Tiny Dancer

Title: Tiny Dancer
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Author: Lynsey
Website/Mailing List: See links under user information
Beta: None
Chapter: 14/?
Pairings: Sephiroth/Cloud
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Warnings: Very AU, language
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or its characters. I make no money from this fiction.
Summary: Opening night for Midgar Dance Company’s newest show may be the beginning of something more than just a hot new act.

Cloud’s delicate nose wrinkled in distaste. “How many calories is in this again?”

“Not enough to feed a gnat.”

“Are you sure?”

Sephiroth sighed and hung his head. This was getting more than a little ridiculous. He hadn’t believed it would be this hard to encourage the little dancer to eat. The General had thought that a few well placed admissions of love and veiled threats would whip Cloud into shape in no time.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

“Cloud, it’s a fucking salad. No dressing, no croutons, no meat, no anything that makes a salad actually taste good. There is lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, a few mandarin oranges-”

“Ha!”

“Ha, what?”

Cloud gloated a little. “There’s mandarin oranges in it. Those are fucking marinated in syrup with all that sugar and fat and-”

Sephiroth groaned and tossed his head back. “Cloud, you are being obstinate, as well as fucking annoying. Just pick the oranges out if you don’t want them.”

“But they got syrup juice all over the rest of the salad.”

Sephiroth’s jaw dropped in utter disbelief. “You actually believe that by ingesting less than a quarter teaspoon of mandarin orange syrup you will get fat?”

Blushing, Cloud nodded a little and pushed away the bowl of salad.

“Cloud, you can’t live on IV drips forever.”

“Watch me.”

The General shook his head and slid up onto the bed. He took a fork-full of salad and pushed it into Cloud’s face. “Eat, or I make you eat.”

Blue eyes burned with anger, and pouty lips pursed tightly together.

“Oh, for Gaia’s sake, Cloud! You’re going to let yourself die? Fine. Just…fine.” Sephiroth threw the fork down on the tray and stood roughly. He grabbed the coat he had thrown over the back of the chair. “Let me know when you decide to live.” With that he stormed out of the hospital room, leaving a sullen and very frightened Cloud sitting alone in a sterile white hospital bed.

In a fit of childish rage, Cloud flung the tray with his lunch to the floor with a scream of frustration. Why couldn’t anyone understand? All they did was yell and insist that they knew better than him. Why couldn’t they see that the thought of gaining weight was fucking terrifying? Just the thought of eating made Cloud nauseous.

He clenched his hands tightly enough to leave fingernail imprints in his palms. His pretty little face screwed up into a mask of fury. However, the fury quickly passed for despair. Slender hands unclenched, and Cloud buried his face in them. “Sephiroth?” he sobbed, hoping that being completely pathetic would magically make Sephiroth appear before him.

Surprisingly, it worked.

The silver haired man walked back into the room. Had he even truly left, or had he stood waiting outside room?

Throwing his coat back on the chair, Sephiroth sat down on the bed again and took Cloud into his arms. “Maybe…maybe I’m going about this wrong,” the warrior sighed. “I think we need someone more…adept at fixing these types of problems then I am.”

“Who would that be?” Cloud asked, sniffling.

“Perhaps…a psychiatrist?”

Cloud went stiff in his arms, and Sephiroth hesitantly drew back to see Cloud’s expression.

Reluctance. “I don’t need a shrink.”

“You need something, and that something obviously isn’t me or a medical doctor. We can’t help you. I…I can’t help you.” His voice was pained. “I’ve never had to surrender before. Not even in the worst of the war did I feel the need to surrender. I feel like I’ve failed you.”

Cloud weakly punched his arm. “Now you’re the one being stupid.”

“Well, I’m obviously not helping you. I’ve barely gotten you to drink, let alone eat. Why can’t you just eat?”

“It’s not that easy!” Cloud bellowed, pounding his small fists into Sephiroth’s chest. “It scares me, ok? I’m fucking terrified. Like…like if I take a bite, I’ll lose everything. Gods, I sound so stupid.” Cloud splayed one hand over his face as it scrunched up in frustration.

“You can’t control the world by controlling what you eat,” Sephiroth said gently.

Cloud looked stunned for a moment, as if an epiphany had just wacked him upside the head with a Buster sword. “I…I guess I can’t.”

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

“Midgar Dance Company. How can I direct your call?”

“I’m looking to speak to the director of Seventh Heaven. I believe his name is Marluxia.”

“Marluxia isn’t available right now, would you like to leave a message?”

“That would be fine, thank you.”

“Hold on one moment while I transfer you.”

Pause…Ring. “You have reached the voicemail of Marluxia, director for the Midgar Dance Company. Please leave a message after the tone.”

Beep.

“Marluxia, this is General Sephiroth of Shinra. I just wanted to let you know that your principle, Cloud, will not be performing for the next…well…few weeks. He is on a leave of absence until further notice. If you have a problem with that, I’ll gladly stuff your head up your own ass. I expect he will have a job when he returns. Otherwise…well…we could have a problem. I also wanted to speak to you about your standards, but we can wait until another time. I hope you have a wonderful day.”

Click.

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

Cloud walked into Sephiroth’s apartment cautiously. He still felt like he was walking on sacred ground, even though he had been here before. Still a little weak from his stay in the hospital, Cloud wanted nothing more than to burrow into Sephiroth’s warm, comfortable bed and sleep for ages. The silver haired man himself had his arm slung around Cloud’s boney shoulders.

Sephiroth listened for any signs of activity in the apartment. He heard the TV in Zack’s room, accompanied by what sounded like Zack jerking off. Lovely. “Do you want to go lay down?”

Cloud nodded and adjusted the duffle bag hanging around his neck more comfortably. Sephiroth guided the smaller man down the hallway and into his room. Cloud let his bag fall the floor, not caring where it landed. The dancer walked sluggishly to the bed and practically fell onto it.

“Do you really want to sleep in your clothes?” Sephiroth asked as he sat on the bed.

Cloud shook his head and heaved a sigh. “I suppose I need to get back up, don’t I?”

Sephiroth smiled. “Just for a few moments.”

Cloud drug himself into a sitting position, and with Sephiroth’s help he managed to get undressed and wrapped into a pair of sweatpants and a too big t-shirt. Sephiroth tucked the little blond comfortably into the large bed and kissed his forehead. “I’m going to make a few calls. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Cloud nodded, snuggling deeper into the bed.

Sephiroth left the already dozing dancer and quietly shut the door behind him. He immediately turned down the hallway and knocked on Zack’s door.

“I’m naked!” came the cry from inside.

The General sighed and leaned his head against the dark wood panel. “Can you not be for a few moments?”

“…maybe.” The sound of rustling clothes.

“Can I come in?”

More rustling and a thump. “Sure!”

Sephiroth breathed deeply and centered himself before cracking open the door slowly.

It was like entering a war zone in Wutai.

How the younger SOLDIER could live in the disaster area that was his quarters, Sephiroth would never know. He could smell the stale odor of unwashed clothing, dirty plates and glasses, and stagnant dust. Zack’s senses were nearly on par with Sephiroth’s own, so why he insisted on the mess was beyond the General’s ability to reason. He picked his way over piles of…things that might have been moving if one looked close enough.

Zack actually was clothed, just a comfortable pair of workout pants, but clothed none-the-less. The brunet was frantically throwing things under the bed. Sephiroth caught the flash of pornographic magazines of both the male and female varieties before the glossy pages were unceremoniously shoved out of sight.

He sat gingerly on the side of the bed, hoping he would be remotely safe there. You couldn’t catch something for just sitting on a bed, could you? Even if you were clothed?

…he certainly hoped so.

Zack flopped down onto the bed, causing Sephiroth to bounce a little.

“What can I do ya for? Or can I just do ya?”

“I’m already sick of the innuendo. Stop it.”

“Oooookay. So?”

Sephiroth’s face displayed a rare show of vulnerability. “I need your help.”

Zack was dumbfounded. “Are you…you’re really…wow. I never thought I’d see the day the mighty Sephiroth asked for help.”

“If you make a big deal of this I’ll walk out of here and ask somebody else.”

Zack raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. What could little old me do for you?”

Sephiroth looked at Zack sharply, critically. “I’ve read your files, Fair. Every. Last. Page. Even the files from, what was it, Midgar University?”

Zack’s shit-eating grin disappeared. “Ya? What about it?”

“You have a doctorate in psychiatry, Zack. A fucking doctorate. In psychiatry.” He paused for a moment, watching as Zack looked uncomfortable. “You received that degree from one of the most difficult schools to be accepted into on the continent. I don’t know how you did it on top of going through SOLDIER, as well as being only twenty two. I don’t really want to know, but I need you to help Cloud. I don’t…think like a normal person. I don’t know that I ever could. I can’t help him. I love him, and I can’t help him.” Sephiroth looked like a General that just lost the war.

Zack sighed as he leaned back. “Seph…no.”

“Don’t fucking tell me no,” he snarled.

“Whoa, just chill for a second and let me explain,” Zack held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t get that degree to fix people that are fucked up in the head. I got it so that I would understand people better,” the brunet dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, clearly at a loss.

“To understand people better?”

“Technically, to understand you better.”

Sephiroth was flabbergasted. “I’m, sorry?”

Zack heaved a long-suffering sigh. “You are notoriously fucked up in the head. Genesis and Angeal as well to some extent, but you most of all. Once I had met you, I knew I could never really be like you until I understood you: how you think, how you feel, how you see the world around you. I wanted so badly to be like you, that I did what I thought I had to. I’ve always been smart,” here he grinned ruefully, “despite what others might think. I learn quick.” He tapped his temple. “Photographic memory. Useful, to say the least. I used everything I learned to…well…pick you guys apart so to speak.”

Sephiroth shook his head in disbelief. “And what did you find, after picking us apart?”

“That as much as I loved you guys, I never, ever wanted to be you. That much mental ow shouldn’t even exist.”

“I…can understand that.” The silver haired man looked away, unable to meet Zack’s gaze. “But…you had to of learned something-”

“I learned a lot, Seph. I just don’t want to be the one you blame when Cloud can’t be fixed.”

Regarding Zack closely, Sephiroth responded, “You sound so sure he cannot be helped.”

“Listen, you know me. I always look at the bright side of life. I want things to be all rainbows and unicorns, but I know that if I screw up I’ll lose my best friend. I don’t want that. For me or for you. I think I’m a good influence you couldn’t do without,” he grinned cheekily.

“What if we went into this with the understanding that I won’t blame you? If you truly can’t do anything, we’ll go to a different doctor. I’d rather have you picking through Cloud’s brain than some stranger.”

Zack watched Sephiroth’s face closely. “Can you really do that? Can you be objective like that? I’ve seen you be emotional over things I never would have expected, and completely unfazed by things that put me on my ass.”

“As long as I understand going in that it’s a long-shot.” Sephiroth grinned sadly. “It’s like going into battle knowing the odds are very much not in your favor. If you lose, that is what is to be expected. If you win, you count your blessings, dig in, and push forward again.”

Zack smiled. “Leave it to you to make this into a war analogy.”

An elegant shrug. “It is how I was raised.”

“Ya…I know.”

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

It was dark in the streets of under-plate Midgar. Dark things lurked in the corners of alleys and shadowed corners. Genesis wasn’t afraid of them. After all, there wasn’t anything on Gaia that could challenge him and win (besides Sephiroth, but that was total headache in and of itself).

The redhead himself was hidden in a dark corner, waiting outside Fenrir Ugly for Tall, Dark, and Sexy. The doors had closed not long ago, and Barrett would be off work as soon as the last of the drunks were out on the asses in the street.

Sure enough, a few more minutes of waiting proved fruitful as the door opened to let the bouncer out. He turned to relock the door behind him. Genesis snuck up silently as the key slid into the lock and the sound of the tumblers turning reached his ears.

Barrett turned and let out a startled shriek as he almost ran into the red-clothed man that stood not a breath away.

Genesis laughed. “You scream like a girl.”

The dark man heaved in breath after breath to calm his jittering heart. “For Gaia’s sake, wear a damned bell!”

The redhead sighed and draped himself over the larger man. “Why to people keep telling me that?”

“Because you’re going to fucking give someone a heart attack!”

“Oh, come on,” Genesis said sweetly. “You’re a healthy, hearty man. You shouldn’t be scared by someone sneaking up on you.”

“You sneak good.”

“There are other things I’m much better at,” he purred, hitching up one leg to wrap it around the bigger man’s muscular leg.

Barrett swallowed, heart speeding for a different reason now.

“Why don’t you let me show you what I’m good at?” His little, pink tongue came out to lick red, red lips.

“I-I, you, but-well,” Barrett sputtered.

Genesis smirked and stretched up to kiss the bigger man…

…but his plans were duly destroyed by the door opening up to shove into Barrett’s back.

The big man ‘oooofed’ loudly and almost fell forward onto Genesis. The redhead squeaked, realizing he was about to be squashed. They both managed to balance enough to merely stumble away, rather than fall into an undignified heap.

Genesis glared at the intruder into his smooth moment. It was one of the stupid little bartenders. What was his name? Sally? Sorsha?

“Sora?” Barrett muttered, blushing at being caught with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak.

“Hey, Barrett,” the little nuisance piped, clearly unfazed by interrupting what had been turning into a very promising situation.

Genesis was going to kill him. “I think we should get going,” he huffed, grasping onto Barrett’s arm like he was his favorite toy, and one of the other kids wanted to play with him.

“Uhhh…sure. Night, Sora,” Barrett waved.

“Night!”

Genesis ‘hmphed’ and ushered his prize away. Tall, Dark, and Sexy was his, and there wasn’t anyone he was willing to share with.

…besides maybe Sephiroth.

…or Angeal.

…aaaand maybe Zack. If he pleaded really hard. And wore a puppy costume.

What? They taught you to share with your friends, right? Isn’t that what kids went to kindergarten to learn? Sharing? Or was that drawing circles and clay hand prints?

Whatever.

TBC…