Cloud had just revealed more personal information than he had in the past three months, and Sephiroth wasn't sure what to do about it. He had to wonder where Cloud's mother had come from, since he knew that women in the Nibel Ranges had very few rights, and he couldn't imagine any Wutaian woman ever agreeing to live there - although her grandmother was probably Wutaian if she'd been able to give her a set of paired daggers. He'd decide exactly what to do later, although teaching him some more about how to use a pair of daggers like that would probably help with Cloud's self-confidence issues, for now Sephiroth just let himself relax into the hot water.

"Did your mother teach you any of the practice forms to use without the daggers?" Cloud started a little when Sephiroth spoke, he normally stayed silent when Cloud was working on his hair, but the boy responded after a moment's thought.

"Yes Sephiroth-dono. That was how she started my lessons, but it's been a year since I've practised them, maybe longer."

"Then tomorrow morning I'll watch you go through them, and after that I want you to spend at least an hour every day working on those practice forms. They can be adapted to actually defend yourself even without the weapons, if you need to."

"I know, sort of. At least my mother said it worked that way, just, I...wasn't very good at that." Sephiroth suspected that was because Cloud had usually been fighting men older, bigger and stronger than he was, since he was sure the boy was small compared to most of the people from the Nibel Ranges, but he didn't comment on that.

"You'll improve. I don't think you'll need to defend yourself in the harem, but it will keep you in shape and improve your co-ordination." He'd never been permitted to be uncoordinated, but he'd seen that Cloud was clumsy sometimes, not often, but he'd seen Cloud stumble once or twice, and he'd seen bruises on him occasionally - and they were in the wrong places to have come from people, which had been his first thought.

"Yes Sephiroth-dono." They didn't need to say anything else, and three days later when Yuffie came to him again he asked for some blunted daggers that Cloud could use for his training.

"Of course. Tell me when you think he's good enough for real weapons, and I'll give him a set of those as well."

"As you wish." He wasn't sure why Yuffie was offering that, but he appreciated it - and belatedly he realised that he hadn't shown that. "And thank you for being so generous."

"If you think he's capable of handling weapons he should have them. Traditionally my favourite concubine and his servant should be armed, even if I don't arm the rest of the harem." Yuffie laughed then, a faint bitterness in her voice. "My other concubines couldn't handle weapons, but my favourite needs to be able to defend himself, in case someone gets the idea she can use you as leverage against me, and because you're a war prize you'd be entitled to your weapons anyway."

"I...hadn't realised that. Cloud is doing well at the unarmed forms and I can adapt them to teach him to fight without weapons if it will cause you trouble that I'm teaching him how to use blades. I only decided on the daggers because his mother had started to teach him how to use those before she died."

"No, it won't cause problems." Yuffie took hold of his hand and placed it on her stomach. "When I announce this, and that you're the father it will be public confirmation that you're my favourite concubine. It's expected that I arm you, and your servant under those circumstances. Although...I should probably put off giving Cloud the real daggers until after I've given birth." In case she miscarried, or the child was stillborn no doubt. She looked unhappy somehow, so Sephiroth kissed her and pulled back with an inviting smile, relieved when she smiled back at him and started exploring his body.

Sephiroth couldn't help feeling a bit offended when Yuffie sent a woman to teach Cloud how to use the paired daggers after she'd announced her pregnancy, but he didn't object, especially since he knew that the Empress had to really trust Kurenai-san, and him, or she'd have sent a man. He supposed that sending a teacher with more experience in that particular set of weapon than he had was a good idea, as well as being another way of demonstrating how much she favoured him.

Still, he made sure to be there when she was teaching Cloud, at least as much as he could, and he noticed that she was pushing Cloud a lot harder than he had. He was reluctant to interfere, since he knew how bad he was at judging what normal humans were capable of, but when he realised Cloud was getting more clumsy, instead of less, he resolved to speak to her.

"Cloud-kun, go run a warm bath for yourself while I speak with Kurenai-san."

"Ah, yes Sephiroth-dono." Cloud looked startled, eyes wide, but he still nodded obediently before turning to leave. Sephiroth wasn't sure what had surprised the boy; he'd started sharing a bath with him to ease his muscles after his second lesson with Kurenai-san.

"What did you want to discuss Sephiroth-dono?" She sounded almost annoyed to have to speak with him, and he resisted the urge to snap at her in response.

"Do you have to push him so hard Kurenai-san?"

"What precisely do you mean?" Her voice went cold, almost distant, and Sephiroth could recognise that as a danger sign of some sort. "Were you expecting me to go easy on him, to let him do as little work as he wants to and teach him to be slow and clumsy? The Empress told me to teach your servant how to fight and use the paired daggers. She did not instruct me to coddle him, no matter what you might choose to do."

"Did she instruct you to exhaust him to the point where he can barely feed himself?" That had only happened the once, yesterday, but it had reminded Sephiroth far too much of Hojo, and he refused to allow it to happen again.

"Are you sure that isn't because you overwork him?" Sephiroth's vision went white for a moment, and when he could see again he had Kurenai pinned against the wall, his hand on her throat.

"How dare you? You work Cloud-kun into exhaustion, never once praise him, no matter how desperately he tries to satisfy you, berate him for the slightest error, and then, when I call you on it you blame me for what you've done to him? Get out. Your services are no longer required." He shook her once and dropped her, turning on his heel as he stalked away contemptuously. She hadn't even tried to fight back against him, he knew she had no words to defend herself, and watching her with Cloud had reminded him of what he'd learned from Yuffie's guards before she'd had to put him away in her harem. He could teach Cloud himself, the boy would probably prefer that, at least he wouldn't be abusing Cloud the way Kurenai had. And he'd tell Yuffie exactly why he didn't want that bitch teaching Cloud again if she had the gall to complain about it.

"Sephiroth-dono?" Cloud looked surprisingly uncomfortable waiting for him in his bath, and Sephiroth wasn't sure why, but it probably didn't really matter.

"Cloud-kun, I'll be taking over your lessons again. You were learning a lot better under my training than you have been recently, and there's nothing Kurenai can teach you that I can't." Or if there was she hadn't shown it yet.

"Ah...yes Sephiroth-dono, but...won't the Empress be angry about you sending Kurenai-sensei away?"

"I...don't know." He didn't think she would be angry, not after he explained why he'd sent her away and he thought about Cloud's question as he stripped. "But if she is she'll be angry with me, not with you, and I'm sure she'll understand when I explain why I got rid of Kurenai."

"Yes Sephiroth-dono. And...thank you."

"Don't thank me. I let this go on too long, I assumed she knew what she was doing, that she wouldn't be pushing you if you couldn't handle it, and I was wrong. I should have said something to Yuffie earlier and let her deal with it." Sephiroth pinned his hair up with quick angry motions as he responded to Cloud's gratitude, knowing that he wasn't being very gracious about it, but not really caring - he didn't have to pretend about anything with Cloud. And he should have seen it earlier, recognised how similar Kurenai's teaching methods were to the way Hojo had trained him, only he'd half thought that was normal, that it had only been so hard for him because he was so young when he'd learned to fight. He washed himself and joined Cloud in the bath, taking hold of his wrist to keep him from getting out at once.

"Cloud-kun, you don't have to go if you don't want to. You need this more than I do."

"Ah...yes Sephiroth-dono." Cloud obediently settled back into the bath, yawning but clearly relaxing and letting his aches soak away into the warm water. Sephiroth couldn't really relax himself, because he knew he'd put Yuffie in a difficult situation, or he might have depending on how Kurenai reacted, and the water wasn't as hot as he'd prefer. But there hadn't really been anything else he could do, not without exposing Cloud to even more abuse.

"Take a nap when you get out of the bath Cloud-kun. You need the rest."

"Yes Sephiroth-dono."

"Just stay here today Cloud-kun."

"Yes Sephiroth-dono." Cloud wasn't sure why Sephiroth-dono didn't want him to leave his quarters today; after all he'd insisted that Cloud practise with his daggers for an hour every day since Sephiroth-dono had got rid of Kurenai-sensei, even though Sephiroth-dono had been forbidden to leave his quarters and couldn't supervise him; but he thought it might have something to do with the two strange servants who'd arrived yesterday and covered the walls and floor in one corner of the central room with canvas. Sephiroth-dono was acting oddly resigned, but at least there wasn't the hint of impatience he'd shown since being forbidden to leave his quarters.

"Would you like me to brush your hair out Sephiroth-dono?" Cloud enjoyed doing that for Sephiroth-dono, and it always seemed to relax him.

"Yes. And braid it afterwards." That wasn't something Sephiroth had asked for before, but Cloud knew where to get a band to tie it off with so he got what he needed and set to work, letting his mind wander as he worked. Afterwards he settled down at Sephiroth-dono's feet, talking about nothing important really, just a distraction while they waited for whatever Sephiroth was expecting.

"Cloud-kun, go into your room, and stay there until I call for you."

"Yes Empress." He glanced at the light wire flail on her hip warily, but obediently left, hearing her instruct the servant with her to put the box he was carrying in one corner and leave before he shut the door. He needed something to do, to keep his mind off wondering what was happening in the other room, and he pulled out his brush and some paper to practice his writing in the Wutaian alphabets. It took a lot of concentration, enough that he wasn't speculating about what was going on next door, but the way he always flinched at the sort of meaty crack-thuds he could hear through his door ruined his efforts anyway.

"Cloud-kun. I need you to see something." He obeyed the implied order, walking through to the main room, and froze when he saw the bloody ruin the Empress had made of Sephiroth-dono's back. "Come here." He'd hesitated too long, and the Empress glared at him from where she knelt beside Sephiroth's head as she spoke.

"You needed to see this, and I couldn't warn you in case you let something slip." Sephiroth-dono turned his head to speak to Cloud and began slowly lifting himself up to his hands and knees.

"Yes Sephiroth-dono." So Sephiroth-dono wasn't supposed to know ahead of time what the Empress was going to do to him, and he wanted Cloud to let the current condition of his back slip, or he wouldn't need to see it. "Empress, are the bandages and dressings I'll need to take care of Sephiroth-dono in that box?"

"Yes. I gave him a painkiller before I started. It hasn't kicked in yet, or I don't think it has, but..."

"Yuffie, it's alright." Sephiroth-dono was actually smiling at her, and stroking her hand comfortingly as he sat back on his knees. "I've got a high pain threshold anyway, and I know a lot of pain management techniques." Something about the look in Sephiroth-dono's eyes told Cloud not to ask about that and he knelt to open the box, pulling out the two jars of ointment first, and frowning over the thought of how much the Empress thought Sephiroth-dono would need in the way of bandages and dressings.

"Use the ointment in the white jar first, it's an antiseptic. The ointment in the blue jar's a painkiller."

"Yes Empress." At least she'd brought everything Cloud would need to take care of Sephiroth-dono, and he'd had some training in how to deal with this before he'd been given to him, even if Cloud hadn't realised why at the time.

"Yuffie, maybe you should go and take care of your flail while Cloud-kun does this?"

"Yes...I hope I won't need to use it again, but...you were right...there'd have been too many questions if I'd just used a whip. I lost count of how many of my nobles reminded me that 'a war prize needs a strong hand' in the first day after Kurenai made her accusations so publicly." She leaned forward and kissed Sephiroth-dono almost chastely on the lips before she stood and walked through to his bedroom and Cloud focused on taking care of his master.

"Cloud-kun, after the first time Yuffie had to punish one of her other concubines I insisted that we had to decide what she'd do if I did something she had to punish me for. She wanted to just use a whip if it came up, but I knew that it would cause problems, and I told her exactly what I could handle." Sephiroth-dono glanced over one shoulder at Cloud, and shrugged his other shoulder. "I knew that if I ever did feel the need to break the rules it would be over something fairly serious and I heal very fast. I should be fully healed in no more than three days." He'd known what was going to happen to him when he sent Kurenai-sensei away for pushing Cloud so hard, and he'd still done it? He couldn't hide his shock and guilt, and he didn't even try to do it as he sat back on his heels after fastening the last bandage.

"Cloud-kun, don't blame yourself. I should have seen what she was doing earlier and told Yuffie about it, instead of assaulting her."

"And I should have checked up on her to make sure she actually was being as gentle as I asked her to be. You don't have the background to deal with that level of intensity. Do you have any other ideas about how to get Cloud-kun the training he needs? You don't really have the experience you'd need to teach him more than the basics."

"I...hadn't realised you were expecting him to learn more than that. For now what I can teach him should be enough, and if you send someone to teach me the refinements I can teach them to him as and when he's ready for them."

"Any preferences about who I send? I intend to punish Kurenai for disobeying me and provoking you very publicly, so she's out, but do you have any requests?"

"As long as she knows how to teach I don't really care. I can handle being pushed, Cloud-kun doesn't have the background for that." Cloud wished he could object, but Kurenai-sensei and the way he'd let her walk all over him had taught him that he really couldn't handle a demanding teacher - he supposed the taunts of the local bullies back in Nibelheim had been accurate, he wasn't much of a man after all. "Yuffie, how do you want to bed me?" The Empress almost flinched at that, before offering a hand to help Sephiroth-dono up.

"You really think that's necessary? Can't I just stay here for an hour or so?"

"I could tell what you'd been doing after you punished Ryoga..."

"And my other concubines might be able to tell, although I doubt it. Very well. Spooning should be the most comfortable for you. Cloud-kun, you need to change Sephiroth's bandages every hour for the rest of the day, so in thirty-five to forty minutes run a bath for him so he can soak the dressings off."

"Yes Empress. Ah...is changing the bandages so often about hiding how fast he heals?"

"Yes, it is. And Cloud-kun, just make it a warm bath this time."

"Yes Sephiroth-dono." He bowed and backed out, giving them some privacy while he got some more practise at writing Wutaian.

"So, how hard can I push you before you throw a temper tantrum Sephiroth-dono?" Botan's voice was almost mocking, but Sephiroth realised that she wouldn't know the details of why he'd dealt with Kurenai as he had, and despite her age she might well have forgotten how effective he'd been in battle as a teen, or maybe even never known it.

"As hard as you need to." He met her eyes and kept his voice level as he responded, allowing a faint smile to curve his lips. "I seriously doubt you could train me to stumbling exhaustion, even with how much I've neglected my training since our Empress took the throne."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No Botan-san, a simple statement of fact. You won't be spending more than two hours a day here, at the very most. Even now I spend at least that much time training every day." Hojo had made him train for far longer than that as a child, usually until he was exhausted and during the war he'd actually put his training to use as well as practising to keep up his skills.

"We'll see. Show me what you've got then." And that was his cue to draw his daggers and attack her. Sephiroth made sure to keep his speed down to something a human could handle, rather rely on the unnatural advantages Cloud would never have, but it was hard, and distracting. He still managed to impress Botan though, despite her blistering denunciation of his faults, and her demand that she should have a chance to assess Cloud's performance at regular intervals, to make sure he wasn't "screwing the poor kid's technique up the way someone screwed yours up."

"That's what you're here for, Botan-san, to help me break any bad habits of mine before I can pass then on to Cloud-kun. And as for a chance to assess his progress...I don't have a problem with that, as long as you stick to assessing his progress, and bother to praise him when he does well, rather than verbally degrading him and setting impossible targets."

"I won't be his teacher, so I won't have the authority to set targets. And I'll know who to blame if he develops bad habits." Sephiroth could handle that - in fact he thought he liked the idea of being held responsible for Cloud's development, a nice break from the almost enforced idleness that his life in the harem had become.

"True. I can get him for your first assessment now if you'd like?"

"You would? Thank you Sephiroth-dono. How would you prefer me to do the assessments generally?"

"Hmm...Let me think about it. I'll tell you after you put Cloud-kun through his paces. With the understanding that if I tell you to back off then you will."

"Of course Sephiroth-dono." Botan sounded puzzled, and more than a little annoyed by the condition he put on her assessing Cloud, but after Kurenai he refused to trust any new trainer as easily as he'd allowed himself to trust her. And from the look in her eyes he thought Botan was beginning to suspect why he'd, as she'd put it, 'thrown a temper tantrum' with Kurenai. He hated the fact that he couldn't trust Botan just because Yuffie had sent her, but he wasn't going to make the same mistake with her that he had with Kurenai.

He was gratified at how easily Cloud agreed to let Botan run him through his paces, and again by her approval afterwards.

"Sephiroth-dono, have you come to any conclusions about how you want me to do my assessments of Cloud-kun's progress?"

"I don't think it would be a good idea to have a regular schedule for them, or for me to know when you'll be assessing him in advance, so shall we assume that you'll watch the first half hour of Cloud's lesson every day, and if you decide to leave early or to ask to see something specific that's your prerogative?"

"If that's what would make you comfortable Sephiroth-dono." Sephiroth nodded and she looked over at Cloud. "And if it wouldn't bother you Cloud-kun?"

"If Sephiroth-dono thinks it's a good idea then I don't have any problems with it Botan-san." Sephiroth smiled in appreciation of Cloud's trust in him, even as it disturbed him that his servant relied so heavily on his judgement without developing his own.

"Very well. I think an hour of training with me every day would be enough to eliminate your bad habits Sephiroth-dono. Unless you object we can start at the same time as we did today." Botan bowed slightly to Sephiroth when he didn't object to her suggestion, then she left and he focused on teaching Cloud.

A month later Sephiroth relaxed in a hot bath after Cloud's latest lesson, wondering why his servant had decided not to share it with him this time, but still enjoying the heat he knew that Cloud couldn't handle. The original lesson plan he'd agreed with Botan had rapidly morphed from a simple refinement of his skills and elimination of his bad habits with the paired daggers into a comprehensive review of how he used every weapon he'd been given when the war had ended and an intensive effort to bring his skills with those weapons to what Botan considered acceptable minimums. He wasn't sure precisely what group's minimums she was using, but he didn't think he really wanted to know, since it would either be a little insulting or somewhat intimidating, probably insulting and Botan was professional enough that he didn't want to argue with her.

It had just taken a week before Botan had decided that she only needed half an hour to work on correcting his bad habits and keeping him ahead of Cloud with the paired daggers and she'd suggested that he should bring one of his other weapons with him, besides Masamune, so that she could work on correcting his faults with those. So now he spent his first half hour training alone with Masamune, since he refused to neglect that, his primary weapon, then an hour with Botan working on whichever other weapon he'd brought with him, the naginata today, followed by half an hour on paired daggers, and finally he spent an hour training Cloud and running through drills with him. The training regime as a whole was beginning to make him feel really out of shape, especially with how badly he ached when, like today, he worked on the weapons most different from his sword.

He didn't get out until the water was starting to cool, and he froze in surprise when he walked back into his bedroom as the scent of cinnamon and coffee hit him.

"Cloud?" He forgot to use the suffix as he took in the sight of more than a dozen lit candles, the three lit braziers and the bottles of oil standing in a bowl of water, but his voice came out so faintly he wasn't entirely sure Cloud would be able to hear him at all.

"I wanted to help you relax Sephiroth-dono. You never relax, the other servants have noticed it too, and you've been so good to me that I want to make you feel better. It's just a massage, and I know I'm not very good at them yet, but I'm not actively bad either, and Kouri-sempai says that there isn't really such a thing as a bad massage, not unless it hurts, and I don't think I could hurt you, could I?"

"No, not really Cloud-kun." He didn't show his amusement at how the usually quiet boy was babbling, but he offered an approving smile. "So, were you going to dry my hair first, or leave that for afterwards?"

"I was going to leave it, but I can do it first if you prefer Sephiroth-dono."

"Yes, I would prefer you to dry my hair first." This looked almost like a seduction, at least like the ones he'd read about, even if Cloud did claim it was just a massage, and if it turned that way he didn't want to have wet hair to make it less pleasant for Cloud. And he'd found it very relaxing when Cloud dried his hair for him.

While Cloud got the comb and towels he'd need to dry his hair Sephiroth sat down, noting absently that Cloud had put a sheet or two of think, soft cotton over his bedcovers, as if he'd be the one washing them, or he wouldn't have time to change them.

Cloud would never tell Sephiroth-dono this, but he really enjoyed taking care of and playing with his hair, even if all Sephiroth-dono ever wanted was for him to dry it for him, and sometimes brush it out. It was so beautiful, and Cloud had never seen anything like the sweep of silver Sephiroth-dono's hair formed as it fell to almost touch the floor when it was dry. All the concubines and most of the servants in the harem kept their hair long, Cloud was even letting his own hair grow to fit in, but Sephiroth-dono's was the longest, and in Cloud's admittedly biased opinion the most beautiful.

He took his time over drying Sephiroth-dono's hair, making sure it was as dry as he could get it before he began combing it out, hoping the water he'd put the oil to warm in wouldn't cool off too much while he was working on this, but accepting that it probably would. Actually...Cloud paused when he thought Sephiroth's hair was dry enough to comb out, putting the towels down, but not picking up the comb.

"I'll just check the oil before I finish with your hair Sephiroth-dono."

"Very well." Cloud dipped a tentative finger in the water, it was almost cooled down to room temperature, so he took the bottles of oil out and went to replace the water with fresh hot water, and when he came back he found Sephiroth-dono lying face down on the bed, naked, his robe puddled on the floor beside the bed, and his head resting on folded arms.

"Sephiroth-dono?"

"You can comb my hair out just as easily with me like this." Cloud wasn't entirely sure of that, but he put the bowl of water back down and put the oil bottles back in to warm up again before he collected the comb and sat down on the side of the bed. It was surprisingly easy to comb Sephiroth-dono's hair out from this position, and once he'd got rid of the tangles Cloud braided it loosely and coiled the braid on the pillow beside Sephiroth-dono's head.

The oil was nicely warm when Cloud poured it into his hands, making the clove scent a lot stronger than it had been when he'd chosen this oil. But Sephiroth-dono didn't look as if he minded, and Cloud began working at his shoulders, straddling him at the waist and running his hands lightly over the other mans' back to coat it with oil before he did anything else.

"Ah, Sephiroth-dono?" He waited for his master to make a soft sound of acknowledgement before continuing. "I haven't actually had any practise at this, so I'll need a lot of feedback."

"I expected that you would. To start with use as much force as you can, and I'll tell you if you need to ease up."

"Yes Sephiroth-dono." He wasn't entirely sure about that, so his first few efforts were' quite as hard as he could manage, but he began pressing harder as he worked his way down Sephiroth-dono's back. He needed to shift his position a few times, moving further down Sephiroth-dono's body, then up as he went back to make another attempt at the more stubborn knots. Eventually he had to pause and work his hands for a moment to get rid of the cramps, only realising then that he'd gotten hard from the chance to touch Sephiroth-dono's perfect skin and explore his muscular back. He hesitated before he continued, and this time he tried to hide his arousal from Sephiroth-dono, but as he leaned forward Sephiroth-dono moved, somehow rolling to pin Cloud under his body, one hand gripping both his wrists before he could make a sound.

"Sephiroth-dono?" Cloud didn't try to hide his uncertainty, but he knew that Sephiroth-dono wouldn't hurt him over this. When his master ran his free hand gently down over Cloud's body, coming to rest at his groin, a faintly curious look on his face he shivered in pleasure, and waited to see what he wanted.

"You're interested in me, sexually?"

"Ah...yes Sephiroth-dono. You've been so good to me, and you're beautiful. I wasn't going to say anything..." Cloud couldn't think of anything else to say, and waited for the inevitable rejection.

"Hmm. I trust you, and you are pretty." Sephiroth-dono let go of Cloud's wrists then, shifting above Cloud so that he wasn't pinned down quite so much - he thought he'd be able to wriggle out if he needed to. "Tell me if I hurt you, or if I do anything you don't want."

Cloud nodded, knowing that Sephiroth-dono would stop at once if he asked him to, but too overwhelmed by the feel of his hands on his body to say anything. Sephiroth-dono ran his hands over Cloud's body as he kissed Cloud, running his tongue over Cloud's lips until he opened his mouth for him, and Cloud found himself moaning into Sephiroth-dono's mouth.

Sephiroth-dono's hands were under Cloud's tunic when the kiss ended and he sat up, pulling Cloud into his lap as he moved, shifting his kisses to Cloud's throat. Cloud didn't know what to do as Sephiroth-dono began playing with his nipples, settling for tilting his head back to offer better access and just moaning his pleasure. Then Sephiroth-dono stopped touching him, except for resting his hands at Cloud's waist and Cloud twisted around to look at him.

"Sephiroth-dono?" He didn't look entirely happy to hear Cloud using the suffix, but what did he expect? He hadn't given Cloud permission to dispense with it.

"You don't need to be so passive. You're quite welcome to touch me back, but first I'd like you to get undressed."

Cloud didn't really want to leave Sephiroth-dono's lap, but he had to so he could take his clothes off, which he did as quickly as he could, before coming back to straddle Sephiroth-dono's thighs, leaning forward to kiss him again, resting his hands at his waist. Sephiroth-dono ran one hand up his spine to cup the back of his head as he returned and dominated the kiss, and the other down his leg to the knee, then back up, this time stroking the inside of Cloud's thigh - then skipping over his aching groin and pressing against the small of Cloud's back.

Cloud made a small sound of disappointment into Sephiroth-dono's mouth, and pressed closer to him, enjoying the feel of his cock brushing against Sephiroth-dono's as he moved his own hands to Sephiroth-dono's shoulders for a better grip. Sephiroth-dono moved again, this time lying him down on the bed, and pressing one leg between Cloud's, and Cloud just clutched harder at Sephiroth-dono's shoulders.

"Just lie there for a moment Cloud-kun." Sephiroth-dono gently removed his hands, and Cloud hesitated before reaching down to stroke himself while Sephiroth-dono moved to pick up a bottle of oil.

"That looks good." Sephiroth-dono was pouring some of the oil on his hands as he spoke, then he moved to lie on top of Cloud again, not quite pinning him, but enough to make Cloud feel oddly secure under the other man's weight. He kissed Cloud again, and Cloud reached up to rest his hands on Sephiroth-dono's waist, as he kissed him back. Sephiroth-dono reached down between their bodies, wrapping both their cocks in his hand pressing them together as he stroked them both. Cloud hadn't expected how good that would feel - his own hand had never felt this good, and he hesitantly slid his own hands between their legs to wrap around their cocks, his hands working behind Sephiroth-dono's as the other man shifted to pay more attention to the heads of their cocks, rubbing his thumb over the head of Cloud's cock and shifting his kisses to Cloud's throat again, biting down ever so lightly.

Cloud came with a moan that drowned out Sephiroth-dono's softer sigh of pleasure as he climaxed too. Then Sephiroth-dono rolled them both over, lying back and letting Cloud rest on top of him, stroking his hair gently, eyes closed and a contented smile on his face. Cloud hesitated before reaching up to toy idly with Sephiroth-dono's nipples, feeling relieved to see that his master's hair was still clean and braided so that they wouldn't have to go to the trouble of washing and drying it again - Cloud's own hair was a lot easier to deal with, at least for now so it didn't matter that Sephiroth-dono was getting oil and their mixed seed in it.

"Ah...Sephiroth-dono?" He shouldn't ask, but Kouri-sempai had told him a bit about what happened between two men when they'd seen Kaoru-kun limping around one day, and he hadn't mentioned anything like this.

"Yes Cloud-kun?"

"I thought you'd want to...well fuck me..."

"Maybe later. I don't know enough about how that works to try it with you. This seemed like a logical extension of masturbation, combined with some non-gender-specific foreplay." Sephiroth-dono frowned then. "I'll have to ask the Empress for literature about how sex between two men works, so she'll probably expect us to put a show on for her at some point based on things she's said in the past. Will that be a problem for you?"

Put on a show? What did Sephiroth-dono mean? The Empress wouldn't want to watch them having sex, would she? Although...he had heard men in Nibelheim talking about how they'd like to see two women together.

"Ah...I don't know. It would have to be something we'd done before and that I was comfortable with?" He couldn't quite believe he was putting conditions on his obedience to the Empress, but Sephiroth-dono had sounded almost as if he was asking for Cloud's consent.

"Yes, she'll understand that. Now, you need to get cleaned up before our meal is delivered." Sephiroth-dono released Cloud, letting him pull away and looking down at his own hands and body with a faint smile. "For that matter so do I."

Note: For readers of my Cetra Restoration AU, I've started posting a new story called Arrangements, but I haven't had even one review on it yet. I would appreciate some feedback when I try moving outside the inner circle of characters.