Another Tumblr Prompt, keep them coming on tumblr - errantnight over there.

The sword in Cloud's hands sagged as he stumbled, fear dawning on his face as he forced himself not to look behind him, to see how far behind him everyone was - that meant turning his back on Sephiroth and that was something he knew he couldn't risk.

The man stood at the top of a dais, one hand holding Masamune and the other holding something wrapped in black cloth slung over his shoulder. There was something frightening about it - the way it moved slightly, the tender look Sephiroth gave it before turning the full weight of his gaze back to Cloud…

He knew the slightest moment of inattention would end, again, with his enemy close enough to touch, to hurt, to hold. He wasn't sure which he was more afraid of. The blade held casually at Sephiroth's side, or the feeling of possessive hands wrapped around him, covering his eyes and leaving him in seductive darkness… he shook his head and realized he'd made the mistake he'd just told himself he wouldn't. He'd blanked out again, and this time there was no one to shake him out of it. He'd run ahead, again, leaving anyone behind who might be able to help him.

He was so…

"Foolish, Cloud, did you really think I would let you go?" Sephiroth answered, so close they were sharing breath. His eyes burned into Cloud's a scant inch apart. Jade green, slit like a cat's, and he sucked in a breath as he realized he couldn't look away. He could feel a smile on the lips that brushed his own. "Drop your weapon."

One by one Cloud's fingers pried themselves from the hilt of his sword until it fell to the floor. He told himself to step back, to turn his head, but he only managed to blink slowly and wait. Wait? Wait for… what? He blinked again and felt like more time was passing than it should, or perhaps it was the opposite and it was going too fast. His eyes watered as he tried to keep them open, staring into the eyes boring into him. When Sephiroth's lashes lowered he found his own eyes closing. When he opened them again he felt dizzy, reminding himself to breathe , he'd forgotten for a moment.

"Perfect, puppet," Sephiroth was pleased with him as he pressed his forehead against Cloud's, "just like this, keep looking into my eyes."

Cloud didn't know what he was waiting for, so he did as he was told until he was ready to understand. He tried not to blink, his eyes filling with tears to soothe the ache in them until they were spilling down his cheeks. Waiting was hard, it was painful. His eyes burned and his head felt like it was splitting open. For a moment his breaths came in labored pants before the pain eased and he sighed in the brief, blissful, absence of thought. He must have done something right because the slit pupils that had come to consume his vision suddenly blew wide with only a thin ring of glowing green around the edges.

He wasn't sure if he heard or felt the command that seeped into him, "You were always mine, remember this."

Purple fire blossomed and vanished along with Masamune, leaving Sephiroth's hand free to grasp the back of Cloud's head and hold him in place. He brought their lips together, tilting Cloud's head back into the hand holding him still, teeth and tongue forcing his mouth to open or bleed for the defiance. A thin whine mingled in the space where their lips met as Cloud managed to bring one hand up to splay across Sephiroth's chest to push him away, to stop what was happening. It betrayed him, fingers clutching at the leather coat, just as his traitorous voice did… a fearful whimper roughened into a moan.

Understanding clicked into place. Cloud remembered his place .

He licked into the mouth claiming his, swallowing the growling purr that poured down his throat. The hand that twined in his hair relaxed to become a soothing pet and Cloud's body relaxed with it. He moaned helplessly, the sound echoing somehow above him. The thing curled over Sephiroth's shoulder was warm where part of it was trapped between them… A body, shifting in place as though attempting to get comfortable across the heavy pauldron beneath him.

Sephiroth turned his attention away and curled his arm tighter around the figure, lifting it up with a soft smile, the way you bounced a sleepy child to lull them under. There was some sound on the edge of Cloud's hearing, a whisper that everything was as it should be, and he found himself swaying along with it to slump forward. Sephiroth's hand moved to his waist, holding him close, favoring Cloud with that same indulgent expression.

"Don't be jealous," his master said, releasing his hold on Cloud and steadying him before shifting his burden to cradle it lovingly in both of his arms, "you'll have your turn soon enough…"

The black cloth fell away from his own face, his own lips parting in a needy whimper as he curled closer to their master. His hands were wrapped tightly around a void-black sphere, held just beneath his chin. Cloud had never seen anything so beautiful. The other's face was pale and thin, flushed pink across his cheeks, and his lips looked kiss swollen and red. Blue eyes, no, green, they'd always been green, his eyes fluttered open to meet his… his eyes, his eyes, theirs.

"Perfect," Sephiroth praised them both and both shivered under the attention, "come now, my precious puppets, we mustn't be late for the Reunion."