Disclaimer: Sephiroth owns the world. I mean it. Bow to him. Now.
Cloud found that he was shivering as he woke the next morning, and realized it was because he had thrown off his covers in the middle of the night. Zack must have come back from wherever he went, because he was again sitting on his bed reading the magazine. "I want one of those..." He muttered.
Cloud sat up, rubbing his arms and shivering. Zack, hearing the bedsprings groan, looked across the room at him. "G'mornin'!" Cloud's only reply was to grab his covers and wrap them around himself, mostly out of coldness but partly out of feeling uncomfortable at Zack looking at him only in his boxers. As memories from last night flashed behind his eyes, he shivered again, though not out of coldness. 'How could I have done that? I never thought that my first kiss would be from a guy. I mean, I never really thought about looking at guys that way...but then, have I ever thought about looking at girls like that?' he thought to himself and realized that the answer was no. There was Tifa of course, but she was the one who liked him in the first place. Cloud had just never thought about having a relationship before.
"Cold?" Zack asked him, noticing the shivering.
"A little, I'm fine though." Cloud reassured him.
Zack smirked, "Are you sure you don't need me to come over and warm you up?"
Cloud's face warmed at that, "No, it's alright..." Though some part of his mind was saying yes eagerly, he blocked it off and looked at his watch. 5:40. "Well, at least we have time to get to breakfast this morning. Just let me get dressed and we can head down." Cloud removed the blankets from around him and grabbed a pair of clothes, purposefully blocking out the look over that Zack was giving him. He dressed as quickly as he could and then walked over to the door.
Zack stood up with slight resignation, as if he would have liked watching Cloud dress much more than eating breakfast, and followed Cloud to the mouth-drying scent of mass-produced food.
They ate breakfast in silence until Seymour and Laguna both came to eat with them, since Cloud was still unwilling to talk about the night before. Laguna gave Zack one of his questioning looks and Zack gave him a slight pained look back, along with a small shake of his head and side look at Cloud. Cloud had the sneaking suspicion that they were gesturing about him, but he decided to try and ignore it as he noticed a slight troubled look on Seymour's face.
"What's wrong?" He asked him. Seymour looked up, startled, and quickly put a smile on his face, "It's nothing. Hey do you know what training we're doing today?"
Cloud suspected he was trying to change the subject, and he let him. "I'm not sure. I remember them saying it was something a bit different than before, but..." he shrugged.
Seymour looked at his watch and said, "I guess we'd better go, then, it's getting close enough that if we don't hurry we'll be late."
Cloud nodded and stood, "Bye Zack, Bye Laguna, we'll see you later." He said to them, interrupting their conversation as he and Seymour left.
Zack waved and called, "You bet you will!" with a wink. Cloud pretended not to hear him.
As it turned out, their training today was quite a bit different, as it wasn't really training at all. "Today, we start your Mako injections." The instructor stated to them as they stood in front of a large room full of odd-looking equipment and strange smells, "You need to be ready and used to them if you're ever going to make it in SOLDIER, so we start you off little by little, and the few of you that make it into SOLDIER with get the full benefits of massive Mako treatments. You will all go in alphabetically, one by one to visit Professor Hojo, who will be doing the injections and monitoring." He then proceeded to call out names.
Seymour and Cloud looked at each other with apprehensive looks. "I don't like needles." Cloud told him.
"Me neither, but I'm more worried about what's inside them. I've lived in Midgar all of my life, but I've had to live as far away from the reactors as I could get, because they made me sick...I hope it's not the same way with this..." Seymour said with an even more worried look than Cloud's.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be alright." Cloud said reassuringly, patting him on the back.
Seymour smiled at him and said, "Thanks Cloud."
They watched as one by one people went in and a few minutes later came out, in varying degrees of dazedness. None would say what it felt like, because, "There aren't any words to describe it."
Finally it came to lower in the alphabet, and "Shinra" was called. Seymour's face took on a very worried and wary expression as he moved to the door. Cloud squeezed his shoulder, and nodded, and Seymour entered the room. You couldn't see where they went, because it was blocked by bunches of metal machinery and boxes, and other things that he couldn't name. Cloud stood there, the worried feeling growing more and more every minute, hoping that Seymour would be okay and knowing that it was his turn after that.
Seymour finally came back through the door. He looked extremely pale and had the worst dazed look out of the people that had come out so far. Cloud looked at him questioningly and Seymour gave him an odd, vague smile. Cloud couldn't talk to him because he was being ushered inside as "Strife" was called.
Seeing Seymour's condition made his unease even worse as he slowly walked inside and rounded the machines. There was a man standing idly there with a syringe in his hand about half full with a greenish glowing thick liquid. He had long black hair that gave off the air that he had completely forgotten that it had existed, as well as a pale face that could have only been acquired from spending so much time in front of monitors and other sources of light which had bleached the color from it. His lab coat was such a part of him that it looked as if he never took it off. The man, Professor Hojo, motioned to Cloud in an almost bored way to come closer, and Cloud did so.
Professor Hojo looked at his list, and then typed something into the computer that was next to him. Cloud saw his own name flash on the screen and showed an odd readout which Cloud couldn't make heads or tails of. The man then picked up a few probes with wires attached and somewhat lazily and automatic, he stuck one to Cloud's wrist, then his neck, and the last one on his forehead. Then with equal boredness and ease,he stuck the syringe he had been holding into Cloud's arm.
It was so sudden that he winced slightly, trying not to shudder. In a few seconds, he understood why no one could talk about it. There really wasn't much to describe it. First he felt pain going through his veins, but it was an odd, sort of earthy-fiery pain. One that made you feel as if it was a part of you, as if you had felt that since the moment you were born. The pain eventually subsided, leaving behind a woozy, longing feeling, and Cloud for a fleeting moment missed the pain. Instead he was left with a feeling of freedom, as if he could do anything he wanted to at that moment.
He soon realized his surroundings, and saw Hojo turning from the readout, which he had been watching avidly, to look almost excitedly at Cloud, and looked back and forth between him and the monitor. "Well...you react very well to the Mako...very well indeed... Haven't seen anything like this since..." Hojo said almost hungrily, and looked back at the screen.
Cloud realized that the needle was no longer in him, and that the probes were gone as well. "Um...sir? Am I done?" he asked hesitantly.
Hojo typed a few things and said absently, "Yes, yes, you can go."
Cloud left the room as quickly as he could without running, and was surprised at the ease in which he did it. It was as if his energy was given a huge jumpstart, which it probably had from the Mako.
After everyone had had their turn, they went back to their training room, "Now!" their instructor called, "We will do the same exercises from yesterday. Let's see how well you perform on Mako. Go!"
They did a few things for a while, and Cloud was amazed at his endurance. Everything was a lot easier than it had been the day before, but he was one of the few who was doing well. Seymour seemed to be doing the worst, he had gone very pale, almost ashy, and he looked to be in a great deal of pain. Cloud moved over to him and asked, "Are you alright?"
Seymour looked up at him dazedly, his blue eyes looking dull and slowly shook his head. "I...I don't think my body likes Mako very much..." he tried to joke, but his smile was more of a grimace.
"You should sit down or get a drink or something." Cloud told him, worried.
Seymour shook his head, "No...I'll be fine in a few minutes-It just...really hurts." He said breathing deeply.
"Well, if you're sure..." Cloud told him, and went back to what he was doing as "Spiky! Shinra! Get to it!" was called.
They started running again. Cloud was still amazed at the energy he had left compared to everyone else, not to mention that all of his nerves seemed to be running at an even higher and sensitive pace than usual...a lot higher. Cloud was still running as he noticed Seymour. Seymour looked as if he was barely standing, but not for long, because at that moment he collapsed.
Cloud ran over to him, "Seymour!" Seymour had definitely passed out. He was breathing shallowly, his face still pale and looking pained. He heard the instructor behind him. "Ah, he's one of those. I'll take him to the medical center. Everyone, continue on!" he called, and picked up Seymour and carried him away.
At dinner that night, the daze that everyone else seemed to have had, had finally gotten to Cloud. He sat picking at his food as Zack sat next to him. "What's up?"
Cloud didn't respond, feeling too weird to say anything as he stared at his tray. He was worried about Seymour.
Zack looked at him. "Cloud, look at me." He grabbed Cloud's chin and pulled his face up to look at him. He stared into Cloud's eyes. "Uh huh, that's what I thought. They started you on Mako today, didn't they?"
Cloud noticed that Zack wasn't moving his hand and managed to nod, "Yeah, how'd you know?"
"You've got glowing eyes. Mako eyes. Don't worry, everything should wear off by tomorrow." Zack told him, and slowly removed his hand, letting his fingers trail across Cloud's neck and collarbone before pulling it away. "Where's your friend Seymour?"
Cloud felt odd shivers that went to an area around his stomach from Zack's touch, his senses amplified by the Mako, but he ignored them. "He wasn't doing too well. He said he was in pain and he was all pale and he eventually collapsed."
"Ah, he's got a body that rejects Mako." Zack said and nodded. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
"I hope." Cloud muttered.
They went back to their room after dinner. A shock was awaiting Cloud on the elevator. There was a person on it as he and Zack stepped on. But this was not just a person...this was... "Sephiroth..." Cloud whispered as quietly as he could. He couldn't stop himself as he stared at the long silver hair that looked as if it flowed off his head, and the glowing deep green eyes that Cloud identified as 'Mako eyes.'
Suddenly, the General stopped looking blankly at the wall and looked right into Cloud's own blue eyes. The trainee blushed and quickly looked away as he realized he was staring. He could feel as Sephiroth's eyes looked away from him. Just his presence was overpowering and Cloud felt as if he would faint if left in that small elevator with him any longer. Even so, he felt a somewhat depressed feeling as the elevator stopped on their floor and he stepped out, along with Zack.
Zack smirked at him as the elevator closed and moved on. Cloud couldn't help but stare at the closed doors. "Wow..."
"Yeah, the General tends to have that effect on people. I have to say we were awfully lucky, you almost never see him anywhere." Zack told him. Cloud continued staring, "Hey, Cloud, you in there? You look like you have a crush on him or something. Give it up, he's untouchable, even by the best...meaning me."
Cloud's face reddened and he shook his head, "What, I don't... Wait, does that mean you've tried?"
Zack smirked and nodded, "Yeah, but talking to him is like talking to a wall, even though he's so damn sexy."
They got to their room, and Zack told him that he was going somewhere, and he might be a while. Cloud didn't pry and nodded, deciding to get to bed early.
Surprisingly, after only about 20 minutes, Zack was back, slamming the door and muttering, "That no good, cheating, lying, unfaithful, rotten, gorgeous asshole!"
Cloud sat up in his bed, looking at Zack, "What's wrong?"
Zack's look of rage and frustration changed for a split second into a smirk and then to a look of depression, "Hold me, Cloud." He said and ran over to him, throwing his arms around Cloud's bare shoulders and neck as he sat down on the bed.
Cloud's involuntary shivers ran through him again, heightened because of his Mako nerves. "Uh...Zack?" he asked questioningly.
Zack put his head on Cloud's shoulder and leaned into him, "I'm being cheated on." he said sadly. Even so, Cloud could tell that he wasn't as depressed as he appeared to be.
"What?" Cloud asked, confused.
"I caught that bastard Rufus with Reeve!" Zack yelled.
"What?" he asked again, "Who's he?"
"Rufus Shinra?"
"No, Reeve."
Zack's grip on Cloud's shoulder tightened, "He's a Shinra employee. I'm not sure what he does, but I think it's something like intelligence work. And he was with Rufus!"
"That's not too incriminating, what make you think you were being cheated on?"
Zack looked up at Cloud, "Let me rephrase that. I caught them with their mouth's glued together and they were half undressed."
"Oh... Did he see you?"
Zack smirked, "You bet he did, and you should have seen his scared face when he saw the look I was giving him."
Cloud looked at him disbelievingly, "Rufus, scared?"
Zack laughed slightly, "Okay, that part I made up. Anyway, what really happened was he asked Reeve to 'excuse him' and he took me to a side room and looked at me. You know what he said? What he had the nerve to say?" Cloud shook his head, "He said, 'Alright, Zack, this is what it looks like, but I happen to know that I am not the only one you're sleeping with, in fact, I'm probably one of the many, so you have no right to get mad at me, got it?'" Zack looked at Cloud, expecting to see a face of pity, but instead, Cloud had an eyebrow raised and was even smirking slightly.
"Well, he was right, wasn't he?" Cloud asked.
"..." Zack looked at him with a fake glare, "You're supposed to be on my side."
"Oh really, and why's that?" Cloud asked, still smirking a bit.
"Because I can do this!" Zack said and pulled Cloud closer, since he already had his arms around him, and kissed him.
Cloud's eyes widened, and he thought, 'I shouldn't have asked.' but, as Zack's hand's moved to Cloud's chest, he revised it, 'I'm glad I did...' He let Zack's tongue enter his mouth and moaned quietly, his lips and mouth feeling even more sensation than the night before. Zack soon moved his lips to Cloud's neck, and then went to trail across his collarbone. Cloud shivered with pleasure, letting out a little moan, Zack's hands still roaming his chest.
Cloud was too dazed to protest, though he knew he should be doing something to stop it. Zack pushed him down onto the bed so that he was laying instead of sitting, and his mouth moved even lower, finding one of Cloud's nipples. Cloud gasped as he felt Zack nipping and sucking on it slightly, and finally got his brain back into gear.
He brought his hands up to Zack's chest and pushed him away, sitting up. "Sorry, Zack, I-"
Zack sighed and brought a hand up to stop him, "No...I suppose that was my fault." he sighed, running his hand through his hair "Well, I guess that Rufus is busy for tonight...but Laguna's always willing." He turned back to Cloud, getting off his bed, "I will get you someday, Cloud. I will."
After Zack was gone, tiredness swept across Cloud and he fell almost instantly asleep, his last thought being, 'I think the Mako wore off.'
Whee! Another chapter done! Will Zack ever get Cloud like he so desires? Muahahaha! You'll just have to wait. Please review!