The Chaos Connection
by NightsDawne

[My buddy necrofish wins out. Slash it is. ;) You owe me a picture for the story, necrofish, remember that!]


Chapter 5: Friendship

"You were the embryo, right?"

Sephiroth nearly dropped his end of the piano. "What?"

Seifer compensated for Sephiroth's distraction, then guided the piano to its new position in the middle of the conservatory. He had to look inside to make sure it wasn't hollow, it had been so easy to lift. "In the experiments. You were Lucy's embryo."

Sephiroth nodded, blowing hair out of his eyes. "How did you know about that?"

"Read it in the basement library." Seifer dusted his hands off and walked over to check what could be salvaged of the bookcases.

Sephiroth chuckled. "You shouldn't have been down there. My father can get a little touchy about anyone disturbing his books."

Seifer shrugged. "He paid me back. He's pretty disturbing himself." He looked back to Sephiroth. "What's the story with him anyway? Big fan of Dracula or something?"

Sephiroth wiped cobwebs from his pant legs. "No. He's really not as spooky as he looks. He's a good man."

"Oh, yeah, sure, no problem. He just looks like a walking corpse is all."

"You don't understand." Sephiroth turned away.

"Maybe that's because nobody will tell me what's going on here. You two live here all by yourself in this creepy old house with secret passages and hidden basements and even if you're pretty regular he's definitely not your average dude and you expect me to just understand?"

Sephiroth sighed, dropping his head. "My father and I were mutated at opposite ends of the life line. Me before I was born and him..."

Seifer tilted his head, stepping up behind Sephiroth. "After he died?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Hojo revived him from death with the Jenova cells. After he'd murdered him. Only something happened. He was ripped out of the Lifestream when he was resurrected and it pulled other beings from somewhere back with him. Chaos is one of them. They're all trapped together in one body."

Seifer raised his brows. "Guess that would suck. He's not really a bad guy for being dead. Undead. Whatever he is."

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder. "He brought you here to save your life, even though it meant breaking his own morals about interfering with humanity. He saved my life, too. He was one of the ones who saved the entire planet."

"I believe you, okay? Don't judge by appearances." Seifer shook a chair to check its sturdiness before dropping down in it. "I get the feeling you're not all you seem, either. Hell, you don't even look twenty-seven."

"Twenty-two."

Seifer dropped his head to the side. "Vincent said you were born twenty-seven years ago."

"I spent five years in Jenova's control. I don't remember any of it and I didn't age then. I'm not sure if I'll ever age again. I don't think I've changed that much in the past two years."

"Eternal youth. A lot of people would sign up for that."

Sephiroth smiled. "Not you, though?"

Seifer shrugged. "I never thought about it, to tell you the truth. I'd guess that after the first century or so it would be boring as hell."

Sephiroth sat down on the floor, crossing his legs in a lotus position. "It probably will. I think the hardest part will be watching the rest of the world go on changing while I stay the same. Make friends only to watch them die."

"So you'll just shut yourself away in here with Vincent forever?"

"I don't know. I don't really have a choice at the moment." Sephiroth picked at his clothing.

"Hated by everyone outside because of what happened, even if it wasn't you who did it. Yeah, I know how that is. But I don't plan on letting it keep me out of life, keep me from finding my dream."

"And that is?" Sephiroth looked up at the blond.

Seifer grinned. "Fame, renown, respect. I want people to look at me when I walk by and say 'That's Seifer Almasy, the best there is.' I thought I could get it by being a sorceress knight, but that didn't turn out so well."

"Oh, well, if that's all you want." Sephiroth laughed.

"What's your dream?"

"I don't know if I really have one. When I was growing up, all I had was destiny. Fame, renown, respect, I didn't even have to work at that. After all, I had a bit of an edge on the rest of the population. I guess... I guess my dream is that I could take back everything that happened with Jenova. I don't have to be a hero again. Just being accepted would be enough."

"In other words a fresh start. Clean slate."

Sephiroth smiled softly. "Isn't that what we both want?"

"I've got one in this world." Seifer shook his head. "But I still want to go home."

"You've got someone there waiting for you?"

Seifer was silent for a moment. Someone waiting for him. It was a nice thought, even if it wasn't true. There were only two people who had ever drawn his attention in that way and in a sad twist of irony, they had fallen in love with each other. One he had never dared to speak his feelings for, the other he had dated, but broken up with when she turned out to be too controlling. "Um, actually, not what you think. I've got a couple of friends who're probably freaked out without me to tell them what to do, but nobody special."

"Oh." Sephiroth smiled, then instantly blushed and cleared his throat. "I mean, that's too bad. I would have thought someone like you would have a romantic interest."

Seifer raised a brow, then snickered. "Damn, Sephiroth, need to get you out more often. Sounds like you're so lonely you're ready to hit on me."

"No!" Sephiroth frowned. "I mean, it's not like that. You're a guest and I don't know, maybe a friend. I was just curious."

Seifer smirked, rather enjoying seeing Sephiroth squirm. He'd often been accused of being a bully, but there was just something about glimpsing weakness in another person he couldn't resist. When he saw a button, he had to push it, see how far he could drive a person before they would fight back. "Curious about my love life or curious about me?"

"God." Sephiroth rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. "It was just a question, Seifer."

Seifer narrowed his eyes, grabbing Sephiroth's wrist. "Answer me!"

Sephiroth seized Seifer's arm with his other hand, yanking him off the chair and dropping him to the floor so fast that Seifer had no chance to react, planting his knee on the blond's chest and his knuckles against his neck. "Don't push your luck, Seifer," he whispered. "If you don't want to take orders, don't go around giving them, either."

Seifer looked up into Sephiroth's hotly glowing eyes and nodded slowly. "So you were a soldier after all. Damn good one, too."

Sephiroth's expression of anger melted away, a flash of guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He sat back, letting Seifer up.

Seifer sat up, rubbing his arm. "It's not like you hurt me."

"I'm still sorry." Sephiroth spun up to his feet, running from the room.

"Sephiroth!" Seifer sighed, drawing one knee to his chest and dropping his head. "Great job, Almasy. Always have to play the asshole, don't you."

Seifer poked through his stir-fry at one end of the long dining table. Whatever kind of soldier Sephiroth had been he wasn't the world's greatest cook by any standard, but it was food and it was edible. He looked up as the chef entered the dining room with his own plate. "Hi."

"..Hi." Sephiroth glanced at Seifer before carrying his plate to the other end of the table and sitting down.

Seifer sighed. That short speech had been all that had passed between him and Sephiroth since the incident in the conservatory. He wasn't sure if Sephiroth was angry at him or still feeling guilty, but the silent treatment was starting to drive him crazy. He pushed back from the table and stood, picking up his plate and walking down the length of the table. He set his plate down and took the seat next to Sephiroth's.

Sephiroth frowned. "What?"

"You have the soy sauce." Seifer reached for the bottle and seasoned his dinner, feeling those radient green eyes on him the entire time. "Want some?" He looked to his dinner companion, holding the bottle out to him.

"Not really." Sephiroth looked down at his plate and picked out a snow pea pod with his chopsticks.

Seifer rolled his eyes. "Fucking hell, you're another Squall when you're pissed."

"I'm not pissed." Sephiroth looked back up. ".. Who's Squall?"

Seifer smirked. "Jealous?" He quickly held up his hand at Sephiroth's glare. "I apologize, alright? Squall was someone I grew up with. Only guy who ever equalled me in fighting, but he was moody as hell. Liked to communicate in monosyllables. He had three phrases he could use for any situation that required more than that. 'Whatever,' 'None of your business,' and 'Not really.'"

"'Whatever' isn't a phrase. It's one word."

"He was picky like that, too."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Is he still your friend or did you manage to drive him off?"

"I don't think we ever were friends. We were rivals." Seifer shrugged, poking through his plate for some chicken. "Did you have any friends or did you manage to get overly sensitive about anything they said?"

Sephiroth's shoulders sagged a bit. "No."

"No to which one?"

"No, I never had any friends, okay? I didn't exactly have a normal childhood. I grew up in a lab and a military base. I had comrades in arms, but I'm not sure that's the same thing." Sephiroth looked away. "..Do you really think I'm overly sensitive?"

Seifer offered another shrug. "I have a bad habit of being an asshole. I'll overlook your faults if you overlook mine."

Sephiroth glanced back with a half-smile. "I can't believe you just admitted to having a fault."

"Don't get used to it." Seifer grinned. "By the way, you can't cook."

Sephiroth pursed his lips. "Feel free to take over if you're any better at it."

Seifer pushed his plate away. "Actually, I was wondering if there was a pizza place anywhere near here."

"There's one in Nibelheim, I think. I don't go there."

"Who gets the groceries?"

"My father." Sephiroth chewed his lip. "He gets anything we need."

"You've been here for two years and you haven't left the house?" Seifer looked at the silver-haired man incredulously.

"Of course I have. I go monster hunting in the mountains sometimes with my father."

"That's it." Seifer got to his feet. "Give me some money. I'll be back in an hour."

Sephiroth furrowed his brow, getting up to get some cash out of the china hutch. "You're going to get a pizza?"

"No. I'm going to get what we'll need to get you out of here." Seifer offered a grin. "You need a night on the town."

Sephiroth furrowed his brow, but handed Seifer five twenty gil notes. "I can't go there, Seifer. I'm Sephiroth, remember?"

Seifer strode for the door. "Not tonight you won't be. Don't go anywhere."