Title: Meet Your Master
Author: XpaperplaneX
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~3500
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud
Genre: romance
Warnings: talk about BDSM
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work.
This is set some time before Changes. I really tried to not have to retcon Changes, but after starting and trashing this a half-dozen times, it still needs a tiny bit of retconning. I'm sorry.
XXX
"You need to get laid," Zack stated flatly, staring at the large stack of papers that Sephiroth had set in front of him.
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you think that will have some sort of bearing on your workload?"
"Of course it will; it's scientifically proven. You only ever start piling crap on me like this when you're desperate. It's been what? A few months? More?"
"I'm not telling you the last time I had sex, get out." Sephiroth shoved the papers meaningfully towards Zack.
"More, then. Let's see ... you scared off Kelly and dumped Hanson, didn't you? Why?" Zack pulled out a notepad and started flipping through it, apparently at random.
"I didn't scare Kelly, he just wasn't into the same things I'm into, and it's none of your business, anyway, Fair. Would you please go do your work? I'll try to find something more interesting for you tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I already found something more interesting. So, I'm guessing Hanson was either boring in bed, or wouldn't let you have control the way you want."
"Both," Sephiroth said when it became clear that Zack wasn't going to leave without being forcibly evicted.
"Have you ever considered that you're just too picky?"
Sephiroth just glared. Maybe he was too picky, but he didn't see any reason why he should settle for someone who wasn't compatible. He didn't need to have sex, so why should he have unsatisfying sex?
"All I'm saying is maybe put down the whips and chains for a while and just get laid like a normal person."
"Out. Now. Or I'll find things to add to that pile. We haven't done a materia inventory in a few years."
"Fine, kick me out when I'm trying to help. I'll see if I can find any suitable candidates for you. Because I'm nice like that. You're welcome," he added on his way out the door.
Sephiroth sighed and turned to his own paperwork. Zack would either turn up someone or forget about it in a few days. Either way, it rarely affected him much when he appointed himself Sephiroth's matchmaker.
XXX
The restaurant was quiet when Cloud stepped in and glanced around nervously. It was a bit late for the dinnertime rush, which was good, he supposed. If the date started to go badly, he could always get out of it by saying he needed to get to bed early.
"Good evening, for one?" The host smiled and picked up a menu.
"I'm supposed to be meeting someone ... is there an upstairs? He said ..." Cloud trailed off and glanced around, hoping to see a staircase.
"Ah, right this way." He gestured for Cloud to follow him and led the way to a spiral staircase in the corner.
The upper section of the restaurant appeared to be completely vacant until he spotted a single table in the back with a sole occupant. It was that table's occupant, however, that made Cloud start backing towards the stairs in a hurry.
"Is something wrong?" the host asked.
"No, it was a mistake, I'm sorry, I—"
"Cloud?"
Cloud came to a dead stop, not quite able to turn around to face the owner of the voice.
"You're here to meet me for dinner, right?"
"No, sir." Cloud forced himself to turn around, dreading what would happen when he did. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to salute in a situation like this or not, and his arms settled for flailing a bit. "I was supposed to meet someone, but I'm sure—"
"Did Zack not tell you who he was setting you up with?" Sephiroth didn't appear to be armed, but Cloud doubted that that fact would have any bearing on whether or not he was murdered tonight.
"Blind date, sir," Cloud choked out. "He said to go upstairs, but, I mean, it was obviously a mistake." He tried to inch back towards the safety of the stairs, but Sephiroth planted a hand on his shoulder and started pushing him towards the table.
"It wasn't a mistake," Sephiroth was saying, "though I was under the impression that you had been informed of who you were meeting. You can at least get a free meal out of this, so please calm down and try to stop panicking."
"I really don't think I can do that, sir." Cloud found himself sitting in a chair facing Sephiroth. Happily, it was the one closest to the exit, though he didn't believe it would do him any real good.
"Why not?"
"Why not?" Cloud parroted.
"Why can't you stop panicking?" Sephiroth whispered something to the waitress who was hovering nearby, and she nodded, then disappeared.
"Because you're SOLDIER First Class Sephiroth, and I'm obviously not meant to be here, so I should really go before I waste any more of your time. And I'm very, very sorry to have inconvenienced you, sir."
Sephiroth nodded slowly. "I see. You can go if you want, but you should know that I did know who I was going to be meeting tonight, so my time is really only going to be wasted if you leave right away."
Cloud stared at Sephiroth's perfectly calm face for several seconds. It didn't seem like he was joking. "You knew it was going to be me?"
"Correct."
The waitress returned and uncorked a bottle of white wine, then poured two glasses, leaving the bottle in a bucket of ice by the table. "Would you like me to have the kitchen prepare your appetizers now?" she asked quietly.
Sephiroth cast an appraising glance towards Cloud. "Yes." As soon as she was gone again, Sephiroth picked up his wine glass and nodded at Cloud's. "It's a semisweet Riesling. Zack said you like sweeter things."
Cloud looked at the wine, but didn't touch it. "I'm sorry, I just—I don't understand. If you knew it was going to be me, why—"
"Why what?"
"Why are you here?" he finished quietly, staring down at his hands in his lap.
He heard Sephiroth sigh and settle back in his chair, and a foot brushed him as he crossed his legs. "Every once in a while, Zack takes it upon himself to be my matchmaker. He comes up with a list of people he thinks I might like and demands that I choose someone. I'm here because I found you intriguing and I wanted to determine if we're compatible. Are you interested in doing that?"
"Seeing if we're compatible?" It sounded like some sort of scientific process.
"Yes."
Cloud chanced a glance up; Sephiroth was looking relaxed and confident—the exact opposite of how Cloud was feeling. But there was no way Zack would have sent him into this without thinking it through. He must have believed he could handle it. "Okay."
"So you'll stay for the free meal?" Sephiroth asked with a hint of humour in his voice.
Cloud laughed slightly and nodded. "I guess so, as long as it's free. I don't think I'm on the same pay scale as you."
"The tab's on me. I took the liberty of ordering for you, is that all right?"
"Yes, that's fine." Cloud felt himself relax a little bit. He liked it when someone else was taking charge. He'd have never known what to order in a fancy place like this, and he probably would have had a heart attack upon seeing the prices. It was better not to know.
When the waitress had left again after delivering a plate of cheeses and fruit, Cloud finally braved taking a sip of his wine. He found he actually liked it, which was a bit weird; wine had never been his first choice, but it went well with the cheeses.
"I have to ask how much Zack told you about me, since he didn't think you needed to know my name."
Cloud paused in putting a bit of jelly on top of a soft cheese and blushed. "I think he didn't tell me because I probably wouldn't have come if I had known."
"Fair enough, but surely he told you something to get you interested."
"Um, well, he told me that you were a SOLDIER, and he promised that I'd like you. He didn't really say much more than that ... Zack's kind of hard to say 'no' to."
"He is." Sephiroth stared at him for several long, uncomfortable moments before he spoke again. "Did he tell you that I was specifically looking for a BDSM partner?"
His wine decided to take a sudden trip down his lungs, and Cloud began coughing helplessly. "I'm sorry," he choked out between coughs. When his coughing fit died off, a glass of water had materialized in front of him. He wasn't sure how Sephiroth had managed that without him noticing, but he took several sips. "Thank you."
"I'm guessing that Zack either didn't mention it at all, or that you simply weren't expecting me to bring it up."
"He mentioned, I guess I just didn't think—it's not really—" Not something that one would talk about it public, in Cloud's opinion.
Sephiroth nodded his understanding. "As long as it's not a complete surprise. There's no one around, and I want this out in the open now. I've wasted far too much time on people in the past. I'm looking for a submissive partner. What that means exactly can be worked out between us, but if it's not something you can do, we'll have our meal and that will be the end of it."
Cloud nodded slowly, taking another sip of his water. Sephiroth seemed deadly serious—more so than Zack's comment about how his blind date sometimes liked to tie up his partners and order them around seemed to imply. "I've never actually—with the BDSM," he whispered the acronym like he half expected his mother to jump out of the shadows. "I mean, I'm not a virgin, but—are you looking for someone with ... experience?"
"Not necessarily." Sephiroth looked like he was going to say more, but broke off when the waitress arrived carrying two plates. She set one down in front of Cloud; the dish on it was something Cloud had never seen before. It looked a bit like stew, and it smelled good, at least.
"What is it?" he asked when the waitress had left.
"Do you need to know?"
He shrugged and picked up his fork. "I guess not."
"It's easier to eat with a spoon," was Sephiroth's only comment.
Cloud swapped his fork for a spoon and took a bite, mixing the stew with the rice that was on the side. "I like it," he said, nodding happily. It had a little bit of a bite to it, but not enough to make his nose run or anything embarrassing like that.
"Good. As I was saying, I don't mind if you're not experienced, as long as you're willing to experiment and step outside of your normal comfort boundaries. Perhaps being willing to try something without knowing what it is is a good sign."
"Was that a test?" Cloud asked, horrified.
"You could think of it like that, if you want. I've never had a first date with someone who didn't get upset that I ordered for them."
"I ... kind of liked that you ordered for me. Is that okay?"
"That's fine. I noticed that you relaxed a little bit when I told you. Do you normally prefer it when someone else is in control of the situation?"
Cloud found himself nodding until a thought suddenly occurred to him. "I don't mean that I can't—I do fine when I'm squad leader, really. I just—stuff like this—"
Sephiroth was smiling slightly, though he didn't seem to be laughing. "I think we might get along, Cloud."
XXX
Sephiroth placed his hand on the small of Cloud's back as he ushered him out onto the street. He hadn't expected much from the date; Cloud's rank had put him off, and knowing that Zack considered him a good friend was another red flag. Zack's friends were often people Sephiroth had to force himself to be around. But Cloud, though shy and rather nervous, had been an unexpected pleasure to be with. While he still had his doubts about how long it might last, he was definitely willing to try pursuing a relationship.
"Do you have to be back by a particular time?" Sephiroth asked, unsure if Cloud had regulations he needed to follow or an early morning drill.
"No," Cloud said hesitantly, "but ... I don't ... I'm not really comfortable with ... oh, but you want me to do things that I'm not comfortable with, don't you?"
"That depends on the things," Sephiroth said with a frown. "All right, two things. First, to get it out of the way, I'm not asking because I want to sleep with you tonight. I wanted to know if you'd like me to take you back to Shinra right away, or if you'd like to take a walk with me."
"Oh!" Cloud blushed a deep crimson. "Yes, I'd like that. The walk, that is. I'm sorry for assuming. I'm an idiot."
"Great, now we're up to three things." Sephiroth sighed exaggeratedly and turned down Loveless Boulevard. The streets were quiet, lit only by the faint glow from the mako reactors, and he slowed his pace to match Cloud's shorter steps. "The second thing is that when I said that I'd like you to be willing to step outside your comfort boundaries, I didn't mean that I didn't want to know if you're uncomfortable with something. It's quite the opposite, in fact. If this is going to work, I need you to tell me if you're not okay or feeling nervous."
"But isn't that not what you want? I mean, you want me to do as you tell me, right?"
"Would you be okay with that? Supposing I did want to have sex with you tonight, would you be okay if I just told you to let me?"
Cloud stopped in his tracks and turned his head slowly to look up at him. "No."
"And that's why I want you to tell me if you're not comfortable. I want anything that happens between us to be consensual, understood?"
"Understood, I think." Cloud started walking again, a bit more slowly, but his hand brushed against Sephiroth's, and he squeezed slightly when Sephiroth twined their fingers together. "So, you're saying that you want to be in control, but I can say no?"
"Exactly. Don't worry, it makes a bit more sense in practice. In my experience, there are hard lines, and there are fuzzy lines. A hard line might be, for example, bloodplay."
"Blood!?"
"Just an example. It holds no appeal for me; I see enough blood as a SOLDIER. If it did, however, and I brought it up, I would find it entirely reasonable for you to say that you absolutely do not want to engage in bloodplay. And I would respect that. A fuzzy line might be something like bondage. If you're not completely against being tied up, but still feel nervous about it, you could tell me, and I would take steps to make it less frightening for you."
"Like what? Because, well, I've never been tied up before, so I don't know if I'd like it."
"Okay," Sephiroth said with a smile, "let's talk about it, then. Want a drink?" He gestured to the vending machine that was set up beside a shop.
"Sure, thank you."
Sephiroth bought a melon soda for Cloud and an iced tea for himself, then found a bench where they could sit and continue their discussion.
"I like to establish rules as a first step," he said once they had made themselves comfortable. "I won't ever leave you alone if you're unable to free yourself. I will always have a way of freeing you quickly in case of emergency. I usually keep a knife nearby, but I'll also use quick release knots on occasion that can be undone by pulling on one end of the rope. Anything locking, like handcuffs, will have an emergency release. I'll also make sure that your physical needs are met. That means things like making sure your circulation isn't cut off and that you don't cramp up, giving you water and bathroom breaks, and keeping the temperature comfortable."
Cloud sipped on his soda and nodded with a thoughtful frown on his face. "That sounds reasonable. So it's like, a whole body sort of thing? I wouldn't be able to move at all?"
"Not necessarily, and definitely not at first. We'd start small, by tying your wrists together, for instance. Or perhaps to the bed frame if you're comfortable with it. You don't need to dive straight into the deep end."
"Yeah, I think I'd be okay with that."
Sephiroth felt a slight lurching in his stomach when Cloud looked up at him and smiled. Zack had certainly learned his preferred type, but it had seemed impossible to find someone who was appealing to him and also willing to indulge him.
"What was the third thing?" Cloud asked.
"Hmm?" Sephiroth gave himself a shake and tore his gaze away from Cloud's perfect lips. "Oh, that's right. You're not an idiot."
"What?"
"You're not an idiot," Sephiroth said again. "You made a logical assumption. One that anyone who isn't telepathic might make, and you spoke up to say that it wasn't what you wanted to do. Sort of."
Cloud grinned and blushed again. "I'll try to be more eloquent next time."
"Good job, because there probably will be a next time, so make sure I know." Sephiroth reached down and gripped Cloud's hand.
"I will," Cloud said quietly as he squeezed back. "Thanks for explaining all that to me."
"Should we head back? It's getting pretty late."
Cloud nodded and stood up, though he didn't let go of Sephiroth's hand. "Yeah, I guess. I've got to be at the range at nine."
"Mmm, late start. Appreciate those now. You'll never get them in SOLDIER."
"No way!" Cloud shouted, laughing. "Zack says he sleeps in all the time!"
"Yes, I spend more time writing him up than I do going on missions."
Cloud chatted about his schedule for the next day as they made their way back to the Shinra compound. He seemed to have relaxed significantly since they left the restaurant, and Sephiroth was glad that they had had the opportunity to discuss some terms. He imagined that Cloud probably had some pretty creative ideas about what Sephiroth was asking for. But Cloud definitely hadn't seemed comfortable talking about it in the restaurant, despite there only being a few staff members who might have overheard. He made a mental note to only discuss the finer details in private in the future.
He came to a stop a short distance from the entrance to the regular army barracks and kept Cloud out of sight of the cameras he knew about.
"I'd like to get together with you again," he said, trailing his fingers over a long spike of hair.
"I—I'd like that, too."
Sephiroth could hear Cloud's heartbeat speed up in the silence of the night and grinned. "You've got a Shinra issue PHS, right?"
"Yeah, do you want the number?"
"Your file will have it. How does Saturday work for you? I'm afraid I can't arrange things like the restaurant very often, but would you be willing to come to my place? You don't have to do anything you're not ready for."
"Saturday's good, and I'd be willing."
"Good, I'll call you tomorrow to work out the details." Sephiroth leaned down and tipped Cloud's chin up with his finger, pressing his lips gently to Cloud's. Cloud seemed happy to let him decide how far to take it, neither pulling away nor asking for more, though he did rise up onto his toes and reached out to touch his shoulder.
He had to fight with himself to keep from pushing it further; Cloud's lips were everything he had imagined them to be, and he wanted to taste him fully. But he pulled away after a couple minutes with no small amount of yearning.
"Good night, Cloud. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Good night," Cloud whispered. "Thank you for dinner."
Sephiroth watched until Cloud was safely indoors, then adjusted his pants and set a course for his apartment. Zack would want to know how it had gone, and Sephiroth was willing to bet that he'd even be in on time to find out.
XXX
A/N: There will be a second date, I promise.