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: 3/?
Pairings: None yet
Rating: PG so far
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.

The limo ride back to the Shinra complex was relatively quiet compared to the ride to the theater. Sephiroth was too deep in thought to bother responding to Zack’s constant pestering, and Zack got bored without the sharp comebacks to his crude jokes and opted instead to stare out the window. At the complex, it didn’t take long to reach the SOLDIER barracks, the top floor of which was a huge apartment that belonged to Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, and very recently Zack. They each had their own room with additional rooms acting as a library, small training room, and two home offices. The place was massive. The flat was posh, luxurious, and still not quite ‘home’ to Zack.

At first it had been like invading sacred space or something. Viewing the private lives of his mentors and superiors was disturbing on many levels. In pubic Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis were cold, almost cruel. They lived and breathed fighting, tactics, and pure military professionalism. Once they were in the penthouse, however, they turned into bloody idiots.

After morning one, Zack also learned that no-one, no-one should have to deal with Genesis when he just got up in the morning. A little drama queen with your toast anyone?

The burnet heard the sounds of tv and soft conversation coming from Genesis’ room and didn’t bother to pop in to say hi. The warrior would have already heard their entrance and know they were home.

Zack went to his own room and stripped off the constricting suit, replacing it with his more familiar fatigues and a faded old band tee-shirt that couldn’t be read anymore. Combat boots, hidden daggers, and a piece of Bubble-Yum later he was ready to hit the streets again. Sephiroth was just exiting his own room while Zack pocketed his wallet and PHS.

“So where are we going?” Zack asked, trying to steal the folded and stained napkin from Sephiroth’s hands.

Too fast for Zack’s reflexes, Sephiroth snatched back the napkin. “Who said you were coming?”

“Awww…Seeeeph…”

“Stop acting like you’re two and I’ll think about it.”

Zack pouted momentarily before straightening out his face into a more neutral mask. Pouting counted as two year old behavior…right?

The 2nd Class watched as Sephiroth unlocked the materia cabinet in the main room. It housed all three of the 1st Classes’ materia, the shining orbs flickering in the dull light cast by the few overheads that were turned on. Sephiroth was outfitted almost the same as Zack; the only exception being instead of a tee-shirt the General wore one of the standard issue ribbed turtlenecks. The General extracted two mastered Restores and a mastered FullCure, overkill for fixing a broken foot.

“So!” said a happy voice from the hallway. “Did you have fun fangirling all night?” Genesis teased as he swayed into the room, holding his drooping sleep pants up by a tight hold around the hem. Zack always thought Genesis made being a slut look fuckin’ classy.

He was slightly put off that the 1st Class had already known about Sephiroth’s Cloud obsession, but he should have figured that out of anyone it would have been Genesis to have figured it out. It seemed like every one of the First Classes was obsessed with something. Genesis had Loveless and that crappy Wutian singer, Angeal had gardening, Sephiroth had the military in all its aspects, and every other First Class had some fanatical hobby. Zack wondered what his would be.

Probably sex.

“Don’t know,” Sephiroth dead-panned. “Have fun taking it up the ass all night?”

“It wasn’t all night, darling. Poor bastard needed a break at some point.” Genesis gestured to a scowling Angeal that was still shrugging into a bathrobe over his (actually tied) sweats. Angeal disappeared into the kitchen and the light was flipped on. Zack could hear the fridge being opened and bottles shuffled around inside.

That was another thing Zack couldn’t get use to. Knowing freaking everything about their love lives was, well…ew. Although, the thought of Angeal being all hot and sweaty and dominating and-and-and he should really quit thinking about that.

Genesis, he now knew, was a total flamer once the eyes of the world weren’t on him. If it didn’t have a cock it didn’t exist. He also had no qualms with letting his housemates know in painful detail who (or sometimes what) had been up his ass in the last 24 hours.

Angeal was much quieter, preferring to keep his private life, well…private. Too bad the people in his bed were rarely as silent as the commander was. Zack didn’t know what he did to make people sound like that, but he was determined to find out some day. Hopefully from the receiving end. Zack was eternally grateful that Angeal was like him in that he batted for both teams. Maybe someday he could talk him into a threesome with Miss Boobs the choreographer….

Oh the thrills he could have.

The 2nd Class had always assumed that Sephiroth was kind of…asexual. He never admitted to any type of attraction, even the platonic type. Zack had never even heard him jerking off in the shower, which, for Genesis, was a nearly operatic event. To have the General taking an interest in anyone or anything outside of the military was unheard of…at least to Zack.

Sephiroth slotted the materia in a bracer on his arm for transportation and re-locked the cabinet. Zack knew he didn’t have to equip materia for it to work. The bloody bastard could use himself to equip any type of materia. Jealousy knew no bounds.

Angeal reappeared with a beer in hand and took a long gulp as he reached behind the wall to turn off the kitchen lights. He made a face and glared at the label on the bottle.

“Who bought the cheap shit?”

“That would be Zack,” Genesis purred as he leaned against the wall.

Zack looked chagrined and scratched his head. “Well, I drank the last of the pack and figured I’d buy another. Didn’t think it would be a big deal.” He glared at Genesis, “Snitch.”

“Then stop drinking my whiskey, bitch.”

“Touché.”

Sephiroth was at the door and putting on his boots. “Zackary, are you coming or not?”

“Yes, sir!” Zack waited for the General to finish adjusting those ridiculous boots of his and waved goodbye to his other two mentors.

“Where are you going?” asked Angeal, grimacing as he took another drink from his beer.

“He’s got himself a hot date,” Zack said mischievously.

Sephiroth glared. “There is no date. I am offering the use of my healing materia for a dancer’s broken foot.”

“Would the dancer happen to be Cloud Strife?” asked Genesis innocently.

“…yes.”

“Oh! It’s so romantic! Will you heal him with a kiss? Hold his dainty foot in your hand as you whisper the spell commands? Will you-”

The door was slammed.

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

“This is where Cloud lives?” If Zack had thought that the blond’s dressing room was ghetto it had nothing on this place.

Sephiroth cut the motor on his bike and reached into a pocket of his fatigues to read the napkin again. “According to this, we are at the correct complex. We’re looking for apartment 302.” He let down the kickstand on his massive bike and dismounted. Zack recognized the name of the place from the pen Aeris had used earlier, “Dirty Rose Motel.” The sign proclaimed, “Monthly rates! Vacancy!”

Zack shut down his own bike and pocketed the keys. He followed the General up two flights of stairs running up the outside of run down motel. Stopping in front of unit 302 the silver haired man knocked politely before stepping back and waiting for the door to be answered. The door was opened after a moment, the chain in place from the inside only allowed for a crack in between the door and the jamb. He saw an eye that probably belonged to Aeris appear in the crack before the door shut again and the sound of the chain scratching through the slot heralded the full opening of the door.

“I can’t believe you actually showed up,” said the girl as she shut and locked the door behind them. Zack almost told her to not bother, that he and Sephiroth could take on anything from the slums, but decided that she would probably just glare at him and lock it anyway.

A glance around the room revealed a battered dresser, small bed, mini-fridge with a microwave on top, closet, and door that probably led to the bathroom. Cloud was laying on the bed with his foot propped up on a couple of pillows.

And look! Boobs McGee was here! Woot!

…he guessed he should probably call her Tifa.

She was way hotter in person than she was in a photograph. The tight black leather was a definite bonus. He could just see her in the bedroom, whip in one hand, snarling, “Scream for me, bitch.”

And he would. Repeatedly. With feeling.

Remember to look at her eyes, man. Her eyes.

“I always keep my promises,” Sephiroth said quietly. He brandished the bracer as proof. Aeris let out a noise of want and grabbed the General’s arm to study the materia he brought. Zack picked the least icky place to sit, which happened to be a cheap 70’s leftover armchair in mustard yellow. Snazzy.

“I’ll hold the bones in place, and you cast the spell. Sound good? Great!” Without waiting for a response Aeris sat down on the bed and unwrapped the foot. Tifa was already seated on the bed behind Cloud with his head on her lap, stroking a sweating forehead with a cold rag that she occasionally dipped in a bowl balanced on a small, scuffed bedside table. Cloud opened his eyes blurrily and murmured something unintelligible before closing them again.

“What’s up with him?” Zack nodded at the blond. While Cloud had obviously been in pain back at the theater, he hadn’t been incoherent.

“I gave him morphine. He shouldn’t feel most of this, which makes me feel better. I’m glad he’s such a light-weight. I didn’t have much left in my supplies.”

“So blondie’s in La-La land?”

“Preeetty much,” she agreed as the final wrapping was pulled off. Zack and Sephiroth both winced at how swollen, bruised, and angry the foot had gotten since they last saw it not long ago.

“And he was going to dance on that tomorrow?”

“Ya. I’ve seem him do it before. He’s got a serious martyr complex.”

Tifa took Cloud's head in her hands to keep him from thrashing, while Aeris palpated the foot.

“Why can’t you just slap a heal on him and call it good?” Zack said curiously.

Aeris lifted her head to glare a little then resumed her task. “You SOLDIERs might be able to do that, but one misplaced fragment for him could be the end of his career.”

“Oh.”

"Crap," the woman muttered. "It's so swollen I can't feel anything. Can you just heal the soft tissue damage or is it an all or nothing kind of thing?" she raised her eyes to Sephiroth.

"I could do most of the soft tissue, but don't expect miracles. I'm more competent with combative magics, as you could imagine."

Aeris sighed. "Do what you can then."

Sephiroth removed his ever present black gloves and shoved them in his pocket. Then he unequiped materia from their slots, and held them in his bare right hand. He said nothing at the quizzical looks from Tifa and Aeris and instead closed his eyes and rested his left hand on Cloud's foot. The glow of a Cure being cast brightened the room momentarily before fading out. Sephiroth opened his eyes and stepped back. "See what that did," he motioned to Aeris with the materia filled hand.

Aeris palpated the bones again, and sighed in relief. "I can feel them now and none of them were fused together incorrectly. Good work." She smiled brightly at Sephiroth who continued to stare in his own neutral way.

Her smile disappeared uncomfortably, and she went to work manipulating pieces together. Cloud moaned and his forehead wrinkled in pain.

"Crap." Aeris muttered again. That seemed to be her favorite curse. "Zack, come hold the leg down. The last thing I need is for him to be moving around while I'm doing this."

Zack obeyed, holding the leg in place. He couldn't help but think the little guy was built as he held the appendage still. He could feel the hard, sculpted muscles under his hands tensed in pain. This close, and with the blond’s body only half dressed, Zack could see just how thin the kid was. There couldn’t have been an ounce of extra fat anywhere. If he had to make a bet, he would say that Sephiroth actually had more body fat than this guy.

“There!” exclaimed Aeris suddenly. “I’ve got this one in place. Can you target what I have?”

Sephiroth nodded, and together they went through the bone shards. Aeris would line up the pieces like a puzzle and Sephiroth would fuse them together. Several times, a soft tissue Cure needed to take place since manipulating the bone caused the swelling to come back. It could have been minutes or hours later (Zack wasn’t sure) that Aeris finally announced that the healing was finished.

The girl slumped into the chair that Zack had used earlier with and exhausted huff. “Maybe since he had a good healing this time the fractures won’t come back for awhile. Shiva knows the guy needs something to go right for a change.”

Tifa spoke for the first time the whole evening as she gently lifted Cloud’s head from her lap and placed it down onto a pillow she slid into her former position. “And you’re sure you don’t want anything in exchange?” she looked doubtfully at the two SOLDIERS.

“Positive,” Sephiroth reassured her. “I only want the opportunity to see Cloud dance again.”

“He would have performed anyway,” Tifa pointed out.

“But this way, I don’t feel guilty about it. I would have felt at fault for not using something readily available to me to ease his pain.”

“You know, the last time someone offered Cloud something like this he-”

“Tifa we are not bringing that up. Just drop it,” Aeris snapped. Tifa quieted but obviously wasn’t done saying her piece if the glare was any indication.

Zack looked between the two tense woman, and couldn’t help but fantasize what a cat fight between the two would look like. Ding! Ding! Ding! Naughty Nurse vs. Kinky Dominatrix Round 1! Fight!

“I would ask one thing,” Sephiroth said quietly. “I never did get to tell Cloud how much I enjoyed his performance tonight. If you could pass on my thanks I would be appreciative. And,” he drew a small piece of paper out of one of his pockets. Zack could see that it was a generic Shinra business card. “if you could give him this. It has my direct line on it. He can feel free to call me any time he is in need of my services again.”

Aeris took the card with a small frown, but pocketed it anyway. “I’ll give it to him. Thanks for everything.”

“My pleasure. Zackary. Come.”

Zack really had to speak to Seph about making him heal like a dog.

He shot a charming grin and saucy wink at the ladies and was pleased to see them grin back at him. A jaunty salute followed as he raced out the door Sephiroth had unlocked and strode through without him.

The stairs creaked as they descended, heading back to where their bikes were parked. As he revved the engine and followed Sephiroth into the dark streets of Midgar he knew this wasn’t the last he’d see of Cloud and his friends.

And that was great because, well, boobs.

TBC…