PRESENT MIRTH

Chapter One (the second chapter to be written in actuality.)

Author: Ravensthief (with Reno's help :SMIRK: )

Rating: This chapter is rated PG because all the R rated stuff is next chapter…

Genre: Final Fantasy VII. Romance/humor YAOI! Which means Cloud and Sephiroth playing "Let's find your materia slot" at indecent hours of the day and night. :evil grin:

I apologize to the innocent materia users who are offended by that comment. I'm sorry.

no not really.

Plot: YES WE HAVE PLOT NOW:small minions rejoice: o/ o/ o/

As a matter of fact, if this story had any more plot, I would go into the real estate business. It's there. It's just well hidden. 0.o

"What is love? 'Tis not hereafter;

Present mirth hath present laughter;

What's to come is still unsure.

In delay there lies no plenty,

Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty;

Youth's a stuff will not endure."

Shakespeare: Twelfth Night

(Act II, Scene iii, "The Clown's Song")

The trip from Nibelheim had been hell for Cloud. Even now, he couldn't seem to make his stomach stop twisting and turning. When he closed his eyes it got a bit better, but the other recruits on the bus from Junon Harbor hadn't been much help. The kid sitting next to him with purple hair had insisted on striking up a conversation, and although Cloud normally liked meeting new people, he was shy enough to wish he would just leave him alone. He ran one hand through his blonde hair shakily, glad to be off the bus and on the ground, but fervently wishing the world would stop spinning in the wrong directions.

"Shape up, here, CADETS!" The SOLDIER in charge of their bus shoved the last boy into line and cast his steely eyes down the row. He had dark orange hair that stood out at all angles, and Cloud wondered if all SOLDIER's adopted strange hairstyles. Maybe it had something to do with the mako?

Cloud lifted his chin and stared straight ahead, as all cadets were instructed to do. He didn't blink as the SOLDIER paced down the line, looking each boy in the face.

"Well, what a fine group of young girls we've brought in this time. Eh, Jikal?" The SOLDIER chuckled to his partner, a tall man with long brown hair, tied in a ponytail, who gave a broad, toothy grin and stared at the young recruits dangerously.

"Where's this batch from again?" Jikal asked, brushing an imaginary piece of dust off of his SOLDIER uniform languidly. Both men had smooth muscles that rippled under their clothes as they moved, reminding Cloud of some of the wild cats that roamed the Nibelheim mountains.

"You, boy! Answer!" Jikal nudged a boy from Cloud's hometown with the barrel of his rifle.

"Nibelheim, Sir."

"Eh? Where's that?"

"Near the Golden Saucer, Jikal. I know you've been there!" the orange-haired SOLDIER snickered and winked, both completely ignoring the cadets for the time being. Cloud swallowed. His head was still spinning, and the foul air here in Midgar was making it hard for him to breath. He closed his mouth and let his eyelids droop, concentrating on inhaling and exhaling in rythm, The scent of mako was strong, a lot like the smell of freshly dug earth, except more... pungent.

"All right, kiddies. Let's get you decontaminated and that outside dirt out from under you fingernails." The first SOLDIER barked, startling Cloud slightly. The man swung one arm in the direction of the barracks.

"Let's GO! MOVE YOU PANSIES!" he barked, and the cadets ran off, double file, the two SOLDIERS pacing behind at their own speed.

The showers were pretty much a tiled room, with sprinklers in the ceiling to rain hot (or cold, depending on where you were lucky to stand) water down upon the new cadets. Cloud looked around a bit nervously, but many of the other boys had already pulled off their clothes and thrown them into messy piles that littered the floor. A door at the other end of the showers opened, and another large group walked in, these ones looking distinctly different in appearance than the recruits from the western mountains. They were paler, and had a tougher air about them, as though they were long used to having to live life on their own.

A boy standing next to Cloud, who still hadn't moved to remove any of his clothing, nudged him with his elbow.

"Wutaians. Look at their eyes." He said knowledgeably, and Cloud noted that these boys had eyes as dark as a night sky, that revealed nothing when you looked into them. He thought they were rather fierce in appearance, although the tallest was only about three inches taller than himself.

"How far away is Wutai?" Cloud asked, as the two groups mingled under the falling water. The boy next to him grinned.

"Other side of the world, mate."

"Oh."

The blonde boy watched in silence for a moment, before a sharp slap to the back of his head sent him spinning.

"How now, boy? Don't want to get clean?" The orange haired SOLDIER was watching him carefully and Cloud looked around in consternation. He hadn't wanted to be singled out.

"No, sir! I was getting in, sir." He said, unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it on the ground. The SOLDIER grinned and turned and walked away. Harrassing people was the best part of his job, in his opinion.

The water wasn't as cold as Cloud had thought it would be. And it actually felt really good on his bare skin. He leaned his head back into the jets of water, and ran his fingers through the spikes of his hair. He wished he had a peice of string of some sort to tie the longer peices back with, but his hair tie had been in his pants pocket and it looked like the SOLDIERs had already taken "care" of their clothes, meaning that they were no where in sight. A brief thought flashed through Cloud's mind and he wondered if he would have to live the rest of his career as a SOLDIER, half-naked, and he smirked.

"This way cadets! Through those doors, and Gyter has new dresses for you all." Jikal shouted, and through the open doorway, Cloud could see the orange haired SOLDIER standing next to piles of blue and silver uniforms. He shook the last of the water out of his hair, and stepped with the other boys into the next room.

The tunics and trousers were separated into different sizes, and Cloud had no problem finding ones that fit him right. The boots were a bit large for him though, and he tightened the laces as much as he could to try and get them to stay on his feet. Then they moved on, into a third room as big as the last two, where two hassled-looking class-three SOLDIERs were sorting luggage into piles and assigning barracks. Five boys to a room, three rooms to a suite, and four suites to a floor with one commanding officer for each suite and floor. Cloud stood in one of the lines to retreive his duffel bag and then they were sorted out into groups of roomates.

He was paired with another first year cadet, a tall skinny boy with long green hair and a pair of laughing green eyes who introduced himself as "Fallon" when Cloud could make out his thick Midgar accent.

Apparently two of the other members of their suite were older and weren't present in the first-year orientation. That left just one more, Cloud mused, looking around for his third roomate.

The doors at the far end of the room banged open and two SOLDIERs marched in, dragging a boy between them, twisting and struggling to the center of the room, as everyone else froze at the loud noise to turn and stare. Cloud got a glimpse of fiery red hair and flashing turquoise eyes before the SOLDIERs shoved the boy to the floor and sat on him to subdue him. One of the SOLDIERs first-class stepped forward.

"What's going on here? Weland? Nikolas?" the dark-haired man snapped with an air of authority and the SOLDIERs saluted. Well...the best they could while sitting on the uncooperative prisoner, anyways. Cloud noted.

"Not a problem, Zack." the one named Weland spoke up with a grin. "Boy just didn't like 'is new assignment. 'hat's all." he smirked at his partner who poked at the trapped boy with a smirk. Cloud could hear a muffled string of curses coming from the boy, but he didn't recognize any of the words. The SOLDIER named Zack nodded.

"Ok, get off and let's 'ave a look at 'im." he ordered and the SOLDIERs got off with remarkable speed, which was well enough, because the boy was almost as fast, fists swinging. Cloud noted that his skin was paler than the others, a native of the city. His clothes looked it too, they were the synthetic fabric that ShinRa manufactured and sold in Midgar, bright colors, but cheap. The boy wore baggy black trousers that looked far too big for his slender frame, though he had enough muscling to fill out the sleeves of the loose blue hooded sweatshirt he wore that said "ShinRa Happens" on the front in grey letters. High cheekbones denoted a trace of wutaian ancestry and his hair was coarse but extraordinarily straight, so it stood out around his face in spikes and fell down his neck in a short ponytail. Crimson brows were furrowed together in anger over the brightest green-blue eyes Cloud had ever seen.

"What's your name, boy?" Zack asked, and the red-head swung his head around to fix that softly glowing gaze on the broad shouldered man.

"Reno." he spat, crossing his arms on the front of his chest and straightening up to look older. Which would have worked, had he been taller than five and a half feet.

"Last name?"

"Didn't need one before, and unless you're proposing, I sure ain't gonna take one from you." Reno gave a one-sided grin and the green gaze swept arounf the room, fixing on Cloud for a second before moving on.

"Mr. Reno." Zack said in a dry voice, stepping forward, "I'm interesting in hearing why you're here. Particularly since you seem to be more trouble than you're worth... Jikal, Nikolas, let's have a look at his necklaces."

Cloud blinked in confusion as the two SOLDIERs stepped forward and grabbed the boy's arms behind his back, Zack reached out and yanked down the collar of the boy's sweatshirt. Next to him, Fallon leaned over to whisper into Cloud's ear.

"The necklaces are for past offenses. ShinRa puts them on those in the slums to save on keeping track of them with paperwork." he explained. Zack curled his fingers around the lengths of chain around the boy's neck. Six necklaces, three blue, two yellow, and one red.

"Well well well... Mr. Reno. Red, yellow, and blue. You're like a bloody festival, aren't you?" Zack drawled, his steel grey eyes meeting the angry aqua stare unblinkingly.

"Nevertheless, someone up there decided you were too potentially useful to execute or lock away, so I guess you're here to stay." the SOLDIER turned on his heel, leaving Reno standing with his arms still held behind his back by his two guards.

"Give him his belongings and stick 'im in his room." Zack ordered, "Let's finish this up. GET BACK TO WORK YOU LAZY MAKO-FEEDERS." he barked, and the room once again became a flurry of movement.

Cloud turned to Fallon questioningly. "What do the different colors mean?"

"Blue is for getting caught selling or running illegal weapons. It's pretty much one of the three career tracks available to those in the slums. Yellow is for selling drugs or black-market substances such as materia."

"And the red?" Cloud asked curiously. This sounded all so foreign to him, coming from his sheltered life in the mountains of Nibelheim.

"Prostitution." Fallon said over his shoulder, turning to pick up his luggage and head off to their room.

Cloud widened his eyes in surprise, and shot a quick look at Reno, who was shrugging off his guards and stalking over to pick up a worn brown sack. Then he grabbed his own suitcase and followed Fallon up the twelve flights of stairs to their room.

The first-years were given the rest of the day to settle in, and so Cloud and Fallon made their bunks and unpacked their luggage while talking a bit about their home town. The door swung open to admit two tall boys who gave friendly greetings and dropped onto the two lower bunks near the windows.

"'Ello chaps." the dark-haired one smiled at the curious look Cloud gave him. "Name's Myat, Cadet third-year. And this here is my friend Rasakan. He's only in his second year, but we're in most of the same classes." he gestured at the chestnut-haired boy leaning against the bedpost, who flashed a grin and looked up with light grey eyes. "I guess we're your roomates. Which, let me be the first to say, is excellent, since the last three boys were total sticks. Never any fun, always arguing..." Myat shook his head sadly.

"Not like us at all, right Rasakan?" he nudged his friend in the ribs and they grinned at each other.

"So where are you two originally from?" Cloud asked, jumping off his upper bunk to put clothes into the large chest at the foot of the bed.

"Fort Condor." Rasakan said, leaning over to drape one arm over Myat's shoulders. "And Myat's from Mideel. He's training in the medical track of SOLDIER, see?" the auburn-haired boy reached one hand down Myat's shirt and pulled up a chain with a 'restore' materia dangling from the end, the mark of a healer.

"What are you going for, Rasakan?" Fallon asked, he seemed to be hiding a smile behind his hand and Cloud looked at him curiously.

"Military Strategy." the boy shrugged, "You?"

"I'm applying for"

Just then the door flew open on its hinges and all four boys looked up in surprise. Reno stared back, his face expressionless. Then he grinned.

"Hello 'vrybody." he gave a jaunty wave and launched his sack onto one of the top bunks. Cloud smiled at him a bit shyly while Fallon waved a greeting and Rasakan and Myat just looked happy to have another extroverted roomate likely to cause muschief, from the looks they were exchanging.

Reno whistled appreciatively, running his eyes along the white walls and carpeted floor.

"Nice place. I didn't realize ShinRa could make a place with white-washed walls and running water..." he whistled, "I bet they were afraid they might get too clean building it, though..." Reno smirked, standing on tiptoe to touch the lampshade hanging from the ceiling.

"It's real." Fallon said with amusement.

"Excellent." Reno smiled, then winced, clutching his side. Myat raised an eyebrow in concern.

"You o.k.?"

"Yeah... Just wish those thugs hadn't hit me so hard, that's all..." Reno groaned, pulling off his sweatshirt and the tunic beneath it to reveal half a dozen fist sized bruises sprinkled along his sides and abdomen. Then his eyes lighted on Myat's materia.

"Hey... mind if I borrow that?" he asked, reaching out one hand. Myat shrugged and handed the glowing green ball over to the red-head.

"Thanks." Reno said, closing his fist around the materia and his eyes grew unfocused as he manipulated the spell. A glowing light filled the room, and then he opened his eyes. The marks on his skin had faded to nothing, and Cloud blinked at the effectiveness of the spell in the hands of a beginner. Obviously at least one of those yellow necklaces had been earned for illegal materia possession, he surmised. Reno seemed to have sensed what Cloud was thinking, because he turned to look at him.

"You can learn a lot of stuff in Midgar. This would be worth at least 800 gil down below. Here." Reno tossed the materia back to Myat and ran one hand over his now-healed torso appreciatively, then he yawned widely and the brightly sparkling green eyes grew dark for a moment.

"And now I think I need some sleep. G'night gentlemen." the redhead muttered and climbed up into his bunk and lay face down. Fallon looked at Cloud as if asking his opinion on their newest roomate, and the blonde shrugged indifferently. He had to admit, Reno was a bit of a loose canon, but there was something about the boy that made Cloud think he wouldn't mind getting to know him a bit better. He allowed himself a small smile as he finished storing his new textbooks. Maybe he'd even get to know him well enough to call him a friend.

Down below, a horn sounded and Myat and Rasakan leapt to their feet.

"Dinner!" they yelled, running out the door and down the long flight of stairs at breakneck speed. Fallon watched them go with consternation and then shrugged.

"Well, if they trip and die, it's not my fault." he said with a twisted smile, and Cloud gave a small laugh.

"Ok, let's go." the green-haired boy said, walking out the door. Cloud looked back and decided he'd try and bring back some dinner for Reno, then he followed his new roomates at a run.

Classes began the next day, though only after morning routine. Cloud was thankful that he was relatively used to hard labor, because otherwise the lap around the upper plate might have seemed excruciating instead of merely impossible. As it was, he trudged to his first class utterly exhausted, but happy he'd finished soon enough to have time for a shower before "Introduction to Materia" at 0900 hours.

His other two classes, "Modern Weaponry 101" and "Molecular Biology 101" were not until later in the afternoon, and he had plans to get together with Rasakan, Myat, and Fallon for lunch. He had invited Reno to join them, but the slender redhead had declined, saying he'd rather use his break to get a look at the city 'above the plate'. Cloud had told him that cadets weren't allowed to leave the SOLCIER compound during the week without a day pass or a superior officer, but Reno had just laughed and told him he'd get him a souvenir. Cloud still wasn't sure to make of the Midgar boy. The other three roomates were open and friendly, teasing Cloud about his girlish figure and pretty face, but still light-hearted. Reno was dark in a way Cloud could not describe.

Once Cloud had seen him come into the room when he was lying on his bunk, and the red-head didn't seem to know he was there, because he unbuttoned his tunic and stood in front of the mirror, playing with the six lengths of chain that wound tightly about his neck. He had watched the turquoise eyes flash in anger and annoyance, but the necklaces would not come off, nor break. He was humorous in an outgoing sort of way, but he didn't talk much about himself, and he spent a lot of time on his own.

The rest of the time, Cloud spent following Rasakan and Myat around. They showed him where all the best places to go if you wanted quiet were, or vice versa. Undoubtably, Cloud's favorite spot was the gyms. He was in awe of the upper-class SOLDIERs with their various weapons, Cadets wouldn't start training with weapons for another couple weeks, until the last of the new recruits had been whipped into shape. But that didn't keep the boys from watching enviously from the sidelines as the older Cadets and SOLDIERs practiced. Fallon preferred the projectile weapons, but Cloud's fascination lay with the swords. So much so that Rasakan would teasingly remove all table knives from his vicinity when he sat down to eat.

The SOLDIER Zack that Cloud had seen on his first day was also the SOLDIER in charge of their floor, and he would stop in every once in a while to make sure they hadn't destroyed their room or each other. He had a wide grin every time he saw Cloud, and all the cadets liked him immensely.

There was one more thing that had surprised Cloud since his arrival, perhaps because he hadn't expected everyone to be so open about it. It was obvious that there were none, or very few women in SOLDIER.

At least, Cloud hadn't seen any yet. He had asked Zack about it once, when the SOLDIER had stopped by their dorm to share a bottle of booze he had brought back from the slums, illegally of course.

"Why are there no girls in SOLDIER, Zack?"

"None have been strong enough yet. Or they go into highly specialized fields and so pull themselves above us poor lot who must fight and die just to make any worth of our lives." the grey-eyed man had laughed, seating himself on Cloud's bunk and taking a swig of his bottle.

"But then… Don't the men get lonely?" Cloud had asked.

Zack laughed. "There are a lot of ways to fight off loneliness, my boy. Female companionship is just one of them." Cloud had looked at him in confusion until the dark haired man winked and cocked a thumb in the direction of Myat's bunk, where the two boys had fallen asleep curled up together.

Cloud had blushed but he didn't say anything, and Zack had left soon after, with a teasing piece of advice for Cloud to get himself a boyfriend before he too became lonely, which only made him blush the more.

The third week of training came and passed and little by little, Cloud began to feel that loneliness set in. A part of his mind began to wonder whether or not Zack's advice was to be trusted… without discussing it with the rest of his brain, of course.

Zack sat at the officer's table in the noisy cafeteria quietly. Normally he was at the center of the chaos, his wicked sense of humor making him the bane of dinnertime peace and quiet, but today he was tired.

The first month of new recruits always drained him of energy. Maybe it was just the concentration of 15 year old exuberance that wore him out... No... not wore him out, just made him want to do something more disciplined for a few hours.

He wasn't old! Zack snorted at the notion. He was twenty one, and in top form. There was no question of him succombing to old age, just a faint knowledge that he would be harder pressed for sleep that night with a few hundred new recruits in the barracks.

He tilted his bowl up and gulped the last of the broth with relish, nearly choking as a heavy hand descended on his shoulder.

"Zack! How are you?"

The grey-eyed man replaced his bowl safely on the table and looked up with a grin.

"Evening, Raniel. I'm doing fine. You?"

"Couldn't be better if someone'd bought me a gift certificate for the HoneyBee." the older SOLDIER grinned and seated himself at the table next to Zack. "I've just been for a chat with the general." Raniel remarked and Zack raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And how is Sephiroth tonight? I noticed he didn't come down for dinner."

"Indeed. The General looks rather worn out. He was asking for you." The man leveled Zack a knowing look, and the black haired man allowed himself a small smirk.

"Is that so?"

Raniel shrugged. If Zack wasn't going to talk about why the General always acted so strange at regular times a month, then he was smart enough not to pry. He sat in silence while Zack chewed on a crust of bread thoughtfully. Finally, the black haired SOLDIER spoke up.

"Look Raniel, do you see that boy over there?" Zack pointed, and Raniel turned to follow his line of sight.

"The blonde?"

"Yes. What do you make of him?"

"Well…" Raniel squitned, "He's a bit small. Too skinny to be much good at the moment, but I bet he's fast."

Zack smirked. "Indeed. Do you think he is suitable?"

Raniel began to answer, and then froze, fixing a solemn eye on his friend.

"I know you, Zack. What are you up to?"

Zack shrugged innocently. "Nothing, just answer the question. Do you think he's suitable?"

"Yes." Raniel said bluntly.

"But for which purpose, is the real question." Zack lowered one eyelid in a wink at his companion and Raniel shook his head.

"He's so young!"

Zack narrowed his eyes dangerously. "This is life. This is SOLDIER. This is ShinRa. We do what we must. We do for thems that do for us. We protect our friends and screw our enemies. None of it is fair. Don't ask me why I do what I do or how I know what I know."

Raniel looked at him sadly, but he nodded at the truth of Zack's words.

"Now. Go tell that boy General Sephiroth needs him. And don't breathe a word of this to anyone." Zack said quietly, placing his napkin on his tray. Raniel gave him one last look and then rose. Zack watched him stroll over to the boy's table and lean down to whisper in his ear. The boy looked startled but he managed a hasty salute.

Zack didn't watch any more. He picked up his dirty dishes and returned them to the stacks of trays waiting to be emptied by the kitchen staff. Then he yawned, stretched, and went to the gym to train with his Buster sword.

Reno: Better, from a male point of view. But I do wish you had made me sound like less of a teenage punk from the slums.

Jack: But, you are a teenage punk from the slums!

Reno:frowns:

Cloud: It's o.k., but I think there needed to be more fighting. :grins:

Reno: Hear hear!

Jack: or…. how about a lemon:smirks:

Cloud: or… how about more swords:puppy eyed:

Reno: Nice try kid, but that doesn't work on her. It only works with Sephiroth. :evil grin:

Cloud: hmmm…. :thinks: Sephiroth! Come give the author puppy eyes so I can get a sword!

Reno: that's not what I meant… .

Jack: No no… This is fine….

Ok! This is the second time this story has been published. And this is also the original SECOND CHAPTER, but the first chapter chronologically. If you can figure that out… ;; If you read the second chapter first, which is the order I wrote them, then you already know that the next chapter is a HARDCORE LEMON WITH NO PLOT. yay. go me:grins: Unfortunately, Chapters of that nature are no longer permissible on Therefore, I will have to either edit/external-link to chapter 2. I shall think about it. XD

I once had 100 reviews for this story. :shakes fist: Curse you

There MIGHT be typos in here. Let me know if there are. I R teh Razy. College will do that to you. grar.

If you are reading this chapter for badass Sephiroth, then be happy, because he's coming up next. If you think that Sephiroth is badass AND evil and you want to be like him, then do the right thing, and hit the tiny button in the lower left that says "review". Trust me, it's really a big red button that says "Summon Meteor" and you'll be doing the best thing for mankind.

You know you want to.

Jack Dawkins