I doubt anyone will be reading this story, but it's fun to write, and if I write it, why not post it on the chance someone, perhaps a friend who likes my Choir of muses, might enjoy it?

This chapter is, I guess, PG, but I rate all my stuff M/R kind of just because. You also just never know when Choir!Genesis will suddenly take off his clothes.

A VERY CHOIR REMAKE
Chapter 2

"…so, in conclusion, if Heidegger is really that insistent about this hallucination – "

A portly man wearing mostly green with a harsh face scowled and leaned over the conference table, slapping his hands palm-down against it. "It was not a hallucination. I tell you, I have, multiple times, seen a Gaia-damned animatronic cat walking around the 63rd floor!"

Housing and Urban Development director Reeve Tuesti hid his apprehension fairly well behind a put-upon look of vague concern. That particular floor housed, among others, his own department, but this was probably a coincidence.

President Shinra frowned, and for him, this was enough to make Heidegger settle down, though he did bluster a bit as he sat back. "As I was saying…I suppose we can have more army assigned to patrol the corridors. As we can hardly have…erm…security threats strolling around."

Heidegger looked miffed as his boss stifled laughter, but said nothing. Vice President Rufus Shinra rolled his eyes, but this was also probably unrelated, as he was focusing rather intently on his GamePro Handheld and mostly ignoring the meeting. He wouldn't like me telling you this, but he secretly thought pixelated-polygon Reno was adorable, though he hardly did the real thing justice.

"How come I don't have a mouth?" the VP murmured to the screen.

"I agree," the president rumbled, "I too have no doubt that this matter will be solved promptly. Reeve, isn't your office on 63?"

"Yes," the man said hesitantly, "but that's probably a coincidence."

"Hmm? I just wondered if you'd seen any house pets walking upright around your area."

"Oh! No, sir, not at all."

"Very good. Anyway, Lieutenant Akio, as I'm sure you all have heard, has not made any headway in Wutai. I was sure a native would bring us back something tangible, but that Godo…" The president always spoke his rival's name in a sort of snarl. "…is more slippery than I thought. I mean, honestly. Swearing a lie on Bok Choi."

"Uh, that's Da Chao, sir," Tseng said smoothly and cautiously from his place standing behind the president.

"Right, exactly."

"How much do we trust that Akio or whatever?" Scarlet said idly, adjusting her massive bosom beneath her dress and ignoring Palmer staring at it while stirring his tea for five straight minutes. "He's, as you said, a native."

"True, but Hewley vouched for him."

The lone woman in the room wrinkled her nose. "Isn't Hewley the one banging his barely-legal student? How much do we trust him?"

"Excellent point," Palmer squeaked, his gaze having not moved. Scarlet rolled her eyes at him.

"Hewley has been an exemplary SOLDIER in every respect. As far as I'm concerned, he can fuck the entire 2nd Class if it keeps him happy and employed here. Besides, I've seen for myself the boy is happy, and judging by Fair's potential, I want him kept that way."

Scarlet sat back and pouted. She'd felt irritated toward Angeal for years, ever since he'd ignored, rebuffed, and flatly refused her advances. It was not easy being a strong, sexually-independent woman in an institution where all the main players, the ones with sex lives at least, were men interested only in each other.

Thinking this, Scarlet glanced at Palmer, who opened his mouth in delight, reminding her of a frog. She quickly turned away, determined to never be that desperate. Anyway, the long-term fling she had with the president, while not always entirely satisfying, at least had gotten her where she was in terms of career. Looks weren't everything.

Still, she caught Rufus's eye and tried giving him a small but flirtatious smile. The handsome young heir looked at her as if she'd just sprouted a second set of arms, shook his head wordlessly, and went back to looking at his screen. Fine, the rebuffed woman thought, when I get the old man to marry me, I'll be the most nightmarish step-mother you can imagine.

While we were focused on Scarlet, the president had moved on, saying, "Edwards from the PR department couldn't be here, as he's busy watching the Shinternet for game ideas and fan requests, but someone slipped this under my door."

The gruff-looking man read what the paper in his hand said. "'Mr. President, who is a total stranger to me and for whom I absolutely don't work, may I respectfully suggest including Commander Genesis Rhapsodos in your upcoming game? Speaking as a fan of his, and definitely not him himself, I and many others will be sure to purchase multiple copies if you can make this happen.' It's not signed, so it's anyone's guess who's behind this."

Tseng and Rufus briefly locked eyes, and all four rolled quickly, in unison. Twitter has been trying to convince me there's something going on between those two, and honestly, sometimes I wonder…

"Might not be a bad idea," Shinra was saying, "as Rhapsodos is rather popular. But something tells me he would be a nightmare to do motion-capture with."

"Better that it be Hewley," Heidegger suggested. "Then we have an excuse to involve Fair, and considering the boy's character was insubordinate in the first game, escaping from us and all that, we need to do damage-control. Fair is too promising to ignore these things. He should be portrayed as caring for the good of the company above all else."

Scarlet hummed in agreement, though then frowned at the memory of Angeal telling her to keep her hands and obviously-fake rack away from the boy. "Fair is also our link to that Ancient girl, our best way so far of keeping tabs and keeping an eye on her. For whenever you decide what exactly you'd like to do with her, sir."

"Right, that finding-the-Promised-Land thing. I swear, it's on my to-do list." It was, between 'try yoga' and 'run a background check on Hojo.' "The girl is in the rebel game as well, opposed to our characters just like her friends. Tseng, drop in on the girl as soon as possible. Be non-threatening, remind her we'd like to be her friends. Bring her flowers, too."

"Of course, sir," the head Turk deadpanned. "I'm sure more flowers are exactly what she needs."

"Excellent, I thought so too."

Rufus snickered, then checked his softly-chiming phone. Reno had texted him a series of emojis – first a red heart, then a face puking, then a green skull, then a high-heeled shoe. Reno had a very particular and unique way of being romantic. Rufus quickly glanced at the executives around the table, wondering if he could get away with some subtle phone-sex.

The president was talking again. "As I said before, though he was the main character, I don't think we need to worry about Cloud. He's a puzzlingly-brilliant fighter when he needs to be, of course, but otherwise there's not a mean or rebellious bone in his body. I'm certain he's happy here at ShinRa. After all, everyone loves him."

All the assembled, various-levels-of-evil executives squirmed at being assigned such a human feeling, but no one argued. Even Heidegger, who wasn't even nice to his respected boss, really, kept cookies in his desk for the rare occasions when Cloud had to stop by his office.

"At the very least, he is completely devoted to the general, will be loyal as long as he is, and Sephiroth, I need not tell you all, must be kept on our side and within our hands above all other things, no matter the cost."

"It works both ways," Reeve said, mostly to himself. "If Cloud is truly happy here, Sephiroth has a good reason to remain."

"Why isn't the general here, anyway?" Scarlet asked. She had pretty much given up trying to seduce Sephiroth, but he was such fun to look at.

"There was a Code J," Palmer volunteered in his squealing voice. "The med lab staff say it's best to let him rest afterwards whenever possible."

Indeed, at this very moment, the Silver SOLDIER is probably having his head snuggled by Cloud. Let's check in on them, shall we?

scscscsc

Sephiroth was out for about an hour after Omnislash's final blow was struck, which was an unusually long time. In between snuggling the general's attractive head, Cloud regularly checked to make sure he was breathing normally, something the boy did often, because as those close to the pair knew well, Cloud was as protective of Sephiroth as Sephiroth was of him. The boy contentedly nuzzled his unconscious lover and combed fingers through silver hair until the general began to stir, lifting his head and blinking himself fully awake.

"Cloudy." Sephiroth smiled to see him, and brushed fingers down one of the rosy cheeks. "Are you all right? Were you hurt at all?"

"Nope! It was over super-fast. Are you okay?"

Sephiroth nodded and placed a long, slow kiss on Cloud's lips, then drew back only slightly to look with love into his blue eyes. "You are my hero, truly. What would I do without you?"

Cloud beamed at the sincere compliment, and answered with a slight giggle. "You'd be grumpy, like Canon!You, I bet."

Sephiroth glanced at the GamePro on the bedside table nearest Cloud. "How is the game going?"

"Canon!Me is kinda grumpy too, but he has a lot of friends. I don't like that he has to fight you, though."

"Well, if Canon!Me is being disruptive to the world, then Canon!Cloud is doing the correct thing."

"His memories are all jumbled up with Zack's, cuz Canon!Zack died to save him, and it was super-sad. Don't tell Angeal, okay? It's hard to play with Zack when Angeal won't let go of him."

Sephiroth drew Cloud closer. "Is all of the game sad like that?"

"Oh, no, it's super-fun. There's mini-games and side-quests, and you get to fight some of the Turks, and go to the Golden Saucer, and raise chocobos! I have a bunch now, just like Rethira-chan's!"

"As long as you are enjoying it."

"I'm gonna raise a bunch of them and name them after all of us, just like her," Cloud declared, smiling to remember his friend. "My best golden is named Seph, though, 'cause there aren't any silver chocobos."

The general laughed shortly. "Perhaps we can genetically engineer one for you."

"Maybe ShinRa will put silver ones in the new game!"

"I will see that they do, if you wish it."

Cloud leaned in to rub his nose against Sephiroth's, then sat back and giggled. Sephiroth sometimes wondered if he himself had a soul or a heart, was human enough to do so, but he thought he could feel both growing warm to the point of glowing when he looked at Cloud. He had never expected to love anyone more than the steady affection of friendship, but when he looked at the boy, the general felt that the often-cold world was in fact beautiful, and that he could forgive anyone anything, as long as he had this priceless gift beside him.

grgrgrgr

ASluttyInScarlet: has entered the chatroom.

Genesis scanned the left side of the screen where the roster of current chat inhabitants were listed, under the room's name – Hotties of ShinRa. He was pleased to see some familiar names – TotallyNotKunsel (as every time he saw that name, Genesis rolled his eyes), ShinRaRulez, IWantSephiroth, SephirothSlut (there were a lot of names expressing desire for Sephiroth, let's say), and several others, but where was…Genesis grinned to see his favorite, a guy who went by the simple name of Bud, his best friend of all of them and seemingly a guy with nearly as dirty a mind as Genesis's own. It wasn't often the Red SOLDIER met a kindred spirit, and he valued them when he did.

Bud: Hey Slutty, was hoping you'd be on tonight.
ASluttyInScarlet: Work stuff, blah, blah, you know. Did you get any more of the new fic done?
Bud: Not yet, my mother needed some help around the house. I'll try to tomorrow. What's new with you?
ASluttyInScarlet: Let's move into a private chat.
SephirothSlut: Boo, you two are always going off by yourselves. : (

Genesis tapped his keyboard, creating a private chatroom which he then sent an invitation to to Bud, who quickly joined. Bud was the only chatter who (as far as Genesis knew for sure) knew his true identity. (He had "joked" about it in open chat, but few seemed to think famous Genesis Rhapsodos would care or have time for a fan chatroom.)

ASluttyInScarlet: I tried setting up more cameras, but Seph was a spoilsport and caught me.
Bud: Aw, too bad! You wouldn't think someone so…unique would be a prude.
ASluttyInScarlet: He's really not, I've seen him naked tons of times. (Which let's just say…omigaia.) He's just possessive about the doll.
Bud: That's understandable. Cloud seems so innocent.
ASluttyInScarlet: Everywhere except the bedroom, according to Seph. : )
Bud: Are you and Zack still not getting along?
ASluttyInScarlet: *sigh* I know it's my own fault. I bait the Puppy more than he does me. I just can't seem to help it. He's so amusing when riled up.
Bud: There must be ways to make him like that without making him mad at you.
ASluttyInScarlet: I'm sure there are, but at this point, it's basically habit anyway. Doesn't help that the Pervert Twin's latest story has made us sexy vampires doing sexy things.
Bud: How is Amarissia?
ASluttyInScarlet: She keeps wearing a mask and saying something about a global pandemic or something. Which should give her more time to write, but as always, she's slow-going. Talking with other fans about her world's Remake, theories and such, and clutching a Zack-plushie she won't let me steal.
Bud: Well, LOL, I wouldn't let you touch any of my plushies either, knowing what you'd do with them.
ASluttyInScarlet: HEY! I have porn for that! LOL
Bud: My friend Ali, you know, from your fan club? She said they spent a whole meeting debating whether or not you whack off to Loveless. Care to settle?
ASluttyInScarlet: Off the record. Let them have their fun.
Bud: Deal.
ASluttyInScarlet: Nope. The part of me that is devoted to Loveless is the pure part. It's very small, but fervent. LOL
Bud: We all wear masks. You being a pervert is just one of them. Deep down, I think your soul is very pure.
ASluttyInScarlet: : ) Are you flirting with me, dear?
Bud: LOL, as I've told you, I'm not your type.

Genesis sat back from his laptop, smiling. True, his mental picture of Bud was of a portly, rough-around-edges tough guy, probably who worked with his hands, while Genesis's preference was pretty boys. He thought, though, if they ever did meet in person, whatever Bud looked like, he'd give him a handjob or something, just because he was such a valued friend.

ASluttyInScarlet: Let's get back in the general chat, I feel like torturing Edwards.
Bud: Are you sure that's who ShinRaRulez is?
ASluttyInScarlet: Oh, yes. He carries that scent of desperation that everyone in Public Relations does.

Genesis closed the chat window, which brought he and Bud back to the common room.

Bud: Wow, Slutty. Those are amazing ShinRa secrets.
ASluttyInScarlet: Remember, just between us. ; )
ShinRaRulez: Um, I hope that was a joke. LOL, right? Right?
ShinRaRulez: Guys?
ASluttyInScarlet: Of course. ; )
SephirothsGloryHole: Does anyone have any new nude artwork of the general? I think I've seen every piece on the whole Shinternet!
ASluttyInScarlet: I keep trying to get some photos, but you know how pissy he can be.
SephirothsGloryHole: Right, because you're Genesis. *eyeroll* Prove it.
ASluttyInScarlet: Nah, I'm good.
SephirothsGloryHole: That's what I thought.
Bud: : )
ASluttyInScarlet: : )

acacacac

Let's see…weeding's all done, burdock's been resoiled, Mideelian tulips pruned, everything watered. Maybe I'll check the carrots. Angeal did so, nudging one of the growing vegetables just oil out of the dirt, and pressed at it with his calloused, strong fingers. Felt just right for this time of year and the crop's state of growth. Usually when all the gardening was done, Angeal would sit with head bowed for a few minutes, communing in his own way with the planet and with the nature he loved, here in this walled garden on the ShinRa Compound property. But today, as with many days, he had a distraction that he didn't at all mind. In fact, he adored it like he would one day his own children.

The 1st Class glanced over to the small pond in the garden's center, and smiled fondly at the teenager who was sprawled out with his head over the water, humming happily as two koi fish, one black, one silver, nibbled bits of lettuce from his fingers. All of Cloud's animal friends, indeed, all animals he met loved and trusted him at once, and even seemed to understand him enough to obey. Bito and Nu, the silver and the black fish respectively, were no exception, ignoring everyone else who visited this peaceful place but rushing to the surface when Cloud's spiky yellow head was spotted in the reflection on the water.

Further supporting this point, a small gray kitten was seated by his owner, not going after the fish, but instead sitting obediently and stretching happily each time Cloud reached over to pet him. Angeal twiddled his fingers in the grass to invite Silverstream over, and the cat amiably strolled over and purred to have his back stroked. Then the kitten rolled over to present his belly, which Angeal of course rubbed. Movement made Angeal look up, and he found Cloud crawling over with a laugh.

"Silverstream, Angeal's super-busy, silly. He has to make sure the plants are growing right."

"I'm pretty much done," the 1st assured him. "I don't mind." Angeal's preference was dogs, yes, but like Cloud he liked pretty much every species of animal.

Cloud, adorable with his sky-blue eyes wide in wonder, was looking over at a turtle who was nibbling at a still-growing leaf of lettuce. "Not too much, Kei," the boy chided with a giggle.

"He's welcome to as much as he wants, you know that."

Cloud edged closer to the stone bench Angeal was sitting on and hugged his legs. "You're the bestest, well, almost. But I don't want him to get sick."

"Animals, except maybe for baby ones, usually know how much they can handle, and will stop when they need to."

"Kitties too?"

"I think so."

"Chocobos?"

"I'm pretty sure. You rarely see any sick ones in the stables, right?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "I don't remember any being sick. But I thought that's just 'cause Phi takes such good care of them," he said, referring to his friend, the head of the ShinRa chocobo stables.

"I'm sure that's part of it too. Is that where Patrick is?"

Cloud grinned, as he always did when talking about his pets. "Yeah. Phi says it's good for him to be around other chocobos, 'cause he likes it and it helps the ones that are gonna be mommies practice being around a baby."

Patrick's lack of growth was a mystery to ShinRa, as was how Cloud, only an honorary SOLDIER, was exposed to mako, and how, if there was any other explanation, he was such a lethal fighter when he had to be. Silverstream remaining a kitten was less confusing, as he had, after all, been a gift from Turks, specifically Amaya and Kiisa; really, nothing surprised Angeal when it came to that department of ShinRa. Amaya and Kiisa especially, who were excellent at their job but also rather…strange.

Well, who around here is normal?

"Pick me up!"

Angeal carefully grabbed Cloud under his arms and hoisted him up, and the 16-year-old contentedly settled on his lap. The 1st was used to this, didn't mind at all, and pointed.

"You see those Wutaian red lilies? They're growing really well. That's Genesis's favorite flower. Maybe for his next birthday, we'll surprise him with a bouquet."

"Oooh. What's your favorite?"

Angeal gestured to the left, at a bush full of very light blue flowers, similar in shape and texture to earthly violets. "The cerettas. They're also commonly called sky flowers."

Cloud giggled. "I know why they're your favorites! They're the same color as Zack's eyes!"

Angeal nodded with a smile, but internally felt uneasy. Zack had been sort of…off recently, ever since he had been filled in on what Angeal knew of the game the two teenagers had been playing. The Nibelheim incident, Meteor, the death of Aerith…the boy had been more upset by these things than Angeal had expected, and since that night a few days before, Zack had been more distracted than usual, enough so that Angeal had taken him off active duty and encouraged him to spend time with his friends.

Seeing Angeal's serious expression, Cloud immediately hugged him, and was affectionately squeezed back. "I know you're worried about Zack."

Angeal kissed the top of Cloud's head and tried to laugh. "Oh, you know me. I'm over-protective, as Zack often says."

"'Cause Ammy-chan always writes about him getting in trouble? She says she pays him so much attention 'cause he's her favorite, but that doesn't make Zack happy."

"Ah, well," the 1st sighed, "writers are complicated."

"Seph says people are, too."

Angeal didn't respond to that right away, but privately agreed. Love makes us so, and hate, and everything in between.

zkzkzkzk

"…and now with this vampire crap, which Genesis probably goaded her into doing because he liked being a vampire before, did I tell you about that one? Omigaia, it was a nightmare, but sometimes she does shorts and those aren't any better, just more of me being getting groped by strangers and needing Angeal to cuddle me like I'm some fucking girl…"

Kunsel hid his questioning expression behind a large cappuccino mug, thinking, Uh, Zack, isn't that basically your life in reality? The younger boy didn't like to talk about it, but Genesis's belief and/or theories about Pedo-Lure materia were founded on fact. It was well known around ShinRa that Zack was a magnet for perverts, of both genders and almost all ages, and it was similarly assumed that Zack was helped to get past these incidents partly by having the good-touch-giver that was Angeal Hewley.

However, Kunsel was discreet, diplomatic, a veritable man for all seasons. He projected toward his ranting best friend a look of uncomplicated sympathy, although he wasn't always completely clear on who this "Crazy Lady" Amarissia was. Sometimes Zack described her as controlling, (actually, he generally said "ruining") his life, but had also admitted that it was thanks to her imagination that he got to live his basically-liked life, being a valued SOLDIER, getting to play hero in fights and on missions, hanging out with his friends, and of course, being with his mentor/lover.

"…I mean, it's creepy that she spies on us for details, but then she doesn't even get big things about us right. Like Angeal would ever, even if we were only platonic, try to send Genesis to deflower me. But Genesis, that perv, loved it of course, and he actually seemed puzzled that I didn't want to rehearse with him! I mean, can you believe that?"

"What a perv," Kunsel agreed, because his character in this universe was definitely not inspired by Crisis Perverted, and he definitely didn't have a side business recording and selling SOLDIERs-having-sex tapes. I don't know what gave you that idea. What tapes?

"…just afraid of what she might try next. She says she's picky about mpreg and might not ever do it, but MIGHT, that word does not fill me with confidence. When I was little, my pregnant aunt stayed with us almost her whole pregnancy, and her feet got all swollen and she kept mashing liwata berries into her scrambled eggs, and I'm not letting that happen to me!"

"Whoa, Zack." Kunsel firmly placed his hands on the younger SOLDIER's shoulders, holding him down in his seat at the café table. "Calm down. Let me just make sure I understand – you think your – "

"If you say imaginary friend…" Zack warned through gritted teeth. It was a rare sight to see him more than mildly and briefly annoyed.

"Uh, what should I call her?"

"Arch-enemy is fine."

"Okay, you're concerned that this lady has the power to make you…pregnant? Did I miss something, is that possible?"

"Not that I know of, but she once read a story where…" Zack dropped his voice, finally. "…Hojo, talk about creepy, did some weird thing and gave me…like…lady parts, and then Angeal got me pregnant. I dunno what happened, the story was never finished and thank Gaia, she can't find it now, but she's crazy, she could dream up some magic or lab accident, and poof, I'd be knocked up. To top that off, Angeal would love it, the freak."

"Hmm. Now that I think of it, you would look kinda sexy – "

"Dude. Not cool. Do I have to worry about you now too?"

Kunsel smiled coolly. Like most men around ShinRa, he was immensely attracted to Zack, had been for quite some time, but the oblivious boy never picked up on it, and since Zack seemed to only regard him as a trusted friend, Kunsel was determined to be that always, without letting his feelings get in the way.

"Honey, maybe try that thing your therapist suggested. "Think of something positive."

Exhaling, Zack sat back. After a few moments of thought, he spoke up, in a slower, much less heated tone.

"I'm lucky. I know I am. With Angeal, you, Cloud, Seph, all our friends. I like my job and all that. I just don't like being subject to the whims of a crazy fangirl. Did I tell you about the plushie? And she keeps the Crisis Core strategy guide on her ALTAR. She's never even played the game, but…"

Kunsel took another sip, nodding now and then in a concerned manner. At least Zack's always a pretty sight to look at, even all riled up. Did I remember to fix that camera in the VP's room?

To be continued.
For how long, I don't know.
Feedback appreciated, if anyone actually reads this. If not, I understand, this is mainly for my own amusement.