Friend
Zack had been wondering how long the General was going to last when he had come in that morning looking like he hadn't slept in days.
Sephiroth had been gone for a few days to Wutai to take care of a small rebel group that hadn't been completely weeded out during the war and had just returned that morning. He had obviously not slept the entire time, given the dark circles under his eyes and how irritable he'd been.
Zack shook his head with a sigh. He would never understand why Sephiroth would do that to himself. Sure, he was better than your average SOLDIER, but even he needed a break once and awhile.
His body had obviously decided for him that now was the time for such a break, as he was currently slumped in his chair, asleep. Zack didn't see any need to wake him, since there wasn't much paperwork left to be done and they probably wouldn't have any visitors now that it was afternoon. Sephiroth would probably be mad when he awoke, but Zack would worry about that when the time came.
He signed the last of his stack of papers, rolled his chair away from the desk, and stretched with a wide yawn. Then he stood and tiptoed over to Sephiroth's desk, trying to be as quiet as he could.
He had actually managed to grab the stack of paperwork off the desk before Sephiroth awoke and saw him.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to do the rest of your work," Zack said with a smile.
"You are not," Sephiroth said, eyes slightly narrowed.
"Come on, Seph," Zack said, "You're exhausted."
Sephiroth looked like he was about to protest, but Zack cut him off.
"Don't try to deny it. I can tell you haven't really slept in days."
"I'm fine," Sephiroth said.
Zack almost laughed, but he figured that would just annoy his friend even more. Instead, he sat down on the edge of the desk and peered at Sephiroth with concern.
"You don't look fine," he said.
Sephiroth took the stack of papers from him and started reading the top one, clearly ignoring him. But Zack wasn't going to give up that easily.
He set his hand down firmly in the center of the report. "Hey now," he said, "Quit doing my work."
Sephiroth looked at his hand and then up at him. "It is not your work."
"Sure it is," he said with a grin. He snatched it up and scurried over to his desk, where he set the stack down with a flourish and then turned back toward Sephiroth.
"It's on my desk, isn't it?" he said, grin growing. "So it must be mine."
Zack noticed the subtle signs that his stoic General was annoyed; the slight downturn of the corners of his mouth, his hand clenched into a fist on the desk. He ignored them, of course, and sat down, ignoring Sephiroth just as he had him.
He could feel Sephiroth's eyes on him all the way through the first report. Finally, after he had signed it and set it in Out box, he looked up to find Sephiroth regarding him, all signs of annoyance gone.
"What?" he said.
"I…was just thinking," Sephiroth replied.
Zack grinned. "'bout how totally awesome I am, right?"
Sephiroth was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why do you…do things like this?"
"Hey, someone's gotta look after you," Zack said. "Who knows what'd happen if I wasn't around."
Sephiroth gave him a look that said, 'Quit fooling around'.
"Because you're my friend," Zack said, simply.
Sephiroth looked down at his desk, his brow furrowed. It had been clear to Zack from the beginning that no one had ever given a rat's ass about Sephiroth, other than as their General or a – he suppressed a shudder at the thought – test subject in years, if not his entire life. It must have been strange to be called a friend.
Even so, Zack had made it pretty damn clear that he cared, so Sephiroth really shouldn't have been as surprised as he still seemed to be by his actions.
"Damn it, Seph," Zack said, "You know I care about you. You'd have to be stupid not to, and I know you're far from it. So quit acting like this is some huge surprise."
Sephiroth looked back at him then, his expression just as impassive as before and said, "You had better do those well."
Zack smiled. The gratitude was unspoken, but it was there nonetheless.
'It's good to be appreciated,' Zack thought, and got back to work.
This would be the best paperwork he had ever done.
