This here was done for the Crisis Core Fan Forums Secret Santa (That's a mouthful and the link is in my profile!) for the wonderful Lizardbits (ohxasphyxiationx on ffnet). Out of the pairings she requested I found this one the easiest, and plot bunniest, to write!

Merry Christmas Liz!

Disclaimer: ME? Own anything? Pfft, heck nawh.

Zack would surely say this was a waste of his talents. A veritable crime against humanity. Sometimes, just sometimes, he couldn't bring himself to find an argument against this reasoning. Zack would say that's because there was truth in that, but he liked to think it had more to do with Zack being a force of nature.

As much as he hated sitting behind a desk, he hated killing even more. There was a certain sick sense of pleasure to be found in slicing an enemy's head off, and he had no desire to revel in the sensation. Not like some of the other SOLDIERs. There should be nothing joyous found in the dismemberment of another human. Zack said it was his kindness, but Sephiroth said it was the lessons Angeal and Genesis had pounded into him all those years ago, when they had first met him.

With a weary sigh, he turned his thoughts back to the paperwork spread out before him. Piled haphazardly in little stacks all over his desk, it certainly wasn't what one imagined when they thought of The Great Sephiroth's desk. Pens were scattered across the desk, some at the edge, ready to roll off at a moment's notice. Candy wrappers were shoved to one side, almost unnoticeable. It was a disaster area, one he quite enjoyed. Zack liked to say it was because it annoyed the higher-ups; Sephiroth had to agree with him.

Snatching at one of the pens that had finally decided staying on the desk was no longer worth the effort, Sephiroth turned to yet another report. None of it honestly needed to be filled out, as whatever he did could be overruled by President Shinra, but it gave an appearance of being in control. The army adored him, not the swine sitting atop the plastic throne, and according to Zack, if he left, they would too. That was probably Zack's blind loyalty speaking, even if Genesis and Angeal (and the cadet Zack brought around) had agreed.

"You need to lighten up, Seph," Zack murmured as he wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's shoulders. The brunet had been dogging him all day about something or other; Sephiroth really couldn't say he'd been paying attention to a word Zack had said. He couldn't tell him that though.

"You're going to get wrinkles by the time you're thirty if you keep this up." Zack's breath tickled his neck, nearly causing a shiver. He couldn't say he didn't welcome this distraction, but sometimes he wished his companion wasn't so puppy-like. Even if the nuzzling of whatever body part he could reach was adorable.

The calm, even breaths of his friend continued ghosting across the sensitive skin of his neck as bright blue eyes watched him with interest. He could practically feel the stare as he attempted to focus on the report. The raven haired man knew how to be distracting, even when he didn't mean to be.

"Is there something you need, Zackary?" The soft sound of Zack chuckling caused him to twist around in an effort to see if he could tell just what had amused the young man so. Zack looked down at him, eyes sparkling in obvious amusement, even as his mouth twisted into a frown. It would have worried him, that frown, if Zack had been able to hold it.

"You haven't been listening to a word I've said, have you Seph?" Zack knew--somehow he always knew. The dark haired man would be by his side, a grin on his face and a plan in his head, without Sephrioth ever saying he needed a distraction. Whether it be from work or the many nightmares that plagued him, Zack always had a plan.

"I can't say that I have," he replied. Sephiroth set the pen down, since he'd originally grabbed it to make it seem like he was working instead of tuning out the ramblings of his companion, and spun the chair around. Pleased with the victory, Zack plopped down in his lap and awarded him with a grin a mile wide.

"I was thinking," nimble fingers inched their way up his shirt. They stopped to rest on the last button he had done up, twisting it this way and that in a teasing manner. Thinking was certainly a dangerous event when Zack was involved, but Sephiroth had yet to find a reason to dislike what came of it. He hummed in pleasure when the fingers finally started moving their way upwards once more, skimming across his bare skin.

"You know what the doctor said about thinking, Zackary." Laughing, the dark haired man paused in his exploration before completely pulling his hand away. No one ever claimed Zack wasn't a tease; the man was the biggest, most eager tease anyone had ever met. Wiggling off his lap and standing once more, Zack bent to look him in the eye.

"We should go out to dinner, just you and me." Zack ran a hand through his hair, the ever present grin turning into a devilish smirk. "Afterwards we can have a late night, if you want." Sephiroth couldn't bring himself to argue, not with that look adorning his friend's face. It was the worst-kept secret in ShinRa that he was putty in Zack's hand. Though it wasn't so much that he couldn't resist, it was more of the fact that he knew it was useless to attempt it.

"Can you roll off me, you're kind of big," Zack's muffled voice shook him out of the bliss he'd been enjoying. Pillow talk never seemed to happen with the incorrigible man, though the endearments that sprinkled his speech worked just fine. With a groan, Sephiroth complied and peeled himself off Zack, flopping down next to the young man.

Immediately after he had finished settling himself, Zack curled up on him, hair tickling his chest and chin. For being taller than him, the man always seemed so much smaller in bed. Sephiroth sighed as the fingers that had been running up and down his side slowed and eventually stilled as his companion drifted into sleep.

"Goodnight, Zack," he murmured before closing his eyes, a soft smile stretched across his face.