Angeal:

Even though he kept his face set and stony, he was quite shaken after that meeting. It was with great relief he opened the heavy door to his apartment and slipped inside. Then he heard the shuffling of bare feet in another room, and was reminded that Zack was here. He had almost forgotten that for a minute or two.

The boy, his lover he firmly reminded himself, had taken him up on his offer and followed him home the day before. There, he had proceeded to take a long, long bath, ordered pizza which he stuffed his face with and then fallen into bed. He had still been asleep and snoring when Angeal left this morning, but now it seemed like he was up again. Nothing could bring down the Puppy for long, Angeal thought fondly to himself.

Angeal quietly walked over to the living room, and was imminently smitten with the cute sight that his Puppy made. He was dressed in Angeal's clothes, which was much too big on his teen-body and he had a big cup of hot chocolate in his hands. He looked pretty content, but when he saw Angeal he brightened up even more.

"Ang!" Zack greeted happily, but then sobered up some. "How did it go...?" he asked his mentor carefully. "Are you okay? You're not harmed, right?"

Angeal walked over, ruffled his hair kindly and pressed a kiss to his cheek before sitting down on the couch. "I'm fine. And everything went according to the plan." He patted at the couch next to himself. "Come sit, Puppy."

Zack smiled and sat down. "I'm glad you're alright." he said shyly. "I was worried. What happens now?"

"Sephiroth is holding a meeting for SOLDIER, telling them of the President's demise. Of course, they will never learn all the details, but there shouldn't be any problem. They will follow Sephiroth's lead." Angeal told him. "So Seph told me to go home and relax for a bit, for we will have much work to do in the future. It will not be easy, but I believe that things will eventually be better than before."

"If you believe so, then I will as well." Zack said with bright, trusting eyes. Angeal felt his heart almost swell with love for this oh so lovely young man.

Then he remembered the great news. "Oh, right." he said. "I talked to Sephiroth earlier about you. In this... tense time for Shinra, we need leaders. And since you showed such remarkable courage and saved your superior's live while risking your own, you will be promoted to Second Class first thing in the morning."

Zack stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth wide open. Then the boy squealed in pure happiness and hugged Angeal tightly. "Oh, Angeal!" he laughed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you-"

Angeal interrupted him and gently peeled the boy off him. "No need to thank me, or Sephiroth. You earned that promotion, and only you. You deserve it." Zack nodded his understanding with a grin, but then the boy suddenly stiffened, his bright smile disappearing, but he didn't say anything.

"What's wrong, Puppy?" Angeal asked and held Zack at an arm's length to get a good look at the youngster. All earlier happiness seemed to be vanished, and he looked really gloomy. "What's the matter?" he prodded gently when Zack showed no sign of responding.

Zack sighed. "When... I'm Second Class, I won't get to have a mentor anymore. Will... this end then? Us? Our training, our friendship, our relationship? It's all based on this mentorship..."

Angeal laughed fondly at his mentee, who directed hurt, violet eyes on the floor, thinking his mentor was laughing at him. "Oh, Zack." Angeal said. "Of course nothing will change. I will still be your friend, your boyfriend. The difference is that I will train with you, not train you. We will be more equal. And that's a good thing, or so I believe. It will be good for our relationship."

Never one to be down for very long, Zack looked all happy again. "Really?" he asked with a large smile, which widened even more as Angeal nodded at him. "Angeal... Thank you for taking care of me all this time, for being my mentor. I love you."

"And I love you." Angeal swiftly replied, before bending down and pressing a loving kiss on his young boyfriend's lips. "I love you so much, Puppy."

And no matter what the future brought them, he would continue to love his beloved Puppy. In the end, he would stand by his side, and everything would turn out just fine. Angeal was sure of that.

Sephiroth:

Two months had passed since that fateful meeting. Two whole months. All of Rufus Shinra's calculations had turned out just perfect, and the shift of power had run smoothly. And Sephiroth had personally seen to it that all of Hojo's experiments had been exterminated. Well, except himself, of course, he thought wryly.

And now he understood why Genesis and Angeal didn't loathe Hollander. Sure, the man was no humanitarian, but he was never cruel and took no pleasure in inflicting pain. At Sephiroth's first monthly control he had been very nervous and skittish. But Hollander had allowed him and Genesis to go together, which had calmed his nerves quite a bit. And he learned that not all the controls Hojo had practiced on him were necessary, which only made him hate his dead father even more.

Hollander had been precise, professional and correct during the exam and the following Mako-shots. And he didn't even ridicule Sephiroth for needing to hold Genesis' hand both during his own shots and Genesis' shots. He just averted his eyes and did his job.

Speaking of Genesis... His beautiful redhead was currently sitting, looking quite content, in one of the armchairs in Sephiroth's office. He had his long legs slung over the armrest, and was deeply engrossed in a book of poems. And it was not LOVELESS, surprisingly enough. Sephiroth, who had been working on his paperwork, could openly study his boyfriend without his knowledge and teasing now that the redhead was distracted.

Genesis looked great. His skin was its usual, creamy and very healthy color, his eyes were alert and awake, and his hair was shining and newly washed. No sickness could be traced in his body or soul... at the moment. Genesis still had his problems with his unstable Mako-levels, but at least he could get help any time he started feeling the symptoms. Sephiroth really didn't want to re-live what had happened on that damned island. The helplessness...

Any lower member of SOLDIER who had less Mako in his blood and cells would have died out on that island. Unstable Mako-levels for unknown reasons were actually one of the biggest reasons Cadets didn't make Third Class. The reason Genesis had made it as far as he had was because the company had invested much money in his since childhood, money they didn't want to go to waste. So they had simply forced Genesis body to adept to something it wasn't supposed to. The mere thought pissed Sephiroth off, but he supposed he should be grateful. Partly as a General since Genesis was an excellent warrior, and partly as a lover since he never would have met Genesis otherwise.

Occupied with his deep thoughts as he was, he failed to notice when Genesis put down his book and returned his stare. Only when Genesis spoke was Sephiroth awoken from his half-trance state. "It's rude to stare, you know." he said sourly, but his smirk showed his true satisfaction.

"I just can't help myself." Sephiroth shot back, a teasing smirk on his lips. "If you didn't look so alluring sitting there, I just might get some work done here."

Genesis quirked a red eyebrow at him. "Want me to leave?" he asked teasingly and pretended to start getting up.

"No." Sephiroth growled to play along. "I like you just where you are, so don't you dare move..." He stood up from his chair and approached the armchair Genesis sat in. Any lesser man would probably have wet himself or run away at the sight of the Demon of Wutai growling and closing in on him, but Genesis only smirked.

"Want to fuck on the sofa?" Genesis drawled and nodded at the quite well-used sofa at the other side of Sephiroth's office.

Sephiroth didn't respond. Well, not with words at least. Genesis didn't talk anymore for a while either, even if he did make a lot of sounds - Sephiroth made sure of that.

When they were done, they lay together on the quite cramped couch. Sephiroth on his back, with a sweaty Genesis resting on him. He could feel that his pupils were still dilated, and his softened cock was still snugly resting inside of Genesis.

"I love you." he whispered to his half-dozing boyfriend, as if louder sounds would break the moment like a fragile dream.

"I love you, too." Genesis replied, pressed a kiss to his cheek and then fell asleep. All was currently well in his world, so Sephiroth joined his lover's sleep. All is well…

The End