Chapter 4 – Another Fateful Meeting
[A/N to Ryan, who reviewed via "guest" status: you might want to check out the final chapter of Running Away. I changed that "uber-sad canonical" ending. ;) ]
Warnings: Language, adult situations
Same disclaimer as the previous chapters. *sigh*
The line was LONG. It seemed to stretch out from here to eternity … and that was just the line to get in through the doors of the convention center! No telling how long the line would be, later, when Sensei was giving his talk and then answering questions. But oh well. Tsundere Veterinarian was immensely popular, that was a fact. It was one of the best-selling mangas, ever! And it deserved it – the humor, the wit, the beautiful drawings, the way Sensei would dissolve his artwork into cartoonish hilarity whenever he wanted to make a particularly outlandish point – it had something for everybody. Even romance!
Cosplayers abounded. Cloud saw so many people dressed up as the Vet, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Some were … well, let's say that they were not quite up to the role. Women liked Tsundere Veterinarian, too, and there were plenty female Vets. Others, male and female, were short and plump. But there were some who looked like they'd just stepped out of the pages of the manga. Amazing! Cloud stared avidly at one who was Vet-san personified. "Wow … look at him, Whitey – I mean, Seph. He looks great!"
Sephiroth looked. The guy did look amazing. "He does. Look, he has a kitten in his pocket," he added after spying the little ears peeking out of the lab coat pocket.
Cloud laughed, delighted. "I'm so glad I'm here!" he crowed, excitement making his voice rise a register or two.
Sephiroth looked down at him, grinning. "You and me both," he said quietly.
The line slowly snaked its way toward the doors of the convention center. People were clustered along the line, with hand-carts or small stands, hawking everything from drinks to t-shirts, ramen to mangas, trying to take advantage of getting to the attendees before they got inside. Cloud bought oolong teas for himself and Seph. They sipped them while they shuffled along the sidewalk, finally coming into view of the doors into the huge hotel's convention center. "We're almost there," he said, looking up at Seph, grinning.
Sephiroth swallowed oolong tea. "Yep," he said after, giving Cloud a tight-lipped smile. His earlier physical discomfort had abated somewhat. He did feel that his body was on hyper-alert, rather like the way he felt when going into battle … but that was probably because of the crowds.
Cloud, while totally undone by his excitement and anticipation, was still able to notice his companion's easy way of moving and interacting with the crowds of people around them. When spoken to by anyone, he replied with gracious confidence – much belied by his geeky appearance. His posture was tall and straight – something Cloud would not have expected – and he was, well … graceful. That was the only word Cloud could come up with. Like his muscles and bones worked together with maximum efficiency. Like he was oiled. Whether he could admit it or not, it was attractive. Very. As in, ohhh yeah.
The only concession Sephiroth had made to fandom was on his beanie … the letters "T.V." were prominently displayed on the front, in Sensei's preferred drawing font. Next to them was a stylized frowny-face.
"Hey, guys … how about a commemorative picture?" a young girl asked as she stepped up to the pair. She was short, pixie-ish almost, with short-cut black hair and dark brown eyes. She was even shorter than Cloud.
Both men held up their phones.
The girl pouted. "Aw, c'mon, guys … this will be a nice, commemorative shot, hard-copy, in a decorative frame even! Please?" Her lower lip was out, her eyes wide and pleading.
"You have an interesting sales pitch," Sephiroth noted. "Does whining and begging get you your way, usually?"
Both the girl and Cloud gaped at him.
"What?" Sephiroth asked. Glug-glug of oolong tea.
Cloud gave him a bit of a disbelieving glance and then said, "Sure," moving in closer to Sephiroth. "We'd love a commemorative photo hard copy in a nice frame. Times two. Please." He slung his arm around Sephiroth's neck, making the older man look down at him in surprise.
"Excellent!" the girl squeaked. "Pose … ready?" She held up her camera – really a nice Nikon with a good lens – and prepared to shoot, working the focus.
Cloud pulled Sephiroth's head down closer to his and gave his most winning smile. And what a gorgeous little smile it was. His blue eyes sparkled, he glittered with good health and vitality.
Sephiroth was captured in the photo looking down at Cloud. His mouth was slightly open, his green eyes cast to the side to look down at his companion.
Then Cloud belched, loud and long … there was a pause, and then they totally cracked up. The girl took another picture – this one was sublime. Both men were in process of laughing, their heads close together … Cloud's blue eyes were squelched shut but it didn't matter. Their happiness shone through. And they think I'm the kid, the girl thought, smiling.
Oh, well. If they were regressing a little bit, so what? Sephiroth hadn't really had a proper childhood, so he should be allowed to act silly once in a while! And Cloud had had hardships enough of his own, with little to laugh about for years during the really bad times. So we'll cut the boys a break for turning back the clock and laughing about burps.
"I'll be right back with these!" the girl sang out. "I know you'll still be in line …." Her voice faded out as she raced off.
"Wait … ah, damn," Seph said.
"What?" Cloud asked, craning his neck to look over the people in front of him to see how long it would still take before they got inside.
"She didn't say how much," Seph said.
"Who cares?" Cloud answered, grinning up at Sephiroth. "I'll pay whatever she asks."
"You mean, I'll pay whatever she asks."
"No, I will. My … treat. A gift for you … from your weekend at … Costa." Cloud was still grinning, but now he was jumping in place, still trying to see over people.
"Then I'll buy yours. Shut up. The deal is done," Seph said, watching Cloud jump and trying not to laugh. He finally had to put his fist to his mouth and press his lips together.
When the girl came back, they were pleasantly surprised. She really had taken some good pictures. "I developed both … you can see they both turned out great," she gushed. Trouble was, she was right.
"We'll take one of each," Sephiroth said. "I'll take the laughing one, and you take the other."
"I know!" Cloud said, excited. "We'll keep 'em, and when we meet up again, we'll bring 'em and switch! What do you think?!" He jumped again, startling the girl.
What are you guys, girls? she thought. But then she blushed. Oh. Oh! Wow. "Tee-hee," she giggled.
"What?" Sephiroth asked, digging for his wallet.
"Nothing," she said, looking avidly from one to the other. Kyah, she thought. "That'll be 100 gil, apiece."
Sephiroth frowned. Cloud said, "Okay!" and dug out his wallet, too. Seph, certain he was being railroaded in some fashion, still paid, although he was frowning.
The little one is so moe, photographer girl thought … but the tall one is … tsundere! Kyah! Good thing I have the negatives! "Here's the frames," she said, holding them up as they all moved forward a bit closer to the doors. "Which one do you want?"
They were both Tsundere Veterinarian frames, of course, with painted and lacquered cut-outs of Vet-san and Kitty-chan, little duckies and chocobo chicks around the edges. "One of each," Cloud said, excitedly. "Wow, these are nice," he added, as she put the pictures into their frames. "Did you make these?"
"Sure did," photographer-girl said, handing them over and collecting the fees. "After all, I'm a fan, too!" She grinned and then turned around, heading back away from the doors to make more sales.
Both men watched her. Both noted, with interest, that she had Kitty-chan plastered on the back of her yoga pants. "Wow. She's cute," Cloud said vacantly.
Sephiroth glanced at him and frowned. Then he recovered nicely and said, "Not my type." He turned to look back towards the doors again. They were maybe 20 feet away now.
"Really?" Cloud asked, suddenly interested. "What is your type?" He looked at at the tall man beside him.
Seph pushed his glasses up. "I'm … not sure. I just know what I don't like."
Cloud shrugged. "That works," he said.
XXX
Finally, they were in! The entry hall was abuzz with people, of all sizes and shapes and ages, everyone talking at once. Sephiroth and Cloud decided to start on the left-hand side and begin working their way through the stands. They agreed they would spend at least 10 minutes at each one, even if it didn't look interesting at first. But there was no maximum time limit. With the agreement in place, they grinned at each other and made their way through the crowd.
Food stands. Stuffed animals, with Kitty-chan being the most popular, of course. Chocobo hats. The manga itself, all the editions. Jewelry. iPod and phone cases. Phone charms. Clothes. Bookends. Dishes. Bed linens. Sunglasses. Kitty-chan ears, tails, paws, full cosplay outfits. Lab coats by the score. Shoes. Wall plaques. Doctor's bags. You name it, if they could either put Vet-san or Kitty-chan on it, it was there.
Food … all different kinds of food, but mostly the favorites from the manga. Ramen stands abounded in the second part of the convention hall … meat buns, onigiri, nabe, even some stands where they offered congee. They ate til they felt like they would burst, and still bought more to put in their bags.
Cloud was free with his money … all that he had brought today, anyway. He knew better than to blow his whole wad (so to speak) on the first day, so he was careful to only bring 1000 gil with him. But Sephiroth, remembering that Cloud was on a convenience store part-timer's salary, insisted on buying all the food and drinks, and even bought some things that Cloud had said he wanted but would have to wait – slipping these items into Cloud's bag as soon as his back was turned. He always smiled when he did this. What fun. He almost never got to buy for people (other than rounds of drinks), and he was discovering that it was a good feeling.
It seemed like the time they had until 8 p.m. flew past. But finally the hour approached. They'd bought tickets way early, as soon as they'd gotten through the doors, and they thought they had respectable seats. 10th row, just left of center. When the ballroom doors opened at 7:30, they walked in with the crowd and made their way … slowly … down to the tenth row. Then sidling past people to get to their seats. Finally they found them and sank gratefully into the plush stadium-style seating. Niiice.
Sephiroth elbowed Cloud. "Sensei," he said, grinning up at the stage.
"Sensei!" Cloud shouted with enthusiasm. It was picked up all over the huge cavernous room, until the whole place rang with it. Cloud joined in, standing up and turning around to egg people on. Sephiroth, the more dignified of the pair, sat and stomped his feet in time with the "Sensei! Sensei!" beat.
It was 7:55 when a Wutaian man in a suit walked out onto the stage, grinning. People started applauding, and when he approached the podium, he shouted, "Is anybody here to see Kitano-sensei?!" and the place went crazy. The huge screen behind the man lit up with a big full-length picture of Vet-san, with Kitty-chan in his arms. The applause and cheers were deafening.
The man held up his arms and waved them around until everyone more or less quieted down. "I'm Eddie Chin, Sensei's editor …" More cheering, which he laughed at and tried to suppress. "I just wanted to say …" he began, shouting over the crowd, "… I just wanted to say thank you for giving us the opportunity to meet with you all today!" He bowed to all the corners of the room while applause and whistles and cheering filled the place to the rafters.
"And now … without further ado … Be-Bop Publishing is proud to present … M. Kitano-sensei!"
The lights went out – ALL of them. A lone spotlight illuminated the stage – as the crowd went wild – over near the right-hand side. The curtain switched back and then – there he was. Everyone stood up, cheering and applauding.
He was a short man, stylishly dressed, with black hair in a very attractive idol-style. Long in the front and back, spikey on the top. He wore a black suit, white shirt, and a black tie. Only the shirt was untucked and the tie hung loosely around his neck. He looked like a schoolkid, to be honest … but everyone knew Sensei was almost 30 years old. He just looked young. And cool. He waved as he approached the podium.
And Sephiroth's internal facial recognition program went into high gear. He'd seen this face before. No-one had seen a picture of Sensei in the mangas, he'd only used his cartoon persona at the comments section. But somewhere … Sephiroth had seen this face. Hair. Chin. Jaw line. Nose. Eyes. Ear height. Neck length. Click click click.
"Thank you! Thank you so very much," Sensei said. He bowed again, smiling. The spotlight – and the audience – loved him. He looked great. Girls were squealing all over the place. Hands hurt from clapping so hard and so long. Here he was: the author of the greatest manga ever! The pic behind Sensei changed to the cover of the very first ever edition of Tsundere Veterinarian. More cheering and whistling.
Sensei spoke for two hours, all about his ideas, where the original idea for the manga had come from, his favorite issues, all his staff (including, as he said, his "long-suffering editor, Eddie Chin"), and where he thought it might go in the future. The entire audience hung on every word. He was funny, he was articulate, and he was gifted. It also didn't hurt that he was attractive. He was king of the night.
Finally it was time for the question and answer period. Everybody seemed to have a question. Cloud actually got to ask two – standing up to smile as he asked, "Where do you live?" and "How old is Vet-san?" The answer to the first was "The Eastern Continent," to which Cloud looked down at Seph jealously, and the second – he still declined to answer specifically. "Somewhere between 19 and 39" was the answer, making the hall ring with laughter – everyone knew of Vet-san's unreasonable aversion to the number 9! How funny Sensei was!
Sephiroth stood up when there was a lull. "There's someone there, Sensei," Eddie Chin said, pointing out the tall man in the tenth row. Sensei looked and seemed to startle. "Sensei," Seph said, pushing up his glasses. "Are you ambidextrous?" The crowd quieted. Sensei stared at Sephiroth, then licked his lips and smiled.
"Yes," he answered. Buzzing of conversation in the hall as this information was processed. "Excuse me, sir … how did you guess?"
Sephiroth, well used to being the center of attention, had his totally focused on the man on the stage. Click click click. Ah, yes. "In Edition 17, the drawings have a different slant to them. The lettering."
"Very good," Sensei said, smiling and – Cloud was almost sure of it! – blushing slightly.
Seph sat down. Sensei was still staring at him. But Sephiroth had his answer. Oh, not to the question he'd just asked, any idiot could tell that a left-handed artist had done the drawings in Edition 17. His other private question. Recognition. Sensei had been the otaku in Oh Lay that morning … with lank unattractive hair, glasses, and wearing clothes that made him look chubby … but that had definitely been him. So Sephiroth wasn't the only man in Costa Del Sol who was hiding his identity that day.
"Next question!" Eddie Chin said, smiling.
But Sensei kept looking at the man in the tenth row, now that he knew where he was. Cloud noticed, and was intrigued … but Sephiroth wasn't interested. He talked with Cloud about the answers Sensei gave, shared some food he'd stashed in his back pack, and was blithely oblivious to the attention he was receiving from the stage. Cloud forgot about it, too, eventually. The evening was a smashing success.
XXX
It was very late when Sephiroth and Cloud were walking down the mostly-deserted streets of Costa Del Sol. After the convention center closed for the night, they'd retired to the hotel's bar so they could talk about what they'd seen, compare the photos they'd shot, and look over all the memorabilia they'd purchased. Then when the bar had closed down, they'd gone to another bar and closed it down!
Now, as they walked down the street, pleasantly inebriated, they chattered non-stop about the day. The moon was out, shining with brilliant white light that helped illuminate the darkness between the street lights. They stopped under one, bending their heads over a pic Cloud had shot while Sephiroth was looking at some T.V. products – these being gloves that looked like kitty-cat paws. His face was doubtful, frowning behind his glasses, as he held them up. Cloud laughed again, looking at it. "You … you look like they offended you," he said between chuckles.
"Well, look at 'em," Sephiroth stuck up for himself. "They're not even anatomically correct."
Cloud burst into gales of laughter. An anatomically correct kitty-paw glove. Hysterical!
It was at this moment that Sephiroth's cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket with a muttered swear word and looked at the screen. "Sorry," he said, "gotta take this." He moved a little ways away, walking casually, and flipped it open. "What," he said flatly.
Cloud raised his eyebrows at Seph's tone, but then shrugged and went back to looking at the pics on his phone, chuckling to himself. In order to give Seph privacy, he began slowly walking down the street towards his apartment, which was closer to the hotel than Seph's cabana.
"I see," he heard Seph say clearly. "I'm not in Midgar … what … expect me … it?" His tone was blunt, business-like. "You'll have to … Kunsel … vacation. Just do … normally do, and … on Monday." He paused, apparently listening. The pauses were stretching out as Cloud slowly widened the distance between them.
"Well well well … if it isn't our little blond whore," a slightly-familiar voice said from Cloud's left … and a figure separated itself from the darkness of an alley between two shops. Cloud stopped, frowning, peering into the gloom. "Going home alone, slut?"
Back down the street, Sephiroth's head snapped to the right as his sensitive hearing picked up someone speaking … to Cloud?
"M-Matthew? What are you–" Cloud looked around, in a near-panic.
"Shut up, bitch! Give me my money back!" Matthew rushed forward from the alley and grabbed Cloud by the t-shirt. "Give it back, you little fucker!"
Yes. This person was talking to Cloud. "Gotta go, Kunsel." Snap went the phone.
Cloud was panicked, beside himself at the situation, and at the fact that Seph was just down the street a ways. Fuck! "Matthew, let go!" he hissed in a sibilant whisper. "Let go!" He tried to peel the other man's hands off his shirt, but he couldn't, his fingers were twisted into the fabric. For a second the idea that Matthew might tear his beloved T.S. t-shirt … but the thought was quickly dashed from his mind when ….
Matthew slapped him and then shook him, hard. "No! Give me my money back, you little fucking nasty piece of–"
Cloud saw a black and white blur to his left. He blinked as Matthew was yanked away from him, then everything went quiet. "You okay?" he heard, and blinked again, looking down. Matthew was down on the sidewalk, face-down. Seph had one foot on Matthew's neck. He had one of Matthew's arms pulled straight up and out behind his back, holding him in place by the middle finger. "I said, are you okay?" Seph's voice, only hard and unyielding. He wasn't even out of breath!
"Y-yeah," Cloud answered, eyes wide.
"Mmph," Matthew tried to speak, started to struggle.
"Shut up!" Seph commanded. He reached down and yanked Matthew to his feet, one-handed, and shook him like he'd shaken Cloud, only harder. "What's your problem, asshole?"
"N-no, Seph … it's okay," Cloud started to say, frightened half to death at being outed by Matthew … and more than a bit worried about what Seph was going to do to him.
"It's NOT okay," Seph said, turning his attention back to Matthew.
"Th-that little f-fucking blond bit–" Matthew began, but apparently Seph had had enough. He slapped the man, hard, just like he'd done to Cloud … and then he did something to Matthew's neck, fast, Cloud didn't even see it, just the black blur of Seph's arm moving … Matthew slumped in Seph's arms.
"Holy shit!" Cloud squeaked. But then Matthew began to snore.
Seph picked Matthew up – picked him up! Like he weighed nothing! – and walked him over to the nearest store-front. "Bella's Beach Bums", it was called. Seph deposited Matthew's sleeping body against the wall, legs straight out. He snored on unaware. "He'll be fine," Seph said, staring down at him.
The street light cast a glare on Seph's glasses, so that Cloud couldn't see his eyes. But it was obvious he was staring down at Matthew. His jaw was set, the muscles clenching and unclenching.
For his part? – Sephiroth wanted to kill this mother-fucker. He'd been layering verbal abuse on Cloud, who was Sephiroth's friend, and then laid his hands on him. Seph had seen red. He was down the intervening sidewalk space and on the big piece of shit before you could say "lickety-split". He stared down at the offensive jerk, then gave him a little kick and turned away. That was when he caught sight of Cloud's face. Dimly, yes, but mako-enhancements come in handy sometimes. "You okay?" he asked, stopping. "How's your face?" There was a livid red mark there, where that piece of shit had slapped him.
But Cloud was wide-eyed, open-mouthed. "You … wow. Just … man, I … that was amazing!"
Sephiroth pursed his lips in thought, then said, "I've had some lessons." All too true.
"Lessons! Man, I didn't even see you move! That was incredible! You were like–" Cloud dashed down the sidewalk a few feet, "– and then you were like–" he stopped and whipped his hands around, "– and then you were like–" and Cloud did a sort-of 'jab' with his right arm.
Sephiroth snickered. What a funny guy.
Cloud stopped, then realized what he'd been doing and laughed a bit, too. "Okay, okay. So I haven't had any lessons. But that was out there!" His tone and his face were saying 'thanks', but his manliness couldn't say it out loud.
"You know that asshole?" Seph asked, turning to start walking down the street again.
"I only met him once, at work," Cloud said. All too true.
"What a prick."
"You're right."
"He said something about money …" Seph said, not wanting to pry, just trying to figure out if he needed to call the police when he got back to the cabana.
"Guess he must think we over-charged him." All too true.
"He can go to another convenience store next time," Sephiroth said through clenched teeth.
Cloud did not correct the misconception. There were things that Seph didn't need to know … either not yet, or ever. Cloud kinda thought this might fall under the 'ever' category. They kept walking down the street, made a couple turns, until they were in front of Cloud's apartment building. "This is me," he said.
"Okay," Seph replied, looking up at the façade of the three-story building. It was a little run-down, but not too bad.
"So," Cloud said, shifting his backpack from one arm to the other. "We're meeting up tomorrow … at Oh Lay again, yeah?"
"Yep."
"Let's see … festivities start at 9 with the book-signing, right? But that lasts until noon if you don't wanna show up that early." Cloud looked up at his new friend, a little smile on his face.
"How about we let the biggest part of the crowd get through and show up at about 10:30 … sound okay?" Sephiroth looked down at him. The … the moonlight was shining on his blond hair. It was very distracting.
"So then you wanna meet at Oh Lay at about 8 or 9?"
"Sure. 8:30 sounds good."
"8:30! Sounds great! They have these cinnamon rolls that are incredible! Even if you don't like sweet stuff, you'll like these, 'cause they're more cinnamony than sweet, and they go great with the cinnamon espresso lattes I usually get." Cloud was animated as he talked about the rolls, because hey – they really were great! "They have red bean onigiri, too, if you'd prefer something like that. They're also really good."
"We'll just have to get both." Sephiroth smiled at Cloud.
"Yeah," Cloud said, looking up at him. "Yeah … both. That's a good idea." He smiled too.
For a minute there, they just stood, staring at each other's smile, until both of them realized at once what idiots they were being.
"Ooo-kay, I'm more than a little drunk … time for Nimble to get himself into bed," Cloud said.
"Whitey's gonna do the same," Seph answered, looking away and pushing his glasses up.
"You know where you're going from here?" Cloud asked.
Sephiroth smiled. He had a virtual GPS system in his head. "Yeah."
XXX
Only he didn't get to go straight to bed, Zack was "entertaining" a few female guests of the hotel in their cabana. Sephiroth walked in, visually scanned the living room area and made a snap judgment about what was going on, then turned and immediately walked down the little hall to the bedrooms.
"Hey! Hey, Seph, wait!" Zack said as he opened his door and stepped across the threshold. He stopped and turned around to look at his friend.
"What is it, Zack?"
"Well … can I come in?"
Sephiroth opened the door wider and gestured with his arm – "Come on in," he said, less-than-graciously. After Zack came in, Seph followed and shut the door behind him, blocking out the whispering and giggling that was going on in the living room. He walked to his bed and began unloading his backpack.
Zack eyed all the goods coming out of the bag and raised his eyebrows. "Wow," he said. "Got a lot of good stuff today, huh?"
"Yeah," Sephiroth admitted, looking down at everything he bought. A new backpack, some t-shirts, some socks, three new beanies, some artwork (suitable for framing), the Tsundere Veterinarian game, two bags of food and munchies, more bottles of oolong tea … and then, before he could hide it, the framed picture of Cloud and himself, out in the sunshine, laughing like mad.
Zack snatched it up. "Whoa," he said, smiling and looking up at Seph. "Looks like you had a good time … this your friend?"
Seph took it out of his hands and put it back on the bed. "No, it's a serial killer I collared in line. Of course that's my friend. Cloud."
"Cloud. Cloud? Oh, that's his name?" Zack was looking at it, interestedly. Sephiroth was laughing … laughing out loud, holding his stomach. When was the last time Zack had seen Seph laugh like that? Long time ago. Too long. He was still smiling when he looked up. "Where you drunk?"
"No!" Seph said. "Well, I am now … but that was when we were waiting to get inside. So no, I wasn't drunk."
"Wow," Zack said. Interesting. "So Cloud. Cloud who?"
"I don't know."
"Huh?"
"We only just met in person today. I knew him from the chatroom, as Nimble. But his real name is Cloud." If Seph hadn't had his tongue loosened by alcohol, he wouldn't be as forthcoming as he was now.
And Zack would take advantage of that fact. "Ohh, you guys met online. Cool, cool. Looks like a nice guy," Zack said, still looking at the picture. They both looked … happy. It was nice to see Seph look happy. "He know who you really are?"
"No. And I'm going to keep it that way. So if you run into us, keep your big mouth shut." Sephiroth eyed Zack seriously.
"Hey, man … I can be discrete …." He sounded wounded.
"Uh-huh."
"I will, don't worry. But hey, look, the girls … wanna come out and have a drink with us?"
"Nope. I've had enough to drink, and I have to get up early in the morning." Sephiroth was taking all the stuff off the bed and putting it on the nightstand and the dresser top. "I'm meeting Cloud at a coffee shop at 8:30 … so you'll just have to entertain the girls yourself. Think you can manage that, and keep it quiet enough so I can sleep?" He focused a stern gaze on his friend. Or tried to. Whew. Time for sleep.
"Sure, man, no problem. Okay, well … glad you had a good time tonight," Zack said, starting to walk away.
Sephiroth took off his beanie and let his hair fall down around his shoulders, scratching his scalp vigorously. "Thanks."
"And it's cool about tomorrow … I'm gonna be sleeping in," Zack added, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
"You … are the whore-boy around here, Zack-o," Sephiroth said, smiling faintly.
"Yeah … can't help it! The women love me!" He held up his hands like it was out of his control.
"Uh-huh."
"Don't sound sarcastic!"
"I can't help it," Seph said, holding up his hands like it was out of his control.
Pause. "You're mocking me."
"Uh-huh."
"G'night, Seph."
""Night, Zachary." The door opened and closed. Sephiroth stripped and pulled the covers down on his bed … then shot a glance at the door. He walked over to it and locked it, then went back to the bed, smiling. He got in bed, pulled up the covers, and laid there for a while, looking at all the stuff he'd bought today. His gaze fell on the picture of himself and Cloud, and he snorted laughter for a few seconds. What a day. The book-signing was tomorrow. What a great day. He fell asleep with a faint half-smile on his lips.
XXX
In the morning, Cloud and Sephiroth met up again at Oh Lay, and soon had their table piled with cinnamon rolls and red bean paste onigiri. Standing nearby were their grande cinnamon espresso lattes. It was a great start to a gorgeous morning.
Cloud had been a bit leery about his wardrobe choices today, but once he hit the streets he discovered his anxiety was completely unfounded. Let's explain: today Cloud was all in white, except for a few special accessories. He had on a white t-shirt and white jeans, with white Vans on his feet. Pretty standard stuff so far, right? But on his head he was wearing some Kitty-chan ears. And around his neck he was wearing Kitty-chan's collar – complete with bell! He had already decided long ago that he wasn't going to go the full route with his cosplay, but wearing some little accessories couldn't be that bad, right?
As he discovered when he hit the streets, he was right. Seemed like every third person had on Kitty-chan ears! His bell rang cheerily as he bopped down the street, his Tsundere Veterinarian backpack once again hanging off his shoulder.
XXX
Sephiroth had arrived first at Oh Lay that day, and Nana-chan had already seated him at the little table in the corner. She was questioning him about how he felt and how he'd held up the previous day. He answered truthfully and thanked her again for her care. She was pleased. She brought him his first cinnamon espresso latte and told him it was on the house. He was very grateful and took a sip before praising it to the skies.
Today Seph had had to tone it down a little. The hoodie had been too hot yesterday, he felt like he'd sweated like a pig and didn't want that repeating itself today. So he'd worn a long-sleeved white t-shirt and faded blue jeans over (fuck you Zack) his loafers. No socks. The t-shirt had a pic of the Tsundere Veterinarian's office front, with about 30 cats all sitting and laying around outside. "The Doctor is IN" the sign said. The sleeves were pushed up to just below the elbows to expose muscular forearms.
He had one of his new beanies on his head … this one was pale blue and made his green eyes pop out big time. But with the glasses in place, his eyes weren't all that easy to see anyhow. (The glasses really were hideous.) On the beanie, a stylized version of Kitty-chan glared out at whoever might be looking. There were no words. A tsundere Kitty-chan was very cute. That's all there was to it.
He'd been walking past Zack to leave – and why was he up so early anyway?! – and had suddenly been hit with a cloud of vapor. "What the fuck is that?" Sephiroth snarled, backing up fast.
"Cologne, you idiot," Zack said. "With male peromones in it. For gods' sakes, this is the perfect place for you to find a woman who shares your likes! Have you even been looking?!"
Avoiding the question, Seph plucked at his t-shirt and smelled it. "I suppose that smells okay."
"Okay?! That stuff costs 400 gil!"
"You were robbed."
"It was a gift."
"Then she was robbed."
"My mom does not get robbed!"
"She did this time. Bye. Go back to bed, you look like shit."
SLAM. Sephiroth chuckled and let himself out, shutting and locking the door behind him.
XXX
So when Cloud showed up at Oh Lay, he immediately looked at the little table in the corner and saw a tall handsome man sitting there. Gone was the all-encompassing hoodie. Now he could see muscles. Could he ever! Whoa. He slid between the tables of chatting guests and said, "Morning, Whitey!" as he got close.
Sephiroth looked up at Cloud and had his first thadump of the day. The Kitty-chan ears … looked so cute poking up out of those blond spikes! And the collar … whoa. "Hey, Nimble," he answered, clearing his throat. "Nice day," he added, then winced a little bit at the lameness.
"Oh hell yeah," Cloud responded, grinning. Today, they would get to actually meet Sensei! What a fucking fantabulous morning this would be! Excitedly, he began talking about all the things they'd learned about M. Kitano-sensei last night. Laughing and talking as they demolished plates of onigiri and cinnamon rolls, it was no time at all before it was time to make their way down to the Seaside Grand again.
After another interminable wait in another long line, they finally got inside. They'd seen Photographer-chan outside … she'd waved and then cheerfully snapped their pictures again. (Kyah!) But she didn't approach them for money, just zipped off again to approach more customers. Cloud and Sephiroth shrugged at each other, then stepped through the doors into the lobby.
Looking around, they saw that the line to get in to see Sensei wasn't really that long. Well, not compared to the line they'd waited in yesterday. Perhaps people were going to wait until the later book-signing … or they'd had too late a night last night and were still in bed. One way or the other, it wasn't too long before they were next up.
Sensei was being genial, friendly, and humorous. Everyone turned away from the table with a smile on their faces. Cloud and Sephiroth got their editions of Sensei's book out of their backpacks and held them ready. But when Sensei looked up and saw them, his gaze slid over onto Sephiroth and stayed. His cheeks flushed and he caught his lower lip between his teeth.
Alarm bells began to go off in Cloud Strife's head. Sensei … Sensei liked Seph! Wait. Wait. Maybe that wasn't it at all. Settle down, alarm bells. Maybe the guy just ate something that is giving him a hot flash. (This illogic didn't really get through.) Maybe he was feeling kinda sick today. Cloud forced himself to reserve judgment.
"Next up … hello, guys, come on up," Eddie Chin said, smiling.
"Sure!" Cloud said, elbowing Seph and walking forward with him.
Sensei looked at Cloud, then at Seph, then at Cloud again. A small frown settled between his eyebrows and then cleared. "Hi," he said, rather shyly, looking down. Then he looked up at Sephiroth. "You're the man from last night," he said with a little smile.
"Yes, Sensei," Seph said, a gorgeous grin spreading over his face. Cloud was taken aback, again, by the way his face lit up when he smiled.
So was Sensei. He stared. "H-here," he said, "l-let me sign your books," he stammered, reaching out for them. His fingertips brushed Seph's. Sephiroth moved forward a bit, leaning over the table. Sensei took a deep breath, looking up into Seph's eyes. "Name?" he said, slightly breathless.
"Seph."
"Just Seph?" Sensei asked, still not looking down at the books.
Cloud stood there, looking from one to the other. Seph seemed oblivious, but Cloud knew the signs of attractions, oh boy did he ever. And Sensei had it bad. A funny feeling twisted in his guts. Ugh. Too many cinnamon rolls?
"Just Seph is fine, Sensei … thanks," Sephiroth said, looking down at the man. He had dark brown eyes fringed in long black lashes. Was that mascara? Seph stared … unaware that his stare was being mis-read.
Sensei tore his gaze away, and began writing inside the front jacket cover of Seph's newest edition of Tsundere Veterinarian. It took some time. He licked his lips again.
As he wrote, Seph leaned forward a bit to say, quietly, "Did you enjoy your coffee yesterday morning, Sensei?" He looked over at Cloud and winked, then turned back to see Sensei staring at him.
"You … you knew that was me?"
"Not until last night. It was a good disguise." He grinned. Sensei smiled back, then looked down, hiding his damnable blush, and finished the inscription.
Cloud slid his book over. "Name's Cloud, Sensei," he said, grinning. "It's so great to meet you at last!"
Sensei was very personable, he seemed to shake himself and responded to Cloud, chatting with him, signing his book and even adding a little Kitty-chan face in the corner! Cloud stared at it, eyes wide, smiling.
In the meantime, Sensei was looking at Sephiroth again, who was looking down at his own book cover, with a little frown on his face. "Something wrong, Seph-san?" Sensei asked, looking up at the tall man with big eyes.
"No … no, nothing's wrong, Sensei," Sephiroth answered. What were those numbers, some sort of code? He smiled. "Pleasure to meet you. You know, I live on the Eastern Continent too," he added, just reaching for a conversational gambit.
"You … you do? Where?" Sensei asked, avidly looking up into this gorgeous Mr. Glasses-san's face.
"Midgar."
"I live in Junon," Sensei said, sounding slightly disappointed. "But … that is not so very far away."
"No, not at all," Sephiroth said, "especially if you go by airship."
"That's true! Are you flying back soon?" Sensei had forgotten about everything else … including Eddie-san clearing his throat off to his left.
"I have to head back on Monday," Seph said, looking down at him, and then glancing over at Cloud. He shrugged. Sucks, the shrug said.
Cloud nodded. But he, too, was busy watching this interplay. And he … wasn't very happy, although he wasn't quite sure why.
"I, too, must head back on Monday," Sensei said, smiling again. "Perhaps we will see each other." He seemed happy at the thought.
"Never know," answered Mr. Oblivious. "Thanks for signing my book. Hey, Cloud, you ready to go?"
"Yeah," Cloud said, "yeah, let's go. Bye, Sensei … thank you!"
"Thanks, Kitano-sensei," Seph said.
"You're welcome. Any time," Sensei answered.
As they walked away, Cloud glanced back, almost certain what he would see. And he was right. Sensei was watching his friend Seph walk away, his eyes glued to that mouth-watering ass.
XXX
"What did you mean when you asked him if he enjoyed his coffee?" Cloud asked. They were sitting at one of the tables in the ballroom, having some udon for lunch, with salad and fried meat.
"He was there," Seph said, picking through the meat with his chopsticks and finding a nice big piece to stuff in his mouth. His jaw muscles worked as he chewed it. Rolling his eyes to show how good it was, he chased it with a drink of Kohaku Yebisu beer.
"What? Where? I didn't see him," Cloud yelped, stabbing his salad.
"He was in a disguise of sorts," Sephiroth said. "I didn't know it was him until at the hotel last night." He had another swig of beer. It really was very good.
"Wow," Cloud said, eyes wide. "Man, good job! You knocked him off his stride asking about that," he added, hooting with laughter.
"Let me see what he wrote in your book," Seph said, and Cloud handed it over. "He drew Kitty-chan for you! Son of a bitch! He didn't do anything like that in mine!" He pushed it back across the table, disgusted.
"Can I see yours?" Cloud asked, through a mouthful of salad.
Seph, his mouth also full, just made 'sure, sure' motions with his chopsticks, nodding his head at his copy of the book. Cloud picked it up and opened the front cover. His eyebrows went up when he saw how much was written there.
"To the Beautiful Seph-san:
With best wishes for a full tsundere life!
Sincerely,
Mitsuo Kitano
47-1183-88772
1131-44729"
Cloud's mouth gaped open. He blinked. Looked. Blinked again. "He … he …."
"Hmm?" Seph asked, eyebrows up.
"He … he wrote his first name in here!" Cloud said, his voice a sibilant whisper.
"Huh? No way. Doesn't it just say, M.?" Seph was staring.
"No. No, man. His first name is Mitsuo! Can you believe it?!" Cloud was almost hysterical.
"I … shit."
"Didn't you even look at it?"
"Well, not that closely," Seph admitted. "I was just curious about those numbers. That's what caught my eye." He shrugged. "Well shit," he said again.
"And dude … he called you 'beautiful'," Cloud said, now his eyebrows were up.
"What?!"
"Shhh!"
"Give me that! You're pulling my leg!" Seph grouched, frowning. "It's not funny. Beautiful. Pfft. My ass …." His voice trailed off as he read the inscription. He shut the book and sat there. Put his chopsticks down. He was frowning still. "What are those numbers?" he asked Cloud.
"The first one is a local Costa Del Sol phone number. Wouldn't take long to look up," he offered helpfully.
Seph was frozen. He was trying hard to process this but not being very successful.
"The second one, I don't know. Is it a cell phone number? Maybe from Junon, eh?" Cloud was trying not to laugh. Or trying not to cry. He didn't know what he was trying to do or not do.
Seph sat there, thinking. He opened the book flap again and looked at the second number. "It could be a cell number, hell, I don't now. I don't work in numbers, all my shit's programmed in, most of it before I even got the phone. I've just switched SIM cards for years." He shut his mouth. He was rambling.
"Well … looks like somebody's taken a liking to you," Cloud said, smiling, picking up his beer. He took a sip and watched Seph.
Who was still frowning.
"Mitsuo means 'shining man'," Cloud offered, again helpfully.
"That's not very helpful," Sephiroth grumbled.
Cloud took another bite of meat, watching his companion, noting with amusement that the problem seemed to be outside his frame of reference. Seph opened the book cover and read the inscription again. He closed it. He frowned and took another drink of beer. Cloud did, too.
"He, uh … " Seph began, then dissolved into silence again. It stretched out.
"Seph," Cloud said when it became obvious that Seph wasn't going to go on.
"Yeah?"
"He's gay. And he likes you." Cloud watched Seph closely as this information sank in.
"Well," he said, focusing on the part that was simple. "I, uh, I like him too, I guess. Just fine. He seems like a nice enough guy. Although he was wearing mascara."
Cloud's eyebrows went up. He struggled not to laugh. This would not be a good time to laugh, no, not a good time at all. But it wasn't easy. "No … he likes you likes you. He's gay."
Sephiroth put his beer down. He stared at Cloud. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again. No man had ever put the moves on General Sephiroth. No man would ever have dared. Sure, Sephiroth knew that there were gay people around, there were some in the ShinRa Army, he'd been told, but he'd never seen it in person and he didn't know how to process the information that one of them liked him. Liked him liked him. And it was M. Kitano-sensei of all people! Practically his idol! He stood up suddenly.
"Seph?" Cloud asked. He was looking up at his new friend, the Kitty-chan ears sitting forgotten on his head. The little bell on his collar rang as he stood up too.
"No … you stay. I'm … just going to go for a walk. Check out the beach. I'll be back … or … we can meet up later …."
He seemed distracted and distant. Cloud didn't like it. "Okay. Listen, okay, no problem. I've got something to do this afternoon, anyhow. Wanna meet up for supper and then go buy some more stuff? New vendors are coming in later." He sat back down.
"Sure. That sounds good. Okay then I'll see you later …." He was gathering up his stuff. He grabbed the book and put it in his backpack.
"How about 4 o'clock?" Cloud asked. "Back here?"
"Sure. Four. I'll be here. See ya then." Seph gave Cloud a rather puzzled smile and then turned around and walked out.
Cloud sat there for a few seconds, watching Seph leave. He wondered if his new friend was homophobic. Oh, wouldn't that be just great. He ate some more of the udon while he pondered the problem. Maybe he wasn't homophobic, maybe he'd gone to find Sensei. Cloud frowned. He imagined Sensei pulling off Seph's glasses … and his jeans. His chopsticks paused mid-movement. Shit.
He sat there, staring at nothing for a while … then his face relaxed. Seph had said he was going for a walk, and Cloud had no reason to doubt that. He took another drink of beer. He cracked open his copy of Tsundere Veterinarian and read some of it, smiling at the funny parts. So he was totally oblivious when someone pulled out Seph's recently-vacated chair and sat down.
"Where's your friend?" a voice asked. A familiar voice.
Cloud looked up. It was … a chubby black-haired guy with glasses … it was Sensei. Now that Seph had pointed out the ruse, it was easy to see. But the disguise was very good. Just another otaku, here to soak up the manga atmosphere.
"He went for a walk, Sensei," Cloud said.
"Shh. Please," the other man said. He had the grace to look sheepish.
"Then … he went for a walk … Mitsuo-chan," Cloud said, his gaze direct.
"Oh. He showed you."
"Yep."
"You … read all of it?" Sensei looked down at the table-top, biting his lower lip.
"He showed me. We're friends."
"Is that all you are?" Sensei blurted out, then clasped his hands in his lap.
Uke to the core, Cloud thought. And he's wanting Seph to seme the hell out of him. "We're friends," Cloud said firmly. "We just met yesterday … but we've known each other online for a long time."
"I see," Sensei said, smiling a little.
Cloud closed the book. Then he leaned forward, waiting.
"You … you're gay, too," Sensei said.
"Yeah. What of it?"
"Does Seph-san know?"
"Nope."
Sensei looked at him, head tilted to one side, thinking. "Are you going to tell him?"
"If it ever becomes necessary, yeah. Otherwise, probably not. I don't wanna ruin our friendship." And all this was absolutely true.
"He doesn't like gays?"
"I don't know. The subject has never come up. He's out now figuring it out," Cloud added, smiling.
"I see."
"Yeah."
"You … you don't want him?" Sensei asked, leaning forward. "How could you not want him? He's beautiful!" he hissed.
He probably was. Under the glasses, under his clothes, no hats or ugly loafers … he probably was. Cloud wished he could see … he wished … he–
"I want to have a chance with him," Sensei said. "But you are very cute. If you butt in, I don't know … I mean, I don't think he'd …." His voice trailed off.
"It's not up to me what anybody else does," Cloud said. The faces of all his tricks were passing in front of his eyes. I'm dirty, he thought. I don't deserve anybody even remotely like Seph. Friends are all we're ever going to be. "I wouldn't stand in anybody's way, ever. If you wanna make a play, go for it. I'm not going to try anything."
"Oh! Good!" Sensei said, smiling. His eyes were sparkling behind his glasses.
He really was a good-looking guy, Cloud thought. And he'd probably never turned tricks or done some of the dirty things Cloud had done. For a moment he was blisteringly jealous. But then it faded under the weight of realism. "Glad that makes you happy. Now … I've got somewhere to be," he said, standing up and slipping his copy of Sensei's book into his backpack.
"Wait."
"Yes?"
"Do you … do you have any advice for me?" Sensei was looking up at him hopefully.
Cloud wanted to take the rest of Seph's beer and dump it over Sensei's head. Advice?! Like he'd need it! If Seph was willing to take on a male lover, who ELSE would he want?! This was Sensei! His idol! Hell, he was Cloud's idol! Still! Barely able to hold his dismay and anger in check, Cloud made sure to smile brightly at the other man.
"Just take it slow," he said. "I think this is all new to him. That's all I got, Sensei."
He left. Hurrying out of the hotel, he didn't look around for Seph, he just beat feet out of there. He had an appointment this afternoon. He wanted to make some extra money so he could have more to send his mother in the morning, without hurting the rest of the weekend's plans with Seph. This trick paid very very well … and all he had to do was dress up. Hell, he already had the ears on.
XXX
"Seph, what's goin' on, man? Last night you were on cloud 9 … now you look like you were punched in the gut. What happened?" Zack didn't miss the flinch when he said the word 'cloud'.
"I've just got some shit to think about. And I have to call Kunsel." Sephiroth added that last bit at the last second. Stroke of genius.
"Oh, shit, it's work? Well, fuck. Hurry up and call him. Then I want you to come with me for a while. You said you don't havta meet Cloud again 'til later, so let's go have a drink, okay?" Zack used all his persuasive powers. "We can talk over whatever's goin' on, okay? C'mon, say okay to your friend. It's not a name-only status, you know. I'm here for ya."
Sephiroth looked at Zack, then stood up. They were sitting on the "porch" of the cabana, looking at the people who were on the beach. Beers sat on the table between them, droplets of condensation sparkling in the reflected sunlight. "Okay. Let me call Kunsel, then we'll get out for a while."
Zack stayed on the porch while Seph went inside to make his call. A couple of pretty girls strolled by, tanned skin glistening with health. Zack smiled and raised his beer to them. They smiled back. Hello, ladies, he thought. You going to be around later? But he let them walk on without speaking.
It would be a mistake to label Zack Fair a male slut. He wasn't. He was searching. He knew the right girl for him – and for Sephiroth! – was out there, he just had to find her. Them. He didn't go to bed with every girl he met, not with every girl he brought home, not even close. He was looking. He'd find her, he knew it. One of these days, she'd be there. Looking at him. He sighed.
Zack Fair was a closet romantic. It was a secret he guarded closely.
The door opened behind him. Seph said, "Okay, done. Let's go."
"Don't act so excited," Zack said, grinning at his friend. "C'mon," he said. "I know you're feelin' down. Let's go get a drink and relax, away from this sand, and we'll talk things over. Okay?"
"Okay."
They left the Kopa Kabana and hit the main street. "You wanna walk? Or get a cab."
"Let's get a cab," Sephiroth answered. "I don't have all kinds of time."
"All right." Zack looked around as they walked, the heat coming up off the sidewalk in pleasant waves. When a taxi came into view, he hailed it but it went past.
"Look at the lights on top, dumbass," Sephiroth said, shaking his head but smiling a tiny bit. "His said 'occupied'."
"Oh yeah," Zack said, scratching his head. He squinted one eye and grinned at his friend.
"There," Seph said. He raised his arm and whistled. The taxi screeched to a stop and Zack opened the door. Seph slid in while Zack rolled his eyes. The guy was just too used to having a driver! He slid in behind him and shut the door.
"Where to, fellas?" the driver asked, looking at them in the rearview mirror.
Zack turned to look at Sephiroth first. "It's a bar the girls told me about last night," he explained. He looked at the driver. "It's called Ray's."
XXX
End Chapter 4
Oh, shit! This doesn't look good, does it!
Thanks for reading! More to come soon.
Ahvienda
