Summary: This is a companion piece to One Stroke. It replaces Chapter 23 (also titled Promise Me) for those who want to follow the YAOI development.
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or anything in it. I do not own the brand name Kleenex. I do not own the word Renotology, and I hope those Renotologist out there accept my nod to them.
Reno moved down the strip, checking Zack's usual haunts. Zack had to be drinking out, as Reno had already checked his apartment. He had even picked the lock just to be sure because you couldn't rely on drunks to answer the door. Hopefully he wasn't sequestered in some other private residence with a partner in this downward spiral, but that wasn't normally how these things worked. This type of self destruction was usually a solo voyage.
He found Zack in the third place he looked, a rather quiet bar with small groups of people sunk into the shadows. An out of balance ceiling fan oscillated as it turned overhead, and most of the light from the place seemed to come from neon beer signs behind the bar. He should have checked this place first; it was the quietest on his list and served the cheapest booze.
"Hey, Zack." Reno slid onto a stool next to the sullen Soldier at the bar. Zack had a bottle in front of him, already half empty. That wasn't a lot for a guy with Zack's tolerance; he had caught him early.
"What are you doing here, Reno?"
"A fine way to greet a friend. I came to drink with you, so you wouldn't be drinking alone"
"Hmff," Zack grunted. "How did know where I was?"
Reno turned his palms up and gave Zack a look.
"Right," Zack said. "Turk. Well, pull yourself up a glass."
Reno motioned for the bartender to give him a glass, and he poured himself four fingers of the dark liquid.
"So," he started in, "You going to tell me what's wrong, as if I didn't already know."
"Oh, you know, do you?"
"Yeah. Your beloved General came back from his trip married, and you went into a funk of despair."
"Is that so? It's the best thing that could happen to him. More than he ever expected out of life. Hell, I practically pushed him towards it. I'm happy for him, why the hell should I be unhappy that he got married?"
"Because you're in love with him."
Zack gave a hollow, unhappy laugh. "Reno, I am not in love with the General."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever Zacko. That's why you're sittin' here all by your lonesome crying in your... what the hell is this rotgut anyway?"
Zack grabbed the neck of the bottle and rotated it around to read the label. "Some sort of scotch."
"It's fucking awful."
"It's what they serve here."
Reno pulled out a black pack of cigarettes and started to shake one out when the bartender pointed at him and yelled.
"No cloves! Can't you read?" He pointed at a sign over the bar that did in fact say, 'No Cloves'.
"Sonofabitch," Reno muttered, put the pack away, pulled out another and flipped a cigarette out of it. This one he positioned to stick up out of the middle of his backward facing fist and held it up at the bartender, a questioning look on his face. The bartender turned his back to him.
"You know I think I have a bottle of twelve year old scotch in my apartment," Zack said. "Somebody gave it to me." He stared into his glass. He knew damn well who had given it to him, but he wasn't about to mention it to Reno after his last comment. He had been saving it in case Sephiroth actually ever decided to visit him at his place.
Reno stared at him in true shock. "You think? How can you not have drunk up twelve year old scotch?"
"Well, I don't spend much time at my apartment."
"That's it, forget this shit, we're drinking at your place."
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Zack's ShinRa issue apartment was about as bacheloresque as an apartment could get. Provided the bachelor was an athletic guy who liked weapons. Several swords leaned up against the monster TV, and the surface of the coffee table was nowhere to be seen for the amount of used plates, empty beer cans, miscellaneous pieces of body armor and some small but effective pain inducing metallic objects. His enormous Buster sword was lying on the couch, dominating the entire surface like a large, unruly pet. The nearby chairs and the floor had an odd assortment of discarded T-shirts and socks. Zack scooped several of these items up and tossed them into the bedroom as they entered.
"You have a balcony? How do you get a balcony?" Reno pulled the blinds away and unlocked the sliding glass door.
"I am second in command of Soldier Division."
Reno shot him an unconvinced look.
"I think Seph requested it for me."
"Man, I want to be that guy's friend. My place sucks."
Reno untangled two plastic chairs that were stacked together in the corner of the small balcony and set himself up in one while Zack noisily rummaged in his cupboard. He joined Reno with the bottle and two glasses. They filled their glasses and both took a hefty swig.
"Gaia, so much better," Reno sighed at the welcome burn that ran down his throat.
The night was truly lovely, the air temperate and Midgar pollution was barely noticeable. Stars shone above, a sparser reflection of the city lights stretching out endlessly below them.
"Nice out here," Reno remarked, pulling out the black pack of cigarettes. He tapped out one slender, odd looking cigarette and slipped it between his lips.
"Gimme one of those."
Reno looked at his friend in surprise, the cigarette nearly slipping from his mouth.
"You don't smoke, Zack," he said, but handed one over anyway. Reno lit them both up and the leaned back for a moment of silence.
"I like it," Zack announced after a few puffs.
"Well it's a clove," Reno said. "Got that chemical in it that numbs the throat. Good for pansy-ass beginners like yourself. Some people don't care for the smell though." Reno frowned, remembering his less than satisfying attempted smoking experience at the bar.
"Maybe I'll take it up as a habit," Zack said.
"Well, I don't know if I can recommend it for the likes of you. Suits me though. I'd smoke all the time if I could. I smoke in the shower."
"You're making that up."
"Am not." Reno blew a smoke ring over the rail that expanded and flattened as it disappeared into the night. "I've smoked hanging off of ropes on cliffs, I smoke during target practice, I can drop the cherry off the end without touching it." He demonstrated, flicking the end inside his mouth sharply enough with his tongue to jar the small red ember free. It's glow faded as it dropped to the balcony floor. "I can smoke with my toes."
"Bullshit."
"Not bullshit."
Zack stared at him. "Why?" he finally asked.
"In case my arms get blown off or something. Wouldn't want to miss out on one of my favorite pleasures. Here." Reno yanked off his shoes and socks, fitted the cigarette between his big and second toe, and proceeded to use his toes to return the cigarette to his mouth. It was one of the stranger things Zack had ever seen the redhead do.
"Well I can do that," Zack said, not to be outdone.
Reno laughed. "Soldier? You guys carry too much muscle. Way too inflexible."
"We stretch," Zack said defensively.
"Yeah, in your own little way. I'll believe it when I see it"
Zack took off his combat boots, put his cigarette between his toes, and brought his foot upwards, grunting. It wasn't even close. Using his hand to pull his foot closer he still had to lean forward before just managing to snag the small stick by stretching his lips like a camel.
"You cheated, you used your hands," Reno said.
"Well, I don't plan on getting my arms blown off. Do that again."
Reno repeated the feat, this time delicately plucking the cigarette from his mouth using two toes.
"That's just unnatural, Reno. What is that, some sort of secret Turk training?"
"Actually it's just me. I've been going to that lunch time Yoga class for awhile."
"Yoga?"
"Yeah, it's one of those heated classes. Very sweaty. Mostly women in there, wearing next to nothing, bending around in enticing positions."
"Really? Who?"
"Brenda, from accounting, Lelia, that new girl in document control."
"Yeah, I've been out with both of them," Zack said.
"Janette, that blonde from customer service?"
"Yeah, her too."
"I think we date all the same girls, Zacky."
"That's a little disturbing."
"How about Jolie?"
"Oooh, yeah." Zack said.
"Now if you've been with Jolie, you must have done everything there is to do in bed."
Zack nodded.
"With a girl," Reno added.
Zack gave Reno a sideways look, although the redhead pretended to be staring disinterestedly out at the city.
"Not working Reno, you're not getting me into bed with you."
Reno smiled at him. "Well clearly you like variety. It's just one more thing to experience in the world. You got something against experience?"
"It's not that, I just don't swing that way," Zack said.
"Oh? Maybe you just don't know. And if you don't know, how would you know if you were in love with Sephiroth or not?"
"I know what I know." Zack drained his second glass and filled his third.
"You mean you've never felt a stirring down below when just guys are around."
Zack made a face. "I'm a twenty-one year old, makoed up male. It stirs all the time."
"Yeah? While training?"
"Pfft. Bloodflow. Happens to everybody."
Reno made a mental note to make more friends with Soldiers.
"Lockerroom? The showers?" Reno asked.
"Showers are nice. Who doesn't like the feel of a shower?"
"Now?"
"No."
Reno reached over with a speed forged in good reflexes and training (and relative sobriety) and quickly stroked one finger up the inside of Zack's thigh until it bumped into a firmness in his groin.
"Liar," he declared, sitting back into his chair.
"Oh, that is so unfair!" Zack said, stunned that even Reno would dare such a thing.
"I always fight unfair," Reno said, taking another drink as his blue eyes glinted over his glass.
Zack groaned leaned his head back and covered his face with both hands. There was no stopping the progression now; he stretched out in his chair to give his erection a bit of room. Goddamn Reno, stroking his inner thigh like that.
"What are you trying to do to me, Reno?"
"Just my job," Reno said, knowing Zack would have no idea what he was talking about and in his inebriated state would simply dismiss the comment. He said it merely to amuse himself, for the truth was the fact that Tseng had asked him to do 'something' about Zack Fair had nothing to do with what he was doing now. He liked Zack, hell, he loved Zack and the young Soldier really was in danger of hurting himself. He needed something to help him out and Reno's was pretty sure this was what he needed to move forward. Plus at the moment he wanted Zack. He had always wanted to add him to his collection, but vulnerable like this Reno found him irresistible. He let his eyes slip down Zack's stretched out form, from where his T-shirt clung to his well muscled chest, down his flat stomach and over the plainly visible bulge at his hips. Zack was close. He was going to cave in.
"You'll never know for sure, Zacko, until you try. Until then there'll be no peace for you."
Zack looked over at Reno, and found his face was uncharacteristically sincere. His fine face, his amazingly fine face. Even Sephiroth, who so obviously disliked the Turk, had admitted he thought part of the reason Reno got away with so much shit was due to his stellar good looks. His square jaw and lean cheeks managed to express masculinity despite his delicate features. Reno was slouching in his chair, one arm slung over the back in a perfect picture of relaxed fluidity. His suit jacket had been long since discarded somewhere in the living room, leaving him in his white shirt, unbuttoned almost to his navel, a piece of his bright red pony tail making stark contrast on his collar.
Zack reached over and pulled a lock of the ponytail towards him, letting it slide through his fingers. It was unbelievably smooth, so unlike his own rough, ornery hair. Even in the darkness the red strands managed to catch and reflect the dim lights from the city below. He wanted to sink both his hands into it. He wanted to lay his bare skin against it, he wanted to kiss Reno while he was doing it. But he wasn't entirely happy with his friend's manipulative seduction. He looked up to see Reno watching him intently, and gripped the red ponytail aggressively.
"I pitch, you catch," Zack said.
"I'm good with that," and Reno smiled. It was a start.
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He took Zack's hand and led him into the apartment before he could change his mind, and then Reno kissed him, working his fingers in soft stokes on the back and sides of his neck. Zack responded immediately, wrapping one arm around Reno's lower back to pull their hips in contact, the other hand still stroking Reno's hair. Zack nudged them down the hallway, not relinquishing Reno's mouth until they were in the bedroom. There they took their time with one another, taking turns helping each other out of clothing until they stood entirely nude. Zack stepped close and kissed Reno again, their stiff, pliable members bumping tentatively against each other, all the while Reno continuing his soft circular strokes along Zack's neck and down his sides.
"Gaia, what is that you're doing?" Zack finally exclaimed, sighing heavily. "No wonder you're so damn popular."
Reno smirked at him and pulled him down towards himself onto the bed. Zack had other plans though. He pushed Reno over and guided him onto hands and knees, Zack kneeling behind him.
"Aw, you don't want to see my face, love?" Reno asked.
"I do, actually. But I really want this first." Zack was pulling on the red ponytail, struggling with the tie.
Reno smiled with satisfaction. Everybody loved the red. He reached back and with a practiced one handed motion flipped the binder free. Zack spread Reno's hair into a shiny mat across the Turk's back and laid the side of his face onto it, and then his chest. The feeling was incredible. So was the feel of Reno's lean, hard arms and sides. Zack's erection was underneath the other man at the moment, the ridge brushing back and forth against the redhead's perineum, that wonderfully sensitive ridge behind his high, tight testicles. Reno moved slightly with him, his breathing quickening. Zack reached over to his nightstand and pulled a bottle from his wide assortment of lubes, flavored body butters, and sex toys and lubed himself up before slipping inside Reno's warm body. It wasn't an unfamiliar entry point for Zack in any way, at least with women. What was different was Reno. Wonderfully, erotically different. His voice, his smell, the taste of the clove cigarettes in his mouth, the hardness of his musculature everywhere under his skin.
"Kiss me," Zack said, tilting Reno's face to the side and finding he could reach his lips easily, Reno performing another feat of flexibility by twisting his torso half around.
Zack ran a hand down Reno's chest, down his stomach, but hesitated when he brushed Reno's hardened flesh, the small town taboo from his youth of never touching another man's manhood restraining him. Reno guided Zack's hand to bring him past this barrier and Zack gripped him firmly, finding himself pleased by Reno's responsive moan. He spread the slick precum and stroked Reno in time with his own thrusts, having the strange feeling that his hand was pleasuring himself instead. His rhythm must have been good for Reno, because he climaxed before Zack did.
Zack let himself collapse for a minute with his face buried in a sea of red. He ran his lips through it, over the nape of Reno's neck, finally over to one ear and let his teeth tug lazily and the small hoop in the earlobe. Then they uncoiled and laid side by side, Zack on his back, the alcohol and sudden drop of blood pressure spinning the room on him a bit. Reno propped himself up on an elbow and looked at him.
"Good?" he asked.
"Gooood," Zack sighed. Then he brought his hand up and traced the lines of Reno's face, his lips, his eyebrows, his jaw line. "I'm sorry if I was a little cold, in my position choice I mean."
"Not at all, Zacky. The night's still young, I'll give you a few minutes here, and then there are some things you have to try yet."
Zack smiled. He wanted to try everything. He closed his eyes and let Reno do as he would with him.
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A few hours before dawn Zack laid back, his body relaxed, his mind temporarily at ease. Reno was right, he had enjoyed that. All of it. His mind drifted, drifted where it often did, long silver strands, the hint of a smile on thin but sensuously curved lips, bright green eyes that sunk into his soul. He could quite literally smell the ever present leather.
"Awww, FUCK!" he said.
"Again?" Reno's sleepy voice said from beside him. "You're wearing me out Zack."
"No." Zack sat up and laid his face in his hands. "You were right."
Reno knew immediately what he was talking about. Of course he was right; he'd always known. Zack had been obviously in love with that guy for years.
"I'm always right about these things, Zacko. But you know, just because he's married it's not necessarily the last word in the book."
"You don't know him. Fidelity is type of loyalty. He could never breach a loyalty. It's everything to him." Zack sighed. "Goddamn this hurts."
"That's why I don't fall in love, darlin'." Reno sat up and laid his arm across Zack's shoulder. He could feel Zack's pain like something was pinching his esophagus. "I'm so sorry Zack," he said, "I know I'm not the one you need, but let me be your shoulder at least tonight."
And Zack allowed him, laid his head on Reno's shoulder, silent tears running onto his chest. Reno kissed the top of his head, a single tear of his own sliding past the crescent shaped mark under his eye and into Zack's hair. Man, love was a bitch.
Reno waited until Zack was fast asleep, and then slipped from his friend's bed, dressed silently and eased open the door.
"Good luck, Zacko," he whispered, and headed back home. He had done all he could here. He'd check on him tomorrow.
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"Hey, Zackman."
Zack was a little taken aback to see the Reno down in the Soldier lounge this morning, especially given the night they had just spent.
"No coffee in the Turk lounge this morning?" he asked, eyeing the redhead uneasily.
"I just came down to see how you were doing."
Zack winced. He was hungover for the fourth time this week, and he was standing in the lounge with his friend, his male friend, who he had just had hours of romping sex with the night before. It was a new level of weirdness in Zack's short but colorful life.
"Aw, don't be that way, Zack," Reno said. "Just a heavy night, one more in the long book of Renotology, yo."
This had the intended effect of relaxing Zack.
"Gee, I feel sort of sullied and used," he said, rubbing one palm across his chest, but smiling a little.
Reno winked, but his smile was gentle. "Don't," he said.
Then Zack's head jerked towards the door, and Reno could hear a deep smooth voice in the hallway. Sephiroth. He passed by with another Soldier, taking a quick look into the open doorway. His bright green eyes caught Zack's briefly, flashed suspiciously at Reno, and then he was gone.
Reno passed behind Zack to fill a coffee cup, and then he laid his lips close to Zack's ear.
"You have to tell him, buddy, or this will eat you from the inside," Reno whispered.
Zack snorted. "Says the guy who's never been in love."
"I said I never fall in love," Reno said, sauntering towards the door, "I didn't say I'd never been. See you around, Zackman."
Zack stood in the empty lounge, his ears ringing with the silence and the residual of the poison he had imbibed last night. Reno was right about another thing, it was eating from the inside. And he was killing himself over it. But tell Seph? What exactly? That not having the General in a way he never could was making him borderline suicidal? And right when the General finally got something healthy and good and normal after his twisted horror show of a life? What the hell good could come out of such a thing?
There was no way he was going to do that to the man he loved so. But he couldn't continue with what he was doing either. There was another option. Zack went to his office, rummaged through a file, and pulled out a form.
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Sephiroth dropped the stack of papers he had scooped off his desk before leaving the office onto his coffee table. If he had a few minutes tonight he would review them. He was grateful that Tessa was so tolerant of him doing some work while she cooked or looked over some work of her own. He kicked off his boots and turned to get a bottle of water but stopped as Zack's scribbled excuse for a signature caught his eye. He picked up the sheet and studied it, his face darkening into an angry scowl. He snatched up the phone.
"This is Zack." The voice sounded lackluster, like it's owner had been all week.
"What the fuck is this?"
Zack jerked the receiver away from his ear. Sephiroth never swore at him. Then it occurred to him. He must have gotten his request.
"What?" Zack asked stupidly.
"Damn it Zack, you know what. I'm at home. Get you ass up here, now."
The line went dead, and Zack supposed he would have to go. He sighed and pushed away from his desk, his heart as dull and heavy as a lump of unfired clay.
A few minutes later he was standing in the General's living room, the damning sheet of paper being waved angrily at him.
"Why, Zack?"
Zack shrugged. "I just want to be out in the field for awhile."
"You requested the Northern Crater. For six months. Nobody wants guard work at the Northern Crater. It's where I send guys for punishment."
Zack shrugged again.
"Zack, what's wrong?"
Zack forced his face and body to remember their relaxed postures they'd known most of his life. He looked Sephiroth in the eye, smiled, and lied. "Nothing."
The back of his head hit the wall so fast he barely saw the attack coming. A claw like grip had him by the throat, pinching off his air. Sometimes he forgot how quick the General could be. Even in Zack's depressed state his body's impulse was to fight, but he knew that would be disastrous. It was one of those times to yield. But Sephiroth didn't release him soon he would be passing out.
"Need I remind you, Soldier, that lying to me is considered a breach of loyalty? I may have not divulged things to you. I may have trouble speaking, but I have never, ever, lied to you!"
He released Zack with a punitive jerk, allowing him a much needed gulp of air. He moved his biting grip to Zack's shoulder to hold him out at arms length. Zack hung his head, shame and pain twisting together in his mind like a pair of experienced dancers. Sephiroth was right. He couldn't lie any more to his friend and commander. It was less than the man deserved.
"I love you, Seph," he finally said.
Sephiroth shook his head, confused.
"I love you as well, but how does this land you in the Northern Crater?"
"You don't understand," Zack said.
"Enlighten me."
Zack looked up at his friend, those sharp green eyes now full of concern, one silver strand brushing against a chiseled cheekbone. And he knew in that moment that he would never be free of him. He would see Sephiroth's face in his dreams, hear his voice when the darkness became lonely, feel his absence by his side. And Zack knew he could never come back here. He leaned forward and kissed the man he loved full on the lips.
Sephiroth was still for a moment, but then grasped the problem. He probably should have figured this one out sooner.
"Oh, Zack." He released Zack's shoulder and laid his palm along the young man's face. A hot tear wetted his hand. "When did this happen?"
"I don't know. I think maybe I always loved you this way. I can share you but I can't bear to be left behind. So please, just send me away from you."
"No."
Zack sobbed loudly at this, not believing his General would not release him. But the reality was he couldn't stay, he simply couldn't take anymore.
Sephiroth pulled Zack towards him, pressing the young man's head to his shoulder. Sighing, he dropped them both to the couch, and as Zack wept he held him there, laying his cheek against the top of Zack's head and stroking his face. Any other time Zack would have been elated to receive so much attention, but not in this posture of imprisoned rejection.
So great was Zack's inner turmoil that he didn't hear Tessa come in. She saw the misery in her husband's green eyes, the look that she now understood would include tears if his physiology had allowed it. She silently stepped forward and kissed him gently, her hair brushing against Zack's face. The young Soldier looked up, his wet eyes going wide with alarm.
"Hey Zack," she said in a whisper, and went into the bedroom to put her packages down.
Sephiroth stared after her, not in the least because the items she had were things that belonged in the kitchen. He disentangled himself from his Second.
"Don't leave," he said, giving him a hard look to indicate this was not an optional request.
He went to the bedroom and shut the door behind him. Zack leaned his forehead into his hands, feeling utterly hopeless. He certainly wanted to leave, more than anything, but dared not. He had done the thing he swore he would not. He had hurt his friend's homelife and damaged his chanced for happiness. He waited for the yelling to start.
"Tessa, what is it exactly you think Zack and I are to each other?" Sephiroth studied his wife carefully.
"I knew you loved one another, but from what I just saw I assume you are lovers."
Sephiroth tried to read her expression, but her bright aqua eyes were completely neutral.
"You're not angry?"
"I wish you had told me. It would have made things a lot simpler. And he needn't have suffered so, at least not on my account."
Not angry, Sephiroth decided. He put his hands on her shoulders and was relieved to feel her arms wrap around his waist.
"Would you explain that a little more clearly?" he asked.
"My dear, I wouldn't deny you a man. Especially a lover you've had for some time."
"We are not, we've never..." he started, stopped, and tried again. "I do want to be with him very much. And he is so miserable."
She smiled, a little mischievously. "I could see that. I think you should defiantly keep him." She stroked his face. "But just for your information if you take another woman into your bed I will kill you in your sleep."
Sephiroth took a moment to absorb this.
"OK, thanks for the warning." Then his brows knit.
"I may be odd, but even I do know this is not a normal arrangement," he said.
"What's normal?" She asked, "Certainly not you. You were raised with no examples of love to pattern after. And me, well you're forgetting where I'm from."
Right, he thought, Dajou. He hadn't actually forgotten; he just didn't want to get too hopeful. He kissed her, holding the kiss for a long time, then lifted his chin over her forehead while she kissed his throat.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too my dear, but right now I think you need to spend some time alone with him."
Sephiroth smiled and nodded. "What time will you be back?"
"When do you want me back?"
He considered. "Seven thirty."
Her eyebrows rose. It was six thirty now.
"Are you sure that's going be enough time?"
"Trust me," he said.
She did trust him, in every way. Tessa gave him one last kiss and then scooped up the groceries, went out to the kitchen to put them where they belonged. She knew Zack was watching her, probably confused, certainly still miserable. It made her feel a little like Santa Claus to know he was about to be made very un-miserable indeed. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek, laid her face onto his and whispered in his ear,
"You boys have fun." And with that sashayed out the door, her long wavy hair swinging as she went.
Zack turned a stunned look to Sephiroth, who was still standing in the bedroom door. He raised one hand, pointing at the door Tessa had just exited, a question on his lips that he could not find the words for.
"Come here, Zack," Sephiroth said.
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Zack was up and in his commander's arms in an instant, but Sephiroth held him out at arms length as he rotated him into the bedroom. There were a couple of things he needed to know first.
"I would not have guessed your orientation included this." It was a statement, but Zack understood it required an answer of him.
"I didn't think so either until recently. I guess I needed a little nudge. Some exposure."
"Who?"
Zack looked around uncomfortably, but there was not escape for him if Sephiroth asked a direct question. He was bound by both love and duty to answer.
"Reno."
He saw something dangerous flare in Sephiroth's eyes, but his attitude remained amiable.
"Arms up," he ordered, and Zack happily complied as Sephiroth untucked his formfitting, Soldier issue T-shirt. The feel of Sephiroth's fingers around his waist sent goose bumps up his sides and his nipples stiffened as the shirt was yanked up over his head. But before the garment cleared his person Zack found it viciously wrapped around both his wrists as he was flung on his back onto the bed, Sephiroth pinning his arms over his head, straddling Zack's midsection with his thighs. This time, in a mild panic, Zack struggled.
"Don't fight," Sephiroth said firmly. "Yield Soldier, if you want to get through this."
Zack forced himself to still, violet eyes now wide in alarm as he looked at his new lover.
"I suppose I should thank him, but no more Reno. Not ever. "
Zack relaxed a little. Jealous. The General was jealous over him.
"That's not a problem," Zack said.
"And no other men for you either. Me only."
Now Zack smiled. "That's not a problem either."
Zack's smile broadened as Sephiroth released his hold on him and he was able to unwrap his wrists and finally fling his shirt away. Sephiroth kissed him gently, a kiss that was for the moment free of demands and carried all the affection, protectiveness, and tenderness he felt for his Second. The next kiss was more urgent, pressing Zack's head into the mattress even as he pressured back, their tongues sliding deeply past one another. Zack lifted his hands into Sephiroth's silver mane and pulled great locks of if forward until it surrounded him like a tent. His sex was straining against the button fly of his fatigues, teased to the point of madness by the pressure of Sephiroth's body as he alternately leaned against him and then took himself away. Zack bucked his hips upward, seeking that pressure, and sat up to follow Sephiroth when he stood.
"Lay back," Sephiroth whispered, pressing him back down, his low smooth voice more compelling than any command he had ever given him. Zack forced himself to be still, his body twitching with the effort. Sephiroth grabbed up each of Zack's boots and with one yank of the laces and a deft tug had them both off. He then unfastened Zack's fly and worked off his fatigues, taking the boxer shorts with them. Then he was over him again, running his hands possessively over Zack's finely muscled torso, down the sides of his hips, up his inner thighs and just to the point where it might give him the most pleasure before veering away. Zack groaned in a mixture of pleasure and frustration as what he needed was only just denied.
Finally Sephiroth stood and peeled off his own clothes. Zack propped himself up on his elbows to watch in fascination. He had of course through years of action seen Sephiroth in various stages of undress. Naked from the waist up after discarding a previous battle coat that had cought fire, skin uncovered to deal with wounds, the few but grateful occasions where they could swap out dirt and blood soaked clothing for something clean between actions- but he'd never seen him fully nude before, and certainly not in this state. His erection stood so high is brushed the thin silver line of body hair that ran down his abdomen to join the bright spray that haloed his genitals. Zack wanted to sit up again, to reach for him, but he was gently guided back into place. Sephiroth leaned over him and tilted both Zack's legs upward.
"I want to be able to see your face."
Zack swallowed and nodded. He was glad of it beyond words, glad it was this way that Sephiroth wanted him for their first time, glad because he wanted to see his face too. Sephiroth leaned forward until their hips touched, their members quivering side by side. He took them both in one hand, pulled and stroked them together.
Zack sighed. This is what he wanted, this is what he always wanted, be this close to the man he had idolized ever since joining Soldier. The man who he had worked to hard to be close to and who even though he stood as his side, fought at his side, always seemed to find himself at arms length from.
A quick flick of a finger and Sephiroth opened the drawer on the nightstand and pulled out a small bottle. With a glance he rejected it, and rummaged for another. Zack recognized the red label and small flame. RedHot. Please, not the RedHot, he thought, find some plain in that drawer, plain is good. Sephiroth retrieved another bottle with a blue label that Zack hoped was plain, dropped a line of the clear elastic liquid along his own member and stroked to spread it, then dribbled a generous zigzag across the tight skin of Zack's throbbing organ. Zack jerked slightly at the coolness of the fluid, and then sighed loudly as Sephiroth slid smoothly and with surprising care inside of him. Finally, at long last he was able to give every bit of himself over, and they were as close as two people could physically be, bodies completely enmeshed.
He heard the timber of Sephiroth's groan as he started his stroke, and knew he was as close as Zack was. Sephiroth gripped Zack in his hand, giving him the pressure he was craving. He almost immediately overflowed onto his own hard abdomen, and Sephiroth quickly followed with several hard thrusts that violently shook the oversized bed. They collapsed together, the heat from their bodies blazing where their skin touched.
"I love you, Zack. Don't ever let me tell you otherwise. Don't ever believe otherwise. Promise me."
"I promise."
Sephiroth pulled himself carefully from his new lover, rolled onto his back and rolled Zack towards him, lubricant and semen dripping and spreading on both of their torsos. He reached over to the nightstand and pulled out a few pre-moistened wipes, the moisturizing kind, to scoop up the excess. Zack appreciated how expertly stocked the bedroom was, and thought lazily he should remember to thank Tessa. For a thousand things, really.
"I want to do that again," Zack said.
Sephiroth laughed.
"No, really, I'm ready, in a minute..."
"Zack you're practically asleep."
As if to emphasize the point Zack yawned. "It's been a really hard week. Being upset wears me out. Worse than fighting all day."
"Plus you've been drinking."
Zack looked up into the bright green eyes of his General. So he knew that then.
"You think I don't keep track of you? I just didn't know what was wrong. Next time tell me."
"Yeah, I know. That's what..." he stopped himself. He was about to say 'that's what Reno said to do,' but he'd have to be a special kind of idiot to bring Reno up again. "That's what I'll do," he finished, luckily covering with another yawn.
Sephiroth gazed at Zack's unusual violet eyes, lovingly stroked his hair and covered his face with a series of slow gentile kisses. Zack smiled as he drifted off to sleep.
He checked the clock. Seven o'clock. Right on schedule; he figured they'd be quick their first time. He slipped off the bed away from Zack's peaceful form and into the shower.
When he finished he gathered his steely mane at the nape of his neck and squeezed the thick rope it made through his hand. He was always amazed how much water it held. It dumped about a liter every time he did this. He toweled dry, and the powerful cowlick above his forehead lofted the silver stuff up and away from his face despite the weight from its wetness and length. He peered at it in the mirror. Had to be from those odd genes Tessa was talking about, no human he ever saw had hair that did that. He wondered if his heavily anticipated children would have the same and smiled.
He stepped into the living room in a lightweight robe, not bothering to secure the front. He picked up Zack's transfer request, held it over the trash and with a flick of his fingers ignited the thing and watched the sooty remains drift downwards.
The front door opened and Tessa came in, giving her husband a long appreciative look, eyes lingering on the General's general. They stepped together, brushing fingertips and lips along each other's skin.
"And what did you do with your hour?" Sephiroth asked.
"I took a walk. Worked myself into an aroused frenzy thinking of you two in here."
She peeked over Sephiroth's shoulder into the bedroom where Zack lay dozing on his stomach, a comforter balled up under him. One well muscled thigh lay off to the side with bent knee, and his naked back and smooth buttocks shone gold in the day's fading light through the window. A ruff of black hair stuck up over the mounds of a pillow.
"Oh my," she said, "He is adorable."
Sephiroth smiled. "I want you to join us."
"You don't have to share him," she said, letting her fingers drift over his lips. He kissed their delicate tips and shook his head.
"Yes I do. If the two of you can't love each other I don't think this can work for me."
She nodded and he unbuttoned her blouse with the fingers of one hand, the other working the clasp of her skirt. As he kissed her hungrily she wriggled out of the rest of her clothes until her warm skin pressed against his, his swelling erection pressing back against her.
Sephiroth scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom, and laid her carefully alongside Zack. Zack rolled, opened his eyes dreamily, then widened them in surprise. Sephiroth watched him closely, noting with satisfaction the stirring of his organ as he gazed mesmerized by Tessa's stretching and writhing on her back like a cat. He reached forward and tilted Zack's chin up. Zack looked at him guiltily. Sephiroth chuckled as he kissed the young man, and then guided his hand to Tessa's form.
Zack needed no extra encouragement. She was every bit as beautiful as he had imagined, and he had imagined her in great detail, including numerous occasions while he burned alone in his bed (despite popular belief he was sometimes alone). He ran his hand over one full breast and moved his forefinger and thumb deftly around the erect nipple. Her nipples were almost the same color as her lips, and he leaned forward and kissed those lips that were already parted in a soft moan. In some vague and distant part of his mind that was still capable of thought he wondered if he was allowed to kiss her, if there were some things he was allowed to take and others not. But he pushed the thought aside. Sephiroth was in no way a timid or indecisive, and it never mattered if it was something he had experience in or not. If Zack passed some unspoken boundary he would know immediately. And probably painfully.
He returned his gaze to Tessa's body, now letting his hand glide over her flat stomach to the mound of coppery curls on her pubis where his finger stopped to explore an exquisite softness there. He let out an appreciative sound, and Sephiroth's hand joined his, mixing in the soft coils.
"I like that too," he said, catching Zack's eye briefly.
Zack slid a finger straight down the middle crevice, and finding her already slick pressed his erection uncontrollably into her thigh. He brought himself up, licked his finger, and laid his lips onto her mound. She immediately let out a moan of pleasure, but he found himself guided gently by two pairs of hands onto his back again. Tessa and Sephiroth glanced at one another conspiratorially.
"Lie back, dear," Tessa said to him, "I think you're the guest of honor here tonight."
"So, what, I'm not allowed to work at all?" he asked.
"In a minute, Zack," Sephiroth said.
Zack lay still as Tessa kissed him, pulling his tongue in and out of her mouth, then running her lips down his neck and torso until they reached the head of his shaft. She engulfed him whole into her mouth, and the warm wetness made him want to groan but Sephiroth's mouth was already on his. He could feel the General's hair spilling onto his chest, and he slid one hand into Tessa's hair on the other into Sephiroth's. She was good, somebody had trained her well to put the kind of suction and force that he craved. And Sephiroth was running his strong hands over his shoulders and chest again. Maybe he had died and this was what living in the lifestream was like. His rhythm increased, and Sephiroth looked down and him and shook his head. That was it then, he wasn't dead, but he was going to die if his commander wasn't going to let him come.
Sephiroth rolled Tessa to face him and motioned Zack to take the other side of him. Zack looked a moment in disbelief over what he was being invited to do, but with a quick hop had himself on the other side of the bed. He watched with a voyeur's greed as Sephiroth entered Tessa, one of her graceful legs hooked up over the general's hip. Then Zack grabbed the blue bottle (plain), lubed up his rod, then added some extra for good measure. He wasn't sure what the result would if he made the General sore from friction, but he guessed it wouldn't be good.
"Mind your angle Zachary," Sephiroth said.
"Yes sir," Zack replied, too stunned and a bit too nervous to say anything else. He eased himself inside, taking care not only with his angle but also not to upset their delicate balance of physical meshing, until his chest and stomach were pressed firmly against Sephiroth's back. Finally free to use his hands, he let one hand stroke down Sephiroth's broad chest, down the ripples of his abs, through his coarse pubic hair and onto Tessa's softer variety, up her belly and around the curve of her breasts before starting the loop again. Sephiroth was also running his hands on her, and she let out a sound something like the cross between a moan and a whimper as she climaxed. Sephiroth increased the force and speed of his thrusting, the resulting rebound exacting an unconscious groan from Zack. His orgasm followed his commander's almost immediately. Sephiroth let his head and whole frame collapse, eyes barely open.
"Middle is good," he declared, much to the delight of his bedfellows. He extracted himself from both sides and rolled each of them to where they could lay their heads one on each shoulder. "Mine. Both mine," he said sleepily. Tessa smiled at Zack across the span of the General's chest.
"He's so possessive," she whispered, wrinkling her nose.
Zack shook his head and smiled "I think it's his nature." He scooted his head forward and kissed her.
"Did you notice his temperature?" she asked.
"Yeah, what is up with that? He's hot, I mean I know he's hot, but like his body's on fire."
"He can run his core temperature up to 104 without a problem or breaking a sweat. Feels good, doesn't it?"
"Like a hottub," Zack said.
"We should do this with him out in the snow sometime."
"Yummy."
And they went on like this, whispering things to each other, occasionally kissing and touching each other's face and lips, and Sephiroth slowly realized that their conversation was entirely about him, things Tessa appreciated about him that she had not spoken, and certainly things Zack had never spoken. They had to know he was listening, so in a way it was directed to him as well. A love letter written in tandem, and all the while letting their free hands roam up and down his skin, passing simultaneously on either side of his slowly reviving sex.
He shut his eyes, just listening and feeling. This could possibly make up for a truly rotten childhood.
cccccccccccccccccccccc
Monday was a good day for Zack. He hadn't realized how terrible he had been feeling physically. He was sober, for one, and Tessa had fed him all weekend and insisted he rest (at least part of the time). She had also shot him up with some vitamin concoction, and this morning he had been down to the lab and had his levels tested. He was at 231, better, but a ways to go. It would take the rest of the week probably to get back up to his coveted 240. He made a mental note not to let his level go to hell like that again.
"Hey, Zack." His fellow First Class Soldier Marcus had caught him by the elbow as they passed in the hallway. Zack turned to see a very concerned pair of bright amber eyes scrutinizing him.
"What's up?" Zack asked.
"You, I hope," Marcus said. "Feeling better?"
Zack looked at him curiously. Marcus noticed how he'd been last week? Had everyone noticed? Probably, now that he thought about it. Soldier was a very insular community.
"Yeah," he said, "I think I'm all better now."
"Really?"
"Really. It was a personal problem. It's been resolved."
"OK," Marcus said, still looking a little doubtful, "Because a bunch of us were planning on hog tying you and dragging you down to the lab to see what was wrong with you if you weren't better today."
"Gee, I'm touched that you guys would consider doing violence to me over this." Zack said. "But seriously, I've been down to the lab already this morning, I'm doing fine, so don't waste any tears on me, OK? Wouldn't want you to use up all your Kleenex."
Marcus stared at Zack as he retreated down the hall, recalling that when he came in this morning and snatched a Kleenex the whole box had blown up on him in a terrifying white fluffy plume. Someone had very carefully loaded a small ordinance in there. The whole thing disintegrated, bits of tissue everywhere. His office was still coated with it. Some small tufts were still in his hair. That bastard Zack knew he had allergies.
"YOU!" He yelled after Zack, who disappeared with a smile and a wave behind the elevator doors on his way to a meeting. Zack grinned happily to himself. Yeah, he had been neglecting a number of things lately.
Meetings were another matter altogether. He had three with Sephiroth, and not once did the General catch his eye or give any indication that anything had changed between them. Of course Zack expected this, but couldn't quite get over how easily Sephiroth was managing it. His stomach was full of butterflies every time he looked at him. It was a bit more than he could take. He followed the General into his office and shut the door behind him.
"Seph?"
Sephiroth looked at him, green eyes unreadable.
"Could you just smile at me or something? I'm starting to feel like this whole weekend was a hallucination."
Then the solidity of Sephiroth's face broke, his eyes livened, and the edges of his mouth twitched upward.
"I can do better than that," he said, slid his fingers into the dark unkempt hair on the back of Zack's head and kissed him. Zack felt his face warm and the flesh between his legs harden. Delicious as that was, that was all he needed, to be walking out of the General's office with a full blown stiffy pressing at the front of his trousers.
"Thanks, I'm good," he said, and abruptly left.
Sephiroth chuckled to himself at Zack's obvious distress. If he had known it was that easy to get Zack out of his office and back to work he'd have kissed him a long time ago.