"You know we're supposed to be resting, right?" Kunsel asked, stepping into the VR room behind Zack.

"Right now, nothing will relax me faster than beating the hell out of something," Zack said. His smile was cheery, but empty - it didn't reach his eyes, and while he might have gotten away with that if he ever wore a helmet, right now the dissonance between was easily apparent.

Kunsel sighed. "Right. So what are we beating the hell out of? Is it a Hedgehog Pie day, or a Dual Horn day?"

"Zolom." Zack may have lost the ferocity of his glare, but there was still a glint in his eyes; he was still worked up, still angry, and he knew it needed an outlet.

Kunsel just… hadn't expected that level.

Zack was looking at him, a little softer with a tiny smile that had lost its hard edge. "You don't have to stay."

Kunsel arched a brow, snorting. "Yeah, no, don't start. Of course I'm staying."

Zack hesitated a moment before he nodded, smile widening. "Okay. If you're sure -"

Kunsel grabbed his hand, and took advantage of his surprise to yank him over for a quick peck on the lips. "I'm sure. Now c'mon, General. Show me what you can do."

Zack flashed him a quick, cocky grin and gave him a thumbs up before getting his phone menu up to scroll through it. "You got it, babe. Zolom time, gonna skin me a snake."

"Pretty sure it vanishes when it's defeated," Kunsel said.

"Well we'll see, won't we?" Zack picked the simulation and turned it on. The room shimmered around them and faded away, the illusion of an endless plain stretching out around them and the kind of blue sky you never saw in the city overhead. You could get lost in it all, if you didn't know better.

But he had a goal, and was far too eager to meet it to get lost in pretty scenery.

The Zolom materialized before them with a roar, seemingly erupting from the ground, not unlike the real thing. Of course, these were better circumstances - they weren't sinking into the marsh's mire, which was a very real concern when facing a real Zolom unless you were riding a chocobo - which was an entirely different experience.

(He had a feeling if he'd tried that Kunsel might not have been quite so agreeable about it. Even if he was a better rider.)

Zack adjusted his grip on the Buster Sword, ribboned hilt comfortable in gloved hands, and took off with a war cry.

Kunsel had fully intended on playing backup - support staff, just in case the battle turned out to go on a while and Zack needed a moment to breathe - but Zack… didn't stop. He went after the Zolom with a single minded determination that was both awe-inspiring and unnerving to watch. He'd had a hell of a lot of pent-up tension boiling behind his reassuring smile, and now that it was given an outlet all Kunsel could do was stand back and watch.

Never had the Buster Sword seen such action, he would bet on it. Never had Zack unleashed such a violent force in a sim, if ever, to the point where he was starting to gleam with the threat of a limit break.

And in that moment, when Zack took to the air with a superhuman leap worthy of a First Class, coming down on the Zolom's gaping maw with his sword held like a spear… he couldn't help but briefly wonder how that fight might have gone, if the Restrictor had pushed.

Because Zack was finally coming into his own, surpassing his mentor's legacy and the memory of the other premiere Firsts. The big three had fallen, and left him behind, but Zack wasn't standing in their shadow anymore.

The Zolom hit the ground moments before Zack himself did, and began to disappear. But that was fine, Kunsel wasn't really paying it any attention. His eyes were on Zack, barely winded but a lot of the tension drained away. This time, his smile was genuine.

Kunsel smiled back at him, putting his sword back and clapping slowly. "Nice work."

"Told ya." Zack came over and hauled him into a hug, the Buster clicked into place on his back. He dropped his head to Kunsel's shoulder, just breathing him in a long moment, both arms around him now.

Kunsel hugged him back, wordlessly offering whatever comfort or reassurance Zack was seeking in the embrace. "Better?"

"…yeah, maybe." Zack heaved a sigh, giving him a final squeeze before backing up a moment. "Kinda helped."

"I'll take kinda." He smiled. "You need another round?"

Zack shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I just…"

Kunsel waited it out, patient, knowing Zack would work the words out himself if given time.

"Just really needed to hit something, y'know?" Zack said, shrugging. "Yay SOLDIER training."

Kunsel snorted. "Yeah, I hear that. You want to end the sim and get out of here, then?"

"Yeah," Zack admitted. "I do."

'Out of here' ended up being completely off base, which was fine by Kunsel. Harder for people to track them down and interrupt the desperately needed downtime.

They ditched the uniforms first, of course, and grabbed some sunglasses to do something about the glow since they didn't really want attention. Not that people weren't used to SOLDIERs in Midgar, especially close to Sector 0, and Zack's hair was pretty damn distinctive, but when you made a visible effort people were better about being willing to pretend with you. "So… where are we going?"

"Probably a little late to grab a motorcycle and run out to the Wastes, huh?" Zack grinned at Kunsel's arch look. "Kidding. Mostly. You know me, I don't run from my problems. I run towards them. Screaming."

Kunsel snickered, shaking his head. "Yeah, you really kinda tend to. You want to chew on that right now, though?"

"No." Zack sighed, taking his hand as they walked aimlessly towards Sector 1 and the train station. "I don't want to even think about all that right now."

"Leaving ShinRa in the dust for now, huh?" Kunsel squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I'm with you. Let's get some air and just… catch our breath."

Zack nodded immediately, meandering for the train station. "Down?"

"Yeah, why not?" Kunsel didn't really care where they went, as long as they were together.

They made it down to the Slums and took to ambling around until they ended up in the Train Graveyard just outside Sector 7 proper. Rumored to be haunted, and definitely monster infested, odds were very good they'd be left to their own devices there.

They ended up sitting on top of a relatively stable train car, pressed together from shoulder to knee not from any 'necessity' beyond the need for contact. For grounding.

For the reminder that, no matter what happened, they still had each other.

From the way Zack's eyes had sort of glazed over, staring at nothing, Kunsel knew he needed it badly. After a while, when dark brows had knit and his hands tightened into fists, he placed a gentle hand on his knee. "Where're you going?"

Zack sucked in a breath, vision refocusing, and offered a tight smile. "Nowhere, babe."

Kunsel deliberately tipped his glasses down to give him the full impact of his incredulous look. "Uh huh. You were a million miles away, try again."

Zack's smile fell. "Kuns, I -"

"Ah." Kunsel put a finger to Zack's lips. "No sorries. Not after all of this. Just… let me in, alright? No doing things solo. That never ends well."

Zack smiled faintly, eyes soft and fond.

And then he promptly licked Kunsel's finger. There was absolutely nothing sexy about it, just a childish swipe of the tongue.

Kunsel yanked his hand back, making a face. "Zack. Dude, no."

Zack cackled, grinning shamelessly as Kunsel swatted his chest, then proceeded to make a show of wiping his hand off. "You loooooove me."

"For some reason." Kunsel wrinkled his nose, but it was hard to stay upset when it had made him genuinely laugh. Those were too few and far between these days. "I swear, you're like, five."

"Gotta let that inner child out sometimes, Kuns. They get all bored inside and then things happen." Zack nodded, mock somber even as his eyes twinkled with mirth he didn't bother to hide. He never was all that good at that anyway; wore his heart on his sleeve ever since they'd met - and it was part of his charm, as much a strength to the man as it threatened to be a weakness to the warrior.

He had mere seconds to stop Zack from doing something else, jerking back in the moment in time to grab wiggling fingers on the way to his ribs. "Uhuh, don't even."

"What, you get to be broody and I don't? That's not fair," Zack protested.

"I wear it better," Kunsel teased, glad to get another smile out of him. "Besides, I'm not Fair. You're Fair."

Zack groaned. "C'mon, man, I told you that's only funny when I say it."

"I'm not wrong," Kunsel said.

"Neither am I." Zack huffed, shifting to face him better.

"No, you're Fa-"

This time, he didn't move fast enough to stop Zack from tickling him. Making outraged sounds amidst his laughter, he squirmed and fell backwards, eventually ending with Zack on top of him and both of them laughing themselves breathless.

When the moment passed and the laughter eased off, they found themselves conveniently close. And well, it would just be a shame to waste that.

Kunsel leaned up just a bit, enough to kiss him softly. "I do love you, idiot."

Zack chuckled softly, fingers running through Kunsel's hair, sifting silky blond strands through them with a smile. "Love you too, babe. Always will."

"Yeah. Always." Kunsel smiled softly, reaching up to stroke his cheek.

This time, it was Zack who leaned down for the kiss, soft and slow and lingering in a way that kindled a subtle warmth between them.

It settled on the backburner when Zack dropped his head onto Kunsel's chest with a gusty sigh. "When did things get this complicated, Kuns?"

"Waaaay before we were on the scene, babe." Kunsel sunk a hand into unruly black spikes, scratching gently. Zack deflated further against him with a sigh, mumbling something he couldn't quite make out. "Hmm?"

"They're just kids," he said, looking up at him. "What the hell is ShinRa doing, Kuns? I got here when I was fourteen."

"I know," Kunsel said softly.

"I was a baby."

"You should hear Benji's rant on it sometime," Kunsel suggested, ignoring the fact that a whole grand total of four years had passed since then.

"I thought I was so grown up, out on my own, getting a job, and - and -"

"I know," Kunsel repeated, petting his hair. "I do know."

"It's not fair," Zack whispered.

This time, Kunsel didn't make a joke out of it. He just held Zack a little tighter, kissing his hair. He'd known this was coming from the moment he'd set eyes on Shelke; just as well it happened now, away from prying eyes.

"I don't know how to fix it," Zack finally said.

"Babe… there might not be a 'fix,'" Kunsel said gently. "But we'll do everything we can to make it better, okay?"

Zack nodded, hugging him tight. He wasn't sure he was ready to accept that… not permanently. But for now… for now, maybe it was a start.

A/N: And that is the last of my buffer! Since I'm a mod over at the FF7 Fanworks Exchange (over on Ao3, check out FF7Central on Tumblr, Pillowfort or Twitter for the promo) I'm going to be very busy, very soon, so there may not be updates until some time next month or even into August. But, you know me. I'll be back. In the meantime, you all take care.