If nothing else, Leviathan proved to be a generous host. They found a circular room with three doors and a table bearing a huge feast. Cid quickly filled a plate and sat down, eager to sup on food he had not eaten in years. He found all of his favorites: steamed breshan bass, pasta smothered with a white sauce and tender specter mushrooms, buttered greenbread, and flandragora cream pudding, each cooked to perfection. Being a man who favored dessert first, Cid ate half of his sweet cream pudding before he realized he was the only one eating.

"Are you sure we should eat this?" Hope asked, looking somewhat horrified.

Jihl crossed her arms. "This is a dinner table set by a Pulse fal'Cie. Just because we're bound to complete their Focus doesn't mean we should eat at their table."

Cid set his spoon down and considered the meal set before him. He found a bottle of mooncherry wine and poured two glasses. Though most military officers disdained such a cheap wine, Cid favored its sweet taste. His parents had always kept a bottle in their house. Cid kept one glass and handed the other to Hope. "Leviathan wants us to complete our Focus. I'm sure it's safe."

Hope scowled, but sat down and stared at the food. "I suppose it's no worse than Carbuncle's food. He wanted us dead as much as the others did."

"That's the spirit," Cid drawled, and sipped at his wine. As sweet and cloying as ever, tasting just as it had when his mother would pour drinks after a successful performance.

Jihl opened the doors around the dining room and peered into each. "Bedrooms. Does he mean for us to sleep here?"

"I suppose so."

Jihl looked rather pale as stared at a large window, which offered a view into the vast oceanic world outside. "How can we sleep when we're surrounded by all this water?"

Even Hope noticed the quaver in her voice. He studied her. "Are you all right?" He sounded as if it pained him to ask, yet he did.

"All right?" Jihl glanced back at Hope with her trademarked bored expression. "Why shouldn't I be all right? Our Focus is to destroy every Pulse fal'Cie in existence. I'm only irritated that we're here, and not out looking for the Mechagony. I never thought a Pulse fal'Cie would provide me such an agreeable Focus."

"Yes, quite agreeable, isn't he?" Cid asked.

Hope turned to study Cid. "What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it." Cid continued to eat. He could not afford to voice his doubts, not here. The walls did not just have ears-they may very well be ears, considering everything they saw was part of a Leviathan's body.

"But-"

"Later. I promise." Cid nodded at Hope and continued to eat. He had to admit, he missed the ease and taste behind fal'Cie-made food. As good as Hope's stew tasted to a hungry man, it could not compare to a gourmet meal. And it certainly surpassed Cid's own bland and undercooked attempts at making dinner. This was a meal created by fal'Cie standards. Cid was a man of Cocoon, used to being coddled and cared for by the fal'Cie, living by their standards. Being inside Leviathan felt like returning home.

A little too much like home-a home designed for mass murder and sacrifice. Only now the sacrifice would be the fal'Cie. But how could that be any better?

. . .

The look on Hope's face when Cid struck the sweet spot inside of him was exquisite. His expression tightened in surprised, then relaxed in pleasure. Cid bucked his hips, making sure to hit that spot again and again as he moved, intoxicated by his newfound sense of control. Hope gave a small gasp and wrapped his thighs around Cid's hips, leaving Cid hissing in pleasure.

Cid gripped Hope's cock tightly, eliciting another gasp from Hope. Every inch of his being felt electrified, as if someone had upped the energy level of his own body. Hope was almost unbearably hot and tight around his cock, but in the best possible way. Cid's body ached for release, but he fought the urge, wanting to drag out the pleasure as long as possible. He stroked Hope's cock and rocked into the boy, hoping to make Hope feel as good as he did. He watched the passing expressions on Hope's face, the red-faced ecstasy mingled with the hesitation of inexperience, and even the wince of occasional pain. Awareness of any reality outside of Hope quickly faded. Nothing else mattered, except for the beautiful boy beneath him.

It was not the building intensity or even some wicked movement of Hope's thighs that brought Cid over the edge. It was the simple gesture of Hope placing a hand on Cid's chest. It was the sound of Hope moaning, ever so softly, in short little gasps. Cid's heart raced, and he came. Pleasure burst across his lower body, but Hope still had not come. He stroked Hope's cock and continued to thrust into Hope, even as he softened. The youth came in moments, twisting half to the side and covering his face with a hand. Cid pulled Hope's hand away to watch as Hope's eyelids rapidly fluttered in pleasure. The boy parted his lips, gasping quietly. An expression of vulnerability. An expression just for Cid.

After a few moments, Hope shivered and glanced up at Cid. Cid smiled and bent down to kiss him. He had almost never kissed his lovers before, but with Hope it seemed natural. His life, difficult as it was, had not hardened him. He remained open and full of passion, willing to share emotion. Cid had never known anyone like that before.

Hope kissed back, tasting like the mooncherry wine they had drunk at dinner.

. . .

When Cid headed out of his bedroom later, Jihl stood by one of the windows, her arms wrapped around herself, as pale as ever. Cid poured himself a glass of water and went to stand beside her. Jihl glanced at him, then returned to staring out at the ocean bed. In the distance, schools of fish scattered as a large predator flashed through the water at them.

"Does staring out at it help?" he asked.

Jihl scowled. "What do you care?"

Cid leaned against the wall and sipped at his water. "At one time, I thought we were all friends. Study Unit 57-B. You, me, and Yaag. The three top graduates, all vying for the same position. You won, and we lost. But in the end, all three of us lost, didn't we?"

"I haven't seen Rosch, if that's what you're asking." Jihl glanced at Cid's closed bedroom door. "I could hear you two, you know. Did you tell him about you and Rosch?"

"I fail to see why it would matter. That was over by the time we left the academy."

"Heh. You never were very good at keeping it in your pants, were you, Raines?" Jihl shook her head, sending ripples through her long mane of hair.

Cid shrugged and smiled a little. "I may have been promiscuous in my youth. But you were never interested much in that. For you, it was always about your studies, and then later, your work. You followed every Sanctum rule. You went above the call of duty for the Sanctum. You even enjoyed your job. How do you like how it turned out?"

Jihl's eyes flashed, and she turned to glare at Cid. "Are you trying to make me angry, Raines?"

"No. It's a genuine question."

Jihl turned back to the window. The lighting reflected off her glasses, obscuring her eyes. "I had devoted my life to him. Every inch of me belonged to him, to PSICOM, to the Sanctum. I didn't care about anyone or anything else. And I was repaid with death. And not even a death in the line of duty-a death that meant nothing."

Cid studied his glass of water before taking a sip. "You found out you were a mere inconvenience, and Dysley a liar."

Jihl only stared out at the ocean.

"I don't feel sorry for you, you know. And some others would go even further, to say that you deserved no less."

"I know what they think," Jihl spat.

"Yes, well, even if you did deserve it, I think you've paid your debt in full." Cid walked back to the table and set his empty cup down. "Get some sleep, Jihl, if you can. I doubt we'll drown in our sleep, and it's not as small as you imagine. I think Leviathan might actually be bigger than Titan."

When Cid headed back to his room, he realized Hope stood at the door, wrapped in a sheet. The youth watched Jihl with a thoughtful expression on his face. Cid touched his shoulder and gently pulled him back inside the room, leaving Jihl to face her fears as she had always preferred it: alone.

To be continued…