Verbal Sparring

Word Count: 935

Zack Fair could not stop bouncing. Even if Sephiroth, the General, Leader of SOLDIER, and boyfriend extraordinaire had ordered him to "cease your incessant fidgeting this instant," Zack wouldn't have been able to. Not after today.

Luckily for Zack, Sephiroth, walking next to him, did not want him to stop bouncing. Sephiroth found the bouncing, and the enormous smile plastered on Zack's face, and his excited ramblings about all of the fun Sephiroth had just watched him have, quite cute. In fact, it was almost overwhelmingly cute.

"– and when he stepped on me and then sat down, I thought I might die, but I just wiggled a little and he lifted his foot off and moved it and settled back down and I was just surrounded by the softest feathers ever and have you ever cuddled with a chocobo? They're so cute and soft and warm and then he leaned down and nuzzled my cheek with his beak and –"

If Zack behaved this way every time Sephiroth bought and presented him with a chocobo, the Shinra building would very soon find itself overrun with the birds. This time he had thought to take them out to the plains where chocobo ranches could more realistically be managed, but they couldn't schlep out here every day. Shinra was just going to have to adjust.

"– know when we can come back?"

Sephiroth only realized Zack had asked him a question when he noticed the brunette was no longer chattering, and tried to recall what the question was.

"We can come back whenever you want, Zack, as long as you aren't on duty."

This was, apparently, the right thing to say, as it caused Zack to launch into another slew of excited rambling and gesticulating. Sephiroth narrowly avoided getting punched in the eye as Zack waved his arms about, but more interesting was the way the motion caused sheded feathers that had attached themselves to Zack (well, he had basically been rolling in them) to detach and float away. In the evening sunlight, they looked almost like a shroud of golden rain.

For a moment, Sephiroth stopped to watch. Zack continued on, not noticing the change. "Zack," Sephiroth called, just a few paces behind, cutting the brunette off mid-ramble.

"Huh?"

A smile tugged at the General's lips. "You have feathers in your hair," he said, stepping up to his boyfriend and beginning to pick them out, delicately letting them fall.

"Oh," Zack whispered, blushing. He tucked his chin in to give Sephiroth better access to his hair, leaning against the taller man's chest. After a few minutes, Sephiroth was just running his fingers playfully through Zack's hair, having efficiently dispatched the downy feathers.

Zack looked up and found Sephiroth smiling gently down at him. Overcome by the love and affection and happiness he saw in those vivid green eyes, he rushed to fill the silence. "I really did have the most amazing time today, Seph, and if we can't come back for a while I totally understand. This is already more than anyone has ever done for me. I mean, a real chocobo – this can't have been easy. Thank you so much," he finished with sincerity.

"I'm happy that you are happy. It is a joy to watch you play so freely," Sephiroth said quietly. "I know you've been working hard lately."

Zack grinned up at him. "Well I can't be a Second forever!" he said cheekily. "Hard work equals promotion."

"You just made Second a few months ago, Zack," Sephiroth replied, laughing. "How quickly do you intend to ascend the ranks?"

"Welll," Zack said, drawing out the word. "The faster I make First, the faster I gain keycard access to your office, right?" Zack grinned. There were a number of floors and amenities accessible only to First Class SOLDIER, and Angeal had started rationing the number of times he would let Zack get away with "borrowing" his keycard in a week.

"What a pity that you'll be so much busier now, with a pet to look after," Sephiroth commented thoughtfully. "An all access-pass to the First Class floors? Sounds like it might have been fun." He meant it teasingly, but his voice came out soft and sincere, and he worried briefly it might go over Zack's head.

Instead, Zack stared at him for a moment in stunned disbelief. "You –!" he sputtered.

Sephiroth just chuckled mirthfully, glad the joke had gone over well. "You'll catch up someday, Zack," he affirmed. "There's no rush. And in the meantime, you have a new friend to play with."

"Yeah, well," he said grumpily, "I'll probably be here a lot, on all those days I don't want to deal with all the shit you give me just for existing." He glared, petulantly, and Sephiroth responded with a glare of his own, trying for a look of haughtiness and contempt. He couldn't hold onto it, though: Zack's pout was too adorable, and his effort at glaring made him look about as angry as a wet kitten. Relaxing his face into a smile, he pulled his boyfriend into his arms, and they kissed for a moment, gently, enjoying each other's company and riding the wave of mutual happiness and contentment.

"What will you name him?" Sephiroth asked against Zack's lips. "Your new pet?"

"He's been such a friend to me lately," Zack replied, sounding thoughtful. "I think I'll call him Chocobro." Zack pulled away from Sephiroth's tensed form, meeting his horrified gaze with dancing eyes. When it came to these verbal sparring matches, Sephiroth always started them – but Zack always won.

A/N: I have the odd feeling that I write more quickly and easily, and am more creative, in the middle of the night, but also that the quality of my writing suffers for it. As this work is un-beta'd, PLEASE let me know if you notice any typos or areas of bad flow or jerky transitions.

Even if you don't see anything like that, feel free to tell me that, too. ;) I welcome commentary!