Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or anything in it.

A/N: I don't know what possessed me to write this, or even where I'm going with it. There's no real plot, it's just a romance with some odd sexual situations. I expect I'll cap it off when the relationship is played out.

I absolutely hate having to type SOLDIER in all caps, so after a few I just cap the first, Soldier.

"I don't know about you, but this so isn't what I signed up for." Anthony tapped one booted toe nervously against the floor and shifted uneasily on the bare wooden bench.

Cloud didn't respond to the other cadet at his side; his own stomach was in too many knots to talk. That's how it was with him, under stress he became quiet, Anthony chattered.

"I mean it won't be all that bad, right?" Anthony said, wetting his dry lips with his tongue and looking from side to side. "Just a few times, and it's not like the injections are a piece of cake either."

Cloud nodded absently. A few times, or more like ten times, or two dozen times, you couldn't be sure. But on the other side of the fence the mako injections were painful, nauseating, cramp inducing nightmares. Not to mention they meant more time with that creepy Dr. Hojo. And there was no shame in using the 'organic' method. Almost a quarter of the current SOLDIERs had come up that way. And to come this far, leave home, train for a year and a half, pass every other test, and then to be told you don't respond to injected mako- it was almost unbearable. It was this or leave SOLDIER. Go back home, or take some grunt job in the army maybe. Neither of these options was acceptable to Cloud. He had wanted to be SOLDIER as long as he could remember, since he first started watching the news coverage on the war and the stories about the confident young captain who ascended to rapidly to General commander of the entire ShinRa army. Sephiroth had been no older than Cloud was now when he started making headlines in the war. Now the man was a legend. And here he was, a nervous sixteen year old wondering if he would ever make SOLDIER at all.

Cloud looked around the room. There were about ten of them in there, no, eleven, all looking nervous in their own way. Trent looked vacant and a bit green; Mickelo was picking his teeth with a thumbnail. Jeremy had his head leaning back against the wall behind them, staring at spot on the vaulted ceiling.

Movement at the doorway interrupted all their self distraction devices. Their drill sergeant, Sgt. Bushere, (a.k.a. 'Basher') was coming in with the SOLDIER donors, double checking his clipboard and occasionally looking at their group.

"I don't want Niven, I hear he's rough. No Niven, no Niven, no Niven..." Anthony repeated the mantra as if he could bend reality to his will.

Cloud knew they had no choice in the matter, the SOLDIER made the selection of the recipient. He could recognize about four of them, they would all be First or Second Class with high levels. Mako to spare. He counted ten Soldiers, but surely they needed eleven, didn't they?

He heard the wave of subtle movements around him even as he saw the form of silver and black enter the room. Cloud swallowed, his throat feeling suddenly dry. He had only seen General Sephiroth two or three times during his entire eighteen months in training and it had been during evaluations. The General hadn't even addressed them at that time, merely watched then discussed with their sergeants.

"I didn't know he donated," Cloud whispered to Anthony, who seemed to have the most hearsay knowledge of the process.

"Doesn't usually," Anthony replied, "But it's on a volunteer basis, I guess he's short one this time. Now if that isn't a frightening prospect I don't know what is."

Cloud shuddered a little. Since coming to ShinRa they heard plenty about General Sephiroth even if they saw him little. Cold. Vicious in battle. Cruel, even.

The knot of SOLDIERs approached the group of cadets, an imposing sight despite their relaxed stride and obvious comfort with themselves and one another. There was only so much that attitude could do to lighten the sight of almost a dozen young, muscular men, all in black, all in combat boots, all with eyes that blazed like neon. At least none of them carried weapons, visible weapons that was. Even Sephiroth had forgone his trademark sword. Cloud wondered where it was. Did he leave it in his office? His apartment, maybe? The most famous sword in all the world leaning up against the wall next the couch?

Cloud heard more fidgeting around him as the SOLDIERs approached, but none of them stood. Normally there would be no question that they would stand, normally the presence of one SOLDIER, any SOLDIER, triggered them to stand at attention, and here were ten plus the General coming right up to them. But somehow, given the circumstances, it seemed... rude. That they might appear anxious for what was offered.

"Cadets, attenSHUN!" Basher hollered, and Cloud was surprised to hear he didn't sound angry this time. Normally he would chew them out for such a breach of etiquette. Maybe he understood.

Then quite suddenly Soldiers were motioning to cadets and cadets were moving. No preamble, no speech, no instructions. Cloud wasn't sure what he was expecting, but this seemed so abrupt.

"Cadet?"

Cloud's attention came back into focus, the General himself was standing before him, a questioning look in his unnatural green eyes. Sephiroth had chosen him.

"Sir," he quickly managed to say, or rather squeak out.

Sephiroth turned his back and Cloud found himself following the wall of silvery hair, his feet moving of their own volition. They had all been prepped and told more or less what to expect. It was a simple matter really, follow the Soldier and then follow his instructions. Cloud kept his eyes on the General's back, realizing for the first time how big the man was. He was so much taller than Cloud, certainly over six feet tall. Cloud was barely five and a half feet. He was hoping to gain another inch or two, but he knew he'd never reach six feet; just didn't have the genetics for it. Behind the swinging hair the man's torso cut a perfect triangle, broad shoulders that must have been two feet across, even accounting for the coat he was wearing.

Cloud watched the hair, mesmerized by its motion and the way it caught the light. Of course everything about the General was familiar to Cloud; he had a whole scrapbook of him at home – newspaper articles, ShinRa marketing propaganda, and sketches he'd made of images from one of the three local TV stations in his small mountain hometown. Sephiroth was the man Cloud most admired and wanted to be like.

And he knew the other things he felt about him, too. He couldn't help that. Cloud had known since he was seven years old how he was. He had marched right up and informed his mother, who had stayed admirably calm about the whole thing. Of course she hadn't really taken her young son seriously, but even at that age Cloud understood himself. He liked men. And there was no finer example of a man than the one in front of him. His hero. And here he was, finally going to spend some time with him, and he was probably going to spend the whole of it too nervous to even speak.

Cloud resumed studying the General's back, his fatigues gradually tightening with a stiffening in his groin. No, no, no, he tried willing himself back down, making good use of the humiliating images of the General discovering him in this condition. What a riot, small town boy from Nibelheim with a hard on for the General.

They stopped in front of a generic looking door, and Cloud had to spin around to check where he was. He felt stupid for not having paid attention, but as he looked back he remembered some of the turns they had taken. They were in the east wing of the Third Class quarters. Apparently an unused section. Sephiroth opened the door with the help of a key card and motioned for Cloud to enter. It felt odd preceding the General, but then again nothing about this felt normal.

The room they had entered was small and comfortable, a single occupancy quarters with a bathroom. Something like a hotel room. Cloud presumed this was typical Third Class quarters; cadets and regular army slept in barracks, First Classes had apartments, Second and Third Classes must be somewhere in between. The room had a double bed, a desk, and one piece of furniture that was definitely not standard. It was sort of a tall, padded table. It had kind of a clinical look to it.

"Everything OK, Cadet?" The General had picked up on Cloud's disorientation.

"Yeah, I mean yes sir, I just thought that... we'd be going to the lab or something." Cloud turned to see Sephiroth studying him carefully.

"I dislike the labs, they give me trouble," he said, "If you prefer a laboratory setting we'll have to find you another donor."

"No," Cloud said quickly, hating the idea of starting this all over again. "No, its fine, sir."

Cloud looked again at the table, guessing at how it was used. An oddly decorative bottle with a pump top was sitting on the table along with several small towels. So this was it then. Sephiroth had removed his long coat and draped it casually over the desk chair. Cloud was grateful the General was wearing a black T-shirt rather than some of that leather stuff Soldiers often wore. Another detail that Cloud assumed was meant to keep the intimidation factor down.

"What's your name, son?" Sephiroth asked.

"Cloud Strife, sir."

"Well Cloud, this really isn't too difficult, and it doesn't take that long. The key is that you relax. Unbutton your fatigues so that they're loose, and lay just your upper body on the table, chest down," Sephiroth reached over to the bed and snagged the flatter of the two pillows and gave it Cloud. The cadet took pillow gratefully and positioned himself as directed. Sephiroth laid a hand on his back and Cloud jumped.

"Shhh," the older man said, "Relax, remember?"

Cloud tried to relax, but he honestly didn't know how he could. Just being in the room with the Sephiroth was stressful enough, but he was supposed to relax with his pants down while the General...

His thoughts were hijacked by another shifting in his groin. Great, just what he needed.

He felt one strong hand on the back of his neck, and Cloud wondered briefly if the General meant to pin him down. He resolved to be still and submit, no matter what, but there was no offensive force to the touch. Instead thumb and fingers moved in gentle circles, driving out the tension in Cloud's neck, then the other hand joined to work on his shoulders.

"You've got a lot of tension in your musculature, Cadet. Basher been working you guys pretty hard this week?"

"Yes sir," Cloud said, noticing Sephiroth had used the drill sergeant's nickname.

"Got anything you like in particular? Weapon?"

Part of Cloud's brain was in disbelief that General Sephiroth was making small talk with him and at the casual familiarity of his tone. But the rest of his brain was running off as he blathered about sword practice. Gaia, how he loved it. It had been the first thing, maybe ever in his life, that he was immediately good at. Better than anyone in his class. And all the while the warm hands rubbed his back and the smooth, low voice made encouraging comments. And unbelievably Cloud was feeling a bit sleepy, the side of his face sunk deep into the pillow, the corners of his lips catching on the surface as he talked.

Then he felt a touch to the sides of his hips, and he tensed all over again as his fatigues were pushed downwards.

"Cloud, I want you to go back to that sleepy relaxed state you were just in."

"I'm awake, sir" Cloud said automatically, even as he succeeding in relaxing a little.

Sephiroth actually chuckled. He recognized the influence of Basher, Cadets were often sleep deprived and the man delighted in sneaking up on them at any lull during the day and demanding to know why they were sleeping. He'd seen cadets able to give that reply while actually still asleep.

"You can be sleepy if I tell you to be, cadet," Sephiroth's said, clearly amused.

"Yes sir."

Cloud felt one hand return to his back with long soothing strokes. The General's other hand was... well from the motion in the corner of his eye, Cloud guessed he was stroking himself. It occurred to Cloud that Sephiroth probably had to ready himself too, the General needed Soldiers and just because he was donating mako didn't mean he was enjoying it particularly. Basher had told them the lab had tried every way to get around this method, but those sensitive to the processed mako fared no better on mako harvested off of high level Soldiers if it left their bodies. Without this intimate connection it just wouldn't flow from one to the other. It was Anthony who told him the reason they knew about the organic transfer at all was because since the inception of the Soldier program some Soldiers had always kept younger recruits as lovers. Or each other. That practice was widely known and was one of things that attracted Cloud to Soldier so many years ago. Or maybe it had been the other way around?

Cloud was jolted out of his musings by the feeling of a light touch to his anus, warm and somewhat wet feeling. He clenched.

"Easy, Cloud. Not so much different than the annual exam."

"Maybe I should cough."

Another one of those small chuckles. Who would have guessed that General Sephiroth was so easily amused?

Cloud felt a finger slide inside of him. He felt a second finger, gently stretching the opening. And a third. Now it was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. There was certainly going to be something quite different to this than the annual exam. Cloud concentrated on breathing slowly.

He felt the fingers withdraw and be replaced by the most intimate part of the man, the organ that would deliver of some Sephiroth's excess mako directly into Cloud's body. But he would have to thrust first. Cloud felt the slow rhythmic moving in and out. It did kind of hurt, and he felt... full. But there was something else too, something sharp with pleasure. He felt his own erection stiffen and the pleasure portion increased. He briefly worried about his body's reaction if this continued, but then the General's hips were pressed close and tight behind him and Sephiroth's head came so far forward that some of the silver hair fell onto Cloud's neck and face. He realized the man had finished. Finished already, he must have been on the edge before he entered him. Cloud supposed that was considerate, but he felt like he was left oddly hanging.

"I just need a moment here," Sephiroth said, still leaning over Cloud. He sounded spent, almost weak, and his breaths came ragged on Cloud's neck. Every goosebump on his body rose up at the brush of that hot breath.

"And you're all done, Cloud," Sephiroth straightened up and pulled smoothly away from him, picking up one of the small towels.

"Lie down on the bed on your stomach," he continued, while running water in the bathroom, washing up.

When the General came back into the room Cloud was already buttoned up and on the bed. "You need stay on your stomach for an hour. So it doesn't run out. We used to make cadets stand on their heads for an hour, but they got nosebleeds."

Cloud stared up at Sephiroth. Did he just make a joke? Then the older man actually smiled and ran a hand over Clouds bright blonde head. He picked up a timer from the nightstand and pushed a few buttons, then turned it so Cloud could see the display, which was counting down from one hour.

"After your hour you can wash up and head to dinner. You should be able to eat OK, but if not don't worry about it, just get a big breakfast tomorrow"

"Yes sir," Cloud was feeling sleepy already.

"Lights on or off?" Sephiroth said, opening the door.

"Off, please."

"Sweet dreams, cadet." Sephiroth flicked the lights off and left.

On the far side of the door General Sephiroth, commander of the most powerful army on the planet, terror of Wutai and heartless bastard to almost everyone, leaned his back against the door and shut his eyes.

"Sweet Shiva," he said to himself, "You should not have picked that one."