Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Paint The Town ❯ Empty Nest ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

Paint the Town

Empty Nest

The lunch hour was almost over by the time Zack made it to Sephiroth’s office. There was too much hammering and refurbishing going on in there for anyone to actually work in it yet, but it was the closest place to try finding the man. He turned the corner just in time to see Sephiroth’s back as the man walked away.

“Hey, Seph, wait up! Are we going for pie?”

Sephiroth stopped, going rigid. He did not turn around. “Go away, Zachary.” The words were like ice. “Leave me alone.”

Zack froze in the hallway a moment too long and the General was out of reach.

Sephiroth let the door close quietly behind him. He toed his shoes off at the door and let them lie there. He made his way to the living room, his head down, eyes on the pristine carpet and perfectly buffed hardwood floor. So shiny, so newc

He sank into his couch, heard the leather creak, and stared at the tv. He tired quickly of his reflection but could not be bothered to actually turn the thing on. He didn’t think he could stand the noise at the moment. The cables were still lying out in a tangle on the floor. He had been meaning to pick them up and tuck them out of the way, but there was no hurry now.

He let his head roll back, then to the side where his shoes lay all forlorn by the door. He had planned to lock them into the closet, but that didn’t matter. No need for the extra hook on the wall, and he could toss the stack of old newspapers out. He had not made any changes to his bedroom but there would have been plenty of space on the floor for a cushion, or a basket.

He’d had the spot in his kitchen floor picked out already, near the side of the fridge where it was warm and out of the way. The bowl he had kept his eye on was brushed steel and would have matched the fittings perfectly. No need for that now. Sephiroth slid his hand into his pocket and closed his fingers around the rubber ball he had bought on an impulse on the way down. He wanted to toss it hard and far, out the window, if he could, but instead he let it drop.

He sighed. Maybe if he had been quicker that day, if he hadn’t let himself worry over that damn Zachary, if he’d walked with Masamune, been more insistent, taken the morning offc

He watched the ball make a lazy arc across his pristine, factory-fresh apartment floor and come to a stop with a bump against the entertainment center. He could not be bothered to pick it up himself and there was no one to fetch it for him.

He grunted. How fitting, he thought, that ‘SOLD’ was a four-letter word. He sank deeper into his couch and tried not to notice how empty the place was.


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Time: 46 mins

Music: Desert Garden - Jon Crosby/Vast


Notes: Much as I want Sephy to have the guaranteed loving a pup would provide, you know the man would never have it that easy, right? sniffle