Painting love with Blood

Sephiroth was almost trembling in fury, his Coud had been wounded. His blood had been split by some underdog filth. His Cloud. He prevented the tremors and most of the anger from showing, no need to scare away his Cloud. Gently he brought the bandaged hand up to his face; he softly kissed the centre of the wrapping where the mar in the flesh would be. He would purge the stain from his Cloud. There only needed to be his marks on the silken skin. Only his own had the right to be there. Underneath his touch Cloud gave a sharp intake of breath and an adorable blush stole across his cheeks. Yes, Cloud was all he had ever wanted; now all he had to do was bind him so fully to Sephiroth that he could never escape. No, so he would never want to escape not even thinking of separating from Sephiroth. He would own Cloud’s body, mind and heart along with his soul. The entirety of the blond would belong in Sephiroth’s hands.

It seemed that ‘The Ripper’ needed to be punished severely before being allowed to slowly have his life ripped from him. He would beg for mercy as his lifeblood spilled in patterns around him, his skin would be stripped from his flesh as he still lived and Sephiroth was sure that he still had enough acid to cause the man agonising pain. He would not leave this matter to his numerous servants and hit men. No, ‘The Ripper’ had committed a personal offence by harming Cloud. He himself would attend to the man, but first Cloud needed to be taken care of. It would not do for him to go home tonight. No Cloud would come to his house tonight.

Sephiroth gently put Cloud’s hand down and then used both of his hands to cup Cloud’s cheeks; drawing his face towards him. Cloud seemed frozen from the earlier kiss on his hand and simply allowed himself to be drawn towards Sephiroth. ‘Good,’ Sephiroth thought, ‘Let him come to my touch’. Sephiroth lowered his head slowly and brought his lips down onto Clouds. A soft connection was made, a silent promise was given. Then Sephiroth retreated again with Cloud still frozen, he smirked and leant forward to whisper into Cloud’s ear.

“Do not worry, I shall make sure that he will never hurt you again,” He then pulled back, no need to overwhelm Cloud, he was still innocent and too much too soon would merely drive him away.

As his words registered in Cloud’s mind it seemed to snap him out of the trance he had been put by Sephiroth, his blush deepened into a red colour and he fidgeted a little. The man’s lips had been soft and Cloud ached to bring up his fingers to touch where they had pressed against his. He was not even sure that it had happened, the touch had been so soft and so short.

“Ah, there is no need,” Cloud stuttered flicking his eyes away from Sephiroths, “He was caught by me and Zack, his trial is soon and I think that with the evidence that we have on him he will defiantly be found guilty,” Cloud smiled bashfully and once again turned his face up towards Sephiroth’s. “So there is no need to do anything,”

‘How cute,’ Cloud’s flustered state amused Sephiroth, ‘But that is not enough for me, the man will suffer for hurting what belongs to me’

“I shall fund the trial then, we do not want some high official to buy out the judge and allow such a man to be released back onto the streets do we?” Sephiroth clapped his hands and took a step back before offering a hand to pull Cloud up.

Cloud once again blushed while taking up the offered hand, cursing his fair skin all the while. He had always blushed easily and with his skin tone it showed up dramatically.

“No, that would not be good. Does it really happen though?” His innocent question had Sephiroth chuckling softly; yes it happened he himself was guilty in allowing one or two ‘interesting’ members out to amuse him. Aristocracy could get so boring at times, merely endless parties and backstabbing for power. He turned his eyes over to Cloud who was now brushing down his uniform. If he obtained this jewel he would never be bored something as precious as Cloud he could never tire of.

“Sadly yes, however I shall make sure that it does not happen here,” Sephiroth turned to face Cloud fully as he started to walk towards the road, “Do you wish for a lift? It is late and I would not wish you to get lost.” He gazed at Cloud and was rewarded with another endearing flushing of cheeks and neck. How far did that blush spread he wondered. ‘Oh well, there will be time for fantasies later’ Sephiroth thought, now was the time for gentle seduction of prey.

“Are you sure it is not too much trouble?” Cloud tilted his head unknowingly allowing some of his bangs to fall across his eyes.

Sephiroth allowed a gently smile to cross his lips, “It is no trouble.” And gently taking Cloud’s hand he led him to the limousine that was waiting at the edge of the park.

He helped Cloud into the car before entering himself. He watched as Cloud stared in wonder at the inside of the car. It was adorably obvious that Cloud had never been in one before. He was stroking the leather of the seat beneath him while staring at anything that was in his line of sight. The mini-bar attracted his attention along with the side case that Sephiroth used to store his guns and knifes that he used, not that Cloud needed to know it was guns that it contained. Let him think it was merely documents or snacks. Sephiroth opened the bar and turned to Cloud.

“Would you like a drink?” ‘Please allow me to influence you thoughts slightly with alcohol, not too much though I wouldn’t want you becoming ill,’

“Just a soda, if you have one,” Sephiroth almost sighed; he had guessed it was too early for alcohol but people were always easier to persuade when they had a little in their bloodstream.

Turning to the driver he tipped his head slightly, alerting Vincent to merely drive around the city until he gave further orders. Cloud would have to be persuaded before he allowed himself to spend a night in Sephiroth’s house. If he wanted to own Cloud completely he would have to do it slowly so that he did not notice how much control Sephiroth had of him till it was too late. He drummed his fingers on the armrest.

“Aside from your obvious injury how has your work been?” ‘Has anyone been after you?’ If someone was after Cloud at work he would have to eliminate them or have them moved, depending on what they were doing.

“It’s fine. My partner’s girlfriend is a little strange, she keeps talking about dressing me up in outfits though,” Cloud frowned into his drink, some of those outfits she had giggled about sounded weird.

“She sounds like an interesting person,” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, ‘Should I hire her to arrange some outfits for Cloud later, He would look good in leather,’

“Yeah, but she is really nice. You can see why Zack likes her,” Cloud looked up to Sephiroth before finding his eyes drawn to the long tapping fingers; he wondered what they looked like under the gloves.

“You are attracted to her?” Sephiroth frowned if there was any chance of Cloud liking someone else they would have to be removed.

Cloud jumped and flailed about with his free hand, a blush racing across his cheeks while his eyes widened in disbelief, “No! I couldn’t ever like her like that, she is Zack’s fiancée! Plus I don’t really...”

“You are not attracted to her type of women?” It was fun, seeing Cloud flail about blushing and floundering for words, inside Sephiroth grinned evilly enjoying the blonde’s flustered state, outwardly he kept a polite, interested facade not to dissimilar to the one he used on the other aristocrats, they were so boring.

Again Cloud blushed only this time his whole face lit up a cherry red, “Ah, no, I-I,” he lowered his head and seemed to droop, he could not lie to this man, “I’m not really interested in women,”

How wonderful, Sephiroth was almost dancing with glee; he wouldn’t even need to persuade Cloud to be interested in men. Sephiroth once again cast his eyes to the boy in front of him. He would need to reassure him that no scorn would come from him. He frowned homosexuality was accepted in Midgar, what would cause him to be so ashamed? Thinking back to the meetings he had had with Cloud Sephiroth realised that Cloud must have come from a small community outside of Midgar, views there must have been extremely narrow and anything ‘abnormal’ would have been frowned upon. Now how to assure Cloud that would not happen here?

“Really, we have something in common then,” Sephiroth leaned back crossing his legs and observed Cloud’s reaction from the corner of his eye.

Clouds jerked up and stared in disbelief and almost hope, this beautiful man not only was not disgusted but also was the same? The most Cloud had been expecting was cold disapproval. Cloud turned his head to look out of the window, they were passing through streets that he was unsure of when they passed a local store.

“Ah!” The exclamation jolted Sephiroth from his plans that mostly involved Cloud Naked or stripped in some way or another. He looked up towards his guest with one eyebrow raised in question.

Cloud turned to the man, “Do you think you could drop me off at a convenience store first, I don’t want to be a bother but I have just moved in and have no food in the house,” He looked to his feet it was enough that he was getting a ride and now he was asking for favours.

Sephiroth smirked inwardly, “It is far too late, and who knows what types hang around those stores at this time of night. Can I invite you to spend the night at my house; it is not far from the station.”

“A-Ah, I wouldn’t want to trouble you, I am sure I would be fine,” Stay at this man’s house, it was probably a mansion.

“Do not be ridiculous, there are people who will attack you for simply wearing your uniform,” Sephiroth pointed to Cloud’s police uniform, rumpled but recognisable. He then leant forward catching Cloud’s chin in his hand from across the car. “I am sure that my house is big enough for you to stay,”

“I wasn’t worried about that,” Cloud’s eyes flickered from one place to the next, not daring to get caught in the green pools that were strait ahead of him, if he did he would be unable to refuse.

Sephiroth smiled, the action drawing Cloud’s eyes to his own, “Then there is no problem, I would be... delighted to have you,” He raised his free hand to motion to Vincent, the man turned from his circular route to head for the large mansion that was Sephiroth’s chosen home in Midgar.

Upon arriving Vincent parked the car and got out to open the door for his master. Sephiroth exited before reaching out his hand for Cloud. The soft grasp of leather slid across his hand as Cloud allowed himself to be pulled up and out of the luxurious car. Then, suddenly, he stumbled as he stepped half his foot on the curb, causing him to lose his balance. He fell forward and found his face resting against a hard chest that was covered in a silk shirt as two strong arms came around him. Cloud’s face felt like it was burning and he was sure that it must be bright red. He got a hold of his footing and shuffled away from the enveloping grip despite a traitorous part of his mind begging him to stay. He muttered small apologies under his breath. Those arms promised many things, and he was not sure whether he should listen to those promises or not. He then turned his eyes towards the house that was in front of him, only to freeze, his eyes widening to take in the impressive size of the mansion that was in front of him.

It was built in the old style with three towers, one at each end and another in the centre, the centre tower was the tallest and stretched at least 200 meters above the others. There were carvings, gargoyles and statues that decorated all the walls of the building outside. The wings at each side had arches that allowed for space beneath them that was sheltered by the building but not inside. This caused the prominent centre entrance to stick out with the patio platform and the large doors that stood impressive and intimidating. It was a gothic building built of what originally must have been a pale yellow or cream sandstone however it was stained with Midgar pollution causing it to be a dark grey instead. The many windows seemed like a multitude of eyes that were looking however only half of the lights were on. Cloud had no problem believing that this building could host at least 150 guests commutable with 2 servants to each person plus the extra needed for cooking. He turned his wide eyed gaze to Sephiroth who stood two feet away smirking as he took in Clouds amazement. It was too adorable.

"This is your home?” The words fell; tumbling from his lips as he once again cast his eyes to the towering features of the building in front of him.

“My town house, I have another in the countryside when things here get too overwhelming,” the casual indifference shocked Cloud as his eyes drifted back to Sephiroth's tall figure.

“Come now, we do not want you getting cold, I am sure there will be food inside.” Sephiroth took a few steps forward before he turned his head and beckoned to Cloud.

Vincent came along softly behind them assured now that Cloud had not gotten to know Sephiroth for his money or status, no one could feign that look of astonishment. He dropped the piece of paper with what to tell the hit man in the pool of water where the ink would dissolve and the paper break apart. He would protect his master, only one question remained. If Cloud was not after Sephiroth then Sephiroth was after Cloud, his master had not perused someone in a long while. He hoped Cloud was satisfactory for his master’s wants, he needed someone to keep him happy and if Cloud wasn’t then Vincent worried for the fragile boy. His master was not gentle to those that displeased him. If Cloud could make his master happy, they he would do all he could to keep them together. Even if someone was hurt in the process or he had to resurrect his older talents, but that was not needed for now, Master would need a room gotten ready for his guest. He assumed he would want the one next to his own chambers prepared as it had a secret door connecting them. His old assassin’s persona of Chaos could sleep for now, there were things that needed done.