"Hey Cloud, you remember Zack and Sephiroth?" Tifa yelled all the way from the living room at the other end of the apartment.

The blond was in their bedroom, getting dressed and attempting to do his hair at the same time. "Yeah, the two SOLDIERs that came to Nibelheim. The ones you worked as tour guide for. The same guys you've been friends with ever since. Of course I remember them. How could I not?" Cloud said as if he had reminded his girlfriend of that many times before.

The voluptuous brunette chuckled to herself and remained quiet for a moment.

"….So, what about them?" Cloud asked, suspicious. Of course he knew of the two men, but he did not know them personally.

Before answering, she tiptoed into their master bedroom. "I kinda invited them to our housewarming party." What she forgot to add was that she invited them along with anyone else they wanted to bring with them. She knew how Cloud hated parties, especially the kind that involved celebrity military figures, the requirement to be social, and a large crowd of people he didn't know. After having asked her partner to do so many things that required him to be out of his comfort zone, Tifa felt as though she might be pushing it by adding on the two SOLDIERs and all their friends. But she knew that it wouldn't have been a real housewarming without them.

Though her boyfriend was uncomfortable with these things, he had decided to let her throw her party. A part of the reason why he agreed was because she would have likely gone through with the get-together anyway whether he liked it or not. The next reason was because he just wanted her to be happy. Lastly, he knew things would be better off if they both put in mutual consent on matters and events involving their shared home. Cloud stopped everything that he was doing. "…Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because…I know how you are. You get so weird about parties. You're antisocial and you don't like to meet new people, but since they are my friends you will be forced to meet them and I knew that it would bother you. So I waited until now to give you the red flag so that you didn't have time to come up with some lame excuse, illness or appointment so that you could leave the party."

Cloud gave it a bit of thought. Tifa hit the nail right on the head. She knew him sometimes better than he knew himself.

She then spoke again, "I had to invite them, Cloud….They are the reason why I'm even here. Sephiroth got me a receptionist job at the front desk of the ShinRa building. He recommended me himself. And Zack always comes to check up on how I'm making out. Staying in touch with them has opened up so many doors for me…for us. I would have been betraying our friendship if I didn't insist that they come." A minute had gone by with no form of response from the other. Worried by the sudden silence, Tifa came up behind her lover, where the blond was stationed in front of a long mirror on the back of the closet door, a deadened look on his face. "Is it so bad that I invited them?" She came a little closer.

Light blue eyes remained staring distantly into the mirror. "I'm going to be a part of the military soon… When that happens, Sephiroth will be like my boss. I've never met him before, but I think it might be awkward having him here. It's different for you because the two of you are close friends. He is my superior…" This was by far a better explanation than, than: he simply hated being in a position where he was forced to carry conversation and connect with strangers.

Tifa propped her hands on her hips and gave a displeased scoff. "And here I thought you might have been jealous about me inviting two attractive SOLDIERs to our home. You were thinking about yourself all along."

The blond furrowed his brows, yet reacted calmly, "That isn't true. It's difficult for me knowing that you have mostly male friends and you have this long list of men you plan to invite to the party…plus those two. I don't know, Tifa… maybe you need some girl friends to balance things out."

"Balance things out? Is that the only thing you're worried about, the balance? Aren't you worried that they might fall for me and I could… cheat on you….?" She asked in a taunting manner to conceal how fragile her true feelings were.

"I didn't want to go there, but yes, sometimes it crosses my mind. You are my girlfriend, and a very beautiful one at that. I see the way men stare at you. But it's not like there's anything I can do about that. I can't control you or hide you away from all eyes to see. I would rather you have freedom. If that means that most of your company besides me is made up of males, I have to deal with that. And if you do decide to break up with me, then I won't try to stop you if some other man is what makes you happiest."

"You really have no faith in me, do you? Or is it that you don't have faith in yourself?"

He sighed, "I'm just being realistic. It could happen. If it does, I'm not going to be some spiteful, macho, controlling, vindictive tool about it. Even as the man who loves you, I just want you to be happy no matter if you're with me or someone else. I'm lucky that you chose me and stuck with me this long. Even though I'm lacking and insecure…"

"You don't get it… I WANT you to get jealous. I want you to act possessive! I want you to be mad for once Cloud!"

"Fine…." That was when the blond took her by the arm and threw her into the bed, thick sheet rising up to swallow her dainty figure whole. Cloud pounced on top of her, mouth drawing close to her own. There was a predatory look in his eyes. "You belong to me." His fingers coiled around her jaw, gripping it tight, but not enough to hurt. "I won't allow you to invite so many men to our home." Somehow the comment made him feel even more insecure. It was as if this big macho role Tifa wished for him to play was solely comprised of insecurities, a man who in reality felt puny on the inside with no amount of confidence. It was a man who wasn't emotionally capable of handling his woman being around any other man at all. This was a weak man.

Before Cloud could adlib further, the girl under him had begun to burst into laughter. "I'm sorry! I just can't take you seriously! Hahahahaha!"

The blond didn't think that it was very funny. He was just trying to appease her. His finger unclenched her delicate jaw.

"Nice try though… Hahaha… You cared enough to try. I like seeing that you care."

"Of course, Tifa."

"But…there's this one thing I forgot to tell you… Actually, most of my guy friends are gay. All my really close friends are…so you have absolutely nothing to worry about after all!"

"Gay? What kind of game are you playing? You had me all jealous for nothing. I hadn't been worried about it until you brought up the possibility that things could become intimate between you and them." Cloud got up from his position on top of her and sat on the edge of the mattress.

"Oh, brighten up. It was just a test." She sat up, leaning back on her hands.

"…So, did I pass?" He asked with a touch of indifference.

"Yes! You really do care about me!" Tifa said in a chipper mocking tone.

"I'm surprised you doubted after all this time. And after I decided to move in with you and start a life." He had also agreed to let her pay the rent until he received his payment from The ShinRa Military. It was against his nature since he was supposed to be the man, the male role figure, the bread winner, but he compromised his own pride just to satisfy her. After she had already gotten her job and settled down in the apartment, Tifa nearly begged him to move in rather than wait until the date came when he was scheduled to start his own career. Cloud didn't start training in the military until tomorrow and he didn't get any money until the end of the month.

"Sometimes, a girl just needs a little reassurance."

A grin formed on his lips, "I thought that I gave you reassurance like every other night, sometimes in the morning."

"Oh, that doesn't count. Guys have sex with girls they don't care about all the time!"

"Well, how about we make love? I bet you'll be more than reassured when we're through…." Like before, he climbed on top of her, only this time he had done so in a sensual, slow manner with a sultry smirk on his face.

Tifa put her hands up to stop him from progressing. "Wait…stop…! We have to finish preparing for the party!"

Tifa and I have been together for four years now. We finally moved in with each other. Yeah, it's expensive to live here in Midgar, but it's the only place to be if you want to make a real living. Back in Nibelheim, college was never really a big thing, so the moment Tifa and I graduated from high school, we decided to go get jobs. And we did, only those jobs didn't pay much at all…well, enough so that we could move out of our parents' houses. One day we came up with a plan. Our plan was for the both of us to move to the City Midgar and make a living. The end result was that she had gotten a job as a receptionist and I had gotten accepted into the military. She never told me the two SOLDIERs were the cause of that though. Ever since before we had even gotten together as a couple, she would tell me about these SOLDIERs she had become friends with; Zack and Sephiroth. I've never met them before, but since we moved here, I've had a feeling that they are going to be a big part of our life now.

Since Cloud never had a housewarming or hadn't so much as attended one, he tried his utmost to help out his girlfriend prepare, which meant, doing exactly what she instructed him to do. At the moment, he was carrying a box an arm's length long into the walk-in closet inside their bedroom. Tifa told him that no unpacked boxes could be seen by the guests, so he had to get them all out of sight. Just when he entered their room, a display only a few yards away from their apartment building caught his attention. Why, the buildings in Midgar where so close to one another, that it was easy to look straight into another's home, their kitchen, living room, their things, their family, and their business. What Cloud took in wasn't anything he would have expected to see taking place, like a couple or a family eating dinner, watching TV or on a computer. It was the sight of two young men passionately kissing each other. Though the city was rather dim, the scene was as plain and clear as if it were taking place in the same space as he.

At first, the blond looked on with one eye, a rather nonchalant, casual gaze, as if to merely acknowledge what the two men were so noticeably doing outside and directly parallel to his bedroom window. He set the box down in the closet and, oddly had came back out with a stronger desire to watch. He neared the window and ducked low to the floor, so that only blue eyes and yellow spikes were poking up beyond the base of his own window. Cloud wasn't one to eavesdrop or spy. He never cared enough about other people's business to go that far. Yet, for some reason that was beyond his understanding at that point in time, he couldn't take his eyes away. He'd never seen something like it before. Two men caressing one another… How did they do it? What were the things going through their minds? How did it feel? It was such a different way of life. Cloud wondered how two guys with the same things could be so deeply engaged in each other's body to the point where even an engaged man such as Cloud was eager to see how it unfolded.

Yes, he was engaged. It happened just the day before. He made his girlfriend a romantic dinner, lit candles and ran her a nice bath before he proposed to her. She said yes and they had sex, or rather, made love, all night. His reason was that Tifa was the only woman he could see himself with, he cared deeply for her, loved her unconditionally, they had been together for four years and they now lived with each other…. The next move after that was marriage, so why wait? He wasn't going to string such a great woman like her along. He wasn't going to let another man marry her, even though if she found someone else, he'd let her go. Presenting her with an engagement ring was the obligatory thing to do. Of course, they weren't going to tie the knot anytime soon. He needed to make more money so that he could take care of her, pay for the wedding and even buy her a better wedding ring. So many things were in the way of that particular course of action, but getting engaged put the leap of commitment in her mind and that big smile on her face in addition to the giddy expectation. As long as Tifa was happy, their home was happy, their life, and Cloud didn't have to worry about her. Things couldn't have been better between them. Besides the occasional feeling of uncertainty and insecurity, their relationship was perfect. But, perhaps there was a reason behind that periodic feeling of doubt, a reason why Cloud had picked the time to propose when he couldn't make any drastic moves toward a nice wedding… He would never admit this to anyone, but he felt like he wasn't good enough for her and that his love for Tifa wasn't enough for an amazing woman like her. On occasion, he also felt sexually curious. Tifa had been the only person he had been with, all that he had ever known.

Perhaps that reason was behind his desire to spy on the couple out the window. He didn't believe that he was curious about sex with men, but all kinds of sex in general. What they did…it was so completely different from the way he touched Tifa…

Cloud was unprepared to see the erection the more masculine man flashed in his view while watching his lover lower to his knees on the floor. Startled, he shifted his eyes away, then mustered up the nerve to keep watching once he realized that neither party knew he was looking. Tifa or anyone else didn't know either. As long as no one knew, it didn't matter what he ogled. It didn't matter if he stared intently at the large erect penis of another man because it looked so perfect, so long, thick, rock hard and nicely shaped. His eyes didn't move away from it until the kneeling man took the whole thing into his mouth. At this, Cloud gasped. He didn't know it was possible for someone to deep throat so….deeply.

It seemed as though the guy on his knees was making the shaft nice and wet. When it was slick with saliva, he stood up and literally stripped his pants off in 3 seconds flat. The man with the huge dick picked him up and shoved his cock right into his ass hole before carrying him off to a place that was out of Cloud's view. He was guessing it was their bed.

That was when Tifa came into the room.

"Okay! Everything is ready for the party. We have time to spare until nine." The brunette got a mischievous look in her coffee tinted eyes as she then wiggled out of her little black dress, the one she picked to wear for the house warming.

Cloud nearly had a heart attack at the sound of her voice, but was more than grateful to see that the two had miraculously disappeared so that his girlfriend couldn't see the reason why he was crouched down by the window. Rather than acting suspicious, he stood up composed as though he had merely been putting on a pair of socks before she barged in. Even still, while Tifa's bodacious body was wrapped up in sexy lingerie, Cloud peered out of the window from the bed as though still trying to comprehend what he had just seen. Even when he saw her approaching figure, his eyes darted back to the view outside. "Tifa…did you know that our neighbors are gay?"

More fixated on Cloud than the neighbors, Tifa pushed her man onto the bed and straddled him, jerking his chin up and away from the view so that his eyes met her perfectly lifted breast still concealed behind her double D size brassiere. "I'm not surprised. This IS the city where all the gays go." She was about to kiss him, until he said more.

"Maybe we made a mistake moving here."

"I don't think so. You just have to get used to it, that's all. Soon, you'll realize that they aren't too different from you and me. They are people just like us."

"I just think it's weird…" Cloud said, finally.

"What's weird is…you having my tits in your face and you aren't even giving them any attention." She pouted.

The blond looked down at the big, bouncy set of knockers, with a somewhat awkward expression. "Sorry, Tifa…"

We ended up having sex, just like she wanted. I suppose she needed some more reassurance that I'm attracted to her or whatever. I can't really keep track of when, where, how and what, I'm supposed to do to make her happy. I'm just doing what she wants me to do, which is fine with me. There's never a time she wants something that I'm not willing to do for her. But sometimes I feel like there's something wrong with me because I never want for anything from her or from this relationship. I have never had anything to worry about. We have plenty of sex, I don't want anything material from her, I would be fine if we got married next month or a year from now, I never wanted children from her, I know she loves me and wants to stay with me and Tifa is already a great housekeeper even though we take turns cooking and cleaning. She's wonderful and devotedly committed. I don't want anything from her… Maybe that makes me apathetic. I'm not sure. I don't think about it much, but when I do, I feel like there's something wrong with me or that I'm missing something. I have always been pretty passive though so I'm not too worried about it.

My passive personality even manifests when we are in bed together. Today, I just laid there, although, I did tell her about the men outside our window. She seemed rather interested. I can't understand some women and their fascination with gay men together. I can't even wrap my head around why men like to watch two girls either. Even so…I told her. I told her everything, all that I saw, that it was a black guy with a huge dick and a white guy with long brown hair. By the time I was done the story, she came. Then, I came; only I pissed her off by pulling out before ejaculating, even though I was wearing a condom. Tifa has never comprehended or even tried to comprehend my aversion to getting her pregnant. I won't let her go on the pill since I know that it will mess with the balance of her body, so I've always pulled out. I don't mind. It gives me peace of mind and the ability to sleep at night. After hearing her complain for the next ten or so minutes about my obsessive compulsive need to pull out, she hopped into the shower. Then, I took a quick one after her. Fifteen minutes later I heard a knock on the door. That was when I set eyes on the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my whole twenty one years of existence…

Cloud's immediate reaction to the arriving company was to retreat to the kitchen, preparing drinks as his excuse. He was never good with crowds. The General was the first guest to knock on the door, and quite punctual as he had come at precisely nine o'clock. After walking through the door, he had then proceeded to apologize for being early. This, Cloud didn't understand. City people were SO different from what he was used to…

Sephiroth seemed to have brought a whole crew with him, all men of course; anyone that followed after were mostly men too. It was like they all had gotten some unspoken confirmation that it was okay to go to the party once The General got there.

From the kitchen, Cloud gazed his way. He watched him make contact with Tifa, interact with her, and hug her in a casual manner as if they were the best of friends. He studied the tall man as he then introduced the men that had accompanied him… What Cloud couldn't take his eyes off of, was that confidant smile perpetually plastered to his face. As he readied the required amount of glasses for the General and his company, he looked up and down, back and forth at what he was doing with his hands and Sephiroth. Then, suddenly when he looked back up again, the man was gone. He assumed that he had excused himself to use the bathroom or take a phone call.

Seeing as how the coast was clear of the intimidating man, Cloud came out of the kitchen with a tray of martini glasses. Not yet looking up to meet eyes with anyone, he placed it down on the coffee table by the couch where Sephiroth's friends were seated.

Rather than introducing himself, he became distracted by a spectacle a short space away from him. It was something he wasn't quite expecting to see at this house warming and he stopped merely to glance in that direction. There was no way anyone could miss it. A man dressed in a sloppily worn black suit, with long red hair was wildly making out with a dirty blond who was also male. Cloud gawked, quite uncertain about how to react. Frankly, he didn't know how he felt or how he should have felt. The display was just so foreign, and like when he watched the neighbors, the bewilderment he experienced when he set sights on it stopped him in his tracks. He looked to Tifa as though to ask her if something like that should be permitted in their home. She then simply shrugged her shoulders and smiled. He didn't know how she could be so blasé about it.

"This… is a pretty interesting party." Cloud announced to no one in particular, darting his eyes over at the read head and the blond in the corner of his and Tifa's apartment.

Zack followed his line of sight and laughed, "What, Reno? Heh…. We're all pretty used to seeing him do things like that. He's pretty popular with the guys. In fact, I'd steer clear of him. He's quite the playboy."

"…Huh?" Cloud wasn't sure what he wanted him to steer clear of exactly.

"You must be Cloud…. I'm Zack, by the way." He leaned over and shook Cloud's hand enthusiastically. "And these are my friends, the same guys I work with like everyday." Zack then took the time to point his hand in the direction of each man as he introduced them. "This is Angeal, Tseng, Rude, and Lazard. You will see these guys around a lot once you start your training at base." Zack Fair was one of the men Tifa had accompanied during the Nibelheim mission and had gotten quite close to, which was why Cloud wasn't surprised that he knew who he was and that he had gotten accepted into the military. Even after first meeting the SOLDIER, the man seemed quite comfortable and familiar with him. He had a friendly, authentic aura, unlike the General, who felt unapproachable.

The ones Zack identified as Tseng and Lazard were standing, talking to one another. Rude was sitting as still and as silent as a statue beside Angeal who was looking at Zack, monitoring him like a parent did a child in a candy store getting ahead of himself. This was precisely the case. Whenever Zack Fair seemed to set eyes on a man he was attracted to, he fell for them instantly. Angeal had always warned him about falling for people too fast, especially straight men. The only thing he would receive in the end would be a broken heart. But Zack bounced around happily and flirted anyhow, giving the attractive blonde all of his attention.

Cloud put his hand up discreetly, greeting them all with a stiff wave of his fingers. There was but one thing weighing heavily on his thoughts. He took a bold move and spoke his mind, "Are all of you…gay?"

This question caught the talkative Zack off guard. "Hm? Um…well, sort of." He rubbed the back of his head shyly. "Angeal is bisexual."

"Pansexual…" The bigger SOLDIER 1st Class corrected. "Hi, Cloud. Nice to meet you." Angeal then greet the blond in a much sweeter tone of voice.

"Oh, ha ha…oops. Anyways…I'm into guys if that's what you're wondering." Zack then winked flirtatiously at the blond. "What about you, Cloud? We know you have Tifa, but would you ever get with a guy if, I don't know, one day you became single again?"

The blond couldn't help but laugh at the question. "Thinking on it right now, my answer is: no, absolutely not. But I really don't know. You homosexuals just seem so content and wrapped up in your way of life that it almost makes me want to try." He chuckled once more, "Almost…"

"You shouldn't give my friend such ambiguous answers. He may get the wrong idea and think you're sexually confused like him. He may think that he can turn you." A deep voice interrupted the conversation. All eyes turned to the man who spoke those words: Sephiroth. He smiled and sat on the wide arm of the couch, crossing his legs. "When Zack spotted you in the kitchen, he couldn't stop telling me how much he wanted to rape you right there in front of everyone."

Zack stiffened at the General's abrupt comment. "Now, why would you go and tell him that?! It was a joke! And for your information, I'm not confused, I just really hate labels!" He nearly fell out of his seat, trying to get his point across.

Liking how lighthearted the conversation was becoming and finally finding a happy medium in the crowded apartment, Cloud sat down between the brunette and the silver haired man. "Uh….It's fine. I'll take that as a compliment." Somehow, being in the presence of the General didn't seem all that daunting after all. Sephiroth seemed like one of the guys, talking about sex and taunting a close friend. He seemed normal and down to earth. The unexpected impression put him at ease. Cloud slouched, relaxed in the sofa.

"By the way, Cloud. This is Sephiroth, the General, also known as, General hardass."

"I-I know… I've uh, I've seen him in the press and in billboards on the highway to Midgar."

"How discomforting... I hope you don't think you have to treat me a certain way because they make it appear as though I'm a celebrity."

"Oh no… it's just that Tifa has told me so much about you that it's a little mind-blowing finally meeting you in person."

To steer the conversation away from Sephiroth, Zack cut in, "You know… I'm a bit of a celebrity too, you know. I made 1st when I was just eighteen years old. I'm twenty-three right now, practically a veteran." He bragged, brazenly competing against the General for Cloud's attention and praise.

"Really? That's a big accomplishment for an eighteen year old..." The blond was truly impressed.

Zack took it upon himself to carry the conversation. "In SOLDIER we have this saying, it's that if you sleep with a man, you'll make 1st. It was around the time before I got promoted that I lost my virginity to my mentor."

Angeal, on the other side of Zack, gave him a sharp nudge in the elbow and groaned. At least he taught the ignorant puppy how to fight if he failed in teaching him social etiquette. Sometimes Zack just didn't know what to say or how much to say…

Not quite getting the picture, Fair ran his mouth. "Sephiroth, Cloud was just asking me if we were all gay, all us 1sts, which made me really consider taking it under serious consideration. After all, you are the biggest homosexual in the military and you're higher than us all. You have never even slept with a woman! There has to be some validity to it. You, Genesis, Angeal and me, we're all fags." He received another elbow from Angeal. Rude looked as though he had been holding back some laughter. Fag was a title that stood true for all the SOLDIER 1st Classes but Zack and Angeal. "I mean, we had all slept with a guy before making it to 1st." The overly energetic SOLDIER corrected himself.

"That's just a stupid roomer. Don't scare him like that." Sephiroth was the only voice of reason.

"…What if it was true?" Cloud then spoke unexpectedly. "What if sleeping with a man is all it takes to miraculously get me to make 1st?"

A crooked grin slowly made its way onto Zack's smug face. "Now that would be interesting…. Of course, I'd be the one to deflower your ass."

"No…." Sephiroth stole the attention of the blond once more. He was quite good at it. "Cloud wouldn't use you like that just to get promoted…." The General corrected with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Then what would I do, Sephiroth?" Cloud bated the General, wanting ShinRa's most esteemed SOLDIER to humor him.

Accepting the challenge, the silver haired man smirk's widened, "First of all, you wouldn't sleep with any man unless you had—"

"Exhausted all of my resources…" Cloud finished the sentence in synchronization with Sephiroth, a bit impressed with the other's ability to predict his thoughts.

The wise older man nodded once, looking even more arrogant that the usual.

That was when Cloud added, "And if I absolutely did have to sleep with another man, I would—"

"Be the one fucking him in the ass…" Sephiroth finished for him with overconfidence. Yet this was the remarkable, attractive type of confidence. The kind that left most women stunned, captivated, wanting more. Cloud certainly wanted more…

Annoyed with how well the two were connecting, Zack threw his arms up, fed up. His body flopped back into the couch. "Well, there goes any chance I had…"

At that moment, the blond couldn't pull his eyes away from the General. "That….that's… really good. How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Let's just say that I pay close attention to Tifa whenever she mentions your name."

Zack crossed his arms bitterly. "Fuck that, he probably takes notes." Zack leaned over and whispered to Angeal who could care less about the techniques that Sephiroth used to remember such things.

Terribly flattered, Cloud sputtered bashfully, scratching the underside of his chin, eyes cast to the floor to aimlessly search for something to look at down there. "Uhh…." Not knowing how to react, he reached over to the coffee table and took a drink of one of the martinis. Then, suddenly he stood up. Somehow, both him and Sephiroth had stood up at the same time. The abrupt action caused a collision, causing the alcohol in the glass to empty all over the General's grey dress shirt with a single splash. Cloud knew the material was of high quality, the kind he could never afford. "Oh shit! I am so sorry!" He took a few tissues from the box on the table and dabbed at the sullen fibers of the shirt.

"It's okay. I don't care if you spill things on me, Cloud." There was of course, a hidden meaning to his words.

Oblivious of what the man had meant, Cloud rambled on, trying to make up for the accident. "Look, I have this button-up shirt in the closet that's way too big for me. I'll give you that one to wear. You can keep it, alright? Come with me."

Clearly, Sephiroth wasn't as upset about it as the blond. No, he wasn't upset at all. In fact, he appeared as though he expected it, welcomed it. Taking his sweet time, he followed Cloud deep to the back of the apartment.

"Damn it! Why does Sephiroth ALWAYS get the guys that I want?!" Zack blurted out, soon looking around to see if Tifa was anywhere in sight. He respected her relationship with her boyfriend, but nonetheless, he was attracted to him. They didn't have to have sex or anything although it would have been ideal. He was merely looking for a nice diversion from the usual men in his company. Cloud had been the cutest straight guy he'd ever met. He couldn't help but flirt with him. Zack was a harmless flirter.

Beside him, Angeal covered a hand over the younger man's dangerously loud mouth. "Cool it. Cloud is taken anyway. It's not like they can act on their compatibility. Anything beyond friends would be unacceptable."

This, at least, had put the brunette at ease.

-.-.-.-

"You don't have to leave. We're both men." Sephiroth was standing in the walk-in closet within Cloud and Tifa's master bedroom shirtless after receiving the top the blond handed him.

"Yeah, you're right." Cloud quickly agreed so that it didn't seem like he was too nervous to be in the same room. Rather than leaving at once, like a self-conscious woman would have, he turned and looked at the man head on. What he took in were muscular ripples of a tight washboard stomach. Sephiroth had yet to button the shirt he was given. "You have really nice abs." The blond tried to sound as masculine as possible while still being flattering.

The cool, casual approach made the General chuckle. "No need to be so distant. Have a closer look. Feel free to touch if you like. I've had straight men admire my body tactilely before."

Hearing Sephiroth mention his current sexual orientation put him at ease. He then felt it was safer to advance toward him.

"I think it's natural to want to look at or touch someone whose body you admire, be it male or female. Even I have wanted to feel a woman's breasts. That doesn't make me a hetero, Cloud."

The more Sephiroth's smooth, comforting and convincing words rung in his ears, the easier it was, the less guilty he felt the moment his fingers came into contact with that hard body. Tifa wouldn't have minded. Just because he liked the way the General's stomach looked, didn't automatically mean that he wanted him. It didn't mean he was cheating or anything like that. One touch didn't make him a homo. He was just admiring.

The silvered haired man followed the hand that stroked his abdomen go up and then down, slowly, then quite abruptly rough and fast. It was as if the blond was trying to get a handful of the tight, unyielding skin.

Cloud did, in fact, get a handful eventually. It was when his hand veered further up that he was able to grasp onto Sephiroth's pec muscles. The other man's chest was firm, yet supple. Because of its elasticity, Cloud kept squeezing the skin together in his fingers, fondling him as one would do a stacked female. Something about the body before him felt better to him than large drooping breasts or even the small round perky ones. What Sephiroth had was perfect. Everything was neat and firm, yet soft enough to take into his fingers and squeeze if he pinched hard enough. Even his nipples looked appealing. Curiosity drove him to tweak the pink specs of flesh. Feeling bold, he then rolled them around with his fingers the way he was used to doing with his voluptuous girlfriend. When he realized that he wasn't dealing with a big pair of breasts, Cloud limited his touch to the tip of his thumb. This was a way in which was nearly impossible for him to do to Tifa. Liking the newness of that experience, Cloud took his other thumb and stroked both nipples under his rigorous tips.

Not fighting the pleasurable sensations that Cloud was voluntarily giving him, Sephiroth let out a heated sigh and closed his eyes. Then a sound escaped him, "Ngh…"

Cloud found that he enjoyed such a delicate sound coming from a not so delicate man. He increased the intensity of his strokes. But before he could decide what to do next, the other brought his left hand up and took hold of Cloud's right. Sephiroth placed it down low, until it lay on the front of his pants where his newly attained excitement was.

Interested in what that part of the General's body felt like, the blond stroked it through the material, feeling its length, its hardness and its heat. Though curious, Cloud found that he was only comfortable enough to touch it through the material. He wasn't bold enough to unbutton and reach his hand within.

He didn't have to. Sephiroth was the one to close the distance between the area where their belts paralleled and grind his arousal hard into him.

Cloud's own response shocked him. First, he moaned. Then, felt himself start to become erect as well. An instant later, Sephiroth's lips were on his own, as well as his hot breathe, his tongue and saliva. It was all at the same time, happening so rapidly. Soon, a hand settled into the crack of his behind and slid upwards, just barley brushing against his anus.

That had in fact been Sephiroth intended target.

Unfamiliar to the feeling of one coming into contact with his rectal opening, Cloud shoved the man away and wiped his mouth, suddenly disgusted with everything that had just transpired. "This is stupid." The blond frowned and stormed out of the walk-in closet. Immediately upon leaving the other man, he hastened over to Tifa who was entertaining a pair of guests with her bubbly personality. "Tell everyone to leave." Cloud rudely interrupted. "I want you to end this party right now."

At first, she looked at him as if he was insane.

After receiving an unsatisfactory response, Cloud brushed passed her and took long strides to the center if the living room. "Excuse me….. EXCUSE ME! THIS PARTY IS OVER NOW. THANK YOU FOR COMING." The blonde sounded in a deep, vociferous tone so that all heard him.

The fifteen or so people that had showed up had all left in less than five minutes as Cloud ushered them to the door, even Zack. Tifa politely saw them out as well, supplementing her farewell with an earnest apology, especially to Sephiroth, which the sight of pissed her boyfriend off from small a distance away. The blond refused to go anywhere near him again.

When all had gone, Cloud retreated to their bed room.

Tifa was sure to head there without sparing so much as a second. "Cloud, that was so rude! And I was just starting to enjoy myself! Would you like to tell me why you suddenly felt the need to kick everyone out?"

"Something was off...I was starting to feel…strange."

"Oh, so you ruin my fun because you feel a little strange. Ok…" She let out and exaggerated sigh. "Sometimes you can be such a little pussy." Tifa pulled the little dress over her head and tossed it on the floor, before yanking a t-shirt out of the dresser drawer and throwing it on. She climbed into their bed, rather agitated.

That was when Cloud came up to her lying figure. He kneeled down on the plush sheets, spreading her legs open.

"Cloud… What in the…" She trailed off, bothered by the abrupt sexual initiation. "Don't you want to explain yourself first? I can't believe you're—"

Cloud slid off her red laced panties and opened her legs up as wide as they could go, simply staring down at her newly exposed parts.

She wasn't going to stop him, although it felt weird carrying on at such an inopportune moment. What she wasn't aware of, was that his sudden urgency for this came with a reason.

He needed confirmation. He had to make sure that he enjoyed doing things like this to a woman. As he gazed below at her pink folds, he wondered if he always liked the way it looked, the way it felt against his tongue, surrounding his fingers… or if he had been just trying to appease his darling girlfriend all along. No doubt he liked being inside of her, but there were the times he closed his eyes and didn't acknowledge her for the stunning woman that she was. He didn't have to look at her there while having sex. He didn't have to look at her anywhere. Cloud questioned whether he truly enjoyed the way that it smelled, tasted, and the shape of it.

Tentatively, he lowered his face down until his lips met her lips and the pleasure point in the middle. He stroked his tongue against her clitoris twice before she let out a high pitched sigh of ecstasy. Unfortunately, Cloud wasn't very aroused doing it, but he kept on with determination. Since becoming sexually active with her, he had never quite known what to do down there, but she seemed to like it when he licked and sucked on her clitoris. Sometimes he kissed it and bit it. Cloud did all of those things, and when he felt his jaw ache, he looked up at her. A sadness and worried looked in his pale blue eyes.

-.-.-.-

All hostility aside, Zack was the one to walk alongside the General as they departed. Stepping out of the elevator, he asked. "Did everything go alright? Cloud looked like he was pissed about something."

"Everything went perfectly. I planted the seed…"

"What do you mean?"

"I gave him a taste. But I think he bit off more than he could chew in one sitting."