With an elbow leaning against the kitchen counter, Sephiroth watched with a smug look as Cloud entered the crowded home. He took a graceful, smooth sip of wine and welcomed the blond with a smirk. "Hello, Cloud. We've been waiting for you..." His relaxed greeting did nothing to convey his true excitement.

Aghast, Cloud stood in the middle of what seemed like all the guests. They were surrounding him, suffocating him. The very instant Sephiroth looked as though he would follow suit and swarm him as well, he forcefully snapped himself out of the daze and stomped to his bedroom.

Confused and a tad embarrassed for her lover's unusual behavior, Tifa followed him. She opened the shut door and peered in at Cloud who was frantically going through a pile of clothes on their bed, clean laundry yet to be folded and put away in the drawers. "Cloud, what's wrong?" She asked, tentatively, feeling as though she was walking on eggshells with Cloud and his mood swings.

The blond was pacing back and forth, angry, contemplating, all the while rummaging through their walk-in closet for clothes as well. "You didn't tell me he was going to be here…! I have nothing to wear. I have to shower and do my hair... You really caught me off guard with this one, Tifa."

"Why are you so upset? I just ran into him at work and thought it would be a good idea to invite him over to our dinner party." She didn't see the harm in it. After realizing that their conversation was escalating into an argument, she closed the bedroom door and sat on the edge of the bed. "You have plenty to wear. It's just a little gathering. You don't need to get all dressed up, baby!"

"Ugh….and I smell like sweat. I can't be around him like this." He took the clothes that he finally decided on and stormed into the bathroom.

Tifa wasn't far behind, despite the party going on down the hallway. "I don't get what the big deal is… Did something happen between you two?"

"NOTHING happened." Cloud plainly clarified. "I hate him. He acts like he's just so above everyone… It makes me sick." The irate man said while swiftly undressing. In the blink of an eye, he was in the shower, washing his body off rough and with haste.

With those words, Tifa left Cloud to his shower and entered the room again. For a few minutes, she tried with everything she had to figure out how he could come to despise the General all of a sudden.

Before long, Cloud burst into the room, having finished his five minute shower.

"You know what? I'm just going to go out there and get this over with." With a fluffy white bath towel, he dried his body and hair frantically, using that same towel to wrap around his waist as he made his way over to a tall mirror on the back of the closet door. Cloud scooped up a considerable amount of hair gel and began styling his hair in frustration.

"Cloud, could you stop for a second?" She went over to him and placed her hands over his to stop him in his tracks. "We are not going to let this ruin our night. We're going to go back out there and have a good time, okay? Whatever competitive guy ego thing you have going on with Sephiroth, you're just going to put it aside. Talk to him. Kiss and make up or whatever SOLDIERs do…" She settled her hands on his shoulders.

-.-.-.-

The night went on as Tifa had planned and Cloud had gone along with it, making little contact with Sephiroth or even meeting eyes with him. The main dish was spaghetti. It had been served in Tifa's expensive dishware. Plates lined all four sides of the table, a lush bowl of salad accompanying each serving. In the center of it all was a large porcelain bowl filled with the linguini covered in a succulent short rib vodka sauce in case the guests desired an extra helping than what was served on their plates. There was a basket of bread alongside the entree. Red wine modestly filled everyone's glass.

Before they all began eating, Tifa got up from her seat. "Cloud and I have a small announcement we'd like to make."

"Tifa, stop…." Cloud gave her an uncomfortable, slightly unreceptive look.

She paid him little mind and went on with her words. She looked down, hesitating, fiddling with her inadequate engagement ring. Once she found the words, she looked up at everyone. "We've settled on a date for the wedding. You're all invited!"

Cloud felt like the announcement couldn't have happened at a more difficult time. Right when he was confused and at odds with his sexuality enough to reconsider the whole thing… Even so, he gave everyone a forced smile and held Tifa's hand.

"That deserves a toast." Sephiroth said as he grinned with the same enthusiasm and glee as did Tifa, much to Cloud's surprise and frustration.

By design, wine glasses clinked in accordance to the proposition, Tseng sending Lazard a wry look at first.

For unexplained reasons of his own, Cloud kept darting his eyes over to Sephiroth. It was only when the man had met eyes with him did he purposefully lock lips with his fiancé to antagonize him.

Sephiroth simply flashed them both the same smirk that he seemed to be wearing the whole night.

That confident reaction, in turn, had actually aggravated Cloud the same way he had intended to make Sephiroth feel. The man's self-assurance and cool manner was wearing thin on his nerves. He wanted him out of his apartment.

"Alright!" Tifa started. "Let's eat!" She cheerfully sat down and began poking at her fresh salad.

Not possessing much of an appetite, his eyes fell idly to Tifa's hands. He watched her skewer a cherry tomato and lettuce with her fork and masticate it in her mouth before going back for more. This time it was lettuce and cucumber. Cucumber…. Panic struck him like a bullet to the head. "Tifa!"

"Yeah, Cloud?" She asked, thoroughly confused.

"Did you go food shopping today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just tell me…. Did you buy a fresh cucumber?"

She couldn't help but find his interrogation humorous. "No, we had one in the kitchen already. You left a whole one out on the table for me right? I just cut it up and mixed it into the salad. " She was starting to feel a little embarrassed discussing details about the meal in front of the guests. "Cloud, stop with all the questions." She whispered only to him, before taking a bite of the 'fresh' cucumber.

At her response, Cloud shot up from the table and grabbed her bowl of salad. He didn't stop there, he snatched up everyone's green filled bowl and stacked them on top of each other, save only Sephiroth's and stormed into the kitchen. He left out the General's partly because he could barely handle any more steadily and partly because Sephiroth was the only one who had the palate to consume anything that had once been in his ass. However, Sephiroth paid his salad no mind as the remarkable scene played out before him.

"Cloud what on earth are you doing?!" Tifa stormed into the kitchen with him, furious. As if Cloud hadn't made the evening difficult and uncomfortable enough from the beginning…

"You have to trust me Tifa! They can't eat this!" Cloud hollered over the staggered roar of the garbage disposal as it guzzled the produce down.

"What are you talking about?! You're not even explaining anything to me? Are you out of your mind! How could you do this?" She badgered. Little did she know, she was making him feel much worse than he already did.

"I can't do this with you Tifa…! I just told you to trust me. I can't tell you why… I just can't!"

"What are you talking about? Yes you can! Why are you ruining this night for us?!"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Cloud snapped.

All who were in the dining area heard his words, loud and clear. "Maybe we should leave." Tseng offered his lover, wanting nothing more than to leave in the first place. He rose up from his chair, before Sephiroth placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. "No…. Not yet. I'll speak to him." The commanding General assured all at the table. Somehow, that one gesture had put everyone else at ease. "Eat your meal before it gets cold. I'm sure the rest is fine."

Tifa stood in the middle of the kitchen, frozen. Cloud was changing before her eyes. The other night, he had forced himself on her and now he was yelling at her louder than she's ever heard him yell at anyone. She was stunned, unmoving right there in the middle of the floor, before she felt a large hand on her lower back.

"I'll handle this." Sephiroth declared.

She found herself relaxing in his touch. For an unknown reason, she felt that if anyone could resolve this, it was him.

Once Tifa was out of the kitchen, the irate blond, turned to Sephiroth. "This is all YOUR fault!"

Sephiroth could only chuckle at the accusation, the other man emptying out bowls of perfectly fresh salad into the waste eating machine. "Cloud, you are throwing away fresh food in the garbage. How is this MY fault?"

The blond thought of that evening when he had used the cucumber to defile every inch of his asshole… Sephiroth could only be the reason why he carried out such a vile act of depravity. "…Because you made me this way."

The General took a step closer to the blond, so close that he was breathing down his neck. "How did I make you…..what way?"

"Don't…. don't ask me that…!" Cloud cringed while the man was so close, near enough to feel his hot, inviting breath.

The tips of Sephiroth fingertip played about Cloud's waist as he snaked his hands around his body, so close to the front of his pants.

They were interrupted.

"Oh, are you guys in the middle of something?" Tseng asked as he watched Cloud tear himself away from Sephiroth. The Turk had come in to place Sephiroth's bowl of salad on the counter as well.

"Cloud was just telling me how sorry he is about the salad. He's just been under so much stress lately that he overreacted when he saw a cucumber that he knew wasn't completely fresh in the salad. Isn't that right, Cloud?"

"Y-yes…." The blond was actually wondering how the man knew about the cucumber being the issue. He supposed his conversation with Tifa was overheard.

"Well, then I guess that was noble of you." Tseng reluctantly stated, though questioning the explanation. Tseng had a feeling it went beyond a simple rotten cucumber.

"Yes, it was…" Sephiroth agreed almost bitterly as he made his leave of the kitchen.

Once he was gone, and it was just Cloud and a man merely an acquaintance, he felt more embarrassed than ever. "I...I just wanted to impress everyone. It was a bad batch and I should've thrown it away sooner… I'm really sorry."

Tseng gave the other an unimpressed look and left him there to his utter mess.

-.-.-.-

Lucky for Tifa, who had sacrificed much to make the night possible, things seemed to settle down from there. After returning to the dinner table, she offered everyone more wine and they were all in agreement to have some. To her surprise, they all even started to eat the pasta, but only after Cloud swallowed his down. They all knew it couldn't possibly be rotten too if Cloud was eating it.

Despite being jaded by the blond's reaction to the salad, they ate and they ate and they ate. It was as if nothing had happened. The evening was finally going a smoothly as Tifa had intended. Not long after dinner was finished had the gathering moved to the living room, a glass of wine in the hand of each guest. They were talking jovially when Cloud asked to be excused. It was always like him to run away in a social gathering situation. He didn't say where, he just left. Tifa watched him walk away, slightly concerned, but she knew that it was probably best for him.

Precisely five minutes after Cloud left to an undisclosed location, Sephiroth announced that he had to use the restroom. Off he went, alone at first.

Cloud managed to slip inside just as he was rinsing his hands off.

"You could have knocked." His remark was cold, he felt himself losing patience with Cloud. There was only one possible solution to that matter…

"Well, you could've left me alone…but you didn't. You've ignited something inside of me that I can't reverse. No matter what I do, no matter what I think is right, it won't go away. I hate you." The blond stood with his face to the door, his back to the General, fists balled and shaking with anger.

Sephiroth turned around slowly. "Oh, do you, now?" His look took on a menacing tone, as he pressed the other male into the wall. "If you meant it, you would be able to say it to my face." They were looming whispers alongside Cloud's ear.

Before he knew it, Cloud was pushed up against the closed bathroom door, the object that drove him to defile himself with a large cucumber pressing into his back—driving him insane. "Why are you doing this to me?" His breath hitched at the mere feel of it. The member wasn't even hard.

"….Because I know that this is what you want." Sephiroth answered with confidence and poise.

"I hate you….. It's your fault I even touched a cucumber—ah!" Cloud yelped as heated fingers slid down the inside his baggy pants, tracing a path down to his rear, and soon, an eager twitching entrance. He wanted it much more than Sephiroth could imagine.

"Excellent…. Now, how about you tell me more about this cucumber…?"