The next morning…
"I couldn't wait to see you, my love…" The familiar voice delicately graced the steady silence in the air. "I've missed you." Then came the sound of soft footsteps, alerting the only other in the pitch dark room.
Sephiroth lay under a flawlessly arranged sheet, perfectly clean and fresh smelling, in contrast to the state it was in mere hours ago. He wasn't a careless man. As countless experiences had taught him, he knew how to clean up his mess, perhaps too well.
Genesis easily picked up on the refreshing aroma of drier sheets and the shampoo in his house mate's hair. Of course the aromatic display meant that the blankets had just been taken out of the drier and his hair had been recently blown out as well. It was an obvious set up. "Oh, I see… Cleaning up after guests? How considerate of you. You know how I disdain coming back to my home any different than the way I left it." Genesis leaned over their bed and inhaled the scent of fresh roses and vanilla. "Like aromatherapy to the senses…." He looked down in adoration at Sephiroth who pretended to be asleep.
Sephiroth wore an unwelcoming expression. "Genesis…" His eyelids fluttering open to take in the other man.
"You don't look too happy to see me." He backed away, feeling slightly insulted.
"That's not it… I just don't want to welcome the stench you're carrying with you." His face wrinkled as he rolled around in bed to face the opposite way. Sephiroth had been trying to go to sleep for the first time that night. After washing the sheets, showering and making sure he was flawlessly clean inside and out, it left him little time to rest before Genesis's arrival. And yes, getting all of Cloud's semen out of his rectum was all a part of creating that environment Genesis liked to return home to.
Unconsciously, Genesis bowed his head and lifted his arm to sniff under it. "Hahahaha! I suppose you're right. I'm going to take a shower right now. When I'm done, I'm going to make love to you."
Sephiroth gave a sigh… Too caught up in his own selfish desires, Genesis failed to notice the fatigue in his partner's eyes. Sephiroth was exhausted. Being the genius tactician that he was, his mind had been primarily consumed of plans on how to strategically bring Cloud down since the moment they crossed paths. Every move he made had been thoroughly premeditated and thought out beyond what Cloud could ever imagine. To attain the result that he had so fervently sought out had robbed him of the better part of his mental and physical strength. Cloud was his prize and with the prize gone, he was no longer in the mood. Sephiroth was a naturally busy man. As General he had military duties, meetings to go to, lectures to give, cadets to train and battles of his own to fight. Although when it came to Cloud, he made sure to tuck away reserves of energy so to perform at his best. This meant any kind of performance. Perhaps the whole ordeal was starting to take a major toll on him because even with Genesis in the room, he could barely keep his eye lids open. Pleasing the man had certainly not been in his plans. The energy simply wasn't left in him.
Around four o'clock a.m., Genesis emerged from the bathroom with a towel tied around his waist. Steam as well as quite the fragrant scent followed in his wake.
In that instant, Sephiroth's heart accelerated in apprehension. "Shit…" He breathed under the sheets that blanketed his naked body. He was too sleepy and disinterested to deal with what the red head expected of him.
Genesis hadn't picked up on his verbal reaction, but could see his blatant aversion toward getting up. As he watched the other man sluggishly role over to his side, he lowered down to sit on the bed, one leg crossed over the other. He placed an elbow on his knee, examining his partner. "Is this a chore to you now? How unromantic…." Genesis had a habit of being romantic ninety-nine percent of the time. It was his personality, who he was. The one percent of time he wasn't was usually when he didn't have any patience for it and that was when he suspected the General of cheating… "You know, it's acceptable for either of us to sleep with other men, but to prefer that other man over each other is duplicitous."
"Genesis, I'm just tired. I haven't slept all night."
"Oh, so you were that engaged in him that you didn't sleep? Hm." He wore a smirk that spoke the opposite of his hostile feelings.
"Enough with the childish display of jealousy. I am entitled to exhaustion. Just for tonight, allow me some rest. …You have a hand, use it."
Genesis nodded in agreement. "You're right, I do have a hand." And with that hand, he brought it up in the air before bringing it back down with enough force to strike the General firm across his face.
Sephiroth froze, and even stopped breathing. He laid there unresponsive as he simply let the warming, tender area where he was smacked tingle and ache.
"You know what I want after I return from a mission…and some brat isn't going to keep me from getting it…!" Genesis let his towel fall to the floor on the side of the bed as he mounted the other male. "I don't care if you're tired, or sore, or whatever… You can just lay there and get fucked by me."
Finally, Sephiroth let out a breath of air, coming to the understanding that he was in fact responsible for making Genesis the way that he was. "Pardon my manners…" He was biting his lip as he quieted the simmering redhead with his well spoken words of compliance. He pulled the remaining covers off of his body so that he was laying bare before the man's eyes, skin touching skin.
"I NEED you…" Genesis said, not expecting a response. "So when we each go off and have our own little conquests, it's important for us to make time for one another." With those words, he lifted Sephiroth's hand and pressed his lips to his knuckles. "You're the only person in the world that truly matters to me." He dragged those lips, soft like petals, gently across the surface of the male's wrist, to his arm and up to his shoulder, kissing him in every spot imaginable there. "You're the air that I breathe….nourishing food for my soul, my absolute everything." He didn't spare his neck from being kissed from top to bottom either. "I can't live without you." If it had been any other man, such words would have sounded generic, even artificial. However, his confessions rung out like a sweet song whilst being uttered from the lips of such a loyal poet. Although unlike fictional works of poetry, Genesis Rhapsodos meant every last word.
Ever since they had been placed in one another's path, Genesis had gravitated toward the silver haired man. He isolated himself from everyone else and only treasured the General. Even Angeal couldn't compete against him in regards to their tightly knit bond. It wasn't simply a bond but a dangerous attraction. Sephiroth was at the top of his list and had remained there since day one. He didn't plan on breaking up with him or leaving. Sephiroth was his life partner and he had settled on that title as a means of having peace of mind about the future. Since they were still both so young, the redhead had suggested their partnership to be open to others as well so that they could still enjoy themselves without feeling restricted and stifled, especially since they spent days, even weeks, apart. The only catch, like in all open relationships, was that their hearts had to always remain the others. No matter what, they had to remain one another's priority. What was so unrealistic about those expectations however, was the fact that things can, and always do, change. People fall in change. They fall in love.
Genesis, who had already decided who he was going to love till death, was an exception, but Sephiroth wasn't so settled in that belief. He may have been using Genesis as a means to pass the time, obtain assuring attention and romance when it was convenient for him, use the man as he pleased until he acquired the one he truly wanted. Sephiroth wasn't so sure which it was, but above all else, he had remained with him for so long because of his steep aversion toward hurting him. Over years, he had learned how jealous, dependant, irrational and possessive Genesis was. If Sephiroth were to leave him, he would break. He had no one else. At least not anyone he regarded as much as the General. He would have to start all over again, dismantle his otherwise impenetrable barrier that he'd built around himself of mistrust and hate. To do that would undoubtedly destroy him emotionally. Knowing how it feels to not have anyone and how it feels to doubt people, Sephiroth couldn't be the one to bring about his undoing. He couldn't be held responsible for making him suffer, couldn't abandon him. Although, he knew that there would come a day where his routine of hiding his love for Cloud from Genesis would be impossible and he would have to end things. He knew it and yet couldn't bring himself to do a damn thing about it.
"Genesis…." Sephiroth whispered under the dull sound of a creaking bed and the heavy breaths of his partner.
The redhead had his arms around him, plunging in and out of his lower body hard and fast. "Yes, my love?" He stopped to reply to him clearly, stroking his mate's silver hair back.
"Strangle me... I get so hard when you do that."
"If it pleases you that much, I'll happily oblige."
-.-.-.-
"Tifa, can I talk to you about something?" Cloud shifted apprehensively in the middle of the doorway as his fiancé prepared herself for the day.
She brushed foundation on her fair skin and patted her face down sparingly with powder, not paying Cloud much mind. Normally, he would stay in bed while she got ready in the morning, so his behavior that day did strike her as slightly out of the ordinary. "Actually, do you think it can wait till after work? I have to hurry up and get out of here. You know how the trains are in the morning all throughout Midgar. It's insane!" Tifa wasn't one to cake on the makeup. She preferred a more natural look. A swift coating of clear lip gloss was all she applied on her lips. Puckering up and checking her face in the mirror, she played with her hair a little.
A huge part of him was relieved to hear that she was in too much of a rush to listen to what he had to say. "It's fine. Get to work on time."
Out of the blue, she turned to him and smiled. "Before I go….I just wanted to tell you…" She took a single step closer. "I'm so in love with you and I can't wait until you're my husband…" Tifa closed the distance between them and pressed her glazed lips to his slightly chapped ones.
Cloud knew how satisfied and heavily invested his partner was emotionally, but it was one thing to be told so. Those words couldn't have been more ill-timed, more painful... "I love you too, Tifa..." Feeling helplessly guilty, he enclosed his arms around her with hesitation.
Tifa drew away from him, her glow radiating all the more. It was a shame that glow was the result of his deceitful words. It wasn't that he didn't love her, rather it was because his love was waning. After all, he didn't love her enough to stop Sephiroth from swallowing his dick the other night… Cloud followed her into the living room as she stepped into her high heels and grabbed a coat out of the closet.
Once she was gone, Cloud felt as though he could breathe again. "Oh no, she forgot her lunch." His eyes met with a clear plastic container on the edge of the kitchen counter. The contents were of romaine lettuce, raw spinach, and shredded carrots, cheese, dressing, the typical makings of a salad. It was a little morsel Tifa prepared at night before she went to bed in order to save money. Eating in the ShinRa cafeteria was only free for SOLDIERs, not employees. All other restaurants in the area were even more expensive. No matter how tired or sick of salad and cold-cuts she was, she never forgot to bring her own lunch. This was the first time.
Cloud felt a little guilty. Tifa was working so hard earning a living and keeping a household and he wasn't doing much of anything, at least not yet. He felt as though he was the reason why she had forgotten to grab her lunch. Perhaps if she wasn't the one doing everything it wouldn't have slipped her thoughts… Cloud knew he should have been the one to both make her lunch and ensure she got it. It was the least he could do. After all, he was home to do it.
He gave a little sigh and opened up the fridge. Tifa would have a surprise for lunch that day, a hot, hearty, scrumptious one.
-.-.-.-
The food was cooking on the stove about ready to be taken off to simmer when Cloud decided to glance at his phone. He was mainly checking to see if Tifa had called or texted him about her missing lunch. However, it was not her who had contacted him, but an unexpected caller. Although the number he did not recognize, the voice message he did. He listened and on the speaker of the phone came a smooth, deep voice.
"Hi Cloud. It's Sephiroth. You have been on my mind…."
With those words, he immediately placed his phone back in his pocket. It was time to deliver the finishing touches to Tifa's food.
-.-.-.-
After Cloud had informed her that he was bringing her lunch, they decided to meet outside of the cafeteria. "What's this?" Tifa asked as she ogled the large insulated lunch box, taking it in her hands.
"It's to make sure you have energy to last you through the day. You usually come home so tired and hungry, I felt bad…"
"That doesn't explain what it is."
"It's a surprise." A rare smile appeared on his handsome face.
In that instant, her face lit up with anticipation. "Ohh, I wonder what it is!" She stormed through the cafeteria doors and placed the big box on the first table she met with and zippered it open. Two moderate sized containers, plus a thermal mug, were within. She didn't hesitate to open them all up then and there. "Chili..and….cornbread? Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed, looking over the goods.
Cloud stood right by her side to witness her excitement. To be standing next to her while she made such a commotion was especially embarrassing. Her glee must have come from not receiving many spur of the moment treats from her lover. "I was just thinking you should eat more than a salad, Tifa. But it's in there if you want it." He tried to play off the more than generous deed. Tifa didn't need to get all worked up about this, even though he did make everything from scratch. When he cooked, he didn't just whip up some things from boxes together and throw it in the microwave, he actually prepared everything by hand, the way his mother taught him how to cook real country food.
"Thank you so much, Cloud! I was really hungry too!" Her arms wrapped around him.
Instead of reciprocating the embrace, Cloud gently weaseled out of it, saying, "Well, don't let me keep you from eating. I'm going to go back and I'll let you enjoy your lunch. I hope you like it, Tifa."
She smiled warmly at him as he turned to leave. Just as Tifa took her eyes off of his retreating figure to focus on her new lunch, the last person Cloud wanted to see in that moment in time appeared before him.
"Cloud, it's good to see you." Sephiroth seemed to have materialized out of thin air, as he was so close Cloud didn't even see him coming. Both his hands settled on the blondes waist, caressing him in a slightly intimate manner. Of course, that smile of his lay smug on his pictorial face.
The blonde shrugged him off, "Don't touch me." As if their previous night of passion had not taken place, Cloud gave Sephiroth a disturbed glare and stormed away.
Angeal, Zack and Reno sat at their usual table enjoying their 'high class' lunches. Only one seemed to have something to say about the interaction between the blonde and silver haired General. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Cloud and Sephiroth have been doing more than just sparing." Angeal muttered nonchalantly while pushing the rest of his pasta salad in a pile so not to waste a bite of it. He was skewering it through with his fork when his words finally registered in Zack's head.
The brunette chimed in, "Wait, what do you mean by that?" He completely stopped eating his food.
Reno gulped his coffee with a somewhat dead look on his face. "Look, that could have meant anything." The Turk didn't care much about what was going on between Cloud and Sephiroth but it was hard not too when his friends kept gossiping.
Zack's eyebrows inclined medially, confused, eyes drawn down to his burger and fries. "I thought Cloud was with Tifa."
Angeal let out condescending sigh. "Cloud is with Tifa but in this day and age, does that really mean anything? Not saying that they did sleep together, but something definitely happened." Angeal concluded after seeing how at home Sephiroth was embracing Cloud's hips out in the open.
"Well he isn't WITH Sephiroth. Look how he just got shot down! I doubt Cloud and Sephiroth are swiping swords after dark…" The remark came from a slightly uncertain Zack Fair.
"Cloud and Sephiroth are swiping swords?" Lazard took a seat next to Reno across from Angeal and Zack, a grin playing on his face. He had a lively look in his eyes, obviously interested in the conversation. Tseng, on the other hand, was not as interested as he sluggishly plopped down next to his lover with an annoyed groan. Unlike Reno who was half interested in the General's sex life, Tseng didn't care at all.
"Angeal seems to think so." Reno corrected.
Angeal justified himself. "I have experience with these things. Cloud wouldn't have run off so quickly if he didn't feel shy, embarrassed or regretful about a night of passion they shared. That also explains why Sephiroth felt so at home putting his arms around him. Poor Cloud must feel inconvenienced and confused. He has Tifa….but can't help but be swept off his feet by a man." The older man spoke with as much and assurance and certainty as the manner in which he wielded his gargantuan buster sword.
Reno, "Guys, it's really none of our business. We don't even know the truth. How can you automatically assume they slept together just based off of that shit? What if it's one-sided and Cloud really just doesn't like him?"
That was when the man in question walked into view. Angeal was the first to hone in on Sephiroth as he approached their table. "I have a sense about things like this….and I know Sephiroth." When finally the man had made it to sit on the other side of Angeal, he wore a rather dissatisfied expression. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?" Sephiroth had a glistening, perfectly round red apple in his hand which he simply set in front of him, not eating it.
The problem solver in Angeal couldn't fight the urge to press on until he got an answer. "Did something bad happen between you and Cloud?"
"If bad is getting fucked so hard that you forget your own name, then I'm afraid I've misjudged him…" Sephiroth then looked Angeal in the eye, unable to suppress the hard to read smirk that inevitably worked its way onto his face.
Reno coughed up his carrots, before dousing his throat with Angeal's water. It seemed as though he had gotten the picture as well.
Before Lazard, Zack or Tseng could react further than a startled look, Genesis appeared. Much to their surprise, he stretched his fingers over Sephiroth's broad shoulders and pressed his lips against the side of his neck, where his strong jaw line was exposed. "You were amazing last night. Simply divine…"
They all watched as Genesis caressed his lover's body, hands moving over the straps that barely covered his chest as he licked and sucked on his neck. Such a display would have been deemed taboo if SOLDIER wasn't already saturated with gays and men who had homosexual tenancies. The next thing that saved them was the fact that they were ShinRa's strongest. No one dare dispute or challenge their public wonton displays of affection.
Sephiroth ran his fingers through dark red hair in enjoyment of the wet caress. Surrendering himself to the other man's kiss, he pivoted his neck so that Genesis could better access his neck.
When Genesis was through, he looked at the small piece of fruit in front of his partner. "Don't tell me that's all you're eating? You need your strength…. Could this be the reason why you barely had any energy left for me last night?"
Tseng was the one to clear his throat, breaking the awkwardly intimate conversation between the two.
"Forgive my manners." Genesis stood up straight and looked over his friends. "It's so good to see you all. Don't think I forgot about you… It's just that Sephiroth pulls me in whenever I see him. It's one of his many gifts… Isn't that right?" The SOLDIER spoke, eyeing none other than the man himself, stroking his chin in admiration.
The silver haired man looked away, not wanting all of their eyes on him.
"Yea…yea you're right." Angeal mumbled with a condescending glare directed towards Sephiroth.
Genesis was too enthralled by Sephiroth's outwardly charms to even catch his childhood friend's scornful tone of voice. "Well, I must be off. I have a mission soon. Sephiroth, be sure to eat more. I'm certain you'll need extra reserves of energy…for when I return." He gave his lover one last long look before he sauntered away, a sort of confidence in his step.
"I don't know how you two do it." Zack inserted the mere instant the departing SOLDIER was out of site.
Sephiroth was sure to address him straight away. "How we do what?"
"How you sleep around even though you're together."
Reno had an immediate answer to the inquiry. "Hey, I don't know how you can't do it." It would be a miracle if he could stay in a committed relationship with any man for more than a week without cheating on him. That's why he made it a rule to never tie himself down to just one guy. To Reno, Sephiroth and Genesis had the perfect arrangement.
The General gave a reluctant response. "What with us both gone for days, weeks and even months at a time, we both agreed it would be a shame to waste our youth and thriving libido just because either of us aren't around. Of course you'd have to be mature and emotionally faithful to maintain this sort of agreement…."
"…Only you haven't been faithful, have you?" Angeal whispered exclusively to Sephiroth's ears.
"…." With that question lingering, Sephiroth got up and walked toward the trash cans. The apple he had in his grasp had but a single bite out of it, even so, he chucked it into the compost bin.
Angeal pursued him, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder once they had stopped. "It's okay. I'm on your side. I can tell this is really bothering you…. After all, you're so proud, I've never seen you get so bent out of shape over someone before. Not even Genesis."
"I'm afraid…that Cloud resents me. That wasn't the effect I was planning to have on him."
Angeal gave him an assuring pat. "I might be wrong, but I'm just going to throw it out there and say that perhaps it isn't you he resents, but the situation… or maybe himself for letting it happen."
-.-.-.-
"Sephiroth… ugh….mm, aaah…." Impatient fingers drenched in a blend of sweat and pre-cum glided over heated taught skin. Cloud moaned aloud in an empty room, his flexors working laboriously to keep up the fast pace he needed in order to meet his urgency to get off. Cell phone in other hand, a familiar message sounded off.
"Hi Cloud. It's Sephiroth. You have been on my mind…."
Cloud turned the volume up just a notch that time. It was his fourth time taking a listen, his fourth time feeling the gratifying jolt of pleasure surge through his manhood when hearing that smooth voice. "Ergh! Fuck you, Sephiroth… Fuck you for turning me into a slutty faggot… Fuck you for making me horny every time I see you…. FUCK Aaaah!" A white stream of fluid spewed from his length as he squeezed himself to the point where the sensation was painful. It was excruciating to keep it all in. He didn't know what sort of power Sephiroth had over him, but the instant he had seen his face, he hadn't been able to keep himself from reminiscing about that night. No, it wasn't just that night, but nights to come. He wanted another passionate night with Sephiroth even if it meant becoming a liar. To be with him again, it would mean turning his life into a gigantic farce. His and Tifa's engagement would be false, their love, the plans….all of it. The blame could easily be hoisted at the General himself for preying on an innocent country boy and making him his project. How dare Sephiroth come into his life and mix things up? How dare he leave him with a feeling that was so intoxicating and addicting that he'd risk losing a woman that had loved and supported him for years? How dare he?
In any case, Cloud wasn't so much angry at that man as he was interested in having him. Only, Sephiroth wasn't there… Cloud knew that. Next to sleeping with the General was the next best thing. "….Now which one is Sephiroth…" The blond had the walk-in closet door open and was looking through a box of Tifa's toy collection. As he sit and sifted through one rubber-like dong to the next, he started to notice a pattern. None of the shapes matched the long shapely equipment that Sephiroth was working with. They all mimicked so closely to his own extent and contour. It was almost obsessive. Tifa didn't need so many fill-ins when she had the real thing. That was the most logical conclusion, but it was Cloud who had convinced her to hold on to them 'just in case'.
His next stop was the fridge. His eyes immediately went to the bottom drawer which housed all of the fresh vegetables. In it he found a couple stalks of broccoli, celery, carrots and one large cucumber. He reached for the cucumber as it was long with nice rounded ridges all over it that looked like they would feel delightful going in and out of him. Looking at the seductive vegetable made him hot be it for an inanimate object or not. Cloud stroked it in his hand before he even got around to closing the refrigerator. "This is him…" It was odd that they had a huge cucumber lying around, but he was lucky to have found it.
After letting it run under some hot water from the kitchen sink, he toted it in his fingers as he nearly sprinted back into the bedroom. The first thing he did was lace it with a condom before kicking off his pants and throwing himself on the bed. He didn't even have the patience to remove his T-shirt. Cloud was sloppy and disorganized as he slathered his fingers with saliva and stuffed them inside of his entrance.
"Hi Cloud. It's Sephiroth. You have been on my mind…."
"Hi Cloud. It's Sephiroth. You have been on my mind…."
"Hi Cloud. It's Sephiroth. You have been on my mind…."
Once, twice, thrice he played the message all the while mixing up his insides with two fingers. Quickly, he grew impatient. He wasn't nearly stretched out or saturated enough to take in the girth of the cucumber, but he bypassed reaching for the lube or wasting any more time with proper preparation. Cloud gave the long vegetable a few wet, sloppy, hungry licks before beginning the process of working it into his body. "Ohhh, mmph…!" With a helpless and desperate knit in his eyebrows, he managed to insert it halfway before he lost all control. To even his surprise, his lower half began erupting semen across his flexing abdomen. But he wasn't nearly finished….
-.-.-.-
Zack waved goodbye to Tifa from a distance. He and the usual gang were departing from the ShinRa building through the front doors. She stood at the front desk at her station. Ecstatic to see him, she waved back. Zack knew that there was something else giving her such a radiant glow of happiness and it didn't involve her knowing the "truth" about her groom to be. "Hey… Do you guys think Tifa knows?" said Zack out of the side of his mouth.
Reno regrettably entertained the inquiry. "Knows what?"
"That her boyfriend's swiping swords with Sephiroth!" He replied upon stepping outside into the cool, stale air that stagnated throughout Midgar.
Tseng gave a snide chuckle. "That is an utterly ludicrous accusation." To him, it would remain utterly ludicrous until the truth was absolved within plain sight.
"Sure, but considering all that's happened…" Zack stopped his words there.
"Did Sephiroth tell you himself?" Tseng pressed.
"Nope! He didn't have to."
"Then there's no proof that your words hold any merit at all." Tseng was a man who required iron clad evidence, a confession or testimonial or two before he began to intemperate or believe anything, especially when it came from an unreliable source such as Zack.
"Yes, must you read into everything your dear mentor tells you?" Lazard chimed in.
"Alright, you guys doubt me that much…. You wanna make a bet?"
Reno urgently took out his phone from his pocket, flipping it open as if expecting a text, which appeared just in the nick of time. "Would love to but can't. It's sex day for me and Rude and I promised I'd meet him as soon as I got out of work. Gotta go!" He ran off before Zack could have another world.
Lazard also had an excuse. "Actually Tseng and I also had romantic plans of our own."
"Seriously….? Just admit that you think I'm right! You don't have to lie about having urgent sex plans." Zack responded, annoyed and slightly jealous.
At the prospect of such a gamble, not one of them was willing to place a bet of any kind…
Tseng smirked as though playing along with his lover. "Yes, honey, we shouldn't lie to him about that."
"Oh really?" Lazard asked, giving the stoic Turk a nudge in the arm as they both began walking home together, leaving a very frustrated Zack in the middle of Loveless Ave.
The couple was silent for a few minutes during their routine stroll home when Tseng broke the still air. "I'm serious…. we should stop lying to our friends. We aren't having sex anymore…."
-.-.-.-
As Sephiroth was on his way out of the building as well, Tifa was sure to grab his attention.
"Hello, Tifa. How was work?" This was sort of a routine. Whenever Sephiroth happened to leave through the front doors, he would run into Tifa, ask her how her day was, they would talk briefly and then he'd go home. "How are things going with the wedding planning?"
"Work is eh, as usual. Things could be better with planning... It would be nice if I could sit Cloud down long enough to help me with at least one thing!" She threw her hands up, fed up.
"Well if you ever need any assistance, I'm here for you. I know plenty of gay men who just happen to be expert wedding planners." Sephiroth knew many experts in nearly every profession. Most of all, he knew the homosexual ones.
Tifa paused in momentary surprise. "Oh I could never afford one on top everything else—"
The General placed his hands over hers in assurance. "You don't have to worry about the price."
First she looked at the black leather gloves embracing her smaller, bare, feminine hands, then his face, then the gloves. "Oh I um…" She closed her eyes and smiled, giving herself a moment to get it together. Sephiroth was quite the charmer. Though she knew it was unintentional since he was gay and she was getting married AND they were friends. "…You know, this is sort of last minute, but I was going to have a little celebration dinner tonight. It was going to be just the two of us and a couple I'm great friends with, but I'd like for you to come."
"That's sweet but I think it would be a little awkward for me." He didn't see how being in the company of two straight couples all evening was appropriate let alone a courteous gesture.
"That didn't come out right! I meant, I want you and Genesis to come. It'll be like couples celebrating couples!"
"I'm sorry, but we'll have to pass. Genesis happens to be away on business." In Sephiroth's opinion, it was a blessing since he didn't want the man anywhere near Cloud.
"Oh but I really want you to come to our little celebration. I would love to share our home with you again, but most of all, I think Cloud would love to have you even more."
"Well, if you put it that way…" Residing in Tifa's words he found that there would be a benefit to the evening after all…because Sephiroth would love to have Cloud as well.
Unbeknownst to Tifa as to what the big grin on his face was for, she jumped up in excitement. "Great! It's a settled then. 7:30, at my place! You can bring anyone you want!" She really enjoyed having Sephiroth as a friend and having him around outside of work. If it weren't for Cloud, she swore she'd be all over him, harboring a futile crush just like all the other females he came into direct contact with him. He just had this kind of charm you couldn't escape… At least Tifa always thought so.
"I see what Cloud sees in you." Sephiroth spoke in a low intimate manner, catching her off guard. Her heart began to speed ever so slightly.
"You have this…pure, unadulterated kindness that radiates from within you. So innocent as though nothing could ever dismantle your hopes and dreams."
"Um….thank you…" Tifa wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "Well, I'll see you tonight then!"
"See you…" He gave her one last reassuring look and headed on his way. An evil sneer of contempt snaked its way onto his symmetrical face, his handsome features made even more wicked in the darkened streets on Midgar.
-.-.-.-
Like clockwork, everything had gone according to Tifa's plan. A few hours later into the night, it was time for the gathering to commence…
"Three guys showing up at my doorstep all at once? I'm a lucky girl tonight!" Tifa exclaimed animatedly as she stood with the door wide open, marveling at her handsome friends. Sephiroth was the most winsome as he wore a pinstripe vest over a white collar shirt with black slacks dressing his long legs. Lazard and Tseng, were dressed as they normally did. On behalf of him and his partner, Lazard had a chocolate mousse cake in hand and handed it to Tifa as the General handed her a bottle of expensive red wine.
After gratefully thanking them for their contributions, Tifa jumped out of the entranceway and introduced her friends. "This is Yuffie, a co-worker of mine. I'm sure you've seen her! And this is her fiancé Ze. Yuffie, Ze, these are some friends and associates of mine, Tseng—head Turk, Lazard—Director of SOLDIER and of course, the infamous Sephiroth."
"You flatter me with your overly extravagant introductions, Tifa." Sephiroth shook Yuffie's hand then, Ze only after his comrades were through with their introductions. "Tonight is about you and Cloud. Speaking of Cloud, where is he?"
Tifa was juggling the wine bottle and box of cake as she tottered into the kitchen. "Cloud's going to be a bit late, he went to the gym, said he needed to release some tension before the evening started but I would have thought he'd be home by now… Well, in any case, the food is done, it's just keeping warm on the stove right now. Please relax, make yourself at home and I'll start serving my delicious world famous spaghetti!"
Sephiroth was at her beck and call. "Allow me to help you. It looks like you went through much effort to prepare this, and after a hard day of work no less."
For the first time that evening she slowed down only to stop, let out a sigh of relief and smile. "I'm so glad I invited you tonight…"
Fifteen minutes later….
Knock, knock, knock
Over the relaxing music and soft hum of casual conversation came a rap on the door. Lazard, who was the closest was the only one to hear it and opened the door with a keen idea of who it was. Glass of wine in hand he smiled, welcoming in the overdue blonde. "The man of honor finally arrives. How are you?"
"I'm glad to be home." He took a brief moment to look around to see who was occupying his home. "Hi Tifa."
His fiancé floated over to him, at least that's how she looked whenever she was with him, simply floating on her own little cloud… "Hi sweetie!"
They kissed.
Tseng and Lazard instinctively glanced at one another.
That's when Sephiroth emerged from the kitchen.
"You have no idea how sorry I am for being late, I didn't know everyone was going to show up this early so I took my time." He had his arm around her as they walked further into the apartment toward the dining area. "I just have to take a quick shower, put on some clothes and…." He stopped in his tracks as he took in the one person in the world he didn't expect to see in his home that night. Sephiroth