The mighty have fallen

“The mighty have fallen”
Part 19


As promised, Sephiroth stopped at the pizza parlor the next day on his way home from getting groceries. Cloud smelled the delicious aroma of freshly made pizza as soon as his lover came through the door and his mouth watered.

“Thank Ramuh! I wasn’t sure you’d actually pick one up for me!” He exclaimed as he limped into the kitchen behind Sephiroth.

The silver-haired man was amused. Like Zackary, Cloud sometimes reminded him of an eager wolf pup. “Of course, Cloud. I don’t make promises I have no intention of keeping.” He tried and failed to contain his chuckle as the blonde reached for the box while he was trying to set it on the counter. “Give me a chance to put the damned thing down, Strife! One would think I was starving you to death!” Sephiroth struggled to balance the bag of groceries in one arm while setting the box of pizza on the counter.

~What in hell do they put in these things, pheromones? It does smell good but Cloud is acting like he hasn’t had a bite to eat in days.~

Sephiroth watched in bemusement as Cloud pulled the lid of the box open. Just as the blonde was reaching to grab a slice, the silver warrior remembered something and he lightly smacked his hand, drawing a startled yelp from him.

“Wash your hands first.”

“Oh,” replied Cloud with a tiny flush. “Right. You must think I’m a pig.”

Sephiroth chuckled helplessly again. “No, on the scale of hygiene and a love for pizza, I think you’re a fairly typical young man. I’d have let it slide if it weren’t the sort of food you have to eat with your hands.” He began to put the groceries away, smirking with amusement as Cloud hurried to comply so that he could start eating.

“Okay, can I eat now?” Cloud said as he finished rinsing his hands and wiped them off on the clean dishtowel. Sephiroth nodded absently, still occupied with storing the perishables he’d bought in the refrigerator. Cloud pulled a triangular slice away from the pizza, watching the melted cheese stretch for a moment between the piece and the rest of it and sniffing appreciatively at the delicious scent. He paused with the slice halfway to his mouth and considered Sephiroth as the other man closed the fridge and began to put the rest of the groceries in the pantry and cabinets.

“Why don’t you take the first bite and see what you think?” Cloud offered, stepping toward his lover and holding the steaming slice up.

Sephiroth paused with a jar of stock cubes in one hand, eyeing the pizza slice as if it were a new species of animal or plant life he’d just discovered.

“Come on,” Cloud tempted, waving the slice under the taller man’s nose so that he could get a good whiff of the aroma. “One bite won’t hurt you. Live a little. If you don’t like it, I’ll never ask you to eat anything new again.”

Sephiroth sighed and placed the chicken stock on a shelf in the pantry before nodding. Cloud was right about one thing, one bite wouldn’t hurt him and it would obviously make the blonde happy for him to try it. At least he knew the ingredients they’d used were fresh, since they’d put it together right in front of him and he had to admit, it smelled good. He leaned forward and down, letting Cloud feed the bit to him since he hadn’t washed his hands yet.

~It’s like trying to get a wild horse to eat an apple out of your hand,~ Cloud thought as he watched Sephiroth’s straight, white teeth close delicately over the pointed end of the slice. He smiled as the other man seemed to realize what a tiny portion he was taking and took more into his mouth, biting off a sample that would give him a bit of pepperoni, mushroom and onion instead of just cheese and sauce. He chewed carefully and a faint expression of surprise bled into his handsome features.

“Good, huh?” Cloud asked, grinning at him.

Sephiroth finished chewing and swallowed, licking his lips. He nodded hesitantly. “You win, Cloud. It’s…very tasty.”

“Told you. Why don’t you wash up and grab a slice? I can’t eat the whole thing by myself anyway and it’s never as good reheated.” He was getting the hang of phrasing his requests so that they didn’t come out as an order, especially when asking Sephiroth to do something he wanted him to do. He didn’t want to inadvertently force him to do anything against his will.

“I think I’ll do that,” answered Sephiroth. “You’re a bad influence, Cloud.” The blonde gave him a bright smile and he couldn’t help but smile a little in return. Every time Cloud smiled at him that way it felt like a ray of warm sunshine bathing him, and those smiles occurred with greater frequency these days. It was a little unsettling for Sephiroth sometimes—not because he didn’t enjoy the way it made him feel but because he was so unused to it.

~You’re so easy to please, Cloud. It’s interesting that I find myself doing little things each day just to make you smile at me like that. You’re going to make me soft if I’m not careful.~

~*******************************~

The recovery process was hard, but with Sephiroth’s encouragement Cloud was making rapid progress. Actually, “encouragement” wasn’t the word that Cloud would have chosen to use for the general’s participation. Sephiroth fell into the role of his coach with natural ease and as soon as he was strong enough to endure it, he pushed the blonde to the edge of exhaustion each day. Cloud was strongly reminded of his days as a cadet, with the one difference being that this time he enjoyed the reward of going to bed with the general at the end of the day and touching him in ways that would have made several of his old regiment partners jealous.

The only thing that frustrated Cloud was that Sephiroth wouldn’t allow their sexual exploration to go beyond foreplay. He wouldn’t even let him give him a blow job, insisting that if he put his mouth on his cock, he’d lose control. Cloud couldn’t get it through the man’s thick skull that he WANTED him to lose control, but he consoled himself knowing that the sooner he regained most of his strength in his leg, the sooner he’d get what he wanted. It did help that Sephiroth was so good with his hands and mouth and truthfully, Cloud didn’t go a day without at least one orgasm. Still, he was getting impatient.

When his leg was strong enough for him to get up and down the stairs on his own, they moved the therapy sessions to the attic where there was more floor space. There was a gas heater there but Cloud never had to light it despite the cold of winter growing harsher, because it only took him a little while to warm up from the exercises. After two weeks had passed Cloud grew used to working up a sweat during his physical therapy sessions, so one afternoon he decided to just wear a pair of cut-off blue jean shorts for his exercises.

He didn’t think anything of it until he climbed the stairs to the attic where Sephiroth waited for him. “Okay, I’m ready to go,” Cloud informed as he ascended the last few steps into the attic. Sephiroth didn’t respond and he looked up with a frown, wondering if something was wrong.

Sephiroth was wearing the outfit composed of dark brown jeans and a black sweater today, looking stunning as usual. He stood perfectly still, his serpentine eyes moving up and down Cloud’s form. His expression was difficult to read and Cloud wondered if he thought the cut-offs were a dumb idea.

“I know these aren’t exactly the first choice people would make for working out in the winter,” Cloud explained, “but I always get so hot by the time we’re finished, so I decided to wear these instead of the sweatpants. Does that make sense?”

Sephiroth worked his throat and tried to force a reply past his lips. ~Fuck, Cloud! How do you expect me to concentrate on this when you’re giving me eye candy? Do you even realize how…hot…you look in those little shorts?~ He kept staring, taking in the sight of the blonde’s muscle definition in his arms and chest, his tight stomach and his lean-muscled thighs and legs. He had to struggle to keep his eyes from locking on the fine golden treasure trail that started below Cloud’s navel.

“Sephiroth?” Cloud frowned. “Come on, you’re making me feel stupid. It’s not that bad!”

~Oh you clueless little dingbat. You think I’m staring at you because I think you look silly?~ Sephiroth wondered if he had any drool in the corner of his mouth and he cleared his throat and made himself speak aloud. “The shorts are fine if they make you comfortable, Cloud. Why don’t you get the ankle weights by the barbells and we can begin?”

Cloud shrugged and turned around to comply. Sephiroth was very thankful that the blonde couldn’t see his face because when he saw the way those short little cutoffs fit so snugly and perfectly over Cloud’s firm, tight ass his eyes nearly bugged out. The silver-haired man clamped down on a groan of lust and imagined closing the distance and squeezing those tempting mounds. He hoped Strife never wore those things in public—if he did he probably caused accidents. Sephiroth almost huffed a laugh at the mental image of passersby tripping over themselves or getting into car accidents as a result of staring at the blonde.

~Control yourself!~ Sephiroth silently growled, ~You’ve seen him naked at least a dozen times! A pair of short cutoff jeans can’t be your undoing! Just focus on the task at hand.~

It was soooo easy to rationalize that the sight of Cloud’s tempting body clothed in a pair of skimpy shorts shouldn’t make him lose control. Unfortunately Sephiroth’s body had a completely different opinion from his mind and when Cloud bent over to pick up the ankle weights, the general learned how uncomfortable a full hard on was in form-fitting jeans. Desperate to regain some control, Sephiroth slapped himself across the face and he was none too gentle about it.

Cloud heard a loud smack behind him as he retrieved the ankle weights and he turned around to see what caused the noise. “What was that?” he asked as he started toward Sephiroth with the ankle weights in hand.

“What was what?” Sephiroth inquired, hoping that his voice sounded neutral. The slap hadn’t helped. Now he had a stinging red palm mark on the left side of his face to go with the painful boner. The only good thing about the tightness of his pants was that it restrained his erection, making it less obvious. Thankfully his sweater was also long enough to partially cover it as well, but if Cloud looked close enough the secret would be out.

Cloud stared at his lover as he approached, wondering why his voice sounded strained. “I heard a smack or something.” His blue eyes narrowed with concentration as he noticed that one side of the taller man’s face looked red. “Sephiroth, is that a…a hand print on your face?”

“There was a mosquito,” Sephiroth quickly fabricated.

Cloud furrowed his golden eyebrows. “In the winter?” he sounded doubtful.

“They don’t completely die out,” Sephiroth insisted, “especially if they find shelter. It was a mosquito.”

Seeing the way his green eyes were blazing, Cloud decided not to press the issue. He had no idea why Sephiroth was so temperamental today. By the look of the handprint he’d smacked himself really hard. Either the man really hated mosquitoes or something was bothering him. “Okay then,” Cloud shrugged. He seated himself on the bench under the small attic window and strapped the weights to his ankles, completely ignorant of Sephiroth’s eyes raking his spread thighs and his crotch. When he looked up, the general was staring hard at the window.

~Man, what’s with him today? He’s so tense and it looks like everything is pissing him off!~

Aloud, Cloud said; “I’m ready to start. Don’t drill me too hard today, alright?” He smiled playfully up at the other man, having no idea what thoughts his innocent words invoked in Sephiroth’s mind.

~Don’t drill you too hard, Cloud? You’ll be lucky if I make it through this without shoving you against the wall and wrecking you today.~

Sephiroth cleared his throat and forced a little smile, not wanting to rouse his lover’s suspicions more than he already had. “I make no promises. Do your stretches first and then we’ll start on the sitting calf lifts.”

Cloud nodded and got off of the bench, and sat on the floor with his legs straight out in front of him. Sephiroth watched as he reached for his ankles and held the position. He silently counted until a minute passed and then he instructed Cloud to change positions for the next stretching exercise. He immediately regretted it as the blonde spread his thighs wide and stretched forward, touching the floor with his palms.

Swearing silently at himself, the general clenched his jaw and tried not to pay attention to the position Cloud was in. He was so preoccupied with restraining himself that he forgot to count, and after a while Cloud lifted his head and frowned up at him.

“You didn’t say anything about increasing the time on this stretch. How long has it been?”

Instead of answering him, Sephiroth slapped himself hard across the right side of his face. Cloud’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline and his jaw fell open with bewilderment. “What the hell was that??”

“Another mosquito,” Sephiroth lied, now sporting matching handprints on both sides of his face.

Cloud stopped stretching and closed his legs, casting a glance around the room. “Where the hell are they coming from and why are they only going for you? Are you sure it’s not just in your head?” Sometimes Cloud felt phantom bugs crawling on him after watching a nature show, so he reasoned it was possible that Sephiroth was imagining it.

“It’s possible that it was only my hair brushing my face,” Sephiroth agreed, thinking that if he kept insisting he was getting attacked by invisible bugs Cloud might call the doctor on him. “It isn’t important. Time for the first set of leg lifts, Cloud.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Asked the blonde in concern as he got to his feet and sat on the bench again. “You seem kind of distracted.”

“I’m fine,” Sephiroth assured him—though truthfully he was starting to worry that the force of his erection would pop the button on his jeans. “Begin.”

The worry hardly faded from Cloud’s expression as he obeyed and began to lift his ankles one at a time, raising each one until his leg was straight and holding the position for a moment before dropping it and repeating with the other one. He did ten of those and then did ten more raising them both at the same time.

As Sephiroth watched over the exercise he felt the tightness in his groin lessening a bit, and he breathed a sigh of relief. It lasted all of five minutes, until Cloud moved on to his next exercise and lay flat on his back. Sephiroth groaned inwardly. He’d forgotten about this part. His job in this exercise was to hold Cloud’s ankles and physically guide him to raise his legs.

“I think we can skip this one today,” Sephiroth announced in a tight voice.

Cloud looked up at him with his lips parted in confusion. His skin was already glowing with a fine sheen and unbeknownst to him, he looked particularly inviting. “Why do you want to skip it? It’s one of the most important ones!” He propped himself on his elbows and bent one knee. “Seriously, what’s the matter with you today?”

~Shitshitshitshitshit…MUST YOU LAY THAT WAY, CLOUD?! FOR FUCK’S SAKE, YOU’RE KILLING ME!~

“Nothing, I just think you deserve an easier set today—but if you insist…” He shrugged and approached the young man, forcing his breathing to stay as steady as possible as he knelt beside him and took his left ankle in his hand, pulling the leg straight.

Cloud shook his head at him and lay back again, clearly not buying his claim that nothing was wrong. “I just want to get my strength back to normal as fast as I can,” he said, gazing up at the ceiling as Sephiroth slowly guided his leg up. His sapphire eyes flicked to the taller man and he smiled softly at him. “I think you know why I’m in such a hurry.”

That was IT. He couldn’t take it anymore. Sephiroth slid his hand down from Cloud’s ankle to his knee and used his other hand to do the same with the opposite leg. While the blonde stared up at him in confusion, he pushed his knees up and apart and positioned himself between his legs.

“Goddamn it, Cloud!” Sephiroth growled, descending on the smaller man like a storm as he cupped his ass and shoved his pelvis between his legs.

Cloud registered the feel of his lover’s hard bulge pressing firmly against him as Sephiroth’s mouth claimed his aggressively. If he were a cartoon character, the blond would probably have a light bulb drawn over his head at the moment because it finally clicked: Sephiroth hadn’t been angry at all…the afternoon’s strange behavior was all because of sexual frustration! Before he could stop himself, Cloud laughed into the other man’s mouth.

Sephiroth stopped kissing him, tearing his mouth away and looking down at him with thunder in his eyes as he panted heavily. “It amuses you to drive me insane, Strife?”

“No,” Cloud answered easily, “It amuses me that you tried so hard to control your sex drive. Stop being so fucking noble, already!”

“Oh, I intend to,” answered the taller man in a low, dangerous voice. “These damned cutoffs…you’re too…damn it, Cloud!”

Cloud’s eyes lit up. “Oh, so you like the shorts, then?”

“You little shit. You lied.”

Cloud shook his head. “No I didn’t. I really wore them for comfort but if I knew they’d get this reaction I’d have worn ‘em a lot sooner.”

Anything else Cloud might have said was cut off by Sephiroth’s mouth. He combed his fingers through the other man’s hair and groaned softly as his tongue entered his mouth and ravished it. Sephiroth rubbed his swollen crotch aggressively against Cloud’s growing bulge, making the blonde buck his pelvis for more. Cloud gasped sharply against the punishing kiss when Sephiroth lifted his body off of him a little and squeezed his crotch with one hand. Cloud undulated against the touch, encouraging it and silently begging for more.

The sound of the doorbell ringing downstairs made them both freeze. Cloud groaned as Sephiroth’s mouth released his, but instead of pulling away the general simply changed locations, nipping and sucking on his throat. Cloud arched his neck and turned his head to the side, closing his eyes with pleasure and desire. “I…should answer that,” he said breathlessly.

“Whoever it is, they can come back later,” murmured Sephiroth against his skin. He sucked hard on Cloud’s neck and rubbed his swelling crotch firmly, making the blonde moan and writhe against him.

The doorbell rang again and Cloud tried to get up. “It might be…something important…”

“More important than this?” Sephiroth asked in a lascivious tone. He nibbled Cloud’s earlobe, catching his earring in his teeth and tugging gently before releasing it.

“Nothing’s more important than this,” Cloud amended, grabbing Sephiroth’s ass spontaneously and urging him to press harder against him.

“Cloud,” the other man groaned, biting his neck hard enough to leave marks. He licked the spot soothingly a second later, bringing his lust to heel as much as he could.

“I’ve got lube in the bedroom,” Cloud gasped. “I can wait here if you want to get it and just do me on the floor.”

Sephiroth paused and drew back to look at him, realizing he was serious. It shocked some sense into him and he stopped fondling the blonde’s bulge to bring his hand up and trace his features. “As tempting as that is, Cloud, I think I’d rather our first time be in a bed. You’re…not just someone for me to rut against.”

Cloud blushed with pleasure. Sephiroth’s statement was the closest he’d ever come to telling him he loved him. “I think we can manage that,” he whispered.

~******************************~

Somehow Sephiroth ended up naked before Cloud—which confused the hell out of him considering that the only article of clothing the blonde was wearing were those tight little shorts. While the general was trying to figure out how Cloud had gotten all of his clothes off so fast, the blonde shoved him backwards onto the bed with surprising strength, straddling his hips before he could recover.

“You don’t waste time, Strife,” Sephiroth mumbled against the slighter man’s mouth as he kissed him.

“I’m not giving you a chance to change your mind,” answered Cloud in a breathy voice.

“Doubtful, with you sitting on me in those shorts,” Sephiroth chuckled. He jumped a little when Cloud’s hand sought his erection and began to stroke it.

Realizing that he ran the risk of scaring Sephiroth out of it if he moved too fast, Cloud forced himself to slow down. He kissed him again, this time more gently and slowly. “Feel good?” he murmured against the other man’s mouth as he stroked the length of his cock.

“You know it does,” Sephiroth sighed, flexing his hips with the touch. His hands glided over Cloud’s chest, the fingers teasing the nipples briefly before moving on to his stomach. He was more nervous on the inside than he let on. He knew all about foreplay and preparation but when it came to taking someone, he had no experience. He was afraid that he either wouldn’t be good enough or that he would hurt Cloud.

Deciding to swallow his pride for the sake of his lover’s pleasure, Sephiroth reached down and put his hand over Cloud’s stroking one, stilling it so the he could concentrate on what he had to say.

“Is something wrong?” Cloud asked, feeling his heart sink.

Sephiroth shook his head. “No, don’t worry. I just need to ask you to do something for me.”

Cloud nodded, regarding him with hungry blue eyes. “Anything you want, Sephiroth.”

The general closed his eyes and groaned aloud. Cloud smirked when he felt the man’s heavy sex buck in his hand. The green eyes opened again to look up at him and he was a little taken aback by the sincerity in them.

“I want you to be completely honest with me when we’re doing this, Cloud. As much as I hate admitting I’m not the best at everything, I’m going to be relying on instinct and your guidance rather than any experience. Will you do that for me?”

Cloud’s lips parted with surprise. It must have been very difficult for Sephiroth to say those words and ask for instruction. “I promise,” Cloud answered, kissing him softly. Deciding it would be a good idea to have the lube and condom out and ready for use, he leaned to the side and reached out for the nightstand, pulling the small drawer open. Keeping his eyes on Sephiroth’s, he took the tube in his hand and placed it on the right-side pillow, then reached in again for a condom.

Cloud frowned as he felt around. His fingers were coming into contact with the bare surface of the drawer, but no condom packages.

~Oh, shit…please, don’t tell me!~

Cloud leaned further over, to the point where Sephiroth had to grab his waist to keep him balanced. He peered into the drawer desperately, hoping that there was at least one condom hiding in a corner or something. It was empty.

Sephiroth saw the look of denial on Cloud’s face, followed by a crestfallen expression as he looked down at him again. “Are we missing some protection, Cloud?”

“Yeah,” Cloud muttered sourly, practically pouting. He looked at the clock and took note of the time, then brightened again. “There’s still time. The pharmacy doesn’t close for another fifteen minutes!” He dismounted Sephiroth and started for the door.

“Er…Cloud, are you really going to run outside in freezing weather in nothing but those shorts?” Sephiroth inquired.

Cloud looked down at himself, having forgotten that it was cold outside due to the fireplace and heating vents keeping the bottom floor of the house fairly warm. “Oh…can I borrow your trench coat? I’ll just put that on and slap my winter boots on. That should keep me warm enough and nobody will see what I’m wearing underneath.”

Sephiroth had no objections to him borrowing the coat but he was doubtful that it was enough to keep him warm with only the cutoffs and a pair of boots underneath. “Maybe we should just wait—“

“NO!!” Cloud yelled the word. “Just stay right there, I’ll be right back!”

Sephiroth dissolved into soft laughter as Cloud bolted out of the room before he could argue. He heard him moving around frantically, followed by the rustle of the leather coat and the clomping of the heavy boots. Sephiroth started to get out of bed, intending to put another log on the fireplace, but he discovered something unpleasant and he didn’t finish the action.

Cloud had told him to stay there and while he probably only meant it in a figurative sense, the desire behind his words activated the trigger. Sephiroth was—quite literally—stuck in bed. “Cloud,” he called, intending to get his lover to come in and lift the accidental order. The front door slammed shut just as the name left his mouth. Cloud was off, probably running down the street as fast as he could in the heavy boots.

“Wonderful,” Sephiroth sighed. His erection began to deflate and he noticed another unpleasant issue: he was going to have to pee soon.

“Just fucking wonderful,” he groaned.

~*****************************************~

-To be continued