Cloud sat up quickly from an odd dream in which he had been falling a long ways, and wouldn't stop. Oddly enough the ShinRa logo kept flashing by him while he was falling. He looked at his watch and reasoned that there would be enough time to get to breakfast if they got dressed now, but Zack was still asleep.
Cloud felt so strangely Zack-ish as a sudden idea popped into his mind. He smirked as Zack would have done as he crept over to Zack's bed, throwing off the covers and replacing them with himself. He then kissed him.
Zack's eyes fluttered open and he smirked under Cloud's lips, bringing his arms around to pull Cloud firmly to him, and deepened the kiss. Cloud soon pulled away for air and grinned at him, sitting up and simply saying, "Payback."
Zack shook his head, "Payback or not, it's hard to think of a more pleasant awakening than that..." He sat up himself, pulling Cloud closer again for another intense kiss.
Cloud played along with him for a while, but soon pulled away and told him, "As much as I'd like to stay here, there's some food calling my name and immanent punishment in my painful future. Wouldn't want to miss that." he added sarcastically.
"I hear ya'." Zack sighed, and started pulling on his clothes. Cloud went over to his side of the room to do the same, sneaking glances at Zack only to be caught by Zack's own wandering eyes. This time, he fought the blush and won.
Even though it may have been the weekend, there apparently weren't many days off that they got, and today wasn't one of them. They both went down to breakfast, and on the elevator, Zack took the opportunity while they were alone to kiss Cloud once again, and as they reached the mess hall floor and the doors started to open, Cloud broke away hurriedly and embarrassedly, fiddling with his hair. Not that any change in it was noticeable, it being as stubbornly spiky as ever.
After getting his food, he found Seymour and sat by him, and they both got into a conversation about how bad Cloud's punishment would be for skipping.
"You don't think they'd throw me out, would they?" Cloud asked him nervously.
"Well, if they do, I'll be sure to do the exact same things you did so they'd throw me out, too. This place sickens me, both physically and mentally. Did anyone catch you in Midgar?" Seymour asked.
Cloud was about to say no, but then he remembered Sephiroth's green eyes meeting his, and he sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Sephiroth saw us."
"Sephiroth?" Seymour inquired.
"Uh-huh. He was in that whole AVALANCE raid thing." Cloud said, still looking down. He was remembering the cool way Sephiroth had just killed people, with apparent no thought at all. Yet, Cloud was surprised to find that he still wanted to be like him. He wanted to be able to face deaths without throwing up. He wanted to be able to handle a sword with as much ease as him, he wanted to carry himself coolly and confidently and be called one of the best in ShinRa.
Seymour nodded. "Well, I dunno then. I still don't think they'd throw you out for something like that, but you will get in a whole lotta trouble."
Cloud sighed and looked at his watch. "Well, guess I'd better go face my immanent doom, then." He stood up.
Seymour stood as well, saying, "I'll be there to carry your body."
"You sure you want to be faced with such horror? I couldn't bear it if you passed out because of my screaming." Cloud said resignedly as he and Seymour walked to their training.
They got there and stood in line Cloud mentally wincing as each name was called. He felt like his body was an entire, tensed rubber band, just waiting for some one to come and snap it as "Shinra." was called. A few moments later, it was "Strife."
Cloud tried to put some backbone into his voice, but it was just as worried as the rest of him, "Here."
The instructor looked up from his papers and raised an eyebrow at him, glaring. "And I was expecting you to be gone again. Spiky, where were you yesterday?"
Cloud had gone through so many excuses he could have given, but at that his mind froze and he stumbled over his words, "Well, sir, I...I was, just..."
Someone must have sent a guardian angel over him, because at that moment, they were interrupted by a messenger coming in and whispering something to their instructor. His glare increased more and more until he was literally shaking. Cloud felt like he should just go in a corner and shoot himself now to save himself the torture that was impending.
The man continued to glare at him until finally saying, "Strife, your presence has been requested immediately in Professor Hojo's lab. Here is your keycard, now get out of my sight."
Cloud didn't need any more encouragement. Anything to get out of this. He walked as quickly as he could to the elevator. He probably could have taken the express elevator, but he didn't feel like trying it, because as he felt the glare on his back, he heard his instructor calling to him, "I won't forget this, Spiky!"
When he got on the elevator, he nearly collapsed from relief as he swiped the keycard he was given. He did sit down on the floor, since it would be a long ride to get to one of the top floors. He just sat there breathing deeply from relief.
He stood again as it neared the floor, the sudden movement making him feel slightly nauseous and he finally thought to think why he was being called to Hojo's lab. Why just him? Of course, his Mako reactions. What other explanation could there be?
He stepped off the elevator to find himself in another machine-filled, too-bright room. And there was Hojo, gesturing almost eagerly to Cloud when he saw him.
Cloud walked over to him, only slightly less afraid than he had been of his punishment awaiting many floors below. "Strife?" Hojo asked in his lazy voice.
Nodding, he replied, "Yes, sir. You requested my presence."
"Of course I did. I would like to inform you that you have an absolute breathtaking reaction to Mako. Quite astounding, considering it puts you right up there with Sephiroth-like reactivity." Hojo said, brushing a bit of forgotten hair that had fallen out of his ponytail. His voice was very interested and almost hungry.
Cloud did his best to put on a surprised expression. After all, he wasn't supposed to have heard that conversation between Hojo and Sephiroth.
"And, so, because of that, I'd like to run you through another test, one much like the last, to prove that it was not a fluke. Will you allow me?" Hojo's eyes gleamed, making Cloud suddenly more afraid. Though, the way Hojo put it, it was as if he didn't have a choice in the first place, so he just hesitantly nodded.
"Good, good, great. Come with me please." Hojo said eagerly, leading him to a part of the room.
Cloud fought to keep from gasping as he saw someone on a bed with his eyes closed. 'Why do I keep running into you?' he mentally asked the form lying there. This time it wasn't the famous coat and garb that clued him in, nor the famous eyes, or even the famous sword. Yet there was no doubt it was Sephiroth with his silver hair spread under him, and his black leather pants. He didn't have a shirt on, revealing almost menacing, toned muscles. His eyes were closed. Cloud fought from staring, but the only thing he managed to do was keep from drooling. His face reddened as his thoughts turned naughty, wondering what he'd look like without the pants, too. At this, he finally managed to turn away, wondering at the effect having Zack as a roommate had done to him.
Hojo snapped him out of his daze by saying, "Take off your shirt."
Cloud almost jumped, tearing his eyes away from Sephiroth's sleeping form. At least, he hoped he was just sleeping, and he slowly complied with Hojo's request, wondering what the point of it was, other than make his mind wander even more at the thought of both he and Sephiroth being shirtless in the same room.
The reason soon became apparent when Hojo started sticking weird probes to him in different places. Some on his chest, his arms, his head, and other seemingly random places. 'Why did I agree to this?' he thought, looking away as Hojo pulled out another syringe that was about 3/4 full of the greenish Mako, and stuck it in his arm. He did not wince this time, as he was expecting it, but the thought of a needle sticking in him made him almost as nauseous as motion-sickness.
He felt the familiar sensation of the welcoming pain of Mako flowing through his veins. He noticed this time how his body did seem to accept it, making it a part of him, rather than a foreign substance running through his veins to give him a jumpstart. He watched Hojo, whose face lit up at the sight of the monitors. Apparently whatever was happening was good- for Hojo at least. Cloud had no idea what that exited grin meant was in store for him, so he just stood there quietly.
He found his eyes returning to Sephiroth's sleeping form- only to find that he wasn't sleeping anymore. His blue eyes met Sephiroth's glowing green ones and turned away almost guiltily. Hojo, too, had noticed Sephiroth's awakeing and started to blather on to him about scientific terms that meant absolutely nothing to Cloud.
Then Hojo decided to introduce them, "Sephiroth, this is Cloud Strife, then one with remarkable reactivity to Mako. He is here to prove that it was not just a one-time glitch, and so far it has been working. Strife, this is General Sephiroth."
Cloud decided that he had to look back at Sephiroth or seem rude, so he did. He forced himself not to look at Sephiroth's chest or anything else but his eyes. Of course, that was a lot of work as well, as his eyes seemed so penetrating and deep, sending shivers through him that weren't all unpleasant. He nodded and simply replied, "Sir" when he didn't trust himself to say anything else.
Sephiroth made no acknowledgement of him other than perhaps an odd flicker of his eyes, which may have been just the light. Cloud found his thoughts returning to those of earlier and fought his hardest not to let heat creep up into his face, and surprisingly managed it. He could not, however, mantain their eye contact, and trying to find something to look at without seeming perverted, he found his eyes resting on the long, silvery hair.
Hojo, unawares to Cloud's problems, proceeded to the rest of the testing, since apparently there was more to it than just that. He had Cloud run on a treadmill and do various excercises to which Cloud had no problems at all. He didn't tire or run out of breath, since the Mako kept him on an unusual amount of constant energy. The only thing that made have made him not preform his best was the fact that Sephiroth was always watching him, and he felt that if he messed up even once, he'd lose the General's respect forever, yet maybe if he did well, he earn interest in his eyes.
Finally, it was time to test his nerves. It involved poking various objects at different spots and asking, "Can you feel that? Does it hurt?"
When Hojo started poking pins into him and even slicing the skin a little, he was tempted to yell, "Of course that hurts, you idiot!" but refrained from doing so because of Sephiroth's presence. He didn't want to seem like a wimp under Sephiroth's always watchful gaze. It hadn't occoured to him to think it weird that Sephiroth was constantly staring at him. He even sneaked a few glances back at the General, unable to help himself.
Thankfully, when Hojo finished, he used a cure materia on him so all his little cuts and pinpricks were gone. When he was told to leave, he walked as quickly as he could without seeming in a hurry to the elevator, pulling his shirt back on. He watched out the elevator as the doors shut, his eyes meeting Sephiroth once again, and he alowed himself to give the General a full look over before returning his eyes to Sephiroth's intense gaze at him. He blushed and the doors clicked closed, descending to the floors below.
Yep, this one is short, mostly because I have to pack for my trip, since I'm leaving in just a few hours. See y'all in a couple weeks, okay? I'm fully expecting to have 250 reviews when I get back, so get to it! Okay, maybe not quite that many, but...REVIEW!