Chapter Text
Sephiroth sat, one leg bent up to his chest, the other dangling over the edge of the cliff. His long silver hair pulled up into a high ponytail. He still wore the black contacts that hid his eyes. No one was looking for him here, but the people of Cosmo Canyon seemed more comfortable with the black than the glowing green. Sephiroth had one arm propped up on his knee, the other beside him and he stared into the distant sea. It was barely more than a blue-green line on the horizon, but he knew it was there. He, Zack, Aeris, and Nanaki had been frequently. Zack loved the ocean.
He heard Zack long before the other boy got to him, Zack wasn’t quiet at the best of times, and it seemed like he was making more noise on purpose, whistling a jaunty tune badly.
Zack plopped down beside Sephiroth, both legs hung over the side of the cliff. “Want some company?”
Sephiroth gave Zack a side-long look. He was handsome, nearly as tall as Sephiroth himself, and with a life about him that made it feel like the summer always followed him. He turned his gaze back to the sea. “Would it matter if I said no?”
Zack laughed. “Nope! We’re worried about you,” Zack slipped his hand closer to Sephiroth’s. “You’ve been monster hunting, which is totally fine! But you never want company, you’re always alone. Bugenhagan thinks it’s ‘cause you're at that age, but that doesn’t feel right to me.”
Sephiroth snorted. “And what feels right to you?”
“You need to get laid, my man.”
Zack said it so simply that Sephiroth almost didn’t catch what he meant. “Are you not on offer anymore?”
Zack laughed brightly. “Nah, you aren’t cute anymore! Plus… You know I’d rather have, like… A relationship.”
Sephiroth shook his head. “I was never cute.”
“Yeah you were! After I turned you back into a human from a frog, and you were all covered in pond muck, and you looked just like a bedraggled cat!”
Sephiroth flushed. “Zack.” He warned.
“And then, you were so mad all the way home! Even after the bath when you were clean and tidy, you scowled all night long! I thought, ‘Wow, a boy like that must be so cute when he smiles,’ and then you did and I was right!”
Sephiroth scowled now, and glared at Zack. “If this is an attempt to lighten the mood,”
Zack held up his hands. “I get it, fine. Point is, now you’re like.. Drop dead gorgeous, and I like cute things. You like fuck buddies and I wanna settle down.”
Sephiroth shrugged. “Point taken, have you found someone to settle down with?”
Zack rubbed the back of his neck. “Not exactly, I mean… I haven’t even asked her out yet, but y’know. I wanna.”
Sephiroth lifted a brow. “Her?”
“You know me, I like everyone!” He bumped his shoulder against Sephiroth’s. “Enough about me though, what about you?”
Sephiroth sighed. “Well I don’t have anyone I want to get laid with here who hasn’t already expressly shot me down.” He smiled a bit to soften the blow.
Zack winced anyway. “Yeah… But what about all this?” He gestured around them. “Cosmo Canyon is the safest it’s ever been, you’ve cleared out every monster for at least two miles in every direction.”
Sephiroth leaned into Zack’s shoulder. “I feel like I don’t belong anywhere.”
Zack, uncharacteristically, kept quiet.
“When I was at Shinra, everything was ordered, I did everything because I was told to. I had specific, regimented tasks. I never had to think about what I wanted to do. Then, Aeris’ mother took me into Midgar and said “Protect Aeris”, and I did. She’s safe here in Cosmo Canyon. We haven’t seen any sign of Shinra in years. So I completed my mission…”
Zack nodded slowly. “And now… You don’t have a mission.”
Sephiroth rested his head on Zack’s shoulder. “No mission.” He agreed.
“And the monster hunting felt enough like a mission to fill that void?”
Sephiroth shrugged lightly, not enough to even push Zack. “Not really? But it was something.”
“And now there aren’t any monsters,” Zack said thoughtfully. “No mission, no purpose.” It was just a matter of fact statement, no judgement or malice.
Sephiroth turned to press his head against Zack’s neck. He took comfort in the familiar warmth and scent.
“Well, Aeris and Bugenhagan are always talkin’ about ‘the will of the planet’ and they always need this or that thing. Let’s see if they have some missions for you!”
Sephiroth nodded and slid his arm around Zack’s waist. “Just a little longer.” He didn’t tilt his voice to make it a request, but it was just the same.
Zack wrapped his own arm around Sephiroth. “Just a little longer.” He agreed.
Zack was wrong, though Sephiroth didn’t feel the need to fight him about it. Sephiroth didn’t just want someone to fuck. He had thought the two of them more than just fuck buddies until Zack had slowly stopped initiating and Sephiroth had stopped chasing. Sex was nice, of course, but Sephiroth missed the quiet companionship with Zack more. If it was no longer his, well, just another thing in his life that was gone. A hole he didn’t know how to fill.