Viral Love

He didn’t even twitch, not once. I sat and stared at him for two hours, waiting for some sign that he only fucked with me about his fatigue. But, even though he lay there, shirtless and shivering, still slightly bleeding, he remained fast asleep.

He hadn’t complained about my punishing pace tonight, though even I felt a bit tired from our speed and distance covered. He hadn’t complained about anything, actually, not even his hunger. I heard his belly growling intermittently.

I felt impressed with him despite myself. He had firm convictions and great endurance. And, I no longer had to guess about his motivation for curing Geostigma. The truth burned in his dark eyes while he’d ranted softly, his voice firm and clear. He wanted to cure this disease.

Another feather in his cap?

Perhaps. He’d cured two diseases that I knew of already. If he succeeded here, X2Geostigma would be his third. For a crazy, selfish madman, he did occasionally do generous deeds. I couldn’t credit him with too much generosity, though. For Hojo, a problem might have much interest and challenge without his consideration of the issue itself. Diseases and such were puzzles, and he liked puzzles.

His gun…

I turned it over, admiring the craftsmanship. It had power, but did it have accuracy? I itched to find out. I’d loved the pinpoint correctness of the Sniper CR, but it hadn’t the same stopping power as Death Penalty. That fool Foley had taken Cerberus. It probably hung on Heideggar’s office wall now, as a trophy.

I clenched my gauntlet into a fist. I’d get my gun back. I’d get revenge against that fat, sweating moron and his cruel little protégé. They’d known I was with Hojo, had somehow watched us enter the bio-hazard disposal room. How they must have enjoyed the idea of getting a Shin-Ra enemy and their current, resident irritant in one blow.

I hoped Cloud and Tifa were all right. The two orderlies, Robert and Renee, seemed genuine in their duty to protect Hojo’s valued prisoners. Perhaps they’d helped them escape.

“Not now, Sephiroth,” Hojo mumbled. “You promised you’d read before practicing katas.” He added something unintelligible and went silent. Regardless of his audible activity, he didn’t physically move.

It must be difficult to be insane and unloved.

He had more scars than I did. I’d found it hard not to stare at him while he removed his bullets. By his unflinching silence, I knew I looked at a man well familiar with hurting. Someone, or more than one person, had beaten him repeatedly, and long ago. None of his marks looked any more recent than decades past. They gleamed like silvery slug trails in moonlight, crosshatching his hairless chest and arms with near-deliberate precision.

I knew AVALANCHE wasn’t responsible for those marks. When battling us, he’d gone into two separate Jenova forms, and they’d taken damage very well. Even supposedly dying on the Sister Ray, the only blood I’d seen from him came from his mouth. Internal bleeding, I’d supposed.

It made me flinch inside, but I was starting to find him as interesting as he claimed he felt about me. He seemed quite resourceful, could act quickly and with cleverness. I hadn’t credited him enough.

I squirmed, remembering the delicate finesse of his hands. Holy Shiva, could he incite a person’s nerve endings, and in mere seconds. Being familiar with the human body aided him in this, I felt sure. Nothing like having the attention, (positive or negative) of a person who’d immersed themselves in countless years of medical schooling. I’d have never imagined responding to him like that, not even under the influence of such a specialized gas.

It spoke of my mental state that I could sit here and stare at Hojo while thinking of his touch. I needed to get a grip. Stress, that’s what it was. Travelling with a bitter enemy after finding myself inside the nightmare that was Shin-Ra. Any man could find himself acting or thinking strangely after the day I’d had.

I decided to risk sleeping awhile. This cave had the advantage of being well hidden and with only one way in or out. Even if Heideggar’s men found the bio-hazard raft’s remains on Junon’s shore, they wouldn’t know what direction we’d taken. I could rest and freshen up without too much concern.

I put my back to Hojo, but moved closer to him. He had as much to gain by vigilance as I, so I could count on using him as an ally if our defenses were breeched. So thinking, I put my head down and relaxed.

What a day.