Disclaimer: I own not Final Fantasy VII or the characters therein. They belong to Square Enix.
Sephiroth woke up and shifted his head. It took a moment for him to realize where he was. It wasn't a place where he normally woke up. It was a lot warmer for one. He was also semi-vertical. He blinked away the fuzziness that came with sleep and saw Cass's office. She had dimmed the lights.
He realized what he had been sleeping on was Cass's shoulder. He also realized that he didn't really want to move. He turned a little. Cass hadn't really noticed he was awake yet.
And she smelled nice.
He closed his eyes again.
When he opened them, they were moving. He could hear Gast in the background.
"No, it okay," she replied, "It's normal for him to be this tired." Were they talking about him? He shifted a little more. His voice was crackly from not being used.
"Sephiroth?" Cass asked.
"Cold," he said. A shiver went through him.
"I'm gonna set you down," she said. He felt his chair beneath him. He released Cass's neck and sank back into it. He blinked tiredly, not really focusing on anything.
"Come here," Cass's said. He felt something being pulled over his head. He tugged it on further. It was big and black, and very soft. It smelled like Cass. He peeked out as Cass peered it. She smiled at him and he blinked sleepily again.
"Tired?" she asked. He nodded. He curled back up and felt his eyes close again.
Gast watched Cass make sure Sephiroth was properly settled. He looked...well...adorable. Cass had dug out an old black hoodie and it was humongous on him. He was snuggled, there was no other word for it, deep inside and fast asleep again.
Cass had spent a good hour telling him what reactions to mako to expect. Fatigue was the most common, but it rarely lasted more than a few hours. He might be cranky later. He might be nauseous. He might be perfectly fine. It was different for each person, but the reaction would matter less and less with each injection. It was safe to give that amount to Sephiroth, though ill advised.
Cass was efficient in her care. Well practiced for sure. He had found her in the infirmary after all. She would know about mako poisoning. Sephiroth was in good hands. He couldn't help himself. He hoped, just the tiniest bit, that the look she gave the boy was just the slightest bit affectionate.
"He'll be just fine," she said, once again, "he's quite the trooper."
"Yes, he is," Gast agreed. Too much so. "Now," he said, reluctantly pulling Cass away from Sephiroth, "What did you want to tell me about this equation of yours.
When Sephiroth woke again, his first thought was that he was in a chrysalis. He quickly dismissed the notion when he remembered that a chrysalis was not made out of cloth and that he was most definitely not a butterfly. It probably had something to do with the pictures he saw while he was sleeping. They were already fading, but he still remembered the picture of the butterfly in them.
He snuggled even deeper into the hoodie, quite satisfied with where he was. He could hear muffled voices outside, but didn't care to listen. He just wanted to stay where he was. A noise came out of his nose, that he didn't recall making ever before, but it was a pleased noise. The voices stopped.
"Sephiroth?" Cass's voice called. He peered out. She and Gast were looking at him. "You alright in there?" He nodded and sank back in, the noise came out again. It was fun to make.
"Is he okay?" Gast asked.
"He's fine," she said, "It's starting to wear off. He's doped up now. They were always amusing to watch at this point. He'll be goofy for an hour or more, then he'll be back to his normal self. You can take him with you when you leave. It's probably best to keep him in a familiar place." Gast nodded then turned back.
"Are you sure you can find it?" Gast asked.
"I'm not sure I can find anything," Cass said, "It's only speculation like I said."
Sephiroth let them talk. He didn't feel much like moving anyway
He faintly remembered someone pulling him out and carrying him away, but the next memory he truly had was waking up in his own bed.
He didn't see Cass for a while. Hojo wanted to do all sorts of tests after the injection. He was very pleased with the results though. Sephiroth didn't have to do any of them more than once and he didn't get as many bruises. That probably meant that Hojo would make harder tests in the future.
When he was sent off to see Cass again, Sephiroth was excited. It pleased him that he knew what the feeling was called and what it meant. He was excited to see her again, even if all they did was sit there it meant that Sephiroth could ask more questions and didn't have to do any tests.
"Good morning Sephiroth," Cass said.
"Good morning," Sephiroth responded. It was his first time trying to. He hoped he did it right.
"How are you?" Cass asked.
"Normal," Sephiroth said. That was the reply Hojo usually expected. Cass smirked a little.
"Good," she said. He moved over to his chair and sat down. Cass had left the last book he had attempted to read within reach, he picked it up and started again.
He wanted to go for a walk earlier than usual, but Cass didn't seem to mind. He was walking a little faster too, Cass upped her own pace. They ended up extending their walk to four circles, but they did it in the same amount of time. Cass didn't seem to mind about that either.
They resumed their regular activities. Then Cass stopped and shut her notebook. Sephiroth looked up. This was a disturbance to the routine. She stood up and walked over to her window. She shook her head, but she had a smile on her face. What had happened?
"Did you solve it?" Sephiroth asked.
"Only a small part," she said, "This is much more complex than I thought it would be. It's simply marvelous." She added another line to the bottom, another equation that Sephiroth didn't understand. Then she got another notebook and started all over again.
"What does that mean?" Sephiroth asked.
"It means that I can make a timeline out of this if I want," she said, "but it also means that I can make other things, I just don't know what they are."
"That's what you're trying to figure out?" Sephiroth asked.
"Yes," she said. Sephiroth settled back down, satisfied with the answer and that their routine had been re-established. He started trying to perfect writing the letter "S" again. His were still very jagged.
Sephiroth came in after knocking. She had the wires in her ears again and didn't respond until the door closed. She turned around.
"Hello Sephiroth," she said. He didn't respond. He didn't think she could hear him. He went over to his chair and started reading again. He found an encyclopedia that talked about lightning, which was really interesting. He could faintly hear what she was listening to.
It was distracting and intriguing at the same time. His fingers set the book aside and his feet brought him over to where Cass was sitting, He tugged at her coat to get her attention. She turned down towards him.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Just music," she replied. He blinked at her.
"You can hear me?" he asked.
"No," she said, "I don't need to hear you to understand you." He blinked again. She pulled out the wires with a laugh. "I'm confusing you aren't you?" He blinked. She laughed again.
"A very special woman once told me that not all words can be spoken," she said, "She couldn't hear. I had to find other ways to talk to her and she had to find other ways to listen."
"How?" Sephiroth asked. How could you speak without speaking?
"Well, she could tell what I was saying by the shapes my mouth made," Cass explained, "she taught me too. She also taught me how to talk with my hands." Sephiroth looked at her incredulously. She smiled and made strange movements with her hands.
"I spelled your name," she explained. His eyes got wide.
"Can you...show me?" he asked.
"Sure," she said, "Copy after me." She did them slowly so that he could follow. She named each letter as she instructed it.
"S-E-P-H-I-R-O-T-H," she said. He did it again, watching as his own hands spelled out the letters in a foreign tongue. She smiled as he repeated it over and over.
"Do you want to learn something else?" she asked. He nodded with wide green eyes. He wanted to learn this secret language.
Much later, Sephiroth stood in front of a mirror and repeated what Cass had taught him.
"I am Sephiroth," he told himself without saying a word.
Author's Note. Sorry for the short chapter. The next will be longer.
