Ok so I lied about Modern Warfare, I haven't finished with it. It'll be updated, but when I don't feel like writing something it's like pulling teeth and I'm never happy with it.

I'd address reviews right now, but I'm a Floridian getting hit with Hurricane Ida's feter bands. The sky is dark and I can already feel it getting ready to open up and smite us all. :D So I'll get reviews next chapter. Time to power down the PC.

Necessary Plans

I made sure to keep the call short, given the pissy and slight jealous look Seifer was already giving me. Being woken up was bad enough, being woken up only to have your bed partner on the phone with a strange woman was worse, so I figured I better finish up. I told Tifa to wait for my call, no need to have Cid rushing off the planet to save my ass. I hang up the phone and drop it on the bedside table. Seifer is propping his head up on his arm and scowling. I smile in an attempt to placate him and kiss his forehead.

"Calm down. It was just a friend from my home planet. She says I'll be stuck here for awhile. Get used to me." Seifer rolls his eyes and turns over again, letting me spoon his back. I nuzzle my way into the place between his head and shoulder, rubbing against his neck. I slowly press open mouth kisses along the area, using all my seduction tactics to calm him down. And while I know I'm good, I'm surprised to see him comply, baring his neck further.

"I'm not into guys, you know. You get one shot at this, make it worth it." I pause in my movements long enough to whisper in his ear.

"I'm not going all the way. Not now." This isn't something that pleases Seifer, who rolls over and stares at me in confusion and slight hurt.

"Why not? I'm not good enough for you?" I frown at his hurt, carefully concealed under his angry tone. I can hear a deep fear of rejection inside this boy's voice. How hard must life have been on him? Feeling concerned, I reach out and put a hand on his cheek, softly pulling him forward.

"Seifer… I don't use people. Not even people I've just met. I'll hold you, I'll sleep with you, I'll even kiss and pet you, but I won't have sex with you until you're in it for more than a quick, self-depreciating lay. I don't even need love, all I want to see is emotion." Seifer's eyes widen in the low light of the room, looking at me astonished.

"That's the first time anyone refused to sleep with me. And that's the first time anyone has wanted anything other than straight sex." He shakes his head softly and looks back at me, a small smile on his face. "Thank you. I needed that."

I nod and accept his body back into my arms as he lies down. I press a kiss to ear and whisper lightly into it. "Sweet dreams."

Seifer POV

Is it possible someone out there wants me for a little more than just my body? For a relationship? It's nearly absurd to think about, but a very calming idea none the less. It makes the fact that I've been abandoned again, this time by Ultimecia, not so hard to cope with. I'm alone in the world from now on, I might as well stick with this guy and hope he can keep me company.

"Hey… What's your name?" Stupid, stupid, stupid Almasy. You're lying in bed with my and you didn't even get his name?

"Cloud Strife. Make a joke about girl names and I won't be able to assure you your safety." Cloud? Knowing he isn't lying about the hurting me, I hold down the prosession of snickers.

Cloud POV

It really was a feat that he managed to stop himself from laughing, but hat didn't mean I still couldn't hear the strained and muffled giggles.

After he'd finally settled down he fell asleep almost instantly, clearly showing his need for it. I settled down again, resting my chin in the crook between his head and shoulder. I only had to move once as Seifer rolled over in his sleep to curl closer. In the end, he ended up with about eight hours sleep and I got seven hours of pure trance-time. Luckily, the trance is enough to keep me rested.

We were woken up by Squall's banging on the door at 0600 hours. Seifer more or less launched himself out of bed and towards his sword, before I grabbed him and calmed him down.

"It's Squall. Hide," I hiss into his ear. And hide he does. He wrenches the closet open and ducks to the back, behind the clothes. It actually happens to be much deeper than I first suspected, the back concealed by the length of his trench coats.

The banging picks up the pace for a moment before I hear the lock click as Squall lets himself in. Seifer is already nicely hidden, and I finish dressing, as Squall comes in.

"Is it so hard to answer the door?" I smirk at the annoyed tone of his voice. Squall seems to be the kind of guy to tell you exactly how he feels and why.

"Where are we going?" And I'm not the kind of guy to beat around the bush.

"Back to the conference room to make some plans. Has anything changed with your situation?"

"Yes, my PHS," I hold it up for reference. "Works on this planet for calling my home planet. I can only imagine that the satellites orbiting Gaia must be lined up perfectly with the satellites orbiting this one, if there are any that is." Squall nods in conformation before letting me continue. "My friend, Tifa, the girl in the picture who looks like Rinoa, called and let me know that it'll take a year for them to get here. And we'll be stuck in space a year on the way back. So I won't be getting home anytime soon. And I still need to deal with Sephiroth."

Squall seems to follow the entire story till the end. "Alright. You're welcome to stay at Balamb Garden, but we, my… friends and I, have to leave to kill Ultimecia." Not surprising so I shake my head.

"I need to leave to hunt Sephiroth. You're not quite aware of how dangerous he is. He nearly destroyed my entire planet several times. Once by summoning a meteor large enough to turn our planet into nothing but a pile of dust. Another time he infected the world with a deadly disease with no known cure. Needless to say, he was defeated, but I'm the only one on my planet strong enough to fight him for five minutes, let alone kill him. I'll need a very detailed map of the terrain and cities, a list of hostile areas, a small bestiary, and a short run-down on the powers and attacks of monsters I'll encounter. Your PHS number would be nice too."

Squall seems to find something worth smiling about in that sentence, most likely the idea that I want his PHS number. "Fine. We'll load you up with all of that, but can you handle yourself out there? Wouldn't it be easier to take a guide?" I consider the idea for only a second when I hear Seifer huff almost inaudibly, definitely too low for Squall to hear. Well it seems I do have a guide.

"No. I'll be fine. I'd like to get moving as soon as possible as well." Squall nods and waves a hand towards the door.

"We'll have you ready to leave by the end of the day. You can set out tomorrow. Unfortunately, my friends and I have to leave tonight. The situation with Ultimecia is very dangerous. We need to bring her reign to an end, and soon."

There is such a resigned and tired sound in his voice. I turn my head and look at him directly. He's so young. "How long are your years here?" The question catches Squall off guard, but he still answers.

"Same as yours I suppose. 365 days? We were always wondering why our year never corresponded with the orbit of our planet, meaning the seasons are out of whack. If our planets were colonized the same people, that would make sense then."

I give a small nod before continuing. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

I was right on target with my guess, not surprising, but how young he is, is a surprise. "A little young to be a hero kid." Squall seems to start at that idea.

"Then how old are you? How old were you when you became hero, because I know you are a hero." I've hit a nerve inside of him. Like me when I was first tracking Sephiroth, he doesn't want to be a hero. I frown at him in slight pity. Why does the burden always fall to those who despise it?

"I was sixteen when I first killed Sephiroth, he'd just burned my hometown down. Killing everyone, including my mother, but Tifa and I. Sixteen when I was admitted to a lab for military enhancements and tests against my will. Twenty-one, but appearing sixteen, when my best friend was shot to death by SOLDIERs he trained. Twenty-one, and finally looking my age, when I had to hunt Sephiroth, who had come back to life, down and destroy the corrupt ShinRa military, which at this time controlled the entire plane. Twenty-one when the woman I was both in love with and engaged to was killed by Sephiroth. Twenty-one when I killed Sephiroth for the second time. Twenty-three when I contracted that deadly disease. Twenty-three when Sephiroth came back a third time, and I killed him once again. Now I'm twenty-six, I stopped aging at twenty-one and I'm pretty much immortal, and stuck on a planet, whilst my friends, who are still aging, get older on Gaia. Trust me Squall, if you can get out it, do it now. The hero life isn't glamorous, fun, or rewarding, it's nothing but one hit after another."