Okay, still working on Part 2, but I think I've got this pretty much worked out. Hallo, Puppets, hisashiburi! I'm definitely not abandoning my vampy-smut story, but REMAKE has my head pretty much spinning with FFVII glee, and well, this particular Decorum has been a long time coming. It's a sad part of the story, but I hope it pleases, if indeed any of my lovely readers are still around.
I've recently started peeking in on my LiveJournal again, so you can find me there at A Soul Seeking Holy, and I switched the email account on my ffdotnet account to one I actually check! So, you can get ahold of me with comments/questions/whatever at those places, or at my gmail addy, athlynne81.
Everyone else PUMPED? Great, let's destroy that with some ANGST. You guys know me! Warning – lots of Hojo.
Squeenix owns all, and I love them for it.
IRREPLACEABLE
Part 1
Genesis Rhapsodos lifted his blue eyes toward the matching sky and sighed with contentment. The 16-year-old 1st Class SOLDIER seemed to come alive outdoors, under the sunlight that gleamed on his auburn hair and in the fresh air…or what passed in Midgar for fresh air, anyway. SOLDIER duties and training left little time to just…do nothing, really, just be at one with nature, with the wind and clouds and grassy field beneath his feet. If only Angeal were here, instead of leading a boring mission in Kalm. At least he had…
Genesis looked to his left and grinned fondly. There was his other best friend, Sephiroth, SOLDIER's premiere member and ShinRa's star, already proven a war hero in the Wutai conflict they were on leave from, though only 14 years old himself. It was always pleasant for beauty-loving Genesis to look at the younger boy, who was inhumanly gorgeous with liquid-mercury eyes and a long waterfall of silver hair. Right now, Sephiroth was watching him back expectantly, angelic face nearly devoid of expression. Possessing few social instincts and having been raised mostly isolated, the future general tended to look to his few friends for clues about what he should do.
"Smile, will you, Seph? At least pretend you're glad that dumb test is over."
Sephiroth cocked his head quizzically, but on command, the corners of his mouth turned up just slightly. The teenagers had spent the entire morning taking a long, difficult IQ test so their respective doctors could update their files, and while Genesis had found it challenging and had to work for his high score, Sephiroth had breezed through it flawlessly. Genesis had previously suggested he fail on purpose just to annoy Hojo, but unlike Genesis, Sephiroth tried not to antagonize his unpleasant physician/guardian. And after all, it was Hojo's glee at again one-upping Dr. Hollander that led to the boys being allowed to go outside. As Genesis was always saying, Sephiroth didn't get enough time out in the free air – small wonder the younger boy was so pale.
"Are you feeling well?" Sephiroth asked him.
"How could I not be, out under the Goddess's sky?" Genesis aimed a pout that never worked on this particular target. "Did 'Gealy tell you to periodically ask me?"
No response – Sephiroth didn't answer questions when the questioner seemed to know the answer already, and Genesis did. His best friend since babyhood (and boyfriend, although few people knew about that) was notoriously protective and hovering with those close to him, Genesis most of all, whose health had been somewhat precarious the last few years. Though modified and mako-enhanced supposedly exactly the same as Angeal, for some reason no one understood, Genesis alone had developed symptoms that came and went – fevers, fatigue, a mako level that went dangerously erratic.
"I'm fine. Don't I look it?"
"Yes. But you seem to have forgotten."
Sephiroth gestured, and only then did Genesis remember the red orb in his right hand. Oh, right, their handy excuse for needing to be out in the open. Genesis was supposed to be practicing Summoning, and Hollander was standing some distance from the friends, shaking his head with an indulgent smile. He was paternally fond of the three friends who had become known as the SOLDIER Trinity, and tended to take extra care with Genesis, not only because of the boy's health problems, but also the rather cold home life he'd grown up with.
"Ready, Seph?" Seeing the younger nod, Masamune already drawn, Genesis took a deep breath and activated the Summon materia.
In their immediate environment, the fair sky darkened, the grassy expanse filled with smoke and the red of hellfire. Ifrit, the fire demon, appeared in Genesis's place. Most fighters, even SOLDIERs, would have been terrified to take on this creature, even in a group. Sephiroth observed his enemy passively, his moonlight hair lifting attractively in the wind, and dodged bellowed flame easily with each attack. Then he charged the creature, fearlessly, cutting the giant in half with his already-famous blade, then sheathing Masamune to stand still again.
Genesis became visible again once the smoke cleared, and though he could be pouty about losing to most people, he grinned at his younger friend. "That was bad-ass, Seph."
"Excellent, Sephiroth."
Genesis didn't need to see Sephiroth cringe slightly or turn around to identify that shrill voice. Hojo, head of ShinRa's science department, Sephiroth's guardian/physician, and Genesis's least favorite person on Gaia. The feeling was rather mutual, as Hojo seemed to consider everyone except Sephiroth undeserving of his attention, and made especially known that he considered Hollander's patients vastly inferior to his own.
Trying to keep the uncomfortable boy's attention, Genesis held out the materia. "You want to try, darling? Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen you Summon."
If anything, Sephiroth felt even more awkward. He had never told anyone, but each of the few times he had tried to equip Summon materia, a strange, faint voice rose up in his head, screaming unintelligibly until he put the orb down. Hojo would be very interested to know this, and Sephiroth, who at this age was reluctantly obedient in reporting all his symptoms, really did not want to reveal this, though he was not sure why.
Hojo spoke up as the boy was shaking his head. "Yes, why not? I have never observed this either."
Now Genesis turned around. "He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to," he said coolly, since Angeal wasn't here to warn him to be polite.
The scientist scowled. "Hollander, perhaps you could tell your brat not to interfere with myself and my patient."
"Genesis," Hollander admonished weakly.
The boy responded with a scowling sort of pout. Whether he would have apologized or not was left uncertain, as Hojo whirled around with an indignant "Hmph!" and stalked back to the nearest building, lab coat billowing behind him. Looking uncomfortable, the other scientist shook his head at his charge, though not seeming to be angry, and followed in Hojo's direction.
"Good, they're finally gone." Genesis elegantly dropped onto the thick grass and lay on his back, smiling at the puffy white clouds, then his friend. "C'mon down here, Seph. Who knows how long they'll give us out here?"
Even more gracefully, Sephiroth stretched out about a foot away from the slightly-older boy, Genesis being a rare exception to his dislike of being too close to other people. Genesis continued to smile softly at him, but his expression faded to neutral when he grabbed for and gently held Sephiroth's hand. It always surprised him, how they were both active sword-users and Genesis's fingers were naturally calloused, while Sephiroth's hands were as smooth and flawless as all of him seemed to be. It could have been something for jealousy-prone Genesis to pout about, had it been anyone else, but just as Angeal was rather paternal to those he called friends, Genesis's behavior toward Sephiroth was as often that of a doting mother as it was a comrade-in-arms.
"Dr. Asshole really needs an attitude adjustment. You're a war hero now, even the prez acknowledges that."
Sephiroth didn't say anything, because he disliked and couldn't explain it, how frozen and helpless Hojo made him feel, as though he were still a small child unable to fight back. He had been trying more than ever to keep some kind of peace with his hated guardian, since he himself had been rewarded for his victories by the president with permission to move out of his laboratory quarters and into a spacious, expensively-decorated apartment (that did prompt a little good-natured envy from Genesis). Hojo had fought President Shinra's decision bitterly, but the latter insisted the change had been delayed long enough, and anyway, the shrewd businessman wanted to give his most prized weapon incentive to keep fighting for ShinRa.
"You okay, honey? You look even deeper in thought than usual."
"I was thinking about Wutai." Everything was so simple on the battlefield. The rules of war made sense in a way that individual human beings never did.
"Don't tell me you want to go back already," Genesis said, making a face. "Fighting is exhilarating, I know, but there's never enough time to enjoy nature in Wutai. And ugh, the bugs are bigger there."
Sephiroth smiled faintly. "I believe Angeal would say the Goddess made insects, too."
"Everyone makes mistakes." The auburn-haired 1st sighed dramatically. "I wish 'Gealy would hurry up and get back here."
Sephiroth nodded. He knew Genesis always hated it when he and Angeal were stationed apart, even briefly…and he himself missed his other best friend, too.
"Seph…do you like anyone?"
The angelic boy turned his head to face the questioner with a puzzled frown. True, he was not what anyone would call an emotional or effusive person, but Sephiroth was under the impression it was known he felt at least devotion toward the SOLDIERs he led, and that he deeply valued Genesis and Angeal, considered them best friends. Family, even, though he might not say that last word aloud.
Genesis smiled affectionately and squeezed his cool, pale hand. "I mean like like. Like, romantically."
"Oh. No. I do not think – "
"Don't say you're not capable of those kind of feelings. If Dr. Asshole has told you that, don't believe him. Believe me."
The younger boy nodded slowly, but didn't seem convinced.
"What about Hunter?"
"Hunter?"
"That 2nd from Daora, you know, the talented doof who looks at you with stars in his eyes, and not just like he wants to jump your bones like everyone else."
Sephiroth blinked with confusion. "Jump my bones?"
Another hand squeeze. "Of course, Hunter would have to prove himself worthy first. Maybe by defeating a dragon for you."
Sephiroth frowned. "I think I would be more efficient at killing a dragon than Lieutenant Hunter."
Genesis sighed as he gazed upward. The sky was nearly the same cornflower blue as his eyes.
"Yes, yes, you're fireproof and all that, darling. But you're not immune to everything. If Hunter's not it, fate will knock him out of the running. But someday you will want to be with someone, I can't wait to see that. Although I told Angeal you might have to have two. Something tells me that when you finally open up that part of your heart, you'll need as much reassurance as possible."
"What about you?" Sephiroth asked, eager to deflect. Being looked at like an object of desire by far too many far too many times had left the boy so far completely uninterested in relationships.
"Well, actually – "
"Sephiroth! Inside!"
Though frowning, Sephiroth sat up at once, almost automatically, knowing that keeping Hojo waiting just resulted in longer times spent in the lab. But Genesis didn't let go of his hand, even when the younger carefully tugged.
"Goddess." Genesis wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I always wonder, what the hell crawled up the madman's ass and died?"
Sephiroth blinked at that, looking at first the way he usually did when he needed something explained. But before Genesis could resume speaking, Sephiroth's lips curved into a smile, then parted to expel air in a way that was not familiar to him. He then found himself repeating the same strange sound, expelling the air, and felt light-headed, felt ephemerally happy at the thought of a hopefully-spiky creature doing something so uncomfortable to the man he hated.
Genesis beamed as he sat up, and for Sephiroth, it only clicked as he managed to get himself under control and stop the sound he was making that he was laughing.
"Baby," Genesis said, sounding even more earnest than his usual passionate self, "you've got to do that for Angeal when he gets back."
Pushing down a faint embarrassment, Sephiroth asked with genuine puzzlement, "Why?"
"Because, idiot genius. Because he and I love you and want you to be happy."
It seemed to be so easy for Genesis to express love; he did it so often and so casually, while still seeming to put all his heart into every statement like that one. Genesis would've been shocked to learn that Sephiroth – famous, flawless Sephiroth – envied him for this, and for many other things. But it wasn't jealousy feeling heavy in Sephiroth's stomach right now, it was a stronger version of the usual warmth he felt when looking at his best friends – a full-on heat that wanted to push words out of his mouth that Sephiroth just didn't say.
"Genesis…"
"Sephiroth! Now!"
"Go on, darling," Genesis said with a playful eyeroll, laying back down on the sun-drenched grass. "I'll be in in a bit. We'll work on that lovely laugh of yours. And if Dr. Asshole is more unpleasant to you than usual because of my big mouth, let me know and I'll whack off into his coffee mug."
As often happened when talking to Genesis, Sephiroth found himself at a loss for words. He offered a non-committal nod, turned and headed back toward the hated lab, the cold and sterile part of his life. It was the last time he ever spoke to Genesis.
sgasgasga
Nothing could make Dr. Hojo's lab a comfortable place for anyone but the scientist himself; even Sephiroth, who had grown up in this white-and-metal environment, never stopped feeling uneasy when he had to be within these walls. But he often found himself wishing there were other people around, even the techs he didn't much like, when he was being tested or examined, because Hojo, except in very rare occurrences, always cleared the part of the lab they were using when he was dealing with his prized specimen, not allowing anyone but himself to so much as take Sephiroth's temperature.
President Shinra had once jovially joked to the boy that he must feel so safe, receiving so much personal care and handling from the world's premiere biologist. Thus, at age six, the silver-haired boy realized what an uninformed dolt his supposed boss was. Hojo did not make him feel safe. In these labs, within the hands that still adjusted his body like one would a toddler, Sephiroth felt small, powerless, frozen though he could no more feel discomfort from cold than he could from heat.
"Your temperature is two-tenths of a degree higher than baseline," the doctor was muttering. "Probably from being out in the sun, but it's something to keep an eye on."
Sephiroth waited till the scientist turned briefly away to roll his eyes. Hojo always seemed to be obsessing about his, Sephiroth's, health, which seemed foolish to the boy, as when he got to be away from Midgar, fighting alongside men who were already mostly devoted to him, he felt and functioned fine, better than fine, superiorly. Hollander, ever a peacekeeper at heart, had once halfheartedly suggested to Sephiroth that it was hard on Hojo when the boy was away for weeks at a time, not being monitored, and that perhaps Hojo made up his feelings of powerlessness by being so meticulous.
"No," Genesis had said to this, tossing his auburn hair, "he's just an asshole who needs another hobby."
Sephiroth refocused on the present when Hojo grabbed his right elbow and lifted it to wrap a blood pressure cuff. The boy kept his expression blank, but internally felt grumpy that the man didn't simply ask him to raise his arm. A few presses of buttons, and the cuff began to tighten. As usual, Hojo chose this time to speak, because Sephiroth had learned to be silent lest he invalidate the reading and have to spend extra time here redoing it.
"Hmph, I don't like that mongrel of Hollander's. At least the other failure shows some sign of being taught manners…you'd think a prominent man like Mayor Rhapsodos would've raised a polite child…"
Genesis hates his parents, Sephiroth thought silently. He told me it is better to have none than to have ones you hate.
"…don't like you spending so much time with him. We can't have you picking up such a disrespectful attitude."
The thought of not being able to do what Genesis called "hanging out" made Sephiroth's insides briefly but sharply twist. He refused, however, to let this…fear manifest on his face.
"I will endeavor to keep my own behavior unlike that of Genesis, Doctor. I trust you will inform me should I display an attitude unacceptable to you."
Something disturbingly like softness entered Hojo's eyes, and he almost smiled; it looked like a triumphant grimace. "Oh, with few exceptions, my boy, you have matched or exceeded my and ShinRa's expectations."
When Sephiroth had been very young, and even more naïve as to people's true selves, he would have been pleased to get a compliment from his critical, coolly ambitious guardian. Now he just felt uncomfortable, as though he had done wrong even though Hojo was claiming the exact opposite.
As the doctor removed the cuff and clipped a pulse oximeter to his patient's left index finger, he observed as he always did, and caught the unease Sephiroth seemed to be feeling. It was always thrilling to be reminded that he, only he could affect the stoic boy so much, could make a lethal battle weapon feel weak, a boy everyone seemed to want feel understood by no one else. Hojo even felt possessive regarding the angelic boy's appearance; it fed his inflated ego to remember his part in creating not only something so powerful, but something so beautiful as well.
Removing the oximeter with one hand, Hojo raised the other, seeming about to pat or stroke Sephiroth's hair, a gesture the boy hated, but instead tucked several of the silver strands behind his ear. The scientist smirked to notice the teenager stiffen.
"But it's not as though you require friends, after all."
"Genesis says everyone does," Sephiroth said without considering first, which was unusual enough to faintly surprise them both.
"Hmph. Maybe Hollander's brats need to lean on each other, but not you. You're special."
He'd used the word before, and Sephiroth had never taken it as a compliment. First, it had always been an excuse to isolate him, and secondly, if Hojo meant it as praise, then it was not a word Sephiroth wanted attached to himself. And…
Facing briefly away, Hojo heard the never-expected sound of his patient gasp, and whirled around to find Sephiroth staring, it seemed, past him, but looking at nothing, or nothing Hojo could see. The boy's silver eyes flashed green, dilated to become cat-like for a moment, and the scientist recognized at once that his subject was all at once distracted, confused, and troubled, blinking as though trying to concentrate on something.
Could it be…?
"Sephiroth," Hojo said firmly, "what's the matter?"
No answer. Hojo pulled a penlight from his lab coat pocket and shined it in each of the boy's eyes. Rather than cause the pupils to take in the illumination and expand, it seemed to only make the green color return…then Sephiroth blinked and they were pure silver again, though he didn't wake up from…whatever this was.
"Are you hearing something?" Hojo said in a low voice, betraying none of the surprise and hope he felt. "Is it a voice?"
"Jen…"
"Yes, yes?" His impatience was obvious now; so what if Sephiroth had been unable to talk to the planet, if he was instead so fused with Jenova that she was communicating with him? "Sephiroth!"
Hojo made the mistake of grabbing the boy's forearm and shaking him. At once, Sephiroth shook his head as though escaping a trance, but he still looked puzzled and distressed.
"Genesis…"
Damn, he wasn't saying 'Jenova,' he was talking about that brat.
"Something is wrong with Genesis."
"What? How do you know? What did you hear?"
"Nothing, but I felt…"
Anyone else close to Sephiroth would have excused the boy any explanation, but Hojo didn't like unanswered questions. When the scientist grabbed his arm again, in a rare show of rebellion, the teenager shrugged it off, gracefully stepped around him and headed for the door, faster, Hojo knew, than he could be stopped. Huffing, Hojo followed, muttering expletives in Old Wutainese.
He only managed to catch up with Sephiroth at the doorway to one of Hollander's lab rooms, and only because the boy seemed to be frozen where he stood just beyond the opened door. Looking past his subject, Hojo saw that Genesis was on the floor, unconscious, looking slightly swollen, with Hollander and one of the lab techs on either side of him, the lab tech casting Medical Sense and Hollander looking distraught. When the latter saw his rival/colleague, he wrung his hands.
"He just collapsed! Hojo, help me!"
"Gen…"
It seemed the half a name murmured in such a helpless voice, one not typically heard from his prized subject, spurred Hojo into action. Again, he grabbed Sephiroth's arm, knowing that although the boy could technically fight him off, he would instead do what he in fact did, which was weaken in strength and confidence, seem to shrink where he stood.
"Sephiroth, out, now, we can't be sure yet it's not contagious."
"But – "
"Out, now."
On top of his worry for his friend, Sephiroth felt a wave of self-hatred shudder through him, because Genesis would fight, Genesis would want him to fight, but the SOLDIER war hero was still a child, one who had not yet learned to be strong against that cold reptilian gaze, those familiar and hated hands. Sephiroth's thoughts were racing so fast he couldn't pick them apart, only allow himself to be half-dragged back to the examination room of moments earlier, pushed back onto the same exam table, and left.
"When in doubt, just do the next right thing," Angeal was fond of saying. What is the next right thing? Angeal…Angeal needs to return, his presence is the most comforting to Genesis when he is ill, but if I call him now, before I have any information, I may alarm him unnecessarily.
Sephiroth didn't remember taking his phone out of his jacket pocket, but all of a sudden it was in his hand, his piercing gaze locked on the device with such confusion, an onlooker would've assumed he didn't know what it was. The sound of someone entering the room snapped the boy back to attention, and he briefly, absurdly hoped it would be Genesis, looking normal again, being…being okay.
Hojo went straight to one of Sephiroth's least-favorite drawers and starting grabbing tubes and a butterfly-needle kit, again muttering in Old Wutainese, but for once the boy didn't care enough to translate. The scientist turned to find Sephiroth sitting ramrod straight, not unusual for a teenager with nearly perfect posture, but looking at him expectantly, with what Hojo assumed could not be any real worry.
"Nothing is known yet," Hojo said indifferently as he approached and pushed Sephiroth's sleeve up. "Thus-far idiopathic edema, fever, and he is still unconscious, but breathing normally."
Breathing normally. Breathe normally, Sephiroth ordered both Genesis and himself. His older friend was no stranger to fevers, even occasional fainting when they came on suddenly, but the swelling was new. And though Sephiroth, in defiance, had always tried to resist learning the science and medicine his guardian prized, he did know that this symptom could be a sign of something serious.
"Does Hollander have any theories?"
"That dolt? Ha. I doubt he'll come up with anything until the samples are tested."
Sephiroth didn't budge or blink when the needle entered. "Why are you taking my blood?"
"Infection panel and mako composition analysis, as well as to rule out environmental pathogens. Do you feel any different than usual?"
While letting one of the many handy tubes fill, Hojo grabbed the nearest thermometer and almost shoved it into Sephiroth's mouth before the boy could open it. Unable, thus, to speak now, Sephiroth analyzed. It was not like Hojo to be so hurried or speak so rapidly. It was almost as though he were… Worried? Not likely for Genesis. For me, then? Sephiroth was aware that he himself was singular, that Angeal and Genesis were the most like him, and even from them he was quite different. Was Hojo concerned he'd not be able to find someone else to enhance to his heart's content, or that the president would blame him if something happened to ShinRa's greatest weapon?
Sephiroth didn't, in these lightning-fast thoughts, at any point consider that the biologist had any personal attachment to him. Even when Hojo made a seemingly-affectionate gesture, or bragged about him, or expressed concern for him, the boy knew it was because his success fed Hojo's ego, and fame, and budget. He could faintly remember, as a small child, wanting to please a doctor who'd actually seemed to care about him. It had not been Hojo.
"No," Sephiroth said quickly, wanting to get this over with, once the thermometer had been removed.
Hojo studied the instrument, and looked visibly relieved. "Your temperature has returned to normal."
"What was Genesis's temperature?"
The doctor huffed, as if it were of no consequence. "One-oh-two, I believe."
Sephiroth looked down at his lap, his impressive memory recalling that Genesis's baseline was around 99.1. Hojo filled the last tube, withdrew the needle, and the mako inside his patient quickly healed the pinprick wound – no need for a bandage. When he had finished moving the tubes to the centrifuge and starting it up, he saw with some surprise that Sephiroth was still looking downward, still as close to slumping as the boy ever got. Where a good father would be sympathetic, Hojo felt another wave of annoyance at Genesis. Even unconscious, the brat was affecting his patient.
To the doctor's relief, though he wouldn't admit it, when he stalked over and ungently tilted the boy's head back up by his chin, Sephiroth's expression was his usual, passive but too intelligent to really be called blank. Hojo looked intently into the teenager's silver eyes, wondering about the flash of green in them he had earlier seen. It was normal for common SOLDIERs' eyes, for anyone's treated with mako, to get greener and brighter when the subject was feeling strong emotion, especially anger or aggression. But he had never seen Sephiroth's do that.
"How did you know something was amiss with Rhapsodos?"
"I don't know, Doctor."
"You didn't hear anything?"
"No."
Hojo was continuing to hold the boy's head still as he peered at him, and suddenly, Sephiroth felt perhaps more dislike than ever before about his hated guardian touching him. He tried leaning back, pulling away with no real strength, just trying to signal that he wanted to be released. Hojo scowled and tightened his grip, not enough to cause pain, but clearly unwilling to relinquish any power.
"If you cannot stay still for my examination, I'll have to sedate you," the man warned, then adding with an almost-smirk, "and something I learn from you may be of help to Rhapsodos."
As expected, Sephiroth immediately went statue-still. Hojo didn't like this further evidence that Sephiroth actually cared for his friend, but as usual, he felt a rush of power to see his prized subject obey him.
"Good." Hojo continued this close observation for longer than he needed to, just to make his point, then let go.
"Doctor, may I go sit with Genesis?" Sephiroth asked, quickly adding, "I'm sure Dr. Hollander will need all the help he can get."
It was clever of the boy, Hojo briefly displayed a triumphant smirk, but said, "I'm certain of that as well, but not until we have more information. Just because you're not showing symptoms, we can't be completely sure you haven't been exposed as well."
"I could wear a mask as a precaution, and surely the environmental control system – "
"When we know more," Hojo interrupted sharply. "Not before."
Sephiroth's gaze flickered downward, though at least his posture was normal again. "It is serious, isn't it?"
Hojo snapped off and discarded his rubber gloves. "You can go. Report back here in two hours for examination, and before that, immediately, if you feel any different."
As the biologist headed briskly out of the room, Sephiroth numbly slid off the table and found himself walking without being sure where he was going, or why. He did feel very different than usual, though not in the way he suspected Hojo meant.
sgasgasga
Sixteen-year-old 1st Class Angeal Hewley felt a twinge of regret when everything and everyone was loaded into the vans, and it was time to stop snapping photos and begin the (luckily short) trip back to headquarters. Once the brief surge of monster activity had been dealt with (cause unknown, these things happen, and they were mostly low-level anyway), the boy had taken what time there was to get some pictures of Kalm, a charming village in a pretty, green area that had always reminded him of his hometown Banora. Angeal was a country boy and preferred walking and small settlements to cars and crowded cities. But he was glad to be going back to Midgar, because where Genesis and Sephiroth were, Angeal considered home.
He always missed his two best friends, who after all couldn't be assigned with him for every mission, but it was just as well they hadn't come for this one. Genesis, though having hailed from the same birthplace as Angeal, preferred urban environments and more challenging monsters, and Sephiroth, when home from Wutai, wasn't currently being "wasted," as it were, on minor assignments that lesser fighters could handle.
And this time, with Addams and Godell… In his seat in the gently swerving van, Angeal scowled at nothing in particular, glad he had made the two new 2nds ride in a different vehicle, the least comfortable one as it was full of poorly-stacked equipment. During this monster-sweeping mission, Angeal had accidentally overheard Addams and Godell, thinking they were alone, discussing what sounded like a serious plan to see which of them could first bed Sephiroth, speaking very graphically of the boy's anatomy and laughing about how they could trick Sephiroth using his well-known naivete in social matters into consenting.
They might not have been serious, and it wasn't new, hearing people from all demographics talk about wanting Sephiroth, but Angeal had lost his famously-even temper and publicly yelled at the two 2nds for their lack of respect, heatedly reminding them that they were talking about a 14-year-old boy and coldly advising them to remember what had happened to Lieutenants Turpen and Maxwell a few months earlier.
Sephiroth's fame as a war hero was still somewhat new, and shortly after his last birthday, there had been an incident which, actually, had been the sign ShinRa took that the boy was ready for real battle. Two 2nd Classes had hidden near the entrance to the science labs around when they knew Sephiroth was due to finish a mako adjustment, which was the only time the boy ever seemed at all weak or physically unwell. They got as far as dragging Sephiroth into a little-used corridor, Maxwell holding his arms behind his back while Turpen unfastened his leather pants.
Angeal, Lazard, everyone well-meaning in Sephiroth's life had cautioned the pensive warrior that his men needed time and experience to get used to him, to realize that he was capable despite being very young, that he was dangerous despite being beautiful. Though not at his full strength, Sephiroth had managed to break both of the thugs' necks before more than a little groping had occurred. The silver-haired boy had showed very little emotion other than annoyance, and confusion, and quiet resignation when Angeal assembled the entire SOLDIER corps, who all knew what happened anyway, and coolly promised them that he would handle any future such incidents in a similar, just much bloodier, way.
He hadn't been foolish enough to think nothing else would ever happen, or that he could completely protect Sephiroth from how people saw him, increasingly saw him and spoke of him as he grew older. If Sephiroth could be normal in no other way, Angeal wanted him to be so in matters of the heart, though so far his younger friend seemed completely uninterested and even seemed to believe himself incapable of such feeling. It couldn't help matters that executives and strangers and other ShinRa employees no longer saw Sephiroth as a strange child but an adolescent who was fair game.
Sighing, Angeal leaned back in his seat and considered what to do with Addams and Godell, beyond making sure to have Lazard flag their files. I did promise Gen that the next offenders would be his to punish.
The thought brought a faint smile to the teenager's face, and much of the hated tension in his body dissipated. Genesis. Just thinking of his life-long best friend (and boyfriend, though few knew) always made Angeal feel better, that everything was going to be okay, ultimately. Knowing he always had Genesis's auburn-haired beauty and dreamy blue eyes to come home to got him through the toughest and longest and most draining assignments. Lately they hadn't gotten to do many missions together, because Genesis's periodic fevers and fatigue had concerned Hollander enough to keep the eldest of the SOLDIER Trinity in Midgar, where he could be monitored and tested and experimentally given different vitamins and supplements.
Angeal was just about to call his boyfriend and report that he was heading back when his phone rang. Smiling, he answered it without checking who it was. "Gen?"
"No."
Had there been time to desire or analyze, Angeal might have been impressed by himself, because the single word from a person known for not easily expressing emotion made him sit up stiffly with concern. Sephiroth sounded…he couldn't think of the word, and didn't take time to try.
"Seph? What's wrong?"
"You are en route back to Midgar." The younger boy, of course, could hear the sound of the transport vehicles. "What is your ETA?"
"Less than an hour. Seph, what is it?"
"Genesis is ill."
Damn it. "Symptoms?" Please, nothing new, nothing bad, nothing more than grumbling about being confined to bed for a while, where I can look after him.
"He collapsed suddenly, with a fever and angioedema – "
"Angio-what?"
"Swelling beneath the skin, over most of his body. He was unconscious for a short while, then…"
Sephiroth was hesitating. Sephiroth didn't hesitate, because his swordmaster had taught him not to, and what the boy understood in fighting he tended to apply to life. Angeal's stomach was turning.
"Tell me."
"When he awoke, he appeared to be hallucinating, trying to fight an enemy that was not there. He attacked a lab tech who was trying to sedate him, yelling incoherently. After he was subdued, he was put into mako submersion. As far as I know, he remains there."
"As far as you know?" Angeal asked, though he guessed correctly. Fucking Hojo…
"They are not yet fully convinced it is not environmental or contagious. Angeal…I believe you should get here as quickly as possible. I am sure Genesis wants to see you."
"I'm on my way. Seph…are you okay?"
A beat of silence, Sephiroth no doubt puzzled to be asked that when he was not the sick one. But he had learned that friends worried about each other even when they couldn't logically explain why, just as he had learned that sometimes a lie is more comfortable for all involved than the truth.
"I am fine."
Angeal managed to get his phone safely back into his uniform pocket and inform the driver to ignore the speed limit signs, and to begin an internal pep-talk to reassure himself, before he let go and allowed himself to cry. He would have to be strong once he reached Midgar, and so permitted himself to be weak now.
agsagsags
"'Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky…'"
Loveless, Genesis thought in his half-asleep state, recognizing through the dull weight of sedative drugs the words he knew by heart, and the voice he knew by soul. But what on Gaia were they doing together? Angeal hated Loveless, its quality being one of their oldest disagreements.
"'Ripples form on the water's surface. The wandering soul knows no rest…'"
"But my favorite wanderer has returned. Even though you still don't stress the right syllables."
Genesis's voice was huskier than usual, absent its usual innate melody, but Angeal had perhaps never been happier to hear it, or to see those blue eyes looking up at him, tired but alight with their usual mischief. The younger boy quickly set the book aside, grabbed a cup of cold water from the nearby counter and raised Genesis's head to help him drink.
"Hey, babe." They were alone, so Angeal leaned down to press a long, though chaste, kiss to Genesis's lips.
"Mmm…you shouldn't, they're not sure yet – "
"I never get sick when you do. Don't worry about me. How do you feel?"
"Tired," Genesis sighed. "Though I've been sleeping a while, haven't I?"
"You were when I got in, about an hour ago."
"And I had the most vivid dream, I was fighting a Schizo, but indoors, oddly enough, right in the lab – " Genesis went abruptly silent, either finding the truth in his own hazy memory or reading the concern in Angeal's face. "It wasn't a dream."
Angeal gently stroked one of Genesis's cheeks, and the boy turned into the touch, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Did I hurt anyone?"
"No."
"Hmm. Hallucination, that's new."
"Hollander is running tests, and keeps checking your stats. The fever's been fluctuating, coming and going."
Genesis made a face. "I don't like you seeing me like this. My face is swollen, isn't it?"
"You're still beautiful and you know it."
The auburn-haired SOLDIER caught the fingers tracing his lips and kissed them. "Is Seph all right?"
I don't think so. When Angeal had arrived, Sephiroth had endured a hug longer than he usually would and looked more like a lost, confused little boy than his enemies would have thought him capable.
"Yes…just annoyed, I think. Hojo won't let him see you."
A dazed smile came across Genesis's face, alarming Angeal for an instant. "'Gealy, he laughed. Actually laughed, wait'll you hear it, it was lovely."
"When you're better, we'll sneak out to a comedy show or something," Angeal said with a smile. "Recreate optimal conditions for repetition."
"Ugh, enough science talk. It rules our lives quite enough already. Also, sounding like a robot is Seph's thing."
"Sorry, babe. How'd you make him laugh?"
"All it took was suggesting something, hopefully a painful something, crawled up Dr. Creepy's asshole and gave up the ghost."
Angeal grimaced, then laughed. "Really? We should've tried that sooner."
"Maybe we can get some of those Spikeworms from Mideel. But ugh, you're handling the insertion, that's a part of Dr. Creepy I do not want to see."
"You think I do?" Angeal laughed, through another grimace.
"Okay, okay. It's worth it. It was such a lovely sound."
"I'm sure I'll get to hear it. Now that Seph isn't in the lab all the time, we can talk to him more openly."
Genesis smirked. "Also, we are so getting him drunk."
"Gen! None of us are old enough for that yet, and Hojo would – "
"Blame me for being a bad influence, as usual." Genesis sighed dramatically. "All I do is try to make all your lives interesting."
"You make my life, period," Angeal said softly, threading his hand into Genesis's soft hair.
The older boy looked at into Angeal's eyes for a long, silent few moments. They were pained, but Angeal somehow knew it was not something he could call on Dr. Hollander to help with. So he stared into the old-soul blue orbs, trying to read them, failing, and resorting to a long kiss. Neither boy found they much cared if Hollander was observing, which he probably was. When they broke to catch their breath, Angeal pressed his forehead to Genesis's. It felt hot. Too hot.
"'Gealy…"
"Babe? What can I do?"
Genesis sighed, and turned to kiss the hand cupping his cheek. "You have to let me go."
To be concluded.
Yes, I really stopped there.
Part 2 soon! Reviews welcome!