Sephiroth hated visiting the slave market, especially the enhanced section; it reminded him far too much of the fate he'd so narrowly avoided, and of how dependent he was on Cloud's good graces. At least in the normal section he knew that all the slaves were guilty to some extent of one crime or another, although he felt the Cetra overestimated the choices available to people in many ways, but many of the slaves in the enhanced section were victims of Hojo, just like he was. After Cloud and Aeris called back the Cetra in the Cetra Restoration Hojo had managed to escape the warrior caste Cetra who went to capture him and went on a spree of infecting children with Mako stored Jenova cells, giving them some of the powers of the one-time SOLDIERs.

Cloud had told Sephiroth a year ago, when he turned sixteen and became an adult warrior caste Cetra that his help in locating Hojo had been the main reason Cloud's request that the then fifteen year old Sephiroth be allowed to remain free, albeit pledged to become Cloud's consort when he reached adulthood. It had helped as well that the Planet's Heart had been able to report that he'd been responsible for her escape from Hojo's labs with her mother, even if Ifalna had died in the escape, but he'd spent a year fighting in Wutai for ShinRa by the Restoration.

But Cloud had ordered him to find a suitable candidate to become his sister's bodyguard, as her eighteenth birthday gift, and the best choices were all in the enhanced section. He wasn't going to disappoint his lord by failing in his task just because he felt uncomfortable going where he needed to go to get the job done. Angeal was the first slave to catch his attention; Sephiroth knew that someone who'd been a SOLDIER when he went to Wutai, and had taught him how to command would never be acceptable to serve a healer caste Cetra, especially not one who'd just become an adult, but he also knew that older slaves were used to train the younger enhanced slaves.

"Angeal." What else could he say? The older man took that question away from him by speaking first.

"Sephiroth?" He'd looked up when he heard Sephiroth's voice, obviously recognising it, and recognising the meaning of the 'jewellery' around his neck wrists and ankles. "You're some Cetra's consort?"

"Yes." He wasn't sure what to say, being a consort was the highest position any human could aspire to, and here he was, consort to the Planet's Champion, a position most Cetra thought should be filled by a healer caste Cetra, when people who had less of Jenova's infection than he did were slaves. If he said anything positive about Cloud it could be seen as gloating, and saying something negative would be a lie. "I don't like to gloat about how lucky I was."

"Everyone knows the only real difference between a consort and a slave is some extra status and the knowledge that you can't be sold." Sephiroth smiled at the casual reassurance, he wasn't sure it was accurate, but he didn't contest Angeal's view. "What did your master send you here to get?"

"A coming of age gift for a healer caste Cetra, a bodyguard."

"Then why are you talking to me? There's no way he'd accept an ex-SOLDIER like me for an eighteen year old healer caste." Angeal drew in a quick breath and gritted his teeth against the pain as the uncaste Cetra standing guard over him activated the punishment device.

"Stop that."

"He was being insolent...sir." The uncaste obeyed, but the title was obviously forced out of him. Sephiroth wondered absently if he was a coward, one born to the warrior caste who'd refused to activate his powers, or a murderer, a healer who'd killed by use of his powers without reason by the Planet's judgement and been punished by the loss of his powers.

"He was being accurate. And my lord is considering buying one or more enhanced to spar with. It isn't as if I could do that for him, and he is quickly moving past the point where other warrior caste will aid his learning." Cloud was more powerful than most warrior caste were, far more powerful since his powers had been activated when he was just five. The only way Sephiroth had been permitted to live was after ten warrior caste had worked with a mind-gifted healer caste to twist a healing to the point where he was incapable of doing anything that could cause harm to another without Cloud's specific permission.

"Do you want to see his file then?"

"Please, and I need to talk to him as well." Sephiroth pointedly turned away from the uncaste, knowing the warrior caste Cetra Cloud had assigned as his bodyguard would make sure he didn't approach or disturb Sephiroth again, and pulled a bottle of painkillers from his belt, offering them to Angeal. "Will these help?"

"I don't need them, but thank you." Angeal smiled at Sephiroth. "I know you probably only made that up about your lord needing sparring partners to shut that snotty prick up, but thank you for that as well. What did you really want to talk to me about?"

"Cloud does need sparring partners, and he told me to look out for any enhanced he might want to test himself, but...I know the uncaste usually use the more experienced enhanced to train the younger, and I was hoping you could suggest some who'd be a good choice as bodyguard for a young healer caste. And someone with a bit of spirit as well." He knew that Angeal had to be aware of all the possible duties that could entail, and although Aeris would never force anyone she could use a companion.

"I can think of three straight off. There's a redhead called Reno, he's a bit smart-mouthed, and a little bit of a slut, but I think that's defensive. Then there's a brunet called Zack, he's a couple of inches shorter than you are, and he jokes and smiles a lot, to hide the pain as much as anything else, but he's pretty friendly. His hair grows a bit like the Planet's Weapon's does, in all those spikes. Then there's a girl, she's just seventeen, Reno's twenty-one and Zack's nineteen, her name's Tifa and she's a brunette, and a bit top-heavy."

"Thank you." Sephiroth turned to the Cetra then, taking Angeal's file and looking through it. "Well, are those slaves here at the moment?" He doubted he'd choose this Tifa, Aeris preferred men, and Cloud had once mentioned a girl called Tifa who was one of the popular kids, where he was the social outcast in Nibelheim.

"The two males came in late yesterday; we haven't had a female for over a month." Angeal's file was pretty impressive, and Sephiroth could personally attest to the fact that he knew how to hold his own against someone much stronger than he was.

"I see. Put a hold on him, my lord will be in to make the final inspection and decision within the week." It was Aeris' birthday in four days, and Cloud had been looking for a suitable enhanced slave for a week, but he'd had to go on a trip yesterday, and he wasn't due back until late tomorrow, so he'd asked Sephiroth to continue looking while he was away. "And tell me where to find the two males."

Sephiroth waited patiently while the Cetra fastened a tag to Angeal's collar, recording the name and rank of the one who'd reserved him and found the information he'd asked for; since there was no one who outranked Cloud that meant he'd still be there when Cloud had time to come see him. Reno would be easier to get to, and he ordered the uncaste to make sure that Zack wasn't sold before he had a chance to inspect the man - he didn't really care whether he took the message himself or sent Angeal with it.

Reno was spirited, Sephiroth had to acknowledge that, but his banter was a bit too overly sexual for his taste, and he was definitely sluttish in his behaviour, telling Sephiroth that he was easy in response to his question about sexual preferences and then asking if Sephiroth wanted him. That answer had been indiscreet enough to border on stupidity; even if he were one of the rare consorts permitted by his lord to take a lover, discretion would have been an essential requirement. But he'd had to ask the question; Aeris wasn't a rapist, so for there to be the possibility of anything more than friendship between her and her bodyguard the bodyguard had to enjoy women. Reno hadn't been owned by any healer caste before either, and that counted against him a little as well. But he'd done well enough that Sephiroth felt he would be justified in sparring with him as a final test, especially since Cloud had explicitly given him not only permission but an order to do so.

"Get his sword and find me somewhere to spar with him." Sephiroth smiled faintly at the uncaste Cetra as he spoke, since this one had been polite to him. "My lord will not want his gift to the Planet's Heart to be inadequate in a fight after all."

"Yes sir. If you'll follow me."

"Best get a bucket as well." Sephiroth ignored the way his guard joked about the after-effects of sparring for him, focusing on the uncaste in front of him instead.

It wasn't a surprise that Reno used an oversized broadsword - it would have been easiest for Angeal to teach all his pupils the weapon he used, and the uncaste wouldn't have bothered finding weapons more suited to them. What was surprising was how 'bad' he was with it, Sephiroth defeated him five times in half an hour before deciding that he'd given Reno enough of a chance to show his abilities. Once he gave Masamune back to his guard the reaction set in, and he ended up kneeling beside the bucket the uncaste had brought, trying to keep his hair out of his face as he threw up. Reno didn't even try to help him, and that was the last nail in his coffin.

"You can take him back. Reserve him for three days, in case I can't find anything better, but I seriously doubt that he will suffice. Oh, and have Zack sent here, with his weapon."

"Yes sir." Sephiroth sighed and accepted the snack his bodyguard offered while he was waiting for the other slave to arrive.

oxOX()XOxo

Zack knew some sort of high muckety-muck was interested in him just from word of mouth the moment Angeal came to talk to his supervisor with a tag on his collar, but he didn't get a chance to ask who, or to read Angeal's tag, and it wasn't like he could see the tag Yotan put on him properly. When Reno turned up wearing a tag as well Zack figured the guy who'd asked after him had been looking for enhanced who used broadswords, or enhanced trained by Angeal, he wasn't quite sure which.

"Remember to show proper respect Zack. That means keep your head bowed until he tells you to look at him. He'll probably be wanting you to spar with him at some point, so make sure to do your best. The reason he wants you, it's a pretty good place, don't do anything to damage your chances."

"I will Yotan, I promise." The Cetra wouldn't be urging him to make the best impression if he wasn't being considered for a good place, somewhere that his duties wouldn't necessarily include spreading his legs. He knew he was lucky, Yotan was usually the one put in charge of him when he was being sold, and he'd managed to get to know him pretty well. He'd been a healer caste until he avenged his human wife and half-blood children by twisting a healing on a warrior caste he knew had killed them, without enough proof to bring him to justice legally.

He bowed his head in the submissive pose more than one warrior caste had tried to beat into him, although they'd always just sold him on if they found it too difficult, focusing on the floor in front of his boots as he walked. He came to a halt when Yotan put a hand on his arm, just after a pair of black leather boots with a slight bulge at the ankle came into his field of vision.

"You can look at me." There was laughter in the deep, rich voice, and Zack lifted his head slowly, his gaze following the slim, strong legs to the two belts at the man's waist and hips, noting the flaring black coat that fell to the top of his boots on the way. Seeing the bare muscled stomach above the belt told him this was a fighter, but then he caught sight of the man's wrists, or more precisely the woven metal bands around them, each set with a single green materia, and he knew he was in front of a consort; no Cetra would wear a consort's jewels unless entitled to them and any human who did so would be enslaved on sight. The consort was wearing a leather harness that crossed over his chest, and Zack had a feeling that should mean something to him, he just couldn't remember what, not until he actually saw the man's face, noting almost absently that there were five materia set in his collar, two pairs of one blue and one green and a central red materia.

"Yes sir." He remembered Yotan's instructions to be polite, even though he wished he'd known it was Sephiroth who'd wanted to see him. A lot of the enhanced slaves saw him as a traitor, because he had a lot of freedom compared to them, and because he'd helped hunt down Hojo, but Angeal had always said that at least one of Hojo's victims wasn't suffering too much for what the bastard had done. And a lot of the grumbling had been from older men, men who'd volunteered to be enhanced the way Angeal had, and Angeal had said the techniques were derived by torturing Sephiroth. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. You brought his file?" Zack felt his hackles rise at the faint disdain he saw in the way Sephiroth glanced at Yotan, even if the Cetra didn't seem to be insulted.

"Here. You want a rundown of his strengths and weaknesses that the file won't tell you?"

"Yes please." Sephiroth sounded surprised and impressed, and there was a hint of respect in the way he looked at Yotan now. "But not yet. Go and find Zack's sword while I talk to him first." He waited for Yotan to start moving before looking at Zack. "You're unhappy with me for some reason, explain."

"You don't have any reason to look down on Yotan like that, he's done nothing to deserve it, any more than you deserve to be seen as a traitor - less in fact." Sephiroth put out a hand, stopping the warrior caste behind him as he stepped forward threateningly.

"No, let him speak. Zack, first, all uncaste Cetra either were too cowardly to enter the Warrior caste or committed premeditated murder in the Planet's view, breaking an Oath sworn to It in the process." Zack didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but it didn't matter.

"Are you going to tell me that you wouldn't kill someone to avenge your family when there was no other way?"

"I don't think I'd break an Oath to the Planet to do so, no. Still, accepting the price to do what he felt needed doing is an admirable trait, and you may have a point, but I dislike this place and the trade involved, and I know he must have had other options. But enough of that, I need to talk to you."

"Yes sir." The man had been remarkably patient with his usual insolence, so Zack would be obedient and submissive now if it killed him. "What do you need to know?"

"Your sexual preferences for one thing."

"Healer caste." The Cetra had considered him old enough for sex since he was sixteen, healer caste tended to be a lot more considerate in bed, even if both castes had made it pretty clear his pleasure came a distant second to their own.

"I see...does that mean you look at men as much as at women?" He seemed almost confused, but the question didn't make much sense, slaves never really got a choice, so they tended not to have much in the way of preferences.

"Yeah, it's how they treat you that matters, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. And how would you say you treated your partners?" Zack didn't understand this, Sephiroth was acting almost like an elder brother checking out his sister's prospective suitor, but he answered all the questions honestly, joking when he dared.

"Good enough. Zack, do some kata to warm up while I listen to what Yotan has to say about you." Sephiroth had been looking through his file sometimes as they talked, and Zack could tell that he was still doing that as he listened to what Yotan was saying about him, so he used his anger at the implied disrespect - to Yotan, not to him - to push himself that little bit harder.

"Give me Masamune. Zack, you'll spar with me for a bit."

"Yes sir." He focused on his opponent, on the odd stance he took with his sword, ignoring what his guard was saying about getting a bucket. He waited five minutes, hoping Sephiroth would attack first, but he just stayed in his stance and Zack gave in, attacking himself. Fifteen minutes later Sephiroth had disarmed him, and even though he looked faintly green he ordered Zack to attack again. This time he was defeated in just over ten minutes and Sephiroth handed his sword over to his bodyguard.

"That's enough for me." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Sephiroth was bent over the bucket throwing up. Zack knelt beside him, he didn't understand what had made Sephiroth ill, but he wasn't going to just stand around watching him throw up, even if from Yotan's scandalised look he was expected to. He held Sephiroth's long hair out of his face and rubbed his back soothingly.

"Could one of you get a glass of water and a damp cloth please?" He was probably messing up his chances at the place Sephiroth might want him for, but his bodyguard had this almost helpless look on his face, and Yotan was reacting to Sephiroth almost like he was a warrior caste Cetra, so no one else was going to help him. Yotan looked happy to have something to do, something that would get him out of the way and he immediately ran to get what Zack had asked for, leaving Zack almost glaring at Sephiroth's bodyguard over his back.

"Back down kid. I'm not going to stop you tending to him." It looked like Sephiroth had just about finished throwing up by then, and Zack helped him up, hoping he wasn't insulting him somehow.

"Yotan's getting you a glass of water and a damp cloth sir, when he gets here you should take a mouthful to clean your mouth out and then spit it into the bucket."

"Thank you Zack. By the way, normally my bodyguard would help me with this, but I ordered him not to do that today."

Had it been some sort of test for him then? But from Sephiroth's faint smile it was a test he'd passed so Zack put it out of his mind. And when Yotan arrived there was a distraction from his thoughts as Sephiroth took the water and followed his advice, wiping his mouth clean with the damp cloth afterwards.

"I'll sign for him, but keep Reno on reserve just in case. My lord might decide I made the wrong choice, but I think Zack would make a worthwhile sparring partner if Cloud decided he isn't suitable for what I came for." Yotan nodded and began leading them to the nearest sales point. "Zack, you're to be an eighteenth birthday gift for my sister. She's a healer caste Cetra so she needs a bodyguard, I picked you because you demonstrated the compassion and empathy I think she needs from her first bodyguard. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir, I understand." It was pretty simple after all and Zack hoped this Cloud found him acceptable. Bodyguarding a healer caste was a pretty good position after all, and even though the more powerful healer caste tended to acquire more bodyguards they usually kept their first one until he or she died, at least they did since the Restoration, Yotan had said it wasn't like that when there were fewer humans.

"And you understand that you'll have to be hidden from Aeris at least until Cloud has tested you, and probably until her birthday?"

"Yes sir." Zack didn't get why his agreement mattered, but he saw a faint smile on Sephiroth's face as he responded.

oxOX()XOxo

Sephiroth waited anxiously for Cloud to return, he always hated it when Cloud had to go somewhere without him, something inside him felt empty when he couldn't see Cloud and touch him often enough to fill that aching void. It had bothered him eleven years ago, when he'd recovered from how the Cetra had altered him, that he couldn't cope without seeing and touching a six year old daily, but by now it was just something about his life and nature that he accepted without questioning. Cloud had never denied him what he needed if it could be avoided after all, and he'd been understanding about it, even when Sephiroth's need for contact became stronger, and the type of contact he needed more intimate.

It seemed as if Cloud finally fucking him on his sixteenth birthday had made Sephiroth's addiction to him even worse, because he hadn't hurt quite so much when Cloud had to leave him behind before that. That was the only reason he had to be grateful that Cloud hadn't started fucking him when he was fourteen or fifteen as Sephiroth had asked...no almost pleaded for him to do. If he hadn't been altered by the Cetra Sephiroth liked to think that he wouldn't have been so desperate to be with Cloud in that way, he didn't want to think that simply being kept celibate had been reason enough for him to throw over all his morals and try to seduce someone legally a child. He'd been a virgin up until the Cetra Restoration anyway, and he had a feeling that without the alterations the Cetra had made to his mind he'd have perceived Cloud as a child until he was twenty just because he'd known him so long.

He stroked the Restore materia set into his right wrist cuff to calm himself as he thought about how Cloud might react to his choice. He'd gone back to the slave market to look for any alternatives, in case Cloud decided Zack wasn't suitable, but he hadn't been able to find anyone even worth sparring against, just like he hadn't the first time he went there. He sensed his lord's approach, and walked out to greet him outside the entrance as all consorts were expected to do, his current bodyguard shadowing him.

"Miss me?" Cloud had a teasing smile on his face as he reached up to lay a hand along Sephiroth's cheek. Sephiroth rubbed his cheek against that hand for a moment, luxuriating in his touch, before actually replying.

"Don't I always my lord?"

"And you always make me very welcome back, yes. Did you find anything suitable?" Sephiroth wanted to flinch a bit at that anything, not anyone, he hated what the word implied about how Cloud viewed slaves.

"Yes my lord, he's called Zack. He was trained by Angeal, who taught me for a while and he's had experience with healers. He managed well enough against me in a spar, and he tended to me afterwards." When Sephiroth was suffering the after-effects of trying to harm someone, even with an explicit order from Cloud.

"And sexually?"

"He prefers healer caste. When I pressed him on gender preferences Zack said that what matters is how a lover treats you."

"Good. Take me to him, and tell me anything else you think I should know."

Sephiroth had told Zack to be in the training hall from five until eight, so that was where he led Cloud, hoping that he'd want to test Zack's skill with a sword for himself first, and that he'd test Zack's control after he'd bedded Sephiroth.

"I did spot a back up possibility, Reno, but he isn't as good with a sword as Zack is, and he didn't help me afterwards and I just had him tagged in case we needed him. They were both trained by Angeal, and I thought you might want to test him as a possible sparring partner so I had him tagged for you."

"Good. You did well." Sephiroth wanted to purr at that small bit of praise, but he stayed silent and kept on moving instead, enjoying the feel of Cloud's hand in his. When they reached the training hall they saw Zack running through a kata, but as soon as he noticed them he stopped and knelt to Cloud.

"Did you choose him to fit Aeris' tastes?" Cloud sounded amused, and Sephiroth didn't say anything in response, there wasn't really anything he could say to that. "Zack, I want you to spar with Morgan here while I watch."

"Yes sir." Sephiroth knelt while the Cetra prepared to spar, and leaned against Cloud's legs, letting his eyes fall closed - he found it really hard to get to sleep without sharing a bed with Cloud, and Cloud reached down to stroke his hair in reassurance. It wasn't enough, he'd feel empty until his lord took him, but it would do for now. He already knew that Zack was probably good enough to be Aeris' bodyguard, even though his skills hadn't really improved that much during the past eleven years - not against people at any rate - he was enough stronger and faster than Zack to compensate for his greater and more recent experience in anything but solo kata.

"Good. Report to my bedroom at nine tomorrow morning for the final test. Even if you fail this test I'll still keep you as a sparring partner."

"Yes sir."

"Come on Sephiroth." He opened his eyes and stood, accepting the hand Cloud offered him and trailing a step behind him on their way to Cloud's bedroom - while they usually shared it and Sephiroth used it when Cloud was away he had slept in a different bedroom until Cloud was sixteen, and he was occasionally sent to sleep there, alone, as punishment. Cloud pulled him forward when they reached the bedroom, and then pushed Sephiroth to sit on the bed, unfastening his heavy robe and pushing it down his shoulders slowly, kissing Sephiroth's skin as he exposed it.

Sephiroth moaned in pleasure at the feel of Cloud's lips on his skin, but he couldn't do anything more to encourage him, because that would come too close to telling Cloud what to do. And he couldn't do that under any circumstances, he couldn't even give advice unless Cloud ordered him to.

"You made a very good choice with Zack, and since this Angeal trained him I'm almost inclined to buy him as a sparring partner sight unseen." Cloud kissed him once he'd finished stripping Sephiroth's robe off, leaving him naked and pushing him back to lie on the bed. "Can you tell me anything to affect my decision about him?" Cloud latched onto Sephiroth's right nipple when he'd finished speaking, teasing the left between his fingers and sliding his thigh between Sephiroth's legs. He knew from experience that if he didn't answer soon enough Cloud would stop and back off until he got an answer, so he tried desperately to marshal his thoughts.

"Hh-he...taught me. I was ahhh-always...stronger and faster than...h-he was."

"Good enough." Cloud backed away quickly, and Sephiroth whined at the loss of contact, but he couldn't do anything to regain it, he couldn't be anything but a passive partner unless Cloud ordered it. And then Cloud flipped him over, lifting his ass with a cushion under his hips, and leaned forward, hands resting on his ass and Sephiroth knew just what Cloud was going to do. He loved how it felt, but he was sure it was degrading for his lover to do that to him, and Cloud never seemed to want him to return the favour. First Cloud licked the area of skin just behind his balls, then he moved further back, tongue circling the entrance to Sephiroth's body until he was relaxed enough for Cloud to probe inside with his tongue. The feel of that hot wet muscle entering him and stretching him was incredible, and Sephiroth couldn't hold back his moans - not that he would ever try to hold them back, and soon enough he was pleading, begging for more - begging was always permitted.

Cloud didn't move on until he was ready, he never did, but eventually he pulled back and replaced his tongue with an oiled finger, reaching to stroke Sephiroth's back with his other hand. By the time he added the second finger Cloud had come to lie partly on Sephiroth's back, pushing his hair out of the way so he didn't lie on top of it, and so he could kiss the nape of his neck, gently, teasingly.

"You're so beautiful, is there anything you'd like this time?" Sephiroth's breath caught at that, he could only ever ask for anything in bed if Cloud gave him permission to, implicitly or explicitly, he'd tried before but he just couldn't form the words.

"Might I...ride you?" It was the only way he was capable of having control, he simply could not even imagine taking his lord, and Cloud seemed to like it as well.

Cloud laughed and rolled off him, pulling his fingers out as he did and handing the bottle of oil to him. "Finish stretching yourself then, and do whatever you want." Within the limits that had been set for him, probably without Cloud's full knowledge. Sephiroth was long past feeling bitter about that, but it was something he remembered always, and something his lord often forgot.

He knelt over Cloud, pouring a little oil into his left hand and using that to coat three fingers on his right before reaching behind himself and sliding two out of three fingers into his body, then adding the third after a moment of stretching with two fingers. At the same time he wrapped his left hand around Cloud's erection, covering it in oil and bringing him to full hardness. Then he sat back, guiding Cloud into him, and waited to adjust before he began moving, enjoying how Cloud felt inside him, and the gentle touches Cloud gave him here and there. Cloud climaxed first, filling him with seed, but after he'd lifted Sephiroth off Cloud curled around and took him into his mouth, sucking until Sephiroth climaxed himself, and then pulled him into his arms to sleep.

oxOX()XOxo