Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Zack.”

Normally, he would be really happy to chat with Angeal, thrilled even! But that tone of voice probably means he doesn’t want to talk to Angeal right now. And the elevator to leave the SOLDIER floor is past Angeal and there’s nothing behind Zack but other SOLDIER’s rooms. 

Angeal has his arms crossed and a half-frown. He’s still in his usual 1st Class SOLDIER uniform, buster sword on his back, and there’s just the slightest hint of something not-good in his expression.

Something that probably does not bode well for him. 

So Zack laughs, trying to act like nothing's wrong. Because he was pretty sure nothing was wrong until now. “Hey, man! What’s up?”

The hallway is deserted right now, not even a random SOLDIER wandering back to their apartment for the night. Just the super gray metallic walls and metal flooring that’s everywhere in Shinra HQ.

Angeal’s half-frown doesn’t go anywhere. Not good. He tries to think of everything he could have done wrong. Did he forget to submit his last mission report? No, he definitely submitted that because Lazard told him he needed to correct some grammar. Did he accidentally tell Genesis that Loveless is super boring and confusing? No. 

Not recently. 

“Today is the last day of the SCS program sign up.” Angeal starts, arms still crossed. “And it occurred to me that you hadn’t mentioned signing up for it. After I very explicitly said you needed to.”

Oh. No. 

It feels like he jumped off a three hundred foot drop and had nowhere to land.

Did he sign up for it? 

He tries to remember if he had signed up for the Shinra Counseling Services program, the whole project Angeal has spent months and months getting started and approved. And he comes up blank. 

“Yeah!” He says out loud, laughing like he’s completely unbothered. “I totally did that!”

Angeal raises a singular eyebrow and he clearly does not believe Zack at all. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Zack waves a hand, laughing. “Super easy peasy! Just how you designed it! Had so little problems signing up that I didn’t even remember to tell you bout it!”

Did he sign up? Can he check that? Would Angeal know if he didn’t?

“So, if I said you needed to have confirmation of an appointment by dinnertime—” Angeal glances at his PHS and then goes back to Zack with an expectant look. “In less than two hours. You would have it?”

“Yeah!” Zack is such a total liar. “Totally!”

Confirmation of an appointment? An appointment that Zack doesn’t have? 

It’s fine. He’ll just go to dinner and admit he messed up and Angeal will sigh but it’ll all be fine. How upset could Angeal possibly be about it?

Angeal narrows his eyes because he knows Zack. Zack tries to look calm and chill. “I just hope you know that I would be very disappointed in you if you forgot and just lied to me.”

Oh boy. 

He forgot. And he lied.

He’s really messed up this time. He doesn’t want to see the Disappointed Angeal Look ™ ever again. It’s been months since he’s gotten one! 

The last time was because he slightly forgot to submit some reports for a couple weeks. He wrote them, but he forgot to submit them. And nothing could ever replicate the fear and sadness he felt the moment Angeal turned to him after observing the stack of reports and leveling a disappointed look at him. Zack had almost cried. Actual tears.

“I took care of it!” Zack says, like a liar. “Like ages ago, man. No Disappointed Angeal Looks ™ today!”

He did not take care of it at all. He totally forgot about it. Entirely. Completely forgot. 

Angeal still looks entirely unconvinced, already looking like he’s on the way to being disappointed.. “If you say so. I’m going to go make dinner. Don’t be late again.” And he goes back into his apartment, the door closing behind him. 

Oh man. 

He doesn’t have a confirmation. Because he doesn’t have an appointment!

Zack waits until he’s in the elevator to freak out and panic just in case Angeal was listening with SOLDIER hearing and all. 

He has to brace himself against the meal wall of the elevator and try not to freak out.

Are there probably cameras in here? Sure, but he has bigger problems to worry about than if the Turks are watching him have a breakdown right now.

How did he forget that! He had a little yellow sticky note with it on his bathroom mirror! For months! He even put a second one up after the humidity from showers made it not sticky anymore. But eventually it just became bathroom decor instead of a reminder.

He smacks his forehead with his hand. “Angeal’s gonna be so disappointed in me. I am so dead.”

Beyond Angeal being let down by him, he might even be sad or hurt. Angeal put a lot of time and effort into getting the SCS program set up. Like an entire year working with Shinra admins and Lazard and upper Shinra management to get approval for counseling services for the Shinra military personnel. 

Insanely long back and forth email chains with Lazard, admins, and even a couple times Professor Hojo arguing about why it was important. It’s been a whole nightmare. 

And Zack knows he’s proud of it, they even had a little celebration the day the president signed his approval for the program. Angeal gave a whole speech, a super moving and heartfelt one too, all about how much he cares about this program and helping people.

He sighs and thunks his head against his fist again.

He can’t let Angeal down after all the hard work he put into this. And Zack’s pretty sure even Genesis actually signed up. 

Wait no. He can just go sign up right now. It’ll be fine! Today’s the last day to sign up, that’s what Angeal said.

So, he hits the button for the twenty-eighth floor. When the door dings open, he half-runs and half-jogs down the hallway. A couple Shinra personnel glance at him and he waves happily. 

It’s all good! He’ll get signed up and it’ll all be fine. 

The SCS program office is pretty small considering how big Shinra HQ is and all. He pulls open the two glass doors and strides inside. There’s a waiting room with five seats and a little side table with two magazines on it. Some nice potted plants in the corner and by the entrance. He’s pretty sure Angeal donated them when the office space opened. 

Luckily, there’s no one else at the office or in line.

The lady behind the desk, Katie, he remembers from all of Angeal’s meetings to get the program set up. She always wears the exact same gray office outfit except for her hot pink glasses that look like they’re glowing from how bright the pink is. It’s pretty memorable. 

“Hi!” Zack says, stopping by the front desk office and leaning against the counter. She looks up, adjusting her hot pink glasses and it’s hard to look her in the eyes because the color is so distracting. “Uh, so I need to sign up for the SCS?”

There’s some pamphlets about mental health on the counter. One’s titled Coping With High Stress & Anxiety: A Practical Guide and another one called The SCS And Insurance Information (with FAQ) .  

Katie blinks at him. “Mr. Fair, we’re entirely booked for individual and group therapy for—” She clicks super loudly with her mouse and glances at the computer screen. “Ten months out. You should have signed up ten months ago.”

Zack props himself up with the counter. Angeal is going to kill him. Or worse he’s going to have to admit to Angeal that he lied and didn’t remember to sign up ten months ago and see the disappointed face.

And Genesis will probably film it or something.

He scratches the back of his neck and prays to some kind of higher power. “There’s really nothing? Like at all?”

She looks at him for a second then types really, really loudly on her keyboard and he almost feels like it’s on purpose or something. “Well, there’s couples therapy left, it wasn’t requested as much. There’s room for appointments as soon as next week.”

Thank Gaia.

“That’s something!” He thinks for a second. Oh yeah, Aerith! Even though they don’t really have any problems or anything, he wouldn’t have to admit anything to Angeal. “Uh, how does that work for someone who’s not SOLDIER or anything?”

Katie pauses her typing, to look at him over her glasses. She’s about his mom’s age and sometimes the way she asks questions reminds him of her. “You mean a non-Shinra personnel?”

He nods, hoping he seems really earnest right now.

Katie gives him a look and he’s pretty sure he’s being judged. “Anyone utilizing SCS must be a Shinra employee.”

Zack feels a part of his soul die. Maybe a part of him will just pre-maturely join the Lifestream. “That’s it?”

“The SCS program was designed to help SOLDIER and military operatives,” Katie says, clicking loudly on her keyboard again. “That’s how Mr. Hewley designed it.”

“Right.” 

In one short movement, she picks up and holds out a shiny pamphlet titled Shinra Counseling Services: A Full Guide To Getting Started .

Zack is so dead. As he walks out of the SCS office and past Angeal’s giant plant that’s a fruit tree or something, he begins to plan his funeral. Or at least a temporary funeral and thinks about how this dinner might be his last one. 

He should message his friends to let them know he’ll be gone soon. And Aerith. 

Why did he forget to sign up for that? He promised. 

He looks down at the pamphlet. 

The first steps to getting help are the hardest. You should be proud of yourself for taking them against the odds. Here is a comprehensive guide of how to best utilize SCS to its full advantage. If you have any questions please contact the SCS Office or the SCS Director Angeal Hewley.

Oh, he is so dead.

“I wasn’t aware puppies could look so depressed.” A very familiar voice says behind him and he turns to see Genesis walking up to him, still in his non-standard red uniform jacket and carrying his fancy sword. Right, he was just coming back from a mission today.

And now Genesis is going to witness his doom at dinner. Great.

Genesis glances sideways at him and gestures loosely at him. “This better not be something that is going to bother Angeal.”

Zack knows his face falls further, guilt hitting him squarely in the stomach. “Well, Angeal’s gonna kill me so yeah he’s going to be involved.”

Genesis makes a face, halfway between concern and annoyance. “Well, I’m sure you deserve whatever you get for what it is you have done. Did you ignore something he told you to do?”

“Yeah.” Zack sighs, wincing as he says it. “Ten months ago.”

Genesis huffs. “Well, your funeral, puppy. Though I’m sure Angeal will forgive you, as he always does due to his bleeding heart. I suppose it’s hard to blame a mindless puppy afterall.”

“Hey!” Zack feels like he could almost cry and maybe he’s close to it. Just imagining Angeal’s face fall when Zack has to tell him that he lied and didn’t sign up makes him want to run away to an impromptu mission in Wutai for weeks. “He told me he was going to be disappointed in me!”

Even Genesis winces at that. Other than Zack, he’s probably the person who’s gotten the most Disappointed Angeal Faces ™. “Oh Goddess, you have truly messed up. Whatever you have done, will it cause Angeal stress?”

Zack hangs his head now. “Yeah, probably.”

Genesis sighs for an unnecessarily long time, shaking his head. “Do I want to know what you have done?”

He starts to open his mouth, then Genesis laughs and pats his shoulder in a way that almost seems like he’s being made fun of. “You know what? I don’t think I want to. Good luck, your fate has been sealed.”

As he walks away, Genesis says over his shoulder, “I’ll watch it all crash and burst into flames tonight at dinner.” 

The sound of his footsteps fades.

Zack leans heavily against the wall. “I am so screwed, aren’t I?”

“And!” Zack’s voice is really too loud for an office, but he can’t stop himself. He needs to talk through this before dinnertime. He needs a game plan or something. Anything really. “Angeal said he’d be disappointed in me! Disappointed! The trademarked disappointed look!”

Zack paces back and forth from one end of the super spacious office to the other end. His sword is leaning up against the wall where he dropped it when he walked in a little bit ago. “And I told him I took care of it! So I’ll also have to admit to lying!”

This is a mess. And he can’t blame anyone but himself for it being a mess. 

He really should have listened to that little yellow sticky note. And to Angeal.

For the first time since Zack burst into his office, Sephiroth speaks from behind his desk. “I am sure Angeal will not be nearly as upset as you think he would be. Both Genesis and I forget things he tells us. It is not uncommon. Just admit your faults now and correct it. No harm will be done.”

Zack spins around, hands on his head. “Genesis pat my shoulder and said good luck and that my fate was sealed! No Loveless quotes involved!”

Sephiroth looks at him, emotionless for a long moment. “What did you do?” He pauses then adds. “Or not do?”

Zack sighs, both shoulders slumping and hunching over. “Angeal told me to get signed up for that new policy thing he got started, SCS and all. You know what I’m talking about.”

Sephiroth doesn’t even blink and Zack adds, “Ten months ago.”

Sephiroth crosses his arms. “And I assume you did not sign up for it?”

No, he didn’t. 

Zack walks by the three chairs in Sephiroth’s office. The standard issued ones unlike Genesis’s office which was way fancier. “I didn’t know it was something I needed to do right then or something! I didn’t realize it had a time limit. And then I had a mission outside of Midgar for a couple days and then I was helping Spikey out—”

Zack paces back and forth again. “Which was helpful and all and then I had a date with Aerith and then I had that mission with the Turks when I got lost below plate for a bit and—”

“How do you remember all of that but not to sign up for an appointment?”

Zack falls heavily into one of the chairs in Sephiroth’s office. It squeaks under his sudden weight. “I don’t know! But the SCS desk lady said they’re entirely booked for ten months! For individual and group sessions! And I almost signed up for the couples but Aerith isn’t a Shinra employee and all.”

There’s a loud ding from Sephiroth’s computer. The annoyingly familiar sound of a new email popping up in his inbox. Sephiroth doesn’t even look at it as he says, “Well. That is a problem.”

He gets the impression Sephiroth is trying to sound sympathetic, but he isn’t always good at that. It’s the effort that matters and he appreciates the attempt.

“I know!” Zack throws his hands up. “And it’s not like I can fake Aerith being a Shinra employee or anything but who else could I ask?”

Zack slides down the seat, until his back is almost on the seat. “I’m going to die at dinner. You and Genesis are going to be witnesses. I guess I have to face my fate in, like, twenty minutes.”

Sephiroth doesn’t say anything. And Zack adds. “I didn’t think it’d be this soon.”

“I doubt it will be worse than the time Genesis and I destroyed one of the training rooms while sparring,” Sephiroth says, grinning just a little bit and yeah, that actually does help a little bit. Zack really thought Angeal was going to end up single after that.

“Still.” Zack says, sadly. “I have a gut feeling, man.”

His PHS buzzes and sadly, he checks it and expects it to be a reminder from Angeal about dinner. A different familiar contact pops up. 

Cloud: Guess what? My patrol got canceled tonight. If you’re free after dinner with the 1sts, want to play Chocobo Racers?

Zack is hitting the call button before his brain can even make a fully fledged thought. Please, please, please pick up. Please, buddy. A lot is on the line right now.

“Hello?” Cloud’s voice says through the PHS speaker, a little confused. “Zack?”

“Do you want to go to couples therapy with me?”

Silence. 

And continued silence.

He almost checks if his PHS is still working. Then Cloud’s voice finally responds. 

“What.”

“Please!” Zack grips his PHS with both hands. “Please, please, please.”

“Shouldn’t you be asking Aerith that?” Cloud sounds completely panicked. “Wait, why do you even need to—I thought you and Aerith were okay?”

“Please please please. I only have a little bit of time or else you’re gonna have to be giving a speech at my funeral here, Cloudy!”

“What does that mean?” Cloud’s voice is slowly getting more and more panicked and louder, the last word is slightly wheezy. 

“Please, please, please, I have less than twenty minutes!”

“Twenty minutes until what?!”

“My funeral!” Zack says, panicked now. 

There’s a bunch of static for a second and it sounds like Cloud dropped his PHS. “What are you talking about? You’re not having a funeral!”

From the corner of his eyes, he can see Sephiroth covering his face with a hand. He’s not sure if it’s because of whatever email he got or if it’s because of him. But whatever.

“We just gotta pretend like we’re dating and we can’t let the therapy counselor know and also Angeal and Genesis can’t know either. And we’re got to sign up in like ten minutes now because you keep asking questions. Just trust me on this one.”

“Zack!” Cloud shouts into the PHS speaker. “What are you even saying right now?”

He imagines Angeal’s disappointed face. Genesis laughing at him. And then Angeal being hurt that he didn’t remember. “It’s really, really, important, I promise!”

“I'm going to need more of an explanation!”

“Hey, man, I’m the one about to die here.” Zack says, checking the time. 

Cloud makes a frazzled sound. “What does that even mean!? Why are—” He sighs loudly. “Okay, fine whatever! I’ll do couples therapy with you!”

“You’re the best, Cloudy! I’m going to go get us signed up!” 

“Can you explain now?”

And Zack ends the call. He’ll make sure to explain everything in detail after dinner so they’re on the same page. And he’ll call Aerith to let her know too. But he needs to go back to the twenty-eighth floor pronto.

As soon as he grabs his sword, Sephiroth states, “This is going to end poorly.”

“Not if you don’t say anything to Angeal!” And then it occurs to Zack that this whole thing hinges on Sephiroth not saying anything. 

He spins around to fully face him and presses his hands together in a pleading motion. “Please, please, please don’t say anything to Angeal? Or Genesis?”

It’s a lot to ask. Considering that the three of them are dating and all. But he and Sephiroth are still friends so maybe that holds some sway.

Sephiroth observes him for a long moment then sighs. “You’re lucky you did not have that call in front of Genesis. The power he would hold, you would regret it.”

“Thank you! You’re the best, man!” And Zack is running out of the office and to the SCS program office. 

Zack is outside of Angeal’s apartment door at exactly the correct time, not late at all for once. He knocks a whole bunch just to let Angeal know he’s here and then lets himself inside. It smells like spices inside, ones he’s learned are typically used in Banora cooking that’s a cool combo of savory and sweet. 

The entrance area is like a mini-gardening center. There’s tons of potted plants everywhere, even some hanging from rope hangers from the ceiling. Seriously, his water bill has got to be astronomical. Or Shinra’s water bill. 

“It smells really good!” He shouts into the apartment as he kicks off his uniform boots into a pile of shoes by the doorway. There’s two pairs of SOLDIER uniform boots, so Angeal and Genesis are probably both here. 

Zack steps around a large potted plant that he thinks is a Banora apple tree. He’s not good with identifying plants no matter how hard Angeal has tried to teach him.

When Angeal steps out from the kitchen, he’s traded out his uniform for normal clothes. Angeal immediately fixes a look at Zack. “I really hope you have confirmation of signing up for SCS, Zackary Fair.” 

He’s holding out his hand, waiting for whatever confirmation Zack has.

And Genesis, the jerk, snickers from the living room where he’s casually lounging on the large couch like it’s a throne instead of the cheap Shinra issued furniture that it is. He looks at this like it’s a play for his personal amusement or something.

Zack points at him. “Ha! Jokes on you!” And he slaps his PHS into Angeal’s outstretched hand with the screen on. 

He enjoys the surprised look on both Angeal and Genesis’s faces. So he stands proudly at his accomplishment. Sure, Katie had been confused when he rushed into the SCS office to sign up before they closed. But it’s all legit and confirmed. He triple checked.

Angeal looks down at the PHS, then back up to Zack, then back down. He opens his mouth to say something, but ends up not saying anything. Zack continues to look on proudly. 

Take that! No disappointed looks today!

“Zack.” Angeal finally says, his tone a little odd. 

“Yeah?” He sends a smug look Genesis’s way. Nothing’s bursting into flames here!

“This says couples therapy.”

Genesis’s head whips around, suddenly looking highly interested in possible drama.

Zack nods. “Yup!”

Angeal looks back down at the PHS screen with the Shinra online portal for SCS appointments. “With the other party being Cloud Strife .”

Genesis chokes on whatever he was snacking on and then actually scrambles over the couch and snatches the PHS out of Angeal’s hands. “Lies and fabrications!”

“Yeah, it does,” Zack says, simply. Because it does. They have an appointment next week. He already got the confirmation email to his Shinra issued email account. And Cloud probably got the same email too.

Angeal struggles to think of something to say for a moment. “And since when were you dating Cloud? I thought you were dating Aerith. Did something happen between you and Aerith?”

Genesis repeatedly smacks the PHS, scowling at it. “This has to be a glitch. Why is it glitching?”

“Yeah! I'm still dating Aerith!”

Angeal’s face is still weirdly blank. And Zack crosses his arms now. “Hey, you’re dating two people too. You can’t judge me.”

“I’m not judging you, I’m confused.” Angeal furrows his brows while Genesis continues to hit the PHS. “And you’re apparently having relationship issues with Cloud? Enough to go to therapy over it?”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” Genesis says, making a face. “Why do you need couples therapy? It’s not like you’re married or going through a divorce. What would you even have a divorce over anyway? Your assets include Chocobo Racers, postcards of Gongaga , and whatever measly salary Shinra pays the infantry.”

“Hey! I’ve got lots of assets!” Zack says, grabbing his PHS back. “And we aren’t getting a divorce! Obviously!”

Angeal looks slightly suspicious now. “And why didn’t you say anything about this sooner?”

Oh no. What if Angeal realizes this whole thing was an elaborate lie or—

The door to Angeal’s apartment opens and Sephiroth walks in. He takes in the state of everything and calmly ducks out of the way of the plant hanging from the ceiling that’s directly eye level with him. And he asks, “I take it you have informed them of the couples therapy, then?”

Genesis spins around, sounding distressed. “It can’t be true! Sephiroth, tell me you jest!”

Sephiroth walks into the kitchen, expression calm. “Why would I lie?”

Thank Gaia for Sephiroth. 

He owes Sephiroth big, big time. 

Genesis dramatically falls against the counter, looking legitimately baffled and confused. Angeal’s brows furrow further and he looks just as confused. Wow, they are really confused about this. Sure, it might be surprising, but they’re really lost looking. 

Probably because he didn’t say anything about his ‘relationship’ with Cloud and Zack talks nonstop about Aerith. So it would be weird.

“Cloudy didn’t want me to say anything yet. He’s shy!” Zack says, waving his PHS around. Because it’s true. Cloud is shy and usually nervous around most people. That’s totally believable. Even if they’ve only briefly met Cloud, it would be believable that he would be too shy to say anything about any relationship.

Angeal looks at him for a moment longer than shakes his head. “Then you need to bring him here more often.”

“Yeah, I will!” So, at least Angeal believes him. He looks around the corner into the kitchen. “Whatcha making?”

While Sephiroth calmly goes to sit in the living room, Genesis is watching Zack with clear distrust like he is deciding whether or not to believe it. Zack glances at him. “What, man?”

“If I recall correctly, less than two hours ago you were panicking,” Genesis says, crossing his arms and leaning against the kitchen counter to stare Zack down. Even though he’s not wearing his usual red coat, his casual shirt is still the same color of red. “So, forgive me for not trusting you.”

“Hey, man,” Zack says, offended by Genesis’s completely accurate assessment of the situation. “The lack of trust is hurtful, you know.”

Genesis points at Zack’s PHS, still in his hand. “Invite him here, right now. I need confirmation this is not some sort of elaborate prank.”

“Come on, man.” Zack says, slouching a little. Cloud is totally unprepared to face all three of them at once. He didn’t think this would happen. “Why would this be a prank?”

He might be lying, but it’s not a prank.

He must hesitate for too long because one moment the PHS is still in his hand and the next Genesis is holding it and hitting call. He holds it back out to Zack with an expectant look.

Cloud picks up almost instantly. 

And Zack starts talking before he has a chance to say anything. “Hey! Cloudy! So, you know how you said please don’t tell the First Class guys that we’re dating and all?” He laughs nervously as all three of them watch him. 

Please, please play along. He’ll explain everything as soon as possible.

Cloud is silent for a moment and then hesitantly asks, “What did you do?” He sounds almost scared to hear the answer. 

“Please don’t be mad!” Zack says, side eyeing Genesis while he laughs at Zack. “But I kinda told them and now you have to come to dinner? Haha. You’re free right?”

“Zack.”

He laughs again. “Anyways, you’re free right now? Cause your patrol got canceled and all?”

“ Zack .” Cloud increasingly sounds baffled. He whisper-yells the second part. “I have so many questions.”

Zack laughs again while Genesis keeps watching him like he’s trying to find any evidence that Zack is lying (which he is). “I know, man. I know. I’ll come let you on the SOLDIER floor.”

“I—” Cloud cut himself off, stumbling over his words. “You—”

“Sorry! Sorry!” He says as he hurries over to the doorway to shove his feet into his uniform boots. He avoids the many plants in the doorway. He can feel the weight of Genesis’s suspicious gaze on him still. 

“You can borrow Chocobo Racers all you want! Pick hang out food for like a month! I promise!”

Silence for a moment. Then there’s a sigh, like Cloud has accepted his fate and given up. “Three months.”

Zack winces. “You strike a hard bargain here, Strife. But yeah, fair.” He ties his boots with one hand. “Okay, I’m heading down. See you soon!”

He’s going to have to majorly apologize for all of this. He owes Cloud big time for this one.

While he’s finishing up putting his boots back on, Angeal suddenly comments. “Well, I guess it does make sense.”

Zack stops and looks over at him by the kitchen. “Huh? What does?”

“We had bets going,” Genesis says, sounding very put-out. “If there was anything going on with you and your infantry boy.”

Zack physically cannot stop himself from his jaw dropping. “Huh?”

No way. That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they even have bets for that?

Him and Cloud? Wait, his infantry boy?

Angeal walks back into the kitchen. “Of course, we didn’t think you were actually dating the whole time. But it would explain some things.”

Wait, what?

Zack stands up all the way, blinking rapidly. “Wait, what are you talking about? Explain what?”

Genesis looks towards Sephiroth, half frowning and scowling. “In that case, who wins the bet?” 

Sephiroth shrugs. And then, Genesis looks back and sends a look to Zack. “Weren’t you retrieving your apparent boyfriend?”

“Oh yeah!” And Zack rushes out the door. 

What was there to even have bets about? Explain some things? What does that even mean? Whatever. Genesis never makes sense anyway. Maybe it’s something to do with Loveless. 

He jogs all the way down to the entrance of the SOLDIER floors and sees Cloud waiting there, looking very frazzled and disoriented.

He’s glancing around nervously and looking down at his PHS every couple seconds. He’s not in uniform anymore, but it sort of looks like he changed in a couple seconds. Which would make sense if he ran over here from his bunk.

“Heya, Cloud!” He waves wildly above his head.

Cloud looks up from his PHS and practically marches up to him. “You’ve got exactly ten seconds to explain—”

“I know, I know!” He holds up his hands as a show of peace. “But I promise it’s for a good cause?”

Cloud shakes Zack's arm, looking mildly panicked. “What? Me dying?”

“Hey, man.” Zack says, patting Cloud’s hand that’s shaking his arm. “You’re not gonna die or anything.”

He swipes his ID card and they walk into the SOLDIER floors.

Cloud desperately tries to make his shirt look less wrinkled. It doesn’t really help. Did he pick it up off the floor or something? “How did this even happen?”

“Uh, so you know how I was telling you that Angeal got this program for therapy and counseling set up for SOLDIERS and Shinra military?”

Cloud nods, still trying to make his clothes look like they were clean. “Yeah?”

“So when it got approved, he told me to sign up for it which was—”

“Ten months ago.” Cloud says with growing understanding, a hint of horror entering his voice. “Zack, you didn’t forget, did you?”

He laughs, rubbing the back of his head. “Ah, yea, I did.”

Cloud face palms. Zack has to chuckle a little. “So about two hours ago Angeal told me that today’s the last day to get signed up for it and said if I didn’t have confirmation that I had an appointment, he’d be disappointed in me. But like the Disappointed Angeal Face ™ levels of disappointment.”

Cloud gives him a flat look. “And you panicked.”

“Yeah, I panicked,” Zack says, hitting the up button for the elevator. “So I told him I had signed up months ago.”

“Seriously? How deep of a hole were you gonna dig for yourself?”

“Hey, man. You’ve never had to face Angeal’s disappointed looks before. Nothing makes you reconsider all of your life choices like that. And so I went to the SCS office and they said there were no individual or group sessions open for a long, long time. Except for couples therapy.”

The elevator doors pop open. And they both step inside and he hits the button for his floor. 

“And the SCS lady said only Shinra employees can use it and—”

“Aerith isn’t part of Shinra,” Cloud finishes for him. 

“Exactly. And so I ranted to Sephiroth and then I saw your text and it was like my one chance to not deeply disappoint Angeal.” Zack reaches around Cloud to stuff the tag back down in the back of his shirt. 

“So, I called you and then when I got to dinner I showed the confirmation email to Angeal. And then Genesis was being all weird about it and said you had to come to dinner.”

“Zack,” Cloud says, with feeling while he reties his shoes properly. “I am going to die. I have to lie to my commanding officers and are we seriously going to go to a therapy session and lie? Isn’t that wasting the SCS’s resources?”

Zack rubs the back of his head. “Uh, yeah I guess so. Sorry, I know it was really sudden and all.”

The elevator door dings open and they step out onto the floor where Angeal’s apartment is located.

“And what are we even pretending to go to counseling for?” Cloud says, anxiously. His eyes look up and down the hallway, but there’s no one else here right now.  “How long are we going to pretend to do this? I’m not good under pressure like this. You know that.”

He didn’t think that far ahead. But it’s fine. This whole plan has been improvised. He shrugs. “We can think of something, I’m sure.”

He waits for a second while Cloud attempts to make his hair look like he wasn’t wearing a helmet all day. Even though it always looks like that. 

Zack adds, “We have to go cause Angeal will keep an eye on it, probably for like ten months till I can sign up for individual or group.”

Cloud whips around to look up at him. “ Ten months ?!”

Zack winces. “I know, I know. But it’ll be fine, Cloudy. Just think of it as a fun adventure with your best friend!”

Cloud runs a hand over his face and he sounds miserable. “I demand so much more than three months of hang out food choice. I’m a terrible actor. We don’t even have a cover story or anything. I can’t believe I’m going to have to lie to them.”

Zack glances up the hallway and sees the door to Angeal’s apartment. “Well, we got like thirty seconds to think of that cover story.”

Thirty seconds is really not long enough. But luckily he’s good at thinking on his feet!

So they have a sort of decent cover story.

Zack knocks rapidly on the door like he always does to let them know he’s about to head inside. Cloud gives him one more anxious, miserable look and Zack pats his back in sympathy and appreciation of his bro doing all this for him. He unlocks the door.

“We’re here!” He announces stepping inside and around the plants. “Oh, yeah, Angeal’s got a lot of plants. Don’t hit your head.”

Genesis stands right beside the entrance, arms crossed and assessing them. Zack kicks off his shoes and tries to be as normal as possible. “Dude, you look like a guard dog. You’ve literally met Cloud before. Chill out.”

He can practically feel the anxiety radiating from Cloud, so he tries to be extra normal. 

“Do not ‘dude’ me, Fair.” Genesis says, huffing. And he turns to look at Cloud. “Is this some kind of elaborate prank that one has concocted to play us for fools?”

Cloud looks very, very convincingly confused. Which might be because Zack didn’t tell him that Genesis thinks this is all a joke. Cloud glances once at Zack then back to Genesis, very confused. “Uh, no?”

Genesis leans forward to Cloud, side-eying Zack as he does it. And stage whispers. “If you’re being coerced into doing this, you can tell us. The fact the puppy managed to date one person is astounding as it is.”

“Hey!” Zack says, pretending like he’s going to throw his uniform boot at Genesis. “How is that astounding? You’re dating two people!”

Genesis looks him up and down, not bothering to hide his judgement. “Yes, but I have a much better sense of style and flair than you do, Fair. Forgive me for being surprised by your secret relationship with the person you described as your ‘bestest bro’ for the past two years.”

Zack walks into the apartment and passes Genesis. He waves to Sephiroth, who waves back after a belated second. “You can date your bestest bro, totally normal! You and Angeal are bestest bros, right?”

“I will not reduce my relationship with Angeal to ‘bestest bros,’ Genesis says, full of judgement as he makes quotation marks in the air. “Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess.”

That doesn’t even make sense at all.

“Great, now he’s quoting Loveless,” Zack mutters and glances back at Cloud, who’s still standing in the entrance way, petrified. “Cloudy, you can come into the living room, it’s all cool man. Also, Genesis, bro, you’ve got to chill out.”

“About what?” Genesis says, arms crossed again. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You look like you’re interrogating them,” Angeal says, walking out of the kitchen and wiping his hands on a red kitchen towel. He looks at Cloud, smiling. “Make yourself at home.”

“Angeal’s the only one here with manners, other than Sephiroth. So, really, it’s just Genesis without manners.” Zack says, going back into the entrance way to grab Cloud’s hand and bring him into the living room. 

He keeps talking before Genesis can say anything about him not having manners. “So, whatcha making, Angeal? Smells really good.”

Yeah, this is going great. Cloud only looks half-way to jumping out of his own skin. So, going great!

Genesis: AGAIN I ASK HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE DID THEY START DATING? I FEEL LIED TO! DUPED! MANIPULATED! BETRAYED!

Angeal: Have you been thinking about this since last night? Aren’t you supposed to be working right now?

Angeal: Also, you’re only saying that because you’ve been betting on how long it would take them to start dating or for Zack to realize polyamory is a possibility.

Genesis: Of course I do!! There’s only so much entertainment one gets around Shinra that isn’t ethically concerning and watching your puppy have a crush that he was entirely unaware of was immensely entertaining. 

Genesis: And don’t pretend like you aren’t also dying to know. I know you are.

Genesis: And Sephiroth, you had better answer my earlier question.

Angeal: Don’t ignore me.

Sephiroth: Zack only told me before dinner. I know as much as you.

Genesis: LIES.

Genesis: I want answers.

Sephiroth: You got answers at dinner.

Angeal: I’m surprised Zack didn’t say something sooner. Even on accident. His ability to withhold information is…lacking to say the least.

Genesis: You mean non-existent.

Angeal: I understand his reasoning for not saying sooner out of respect for his partner’s privacy but still.

Genesis: I mean his chocobo looked ready to jump out of his skin at dinner.

Angeal: If they are dating, you could at least try to call him by his actual name.

Genesis: No. Chocobo and variations of puppy.

Angeal: An attempt.

Angeal: I still think Zack should have signed up for individuals not couples. But I’m glad he remembered at least. I was starting to think I needed to stage an intervention on remembering and how to remember important adult things.

Genesis: It can’t be that bad. He’s SOLDIER. 

Angeal: He didn't know he needed to sign all of the paperwork after his promotion to get the pay raise. He went five months without the pay raise.

Genesis: I take it back. How does your puppy survive without intervention?

Angeal: Gaia only knows. This is why I’m surprised he actually remembered to sign up for it. Not that I’m not glad to hear it. 

Genesis: I still think a certain silver haired man knows more. 

Sephiroth: I know nothing. If you’re implying that somehow Zackary Fair managed to hack the system, I think you are overestimating his abilities and cunning. But I can confirm, he did indeed sign up for couples therapy with Cloud Strife through the proper methods. 

Genesis: I feel close to ripping my hair out!! How did we not realize they were dating??? I feel like the Goddess herself is making a mockery of us. I need to know who won the bet. I refuse to let Sephiroth win 5,000 gil simply because Angeal’s wayward puppy managed to keep his relationship secret from us for Gaia knows how long. 

Angeal: Please tell me that the betting pool is not actually up to 5,000 gil. 

Genesis: …I will remain silent on the issue. 

Sephiroth: It is. Genesis added another 1,500 gil to it after the time Zack showed us his PHS folder of photos of Cloud.

Angeal: I already told you that anything over 3,000 gil was too much. 

Genesis: THE FOLDER WAS LABELED AS ‘CUTE PHOTOS OF CLOUDY’ WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO.

Sephiroth: I admit, even for me that was convincing evidence. After that I also added more to the betting pool. 

Angeal: I want you both to know I am sighing in my office right now.

Genesis: And 3rd class Kunsel also added 500 gil to the pot as well. So don’t pin this all on us. 

Angeal: I thought this was only between the three of us?

Genesis: Oh no, not anymore darling. SOLDIER, Turks, and admins all were in on it after the time your puppy accidentally hit reply all on an email he meant to send to his chocobo. You know the one.

Angeal: I know. I was the one who required him to retake the email security course. I still don’t know why he was emailing Cloud a playlist of songs that reminded him of Cloud instead of texting it. 

Genesis: Nobody has ever said the puppy is more intelligent than a puppy.

Angeal: Genesis. 

Genesis: He emailed a playlist. Through his work email. Not to mention how he is entirely unaware of his feelings.

Genesis: Or perhaps we should look at the time he recorded a five minute long voice message talking about his day? And when you asked about it, he just said he had too much to say and he didn’t feel like texting it all and we all assumed it was for his girlfriend but then he said it was for his ‘favorite fluffy chocobo in the whole world.’

Genesis: Or another favorite of mine; the time the puppy tried to bake (after making a mess of your kitchen) a Gongagaian classic dessert for a romantic holiday, he gave some of it to not just his girlfriend but also a certain CLOUD STRIFE. AND HE SOMEHOW SAW NO ISSUE WITH IT.

Sephiroth: I thought the time he brought back an entire bag of beach rocks for Cloud Strife was very telling. 

Genesis: Yes, thank you Sephiroth. The rocks were very telling. 

Sephiroth: I thought so.

Genesis: Nobody was talking about the rocks, dear. 

Sephiroth: I thought it was meaningful.

Genesis: They were normal rocks. Just an entire bag of rocks.

Sephiroth: I would be endeared if someone handed me rocks from an overseas mission because it reminded them of me. It was thoughtful. 

Genesis:...are you telling me you want rocks for our next anniversary?

Sephiroth: It was an observation. 

Genesis: Your understanding of human relationships is still abysmal.

Genesis: Angeal, I think you were focusing on getting the wrong person signed up for therapy. 

Sephiroth: I was not permitted to sign up. Hojo used his clearance to override the request. 

Genesis: I’m sorry, what?

Angeal: When did this happen?

Sephiroth: Today. It was the last day of registration. I received the email a little bit ago.

Genesis: And did the living waste of a human existence say why he did this?

Sephiroth: According to the email I received from the counseling administration, “1st Class SOLDIER Sephiroth cannot receive mental or psychological counseling, therapy, or analysis by any other department or individual within Shinra or otherwise besides Professor Hojo.”

Sephiroth: I expect a follow-up email from Professor Hojo shortly.

Genesis: No doubt to berate you for even signing up and making the admins of counseling services think the great general Sephiroth has any issues. I think that the science department seems very flammable don't you think?

Angeal: Genesis, no. 

Angeal: Sephiroth, we’ll figure something out. The program is to help all SOLDIERS and military personnel, including the 1st class. I was hoping since the president approved the program Hojo would have no authority over it. 

Sephiroth: His authority seems to override most things concerning me. If not all.

Genesis: Again, I say. Very, very flammable. 

Angeal: Genesis, no. Go to the training room if you feel the need to catch something on fire. 

Angeal: Sephiroth, we will figure something out. 

Genesis: I want to catch something on fire for real, thank you very much.

Angeal: You can catch one page of the Shinra Weekly magazine on fire. In the sink, as long as you don’t set the smoke detectors off. One page.

Genesis: Hardly a satisfying fire. But I will make the compromise.

Genesis sent a picture in the chat. 

Angeal: I said one page!!! Not the whole thing!!

Genesis: Oops.

Genesis: I thought I saw a cockroach.

Genesis: The cockroach is Hojo in this scenario.

Sephiroth: Cockroaches can survive extremely high temperatures. You may need to increase the temperature to terminate it. 

Genesis: You are so right, Seph.

Angeal: Do NOT burn down my bathroom, Genesis.

Genesis: I burned the second one. I feel slightly better now.

Genesis: But now I’m restless. I think I will go pester your puppy until he actually tells me about how he and his chocobo started dating. 

Angeal: Oh Gaia. All I request is no fires, no upset Zacks or infantrymen.

Genesis: I shall make no promises. I can only control my own actions, not the reactions of others. 

Angeal: That is not what that tidbit of therapy means and you know it.

Chapter Text

Zack has a weird feeling that this dinner with Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth will be long remembered forever. And maybe it’s not going to be for the greatest reasons and maybe it’s because the whole plot will be found out. Who knows?

Zack looks at whatever Angeal’s cooking on the stove, over his shoulder. “So what are you making, anyway? It smells really good.”

“It’s a new recipe,” Angeal says and tosses a giant bowl of sliced onions into the pan. Ever since Zack’s known him, Angeal’s used the same set of three bowls for everything when he’s cooking. All of them are a deep red. He has a weird feeling that Genesis picked them out. “Tomato, potato, onion pasta with baked chicken.”

“Fancy schmancy,” Zack says and looks around him to glance at the chicken in the oven. Nice and golden brown already. “New gardening magazine recipe?”

Angeal nods while pushing around the sizzling onions. “From last month’s issue.”

Seriously, all of the other SOLDIERS are missing out on Angeal’s cooking. The guy could totally make a living as a celebrity chef or something. Maybe that’s his retirement plan. That or owning a little gardening center that donates all its plants to charities. Sounds about right.

“Fair!” Genesis shouts suddenly enough it makes him jump. “Aren’t you supposed to introduce your partner?”

Cloud is still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room where Zack left him, glancing everywhere but at Genesis, Angeal, or Sephiroth. He kind of feels bad, Cloud idolizes them and now he’s just in Angeal’s kitchen. He can’t really blame Cloud for being a little awkward right now. 

“Dude,” Zack looks at Genesis—casually leaning against the dining room table like it’s a lounge spot and not a dining place. “You’ve met him before? I know it was kind of short. But you definitely met him before and also he one hundred percent knows who you all are.”

“I was under the impression you two were only ‘bestest bros’ at the time,” Genesis makes quotation marks in the air. “Not romantic partners. The context changes things.”

“Hey, don’t downplay the importance of bestest bros,” Zack says, in defense of his friendship with Cloud. Who seems to shrink into himself even more when Genesis looks at him. “Friendship is just as important as romance, you know.”

Genesis looks at Cloud, his expression blank. “Are you alright with him demeaning your relationship by referring to it as ‘bestest bros,’ if not, I will deal with him.”

Is that a threat? It’s really hard to know with this guy sometimes. 

“Dude?” Zack says, holding his hands up in question. 

Cloud can’t even look at Genesis and he’s just standing awkwardly between the long couch and the dining table. Maybe it’s because he isn’t sure what to do with the whole situation and having to pretend they’re dating, or maybe it’s because he’s standing in the middle of a First Class’s apartment. 

Probably both.

Sure, Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth seem imposing and intimidating at first but now that he knows them, they’re just kind of weird people who ended up with mako treatments. Other than maybe Sephiroth, sometimes. From the little bit he’s been able to figure out, that Hojo guy basically did some experiments and Sephiroth was born a SOLDIER or something. 

Sounds kind of ethically questionable, honestly. But Sephiroth doesn’t seem to know much more about it either, so he doesn’t talk about it. 

“All I am saying is that many, if not all, would find their romantic relationship being called ‘bestest bros’ demeaning.” 

“What are you? The defender of romantic relationships or something?” Zack asks as he walks over to Cloud and throws an arm around him. Probably better not to abandon him to whatever Genesis wants to talk about, like Loveless or materia or whatever else he talks about when he’s not making fun of people.

Genesis leans back against the table, looking way too thoughtful right now. “It could be a good title, alongside Commander Rhapsodos.”

“I would say the defender of Loveless,” Sephiroth says, suddenly. 

Everyone looks at him, considering he hasn’t said anything the whole time so far. 

Then Zack laughs, because he’s not leaving one of his buds hanging. Zack gives him a thumbs up. “Nice one!” 

Sephiroth looks kind of pleased about that.

“You think I would be offended by my own passion for poetry and literature? Even if you uncultured individuals don’t understand Loveless’s merit, I will continue to be the only one here who gives a hell about literature.” 

And then, Genesis suddenly turns his head to look at Cloud.

Oh no. Zack already knows where this is going. 

He should’ve prepared Cloud for this. Did he prepare Cloud for this? No, he didn’t. Because he didn’t think Genesis would immediately jump into the Loveless rant this early. Plus he was too busy explaining how they even ended up in this situation in the first place to consider the Loveless issue. 

“So, have you ever read the literary masterpiece and infinite mystery, Loveless?” 

Cloud blinks and glances at Zack for help. And he can’t help here. Not even Angeal can’t do much about the Loveless rant. “Uh, I don’t know. I haven’t read it.”

Zack watches as the horrified expression that starts to take over Genesis’s face, Cloud quickly adds. “Yet?”

“You’ve never…” The face Genesis makes is appalled, shocked, and disappointed all at the same time. “At least tell me you have seen a production of the play, even the terrible ones that make me want to throttle the directors?”

“No?”

Genesis’s head whips to the side. “Zackary Fair, where is my copy of Loveless?”

Zack freezes where he was about to grab a slice of bread from the plate Angeal had set out. “Uhh, what? What Loveless copy? No idea what you’re talking about.”

Genesis narrows his eyes. That’s not good. “The Loveless copy I lent to you, if I recall correctly, around three years ago before your promotion. Fifth edition, hardback. Bound in green leather.”

Right. 

He lost it. No idea where it is. 

It definitely, one hundred percent got lost when he moved apartments up to the First Class floor of Shinra HQ. He knows he hasn’t seen it since unpacking, with Angeal’s help and when Sephiroth was briefly free to carry some boxes. Even Cloud helped him unpack. Nobody saw it. 

Zack turns away so Genesis can’t see his face and he shoves a whole slice of bread in his mouth. His voice is super distorted from all the food. “Uh, I dunno.”

“What are you even saying?” Genesis huffs out. “Don’t speak with food in your mouth, you Gongangian ruffian.”

Leave Gongaga out of this!

“Genesis,” Angeal says, as he opens up the oven door. “Can you help me with this real quick?”

“I am trying to educate the youth on the importance of Loveless, dear.”

“You’re really not that much older than us, you know.” Zack says, reaching for another piece of bread. This is some really good bread. When did Angeal even have time to make this? “You’re literally only two years older than me.”

Sometimes he still finds it hard to believe that Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth are so close in age to him. Sometimes it feels like they’ve already lived entire lives and stuff before him. Maybe it’s because of all the missions and also being deployed in Wutai for years. 

“Zack,” Angeal says, not even looking at him. “Stay out of the bread. That’s for dinner. Genesis, I’m sure you will explain the importance of Loveless during dinner, but can you help me with this first?”

“One moment and I will. As I was saying, Loveless is—”

And then Sephiroth is standing up and walking into the kitchen to help Angeal with the food. 

“I was going to do that!” Genesis says, now suddenly upset. He pushes off the table and springs into the kitchen. “He asked for my help, you thief.”

“You weren’t helping,” Sephiroth says, balancing oven mitts and a white dish with a full baked chicken in his hands. His fan club would lose their minds seeing General Sephiroth with floral print oven mitts on and helping put out dinner. 

“No, I can do it! Seph, let me do it.”

Zack leans over to Cloud. “They’re always like this. Not as cool as I thought at first.”

“Watch yourself, Fair!” And then Genesis tries to grab the pan the chicken is in and shouts in a panic. “Why is it hot!”

“It just came out of the oven!” Angeal shouts, sounding so ready to give up. “That’s why he’s wearing oven mitts. Seph, can you please put that on the table? I swear, when you two stop bickering will be the day the planet sees peace.”

Zack snorts. And Genesis shoots him a look over his shoulder, while rubbing his hands. Sephiroth puts the chicken on the table with the oven mitts. 

“I was helping.” Genesis huffs and then adjusts his uniform jacket like nothing happened. “Say nothing of that to anyone outside of this room or you will wake up to an Ifrit chasing you and that is not an idle threat.”

“Okay, the food’s ready,” Angeal says, putting a giant serving bowl on the table. Then he sets another loaf of sliced bread on the table. “I see some of the bread is gone.”

Zack sits down at the table. “This looks great!”

Angeal’s dining room table isn’t a Shinra-issued one, surprisingly. He thinks that’s more out of necessity. But it’s definitely an old, used one that he bought somewhere. It’s cracked down the entire middle and Angeal used wood glue to keep it together. He’s pretty sure that it’s been glued back together at least five times over the years. 

Angeal and Genesis sit on one long side, Sephiroth sits at the end that’s up against the wall. Which is something he’s noticed. Sephiroth always sits with his back facing walls and where he can see the entire room. Maybe it’s a SOLDIER training thing. Or maybe it’s just a Sephiroth thing.

Zack and Cloud sit down on the opposite side from Angeal and Genesis.

Nobody says anything for a long moment. And Zack is desperately trying to think of anything to say because it’s too quiet. Nothing related to dating, therapy, or the SCS program. 

Or maybe it’ll be suspicious that he isn’t saying anything about it? Should he talk about it?

But he and Cloud don’t have a solidified plan yet. What if they say something that contradicts each other?

It’s fine. It’s cool. He’s got this. He’s a SOLDIER. He’s been in way more life threatening situations than this before. This is one of the least threatening ones.

Instead he decides to start eating because that’s a normal thing for him to do.

“So,” Genesis drags out that one word for longer than necessary, breaking the silence finally. He has an arm over the back of Angeal’s chair and he’s leaning back. “Why are you two attending couples therapy? I figured it had nothing to do with saving the marriage since that one has no assets and you’re certainly not married.”

“Genesis,” Angeal hisses, sending him a look.

“Hey, my Gongaga postcards are assets,” Zack says around a mouthful of potatoes, onion, rice, and chicken. 

“Are they your only assets? What about savings? Emergency fund? Stocks?”

He pauses where he was about to eat a spoonful of rice. “What’re stocks?”

More silence. 

Zack looks at Angeal for an answer. “Is that something I should know about? Like taxes?”

“Yes, you should know about taxes. Goddess help your small brain, Fair,” Genesis says, then starts rubbing his forehead like he has a headache. Zack would bet money that he doesn’t actually have a headache. It’s like everything he does is to add dramatic effect to a normal action.

Zack looks over to Cloud, who still hasn’t touched his food. “You know about stocks?”

“No?”

“Do they not educate children anymore?” Genesis says, waving around his butter knife, not a real knife thankfully. “Are they not utilizing our taxes?”

“Backwater town buddies!” Zack says, proudly as he throws an arm around Cloud and squishes him into a side hug. “Don’t think stocks are a thing in Gongaga, only soup stocks.”

“You are aware of the existence of the stock market, correct?” Genesis prompts like Zack should know this off the top of his head.

“There’s a place that sells exclusively soup stocks in Midgar? Is that where Angeal gets his soup bases?”

Genesis’s eye twitches. 

“I believe Genesis is referring to financial stocks,” Sephiroth says, as he slices a chicken wing with his butter knife. “Not soup stocks.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Zack nods like he knows what that means.

“I always made my own soup stocks.” Angeal says, proudly.

“You evaded my question, you slippery little liar,” Genesis says, reaching across the table and poking Zack with the butt of his butter knife. 

“Huh? What question? I told you, I don’t know what financial stocks are—”

“Not that.” Genesis rolls his eyes. “About couples therapy.”

Oh no. 

They didn’t think of a reason why they’re ‘attending’ couples therapy. There wasn’t enough time and the worst thing would be if they say opposite things or things that don’t make sense. 

Please, Goddess or whoever is a higher power somewhere on this planet, let him make it through this dinner. Otherwise, all of this would be for nothing. 

Genesis stares at him, intently waiting for an answer. 

“As Angeal says—boundaries,” Sephiroth says, incredibly deadpan. “I think that might be an invasion of privacy to ask about therapy.”

“So, Angeal’s stray can lie to us for—who knows how long—and that’s fine but I cannot ask about their couples therapy?”

“I think your penchant for gossip may be overshadowing boundaries.” Sephiroth says simply and pretends not to notice the dirty look Genesis shoots him. 

Zack exchanges a look with Cloud. And he’s pretty sure Cloud’s thinking the same thing he is. 

They need to make a full backstory as soon as possible. 

Can he maybe text it to Cloud?

No. That’d look suspicious. Plus, he knows Genesis would just snatch his PHS and read it.

“I have no such penchant for gossip. You’re making up lies, Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth raises an eyebrow that says a whole lot and the looks he exchanges with Genesis seem like a whole silent conversation. Which makes sense, considering they have been dating for almost five years and known each other for longer. Zack shoots Cloud a look and he’s trying not to laugh. 

Someone kicks him under the table. “Don’t you dare laugh at me, Fair. I know where you live.”

“Genesis, please no threatening Zack at the dinner table. We have a guest,” Angeal says, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. He says to Cloud, “I’m sorry about them, I promise they’re not always like bickering children.”

Genesis makes an offended sound. “I am hardly a child—”

“I hope the sudden dinner plans didn’t mess up your evening,” Angeal says to Cloud, ignoring whatever Genesis had been about to say. 

And honestly? Zack silently thanks the planet and all other higher powers for Angeal being the best. The only normal person here. Thank Gaia and double thank Angeal.

And Zack is totally trying to be the most normal and not seem suspicious at all right now. 

Cloud fiddles with his silverware and he still can’t look any of them in the eyes except for Zack. “Uhm, no, sir. My patrol got cancelled tonight.”

“You’re off duty,” Angeal says, “Also this is a social dinner, we’re not commanding officers here.”

Cloud looks a little panicked at that. “Right, um, will do.”

Through a mouthful of potato, Zack asks. “Why’d that get cancelled anyway?”

Cloud shrugs. “Something about scheduling problems. They weren’t really specific.”

“I mean, I’m not complaining. Now I get to hang out with my best bro!”

Genesis makes a disgusted sound and puts his silverware down with a little too much force. “Please, for the Goddess’s sake, use any other term of endearment than variations of bro, bud, or man. That is your partner, not your drinking buddy.”

Crap. He keeps forgetting they’re supposed to be pretending to date. 

How is he supposed to act like they’re dating?

Be normal. Be cool. Be chill. Totally not just still best friends or anything.

Zack laughs awkwardly. “Uh, I call everyone that though.”

“Do you call your girlfriend ‘bro?” Genesis asks, leaning forward across the table with conviction. 

“No?” He would never call Aerith bro, that just seems wrong. Aerith’s his girlfriend. 

A fork is pointed at him, in a slightly threatening manner. “My point exactly. Someone needs to inform you about romantic relationships apparently. I cannot believe you call him ‘bro,’ the insult.” He sighs, dramatically. 

At the word romantic, Cloud chokes on a bite of rice and chicken. Zack whacks his back. “You good, Cloudy?”

“Yeah.” Cloud wheezes out and even though he still sounds like he’s half-choking on the food, he says, “I’m great.”

Maybe he should have prayed to the planet for Cloud to make it through this dinner in one piece. Is it too late to do that?

Zack pats his shoulder again. “Okay, bro.”

Dang it. He has got to stop saying that. 

But it’s like cutting out half of his vocabulary!

Genesis stares at Cloud with a serious and intense look. “I may not know you, but I know that anyone deserves better than being called bro by the person they are in a romantic relationship with. My suggestion is to leave him.”

“Whoa man!” Zack says, waving his hands around to get his attention. “Rude!”

Sure, they’re not actually dating, but Genesis doesn’t know that. What if they were dating? That would be insanely rude!

“Genesis,” Angeal says his name like he’s sighing. “You can’t just tell him to break up with Zack.”

“I am giving valuable life advice to someone who clearly needs it, if he is willingly dating your stray.” Genesis says without breaking eye contact with Cloud. “I would be surprised if this isn’t the root cause of their relationship problems in therapy.”

“ Genesis .” Angeal actually slaps a hand over his own face, sighing deeply. 

Wow. 

He has got to change up this conversation and he needs Genesis to focus on literally anything else. He’s great at talking to people. Normally. Maybe he’s off his game. Then again, he’s never fake dated someone and then had to have dinner with his mentor and his mentor’s boyfriends. 

What is his life even?  Maybe he should write a sit-com or something. 

Yeah. Shinra would have a heyday with that one. There’s a Shinra-sponsored sit-com isn’t there? He’s pretty sure he saw Sephiroth watching it once and asking Angeal to explain a lot of the jokes. 

He takes another bite. And then he jumps up! 

“I forgot the chili sauce!” He runs into the kitchen and throws open the fridge. Normally, Angeal keeps an extra bottle of chili sauce and hot sauce on hand for Zack. there! He grabs it from the shelf and runs back to the dining table. He almost trips as he falls back into his chair. 

“Man, I love this stuff.” He pours the chili sauce all over his place and food.

And then he holds out the bottle to Cloud. “Want some?”

Cloud scrunches up his face and physically leans away from it. “Zack, you’ve seen me try to eat the cheesy fries at Sal’s. Are you trying to kill me?”

Sure, Cloud started coughing so hard his entire face turned red and he had to ask for milk from behind the counter of the diner. But that’s just because he ate one of the chunks of chilis left in the spicy cheese sauce, it just had a lot of seeds!

“I mean, you only needed two cups of milk.”

“Zack,” Cloud looks at the glass bottle of chili sauce. “That’s practically glowing nuclear red. I’m not poisoning myself with that.”

“Huh?” He lifts up the bottle and it’s not glowing. It’s a pretty bright red though. “It’s not like those places where you have to sign a waiver to eat it because it’s so spicy. This just adds a nice zest.”

“A nice zest?” Cloud echoes. 

Then Zack laughs and starts eating again. “Whatever you say, Spike. I guess Nibelheim and Gongaga have different spice levels.”

The chili really adds something to the food. Everyone else needs to work on their spice tolerance. Angeal tried it once and coughed so hard that Genesis thought he had a lung infection. Genesis still refuses to touch it. Sephiroth tried it and, well, the poor guy was hunched over the sink coughing and crying for a solid twenty minutes. That was a major reason he finds it hard to find Sephiroth intimidating anymore.

“How did we not realize they were already dating?” Genesis suddenly asks, looking at Angeal and Sephiroth. 

He lowers his fork and has to physically stop himself from instinctually saying, What are you talking about? We’re not dating. It has happened a couple of times now. Some of Zack’s SOLDIER friends saw them hanging out and asked if they were dating and Zack had to correct them. 

Sure, they hang out all the time and eat almost all their free meals together. Sure, Cloud crashes at his apartment a lot, but that’s because they’ll be talking for a long time or playing games and then it’s too late for him to head back. And sure, he talks about Cloud a lot, but he’s Zack’s best friend! Of course he’s going to talk about Cloud. 

“They were keeping it private,” Sephiroth says, like this should be obvious. “Understandably, since Shinra is filled with gossips apparently.”

Genesis narrows his eyes at Sephiroth. And then he suddenly stabs a potato chunk off Sephiroth’s plate and eats it like it’s a comeback to being called a gossip. Sephiroth doesn’t even blink and it’s pretty normal during dinners with everyone.

Thank you, Sephiroth. 

Zack owes him big time after today. And he pulls out his PHS to send a quick text, not that he thinks Sephiroth is going to respond right now when Genesis keeps stealing his potatoes. 

Zack: Hey man thanks for covering for me.

Zack: Also why are you even helping me? Don’t you feel guilty for lying to Angeal and Genesis?

Genesis stabs Sephiroth’s last potato. “This is for implying I am a gossip. How dare you?” 

“I never said you were, you inferred that,” Sephiroth says as he opens his PHS and glances at it quickly.

“Oh, the implication was clear alright. Unbelievable. Angeal, can you believe this?”

Sephiroth: I still stand by what I said earlier. This is a bad idea. 

Zack: Then why are you helping me??

Angeal sighs. “One dinner. Please.”

“I didn’t start calling Sephiroth names and slighting his character. Thank you very much.”

Sephiroth: I refuse to let Genesis win the bet.

Zack: Seriously??? That’s why??

Sephiroth: His ego is large enough. I don’t want to be dragged to at least thirty-three productions of Loveless for the next three years if his budgeting estimates are to be believed.

Sephiroth: My sanity can only take so much. 

Sephiroth: I also wouldn’t mind 2,500 gil worth of books.

“So,” Angeal suddenly tries to change the topic before Genesis starts to demand a sparring match as ‘justice’ or something. “What’s Nibelheim like?”

Zack: 33? For real?

Sephiroth: You see my dilemma.

“Uh? Cold?”

Zack: Yeah man that’s fair

Sephiroth: While Genesis may be one of the most important people in my life, Loveless is not.

Zack can’t help but to snort out loud at that. Of course, Genesis notices this and is immediately suspicious.

Genesis narrows his eyes, filled with deep suspicion. “Who are you texting?”

Zack blinks. “Oh, uh, Kunsel? He says hi, by the way.”

Genesis looks to Sephiroth. “Who are you texting?”

Sephiroth doesn’t stop texting. “I’m sending an email. I am letting Marshal Calbell know that I will not be providing SOLDIER data sets to him at nine at night.”

“Tell him to keep his nose out of SOLDIER business.” The (rightful) suspicion doesn't leave Genesis's face, but he doesn’t say anything else. 

Like he normally does whenever they grab dinner somewhere that’s not Zack’s apartment, he throws an arm over the back of Cloud’s chair. “You should totally tell them about how the forests in Nibelheim are haunted.”

Cloud glances sideways at him. “It’s not haunted. It’s just like that.”

“Dude, Nibelheim sounds super haunted.”

“I mean, according to history books, it’s located in one of the oldest mountain ranges on the planet.” Cloud shrugs. “Of course there’s going to be unexplainable things. It’s not that unusual.”

Zack makes a face. “Sure, Spike. Your town has rules about not wandering in the forest at night because of ‘things’ in there. That’s totally haunted.”

“It’s just like that.”

“Gongaga forests aren't like that.”

“Isn’t your tragically named hometown located in the tropical region?” Genesis asks. 

“Gongaga isn’t tragically named. There’s a lot of history and mythology behind it.” Zack says, defensively. “And why does its tropicalness have to do with it not being haunted?”

“The tropical region of the planet is newer, so it’s less likely to be haunted.” Genesis says this like he should have already known this. “Do pay attention in class.”

Is that something they covered in class?

“I stand by Nibelheim being haunted.” Zack says, full of conviction. “After everything Cloudy’s told me, I’m fully convinced the whole place is being haunted by evil entities or something.”

“Based on the local folklore, it’s always been like that,” Cloud says this like it’s totally normal. 

“You are aware that makes it even worse?” Zack says with feeling. “Your hometown is so haunted. From, like, the beginning of time.”

“Nibelheim has a mako reactor present, doesn’t it?” Sephiroth very randomly asks. 

Cloud blinks and then nods. “Yeah.”

“Just like Gongaga!” Zack says, full of pride of his hometown. “Backwater buddies!”

“I have heard reports that the Nibelheim area has a higher concentration of monsters than almost anywhere else,” Sephiroth says, calmly.

“Is that from the reactor?” Zack furrows his brows. “Well, probably not cause Gongaga had like no monsters.”

“I told you,” Cloud says, picking up another slice of bread. “It’s because of Nibelheim. That’s just how it is. Even before the rector was built there were a lot of stories about monsters, at least that’s what my mom says.”

“I think someone should research Nibelheim,” Zack says, chewing on some rice. “For science. Sounds like a weird place.”

“I guess.” 

“So, how did you two start dating?” Genesis suddenly asks. “I want to know how long this deceit has been ongoing from the stray.”

“Uh,” Zack drags out the word but he doesn’t get to finish his thought because Angeal says, “Why don’t we leave them alone for the night, Genesis?”

He huffs. “Fine. Though, I would like answers at some point.”

Can he cut dinner short? That might be their only saving grace because each passing minute Cloud looks more and more stressed. 

“You don’t need answers—” Angeal starts saying and they’re too busy talking that Zack opens his PHS and types out a message to Cloud but doesn’t send it. 

He nudges Cloud’s leg and shows him the PHS screen, hidden from Angeal and Genesis’s view. 

Zack: Here’s the plan. Pretend like you got an email reassigning you to a patrol in the morning cause yours got cancelled tonight and we’ve got to go. We can make a new plan then. I’m going to delete this cause genesis sometimes steals my PHS. 

Cloud reads it quickly and nods just a little bit. 

Zack backspaces the message.

Plan: Escape The Most Awkward Dinner is a go!

“All I am saying is that your stray puppy is a liar.”

“I don’t recall him ever lying,” Sephiroth says. 

“Not actively.” Genesis rolls his eyes. “But by omission he has been lying.”

Cloud suddenly takes out his PHS and looks at him. And, he seems annoyed. Okay, wow. Cloud can act apparently. Heck yeah, Spike! He’s their savior from this dinner!

“You good, Cloudy?” Zack asks, leaning in closer to look at his PHS. “It’s not the scam caller who keeps trying to get you to sign up for the dance classes? They’ve got to leave you alone.”

“No,” Cloud says, showing him the screen. “Apparently because my patrol got cancelled tonight I got rescheduled for tomorrow morning.”

Maybe Cloud’s the one who should think about a profession on the stage. Why was that so believable?

“Ugh,” Zack says, pretending to make a face. “Not early, right?”

“Five.” And he sounds legitimately like he’s miserable about this. 

“Aw man,” Please, powers that be, let him sound believable. “That means you’re gonna have to sleep early. I thought we were gonna play Chocobo Racers tonight or like, watch a movie.”

“Sorry. I’ll probably have to sleep soon.” Cloud cringes like he’s actually really sorry. 

Someone seriously needs to give him an award for being the best partner in crime. This is what bestest bros means. The true definition of a ride or die. 

“If I have to watch the torture scene of you asking for him to stay longer, I will summon Ifrit and other creatures to end it.” Genesis says, holding up a hand. “Just leave now so I don’t have to watch you act like a pathetic soap opera lead, please.”

“Okay, wow, rude. I wasn’t going to—” Zack starts to say in defense of himself, but then it’s honestly the perfect out. “Hey, we can still watch a movie then!”

Genesis makes a disgusted noise and has to turn away. “I cannot witness this any longer.”

“Stop being a hater, man.”

But, hey! It gets them out of the rest of dinner! Angeal even gives them both extra leftovers!

He and Cloud go back to his apartment across the hall. Thank Gaia. 

It’s a pretty normal routine for them by now. Whenever their schedules line up, Cloud normally hangs out in Zack’s apartment. 

Unlike Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth he only has one couch since he doesn’t have multiple partners and all. Just like Angeal’s apartment, it opens up directly into the living room and the kitchen is slightly to the right in a little alcove area. 

The couch is right in front of the door and in front of his TV. 

It’s kind of a mess right now, but Cloud doesn’t seem to mind. Or maybe he’s just used to it by now.

Zack kicks off his shoes, tossing them onto the shoe rack Angeal told him to buy after he tracked mud all over his apartment as a Third Class. “Dude, I can’t believe we somehow made it through that. I thought Genesis was going to figure it out!”

Cloud puts his shoes on the shoe rack as well. “I thought I was going to die. I just lied to my commanding officers. You’re friends with them at least!”

Zack walks into his kitchen, stepping over the growing jacket pile by the bar top table that’s built into the apartment. “They wouldn't kill you! You’re just helping out a bro.”

Cloud walks over to the couch, sitting down on the same spot he always does. And he violently grabs a pillow and slams it against his face and then screams. 

“Spike?”

Cloud screams three more times, muffled by the pillow slightly. And then he lowers the gray pillow and takes a deep breath. “I’m good.”

“Uh, you sure? You wanna talk about it?”

“A lot happened today,” Cloud says, rubbing a hand over his face and Zack could actually believe he has a headache and not Genesis. 

“Yeah.” He shoves the leftovers into his fridge. He’s gotta clean that out at some point. But that’s a later, future Zack problem. The front of the silver metallic fridge is covered in yellow sticky notes. It’s supposed to help him remember things, but it’s kind of hard still. 

Didn’t help him remember the SCS sign up. 

“Okay, okay, we gotta regroup here, Spike.” Zack says, walking into the center of the room. “We need a plan.”

He can’t avoid Genesis’s questions forever.

Zack paces from one end of his apartment to the other. He has to walk around his random furniture and stuff he needs to put away. But he really, really needs to move around to think right now. “But like, what do I even do if they realize it’s all pretend?”

Zack sighs again. “Man, what do we do?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking me,” Cloud mutters out, where he’s sitting on one end of the couch, arms wrapped around himself. “I completely panicked when Commander Rhaspodos asked if it was a prank. There’s no way this is going to last for ten months.”

“Hey, I thought it was convincing,” He says, stepping over a pile of old SOLDIER magazines that he really needs to organize and do something with. Some Shinra admin gave them to him when he was walking by as she was about to toss them out. Some of those could be vintage. 

He walks over it and then turns back to look at the magazines because he sort of forgot he had those. “Do you think they’re gonna figure it out?”

These are some cool magazines. He should really get around to reading them all.

“Zack,” Cloud says, making a face. “This whole thing is already getting way too complicated and we don’t even have a cover story yet. I don’t know how we can keep it up for ten months. Which is insane by the way.”

“It’s okay, Cloudy!” Zack says, trying to be positive and reassuring. “I’ll come up with a plan. We can say we just started dating—”

Cloud shakes his head, picking at non-existent lint on his pants. “Then why are we supposedly doing couples therapy? That wouldn’t make sense if we just started dating.”

He stops pacing. “Oh, yeah. Excellent point.” He stops to try and think. Why would they be in couples therapy if they just started dating? “Oh, got it! We started dating on your birthday! In August!”

Cloud blinks, then furrows his brows. “Why then?”

Zack shrugs. “You know how we went out to that place for your birthday and all. I mean it could kinda be like a date, totally makes sense, right?”

Cloud looks at him, blinks a couple times then looks back at the TV that they haven’t been paying attention to. “Yeah, makes sense.”

“Cool!” Zack says, mentally high-fiving himself for coming up with a plan. “This is kinda fun, you know. Like being an undercover operative.” He pretends to fight imaginary enemies. “If the mission was to make sure Angeal doesn’t end me.”

“I guess?” Cloud is back to picking at non-existent lint. Probably overthinking about everything. 

Zack hops over the couch to land on the cushion beside Cloud, jostling him. “So, anyways, wanna play Chocobo Racers? Maybe I’ll even let you win this time since you’re so awesome for helping me out.”

He knocks his shoulder against Cloud as he reaches for the controllers. 

Then there’s loud, insistent knocking on the door. 

Zack freezes and glances towards it. He wasn’t expecting anyone? Maybe it’s Kunsel?

“Fair,” Genesis’s voice says loudly and demandingly through the door.

He makes a face. Why is he here? He gets off the couch and opens the door. Even though they all have access to each other’s apartments in case of emergencies or coming over to visit. Also, they were just over at Angeal’s place.

“Is everything okay, man?” 

Genesis pushes his way past Zack, very rudely. “I want you to stop flitting around the truth and tell me everything.”

Oh Gaia. Zack glances at Cloud who looks like he’s trying to become one with the couch right now. “You gotta chill—”

“Well,” Genesis says, waving a hand. “I wasn’t the one keeping a whole relationship secret.”

“I—” Zack can’t even say anything to that. So he rubs the back of his head.

“Angeal was texting in the groupchat,” Genesis holds up his PHS. “He seemed concerned you hadn’t said anything sooner. You’ve upset Angeal, puppy.”

“No!” Zack says, trying to grab the PHS. “I didn’t mean to! Also you guys have a groupchat?”

Genesis rolls his eyes. “The three of us are dating, Fair. Of course we have a groupchat.”

“Wait, what did Angeal say?” He tried really hard to make sure Angeal wasn’t upset. And now Angeal’s upset?

Genesis looks annoyingly pleased with himself. “I will say nothing unless you tell me how you and your chocobo started dating.”

Cloud’s very indignant voice says quietly from the couch. “I’m not a chocobo.”

“The fact you knew I was talking about you would imply that the descriptor was accurate.” Genesis grins wryly at Zack. “Now, Fair, explain your traitorous deceit.”

Zack looks around his apartment and its usual messiness. “Uh, well, dude. It wasn’t intentional to make anyone upset—”

Genesis makes a face, huffing as he walks away from the entrance and steps over a pile of jackets that has slowly grown in size over the past two weeks. “For the love of the Goddess, do not call me dude. We have spoken many times about this. I am not your dude.”

“Sorry, bro.”

Zack swears that Genesis’s eye that’s not mostly hidden from his hair twitches. “You could at least attempt to straighten up your living space.” Genesis pokes a teetering pile of DVDs with a concerned look that he’s fairly sure is actually disgust. One of the older admins gave Zack his whole movie collection when he mentioned he liked watching movies. He still hadn’t put them all away. “This is a safety hazard, truly.”

Zack grabs some of the DVDs and starts shoving them into a cabinet underneath his TV. “But I swear it wasn’t to upset you guys! We just started dating in August after Cloud’s birthday—”

Genesis holds a hand up, his eyes narrow and then his mouth drops. “August? You didn’t tell anyone for eleven months? Oh Goddess, Angeal is never going to recover from this. Eleven months, Fair?”

“Wait, what—”

Genesis is already whipping open his PHS. “You’ve done it now, puppy.”

Zack dives for the PHS but Genesis easily jumps backwards to avoid him without pausing his rapid typing. Zack tries again and he jumps over the jacket pike. “No! At least let me tell him in person!”

Why did he do that? What made him think that not telling about his ‘relationship’ for eleven months was a good idea? He could’ve brainstormed some more or something! Cloud’s right, why does he keep digging himself into a bigger and bigger hole?

Genesis jumps out of the way when Zack tries to snatch the PHS one more time. “Do you want to see his disappointed and hurt expression in person?” 

Zack stops dead in his tracks, hand still stretched out. “I don’t know!”

Genesis shakes his head, still typing. “Eleven months. Unbelievable.”

Zack falls onto the couch beside Cloud, splayed out. “This is terrible. I didn’t think—”

“Clearly.” Genesis mutters.

Cloud picks at the lint on his shirt, not looking at him as he quietly says. “I mean, you were the one who said nothing.”

Now, Genesis’s attention is abruptly ripped away from the PHS. “What? I thought you said you didn’t say anything because your chocobo was too shy to tell anyone.”

Zack’s eyes dart between Cloud and then Genesis. He did say that, didn’t he? 

“Uh,” He drags the sound out, trying to think of an answer. That one’s on him for not telling Cloud everything he told the Firsts at dinner last night. Dang it, how did he forget that? “Well, you know.”

He doesn't sound very convincing, even to himself.

Genesis shakes his head, one hand on his hip while he gestures at Zack with his PHS. “Truly, unbelievable. I cannot believe you would pin the blame on your lover—”

Cloud smacks his hands over his face at the word lover in a total panic but Genesis keeps talking. “Have you learned nothing of honor from Angeal? What is the point of him being your mentor if his lessons never actually stick in your brain?”

He glances around his apartment and he can’t think of anything, not with Cloud panicking beside him and Genesis going off about something about honor, respecting Angeal, and he’s pretty sure something about Loveless too. 

He’s really made a mess. 

“And you blame it all on your partner?” Genesis asks, hopefully done with whatever rant he felt the need to say. “Shame on you, Fair. I am seeing why you need to go to couples therapy so earlier on in the relationship.”

Zack tackles Cloud into a hug, crushing him against the sidearm of the couch. “I didn’t mean to blame you, Cloudy! I promise!”

Cloud tries to squirm away from the hug, like when cats don’t want to be held. Which is kind of funny cause he looks like a chocobo but he’s acting like a cat. “Zack, please, you’re squishing me.”

Zack squeezes him tighter and Cloud tries wiggling away but it doesn’t work. “Zack, let go.”

“No can do!” And Zack puts all of his weight on Cloud who’s still trying to get away. “Wow, this is really comfy.”

He rests his chin on top of Cloud’s head. “Kinda how I imagine it’d be to nap on a real chocobo.”

“Zack.” Cloud wheezes. “You’re going to crush me. And also, I’m not a chocobo.”

He hears a click and just as he looks up, he sees Genesis taking a photo with his PHS. “Dude! Did you just take a photo of us?”

“Do not dude me,” Genesis says, a hand on his hip as he types something on his keyboard. “And, indeed I did. Seph and Angeal need to see this nonsense. I cannot believe I came all the way here to learn how this—” He gestures at Zack and Cloud. “Became a thing. Little did I know.”

Nonsense? What nonsense?

Genesis sighs, still looking at his PHS screen. “I can’t believe you somehow managed to keep this secret from all of us. All of Shinra. For eleven months. I fear I must rethink my entire understanding of you. However did you manage that?” 

A bit quieter, Genesis mutters. “I can’t believe I’m going to lose the betting pot. The entire thing.” And then louder, he announces. “Over five thousand gil! Lost!”

Zack looks over at him, still crushing Cloud in a hug. “That’s so much gil! Why?”

“Are you actually as intelligent as a puppy?” Genesis thwacks the top of Zack’s head with a Loveless copy—when and where did he get that? Does he just carry a copy of that around in his coat or something?

Maybe he has a secret pocket specifically for it. He’s jolted out of his thoughts when Genesis keeps talking. 

“The way you act around your chocobo is obvious! We simply didn’t think you were already dating, because you are deceitful. But at least it explains why you’ve acted the way you have.”

Zack lets go of Cloud finally, who lightly punches his arm. Zack turns to look at Genesis. “Dude, what are you even talking about?”

Genesis rolls his eyes. “Sure you don’t. The constant talking about him to the point I sometimes wished for earplugs. The way you get the stupidest smile when you’re talking about him. Please, Fair, it was obvious. You have a PHS folder of photos you described as cute.”

“You what ?” Cloud says, his voice thin. His hair all over the place from where Zack messed it up, or at least, messed it up more than usual. He’s looking at Zack like he’s grown another head or a third arm. Even though it's really not that crazy to imagine him having photos of Cloud. They’re literally best friends?

Zack attempts to flatten Cloud’s hair with one hand and then shrugs. “What? When you’re napping you look like a curled up chocobo or like a grumpy cat. It’s cute!”

Cloud stares at him, with a similar expression to when they’re at a restaurant and someone tries to make small talk with him. Completely lost and a little scared. He tries to start a sentence but can’t think of anything. 

“Oh and one time,” Genesis continues, because he just loves torturing Zack. “You described him as, and I quote, your favorite and fluffiest chocobo in the whole world.”

Zack rubs the back of his head and shrugs again. “Yeah, cause it’s true.”

Even not fake dating and all, Cloud’s still his best friend. Of course he’s going to be one of Zack’s favorite people. Which seems simple enough to him, but Cloud seems to be questioning his existence beside him. He’s staring off into the random space of Zack’s apartment like he’s contemplating life.

Maybe this is all too much for him in less than twenty-four hours. Usually he socializes in much smaller bursts of time before recovering away from people.

“You’re stressing him out!” Zack yells at Genesis instead of addressing whatever dilemma Cloud’s going through at the moment. This is just too much attention on Cloud in one day, Zack’s learned that much since they’ve been best friends.

Genesis looks at him cryptically. “I’m only stating the obvious. I hope you know I was betting on it taking at least another year before the two of you started dating. Sephiroth was adamant it wouldn’t happen until he made SOLDIER.”

What?

He seriously can’t believe that even Sephiroth was in on this betting pool.

“And Angeal, bless his honorable soul, didn’t think it would happen until you came to your senses about polyamory being an option.” Genesis is partly pacing back and forth by the couch. “And the Turks kept changing their minds and their bets—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Zack waves his hands in the air and almost jumps off the couch. “The Turks were in on this bet?”

Sure, he knows a couple Turks and he’d probably say he was friends with some. But the Turks were in on this?

“And now,” Genesis says, with so much flair Zack almost feels the need to look around to see if someone had a camera out. “You’ve ruined it all. I was going to use five thousand gil to buy years worth of Loveless tickets, but now, I’m going to lose money. I was so sure I was going to win it too. Damn you, Fair.”

Zack scrambles up to half-stand on the couch. “I can’t believe you all had secret bets on that! I don’t even—”

“Can we go back to the part where there’s secret bets at all?” Cloud says, baffled.

“Oh, look,” Genesis entirely ignores him to look at his PHS. “Angeal responded. Oh, no. You’re in trouble now.”

“No!” Zack slides down the couch, face first in the cushions. He tried so hard to make sure Angeal wouldn’t be upset! This whole thing was because he didn’t want to upset Angeal. And he didn’t have to see the Disappointed Angeal Look ™.

“Ooh, he responded in all caps.” Genesis whistles. “Good luck explaining your way out of this one.”

Zack fully leaps over the back of the couch and makes a grab for Genesis’s red PHS. But Genesis quickly side steps Zack and looks to Cloud. “You’ve got to control this one. Restless and mindless, truly.”

“Hey! I’m not actually a puppy, you know!”

“Your actions say otherwise,” Genesis says, putting his red PHS away. “I have obtained my goal. Have fun explaining things to Angeal. I know he was dying to know earlier but was too nice to ask directly.” 

And he just leaves. Just like that. 

The door clicks closed.

Somewhere in his apartment he hears the familiar sound of his PHS buzzing twice. It’s probably Angeal.

Zack groans. “I’m so dead.”

Quietly, Cloud says, “This was your idea.”

Zack sighs. “I know, but I didn’t think it’d get this complicated. I can’t even explain why I didn’t say anything for eleven months.” He falls forward, over the back of the couch. He lays there for a second, his face pressed into the cushions.

Zack lets himself wallow for a couple seconds before moving to sit normally. 

“Maybe I could’ve planned a little bit better,” He says, propping his legs up on the Shinra issued coffee table. “But thanks, seriously man.”

Cloud doesn’t look at him, probably still internally panicking about everything. Which kind of makes him feel bad. He didn’t mean to stress out his best friend or anything. 

“Yeah, of course.”

Zack sighs and looks up at the ceiling of his apartment. “Gaia, we gotta make a plan for what we’re gonna tell the therapist.”

Now Cloud makes a face exactly like how Zack is feeling right now. “I still don’t know how we’re going to lie to a professional.”

“We are so doomed, man.”

Genesis: I just learned your wayward stray has secretly been dating his partner for eleven months. 

Angeal: WHAT.

Angeal: Eleven months?

Angeal: Why didn’t he say anything sooner?

Genesis: Since his boyfriend’s birthday in August apparently.

Angeal: I’m genuinely shocked. That’s almost an entire year. 

Angeal: Honestly, I didn’t think Zack could keep a secret for half that time.

Genesis: Ooh, he is in so much trouble.

Angeal: He’s not in trouble, Genesis. I’m confused is all.

Genesis: It’s more fun if I pretend like he’s in trouble.

Once Cloud had headed back to his bunk, Zack whips out his PHS and calls his most frequently called number.

“So,” Zack starts off like that, because there’s not an easier way to explain this whole situation. “Aerith, you’re not gonna believe what happened today.”

Zack could almost be proud of how diligently he tries to make a perfect cover story for the whole fake dating thing. He fills out a whole notebook with scribbled out ideas, shoots random ones to Cloud in between missions and training, and partly avoiding Angeal. Because the idea of trying to deal with that has been majorly stressing him out. 

Normally he doesn’t avoid things. He’s better at just dealing with things head on, but sometimes if he doesn’t know how to deal with something, it's easier to pretend it’s not a thing.

Which has caused a lot of problems before. And every single time he tells himself that he won’t do it again. Like the time he couldn’t figure out how to properly file taxes his first year in Midgar and decided it was easier to just not. Which obviously blew up in his face.

And thank Gaia for Angeal. Because otherwise he could’ve majorly messed up a whole lot of stuff. 

So he knows putting things off for a long time only makes it worse. But that still doesn’t make him deal with this impending problem. Honestly, it’s shocking he manages to evade Angeal for an entire week when they live on the same floor and a few apartments down from each other. And also that Angeal is actively looking for him and all. 

Between his normal missions, coming and going from his apartment at weird times to avoid Angeal, and also hanging out places he never does, he manages to go three whole days without seeing his mentor. 

Zack even went to the Shinra study rooms because he knew Angeal wouldn’t look for him there. Or least, nobody would ever try to find him there.

Not that Angeal didn’t try or anything. Because he has a whole bunch of messages on his PHS, even emails, and PHS calls from Angeal asking if he’s okay.

Yeah, he feels bad about avoiding Angeal, but he isn’t sure what else to do!

Kunsel and Cloud both told him to just talk to Angeal already. It’s sort of embarrassing. He hasn’t really told anyone how big of a problem his habit of avoiding problems is.

When he gets the beeping notification on his PHS first thing in the morning, he almost wants to toss his PHS across the room. He had just gotten to sleep. Gaia, he really wanted to get some more.

He squints down at the too bright screen. 

Reminder for your SCS appointment today at 8:00 AM. Please click here to confirm your appointment. Here to cancel your appointment. Or here to reschedule your appointment.

Zack groans and shoves his face into his pillows. Why did he sign up for an early morning appointment? He could’ve done it in the afternoon or something. His bed is really comfy. And he has a mission tonight. He squeezes the pillow tighter and sighs for a second.

But he drags himself out of bed to get ready. At least a shower helps him wake up and he looks at the useless little yellow sticky note on his mirror. 

SIGN UP FOR SCS or else Angeal’s gonna kill you!!!!

Very helpful Zack from five months ago.

He’s almost walking out of his door before he remembers that he didn’t even brush his hair. So he runs back to the bathroom, almost tripping over the pile of jackets on the way. 

“Okay, I’m moving those when I get back.”

It’s fine. All he has to do is go to the couples therapy session with his best friend, pretend like they’ve been dating for eleven months, and convince a therapist to believe them. Yeah, he’s got this. No big deal.

Please, Gaia, the Goddess, or someone, please let this therapy session go smoothly. 

He takes a deep breath and then he rushes to the door again. He’s walking out of his apartment the same time Angeal is reaching for his own apartment door across the hallway. Zack pauses and Angeal looks at him. 

Well. Too late now, Angeal definitely saw him.

Don’t panic. Everything is fine. No worries, it’s not like he’s been avoiding Angeal for almost a whole week or anything (he has).

“Hi!” He decides that acting normal is the best move here. So he waves enthusiastically like he normally would. Please, please, please seem normal. “You’re up early, man.”

Angeal always wakes up early. Zack knows this. Wow, today is not his best day. 

Angeal looks very unimpressed by this. Angeal wakes up at the same time every day unless a mission changes his schedule. And he’s already wearing his uniform and everything, even buster sword.

“You know I’m always up at this time.” Angeal says, turning to look at him.

“Right, right.” Zack nods like he hadn’t thought of that. “Well, I gotta go.”

And he tries to book it down the hallway to the elevator. He’s halfway there when his makeshift plan falls apart.

“Zack.”

And he freezes at the tone and slowly turns back. “Yeah?”

Angeal’s got his serious face on. Oh no. He’s so not prepared for a serious conversation right now. “Do you want to talk about why you’ve been avoiding me for almost a week? You’ve been ignoring my calls and texts.”

Oh man. Angeal never half does anything does he? Not even sugar coating it or anything. He really takes the whole ‘communication is important’ thing seriously, huh?

“I wasn’t! No avoiding here, man.” Zack tries once but Angeal’s expression doesn't change. 

Zack deflates and shuffles his way back over to Angeal’s apartment door. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I was just—I don’t know. Genesis said you were upset and I don’t know. I started worrying.”

Angeal sighs and puts a hand on Zack’s shoulder. “It’s Genesis. He always exaggerates, that’s how he is. I wouldn’t say I’m upset exactly. More confused. At least until you decided avoiding talking to me for an entire week was the best course of action. I thought we agreed not dealing with things never helps anything.”

It’s like being lectured by his dad or something, but a million times worse. At least when his dad used to lecture him, Zack just felt mildly guilty. When Angeal does it he feels like he’s failed at life or something. He doesn’t know how that makes sense but it does.

Zack looks down at his shoes. He’s not wearing his uniform yet, since he doesn't have to report for a few more hours because he has a night mission. “Yeah. I know. Kinda felt guilty about it so I avoided it more.”

“I’m not here to judge you. You’ve just been acting strange and I was concerned there might be something wrong if you didn’t want to talk about it. Usually you always talk things through.”

And now he feels even more guilty. Angeal’s been worried about him and he hates worrying Angeal. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell you.”

Please, Gaia, let him sound convincing. He doesn’t want to hurt Angeal’s feelings anymore.

“I was just kind of worried about Cloud and how other people would react I guess.” 

“Alright. I can understand to protect your significant other,” Angeal says, “Though, you can just tell me these things instead of worrying about it, you know that right?”

Zack laughs awkwardly and scratches at his arm. 

“I wanted to ask why you didn’t sign up for individual therapy. I thought it would help with the stress of being SOLDIER, you even agreed with me. Did you have second thoughts? Because if you think getting help for mental health is embarrassing—”

“No, no, no, nothing like that!” Zack shakes his head a bunch. “Oh, um well, I guess I just thought couples therapy was more urgent.”

Did he? That wasn’t part of his plan. 

Why did he say that?

He and Cloud haven’t even agreed on why they’re going to couples therapy yet!

But what else can he say? Oops, totally forgot to sign up when you told me so I made a whole elaborate story to avoid you being disappointed in me? Yeah, he’s not saying that.

Angeal furrows his brows. “Is everything alright? You hadn’t mentioned any issues.”

Zack scratches at his head, hoping he sounds convincing. “Oh well, you know, just didn't want Cloud to be worried everyone would be asking him a bunch of questions about why we were going. You know how people can be kind of crazy when it comes to SOLDIER and wanting the inside scoop or something.”

Angeal waits a moment before nodding. He would know. People hound him and Genesis about their relationship, not Sephiroth so much because he’s Sephiroth and most people think he’s intimidating. But still. Zack’s seen how people have been overwhelmed with the public and even other Shinra personnel’s questions. 

Which, maybe he should have considered in case it gets out that he and Cloud are ‘dating’ and all. Zack only just made First, but even still Shinra’s starting to push the media machine at him. Maybe he doesn’t have a fan club like Angeal, Genesis, or Sephiroth. But it could happen. 

Oh man. Maybe he should have thought that through more.

“Alright, as long as you know you can talk to me. And no more avoiding.” Angeal gives him a look. “Even Genesis commented that he had noticed how little you were around.”

“Right. Yeah.”

Genesis noticed? 

Angeal glances up the hallway. “Also, why are you awake so early?”

“Oh, got the couples therapy appointment.”

Angeal looks back to him. “Are you going to be late?”

“What? No, I got up early—” Zack looks down at his PHS and it’s now only ten minutes before the appointment. He just woke up!  “Crap! I thought I had a bunch of time! I gotta go!” 

And he runs to the elevator and then it’s too slow so he runs to the stairwell doors. He’s pretty sure he hears Angeal sigh. But he keeps running. A couple people glance at him but they probably don’t think too much of it considering who he is. He’s always running around. 

Luckily it only takes him fourish minutes to get to the twenty-eighth floor. He almost loses his footing by the glass doors but he rights himself quickly and steps inside.

He waves at Katie with her usual hot pink glasses and expression he thinks is judgemental but can never really tell. “Good morning! I’m here for my appointment, do I just…”

“You can sit in the waiting room, Mr. Fair.” Katie says, adjusting her distinctive glasses. “Please refrain from breaking the door, please.”

“Sorry!”

Cloud’s already there. Zack grins and flops into the seat beside Cloud in the very small waiting room. Cloud looks just as tired as him. He stretches out his legs and leans back in the chair.

“Why did I think it was a good idea to schedule it this early?” 

“I don’t know,” Cloud says, sounding partly miserable as he stares at the little side table with the now three magazines. One’s Shinra Weekly—he used to really like reading that as a kid. “But my bunkmate decided that last night was the perfect time to get into an argument with his girlfriend on his PHS.”

He leans closer to conspiratorially ask. “I assume you heard the drama?”

“I couldn’t avoid it if I wanted to. He had it on speaker.” Yikes. Cloud huffs. “Apparently she told him to unfollow a bunch of girls and he said he didn’t see a problem. And I heard the very over-the-top story of how she forgave him for cheating last year and then she yelled at him for not unfollowing them.”

Now Zack turns a little bit more, whistling. “Oh it was super juicy drama then.”

“Yeah. Three hours of it. I got like four hours of sleep.” And because Cloud knows him all too well, he adds. “Apparently he was still hanging out with his ex.”

Zack can’t help gasping a little and leaning closer. “No way. That’s so not cool.”

“Behind her back.”

“Bro, what is that guy’s problem?”

“And on top of that, he apparently thought it was okay to give out his phone number to girls for ‘future options’ or something.”

Zack’s jaw actually drops. “No way. There’s so many issues with that.”

“I guess even if I got practically no sleep that it was at least entertaining. In the worst possible way,” Cloud mutters.

“If Genesis starts being annoying again, just distract him by telling him about all that.” Zack says, laughing at the image of Cloud trying to sleep on his bunk while his bunkmate was trying to defend his terrible choices. “He pretends to be above drama, but he eats it up, seriously.”

Cloud snorts. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’m convinced he secretly watches crappy soap operas. One time he wouldn’t let any of us talk at lunch so he could listen to another table’s conversation about their coworker’s affair. He didn’t even know any of them.”

When Cloud laughs again, Zack feels better knowing he’s not worrying about the fake couples therapy session and he’s distracted. Good job, Zack. 

“Angeal kept trying to tell him that it wasn’t honorable to listen to other people’s conversations. His defense was that they decided to have the conversation in public.” Zack shakes his head. “We didn’t talk for like fifteen minutes.”

“Fair and Strife.”

He looks up and there’s a lady in the doorway behind the desk. He and Cloud are the only people in the waiting room. Because seriously who would want an appointment this early? A therapy appointment.

He hops out of his seat. “Well, guess it’s time.”

This is so going to be a disaster. 

Genesis: A gil for both of your thoughts on who wins the bet. I think my bet was the closest to the truth. 

Sephiroth: You just want to buy Loveless tickets.

Genesis: Of course I do. But I also just refuse to lose. Angeal will just put it all in savings or give it back to everyone or something. And you never spend money. Naturally, it makes the most sense that I should be the one to win.

Angeal: Maybe I’d buy plants.

Genesis: 5,000 gil worth of plants? What are you planning? To convert your apartment into a livable greenhouse? Make the apartment into a tropical paradise? Plant a Banora apple tree farm in the middle of Midgar?

Angeal: Maybe. 

Genesis: Darling, we both know you’re too stingy with your money for that.

Sephiroth: Maybe I would buy something. You cannot predict what I would do.

Genesis: Do go on.

Genesis: Amaze me with your secret plan of how to spend 5,000 gil.

Genesis: I have waited ten minutes for a response. So unless you are typing an obscenely long message of some overly complicated plan of how to spend the gil, you have no plan. You can give up, it’s alright to admit I’m correct. This is why I said I should win the gil.

Sephiroth: I have a plan.

Genesis: And the plan is? More shampoo? Conditioner?

Sephiroth: I haven’t decided yet. 

Genesis: That is not a plan!! 

Sephiroth: Then the plan is impulsive purchases. 

Genesis: Have you ever impulse bought anything? I’ve seen your bank account need I remind you.

Sephiroth: I could though.

Genesis: What would you even buy?

Sephiroth: Collectibles. 

Genesis: Of WHAT??

Sephiroth: I don’t know.

Genesis: I swear to the Goddess, Seph. That makes absolutely no sense.

Sephiroth: Zack showed me an online store which seemed very interesting. 

Genesis: Okay, that might actually be something. What was the store for?

Sephiroth: Books.

Genesis: Oh Goddess, walking into your apartment is as if I’m walking into a mad man’s library as it is.

Sephiroth: But all the books were 2 gil. I didn't know there were shops like that.

Angeal: Oh that’s really nice.

Genesis: Of course you would say that, you cheapskate!

Sephiroth: Even the science books were 2 gil. I could purchase many books with 5,000 gil. 2,500 books to be exact. They provide free shipping as well. I think it is an exceedingly good plan.

Genesis: You’d be drowning in books!

Sephiroth: There are worse things.

Angeal: Sephiroth, aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting?

Sephiroth: Rufus Shinra is presenting a pitch on why the Turks should receive more funding. I do not feel inclined to pay much attention. I said I had an urgent matter to attend to.

Genesis: Such as?

Sephiroth: Browsing online book stores and texting my partners.

Sephiroth: As I said, urgent matters.

Chapter Text

Aerith: Have fun at your couples therapy appointment!! 

Zack: You know I will!! It’s gonna be a disaster! :D 

Aerith: Try not to confuse the poor therapist too much will you?

Zack: Lol I can’t promise that 

Zack: Also, date still on for tomorrow?

Aerith: Of course!! 

Aerith: Say hi to Cloud for me!!

Zack: I will! Gotta run so I’m early!!

Zack’s never been in a therapist’s office before. The only thing he really knows about them is from seeing them portrayed in cartoons and stuff. It’s usually a  an old guy with a big beard and a pipe, a couch to lay down on and the therapist in a chair asking, and how does that make you feel?

Well, it turns out that that’s not what a therapist’s office looks like at all. Their therapist’s name is Lori and she’s not an old man, she doesn't have a beard or a pipe. Her office is painted a green that kind of reminds him of the ocean and there’s a lot of art and stuff on the walls. There’s a couch sure, but there’s also normal chairs and even a bean bag. 

That’s pretty cool. It’s a pretty cozy looking for an office.

Zack sits down on the couch because it looks much comfier than the hard plastic chairs. And Cloud sits down beside him. Close enough that he can feel how tense the guy is. Which just reminds him how much he owes his best friend. Maybe he should buy him some fancy takeout or something as a thank you?

He’ll ask after the therapy session. Wow. That sounds weird to say .

Their therapist, Lori, sits down in one of the plastic chairs and rests a clipboard on her lap. “It’s nice to meet you both. I wanted to explain a bit about how this goes. I assume neither of you have ever been to counseling before?”

“Nope!” Zack says the same time Cloud shakes his head.

“Well, the first session will be focused on questions so I can get to know you both,” Lori says, glancing at her clipboard once. “And so we can establish a baseline of what you want to do with therapy. We’ll go over some guidelines and all that. Sound good?”

Zack gives a thumbs up. “Cool!”

Cloud silently nods. 

Lori goes over some papers and some policies they have to understand, that sort of thing. So far it’s not bad at all. Pretty simple stuff actually. He’s not sure what he thought it would be like, but he thought it’d at least be more complicated.

“So, now I’m just going to ask a couple of questions about you,” Lori says, glancing down at her clipboard one time. “Can you tell me a little bit about your pasts? Or anything you think is going to be relevant for these sessions?”

Zack blinks. Is this a normal part of therapy? Well, makes sense. 

“Oh, uh. I’m Zack and I’m from Gongaga. I’m a First Class SOLDIER now. Uh, I’m not sure what else to say? Oh, I really like food and hanging out with friends! And making friends. Oh, and I love food.”

Lori nods along while he’s talking, so he’s probably doing a good job. “And what age did you join Shinra?”

“As soon as I could. But I got to Midgar when I was about thirteen. I sorta ran away from home to join Shinra and all. My parents weren’t big on Shinra so they didn’t want me to join, but I guess I just wanted to be a hero so I found a way to get to Midgar.”

She writes something down and Zack really, really wants to ask her what. Was it bad? Did he say something wrong? Is he allowed to ask about that? “And have you been back to Gongaga since then?”

He shakes his head. “Not really. I haven’t really had time.”

“Have you talked to your parents?”

“Ah, no. I mean, I ran away and all cause they didn’t want me to join Shinra so I figured they’d be kinda mad if I told them I’m a SOLDIER now.” Zack shrugs a little. 

He hasn’t thought too much about it. Well. That’s not true. When he first got to Midgar he didn’t really think about it, he was too focused on his training and joining Shinra. But he has been thinking about them now that he’s a First Class. 

Plus Angeal has been encouraging him to contact them again by either sending letters or visiting Gongaga. But he hasn’t yet. 

“And how long have you and Cloud been dating?” Lori asks, glancing between them. It’s not like how Genesis was suspicious and digging for answers, it just seems like a normal, routine question. 

Oh. She’s really believing this. Wait. Stay focused. Right. They have to keep the same story they told Angeal and Genesis. 

“Eleven months! Since Cloud’s birthday,” Zack says, throwing an arm over Cloud’s shoulders, grinning. “Though we didn’t really tell anyone till recently.”

Wow. This therapy stuff is so easy. Ten out of ten. They’re winning at this therapy thing.

“I just wanted to observe that you haven’t said very much so far, Cloud,” Lori says, even though it’s posed like it’s a question. “Are you hesitant to be here?”

Cloud shifts on the couch, looking anywhere but at Lori. He looks about half a foot from being in physical pain. “No?”

Lori observes them for a moment longer than says, hesitantly. “So you’ve been dating for eleven months. That seems a little early to be needing counseling, not that I don’t think you should be here necessarily. But why don’t you tell me why you wanted to sign up for these appointments? I know it can be intimidating to take the first steps, but it’s good that you did.”

Zack remembers his little notebook with possible ideas he scribbled out over the past week. Cloud even agreed it made the most sense. “Well, this might sound a little silly or something.”

“I assure you it won’t,” Lori says, patiently. 

So far she’s a pretty cool therapist. Even if they’re kind of lying to her right now about this whole thing. It’s for a good cause though. If she ever saw the disappointed Angeal face she would understand completely where he’s coming from.

“We’re both from kind of backwater towns, you know?” Zack says. He had thought this idea made the most logical sense overall. Some of his other ideas seemed a little too silly or unbelievable. “Gongaga and Nibelheim are like on the opposite sides of the world from each other. Which is cool!”

Lori nods along, so Zack keeps talking. “But apparently there’s a lot of cultural differences. A whole bunch and like different understandings. It’s kind of hard putting it into words.”

“That’s understandable. “ Lori nods. “So you think the different cultural backgrounds are negatively impacting your relationship?”

“Yeah!” Zack says. This is going way better than he thought it would, and that’s a win in his books. “That’s a good way to phrase it.”

“Alright, can you give me some examples so we can see if we can find somewhere to begin to help this issue?”

They decided on this ‘issue’ because it had actually been a thing when they were first becoming friends. Because apparently Nibelheim and Gongaga are two very different places. Though coming to Midgar was a whole other beast. It doesn’t help that they’re both from places way out in the middle of nowhere.

Zack just thought everyone stopped to greet people on the street, but in Nibelheim apparently that’s rude for the most part. Somehow (he’s still confused about that actually). 

Not to mention Cloud can be crazy superstitious. It kind of shocked Zack at first because Cloud seems too practical to be superstitious of all things. Like when he got super freaked out the time they were on a mission in a forest outside of Midgar. Cloud had told him that wandering in forests is a bad idea since nobody knows what lives there. 

For one, that was creepy as all get out.

Second, Zack used to hang out in the forests in Gongaga all the time. It was fun. And pretty. 

But Cloud looked at him like he was insane and very cryptically said, “The mountain forests are different, Zack. You don’t know what lives there. You don’t know unless it wants you to know.” It kind of freaked him out for a couple days.

When Zack said he liked mountains because they’re pretty. Cloud looked at him like he was crazy, again. And said, “Not real mountains. Real mountains aren’t pretty. Or are pretty in a terrifying way.” 

Whatever that meant.

And then there was the whole issue of Nibelheim making Cloud think that showing affection for anybody, family, friends, or anyone is bad. In Gongaga, it’s totally normal to hug people you just met or hold hands with family or friends. But in Nibelheim? That's a no go. Totally not a thing. Which is insane to Zack. How else are you supposed to let people know you care?

And apparently cultural differences are very convincing to Lori, because she talks about making a plan for how they can deal with this. And then he and Cloud are on their way out of the SCS program office, back into the waiting room, and he waves goodbye to Katie at the front desk.

Katie barely glances up from her old computer and he briefly glances at the plaque that has her name and title on it, Administrative Director of SCS.

Neither of them say anything until they’re a full floor away from the SCS program office. 

“I can’t believe we just lied to a medical professional,” Cloud says under his breath, running a hand through his hair all stressed. It sounds like it’s the first time he’s breathed in days. “I thought she was going to tell us we were lying.”

Zack leans up against the wall of this random hallway they’re regrouping in. It’s empty and there’s no doors except for an emergency exit so nobody’s gonna hear them discussing their deception of a Shinra therapist.

“I mean, we weren’t lying lying,” Zack says, his back feeling a million pounds lighter. Since this appointment went well, they just have weekly meetings for ten more months. Great. “Just exaggerated some things is all. All the differences between Gongaga and Nibelheim are totally true.”

Cloud hunches his shoulders and crosses his arms. “I guess.”

“Hey, you totally told me that thing about the mountains. I couldn't sleep the whole mission, man,” Zack says while pretending to shudder. “I thought some creepy mountain creature was gonna eat me if I did.”

Cloud glances sideways at him. “It might’ve. If we had been in Nibelheim.”

“How do you not see that’s weird?”

“Have you ever been to Nibelheim?”

“No?”

“Exactly. It’d make sense if you had,” Cloud says, then breaks into a huge yawn. “I’m going to fight my bunkmate after my patrol. He could’ve at least gone in the hallway or something. Or tried to whisper.”

“If you can stay awake that long,” Zack says, grinning. “Wanna grab some coffee before you head out?”

“I’d die if I didn’t.”

Zack laughs and throws an arm around Cloud and they go grab coffee. 

Week one of fake couples therapy sessions with his best friend down! Ten months to go!

Angeal: If you have time before your mission, stop by my apartment. I have leftovers you can have.

And now that Zack isn’t avoiding Angeal he can have back the privilege of getting non-stop home cooked leftovers. Thank Gaia. So, after Cloud goes out on his patrol, he happily makes his way back to the SOLDIER First Class floor. The more leftovers, the better!

He knocks a whole bunch to let Angeal know he’s there, before letting himself inside. “I heard there’s leftovers?” Zack kicks off his shoes and ducks under a hanging plant. 

He should name the plant so he doesn't just keep calling it ‘hanging plant.’ Maybe Larry. Or Bob. It seems like a Bob. Maybe he’ll ask Sephiroth what he thinks later.

Angeal’s at the kitchen table and Genesis is leaning back in one of the dining table chairs, his feet propped up on the table and reading from one of his twenty or more Loveless copies. “ Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky .”

Oh no. Not Loveless already.

“Already with the Loveless?” Zack asks as he walks through the living room and into the dining area.

Angeal holds out some glass containers filled with food that he happily takes. Awesome! Now he doesn't have to cook anything.

“It’s not my fault you have no taste and lack culture,” Genesis says, peering over the edge of the Loveless copy. He’s pretty sure Angeal bought that copy for Genesis last year from a thrift store. “Easily bribed with food, I see. Have you finally decided to stop running away?”

Zack defensively holds the containers closer. “I wasn’t bribed. And I wasn’t running away.”

Genesis grins, way too pleased with himself. “I hate to be the one to inform you, but you were indeed bribed.”

Zack looks to Angeal, betrayed by his own mentor. Angeal, who doesn’t even try to look apologetic. “I wanted to talk to you, but you had your appointment.”

“Seriously, you lured me here with food?”

Genesis coughs and it sounds suspiciously like the word puppy . But he quickly goes back to silently reading Loveless after Angeal gives him a look.

“I just wanted to make sure none of us did anything that made you hesitate to tell us you were dating Cloud.” Angeal starts and oh no, he sounds worried. “If we did, I wanted to apologize—”

“You really didn’t!” Zack says, quickly putting all the containers of food down onto the table so his hands are free. “I just wasn’t ready to say anything and Cloud is super shy and all! I wasn’t, like, scared to tell you or anything like that.”

Genesis leans further back in his chair, the legs creaking concerningly. “A little concerning you went almost an entire year without saying anything because you weren’t ready.”

“Genesis,” Angeal says, quietly. “Don’t pressure him.”

He shrugs. “I’m nosy, I’ll admit it. And curious, very curious.”

Zack makes a face. “It’s nothing—”

“But it’s enough that you decided couples therapy was more urgent than individual sessions, especially with the sleeping issues you’ve been having.” Angeal furrows his brows and that only makes Zack feel worse. 

He really did mean to sign up for SCS — he just kept forgetting. 

Angeal puts a hand on Zack’s shoulder and oh no he’s got the reassuring look now. “I’m just worried is all, you don’t have to tell me or anyone anything if you don’t want to. But I wanted to let you know we’re here if you want to talk.”

And behind Angeal, Genesis grins at Zack in a way that makes him feel like he’s being threatened without words. Yeah, he will not be talking to Genesis. The nosy jerk. He’d probably blackmail Zack with whatever he tells him.

Angeal glances over his shoulder and Genesis’s grin disappears. “Okay, maybe not Genesis and probably not Sephiroth either—he might not be much help, but still. You can always talk to me.”

“You’re the best!” Zack says and hugs Angeal because really he’s the best. Angeal pats his arm. And Zack only gets about ten seconds before he’s literally being kicked away by Genesis. 

“That’s enough. This is my partner, you have your own.” Genesis says, poking Zack again. 

“Hey! Sometimes you just need an Angeal hug, man!”

“Get your own. Go hug your human chocobo.” Genesis makes a shooing motion with one hand like Zack’s seen people do to animals they’re trying to tell to leave. 

“Ignore him.” Angeal shakes his head, but he’s smiling slightly. “He has his first therapy session today and he’s been like this the whole day.”

“I am not, like ‘this’ as you say,” Genesis says, the legs of the chair thumping against the ground as he sits down properly. “Thank you very much. I simply feel like bothering your adopted stray is all.”

“If you say so.”

Zack’s PHS buzzes rapidly five times. And he glances at the time. “Crap. I gotta report to Lazard’s office.” He scoops up all the leftover containers and practically runs from the apartment. “I gotta go! Bye! ”

“Zack, your shoes—”

The door already closed behind him. 

So Zack runs barefoot down the hallway and past three Second Class SOLDIERS and Sephiroth. “Leftovers are the priority here!”

As soon as Zack is running out into the hallway, Angeal stands up. “Zack, your shoes—”

The door closes. From somewhere in the hallway, he hears Zack shout, “Leftovers are the priority here!”

And he sighs. Why does he bother? All of Shinra knows to expect this from Zack now. But he still  tries to ensure Zack has a good, honorable image. It’s hard when he forgets things like his shoes in favor of leftover pasta.

“He’s acting strange,” Genesis states, simply and succinctly while snapping his book shut. “What’s wrong with your stray?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know.” He walks back to where Genesis is sitting, resting a hand on the back of the chair. “I was hoping maybe he would open up about whatever’s going on…”

But it seems he’s going to have to be patient if Zack isn’t ready to talk about whatever is happening. Though he seemed a little more like himself than he did this morning so there’s that at least. 

There’s still a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that doesn’t settle—this small, constant worry that tells him he did something wrong for Zack to be acting like this. Even though Zack said there’s nothing wrong, it’s hard to fully believe when he’s still acting strange .

What if it’s something he did? Did Zack not trust him enough to tell him about his relationship?

“Angeal,” Genesis says, almost soothingly as he sets Loveless face down on top of the table. He reaches out, placing a hand on Angeal’s forearm. “I believe you are beginning to overthink your puppy’s actions. Placing the blame on yourself does you no good—you are not responsible for his behavior.”

He takes a deep breath, placing his hand on top of Genesis’s. “I know that, but I just worry.”

The door opens without someone knocking and Sephiroth steps inside of the apartment. He’s still wearing his uniform after a day filled with meetings and more paperwork than he expected unfortunately. He looks down, seemingly noticing Zack’s abandoned shoes. “I take it that your food bribe worked?”

“Like a charm,” Genesis says, not moving his hand from Angeal’s arm as he flicks the Loveless book open again.

This one is a newer one, or at least, newer in terms of when Genesis added it to his ever-amassing collection. Angeal had picked it up at a random thrift store tucked away behind a bakery during a mission outside of Midgar last year. It’s always easy to tell which ones are newer based on how many notes and tabs are in the pages.

Sephiroth ducks below one of the hanging plants—a jade plant he was gifted by an elderly lady who was apparently part of his fan club. Angeal had offered to move it so Sephiroth didn’t have to duck everytime he came over, but Sephiroth said it was a natural reaction at this point. So he had left it.

“Not surprising, considering the bribe was food.” Sephiroth says, walking soundlessly through the living room.

“Except he remained strangely evasive, no true answers,” Genesis says, sighing with his usual flair ever since they went to their first theater performance from a traveling troupe in Banora. “I didn’t know he knew how to avoid revealing anything. He’s been holding out on us, he’s more crafty than we give him credit for.”

That’s for sure. 

And when he hears something bubbling, he breaks away from Genesis’s hold to stop his stew from boiling over. Damn. He hopes it isn’t burnt. Angeal sighs as he looks down at his newest attempt at making a Gongagian stew Zack mentioned a while ago, stirring it again. “Something’s up with him.”

“Obviously,” Genesis says, sounding genuinely frustrated. “And until we figure it out, nobody will get the bet money.”

Is that what Genesis is worried about?

Sephiroth sits down at the table—at least this time he left his sword by the door. It had taken some time before he felt comfortable leaving it not within grabbing distance. “Nobody placed a bet on them already dating. Therefore, nobody should receive the gil. Logically.”

“And what?” Genesis sits up, slapping a hand on the table so hard a mug jumps and almost spills cold coffee. “We just let it languish in the top right drawer of Lazard’s office desk forever?”

Angeal turns. “Why is it in Lazard’s office?”

“I didn’t trust Sephiroth with it,” Genesis says, side-eying Sephiroth as if he was going to suddenly steal the betting pool gil for no reason. Even though it’s apparently in Lazard’s desk. Is Lazard aware of this?

Sephiroth calmly says, “And I obviously did not trust him to hold it safely. Rightfully so.”

Genesis huffs. “I wouldn’t have done anything. I just wanted Loveless tickets. This one—” He jabs a finger at Sephiroth, who remains unbothered. “Apparently he never had plans for the gil. Seriously, you want to buy five thousand gil worth of books?”

“I already make a large amount of gil per year and I barely know what to do with it as it is.”

“Buy new clothes that aren’t Shinra issued?” Genesis suggests like this is an urgent matter. “Hair products? Books? Rocks apparently? You practically own nothing. Your apartment is a blank canvas.”

Sephiroth is silent for a moment and quietly says. “I do not know if there is anything I want.”

It’s the same issue that has come up over and over. The first time it became more than just a passing concern for Sephiroth was when they moved into their first apartments, years ago. He and Genesis had helped each other move their things into the apartments, carrying boxes and boxes all afternoon. Most of it was Genesis’s things, mostly boxes of books. But carrying Angeal’s plants had also been a task. 

Then they had gone to help Sephiroth move his things from the labs to the apartment. And found there was little more than a small box worth of items which Sephiroth could carry with one arm.

Genesis had thought Sephiroth was playing a joke on them at first or that he was trying to hide his personal belongings and that had quickly changed when they realized Sephiroth truly didn’t have anything else. 

Their shared concern had only grown when Sephiroth didn’t even seem to want anything else. Or didn’t seem to know he could want something for himself. 

Genesis sighs and runs a hand over his face. This is an ongoing discussion between the three of them—Sephiroth’s upbringing and the way Shinra has caused him to sometimes lack an identity beyond the one they assigned him.

“We’ve got to find a way to override Hojo so this one can get some therapy.”

Well. It's an ongoing issue. Genesis isn’t very good at addressing it in an empathic way still. It’s an ongoing endeavor of Angeal’s—getting Genesis to talk to Sephiroth about his concerns without making it seem almost like an insult. Angeal knows he doesn’t mean it that way, but it sounds like that.

Angeal says this as gently as possible. “Professor Hojo wanted to make a weapon. He does not see Sephiroth as a person, even though he’s clearly a person and not a weapon. That sort of thing isn’t something that can be undone overnight by simple talk therapy.”

“I suppose,” Sephiroth says, emotionlessly but he knows Sephiroth well enough to know that is because he isn’t sure how else to respond. “It is hard to imagine myself as anything but that.”

Genesis grabs Sephiroth’s shoulders, staring intensely in his eyes. He very slowly and very deliberately says, “And that is an issue. You are aware that is an issue, yes? You are a whole person including the cat eyes that sometimes glow in the dark and I don’t think it’s always just from the mako and the silver hair.”

Sephiroth blinks slowly, leaning his head back slightly to see Genesis. “And how would that be related to my hair?”

“I have theories, but not any evidence yet.” Genesis lets go of his shoulders, sighing. “But that is beside the point I am trying to tell you that you are a whole person outside of the identity Shinra has tried to create for you.”

Sephiroth doesn’t look very convinced or maybe he isn’t sure what to think at all. 

It has been two years since they started to question some of Shinra’s practices and started to have some realizations. It was a large part of why Angeal had felt so determined to make the SCS program.  It was the least that he could do to help people at Shinra. 

Partly because he feels some sense of responsibility for why so many joined the military and SOLDIER, especially after the campaigns and media that Shinra pushed of the three of them over the years. Including all the media saying joining SOLDIER was honorable, using Angeal’s face as part of the ‘honorable campaign.’ He hated that. 

A big part of it had to do with when he took Zack as a student and saw how young he was. It was sometimes hard to fathom sending Zack out on missions when he barely seemed old enough to join the army. 

These revelations had been hitting the three of them hard. Especially Genesis, even if he didn’t say it out loud. It’s hard to question something they’ve dedicated their entire lives to and whole-heartedly believed in for as long as they can remember.

“Even if Shinra tries to say you’re a perfect weapon or whatever nonsense they like to spout in their little propaganda campaigns, you’re simply just you,” Genesis says, now gesturing passionately with his Loveless copy.

Over the past year, Genesis’s resentment towards Shinra and those in charge has only grown. Angeal could hardly say he blames him, not after they started to clearly see the corruption of Shinra. 

“So, we’re just going to have to ensure that you have your identity and know who you are. Not whatever Shinra wants,” Genesis says, waving around Loveless again.

Genesis’s back is facing Sephiroth as he says this, still going on. Sephiroth makes eye contact with Angeal over Genesis’s shoulder. A shared look of understanding.

“Damned Shinra,” Genesis mutters, through gritted teeth. 

“Did something happen?” Sephiroth asks, tilting his head slightly as he observes Genesis. “You seem more—” He pauses, trying to choose the right word. “Agitated over this than usual.”

Genesis huffs, crossing his arms. “I am perfectly normal.”

Sephiroth raises an eyebrow, but not in Genesis and Sephiroth’s usual way of bickering, but more concerned. “I’m sure.”

Then Genesis sighs and Angeal can watch as the tension seems to leave his shoulders as he stands up to walk over to the couch. He looks away as he speaks, “I met with the SCS therapist for the first time today.”

“Ah.” Sephiroth says, clearly remembering the schedule now. “I assume you spoke to the therapist about the myriad of issues with Shinra then?”

“No, actually.” 

Now Angeal furrows his brows. “You didn’t?”

“How could I?” Genesis presses a hand against his forehead, still not fully facing them. He sounds tired. “When the anxiety that Shinra will somehow learn of what I said and would use it against one of us. I would not put it past Hojo to get a hold of the SCS’s notes to use them or for a therapist to sell our information to them.”

There is a weariness in Genesis’s expression that didn’t used to be there, not when they were newly-made SOLDIERS on the frontlines years and years ago. “SOLDIERS belong to Shinra—it’s in the contract. Not when we’re filled with mako, as if that somehow makes us Shinra property. We are unable to leave, legally.” He pauses and then scowls. “Sephiroth even less so than us.”

It has been something Genesis has mentioned in passing—leaving Shinra somehow. But it brings up the fact that Shinra, and Professor Hojo in particular, would never let Sephiroth leave. No, they would fight tooth and nail to stop that. 

And where exactly would they go? Three First Class SOLDIERS retiring? Could the Silver General, the Demon of Wutai ever retire? Not if Shinra could stop it. 

Genesis looks to Sephiroth, eyebrows pinched together. “I’m not sure how you can be so—” He hesitates for a moment, unsure of what he is saying. “Calm about it all. How are you not ripping yourself apart at the seams from frustration?”

Sephiroth’s mostly neutral face changes the smallest frown. “Of course I am frustrated. As much as I wish to be ‘normal,’ the actual concept is abstract from my actual life. How can I want something that I have never experienced?”

No matter how many times he has heard Sephiroth express similar issues over the years, it never becomes less painful to hear. An unfortunately familiar heaviness settles in his chest, a sadness for Sephiroth and the life foisted upon him by Shinra before he ever had a choice in the matter.

Sephiroth looks down at his hands, his voice noticeably quieter. “The closest I have gotten to a life outside of Shinra was meeting you both.”

Angeal and Genesis both look at him wordlessly for a long moment until Genesis marches forward with a determined gait as he places a hand on Sephiroth’s shoulder.

“We’ll figure something out, the three of us. Haven’t we always?” Then after a moment, Genesis reluctantly adds. “...And perhaps Angeal’s stray will help too.”

Sephiroth smiles a little at that, “While Shinra may be unavoidable, it did result in us meeting so I suppose it could be worse.”

Genesis outright scoffs at the mere idea. “I would not thank Shinra for that—our meeting was a meeting fated by the Goddess herself. A gift. She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting .” 

“Of course you mention Loveless…” Angeal trails off. This is not the time. They were having a real, serious conversation—one that did not need the mention of Loveless right now. 

“Am I wrong?” Genesis asks, one eyebrow raised in question. 

“No.” Sephiroth says, “I would like to imagine it is true.”

“Imagine what?” Angeal adds.

“A fated meeting—laugh if you want.” 

Now, Genesis truly smiles. “I will not laugh, not at that.”

The sudden, concerning sound of liquid boiling and overflowing breaks the mood. Angeal jumps up from the table into his kitchen to move the giant pot of stew from the burner. 

He dips a spoon in it. “I think I burned it.”

Genesis waves a hand. “Do you think the puppy would notice if it’s slightly burnt? He’ll probably inhale it like he does with all of your food anyway.”

“I made it specifically for him,” Angeal says, stirring it again, “It’s a recipe from Gongaga.”

With that, Genesis quickly strides over to the stove, plucking the spoon from Angeal’s hand to try a spoonful. Then immediately starts coughing and his face turns a concerning level of red. Shoving the spoon back to Angeal, he rushes over to the fridge. 

Genesis chugs almost half a gallon of milk. “What is in that?”

“A Gongagaian spice mix?”

“Attempted murder is what it is.” Genesis chugs more of the milk, coughing between gulps. 

“It can’t be that bad.” Sephiroth comments, watching the scene. 

“You try it then!” Genesis breaks off into a cough, wheezing. “Maybe that spice concoction is why the puppy is able to eat everything. His taste buds have been burnt off entirely.”

Then he seems to notice there is milk all over his uniform shirt now and scrunches his face up in disgust. “Ugh, I’m going to change out of this mess—disgusting. And Angeal, worry not for your stray, he won’t be able to taste anything over the spice.”

With that, he is gone, into Angeal’s bedroom. Likely to steal another shirt. Which reminds him, Angeal needs to take back the growing pile of his missing clothes from Genesis’s apartment. A thief, that’s what his oldest friend and boyfriend is.

Angeal turns his attention back to the stew. Hopefully it isn’t ruined. He was trying to recreate it exactly according to the recipe he found online, but burning the stew was definitely not a step he remembers. 

Damn it. Hopefully, it’s still okay. 

“Seph, what do you—” He turns and stops. Sephiroth has a Shinra-issued tablet out, frowning down at the blue screen. “Are you working?”

“Unfortunately, it appears something urgent has come up.” Sephiroth says, frowning down at the tablet, brows furrowed. 

“Even if you are the general, you still need to take a break.” 

“It will not take long.”

Now Angeal walks over, reaching for the tablet. 

“You aren’t a machine, Seph. You never have been. You still need a break, no matter what Professor Hojo said to you growing up and still says. You aren’t in front of the army right now. You’re at home.”

Sephiroth sighs, a deep, full body sigh. “Still hard to get used to, I suppose.”

That heavy sadness settles its way back into his chest again. “It’s hard to undo a lifetime of conditioning. We’ll figure something out about Professor Hojo stopping you from going to SCS.”

He really should have considered this as a possibility sooner. Maybe he should mention something to Katie, she might have some suggestions and he knows she’s been as dedicated as he has to getting the SCS set up. Still, he should have figured this would have happened.

Now Angeal sighs. “I’m sorry, I should’ve seen this coming and done something proactive to prevent—”

“Do not blame yourself.” Sephiroth says, setting down the tablet. “The only one to blame is Hojo.”

It’s hard to believe that is true. Not when it’s something he should have considered at least once when designing the SCS program or he should have at least considered if Professor Hojo would have authority over it in some way. 

Sephiroth reaches out, albeit a bit awkwardly, to reassure him. “Do not apologize. You did nothing wrong. We shouldn’t blame ourselves for Hojo’s issues.”

“A statement I fully heartedly agree with,” Genesis says, striding back into the main living area and very much wearing one of Angeal’s only t-shirts that he hadn’t already stolen.

“Now,” Genesis says, gesturing to Sephiroth while making a waving motion. “To the couch with you. Get up.”

“Why?”

“I want to sit somewhere more comfortable and you must be physically removed from the temptation to continue working. So, to the couch with you, you as well, Hewley.”

After making sure his stew wasn’t going to boil over or burn again, Angeal joins them on the couch. The moment he sits down, Genesis contently stretches out his legs over both him and Sephiroth’s laps. 

“Now, listen here, you oversized cat-man.”

Sephiroth tilts his head to the side. “Cat man?”

“You heard me.” Genesis says, without hesitation. “We shall figure out what to do about everything, as we have always done. As if that rat-man of a scientist would succeed in stopping us in anything.”

After a moment to consider, Sephiroth asks, “Why is he a rat and why am I a cat?”

Genesis sighs, rolling his eyes. “You are missing my point entirely, Seph. I am saying that no matter what Hojo does, we will deal with it as the three of us.”

After a moment, Genesis grins and adds, “Anyways, cats hunt rats do they not?”

“We’re not hunting Professor Hojo, that’s not—”

Genesis holds up a hand, covering up Angeal’s mouth. “Hush, my dear. Say nothing of honor in this moment. Sephiroth and I are having a moment.”

Angeal takes his hand, uncovering his mouth. “So was I, until you rudely interrupted.”

He huffs. “How dare you exclude me from having a moment. The audacity of you two, I swear.” 

“You were changing, we weren’t conspiring to exclude you—” And then Angeal stops, noticing that Sephiroth had somehow managed to bring the tablet over to the couch with him and is doing something on it now. “Seph. It’s after hours. Why are you still working?”

Before he even has a chance to respond, Genesis snatches the tablet from Sephiroth and tosses it onto the couch furthest away from them. “No more working. We are at home right now.”

Sephiroth stares at the tablet, his hands frozen where he had been scrolling. “...that was urgent.”

“Unless someone was actively dying, it is not more urgent than spending time with your partners. You cannot retrieve it unless you forcefully move me.”

Sephiroth looks at Genesis’s legs, clearly considering it and weighing the negative outcomes. 

Preemptively, Angeal tells them both, “Please do not turn this into a grappling match. My plants are right there. If I have to do any more transplants this month…”

Genesis raises an eyebrow, challenging silently. “You should listen to Angeal, Seph.”

Sephiroth sighs. “You are a bad influence.”

“I think you mean a freeing influence.”

Sephiroth mutters, more to himself than anything. “We’re SOLDIERS, we do not have working hours…”

“Hush, now, Seph. We are enjoying each other’s company. Thinking of work ruins the mood.”

Chapter Text

“You’ve been lying to me.”

Zack turns, a huge bite of random Shinra cafeteria food shoved in his mouth—that’s supposed to be roasted meat or something but it’s harder than a rubber tire. He makes a sound that kind of sounds like huh . Kunsel shakes his head in disbelief. 

“I can’t believe you,” Kunsel says, sitting down across from him, his tray full of food on the table. The whole dining hall is loud, tons of people talking during lunch break. It wasn’t as bad before he got the mako, but that’s how SOLDIER is.

Zack chews faster, but the mystery meat stubbornly stays like a chunk of rubber. “Huh? What’re you talking about?”

Kunsel leans forward, almost whispering, “That you’re apparently dating Cloud?”

“Oh!” Zack says. Because oh right. That’s a thing they’re pretending to do now. 

Then Zack pauses. 

The only people who are supposed to know that are Angeal, Genesis, and sort of Sephiroth (who’s the only one who knows the actual truth). And the SCS desk lady.

“Wait, wait, how do you know about that?”

“You’re not even denying it,” Kunsel says, sounding in total disbelief. It seems like it takes a solid ten seconds for Kunsel to think through that. He points a fork threateningly at Zack. “You have to tell me everything. Also how did you manage to keep it secret? You suck at secrets. And from me of all people?”

It’s a little rude to assume he can’t keep any secrets at all. He’s still a SOLDIER, he has to keep information classified and stuff. He can be plenty capable.

But how did Kunsel even hear about that?

“I don’t always suck at secrets. I kept Angeal’s birthday party thing secret,” Zack says, trying to defend himself. He kept the party secret for a whole three days and Angeal was surprised at his birthday party like Genesis threatened Zack into. “But seriously how do you know?”

“My guy, literally all of Shinra knows.”

All of Shinra?

Zack can’t stop himself from making a face. “What? Seriously? How?”

“Apparently some Third Class SOLDIERS overheard Commander Rhapsodos talking to Commander Hewley about it. It’s spreading like a wildfire out here. I heard it from another Third Class SOLDIER about thirty minutes ago who heard it from a Second Class SOLDIER who heard it directly. I didn’t believe him at first.”

Zack slaps a hand on his forehead. He didn’t even think about what would happen if other people found out. He was going to tell Kunsel, maybe after explaining the whole fake dating thing first. But now? How does he even explain that? And now that everyone thinks he’s dating Cloud, instead of just Genesis and Angeal? What’s even the point?

“Oh man,” Zack says, then shoves another spoonful of food into his mouth. 

“Okay, tell me how that happened,” Kunsel demands, looking intently as he leans forward. “Because last I was aware you were totally unaware that you even liked Cloud. So I’m going to need the full story. Right now.”

He says it before his brain can process even thinking about stopping himself. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

Angeal, Genesis, and even Sephiroth. Now Kunsel? 

“Duh, because it’s true,” Kunsel says, shaking his head and Zack’s pretty sure he’s rolling his eyes behind his helmet. “I need to know how it happened so I can know if I won the bet.”

Zack can feel his shoulders slump. The rubber meat on his plate looks even less appetizing now. Was everyone he knew in on that bet that doesn’t even make sense? “You were in on that bet too?”

“All of Shinra was, to be honest,” Kunsel says, shrugging like this was totally normal and not messing with Zack’s basic understanding of life right now. “So fess up. I need to know if I’m getting part of the five thousand gil or not.”

He tries to cut through the rubber meat and his butter knife’s edge suddenly bends at a ninety degree angle. Well. He probably shouldn’t eat that. “You might have to fight Genesis over it. He’s been pretty set on getting it.”

“Oh, I’m totally going to win.”

“I don’t know, man. He seems pretty confident for some reason.”

“Well, everyone had different bets. Genesis bet that you had an unconscious crush on Cloud and weren’t even aware of it and wouldn’t know until it randomly, super obviously hit you in the face. Personally, I bet that you wouldn’t start dating until Cloud said something. So which is it?”

“Dude, it’s not—” Zack’s PHS buzzes several times in a row. 

Cloud: Zack why is everyone congratulating me on dating you?!?

Cloud: My whole platoon is asking about it!!

Cloud: EVERYONE IS ASKING

Cloud: WHAT IS HAPPENING

Oh crap. Oh major crap. 

Under his breath, he hisses. “I’ve made a mistake.” 

A big mistake. A huge one. 

And before Kunsel can ask anything, he calls Cloud. 

He really appreciates his best friend helping him in his moment of need, but also wasn’t expecting for their ‘relationship’ to apparently be leaked to all of Shinra. When literally the whole army is constantly wanting any tidbit of information on any of the First Class SOLDIERS. Literally people stalk them for any tiny shred of information on them. Especially relationships. Even people who are part of Shinra are super obsessive about it.

Cloud can barely deal with a group of people talking to him normally. He just freezes up or stares blankly at them in a way most people would think is glaring, but he just doesn't know what to do.

He can’t abandon his best friend to this! The frenzy of their co-workers dying for the smallest bit of rumors or dating info on the First Classes! He’s seen it with Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth. The media and people at Shinra hound them for information about their love life. 

Cloud’s totally unprepared for that level of attention on him!

“Zack,” Cloud says, his voice very quiet through the PHS to the point if Zack’s hearing wasn’t enhanced he might not hear it. “Why does everyone know?”

Despite the fact Kunsel is wearing a helmet, he looks way too interested in this. Like a vulture or something. Geez.

“You can blame Genesis,” Zack says, already preparing an annoyed text to send to him. Sure, he might end up caught on fire. But a guy’s gotta do what needs to be done. “But are you okay, man?”

“Uh,” Cloud sounds hesitant for a second. And Zack’s pretty sure he was considering lying. “Not really. I’m avoiding my entire squad. After I ran away. Like an idiot.”

Zack tries not to make it obvious he thinks the image is slightly funny. Then he reminds himself that this is a crisis and not a silly situation of Cloud accidentally telling a waiter ‘you too’ after they tell him to enjoy a meal or something. This is serious business.  

“What happened?”

“I was swarmed when I reported for patrol and everyone was asking questions about us dating.” Cloud sighs, sounding disappointed in himself. Man, they have got to work on his self-esteem. “Got overwhelmed. And I ran away.”

Zack hadn’t even thought about what would happen if other people heard about the whole fake dating thing they were doing. And yeah, he probably should have thought through that some more. But nobody else was supposed to hear about that. Just Angeal, Genesis, and the SCS office.

“I’m really sorry.” And he is sorry, he didn’t think anyone other than the First Classes would know about their plan. Because why would anyone else know? Man, he messed up. “Where are you?”

Cloud sighs and he can practically imagine Cloud’s face right now and the disappointment in himself. He huffs in a way that sounds self-deprecating. Maybe he should ask Angeal how to help Cloud with this, Angeal’s really good with that kind of thing. 

“Hiding under some stairs. Like a loser.” Cloud sighs again. “Sorry, I just—got really overwhelmed by the amount of people I guess.”

Zack’s already getting up from the table and mouthing the words gotta go to Kunsel before bolting out of the dining hall. He pauses by the line to grab a couple servings of chocolate chip muffins. The cooks send him a look and he smiles back. Then he’s running out of the dining hall.

Other SOLDIERS and infantry look at, but quickly ignore him. They’re probably used to him running around all the time by now. He’ll have to explain to Kunsel later and also think of an actual explanation about why he’s suddenly dating Cloud. 

“So which staircase?” Zack asks, still jogging down the hallways of the Shinra Tower and talking like it’s a normal conversation. Acting normal usually helps when Cloud’s worried, so maybe it’ll help right now too.

“The giant one.” Cloud sighs, still sounding disappointed in himself. “I wasn’t expecting so many questions. Why do they even care? I didn’t even know how to answer…” Cloud sighs again, more frustrated sounding this time. “Why am I so lame?”

“Whoa, man. First of all, you’re not lame!” Zack jogs past Tseng and Rude, he gives them a polite wave, arms full of chocolate chunk muffins and talking on his PHS. They both give him a look before he turns a corner. “They should mind their business, you know?”

At least it wasn’t Reno. That’d be a problem and he’d be super nosy. 

Wait. Do the Turks know? If a lot of people at Shinra already know, then the Turks know for sure. Great.

“I guess.” Another sigh. That’s a lot of sighs in a short amount of time. 

But he knows sometimes Cloud feels like there’s something wrong with him for not always knowing what to do in social situations. That it can be overwhelming and Cloud panics and shuts down. Sometimes people think he’s rude, but they just don’t know him. 

Sure, he might not deal with the same thing, but that doesn’t mean he can’t try to understand. Even though it took a lot of weedeling and prodding to get Cloud to talk about it at all. But he kind of just noticed too. 

Zack turns a corner to a mostly deserted hallway except for a janitor walking away. Zack gives him a wave and marches over to the large metal staircase that’s an old fire escape or something. He crouches down. And there’s Cloud, wearing his infantry uniform and sitting under a set of dusty, old, metal stairs. “Heya.”

Cloud looks up, half-panicked. “How did you—”

Zack sits down beside him, ignoring the amount of dust clinging to his SOLDIER uniform. “I’m talented and super fast, what can I say?” He holds out the muffins. “Snack?”

Cloud blinks. “Aren’t those specially issued for SOLDIERS?”

“Yeah, but I got them for you,” Zack says and shoves a bunch into Cloud’s arms. “Sorry about all those people. They could’ve been more considerate and, like, not be jerks.”

Zack shoves a whole muffin into his mouth and talks with his mouth full because Cloud won’t judge him for it. Unlike Genesis, or Angeal who lectures him about behaving properly. “I’m gonna say something to Genesis about not talking all the time or not gossiping. Hopefully he won’t set me on fire.”

Cloud looks down at the three muffins Zack handed him, nervously. “He won’t actually do that will he?”

“Him?” Zack shrugs. “Hard to say. He once threatened to catch a coffee machine on fire and then did. But he’s also threatened to catch my hair on fire and he hasn’t done that yet. So, it’s a fifty-fifty chance of him pulling materia on me.”

Cloud blinks. “Why was he threatening a coffee machine?”

“Wasn’t making coffee fast enough,” Zack says, cringing at the memory. “I honestly felt bad for the poor coffee machine. It was some serious verbal abuse it was going through on top of the fire.”

When Cloud laughs, he feels slightly better knowing Cloud isn’t too focused on his jerk squadmates. Who apparently don’t know the term boundaries . 

Even though he and Cloud aren’t dating for real, Cloud’s squadmates should understand the idea of privacy! Like what if they were dating for real? It would be super invasive and rude!

Maybe he should have Angeal talk to them. Angeal loves his boundary talk. Because apparently Zack shouldn’t hug people without asking first or something (which makes no sense because how else is he supposed to give people surprise hugs?). He decided to agree when it comes to Genesis or Sephiroth, but sometimes he just needs to hug his friends. 

“Zack, what—”

He doesn’t get to finish his question because loud footsteps rush towards them and then is followed by a voice that’s just as loud.

“Strife!”

Zack isn’t surprised by the voice since he heard the footsteps, but Cloud is. He practically jumps out of his skin. And an infantry guy leans down and looks at them. Zack waves but also feels a little annoyed, because they were talking and also the yelling was totally unnecessary. 

He can’t really see the guy’s whole face because of his helmet, but he can see some shock. And then the guy’s standing up and shouting over his shoulder, “Guys! Found him!”

And he turns back, laughing. “Ran away and called your boyfriend, huh?”

And whoa, why did that sound so…mocking?

Cloud looks ready to sink into the floor or disappear into the dusty corner of the stairs. Okay, Zack really couldn’t tell if that was said good-naturally or if this guy’s a jerk or something. Even if he and Cloud aren’t actually dating, this guy was still rude to his best friend! 

So, Zack grins and informs the guy, “I called actually!”

The guy, who Zack has no idea what his name is, looks a little put-off by that for a second. But then a whole giant group of infantrymen all crowd around him and are staring at them. Zack vaguely feels like an animal at a petting zoo thing. There’s gotta be like thirty of them, all just staring at them under the stairs, arms full of muffins, and covered in dust. 

One of them is probably going to post a picture online somewhere. Well. He’s definitely going to get lectured by someone about acting properly for a SOLDIER or something. But he’s helping a best bud in need, it was super necessary. 

“Whoa, they’re actually dating? I thought Evan was joking.”

“Jack’s is not gonna believe this.”

“I can’t believe Strife is dating a SOLDIER. How in hell’s name did that happen?”

“I totally didn’t believe it. What the hell?”

“No way Strife is dating Fair.”

Okay, so maybe he sees why Cloud got so overwhelmed earlier. These guys need to chill. It’s not even their business! Also, why are these guys being so rude to Cloud? He’s literally right here. Let them just chill under dusty rusty old stairs in peace, for Gaia’s sake. 

“Okay, okay,” Zack says, leaning forward to almost glare at them. “Can we eat our muffins in peace?”

And some of them start to leave, thank Gaia. As they’re leaving, he hears them whispering to each other. And if he wasn’t enhanced he wouldn’t have heard. But he does.

“I still don’t believe it. Have you ever seen them go on a date?” One of them whispers. 

“I still don’t think with all of Strife’s weirdness that he could actually get a date with Fair or any SOLDIER. Let’s be honest here.” Another one of them says. 

And okay. He wasn’t aware Cloud’s squadmates were total assholes. He is one hundred percent asking Cloud about that later. 

And why does everyone find that so hard to believe? But if they don’t believe it. Does that mean other people don’t believe it? Also, why is their view of Cloud so negative? 

And maybe because Zack’s slightly impulsive, just slightly, no matter what Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth say, only slightly.

He slings an arm over Cloud’s shoulder, half crushing him into a hug. “So, anyways, Cloudy. Date tonight, right?”

Cloud chokes on the muffin and he immediately starts violently coughing. 

Maybe he should have checked that one with Cloud first. But it's too late now. 

He pretends like he doesn’t see how Cloud’s squadmates turn and are openly staring. Maybe it’s vindictive and a little petty. And maybe he needs to spend less time around Genesis. But they’re all saying Cloud couldn’t date him! And Cloud totally could! 

Cloud’s head whips towards him, eyes huge and filled with total panic. His question sounds more like a shout than a question. “What?”

“What?” Zack asks, taking another bite of his half-eaten muffin. “I think I know a good restaurant we haven’t been to yet. Genesis mentioned it the other week. Also, you’re free from patrol tonight, right?”

Is Cloud choking on the snack or something because his entire face is turning red? Oh, maybe he’s embarrassed. Well, to be fair, all of his squadmates are staring at them now. But now they just look like idiots so the joke’s on them.

He pokes Cloud’s cheek. “Right? I thought you said you were free.”

Cloud buries his face in his hands, but even his ears are red. It’s kind of hilarious. 

Zack looks up at the squad, like he forgot they were there. “Don’t you guys have something else to do? Isn’t it lunchtime?”

And now those guys are scrambling away and actually leaving them alone. 

Once they are totally gone, Cloud lowers his hands even though his face isn’t any less red. “I’m never going to hear the end of that.” He says, like it's a slow march to a death sentence or something. 

“What?” The word is muffled because he’s eating another muffin. He thinks it’s a great idea. Now Cloud’s squadmates think they’re wrong, fake date means Angeal and Genesis won’t be suspicious of the cover story either. “It’ll be like a normal hang out under the secret cover of a date. Smart, right?”

Cloud slowly looks at him for a long, long moment. The moment lasts so long that Zack almost thinks he said something wrong. “Right.”

Zack grins. “Well, maybe I should’ve checked with you first?”

“Yeah,” Cloud says the word slowly. “Maybe. I’ll never hear the end of it now.”

Zack’s PHS buzzes. Oh crap. He was supposed to go train. He just knows that’s Angeal asking where he is. “I forgot I had training!” He jumps up and tries to brush off all of the dust from his uniform. He gives Cloud the rest of the snacks. 

“Gotta run! See you tonight!”

Cloud gives him the slowest, most unsure little wave. Zack enthusiastically waves goodbye and then he runs all the way to the training rooms.

Zack runs to the usual training room he and Angeal practice sword fighting and sparring in. It’s one of the last rooms in the hallway, all the way at the end. He swipes his ID card quickly and hops inside. 

“I wasn’t late this time!” He immediately clarifies the moment he sees Angeal standing in the middle of the room, talking to…Genesis?

He wasn’t expecting to see Genesis in the training room he was meeting Angeal in. But Genesis is sitting in a chair, his feet propped up on another chair. And reading Loveless. Because why wouldn’t he be reading Loveless in the middle of a training room?

How does he not get bored of reading that over and over?

Angeal waves a hand towards him as he’s putting on his gloves. “Ignore him. He’s avoiding Lazard.”

“I am reading an important piece of literature actually. Lazard’s forgettable mission assignments can wait until I have finished analyzing Act II,” Genesis says, flipping a page with way too much flair for just flipping a page. 

And that reminds Zack. He walks towards Genesis and tries to sound serious so Genesis will actually take him seriously. “By the way, dude, all of Shinra overheard you talking to Angeal about me and Cloud and now everyone knows.”

“And the issue here is?” Genesis flips another page of his book without even looking at Zack. Rude.

“And now Cloud’s squad are being jerks about it and keep pestering him with questions. Dude, you know how people get about First Class and all. I know I just got promoted but they were already being crazy about it,” Zack says, trying to emphasize he’s being serious about this. 

Genesis looks at him from behind his weirdly long bangs. “What were you expecting from dating someone within Shinra? Of course people are going to pester, unfortunately you will come into contact with fools who live on gossip.”

“They’re not just gossiping,” Zack says, making some gestures that he hopes conveys his seriousness. “They were being downright jerks about it. Specifically to Cloud.”

“Of course you would be an overprotective partner.” Genesis rolls his eyes, focusing back on his Loveless book. “Focus on your training and let me read, Fair.”

And he tries, he does. But he keeps thinking about what Cloud’s squadmates were saying and what he did in response. 

So, he shuffles back over to Angeal so they can spar. They’re not using the VR system today, so he can work on his sword skills. 

Even when he and Angeal have been sparring with swords for a bit, he keeps thinking about what Cloud’s squadmates said. He goes to block one of Angeal’s swings and misses. It almost hits him in the head, but Angeal is able to stop his sword before any kind of accident actually happens. 

Angeal lowers his sword, frowning and Zack already knows he’s going to say something about it. Which is fair. “Zack, pay attention. If you’re not paying attention, you’re going to get hurt.”

He’s trying! He really is! But it's hard to focus when he keeps thinking so much.

Zack pauses where he’s holding his sword in the middle of the training room, frowning at it for a second. He starts, “So…”

Angeal immediately looks at him, a little weary as he lowers his sword—not buster sword, but his other sword. “Zack, what did you do?”

“Maybe I didn’t do anything!”

Angeal raises an eyebrow. “Whenever you start a sentence with that tone, it means you did something. Usually something not good. So, what did you do?”

Zack gives up on trying. He leans on the butt of his sword. “So, I think I might have made a mistake?”

“Alright?”

He sighs and then throws his hands up in the air.  “Okay, but just so you know, it made perfect sense at the time though!”

Now Angeal furrows his brows, looking more and more concerned. “Whatever you did, is there anyone injured or property damaged?”

“No!” Zack says, waving his hands. 

Not this time.

“Boring,” Genesis mutters. Angeal shoots him a look. 

“A mistake with Cloud!” Zack says, to just cut to the chase. And maybe he should’ve waited until later to say anything, because Genesis actually snaps Loveless closed and spins on the chair to face them, fully interested now. 

“Wow, you are so nosy, man,” Zack says because so far Genesis hadn’t reacted to anything Zack’s said until there’s potential drama. Really shows where his priorities are.

“Perhaps I’m still miffed that you kept a secret relationship for eleven months from all of us,” Genesis says, waving his hand flippantly. “Or I’m bored.”

Genesis is totally not bored. He was reading Loveless, but okay.

“So, because apparently all of Shinra knows now, Cloud’s squadmates were bothering him and asking a bunch of questions. And he panicked because they were being really mean to Cloud about it. And he texted me about it and I went to go talk to him.” 

Zack barely notices he’s pacing now. “I was trying to cheer him up and then his squadmates showed up.” 

Zack waves his arms around. “And they were being total jerks about it! And saying crap about Cloud! I didn’t know they were so mean, but I got kind of annoyed.” Zack says, shaking his head. “So, I started talking about planning a date for tonight. To kind of rub it in their faces, I guess.”

Angeal stares at him, as does Genesis. And for a second it reminds him how they’ve known each other for basically their entire lives. “Alright. I don’t know if I see a problem.”

“Because Cloud was freaking out!”

“Ah,” Angeal says, looking thoughtful now. “You did say, part of the reason you kept it secret was because he was nervous about making it public, right?”

Not actually true, but Angeal thinks it’s true. 

“Yeah and I wasn’t planning on all of Shinra knowing,” Zack says, rubbing the back of his head. “So, now I’m worried he’s going to be annoyed with me. But his squadmates were being downright assholes.”

“Language.” Angeal says, instantly. 

Oops. “Sorry.”

“Goddess help us,” Genesis mutters, almost too quietly to hear. He rubs at his forehead like he has a headache, which Zack is pretty sure he doesn’t. “Zackary Fair, perhaps you should have considered that if part of the reason you kept your relationship secret for eleven months , was that he might not be comfortable with his squad being aware. I assume he has to spend the rest of the day with them?”

Zack pauses. “Uh, yeah?”

“And they were ‘being jerks’ and now he has to spend the rest of the day with them, after your weird stunt?” Genesis says slowly, as if he is trying to explain something to a child. “You continue to live up to your nickname every day. It should be embarrassing.”

“Hey!” Zack sighs then, throwing his hands up. “I don’t know what else I was supposed to do! They were making fun of him!”

“What exactly do you mean?” Angeal asks, his expression changing to the serious one. The same look that Zack and his old squadmates called the “Dadeal Hewley Look.” 

Zack tells them what the guys said, but mostly their tone. “And he’s never mentioned this before! So I was surprised. And also kinda worried.”

“Just talk to him about it,” Angeal says, like it’s that simple. “If you’re worried he’s upset, it’s better to be upfront about it then avoiding it. Communication is important. And next time, maybe take a few extra seconds to think through something.”

“If something this small causes so many issues,” Genesis says, reopening his Loveless copy. “No wonder the two of you are in couples therapy.”

Angeal shoots him a look, disapproving. “Genesis.”

“What? Am I wrong?’

Angeal sighs. 

Somehow, he manages to leave his apartment on time for his first ‘date’ with Cloud. He’s run-walking down the hallway when the door to Genesis’s apartment opens and he has a half second to wave at Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth in the doorway. He was planning on continuing to run, but he’s brought to a sudden, sharp stop by someone. 

Genesis is grabbing the back of his shirt, holding him still. “What in the Goddess’s name are you wearing! Do you truly put no effort into your appearance?” 

“Huh?” Zack looks down at himself. He’s wearing totally normal clothes. Not even sweatpants. Just jeans and a t-shirt. A normal outfit. “I’m just wearing normal clothes?”

Genesis’s grip on the back of his shirt tightens. “At least make an attempt! Angeal, Sephiroth, back me up here!”

Angeal glances wearily at him, but he doesn’t look nearly as bothered as Genesis. “Isn’t that what you normally wear?”

“Yeah?” Zack says, because it is. He normally wears this if he isn’t sleeping or not in uniform. He’s just hanging out with Cloud. It’s no big deal, he wants to say. “Why are you freaking out?”

Genesis gestures at him with one hand like the sight of Zack was offensive to his eyes. “You wear this for your dates?”

Oh. Right. 

They think it’s a date. He didn’t even think about dressing up or something like that. Should he have dressed up? Will Cloud be dressed up?

Genesis’s suspicious look only continues, Angeal looks more concerned the longer Zack isn't saying anything, Sephiroth is just observing silently behind them. 

“Ohhh, yeah, it’s just a super casual date, you know how it is.” That was super convincing. 

Genesis’s eyes narrow at him. “No. I do not. Do you think I would ever have a ‘casual’ date, who do you think I am? I would sooner be caught with a Fifth Edition Edited Version of Loveless than I would dress like that . ” 

But he releases the back of Zack’s shirt. And he’s not really sure what the Fifth Edition Edited Version of Loveless is, but it sounds like a Genesis insult. 

Zack takes a couple seconds to fix his shirt. “You don’t have to act like I’m an actual puppy, man. You totally stretched this out. I’ve had this for years!”

“And you are wearing a stretched out shirt for a date!” Genesis says, throwing his hands up in the air. “Don’t you own anything nicer?”

“Casual! I said it’s casual!” Zack says, fixing his shirt again. Man, he really hopes this isn’t ruined. He loves this shirt. “We’re just going to a diner. Not like a fancy restaurant or anything. Also, where are you all going anyway?”

Because now that he looks at the three of them, they’re all still dressed in their uniforms even though he thought they had tonight off. 

“We have a meeting with Lazard, Shinra management, and the president’s assistant to go over the initial results of the SCS program.” Sephiroth says, simply. “Unfortunately, they decided to schedule it in the evening.”

“Ew,” Zack cringes instantly. “That majorly sucks.”

Thank Gaia he wasn’t required at this meeting.

“Zack, I am going to die .” 

“You can do it, Cloudy!” Zack says, patting his back forcefully. “I know it’s kind of crazy, but it’s working so far and I feel if Angeal found out that I lied now I’d die. I’m pretty sure I would be the one between us to actually die.”

He crunches on some fries and cheese sauce. It has a good amount of spices mixed in, almost as spicy as Gongaga food usually is. Kinda makes him miss his little backwater town.

He likes this diner, Sal’s Midgar Diner, it’s off the Shinra HQ grounds and it’s open until four in the morning. It’s one of the best places to grab food after a really late mission. The whole place is supposed to have a retro-futuristic look to it, but it’s been years since anything’s been updated so it looks kind of dated now. 

He loves it. 

One of his first friends in the SOLDIER program showed it to him and also showed him the amazing, delicious cheesy fries that are only two gil. The price hasn’t changed in two decades. Hands down the best place in Midgar.

Plus, Sal, the sixty year old guy who owns the place isn’t afraid of adding quadruple the amount of chili flakes into the cheesy fries for Zack.

Whenever he and Cloud come here, they always sit at the same booth in the far right corner. The booth is bright orange and there are glowing lights right above the table so the lighting is always good here. And Sal always leaves an extra bottle of hot sauce for Zack at the table. Love that guy.

Cloud dips a fry into the cheese and then quietly speaks. “Zack, is there a reason you really don’t want Commander Hewley to know that you didn’t sign up for therapy?”

Oh man. 

Zack grabs the bottle of hot sauce and pours a whole bunch extra on the cheesy fries. What does he even say to that?

Zack sighs, leaning back up against the booth. The orange leather squeaks with the movement. “I really don’t want to let down Angeal, I guess? He’s been trying hard to help me get better at stuff like remembering. And I have been doing better. And he’s worked really, really hard to get the SCS program set up. And I promised him I’d use it.”

Cloud dips another fry, but doesn’t eat it. “I didn’t want to ask earlier, but is there a reason he’s so insistent about it? I get it if you don’t want to talk about it, but…”

Zack slides down his seat, miserably. So Cloud noticed. “Well, I haven’t really talked about it, because I don’t really know. But I’ve been having problems sleeping.”

Cloud furrows his brows and frowns a little. “You are? I mean, I noticed you’ve been saying you haven’t been sleeping well recently. But how bad?” 

“Pretty bad, I guess. A lot’s been going on with missions.” Zack glances around but they’re the only people on this side of the diner and Sal’s in the back right now. Still, he lowers his voice slightly. “Guess I’ve been realizing that Shinra isn’t as great and honest as I thought they were and that SOLDIER isn’t the epitome of honor like I hoped.”

Cloud nods a little, kind of serious and solemn at that.

They don’t always talk about the problems with Shinra, but Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth have been talking about it a lot recently. It was sort of hard to believe at first when Angeal sat him down with Genesis and Sephiroth to tell him about the not-so-great parts of Shinra. 

Especially after his problems with sleeping started to get worse.

The SCS program had been a result of one of those talks and a way for Angeal to feel like he’s doing something good at Shinra. 

Zack frowns and he has to look away. “And Angeal’s been worried about me. So I promised, months ago, that I would sign up for counseling when the SCS program got approved. But yeah, sleeping’s been a problem. For a while.”

Cloud doesn’t say anything and that’s okay, because he knows Cloud’s just thinking of what to say. 

Zack shrugs because he’s not sure what else to say. “So I really don’t want to let him down and I figure even fake couples therapy is better than nothing.”

Cloud nods, looking more understanding now. “It makes sense. Maybe we can find a way for you to talk to the therapist about the sleeping problems. So you can still talk to someone about it even if you have to wait ten months for individual sessions.”

It’s the most genius idea he’s heard. 

He crushes Cloud into a hug. “That’s an awesome idea, Spikey! Seriously, thank you for helping me with this! I know this whole thing is insane and all, but I really do appreciate it!”

Cloud looks away, picking at the sleeve of his shirt. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“Well,” Zack figures this is a good time to talk like Angeal said he should. “You know how your squadmates were being total jerks earlier and all? And you were worried about it? I just wanted to let you know that I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

Like Angeal said, communication is important and all he needs to do is talk to Cloud. Because he really didn’t want to upset him or hurt his feelings or make life harder for him in the infantry.

“I wasn’t really thinking about if your squad was gonna be weird about it or anything,” Zack says, and takes a giant bite of cheesy fries. “But they were being horrible to you! And like, even though we’re pretending and all, it’s totally messed up for them to assume we couldn’t be a thing, you know?”

Sometimes Cloud’s expressions are really hard to understand and Zack would consider himself an expert in people and their emotions. He has to be! But sometimes he wishes he could just read Cloud’s brain because he just knows Cloud’s thinking way more than he’s saying. Especially right now. 

Cloud looks back down at his food, propping his head up with one hand. Then he shrugs. “I guess. I mean, it’s not like it’s new or anything.”

“What’s not new? Because if they’ve always been that way then I take back everything I said about how you should try and be friends with them. Because clearly those guys aren’t worth being friends with.” Zack says, with gusto and feeling. 

Cloud snorts and messes with the green straw in his drink and stirs it. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

It sounds…sort of sad. Like he’s okay with his squad all being mean towards him. And that is unacceptable. Cloud’s awesome! Sure, he’s more shy than other people but there’s nothing wrong with that.

“It’s a big deal to me ,” Zack says, trying to emphasize that it’s not okay his squad members apparently suck. “You’re my best friend, man. I had no idea your squadmates were like that.”

Cloud shrugs. “They’ve been like that since I enlisted.”

“Seriously?” 

He shrugs again, like it’s normal. “Guess I was just a little too weird.”

“If you’re weird, then I’m weird.” Zack seriously can’t believe this. “Dude, I’m really sorry that I kept telling you to be friends with all of them. And you’re not weird! Also weird isn’t a bad thing! People call me weird all the time and also, like, all of the First Class could be considered weird.”

Cloud snorts and shakes his head. “Except I’m not a First Class. Obviously. Zack, it’s really not a big deal or anything. I’m used to it after Nibelheim.”

“Not on my watch!” Zack shouts, maybe just a little too loud and he reaches across the table to grab Cloud’s shoulders. “It’s okay because I’ll make sure you become friends with the Firsts Trio! Angeal definitely won’t stand for your squad acting like that.”

Now Cloud looks panicked. “I never said anything about being friends with the Firsts, Zack. They’re my commanding officers. Also, they’re more likely to figure out the whole couples therapy thing if they interact with me more often.”

“Well, I’m not going to do nothing,” Zack says, “Especially if your squad is going to be even more of jerks because I did the whole ‘let’s go on a date’ thing earlier today and all. Cause it’ll be my fault if they start hounding you or mocking you or anything like that.”

“Zack, I’m not worried about that.” Cloud says and he feels like there’s more to it than that, but like a lot of the times with Cloud, he doesn’t explain anymore than that. Literally, he would pay some serious gil to be able to read his best friend’s mind.

“Plus, Angeal already said I needed to bring you around more and all.” Zack adds on. “You kinda gotta go so they don’t figure out the whole couples therapy situation.”

Maybe that will help Cloud actually accept some form of help. Sure, Cloud never outright says he’s lonely or anything like that, but it has to be somewhat lonely—not being able to be friends with his squad who he’s forced to spend all of his time around.

“Zack, you can let go of my shoulders now,” Cloud says, looking to where Zack’s still holding onto Cloud’s shoulders. Oops. Forgot about that. 

He lets go and sits back down on his side of the booth. “All I’m saying is that just cause you were ‘used to it’ in Nibelheim doesn’t mean it has to be like that here. Plus, there’s one big difference between Nibelheim and here.”

Cloud raises a singular eyebrow. “And what’s that?”

“I’m here!” Zack grins widely and picks up the bottle of hot sauce. “As your secret weapon!”

Cloud stares at him, blinking rapidly and apparently unable to think of what to say. 

Zack points at his cheesy fries. “Are you gonna finish those?”

Angeal: Sephiroth, has Professor Hojo sent his follow-up email at all?

Sephiroth: Strangely, no. It is almost unnerving.

Genesis: I bet the rat is waiting to ambush Seph in person. 

Sephiroth: If I say he took me by surprise and he was spontaneously injured would the Shinra administration believe me?

Angeal: And would people believe that the general of SOLDIER was taken by surprise?

Sephiroth: Even SOLDIERS have off-days.

Genesis: You know, there’s no way to know unless you try.

Sephiroth: An excellent point. The scientific method does include testing as a crucial step.

Genesis: Exactly. You already have your hypothesis, you may as well begin testing it.

Angeal: Please no stabbing or impaling for the day.

Angeal: I’m trying to figure out how to approach this and see if there’s a way I can make it possible for Seph to be approved or override Professor Hojo’s authority. If either of you have any ideas I would appreciate hearing them. 

Genesis: Ifrit.

Angeal: No. 

Genesis: Fire. 

Angeal: Also no.

Genesis: Sephiroth. 

Angeal: I’m not even sure what that would entail, but no.

Genesis: Big sword. Stabbing. Impaling. Deeply repressed anger and parental issues being released. Rightful vengeance. The Sephiroth building blocks.

Sephiroth: I do not have repressed anger.

Genesis: Oh please, darling. It’s okay to be honest with yourself. You have every reason to have anger issues. I say it without judgement. If anything, I think you shouldn’t repress it.

Sephiroth: I am simply waiting. It is not repressed. I am well aware.

Genesis: Oh?

Angeal: Please do not destroy, burn, blow up, stab, summon, use unauthorized materia, or impale anything unless you want to deal with the paperwork and lectures from Lazard and admins. Please and thank you. Now, do either of you have any actual ideas for how to work around Professor Hojo’s orders?

Genesis: Simply don’t obey them. Just have Seph sign up for sessions without Hojo’s approval, fake a document, I don’t know. We don’t have to bureaucracy our way into getting it approved.

Sephiroth: If the SCS program will not allow it, considering they already received Professor Hojo’s warning, then none of that would matter.

Angeal: The only thing I can think of is convincing the SCS department to ignore Professor Hojo’s warning based on the policy approved by the president. The policy does specify that ‘all SOLDIER members, of all classes, as well as military personnel regardless of rank and seniority are eligible to use the Shinra Counseling Services.”

Angeal: Which would include Seph.

Genesis: Are you reading the actual policy right now?

Angeal: I might be able to talk to Katie about it, but I don’t know.

Angeal: Yes, it’s the policy. Well, part of it. For some reason I haven’t been able to find a copy of the full text anywhere I can access. I also can’t find my physical copy in my office.

Genesis: That is strange. 

Genesis: I bet you 500 gil that Hojo interfered somehow. 

Angeal: If that were true, it means there’s something in the policy that Professor Hojo doesn’t want us to know or read.

Genesis: Well, then, it sounds like we need to find a full copy of the policy.

Sephiroth: I will see if I have clearance. 

Genesis: If not, I say we break into the Turk’s office and their computers. One of them is bound to have access to it. Tseng maybe.

Angeal: It’s a start.

Genesis: You’re on board with breaking into someone’s office? Angeal? My Angeal?

Angeal: This is a serious matter, not a prank, so in this case, yes. I’m done with Professor Hojo and Shinra interfering with our lives, all we were trying to do is sign Sephiroth up for therapy. The fact he felt the need to interfere has crossed a line.

Genesis: Have I ever mentioned that I find it very attractive when you are angry?

Angeal: *That’s* what you took from what I said?

Sephiroth: I appreciate that. But I also agree with Genesis.

Genesis: You just know he’s sighing wherever he is right now. But he should know by now that I will never not speak my mind, even in trying times such as these. But I am glad to hear we are on the same page, Seph.

“It was so crazy, Aerith, the whole day actually.” Zack says, pacing from one end of his apartment to the other while talking on his PHS. He stops to pick up an armful of the jackets on the ground and he moves them into his room, dumping them onto the bed he totally forgot to make this morning. “And Genesis pretty much ruined my shirt! For no reason!”

After he and Cloud got back to HQ, Cloud had gone back to his bunk and Zack went back to his apartment. And he remembered he promised Aerith he would call her tonight so here he is.

He pauses. Wow, he really needs to get rid of all of those old water bottles. His nightstand is covered in them. He walks around his bed, scooping up a bunch of them. “I’ve had it since I lived in Gongaga. Can you believe that?”

He walks into the kitchen, dumping the old water bottles into the trash. Aerith laughs. “Just like stopping a puppy from running away.”

“I’m not a puppy though!” 

It’s hard arguing with Aerith about it. Ever since he told her about the nickname, she’s decided it’s hilarious. 

Zack stops. Seriously, how many old food containers did he leave in the sink? He scratches at his head. “And I can’t believe you’ve joined this bandwagon now too.”

She laughs again. “I think it’s pretty accurate though.”

He’ll wash them later. Oh and he needs to return the containers to Angeal. He turns to his fridge where he has a set of sticky notes and a pen. There’s a bunch of ripped off sticky notes already stuck to the front metal part, all reminders. He scribbles down another reminder and adds it to the rest of them. 

“I can’t believe Angeal’s done this to me,” He says with an exaggerated sigh. 

“So,” She starts, already sounding like she’s teasing. “How did the date go with Cloud?”

Zack was about to sit down on the couch and then he sees the other half of the jacket pile. Oh yeah he was going to clean that up. “Best hang out disguised as a fake date I’ve ever been on,” He says, picking up the rest of the jackets.

“Uh huh,” Aerith says, like she knows something and she’s not telling him. But she does that a lot so he usually doesn't think too much about it.

But what is there to even tease him about?

Sometimes Aerith just seems to know things and he’s learned to just go with it when she does. Because a lot of the time, she doesn’t explain what she knows to him, saying he ‘needs to figure it out on his own.’ She kept saying that a whole bunch when he explained the whole origin of this fake couples therapy situation. At least, after she stopped laughing.

He’s not really sure what he needs to figure out on his own, but he’ll trust her on it.

He tosses the jackets onto his bed with the rest. “Got really good fries with a spicy cheese sauce. It was almost like the sauces my mom made in Gongaga. We totally have to go sometime!”

“Sure! Though I don’t know if I’m a big fan of spicy foods,” Aerith says, “But I’ll try it out.”

“Oh man, it’s so good. The guy who owns the diner, Sal, I’ve totally mentioned him before, makes the cheese sauce with extra chili flakes and stuff. That guy really knows how to cook. I wonder if he’s from Gongaga.”

Aerith laughs some more. “I think it would’ve been mentioned by now if he was also from Gongaga.”

"Yeah, you're probably right. But a guy can dream!"

“So,” Aerith says, curiously, “What else did you think about your date with Cloud? Anything new?”

Zack shrugs even if Aerith can’t see him. “I don’t know, it wasn’t really a date. We just did what we always do when we hang out at Sal’s.”

Aerith almost sounds disappointed. Why would she be disappointed? “Nothing at all?”

“Uh? No? What would be new anyway?” Zack grabs the last container of food Angeal gave him, sticking it in the microwave to warm up. He watches it slowly spin through the door.

Aerith almost sounds like she’s sighing. Is she sighing at him? “This is going to take a while, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing!” Aerith says cheerfully, “But I have to go now! I’ll talk to you tomorrow!”

 “Bye!” He says, before the call ends. And he closes his PHS and glances around his apartment. Well, partly cleaned up. He can do the rest tomorrow. He should probably try to sleep. 

Angeal’s tips on cleaning while he’s doing other things really helped. It didn’t even feel like a chore. 

Zack: I tried doing that thing you suggested and boy did using a PHS call make cleaning up my apartment not feel like a chore. Thanks!! You’re the best, Angeal!!

Angeal: Stop texting me.

Zack stares down at his PHS. What in the world? 

Zack: Uhh Angeal?

Angeal: I am trying to spend time with my partners right now. Stop texting me.

He looks at his PHS for a moment and then sighs. 

Zack: Genesis, did you steal his PHS?

Angeal: No, this is Angeal. Clearly.

Zack: Okay sure man but Angeal wouldn’t be that mean to me

Zack: Also he calls you and Sephiroth boyfriends more than partners. You always say partners 

Angeal: I have no idea what you speak of. 

Zack: That’s exactly how you normally talk/text! You’re clearly Genesis!

Angeal: Perhaps you should consider that I wish to have some peace and quiet before I have a mission tomorrow and will not see my partners for a while.

Zack: Are you guys watching a movie without me??

Angeal: Sorry, I took my PHS back from him. Ignore Genesis. I’m glad the suggestion helped you. I don’t actually have a long mission tomorrow, he wanted to recite Loveless to us.

Zack: Yeah sounds about right lol

Zack changes into pajamas and proceeds to stare at his blank ceiling. Even as busy as today was, he doesn’t feel like sleeping. Well, part of him does, but another part just refuses to sleep at all. So he stares up at the ceiling and imagines something to help him sleep. 

Sheep? 

No. That’s cliché and doesn't actually work. 

He rolls over and squishes a pillow. Then he opens his PHS back up, checking messages and emails. There’s nothing much. A couple messages from Kunsel asking about the dating situation with Cloud. Right, he’ll need to tell him about that. Probably in person.

He keeps scrolling. And scrolling. But nothing is really interesting or even entertaining. 

And then he tosses the PHS onto the top of his blanket. Maybe he should try reading something. Or try sleeping. 

So he lays there, closes his eyes, and lays still. 

A pretty good day overall, except maybe Genesis yelling at him and when he thought that maybe Cloud was annoyed at him and all of Shinra thinking he and Cloud are actually dating. The last thing isn’t terrible. Just he feels bad about it. 

He seriously owes Cloudy majorly for putting up with this.

He rolls over to his other side. 

Those squadmates were basically mocking Cloud. Are they always like that? If that’s the case, he sort of feels bad encouraging Cloud to make friends with his squadmates this whole time. Those guys would make terrible friends. Friends shouldn’t act like that towards you. Except for Genesis, he gets a pass. Mostly because Zack’s pretty sure Genesis does actually care; he just has the weirdest way of showing it. Like an alleycat or something.

Plus Cloud totally managed to avoid talking about if his squad is always that bad or worse. But he’s getting the impression they always are. Which sucks. He was pretty good friends with his squad, so he thought Cloud could be too, even if he’s always hesitant. But now it makes sense why he’s hesitant. 

His original squadmates aren’t here. Or half of them aren’t anymore.

He lays there and opens his eyes.

He sighs. 

And then he thinks about his upcoming mission. He’s assigned to go with two Third Class SOLDIERS. Which should make it a safe mission, but there’s still that constant, persistent worry that something is going to go wrong in the back of his mind. That never happened when he was a Third Class SOLDIER. He just went on missions and it was fine. 

But a lot has happened since then.

He sighs and shoves his face into a pillow. There has to be a way for him to just stop thinking so he can sleep. He needs to get more sleep. 

And not worry about the nightmares that come with eventual sleep either.

He lays there for so long he almost considers just getting out of bed and getting ready for the day like it’s already morning. 

Somehow, he falls asleep for a bit.

When he wakes up, gasping for air and covered in sweat and a panic, he can’t even remember what the nightmare was about. All he remembers is being scared and someone dying.

He falls back against his bed and stares up at the ceiling. His heart races in his chest, harder than it does even when he’s been running long distances and at his top speed during missions. He feels gross and coated in sweat. Not even a cold sweat. He feels like someone dropped him back in Gongaga in the middle of a humid summer day.

So he gets out of bed, ignoring the need to sleep. There’s no point when he’ll just have another nightmare. Squats it is.

It’s fine. 

He knows how to do squats. He doesn’t have to think much when he does them.

Chapter Text

Even though he’s dragging by the time it’s bright outside from lack of sleep, getting his favorite type of text from Angeal makes him feel somewhat better. 

Angeal: I have leftovers if you want them.

Zack: Of course I do!!!! I’ll be right over!! 

As he shuffles his way to the door and remembers to actually put shoes on, he tries to be happy he doesn't have anything to do until nighttime. Maybe a nap would help? Even though he knows that’s not going to happen. 

Angeal: You’re up early again. Did you change your sleep schedule or did you barely sleep again?

He misses that message.

He knocks on Angeal’s door rapidly and then lets himself inside. He ducks underneath the plant (Robbie? No. That’s a bad name for a plant). He really needs to get around to naming that thing. It feels rude to keep calling it ‘thing.’ And he kicks off his shoes. 

“Morning! I heard there’s leftovers?” 

Like usual in the mornings when there’s nothing urgent to do, Genesis is stretched out on the couch like he owns it and he might as well at this point. Zack’s pretty sure he uses the couch more than Angeal. A Loveless copy over his face. Yeah, a pretty typical scene. 

“I can’t believe you tried to pretend you were Angeal. Not cool, man,” Zack says, walking into the living room area and onto the green rug Angeal has that covers up the otherwise freezing cold tiles. Makes it feel a lot more homey too.

Genesis huffs and Zack can perfectly imagine the face he’s making behind that book. “I know not what you speak of, Fair.”

“Okay, sure.” Zack looks around the apartment and there’s a notable member of the Firsts Trio missing. “Is Sephiroth already working?”

Angeal comes out of the kitchen and he’s carrying three of his nice glass food containers and all of them are filled with food. He’s already wearing his uniform, even this early in the morning. “Unfortunately, he was sent on a last minute mission this morning.”

“Really? It must’ve been super early.” Zack takes the containers from Angeal. These are worth more than any amount of gil—a lesson he’s learned after years of Shinra-issued food. “Thanks!”

“Of course.” Angeal says, then sighs, “Sephiroth’s been gone for three hours already.”

“I think Hojo did something to his internal clock. He wakes up at the exact same time, every single day. No matter what,” Genesis says, his voice slightly muffled by the book. This one has a green cover and a faded illustration of something from it. “ The wandering soul knows no rest .”

Great. Loveless quotes.

At least he assumes it’s from Loveless. He only made it part way through Act I before it got too confusing and the copy Genesis gave him three years ago got lost between moving from Third Class and First Class apartments. It’s somewhere . He thinks.

“He’s diligent,” Angeal says. “He always has been.”

“No one’s that diligent.” Genesis huffs and says nothing else. 

Angeal turns back to Zack, going from his usual expression to concern. Which seems maybe too early for that? Why is he concerned? “Did you see my message?”

He blinks. “Uh? Yeah? I’m here for leftovers?”

“I sent a second one. But I’ll take that as no then,” Angeal says and pulls out a chair at the kitchen table right beside the long couch Genesis is laying out on.

Oh no. Did he do something?

Zack balances all of the containers in one arm and flips open his PHS. And look at that, there is a second message that he missed. “Oh. Uh, yeah I didn't see that one.”

Angeal looks expectantly at him. Zack sighs. “Yeah, I didn’t sleep. Well, I think I got like four hours of sleep. So an improvement.”

“Four hours is an improvement?” Genesis lifts the edge of the Loveless book, making a stunned face. “Have you considered that your relationship problems are from your chronic lack of sleep? It can lead to irritability, mood swings, and in extreme cases, even personality changes.”

“That’s not…” He just trails off because he can’t tell them he and Cloud aren’t going to couples therapy for real. But that could make sense. Keeping things vague seems like the best idea. “I don’t know, man. You’re way too focused on this whole thing.”

Genesis lowers the book. “Use your brain and imagination. Imagine if you learned Angeal had a fourth partner, whom he kept secret from you for almost an entire year. Then, announced it by saying he was going to couples therapy with said partner and then refused to elaborate. Imagine it.”

Zack does actually wince a little at that and he rubs at the back of his head. “When you put it like that…”

“Exactly. Now imagine that actually happening.”

“I mean, I definitely get that you care and feel hurt that I didn’t tell you sooner,” Zack says, not able to stop himself from grinning a little.

Genesis sits upright and gestures violently with the Loveless book at him. “You are missing my point entirely!”

“I thought that was pretty clear.” He looks to Angeal. “Right?”

“Do not answer him!”

Angeal shrugs. “I actually have to agree with Zack on that one.”

Genesis says something that sounds like a Loveless quote. And lays back down on the couch in a huff. “Betrayal of the highest level. Siding with the puppy .”

Genesis immediately sits back up because he never runs out of things to say. “Have you considered that I find it all very amusing? Not that I was hurt? I also have a sizable amount of gil laying in the wait depending on how this relationship unfolds.”

“I still can’t believe you guys had bets on that!” And he can’t say why exactly he thinks that’s unbelievable. But seriously, to have bets over it? “You didn’t even know we were dating!”

“It was obvious!” Genesis jabs a finger in his general direction. “In every singular way you interacted, it was obvious. Though we had thought you were oblivious to your own feelings for your chocobo which apparently wasn’t true. You were just a bad actor in actuality.”

He hugs the food containers closer. “It wasn’t obvious!” There was nothing to be obvious about anyway. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“I could make an alphabetical, itemized list detailing how obvious you were, but I think that might be too embarrassing for you!” Genesis leans over the back of the couch to talk to them. “If anything, you were so obvious, I was more unsure about your chocobo and his feelings!”

“How many times are we going to have this conversation?” Angeal asks no one in particular.

“As many times as it takes for it to get through your puppy’s brain.”

Zack makes a face. “Huh, what are you even talking about? Cloudy isn’t—”

Genesis leans forward. “Isn’t what? Obvious? Clearly, because I was starting to think you had a subconscious, unrequired crush on him. Truly, it would have been the drama of a lifetime. Even the garbage Shinra-sponsored soap operas would struggle to make something that convoluted.”

He decides not to address whatever weird scenario Genesis conducted in his own crazy Loveless-inspired imagination. “So you do watch those soap operas?”

“No!” Genesis leans so far forward, Zack almost thinks he is going to fall off the couch. “Why do you keep missing my points entirely? Are you doing it on purpose? You cannot truly be that dense, can you?”

“Okay,” Angeal says, putting down his gardening magazine. “I think that’s enough harassing Zack over his relationship. He’s already told us that Cloud wanted to keep things private, especially considering that Zack is a First now. We should respect that.”

Genesis sighs. “I was hoping his lack of sleep would make him more susceptible to giving real answers. Alas.”

Zack looks at him. “Seriously, man?”

Genesis doesn’t even give him a response, just goes back to reading his book. 

He really wants to say that Genesis was the one who misinterpreted that whole thing. He’s never had feelings for Cloud!

“Zack,” Angeal starts, “Why don’t you try to get some more sleep before you have to report to Lazard. I’m pretty sure you have a two-day mission this time.”

Zack goes back to his apartment. He doesn’t get any more sleep, but he doesn’t tell Angeal that.

Instead of sleeping, he ends up working out in his room until it’s time for him to report to Lazard for his mission details. Part of him really doesn’t want to go on the mission, but he kind of has to. Even though he feels like he’s dragging himself all the way to Lazard’s office, to the helicopter pad where he’s heading off. 

The mission doesn’t end up being two days, thankfully and he is happy about that. But when he’s flying back into Midgar, he gets an email from Lazard informing since his mission didn’t end up being as long as they thought it would be, he’ll be sent back out tomorrow. 

Twelve hours before he reports back to Lazard.

He tries sleeping on the helicopter ride back, but he ends up just thinking about his mission over and over. Were those civilians who got injured going to be okay? Were they injured because of him? Maybe if he had been faster he could have helped them sooner.

What’s the point of all the mako if he isn’t fast enough to actually help people?

When he’s back, he’ll try to take a nap real quick before he reports in. No, wait, he needs to submit a report about his mission first. Normally, there’s about a fifteen hour period after a mission to submit a summary report, but since Zack’s leaving in twelve hours he’ll have to do it sooner. 

That majorly sucks.

Maybe he can just skip submitting it? But then again, he’s already caused enough problems by avoiding doing things he’s supposed to (not signing up for SCS, taxes, pay raises).

He’ll just do that as quickly as possible and crash for a couple hours. And eat the leftovers Angeal gave him this morning. Then he can sleep.

Now, Zack trudges into the hallway where Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis’s offices are located. Angeal and Genesis’s office lights are out, so they aren’t in right now. But the lights are on in Sephiroth’s at least.

Did he get back from his last minute mission already?

Zack knocks a couple of times. Just the motion of raising his arm makes him consider asking Lazard to let him skip the second mission. “Hey, man. Can I drop off this summary report here cause Angeal and Genesis aren’t in their offices right now?”

“You can come in, Zack,” Sephiroth says from inside. 

Zack opens the door and steps inside and hopes he doesn’t look nearly as tired as he feels. Sephiroth might tell Angeal, who’ll be worried about him even more. And hasn’t Angeal been worrying about him and helping him enough as it is? Sure, in the past Angeal has insisted he doesn’t mind it, but still. 

Sephiroth is sitting behind his desk and typing something—probably his own mission report. Or maybe it’s something else for SOLDIER. It really seems like he has a never ending list of things to do.

“You’re back early from your mission,” Sephiroth comments, curiously. “I thought it was supposed to be for two days.”

“It was. But I guess I’m just that good!” Zack hopes he sounds as enthusiastic as possible, but it falls flat. So he just puts the report on Sephiroth’s desk. “Uh, apparently some intel was outdated and there were less monsters than expected. Also, didn’t you just leave for a mission?”

Sephiroth nods. “It wasn’t intended to be a long mission in the first place. I’m finishing some things up here before I go to dinner.”

Dinner.

He really, really tries not to imagine home cooked food right now.

Zack sighs. “Say hi for me. I’m gonna go crash. Got another mission in ten hours.”

Sephiroth furrows his brows slightly and picks up the summary report. “Already? That’s barely time to rest. You look exhausted.”

Zack winces. “That bad, huh?”

“I did not mean to be rude.” And he probably didn’t, Sephiroth is usually pretty blunt about things and normally that never bothers Zack, but he just doesn’t want to bother people. And if Sephiroth noticed, then he’s probably going to tell Angeal.

And it’s at that moment Zack notices the things that aren’t normally on Sephiroth’s desk. There’s a whole plant sitting there. But it’s not in a pot or anything. There’s just dirt and roots everywhere. There’s even a smear of dirt over the normally pristine desktop. 

Zack squints at it. Is he imagining this? “Uh, is there a plant on your desk or am I just hallucinating?”

“There is indeed,” Sephiroth says, like this is a normal, everyday occurrence. “It’s for Angeal.”

Zack has to rub at his eyes. “Why’s it just there like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s roots and stuff are out. Also there’s dirt everywhere.”

“I saw it during my mission. I thought Angeal would like it.” 

Zack looks from the plant that he’s pretty sure that Sephiroth just ripped out of the ground and back to the guy. Sephiroth seems like this is totally normal. You know what? Zack will just roll with it. 

“I’m sure Angeal will love it. He loves plants and stuff.”

Sephiroth nods and he looks very pleased about this. “I thought so too. I was unable to find anything to give Genesis though. Maybe I will listen to his Loveless theories for a few hours.”

Zack nods but part of him feels like he’s not even hearing anything that Sephiroth is saying right now. Honestly, all he wants to do is sleep.

Dude, he feels like he’s swimming or something. Like his limbs are floating but also too heavy. Yeah. It’s time for him to hit the hay.

“I’m gonna head out, man.” Zack gives him a sloppy salute that would have probably gotten him in trouble if he wasn’t also a First Class. “I gotta get some sleep.”

Sephiroth nods but Zack is already practically running out the door and all the way to the upper floors of Shinra HQ to his apartment. He practically inhales some of the leftovers Angeal gave him, not even bothering with warming them up. 

And then he flops onto his bed, still in his uniform.

And he falls asleep.

It starts out as a normal dream. 

He’s walking through Gongaga with all of his favorite people. His parents. Angeal. Aerith. Cloud. Sephiroth. Even Genesis. Kunsel is there too.

Zack’s pushing some vines to the side. Oh. He’s wearing his SOLDIER uniform now. But it’s his Third Class uniform. 

“This is a cool mission,” Dream-him says. But why are his parents, Aerith, and Cloud on a SOLDIER mission?

“Pay attention,” Someone says. Maybe it’s Angeal. It sounds like something he would say. Or maybe it was his parents.

The forest is dense. It’s too hot and too humid. It feels hard to breathe in it.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Dream-him says, laughing as he ducks under a low-hanging tree branch.

And then the forest around him is quiet. He looks over his shoulder. Everyone is gone. The forest clearing is empty. 

“Guys?” He looks around. 

Where did they go?

Then there’s people shouting and screaming his name. Aerith shouts for help. And he looks around. But there’s only trees. 

There’s the sound of monsters screeching and running through the underbrush. And a bloodcurdling scream.

Zack jolts awake.

It sounds like the screams echo. His mom shouting for him to help. The monsters.

He jumps out of bed, throwing his blankets off. It feels like he has a fever. Even his palms are sweaty and he wipes them on the blankets. 

What kind of messed up dream was that?

He tries taking several deep, deep breaths. 

It was just a nightmare. That’s all. A nightmare and everyone he knows is fine.

They’re fine. Everyone is okay.

But there’s no way he’s going to go back to sleep. He grabs his PHS. Three hours. Well, it’s better than nothing. 

It’s the middle of the night now and he has another seven hours to go before he’s sent out on his next mission.

And then he notices the messages underneath the time. 

Angeal: Are you feeling alright? Sephiroth said you looked ready to collapse when you stopped by his office. If you need me to, I can talk to Lazard about rescheduling this mission or postponing it by a day or finding some else to cover it. I don’t want you to go out in the field exhausted and more likely to make a mistake that could cause a serious issue.

He sinks back onto his bed, running a hand through his hair and sighing. Sephiroth really did tell him. But Zack’s awake now and there’s no chance he’s going to go back to sleep. Not when his heart’s still racing.

He might as well do something useful, so he heads down to the break room. And he marches straight to the SOLDIER and infantry coffee machines. 

He pours one cup and starts chugging it.

“Zack?”

He turns and sees Cloud taking off his helmet and walking up to him. It takes him a couple seconds too long to process that Cloud is standing beside him now. What time even it is? Is it already time for Cloud’s patrol?

“Heya, Cloudy!”

Cloud looks at the coffee cup and then up to Zack with a deeply, deeply concerned expression. “I thought you were going to be gone for two days?”

“Mission ended early.” Zack chugs another cup of black coffee in one go and he is reminded why he never drinks it. This stuff sucks.

Cloud watches as he tilts his head back to finish chugging it. “Oh. Did you just get back?”

“Nope. Have another mission in seven hours.”  Zack goes to pour another cup of coffee. 

“Uh,” Cloud is starting to sound  more concerned. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping or something then?”

“Oh, couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d get started early! Maybe get some training in or a workout.” He swirls the coffee and honestly this stuff looks like oil. Nothing that humans should actually be consuming. He takes another sip.

Gaia, that stuff is disgusting. 

Cloud furrows his brows, glances around the empty break room, and then hesitantly asks, “Is this because of the sleeping problems?”

Zack takes another sip of the coffee. “Yeah, man. Tried to sleep it off, but the mission didn’t help. But it’s okay! Got another busy day so I’ll probably be super tired after this mission and crash hard later.”

Cloud makes a face. “I don’t know if that’s the best way to deal with that actually.”

He shrugs. “Probably not, but I’ve gotta do something.” He takes another sip of coffee. 

“Does coffee even affect SOLDIERS?”

“Yeah, totally.” And then Zack stops to look at the sludge in his cup. Does it? “You know what? I have no idea. Well, I guess if alcohol doesn’t work on you then coffee wouldn’t either. Man, that’s disappointing.”

Now even coffee, the world’s savior of tired and exhausted humans, won’t work on him? Someone should have put that in the waivers Shinra made him sign before he started mako treatments.

“Are you going to make it through this mission?” Cloud asks, sounding on edge. That’s not good. 

Zack’s fine. Everything is fine. It’s just a little less sleep than he normally gets. No big deal. 

Zack rubs the back of his head and looks down at the paper cup of coffee in his hand. “Yeah, but I guess I still gotta finish the rest of this.”

“Don’t you like coffee?”

“No way, man!” Zack shakes his head and sticks out his tongue. “I was only drinking it cause I thought it’d help me stay awake and not be dragging for the mission. But I feel bad throwing it out.”

And Cloud reaches out and takes the paper cup from him. “Good thing I like black coffee then.” And he starts chugging it.

When Cloud tosses out the paper cup, for a moment Zack sees the Cloud in his nightmare. In a forest. Then monsters. 

Shouting for help. 

It’s fine. Everything is fine. That was just a nightmare. 

Cloud’s clearly not in a forest and there’s no monsters. They’re just at Shinra HQ. Everything is fine . 

He shoves his hands into the uniform pockets. They are not shaking. 

It’s fine. 

He’s fine.

When Zack gets back from the mission and he climbs out of the helicopter, Angeal’s waiting on the landing pad. And man, he’s really happy to see him. It still takes all of his soul to muster even some energy to wave at him. 

It takes too much energy for him to drag himself across the helipad. Every part of him is heavy, like something pressing down on him. Head too heavy. Arms weaker than when he didn’t have mako flowing through his body.

“Hi. Made it back alright,” Zack says, hoping he’s literally not dragging his feet too much from how tired he is. But he’s barely lifting up his feet from the ground, literally dragging them across the concrete. “No injuries, so don’t need to go to medical.”

Angeal nods, though the concerned look doesn’t leave. “I’m glad you’re not injured. I almost told Lazard to pull you from the mission. For now, let’s get you back to your apartment. You’re utterly exhausted. I’m telling Lazard no missions for at least seventy-two hours.”

While they’re walking off the helicopter pad, Angeal puts a hand on his back. And he’s actually glad Angeal’s doing that, cause he’s pretty sure he can’t walk in a straight line from how tired he is. Steadying. 

Seriously. He was pretty sure he was going to crash entirely before. Like fall over in front of everyone kind of tired. Which would have been one of the top five most embarrassing moments of his life. He’s supposed to be a First Class. Falling over would be the end of his career or something.

He feels weirdly wobbly and like he’s going to topple over. Why is his head heavy? Is that normal?

It takes him a few moments to realize they’re in an elevator now. When did they get in here? 

Angeal must have pushed the button. 

Zack leans against the metal side of the elevator. Angeal looks even more concerned now and he glances at Zack like he’s checking for injuries. 

“How much sleep did you get?”

Did he sleep?

Yeah. Before he was sent back out. 

He’s taking too long to answer, he knows. But his brain is closer to soup right now. 

Get it together, Fair. Right. How much sleep did he get?

“Uh, I don’t even know. Maybe like fivish hours or something?”

“Starting when?”

He rubs at his forehead. “Like over twenty-four hours for sure. I’m not sure.”

Angeal crosses his arms and he is clearly not happy about it. But he seems to have decided against lecturing. And when the elevator stops, Zack sort of sways with the movement. Angeal grabs his arm to steady him. He has to be supporting at least half of Zack’s weight now.

Thank Gaia for Angeal. 

“Come on,” Angeal says, quietly while leading him into the hallway.

Each step is like a full workout. 

He’s pretty sure this is the First Class floor. Maybe. All the hallways in HQ look the same. He better not have to write a summary report. It will not make sense. Not right now.

“Is that the stray?”

It takes him way, way too long to realize the other voice isn’t him or Angeal. 

And Genesis steps in front of him—waving a hand to get Zack’s attention but somehow more a blur of red than anything else. “What is wrong with him?”

Zack partly closes his eyes. “Back to back missions, man.”

Genesis leans towards him, observing Zack’s face way too close. “Ugh, your undereyes are atrocious. Please sleep so you don’t scare your chocobo.”

“Genesis,” Angeal says, under his breath and it sounds more chiding than usual. “This is not the time.”

There’s quiet in the hall for a moment and Zack is so, so tempted to just close his eyes. Angeal’s grip on him tightens. “Careful—do you need help?”

Oh. He’s just fully leaning on Angeal right now.

“Did he almost just fall asleep?”

“I told him to get rest.”

Zack blinks slowly a couple of times. “Sorry to interrupt guys, but I’m going to sleep. If I can.” 

And he goes into his apartment and immediately walks into his room. He kicks off his shoes and then falls face first into his bed. 

His beautiful, beautiful soft comfy bed.

He never wants to leave his bed. 

“I’m going to check on you in eight hours,” Angeal says from somewhere. “You can sleep longer than that if you want, but I’m still making sure you’re okay at that point. I’ll put extra food in the fridge. Call or text me if you need anything.”

Zack lifts up one arm to make the weakest, most pathetic thumbs up he’s ever done before. He hears his front door close. 

He doesn’t remember anything else.

Angeal closes the door to Zack’s apartment and he has to take a moment to collect himself. In the years he’s known Zack now, he hasn’t seen him that haggard or exhausted before. Even with the months and months of chronic sleep problems. 

He is going to talk to Lazard—though he doubts he was the one behind Zack’s back to back missions. Something tells him it might be more than that. He is not going to allow that to happen again. 

What if Zack had gotten injured during the mission from sleep exhaustion? 

“What is wrong with him?” Genesis asks, coming to stand beside him and looking at him like he could see Zack’s tired face through the doors and multiple walls. 

“What do you expect? They sent him out on back-to-back missions and he’s barely getting four hours of sleep per day,” Angeal says, frowning. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

Turning away from the door and heading back to his apartment, Angeal wants to finish cooking extra food to stock Zack’s fridge for him to eat whenever he wakes up. He’s fairly sure that Zack hadn’t been eating enough recently either, which is dangerous for a SOLDIER, especially a First Class SOLDIER.

“He looked ready to keel over,” Genesis comments, as they walk inside. “Ghastly looking. He cannot continue to not sleep the way he is and yet he does not seem to be attempting to remedy itt.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple, Gen,” Angeal says, taking off his uniform boots and leaving them by the door. He steps around the plants he’s been propagating for the past couple months and he’s especially careful around his Banora Apple Tree that he’s been desperately trying to grow a single apple from for years now. 

Plants don’t do well in Midgar. They don’t say that in the ads for SOLDIER, encouraging young people to travel all the way to Midgar to join.

Genesis follows him into the kitchen, hopping onto the counter beside his workspace as he slices vegetables. Of course, he makes sure to wash his hands. Even if normal bacteria and germs won’t affect SOLDIERS much, it’s the principle of the matter.

“Well, he is going to wish he admitted to it when he dies on a mission from total exhaustion,” Genesis says, which is harsh, a little too harsh. Also not an idea he wants to think about. “But he won’t be able to, because he will be dead.”

Angeal looks at him, frowning. “Gen—I won’t let Zack die from chronic lack of sleep. I’m going to talk to Lazard about it after I finish cooking and if I need to, I’ll take charge of what missions he’s sent on for the time being.”

Slicing the potatoes up into chunks, he scrapes them all into a bowl. “The Banora tea I ordered arrived today. I’ll give it to him when he wakes up. I think that should help.”

He looks like he’s thinking about it, then Genesis comments. “Will that help?”

“Of course it will.”

“I mean,” Genesis says, crossing his legs. “Perhaps part of his issue is mental, rather than physically not being able to sleep. Ever since that Junon mission, these issues have seemed to spring up from nowhere. Though, it is hard to know when he apparently decided to sign up for couples therapy for unknown reasons instead of dealing with a very real issue.”

While Genesis may be harsh in saying it, he isn’t wrong. Ever since Zack’s mission in Junon last year, these issues keep piling on. The first time Angeal witnessed Zack saying he was too tired for training, he knew something was wrong. 

It was Zack. He’s always had more energy than a whole squad of Third Class SOLDIERS put together. Sometimes when they would finish training, Zack would ask to keep working out—to the point Angeal told him to practice squats in a last ditch effort to get him to burn off energy. It only backfired and now Zack would do squats constantly, even years later.

So when Zack said he was too tired, even for warmups, Angeal had known something was wrong. And when it kept happening, he knew it was more serious than Zack was telling him.

“The stray looked ready to pass out,” Genesis says and he actually sounds…concerned. 

He can’t stop himself from smiling, just a little bit while he finishes slicing up garlic. “You do care about him,” Angeal says and hopes he doesn’t look too happy about that. 

Of course, Genesis, being the man he is, one that avoids being truthful about whether or not he likes Angeal’s ‘stray,’ does not like this observation. 

“It has nothing to do with that!” Genesis says, in a way that simply makes Angeal more confident that he does actually care. “I am simply correct in my observations of your little stray. I am starting to think he signed up for couples therapy as a way to avoid real, more pressing issues. For someone who jumps into things impulsively all the time, he seems very set on avoiding certain problems.”

Angeal grins a little, while he pours the bowl of sliced potatoes into the boiling water. “Sounds like you’ve been worried about him.”

“Absolutely not. Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul, ” Genesis says, as if Loveless quotes will make him not care about Zack. 

“ Pride is lost ,” Angeal quotes back at him. “Are you saying admitting that you care about Zack would mean you lose your pride?”

He huffs, waving a hand. “You are reading into it too much.”

“I thought you wanted me to read into Loveless more?”

Genesis lightly kicks him in the arm. “You are misinterpreting what I mean—I am trying to say that your puppy is avoiding his issues with other problems and thus causing other people around him distress. Therefore, it needs to be remedied.” 

This time, he doesn’t say out loud that he just thinks Genesis is worried about Zack. 

“Remedied?” Angeal grabs a pan from the cabinets, one that he bought from a second-hand store when he and Genesis first arrived in Midgar from Banora years ago. It’s a nice cast iron one, which would normally cost more than quadruple the price he paid. 

“I can’t force him to go,” He finally adds, “Not to mention that the SCS is fully booked for months out. So there’s not really a point in pressing the matter now.”

Genesis huffs, crossing his arms. “He would do anything you told him, you know. Just order him to go to therapy. I think it would save everyone some headaches. Or ask his infantry chocobo to convince him, I think that might work. He is rather infatuated with that chocobo.”

Now Angeal rolls his eyes. “I’m not ordering him to go to therapy, Gen.”

Zack wakes up from the best sleep he’s had in months to someone shaking him slightly. 

“Zack.”

“I’m sleepin’ right now.” He says into his pillow and pulls his blankets higher up around his head. He’s missed sleeping.

“Zack. You’ve been asleep for a while. You need to eat something then you can go back to sleep. You didn’t eat after your mission, your calories are definitely too low for a SOLDIER right now.”

He buries his face into his pillows and tries to remember what happened. 

Mission. Right. 

Slowly, he turns over. His room is still dark for the most part, except for some light coming into his bedroom from the living room. Angeal’s standing by the bed, carrying a bowl. 

“How long was I asleep?” Zack looks around his room and it feels like he’s in a dream still. Maybe he is. Though he’s pretty sure he didn’t dream at all. Nice. 

His mouth is dry and like he’s fighting a monster to keep his eyes open.

“Ten hours,” Angeal says, holding up the bowl. “It’s a stew. I have more food in the kitchen if you’re still hungry.”

He sits up, leaning against the headboard of his bed and takes the stew. His brain feels like scrambled eggs right now. “Ten hours?”

“Yeah, you can sleep more when you’ve eaten some.”

Right. Food is important. 

He pretty much drinks the soup. And like all of Angeal’s cooking, it’s good, like professional level-good. “I can’t remember the last time I slept for that long.”

“I figured,” Angeal says, then asks, “How are you feeling?”

“Not like I’m going to trip over my own feet.” He laughs and then cringes. “Oh man, I legit almost tripped over my own feet while getting on the helicopter. I haven’t done that in years. Geez.”

Angeal doesn’t respond for a moment and Zack looks up at him. And sure, Angeal’s usually pretty serious, but now he looks like an angry serious.

“Angeal?”

“Well, you’re not going on back-to-back missions with that little sleep and no backup again. I don’t know who approved that. It wasn’t me, Genesis, or Sephiroth.” Angeal takes the empty bowl of stew from him and grabs another one from the nightstand for Zack. 

Seriously, what would he do without Angeal?

Thank Gaia for Angeal’s neverending patience. “I know I said this before, but if there’s anything you want to talk about, you can.” Then, Angeal holds out a kinda big metal tin that’s purple and white. “Here.”

Zack takes the tin and looks at it. “Thanks? But what is it?”

“It’s a tea blend from Banora, it’s supposed to help with sleeping. Genesis and I found it works for SOLDIER, though not as strongly as it would for someone not enhanced. Chronic lack of sleep has a lot of negative health effects and I don’t want you to get hurt in the field or on a mission.”

And there’s another deep punch to his gut of guilt. Of feeling guilty over not telling Angeal everything. But even if he did want to tell Angeal everything, it’s a little late for that. 

Angeal is still talking about the tea and its principles or something about only one tea bag. And yeah, he knows how to make a cup of tea. It’s just a cup of tea.

So he tackle hugs Angeal. “Thanks, Angeal! You’re the best!”

As it turns out, Banora Sleeping Tea or BST as he likes to call it now, sort of works. Sort of. He doesn’t sleep through the whole night. But, he falls asleep faster, by like four or five hours. So he pretty much counts that as a win. 

Because he basically gets more sleep because he falls asleep faster. Plus he’s not frustrated while waiting to fall asleep, so that’s another win too.

Doesn’t help with the nightmares though. 

So, he figures maybe two or three tea bags would help. He might even sleep a normal night and get eight hours of sleep. 

Who knew that eight hours of sleep would sound like a luxury?

He ends up putting five of the tea bags into one of his gray Shinra-issued mugs. He watches as the water quickly becomes a dark brown-red as the tea steeps. Hopefully, it’ll kick in by the time they’re done playing Chocobo Racers so he can literally just roll into bed.

He waits a couple minutes before chugging the whole cup in one go. 

“Ugh, that’s bitter. Ew.” 

Cloud: You don’t have to let me in anymore actually, so you don’t have to stop the water boiling for the tea. I randomly ran into Kunsel and he let me in. I’m on my way up.

Cloud: I knocked, but I don’t know if you heard it.

Cloud: Zack?

Cloud: Zack. Did you leave to let me in?

Cloud: Zack?

Genesis: And then, that low ranked Shinra middle man was trying to tell me that the actual interpretation of Loveless was simply a love story and I had to use every ounce of self control not to use Ifrit right there.

Genesis: Sephiroth, when are you back from your mission? Trying to tell you all of this through text is tedious.

Sephiroth: You do not have to text it.

Genesis: What? Send voice messages? What decade are we living in?

Sephiroth: Do you have to send it at all?

Genesis: You would refuse to listen to my day?

Sephiroth: Yes, when Loveless is related. I am sure you had plenty of other interesting things happen today.

Genesis: I have been slighted. By my own partner. When you return we shall deal with it through a duel.

Sephiroth: I would be thrilled. I have done little other than stand around and let the Shinra PR team take photos of me from various angles. I doubt my hair is nearly as thrilling as they keep telling me it is.

Angeal: Genesis, this is serious. Are you home right now?

Genesis: Thank the Goddess, I finally am, yes. Why?

Angeal: Zack texted me and all he said was Apartment and help

Genesis: What.

Angeal: I’m outside of Midgar on a mission. Please go check on him. 

Genesis: Grabbing my sword now

Genesis rushes down the hallway and he does not even bother knocking. What if there was an intruder? One of those anti-Shinra people who hate anyone related to Shinra? Is he about to walk in on a scene of Angeal’s stray dead or critically injured?

He just unlocks the door and throws it open.

He prepares himself for a fight, to use materia, to swing his sword, to find Zack injured and bleeding out somewhere. But the apartment looks the same as always, messy and disorganized with no sense of cohesive interior design style at all.

For a moment, it looks like there is nothing unusual besides the usual mess. And then Zack’s partner, the blond one appears from behind the couch looking utterly and completely panicked. 

“There’s something wrong with Zack!” He shouts it with a real fear in his voice.

Damn it. Why did this happen when both Sephiroth and Angeal were on missions?

Rushing around the couch, he sees Zack—laying on the couch and his infantry boy is abruptly shaking his arm and Zack remains dead to the world. And totally, completely limp. 

“I don’t know what happened!” Strife says, shaking Zack’s arm harder. “I just got here and he was like this!”

Is he breathing? 

The moment after he thinks that, a panic takes hold of him as well. Genesis scrambles forward. “He’s breathing, right?” His voice is much louder than he intends. And when he presses his fingers against Zack’s neck, a slow, steady heartbeat underneath his fingers, thank the Goddess there is a pulse. 

He stands up and surveys the apartment quickly, while he whips out his PHS. 

Angeal answers within seconds. Bless him. 

“He’s unconscious!” Genesis shouts into the PHS because he has no idea what to do. He is not a medic. He is a SOLDIER and he does not remember basic medic treatment from infantry training from his teenage years.

“What!” Angeal’s voice is more of a shout than anything else. 

“I don’t know!” Genesis whips around the apartment, but there’s no signs of entry or anything unusual. He grips his sword with one hand, prepared to fight any intruders who might have poisoned Zack. Are there poisons that work against SOLDIERS? 

“Unconscious how?” Angeal says, sounding panicked. At least that makes two of them. 

“I don’t know!” Genesis stalks out of Zack’s horribly messy bedroom that was also empty. “If someone attacked him, they certainly aren’t here now.”

“Try calling medical and security,” Angeal starts to say and then Genesis walks past the kitchen.

It is hard to notice, considering that Zack’s kitchen, which is exactly the same layout as Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth’s, looks as if someone let a wild animal loose in it. No semblance of organization at all. At least it is not gross in the very least.

The entire fridge is covered from top to bottom in yellow sticky notes with scribbled out handwriting. The counters are almost entirely covered in food boxes, dishes (not dirty, thank the Goddess), and weights for working out of all things.

But between all of the mess, he notices something.

Wait. 

And he marches up to the stove and sees a strangely familiar white and purple metal tin, a pot with water that had been boiled, and a vaguely familiar smell still lingering in the air. He whips back around to look over the living room again. 

There is an empty tea cup on the coffee table beside Zack. 

This absolutely nim-witted oaf. 

Genesis just rolls his eyes, all tension leaving his shoulders and lowers his sword. “Gaia damn it, Zackary Fair.” Then to Angeal, he says, “Your clueless little puppy, I swear to the Goddess.”

“Genesis, what is it?”

Genesis grabs the tin of tea and looks at the label. Of course. This actual simpleton. “Did you not give the Banora tea to him less than a day or two ago?”

“Yes?” Angeal’s voice is turning from panicked and concerned to his pre-disappointed voice. A worrisome issue for Zack Fair whenever he wakes up. 

“Almost half of it is gone!” He turns back to look into the living room.

Now Angeal sighs, full disappointed tone now. “Even for a SOLDIER, if enough is consumed in a short time, it’ll cause extreme drowsiness. I told him one bag per night. I told him. There’s even instructions on the side.”

Genesis sighs right along with him. Why does this feel like catching a puppy misbehaving or trying to make your pet dog drop something from their mouth that they were not supposed to eat? Genesis does not remember signing up for puppy-sitting duties when Angeal suddenly got the desire to take on a student. Never did he think that Angeal’s student would become a somewhat permanent fixture in his life, against his will. 

Yet here he is, on puppy sitting duties.

“Oh, worry not, my dear, I shall make sure it gets through the puppy’s head. Whenever he wakes up from this nap.”

“Genesis, please don’t be too harsh on him,” Angeal says, though he also sounds tired. Of course he would be tired, he has been taking care of his clueless puppy for days now, worrying, cooking, and checking on him almost hourly. If a mother hen was a very tall, very buff twenty-five year old man.

“The lack of sleep has probably made his judgment impaired,” Angeal adds. 

Now he cannot even feel slight enjoyment in lecturing him, because Angeal knows him too well and knows that he will feel something akin to pity towards the puppy. 

“Sure, sure. Go back to your mission. Your wayward stray is fine. He will wake up in a little bit or so I would guess.” He clicks his PHS shut and walks back into the living room. 

As an answer, he holds up the box of tea for Strife to see. “He was told not to drink more than one tea bag per night, but he’s drank almost the entire thing. Almost all today, assumingly.”

Cloud makes a horrified face and then looks back down at his boyfriend. “Gaia, Zack.”

Said Zackary Fair is still fully unconscious on the couch, head almost hanging off the side of it. It is clear that this is not a normal nap, he is unnaturally still and limp for it to be a normal sleep. A little too close to appearing like death. No wonder Strife looked terrified when Genesis burst into the room.

So he sighs, sitting down heavily on the cheaply made Shinra-issued couch and leaning his sword against the arm of it. He truly hates these couches. Even after years, he has still not persuaded Angeal nor Sephiroth into discarding them. The couches in his apartment are much more comfortable and do not look like institutionally issued factory pieces. The gray is boring as well.

Strife’s anxiously distressed expression does not change despite the reassurance that it is not fatal. He is clearly trying to act like he is not in distress, yet it is still obvious to the point that Genesis feels rather heartless for not having more of a reaction. If he had found Angeal or Sephiroth in such a way…

“He will be fine,” Genesis says, crossing his arms. He is aware his voice does not sound comforting, but it should be enough. “I will make sure he understands he cannot simply drink that much of that tea all at once. I will remind him of Angeal’s disappointed face and I sure hope he will remember it from now on.”

Even though he said that, Zack’s chocobo looks nevertheless concerned and like he was going to panic at any given second. While Genesis is usually inclined to be annoyed by such things, he tries to remind himself of the ‘talk’ Angeal had with him about being nicer to Zack and by extension, Zack’s partners. Not that he has ever met the mysterious Aerith figure, but still, the thought is there.

It is the second talk Angeal has given him about the topic, making him a little annoyed about having to be lectured. But he also does not want Angeal to enact the rule he threatened—Sephiroth choosing all meals for a month. They will eat nothing but boring and tasteless meals that are too similar to cafeteria foods for his taste. Horrible. 

So, he shall make an attempt. For Angeal’s sake if nothing else.

Internally, he sighs. Externally, he says, “Are you alright?”

Cloud jumps like the sudden voice scared him. His shoulders are all the way up to his ears, full of tension and most likely, horrific amounts of knots. He reaches forward and gently pushes Zack’s head so it is not almost hanging on the edge of the couch, clearly concerned for his comfort.

It is a small gesture, but one that shows his affection for the puppy nonetheless. Goddess, these two make him feel like he’s being forced to watch a sappy soap opera in the front row.

“Yeah, I guess. Just freaked me out—seeing Zack like that.”

Which, maybe he could say something snarky to that. But it was fair, given the circumstances.

“I suppose I would also be shocked by Angeal or Sephiroth like that .” When he says that, he gestures to all of Zack and his unnatural limpness—uncharacteristic of someone who cannot hold still just as much as a small child or a puppy can’t. “But the puppy will be fine, perhaps less fine after me lecturing him here shortly, but fine overall.”

It was better than the scenarios he had considered before he burst into Zack’s apartment. Finding Zack half-dead in his apartment, some anti-Shinra rebel attempting to murder him, or some other terrible event. Rather than the puppy having knocked himself out with tea bags.

This is the scenario he never could have dreamt of, but one he prefers over the other ones.

It takes about ten more minutes before Zack’s hand twitches once, violently. Then, all at once, the limpness seems to leave his body. He slowly opens his eyes, glowing faintly as mako eyes do, looking around like it is his first time on Gaia. 

Zack slightly raises his head and seems to notice Genesis on the couch first. He squints. “Genesis? Why’re you in my apartment?”  

He slurs his words slightly and then he looks to his left to Cloud. He breaks into a lopsided smile, so affectionate that Genesis almost feels like he’s intruding by sitting here. He does not remember paying for a soap opera premier. 

“Oh, heya, Cloudy. Guess I took a little nap.”

Zack tries to sit up a little more, but his arms are unable to support the weight and falls back down onto the couch. “But seriously, Genesis, why are you here—” He cuts himself off when he sees Genesis’s sword leaning against the couch. He has to blink several times first. “Actually, why is your sword here too?”

Genesis allows himself to peer down at Zack. So what if he is trying more purposefully to seem intimidating? Zack rarely takes him seriously, the only one he truly listens to is Angeal. “You indeed took a little nap,’ by little, you knocked yourself out cold to the world with medicinal tea.”

Zack’s eyes widen. “Huh?”

Genesis continues on, his voice a little sharper with each word. “Tea that Angeal very specially told you to only drink one tea bag of. Per day. It appears.” He holds up the metal tin box and then takes out the lightweight paper bag that holds the tea bags. “You had drunk at least ten more in the past twenty-four hours.”

He leans forward slightly, jabbing a finger into Zack’s arm with each word. “Even for a SOLDIER, the shock of it to your system can render you unconscious for a short period of time.”

Zack sits up more now, supporting himself with one arm. He looks from Genesis to his chocobo like that would answer questions. “What? I thought Angeal was just giving instructions, not like, a warning! Wait, wait, how long was I out for?” 

He looks around, confused and bewildered like a puppy learning how to walk.

“I don't know,” Cloud says, glancing nervously at Zack like he expects the fool to keel over at any given moment. “But you were already unconscious when I got here.”

Zack rubs a hand over his face, a horrible combination of confusion and guilt.. “I was just like–” He makes a weird and highly unspecific gesture. “Conked out?”

“It looked like you were dead ,” Genesis says, not holding back any punches. Zack makes a face at that. “In too high of doses, it can cause paralysis . On occasion, permanent. Did you even listen when Angeal was talking to you about this?”

Zack actually cringes at that. “Uh, I don’t remember. I remember hearing one tea bag—”

This fool. Genesis is surrounded by idiots.

“Your utter lack of listening comprehension resulted in a very, very concerned Angeal and also a very, very concerned boyfriend of yours to contact Angeal.” Genesis tosses the paper bag of tea bags on Zack’s head. It easily bounces off and lands on Zack’s lap. 

“Fair, why in the Goddess’s name would you drink ten cups of it? When Angeal is back from his mission, I hope you are well and prepared for a disappointed Hewley face the likes of which you have never seen before.”

Zack picks up the bag of tea, frowning deeply. And he almost looks as sad and pathetic as actual puppies do. Good Goddess. “I just wanted to sleep. I tried the one cup thing and I—still had the nightmares.”

And every bit of anger and need to lecture is gone. Now all he feels is strangely pitiful towards Angeal’s stray. Terrible. He should be paid for puppy sitting. Genesis feels the tension leave his shoulders and he leans back now to just sigh instead of yell like he had planned. 

“If the issue is that severe, Fair, why the hells aren’t you meeting with a therapist over this?”

Zack looks confused for a second. Goddess, how badly did that tea mess with him? Should he take Zack to the medical department? It does not seem to have any lingering effects of paralysis, thankfully. Maybe he should still drag Fair there by his ear, if necessary. He would prefer not to have Angeal upset that his stray was hurt if possible.

Zack glances once towards Cloud, like it was some sort of answer for why he did not sign up for therapy and Genesis just sighs. 

“Did it occur to you to sign up for both couples and individual therapy?” He sighs, yet again, and shakes his head again, because sometimes that is all that can be done when dealing with him.

Again, he is reminded that he is surrounded by idiots most of the time. It is why he prefers the company of his significant others above anything else.

He stands up and grabs his sword. “Enjoy explaining this to Angeal and do not do this again. I thought someone had broken into your apartment to murder you or something!”

Zack blinks and then understanding comes over his face. “Ooh, that explains that sword.”

This utter peabrain. 

Genesis flicks his forehead, not as hard as he could actually do considering he is enhanced, but the thought is there. “You interrupted my time for reading Act II of Loveless.” He marches to the door. “Drink tea responsibly!”

Genesis: The puppy is alright. Drank at least 10 cups of Banora Sleeping tea, the fool. I properly lectured him once he woke up—no tears were shed. His little chocobo boyfriend was thoroughly distressed. His sleeping issues seem exceedingly concerning. Why in the Goddess’s name is he not seeing someone about this? Was that not the purpose of SCS?

Genesis: Angeal!! Your wayward tea obsessed stray is acting strange about whatever issues he has with his boyfriend! Fix it!

Angeal: Genesis, I can’t just fix that. It’s their relationship. They are seeing someone about whatever it may be and Zack doesn’t feel ready to talk to any of us about it. Then we can’t push him. Clearly, he isn’t ready to talk about it.

Genesis: Well, it is causing problems. I thought he was dead at first.

Angeal: Is that concern I sense?

Genesis: It is not! 

Angeal: Hm. Sounds to me like the ‘wayward stray’ is growing on you.

Genesis: See if I ever go check up on your stray again when you are on a mission. 

Angeal: Definitely concern. 

Sephiroth: I agree with Angeal’s assessment. That is concern.

Genesis: I will revoke privileges and rights from you both. Do not doubt me.

Genesis: Just because you have both been swayed by his dog-like antics and overly enthusiastic outlook on life does not mean I have been.

Angeal: You really don’t have to pretend like you hate him.

Genesis: Maybe I do.

Sephiroth: There is no hate, only joy.

Genesis: Are you weaponizing Loveless against me?

Sephiroth: Perhaps I am.

Genesis: I will only allow it because you are quoting it without prompting. Your privileges and rights have been restored.

Sephiroth: Thank the Goddess, I did not want to sleep on the couch tonight.

Chapter Text

When Genesis leaves, he slams the door to Zack’s apartment so hard that for a second Zack thinks he’s going to have to submit a work order to make sure it didn’t break. Can he send the bill to Genesis?

Also, he doesn’t think he deserves to be called an idiot. He didn’t know the tea would turn him comatose for a few minutes! Nobody told him that. Well, sure, Angeal did, but that’s besides the point. He was half-asleep when Angeal was telling him about the tea anyway. It doesn’t count.

“Are you alright?” Cloud asks, still sounding way more anxious than Zack ever wants to hear. Especially since it’s his fault Cloud was so worried. That’s the last thing he would want to do. 

Zack falls back against the couch. Wow, he really just plopped on this thing like a cartoon and crashed. Even though Genesis said the tea should’ve worn off, his limbs feel heavy and like it’s too much work to move them. Should he go to medical for that? 

Out loud, he says, “Yeah, I think so.”

Zack smacks a hand against his forehead. Really, he needs to listen to Angeal more. Why doesn’t he listen to Angeal more? “Why did I drink that much BST?”

Now that Genesis isn’t yelling at him, in a way that was a little too much like Angeal, the apartment is so much quieter. He doesn’t really like when it’s too quiet. But at least he’s not by himself. 

And Zack is never telling Genesis that he sounds like Angeal when he lectures like that. Genesis would probably blow up if someone told him he lectures like Angeal. He doesn’t want his hair caught on fire or to find something sentimental of his burnt to a fried crisp by materia.

Why did he agree to let Genesis have access to his apartment again?

It’s for safety . Yeah, that’s what Angeal said. Zack’s starting to think Genesis only agreed so he could easily threaten to burn Zack's things when he feels like it.

Cloud looks sideways at him, his face all scrunched up with way too much concern. Which is kind of cute, actually. And he appreciates that Cloud was worried about him, even though he doesn’t want Cloud stressing! Does that even make sense?

“Why did you drink that much?” Cloud asks after a second or two.

Zack shrugs. Or as much as he can when he feels like syrup.

It made sense at the time. Which in hindsight, seems kind of stupid. Because he can see the box where Genesis tossed it onto the coffee table and it very obviously warns Warning: Only Drink One Tea Bag Per Twenty-Four Hour Period, Side Effects Include Paralysis, Limb Numbness, Prolonged Unconsciousness, and Potentially Death In Young Children .

Yeah, he really should have noticed that.

He rubs at his forehead and blinks a whole bunch. His eyelids feel like they’re fist-fighting gravity and losing right now, they’re so heavy. “Uh, well, I figured if coffee and alcohol don’t really work for SOLDIER then the tea wouldn’t do much either. Kinda feel stupid now.”

There’s no way he can look at his phone right now. Even if Angeal’s on a mission, he’ll still find time to type out a lecture about the danger Zack put himself in. 

It was bad enough that Genesis lectured him. Like an actual lecture. 

Cloud starts picking at his pants for lint or something, Zack’s not really sure why he does that. But it’s like a nervous habit Cloud’s had since they met. Maybe other people would think it’s weird, but Zack kind of thinks it’s cute. It’s a very Cloud thing to do.

“I’m just glad you’re okay. I was—” he pauses, like he’s trying to think of the right words to say. His face turns more tense, his eyebrows furrowing. “I was really worried. I think I panicked a little.” 

Cloud glances sideways at him again, looking really apologetic and kind of like he hates himself.  “Sorry, but I kind of had to use your PHS to text Commander Hewley for help.”

And Zack will never allow Cloud to look self-deprecating! Not on his watch!

It’s on his list of self-chosen missions actually! (He wrote down some of them on the orange sticky notes because orange is way more important looking than yellow).

“It’s okay, Spike!” He reaches out and pats Cloud’s knee since that's about as far as he can reach right now. He grins. “I appreciate that you helped. Also, I don’t care if you’re on my PHS, bro—you literally know my password cause I told you. I’m just sorry I scared you.”

Not that his password is hard to guess. 

What if he needs to put his password in during the middle of a mission? If it’s too complicated it’d take too long.

“You didn’t mean to scare me,” Cloud says quickly, though he sort of mumbles it and looks away while Zack pats his leg a couple more times for good measure. “I can’t believe I was freaking out in front of Commander Rhapsodos. Not a great impression.”

Cloud sighs and there’s that sad slope to his shoulders that usually means he’s overthinking interacting with someone or thinking something mean about himself. 

“To be fair, if I found you, like, unresponsive and looking like you died, I’d definitely freak out.” Zack pats Cloud’s leg again, making a face because he doesn’t even want to imagine it. “Probably more than you did actually, so don’t worry about it, man. It’s understandable.” 

But Cloud still looks worried and he really hates when Cloud is worried. Not that Cloudy isn’t allowed to feel sad or anything like that, he just doesn't want his friend to be sucked into thinking badly about himself and all. Ignoring negative emotions is never a good thing—that’s what Angeal kept saying after he really got into reading psychology books a while ago.

And Zack agrees! 

And Angeal says that only feeling negative emotions isn’t good either. Also ten out of ten life advice there. He really needs to have Cloud spend more time around Angeal, that’d probably be a good thing. 

He’ll think of something. Plan later though.

Zack sighs. “But could you imagine if Sephiroth had burst in here instead of Genesis? Like just waving Masamune around like a maniac?” 

He imagines Sephiroth trying to swing Masamune around, knocking things over and hitting the ceiling with every move. Zack immediately starts cracking up just thinking about it and Cloud cracks a small smile.

Bingo!

One of the best smiles in the world!

“I probably wouldn’t get lectured if it was him,” Zack says and pushes himself up to lean against the chair arm so he can sit up slightly. Even his arms are stiff, like they’re fighting him every time he moves. “Man, this is so weird, I feel like I’m made from rock or something.”

Cloud’s expression changes to more concern. “Should you go to medical?”

“Nah. I’ll be okay, just, man, I feel sort of tired still, this is so weird. I didn’t even know something could affect SOLDIERS like that.”

How’d Angeal and Genesis even find out about something like that? Is it just a normal tea from Banora? He’s kind of surprised that Shinra isn’t utilizing it or trying to get rid of it all if it can mess with SOLDIERS like this.

Cloud starts to get up. “Do you want to go to sleep? I can head back to my bunk?”

“No! Man, you’re good.” He has to use way more core strength than usual to swing his legs up and plop them up onto Cloud’s legs. That should not have taken as much effort as it did. “I was gonna suggest we still play Chocobo Racers, but I think it might be kind of hard for me to use a controller right now…”

Cloud does not look impressed. Really, Zack should tell him he has a great ‘I’m not amused, Zack’ look. Just like Angeal’s actually. “Are you sure you don’t want to just sleep?”

“I’m going to wait till I don’t feel like a slug anymore,” Zack says, propping himself up with a pillow so he can see Cloud better. “Don’t want to freak you out again.”

“Right,” Cloud says, still a little bit unsure. “Do you want to watch a movie instead?”

“Ooh, good call, Spike. You pick.”

“I’m kind of trapped right now,” Cloud says while he pushes at Zack’s legs. “Geez, you’re like a lead weight.”

“I feel like a lead weight. Hold on.” Zack pushes on the back of the couch, keeping his legs where they are and stretches himself out to try to reach the remote on the coffee table. Why is that thing so far away? “Come on, Mr. Remote.”

“Zack, you could literally just move your legs.”

“No! It’s a challenge!” Zack stretches himself out till he’s half off the couch but the remote is still like three inches away from his fingertips. His other hand supports his whole body. “Come on, I’m totally taller than this.”

“Maybe if you moved your legs that would help.” Cloud deadpans.

“No can do!” Zack tries to stretch his arm out further. The remote is right there! Come on, arms! Why is this harder than Angeal’s stretching and mobility training?!

“Okay. But you’re definitely going to fall—”

And he slips off the couch, rolling forward at the same time. The way he shouts is probably not very SOLDIER of him. He crashes onto the floor, one of his legs still on the couch. 

But! 

“Ha!” Zack holds up the remote in victory. “Got it!”

Cloud rolls his eyes, but Zack knows that’s a half-smile! Victory for him! He got Cloud to smile! 

“Yeah, only after you fell off the couch and moved your legs.”

“Don’t be a hater, Cloudy.” Zack stands back up, holding the remote above his head as a victory pose. “Nothing can stop me! See, this is the real reason they promoted me to First Class!”

Cloud snorts. “Yes. Your famous remote retrieving skills. They’re renowned in Shinra.”

He points the remote at Cloud, grinning. “Exactly! Even the President hypes up my skills and the Turks fear my ability to always get the remote no matter the circumstances. Also, the movie pick is up to you.”

Cloud takes the remote and turns the TV on. Zack flops back onto the couch and plants his legs right back where they were on Cloud’s lap. It’s prime movie-watching space. Cloud flips through a bunch of random movies, apparently not feeling up to the movies they’ve rewatched a couple times. Which is fine by him. He owes Cloud movie choice at least. 

He’s just glad they’re able to hang out tonight. Sometimes they’re barely able to hang out between their different schedules.

It’s just better when Cloud is here. 

“I heard they’re making a live-action Chocobo Racers movie,” Zack comments while Cloud reads the description for a movie that’s kind of based on the Wutai war. Sephiroth was super passionate about saying the whole thing was propaganda for Shinra and that they wasted a huge portion of the Marketing Department’s budget to pay the writers and director to make it mega Pro-Shinra. Apparently. 

“Seriously?” Cloud asks, clicking the back button and clicking on another movie to read the description. “How are they even going to do that? It’s a video game.”

“I don’t know, man.” Zack shrugs a little bit. “Doesn’t make sense to me either. But we totally have to see it when it comes out. We’re legally required to see it, let’s be real. Chocobo Racers is one of our things.”

Cloud stops clicking through movies and looks at him, furrowing his brows. “Our things?”

“Yeah! You know! Our things. Like Chocobo Racers, we always play that. Plus going to Sal’s for cheesy fries, that’s another thing we always do. Also talking about our backwater hometowns when Midgar gets a little too metaly.”

Cloud stares at him.

“What?” Zack stares back at him. “You don’t think those are our things?”

Cloud blinks and shakes his head, looking away suddenly. “Huh? No. I don’t know—Yeah, sure they are.”

“They’re our things, man! I’m telling you. Literally whenever I’d mention to Angeal, Genesis, or Sephiroth I was going to play Chocobo Racers they always assumed we were hanging out. That’s how it works.” He shrugs because it makes perfect sense in his mind. “I’m sure I could think of even more things—”

“Let’s watch this one,” Cloud says, really abruptly. 

A movie starts playing immediately. Starting off with the usual couple ads at the beginning. Zack glances at the title. 

When In Midgar. 

Very original.

“Isn’t the whole plot of this one about how little towns suck because everyone is way too traditional?” Zack asks, tilting his head. Kind of a weird choice for Cloud. “Didn’t you say last month you didn’t want to watch this one cause it sounds like the whole thing is going to be trashing on places like Gongaga and Nibelheim?”

“Changed my mind,” Cloud says, entirely focused on the screen now with an intensity that seems a little too much for this situation. “And Nibelheim can suck sometimes.”

Zack looks at the TV screen, because he’s not sure why Cloud looks so focused. It’s just a Shinra ad. 

“Okay, Cloudy. Though, I’m still pretty sure they’re gonna be trashing on backwater towns the whole time.”

Cloud shrugs. 

Okay, then. 

And then Angeal appears on the screen. Zack points. “Hey! It’s Angeal! I didn’t know he filmed a new ad!”

Maybe if he didn’t actually know Angeal, he wouldn’t notice that Angeal looks like he doesn’t want to be there, hyping up Shinra like it’s the greatest thing.

Oh, it’s Stamp! 

“I think this is an older ad,” Zack comments. “Pretty sure Angeal said he told Marketing he doesn't want to do ads like this anymore. So it’s gotta be older. But Stamp is so cute! Oh man, I should take a video of this and send it to the guys.”

He grabs his PHS and films a part of the ad while trying to make himself stop laughing. Angeal looks way too awkward right now while an animated Stamp moves around the screen with him. This is too good!

Zack sent a video in the chat. 

Genesis: What is this?

Zack: Lol just watch

Genesis: Where did you find that? I thought Angeal had all of those ads pulled from airing.

Sephiroth: Is it the Shinra parade ad? Or a different one?

Sephiroth: Oh I remember this one.

Zack: Ad for an older movie lol i’m cracking up over this

Sephiroth saved a video in the chat.

Genesis: Good idea, Seph. Perfect blackmail material.

Zack: Huh??

Zack: That’s not why I sent that!!

Angeal: I had that taken down so it couldn’t be used as blackmail.

Angeal: Zack. 

Zack: Gotta go! 

Angeal: Zack. You’re watching old Shinra ads but you can’t answer my texts about drinking unsafe amounts of medicinal tea?

Oops. He kind of forgot about that. 

Zack puts his PHS away and looks back at the screen now. It’s a different Shinra ad about employment as an admin or staff member. Are all of these ads for Shinra or something?

And then finally, the movie starts. It’s exactly how the trailers looked. 

And clearly made by people who aren’t from small, backwater towns. So they don’t even know what it’s really like.

It doesn’t take long for the main character to start talking about how much he hates his little village. And tiny villages aren’t bad, come on. Gongaga is great!

On screen, the main character starts shouting at his parents. “I hate this stupid tiny town! Everyone knows the city is better. You’re the worst for forcing me to be born here! I hate you!”

And sure, Zack can appreciate a badly written movie sometimes when it’s funny enough for him to laugh at. This is just making him cringe. Zack glances at Cloud again and Cloud’s cringing at the way too dramatic way the main character is trying to run away now.

“I know I ran away from Gongaga and all, but I never said that to my parents. Geez,” Zack comments, tossing a handful of cheesy popcorn into his mouth. Wow, past him was smart for grabbing those while waiting on Cloud earlier. 

“It’s a little much,” Cloud says, hesitantly.

“We can always switch it.” He holds out the bag of popcorn. “Popcorn?”

Cloud reaches out and grabs a handful. And when he starts eating it, Zack has a very important realization.

“Dude, the popcorn is the same color as your hair!” Zack points in shock. 

Cloud looks at the popcorn in his hand and then to Zack. “First a chocobo and now popcorn?”

“I’m just making important observations. This is crucial scientific knowledge, man.” Even while Cloud looks at him flatly, Zack holds up a piece of popcorn and takes a picture of Cloud beside the kernel. That is one hundred percent saving this in the cute photos of Cloud folder.

He snickers. “Cloudy, I can’t believe you never told me you have a twin.”

Cloud tosses a popcorn kernel at him. And Zack moves just in time to catch it with his mouth and eat it. “Don’t throw your twin, Spike! That’s rude!”

“Does that make you related to hedgehogs then?” Cloud throws another one at him. This one bounces off Zack’s hair and onto the floor. 

“Hedgehogs are cute! I’d be okay with that!”

“A cactus.” Cloud throws another one and he catches it in his mouth again. Score!

“I like cactuses. They’re chill.”

“Your hair looks like a cactus,” Cloud says and starts to throw another one. 

Then suddenly someone is screaming in the show. Zack whips back around to look at the screen. And the main character’s apartment in the big city (that’s totally not Midgar with different sections) is on fire. “Someone sabotaged my house! Arson!”

Wait, what? When did that happen?

Zack makes a face. “What is even happening in this movie anymore?”

Cloud is making a similar expression. “Last thing I remember he was getting a ‘big city job’ or something. Why is there arson now?”

“Also, who even says sabotage when their apartment is getting burned down?” Zack asks, eating more popcorn.

“Whoever wrote this script isn’t getting hired again,” Cloud comments. Sometimes the guy is ruthless. It’s kind of funny honestly. Maybe he should get Cloudy to hang out with Genesis, maybe they’d get along. 

Or maybe that could be a terrible idea. He’ll ask Angeal later for his thoughts.

And then a whole bunch of armed ‘city police’ show up and help solve the crime. And the uniforms look way, way too similar to Shinra Security Officers for them not to be based on the real life ones.

Zack stares at the screen. “Is this Shinra sponsored?”

“Well, their budget got cut for this one.” Cloud huffs. 

“Dude, normally the Shinra sponsored movies are really good. This one is disappointing. I can say for certain that they definitely didn’t ask any backwater experts for accuracy.”

“Who were they going to ask? Us?”

“Yeah! We’re backwater experts!”

Cloud snorts and reaches into the bag of popcorn. “Sure, because Shinra is going to ask First Class Fair of Gongaga and an infantry to be consultants for their crappy low-budget movie that probably didn’t even get a theater release.”

“Dude.” Zack starts cackling. “Maybe you should talk to Genesis about Loveless and movies. He loves ripping them apart for real.”

Cloud shrugs dismissively. “He’ll just call me a chocobo again.”

“Yeah, but I call you a chocobo all the time.”

“That’s fine, because it’s you.”

And Zack breaks into a huge grin. “Aw, Cloudy! Thanks!” And he half-tackles Cloud into a hug, squishing him into the opposite side of the couch. 

“Zack!” Cloud smacks at his arms. “You’re crushing me!”

“But what you said was so cute! Gotta hug my real life best friend chocobo!” 

“Zack!” Cloud wheezes, but it’s half a laugh too. 

And there’s nothing Zack likes more than making Cloud laugh. Well, other than making Aerith laugh. 

“And what will you make sure to do from now on?” Angeal asks, his arms crossed and looking incredibly serious in the middle of the SOLDIER breakroom. Maybe a little too serious because the whole breakroom is never serious. 

Lazard isn’t as strict about the breakroom and lets the SOLDIERS decorate it (actually he’s given up on trying to stop them). So there’s random posters and stuff on the walls. Including some of Zack and Kunsel’s really, really horrible chocobo drawings they did when they were Third Class SOLDIERS. 

And there’s the random poster fanart of Sephiroth over the coffee station, but Sephiroth is a cat and he’s holding Masmune in a threatening way. Angeal keeps taking it down because “it’s making fun of Sephiroth.” But then it’s always back up the next day. Zack is ninety-nine percent sure that it’s the Turks. One time he put it back up.

But he’s a big fan of the cat Sephiroth fanart. It adds a nice charm to the breakroom.

Sure, there’s a couple burn marks here and there. A few places where things got broken from SOLDIERS who just got mako dosed and broke something because they’re not good at judging their new strength. But that’s just the SOLDIER breakroom. 

A couple of Third Class SOLDIERS are discussing the most recent episode of the Shinra soap opera from last night passionately, all of them rooting for different love interests. 

It’s the farthest thing from serious.

“Not to drink too many tea bags of Banora Sleeping Tea, sir,” Zack says with the same level of seriousness as when he saluted as a non-SOLDIER operative and yeah, sure, Angeal is one of his commanding officers but still.

For good measure he does add a salute to match Angeal’s seriousness. “Happy to report that I didn’t have any nightmares though! So that’s a win!”

“Zack,” Angeal sounds slightly more exasperated than usual. Maybe that’s because he got back from his mission in the middle of the night and Zack had fallen asleep before he had a chance to respond to Angeal’s texts about BST. “You’re still not allowed to drink ten cups of the tea again. Ever.”

“Five cups?”

Angeal looks flatly at him. “No.”

“Three?” 

“Still no.”

“Two then?”

“For Gaia’s sake, Zack,” Angeal says, his arms still crossed seriously. “No more than one tea bag per twenty-four hours. Like the box says.”

“I swear by the Goddess herself that I did lecture him,” Genesis says, where he’s been aggressively trying to get the SOLDIER coffee machines to work for the past fifteen minutes. 

And honestly, he’s sort of impressed Genesis has managed not to verbally berate the machine or use materia to destroy it entirely. It makes a loud, piercing screeching sound like it’s heating something but there’s still no coffee. 

Genesis jabs the button to pour coffee again, loudly.

“Joking!” Zack says, laughing when Angeal still looks serious. “One cup! Got it. Can’t have any traumatized chocobos running around Shinra HQ. Also, I can’t come to dinner tonight, I have a date with Aerith.”

Angeal nods, “I’ll make sure we save you leftovers. What are you doing?”

“We’re making another flower wagon because her flower selling business is really starting to take off. It’s pretty cool and also—”

Genesis smacks the side of the coffee machine. “Do you only exist to malfunction, you stupid machine? What is the point of working for a mega-corporation if their machines cannot even produce a single cup of coffee? I’m not even asking for a decent cup of coffee, just a singular cup.”

Well, there’s the berating and physical attacks against the coffee machine. 

“We’re going to work on her flower garden too and I get to help her weed it, which is pretty cool. I haven’t been able to do that a lot since I got to Midgar cause there’s not a lot of plants—”

Genesis grabs the coffee machine and violently shakes it, something starts rattling concerningly. “All I ask for is coffee and you cannot produce that? What is your purpose for existing? You have no purpose, do you hear what I am saying?”

“Uh,” Zack looks away from whatever crisis Genesis is having. “Anyway, you should totally see her flower garden sometime, Angeal, since you’re obsessed with gardening and all—”

“You have one job!” Genesis shakes the coffee machine more violently now. The whole room is filled with the sound of clanking metal. Other SOLDIERS go silent. “It’s not hard! You don’t have to think! All you do is whatever you’re told when someone pushes a button!”

Okay. That seemed weirdly pointed for complaining about a coffee machine.

The SOLDIERS discussing the soap opera episode have stopped talking now and are watching Genesis attack the coffee machine in new, creative ways. Zack didn’t know it was possible to attack a coffee machine in so many ways.

“If you cannot do your singular job, you have no use to anyone!” Genesis says this like he really means to hurt the machine’s feelings.

Yeah, a little too pointed.

Zack leans forward to Angeal to whisper, “Uh, is he okay?”

Genesis repeatedly hits the coffee machine on the top of it, shaking the whole thing and the paper cup waiting for coffee falls onto the floor. A couple of Third Class SOLDIERS who were about to walk into the breakroom stop and look at each other then at Genesis and slowly back out of the room.

“He has another appointment with the SCS today,” Angeal says and strangely he doesn’t try to stop Genesis as he uses the flat part of his fist to hit the top of the machine. 

“You’re not gonna tell him to not break it?”

Angeal shrugs. “Better that than the VR rooms. Also, we needed new coffee machines anyway. Those haven’t been working for a while.”

They haven’t? He’s pretty sure that's the same machine he got coffee from that time with Cloud. Maybe it’s like a chance thing.

“You sure you’re not going to try and stop him?”

“You win some, you lose some. I have to choose my battles sometimes.”

The coffee machine falls off the table with a crunching sound and makes a hissing sound and then a puff of steam. Genesis looks seconds away from kicking it or crushing it with his boots. “Great, now I’ll have to go to the cafeteria for a damned cup of mediocre watered down coffee—”

And the coffee machine sputters and then coffee starts pouring out of it and onto the floor until there’s a puddle reaching all the way to Genesis’s boots.

A really loud silence follows in the breakroom. 

A Second Class SOLDIER gets up from a nearby table and basically scurries out of the room. Yeah, that’s fair.

The SOLDIERS talking about the soap opera quickly follow behind them.

“There’s another coffee machine,” Angeal says, like he’s trying to be placating.

“ My friend, the fates are cruel .” Oh dear Gaia, not Loveless quotes over coffee. “ There are no dreams, no honour remains. The arrow has left— ”

 “Okay man, it’s just coffee,” Zack says and he’s about to pat Genesis’s arm sympathetically. 

“If you pat my shoulder like I am your infantry boy, I will not be held responsible for whatever it is that I do,” Genesis says through his teeth. Zack yanks his hands back and holds them up as a symbol of peace.

And the poor, broken coffee machine is still just making coffee. The entire room kind of smells like freshly brewed coffee now. He’s sure Genesis takes that as a personal insult.

Which is sort of confusing, considering that Zack knows for a solid fact that Genesis hates the coffee from the breakroom and refuses to step foot in the cafeteria unless Angeal is gone for at least a week long mission. So why is he even getting coffee here?

He’s like ninety-nine percent sure that Angeal has coffee and Genesis probably does too. 

“Uh,” Zack says, hoping to distract Genesis. “Don’t you guys have nice coffee?”

“Normally, we do.” Genesis sounds even more upset at the thought of it. “Unfortunately, our partner, Shinra’s famed Silver General—The Demon of Wutai—did not remember to add coffee to our grocery list this week. Therefore, I am forced to demean myself by consuming this garbage.”

Genesis kicks the machine and it goes flying across the room. “And now I cannot even consume this garbage, I have to consume the garbage from the mess hall. Angeal, we are leaving up that horrendous art of Sephiroth as a cat forever as his penance. Next time he won’t forget how to compose a grocery list.”

Does Sephiroth even grocery shop?

Genesis turns and begins walking from the room. “Angeal, we will need to stop by the mess hall before this meeting. Let’s go.”

A meeting and therapy session? No wonder he’s in a mood.

Angeal looks down at the coffee machine and sighs. “Genesis, you can’t leave this here like this. You made the mess.”

“ When the war of the beast brings about the world’s end, ” Genesis says, like that makes any sense (it really doesn’t) and walks out of the room. Angeal sighs again. And really, the poor guy needs a triple raise for the amount of crap he deals with every day.

Zack grins. “Don’t worry about it, man! I got it!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, no problems. I’m on break for a bit longer anyway. And there’s a garbage can over there.”

And sure, the garbage can is covered in at least a thousand Shinra stickers that SOLDIERS stuck to it over the years. But it still works. Zack stuck one on it too his first couple months as a SOLDIER.

“Thanks,” Angeal says, “I’ll talk to Genesis about it.”

Zack gives him a thumbs up. 

Angeal hurries after Genesis. 

A couple seconds later, the Third Class SOLDIERS pop their heads back in. “Is Commander Rhapsodos gone?”

“Yeah!” Zack says, tossing the very ruined coffee machine into the garbage can. “Heading to the mess hall for coffee.”

The three guys come back into the breakroom and sit back down at the table where they were before. “Feel bad for anyone in the mess hall right now.”

“Well, luckily, Angeal’s there!” Zack says, walking back over to the coffee station, he grabs a huge, heaping handful of napkins and uses them to mop up the wasted coffee. “Don’t get between a man and his coffee, I guess.”

“Guess I can’t fault him for that.”

Zack knows these guys from training and missions, he’s not close with them like he is with Kunsel or anything. But they’re cool!

“So,” One of them says, Sam Hess. They’ve had a couple missions together and some training. He’s pretty nice!  “Heard you have a boyfriend, Fair.”

For a second, Zack is confused. But he doesn’t?

Oh right. Wait. Zack tosses the coffee soaked napkins into the garbage. “Yea!”

Sam nods and then looks confused. “I’m confused now. Cuz I thought I heard from Kunsel a while ago that you had a girlfriend.”

Seriously, why is everyone so involved with his love life? And his fake love life?

But at least this question is easier to answer. 

“Yeah! I have a girlfriend!” Zack says, happily. Because he is dating Aerith!

Sam, Nolan, and Fisher all look shocked now. 

“Dude!” Nolan says, like he heard horrible gossip. “I didn’t think you were a two-timer!”

Wait, what?

A two-timer?

Who said anything about that?!

Zack waves his hands around and very loudly clarifies so that everyone in the breakroom can hear. He is not letting that spread around Shinra! “Whoa, whoa. I’m not! My girlfriend is alright with it! I’m not a two-timer!”

And Fisher seems to relax, resting his arms on the top of his helmet. “Oh, thank Gaia. Man, I’d have to reevaluate things if you turned out to be a two-timer.” 

“No way! Anyone who does that sucks!” Zack says, firmly. And he really believes that. Cheating is basically a crime.

“Oh,” Nolan says, nodding like he understands some great secret now. “You’ve got an open relationship thing going on.”

No! That is not what he said! At all!

Who even said that? Because he didn’t!

Sam looks even more curious now. “Oh, so it’s true you’re dating Strife then?”

Zack blinks. “Uh, yeah?”

Nolan looks at Sam, confused. “Who’s Strife? I don’t know anyone with that name. Pretty cool name actually, but I can’t think of anyone in the program with that name.”

Fisher leans forward like he’s telling the best juicy gossip. “Oh, you didn’t hear, man? Fair’s dating an infantry.”

Nolan looks back to Zack. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” Zack says, sort of confused why they seem surprised by that. Infantry is cool and so is Cloud. 

Sam laughs a little then, though it doesn’t sound as genuine as it normally does. Which is…a little weird. “Not gonna lie, I was kind of hoping it wasn’t true.”

Now Zack is even more confused. 

“Huh?” Zack walks over to the table where they’re sitting, to sit down with them. “What? Why?”

Sam shrugs, like he’s trying to seem casual. “Well, maybe I shouldn’t say this now…” He trails off and then sighs. “I had a couple missions with Strife.”

Still confused.

What does that have to do with anything?

“Yeah! Cloud’s awesome!” Zack says instantly, because Cloud is his best friend and he’s never going to miss a chance to hype him up. Another one of his personal missions.

Nolan makes a face. “Cloud Strife? What kind of name—”

And Sam keeps talking. “Well, sort of liked him and I was gonna ask him out—but don’t worry, man! I won’t now, obviously! I was just asking to see if it was true that you’re dating Cloud, don’t want to do that to you.”

What. 

Sam likes Cloud? 

Did he hear that right? No, there’s no way. Not that he doesn’t think someone could like Cloud! Cloud’s awesome! But he’s just confused!

Sam was going to ask Cloud out? Like on a date?

Fisher shoves Sam aggressively. “Dude! You can’t tell someone you like their boyfriend! Come on!”

“Hey!’ Sam says, shoving Fisher back. “I was just trying to figure out if Strife was single!”

“Dude!” Nolan jumps in this time, punching Sam’s shoulder. “Fair’s right there!”

“Okay, okay I get it.” Sam rolls his eyes. “I was under the impression Fair had a girlfriend so I thought I heard the rumors wrong. You know how people gossip.”

Nolan looks back to Zack. “Sorry about him, he doesn’t understand the idea of not being a jerk.”

“Hey!”

“You literally just told him you like his boyfriend,” Nolan says, punching Sam’s shoulder. Again. “You’re lucky Fair is chill—imagine if you said something like that to Commander Rhapsodos.”

Sam shivers. “I prefer living and not becoming Ifrit bait, thanks.”

“Anyway,” Fisher says, changing subjects. “I just can’t believe you’re in an open relationship, Fair. I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like your vibe.”

Zack is really, really confused.

Sam likes Cloud?

Does Cloud know this?

Zack tries not to think about that right now. That’s too much for him. “Oh, um, well, I think it’s called polyamory actually. Not like, an open relationship.” 

“Oh,” Nolan says with understanding. “I’ve heard about that. Right. That makes way more sense. You don’t seem like an open relationship kind of guy.”

Zack laughs. “Yeah, not really.”

“Wait, how’d you meet Strife?” Nolan asks, curiously now. 

“On a mission! Our helicopter crashed,” Zack says, with maybe more enthusiasm than most people would talk about crashing helicopters with. “Crash landed in the middle of the mountains on the way to Modeoheim. Kind of a weird first meeting, but we’ve been friends since then.”

Nolan and Fisher both laugh. 

“Only you’d somehow manage to make a sucky situation end up with you finding a significant other.”

“What can I say? I have talents.”

Zack hears their three PHSs buzz synchronously. 

Sam picks his up and sighs like he’s annoyed. “Well, seems like break’s over.”

“See you later!” Fisher says, hopping up from the table and grabbing his helmet. 

Zack waves at them while they walk away and out the room. 

Sam pauses by the doorway and looks back. “Hey, man. I hope what I said didn’t mess with you.”

Zack smiles. “Yeah, no worries!”

And Sam leaves. 

And Zack is worrying. 

Sam was going to ask Cloud out?! Did Cloud know about this? Wait, does Cloud like Sam?

No. 

Absolutely not.

And immediately he hates it. He hates even the idea of Cloud going on a date with Sam. 

His initial reaction is so strong, Zack stops himself. Because why did he even care? Sam is a chill guy, Zack’s had missions with him in the past. 

No. Zack’s just upset at the idea of Cloud suddenly dating someone and him, hypothetically, not telling Zack he even liked Sam. because they’re best friends! They tell each other everything! And obviously, Cloud doesn’t like him because he would’ve told Zack by now. 

Zack’s never even heard Cloud mention Sam before. So it’s not like Cloud liked Sam too or anything. 

Right?

Maybe Cloud was too embarrassed. That’s totally possible. 

Wait. Sam would’ve asked Cloud out if he wasn’t pretending to date Zack. What if Cloud does like Sam and this whole mess prevented him from going out on a date with Sam?

Zack visibly makes a horrified face at the thought. 

Was that why Cloud kept saying no to the plan originally? 

Wait. Does Cloud even like guys?

Actually, he’s never even thought about that. Cloud has always just seemed uninterested in dating. It wasn’t like he went on any dates in the past two years since they met.

Zack whips out his PHS.

Zack: DUDE

Zack: You know Sam Hess? 3rd Class?

Cloud: What?

Zack: Sam Hess. SOLDIER guy

Cloud: Yeah I had a couple missions with him. I don’t know him that well

Zack: He asked me if we were actually dating

Zack: And DUDE

Zack; He said he liked you! And was going to ask you out!!! You could totally go for it!!!

Cloud: What?

There’s no response for a long moment, so Zack sends a follow up text.

Zack: You good buddy man?

Cloud: Um, well, I’m not really wanting to date right now I guess. Just have other things I’m trying to work through

Cloud: Also I don't like Sam. I barely know him.

Okay, well, there’s that at least. 

And Zack feels a little better knowing that Cloud doesn’t actually like him. 

Because it’d be sad if Cloud liked someone and he never told Zack. Of course. They’re best friends.

Zack: Oh gotcha 

Zack: Oh good cause i was worried the SCS Incident prevented you from going on a date *crying emoji*

Cloud: It really hasn’t

Zack: Hey! We’ve got the fake date hang outs!

Cloud: Right

And even when Zack gets a workout in and practices sword fighting, he keeps thinking about the thing he told Sam no worries about. 

Sephiroth: I have finally managed to connect a computer that should have access to the policy. I do not have access to the full policy for the counseling services. 

Genesis: I knew that little greasy rat in glasses did something!

Angeal: The fact he even had authority to somehow block all of us from accessing that is concerning. I don’t think he should have clearance to do that. From my understanding, his ridiculously high security clearance only applies to Sephiroth. How did he have authority to do something that applies to so many people at Shinra?

Sephiroth: Unfortunately, it might not have only been Professor Hojo, but rather others in Shinra as well. The president may be involved. He would certainly have clearance. 

Angeal: This is ridiculous. Why are they so against you going to counseling?

Genesis: Oh I can think of a host of reasons. But primarily loss of control. You saw how hard it was getting the program approved in the first place. Mentally stable SOLDIERS don’t mindlessly follow orders. I’m sure Hojo would be terrified of Seph not being fully under his control. 

Angeal: Well. In any case, I’m getting tired of it. 

Genesis: Ifiit?

Angeal: Tempting but still no.

Genesis: I’ll get you to agree one day.

Thanks to Angeal, Zack’s got no missions for the rest of the week because of the whole double-mission thing and the BST Incident as he’s started calling it to Cloud. And he finally has time to go visit Aerith in person. Finally! 

He hasn’t gotten to see her since…well, the whole SCS Incident started. Wow, there’s been a lot of incidents in his life recently.

Maybe he should be concerned about that. 

But Zack’s never been so excited to hop on the Midgar train to head down to see Aerith. He plops down in one of the empty seats, scrolling on his PHS. 

Zack: Did you guys all do Stamp ads?

Angeal: What?

Zack: Just thinking

Genesis: You should keep that one away from the Research Department. They would love to study how his brain works. 

Zack: Hey! I was just thinking about the ad Angeal did with Stamp I sent last night!

Angeal: Unfortunately, we all had to do it. More than once.

Zack: Please please tell me you have all of those saved somewhere??

Genesis: No. Never. 

Zack: I bet your fanclub has them

Genesis: Do you enjoy living in an apartment you furnish and decorate yourself? Do you prefer to live life with that mane of untamed spikes you call hair? Do you relish your collections of miscellaneous collectibles that litter your living space?

Zack: Okay okay keep your materia away from my stuff I’ll send Angeal after you

Genesis: You dare turn my partner against me?

Zack: When you’re messing with private property and arson yeah

Angeal: Do not catch Zack’s stuff on fire. Zack, do not antagonize him about the Stamp ads.

Sephiroth: It remains a sensitive topic. 

Genesis: I know not of what you speak of. 

Sephiroth: He was upset that my Stamp ads did better than his. 

Genesis: Lies and fabrications! Slander! Libel! 

Sephiroth: I liked yours better. They were very adorable. 

Genesis: They were not supposed to be adorable! They were supposed to inspire heroism! Courage! Boldness! 

Sephiroth: The audience all agreed it was adorable. 

Genesis: As soon as you are back at this apartment I hope you know what awaits. 

Angeal: Absolutely not. No sparring in any of the apartments. Can’t you at least do that in one of your apartments instead of mine for once?

Angeal: And this is why the Stamp ads aren’t brought up. 

Zack: Okayyyy I see that now

Zack:...

Zack: But do you have copies of them?

Angeal: ZACK.

Sephiroth: I do njfkjdkjdskjdskjds

Angeal: Great.

Angeal sent a picture in the chat. 

Zack clicks on it as soon as it loads. And it’s a picture Angeal took, just the top of his head and eyes visible. But the whole picture is a blur of red, silver, and black. 

Angeal: Stamp ads are on the not allowed list for a reason.

Angeal: If any of my plants get destroyed, you’re buying new ones.

Zack: Are they actually fighting?

Angeal: Honestly, at our ages I would have thought this was over.

Zack: lol hey guys Angeal called you old

Zack hops off the train, never more happy to see this place. He waves at a couple people he’s learned to recognize over the years and hurries on to Aerith’s church. He had been to her home a couple times now, but they still liked meeting up at the church. 

It’s special. Since it’s where they first met. 

Even if it was a very unconventional method of meeting his future girlfriend. He’s honestly grateful for whatever Shinra engineer didn’t double check the flooring of that warehouse he fell through. Though, if he wasn’t SOLDIER, he would’ve had a very different experience. Thanks to the mako he didn’t end up as a pancake. That would’ve sucked.

 But still! 

He landed in Aerith’s church and that’s what matters! Definitely a crazy way to meet his girlfriend.

He hurries over to Aerith’s church, excited to see her for the first time in a while. And he makes it there in record time probably. Should he start timing that?

Opening the doors, he steps inside. “Aerith! I’m here!”

“Over here!”

Zack quickly half-runs and half-walks over to the patch of yellow flowers. And Aerith is right there. 

“Hi!” He says and man, he’s so happy to see her! He leans down to squish her into a hug. “I’m so happy to see you! It’s been forever!”

She laughs and hugs him back. “It sounds like a lot happened.”

He flops down on the ground beside her, making sure not to squish any flowers or leaves. Not today! “Oh man, it’s been crazy. Angeal managed to get me some free time—love that guy.”

Aerith giggles and smiles. “I was talking about your new boyfriend.”

He laughs now too. “Oh yeah, the fake dates have been going great. I totally think Genesis is trying to figure it out though, the guy spends way too much time focusing on drama honestly. But he’s not really my boyfriend.”

Aerith giggles some more and he weirdly feels like she’s teasing him about something. But she does that sometimes and he’s just accepted he doesn’t always know what she’s really teasing him about. “And how are those dates going?”

She holds out a small shovel to him. “Help me weed the flowers?”

“Sure!” He takes it from her and starts searching for those pesky little weeds that are bothering Aerith’s pretty flowers. Not on his watch! “Well, the fake dates are basically us just hanging out normally. So it’s the same as usual.”

And then she has the same teasing look again. “Hm. Nothing’s changed. Isn’t that funny?”

“I know!” Zack rips out a stubborn weed that was taking up all the nutrients a bunch of flowers need. Get outta here. “It’s hilarious actually! But it’s working pretty well so far. Well, maybe too well because now everyone at Shinra seems to think we’re actually dating. Which I guess is the point and all.”

Zack rips out another weed. “A SOLDIER asked me if I was actually dating Cloud. Get this, because he likes Cloud!”

“Oh,” Aerith says, tilting her head to the side curiously. “What did you say to that?”

“Well, I had to say we were dating and all. But I was super confused actually.”

She nods. And Zack adds, “I mean, what if Cloud wanted to go out with him? I guess I’d feel kind of bad for dragging him into this whole thing. But I asked Cloud—”

“You did?” 

“Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure he didn’t also like Sam and all.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah. But he didn't, so it's all good,” Zack says, tossing another weird twisty weed onto the growing pile. It’s been a long time since he’s done this. He used to help his aunt and uncle with this all the time back in Gongaga. They’d also promise to give him first pick of the fruits when they bloomed. It was a good deal. 

“Wait! I gotta tell you about what happened with the tea!”

He launches into the story about the BST from yesterday. After he reassures her he was fine, Aerith starts laughing so hard she almost falls onto her back. 

“You really drank ten teabags of it?”

“I know! I feel stupid now! I didn’t think it would affect me.” He hammers two pieces of random scrap wood together that’ll be the base of the wagon. “I just feel bad for scaring Spike like that. Though Genesis totally didn’t have to lecture me like that. I was literally only half-awake!”

Aerith laughs, while supervising the building of the wagon. “Did someone take a photo?”

“I hope not.” Zack pauses. “Uh, maybe Genesis did? He would totally blackmail me like that. I don’t think Spike did though.”

“Dang. I would’ve like to see it.”

“I’ll ask Genesis for you!”

“Zack,” Aerith says, sitting down beside him and his pile of nails. “Can I ask you about something?”

“Huh, yeah of course you can.” Trying to make this one exactly like the first one is kind of hard. How did he build that one again? Maybe he should’ve made directions or something .

“It’s about the—what did you call it? The SCS Incident?”

“Oh yeah! What about it?”

Aerith nods, then just as curiously asks, “Just wondering how that’s all going is all.”

“Oh, I’m so dead if Angeal ever finds out the truth,” Zack says, putting down the hammer he was using. “But we’ve got a cover story now so it’s all good. Plus, we’re getting to hang out still and all. Even more than usual actually. I think the worst is that people keep asking Cloud about it, he doesn’t really like all the attention. But I think it’s going pretty good. As long as nobody figures it out.” 

Aerith nods, humming understandingly. “And the fake dating part of it?”

“Oh, well not much different than how me and Cloudy normally hang out. We hung out at Sal’s like normal and watched a movie. I mean, not much has changed really.” Zack shrugs. “I don’t think Genesis believes it still though or he’s trying to figure it out or something.”

Aerith nods along while he’s talking. “Uh huh. It’s pretty interesting how fake dating Cloud is the exact same as normally hanging out with him, right?” She looks at him, expectantly for a second.

Uh? Did he miss something?

Because he feels like he’s missing something right now. Maybe the lack of sleep is making him dumb. He still kind of feels like he’s trying to catch up to a usual amount of sleep. Thanks, Angeal for helping him out and getting him out of missions for a bit. 

But he didn’t really think anything about the fake dates. It’s the same. 

Zack blinks at her. “Uh, yeah? I guess? But like, why would it be different? I mean, we’re just pretending to be dating. We’re not actually dating.”

Aerith sighs like she’s defeated, shaking her head.

“I still can’t believe that they had a bet about whether or not me and Cloud were dating! Can you believe that?” Zack shakes his head. “And they even knew I was dating you—Angeal was in on the bet! And I couldn’t tell them it wasn’t true because it’d mess up the cover story and all, but still!”

He measures a piece for the siding of the wagon. “I think Genesis needs to get his eyes checked or something. Well, SOLDIERS have enhanced eyesight, but you know what I mean.”

He glances at her now. “So, why’d you ask?”

“I just think it’s interesting,” Aerith says again, smiling with a slight teasing look again. “That’s all. I’m sure you’ll think it’s interesting too.”

“Huh? I guess?”

Chapter Text

Zack gets to the SCS office without rushing this time, happily waltzing through the door even though it’s way too early for a therapy appointment. He’s still here anyway, Angeal would be proud of how on time he is right now.

He waves at Katie, who, like always is behind the desk and decked out in her neon pink glasses. “Morning! Ooh, are those stickers?” 

He hurries over to the front desk. Because there are totally stickers! There’s a plastic container filled with stickers with the Shinra-standard logo for the department. And yeah, it has the office’s info on it. But stickers!

He points at the pile of gray and red stickers. “Are these free?”

“Of course they’re free, Mr. Fair,” Katie says, clicking away on her computer that he’s like eighty percent sure is way outdated. Kind of seems unfair that the SCS program has the worst tech possible when they’re helping everyone at Shinra. “Commander Hewley suggested the office provide them as a form of outreach.”

Why would the SCS need to do outreach? But hey, she’s the administrative director of the SCS, so she probably knows more than him about this kind of thing.

“Ooh, fancy. Good idea, Angeal. Everyone loves stickers.” He grabs one. It has the Shinra logo and the name of the SCS office on it and a little brain covered in cartoon footprints and a Shinra-standard font that says Take The First Steps. No idea where he’s going to put this. But who doesn’t love stickers?

She adjusts her glasses and he notices that even her nails are painted grey. He’s not sure if she really loves grey or pink or maybe both. “We just got them in this morning. Mr. Hewley suggested we test them over the course of the week.”

“Oh really?” He shoves the stick in his uniform pants back pocket. “Who’re you testing on? New recruits?”

“Mr. Hewley suggested we see how you reacted to them, Mr. Fair. He said if you seemed to like them, then most of the younger Shinra personnel would like them.”

Zack’s mouth drops open a little. “Well, yeah, of course. Who doesn’t like stickers?”

“That’s what Mr. Hewley thought you would say.” She turns and writes something down on a metal clipboard. Did she just take notes on that? Is his behavior being studied or something? He can’t be that predictable. “Good to know.”

Seriously, Angeal? What the heck man?

He shakes his head. “I can’t believe this. I’m not that predictable right?” Then he pauses, noticing the office has changed. “Oh, that’s new,” Zack says, pointing at the poster on the wall with a list of all the SCS program people. 

Angeal Hewley, Director of SCS, SOLDIER Liaison.

Katie Collin, Administrative Director.

And there’s a whole long list of other people involved like admins and other therapists.

“Wow, there’s not a lot of admins,” Zack comments. “At least compared to other departments.”

“We could use more. There is a lot of data and administrative processes needed to run SCS effectively” Katie says, clicking away. “Though in comparison to the rest of the Shinra departments, SCS is still the smallest.”

Zack glances around the honestly, pretty small main office area. Even the waiting room is smaller than some people’s offices he’s seen for sure. And compared to the medical areas, it’s downright tiny or miniature. “I mean, where’s the rest of the staff? It’s pretty small in here.”

“We have the rest of the therapists in the back offices. The lobby is too small to house all the offices,” Katie says, still typing away at a speed that’s frankly impressive.

It seems a little unfair that something as the SCS is stuck in this tiny office for so many people. Was this even supposed to be a departmental office? He glances around at how small it is. It probably wasn’t. Was this whole place someone’s individual office or something? He’ll have to ask Angeal later.

The doors squeak as they open behind him. Zack glances once over his shoulder, a habit that Angeal told him SOLDIERS should have—situational awareness. He instantly breaks into a huge smile at Cloud closing the doors behind him. 

“Hey, Cloudy!”

And Cloud looks rough . His shoulders are sagging, circles under his eyes, and looks like he’s ready to fist fight the next person he sees. 

“Yikes.” Zack furrows his brows, hands resting on his hips as he looks down at Cloud’s miserable expression. “Did your bunkmate keep you up all night again or something?”

“You don’t even want to know,” Cloud says, his voice entirely flat and highly unamused. Maybe Zack really should’ve scheduled their appointments later in the day. 

So, he throws an arm over Cloud’s shoulders, giving him a half-hug. Poor guy. “You good, man?”

Cloud sighs again. “Apparently my bunkmate somehow found out where I was going this morning.”

Where Cloud was going?

To the SCS?

“Oh.” 

And then. Oh. Wait. That’s not good at all. 

Zack rubs the back of his hair for a moment, just thinking. Then it hits him. “Oh. Your bunkmate likes to tell people stuff right?”

The look on Cloud’s face is enough to tell him. Well. Crap. 

Great. So now all of Shinra is going to know they’re dating and also apparently in couples therapy together. That’s going to be great. 

Zack cringes deeply. It’s bad enough that people think they’re dating as it is. Not good. No wonder Cloud looks like he’s going to die. 

“I don’t know who he told but I got stuck with some other infantry in the elevator and they already knew.” Cloud looks deeply, deeply tired.

Oh no. That doesn’t sound good. 

“Were they being jerks?” Zack asks, already remembering how Cloud’s squadmates reacted to finding out he and Cloud were ‘dating’ and all. It was none of their business! Even if he and Cloud aren’t actually dating! The principle is the same!

Cloud shrugs and that’s basically Cloud-speech for a yes that he just doesn’t want to admit to.

“Okay, bro,” Zack says, frowning. “That keeps happening. I mean, I knew people might be a little crazy about it. But…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cloud says, sounding tired and miserable. “Doesn’t matter now.”

“Matters to me, man.” Is there something he can do about that? Somehow? 

“It’s fine,” Cloud says, shrugging. “Nothing to worry about.”

“I’m still going to worry, bro.”

And then a door behind them opens and Lori steps out, a clipboard tucked under one arm. “Good morning, are you two ready for the appointment?”

“Yup!” 

Lori’s office is the exact same as before and Zack immediately sits down on the comfy couch. Cloud sits down beside him a second later, still looking tired and unsure about this all. Which is fair, plus his squadmates probably made him feel worse about it too.

Zack owes him big time. Who else would go along with this whole thing?

“Okay,” Lori says, sitting down in the same chair she sat in last time. “Let's focus a bit more on what you want to get out of therapy and how we’re going to accomplish that over the rest of the sessions.”

“Cool,” Zack says, because he’s really not sure how else to respond. Is that okay to say? Is therapy formal like that? Maybe he should ask Angeal. 

Lori looks up from her clipboard at both of them. “So, I think we’ll focus on the cultural differences this session, so you both have a better understanding of each other and how you both view relationships. It’s an important baseline to establish.” 

Zack nods along while Lori keeps explaining. “Which is important for communication and the healthiness of the relationship. Anything else?”

Yeah that makes sense. It sounds a lot like something Angeal would say honestly. Does Angeal have a therapy degree or something? Or maybe it’s all the therapy books Zack’s seen at his apartment before.  

Zack raises his hand. “So, Cloudy mentioned that this might be something to bring up. So I’ve been having issues with sleeping for a while now, real bad, because of SOLDIER stuff.”

Lori blinks, pausing where she had been jotting something down on her notepad. “Has this been causing an issue for both of you?”

“Uh,” Zack drags the word out and thinks back to how the only reason he’s here right now in couples therapy is because of it. But definitely not in the way she’s thinking. It’s the pretend dating his best friend so he can go to couples therapy he doesn’t actually need.  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Lori nods. “Okay, and can you give some examples of how this has been affecting your relationship?”

And it occurs to Zack he wasn’t sure how to answer that at all. Because he hadn’t even thought about that. He just thought it would be helpful to talk about it during therapy like Cloud suggested. But here he is.

“Um,” Zack scratches at his hair while trying to think. “Well, honestly, I wasn’t too worried about it. But uh, I guess Angeal said it was something I should mention.”

Totally the actual reason Angeal wanted him to go to SCS at all. Nope. Totally not a whole issue. Just not one that was affecting his ‘relationship’ with Cloud. Other than pulling him into this whole make-believe mess. Man, he majorly owes Cloud for this.

Now Lori furrows her brows and he’s not sure if she’s confused or surprised by that. “Commander Hewley suggested you bring it up in therapy?”

“Yeah, and Genesis. Though he was a lot more mean about it,” Zack says, shaking his head. “But that’s just Genesis. I guess I was just worried it would affect things. I guess.”

Yeah. That sounded real convincing, Fair. 

He’s great at this. Maybe he should look into being an actor or something. That would be funny. 

“Okay,” Lori nods, jotting something down. “That’s good to know. Anything else? Cloud maybe? You’ve been really quiet.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Cloud wince when she turns her attention to him. Zack sends a silent prayer to the Goddess or someone for Cloud. 

“Uh, not really. I guess,” Cloud says and it sounds very convincing. Maybe Cloud’s the one who should be an actor. Well, he probably wouldn’t actually like it, but still he sounds really convincing. 

“Okay, well, I thought that maybe we would try a couple simple things today,” Lori says, leaning on her notepad. “This may sound silly, but I would like you both to try describing your relationship.”

What? 

Zack must look confused because Lori explains more. “It helps you both get a good understanding of where the other person’s head is at and also if you’re having any differences in how you’re viewing the relationship. Which will also help me to better assist you both better in the meantime. How does that sound?”

Sure. Great. 

Except. He and Cloud aren’t actually dating. They’re best friends, best buds. Bros. The bestest bros actually. What relationship?

“Uh,” Zack starts, trying to think of something that actually makes sense for a romantic relationship. “I’d describe it as chill? I guess?”

“Chill?” Lori repeats, not sounding confused or judgemental. 

Zack nods. “Yeah, uhm, you know. We’ve been friends for a while and all before we dated so I guess it’s, like, chill.”

Very believable. 

He could never be a Turk. He’d die on his first mission actually. Did Lori actually believe that? Well, she doesn’t really have any reason not to think they’re dating but still. 

Lori nods again, “Okay, and Cloud? How would you describe your relationship?”

Cloud looks close to wanting to run out the doors or disappear somewhere else. He shifts, visibly unsettled. “Um, well. I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about that…before.”

She nods understandingly. “Well, maybe it will help to define your relationship and how you view it. You both seem a little unsure about talking about it.”

Yeah. Obviously they’re unsure. They’re not dating!

Somehow Cloud manages to become more and more one with the couch. Which only proves Lori’s point even more. Maybe they should’ve thought this through more. Can Lori tell they’re lying? Or does she just think they’re really awkward or something?

Zack’s never awkward!

Mostly. Most of the time. 

“Okay, then.” Lori says, “How about we shift our focus a little bit then?  How about you both talk about how Gongaga and Nibelheim view romantic relationships. I also want to discuss something that might be affecting things. Since you’re both from smaller towns, would it be possible that older traditions might be affecting how you’re viewing this relationship? Before Midgar and growing up did you ever know anyone in same-sax relationships at all?”

Wait, what?

Cloud has a hand half-covering his face and even then Zack can see his face is turning red. It’s okay, Cloudy! Hang in there! It’s only a fifty minute session! They can make it through this together. 

Hopefully. 

Lori quickly also adds, “it’s okay if you didn’t, I just think that you both seem, maybe a little unsure of the relationship. It’s clear you both have feelings for each other, but you both seem a little hesitant about the relationship. Which can be understandable if you grew up somewhere same-sex relationships were seen as wrong or weren’t common. Even if you don’t think so, sometimes we can still be affected by the biases we grew up around.”

Zack shrugs. “I don’t know, I’ve been around Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth and they’re all dating. So it’s not a big deal.”

Even though they were totally the first people he met who were in a same-sex relationship. He didn’t know anyone in Gongaga who was, at least not that he can remember. But he doesn’t remember anyone being rude or jerks about it growing up. 

And yeah, when Angeal first told him he was dating two people, who were also men, he was kind of shocked. But he’s pretty sure his First Class self was more shocked that it was okay to date more than one person at a time without it being cheating. He tries not to think about how he, super embarrassingly, accused Angeal of cheating at first and how Genesis had laughed so hard at Zack that he choked on his tea. He still sometimes apologizes to Angeal about that.

Lori says, “But that’s more recently, the way we grew up as young children has a significant impact on us, even subconsciously.”

You know what?

Zack’s never even thought about it. Like, he’s never considered if he even likes guys. When he first got to Midgar all he was focused on was being a hero and making it in SOLDIER. And then he met Aerith and obviously he liked her! A whole lot! And still does. 

But guys?

He never really thought about it. Even when Angeal finally told him he was dating two other people, who were both guys. Zack remembers pretty clearly giving him the thumbs up and then being confused that he can date two people. That’s a thing?

But he got distracted by the fact Angeal was dating Genesis Rhapsodos and Sephiroth. That’s kind of crazy if you ask Zack. He rolled with it mostly, after the accusing Angeal of being a cheater thing (he’s fairly sure Genesis still laughs if it’s brought up). 

And yeah, he asked Cloud to help him with this and fake date and all. Because they’re best friends and who else was he going to ask? It’d be weird asking Kunsel, he loves the guy, but it’s not the same (sorry, man). It didn’t seem that weird with Cloud. 

Zack pauses, actually thinking about that for a moment and then says, more honestly than he has this whole session. “I don’t think I’ve really thought about that.”

As Zack and Cloud are leaving Lori’s office, he leans down to Cloud to whisper. “Do you think she knows?”

Cloud still looks like he’s recovering with his shoulders hunched up and a haunted expression. “That we’re two lying liars?”

“Yea.”

“I have no idea,” Cloud mumbles. 

“Kinda wish I could ask.”

Cloud shoots him a look as they step back out into the main lobby of the SCS office. Cloud heads for the door, already opening it and probably wanting to leave as soon as possible so he doesn’t have to be here any longer.

“Oh wait!” Zack scurries over to the desk. He has got to grab some extra stickers! It’s crucial. “I’m gonna grab some more stickers, bro. Do you want any?”

“I’m good.” Cloud steps out of the office, clearly just wanting to leave and escape. 

Zack shrugs. “Your loss, man.” He grabs like five extra stickers. He’s totally giving one of these to Cloud anyway and some to Kunsel. They’re pretty cool plus it’ll help with the whole outreach thing for the SCS which Angeal would appreciate.  

Katie clicks extra loudly on her keyboard. “You know, Mr. Fair. You might want to consider not calling your significant other ‘bro’ or ‘man.’”

Zack pauses where he was shoving the extra stickers in his pockets. “Huh?”

She looks at him over her hot pink glasses with a look that is definitely judgemental this time. Yeah she’s judging him for sure. “You might want to consider that when you use those nicknames it sounds like you are saying your relationship isn’t important or it’s the same as a friendship.”

Zack’s mouth drops open. “Huh?” And then it clicks in his brain. “No, no it’s not like that!”

Katie raises one eyebrow and he distinctly feels judged now. “Well, perhaps you should think about it considering where you are right now.”

Zack looks around. Therapy office. Right. 

“Uh,” And that’s all Zack can manage to say. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I don’t know why Genesis also said that—”

“You should consider listening to Mr. Rhapsodos,” Katie says, returning to her rapid fire clicking away on her computer. “He has a good point.”

“Right.” Zack is never going to say that to Genesis, not unless he wants Genesis to slap a piece of paper down in front of him to put it down in writing. He’s done it before. Zack’s convinced the guy has a whole wall somewhere in his apartment where he keeps documentation of all the times he’s right.

“Okay,” Zack says and hurries out of the office and back to Cloud. 

That’s the second or third person who’s told him that. 

Oh no. 

Does that make the whole thing less believable? What if people start suspecting? What if Genesis and Angeal start suspecting?

Not good!

Cloud sighs. “I feel like she knows. What if it’s in her notes?”

Zack shrugs. “Hard to say.”

Should he stop calling Cloud bro? No, that would be suspicious. Also, Cloud is his bro, it’d be wrong not to call him that. Maybe he keeps saying bro and then he starts adding other nicknames?

Yeah. That could work. 

As they both turn a corner and Zack tries it out.

“Babe?”

Cloud runs into the wall corner.

“Cloud!” Zack shouts as Cloud whips around, his face entirely red.

“ What ?” It sounds more like he’s wheezing than saying a normal word.

Zack looks back at him and then shrugs. “You know, pet names. Everyone keeps saying I can’t call you bro or man. It’s gonna blow our cover, man. So I’m trying out pet names or whatever.” 

Perfectly reasonable.

“No.” Cloud says, dragging his hands down his face. “Absolutely not.”

“Come on, man. We put so much effort into this already. We can’t let people figure it out over nicknames.” Zack tries again, “Baby?”

Cloud throws his hands up in the air. “No!”

“Choco—”

Cloud grabs his arm and tries to look threatening but Cloud’s about as threatening as a baby chocobo (not that he will ever say that to him, he likes living right now). “Don’t even finish that.”

“You gotta work with me here, man—dang it, can’t say that.” Zack pats his hand and hopes his signature‘puppy dog eyes’ as Angeal says, are working overtime right now. 

“I really can’t ruin our cover now, it’d be a waste of all our planning. It’s been like three weeks and if Angeal knew I was keeping this whole thing under wraps now I’d be dead. I think he’d let Genesis send Ifrit after me or something.”

“Wouldn’t it be more suspicious if you suddenly switched?!” Cloud shouts, dragging his hands down his face.

“We can just say that now that everyone knows, we’re both cool with using—”

“You want me to use them too?!” 

“Spike! Please!” He puts his hands together in a pleading motion because, obviously this is going to take some begging. “I can’t let Genesis and Angeal find out. If they find out now, I’m dead. Please, please, please. Please .”

Cloud has his face buried in his hands now and his voice comes out muffled. “You’re trying to kill me. For real this time.”

“This is crucial to the plan. Just think of it this way, if we speedrun our way through couples therapy then maybe we can get the green flag to end it before ten months are up and then pretend dating will be over and everything will be fine. We just have to figure things out for now.”

Cloud is quiet for a long, long moment to the point Zack almost feels awkward. But he didn’t say anything weird.

“And that’s another thing.” Cloud drags his hands down his face, staring at Zack with a weirdly intense look. “How is that going to work?”

He tilts his head to the side. “What work?”

Cloud looks away and quickly says, “Ending the pretend dating thing?”

“We just—” Zack pauses and actually... “That is a great question.”

Cloud punches his arm. And then has to turn around and take very, very deep breaths. “ Zack .”

“We’ll cross that road when we get there!” Zack says, hoping he sounds fully confident with that plan. “Maybe we just say that Lori suggested that we break up—”

Cloud turns and looks at him like he’s going crazy. “Do you actually think Commander Hewley or Commander Rhapsodos will just accept that at face value? And not try to dig into it?”

Not really. 

Angeal will probably try to help him work through it still and then be super worried when Zack doesn’t work through it at all. And Genesis will be a menace trying to get the full story. A complete and utter menace to society. 

“I don’t know,” Zack shrugs, trying to sound more unbothered than he feels. “I haven’t really thought it through honestly. This whole operation is very make it up as we go.”

Cloud lets out a long sigh. “When did this become ‘we?’ This is your plan.”

“We’re in this together, man!” Zack says, throwing an arm over Cloud’s shoulders. “Or should I come up with a different term of endearment? Uh like—”

“Please, don’t—”

“Sweetie?”

Cloud makes a sound like he’s dying and tries to escape from Zack’s arm. 

“Dude! We have to! For the plan!”

“You’re trying to kill me!”

He squishes Cloud into a hug, snickering. “Only with love and affection, my fluffy little chocobo!”

“Ugh, just kill me now I swear—”

“Aw!” 

Zack looks over the top of Cloud’s fluffy head to see a whole group of SOLDIERS standing in the hallway. Including Kunsel, who has his PHS out and is definitely taking photos he’s going to blackmail Zack with later. 

“Hi!” Zack says, waving at all of them.

And then he remembers that he’s still hugging Cloud against his chest and holding him a couple inches off the ground. And he can feel how tense Cloud is. Great. 

Well. 

How does he keep getting in these situations honestly?

Zack laughs and puts Cloud down, who is very, very deliberately looking away from the whole group of SOLDIERS with his entire face getting more red by the second. Zack salutes them even though he’s technically higher ranked. “Nothing to see here!”

He hears the click of a PHS.

Zack laughs, maybe a little nervously, he grabs Cloud’s hand. “Oops, sorry! Gotta go! Angeal needs me!”

And he drags Cloud behind him, practically running away from the group of SOLDIERS. Okay, he needs to think that through or something! Also he is totally asking Kunsel for those photos later. He needs to add them to his folder of cute Cloud photos for sure. 

“I am going to kill you.” Cloud hisses as they keep running and Zack laughs his head off. 

“You can’t kill your bestie!” Zack says as he goes to throw open the door to Angeal’s office, his hand just barely touching the handle when he freezes.

“This is an abuse of power! The program was approved by the president for goddess’s sake!”

Zack stops entirely outside of the door when he hears Genesis’s shouting. He glances once at Cloud, silently asking if they should leave. 

And Angeal sounds very, very tired when he responds, “I know.”

Oh. That’s not good.

Doesn’t Angeal have enough to worry about? 

Zack pushes open the door. “Hey, guys. What’s going on?”

Angeal is sitting at his desk, normally though he looks like he’s fighting off a headache while looking at some papers. Genesis is in the middle of the room, hands clearly gesturing around while he’s ranting. And Sephiroth is leaning against the far wall, very still. 

“I cannot find it in myself to explain this horrendous situation to the puppy!” Genesis says, flinging a hand towards the desk. “Angeal!”

Zack looks back to the desk now, just feeling more and more confused.

Angeal sighs, rubbing at his forehead. “We got a notification a bit ago that the approval for the SCS has been rescinded.”

Wait what? Who even would want to do that?

Zack hurries into the room, partly forgetting he’s dragging Cloud along behind him. “That’s crazy! It got approved months ago! The president even signed it, right?”

“Exactly!” Genesis flings his arms up into the air, infuriated. 

From where he’s leaning against the wall, Sephiroth says, “We were not informed of who initiated the rescind decision.”

Genesis huffs. “They knew better than to let us know or else…”

Now Angeal just sounds annoyed, not good. “I had SOLDIERS and normal infantry sending messages telling me how much the program has helped, there’s no logical reason for them to cut the program.”

And oh no, Angeal looks legitimately upset. No! Not on Zack’s watch!

He desperately looks to Genesis and Sephiroth when Angeal’s face falls even further. This is terrible! 

Sephiroth shakes his head, his arms still crossed. “I doubt they will provide a reason.”

Genesis huffs again. “We can rightfully infer why they’re receding their decision and it has everything to do with a certain lab coat wearing little greasy rat man.”

Oh. Oh okay.

He’s missing some context here, isn’t he?

Zack blinks. “Uh, what’s going on?”

Angeal sighs deeply, exhaling like it’s the only thing keeping him sane. Genesis starts before he can even open his mouth. “About two weeks ago Seph got an email saying that Hojo pulled some sort of authority level to make it impossible for him to attend SCS.”

And then Sephiroth adds, “He said the only way I could attend any sort of therapy was if it was provided through the Research and Development Department.”

Okay, what? Zack makes a face. “Seriously?”

Angeal nods. “We tried to find the full policy somewhere, the one approved by the president to maybe find a loophole but—”

“Someone deleted all copies!” Genesis throws his hands up in the air and prompts falls into one of Angeal’s chairs, squeaking concerningly. “None of us have access anymore.”

“Whoa! That’s so weird,” Zack says, moving to gesture and accidentally dragging Cloud along. “Oh hi, Spikey. But Angeal’s totally the one heading the program! That doesn’t make sense why he doesn’t have access. Also! The program is helping people. Why would they want to end it?”

“Precisely!” Genesis says from the chair. “Even the puppy understands!”

“That’s messed up, even for Shinra,” Zack says. 

Angeal puts down the piece of paper he had been holding. “Supposedly, the program will shut down in three weeks.”

And Angeal just looks so sad and upset that Zack can’t not do something. Angeal worked so hard to get the program set up so he can help people, and now they want to end it? Without even any reasoning? 

“Well, we gotta stop that!” Zack says, with every bit of determination he can. “I don’t know how but we gotta do something, right?”

Angeal gives him a fond smile at that but he leans back. “I’m not sure what we can do now.”

“We can—” Zack stops to think, glancing once at Cloud for suggestions, who just looks very confused and yeah, Zack did drag him here. “Any ideas?” 

Cloud’s voice is very quiet. “I don’t know, Zack. A petition or something?”

“Ooh, good idea!” He turns to Angeal. “What about what Cloud said? A petition? That’s a thing. There’s gotta be something legally we can do, especially since it was approved and all.”

Now Angeal looks like he’s considering it. “Maybe?”

“SCS is to help everyone at Shinra!” Zack says. “Also wasn’t the whole point of Angeal being in charge of the program so that nobody could do something like this?”

“That was the thought,” Sephiroth says, thinly. 

“I’m not sure how Professor Hojo had the authority to do so, but he did,” Angeal says, shaking his head. 

“So why did they approve it in the first place?” Cloud asks, suddenly. And Zack turns to look at him. And Cloud winces a bit but adds. “If they were going to shut it down anyway?”

“An excellent question from the puppy’s chocobo,” Genesis says.

“I’m not—”

Zack pats his head. “It’s okay, man. You’re a chocobo and that’s okay.”

“Zack.”

“But anyway!” Zack says louder. “How are we going to stop the SCS from getting shut down?”

“I have no idea, but I’ve asked some other people for some help who know more about the legal side of things,” Angeal says, but he’s clearly thinking. “Our first thought was the policy to check for loopholes specifically for Sephiroth, but now none of us have access to it.”

“We steal the papers!” Zack says, throwing an arm up in the air. Everyone looks at him. 

“Zack,” Angeal says, firmly and with his mentor voice. “Stealing isn’t honorable.”

“They shouldn’t have taken them away in the first place.”

“I, for one, actually agree with the puppy,” Genesis says, leaning an arm over the back of the chair. 

“Really?” Zack is beaming now. It’s rare for Genesis to agree with him!

Genesis rolls his eyes. “Stop making that face. If you actually had a tail, it would be wagging right now.”

Zack still keeps smiling even if Genesis rolls his eyes.

“I wish it was as simple as that,” Angeal says, picking up the paper again and scanning his eyes over it. “But I would like to do this the proper way and with honor—”

“Screw being honorable!” Genesis shoves his chair back, standing now. “Was it honorable for Shinra to forcefully take away the SCS program after it had already been running smoothly? You created SCS the honorable way and the honorable thing would be to follow procedure, but that would mean doing nothing.”

Angeal lets out a deeper sigh now, rubbing at his forehead. “I need to take another baking class.”

Oh no. Whenever Angeal starts talking about needing to take a baking class it usually means his stress levels are too much. Last time that happened was when Genesis caught part of the tower on fire.

“Is your heart bothering you?” Zack asks, worried now. Angeal really has too much stress.

Angeal gives him a flat look, not amused. “I don’t actually have heart problems, Zack.’

He looks at Sephiroth, who sort of looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “Sephiroth made it sound like you do! That time in the groupchat.”

“I don’t have heart problems, Zack. He was messing with you,” Angeal says, shaking his head at Sephiroth now. “Sephiroth, don’t tell him things like that.”

Now Zack looks at Sephiroth. “Bro.”

“I thought you had realized by now,” Sephiroth says, with the smallest hint of a smile. 

“Can’t believe this. You’re teaming up on me,” Zack says, pretending to be sad now. 

“If anything,” Genesis says, grabbing the back of the chair and moving it to sit back down. “It is on you for not using menial brain processing power to realize that SOLDIERS don’t have heart problems at the age of twenty-five.”

Menial?

Okay. He’s not sure exactly what that means but it sounds insulting plus Genesis is saying it. So it probably is. 

“Rude.”

“Okay, this is not the time,” Angeal says, the mentor voice back again. “Back to what’s important. Even if we were to steal the policy, how are we supposed to steal it if we don’t know who has it. Or if it’s been deleted entirely from Shinra’s systems? We could ask IT—”

“Absolutely not,” Genesis says, instantly. “We construct a plan without consulting IT.”

“Besides,” Sephiroth comments, “If anyone deleted it permanently, it would have been IT.”

Angeal sighs, again. That’s gotta be a new record of sighs in less than fifteen minutes. “That’s a good point.”

Zack sighs, putting his hands on his hips, dragging Cloud again and making him ram into Zack’s side. “Sorry, man. I’m just trying to think of why they would want to end the whole program, you know?”

“Um, Zack?” Cloud asks quietly, looking anywhere but directly at him. “You can let go now.”

He glances down and wow, he’s still holding Cloud’s wrist from earlier. “Oops, sorry.” And he lets go of Cloud’s wrist and grabs his hand instead. 

And he looks back to Angeal. “Any ideas?”

“This is like watching a theater performance,” Genesis comments, watching Zack and Cloud like he was watching a TV show and snacking on popcorn. 

Cloud is using his other hand to cover his face now, cringing deeply and hiding. 

“Dude, stop being so nosy,” Zack says to Genesis. 

“You are the one standing directly in the middle of the room and engaging in copious public displays of affection,” Genesis says, huffing and rolling his eyes. 

“Please. Can we stay on topic?” Angeal asks, sighing again. Yea, he’s going for a world-record number of sighs in a single hour. “Like Zack said, it’s the fact they didn’t give any reasoning that’s been bothering me. The SCS program is here to help Shinra personnel, especially the military and SOLDIER operatives. They already approved it so I’m not sure why exactly they want to shut it down.”

“They want a power trip, that’s what,” Genesis says, crossing his arms. 

“Over therapy?” Zack asks, confused now. “It’s just therapy, right? Why would that give ‘em a power trip?”

“Please, use that brain of yours, I am fairly certain it exists underneath that mop of hair.” Genesis waves a hand, “I am not in the mood to explain the inner workings of Shinra politics and ethical questionability to you.”

Zack makes a face, frowning at Genesis. “Okay, man.”

“Okay, stay on topic,” Angeal says, crossing his arms. “We need to figure out how to either get the program reinstated or to find the policy.”

Nobody answers. 

Zack still feels like stealing it from somewhere is going to be the only option.

There is a polite knocking at the door before the door opens partly. And it’s Katie, for a moment it’s weird to see her not behind the SCS desk, but yeah it’s definitely her considering the hot pink glasses. 

“Mr. Hewley, I got the email you forwarded about the SCS program. I was thinking about what you asked about what could be done legally in this situation,” Katie says, carrying a folder full of papers in one arm. 

Angeal nods. “Of course, that’s what we’re discussing.”

Genesis holds up a hand, “If you are going to suggest that we simply go about it the proper route then—”

“Mr. Rhapsodos.” Katie adjusts her glasses. “I may be an admin, but I am an admin who prefers to get things done. Efficiently. Bureaucracy is not always efficient.”

Now Genesis raises an eyebrow. “Then what is?”

Katie holds out a small stack of papers clipped together with a heavy duty paperclip. “I was able to look at the backlogs of who looked at and edited the files for the SCS, including who was able to access them, which includes who had the ability to remove or delete our permissions to view the policy. I have the potential names of those who did it here.”

“Whoa!” Zack looks around her to try and see the list. “That’s so smart actually.”

While she hands it to Angeal, Katie responds, “It’s a natural conclusion to check the policy. It was missing.”

“Admins know everything,” Angeal says, laughing a little. 

“That’s so awesome,” Zack says, legitimately amazed. “You’re like a hacker or something.”

Katie pulls out another stack of papers. “I also pulled records and politics of Shinra’s employee rights, insurance, and legal procedures.”

Now Angeal blinks, looking up from the list of names. “Why?”

“From what I’ve found, rescinding approval for the SCS program so suddenly and without proper procedures might be against Shinra’s own politics and by-laws, particularly in regards to insurance filing.”

Wait, what?

Katie opens up a paper file organizer. “All of Shinra’s employees and operatives who are currently using SCS services are also using their insurance policy, which states that employees are entitled to all of the benefits of healthcare provided by Shinra and covered by Shinra-issued insurance. The SCS was part of Shinra’s healthcare.”

She sets down the files on Angeal’s desk and it just looks like a super, super long document with text that is way too small. Katie points to a random part of the page. “They missed this clause when they rescinded the program approval.”

Genesis walks over to the table, snatching the papers and reading over them while Katie keeps explaining. “By ending SCS in this manner, they have left themselves vulnerable to all sorts of legal action. Even suing, potentially.” She adjusts her glasses and even though her expression doesn’t really change, Zack swears she looks a little smug. “I, personally, think that a robust legal suit might scare their legal team into reinstating the SCS program.”

Zack zips around her to look over Genesis’s shoulder and it’s a whole bunch of legal jargon and words he’s never seen. But he doesn’t really know about how exactly insurance works (Angeal has tried to explain it but it’s a work in progress). 

“Whoa, that’s so awesome! How’d you even figure that out?”

Genesis looks up, asking, “How did you even notice that?”

Katie raises one eyebrow just slightly. “It does help having read all of the Shinra policies fully on several occasions.”

“So,” Angeal begins, thoughtfully. “In this case, Sephiroth would be included in Shinra’s employees, right? They couldn’t prevent him from using the SCS?”

She stands a little taller. “We were fully prepared to ignore that order from Professor Hojo, Sir.”

Huh?

Genesis’s head whips around and Sephiroth looks up from where he’s still leaning against the wall. 

“You were?” Angeal asks, baffled. 

She nods. “I saw no proper paperwork submitted by Professor Hojo that validated his reasoning, which was required if someone was not permitted to use the SCS. Besides, he sent his order through email. That’s against the SCS’s procedures.”

Now Katie looks to Sephiroth, “Your therapy sessions slot is still open, as of this morning, General. In fact, you have missed three appointments. Please check your spam inbox and ensure you don’t have the general SCS number blocked so you can receive the PHS reminders.”

Huh?

Sephiroth looks taken aback, then he slowly seems to realize he needs to respond. “I will.”

Katie nods. “Thank you. Please confirm your next appointment with your therapist.” She starts to leave the room, pausing by the doorway. “Oh and I underlined the names of who accessed the policy the most often besides those involved in the program. Coincidentally, several board members are having an unlisted meeting with those names included tomorrow afternoon at two in room eight-hundred ninety-two.”

And then Katie is gone. 

When the door closes behind Katie, Genesis slowly turns towards Angeal. “Are we sure she isn’t a Turk?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Angeal sounds a little bit doubtful of that even as he says it.

“Okay,” Zack says, “Remind me to never mess with Katie.”

“I told you,” Angeal says, picking up the list of names again. “Admins know everything.”

And Genesis snatches the list out of Angeal’s hands. “The question is, do we crash this meeting or do we spy on it somehow?”

“Spying isn’t honorable—”

“How do we even spy?” Zack asks.

Genesis huffs. “I guarantee those old cretins are discussing why they shut down Angeal’s program, which by upsetting Angeal has earned my ire. Something must be done.”

“Ire?” Angeal repeats.

“Yes!” He waves the papers around. “It is unacceptable!” Genesis turns his attention to Sephiroth. “We’re going to deal with this.”

Zack raises his hand. “Uh, so. Do we still need to find a copy of the policy or…”

Genesis sighs and rolls his eyes at the exact same time. “Yes, puppy, we do.”

“Okay, okay, cool.” Zack nods along. “Hear me out.”

“Oh Gaia,” Angeal mutters and Zack decides to ignore that because, rude. 

“What if we all staged a heist and stole the policy during the meeting tomorrow?”

Everyone stares at him. Angeal behind his desk stares, somehow a mix of disappointment and consideration. Sephiroth stares at him, expression impossible to read. Cloud stares at him like Zack is suddenly transformed into a frog in front of him. Genesis stares, slowly raising both eyebrows.

He rushes to explain more before Angeal launches into lecturing him. “I mean, we basically already know it was those guys in the meeting, right? So it’s gotta be on one of their computers then, right?”

“Are you suggesting that we conduct a heist to break into the office of Shinra board members, hack into their computers, and steal a policy?” Genesis says each and every word, very slowly. 

“Yeah!”

Genesis slowly breaks into a grin, a very sly and very excited grin. “I may have a plan in that case.”

Sephiroth turns his head slightly, “And what is this plan of yours?”

Genesis slowly turns towards Zack and Cloud, his grin only growing. “How would you two feel being involved in a heist against our corporate employers?”

RE: SEPHIROTH IS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF R&D!!!

From  Collin, Katie (SCScollink@shinramail)

To  Hojo, Professor (r&dhojo@shinramail)

Cc  Sephiroth (sephiroth@shinramail); SCSprogram@shinramail; HRdepartment@shinramail; Hewley, Angeal (SOLDIERhewleya@shinramail); Rhapsodos, Genesis (SOLDIERrhapsodosg@shinramail);  Ramon, Allen (SCSramona@shinramail); Sea, Lana (SCSseal@shinramail); Mal, Ana (SCSmala@shinramail); Sun, Summer (SCSsuns@shinramail); Windway, Lori (SCSwindwayl@shinramail); Leaflin, Julian (SCSleaflinj@shinramail); Sky, Myers (SCSmyerss@shinramail); Inmn, Jo (SCSinmnj@shinramail); Hyatt, Chris (SCShyattc@shinramail)

Good afternoon Professor Hojo, 

I am Katie Collin, the Administrative Director of the SCS Program at Shinra. I wanted to let you know that I thoroughly read your email and wanted to give a substantive reply. In addition, I have also copied General Sephiroth in this email chain as well as I believe this is valuable information for him to be aware of as well as several other individuals and departments I felt were relevant to this conversation. I apologize for the late response as I wanted to ensure I had the proper information to give you.

In regards to your email, I cannot comply with your requests for the reasons I will detail here. 

1) Any requests made by SOLDIER, infantry, or any other Shinra personnel or operatives’ supervisor to the SCS to disallow for mental health counseling services provided by the SCS must be made through a paper form submitted directly to the SCS office by the supervisor. Email requests are not allowed and the SCS program office will not respond to any requests made by email. Please see this link for a downloadable copy of the paper form. If you need any help with the form or have any questions regarding properly filling out this form please contact SCS Program Director Angeal Hewley at hewleya@shinramail. 

2) The email request did not adequately explain why General Sephiroth should be disallowed from utilizing the SCS’s mental health counseling services. Any paper requests submitted to the SCS must clearly and fully explain the reasoning for disallowal, including attachments A, B, and E2 you can find linked here . The email request only cited that it was not SCS’s place to offer these services to General Sephiroth and that only the Research and Development Division is allowed to offer them. While SCS understands the Research and Development Division’s history with General Sephiroth, this reasoning does not apply to the SCS due to the nature of SCS’s purpose within Shinra. Please see the approved policy and paperwork that further explain. Please read pages 50-150 for the procedure regarding SOLDIERS and utilizing the SCS for mental health counseling, as this policy pertains to all SOLDIERS, General Sephiroth is included. It is at the SCS office’s discretion to find the request’s reasoning to be adequate and to agree to it. 

2.1) The SCS office did not find ‘you idiots can’t interfere with Sephiroth’ as adequate reasoning to prevent General Sephiroth from accessing the SCS’s mental health counseling services. Please be sure to carefully read the SCS Approval Policy before submitting any forms, papers, or requests to the SCS Program Office.

3) As stated on page 264 of the SCS Approval Policy, the paper request for disallowal must be submitted before the requester is approved by SCS’s office. General Sephiroth had already been approved by SCS’s office by the time we received your email request and in addition, General Sephiroth had already been scheduled for an appointment. The SCS’s office cannot retroactively disallow requesters from utilizing the mental health services provided by the office, as stated on page 265 of the SCS Approval Policy. If you have any questions regarding the disallowal policy at SCS please refer to pages 260-278 of the SCS Approval Policy. 

4) In regards to the final paragraph of your email request, the SCS office cannot comply with the request to ‘give all documents given to your idiotic office about Sephiroth you imbeciles’ to Professor Hojo or anyone outside of the SCS office staff without the proper clearance to see them as is stated on page 45 of the SCS Approval Policy for the sake of patient security and privacy. In addition, please see Shinra’s policy on appropriate workplace language & engagement linked here . 

5) If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to contact the SCS Program Director Angeal Hewley to discuss them further. Our director is always happy to discuss issues regarding the SCS as he worked to spearhead the formation of the office tirelessly. He will be happy to answer any questions Professor Hojo may have.

Thank you, 

Katie Collin

Administrative Director

Shinra Counseling Services, SCS

Shinra Electric Company

~ 

Email: SCScollink@shinramail

Office Number: (111) 111-1122

Office: Shinra Tower, Floor 28, Room 28-102

Chapter Text

So, apparently, trying to sleep after planning a heist is hard. Or harder than usual. 

Zack flops onto his right side, staring at his door that’s cracked open and looking into the living room. It’s sort of weird being able to see so clearly in the dark. He remembers when he was younger and couldn’t see this much and he even had good eyesight at the time. But that’s exactly what mako does. 

He sighs again, grabbing a pillow to fluff it up. Then he lays back down and that doesn’t even help. The pillow is just too warm. So he grabs another one, not as warm and much cooler. It doesn’t take long for it to get warm too. Another side effect of mako—high body temperature all the time. Great for missions in cold places. 

But not great when he’s trying to sleep in his own apartment.

He doesn’t even want to sleep right now, it just feels wrong. Zack sighs. Cloud wasn’t able to hang out for very long tonight because of patrols and infantry training tomorrow, so now the apartment just feels empty. 

He grabs his PHS. Checks the time. 0130. Great.

There’s no way he’s going to fall asleep anytime soon.

So what’s even the point in trying?

Zack tosses off his blankets and slowly shuffles out of bed and over to the thermostat to cool it down. Then he walks into his kitchen, turning on the blue electric tea kettle Angeal gifted him a couple years ago. And he grabs the metal tin of BST. 

One tea bag only. 

Even though it’s tempting to add an extra one, he promised Angeal. Also he doesn't want to freak Cloud out like that again. He still feels bad about that, he really didn’t mean to scare Cloud that badly. Now whenever he gets out the BST, Cloud eyes it with a look of mistrust and worry.  

While he waits for the water to boil, he scrolls through his PHS.

Kunsel: Hey man we gotta hang out this week 

Kunsel: Also you still haven’t told me how you started dating Cloud. 

Kunsel: I need to know if I won the bet or not! And sure I could probably find out on my own but I want to hear how that happened!!

Zack scratches his head. 

Nobody won the bet. Because him and Cloud aren’t dating! 

Once the water is done, he pours it in the mug Kunsel gave him for his birthday that says #1 Backwater Country Boi . It’s a prized possession of his now even if Genesis insists it’s tacky. He is a backwater country boy and he’s very proud of it.

Zack shoots back a text to Kunsel. 

Zack: Sure man! I’m free on Wednesday night! Been super busy!

Zack: Also bro, the bet?? For real?? What were you even betting on? Like specifically??

Zack: Cuz there’s a lot of you guys who were involved with the bet, did you all bet the same thing? Or like??

Kunsel: Well there were different categories of the bet

Zack: Huh??

Kunsel: Also man why are you awake?

Zack: Hey man don’t judge I could ask you the same

Kunsel: Playing video games man you know I sleep the worst possible hours

Kunsel: So why are YOU awake?

And then Zack adds a whole bunch of honey to the tea because it has a weird almost metallic flavor if he doesn’t. Why does the tea taste like metal? Beats him, but Angeal said that was normal. So extra honey it is. Then he sends a couple texts to Aerith, even though he knows she’s definitely asleep right now. 

Zack: Hi!! How was your day? Hopefully you had a great day! 

Zack: I’m going to be free on Thursday evening so I can make my way below plate! I’ll bring snacks too! 

Considering how late it is, it makes sense she doesn’t respond.

But he can only send so many texts before he runs out of people to respond to without sending a giant block of messages while they’re sleeping. Obviously, he doesn’t send any to Angeal right now or else he’d know Zack is still awake and get worried.

Now, he walks from one side of his apartment to the other while he sips on the tea. He doesn’t want to send too many texts to Aerith in a row because what if he wakes her up? It’s so late and he’d feel terrible waking her up. He’ll text her when it’s not the middle of the night. 

So he sends random texts to Cloud, because Spike sleeps through literally everything. Downsides of patrols and training all the time, the poor guy is always exhausted. 

Zack: I know you’re probably asleep man but I’m just bored so I’m sending you random things lol

Zack: Look at this cool art for Chocobo Racers I found online

Zack sent a picture in the chat.

Zack: Sleeping is hard man

Zack: I promise I am NOT drinking more than one cup of BST!!! One tea bag only!!

Zack: We should plan a time to train this week I gotta do arms

Zack: How do you think moogles evolved? Like genetically?

Zack: I’m working on one legged squats now 

Zack: Salad is just a veggie soup

Cloud: Zack it’s 2am

It takes Zack a moment to realize Cloud responded, half-way through a one legged squat. 

Spike! He’s awake! 

Zack sits down on the floor from where he was in a deep squat to respond.

Zack: Oh heya Cloudy

Wait, it’s super late. Why is he up?

Zack: Why are you awake? I mean I’m awake cuz I’m waiting for BST to work its magic on me but why are YOU awake Spike??

Cloud: My patrol schedule got changed at the last minute. I’m on night shift for the next two weeks

Zack: Yikes. Night shifts suck :(( 

Cloud: Are you having trouble sleeping?

Zack: uhhhhhhhhhhh man bro

Zack: I thought maybe sleeping on the couch would help cuz last two times I slept on it I didn’t get nightmares or anything

Zack: I didn’t know I could miss sleeping :(( 

Zack: I’m tempted to ask Angeal to hit me over the head with a shovel or something to knock me out just to get some sleep

Cloud: WHAT

Cloud: You are not doing that!

Zack: Dramatic I know but seems reasonable at this point

Cloud: Is it really that bad?

Zack: Yea

Zack: I was hoping it would get better and that it was just from that really intense mission last year which I guess is wishful thinking looking back on it

Zack: Which is why I didn’t think I needed to sign up for SCS sooner I guess also I kept forgetting

Cloud: That sounds annoying

Cloud: Well. More than annoying. Frustrating

Zack: Oh yeah man all I want to do sometimes is sleep but I can’t which sucks you know and then I’m worried about the nightmares 

Cloud: Have you talked to medical about this? They might have some meds that help

Zack: Yeahhhh I did a while ago

Zack: And they told me they can’t give me anything cuz it doesn’t work for SOLDIERS and all the mako apparently plus they didn’t have approval from a counselor or something

Zack: Then the dude I was talking to told me SOLDIER have to deal with this kind of stuff and to suck it up

Zack: So that didn’t work

Cloud: What

Zack: Yeah I know!

Zack: Just cuz I’m a SOLDIER doesn't mean I can’t have trouble sleeping! 

Zack: When I told Angeal about it I thought he was gonna march down there and fight that guy lol

Cloud: Well that guy is stupid 

Cloud: That’s just dumb

One moment he’s typing out a response to Cloud and the next he feels the tiredness from the BST and then he blinks and he’s asleep. 

Dream Zack is happily walking down the hallways of Shinra Tower. Somehow he knows he has a mission. At some point. 

But it’s okay. Missions always go okay. 

It’s a normal day. He even trains with Angeal and eats in the dining halls. 

Dream Zack goes to hang out with his SOLDIER friends, laughing about their old COs that used to yell at them for not paying attention in classes. Dream Kunsel laughs, slapping Dream Zack’s back. 

Luxiere smacks Zack’s other arm. “Now you just get lectured by Commander Hewley.”

Dream Zack laughs. He loves his friends. 

And then he heads out, heading somewhere else in the tower. But Dream him seems to know where he’s going. 

He turns a corner. 

There’s a body laying on the ground. A Second Class SOLDIER. 

Dream Zack runs over, checking on the person. He turns them over. 

It’s Cloud. 

He’s barely alive. And there’s blood everywhere. All over the metal floor. 

It’s his fault. He didn’t get here soon enough. 

The metal floor becomes a forest and he’s kneeling on the ground. Sounds of monsters screeching in the background. 

Cloud’s eyes gloss over. 

His fault. 

He should have been faster.

He wakes up slowly, too slow. Like the sleep is trying to drag him back to the nightmare and keep him there. 

It takes him too long to move again. Eventually, he’s able to sit up. 

Running his hand through his hair, he takes a deep breath. Deep breaths or something to help with calming down. The air is freezing cold but somehow he feels like he’s been in the Gongaga sun all day, half-way to melting and burning from the heat.

Cloud. 

Zack jolts fully awake, immediately grabbing his PHS. 

There’s already messages from Cloud on the screen when he turns it on.

Cloud: Zack?

Cloud: Did the BST kick in?

Cloud: Hey I know I’m not the greatest at this sort of thing but if you want to talk about it and the nightmares I’ll listen. I might not be good at talking but I can listen

Cloud: It sucks 

Cloud: So if I can help I want to

Cloud: Just wanted to let you know. I gotta get back to patrol I hope you’re able to sleep better tonight

Zack lets out a long sigh and finally lets his shoulders relax. 

Cloud is fine. He’s not even a Second Class SOLDIER and he’s never been on a mission in Junon. 

He falls back on the floor, looking up at his ceiling. 

Cloud is alright. Just out on patrol. Never even been to Junon. 

He runs a hand through his hair, trying to feel more normal. It’s hard after these kinds of nightmares. 

This isn’t the first time he’s had a nightmare about someone getting hurt, and not the first time he’s had a nightmare about Cloud getting hurt. Or dying before Zack can even help him.

He logically knows that Cloud isn’t a Second Class SOLDIER or that he has never been to Junon. He knows that. He knows all of that is true, but the dream still leaves a strange unsettled feeling behind. Like something is wrong or that he needs to be worried about someone. It doesn’t help how quiet and how empty his apartment is.

Yeah, there’s no point in trying to go back to sleep. 

It’s 0530 now. He got some sleep. That’s good enough for him. 

Maybe some food will help him feel better. As he changes into his SOLDIER uniform, he can’t stop messing with his pants and shirt. It just won't lay down right. Is he supposed to iron this? He doesn’t even own an iron. He fidgets with it again.

Then sighs.

Zack walks back into the kitchen and opens up the fridge. Everything inside has a red post it note on the front with large, uneven letters with the date and content. Sometimes it’s the only way he remembers how old something is. It’s easy to forget.

He grabs a glass container labeled with HIGH PROTEIN BREAKFAST BURRITOS ANGEAL with the date on it. Leaning against the kitchen counter, he eats three of them in three bites each. Angeal made them in bulk. While he chews, he glances back at his PHS and Cloud’s messages. 

Maybe it would help if he talked to someone about it and the nightmares. Would it help? Probably. 

He hasn’t really talked specifically about what the nightmares are to anyone, even Angeal. Though he’s pretty sure Angeal has a good idea what the nightmares are about at this point. Because of the couple things he’s mentioned since it happened (also why he pushed Zack to sign up for therapy in the first place) and because he read the mission report so he knows the facts of what happened. 

He can’t help but to smile at Cloud’s messages anyway. Even though Cloud constantly says he’s not good with people, he’s better than he really thinks. Kinder than he thinks he is too.

The rest of his morning goes about as smoothly as trying to sleep did. Like a crappy, off-road smoothness. Meaning, pretty terrible. 

The breakfast (his second one this morning) in the dining hall was questionable and honestly he could barely even eat it. And then Angeal sent him a message saying he had something he needed to do and he can’t make it for their usual training time. Zack tried not to be too disappointed because training with Angeal always helps. Actually, spending any time with Angeal usually helps him. 

So it really sucks that Angeal couldn’t make it to training because he really was looking forward to it. Instead, he trudges over to the training room he and Angeal normally use, pushing the button to open the door. 

And Genesis stands in the middle of the room, not even holding Loveless or anything. He’s wearing his usual red uniform coat and standing there expectantly. Genesis crosses his arms. “You’re late, puppy.”

Zack blinks before glancing around the room. Is this a joke or something? Why is Genesis here? Is he here for Angeal? “Uh, just so you know Angeal can’t make training today so he’s not gonna be here.”

“I am aware of that,” Genesis says, rolling his eyes. “I have been sent in his stead, as a substitute for Angeal. Apparently your use of materia needs some more practice, he said.”

“Wait, for real?” Zack closes the training door.

Genesis’s eyes narrow. “Is there an issue? You act as if this is the first time I have substituted for Angeal to train you—your use of materia has hardly improved since then, don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“I didn’t bring any materia?” Zack says, shuffling forward. “Cause I thought I’d be sparring with Angeal.”

Genesis draws his sword—wait, slow down! “You should always be prepared as a First, Fair.”

What is happening?

Genesis observes him for a moment, just holding his rapier out. “Truly, have you thought to do anything about the dark circles under your eyes?”

“Huh?” Zack pokes his face even though he can’t really see it.

Genesis raises an eyebrow, though he doesn’t sound as biting as usual. Weird. “Did you even sleep last night, puppy?”

Zack shrugs. “Sure.”

“Hm. What a very reassuring answer. I will rightfully assume that you either did not sleep or barely got a functional amount of sleep. Not to mention your usual overabundance of energy seems lacking this morning.”

Does it? He really thought he seemed normal.

Zack laughs awkwardly and he really, really hopes Genesis doesn’t ask if he had any nightmares. “It’s all good, man. I just feel like sparring, no big deal.”

Genesis says nothing for a long moment, but he seems to just be observing Zack silently. And boy is he thinking about something because he has a very, very concerningly thoughtful expression right now. 

“Hey!” Zack holds up his hands, backing away as Genesis’s sword starts glowing from materia use. “Slow down, man! I barely just walked in the door! Me and Angeal normally talk for a second—”

“As I am sure you are aware, given that you have functional and enhanced eyes. I am not Angeal.” Genesis raises his gloved hand and begins to surround it in fire—there’s no way he’s actually using such a powerful materia first thing in the morning!

Zack draws his sword and now he’s deeply contemplating why he didn’t grab materia this morning. It’s too early for this, seriously! “I know that!”

“We shall conduct training how I see fit.” And then there’s a ball of fire being sent at him. 

And weirdly, he doesn't mind too much. Sparring and fighting helps him focus on something and not think about the nightmares and everything else. Just a singular task. 

The whole training session is a lot different than how he and Angeal normally spar. It’s a lot of Genesis throwing various materia at him and Zack dodging or using his sword to deflect it.

And he’s okay with that. It’s still practice!

He slashes away a bunch of ice and dashes out of the way of a second round of ice materia sent at him.

Then there’s a sudden burst of fire. Whoa! That was close!

“Also,” Genesis says, casually, as if he isn’t trying to roast Zack into a burnt crisp right now. “I have a request—Do not bother coming to dinner Thursday night. I have decided it will be a romantic dinner for myself and my partners. Puppies are not invited to this particular dinner.”

“Hey!” Zack does a roll out of the way of the fire. What is with Genesis’s obsession with fire anyway? “I wasn’t gonna be at dinner on Thursday anyway!”

Genesis rolls his eyes, as he lunges at Zack again. “I assume you were planning on skipping the customary dinners for a date? Taking your chocobo out to dinner are you?”

“Ah! Watch it, man!” Zack ducks as a burst of materia fire flies over his head. Please! Why is he aiming for Zack’s hair? “No! With Aerith!”

“Honestly.” Genesis sounds like he’s scolding a kid or something then he sends another burst of fire at Zack. “Are the only dates you take your chocobo on playing video games like schoolchildren or to cheap franchise establishment diners? Have you ever tried dates that are perhaps more elaborate or meaningful?”

Considering that he’s a little distracted by all the fire and materia being flung at him, he answers without really thinking. “We don’t need to to do that! Whoa, dude you almost burnt off my hair!”

“Fair!” Genesis stops, looking not amused now but a weird Genesis mix of shocked, angry, and appalled. “Zackary Fair, do not tell me you were saying that you do not need to go on dates with your partner—your boyfriend.”

“Uh…” Zack freezes, crouched near the ground and holding out his sword defensively. “Say what?”

That must have been the wrong answer, because Genesis’s face turns even more upset.

Wait, what did he say wrong?!

“Have you learned nothing of honor from Angeal?” And Genesis marches forward and Zack scrambles up and away from him. “Just because you and your chocobo are ‘bros’ doesn't mean you don’t still need to spend time with him!”

This time, Genesis goes to kick him. Now Zack is fully running away from him. “I get it! I get it!”

“Do you?!” Oh no. He sounds actually angry. Zack runs faster. 

Note to future Zack; do not say you don’t need to go on fake dates with Cloud! Genesis will take personal offense apparently.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, Zackary Fair!” 

And at that exact moment, the doors to the training room opens and Angeal steps inside. And the exact same time a burst of fire almost hits Angeal in the face. 

Luckily, Angeal manages to deflect it with his sword, not buster sword, but the other one. Zack winces at the metallic sound of the fire hitting the sword sound and also sends a prayer to the Goddess for Genesis. 

“Genesis!” Angeal lowers his sword, brows already furrowed. “What is happening in here? I thought I said to practice materia with Zack, not to attack him!”

Genesis whips around, almost too fast to see properly, gesturing at Zack with his entire arm. “Your puppy has been neglecting his chocobo!”

Outside of the training room, he sees a group of Third Class SOLDIERS walking by and they all look into the training room with the same baffled looks. Oh no. 

Aso why does he keep calling Cloud his chocobo! Genesis knows Cloud’s name!

Angeal seems to notice the SOLDIERS behind him so he shuts the door the same time Zack scrambles off the ground and further away from Genesis. “I’m not neglecting him!”

This is a mess! How does it always become a mess! Why is Genesis even taking personal offense to this? 

“We’re just casual!”

Genesis’s face turns to a look of disappointed disgust. “ Casual ? You are in a romantic relationship, Fair. Not a little outing or first date! Is this why the two of you are attending couples therapy?!”

“What?” Zack’s jaw drops. “No!”

And Genesis is pointing the accusing finger at him again. “For you to describe your romantic relationship of eleven months as casual would imply it could be!” He marches forward, looking ready to kick Zack. “Casual?!”

Zack jumps behind Angeal, who just stands there, arms crossed and sighing. “Genesis, please.”

“Your stray is a—”

Zack doesn’t get to hear what Genesis thinks he is because the training doors open again and Sephiroth steps inside this time. He pauses, observes the room, notices how Genesis looks ready to fist-fight Zack, how Zack is hiding behind Angeal, then very pointedly shuts the doors behind him again. 

Sephiroth looks between all of them and asks, “Do I want to know what transpired here?”

Instantly, Genesis is pointing at Zack. “This ruffian—”

“Ruffian?” Zack shouts, leaning around Angeal. “What the hell, man?”

Without missing a beat, Angeal says, “Language.”

“You described your relationship of almost an entire year as casual! You are very lucky  he was not here to hear you say such a thing!” And then Genesis’s face drops, turning almost pale. His voice gets significantly quieter but with the same emotion people discuss natural disasters. “ Have you said such a thing to him? ”

How does he even respond to that?

But Genesis must take the silence as a yes. The expression of disgust is back. Oh Gaia, he’s assuming horrible, terrible things about Zack right now, isn’t he? “No wonder you’re having to see someone—”

“Hey, it’s not like that!” Zack says, instantly. He stays very much behind Angeal for his own safety at this point, but he leans around Angeal to try and defend himself. “And I haven’t said anything like that to him.”

Yeah, of course he hasn’t. Because they’re not dating. Obviously.

Well, not obvious to Angeal and Genesis. But still.

“I quite literally just heard you say it,” Genesis says, shoving his rapier back into its sheath. “Do not lie to me, Fair.”

“You’re assuming terrible things!” Zack says, throwing his hands up in the air. “About me! For no reason!”

“Assuming things I heard you say?”

“Alright,” Angeal says, uncrossing his arms. “Cut it out, both of you. Genesis, stop attacking Zack, verbally and physically. Zack, maybe consider how that would make Cloud feel.”

And Zack can’t even defend himself because they can’t know he and Cloud aren’t actually dating. So he hunches his shoulders a little bit and glances at Sephiroth, the only other person who knows Zack isn’t actually a jerk like Genesis is implying he is.

Sephiroth steps forward. “I believe we agreed to meet to go over our plan at this time.”

Huh?

It takes Zack a couple full seconds to process that. “Oh, the heist plan. Right, right.”

Genesis side eyes him. “Are you sure your brain is fully-operational? That took you longer than usual to put together.”

“Okay, rude,” Zack says, putting away his sword. “But, I’m good. Kind of hungry though.”

“That I can do something about.” Angeal says, “I have some extra food in my fridge—”

“Absolutely not,” Genesis says, holding up hand to stop Angeal from talking. “We cannot have a meeting in your apartment. Not with the state it is in.”

Zack looks at Angeal, who looks kinda embarrassed and he coughs once. Zack blinks. “Wait, what happened to your apartment?”

“I was repotting some plants,” Angeal says, kind of sheepishly. “I didn’t finish it last night so—”

“There are plants, dirt, and fertilizer everywhere in his apartment. I found chunks of fertilizer on my socks,” Genesis says, like this is some kind of a crime. Shouldn’t he be used to that after knowing Angeal his entire life? “ Wings of light and dark spread afar —.”

“I was more concerned with the smell of the fertilizer,” Sephiroth cuts off the early phases of Genesis’s Loveless quoting. 

“Yes, thank you, Seph,” Genesis says, walking towards the doors, patting Sephiroth’s shoulder a couple times as he does. “We will meet in my apartment since I have the most amount of seating between us. The puppy’s apartment is hardly suitable for living as it is.”

“Bro. What did I do?”

“I am not your bro!” Genesis shouts over his shoulder as he opens the doors. “Also, you know what you did. Casual, this absolute heathen of a stray I swear to the Goddess and…” He marches down the hallway, his complaints disappearing behind him too. 

Zack looks to Angeal and Sephiroth. “He’s not going to let this go is he?”

“Ah, probably not for a while,” Angeal says, shaking his head. He heads outside of the training room as well, walking a little up ahead. 

“Dang,” Zack mutters and walks alongside Sephiroth as they head towards the First Class SOLDIER floor.

As they’re walking, Sephiroth very quietly says, “If you want him to let it go sooner, try mentioning Loveless a few times. In a positive or contemplative manner. It works for me.”

Zack snickers and he doesn’t even care when Genesis casts a suspicious look over his shoulder at Zack and Sephiroth.

But as they’re walking he keeps thinking about what Genesis said, also what his therapist said, and what Katie even said. What if people start suspecting he and Cloud aren’t actually dating? What if Angeal realizes? 

Then all of this would have been pointless and at this point, he’s pretty sure Angeal would be even more disappointed in him now. 

And what if Angeal’s disappointed in him for, from his point of view, not treating his fake boyfriend right. Oh no! Angeal would totally be disappointed in him over that sort of thing. Oh no. He didn’t even consider that possibility. How does he even fix this?

He’s not really sure, but he’s going to have to fix it.

Their group arrives outside of the entrance of the SOLDIER housing floors. And there’s Cloud, waiting by the key fobbed entrance, still in his infantry uniform and looking really worse for wear like he, well, like he’s been on an overnight shift patrol. 

“Heya, Cloudy!” Zack practically skips past Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis, waving the whole time. Cloud looks up from his PHS and gives a very tired, small wave. It doesn't matter if they saw each other yesterday, he’s always happy to see his best friend! “Morning!”

“Zack, it’s not even morning now,” Cloud mutters and Zack throws an arm over his shoulder and squeezes him into a hug. He even sounds tired. Right. He had a night shift for patrol.

“Oh right,” Zack leans back, surveying Cloud with his eyes narrowed. Cloud leans back slightly. “Spike, you feeling okay?”

Cloud looks away. Even though they’ve known each other for years now, Cloud still gets skittish when there’s a lot of attention on him. That much hasn’t changed since they first met. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just an uneventful patrol. Threw off my sleeping schedule is all.”

“Aw,” Zack frowns and squishes him into another hug. “Sorry, Cloudy!”

He doesn’t let go of the hug as fast as he usually would, instead he clings for longer just to feel somewhat reassured. The image of Cloud in a Second Class SOLDIER uniform still hangs in his mind—of Cloud covered in blood and the life leaving his eyes. 

Zack holds Cloud a little closer. 

“Please, I cannot watch this without feeling like I’m being forcefully choked on sugar,” Genesis says, breezing past both of them to unlock the doors to the SOLDIER housing floors. But Zack notices he’s watching their exchanges closely, suspiciously. And Zack’s pretty sure it doesn’t have anything to do with him suspecting they’re faking anymore.

He’s not sure if that’s worse or not. 

“Hey, I’ve heard you use all sorts of names when you’re talking to Angeal and Sephiroth,” Zack says, walking inside the elevator even though he doesn’t let go of Cloud. He needs this hug. Who kind of looks like he wants to melt into the floor and perish. Unfortunately for Cloud, Zack’s not gonna let that happen. 

Besides, he needs a little more time hugging his Cloudy!

“What? Darling and dear are perfectly normal terms of endearment,” Genesis says, jabbing the button for the First Class SOLDIER floor and the elevator doors slide shut. “I am very sure whatever terms you use are too embarrassing to say in front of normal company, Fair.”

First of all, rude. 

Second of all, not true. 

Before he has a chance to open his mouth, Angeal cuts in. “Are you two seriously arguing over terms of endearment?”

“No, it is a lively discussion. It is not within my power if Fair uses wince-inducingly sweet terms of endearment.”

“You don’t even know that for sure,” Zack says, putting one hand on his hip that isn’t still latched around Coud in defense of his honor here. “And also, what’s wrong with sweet nicknames, man?”

“You refer to your chocobo as ‘bro’ more often than not,” Genesis says, as if this should be obvious and like Zack should be embarrassed that he has to be told this. “So forgive me for assuming your nicknames are similarly poor, if you use them at all.”

“They are not!”

Angeal sighs. 

“Didn’t you once call Angeal ‘angel’?” Sephiroth suddenly asks, the tiniest grin visible. Honestly, anyone who thinks this guy doesn't have a sense of humor has clearly never spent much time around him. 

“No!” Genesis’s voice jumps up and he’s obviously embarrassed now. “You have no proof that such a thing ever occurred.”

“Hm. I remember it happening in Wutai when we were younger, near the border, the three of us had gotten back from our two-week long mission, someone gave you a bottle of wine which you drank on your own, and—” Sephiroth is suddenly cut off as Genesis slaps a gloved hand over his mouth. Sephiroth looks like he’s about to laugh. 

Angeal sighs again. 

“I do not care for your weaponized use of your eidetic memory, General.” Genesis glares at Sephiroth in a way that might have been more intimidating if he didn't have to stare up at Sephiroth. 

Zack snickers and exchanges a look with Cloud, who looks baffled enough he’s no longer embarrassed that Zack has an arm slung over both of his shoulders. He’ll get used to seeing the Firsts act like bickering children. His plan for Cloud to become friends with them is going well apparently, especially if they feel like they can bicker like this in front of him. 

The elevator doors ding open. 

A group of SOLDIERS stand outside of the doors. They stare at the scene, which is fair. Considering it’s the First Class SOLDIERS. The Silver General is standing there, with Commander Rhapsodos’s hand slapped over his mouth. Commander Hewley looks ready to retire. And then Zack is still hugging Cloud—who’s an infantry member. 

Yeah, if he was them he’d also be staring. 

“Good afternoon, SOLDIERS,” Angeal greets them, like the chaos is not happening behind him. They all straighten up, standing at attention. “It’s going up.”

One of the SOLDIERS gives a shaky salute and is clearly trying not to stare at Genesis and Sephiroth in particular. “We’ll wait for the next one, sir.”

Angeal nods once, using his mentor voice again. “Have a good one, SOLDIER.” 

Angeal hits the close button and the second it’s fully closed then turns to Genesis and Sephiroth with a very flat expression. Genesis lowers his hand in a way that’s an attempt at looking dignified. It’s not at all dignified or cool like he thinks it is.

Zack can’t stop himself from cracking up even when he gets a threatening look from Genesis. 

“Oh please, Fair, as if you are in any position to find amusement in this situation, not with the way you are clinging to your chocobo in human form like a lifeline,” Genesis says, swatting a hand at Zack. “You have more reason to be embarrassed than I.”

“Whatever you say, man! I’m the one getting to hug my favorite chocobo, so I’m the one winning here.”

“Goddess above, I pray to thee for strength,” Genesis mutters quietly under his breath. 

The elevator is quiet for a moment, then Cloud, very quietly adds. “I’m not a chocobo.”

“Aw, sorry, Cloudy, but we all know that isn’t true.” Zack happily ruffles Cloud’s hair that miraculously isn’t flattened from being stuck under his helmet all night. “You’re more chocoboy than most chocobos are.”

“Zack,” Cloud says, his face slowly turning red. No matter how many times Zack has tried to convince him over the years that it’s cute when he gets flustered, Cloud always gets more flustered and tells him to stop talking. But it’s true! “I’m not—”

The doors ding open, this time to the First Class SOLDIER floor. 

Angeal sighs, stepping out into the hall. “How does a simple elevator trip turn into that? I just know they’re going to inform your fanclubs about this new development.”

From the corner of his eyes, Zack can see Genesis silently mouthing along to what Angeal says, predicting exactly how this lecture will go.

 “I can’t take the lot of you anywhere. You three are First Class SOLDIERS. We’re supposed to be role models for the rest of SOLDIER and the infantry, and especially the cadets.”

Zack tries really, really, extremely hard not to laugh while Genesis keeps going without missing a beat. 

Cloud looks at Zack and he knows exactly what Cloud is silently asking, are they always like this?

The answer is yes. 

Yes, they are. 

Out loud, he happily says, “Well, Spike, welcome to SOLDIER, babe!”

And Cloud promptly trips over his own foot, falls flat onto the ground, and doesn't move for a solid ten seconds.

Okay, maybe he should’ve warned him beforehand. 

Then he scrambles over to Cloud and helps pull him off the ground. “Spike, you good?”

Cloud says nothing for a second. Then whispers, “Just let me die here.”

“No can do!” He fully pulls Cloud to his feet. “We got a heist to commit, remember?”

There’s a faraway, distant look in Cloud's eyes. “Right.”

Genesis walks around them, practically marching away. “This is painful to watch.”

Wasn’t he the one who was saying Zack wasn’t ‘affectionate’ enough with Cloud (in this fake dating scenario)? There’s seriously no pleasing this guy.

Genesis unlocks his door, pushing it open with way too much flair necessary to just open a door. “Puppy, please focus on the heist and do not touch anything besides the floor, couch, and table. If you are forced to touch anything that is even mildly fragile, ask or you will perish.”

“You know, I’m not an actual puppy, right?”

“That remains to be seen,” Genesis says, primly. “You may enter.”

Genesis’s apartment generally remains a place of mystery to Zack. He’s been there only a handful of times and not usually for very long. Plus it’s like walking into a different universe compared to everywhere else in Shrina Tower, like a museum or an overly fancy library or somewhere else Zack feels like he needs to whisper.

As Cloud is walking inside, Genesis leans forward, whispering loudly to him, “My offer still stands—if that one over there continues to use his inane nicknames such as ‘bro’ or ‘man’ simply inform me and I will deal with the stray.”

Zack whips around. “Hey!”

Genesis shoots him a withering glare. “Was I speaking to you, Fair? No. I was not.” He makes a shooing motion. “Do not interject in conversations that do not concern you.”

“You’re literally threatening me?”

He makes the shooing motion again. Okay, wow. So apparently he’s still holding onto the whole thing that happened early. Genesis’s ability to hold a petty grudge remains unbeaten. What did Sephiroth say to do?

Quote Loveless? Zack tries to remember how it starts. “Uh, if the war at the beasts makes the world end?”

Now Genesis’s face falls, crossing his arms. “Was that an attempt at quoting Loveless?”

“Yes?”

“That was terrible. Do not butcher my beloved piece of literature with your misquotations and shabby recital.” Genesis turns away, walking further into his apartment. “That is more insulting than you not even bothering to read it.”

“I tried to!” Zack says defensively as he looks into the apartment. 

And while Genesis’s apartment has the exact same layout as his, Angeal, and Sephiroth’s, it was like stepping into another world. The world of Genesis Rhapsodos’s unchecked interior design simulator apparently. 

The living room area has been transformed into a library. The walls are just bookcases stuffed full of books and notebooks. Certain areas have random knick knacks set up on top of some books. Even the furniture isn’t the standard Shinra issued ones, but fancy looking ones that weigh a million pounds.

There’s fancy rugs on the floor with incredibly detailed patterns and even the overhead light is different and looks kinda like a chandelier. 

Zack starts wandering into the kitchen, looking around curiously. Even the kitchen looks entirely different than all of the other First Class SOLDIER kitchens. The cabinets are a different type of wood, it’s a lot darker and has a vaguely reddish-brown color to it. Did he custom order cabinets or something? 

The tile behind the stovetop is also different too. It’s a dark green that reminds him of pine trees and the outdoors, much nicer than the checkered black and white tiles in his kitchen. Even the fridge is different.

Zack shuffles closer to the fridge and asks over his shoulder, “Do you have any of Angeal’s leftovers I can eat?”

“Stay out of my kitchen!” 

He reaches for the fridge handle. “You don’t even cook, man.”

“Do not break my dishes!”

“I wasn’t even touching them!”

Genesis makes an annoyed sound then appears around the kitchen corner, scowling. “You may reach into the fridge and take out one dish and that’s it. The silverware is in the third drawer there. Do not break anything. Those are antique glass dishware, break them and I will break you.”

Zack gives him a thumbs up. “Duly noted!”

“I am watching you, Fair.”

Zack quickly grabs a container of pasta with baked chicken and roasted vegetables then scurries back into the living room (library?), plopping down beside Cloud on the leather couch. “Okay! Heist time!”

“I think we should go over the plan one more time,” Angeal says, practical as always. “Just to be sure.”

Genesis clears his throat. “Alright then, as the mastermind of this brilliant plan I will explain. We will form two teams of two; Angeal and myself—Team AG. The puppy and the chocobo—Team ZC. Then one team of Sephiroth—S.”

Zack scarfs down the pasta. Maybe he should have warmed this up first or something. It’s still tasty though, just like all of Angeal’s cooking. 

“Team AG goes to target office one while Team ZC goes to office target two, meanwhile Team S goes to office target three,” Genesis says, with just as much seriousness as when he explains things during missions. Which this is sort of like a mission. Except the target is Shinra. “Each team will use their assigned thumb drive to unlock the target computer to check for a copy of the SCS policy.”

Zack silently offers some of the pasta to Cloud, who makes a face then shakes his head. His loss, this pasta is amazing. 

“Regardless of whether or not a team found a copy of the policy, we regroup at Sephiroth’s office just long enough to pass the copy of the policy to the chocobo, who will then act as our transport to the real regrouping location, here. If Team ZC finds the policy copy, all teams immediately regroup here. Understood?”

Genesis suddenly sighs. “Fair, for the love of the Goddess, stop slurping your noodles while I am giving a mission summary. This is why nobody takes you seriously. You have pasta sauce all over your face like a child, I swear.”

Zack freezes, a whole bunch of noodles hanging out of his mouth. Angeal silently passes him a towel. 

“It’s good pasta, man.”

“That is besides the point. Your lack of decorum and manners is what is the problem.”

“It is excellent pasta,” Sephiroth says, thoughtfully. “Besides the good ratio of chicken to pasta, it has an excellent shelf life as well.”

Everyone looks at him for a moment. 

Zack grins, giving Sephiroth an encouraging thumbs up. “Well said! Angeal’s pasta is the best pasta.”

Sephrioth nods with the same level of seriousness that people do at religious events. The man takes his pasta very seriously. Honestly, Zack appreciates his dedication to the pasta life.

“Pasta aside,” Genesis continues. “While the chocobo makes a getaway with the policy, Team AGS and tagalong Z distract anyone who may be following or suspicious of our actions.”

“Cool!” Zack gives an enthusiastic thumbs up. “Good plan!”

“Fair, did your Third Class friend give you the necessary thumb drives for our mission?”

“Yup!” Zack reaches into his pocket and takes out the three thumb drives. “Three copies, just as requested! Kunsel is a miracle worker.”

Angeal slowly shakes his head as the thumb drives are handed out. “I’m going to pretend like I don’t know that 3rd class Kunsel did not have thumb drives capable of bypassing Shinra security.”

“Well,” Zack says, “He didn’t just have it on hand.”

Angeal doesn’t look even slightly reassured. “I don’t even want to know.”

Genesis looks around the room. “Everyone understands their role? Excellent. Let us conduct our heist.”

Zack and Cloud break off from the Firsts to head to the twenty-ninth floor to their target office. While they’re walking, Zack passes him the thumb drive for bypassing the login security of Shinra computers from Kunsel (who was weirdly vague about why he had it, but Zack trusts his friends). 

Cloud sticks it in one of the many infantry uniform pockets. “I’m still not sure why I’m the one who escapes with the policy.”

“Cuz you’re adorable!”

Cloud’s head whips around, eyes huge as he stares up at Zack. He adds, “No one will suspect you!”

Cloud gives him a very unsure expression that practically screams that he disagrees. Zack holds up his hands. “Okay, okay, sorry. No calling you cute—even though it’s true! But it’s because people would probably assume me or Genesis are up to something. Everyone knows that Angeal’s involved with the SCS, and Sephiroth can’t go anywhere without people noticing him, so you’re least likely to be noticed in this situation and least suspicious.”

Plus, Cloud also has his helmet so he would look like every other infantry member. 

Cloud furrows his brows, but shrugs. “If you say so.”

“I do!”

He comes to a stop, looking at the hallway to their right. He quickly lowers his voice, just in case. “Okay, so the office is right up there.”

Cloud stops walking, glancing around him. 

It’s a normal hallway, but it’s their target. Hopefully his secretary isn’t there right now, but it’s okay. Zack will distract if he needs to. Hopefully Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth aren’t having a hard time right now. 

“Alright,” Zack whispers to Cloud, grinning from ear to ear. “Are you ready to steal from our bosses?”

“This is such a bad idea,” Cloud says.

Zack pats his back. “We got this. Let’s go steal back this policy.”

“That sounds so uncool.”

Zack snickers a little. “Okay, go time.”

Chapter Text

Kunsel: Cameras in the office will be off in one minute

Kunsel: Have fun stealing from our corporate overlords lol

With the confirmation from Kunsel, Zack bursts in through the doorway of some lower executive, Simons’s office, right in front of the secretary’s desk. It’s perfect, just like Kunsel said. Simons is out of the office, the secretary’s desk is an L-shape and the secretary’s back faces the special suite for the bossman so she won’t be able to see through the windows. 

He gives his biggest and best smile and waves. “Hi! Sorry to bother you but I’m a little los—”

“Oh my gosh,” The secretary drops her pen, accidentally flinging it across the desk towards him. Zack catches it. “You’re Zack! First Class! Oh my god!”

Wait, what?

He looks at the area surrounding the secretary. Her desk has several official First Class SOLDIER fanclub branded merchandise —a red fountain pen that Zack’s holding, an impressively rare Silver Elite branded notepad, and a pen that’s in the shape of Buster Sword. 

Zack pauses and then realizes this actually works in his favor. A fan! This might work even better than planned. Thank you, Gaia for being in his favor for once. 

He holds out the pen to her. “Yeah! I’m Zack! Oh, here’s your pen!”

The secretary, who has a name tag that reads Margret Williams, takes back the pen with wide eyes. She clutches the pen with both hands. “Oh my gosh, I’m in your fan club! Oh wow, it’s so nice to meet you, I’m Margret!”

Actually, this is the best possible outcome.

Is it possible to leave offerings for the Goddess or something? He’ll ask Genesis later.

While she’s talking, Cloud crouches down so she can’t see him over the desk. Zack smiles like he isn’t distracting her so his best bud can sneak into her boss’s office. Cloud is hidden by the L-shaped desk and makes his way over to the closed door to the office suite, her back facing him. 

Zack smiles as happily as he possibly can and pretends like there’s not a chocobo sneaking around. “Nice to meet you too! I’m Zack—well, clearly you knew that.” He laughs. 

From the corner of his eyes, he can see Cloud crouching in front of the office door and Margret’s back is facing him. Okay. Cool. Just gotta keep her distracted long enough for him to get inside the office and back out.

Five minutes. He’s got this. 

Then Margret seems to realize something, putting the pen into a pencil cup that says SOLDIER 1sts. Okay, big fan then. “Oh, Mr. Fair, why are you here…the SOLDIER floor isn’t nearby.”

Okay, distraction time.

“Oh right,” Zack acts like he forgot that and isn’t here totally on purpose. He leans on the desk while Cloud very quietly opens the door. And maybe he even talks louder than usual to cover up any sounds. “I almost forgot! Ha! So, um, this is kind of embarrassing to admit. But I’m sort of, kinda lost.”

He laughs, trying to sound embarrassed. “I was trying to find someone’s office, but I’m not normal on this floor. I got a little confused and this was the first door I saw that was open.”

“Oh,” Margret says, sitting up straighter. “I can help with that. Whose office are you looking for?”

Cloud slowly pushes the door open, looking over his shoulder with terror in his eyes. Margaret isn’t paying attention though. Thank Gaia. For once, the powers that be aren’t trying to make Zack’s life harder. 

Zack smiles, hoping he looks as relieved as possible. “Thanks! You’re a lifesaver! I’m looking for Myles Mills’s office.”

“Oh, I’m not sure I know who that is,” Magret says, slightly confused now. 

Zack sighs, and then whispers, “I also have no idea who that is but, well, honestly, Angeal asked me to give that Mills guy some papers or something. Well, more like I offered to deliver the papers for Angeal cause he’s kind of stressed right now.”

She gasps a little. Bingo! Thank Gaia his instincts were right that she’s a fan of all the Firsts. That makes his life a whole lot easier. “Oh no!”

And thank Gaia he sometimes looks at his very new, very recent fansite. Because how else would he know a lot of members of his fanclub also like Angeal a lot since he’s Zack’s mentor. A lot of them are even convinced Angeal is secretly his brother or his dad or something. Even though Angeal’s only two years older than him, so couldn’t be his dad. Also Zack’s dad has gray hair. 

Maybe he can see the older brother thing. But Angeal’s from Banora and Zack’s from Gongaga. So it’s not really possible. 

But a lot of his fans apparently have decided Angeal is basically Zack’s dad. And well, seems to work here. 

“I know,” Zack says, like he’s deeply worried. Which is partly true, he is worried about Angeal working so much, but not for the reasons he’s saying right now. “Hard being the mentor to so many new SOLDIERS you know?”

She nods, emphatically, hanging onto every single word.

Inside the office suite, Cloud is slowly creeping across the floor to where the computer is. He plugs in the thumb drive. Cool. 

Phase two complete. 

“So I offered to deliver these papers for him so he can take a short break and actually eat something. Get this? The guy hasn’t eaten all day.” Zack shakes his head while Cloud types on the keyboard in the office he very much is not supposed to be in right now.

“Oh no, I hope he’s able to get some food,” Margret says and she does sound very much concerned for Angeal.

“Me too!” Zack grins. “So, yeah! That’s why I’m trying to find this Mills guy and all. And maybe I was slightly distracted when Angeal told me the room number. Which is my bad but I don’t want to bother him again to ask and all.”

She nods, thoughtfully. “That’s very understandable and honorable of you. I think I should be able to look up Mr. Mill’s office number in the company logs. One second.”

“Oh wow! Thank you so much!”

Cloud types something again. 

If they got caught doing this they would be in so so much trouble. 

Cloud unplugs the thumb drive and shakes his head at Zack through the glass. Dang it. Looks like the policy wasn’t on the computer. Hopefully Angeal, Genesis, or Sephiroth found it.

Okay, phase three activated: Get out.

“Well,” Margret says, typing something again. “Are you sure his name was Mills?”

“Uh, I think so?”

Cloud goes back to the door, reaching for the handle. 

“Oh okay, I see it now.” 

Cloud tries to slowly turn the handle. 

Nothing happens. 

He sees the moment Cloud realizes the door is locked. Oh no. 

Double oh no and double crap. 

From the corner of his eyes he can see Cloud gesture wildly at the door. Oh no. Oh no. The door is locked. Cloud’s stuck inside and the cameras will turn back on soon. 

Oh no. This is bad. So bad. 

Why is it locked?

“It seems like Mr. Mill’s office is on the next floor up. Room 29-102 specifically.”

Zack forces himself not to look at Cloud even though he’s one hundred percent freaking out. “Yeah that would explain why I got so lost. Wrong floor. Wow, that’s embarrassing. I’m so never letting Angeal know that.”

Margret laughs again. Zack thanks her again and then says, “Bye! It was nice to meet you!”

Before he leaves, he adds, “Just hang in there!” While making super brief eye contact with Cloud. 

He really, really hopes Cloud gets the message. Because obviously, he’d never abandon Cloud!

The moment he’s out the door he whips out his PHS and texts Cloud. 

Zack: CLOUD I DIDN’T ABANDON YOU I PROMISE 

Zack: I’M GOING TO GET KUNSEL TO TURN THE CAMERAS OFF AGAIN

The response comes a couple seconds later.

Cloud: ZACK I’M LOCKED IN HERE

Zack: HIDE UNDER THE DESK UNTIL I TEXT YOU THEY’RE BACK OFF

Zack: YOU HAVE LIKE THIRTY SECONDS TO HIDE

Cloud: ZACK

Zack: I’M TEXTING HIM NOW GO HIDE

Zack texts Kunsel as quickly as he possibly can. At the top of his screen, Cloud’s contact pops up.

Cloud: I can’t believe I’m hiding under this guy’s desk

Cloud: It smells like feet under here

It’s not the time to laugh, but he almost does. He can just perfectly imagine Cloud saying that, with a dead look in his eyes. 

Zack: I know I know I’m sorry

Zack: I’ll pay for dinner at Sal’s for the next 5 trips 

Cloud: You better

Zack: Kunsel says the cameras are about to be off again

Cloud: If someone told me that after joining Shinra I would be hiding under a desk to steal policy papers I would’ve thought they were insane

Zack: Okay one thing

Cloud: What

Zack: Please take a picture of you hiding under the desk

Zack: I need to know if this is as funny as I’m imagining

Cloud: Seriously?

Zack: Please??

Cloud: You’re trying to kill me I swear

Zack: I won’t show it to anyone!! I swear!! 

Cloud sent a picture in the chat. 

Zack has to physically stop himself from laughing in the hallway. Cloud sent him a very awkward selfie of him cramped under a desk, a look of murder on his face, and half of his hair squished against the side of the desk. Zack immediately downloads the selfie and saves it in his Cute Photos of Cloudy folder. 

Yeah, that’s a good one. 

Kunsel: I did some quick searching. Seems like his door is designed to auto lock from the inside. Pretty sure there’s a key in the right drawer to unlock it.

Kunsel: Tell him to unlock the door, leave it open, put the key back, and get out of there. 

Kunsel: Turning the cameras off in ten seconds 

Zack forwards the messages to Cloud and puts away his PHS.

Okay, he’ll wait for a second and then come back in. It’ll be long enough it won’t be weird for him to be back.

Go time!

He waltzes back into the office. “Hi! Sorry to bother you again!”

No sign of Cloud inside the office yet. So still hiding under the stinky desk then.

Margret looks surprised to see him. But Zack tries to be as smiley as possible. “I just wanted to thank you earlier cause I was so super lost and I really didn’t want to disappoint Angeal and all.”

Yeah, that’s super believable. He’s said that same thing so many times in real life.

She smiles very genuinely. “Oh it’s no problem at all. I’m glad I can help.”

Inside the office, Cloud appears from under the desk. His hair is somehow even messier than before. He sends Zack a look but Zack can’t really pay attention or else it would be obvious he’s looking past Margret. 

Cloud opens up the drawer. 

“Yeah, I just feel bad for Angeal, you know? He’s been working extra a lot recently, which I get because it’s Angeal obviously. But I'm just worried about him,” Zack says, trying to sound extra convincing. 

“Of course you would be worried about him, he is your mentor,” Margret says, empathetically.

Cloud holds up the key and heads over to the door. 

“Yeah, love that guy.” Zack smiles. “Are you also part of Angeal’s fanclub?”

Cloud unlocks the door, slowly, slowly pushing it open.

Margaret laughs awkwardly, her eyes darting down to her pencil cup and back up to him. “Oh no, could you tell I’m part of his fanclub?”

“It’s not a bad thing!” Zack says, waving his hands. “I’m part of it too! No judgement here!”

She pauses, eyes going wide. “You’re part of your mentor’s fanclub?”

“Yup! Have been since before I was even SOLDIER. And I’m proud of it too. Don’t tell Angeal I’m part of it though.”

Cloud puts the key back. 

Okay. Almost free. 

Wait, he needs to make sure she won’t see Cloud. Uh…

“Can I ask you a question real quick?” Margret asks, very awkwardly. 

Okay, please be a good distraction. “Yeah, shoot!”

“Is it true you’re dating someone in the infantry now?”

Zack freezes and he sees Cloud freeze too.

Uh. 

Well. 

Not what he expected. But also, seriously, why is everyone so curious about that?

But still, Zack knows a chance when he sees one. He smiles happily. “Yeah! I am!”

She gasps, slapping her hands over her mouth. Zack quickly adds, “Yeah, we were just keeping it quiet cause you know how some fans get about things, especially with the Firsts and all.”

Cloud still hasn’t moved. 

“Fans who think the Firsts can’t date aren’t real fans,” Margret says, firmly. “I may be in the fan clubs, but I understand that much.”

“Oh thank Gaia! I’m glad to hear that!” Zack says, smiling. 

Cloud slowly begins closing the door. 

“I know this may sound strange but I got into an argument online with some other ‘fans’ who were claiming you would never date a man,” Margret says, shaking her head. “They thought you were too ‘manly’ for that.”

“Huh?” This time he really responds legitimately. Because what? “For real?”

“I told them it wasn't true but I got dogpiled in the fanpage forums for saying it. So it’s nice to know I wasn’t wrong.”

“Oh, my boyfriend is super cute! I can’t believe they thought that!”

Cloud almost trips over his own feet. Margret almost turns at the sound. Zack quickly says, “They’re so wrong! I’m totally dating a guy!” 

Please, Cloudy! Focus on escaping! 

“I knew I wasn’t wrong about you not being into toxic masculinity!” Margret says, proudly. 

“No way, man.” Zack shakes his head. “I may be dumb, but I’m not a jerk.”

Okay, Cloud needs an escape route. Okay, he’s got this. 

“Yeah, actually!” Zack whips out his PHS, he steps closer and angles his body so it can block her view of Cloud. “Look at this super cute photo of him with helmet hair! Which is very rare because his hair can withstand anything normally, so it’s extra cute.”

Cloud stands up fully out of her view and is staring at Zack. Zack doesn't look at him as he turns his PHS around to show her.

Cloud, please focus on the mission. He should already know Zack has this photo.

“Oh my god, he’s so cute!”

He can see Cloud bury his face in his hands. 

Get out of here!

Zack makes a discrete motion for Cloud to get going while Margret is gushing about how cute Cloud is. Cloud gives him one more look before crouching again and slowly moving around the desk. 

“And this is a personal favorite! He lost a bet so he had to wear a chocobo hoodie. Best twenty gil I ever spent. It was so cute! Look!” Zack moves just slightly so she can’t see Cloud from around him. 

“Aw! He does kind of look like a chocobo.”

“I know, right?” Zack says, and he fully means that. No distraction there. “Human personification of chocobo too. Even though he says he’s not, I’m trying to get him to accept the nickname.”

As Cloud is passing by him, he pokes Zack’s leg hard. Zack doesn’t even jump, just keeps grinning. He can’t help it! He loves showing people cute photos of Spike! He’s shown them to Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth so many times now. And Kunsel. And a bunch of other people. 

It’s nice to show someone new and also Margret is truly appreciating how cute these photos are. When he showed Genesis, he got bonked on the head with a copy of Loveless—the guy doesn't appreciate anything but Loveless apparently. He’s fairly sure Angeal was indulging him by nodding along. Sephiroth’s expression never changed so it’s hard to tell with him. 

So it’s nice someone else is appreciating his collection of cute Cloud pics. 

He swipes to a new photo. “Oh and this is when he fell asleep on my couch with like five blankets on him.”

She has a hand over her mouth. “That is so adorable.”

“I know! I had it as my background for a while.”

He hears the sound of someone falling outside of the office…

That was Cloud, wasn’t it?

Does Cloud have balance problems he’s never mentioned or something?

“Oh, wow, your boyfriend is so cute! Even the way you talk about him is sweet,” Margret says, still fully focused on the picture. “You both are so cute together.”

“I know, right?” Zack grins, hoping he sounds proud. “Oh and this one is from when we were at Sal’s dinner in Sector Five—he just looked so adorable bundled up in the hoodie, sort of felt bad because he had a slight cold. But look how cute!”

He swipes to the next photo in the album. A picture of Cloud surrounded by little pink and red hearts pops up with an overlaid text that says WHEN IN DOUBT, USE INCREDIBLE VIOLENCE with a heart. 

“Oh! Yeah! I forgot about this. I edited this pic so I could send it as a reaction meme. I gotta start doing that again.”

From the hallway, he hears a voice hiss don’t you dare too quietly for someone not enhanced to hear. 

A text pops up at the top of his PHS screen. 

Angeal: Zack, where are you? It shouldn’t have taken that long. 

Zack shouts and almost drops his PHS. “Crap!”

They got to get to the meet up spot! Zack shoves his PHS away and waves to Margaret. “Thank you so much for your help! I gotta go now!”

“Bye!”

And Zack runs out of the office. Cloud is standing in the hallway, staring at him with a look of mortification like he is considering quitting Shinra entirely. 

He keeps his voice quiet, “Did you find—”

“ Why did you tell her all that? ” Cloud whisper-shouts the words, grabbing Zack’s arm. “And that stupid edited photo. I thought you said you deleted it—”

“Hey man, that reaction pic was a hit with everyone and you know it.”

“That was the first image my commanding officers saw of me.” Cloud says, dragging his hands down his face. “It’s banned for a reason—”

“A stupid reason, I think. Wait, come on, we gotta go. Angeal texted me asking where we are.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“I’d say the old guy whose desk smells like feet.” Zack snorts, heading towards the elevator so they can meet up with the rest of their heist team.

“What is my life anymore?” Cloud mutters to himself and then adds, “It wasn’t there.”

“Yeah, that’s annoying,” Zack pushes the up button for the elevator. “Well, maybe Teams AG and S had better luck.”

“Are you really using the team names?”

“Yeah! It’s fun.”

Zack waves to a couple admins while they wait for the elevator, like they didn’t just break like twenty pages of Shinra protocols and rules. 

They get onto the elevator and Zack quickly sends a text to Angeal to let him know they’re on the way. In the chat with all of them, including Cloud now (that Genesis named Heist because he thought it was ‘amusing’) Angeal responds. 

Angeal: Genesis has it.

“Ooh nice,” Zack leans over to show Cloud his screen. 

The doors to the elevator pop open. A group of SOLDIERS and a couple salespeople step onto the elevator as well. Well, not just any SOLDIERS, it’s Nolan and Fisher. Who Zack hasn’t seen since the whole thing where Sam said he wanted to ask out Cloud a while ago. 

“Hey, Fair!” Fisher says, waving. “What’s up, man?”

“Nothing much,” Zack says, smiling. Totally didn’t break into a Shinra middleman’s office suite and hack into his computer. He and Cloud would never do something like that (they’re making their escape now).

Then the guys see Cloud who looks like he is trying to blend into the wall or stay so still that nobody will notice him. Which clearly isn’t working. 

“Oh wait, is this your boyfriend?” Nolan asks, sticking out his hand to Cloud. Actually, this is the worst possible timing for this. “Nice to meet you, you’ve got a cool name.”

Cloud blinks. “Oh, uh. Thanks.” He awkwardly shakes Nolan’s hand. 

Look at his awkwardly chocobo socializing! He’s so proud.

“Gonna be honest, it makes a lot of sense now. Fair talked about you all the time.” Nolan says, smacking Zack’s shoulder while laughing. “Like all the time, man. Guess we should’ve realized sooner you guys were dating, huh?”

That’s not even close! They’re not dating!

Seriously , why does everyone keep saying that?

Cloud seems to shrink in on himself a little. Fisher pats his shoulder. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, man. We’re just teasing Fair, he wasn’t very good at keeping your relationship secret.”

What relationship?! Friendship ?

Okay, he’s gotta put a stop to this conversation. And thank Gaia the elevator doors ding open for their floor. “Oh, sorry guys! We gotta go!” 

Does he sort of grab Cloud’s hand to pull him along? Maybe. Are his friends taking photos they’re going to send to Kunsel in their group chat later? Yeah, probably. 

But he and Cloudy have a heist to focus on! The mission comes first.

The guys all yell bye as the doors close. One crisis avoided. 

Next phase of the plan: chocobo acquires the goods and skidaddles. 

“Okay, we gotta find the rest of the group.” Zack says, looking around the large floor that’s mostly filled with open offices and fancy office suites for the higher level executives of Shinra. There’s rows and rows of small cubicles. And everyone in the cubicles look dead tired, worse than Lazard after a long day. 

Are these guys okay?

They walk through the office, a lot of people at their desks in little cubicles. Zack is pretty sure he would actually lose his mind in a place like this, just actually implode entirely. He needs to move too much.

But seriously where are the rest of the guys?

Cloud puts his helmet back on, good for not being super recognizable. The hair is a dead giveaway. 

“---Pardon me, but since when did Shinra decide to change its policies to become bigoted!”

Zack stops walking. Because yeah, he knows that voice. But he doesn’t remember Genesis yelling at someone being part of their plan at all. Genesis got pretty detailed about it too, so he’s pretty sure he’d remember that. He glances once at Cloud before following the yelling.

A man’s nervous voices says, “Commander Rhapsodos, perhaps we should discuss this in my office—”

“No! Do you think I am not aware of the shady, slinky tactics Shinra’s HR minions such as yourself use? I will say my piece where anyone can hear it,” Genesis says, loudly.

There are people swiveling at their desks, craning their necks to watch. A couple people are pretending they don’t hear anything, but are clearly watching with the fascinated look of people just gunning for gossip. They face the computers but their eyes are directed towards the yelling.

Then up ahead are Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth standing as a trio outside of a large office suite. Genesis is about a foot away from the man and clearly, very upset. Zack is almost positive if Genesis had his sword with him, it would be out and waving around.

What is happening?

This was not part of the plan!

The man in a blue suit holds up his hands to Genesis, placatingly like that’s going to change anything. “Commander Rhapsodos, you’re causing a bit of a scene and people are trying to work—”

“I saw one of them playing SOLDIER Simulator! Working my ass! Is HR so blindly witless that they do not realize that changing this policy is blatantly biased against same-sex couples or was it a deliberate choice on the part of our wonderful board of directors? Is this not Midgar, the modern city? This sort of policy seems something out of an ancient, ignorant society! Not a modern one!”

Okay. What is happening?

He tugs on Cloud’s sleeve to follow him and he hurries up beside Angeal—who is weirdly not even trying to stop Genesis’s rant at all. 

Zack leans into Angeal, whispering. “Uh, what’s going on here? Why did he decide on this as the distraction?”

Angeal doesn’t look away from Genesis who is now using Loveless quotes directed at one of the Shinra HR members. “It’s not a distraction, Zack.”

“Oh,” Zack says, blinking. Then it sets in. “ Oh .”

Because if it’s not a distraction then that means Shinra actually changed some policy like that?

Sephiroth’s expression doesn’t change, but he almost seems like he’s glaring at the HR guy Genesis is laying into. His eyes are just slightly narrowed compared to his more relaxed expression when he’s not facing a HR crisis. “We might be here for a moment.”

And yeah, Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth being in a relationship may be an open secret basically, but it’s never been officially confirmed. And yeah, the fans have a lot of theories, but again, it’s never been confirmed. But Shinra definitely has to know it’s true. Did they just think none of them would say anything at all?

The whole office is watching the scene now.

 The HR guy tries to sound apologetic, but it sounds so fake that even Zack has to cringe. Did he think that sounded convincing? “Shinra decided this would be the best, more fair option as there are very few same-sex couples working for Shinra, so there isn’t a need for the special programs for same-sex couples. Other than yourself, Commander, there are almost no same-sex couples—”

“That is incorrect!” Genesis throws out a hand, gesturing to Zack. “He has a male partner as well!”

The HR guy looks at Zack, he waves after a second. “Yup, that’s me.”

Genesis’s voice raises. “Beyond that fact, have you not used an ounce of brainpower to consider the reality that many same-sex couples would not fill out Shinra’s annual evaluation which invasively inquires about whether or not they are heterosexual?”

“Commander, I can assure you that those evaluations are completely anonymous and are only used for bettering the company as a whole.”

“Why delude ourselves?” Genesis makes a face, half a scowl and half like he smelled something old in a fridge. “Everyone knows they aren’t anonymous. I filled out one honestly once and then conveniently a week later I was asked to join Alliance Coalition—ironic considering the company wishes to get rid of anything that helps that same group. Please, don’t embarrass yourself by lying.”

The HR guy stammers for a second, eyes darting over the office floor. “Commander, perhaps you should submit a complaint instead—”

“I’m submitting one right now. Verbally,” Genesis says, through gritted teeth. “You are lucky I don’t have materia with me or—”

“Alright,” Angeal steps forward, holding a hand out to physically block Genesis’s path. “Let’s not threaten the HR staff.”

The HR man looks severely relieved now. “Oh, thank you, Commander Hewley, please talk to him about what is a reasonable way to give feedback on Shinra's policies.”

“I didn’t say I disagreed with him,” Angeal says, firmly. Genesis breaks out into an incredibly smug, pleased look, crossing his arms while smirking at the HR guy.

Oh, wow. Zack feels like he needs popcorn to be watching this whole thing right now. This HR guy is so not ready for what’s about to happen. 

The guy looks to Sephiroth, almost pleadingly. “General, could you perhaps speak with your subordinates?”

Oof. Wrong choice. 

Subordinates? This guy clearly knows they’re dating. Yikes, this could be a HR disaster. 

Seriously, where is the popcorn?

Sephiroth doesn’t even move, but his eyes narrow slightly—just like a cat getting ready to attack. Yikes, this guy is really in for it now. 

“You!” Genesis suddenly says and almost everyone jumps, including Zack. 

 Genesis is staring at Cloud, glaring even. “Infantry, trooper, security—whatever you are! Bring this to my office! I was going to get paperwork done, but it appears I have a group of idiots to deal with. Get on with it!”

He tosses the thumb drive and a stack of clipped together papers to Cloud. Cloud quickly snaps into a salute and runs off. 

It was the thumb drive, probably with the policy on it.

Okay, that was pretty smart. 

Then Genesis snaps back around. “Now to deal with the said idiot.”

The HR guy stammers over his words with Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth staring at him. Zack would pay some serious gil to have popcorn right now. This guy probably heard they are all dating by now and he’s probably realizing he made a terrible mistake. 

Seriously, what was he thinking calling them Sephiroth’s subordinates? 

“Gen, maybe calm down a little?” Angeal suggests, in the elevator down from the HR department to where the SOLDIER offices are located. 

“I am remaining calm—by imagining wringing that scummy little man’s neck,” Genesis makes a gesture that is vaguely concerning along with a very expressive look that just screams attempted assault. “First, the SCS, now this? Shinra is trying to make working here impossible. I swear to the Goddess and all that I hold holy to give me patience.”

“Uh, I think it’s a little late for that, man,” Zack comments, tapping his foot as the elevator beeps and goes past another floor. He glances down at his PHS. “You literally ripped into that guy for a solid twenty minutes.”

Genesis glances over his shoulder, huffing. “No, I require patience to not escalate the situation further.”

“No fires,” Angeal says, not even glancing up from his PHS. 

“I don’t think fire would be required to scare that man,” Sephiroth comments, calmly. “He already looked ready to scurry away or call security.”

Genesis snorts. “As if security could stop four First Class SOLDIERS.”

Zack taps his foot again, then shifts his weight to his other leg. He looks at the floor of the elevator to the screen with the floor numbers on it. He flips open his PHS and the screen is blank. He goes back to tapping his foot. “Do you think Cloud made it back alright?”

Genesis groans, like he is actually in pain and turns to look at Zack. “Puppy, I swear. You can go less than an hour without seeing your chocobo, you will not magically explode or die from separation anxiety like you seem so determined to believe.”

“Hey, I’m not—” Zack trails off, not even sure what he was going to say. “It’s not separation anxiety. I just want to make sure he made it to the meet up spot okay.”

Genesis pretend whispers to Angeal, not actually trying to keep his voice down, “I think your stray has separation anxiety.”

“I do not!”

“So you have not been checking your PHS every two minutes because you are worried about your chocobo?” Genesis raises an eyebrow. 

“I—” That is one hundred percent what he was doing, because he’s worried for his friend. Sure, people weren’t likely to stop him if Genesis sent him and all, but still. Something could happen.

“It’s alright, Zack,” Angeal says, putting away his PHS now. “Don’t let him fool you, he gets anxious when both me and Sephiroth are on missions.”

“Lies and fallacies!”

“I have screenshots of his messages,” Sephiroth says, just slightly amused. 

Genesis practically is glaring daggers at him now. “You have no such thing.”

“I assure you I do.” The elevator doors pop open. “It is reassuring to look back on while I am on missions.”

Then with that, Sephiroth strides out of the elevator and Zack gets a small split second view of him grinning. Genesis quickly chases after him, demanding for Sephiroth to hand over his PHS. 

Angeal and Zack follow behind them a little bit.

Angeal sighs, “It would be easy to think they’re not adults.”

“Well, man, you are kind of the ultimate adult. Dadgeal Hewley and all—like me and my group of Third Class SOLDIERS would say,” Zack says, nodding as he remembers all the nicknames he and his squad came up with for Angeal their first year in the SOLDIER program. 

Angeal Dadley. 

Commander Dadley. 

Those were pretty common ones.

Angeal is silent. Zack grins at him. “I came up with that one myself actually.”

“Zack, I’m only two years older than you.”

“So? Dad energy is dad energy, man.”

Genesis bursts out laughing ahead of them, he has to use one hand on Sephiroth to support himself. “Ha! Your stray called you an old man! I have been telling you to invest in an anti-aging skin routine, haven’t I?”

“Wait, aren’t you older than Angeal?” Zack asks, glancing between them both now. He’s pretty sure that Genesis is slightly older. Did he get that messed up somehow? 

Genesis stops laughing, his smile falling in a split second. Sephiroth has to turn away, covering his mouth but Zack can see his shoulder’s shake slightly from laughing quietly. 

“Wait, is that not right?” Now he looks at Angeal for confirmation.

He sighs, patting Zack’s shoulder. “Come on, Zack, we still need to get back to Seph’s office so we can check the policy.”

“Oh right!” Zack rushes on ahead. “Spike’s there!”

Behind him he hears Genesis’s voice asking, “Do I appear visibly old? Don’t lie to me.”

Zack runs all the way to Sephiroth’s office. 

It’s in a normal hallway except that there’s only three doors. Angeal’s office, which Zack thinks is pretty nice and filled with lots of plants (but more importantly lots of snacks hidden in the drawers because he knows Zack searches through them when he’s hungry). 

Then there’s Genesis’s office—a place of mystery honestly and a rarely used office where everyone basically knows not to check for him. He’s pretty sure he’s only ever seen Genesis use it a handful of times.

And there’s Cloud, leaning against the wall by Sephiroth’s office door, holding his helmet under one arm and calmly scrolling through his PHS. For a second, Zack freezes. 

And maybe it’s the lighting or something making everything look golden, but for a second the way Cloud is standing there almost looks like one of those paintings Genesis loves to explain in way too much detail when he’s had too much wine. Except this time, he understands what Genesis meant that good art can take your breath away.

Actually. That is a kind of weird thing to think about his best friend.

Zack snaps himself out of it and stops comparing Cloud to those artworks in the art museum. “Heya, Spike!”

Cloud’s head snaps up, eyes wide. “Zack.”

He runs on over, stopping when he’s beside Cloud. “Have any trouble getting up here?”

He shakes his head and it takes every bit of self-control for him not to ruffle Cloud’s fluffy hair. “Nope.”

“Awesome!” He gives up and ruffles Cloud’s hair. It’s a need, okay? It’s so fluffy and it’s right there, he has to ruffle it. It’s not like anyone else is doing it. “Look at you! Heisting and joining secret plans with the Firsts! Imagine telling your cadet self that, ha!”

Cloud ducks his chin into his infantry scarf, even though Zack can totally still see his cheeks turning pink. Cute. “I would’ve thought future me was insane.”

Zack laughs and throws an arm over Cloud’s shoulders. “But look at you, sneaking around and stealing like a pro. You sure you’re not a Turk?”

“Of course I’m not,” Cloud mumbles out, “Do I own a suit?”

“Oh, good point, Spike.”

Nearing the hallway, he hears three sets of footsteps heading their way—well, he can barely hear one set. Sephiroth always walks really quietly, like a cat. Zack tried to convince him to dress up as one but apparently that was pushing it too much (he still has plans for that one day).

“Angeal, I’m not joking. I think you need to test your stray for being so hyperactive, what if his heart gives out? I am only trying to look out for your well-being, you would be devastated if something happened to that puppy.”

Right as the three of them turn a corner, Zack is standing there, arms crossed. Genesis doesn’t even look apologetic or anything, just grinning. Angeal sighs. “I’ve seen new recruits who get into petty squabbles less than you two.”

“What petty squabbles?” Zack asks, crossing his arms. “We don’t argue that much.”

Sephiroth opens the door to his office, saying over his shoulder, “I have come to believe that pestering is an energy source for him.”

“Who said I was pestering? I was expressing concern .” With that, Genesis flounces past Sephiroth and into the office, flicking on the light as he does.

Okay, besides the fact that he totally wasn’t expressing concern, fine.

As Zack and Cloud are walking inside, Cloud whispers to Zack, “So, uh, what happened with that HR guy?”

“Ugh,” Genesis falls into one of the chairs, throwing his arms up as he does. “This company never ceases to amaze me in the many ways they’re able to be terrible. Homophobia on top of it all? Might as well serve us all a nice ice cream sundae topped with shady business practices, questionable moral ethics, and homophobia as the cherry on top of the disaster.”

Angeal sighs. “We’ll figure something out. We can only fight one fire at a time. Let’s deal with the SCS issue first. We got the policy, right?”

Cloud reaches into one of the ten million pockets that are part of the infantry uniform and holds out the thumb drive Genesis tossed at him. “Yeah. Here.” 

Cloud hands him the thumb drive. Angeal nods. “Thank you. Now, I think we’re just waiting for Katie.”

“I had been meaning to ask about that,” Genesis says, turning in the chair with a flourish and toss of his coat. “How can we trust her? I understand she suggested the initial idea of this plan, but truly how can we trust that she is not in cahoots with Shinra?”

“I trust her!” Zack says. 

Genesis shoots him a look. “Was I asking for your input, Fair?  No, I was not. I was asking Angeal. You would likely trust a Turk if they gave you an enticing enough snack on one occasion; your judgment cannot be trusted.”

Zack frowns. Rude.

Sometimes the Turks do have good snacks.

“Besides the fact she already helped make the SCS program?” Angeal asks, handing over the thumb drive to Sephiroth who plugs it into his computer. “And the fact she is helping to write a potential suit against Shinra?”

Genesis still does not look convinced, crossing his arms. “It could be a set-up. Based on our past experiences, I have strictly decided to not trust a single soul within this god awful tower until otherwise proven trustworthy. Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey. ”

“Act three,” Sephiroth comments, as he clicks something on his computer, followed by a loud, swarm of respective emails dings. Zack would bet actual gil that he just saw Sephiroth’s right eye twitch. The dings keep coming. 

And they just don’t stop. 

Zack makes a face as the noises just don't stop. “Uh, is your computer broken?”

“No.” Sephiroth clicks incredibly loudly on his mouse. “This is the average amount of notifications when I open the application after I have not checked it in a few hours.”

Zack leans over the desk now just so he can look at this flood of emails. “Whoa! You’ve got like a thousand unread emails!”

“Those are from today.”

“No way!” 

How is Sephiroth not going crazy from all those emails? Zack starts feeling jumpy when he gets more than twenty in a day.

“Zack.” Angeal grabs the back of his uniform shirt and gently pulls him off the desk. “Leaning on people’s desks is rude. You could’ve broken something.”

“He is welcome to break this computer,” Sephiroth says. 

The dings finally stop. 

“This is why I don’t use my office,” Genesis leans back in the chair, crossing his legs. “If I had to hear that horrendous, mind-numbing cacophony of sounds every single morning I would be driven mad within a week and I would be left with no choice but to commit grave crimes to free myself from dull office life.”

Zack pats the mug on Sephiroth’s desk, the only form of decoration at all. “Sorry, I wouldn’t have broken this.”

There’s knocking at the door, before Katie steps inside. Zack is really starting to think she only wears gray clothes and hot pink glasses. He kind of respects the total dedication to the look.

She closes the door behind her. “I assume you found the policy.”

“We did,” Angeal says, turning his body towards the desk. “Sephiroth is opening it on his computer now.”

“We found it in the HR man’s office,” Genesis comments, “Which makes sense, since Shinra HR department would be the ones to steal our documents and alter official papers. We should have suspected the moment our access to the policy disappeared.”

“I recommend making several copies stored on external hard drives and even printing physical copies as well,” Katie says, “As backups, in case something changes and they’re able to remove access this way as well.”

“I will print out a copy then,” Sephiroth says, ignoring the new flurry of email dings coming from his computer. There’s a sudden mechanical sound and the choppiness of a printer.

Actually, Zack has never noticed that printer before. He walks over to it. This thing looks really old. 

Zack looks at the printer, watching it slowly print out page after page. “It’s kinda crazy Sephiroth has a printer. Like, who would’ve thought about that.”

Cloud glances sideways at him. “That’s what you’re focused on?

“It’s kinda weird, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it before.”

“Exactly,” Zack says, emphasizing. “That’s why it’s crazy.”

Genesis is watching the whole exchange, his expression weirdly hard for Zack to read. Normally, he doesn’t try to hide his emotions or thoughts, but right now Zack isn’t sure if he’s judging Zack, the conversation, or trying to analyze the interactions between him and Cloud. 

How is he still suspicious of their fake relationship? Or is he judging Zack because of the whole ‘casual’ thing earlier? 

How did Genesis end up being the hardest to deal with during this whole fake dating thing? He really thought it would be Angeal! He assumed Genesis could care less about it and would move on in a few hours after he got bored. 

What if he is suspicious that they’re lying?

He’s pretty sure Genesis would actually kill him or really chase after him with a rapier at that point. 

Zack steps closer to Cloud, throwing an arm over his shoulders. Which is a pretty normal thing for him to do anyway, but he doesn't need Genesis suspecting totally true things!

Angeal walks around the desk so he’s on the same side as Sephiroth and opens a drawer. He holds up a highlighter. “I say we read this whole thing front to back.”

Oh no, he’s got the highlighter out, Shinra’s in trouble now. And Zack means that fully, no sarcasm or jokes. He leans over, curiously. 

“So can me and Spike help?” He tries to read over the pages and pages of weird jargon and technical terms Zack’s one hundred percent sure he does not know the meaning of. 

“Unless you suddenly gained years of knowledge on policies and reading,” Genesis doesn’t even bother looking up, his arms crossed, “then I doubt a puppy and a chocobo would be of much help with such an important task.”

“Hey, we helped with the heist,” Zack says, squeezing Cloud’s shoulders for emphasis and in defense of them both. “This puppy and chocobo are very capable.”

Cloud scrunches up a little bit, probably from too many people looking at him. Zack keeps smiling at Angeal.

“I’m sure you’re very capable,” Angeal says, placatingly, but he’s focused on the SCS policy now. 

Zack looks at Cloud. “Looks like we’re just gonna have to entertain ourselves, Cloudy.” He flops into one of the seats, pulling out his PHS. “How’d your patrol go?”

Cloud sits down after a second, glancing at the group crowded around the policy papers (and the ones still printing off on Sephiroth’s printer). “It was fine. Nothing really happened.”

“So, boring?” Zack leans closer, holding up his PHS. “Also. This photo is going in a picture frame.”

Cloud makes a face at the awkward, blurry selfie he took under that guy’s desk. “Zack. Why ?”

“It’s a hilarious picture of you,” Zack gestures to the screen. “You look like a murderous chocobo. Ready to murder the guy with stinky feet.”

There’s a loud, over dramatic sigh. “For the love of the Goddess, take this sickeningly sweet conversation out into the hallway or out of earshot of SOLDIER hearing. Either silence or find somewhere else to distract us all with your conversing.”

So instead of getting to talk at all, Zack and Cloud end up playing a co-op game on their PHSs, teaming up to fight monsters as a fictionalized version of SOLDIERS. Did Shinra pay the company to make this game? Probably. He’s okay with it (this time) because the game is super fun. 

Reading the policy takes way longer than expected. At some point they all started to get hungry and Zack starts to get antsy so Angeal told him he could get snacks from Angeal’s office. Zack comes back with an armful of snacks from Angeal’s not-so-secret secret snack drawer. 

While they’re looking at the policy, he and Cloud move up seven levels in the game. 

Zack scooches closer and whispers so Genesis doesn’t yell again, “Bro, what gear did that monster drop?”

Cloud angles his PHS screen to show him. They’ve found that trying to play a co-op game without talking is almost impossible. 

“Ooh, nice gear. You might be able to use a combo on that armor and level up again.” He points at the two pieces of armor Cloud got for beating that weird flying monster that’s a combination of a bat and an evil looking bird. 

“Ha!”

Zack jumps when Genesis suddenly yells, half expecting to be told to stop talking about video games. 

“Ha!” With another victorious shout, Genesis crosses his arms, staring down at the piece of paper like he’s declaring victory over it or something. “Those fools in the executive suites thought they could outsmart us.”

“Did you find something?” 

“Of course I did,” Genesis says, smugly. 

“To be fair,” Angeal adds, “We already knew something like this was in the policy which is why we needed it. This is further backup so we can submit the appeal.”

“Essentially, they cannot refute this without admitting to deleting all access to this document and that they never provided reasoning for wanting to rescind approval for the SCS program,” Sephiroth says, similar to how he gives a debrief for a mission. 

“Heck yeah!” Zack gives Cloud a fist bump. “Let’s go! SOLDIER heist versus Shinra one!”

Zack pauses, glancing back at Cloud. “Oh, wait. SOLDIER and infantry heist! Unbeatable combo.”

“I think it will be very satisfying to hand a physical copy to Professor Hojo,” Sephiroth says. 

“Please take a picture of his face. We can frame it and hang it up right there, so you can always be reminded of your victory,” Genesis says, pointing to a very blank wall by Sephiroth’s desk. 

Sephiroth considers this, observing the wall for a long moment. “I don’t think I want him on my walls.”

Genesis hums. “We can burn it then. Similar to how one destroys effigies of those they hate. I also recommend sending a video to Hojo as a threat.”

Sephiroth nods slightly, looking pleased.

“That should be all we need for now,” Katie says, “at least to begin the appeal process, but it should be expected for them to push back on the appeal.”