Title: Opaque
Chapter: Emotionless
Author: Raserei Hojo
Summary: A story of Cloud's relationship with Sephiroth and Zack. Pre-game.
Rating: T (Subject to change)
Feedback: Very much so desired!
Story Warnings: Yaoi
Pairings: Sephiroth/Zack/Cloud
Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters of Final Fantasy VII belong to Squaresoft. Any that are NOT recognizable belong to me.

“Sephiroth! Can I drive?”

“No,” said Sephiroth calmly, although he shoved the key into the ignition and twisted it viciously. “Now shut up before I toss you both out of my car.” The general frowned, his head feeling ready to explode.

Cloud and Zack sat motionless in the back seats of Sephiroth’s shiny new car. They all hoped that it would remain shiny, for their own sakes. The two younger men watched Sephiroth’s narrowed eyes in the rear-view mirror and glanced at each other.

“Well,” whispered Zack, “I guess he’s pretty ticked off.”

“What was your first clue?” Cloud groaned. “Maybe we should get out of his car before he really does throw us into moving traffic?”

Sephiroth grinned at them in the rear-view mirror. “I have two knives and a .45 Caliber Pistol as artillery—and that’s just what’s hidden in my left pant leg. You can always get out now before I have a good reason to use them. I’m a general—I can make it so that no one even knows you existed.”

The threat was enough to quiet Zack down and paralyze Cloud. For fifteen minutes, no one spoke to each other, and the tension in the air grew thick. After what seemed to last several hours for Cloud and Zack, Sephiroth pulled into the parking lot of Loveless restaurant and bar.

Zack and Cloud quickly fumbled with the doors and threw them open, stumbling out of the car and glancing at Sephiroth. “We can’t let him stay angry all night, especially when he has weapons,” Zack whispered to Cloud.

“You’re his friend, you calm him down!” Cloud edged away from Zack, hoping if the general suddenly snapped he would go for Zack first. After all, they had known each other the longest, and thus Zack would have obviously caused Sephiroth more grief in their lifetime together than Cloud had in a couple of days. Sephiroth stepped out of the car.

“He’s your idol, flatter him into being happy!” Zack put his hands roughly on Cloud’s shoulders and pushed him forward.

“Honestly,” Sephiroth groaned, “do you both think that I’m hard of hearing? My hair may be silver, but that is no indication of my body failing me just yet.”

“That’s right; you’re really old, aren’t you?” Zack tilted his head, staring up at Sephiroth with large and innocent eyes. The expression sometimes managed to keep Zack in one piece when Sephiroth was angry, but this time…

“Don’t make me shove my katana through you in the middle of the night. I will, Zack.”

“Ah, let’s just head in, shall we?” Zack took Cloud by the shoulders again and steered him inside the bar. “I wonder what got him so angry?” he whispered to Cloud’s ear. “He was only gone a couple of minutes… And he knows how often I joke with him about his hair. Any ideas? Maybe you looked at him too long?”

“I dunno…” Cloud looked around the inside of the bar that looked a bit too elegant to be one of the more typical back ally bars.

The inside was huge and very lavish, beautifully decorated by someone with real talent. The tables were spotless and the waitresses’ black dresses and white aprons made them look like maids. In the back, cooks were preparing tasty looking dishes consisting mainly of expensive-looking sirloin in generous servings.

Zack lead Cloud into the back where the bar was located. It was not a disappointing sight, and evenly matched, or perhaps even surpassed, the restaurant section of the building in style and immaculate appearance.

“Just…who’s paying for the drinks?” Cloud looked hopefully at Zack.

“What? You didn’t bring any money?” Zack roughly elbowed Cloud in the ribs.

“No…” Cloud rubbed his side.

Zack laughed. “I’m paying, of course! And when I run out of money, Sephiroth will pay. Hopefully.” He gestured for Cloud to seat himself at a bar stool and ordered two beers.

As the two glasses were delivered to the men, Sephiroth made his way to the bar and casually sat on the stool beside Zack. He said nothing, deciding to idly examine his friend and the rookie.

Zack gratefully took a sip of his beer and peered closely at Sephiroth. “Hey, Seph?”

“Migraine,” responded Sephiroth in a monotone.

“Was that why you were aggravated?”

Sephiroth gave a delayed shake of his head. He then paused a waitress to request a glass of water. “Oh, no. You have a tendency to be obnoxious by yourself. And now paired up with this…boy… It was like you were both drunk from the moment you two met.”

Zack laughed nervously. “So… We gave you the migraine…?” When Sephiroth made no motion to respond, he added, “I guess the Migraine Faries saw you and went crazy like Cloud. ‘Oh Sephiroth! You’re so handsome! You’re so manly! Oh, God I wanna marry you!’ So they gave you an extra helping of migraine.”

Unfortunately, Sephiroth was not amused.

“So, uh, Cloud,” Zack turned to face the blonde, “how’s that beer treating you?”

Cloud, who had not yet taken a sip, was staring at the glass of beer like it was going to turn into a monster and viciously attack him at any second. “Uhm… It’s good.” Secretly, he thought that it looked like urine. It even smelled like urine.

“Cloud!” said Zack accusingly, “You didn’t even drink any yet!”

Well, thought Cloud despairingly, I suppose it couldn’t hurt…

Cloud took a steadying breath, and after he had gathered his courage, he brought the glass to his parted lips and took in the bronze liquid. To his horror, it was very bitter and tasted, perhaps due to his previous assumptions, just like urine. But since Zack and Sephiroth were watching him with opposing expressions, Cloud had no choice but to swallow.

He could feel the iciness of the beer still, but soon the feeling faded and he was left with almost a warm feeling. “It wasn’t too bad,” murmured Cloud.

“Well, it looks like you won’t last very long in the army.” Sephiroth shrugged and cracked his neck rather loudly. “After all, caving into peer pressure like that will only get you kicked out.”

“Oh, come on, Sephiroth! He’s just a kid, let him live a little! You sound like a mother.” Zack offered Cloud an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry about Seph—he’s always like that.”

“I’m not saying it out of concern. If he’s kicked out of Shinra, then that will be his own fault. And in the long run, that just means one less man in the front lines that will screw up and get killed.”

While Cloud shuddered at the unpleasant thought, Zack gave a small frown. “We’d all go crazy if we didn’t do something fun once in a while.” He turned to Cloud and nodded at the beer. “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to, really. I just though you’d enjoy it, you know?”

Cloud laughed nervously. “Oh, I know. It’s all right, but it’s not anything I’ll be too interested in drinking soon. It’s kind of bitter…”

“The first sip is always like that. You’ll get used to it if you drink a bit more.”

“Mm…” Hesitantly, Cloud took another sip, and was surprised to find it really wasn’t as bitter as before. “You’re right.”

“What’s even better is that you can’t be IDed as long as you’ve got your Shinra ID with you. Doesn’t matter if you’re underage, really. It also helps if you’re in your uniform.”

“Yeah, I was wondering why they didn’t grab me the second I walked in. People usually tell me how young I look.”

Zack held up his glass. “Well… Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

The night seemed to fly by; midnight rolled around and it seemed that no more than an hour had passed. By that time, Sephiroth had begun reading A History of War to occupy himself. Page three hundred twenty-seven. He sighed and took a hesitant glance at Zack and Cloud. Their flushed faces and dialogue proved that they were drunk. He slammed the book shut and stood up. “We’re leaving.”

“What?!” exclaimed Zack. “Why?”

“It’s late. We both have work to do, and,” Sephiroth gestured to Cloud, “he’s completely drunk. He’s short and he’s skinny, and with our luck he hasn’t even eaten.”

“C’mon!” Zack laughed heartily, giving Sephiroth a clumsy pat on the shoulder. “Jus’ a few more mins, eh?”

“No. We’re leaving. Now.” Sephiroth put his book under his arm and walked towards the door. “I’ll leave you two idiots here if I have to.”

“All right, sheeze!” Zack slowly dropped to the floor, stretching awkwardly. “If ya had a few drinks with us, ya wouldn’t be so sour.”

Cloud gingerly stepped off the barstool and stumbled forward, catching onto Zack and using him for support. “I feel…” he shuddered and gave a belch, “…sick…”

Zack straightened Cloud and together they wobbled over to Sephiroth who stood waiting for them at the door. “Ya ruin all the fun in life, ya know that?”

“Shut up. You both are a disgrace to Shinra. Neither of you can even walk straight!”

“Aww, S-Seph, I’m s-sorry!” Cloud offered. “I guess I ki-kinda got uh, maybe a little c-carried away.”

“Hm… ‘A little,’ you say.” Sephiroth threw open the door of the Loveless restaurant and walked over to the car.

With a bit of difficulty, Zack and Cloud carefully made their way over to the car. Luckily, Cloud only stumbled and fell over once, and Zack was able to lift the younger boy up again.

Once Cloud and Zack were safely in the back seat, Sephiroth told them to buckle themselves in the seatbelts. As a consequence, he had to wait a full five minutes before the two managed to accomplish the task. Sephiroth locked the doors in case they did something stupid, like managing to fall out of the car.

“This is the last time I take either of you to a bar.” Sephiroth started the car and carefully drove back towards Shinra HQ.

For all of the strife Sephiroth had gone through, the night was night quite over yet. Lightning rippled through the sky, accompanied by earth-shaking thunder. And soon, it was if a dam in heaven had broken and sprinkled down on the world.

No, tonight was not a good night for Sephiroth. And to top everything off entirely was a miserable moan and a belch, followed by vomit that spewed all over the leather interior of the back seats. Sephiroth tightened his grip on the steering wheel, telling himself he would be at Shinra HQ soon, and that speeding would only make things worse.

“Are ya okay, Cloud?”

“I still feel sick…”

Zack sighed and rubbed Cloud’s back. “Sorry, I didn’t realize that ya couldn’t hold all that in.”

“S’okay…”

“Let it all out; you’ll feel better.”

Sephiroth slammed on the breaks at the next red light and whirled around in his seat. “Both of you shut up. You’re going to clean that mess you made back there, or I’ll have you both kicked out of Shinra myself.”

“Seph! He’s sick.”

“Only because you let him drink so much, you idiot.” Sephiroth sighed angrily and turned his attention back to the road. Only one more block to go, and then the night would be over.

Thankfully, Zack and Cloud remained relatively quit for the remainder of the journey, and Sephiroth was able to pull into his parking spot at Shinra HQ without any further tribulation. He unlocked the doors and got out of the car. When Zack and Cloud made no move to follow, he wrenched open the back door too.

Cloud was out cold, and Zack was dozing off with a content expression plastered on his face. Having had quite enough of the two boys for the day, Sephiroth slammed the door and left them there. He stuffed his book under his trench coat and trudged tiredly into the building.

At least the rain had done one thing for him; it made him less angry by the time he had gotten to his room at the top of the building, even if it made him wet and cold.

Cloud rolled over—or rather, tried to roll over—before opening his eyes and staring blearily ahead. The smell of vomit made his stomach lurch, and so he quickly covered his mouth and nose, staring around almost wildly.

Zack was still asleep, part of his leg resting on the now-dry vomit. Every few moments his soft snores filled the air. Cloud struggled to reach the door and clumsily opened it, practically crawling onto the floor and breathing in the fresh air.

Although the ground was damp and a few deep puddles remained speckled along the pavement, the sun was bright and shining high in the sky. In his foggy mind, Cloud thought it was probably somewhere around noon, and hopefully not much later than that.

“What the hell happened…?” He shielded his eyes from the unforgiving sun, trying to ignore the constant pounding of a headache he had for some reason unbeknownst to him. From the protective shade his hand provided, Cloud looked at the car, trying his best to recognize it.

Tentatively, Cloud got to his hands and knees and gripped the car to help him stand straight. “Z-Zack…?” He reached into the back seat and shook the raven-haired man roughly. “Zack, wake up…”

“Mmmph…” Zack threw an arm over his eyes in protest. “Whadya want…?”

“What happened? Why are we out here in this car, and why are we covered in vomit?”

Zack yawned widely and wriggled out from the car, standing just as tentatively as Cloud had before. “You got sick last night, remember?”

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck. “No. I can’t remember that. But I’ve got this awful headache and—”

“That’s not surprising… I did let you drink an awful lot.”

Cloud squinted, trying hard to remember. “I do kinda remember this car now…”

Zack quirked a brow and patted the car affectionately. “Yeah, it’s Sephiroth’s.”

“Se—Sephiroth’s!?”

Zack nervously laughed and ruffled Cloud’s hair. “Of course it’s Sephiroth’s. It’s black and brand new, and it’s still very shiny, thankfully. But, ah… I guess we should clean up that mess back there before it really ruins the leather.”

“Shit…” The memory seemed to have found a way to leak back into Cloud’s brain.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Cloud?”

“How drunk were we?”

Zack tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Oh, fairly so. You were a lot drunker than I was though.”

“…Guess I kinda ruined my chances of him not hating me then?”

Surprisingly, Zack laughed and elbowed Cloud in the ribs. Cloud almost fell over. “Don’t worry so much! I’ll talk to him, and everything will be fine. He’s always a grump, you’ve gotta know that by now.”

Cloud smiled faintly. “I guess, but I did kinda throw up in his car.”

“Not to worry, not to worry. Although, I do wish there was a Cleaning Materia, don’t you think?”

Cloud laughed. “Yeah.”

“We’ll also need something for that awful smell. Never drink vodka and beer together, my friend.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Saturday mornings were usually a wonderful opportunity to get work done and then to finally relax until Sunday evening. But that morning, Sephiroth found it almost impossible to throw the blankets off and get out of bed.

His head hurt, his chest felt tight, and he was so tired it felt as though he hadn’t even gone to bed. Sephiroth watched his digital clock as the minutes ticked by. 2:17PM, and still he didn’t want to get out of bed.

“This is stupid. It’s childish to feel this way.” He gathered his will and forced himself to sit up. The paperwork he had managed to finish last night was neatly organized and paper clipped together. “At least that’s finished.”

With a sigh, Sephiroth collapsed into bed again. He wanted to just lie there until Monday. He figured that he was just exhausted from last night, but by 3:00PM, a nasty coughing spell captured him. He cursed afterwards, wondering how he could have gotten ill from the rain in only five minutes.

“Honestly, I’ll behead the two of them if I see them today.” He buried his face into his pillow, the icy feeling soothing his burning forehead. “Well, at least I have a reason for feeling so horrible this morning…”

Just as he closed his eyes and began to drift into sleep, his cell phone erupted with polyphonic sound. Moodily, he wished that he had never let Zack pick out such a loud ring tone. Nevertheless, Sephiroth groped around for his phone and flipped it open. “Hello?”

“Sephiroth!” greeted Zack. “How are you this morning?”

“Aren’t you supposed to have a hangover?”

“Nah, it’s just a small headache. Cloud and I just finished cleaning your car though. And we wanted to say we’re sorry for being such bastards yesterday. But I do admit, it was fun. You really should have joined us.”

“Zack, the way I feel this morning, I would be dead if I had joined you last night.”

There was a gasp from Zack.

“You mean…you’re sick?”

“It’s just a cold.”

“But Sephiroth! You never get sick.”

“So? You can’t go through life not being sick forever.”

“Just wait right there! Cloud and I will be your personal attendants for the day. Anything you want, we’ll get it!”

“What? No! Zack!” There was no response. “…Hello? Zack?” The dial tone sounded.

Filled with an entirely new determination to get out of bed, Sephiroth got up and ran to the door to lock it. But as he lost precious time searching for the key that locked his door, Zack shoved the door open, nearly hitting Sephiroth, and was carrying a first-aid kit.

“I have a cold. I’m not dying.”

“Nonsense, Sephiroth. Now back to bed you go! Cloud, will you bring in the rest of the supplies?”

Cloud soon emerged from the hallway, carrying a tray of food from the cafeteria and several glasses of icy cold water. “H-Hey, Sephiroth.” He tried to smile as though last night had never happened.

Sephiroth, however, was still not amused by Zack’s behavior. “Get out of my room, Zack.”

“But you’re sick! All sick SOLDIERs must be admitted to the infirmary. And since you hate the infirmary, we’ve got to get you better by Monday!”

Sephiroth groaned and forced his legs to return him to his bed. “The entire world is going to know I’ve got a cold if you keep talking so loud.”

“Well, if you weren’t such a Mr. Grumpy-Pants and always putting yourself under so much stress, then maybe I wouldn’t have to TALK SO LOUD!”

Sephiroth covered his ears, and Cloud winced in pain.

Zack, however, smiled calmly. “Now… Shall we begin The Treatment?”

Author’s Note: Wow… Can you believe it’s taken me almost a year to get the inspiration to write this chapter? I’d like to give a special thanks to kazuhiko, who not only reviewed this story, but also sent me a PM asking for me to update it! It was that PM that encouraged me like nothing before. Hopefully, this chapter isn’t too disappointing to anyone. My writing style and techniques have changed quite a bit, and I’m afraid it hasn’t been for the better. At any rate, please send in reviews and tell me how I can make this story better!