The Love Guru

Word Count: 1300

When a timid knock sounded against Tseng's door, he frowned as he paused in his work. He did his best to train his Turks to know he was there for them, their leader, their protector, their voice at ShinRa (especially with Veld constantly off doing who knew what). He didn't want them to be timid with him, but Elena… he hadn't expected her to be so different from Emma. He sighed and called her in.

He was not expecting Zack Fair to cautiously open the door and poke his head into the office. "Uh, excuse me, sorry to interrupt… can I, um… come in?" the SOLDIER asked softly.

"By all means," Tseng said, voice slow and modulated as ever but adding in a sweeping gesture with one hand to indicate Zack should come in at once. He had no idea why Fair could need to see him, and was aware that the boy's mentor, Angeal, had made it very clear the Turks were not to approach his student, so the boy's presence here now was quite the curiosity.

"I, uh… I don't really know why I came here…" Zack trailed off, melancholy exuding from every inch of him. He was not at all what Tseng had expected: his intel reported Zack as a vivacious, exuberant young man who was always confident in himself (although willing enough to learn and improve, so not arrogant in his confidence) and, most of all, always moving. Zack was supposed to be a fidgeter, but the boy sitting across from Tseng now was so still and slumped in his posture, if Tseng hadn't been able to make out the rise and fall of his breathing he may have thought the boy was dead.

On top of that, to start out a meeting with such an obvious falsehood was another big red flag. Zack clearly had a purpose in coming, or else he wouldn't be disobeying three SOLDIER Firsts to drop by.

"Something's clearly wrong," Tseng said in his usual monotone. "If you came here to tell me what it is, tell me. Otherwise I'll call Angeal for you."

That earned a reaction. A look of horror washed over Zack, and he tensed, even straightening out of his slumped posture. "Please don't," he said firmly. "I – excuse me, I – I'm Zack Fair. You're Tseng, right? I came to the right office?"

Tseng inclined his head slightly by way of answer. This was… again, not what he had expected.

"Uh… Reno told me I should talk to you," Zack said quickly, as if he needed to share the information but would rather no one heard.

Tseng's eyes flashed. Reno? When had they met? Reno knew as well as everyone in Turk that Zack Fair was absolutely off-limits. But Reno was always the type to push boundaries… Tseng probably should have seen this coming. But why send Zack here?

"Yes?" Tseng inquired politely, when it had been a minute and nothing else seemed forthcoming.

Zack appeared to be struggling to find the right words. "I'm dating… someone," he said at last. Tseng tried not to show how flabbergasted he was. Relationship advice? For someone dating Sephiroth? Tseng was sure he wouldn't have even the slightest idea where to begin. But as if a dam had been broken, Zack was already going on, like he couldn't stop now that he'd begun. "He's very… closed-off. I mean, I know he… cares for me, that's never a problem. And I understand that my natural, uh… friendliness is a little overwhelming to a lot of people, especially in… public? He's also in a different position than me, you know… more people are watching him, so he has to really watch his behavior. But I just… this is who I am, you know? I can't be… like him. And I guess I'm just worried… that it will turn out to be too much. That I'll be too much. I don't want to lose him," Zack said that last so miserably, as if he didn't want to but couldn't see any other possible outcome. He curled in on himself in his chair, looking not at all like a powerful SOLDIER and very much like an insecure eighteen year old.

"Just to be clear, why ask me about it?" Nothing about what Zack had just said was clear, but this seemed to be the most important point to address for now. Surely the boy had real friends he could turn to for advice.

Zack looked up, clearly startled. "Reno said you and… my boyfriend are kind of alike. You're both leaders and kind of… aloof. He said you might have some insight into… my boyfriend's position."

Aloof? Hm. Tseng clearly had some work to do with his Turks, to make himself more approachable. But in the meantime… yes, when Zack put it that way, he could see some resemblances between himself and Sephiroth, in position and personality if not in history.

"And why aren't you talking to… your boyfriend about it?" Zack had been careful not to say Sephiroth's name, and Tseng could respect that.

"I'm trying," Zack sighed. "He doesn't understand my position at all. It's all protocol and maintaining appearances with him, and I get that it's important for him to keep up his reputation and everything, but…" Zack paused, again apparently struggling to find the right phrasing. "I've spent a lot of time in close relationships with people who have a lot riding on their reputation, and they've never let it get in the way of me being… me. So I just have to wonder if maybe S… my boyfriend doesn't really want me after all?"

Tseng felt his heart go out to Zack – and to Sephiroth. What a difficult position, to be blessed with such an affectionate lover and not know at all how to respond to him. Sephiroth hardly had experience with platonic affection, let alone romantic… it was no wonder he was struggling to reciprocate Zack's feelings. Well, one problem at a time.

"I'm sure your boyfriend cares about you very much," Tseng said, trying to be reassuring and aware that his tone sounded completely uncaring, "he probably just doesn't know how to express himself."

"I've been showing him how," Zack complained. "But he acts like I'm a little kid."

"Perhaps you could try telling him?" Zack stared at him in confusion, so Tseng pressed on. "It may be that he has been told behaving as you do is… inappropriate. When you behave that way, rather than seeing it as an invitation, he may just see it as being disrespectful. You must tell him it is not, and invite him to participate with you – or else he is left with no recourse but to judge you silently against the standard he has been given."

Zack hummed quietly. "Is this one of those learning methods things? Angeal was telling me about them," he elaborated. "He said some people learn by reading, others by writing… some by hearing things, others by practicing them. Some people need a mix of methods to learn. Is this like that? I learn by doing, but, S… my boyfriend learns by talking?"

"You might as well try and see. At worst, he continues to misunderstand and nothing changes, right?"

Zack was nodding slowly. "Yeah…" he said, "yeah. That's a good point. I'll talk to him about it, then. Um… thank you."

"Then, if there's nothing else, I have a meeting to get to…" Tseng said. He was already ten minutes late, but who knew when he might need a favor from Zack Fair. It was better to help out in situations like this.

"Oh, of course, you're busy! I'll get out of your hair. Um, really, thank you."

"Not at all. Drop by any time, Zack."