Two smelly socks were in his face, and Zack Fair was shaking him awake. Cloud scrunched up his face in misery and tried to go back to sleep but Zack poked his cheek.

"Wake up, Spike. Breakfast."

The blond rubbed at his eyes sleepily and managed to focus on Kunsel. The SOLDIER must have gotten annoyed with the armchair in the middle of the night because he was now squished with Cloud on the couch, though his head was on the opposite end. It was his feet in Cloud's face.

"Gross," Cloud muttered and rolled off onto the floor. Zack hauled him to his feet and gave him a noogie, which was just about the last thing Cloud wanted.

"Sleepy Cloud strikes again. He's too cute," Zack said, speaking to somebody. Cloud peeked and saw Angeal and Genesis passing through to the kitchen. Both were damp, like they'd just gotten out of the shower (gulp, together?). "You hungover at all?"

"No, but I want water."

Zack let him go and Cloud got a cup from the kitchen. Sephiroth was in there already, but unlike the evening before, he had a glass of orange juice in front of him and greeted him politely upon entering.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Their concern was so strange.

Once his glass was drained he freshened up in the bathroom. It was bizarre, but rather awesome, seeing his toothbrush in its usual spot next to the others'. His clothes were rumpled and he hadn't brought spares, and worried momentarily about his appearance. Angeal and Genesis looked incredible with their hair wet and slicked-back off their foreheads as they'd started to prepare breakfast. He looked…well, like he'd gotten drunk and slept on his friend's couch. At least he didn't look like he'd just fucked someone.

Kunsel was awake and evidently grumpy.

"You even sleep with the thing on?" Zack was in the middle of asking when Cloud re-entered the kitchen.

"Not normally. Idiot."

"You couldn't have taken it off last night though?"

Cloud watched the SOLDIERs bicker and then diverted his attention, not having it in him. A gentle hand landed between his shoulder blades and coasted down to his lower back. It pushed, and Cloud was herded closer to the fridge and against Genesis Rhapsodos's side.

"Good morning," he greeted, all politeness and soft smiles for the moment, "What do you want to drink?"

He opened the fridge and pulled out Cloud's juice of choice. He rubbed Cloud's back again, this time firmer, once he had passed a filled glass over. "Did you sleep alright?"

This man's touch, platonic as it was, was making Cloud lose focus. "Um. Yeah. You?"

Genesis's smirk knew everything. "I did. Go sit, Cloud."

Breakfast woke Cloud up considerably. He mostly sat quietly during the meal, still blinking sleep out of his eyes, but they let him be. It had been ages since he'd had a real, edible breakfast anyway, with eggs and bacon and toast. He made sure to praise the cooks right away, which was becoming a thing, he supposed—Angeal grinned at him, his eyes gentle and indulgent at the inside joke. It was a great feeling to be in on something with these men.

The SOLDIER Trio and Zack had requested a small amount of leave, about sixteen hours, to hang with Cloud for his birthday but had to report to Lazard at noon. Kunsel dipped out at nine, and the rest of the time was spent cleaning up from breakfast and just talking: not about the loss of Cloud's virginity or the complicated feelings that bubbled up every time Cloud thought about his sexual escapades, but about regular stuff.

Genesis shoved a copy of LOVELESS into Cloud's hands and the blond held the book up high to completely obscure his face from Genesis, because he had no idea what the fuck he was reading. Poetry had always sounded ridiculous in his head when he attempted to understand it. Cloud turned his head and glanced at Sephiroth, who was sitting opposite him on the other side of the room. The blond's face morphed into panic, an SOS call, and Sephiroth laughed out loud, looking surprised at himself afterward.

"We'll just have to keep trying," Genesis said miserably as he collected the book back later. Cloud failed the man's quiz at the end of Act I.

"Leave the boy alone, Gen."

"I'm attempting to culture him, not torture him." Genesis rolled his eyes at Angeal.

"Do you know anything about horticulture, Cloud?"

"Oh, no," Genesis said, his voice low and dangerous, "I will not stand for another one."

"Another what?" Cloud asked, nervous.

"Another plant-obsessed brute who brings bugs and dirt into my office."

Cloud frowned as the two continued to look angry at each other. Then Genesis moved, and Cloud tensed—but then they were kissing, and Angeal chuckled against Genesis's mouth. The infantryman glanced at Zack, because that was just like how he and his friend interacted all the time, but Zack didn't notice.

Cloud left them around eleven, thanking them all profusely for the get-together, for the present, and for the company. "I had such a good time," he said, waving at the door.

"See you soon," Zack promised, and gently boxed Cloud's chin.

"Come on, five more," Cloud barked.

"Fuuuck."

"Five…four…" Cloud counted out loud Andrew's last few reps, getting even louder on the last two to encourage his friend. The other infantryman just barely managed the last rep, his arms shaking, and Cloud eased the heavy bar back onto its support. "Good job," he said amicably, and leaned over it, resting his forearms on the bar as he peered down. "You okay?"

"Ow," Andrew complained, but sat up on the bench.

The gym was fairly deserted this early on a Saturday morning, but it was better that way. The infantry could not use SOLDIER gyms and facilities but SOLDIER could use anything they damn well pleased. Occasionally some of the ruder Thirds liked to come in and lift exorbitant amounts of weight that was only possible due to enhancements. Fucking show-offs. Everybody hated them.

With it this empty they could have a pleasant conversation about the two dicks at once Andrew had taken the previous weekend, high out of his mind on some high-end Sector 4 drug. "Weren't you sore?" Cloud grunted between reps of his own, his face red with effort.

"No, I drank a potion afterward. Plus I barely remember it."

"That's a once in a lifetime thing. Kinda night you'd want to remember."

Andrew dished all the dirty deets as they moved on to squats. It happened at some friend of a friend's cramped apartment, and two couples had been going at it on the carpet of the bedroom as Andrew and his two buddies fucked on the bed. Cloud laughed (and at a dangerous moment, too, nearly losing his rhythm with the much heavier squatting bar across the room) and once he recovered managed, "I can't even imagine."

"It wasn't that bad," Andrew protested, but he really knew that, yes, it was. "That's right—you're Mr. Relationship now. How is that going, anyway?"

Cloud took up his spotting position after they switched again. "Not great."

"You still with Klarke?"

"Ssh," Cloud hushed, looking around, paranoid. There were only a few people he'd told that to, only Zack, Sephiroth, and a couple of his friends who had been in Damon's class with him. "No. I cut it off a few days ago."

He still remembered his ex-instructor's disappointed expression. Saying no to people asking to fuck had intimidated him once upon a time, but it wasn't a big deal now. Saying no to someone who would probably be down with dating you was a lot harder, but he'd had to do it. It wasn't fair to either of them if Cloud couldn't enjoy their time together because he had various hangups, some of which he still couldn't clearly identify. It wasn't fair for Cloud to lead him on any longer than he had.

He missed the guy, he did. He was funny and kind and most importantly not an asshole. Embarrassingly enough though he had to admit that he missed the sex even more than he missed the person—because he could be frank now, he liked Damon so much because he liked Zack so much, and he still very much had Zack in his life. The cock and ass and warm lips on his throat and strong fingers digging into his muscles, not so much anymore.

It had been six days since he and Damon had fucked for the last time, and four days since Cloud had called it all off. Going cold turkey was proving difficult again. He'd never thought that four days without sex would ever be enough to make him antsy. He really had come a long way since his first days in the military, bumbling along, promising (though only for a few weeks) that he'd 'save himself' for marriage.

"So I can have him?"

Andrew was joking, but Cloud said, "Go ahead," and curiously felt no jealousy at all.

"So what are you going to do?"

The blond sighed and pushed his sweaty bangs out of his forehead. He had it pulled back into a short ponytail for the workout, but a few spikes were starting to escape. "I don't know. I think I've got to sort out some stuff." Andrew looked curious, so Cloud elaborated, "Zack stuff."

"Zack Fair, right? You're close?"

Cloud nodded, glanced around for eavesdroppers, and then admitted, "My first time was with him—just a friend thing, like a favor, I guess—and I haven't…gotten over it."

Andrew's smile was delighted. "Why didn't you tell me that? That's gold, Strife." He nodded approvingly. "Belated congratulations to you for sleeping with him, god damn. Was it good?"

"So good," Cloud said softly, his eyes gentle as he reminisced.

"Well, don't worry about it. It's totally a thing, to get attached to the person who took your virginity. Happens to people all the time. It doesn't actually mean anything."

"Doesn't mean anything?" Cloud squinted and glanced at his friend.

"Nah. I spent months pining after my next-door neighbor back home in Corel, after our first time. She had zero interest and it fucked me up for a while." He shrugged. "You should keep your eyes open."

Cloud had never said he was waiting for Zack, or that he desired more than friendship with the man, and he opened his mouth to spit something harsh and defensive. He paused, though. Doesn't mean anything… maybe his confusion with Zack really was a normal thing that people experienced all the time after situations like his. Half of him was disappointed at the news, and the other half was elated.

This meant he'd get over it.

"Yeah," he answered, stretching, "I will."

'Keeping his eyes open' metaphorically proved difficult, distracted as he was (and continued to be) by Zack and his boyfriends.

It was relieving to know that this was normal though. He and Zack had fucked, and shared that moment, and rather than it being anything deeper, which was worrying, the dizzying drop in his stomach whenever Zack fixed his attention on him or grinned in his usual way and pulled him close as they walked around was a natural result of what they'd shared together.

Maybe.

At the very least it was totally normal that Cloud was growing infatuated with Zack's boyfriends. He'd had a crush on them for years, and since getting to know them better it had only gotten worse, especially considering he'd been seeing a lot of them in the two weeks since his birthday.

'Keeping his eyes open' literally was even harder. Sephiroth, as it turned out, was a very warm man, who sat very still and didn't jostle. Cloud had started to doze off beside him on the couch half an hour ago and Sephiroth, with a brief, private smile, had tilted Cloud to the side until the blond's head rested against his upper arm. Cloud's legs were tucked up on the cushion with him, his knees resting half across Sephiroth's lap as he leant into him, and was almost asleep when Zack started to gently shake him.

"Stop," Cloud ordered, burying his face into the fabric of Sephiroth's shirt. He curled up tighter.

"Spike. Spike. …Cloud, c'mon." More shaking. "Food." Pokes to Cloud's ticklish sides.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" Cloud lashed out with a fist, but didn't lift his head. "Can't ya see I'm tryin' to fuckin' sleep?"

Against Cloud's forehead Sephiroth's body shook once or twice with suppressed laughter.

"His accent," Sephiroth observed.

"Cute, isn't it? Wake up, backwater boy."

With more grumbling Cloud eventually drew away from Sephiroth's warmth and sat at the table.

"Sorry for yelling at you," he apologized once he'd stirred to life a little bit. Zack chuckled and waved him away.

Angeal and Genesis had set a place for him at the table like it wasn't even a big deal anymore. There was a certain cup that Cloud tended to use whenever he got himself a glass of water and someone had placed it at his seat without prompting. Sephiroth passed him the pepper automatically, knowing Cloud liked his food to have some heat.

"So what happened with the requisitions?" Zack asked.

Genesis sighed. "First I had to speak with Johnson, on 25th. Mmmhm, him. Asshole. Then he redirected me to Scarlet's department…"

They talked about utterly boring, mundane, officework things. Cloud could not really contribute to the conversation, but no one expected him to. It wasn't awkward, just sitting and eating and enjoying the sounds of their voices (Zack's happy inflections, Genesis's smooth vocals, Angeal's calm sentences with the thoughtful pauses between them and Sephiroth's deep timbre) as they did the things lovers do.

In fact, in the few weeks after Cloud's birthday the blond witnessed all sorts of things. Whatever he'd done that night, or however he'd conducted himself, had granted him access into their inner circle, it seemed. There was no more outright hostility and Cloud sensed no more mistrust. He was doing his very best to be forthright and honest about his intentions with Zack. They'd fucked, yeah, but it was almost two months ago at this point. He had no designs to steal Zack away from them (as if he even could do such a thing, ha!) or turn the SOLDIER against them.

At times it seemed like the Trio knew—or at least could guess at—what Cloud thought about sometimes, when Zack smiled too much or said something stupid that punched that loud, uncharacteristic laughter from Cloud's belly. Sephiroth spent a lot of time staring at him and then glancing at Zack, his lips pressed together in thought. Angeal was always the polite, reserved one, but somehow Cloud just knew when he was affecting the easy smile that was a little strained, and covering up whatever he was really feeling. Genesis loved to mess with Cloud, and gave him teasing smiles and little jabs, sometimes about Zack—he's so lovely, isn't he, Cloud?—and rather than try to figure it out Cloud just tried to stay out of his way when he was in one of those moods.

They didn't seem angry though, and never asked him anything outright, so for now Cloud tried to ignore it.

In fact, rather than being grumpy and discontent with Cloud suddenly spending more time with their group they accepted him warmly. Somehow he seamlessly blended in to the background, doing his homework at the kitchen table as they talked in the living room, or sitting curled up on a chair at Genesis's place as they others watched the movie on the Commander's large TV from the couch.

With the transition from strangers to acquaintances to tentative friends came different phenomenon from the usual cup at his place at the dinner table too. They got nicer. They relaxed around him. They got touchier; Angeal liked to knead his shoulders and stroke his warm hands down his sides. Genesis was always there with a hand between his shoulder blades or on his hip to subtly direct his movements when they walked beside each other. Sephiroth apparently didn't mind Cloud nearly napping on him. Zack, he… he was spending more and more time away from Cloud, actually.

Some days he seemed to forget, and things would be like they always were. The closeness, the roughhousing and the stupid smiles into each other's faces that they couldn't hide even if one of the other three was watching too closely again. But then for the next few days Zack would be distant. He would encourage Cloud to sit next to one of the others instead of him, and find ways to distract himself when it was just the two of them hanging out off-HQ or down in one of the gyms.

It was giving Cloud a headache, but he tried to focus more on the good changes than the bad. Learning more about his heroes was enough to draw Cloud's attention away from Zack's recent odd behavior. Seeing them act less like 'heroes' and more like regular people threw him for a loop, but even that was pleasant.

Angeal, of all people, tended to get very crabby when he was sleep-deprived. Genesis wasn't a very good cook, although he tried a lot. He looked disappointed every time he scraped a pot of gray gunk into the trash; apparently the only thing he could do well were desserts. Sephiroth really was quite awkward, Cloud came to understand, and he spent a lot of time alone with the man as opposed to interacting with him in a bigger group. He had no delusions about being the one to 'fix' anybody but he was fairly sure Sephiroth appreciated their talks, and that they were making him happy, if anything.

Their guards were even so low around Cloud now that he saw them have a fight. It started when Zack came over to Angeal's apartment several hours later than he was supposed to, having gotten called out to settle some sort of disturbance in Sector 8 on very short notice (Cloud, during that time, had soaked up the three SOLDIERs' attention like a sponge, enjoyed himself at dinner, and destroyed Genesis and Angeal both in the computer game that was really hot with the infantry at the moment). Zack was understandably irritated, but then had berated all of them for not leaving him any leftovers.

"Is it really that hard to be considerate for once?" Zack had bitched with his head stuck in the fridge, knocking a bottle around. It hardly sounded like his friend.

"Don't get petty, Zack," Angeal replied with a roll of his eyes, "We all figured you'd get food on your way back."

Zack then stuck his head into the living room and said incredulously, "Petty? Me?"

He then accused Angeal of being unreasonable during their last excursion out of the city the weekend previous, some date or another they'd gone on by themselves, which seemed to be the real issue, and his bad mood because of his evening had finally given him an excuse to bring it up. Genesis chimed in, causing Angeal to snap at him—and then the two SOLDIERs were having at it, raising their voices and yelling about Genesis' 'pissy attitude' regarding the newest batch of Third Classes and how Angeal was 'coddling' the whole group of them. Zack somehow found a way to inject himself in the conversation and shouted and threw up his hands for the sake of being angry.

Cloud, sitting on the carpet with his laptop, twisted around and debated making a break for the door. He'd never heard any of them yell, besides Zack, though never at him. Seeing and hearing real anger in their voices was strange, and almost a little scary. He doubted they wanted him to witness this.

Sephiroth caught his wide-eyed look and the awkward slump of his back. His eyes were narrowed (so cold) and he looked pissed, having just huffed air out of his nose like a bull about to charge. Instead of getting in on the fray though he sighed and grabbed the hem of Cloud's shirt as he slipped past on his way out. He towed Cloud onto the chair he was sitting in, so they were squished together.

"Please stay," the General murmured to him, right against his ear so he could speak at a normal volume. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Cloud replied automatically, surprised Sephiroth was the one to offer him comfort.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Zack cried from the entrance of the kitchen, glaring fiercely at Genesis.

"This is stupid," Sephiroth confided in him, his thumb stroking small soothing paths on Cloud's hip, "They'll get it out of their system in a few minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"Very."

They sat together as the three of them continued to bicker, and soon enough they began to run out of steam. Genesis looked in his element, daring the others to say something next; Angeal seemed at his wit's end, finally abandoning the cool and collected demeanor he always seemed to have. But eventually they petered out, shooting back and forth a few more insults and accusations before Sephiroth said curtly, "Gentlemen," and gave them all a highly unamused look.

"Aw, shit," Zack said, rubbing the side of his face tiredly, "Sorry, Spike."

They all apologized, despite Cloud's assurances that it was fine and that they shouldn't have to act differently around him. To his relief half an hour later everything was normal again with everyone. Genesis teased Angeal about something and Zack ordered himself Wutaian, which he ate with this great big happy smile on his face, his legs stretched out over Angeal's lap.

"Cloud?"

The trooper blinked rapidly, coming out of the memory, and peered across the dinner table at Zack. He was smiling—how many times had Cloud missed his name being spoken?

Angeal waved his fingers in front of Cloud's face. "You with us?"

Cloud nodded, embarrassed. "Yeah. Sorry."

He was learning how a relationship with many people worked. It worked like that—long romantic evenings, short bursts of time together rushed by upcoming missions, and even fights between two, three, or all four. It worked like this too—unremarkable dinners with unremarkable conversation, but remarkable time spent all the same. Time as a family. Cloud wasn't part of it, but he was privileged enough to witness.

"I asked how it's going on the boyfriend front."

Cloud took a sip of water to hide his scowl. He didn't want to think about his own frustrations when basking in the gentle affection these four had for each other. Not to mention all the attention was on him now, which didn't thrill him.

He shrugged. "Not so great. Though I haven't been looking very hard, I guess." He added at Zack's disappointed expression, "…I'll figure it out."

"I know I've offered already, but I can help set you up with some guys. I know you're not crazy about the Thirds, but there's this one guy I was stationed in Mideel with who was pretty cool. He seems like your type."

Cloud gave a strained smile. "Uh, maybe. Thanks."

"No problem. I've got you, Spike."

Genesis harshly rolled his eyes before taking a large gulp of his wine. "Leave him alone," he chastised, and to Cloud's surprise Angeal echoed the statement.

"Let him figure it out on his own."

Zack pouted. "I'm just tryin' to be helpful. You said you were bummed out on your own, Cloud—I just wanna see him happy. With a big SOLDIER beefcake to call his own."

Cloud hunched down in his seat, embarrassed, and Sephiroth caught his eye. He was frowning, but offered him a tiny smile; it gave him the strength to sit back up and say firmly, "I appreciate it, but I'm good. I'll ask you if I need help."

Angeal looked approving, and Zack tilted his head. "Uh, okay. Don't be afraid to—I could get you with someone in less than a week if we tried hard."

Cloud nodded, and didn't miss Genesis's exasperated expression.

Despite Cloud insisting that he didn't need Zack's assistance the SOLDIER showed no signs of slowing his unwanted 'help'—it felt like every day he had a new Second or Third Class for Cloud to meet, or a story to tell, or an ID picture to bring up on the ShinRa database he had access to as a First.

"It's getting really annoying," Cloud confided in two of his friends one afternoon. There was Stella, who he'd hooked up with that one time on patrol, and a boy who bunked in the group across the hall from his own, Oliver. Sector 8 patrols were always the best; nothing bad ever happened in this Sector, yet there were a large number of infantry dispatched to the area at all times. It was just for appearances, really—look how strong ShinRa is, look at our military. If you asked Cloud there should have been more troops in some of the rougher Sectors, where people actually needed protecting, but it wasn't his call. The high numbers meant that if you got bored and were willing to stretch the boundaries of your patrol perimeter a bit you could chat with some of the other infantry nearby (or fuck them in an alley, but he was done with all that).

Technically they could get in trouble but no one really cared. The most excitement Sector 8 ever got was occasionally a drunken fight, but those people were usually SOLDIERs on their way back to HQ after a night out. No member of the infantry was stupid enough to get in the middle of a fight between two enhanced individuals; those tended to sort themselves out anyway. The smog was surprisingly low today, leading to an higher UV rating than usual. The sun already had Cloud's cheeks burned slightly pink and he'd stuffed his scarf into his back pocket. Unfortunately the long pants were regulation. His socks were disgustingly damp in his boots.

His friends seemed to be feeling the heat too, though Stella was from Costa and vastly preferred summer weather to winter. She seemed skeptical of Cloud's declaration. "Constant introductions to hot SOLDIER guys is annoying? Please," she spread out her hands and shrugged at him, "I'd be on that—what's wrong with you?"

Oliver snickered, taking the time to wave at a few small children splashing around in the fountain. Civilians weren't supposed to play in it, but none of them had ever seen anyone get yelled at for it. They were cute, and two toddlers were in swimming-diapers, giggles echoing off the tall surrounding buildings.

"I'll send them your way," Cloud muttered sourly. "He just won't shut up about it."

"It's me, isn't it," Stella said, her face falling. "I ruined you for the rest of your life."

"Yeah, that's it."

Oliver faked gagging. "You two? Gross."

Cloud grinned. Not everything had gone swimmingly since his sexual awakening, but it had sure been a positive thing overall. It was hard to forget his early days here, before he had Zack—and even after, when the SOLDIER was his only friend. He had many now, even if he'd met a few of them in rather inappropriate ways.

"You two do the homework for Johnson's class yet?"

"Ugh," Cloud grunted.

"Fuck," Stella groaned.

A civilian in gray approached them, and the three stopped their conversation to seem at least the smallest bit professional. Stella addressed him, her tone friendly, but authoritative, "Can we help you sir?"

The man wore large, expensive sunglasses and a beanie. Reddish hair peeked out the front. "Are ShinRa grunts supposed to hang out and talk all day like this?"

The three stiffened. "We're discussing highly classified ShinRa information regarding intel we've acquired in the past hour on our patrols," Stella said bravely, a valiant effort, "And I'm afraid we cannot discuss it with civilians. If you would move along, Sir—we have official business to attend to."

Nailed it, Cloud thought, but then the man put his hands on his hips and bent at the waist slightly, playful.

"Oh really? I'm sure nothing you three know is too classified for me. Let's hear it."

He lifted his sunglasses with a finger to reveal bright, glowing blue eyes. Mako. He smiled wolfishly.

Oliver sighed, "Shit."

"Sir!" Cloud knew that voice had sounded familiar. He saluted as soon as he realized it was Genesis; the other two followed his lead.

The Commander was off-duty but did not tell them that they didn't need to relax their poses, his smile only growing wider.

"There's some Turks over that way," he said easily, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder down a street. "They're doing business of their own, but I doubt you want them to catch you gossiping when they go back to HQ with a corpse." He adjusted his sunglasses carefully, fingers dainty on the fragile frames. "That said, I'm here to steal you, Strife."

"I still have forty minutes left in my shift."

"Oh, damn. I thought Zack said you finished at three thirty, not four on Thursdays." He shrugged after a moment. "Well, it doesn't look like you're doing anything important anyway. Missing forty minutes isn't that much worse than missing ten. Come."

Cloud gathered his helmet from the curb where he'd left it—it was just too hot. "Uh, see you around," he told his friends. They looked miserable at the thought of Cloud escaping the heat and the boredom without them.

Genesis was already striding away purposefully and Cloud had to jog around the fountain and across the square to catch up. "Hello," Genesis said calmly when Cloud fell into step with him (or almost did—the man's legs were long and occasionally Cloud had to take an awkward half-jump or risk falling behind).

"Hi." Cloud paused, and figured he'd be professional. "Sorry for slacking, Sir."

"Just be sorry I caught you." Genesis tapped Cloud's forearm with the back of his hand and then answered his unspoken question. "I'm doing some errands, and thought I would find you. I only have one left, and I felt like getting ice cream or something afterward. I knew you were in the area."

"Thanks for inviting me," Cloud said, rather touched. "Are you, uh, undercover?"

Genesis self-consciously reached up to adjust his beanie. The man seemed so proud of his hair; it was odd to see it covered up. He looked quite different. The sunglasses only assisted with that. In fact, half of what Genesis was was the loud red coat and the extravagant luxury blade. He was remarkably average in his outfit now or in his pajamas or other civvies. Always a vision, yes, like the time he'd wandered around in just sweatpants when Cloud had been over with Zack, but—plainer. Toned down.

"My hordes of fans just can't keep themselves off me, the poor dears," he sighed, and Cloud was fairly sure he was exaggerating this time. "Also, my coat got shredded by Bahamut this morning."

"What!"

"A summon. Irritating bastard. Good thing I'm off duty for the rest of the day. Placed a new order for one in another Sector an hour ago."

They'd learned about Bahamut and other summons in one of his classes the semester before. Since getting to know his new SOLDIER friends better it was becoming harder and harder to remember that they were as powerful as they were. "I'm fine," Genesis said, as he caught Cloud's look, "Don't look so worried, sweetheart."

The name made Cloud's mouth twist and whatever he was going to respond with die on his lips. Genesis led him to Loveless Avenue and they cut down an alley and to the back entrance of the theater. Cloud crowded close to watch as Genesis pulled out of his pocket a ring with probably twenty keys on it. There were also a few colorful, ugly keychains that looked like they had been on there for a while. One that Cloud could see clearly had a purple apple and BANORA! written in an unsavory font underneath it. A short, squat one opened this back door and Genesis pulled him inside by the hand.

"It's dark," he warned, and kept his gentle grip as they moved through what Cloud could only assume was a hallway. It was pitch black but he knew about SOLDIER eyesight. Once or twice Zack had turned off all the lights in his apartment at night and snuck up on him, laughing loudly and like an idiot when Cloud nearly pissed himself, and then tried to beat the shit out of him. Rather than being a dick like that Genesis steered him up a staircase and to the main floor of the theater where it was better lit. It seemed deserted for this time of day. Matinee shows were only weekends, if he wasn't mistaken. He let go of his hand finally and approached a door with an important-looking plaque. Crouching, Genesis pulled an envelope, folded in half, out of his back pocket. He slid it under the crack in the door.

"Was that a donation?" Cloud asked on their way out. It was unclear whether it was intentional or not but their thumbs had hooked around each other somewhere back down the dark flight of stairs.

"I am a patron of the arts," Genesis sniffed. It didn't look like he wanted to talk any more about it so Cloud let it drop, but hoped the man wasn't watching the pleased, startled smile that spread over his face.

They emerged back into the sunlight. "Alright. I need something sweet."

Despite Cloud's awkward fumblings Genesis overrode his protests and paid for his ice cream at a small shop. (I just dropped off a check for several thousand Gil, he sighed, Let me buy you something, dammit.) They sat in some shade by a bunch of fake trees and bushes that Genesis sneered at. "They're hideous," he said. "Though I suppose there aren't any bugs."

"Do you really mind when Angeal brings more plants in?"

Genesis turned to observe him. There was a small amount of green mint chocolate-chip ice cream at the corner of his mouth. "…No," he admitted, "His stupid hobby makes him happy. I don't see what he gains from it, because everything around here dies so quickly. It's a lot of work with little payoff."

"He seems to really like it, yeah."

"He's sweet. But tell him anything about this and I'll roast you." Genesis leant in and pressed a hand to Cloud's face. His palm was much warmer than it should have been. "Fira to the face – that's my specialty, you know."

If it had been Zack Cloud probably would have licked his palm to make him blanch and withdraw with a laugh and a curse, but he restrained. He blinked owlishly at Genesis when he moved his hand, but it didn't stay away for long. The back of the SOLDIER's fingers brushed against his jaw, the touch feather-light. He then pressed a thumb to his cheek, releasing the pressure after a few seconds.

"You're sunburnt," the SOLDIER said. His voice was soft and private. Cloud's mother burned even worse than he and he'd gleefully poked her as a child, loving the way the pale marks left behind would stay for a second before flooding with an angry red color again. "Good thing I rescued you from that patrol when I did, hm?"

"I'm not complaining."

"You have some marvelous little sun freckles, you know."

The pad of Genesis' thumb was now resting on his cheekbone, having just drifted over the lightly speckled bridge of his nose. He got more in the summer, but even then you wouldn't notice until you got close. The proximity to his eye was making him blink rapidly, a response he couldn't help. He caught sight of his reflection in Genesis's sunglasses though, and suddenly sat straighter, turning his head to the side to dislodge the Commander's thumb.

"You're melting," he said nervously.

"Fuck."

Cloud passed over all his napkins and couldn't help but laugh as Genesis realized some had dropped onto his shoes. His jeans looked expensive and were fine; the corded muscles of his triceps, exposed with his t-shirt, flexed as he bent and scrubbed at one shoe with a wad of napkins. Cloud made himself look away, figuring that otherwise he would develop that expression again; he had to chill. How embarrassing, if one of them realized the way Cloud gazed at them?

"That's why I got a milkshake."

Genesis was probably rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Not all of us are as clever as you when it comes to ice cream, clearly."

Cloud let Genesis tend to his purchase for a while, though it looked like the man was fighting a losing battle. He really should have gotten a bowl and not a cone. With an irritated huff he took a bite—a bite, what the fuck—out of the rest on top and leveled it to the cone.

"Doesn't that hurt your teeth? Damn, Sir."

"Don't call me that. And no. Do you think a SOLDIER would get incapacitated by something like frozen ice cream?"

"I've seen Zack stub his toe. He was down for like ten minutes."

"I've been stabbed through the intestines before, and let me tell you, a stubbed toe is no joke. Though Zack does tend to be a little dramatic."

Zack was the dramatic one? Genesis must have forgotten his daily behavior. "Haha. I guess. How is he? I haven't seen him for a few days."

"No?" Genesis tilted his head.

"Nah. He's been busy." Cloud took a long sip of his milkshake as he thought, but he was near the bottom and it made empty suction noises instead. "And… I guess he's still being weird. About the date thing," he clarified.

"How so?" Genesis crossed one leg over his and put his free arm on the back of the bench, his forearm behind Cloud's head. Even a tiny bench covered in scribbles and scratched-in initials surrounded by hearts looked like a throne when this man sat on it.

"He just… he's trying really hard. I should be grateful. I want him to stop, though. I think I need some time to think about… what I want. And stuff." He shrugged, awkward. There was nothing left in his styrofoam cup but that didn't stop him from trying.

Genesis let out a gentle sigh. "I think we're all at the point where we could use some honesty—not just from you. What do you want, Cloud?"

If Cloud tried hard enough, and ignored the fact that Genesis was dating three other men, he could pretend that this was a date. In another world the arm behind his head, so close but not quite touching, would drape around his shoulders and he'd shuffle close. The ice cream still in the corner of Genesis's mouth would come away easily with a lick, and the man would laugh and berate him for not removing it sooner—what if I went home like that? What if someone from my fanclub took a picture of me? My image would be ruined—but tilt his head just so where Cloud could transform the lick into a proper kiss. Their lips would lock and Cloud would rake his hand through his bangs and back, pushing off his cute hat. Genesis would get so worked up he'd overturn what was left of his cone in his lap and have a fit. Cloud would laugh at him the whole way home. And then—what? Would Zack come by and help him bully Genesis with gentle shoves and kisses to his unhappy face until he smiled again? Would the others? Was Genesis still dating the others in this fantasy, or was he all Cloud's? Would he even want that?

Cloud let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed at his face with his hand. "I really don't know."

I'd like to especially thank those who review anonymously - I can't respond to you, but know that your words are very much appreciated. Thanks to everyone for being so kind and cool. See you next Monday.