I will update this more frequently now to force myself to write more as well x'D Being really stressed irl atm, so I hope I will manage... also been distracted by Attack on Titan fandom, oh dear god... and drawing! (Rabenfeder at deviantart *flies away* )
izek: Thanks for your comment! Haha, we will see.. but there will definitely be more loving ahead... *nosebleed* I am not a fan of fanfics where characters who usually wouldn't do that (like those who are unrelated/same gender for example) , suddenly express their undying love for eachother after only 3 chapters. I like staying close to reality, where things mostly don't go as fast, or as far at all :c but that might just be me
Ohh yes longer chapter ermagerd
Sunday was the first day I realized that I would be without the General for quite some time. At least physically... but, having most of our "relationship" on the phone, I wasn't all that sad. Yet, I still couldn't keep myself from wanting to be there with him. To assist him in battle as good as I could... although as a third Rank, I definitely wouldn't be much of a help... thankfully, that was going to change soon. Second Rank was my number one goal for the time being.
My eyes closed as I leaned back on my seat, moving my books from my lap onto the desk. 'On a mission with him... We could probably share the same tent... or hotel room... with me as his bodyguard, of course...' Since I caught myself blushing, I knew I couldn't deny the other thoughts I got, imagining that. Maybe we would get lost alone in a forest or in the mountains and had to spend days together, possibly getting closer...
I remembered that time I was alone training in the forest south from the city... what would it be like to be there with him? When it'd be cold at night, possibly raining... I would pretend to be cold... and maybe end up in his arms, somehow... without any explanation...
Okay, this relaxing music on the radio was making my head blurry. Why on earth would we end up cuddling inside a tent? 'I can still dream.', I defended myself inside my thoughts. My feet lightly pushed the ground so my chair began turning slightly.
How much did I enjoy being held by his strong arms, I couldn't compare it to anything else. To have him sending me flirty texts... 'I'm still wondering if I'm the only one he does this with...' He really didn't seem like that kind of person. But then again, in person, he seemed completely different. No traces of heavier flirting or mentioning of anything remotely sexual... okay, everyone around here knew who he was, so we two had never really been in private before. Even when we hugged at night that one time, somewhere around could have been an open window with a sleepless person watching. 'Okay, now I'm starting to get paranoid...'
I didn't want to remove the 'goal' of him doing so with me in person from my mental list just yet. Whatever this was going to be, we were merely starting, but I felt it was definitely getting somewhere. Shower jokes were one thing, but the hints he was dropping seemed to get heavier and heavier. I breathed out through my nose as I felt my face heat up. 'Maybe I should read through our messages again... No, no, I should study...' I shook my head violently, before leaning forward again, sighing. The expression on my face must have resembled a kicked puppy, not in a hurt way, but... in a confused one. What was this man doing to me?
Before I left to Zack's movie night, I noticed a few buses passing outside, heading towards the main building. Curiously, my eyes followed them to read the writing on the side. I couldn't quite make out all of it, but what I could guess was that they would be Sephiroth and his troops' means of transportation tomorrow. Pulling over a light jacket, I gave another reminding call to Kunsel's room, informing him that I was leaving. He had been invited as well, but politely refused in order to study for the exam he was also going to attempt.
Sure, he had a point, but nothing to stop me from having a bit more fun before it got serious. The stress would hit me soon enough, at the latest the night before the actual examination.
To my surprise, I only counted six people in Zack's apartment, including himself and me. The fact that it was Sunday night probably added its part to it, as some classes would have their exams tomorrow already and not in a week like mine. I guessed that that was some anti-cheating thing, giving different classes different papers on different days so they couldn't tell each other the solutions. Not like 150 questions weren't foolproof enough...
Back to the people – Zack, Angeal, Genesis, a girl introducing herself as Cissnei, as well as the leader of the Turks, Tseng.
The way they were sitting in a circle around Zack's dining table reminded me more of a business meeting than a fun evening with friends, but the snacks and small party games on the furniture let me breathe out a breath I never knew I had been holding. Okay, so this was no top secret mission I had interrupted, everyone greeted me in a friendly manner, smiles and handshakes were exchanged before I took a seat on the sofa next to Zack.
My raven-haired friend offered me coke and fruit skewers, telling Angeal to bring the movies so they could decide which one to watch. I pretty much didn't care what genre or movie and Zack knew that I was open minded concerning that matter. In the end, he only owned Blu-Rays of blockbusters, so we would be spared from horrifying B-movies or... Sharknado. (Although I'd always wanted to watch that for the giggles...)
Everyone agreed on a random action movie that most likely everyone beside the picker had already watched at least three times, and it wasn't until half into the movie that Zack noticed someone was missing.
"Wait! Seph still not here?!" He almost jumped off the couch, pulling half of the blanket we were sitting on with him.
It took me a few seconds to note the name he had mentioned and for the first time, the thought of the General missing between all these other instructors crossed my mind. My eyes wandered through our group, light being sort of dimmed for the movie's sake – but indeed, the General was missing. "Still", apparently.
When I noticed that the only free seat was next to Zack and me on the couch – Zack, particularly - my heart almost skipped a beat. If he would sit somewhere, it would have to be here, next to me... now I only had to teach that Zack without actually talking. The first step was pretending to yawn, moving a little closer to him to edge him aside a bit. His currently half standing position – hands violently typing into his phone – made this task easier for now without letting my buddy assume that I just wanted to get closer to him. When he least expected it, I moved towards him with a big jolt, effectively shoving him to the right until he hit the armrest, butt landing back on the couch. When I glanced to my left, I saw that my plan had worked, and Zack hadn't even noticed his change of position. Victory was written all over my face.
"Why is he not answering? What is he doing?", he grumbled, moving phone aside again.
The others gave Zack a shrug concerning his question, Genesis mentioning that he could still be packing bags and would therefore arrive a bit later.
My heart fluttered at the thought of a movie night with this man. For some reason, I felt that things like these brought people closer. Before Zack's movie nights, I knew nothing about Zack's colleagues, but every now and then they had some small talk from which I learned something more about them. One of them being that the red haired girl was not the one Zack was apparently dating, but a member of the Turks; he told me that they'd met during a mission.
Another example, which would be much to Kunsel's liking, was Genesis being a huge fan of LOVELESS, if not even a bigger one than my roommate. 'I have to tell him what he missed when I get back...', I chuckled to myself.
The only one who wouldn't talk that much was Angeal, of whom I only knew as much as that he had been Zack's instructor, and that the two seemed pretty close, even without many words.
I was curious if, when Sephiroth showed up, they'd help making him spill out some more about his person as well. After all, I still knew very little about him... beside the obvious facts – so nothing personal. Okay, he liked Zack. His colleagues. Me... He liked flirting in SMS but not in person, he liked driving me insane with his hinting at things but never openly saying them...
I didn't notice that I had apparently closed my eyes in a sort of pained expression until Zack asked me if I needed a headache pill. I shook my head, "No, just a bit anxious about the theoretical exam next week.", offering him a smile, sideways glancing at the other instructors.
My raven-haired friend then chose to pat my head, exclaiming "Isn't he cute! Ya got nothing to worry about, Spike. I know you spend enough time studying."
A bit embarrassed, I offered the others a coy smile and pretended to grab my drink.
"Let's continue, he will come sooner or later.", Tseng said calmly, moving one of his legs over the other. I still couldn't help feeling a bit weird around all my superiors, but that's what I got for being Zack's friend. Not that I minded that part... Without him, I would probably sit at home all day, not knowing what to do with myself. I also would have never hugged the General, and we possibly wouldn't even talk, well... write the way we did. I really didn't wanna imagine my life without either now...
After the first movie, we took a smoke break, at least for some. Cissnei stayed to find out more about Zack's girlfriend, and asked why he hadn't invited her over today. "She had to do some charity work today, but I will try for next time.", he sighed happily, smiling. His red-haired friend giggled and asked him to describe her.
'Love really makes people go crazy...' I thought to myself, moving forward to put my glass back onto the table. When it hit some obstacle, I leaned in a bit more to take a closer look at it. It were... purple dice? My eyebrows narrowed as I picked one up with my free hand. Immediately, my expression turned into one of utter confusion. The text on it read "lick". As I turned it, I also found "touch" and "kiss" among other words, almost making me drop it.
Curiously, I gazed over to the second dice on the table, the visible sides of which showed "lips" and... "nipple".
I was about to scream "What the hell!" before I noticed the smokers entering the room again, and the thought of me mentioning this "game" now probably would not end pleasantly for me. Knowing Zack, he would possibly suggest that we played it... And alone the possibility was nothing I wanted to let happen. 'Don't want to end up a little too close for comfort to the Turk's leader, or Angeal... or their nipples.' Shudders. As soon as said instructor's gaze fell upon my hand that was still holding the one dice, my eyes widened and I moved into my pants pockets with cat-like speed.
"Erm..." I reached out for a snack to distract him, fortunately it worked.
Zack and Cissnei also seemed to be finishing their lovey dovey talk, thanks to Angeal's help... "Am I glad that Sephiroth isn't like that with his girl. Who knows what the CdS mission would be like then, after all, she will be joining as medic..."
My mood darkened as much as the room when the lights were dimmed again. 'She is going to be there? And she's a medic? Then she could be around him all the time...' I frowned. Yes, that would explain why he probably wouldn't be able to text. Aside from all the battling and saving the world. Okay, I had to stop with the sarcasm... I already felt as if she was my rival, even though I didn't have the right to. This man was not mine... yet. I smirked, not willing to give up. If I had his sexy messages, then there probably would not be going on much between the two anymore. That or the possibility of him just being a secret flirter with everyone. I had yet to find that out...
"Well, she lives there, after all. Her parents do own the biggest hotel there, too...", Genesis mentioned between two sips of his soda.
I didn't know much about that city so I couldn't judge the area as much as being able to tell if they'd be camping outside, or even sleeping in the hotel. I didn't even know whether it was a business related mission (with possible escalation – therefore the troops) or a siege, or... anything. The possibilities were endless, and ShinRa was pretty good at keeping things secret.
Halfway through the second movie I felt that the chances for Sephiroth appearing were dwindling every passing minute. The time now read past 11 pm, and knowing that he probably had to get up early, I felt disappointment wash through me. My hopes of him still popping up didn't fade, though, I kept casting glances at the door or the window next to it, trying to make out figures in the dark.
Him sitting next to me would be awesome for sure, having some relaxed smalltalk, as well as our legs touching subtly... but even seeing him once more before his big trip would already be nice. Of course, I could get up early tomorrow, but I definitely didn't want to appear too clingy. 'I can be without him for some days. Or even weeks. I'll just study. Study study study!' In my head it all sounded easier than it was – I would definitely miss him.
When this movie was near its end, I noticed that I had to consider myself satisfied with Zack leaning onto me instead of my General. 'Not the same thing. Definitely not the same thing...'
By the time the credits rolled, it was past 1 am and some of the guests excused themselves, such as the two instructors who were leading class tomorrow. Of course nobody could escape Zack without an enthusiastic, but still awkward hug – beside me, since I decided to stay, as usual.
I flung my bag into the guest bedroom, changed and got ready to hit the pillow. Despite everything, nothing saved me from a breathtaking good-night-hug. 'I'd rather have that from someone else...', I thought, wishing him sweet dreams before slipping under the sheets.
Little did I know that the tiny dice in my pants pocket would grant me some sweet dreams as well...
I've decided that I will update whenever I have 2-3 reviews per chapter, don't think that's asked for too much... your comments also encourage me to write/update, I can't say it often enough!