Zack:

Angeal looked rather cool and unaffected, if not a bit amused. Zack however... His face felt so heated he just knew it must be beet-red by now. He was so embarrassed! Shinra really needed a part in its employee-manual for what to do when your superior officers had hot man-sex within hearing range. And Zack couldn't stop these thoughts entering his hormone-addled teen-mind when he heard those sounds… His perverted brain provided that it was only Genesis making noises (loud ones!) while the General could not be heard. That meant that Sephiroth was either a quiet lover, in opposite to Genesis, or wasn't receiving pleasure... at the moment. Don't stray there! Zack felt like slapping himself in the face to distract himself, but he was quite sure Angeal would be a bit concerned if he did so. And Zack really didn't feel like explaining that.

It wasn't like Zack was crushing on either of the men shagging just out of sight. In fact, he liked someone else. But he just couldn't help it. General Sephiroth and Commander Rhapsodos were sure handsome and alluring... in their own way. But Zack... liked something else in his men.

He cast a shy glance at his mentor, who had his eyes closed in relaxation, his hands close to the fire for warmth, ignorant of Zack's wandering eyes. Commander Hewley could only be described as a hunky piece of man-meat. Huge, thick arms that would feel great around his own middle, a firm chin with that adorable stubble...

Zack blushed even deeper. Damn it all! Those sounds of Genesis' and Sephiroth's coupling, together with his own leering at his mentor had caused some... problems. Or rather - one problem. One stiff problem. Damn. Zack faked a shiver and hastily pulled a blank around himself, pretending the rather tepid evening air was cold. Angeal opened his eyes at Zack's movements and gazed with affection on his mentee.

"Cold, puppy?" Angeal asked fondly. "Want me to put more wood to the fire?"

"It's fine." Zack said and gave a weak smile. He was still blushing, but he could feel it starting to go away as those sounds died down. Finally! It felt like they had been going at it for hours! Or at least it did for poor Zack.

It would soon become dark. Their second night at this place. Tomorrow, they had decided during their little trek today, that they would go into the forest to hunt and explore. Try to see if they could find some game to eat if, or when, their canned food had been depleted. But on the way back from getting water from that small spring Angeal had found earlier, they had found something interesting. Or rather, Angeal said it was interesting. The large man had picked up lots of firewood, despite the fact that they already had plenty. He had said it would produce a lot of smoke, something they could use during the day to alert people searching for them. During the night, their goal was to make the fire burn as brightly as possible. That was the only thing they could do, besides just hoping for rescue to come.

But Zack didn't doubt rescue would come, eventually. The famous trinity of top SOLDIERS was much too valuable to forget about for Shinra.

Suddenly, footsteps. Both he and Angeal looked the way where Genesis had disappeared to with Sephiroth. Now the couple (for after what Zack had heard he just had to think of them like that) walked calmly and with leisure into view, Sephiroth looking completely unaffected while Genesis was a tad flushed and had a small smirk on his lips. Zack's blush flared up, once more, and he could only do his best not to stare at the two legends.

Sephiroth seated himself next to Zack before the fire, but Genesis just shook his head slightly when Angeal scooted to the side to give him more space close by the fire. "Frankly, I'm completely exhausted." the red-haired man said. "I think I'll tuck in now. Catch a few extra hours of sleep. Wake me when it's my turn to keep guard."

"I'll take your shift." Sephiroth imminently offered, green eyes almost shining at the idea of doing something for Genesis.

"Seph..." Genesis sighed and rolled his pretty eyes while putting his hands on his hips in a scolding manner, reminding Zack vaguely of a tired wife with a somewhat dense husband. "I'm not made of glass - remember? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. No need to coddle me."

"I know..." Sephiroth reluctantly said, and Zack could see that he was rather protective over Genesis and liked coddling the older man. "I know that, Gen. But you know I don't need much sleep. I will get enough sleep even if I take your shift. Please, for me?"

Genesis rolled his eyes again. "Gods, what an argument! But sure, if you insist. I'm too tired to argue. Night."

"Good night." Angeal said with a smile at his friend, and Zack too timidly added his own sleep-well wish. Sephiroth, however, didn't seem finished with his coddling.

"Sleep in the middle of the tent." he said. "That way, you can sleep in the middle. The nights at this place are rather cold."

Once again, that scolding expression returned to Genesis' face. But then he seemed to remind that he was much too tired to argue with Sephiroth and just snorted before walking to their makeshift tent and disappearing into it.

The four remaining men sat in comfortable silence around the flickering fire, which Angeal fed every now and then. Zack took this perfect opportunity to study his beloved mentor, now that he knew he could get away it, for Angeal was looking rather distracted.

Angeal's pretty, blue eyes were half-closed in relaxation. He sat leaning slightly forward, his elbows on his knees and brazing his face against his hands. A very relaxed pose for the normally stoic man. Zack concluded that he probably felt free to do so due to the company of only friends. Zack was more than a little proud to count himself among this amazing man's friends. Because Angeal certainly was amazing. Stoic he may be, but he was also warm and had a smile over to whoever needed it, no matter their rank or anything else.

And he was handsome, oh so handsome. All those muscles, that rugged manliness that was the very essence of Angeal. Zack just loved moments like this, when Angeal was deep in thought and he could freely study his mentor to his heart's content. Imprint that image for later... use.

Then Zack was suddenly aware of being watched. Panicked, he turned his head quickly and saw Sephiroth looking at him, a small, knowing and almost cruel smile on his lips as he saw his panic at being discovered.

Zack shot up from his seated position. "I, I..." he stammered, making Angeal snap out of his relaxed state. Noticing this, Zack panicked even more. "I'm going to bed, too!" he said, almost too loudly in his fretting state. Then he realized what a mistake that was, leaving Sephiroth and Angeal all alone out here. What if Sephiroth told him what he had observed Zack doing? That he had seen the boy watch his mentor with a loving, dreamy smile on his lips and adoration in his eyes? Undecided what to do, Zack stood before the two great men, biting his lip and shifting on his feet as he tried to think of a solution to this distressing problem.

"Go to bed, Puppy." Angeal said with some amusement evident in his smiling face. "Someone of us will take the first shift. I'll wake you up when it's your turn. Good night."

Phew. Angeal thought he was acting oddly because he was embarrassed about going to bed before they had decided who took which shift. There was nothing Zack feared more than his mentor suspecting his true feelings. He didn't want to be seen as some crushing child. So, before going into their tent, Zack sent a pleading look in the General's direction. Please don't say anything, his eyes begged. In return, all he got was another one of those rather evil smiles that made him almost shiver. With a reassigned sigh, he crawled into the tent. There was nothing else he could do, other than hope for the best.

Angeal:

The morning of their third day at the island was rather different than the two before. Instead of being sunny and so hot you felt like fainting if you stayed out of the shade, the earlier blue sky was now metal-grey with ominous, rain-heavy clouds. The wind was strong and whipping up big waves that crashed against the beach.

Angeal was worried. Last night he and Sephiroth had been up rather long together, talking idly or just enjoying the silence together (while Angeal had tried to figure out why the man looked so darn smug) and the sky had been starry and completely empty of clouds. Then, when Angeal woke up in the morning, it looked like this.

Angeal, who was sitting by the fire alone, heard almost completely silent footsteps padding behind him. "Morning, Seph." he greeted without turning. Only one man was able to walk that quietly.

Sephiroth walked up to him, standing next to him by the water's edge. They both gazed at the wild ocean. Sephiroth didn't voice his concerns, but Angeal knew the silver-haired man had the same worries as him. There was a storm coming in, no doubt about it. And a tropical storm could be very violent, and stay for days. And no search for them could be conducted while the weather was that bad, either.

"Is there anything we can do?" Angeal asked his friend. Today they had planned to go hunting, but now that looked uncertain, as it seemed like it would begin raining any second.

"We can try to make sure the tent more waterproof if possible. But I suspect we will be drenched, either way." Sephiroth said, and Angeal knew he was right. He sighed as he crossed his arms and gazed out on the ocean, his friend standing in silence next to him.

The coming day or days would be hard for them all, Angeal knew. At least they could eat the canned food, and didn't have to rely on meat that needed to be cooked. Not that they had actually caught something to eat yet. But still. Then he heard the tamps rattle and his mentee stumble out, in his usual clumsy, puppy-like manner that was just so adorable...

"Um, hey, guys?" Zack said, sounding uncertain. The boy wasn't normally like that, but Angeal knew being so close to the two legendary heroes Sephiroth and Genesis all of a sudden had affected Zack somewhat. It was rather... cute, actually, to see the shy and slightly abash side of Zack. "I don't think Commander Rhapsodos is feeling so good."

Both he and Sephiroth started at that. "What's wrong?" Sephiroth demanded, and Zack flinched at the tone. Sephiroth could be very intimidating when he wanted to be, Angeal knew.

"He's really hot; I think he got a fever." Zack nibbled nervously on his lower lip. "And he's mumbling in his sleep, and didn't wake up when I shook him." His eyes widened at Sephiroth's accusing look. "Carefully!" he added, as if to save himself from the silver-haired man's wrath.

But Sephiroth had more important things to attend to, it seemed. He rushed past the scared Zack, towards their tent, using all his enhanced speed. Now Angeal was really worried. Not only about the coming storm, but about poor Genesis. He had been sick at the plane, been unconscious for hours and now it seemed like he was sick again. It didn't bode well, and there was no medical attention to find at this desolate place. What if he... died? Died out here, and they could only watch. Angeal shook off those depression thoughts as soon as they came to him. Their bodies were very enhanced; they could withstand most things. They would be just fine, Genesis would be just fine, he told himself. But somehow, he didn't feel very convinced.

"Angeal, come in here." Sephiroth called from within their tent, and after telling Zack to watch the fire, Angeal did so. He opened one of the tarps and crawled inside. There Sephiroth sat, Genesis' head in his lap while he gently stroked those red bangs from his lover's face. Genesis really did look sickly. He was pale, except his cheeks which were flushed, and he was sweating fairly much. The sweating was a sure sign of him not feeling well; SOLDIERS didn't sweat much, if they did at all. Angeal had a sneaking suspicion Sephiroth didn't, as he had never seen the man in such a state even after hours on the battlefield.

"How is he?" Angeal lowly asked Sephiroth, despite the fact that he could see that their mutual friend wasn't well.

Sephiroth sounded completely emotionless as he reported Genesis' state, but that was just Sephiroth's way of showing he was very worried. It was his way of handling stress, most of the time. "He's got a fever. I'm going to try to wake him." With a set, determined expression he very carefully shook his boyfriend by the shoulders. "Genesis?" he asked gently, and he and Angeal were rewarded by a glimpse of azure eyes.

"Seph?" Genesis mumbled as he saw his boyfriend leaning over him, sounding groggier than he should after waking up. "What's up?"

"You're sick." Angeal said soothingly and placed a caring hand of his childhood friend's forehead. It was burning up under his own, rather warm, hand.

"Hm..." Genesis just hummed without arguing - another clear sign he was not feeling so good. Genesis didn't like weakness, especially in himself, and would always deny feeling down, even to his boyfriend and best friend. "Seph..." the redhead sighed again. "I'm tired..."

"I know, Gen." Sephiroth soothingly said while casting a worried look at Angeal, as if searching for help from the older man.

"Let him sleep." Angeal provided. "There is nothing we can do, anyway. Let's just have him rest, and hope for the best. Come on, Seph. Bundle him up with the blankets, and then we'll try to fix up the tent the best we can and prepare for the coming storm."

"I wish those useless idiots would find us already!" Sephiroth growled as he, despite his irritated tone, gently bundled up Genesis before exiting the tent with Angeal.

Angeal tried to sound calming. "It's a big ocean. Believe me, I want nothing more than for us to be found, as well, but there is nothing else that we can do but to keep the fire alive and survive."

"I know." Sephiroth said harshly, but Angeal knew the anger was not directed at him, but the situation in general. And most likely it was not only directed at the people from Shinra that was without a doubt searching for them, but also directed at himself. Angeal knew Sephiroth hated feeling helpless, ever since his days at the labs. Hated to not be able to do anything... Hated not being able to help Genesis, who Sephiroth adored beyond word.

Angeal sighed. He was rather frustrated with the situation himself, truth to be told...