Disclaimer: Same old, same old thing, still don't own any of the Final Fantasy cast, but the filler characters like Raechel and names that aren't found in the games, they're from my thoughs, so I guess they belong to me *shrug*
AN: ^^; I'll have to say this...this one is the LONGEST one in regards to Word Count: 9,423! Its a little longer then the other chapters and I apologize! I just got out of control with this one! There was just so much to go into it! A small snogfest is in this chapter for you guys between Cloud and Sephiroth. Forewarning: Chapter 17 is going to be started to be written soon, but I can say this. Fear what is coming. Its where the story is taking a kind of dark twist, but that's because from my mind. Its kind of warped in its own way and I can say is...if you don't like violence, unintentional violence, against a character, then you are best to skim over Chapter 17 once its written and posted, especially when you reach the moments for Angeal of his visit for the Parole Hearing for his psychotic Ex. That's all I can say at this time.
Chapter 16
Stories are the one thing that keep rumors or and wild tales of things that may or may not have happened going. Sometimes, the one that is the forefront of the reason behind the tales tends to find out later on what has been said to the point that some of the facts become disoriented and twisted. Luckily for Cloud, they had all of the four day weekend to have the tale of his throw down against Tifa to settle well into the minds of the ones that had seen it go down. There was an upside to it all, Cloud wasn't about to be the only one that was going to be the talk of the school come Tuesday morning at school; it had seemed Reno had swaggered on through the sea of students as Cloud had left the Cafeteria that afternoon to catch up with the guys.
"Hey, Cloud…about earlier," Reno started off as he clasped a hand against Cloud's shoulder as he watched Cloud's eyes slowly run up to his, "Thanks back there…"
Cloud was confused, "For what? I've about sealed your Death Warrant with Tifa for that little show back there in the cafeteria…"
Zack softly nudged Cloud, "What Cloud means Reno is, you're welcome…and before you ask if it was all an act back there and before, it was all Cloud. My little buddy here is a new Gay Man to the scene and…" he looked for a way to ask Reno as he slightly grimaced in a way, "You are…?"
"As much as it might seem a little late to let it come out, yeah, you're looking at a brother in arms…"Reno shrugged as he let his arms fall to his side, "Surprise?"
"Actually, I had some inkling you might have a slight bit of a gay man in you after the remark you made in the hall when Cloud and I were "mock making out", because," Zack sighed contently to himself, "I'm taking, but Cloud here is…if the man he went out with last night doesn't snag him first, is still single and open to a second opinion."
Cloud took the moment to step on Zack's foot that nearly left the man dropping the injured blond, "What he means is, we're happy for you, Reno…"
Reno softly chuckled at the wounded Zack nursing his pride as he saw a happy smile cross Cloud's face before he softly placed a soft peck on Cloud's cheek, "You're a sweet guy, Strife…but, I've got a guy of my own that's been waiting for this day for a long time. Let's just say, my guy doesn't take lightly to a hanger on that is drilling his man into the floor and having to say this proud guy in front of you coming to him behind the bitches back to see him with a down trod face each time he comes to visit," his fingers softly ruffled at Cloud's spikes, "I can imagine that you've got someone special waiting for you in the wings, but he's probably waiting for you to make the move or for him to make it…just remember. Don't be too quick and yet, don't be too slow to react. Good guys are hard to come by in a world full of villains."
"I'll remember that…"Cloud returned the peck as he felt the battle wounds starting to peek through again as he groaned which Zack took as a sign for them to get the little punching bag home and doped up on something to make him feel better, "See you around, Reno…bring your boyfriend on by sometime and maybe we can hang out or do some kind of double dating, or maybe triple dating if we can rope Zack and his man in on the fun."
"I'd like that," Reno chuckled as he waved off at the man as he seemed to run/walk away with a soft skip in his step.
Zack looked at Cloud, "For a new guy to the gay man scene, you sure are a cute little tease…if this Sephiroth guy you are so infatuated with doesn't snag you, would you be interested in playing my back up boyfriend?"
"Don't even think about it, Zack. I'll tell Angeal about that little bit of "play make out session" earlier today if you keep it up," Cloud grumbled as they headed in the direction of home.
"Oh come on! Angeal wouldn't mind if he knew it was to piss off someone that was putting you down and he knows that I am such a good friend that is willing to endure the sofa for one more night," Zack chuckled as he ruffled his friend's hair playfully, "Friends save one another's asses from the biggest to the smallest things in life…You're a special guy to me, Cloud and Angeal knows that…"
Cloud handed it off to letting it go as he rested his head in against Zack's shoulder as they headed for home, "Just please tell me we've got something strong at home for a headache brought down upon from the God's above…"
"I'm sure we can find you something," Zack patted the man's cheek as he turned down the road and pulled in towards the Parking lot of their apartment, "Come on soldier, up the stairs to the tower as it may be to dope up your ass because you've got to be in your best form tonight…"
"What are we doing tonight?"
The last thing Cloud wanted outside of the circle of just wanting to pop something down his throat with a glass of water or something stronger and sleep off the headache was to not be dragged out into public. Especially with the way he looked at the moment, anyone that saw him probably would've thought he had walked into a wall countless times because there wasn't a single brain cell in his brain that had told him to stop it. He especially did not want to have to explain to Sephiroth, even if he was lucky enough to see the man again why he looked like someone's personal punching bag. Sephiroth would hardly recognize Cloud at the moment if he was even to bother to lay eyes on the poor man, thankfully Tifa wouldn't be getting released or put out on bail anytime soon. That was one happy thought that crossed Cloud's thoughts as he was whisked into the apartment.
Zack gave Cloud a soft smirk, "Cloud my boy, we are going out tonight to celebrate your coming out and your pissing off your ex!"
"Zack…please…I wanna stay home and rest from the beating Tifa gave me…I'd rather not be a walking billboard for ex's beat up by their psychotic ex's that can't stand their ex turning gay on them in a short five years," Cloud groaned as the walked into the apartment.
The apartment had been quiet save for the occasional sounds of a drip from the kitchen faucet, everything up until then had been quiet. At least the peace was there compared to the daylight nightmare he had had earlier in the day when coming home from his job at a nearby coffee shop; the utter fear that he had seen someone that resembled the "errand" he had to run and do the next day. He had gone as far as following the person until he realized that the person looked nothing like his "errand", but it still left an utter feeling of fear in his heart. Washing water over his face countless times to attempt to "wake up" had done nothing to wash the daylight nightmare from his field of vision for each time he looked into the mirror of the bathroom. He had to stop himself short each time from ramming his fist through the mirror that would lead to having to explain why they needed a new vanity mirror and the cuts upon his knuckles. There had been a face in the mirror behind each time he would come up; the face of the daylight nightmare which would leave countless remarks in his ears till he had to tear himself away.
He calmly welcomed the sounds of Zack and Cloud walking in the door as Cloud tried to explain to Zack that drowning him with a simple bottle of hard liquor wasn't going to help his headache. This was something Angeal needed to intervene in on as he watched Zack standing against the counter, pouting as usual, while Cloud was holding his head and attempting to make the room stop spinning.
"Dare I even ask why Zack is trying to play Dr. Hard Liquor again to cure you, Cloud?" Angeal looked at the duo with a weary gaze; the last time Zack had suggested hard liquor for an ailment…well, that wasn't talked about for personal reasons.
Cloud looked up from holding his head, "Let's just say, we made a new friend and I made a mortal enemy in an ex-girlfriend of mine that is now short one half of her duo since her other half is probably off making up with the half that has been missing from her other half," he could tell it was confusing Angeal to no end and Zack staring at him was unnerving him, "Long story short; Zack had me make out with him in front of my long time ex, her boyfriend made a remark at the sight, then later at lunch, Zack and I played with her boyfriend till I made a move on him that sent my ex into a tailspin and she will…well…"
"The bitch wailed on poor Cloud because he helped bring her boy toy out of the closet in front of the entire Cafeteria and I got to have a little fun with Cloud at the expense of pissing her off because she was driving Cloud into an emotional corner," Zack spoke up as he waved his hands up in the air as he pushed Angeal out of the corner he had walked up to Cloud in, "Nothing happened beyond that, just a little of playing around and we made a new friend in his ex's former boyfriend."
"And…you guys had to talk all cryptic like…why?" Angeal rose an eyebrow at them both as Cloud leaned his head back, moaning, "Never mind, Zack, no liquor, just get him an Aspirin and Cloud, go lie down once you've got the Aspirin…you look terrible."
Cloud groaned as he went to flop down on the sofa, pulling a sofa pillow over his face, "Zack…I need to talk to you in private," Angeal began to pull the man along, but Zack stopped him momentarily.
"In a minute, I've got to say something…" Zack pulled away from the man as he began to go into his plans, "I was thinking, maybe once Cloud is over his headache, we should go out and celebrate Cloud's coming out and use it to get to know his possibly boyfriend, Sephiroth!"
A loud groan came out from the sofa that sounded like a mix of grumbling about not wanting to go out tonight looking like he did, fearing Sephiroth would think someone jumped him on his way to school and was going to have to take someone down.
"Do you always think of ways for me to look like an utter failure in life, Zack?" Cloud grumbled out from sofa as he took the Aspirin and glass of water to down the pill without a care, "Or is making my life one big embarrassing show all you live for Zack?"
Zack pouted as he leaned over the back of the sofa, "No, I find other ways to amuse myself, but I just want to do this one thing tonight…Because for all we know or could know is, this Sephiroth guy could be some pervert who likes to tie up unknowing first time gay men in his basement and do who knows what with them."
Yet another groan erupted from Cloud as he smacked Zack upside the head with the pillow, "Give it rest, Zack…You just want a reason to go out and party since we have a long weekend."
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't," Zack chuckled as he ducked the pillow again before Angeal walked up behind Zack, resting his hands in the teen's front pockets, "If you'll excuse me, I've got other things to attend to since Angeal just can't live without my attention directed on him."
"Oh really…I thought he only endured you?" Cloud chuckled as he went back to having the pillow on his face as Angeal pulled Zack away to talk to him.
"What's up, Angeal?" Zack turned around so his arms were Angeal's neck, but the man turned the arms off of his neck, "Something wrong? Did I say or do something wrong?"
How to put it lightly, "No…you didn't do anything wrong, but I'm going to be out and about tomorrow, most of tomorrow; I probably won't be home till late at best, depends on how long it takes me to do my errands. Are you going to be alright here without me?"
"Of course I will and if you've got something to do, I'll understand as long as its not some other guy behind my back that I don't know about, because then I'd have to have to do something drastic to make you stay tomorrow," Zack playfully pouted as he threw his arms around Angeal's neck, "But tonight, let's just go out and have some fun…I know Cloud could probably use it after what happened at school today."
Some days are rough and other days can be easy to get through without problems, but when problems due arise we are left with the remnants of the after math of the bad parts of it. Cloud just wanted to sleep off those bad parts and wake up to a day when there wasn't anything like what had happened that afternoon, but, he couldn't get out of his mind what he had done with Zack. He had been told to play along with Zack, but all Cloud could see in the embarrassment cloud in his field of mental vision was the sight of Sephiroth in place of Zack. Every slip of lips against another and a secretive poke of tongue from Zack in the hallway at school that afternoon had not been Zack's tongue, all Sephiroth in how Cloud had pictured it. Then when he was playing around with Reno's legs and then pushing his foot into the man's crotch and the sounds he had made matched with the blush. Sephiroth had been there in place of it all, but in his own self indulged dream; instead of being turned away from the foot in his crotch, the man had taken to roll his hips against Cloud's prodding foot. Which had in his dream, earned Cloud a few well placed moaning groans from the muscular man that was almost begging for Cloud to go lower and a little bit in and under to push the point of his foot in against ping pong balls. For a little lighter way of putting it, and as the dream was starting to wrap up, there was a buzzing sensation coming out of Cloud's hip. How in the Hell had the sensation of playing crotch footsie with the man turned into a buzzing sensation in his hip?
There was only reason for it to be happening; there was a text message that had been sent to his phone, 'Cloud, I really enjoyed last night…I hope you did as well. Maybe we could get together sometime again and talk, I would love to talk about the Project I was telling you about last night in more detail. Do you have any plans tonight?-Sephiroth'
Cloud chuckled to himself as he hugged the phone to his chest before prying himself off to go find Zack and Angeal, "You guys up for going out tonight?" the question was foreign to Zack and Angeal's ears, especially hearing it from Cloud.
"I thought you wanted to ditch my mastered plans?" Zack pouted as he jutted a hip out, "What brought this change of heart on?"
"Sephiroth," Cloud handed the phone off to Zack whose eyes lit up with joyous wonder as he saw the familiar smirk come on the man's face, "…You guys feel like you'd could behave long enough to ruin meeting this guy for me?"
Angeal chuckled as he took the phone from Zack before the man could answer back for Cloud, "I'm up for it, but the Pup is going to need to reel himself in with some self resistance, but I'm sure it would be nice venture to meet this man of your interests Cloud…" the phone found its way being tossed back into Cloud's eager fingers.
Zack pouted as he made to slug Angeal, but he gave the impression of the puppy eyes as he watched Cloud text the man back, "This guy better be on the up and up, Cloud. There are some crazies out there and for all you know, this guy is one of those guys who gets kicks out of tying pretty boys like you up down in basements."
"Zackary," Angeal grumbled as he watched Cloud's face beam with joy that he had replied back.
"Now we just wait for his answer…" Cloud beamed as he chewed on his lower lip like a bouncy teenage girl who had her first possible boyfriend.
Sephiroth had been racking his brain for new material for what to write for his little project he had told Raechel he was going to go through with on his own, win or lose, but there was nothing coming now. His screen was doing nothing, but sitting and blinking at him, annoyingly as if it was telling him he should've been working instead of staring at it. It was never going to give up and the man would have to sleep, but his fingers were itching to write, something, just anything. Why did it have to be so hard to write Gay Erotica Novels?
"Heh, just settle Seph darling…inspiration will come soon enough," the alter ego cooed as it wrapped its arms around Sephiroth's shoulders as its colorful eyes flicked up upon the sight of Sephiroth's phone buzzing, "And that could it be right now, calling."
The man rolled his eyes as he flipped the phone open to find it was a new text message; a great number of people could've been the text sender, but it was only one, "…It's from Cloud," a soft, happy smile spread on Sephiroth's face as he read the message and laughed slightly, "It seems we have a double date tonight with his friend and boyfriend."
"I see, are you sure this isn't going to turn into an reason to find out what makes you tick to make sure you're alright for this kid?" the alter ego slipped back as he watched Sephiroth push his chair out and started to reply back to Cloud's text with agreement that they would meet at a local club at six then from there, anything was open.
"If it is, it was going to happen sooner or later…if any of my friends, if I had any, or my family, were interested in my love life and what I was getting into, I'm sure they would've found some way to set up a date like this to make sure their son or daughter wasn't getting into something that didn't matter much," Sephiroth shrugged as he waited for the text to send, "Besides, it could be fun."
~XxXxX~
Cloud felt his hip buzz again as he opened up the cell phone and nearly laughed like a school girl as he read the message, "We've got a date."
Zack was ecstatic as he all but jumped on Cloud but that was halted by Angeal's hand cuffing around the back of Zack's collar and pulling him back, "Well, we've got a few hours before this date and we've all got to get changed up for this evening…" Angeal let up on his grip slightly, "Zack, I'm giving you leeway to make Cloud look nice tonight…tonight is special to Cloud and I'm sure he wants to look nice for us to meet this man."
"…Thanks Angeal," Cloud softly blushed, but it was brushed away as Zack pulled his friend off into his bedroom to get ready for the evening, "On second thought, DAMN YOU ANGEAL!"
The man chuckled as he heard let out a soft squeaking yelp as he was dragged into his bedroom and started screaming at Zack that he could take off his own clothes without the man nearly undressing him. Crashing could be heard from inside the room, but then there was a slap and apologies all around and the occasional snickering even Cloud telling Zack that he wasn't going to stoop to that level. What level that was? Angeal did not want any part in. He figured that both man weren't going to kill him in the next five to ten minutes it was going to take him to get dressed and ready, but as he faced himself in the half the length of him mirror. He could not stand but be fearful of the piercing eyes that were staring into the mirror behind him; just piercing into the image of him in the mirror.
"Tomorrow Angeal…you know what tomorrow is and yet…your precious little Puppy doesn't know about me…does he? Aww, you reprimand the Puppy for mistreating a little lady in the past and yet…you let him live on and lead him on, not knowing you abandoned someone you had loved once…"the chuckles that came from those piercing eyes rumbled through his chest as Angeal fought to stay up on his own two feet.
"…You son of a bitch," Angeal growled as he reeled his fist but was stopped as he saw Zack's hand on it, the cuffs of his shirt left open as he held onto the man's hand, "…Just talking out loud to myself about how I look…"
Zack could see the man's hand was shaking as he softly nuzzled it, "…You don't have to lie to me, Angeal, I know something is bugging you, but I'm not going to bug you about it. I know better then pry…it just makes you realize things you didn't want to know till it's too late."
~XxXxX~
"Heh, now what is it? Did they change plans on us now?" Sephiroth grumbled as he pulled on a vest over his peasant blouse top, but in a male style, "…Raechel?"
"What is it darling?" the alter ego man peered over Sephiroth's mental shoulder as he read the text, "Well…only way to know what she's talking about."
The message was thought to be from Cloud, but from the way the text had been worded; it didn't read like anything the man could write. Raechel had simply texted the man that stated: 'You are one tough man to blackmail, you know that? But, that doesn't mean I have other means of ruining you. Watch the news this afternoon…I'm sure you'll be shocked.'
Sephiroth feared the worse as he turned on the afternoon news; to his surprise, it wasn't what he was expecting. Several ideas of what Raechel's text had meant had concocted several theories and possibilities in his head as he feared turning on the news, but as the new report came on. The reports had come in that Sephiroth; famed Romance Novelist was taking a leave of absence from the world of Literary Works to pursue other routes of interest. No word on the real intentions of this leave or what, Sephiroth was pursuing were being divulged, but former Publicist, Raechel had these words to say about her former client, "He will be missed from the Literary World, but…I hope that he enjoys his freedom and free time and whatever makes him happy will keep him content. Should any of that change," with this; her eyes seemed to glow in the News Camera screen, "I will hunt down what was making him happy and make it pay."
"Well, well, well, will you look at that? Little Miss Bitchy Pants does have a generous side to her…"the alter ego seemed to glow in the realization that not only had Raechel stepped down from running Sephiroth's life into the ground and possible future happiness, but she was issuing a threat to Cloud if he dared to hurt the man, "What are you doing now, sweetie?"
The man's eyes had turned to his cell phone as Sephiroth texted the woman back with the only words that held any truth at that moment as he wiped away happy tears out of his eyes as the words were sent to Raechel; 'Thank You.'
"With that settled…It's time to get ready to go and celebrate with that thing that makes me happy…and his friends," Sephiroth's steps seemed more light hearted as he made his way to his bedroom to dress for the part of celebrating something special with Cloud and his friends.
~XxXxX~
Zack tapped his foot impatiently as he drummed his fingers on the back of the sofa, growing ever inpatient at the fact that Cloud was making him wait to see the results he had made of his friend. He had spent a good ten minutes with Cloud before the man had kicked him out of his room. There was no way in Hell, even if it froze over, that Cloud was going to let Zack place his hands on him to help him get dressed into what Zack had tagged 'Gay Man's Paradise Get Up'. Other reasons as to why Zack had been kicked out with the look of a beet red Cloud glaring at the man before locking his bedroom door had been that Zack had opened his big mouth. And said some things that had left Cloud blushing hard to the point that Angeal started to question what the Hell had gone down in the bedroom. He didn't need or want to know after Zack went into blunt detail about describing that he had just told Cloud that sooner or later; he was going to have to get serious about Sephiroth if he had any possible thoughts of making it with the guy. Cloud had questioned him about what he meant and Zack nearly found himself falling into the corner of Cloud's bed, or even nightstand if Cloud's punch had been any harder. Zack was someone that was not one to keep things on a low key, he was brash and blunt. And that kind of personality had all about earned Cloud ready to kick his ass for even bringing up the idea or suggestion that tonight might be the night, Sephiroth might try and make a move on him. When what move Sephiroth might attempt on Cloud was revealed by Zack whispering it in Cloud's ear; that as when Zack found himself thrown out of the room.
Angeal later approached Zack after he had been thrown out of the bedroom about what he had done this time and as bluntly as he had said to Cloud, he just as openly and bluntly told Angeal. He had told the blushing blond that there was a possibility that Sephiroth might try and get to Second Base with the man tonight, and if he played his cards right, maybe start rounding Third Base. Cloud knew full well enough what the metaphoric lingo meant and if Zack knew what was best for him; he would not bring it up at the mini party that night.
"You know Zack; you need to learn to curb your words…" Angeal softly cuffed Zack upside the back of his head, "Cloud is still new to all of his and I'm sure his interest is as well…Why is that you think that every Gay Man comes out of the closet knowing how to woe a man?"
Zack grumbled to himself as he rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know, I guess I'm just excited for my best friend and I just want to see him happy…and if his future lover may not know how to woe Cloud, I'm sure that Cloud can make up for it…"
Angeal rolled his eyes, "…He was only able to be that playful because of your influence and because you guys were trying to piss off Cloud's bitch ex-girlfriend from long ago…"
"Well…maybe he can use it to his advantage with Sephiroth," Zack rolled his eyes as he looked back to see Cloud had wandered out of the room dressed in the outfit Zack had picked out for him, "And dressed like that, I'm sure it won't be hard."
Cloud blushed as he played with the corners of the tackless grey toned white dress shirt that tailed out over the top of a pair of slack faded denim jeans that dressed back up to the simplistic open vest. There had been debate as to whether or not Cloud should wear the tie that Zack had picked out, but at the end of it, Zack had left it up to Cloud and from what he could see. Cloud had opted to wear the tie loosely about his neck alongside the dressed down Dock Martin's on his feet; to Cloud, he felt like he was dressed like a Clown, but to any other man, he was an open invitation.
Clearing his throat, "…Well, how do I look? Do I look like a guy going out to celebrate his coming out to the World?"
"You look very nice, Cloud," Angeal spoke up as he watched Zack's eyes looking his friend up and down until Angeal had to reel Zack's gaze back in by a quick, but not rushed lip lock, "Do you have anything to add, Zackary?"
"You do look nice, Cloud and I'm sure Sephiroth will agree…" Zack nudged at Angeal as it seemed that it was true around that Cloud looked fine and it was getting later and later, "Shall we go and meet your friend…possibly future boyfriend, Cloud?"
The thought of boyfriend to Cloud seemed foreign, but the way Zack put it; it seemed like the right word, "Yeah, but don't go breathing that word around him…I'm not sure if he's ready to make it official just yet and I don't want to look like a fool if it turns into more of a just friends situation…"
"Come on you two, let's get a move on it," Angeal nudged the boys out the door as he locked up, "Time to go have some fun."
~XxXxX~
The car ride to the Club was less then uneventful; Zack was attempting to use every chance he could to get to Angeal as he sat up front, for Cloud's sake. Zack would now and again sneak a few kisses against Angeal's cheek, chuckling to himself now and again until he felt Angeal pull him into the front seat, slightly, as he captured the boy's lips. Zack was content with the situation and position he was in as he softly moaned through Angeal's lips caressing his own. He wanted it to be more, but the feeling of the gear shift of the car riding into his spine was starting to rub on him; he didn't seem to mind. As long as he got to taste Angeal's lips while Cloud watched the road with an occasional roll of his eyes; he was content.
"Come on, Pup…get back in your seat before you cause an accident," Angeal softly whispered as he lightly tweaked Zack's ear which caused the man to whimper slightly, "Cloud needs to concentrate on the road and I'd rather not have a case of walking in like a cowboy who has been out on horseback all day…Need to be on our best behaviors tonight for Cloud."
Zack pouted as he saw Cloud thankfully sigh to Angeal, "Fine…but I'm not going to behave when Cloud's friends shows up. Not going to let some smooth talker come in and start talking to try and woe me into thinking he's a good guy."
Angeal groaned as Cloud fought off beating his forehead over and over again into the steering wheel column as he turned corner and pulled in, "Just do it for me, please, Zack?"
"Oh, alright…but only for you, Cloud," Zack beamed as attached himself to Angeal as they came upon the dainty colored and quiet as it seemed Club, "But right now, let's go have some fun!"
~XxXxX~
Sephiroth sat at a red light that placed him not too far from the Club, "…I can do this, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this…" it was the simple mantra that played through his mind as he waited for the light to turn. Even if the light was taking its sweet time to turn Green; which was only serving to drive the man's nerves up and off the charts.
"Seph, darling, you've got to calm down…I'm sure Cloud has some nice friends; they aren't going to be the types to drag you off into a dark corner and attach clamps to your chest and shock you till you give them something they can take as truth," the alter ego slipped forward into the front seat of the man's car, "Just go and enjoy yourself…Cloud is going to be there and from what I've heard from his inner self…He's dressed up to the nines tonight; the kid looks really nice…and cute at the same time."
Sephiroth rolled his eyes, "Is anything like that possible? Nice and cute at the same time?"
"Heh, like it matters, light is green and the Club is up on the next corner."
"Let's do this…"Sephiroth pulled through the green light as he made the turn towards the Club, parking and finding instantly the blond haired man of interest, Oh Gaia…it's going to be a long night…
~XxXxX~
Cloud was never a nervous kind of person, sure there was the occasional awkward moment where he had to be nervous because anything that had Zack quiet for this long was not going to end well. The last time Zack had been this quiet had been the time their High School cheerleaders came after them with the Racquetball clubs rackets and some were wielding mace. Not the best kind of fun to have when it's only a few days short of Graduation. On any first time out with your friends to have them meet the one that has stolen your attention, there are things that your body will do. Sweat a little more, jitters will start to rack through your body making you shake a little and then the most known move is the sound of your saliva been gulped down your throat. Cloud was facing and having all of those things happen like a musical show going through his body and Sephiroth wasn't even near him yet. Zack and Angeal were standing nearby and Zack was doing all he could to get Angeal to at least show a small bit of public affection being that even if Angeal didn't see it or wasn't showing it; Zack could see people were making eyes at him. Zack's soft puppy like whimpers were the other sounds Cloud was hearing besides the quiet footsteps of Sephiroth walking up to them. But as Sephiroth started to close in on the blond like a practiced Ninja, Zack leapt up into Angeal's arms as he started to nuzzle in against Angeal's neck possessively that started to send the man falling.
"ZACKARY NATHANIAL FAIR!" Angeal screamed out, but not before being droned out by the pulsating music of the Club but whenever Angeal used Zack's full name that he had learned from Zack's mom, there was trouble, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"
At that moment, Cloud was hoping that Sephiroth hadn't seen the mess they were in, but as he started to move; he heard the sounds of a man groan as Cloud started to blush and it grew as he realized who the groaning belong to. And where his hand had landed at to make the man groan; his hand had placed itself, or maybe it was Zack's doing, on Sephiroth's lower regions. Cloud was grabbing onto the man's parts as he attempted to lift himself up, but that was quickly haltered as Cloud turned away and scrambled to his feet while apologizing over and over. Zack and Angeal were flabbergasted as to what was wrong with Cloud, but as they look to see the silver haired man pinned in between them; it was the man that Cloud had wanted them to meet.
"…Well, can't say this awkward," Zack said with a straight face as he clung to Angeal, but that was short lived as Angeal picked the teen up by the scruff of his neck and sit him on the side, "Hey!"
"Sorry about that," Angeal offered out his hand to Sephiroth as he helped the man to his feet, but the location of the blond interest of the man seemed to had vanished, simply behind Angeal, "I'm sorry…I didn't catch your name."
Sephiroth dusted himself off as he felt, or more or less, heard his internal alter ego babbling on and on about the fact that he had gotten his world rocked and without a first date, but as it realized what was going on, "Sephiroth…Sephiroth Maximus, and you are?"
Angeal retracted his hand as he picked Zack up to his side, "I'm Angeal Hewley and this is my boyfriend, almost a little child son of mine, Zackary "Zack" Fair and…" the man's eyes started to look about for Cloud, but Zack beat him to that one.
"And this guy here," Zack pinched at Cloud's bottom as the blond squeaked, jumping out from behind Angeal as he prepared to deck Zack, but the sight of Sephiroth watching stopped him, "Is my bestest buddy, Cloud "I'm Too Cute For My Own Good and I'm Sure I'm a Virgin" Strife and I guess you two already know each other."
Cloud growled under his breath but it was faint as he kept his blushing features away from Sephiroth's line of view and trying all he could to stay out of the lighting of the parking lot; the thought of the man seeing his beat up face worried him. Everyone was introduced and now it was time to have some fun! Once inside the Club, no one was able to hear one another, but the thing that made Cloud just wish that he had opted to stay home and find another way to have Sephiroth meet his friends. The bright strobe lights in the room worried him; one false light could show off the bruises he had received from Tifa that afternoon. Everything was against him at this point even the fact that Zack had grabbed a hold of his wrist and pulled him to a table where the he, Angeal and Sephiroth had already managed to find while Cloud had become lost.
"Well, this is fun, but I want to dance!" Zack pounced up and down in his seat as he tried to pull Angeal out onto the dance floor with him, "Come on you guys!"
Sephiroth shook his head as he screamed over the music, "I don't do this scene too much because from the looks of it…I'm liable to get humped by a passing male and I rather like my backside virginity to stay intact, thanks, but I think I'll stay here at the table."
Zack looked at Angeal as his attention then fell to Cloud, but before he could make a move, Angeal pulled the teen out onto the floor, "We'll be back later!"
"Well, this is rather fun…but, I think your little friend is playing hard to be friendly tonight with us…I've been talking with the boy's alter ego and let's just say, the kid had it rough at school today, something about a harpy hitting on him, and not in the good way," the ego seemed to speak up over the light din throbbing through Sephiroth's head as he nudged his gaze towards Cloud whom had unconsciously found himself nestling in close against the man, "Try talking to the kid, I sense a quieter upbeat song coming on…"
~XxXxX~
Cloud didn't much care for clubbing compared to Zack and Angeal who were enjoying themselves immensely; the way the two men danced upon another was like watching them do foreplay out on a dark dance floor. Sickening it seemed, but at the same point, it was alluring. Not wanting to be the wallflower, Cloud turned his eyes up to Sephiroth who looked seemingly breathtaking in the strobe lights and crazy Club lights.
"…I'm sorry about earlier with my friends…it's just that, Zack doesn't take well to others leering at him with a kind of lust in their eyes. One bad Gay Erotica film and he fears that the moment he strays from Angeal at a place like this and he thinks he's going to end up in some perverts basement chained to a wall dressed up like a Puppy in slave wear…" Cloud sighed as he played with the ends of Sephiroth's hair, "They're usually not this chaotic, but after I told Zack about the…"
He grew quiet as a blush worked on his face, but what he didn't realize was that being so close to the man; he had become his own private heater and had begun to melt off the makeup to hide the marks from Tifa's fists, "…I told them about how much fun I had last night and they insisted they meet you."
"I'm glad you had fun…"Sephiroth's eyes gazed down on Cloud's, but in a fleeting moment; he saw the bruises, "…I don't mean to impose, but, may I ask what happened to your face?"
"…I tripped down the stairs on the way here," Cloud didn't want to fess up that his psychotic ex wailed on him because he was heading out the gate from First Base with her now ex-boyfriend at lunch, "No big deal."
As much as Zack wanted to continue enjoying the joys of dancing and grinding against Angeal; he could sense things were about to turn sour as he pulled Angeal along with him as he plopped himself down next to Cloud, "What you girls talking about over here?"
"…Zackary," Angeal grumbled as he watched Cloud starting to crawl into himself, "You sure have a big mouth."
"Big enough to do the job right, but just for clarity, Sephiroth…Cloud gotten into a little bit of a scuffle with a bitch at school today just because he made her boyfriend come out of the closet, in fact," Zack's eyes looked towards the dance floor as he saw a pair slow dancing down on the dance floor; the fiery red hair was familiar but the man with him, he was not familiar, "…That red headed one out there, that's his ex's now ex…"
Cloud groaned as he wished he could crawl under the table right then and there, Make it all stop.
~XxXxX~
The night dragged on and on, the friends became close with one another and at some point during the night, Angeal and Zack had slipped away onto the dance floor again, but it had become a series of slow dances. Zack could work with the pace; his soft happy smile on his face made Cloud softly whine to himself as he played with his own fingers under the table, but something stopped him. Sephiroth had placed his hands around Cloud's as he brought them up around the man's neck and shoulders as one of his own arms wrapped around Cloud's waist. The other brought Cloud's face in against his face as the man's started to softly kiss each of the simple bruises on Cloud's face; this had to be a dream, but there was nothing of the typical dreams or nightmares in the room. Cloud's eyelids started to flutter and slowly close as he felt the man's lips and a slip of tongue push past his lips, "…W-Was…Was that you or your alter ego just now?" he fluttery asked as his lips parted away from Sephiroth's and his eyes started to slowly regain their luster once again, "Because that felt like it might've had some of you in it…"
"…Can't I indulge some affection on someone as beautiful an angel as my future muse next to me?" Sephiroth softly chuckled as he left a few peppered kisses against the blonde's cheeks, "And to answer your question, there was a little bit of the alter ego in there, but I'm going to say that soft mewling moan I heard the moment your tongue felt mine was your alter ego."
Cloud simply shook his head, "No…all me…" a soft smile crossed against the blonde's face that began to illuminate in the lights, "…Care to have another go?"
"Don't have to ask me twice," Sephiroth returned lips against lips as the waist arm started to tighten slightly to then slack again, but this time; it began to become curious and courageous as it started to tickle up along the under part of the blonde's back.
Cloud didn't need a simple few hints to know that it was alright to become a little curious of what could turn this man on as the intertwined arms around the man's neck began to softly run up under the under part of the man's scalp. He heard a soft groan or maybe a moan, as he ran his fingers in against the man's scalp, but it could've been accounted to the sensation of Cloud's hips slowly and unconsciously rolling on the man's. Breaths were starting to catch in between one another as the other began to fight for dominance, Cloud's fingers grazed up behind the man's ears as felt the straying hand around his waist unconsciously dipped to his ass. A soft squeaking moan leapt out of Cloud as he felt himself falling back onto the bench of the table with Sephiroth falling over him, unconsciously straddling him.
Zack and Angeal picked that time to show up, "Having fun gentlemen?"
"S-Shut up, Zack," Cloud rushed to push Sephiroth up and away from him as his blush became darker as he unconsciously buried his face in Sephiroth's shoulder, "W-We…We just got carried away and I slipped…"
"More like you were starting to round into Second Base there, Cloud," Zack chuckled as he sat down beside Cloud as Angeal rolled his eyes as he watched that the man seemed calm about the situation.
Angeal watched as Zack was slowly becoming a "concerned parent"; Cloud's well being was in his way, his responsibility. It showed a sense of maturity in Zack that lit up in Angeal's eyes, possibilities that his rambunctious Pup was starting to settle down and be a mature adult. But such things are at times liable to turn out bad and they did just as Zack opened his mouth in which Angeal groaned, slamming his forehead into the palm of his hand. Zack opened his mouth to sound mature out of worry for his friend and yet, he failed to keep up that maturity.
"So, from what I just saw, I'm guessing you are serious about my friend here then, right?" Zack leaned in as he watched groan with annoyance as Angeal took sympathy and pity on Cloud, "If so, I have a few questions for you."
Cloud groaned louder as he placed his forehead on the table.
Sephiroth leaned forward to hear Zack's questions, "Go ahead, I'm an open book and there is nothing I'm not willing to reveal."
"Zack…"Cloud groaned as he let his head roll back against the back of the seat, but the sound of a soft, but yet, hearty chuckle from Sephiroth seemed to smooth things over.
"As you may have not noticed from the reason your friend came back that other day; I'm a Writer by trade and let's just say…after having a kind of rude awakening epiphany; I've started to take the route of writing Gay Erotica Novels," Sephiroth seemed to blush at mentioning it, but he could see the intent on listening in Zack's youthful face, "And…I was hoping your friend here, would be willing to work with me on it. But only on the side of helping to get it Published and help me start up a Publishing Company to get this work off the ground…"
Angeal seemed interested enough, but there was something about the way Zack was eying Sephiroth that was setting the man on alert as he watched for Zack, "Zackary…mind your words or else…"
Zack brushed the man off; "one more question…Do you have any intentions on being more then just a casual lover or boyfriend to my friend here?'
That's when the maturity cloak dropped from Zack as Angeal muttered to himself while Cloud sent Zack death glares with his eyes while preparing to slug him, but leaving a flabbergasted Sephiroth sitting in the booth. Questioning as to what Zack meant.
"Can you give me an example of what you mean?"
Someone up there must love Cloud right now because thankfully, the guy didn't know what Zack meant, "Please don't make him point it out…You're not going to like the sight…"
"What do you mean?" Sephiroth was possibly feigning innocence as well as stupidity, but the ego in his mind as well as Cloud was running around like there was a fire under their tails.
Zack pointed out to the dance floor where the fiery red hair of the man from that afternoon was who body was rubbing hard up against the body of another, but with the way the lights bathed them both; it hid the skin color of his partner. But from the way the redhead's head lolled back as his partner's hips moved in on his own; it was telling them a lot that the two men were all but short of having sex on the dance floor. But what the group doesn't hear is the sound of the man letting out a moan as his partner's lips and even teeth met at the bend of his redhead's neck. It was like watching two animals mating with one another as the stronger of the two started to roll his hips down onto the redhead's until both men were against a wall, in the shadows of course and what the group saw happen next nearly turned Cloud as red as a Fire Truck and Sephiroth questioning how that was even humanly possible.
"That is what I'm asking you about…What intentions do you sexually have with my little blond friend?" Zack seemed to ask as bluntly as if it weren't even something should never be asked, "You plan on marrying him should you knock him up?"
Angeal rolled his eyes as Cloud all but crawled under the table, "What? What did I say?"
"Zackary Nathanial Fair, I will kill you!" Cloud lunged forward at his friend as Sephiroth locked his arms, unconsciously around Cloud's waist, "W-What are you doing?"
"I want to answer your friend's question," Sephiroth spoke up without any care for how he would answer the question, "Sexually you asked…I will never pursue that route until we both are sure we are ready for such courses of action, maybe the occasional blowjob but beyond that…That will be up to him."
Cloud wanted to just to evaporate, this man, who had an almost death grip on his waist wasn't even his official boyfriend yet, they had kissed, with mind blowing results, was already answering on the question about them having sex. Sex! Something he had feared ever since his first experience, that was left with a better after taste, no thanks to Tifa; the only thing that scared him about the idea of the term the man had just said or even sex was, how did two men go about it? Was there some special way about doing it? Was there a book for first time gay man to figure out how to make love, let alone have sex with one another? If there was, that person would be a rich man by now if not already.
Zack snickered to himself, "Well Cloud, sounds like you've got a honest guy there that's got his hands already on the package I'm sure he can't wait to see in his own time," his chuckles stuttered out as he felt Angeal nearly leaving bruises on his ribcage as Cloud squeaked at the realization that, yes, Sephiroth's hand had unconsciously placed itself against the gape between his thighs.
"…Z-Zack just shut up before I have to put your lights out…" Cloud blushed as he unconsciously moved the man's misplaced away from the place but as he did, the man's fingers wove in with his own, "With that, I think we should call it a night."
Angeal had to agree as he wove his fingers through Zack's hair which seemed to soothe the teen as he leaned in against the man's hands, "I think its best that we all head home for now…it's been a long day and I'm sure you've guys are looking forward to the long weekend ahead…"
"Yes…I've got to get home and at least try and make a further indent into the possible future work blinking away on my computer at home…"Sephiroth looked in Cloud's direction as he nuzzled his nose affectionately against the man's head, "Can't let this new business venture be a bust, and if you are up for it, Cloud…I would love if you would come over and give me your opinion about how its progressing so far…"
Cloud was nervous as he played unconsciously with Sephiroth's fingers, "I guess I can be persuaded to come over…I've got some work to do before…"
"Nonsense, Cloud, you've got the work for this weekend and probably the next week's homework done already," Zack cut the man off, "Believe me, if I've been your friend since at least Junior High, I know how much of a homework freak you are that everything has to be done before you have fun. Go to the guy's place tomorrow, enjoy yourself."
"You sure, Zack? I thought we were planning to sit and watch some movies in the apartment on T.V., wasn't there some kind of Marathon coming on tomorrow afternoon?"
Zack cleared his throat as he made eyes at Cloud that read loud and clear as, 'Go to the man's house and spend sometime with him; I'll entertain myself. Don't let him slip away as he sits there in your hip pocket.' Cloud knew better then to disagree with Zack, "…Okay then, then I guess about noon time?"
"Noon it is, and plan on at least sticking around through dinner, I wouldn't take 'No' for an answer, Mr. Strife," Sephiroth softly chuckled as he flashed the blushing blond a soft smile before recapturing his lips again, "Deal?"
"…Deal," Cloud returned the soft lip capture as the two men pulled apart and the Club music was softly dying out in their ears and it hadn't taken long for the other dancing pair to had found their way into the backroom of the Club.