran off as Zack hugged Cloud tightly that the poor boy could barely breathe.
"We thought you were dead!"
"Zack thought you were dead," Genesis corrected quickly "We were just getting a bit worried."
"Where were you?" Sephiroth frowned.
Cloud gasped as Zack let go of him and took in a deep breath.
"I was out delivering a package to Junon, sorry it took a while," he said as he caught his breath.
"Why didn't you come back home?" Zack pouted.
"Ah, I did come back home," Cloud held up a finger "But you lot were too busy getting naked in the master bedroom to notice and I was tired so I went to sleep in my room. I then needed to leave early to go to Junon."
"And you took Felix with you?" Angeal raised an eyebrow.
"When I went downstairs, he was vomiting and in really bad shape so I dropped him off at the vet to make sure he was alright," Cloud shrugged "He probably ate something bad because he's fine now."
"You could have left a note," Genesis sighed "Why didn't you reply to any of our calls or texts?"
"Ah, that, yeah, I think I might have lost my phone because I can't find it anywhere," Cloud shrugged "And sorry, I'll leave a note next time."
"Oh my God, Spiky, we were so worried!" Zack sighed "Don't worry, I'll make sure you never scare us ever again!"
Cloud's eyes widened as he saw Zack pull out a pair of handcuffs.
"Uh, no thank you," he said as he moved away.
"Spiky, come here."
"No!" Cloud yelled as he ran off "You're not handcuffing me!"
"It's just for your own safety!" Zack called after him as he chased him upstairs.
"No way, no how are you putting them cuffs on me!"
"Yes way and yes how, I am putting these cuffs on you!"
"It's nice to have harmony restored to the house," Genesis sighed as he picked up Felix and cuddled him.
"Nuh-uh, don't come near me with those!"
"Come on, Spiky, they won't hurt much!"
"Indeed," Sephiroth sighed as he petted Patches.
"Isn't this a little over the top?"
"I dug up fifty three unmarked graves to look for you, this is necessary!"
"I think we need to buy a tranquilizer gun soon," Angeal remarked as they all heard a worrying crash from upstairs.