It was a beautiful Saturday morning at Shinra Inc. Birds were chirping, SOLDIERs and cadets alike were lounging in the sun (and sweating their asses off, thanks to the rather high temperatures), butterflies were… butterflying.

And cadet Cloud Strife was breaking into General Sephiroth's apartment.

Why, you ask?

Because, Cloud Strife had the misfortune of being Zack Fair's best friend. Because Zack Fair let Cloud sleep on his couch the night before (Cloud hated hot weather, and Zack's apartment was air conditioned). Because Zack Fair accidentally gave General Sephiroth a tattered chocobo stuffed animal while returning a bag full of paperwork. Cloud's tattered chocobo, to be exact. The one Cloud had slept with his entire life. Had Zack gotten more than two steps away before Cloud absolutely throttled him?

No. Absolutely not. He made it about one half of a step, and he was lucky he got that far. Did he deserve it? Completely. After all, unintentionally or not, he had given Cloud's dearest Coco to his hero. That beautiful silver-haired god that he had been pining after for the past six years.

Blue eyes nervously scanned the long hallway, nibbling on his lip. He wasn't supposed to be there without authorization, but thanks to the overbearing heat, most everyone in the building was either in the pool, or outside. He stared at the door before him and swallowed hard. The small plaque next to the door read "General Sephiroth – 204", signifying that he had indeed found the General's room; Zack had said Sephiroth was on a mission for the afternoon, so it would be safe. He looked around one last time, then dug around in his shorts pockets and withdrew the keycard Zack had given him (yes, given. He had not threatened Zack or anything.). He passed it through the scanner, then nudged open the door slowly, poking his head in.

Cloud gawked, eyes wide, at how completely wrong he had been about his hero. For some reason, he had always pictured the man to be completely neat; he had been in the General's office a few times with Zack, and it had been spotless. Now, seeing the lavishly decorated apartment, Cloud knew he was wrong. Very, very wrong. Magazines, clothes, dirty dishes—and was that pile of empty cans moving?—littered the floor, the tables, and the couch. He pushed the door further open and slipped in, wincing in pain as he slammed his sandaled foot into the corner of a book.

He swallowed down the butterflies bouncing around his stomach,—he was in the great Sephiroth's apartment!—he picked his way through the living room, nearly knocking a rather pricey vase over in the process. Standing in the middle of the living room, wedged between an empty pizza box, the clothes-covered couch, and the magazine-encased coffee table, Cloud scratched his blonde spikes, pouting cutely.

"if I were the General, where would I throw a bag full of paperwork Zack refused to do?" he muttered to himself, blue eyes slowly scanning the room.

With a sigh, he carefully kneeled down in front of the couch, lowering his head to look under it—and gave a yelp of surprise as a giant furball flew out from under it and started growling at him. Cloud slammed back into the coffee table, knocking his head rather hard on the wooden surface, and shrieked as whatever likely-deadly creature Sephiroth kept under his pile of dirty everything proceeded to… lick his face? He frowned and pried his eyes open, staring straight into the yellow-green eyes of a rather large black cat. For a moment, they merely stared at each other—the cat occasionally butting its head against Cloud's arm—and then the cadet burst out laughing at himself. He had been afraid of a cat—wait, since when did Sephiroth even have a pet? Still laughing at himself, he ran his hand through the soft fur of his four-legged friend's shoulders, and returned to his search.

The cat followed him through the living room, through the kitchen, and finally the bathroom until Cloud stood in the hallway, nervously eyeing the bedroom door an hour later. Sephiroth's bedroom. With a quick glance at the door to ensure it was indeed still closed, he slowly made his way down the hall, the cat (that he had dubbed Kitty) slipping between his legs the whole way. The door was half-open, displaying a clean floor—an amazing contrast to the rest of the apartment. Slipping through the half-opened door, he groaned miserably. While he was stuck with an uncomfortably small bed in the barracks, Zack and Sephiroth both had amazingly comfortable-looking beds.

And sitting right there on the bed was a bag full of paperwork.

Cloud gave an excited squeal (scaring the hell out of Kitty) and charged across the room, digging through the bag and eventually withdrew Coco. He hugged the poor, tattered stuffed animal to his chest happily, and turned on his heel to finally get out of there—

And froze when he heard the apartment door slam closed.

'Shit. Shit. Shit.' Cloud repeated mentally, whirling around and casting panicked glances around the room. Spotting the folding door on the other side of the bed, he dove across the surface—and dammit, it was comfortable!—and quickly yanked it open, shoving himself inside. He pulled it shut behind him and sank to the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest and watching through the crack in fear. As he listened to the slow, heavy steps grow closer and closer, he realized his fatal mistake.

He had dropped Coco while climbing over the bed. He whimpered as the bedroom door swung the rest of the way open to reveal an exhausted looking Sephiroth, and Coco flopped over pathetically in the middle of the bed. He knew right then are there, that either he would be found, and the General would kill him for breaking into his apartment—or he would throw Coco away, and Cloud would lead a life of depression and heartfelt sadness over the loss of his stuffed bird.

He was really hoping for the first option.

Sephiroth stood in the doorway of his bedroom for a long time, head cocked slightly to the side, a completely bewildered expression on his face. Casting a wary glance around the room, he made his way to the bed, shoving the paperwork to the floor and sitting on the edge. He gave the tattered bird a scrutinizing gaze. Cloud frowned; Coco was not in that bad of a condition! The cat jumped lightly up onto the bed, and pawed at the bird curiously, claws out. Sephiroth swatted at the cat's foot with a frown, but it was too late.

Cloud shoved the door open, stormed across the room, and snatched Coco off of the bed, clutching him tight to his chest and glaring at the demon-cat that had tried to play with him. Sephiroth blinked in surprise, hand still hovering near the feline.

"Excuse me," Sephiroth calmly started, patting the cat on the head and cocking a silver eyebrow at the cadet. "May I help you?"

Cloud broke his staring contest with the cat, and whirled his head around to the General, eyes wide. He hastened into a salute, dropping Coco and attempting to pick him back up. He swore quietly, drawing his lower lip back into his mouth and gnawing on it; he was going to kill Zack when he got back to his apartment. If he got back.

A second silver eyebrow joined the first, and Sephiroth leaned over, plucking the bird up off of the ground, and standing up slowly. "At ease." He murmured, turning the bird over and examining it.

"S-Sir, uh…," Cloud stammered, grimacing when Sephiroth pulled gently on a loose thread. "Don't! He'll fall apart!"

Pale fingers withdrew from the thread, but remained holding the stuffed animal. Sephiroth tilted his head, studying the small boy before him with curious cat-like green eyes (very much like his black feline friend who was now kneading Cloud's bare feet). He pointed a long, thin finger at the tattered chocobo with a confused frown. "Is this yours?"

Blushing in embarrassment, Cloud nodded. He turned his gaze to the cat kneading his feet, and, in a bout of confidence, asked in a rather sarcastic tone, "Is this cat yours?"

He bit his tongue quickly and closed his eyes, expecting to be ran through with Masamune, or thrown out the window. He was not expecting the soft chuckle that escaped pale lips, and he looked up, confused. Sephiroth half-smiled down at him and pointed an accusing finger at the feline. "His name is Loki. I found him on my last mission. He kept following me around…" he replied, rubbing his chin in thought as he stared at the cat. He returned his gaze to Cloud and narrowed his eyes. "How did you get in here?"

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck and pouted, looking away. "U-Um… I slept over Zack's last night, and this morning, he gave you Coco on accident." The blonde explained, gesturing at the tattered bird in the General's hand. "He gave me your keycard and said you wouldn't be back until tonight." With an irritated growl, he added quietly, "Except he lied."

"Well," Sephiroth started, turning the bird over again and examining its wing. "I was due back tonight. I finished early." He traced a hand over the cursive "Cloud" stitched onto the underside. "Cloud? Do you not take care of this?"

The blonde frowned; he did take care of his stuffed bird,—impulsively, even—but since joining Shinra, Coco had gained a lot of wear and tear. Being in the army didn't give Cloud much of a chance to sew up any tears his precious stuffed chocobo gained. One wing was half attached, and the underside of the tattered thing had a loose string slowly unraveling. "I don't have time to, sir."

Sephiroth studied the sad expression on the cadet's face. "You are Zackary's friend?" he questioned; he was pretty sure it was the same cadet the rather excitable 1st brought with him when he harassed him in his office.

"Yes, sir."

"Then I will fix your chocobo and return it to Zackary."

Cloud let out a startled, happy squawk, scaring Loki from the room as he bounced in excitement. He threw himself at the General, then squeaked and pulled away, blushing furiously. "Sorry, sorry!" he cried quickly, stumbling back.

An awkward silence filled the room; Cloud fidgeted, blushing furiously, and Sephiroth blinked down at his chest, where the cadet had buried his face for the briefest of seconds. After a moment,—though it seemed much, much longer to Cloud, who still thought the silver-haired man before him might decide to kill him and mail his dismembered body to Zack—Sephiroth reached forward and pulled the blonde closer, wrapping both arms around him.

"S-s-sir?" Cloud squeaked, voice abnormally high and eyes wide.

Sephiroth hummed in content and nuzzled the blonde spikes. "You are adorable."

"Um… thank you?"

"You are welcome." The General replied, releasing him and holding Coco in front of him. "Would you like me to fix it?"

"Well," Cloud said, crossing his arms and giving the silver-haired man a confident look. "First of all, his name is Coco."

"Coco?" Sephiroth repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Blonde spikes bobbed around as Cloud nodded. He reached forward and petted the tattered bird, wide blue eyes staring up to meet the General's sharp green ones. "Would you really? Please?"

Sephiroth looked at the small hand on the stuffed bird, then the blue eyes watching him closely, and finally nodded slowly. With a smirk, he added, "Will you come get him tomorrow afternoon?"

Cloud blinked, cute pout on his face. "Come get him…?"

"I will make macaroni and cheese." Sephiroth explained; he wouldn't openly admit it, but he wanted to know more about this blonde cadet that Zack always spoke of.

Cloud stared. And stared a little more. Was the General bribing him to return? "You don't have to make macaroni and cheese."

"What would you like, then?"

"You." Cloud muttered under his breath. 'Oh, fuck my life. Fuck my life with a rusty spoon.' "…To fix Coco." He added quickly.

Sephiroth cocked his head to the side—this cadet was definitely an odd one. "Alright, Cloud. I have a meeting tomorrow, but I should be home by noon."

Remembering he still had the General's keycard, Cloud fished it out of his pocket and held it out. "Here. I know I wouldn't want Zack to have my keycard."

He remained holding it out to the silver-haired man until it was taken, and slipped back into his pocket. "You keep it. I will see you tomorrow, Cloud."

Nodding quickly, the blonde gently took Coco from his superior's hands, and fled from the room, tripping and falling over a pile of books in the hallway before running out of the apartment. He made a mental note to tell Zack exactly how much of a slob the General was.

Sephiroth stood in the bedroom doorway, watching until the living room door slammed shut. 'I suppose I should ask Angeal to force Zackary to stop ripping my apartment apart.' He mused, nudging a pile of clothes with his foot. Shrugging his shoulders and smiling, he turned on his heel and collapsed onto his bed, stretching and yawning. A nap sounded really good right about now.


Aaand Coco makes his return! I named Coco after the stuffed dog I had when I was little, lol. Review? Read other stories? Move onto the next story? Either way, thanks for reading.