Title: Caught [Yeah, I know, so creative, aren't I?]

Author: Takebuo Ishimatsu

Pairing(s): Implied Sephiroth/Cloud, Angeal/Zack, Genesis/Reno

Summary: Poor Cadet Cloud is caught using the First Class shower room, something which is definitely Zack's fault. From there, things just get worse…or better? Shounen-ai, SxC, AxZ, GxR.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.

Warning: I show my amazing writing prowess by overusing the words "little," "cute," etc.

AN: Not really what you guys were hoping for, I know, I know. This just came to me the other day & I wanted to quickly write it before it became another idea on my GIGANTIC fic idea list. Especially since this one actually has my fav Angeal/Zack…kinda.

Cloud hummed a little as he leisurely rubbed the soaped up lufa over his chest, a small little smile playing upon the corner of his lips. It was so nice to have a long, hot shower. It was quite a change of pace from the freezing cold 3-minute-max spray the cadets were allowed. And he actually had soap that didn't make his sensitive skin itch afterwards nor made him smell like an old lady who didn't know that there was such a thing as too much perfume. First Classes had it good. And so did people who were mentored by Firsts, apparently.

As if being summoned by his thoughts, a figure stepped into the shower-room. Cloud rolled his eyes as he heard the door close; it was about time Zack showed up! The blond had thought he'd be done and in his dorm room by the time Zack finally decided to stop flirting!

Well, by the time the creepy old man decided to stop, anyway. Zack was just so friendly; he'd take time out of his day to talk to anyone about anything, without ever contemplating why random people wanted to talk to him in the first place. Even Cloud wasn't that innocent, and he admitted freely that he could be pretty naïve.

He blushed as he suddenly recalled how his roommates had collapsed into fits of laughter upon realizing he didn't know what a condom was. Not that it was his fault! Midgar was much more loose than his little hometown by the mountains. In Nibelheim, if you didn't want babies, you kept it in your pants, end of story. Hell, Cloud didn't even think they sold condoms in Nibelheim, let alone preached about how to use them properly.

He sighed; such was the life of a small-town boy. At least Zack seemed to understand where he was coming from.

He stuck his head out of the curtain (another thing the cadet showers didn't have) and opened his mouth to call out to his friend when he froze. His own sky-blue eyes widened as they gazed into a pair that were indeed mako-enhanced, but did not belong to his friend. Oh Gaia! Zack had sworn up and down that all the Firsts would be out all day doing some extensive training with the Generals.

He quickly stuck his head back in the stall, as if that would erase the fact that he'd clearly been seen. He tried to slow his quickened breaths, telling himself that Zack had said it would be ok for him to use the First-only area. And Zack was allowed in…wasn't he? Cloud suddenly wondered if the brunette was actually given permission or if he just snuck in all the time and nobody said anything since he was General Hewley's puppy.

The curtain was yanked open by an annoyed looking man with dirty blond hair, and Cloud jumped before backing into the wall. He held up the lufa, squishing it to his chest as if it'd protect him. The sight of which would have normally tamed even the deadliest of beasts but unfortunately had no effect on First Class Tainer, who'd just spent two days saving stupid infantrymen who'd gotten wounded in areas they weren't suppose to be in in the first place.

Cloud opened his mouth to explain but wasn't given the chance as the bigger man grabbed a hold of him and started yanking him towards the locker rooms.

He scowled down at Cloud as he marched him over towards the door, "I know for a fact you're not a First, so don't even bother trying to lie, you little shit. I'm tired of guys like you getting into things you're not supposed to be in, going places you aren't allowed, doing things you're forbidden to do…you get the picture." He sneered at the other blond and Cloud paled a little.

He worried that the other was going to toss him out without his clothes or gear, perhaps even kick him out of the building, and he found himself talking before he really knew what he was doing.

"Please sir! I was given permission!" Cloud all but cried.

Tainer stopped suddenly and took a moment to take in the cadet's huge eyes and shaking frame. He certainly didn't look like a trouble-maker. But, then again…neither did Reno when he was trying to get away with something.

"Who?"

"Who?" Cloud squeaked out.

"Yes, who, cadet! Who gave you permission?"

"Um…"

Tainer's eyes narrowed and Cloud said the first thing that came to his mind, which was unfortunately what he and Zack had just been talking about as they'd done their cool-down exercises.

"The General, sir."

"The General?" Tainer replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, sir."

The other stared at Cloud for a moment before snorting.

"Bullshit."

He continued pulling the smaller blond to the door before throwing it open and yanking the other through. Cloud had just enough time to grab hold of one of the clean towels by the door. He was lucky that he'd thought to do so as he then found himself in front of not only four more First Classes, but the three Generals themselves. He decided then and there that the Planet must hate him.

Tainer smirked, "Well, sir, I'm glad you're here, this cadet was just mentioning you."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow after allowing his eyes to sweep over the little blond for only a moment. No one he could remember, and he had perfect memory. In other words, someone unimportant and easily dismissed.

"Oh?" The Silver General couldn't sound less interested if he tried, already guessing what had happened. It didn't take a genius to figure out why he'd be name-dropping Sephiroth if he'd just been caught in a First-only area.

All the eyes in the room turned to the cadet and Cloud felt his mouth go dry at the sudden unwanted attention.

"Um…I…"

Genesis finally decided to take pity on the poor thing (and his lovely little behind, which he'd apparently forgotten to cover with the towel he was desperately clutching in front of himself).

"There must have been some misunderstanding, I'm certain he meant to say my name." Genesis gave the cadet a seductive look and smirked as he blushed.

"Oh, I see. That does certainly make more sense. Sorry about that kid," Tainer chuckled as he gave Cloud a friendly smack on the shoulder that just about knocked him down. Zack always did the same thing on accident, though at least he had the excuse of still being in training himself and forgetting his own strength sometimes. Nevertheless, Cloud did briefly wonder if he was just too much of a light-weight.

The formally angry First happily wondered back into the shower rooms, everything now right in his world once again. Everyone continued to eye Cloud as the other left, making him fidget nervously.

"So darling, it would seem I've done you a favor. Now it's only fair that you do one for me in return, correct?" Genesis purred.

The others in the room rolled their eyes; the redhead was such a horn-dog.

Cloud frowned for a moment, wondering what he could possibly do for one of the three Generals when suddenly the other's meaning hit him, and he turned bright red.

"Um…I'm only fourteen, sir." Cloud wondered if he should have just lied as Genesis' face lost the seductive smirk, his lips then turning downwards. Cloud was still one year shy of legal consent, even in Midgar, which housed one of the lowest ages of consent on the planet. And even Genesis knew better than to go for jailbait…at least not in front of a room full of witnesses.

"I see. Well then, I suppose we'll just call back First Class Tainer. TA-"

"I'm sorry, sir! He said it was ok and that he came in here all the time and nobody minded so it'd be fine if I came in too since I was with him but then I wasn't certain if he was actually allowed in here since he can be kind of dumb sometimes, not that he's stupid or anything!, and maybe he just thought he was allowed in here since no one ever got him in trouble for it, since he's kinda loved by everyone, and thus he thought I could come in here too but that could be wrong and First Class Tainer startled me before I could really decide if he was allowed in here or not and I didn't want to get him in trouble so I said the first thing that came to my mind, which is what we were talking about earlier, not that we talk about you all the time or anything!, and I just said the General suddenly, and I know I shouldn't have done that, I just couldn't think and he wasn't anywhere around since he stopped to talk to that man about pottery or something, not that he'd even know anything about it, well, not that the man even cares, he's just trying to molest him, which is kind of nasty since he's like forty!, and he's still not here and I wonder if he forgot about me since he can be kind of unfocused at times, not that he's a bad SOLDIER or anything!, he can just get over-excited about things sometimes and forget to pay attention, which is why he's not here but I'm not going to tell you who he is since it may have all been a mistake and I don't want to get him in trouble, because he's my best friend. So…I'm sorry I snuck in here and it won't happen again. I accept whatever punishment you think is necessary…just don't throw me out naked…please?"

The tiny blond bit his lip as his voice dropped to a whisper on the last word. He was an oddly cute mix of defiance and nervousness as his face scrunched up in determination while he looked down at the towel he was fiddling with.

Everyone just continued to stare dumbly at him for a moment, a few mouths hanging open, both from the full-length epic they'd just received and the fact that a lowly cadet had just told them to their faces that he wasn't going to rat out his friend. The latter of which Angeal had to admit he found rather honorable, even if the two did seem to be partners in crime.

After a few more awkward moments of silence, Sephiroth finally designated the errant cadet's explanatory speech with a reply.

"How long until you're fifteen again?"

"Sephiroth!"
"Sephiroth!"

The silver-haired man shrugged at his two friends, "It's just a question, no harm in a bit of curiosity."

One of the other Firsts chuckled, "You haven't heard the proverb about the cat, have you sir?"

Sephiroth turned towards him, a small little frown gracing his lips, "What does a cat have to do with curiosity?"

"Well, curiosity killed the cat, you know?"

Another one of the Firsts replied jokingly, "But satisfaction brought him back!"

Sephiroth maintained a frown, "That is something I will look into." After years with the men around him, the green eyed man had learned to just go with what they said most of the time. The majority of which hardly ever made sense anyway, so it was no use dallying on the subject. (It was entirely against all laws of nature that a cat could be brought back to life, even with a Phoenix Down, but he had a feeling that the others in the room would chuckle and give him that knowing look if he said so.)

He turned back towards the other, whom he realized he still didn't know the name of, and raised an eyebrow. He'd lost his defiant look to one of utter embarrassment, which was such a shame since that's what had caught the General's attention in the first place. Few people would stand up to the Demon of Wutai for any reason, let alone to his face. And even fewer of those that would were so good on the eyes.

Cloud fidgeted as he realized the other still wanted an answer. "Um…nine months, sir."

The look on the other's ivory face seemed to indicate Sephiroth was deciding whether it was worth the wait. Genesis scowled at his friend.

"I saw him first," he hissed, though more annoyed than angry. It was rare for Sephiroth to deem anyone with his attention, let alone a sexual attention, so if the other man truly wanted the little one, he'd step aside and let him take him. Just not without a minor fight first.

"You don't have enough patience to wait for him," the other replied with a knowing smirk.

"I'm sure I'll remember him once he grows up a little, you can't miss hair like that," Genesis waived at the other airily. Cloud glanced up at the bright mop atop his head, wondering, not for the first time, if he should just dye it.

"And in the meantime, you'll probably get an STD from one of your liaisons."

"Just because I act a bit more human than others doesn't mean I'm a whore that picks up any man off the street."

Angeal cleared his throat, drawing the attention to himself before any feelings could be hurt and the two escalated into a real fight. He could just imagine what the Director would say if word got out there'd been a half-naked battle in the locker room. He also worried that there would be others that wanted a repeat.

"Now, why don't you tell us your name, cadet?"

The big man gave Cloud a gentle, fatherly kind of smile which made him hope that maybe they weren't going to throw him out into the corridor naked, nor feed him to one of the two horny Generals.

He gave the other a shy smile back, remembering all the times Zack had talked about his mentor making him feel safe. Though, Cloud did think part of it had to do with other feelings the bigger man invoked in his oblivious friend, not that he'd ever said so to the brunette. Everyone and their mother knew that the two were an "item," with the exception of the two themselves.

"Cadet Cloud Strife, sir. I suppose I should have said that first, sorry," he finished in a whisper and those in the room got the feeling that he probably didn't have that much self-esteem. Angeal sighed mentally, now they really couldn't punish the little guy, it'd be like kicking a puppy or…a baby chocobo.

[["Hey Angeal, guess what? I'm a mentor just like you!"

Angeal looked up from the book he was reading with a disapproving frown, "You know you're not allowed to mentor until you're Second Class, puppy. Tell the other you've made a mistake and you're sorry, and help find him a different mentor."

Zack slumped in defeat, a puppy pout on his face, "But, it's not really mentoring…just looking out for him, you know? He's really small for his age and could use some extra training, and all the other cadets are mean to him because of it."

Angeal frowned again, but for a different reason. He didn't like bullying, even more so than Sephiroth, who hated anything that disrupted his SOLDIERs, or the ability of others to become one of his SOLDIERs. Bullying was highly dishonorable.

He sighed, "Very well, puppy, but if this starts to distract you from your training, I'm finding him another 'mentor.'"

Zack's attitude did a 180 and he pumped his fist in the air in victory. Angeal rolled his eyes; if he had that much energy left, he could afford to spend another hour in the training room tomorrow.

"Thanks, Angeal! You're the best EVER! I'll introduce you, though I'll have to talk to him about it first, since he's kind of shy and I don't want to startle him, you know? Man, you're gonna love him! He's so small and cute, with big baby-blue eyes. And bright yellow hair that goes everywhere! He looks just like a baby chocobo!"]]

Angeal took in young Mr. Strife, looking him up and down before resting his eyes on the yellow locks, which were starting to stick up now that his hair was drying. He came to the conclusion that the boy could definitely stand for Zack's version of "a chocobo chick in human form." And, "kind of dumb sometimes," "unfocused," "over-excited"…those just about summed up all his puppy's bad points, all right. He frowned; he'd have a talk with this forty-year-old man that wanted to chat with his Third Class about…pottery.

"It's all right, Cadet Strife, Zack won't be in trouble for this," Cloud's head snapped up, the look on his face half startled at the General knowing who his friend was and half hopeful that maybe he really was going to get away with it, "and neither will you. I will, however, be having a talk with my puppy about this later," he finished sternly, though it was more for his fellow Firsts than the petite blond. Not that any of them seemed too upset about it; both boys were just too cute to be angry with. Regardless, Angeal considered it to be in his best interest if he deterred his student from leading others into trouble later on.

The door burst open and smiling Third Class came bounding through, a friendly smile on his face. Zack's cheerful demeanor seemed to wither away as his brain processed the fact that the room was full of Firsts that were supposed to be gone all day.

"Or, I can have a talk with him now," Angeal said, looking directly into the Third's eyes. Zack looked down and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Um…aren't you guys supposed to be off training all day?"

"Zackary Fair." The other brunette flinched at his mentor's tone.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think anyone would really mind. I mean, you let me in here, so I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal if I let Cloud come in with me every once in a while."

"I don't appreciate your lying, SOLDIER. Clearly, you did know you were doing something wrong or else you wouldn't have snuck in here in the first place," Angeal allowed his voice to hint towards anger, though only just enough to let the younger man know he wanted the truth. Now.

"Well, there was one person I didn't want to know," Zack by now looked like he was about to collapse onto the floor he was so hunched over, as if trying to make himself smaller to avoid Angeal's wrath. At the others' questioning looks, he continued in a conspiratory whisper, "Tainer's been really grumpy lately."

"That's First Class Tainer to you puppy," Angeal tried to reply sternly, though the others clearly heard the fondness in his voice. He sighed in defeat as both Zack and Cloud then widened their big blue eyes, giving him puppy and chick looks, respectively.

"Just don't do it again, ok?"

Zack's entire being seemed to light up now that one of his favorite people in the whole world wasn't mad at him anymore. He then demonstrated his extreme likelihood of getting to SOLDIER First one day by leaping across the room and latching onto the bearded man with enough force to actually make him take a few steps back.

"You're the best EVER Angeal!" The First rolled his eyes but didn't push the other away, causing a few knowing looks to circle about the room around him.

Cloud nodded along in agreement to Zack's exclamation, looking adorable as his soft spikes swayed with his head. Sephiroth frowned, not certain that he liked the idea of the blond thinking Angeal was the "best EVER."

"Actually, why don't we allow Cadet Strife similar access? I wouldn't mind sharing the shower room with him," Sephiroth all but purred.

Zack turned away from his mentor and gave the Silver General a very Angeal pose as he crossed his arms and looked at the other sternly. "He's only fourteen, you know."

Genesis started snorting in an extremely undignified fashion and Angeal covered his mouth to hide a smirk.

"So I've been informed," Sephiroth replied dryly.

"Well, I don't care if the puppy's chocobo wonders around," one of the other Firsts let the others know. His agreement was followed by a "I don't mind either!" and a "Sure, as long as he's not a little trouble-maker in disguise." Sephiroth also took the shrugged murmur of "Why not? He's a looker," to be an agreement, though he refused to acknowledge the last part of the reply.

"So, now that that is settled, Cloud," the General paused momentarily, trying to gauge whether or not Cloud would prefer to leave the distance of titles between them for the moment. The boy's bright blush and ducking of his head seemed to be a sign of pleasure, so he continued on, "Why don't you finish your shower?"

His eyes widened once again and Sephiroth wouldn't be surprised if they hurt after doing it so many times in the span of half an hour. It did prove for a nice chance for the tall man to observe how blue the other's eyes really were. If not for his obvious rank, he'd have sworn the boy had mako in him at first glance; his eyes being just the right shade but lacking the SOLDIER glow.

"Um…I don't know…" Cloud seemed to take in for the first time what was really going on. He was standing there, NAKED but for a towel, in front of some of the highest men in the company, who were all also in states of various undress. Now that his friend was out of danger of being in trouble, he felt a little woozy as it suddenly hit him that he'd actually glared at not only the Generals, but his actual hero as well.

Deciding to take matters into his own hands, literally, Sephiroth gently spun the poor confused thing around and slowly marched him forward into the shower room. He'd already finished undressing while Cloud had looked around in wide-eyed wonder, as the whole situation was just then hitting him.

Angeal was pleased to note that his hands never left his upper arms, though his puppy made a distressed sound, looking towards his mentor uncertainly. He chuckled and rubbed his student's head affectionately, something which usually made the other scowl cutely, when he wasn't about to wash it anyway. Instead he just pouted.

"Don't worry, he won't do anything. He's very honorable." Genesis snorted at that and Zack looked nervously at the door. Angeal frowned at his long-time friend over the now-smallest person in the room's head, to which the other General just gave him a "Who, me?" kind of look.

One of the other Firsts chuckled and laid a careful hand on the kid's shoulder, ever-knowing of Angeal's watchful eyes. To that day, they still didn't know what had happened to the poor, unfortunate sod who'd thought he'd give Zack a "friendly" wack on his bare behind. The Second hadn't spoken for a week, and after that he'd asked to be transferred to the Monster Protection Division. The bearded First still insisted that he'd done nothing.

"Well, if nothing else, kid, Sephiroth knows the big fuss it'd cause if word got out he was with a minor, and you know how the guy hates attention," he smiled reassuringly, and gave Zack a small squeeze on the shoulder. The puppy seemed to ponder this before nodding; the obvious media-hate of the most known man on the Planet was legendary in SOLDIER.

Zack seemed reassured and quickly peeled off his clothing, throwing it any which way, which in turn yearned him a frown from Angeal before the older man turned away and started undressing himself. The others in the room took that as their queue that if they wanted to live to see the outside again, they'd better not even think of letting their eyes drop below waist-level.

The other Firsts chuckled again, and Genesis rolled his eyes, as they heard Angeal begin speaking to Zack once the two had wandered into the shower room. "Now, puppy, your friend was mentioning something about a man and…pottery?"

"Well then, it seems I'm all alone, whatever shall I do?" Genesis smirked and the other four Firsts gave each other looks. The auburn-haired man was a horny bastard, and they'd all shared a bed with him at least once in their lives.

"No way, man, both Generals would skin our hides if we got it on in the showers today. Angeal for corrupting his puppy's innocence and Sephiroth for doing what he's not allowed right in front of him," First Class Roberts replied cheekily. Genesis sighed dramatically, as he was known to do quite often, but silently agreed with them.

"Oh Goddess, is there no man brave enough to tempt the fates with me?" he looked up forlornly, causing his fellow Firsts to snort. There was a whisper of "or stupid enough" which Genesis chose to ignore. Just at that moment, the door swung open and a Turk strolled through.

Genesis blinked and looked back up at the ceiling, "Even I am still amazed at your infinite powers, Goddess."

The Turk, more of a Turklet actually, started as he seemed to realize the room wasn't as empty as he'd been expecting.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be out training or something, yo?" The Firsts groaned and Genesis made a mental note to start posting guards when they went out.

"Well then, since you're back, I guess I'll be going, yo!" The redhead turned to dart out the door but was no match for a room full of mako-enhanced men.

"Now, now, little Turkling, where do you think you're going?" Genesis mocked lightly as he gently ran a gloved hand under the boy's chin as two other Firsts held him in place. Roberts and Slinns began rummaging through the kid's pack that he'd brought in.

"Hey! That's mine, yo! Lemme go, damn it!"

One of the others seemed to recognize him when he began to struggle. "Hey, I've heard about this runt. The trouble-maker that the Vice Director's always going on about, remember? The one who can't speak properly?"

One of the others snorted, "Great, he's probably in here planting bugs then."

"I wasn't!"

Despite the trouble he brought, Genesis could certainly see what the Turks saw in him. No less than three times did he manage to squirm out of the two SOLDIERs' grasps, though they quickly grabbed him again. He certainly saw some other things about the Turklet as well.

"SOLDIERs, no need to be quite so rough, we wouldn't want such delicate skin to bruise, would we? Now then, why don't you tell us why you're here…?"

"Reno," Roberts supplied, still going through the bag, which had way too many zippers in his opinion. Why couldn't people just carry grocery bags everywhere?

"Reno," Genesis finished with a very Sephiroth-ish sensual smirk, something which the others had often wondered about. It was a great mystery in SOLDIER as to whether Sephiroth had taught Genesis, Genesis had taught Sephiroth, or (as a few in the betting pool has suggested) maybe someone else had taught them both. Some even had their money on it being a secret smirk of Angeal's.

Reno stopped struggling just as Roberts sat down next to the gym bag with a sigh, having apparently given up. Slinns gave the other a smirk, himself having sat down a long time ago to watch his obsessive friend go to town on the kid's stuff. He knew it was going to drive him crazy for at least a week, wondering whether there were actually hidden compartments in it or not.

Reno just found it funny that they'd been checking his stuff for the past five minutes but hadn't even patted him down. Looking into the mako-blue eyes in front of him, he got the feeling he wasn't the only person in the room thinking such. Though, he was fairly certain General Rhapsodos had a far more intimate search in mind, if his lingering gaze was anything to go by.

He relaxed in the SOLDIERs' grips finally. He had been worried about angry Firsts and the SOLDIER/Turk rivalry flaring, not to mention how thoroughly pissed Tseng would have been to have seen him dragged into his office by a General himself. Instead, he got a horny, good-looking Genesis? Now that was his kind of "punishment."

He smirked sensually right back and in that moment Genesis decided he would very much like to put that naughty mouth to better use.

"I wasn't trying to do anything, yo. The Turk shower rooms are full right now, and I'm just a rookie, so I figured I'd go somewhere else." Genesis briefly pondered putting his own bugs in the Turk shower room, wondering if the rumors about Tseng and Veld really were true.

"See? He's perfectly harmless, and I don't see any problem with letting him use our facilities just this once. Though, just to be safe, I should probably accompany him," Genesis finished this last part while looking at the other redhead, to which Reno just shrugged in agreement. The others in the room rolled their eyes before finally making their own way into the shower room.

Realizing he was being given a free pass, Reno began undressing quickly before the other changed his mind. Genesis stepped up to him, noting how the boy seemed to tense. He'd gotten a twitchy one, apparently. Well, that made things interesting.

"Let me help you with that," he murmured smoothly. He paused just before his hands made contact with the other, a small frown on his face, "You are at least fifteen, correct?"

Reno blinked, wondering where the hell that had come from, "Yo, I'm a Turk. Would it even matter if I wasn't?"

Now Genesis really liked this one, "Good point."

They made their way into the steamed-up room a few minutes later, just as Tainer came through the door, having finally pulled himself out of the hot tub in the back. He was fairly positive the man underneath the General's arm was a Turk, but decided not to question it now that he was in a much better mood. He hummed as he dressed, once again feeling content. At least until he got a text saying that the friends of the infantrymen he'd saved earlier hadn't gotten the message that they were out and were now themselves stuck, wounded, after attempting to rescue them.

He swore that the next person he saw beneath the rank of SOLDIER was going to be strangled to death and buried in General Hewley's garden.

EPILOGUE

Cloud frowned as he eyed the stuffed toy sitting on his bed, still not quite certain if he should be amused or annoyed with how far his friend was taking the whole "chocobo" thing. He supposed it was better than the collar Genesis had gotten the hyper Third Class, something which Angeal had not been amused about. If nothing else, at least his present could double as a comfortable pillow, and wasn't as likely to get him raped as the basket full of K-Y Reno had gotten him. Really, the guy deserved to be with Genesis.

He picked up the bright yellow toy (of course it was yellow, never mind the fact chocobos actually came in five colors, more if you just went with the fake toy-colors), once again pleased that he'd been given his own room for his special "training." Not that he didn't actually get exclusive training with the Generals, SOLDIERS, Turks…anybody, really, since he seemed to have taken Zack's place of favored "pet" to the higher-ups. It's just that he had the feeling that there were more people who knew of his special status with the Silver General than those that didn't. One of the other cadets had literally called him "Sephiroth's Seed Dump" to his face. There were still bets going on as to whether or not the charred meat-like food for lunch the next day had any connection to the missing man.

He noticed an envelope on the bed from where the toy had been sitting on top. Still holding the "mini-Cloud," as he just knew Zack was going to call it; he carefully opened the envelope to pull out the highly expensive "Sephiroth Edition" birthday card. At one time, he would have considered such an exclusive Sephiroth collector's item to be a present in of its own, but after so long with the actual man himself, he just briefly wondered instead how in the world ShinRa had gotten their hands on a picture with silver-haired man in only a towel. He bet Genesis had something to do with it. And Turks, definitely Turks. That Tseng guy was sneaky.

Opening it up, he rolled his eyes upon reading the standard Migar coming-of-age saying. "I hope you have a very pleasurable fifteenth birthday." Half the people in Nibelheim would probably burn it if they ever saw it; the other half…he really didn't want to think about that. Underneath that little gem of a quote was Zack's own scrawl.

Hey Chocobo! I got you a mini-Cloud! (He knew it!) Sooooooooooooo sorry I couldn't be there for your B-day myself, but hopefully this little guy can keep you company until I get back. Angeal and I were requested specifically to go help out this town that's being attacked by monsters, so I'm off to Mideel, it seems. Man! It's so far away, we won't be back for days! (Cloud could just imagine Zack's pouty face as he wrote that.) I promise to take you to a movie or something when I get back, though!

P.S. I hope you like this card! It was Reno's idea.

Cloud smiled, that made more sense. He seriously wondered how a guy two years older than him couldn't get the irony of the Sephiroth card, but he'd bet money that it probably hadn't even crossed Zack's mind. Apparently, he thought it was the "coolest thing ever" that people kept giving him the "General Hewley Edition" cards for all his birthdays, though he still couldn't quite figure out why they did so since he could see the man whenever he wanted in person. Angeal himself didn't seem too bothered by it, since at least he was fully dressed in his merchandise, and they all carried some sort of honorable message. Whether the quote was actually something he'd said or not, was a matter left up to the ShinRa marketing committee.

So engrossed in his card, he didn't even hear his security panel being deactivated until his door burst open. Startled, he squished mini-Cloud to his chest protectively with one hand, while holding the card in the other.

"Hello Cloud," green eyes glanced briefly down to the half-naked Sephiroth card before the man standing in the doorway smirked, "I've come to wish you a 'very pleasurable fifteenth birthday.'"

Blue eyes widened, lovely skin turned bright red, and then that was that last of Cadet Cloud Strife anyone ever saw again. Well, at least until Zack and Angeal got back from Mideel four days later.

AN: Well, whatcha think? Hopefully my characterizations didn't come off too weird, I wanted a shy Cloud, but then one that showed how he'd grown up, at least a little, nine months later. (LOL, Seph didn't rape him, in case anyone is wondering. He's been seducing Cloud since they first met. Hmm…that sounds like a good idea for a sequel.) And, once again, I prove that my version of the 1000-word oneshot is 6,000 words long.

Posted: 6/11/10