hey guys! i just want to thank everyone that's commented and messaged me on this story. I haven't used this site in a long while so im a bit unfamiliar with it. I'm sorry for not replying to some of you, to be honest I hadn't even noticed most of the reviews since for some reason i havent gotten the notifications. i just wanted to say thank you all for the comments and that they mean a lot! I was going to delete this story on bc it didn't really do that well and since i've been cross-posting it on ao3 (where it had come a lot further) but since there were some people asking for more chapters i figured i might as well just post the rest here as well.
thank you for your continued support and i hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
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The road back to Midgar was shorter to the road from. Between falling into a daze and intensely staring at the man sitting next to him, Sephiroth barely noticed the world passing him by. He could hear talking from the front seat, Genesis and Angeal no doubt deep in another of their infamous arguments, but he mostly just overlooked it and focused on the wellbeing of the blond.
The man, Strife, had fallen in and out of consciousness. Sometimes his eyes would focus on Sephiroth and let out a tiny smile, other times, it would seem like he'd fallen so far into his subconsciousness he would even forget to blink. Sephiroth took the initiative and closed his eyes for him, giving the illusion that he had fallen asleep.
Sephiroth sometimes noticed Angeal or Genesis glancing back at them, probably wanted to probe either of them for answers, but eventually decided against. He was glad they had a semblance of tackt. Because, let alone converse, the blond didn't look like he'd be able to even coherently speak with anyone.
When the blond actually managed to fall asleep, head leaning against the shaky window, Sephiroth would gently cup his head and push it to his shoulder so not to agitate the smaller man. He's pretty sure the action was caught by both people in the front, no doubt making the men's eyes widen in surprise, but Sephiroth was uncaring of their thoughts on his character at the moment.
When they got on the ferry they decided the best course of action would be to stay in the car as to not incite suspicion from people when they saw the half conscious man they were dragging around. Shinra, or rather, the Turks, no doubt also had agents stationed here, reporting back any suspicious behaviour.
They probably already knew of the First's little escapades to Nibelheim, but except for Hojo and his little underlings, he doubted the Turks knew what the reason of their trip was. He'd have to check extra hard for listening devices and spy softwares planted in his apartment when he gets back.
Because they had decided to stay in the car during their trip over the ocean, the loud clangs of mechanisms and engine noise of the ferry had been twice as audible in the hull as above deck. So it was unsurprising when the blond eventually woke up, his head lolling back and forth before eventually stabilizing, and he continued his gazing out the window. What did surprise Sephiroth, and probably everyone in the car, was the weak sound of a raspy voice they hadn't heard before.
"You've grown."
The sound was so low that had anyone in the car been talking at the time they would undoubtedly have missed it.
Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis simultaneously turned their heads towards the blond, everyone wearing an expression of shock. But the smaller man wasn't looking at them, he still wore the same emotionless expression he had during the whole trip back, intently staring out the window, as if the scenery wasn't the metal walls of the inside of a ferry.
Sephiroth swallowed a few times before speaking. "Dr. Strife?" He hated how hopeful his voice sounded.
The blond man hadn't shown any reaction to the name since the lab, and now was no different. He kept his gaze out the window and the car fell silent once again. Eventually Sephiroth gave up hope that the man would continue to talk, and leaned back into his seat again.
The ferry hit land and before long they were on the road once more. They had been driving for little more than two days when they finally arrived in the outskirts of Midgar. Angeal turned the car towards the same back roads they had taken out of the city. They might not be able to avoid Sinra once they're in the tower but they could avoid anyone laying their eyes on the vulnerable blond. They were not getting information on him if Sephiroth had anything to say about it.
The time Sephiroth dreaded the most had come to pass. They had decided to park the car in an inconspicuous ally, to be picked up at a later time, and sneak into the tower.
As the commanders and general of Soldier, they had the pleasure of knowing the insides of the tower like the back of their hand. Finding a route rarely used by personnel wasn't hard, what was hard was finding a way that wasn't littered with cameras at every corner. Though Sephiroth was easily able to bypass them by destroying and/or melting them, the Turks responsible for surveillance would without a doubt find it suspicious. He suppose they'd have to cross that bridge when they get there.
Sephiroth had at first insisted on carrying the blond, but being conscious and apparently having his dislike of being touched back, he decided that he wanted to walk. Or rather, he had stepped back with a look of fear on his face when Sephiroth had approached him, so he chose to let the man do as he pleased. It made Sephiroth kind of happy anyway, the blond being able to convey the word 'no' when he didn't want to do something, though it had been through fear, Sephiroth still looked at it as progress.
So with Angeal and Sephiroth in the front and Genesis in the back, with the blond man walking in between, they made their way into the tower. The only sound was of his bare feet tapping on the marble floor. Sephiroth constantly glanced back at the smaller man, ensuring he wasn't walking off in another direction, though he knew Genesis could very well handle it himself, he wasn't appease until he saw the man walking behind him every few minutes. Genesis sometimes had to stretch out an arm as to block the road ahead when the blond had turned to wander off. Other than that, there was no difficulties on the way to his apartment. That was probably owed to the rarely used paths they walked, coupled with the fact that they had arrived at close to 3AM so very few people were up and about to be able to witness them.
When they arrived in his apartment, there was a tense silence in the air, as if they were unsure of what to do, which wasn't that far off the truth. Sephiroth barely remembered to feed himself most days, now to take care of another person that was desperately in need of it? Sephiroth was as close to panicking as he could get (not very close, but unusual nonetheless).
They had at last decided to get some sleep in their own beds before discussing the matter further. Having been on the road for about 5 days the thought of some rest was irresistible to them all. So after Angeal and Genesis both left with some form of goodbye, Sephiroth was left alone with the blond.
They were currently in the living room starting at each other, Sephiroth; unsure of what to do, and the smaller man undeterradly staring back at him.
Looking at the blond Sephiroth could see a few Mako stains had seeped through the fabric of his robe, and the man's hair looked crispy and had a tinge of green to it, while his skin gave a slight sheen making it look sticky. Strife must be incredibly uncomfortable.
So Sephiroth decided on leading the man to his private shower. He put his arm around his shoulder, never touching, and lead him to the door on the far side of the room. It made Sephiroth feel like he was herding sheep into an enclosure. He frowned at the analogy. He opened the door for the other man and watched him walk by with sharp eyes.
"You can wash here, use whatever you want." Sephiroth's monotone voice made the blond turn around and stare at him with a slight hint of confusion. The general sighed, he supposed this wouldn't do.
It made him feel quite lousy taking off the unresponsive man's only clothing. But he couldn't very well let the man sleep whilst covered in dried processed Mako, and the other man was everything but bashful (not that it made Sephiroth feel better about the situation), so he carried on.
He gestured for the blond to get into the shower, and he did after a small moment of hesitancy. Sephiroth then turned on the water, not too warm or too cold (he decided to ignore the blond's flinch), then gradually got him used to the feel of of the stream by cupping his hands under the stream and dropping the water gently on the man's shoulders and hair. He taught the blond how to scrub the shower gel onto his body, figuring the smaller man would appreciate that rather than having Sephiroth touch him, and then had him rub in some shampoo into his dried hair. The Mako accumulated at the floor of the shower, making the water run green. By the end of the shower the blond looked to have a bit more color to him so Sephiroth considered it a success.
He wrapped the man in the biggest towel he could find and set off to find some clothes that was close to his size. Of course, Sephiroth was not one to do useless things like collect clothes that were too small for him, so he had to settle on one of his T-shirts and sweatpants. By the time he put them on the duration of the blond's blinks had grown a lot longer, closing his eyes a few seconds at a time, so he lead Strife into his bedroom and gestured for him to get into the king size bed before putting a duvet over his body. The blond continued to stare at him until he no longer was able to keep his eyes open.
Only after the other man finally fell asleep, did Sephiroth leave the room, letting the door stay open just in case.
He sighed as he sat himself down on the living room couch. His thoughts were in shambles, he had to think twice, then a third time, before finally deciding that taking a shower himself should be his next move.
The shower was quick, he couldn't leave the blond unguarded for long before feeling the rise of panic in his heart. So he quickly dressed, took a peek at the blond sleeping in his bed, then went on to search the apartment for listening devices. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or anxious of the fact that he didn't find any. So he searched his apartment again, this time more thoroughly. Again it came out clean.
Sephiroth, after making himself a cup of coffee, sat down at the couch once more, and waited for dawn.
Before he knew it 5 hours had passed, his coffe lay half finished on the table, having long gone cold, and his back was stiff with him not having having moved a muscle in those hours.
When he heard a knock at the door, he quickly got up at closed the door to his bedroom before opening the front door. He stepped aside to let Genesis in. he was dressed in his casual clothes, probably figuring it was too much of a drag putting on his leather coat and boots. The other man made himself at home and went into the kitchen to make himself some coffee, Sephiroth following after him.
"I'm out." Was his only explanation was he poured himself a cup. "You want?" Sephiroth shook his head.
They sat in silence, both of them deep in though, when Genesis spoke up again. "So, how is he?"
He shook his head again. "I don't know. I gave him a shower and put him to bed. He's been sleeping for a little over five hours." And hopefully he'd be sleeping for a few more.
Genesis almost did a spit take at his words, a drop of coffee making its way down his chin. "...You showered him?" He asked, wiping his face with his sleeve.
"Yes, he reeked of Mako." Sephiroth almost huffed.
"Sure, but-" Genesis suddenly turned his head a fraction, his eyes landing behind Sephiroth. "Hello." He said softly.
Sephiroth turned, his eyes landing on the figure standing by the door.
"Hello." A hoarse voice answered. Sephiroth's eyes widened.
The blond was staring at nothing in particular, his eyes shifting around the room, sweeping over Genesis and Sephiroth, then finally landing on Genesis' steaming cup of coffee. They waited for a few minutes before they realized Strife had no plans on moving, his eyes still glued to the coffee.
"...Did you sleep well?" As expected the question was left unanswered. The blond shifted on his feet, Sephiroth thought he was going to step forward, but eventually decided to just stand quietly at the same spot, ignoring the two men staring at him.
"Is he… just going to stand there?" Genesis asked hesitantly.
"Dr. Strife, would you like to sit down?" The name made the smaller man flinch, but he continued to ignore them both. Sephiroth supposed he'd just have to let him be until he got comfortable to move around on his own, he couldn't very well force him to feel at ease.
"So… Strife, that his name?" The redhead asked as he took a sip of his cup, noticing the blond's eyes following the movement.
"Yes, it's his mo- family name." Sephiroth wasn't sure if the smaller man knew of this remaining family, but seeing as Shinra was after him, he really didn't want to complicate things by letting him know. Not until Sephiroth had 'handled' it anyway.
Genesis hummed, took another sip then stood up. He walked over to Strife and smiled down at the other man. "You want some?" He asked as he handed him the cup.
The blond man paused for a second before wrapping his hands around the warm mug. He glanced down at the mug then up at the smiling Genesis.
"Genesis, I'm not so sure about-" Sephiroth started.
"It's fine, he just wants to taste." Genesis cut him off without turning. "Go on." He said to the man in front of him.
Strife was hesitant, but apparently decided to throw caution to the wind, and took a small sip of the black substance. Both Sephiroth and Genesis waited for a reaction from the blond, but the only thing visible was a slight twitch of his eyebrow, then he handed the cup back to Genesis, said man accepted it with raised eyebrows.
"You didn't like that, huh? I like it quiet bitter, but I guess it's a bit too strong for normal people." Strife was looking up at the other man, as if hanging on to every word. Genesis just maintained eye contact, and went to give the man a half-smirk half-smile. "I think he likes me." He said smugly, slightly turning his head to Sephiroth.
Sephiroth managed to just resist the urge to lecture Genesis on the fact that it was a human he was talking about, not a pet, when a disheveled Angeal walked.
"Hey, sorry, I slept in." Sephiroth was about to tell him that they, in fact, had not set a concrete time to meet, so he couldn't really be late. But Genesis beat him to the punch on a greeting.
"Hey, hey! He didn't knock!" He said while pointing at the newly arrived Angeal, looking like a child that was tattling to its mother.
"He was expected." Sephiroth drawled.
Angeal just smirked at the redhead, and Sephiroth had to suppress another sigh.
"I swear, you guys are making up these rules as you go." Genesis grumbled.
Angeal walked into the kitchen while asking. "Is there coffee."
"Yeah, newly bewd." He said as he took another sip of his cup. "That's Angeal." He said as he turned to Strife and gestured into the kitchen. "Or Angie, if you're feeling playful." He said grinned at the raven haired that was leaving the kitchen with a steaming cup in his hand.
Angeal gave him a deadpan look, then turned to greet the blond. "Hello, Dr. Strife. Have you slept well?" He asked with a light smile.
The blond let out a breath, but didn't answer. Instead he now kept his gaze on the taller man's coffee cup, his eyes shining with interest. Angeal tilted his head in confusion and looked to Genesis.
"He wants coffee?" He asked incredulously.
"No, he tried coffee," Genesis responded while raising his cup. "He didn't like it."
Angeal tried moving the cup back and forth, the blond's intense stare following its every inch. It reminded Sephiroth of the time in the slums, when he tried doing the same with a piece of grilled meat. Remembering that time only brought a frown to Sephiroth's face as he felt a slight pang in his heart.
He was then hit with the realization, his eyes widening slightly. "He's hungry." He says slowly.
Angeal and Genesis 'aah'ed in unison.
"Should we order something up?" Angeal asked Sephiroth.
"They stopped serving breakfast an hour ago." Genesis replied.
"Man, I really slept in…" He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I'll make something." Sephiroth said as he got up from the couch and headed into his kitchen. Angeal and Genesis threw each other a quizzical expression.
"Do you know how to cook?" Angeal asked as he followed behind him.
"How hard can it be." He replied with a haughty smirk.
Apparently it was hard, because not one minute after the blond had swiftly gobbled down a whole dish of scrambled egg, he had ran into the bathroom and thrown up. The three heard the blond heaving up his stomach in the room next door and shared a look. Genesis bent down and took a piece of egg left over on the side of the plate and popped it into his mouth.
"It's not bad." He said while chewing.
"Maybe the eggs were bad?" Angeal asked with a slight frown.
Sephiroth shook his head. "No, I checked the date."
Genesis huffed and threw himself down on the couch, deep in thought, when the blond once more entered the room, looking like anything but a man that had just thrown up the contents of his stomach. He gave Sephiroth a small smile when his eyes landed on him, that disappeared after only a second. Sephiroth felt compelled to smile back, so he did.
"Are you ok?" Angeal asked, even though he knew the blond wouldn't answer, he probably figured it couldn't hurt to include him in conversations, maybe it'd increase the speed of the development of his health. Besides just talking over the blond and ignoring him seems cruel, especially after what he suspects the other man has been through.
Sephiroth went and filled a glass with water then handed it to the blond standing stock still in the edge of the room. "Drink this." The smaller man did, he first started with small sips then by the end of the glass took big gulps, as if it was the best thing he had ever tasted. Sephiroth took the glass back and went to fill it anew before handing it back to him. Again, he gulped it down, this time even faster.
"At least he's not throwing up that." Genesis snorted.
After a few seconds Angeal whipped his head up. "Oh, gods, no wonder he can't keep food down. They probably have had him on a liquid diet." He breath in a whisper.
Sephiroth hit himself for not thinking about it, he really wasn't fit to look after a human being. Could he even have thought of that if it hadn't been for Angeal's quick thinking? His memories returned to the day in the slums, how the blond had thrown up the little food he had eaten. His face folded into a furious expression as the implications sunk in. Damn Hojo to hell, he'll make sure the man pays for what he had done.
"So, soups, then?" Genesis asked. "None of us can cook so we'll have to go out to a restaurant to fetch an order."
"I could ask Zack over? He knows his way around a kitchen." Angeal, looking at the ground in thought, seemed to be wondering out loud. "Plus we wouldn't have to wait for it, or pick it up. We could have the food ready sooner. He looks to be starving." He turned to Sephiroth in question.
"Call him over." Sephiroth agreed and went to usher the blond into the couch.
Angeal left the room to make a call on his PHS, which left Sephiroth, Strife and Genesis in the living room. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Genesis took out his PHS and began tapping away. Sephiroth kept his eyes on the blond, but Strife seems to have fallen into another one of his trances. His eyes looking down, focusing on nothing in particular. Aside from the ocationall bob of his head or loud exhale, he did not move or make a sound.
What must have made him like this… What must he have gone through to make him retreat so far into himself? The thought made him want to punch something, preferably Hojo and his sick underlings. He suppressed his anger, afraid of how it might affect the blond if he notices it and thinks it's directed at him.
Sephiroth clenched his hands and fell back into the couch, as Genesis finally spoke up.
"It seems like we'd have to keep him on a liquid only diet for about three to four days. Preferably something with enough calories and carbohydrates. After the the three to four days he can start ingesting something of a little thicker consistency, like porridge and such…"
Sephiroth raised his eyebrows. "It says that?"
Genesis shrugged. "Well, in summary."
"Thank you."
Genesis knitted his brows as if he didn't like or want Sephiroth's gratitude at all. Well that's too bad, because he intended to give it. He didn't know how he would have handled this situation had he chosen to not involve Angeal and Genesis like he had first deliberated doing. No doubt it wouldn't have gone as smoothly as it currently was. His eyes landed on Strife again.
"He's on his way." Angeal said as he stepped back into the apartment.
"What did you tell him?" Genesis asked, putting away his PHS.
Angeal coughed. "Nothing much, I don't trust that the line is secure." He looked to the blond sitting in a daze between Sephiroth and Genesis. "We'll have to explain it to him once he gets here though, or he'll get the wrong idea and start panicking…"
Sephiroth nodded, he had been witnessed to the puppy's panicked ramblings, and didn't really feel like being on the receiving end of it at the moment.
"Speaking off unsecured line…" Genesis said, his gaze turning to Sephiroth. "You searched this place yet?" He asked, his voice nearing a whisper.
"Yes, I didn't find anything."
"Oh, I'm not sure how I should feel about that…" Angeal stated. Sephiroth couldn't agree more with the sentiment.
Angeal left the room and went into the kitchen, probably to check if Sephiroth had enough groceries lying around. How could he not when Angeal was practically holding a figurative gun to his head while telling him to 'buy some food for Gaias sake' every time he saw the sorry state of his fridge.
A few more minutes passed, Angeal going through his kitchen and the rest sitting patiently in the living room waiting for a Third to arrive to cook them some food, Sephiroth almost sighed at the thought, when the door finally burst open and a young raven haired man walked in with hurried strieds, his eyes searching the room for his mentor.
"So, what? I'm the only one that needs to knock before entering a room?" Genesis let out a humorless snort.
"Hello, General Sephiroth, Commander Rhapsodos, is Angeal... here..." His eyes finally landed on the small form with his head bowed between the two men with an overbearing aura. "What's going on?"
Sephiroth resisted a sigh, and Genesis called Angeal back before the raven haired puppy could get the wrong idea.
"Hey, Zack." Angeal said as he walked in, his light tone no doubt putting the puppy at ease, he trusted the man not to do something so dishonorable as bully a young boy, but apparently couldn't trust Sephiroth or Genesis with that sentiment. "Come, sit." He gestured for the smaller man to follow him into the opposite couch. Zack's eyes never left the blond form. Sephiroth could see him opening his mouth and closing it a few times, probably debating for or against a line of questions. The man sat down next to his mentor and kept his mouth shut, but no doubt expecting a thorough explanation for what he's seeing.
So Angeal explained, it didn't take more than a few minutes. Zack's hard stare at the dazed blond got softer and softer as Angeal spoke beside him. By the end of it the raven haired puppy's shoulders were slumped, he leaned back into the couch and let out a long breath.
"Holy shit."
Genesis snorted. "That's one way to put it. So you think you're up for it?"
Zack blinked a few times before his mind was fully caught up with the conversation. "What? Make some soup? Sure, man." He ran a hand through his dark spikes, then got up and headed towards the kitchen. He paused before he got too far, and turned to the blond on the couch. He walked over to him and squatted down in front of him. He looked up at the blond with a kind smile. Sephiroth resisted telling him he would respond to most questions or conversations, and instead turned to watch the exchange.
"Hi, I'm zack." He said in a lower voice that what was necessarily normal for him.
"Hello." The blond answered back in an even lower voice. Sephiroth would probably not get used to the blond responding any time soon, as he felt his breath getting stuck in his throat.
Zack just gave the smaller blond a grin before continuing. "I'm gonna go make you some food, you wanna come with me?"
All of the three First's eyebrows shot to their hairline when they saw the blond stand up and follow the puppy into the kitchen. Zack smiled as he walked in front, leading the way.
Genesis closed his mouth and huffed a laugh. "Guess it's true when they say the puppy's skilled at bringing people out of their shell."
Angeal just smiled, his pride adamant on his face.
They heard the clinking of dishes from the kitchen, accompanied by Zack's constant chatter, Though the raven haired didn't get any response to his questions and inquiries, he continued talking while making the food, never once stopping to take a breath.
At long last the food was ready and served, Zack placed a bowl in front of the blond sitting on the kitchen bench and placed a spoon in his hand. The blond easily accepted the spoon, but seemed to be waiting for something else.
"You have to give him permission." Sephiroth advices from the doorway he'd taken to lean against.
At his words the puppy's smile forze on his face and his body language turned ridged. His eyebrows twitched as he clenched his mouth. It was obvious he wanted to yell at someone, but knew that there was no one at fault here. Instead he pushed down his frustration and turned to Strife.
"You can go ahead and eat, dude." His smile was strained, hopefully the blond wouldn't notice the difference.
The smaller man quickly gulped down the bowl creamy soup with vigor, then quietly fell into another daze. Zack's lip folded into an almost pout as he witnessed the scene, then went to fill another bowl and place it in front of the smaller man. He glanced at Sephiroth while the blond ate, eyes determined.
"Sir, whoever did this…"
Sephiroth could hear the danger in his voice and nodded. Everyone with involvement in this case, Sephiroth would hunt down and make pay, no matter who they were.
Zack huffed and crossed his arms. As he shifted on his feet he took to smiling at the blond sitting by the bench stuffing eager spoonfuls of soup into his mouth, not caring if it went everywhere in the process. He picked up a clean rag from beside the sink and placed it next to the blond in case he should need it.
"I need to get going. I have a mission outside of Midgar coming up." He stated with a sigh.
"Right, sorry to bother you Zack, you can go ahead and leave if you want." Angeal called out from the couch.
"It's no bother…" He paused then sighed again as he made his way to the door. "I'm leaving now Strife." He smiled at the man hung over his food, not at all paying attention to the world around him. "I'll be seeing you around." Angeal's puppy left the apartment with his shoulders slumped and head hung low.
They sat there in silence the only sound coming from the blond eating on the counter. Sephiroth filled his bowl once more, before deciding against a fourth refill in case he'd get a stomach ache. He figured the smartest thing was to ease the blond into things, he couldn't eat to fast or start on real food anytime soon, and he apparently wasn't used to sleeping or relaxing, always in a constant state of never fully asleep or fully awake. The thought made Sephiroth's stomach churn. He lightly shook his head, his hair following the motion. He couldn't be thinking about this before he figured out how to handle the situation with Hojo, only then would he let his hate and anger truly fester se he wouldn't act rashly.
He had remembered a few more things of the blond since he got back. Never anything complete, still just fragments, but now that he had multiple pieces he could link them together like a puzzle. A warm hand on his back leading him down a white corridor, and then a kind, but reprimanding voice whispering in his ear 'Sephiroth, you can't wander around on your own, it's dangerous, you have to wait for me.' Never yelling or shouting, always kind even when scolding.
A shrill beeping snapped him out of his musings. He took out his PHS from his pocket and looked down at it with disdain. He clicked the answer button and put the device to his ear.
"Hello, Sephiroth. I haven't seen you these past few weeks how have you been?"
Sephiroth held himself back from telling the Director to get to the point of this call or he would hang up, and instead went with, "Fine."
"...Right. Well I sent you a few forms about a week ago that I need filled out, I would very much appreciate it if you could get them back at my desk as soon as possible." Said the gruff voice on the other end.
Sephiroth almost wanted to roll his eyes, but with an audience sitting across the room staring at him he restrained himself. "You'll have the forms as soon as I finish."
"Alright then, I'll be seeing you around." And that's certainly didn't bode well with Sephiroth. He put his PHS back into this pocket with a huff and turned back to observe the eating blond.
"You know, Sephiroth, if you need to get back to work, I can watch Strife for you if you want." Angeal called out with a slight flinch. Obviously hating how that sounded as much as Sephiroth did. "I just got back from a long term mission a week ago so i have a claim on two weeks rest before I need to be sent out again." He finished lamely.
"And I can push mine on a Third squad or something-" Genesis said with a lazy drawl.
"Genesis!" Came a dispeliefing gasp from across from him.
"What? Oh, they'll be delighted to do my job for me." He waved the other man away with his hand.
Sephiroth ignored the bickering men and instead focused back on the blond who had finished eating and seemed to have fallen asleep in his seat, though his eyes were closed, Sephiroth knew he was as aware of his surroundings as he always is.
He supposed it'd be better with Genesis and Angeal looking after him than risk the wrath of Director Lazard, not that he was scared, but he was sure the man would seek him out directly to confront him about his absence, which is one scenario he'd rather not force.
He sighed finally coming to a conclusion. "Alright, I'll be back by the end of the day." He went into the bedroom to put on his clothes and came out a minute later. "If anything changes," He glanced at the blond in the kitchen. "Contact me." He finished and waited for the two to nod before he disappeared out the door, resisting a final glance at Strife.