Chapter Text
Zack had a massive headache that had him cursing the single stray beam of sunlight that managed to get past the security of his blinds and aim exactly where his closed eyes were. It was hangovers such as this one that were the reason he avoided going to parties with Reno when the man somehow managed to find alcohol that could get a First drunk. He grumbled under his breath as he sat up, ruffling his hair to get the worst of the bed head out before stretching and getting out of bed. He should focus on water first before he worried about clothes.
The apartment was luckily empty, though the dark haired SOLDIER wouldn’t have complained much if Angeal had been there to cook breakfast. ‘Nah,’ he thought to himself, grabbing a water bottle, and heading back to his room while downing it. ‘I’m too hungover for a lecture.’ He stopped once he entered his room again, the open bottle slipping from his hand and falling to the ground.
There in his bed, Zack could make out the sight of distinct blond spikes sticking out from under his bed sheets, and a pale face peacefully asleep along with it.
“. . .Shit.”
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“Okay, so something might have happened and I need your advice, but I don’t want any judgment or criticism.”
“...And you called me?” Genesis’ voice asked over the PHS, causing Zack to sigh and pace around his living room. “Why didn’t you call Angeal or Sephiroth?”
“Because Angeal would go into full blown presentation lecture mode and Sephiroth might kill them. Please, Gen.”
“Oh dear goddess, what did you do?”
“Now don’t get mad-”
“ Zackary Fair. ” The older SOLDIER growled through the PHS in warning.
“Way past that, got it.” He stopped pacing, looking back to his bedroom door. “I went to a party with Reno.”
“And?”
“...I woke up with someone else in bed.”
“I’m coming over.”
“Wait Gen-” Zack looked down in horror at his PHS that beeped lightly at the ended call. “Shit!” he began to panic and ran to his door, prepared to stop the angry leather clad SOLDIER, but got even more worried when it took longer than he expected, and when he finally heard footsteps it was more than one pair. Maybe he should have called Kunsel.
When the door finally opened, the youngest First stood in front of his three boyfriends with his arms out, hoping to be able to stop them. This morning was going downhill far faster than he could deal with it and he just needed to find some form of foothold. “Come on guys, just listen to me! It isn’t as bad as Gen makes it out to be!”
“You told him I would kill someone,” Sephiroth let out a low growl, placing a hand on his youngest lover’s shoulder. “Then you said someone was in your bed.”
“He didn’t let me finish! Nothing happened, I promise!” The young beta growled. He hated when his mates didn’t trust him, sure he could be reckless and was drunk, but did they really think he would cheat on them? “Look, I don’t know what’s going on either, and I recognize who they are, but…”
“But?” Angeal asked softly, getting close to his distressed mate. “Zack, what’s going on?”
“It’s my friend, Cloud.” Zack said quietly, slumping his shoulders. He could feel the others tense up.
“Are you sure?” Genesis asked, getting close. “The same Cloud?”
“That’s impossible.” Sephiroth gripped his shoulder tighter, most likely remembering that night five years prior. Zack was remembering it as well, and had been all morning.
Five years ago, when he and the great Silver General took a mission together to Nibelheim. They had gone to check on the local reactor, but before they had gone too deeply in, something went wrong, causing an explosion. The two infantrymen, one of which was Zack’s close friend, Cloud, had perished in the explosion. While they got torn apart, the only injury the black haired SOLDIER had gotten was a scar on his jaw from some flying shrapnel to remind him of what happened.
But here he was, talking to his lovers while his supposedly dead friend was sleeping naked in his bed after a night of drinking.
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Cloud felt sore in a way he could not remember ever being before. Not after a battle to the death, not after working until he collapsed, not even after having a rough night with a stranger. As he slowly opened his eyes, he figured he couldn’t rule out the last idea, seeing as he couldn’t recognize the wall he was looking at, or the rest of the room as he sat up and looked around. Where was he? The last thing he could remember was finishing up a delivery, and then nothing.
Taking in his surroundings, he was surprised to find the things around him of high quality; from the bed and sheets, to the other furniture. He noticed very quickly as he went to stand on the soft carpet that he was naked and his clothes were nowhere to be seen, not only that, but he felt a sharp pain in his lower regions that caused the blond to gasp in pain and fall to his knees.
The voices in the living room stopped and Cloud froze, realizing the situation he was in. He had no clothes or weapon, had no idea where he was, was apparently badly injured, and now there were apparently multiple people who knew that he was there. Did anyone know where he was? AVALANCHE? He would even accept that bastard Rufus knowing where he was if it meant sending his team over.
When the door opened, his breath caught in his throat as he looked up to see the last person he thought he would ever see again. “Z-Zack?” he asked, his eyes wide as he stared at his friend who should be dead. The man he watched die after saving his life all those years ago.
The dark haired man relaxed at hearing his name said and walked in, closing the door behind him so that they wouldn’t be bothered by the others. “Haya Cloudy, you doing alright?”
Cloud swallowed, looking down. He had no idea what was wrong, just that he was in a lot of pain where he couldn’t see. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. “I can’t stand, Zack. Something hurts.” Usually the blond hero wouldn’t let anyone know that he was in pain, but he couldn’t help it. This was Zack. Something just felt right, telling him that this was really him, and that he would be taken care of.
“Alright, I’m going to put you back on the bed. K? Then I’m going to go grab someone who can help. He’s great with Materia, so I’m sure he can fix you right up.” The ravennette spoke calmly as he went over, easily picking Cloud up and placing him back in the soft bed before covering him with the blanket. “There. I’ll be just going right out the room, promise. I’ll be right back.” The way he spoke, like Cloud was something precious that he didn’t want to lose, made the blond’s chest ache. He was reminded heavily of that year his friend carried him around, keeping him safe, talking to him, holding him. Whatever this was, he didn’t want it to end.
The SOLDIER kept his promise and wasn’t gone long, soon coming back with a man that, for some reason, looked familiar. Red hair and the distinctive glow of mako in his eyes. There was no denying that this man was a SOLDIER, but the name escaped him. “Hello there.” The man said in a calm tone, walking over and kneeling next to the bed. “You’re Cloud, correct? I believe we had never properly met. My name is Genesis Rhapsodos, SOLDIER First class. Zack says you’re feeling pain?”
Shit, that’s why the man seemed familiar. Even though the man wasn’t wearing his trademark leather coat, his face should have tipped him off, even though he supposed it had been a long while since he was a fan admiring the SOLDIERS of Shin-ra. But wasn’t he supposed to have died a long time ago? What was going on?
Shaking the shock out of his head, Cloud finally answered. “s-Something hurts down… there.” He swallowed. He hated this already, feeling exposed to this man he didn’t know, in an unknown situation, but it felt like someone had carved him open with a burning knife.
“I see..” Genesis thought for a moment. “Before I use a cure I would need to check to make sure you don’t require more intensive care. Would you prefer Zack in the room for this or would you like him to wait outside?” He asked.
“Gen-”
“Calm down, Puppy, let him make his choice.”
“I.. would prefer Zack stay.” Cloud said quietly, not wanting his old friend to leave. He would question the nickname later, when he felt more in control of the situation and his surroundings.
Genesis nodded and carefully moved the blanket, keeping an eye on him, but the blond looked away, instead focusing on Zack. He gave a small hiss of pain as the man spread his legs apart and felt around the area under his dick. Each touch hurt, causing him to flinch away with a hiss or a whimper before the commander finally pulled away. “I can’t find any damage to the area so we can hope for now it’s simply over sensitive. Zack, did anything happen at that party?”
Zack ruffled the back of his head before shaking it. “Nothing that I can remember, but I also never saw Cloud there. I don’t even remember bringing anyone home with me.”
“Well, the best we can do for now is use a healing Materia and hope that it is not an unseen issue.” With that, the man walked to the bedside table and pulled out a green Materia, most likely kept there for emergencies, and cast a cure over him, causing the burning pain to ebb away.
Cloud sighed in relief before hiding his lower half back under the safety of the covers while Zack thanked Genesis with a hug, causing the commander to push the over excited puppy away by the face. He supposed the nickname did fit seeing him like this. “So, what was hurting so much? I didn’t see any blood even though it felt like I was stabbed…”
The red general looked over, keeping a hand on Zack’s face to push him away. “Hm? Well the pain was coming from around your vaginal opening, but the folds didn’t look damaged, so my guess would either be your heat is soon or had recently passed.”
Everything felt like it stopped around Cloud. “My what?”