FIC Keeper Part 9
Jun. 9th, 2007 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jessara40k_ljKeeper
Final Fantasy VII fic, pre-game AU.
CloudxSephiroth - and yes that does mean Cloud is topping.
Rating R.
Sephiroth woke with Cloud lying half on top of him, one leg wrapped around his own and an arm around his waist, and he made the decision to just stay there, to enjoy the feel of his keeper’s body resting against his own and to keep from disturbing his sleep. He could afford to miss his early morning training this once, and he’d rather just revel in the memory of the previous night. Cloud had been so good to him; he hadn’t known it was possible to be dominated that completely without any real pain. But Sephiroth hadn’t needed to think about a single thing all night, attending to Cloud’s needs before his own had been almost reflex, and he’d been permitted to please Cloud again after his keeper had finished drying his hair.
“Mmm.” Cloud nuzzled against his chest briefly, and Sephiroth realised he must be waking up. He hesitated, then wrapped his arms around Cloud’s shoulders, stroking his back encouragingly; the only thing he’d wanted and not got last night had been a bite mark, and perhaps his lover would bite him this time. No, he shouldn’t think something like that, his wants weren’t important, not beside pleasing Cloud, his needs did matter, but even they came second to Cloud’s desires. Still, Sephiroth closed his eyes, tilted his head back and purred as Cloud’s mouth moved to his throat, inviting his lover’s attention wordlessly, ready to give Cloud whatever he wished.
“Sephiroth?” Cloud sounded pleased to be waking up with him, but at least a little bit confused.
“Yes my love?” He opened his eyes, looking into Cloud’s and trying to work out what was troubling him.
“Did I give you what you needed last night?” Cloud kept on petting him, consciously or otherwise.
“Oh yes, you were wonderful. I couldn’t have handled any illusion of control or uncertainty about how to please you.” Sephiroth bit his lip, considering, then tilted his head back again. “Would you like to...play some more?” He was pushing a bit, but they did have time and it would be nice to have a chance to please Cloud again. Perhaps this time he’d be able to show a bit more independent thought than he’d felt capable of last night as well.
“You won’t be missed?” Cloud’s concern for his normal routine was touching, Angeal had sometimes kept him from training to gain the time to fuck him again, but he should know from the priorities that he’d set himself that Sephiroth wouldn’t let even Cloud’s pleasure keep him from performing his duties. He simply saw no reason not to skip his training for one day when it would buy him extra time with his lover. “I know you like to train early.”
“But I don’t have any regular sparring partners. I don’t often find someone willing to spar with me; it tends to be used as punishment duty actually.” He hadn’t known that when one of his commanders arranged a sparring partner for him it was meant as punishment for his opponent until Angeal had told him that when he commented on how his assigned sparring partners tended to be less skilled than the volunteers.
“I wish I could get away with asking to spar with you publicly, but it would be too revealing, wouldn’t it?” Cloud’s hands were wandering idly over Sephiroth’s body as he spoke, and he did his best not to purr the way he wanted to, instead focusing on answering his keeper.
“Yes, I’m sorry, but people would wonder why a SOLDIER 3rd class was willing to face me, and there’d be even more questions if I...” He trailed off, reluctant to remind Cloud how inhuman he was, how much of a monster...so far his keeper had treated him as a person, not a possession, even though Cloud of all people had the right to consider him nothing more than property.
“If people noticed you holding yourself back to my level. I know. I got away with letting people know Angeal and Zack had been teaching me to use a sword, but there’d be far too much gossip if I claimed you as a teacher. And no one would believe you were desperate enough for a sparring partner to resort to someone like me.” Cloud’s words were accurate, and at least he didn’t sound as if it bothered him, rather Sephiroth could tell that Cloud admired his skill and was determined to grow to match it himself, an impression reinforced by his next words. “Not until I reach 1st class anyway.”
“There’s already people talking about your skill, yes. Cloud, please!” Sephiroth knew he wasn’t supposed to be asking, but this combination of talking and teasing touches was a torment to him. Cloud laughed and kissed him, sliding his leg between Sephiroth’s.
“All right love. We’ll talk more afterwards. Do you think you can get away with ordering breakfast for two brought here?”
“If you want me to.” That seemed to be enough for Cloud, and he began making love to Sephiroth then.
xoXox
Cloud loaded his backpack pretty lightly with food and water for the run, fastening one bottle to his belt and packing iodine tablets in case he needed to refill any bottles. Then he fitted his new Lightning materia into the bangle he’d been issued with two unlinked slots and settled his longsword where he could grab it easily in case he was attacked. That was everything he’d need according to his room mates, and he’d confirmed that by asking Sephiroth for advice this morning after they’d made love.
He caught the train to the edge of Midgar without even trying to grab one of the few seats; it would probably be almost impossible to sit comfortably with his sword still fastened to his side, and it had been difficult enough to get it settled before leaving. But no one was crowding him on the train, probably a side-effect of his new Mako eyes, because he was sure his sword wasn’t impressive enough to merit that sort of personal space. He’d been told he’d be allowed to train with a Buster Blade like Zack used after he got his next set of enhancements, and he just hoped he didn’t screw up badly enough that people would wonder why he’d been promoted.
He pushed his doubts aside as the train reached the very last station, only then realising how few people were left in the carriage with him. But there weren’t that many people waiting at the station either, so he knew for a fact that he hadn’t scared anyone off the train - not that he really thought most people would be scared of him, even with Mako eyes.
He hadn’t planned any particular route for his run, but he didn’t feel any need for that; he’d turn back after three or four hours and he didn’t really think he’d have a problem retracing his steps. They’d done classes on how to track and how to find their way in rough country, and Cloud had ended up making sure the rest of the cadets Gregori hated learned at least as much as his city-boy favourites did. Cloud shrugged, and gave himself a little shake, making sure everything was settled right, and began to run at the steady ground eating pace he’d learned since coming to Midgar. One of the few instructors who’d been willing to help teach the cadets Gregory disapproved of properly had been in charge of making sure they learned how to run with a full load, and how to carry their load. He should remember to tell Sephiroth that SOLDIER 2nd class Jethro had been a good teacher to all of his students, he had favoured some of the cadets, but it manifested as him pushing the more talented in his area harder than the rest of them.
He’d been running for about an hour when he was attacked by a Hell House. He dropped his backpack to the ground as he dodged its initial attack and threw a Bolt at it, before following that up with close combat. It was different to fighting another man, but the same techniques worked for attacking the monster and he focused as much as possible on dodging to defend himself. In the end he finished the monster off with another Bolt and paused to butcher the corpse, putting the bits he could sell into resealable plastic bags after finishing off his second bottle of water.
This time he kept a look out for any sources of water as he ran; it looked like he would be drinking a lot more than he’d expected. When he did find a stream he finished off his third bottle of water, and refilled all three bottles, adding an iodine tablet to each bottle and storing them towards the bottom of his pack - just on top of the Hell House parts.
He ate the next time he found a stream, just under four hours into his run, and he decided that was when he should turn back, after filling up his flask again. He didn’t encounter any more monsters, so he arrived back at the station he’d set off from six and a half hours after he left...just in time to see a train pulling out. He cursed quietly and checked the timetable, relieved to see that there was another train due in just a quarter of an hour.
When he got back to his room to drop off his backpack after collecting the bounty on his kill he found Geran and Daniel there as well, putting their swords away.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you Cloud?”
“Not yet, what about you two?”
“No, want to eat with us?”
“And you can tell us if anything interesting happened on your run.”
“Only if you tell me if there’s any good gossip going around the base that I missed.” Cloud knew he was nowhere near as connected to the gossip network as Zack was, but he was trying to get better about that, and letting his room mates know he was interested in the gossip might help.
xoXox
After he’d eaten Sephiroth returned to his office where he printed out the summaries of what they had so far to use against Gregori. It wasn’t exactly unusual for him to leave his office with paperwork to finish off in his quarters, or to come back to do some extra work, or pick extra work up, although he had cut back on that since he’d become Cloud’s lover. He wanted to be able to report on how things were going, and to check that Cloud agreed with his desire to get evidence on every instructor Gregori had subverted if at all possible.
Cloud was already there in his quarters, and he was glad to see him there; it made him feel oddly secure to know that Cloud wanted him enough to wait for him, that his keeper could be so patient. Angeal was more likely to drag him away from whatever he was doing rather than allow him time to finish his other business and Zack would wait, but somewhere he was in Sephiroth’s awareness constantly, distracting him until he could only think of his lover.
“You look tired Cloud.” He tried to let his keeper see his concern; Cloud had taken care of him last night, he could return the favour if it was needed.
“I am, but it’s a good tired. My run was mostly uneventful, but I got the chance to try out my new Lightning materia on a Hell House. And I heard that Angeal’s been avoiding you a bit lately. Do you want to come and tell me about it?” He patted the couch beside him in a clearly implied command. Sephiroth put his papers down and obeyed, sitting by Cloud and putting his arm around his waist, pulling his keeper in to rest against his chest, prepared to release him if Cloud put up any objection. But Cloud just leaned into his embrace, putting a possessive hand on his stomach as he kissed Sephiroth’s throat.
“I hadn’t realised people had noticed. He...doesn’t entirely like it that I’m yours now.” Sephiroth didn’t really want to go into more detail than that, but Cloud sensed that and was kind enough to back off instead of demanding more details.
“Can you handle it? I won’t give you up, but if you can handle Angeal I won’t try to interfere.” Cloud was petting him as he spoke, and Sephiroth did his best to resist the temptation to just purr in response to Cloud’s faith in him.
“Yes, I can deal with him. I don’t understand why he has a problem with me being yours, but he knows he can’t really fight it. Do you want to hear how building a case against Gregori is going?” It was a pretty blunt and unsubtle way of changing the subject, but from the way Cloud came to attention he liked the new subject, or just the fact that Sephiroth was so willing to keep him informed.
“Is that what those papers were for?” Cloud pulled away to reach for the papers, then settled back against Sephiroth, laying them in his lap. “I remembered that there’s at least one of his instructors who doesn’t play Gregori’s game, SOLDIER 2nd class Jethro, so he’s not implicated. I’m not entirely sure how many were actively involved in his persecution of us ‘pretty’ cadets, as opposed to just allowing themselves to be influenced by the general view of us as less talented than Gregori’s favourites, but Jethro treated us all absolutely equally until he could see how good we were for himself.”
“You want me to go after as many of the SOLDIERs who helped Gregori persecute the cadets he had issues with as possible then.” It was what Sephiroth wanted to do himself, so that was a relief, but Cloud should know... “That will take longer than if we just go after Gregori.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s like a snake, where if you cut off the head the body’ll die. More like a hydra, cut off the head and another two just grow right back. He’s taught them to be prejudiced, to lie, to cheat and to never give the people they hate even the slightest chance and if we don’t go after them as well they’ll just learn that they can get away with abusing the cadets they don’t like, as long as they can find someone to make into their scapegoat.” There was a hint of bitterness in Cloud’s voice, telling Sephiroth that he spoke from some sort of bad experience, but Sephiroth wasn’t going to presume to ask about it; Cloud would tell him if and when he felt it appropriate.
“Yes, they probably would.” He should start by showing Cloud what they had on Gregori first, so he handed that summary over. “Here’s what we have to use against Gregori so far. I...if it would please you...perhaps you could use our link to get more details?”
“That’s a good idea, well thought love.” Sephiroth could feel Cloud searching through his mind, and he did his best to bring everything he’d seen on Gregori to the front of his mind while holding back a bit on the other information. What he had on Simon, Vittorio, Ronan and Jason was sketchy enough that he could report it verbally, and he wanted to see how his keeper reacted. “You’ve collected a lot of information on Gregori I’m impressed. I just wish I could have helped more.”
“You gave me somewhere to start looking for evidence of his misconduct, I didn’t have the first idea where to look until you told me.” It was the simple truth, even if Sephiroth was verbalising it mostly to see Cloud smile. “And you can perhaps tell me if there were any instructors besides Jethro who didn’t follow Gregori so slavishly.”
“Hmmm...I can’t think of any at the moment, but if I do then I’ll tell you.” Cloud reached to stroke Sephiroth’s hair as he spoke an odd smile playing over his lips and Sephiroth only just managed to focus on what he was saying. “So why don’t you explain whatever it was you were trying to keep back for a verbal report?”
“I’m sorry. I should have...” He didn’t get any further because Cloud covered his mouth with his hand.
“No, don’t apologise. I think it’s sweet. Just tell me.”
“SOLDIERs 2nd class Simon, Vittorio, Ronan and Jason are the instructors who fake reports on the monster hunting exercise for the groups Gregori doesn’t like, and who double up for the group of his favourites. I’ve sent their reports to linguistics for analysis. I think it might help if you and Damon agreed to prepare a statement about what happened during that exercise from your viewpoint.”
“I can do that. But I think we’ve talked enough about that subject.” And then Cloud kissed him.
xoXox
Cloud climbed into Sephiroth’s lap as he kissed him, letting the printouts his lover had brought with him fall to the floor. Sephiroth instantly opened his mouth under Cloud’s and Cloud reached up to stroke his hair, resting one hand on his shoulder as Sephiroth’s hands came to rest at the small of his back. He loved the way his mate moaned into his mouth, taking it as an affirmation of his skill, or of the desire Sephiroth felt for him. He skimmed his hand down along Sephiroth’s arm, then ran his fingers teasingly over his stomach, just above his belt, making Sephiroth shiver against him.
“C-can we move this to my bedroom?” Cloud was a little surprised that Sephiroth was willing to make the suggestion when he pulled back from the kiss, but he smiled at his lover, pleased that he was in the mood to take some degree of initiative.
“That’s a good idea. Think you can carry me?” He was teasing, mostly, but he did sort of like the idea of having Sephiroth carry him to bed, even if he was usually sensitive about his size. He didn’t expect the way Sephiroth’s eyes went wide, or the mix of shock and arousal he could feel through their link before Sephiroth collected himself and lowered his eyes with a faint blush.
“If it would please you Cloud.” Sephiroth worried lightly at his lip before he continued speaking, but Cloud didn’t interrupt him; he could sense that his lover had something more to say after all. “You’ll need to put your arms around my shoulders for balance...and perhaps wrap your legs around my waist when I stand up.” Cloud obeyed at once, laughing as he clasped his hands together behind Sephiroth’s neck.
“Go ahead then.” He could feel Sephiroth taking hold of him by the hips as he stood up, and quickly wrapped his legs around Sephiroth to make it a bit easier on him. “You okay?”
“Yes. If you are comfortable?”
“Just fine, and I think you could free up a hand if you wrapped one arm around my waist.” Cloud didn’t need Sephiroth to hold him in place, he was doing a good enough job of that himself, but it would probably help with the balance, and he buried his face against Sephiroth’s shoulder to let him see better.
“Thank you, that makes it a lot easier.” It would make a difference that Sephiroth could see where he was going instead of trying to steer blind, but Cloud couldn’t work out why it pleased his lover so much that he had asked to be carried to bed. He hesitated, then he decided to check through his lover’s mind for the reasons, as discreetly as he could, determined to pull back if he saw any evidence he was bothering Sephiroth. He quickly found Sephiroth’s wonder that Cloud was permitting himself to be carried, that he wasn’t making a point of always looking strong, and that he’d interpreted Cloud’s request to be carried as an appreciation of Sephiroth’s strength. Cloud extricated himself from his mate’s mind, wondering why it meant so much to him that Cloud appreciated his strength - or was it that he appreciated Sephiroth’s strength in intimate situations?
“Just sit down on the bed.” If Sephiroth hadn’t been hesitating, standing just inside the bedroom Cloud wouldn’t have said anything, he’d have waited to see what his lover came up with, but obviously Sephiroth wanted Cloud to tell him what to do. Once Sephiroth had settled down on the bed Cloud relaxed his arms and legs and began kissing Sephiroth again, undressing him while he was distracted this time. He pushed his lover down to lie on the bed once he was naked, letting him move his legs to a more comfortable position as Cloud began stripping his own clothes off.
“Do you have a blindfold...no, make that two blindfolds?”
“Two? No, I’ve just got one.” Cloud liked the way Sephiroth was allowing his confusion to show on his face, and sent a mental caress through their bond to reward him. “I...why do you want two?”
“That’s not your concern.” He’d thought it would be fun if they were both blindfolded, but he’d settle for blindfolding Sephiroth. “And it doesn’t matter since I can’t use that idea. Just go and get your blindfold.”
“Yes Cloud.” Sephiroth crawled over the bed to pull a black blindfold from the cabinet beside it. He handed the mask to Cloud and lay back down, a faint smile on his lips. Cloud leaned down to kiss the corner of his mouth, then licked along the lips before sliding his tongue into his lover’s mouth as he fastened the blindfold over Sephiroth’s eyes. Sephiroth went almost limp as Cloud ran his hands lightly down his ribs, still kneeling beside him for the moment and Cloud pulled back anxiously.
“Are you alright?” He could sense pure relaxation through their link, but it felt natural and there was an undercurrent of thoughts running slowly through his mind, rather than the near blankness that had filled Sephiroth’s mind when Cloud had completed their bond.
“Yes Cloud. This...is familiar and it’s usually really good.” He hadn’t expected that response, so he moved to lie on top of Sephiroth, kissing his bared throat as he stroked across Sephiroth’s left wrist, and down along the edge of his hand to the base of his thumb, one of his lover’s sensitive areas his other hand tangled in Sephiroth’s hair. “Please...” Then Sephiroth fell silent, and glancing up Cloud could see that he was biting his lower lip.
“Don’t do that love. If you want to speak you can. I know you don’t like using our link for this.”
“Thank you Cloud.” He wasn’t sure why Sephiroth felt he needed permission to speak, but once he was certain his lover wouldn’t hurt himself again Cloud kissed that bitten lip, running his tongue over the indentation left by Sephiroth’s teeth, and tasting just a hint of blood. That told him what his lover had been asking for - he’d been grazing his teeth against Sephiroth’s skin when his lover spoke. He moved back to Sephiroth’s throat, and bit him hard enough to draw blood before he started kissing his way down Sephiroth’s body, enjoying the way it made him respond.
When he took Sephiroth into his mouth he half expected he’d have to deal with an attempt to thrust, but instead Sephiroth somehow managed to stay motionless, even though he climaxed in seconds as Cloud pulled back to avoid the seed as much as he could. He grabbed the oil, and began preparing Sephiroth, touching him in the sensitive spots he could reach and kissing him in other sensitive spots, occasionally biting him in the less sensitive areas, just hard enough to leave little dents from his teeth. Sephiroth was hard again by the time Cloud slid into him, but after that he focused on his own pleasure, not hurting his lover, but letting him deal with his own pleasure himself.
He pulled out and led Sephiroth through to the bathroom, tying his hair up out of the way while he washed his lover and himself clean, without removing the blindfold, but checking through their link that Sephiroth was still comfortable. He was, and deeply relaxed in a way Cloud had never seen him before, and it was almost with a sense of regret that he too the blindfold off after tossing the top sheet from the bed, and pulling his lover down to lie in his arms.
“That...was wonderful Cloud. Did I please you?”
“Very much.” He stroked Sephiroth’s hair and kissed him gently. “But I want to go to sleep now.”
“As you wish.” Sephiroth’s eyes closed at once, and Cloud pulled the covers up over them both before settling down to sleep.
xoXox
Sephiroth couldn’t quite believe his keeper had been willing to stay with him again last night, but he was grateful for it, and he wasn’t going to let Cloud’s training suffer for it. Cloud had asked for two blindfolds, not one, so...he’d probably wanted to see for himself what it felt like having sex without being able to use his eyes. He glanced over at the clock, deciding that there was enough time before Cloud had to go...he’d woken at his usual time, a lot earlier than most people were about, but they’d gone to sleep early as well - or at least Cloud had.
Sephiroth had spent some time thinking about what Cloud had done with him, and what he seemed to want from him, as well as enjoying the feel of his keeper’s arms around him before he let himself sleep, and so he was fairly confident that Cloud would react well if he woke him with a blow job. He was less confident that it would please Cloud if he blindfolded him first, but...even if Cloud was angry this would be a safe time to test just how he’d react when Sephiroth displeased him; Cloud was pretty weak at the moment, compared to how he’d end up and Cloud had said he wanted initiative from Sephiroth.
Decision made he moved carefully to pick up the blindfold without disturbing Cloud, and fastened it over his eyes before sliding down under the covers to wrap his mouth around Cloud’s morning erection. He shut his eyes to focus on the taste and shape of Cloud inside his mouth, moving slowly and keeping the suction gentle so that his keeper would wake up gradually, instead of with a shock.
“Wh-wha?” Even through the muffling covers he could tell that Cloud’s voice was thickened with sleep, and he could just hear the small sounds of Cloud moving his hands. “Ah.” He could feel Cloud’s pleasure and amusement flickering against his mind, but he could still tell that the emotions came from Cloud, not from him. Cloud pushed the covers down to Sephiroth’s shoulders, and he hummed appreciatively around Cloud’s cock when his keeper rested his hands on the back of his head, caressing gently. “That’s good. Just keep on doing that.”
Sephiroth took that as a cue to slow down even more, keeping his attention only just teasing, doing his best to make it last as long as he could, and he pulled back when he felt the twitching that preceded climax, closing his eyes as Cloud came on his face.
“That was...wonderful. Can I take the blindfold off now?” Cloud was asking permission, from him? “Or did you have something else in mind?” That made more sense.
“If you wish. I hadn’t thought of anything further, and I’m glad I pleased you.” He smiled at Cloud as he pulled the blindfold off, hoping for some sign of approval. “You...did want to try what sex was like without sight to distract you from your pleasure?”
“Yes, I did. It was good, and I might ask to do something like this again, but only when you feel up to it.” Cloud reached down, briefly stroking his hair with a smile. “Now get up here and kiss me love.”
Sephiroth obeyed, licking lightly at Cloud’s lower lip before his lover opened his mouth and took control of their kiss. He didn’t even try to fight it when Cloud rolled him over to lie on top of him, letting his eyes fall closed as his keeper continued kissing him, hands stroking down his sides. He moaned into Cloud’s mouth as his keeper slid a hand between their bodies and wrapped around his cock.
“How much time do we have?” Cloud pulled back just enough to ask the question, then turned his attention to Sephiroth’s throat, kissing it and running his teeth lightly over the skin. Sephiroth turned his head to check the time with a gasp, hands coming up to clutch at Cloud’s shoulders.
“Ah-about an hour.”
“Good.” With that Cloud returned his attention to Sephiroth’s mouth, nibbling at his lower lip. Sephiroth closed his eyes again, letting Cloud pull his head to a more convenient position with the hand he wasn’t using to stroke his cock. He focused on the sensation, half surprised that Cloud didn’t want to use their link, and then gasped into the blond’s mouth in surprise when he felt Cloud’s cock pressed against his as his lover shifted to grip both of them. He climaxed first, and Cloud pulled back a bit to jerk off over him.
“Come on, we can shower together, and then you can decide if I should practice my magic by healing you.”
“Sounds good to me beloved.” Sephiroth felt heat rise in his cheeks as he realised what he’d said; it wasn’t his place to suggest using any endearments, or to use them without permission. Angeal had made that very clear; the one time he’d called the older man ‘Angel’ he’d pulled away coldly.
“Thank you.” Cloud cupped his cheek and forced Sephiroth to look at him. “It’s good to know that you do love me, that you aren’t just submitting to necessity.” Then he led Sephiroth to the shower, and Sephiroth finally came out of the shock those words had sent him into, to the feel of his lover’s hands on his body, cleaning him.
xoXox
Cloud hesitated over where to eat his breakfast - Damon and Killian were just sitting down with Warren, and there was still room for him, but Geran and Daniel were alone together at another table.
“Hey Cloud, over here.” Killian’s invitation decided him, and he moved over to join his classmates, sliding easily into the free seat.
“So, are there any virgins left in our group Warren?” He smiled at the brunet as he asked the question, remembering how he’d described his plans for the night before last.
“Not unless you’re a virgin, and if you’ve got a lover you can’t be, can you?”
“No, I can’t.” Cloud hesitated, deciding what it was safe to say. “He’s the contact I mentioned, and we played with blindfolds last night. So, you get a group discount or something for all nine of you going to the same whorehouse?”
“No, some of us had our own favourite haunts for that.” Killian sounded almost angry at that, and Cloud wasn’t sure why. “The Red Lantern’s got a reputation for kink, not like the Turtledove, and I can’t believe Peter was so ready to admit he was going there.”
“What sort of kink?” Damon asked the question in Cloud’s mind and he looked at the two older SOLDIERs, waiting for the answer.
“The sort you two don’t need to know about.” Cloud couldn’t quite believe the repressive tone in Warren’s voice, but he accepted the lack of answer while Damon kept on trying to get the information from the other two. When they’d finished eating they made their way to the room they met their instructors in.
“Right, you’re all on record as being healthy and responding well to your enhancements, so from now on you’ll only be spending two days a week here training. Tomorrow evening we’ll be giving you all your first assignment which should cover the next four days, then you’ll have one day off before you’re expected to report back here. After that you’ll have to see what you’re assigned to for yourselves and in three months you’ll all be assessed again and assigned to the standard groups for training.” Did that mean they wouldn’t be learning any more about swordplay after three months? Or just that they were supposed to find their own tutors if they wanted to learn new moves, as opposed to practising with what they already knew? It didn’t matter; Cloud could probably get lessons from Zack and Angeal, and Sephiroth would teach him if they refused.
“You’ll probably start off with something simple, like guard duty, so don’t get too ambitious.” SOLDIER 3rd class Remus sounded repressive, and he did silence the murmured speculation before leading them off to the obstacle courses. Cloud was too focused on keeping up to pay much attention to the way his class mates were speculating on their first assignments as SOLDIERs - and despite Remus’ warning they seemed to be hoping for the more exciting missions, even if all they could realistically hope for was monster hunts or joining suppression missions. Cloud would be perfectly happy with an assignment where he could stay here, close to Sephiroth, at least for now, although considering that his missions weren’t going to last more than four days for now it wasn’t much of a problem. And of course he wasn’t considering the possibility that Sephiroth would be sent somewhere else.
The speculations continued during lunch and now Cloud had no excuse not to join in.
“We’re not going to be trusted to lead anything but monster hunting missions, and not even those if we did badly on that test. I’m expecting to be assigned to guard duty, or monster hunting. I’ve heard some SOLDIERs are assigned as ‘reaction teams’ and I might end up rotating into one of those, if I’ve impressed any of the team leaders. We’re not going to be sent too far from Midgar for this first three months, not if we’re expected to report for more training two days a week.”
“Don’t you want something a bit more exciting than that?”
“Monster hunting’s probably the most exciting thing we’ll get, that and the reaction teams, just the reaction teams won’t be exciting all the time, only when something happens. And guard duty and the reaction teams would both leave me plenty of opportunity for extra training.”
“Not to mention giving you chances to see your lover.” Killian would mention that.
“That too. But I’m figuring on guard duty because I don’t know if I could keep up with more experienced SOLDIERs, or monster hunting since I’d just be working with normal soldiers there. I’m hoping for a reaction team if I did well enough, because that’s the best career-wise and I heard they tend to drive to wherever they have to fight, so it’s my fighting skills that would matter most there.”
“And how’s guard duty career wise?”
“It depends on when you’re doing it, and how often.” Cloud was glad that Warren spoke up then, shifting the attention away from him for a bit. “Now, it’s not too bad, especially not if we don’t get it too often. But after the first three months? It usually means you won’t be getting past SOLDIER 3rd class if they keep on assigning you to guard duty, more than a couple of days a month. That or it’s punishment duty.”
xoXox
Final Fantasy VII fic, pre-game AU.
CloudxSephiroth - and yes that does mean Cloud is topping.
Rating R.
Sephiroth woke with Cloud lying half on top of him, one leg wrapped around his own and an arm around his waist, and he made the decision to just stay there, to enjoy the feel of his keeper’s body resting against his own and to keep from disturbing his sleep. He could afford to miss his early morning training this once, and he’d rather just revel in the memory of the previous night. Cloud had been so good to him; he hadn’t known it was possible to be dominated that completely without any real pain. But Sephiroth hadn’t needed to think about a single thing all night, attending to Cloud’s needs before his own had been almost reflex, and he’d been permitted to please Cloud again after his keeper had finished drying his hair.
“Mmm.” Cloud nuzzled against his chest briefly, and Sephiroth realised he must be waking up. He hesitated, then wrapped his arms around Cloud’s shoulders, stroking his back encouragingly; the only thing he’d wanted and not got last night had been a bite mark, and perhaps his lover would bite him this time. No, he shouldn’t think something like that, his wants weren’t important, not beside pleasing Cloud, his needs did matter, but even they came second to Cloud’s desires. Still, Sephiroth closed his eyes, tilted his head back and purred as Cloud’s mouth moved to his throat, inviting his lover’s attention wordlessly, ready to give Cloud whatever he wished.
“Sephiroth?” Cloud sounded pleased to be waking up with him, but at least a little bit confused.
“Yes my love?” He opened his eyes, looking into Cloud’s and trying to work out what was troubling him.
“Did I give you what you needed last night?” Cloud kept on petting him, consciously or otherwise.
“Oh yes, you were wonderful. I couldn’t have handled any illusion of control or uncertainty about how to please you.” Sephiroth bit his lip, considering, then tilted his head back again. “Would you like to...play some more?” He was pushing a bit, but they did have time and it would be nice to have a chance to please Cloud again. Perhaps this time he’d be able to show a bit more independent thought than he’d felt capable of last night as well.
“You won’t be missed?” Cloud’s concern for his normal routine was touching, Angeal had sometimes kept him from training to gain the time to fuck him again, but he should know from the priorities that he’d set himself that Sephiroth wouldn’t let even Cloud’s pleasure keep him from performing his duties. He simply saw no reason not to skip his training for one day when it would buy him extra time with his lover. “I know you like to train early.”
“But I don’t have any regular sparring partners. I don’t often find someone willing to spar with me; it tends to be used as punishment duty actually.” He hadn’t known that when one of his commanders arranged a sparring partner for him it was meant as punishment for his opponent until Angeal had told him that when he commented on how his assigned sparring partners tended to be less skilled than the volunteers.
“I wish I could get away with asking to spar with you publicly, but it would be too revealing, wouldn’t it?” Cloud’s hands were wandering idly over Sephiroth’s body as he spoke, and he did his best not to purr the way he wanted to, instead focusing on answering his keeper.
“Yes, I’m sorry, but people would wonder why a SOLDIER 3rd class was willing to face me, and there’d be even more questions if I...” He trailed off, reluctant to remind Cloud how inhuman he was, how much of a monster...so far his keeper had treated him as a person, not a possession, even though Cloud of all people had the right to consider him nothing more than property.
“If people noticed you holding yourself back to my level. I know. I got away with letting people know Angeal and Zack had been teaching me to use a sword, but there’d be far too much gossip if I claimed you as a teacher. And no one would believe you were desperate enough for a sparring partner to resort to someone like me.” Cloud’s words were accurate, and at least he didn’t sound as if it bothered him, rather Sephiroth could tell that Cloud admired his skill and was determined to grow to match it himself, an impression reinforced by his next words. “Not until I reach 1st class anyway.”
“There’s already people talking about your skill, yes. Cloud, please!” Sephiroth knew he wasn’t supposed to be asking, but this combination of talking and teasing touches was a torment to him. Cloud laughed and kissed him, sliding his leg between Sephiroth’s.
“All right love. We’ll talk more afterwards. Do you think you can get away with ordering breakfast for two brought here?”
“If you want me to.” That seemed to be enough for Cloud, and he began making love to Sephiroth then.
Cloud loaded his backpack pretty lightly with food and water for the run, fastening one bottle to his belt and packing iodine tablets in case he needed to refill any bottles. Then he fitted his new Lightning materia into the bangle he’d been issued with two unlinked slots and settled his longsword where he could grab it easily in case he was attacked. That was everything he’d need according to his room mates, and he’d confirmed that by asking Sephiroth for advice this morning after they’d made love.
He caught the train to the edge of Midgar without even trying to grab one of the few seats; it would probably be almost impossible to sit comfortably with his sword still fastened to his side, and it had been difficult enough to get it settled before leaving. But no one was crowding him on the train, probably a side-effect of his new Mako eyes, because he was sure his sword wasn’t impressive enough to merit that sort of personal space. He’d been told he’d be allowed to train with a Buster Blade like Zack used after he got his next set of enhancements, and he just hoped he didn’t screw up badly enough that people would wonder why he’d been promoted.
He pushed his doubts aside as the train reached the very last station, only then realising how few people were left in the carriage with him. But there weren’t that many people waiting at the station either, so he knew for a fact that he hadn’t scared anyone off the train - not that he really thought most people would be scared of him, even with Mako eyes.
He hadn’t planned any particular route for his run, but he didn’t feel any need for that; he’d turn back after three or four hours and he didn’t really think he’d have a problem retracing his steps. They’d done classes on how to track and how to find their way in rough country, and Cloud had ended up making sure the rest of the cadets Gregori hated learned at least as much as his city-boy favourites did. Cloud shrugged, and gave himself a little shake, making sure everything was settled right, and began to run at the steady ground eating pace he’d learned since coming to Midgar. One of the few instructors who’d been willing to help teach the cadets Gregory disapproved of properly had been in charge of making sure they learned how to run with a full load, and how to carry their load. He should remember to tell Sephiroth that SOLDIER 2nd class Jethro had been a good teacher to all of his students, he had favoured some of the cadets, but it manifested as him pushing the more talented in his area harder than the rest of them.
He’d been running for about an hour when he was attacked by a Hell House. He dropped his backpack to the ground as he dodged its initial attack and threw a Bolt at it, before following that up with close combat. It was different to fighting another man, but the same techniques worked for attacking the monster and he focused as much as possible on dodging to defend himself. In the end he finished the monster off with another Bolt and paused to butcher the corpse, putting the bits he could sell into resealable plastic bags after finishing off his second bottle of water.
This time he kept a look out for any sources of water as he ran; it looked like he would be drinking a lot more than he’d expected. When he did find a stream he finished off his third bottle of water, and refilled all three bottles, adding an iodine tablet to each bottle and storing them towards the bottom of his pack - just on top of the Hell House parts.
He ate the next time he found a stream, just under four hours into his run, and he decided that was when he should turn back, after filling up his flask again. He didn’t encounter any more monsters, so he arrived back at the station he’d set off from six and a half hours after he left...just in time to see a train pulling out. He cursed quietly and checked the timetable, relieved to see that there was another train due in just a quarter of an hour.
When he got back to his room to drop off his backpack after collecting the bounty on his kill he found Geran and Daniel there as well, putting their swords away.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you Cloud?”
“Not yet, what about you two?”
“No, want to eat with us?”
“And you can tell us if anything interesting happened on your run.”
“Only if you tell me if there’s any good gossip going around the base that I missed.” Cloud knew he was nowhere near as connected to the gossip network as Zack was, but he was trying to get better about that, and letting his room mates know he was interested in the gossip might help.
After he’d eaten Sephiroth returned to his office where he printed out the summaries of what they had so far to use against Gregori. It wasn’t exactly unusual for him to leave his office with paperwork to finish off in his quarters, or to come back to do some extra work, or pick extra work up, although he had cut back on that since he’d become Cloud’s lover. He wanted to be able to report on how things were going, and to check that Cloud agreed with his desire to get evidence on every instructor Gregori had subverted if at all possible.
Cloud was already there in his quarters, and he was glad to see him there; it made him feel oddly secure to know that Cloud wanted him enough to wait for him, that his keeper could be so patient. Angeal was more likely to drag him away from whatever he was doing rather than allow him time to finish his other business and Zack would wait, but somewhere he was in Sephiroth’s awareness constantly, distracting him until he could only think of his lover.
“You look tired Cloud.” He tried to let his keeper see his concern; Cloud had taken care of him last night, he could return the favour if it was needed.
“I am, but it’s a good tired. My run was mostly uneventful, but I got the chance to try out my new Lightning materia on a Hell House. And I heard that Angeal’s been avoiding you a bit lately. Do you want to come and tell me about it?” He patted the couch beside him in a clearly implied command. Sephiroth put his papers down and obeyed, sitting by Cloud and putting his arm around his waist, pulling his keeper in to rest against his chest, prepared to release him if Cloud put up any objection. But Cloud just leaned into his embrace, putting a possessive hand on his stomach as he kissed Sephiroth’s throat.
“I hadn’t realised people had noticed. He...doesn’t entirely like it that I’m yours now.” Sephiroth didn’t really want to go into more detail than that, but Cloud sensed that and was kind enough to back off instead of demanding more details.
“Can you handle it? I won’t give you up, but if you can handle Angeal I won’t try to interfere.” Cloud was petting him as he spoke, and Sephiroth did his best to resist the temptation to just purr in response to Cloud’s faith in him.
“Yes, I can deal with him. I don’t understand why he has a problem with me being yours, but he knows he can’t really fight it. Do you want to hear how building a case against Gregori is going?” It was a pretty blunt and unsubtle way of changing the subject, but from the way Cloud came to attention he liked the new subject, or just the fact that Sephiroth was so willing to keep him informed.
“Is that what those papers were for?” Cloud pulled away to reach for the papers, then settled back against Sephiroth, laying them in his lap. “I remembered that there’s at least one of his instructors who doesn’t play Gregori’s game, SOLDIER 2nd class Jethro, so he’s not implicated. I’m not entirely sure how many were actively involved in his persecution of us ‘pretty’ cadets, as opposed to just allowing themselves to be influenced by the general view of us as less talented than Gregori’s favourites, but Jethro treated us all absolutely equally until he could see how good we were for himself.”
“You want me to go after as many of the SOLDIERs who helped Gregori persecute the cadets he had issues with as possible then.” It was what Sephiroth wanted to do himself, so that was a relief, but Cloud should know... “That will take longer than if we just go after Gregori.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s like a snake, where if you cut off the head the body’ll die. More like a hydra, cut off the head and another two just grow right back. He’s taught them to be prejudiced, to lie, to cheat and to never give the people they hate even the slightest chance and if we don’t go after them as well they’ll just learn that they can get away with abusing the cadets they don’t like, as long as they can find someone to make into their scapegoat.” There was a hint of bitterness in Cloud’s voice, telling Sephiroth that he spoke from some sort of bad experience, but Sephiroth wasn’t going to presume to ask about it; Cloud would tell him if and when he felt it appropriate.
“Yes, they probably would.” He should start by showing Cloud what they had on Gregori first, so he handed that summary over. “Here’s what we have to use against Gregori so far. I...if it would please you...perhaps you could use our link to get more details?”
“That’s a good idea, well thought love.” Sephiroth could feel Cloud searching through his mind, and he did his best to bring everything he’d seen on Gregori to the front of his mind while holding back a bit on the other information. What he had on Simon, Vittorio, Ronan and Jason was sketchy enough that he could report it verbally, and he wanted to see how his keeper reacted. “You’ve collected a lot of information on Gregori I’m impressed. I just wish I could have helped more.”
“You gave me somewhere to start looking for evidence of his misconduct, I didn’t have the first idea where to look until you told me.” It was the simple truth, even if Sephiroth was verbalising it mostly to see Cloud smile. “And you can perhaps tell me if there were any instructors besides Jethro who didn’t follow Gregori so slavishly.”
“Hmmm...I can’t think of any at the moment, but if I do then I’ll tell you.” Cloud reached to stroke Sephiroth’s hair as he spoke an odd smile playing over his lips and Sephiroth only just managed to focus on what he was saying. “So why don’t you explain whatever it was you were trying to keep back for a verbal report?”
“I’m sorry. I should have...” He didn’t get any further because Cloud covered his mouth with his hand.
“No, don’t apologise. I think it’s sweet. Just tell me.”
“SOLDIERs 2nd class Simon, Vittorio, Ronan and Jason are the instructors who fake reports on the monster hunting exercise for the groups Gregori doesn’t like, and who double up for the group of his favourites. I’ve sent their reports to linguistics for analysis. I think it might help if you and Damon agreed to prepare a statement about what happened during that exercise from your viewpoint.”
“I can do that. But I think we’ve talked enough about that subject.” And then Cloud kissed him.
Cloud climbed into Sephiroth’s lap as he kissed him, letting the printouts his lover had brought with him fall to the floor. Sephiroth instantly opened his mouth under Cloud’s and Cloud reached up to stroke his hair, resting one hand on his shoulder as Sephiroth’s hands came to rest at the small of his back. He loved the way his mate moaned into his mouth, taking it as an affirmation of his skill, or of the desire Sephiroth felt for him. He skimmed his hand down along Sephiroth’s arm, then ran his fingers teasingly over his stomach, just above his belt, making Sephiroth shiver against him.
“C-can we move this to my bedroom?” Cloud was a little surprised that Sephiroth was willing to make the suggestion when he pulled back from the kiss, but he smiled at his lover, pleased that he was in the mood to take some degree of initiative.
“That’s a good idea. Think you can carry me?” He was teasing, mostly, but he did sort of like the idea of having Sephiroth carry him to bed, even if he was usually sensitive about his size. He didn’t expect the way Sephiroth’s eyes went wide, or the mix of shock and arousal he could feel through their link before Sephiroth collected himself and lowered his eyes with a faint blush.
“If it would please you Cloud.” Sephiroth worried lightly at his lip before he continued speaking, but Cloud didn’t interrupt him; he could sense that his lover had something more to say after all. “You’ll need to put your arms around my shoulders for balance...and perhaps wrap your legs around my waist when I stand up.” Cloud obeyed at once, laughing as he clasped his hands together behind Sephiroth’s neck.
“Go ahead then.” He could feel Sephiroth taking hold of him by the hips as he stood up, and quickly wrapped his legs around Sephiroth to make it a bit easier on him. “You okay?”
“Yes. If you are comfortable?”
“Just fine, and I think you could free up a hand if you wrapped one arm around my waist.” Cloud didn’t need Sephiroth to hold him in place, he was doing a good enough job of that himself, but it would probably help with the balance, and he buried his face against Sephiroth’s shoulder to let him see better.
“Thank you, that makes it a lot easier.” It would make a difference that Sephiroth could see where he was going instead of trying to steer blind, but Cloud couldn’t work out why it pleased his lover so much that he had asked to be carried to bed. He hesitated, then he decided to check through his lover’s mind for the reasons, as discreetly as he could, determined to pull back if he saw any evidence he was bothering Sephiroth. He quickly found Sephiroth’s wonder that Cloud was permitting himself to be carried, that he wasn’t making a point of always looking strong, and that he’d interpreted Cloud’s request to be carried as an appreciation of Sephiroth’s strength. Cloud extricated himself from his mate’s mind, wondering why it meant so much to him that Cloud appreciated his strength - or was it that he appreciated Sephiroth’s strength in intimate situations?
“Just sit down on the bed.” If Sephiroth hadn’t been hesitating, standing just inside the bedroom Cloud wouldn’t have said anything, he’d have waited to see what his lover came up with, but obviously Sephiroth wanted Cloud to tell him what to do. Once Sephiroth had settled down on the bed Cloud relaxed his arms and legs and began kissing Sephiroth again, undressing him while he was distracted this time. He pushed his lover down to lie on the bed once he was naked, letting him move his legs to a more comfortable position as Cloud began stripping his own clothes off.
“Do you have a blindfold...no, make that two blindfolds?”
“Two? No, I’ve just got one.” Cloud liked the way Sephiroth was allowing his confusion to show on his face, and sent a mental caress through their bond to reward him. “I...why do you want two?”
“That’s not your concern.” He’d thought it would be fun if they were both blindfolded, but he’d settle for blindfolding Sephiroth. “And it doesn’t matter since I can’t use that idea. Just go and get your blindfold.”
“Yes Cloud.” Sephiroth crawled over the bed to pull a black blindfold from the cabinet beside it. He handed the mask to Cloud and lay back down, a faint smile on his lips. Cloud leaned down to kiss the corner of his mouth, then licked along the lips before sliding his tongue into his lover’s mouth as he fastened the blindfold over Sephiroth’s eyes. Sephiroth went almost limp as Cloud ran his hands lightly down his ribs, still kneeling beside him for the moment and Cloud pulled back anxiously.
“Are you alright?” He could sense pure relaxation through their link, but it felt natural and there was an undercurrent of thoughts running slowly through his mind, rather than the near blankness that had filled Sephiroth’s mind when Cloud had completed their bond.
“Yes Cloud. This...is familiar and it’s usually really good.” He hadn’t expected that response, so he moved to lie on top of Sephiroth, kissing his bared throat as he stroked across Sephiroth’s left wrist, and down along the edge of his hand to the base of his thumb, one of his lover’s sensitive areas his other hand tangled in Sephiroth’s hair. “Please...” Then Sephiroth fell silent, and glancing up Cloud could see that he was biting his lower lip.
“Don’t do that love. If you want to speak you can. I know you don’t like using our link for this.”
“Thank you Cloud.” He wasn’t sure why Sephiroth felt he needed permission to speak, but once he was certain his lover wouldn’t hurt himself again Cloud kissed that bitten lip, running his tongue over the indentation left by Sephiroth’s teeth, and tasting just a hint of blood. That told him what his lover had been asking for - he’d been grazing his teeth against Sephiroth’s skin when his lover spoke. He moved back to Sephiroth’s throat, and bit him hard enough to draw blood before he started kissing his way down Sephiroth’s body, enjoying the way it made him respond.
When he took Sephiroth into his mouth he half expected he’d have to deal with an attempt to thrust, but instead Sephiroth somehow managed to stay motionless, even though he climaxed in seconds as Cloud pulled back to avoid the seed as much as he could. He grabbed the oil, and began preparing Sephiroth, touching him in the sensitive spots he could reach and kissing him in other sensitive spots, occasionally biting him in the less sensitive areas, just hard enough to leave little dents from his teeth. Sephiroth was hard again by the time Cloud slid into him, but after that he focused on his own pleasure, not hurting his lover, but letting him deal with his own pleasure himself.
He pulled out and led Sephiroth through to the bathroom, tying his hair up out of the way while he washed his lover and himself clean, without removing the blindfold, but checking through their link that Sephiroth was still comfortable. He was, and deeply relaxed in a way Cloud had never seen him before, and it was almost with a sense of regret that he too the blindfold off after tossing the top sheet from the bed, and pulling his lover down to lie in his arms.
“That...was wonderful Cloud. Did I please you?”
“Very much.” He stroked Sephiroth’s hair and kissed him gently. “But I want to go to sleep now.”
“As you wish.” Sephiroth’s eyes closed at once, and Cloud pulled the covers up over them both before settling down to sleep.
Sephiroth couldn’t quite believe his keeper had been willing to stay with him again last night, but he was grateful for it, and he wasn’t going to let Cloud’s training suffer for it. Cloud had asked for two blindfolds, not one, so...he’d probably wanted to see for himself what it felt like having sex without being able to use his eyes. He glanced over at the clock, deciding that there was enough time before Cloud had to go...he’d woken at his usual time, a lot earlier than most people were about, but they’d gone to sleep early as well - or at least Cloud had.
Sephiroth had spent some time thinking about what Cloud had done with him, and what he seemed to want from him, as well as enjoying the feel of his keeper’s arms around him before he let himself sleep, and so he was fairly confident that Cloud would react well if he woke him with a blow job. He was less confident that it would please Cloud if he blindfolded him first, but...even if Cloud was angry this would be a safe time to test just how he’d react when Sephiroth displeased him; Cloud was pretty weak at the moment, compared to how he’d end up and Cloud had said he wanted initiative from Sephiroth.
Decision made he moved carefully to pick up the blindfold without disturbing Cloud, and fastened it over his eyes before sliding down under the covers to wrap his mouth around Cloud’s morning erection. He shut his eyes to focus on the taste and shape of Cloud inside his mouth, moving slowly and keeping the suction gentle so that his keeper would wake up gradually, instead of with a shock.
“Wh-wha?” Even through the muffling covers he could tell that Cloud’s voice was thickened with sleep, and he could just hear the small sounds of Cloud moving his hands. “Ah.” He could feel Cloud’s pleasure and amusement flickering against his mind, but he could still tell that the emotions came from Cloud, not from him. Cloud pushed the covers down to Sephiroth’s shoulders, and he hummed appreciatively around Cloud’s cock when his keeper rested his hands on the back of his head, caressing gently. “That’s good. Just keep on doing that.”
Sephiroth took that as a cue to slow down even more, keeping his attention only just teasing, doing his best to make it last as long as he could, and he pulled back when he felt the twitching that preceded climax, closing his eyes as Cloud came on his face.
“That was...wonderful. Can I take the blindfold off now?” Cloud was asking permission, from him? “Or did you have something else in mind?” That made more sense.
“If you wish. I hadn’t thought of anything further, and I’m glad I pleased you.” He smiled at Cloud as he pulled the blindfold off, hoping for some sign of approval. “You...did want to try what sex was like without sight to distract you from your pleasure?”
“Yes, I did. It was good, and I might ask to do something like this again, but only when you feel up to it.” Cloud reached down, briefly stroking his hair with a smile. “Now get up here and kiss me love.”
Sephiroth obeyed, licking lightly at Cloud’s lower lip before his lover opened his mouth and took control of their kiss. He didn’t even try to fight it when Cloud rolled him over to lie on top of him, letting his eyes fall closed as his keeper continued kissing him, hands stroking down his sides. He moaned into Cloud’s mouth as his keeper slid a hand between their bodies and wrapped around his cock.
“How much time do we have?” Cloud pulled back just enough to ask the question, then turned his attention to Sephiroth’s throat, kissing it and running his teeth lightly over the skin. Sephiroth turned his head to check the time with a gasp, hands coming up to clutch at Cloud’s shoulders.
“Ah-about an hour.”
“Good.” With that Cloud returned his attention to Sephiroth’s mouth, nibbling at his lower lip. Sephiroth closed his eyes again, letting Cloud pull his head to a more convenient position with the hand he wasn’t using to stroke his cock. He focused on the sensation, half surprised that Cloud didn’t want to use their link, and then gasped into the blond’s mouth in surprise when he felt Cloud’s cock pressed against his as his lover shifted to grip both of them. He climaxed first, and Cloud pulled back a bit to jerk off over him.
“Come on, we can shower together, and then you can decide if I should practice my magic by healing you.”
“Sounds good to me beloved.” Sephiroth felt heat rise in his cheeks as he realised what he’d said; it wasn’t his place to suggest using any endearments, or to use them without permission. Angeal had made that very clear; the one time he’d called the older man ‘Angel’ he’d pulled away coldly.
“Thank you.” Cloud cupped his cheek and forced Sephiroth to look at him. “It’s good to know that you do love me, that you aren’t just submitting to necessity.” Then he led Sephiroth to the shower, and Sephiroth finally came out of the shock those words had sent him into, to the feel of his lover’s hands on his body, cleaning him.
Cloud hesitated over where to eat his breakfast - Damon and Killian were just sitting down with Warren, and there was still room for him, but Geran and Daniel were alone together at another table.
“Hey Cloud, over here.” Killian’s invitation decided him, and he moved over to join his classmates, sliding easily into the free seat.
“So, are there any virgins left in our group Warren?” He smiled at the brunet as he asked the question, remembering how he’d described his plans for the night before last.
“Not unless you’re a virgin, and if you’ve got a lover you can’t be, can you?”
“No, I can’t.” Cloud hesitated, deciding what it was safe to say. “He’s the contact I mentioned, and we played with blindfolds last night. So, you get a group discount or something for all nine of you going to the same whorehouse?”
“No, some of us had our own favourite haunts for that.” Killian sounded almost angry at that, and Cloud wasn’t sure why. “The Red Lantern’s got a reputation for kink, not like the Turtledove, and I can’t believe Peter was so ready to admit he was going there.”
“What sort of kink?” Damon asked the question in Cloud’s mind and he looked at the two older SOLDIERs, waiting for the answer.
“The sort you two don’t need to know about.” Cloud couldn’t quite believe the repressive tone in Warren’s voice, but he accepted the lack of answer while Damon kept on trying to get the information from the other two. When they’d finished eating they made their way to the room they met their instructors in.
“Right, you’re all on record as being healthy and responding well to your enhancements, so from now on you’ll only be spending two days a week here training. Tomorrow evening we’ll be giving you all your first assignment which should cover the next four days, then you’ll have one day off before you’re expected to report back here. After that you’ll have to see what you’re assigned to for yourselves and in three months you’ll all be assessed again and assigned to the standard groups for training.” Did that mean they wouldn’t be learning any more about swordplay after three months? Or just that they were supposed to find their own tutors if they wanted to learn new moves, as opposed to practising with what they already knew? It didn’t matter; Cloud could probably get lessons from Zack and Angeal, and Sephiroth would teach him if they refused.
“You’ll probably start off with something simple, like guard duty, so don’t get too ambitious.” SOLDIER 3rd class Remus sounded repressive, and he did silence the murmured speculation before leading them off to the obstacle courses. Cloud was too focused on keeping up to pay much attention to the way his class mates were speculating on their first assignments as SOLDIERs - and despite Remus’ warning they seemed to be hoping for the more exciting missions, even if all they could realistically hope for was monster hunts or joining suppression missions. Cloud would be perfectly happy with an assignment where he could stay here, close to Sephiroth, at least for now, although considering that his missions weren’t going to last more than four days for now it wasn’t much of a problem. And of course he wasn’t considering the possibility that Sephiroth would be sent somewhere else.
The speculations continued during lunch and now Cloud had no excuse not to join in.
“We’re not going to be trusted to lead anything but monster hunting missions, and not even those if we did badly on that test. I’m expecting to be assigned to guard duty, or monster hunting. I’ve heard some SOLDIERs are assigned as ‘reaction teams’ and I might end up rotating into one of those, if I’ve impressed any of the team leaders. We’re not going to be sent too far from Midgar for this first three months, not if we’re expected to report for more training two days a week.”
“Don’t you want something a bit more exciting than that?”
“Monster hunting’s probably the most exciting thing we’ll get, that and the reaction teams, just the reaction teams won’t be exciting all the time, only when something happens. And guard duty and the reaction teams would both leave me plenty of opportunity for extra training.”
“Not to mention giving you chances to see your lover.” Killian would mention that.
“That too. But I’m figuring on guard duty because I don’t know if I could keep up with more experienced SOLDIERs, or monster hunting since I’d just be working with normal soldiers there. I’m hoping for a reaction team if I did well enough, because that’s the best career-wise and I heard they tend to drive to wherever they have to fight, so it’s my fighting skills that would matter most there.”
“And how’s guard duty career wise?”
“It depends on when you’re doing it, and how often.” Cloud was glad that Warren spoke up then, shifting the attention away from him for a bit. “Now, it’s not too bad, especially not if we don’t get it too often. But after the first three months? It usually means you won’t be getting past SOLDIER 3rd class if they keep on assigning you to guard duty, more than a couple of days a month. That or it’s punishment duty.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-06-09 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 12:10 pm (UTC)This chapter jumps around a lot, and seems to end in a nowhere sort of place. Feels a bit rushed, in terms of composition if not pacing.
Reading back through it I can see what you mean, but I can't see any way to fix it either so...
no subject
Date: 2007-06-09 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 12:11 pm (UTC)I like how, despite not talking things through before & after sex as would be normal for this kind of relationship, they do still communicate in a way and make sure both are happy and no-one's been upset or hurt in any way.
Honestly, Sephiroth's never had much in the way of communication in any sort of relationship. With Angeal it was jsut a case of Angeal pushing for more and more without trying to understand what he needed to do to make sure Sephiroth was happy and safe in that sort of relationship. And honestly, even if this Sephiroth is willing to push a bit more than he is in Responsive he still wouldn't be willing to, or possibly wouldn't even be capable of using a safeword even if Angeal gave him one. With Cloud the communication's fairly one way, Cloud finding out what Sephiroth wants and needs and responding to that, although he won't go further than he's comfortable with. If they ever do a full scene I think it will be more because Cloud loves Sephiroth and wants to give him what he needs than because Cloud enjoys those games for himself. By contrast you'll see some actual negotiating when Cloud has a threesome with Sephiroth and Zack in part 11 as well as what sort of scene Angeal sets up.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 06:25 pm (UTC)Also a commenter before me mentioned the pace of the story, and I must say, it wasn't too fast for me nor did I find the jumps disconnecting. But that's just me preferring plot development over finely detailed descriptions.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 08:13 am (UTC)It's supposed to. I don't think it started out that way, but Angeal makes assumptions and Sephiroth doesn't really seem willing to call him on the way he behaves, so he just keeps on getting worse.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 06:45 pm (UTC)And the jumps of the chapter did not bother at all.
I like it how Angeal is mentioned here and there. I just wish he could interact more with Sephiroth... Such moments are always particularly fun to read. But that's just me.
"Angel", huh? It doesn't seem to fit Angeal too well, though...
no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 08:37 am (UTC)I just wish he could interact more with Sephiroth... Such moments are always particularly fun to read. But that's just me.
They're fun to write as well, but a bit tricky too, since I'm trying to make him borderline abusive without going over the edge. And I think there's more interaction with him in the next two chapters.
"Angel", huh? It doesn't seem to fit Angeal too well, though...
This was really early in their relationship, when Sephiroth was 16 at most, and it's an obvious 'corruption' of his name. Angeal reacted badly to it because he got teased about his name that way when he was a teen.