58/100: Question. Sephiroth/Genesis.
Well, it's xlightfromabovex's birthday and something needed to be done as a thanks for all the PRing she's been doing for me recently. Her prompt so don't go looking at me strangely, kay? Happy Birthday :)
Disclaimer - Characters are not mine, and they will be somewhat OOC because this is fluff. And you can't have fluff with these two without it being OCC. Imho anyway...
Question
Fit For Purpose
Genesis had been in his room for hours. The silence was sublime, but unsettling. Once Angeal had warned that nothingness was suspect and to be feared. Occasionally, Sephiroth glanced up from his paperwork, but saw nothing but the old, black leather recliner that Genesis usually occupied when reading. The left arm was strangely distorted, the stuffing being compacted by years of having legs slung lazily over it.
The lack of sufficient distraction was distracting.
Knowing that he would get no work done without the gentle soundtrack of accented poetry, or at least nothing to drive him to finish quickly, Sephiroth sighed and stood. It was peculiar working in the scarlet First's apartment as it was; the fabulously decadent décor and sense of Genesis' inherent wealth Sephiroth found stifling. There were times when he could understand why Angeal – a down-to-earth country boy through and through – felt uncomfortable.
The door of Genesis' room was a little way down the hall, having the bathroom and private office (or a storage room in disguise) coming first in the narrow corridor. Paintings lined the metal walls of different sizes like a timeline of Genesis' life. There was one of he and Angeal at what Sephiroth supposed was school. Then there was Genesis and his younger brother, who couldn't have been more than two or three, if Genesis' rosy cheeks betrayed his age. Another of the siblings was next to it, with the latest black-haired addition.
Lastly, closet to the door way, was a photo a couple of years old of the two First Class lovers on their first excursion to Banora that Angeal had taken from under the shade of a fruit-laden apple tree. It was bright and colourful – qualities needed when living in the dreary mako capital – and, as Genesis would say, adorable. Such things could certainly not be associated with the photographs that the lovers took of themselves when left alone with a camera for too long.
Well, colourful was a debateable observation.
Sephiroth placed a bare hand upon the cold metal of the handle, but would not enter without permission. Forcing himself into the room would give Genesis the wrong ideas, and then his work would be neglected until the morning. However, when no response was given to his patient knock, there was no choice but to intrude.
Inside, the overhead lights shone brightly. Genesis usually loathed them, preferring his scented, coloured candles which, as Angeal would laugh and say, gave the room the classification of 'boudoir', which was not a proper term for a man's room. Genesis, however was more than content.
Genesis himself was sat on the floor at the foot of his bed, the skewed sheets littered with old books and objects. He was hunched over in casual dress, working at something tentatively in slim, careful fingers.
Sensing the drop in temperature due to the opening of the door and Sephiroth's arrival, Genesis looked up and smiled. There was a fierce concentration lurking in his eyes. "Afternoon, Moonbeam,"
Sephiroth let his gaze wander from that pretty, androgynous face that looked so much more feminine when not clad head-to-toe in armour and leather. In Genesis' hands was a mess of thin plastic, brightly coloured and twisted into a chaotic ball with neither a start nor an end. "What is that?" He gestured to it curiously before lowering himself to his lover's side.
"I was going through my old stuff and I found my slinky and… I'm trying to untangle it,"
"You don't seem to have progressed much with it," Sephiroth noted. He spared a look to the white boxes by the large built-in wardrobe that had been commissioned when Genesis was first promoted to the SOLDIER elite and therefore given his own extensive apartment. They were brimming with strange novelties like nothing he had ever seen, as well as more photographs. It was hard to tell if Genesis loved the visual memories or just himself.
Auburn hair fell back into place concealing a vast majority of his face as Genesis put his attention once more into his troubled belonging. "It's better than it seems, trust me."
-
Long ago Sephiroth had left to retrieve his paperwork and returned back to the room – breaking Genesis' cardinal rule that no work was to enter the place he slept and preened and pleasured - but he didn't seem to mind so much now. In fact, Sephiroth would've gone as far as to say that his company was welcome.
Then Genesis sounded a sweet victory and flung his arms wide. A complete, perfect spiral dangled languidly from his index fingers. "Done it!" he cried, never looking so accomplished in years.
Sephiroth stared in bemusement. The 'slinky', as it had been called over the time passed - along with 'you bastard' - rolled from palm to palm in a strange, canon movement of each separate section. It was interesting to look at, no doubt but the entertainment value was… questionable at best.
"What does it do?"
Cracking into a smile, Genesis pushed himself to his feet, stretched out briefly and stood grinning down at the general. "That is a very good question. Follow me."
-
"We are going to be reprimanded for this, may I remind you," Sephiroth mumbled dutifully as he trudged up the usually sectioned-off red carpeted stairs to the highest level of the ShinRa building's great entrance hall. Genesis was already at the top, not a care in the world tainting his shining features. It wasn't as if ShinRa would really do anything to their top SOLDIERs… and they were only having a little fun on a Sunday.
"This is what a slinky does." The redhead knelt, placing the object on the top step before he nudged it gently into motion. That odd movement, like the legs of a centipede, returned as it walked down the stairs, past Sephiroth until it completed the red and set off down the blue, all the way to the ground floor.
"You spend hours untangling that thing… for that?" Sephiroth huffed, joining the pleased Commander at the summit.
His reply was an enthusiastic nod. "Now, go fetch it and bring it back up here."