There is some definitely weird chemistry in this room, and some mild cursing. It's fun! Written in the 1st person because Seph just has a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor, in his own thoughts at least, which is what this is about.

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The Aroma of Defeat

So here I am again, sitting in this God awful conference room with the broken air conditioning vent that rattles every so often. The room smells vaguely of peanuts for some unexplained reason, but at least it's not burnt popcorn like last time. Peanuts make me nervous, along with that damned vent. Last time, I was so close to ripping it from the ceiling, but I restrained myself. So now I'm double nervous. Joy to the Lifestream...

The only other person in the room with me is Rufus Shinra, the bratty son of the President. He's staring at me again, wetting his lips with that sharp tongue of his every few minutes, tapping those black-gloved fingers against his briefing folder, adding to the annoying background noise. He does the every time we have a conference. Oh shit… I think he winked at me.

"Hey Seph, you're early today…" he whispers to me, leaning uncomfortably close.

I ignore him, and just to my luck someone appeared at the door, causing him to snap back to his original position, hands folded on the table with his snotty, upturned nose resting on his fingers. He's just 16 and he thinks he owns the world.

"Kyahaha! I'm not late for once!" a sharp, annoying voice pierces my ears as Scarlett announced her entrance and shuffled into her seat. I almost leap out of my seat, but on the outside I'm calm, my eyes slowly moving over to drill two holes into her humongous, shiny forehead. I hate that God damned thing. I hate her too. Someday she's going to get ran over by a train.

"I wish you were…" I mutter under my breath, and her fake smile fades for a second before returning, unfortunately. Rufus smiles as her, then scoots a folder over to me and the bitch sitting across the table.

While I was reading my briefing, which was the same boring shit as usual, a parade of blue suits entered the room. Reno, who's sort of a friend to me, waves and opens up his shirt, flashing me his finely toned chest, then quickly buttons it back up before that overbearing ass Tseng noticed. The corners of my mouth twitch into a half smile that was returned by the red haired marvel. That smile was wiped off my face as soon as it came, because now my worst fear has trotted through the door.

I duck down, hoping she won't notice me, but her eyes miss nothing, and she quickly dashes to the empty seat next to me, plopping down and scooting right up next to my shoulder.

"OOOH! Sephy-wephy kins! What's the matter!" she cries into my ear, squealing and blushing.

Yes, that's Elena, the youngest and newest Turk. I think she has a crush on everyone that has a Y chromosome, but I can't be sure. All I know is that she's really breathing down my neck now, lusty brown eyes giving me a stare down, and it's really starting to get on my nerves.

"OOOh! Tsengy-nengie! Lookie at Sephy! He's SOOOO sad today!"

Tseng only sighs, shaking his head, but I can tell he's laughing at me on the inside. We've been rivals ever since I've known him, but I don't know why he keeps trying. I just outdo him every time. He purposely brought Elena along just to piss me off, but I won't show one hint of emotion to satisfy him. Seph gets the upper hand once again.

Yes, Tseng, smell that sweet, sweet aroma of defeat. Nothing you can do can get through my shell, but I'm penetrating you with needles and drills now. Who's laughing now, bastard. I grin wickedly into my sleeve, and then sit up, face even, when I notice someone else had entered the room.

My heart skips a beat and my hand automatically slips up my thigh, my thumb rubbing my hipbone under the beltline of my leather pants. It was Reeve, with his neatly trimmed beard and warm hazelnut eyes, giving me the most loving stare like I'm the only person in the room. He sits in front of me, strong fingers running over the manila paper of the folder, and I can feel his leg touching mine underneath the table. I see Reno give me a wink and thumbs up from the corner of my eye, but I'm too busy concentrating on trying not to blush. Shit, why does he always make me act like this?

"Hello Sephiroth, anything the matter?" Reeve asks me, his voice low and personal.

My eyes can't find the strength to leave his gaze, and it absorbs me until I don't even notice the other executives filing into the room, including Hojo.

"I hope you're not sick, there's a bug going around you know."

My mouth tries to form words, but his hand resting upon mine steals them from my lungs.

"Sephiroth?"

"Sorry, I was just, thinking... I'm feeling fine…" I manage to stutter, shooting my friend a half smile.

"I'm glad, but you better pay attention, because we're staring now," Reeve says with a warm smile, tilting his head to Rufus, who was now clearing his throat.

"Thanks Reeve…"

I don't think I heard a single word Rufus said.

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Afterword: Ha, Reeve/Seph! It invades me, thanks to Lady of the Phoenix. Read her stories and you'll catch the fever too. Just do it. Now.