AN: I'll go ahead and admit right now that I've never built a gazebo in my entire life, and am highly unlikely to do so. Ever. I do, however, offer some Seph/Cloud makeouts in this chapter as a way to distract you from any inaccuracies. :D?

Also thank you so much to everyone who is reading! I'm so glad you are enjoying the story! Your kind words are much appreciated 3

Chapter 10: Come Undone

Reno brought the gazebo kit via helicopter. Sephiroth and Cloud both reacted to the noise like they were going to have to fight something deadly with a lot of teeth, and went to draw their weapons.

Or rather, Cloud drew his weapon. Sephiroth grabbed the first thing he could find, which was a kitchen broom.

Cloud gave him a pointed look. "Is that for you to sweep up whatever's left when I'm done kicking ass?"

Sephiroth spun the broom around like a shinai - he'd been trained in Kendo, and was very good at it. The gesture did lose some impact when debris came out of the bristles, though.

"You know how I like to keep things clean," he said, just as Reno's voice came crashing through the resort.

"Hey! Where d'you want all this stuff, anyway?" Reno appeared in the doorway, all sly eyes and improbably bright hair. "Also, hey, Sephiroth - boss says they've got one of these kits to build your own swimming pool, too, when you're done with the gazebo. Says to tell you thanks, for helping up the resale value on the property."

Sephiroth put the broom down and pointed to the living room. "You can put it all in there."

"Sure." Reno nodded at Cloud. "Heya, Cloudy. Your energy drinks are in the kitchen. Put them on the table with that chess book you wanted."

Cloud cleared his throat. "Thanks, Reno."

"No problem. It was fun flyin' the bird up here. You should request more large, heavy-type items so I can do it again. Boss always vetoes helicopter flights when it's just for groceries."

"I'm glad to see Rufus is keeping a rein on the company's expenditures," Sephiroth said, watching as Cloud quietly ducked out of the room.

"That, and we don't have any other helicopters left." Reno laughed, and then went to help Rude carry in all of the boxes.

When they'd finally finished carrying everything inside, Rude cleared his throat and said, "Maybe we should've just left all this outside."

Sephiroth closed his eyes briefly, wondering how much of his once-fearsome reputation was being ruined by the events of the last twenty minutes. Once I brought a country to its knees, now I'm waving brooms around and failing at home improvement projects. "It's fine. Now I'll be able to organize it."

"Well it's already organized for you," Reno pointed out. "That's why all these boxes have numbers on them. That's the point of a kit, yo."

Sephiroth studied the blueprints with rapt attention, and pointedly ignored both Turks until they got the hint and left him alone. He expelled a breath of relief as he heard the whir of the helicopter as it took to the sky.

His moment of peace was short-lived, as Cloud came in a few moments later. "That's a lot of stuff," he said, surveying the piles of materials.

"Yes." Sephiroth flipped a page in the blueprints.

"Gazebos go outside, though."

Sephiroth flipped a page again, this time with a little more vigor. "Yes, thank you, Cloud. Unless you want to help me carry these boxes to the patio, I believe there's a remedial chess strategy book and some terrible energy drinks waiting for you in the kitchen."

"It's an intermediate chess strategy book, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth raised his eyebrows and glanced at him over the blueprints. "Someone thinks rather highly of their skills."

"And someone thinks they can build a gazebo in the living room," Cloud said, walking over to the stack of boxes and leaning down to pick one up. "Besides. You get to skip over the beginner level stuff when you're playing chess against your arch-nemesis."

"Is that so?" Sephiroth tucked the blueprints beneath his arm and went to pick up a box, following Cloud outside.

"Yeah. I read it somewhere. Do you even know what you're doing?" Cloud put the box down, turning towards Sephiroth with his hands on his hips. "Because I think you don't."

Sephiroth set his box down, too, and then went to retrieve another one from the living room. "There are instructions, Cloud."

"Huh." Cloud picked up another box. "Do they say that step one is put everything for your outdoor gazebo inside your living room?"

"No, nor do they say that step two is procure the assistance of your mouthy, unhelpful, supposed arch-nemesis."

"Supposed arch-nemesis? Seriously?" Cloud carried the second box out to the deck. "Just 'cause you don't remember doesn't mean you get to demote me."

Sephiroth stared hard at Cloud's back, watching him as he leaned over to set the box down. "I thought you didn't believe me."

Cloud didn't turn around for a few moments, but when he did, his gaze was shuttered. He shrugged. "You're still you. It doesn't really change anything."

It did, though. And they both knew it.

Sephiroth didn't say anything, simply turned his attention to the remaining boxes that needed to be moved outside. Neither of them spoke until they were all present and accounted for, and then Sephiroth said, quietly, "Thank you, Cloud."

Whether the expression of gratitude was for the help with the boxes or for believing him, Sephiroth wasn't sure. Cloud looked uncomfortable either way, nodding slightly before leaving Sephiroth alone.

* * *

Building the gazebo was a godsend as far as keeping him busy, involving calculations and measurements, planning and organizing as well as physical activity. Sephiroth spent most of the day outside until the sun went down, and then went inside, showered, had dinner and soundly beat Cloud at chess.

Cloud wasn't friendly by any means, but he occasionally spoke to Sephiroth without venom lacing his every word. He'd even laughed once or twice. He was still moody, intense, and stubborn to a fault, but if his last relationship was any indication, that was apparently Sephiroth's type.

He was rather glad there was only one of Cloud, though. Genesis always said Sephiroth was a masochist, but even Sephiroth didn't think he was that much of one.

Sephiroth admitted part of his fascination with Cloud was not knowing how this unassuming young man managed to defeat him in battle. He'd seen Cloud's weapon, and he admitted to a swordsman's fascination with the removable blades, but it didn't seem like a good idea to ask for a demonstration.

Plus, what was he going to spar with? A broom?

Cloud occasionally came outside while Sephiroth was working on the gazebo, usually to offer unsolicited advice or to hint that it was getting close to dinnertime, and shouldn't Sephiroth be thinking about making something disgustingly healthy involving vegetables?

One afternoon, Sephiroth looked up from the mass of wood that was slowly becoming a base for the gazebo and saw Cloud standing there, silently, holding out a bottle of water. The look on his face vacillated between confused and determined.

Sephiroth stood up, took the bottle and nodded his thanks. He had no idea what precipitated the small act of kindness, and he rather doubted Cloud did, either.

A week or so into the project, something went awry. Sephiroth wasn't sure what it was, and no amount of staring at the blueprints was providing him with the answer. All he knew was the sections weren't fitting as they should, and while it galled him to have to ask Cloud for help, what he needed was a second set of eyes to help suss out the problem.

Sephiroth went inside and found Cloud sitting at the kitchen table, one of those energy drinks of his opened next to him. He was reading the chess book and scowling at it.

"Yeah?"

"The gazebo and I have arrived at a bit of an impasse," Sephiroth said, by way of greeting.

Cloud's lips twitched. "You're so dramatic." He stood up and stretched. "You need my help or something?"

"I would like your opinion," Sephiroth corrected him. He was annoyed, both that he'd asked Cloud for his assistance and that he was noticing how Cloud's muscles shifted beneath his t-shirt.

"So, that's a yes." Cloud followed him outside, swearing softly at the brightness of the afternoon sun. "Fuck, it's hot out here."

"Behold," Sephiroth intoned, waving a hand at the gazebo. "The impasse."

Cloud was staring at him strangely. Sephiroth's lips pressed together in annoyance. "What?" His mistake wasn't that obvious, was it?

"You look different."

Sephiroth waited, but no further wisdom was forthcoming. "You have a very irritating habit of not finishing your sentences," he told Cloud.

"You have a very irritating habit of not staying dead," Cloud shot back, but he'd turned his attention to the gazebo. "Lemme see the blueprints."

Sephiroth handed them over, and when he felt a breeze on the back of his neck, he realized what it was that Cloud meant when he said he looked different. Sephiroth had, due to the heat of the day, pulled his hair back into a ponytail while working and forgotten about it.

His hand shot up and he went to tug out the elastic, but he changed his mind and left it alone. It seemed too obvious to take it down now.

Cloud handed him the blueprints back. "I think you just reversed this section," he said, pointing. "You've got the interior on the exterior. That's why the next section isn't fitting right, see? You'll have to take it all down and flip it around, but that's all."

Sephiroth forgot his rising temper in the face of such a simple explanation. "I didn't know that was possible. Should it have indicated there was a right way and a wrong way on the blueprints?"

"Maybe they did," Cloud said. He looked at the blueprints again. "This is like reading Wutainese or something."

"How did you figure that out, if you can't read the blueprints?"

Cloud pointed to the diagram. "It's just...see that part, in the next section? I think that's supposed to be a bench or something to sit on. It has to connect to the part you just built, meaning these things here are supports for it, and those should be on the inside. Because you sit inside the gazebo."

Sephiroth looked at the blueprints and sighed, finally seeing his mistake when he focused on the plan overall instead of the specifics of the section in which he was working. He nodded to show he understood, then said, "If you would concentrate on the board instead of a single move when you played chess, you wouldn't have to read that book."

"Thanks for making this about my sucking at chess, instead of you sucking at building things." Cloud handed him a hammer. "You'll have to take all that down, but if you're careful, you can just build it back the right way instead of having to start over from scratch."

"All right." Sephiroth said, taking the hammer and approaching the wood with a grim, determined face.

"You want some help?" Cloud asked, and it sounded so grudging that it made Sephiroth feel better about accepting his offer.

"If you want," he said, not looking at him.

The two of them worked in companionable silence, dismantling the thing Sephiroth had built slowly, piece by piece, in order to put it back together again.

* * *
A few days later in the shower, Sephiroth noticed his hand moving slowly up and down his cock. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he wondered why it had taken him this long. It was somewhat disconcerting to think he hadn't even considered availing himself of such a simple, pleasurable form of release, considering the tension and stress of the last few weeks.

Once again, he was thrown at how disconnected he felt from his own body. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the shower tile and tipped his head back, hand moving faster and his breath catching. At one point, he wrapped strands of his hair around his wrist, enough times so that it caught and pulled as he jerked himself faster. He gave a low moan, the sound amplified by the tile of the shower and making him worry, briefly, that Cloud would hear him.

Cloud.

Sephiroth's eyes closed again. He'd never been particularly good at games of fantasy and role-playing in bed, that had always been Genesis's area of expertise. Such things usually left him feeling more awkward than aroused, but in this case, he didn't require an overly-elaborate scenario full of details. It was perhaps a bit strange that his fantasy involved fighting Cloud, but it certainly didn't end with one or the other of them dying.

It ended with Cloud beneath him, fingers tangled in Sephiroth's hair while he moaned and writhed - and staring up at him with that challenging stare, the one that said I'm on my back for you, but only because you earned it.

It didn't take very long before he came, quietly gasping for breath and leaning against the tiled wall of the shower for support. It left him feeling very good, drowsy and relaxed - at least, until he realized his wing had manifested and was becoming completely sodden beneath the spray from the multiple showerheads.

Sephiroth pressed his forehead to the tile and sighed. He turned off the shower and attempted to shake the water out of his feathers, but it didn't work. The bathroom wasn't large enough to accommodate his wingspan (I'll be leaving that in my review of your resort, Rufus,) and when he tried to rustle it, it knocked into things and made a racket.

Sephiroth knew better than to try and retract his wing while wet, as having done so before caused a good deal of pain and a trip to see Hojo. Luckily, it was warm outside.

Sephiroth dragged a comb through his hair, pulled on a pair of pajama pants and went out onto the small balcony adjoining his bedroom. He launched himself into the air, intending only to fly long enough to dry the feathers. But it was very relaxing, flying, and the exhilaration of feeling free, even knowing he had to go back eventually, was almost intoxicating.

Sephiroth hadn't realized how long he'd been gone until he approached the house, and saw a very angry Cloud Strife standing on his balcony. Sephiroth landed in front of him, wing spread out, waiting for Cloud to express his obvious displeasure.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"Drying off," Sephiroth said, wing fluttering behind him. It definitely felt dry, though now he had some leaves and twigs caught up in his feathers.

"Why?"

Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest. "I would think that was obvious."

"You know what towels are, right?"

Sephiroth sighed. "They're not as convenient for drying off feathers, Cloud."

"Why was your wing wet in the first place?"

You don't want to know. "As you know, I've been studying the physics of my wing and I suppose I wasn't thinking about where I was, when it manifested." There, that was close enough to the truth, wasn't it? "I didn't intend to be gone for more than a few moments, Cloud. I apologize for not letting you know I was leaving."

"Yeah, whatever," Cloud muttered, stepping aside and jerking his head towards the door. "Can we just go inside?"

Sephiroth, feeling a bit out of sorts at being treated like he'd come home late for curfew, moved past Cloud and maybe, maybe, knocked him a bit on the side of the head with his wing. Lightly.

A few of his feathers fluttered to the floor as he did so.

"Are you molting?" Cloud asked him, closing the patio door behind him. "Because I think you're molting."

"I am not molting," Sephiroth snapped, flapping his wing just to see. A few more feathers were dislodged, but no more than normal. "This is just what happens."

"You have some leaves stuck in, ah. In there. In your feathers." Cloud made a noise. "I can't fucking believe my life, sometimes."

Try having a wing thrust out of your back when you come in the shower, Sephiroth thought. He gently rustled his feathers, trying to dislodge the leaves. He was the same way about his wing as he was about his hair, so he tried again, though standing shirtless in pajama pants and flapping his wing in front of the man he'd just gotten off thinking about - it felt a bit like that incident with the broom, earlier.

Ridiculous.

"They're still there," Cloud said, then sighed. "Here."

Before Sephiroth could tell him not to, Cloud moved closer and reached his hand out, and started preening his feathers.

It had the same effect as having his hair pulled, only it was more arousing than relaxing. When Cloud's fingers skirted against the joint and the bone, Sephiroth caught the noise he made behind his teeth, trying not to pull away.

"Oh. Did that hurt?" Cloud asked, giving him a weird look.

Sephiroth almost laughed. "No," he said, though he doubted Cloud would believe him, with his voice as strangled as it was.

"You sure?" Cloud asked, and made his touch lighter. It felt teasing in a way Sephiroth was certain Cloud did not intend.

"Yes," Sephiroth said, flaring his wing a little, as if trying to discourage him from continuing. "It's fine. You can stop."

"It it didn't hurt, then why do you want me to stop?" Cloud asked him, fingers running through the feathers like Sephiroth was an unruly chocobo he was trying to gentle.

Sephiroth reached out and grabbed Cloud's wrist in his fingers, stilling his movements. "Because it feels good, Cloud. And given the choice, I think you'd rather cause me pain than pleasure."

Cloud was staring at him with wide, bright eyes. He was so close, Sephiroth could feel the warmth of his body heat even though the only places they were touching were his fingers on Cloud's wrist, and Cloud's on his wing.

How long has it been since anyone touched me?

"I'd rather not cause anyone pain," Cloud said, not moving his hand away. "Even you."

Sephiroth tried to push Cloud's hand away. "Leave it. I'll attend to it myself."

Cloud's face settled into a familiar stubborn expression. His fingers curled into the feathers. "I'm not going to stop just because it doesn't hurt."

"Why not?" Sephiroth asked him, eyes searching Cloud's. "It's not just that it doesn't hurt, Cloud, it's that what you're doing feels very good. After everything I've done to you, how can you want me to do anything but suffer?"

"Because I'm not like that," Cloud said, simply. He tugged against Sephiroth's hold on his wrist. "Let go."

Sephiroth stared at him, wary and mistrustful, but he supposed if Cloud was determined to prove some point or another, he should probably comply. He owed him at least that much, didn't he? Slowly, he uncurled his fingers from around Cloud's wrist.

The room was quiet. Cloud's fingers combed through his feathers, skirted the edge of bone and muscle, and Sephiroth wondered if perhaps Cloud was trying to torture him with pleasure instead of pain. Eventually, unable to keep how good it felt from showing on his face, Sephiroth tilted his head to hide behind the fall of his hair.

Cloud's fingers stilled momentarily. "Why're you hiding your face like that? Were you lying about it not hurting?"

"No," Sephiroth said, struggling to keep his voice even. "Forget it, Cloud."

Cloud's bright eyes narrowed, and he tugged a little harder at the feathers. Sephiroth had to stop himself from shuddering in pleasure. "You don't want me to see that you like it?"

"No."

"But why?" Cloud demanded. "Is it the same reason why you won't wear your hair back when you're outside, anymore? Can't stand for me to see you actually feel something, like a fucking human being?" One of his hands dropped away from Sephiroth's wing, but before Sephiroth could answer him or say anything at all to that -

Cloud reached up and tugged, briefly but firmly, at his hair.

Sephiroth moved in a whirl, wing flaring as he grabbed Cloud's hands by the wrists again and spun them around, shoving him back, hard, against the wall.

"Sephiroth -"

"No," Sephiroth hissed at him, slamming Cloud's arms against the wall. "Do you want to know why I don't want you to put your hands on me? Fine. I'll show you."

Sephiroth lowered his head and kissed him. It was a hard, rough, punishing kiss, and he fully expected Cloud to shove him away, to attack, to do anything but kiss him back - which was exactly what Cloud was doing.

He made a sound against Sephiroth's mouth, angry like a growl, but he was kissing back with the same intensity, the same fervor. Sephiroth could feel Cloud against him, all tense, lean muscles vibrating with coiled energy.

"This," Sephiroth muttered against his mouth, "This is what I don't want you to see."

Cloud yanked hard at Sephiroth's hold on his wrists, and Sephiroth let him go. Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's hair again, but this wasn't a gentle tug like before. He had a handful of it and he pulled, hard enough to yank Sephiroth's head back and away from him, hard enough to tear a low moan from Sephiroth's throat when he did it.

Instead of speaking, Cloud's other hand went around the back of Sephiroth's neck, using it to pull him down and kiss him again. Sephiroth felt him bite his lower lip, hard, between his teeth. He opened his mouth, and Cloud made a noise and kissed him hotly.

Sephiroth knew if he didn't stop this, and soon, he was going to fuck Cloud right there against the wall. But he didn't want to stop, it felt so good - better than having his wings preened, better than having his hair pulled, better than touching himself in the shower. He pressed up against Cloud, aroused and feeling dangerously close to losing control -

Maybe that's what he wants. Maybe he wants you to try it, so he can have the reason he needs to kill you.

Sephiroth tore his mouth away from Cloud's, taking a few steps backwards. When he saw Cloud leaning against the wall, staring at him with wide eyes, his mouth parted and face flushed...he almost didn't care if it was a trap, he wanted it anyway. He put more distance between the two of them, tense and uncertain.

"I - I can't -" Cloud reached up and touched his mouth, blinking like he had no idea what had just happened. He looked so young in that moment, like the infantryman he must have been before Sephiroth and ShinRa did their best to break him.

Sephiroth turned away. His blood ran cold at the thought of what he'd just done, what sort of progress he'd ruined by acting on impulse instead of logic. That was the sort of thing he'd expect from his insane alter-ego, and the implications of that made him sick to his stomach. "Get out of here, Cloud."

"Sephiroth -" Whatever he was going to say, Cloud must have thought better of it, because all he did was sigh, softly, and then Sephiroth heard him leave the room and close the door quietly behind him.

When he was gone, Sephiroth curled his wing protectively around himself for comfort. He hadn't done that since the first night he spent in Rufus's cell, locked in the darkness amidst the crumbling ruins of the only home he'd ever known, without any clue as to what had happened or how he'd gotten there.

Sephiroth turned his face into the down of his feathers, breathing in the familiar scent and trying to calm his restlessness.

Outside, an engine roared. Sephiroth listened to the sound of Cloud's motorcycle as it faded off into the distance, and wondered if he would come back.