Don't worry, I'm still working on Raised by Wolves and Northern Lights, I've just been working hard on my longfic Ruin's Edge over on AO3 which I can't post here due to content/rating. I'm also taking prompts on tumblr under errantnight, same name as AO3! I'll update Engraved when I get my thoughts on it more coherent. It was meant to be a one-shot but I can't leave it at that now...
After Sephiroth's customary round of injections and the tests to be certain that they were taking and absorbing correctly were finished, he'd fought to keep himself in control as something registered on the edge of his senses.
The scent of fear and pain nearly made Sephiroth retch as the scent of an omega in distress made him want to hurry his steps, to run to his side, but he had to keep his stride to slow and measured steps. An impersonal, blank, expression was a careful mask as he passed from Hojo's lair and into Hollander's domain.
Hojo had waved him off earlier than usual, without the usual pain and healing tests, and ordered him to "Go get your pet omega, he's distracting my assistants." He'd been expecting Genesis to be causing trouble on purpose during his own Mako injections, using his often abrasive wit to hide the anxiety and pain that must have come from the treatments - Even Sephiroth, generally inured to pain and well practiced in hiding any discomfort during what a normal person might call 'torture', occasionally slipped up and showed his true feelings.
For the omega, it was impossible to hide his scent as he might usually do - his scent blockers had been slated to be renewed and clearly something had gone wrong… or 'right' as far as whatever procedure Hollander had decided to test out on the other man.
Angeal was the stoic one, the one who came back from the labs and insisted that nothing was wrong, he felt just fine, and to please not concern himself with his discomfort when they all went through the same thing. Genesis always made a fuss, refusing to keep his mouth shut while being treated - Sephiroth had heard him repeating Loveless on an endless loop from behind the closed door of Hollander's personal lab whenever the pain became too much.
For himself, he'd learned long ago that any reaction to painful stimuli or what most people would think of as humiliation, would make everything so much worse. Angeal was more like him in that way and sometimes Sephiroth envied the other alpha's ability to come out of the science department with a smile of encouragement for anyone else waiting for their turn. No matter what it was that Hollander did to him, it seemed to have no lasting effects. Sephiroth himself usually secluded himself in his rooms until he had complete control over himself, usually too ill to eat or accept a mission for three days or so. How did Angeal do it? How did he go back to teaching and training his new apprentice while suffering the aftereffects of Hollander's experiments? He was so much stronger than Sephiroth, no matter what anyone said about his prowess in battle.
Sephiroth knew the tests and procedures were necessary for the progression of the SOLDIER program, to further the field of science as a whole, and to make certain various potions and curatives would be the correct dosages for the enhanced men under his command. He suffered through them, desperately trying not to show anything but calm acceptance and the expected silence as Hojo rambled about what he hoped to accomplish. If he had to have the flesh on the back his hands be flayed open to test how quickly it took to heal itself with various new potion formulations, or be forced to hold himself still through a spinal tap to check how much Mako made its way into his spinal fluid versus in his blood, he knew he could get through it as long as he had three or four days to recover.
He stepped through the door into the other scientist's examination room and fought the urge to cover his nose with his hand as the scent of pain-fear-stress hit him full force. Genesis wasn't usually like this , even though he was the worst of the three of them to be able to handle what they suffered in the name of science. Genesis wasn't supposed to be lying curled on his side covered in sweat and reeking of distress and misery, totally silent with glazed eyes. His usual scent of apples and spice was both sickly sweet and somehow bitter all at once. Sephiroth didn't bother to ask permission to pick up his friend and carry him out, ignoring the spluttering Hollander and stepping past him without a word. Genesis didn't finch, didn't insist that he wasn't a child or a lapdog to be scooped up and carted around, especially by Sephiroth of all people. That was so intensely wrong.
In the elevator, Sephiroth pressed his lips into a thin line, his mask breaking completely when Genesis reached up and weakly clutched at a strand of Sephiroth's hair. He lowered his head, a curtain of silver blocking Genesis, and incidentally his own pale face, from view as the elevator opened and admitted a handful of office workers. They were clearly curious, but it was absolutely none of their business. Let them gossip about the two of them being lovers all they wanted… Not that Sephiroth would mind it if it were true, and he ignored the pang of longing that he'd never let Genesis see - the other man had enough to deal with and had his choice of anyone he wanted.
He shook off his own spiraling thoughts as he carried Genesis into his own apartment, rushing into his bedroom once the door was closed behind them with no more chances for someone to catch him doing so. Genesis listlessly clutched at the pillow Sephiroth laid him down on, dragging it from underneath his head to cuddle it against his chest.
Sephiroth rarely swore, and never where anyone would hear him, but he muttered a soft curse and ran into the hallway to fling open the door to the linen closet. He wished he could find Genesis' key-card to get into his apartment, surely the omega had an abundance of blankets and pillows, everything he would need to make himself a nest to curl up and recover in. Much like purring, the nest itself helped to relieve distress and mute pain, although he'd always wondered if they weren't perhaps psychosomatic.
He'd never felt the strange sort of panic that began to well up in his chest, the knowledge that Genesis was miserable and radiating pheromones that had never affected Sephiroth in quite this way. He'd scented omegas in distress and pain many times, the infirmary tents in Wutai had often stank of it. But this had a quality he couldn't explain… It made his hands begin to shake and his mouth was dry as Genesis shivered and curled into a ball on the bed.
"Mn," Genesis whimpered out a soft sound of discomfort from the other room that set Sephiroth's every nerve on edge, the need to do something becoming overwhelming, "m'cold…"
Dragging out every extra blanket, sheet, and pillow, woefully limited the selection might be, he dragged his armful back into the bedroom and began to arrange it all around Genesis to cocoon him in the warmth. He didn't know what was driving him on, he'd never done any such thing, but it seemed to come naturally to build up small walls of comfort around Genesis' curled up form. He tossed the softest blanket he had, something Angeal had given him he was certain, over top of everything and tucked it in around the other man.
Sephiroth hovered by the bed until Genesis reached a hand out from beneath the blanket and mumbled out, "More…"
Uncertain what else to do, Sephiroth sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his boots off, stripping out of his coat and harness before gingerly climbing into the circle he'd made around his friend. Very hesitantly he wrapped one arm around the other man.
Genesis shifted back against him, sighing as he seemed to bask in the warmth of Sephiroth's body. One of his feet reached back and hooked his heel around Sephiroth's knee, guiding it over his thigh to get more warmth enveloping him. The other man's skin was hot and unpleasantly sticky from mako-fever sweat. Sephiroth knew he'd be replacing everything in here when Genesis was well again, including the mattress if the mako made its way through the sheets and blankets. He didn't care though, not if it made his… he shook his head, as long as Genesis was comfortable while he recovered that was alright.
Sephiroth sighed, a low shivery breath, and leaned closer. He would never take this liberty in any other circumstance, hoping Genesis didn't firaga him right in the face as soon as he was well. He nuzzled into the sweat soaked hair at the back of Genesis head, moving down just a little bit, until he could scent him. The pain and distress was still there, but the fear was gone. He rubbed his cheek against Genesis' shoulder, pressing his own scent into his skin, then went still as he realized what he had done.
He'd never done that, not to anyone, and certainly never to one of his only friends. He thought, ruefully, that he would deserve that firaga…
He startled as he heard his own door open and close, heavy steps making their way quickly to the bedroom. Sephiroth pulled his face away, uncertain when he'd drifted down to touch his forehead to Genesis scent gland, feeling as though he had been caught doing something even more intimate and forbidden. Unexpectedly, the worry on Angeal's face softened to some other expression he couldn't name. Watching them for a moment, Angeal ran a hand over his hair, muttering something that sounded like 'Finally,' in an exasperated tone that made no sense.
Sephiroth didn't know why it bothered him so much when Angeal sat down on the edge of the bed and touched his fingers against Genesis' pulse, so close to the place on Genesis' throat where he had just been rubbing himself against. Shame washed through him, leaving him feeling cold and hot in turns as Angeal cupped Genesis' chin in a gesture that showed he'd done it many times, "Gen, can you wake up a little?"
Angeal looked over Genesis' shoulder to Sephiroth, still touching Genesis, which still made Sephiroth feel upset in some unexplainable way, "It helps if you keep talking to him when he's, um, like this ."
A pang of his own distress stiffened Sephiroth's shoulders as he turned his attention back to his, to their, friend. How many times had this happened and he'd never known? What had Hollander done to him? He couldn't smell blood, so either he'd healed Genesis to a point he'd stopped bleeding or whatever he'd done hadn't been particularly invasive…
"I…" he began and then trailed off, uncertain what he was supposed to say to help Genesis, "it's going to be alright, Gen, please wake up?" He cringed slightly as Angeal's lips turned up at the corners, knowing he sounded more than a little awkward and pathetic.
Quietly, they both called Genesis back until he half turned in Sephiroth's hold and blinked up at them, bleary eyed and still sweating. His body language, curling back against the warm body flush against him, and his scent were still tainted with distress.
"What happened?" Sephiroth asked quietly, pulling the blanket away from Genesis and receiving a plaintive mew of sound like nothing he'd heard from the omega before in his life. Genesis shook his head and deeper concern sped Sephiroth's heart rate as he rose up, "I'm sorry but you know I have to do this if you don't remember."
He looked up at Angeal, "Will you help me? I don't know what your usual routine is after your appointments, but I usually start checking my abdomen if I can't remember what was done - I can't smell blood but that doesn't rule out any exploratory surgery and he's been favoring around his stomach the whole time."
He had to gently turn Genesis onto his back, pulling up the sweat soaked t-shirt he was wearing and began carefully palpating his stomach and watching the other man's face for a reaction as he checked all the usual places, moving up to check his throat even though he'd been so close to it a moment ago.
"Does that feel alright, no tenderness or pain?" he asked, wondering why Genesis was looking up at Angeal with one of the odd expressions Sephiroth had always had trouble figuring out. The other man was looking more and more alert, and somehow more and more alarmed at the same time.
"Are you certain it doesn't hurt, is your throat alright?" It wasn't like Genesis to be so quiet, especially when he was injured or ill and he felt a burst of genuine panic rise as he asked, "he didn't cut your vocal chords did he?"
"Does…" Angeal reached out a hand to him, unexpectedly, and Sephiroth pulled back before his friend could touch his face as he'd done Genesis a moment ago, "does that happen during your appointments?"
"Does what happen?" Sephiroth asked, confused, as he resumed checking Genesis for injuries, making him sit up and checking the back of his neck and touching each inch of his spine for damage, "no spinal tap either…"
"Does Hojo cut your vocal chords?" Angeal elaborated and Sephiroth realized that the strange expression on Angeal's face was concern. He must have worried that Genesis had earned such a punishment.
He shrugged, "Not for years. I learned to be quiet through any of the tests and procedures." He waved a hand toward Angeal, "You're quiet enough as well to not need to be corrected, I've never heard you when I know you've had the same slot as I did, but I've heard Genesis enough times that… I wondered… I worried about when Hollander would get angry enough to do something about it."
"I'm alright," Genesis said carefully, his voice rough but otherwise seeming alright. It made more sense if he had been screaming, and Hollander had merely cast silence on him, "he did try something new, but I'm not… I'm just…" Genesis stumbled over his words, which again was unlike him, "I'm not injured."
"Are you ill then?" Sephiroth asked, reaching up to lay his hand on Genesis' forehead, although he could already feel the heat radiating from the man through his side, still pressed up against him, "poison resistance tests?"
"No!" Genesis rolled over, wincing, and Sephiroth went stiff as the omega wrapped his arms around his neck and twined their legs together in one sinuous movement.
Genesis rubbed his cheek along his own and Sephiroth's breath hitched in his chest, the sensation so unfamiliar he didn't know how to process it. The alarm and fear was back in Genesis scent, mixed with that sweetness that was no longer as cloying as it had seemed earlier. He hesitantly reciprocated. Having never done so before, he hoped he was doing it right.
"No…" Genesis said again, his voice growling in his chest. He raised his head, turning enough to look into Sephiroth's face, "that doesn't happen to us, that has never happened to either of us. That isn't normal ."
"It isn't right " Angeal's voice was lower and deeper than usual, radiating sheer fury, and Sephiroth stared at both of them in turn. Angeal ran a hand down his face, abruptly leaning closer, one hand in the nest and the other reaching out to curl his fingers through Sephiroth's hair and cup the back of his head. Too startled to move, Angeal pulled him closer to touch their foreheads together, Genesis trapped in between them, "it's so fucking wrong."
If Sephiroth never swore, Angeal had always seemed as though he never even thought of it. He felt something tight in his chest loosen, then swayed into Angeal's grasp as Genesis broke out into a low and comforting purr. The sound radiated into his chest from Genesis wrapping their bodies together closer. He'd heard that this could happen, that an omega's purring had healing properties, but he wasn't injured. Why did he feel so dizzy and strange?
There was a small space of quiet and he realized he'd said the last part out loud. Genesis's low purr hitched for a moment, then grew into something so strong Sephiroth felt he might be vibrating.
A matching rumble spread from Angeal, dragging him and Genesis closer until he tumbled into the nest and curled himself over both of them. Sephiroth should have struggled - should have wanted to, but their weight and the purring, and the… protective… it was protective, the growl thrumming through both of them was seeping somehow into Sephiroth.
"No one has ever fucking purred for you in your godsdamned life, have they?" wetness was dripping down Sephiroth's neck, soaking into his shirt. "Goddess, fuck!" Genesis sounded as though he were choking.
Angeal's hand gripping the back of Sephiroth's head loosened, his fingers petting through the silver strands as his head hit the edge of the nest and he felt like he would melt right through it. Whatever was happening sucked all of the energy out of him. He went limp as both men began to speak quietly, in turn.
It was all wrong, they said, that Hojo was a monster, that none of that should ever have happened - they were both so sorry they hadn't known, hadn't understood that something so awful was the reason he often sequestered himself in his rooms for days after his appointments.
"I will never ," Genesis hissed viciously, arms still wrapped around him and gripping handfuls of Sephiroth's shirt, "ever, let you go alone again. Never."
The growl in Angeal's throat grew even lower, somehow, "I don't think that'll be a problem, not if I have something to say about it."
A laugh, a very small, strange laugh, was huffed into Sephiroth's throat as Genesis nuzzled against him, "oh, good, I don't think I can stand up long enough to do something about it just now."
"You're still ill," Sephiroth whispered, unable to so much as raise his head beneath the two men, still confused and curious at once why the sounds they were making were both affecting him so strongly, "you're burning up, you're not going anywhere."
"I'm not sick," Genesis insisted again, "I'm in heat . Hollander tried to give me some experimental drug he formulated to stop it, it just made it worse."
"Excuse me," Angeal said, faintly, rising from his perch on the edge of the bed, "I need to go down to science for a while, I'll leave the two of you, ah, to it."
"Do you want me to go?" Sephiroth asked, uncertain that he would be able to move if Genesis wanted him to leave, "aren't heats… private or something?" He didn't know much about it, his biology textbooks had never gone into the social aspects of such things save the bits he'd assumed were theoretical about purring and nests - but now knew had some validity.
Genesis hooked his leg over Sephiroth's hip, turning his face into Sephiroth's shoulder again, "Don't you dare," he said, "I don't want to be alone."
Still unable to so much as raise his head, feeling light headed and just.. somehow… light , Sephiroth held Genesis a little more tightly… "I think… I don't… either ."
Genesis somehow began to purr even harder, "Oh good," he said, sounding choked again, "I wasn't going to let you anyway."