Quiet: I have no excuse except that it's cute. =D

Bird!Angeal/Zack
Where Angeal treats Zack like a baby bird.

Angeal's stare was a bit disturbing and Zack found himself frowning at the man as he unconsciously shifted his stance from cautious offense to wary defense. The older man had been looking at him almost unblinkingly, his arms folded as his wing lightly shifted and settled behind him. They were supposed to be talking while they waited on Sephiroth to meet them, but Angeal had made it abundantly clear that he was willing to talk to Sephiroth and only Sephiroth about what was going on with Jenova and Genesis' degradation.

"Is something wrong?" Zack asked, no longer able to stand the silence. His hand reached up to ruffle his hair for what seemed like the millionth time in that painfully silent half hour, and he watched as something in Angeal's eyes shifted a bit. "You're really freaking me out, Geal. Are you really okay? You still haven't said anything about me making First Class. Are you proud? Disappointed?"

He could hear the faint plaintive note in his own voice, and was certain that it was clear as day to Angeal; the man had trained him for damn near three years, so he knew his student in and out. He knew it was childish to seek his old mentor's approval, but something in him just couldn't let go of the thought that Angeal might not think he was good enough for First.

"Come here," Angeal's voice suddenly said, and Zack started in surprise, eyes widening and head tilting at the odd roughness he heard in the bigger man's voice. That white wing fluttered a bit and he found himself eying the other man, trying to judge whether or not it would be safe enough to trust him.

"I promise that I'm not out to do anything detrimental to your health, Zack," Angeal promised, one of his large, gloved hands beckoning him closer. Hesitantly, Zack sidled closer, body tense and weary as he stood mere inches away from his old teacher.

Large arms reached out, quicker than he could react, and enfolded him in their embrace, tugging him close to a broad chest.

He struggled for a second before he realized that true to his word—Angeal wasn't doing anything bad, but hugging him. The wing folded protectively over his back, caging him in solid warmth and he felt odd vibrations running through the larger man's chest in an oddly soothing cadence.

Even though he wanted nothing more than to collapse against Angeal in relief, he instead found himself pulling back from that wide chest and gaping. "What—"

A large hand reached out and began smoothing his hair, and he found his face tucked into Angeal's shoulder as the former First ran both hands through his hair and rubbed his face through it.

"Your hair," Angeal said, a faint hint of embarrassment running through his voice. "Your hair was bothering me and I wanted to…to…" he faltered, and the wing fluttered in agitation.

Suddenly, Zack felt the wild urge to laugh. Something so odd, so far-fetched, but so utterly possible had crossed his mind. He leaned back again and looked up at Angeal. "You wanted to preen me," he said with a soft laugh.

"I always knew Angeal was a mother hen," a smooth voice commented in amusement, "but this is just ridiculous."

Quiet: Btw, I'm most likely not going to continue any drabbles unless I get hit by a passing whim. Just to keep people from asking, y'know.