Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kalm was always crowded on weekends. The traffic was a nightmare, as everyone rushed to get to the town market before all the best items sold out. Cloud, however, had no interest in food. Not today. He was just returning from an overnight delivery and he couldn’t wait to get home and rest.

He moved through the crowd, evading the people bumping into him, constantly sidestepping and jumping out of the way. It was impossibly crowded. He huffed in annoyance, eager to get away. As he rounded a corner, the crowd finally dispersed, and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

The house he shared with Sephiroth was only a couple of minutes’ walk from there.

It was still hard to believe the two of them were living together now, after everything. And not only that—they’d been dating for over three years. Their relationship had its ups and downs, like any other, and it had taken them a long time to learn to trust each other, but when it was just the two of them and they ignored all the extra baggage, they worked really well together. It meant that they couldn’t really talk about the past, but Cloud was happy—or as happy as he knew how to be. Certainly the happiest he could ever remember being.

It had taken Cloud a long time to forgive Sephiroth for some of the horrible things he’d done, and there were others that he’d never be able to forgive, yet despite it all, Cloud couldn’t deny how he felt about him. All his life, he’d been obsessed with the man. So, when Sephiroth showed up, revived again years after the Geostigma crisis, free from Jenova’s influence and no longer trying to destroy the world, Cloud decided there had been enough bloodshed. He’d spared Sephiroth, and let him live out his life in peace. To his surprise, Sephiroth decided to stick around, slowly inserting himself into Cloud’s life, until Cloud eventually warmed up to him.

And then, one day, Sephiroth had pushed him up against the wall and kissed him. Before Cloud’s brain could even make sense of what was happening, his body was already responding, welcoming Sephiroth, kissing him back and tugging him close. Perhaps it should have come as a shock, but by that point they’d already been dancing around each other for months, lusting and flirting, steadily growing closer, and Cloud couldn’t deny how much he wanted him.

At first, he’d expected it to be a one-night stand; one crazy night of passion that would get this tension out of their systems. And afterwards, everything would go back to normal. But Sephiroth had other plans. He seemed determined to take Cloud against any flat surface he could find, trapping him in a whirlwind of passion.

The first few weeks of their relationship were spent in a haze of lust. They’d had more sex in that short amount of time than Cloud had had in the entirety of his life prior to that point. 

And then, for some reason, Sephiroth started staying the night. After a while, he started spending his whole weekends at Cloud’s. And then, one day, he just… stayed.

Cloud had never officially invited him to move in, but after it became apparent that Sephiroth wasn’t going anywhere, Cloud came home one day with a spare key and gave to it Sephiroth. The sparkle in the man’s eyes and the curl of his lips made Cloud’s chest ache, something warm taking residence inside it. That night, Sephiroth was relentless, taking him again and again, making him scream out his name, until Cloud was completely wrung out and unable to move. They fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Sex with Sephiroth was amazing. Sometimes, Cloud joked that it was the only reason he was putting up with him. That wasn’t true, of course, but he made sure to say it whenever Sephiroth pissed him off. In truth, Cloud enjoyed being with him—he understood Cloud better than anyone. He could handle all of Cloud’s moods and even take the brunt of his anger on particularly bad days.

For his part, Sephiroth was still possessive and petty, and even downright cruel sometimes. But Cloud had come to accept all sides of his personality. All that mattered to him was that Sephiroth was no longer trying to destroy the world or hurt anyone.

Lengthening his strides, Cloud quickened his pace. He was almost home, and whenever he had overnight deliveries to make, Sephiroth would get impatient and jump him almost as soon as he’d walked it. Cloud was really looking forward to it today.

Lost in his own thoughts, he’d almost missed it, but as he passed by a neighbor’s house, a flash of silver drew his attention. A young man with short silver hair stood there, seemingly lost and trying to get his bearings.

Cloud froze.

The boy was facing away from him, so he couldn’t see his face, but the unique hair color made Cloud do a double take.

“Sephiroth…?” he called out uncertainly.

The young man’s shoulders tensed, and he spun around, eyeing Cloud suspiciously.

It was Sephiroth; there was no doubt about it. He had the same mako green eyes with slitted pupils, the same bow lips and that same fiery glare that made Cloud’s heart skip a beat.

Seeing him here, looking like this, made Cloud gasp; he couldn’t help it. Throughout his life, he’d seen so many different sides of Sephiroth, so many different iterations of him—for he was slightly different every time he revived himself—but Cloud had never imagined he’d get a chance to see him as a teenager, and he was struck by how little he’d changed. Apart from his hair and height, all the most important parts of him were the same.

The boy’s hand inched closer to his weapon, carefully enough that anyone else would have missed it, but Cloud knew Sephiroth better than anyone, and could easily read him.

“Easy. I don’t want to fight.”

“How do you know who I am?” the boy demanded.

Cloud frowned. “You don’t recognize me?”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

His heart clenched at the words, but Cloud tried not to take it personally. Something must have happened while he was away. His first guess was that Sephiroth must have been de-aged somehow, and that he’d lost his memories in the process.

He tried not to succumb to panic. There had to be a way to fix this. But first things first, he had to get Sephiroth home, and then they could figure this out together. 

“Okay, I know this is gonna be hard to believe, but we know each other very well. We actually live together.”

Sephiroth scoffed. “I live alone. I have my own apartment inside the Shinra Tower.”

His look implied that he doubted Cloud would ever be worthy of setting one foot inside the Tower. Cloud rubbed his hands over his face. Why did Sephiroth have to be such a pain in the ass? Couldn’t he just do as he was told, for once?

But Cloud knew how suspicious Sephiroth could be, and with good reason. People had rarely been kind to him, and Cloud was a total stranger. He probably seemed like a complete weirdo saying those things to him, especially since Sephiroth had no memory of them.

“Look… What year do you think it is?”

“Year?” Sephiroth repeated, looking at Cloud like he’d lost his mind.

“Just humor me, okay?”

“It’s [ μ ] - εγλ 1994.”

Cloud’s eyes widened. It was even worse than he’d thought. “It's actually [ ν ] – εγλ 0014.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” the boy snapped.

Cloud let out a heavy sigh, hating this whole situation. Of course Sephiroth wouldn’t believe him. What he was saying sounded insane.

He was starting to consider just whacking Sephiroth over the head and dragging him home unconscious, but then he got an idea.

“Ask anyone on the street. Just pick a random person and see what they tell you.”

Sephiroth frowned and studied Cloud for a few moments, considering it. In the end, he gave a small nod and headed toward the crowd, with Cloud following close behind.

A few people ignored Sephiroth in their rush, refusing to stop and talk to him, but eventually, one woman stopped to help him. When Sephiroth asked her what year it was, she frowned, angry to have been stopped over what she probably believed was a prank. But ultimately, she confirmed what Cloud had already told him—it was indeed [ ν ] – εγλ 0014.

This information left Sephiroth looking shaken and uncertain. It hurt to see him so vulnerable, and Cloud questioned his earlier observation that he hadn’t changed much. This boy seemed a lot more fragile than the Sephiroth he knew. He tried to put up a front, but to someone like Cloud, all of his emotions were easy to read. His walls seemed paper thin and ready to crumble.

Cloud reached out to touch Sephiroth’s shoulder, to offer some comfort, but Sephiroth flinched away violently. Right. He wasn’t used to casual touches or affection, only pain. Cloud cursed himself for forgetting.

Sephiroth had always hated talking about his childhood, and even now that they’d been dating for years, he still had trouble opening up. But from what little Cloud knew, Sephiroth had been starved for affection, especially at that age. Before he’d convinced himself that he didn’t need anyone, that it was his choice to be alone, it had been a lot easier to hurt him. To this day, Cloud believed that was one of the reasons why it had been so easy for Jenova to seduce him.

Still, not being able to touch Sephiroth, after doing it for years, would certainly take some getting used to. Cloud sighed, his frustration rising.

“Come on. Let’s go home,” he said. “We’ll figure out how to get your memories back.”

“Who are you?” Sephiroth asked, still refusing to budge.

“I’m…” Cloud faltered, unsure of what to say. He didn’t want to shock the kid by telling him they were dating. Had Sephiroth even known he was gay at that age? “I’m Cloud,” he finished lamely, and Sephiroth’s frown deepened.

“That doesn’t answer my question. Why are we living together?”

Cloud felt tired in so many ways. Why did this have to happen today? He was hoping for a nice, hot shower, some mind-blowing sex, and then at least six or seven hours of uninterrupted sleep.

But none of that would happen today.

He sighed for what felt like the millionth time that morning. “Let’s just… Let’s get home first, okay?”

Thankfully, this time, when he started walking, Sephiroth followed without complaint.

It only took them a few minutes to reach the house. Once there, Cloud unlocked the door and ushered Sephiroth inside.

“You can leave your coat here, and there’s a weapons rack for your sword,” he said, pointing at it, while taking his shoes off and leaving the keys on the mantle. “There’s—”

“Cloud? Is someone with you?”

The voice coming from the living room made Cloud freeze. He looked at the boy in disbelief, suspended in time, watching his eyes widen as if in slow motion, his face instantly turning suspicious. The presence of another person clearly made him believe this was a trap.

Before Cloud could tell him otherwise, the boy moved, faster than lighting, spinning away and drawing his sword. He pointed it at the person rounding the corner, and if it were anyone else, he would have had them at his mercy, but the other man was just as fast, his reflexes unmatched. He called out his sword, making it appear out of thin air, blocking the attack, twisting and angling its tip so that it rested against the boy’s throat. The whole fight took less than a second, and it was already over.

Cloud gasped and rushed forward, not wanting them to kill each other.

“Sephiroth, stop!” he cried, and both men turned to look at him.

His eyes flitted between them, unsure who to address first. His boyfriend’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t lower his sword.

“Care to explain, Cloud?” he purred dangerously.

“I thought he was you… That you got de-aged or something!”

The boy’s eyes widened. He looked at his older self with obvious interest, not even trying to hide his curiosity.

“Oh, for the love of… Put down your weapons already!” Cloud ordered, annoyed, his patience finally reaching its limit.

The two men exchanged glances, still visibly suspicious, but slowly, without taking their eyes off each other, they did as Cloud ordered. That left the three of them standing in the hallway awkwardly, unsure of what to do with themselves.

Sephiroth was the first to recover. He leaned against the wall casually, eyeing the boy with distaste.

“I didn’t expect you to replace me with a younger model.”

“Shut up,” Cloud mumbled, blushing.

The boy observed them, openly curious and trying to understand their relationship.

“Since he isn’t you, we need to figure out who he is and how he got here,” Cloud said.

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here!”

“Quiet. The adults are talking,” Sephiroth said, and the boy bristled, obviously unused to being dismissed in such a way. It hadn’t even been five minutes, and they were already giving Cloud a headache.

“Let’s head inside first. This will take a while to figure out, and I desperately need coffee,” he said, moving into the kitchen, rubbing his tired eyes.

It was a relief that his Sephiroth wasn’t gone, but the problem they had on their hands could turn out to be even worse. Had the boy come from the past? Or was he from a different timeline? Either way, him being here could have serious consequences on the Lifestream, and they had no way of sending him back.

Cloud tried not to panic about the mess this could create.

A few minutes later, he returned to the living room with three steaming mugs of coffee. The two men were sitting on the opposite sides of the table, silently glaring at each other. Cloud held back a sigh. One Sephiroth was a handful, even when he was on his best behavior; having two of them at odds with one another was going to be a nightmare.

“So… Do you know how you ended up here?” Cloud asked.

The boy turned to look at him, and once again Cloud was struck by how much he looked like his boyfriend. The expression in those striking green eyes, so guarded and suspicious, was something Cloud had seen countless times before. His rigid posture told Cloud that he was feeling cornered and threatened. Cloud wished he could make him understand they weren’t going to hurt him, but he also knew how distrustful Sephiroth could be.

“I was preparing to go on a mission when I suddenly found myself in Kalm. I don’t know how I got here.”

“Did you notice anything strange?”

The boy shook his head. “I felt a strange pull… and some dizziness, but that was all.”

“Cloud he have traveled between timelines?” Cloud asked.

“It is not beyond the realm of possibility, but at that age, I had no such power.”

“Maybe, in a different timeline, he learned how to do it sooner?”

“I’m still here, you know,” the boy said angrily.

“Fine, then, speak,” Sephiroth ordered. “Do you or do you not know how to travel between timelines?”

“Timelines?” the boy repeated, as if hearing the word for the first time. “Of course not.”

“Then be quiet and let us figure this out.”

“Now listen here—”

“No, you listen. Whether you’re from this world or another, I know better than anyone the kind of threat you pose.” Sephiroth turned to look at Cloud as he spoke. “You never should have brought him into our home, Cloud. He’s dangerous. You, of all people, should know that!”

“He’s just a kid, Sephiroth. Besides, even you turned out okay in the end. You can’t expect the worst of him.”

“I can and I do, because I know how he thinks! He’s young now, and he hasn’t lost his mind yet, but I know he’s full of rage. One spark, one reason, is enough for him to explode and hurt someone.”

“That’s not true! I’ve never hurt anyone off the battlefield!” the boy shot to his feet, enraged and offended.

“Sit down, brat,” Sephiroth snapped, and they glared at each other again, nearly coming to blows. In the end, the boy relented and sat down with a huff.

They had clashing personalities, making it nearly impossible for them to get along, so Cloud decided to take control of the conversation.

He told the boy an edited version of Sephiroth’s past and asked him about his own. They had to know if his life had been the same as Sephiroth’s, if they had the same memories. If they did, that could mean that he came from the past and not an entirely different timeline.

Unfortunately, the boy seemed just as reluctant to talk about his past as Sephiroth himself, so the conversation stalled, and Cloud repeatedly had to ask them both questions to make sure their answers matched. But soon enough, Sephiroth ran out of patience.

“Enough of this! He has the same memories as me, so it’s safe to assume he’s from our timeline. Or not. Who cares?”

“How can you say that? If he’s your younger self, and he stays here, it could affect you. Maybe even undo your entire existence if we can’t send him back!”

Sephiroth rolled his eyes; he didn’t seem concerned at all. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be glad if he managed to undo the things I did.”

And with that, he swept out of the room, leaving Cloud glaring after him. The boy looked between them with a frown, still struggling to understand most of what was being implied.

A few moments later, Cloud cleared his throat and faced him.

“Since you have nowhere to go, you should stay with us. We have a spare room you can use.”

“Why would you let me stay?”

“You’re not who I thought you were, but you’re still Sephiroth. It wouldn’t be right to leave you out on the street.”

“Don’t see why you’d care. You don’t even know me, and that man is a complete bastard.”

Cloud chuckled, not even trying to deny it. “He grows on you.”

“If you say so…”

“Come on, let me show you to your room.”

A week later, Cloud was starting to regret their new living arrangements. Not because of Seph, as he had come to call the boy, but because the two Sephiroths couldn’t stop acting territorial.

The tension was unbearable, despite Cloud’s efforts to ease it and make everyone comfortable.

One would think that Seph, being so much younger, would be no match for Sephiroth in any way, yet he easily matched him in his stubbornness.

Sephiroth, on the other hand, delighted in teasing the boy and used every opportunity to press his buttons. Somehow, he always managed to get to him. The boy wouldn’t say anything, he’d just glare, either at Sephiroth himself or the nearest inanimate object, but the flush rising to his cheeks would give him away.

Cloud always felt bad for him. He wanted to tell him not to give Sephiroth the satisfaction, to explain that Sephiroth would just keep doing it as long as he could get a reaction out of him, but he didn’t want to further embarrass the boy.

Instead, he tried talking to Sephiroth, asking him to lay off, but that had only made things worse. Sephiroth had interpreted it as Cloud taking the boy’s side, and became possessive and jealous like Cloud had never seen him before.

Honestly, it was ridiculous. There was no need for him to feel threatened by someone so much younger than them.

Cloud dreaded going out on deliveries because he hated the thought of leaving the two of them alone in the house. There was no telling what they might do. Without Cloud as a buffer, they might end up killing each other.

That was why Cloud had avoided taking on jobs for as long as he could, but in the end, they needed the money to survive, so he had to get back out there.

Over breakfast that morning, he brought up the matter.

“I have a delivery to Mideel today. Try not to destroy anything while I’m gone.”

Sephiroth scoffed and kept drinking his coffee without replying. Seph, on the other hand, had a lot of questions.

“What kind of delivery? When will you be back?”

“I should be back by tonight,” Cloud said, standing up and sliding his phone into his pocket. “I run a delivery service, so I spend a lot of time away. I took a few days off, after everything, but I have to get back to work.”

“Can I help?” Seph asked.

That was something Cloud hadn’t even considered, but it would certainly solve his most pressing problem—it would prevent the two of them from being left unsupervised.

He didn’t even need to look at Sephiroth to know that he hated the idea, though. His glare was burning a hole in the back of Cloud’s head. Unfortunately for him, Cloud believed this was a much better option than giving the two of them a chance to murder each other.

Besides, it would be nice to have someone to talk to on the road for a change.

“Sure, you can come along.”

Cloud chanced a glance at Sephiroth. There was a deep frown etched on his face as he glared daggers at Cloud. Anger was rolling off of him in waves, thick and heavy like a physical presence.

Just as quickly, Cloud glanced away. 

“Come on, hurry up. We have to go.”

Seph shoved the last bits of toast into his mouth and jumped to his feet.

“I’ll see you tonight, okay?” Cloud said to Sephiroth, using a soft voice, trying to appease him, but Sephiroth’s expression remained stone cold.

He glared after the boy, and then, after Seph had left the room and disappeared from sight, he directed his angry eyes at Cloud.

It was easy to guess what was bothering him; Cloud had always kissed him on the way out, but now, because they weren’t alone, he hesitated.

They hadn’t done anything in front of the boy because Cloud was still afraid of shocking him. It wasn’t as if they were hiding their relationship, they were just being subtle.

But Sephiroth was never known for being subtle. It was plain to see how much he hated this situation.

Cloud stood frozen with indecision. It was only a couple of seconds, but they felt like an eternity. He wanted to kiss Sephiroth, and he knew that Sephiroth wanted him to. No, he was expecting him to. His eyes were all but ordering Cloud to come to him and do it.

“I thought you were in a hurry?” Seph called from the door, snapping Cloud out of his trance.

With one last apologetic glance at Sephiroth, Cloud rushed after the boy.

The trip to Mideel was mostly uneventful. The highlight was getting to know Seph a bit better, as they chatted to pass the time.

The more time Cloud spent around the boy, the more he noticed how different he was from Sephiroth, contrary to his initial observation. He was quiet and observant, which made him appear cold, but over time, his words made Cloud realize that he cared about the world around him far more than his older self.

It was also easy to notice how starved for affection he was, for companionship. He hadn’t even been with them for long, and he was already opening up to Cloud, lowering his guard and telling Cloud about his past, sharing his opinions and even offering him a few rare smiles.

Seeing the boy soften before his eyes made Cloud’s heart swell with joy. He knew Seph’s life couldn’t have been easy, just as Sephiroth’s childhood hadn’t been. There was nothing Cloud could do to change or fix what Sephiroth had gone through, but he hoped he could at least give Seph a chance at a better life.

As planned, they returned to Kalm later that night. They ran into a group of monsters, which delayed them a little, but other than that, they were right on schedule.

They were laughing and talking about something inconsequential as they entered the house.

“You’re late.”

“Fuck!” Cloud jumped, startled out of his mind. “Why the fuck were you standing behind the door?!”

Sephiroth eyed them both suspiciously, his arms crossed over his chest. He seemed to be searching for something, but Cloud had no idea what he expected to find.

Then, suddenly, without saying a word, he turned around and moved deeper into the house.

“What’s his problem?” Seph asked, but Cloud just shook his head.

He knew how possessive Sephiroth could be, and not kissing him that morning had just made everything worse. Maybe he should tell Seph about them dating. He was bound to find out sooner or later, and it would be better if Cloud told him gently instead of letting Sephiroth find a way to truly shock him.

But not tonight. They’d just spent over ten hours on the road. They were too tired to have that conversation.

“Did you have fun today?” Cloud asked.

“I did.” Seph gave him a small smile.

“So, do you want to keep doing deliveries with me?”

“Absolutely!”

This time, the smile turned into a grin, finally reaching his eyes, and Cloud couldn’t resist returning it.

“In that case, be ready to head out to Edge first thing tomorrow.”

The boy nodded eagerly as Cloud hurried after Sephiroth, desperate to put out that fire before the man exploded and forced them all to suffer his wrath.

But Sephiroth was nowhere to be found. The living room and the kitchen were empty, and the bedroom door was closed. That wasn’t a good sign. Cloud could either go in there and talk to him right now… Or he could take a much needed shower and have dinner before heading to bed.

There was no doubt that Sephiroth’s anger would only grow the longer Cloud made him wait, but he wasn’t ready to deal with his drama just yet. He was exhausted and hungry, so if Sephiroth wanted to sulk in the bedroom, he was welcome to do it, but he’d have to wait for a while for Cloud to join him.

Seph hadn’t eaten either, so they had dinner together, continuing with their easy conversations, their laughter filling the room. Cloud was enjoying himself so much that, for a while, he even forgot about the difficult conversation waiting for him.

Seph’s curiosity had no bounds; there seemed to be no end to questions he had for Cloud. He was interested in all sorts of things, but he mostly wanted to know about everything that had changed in the world since his time. He listened with rapt attention, prompting Cloud with additional questions whenever he grew quiet, keeping the conversation flowing.

Before Cloud knew it, he’d spent almost an hour after dinner just talking to him. When he saw the time, he jumped to his feet, startling the boy.

“It’s late. I should head to bed now.”

“Okay,” Seph said, confused by Cloud’s sudden departure. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Cloud said and rushed to the bathroom. He showered and brushed his teeth in record time, all but running to the bedroom.

Sephiroth was undoubtedly even more pissed off by now. Not only did Cloud make him wait, he’d spent that time having fun with someone else.

Cloud paused with his hand on the doorknob.

It wasn’t as if he was afraid of Sephiroth—he knew he could still take him in a fight—but he was bone-tired and wary of the drama waiting for him on the other side of that door. The sulking and the glaring and all the scathing comments. Cloud would take a sword fight over that any day.

But there was no point in stalling. He had to face Sephiroth eventually. So, Cloud took a deep breath and opened the door.

Sephiroth was sitting up in bed, leaning back against the headboard, a book in hand. When he saw Cloud, he closed the book and placed it on the nightstand.

“I see you finally figured out how to turn the doorknob,” he said acidly, and Cloud swallowed down an angry retort.

Snapping back would only make things worse, so he decided to ignore Sephiroth. He clenched his teeth and moved around the room, getting ready for bed.

Once he was done, he slipped beneath the covers with his back to Sephiroth.

“I do not appreciate being kept waiting, Cloud.”

“No one made you sulk in the bedroom. You could have had dinner with us.”

“Oh, it’s us, is it?”

Cloud rolled his eyes and finally turned around to glare at Sephiroth.

“Don’t twist my words. You know exactly what I meant.”

“What I know is that you’ve refused to have sex with me for an entire week because of that brat. You refused to kiss me, touch me, or even look at me because of him. And that,” he said, forcing Cloud onto his back and straddling him, “ends today.”

“What are you—”

Cloud never got to finish his question because Sephiroth’s mouth crashed against his own.

Demanding hands were already lifting his shirt, roving over his body possessively, instantly making his pulse quicken.

A whole week without Sephiroth’s touch had been pure torture, and Cloud craved it more than he could say. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that there were reasons why they weren’t supposed to be doing this, but they all seemed insignificant in the wake of Sephiroth’s fingertips burning fiery trails across his torso.

They circled and pinched a nipple, making Cloud moan into Sephiroth’s mouth, his whole body trembling.

For only a moment, Sephiroth’s lips left his, just long enough for him to tug Cloud’s shirt over his head and throw it down onto the floor. Without wasting a second, Sephiroth's mouth was upon him again, licking and nipping across his chest. Sephiroth’s lips stretched into a smirk as his teeth clamped over Cloud’s nipple and bit down.

Cloud moaned, rather loudly, now that Sephiroth’s mouth was no longer covering his and swallowing the sounds he was making.

Again, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew there was a reason why he shouldn’t be doing this, why he needed to be as quiet as possible, but what Sephiroth was doing felt too good, and all reason abandoned him.

After taking a few moments to remove the rest of their clothes, Sephiroth slid his hands down Cloud’s arms and took hold of his wrists, lifting them up and pinning them above his head.

“I want to hear you, Cloud,” Sephiroth murmured, his breath ghosting over Cloud’s ear, making him shiver.

His lips slid down, going back to teasing Cloud’s nipple, licking it torturously slowly. Peeking out from beneath his bangs, he gazed at Cloud hungrily. He wouldn’t look away; he appeared almost manic.

Cloud’s breaths were coming out ragged. He could barely keep his eyes open, but he refused to look away. He’d always loved Sephiroth’s eyes, and seeing his pupils dilate with desire had always turned him on more than anything.

Leaving the little nub red, swollen and oversensitive, Sephiroth moved on to the other nipple, giving it the same attention, until Cloud was moaning unabashedly, his body rocking against Sephiroth’s, trying to arch into his touch, but unable to do so with those strong arms holding him in place.

“You should see yourself,” Sephiroth whispered. “I’ve barely touched you, but you’re already this needy. I can feel your cock throbbing against my thigh.”

Cloud whimpered and tried to rub his crotch against Sephiroth, but he wouldn’t let him.

“Not so fast. This is your punishment, Cloud. Because it seems you forgot who you belong to.”

He snapped his hips forward, making their cocks slide together, making sure Cloud felt his massive cock pressing into his body. It was both a warning and a promise, and Cloud couldn’t wait to feel that length inside of him.

Sephiroth’s jealousy could get tiring sometimes, but whenever he was angry or feeling threatened, he always fucked Cloud without restraint, pounding him into the mattress to the point that Cloud could barely walk the next day. And Cloud loved that part.

“Take me already,” he gasped, but Sephiroth just smirked, enjoying his desperation and eagerness.

“All in due time.”

He rocked against Cloud’s body slowly, teasingly, making their naked, and suddenly slick—Sephiroth must have grabbed the lube at some point—cocks slide against each other.

Cloud whimpered, bucking against him, needing more, so much more.

Sephiroth was now kneeling between his legs, nudging them farther apart. He shifted his grip, restraining Cloud’s wrists with just one hand, leaving the other one free to roam across his body. His grip was strong, but not strong enough that Cloud couldn’t break it if he wanted; he didn’t. Being restrained by his larger and physically stronger boyfriend turned him on. It made him feel owned, claimed, dominated, and Cloud relished it all.

“Sephiroth,” he moaned, his voice thin and pleading, unable to form more coherent thoughts, but desperate for Sephiroth to understand how much he needed him right now.

He felt Sephiroth chuckle against his throat, where he was sucking bruises into his skin, and for a second, Cloud thought that he was going to keep torturing him, that he was going to make him beg, but then Sephiroth’s hand finally slipped between their bodies, his lubed-up fingers circling Cloud’s entrance.

Cloud threw his head back and tried to buck against the fingers, but Sephiroth was still not letting him move. He gasped out “yes” and “please” in between chants of Sephiroth’s name, but there was no mercy to be found. Sephiroth was going at his own pace, determined to destroy Cloud with pleasure, his touches a reward and a punishment in one. Cloud was being increasingly loud; he no longer remembered there was any reason to keep quiet. All that mattered were Sephiroth’s fingers pushing in and out of him and Sephiroth's thick, throbbing cock that for some inexcusable reason was still not inside of him.

“Fuck me already,” he ordered, his hands straining against Sephiroth’s hold, his cock seeking friction against Sephiroth’s body.

“Ah-ah-ah!” Sephiroth tutted. “You can do better than that, Cloud.”

As if to give Cloud further motivation, his fingers started moving roughly, pounding into him, reaching deep, brushing against his prostate. Cloud was openly sobbing now, nearly delirious with need.

“Please!” he gasped.

“Please, what?” Sephiroth purred as his fingers continued their assault.

“Fuck me!” Cloud cried as Sephiroth hit his prostate. “Please, fuck me! Sephiroth!”

“Well, since you’re asking so nicely…”

Sephiroth massaged Cloud’s prostate for a few moments longer, just to torture him a little more, and then he pulled out his fingers.

A moan escaped Cloud. He was already mourning the loss, but he knew that even greater pleasure was about to follow.

And then he felt the thick head of Sephiroth’s cock press against his entrance and he whimpered, his legs spreading wider without any conscious decision from him.

With just the tip inside, Sephiroth paused and gazed down at him.

“Look at you—so desperate to be fucked. Maybe I should make you beg some more.”

“Please,” Cloud whimpered, breathless, unable to wait anymore.

And finally, Sephiroth granted him mercy.

With one fluid movement, he buried himself to the hilt, making Cloud’s mouth fall open in a silent scream, his head flying back.

“Don’t ever forget who you belong to, Cloud,” he growled, biting into Cloud’s shoulder. “You’re mine!”

“Yours,” Cloud agreed, desperately trying to get Sephiroth to move faster.

Sephiroth’s hips snapped into him again and again, setting a punishing pace, just like Cloud liked. He was leaning over Cloud, still restraining his wrists above his head, his other hand clutching at Cloud’s thigh, holding him in place as he fucked him.

“Say it,” Sephiroth demanded.

“I’m yours.” 

“Louder!”

Sephiroth was thrusting into him with all his strength, the bed rattling beneath them, the headboard hitting the wall, the sounds echoing around them.

“I’m yours!” Cloud moaned loudly, shamelessly. “I’m yours, Sephiroth,” he cried again, his voice cracking under the weight of his desire.

“Good,” Sephiroth said, and claimed Cloud’s lips in a bruising kiss.

Everywhere around him was Sephiroth. His nose was full of Sephiroth’s scent, mouth full of his taste, body claimed by his touch. 

It was too much all at once, and suddenly, Cloud was coming, an explosive orgasm ripping out of him, a scream of Sephiroth’s name falling from his lips.

When he was spent and completely boneless, Sephiroth finally released his wrists and grabbed his hips with both hands. Holding Cloud in place, he started pounding into him, hitting his oversensitive prostate with every thrust, making Cloud feel like his body would combust from the overwhelming amount of pleasure it was feeling.

“I want you to come again,” Sephiroth ordered, his aim surgically precise, never missing the nub of pleasure hidden inside Cloud.

“I can’t,” Cloud gasped, but he could already feel his cock stirring.

“You can. And you will.”

Cloud shook his head, certain that it was impossible, that this pleasure would be the death of him, but with each thrust his cock grew fuller and heavier, thickening against his stomach.

“Please,” he sobbed, but even he didn’t know what he was begging for. Was he begging Sephiroth to stop or to fuck him harder and make him come again?

But Sephiroth knew what he needed better than he did, so he answered Cloud’s plea by taking his cock in his hand and jerking him in time with his thrusts.

The bed rattled loudly, smashing against the guestroom wall, but the sound was drowned out by Cloud’s long wail as he, impossibly, came again.

This time, Sephiroth followed him over the edge, grunting and sinking his teeth into Cloud’s neck hard enough to mark him as he filled him with his seed. He rode out the orgasm, rocking into Cloud for what felt like an eternity until he was fully spent.

After he was sated, he turned his head and claimed Cloud’s lips once more. Cloud melted against him, his hands finally wrapping around that strong body he knew so well. They laced through Sephiroth’s hair, all matted with sweat now, and pulled it away from his face.

Sephiroth’s eyes were intense, dark and dangerous, and while there was affection in them, as there always was, there was still something slightly unhinged inside them that had no place being there.

Now that lust was no longer clouding his mind, Cloud tried to make sense of it—and then he remembered.

There was a reason Sephiroth felt threatened, a reason he was being so possessive, a reason there had been an edge of desperation to his actions tonight.

The same reason why Cloud was supposed to be quiet!

Cloud gasped, suddenly painfully aware that there was no way they hadn’t been overheard. Worst of all, the guestroom was right next door, and the headboard had kept banging on the wall. It was a miracle Seph hadn’t barged in to check on Cloud and see if he was okay… But apparently, even with his sheltered upbringing, he knew how to differentiate between sounds of violence and sex.

The thought of him hearing all that was beyond mortifying!

Cloud’s eyes widened in horror, suddenly lost. What was he supposed to do tomorrow? Pretend nothing had happened? They were doing another delivery together… It was bound to be awkward as hell.

Sensing his discomfort, Sephiroth smirked.

“He knows now. There’s no more need to sneak around.”

All of Cloud’s post-orgasmic bliss disappeared, and he had a sudden urge to punch Sephiroth. 

“We should have told him instead of making him find out this way!” he hissed, furious.

“What difference does it make?” Sephiroth asked dismissively.

“We might have traumatized him! Were you even aware of your sexuality at that age?”

Sephiroth’s eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe Cloud had actually said that.

“You really are incredibly dense sometimes, you know that?” Sephiroth said, and Cloud flushed with anger.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Sephiroth turned away.

“Be careful around him, Cloud. You may see him as a kid, but he is not a child.”

The statement left Cloud with so many questions, but there was an air of finality to Sephiroth’s words. It meant that Cloud wouldn’t get anything more out of him that night.

So, he stretched out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, and wondered just how much the boy had heard.

Chapter Text

No matter how hard he tried to strain his ears, Sephiroth couldn’t make out any sounds from the room next door. There was nothing but silence.

He’d been worried ever since Cloud had left so abruptly after dinner. It was clear that Sephiroth’s older self was very angry, even if he couldn’t understand why, and that his behavior was making Cloud anxious. In truth, Sephiroth couldn’t understand why the man was throwing a fit. It wasn’t as if Cloud belonged to him; he was just his roommate. The more he got to know the man, the more Sephiroth disliked him. He couldn’t imagine acting that way, and he sincerely hoped he wouldn’t turn into such a grump when he got older. 

But no matter how angry or possessive the man got, he wouldn’t hurt Cloud… right?

Just then, there was a loud thump against the wall, breaking the silence, and Sephiroth jumped. The sound was followed by dull banging, almost rhythmic in nature, spaced out in short intervals. Thump—thump—thump.

Sephiroth pressed his ear against the wall, trying to hear more. He picked up some pained grunts and sounds of a scuffle.

Cloud. Cloud was being hurt!

Before he even realized what he was doing, Sephiroth jumped into action, grabbing his sword and dashing full-speed toward the door, prepared to defend Cloud at all costs.

He was halfway there when a loud, obscene moan suddenly echoed through the room, making him freeze in place.

That... didn’t sound like pain.

Sephiroth stood still for a few seconds, torn, unsure of what to do, but then the sound came again, and oh, that definitely didn’t sound like pain!

When the moan sounded again, Sephiroth flushed scarlet. And to think that he’d almost barged in there with a sword!

With an unsteady hand, he lay down his weapon and sat on the edge of the bed. This time, he tried his best not to listen, but the noises were so overwhelmingly loud that they were impossible to ignore. The sounds Cloud was making sent shivers down Sephiroth’s spine. He’d never heard anyone moan like that! It sounded almost like Cloud was crying, but he was definitely enjoying it.

Much more subtle and quiet, in between Cloud’s moans, he could hear Sephiroth’s grunts, reminding him that Cloud was being fucked by a man. That it was him, in a way, doing it, even if it was his older self. And just thinking about that was filling Sephiroth’s head with ideas. What would it feel like? Not just to fuck Cloud, but to overwhelm him with pleasure to the point of making him sound like that!

It was difficult to reconcile the picture of Cloud he had in his head—that stoic, quiet man—with the wanton sounds coming from the other side of the wall.

Suddenly, Sephiroth was feeling hot all over. His cheeks were burning, his whole body on fire. There was an ache between his legs, and when he glanced down, he could see that he was already hard, tenting his pants. He rubbed the heel of his palm over his cock, a needy moan escaping him. It felt impossibly good.

He really wanted to jerk off, despite knowing that he shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be right to get off to the sounds of Cloud having sex with that man. But thinking about it only added mental images to the already provocative sounds. Sephiroth closed his eyes, seeing Cloud sprawled out on his back, clutching at the man with silver hair who was fucking him into oblivion. Sephiroth moaned and lost himself in his fantasy. Suddenly, the silver-haired man’s hair turned short, and it was Sephiroth himself fucking Cloud.

At that point, his cock was already in his hand, all pretense of propriety forgotten. He kept bucking into his fist, imagining that it was Cloud’s supple body squeezing around him. That the hot, snug tunnel he was thrusting into was Cloud’s tight hole. He pumped faster, desperate for release.

And then, a loud scream of Sephiroth’s own name came from beyond the wall, ripped from Cloud’s throat. It was such a needy, desperate, and downright filthy sound that Sephiroth’s eyes snapped open and he came all over himself. He jerked himself through the aftershocks, until his whole body was trembling and he was left completely breathless.

The sounds on the other side of the wall continued, but Sephiroth was already spent. He lay there, breathing hard, staring up at the ceiling, unable to believe what he’d just done. He’d violated Cloud’s privacy, so he knew that he should feel ashamed… but he didn’t. All he could think about was doing it again.

Even now, as he closed his eyes, he could picture Cloud lost in the throes of passion, making those same sounds, feeling that same desperation. He wanted Cloud to look at him and cry out his name.

It was in that moment that Sephiroth decided he had to have him.

Breakfast the next day was unspeakably awkward.

Cloud was obviously self-conscious about being loud the night before, certain that Sephiroth had heard, whereas he felt guilty for eavesdropping. The only one smirking, feeling no sense of shame whatsoever, was Sephiroth’s older self, who was acting smug, pleased that he’d staked his claim. But regardless of what had happened the night before, Cloud wasn’t a thing to be owned. He had free will, and it was up to him to decide who he wanted to be with. There was no way Sephiroth was going to give up without a fight.

He was incredibly nervous at the thought of being alone with Cloud again, and that wasn’t a feeling he was used to. Usually, he didn’t care what other people thought of him. Even if they hated him, there was nothing they could do about it. He’d never cared about making friends or being liked, and he had enough confidence in his abilities that he never doubted himself. In battle or out of it, he’d never felt apprehensive around anyone.

But after last night, he simply didn’t know how to act around Cloud. He knew what he wanted, but he didn’t know how to get it. Sephiroth had no experience with things like that. He’d never even tried to flirt, much less seduce someone who was already taken.

He was so lost in his thoughts, worrying about what he was going to say to Cloud, that he couldn’t even taste his food. It all tasted like ash in his mouth, so he quickly washed it down with coffee and got to his feet.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” he said, all but running out of the room.

Being with the two of them together made Sephiroth’s skin crawl. Knowing that that man had fucked Cloud the night before made him inexplicably jealous. He knew he had no right to feel that way. That man was obviously not Cloud’s roommate, as he’d originally assumed—he was his boyfriend. It certainly explained why he was acting all jealous, but it also meant that he was feeling threatened. It meant that he didn’t fully trust Cloud, and that gave Sephiroth hope. Maybe their relationship wasn’t very strong; maybe he still stood a chance.

He was leaning against the bike, lost in thought, when Cloud finally appeared. There was a slight flush to his cheeks and Sephiroth wondered if that was because he was too embarrassed to face him after what he’d heard or because he’d spent those last few moments alone with his boyfriend making out with him.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Cloud said, and Sephiroth shook his head. “Still wanna come with me today?”

“Sure, why wouldn’t I?”

Sephiroth said it automatically, without thinking, and the moment the words were out of his mouth he wanted to kick himself, because they made Cloud’s face flush even redder. After all, they both knew why.

Cloud cleared his throat awkwardly, and Sephiroth tried to dig himself out of that hole.

“So, where are we going today?” he asked.

“Edge. We have a few deliveries to make, but they’re all in Edge, so it shouldn’t take long.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Cloud repeated. They stood still for a few seconds, not knowing what to do with themselves, and then Cloud pointed at the bike, trying to get Sephiroth to move. “Let’s go then.”

Gods, this was so awkward. The tension between them was stifling, and Sephiroth had no idea how to fix it.

When they got on the bike, it became even worse. The position they were in, the bike, Cloud himself—everything was the same as the day before, but it all felt completely different. Now that he knew what sounds Cloud made when he was lost in ecstasy, how he moaned as he came, Sephiroth was hyperaware of each point of contact between their bodies.

He wondered what parts of Cloud’s body were especially sensitive. What would it take to make him sound like that?

Sephiroth slipped his arms around Cloud and held on, pretending to be innocent, forcing his mind to stay focused on the task at hand. The ride was short—it usually didn’t take more than an hour to reach Edge—but to Sephiroth it felt like an eternity. And as minutes ticked by, his hands became more and more daring. From Cloud’s waist, where they had been resting, one of them moved to his stomach and inched upwards. Sephiroth held his breath, his heart thundering, wondering how Cloud would react.

“So,” Cloud said, and Sephiroth yanked his hand back guiltily, certain that Cloud was about to scold him. Luckily for him, Cloud was too distracted by his own thoughts and worries; he hadn’t even noticed that Sephiroth's hand had strayed. “You must have heard some things last night.”

It was somewhere between a question and a statement, so Sephiroth responded with a murmured, “Yeah.”

The admission made Cloud go quiet for a very long time. All that could be heard was the sound of Cloud’s thundering heartbeat and Sephiroth resisted the urge to lean his head against him and listen closely. He resisted the urge to wrap his arms tighter around Cloud and draw him closer. Desperate to distract himself, Sephiroth opened his mouth and immediately wished he hadn’t.

“You sounded…” he cut himself off and cleared his throat. You sounded absolutely wrecked. Did it really feel that good? But what he said instead was, “He wasn’t hurting you, right?”

He couldn’t see Cloud’s face, since he was sitting behind him, but Cloud was blushing so hard that the back of his neck and the tips of his ears turned red.

“No, he wasn’t hurting me,” Cloud said, his voice raspy. It sounded like it pained him to get those words out. “You weren’t supposed to hear that. I’m so sorry. We must have made you uncomfortable.”

Uncomfortable?

What he’d heard had made him long for Cloud like he’d never longed for anything before in his life. It had made him jealous of his older self. It had made him imagine unspeakable things... but uncomfortable? Not at all.

“Why would it make me uncomfortable?”

He felt rather than saw Cloud shrug his shoulders. “I thought it might surprise you to find out your older self was sleeping with men.”

And perhaps it should have. It wasn’t as if Sephiroth had ever considered his sexuality before. But that thought hadn’t even entered his mind. Since the night before it had been filled with nothing but echoes of the sounds Cloud had made. Sephiroth couldn’t stop thinking about them. He was enchanted to the point of obsession. If Cloud looked half as good as he sounded in those moments, it wasn’t surprising at all that his older self would want to have sex with him. That didn’t bother Sephiroth, nor did it confuse him. His only issue was that Cloud wasn’t doing it with him.

“It didn’t surprise me.”

“Oh. Well. That’s good then,” Cloud said awkwardly and fell into another extended silence.

“So… Are you two dating?”

He didn’t want to assume again. After all, even with his limited knowledge on the subject, Sephiroth knew that sex didn’t automatically mean that people were in a relationship. He knew he was grasping at straws, but he still held his breath, waiting for Cloud to reply.

“Yeah,” Cloud mumbled, and dashed Sephiroth’s hopes.

But even so, Sephiroth wasn’t about to give up. If Cloud was attracted to an older version of him, it had to mean that he also stood a chance.

Their conversation was cut short as they rode into Edge, the looming buildings sending them into silence. It forced them to focus on the actual task at hand—on finding the correct addresses and delivering the parcels to their customers.

Edge was a sizable town, but nowhere near as big as Midgar had been, which made getting around a lot easier. It took them no time at all to reach all the places they needed to go. Sephiroth used the opportunity to look around, to familiarize himself with this city that hadn’t even existed back in his time.

He still couldn’t fathom that Midgar had been reduced to ruins and that Shinra was no more. Everything he’d known was gone. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Sephiroth used to believe that nothing would ever take down Shinra and that he’d have to spend the rest of his life living under their thumb. He’d had a very bleak and depressing outlook on life, but he’d come to terms with it. He used to believe there was nothing he could do to change his fate; after all, Shinra was too damn powerful, with connections everywhere, reaching up to the highest levels of power.

Yet here he was—free for the first time in his miserable life. No missions, no orders, no experiments. It felt surreal not having Hojo watching his every step. Sephiroth still didn’t know the details of everything that had happened; he’d only heard bits and pieces, vague hints that his older self had done something terrible, and that Cloud had been the one to stop him. Sephiroth didn’t know which one of them had taken down Shinra, but whoever it was, had his undying gratitude. 

They had many deliveries to make all over town, so Cloud used the opportunity to tell him about all the most important places, pointing out things of interest. It was almost like a sightseeing tour, but not quite, since Cloud was mostly pointing out places useful to his line of work, like gas stations and cheap fast food places, but it was still fun. Sephiroth had never done anything like this before, and he found it fascinating. Doing deliveries was fun, too. Most of the customers seemed to already know Cloud, so they were naturally curious about his new assistant. They asked about Sephiroth and tried to get to know him. One elderly woman had even called him cute. He didn’t like that part, nor the way Cloud teased him about it after.

Sephiroth didn’t know how to act around these strangers, so he mostly kept to himself and glared at them from a distance. In truth, it was strangely nice to meet people who weren’t afraid of him. Who didn’t have a preformed opinion of him, based on what Shinra had turned him into. They smiled at him and teased him, like he was a normal person. No one had ever done that before, and Sephiroth didn’t know what to make of it.

As the day went on, Sephiroth decided he rather liked it; he started to enjoy these brief interactions and the peculiar feeling of normalcy they offered him. Perhaps he could have a fresh start here, a clean slate.

With that in mind, he tried to appear less intimidating and unfriendly. He knew he’d made the right choice when he saw Cloud beaming at him. As awkward as it was to interact with these people, Cloud’s smile was absolutely worth it.

All in all, they finished their deliveries quite quickly and headed back to Kalm.

They were still somewhat awkward on the way back, but now that they’d actually talked about what had happened the night before and cleared the air, and after the deliveries had provided them with a bit of a distraction, it was much easier to talk about other things. Sephiroth was still overly aware of Cloud’s body and imagining things he shouldn’t have been, but he managed to control his impulses and make small talk, until both of them finally relaxed and even started joking and laughing just as they had the day before.

Sexual fantasies and his desire aside, Sephiroth greatly enjoyed Cloud’s company. He was one of a few people who treated Sephiroth like an ordinary person. It was something Sephiroth had craved his entire life, and he desperately wanted to cling to Cloud and keep him. He understood perfectly what his older self saw in him.

Like the day before, they returned home smiling, in a great mood. This time, Cloud’s boyfriend didn’t go off to sulk in the bedroom; he stayed and had dinner with them, glaring at Sephiroth all the while.

Sephiroth stuck out his chin defiantly and glared right back.

After they’d wished each other goodnight and retired to their rooms, the same thing happened. Sephiroth was forced to listen to Cloud getting wrecked on the other side of the wall, his moans rocking the very foundations of the house, while Sephiroth jerked himself raw, biting into his first to keep himself from screaming Cloud’s name.

This time, since it didn’t come as a shock, and he knew for a fact that Cloud wasn’t being abused, the sounds aroused him even more. And they seemed to go on forever. Sephiroth envied his older self’s stamina. The sounds carried on into the night and Sephiroth came twice, listening to them, his whole body humming with arousal.

He had to try this; he simply had to have Cloud.

The next few days were much the same.

They’d wake up, suffer through an awkward breakfast, then head out for deliveries. At night, Cloud would get his brains fucked out by his boyfriend, while Sephiroth jerked off in his room to the sounds of their lovemaking.

The only thing that changed was that Sephiroth was becoming increasingly frustrated. He was quickly reaching his limit. If he didn’t want to be driven to madness, he’d need to do something about this, and soon. The only thing holding him back was the fear of ruining everything. He hadn’t even been with them for long, but even Sephiroth could see how deeply Cloud cared for the man he was dating. It meant that he would have to be very careful about approaching him. Otherwise, not only would he end up alone and frustrated, he might even lose this budding friendship that had come to mean so much to him.

He and Cloud got along very well. Cloud was easy to talk to, and they always had fun together. But it wasn’t just fun and games. Sephiroth was serious about helping with the deliveries and did his best to become a good assistant. Cloud repeatedly praised him for all his hard work, which inspired Sephiroth to work even harder.

Sephiroth was proud of how well they got on—it felt like there was a real connection between them—but there was a world of difference between Cloud enjoying Sephiroth’s company or being grateful for his help and wanting to have sex with him. So, despite everything, Sephiroth found himself reluctant to try anything. He found himself experiencing another emotion he’d never known before—he was afraid of Cloud turning him down.

But as the days went by and he was forced to listen to Cloud’s moans every single night, Sephiroth was on the brink of going insane. He couldn’t take much more of this. He just couldn’t.

He’d tried touching Cloud, slipping his hand just a little lower than appropriate, pressing his body closer than strictly necessary, testing the waters, but Cloud never seemed to notice anything. Either that, or he chose not to comment on it. Desperate to know which it was, Sephiroth tried to be bolder, more obvious in his advances, yet Cloud remained as clueless as ever. And that was driving Sephiroth even crazier.

Was Cloud just putting him down easy, or was he really that unaware?

They’d just finished killing a group of monsters and were resting by the bike, trying to catch their breaths, when Sephiroth finally snapped. Adrenaline was running high, and it was now or never.

It was a sweltering day, making them boil alive in their black, leather clothes. So, after the fight, feeling sweaty and hot, Cloud had unzipped his shirt halfway down his chest, trying to cool off. There was a sheen of sweat glistening across his tanned skin and Sephiroth gulped, a lump in his throat, his lungs unable to breathe in enough air. Cloud opened his water bottle and took a few sips. As if under a spell, Sephiroth watched Cloud’s throat bob up and down as he swallowed, craving to lick a long stripe down the column of his neck. To taste his sweat and bite his skin.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was moving closer.

“Want some water?” Cloud asked, just as Sephiroth’s lips crashed against his own.

He gasped, and Sephiroth used the opening to invade his mouth with his tongue. They shared the water that was still there, some of it spilling between their lips and dribbling down Cloud’s chin. Sephiroth moaned and pressed closer, his hands tangling in Cloud’s hair, tilting his head and deepening the kiss.

This was everything he’d imagined and more. So much more. Cloud’s lips were liquid fire, setting his whole body aflame. Sephiroth couldn’t get enough of him.

He was afraid that Cloud would push him away, that it was only a matter of seconds before he brought a stop to this. But when he pushed Cloud back and pressed him into the bike, grinding against him and finally, finally bringing their cocks together, he realized that Cloud was just as hard as he was.

As Sephiroth pressed into him, Cloud moaned, and the sound went straight to Sephiroth’s cock. It sounded exactly as he remembered. It was that same moan, only this time, Sephiroth was the one pulling it from Cloud’s lips. He was the one bringing him pleasure. This time, these sounds were only for him.

His lips moved to Cloud’s ear, kissing and licking his earlobe. “Gods, the sounds you make,” he moaned. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

Before Cloud could reply, Sephiroth captured his lips again, his hand moving between them, rubbing his palm over Cloud’s throbbing cock. He could feel it twitch beneath his fingers, and it sent such an overwhelming rush of arousal through his body that his knees nearly buckled.

Deftly, he unbuttoned Cloud’s pants and shoved them down his thighs. When he released Cloud’s mouth and started moving down his body, Cloud moaned, “We shouldn’t…” but it was weak and half-hearted at best, and he never tried to stop Sephiroth from getting to his knees.

Kneeling on the side of a dusty road, his cock throbbing in his pants, and Cloud’s glorious length leaking and twitching in front of his face, Sephiroth wondered if this was real life. Maybe he’d hit his head somewhere and started hallucinating, because this didn’t feel possible. But the scent of Cloud’s arousal was certainly real, and Sephiroth couldn’t wait to have a taste. He gripped the base of Cloud’s cock and brought it to his lips. He’d never done this before, but by gods, he couldn’t wait to try.

He gave it an experimental lick, flicking his tongue over the swollen head, making Cloud buck closer uncontrollably, a desperate moan falling from his lips. When Sephiroth glanced up, he saw Cloud looking down at him through half-lidded eyes, his fist shoved into his mouth to keep him from crying out.

“I want to hear you, Cloud,” Sephiroth said, pulling Cloud’s hand away before bringing his mouth down again.

This time, he wrapped his lips around the head and sucked, savoring the taste of Cloud’s slick. It was slightly bitter, but it was Cloud’s, which made it the most delicious taste in the world, and Sephiroth moaned, quickly growing addicted to the unique flavor.

Cloud’s fingers buried in his hair, encouraging him to move, and Sephiroth was more than happy to obey. He bobbed his head up and down in a way he believed should feel good. Judging by Cloud’s reactions, he was doing exceptionally well. Cloud’s thighs trembled, his fingers latching onto Sephiroth’s hair, almost painfully hard, obscene moans falling from his lips.

“Sephiroth,” he sobbed, and Sephiroth nearly choked on his own spit.

These were all of his wet dreams come to life. He’d imagined this so many times, yet his imagination had fallen short. The real Cloud was so much better. The weight of his throbbing cock on Sephiroth’s tongue, the taste and smell of his arousal—these were all things Sephiroth had never imagined could be so arousing.

Unable to hold back anymore, one of his own hands slipped beneath the waistband of his pants and started stroking. Both of Cloud’s hands were clutching at his head now, holding him in place as Cloud thrust into his mouth. Being used like this for Cloud’s pleasure while on his knees in front of him aroused Sephiroth beyond words. He moaned around the cock in his mouth and Cloud’s whole body quivered.

“I’m gonna—” Cloud gasped out in warning, but before he could even get the words out, he groaned and came down Sephiroth’s throat. He kept rocking his hips in frantic thrusts as he rode out his orgasm.

Sephiroth swallowed and swallowed, gorging on the taste, his fist moving faster and faster over his own cock. He was so close. Looking up, he saw Cloud, completely wrecked and lost in ecstasy, and that was all it took. With a loud, devastating moan around Cloud’s cock that was still pulsing and dripping inside his mouth, Sephiroth exploded, coating his hand and the road beneath them with his seed.

His orgasm seemed to go on forever; he’d never come so hard before in his life. For a moment, he felt like he was about to pass out, unable to withstand so much pleasure. He leaned his head against Cloud’s thigh, trying to catch his breath.

As he slowly came back into himself, he realized that Cloud’s fingers were gently carding through his hair and something clenched inside his chest in a way that had nothing to do with arousal. He wanted this man in every sense of the word. Still on his knees, he turned his head and looked up at Cloud.

Cloud’s fingers left his hair and slid down his face. They caressed his cheek before moving even lower and wiping some of the come that had slipped past his lips and leaked down his chin. Cloud gave him a small, somewhat sad smile.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” he said, and Sephiroth’s insides turned to ice.

“You didn’t like it?”

Cloud looked away. “That is not what I said.”

“Why then?” Sephiroth demanded, getting back on his feet and tucking himself back into his pants.

“You know why. I already have a boyfriend.”

“But he treats you like shit!”

“Don’t!” Cloud snapped, growing angry now.

“Why not? It’s the truth. I would treat you a thousand times better than he does!”

With a heavy sigh, Cloud buttoned up his pants and tried to fix his hair that was looking even wilder than usual.

“He’s not usually like this. Besides, I know he has his flaws, but we’re right for each other.”

“You deserve so much better, Cloud.”

Cloud gave him a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Come on, let’s go,” Cloud said, already starting the bike.

This time, there were no jokes or laughter as they rode home. They were both quiet, lost in their own thoughts and worries. Sephiroth wondered if Cloud regretted what they’d done, but when he pressed closer and rested his head against Cloud’s back in a way that was decidedly too intimate, Cloud didn’t flinch or move away.

They entered the house in silence. Sephiroth went to his own room to drop off his things, while Cloud made a beeline for the kitchen.

As he was removing his pauldrons, Sephiroth heard voices coming from the kitchen. Quiet at first, but growing louder and angrier. And then there was an angry roar that made the house shake.

“—play dumb when I can smell him all over you!”

Cloud’s voice was much quieter, and Sephiroth couldn’t hear his reply over the sound of his own thundering heartbeat. His older self was furious—and rightfully so. After all, his boyfriend had just cheated on him. But how angry would he get? Would he try to murder them both? Sephiroth tried to put himself in his shoes. If it were him, and someone had tried to take Cloud from him, there was no telling what he would do.

Seeing Sephiroth would probably make the man even angrier, but he knew that, no matter what, he wasn’t about to leave Cloud to deal with this on his own. He wanted to be there with him, to protect him, if things got ugly.

Before leaving the room, he eyed his sword, wondering if he’d need it.

In the end, he left it leaning against the wall. He wanted to believe that this wasn’t about to turn into a fight, that his older self could still control his worst impulses.

When Sephiroth entered the kitchen, there was no one there. He looked around, panicking, wondering where they could have gone. The living room was also empty, as was the balcony. In a moment of sheer insanity, Sephiroth glanced down below, terrified that he’d find Cloud splattered on the ground, had the man thrown him over in a fit of rage. But there was no body on the ground, either.

And that, of course, left only one place where they could be—the most obvious choice and the place he really should have checked first.

The door to their bedroom was left ajar. Sephiroth had never seen inside, because they always made sure to close the door. But not today. As he approached, he could already hear the sounds of bodies moving against each other and grunting in exertion. Or pain. He moved faster, once again worried about Cloud getting hurt. Despite this being his boyfriend, the man was blinded by rage, not thinking clearly, making Sephiroth concerned for Cloud’s safety.

But as he pushed the door wide open and looked inside, he realized that he shouldn’t have worried. They were not fighting and Cloud wasn’t being attacked.

They were naked on the bed, moving in tandem. Cloud’s head was shoved roughly into the pillow as the man took him from behind, but Cloud wasn’t struggling to free himself. He was reaching back, gripping the man’s thighs with his hands, pulling him against himself.

“Sephiroth,” Cloud moaned, his voice almost unrecognizable.

The man snapped his hips forward, making Cloud arch off the bed.

“You’re mine, Cloud.”

“Yes!” he gasped.

“Say it!”

“I’m yours, Sephiroth!”

Sephiroth stood in the doorway, rooted to the ground. The sight was taking his breath away, taking away his ability to think.

He’d wanted to see Cloud in the throes of passion; he’d wanted to see what kind of a face he was making as he produced those Planet shattering sounds. But this was beyond his wildest dreams. In his mind, it had always been him fucking Cloud. He was certain that seeing Cloud in the arms of anyone else would make him burn with anger and jealousy, but the two men before him looked absolutely perfect together. Their bodies moved in perfect harmony, as if made for one another.

Cloud was beautiful, his face twisted in pleasure, moans falling from his lips. But Sephiroth had already known that. What struck him as completely unexpected was how gorgeous and godlike his older self looked. Instead of looking only at Cloud, his eyes kept drifting to the other man, in awe of the visage he presented. Would Sephiroth also look like that one day?

Sephiroth felt his cock fill out, growing painfully hard at the sight. He knew that he should leave, but his legs wouldn’t move, despite knowing that he was intruding and that they wouldn’t want him there. And then the man turned, his cold green eyes piercing Sephiroth’s soul. He gasped, unable to stop himself, and the man smirked, smug and pleased, and started fucking Cloud even harder. His long silver hair fell around him, obscuring his face, but Sephiroth could feel him glancing his way, as if daring him to do something. Staking his claim and challenging him to a duel.

But Sephiroth’s mind was too clouded by arousal, and in this moment, he didn’t want to fight or take Cloud for himself. He wanted to continue witnessing this scene, this moment of sheer perfection come to life.

His hands slipped into the waistband of his pants and grabbed his cock. Shamelessly, he took it out and started stroking himself right then and there, in full view of them, not even trying to hide how much he was enjoying the show.

Cloud’s eyes met his and widened, shocked by what Sephiroth was doing. But then they slid down to stare at Sephiroth’s fist moving up and down his cock, and he gasped, just as his boyfriend slammed into his from behind. He let out a long wail and called out Sephiroth’s name. It was impossible to know which one of them he meant, but it didn’t really matter. Just hearing his name moaned in such a desperate way sent Sephiroth hurtling toward release. He was already embarrassingly close, needy little moans and grunts falling from his lips.

And then Cloud was coming, screaming their name and tearing at the sheets. He arched up, pressing into the body fucking him, and the man’s large hand clamped around his jaw, lifting him off the bed and pressing him against his chest as he continued to pound into him from behind.

“Watch and learn, little boy. This is how you please a man.”

Sephiroth’s eyes widened, snapping up, meeting that cold, mako stare, and then he was coming and coming, until his knees gave out and he crumpled to the ground. He panted, breathless and wrecked. Above him, he heard squelching and slapping noises as his older self kept fucking Cloud mercilessly. His movements sounded more and more frantic, like he was getting very close himself.

But before he came, Sephiroth regained his wits, got back to his feet, and ran back to his room.

He plopped down on the bed, gasping, unable to believe what he’d just done. Had he no shame? But that was, beyond any doubt, the most arousing thing he’d ever witnessed. He was still suffering tremors from the mind-blowing orgasm he’d just experienced.

Sephiroth rubbed his hands over his face. Instead of shame, there was only one thought echoing in his brain—he wanted do see that again.

Chapter Text

There were butterflies in Sephiroth’s stomach as he headed to breakfast the next day.

He was about to sit at the same table with the people he’d watched having sex the night before. The people he’d jerked off to. The people who’d seen him come as he’d jerked off to them having sex.

Taking a deep breath, Sephiroth rubbed his hands over his face. This was beyond mortifying… but also exciting, in a peculiar way. Already, Sephiroth’s cock was stirring in interest at the thought of being in the same room with those two men.

But what would they think of him? Would they look down on him? Would they be mad? Or had they, too, been aroused by what had happened the night before?

Sephiroth bit his lip, nervously smoothing out imaginary wrinkles on his clothes, just to delay and give himself a few more seconds. He knew he had to leave this room at some point, though, so he ordered himself to stop being a coward. He’d faced monsters ten times his size, and led the charge against entire battalions of Wutaian soldiers. What was one little breakfast compared to all that?

Yet, for some reason, this breakfast terrified him far more than any enemy he’d faced on the battlefield.

Head held high, telling himself he had nothing to be ashamed of, Sephiroth finally stepped into the kitchen.

“Look who finally decided to join us, Cloud,” his older self purred, sending shivers down Sephiroth’s spine.

Had his voice always been so… alluring? He swallowed thickly and ducked his head, trying to appear as small as possible. All his mental fortitude suddenly evaporated, and he forgot everything he’d told himself on the way there. His cheeks flushed with shame.

“Good morning, Seph,” Cloud said, trying to pretend this was a normal morning. That this was just another breakfast and that nothing was out of the ordinary. Sephiroth mumbled out a greeting in return, as Cloud placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him. “Hurry up and eat. We have a lot of work to get to today.”

“You’re still taking him with you?”

Sephiroth glanced up at the man sitting across from him; he suddenly looked livid again, eyes blazing, gripping the knife in his hand so tightly his fingers turned white. No longer eating, he was glaring at them both with barely controlled fury.

“Of course I’m taking him. He’s helping me with the deliveries.”

“He must have been extremely helpful yesterday, when you decided to reward him with your cock!”

“Sephiroth!” Cloud hissed, outraged. “He’s been very helpful, actually!”

“In what way?” the man demanded.

Cloud sputtered, unprepared for the question. “In many different ways! He helps me fight off the monsters on the road.”

“Ah, yes. Because a few monsters are such a huge threat to someone like you, Cloud.”

The words were dark and ugly, dripping with sarcasm, making Cloud blush with shame.

“Two people can work much faster. That way, I can finish my delivers on time, and come home sooner.”

The man hummed, nodding. “Mm, I see. So, you’re actually doing it for my benefit, because you want to hurry home to me?” He said it so sweetly, but there was something sharp and jagged in his words, almost threatening.

“I want to be as efficient as I can, Sephiroth. And he helps me do that. Besides, he needs to learn the business. That way, in a few weeks, he can start doing deliveries by himself. With the two of us working, we can make twice as much money. Unless, of course, you’d like to volunteer to get off your ass and actually do something to contribute to the household?”

The man scoffed and rose to his feet, leaving his half-eaten breakfast on the table.

“Don’t play me for a fool, Cloud.”

With that, he turned around and left, leaving the two of them alone in the kitchen.

Sephiroth finally let out a sigh of relief now that the man was gone. He carried an unmistakable air of danger, and every instinct in Sephiroth’s body warned him to be careful. It would take very little for that man to snap and attack him. Yet there was something magnetic about him, drawing Sephiroth to him, making it impossible for him to just walk away. For the first time in his life, Sephiroth decided to go against his instincts; he decided to press his luck and see where this would take him. 

“Sorry you had to witness that,” Cloud said, pulling him from his thoughts.

“It’s fine,” he said, shaking his head. He wanted to tell Cloud he deserved better, that he shouldn’t allow anyone to treat him like that, but in truth, he understood the man’s anger. He was actually remarkably calm, considering what they’d done behind his back. In his place, Sephiroth would have lashed out even worse.

Doing things behind someone’s back was despicable, Sephiroth knew that. Unfortunately, his desires were at odds with his reason. Knowing something was wrong didn’t stop him from wanting to do it again. In fact, it took all of his self-restraint to stop him from making a move on Cloud right then and there.

As if sensing his thoughts, Cloud cleared his throat and got up.

“I’m gonna go get ready. You finish your breakfast.”

Sephiroth was grateful to Cloud for preparing food for him every single morning, but he was far too nervous to eat. After only a few more bites, he threw away the leftovers and placed the plate in the sink. He went and grabbed his sword, and by the time he got back, Cloud was already waiting for him by the door.

“Ready?” Cloud asked, hooking the carrier bag over his shoulder.

“I’m ready.”

They were heading all the way to Mideel again, which meant that Sephiroth was about to spend a lot of time glued to Cloud’s back. Not that he was complaining. He leaned in as close as he could without it being too obvious, and wrapped his arms tightly around Cloud.

Surprisingly, Cloud wasn’t acting all shy today. He’d been mortified the first time Sephiroth had heard them having sex, but now that he’d actually watched them, Cloud didn’t seem self-conscious at all. Maybe it was hard to feel embarrassed over something like that after Sephiroth had given him a blowjob the day before. Too many lines between them had already been crossed, muddling their relationship, making Sephiroth wonder just how much Cloud was willing to allow. 

He chose to interpret the fact that Cloud wasn’t feeling ashamed, that he was allowing Sephiroth’s closeness, as permission. And he wasn’t about to waste that chance. His right hand snaked across Cloud’s stomach, inching lower and lower. Just before it reached the waistband of his pants, Cloud grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t.”

But Sephiroth had no intention of stopping. With his other hand, he mapped out Cloud’s chest possessively, fingers slipping beneath his shirt and moving up. They circled and pinched a nipple, eliciting a moan.

“Stop. You’ll make us crash.”

But Cloud didn’t sound like he wanted Sephiroth to stop. Not really.

“Park the bike then,” Sephiroth said, refusing to stop. He felt the little nub harden beneath his fingers as he twisted it.

“I can’t. We have parcels to deliver.”

Sephiroth pressed closer, leaving no space between their bodies, crushing his front against Cloud’s back. He sucked on the side of Cloud’s neck hungrily, leaving open-mouthed kisses everywhere he could reach.

“You know you want to.”

Cloud’s only answer was a broken moan, but he still refused to park the bike.

“I can’t stop thinking about last night. You looked so hot as he fucked you.”

Cloud’s breath hitched, a shiver running through his body, but he still said nothing. Sitting this close to him, Sephiroth could feel his heart pounding.

“You kept moaning his name, Cloud. My name.” Sephiroth whispered the words against his ear, making him tremble in his arms. “I want to see you come undone with my name on your lips, with me in your thoughts.”

“Seph, we can’t…”

“I will make you feel so good, Cloud,” Sephiroth promised.

Changing directions, his hand abandoned Cloud’s abused nipple and slid down, down, all the way down to his cock and cupped him through his pants.

Cloud slammed on the brakes, sending the bike skidding to a stop so suddenly that they almost toppled over.

“Are you insane?!” Cloud gasped, but he sounded more desperate and needy than angry. He was already arching back against Sephiroth, his cock throbbing in Sephiroth’s palm.

“You are so gorgeous,” Sephiroth whispered in his ear and Cloud shuddered.

Sephiroth had barely touched him and he was already this hard. He must have been aroused long before Sephiroth had laid a finger on him and that pleased him, making him smile. Cloud was clutching his wrist in a desperate hold, but he wasn’t trying to stop him, so Sephiroth ground the heel of his palm into Cloud’s cock, making him buck into his touch. He was so deliciously responsive and eager. Sephiroth couldn’t wait to get him out of those clothes.

Eagerly, he unbuttoned Cloud’s pants and finally felt the weight of his cock in his hand.

“Seph,” Cloud moaned, nails digging into the skin of Sephiroth’s forearm, breaking the skin, marking him. Slowly, teasingly, Sephiroth slid his fist up and down the length of Cloud’s throbbing cock. It was warm and heavy in his hand; a testament to Cloud’s desire. 

“Oh fuck,” Cloud gasped, bucking his hips.

Sephiroth swirled his thumb across the leaking tip, smearing precome over the hard length pulsing in his hand. Cloud sagged against his chest, panting, his eyes firmly shut. But then, with a trembling hand, Cloud reached back and tangled his fingers in Sephiroth’s hair. Suddenly, he twisted around, yanked Sephiroth forward, and crushed their lips together.

The kiss was hungry and desperate, all tongues and teeth, both of them aroused beyond all sense. When they parted, a string of spit stretched between their lips, keeping them connected. Sephiroth knew it was now or never.

“Let me have you, Cloud.”

There was turmoil in Cloud’s eyes, hesitation, but also desire. So much hunger and want, making Sephiroth feel naked under the weight of his gaze. But then something shifted, and Cloud looked away.

“We can’t,” he said. His words sounded final and Sephiroth’s stomach dropped.

“You know you want to.”

“I do,” Cloud admitted, surprising Sephiroth with his honesty. “But this is not the way. Let me talk to him first.”

“What good would that do? Do you actually expect him to give us permission? He’s more likely to kill us both!”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Cloud said with a chuckle.

“Why then?”

“I have to try. If we are to do this, I want to do it right. No matter what you think of him, he means everything to me. I don’t want to do anything behind his back.”

Sephiroth knew that Cloud was right. He also believed that sneaking around was shameful, and he hated it. However, he was afraid that, given time to think, Cloud was going to change his mind. If he were forced to choose between Sephiroth and his older self, who was stronger and better in almost every way, and who’d been with Cloud for years, it was easy to guess what choice he would make.

“If you were truly happy with him, you wouldn’t be here with me.”

“It’s not that simple, Seph. What he and I have… No one else can understand.”

“Try me,” Sephiroth challenged, so with a heavy sigh, Cloud decided to explain.

He finally told Sephiroth about their past in detail, about all the horrible things Sephiroth’s older self had done to him and how Cloud had killed him for it. He told him about all the ways their relationship had changed over time, whenever that man had returned from the Lifestream, after Cloud had been forced to kill him.

The more he heard, the more confused Sephiroth felt. What the two of them had sounded unhealthy and destructive, but there was a small, wistful smile on Cloud’s face as he talked about the past. He clearly remembered some of it fondly.

“How can you be with him after everything?” Sephiroth asked once Cloud had finished speaking.

“I love him.”

That shouldn’t have hurt, yet it did. Cloud said it so plainly, like it was the most unshakeable truth of the universe. 

“Why not you refuse me, then?”

“Because things aren’t that simple, Seph,” Cloud said with a sigh. “You make me feel things he cannot. You made me realize that parts of me I thought were long dead and gone were still there. And I really don’t want to lose them again.”

“So…” Sephiroth faltered, his brows furrowing. “What does that mean for us?”

Cloud ran his fingers through his hair restlessly. “Honestly? I have no idea. Let me just talk to Sephiroth tonight, okay?”

“Okay.”

Sephiroth held Cloud’s gaze, nervousness filling him. For some reason, this moment felt monumental. It felt like he was supposed to say something more, but he had no idea what, and the words simply would not come. So he wordlessly reached out, took Cloud’s hand and squeezed it. With a small smile, Cloud squeezed back, filling him with hope. Maybe, just maybe, things might turn out alright.

“Come on, we have deliveries to make.”

Trepidation filled Cloud as he opened the door and entered the house. He was dreading talking to Sephiroth. No matter how he broached the subject, this was bound to get ugly. He just hoped that Sephiroth would at least hear him out before exploding in rage. But as difficult as this was going to be, Cloud knew that he had to do it. He wasn’t about to add lying to his list of crimes. So, he’d tell Sephiroth everything, and hope for the best.

Trying to delay the inevitable, Cloud took his time removing his boots and jacket. He left his sword on the weapons’ rack, hoping he wouldn’t need it that night. After all, Sephiroth had never tried to hurt him, not since they’d started dating. But Cloud had never betrayed or tested him like this before. It was impossible to fathom the levels his anger might reach.

Cloud turned to Seph, about to tell him to head straight to his room, but they must have taken too long to enter the house, because Sephiroth was suddenly there, watching them. He gave them both a once-over and his eyes immediately turned murderous. They blazed with unbridled fury and underlying pain. He sent Cloud a glare before fixating on the boy. He looked like he was seconds away from summoning Masamune and attacking him, so Cloud quickly stepped in.

“We should talk.”

“It’s too late for talking, Cloud. I warned you.”

“Nothing happened,” Cloud insisted, but Sephiroth obviously didn’t believe him. With his enhanced senses, he could probably smell Cloud’s arousal, and he took it as a sign of betrayal. Truth be told, it probably was. But at least Cloud had stopped himself in time. That had to count for something.

Cloud grabbed his arm, trying to drag him off to their room.

“It’s never too late to talk. We’ve been through worse things than this, and I forgave you.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

Swift as a viper, Sephiroth grabbed the front of Cloud’s shirt and slammed him into the wall.

“You would use that against me now?” he asked, voice shaking with rage.

“Hey! Let go of him!” Seph tugged on Sephiroth’s arm, trying to make him release Cloud.

“You stay out of this, brat, or I’ll rip you apart!”

“You can’t treat him like this!” Seph insisted, not giving up.

“He is mine, and I will treat him however I wish.” Sephiroth yanked Cloud forward by the front of his shirt and hauled him toward their room. “You wanted to talk, Cloud? Let’s talk.”

“You can’t do this! Let him go!”

“It’s fine, Seph.”

“Like hell it is! Cloud, don’t let him treat you this way.”

Sephiroth shoved him out of the away and growled, “This is all your fault anyway!”

“Go to your room, Seph. We’ll talk later.”

Cloud desperately wanted to diffuse the situation. The last thing he needed was for them to start fighting over him. He had to fix this, and quickly. So, he allowed Sephiroth to drag him off to their room and slam the door closed. Once they were alone, he flung Cloud down on the bed roughly.

“You wanted to talk—so talk.”

Cloud took a deep breath and perched on the edge of the bed. He had no idea where to start, how to even begin to explain this and ask for what he wanted.

“If this is your way of saying you want to end things, know that the answer is no,” Sephiroth informed him coldly.

The words were harsh and angry, but they finally broke Cloud out of his stupor. He took Sephiroth’s hand and pulled him down to sit next to him on the bed.

“I don’t want to end this, Sephiroth. I love what we have.”

“But?”

Looking away, Cloud took a deep breath. His heart was thundering in his chest, a maelstrom of emotions threatening to overwhelm him. His head was full of barely formed thoughts that even he couldn’t fully understand. He had no idea what he wanted, so how could he possibly explain it to Sephiroth?

“I think we’re good together. But you can be a little… cold. You’re not very good at showing affection.”

“Do you doubt how I feel about you?” Sephiroth frowned, sounding guarded and genuinely confused.

“I don’t, but…” Cloud ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “But sometimes, it’s nice to actually see it. To feel loved and wanted.”

“You’re unhappy with me,” Sephiroth said without infliction, his face a stony mask.

Cloud shook his head and sighed, his frustration rising. “I’m not explaining this properly.” He squeezed Sephiroth’s hand and willed him to understand. “I’ve been happy with you all this time. I didn’t even realize anything was missing.”

“Until he showed up.”

“Yeah.” Cloud breathed out the admission, both relieved and terrified for having said it. “His open affection filled a void inside of me that I didn’t even know was there.”

“And now you want him?”

“...Yes.”

Cloud forced himself to meet Sephiroth’s searching gaze, fighting the desire to squirm and look away.

“So, what do you propose?”

“What do you mean?”

“What is it you want, Cloud? When you asked to talk to me tonight, what were you trying to achieve?”

Cloud’s only goal had been to stop the two of them from murdering each other; he hadn’t thought much beyond that. But if he allowed himself to be selfish for a moment, given a choice, he knew exactly what he wanted. The answer had been right in front of him this whole time.

“If I asked you to let him into our bed, would you?”

Sephiroth remained silent, watching him for a very long time. The longer he took to respond, the more Cloud’s panic intensified. No matter what, he didn’t want to lose Sephiroth. After everything they’d been through together, Cloud didn’t think he could live without him. He was reasonably certain that Sephiroth felt the same way, but since they’d never talked about their feelings, Cloud could only guess what was hiding inside Sephiroth’s heart. Had he finally pushed Sephiroth too far this time?

But then, with a frown, Sephiroth finally spoke. “I have conditions,” he said, and it took Cloud a few moments to realize what that meant.

“What?” he gasped, his brain short-circuiting. Did Sephiroth just agree?

“You will not sleep with him behind my back. And no lying,” Sephiroth emphasized the words, and Cloud nodded immediately.

“Agreed.”

“If you try to leave me for him, Cloud, I will tear him limb from limb right in front of you.”

“I would never leave you, Sephiroth. I’m still yours.”

Sephiroth looked unconvinced, so Cloud kissed him, trying to convey everything he felt in that moment. There were so many emotions in his heart, threatening to drown him.

It might not seem that way right now, after he’d just asked Sephiroth to welcome another person into their bed, but Cloud truly loved him. He treasured what they had more than anything. Even with all of his flaws and eccentricities, Cloud accepted Sephiroth and loved him.

Sadly, there were things Sephiroth simply wasn’t capable of. In his own way, he loved Cloud; Cloud knew that. But beyond his possessiveness and jealousy, he didn’t really know how to show it. Sometimes, he could be gentle and caring, but he was incapable of expressing affection like other people. He’d never told Cloud that he loved him, and that made Cloud reluctant to say it, too.

Sephiroth showed him how he felt through sex, which was always amazing, leaving Cloud without complaints… But he wasn’t the kind of person who’d offer causal touches, hugs or kisses on the cheek. It was as if tender, intimate acts didn’t exist beyond the bedroom. And Cloud used to be fine with that. He didn’t think he needed that in his life, anyway.

But then Seph showed up. With his shy, coquettish glances, innocent and not so innocent touches during their bike rides, his genuine interest in Cloud, all smiles and laughter. He was just so… human. He was so alive in ways that Cloud and Sephiroth hadn’t been in a very long time. And while Seph himself was far from innocent, and had probably killed hundreds of people already, compared to the two of them, he was remarkably pure, untainted by the evils they had lived through.

Cloud had forgiven Sephiroth for almost everything he’d done, and on most days, he wasn’t actively thinking about the past. Yet it was always there, somewhere in the back of his mind. This awareness of a lived trauma, and the knowledge that the man he loved was the one who’d put him through it.

With Seph, things were just… simple. There was no need to hold back, no untouchable subjects, no landmines or possible triggers. Being with him made Cloud happy. And that didn’t mean that he wanted him to replace Sephiroth. For better or worse, Cloud loved Sephiroth from the bottom of his heart. It was just nice having someone around who made him feel content.

Feeling happy again, after so long, made Cloud realize how much he’d missed it. It made him reluctant to give it up.

But, luckily, he might not have to.

Sephiroth had returned to his room, doing as Cloud had said, but he couldn’t relax. He kept pacing back and forth, straining his ears for any sounds coming from the other side of the wall. It was almost eerily quiet. When he pressed his ear against the wall, he heard voices murmuring words he couldn’t make out. They were actually talking, then. Good.

But what were they saying? Sephiroth was burning with the need to know.

Was Cloud actually asking for permission? And would he get it? Or would his boyfriend convince him that being with Sephiroth would be a mistake?

Try as he might, he couldn’t hear anything, and it was setting him on edge. He wished he could be there, presenting a united front with Cloud. After all, he was a part of this, and he had the right to know what was being said. He hated that they were making this decision without him!

Helpless, Sephiroth kept pacing, his stomach in knots, desperate to learn the outcome.

And then, after he’d spent the better part of an hour pacing in silence, he finally heard something from the room next door. But it wasn’t their voices, as he’d hoped. Instead, it was a very familiar sound—dull, rhythmic thuds echoing against the wall. Sephiroth froze. He gaped blankly at the wall, as if staring at it long enough would suddenly make it disappear, allowing him to see through it.

They were fucking; there was no doubt about it. He’d heard them doing it enough times to know what it sounded like. But what did that mean for Sephiroth?

His stomach lurched, his lungs suddenly tight, unable to expand and breathe in enough air. No. He refused to give up Cloud without a fight.

Before he’d even stopped to think about what he was doing, he was moving, heading to the other room. Unlike the day before, when the door had been left open, like a challenge and an invitation, today it was firmly closed, letting him know that he wasn’t welcome. But he wasn’t about to let that stop him.

With a deep breath, Sephiroth turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

Sure enough, the two of them were on the bed, naked and lost in each other. The sight was as magnificent and captivating as it had been the day before. Sephiroth stood there, breathless and in awe. They really were perfect for each other. He swallowed, throat suddenly dry, and wondered if he should just leave, after all. It felt wrong to disturb the scene playing out before him.

But he’d already been noticed.

“Seph,” Cloud gasped, reaching for him. The other man looked over his shoulder and pinned Sephiroth with his stare.

“Came to watch again? We should start charging you,” he said pointedly, but he sounded far less angry than Sephiroth had expected him to be. Now that they had an audience, he slowed down his movements, fucking Cloud with slow, deep thrusts—enough for the arousal to simmer, but not for Cloud to find his release.

Cloud had thrown his head back, arching off the bed, his long legs wrapped around his boyfriend’s waist, trying to pull him closer. From where he was standing, Sephiroth could see every little detail. He glanced down, watching the man’s cock disappear inside Cloud’s body, then move back out, making obscene squelching noises as it did so. Jealousy filled Sephiroth, so intense that it almost blinded him. But who he was jealous of, he could not say. He wanted to be inside Cloud, of course, but seeing Cloud so lost in pleasure was doing things to him. It was messing with his head, making him wonder how it would feel to be fucked like that.

Sephiroth couldn’t say how long he stood there, just staring at that beautiful cock penetrating Cloud, but when he looked up, smug green eyes met his own and his breath hitched.

“Cloud,” the man drawled, still continuing in that torturously slow, tantalizing pace, “I think your new boy-toy would like to know what it’s like to be fucked.”

“I—I wasn’t…!”

The man lifted an eyebrow and looked at Sephiroth’s crotch pointedly. Belatedly, he realized he was hard as a rock, tenting his pants. It was useless to pretend otherwise, but he refused to feel ashamed. With his head held high, still holding the attention of those blazing green eyes, he unbuttoned his pants and took himself in his hand. The green eyes widened in momentary surprise before sliding down his body and taking in the state of his arousal.

Being watched made everything feel so much more exciting. The day before, the two men had been wrapped up in each other, ignoring Sephiroth. And while watching them had been incredibly arousing in and of itself, today it felt like Sephiroth wasn’t just a bystander, but a part of this. Feeling their eyes on him, having his presence acknowledged, made goosebumps break out across his skin, intensifying every sensation.

And then Cloud did the last thing Sephiroth would have expected—he reached out his hand and beckoned him closer.

“Come here.”

Cloud patted the bed next to him and Sephiroth moved, as if compelled. His eyes flicked to his older self, wondering if he was about to be killed for daring to do this, but the man just glared at him impassively and said nothing.

Sephiroth knelt on the bed, his throbbing erection still in his hand, unable to believe what was happening. From this distance, everything felt different. He could feel the bed rocking with each thrust as the man fucked Cloud. He could feel the heat of their bodies, so close now that he could reach out and touch them. He could smell Cloud’s arousal lingering in the air as his throbbing cock leaked precome and twitched against his stomach.

Now, he definitely wasn’t just a bystander any longer.

“Touch yourself,” Cloud said, and Sephiroth’s hand was already moving.

His hips jerked, thrusting into his fist, and now he too was rocking the bed, actively participating in this madness. As if matching his speed and desperation, his older self increased the pace and started fucking Cloud hard and fast. Their moans and grunts echoed off the walls, mingling together, creating a beautiful harmony.

Sephiroth’s eyes kept moving between Cloud and his older self, feasting his eyes on everything before him; but mostly, he stared at that gorgeous cock plundering Cloud’s hole. More and more, he ached for it. Imagining how it would feel to have it inside him finally tipped him over the edge, and with a rather embarrassing moan, Sephiroth exploded, covering all three of them with his seed. For a second, his vision went white, his pleasure too overwhelming, and he thought he was about to pass out.

But then his heart rate slowed, and he caught his breath before finally opening his eyes. He was being watched. Both men were looking at him—Cloud with a fond expression, and the other man with a smirk. He was back to rocking his hips lazily, driving Cloud crazy with need.

“Look at the mess you made,” the man said. “You should clean it up.”

Sephiroth shuddered; he couldn’t understand why his body was reacting to that voice. And those eyes… They looked just like Sephiroth’s own, but there was something cold and dangerous about them that set him on edge and made his heart beat faster. It was exciting and arousing all at once.

But the man loved teasing him; his words were clearly meant to humiliate and make fun of him. What he clearly didn’t understand was the effect he had on Sephiroth. Teasing or not, Sephiroth wanted to impress him.

So he leaned down and lapped up his own come with his tongue. First, from Cloud’s stomach—licking it off his abs, his hipbones, tongue dipping into his navel to clean it. Cloud gasped in surprise, his cock twitching in interest, but Sephiroth ignored it. Tempting as it was, he forced himself to focus on cleaning every inch of Cloud’s skin.

When he was done, he looked up and was met with a speculative green gaze. One silver eyebrow lifted in challenge, and Sephiroth knew what he had to do. He was supposed to clean everything up.

Once again, he wondered if he was about to be murdered, but he shoved all thoughts aside as he leaned down.

The man never stopped moving, his hips undulating against Cloud, but Sephiroth didn’t let that stop him. He licked a long stripe across those perfectly chiseled abs, collecting his own seed from them. He felt the muscles flex beneath his tongue as the man fucked Cloud, timing his movements with the man’s thrusts, licking every inch of skin he could reach, trying to clean it as best he could. 

From his position, Sephiroth could make out the distinct smell of the man’s arousal. It was so similar to his own, yet different. Glancing down, he saw the magnificence of that cock up-close. He licked his lips. It would be so easy to dip down and taste it. But then he probably would get killed.

So, he resisted and leaned back, his task finally complete.

He glanced up to find the man already watching him. No longer smug or angry, but curious, almost fascinated.

Sephiroth looked down at Cloud—his face flushed, moans falling from his lips, cock leaking and twitching—and decided he had to do something about it. Throwing all caution to the wind, he bent down and took Cloud’s cock into his mouth.

“Oh, shit! Seph!” Cloud gasped and bucked his hips.

Sephiroth moaned around the cock and swallowed, tasting Cloud’s precome on his tongue. There was so much of it. Cloud had to be very close. He felt Cloud’s body quivering beneath him, shaking with every thrust of that man’s hips, with every slide of Sephiroth’s lips.

With his hand placed low on Cloud’s stomach, Sephiroth could feel the tip of that beautiful cock nudging against his palm from where it was buried deep inside Cloud. Looking down, he saw the outline of it against the flat of Cloud’s belly, and he moaned. Immediately, he pressed down more firmly, desperate to feel it. He moaned again, sucking harder, unable to believe any of this was real. Cloud reached out with both hands—one of them tangled in Sephiroth’s hair, while the other grabbed his boyfriend’s arm, urging them both on.

And then, with a toe-curling howl, he came, screaming, “Sephiroth, Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth swallowed his release eagerly, moaning as it hit the back of his throat.

Moments later, a series of groans fell from his older self’s lips. He bucked wildly, frantically slamming into Cloud as he rode out his own orgasm. He moved roughly, like a wild animal in heat, leaning over Sephiroth to bite down on Cloud's shoulder, his hips jerking almost desperately.

Sephiroth could barely breathe.

There he was, head resting against Cloud’s stomach, completely trapped between the bodies of two men lost in ecstasy. His older self’s hair fell around them, leaving them in a world of their own, where only passion existed, and no sense or logic could get in the way of their pleasure.

After they were completely spent, his older self pulled out of Cloud, and yet again, Sephiroth was struck by the sight of that cock—thick and red, slowly softening, covered in his own come. He licked his lips, desperate for a taste. It was so close, calling out to him. Sephiroth’s face inched closer, moving on its own accord, mouth almost watering. But just then, the man flipped onto his back, taking his cock out of reach. The spell was broken and Sephiroth wanted to slap himself for being so stupid.

He sat upright, unsure of what to do now that they were done. Was he supposed to leave?

Cloud solved his dilemma by taking his hand and pulling him closer.

“Take off your clothes and lie down.”

Sephiroth looked at the other man, wondering if it was really okay to stay, but he was ignoring him. Cloud, on the other hand, was adamant, so Sephiroth quickly gave in and slipped beneath the covers.

As Sephiroth settled in, Cloud turned around and kissed his boyfriend. “Goodnight,” he murmured, before turning back and doing the same to Sephiroth.

The kiss made Sephiroth gasp, shocking him even after everything that had happened that night. The press of lips was slow and lingering, mostly chaste, but it made Sephiroth’s heart ache.

As Cloud pulled away, Sephiroth searched his eyes, feeling very confused. He glanced at the other man, wondering yet again why he was allowing this, but the man simply watched them, an expressionless mask firmly in place.

When Cloud stretched out on his side, his boyfriend curled up around him, embracing him from behind. Cloud then pulled Sephiroth against his chest and did the same to him.

Sephiroth’s heart was thundering inside his chest; he couldn’t believe how he’d found himself here. Was it really okay for him to stay? He had so many questions, but the other two seemed perfectly content without words. Sephiroth couldn’t deny how comfortable he felt; how unexpectedly enjoyable the night had been. It left him exhausted and deeply sated, so after only a few minutes, Sephiroth drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Cloud woke up in the middle of the night feeling like his body was on fire. Hot breaths caressed the back of his neck, making him shiver.

As the haze of sleep lifted, he realized that Sephiroth’s chest was flush against his back, hips moving rhythmically, his hard cock sliding between his thighs. With an encouraging hum, Cloud twisted his head back, begging to be kissed. Sephiroth obliged, crushing their mouths together, almost devouring Cloud with his intensity. Needy little moans fell from Cloud’s lips as he bucked against Sephiroth urgently.

When his hips jutted forward, Cloud brushed up against something warm and pliant in front of him, reminding him that they weren’t alone. Seph had fallen asleep in his arms, and judging by the sound of his even breathing, he hadn’t yet awoken.

“Mm, Sephiroth,” Cloud moaned, meaning to tell him that they shouldn’t, not while Seph was still asleep, but he failed to get the words out.

His own hard cock had slipped between Seph’s thighs, brushing against the length of the boy’s hardening cock as Cloud matched Sephiroth’s movements. He thrust into the tight tunnel formed by Seph’s legs, unable to resist the temptation.

In that moment, Cloud wanted nothing more than to press Seph face-first into the mattress and take him, to feel just how tight he would be if he actually entered him. If the hot walls of his body squeezed around his cock and surrounded him.

Closing his eyes, Cloud moaned, arching back against Sephiroth, loving the way his fingers mapped out his chest possessively. Sephiroth left hungry kisses over the side of Cloud’s neck, holding him in a desperate grip, pulling him back against himself as they moved together as one.

Sephiroth’s touches felt incredible, making arousal surge through Cloud’s body, leaving it electrified. And everything got even better once Seph woke up. Before he was even fully awake, he was already pressing back against Cloud, rubbing his ass over Cloud’s throbbing erection, almost begging to be taken.

Cloud grabbed his hips, trying to still him, forcing himself to hold back, but it was impossible to resist the boy for long. Taking his cock in his hand, Cloud nudged the tip between Seph’s cheeks and slid it along the cleft, teasing the entrance, but barely touching it.

“Is this what you want?” he asked, pressing closer, making his intention clear. The resulting moan was all the answer he needed. Hearing his name whispered in such a needy way left Cloud heady with desire. Seph rocked back against him, making Cloud’s cock slide up and down his cleft, throbbing with need.

At the same time, Sephiroth’s fingers pressed inside him, already slick, teasing and stretching his entrance. Cloud gasped and arched against him, hips bucking uncontrollably.

Sephiroth knew his body inside and out; he knew exactly how and where to touch to reduce Cloud a whimpering mess in record time. 

Before he lost control of all of his senses, Cloud reached back, wordlessly asking for lube. He wondered for a moment if Sephiroth would turn this into an issue, if his jealousy would rear its ugly head again, but he simply poured some lube onto Cloud’s palm without complaint.

Seph shivered as the cool gel touched his heated skin, and Cloud shushed him, covering his back and neck with kisses. The gel warmed up quickly, and soon Seph was wiggling closer, craving more and unashamed to show it. It was obvious no one had done this to him before, and he was clearly unprepared for how good it could feel. His gasps and moans, full of wonder, echoed across the room. They sounded absolutely delightful and Cloud could barely keep himself in check.

His mind was floating, overflowing with pleasure and awe at the thought that he was here, in bed, with two Sephiroths—one of them falling apart at his touch and the other, whose touches were as familiar as breathing, setting his body on fire by slowly massaging his prostate.

Cloud was trying his best to be careful, to properly prepare Seph for his first time, but Sephiroth’s sinful fingers were thoroughly distracting, and he found himself rocking back against them, his head thrown back, Sephiroth’s name on his lips.

It all felt like a dream; when he’d asked Sephiroth to invite Seph into their bed, Cloud hadn’t actually expected him to agree. And even when he had, Cloud hadn’t expected him to be this accommodating, this… eager. He’d never imagined that the three of them would be doing this together that very same night. It was terribly exciting and arousing, and Cloud could barely contain his happiness.

Sephiroth’s large hands played with his nipples, pinching them, his massive cock rubbing up against his ass, slick and impatient. His hot breaths sent shivers down Cloud’s spine, and just as Cloud thought he was about to go mad with need, Sephiroth lined himself up and entered him.

A sound that was a mix between a moan and a sob tore out of Cloud's throat, his fingers curling inside Seph, making him cry out as well. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead into Seph’s back, and gasped, trying to keep himself in check.

With the last reserves of his self-control, Cloud carefully took out his fingers and replaced them with his cock. He pressed into Seph slowly, determined not to hurt him despite the devastating need he was feeling. But the boy was too impatient, too eager; he thrust back without warning, shoving all of Cloud into him all at once.

They both gasped in shock, Cloud’s nails digging into his hips, forcing him still. Cloud fought as hard as he could not to come on the spot. The tight heat of Seph’s body felt divine, better than he could have imagined.

His head fell back against Sephiroth’s chest as he moaned, trying to calm down, hanging on by a thread. To his surprise, Sephiroth held him without moving, waiting patiently for Seph to adjust. That was something Cloud never would have expected, but in that moment, he was too overwhelmed by lust to focus on it too deeply.

“You okay?” Cloud asked breathlessly, and after a few moments, Seph nodded.

“Move, Cloud,” he rasped, already pressing back against him insistently.

His eagerness was endearing, leaving Cloud completely smitten. He thrust his hips experimentally, making Seph arch back against him. With a needy moan, he reached back, groping blindly, trying to grab Cloud and pull him closer, but in his urgency, he miscalculated. He reached back farther than he’d intended and grabbed Sephiroth’s ass instead.

For one terrifying second, everything went still.

Cloud was afraid that Sephiroth would get angry and put a stop to everything, but instead, he let out a savage growl and snapped into action. His arm wrapped around Cloud’s throat, pulling him tightly against his chest as he pounded into him from behind. Cloud whimpered helplessly, his own arms tugging Seph closer as he fucked him. Seph’s hand was still clutching at Sephiroth’s ass, either unaware of where it was, or exactly where it wanted to be.

Cloud found himself stuck between two feverish bodies moving against him, holding him so tightly he could barely breathe. It was overwhelming and suffocating and it was the most amazing thing Cloud had ever experienced. Their bodies moved together as one, perfectly in tune, as if they’d done this a million times before. And Cloud wanted to do it a million times more.

He was mumbling gibberish, praising his lovers and begging for more, hurtling towards release at incredible speed. He reached around Seph to take his cock in his hand. It was already so slick with precome, hot and heavy in Cloud’s hand, that it only took a few strokes before he was coming with Cloud’s name on his lips.

As he came, his body tensed, squeezing around Cloud, increasing the pleasure tenfold. Cloud’s hips stuttered, his rhythm broken. He cried out, and followed Seph over the edge, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Strong arms gripped him from behind as Sephiroth rammed into him relentlessly, riding out his own release.

The three of them rocked together as one until they were fully sated and boneless. And even after they were spent, they stayed in each other’s arms, waiting for their breathing to return to normal.

With Sephiroth’s cock still inside of him, and his own slowly softening inside Seph, Cloud turned around and offered his lips to Sephiroth. Possessive fingers curled around his chin as Sephiroth kissed him languidly, making his head spin. Only he could make Cloud feel this way, and Cloud allowed himself a few moments to enjoy the sensation, his mind blissfully blank and void of anything else.

Cloud moaned, fingers tangling in Sephiroth’s hair, letting the kiss simmer, slow and deep, lingering against Sephiroth’s lips. When they parted, he angled Seph’s face toward them and kissed him, too. It felt so different, yet so alike. The boy’s lips were soft and demanding as he responded eagerly, reaching back and pulling him closer, plunging his tongue into Cloud’s mouth.

They kissed for a while, until Cloud’s head was spinning and his blood buzzing in his veins, but then he realized there was something else he really wanted to try. He rolled over onto his back, separating their lower bodies as he did so, making them all gasp at the loss.

First, he made Seph face him and kissed him again, and at the same time, he reached for Sephiroth, drawing him closer. Surprisingly obedient, Sephiroth went. Soon, Cloud could feel his hot breaths on his cheek, making his heart beat wildly. Tilting his head, lips still wet with Seph’s spit, Cloud tuned around and captured Sephiroth’s lips. Sephiroth welcomed him hungrily, devouring Cloud with fiery kisses that made his toes curl. 

And then, with their lips still locked together, Cloud tugged Seph closer and made him join the kiss.

Sephiroth froze immediately, his lips beneath Cloud’s turning to ice, and Cloud wondered if he’d finally gone too far. Every second they stayed still felt like an eternity, his heart thundering in his ears. But then Seph moved, his tongue sneaking out to brush against their lips, and Sephiroth lost it. He groaned and melted against them, kissing them greedily.

Their tongues twisted around each other in scorching, open-mouthed kisses. It was messy and clumsy and oh so perfect. They had no idea what they were doing, but they followed their instincts and tried whatever felt good.

The kisses continued long into the night, as they marveled at this new and exciting thing coming to life between them.

Sephiroth was the first to wake up the following morning. He looked at the men sleeping in his arms and tried to make sense of what he was feeling.

The previous day had been a real emotional rollercoaster. First, he’d waited for Cloud to come home, feeling jealous and suspicious. Then, he’d seen signs of betrayal upon Cloud’s return. It had taken all of his self-control not to reach for his weapon and kill the brat right where he stood.

Sephiroth had warned Cloud not to underestimate the boy. He’d been suspicious of him since the moment he’d set foot in their house. After all, the boy was him, and Sephiroth knew himself, so he’d always known what was bound to happen. The boy was destined to come after Cloud sooner or later. The fact that Cloud hadn’t heeded his warning infuriated him. He used to think Cloud was simply naive, that he refused to see the boy for what he was, but perhaps Cloud had been tempted from the start.

And that wasn’t even what had hurt him the most. What had come as a true shock, a true betrayal, was that Cloud had chosen that moment to bring up their past. They’d argued countless times before, but they’d never used it as a bargaining chip. It wasn’t as if Sephiroth didn’t know how much he’d hurt Cloud, or what he’d taken from him that day in Nibelheim. But they had an unspoken agreement to never bring it up. The past was off limits.

After all, what would be the point in talking about it? Picking at an old scab that had taken years to form could only lead to more pain. So, for Cloud to bring it up so casually, and because of that brat, it had felt like the worst kind of betrayal.

Not only had Cloud betrayed him by having sex with the boy—or so he’d thought—he’d done it again by bringing up the worst of his sins.

To add insult to injury, the boy had jumped to Cloud’s defense, making Sephiroth even angrier. Cloud was his, to do with as he wished. How dare this brat try to “protect” Cloud from him, as if Sephiroth would ever actually hurt him?

And then, Cloud had hurt him again, one last time, when he’d finally told him what he wanted. It had made Sephiroth question everything—all the years they spent together suddenly seen in a different light. Why would Cloud need someone else to make him happy? Why wasn’t Sephiroth enough?

But there, in the dim light of the morning, after everything that had happened the night before, Sephiroth was finally starting to understand.

He’d seen firsthand how passionate the boy could be. It was impossible to stay unaffected in the face of his eagerness. Sephiroth couldn’t remember ever being like that, even at that age. But unlike the boy, he’d never been given a chance to leave the war zone. He’d never experienced passion or tenderness. And those things had clearly affected the boy’s behavior.

Barely a few weeks ago, when he’d first arrived, the boy had been closed off and angry, just as Sephiroth remembered himself being back in the day. But after spending time with Cloud, away from Hojo and his mind games, after being given mundane chores and duties, like helping around the house or doing deliveries, he rapidly began to change. And now, he was like a completely different person. He was carefree in a way Sephiroth himself had never gotten a chance to be.

It was shocking to realize how little it had taken to change him. Sephiroth never would have imagined this could have had such a great impact on his life. Experiencing kindness and acceptance, learning what pleasure felt like, knowing that he could be good for something other than killing, had made the boy’s life take a profoundly different turn. Sephiroth wondered if it would have been the same for him. If he’d met Cloud at that age, could it have changed the course of his life, too?

But it was pointless to dwell on it. Sephiroth was who he was, and he had no desire to change. He considered himself lucky that Cloud had come to accept him as he was, and even loved him in spite of it. Sometimes, he still found that hard to believe.

Sephiroth had been obsessed with Cloud for years, long before they got together. It had taken him a while to make sense of his feelings, and even longer to admit that they were more than just lust. Even now, after he’d finally accepted that he actually loved Cloud, he couldn’t say it. It felt like the words would give Cloud, a former enemy, too much power over him.

And while he knew that Cloud had feelings for him too—or at least he strongly suspected it—Cloud hadn’t put them into words yet, either. Perhaps Cloud was reluctant to do so for the same reasons as Sephiroth. After all, no matter how many years went by, the past would always be there, hanging over them.

But with another person there, the tension between them suddenly felt different.

The boy was unburdened by the past he knew nothing about, unconcerned about control, power, or anything the like. He was focused solely on pleasure. When Sephiroth had teased the night before, trying to embarrass him, to make him angry enough to leave, he never got upset. On the contrary, he’d responded to Sephiroth’s provocations with open passion and enthusiasm. And Sephiroth wasn’t blind; he’d seen the way the boy had looked at him, unbridled hunger simmering in his eyes. He couldn’t deny that it made him curious.

Perhaps Cloud had been right to suggest this. Perhaps it would take this boy and his pure, brazen desire to finally bring down the last of the walls still standing between him and Cloud. To teach them how to be more open about their own feelings.

And that... changed everything.

At first, he’d reluctantly agreed to welcome the boy into their bed, and had only done so for Cloud’s sake. But now, lying here and watching the sunlight dance across the sleeping faces of the men in his arms, Sephiroth started to consider another possibility. Maybe this could turn into something beautiful; something they could all enjoy together.

The boy’s presence in their bed should have felt like an intrusion, a foreign body that had no place being there, especially with the way Cloud embraced him possessively. Sephiroth would have expected to feel jealous, murderous even. To want to kick the boy out and hurt him for ever daring to approach Cloud.

Instead, having him there felt right. The morning felt peaceful, and Sephiroth felt content in a way he hadn’t been since the boy had entered their lives. For weeks now, he’d been gearing up for a fight, certain that he would have to protect what was his. But now, a new wealth of possibilities opened up before him.

Unable to resist, he caressed Cloud’s cheek, making him murmur in his sleep. This was an indulgence Sephiroth never would have allowed himself if Cloud were awake. A weakness. But after their conversations, he was starting to think that Cloud might actually crave these small affections, the proofs of Sephiroth’s desire he’d never allowed himself to take. He might have to consider changing in the future, but for now, with Cloud asleep, he had no reason to hold back, so he traced the curves of his face, enjoying the way Cloud nuzzled against his hand subconsciously.

In Cloud’s arms, slept the boy, his face peaceful and almost angelic in sleep. It took a shocking amount of effort not to touch him. Sephiroth wanted to map out his face, just as he had done with Cloud’s, to feel his cheekbones and lips beneath his fingertips. But unlike Cloud, he knew the boy would wake the second he touched him, so Sephiroth held back, exploring his face with his eyes instead.

It surprised him how much he’d enjoyed himself the night before; how arousing it had been to kiss the boy. Sephiroth had never imagined wanting to kiss anyone other than Cloud, much less someone who looked so much like him. Was it narcissism? Hojo would have a field day with this information, but Sephiroth couldn’t deny how much he’d liked it.

When the other two finally woke up, things got a little awkward. It was as if they no longer knew how to act around each other now, in the bright light of the morning. It had been so easy to get lost in the pleasure and do unmentionable things to each other under the cover of darkness. But now, after the haze of lust had cleared, it was a lot harder to look each other in the eyes and own up to their actions.

In the end, it was the boy who moved first. With a smile, he kissed Cloud, then Sephiroth, wishing them both a good morning, finally breaking the uncomfortable tension. He hopped out of the bed immediately after, announcing he’d take the first shower, and rushed out of the room, finally giving Cloud and Sephiroth a few moments alone.

Their eyes met and held.

“So…” Cloud began and trailed off.

“So,” Sephiroth repeated.

Cloud peered at him nervously, obviously worried about where they stood. He had nothing to worry about, of course, but Sephiroth let him stew for a few moments longer, using it as payback for everything Cloud had put him through the day before.

“Are we’re okay?” Cloud asked tentatively, and Sephiroth decided to take pity on him.

He curled his hand around the back of Cloud’s neck, caressing the short hairs there, before pulling him in for a slow, lazy kiss that seemed to go on forever. Even when they parted, they stayed close, their foreheads pressed together.

“We’re fine, Cloud. More than fine.”

A small, sadistic part of him was very pleased to see Cloud so worried. It was one thing to know that Cloud cared, but another to see just how terrified he was of losing him. Sephiroth was almost tempted to pretend that he wasn’t okay with any of this, just to see what Cloud would do.

Unfortunately, he was too mellow and content to start any drama on this beautiful morning.

“So...” Cloud tried again, still nervous but somewhat hopeful, a spark of excitement flashing in his eyes, “Would you be okay with this happening again?”

Sephiroth chuckled. “Cloud, I’d be happy to have another go the moment he came back,” he said honestly. It was frankly embarrassing how much he’d enjoyed himself; he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

Unable to hide his relief, Cloud giggled, flushed and smiling, and gave Sephiroth a playful little shove. “Maybe let us have some breakfast first, yeah?” he joked, breathless and happy, and Sephiroth nodded, unable to resist offering a small smile in return. 

“We should talk to him. See what he thinks.”

“Right. It has to be his decision as much as ours,” Cloud agreed.

“What are we deciding?” the boy asked from the threshold.

His hair was still wet, sending droplets of water dripping down his torso. The little vixen hadn’t even bothered to put on his clothes; he came back with only a towel hanging precariously low on his hips. He was a walking temptation, and he was clearly insatiable. Based on his actions, his answer was easy to predict, but they had to be sure.

“We wanted to ask—how do you feel about last night?”

The boy blinked, surprised, as if expecting it to be a trick question. “What do you mean?”

“We just want to hear your thoughts,” Cloud explained.

“I thought we all had fun last night,” the boy said, suddenly unsure.

“We did,” Cloud assured him. “We had a lot of fun. But did you?”

“Of course,” he said, folding his arms across his chest protectively. A frown marred his features, leaving him looking puzzled.

Cloud reached for the boy, inviting him to join them on the bed.

“There isn’t a wrong answer here, Seph, we just need you to be honest. It’s important for us to know if you liked it, because we want to ask you to do it again.”

The boy... no, Seph—if they were going to do this, Sephiroth was going to call him by name. He refused to use his own name for someone else, so he’d have to settle for the nickname Cloud had given him. Up until then, Sephiroth had refused to acknowledge him, referring to him only as the boy or brat whenever he was forced to talk about him at all. But now, if he was going to become a permanent fixture in their lives, the boy deserved to be addressed properly.

So, it was Seph who gasped, his eyes going wide, a smile already spreading across his face. “Yes!” he exclaimed, not even trying to hide his excitement. He pounced on them, dripping water all over them as he hugged them. 

They kissed; first in pairs, then all three of them together. They stayed in bed for a while longer, enjoying a few lazy moments together, before Cloud finally jumped up, realizing that he was about to be late for work. He rushed to the shower, leaving him alone with Seph.

Just a day ago, Cloud never would have allowed them to remain alone together, unsupervised. Apparently, Cloud believed that something fundamental had changed between them... and it had. A day ago, Sephiroth would have used to opportunity to bully the boy. But now, he looked at Seph, acting at home in their bed, watching him shyly from beneath his bangs, and all he felt was desire.

“What are your plans for today?” Seph surprised him by asking.

“Why?”

Folding his legs beneath himself, Seph gave a lopsided shrug. The way he sat almost made the towel unravel; pulled taut across his sinewy thighs, it slipped just a little lower down his narrow hips, leaving a taunting patch of skin which begged to be tasted. Sephiroth struggled to tear his eyes away. 

“Just making conversation. Besides, I’m curious. What do you do while Cloud and I are away?”

The question made Sephiroth’s hackles rise. It was clearly not meant as an attack, but it made him feel defensive all the same. What did he do? A big load of nothing, but he wasn’t about to admit that. After years of being used as a weapon of destruction, followed by years of his own foiled plans of world domination, it was nice to sit back, relax and do nothing for a change.

“You should put some clothes on,” he said gruffly, making Seph’s eyes widen.

He looked down at himself, as if only just realizing the state of his undress. At least he had the decency to blush, securing the towel more firmly around his hips. But then his eyes flashed defiantly, lips curling into a smirk as he stared at Sephiroth unflinchingly.

“Why? Does my body offend you?”

Sephiroth reached down, grabbed the boy’s clothes from the floor and threw them in his face. “Get dressed,” he ordered.

Before they could hit him, Seph caught them in the air and rolled his eyes. Still, he did as he was told. “Don’t think this will get you out of answering. I still want to know what you do all day.”

“Mostly, I read. Sometimes I cook.”

“You know how to cook?” Seph asked, not even trying to hide his surprise.

“If you ever tried Cloud’s cooking, you’d understand why it was necessary to learn.”

Seph chuckled. “That bad, huh? Now you’ve got me curious.”

“You can ask him to make something for you. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I can hear you, you know!” Cloud called out from the kitchen. He must have finished with his shower and got started on breakfast. That was the only meal Sephiroth allowed him to make, because there was really no way for him to mess it up.

“I can say it to your face, Cloud. After all, it’s only the truth.”

“Come on, let’s go help him,” Seph said, tapping Sephiroth’s upper thigh to get his attention.

It was only a brief, innocent touch, yet it felt very intimate, casual in a way few people had touched him over the course of his life.

The boy didn’t even seem to realize the magnitude of his actions. He was already up, running toward the kitchen, eager to help Cloud.

Without even meaning to, he was getting under Sephiroth’s skin, affecting him in ways he hadn’t thought possible. No one other than Cloud had ever had this effect on him.

That night, when they retired to bed, Seph joined them straight away. There was no need to discuss it; it was simply understood that he would no longer be using the guestroom. Their relationship had changed and there was no need to pretend otherwise.

They made themselves comfortable on the bed, Cloud and Sephiroth leaning against the headboard, and Seph sitting opposite them. There was no hesitation now when they started kissing, all three of them together, just like the night before. Urgent and hungry, they huddled together, the heat rising between them steadily.

When Cloud pulled back, eager to see the two of them kissing, they didn't even pause. Even without him, they kept kissing greedily, their mouths locked in a sensual dance. 

The boy melted against Sephiroth, kissing back for all he was worth, hands tangling in Sephiroth’s impossibly long hair, yanking possessively. He moaned into Sephiroth’s mouth helplessly, arching closer.

Seeing them together, kissing and groping each other with such unrestrained fervor, Cloud felt like he should be jealous, yet he wasn’t. He found the sight of his two lovers kissing incredibly arousing. Seeing them together felt like a boon; a gift, sent by the gods just for him, and Cloud couldn't look away.

When they parted, Seph seemed dazed, his breaths coming out ragged. His eyes were huge, as if he couldn’t believe how good that had felt. And Sephiroth, too, was far from unaffected. He was better at hiding it, but Cloud knew him well. There was no doubt that he’d enjoyed it.

“You two look so hot together,” Cloud whispered breathlessly into the silence.

The two men blinked, as if they’d forgotten for a second that Cloud was even there. And then Seph, ever eager to please, knowing exactly what Cloud wanted before he’d even realized it himself, reached for Sephiroth’s cock.

He moved slowly, as if approaching a wild animal, expecting his hand to be torn off. Sephiroth stared at him levelly—not welcoming him, but not trying to stop him either. When Seph took him into his hand and started stroking his cock, Sephiroth simply closed his eyes and licked his lips. He leaned back against the headboard and let his legs fall open.

Unable to look away, Cloud moved to sit at the foot of the bed, enjoying the show, his own cock filling out at the sight.

It didn’t take long for Sephiroth to grow fully hard. His hips moved, thrusting up to meet Seph’s fist, a light flush tinting his cheeks. He looked absolutely gorgeous. Usually, when Cloud was the one touching him, he was too focused on pleasuring him to admire how good Sephiroth looked aroused, but now he was free to enjoy the view. He could notice every little detail, like the way Sephiroth bit lip, the way he rocked his hips, or the way his whole body thrummed with tension as his arousal grew.

“Use your mouth,” Sephiroth ordered.

Seph nodded and settled in between his knees. Without hesitation, he gripped the base of Sephiroth’s cock with his fingers and traced the thick length with his tongue. He wrapped his lips around the swollen head and sucked, tasting Sephiroth slick before taking the full length into his mouth. He moaned, slightly overwhelmed by the size of it.

Sephiroth hummed approvingly, his hands landing on the boy’s head.

“Have you done this a lot?” Sephiroth asked, and Seph shook his head. He was trying his best, but it was obvious that he was a little out of his depth. “Let me tell you a little secret, then.” Sephiroth leaned down and said in a mock whisper, “We have no gag reflex.”

Cloud chuckled, he couldn’t help it, and it made Sephiroth smirk smugly. Their eyes met, sending a fresh wave of arousal crashing over Cloud. It was an amazing talent to have, and it was one of Cloud’s favorite things. He could fuck Sephiroth’s mouth as deep or hard as he wanted, and it never bothered him. He could fuck his throat raw until Sephiroth’s voice turned hoarse, but it never choked him. It was amazing.

Seph, however, didn’t seem to grasp the significance of this information. 

“Let me show you what that means,” Sephiroth said, nudging Seph back toward his cock. “Open your mouth and relax your throat.”

Without further warning, he shoved Seph’s head down and rammed his cock down his throat. The boy gasped, shocked, but he didn’t choke.

“Most people would gag trying to do this,” Sephiroth said, emphasizing the words by thrusting inside again, harder this time, until the tip of his cock brushed the back of Seph’s throat. “But not us. It’s a very useful talent to have because it feels really good for the person on the receiving end.”

Seph hummed, trying to express his understanding, because that was all he could do with his mouth full. But the humming sent vibrations down Sephiroth’s cock, making him groan, a curse falling from his lips. His hands clamped down on the back of Seph’s head, pressing him down as he thrust into his heated mouth. He slammed into him a few more times before wrenching him away.

“You’re very eager, aren’t you?” Sephiroth asked, voice husky with arousal. “Come here. Let me show you how it feels.”

He scooted down on the bed, stretching out, resting his head on the pillow, and pulled Seph closer, making him straddle his chest. With his hands resting on the firm globes of Seph’s ass, Sephiroth guided him forward until the tip of Seph’s cock was pressing against his lips. And then he opened his mouth and swallowed him whole.

The boy let out a broken moan, hips jutting forward without inhibition. If it were anyone else, he would have choked them, but Sephiroth easily welcomed him into his throat, sucking around the length greedily.

Seph gripped the headboard desperately, holding on for dear life as his hips rutted into that welcoming mouth. His head was thrown back, loud moans falling from his lips as he lost himself in ecstasy.

Cloud was breathless, on the other side of the bed, jerking off, unable to look away. What made this even more arousing was that he knew exactly how amazing it felt to have his cock so deep inside Sephiroth’s throat. Just thinking about it turned him on even more, and suddenly, he desperately needed to touch them. To take part in this, instead of just watching from the sidelines.

He moved to stand right behind Seph, swaying with his body as he fucked Sephiroth’s mouth. His own painfully hard cock throbbed against Seph’s ass, so he rubbed against him, seeking friction inside his cleft. Seph moaned, leaning back against Cloud, letting him hold him up as he surrendered himself to sensations.

Looking down, Cloud saw Sephiroth smirking up at them, his mouth full of Seph’s cock, and he ached.

Sephiroth’s hands, which had been resting on Seph’s ass, had spread his cheeks apart, and now his fingers were moving in and out of him, stretching him, trying to find his prostate. Watching it happen from up close, Cloud could wait no longer. 

He removed Sephiroth’s fingers, poured some lube onto his aching cock and slid inside, making Seph arch against him with desperate, broken little moans. Sephiroth’s hands moved to Cloud’s thighs, gripping him tightly as he rocked against Seph, slamming into him, driving him deeper into Sephiroth’s mouth with every thrust. The boy gripped the headboard so hard his knuckles turned white, thrusting into Sephiroth’s mouth frantically as he neared completion.

It didn’t take long until he was coming, filling Sephiroth’s mouth with his release. As he chased his pleasure, he rocked back, impaling himself on Cloud’s cock shamelessly, almost sobbing with pleasure, turning into putty in Cloud’s arms. After he was spent, he sagged against Cloud’s chest limply. The only thing holding him up were Cloud’s arms wrapped tightly around his body. Cloud held him, giving him time to catch his breath.

In the meantime, he and Sephiroth looked at each other, their eyes dark with desire. Sephiroth’s lips were red and swollen, wet with spit and slick. He looked gorgeously debauched, but Cloud needed more. In a moment of sheer genius, he reached around and took Seph’s cock in his hand, bringing it back to Sephiroth’s mouth.

He traced Sephiroth’s lips with it, smearing slick all over them. Sephiroth’s tongue flicked out to lick the tip as Cloud dragged it across his mouth, making the boy shudder and moan. When Sephiroth sucked the head back into his mouth, Seph gasped, oversensitive, and finally pulled away. He collapsed on the bed, completely boneless, and Sephiroth chuckled.

Grinning, Cloud watched them both, unable to believe this was his life now. His heart felt so full.

Well, not just his heart, as his throbbing cock didn’t hesitate to remind him.

He took one look at Sephiroth and crawled over to him. Kissing him, he tasted Seph’s slick, and it made him moan. He plunged his tongue into Sephiroth’s mouth, chasing the taste as they devoured each other. Sephiroth’s hard cock pressed into his ass insistently, twitching as they kissed, betraying his arousal. And suddenly, Cloud couldn’t wait another second. He reached behind himself and guided that beautiful cock to his entrance. With one smooth movement, he bore down and wailed as it entered him.

Having Sephiroth inside him felt like coming home. In a night full of strange, new experiences, this was finally something his body was used to. Cloud rocked his hips, making Sephiroth’s cock slide in and out of his body, pleasure building between them. He loved this. As exciting and wonderful as it was to try out new things, as much as he loved having Seph there, nothing could compare to being taken by Sephiroth.

Sephiroth’s hands roamed over his back, tugging him forward, making him lean down so he could take Cloud’s nipples into his mouth, biting and sucking on them as Cloud rode him. Cloud bounced on his length, moaning, rubbing his own neglected cock against Sephiroth’s stomach, desperate for release.

Next to them, Seph had already recovered, and was now watching them with wide, fascinated eyes. Cloud had never imagined that he’d enjoy being watched. Normally, he was very private and reserved, but there was something about the hunger in Seph’s eyes that made this so terribly exciting.

Cloud leaned back, bracing himself up on his arms, and pleasured himself on Sephiroth’s cock with complete abandon. His own erection bounced against his stomach, red and needy, leaking precome. Sephiroth watched him with ravenous eyes, hands gripping Cloud’s upper thighs hard enough to bruise.

“Sephiroth,” he begged, unsure what he was even asking for.

But Sephiroth understood. He gripped Cloud’s thighs, holding him in place as he thrust into him from below. It ripped a devastating moan from his lips, making him ride Sephiroth even harder, almost desperate for release.

Seconds later, he was forced down into the mattress, with Sephiroth finally on top, pounding into him without restraint. Cloud sobbed, crying out Sephiroth’s name over and over again, like a man possessed, as he slammed into his abused prostate. Cloud’s cock was leaking precome, desperately close to release; it felt like he might come untouched.

And then something pressed up against his lips, startling him. Cloud opened his eyes to find Seph kneeling over him, cock inches away from Cloud’s face. He was hard again, beads of precome glistening on the glans. It made Cloud smile and lick his lips; the boy must have really enjoyed the show.

Cloud happily took him into his mouth, letting his two lovers claim him from both sides. He couldn’t even imagine how obscene he must have looked just then.

Sephiroth took him hard, lifting his hips off the bed, changing angles so he could penetrate deeper. Seph, too, was rocking his hips frantically, rutting against his mouth desperately, and Cloud tried not to choke. Unlike the two of them, he unfortunately did have a gag reflex. But despite his urgency and need for release, Seph seemed conscious of it, and tried not to thrust too deep.

There was more and more slick inside his mouth, filling his throat, overwhelming his senses, letting Cloud know that the boy was close. At the same time, Sephiroth's hips started moving erratically, grunts and gasps falling from his lips, which meant that he, too, was close. He took Cloud’s cock in his hand and started stroking him.

They both exploded at the same time, filling Cloud from both sides. He swallowed and sucked on Seph’s cock, determined to make this amazing for him, while his lower body rocked back against Sephiroth, trying to drive that beautiful cock as deep into him as he could.

Throughout his release, Sephiroth never stopped stroking him, and finally, Cloud could take no more. With Seph’s cock still pulsing inside his mouth, Cloud moaned and followed them over the edge.

A few days later, Cloud found himself in the kitchen, surrounded by steaming pots and pans, regretting every life decision that had led him to that point.

After he’d overheard Seph saying he’d like to try his cooking, Cloud had decided to surprise him by making something for him. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for him to remember why he’d stopped cooking in the first place.

Cursing, Cloud stirred faster. The soup was too thick, wasn’t it? And the color seemed off. Maybe he’d fried the onions too long? Or used too little cream?

There was a reason he no longer cooked—he hated doing it, and he was exceptionally bad at it.

Maybe he could have improved if he wanted to, but he really, really didn’t. Cloud had never had a special affinity for food. As long as he wasn’t starving and he had something to put in his stomach, that was good enough for him. That was why he’d never learned how to cook.

But then Sephiroth had moved in and made it a whole thing. He’d complained about Cloud’s cooking every single day, until finally, Cloud had had enough. He’d tossed that day’s lunch into the trash and ordered Sephiroth to make something himself if he hated Cloud’s cooking so damn much.

Ever the overachiever, Sephiroth had presented him with the most delicious home-cooked meal the very next day. The bastard. According to him, it was very easy to cook, as long as you followed a recipe. You just had to do what it said, word for word, and the food would turn out great. It was foolproof.

Unfortunately, that didn’t make it Cloud-proof, because, even with a recipe, his food still turned out awful.

Right now, he was trying to make pumpkin soup, following the recipe Sephiroth had written out for him. It sounded simple enough, but nothing was turning out the way it was supposed to. Cloud had already messed it up somehow, he was sure of it. The soup just didn’t look right.

He was furious with Sephiroth for giving him a recipe for something he’d never tried before. Why pumpkin soup, of all things? It tasted weird, but maybe that was just the pumpkin. As it was, Cloud had no way of knowing how badly he’d messed up.

At first, he’d tried to argue and suggested making something else instead, but Sephiroth had insisted, telling him it was what Seph wanted to eat. And since the only reason he was going through this ordeal was to please Seph, Cloud had reluctantly agreed.

Either way, it was way too late to change anything now. For better or worse, the soup was done. Worst-case scenario, they’d just have to pour it down the drain and eat sandwiches instead.

Fighting down nervousness threatening to overwhelm him, Cloud placed the pot on the table and ladled the soup onto plates.

“It’s ready,” he called out, and waited for the other two to join him. Seph froze the moment he recognized the smell, his eyes going wide.

“Is that...”

“It’s pumpkin soup,” Sephiroth confirmed. He also looked a little strange. Nothing like Seph, who couldn’t hide his emotions, but his posture was rigid as he glared at the soup. Perhaps, even from that distance, he could tell that Cloud had messed it up? Or maybe he just dreaded eating Cloud’s food again, after such a long time.

“It probably tastes like shit, but I did my best. Let’s eat it before it gets cold. It’ll definitely taste even worse when it’s cold.”

For a few seconds, no one moved. The two men stood frozen on the threshold, and then, for some reason, Sephiroth squeezed Seph’s shoulder as if in reassurance.

That couldn’t be about Cloud’s cooking, right? It wasn’t that bad! He was trying—and failing—not to feel offended. Those two weren’t afraid of anything, but apparently the thought of Cloud’s cooking had them shaking in their boots.

“You’re the ones who asked me to cook! It’s not my fault if it sucks,” he snapped, and suddenly Seph was moving, making a beeline for the table. He looked at the soup, wearing an odd expression Cloud couldn’t comprehend. 

“Thank you, Cloud,” he said, voice thick with emotion that felt completely out of place.

Cloud gaped at Sephiroth, looking for an explanation, but he was no help at all. He moved past Cloud and took a seat at the table, still frowning at the soup. Cloud awaited his scathing comments, but none came.

Cloud’s heart thundered nervously as he waited for them to start eating. He knew he was a terrible cook, but he really wanted them to like it. Hopeless as he was, he’d really tried his best.

He watched with bated breath as Seph took the first spoonful. The moment he tasted it, he closed his eyes and Cloud awaited his judgement impatiently. When he opened his eyes again, they were suspiciously shiny and bright.

“Thank you,” he said again, a soft smile spreading across his lips. “I’ve always wanted to try pumpkin soup. It... It reminds me of my mother.”

Cloud’s breath hitched, and his eyes immediately snapped over to Sephiroth. He’d never said anything! Cloud tried to catch his eyes, but Sephiroth resolutely refused to look at him. He sat stiffly, eating his soup without saying a single word.

“How so?” Cloud asked, turning back to face Seph.

“I used to have this recurring dream... Mother would promise to come and make pumpkin soup for me, because she knew it was my favorite.”

“That’s your favorite food?” Cloud asked, surprised. How come Sephiroth had never made it before? But Seph was already shaking his head.

“I’ve never tried it before. It was just a dream, with crazy dream logic, but it made me really want to eat pumpkin soup.” He smiled sadly, tracing imaginary circles in the soup with his spoon. “Thank you for making it for me, Cloud,” Seph said with a slight tremor in his voice. Cloud could only shake his head, choked up by emotion. As much as he hated cooking, he was incredibly glad he’d agreed to make this soup for the boy.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked Sephiroth.

Sephiroth lifted an eyebrow and looked at him indifferently. “Tell you what, exactly?”

“I don’t know! That this soup was special to you. Did I make it right? Does it taste like it should?”

“It tastes fine,” Sephiroth replied calmly, taking another spoonful. He ate in silence for a few moments, before adding quietly, “As for your other question... I wouldn’t know.”

Cloud opened his mouth, then promptly closed it again. It couldn’t be. But there was no other explanation. Sephiroth didn’t know what the soup was supposed to taste like because he’d never tried it either. Despite cooking for years, he’d never made it for himself. Why?

Looking at him now, Cloud took in his rigid posture and the way he kept glaring at the soup. Perhaps that hadn’t been about Cloud’s cooking, after all. Maybe Sephiroth was struggling to hide his emotions, refusing to admit how much this affected him.

Unlike Seph, who had no problem being honest with his feelings, Sephiroth probably considered them a weakness. So, instead of simply telling Cloud what he wanted, he’d talked him into making this soup for the boy... While, in truth, it was just as much for Sephiroth as it had been for Seph.

Cloud’s heart clenched at the realization. He could have made this soup for him years ago, if only Sephiroth had told him. 

Not for the first time, Cloud wondered what else was hiding in Sephiroth’s heart, under a veneer of indifference. It made him sad that Sephiroth still didn’t feel like he could trust him. But at least now, with Seph there, he had a way of expressing his desires indirectly, and Cloud hoped he would continue to do so.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks felt like a crazy dream. They reminded Cloud of the time when he and Sephiroth had first started dating, because of how obsessed they were with each other. Everything felt exciting and new. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other, and they used every opportunity to explore each other’s bodies, trying to discover what they liked best.

During the day, Cloud and Seph went out on deliveries, leaving Sephiroth to his own devices, but every night, they came together, frenzied and wild, as if pulled by an invisible force.

Some days, Cloud jokingly wondered if it was possible to die from too much pleasure, because it certainly felt like he might. Having two Sephiroths wholly focused on his pleasure was driving him insane.

After being together for years, Sephiroth and Cloud knew each other’s bodies inside and out. Even back when they were trying to kill each other, when there had been nothing but hatred between them, their chemistry had always been explosive. And now, years later, after spending countless nights getting to know each other, channeling that chemistry into pure, undistilled passion, every touch turned into exquisite fire.

Even now, they sometimes had sex, just the two of them, because no matter what, they wouldn’t know how to exist without one another. They were like two parts of one whole and they constantly gravitated toward each other. But there was a pointed change—nowadays, Seph was always right there with them, sharing their bed, watching and touching himself, telling them how beautiful they looked and how much they turned him on.

Other times, Cloud had sex with Seph, while Sephiroth looked on. The first time that had happened—when Seph had pressed Cloud into the mattress, right in front of Sephiroth, and plunged his fingers into his body—Cloud had expected Sephiroth to explode with jealousy, maybe even turn murderous, but instead, he’d taken an active role in their lovemaking. He’d watched them like a hawk, his eyes hungry and dark with lust, telling them what to do, guiding their touches. He’d ordered Cloud to touch Seph in a certain way and told Seph how best to please Cloud. Doing it like that, knowing that Sephiroth was watching, that he was, in a way, controlling their actions, aroused Cloud beyond all reason.

Cloud could barely believe how agreeable Sephiroth was being. They’d been together for a long time, but he’d never reached the point of fully trusting Cloud. He’d get jealous and petty over the smallest things. Sometimes, if Cloud had to stay overnight during a delivery, he would accuse him of doing things behind his back and get insufferably possessive, just as he had when Seph had first arrived. It always led to some angry, rough sex—which Cloud really enjoyed, if he was being honest—but overall, Sephiroth’s attitude was exhausting.

He’d even get jealous of Cloud’s regulars, telling him they were only using his services to chat him up. Cloud hated that. Not only did it discredit his work, it pissed him off that even after years of being together, Sephiroth still doubted his desire to be with him. And Sephiroth being Sephiroth, he never admitted to feeling insecure; he just turned vindictive and cruel, accusing Cloud of things that had no basis in reality.

That infuriated Cloud because, whether Sephiroth realized it or not, he’d never looked at anyone else. Even before they got together, when he used to feel guilty about it and hated himself for it, he’d only had eyes for Sephiroth. He’d never felt drawn to anyone else; not until Seph. And even then, if the boy hadn’t been a part of Sephiroth, in a way, he never would have captured Cloud’s interest.

So, with all of that in mind, Cloud had expected Sephiroth to be insanely jealous of Seph. As he had been, at first. The fact that he’d even agreed to allow the boy into their bed had shocked Cloud, but what followed had left him completely astonished.

Sephiroth’s attitude toward Seph had changed virtually overnight. Cloud couldn’t really understand it. He went from wanting to strangle the boy to being fully on board with the idea of having him there. More than that, he genuinely seemed to enjoy what they were doing.

Cloud didn’t know what had made Sephiroth change his mind, but he wasn’t about to question it. Things were going incredibly well, and that made him happy, so he gladly accepted it. He wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He’d been afraid, at first, that Sephiroth would allow this just so he could rub it in Cloud’s face every chance he got, hoping to make him feel guilty and miserable. Fortunately, it quickly became obvious that wasn’t the case.

Nowadays, Cloud would catch Sephiroth staring at Seph hungrily, a dark and pensive look in his eyes. It reminded Cloud of the way he used to look at him before they got together. He hadn’t known what to make of those gazes at the time, but now he knew how to read them. It was desire, pure and simple.

And that was something Cloud never could have predicted. Even after they’d agreed to do this, he’d believed he’d always have to be in the middle, bridging the gap, so to speak. That he’d have to balance them out and struggle to keep them both satisfied while they all but fought over him, possessive and vying for his attention.

But it wasn’t like that at all.

Seph had been openly interested in Sephiroth right from the start, but it truly shocked Cloud that his interest was returned. This pleased him greatly. He didn’t want to be stuck in the middle, subjected to endless fits of jealousy. And thankfully, it appeared that he wouldn’t have to be.

Seph was brushing his teeth when Sephiroth stepped into the bathroom, joining him in the cramped space. Not long ago, he never would have done this, but as the weeks passed and they grew closer, this became a completely normal occurrence. On most mornings, they would shave and brush their teeth together, elbows brushing and bumping into each other in the tiny room.

Today, Cloud was in a hurry—he had a lot of deliveries to make, so he was already in the kitchen getting started on breakfast. Seph was alone when Sephiroth entered, standing in front of the vanity. His hair was adorably messy and disheveled from sleep, leaving him looking much softer than usual. He was only wearing a pair of baggy pajama bottoms that were slightly too big for him, riding low on his hips.

Cloud had taken him shopping weeks ago, and bought him more than enough clothes, but Seph still preferred to sleep in Cloud’s hand-me-downs. He insisted they were more comfortable, but Sephiroth suspected that wasn’t his true reason.

Cloud and Seph were almost the same height, with similar stature, so Cloud’s clothes fit him well, except around the waist. The boy’s waist was very narrow, almost delicate, making the pants slip down his hips in a very alluring way. It made him enticing to look at, and he had to be aware of it. Not to mention that Cloud loved seeing him in his old clothes and always took great pleasure in ripping them off of him.

Right now, Sephiroth couldn’t resist letting his eyes slide down the boy’s frame, taking it all in, before looking back up. Their eyes met in the mirror, and Seph blushed, aware that Sephiroth was checking him out. When he saw him looking, he quickly glanced away.

Gods, had he ever been that shy? Not that he could remember, but then again, at that age, he’d been clueless about the pleasures of the flesh. His head had been filled with nothing but violence; endless hours of training, followed by months of deadly campaigns in Wutai. At that age, he hadn’t even known what arousal felt like. Things like that had been completely abstract notions in his mind that he’d never had time to focus on. They had seemed completely irrelevant to someone like him.

As he got older, he’d decided to explore what the whole sex thing was about, yet even then, it hadn’t appealed to him. Stimulating flesh had brought him pleasure, but there was no true desire in any of his trysts. It wasn’t until much later in life that he experienced what true arousal felt like.

Sephiroth had no interest in people weaker than himself, and it was his great misfortune that that included everyone on Gaia. Or almost everyone. It was only after an unremarkable trooper had stabbed him in the back and thrown him down the Nibelheim reactor that Sephiroth had finally felt it. How ironic that it had taken someone killing him for Sephiroth to finally feel alive. And afterwards, Sephiroth couldn’t stop thinking about that trooper, turning Cloud into an obsession, his very anchor to this world.

Sephiroth had never been able to take his eyes off of Cloud again, and it seemed that Seph was just the same. He was drawn to people stronger than himself, who could make him feel helpless and vulnerable, causing him to blush with a single look.

Perhaps they were already more alike than Sephiroth had thought. Despite all their innate strength, they were drawn to powerful people who could tame them. Sephiroth would never admit it out loud, not for anything in the world, but he loved being dominated by Cloud. Even now, Cloud had no idea how much he enjoyed it. The only times he allowed Cloud to top, he made it seem like an imposition, like he was doing Cloud a favor by permitting it, when in truth Sephiroth was the one who craved it.

He couldn’t explain why that was such a difficult thing to admit. Somehow, it felt like it would give Cloud too much power over him; it would make him feel vulnerable in a way he decidedly did not want. He even wondered if knowing how much Sephiroth enjoyed it would change the way Cloud saw him. Besides, he knew how much Cloud loved being taken.

That was why he kept those feelings hidden and chose to take on a dominant role every time. But Sephiroth didn’t mind. Having Cloud melting in his arms, sobbing and begging for him, was a pleasure of a different kind. Sephiroth loved dominating Cloud and watching him submit to him. It was a sign that Cloud trusted him, and that always made him feel special. He loved nothing more than seeing Cloud fall apart at his touch. So it wasn’t as if he was making a huge sacrifice by hiding that part of himself. It was something he craved every now and then, but most of the time, he was perfectly happy without it.

However, it helped him understand the boy. He knew how much Seph craved being taken, being claimed by someone stronger than himself, because he felt the same. At times, Sephiroth envied the boy for being able to express it so easily. Being so young and untainted by the calamities of the world, Seph felt no need to hide his desires. He wished he could do the same.

Seph was especially lucky because he had not one, but two people stronger than himself right at his fingertips. And they both wanted to please him.

It didn’t surprise Sephiroth that the boy was attracted to him; what he found curious was that the attraction was mutual. After all, the boy had never seen himself as an adult, whereas Sephiroth had spent years seeing Seph’s face in the mirror.

It wasn’t even like having a twin, because twins only looked alike at first glance, when in fact they always had distinct features that set them apart. The two of them, on the other hand, were one and the same. Every mole, every freckle, every scar—apart from the ones he’d received later in life—were in the exact same spot. The way Seph knitted his brows when he was deep in thought, the way he glared when he was angry, down to the way he moved and held himself… Everything was the same.

It felt insane to be this drawn, this attracted to what was essentially a carbon copy of himself. But it felt right. It made him finally see his own past in a different light. Despite all of Sephiroth’s grand proclamations and pretensions to godhood, he’d always had problems with self-acceptance. He’d spent his youth feeling abnormal, acting like a recluse and a freak, and his early twenties wondering if he was a monster. Looking at this boy, seeing him for the capable, intelligent person that he was, changed how Sephiroth viewed his past self.

Physically, the two of them were alike in almost every way, but their personalities couldn’t be more different.

Over the course of his life, Sephiroth had become very cruel and jaded, and even though he no longer wished to destroy all of humanity, he still resented it. It was impossible for him not to think of Seph as naive for trying to see the good in people, for trusting strangers and opening up to them. But it was pain that had made Sephiroth change. If Seph remained here, he might not have to learn the same hard lessons Sephiroth had, and it could change the course of his entire future.

It surprised Sephiroth to realize how protective he felt of the boy. When he first came here, Sephiroth had felt nothing but hatred and jealousy. He’d expected the worst of him, seeing him as a threat to the life that he and Cloud had. He’d never imagined he’d come to enjoy the boy’s presence, but it had been a joy watching him transform. Being free of Hojo’s malignant influence had made Seph blossom right before his eyes. And now, Sephiroth wanted to shield him from the pain in the hopes that his future might be different than his own had been.

Oddly enough, Sephiroth had no desire to change his past. After all, he liked who he was. Given a chance, he would do it all over again without changing a single thing. The past had brought him—and Cloud—a lot of pain, but it had turned him into the man he was today. Not a god, after all, but a man strong enough to become one, if he so wished.

Sephiroth considered that strength, and the life lessons he’d learned, invaluable. He wouldn’t wish to trade them for an easier life. As for Seph… as long as he was here, Sephiroth would make sure to show him all the good things life had to offer. He and Cloud would make him feel cherished and accepted in a way Sephiroth himself had never been.

And right now, Sephiroth wanted to make him feel wanted; to stake his claim and sate his own hunger in the process.

He stepped up to the boy and pressed their lower bodies together, crowding him against the vanity. With a sharp intake of breath, Seph glanced up, eyes wide with shock.

Seph was exceptionally tall for his age, already the same height as Cloud, but Sephiroth still towered over him. Without breaking eye contact, he leaned down, pressing his lips to the boy’s neck. A shiver ran through him, making him tremble in Sephiroth’s arms. Sephiroth devoured his neck hungrily until Seph’s knees grew weak and Sephiroth had to pin him against the vanity, crushing their bodies flush together, so he could hold him up.

“What are you doing?” Seph asked, breathless, but he was already leaning back, trying to match Sephiroth’s movements.

“Since the first time you came into our room, you’ve always been watching me.”

Seph bit his lip, an angry flush spreading across his cheeks, but he couldn’t deny it.

“You’ve always been obsessed with my cock,” Sephiroth whispered against his neck, making goosebumps erupt on his skin. He grabbed the boy’s hips and slowly, teasingly, rubbed his hardening cock over his ass. “Am I wrong?”

Seph could only whimper and shake his head, as words deserted him.

“Good,” Sephiroth murmured, biting down on the sensitive spot behind Seph’s ear, drawing out a startled, helpless little moan.

A possessive hand splayed over the boy’s chest, pulling him tighter against Sephiroth’s body. It trailed up his chest, insistent fingers closing around his chin, and turned his head around for Sephiroth to kiss him. He tasted of mint and toothpaste, of innocence and desire. Heat pooled in Sephiroth’s groin.

Without breaking the kiss, Sephiroth shoved the boy’s pants and underwear down to his knees, leaving him naked before him. Seph gasped into his mouth, and Sephiroth smirked. Always so eager, so responsive. He grabbed the nearest lotion off the vanity and poured some of it over his fingers.

Desperate, needy sounds fell from the boy’s lips as Sephiroth’s fingers entered him. He was incredibly tight. Even with just two fingers inside him, he kept writhing in Sephiroth’s arms wantonly, pressing back against him hungrily. His walls clamped down on Sephiroth’s fingers as he stretched him, making him desperately eager to feel that delicious pressure on his cock.

This was the first time Sephiroth had touched him like this. The three of them had been having sex for a while now, but he’d never fucked Seph directly. They’d always used their hands and mouths, and the boy had let Cloud fuck him, but for some reason, this was a line they hadn’t crossed. Until now.

Feeling Seph’s body squeezing and throbbing around his fingers, Sephiroth wondered why in the world he’d waited so long.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” he asked against the boy’s lips, needing to be sure.

“Yes!” Seph sobbed, pressing back against him shamelessly.

So eager, Sephiroth thought, and smiled. That made two of them.

Quickly, he poured more lotion over his throbbing cock, gave it a few strokes, and slid inside.

The boy gasped, going rigid for a few seconds, before mewling and melting against Sephiroth’s chest. His head lolled back, eyes squeezing shut, mouth open in a silent scream. He seemed completely overwhelmed, unable to keep his eyes open. But this wasn’t what Sephiroth wanted, so he grabbed the boy’s chin once more and forced him to look in the mirror, to watch as Sephiroth fucked him. Their eyes met across the glass and held.

“You and I… we are one. In a few years, you’ll look exactly like me. Fucking you will be like fucking myself.”

Seph whimpered helplessly, his eyes falling closed for a few moments before opening again. With every thrust, they dropped to half mast, but then he opened them again.

“Does that excite you?”

“Yes,” Seph confessed in a shuddering breath, wiggling his hips, wordlessly begging Sephiroth to move faster.

With a smirk, Sephiroth bent him over, braced his hands against the vanity, and started pounding into him from behind. Seph’s head dropped down between his arms, his body trembling, his needy, loud moans echoing off the walls.

The sounds must have alerted Cloud, because he was suddenly at the door.

“Seriously, you two!” he said, exasperated. “Breakfast is getting cold.”

“Join us, Cloud,” Sephiroth said, slowing down his movements. What they were doing felt amazing, but it would certainly feel even better with Cloud there.

Biting his lip, Cloud hesitated. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to join them. His eyes raked over them hungrily, lingering over the spot where Sephiroth’s cock disappeared into Seph’s body. As if in a trance, he licked his lips. But then he blinked, snapping out of it.

“As tempting as that sounds, I can’t. I have to leave in fifteen minutes. If you’re coming with me today, Seph, you better hurry.”

“I’ll have him there in five. No promises he’ll be able to sit, though.”

Cloud huffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes. With a smirk, Sephiroth grabbed the boy’s hips and picked up the pace. The vanity rattled from the intensity of his thrusts.

Cloud stayed at the door for a few more seconds, unable to look away, his breaths growing increasingly ragged. He was so reluctant to leave that, for a moment, Sephiroth hoped he would give in and join them. But then Cloud shook his head, as if to clear it, and with what seemed like superhuman effort, he turned away and left, leaving them to finish what they’d started.

“Look at me,” Sephiroth ordered, and Seph obeyed, struggling to keep his head up under the onslaught. “I want you to know who’s fucking you. I want you to come while looking into my eyes, with my cock inside of you.”

“Sephiroth,” the boy sobbed, sending a fresh wave of desire through him.

This had no right being as arousing as it was, but hearing their name fall from the boy’s lips in such a needy voice nearly made Sephiroth come undone. He grabbed Seph’s cock and started jerking it roughly.

The boy cried out their name again, his hips snapping forward, chasing the pleasure in the tight grip of Sephiroth’s fist. Holding his gaze, Sephiroth leaned down, his breaths ghosting over the boy’s ear as he whispered.

“Come for me… Sephiroth.”

The boy’s eyes widened, his pupils dilating. He keened, just as turned on by hearing their name as Sephiroth had been. They moved faster, rutting against each other desperately, moaning and grunting. All finesse was gone, and only primal hunger remained. This frantic, insatiable need for release.

And then, without warning, Seph was coming, crying out their name in a broken sob, hot spurts of come exploding out of him, making a mess. Streaks of it landed on the vanity, staining the mirror, the sink, and everything else within reach. The rest of it dripped between Sephiroth’s fingers as he worked him through his orgasm.

There were tears in the corners of Seph’s eyes, his face flushed with pleasure and exertion. He looked absolutely wrecked and that was the final straw.

Sephiroth bit down on the boy’s shoulder savagely, breaking the skin, pounding into him so hard that it seemed like the vanity might break. He came inside him, marking the boy as his own, as if he weren’t already a part of him in every way that mattered.

Seph reached back, nails digging into Sephiroth’s thighs, tugging wildly and encouraging him to move, letting him ride out his pleasure inside his body.

Once they were finally sated, Sephiroth flipped the boy around and claimed his mouth in a bruising kiss. It was messy and breathless and perfect.

“Come on,” he said, pressing the words into Seph’s lips. “We have about two minutes to clean up and get to the kitchen before Cloud gets angry.”

One day, Cloud came home pushing an old, busted motorcycle. He’d spotted it at the town market completely by chance. It wasn’t as if he’d set out to buy a bike; the money was tight, as it always was, and they barely had any to spare. But the more he examined it, the more he saw the bike’s potential. A cursory glance was all it had taken for him to realize that it was still in pretty decent condition. It would need some fixing up, for sure, but Cloud was confident that he could do it.

The bike wouldn’t start, so the previous owner was selling it for next to nothing, and Cloud knew he’d never get another chance to get one this cheap. Even so, he’d had to talk the man into letting him pay in installments, and he’d even bargained, trying to get him to drop the price some more. It hadn’t been easy, and the man had refused to even consider it at first, but eventually they’d reached an agreement.

The bike looked like a piece of scrap, but Cloud knew that, with a little effort, it would be good as new. For what it was, it was a real steal. He was lucky he’d spotted it on the way home.

Not long after he’d rolled it into the garage, his two lovers showed up.

“Check this out, Seph,” Cloud said. “I got you a bike.”

“For me?” Seph asked in a disbelieving voice. He moved closer and examined it, unable to stop smiling. Sephiroth, on the other hand, took one look at it and scoffed.

“Why would you buy that piece of junk?”

His scornful voice immediately made Cloud’s blood boil. He glared at him and snapped back, “It’s not junk. It’ll run perfectly fine once I’m done fixing it.”

“If you say so,” Sephiroth replied dubiously.

“I do. And since you know nothing about motorcycles, you stay out of this.”

They glowered at each other for a few seconds before Sephiroth rolled his eyes and stormed out of the garage.

Meanwhile, Seph was still looking at his gift, trailing his fingers down its sides reverently. This motorcycle wasn’t nearly as nice as Cloud’s sleek custom rig; even brand new, it was probably only a mid-range model at best. But Seph didn’t seem to mind. His face lit up with delight as he checked out his gift, and Cloud wondered how many presents he’d received in his life. Probably not many, he realized with a sinking feeling; if he’d ever received anything at all. Cloud’s heart clenched at the thought and he vowed to give him things more often, especially seeing how happy they made him.

“Have you ever worked on bikes?” Cloud asked, and Seph shook his head. “Can you ride one?”

“Of course. It was part of my training.”

“Good, then I won’t have to teach you. But I can show you how to fix one, if you want.”

“Sure,” Seph said, and Cloud set to it immediately.

They spent the next few days in the garage, working on the bike. Cloud taught Seph about its parts, their uses and what to do if one of them broke down on the road. He showed him how to change the oil, check tire pressure, and lubricate the chains and cables. 

Motorcycle maintenance wasn’t easy—there was a whole checklist of things one needed to do to make sure their bike was in good riding condition—but as expected, Seph was a very quick study. He soaked up all the information instantly. Cloud only needed to show or explain something to him once, and he’d already be able to do it himself.

It didn’t take long for Cloud to figure out what was wrong with the bike. It had a few blown fuses, so he just had to replace them. It was an easy fix. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any spare ones lying around in the garage, so he wouldn’t be able to fix it until he managed to go out and buy some. In the meantime, he focused on repairing other minor defects and teaching Seph everything he knew.

Spending all their time in the garage, working on things that didn’t interest him, soon made Sephiroth start sulking. On day one, he’d been rather supportive—if one could call it that, after he’d instantly dubbed the bike a piece of junk. But he’d brought them coffee and sandwiches, and even kept them company for a while, which Cloud had found rather thoughtful.

The trouble was that Sephiroth hated being in that cramped, dirty space, as he called it, so he refused to stay there for long. And since Cloud and Seph spent endless hours in there every day, Sephiroth’s mood had quickly soured. Apparently, he’d expected them to fix the bike much faster.

The longer it took, the grumpier he became. Sephiroth hated being ignored, and with both of his lovers focused on something else, he was forced to spend his days alone inside the house. It infuriated him.

“Why is Sephiroth so angry?” Seph asked one afternoon, kneeling by the bike as Cloud tinkered with the engine.

“Just ignore him.”

They fell silent for a few moments. Only the sound of bolts being tightened broke the stillness, the rhythmic, metallic sound echoing around them. Even without looking at the boy, Cloud knew that he wasn’t satisfied with his answer and prepared himself for the inevitable follow up question.

“Does it bother him that we’re spending time together?” Seph asked, sounding rather downcast at the thought. It made Cloud finally put down the wrench and turn to look at him.

“I don’t think so. Not really.”

“Why then?”

Why, indeed. Why did Sephiroth do any of the things he did? Even after years of knowing him, his actions were still a complete mystery to Cloud sometimes. It was ridiculous that even his younger self couldn’t understand him. But Cloud had some ideas.

“He probably feels neglected. This isn’t the first time. Sephiroth hates it when I’m busy and can’t give him my full attention.”

Seph chuckled. “I see.”

“Yeah. There’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m sure this isn’t about you.”

Seph nodded, his expression turning pensive. “Well, can we do something to make him feel better?”

“Why should we? He’s sulking for no reason,” Cloud said, picking up the wrench again and getting back to work. He wiped the sweat off his forehead using the back of his hand and scowled when he realized it was covered in motor oil. Seph tried—and failed—to bite back a smile.

“You two are really terrible at talking to each other, you know that?”

“You only just realized that?” Cloud asked with a self-deprecating little chuckle.

He’d often wished things could be different between him and Sephiroth. In the early days, he’d even expected everything to magically change overnight, after they’d started having sex. Crossing that line was supposed to bring them closer, to destroy all the barriers between them, or so Cloud had thought. But it hadn’t happened. Sephiroth remained as difficult to talk to as ever, completely unfathomable at times.

Eventually, Cloud had settled into their reality, losing all hope of things ever changing. He was under no illusion of who they were, and he was happy enough as it was. What they had wasn’t perfect, perhaps, but it worked. Everything was fine until Seph showed up and started questioning everything.

“You know, you told me about your past and all that bad stuff, but you never told me how you two got together. How do you start dating after trying to kill each other?”

Cloud laughed and shook his head. “Even I don’t get it sometimes. It just sort of happened.”

“Well, sure. But how? Who made the first move?”

“He did. He started following me around and refused to leave me alone, no matter what I did. I thought nothing of it at first, because he used to do that—before. He used to stalk me and act all creepy around me. But this time, it felt different. I kept waiting for him to attack me, but he was just there… hanging out. It was weird as hell. I didn’t know what to do with him. So, after a while, I confronted him about it. And instead of explaining himself, like a normal person, he shoved me against the wall and kissed me.”

Seph gasped, “He didn’t!”

“Oh, he did.”

“And I thought my social skills were bad!” Seph said, laughing. “So, what happened next?”

“Well… I wish I could say I refused him. That I punched him for jumping me like that. But, despite my shock—and I was shocked, that really came out of nowhere—I kissed him back. And, well, you can imagine the rest.”

“Just like that?” Seph asked, sounding almost disappointed.

“What were you expecting, some fairytale romance?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? Besides, you still haven’t told me how you fell in love.”

The words made something heavy settle in the pit of Cloud’s stomach. There was a slight tremor in his hands, so he gave up working on the engine and got to his feet. He tried to sound casual, aloof, as he answered, but he was sure Seph could see right through him.

“Who said anything about love?”

“Come on, Cloud. You already told me you loved him ages ago, remember? That day out on the road?”

Cloud sighed, feeling cornered. He remembered that day well. Back then, he was trying to get Seph to back off, to give him time to talk to Sephiroth, so he’d let those words slip, and now there was no point denying it.

“I just don’t like throwing that word around.”

“Why not, if it’s true?”

“It’s—”

“—complicated, yeah, I know.” Seph parroted Cloud’s words back to him and rolled his eyes. “Remind me, how long have you two been together?”

“Why?” Cloud asked, folding his arms in front of himself defensively. He’d made sure to wipe his hands on a rag first, so he wouldn’t ruin his clothes.

“Just humor me.”

“Three years,” he said after an extended pause.

“And after all that time, you still can’t say it. Why? What’s so complicated about it?”

“Our past, Seph. I told you.”

“But why? Do you think he’d use those feelings against you if he knew?”

“I don’t know,” Cloud admitted softly. He didn’t like thinking about this or questioning the way things were. He’d long since accepted them, so he wished Seph would stop trying to rock the boat. Everything was fine as it was. “I mean, he sort of knows already, I guess. I’ve never said it, but I’ve hinted at it.”

“And yet he never tried to use it against you?” Seph pressed, refusing to let it go.

Cloud narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. The point Seph was trying to make was blatantly obvious, and Cloud almost refused to answer out of sheer spite. Still, in the end, he relented. “He hasn’t.”

“Well, there you go then.”

Seph made it sound so simple, when in reality it was anything but. No matter how he felt, Cloud couldn’t imagine saying those words to Sephiroth. Just thinking about it made him feel raw, ripped open and vulnerable. There was no way he could do it.

“There’s also another way of looking at it—there’s no need for me to say it, if he already knows.”

“It’s not the same, Cloud,” Seph insisted. “I mean, wouldn’t you like to hear him say it?”

The question made Cloud grow quiet again. There had been a time when he’d wanted nothing more. He’d hoped Sephiroth would say it one day, but as with everything else, he’d long stopped hoping it would ever happen. Hesitantly, he bit his lip and said, “It would be nice… But it wouldn’t change anything. I already know he cares about me.”

“I’m sure something would change,” Seph said, refusing to back down. In this, he was just like Sephiroth—too stubborn and single-minded when he set out to do something. “Saying it is a sign of trust, Cloud… And not saying it means you don’t really trust him.”

“I… guess so,” Cloud agreed reluctantly. He just wanted this conversation to be over. There was no point in talking about this when he knew he was never going to say it anyway.

“But you do love him, don’t you?” Seph pressed. He was like a dog with a bone; Cloud knew he wouldn’t leave him alone until he admitted it.

“Of course I do,” he said quietly, and it felt good, almost liberating, to finally say it out loud.

Seph beamed at him, looking very pleased with himself. For only a moment, his eyes flicked toward the door and Cloud’s stomach dropped. He whirled around… but there was no one there. With narrowed eyes, he turned back to look at Seph, who was the very picture of innocence. He was trying to act like nothing was wrong, but there was a slight flush to his cheeks and he refused to meet Cloud’s eyes.

“Why do you insist on talking about this?”

“No reason. I just think you two should talk to each other more,” Seph replied airily before kneeling down and trying to busy himself with the bike, probably hoping to distract him.

Cloud looked back at the door warily. He had no doubt that Sephiroth had heard everything, but he didn’t understand what Seph was trying to accomplish. In some misguided way, he was probably trying to help them.

“I know our relationship is hard to understand sometimes, but you don’t need to worry about us. We’re good as we are, aren’t we?”

Seph gave him a little nod and Cloud leaned down to kiss his forehead.

“Come on, let’s finish up here.”

A few days later, they were alone in the garage again when Seph came up with a new set of questions.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“More questions?” Cloud asked exasperatedly, but the boy didn’t let that stop him. He just nodded and plowed on, regardless.

“I couldn’t help but notice something, and it made me wonder...”

“What?” Cloud asked, suddenly curious. Seph had asked him about anything and everything and he’d never held back, even when he was overstepping. Cloud wondered what this could possibly be about to make him hesitate like that.

“Does Sephiroth always top?” he asked, at last, and Cloud almost dropped the wrench.

He blinked, gaping, utterly taken aback by the question. He’d expected this to be about the past again, because Seph seemed obsessed with it, or about his feelings or any of the million other things the boy kept pestering him about. Not... this.

“Most of the time, yeah. Why?”

“I’m just curious. Since he is technically me, I’m surprised he doesn’t want to bottom more often. I mean, I know how much I love it.”

The bike forgotten, Cloud stared up at Seph, stunned speechless. This conversation hadn’t gone the way he’d expected at all. It was making Cloud’s head spin, a million thoughts running through his head.

Sephiroth had always given him the impression that he hated it. Sometimes, he reluctantly agreed to let Cloud top, but he always made it seem like was only putting up with it for Cloud’s sake. He’d never said anything about liking it.

But Seph was absolutely right—the two of them were one and the same, so if Seph loved it, then it stood to reason that Sephiroth did, too. At worst, he had to at least like it.

Cloud could barely believe it. How could he not have known? And why hadn’t Sephiroth told him? But then he remembered that damn pumpkin soup and how stubborn and closed off Sephiroth could be. He was terrible at admitting what he wanted. Pigheaded as he was, Cloud wouldn’t be surprised if he believed this to be a weakness somehow.

“He never told you he liked it, did he?” Seph asked knowingly, and Cloud could only shake his head.

“I had no idea.”

“Well, now you know.”

Cloud tried to remember all the times Sephiroth had bottomed, replaying everything in his mind, questioning every interaction. It felt like a veil had been lifted off his eyes and he could finally see. Looking back, it was rather obvious how much Sephiroth had enjoyed it, and Cloud cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.

“Now I know,” Cloud agreed. “I don’t think he’ll be happy to know you’re giving away his secrets, though,” he pointed out, but Seph just grinned cheekily.

“Too bad he can’t stop me. Besides, I’m doing him a favor. Now you can give him what he wants without him having to ask for it.”

Cloud laughed, but the gratitude he felt nearly choked him. Unable to put his feelings into words, Cloud took the boy into his arms and kissed him, pouring every emotion into that kiss, letting his body speak for him.

There was still so much he didn’t know or understand about Sephiroth. Without Seph guiding him in the right direction, showing and telling him things, there was so much he never would have known. Not about this, or so many other things. He and Sephiroth were truly terrible at talking to each other, that much was undeniable. But with Seph’s help, maybe someday they could learn to overcome what was holding them back.

That night, Cloud decided to surprise Sephiroth and test out his newfound knowledge. With Seph’s help, Cloud was going to destroy Sephiroth with pleasure.

It started out like any other night—they got on the bed, completely naked, and started kissing. Sephiroth’s heady kisses and insistent touches almost distracted Cloud enough to make him forget about his plan. It would have been so easy to surrender to the currents of passion and let Sephiroth take him once more. But no; he wanted to do this for them both. If his assumption was correct, then Sephiroth had spent literal years putting Cloud’s needs ahead of his own, and tonight Cloud wanted to give back for everything he got.

After they’d already spent an inestimable amount of time kissing, Seph and Cloud slid down Sephiroth's body, worshiping every inch of it. They made him gasp, writhing and leaning into their touches, shattering his usually calm and collected demeanor. He gazed down at them with dark, lustful eyes, and Cloud couldn’t help but grin. Sephiroth had no idea what was waiting for him.

By the time they reached his cock, Sephiroth was already more than half-hard. His sizeable length looked glorious, swollen and red, twitching against his stomach. Unable to resist, Cloud took it into his hand and stroked it until it was thick and throbbing, fully hard. Sephiroth squeezed his eyes shut, letting the waves of pleasure wash over him.

Now that he was ready, Cloud gripped the base of his cock and held it up for Seph to take it into his mouth. Making use of his unique talent, Seph took him in deep without hesitation. Sephiroth arched off the bed, snapping his hips, ramming his cock deeper down the boy’s throat. Seph moaned and swallowed around him hungrily, as Sephiroth’s hand tangled in his hair and pulled him even closer.

At the same time, Cloud’s hands slipped lower, caressing the sensitive flesh of Sephiroth’s balls, making him shiver. Leaning down, Cloud took one into his mouth, kneading the other between his fingers. Sephiroth groaned and spread his legs apart, offering himself to Cloud, completely unaware that he was doing it. His free hand gripped Cloud’s shoulder, fingers digging in like claws, as Cloud teased him with his tongue.

With Sephiroth thoroughly distracted, almost delirious, Cloud pushed his legs even wider apart, and moved to kneel between them. Seph was still busy worshiping his cock, overloading his senses, giving Cloud time to focus on other, more important things. He bent down and covered Sephiroth’s inner thighs with open-mouthed kisses, sucking and biting, ripping moans from his throat as he moved closer and closer to his goal. When he neared his entrance, Sephiroth trembled.

“Cloud,” he grunted, almost in warning, but his body bent toward Cloud, belying him.

Undeterred, Cloud lifted Sephiroth’s hips slightly off the bed, dragging his lower body closer to his face. The changed angle forced Seph to release his cock, but that didn’t stop him for long. He immediately moved up the length of Sephiroth’s body and decided to focus on his nipples instead.

There was a slight flush to Sephiroth’s cheeks as he watched Cloud kneeling between his spread legs, pulling his cheeks apart obscenely. Cloud held his gaze as he leaned down and plunged his tongue inside of him. Sephiroth keened, arching closer, ripping at the sheets desperately. His thighs quivered in Cloud’s arms as he tasted him.

Even half-delirious as he was, Sephiroth reached for the boy and tried to pull him closer, to gain access to his already aching cock, but Seph just shook his head.

“Tonight is all about you,” he said, and before Sephiroth could ask what he meant, he silenced him with his lips.

He pressed into his side, rubbing his hardness against Sephiroth’s flank, stealing his breath away with heated kisses. His wandering hands mapped out Sephiroth’s chest and pinched his sensitive nipples, setting his body on fire.

Cloud swirled the tip of his tongue around Sephiroth’s rim, teasing him, compelling him to press back against him in the hopes of making him penetrate deeper. He rocked against Cloud in urgent little thrusts, shuddering moans falling from his lips.

Cloud couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized how much Sephiroth loved this. He was actually terrible at hiding it.

It elated Cloud to see him so needy. Usually, Sephiroth was very good at suppressing his emotions, but whenever Cloud did this to him, whenever he had a tongue inside him, it was like a dam breaking, forcing all of his repressed desires out into the open.

Sephiroth arched up again, bucking closer, but Cloud wasn’t about to give him what he wanted just yet. He teased the entrance with his tongue, pressing only the tip inside before pulling back out. Repeating the action again and again, Cloud left Sephiroth’s gasping, his whole body taut and trembling with need. He glared at Cloud with blown pupils and eyes dark with desire.

“Cloud,” he growled again in warning, but Cloud knew better than to take his threats seriously.

It was fun to tease him, to have him on the verge of begging for a change, but Cloud was too aroused to do this for long. He was too eager to be inside Sephiroth, so the next time he moved, he finally plunged his tongue all the way in. Sephiroth cried out, throwing his head back, extending his long neck, making his hair cascade around him wildly.

Seph seized on the chance and attacked his neck with ravenous kisses, sucking on his thundering pulse. His fingers traced invisible patterns over Sephiroth’s chest, feeling his muscles ripple beneath them, inching lower.

Cloud stretched Sephiroth with his tongue until he was nice and loose, pliant around him. Glancing up, he saw that Sephiroth had squeezed his eyes shut, no longer able to keep them open. He was flushed, his hair a mess, panting on the pillow while Seph ravaged his neck.

The intoxicating wave of arousal that crashed over Cloud at the sight nearly staggered him. Cloud’s fingers replaced his tongue, delving into that tight heat, rough and impatient. Cloud had reached his limit, and he couldn’t wait much longer. Luckily, Sephiroth felt the same.

“That’s enough. I’m ready!” Sephiroth growled, his voice ragged. He wasn’t begging, of course not, but this was probably the closest he’d ever come to doing it. And Cloud didn’t need to be told twice. Hooking one of Sephiroth’s legs over his shoulder, he slid inside, making them both gasp.

Being inside Sephiroth was a feeling unlike any other. His tight, hot body clenched around Cloud, driving him crazy with desire. But that wasn’t all. There was just something deeply special about reducing his fierce and stoic boyfriend to such a whimpering mess, wanton and moaning, all but begging for Cloud’s cock.

The knowledge that Sephiroth enjoyed this just as much, if not more than Cloud himself, spurred him on, making him fuck Sephiroth with complete abandon. Clutching his thighs, Cloud pounded into him with all his strength.

By then, Seph’s hand had reached Sephiroth’s cock and started stroking it. His touches were slow and gentle, creating a contrast with Cloud’s savage thrusts, sending thrilling sparks of arousal reverberating down Sephiroth’s spine, making him cry out their names and press closer.

Seph’s hips rocked against Sephiroth’s side, rubbing up against him, seeking friction and release, chasing his own pleasure as he kissed him. He was desperately hard, but he barely paid attention to his own needs, fully focused on Sephiroth’s pleasure as he was.

Cloud knew he wasn’t going to last; Sephiroth’s body felt too tight, too hot, the pressure on Cloud’s cock absolutely divine. He only hoped he wouldn’t come embarrassingly fast and certainly not before Sephiroth. After all, this night was supposed to be all about him. Cloud wanted to make this amazing for him. To leave him unable to deny how much he liked it, perhaps even get him to admit that he loved it.

Cloud turned his head, sucking on the hollow of Sephiroth’s knee, his hips never losing their rhythm. They moved against each other, gaining momentum, and soon it was all too much.

It was impossible to say which one of them came first. All Cloud knew was that Sephiroth had let out the most delicious, feverish sound that penetrated down to Cloud’s very core, leaving him burning. Sephiroth came, gripping Cloud’s hips, rocking back against him frantically, and Cloud followed, moaning his name, filling him with his seed.

And Seph wasn’t far behind. He whined, mesmerized by the sight of their release, his movements turning more urgent by the second. Grinding his hips against Sephiroth’s body desperately, Seph’s teeth sunk into his neck as he, too, came with a broken sob.

Sometime later, when they were lying beneath the covers, curled around each other, Sephiroth finally got a chance to ask, “What brought this on?”

His words were muffled against Cloud’s hair as he breathed him in, holding him close. With a lover on each side, Sephiroth ran his fingers up and down their backs lazily, waiting for sleep to claim them. Cloud leaned back a little so he could look him in the eye as he answered him.

“I heard this crazy rumor that you actually enjoy this a lot.” Sephiroth shot Seph a murderous look, but the boy just grinned, unrepentant. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Cloud asked.

“There was no need for you to know.”

“Of course there was!” Cloud insisted with a frown. “It’s important to me to know what you like, Sephiroth. I want to make you feel good.”

“You always make me feel good, Cloud, no matter what we do.”

Without giving Cloud a chance to reply, he kissed him, long and deep. He kissed him until Cloud was breathless and dazed and all sensible thoughts had fled his mind. Next, he kissed Seph, languid and lingering, proving that he wasn’t angry about his secret getting revealed. And then, he reclined against the pillow and closed his eyes, effectively declaring the conversation over.

Cloud wanted to argue, to press him some more, to insist that Sephiroth should tell him about these things in the future, but he knew there was no point in trying. When Sephiroth got like this, when he decided to clam up, there was no getting through to him.

So, Cloud kissed Seph goodnight and reclaimed his place on Sephiroth’s chest, snuggling closer. They’d have to figure this out another time, but thanks to Seph, Cloud now had a feeling they would. For the first time in a very long time, the hope that things might change rekindled inside him.

Chapter Text

After replacing the fuses, it was easy to finish repairing the bike, and to Sephiroth’s great relief, Cloud and Seph stopped spending so much time in the garage.

With both of them doing deliveries now, they finally had enough money to live comfortably instead of having to scrape by. For the first time in his life, Cloud actually had some money set aside. Savings. He could barely believe it. Just weeks ago, being able to buy food and everything else they needed and still have some extra money left over at the end of the month would have been unthinkable.

Not having to worry about this anymore was a huge load off his shoulders, because he’d always hated living week to week and struggling to provide for himself.

Of course, Sephiroth could have helped him out ages ago, but Cloud had never pressed the issue. He saw Sephiroth as a ticking time bomb. He himself despised working with people, but he was prepared to suck it up and do what was necessary. Sephiroth, on the other hand, was far less patient. When he hated something, things could quickly turn ugly.

Besides, his face was too recognizable. Every once in a while, someone would look at him and say, “You look like that dead Shinra hero, you know the one?” It always set Sephiroth on edge. He’d grit his teeth, tension teetering on violence, until Cloud intervened. He’d laugh and tell them a lot of people made that mistake, dismissing it as nothing. But if it were to happen when Sephiroth was out there on his own, there was no telling what he might do. If someone was stupid enough to push him, Sephiroth wouldn’t hesitate to protect his identity by any means necessary. Cloud knew that, so he preferred to keep him away from people.

That was why Cloud never insisted on him finding a job and allowed Sephiroth to sit around doing nothing all day while he worked his ass off. A little extra money wasn’t worth the added stress.

But with Seph there, Cloud could finally take a breather and get some much needed help.

It was the same with house chores; Cloud was used to doing everything by himself. Sephiroth was like an overgrown cat—he acted like he owned the place, but he never lifted a finger to help maintain it. Apart from cooking, which he’d taken on for his own selfish reasons, he refused to do anything else. This annoyed Cloud to no end, and they sometimes argued about it, but nothing ever changed. Sephiroth was useless around the house, anyway, and had no desire to learn. When they’d first started living together, Cloud had tried forcing him to help out, with some disastrous results, so he eventually gave up.

But now, with Seph there, Cloud no longer had to do everything alone. Working on house chores together not only made them get done faster, but it made them a lot less boring.

As weeks passed, and Cloud and Seph split up the chores between them, turning them into a game, laughing and joking as they did them, Sephiroth started feeling left out. He hated being neglected. So, one day, he showed up out of nowhere and decided to help out. Cloud couldn’t believe his eyes. His sudden desire to help was appreciated, but he still didn’t know what the hell he was doing—he tried to vacuum the curtains using max power and nearly ripped them to shreds—so they quickly ordered him to sit down and do nothing.

That left Sephiroth lounging on the sofa as the two of them worked. Refusing to be ignored, Sephiroth sure had a lot of advice to give for someone who didn’t know how to do anything himself. Ever the backseat driver, he tried to take control of the situation until Cloud finally snapped and shooed him off to the bedroom, to go read his books, and let them clean in peace.

On the weekends, when Cloud’s delivery business was closed, they’d go out into the desert to spar. Sephiroth got listless very easily, and he hated being cooped up indoors. And since Cloud didn’t allow him to roam the streets unsupervised, he always insisted on spending their free time out of the house. He hated sitting still for too long, so after a whole week of lounging on the sofa, he had to go out and work off his pent up energy somewhere. And sparring was a great way to do that.

Fighting Sephiroth was as exciting and magical as it had been back in the day when the stakes were much higher. Sephiroth’s moves always left Cloud impressed; his speed and accuracy were unmatched. Or rather, they used to be until Seph stepped into their lives.

Seph was still unable to defeat Sephiroth in one-on-one combat, but to Cloud’s utter disbelief, he was even faster than him. Being smaller and lighter made him dart across the desert so quickly that even Cloud’s enhanced eyes could barely track him.

He used a lot of the same moves as Sephiroth, yet he somehow executed them differently. Maybe it was because he was shorter and didn’t have as much strength to put into his blows, so he found other ways to make up for that. Whatever the reason, sparring with him felt completely different, and Cloud had fun finding new ways to parry and defeat his opponent.

He was so used to sparring with Sephiroth that he knew his skill set by heart. Before Sephiroth even attacked, Cloud knew what move he was going to make. With Seph, he had to stay on his toes.

One day, Cloud and Sephiroth were sparring, while Seph sat on a nearby rock, watching them with rapt attention. The fight had been going on for some time, getting very heated, with both of them eager to win. Unfortunately, they knew each other too well, so they were stuck in a stalemate, neither of them able to get the upper hand. Eventually, they started pulling out rarely used moves in the hopes of catching their opponent off guard. So far, nothing was working. They were too evenly matched and too familiar with each other.

Cloud darted aside, changing directions mid-attack, attacking with all his strength from the opposite side. He finally thought he had Sephiroth on the ropes. With a grin, he swung at Sephiroth, already prepared to declare victory. But it wasn’t to be. Sephiroth leapt into the air gracefully, his lone black wing erupting behind him. With a smirk, he looked down at Cloud as he hovered above him, just out of reach.

“That’s cheating!” Cloud yelled after him, but Sephiroth only chuckled.

Using the velocity to his advantage, he plummeted down and attacked Cloud with all of his might. Cloud’s feet skidded on the sand, propelled by the power of the onslaught, yet he somehow managed to parry. He shoved Sephiroth away, and attacked again, spinning in midair before bringing his sword down.

They were so focused on the fight that took them some time to notice that Seph had moved. He was on his feet now, gaping at them, shock written all over his face.

“What’s wrong?” Cloud asked, lowering his weapon.

“You have a wing,” Seph addressed Sephiroth slowly, as if testing the words out, making sure that he wasn’t crazy. He couldn’t stop staring.

“I do,” Sephiroth said. Ever the show off, he flexed his wing, sending a few stray feathers into the air around them.

“Why do you have a wing?” Seph asked, inching closer, still unable to take his eyes off of it. “Wait, do I have one?”

“I don’t think you do,” Cloud said, and Seph’s face fell.

He had no idea how lucky he was that he didn’t have it, considering the price it entailed. But Cloud wasn’t about to tell him that. His fascination with the wing was adorable. Or it was, until the boy’s thoughts moved in a decidedly different direction. Something shifted in his eyes, expression suddenly playful.

“We have to make use of it tonight!” he exclaimed, a mischievous grin splitting across his face.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Sephiroth said firmly.

“Why?” the boy asked, looking between them.

Sephiroth frowned and clammed up, but at that point, Cloud became curious, too. “Seriously, why not?”

Sephiroth looked at him in disbelief. “Wouldn’t you mind?” he asked Cloud, searching his eyes.

“Why would I mind?” Cloud asked, genuinely confused. When Sephiroth let out a frustrated sigh, Cloud felt like he was missing something painfully obvious. 

“Oh, I don’t know, Cloud. Maybe because it comes with a lot of baggage and evokes bad memories?”

Blinking rapidly, Cloud stared at him in shock; he’d never thought of it that way. It wasn’t as if Sephiroth’s wing was particularly traumatic or like it reminded him of something especially bad. Sephiroth’s entire existence was tied to a heap of awful memories that could easily be triggered by anything. But luckily, most of the time, they stayed in the past, where they belonged.

“I don’t mind your wing, Sephiroth,” he said softly.

For a few seconds, Sephiroth eyed him doubtfully, as if expecting his words to be a lie or a half-hearted platitude, but then he nodded.

The conversation left Cloud feeling confused and unsettled. He wouldn’t have thought that Sephiroth would take the time to consider what bothered him, much less that he’d feel self-conscious because of it. And that was exactly what this was about, Cloud realized with no small amount of shock.

Usually, Sephiroth appeared indifferent, if not downright callous, but as it turned out, he was trying to be considerate in the only way he knew how. Thinking back, Cloud realized he hadn’t seen the wing in years, but it had never occurred to him that Sephiroth was hiding it from him. That he was trying to protect him in some strange, misguided way.

“Does that mean I’ll get to play with it tonight?” Seph asked hopefully, breaking Cloud out of his reverie.

“I think it does,” he replied with a smile, glancing at Sephiroth for confirmation until he eventually nodded.

Their fight long forgotten, they decided to cut their training short and head home soon after. Seph kept rushing them, too eager to return. By the time they got back, Seph was nearly vibrating with excitement, and Cloud wasn’t any better. 

They fell into bed that night, nearly ripping each other’s clothes off, too eager for each other.

As soon as his shirt was off, Sephiroth unfurled his magnificent wing, sending a slight breeze through the room, brushing across Cloud's heated skin. Cloud moved closer, spellbound. He touched the wing reverently, kissing and caressing every part he could reach, giving it special attention to let Sephiroth know that it didn’t bother him at all.

The feathers were incredibly soft and beautiful, and Cloud couldn’t stop running his fingers over them. Most important of all, they were remarkably sensitive. Only a few strokes had Sephiroth biting back moans, trembling in his arms.

Cloud and Seph made Sephiroth lie down on his stomach, giving them unrestrained access to his wing. They explored and worshiped the soft, silky feathers with gentle, but insistent touches, until the wing flexed and trembled uncontrollably and Sephiroth moved feverishly beneath them.

There was a sheen of sweat covering Sephiroth’s body, light tremors rocking his frame as his hips occasionally ground down against the mattress, desperately seeking friction. Cloud kissed down the length of his spine, tracing every vertebra, feeling Sephiroth’s muscles ripple beneath his hands.

Seph, on the other hand, only had eyes for the wing. He buried his fingers in the soft baby downs, making Sephiroth sob and arch back against him obscenely. He panted, breathless, as if Seph had penetrated his body and not simply touched his wing.

Cloud gripped his hips possessively, holding him in place as he moved down his body, licking down his spine. When he sunk his teeth into the firm flesh of Sephiroth’s ass, he gasped, his wing twitching uncontrollably.

So uncontrollably, in fact, that he slapped Seph in the face, nearly making him fall off the bed.

“Ah… I apologize,” Sephiroth said breathlessly, lifting himself onto his elbows and turning around. Seph laughed it off, rubbing his stinging nose, and leaned in to kiss him.

The wing contracted and molded around Cloud, drawing him closer, making him join the kiss. Those gorgeous black feathers tickled his body, sliding across his skin, setting it on fire. They teased his chest, flicking over his sensitive nipples, making Cloud’s whole body hum with need.

Slightly unsteady, Sephiroth tried to lean back against the headboard, only to discover that he couldn’t; the wing got in the way. But no matter. After some shuffling, they changed their positions and now Cloud was lying on his back with the other two leaning over him. Seph still refused to let go of the wing, so he stood behind Sephiroth, embracing him from behind. They rocked together, kissing, rubbing up against each other, the pleasure rising and tipping over into madness.

As Sephiroth’s arousal grew, lowering his inhibitions, he lost control of the wing again and accidentally dislodged Seph. Without meaning to, he shoved him across the bed.

It didn’t take them long to realize that, as gorgeous as Sephiroth’s wing was, it was very impractical. It sent feathers flying everywhere and took up half the bed, making it a logistical nightmare. No one could approach Sephiroth from behind, nor could he lie on his back. It greatly limited their options.

Still, they didn’t let that stop them.

They found a comfortable position with Sephiroth standing by the bed, his majestic wing extended behind him as he pounded into Cloud, who was on his hands and knees, worshiping Seph’s cock with his mouth. Seph gripped the back of Cloud’s head, holding him in place as he thrust into his mouth roughly, needy cries escaping him. His eyes, full of wonder, still gazed upon that wing.

Sephiroth’s hands were like brands on Cloud’s hips, gripping him hard enough to bruise, pulling him back against himself, impaling him on his thick, hard cock. Cloud whimpered, nearly delirious with need, swallowing around the throbbing cock in his mouth. It felt incredible to be filled from both sides, to have his two lovers using him for their pleasure.

Sephiroth slammed into his prostate mercilessly, hitting it with every thrust with nearly surgical precision, and soon Cloud could take no more. He came untouched, tears streaming down his face.

When hot liquid hit the back of his throat, Cloud squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed, trying not to choke, desperate to savor every last drop. He moaned around the length in his mouth, feeling it pulse against his tongue. And then Sephiroth was coming too, making warmth spread through Cloud’s insides. His own cock twitched limply beneath him, already spent but desperate to come again in the face of such devastating pleasure.

They tried to cuddle up after, but the wing got in the way yet again.

With a frustrated sigh, Sephiroth got rid of it. Finally, he could stretch out on his back and pull his lovers to him. Seph looked sad to see it go, but even he didn’t try to argue. It was impossible to deny how inconvenient it was.  

With an unspoken agreement, they decided to reserve the wing for special occasions, and keep having sex without it in the meantime.

“Where are we going?” Seph asked for the umpteenth time that night.

“You’ll see,” Cloud replied cryptically, just like every time before. The boy pouted and looked at Sephiroth.

“Don’t look at me. I know as much as you.”

Sephiroth was telling the truth; Cloud had refused to tell either of them anything, hoping to surprise them.

A few days before, a conversation with Seph had left him feeling troubled. He’d jokingly mentioned first dates, only to have Seph tell him that he’d never been on one. 

“You’ve never been on a date?” Cloud had echoed in disbelief.

“When would I have gone? You’re the only ones I’ve been involved with, and you only ever take me to bed,” the boy had said lightly as if it were nothing, as if his words hadn’t just knocked Cloud’s world off its axis.

Crippling guilt had slammed into his chest, nearly winding him. He had grasped for something, anything to say, for some way to apologize, but Seph had waved it off.

“Don’t make that face,” he’d chastised, smiling. “Does it look like I’m complaining? I like things as they are, Cloud. There’s no need for you to feel guilty about anything.”

He’d moved away, leaving Cloud standing in the hallway, frozen to the spot. The conversation had ended just like that, but Cloud couldn’t stop thinking about it, knowing that they hadn’t treated the boy right. Cloud vowed to do something to fix it as soon as possible, to give Seph a memorable first date.

And not only him. After everything he’d learned about Sephiroth over the past few weeks, Cloud had started to wonder if he, too, would enjoy a bit of romance.

Whenever Cloud had thought about doing something nice for him in the past, the fear of being mocked had stopped him. He’d been certain Sephiroth wouldn’t appreciate such unnecessary outpourings of sentimentality. But, looking back, perhaps Cloud had been wrong about that, too.

He felt awful that, even after years of being together, he’d never asked Sephiroth out on a date. In his defense, it had never occurred to him that Sephiroth might want to go. Over the past month, however, Cloud had come to learn that there was much he didn’t understand about Sephiroth.

Thinking back, he now believed that Sephiroth’s fits of jealousy might have also been a consequence of his insecurity. The man was just too stubborn and proud to admit it, but he must have been uncertain of where they stood. And that was on Cloud. He should have made his feelings clear from the start, but he’d been too afraid, too focused on his own fears and doubts.

Besides, money was always tight, forcing Cloud to save wherever he could, and since dates and romance didn’t really seem like Sephiroth’s style, it was easy to dismiss them as an unnecessary expense.

It wasn’t as if Cloud was poor, exactly. His business was booming and had been for years. After the Geostigma crisis, many people had parcels to send, but everyone was struggling to make ends meet. To help them out, Cloud had decided to keep his rates as low as possible, to make sure everyone who needed them could afford them. Unfortunately, that meant that he had to work long hours and get very little in return.

Sephiroth often teased him about being too frugal and obsessed with money. He was wrong, of course. It wasn’t an obsession. Cloud wasn’t consumed with the idea of becoming rich, or anything like that. He just wanted to have enough. As someone who’d come from poverty, Cloud understood what it meant to go without. His mother had always struggled to provide from them, and although she’d done her best to make sure Cloud never felt or saw how bad things actually were, it hadn’t completely escaped his notice.

When he was ten or eleven years old, he’d found his mother crying in the kitchen. He could still vividly remember how she’d looked, sobbing into her apron, trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn’t hear her. Even as a child, he’d instinctively understood that she was hiding her tears because she didn’t want him to know. He’d understood because he’d had a lot of experience crying like that in his room when he hadn’t wanted his mother to worry about him being picked on by the bullies at school.

And so, Cloud had hidden and waited for his mother to stop crying. Afterwards, once she’d gone back to her room, he’d sneaked into the kitchen and searched for clues. What he’d found was a heap of overdue bills with scary red stamps. Their electricity was about to be cut off, and they had been given a three-month stay on an eviction order.

Those were some big words, and Cloud hadn’t understood them at the time. It was only later that he’d realized how dire things had actually been.

Cloud had no idea what his mother had done at the time, but somehow, she’d managed to deal with it all. They’d never had their electricity cut off, and they’d never been evicted. But it couldn’t have been easy. Knowing how much she’d suffered broke Cloud’s heart. To this day, it pained him that he hadn’t been older, that he hadn’t been able to help her at the time.

But that event had changed him forever, shaping him for years to come. It had permanently changed the way he saw the world and the way he treated money. Even at fourteen, when he’d decided to join Shinra, one of his reasons had been to make money. He’d wanted to lessen the burden on his mother, and instead of having her provide for him, he’d decided to send her a big chunk of his paycheck every month. And that was what he’d done for the rest of her life.

Since becoming an adult, Cloud had never been poor, but that didn’t make his fears go away. Sephiroth couldn’t understand, of course. He’d never been destitute. In his youth, all his expenses had been covered by Shinra, and later… Well, he’d somehow become Cloud’s responsibility, making him pay for everything.

Cloud was okay with that most of the time. Surprisingly, Sephiroth never made any great financial demands. He wanted food and shelter and never asked for anything else. But that didn’t stop him from mocking Cloud whenever he bought something on sale, or when he opted for generic dish soap or toilet paper. The only luxury Sephiroth insisted on was a premium quality shampoo, and Cloud could grant him that much.

Cloud disliked spending money on unnecessary things, and even now, it wasn’t easy for him to spend a ton of money on a single night out. He’d checked out a few restaurants before making a reservation, and the prices had made his head spin. Hoping to make the night special, he’d picked a famous restaurant known far and wide for its delicious beef. It was a popular date spot in Kalm, which explained the exorbitant prices, but that didn’t make them any easier to accept.

Every cell in Cloud’s body screamed at him that this was a waste of money. They could have had a lovely dinner at home, where they could have talked comfortably without fear of anyone bothering them, and then proceeded to the bedroom for some dessert.

But no; Cloud wanted to do this, at least once. Some things were more important than money... and that was something he’d never thought he’d be able to say! Imagining the joy and surprise on his boyfriends' faces was urging him on. What he wanted right now, more than anything, was to make them happy. And not even his traumas could get in the way of that.

As they neared the restaurant, nervousness filled him. What if they hated it? What if he’d been right before, and Sephiroth really thought things like this were a waste of time?

His nervousness was palpable, and Sephiroth, who always had an uncanny ability to read Cloud’s feelings, laid a comforting hand on his lower back. Cloud looked at him curiously and received a small smile in response.

“It’ll be fine,” Sephiroth whispered, just loud enough for Cloud to hear.

And that, too, was different. Just weeks ago, Cloud couldn’t have imagined him acting this way—being considerate and offering comfort. The gesture made happiness settle in Cloud’s chest, sending pulses of warmth throughout his body, making him feel like he was walking on air. He smiled, suddenly very optimistic about the night ahead.

When they entered the restaurant, Cloud could barely keep his jaw off the floor. It exuded luxury at every turn. From the rustic, dark mahogany tables, to the tasteful decorative lights adorning the walls, all the way to the finely dressed waiter who greeted them at the door and lead them to their table—everything promised extravagance.

Cloud felt woefully out of place and did his best not to show it.

They were seated in a secluded booth—Cloud had made sure to request one when making the reservation—that allowed them some small illusion of privacy.

“What’s the occasion?” Seph asked, looking around and taking it all in.

Cloud shrugged helplessly, unsure how to explain himself. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of this. “I just thought we could have a nice dinner together.”

“Fed up with Sephiroth’s cooking?” Seph teased, and Cloud realized how easily his words could be misinterpreted.

“No! That’s not it at all, I just...” he sputtered, feeling flustered, grasping for words.

“He wanted to take you out on a date,” Sephiroth explained for him and Cloud nearly swallowed his tongue.

“How...?”

“You weren’t nearly as secretive as you thought, Cloud.”

Cloud flushed furiously. He’d wanted the night to be a surprise, but of course Sephiroth had seen right through him!

“This is a date?” Seph asked, his intense green eyes boring into Cloud’s. The lights in the restaurant were dim, but Cloud could have sworn the boy’s cheeks darkened, his gaze turning heated.

“Yeah,” he admitted softly. “You told me you’ve never been on a date, so I wanted to surprise you.” His eyes flicked over to Sephiroth. “Both of you.”

Sephiroth arched an eyebrow, and Cloud prepared himself for his cutting words; he clearly didn't appreciate the insinuation. He looked at Cloud, eyes blazing, but he mercifully remained quiet.

Curiosity was killing Cloud; he wanted to ask if this was really Sephiroth’s first date as well, or if he’d, perhaps, dated dozens of people as a famous Shinra general, when Cloud had been just a faceless grunt in the crowd. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to ask, knowing that Sephiroth wouldn’t appreciate such a question.

All that mattered was that this was his first date with Cloud, so he’d make this a night to remember.

Seph grinned at him, flipping through the menu over and over again, reading the names of dishes out loud. He was having a lot of trouble deciding, and Cloud couldn’t blame him. Everything looked delicious!

After repeatedly second-guessing himself and changing his decision at least half a dozen times, Seph finally opted for beef Bourguignon. Sephiroth chose the prime rib-eye steak with wild mushrooms—because of course he just had to pick the most expensive thing on the menu—and Cloud went with a simple beef fillet with horseradish and prosciutto.

It was a little funny that they’d all ended up ordering beef, but that was what the restaurant was known for—as Cloud had pointed out to them while they were looking through the menu. It would have been a shame not to try their specialty.

“What made you pick beef Bourguignon?” he asked Seph, after the waiter had finished taking their orders.

“I don’t know... It sounded classy, I guess.”

Sephiroth laughed—not just a chuckle, but a full belly laugh, warm and rich. The boy blushed, suddenly embarrassed, but Sephiroth couldn’t stop. At least he wasn’t being mean about it, Cloud thought, looking between them. There was nothing malicious or condescending in his eyes as he looked at Seph. In fact, he looked rather fond.

“That is a beef stew with a fancy name,” Sephiroth pointed out, after he’d calmed down, still chuckling.

“Oh.” Seph couldn’t hide his disappointment; his shoulders slumped as he fidgeted with the edge of the tablecloth.

“Tell you what,” Cloud interjected. “We’ll all trade and try each other’s orders. Would you like that?”

This really didn’t look like the kind of place where that would be encouraged, but Cloud couldn’t care less. He was spending a fortune on this dinner, so he’d make damn sure that Seph got everything he wanted. And if his smile was anything to go by, he really liked the idea.

After a few minutes, the waiter returned with the wine Cloud had ordered. He held out the bottle for him, but Cloud had no idea what he was supposed to do. These kinds of fine dining places really weren’t his forte.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sephiroth smirking at him, leaning back in his chair, with no intention of helping. Trying to be as subtle as possible, Cloud kicked him under the table, but that just made Sephiroth grin. The bastard!

Cloud looked at the wine appraisingly for what he hoped was an appropriate amount of time before nodding, praying that was the right thing to do. The waiter thanked him and proceeded to open the bottle. Thanking his lucky stars that he’d guessed the correct etiquette, Cloud let out a sigh of relief.

But his struggle was far from over.

The waiter poured a tiny amount of wine into his glass and looked at Cloud expectantly. He chanced another glance at Sephiroth, who was clearly trying not to laugh. Cloud resisted the urge to kick him again. Instead, going on instinct, he picked up the glass and tasted the wine. It was fine. Honestly, Cloud couldn’t tell one wine apart from the other. They all tasted the same to him. So he nodded again, and finally the waiter filled all three glasses and left.

“So nice of you to help,” Cloud said, glaring at Sephiroth, who was still looking at him fondly, a small smirk playing on his lips.

“You seemed to have it under control.”

“So? Is it any good?” Cloud asked, after Sephiroth had finally taken a few sips.

“It’s perfect, Cloud.”

The way he said it, and the way he looked at Cloud, implied that he wasn’t really talking about the wine. Cloud blushed and ducked his head, no longer angry that Sephiroth hadn’t helped him out. Flustered, he buried his face in his own glass, taking large gulps of wine to distract himself.

When Seph reached for his glass, Cloud stopped him.

“Are you okay to drink?” he asked, and the boy looked at him incredulously.

“If I was old enough to kill people, I think I can handle a bit of wine, Cloud.”

And what could he say to that? So he simply raised his hands in surrender, and let Seph drink.

But as the night wore on, and Seph’s cheeks turned red, his eyes glassy, dissolving into giggles whenever he opened his mouth, Cloud was starting to seriously question this decision.

“I thought you said you could handle your liquor,” he accused, unable to hide his exasperation.

With another fit of giggles, Seph shook his said. “I never said that.”

“Yes, you did!”

“Nope! I said I think I can handle the wine. Guess I was wrong,” he grinned, and even Sephiroth couldn’t help but chuckle at that, shaking his head at the boy’s logic.

“Great,” Cloud grumbled. “Some first date this will be, if he ends up with a hangover.”

Spending the morning throwing up would certainly make the night memorable, just not in the way Cloud had hoped.

“Don’t worry, he’s just tipsy,” Sephiroth assured him. “We can’t get drunk, Cloud.”

Right. He knew that Sephiroth couldn’t, of course, but it was so easy to forget that the two of them were the same person. As much as they looked alike, Cloud still couldn’t help but see them as different people.

“I still think you’ve had enough,” Cloud said and reached for Seph’s glass, only for him to pull it out of the way.

“Just a little more,” he pleaded with a pout. “I thought this was supposed to be my special night?”

That manipulating little... Cloud glared at him, but the boy clutched his glass to his chest like a hard-won prize. In the end, Cloud rolled his eyes and caved; it was impossible to refuse him when he looked at him like that.

“Fine. But only a little!”

By the time the food arrived, Seph had managed to drink two more glasses, which was way more than a little, but the joy on his face was so obvious, his laughter so remarkably carefree that Cloud couldn’t even be mad.

They traded their meals as they’d planned, and while the waiter threw them a few dirty looks, no one outright reprimanded them, so Cloud considered it a win.

Seph ended up loving his own order, so he wolfed it down greedily as he chatted with Cloud. He wasn’t really drunk, but the alcohol had lowered his inhibitions, making him look like the teenager he was, for once. It warmed Cloud’s heart to see him so happy.

Seph was so excited, talking animatedly, that he didn’t even notice there was a tiny smudge of sauce in a corner of his mouth. As if hypnotized, Cloud reached over and wiped it off with his thumb before bringing it to his lips.

The words died on Seph’s lips as he looked at Cloud in shock. Suddenly, Cloud became aware of what he was doing and quickly snatched the digit out of his mouth.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, feeling a flush creeping up his cheeks; that had been inappropriate, especially in such a public setting. Perhaps he’d had a little too much to drink himself. Or perhaps he was simply drunk on all these heady emotions filling the air.

“It’s fine, Cloud,” Seph whispered softly, looking at him from beneath his lashes as he ducked his head shyly. “Thank you for tonight. I never imagined what dating would be like, but this is nice. I’m having a great time.”

Cloud beamed at him happily, overjoyed that his mission had turned into such a tremendous success.

They kept chatting as they ate, talking about everything and nothing, just enjoying each other’s presence. Sephiroth’s order was probably Cloud’s personal favorite, and even after he’d finished the portion given to him, he kept stealing bits of it off Sephiroth’s plate.

At first, Sephiroth pretended not to notice, but after Cloud became really brazen and was about to eat half of his meal, Sephiroth finally slapped his fingers away. Cloud blushed, mumbling out an apology before going back to his own food.

He spent a few minutes lost in conversation with Seph, and when he turned around, he found a large chunk of rib-eye on the side of his plate. Sephiroth was pointedly ignoring him, pretending he had nothing to do with it, but Cloud could barely breathe around the lump in his throat. He shot Sephiroth a helpless little smile, the affection in his heart nearly choking him.

Before they left the restaurant, Seph had to use the restroom, leaving him and Sephiroth alone for a few moments. Cloud used the chance to wave down the waiter and ask for the check. After he paid, he looked up to find Sephiroth staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“But I can practically hear you thinking. What is it?”

Sephiroth huffed, a small smirk spreading across his lips. “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d willingly spend so much money on food. It’s nice,” he added, after Cloud had already opened his mouth to defend himself, so he promptly closed it. “I’m glad you can finally relax and not worry about money for a change.”

“Yeah,” Cloud agreed. It was nice being able to relax for once. “I know you’ve been telling me to relax for years, but in my defense, I used to be the only one making money. I had reason to worry.”

“We never would have gone without, Cloud. I would have taken care of you.”

The lump returned to Cloud’s throat, even bigger than before. Objectively, he knew that Sephiroth couldn’t have done much to provide for them—not unless he wanted to become a mercenary or something, since his talents weren’t exactly bankable in peacetime—but Cloud deeply appreciated his words all the same.

It had been awfully stressful being the sole breadwinner, and knowing that Sephiroth had always had his back, that he’d always intended to help if things got bad, made Cloud overflow with affection. He desperately wanted to kiss Sephiroth right then and there, but they’d never been big on public displays of affection. So instead, he reached over and covered Sephiroth’s hand with his own, squeezing it tightly.

“Thank you,” he said, voice thick with emotion, hoping that Sephiroth would understand the multitude of meanings that word encompassed.

One night, when they were lying in bed together, sated and happy, for some inexplicable reason, Seph decided it would be a good time to talk.

“I wanted to ask you about Nibelheim.”

“No,” they both replied at once.

“Why not?”

“Some things are best left alone,” Sephiroth told him sharply, his voice a clear warning.

Unfortunately, Seph never knew when to leave things alone. His face took on a mulish expression as he insisted, “You can’t keep running away from your past.”

“What would you know?” Sephiroth hissed. “You weren’t there! The only reason we can be together is because we pretend some things never happened.”

Seph set his jaw obstinately; it was clear he was about to argue some more, but Cloud’s mind couldn’t move past what Sephiroth had just said.

“Is that what you think?” he asked.

Sephiroth turned to look at him, brows knitting into a frown. All of a sudden, he didn’t sound so sure when he asked, “Don’t you?”

“Of course not. I could never forget what you did, Sephiroth. It would be pointless to pretend otherwise.”

They lapsed into silence for a while. There was a strange, uncomfortable tension in the air and Cloud missed the carefree happiness that had been lulling him to sleep mere moments ago. If only he could go back in time and stop Seph from saying anything. The boy’s curiosity was going to be the death of him.

Cloud understood what Seph was trying to do, and he had no doubt that the boy meant well, but no good could come from picking at these old wounds. They had nothing new to say to each other, so talking about this could only make things worse.

“If you’re not trying to pretend the past never happened,” Sephiroth started to ask, his eyes boring into Cloud’s, looking at him like a puzzle impossible to solve, “how can you be with me?”

The question was posed so quietly that it took Cloud a few moments to register the words. He faced Sephiroth, meeting his questioning gaze dead on. Seph was lying between them, trying to make himself as small as possible, not to encroach on this moment. The moment he’d worked so hard to create—for better or worse, they were finally talking about this.

Immediately, Cloud wished they weren’t, because this was precisely what he meant whenever he called their relationship complicated. He couldn’t even understand it himself, much less explain it to anyone else. Because, of course he hadn’t forgotten any of the horrible things Sephiroth had done. Those memories existed in his mind, intertwined with everything positive and good that came after, all indelible parts of one single whole—the complex, impossible man he loved.

Those memories would always be there, and Cloud would never be able to forgive some of the things Sephiroth had done, but ultimately, none of that changed how he felt. That shouldn’t have been possible, and the guilt should have been crippling, yet it wasn’t. Those feelings were a part of him, and Cloud had long since stopped trying to fight them.

Over the years, he’d gotten to see many different sides of Sephiroth, and while he was still infuriating and insufferable in a lot of ways, he was more than the worst of his sins.

Reaching for Sephiroth’s hand, Cloud said, “Because I know that’s not all you are.”

The words hung heavy between them, their implication clear—Cloud wasn’t trying to absolve him or say that those crimes weren’t in Sephiroth’s nature, but there was more to him than that.

“Did he ever apologize?” Seph asked, and Cloud could only scoff.

“Of course not.”

“Why not?” the boy asked, looking at Sephiroth.

“Words are meaningless. They can’t change the past.”

“Well, sure,” Seph agreed easily, “but do you regret it?”

Silence descended around them again; Cloud closed his eyes. He wanted to leave. He really didn’t want to hear what Sephiroth had to say, because he had no doubt what his answer would be. That man had never regretted anything in his life. And while Cloud knew that, and stayed with him in spite of it, he really didn’t want to hear him say it.

But somehow, Sephiroth surprised him.

“I regret hurting you, Cloud,” he said, and Cloud’s eyes snapped open, unable to believe what he’d just heard. “I do not regret the rest of it. I wish I’d made the whole world burn. I regret letting you stop me.”

Cloud let out a sound that was somewhere between a sob and a disbelieving laugh. Leave it to Sephiroth to act arrogant, even when discussing his own defeat.

“I don’t recall you letting me stop you…”

“Let’s agree to disagree.”

Cloud rolled his eyes, but decided to let it go. That wasn’t the point, anyway. There was a far more pressing question he needed to ask.

“If you regret not going through with it, are going to try again?”

Sephiroth pursed his lips, considering. The fact that he needed even a second to think about it made Cloud want to strangle him.

“I have more important things in my life now. My desire for revenge isn’t as strong anymore.”

The word now sounded a lot like for now, and Cloud didn’t like it at all. He wished Sephiroth could be clearer; that he could simply say, I’d never do that to you, Cloud, but he knew that was too much to hope for. At least Sephiroth regretted hurting him, which was honestly more than Cloud had expected. And as long as that held true, he could hope that Sephiroth wouldn’t hurt him in the same way again.

Soon, Cloud managed to steer the conversation away from Nibelheim and after a while, they lapsed into silence, waiting for sleep to claim them.

The night left Cloud feeling strange, but a lot lighter, somehow. As if a burden he hadn’t even been aware of had been lifted off his chest.

Nothing had been said that he hadn’t already known, not really, but this was something they’d never discussed. Everything Cloud knew, or thought he knew, was based on his assumptions alone. For better or worse, it was nice to learn what Sephiroth actually thought. And while his responses certainly could have been better, the fact that they could finally talk about the worst part of their past and try to find common ground left Cloud feeling hopeful. It felt like an invisible barrier that had kept them at a distance had suddenly ceased to exist. He felt closer to Sephiroth than ever before.

Reluctantly, he was forced to admit that Seph had been right all along.

Running away from the past and pretending it didn’t exist was a very stupid thing to do; he could see that now. With gentle prodding and well-placed questions, Seph had slowly forced them to open up, to face their feelings in a way they’d never done before. It was terrifying, at times, and sometimes Cloud wished the boy would just leave the past well enough alone, but he couldn’t deny that he was helping them.

His actions had brought them closer in these short few weeks than they’d been after dating for years.

Sparring always left them in high spirits, their adrenalin running high. On such days, they could barely get through the door before they’d start ripping each other’s clothes off.

Even after weeks of being together, they were still insatiable for one another, and they were lucky their enhancements provided them with enviable stamina, so they could enjoy each other for hours on end.

On one such night, after they’d spent the day in the desert and their blood was buzzing with excitement, Sephiroth stood in the middle of their bedroom, naked, with Cloud and Seph kneeling at his feet. He smirked down at them, caressing their heads with long, elegant fingers, drawing them closer with a possessive grip.

Sephiroth always craved control, but it was impossible to say who was controlling whom in this moment. Kneeling at his feet didn’t mean submission; it meant trust, freely given. And maybe they’d finally come to understand that things like that didn’t matter at all. There was no control or ownership between them, just pleasure.

Looking up at Sephiroth, holding his gaze, Cloud leaned in and traced the thick, long vein on the underside of his cock with the flat of his tongue. He licked slowly, tasting every inch on his way up. Sephiroth hummed encouragingly, tightening his hold on Cloud’s hair, using his other hand to bring Seph closer.

Now they were both exploring Sephiroth’s throbbing length, covering it in sloppy, greedy kisses. They moved up and down in tandem, tracing all the veins and ridges, until their eyes met. One look was all it took to reach an unspoken agreement. They moved together as one, meeting at the tip, their breaths mingling. With the glans between them, they started kissing, open-mouthed and wild.

They licked at the tip, crushing it between their soft lips, the taste of Sephiroth’s slick exploding inside their mouths. They both moaned obscenely, alternating between sucking on each other’s lips and tasting Sephiroth’s cock. Cloud loved this; there was just something special about kissing Seph with the taste, smell and feel of Sephiroth’s rock-hard cock between them.

Sephiroth guided their heads, urging them together, his eyes blazing with desire as he watched them kiss and pleasure him at the same time. He rocked his hips a few times, making his cock slide between their lips, seeking friction.

This went on for a while, until Sephiroth was practically panting, rutting against them with abandon, his body tense, taut as a bowstring.

Unable to take any more, Sephiroth wrenched them away and made Seph stand up. The boy was beautifully flushed, his lips swollen, eyes glazed with desire.

“How would you feel about taking us both tonight?” he asked, and Cloud’s heart stuttered to a stop. With bated breath, he awaited the boy’s answer.

“Both?”

“Yes. At the same time.”

“Oh,” Seph said, sounding almost awed, his pupils dilating. He blushed, teeth sinking into his plump bottom lip. “I… I think I’d like that very much.”

“Good,” Sephiroth murmured, before claiming his mouth in a bruising kiss.

They moved to the bed, kissing and touching, naked bodies sliding together. With a lot of care and crazy amounts of lube, they slowly prepared Seph. His body was deliciously responsive, as always, and the pleasure he was feeling so intense that he actually came twice before Cloud and Sephiroth had deemed him ready. By then, he was completely mellow and loose, his body pliant, melting like putty in their hands, eager and more than ready to take them.

Sephiroth lay prone, his hard cock jutting out, glistening with lube and precome.

“Come here and ride me, facing away from me,” he instructed.

Nodding, Seph straddled him. He reached back, positioned Sephiroth’s cock against his entrance, then slowly lowered himself onto it. His mouth fell open in a soundless moan as the length entered him, his eyes squeezing shut.

He was so thoroughly stretched that it slid inside smoothly with no resistance whatsoever and he gasped, shocked to find himself already seated on Sephiroth’s lap. He braced himself against Sephiroth’s knees and began to move, lifting his hips and slamming down again. Soon, his head was thrown back, desire and pleasure mounting inside him.

Sephiroth ran his hands up and down his back soothingly before setting them on his ass, kneading and stroking. He spread his cheeks apart, watching as his cock moved in and out of the boy, making lewd, squelching noises.

The action made Seph whimper and move faster. In front of him, Cloud was watching them with hungry eyes, stroking his cock, covering it with copious amounts of lube.

When he couldn’t wait anymore, Cloud kneeled in front of the boy, and then they were kissing. It was chaotic and clumsy and absolutely divine. Still bouncing on Sephiroth’s cock, Seph was drowning in pleasure, lost in the throes of desire, making his kisses sloppy but hungry and desperate.

“Lie back,” Cloud ordered, nudging him down.

Sephiroth was immediately there to welcome the boy into his arms. His cock still pulsing inside of him, Sephiroth grabbed Seph’s knees and lifted them up. He spread his legs apart and offered him to Cloud like a present.

“Gods, you’re a vision…” Cloud whispered, his voice unsteady and thick with desire, before covering them both with his body.

He leaned down and kissed Seph, then Sephiroth, their kisses urgent and desperate. Without even looking down, he pressed the tip of his cock against Seph’s already stretched rim.

“I’ll go slow,” he promised and Seph nodded, flushed and breathless and beautiful.

Slowly, gently, Cloud pressed inside, feeling his cock slip past that tight ring of muscle. Seph moaned and Sephiroth shushed him, kissing his neck and shoulders, trying to soothe him. Once the tip was inside, the rest was easy, but Seph still felt incredibly tight. Cloud closed his eyes, counting to ten, trying not to come on the spot. His cock was pulsing, squeezed from all sides. He could even feel Sephiroth’s thick length throbbing beside it, which made everything even more arousing.

Fully sheathed, he paused, giving them all a chance to catch their breaths.

Looking down into two sets of slitted green eyes, their pupils blown wide, Sephiroth’s silver hair in disarray and splayed out beneath them, the moment felt almost surreal. Cloud loved both of these men so much it hurt.

The words stuck in his throat, choking him. He was still unable to say them, so he leaned down and kissed Seph instead. He was feeling completely overwhelmed; not just by the intense pleasure he was feeling, but by the enormity of the intimacy of this moment. They’d had sex many times already, but never like this. Never with the three of them all joined together as one.

No one said anything, but Cloud could see it in their eyes—they all felt the same.

Finally, he started to move.

Thrusting in and out, Cloud felt the walls of Seph’s hole clamping around his cock, Sephiroth’s cock sliding alongside him inside that narrow, hot tunnel. This was a pleasure unlike any Cloud had ever experienced before. He braced his hands on the pillow, on either side of Sephiroth’s head, unable to take his eyes off of his lovers as he moved. Sephiroth was still holding Seph’s legs spread out, thrusting into him from below, while Cloud pounded into him from above.

It was messy and uncoordinated, they’d certainly need more practice to make this perfect, but even as clumsy as it was, it already felt amazing.

Seph’s arms wrapped around Cloud, tugging him closer, clawing at his back, almost shredding his skin in his lust and desperation. Cloud understood that he needed more, so he gave it to him. He snapped his hips, setting a punishing pace, making the boy mewl and writhe as he whispered praises into his ear.

“You feel amazing, Seph.”

“Such a good boy,” Sephiroth murmured and Seph whimpered, trembling between them.

The feeling of Sephiroth’s cock moving in tandem with his own, squeezed tight inside that delicious, moist cavern, sliding and rubbing and thrusting together, was too intense, too intoxicating and new, and it was almost embarrassing how quickly Cloud came undone, pleasure exploding behind his eyelids.

“Seph—Sephiroth!” he cried brokenly, his hips moving frantically.

He felt warm liquid cover his cock, and he knew that Sephiroth had followed him over the edge, his own seed mixing with Cloud’s. They moved together as one, driving in and out of Seph, filling him to the brim, and then the boy was coming too, tears in his eyes, clutching at them desperately, rocking against them uncontrollably.

They curled up together afterwards, cradling Seph in their arms, pressing gentle kisses into skin and hair, murmuring soft words of affection. The boy had a dopey smile on his lips, but he seemed slightly overwhelmed in spite of it, so Cloud made sure he could feel how loved and appreciated he was.

Exhausted but happy, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Somewhere on the other side of Kalm, a portal opened.

A young man with jet black hair and a Buster Sword on his back stepped through it.

He looked around as if searching for something.

Or someone.

Chapter Text

It was no secret that Cloud hated market day. There were people everywhere, crowding the streets, and the prices were outrageous. On top of that, the quality of the goods was questionable at best.

All these reasons and more were why Cloud gave the Kalm market a wide berth whenever he could.

Unfortunately, Seph was absolutely fascinated with it. For weeks, he’d been trying to talk Cloud into coming with him to the market, while Cloud kept finding excuses to avoid it.

Eventually, though, he relented.

Seph had never had a chance to visit a town market before. As a young Shinra hero, even on those rare occasions when he had a chance to walk among the populace, people would recognize him and make a spectacle out of him. There would always be someone stalking, gawking, or taking photos of him.

So, naturally, Seph was very excited to explore the stalls without anyone bothering him.

The outing wasn’t exactly romantic, not with all those strangers bumping into them, but it still felt like a date, with the two of them strolling around, chatting, their hands brushing as they walked.

Being with Seph made even market day bearable, and as time went by, Cloud had to admit he was enjoying himself. He was glad he’d agreed to come.

There was nothing in particular they needed to buy, so they took their time browsing. Cloud had a mental list of items they needed for the house, but they were unlikely to find them there, and even if they did, they would surely be overpriced. Still, there was no harm in looking. At least they could get some groceries before heading home.

Seph, on the other hand, seemed interested in absolutely everything.

Moving from stall to stall, he looked at all sorts of items—from fruits and vegetables to flower pots and handmade souvenirs. Cloud followed after him without complaint, unable to hold back a smile.

Seph was just admiring the craftsmanship on some daggers when they were rudely interrupted by a stranger.

“Sephiroth…?”

They both froze, glancing at each other in alarm. No one knew Seph’s name, and no one had ever mistaken him for the fallen Shinra hero before.

Itching for his sword and cursing himself for deciding to leave it at home, Cloud turned around.

“Angeal,” Seph gasped in shock, setting him on edge.

Cloud had a ridiculous urge to grab Seph’s hand and run away. Whatever had brought Angeal here couldn’t be good. In fact, Cloud could think of only one reason for his presence, and he couldn’t even allow himself to consider it. 

With a grin, Angeal tried to pull Seph into a hug. “It’s so good to see you! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Seph sidestepped and turned away, resisting the embrace, leaving Angeal looking like a fool. He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Why were you looking for me?” Seph asked coldly. The tension in his shoulders seemed to increase with each passing second.

Cloud observed them both curiously. It had been a long time since he’d seen Seph so stiff and unfriendly. Angeal acted as if they were friends, but Seph’s body language told a different story. 

“What do you mean, why? I was sent to rescue you!” Angeal smiled, obviously proud of himself. He patted Seph on the shoulder, beaming. “I’ll get you home in no-time!”

Cloud’s stomach dropped at the words.

Of course. That made sense. Hojo would never allow Seph to simply disappear. A man like that would leave no stone unturned trying to find his precious specimen. Besides, Seph didn’t belong here. Cloud knew that. He had his own life back in his timeline. There were people who cared for him—like Angeal—and obligations he needed to return to.

But Cloud didn’t want him to go. And he absolutely didn’t want Hojo to sink his claws back into him.

Again, he imagined grabbing Seph, running away and sequestering him somewhere until the world forgot about him. Somewhere no one would bother them, where the three of them could be alone and happy, as they had been for the past month.

In the dark recesses of his mind, Cloud even imagined forcing Angeal to leave, hurting him, doing whatever it took to make sure he never returned to disturb them again.

But he knew he would never act on those impulses; Angeal had done nothing wrong. In fact, he believed he was saving Seph.

And the most important question was—what did Seph want? Did he want to stay here, with them? Or would he prefer to go back?

“Hojo’s worried sick about you,” Angeal was saying, breaking through the haze of Cloud’s misery. “He’s been desperate to find you. Shinra, too. We’re losing the war without you.”

Seph’s face twisted in disgust, and Cloud desperately wished he knew what he was thinking. Was he reacting to the idea of Hojo actually caring about him, or the fact that Shinra had placed the burden of winning that damn war solely on his shoulders?

“How are you even here?” Seph asked.

“Hojo made this machine…” Angeal waved his hands in the air haphazardly, mimicking the action of something being created out of nothing. But then he paused and frowned, scratching his chin awkwardly. “Honestly? I don’t know how any of it works. From what I heard, he’s been working on it for a while. He thinks you activated it by accident and got sent here.” Angeal looked around, as if still trying to determine where exactly here was. “He tried to send me after your right away, but he couldn’t get the machine to work. It probably got damaged when you activated it and it took Hojo a few weeks to fix it. Luckily, it memorized your location, so we knew exactly where to find you.”

“Lucky me,” Seph mumbled bitterly.

“Look... I know it took me too long to get here, but we all did our best,” Angeal said by way of apology, misunderstanding the reason behind Seph’s ire. “The important thing is that you can finally come home.”

For a second, Seph’s eyes flicked over to Cloud’s, and the look of utter devastation in them nearly broke him. But then he looked away, and his face settled into an emotionless mask.

It was chilling, seeing him like that. He looked too much like his older self, utterly distant and cold. He’d opened up so much since coming here… it was devastating to see him regress and retreat into his shell so quickly.

“How are we supposed to get back?” Seph asked.

“I was sent here through a portal. They gave me a week to find you, and once those seven days are up, another portal will open to take us back. It’s already been three days, so we won’t have to wait long.”

“Right… Okay,” Sephiroth said stiffly. “Then I’ll meet you here in four days.”

He turned to leave, but before he could take a single step, Angeal grabbed his shoulder, halting him.

“Hold on a second! What do you mean? Where are you going?”

“I have things to take care of before I leave. I can’t waste my time talking to you.” He shrugged off Angeal’s hand roughly, and to his credit, Angeal finally backed away, frowning.

Cloud stared at Seph in disbelief.

It was difficult to reconcile this rude, unfriendly behavior with the sweet, respectful boy he’d gotten to know. There was no need to be so blunt. After all, Angeal was only trying to help.

But Seph was already walking away, leaving Angeal looking stunned as he watched him go.

Cloud jogged to catch up.

“You don’t like him much, huh?”

“What?” Seph asked, utterly distracted. “No, I… I just didn’t expect to see him here.”

“Mm… But isn’t he your friend?”

“I had no friends back there!” Seph snapped before catching himself and letting out a shuddering sigh. Softly, he added, “I suppose Angeal tried to be my friend... But we never quite got there.”

They lapsed into silence for a while, heading home. Their shopping was long forgotten; all that fun and happiness felt like a lifetime away.

“Are you going to go back with him?” Cloud asked quietly, unable to hold back any longer, terrified of the answer.

“What choice do I have?” Seph asked in turn, his voice flat and completely devoid of emotion.

Cloud wanted to tell him that it was his choice, that he didn’t have to leave unless he wanted to. It was his future, after all, so it should be his decision and no one else’s. But he knew it was never that simple, especially when Sephiroth was involved—regardless of age. He wasn’t an ordinary person. To Shinra, he was a valuable asset, and to Hojo, his most precious experiment. They would stop at nothing to find him.

The moment they entered the house, Seph made a beeline for the living room, where he knew Sephiroth would be. He took the armchair, leaving Cloud to join Sephiroth on the sofa.

It was such a small thing, yet Cloud couldn’t help but think that he was already distancing himself from them, both physically and emotionally.

He sat stiffly in the armchair, looking at them with empty, dead eyes.

Sephiroth looked between them and sat upright, his shoulders tensing, realizing immediately that something serious must have happened.

“Angeal is here,” Seph said without preamble. “He’s here to take me back.”

Sephiroth’s eyes widened; for a fraction of a second, they filled with emotion, but then, like shutters coming down, a mask fell across his face, hiding whatever he was feeling.

The two of them wore matching expressions, looking completely indifferent and cold, almost inhuman, and Cloud wanted to scream, to slap them and shake them until they snapped out of it.

After everything, was it really this easy to revert to old habits?

“When are you leaving?” Sephiroth asked.

“In four days.”

“I see.”

He didn’t try to offer any reassurances or ask Seph to stay. They both sounded unnaturally calm, collected, like they were discussing the damn weather. Cloud’s mind was spinning. This whole situation was making him feel like he was losing his mind.

“Is this really what you want?” he asked the boy, unable to stop himself.

Seph’s eyes snapped to him and there was finally a flicker of emotion in them. Pain. Anger. Indignation. And something more Cloud couldn’t quite recognize, but at least it replaced that awful dead gaze.

“I’ve never had the luxury of getting what I want, Cloud,” he said coldly and got to his feet. Refusing to say anything more, he retreated to his room—the guest room that had been vacant for weeks.

Cloud jumped up, determined to follow him, desperate to do something, but Sephiroth held him back.

“Are we just going to let him go? Don’t you care?” Cloud demanded angrily.

“What do you expect me to do, Cloud?”

“I don’t know! Something. Anything. We can’t just let him leave!”

Sephiroth tugged him closer, making him sit on his lap, strong arms coming up around him, embracing him.

“It has to be his choice, Cloud. Just like everything else we’ve done.”

“Look at him! He’s miserable. You can’t actually believe he wants to go!”

“Of course he doesn't want to go, but he has to choose to stay. It has to be his decision. I refuse to decide for him.”

Cloud sighed and burrowed deeper into Sephiroth’s arms. “I wish I could decide for him,” he grumbled petulantly, making Sephiroth chuckle. “Maybe we could hide him away until Angeal leaves.”

Soft fingers carded through his hair and Cloud leaned into the touch. It was very unlike Sephiroth to be this gentle, so he soaked up every caress, engraving it in his memory. Cloud just wished it could have happened under different circumstances. Right now, he wasn’t in the state of mind to appreciate it properly.

Even so, he was grateful that Sephiroth was trying to console him. He buried his nose in the hollow of Sephiroth’s neck and breathed him in, seeking comfort in the familiar scent.

“Angeal will not leave,” Sephiroth said, dashing the last shreds of hope Cloud might have had. He tensed, every small comfort gained through Sephiroth’s touch disappearing in an instant. “If Seph doesn’t show up at the designated spot in four days, Angeal will assume he was hurt or taken captive, and he will either stay and search for him until he finds him, or leave and come back with reinforcements.” Cloud tensed, trying to imagine what that would be like. “If that happens, we will have no choice but to kill them all.”

“No!” Cloud hissed, hands tightening around Sephiroth. “No killing,” he said softly, although a part of him wished they could simply make their problems go away with the slash of a sword. They’d always been good at that.

“Mm,” Sephiroth hummed, his hands still moving through Cloud’s hair.

“Maybe the two of us can find Angeal and scare him away?” Cloud suggested hopefully.

“I understand you didn’t know Angeal very well, but you can’t seriously expect that to work.”

Cloud let out a heavy sigh. “What can we do, then? I can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

“Give him time, Cloud. I’m sure he’ll realize he has to fight for what he wants.”

“There’s no time, Sephiroth! He’s leaving in four days.” Cloud tried to get up angrily, but Sephiroth tightened his hold, not letting him move. “Let me go! I have to go and to talk to him.”

“Leave him be, Cloud. He needs time to think.”

Cloud leaned back, glaring at Sephiroth, finally finding where to channel all of his anger and frustration. “Do you even care that he might leave?” Cloud demanded. “Maybe you’d be happy to see him go. Then you’d have me all to yourself again!”

Sephiroth glared back, hurt flashing in his eyes, his hold on Cloud tightening painfully. “I know you’re scared and upset, so I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that.”

After a few seconds of glaring at each other, Cloud glanced away, his shoulders slumping in resignation. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking this out on you,” he said, ashamed of himself. He rested his head against Sephiroth’s chest, curling around him once more. “My head is such a mess… I don’t want him to go, but at the same time, I’m scared what will happen if he stays.”

“What do you mean?”

“To you, Sephiroth! Or did you forget that he might literally be your younger self? What will happen if he stays here and your past changes completely? It could create a time paradox.”

“I doubt that will happen,” Sephiroth said dismissively.

“But it could! And that terrifies me. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Cloud whispered against his chest.

They fell silent for a while, and Cloud began to relax, focusing on Sephiroth’s gentle fingers caressing his hair.

When Sephiroth spoke again, his voice was carefully neutral. “Even if that changed the past?”

If Seph remained here and had a different life, away from Shinra, Hojo and Jenova, the past might change, and Nibelheim might never burn. But then, Sephiroth would never be Sephiroth, and Cloud would never be who he was today. For better or worse, they were shaped by the events of their past.

Cloud’s hands dug into the fabric of Sephiroth’s shirt, clutching it with unsteady fingers. “Even then,” he whispered, trying and failing to keep his voice from trembling. He lifted his head and looked into Sephiroth’s eyes. “I cannot lose you.”

A month ago, he never would have said that out loud. Openly talking about his fears and feelings would have been unthinkable. Without Seph forcing them closer with his incessant questions, they would have been stuck in that limbo of uncertainty, still refusing to acknowledge how they felt. But everything was different now.

Insistent fingers took hold of Cloud’s jaw and tugged him closer.

“Nothing, not even Gaia herself, will keep me from you, Cloud. You have nothing to worry about.”

Cloud’s breath hitched as Sephiroth kissed him, his lips demanding and tinged with desperation. His hands twisted in Sephiroth’s hair, tugging him closer and closer, impossibly close, as if trying to fuse them together.

They stayed like that for a very long time, just holding each other, offering silent comfort.

The next two days were extremely tiring, almost unbearable. Cloud tried to give the boy space, to respect his wishes, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that their time was running out, that it was foolish to waste it.

Seph kept moping around the house, barely speaking, full of anger and bitterness, yet he still sought them out at night, his touches urgent and desperate.

Everything seemed easier in the dark. It was so simple to let the world fall away and get lost in each other. But during the day, Seph’s impending departure hung over them heavily, affecting every second of every interaction. Cloud couldn’t stand it.

But in the end, it was Sephiroth who snapped first.

“Stop moping already!” he snarled out of nowhere, startling Cloud into dropping a plate he’d been washing. It crashed to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. “If you want to stay—stay! If you want to leave, then leave. Just stop being a coward!”

“You say that as if I have a choice!” Seph yelled back angrily.

“Of course you have a choice!”

“You think Hojo will leave me alone, now that he knows I’m here?”

“Hojo doesn’t know you’re here! The only one who knows is Angeal.”

“Right… and you expect Angeal to lie for me? Him—Mr. Honor and Honesty?” Seph snorted in disbelief.

“Are you telling me to eliminate the only witness?”

“What? No!”

Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed, looking like he was about to argue, so Cloud decided to step in. “We’re not killing anyone.”

To Cloud’s dismay, Sephiroth didn’t look entirely convinced. If he concluded that getting rid of Angeal was the best course of action, he might still decide to do it. Cloud would have to keep an eye on him in the coming days.

“It’s not just about Hojo, anyway. If I stay here, what will happen to you? I could mess up the timelines and blink you out of existence!”

“Don’t make this about me,” Sephiroth snapped angrily.

“Of course it’s about you! It’s about the both of us.”

“Let’s look at it this way, then. If you forget about Hojo, the timelines, and everything else for a second, what do you want?” Sephiroth asked.

Seph glared at him, his jaw clenched tight. His eyes blazed fiercely, while the rest of his face remained blank.

But then, little by little, his expression cracked, his mask slipping, until it shattered just like Cloud’s plate. His face twisted in pain.

“What the hell do you think?” he demanded hotly, a lone tear falling down his cheek. “You know better than anyone what’s waiting for me back there! There’s nothing but death.”

“Seph…” Cloud tried to rush to his side immediately, but Sephiroth held him back.

“I know the life you led and the future that awaits you. But that’s not an answer. Once again—what do you want?”

Seph bit his lip and looked away, all that anger suddenly draining out of him. What replaced it was despair.

“I want to stay,” he finally whispered, his voice pained, as if confessing to an unthinkable crime.

“Then stay,” Sephiroth said simply.

Now that he got Seph to admit what he wanted, Sephiroth didn’t hesitate to scoop him up in his arms and he allowed Cloud to do the same.

They held the boy as he cried, clinging to them.

Seph might have felt hopeless in that moment, but Cloud felt hope blossom in his chest anew. Now that Seph had decided to stay, he and Sephiroth would stop at nothing to make it happen.

On the fourth day, Seph went out to meet Angeal, as planned, but only to inform him of his decision to stay.

His palms were sweating, his body thrumming with nervous energy. He’d never admit it, but he was scared. Not of Angeal, of course. What frightened him was the thought of what Sephiroth might do if Angeal refused to cooperate. Unfortunately, Angeal had always been too stubborn and righteous for his own good. Getting him to agree to lie would be next to impossible.

“There you are,” Angeal said warmly, not hiding a smile, as he approached. “We’re both a little early, but we won’t have to wait long.”

“I’m not coming with you,” Seph said by way of greeting. There was no point beating around the bush.

The smile dropped from Angeal’s face, morphing into a puzzled frown. He wasn’t angry, not yet. For now, he just looked confused.

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t you?”

“I found a life for myself here, Angeal. I’m finally happy.”

Angeal couldn’t hide his shock; his mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally discovered his voice. “Don’t be ridiculous. You have to come back.”

“No, I don’t,” Seph said firmly, shaking his head.

As it slowly started to sink in that Seph was serious, that he truly had no intention of returning, Angeal’s demeanor changed, expression turning furious.

“Stop being selfish for once! People are dying without you. Good people!”

“How is that my fault?” Seph snapped back.

“If you don’t return, their deaths will be on your hands! How can you even think about running away? Where is your honor as a SOLDIER?”

“Honor, Angeal? What honor? Where’s the honor in killing people trying to protect their homeland?”

Angeal clenched his jaw stubbornly. “I don’t approve of everything Shinra is doing. Some of their orders are questionable at best. But that doesn’t mean our men should die.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Seph agreed. “But no one is forcing them to be there. Unlike you or me, those men are there on contracts. They can simply quit and go home.”

Angeal scoffed. “You have no idea what it’s like coming from a small town with no jobs or prospects. Shinra is the only option some of these people have.”

“You’re right, I don’t know what that’s like. But I know it’s better than dying. It’s also better than having to kill people for a living!”

“So—what? You’ve suddenly decided you don’t give a shit anymore?”

“I’ve decided I don’t want to be a killer anymore. I’m happy here, Angeal. If I go back, Shinra will never let me have a life of my own. Coming here was the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

The words made Angeal deflate and look at him sadly.

“I get that, I really do. But you can’t just—”

“I think he’s made his position perfectly clear,” a voice said from behind them. “You are to leave without him.”

Startled, Angeal spun around, grabbing his sword.

Seph could barely breathe, his heart suddenly pounding. He knew that voice, he’d recognize it anywhere, but he’d never expected to see Sephiroth there, coming to his defense.

The fact that he was willing to fight for him, that he was there protecting him, filled Seph with infinite strength. He knew now that everything would be alright.

Sephiroth’s eyes blazed angrily, and even though he wasn’t holding a weapon, his entire demeanor sent a clear warning.

Angeal gaped at him in disbelief, glancing between the two of them, instantly picking up on their similarities. “How…?” But Sephiroth didn’t let him finish.

“If him being happy is not reason enough for you to let him stay, then let me offer a better one.” He moved to stand in front of Seph, shielding him with his large frame. “He is under my protection. And know this—if you think he is a good fighter, you cannot even fathom what I’m capable of.”

Sephiroth extended his hand, calling Masamune to him. The sword materialized out of nowhere, making Angeal gasp and take a step back.

Seph bit back a smile, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Show off. But no matter how many times he saw Sephiroth do it, he couldn’t deny how impressive it looked.

Angeal studied them with a stubborn expression, frustration written plainly across his face. He probably believed it was his duty to bring Seph back in order to protect the troopers from certain death, but Seph owed those people nothing. He’d never been on good terms with any of them; they either envied or feared him. He wasn’t about to sacrifice his life and happiness to save a bunch of strangers, no matter how much Angeal believed it to be his duty.

“Hojo will never give up,” Angeal said in a last-ditch effort to get Seph to change his mind.

“That is why you cannot tell him.”

“I can’t just pretend I never found you!”

“That is exactly what you’re going to do,” Sephiroth insisted. “You said you were worried about good men dying. If Hojo sends them here to face me, what do you think will happen to them? The entire Shinra army wouldn’t be enough to take me down.”

The chilling threat sent a shiver through Angeal. He glared at Sephiroth, completely outraged and disgusted. “You wouldn’t kill them,” he said, trying to sound confident and failing.

“Oh, I would. Trust me, the only reason you’re still breathing is because he wanted you to live.”

Angeal’s eyes snapped to Seph, shocked and rattled, but Seph refused to look at him.

“So you expect me to go back and lie?”

“Yes. Tell Hojo you were unable to find him.”

“Do you think he’ll believe me? He’ll just call me incompetent and send someone else.”

“Then convince him. Tell him you looked everywhere.”

Angeal shook his head. “He knows where the machine sent him.”

“From what you said, the machine was untested. It could have sent him somewhere else by mistake. Either way, if you don’t want anyone to die, it’s up to you to convince Hojo to leave us alone.”

Angeal glared at the ground, clearly torn, trying to decide what to do. Honor and honesty were extremely important to him; it was almost impossible to picture him lying to anyone. His fingers turned white as he gripped the hilt of his sword, and Seph wondered if this was going to turn into a fight, after all.

But then Angeal found his resolve and glared at Sephiroth with determination in his eyes.

“I will do as you say, but not because I’m afraid of you. I don’t want more men to die, and if Sephiroth is truly happy here…” he trailed off, glancing at Seph.

“I am,” he assured him.

“Then so be it.”

This time, when Angeal approached him, Seph didn’t push him away. He allowed his hand to land on his shoulder and clasp it firmly.

“From the moment we met, I hoped we could become friends. I could tell you were miserable, so I wanted to be there for you. I’m sorry it was never enough.”

Seph gave him a small, sad smile. “Thanks for trying, Angeal.”

Just then, a portal flickered into existence behind them. Angeal looked at it warily before squeezing Seph’s shoulder one last time and stepping back with a sigh. Turning around, he walked away without looking back.

“Be happy, Sephiroth,” he threw over his shoulder, hand raised in a little wave.

“You, too,” Seph whispered just before Angeal disappeared through the portal.

It remained open for a few more seconds, and the two of them stood there, waiting with bated breath to see if more SOLDIERs or even Hojo himself would step through it. But then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the portal disappeared. It seemed that Angeal had kept his word, and that—for now, at least—no one else was coming for Seph.

The moment the portal was gone, Seph jumped into Sephiroth’s arms, buried his fingers in his hair and kissed him breathless, right there on the street, desperately clinging to him. 

“Thank you,” he murmured against Sephiroth’s lips as they parted, and the hands around him squeezed even harder.

“Cloud would have killed me if I’d allowed Angeal to take you,” Sephiroth said, somewhat coldly, but his eyes betrayed him. Unlike his voice, they were pure fire, and they looked at Seph with a hint of madness and fear.

Seph kissed him again, providing them both with the reassurance they both so clearly craved.

“Where’s Cloud?”

“At home, probably worried sick. We should hurry back and let him know everything went well.”

Cloud was beside himself when he saw them. He pulled them both into his arms the moment they came in, almost faint with relief and happiness.

They stood on the threshold for a few moments, laughing and hugging, relishing in the fact that they were still together.

Later that night, after having a long conversation and explaining everything to Cloud, they retreated to the bedroom, seeking reassurance through touch. After everything that had happened that day, they needed to feel one another, a reminder that everything would be okay.

Instead of ripping each other’s clothes off, like they usually would, their touches were slow and lingering, almost reverent. They’d already discarded some of their clothes on the way to the bedroom, and now they were shirtless, hands roaming over taut muscles, leaving scorching trails on burning skin.

That night, Seph was the center of their universe, holding the undivided attention of his lovers, who were determined to show him how happy they were that he’d stayed.

They hovered at the foot of the bed, kissing. Seph stood in the middle, with a lover on each side. Cloud’s mouth clung to his throat, tasting his thundering pulse, pressing gentle, savoring kisses into his supple skin. As Seph gasped and closed his eyes, Sephiroth crushed their lips together, claiming his mouth in greedy, insatiable kisses, until Seph was gasping, clinging to him desperately.

They pressed hungry, frenzied kisses into the boy’s feverish skin, worshiping every inch of his upper body, making his pulse spike and his breathing turn ragged. His trembling fingers tangled in their hair, encouraging them.

As if in tandem, their lips slid down and captured a nipple each, teasing them with their tongues and teeth until they were so sensitive that each touch made Seph whimper and squirm in their arms, completely unaware of the delicious sounds he was making. He was flushed, unsteady on his feet, shaking like a leaf.

When it appeared that Seph was reaching his limit, that he could no longer withstand so much pleasure, Cloud abandoned the peaked nipple he’d been abusing and licked his way up. He trailed his lips across Seph’s pectorals, up the long column of his throat, tracing his sharp jaw, until he reached Seph’s plump, welcoming lips and covered them with his own.

Seph made a desperate, needy little noise in the back of his throat, pressing closer, pushing his body flush against Cloud’s, his arms coming up around his neck and drawing him closer as he deepened the kiss.

At the same time, Sephiroth drifted down, licking along the ridges of Seph’s abs, slowly unbuttoning his pants, pulling them down his long legs. He could feel the heat of Seph’s throbbing erection through the thin fabric of his underwear. There was a wet patch formed by precome where his cock twitched against its constraints and Sephiroth was unable to resist it. Swooping down, he covered the head with his mouth, sucking at it through the fabric, feeling it pulse against his lips, making Seph moan into Cloud’s mouth.

He was overwhelmed by the attention he was receiving, both of his lovers drowning him in pleasure. He tried to return their affections as best he could, but they wouldn’t let him move.

“This night is all about you,” Cloud told him between kisses, stealing his breath away, leaving his mind reeling, so he simply surrendered himself to sensations, feeling the love these men felt for him in every touch.

Cloud kept kissing him until he was lightheaded—both from arousal and the lack of air. At the same time, Sephiroth teased the outline of his cock, hands gripping his ass possessively, holding him in place as he desperately tried to thrust into the tantalizing heat of Sephiroth’s mouth. His cock kept twitching, yearning for some friction, but Sephiroth simply chuckled and continued moving at this torturously slow pace.

When Sephiroth finally slipped the boy’s underwear down and off, Cloud dropped to his knees beside him. Their hands and mouths roamed Seph’s flawless skin, scraping nails over his inner thighs, sinking teeth into the jut of his hipbone, slowly kneading the curves of his ass.

Desperate and neglected, Seph’s cock twitched in front of them, dark red and throbbing, but they both ignored it. When he tried to reach for it himself, they grabbed his hands and folded them behind his back, ordering him to be patient. He whined, desperately aroused, gazing upon them with dark lustful eyes as they teased him for what felt like forever.

When Cloud finally took his straining erection into his mouth, Seph almost sobbed with relief. He cried out Cloud’s name, hips bucking wildly, desperate for more. Cloud engulfed the head and sucked, swallowing around it. He hummed, sending vibrations through his nerve endings, making Seph’s knees wobble.

Sephiroth was on his knees behind him, massaging his buttocks, flingers slipping into the cleft as he spread them apart. Seph could feel hot breaths on his skin, driving him crazy with anticipation. He keened as he felt something wet and hot slide across his skin, thrusting into Cloud’s mouth for some desperately needed relief.

Sephiroth’s tongue teased his entrance, circling the rim until there were tears in the corners of Seph’s eyes and he was rocking back and forth wantonly, seeking pleasure from both of his lovers. The sensations were so overwhelming that Seph thought he was going to pass out.

When the tongue finally breached him, he cried out sharply. Without warning, his knees suddenly gave out.

“Whoa,” Cloud said, barely catching him in time.

“Maybe we should move to the bed,” Sephiroth suggested, and everyone agreed.

They helped Seph lie down and gave him a few seconds to catch his breath. Only a few, though. They were all too eager and hungry for each other to wait too long. Soon, Sephiroth was moving, ordering the boy around again.

“Get on your hands and knees.”

Seph did as instructed, moving to the edge of the bed, facing away from them, leaving his ass level with Sephiroth’s crotch. Cloud got undressed and joined Seph on the bed.

“Scooch,” he said, squeezing in beneath him.

Cloud positioned himself so that Seph’s cock was inches away from his lips, his head framed by the boy’s quivering thighs. He ran his hands up and down his sides, feeling him shiver. Sephiroth, who was standing above them, caressed Seph’s lower back, tracing his spine, making him arch against him.

When Seph’s body twisted to lean into Sephiroth’s touch, his cock poked Cloud in the chin, making him chuckle and eagerly open his mouth to welcome it inside.

“Oh, fuck,” Seph moaned as Cloud swallowed him whole, unable to stop himself from thrusting into that divine, wet heat.

Caressing his thighs, Cloud encouraged him to move, inviting him to seek pleasure inside his mouth. Being used, being owned like this had always been a big turn on for Cloud. Mouth stretched to bursting, precome leaking down his throat, Cloud’s moans joined the chorus with Seph’s, both of them teetering on the edge.

And then Seph leaned down and took Cloud’s cock into his mouth, eager to give back some of the pleasure he was receiving, and Cloud almost came undone. His eyes rolled back into his skull, fingers digging into Seph’s skin. He braced his feet against the mattress and thrust into Seph’s mouth with abandon.

Fingers plunged into Seph, stretching him mercilessly, as Sephiroth continued to tease his entrance with his tongue. Those elegant, long digits curled and scissored inside of him, looking for his prostate.

There was no mistaking the moment they found it. Seph’s body curled in a beautiful arc, a long, devastating whine falling from his lips. Cloud’s cock slipped from his mouth as Sephiroth continued to hit the same spot over and over again. It made Seph’s hips buck frantically, rocking into Cloud’s mouth shamelessly, chasing completion.

When the orgasm hit him, he came in hot spurts down Cloud’s throat, both of his lovers’ names on his lips. He trembled, gasping, face pressed into Cloud’s stomach as his hips continued to jerk senselessly, pounding into that welcoming mouth.

After he was spent, he almost collapsed onto Cloud—and he would have if not for Sephiroth strong arms propping him up. Using his last reserves of strength, he rolled over and stretched out on the bed, still struggling to catch his breath.

Cloud beamed at him as he sat up, licking the come from his lips. After some shuffling, he leaned against the headboard and pulled Seph into his arms.

Still hard as a rock, Cloud’s length pulsed against Seph’s lower back, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to take care of it. Instead, he embraced the boy from behind, running gentle, inquisitive fingers down his sides and chest, flicking his nipples and softly caressing his flagging cock. It was still half-hard and it didn’t seem like it would take a lot to rouse it again.

It was then that Sephiroth finally joined them on the bed. Seph immediately spread his legs apart, allowing Sephiroth settle in between them. He’d taken his clothes off before getting on the bed, so now there was finally nothing standing between their heated skin.

As always, Seph couldn’t take his eyes off of Sephiroth’s cock. Even after he’d just come, it was still tempting him. As if in a trance, he reached out, unable to resist touching it.

Sephiroth grunted when the boy’s fingers wrapped around his rigid cock and started stroking. His eyes squeezed shut as he rocked into that tight heat slowly, rhythmically. Cloud was watching it all happen, his own cock aching at the sight. Leaning down, he started kissing everything he could reach, leaving little marks on Seph’s neck and shoulders.

Grabbing the lube, Sephiroth squeezed out some of it over Seph’s fingers, making the slide of his fist feel so much better. Everything was suddenly slick and obscenely loud. The squelching noises sent jolts of arousal down Cloud’s spine, making him rub his own cock against Seph’s cleft.

They all rocked together, heat building between them, until Sephiroth suddenly pulled away.

“That’s enough,” he commanded, voice raspy and thick with arousal. Gently, he pulled Seph’s hand away, and lined himself up with his entrance.

Cloud wrapped an arm around Seph’s chest, pulling him firmly against himself, holding him in place. But nothing could keep him still as Sephiroth entered him; he still arched up, mewling hungrily, head twisting around to bury his face in Cloud’s neck. His hips rocked against Sephiroth, snapping up to meet his forceful thrusts.

From his position, Cloud could feel every single movement, his body rocking along with Sephiroth’s thrusts, as if he was the one being penetrated. His hands came up around Sephiroth, tugging him closer, making the three of them move together as one.

Answering his call, Sephiroth leaned over Seph’s shoulder and captured Cloud’s lips in a dizzying kiss. It was maddening.

Every movement, every sigh, every single moan reverberated against Cloud’s chest, yet his own cock remained woefully neglected and his body unsatisfied. He was so turned on that he wanted to weep, but with Seph in his arms and Sephiroth’s large frame covering them, he could barely move.

With imperceptible movements, he rocked his hips to match their rhythm, seeking friction against Seph’s ass, even if that was nowhere near enough.

Cloud moaned into Sephiroth’s mouth as he kept kissing him, nails digging into his back savagely. Seph was nestled between their bodies, clinging to them both, gasping for air, his pleasure cresting under the intensity of Sephiroth’s merciless thrusts.

And then Sephiroth leaned back, seized Seph’s knees and spread his legs wide open. Without warning, he changed the pace and started pounding into him brutally. Seph was already hard again, gasping, almost sobbing. Cloud reached between them and wrapped his hand around him to help him along.

“Cloud,” Seph whined into his neck, flushed and sweaty, nearly delirious with need. Cloud shushed him with gentle kisses, pressing them to the side of his head, his neck, his face, as he stroked him.

Seph rocked back against Sephiroth, begging him to move even faster, his hips thrusting into Cloud’s hand, craving release.

When Cloud changed his strokes to match Sephiroth’s pace, no longer gentle, but deliberate, jerking him roughly in time with Sephiroth’s thrusts, Seph could take no more. His mouth fell open in a silent scream, arching up against his lovers, and he came, exploding between their bodies. Sephiroth kept moving inside of him, drawing out his pleasure until Seph was trembling in his arms, gasping from overstimulation. Only then did he pull out.

He bent down and kissed Seph deeply, cupping his cheek and telling him he was beautiful. The boy flushed and kissed back, too exhausted to say anything in response.

Gently, Sephiroth moved him, laying him down next to Cloud, before giving the blond his full attention.

Their eyes met, and they both smiled, hunger simmering between them. Cloud’s body was already buzzing with anticipation. He loved everything they were doing, he adored having Seph there, but there was just something special about the way only Sephiroth could please him.

With a come-hither look, he let his legs fall open, and Sephiroth was there in a heartbeat, nudging his knees farther apart.

The lube had fallen off the bed and out of reach, so Sephiroth scooped up some of Seph’s come off the boy’s stomach and used it to slick his fingers. With precise, insistent strokes, he stretched Cloud’s entrance, both of them too impatient to take things slow. 

“That’s enough. I’m ready,” Cloud gasped, despite them both knowing it was a lie.

“Not yet,” Sephiroth insisted, his fingers torturing Cloud with deep, devastating thrusts.

Not so long ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated to fuck Cloud even if he weren’t ready. He would have shoved him down into the mattress and taken him roughly, making him sob beneath him in both pleasure and pain. But something was different that night. It was full of tenderness, a culmination of all the little changes Seph had brought into their lives.

Cloud had always longed for Sephiroth’s affection, for occasional tender touches amongst all the wild passion. Sephiroth caring about him was a dream come true, but in that moment, Cloud was so desperately aroused and impatient. He didn’t want tenderness. All he wanted was for Sephiroth to quit stalling and just fuck him already!

After what felt like an eternity, when Cloud was already at his limit, cursing and panting, begging him to move, Sephiroth finally removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock. Cloud sobbed, loving the stretch, the burn, as his body struggled to accommodate Sephiroth’s impressive girth. His toes curled, his back arched, fingers tugging on Sephiroth’s hair impatiently until he finally leaned down and kissed him.

When Sephiroth penetrated him slowly like this, Cloud could feel every inch of his length sinking deeper into his body. It felt divine. Otherworldly. He closed his eyes, trying not to come on the spot.

Sephiroth set an achingly slow pace, almost lazy, and Cloud thought he was going to die. He whimpered, gasping for breath, and Sephiroth tilted his head, lips parting Cloud’s, stealing the last of his air.

“I love being inside you,” he murmured against Cloud lips.

Oh, that word.

It wasn’t quite the declaration Cloud wanted to hear, but still, hearing Sephiroth use that word at all was doing things to him beyond all comprehension.

Cloud dug his heels into Sephiroth’s back, his name a broken whisper upon his lips, breathless and needy. “Please,” he begged, and then finally, finally, Sephiroth was moving, making pleasure explode inside of him.

Sephiroth had incredible stamina; even after everything he’d done with Seph, he still had enough energy and self-control to satisfy Cloud the way he needed him to. He never showed any signs of strain, never seemed impatient to find his own release.

He took Cloud deep and hard, as if reading his mind, making him arch up to meet his every thrust. Cloud wrapped his legs around Sephiroth’s waist and rocked against him, trying to force him in even deeper.

Seph was lying on his side next to them, head propped up on his hand, watching them. He was smiling and taking it all in, eyes roving over their bodies, hungry and lingering. His cock was already showing interest again, slowly filling out against his stomach.

It almost felt like they’d come full circle—this had all started with Seph watching them, and here he was again, doing just that. Of course, that was where the similarities ended. They had come so far since that night, and now, Seph had earned a permanent place in their lives... and their hearts.

Needy grunts fell from Sephiroth’s lips, betraying his urgency. Cloud whimpered as he rocked against him. He, too, wasn’t far behind. His cock was bouncing between them, bobbing under the intensity of Sephiroth’s thrusts. It was swollen, red and weeping, but Cloud could not touch it. Sephiroth held his hands pinned above his head, their fingers interlaced.

“Touch me,” Cloud gasped, but Sephiroth only smirked and continued to torture him.

It was Seph, in the end, who came to his rescue. He swooped down between them and took Cloud into his mouth, just as he had that first time he’d joined them on the bed.

Cloud cried out the boy’s name, hips stuttering, breaking Sephiroth’s rhythm. He bucked up, trying to bury his cock as deep inside that wet heat as he could, and Seph let him, relaxing his throat so Cloud could slip inside it.

It was then that Sephiroth finally released his hands, allowing him to move his arms. With trembling fingers, Cloud seized Seph’s hair, yanking his head down until the full length of his cock was buried inside him. He clung to the boy desperately, forcing himself deeper with every thrust. Seph’s hips rocked against the mattress, trying to relieve his own need.

Cloud was the first to come. With a devastating scream, he exploded into Seph’s mouth, his whole body quaking with the intensity of it. Seph followed, with the taste of Cloud’s release still on his tongue, his hips grinding against the mattress frantically. And then, finally, with a low groan, Sephiroth snapped his hips, buried himself deep inside Cloud, and came.

Afterwards, they slipped beneath the covers, with Seph in the middle and the two of them holding him protectively. They were all still shaken by what had happed, knowing what they could have lost.

Cloud hoped that Seph knew how loved he was, even if he and Sephiroth were too damaged to properly show it. That he could see how much they both needed him there.

The decision Seph had made that day would change his future irrevocably, and Cloud hoped that the change would be for the better. More than anything, he hoped the boy would find true happiness here and vowed to do his part to make it happen.

Cloud pushed sweaty bangs away from Seph’s face, his vivid green eyes fixated on him, staring at him intently. He desperately wanted to know what he was thinking.

As if reading his mind, Seph granted his wish and told him.

“I love you.”

He said it to Cloud first, then to Sephiroth, looking between them, addressing them both.

Cloud’s heart nearly stuttered to a stop.

There they were—the words he’d longed to hear, the words he’d given up on.

Moisture gathered in the corners of his eyes, even as his face broke into a huge smile. “I love you, too,” he whispered, full of tenderness and affection.

The words came far more easily than he could have imagined; they felt right. The emotion behind them settled in his chest, sending warmth throughout his body. He felt at peace with the decision to finally say them. The time was right, and the feelings were certainly there; they’d been there for a long time.

But it was so much simpler to say it to Seph.

Looking at Sephiroth, Cloud could feel uneasiness coming off him in waves. His eyes were guarded, body thrumming with tension. He looked uncertain, as if he doubted that Cloud would say those words to him, so he was preparing himself for rejection.

But Cloud was done waiting. No more excuses.

He pushed aside a strand of hair that was obscuring Sephiroth’s face and cupped his cheek. No more hiding, no more running away. Cloud would no longer allow it. He refused to hold back and deny his feelings out of fear any longer. Relationships required trust, as Seph had been telling him from the start, and this one was well worth the risk. These two men meant everything to Cloud.

He felt surprisingly calm when he finally took a leap of faith and said it.

“I love you, Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth inhaled sharply, a maelstrom of emotions in his eyes. “I...” he trailed off, uncharacteristically hesitant, and cleared his throat. “People always say that actions speak louder than words. Every day, I try my best to show you how I feel.”

It was a cop-out, and Cloud’s heart fell.

What had he been thinking? Of course Sephiroth wouldn’t say it back.

He forced himself to smile, even as his heart shattered, and nodded.

It didn’t matter, not really. After all, he already knew that Sephiroth loved him in his own way. He knew… but he couldn’t help feeling hurt.

With a lump in his throat, unable to hide his disappointment, Cloud started to turn away. But before he could, Sephiroth stopped him. He seized him and refused to let go.

There was a look of fierce determination on his face, like he was readying himself to march off to war.

“I love you, Cloud Strife,” he said, forcing the words out, his eyes and voice more intense than Cloud had ever seen them. “From the moment you pierced me with your sword, you’ve embedded yourself into my heart. I could never imagine a life without you.”

Sephiroth said it solemnly, like a vow, with what was frankly a ridiculous amount of intensity. Cloud blinked rapidly, unable to believe what he was hearing.

There was a huge disconnect between the words and the way Sephiroth had said them. He looked closer to attacking than kissing Cloud.

But then he was—his mouth descending upon Cloud’s in a dizzying kiss, making Cloud’s head spin with all these overwhelming emotions. He clung to Sephiroth, pulling him against himself desperately, feeling so much love that it almost drowned him.

Only Sephiroth could deliver a love confession like a battle cry, yet messed up as that was, in the context of their past and the fact that they fell in love while trying to kill each other, it felt strangely fitting.

“You finally said it,” Seph said with a smile, snuggling closer, pressing into Sephiroth’s side.

“Do I need to say it to you, too?”

The boy shook his head. “Coming to protect me today told me everything I needed to know.”

Cloud looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “Oh? Since when? What happened to you insisting that words needed to be said?”

“That was true about you two. Sephiroth and I will always have a deeper understanding of each other.”

Carefree and smiling, Seph looked like he genuinely meant it, but his words had the opposite effect on Sephiroth. They made him realize that he had to say it.

The two of them were one and the same, so he knew better than anyone how much Seph needed to hear it.

And so, Sephiroth looked at his younger self, at the boy wearing his face, seeing him and his own past as one, and said to them both, “I love you.”

In that moment, he accepted the tender feelings of affection—for Cloud, for his own past, for this boy who’d barged into their lives and turned them upside down. He accepted them and realized that he wasn’t any weaker because of them. On the contrary, they made him stronger.

Throughout his life, Sephiroth had longed for a family, for a place to belong—a home. He used to believe he’d find one at Mother’s side, and had spent his youth chasing after a ghost of her, but all he’d discovered was pain.

With Cloud, he hadn’t allowed himself to hope that what they had could ever become more than superficial pleasure, even after all the signs had told him otherwise. Because he knew, better than anyone, how much he’d hurt Cloud. He’d never expected to be forgiven, to ever earn Cloud’s trust.

But once more, Cloud had surprised him, surpassing all of Sephiroth’s expectations, leaving him in awe of his capacity to love.

There’s nothing I don’t cherish, Cloud had said to him once, but Sephiroth hadn’t actually believed him. And he’d certainly never imagined that statement could ever include him.

Sephiroth had never expected them to find a home within each other, but now that they had, he would never let anything stand in their way.

His understanding of timelines and inner workings of time travel was limited, at best, but from what he knew, important decisions always created forks in time, branching off into separate worlds.

If that was true, it would mean that Seph had created a brand new world the moment he’d stepped through that portal and found himself here.

So, even if the two of them had originally been the same person, the moment Seph had created a new timeline, the connection between their destinies had been severed. They could no longer overlap.

Of course, it was impossible for Sephiroth to know for certain if he was right about this, so he chose not to mention anything to Cloud, not wanting to give him false hope. But he, personally, wasn’t worried. He was confident that Seph’s presence in their world, and his changed future, would not affect him at all.

Yet even on the off chance that it did, Sephiroth knew with utmost certainty that he would do whatever it took—crawl through the Lifestream, fight Gaia herself, traverse across countless worlds if he had to—to get back home. To return to the men he loved.

Nothing would ever keep them apart.

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