Chapter 12

You know what would really be nice? If everyone that has this story on 'alert' were to leave a review, just to say that they like it. I have over sixty people with it on alert...and yet I barely manage to scrape up twenty reviews, and most of them are not off of people on the list. Come on you guys, pleaseeeee...Oh, new pic is included too at my homepage!

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Chapter 12

Freed only from the electric chair, and not the confines of his imprisonment, Cloud found himself being lifted and carried back to the generals bedroom. He squirmed and twisted in the tall man's arms, trying to wriggle free.

But Sephiroth just tightened his grip all the more, the arm that he had wrapped around the back of the prisoner's shoulders crushing the boy further into his chest, pinning him firmly in place. "You really do need a bath," he quipped, as he sniffed at the air above the boys head with a contemptuous expression on his handsome face. "You smell decidedly, 'off'."

Cloud bit back the retort that immediately sprang to his lips. It would take the general but scant seconds to turn around and dump him back into the chair, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. A bath didn't sound too big a deal. He couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed such a luxury. Besides, he hoped the water would soothe the burns that had begun to blister where the metal restraints had made contact with his skin.

But he couldn't let the silver haired man's mocking of him go without some sign of rebellion, and so he deliberately turned his bloodied face in towards the general, and rubbed his bleeding mouth against the mans black leathers and partly exposed chest as if he had an itchy nose, a smile of contentment crossing his lips as he looked upon the smeared blood that came from his bitten tongue, his need for retaliation satisfied as the gore was deposited upon his captor.

Striding across the bedroom, past the large bed, Sephiroth approached one of the huge wardrobes in the room, and kicked at the bottom of it with his foot. It immediately sprang inward, revealing that it was a cleverly camouflaged doorway, that led off into a scrumptious bathroom.

Dumping the blond boy unceremoniously on the closed lid of the toilet, the general made his way to the overly large bath, and proceeded to fill it with hot water and bath salts, adding in cold when perfumed steam filled the room. Like a nursemaid, he occasionally tested the temperature of the water as it rose with his hand, swirling the running bath water around until he was happy that it was alright.

"Do you want any help getting in?" Sephiroth asked, standing up straight and looking at the prisoner, who had spent his time while the bath was filling, staring around the room.

"I can manage just fine, thank you," Cloud snapped, pushing himself upright, and trying to hide the grimace of pain that pinched at his face. He wouldn't show this man that his body was still hurting.

"I can manage just fine, thank you...what?"

The words pulled the prisoner up short, and he looked across at the general nervously. At his continued silence, a silver eyebrow rose, and the dreaded sneer was once again apparent on the mans face.

"I'm waiting..." A foot tapped impatiently, a hand coming to rest on a hip in a stance of dominance.

Cloud sighed, his blue eyes looking longingly at the bath. He would feel so much better after he'd washed off the dirt of the past few weeks. He would feel so much more refreshed with clean and shampooed hair. A nice long soak would do wonders for his aching, hurting body.

He issued another sigh before conceding.

"I can manage just fine, thank you...Master."

With a small flick of the wrist, the general appeared appeased, and he turned and left the room, leaving the prisoner to get into the bath by himself.

Alone at last, Cloud let his body sink into the depths of the warm water, and he lay his head back upon the marble headrest and bravely bore the sharp stinging that assaulted his wounds.

The dissolved bath salts seemed to be working wonders on him, and he felt his entire being slowly relaxing. He shifted his bottom, and allowed himself to slip deeper into the water, so that the warmth of it was lapping just underneath his lower jaw. He stuck out his damaged tongue and raised a cupped hand to his sore mouth, swilling the sweet scented water around the wounds that his teeth had caused and spitting out the clotted blood into the bath, rinsing off too the dried blood around his lips and chin.

Feeling a little better, he gave a contented deep sigh and closed his eyes.

The sound of a weighted thud hitting the tiled floor jerked Cloud out of his semi somnolent state, and water spilled over the sides of the bath as he hastily pushed himself up, his eyes flying open to see what had disturbed him.

His eyes opened even wider when he saw the general standing there bare chested, the top duster his captor wore being dropped to the floor the cause of the noise that had startled him. Now, the silver haired man had his hands at the buckle that held his pants in place, slowly undoing the leather strap, and slipping it from around his waist.

Mesmerized, the prisoner could only stare as the tight pants were peeled downwards, down past shapely thighs, down over perfectly rounded knees...and kicked off and away from the ankles by large, strong feet.

Now as naked as his prisoner, the general lifted one leg, and climbed into the bath, sitting his frame easily at the opposite end, his long loose silver hair floating in tendrils atop the warm water, swirling around as the water settled back down.

Cloud scooted as far away from the man as he could, not wanting to touch him, drawing his legs up and wrapping his arms around his knees protectively.

"What...What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he squeaked.

Again, the sneer that the boy was growing to hate crossed the generals face.

"I'm bathing," he replied, innocently.

"You could at least wait until I get out," Cloud protested.

"Excuse me?" The sneer was gone, to be replaced with a sardonic frown. "Are you, trying to tell me, when I can bathe in my own bath?"

The prisoner found himself blushing, as he realised the absurdity of what he had just said to his captor.

"Besides," Sephiroth continued, nonchalantly, "I'm only in here to wash off the muck that you put on me."

Cloud looked at the drying blood that spoiled the smooth span of the man's white, hairless chest. The bath's water level reached the bottom of the smeared gore, and now small rivulets of red were running into the bath, being washed away from the generals skin. Cloud found his gaze irresistibly being drawn lower, below the water line, towards the silver pubic haired groin of the general.

Sephiroths hand coming down and splashing at the water between them marred the view, and snapped Clouds attention back up, and he raised his eyes to see the general smiling. Cloud's blush deepened. It was all very well to size your enemy up, but it was most embarrassing to be caught doing so.

"Are you going to do it, or what?"

The question made the prisoner catch his breath, and he looked with trepidation at the general. The sneer was back in place on his beautiful face, as he lay back and rested his arms out along the edges of the bath.

"Do...do what?"

"Clean me, of course. You put the blood there, you can take it off." Sephiroths eyebrows knitted together, and he leaned forwards a little, lowering his voice just a touch. "Why? What did you think I meant?"

When he got no reply from the uneasy prisoner, Sephiroth reached behind himself and picked up one of the several clean flannels that were always kept on a side stool, throwing it into the face of the blond boy, who grabbed at it quickly.

"Use that," he instructed. "Some time today. The water's getting cold," he urged, as the prisoner continued to remain where he was.

A little uneasily, Cloud forced himself to kneel in the bath and dipped the flannel into the warm water, before reaching his arm out towards the generals chest.

In the blink of an eye Sephiroth had grabbed the prisoners extended arm and pulled the boy towards himself, squeezing the bruised and blistered wrist he held painfully in his grip when Cloud tried to wrestle free.

"I've changed my mind," Sephiroth said, wrenching the flannel from the blonde's clenched fingers and tossing the wet rag to the floor. "Instead of using that to clean me with..." His head indicated the discarded flannel, "...you can use, your tongue!"

Water splashed everywhere, as Cloud doubled his efforts to free himself, his frantic movements thwarted by the confined space he was trapped in. "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you," he kept repeating over and over again, arms and legs flailing.

"Oh no," Sephiroth replied calmly, smoothly dunking the blond head beneath the water and holding it down, wrapping his legs around the twisting body, holding the boy in place. "That pleasure will be all mine, I assure you."