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Title: Prey and Predator
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
Characters: Sephiroth, Cloud, Genesis, Angeal/Zack.
Rating: PG 13
Word Count: 1523
Summary: A desperate search-and-rescue mission goes awry, forcing Sephiroth to reconsider his first impressions of the situation and the cadet he dragged into it.
Previous: 0
Eight hours.
Eight hours and fifteen minutes, to be exact.
Four hundred and ninety-five minutes in all and every last one too slow.
Sephiroth tracked time in heartbeats, marking his pulse against the engines’s thrum. He kept his mind on the maps and the coordinates, on mountain trails and emergency supplies. He had the time and he knew how to make it productive. He did not speculate, running himself in circles on idle supposition. He considered possibilities and prepared accordingly. No foreseeable eventuality would be without a plan. He had eight hours. And fourteen minutes.
Across the way, the trooper fidgeted, wriggling around in his seat. Sephiroth tapped his toe. “Trooper, what are you doing?”
The man twitched to attention. “Sir, I was considering getting some sleep, Sir!”
“Sleep.” Sephiroth said, arms crossed. He could almost hear the man’s nervous swallow.
“Yes, Sir, so I’ll be alert for the mission, Sir.” The trooper sat frozen in place, waiting for some sign.
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at the man. Not so deep down he knew that it was a sensible option. It simply wasn’t one that was open to him, not with all the planning that needed to be done and his mind racing to do it. He gave a sharp nod. “Sleep then. But be awake and ready two hours before we land.”
“Sir, yes, Sir!” The trooper smacked his hand on his helmet again. Sephiroth ignored the fidgeting, turning to the window instead. His mind strayed to thoughts of weather and stayed there, dark as the clouds below.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
“It’s really coming down,” Genesis said.
“Gen, get back in here before you freeze to death.” Angeal shifted slightly, tightening his arms around Zack.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Genesis zipped up and launched himself into the bedding. “If you see a yellow icicle out there, don’t touch it, okay?”
Angeal rolled his eyes and petted Zack’s head. Genesis snuggled in close to Zack’s other side. “Leg okay?” Genesis asked across wild spiky hair.
“Getting better,” Angeal said, rubbing the end of the makeshift bandages, strips cut out of his own trousers. “Itches though.”
Genesis yawned. “That’s good, right? Healing?”
“Supposedly.” Mako had helped the bleeding stop but inflammation was another story. Angeal’s body had ramped up its usual responses. The good side was that even without materia, his leg would be healed in a matter of days. The downside was the pain.
“Need another ice pack?” Genesis asked. “Plenty to go around.”
Angeal snorted. “Not just yet.” He sighed, stroking Zack’s sleeping face again.
“Pup okay?” Genesis asked.
“He’ll be fine,” Angeal said. “While he’s sleeping he’ll forget he’s hungry.”
“Hmm.” Genesis pulled the covers up to his chin. “I’m starting to think he had the right idea, slipping through a hole in the wall to get our supplies back.”
“Don’t you start, Gen,” Angeal said. “We got our weapons, we got some bedding, we got your phone and a couple of pain pills, we can manage.”
“Know what I wish we’d got? A tent.”
“A tent?”
“Sure, a tent, and not the kind your pup is pitching in his sleep, by the way.”
“Gen!”
“What? He’s the one rubbing it on me. You expect a man not to notice?”
Angeal tried to draw Zack back. “He’s still young.”
“Of course he is,” Genesis said. “Which is why we have to make sure he gets home okay, no matter what.”
“No matter what.” Mako eyes met in the dark. The pact that passed between them then did not need words to be understood.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The trooper stirred two hours before the scheduled landing time. Sephiroth excused him for a trip to the bathroom in the back. The General had not slept but it did not show. He was ready. He had his preferred routes clearly mapped out. He had extra cure materia stashed in his armor and phoenix downs tucked in his boots. He had a letter to Angeal’s mother drafted in his head. General Sephiroth prepared for everything.
A little blond boy came up to where Sephiroth was sitting and plopped himself down on the bench across the way. Sephiroth blinked, wondering what mother was missing her child back in Midgar when he spotted the helmet on the boy’s knee.
“Reporting for a briefing, Sir!” The boy saluted. Sephiroth stared.
“Are you old enough to be in the army?” he blurted.
“Yes, Sir, I have my tags for you to check.” The trooper wore a brittle sort of expression that said he got that a lot.
Sephiroth sighed. “And you’re a SOLDIER cadet as well?”
“Yes, Sir!”
That, Sephiroth thought, explained Angeal’s puppy and all his ilk. It didn’t matter. “Put your helmet back on,” Sephiroth began. “Here’s the situation.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
“Zack,” Genesis said, staring at the floor, “I can hear your stomach growling.”
“I can hear yours,” Zack replied. They sighed.
“Stop thinking about it, you two,” Angeal chided. “You’re just making it worse for yourselves.”
Zack whimpered. “I can’t not think about it, Angeal. I’m hungry!”
“So am I.” Genesis leaned his head back against the cave wall. “Damn these high metabolisms.”
Angeal eyed the trio of swords lying in neat array on the ground. “The snow has to let up sometime. It shouldn’t take long to hunt down something edible.”
“Great,” Zack said, sounding faint. “What do we do till then?”
“We keep ourselves hydrated,” Angeal said. He passed the pauldron full of melted snow. “Obviously that’s not going to be a problem.”
Genesis took a sip and passed it on. “I feel like an old north tribesman, drinking from the skull of my foe.”
Zack grimaced. He set the pauldron down without attracting Angeal’s notice. “What’s edible up here, anyway?”
“I told you to stop thinking about it,” Angeal said.
“Aww, Angeal,” Zack whined. “Give me something to look forward to!”
“Here’s something to look forward to,” Genesis said, slipping his phone away and silently bemoaning the lack of a signal. “If the snow doesn’t let up, we may have to resort to cannibalism.” Angeal held his face in his hands.
Zack looked horrified. “You’re kidding, right? Angeal, tell me he’s kidding!”
“It’s been done before,” Angeal said, glaring at Genesis, “but only as a desperation measure.”
Genesis’s smile grew sly and wide. “And I’m getting pretty desperate.” He went to all fours and pawed at Zack. “I spy me a tender little morsel who looks like good eats to me.”
“Angeal!” Zack whined, backing away.
“Quit teasing him, Gen,” Angeal said, yanking Genesis back by his collar. “Honestly, man, act your age.”
Genesis settled himself at Angeal’s feet. “I’m only teasing. Don’t worry.”
Zack tilted his head, his bobbing spikes making him look like a suspicious cockatoo. “Really?”
“Really,” Genesis said. Zack did not look convinced. “Really, really,” Genesis said, “swear to the Goddess, may I spill coffee on my best copy of Loveless if I’m lying.”
“Hm, okay,” Zack finally allowed, “but I’m keeping an eye on you.” He scooted around and sought shelter under Angeal’s arm.
“Don’t worry, pup,” Angeal said, kissing him on the head. “If we do have to eat each other you’ll be starting with me.”
“Huh?”
“Pick off the weak and sickly first,” Angeal said. “Cut down the liabilities.”
“Angeal…”
“Thank you for the morbid assessment,” Genesis said.
“You started it.”
Genesis couldn’t argue with that. “In any case, I’m certain you’ll be healed enough to put up a fight before we have to resort to that.”
Zack breathed deep. “Rescue should be on its way long before we have to resort to that.”
Angeal snorted. “We’ll all go nuts and kill each other before we have to resort to that.”
“Maybe,” Genesis said. He drummed his fingers against his knees and plastered a smile on his face, but he didn’t like the turn their thoughts were taking anymore than he liked the lack of signal on his dying phone. He watched Zack snuggle closer to Angeal, burrowing into the makeshift nest.
Genesis resisted the urge to check his phone again. He went to the cave mouth again, seeking some distraction. He wasn’t sure the last call had gone through and even less certain about who might have heard it. Those weren’t the words he wanted recorded as his last. There were things he would have liked to have said and certain people to say them to. Now he didn’t have pen and paper to leave a note in his own cold, dead hands.
He turned his back on the wind and watched Angeal and Zack hold each other. At least they would be together…
“Gen,” Angeal called.
“I know, I know,” Genesis said. “Get away from the opening before I freeze off something important.” Angeal smirked and patted the spot beside him. Genesis hid his thoughts behind a smirk and settled in.
“Angeal, if we do have to eat you,” Zack said, “at least there’s a lot of you to go around.”
Angeal grunted. “You calling me fat?”
“No, no, you’re not fat,” Zack said, running a hand down Angeal’s chest. “You’re meaty.”
Genesis groaned.
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
Characters: Sephiroth, Cloud, Genesis, Angeal/Zack.
Rating: PG 13
Word Count: 1523
Summary: A desperate search-and-rescue mission goes awry, forcing Sephiroth to reconsider his first impressions of the situation and the cadet he dragged into it.
Previous: 0
Eight hours.
Eight hours and fifteen minutes, to be exact.
Four hundred and ninety-five minutes in all and every last one too slow.
Sephiroth tracked time in heartbeats, marking his pulse against the engines’s thrum. He kept his mind on the maps and the coordinates, on mountain trails and emergency supplies. He had the time and he knew how to make it productive. He did not speculate, running himself in circles on idle supposition. He considered possibilities and prepared accordingly. No foreseeable eventuality would be without a plan. He had eight hours. And fourteen minutes.
Across the way, the trooper fidgeted, wriggling around in his seat. Sephiroth tapped his toe. “Trooper, what are you doing?”
The man twitched to attention. “Sir, I was considering getting some sleep, Sir!”
“Sleep.” Sephiroth said, arms crossed. He could almost hear the man’s nervous swallow.
“Yes, Sir, so I’ll be alert for the mission, Sir.” The trooper sat frozen in place, waiting for some sign.
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at the man. Not so deep down he knew that it was a sensible option. It simply wasn’t one that was open to him, not with all the planning that needed to be done and his mind racing to do it. He gave a sharp nod. “Sleep then. But be awake and ready two hours before we land.”
“Sir, yes, Sir!” The trooper smacked his hand on his helmet again. Sephiroth ignored the fidgeting, turning to the window instead. His mind strayed to thoughts of weather and stayed there, dark as the clouds below.
“It’s really coming down,” Genesis said.
“Gen, get back in here before you freeze to death.” Angeal shifted slightly, tightening his arms around Zack.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Genesis zipped up and launched himself into the bedding. “If you see a yellow icicle out there, don’t touch it, okay?”
Angeal rolled his eyes and petted Zack’s head. Genesis snuggled in close to Zack’s other side. “Leg okay?” Genesis asked across wild spiky hair.
“Getting better,” Angeal said, rubbing the end of the makeshift bandages, strips cut out of his own trousers. “Itches though.”
Genesis yawned. “That’s good, right? Healing?”
“Supposedly.” Mako had helped the bleeding stop but inflammation was another story. Angeal’s body had ramped up its usual responses. The good side was that even without materia, his leg would be healed in a matter of days. The downside was the pain.
“Need another ice pack?” Genesis asked. “Plenty to go around.”
Angeal snorted. “Not just yet.” He sighed, stroking Zack’s sleeping face again.
“Pup okay?” Genesis asked.
“He’ll be fine,” Angeal said. “While he’s sleeping he’ll forget he’s hungry.”
“Hmm.” Genesis pulled the covers up to his chin. “I’m starting to think he had the right idea, slipping through a hole in the wall to get our supplies back.”
“Don’t you start, Gen,” Angeal said. “We got our weapons, we got some bedding, we got your phone and a couple of pain pills, we can manage.”
“Know what I wish we’d got? A tent.”
“A tent?”
“Sure, a tent, and not the kind your pup is pitching in his sleep, by the way.”
“Gen!”
“What? He’s the one rubbing it on me. You expect a man not to notice?”
Angeal tried to draw Zack back. “He’s still young.”
“Of course he is,” Genesis said. “Which is why we have to make sure he gets home okay, no matter what.”
“No matter what.” Mako eyes met in the dark. The pact that passed between them then did not need words to be understood.
The trooper stirred two hours before the scheduled landing time. Sephiroth excused him for a trip to the bathroom in the back. The General had not slept but it did not show. He was ready. He had his preferred routes clearly mapped out. He had extra cure materia stashed in his armor and phoenix downs tucked in his boots. He had a letter to Angeal’s mother drafted in his head. General Sephiroth prepared for everything.
A little blond boy came up to where Sephiroth was sitting and plopped himself down on the bench across the way. Sephiroth blinked, wondering what mother was missing her child back in Midgar when he spotted the helmet on the boy’s knee.
“Reporting for a briefing, Sir!” The boy saluted. Sephiroth stared.
“Are you old enough to be in the army?” he blurted.
“Yes, Sir, I have my tags for you to check.” The trooper wore a brittle sort of expression that said he got that a lot.
Sephiroth sighed. “And you’re a SOLDIER cadet as well?”
“Yes, Sir!”
That, Sephiroth thought, explained Angeal’s puppy and all his ilk. It didn’t matter. “Put your helmet back on,” Sephiroth began. “Here’s the situation.”
“Zack,” Genesis said, staring at the floor, “I can hear your stomach growling.”
“I can hear yours,” Zack replied. They sighed.
“Stop thinking about it, you two,” Angeal chided. “You’re just making it worse for yourselves.”
Zack whimpered. “I can’t not think about it, Angeal. I’m hungry!”
“So am I.” Genesis leaned his head back against the cave wall. “Damn these high metabolisms.”
Angeal eyed the trio of swords lying in neat array on the ground. “The snow has to let up sometime. It shouldn’t take long to hunt down something edible.”
“Great,” Zack said, sounding faint. “What do we do till then?”
“We keep ourselves hydrated,” Angeal said. He passed the pauldron full of melted snow. “Obviously that’s not going to be a problem.”
Genesis took a sip and passed it on. “I feel like an old north tribesman, drinking from the skull of my foe.”
Zack grimaced. He set the pauldron down without attracting Angeal’s notice. “What’s edible up here, anyway?”
“I told you to stop thinking about it,” Angeal said.
“Aww, Angeal,” Zack whined. “Give me something to look forward to!”
“Here’s something to look forward to,” Genesis said, slipping his phone away and silently bemoaning the lack of a signal. “If the snow doesn’t let up, we may have to resort to cannibalism.” Angeal held his face in his hands.
Zack looked horrified. “You’re kidding, right? Angeal, tell me he’s kidding!”
“It’s been done before,” Angeal said, glaring at Genesis, “but only as a desperation measure.”
Genesis’s smile grew sly and wide. “And I’m getting pretty desperate.” He went to all fours and pawed at Zack. “I spy me a tender little morsel who looks like good eats to me.”
“Angeal!” Zack whined, backing away.
“Quit teasing him, Gen,” Angeal said, yanking Genesis back by his collar. “Honestly, man, act your age.”
Genesis settled himself at Angeal’s feet. “I’m only teasing. Don’t worry.”
Zack tilted his head, his bobbing spikes making him look like a suspicious cockatoo. “Really?”
“Really,” Genesis said. Zack did not look convinced. “Really, really,” Genesis said, “swear to the Goddess, may I spill coffee on my best copy of Loveless if I’m lying.”
“Hm, okay,” Zack finally allowed, “but I’m keeping an eye on you.” He scooted around and sought shelter under Angeal’s arm.
“Don’t worry, pup,” Angeal said, kissing him on the head. “If we do have to eat each other you’ll be starting with me.”
“Huh?”
“Pick off the weak and sickly first,” Angeal said. “Cut down the liabilities.”
“Angeal…”
“Thank you for the morbid assessment,” Genesis said.
“You started it.”
Genesis couldn’t argue with that. “In any case, I’m certain you’ll be healed enough to put up a fight before we have to resort to that.”
Zack breathed deep. “Rescue should be on its way long before we have to resort to that.”
Angeal snorted. “We’ll all go nuts and kill each other before we have to resort to that.”
“Maybe,” Genesis said. He drummed his fingers against his knees and plastered a smile on his face, but he didn’t like the turn their thoughts were taking anymore than he liked the lack of signal on his dying phone. He watched Zack snuggle closer to Angeal, burrowing into the makeshift nest.
Genesis resisted the urge to check his phone again. He went to the cave mouth again, seeking some distraction. He wasn’t sure the last call had gone through and even less certain about who might have heard it. Those weren’t the words he wanted recorded as his last. There were things he would have liked to have said and certain people to say them to. Now he didn’t have pen and paper to leave a note in his own cold, dead hands.
He turned his back on the wind and watched Angeal and Zack hold each other. At least they would be together…
“Gen,” Angeal called.
“I know, I know,” Genesis said. “Get away from the opening before I freeze off something important.” Angeal smirked and patted the spot beside him. Genesis hid his thoughts behind a smirk and settled in.
“Angeal, if we do have to eat you,” Zack said, “at least there’s a lot of you to go around.”
Angeal grunted. “You calling me fat?”
“No, no, you’re not fat,” Zack said, running a hand down Angeal’s chest. “You’re meaty.”
Genesis groaned.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 03:37 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 04:03 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 06:21 pm (UTC)From:Well, I'd think they would kill him humanely before they got down to eating him, that's merciful. But eating the biggest person just makes sense. It's saving lives. (My mom didn't appreciate my logic, either. It's not that I like the cat more than her, he's just little and we couldn't live off him for very long. It's all about survival!)
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 06:34 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 11:25 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 11:30 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 04:15 am (UTC)From:CAN WE PLEASE NOT EAT ANYONE?
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 04:48 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 06:46 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 06:23 pm (UTC)From:Obviously cannibalism isn't the first choice... Maybe second.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 04:08 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 11:21 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 05:35 pm (UTC)From:btw what happened to the mission?
no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 06:09 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 05:11 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 04:18 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 11:22 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 04:49 am (UTC)From:Genesis zipped up and launched himself into the bedding. “If you see a yellow icicle out there, don’t touch it, okay?”
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 11:29 am (UTC)From:Oooh, I have an appropriate icon!
Date: 2011-10-24 04:58 am (UTC)From:So: oooh, I continue to like this, and we'll see if cannibalism makes it into tonight's dreams. :D
Re: Oooh, I have an appropriate icon!
Date: 2011-10-24 05:19 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 04:55 pm (UTC)From:*wants to snuggle them all*
no subject
Date: 2011-10-24 05:29 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 05:50 am (UTC)From:But I love AGZ interactions in this chapter. I never thought a conversation about cannibalism could be so cute XDDD And aww Cloud! Trying hard to meet Sephiroth's high expectations ♥
no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 09:19 am (UTC)From:Talking about cannibalism is all well and good until they start swapping recipes. ;D
no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 10:07 pm (UTC)From:Very much enjoying so far.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 09:35 pm (UTC)From:Angeal, you really need to loose a few pounds fast, to make you look less appetizing or the hungry duo will be more than happy help you to lose those meaty extra pounds. Never thought a conversation about cannibalism could be this funny, I've been proved wrong.
(Im)patiently waiting for the next chapter. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 01:55 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 11:36 am (UTC)From:I find it funny when ZAck said that Angeal was meaty.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 02:32 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-27 07:43 pm (UTC)From:Seph, you´ve picked yourself a little blond mountain squirrel, just you wait!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 12:58 am (UTC)From: