Disclaimer: I do not any of the canon characters, the places, or anything to do with the FFVII universe, the only thing that is mine is the writing.
The drilling had been nothing short of a wonder when it came to Cloud's state of mind. With how anxious he was, he had completely forgotten about possibly needing to downplay the skills he already had. Many had given him rather long looks, what with him not mimicking the lieutenant but instead he was performing every move in perfect synch and with almost more finesse than him. It was odd in a way, but Cloud did not mind, in fact it hadn't taken him long to have closed his eyes to do all of this, having decided that he needn't see anything that the others did. He knew exactly what the tempo was, listening to the SOLDIER's feet as they moved on the floor, pinpointing his senses on the supposed educator though soon, he was considering him more of a training partner than an actual instructor. Sure, when a command rang through the air he snapped to attention and gave him twenty push-ups but other than that, he did not consider them different or unequal in anyway.
As the warm up was concluded – with some of the rookies looking almost dead on their feet already – Cloud could feel a pleasant warmth in his muscles, a slight sheen of sweat on his skin even as his mind was buzzing with the possibilities of the things he would be asked to do. After all, they were supposed to be seeing what would be their areas of expertise and even if Cloud knew exactly what it would be – after all, his previous party had tried teaching him to use their weapons but they'd always given up. Sure, he had the necessary finesse and agility for numerous amounts of weapons, but nothing quite fit his hand like his beloved broadswords. At the thought of broadswords he had felt a heavy pang of longing for the fusion sword that he had been forced to leave behind but that was soon forgotten as a few more Second's – as well as the random First – came into the hall with different weapons, taking the small group of rookies into their 'gentle' attention and soon enough, Cloud had had a staff, a gun and a pair of knuckles on him, with the Second looking at him like he'd grown another head as it became evident that he had had some kind of minimal training in all of them. Cid would have beaten the SOLDIER teaching him if he had seen just how he was holding that staff.
As the first sword was brought to him, he couldn't help but smile as he took hold of the hilt, running his hand over the smooth blade. It was more like a katana than anything else, even different from the regular-issue swords, but apparently Shinra wanted to find someone who could be taught by the General. It was almost decided then by the man that was evaluating him that this slender sword would be his choice before the Shinra-issued sword was placed in his hands, the bulkier form of it making him smile and immediately, his stance shifted. Sure, his muscles were already aching from having tried all of those weapons and getting tried with them, but as the sword was placed in his hands, he immediately held it like it was a broadsword. That was the beauty of these swords, they could be handled like a broadsword even if they lacked the necessary bulk, but they could also be handled much like a katana if that was the wish of the wielder. As he was ordered through a few paces, he almost laughed at how easy it felt, how natural it felt to wield the blade. He could feel his other hand itching for another, just so he could mimic the First Tsurugi's fighting style, but he settled for what he got.
He hadn't even realized as the hall had quieted, everyone watching the small blonde, the runt of the group, wielding the broadsword with accuracy and an almost loving touch. Even the Second watching him seemed puzzled by the display but with a huff, he decided that it would be that sword and then larger one's once he built up his strength. A quick smile curled Cloud's lips and just as he was about to realize that everyone was staring, into the gym came bursting a tall figure and as his attention snapped to him, he couldn't help but look a bit amused. It was Zack, with that familiar bounce in his step that signaled how he was excited about something. He was mildly amused as he was the target towards which he steered himself, however the closer he got; the more Cloud was reminded of the mental image of him with the dark Commander. A blush rose onto his cheeks, only for Zack to fling his arm over his shoulder and almost pull him into a headlock, making Cloud let out a rather exasperated sound as he had to bend as the man dragged him along.
"You get to be my student, Spiky!" Came his excited voice, a bounce to his step as he dragged the rookie after him.
"Zack... let go," he mumbled in return, hearing the few snickers that were going on in the gym.
"Why didn't you tell me you obviously know your weapon? Could have saved you the trouble of this whole thing!"
"I… Uhm. I didn't want to be a special case," he muttered in response even as he yanked his head from the hold it was, feeling somewhat dizzy for a moment, what with having yanked his head quite furiously out of his hold. "Besides... it wouldn't have been fair."
Zack blinked, tilted his head and then just laughed straight in his face.
"Come on Chocobo! We're going to celebrate and then I'm taking you to the obstacle grounds to run you to the ground!" It was almost disconcerting how happy the man could sound about that, seeming more than a little happy about the thought of taking the rookie to the training grounds and Cloud didn't doubt for one second that he wouldn't be run to the ground. From what he had learned about Zack, he did everything with his full effort put into it. It was almost annoying in a sense, as Cloud knew that he was already in a rather tired condition and just the thought of needing to do more almost made him want to come up with a very lame excuse about having a headache or something of the sort. But it was that damned wide, excited smile on his lips that made Cloud break, smiling slightly as he nodded.
"Besides. I think you should come live in the apartment with me and Angeal and Genesis and Sephiroth! I mean… I'm not uhh… using my room, so you could have mine." Was Cloud seeing things? Was Zack honestly blushing when he mentioned him and Angeal? He couldn't help the soft laugh and smirk at the thought of Zack actually feeling a bit embarrassed about admitting that to him.
"Yeah… I saw. You and Angeal I mean," he said with a slightly crooked smile. Then he actually thought about whether he should move in with the three and it seemed that his hesitation was obvious, because Zack rushed to speak.
"Think about that later, alright? But now, I'm going to make you beg I hadn't chosen you!"
Zack actually made good on that promise.
Once he was finally given the permission to stop, he practically tumbled to the ground and stayed there; panting and feeling quite happy he hadn't eaten anything before, since he would have thrown it up anyway. Every single muscle in his body was screaming at him, telling him he'd overdone it and he could only agree. Zack had made him run more than a few miles as fast as he could, almost jogging beside him, constantly pushing him to go faster before suddenly leading him to an obstacle course to go through that as well. Climbing, jumping, crawling, ducking and diving, it had been beyond strenuous and with that annoying, excited voice in his ear he kept pushing forward and now, as he tumbled down onto the grass, he could hear that heartfelt laughter of his mentor and he couldn't help but smile. It was so familiar and so… fitting.
After all, now he would learn from Zack, instead of leeching everything from his memories.
Pushing himself up, he let out a soft groan as his muscles protested, a soft whine leaving him as Zack pulled him up, this time with Cloud's arm over Zack's shoulders as he took his weight, intent on helping him. The flashbacks that the action caused almost made all the happiness evaporate from Cloud, the reminder of how Zack had dragged him through wilderness just to get away from Hojo and Shinra a bit too much for him so suddenly. But this time, at least he was awake; this time he understood what was going instead of being in the midst of one serious case of mako withdrawal. He hadn't been awake in the true sense of the word, instead he'd been locked in a horrible world of nightmare's, with his body unable to move in the slightest. It had been as if he had been having night terrors, simply not able to move as the monsters came for him.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he realized that Zack had been busy prattling on about something and that he was completely lost, not knowing what the hell he was talking about. For a moment, he closed his eyes just so he could concentrate just to realize that he was busy talking about how they would be doing his materia lessons. Stopping himself from telling the other that he knew how to draw out the magic from the materia, he realized that that might have not been the right way to go about this whole teaching thing. He would be quite happy to play dumb, yes, but he also knew that Zack would soon realize that he did not need anything else but training to get his muscles building, as well as getting him into better shape in every other way. The one thing he had had to admit when training with the weapons, was that even if his mind remembered how to do every single move, they had been somewhat jerky what with his muscles having no idea of what they were supposed to be doing.
Not really listening to Zack, he was happy to be dragged to the apartment, barely able to keep himself from falling asleep. However he knew he would need to stretch, take a hot shower and eat. Not necessarily in that order. A soft groan left him as he was placed on the couch with Zack excitably talking about something – some mission, from the sound of it – yet again, all he could do was lean his head back and delight in the feeling of finally being able to stay still. He was contemplating strangling the black haired youth in his sleep but he decided that it would be quite counter-productive if he thought about his training. After all, he did need Zack to learn the use of the sword. Besides, he would get to see the man in action and that would be wonderful, after all before it had him been in the action, moving like him. Thinking back on it made him feel confused, a headache building in the back of his mind.
What he hadn't noticed was the fact that he had dozed off for a moment, woken up only my Zack throwing a pair of loose trousers and a t-shirt at him, waking him up to tell him to go and take a shower before he ended up stinking the entire couch he was seated on. A growl left the blonde as he pushed himself up, making his way into Zack's room and into the shower there before stripping, hissing at times when his muscles protested to being put to use and it was truly starting to irk him. Once naked, he dragged himself underneath the shower head and turned the water on, delightfully getting shocked as the water was first almost cold, then slowly heated up and almost made him melt underneath the strong spray of water. A soft moan of satisfaction left him at the feeling of the shower and finally, he could start thinking.
To move in or not? Of course… it would be easier when it came to his training, after all, Zack would have the opportunity of waking him up in the middle of the night if he so pleased and from the hidden sadist that had been revealed earlier that day, he knew that that would happen often. But then there was the problem of a certain General. Could he be able to live in close quarters with him when just the sight of that long silver hair and those green eyes had his pulse racing in more ways than one? And what if he came there one day stressed from a mission and ended up triggering Cloud into a rage? It was a possibility, but then again, he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything to him, not in the condition he was in at the moment. A sigh left him as he reached for a bottle of shampoo, snickering as the smell of flowers sprung into the air and he couldn't help but feel amused that Zack would use floral shampoo. Ridiculous if one asked him.
He heard the door vaguely, just before he put his head underneath the spray of water, delightfully deafened by the sound of water running over his ears, making him let out a soft sigh of happiness as he rolled his shoulders and let out a soft sigh. His thoughts yet again drifted to the General and now they concentrated on the way that he had felt pressing him against the counter, against the wall and oh… those lips. Without realizing it his hand had ghosted lower down the planes of his belly, fingers teasing his slowly awakening erection as he couldn't help but try and get rid of the frustration that was caused by Sephiroth, albeit this kind of tension was quite different than anything ever before.
A soft moan left his lips as slender fingers wrapped around his length and stroked, a shiver racing down his back as he braced himself against the wall with one hand, a soft whine leaving him as he languidly teased himself. Soft pants were leaving his lips as he thrust into his hand and with his thoughts concentrate on no one else but him, it did not take long for Cloud to find his release, muffling his moan by biting his lower lip. A shiver raced down his spine as his seed was washed away into the drain, with him still leaning against the wall, his body quivering in the small afterglow and he couldn't help but come across a relatively disturbing realization. He wanted Sephiroth, wanted him more than anyone he had ever wanted before in his life. Blue eyes blinked open, his hand reaching to turn off the shower even as he stood there, shocked.
He wanted to be Sephiroth's, wanted him to be his and he had to admit that for the first time in his long, confusing years; he truly had a crush on someone. He who had saved Gaia more than once was crushing like a young school boy on one of the most powerful men the entire planet held. Speaking of the devil, he simply happened to be standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe and watching him with quite amused eyes, taking in his nakedness and letting just a little bit of the underlying fire show to the outside.
Things just weren't about to get easier for him, were they?