Title: The Panic Café

Authors: Ainahim Twilightbait and RainbowSerenity

Pairings: Zack/Cloud and some Sephiroth/Genesis for good measure.

Rating: M overall, but just T so far.

A/N: Ainahim's Notes – Well, RS and I decided that vampire fics littered every pairing of every fandom except Zack/Cloud, where there doesn't seem to be that many, if any. So we started a vampire!Zack and mortal!Cloud RP together, and we decided to transfer it into story format and upload it for all of you. Keep in mind, it's pretty difficult to do, because during a roleplay, the thoughts of every character is showcased, making it a little choppy in story format. I did the best I could when transferring it. Hope you like!

RS's Notes – Uh, what she said. xD

DISCLAIMER: We do not claim to own anything Final Fantasy related. This monstrosity proves our statements further, being as it has nothing to do with the FFVII universe.

The Panic Café

Chapter 1

Tifa sighed at her application, tapping her pencil against her temple before she glanced at Cloud across the table, who, of course, was lost in a book. "What are you reading now?"

"I don't want to tell you," Cloud said quietly, knowing full well that whenever he mentioned the vampires he read countless novels about, Tifa made fun of him. Nevertheless, she edged her chair closer to his, trying to see the cover.

"Because it's about lies again?" she asked.

"They aren't called 'lies,' Tifa. They're called 'vampires.' And this is a fictional novel in any case."

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, exactly, Cloud. Fiction. You know that means they aren't real, right?" she huffed before writing something else on her application. "You're way too obsessed. I'm worried about you."

Cloud sighed unhappily in return. "I know what fiction means. However, there are still plenty of non-fiction novels relating to theories on the history of vampires. I happen to like reading both," he paused for a moment, "and I'm not 'way too obsessed,' as you put it."

"Cloud, when you'd rather sit at home and read about them then go out to dinner, that's obsession." She shook her head. "And you're obsessed."

He pouted and leaned back in his chair. "Don't blame me. Blame yourself for still caring about me anyway."

Tifa patted his arm gently. "Of course I care about you, and that's not going to stop, no matter what happens. You know that."

Cloud smiled at that and closed his book. Tifa would probably still love him even if he was a one-eyed alien. "Why are you so worried about my obsession anyway, if you're so convinced they aren't real?"

"I don't know, I guess…I just don't want you to focus on one thing." Tifa looked over her app once more and sighed before signing her name. "Oh, and you're coming with me to this club tonight. I'm trying for a bartending job there."

Cloud looked over the application and raised an eyebrow. "The Panic Café? The one that advertises as being 'dangerous to mortals?'"

Once again, Tifa shrugged. "Yeah, it's kind of a thing with them. But don't worry, I've seen it, and it's pretty mortal I'm gonna get ready," she said while patting his shoulder. "You just…read your book of liiiies."

He pretended to scoff. "Is it so hard to say 'vampire?'" he started to say playfully, but she'd already disappeared into her room to change.

"It's hard to talk about something that doesn't exist!" she called from inside her bedroom.

Cloud went up to the closed door and called back, "Not particularly. Gamers talk about RPG characters all the time, and they certainly aren't real. See? And on top of that, people talk about characters in novels they read. Thirdly, you still can't entirely prove that vampires aren't real."

"True, but people don't normally make it their life's work to know everything about them!"

Even though he knew she couldn't see it, Cloud pouted again. "…you know, just because I'm temporarily jobless…"

Tifa emerged from her room in her usual bartending outfit, twirling her keys in her hand. "Maybe you should get a job here, too. I'm sure they could use servers or something."

"No," Cloud responded, glaring. "I've told you time and time again after I quit working at 50's. I don't do food service."

Tifa rolled her eyes and grabbed Cloud's wrist, leading him to the door. "This isn't exactly food service, it's a bar. They only do drinks at Panic Café, silly."

"It's still serving a bunch of assholes. I don't do it."

The raven-haired woman tugged on her best friend's hand again and practically shoved him in the car. "Well, why don't we hang out there for awhile and then you can decide?"

Cloud buckled his seatbelt with a grumble. "I'll still decide 'no.'"

Tifa started the ignition and drove off. "I guess we'll find out. And stop pouting or I'll hide all of your books when we get home." At this, Cloud whipped around to stare at her in shock, eyes wide.

"You wouldn't."

"I would, and you know it." She grinned evilly as she talked. "Remember that one time you didn't believe me and all of your underwear ended up mysteriously disappearing?"

There was a brief silence. "...as much as I try to forget."

Tifa laughed and soon parked in front of a small, dark, and mysterious building that probably would have been invisible if not for the glowing sign on the door. "Huh. This place didn't look so shady in daylight."

Cloud knew he was going to have fun with this and smirked. "That's because the creatures of the night can't attend during daylight hours. Duh," he said just to piss his best friend off, who scoffed and got out of her car.

"Right, Cloud, right." She surveyed the outside of the bar again. "I hope there aren't too many fanatics here."

He followed her to the door, milking this as much as possible. "Oh, there will be."

"No, I mean like…real fanatics that actually go all out with the fake fangs and stuff." Tifa shuddered a little. There was something about the dedication that seemed completely unnatural to her.

"Mm, see, even I don't do that. Guess I'm not too obsessed, then." There was a tone in the blonde's voice that sounded briefly victorious.

"Whatever," Tifa responded in a blank tone. She looked around, surprised that there wasn't a bouncer or anything at the door, before stepping inside, her ears immediately blasted with loud waves of music. "Holy crap!"

Cloud cringed at just how loud the music was turned up. "You want my answer? Still NO."

Tifa shook her head and dragged Cloud over to the bar, where the music was mysteriously lower in a strange way that didn't make sense with setup of the club. Once his ears were free from being bombarded by noise, Cloud surveyed the scene on the dance floor. Something entranced him by the sight, although he wasn't quite sure what. Bodies being pressed close together was something to be seen at any sort of nightclub, but the way people were dancing at Panic Café seemed so otherworldly. He thought it was beautiful.

"May I help you?" asked a bartender as Tifa sat down.

"Ah, yes, actually. I heard you were in need of…another one of you?" she responded with a laugh, sliding over her application. The bartended nodded and took it.

"Yes, we are. Although – "

Just then, a tall, intimidating silver-haired man appeared as if out of thin air, his eyes glowing steadily. "Can you handle the nights?" he asked in a captivating low voice.

Cloud froze at how suddenly someone with such presence could just come out of nowhere. It damn near gave him a heart attack. "Holy shit!"

The bartender shoved the application at the man with long silver hair, before walking away and murmuring, "Some owner. Scum."

Tifa blinked at the exchange and at the man who had just appeared in front of her. "Erm…"

The remaining bartender raised an eyebrow, his gaze drifting towards Cloud and lingering on him – or rather, his neck – for nearly a moment too long before he turned back to Tifa. "You were interested in a job here?"

She nodded in response, subconsciously shivering under those glowing eyes. "Yes, of course. I'm sure I could get used to the noise."

"If it bothers you, just call for Genesis," the man said. "He'll deal with it if he isn't…occupied otherwise."

As if on cue, another man with deep auburn hair appeared from under the bar. His eyes glowed as well, but his pulsed faintly, as if responding to some deep beat. "You called, Sephiroth?"

Tifa tensed in her seat. "Are you Genesis?"

"Indeed I am," he said, resting his chin on Sephiroth's shoulder and extending his hand to Tifa, who nodded and took it, introducing herself to Genesis.

Cloud knew he should be thinking this was all crazy and weird, but he was sincerely intrigued by the glowing eyes of the men on the other side of the bar. No human's eyes should have glowed like that, even under the presence of pulsing lights.

"Tifa will be our new bartender, if she can handle the noise," Sephiroth told Genesis and chuckled at what seemed like a private joke.

She lit up a little. "Oh, so I have the job?"

"If you're still interested."

Almost as if in protest, a younger-looking dark-haired man appeared literally out of nowhere in between Tifa and Cloud's stools, wiping his bottom lip with his middle finger before murmuring, "You are aware that there's a reason it's called The Panic Café?"

This, of course, scared the living daylights out of Cloud, far more than the previous two appearances, and he fell off of his barstool. "Ow…" he whimpered, but managed to crawl back up without losing all of his dignity. "Yeah, I'm starting to see why it has that particular title. And who might you be?"

Genesis' glowing eyes flashed and smirked at the 'man' on the other side of the bar. "This is Zack," he said, his smirk seeming to say that was the entire introduction Zack needed.

Tifa smiled shakily. "Hello there, Zack."

Zack steadied Cloud by putting a hand on his shoulder, looking between him and Tifa for a few moments before moving his gaze to the bartenders a bit angrily. "Seph, Genesis? Can I speak to you two for a minute?"

Sephiroth smirked, looking very unsurprised at Zack's request. "Certainly," he said, turning to Tifa and Cloud. "Do feel free to mingle, get used to the place. You'll probably be spending a lot of time here, after all."

When the three finally found a secluded corner, Genesis was the first to speak up. "What is this all about?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

But Zack wasn't taking questions. "What the hell are those two doing here?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Sephiroth asked in a falsely innocent tone. He was so good at laying on the charm that he seemed to do it unconsciously sometimes. "Do you know them?"

"No, of course not. But you can't tell me you two need more humans here." The dark-haired vampire shook his head, looking a bit disgusted. "We don't need humans at all. You know that."

Genesis, always ready to get under Zack's skin, continued to act playful. "And how do you know we aren't hiring her as an off-limits torturing device to the others? She has such a lovely neck." He gave an off-handed wink to Sephiroth. "So does her friend."

"Indeed they do," Sephiroth chimed in, smirking. "You can't tell me you didn't notice, Zack."

The dark-haired man threw his arms up in the air, completely exasperated. He wondered why he even bothered with these two sometimes. "I didn't, because I've already fed! I don't see why you have to hurt so many innocent humans when livestock isn't affected by us and it quenches the thirst!"

Sephiroth didn't miss a beat. "Not all of it, though." He waved an arm, indicating the humans on the dance floor that were unknowingly mingling with vampires. "And why should we deny ourselves if so many are willing?"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

Genesis snorted. "It's been centuries, and you're still going on about the 'right thing to do'?"

"Yes, because that's the way we should all be thriving." Yet Zack turned to the dance floor and caught one of his kind feeding on some poor girl. He was both disgusted and intrigued; he hadn't fed on a human for so long. This did not go unnoticed by Sephiroth.

"Human blood calms the bloodlust, you know."

"No, it just makes it worse, if you two are any indication," Zack snapped back, but Genesis had the true snappy tongue and wasn't afraid to use it.

"At least I don't have to feed every day, sometimes more than once."

"Better than hurting innocent humans. What's your new bartender going to do when she finds out?"

"She'll become addicted," Sephiroth mused, "as they all do. As will her friend, I'd imagine."

Zack had clearly had enough of this. "I'm getting out of here," he said before speeding off to the dance floor.

Genesis snaked his hand through Sephiroth's arm, leaning in close, as the silver-haired vampire sighed, looking amused. "Do you think he'll ever learn?"

"I don't, really. Why do we even let him work here?"

"Well, he is the first one I turned two thousand years ago. I probably just keep him around for nostalgia. As for you…" Sephiroth murmured as he looked at Genesis, eyes glowing almost blindingly. He leaned down as if to kiss the auburn-haired vampire, but instead brushed his lips over Genesis' neck, his fangs grazing the skin. Genesis moaned quietly.

"…I suppose I just like you."

--

Zack quickly searched the dance floor, finding the new bartender and her friend almost instantly. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized she was indeed dancing with another human. Her friend, however, was standing off to the side, looking uncomfortable, which was the perfect scenario for one of his kind to find and feed on him – he was in front of the young man in a flash; hands on his shoulders so no one else would dare touch him.

Cloud gasped a little and looked into the eyes of whoever touched him. 'Ah, shit, it's Zack,' he thought, 'the one whose eyes I've been trying to push out of my mind…'

Zack pulled the blonde closer, ignoring the sudden flare of bloodlust within him – after all, it was what he'd been doing for the past millennium or so - and leaned down to whisper quietly into his ear, knowing the human could hear him despite the noise, "You need to get out of here."

The blonde bit his lower lip, unsure why something about this man was so…otherworldly, for lack of better word. "Why? Tifa needs this job," he replied in Zack's ear.

Zack simply shuddered, that human neck was so close, and he closed his eyes for a moment as he imagined himself finally indulging in a human's sweet blood, but he shook his head to clear it. He had already made his decision centuries ago to protect humans. He wasn't going to go back on it for anything. "It isn't safe here. I know I don't know you, and you don't know me, but…you need to leave."

Cloud scanned those glowing eyes, which seemed to flare whenever – now that he thought about it, they flared whenever his neck was close…he pulled Zack away from the dance floor. "Alright, I'll leave when you answer me honestly. And I'll take Tifa with me."

"Answer you honestly about what?"

"Why is this place called the Panic Café, and why aren't we welcome here?"

The vampire laughed a little and suddenly glanced everywhere but the human in front of him, wrenching his arm free as human touch became too much for him to handle. "Oh, believe me, you're plenty welcome here, but it's just…too dangerous. Can you trust me enough to believe that?"

Cloud's eyes flashed at the way Zack pulled from his touch. "Alright, I'll get her out of here."

Zack clenched his fists - he wanted to reach out to the blond, pull him close and quench the sudden nagging thirst that was clawing at him, but instead just said, "I'm sorry, I don't think I ever caught your name…"

He was about to lie seeing as something was telling him not to give his real name to Zack, but another part was telling him he'd be passing up an exciting future if he didn't. "It's Cloud."

"Cloud…" The vampire tilted his head and grinned for the first time in what seemed like years. "I like it."

"Thanks…maybe you'll catch me around," he said and started back towards the floor to find Tifa, but Zack caught him by the arm with superhuman speed.

"Wait…" he said, and that combined with the speed at which he'd reached out effectively halted Cloud in his tracks and he looked over his shoulder with a quizzical look on his face.

"Tifa will be fine for the next two hours and seven minutes," Zack murmured, more to reassure himself than anything. He slowly pulled Cloud close, his free hand resting on the blonde's waist. "Dance with me?"

Cloud had never really been much of a dancer, but searching Zack's eyes as he was pulled close, all he could say was, "S-Sure."

Zack then skimmed his arm down Cloud's arm and held the other side of the human's waist, pulling him even closer and grinning again, instantly moving with the blonde to the pulsing music in a way that was completely inhuman, and Cloud practically moaned just because of it, but managed to refrain. His suspicions grew by the second as he moved his own hips to the beat with the other man's, his hands sliding up those otherworldly arms – who could say no?

Just then, Zack pulled Cloud close enough to be able to lean down and inhale the skin of his neck, shuddering again; was he trying to torture himself into a frenzy? But Cloud didn't seem to mind, if the way he was clutching at Zack's arms was any indication. There was something about having that mouth so close to his neck that made him incredibly nervous, but also very excited. Zack's lips trembled, that sweet lifeblood was just so close and it would be so simple to give into what his instincts had been screaming at him to do for the past thousand years or so.

Meanwhile, Genesis looked up and spotted the two on the dance floor, almost dropping the glass he'd been cleaning as his crystal vision focused on the scene that was happening. "S-Seph? I think Zack might be masochistic."

The eldest vampire raised an eyebrow as he caught the scene. "So it's true. He does talk big. Did he not just say that he wouldn't let himself be tempted by the humans?" Genesis checked the clock.

"About ten minutes ago, yes. If Zack is to honor his promise to himself, I sure hope that boy feels something odd going on and pushes him away - for Zack's sake. Personally, I think it would be hilarious if he gave in after preaching so nobly."

Sephiroth smirked and leaned against the bar counter, resting his chin in one hand. "I wonder. What do you say we watch it play out, hmm?"

Genesis set his glass down and leaned next to Sephiroth. "Let's."

Cloud could sense the haze that settled around him when Zack leaned in close, and he wondered if anyone else sensed it. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to know while one hand reached up to tangle in his hair, lips just barely brushing the skin of his neck. It was then that Cloud let himself believe that there was something not quite human about Zack; no one had ever made him shiver the way he had when those strange, inviting fingers slid into his hair. It was a beautiful illusion covering up Zack's true intentions. Cloud could just sense it.

The vampire inhaled a sharp, quiet breath when he felt Cloud relax in his arms. Damn, it would be easy to take what he needed, what he should be thriving on - and he leaned in a hair closer, letting his fangs barely prick the human's skin – he was just far too alluring and so damn tempting.

It was then that Cloud gasped and managed to break the illusion, pushing off of Zack and covering his neck. He stared in disbelief – had he imagined what he just felt? The glowing eyes widened and he gasped as well, his eyes unbelievably wide. His hand flew to his mouth to make sure he didn't actually take any of Cloud's blood and he looked around in a panic. "You…you should leave."

Cloud traced his fingers over his neck and stared in complete disbelief when he saw Zack's hand go to his mouth, of all places, which definitely didn't help his suspicions. He nodded quickly, speechless, and disappeared into the crowd to find Tifa.

From his spot behind the counter, Sephiroth looked almost disappointed. "Hmph," he mused. "It appears he can control himself, after all."