Chapter 10

"Reno, Rude. You have a request from the general," Tseng told the pair. "Apparently, he wants you two to dig up some information on a cadet Strife." Reno smirked.

"Sure thing, boss man," he said easily. Turning to his partner, he whispered, "Told ya he was fucking the pair of 'em." To Tseng he asked,"Any specifics?" Tseng shook his head.

"Just find out what you can. You know the drill: interrogation and some snooping. It's a small town so I'm trusting you two won't take long; what with Rude's intimidation and your…. Anyways, I'm sure you won't have much trouble," he answered. Rude coughed loudly into a fist while Tseng casually turned back to his papers, ignoring Reno's indignant sputtering.

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"This is such a dump, yo," Reno complained. The entire helicopter ride, he had bitched about pain in the ass bosses with huge sticks up their asses looking down on his 'fine' skills. Rude remained silent.

"Well, partner? Let's go dig around in someone's little box of secrets," he said. Rude shook his head at Reno's bipolarity and followed.

The first place they went was the inn. They needed a place to stay since they weren't sure how long the mission would take. They got their rooms with little problem but when Reno brought up Cloud, the entire inn went still.

"Who wants to know?" the innkeeper asked aggressively. Taken aback, Reno glanced at Rude who just watched him coolly. He obviously didn't want to get in the middle.

"Just askin', yo. Heard he was from here and we were wondering what he was like as a kid," Reno answered.

"A kid? That's no kid. He's a monster," one of the bystanders called out. There were murmurs of agreement from the room. The two Turks watched the scene carefully, not wanting to rile up the townspeople. They stayed silent until they reached their rooms.

"A monster, yo?" Reno sighed. He flopped down on his bed with little grace.

"Maybe he did something when he was younger," Rude quipped. Reno snorted.

"Maybe, but why didn't ya back me up, yo? I thought those hillbillies were gonna try to stare me ta death or something." Rude turned away, embarrassed. Reno sighed again and gave his partner a mock glare. Suddenly lighthearted again, Reno popped up and off his bed.

"Well, I'm fuckin tired, yo. We can get more villagers angry tomorrow," he said joyfully and went into the bathroom for a shower.

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"Tired, Cloud?" Genesis purred. Cloud had come back from training just ten minutes ago and he was exhausted. Genesis had found him collapsed on the floor in his room. Said commander proceeded to flirt, poke, and prod and the pitiful cadet. "You're that tired from one training session? I bet you wouldn't last five minutes in my kind of training." Genesis continued. Cloud's face was still flushed a bit and the lewd comments weren't helping. He was still gathering his breath, though, so he couldn't escape. The commander gleefully took advantage of this and flirted away. He was determined to make the kid fall for him as hard as he had fallen for the cadet.

"Don't you want to wash up, Cloud? I'm more than willing to help you," he murmured. Cloud's eyes just grew wider and wider. Sephiroth popped in at that moment.

"What are you doing, Genesis?" he questioned. The Crimson Commander smiled innocently.

"Nothing. I'm just suggesting a few…. things to our little Chocobo here." Neither of them missed the 'our' part. With godlike effort, Cloud managed to sit up and move away from Genesis, desperately trying to bring up his apathetic mask.

Sephiroth blinked a few times before his mouth curved into a smirk worthy of Genesis (or Reno for that matter). "Oh? And what were you suggesting?" he mock wondered. Catching on, Genesis' grin grew.

"Mmm just this and that. You know how sweaty you get after a good workout. I was just trying to help Cloud wash up afterwards. You know, I was about to offer to wash those hard to reach places," he said happily.

"Do tell. Perhaps I should help as well. It wouldn't do to let you do that by yourself. And two are better than one. I'll help you stretch afterwards, if you'd like." The two of them were just having too much fun. Cloud's mask was shot to pieces by now and he was openly gaping, slightly blushing from all the innuendos.

"…. Um, I think I can manage, sirs," he tried hopefully. Genesis scooted closer.

"But what fun would that be? Come one, Cloud," he whispered, purposely drawing out his name. Genesis brought his hand up to cup Cloud's face. "It'll be fun…" he breathed. Cloud paled, and then flushed again. He seemed to have trouble speaking but managed to squeak out a "no thank you!" and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

"I think he likes us," Genesis mused while Sephiroth rolled his eyes and walked away. "We'll be outside, Cloud! And don't sneak out anymore!" he called. Cloud had started sneaking out again during the night, unable to sleep and bored out of his mind. "I'll get you some puzzles or something since I know you don't sleep!" There was an audible squeak from the other side of the bathroom door. Genesis laughed a bit under his breath before joining Sephiroth in the living room.

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Sweet Shiva, he was going to die of nerves before his next birthday. When Genesis had gotten closer to him, he had nearly stopped breathing. Being near Sephiroth and Genesis made Cloud's chest feel full of some emotion. He wasn't sure what it was but it slightly scared him.

Letting out a deep breath, he slipped down in the tub and relaxed. His body ached from training. After Zack had seen what he could do, he had decided to just use a slightly modified First Class training regime for him. It was tiring and he swore it sucked his soul straight out of his body but it felt nice. Cloud didn't have to hide his skills anymore and he could just let go. For something like him, activity was necessary. He had too much energy and it was painful when he couldn't let it out. In his normal cadet classes, he had been suffering before he started sneaking out. Letting a sigh escape, he let his head fall back and reveled in the feeling of the planet washing over him.