Zack murmured the number each squat he did as he waited for Angeal to come back. It had been a few days since he'd been chosen for the Mentoring Program and already he liked his mentor a lot. Angeal wasn't as harsh as his previous instructor at all, and he made sure Zack ate three full meals a day.
Earlier during their morning routine, Angeal had received a phone call and had to step out of the gym. Alone, Zack continued through the exercises just as they always did. Squats, pushups, laps, and the like were all part of their routine to hone his meager muscles.
When Angeal finally rejoined him, he had a look of exasperation on his usually calm face. Worried he might be the cause of his mentor's annoyance, Zack asked, "what's wrong?"
"A friend of mine will be joining us for dinner this evening. Just a warning, he can be a little...extreme," Angeal responded, sighing.
"Extreme?"
"He's very overdramatic at times and doesn't know how to hold his tongue. If he says anything weird, pay no attention to it, but in a way that won't anger him. He's got a bit of a temper."
"Okay! I'll be careful!"
"Good, now let's get back to training."
That evening, Angeal left to pick up some groceries, leaving Zack alone again. He sat on the living room couch, leg jiggling up and down. Honestly, he was excited and intrigued to meet this 'extreme' friend of Angeal's.
Soon growing bored, Zack wandered into the kitchen. Since his mentor wasn't around, he hopped up onto the counter like he did back home and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. Just as he was about to bite into it, the door burst open and a voice called out, "Angeal, I'm here!"
Zack froze mid-bite as he locked eyes with a tall auburn-haired man with the bright Mako-blue eyes of a SOLDIER. In one hand, the man clutched a small black book; in the other, he held a red coat which he had been about to hang on the hooks by the door. For a while, the two just stared.
The silence was broken by another stranger, this one with long silver hair, and almost felinesque eyes that were a slightly different shade of blue but still had that Mako shine to them. "Genesis, please move. You are blocking the doorway."
He spotted Zack and cocked his head with quiet curiosity. Realizing they were both SOLDIERs, Zack dropped the apple, jumped to his feet, and saluted them. I thought only one guy was coming over! Which is the friend and who's the other guy?
"As you were," the silver-haired man said with the tone of someone who had said it too many times before.
Zack relaxed his stance and looked away from the men in embarrassment. This is so awkward! I wish Angela was here!
"And you are?" the man with auburn hair inquired, finally hanging up his coat and slipping off his boots.
"C-Cadet Zack Fair, sir!"
"And what are you doing here?"
"I live...live here, sir. Angeal is my mentor."
"The Mentoring Program," the silver-haired man spoke, nodding. "I had heard Angeal was taking part."
"What!? And no one told me!? Here I was thinking Angeal had a secret love child!"
Despite his nerves, the noiret bit back a laugh. He must be the friend Angeal mentioned. The other guy seems so reserved. Who is he? Another friend?
"So, Zack, right? You probably know by now that Angeal is pretty touchy about people sitting on his counters, right?" the red SOLDIER asked, striding over into the kitchen.
"Yes...yes, sir. I do, sir," Zack responded, looking down guiltily.
To his great shock, the man hopped up onto the counter and grinned, "don't worry, I won't tell. Seph, though..."
He leaned down and whispered behind his hand, "he's not much of a talker, so your secret's safe with us."
"Thank...thank you, sir."
The man tossed him his discarded apple. "You dropped this by the way. Doesn't Angeal feed you? You're so thin."
"Angeal makes sure I eat three meals a day, sir. He's a very good cook, just like my ma."
"Yeah, he is. Gets it from his mother. Man, I'd kill for one of her apple pies right now."
Zack relaxed a little more, and he began to bounce, trying in vain to wear down his endless supply of energy. As he did, he gave them both a shy smile. They seem like pretty nice guys.
"Someone's hyper," the man with auburn hair stated with a teasing smirk. "Angeal must have his hands full with you."
"I do my best to not be a burden, sir."
"You can drop the formalities here, didn't he tell you? We're all just people in Angeal's apartment."
"I didn't know it pertained to everyone, sir-I mean...um..."
"Genesis. Genesis Rhapsodos, 1st Class."
"Right...Genesis. Got it."
Both Genesis and Sephiroth liked this boy immediately. It was kind of interesting to them both that he didn't seem to know who they were. After all, they were quite famous.
As Zack grew more accustomed to their presence, Genesis noted that the boy's energy seemed limitless, and his bouncing and smiling made the SOLDIER think of a puppy. At this thought, he smiled to himself. Puppy.
The noiret was quite adorable, too. His big blue eyes added to the effect. Genesis could already imagine how they'd look with Mako in them. Irresistable, stunning, beautiful.
"I have some studying I need to do, so I'll be in my room," Zack told them awkwardly.
As he moved to pass Sephiroth, the older man caught him by the wrist. "What is this?"
The 'this' being a small tattoo of three numbers on the boy's left wrist.
Zack froze. He'd almost forgotten about that tattoo. It was so small that it could easily go unnoticed. He was quite surprised the man with silver hair had seen it. Was it the enhanced sight given to SOLDIERs by the Mako they're infused with?
"It's nothing," Zack finally answered. He attempted to pull his wrist free, but the man was much stronger than him. "Please...please let me go."
The man blinked at him, then released him. Zack could feel both their eyes on him all the way to his room. Inside, he curled up on his bed, trying to block the terrible memories forcing their way into his mind.
Half an hour later, Angeal finally got back. The traffic had been horrible. While taking off his shoes and coat, he noticed a black coat and a red coat in their usual places beside his own. Hefting the two large pizza boxes and bags of groceries in his arms, he stepped into the kitchen.
"Genesis. You're early for once. I knew you'd get Seph to come, too, so I bought an extra pizza."
"My apologies," Sephiroth said in his usual calm manner. He and Genesis were seated on the couch in the living room.
"Not a problem, Seph. And I assume you both met Zack, right?" Angeal inquired, glancing about for the boy as he put food away. "Where is he?"
"In his room, I think Seph scared him," Genesis answered. Angeal would've thought this was a tease, but his friend with auburn hair didn't have his usual playful smirk.
"Will you finish putting these away? I'm going to go check on him."
"Sure thing. By the way, he seems like a pretty good kid. Lots of energy, though."
Angeal nodded and walked down the short hall to Zack's room. Knocking, he called, "Zack? It's Angeal. You okay in there?"
No answer.
This immediately worried Angeal, so he opened the door to peek inside. The lights were off, and the hallway light wasn't enough for him to see anything by. He flipped the lights on, finally able to spot the noiret. Zack was curled up in a ball on his bed, clutching his head and trembling.
The general sat on the bed and gently touched the boy's shaking shoulder. "Zack?"
To his surprise, Zack shot up and buried his face in his chest, still trembling. "I don't...I don't want to go back, Angeal..."
"Go back where?"
The boy shook his head, letting his mentor know that it wasn't a topic he was up to sharing.
"Alright. You don't have to go anywhere. You can stay right here with me, okay? And Genesis and Sephiroth aren't so bad. I can tell that they like you a lot. We won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."
Zack lifted his head and looked up at Angeal with gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you, Angeal...I'm sorry for worrying you..."
"Not a problem, Zack. Now, c'mon. I got pizza, and I don't wan it to get cold."
Zack smiled. "Okay."
