"Damn it!"
Sephiroth looked up from his reading at the angry howl from the room next door. He considered for a minute going to see what was wrong with his neighbor, but decided against him.
"Ahh!" The sound of something falling over and something breaking succeeded in peaking Sephiroth's interest. He carefully bookmarked his novel, and put it back on the coffee table.
As he left his room and approached the door to Zack's, he heard what seemed to be the sounds of a struggle. Cursing himself for leaving the masamune in his room, Sephiroth opened the unlocked door and checked for any intruders.
Zack smiled up at him from the floor, where his boot was firmly lodged in a cardboard box.
"Heya Sephiroth. What's up?"
Raising an eyebrow, Sephiroth shook his head at the antics of his best friend.
"Looks to me like the box is winning."
Zack chuckled at his friend's dry humor before returning to the task of extricating his foot from said box.
"Little help here," he growled up at Sephiroth as he continued unsuccessfully to free himself.
For the millionth time since he had known him, Sephiroth had to wonder why he and Zack became best friends...without either of them killing the other first. Then, shaking off that thought, he bent down and began to pull on the box as Zack attempted to pull his foot free. Looking to the side, he saw that the return address was from Gongaga.
At least some people have parents who think about them.
"You could have just used a knife and made this easier," Sephiroth pulled as hard as he could and Zack's foot finally popped out, leaving the boot still trapped in the box.
"Ah, but see. We managed to defeat it without resorting to weapons."
Zack stood up, leaning slightly to the right because of being shoeless. Snatching the box from Sephiroth he removed his shoe and started rummaging through the packing peanuts, effectively spreading them all around the apartment.
"Is it care package season already?" Sephiroth said with a small smile as he looked over Zack's shoulder at the odds and ends his parents had sent.
"Oh you know you want some of my mom's famous gazpacho." Zack picked up a heavily wrapped up tupperware container full of tomato soup.
Sephiroth just grunted and sat down on Zack's couch. He would wait for something a little more appetizing to come along then gazpacho. He looked around Zack's room, but everything was the same as it always was. But Sephiroth's eyesight was as advanced as all his other abilities, and he did notice something wasn't right.
"Zack, two of your materia are missing."
Zack froze midway through opening a bag of slightly crushed potato chips. He followed Sephiroth's gaze to the buster sword, and the two empty materia slots that normally contained ice and bolt.
"Oh....uh....I'm letting someone borrow them for a few days," Zack gave Sephiroth one of his overly enthusiastic grins and scratched at his head in innocence.
The aqua eyes that looked back at him seemed less than convinced however. But not wanting to have to listen to one of Zack's horrible attempts at lying, Sephiroth just nodded his head.
After finding a place for all the random things his parents had sent him, Zack came over and sat down on the couch next to Sephiroth. A second later he fell sideways, landing his head in Sephiroth's lap with perfect aim.
"Hey Seph. What made you pick me?" As Zack looked up at commanding officer, his voice having lost its usual joviality and instead had a sincere tone to it.
"Pick you as what? My second in command. My friend?" Sephiroth found himself slowly running his hands through Zack's long black hair, a habit he had taken up years ago and never quite broken.
"As your student. Why did you decide to help me become a Soldier? I mean, without you I probably would never have made it in."
Sephiroth was quite for a minute, his eyes looking at nothing as he continued to play with Zack's hair.
"Good question. I guess it was the same reason you became my friend."
"Ah, so it was because I have a nice ass," Zack's dark eyes flashed up at his friend, before closing shut as a pillow promptly hit him in the face.
"No," Sephiroth tossed the pillow back to its place on the couch and scowled at his ex, "I picked you because you didn't act like if you said something wrong I was likely to chop your head off."
"Hmm..." Zack sat up and seemed to be lost in thought, a dangerous thing for someone like Zack. Sephiroth knew when Zack got in these moods sometimes it was better to just let him be.
"Maybe I'm wrong then..." Zack muttered under his breath, staring intently at the floor without actually seeing it.
"Why are you so worried?" Sephiroth's voice was hard and left no room for more of Zack's joking around. He could tell something was bothering his friend, and although he may not have been very good at it, he wanted to help him.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Zack got up and walked around his small kitchenette, rearranging stuff and asking Sephiroth every few seconds if he wanted anything to eat or drink. It was obvious he was doing the Zack equivalent of pacing.
By the fifth time he had to decline a soda from Zack, Sephiroth stood up and walked over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Zack...I don't want a soda. Now what the hell is wrong with you?"
After being let go Zack had to rub at the shoulder that didn't have his armor on it. He knew better than anyone that sometimes Sephiroth could forget just how powerful he was.
"It's just that..." I'm training a kid and helping him prepare to be a Soldier, and I don't think he has a chance. Am I only doing it because I think he's cute?
"Look, its nothing Sephiroth. Just been having a few bad days that's all."
Sephiroth could see through the fake smile Zack gave him, but didn't want to press his friend for any details he didn't want to give.
"We should go do something next time we have leave to get your mind off of things."
Zack's face brightened for real this time and he got a mischievous grin on his face. Sephiroth, on the other hand, suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"We should. And we have leave in a few weeks. So let's make it a date," Zack flinched as the words left his mouth before he could hold them back. Sephiroth had an oddly neutral look on his face, but then the corners of his mouth gave a small twitch.
"Fine. You decide what we're doing."
Zack practically let out a sigh right then and there. He thought that those last words would have sealed the deal for him spending his day of leave by himself. After Sephiroth had broken up with him, Zack had refused to stop being friends with him. But of the two of them, Zack had always been the one holding out for reconciliation.
Ah well. You take what you can get. And maybe soon I'll have Cloud instead. Not quite Sephiroth...but not half bad either.
"I'm going to read, then we'll go spar after dinner."
Zack nodded as Sephiroth started to make his way out the door. Then he paused and turned around, leaning against one of the doorframes. Zack was definitely reminded of why he had so quickly agreed to be trained by the notorious swordsmen. His silver hair hung on one shoulder, falling over his leather coat, and with his head tilted like that his bangs hung in front of his bright mako-green eyes.
"And Zack..."
Zack stopped staring at his ex-lover's body and instead focused on the serious expression he had on.
"If you've lost the ice materia I gave to you, I WILL chop your head off."
Zack gulped. He knew that the threat was an idle one. But he also knew he definitely didn't want to piss off his commander. He'd seen the aftermath before and did not particularly want to see it again.
Sephiroth returned to his room and collapsed on his chair. He didn't know why, but somehow spending time with Zack always left him exhausted.
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This chapter was kind of odd, ne? I just wanted to kind of introduce Zack and Sephiroth's odd relationship with each other. I hope I conveyed it decently enough...and don't worry, Cloud comes back in the next chapter. Keep up the reviews and I will keep up the writing. As long as people are interested, I have a LOT of ideas for these kind of vignettes between the three that I can put up. Hope you enjoyed it.
PS: Before anyone asks, I'm using Zack instead of Zax because Zack is easier to type. I know that originally it was Zax...but that's harder to type.
