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: 12/?
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.

It took less than a heartbeat for Zack to be at the bar staring up raptly at the bartenders dancing on top.

“Tifa!” he called to the brunette woman. He waved excitedly. The dark haired woman did a spin, stopping right in front of the spiky haired SOLDIER. She smiled, put her boot in his face and pushed. He fell over to the whooping and hollering of the crowd. Cloud sauntered down the bar top, trailing a long line of liquor from the bottle in his hand. Tifa lit a match and smiled. The crowd was hysterical. She dropped the match and the bar erupted into flames as the alcohol burned. Tifa jumped up and hung from a rack built into the ceiling, but Cloud danced through the flames seemingly unfazed. Sephiroth almost had a heart attack.

The fire went out once the alcohol was gone. Tifa swung back down to the bar top and started dancing with Cloud. A large man grabbed Cloud’s leg and pulled, almost causing the dancer to topple over. Sephiroth snarled, ready to beat the man into a pulp. Cloud beat him to it and savagely broke a beer bottle over the man’s head causing the crowd to roar. The offender went down like a sack of potatoes and the nearest bouncer hauled his limp body out of the bar.

Sephiroth pushed his way through the crowd who seemed to have no deference to the man that ran the most powerful army in the world. And who the hell just grabbed his ass?! He twisted around quickly, ready to deck the offender only to find Genesis smiling innocently.

“Pervert,” he muttered, pulling his punch at the last second.

“Just getting in the mood, darling.”

The General turned around and pursued the bar again. He made it just as Cloud jumped behind, leaving Tifa and another girl dancing on top. Two young boys, who had to be twins, took Cloud’s place dancing with Tifa. The blond dancer started filling orders, flipping the bottles around at a speed that Sephiroth couldn’t help but admire. He really, really needed to get a sword into Cloud’s hands soon.

Cloud almost faltered as he realized Sephiroth was standing in front of him, but saved the bottle from dropping at the last second. He finished pouring the drink and handed it off after getting the money for it.

“He-” Sephiroth was cut off by a couple of dancers passing between him and Cloud.

“Hello,” he tried again.

“Hey!” Cloud shouted back over the music. “What can I get you?”

“A glass of wine would be wonderful.”

“Did you just ask for wine?” Cloud looked appalled.

“A beer then?” Sephiroth was perplexed.

Cloud smiled. “Better, but not quite.” He jumped over the bar and grabbed the collar of Sephiroth’s shirt, hauling him on top of the platform.

“BODY SHOTS!” someone screamed, and the General protested rather violently as his shirt was yanked up and pulled the material back down. Cloud sat down on his lap, slapped him, and pulled it back up. Sephiroth was so stunned he momentarily forgot what he was protesting.

That was, until Tifa grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled until he was lying down, and one of the boys poured cold tequila into his belly button. Sephiroth roared, ready to kill, when Cloud leaned down and drank the liquor up in one long, wet suck. The General’s mouth hung open in stupefied surprise. What the hell kind of bar was this?

And what was his precious ballerina doing working in it?

A very bewildered Sephiroth was rolled off the bar when Cloud slid off his lap, landing with a loud thump on the floor. The General grimaced, standing up and trying to brush the sticky goo he had landed in off of his clothing, but only succeeding in smearing it more. “Ew,” was his succinct response to his situation.

Cloud was kneeling on the bar, laughing hysterically. “Let that be a lesson,” he giggled, “to never order wine in this bar.”

The patrons suddenly went wild, screaming and yelling hysterically and Cloud’s eyes lit up. Every bartender in the place jumped on the bar top and Cloud got to his feet to the strings of a fiddle sowing through the air.

The devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin’ for a soul to steal
He was in a bind
Because he was way behind
He was willing to make a deal

The dancers jumped and stomped, causing the crowd to reach epic screaming proportions, and they whooped and hollered to encourage the insanity. Sephiroth was chagrined to watch Zack jump up with them and try to mimic their moves.

“Well,” said Genesis, leaning against the bar by Sephiroth. “Now what?”

“I…I don’t know.”

Genesis rolled his eyes. “I’m going to find someone to do. You’re boring.”

The song ended and most of the dancers jumped down, returning to bartending while a few remained to dance to the next song. Tifa plopped down next to Sephiroth, legs hanging over the side of the bar.

“So,” she said, swinging her feet, “I hear you’re actually a decent guy.”

Sephiroth regarded her suspiciously. “And…?”

“I just wanted to thank you for not being a sleaze ball.” A random customer stumbled into Tifa, hugging her around the middle and claiming that he loved her more than anyone else ever could. Tifa reached backward and someone put a pair of scissors in her hand. She grabbed the guy’s ponytail and sawed through it with the scissors, shoving him away when she was done. “Otherwise,” she continued, handing the scissors back to the other bartender, “I’d have to do something drastic.” She smiled and hopped behind the bar.

Zack ran over and grabbed Sephiroth’s arms, shaking him. “Did you just see what she did? Isn’t she sooo hot? Oh my god I think I might just spontaneously orgasm.”

Sephiroth, totally overwhelmed, waved at Cloud where the blond stood at the other end of the bar, filling drink orders. The dancer waved back cheerily. Sephiroth gulped and turned around to leave for moment and hopefully rally his nerves.

He walked past Angeal, who was leaning against the back wall with a beer in hand and watching the goings on with a detached interest. The General then passed Genesis, who was getting friendly with the bouncer. His nametag read, “Barrett.” Shaking his head, Sephiroth went outside and breathed deeply of the cooler air. He went around the corner of the building into the alley to get away from the crowd of people still waiting to get in. He pulled his hair from behind him to fall over his shoulder and leaned against the grungy wall.

He didn’t know how to deal with this. He’d never been good in social situations. Crowds unnerved him. Cloud seemed to not even notice the hundreds of people ogling him while he danced on the bar. Then again…the dancer was use to people watching him all hours of the day. He did it for a living.

But Cloud was his. The feeling of protectiveness welled over and threatened to drown him. How was he going to deal with this? It wasn’t like he could just order Cloud to quit. The blond seemed to be having fun, which the General couldn’t understand at all. At least the dancer didn’t seem totally helpless against unwanted suitors, if the unconscious man earlier told him anything. He just wanted Cloud to be safe, and this place seemed anything but safe.

Or even sanitary.

He glared at the offending smear of sticky goo still on his clothing for emphasis.

Sighing, Sephiroth squared his shoulders and told himself that he could do this. It was just a bar, with people in it. He had faced whole armies without this much trepidation. He needed to grow up and be...social. Possibly even act his age.

What did normal twenty-four year olds do in a bar?

Well, Zack was twenty-two. Did that mean he should act two years older than Zack? Then again, Zack had the mental capabilities of a hormonal two year old.

"Hey," was the soft word that broke him out of his reasoning. The General shot his eyes to the blond at the entrance to the alley. "Are you ok?"

The silver haired man opened his arms and the dancer approached and rested his body against the General’s. The blond head buried itself into a strong chest

"I'm fine," Sephiroth murmured into Cloud's crest of hair. "Just a little bit of culture shock." He ran his hand through the soft fringe at the base of Cloud's neck. "Shouldn't you be working?"

"Fifteen minute break."

"Ah."

They held one another for a few minutes, listening to the traffic on the street and distant murmur of people waiting in line at the entrance to the bar. Sephiroth traced the outline of bones through the tight t-shirt and worried. He would need to talk to his dancer about a weight gain program. There were ways to gain weight in a healthy manner while still remaining light and lean. He did it with his cadets all the time. Maybe he would broach the subject in the next few days…

"You don't have to be here," Cloud said, eyes half closed in bliss as Sephiroth petted his hair. "I can tell this isn't your kind of thing. Frankly, I was kind of surprised you went to the club with me the other night."

"I don't like you working here."

"But...it's money."

"You don't need money anymore. I'll give you all the money you want."

Cloud laughed. "That's not all it is. I have a family here."

Sephiroth sighed. "You're not safe here. You should be on stage with people worshipping you from a distance. You shouldn't be on a bar, with random assholes groping you."

"I can take care of myself."

"Yes, I believe the drunken idiot you rendered unconscious earlier proved that to me," Sephiroth remarked dryly.

Cloud lifted his head and tugged at a length of silver. "It's not that bad. I can't just leave everyone. They're my friends. That would be like," Cloud puzzled for a minute. "You leaving Angeal, Genesis, and Zack just because I don't like Shinra."

"I..." the kid had a point. "I don't believe I would be able to leave them either."

"I need to get back," Cloud whispered, tip-toeing up to kiss Sephiroth on the cheek.

"I'll go with you."

"You don't want to go home?" Cloud raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"I need to make sure Zack and Genesis come home in one piece. I'll stand in the back with Angeal."

Cloud smiled, "Alrighty then."

The way back in brought them past the large, black man serving as the bouncer. Genesis had found a stool to sit on so he could be next to the big man. The red-head was flirting coyly, and Barrett seemed to be eating it up. He barely acknowledged Cloud with a dismissive wave of his hand as the blond went by, Sephiroth in tow. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and took up a spot next to Angeal, who was still leaning against the back wall. Angeal silently handed the General his beer, which he took a gulp of, winced, and handed back.

"I don't know how you drink that shit. It tastes like piss."

Angeal shrugged and drank out of the bottle. "I just like it." He belched.

Sephiroth made a noise of distaste. "That's disgusting."

"I'm a guy. Guy's do things like that."

"I don't."

"You're a gay guy. There's a difference. You're like, a girl. Or something."

Sephiroth regarded him with a puzzled expression. "Angeal, you're gay too."

"Nope. I'm bi. Therefore, I can still do disgusting guy things and not get called on it."

"I'm calling you on it."

"But you don't count."

"...why?"

"Because you’re gay. It's like, the same reason my mom doesn't count."

Sephiroth sighed deeply and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall. This night was never going to end.

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

The night did end, however slowly that end came to be. The bar closed at 2am, the bouncers slowly pushing people out the door. Cloud promised to meet them out the front door after he cleaned up. The group waited outside, watching as the crowd dispersed.

Genesis happily met up with Barrett when the big man exited the building a few minutes later. "I'll see you guys later. We're going out for coffee," the redhead winked suggestively at the word 'coffee'. “I like mine tall,” he glanced up, “and black.”

Angeal huffed, crossing his arms. "I'm leaving too. I think I'm the only one that remembers that we have to be at work at 8am." He glared at the other three, receiving nothing but innocent looks. "Christ. Fine. I'll cover for you, but this is the last Goddamned time." He stomped off toward where they had parked their bikes, leaving a smirking Sephiroth, Genesis, and Zack behind him.

Genesis left with Barrett, practically hanging on the big man.

It was about half an hour later that Cloud and Tifa emerged with a small group of the other bartenders.

"What took so long?" Zack grumped, bored out of his mind because he had to stand still for more than five seconds.

"We had to clean up," Tifa said, locking the door behind her. "The place was a mess, as per usual. It takes awhile."

"Want to introduce us to your new Romeo?" said one kid, part of the set of twins from earlier.

"Um...sure," Cloud said, gripping Sephiroth's hand. "Guys, this is Sephiroth and his friend Zack."

"Ya, well, we kind of figured," said a young Wutanese girl, whose shorts should have been illegal on anything but a Honeybee.

Cloud blushed. "And, um, these are my friends. Yuffie," he pointed to the facetious girl in the short-shorts, "Sora and Roxas," the pair of the twins, "Kairi," a girl with shocking red hair, "and Riku," a boy that reminded Sephiroth of himself when he was younger.

Not a single one of them looked old enough to legally work in the bar.

Sephiroth nodded his head in acknowledgement. "It's nice to meet you."

They all waved or said some version of hello.

"Let's go eat!" Zack enthused. "Seph's buying!"

The General glared, but the party was already in motion down the street, ecstatic to eat on "Shinra's" dollar.

They ended up at an IHOP crowded around small, plastic table sitting on small, plastic seats. Sephiroth curled his lip when he realized his menu was sticky. What was it with the fucking sticky shit? Did he have a big fucking bulls-eye on him that said, “Here! Me! Give it to me!”

He briefly considered asking Cloud if he wanted Sephiroth to order for him. Cloud solved the issue by pointing to a picture of a salad when the waitress came around to take their order.

The bartenders talked about the evening, comparing the stupidest customers of the night and how many people they saw Tifa kick in the face. Tifa wasn’t admitting to anything.

The only good thing was Cloud curled into Sephiroth’s side, half asleep as a big, sword callused hand ran up and down his arm. “Do you have to work tomorrow…I mean, today?” the question was whispered into Cloud’s ear, trying not to catch the attention of the others at the table.

“Naw. Show’s dark f’the nex’ coupl’ days,” Cloud replied just as quietly, slurring his words slightly.

The General furrowed his brow a little but brushed off Cloud’s slurring as just being tired. “Do you want to…come over to my place?”

Sephiroth could almost feel Cloud blush through the fabric of his shirt. “Ya. I’d like that.”

“I have something I’d like to talk to you about when we’re…not surrounded by idiots.”

Cloud laughed, more like a tired giggle than a laugh but he did make the attempt.

The food arrived, and none too soon for the General who was going to kill everyone at the table if he had to listen to one more chorus of I Get Around.

His pancakes tasted like sponge.

He nudged Cloud into a semi-awake state and pointed him in the general direction of the salad he had ordered. The dancer picked at the meal, occasionally bringing up a little nibble and putting most of it back into the bowl. He was listless, and frankly starting to worry Sephiroth quite a bit.

“You need to eat,” Sephiroth said quietly.

“Mmm…na hungry.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

Cloud stared blankly at the bowl for a minute. “When did I leave your place?”

Sephiroth furrowed his brow. “You mean, two days ago?”

“Ya. That was it.”

“The last thing you ate was a protein bar I gave you two days ago?” his voice was raised enough for the rest of the table to hear. They all went quiet.

“Ya. That was…” Cloud faded out and started rearranging his salad again.

“That was what, Cloud?” Sephiroth coaxed, putting down his fork completely absorbed in his little dancer.

“Huh?” Cloud looked perplexed.

“What were you going to say, Cloud?”

“I don’t…I’m so tired.”

“I’m not surprised if you’ve been working as hard as I think you have and also haven’t eaten for two days.” He took the fork out of Cloud’s limp hold and placed it to the side. “Maybe I should get you somewhere you can rest.”

Even Zack was starting to look worried and much too serious.

“But…I need to…I…” Cloud looked around confusedly. “Where…?”

Zack put down his own utensils and picked up his water glass. He stood and moved around the table where Sephiroth was pulling Cloud’s chair away from the table.

“Hey, little guy,” Zack said softly. “I need you to drink this ok?” He offered Cloud his water. Cloud reached for the glass but it seemed like too complex a task to wrap his fingers around it. Sephiroth slowly held the glass up to the blond’s mouth and coaxed him to drink. The two SOLDIERS shared a look and Zack took out his PHS.

The brunette stood and petted blond spikes while he dialed a number. He put the unit to his ear and listened for moment before speaking, “I need an ambulance…”


TBC…


A/N: ZOMG don’t kill meeeee!