Another chapter, enjoy :D
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The next day Sephiroth was called into a meeting and had to leave early. Zack was a little bit worried about what he thought was the reason, but what bothered him more was what had happened the night before. He had been worrying about Cloud like he normally did while they were laying in bed, about to go to sleep. It was casual at first, which didn't bother him at all when Sephiroth draped an arm across his abdomen. He didn't know whether it was intentional or not when Sephiroth's hand started to slip lower but his reaction came completely unexpected, even to himself. He knew he had told Sephiroth everything was alright and had tried hard to convince the man it was even when Sephiroth disagreed, but last night he only proved Sephiroth right.
He wasn't alright at all. He stood in the living area doing a few squats before he went out for the day to help train a class of cadets. He hoped he could keep his feelings in check because he didn't want it affecting his job, especially since he would be dealing with much younger men…harmless, defenseless, easily breakable men like Cloud. He only prayed none of them had spiky blond hair or he really wouldn't be able to take it.
Cloud made it clear he hated him.
Sighing, he stopped what he was doing and grabbed his sword, sheathing it across his back like he normally did. He really wished his mentor and friend Angeal Hewley was around, everything was so much easier for him back then when the man was here.
Unfortunately Angeal and Genesis both died a few years ago, leaving him and Sephiroth behind, and it was because of that mutual loss they got together in the first place...and why he felt so strongly for him.
Sephiroth had left before he could address the issue of what had happened and he knew when he saw him later it had to happen, he couldn't leave the situation as is because then it would fester and blister like a bad infection until it destroyed their relationship. He walked out the door a few moments later, anticipating how the day would turn out.
When Zack got to the training room that housed, ironically, Cloud's class he looked around for the blond, unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen. He saw the instructor sitting at a wooden table located in a corner of the room, files piled all over it with the man scribbling away in one. He walked over and cleared his throat lightly, making his presence known.
"Aaah, Zack, it's a pleasure to have you once again," the man started, holding out his hand which was shook with a firm grip.
The man then turned to the class. "Settle down! Once again today Commander Fair will be helping with your weapons training. You know where the weapons are kept, choose the one you always do and start with the usual warm up drills."
The cadets all started to move towards the weapons rack in the corner while Zack awaited them. With his enhanced hearing he picked up on the conversations of two particular cadet while they walked, a brunet with short cropped hair called Jones and another called Matthews with shoulder length blond hair and dark brown eyes. He knew their reputation as the class bullies.
"I bet he's the reason we haven't seen Strife the past few days. He wasn't injured badly when we saw him so he should be back training with us," Jones started.
"Yeah, he probably decided to use that pretty face of his to get ahead unlike the rest of us," Matthews snorted and Zack felt he could have kicked his teeth in, cadet or not.
"Ah, wouldn't surprise me, he's the reason nobody else got a chance to get close to Strife, he was hogging him all to himself, probably started screwing him on the first day," Jones finished while picking up the katana he always chose, a hint of malice in his voice.
Matthews chuckled and a wry smile tugged at the corner of Zack's lips.
The class got back together in the centre of the room, breaking off into pairs and practicing their warm up drills. Zack kept his eyes on the group, but mostly on the two he heard talking, it was their bad luck he was in a foul mood because he wasn't about to let them walk out the room unscathed. He would never do anything to harm them…permanently. And before Hojo interrupted all their lives he wouldn't have even thought of hurting anybody, much less cadets. But things and people change, don't they? And Zack wasn't about to pretend Hojo didn't leave major scars behind, major scars that went much farther than skin deep. He was trying so hard and so far he had been able to rein them in, but how long could he hide his true feelings?
"You two, Jones and Matthews, care to start the class off with a little two on one spar?" Zack interrupted, pointing at the two.
They both nodded their heads before walking over to the brunet who was thrown a practice katana by the instructor. He caught it with one hand while the rest of the class cleared the floor to give them space to fight.
The two took their defensive stances while Zack did a quick breathing exercise. Without warning he attacked, making sure to hit pressure points on the two cadet's bodies that would guarantee they would be hurting for days before he floored them.
The rest of the class made sounds of amusement but both Jones and Matthews had scowls on their faces.
"Hey, that wasn't fair," Matthews huffed before gingerly pulling himself up from the floor. Some places on his body felt numb and he wondered what the hell Zack had just done to him.
He addressed the entire class. "Fighting fair isn't required in a real battle. It's very simple, kill or be killed. If your opponent has a weakness, exploit it, it might be the difference between victory and defeat," Zack finished before turning around and handing the katana back to the instructor.
"Well done, thank you Commander Fair," the instructor said.
"I'll be leaving," Zack informed the man before stepping away; he had to go and see Sephiroth.
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Zack sat around his own desk in Sephiroth's office, watching the man mechanically deal with the mountain high reports on his desk. He wanted to talk about what had happened but he didn't know where to start. Besides, he'd been sitting there for the past half an hour and Sephiroth hadn't even glanced at him once. He decided the best thing to do was to start with something more neutral.
"How did the meeting go?"
"Uneventful," Sephiroth answered simply.
Zack nodded his head, feeling even more awkward. "So they had no idea about what happened?"
"They have their suspicions, but they're continuing their investigation," Sephiroth answered.
"Yeah, even if they know it's you they'll find a scapegoat somehow," Zack chuckled.
There was an awkward silence after and feeling like he was about to combust, Zack tried to say what was on his mind.
"Seph, about last night…"
"No need to explain Zackary, your experiences from what I've done to Cloud has caused you to not want to be with me in bed," Sephiroth interrupted.
Zack sighed. "You could have sugar coated it for me."
"Why? You know I only speak the truth….and that is what made me avoid you this morning," Sephiroth answered.
"What?" Zack asked pointedly.
Sephiroth let out an uncharacteristic sigh before turning to face his lover. "I thought you spoke the truth too."
"I…I do, I didn't think it would have bothered me so much Seph, I mean…I saw what you did to him, Hojo forced me to watch and I felt it too what he was going through. I can't help remembering it whenever you touch me." Zack's voice was pleading because he needed Sephiroth to understand.
"These hands," Zack started before walking over and taking both Sephiroth's hands in his own, looking him straight into those cat-slit green eyes while he spoke. "These hands that brings me only pleasure I can't forget bringing Cloud so much pain."
Sephiroth returned Zack's gaze. "So every time I touch you you remember Cloud," he stated even though it sounded more like a question.
"Yes," Zack sighed. "It's not that I don't want to Seph but it's like it's burned into my mind. How can I forget? We won't be able to have sex or be too intimate until I can."
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at Zack. "Do you want to forget?"
"Yes, I love you and if I can't get over this it will cause problems."
Sephiroth smiled. "Fine, I'll help you forget."
Zack quirked an eyebrow in question because this he just had to see. Short of seeing a shrink he didn't see how Sephiroth could help him, but he was willing to try.
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Later that night Zack found himself in bed, naked and blindfolded with Sephiroth licking a dollop of whipped cream off his nipples. He felt a bit uneasy at first when he realized what the plan was, but he decided to try it out, if only just to see if it would work. They had to try something after all.
The first thing Sephiroth did was blindfold him before allowing him to undress himself. His lover told him he will never touch him unless he wanted him to so he had to do most of the work himself.
The first touch, which was from a feather as far as Zack could tell served as a distraction by getting him to relax. It was erotic the way Sephiroth would run it over some sensitive areas; his thighs, abdomen and chest, and then over some other areas that had him laughing a lot. He was ticklish in some places.
When the feather time was over, which did a tremendous job of getting him to relax he felt something sticky and thick being poured over his abdomen. Next it was Sephiroth's tongue that was doing all the work and the warm appendage sent shiver's down his spine when trailed over his body, sending him to near orgasm. Languid, lazy strokes of the tongue was used to arouse him, sensitizing his already heated body and causing him to beg for more.
He was really hard.
Now Sephiroth used whipped cream and he shuddered when the cool concoction met his warm skin, sending him into a maddening spiral of many different emotions.
He needed this, he hadn't felt so relaxed since the incident and he craved Sephiroth's ability to liberate his worries, even if it was only for a period of time.
Grabbing the sheets tightly in his hands and moaning he allowed his lover to work his length with his hot lips, nibbling and sucking until he couldn't help but to arch his body so he could go deeper into Sephiroth's mouth. Sephiroth was as talented at fellatio as he was at sword fighting and he found himself screaming out the man's name over and over again until he climaxed.
Sephiroth didn't waste a drop, keeping his lips locked around the base of his cock and using his tongue to milk him dry.
But like Sephiroth had promised he never touched him once with his hands without his permission and unfortunately, he never once gave it.
"I take it you enjoyed my little exercise?" Sephiroth asked coyly, taking a seat beside the panting brunet on the bed who was staring up at the ceiling blankly.
"I more than enjoyed it," Zack answered, but deep down he felt a tinge of hurt. Normally times like these they would be in each other's arms until they fell asleep together and he wondered if Sephiroth noticed his reluctance to get physically intimate.
"Do not worry, it's a first step towards a much bigger goal," Sephiroth said and Zack smiled.
"I love you, Seph."
"I know, now get some sleep," Sephiroth answered while pulling the covers up over Zack's body.
Zack allowed his mind to settle into its lethargic state while he recovered from his orgasm. One thing he told himself he had to do before he fell asleep was to visit Cloud first thing in the morning. He didn't trust him to be alone in such a vulnerable state and he needed to know he was alright. Besides, it was already days later and he hadn't even tried to visit him even though he wanted to; he was just worried about how Cloud would react.