That door again. That tall, imposing door inlaid with the delicate silver plaque. Most other doors in this place seemed simple, utilitarian, but Sephiroth's was different. Even that gave the blond cause for alarm after the jumpy spell that he had taken on since he had left the office earlier that day. In no way was Cloud helping himself in that regard. Rather than trying to calm his fears, to instead focus on more important things such as trying to meet and connect with his peers as he had told himself he would, he had kept his distance from everybody so that he could retreat into his own thoughts. Even his brief conversation with Zack at their lunch table had been brief and it seemed like his senior officer could tell that there was something on his mind judging by the way that he'd kind of abandoned the conversation after a point.

"Psh. Who could blame me though, really?" was all Cloud could think, "I mean, why does he want to see me? I must have done something wrong earlier, when I was in his office... did I not show him the right amount of respect? What should I have done?"

Luckily, the corridor was empty. If it hadn't been then the young cadet would have been getting quite a few odd looks by now, because he had been stood in front of Sephiroth's door for a full minute just staring at it, almost sizing it up.

Because of this, Cloud jumped about a foot in the air when the plaque swung out of view, instead being replaced with a different silver. Silver hair draped over the leather that covered, well, some of the general's chest. If he was honest with himself, which he could not even think to do right now, this view was exponentially better than the door that his eyes had been boring into previously. Hell, the blond's wide, shocked eyes were probably only just a foot away from Sephiroth's chest thanks to how close to the door he had been standing whilst staring at the placard, which... well, it brought up mixed emotions, to say the least. Shock, nerves, fear, interest... appreciation.

"Come in, Strife. I've been expecting you." The general's voice rumbled above him, causing Cloud to turn his head upwards slightly, just enough that he was able to just about look at his face, not to meet his eyes, but instead to concentrate on that pale, defined jawline, then his throat, watching the way he swallowed. However, he was only able to stand there and appreciate the sight for a few moments before his superior retreated back into his office. Ah, and now he was supposed to follow, wasn't he?

Gulp.

Sephiroth returned to seat himself behind his desk once more in the most dignified manner possible, despite the fact that he had almost lost his cool for a moment. When that cadet had been looking up at him in the most demure fashion, glancing up at him through those long blond eyelashes of his, unable to quite meet his eyes as if he were shy... perhaps it had made him slightly hard. Never mind. Such feelings would pass if he did not linger on them, and the desk would hide any such secrets, especially once Cloud sat down across from him. It helped that there was a small stack of papers on the desk in front of him which had been ignored earlier in favour of coming up with a topic that he could discuss with the cadet at this little meeting of theirs. Thanks to his lack of spontaneity in his usual day to day life it had taken Sephiroth a good hour to think of a suitable ruse.

"Do have a seat," he offered, gesturing to the chair at the opposite side of the desk. The blond had been hanging around in the doorway which had started to get a tad awkward and unnecessary in Sephiroth's opinion, so it seemed only fair to invite him in formally. The kid looked so nervous that he almost felt sorry for him. Perhaps it was hypocritical of him to think so because he could be quite uptight in some ways himself, but he felt that it might be a good idea for Cloud to relax a bit. Of course, that was all part of his plan. With a bit of chat he might loosen up, realise that he wasn't about to get discharged from the army for thinking he looked at him wrong.

Once the blond was seated opposite, having uttered a "yes sir" somewhere within his mad dash to fulfil orders, Sephiroth watched him. Only briefly so as not to make him uncomfortable, and he did give a slight twitch of the lips which he hoped might be construed as friendly, but he watched him nonetheless. After a few moments he gently reclined in his chair, hearing a quiet squeak as the leather eased back behind him (he would have to have somebody fix that), and moved his hands together, allowing the fingertips to touch. Having kept his gaze on the young man in front of him, he saw his eyes dart around the room, as if searching for something to focus on. Oh, if only this boy were more comfortable with looking at him. Most times he honestly wouldn't care but would receive the attention anyway, but this time all he wanted was for Cloud to look at him, to be able to swim in the depths of those bright blue eyes on an equal level, rather than only getting a good look during the blond's demure, slightly too hasty glances. That would take time though. Trust, too.

"How are you finding Midgar?"

The question caught Cloud off guard. For the last few moments of silence he had been preparing himself, mentally steeling himself for bad news, or some kind of dis-satisfactory comment about the way he had arrived at Sephiroth's office that morning at least. That was the way things had been in Nibelheim with anybody except for his mother. Doing things wrong was just a fact of his life, apparently, even when he personally felt the judgement unjust.

"I... well, sir, I've not seen very much of it so far. It's not even been a full day since I got here, and I've not even been out of the building yet. I suppose if I were to decide now, after current experiences... tiring?" The blond sounded unsure, wondering if he had been babbling too much, or whether the slightly more light hearted comment at the end had been irrelevant to what Sephiroth wanted answering. Instead he was greeted with another lip twitch.

"I'm not surprised. It can be something of a shock to the system, I've heard." Sephiroth's answer made it clear that his answer wasn't misconstrued as complaining. Cloud gave a slight sigh of relief, along with a very brief, still somewhat unsure smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all? He was able to chat with his idol, and said idol didn't seem to be calling him here to discharge him from the army... that was a step up from what he had imagined, at least.

"Just a bit," he replied, finding the conversation was starting to flow more easily, he wasn't so highly strung now that he had started to find his voice, "It's just something to get used to I guess. Some bits might take longer than others." Like communal showers. That had been embarrassing. An hour earlier he had been discharged from his training for that day and told to hit the showers with everybody else. Now, he wasn't sure how things were in Midgar, but in Nibelheim showers had been a strictly private activity. The school he had gone to was small, and while they had been taught physical education while he was there, the showers had at least been curtained off. There were so few people there that they had only needed a few cubicles and a system where the boys took turns. Because of this, he had been very unaccustomed to it, and it was downright embarrassing. Loads of the others had just stripped off like it was no big deal and lathered themselves up, whereas if he'd had his way he would have been showering in his underwear.

Realising that he had gotten a bit too caught up in his shower thoughts Cloud blinked a few times to clear his head. During that little derail he had noticed Sephiroth's lips move. Had he really just zoned out while the general was speaking? That wasn't good, surely that just wasn't done.

"Sorry?" he asked, voice quiet again. He almost didn't want to admit that he hadn't heard anything, but since he seemed to be having questions asked he didn't want to try and answer blind, or deaf, as it were. There was no way that wouldn't go wrong.

"I said, have you had a chance to eat yet?" Sephiroth's voice was patient, "You should make sure not to miss out on meals, not with the training you're going through at the moment. The army needs you in top shape."

"Not since lunch, no." That thought only occurred the blond now that it had been mentioned, actually. "Dinner only lasts a couple of hours, doesn't it?" Cloud did have to stick to schedules with mealtimes. There were lots of people being cooked for other than him, so of course he understood the need to have a cut off point where proper food wasn't being served. Shinra would incur massive food costs, along with a lot of it going to waste, if they didn't. If they weren't to eat in the dining hall then they would have to procure a meal elsewhere.

"No, it doesn't last long. I believe you're out of luck if you don't go down there by eight 'o' clock. I'll make sure not to keep you."

Oh yes, that was the opening that Sephiroth had been waiting for. If he could just keep the cadet here until just after eight then he would have a reason to take him elsewhere for food. Cloud wouldn't have any money yet, he wouldn't have received a pay check, so of course he could take him somewhere or perhaps fix him up a meal as the gentlemanly thing to do, a means of making up for the fact that he'd kept him. When he'd first thought of this plan he had been grinning, rubbing his hands together with glee, but now he made sure to keep control of himself. Looking like some sort of evil mastermind would most likely worry the blond, which he couldn't have after he'd made more progress with getting him to open up.

Confident in his plan's success rate, the general settled in his seat and continued to make idle small talk about Cloud's day. When given a reason he could really be quite a charming man, the man that Shinra willed him to be like during his rare interviews, and lucky for him Strife seemed to be responding quite positively to such a temperament. After just half an hour the boy was chattering away whenever he was asked a question almost as if he'd forgotten who he was with. Sephiroth was surprised to even find himself engaged, he was interested to hear more about the young blond, even if it was just the basics of his day, his journey yesterday and some of the reasons that he had decided to come and join SOLDIER. This was a good start. Perhaps later on he'd be able to ask some more personal questions.

Even in the company of somebody he was really quite interested by Sephiroth wasn't ready to divulge many details about himself, although he did at least give Cloud a basic run-down of what he'd done so far today (minus his incessant planning of how to get closer to him), so after a while he went quiet while the blond talked further and only interjected with a question every so often when it seemed like a lull might be coming up. Instead he used this time to better effect, watching the way his lips moved as he chattered away, the way he almost tried to look up into his own brain whenever he was trying to think of a word that didn't quite come to mind, the way his hands fidgeted in his lap or made little actions while he was talking... it was all the general could do not to give an infatuated sigh. Cloud was too adorable; small, blond, sweet... there weren't many people like that in the army. There was probably a reason for that. A shame really, since Sephiroth was finding a whole new appreciation for such characters.

Maybe he really should just go for this? Usually he would not risk such things with somebody of Cloud's position, but the more he listened to the good natured country boy the more he wanted to see how things might go. He'd spoken to Zack about it earlier, although in very vague terms since he didn't want his colleague to know the exact details, and according to him he deserved to try something like this every once in a while. When he looked at it that way... well, Sephiroth knew he didn't give himself a whole lot of time for play. It was worth a try, wasn't it?

It was just getting to eight 'o' clock now. There was probably only a minute left, although if Cloud noticed now it would still be too late for him to go and get anything. The blond was just finishing up describing Nibelheim when Sephiroth decided it was time for the next stage. After briefly checking the digital clock that sat beside his computer on the desk, he frowned and held up a hand to interrupt the happily burbling cadet.

"Strife, I really must apologise. It seems I may have kept you too late." He sounded perfectly apologetic, because he really would be if he didn't already have a plan in place to assure that Cloud would get his meal. "Dinner service is finishing up just about now, I lost track of the time... I really am dreadfully sorry." It was ridiculous, he never lost track of anything, but the blond would probably believe him, and think that he had learned a slight personal weakness of his in the meantime which might help him to feel they were a little bit closer.

"But..." the blond immediately looked worried, nibbling on that soft, full bottom lip of his, eyes darting from side to side as if he were searching for some other solution now that he was most likely getting quite hungry. "What am I going to do now? If the food hall's closed, and I don't have any money on me... I don't think I'm supposed to leave unattended yet anyway, not for the first week." It was a silly rule, but one they kept up so that they didn't end up losing any cadets in the city before they'd become used to the place.

"Hm, I wish I could help you, since I am the one responsible..." Sephiroth trailed off, lips curling into a smile as if he'd just thought of a plan, then asked, "Why don't you come with me, cadet? I have living quarters not too far from here, I could always fix you up a meal there. I prefer to cater for myself, you see. Of course, if you're not comfortable with that then I could find somebody to escort you elsewhere with a bit of gil." This was it. The ball was in Cloud's court. The general leant forward just slightly, resting his arms on the table, clasping his hands in front of him while he watched the blond for an answer. Hopefully it would be one that he wanted.

Sephiroth was going to fix him up dinner? What did that mean? Was he to go there, actually see where the general lived, his personal space, or was he to wait here while something was fetched? Cloud was honestly bamboozled and could only sit there, seeming rather stunned by the whole proposition. Surely it shouldn't be effecting him this much, it was only an offer for some food, but... well, it was from Sephiroth, of all people. Not many people could say that Sephiroth cooked them dinner on the first day they'd met.

However, the blond's stomach was close to sealing the deal for him. The more he waited the hungrier he was getting. Earlier he'd been doing a lot of exercise and, while lunch had been filling, that was about seven hours ago now. Sephiroth had said it wasn't far...

"I, well... alright then, sir. If that's not too much trouble." How bad could it be? They'd been having quite a nice time, or at least he knew that he himself had been, and perhaps they could continue if he went away with Sephiroth. Nobody had just sat and listened to him talk about nothing for that long before apart from his mother. Surely that had to count for something? This was the first time since he'd been here that he had properly reached out and talked to somebody properly, and his mother had told him to make some friends while he was here... did Sephiroth count? Maybe he could.

Much to his surprise, Sephiroth seemed perfectly okay with that arrangement. "Of course, Cloud. Come with me." Treating it like the most natural thing in the world, the general rose from his seat, walking past him towards the door.

"He used my first name!" The blond squealed, internally of course so that the dinner invitation was not promptly reconsidered, but after Sephiroth moved away from him Cloud did sit there for a few moments with the biggest grin on his face. He just couldn't help it. Time alone with the general... he knew he shouldn't be as happy about this as he was, but... well, screw that! This was his idol, a man he looked up to and who, after talking with him for a while, seemed like a genuinely nice guy as well. A man of few words, perhaps, but he'd listened to him, treated him like an equal despite the fact that they really should be anything but.

"Are you coming?" The voice broke the blond out of his blissful reverie.

"Yes, sir! I'll be right there." Almost knocking the chair backwards in his haste, Cloud got up. After that he respectfully pushed the chair close to the desk again and followed after Sephiroth, seeming to bounce across the floor in a few quick steps. He could tell that Sephiroth had seen the last little bound thanks to the fact that he had his head tilted towards him, eyebrows raised, but apart from a little, slightly embarrassed blush that coloured his cheeks Cloud couldn't even bring himself to care.

"Here we are," Sephiroth murmured as he unlocked his door, pressing a combination into the keypad next to it. He had both that and a traditional key to keep his home safe, as neither he nor the company he worked for wanted any uninvited guests in his living space. Soon enough the door swung open, and as it did the general awkwardly waved his hand in front of the door as if unveiling something magical. At the moment he was still trying to loosen up, which didn't exactly come naturally. At least his little cadet didn't seem to be too perturbed.

He allowed Cloud to go in first. It seemed the polite thing to do, and this way he was able to see the blond's reaction as he took his first tentative steps into his living space. A moment later Sephiroth walked in himself and quietly closed the door, not wanting to disturb the young man who was treating his home as if it were some kind of museum or art gallery, looking, but not daring to touch.

Perhaps his home did seem kind of like an art gallery. Sephiroth kept a clean, minimalistic space, all painted in quite neutral tones. His sofas, like his chair in his office, were made of leather, and were separated by a glass coffee table. A television was hung on the wall; while he did not use it often, it was useful for keeping up with the news at Shinra when he was off duty. Most of the other furniture in his front room were art pieces, apart from a tall bookcase neatly lined with the reading material that he was more interested in. Sephiroth didn't care for fanciful stories, nor action packed epics. It all sounded too much like Shinra propaganda to him, and so he stuck to history, art, culture. Well, apart from that LOVELESS drivel that Genesis sometimes tried to push upon him.

"Come with me into the kitchen, soldier. I'll fix us both up something to eat." Not pausing to linger too much on the blond's reactions to his home Sephiroth strode purposefully through the door and into his kitchen, his luxurious silver hair glinting under the bright lights that were inlaid in the ceiling. Once Cloud was settled at the table he would turn those down a bit, there was no sense in being blinded and, well... it might create a mood of some sort. That was what he hoped anyway, no matter how silly it sounded when he thought it to himself. But then, what kind of mood did he desire? What was he expecting to get out of all of this, what did he want at the end of the evening? That might be the part that he had neglected to think through... or at least hadn't quite admitted to himself because he was unsure of whether he'd get it. He had stopped saying Cloud's first name as well, which was maybe the one sign that might give away that he was a little nervous. Hopefully that wouldn't be too noticeable.

While Sephiroth was in the process of retrieving a meal from his fridge, he turned to see Cloud walking through the doorway, still seeming a little dazed. Was it the bright lights, or was he really still so shocked at seeing his home? The general shook his head. Maybe he shouldn't think it so silly. After all, there weren't very many people he invited back into his own personal space, so it made sense for the cadet to be dazzled.

"Do sit down," he purred, "I'll turn the lights down a bit, I think. I left early this morning while it was still dark and must have neglected to turn them off as I walked through the door." A quick twiddle of the dial beside the door knocked the lighting down to a more reasonable level, and perhaps cast a more attractive shadow over his kitchen. When he glanced back at the blond Sephiroth was able to see the slight shadows that were now cast across his face, and had to take a quick second to marvel at him. Cloud looked fantastic in the low light, any light for that matter. However, soon he was all business once again. "I have stew in the fridge that should serve. It was quite filling last night." After the rations that he had been eating out in Wutai his own meals were heavenly, although he scarcely got the time to cook for himself so he had to do it in bulk so that he was able to evade the mess hall at headquarters. While he had the option to have his own personal cook that seemed too much like having a servant for comfort.

Once the blond seemed to be settled Sephiroth continued to get the food ready, heating his little oven to the correct temperature. Despite, or perhaps because of its size, it was warmed to an acceptable level quite quickly, at which point the general popped their meal inside of it. After that he leant against the counter quietly, merely content to watch the cadet for the time being. He still seemed to be drinking in every inch of the kitchen as if memorising it, so he wasn't about to disturb him.

The sound of Sephiroth retrieving the food from the oven was what finally snapped Cloud out of his trance, and as he heard the fairly quiet clattering sounds he did jump a bit, although quickly disguised it as a stretch so as not to embarrass himself. "It's done, is it?" he asked, forgetting his manners in front of the general thanks to the fact that he still wasn't quite with it. This all felt like some sort of dream, actually being inside his house like this, seeing all of his things, as well as Sephiroth himself in his natural environment.

"Yes, Strife. You'll get your food soon."

"Good." The blond sighed very slightly, trying to hide his disappointment at the way Sephiroth was now addressing him. Of course he wasn't in any position to complain, it was perfectly normal for him to speak like that, but... well, he had called him Cloud earlier. His name, it was a bit more personal. He liked that. Best not to say anything though, it might seem rude and over familiar to push the issue and he wouldn't have the nerve to do it anyway. Not now.

A bowl was soon set down in front of Cloud. The scent of the hot meal beneath him trailed up to his nostrils, causing him to sniff and exhale a contented breath. The food smelled fantastic, already making his stomach rumble, so without really waiting the blond picked up his spoon and began to eat. A few moments later he noticed that Sephiroth had sat down in front of him with his own meal. Had he been supposed to wait? Unsure of whether this was okay, the younger male slowly lowered his spoon back down to the bowl, trying to chew as surreptitiously as possible in the hopes that it might not be noticed.

"No, please continue. I wasn't expecting you to wait for me." Sephiroth's lips curled into that now familiar half-smile, and when Cloud saw that he let himself give a little grin in return, after he had finished his mouthful of course. He had been given permission to tuck into his meal with no further delay, so he did that with gusto. It had been a damn long time since he'd eaten and with the amount of training he'd done that day his stomach found that almost criminal. Due to that he wasn't eating as cleanly as he would usually, forgoing the opportunity to wipe his mouth with a napkin after every few mouthfuls. For once he didn't care enough to be clean.

Luckily once the blond had eaten about half of his bowlful of soup he found his voice again. "So, I talked a lot earlier," he murmured, finally finding the time to wipe his mouth, "And I realised that you didn't say so much. Perhaps you could tell me more about your day? That is, as long as I'm not prying, sir..."

For a moment Sephiroth regarded him, and Cloud couldn't quite tell what emotion laid behind his eyes. They glinted slightly as he looked into them, and it was at that moment that the blond found himself quite lost in them. It was impossible not to be. They were intriguing, the pupils not quite like anybody else's, or certainly unlike those of anybody else he'd met. They were the most beautiful green, and in the half light they occasionally glittered, but not in the same way that they had just now.

"There was a lot of paperwork, Strife. I've just come back from the war, so there was a lot that I had missed out on while I was away. In truth I'm still not quite up to date yet, even though I thought I would be. There were a few complications."

"Complications?" Cloud hoped that it wasn't his fault. Of course it wouldn't be, he was thinking too highly of himself to think that he would have had any impact at all, but he still couldn't help but think it. Sephiroth had spent a lot of time with him today, and had listened to him talk for ages, which surely must have cut into his work time. Still, even if it was somehow his fault, the general didn't seem all that annoyed with him. Huh.

"Let's just say I wasn't as focused on my work as I could have been. I wasn't quite at a hundred percent."

"You're sick?"

Sephiroth actually chuckled at that, shaking his head and leaning forward a little in his chair, closer to him. "No," he purred, "Not sick. I don't really get sick."

"Wow, you don't? That's gotta be useful, sir." It certainly sounded it. Cloud would love to never get sick, it was horrible, especially when he'd been back in the mountains where the air was a little thinner than more ground based settlements.

"You don't need to call me sir."

The blond blinked. What was he supposed to call him, then? Besides, Sephiroth was certainly one to talk.

"Well you don't need to call me Strife either. I liked it when you called me Cloud earlier... Sephiroth." The words had slipped out before Cloud had had time to think them through. He had leant forward a little on the table, he'd still been lost in Sephiroth's eyes, the way they were so intently focused on his own. The stew had been finished off, the general's too by the looks of things, so luckily he didn't end up coating his elbow in the stuff or knocking it onto the floor. There was nothing to send him crashing back to reality.

While Cloud had been leaning forwards, so had Sephiroth. They were getting closer together, gazing into each other's eyes, their voices had been reduced to mere soft murmurs, and before they knew it... they couldn't lean any further. The two were no more than an inch apart, both leaning in close, Sephiroth's nose almost brushing against the blond's smaller one. Neither of them could deny it any longer.

Gently, their lips met.

I'm so sorry about the wait you guys! I've had a whole lot to do and haven't really been inspired to write this until now, but I found the time and got it done. I hope you like it! Also I hope the chapters will stop growing every time soon because it's a tad ridiculous.

Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed the story since I last wrote anything, as well as putting it on alert, favouriting it, etc. I really appreciate it!