[A/N: 19/50 of the 50Shuffle Challenge [dammit I will never finish this D8]
Hullo all! Man I've been inactive. Squished with college work and RP'ing xD Sad times…
But anyways! I said about a month ago I'd upload this for Cookiecat [and I still haven't replied to that PM! Argh!] so here it is, very belatedly! :3 Thanks to Chaos for reminding me inadvertently there…
Enjoy~!]
"Gen, wake up."
Genesis ignored the voice and turned over a little, snuggling closer to the warmth he shared the bed with.
"Mmph."
He was nudged, gently and then harshly, startling sapphire eyes into fluttering open. The blinds were open, sunlight glaring into his face as Angeal pushed him onto the mattress and attempted to stand before Genesis pulled him back.
"Whasappenin?" he asked blearily, blinking several times to clear the blur from his vision. Angeal rolled his eyes and shook off Genesis' restraining arm in exasperation.
"We have a meeting with Lazard to discuss new combat methods, remember?" He shook his head at Genesis' befuddled expression. "It's been planned for weeks?"
Finally the redhead remembered and flopped back onto the bed with a dramatic sigh. "Can't we just leave that to Sephiroth?" he groaned, and then slid one eye open to regard Angeal coyly. "We could say we were busy…"
The other SOLDIER pushed him back from where he'd started to sit up and leant over him until there were barely inches between their lips.
"To put it quite simply, Gen, no." He grinned. "And we both know this is exactly what you would be doing had Sephiroth won you last night."
Genesis' eyes slid closed in amusement as he remembered the previous evening. At the end of a very enjoyable night the three had spent together, Angeal and Sephiroth – both a little on the other side of 'tipsy' – had devised a drinking game involving shots of potent alcohol and an ensuing endurance battle to decide who would be awarded Genesis' favour for the rest of the night. Genesis himself had been on the receiving end of a few too many cocktails of various descriptions to care about being regarded as such a commodity, and merely enjoyed the spectacle, goading on both parties with ever more lewd reminders of what they were competing for.
It had been close, but in the end Angeal was declared victor and made off with his spoils – and Genesis couldn't remember much after that.
"Which reminds me, how are you so cheery when I feel like I've been trampled on by a horde of rabid chocobos?" The redhead glared up at his lover, who merely smiled and gave him a peck on one aristocratic cheekbone.
"You think about that one, Gen," Angeal said as he disappeared into the bathroom. After a moment, a pillow thudded against the closed door but Angeal just laughed.
Foiled, Genesis fell back on the mattress and tried to banish the heaviness from his limbs and the headache from his skull. He glanced at the time and eventually forced himself to get up, searching around to rescue various articles of clothing from where they'd been discarded the night before.
"Damn Lazard… damn meetings… damn it all…"
The stream of curses continued until he eventually emerged into the kitchen and slammed on the coffee machine, slumping against the counter until the switch flicked back off. With a sigh of appreciation, Genesis sipped the hot liquid, shaking his head a little to clear it fully, and paused to look out of the window as he finished the beverage.
Suddenly, as he listened to Angeal belting out some optimistic tune over the hiss of the shower, blue eyes flashed and widened when a flash of inspiration hit the redhead. A smirk washed over his lips as he thought more on the idea, and slowly widened into a grin.
Maybe this wouldn't be so dire after all.
-
Angeal emerged out of the bathroom, already dressed, to come face to face with a very calm, disturbingly still Genesis, seated sedately in a chair with his legs loosely crossed. The redhead flashed a strange smile at his lover before he stood and wandered over to the door, pausing before it.
"Hadn't we better be going?" he asked over his shoulder as Angeal stood, disquieted with the sudden change in his disposition. "We'll be late at this rate…"
Angeal blinked and jerked into movement, trying to work out what had happened to make Genesis so cheery. They were halfway down the corridor before he shrugged the problem off and instead concentrated on the upcoming meeting; he'd decided long ago that it was far easier to let Genesis be than to try to analyse his personality.
Lazard and Sephiroth were already in the Briefing Room when the two entered, Lazard looking the same as always, Sephiroth looking as wretched as was possible for him – which was of course perfectly composed in comparison to others. His eyes flicked up at Genesis and then cast a – dare he say it? – envious look at Angeal before he returned his attention to Lazard as he began the meeting.
"Now you're here, we can begin," the Director began with a typically warm smile at the latecomers. "We were just discussing how the Thirds could implement this…"
Genesis leaned back in his chair next to Angeal and the other SOLDIER twitched, expecting some action or remark to pay him back for waking the redhead up; but there was nothing. Azure eyes remained fixed on the electronic board and Lazard, seemingly paying rapt attention.
Angeal couldn't concentrate on the meeting when he was so puzzled over Genesis' strange mood. The redhead never paid attention in meetings – it was a small miracle he'd managed to gain First, with his notoriously short concentration span in his official capacity.
He had just managed to tune out the quandary and was about to contribute when slim fingers traced up the outside of his knee and up his thigh, leaving a feathery-light ticklish sensation in their wake. It was all Angeal could do not to jump visibly and his mind was wiped of what he was going to say; Lazard stared at him expectantly in the silence.
"Angeal?"
"Uh, yes," he stammered, determined not to look at Genesis. "I think that we have to consider the practical implications of…"
This time the fingers danced further up his leg, twisting around to the inside of his thigh enticingly. He couldn't control the surprised breath that hissed from his lips or the furious glare he shot at Genesis, who just looked back innocently at him.
"What were you going to say?" he asked sweetly, sable lashes sweeping down and up again in front of indigo eyes that glittered with deviousness. Across the room on the opposite side of the V-shaped table, Sephiroth snorted and folded his arms, glowering balefully at the redhead.
"It - it doesn't matter," Angeal replied, looking anywhere but at Genesis, trying desperately to regain his concentration. Genesis shrugged, Sephiroth sighed irritably and Lazard gave him an odd look before trudging on with the agenda.
Out of the corner of his eye, Angeal could see Genesis' smirk and almost anticipated the next teasing touch, attempting to kick the redhead off but failing as he merely swung out of reach and back before Lazard could notice anything wrong.
"Angeal, is something wrong? You don't seem well today…" Lazard enquired, peering over the top of his semi-circle lenses. Angeal flushed and shook his head, relaxing his hands from where they'd clenched into fists on the desktop.
"I am fine, thank you," he replied in a measured tone, caught in shame at having so obviously fallen into Genesis' trap. "Please, continue." Under his breath he hissed "Genesis, stop it now or I will bludgeon you to death."
The redhead smirked and relaxed further back into his chair. "But that would ruin my looks, no?"
Angeal heaved out a breath of frustration and glanced up to see Sephiroth, an expression on his face that would fit a serial killer, lurking like a storm cloud behind the other table. He shrugged helplessly but then Genesis' hand migrated right into his lap and all his attention was diluted into holding in his reaction; inadvertently biting his lip, he tried in vain to shift away from the invasion but his body seemed to have other ideas.
It came as a blessed relief when finally Lazard ended the meeting with another concerned look at Angeal and a suspicious scrutiny of a smug-looking Genesis. The latter smiled amiably and pretended to organise his (non-existent) notes as the Director noticed the time and rushed off with an apology.
Sephiroth tutted and unfolded out of his chair haughtily, shaking his head and wincing as he regretted the action, evidently still feeling the effects of the evening before. Genesis smirked at him and unashamedly slipped an arm around Angeal's waist, playing his other hand up the other's chest.
"I'll come to you later," he promised Sephiroth, who harrumphed and swept out of the room with a resigned "I'll leave you to it, shall I?"
When the door had slid closed after him, Angeal turned on Genesis furiously, shaking off his arm. "Why did you do that, Genesis? It wasn't helpful at all… I missed all of that meeting, it could have been important!"
Genesis rolled his eyes and stood, wrapping his arms around Angeal's neck from behind and resting his head on the other's shoulder. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it?" he said, a sly grin on his lips as he pressed them to Angeal's neck. "You should have let me sleep."
"This is all because I woke you up?" Angeal snorted in forced derision, not wishing to show the effect Genesis' proximity was having on him. "Grow up, Genesis."
The redhead affected a hurt expression and swung himself down into Angeal's lap, not resisted in any way. "Would you really want that?"
"What I want, Gen," Angeal replied, pushing the redhead off him, "is for you to stop distracting me so much."
"Or what?" Genesis asked coyly, perching on the edge of the table. Angeal leant forwards, planting one hand on either side of the redhead, hovering oh-so-close to his face.
"You remember that time in secondary school, when everyone had gone home and we were alone because you got us into detention?" Genesis nodded slowly, eyes glowing in remembered pleasure. Angeal smiled wickedly. "Well, it'll be like that. But I suppose we'd have to replace the cane with something else this time."
