Chapter Text
Cloud straddled Angeal’s chest, a light breath leaving him as he eased down on his cock, the burn of it pleasant inside him. They were both tired, their surroundings seeming almost distant around them as time wore on.
He groaned, rolling his hips against Angeal’s own once they connected with a soft sound. From underneath him, Angeal made a noise, the sound of it getting caught in the back of his throat, and Cloud let out a low rumble, pleased, as the alpha grabbed at his hips with gentle hands, entirely undemanding, just ready to watch Cloud as he worked.
And when Angeal’s hand moved to lightly press at his stomach, palm flat against his skin, he trembled, the weight of his cock inside him feeling far more intense than it had before.
The muscles in his thighs burned as he pushed himself up, his hands palming at Angeal’s pecs as he moved. The liquid heat in his stomach burned and he mewled, the sound light and airy as his toes curled.
The soft sounds of wetness between the two of them were growing louder, and he focused instead on the sounds coming from Angeal, having to use it to gain some sort of understanding as to what he was thinking.
When his breath hitched, just the slightest bit, Cloud knew what was coming.
“Come on,” he breathed, sinking back down on his length, feeling the way his knot was just barely emerging. “Knot for me, alpha, you can do it.” It was hard to keep the teasing lilt from his voice, but the new press of Angeal’s hand against his tattoo had him gasping, eyes fluttering shut as he forced himself to breathe again.
Angeal’s other hand shifted, the heavy drag of it was enough to make his head spin, and another thin sigh left him as it wrapped around his cock. A whine dragged its way from his throat, and he shifted his hips, tightening down around Angeal’s knot when he felt it throb inside him.
“There you go-“ he gasped, shivering when a dribble of slick managed to leak from him.
Angeal let out a breath, shifting his own hips and trying to press up further into Cloud. It was warm and when Cloud ground his ass back down to meet him, it almost felt like he could feel his cock in his throat.
When Angeal came with a broken growl, Cloud trembled, chest bowing and nails dragging against his pecs when Angeal just kept jacking him off, forcing Cloud to cum with a whine.
He shivered, feeling overly warm, as if he’d melt apart. Angeal’s hands shifted, wiping his mess off on the sheets before moving up to grab at Cloud’s chest and force him to lay down on top of him. He followed his easy commands with a sigh, moving in just the right way to keep his knot from shifting too much inside him.
He was small enough compared to him that he was able to rest his head against one of Angeal’s pecs, and that thought refused to leave him alone.
They were both quiet, for a while, and when Cloud scented the air, he was pleased to realize that the rut scent had abated a bit.
Angeal had never been too deep in his rut, not like the others, but Cloud was beginning to think that he wouldn’t have survived if that had been the case.
“How do you feel?” He rasped, the sound of it half-muffled from his cheek pressing against Angeal’s breast. The light scratch of his chest hair against his skin was enough to have his cock twitching all over again, it was nice.
A quiet laugh left the alpha, and Cloud was relieved. The heavy, calloused hands that swept over his spine, tracing thin, looping designs, was enough to reduce him to a shivery mess. “I’m alright,” Angeal said, pressing a kiss against his hair, ruffling it with the short motion, and Cloud smiled, his chest feeling warm despite how tired he was.
“That’s good,” he said, moving his fingers to idly trace at the lines of his muscles. “From what I can smell, I think you might be done with your rut s-“ he cut himself off with a moan, shivering when Angeal grunted, his cock throbbing as another rush of cum filled his cunt.
Cloud panted, shifting his hips the tiniest bit once he was sure Angeal had finished, face flushing a little in embarrassment. “Yeah, I think you might be done soon.” And Angeal huffed out a laugh, one of his hands moving down Cloud’s back to knead at his ass, just enough to have him groaning anew.
Fuck, these detail-oriented alphas were going to kill him. Cloud was starting to miss his more mindless clients, at least they didn’t make him almost pass out from how good they fucked him. It was starting to feel like he wasn’t even working at this point.
Well, whatever, at least he was getting paid.
When Angeal’s knot softened enough that he was able to slip off of it with little trouble, he leaned forward, pressing an almost chaste kiss against the mans brow.
Angeal gave him an indulgent smile, seeming pleased enough with how everything was going, and Cloud couldn’t help the small rush of pride that filled him at that. They settled in with each other, Cloud still relaxing on top of him, and he let himself have a moment to close his eyes, drawing in a short breath and listening to the way Angeal’s heart thudded in his chest.
It was strong enough that he could feel it, even.
They laid like that, for a while, and Cloud allowed himself to have the moment.
-
Angeal’s rut ended without as much fanfare as Genesis or Zack’s, the alpha simply pressing a warm kiss against Cloud’s cheek as he stood and left to go shower, leaving Cloud alone in the bed.
He stretched against the still-warm sheets, the pleasant burn in his muscles was enough to make him shiver.
Angeal had been tiring, he may not have been as aggressive as the others but he made up for it with a, frankly, terrifying amount of stamina. Cloud felt as if he could sleep for a month straight, if time allowed for it.
The rest of the morning passed without much fanfare, the both of them getting ready and cleaning up around each other, skirting around and going through their own post-rut routines. It felt oddly domestic, and when Angeal eventually cornered him in the kitchen and handed him a cup of coffee already laden with cream and sugar, he felt something twist in his chest.
“Thank you,” he said, accepting it with as warm a smile as he could muster, Angeal giving him an easy grin in return. He reached out to squeeze a hand against Angeal’s forearm, feeling the muscle ease slightly underneath his weak grip. “Everything feels alright, yeah? Nothing too off?” He asked, voice light and teasing, relieved when the alpha gave him a small, but indulgent, smile.
“Everything’s fine, thank you.” Angeal said, sounding as if he was humoring Cloud. His grin got an edge of amusement to it, and Cloud resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he spoke again. “I think I should be asking you if you’re alright, if what you said was true.”
Cloud sighed, feigning an aggrieved attitude, unable to keep a small grin from worming its way onto his face. “I really didn’t lie, Angeal, you’re definitely the biggest person I’ve ever taken.”
He could smell how satisfied that made the alpha feel, and took a quick sip of his coffee to bring his control back. He spoke again, after a short moment, tongue stinging the slightest bit from the heat of the drink. “If you feel alright enough to make jokes about it though, you should be fine.” He said, lips curling over the edge of his mug in a short grin as Angeal huffed out a laugh, running one of his hands through his still-wet hair.
“I’m fine, really, thank you for helping out.” Angeal said, his expression turning more serious at the end, and Cloud straightened, giving the man a steady nod as he set the mug down on the counter.
“Really, it’s no problem.” He started, looking him in the eyes and trying his best to get across the fact that it really wasn’t. The firsts seemed to have a bad habit of thinking that he was really going out of his way instead of just, well, doing his job. “Just be sure to tell me everything you need, okay? I don’t like it when people try to keep info from me when it would just make everything easier for both parties.”
Fuck, he still felt bad about letting Genesis bite him when there’d been a rule set up to keep that from happening. He should’ve been more attentive when it came to that.
Well, he wouldn’t let it happen again.
Angeal gave him a look, almost painfully serious compared to their earlier banter, and it was hard to keep from squirming. “Of course. I hadn’t needed anything set up earlier, though, and nothing had gone wrong during my rut, so it’s fine for now.” And Cloud nodded, accepting his words with ease.
“As long as you tell me if anything changes with your preferences, I’ll be fine.”
Angeal seemed to accept that, from what Cloud could tell. There was still and edge of something to the air that he couldn’t quite place, and he resisted the urge to sigh, taking a long sip of his coffee instead.
There wasn’t much to say after that, everything had already been said. Cloud finished his coffee with another long swallow, setting it in the sink with a quiet noise before finally giving in to the urge to lean in and give Angeal a bracing half-hug, the alpha stiffening for an instant before melting into Cloud’s touch.
He just barely made it up to Angeal’s collarbones, but the alpha was the one that leaned into his space, wrapping his arms around Cloud and giving him a brief squeeze, enough to earn him a short huff of air. “There we go,” Cloud murmured, gently patting him on the back as Angeal breathed in deeply, stuffing his face into the junction between Cloud’s neck and shoulder.
It felt oddly reminiscent of the way Zack had hugged him outside that restaurant.
They separated after another handful of moments, Cloud giving his biceps a bracing squeeze as Angeal looked at anywhere that wasn’t his face. It was a little sweet, in a way. “If you need anything, please feel free to message me,” he said, voice gentle. “I have no idea how the mako treatments effect your rut, but I know that it’s probably not easy to deal with.”
He only pulled away fully when Angeal nodded, needing the confirmation from him before he could even think of leaving.
A breath left him and he looked over at the bag he’d brought over, the bone-deep sense of tiredness already beginning to weigh on him. Angeal interrupted the silence, sounding nearly the same as he had before, but lighter, somehow. “Cloud, if you need to go home, then you can.”
He was gonna have to take him up on that offer, Cloud wasn’t too sure he’d be able to handle a heavier conversation right now, his body was whining for him to get to sleep. “Alright, well, again, if you need to talk about anything, please text me.” He said, needing the final confirmation of Angeal nodding his head again before being able to leave in good conscience.
And, with one last look at the alpha, quietly noting the way he seemed close to sleep himself, Cloud headed out, ready to trudge back home and sleep for as long as his body would physically allow. That coffee would definitely help him to get back home, but he already knew that it wouldn’t do anything to actually keep him awake for the rest of the day.
It was when he was checking his phone for any missed messages, going through his standard routine on the way back, that his heart sank to the pit of his stomach.
Seventeen missed messages and three missed calls from Tifa.
It was almost impossible to keep from entirely stopping in his tracks, the only thing pushing him forward was the fact that it probably wasn’t the best idea for him to stand around outside smelling the way he did.
An uneasy feeling pooled in his gut on the way home, the worsening ache of his muscles making it feel even more pronounced. The sudden anxiety made his fingers shake, and he tightened his grip on his phone, squeezing it hard enough in the palm of his hand that the cool plastic of his phone case began biting into his skin.
He skirted around the few people that were out, no one wanting to be outside longer than necessary when it was as late in the year as it was, and he was stupidly grateful that that was the case.
Omegas that smelled stressed tended to draw alphas like a beacon, he didn’t want to deal with that right now.
A relieved breath left him when he finally drew back to his apartment, and he almost ran up the stairs to push his way inside the front door to the complex. The woman behind the front desk gave him a lazy nod, Cloud doing the bare minimum to return it, before he started towards the flight of stairs.
The walk up the cold concrete stairwell was a miserable one. If not for the way his muscles felt as if they were burning then it was the way he almost had to lock his knees to keep from trembling apart.
Fuck, one bad sign from Tifa and he already felt like he was back at Corneo’s place.
The relief he felt when he was able to shove his key in the lock and force his way back into his apartment was almost enough to bring him to the ground. A breath left him and he made sure to lock the door behind him, not trusting anything until he figured out what Tifa needed to talk to him about.
This was almost too much for him, compared to how fine everything had been this morning, it felt like everything was crashing down on him.
He sank into his couch, dazed, and gave himself a moment to come back to himself before unlocking his phone again and reading through the messages.
The most recent one was confusing, offering no context. ”It was Bjorn,” and Cloud had to scroll up, moving over to sit up, balancing his elbows on his knees and ignoring the way his jumping leg rattled the phone.
Slowly, the picture painted itself, a trembling breath leaving him when he realized what was happening.
Corneo never did like competition.
Apparently now he was doing something about it.
With shaking fingers, he called Tifa back, relief filling him when she answered after the first ring. ”Cloud,” she began, palpable relief in her own voice as she spoke, and he sank back into the couch, feeling worn. “Where were you, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you the past few days.” Fuck, he didn’t want to even think of how worried she had to have been.
“I was with a client,” he said, voice tired, closing his eyes as he kept going. “I guess you were right about Corneo being up to something, fuck. Can you run through it all from the top?”
Tifa let out a relieved chuckle, and he could hear Aerith’s quiet chatter in the background, a worried lilt to the alpha’s voice. “Yeah. He’s been getting angrier about all his honeybees that have been leaving.” He had no idea why Corneo would even be shocked, he treated them like fucking cattle. “They’ve been taking business from him, like you did, when you left.”
Yeah, yeah. When he’d managed to leave he’d taken a small handful of clients with him. Regulars, Corneo had called them, when he worked under him. “I guess it’s pissed him off, huh?” He asked, absently rubbing at his eyes as Tifa chuckled sadly, amusement almost entirely absent from her voice.
“That’s one way of putting it. I’ve been hearing that a few omegas have been getting hassled on the streets lately, so I tried to keep an eye on it.” Her voice was thick with concern, and Cloud braced himself. “I think he’s trying to take out competition. Bjorn, the one that was found, apparently had the tattoo on his stomach.”
Fuck.
“I guess it is pretty identifiable, huh?” He rasped, fear making his throat feel tight. “What happened to him?”
Tifa paused, for a moment, before speaking again. “They found him behind a dumpster down in the slums. Nothing had, well, happened to him before he died, but he’d been killed by someone. My bets are that it’s Corneo’s men. It’d be too perfect otherwise.” Yeah, yeah it made too much sense.
He let out a sigh, closing his eyes and letting his head hit the back of the couch. “What should we do, Tifa?” He asked, voice thin, as she answered.
“Alright, well, you’re gonna text me before you see any clients, alright?” She said, and he made a sound of approval as she went on, voice growing tighter. “If it gets any worse, I’ll see if Barret, Cid, or maybe Vincent can escort you to the places, alright? They’re not liking the way this is going either. You should’ve seen Barret’s face when we found out.” There was a pause in her words, for a moment. “Cid said that you can come pick up Nanaki if you need to walk anywhere more dangerous than normal.” That was a good idea, actually. He had a feeling that people would be less likely to talk to him in general if he had the shepherd with him.
Cloud gave a weak chuckle, the ache from Angeal’s rut fully settling into his body and leaving him feeling worn. “Yeah, alright. That’s a good idea, I’ll pick him up if I ever need anything. I don’t wanna worry you guys, I’ll be careful.”
He didn’t want to die either, fuck.
Tifa made a sad noise, the sound seeming out of place when it came to her. “Please, Cloud, make sure that you do, okay? I’ll give updates if anything happens with what’s going on, but right now it doesn’t look like any resolution is going to come soon. Investigators don’t care about sex workers, you know that.” Yeah, he did. She wasn’t wrong, at all.
Tifa wasn’t in the clear yet either, just because she didn’t do that sort of work anymore didn’t mean that Corneo wouldn’t potentially target her too. Especially considering how blatant her tattoo was, with the clothing she wears.
“Watch out too, alright?” He asked, relieved despite everything when she made a small noise of confirmation. “I’ll come visit soon again after I sleep for, like, twelve hours.”
That earned him a genuine laugh, and a tired smile creeped its way onto his face. “Seriously, go take a nap, oh my gosh Cloud. I think you’ve earned it.” And that managed to draw a laugh from him.
They said their goodbyes, and when Cloud hung the phone up, he felt oddly bereft.
Corneo causing trouble like this wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it was more violent than he’d been expecting.
A yawn left him and he grimaced, rubbing at his eyes again as he forced himself to stand, feeling utterly drained. Fuck, Angeal had wiped him out. He was gonna have to get some sleep before even thinking about what was happening. It was all too much right now.
Somehow, he managed to take some pain medicine and drag himself to bed, the soft mattress letting him slip into sleep before he even knew what hit him.
-
When he woke up again he felt better. Still not quite the best, but better nonetheless.
He stretched, joints popping as they repositioned themselves, and forced himself from bed, already able to tell that he needed a shower. Ugh, he was sweaty.
He had no idea what time of day it was, but the shower was relaxing enough, and he gave himself the chance to go through his regular routine, finally feeling back to normal after a particularly brutal few days. Checking his phone as he waited for his coffee to brew showed him that he’d gotten a few messages. Some from the Firsts, most from Tifa, and he quietly answered back as many as he could.
The situation with Corneo hadn’t gotten any worse since he’d slept, thankfully, at least from what Tifa knew. Genesis had also messaged him, astonishingly enough, and it earned a snort from him.
Genesis: ”Do you need me to send you a care package, dear? Angeal told us he’d spent his rut with you and I can only imagine that you must feel as if you’d been chewed up and spat back out.”
Goddess, Genesis wasn’t wrong about that. It made him feel a little better to know that, well, at least Angeal had a reputation.
A little embarrassing too, that apparently they talked about him when he wasn’t there.
He gave short replies to each of them, a sigh of relief leaving him when his coffee machine sputtered to completion. He reached for the mug, lips pursing as he read through the message that Sephiroth had also shot his way, the wording of it oddly stilted.
Sephiroth: ”I’d like to speak with you privately about my upcoming rut, if that is possible to do. Please reply back with times you would be available.”
It was oddly, huh, cute in a way. If he could put it like that.
There was also an odd sense of satisfaction to be had at the fact that he’d been right in his prediction that Sephiroth would be like Genesis, and want to discuss plans beforehand.
He took a small sip, grimacing lightly at the burn of it, as he typed his reply.
Cloud: ”I’ll be free for most of the next few days, unless anything drastic comes up. Just pick a public place and time you’d like us to meet at and I can be there!”
It didn’t take too long for him to reply, as if he’d been waiting for Cloud to text back.
Sephiroth: ”Public place?”
The Firsts really kept zeroing in on the “public” aspect of it, huh?
Cloud: ”Standard practice! I just do first meetings in public, after a while we can meet up privately to talk about stuff. Just pick a favorite place of yours and we can chat there, alright?”
He watched, mildly amused, as Sephiroth’s little typing icon popped up and down a few times, as if he was trying to figure out what to say to that. His phone vibrated as Sephiroth continued typing, and he let out an ugly snort at the text Zack had sent his way.
Zack: ”Seph looks like he ate a lemon LOL”
So they all were together, huh? He felt a little bad, honestly, but liked Zack’s message anyway, turning his attention back to him and Sephiroth’s messages when the alpha finally answered.
Sephiroth: ”This restaurant allows people to meet privately in the back. Is this to your satisfaction?”
It wasn’t the place he’d first met them at, but it looked vaguely similar. Nothing too extreme, just a restaurant with a private lounge, but it was enough to draw a grin from him.
Cloud: ”Perfect! Just send me the best times for you and we’ll be able to chat about whatever you want.”
And Sephiroth did just that, picking a time for later in the day, just long enough from now that Cloud had ample time to get ready.
It seemed like he wanted to get it over with, from what Cloud could tell. Well, he could understand. It was probably overwhelming to deal with when you weren’t used to it.
He chose one of the more conservative outfits he had, nothing necessarily too stuffy, but something that managed to look normal enough in comparison to the rest of the clothes he always wore. He had a feeling that Sephiroth wanted to draw as little attention to himself as possible, and honestly, Cloud could understand his concern.
He wasn’t going to break his public meeting rule, not until they spent this rut together at least, but he could definitely understand. Sephiroth’s fans seemed a little, uh, intense, by his standards. Cloud was a little concerned about them.
And so, once he’d double checked to make sure his outfit was as casual as possible, and confirmed the location, he was off.
He wouldn’t need to bring Nanaki with him, the location seemed good enough from what he’d been able to tell. But, still, he shot a message to Tifa just in case, letting her know where he’d be.
-
The place itself that Sephiroth had brought up was nice, fairly plain and innocuous, and Cloud couldn’t help but be a little surprised when he walked in. It just, well, it just looked like a normal restaurant. Sephiroth caught his eye almost instantly, but that was only because he knew what he was looking for.
He’d put his ridiculous hair up in a low bun, already enough to change his appearance for the most part, but he’d also thrown on a hat that looked suspiciously like it was from Genesis, and a pair of sunglasses that had Zack written all over them.
It was hard to keep from laughing, and Cloud had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from losing his composure.
Why did the two of them do that to the poor man?
“Hey,” he said, walking up to him, his voice a little too amused as he tried in vain to keep it from showing. “How are you-“
The short, polite sound of someone clearing their throat made him shift, the employee who’d caught his attention looking embarrassed as she gave them an apologetic grin. “Sorry for interrupting sirs, I hadn’t noticed that you two were talking.” He could smell the tiniest bit of annoyance from Sephiroth, but it was gone in a near-instant. “You two are the reservation for Strife, right? For the room in the back?”
“Uh-“ he looked up at Sephiroth, the guy giving him a pointed nod, not opening his mouth for fear of being recognized. Jeez, he was really putting effort into this, huh? Even using Cloud’s name instead of his own. He turned back to the employee, giving her a soft enough smile that the worst of her nervous energy seemed to fade. “Yeah, that’s us, thank you.”
She straightened, moving to circle around in front of them, gesturing further into the restaurant. The few customers that were there were entirely ignoring them, and Cloud could appreciate it. It was always nice to find places that had patrons who knew how to mind their business. “This way, just follow me!” And he did, Sephiroth trailing behind them after a moment, the employee leading them to the private room and gesturing for them to move in after opening the door that led to the smaller space.
“Menus and everything are there, already. I’ll be back in a few moments to ask about drinks, feel free to take your time!” She seemed overly peppy and Cloud couldn’t tell if it was if she’d noticed who Sephiroth was underneath his paltry disguise or if it was just how she acted normally.
She left after that, at least, allowing them to settle themselves, and Cloud couldn’t help but chuckle as Sephiroth took his sunglasses off, looking out of his depth as he kept the hat on.
This whole situation felt ridiculous.
When it became apparent that Sephiroth didn’t want to break the silence, the SOLDIER apparently content to just sit, Cloud spoke, trying to keep any tension from his voice. “Alright, how’s everything going so far? Do you think you might start your rut soon?” He asked, getting straight to the point, mildly relieved when Sephiroth gave him a look. At least they were getting somewhere.
“Mine does tend to come after Angeal’s, so yes.” Pointed, factual. Not giving Cloud much to work with here.
He nodded, trying to work through the conversation in his head before speaking, not really knowing what to actually say to that. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” He paused, idly tapping his fingers on the plush seating underneath him, just needing something to fidget with. “Is there anything you wanted to discuss about the actual rut? Any important limits that I need to keep in mind?” Even if Sephiroth was already being tight fisted with his replies, Cloud was going to do his best to wring answers out from him, no matter what.
He really didn’t want to go into this blind and end up making the guy uncomfortable, it wouldn’t make him feel the best, especially when he’d managed to make it alright for the other three.
Sephiroth’s face was still, impassive, and Cloud couldn’t read anything that was coming from him.
“I’m going to hurt you during my rut,” Sephiroth said, finally, and Cloud blinked, completely blindsided by that.
He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, Sephiroth’s face remaining flat as he struggled to find the words.
The quiet knock from the doorway gave him a distraction, at least, and gave Sephiroth the chance to put his glasses back on. The waitress was back and Cloud just blindly picked the first thing that he saw on the menu, mind racing, unable to focus.
Sephiroth, at least, seemed to be more familiar with the menu.
After she left, Cloud exhaled, Sephiroth taking his sunglasses off a second time, allowing Cloud to look him in the eyes again.
It was hard to read him, it really was, but something in his eyes kept drawing him up short.
“Sephiroth,” Cloud began, not liking the way he seemed to relax in acceptance, as if Cloud had accepted anything in the first place. “What do you mean by that? Is everything alright?” That, at least, seemed to, uh, confuse him? As if Cloud had been meant to freak out and respond poorly to what he’d said.
“Everything is fine,” Sephiroth said, voice the tiniest bit smaller than before. If Cloud hadn’t been in the business for this long, he wouldn’t have noticed. “I handle my rut poorly, there may be trouble during our time together.”
’May,’ okay so there was still a chance that it would be alright, at least.
“Is there anything common that happens during your rut that is making you think that you’re going to hurt me?” Cloud asked, trying to be as gentle as possible, not liking the way Sephiroth absolutely refused to show an outward reaction to his question.
“I have a bad habit of breaking things during my cycle.” Cloud was getting the feeling that that was an understatement.
He pursed his lips, thinking, for a moment. “Alright, well, I guess we’ll see if I can do anything to help that.” Sephiroth gave him another look, as if he wasn’t sure if Cloud was fucking with him or not. “Really though, are there any strict lines that you don’t want me to cross? There’s no shame in requesting it, I really don’t mind.”
“I,” Sephiroth began, actually fumbling for a short second before continuing again, stronger this time. “My one request is that if I do end up harming you, that you call the other Firsts to come handle it. You don’t need to withstand it if I’m causing more harm than you can manage.”
Cloud knew that he should probably feel worried about that, maybe get scared about how blunt Sephiroth was being, but he mostly just felt sad about his situation.
His feelings might change if he ended up getting flayed but, well, that was for later, apparently. Besides, he’d been able to handle Angeal. Unless Sephiroth was entirely understating what he expected was going to happen, Cloud would probably be perfectly fine.
“Of course,” he said, scanning Sephiroth’s face for any micro expressions, anything that gave him a sort of leg-up on how he was feeling, and was disappointed when he couldn’t find anything. “Are you sure there’s nothing else, though? No preferences for anything you’d want me to do during it?” Cloud had a feeling that Genesis would begin asking for particulars for his next time, if he had to take a guess about which SOLDIER would have requests, but he seriously couldn’t get a read on Sephiroth.
It was a bit foreboding, normally he depended on expression during ruts to make sure he wasn’t doing anything the client loathed. He was going to have to be careful, this time.
Sephiroth just shook his head, some strands of his bangs becoming undone from where he’d tucked it up into the hat, and Cloud fought a sigh. Alright, well, he’d handle it when they came around to it.
The fact that Sephiroth had organized this meeting only to warn him about how he might hurt him felt sad, in a way.
Cloud also appreciated it, though, he really didn’t want to get turn to shreds. That wouldn’t be good. Like, at all.
Another knock at the door gave Sephiroth the chance to situate himself, again, and Cloud forced a smile on his face at the sight of the waitress carrying their food. The arrival of their food would give them both a chance to think, at least. Cloud knew that he needed to mull over what Sephiroth had told him, he didn’t exactly want to leave back to his apartment without knowing whether or not he had anything else to say.
She left after a short moment, accepting their thank-yous before leaving, and Cloud picked at his food, eventually taking a bite of it, pleased when Sephiroth did the same.
They were able to enjoy each other’s presence, at least. It was still awkward between them, neither of them quite knowing what to say to break through the last vestiges of the odd mood, but it was nice enough.
At this point, Cloud would take it.