_He's
Making a List_
ff7 Zack Snippet
***
"... So...."
Only Zack could make that particularly meaningless interjection into a full
conversation including greetings, appologies for interruptions, preliminary chitchat,
and segue into the topic of the hour. The SOLDIER grinned as he said it,
implying that whatever he was about to assault him with, at least it wasn't
about work.
Sadly that left very few alternatives. Sephiroth mentally prioritized his list
of complaints, deciding to tackle the easiest one first.
"... Get off my desk, moron."
Having officers wander into his office and proceed to sit on his blotter to get
his attention was not regulation in the slightest. As much as he had allowed
the dark haired southerner exceptional liberties in the past, and would
continue to do so in the future, such things were usually done after hours, or
at least someplace far more private than in the midst of his desk shortly after
2pm on a Wednesday. Zack simply grinned wider, and propped his feet on
Sephiroth's chair, neatly tucking them under the armrests so that his toes
could nudge the leather clad thighs. The invasive feet then dared a further
insult, dragging the chair back towards the desk in a casually seductive manner.
"Noone is going to come by in the next twenty minutes, old man.
Relax."
// Relax he says... calmly just sit here with an idiot lover trying to get his
butt-prints on my paperwork while he torments me... sure I'll... just... //
His sarcastic train of thought degenerated down to a growl as the dark-haired
man leaned in close enough to knock heads with him, gently of course. "...
and pay attention... Jeez, the crap I have to go through to corner you some
days is unbelieveable."
"What do you want, Zack."
"Same thing I've wanted all month, jackass." The SOLDIER looked him
square in the eye, his own twinkling with a silent reservoir of humor.
"... What do you want for Christmas, ol'man?"
"... You've interrupted me for /this/?!"
"Yes!"
"Why?!" Catching one knee in each hand, Sephiroth determinedly pushed
backwards, freeing himself of the tempting prison of his friend's arms and
legs. His aide let him go with a laugh and slouched back onto his desk.
"Well I want to get you something... but I've drawn a complete blank on
how to beat last year's gift... So I figured I'd ask you directly rather than
trying to guess."
"... Torture me, you mean." He grumbled as he stood up to dust of his
pants. "Can't you just find me a scarf or a pair of socks or something?"
"You're not listening..." Zack tisked playfully. "I said I
wanted to do better than last year... Come on, you loved it... You were playing
with that damn puzzle for three months before you figured it out. Still can't
believe you finished it that fast. The manufacturer assured me that you must be
some kind of prodigy or something."
"Hmph." The pale man refused to smirk. The three-dimensional brain
teaser had haunted his nightmares for four weeks straight as it sat on his
desk. He had silently declared it insolvable at least twice before finally
having the necessary epiphany to see to the root of the little device's nature.
Leaving the solved pieces of wood and string and brass on his subordinates desk
had been pure pleasure after such a prolonged ordeal. Looking back he had to
conceed that it had been a very 'fun' gift. "... maybe you can find me
another little puzzle."
"Nah, looked already. They saw me coming and cringed." The southerner
shrugged playfully. "Nothing exciting happening on the brain-game front
this year."
"Socks then."
"I can get you socks any time..." Zack rolled his eyes. "What if
I get you something intangible...? You know... since last year I couldn't do
anything that required 'time' because we didn't have any... but this year we've
got Jack Shit planned as far as army-stuff... just sitting around collecting
pay and going through the motions for 8 more months..."
"Hmmm."
"Can you honestly think of /anything/ about this year that we've done that
makes it stand out?! If next year is like this, I think I may go start a war
somewhere just to get us out of the office."
Sephiroth noded in agreement with the playful rant, and then caught himself
with a blink. 'Something' /had/ happened this year that had never happened
before, but it hadn't had anything to do with the army.
// Well it could be described as 'troop movements' but only in the lewdest sort
of way... //
He mentally smacked himself for such a lousy joke. Still, it had been less than
five months ago that he had.... that they had... It was strange how everything
could change on such a fundamental level, and life could go on just the same as
ever.
He glanced over at the man still happily lounging /on/ his desk as if he
belonged there. For a moment he wondered how much nicer it would be if the
SOLDIER was doing it while naked.
All he would probably have to do is ask.
That and live down the incredulous 'Are you serious? Sure whatever you want!'
smirk that he would get in reply.
Zack was hardly one to reign in his stupid impulses, if anything the man was
trying to encourage him to give into them more often.
// So what if I'm repressed... I /like/ being repressed... //
The dark haired man caught him looking, and simply grinned again. "So I
was thinkin'... we could get out of town for a few days... Noone's going to
fucking miss you for a week, and if they do, we'll leave Major Jain a phone
number or something... and we could just go have fun."
"We?"
The SOLDIER blinked, trying to understand what he was implying. "If you'd
rather have a solo get-away, I could send you off to a spa or something... do
you really want something like /that/?"
"No." He smirked, letting the man know that he had simply asked the
question to be a bastard. He got a friendly glare in return. "What did you
have in mind for /us/. I'm not letting you drag me to the Golden Saucer. You
know my opinion of the place."
"No No. Nothing like that..." Zack laughed and held up his hands to
defend himself. "I was thinking skiing, since I remember you enjoying it...
There's a few nice quite places west of Icicle Inn area... I'd make sure to
find one that can't spell 'Shinra' and has decent food."
"You would willingly brave the cold slopes of the north..." Sephiroth
drawled, "... with your weak, /delicate/ southern blood..." His
friend shuddered at the barest mention of the temperature. "... Just to
give me a vacation for the holidays?"
"Well it would be a vacation for me too." The mellow man disagreed.
"You hate snow. The very thought of it makes you cold."
"But I like skiing, strange isn't it?" He laughed.
"Surprised you didn't propose we go to a beach, someplace warm to distract
you from a chilly Midgar winter."
Zack made a pathetic face. "Don't tempt me. You'd get sunburn and be
tetchy the whole time and I would be warm yet miserable." He shook his
head. "No, no it has to be skiing. It's the right time of year for
it."
"Well I would be pressed to say 'no' to a week away from things."
Sephiroth relented, barely smiling.
"Yup. And besides, there will be nice thick quilts, and roaring fires, and
a hot-tub... I'll manage to stay thawed somehow."
The SOLDIER's warm look implied several other things they could do to keep him
toasty after dark. Still getting used to the idea of the wild-haired man as a
partner in more than just 'crime,' the general felt his blood get notably
warmer already. He looked away to distract himself with a plastic plant.
"... People will talk, if we willingly take time off together."
Zack laughed aloud at his worries.
"They will, you idiotic jungle-spawn." He frowned in irritation.
"Let'em." His friend replied, eyes still bright with amusement.
"I'll handle it. Although I may have to ask your forgiviness in advance
for taking a bit of a bender when we get back to town." He put on his most
'serious' face. "Just for show, of course."
"Do as you feel is necessary." Sephiroth kept his voice mild, still
not entirely sure how he felt about his recently developed possessiveness. It
certainly hadn't been his intention to ever want more than his share of the
dark-haired man's time. Getting a whole week of Zack, alone and uninterrupted,
was certainly an amazing gift for the holidays.
// ... not to mention an amazing sacrifice on his part. I wonder... 'just for
show' indeed... He'd probably be desperate for some 'normal' companionship
after a week with me. //
He rubbed his chin, suddenly uncertain that it was a good idea. He had promised
himself not to use his friend, not to exploit his generous nature, and yet here
he was, happy to do just that as soon as an opportunity presented itself.
Cursing himself even as he did it, Sephiroth tried to phrase his concern
carefully. "... A week is a long time to be away... Maybe we could come
back sooner?"
"What, you don't think I can keep you entertained for a week?"
There was nothing innocent or ignorant about the cheerful question. Sephiroth
looked up and read everything in his friend's all-knowing look. The bastard
must have been doing the same to him in the moment before.
// One of these days I'm going to figure out how the hell he knows what I'm
thinking... It's not natural... //
Giving up on beating around the bush, he gave the man a candid look. "I'm
not the best of company, Zack. You could be doing dozens of things more
entertaining than wasting a week on me."
"For such a fucking genius, you're really retarded sometimes, ya
know?" The southerner snapped mildly. "If I didn't want to spend a
week with you, I'd have proposed a weekend, or a day-trip, or I'd get you a
pair of socks or something. So stop your fucking worrying."
"... language, Mr. Thompson."
"Asshole."
Sephiroth sighed in defeat and tried not to smile. It was a fair reminder after
all that his friend always did do things his own way, of his own will. His aide
would be the first to admit that his generosity was terribly self-serving most
of the time. The pale man refused to let his pleasure show.
// A week with Zack... We'll drive eachother crazy before the second day... No
orders, no meetings, no uniforms or 'public faces'... No desks... //
The SOLDIER really was far too temptingly presented on the dark wood. The
papers beneath him would probably rustle very satisfactorily if he were to be
suddenly pushed down into them and seduced. He allowed the fantasy for a
moment, well content with it right up until the imaginary Zack knocked his
computer to the floor during their foreplay. He blinked as the dream promptly
died.
// He probably would too... and the lamp... and the trays of files... and...
No, god no. That does it. I am never, never seducing anyone on my desk. //
"Penny for your thoughts?" Why Zack bothered to always ask that when
they both damn well knew he already knew, was a constant mystery. Luckily, he
knew just how to respond to irritate the southerner mercilessly.
"Must I be thinking of something?"
The dark-haired man rolled his eyes. "Well you did sort of start looking a
little hot under the collar for a moment there."
Sephiroth smirked. "If you must know. I have decided that you look good
sprawled out on a desk. For some reason it suits you."
"What, this desk?" Zack looked down incredulously. "You can't be
serious. We'd make a mess of all your stuff."
"I know. That's the problem." Tapping his chin, he felt it as he and
his officer both came to the same conclusion at the same time. He just
verbalized it faster. "... I'm sure another desk would suit the task
perfectly well."
"My desk?"
"No, the toys would be distracting." He rolled his eyes, not
believing that they had come so far in five months as to be having this
conversation at
"No, but you do." Zack countered cheerfully. "Or failing that,
there's always Heidigger's desk."
The general raised an eyebrow. "The atmosphere wouldn't put you off?
Something you're not telling me, Captain?"
"Nosir... And I'm disgusted that you would even imply something that
low..." If he was genuinely offended by the tease he didn't show it at
all. "But just think of his face when he comes in one morning to find all
his stuff has been bashed up and a big butt-print in the middle of his
blotter..."
"They'd know it was yours. They probably still have the photocopies from
two years ago."
"Spoil sport." Zack sighed, not at all put out.
"Speaking of butt prints... Get the hell off my desk, Thompson." He
smirked, "If you refuse to be disuaded in your attempts to 'liven up my
Christmas' than you'd better let me finish my work so that I /can/ be missed
for a few days."
"Yessir!" The southerner even threw in an energetic, if highly
inaccurate, salute as he hopped off the abused bit of furniture. "I'll
just start making a few phonecalls..."
"Get out."
"See you tonight?"
"OUT!"
"Your place I assume..."
"Zack..." He moved to close the door in the man's face.
"...'cuz I can buy a desk if you'd rather come over mine..." Came
cheerfully through the thin wood. Sephiroth banged his forehead repeatedly
against it in reply.
***