Tiny Dancer

Title: Tiny Dancer
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Author: Lynsey
Websites: http://lynsey-schadegg.livejournal.com/ and http://lotr.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=1296789875 .
Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fiction_by_Lynsey/
Beta: None
Chapter: 10/?
Pairings: Sephiroth/Cloud
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Warnings: Very AU, language
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Do not sue, all I got are college loans, and this isn’t helping to pay them off.
Summary: Opening night for Midgar Dance Company’s newest show may be the beginning of something more than just a hot new act.


"Why does it feel like we've known each other forever?"

Sephiroth leaned back from the computer and regarded the blond leaning against the door jamb. The sleep pants Sephiroth had given him earlier were tied tightly around slim hips to keep them from falling, but they still hung precariously low. He followed the line of washboard abs up to too thin ribs that protruded through the skin. Strong arms with well defined muscles for lifting partners into the air were crossed over his chest. Most of those girls probably weighed just as much as he did, if not more. The blond spikes were even more tousled from sleep than usual, and goosebumps stuck out all over the torso from the cool air of the air conditioning.

"Maybe we knew each other in a former life?"

"Maybe."

Cloud came forward and leaned against Sephiroth's side of the desk. He held out his hand and Sephiroth took it. They sat there for quite awhile, holding the hand of the other and enjoying their quiet moment.

"I've never been this comfortable around another person in my entire life," Cloud confessed. "I'm normally...not like this. This forward. I'm quiet, introverted, I don't trust someone I've just met. I...don't know what it is about you."

"Would you believe that I'm the same way?"

Cloud smiled. "Ya. I would."

Their hands tightened around one another.

"So...what do we do now? Are we like, boyfriends? Or something?"

"What would we be besides boyfriends?" Sephiroth smiled.

"I don't know. Something."

"Liiiike...?"

Cloud smiled embarrassedly. "I tooold you I've never really done this before. I don't know what the fuck I'm saying."

Sephiroth chuckled, picking up a piece of paper with his free hand and giving it to Cloud. "Well, I got you a present. I thought this would be better than flowers."

Cloud took the paper with trepidation and stared at it blankly for several minutes. "Seph...I..."

The General frowned. "You...don't like it? I thought this is what you wanted."

"It's not that."

"Then why are you not hysterically happy."

"I can't read it."

"...I'm sorry?"

"I can't read, Seph."

Sephiroth sat stunned for several moments. "How have you gotten this far in life without learning how to read?"

"I'm really good at faking it."

Comprehension dawned. "Like last night at the restaurant."

"Ya."

Sephiroth took back the paper and looked Cloud in the eyes. "Would you like to learn?"

"Seph, nobody's figured out how to teach me yet. I'm sixteen. If it was going to happen it would have already."

"So...it's not that you haven't been taught at all, but there is an obstacle?"

Cloud hung his head. "The letters...get all mixed up. It's so hard to keep them in one place while I try to figure out a word."

"You're dyslexic."

"...I'm sorry?"

Sephiroth gave Cloud a look that said he thought Cloud should know this already. "Dyslexia. I believe it's the name of your reading disorder."

"How...how did...?"

"It's fairly common. There are ways to teach around it, different learning styles to help you through it."

Cloud sat in stunned disbelief. "So...no one has figured this out before because...?"

"I don't know. I can only assume it was to keep you more easily contained and malleable."

"But, my friends didn't even figure that out. I mean, you've only known for like, five minutes and you've already diagnosed me and found a way to solve the problem. What the hell? What the hell?"

Sephiroth flinched, figuring he had just dug a hole he may not be able to climb out of. "Maybe they didn't understand the problem? Or didn't know what the problem was to begin with?"

Cloud sat longer, his grip still tight on Sephiroth's hand. "But...you can teach me, right?"

"Probably not me. I will find someone suitable." He kissed Cloud’s hand. “I promise.”

"Christ. All this time I've been struggling with this Goddamned fucking-"

Sephiroth raised up from his chair and kissed him, shutting off the tirade. It was deep and wet, involving tongue and moans fed from one man to the other. Through it all their hands stayed clasped, with their free hands holding on to whatever they could. The paper Sephiroth had been holding fluttered to the floor.

They separated, and Cloud panted softly. "What was that for?"

"I don't like to see you upset.”

Cloud grinned and kissed his cheek. "It worked."

"Good."

Sephiroth sat back down and retrieved the lost paper.

"So...what does the mystery paper say?"

The General pulled Cloud down onto his lap and the dancer let out a belated screech of protest at the treatment. "Fuck. Warn a guy will ya?"

"Next time," the General promised. He brought the paper up so they could both read it. "Here," he touched the header, "it says that this is the statement for the account of Cloud Strife." Cloud cringed. "Here it has your balances. Amount owed: zero. Amount credited: fifty thousand. Total balance: fifty thousand."

Cloud's eyes widened, he took a deep breath, and passed out.

******************************

Cloud groaned and sat up. Had he dreamed that? Was he really in the free and clear? Did he really have fifty thousand fucking gil to blow?

"I wondered how long you would be out." The voice next to him said in a warm chuckle.

Cloud twisted to look at the man still laying on the bed. Sephiroth was sprawled out on the mattress, robe gone, looking like a fucking God. "What time is it?"

"About five in the evening."

Cloud groaned and flopped down onto Sephiroth's stomach. "Is it real?" he asked, voice little and unsure.

"Yes. Very much so."

"I have...absolutely no way to thank you."

Sephiroth put his arms around the dancer and pulled until the blond lay blanketed over the top of him with his head tucked under his chin. "How did you do it?" was whispered into his chest.

"The idiots in accounting weren't expecting an attack from within. I took control over your contracts and your accounts and edited them to my satisfaction. I think I heard executives screaming from the Northern Crater." He went on to detail the mess he had cleaned up, and exactly why Cloud had been unable to pay off his debt.

"I...I can't believe this."

"I can. These bastards will do anything to screw someone over for their own benefit. I'm sure once they track the changes I'll get an earful."

"Can't you get in trouble?"

Sephiroth guffawed. "What are they going to do? Fire me?"

"I...guess you're right. You're like, untouchable." Cloud lifted his head and stared Sephiroth in the face. "I'm really, really glad you're on my side."

A hand reached up to cup Cloud's cheek. "Always."

Cloud tucked his head back under Sephiroth's chin and lay there for a moment, enjoying the heat radiating from the bare chest beneath his cheek and the smooth, up and down motion of Sephiroth's breathing.

"I think maybe we did."

Sephiroth ran his fingers through blond spikes. "Did what?"

"Know each other in another life or something."

"Maybe in another dimension?"

"Another world!"

"A parallel universe."

"Like Horton Hears a Who!"

"Who do what now?"

Cloud sat up and pounded on Sephiroth's chest. "Horton Hears a Who! You've seriously never read Horton Hears a Who?!"

"It wasn't exactly required reading when I was a child," Sephiroth responded dryly.

"My mom read it to me a lot. It was my absolute favoritest story of all time."

"Maybe that should be the first thing you learn to read," Sephiroth suggested with a smile. "You'll probably know all the words already."

"I probably could if I heard it again. I just remember the story now, not the word for word."

They smiled at each other for a long minute, touching each other casually and learning the feel of each other. "Are you hungry?" Sephiroth asked in concern, fingers skimming down Cloud's ribs.

"I'm fine."

"You haven't eaten since last night."

"I'm fine, really. I haven't seen you eat, either."

"I had several protein bars earlier."

"So you ate cardboard and that's supposed to count as food?"

"We are not talking about me. I'm not the one who looks like a war refugee."

"I am not that skinny."

"I. Can. Count. Your. Vertebrae," Sephiroth pronounced each word with a finger stabbing into Cloud's spine.

Cloud squealed. "I'm a dancer, what do you want from meeee?"

"A few extra pounds." The poking turned into tickling.

The squealing turned into hysterical screaming.

The door flung open and Sephiroth's roommates had a slightly harried look about them as they tried to find the source of the screaming. Sephiroth stopped tickling and glared at the intruders.

"What the hell are you doing to him?"

"Please tell me you were using lube!"

Cloud slid off of Sephiroth and buried his head under a pillow in embarrassment.

A different pillow was hurled across the room to thwack Zack in the face.

"Get out! All of you!"

Genesis flew across the room and jumped onto the bed. "Not until you share your new toy with me."

"Out!" Sephiroth lunged for Genesis and missed. The red-head dove beside Cloud to stick his head under the same pillow.

"Hi! Wanna play hide the salami?"

"JESUS CHRIST ALMIGHTY." Sephiroth grabbed Genesis and frog marched him to the door. The General shoved the red head into Angeal's arms. "I believe this is yours. Keep it on a leash next time with the other one."

The door was slammed.


TBC…