Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Happy reading, everyone!

Credit goes to kpzske for both the beta job and the support! Thanks, hun!

vi. in which sephiroth's possessiveness rears its head

Given the number of lovers he possessed, many would find it difficult to believe that Sephiroth was not the kind of man who liked to share. As a child, what few possessions he owned that weren't academic in nature had been precious to him, and he'd hoarded and cherished them as obsessively as a dragon would its gold.

As he grew older and lost his fascination for puzzles and toys, his possessive hoarding tendencies adapted to encompass people. In particular, Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley, who were part of the same cadet squad as him and came to be his first friends, and as time passed, his first lovers.

The unfortunate consequence of being possessive of people was that they, unlike inanimate objects, had the freedom to befriend and interact with whomever they wished. As much as Sephiroth had yearned to, he could not lock Angeal and Genesis away when they focused their attention on people who weren't him. It had been sheer luck that neither seemed interested in expanding their circle for the first five years of their relationship.

And then Zackary Fair came along—with his floppy hair and puppy eyes and dimples—and coiled himself around Angeal's finger and stole a place in the man's heart.

That…had taken some adjusting to. More than some, if he was being honest with himself. In the beginning he'd loathed the boy with a ferocity that could have burned worlds and hadn't done much to hide it. But Zack was nothing if not stubborn, and he'd persisted in his friendship with Angeal regardless. When Genesis eventually fell for the boy's charm and the two of them became friends, Sephiroth had known he'd have to adapt to the shifting dynamic of their relationship, or risk losing his best friends.

So he'd adapted, with all the willingness of marrow being aspirated from bone. In the end it turned out to be one of his better decisions because Sephiroth, perhaps inevitably, grew to love Zack just as strongly and fiercely as he loved Angeal and Genesis. Rather than upset the careful balance of their relationship, he stabilized it. Zack added a component the three of them had been without. He was the one who coaxed smiles from them on days it was hard to even get out of bed, and livened their moods when they turned bleak. Zack pushed them—to live in the present, to find joy in the little things, to laugh when it felt more feasible to cry.

Some nights, when Sephiroth lay in bed with his lovers—head on Angeal's shoulder and arm curled around Genesis' waist and fingers sliding through Zack's hair—he wondered what might have happened had he been unable to surrender, to adjust, to let Zack in. It was an alarming thought, one he was loathe to dwell on, but it would not release him. So he came to view it as a reminder of sorts—that he wasn't infallible, wasn't omniscient, wasn't always right. Genesis, Angeal, and Zack all had unique viewpoints he couldn't always visualize. Perspectives that his sheltered upbringing made difficult to comprehend.

But he trusted them. Knew that everything they did was for their collective well-being, even if it sometimes felt like he was being lead in the dark. He had faith that the hands guiding him would always lead him to a source of light, regardless how uncertain or trying the journey might be.

That trust is what Sephiroth clung to one Saturday morning in December when a blond boy walked into their café and his lovers perked up like a trio of dogs in the presence of meat. His hands froze in the process of setting down a cookie tray as they welcomed him by name and ushered him inside and fussed—even Genesis, in his own coarse way. He watched, unable to control the way his eyes narrowed and lips thinned, because Sephiroth knew his lovers as well as he knew himself, probably more so, and this—this was them showing interest in someone.

Sephiroth could see it in the way Angeal tutted at the boy for forgetting his gloves and hastened to make him something to warm them with, and in the way Genesis sniped at him for being careless even as he fixed his scarf, and in the way Zack ruffled his hair before draping a deliberate arm over his shoulder.

He could see it in the way Genesis unsubtly brushed his fingers against the boy's jaw, and Angeal's hands lingered over the boy's as he offered a cup of something hot, and Zack held the boy a little too tightly as if he didn't want to let go.

A sensation long-forgotten rose in Sephiroth's chest, made it feel heavy and tight and hot, and he set the tray down on the countertop so sharply the impact created a resounding thud.

The response was instantaneous. At once his lovers went still, ceasing in their fussing and teasing and chatter, and looked towards him with varying degrees of unease. Sephiroth wasn't sure what kind of expression he wore, couldn't focus on anything but the way they were still touching the boy, but he imagined it must've been alarming because they eventually backed up, and off, and away.

Breathing became easier when more distance was put between them, though the awful feeling in his chest didn't subside. It was an incessant throb that worsened as he tore his gaze from his lovers and directed it onto the boy. Sephiroth studied him as if he were an insect pinned to a board—took in the wild windswept hair, the gem-bright eyes, the delicate facial features contorted in wary curiosity—and dismissed him with a turn of his head. Walked away without a word through the back door that lead to their apartment upstairs.

Sephiroth knew he needed to calm down. Needed to get a handle on the possessive jealousy that was making his insides feel too big for his skin. Needed to go somewhere dark and quiet to calm the storm brewing in his head so that it did not gain momentum and extend past those confines. He's irrational when he's like this, equanimity lost to base impulse, and that wasn't what he needed right now. What he needed was to be level-headed for the conversation he understood was still to come.

Because Sephiroth knew his lovers, knew what the subtle nuances in their expressions meant, and had already realized that while they might have backed off, they certainly had not backed down.

Whoever that boy was, they wanted him.

His nails dug into his palms hard enough to leave indents, but he could barely feel it over the heavy pounding of his heart.

to be continued.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Comments are super appreciated, as always!