YUMMIES! BOYS KISSING! YAY! Chapter two is up, baby, yeah! I had a hard time writing this chappie because the last week of my life was busy enough to cover about THREE weeks. Things should be going faster now, though, 'cause I'm outta school for da summer. :) Keep reviewing! I love reviews! I don't even care if its nice or not, this is exciting! :)

Oh yeah, you guys gotta let me know, i can't decide on my own: Should Cloud end up Uke or Seme? I'm kinda going back and forth.... lol :)

Ch 2 When I grow up, I wanna be Comatose

Pulling out of the kiss, Sephiroth let out a shaky sigh. It was exhilarating, that kiss, and it had successfully taken away every ounce of strength he had gathered to brace himself when he had approached Cloud. Now he sank into the bed as if it were water with a groan.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud leapt back, rushing to the head of the bed where Sephiroth stared into space shakily.

"Damnit." He muttered, rolling his eyes to glance up at Cloud, who looked fit to collapse with worry. "I guess I blew a fuse." He smiles. "Or maybe you blew it, or made me blow it or…" He trailed off. "Damnit. I'm…babbling…" he finished in horror. He raised a hand. Well, tried to. It got about six inches off the bed before giving a shaky wobble and falling heavily back to the bed. Cloud was incredibly distressed to notice that Sephiroth was so pale he looked like he would go transparent any second and fade away into the snow-white sheets. He raised a hand to Sephiroth's forehead, brushing away the lining of cold sweat there, and noticed that his own hand was shaking badly.

"God, Sephiroth…." He said quietly. "Have you always pushed yourself this much?" Sephiroth let out a dry laugh, and then was planning to give a reply, but was interrupted by his own hoarse coughing. He sank back, feeling like he was going to pass out.

"Shit…" he croaked, wishing to hell he had the strength to lift one of his hands to his eyes. They burned and his head was spinning. The thing was, he couldn't lift his hand six inches from the bed. He TRIED to. Oh, how he wanted to, and even more as Cloud tenderly swept the hair from his eyes, the slightly callous skin of his hand brushing across his burning forehead. He wanted to scream for it, but he couldn't do that either. His fingers twitched towards Cloud's thigh, which was RIGHT THERE, almost within touching distance, but not quite. By chance, Cloud's eyes catch the movement, and he looks down to see Sephiroth limply trying to strain to touch him. He grabs the pale hand in his, and gives it a gentle squeeze. Sephiroth let out a sigh, relaxing.

"Do you need anything?" Cloud asked worriedly after a moment's silence. Sephiroth managed to shake his head.

"No… I think I just need to sleep it off…" He said wearily. God, he was tired all of the sudden. Cloud nodded, giving his hand another squeeze, and bent down to kiss his forehead tenderly. The gesture nearly broke Sephiroth, but even as he shut his eyes, wanting to lean into the simple touch, he was asleep, his tortured body exhausted. Cloud noticed this as he straightened and couldn't help but give Sephiroth a worried smile.

"Sweet dreams, then."

Sephiroth slept for another two days straight, but when he came around again, it was much for the better. Cloud had been in the bathroom at the time, and it was the sound of a flushing toilet that woke Sephiroth finally from his semi-comatose state. He was alert enough to realize the subtle ironic humor in being woken after god-knows-how long sleeping, by a toilet. He frowned. It figures….

Cloud nearly jumped out of his skin to come out and see those bright- even brighter now from the added mako- glowing green eyes staring straight out at him. The last two days, Cloud had been in limbo. He remembered his encounter with Sephiroth, and was elated by what had come between them, but only distantly. Sephiroth hadn't moved since then, asleep and so the reality of his wildest dream come-true had not set in yet. And Sephiroth was a breath taking sight to behold for Cloud any day, especially now since up until not very long again, Cloud knew he would never see the man again. He didn't understand why Sephiroth had been brought back, but he didn't really need to. He was just happy for it.

"You're awake!" …Maybe he could have said something more notable, but it just came out. Sephiroth gave him a small half-grin.

"Yeah. You woke me up." He said flatly. Cloud's heart stopped in horror, the blood draining from his face.

"Shit! I'm so sorry I'm--" He broke off as Sephiroth started to laugh a little. Cloud noticed the bright tenor sound was real, not twisted with insanity like when he'd last heard Sephiroth laugh. He wanted to smile but he was a little worried at the moment.

"Cloud, you worry too much." Sephiroth said, that laughter still in his voice.

"Huh?" Cloud blinked.

"I was just messing with you a little. You're so sensitive… Not because of me, I hope?" Cloud, to his utter dismay, blushed hotly.

"Uh huh…thought so…" Cloud blushed even more, and was now trying to find some place to hide. He started for the bathroom again. "Again? So soon?" Sephiroth decided there was no reason to hide his smirk. He was amazed at how cute Cloud could be when he was flustered. Cloud had frozen like a deer in the headlights, sweating lightly, and glancing around still looking for somewhere to hide. Sephiroth started to laugh out loud, and Cloud looked on the verge of panic. Sephiroth couldn't help himself; he just kept laughing, but cut short as another violent coughing fit took over. His fun ruined, he was forced to break down, allowing the body-wrenching hacks to run their course. Cloud was slow to recover from his moment of terror, but when he did, he was right there again, helping Sephiroth to sit up while he coughed, blue eyes dark with concern. Finally calming down again, Sephiroth sank back to the bed letting out a shuddering sigh. "Damnit."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't helping…I'm so sorry…. Sorry…" Cloud said suddenly. Sephiroth looked over at the younger man sharply.

"Why are you sorry? I was teasing you! If I got myself too worked up, its my own fault." He said firmly, astonished to see that Cloud was really looking guilty, eyes averted towards the floor, a sad frown on his face. Sephiroth reached up and touched Cloud's chin carefully. He wasn't used to being all touchy-feely, or showing any emotion at all, and he hoped it would be a comforting gesture. To his delight, Cloud lifted his eyes slowly, leaning subconsciously into the touch slightly. "Cloud… Look up Cloud." Sephiroth said softly. Cloud's brilliant eyes finally met his, momentarily taking Sephiroth's breath away. He could drown in those eyes. "Don't be so afraid…. Look," Sephiroth dropped his hand to hover in the air near Cloud's. Cloud lifted his tentatively to touch Sephiroth's fingertips. Sephiroth pressed his palm firmly against Cloud's, spreading his fingers so that they lined up with Clouds. Cloud stared in awe at the much larger hand against his, silent. "I'm as human as you are, see?" Sephiroth went on. His arm was getting tired already, he'd barely moved at all for a very long time and was weak, but he had to prove his point now or never. He noticed that Cloud's hand was shaking. He shifted his hand to grip Cloud's firmly. "I know I wasn't at one point, but I am now, just like you. You don't need to tiptoe, alright?" Cloud hiccupped and Sephiroth looked up to see his eyes misting over again. "Cloud!" Cloud snapped out of it, eyes flashing suddenly, looking a little scared. Sephiroth pulled Cloud down to him with one firm yank, and wrapped his arms around Cloud's shoulders as the smaller man collapsed into his chest. Cloud heaved a sigh, instantly melting, finally, and Sephiroth relaxed, feeling the strain of all the action, but grateful for this moment. Cloud nuzzled into his chest a little more, sighing again, and Sephiroth noticed his lips hitch up in a little smile. They stayed frozen that way for a very long time, both falling asleep where they were.

Cloud woke up still plastered to Sephiroth's too-warm chest, half hanging off the bed with his knees against the mattress, feet on the floor, and most of his torso spooned over Sephiroth. He sat up carefully, so as not to wake up the still sleeping Sephiroth, and grimaced. He hadn't had this stiff of a back in a VERY long time. If ever. Athletic, mako-enhanced and always on the move, it took a hearty beating to make Cloud sore, but apparently sleeping in unnatural positions, half hanging in the air, did even worse deeds unto him with incredible ease. He stretched, his neck and back cracking loudly. Cloud grimaced, glancing nervously over at the sleeping form behind him, certain that the noise would wake Sephiroth up, but it didn't. Hm…sleeps like a rock….Maybe its just the mako poisoning…. Cloud thought, smiling a little. He couldn't get over how peaceful Sephiroth looked so fast asleep. His stomach growled louder than his back had cracked, and Cloud jumped, startled by himself. He glanced around, mentally laughing at his paranoia, the same way Sephiroth had, and decided he'd better get some food for the both of them. He realized a little guiltily that Sephiroth's exhaustion was probably mostly because he'd eaten once in the last week. Cloud hurried off, leaving a note first on the bed stand, just in case, in search of food.

Cloud was gone an hour, most of which Sephiroth was awake for. While all the noise Cloud had made once he woke up hadn't woken Sephiroth up, the somewhat suspicious sound of a door being closed VERY CAREFULLY fired off his danger senses for a moment, waking him. He opened his eyes soon enough to see Cloud's foot going out a small gap in the quickly closing door, confirming that he was in no danger at the moment. (Years of working for ShinRa had made him completely and rightfully paranoid.) He sat patiently, not prone to boredom, and waited. He was rewarded for his patience by Cloud staggering in awkwardly with a pile trays of food so high he could barely see over it. The smell was wonderful and Sephiroth felt his appetite returning to its original vigor (The only person he'd ever not managed to out eat was Zack. ) Cloud, who'd been struggling, felt incredibly rewarded by the excited smile that Sephiroth gave him when he spotted the food.

"Hungry?" He said. He felt a little flighty with Sephiroth staring at him with that hungry smile, but he shook the feeling off. He placed the array of trays out on the food of Sephiroth's bed, and let him have the first pick of the cornucopia of food happily waiting to be eaten. Sephiroth didn't wait, and Cloud had the sinking feeling that he would have lost some fingers if he had been in the way.

It was another hour before either of them finished, and between the two starving warriors, the entire payload -probably a weeks' worth of food for a normal person- was completely gone, which was the only reason they stopped eating in the first place.

Cloud finished his meal with a happy hiccup and smiled. "That was a lifesaver…" Sephiroth smiled softly from where he'd camped out in bed.

"Yes….Thank you." Something inside of Sephiroth gave a little jump start as he realized with a shock that those were words he didn't say very often. He felt guilty instantly, but was glad that he'd had the grace to thank Cloud, finally. He looked up to see Cloud standing at the window, staring out into the white blanket of snow surrounding the entire world that this little hotel sat in. "How long do you intend to stay here?" Sephiroth asked after watching him for a few minutes in silence. Cloud turned, jumping a little at the sudden conversation. "Do you live here?" Sephiroth went on when he didn't get an answer immediately.

"No…. I don't know how long we'll be here." Sephiroth noticed, to his relief, that whatever Cloud intended to do, Sephiroth was already included, whether Cloud had thought about it or not. "Until you're better, I guess… I'm sorry you have to stay cooped up in here like this…" He looked over at Sephiroth then, a slight sorrow in his eyes that said he'd give Sephiroth wings to fly with if he could. It touched Sephiroth deeply. You're getting soft… He shrugged the thought off. Maybe he wanted to get soft, finally, for once. Sephiroth smiled.

"Well, it shouldn't be too much longer then…" he said, more or less just to fill the silence. Things were still strangely awkward. Understandably, though. It was an odd situation, his sudden companionship with Cloud, his revival after six years of death. Cloud nodded in response, watching the sun set in the gray-white sky. Sephiroth could just see it himself from where he sat, but most of the view was obscured from Cloud's shoulders and the angle at which the window was in comparison to the bed. Time stretched on, and Sephiroth, though never before a known conversationalist, began to wish that Cloud would grace him with a little conversation. The air in the room felt heavy to him.

Finally, after the sun had set, Cloud spoke again, without turning.

"Where do you want to go?"

"What?" It was a strange question to Sephiroth.

"Where do you want to go, once we leave here? Or do you want to stay?" Sephiroth blinked. He realized that he was finally his own man. For all his life, while he was given the impression of freedom, he was still owned by ShinRa: From long before he was born to his last days of sanity. After that, it wasn't ShinRa, but the alien, Jenova. He shuddered. Thinking of that monster and what it did to him, did to Cloud and his friends, made his skin crawl. He hadn't wanted it, hadn't wanted any of it, but she had given him no choice in his one moment of greatest weakness. He was spiraling into those dark memories when a hand brushed his shoulder, making him jump, eyes going wild for a moment. He didn't find clarity at all until two sapphire blue eyes, clear as ice, met his, a pair of calm pools in chaos. His vision cleared slowly to show the rest of Cloud's face and he let out a shaky sigh. "Are you okay, Sephiroth…?" Cloud said, his voice worried, eyes showing a tint of true fear. He knew what that fear was, and again loathed himself for his own weakness.

"I'm fine, Cloud….I'm sorry."

"You had me worried. What happened? You went completely pale." Sephiroth shook his head in dismay.

"Got lost in thought…. Sorry." Cloud shook his head as well.

"Don't worry about it." He said, giving Sephiroth a knowing look that told him that perhaps Cloud understood. "You have a lot of skeletons to clean out of your closet. I don't blame you. A lot of those weren't your fault, and I know it." Sephiroth froze. Time froze. Something great and incredible dawned on Sephiroth. It was a strange thing to realize, almost painful and heavy, but at the same time a great relief.

"You…. Understand ….me…." He said slowly, more to himself than Cloud, feeling breathless. Cloud nodded slowly, boldly never taking his eyes off of Sephiroth's.

"Yes… We've…" He trailed off, thinking for a moment. "…We've lived through a lot of the same horrors. We share the same scars. I can't help but understand some things. Not all. I can't profess to know you when we've hardly met-"

"-But you profess to love me." Sephiroth said, cutting Cloud off. Cloud paused, then smiled, stepping up to Sephiroth and bringing a hand to his cheek.

"Yes. I don't need to understand to love, Sephiroth."

"I don't even know what love feels like, Cloud."

"You will in time."

"Do you know that as well?"

"I believe I do."

"Do you believe you know everything?" Cloud smiled.

"No." Sephiroth chuckled lightly.

"Alright then. As long as that's clear." There was another pause in the conversation then, as Cloud seemed to drift off into thought. This is all fine and dandy, except that while he was thinking he was staring right at Sephiroth, without seeming to really see him, and smiling oddly. Sephiroth had to concentrate not to squirm. Cloud continued to stare, until finally he let out the slightest of chuckles. Sephiroth couldn't stand it. "What?" Cloud's smile grew a little.

"I bet you weren't always this open." He said softly. Sephiroth reeled a moment, totally caught off guard. He tried to think of a response, but couldn't. "You've changed." Cloud went on. Sephiroth went silent.

"…."

"…But I don't think it's a bad thing." Cloud finished, leaning in so that his nose brushed Sephiroth's, so lightly it tickled. Sephiroth froze, suddenly made uncertain by Cloud's demeanor. He held his breath, and watched with slightly unfocused vision as one of Cloud's down-soft golden spikes of hair drifted down over his eyes, and came to rest between their faces, lightly brushing Sephiroth's cheek and nose. His nose twitched, one eye twitched…watered. Cloud looked like he was about to kiss him and his nose was tingling badly.

He couldn't help it.

Pushing himself back, he let fly an echoing sneeze. The patrons in the next room over were startled out of their wits by the sudden loud sound. Sephiroth sat frozen again, a horrified, and gave one extra sniffle to make sure he wouldn't sneeze again. Cloud had leaned back, fortunately, and was safely out of the blast, and now stood, wide-eyed and stunned. Again, silence stretched painfully between them.

Cloud couldn't believe what he'd just seen. He stood frozen, staring at Sephiroth, trying hard not to let his true feelings show. Despite his best efforts, though, his lip slowly began to tremble, twitching and curling until the grin broke through. He was choking on his laughter, but really didn't want to laugh at Sephiroth, especially with the horrified look the man presently wore. The benign disposition that Sephiroth had had since they'd met again was out of his nature, and Cloud knew better than to insult the man. He didn't want to anyway. In the meantime, as Cloud got his mirth under control, Sephiroth still sat, frozen as stone, with that horrified look on his face. Cloud put a kind smile on his face -it felt odd, he hadn't smiled in so long, but he tried- and crept over to Sephiroth, crawling up carefully onto the bed to lean over him.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly. Sephiroth blinked.

"I sneezed."

"Yeah. You did. That was some sneeze." Cloud leaned in a little closer. "Lets try that again."

"Try what?" Cloud didn't answer, just continued to lean in ever loser to Sephiroth. "Cloud, wha-" He was cut off as Cloud carefully pressed his lips against his, the kiss gentle but very firm. Sephiroth's heart fluttered rapidly against his ribcage and he let out a gasp as Cloud pressed his body up against him, sprawling out along his length and settling his weight to push him down into the bed a little. Thin fingers wound into his hair gently. Despite the power of the emotions behind the kiss, the touches were still very soft, gentle and tentative. It was the overpowering pent up emotion that truly took Sephiroth's breath away. He didn't know how long it was before Cloud finally released him, but by that time, his heart was hammering, his breathing was harsh and rapid. Cloud sat back, looking a little embarrassed, flushed, but smiling softly. Sephiroth felt a rather lopsided grin tweaking at his lips. He remained silent, mulling what had just happened over in his head. He'd never been on the receiving end of anything like that. Cloud was starting to look worried but he didn't notice. "Huh… THAT was nice…." He said finally, raising a hand to his lips in awe. Cloud nearly passed out with relief.