Well, I feel like I need to keep proving I'm alive -probably because there are some excited fans waiting on chapters that will not write for other stories .

So, this one... well, read the author babble and find out!

Oh, and keep an eye on chapter titles to see what point of view I'm using!

I Hate Valentine's Day

Fandom:Final Fantasy VII

Teaser: "So this year, I hate Valentine's Day. Because I have a choice to make: do I meddle in the lives of my friends, or do I let them both continue to pretend that it isn't there?"

Inspiration:Two pieces that are interconnected: ShadowHaloedAngel's "Valentine Confession" and Phoneix-Faerie's "Belated Valentine". Both pieces are posted on dA.

Rating:T, for mentions of a menage trois and a pair of schemers.

Warnings:
-Male/Male
-Sweary words
-Scheming/Lies
-Quotes from the previous parts
-Strange romantics...
-A Hot Date

Main Pairing:Genesis Rhapsodos/Angeal Hewley

Minor Pairings:
-Cloud Strife/Sephiroth/Zack Fair

Setting:Crisis Core-ish setting.

POV:Cloud, since it's his scheme, and probably the lovers (Angeal and Genesis). First person perspective.

Summary:When Cloud finds a valentine written by Genesis, he knows that he has to do something before the two men let love pass them by...

Additional Ans:This story is sort of my birthday gift to myself (because I wrote all of the first POV and most of the second on that day). I have been promising this story since the first time I read the compositions by Phoneix-Faerie (dA) and ShadowHaloedAngel (dA), but I kept psyching myself out. I loved the letters and I didn't feel as though my writing would complement and/or unify the pieces.
Still, there's little more to do at 1 am than to get gutsy, right? Lol
Also! There is a bit of focus on the minor pairing, since it's an important part of our narrator and his state of mind... Hope you don't mind!

Universe:I would call this the third and final instalment in the "Valentines" Universe, even though this part is my only contribution~

I really hate Valentine's Day. Just not for any of the normal reasons that normal people hate it.

All of the First Class SOLDIERs got flooded with notes and gifts and letters. They, afterall, were high profile celebreties and Shinra used them to recruit each new batch of cadets.

As the designated "best friend" and the one person in the group that could go out without being practically stalked, I took it as my duty to handle their Valentine's Day fan-mail and all it entailed. That meant I sorted every single thing into neat piles based on the level in which they came in on the "I'm a Stalker; Ask Me How" scale. As such, I screened each and every letter, patted down each stuffed toy to make sure there was nothing dangerous before donating them to the charity of the recipient's choice, and I just threw out the chocolates because that was too much of a hassle to deal with. Instead, I bought or made them new chocolates –enough to keep them happy and to keep them from asking about the chocolates sent by fans.

Still, in a sea of creepy, cult-ish fan-mail, some things still stand out.

It had been a year since I'd found that first letter.

Angeal had the soul of a battlefield poet and had not one inkling it was there. If anyone had told me 'without you, I would only be half a man', I would drop everything and run to them. It made me sad that Genesis didn't seem to return Angeal's deep feelings.

Well, it had until this morning, when I opened the letter Genesis composed in reply.

I'd noticed the way Genesis had stayed strangely close to Angeal in the past year, as Angeal tried to put a little distance between them. Genesis' action had puzzled me a great deal –especially in parallel to Angeal's reaction. But now... now it made sense.

Still, I wasn't sure if I wanted to pass this letter on to Angeal or not.

It's not like I have feelings for either man. In fact, I was pretty sure I could name two or three people that would be utterly heartbroken if that were the case.

No, it's because I knew these men. Just as Genesis had, Angeal would fold this letter up and keep it close to his heart. Both men would acknowledge that their feelings reached the other, then let it lie. They would stay friends and comrades and brothers-in-arms, but neither of them would take that next step –the one that added "lovers" to their list of shared labels and made both men as whole and complete as they would ever be.

Even if they couldn't see it, I knew that the men completed each other and complemented each other in ways that most people only dream about having with a partner. So what if they were both men, both high-profile SOLDIERs, both so used to hiding their feelings? It was time to let them out, damn it, before those feelings ate at them and destroyed them!

So this year, I hate Valentine's Day.

Because I have a choice to make: do I meddle in the lives of my friends, or do I let them both continue to pretend that it isn't there?

Sighing, I laid my head on the table where I was still sorting things.

A warm hand ruffled my hair. "Cloud, what is the matter?"

Lifting my head, I gave Sephiroth a small smile. "It's the normal Valentine's Day rush. I'm just trying to get everything sorted out for tomorrow."

He arched a brow at me.

Sephiroth was a master of wordless communication. He was also quite brilliant at getting me to say things I didn't want to say.

I sighed. "I have these two friends, you see? One of them sent a valentine to the other last year and I know the other composed a reply to deliver this year. Unfortunately, I also know these two will just... ignore the fact they love each other if left to their own devices. So, do I push or to I let them be?"

"Push." A tender smile crossed his lips as he pushed a tuft of hair out of my face. "Forever is a long time to be alone."

I captured his hand and pressed a light kiss to the pale skin. "Thank you, Seph."

Those smiling lips pressed lightly against my brow. "Do you need help arranging things?"

"Nah, Zack will enjoy being blamed for the meddling. You should rest. Didn't you just get back from a mission?" I knew damn well he'd just gotten back: I counted the moments while he was away and prayed to every deity I knew that he would come back to us safely.

"...I cannot seem to sleep here without you and Zack," he admitted, his brilliant gaze cast toward the floor as heat rose to crest his cheekbones with color.

Taking his hands in mine, I allowed myself to smile at him. It was bizarre how cute he was when he was embarrassed, but then again, some might think it rather bizarre that I was sleeping with both Zack and Sephiroth. "Perhaps we should take a shower, then? Zack isn't due back for another hour or so..."

I wondered if he would protest. For a while, he'd had trouble seeing beyond us as a threesome when I wanted to love on him without our third.

"What about your scheme?" he inquired coyly, though a flash of heat danced in his eyes.

"Ah, Zack can take care of them later," I told my lover, tugging him toward the bathroom. "Right now, I just want you all to myself."

"I believe I might be able to comply with such a request," he returned, a husky edge entering his normally carefully modulated tone.

Our clothes fell away as we made our way to the bathroom, and the heat of his hand in mine and his lips against my skin banished all coherent thought for a while.

I wrote this bit on my birthday (more than a week ago), but I didn't feel right posting without another piece complete...

I'm trying something a little different for me. Each "chapter" is around 1000 words each and the perspective changes chapter to chapter. Chapter 1 is Cloud. Chapter 2 will be Genesis.

I know that a chunk of this chapter has nothing to do with my plot or my main couple... I just wanted it there, alright? Sue me.
Actually, don't. I'm ridiculously broke...

Anyway! Please tell me what you liked, what you hated, what you'd like to see happen in this story... anything, pretty much. Just leave me a review. Reviews keep the trained monkeys pecking away at their typewriters!

Ever at your pleasure (and my own amusement),
~Sins~