FF7. Angeal/Zack. Minutes to an Hour.
Title: Minutes to an hour
Fandom: FF7
Characters: Zack, Angeal, Genesis, Sephiroth
Word Count: 2,033
Rating: PG
Summary: Maybe Angeal just needed a push in the right direction.
Author's Notes: For my dearest nathanialroyale's arc and his birthday.
----------------------------
“Zack, what are you doing?”
The black haired teen looked up from where he was sitting on the couch with an innocent look that had obviously been perfected far earlier in his life. He was supposed to be in Angeal’s office doing the homework afforded by many of his classes to him while the man had been at his meeting, but Angeal had come back to find Zack, not surprisingly in retrospect, doing anything but.
“Nothing.”
The First Class gave his student a look before sitting down to massage his temples, “Last time I got that, puppy, you were marched here by Tseng because you and Reno has tried to paint his office bright pink.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be back all day!” The teen sighed, “Really, ‘ngeal it’s nothing.”
With that glint in the teen’s eye the First Class knew he would not get this out of his student easily, more to do with the fact that regardless of how... hyperactive Zack tended to be he also had the ability to be incredibly stubborn too. Besides whatever he had been up to had been quickly shut away in his bag as the older male pulled the first stack of paperwork towards him.
However the teen seemed to have other ideas for the use of his time, as he seated himself straddling the elder’s lap, a small cheeky smile on his face
“Zack, no.” Angeal knew he should not be entertaining the teen’s advances even this much, should have forcibly removed Zack from his lap. The boy was his sixteen year old student, barely legal by anyone’s standards and it would certainly be considered anything but proper if the man dared touch him.
The teen and rules however seemed to not get on all that well, and this was one rule Zack seemed all too happy to bend. The teen had told Angeal many a time that he just didn’t care, and if the SOLDIER loved him, age should not matter at all. It wouldn’t matter if Angeal was fifty, Zack would still want him even then.
His mentor on the other hand was honour bound. Zack was youthful, vibrant and with such a large heart. He didn’t need to be tied down to someone so much older than he was himself, and there were plenty of people, men and women, his own age who would have been thrilled to have him, and may have even stood a chance of keeping up with the bouncy youth.
But, no matter how many times the Major General told Zack no, the boy persisted as if he could see past the man’s facade and knew that Angeal wanted this as much as he did. And the First Class could not rightly deny that either. The teen wormed his way into everyone’s hearts and Angeal was certainly no exception. It was practically a daily penance to turn the boy down, when those eyes pleaded and he seemed to put himself in the most tempting positions- even where he was seated now was far too overly suggestive for the man. It had been months since anyone but Zack had featured in his dreams, a coy smile on his face that seemed all too real.
Angeal had once thought he had seen the worst puppy dog eyes that man could dish up. Then he had started mentoring Zack. And when he had thought he had gotten a hold on Zack, the boy had started his push and things had snowballed destroying the man’s defences.
“Angeal, please,” was Zack’s simple reply, seemingly quite content to stay where he was, “You want this as much as I do.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t? You have all this honour but when was the last time you let go a little?”
A long time ago, was the natural response that came to mind, but saying as much would only fuel the teen’s argument. “Zack, you have class.”
That much was true enough but the teen did not leave without a bold move he had not attempted before, placing a quick peck on his mentors lips before grabbing his bag and escaping so he could not be told off for as much.
The damage however had been done in those brief seconds, soft lips and a slow burn that had resulted from their touch. A soon as Zack was sure to be out of earshot, which took longer considering Zack was well on his way to having a very high mako level and the hearing that came with it, the man let out a stream of curses.
“My dear friend, I was not expecting to hear such expletives from you.” Genesis. The man’s amusement became all too apparent in his tone as he invited himself in to the other’s office. “And who managed to get such a display out of the ever stoic Angeal, hmm?”
“You’re back early.”
“The mission was far beneath a standard for a First Class, let alone me, so it was concluded rather quickly,” the redhead did not seem to forget but rather decide he would pry further into the reaction later when his friend was not quite so... defensive. “I saw the prettiest little thing on my way up here, however.”
“Not another conquest,” the black haired male said massaging his temples, “I thought I told you to leave the cadets alone.”
“Oh this wasn’t a cadet if the uniform was correct, though he was fairly young for a Second Class. He was gorgeous, black hair, bright blue eyes…”
Zack. There was no one else it could have been, no other Second classes came up her unless for extreme punishment and even that was rare.
“He came from this direction,” Genesis’ eyes were sparkling as he took in his friend and Angeal was all too aware that the conclusion he had come too was most likely the correct one. All that was missing were the smaller details- the ones the redhead was trying to get out of him. He knew Zack had been here at the very least, but he wanted the why too.
“Zack Fair, he’s my student.”
“The infamous puppy?”
The black haired man nodded signing another sheet of paper as he did so.
“And how old would he be? Fifteen? Sixteen?”
“Sixteen,” The Lieutenant General was looking for the reaction that did not come, but the other man’s silence and neutral movements could say just as much. They had grown up together after all and the redhead knew him well enough to know.
“You know, old friend, there would be a lot of SOLDIER who would be looking to profit if you finally got laid and there is obviously a beautiful young boy who is all too happily offering…”
“Genesis,” he warned.
“Just a suggestion.”
Silence prevailed from then onwards, the red General settling himself down where Zack had been sitting with Loveless and Angeal continuing on with the mounds of paper work. Hours seemed to pass, especially with the dullness that came with the work Angeal did, and as much as he refused to shun it as he knew others did, did not mean he found the task any more enjoyable.
The door slammed open and both men nearly jumped as Sephiroth entered, “A Second class platoon has been attacked in the slums by insurgents.”
No more explanation needed as book and paperwork were forgotten, swords taken up in their place, “But the Second Classes should be in training.”
“Surprise mission drill,” was the only reply he got.
Genesis seemed vaguely amused, “Well I’ll look forward to finally meeting the puppy then.”
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The sound of the fighting preceded the actual sight, the sound of gunfire and the clangs of swords echoing under the plate. The citizens around had probably already fled away or at least hidden in what constituted as homes down here, hovels that looked like many would only need a strong breeze to crumble. At least the people who lived in them were smart enough to know to stay away.
The three Generals and their squad of First Class pressed on past the carnage left behind by the fighting. They stopped only to see if any of the bodies, of SOLDIER and terrorist alike, still held life. Few had survived and only those by a thread.
SOLDIERs were not invincible by any means and didn’t Angeal know that all too well. The body of his student’s CO lay before him, eyes glassy in death as his innards spilled from a smooth cut right through him- no, SOLDIERs may have been strong but they still had the capacity like any other man to die. And for some reason this time it made his stomach turn, not because he had not seen more gruesome sights before, but the fact that Lieutenant Andrews was a First Class and Zack may have been talented… but he wasn’t up to that level yet.
“Don’t worry; your puppy will be fine.”
In any other circumstance Angeal would have berated Genesis for saying even that much, especially when any could think too deeply on his wording but his mind had focused on one goal and one goal alone: Getting Zack out of here. And they sped off, coming in fast to hit the back of the attacking terrorist group.
The Second classes were relatively easy to spot in the mass of fighting; they had grouped together and were pushing forward strongly. For many of them this would have been the last thing they were expecting, an attack in their home city and he was surprised that they were able to keep together so well. Anxious eyes scanned the whole group until he spotted Zack, sword raised high, urging the other’s on. He’d been hurt, Angeal could tell, blood was dripping down his left arm but he was alive and to his mentor that was all that mattered for the moment.
The boy’s eyes shone as he urged the group forwards, the smarter of the rebels who realized they were being penned took that last chance at retreat, but many were too stubborn to prideful to leave. If they had to be defeated they would go down taking as many with them, and doing as much damage as possible.
For a moment Angeal lost sight of Zack before the teen came back into view, the man who Sephiroth had identified as the leader of he group having drawn the teen away to attack. In all it had been a smart move, the black haired boy had fast become the morale of the suffering Second Classes and to take him down would be to demoralize the troops.
The teen had begun to tire ten minutes before this, the one fluid and confident dodges quickly becoming choppy and slower. For the enemy it was easier to find that opening that knocked the sword from Zack’s hands. But it seemed even them the teen did not let die, raising his fists to defend, even when it was against a sword.
The man laughed raising his sword, “How brave, what a was-”
The end of the sentence never came, and Zack who had readied himself for the blow, bracing himself looked up. Instead the mouth had opened, blood streaming down his front, eyes as they died seeing the sword that impaled him.
But it was not that that the Second class’ eyes fell on no it was the man who had ‘saved’ him, and the battered teen let out a cry, “Angeal!”
And Zack grinned widely and as soon as he was able threw his arms around Angeal in a hug, something that the older man had discouraged him from doing especially in public so many times before. But this moment Angeal just didn’t care anymore and returned the hug strongly inhaling the scent of blood, sweat and something that was just Zack.
Behind him as the teen looked over his mentor’s shoulder, Kunsel was giving Zack the thumbs up, the rest of the enemy force done with.
“Angeal?”
Dark eyes looked down, “Yes puppy?”
There was that mischievous grin again and this time when the teen kissed him he did not pull away.
Fandom: FF7
Characters: Zack, Angeal, Genesis, Sephiroth
Word Count: 2,033
Rating: PG
Summary: Maybe Angeal just needed a push in the right direction.
Author's Notes: For my dearest nathanialroyale's arc and his birthday.
----------------------------
“Zack, what are you doing?”
The black haired teen looked up from where he was sitting on the couch with an innocent look that had obviously been perfected far earlier in his life. He was supposed to be in Angeal’s office doing the homework afforded by many of his classes to him while the man had been at his meeting, but Angeal had come back to find Zack, not surprisingly in retrospect, doing anything but.
“Nothing.”
The First Class gave his student a look before sitting down to massage his temples, “Last time I got that, puppy, you were marched here by Tseng because you and Reno has tried to paint his office bright pink.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be back all day!” The teen sighed, “Really, ‘ngeal it’s nothing.”
With that glint in the teen’s eye the First Class knew he would not get this out of his student easily, more to do with the fact that regardless of how... hyperactive Zack tended to be he also had the ability to be incredibly stubborn too. Besides whatever he had been up to had been quickly shut away in his bag as the older male pulled the first stack of paperwork towards him.
However the teen seemed to have other ideas for the use of his time, as he seated himself straddling the elder’s lap, a small cheeky smile on his face
“Zack, no.” Angeal knew he should not be entertaining the teen’s advances even this much, should have forcibly removed Zack from his lap. The boy was his sixteen year old student, barely legal by anyone’s standards and it would certainly be considered anything but proper if the man dared touch him.
The teen and rules however seemed to not get on all that well, and this was one rule Zack seemed all too happy to bend. The teen had told Angeal many a time that he just didn’t care, and if the SOLDIER loved him, age should not matter at all. It wouldn’t matter if Angeal was fifty, Zack would still want him even then.
His mentor on the other hand was honour bound. Zack was youthful, vibrant and with such a large heart. He didn’t need to be tied down to someone so much older than he was himself, and there were plenty of people, men and women, his own age who would have been thrilled to have him, and may have even stood a chance of keeping up with the bouncy youth.
But, no matter how many times the Major General told Zack no, the boy persisted as if he could see past the man’s facade and knew that Angeal wanted this as much as he did. And the First Class could not rightly deny that either. The teen wormed his way into everyone’s hearts and Angeal was certainly no exception. It was practically a daily penance to turn the boy down, when those eyes pleaded and he seemed to put himself in the most tempting positions- even where he was seated now was far too overly suggestive for the man. It had been months since anyone but Zack had featured in his dreams, a coy smile on his face that seemed all too real.
Angeal had once thought he had seen the worst puppy dog eyes that man could dish up. Then he had started mentoring Zack. And when he had thought he had gotten a hold on Zack, the boy had started his push and things had snowballed destroying the man’s defences.
“Angeal, please,” was Zack’s simple reply, seemingly quite content to stay where he was, “You want this as much as I do.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t? You have all this honour but when was the last time you let go a little?”
A long time ago, was the natural response that came to mind, but saying as much would only fuel the teen’s argument. “Zack, you have class.”
That much was true enough but the teen did not leave without a bold move he had not attempted before, placing a quick peck on his mentors lips before grabbing his bag and escaping so he could not be told off for as much.
The damage however had been done in those brief seconds, soft lips and a slow burn that had resulted from their touch. A soon as Zack was sure to be out of earshot, which took longer considering Zack was well on his way to having a very high mako level and the hearing that came with it, the man let out a stream of curses.
“My dear friend, I was not expecting to hear such expletives from you.” Genesis. The man’s amusement became all too apparent in his tone as he invited himself in to the other’s office. “And who managed to get such a display out of the ever stoic Angeal, hmm?”
“You’re back early.”
“The mission was far beneath a standard for a First Class, let alone me, so it was concluded rather quickly,” the redhead did not seem to forget but rather decide he would pry further into the reaction later when his friend was not quite so... defensive. “I saw the prettiest little thing on my way up here, however.”
“Not another conquest,” the black haired male said massaging his temples, “I thought I told you to leave the cadets alone.”
“Oh this wasn’t a cadet if the uniform was correct, though he was fairly young for a Second Class. He was gorgeous, black hair, bright blue eyes…”
Zack. There was no one else it could have been, no other Second classes came up her unless for extreme punishment and even that was rare.
“He came from this direction,” Genesis’ eyes were sparkling as he took in his friend and Angeal was all too aware that the conclusion he had come too was most likely the correct one. All that was missing were the smaller details- the ones the redhead was trying to get out of him. He knew Zack had been here at the very least, but he wanted the why too.
“Zack Fair, he’s my student.”
“The infamous puppy?”
The black haired man nodded signing another sheet of paper as he did so.
“And how old would he be? Fifteen? Sixteen?”
“Sixteen,” The Lieutenant General was looking for the reaction that did not come, but the other man’s silence and neutral movements could say just as much. They had grown up together after all and the redhead knew him well enough to know.
“You know, old friend, there would be a lot of SOLDIER who would be looking to profit if you finally got laid and there is obviously a beautiful young boy who is all too happily offering…”
“Genesis,” he warned.
“Just a suggestion.”
Silence prevailed from then onwards, the red General settling himself down where Zack had been sitting with Loveless and Angeal continuing on with the mounds of paper work. Hours seemed to pass, especially with the dullness that came with the work Angeal did, and as much as he refused to shun it as he knew others did, did not mean he found the task any more enjoyable.
The door slammed open and both men nearly jumped as Sephiroth entered, “A Second class platoon has been attacked in the slums by insurgents.”
No more explanation needed as book and paperwork were forgotten, swords taken up in their place, “But the Second Classes should be in training.”
“Surprise mission drill,” was the only reply he got.
Genesis seemed vaguely amused, “Well I’ll look forward to finally meeting the puppy then.”
------------------------
The sound of the fighting preceded the actual sight, the sound of gunfire and the clangs of swords echoing under the plate. The citizens around had probably already fled away or at least hidden in what constituted as homes down here, hovels that looked like many would only need a strong breeze to crumble. At least the people who lived in them were smart enough to know to stay away.
The three Generals and their squad of First Class pressed on past the carnage left behind by the fighting. They stopped only to see if any of the bodies, of SOLDIER and terrorist alike, still held life. Few had survived and only those by a thread.
SOLDIERs were not invincible by any means and didn’t Angeal know that all too well. The body of his student’s CO lay before him, eyes glassy in death as his innards spilled from a smooth cut right through him- no, SOLDIERs may have been strong but they still had the capacity like any other man to die. And for some reason this time it made his stomach turn, not because he had not seen more gruesome sights before, but the fact that Lieutenant Andrews was a First Class and Zack may have been talented… but he wasn’t up to that level yet.
“Don’t worry; your puppy will be fine.”
In any other circumstance Angeal would have berated Genesis for saying even that much, especially when any could think too deeply on his wording but his mind had focused on one goal and one goal alone: Getting Zack out of here. And they sped off, coming in fast to hit the back of the attacking terrorist group.
The Second classes were relatively easy to spot in the mass of fighting; they had grouped together and were pushing forward strongly. For many of them this would have been the last thing they were expecting, an attack in their home city and he was surprised that they were able to keep together so well. Anxious eyes scanned the whole group until he spotted Zack, sword raised high, urging the other’s on. He’d been hurt, Angeal could tell, blood was dripping down his left arm but he was alive and to his mentor that was all that mattered for the moment.
The boy’s eyes shone as he urged the group forwards, the smarter of the rebels who realized they were being penned took that last chance at retreat, but many were too stubborn to prideful to leave. If they had to be defeated they would go down taking as many with them, and doing as much damage as possible.
For a moment Angeal lost sight of Zack before the teen came back into view, the man who Sephiroth had identified as the leader of he group having drawn the teen away to attack. In all it had been a smart move, the black haired boy had fast become the morale of the suffering Second Classes and to take him down would be to demoralize the troops.
The teen had begun to tire ten minutes before this, the one fluid and confident dodges quickly becoming choppy and slower. For the enemy it was easier to find that opening that knocked the sword from Zack’s hands. But it seemed even them the teen did not let die, raising his fists to defend, even when it was against a sword.
The man laughed raising his sword, “How brave, what a was-”
The end of the sentence never came, and Zack who had readied himself for the blow, bracing himself looked up. Instead the mouth had opened, blood streaming down his front, eyes as they died seeing the sword that impaled him.
But it was not that that the Second class’ eyes fell on no it was the man who had ‘saved’ him, and the battered teen let out a cry, “Angeal!”
And Zack grinned widely and as soon as he was able threw his arms around Angeal in a hug, something that the older man had discouraged him from doing especially in public so many times before. But this moment Angeal just didn’t care anymore and returned the hug strongly inhaling the scent of blood, sweat and something that was just Zack.
Behind him as the teen looked over his mentor’s shoulder, Kunsel was giving Zack the thumbs up, the rest of the enemy force done with.
“Angeal?”
Dark eyes looked down, “Yes puppy?”
There was that mischievous grin again and this time when the teen kissed him he did not pull away.