Life

Clarity Scifiroots
Disclaimers: This is a story written by a fan for other fans (and myself). Merely for entertainment purposes and not to be considered "official" in any way. No profit is made from fic writing, I assure, or else I would have a tidy little fortune and wouldn't have to worry about taking out a loan for college. (The song on my playlist right now is "Life" by Our Lady Peace and you know, that just fits so nicely for this one.)
Notes: A Final Fantasy VII fic of Sephiroth/Zack/Cloud leanings. Mature content ahead for sexual descriptions.
This was written in response to elsewherecw's request for a pre-game threesome.
Summary: I finally manage the SZC threesome! Whee! The beginnings of the relationship. )
Third June Challenge Submission

Edited October 3, 2005

Once upon a time in the days between one war and the next, there was a lull of relative peace in the history of the Planet. (Why important names were simple words that were capitalized was always a question no one could answer.) During the Shinra-Wutai war (the pre-"peace" war) a certain general had made quite the name for himself; in fact, he had come to be respected, feared, and/or worshipped so much so that people would now call him The General. He became a figurehead for the Shinra company and its military. However, it could not be said that the man was happy with such a turn of events—not that many people could ever tell what he thought.

General Sephiroth, for that was his name, appeared stoic and unmovable to the outside world. His Mako-enhanced eyes glinted a sharp green only slightly deeper in color than green Materia. Underneath the air of ice he presented to the world, his emotions ran deep, perhaps unstably so, as time would tell; he hated his true enemies with a burning passion that would have made other men tremble in rage. But he also loved his true friends, of which there were really only a couple, with a depth he never revealed to even those few.

Well then, his true enemies probably didn't even realize how much The General hated them, but they included President Shinra himself, the arrogantly beautiful heir to Shinra (Rufus), and, not to be forgotten, the mad scientist Hojo. Let it not be thought that Hojo was in any way the sort of crazy scientist that could be considered amusing or easily ignored—the man was pure evil and decidedly a deadly genius with secreted plans that no one could truly guess. Shinra put up with the scientist for what he did with the troops. It was he that had developed the process to enhance soldiers to Soldiers by infusing Mako energy straight into the bloodstream and, on occasion, cells from a strange, alien being dubbed Jenova (not to be confused with Jehovah, mind you).

On the other hand, there were the few that he considered friends at some level or another. Of those few, there were only two that he trusted on a deeper level and dared to risk showing a glimpse of his heart to. The Soldier Zack had been the first to penetrate the shields Sephiroth offered to the world. Zack had a friendly personality that urged him to reach out for other people, he also seemed to have an attraction to the type of people who typically secluded themselves from the rest of the world. It had been Zack and his peculiar attraction that had brought the second person Sephiroth would trust into his life.

This third man had come from a small village across the ocean from Shinra's capital city of Midgar. Well, at the time of this tale he was not quite a man, yet, but neither was he really a boy, for he had seen many things in the sixteen years of his life that most men would not see—or at least not understand—in triple that time. Zack met Cloud Strife in a training class that he was helping direct (all Soldiers were required at some point to contribute to new soldier education and training). The rather small blond clearly had passion and determination to pursue the path of a Soldier, yet he would have a lot of work to do before The Powers That Be would ever care to look at him—the elitist louts! Zack had been interested in the quiet boy who put up silently with insults and the occasional beating from fellow students who felt they could feel better about themselves if they picked on what they presumed to be an easy target. After weeks of seeing the same pattern over and over, Zack approached the blond after class and asked why he did not fight back.

"They're not worth the time," Cloud had answered simply, as if surprised that Zack hadn't thought of that himself.

For the following week Zack pondered that thought on his own and even talked obscurely about it with Sephiroth. The General felt a flare of jealousy at Zack's preoccupation with someone else and the spark that the other person had caused to brighten in Zack's eyes.

Then Zack asked for Cloud to stay back after class and proposed additional, private training at a more advanced level. The blond had looked stunned and quickly suppressed the eagerness dancing in his eyes. Zack let loose a wide, toothy grin and explained that with a few tricks Cloud could fight back against the bullies.

In the midst of training Cloud in spare hours, Zack told Sephiroth more and more about the blond boy who seemed to have "something special" that would make him a great Soldier, if only Shinra would see. The General grew more and more frustrated with his friend's seemingly infatuated ramblings, and finally he investigated Cloud Strife for himself.

An advantage to having as high a status as The General did mean that he could do most anything without being questioned. He sent someone to fetch Strife and lead the boy to his personal quarters where he could gladly take advantage of his own territory and his intimidating-looking office.

However, he didn't think to take much of Zack's descriptions about Strife as seriously as he should have and thus was unprepared for the slight blond that entered his office and stood at attention with not the slightest tremor of anxiety shaking his body. Sephiroth acted cold and distant throughout their meeting in which he used the pretense of gathering information about new recruits for the data logs. Strife answered the questions calmly, albeit quietly, and succinctly; his blue eyes showed a strong spark if Sephiroth taunted him, and when he was asked to meet The General's gaze, he did not flinch or turn away—Zack could hardly manage that when Sephiroth was in full General mode. He had much to think about in the coming days.

When next Zack and Sephiroth had a free moment alone, the young man grinned knowingly. (He had heard about Sephiroth's summons from Cloud and had guessed at the reason for it.)

"You didn't expect him, did you?" Zack teased. "You might want to listen a little more closely to me next time, huh?"

Sephiroth scowled at his friend grumpily.

"Oh, c'mon, it's not like I'm immune to him either. The kid's got something," he whispered, his hazel eyes flashing in excitement; Sephiroth held his breath, caught up in a similar feeling. "You can't tell me you wouldn't like..." Zack waved his hands uselessly, a different sort of expression crossing his face. "...You know."

A little thrill shot through Sephiroth's bloodstream and tickled his groin. He saw Zack squirming in his seat as well, his bottom lip caught between his teeth.

"Mmm... God, yes," the dark-haired man muttered, his eyelids drooping.

"Knock it off," Sephiroth hissed, embarrassed with his reactions to watching Zack and guessing at what the other man was thinking.

Zack shifted closer and smiled lazily. He placed a hand above Sephiroth's knee and stroked upwards slowly, brushing his fingers along the inside of Sephiroth's thigh. "Really, Seph, it's rather ridiculous to protest at this point." His hand suddenly pressed firmly against the swell of Sephiroth's erection beneath his probably too-tight pants.

"Zack..." he managed with a completely different kind of hiss. Zack chuckled and leaned in closer to alternatively kiss, nip, and lick The General's neck while his hand kept busy kneading Sephiroth's crotch.

"Those crystal eyes that can be like the sky... or maybe the ocean because you want to drown in them," Zack murmured, rubbing his own arousal against Sephiroth's hip. "His hair is wilder than a Chocobo's feathers, and when you get to touch it, it's softer than a baby Chocobo's crest.

"You want to stick your face in that hair, or maybe your cock." Sephiroth groaned quietly and pressed into Zack's insistent hand. "You don't know what you want more—his lips sucking you off or that teasing ass squirming at you..."

The images that assaulted his mind were enough to take him over the edge. Sephiroth climaxed with a wordless cry and felt Zack rubbing against him fervently at the same time, grunting softly. Zack finally froze and bit his lip as orgasm hit.

Sephiroth put his hand behind Zack's head and pulled him into a messy, desperate kiss. They were breathing heavily as they continued to assault one another's lips, the image of a certain boy in both their minds.

"Oh God," Zack finally managed after they broke apart. "That was hot!"

Sephiroth felt a startled chuckle slowly working its way up his body and when it reached his lips it was a full-grown laugh. Zack looked at him in amazement and laughed as well, startled and delighted. Possessively Sephiroth stroked his hands over his friend's sides and gripped the other's hips.

"I think you need to offer a private invitation to our mutual friend," Sephiroth murmured against Zack's ear, his voice low and seductive.

The younger man shivered against him. "Yes..." he agreed, drawing out the "s" as he ground his hips against Sephiroth's flat, muscled stomach.

So that private invite was indeed extended to a startled blond boy who had never felt that anyone would be attracted to him. He was secretly thrilled to find that both of his crushes were interested, although he had no idea how eager they were until the first night that all three tumbled over blankets and pillows laid out on the floor.

Perhaps it was little more than desire and lust that united the trio at first, but it would take only a short time before a deeper attachment formed, and then the sex turned into love-making. It would be enough to exchange a passing glance in the hall or a quick brush of shoulders, which was convenient since schedules would make it difficult to cater to private time between the three.

One night in the quiet darkness, laying sandwiched between his two lovers—his two friends—a boy who wasn't quite yet a man but had experienced enough in life to not necessarily be considered a boy, snuggled deeply into his lovers' embrace.

"I'll never forget what you mean to me...what you gave to me," he murmured. A pair of lips brushed his shoulder and another pair christened his forehead.

Once upon a time in the days between one war and the next, there was a lull of relative peace in the history of the Planet. Some time in that relative peace there were three very important people—although perhaps only one would ever be recorded for history to remember—who managed to find each other and find something that gave meaning to their lives.

Fin

This thing wrote itself, thankfully! g I had a lot of fun with it and am happy how it turned out. It has the potential for a sequel, so perhaps I'll revisit this challenge and produce a sequel this month as well. g