Hours later, Genesis and Cloud were still sitting in front of the television, their eyes slightly glazed over from the flickering lights and colors. They had probably watched every kind of program known to man: comedy, drama, horror and now this. A screaming guitar blared loudly into the room. Cloud watched out of the corner of his eye as Genesis began to bob his head a little. He seemed to really be getting into the song. Cloud stifled a laugh and tried not to poke fun at his new friend.

Indeed, Genesis had quickly become a friend to Cloud. Cloud had only known of Genesis from hearsay through the Shinra company and a few photographs in the Shinra Times newspaper. It was fate that had brought them together, and Cloud found himself grateful for the interruption in his cadet life. He had been working for months as a cadet in the Shinra army, but nothing was going right. Though he had been a little afraid when Genesis took him away from the lab, he was also grateful for the saving of his skin. Now, he looked at the situation as a chance for him to break free from the company that would probably just label him as missing in action. Maybe he could take up painting now, maybe write a novel. He laughed internally at this and shook his head.

"Holy shit!"

Cloud's thoughts were interrupted by Genesis' exclamation. He looked back up at the television and his mouth gaped open in shock. He tilted his head to one side to better study what he was seeing. "Great Gaia!" he shouted. Apparently, Genesis' television had every channel available on the planet, including the one they were now watching.

"…How are they doing that?" Genesis said breathlessly. His mouth was open and one of his eyebrows was raised. He swallowed hard and began to fiddle with his earring.

"I dunno, but that's hot!" Cloud replied. "Gods, look at that ass!"

Genesis abruptly changed the channel and shifted on the couch. He cleared his throat and bit his lip. He didn't feel quite ready to talk with Cloud about his sexual preferences. To Cloud, it was obvious by the channel he had on his television that Genesis was a complete flamer. Fruit. Homo. Gay. Thank Gaia, Cloud thought to himself. He said nothing and tried to settle his attention back on the television, but now he just couldn't concentrate.

"Bathroom?" he asked. Genesis looked at him and smirked.

"Upstairs to the left."

"Thanks."

Cloud made a hasty retreat to the bathroom and slammed the door. He rested his back against it and let out a heavy sigh. He stood there for a moment then walked over to the sink and splashed water on his hot face. Why was he thinking about Genesis this way? It was like a switch had been flipped as soon as the images on the screen entered into his brain. He hadn't really been seeing the two men on the television, no. He had pictured himself splayed out on the very couch that they had been sitting on, saw Genesis kneeling on the floor in front of him and ramming into his ass as hard as he could.

Once he had calmed himself down enough - mainly by thinking of Tseng, the leader of the Turks, in a g-string - he made his way back downstairs and took his place on the end of the couch again. Genesis eyed him for a moment but said nothing. They continued to channel surf for another hour or so, until both of them were almost falling asleep. It had been a long and trying day for the both of them, though Cloud wasn't sure which one of them had had it worse.

"Ready for bed?" Genesis said, turning off the television. He tossed the remote control down onto the couch between the two of them and stretched. Cloud nodded and took a deep breath. "You can sleep upstairs with me, if you'd like. I don't know about you, but I think my bed is really comfortable. I don't mind sharing it with you," Genesis offered.

"It was pretty comfortable," Cloud said, thinking of how he had napped on it earlier that afternoon. But to share a bed with Genesis after the little episode he had earlier? Cloud began to get nervous just thinking about it. What if he accidentally rolled over in the middle of the night and clung to Genesis without knowing it? How would he explain it if Genesis woke up and caught him with an arm draped over his chest?

"Come on. I'll lock up down here. You can go ahead and go upstairs. And Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"It's nothing. Just sharing a bed, that's all," Genesis said. Cloud shrugged and tried to play it off as if he didn't know what Genesis was talking about. He went upstairs and pulled back the blanket on the top of the bed. What he found was black satin sheets. He gulped and lifted a hand to his button-up shirt. He weighed the pros and cons of taking off his shirt and sleeping without it. To sleep with it on would be uncomfortable; to sleep with it off would feel like heaven, the satin sheets flowing seemingly endlessly across and on his skin. He finally decided to strip himself of the shirt and tossed it onto the bedside table. Quickly, he slid beneath the blanket and let out a relaxed sigh as his skin was cooled by the satin.

Genesis came upstairs a moment later and saw the satisfied look on Cloud's face. "Nice, isn't it?" he said, laughing. He stripped off his own shirt and slid easily into bed, pulling the blanket over his body and up to his armpits. He crossed his arms behind his head and sighed. "You know what, Cloud? I could get used to this. Living with someone, I mean. Before, I enjoyed the peace and quiet, but after a while it became too quiet. I missed the company of others. I'm glad I happened upon you. I hate that it had to happen the way that it did, and it might seem like I'm only using you, but trust me. I'm not. I want you to understand that. At first, yes. Now, no."

"I feel the same way, Genesis. I'm glad you saved me from the hell that I was going through," Cloud said. He was happy that they were beginning to get some things out into the open. "And you can keep me here as long as you like. It's nice to have a new friend."

"You too, Cloud."

Genesis turned over and turned off the lamp on his bedside table and curled up on his side, facing away from Cloud. Cloud did the same, his back toward Genesis. For a few hours, they slept that way, and suddenly Cloud awoke to a strange feeling on his hip. Slightly heavy and warm, it puzzled Cloud at first, still half-asleep. When he became fully awake, he realized that Genesis was resting a hand on his hip. He stiffened slightly out of shock and carefully peered over his shoulder at Genesis, half expecting to see the man staring back at him. To his surprise, Genesis was fast asleep, his chest falling and rising smoothly.

Cloud's mind started racing. What should he do? Shrug his hand off and risk waking him up or leave it there and just pretend like nothing happened in the morning? Something in his mind finally told him to seize the moment, and he did just that. Inching backward ever so slowly toward Genesis, he scooted against his warm body and pretended that this touch was the real thing. He secretly wanted it to be real, to not just be a subconscious thing that Genesis had done in his sleep accidentally.

In his head, he imagined the two of them as lovers. Genesis' hand was on his hip while they were sleeping because they had just made love a few hours before. He pretended that Genesis loved him and had his hand on his hip because he just wanted to feel Cloud near while he slept.

As he was thinking all of this, Genesis sighed in his sleep and his hand slid easily from Cloud's waist to his chest. He moaned lightly without opening his mouth and tightened his hold on Cloud.

Subconscious or not, Cloud decided he would take what he could get at this moment in time. And he held onto this feeling until he fell back asleep, feeling a comfort like he had never felt before.