Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Paint The Town ❯ Below the Belt ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

 

Paint The Town

 

Below the Belt

 

Zack sat hunched over on the toilet, eyes on the black marble tiles on the floor, on the brushed metal fixtures. Even Sephiroth's bathroom looked like Sephiroth. There was no escape here.

 

“Oh, man,” Zack groaned. Did the General have no idea of what constituted appropriate behavior? Okay, the answer to that was probably 'yes', the man was used to a battlefield more than anything, but still, nobody in a war camp would eat a cookie like that! Not with an audience. Not... unless he was making an offer.

 

Zack swallowed. It wasn't all that rare an occurrence. The long periods away from home and civilization, the stress of the job, guys found ways to work things out. Zack hadn't been in the thick of it long enough to ever feel the need, and then he'd found Aeris soon after. Plus he didn't swing that way. Really. He was just a healthy young man and his reaction was completely normal. The man-watching boner. It happened. And Seph was dead sexy, nobody would deny that.

 

Zack exhaled. So back to Seph. Was the man making an offer? It didn't seem all that likely. Sephiroth didn't have much in the way of company but he didn't seem to need it either. And the rumors were just rumors, as far as Zack could tell. People would say anything to take the proud General down a peg, except they couldn't say it to his face and the ones that mattered, his SOLDIERs, weren't going to think much of it either way.

 

Zack's leg began to tremble. 'Dammit, dammit, stop thinking about Seph, dammit!”

Zack took a deep breath in and a deep breath out, then turned to the teenaged boys failsafe - thinking of the most UN-sexy thing he could imagine. 'Um, Heideggar in a thong, ew, 'kay, that's good. Palmer in a bikini, EW! Ifrit's tits, I'll never beat off again!' Zack shook his head wildly and gripped the sides of the bowl.

 

He looked around, catching his grinning reflection in the mirror. “Hey, buddy, it worked!”

 

“Zack?” Sephiroth's voice came through the door, half-muffled with chewing. “Are you talking to yourself?”

 

“Uh, just admiring your bathroom, Sir.” Zack looked around wildly. He hadn't realized he'd said that out loud.

 

“Is it nice?”

 

Zack frowned. “Yeah, it's real nice. Haven't you seen it?”

 

“Not since the remodel.” There was a crunching sound, if Zack really trained his SOLDIER hearing on it, a soft crunching and munching and lip-smacking, along with the soft throaty sounds of deep pleasure and contentment. Zack could just picture the man, leaning back for once now that he was alone, taking a bite from a cookie held between elegant fingers, heedless of the chocolate melted against them. Sephiroth was a graceful eater, neat to a fault, never spilling crumbs. But the melted chocolate would smear on his lips and he'd have to reach the tip of his tongue out to wipe it away.

 

Zack immediately realized that he'd landed himself back in his previous predicament. Damn hormones! Stupid, sexy General, making everybody stand at attention! Did the man really have to be so damn-

 

Oh crap! What if Sephiroth really was making an offer? What if he was taking Zack's offer of friendship and companionship the wrong way? He knew Zack had a girl, right? Or maybe he was one of those who thought that what happened in SOLDIER stayed in SOLDIER. Zack's mouth went dry. “Oh, no...” He'd brought the guy chocolates. And candy. And toys. Well, one toy, but a fluffy plush kind. It was pretty much what he would have given to Aeris as a 'courting gift', his mother would have called it.

 

Crappity, crappity crap, Zack thought, hunching down on the crapper. Talk about mixed messages. What was he supposed to do? The guy didn't like beer or any other kind of alcohol, from what Zack had seen. He didn't go for porn. Zack hadn't heard about him showing any interest in sports. He had a library Zack couldn't hope to improve. And he had a sweet tooth, which was all Zack had been thinking of at the time...

 

Sephiroth wasn't one to let opportunity slip by, and Zack wasn't too sure which team the man was playing for, if he played at all. What if he thought this was more than it was supposed to be? What if he really thought Zack was willing, and convenient? What if he was out there now, lounging back, undoing the buckles on his coat, letting the leather slide off one shoulder, then the other, to make a dark heap on the floor.

 

Think, Zack, think! And not about sexy, naked Seph! Zack leaned forward, gripping his head in both hands. His little problem wasn't going away. There was only one thing to do, Zack thought, if this really was going down the hill in that direction. He'd have to walk out there, as soon as he was able, and very calmly, very gently, turn Sephiroth down. Yeah, that was it. Maybe a friendly pat on the shoulder, a reassurance that it didn't mean the end of what they had together. The General was reasonable, most of the time. He'd understand. Maybe.

 

Sephiroth might still kill him. The thought was as effective as a bath in ice water. Zack would have to remember that.

 

“Zack, are you alive in there?”

 

Zack jumped. The voice was just beyond the door now. “I'm fine!” he hollered back, too loud.

 

“Are you sure?” There was the slightest trace of something like concern in the man's voice. “You've been in there a while.”

 

Zack cringed. “I'm fine, I'm fine!” He stood and unzipped. “Just got carried away admiring the place. I'll be out in a sec!” He raised the seat. No point being in there for no reason.

 

“Are you sure?” Sephiroth asked. “Maybe you need more fiber in your diet.”

 

“Come on, man, you don't talk to a guy when he's going tinkle,” Zack muttered. Louder, he said, “I'm fine, I said. Look, I'm coming out now.” He finished up, reached for his zipper and yanked.

 

The resulting howl traveled through the air ducts and was heard at least two floors away.

 

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Time: 3 hrs 4 mins

Music: Stephen Lynch - If I Were Gay

A.N.: How much of what Zack's thinking about the situation is Zack secretly wanting to think that about the situation? Boy's got some things he needs to sort out inside his head, that's for sure. But not right now, he's got more immediate problems. >_>