Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or anything in it.
"Do you have a minute for me?"
Sephiroth, stopped on his way out the door of his office to a meeting, had to dip his head to see Major Niven's eyes. They were greened up and the man had them respectfully lowered to keep from presenting green to his commander.
"Of course, always for one of my First Classes," the General laid down the folder he was holding so his man might have his full attention. "What can I do for you, major?"
Alexander Niven seemed unable to speak, and although his body appeared calm, Sephiroth could feel the heat of anger radiating off of him. He latched one hand onto Sephiroth's shoulder and pulled him steadily over to the window. The General looked at him in surprise, not even his First Classes, save maybe Zack, dared handle him like that. He wondered what could have put his most stoic and disciplined officer in this state. Sephiroth looked out the window as was indicated.
Oh.
A lone figure stood in the courtyard three floors below, capped with an unmistakable ruff of blond hair.
"What's he done now?" Sephiroth asked, suddenly weary.
"Refused a mission."
Sephiroth winced. He didn't bother asking why; it didn't matter. This was far too far.
A light step behind him and a familiar masculine scent entered the room and Sephiroth glared at Zack's uninvited entrance to his office. He thought for a moment that he was too lenient with the ones he favored- this one included. But as Zack put a hand to Sephiroth's shoulder and gazed out the window he had to remind himself that Zack generally brought him nothing but pride and good performance. The whole program liked and respected Zack. Cloud was his problem at the moment and he would do well to keep that straight.
"Did I hear right, he refused a mission?" Zack asked, sticking his head between the other two men to better peer at Cloud through the window.
Niven nodded.
Zack looked into Sephiroth's eyes with a serious look of "we both know what has to be done." They had just discussed Cloud's behavior this morning and agreed that the young Third Class was overdue to take some lumps.
"Can you delay your mission half an hour?" Sephiroth asked Niven.
"I can."
"Submit him for discipline. Public."
Niven nodded.
"Let me set him up," Zack said.
Sephiroth stared at the side of Zack's face as the young Soldier continued to stare down at Cloud. His face had a hard, determined look to it.
"You'll come?" Zack asked quietly. Both he and Niven held their breath, knowing this was going to be a difficult trial for their commander.
"Yes," Sephiroth answered, sighing. "I have to know, you all have to know, what my reaction is to seeing him hurt. Have him ready in ten minutes for the full nine, Major. Don't spare him any on my account."
Both Soldiers nodded and left Sephiroth to put out the call for mandatory assembly. Every Soldier in the building, training hall, or living quarters would be making haste to the courtyard for fear of arriving late and catching hell themselves. Probably there were just shy of one hundred in residence at the moment. As for Sephiroth, he paced the minutes away in his office. He would make his appearance as usual, once the entire assembly had gathered.
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Zack walked with Major Niven, who was still burning off steam and wanted to take the stairs. The elevator was no place for a frustrated Soldier.
"What did he refuse?" Zack asked. Niven shot him an annoyed glance.
"Doesn't think he should hunt Zolom at night. I didn't explain to him that with a good light spell they'll creep out of their holes, and that it's actually easier because they're sluggish at night. Because I shouldn't have to explain everything to a third class to get him to follow orders!"
"Easy, Alex," Zack said, careful to keep his tone neutral, "Sir, I just want to know what to rub his nose in."
Niven nodded and tried to relax. He hated all of this. He hated that the General was going to have to watch something so obviously painful. The man had saved his life personally twice times in Wutai, plus that other ordeal that only he knew. Not to mention countless hours of meticulous planning and fighting the Company for the right training and equipment for the troops to stay alive and successful. There were times he was sure that Sephiroth never slept, and it was no accident that those who knew the true score were deathly loyal to him. But the General needed his program to run smoothly as well, and by his own decree Third Classes discipline had to be absolute. The First Classes, Niven included, had been letting Cloud get out of hand for because none of them wanted to cause the General pain. And because Sephiroth had said under direct questioning that he didn't know how he would respond to seeing Cloud beaten. But they needed Sephiroth strong regarding Cloud. Cloud was a Soldier. Someday he'd be injured, or even killed in the field, and they needed to feel secure that their commander could keep it together regardless.
Zack interrupted Niven's thoughts with a light hand to his chest. They had reached the entrance to the courtyard and Zack wanted to approach Cloud alone. Niven watched anxiously, because he knew Zack also was extremely fond of the young troublemaker. But something in Zack's face made him suspect that Cloud would receive no coddling this time.
Cloud looked up when he heard Zack approaching. Thank Gaia, he thought, Finally we can get this sorted out.
He barely had time to register there was something odd about the way Zack looked before he was on the ground, the side of his face numb. But Cloud could taste the copper in his mouth; in fact the red stuff was flowing freely down his chin. He looked up at Zack in disbelief, half because Zack had actually hit him and half because he never saw the blow coming. And now he could tell what was amiss with Zack, the Soldier was fully greened up and angry as hell. He'd seen Zack green before, but not like this, not full up. Still disoriented Cloud stood up, and took another blow on the other side of his face that connected with part of his eye. He should have expected this one, should have been able to roll with it, but he didn't see this one coming either. Feeling dizzy and dazed he wondered just how fast Zack really was. Clearly he had no idea. Then he was being hauled to his feet by his shirt and given a few good shakes to make sure he was paying attention.
"How dare you!" Zack hissed, fury leaking out through clenched teeth. "Are you such a fucking idiot that you don't know what this does to him? To have his officers tell him you're an undisciplined pain in the ass? Disrespectful? Arrogant? Stupid?"
Zack gave Cloud another shake as Cloud clutched uselessly onto the arms that held him aloft like iron bars. He thought about kicking Zack in the groin but something inside him let him know this would just make matters worse. Blood spilled down his throat and he coughed reflexively, spraying both Zack and himself. His right eye was already swelling and eclipsing his vision.
"You are submitted for discipline."
Zack dragged the almost limp form to the short railing that every Soldier knew and recognized. It had only this one purpose. Cloud had yet to see it in use, and it looked like he was going to see it for the first time from the users end. His mind ran in tight circles as Zack jerked the shirt over his head and physically placed both of Cloud's hands on the rail. Cloud grabbed on for support. Out of the corners of his eye he could see the courtyard filling up with Soldiers, coming to witness his humiliation. Zack went around behind him, removed his gear belt, undid his pants, and jerked them to the ground where they lay crumpled around his feet. Cloud looked down, blood still leaking from his mouth, and was grateful to see his shorts still in place. A cold early winter wind informed him that as protection his boxers would do very little.
"You are only keeping those," Zack said coldly, "out of deference to the General. If you cry out, or if you try to look at him, I will hit you again. If you twitch I will tie you to this rail. And by the way, with Niven's method it happens to be better to hunt Zolom at night."
Zack didn't wait for a response and Cloud watched him take up a position from where he could make good his threats. Cloud's mind seemed to be working in slow motion, but finally he grasped two simple ideas: He hadn't even been right about the Zolom thing, and Sephiroth had to have at least agreed to this or it wouldn't be happening. If he hadn't ordered it himself.
"He's ready," Zack said.
Cloud barely heard Zack's words before pain seared across his back. He would have gasped but the suddenness of it stole his breath. Unlike a lot of his injuries, the blows Zack had given him for instance, there was no merciful initial numbness. That many tailed whip they were hitting him with was designed over the centuries to deliver pain, and it did its job well. Another strike and this time he almost cried out, but he gritted his teeth against it. He didn't want scream, even without Zack's threat. The humiliation was doubled for a Soldier who cried out in pain. Another came, this one surprising him across the back of his legs. Saliva sprang into his mouth and his eyes leaked tears. His nose ran and he could taste the saltiness of the fluid as it ran over his upper lip and into his mouth. The fourth came, seeking a fresh area around his left shoulder and side. He knew it was going fast but some part of his mind registered it as hellishly slow. He wondered how many he was getting and if he could manage to stay conscious until it was done. The fifth came, and this time his clenched teeth did part. His ears were ringing loudly in his head, but he was pretty sure he made a noise. In his mind he pleaded to Zack not to hit him or bind him. He hadn't meant to; he couldn't stop it. Another strike, how many was that? Six he thought, but out of how many total? He tried to think about what he had done. He had been arguing with Niven... Shiva, he had refused a mission. Refused his orders... he might as well have gone AWOL. He was going to get the maximum – nine. There wouldn't be any skin left on his back. The next two went to his legs, making sure there was no pristine area left there. Some of the narrow braided leather whips were hitting him where his shorts covered, but the thin fabric did little to stop their bruising and cutting force. The ninth scraped him straight down from shoulders to waist and left Cloud barely conscious. He felt his knees hit the sandy dirt below.
"Hey, Soldiers doing their barbaric thing."
A tall, lean man in a suit stopped his companions to look at the action. The woman with them, also attired in a suit and tie, stood on her toes and moved her head around to see through the throng of Soldiers witnessing. She saw the blond head being coaxed back up by another Soldier.
"Hey, you know who that is?" she said, "that's Cloud Strife, he's the General's paramour."
All four Turks looked over to where Sephiroth stood; easily spotting him set apart as he was from the crowd.
"What a bastard," said a large, bald Turk, "He'd probably have his own mother flogged. If he had one." The man adjusted his sunglasses and looked away.
The Turks resumed their trek to the West building; they had a meeting with their commander and didn't care to be late. But one lingered, taking a second look at the young blond man. The silent observer's hair was as red as the cherry at the end of the cigarette he was squeezing in on their short outdoor journey. He watched with turquoise eyes as that pretty brunette First Class helped the victim get his pants back up. So that was Cloud. He'd been in the field so much in the last few months that he hadn't seen the General's new love interest yet. But he hadn't stopped thinking about him, not for six months. Reno Sinclair wasn't the type to forget anything. Certainly not the twerp who had cheated him out of his favorite tumble, even if it was only a once a year thing, and with a silver haired bastard. With one last look to implant the face of Cloud Strife into his brain he sauntered after his companions.
Cloud stood still, barely able to stay upright as Zack carefully pulled up his Soldier black fatigues and fastened them. His touch was so gentle Cloud figured his friend's ire was spent. But one look at his face told him it wasn't so.
"Go show yourself to him," Zack all but spat.
Cloud turned numbly, seeing out of his one good eye that the men had almost all dissipated. He walked slowly over to Sephiroth, every step making his bleeding legs and buttocks feel like his pants were burning him. He stood for a long moment in front of Sephiroth, head lowered. When he finally looked up he saw only at first a cold stoniness to his face. But in his eyes was pain so apparent he wondered if the man was about to crack in two. And suddenly in the clarity of mind that physical pain sometimes brings he realized that Sephiroth was being punished too. His lover had been beaten and then handed to him, and Sephiroth had no choice really but to stand through it or retract everything he professed to believe in. Cloud's ears rang with Sephiroth's words from Ambush Day, which seemed a lifetime ago- 'every Soldier belongs to me, and the respect and obedience of a Third Class must be absolute.' Cloud was a Third Class Soldier. A poor one. One that probably would have been dismissed if not for his connection to the General, a connection he'd been abusing. Cloud's behavior in the last month had been atrocious and at the moment he couldn't remember how he had gotten into this mode.
"Seph, I'm so sorry," he said.
Sephiroth shut his eyes, and his whole face looked tired and old. He had never looked old to Cloud before, and he wasn't actually, the man was in his mid-twenties. It was a marvel of emotional turmoil that could make that smooth face look aged, and when Sephiroth opened his eyes again the pain had not released its hold one bit.
"Do you still love me?" Cloud asked, trying and failing not to plead.
"Gaia, of course Cloud." Sephiroth gently put a hand on each side of Cloud's head and kissed him on the undamaged eyebrow. "But I don't think I can watch this again."
"You won't have to," Cloud said. "Because I am about to become the most well-behaved, humble, respectful Third Class the ShinRa Army has ever seen."
Sephiroth let out a breath. He had thought for a moment that Cloud was going to say he would leave Soldier, and in fact Sephiroth had been thinking during the flogging that it might be better that way. But when it came to it he found he didn't want Cloud to leave Soldier. He had been looking forward to eventually adding Cloud to his tight working circle that included the few he trusted. Zack. Gavin. Niven. His First Classes. And he didn't know how he would relate to someone who was not in Soldier. Soldier was his whole life.
Sephiroth studied the blood crusted swellings on Cloud's mouth and right eye. Facial blows were usually personal beefs. Someone had worked Cloud over a bit before Sephiroth had arrived, and he knew it must have been Zack. Zack was the one who set him up for the punishment. It wasn't just to be sure Cloud was left with his shorts on that he had asked for that job. Sephiroth leaned forward and kissed Cloud again, careful to not to brush any painful areas. Cloud let himself lean briefly into the man's chest, aware that Sephiroth's touch was conspicuously careful, and also that he would be getting a clear view of the damaged flesh down Cloud's back. Then Cloud straightened himself with as much dignity as he could muster.
"I think I need to report back to my commander."
Sephiroth nodded, laying one last gentle finger to Cloud's lips, the good side of which smiled slightly. Then the General turned and walked into the building without looking back.
Cloud turned and was penalized for his quick motion by the fire on the backs of his legs. He modified his speed to a slow, careful amble as he approached Niven.
"Reporting for duty, sir," Cloud said, a bit amazed at the evenness in his own voice.
"You're in no shape for duty, Soldier. Your squad will have to take up the slack for you."
Cloud winced with part of his face that was mobile. The pain from the movement caused him to wince again.
"And I think you know the rule, you don't take Cure from anyone but me. If you choose you can do you begging from me when we get back. It'll be late."
"Yes sir. Thank-you, sir," Cloud said, keeping his eyes lowered.
Niven's face softened. The kid certainly had taken his lumps well. No sense in letting him get infected while he sat with his pain, and Zack was hovering with obvious anxiousness.
"I think Captain Fair would like to tend to you in the meantime." Niven nodded to Zack as Cloud saluted. Then he turned to gather his squad for some much needed Zolom hunting.
"Hey."
Cloud slowly and carefully turned to see Zack, holding Cloud's shirt and gear and looking normal now, his eyes their usual, concerned violet. He put his hand on the back of Cloud's head. "C'mon, they got some stuff for those welts."
They walked together at Cloud's slow pace to the infirmary. An intern frowned as he saw Cloud come in, reached for a materia box before Zack waved him off.
"OK," the intern said, sure he would never understand Soldiers. "But if he waits more than 24 hours he'll scar."
Zack nodded, then fussed and argued with several medical personnel until they had a curtained area with a bed. The intern returned with a jar of ointment and Zack took it from him and sent the man away. He helped Cloud out of his clothes, including his shorts, and as Cloud lay face down on the bed Zack spread the ointment gently over the wounds. They were all just into the skin, not one cutting into muscle; Niven had an admirably even touch with the lash.
"Zack?" Cloud said, trying to move his face around on the pillow to take pressure off of swollen areas.
"Hmm?" Zack laid some of the ointment to the split outside of Clouds eye with the light touch of a lover.
"I'm sorry. For all of this. I understand now, how this was affecting Seph. I've been getting away with a lot of shit."
"It's our fault too," Zack said, dipping three fingers back into the ointment pot. "The First Classes, for not getting on you sooner. For letting our concern for how that would affect Seph interfere with what was best for him, for Soldier. For you. Discipline and organized structure is what keeps you alive in the field, you know that right?"
Cloud sighed. He knew, he really did. He had just... forgot. As for the treatment Zack had given him, the blows weren't so bad, they weren't kittenpaws, but he'd received plenty worse in training accidents. He was far more disturbed that he could have made Zack so angry with him.
"Are you still mad?" Cloud asked, hoping he knew the answer but still wanting to hear Zack say it.
"Shit no, Cloud. It's over now, time to move on." Zack snorted a small laugh. "And hey, you actually outdid me this time. The most I've ever had was five lashes. Although I had to do it twice."
"Twice?" Cloud said, incredulous. He'd have to be an unrivaled idiot to earn this punishment twice.
"Well the first one was the regular thing, thinking I was Gaia's gift to Soldier, mouthing off. You know."
"Yeah, I guess I do."
"The second was hardly my fault. I fucked Palmer's daughter. You wouldn't believe it but she's hot. And she was of legal age, I forget but definitely over sixteen. Maybe even eighteen. And she was totally into it, not looking for a relationship or anything, but Palmer caught us, and demanded my hide. And Soldier gave it to him; had to in order to appease the brass. They wanted to flog me unconscious. Angeal was disgusted but administered it himself. He told me to howl my fool head off and I did, I screamed like it was killing me. Well, it does hurt like hell, so it was easy enough to do."
Cloud smiled a little. "I know."
"Anyway, all that screaming and blood, Palmer threw up after five strokes and they decided it was enough."
Both men laughed, and Cloud squinted his one good eye with the pain it caused. But he was feeling a little better, and figured the ointment Zack used must have had a numbing agent in it. Cloud stared at Zack, wondering how he did it. A half an hour ago Zack had been smacking him around and now he had him laughing. Zack returned his gaze for a long moment, then he put one hand into the blond hair, bent down and kissed Cloud's forehead.
"Rest," he said, "I'll be back in a little while."
And with that Zack Fair abruptly left.
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Major Niven's squad came in about two in the morning, stopping at mission prep to clean up and de-equip before heading off to their quarters. They had done a good job tonight; the squad was somber after witnessing the public disciplining of one of their own and had fought all the better and cleaner for it. Niven had barely dropped his gear in the officer's room when Cloud knocked at the door. Cloud was wearing one of the 'robes of shame'- a traditional loose robe made of silk for just such an occasion. They were always dark red or black to hide the blood. Every Soldier put to the flogging rail was given one, although Cloud was wearing an older style of a few years ago. It was probably Zack's. Zack was one of the few Soldiers who owned two.
Niven was a little disappointed to see Cloud since normally it was a point of honor not to ask for Cure until hour 23, and then only if they wanted to avoid the scarring. Many never asked for it at all. Some guys wore their scars like a badge.
"Come to beg?" Niven asked, too tired to be civil.
"Yes sir," Cloud said. "I'd rather not, but..." Cloud worked his jaw while Niven peered at him curiously. "The General doesn't deserve to suffer any more from this today, and he will if he has to look at me like this. I heard that you can do a surface cure?" Zack had told him that, some guys, Niven included, could lay the Cure down in a way to just heal the skin but leave most of the pain. It was a trick Zack apparently lacked the subtlety to master.
Niven nodded. It actually took more out of him than a full cure and he was already exhausted, but he supposed he could take a little extra rest tomorrow. Besides, it was for the General.
"Robe off," Niven said, "I need to be able to see your skin,"
Cloud took off the robe, leaving himself naked in the cold room. Niven accessed a master materia already loaded into a piece of his gear, summoned a cure, but then pulled it back. He imagined the force of the spell to be in his palms, barely escaping the confines of his body. Then he ran his hands millimeters above Cloud's injuries, careful to keep the distance close and even, holding his concentration until a drop of sweat trickled down in front of one ear. Cloud felt the tingling, but no relief to the throbbing aches. He looked at Niven questioningly, and the older man nodded, indicating it was done.
Niven appraised Cloud's appearance. He looked perfect, no one would know he hadn't the full cure. In fact his squad would assume he had, and Cloud was going to have to work extra hard to overcome the loss of respect from that assumption because, if he guessed right, Cloud wasn't going to correct them on the matter.
"Thank-you sir," Cloud said. "You won't have this trouble with me again. I understand now. I disrespected you. I disrespected Soldier and I disrespected the General. And I hurt him with it."
Niven nodded and might have smiled if he wasn't so reserved by habit. He had been worrying, all of them had in fact, that this kid had the General wrapped around his pinky. But it seemed that it worked both ways. He suspected it was true that he wouldn't have trouble with Strife again, because he could twist him into behaving simply by reminding him that he was General Sephiroth's weak spot.
He dismissed Cloud and wondered about him, about his relationship with the General. Most observers would have detected nothing in Sephiroth's face while the General watched the young man be flogged, but Niven wasn't the ordinary observer. He had seen the pain there, deep and wounding. Normally the man looked bored during public discipline. He certainly wouldn't have been distressed over anything that happened to any previous lover. They had all been casual, pros, non-Soldiers. Similar to Niven's own choices. But everything with this one was different for the General. Sephiroth displayed nothing but tenderness towards Cloud, and Niven had trouble understanding it. Maybe because he had never found someone for himself that he felt that way about.
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Cloud slid his keycard in Sephiroth's door. He had considered sleeping in his own Third Class quarters due to the late hour, but then Sephiroth would probably worry over him. He had showered the blood and ointment from his skin in the locker rooms, and the water had burned like acid, not to mention the horrors of the terry cloth towel. Plus several of his squad who were cleaning up from the Zolom hunt had slapped him on the back, some out of friendliness and some to let him know they noticed that he took the cure early. Each time he almost passed out from pain. He accepted it all with little comment. Then he had to dress in actual clothes and walk over to the main tower, torture in every step.
"Cloud?"
Cloud had barely opened the door when Sephiroth called from the bedroom. He came out immediately, that maroon robe barely wrapped around him. Cloud momentarily forgot his pain, so stunningly beautiful the General was in that thing.
"Hi." Cloud said stupidly.
"You took the cure," Sephiroth said, stroking Cloud's smooth cheek.
"Well there are more important things than my pride."
Sephiroth smiled. It wouldn't have been his choice, but he'd been told that pride could be a troublesome thing, after all.
"Come to bed," he said gently, touching Cloud under the chin.
Cloud smiled tiredly and once in the bedroom shrugged out of his uniform and slipped into bed. Sephiroth, who had similarly discarded his garment, lay beside Cloud and wrapped an arm around him. Cloud managed not to yelp in pain, but stiffened.
"Seph, could you not hold me tonight?"
Sephiroth rolled away, leaving a gap between him and Cloud. He lay awake for a long time, his eyes staring upward, unseeing. He had perhaps been foolish to think that he and Cloud could just slide beyond this. He had ordered his lover to be flogged for the full nine. He still believed it had been the right thing to do; the command structure was necessary to the safety of every man, Cloud included. And their traditional system of discipline was their system. It was handed down from their military ancestors long before there was ShinRa. But Cloud probably didn't see it that way, and here they lay, in the same bed, separated by oceans of darkness.
Eventually Sephiroth could stand it no longer, and he was sure Cloud wasn't sleeping either. They needed to talk about it.
"Cloud, I want to explain why we... why I did this to you tonight."
Cloud sighed. He hadn't thought this far ahead when he had decided on the surface cure, that Sephiroth would want to touch him and not just see him. That he might, that they might, want to make love. And Cloud would have liked to make love, to feel that they were still connected. That they were OK.
"No, it's all right, I do understand. I know why you did it. Why you had to."
"But you won't let me hold you?"
"I do want to be held," Cloud said, scooting over on his stomach until his head lay on Sephiroth's shoulder. "I just need you to not-." Cloud hissed as he was a little too late, "not touch my back."
Sephiroth immediately pulled his arm up and away, tenting the covers above Cloud.
"Did you take a surface cure?"
Cloud nodded, hurting his mouth as his cheek moved along Sephiroth's shoulder.
"You did this for me?"
"Yeah, I guess I did. I didn't want you to have to look at me all beat up just because I've been an asshole."
"Cloud, I appreciate that, but you have to tell me things like this. You want to keep this pain?"
"Yeah, I'm not really done with it yet."
"OK," Sephiroth said. He could respect that, pain had a spiritual cleansing aspect for which there was no substitute. "I won't force a Cure on you. But I do need somewhere to put my hands."
Sephiroth reached over to a materia box he kept in the nightstand and then Cloud felt a tingling around his glutes as the pain across his butt cheeks disappeared. Sephiroth laid one hand across their rounded surface.
"Did you just heal up your favorite part?" Cloud asked, oblivious to the degree of relief his playful tone imparted to his lover.
"Nope." Sephiroth leaned his head away from Cloud so he could look at him in the dim light and put a hand gingerly to the blonde's face, tracing the areas where Zack had struck him. "This is my favorite part. And I think I should be allowed to cure these since they weren't from your punishment. I think they were from pissing Zack off. And that isn't an easy thing to do."
"It's not so difficult, really," Cloud said, feeling the wounds in his face tingle with the Cure. "I've bumped into this anger before where you're concerned, just nothing so severe. He's very protective over you. All your guys are; I think they're all pretty pissed off at me right now." Cloud shook his head as a few additional memories of his recent behavior presented themselves. "I'm done being a jerk, Seph, I know I have to be a better Soldier than the rest, not the other way around."
Sephiroth kissed Cloud, on the mouth this time without worry of causing him pain. The comment about Zack surprised him. He knew his men were protective of him in the field, but hadn't known Zack extended that to his personal life. He smiled a little and let Cloud nuzzle his face into him. He put one hand back on Cloud's bottom, moving his hand so his palms could feel the smooth skin over firm muscle. His fingertips trailed up and down the cleft, then reached over to the other cheek and stroked that one too. Cloud slid one leg onto Sephiroth's thighs, allowing his growing erection to press against his lover's hip.
"You want to play?" Sephiroth asked, more than a little surprised.
"Yeah, but, it hurts to move." Cloud laughed a little.
"Hmmm," Sephiroth grabbed the lube and put it on both hands. He nudged Cloud as much onto his side as he could tolerate and slipped one finger around to that delicate opening, pushing gently through the alive and squeezing sphincter to be enclosed by the soft, warm flesh inside Cloud's body. He reached forward to press on the small mound inside, messaging gently as his other hand gripped Cloud's now full erection. Cloud kissed him and ran his hand up and down Sephiroth's organ, finding him already stiff as well.
"Where's that lube?" he whispered, and Sephiroth helped him load up his free hand. Cloud's other arm was tangled somewhere beneath the two of them.
"I can only get one hand on you," Cloud said.
"It's good," Sephiroth said, sighing as Cloud grasped him. He hadn't been expecting anything tonight and was grateful just to have Cloud near him.
Cloud was breathing heavily now into the crook of Sephiroth's neck where his head rested, the hot moist exhales sending an excited tingling down Sephiroth's back and arms. Both men worked their hands in strong rhythmic motions under the covers, causing their surface to bounce as they gripped, pulled, and stroked one another's sex until they both released fluid between them. Then they lay panting, skin hot and pressed together, hands covered in lube and semen. Sephiroth reached over and grabbed a tissue for a quick cleanup, trying not to move Cloud but the young man hissed in pain anyway.
"Does the sheet hurt?" Sephiroth asked, wiping off his fingers and then doing Cloud's for him.
"Oddly enough, yeah, it does."
Sephiroth pulled the covers up and nudged Cloud so he was on his stomach beside him. Then he pulled his long silver hair out from under himself.
"You need to cut that," Cloud said, "it's going to hit the floor soon."
"Hmph. Not just yet," Sephiroth said, and moved the entire bulk of his hair onto Cloud's back, draping it for coverage. Then he replaced the covers.
"Oh, that's better," Cloud said. There wasn't anything as smooth as Sephiroth's hair, not even the General's expensive sheets or the robe of shame. Within moments he was asleep, the day's trials, pains, and humiliations lost into the blissful night.
A/N: I'm wondering about that maroon silk robe Sephiroth wears around all the time that Cloud is always admiring. Cloud hasn't recognized it for what it is. I don't know if he ever will or not.