The Snowball Effect of a Weekend's Entertainment - Chapter 4
Title: The Snowball Effect of a Weekend's Entertainment
Chapter: 4/6
Author: xpaperplanex
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~4000
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud
Genre: AU, hurt/comfort
Warnings: dubcon, smut, cat!Cloud
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work.
Summary: What was meant to be a relaxing weekend for Sephiroth to blow off some steam turns into something much larger.
Previous: | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Check out the wonderful scene that xiaa drew, here!
***
Cloud clutched at his arm as they walked down the hall to the apartment. Sephiroth was certain that without the support, Cloud would have fallen a number of times by now. He was managing; however, Sephiroth was glad he didn't bruise easily. Cloud's tail was very enthusiastic about helping him to balance, and he had been whacked with it more times than he could count.
"Almost home," he said. "It's been a long day, hasn't it?"
Cloud nodded his head.
"Can you say 'yes'?" Sephiroth bit back a chuckle when Cloud's head drooped and he let out a tired sigh. "Fair enough. You've done far better than I might have hoped for one day."
He set the bags down so Cloud could keep hanging on to him while he fished out his keycard. When he got the door open, Cloud immediately dropped to the floor and started wiggling out of his clothes.
"Can't get out of those soon enough, hey? You did a good job keeping them on for so long." Considering the fuss that Cloud put up about putting them on, Sephiroth was rather amazed that he hadn't had to do any emergency re-dressing. He was so glad, though. Not having clothing on would make Cloud even more vulnerable to all the people who thought they had the right to touch him. "You'll get used to them, and you only have to wear them when you go outside the apartment."
Cloud finished escaping from the terrible fabric and ran off. He poked his head into every room before heading to the couch, where he curled into a ball and shut his eyes. Sephiroth went to the linen closet and got a light blanket, setting it next to Cloud on the couch in case he got cold. He dumped the bag of toys on the counter; he would go through them later and take the wrappings off for Cloud. For now, he grabbed the book by Dr. Gainsborough and lay down at the other end of the couch with his head on the armrest.
It was dark in the room when Sephiroth woke, feeling disoriented. There was a weight on his chest and he moved his arm to shove it off before pausing. It was the cat. He vaguely remembered waking up as Cloud crawled on top of him to sleep. Instead of pushing Cloud off, he wrapped his arm around his waist and rubbed his back. Cloud purred and snuggled up closer, his leg rubbing over Sephiroth's groin in the process.
Sephiroth shut his eyes and breathed deeply. Sure, he had been planning to spend the entire weekend much like he had last night, but rubbing up against him accidentally was not approaching him for sex. Despite what his dick might think.
"Hey, are you hungry?" Sephiroth asked loudly, hoping to wake Cloud up and get him off of him.
Cloud's head shot up off his chest immediately and he let out a loud 'meow'.
"Okay, then. Get up. You have to get off before I can make dinner."
Cloud rolled to one side and fell of the couch, landed gracefully on all fours, then took off for the kitchen. Sephiroth picked the book up off the floor and followed at a more sedate pace. He had a couple of salmon filets and figured that rice and some frozen vegetables would make it a proper meal. Better than the drive-through hamburgers they had had for lunch, at any rate. He was certain that he could still feel the grease running through his veins.
When Cloud was more confident, and when he got used to wearing shoes so Sephiroth wouldn't have to carry him across the parking lot, Sephiroth would insist on restaurants serving his cat. He marvelled at the sheer novelty of being turned away from a cheap diner. Novel or not, however, it was ridiculous that they wouldn't let Cloud in; he was perfectly well behaved and clean.
Cloud was bounding around the kitchen excitedly, managing to always be underfoot or right behind him when he turned around. Clearly the day hadn't been too tiring. "Do you want one of your new toys while you wait?" Sephiroth asked.
Cloud wiggled in excitement. "Ya!"
"All right, what would you like?" He grabbed the Cat Emporium bag and took out the things that weren't toys, then offered it to Cloud. "Just pick one for now."
Cloud dived eagerly into the bag and rummaged around, picking up toy after toy and discarding them-Sephiroth began to think that perhaps he had gone a little overboard with the toys. Finally, Cloud hauled out a fuzzy squid-like thing with pom-poms and bells on its tentacles and uttered something that sounded similar to 'this one'.
"Okay, let me cut the tags off, then you can play." Sephiroth made quick work of the packaging, then tossed the squid down the hallway. Cloud went tearing after it and Sephiroth winced when he heard what sounded like a body hitting the wall at a high speed. "You okay?" he called out.
There was a muffled yowl and Cloud came flying back out to the living room with the squid in his mouth. Reassured that he hadn't injured himself, Sephiroth returned to making dinner.
He flipped through the section on speech in Dr. Gainsborough's book while he was cooking and began thinking of some simple things he could ask Cloud to get him talking. It didn't seem to take much, though; once Cloud realized that Sephiroth wanted him to speak, he seemed willing enough to try.
***
"This is salmon, rice, and broccoli," Sephiroth pronounced the words clearly and pointed to each one when he set Cloud's plate in front of him. He considered having Cloud try to say the words, but he didn't want to keep food from him as a way of getting him to do things. "Be careful, it's hot."
Cloud excitedly thumped his tail on his chair and leaned over to sniff his meal. He peeled off a small section of salmon and tasted it before clacking his teeth at Sephiroth like he had at breakfast.
"Does that mean it's good?"
"G-g-" Cloud stumbled over the difficult sounds.
"It's okay," Sephiroth said, reaching over to pat his back. "You're doing really well talking, and we can practice more later. For now, eat your dinner before it gets cold."
Cloud didn't really seem to care for broccoli and spent more time rolling it around on his plate than he did eating it. At least until Sephiroth picked up a piece of his and chomped down on it exaggeratedly.
"It's good," he said around his mouthful, "You should eat yours."
Cloud raised one eyebrow-the skepticism was plain as day on his face-but he bit off a small chunk.
"Good boy, make sure you eat it all."
The rice was less easy. Sephiroth refused to never have anything that couldn't be eaten with his hands again. The book said that Cloud could learn the dexterity needed to use utensils, even if he would prefer not to. So he had given them both spoons and hoped Cloud would be willing to copy him.
Cloud held the spoon awkwardly, and Sephiroth quickly switched his to his right hand so it would be clearer. "Like this. Put your thumb here, yes, just like that. And then you scoop."
Sephiroth demonstrated a few times, then watched as Cloud gave it a shot. Most of the rice fell out of the spoon on his first try, but he did a bit better the second time.
"That's it. You're doing a good job. It'll get easier, don't worry."
Cloud pursed his lips and frowned at the rice that was getting everywhere, but nodded determinedly. Perhaps tomorrow they could try with cereal for breakfast. That would be easier to scoop. Cloud seemed to be getting rather embarrassed about the mess he was making, which Sephiroth supposed made sense. Cloud liked to be very neat while he ate.
"Don't worry about the mess," he said. "I'll clean it up after, no problem." He wasn't sure if Cloud was neat because he may have been punished for being messy in the past or if he just liked being neat. But a bit of reassurance couldn't hurt.
Cloud smiled, but gave up on the spoon for a while in favour of more salmon.
***
It had taken coaxing, treats, and sincere promises of no showers ever again to get Cloud to go back in the master bathroom. But once he was in, and Sephiroth gave no indication of taking him into the shower, cleaning him up went fairly well. He wasn't sure how familiar he should be when wiping Cloud down with a wet cloth, but since he hadn't done a very good job washing him in the shower, he thought he might as well do it properly. Cloud held still while he washed him, and though Sephiroth felt Cloud's penis begin to harden under his touches, he didn't seem to want anything more.
When he was clean, Sephiroth broke out the new toothbrush and toothpaste. "Have you had your teeth brushed before?" he asked.
Cloud nodded, looking unhappy, but he opened his mouth.
"I'll be gentle, I promise." He tasted a small bit of the toothpaste. "Not bad, maybe I'll have to switch. Want to try some?" He held out a little dot on the end of his finger and let Cloud lick it off.
"Beh-er."
"Um, better?" Sephiroth hazarded a guess.
Cloud nodded.
"Better than what you're used to?" From what Dr. Gainsborough had said, Sephiroth wouldn't have been surprised if they dumped baking soda in the cats' mouths.
Cloud nodded again.
"That's good. I'm glad it's better. Maybe it won't be so bad." He held the back of Cloud's head gently and began brushing, starting with his back teeth. "Poke me if it's uncomfortable."
Cloud kept trying to lick the toothbrush, and working around his tongue wasn't easy, but Sephiroth got the job done. At least Cloud wasn't kicking up a fuss about it. He didn't really want to have to spend too long on simple chores.
"Good job." He ruffled Cloud's hair and gave him a kiss on the forehead when they finished. "Not so bad?"
"Nyo."
"You can go wait in the bed then while I get my teeth brushed. Don't go to sleep yet, though. I want to put some cream on your scars, and we can practice talking for a bit."
Sephiroth quickly tied his hair back in a braid and brushed his own teeth. It had been so long since he had had someone in his bed. For years now, he had just gone to the cathouses for sexual release. It would take some getting used to, but he was looking forward to having someone curled up against him at night.
***
Sephiroth sat down at his desk Monday morning and stared distractedly at the screen displaying his inbox. Cloud had been so upset in the morning when he said he had to go into work. He was planning to go back for his lunch break to check on him and so they could eat together-Sephiroth hadn't yet thought of what he would do for Cloud's lunches most days. He wasn't like a pet that could be fed just once or twice a day.
Feeling like the morning couldn't go by fast enough, Sephiroth clicked on a report about the escalating situation in Corel and began reading. Apparently some of the miners were getting vocal about the reactor being built there and now there was evidence that AVALANCHE had taken an interest in the site.
By the time he finished reading the report, he was in a foul mood. Shin-Ra didn't need another battleground to start spreading their already thin troops over. The war with Wutai was draining enough of their resources as it was, and eco-terrorism was becoming a real problem. At least there was a lull in the fighting in Wutai; Sephiroth wanted to get Cloud settled in before he got called back to the front. He'd also need to find someone who would take care of him while he was gone.
Those were probably all things he should have thought of before buying Cloud, Sephiroth though wryly. It wasn't like he worked a nine to five job with occasional business trips. But it was too late now. Sephiroth was thoroughly enamoured with Cloud and selling him to someone else wasn't going to happen. He'd find ways to deal with his work schedule.
There was a knock at the door and Sephiroth called out, "Come in." He glanced up at who it was. "Morning, Angeal."
"Good morning." Angeal shut the door behind him and sat down in one of the visitor's chairs. "Is it true, Sephiroth? The rumours are flying all over the office. Fair can't keep his mouth shut about it."
"Is what true?" Sephiroth asked cautiously. What would Angeal's student know about him?
"That you got a cat-hybrid."
"Oh, that. Yes, I got him on Friday and spent the weekend getting him settled in." He would have preferred to tell his friends himself, but Sephiroth had decided that the best way to handle it would be to act like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Acting like he was embarrassed would only make people's reactions worse. "How did Fair of all people find out?"
"Have you lost your mind?" Angeal burst out of his chair. "I didn't believe it. I knew Fair was just making nonsense up, but... How could you do something like that?"
Now was the time to use the not-quite-true excuses he had given himself when he was trying to decide. Angeal disapproved of the very existence of cats, claiming it was immoral. "Something like what? Provide a home for an abused creature? Offer him proper care and affection instead of just renting him out for a night and then forgetting him?"
"Oh, please," Angeal scoffed. "Is that what you tell yourself? It isn't right. I thought you knew that."
"No, what I tell myself is that I wanted Cloud. I like cats and prefer them to humans. Cloud struck a chord with me and I felt bad for the situation he was in. That's all there is to it. I don't have to justify who I'm attracted to to you."
"Sephiroth, cats can't consent. What you're doing is rape."
Sephiroth shook his head, balking at that description, but he didn't want to argue it further in the office. "At least meet him before you say stuff like that. I haven't touched him since I brought him home; the vet I took him to said to wait until he comes to me. If he never does, I'm not going to force myself on him. But meet him. Watch him interact with me, and then tell me you think he's not capable of consent. Please?"
Angeal gave him a hard look that told Sephiroth it wouldn't be easy to change his mind. "When?"
"I've got to check on him at lunch; you can come then. Or after work. And I was going to bring him into the office tomorrow because the cleaning service is coming to the apartment during the day, but I'm not sure how he'll act then. I think he might be nervous around lots of people. It'd be better to see him at home."
Angeal didn't look happy, but he nodded. "Fine. I'll go meet him with you at lunch."
***
"Cloud, I'm home," Sephiroth called as he pushed the door open. He heard a thud and Cloud came careening out of the hallway and towards the entrance. But he skidded to a stop when he saw Angeal standing there. Fear was evident on his face as he looked back and forth between Sephiroth and Angeal.
"This is Angeal," Sephiroth said. "He's my friend. Don't worry, he's not going to hurt you."
"Why is he naked?" Angeal asked. He sounded like he was about half a second from walking out the door.
"Just hang on, he's scared. I'll get some pants on him in a minute. It's okay, Cloud." Sephiroth crouched down and rubbed his hand over Cloud's head. He remembered the clerk at the Honeybee saying that it had been two men who had hurt him. "Angeal's just here to say 'hello' and have lunch with us. No one's going to hurt you."
Cloud clung to him when Sephiroth picked him up and carried him to the bedroom. His entire body was shaking. Sephiroth grabbed the pants that Cloud had worn on Saturday and pulled them over his legs and carefully worked his tail through the hole. "There you go. Just for while there are guests over. You don't have to wear a shirt." He held Cloud's chin so he was looking straight at him. "Cloud, no one is going to touch you if you don't want them to. Do you understand?"
"Nyo."
"No, huh..." Sephiroth sighed and stroked Cloud's ears as he tried to think of how he could explain it. "At the cathouse, you had sex with the customers, right? Even if you were scared, or tired, or just didn't want to?" As he said it, Sephiroth felt a growing sense of revulsion at the way he had treated Cloud the night he rented him out.
Cloud nodded slowly. "Haa to."
Sephiroth smiled at the fact that Cloud had very nearly gotten the 't' sound right, though he skipped the 'd' entirely. Hard consonants were tricky for him. But his words were nothing to smile at. "You don't have to anymore. I'm not going to take your food away, or hurt you, or punish you some other way if you don't want to have sex. With me, or with anyone else."
"Nyo?"
"No. And if someone touches you or tries to touch you, I want you to tell me so I can make them stop. Will you do that for me?"
"Ya."
"Thank you." Sephiroth supposed that was one benefit to not being as intelligent as a human-it was easy to replace the old way of doing things with new ones, even if the old hurts were never quite forgotten. That was, of course, assuming Cloud actually understood and would tell him if anything happened. But that could be dealt with gradually. "Now, are you hungry?"
"Ya!" Cloud wiggled out of his lap and turned on the spot, frowning at the pants he found himself wearing.
"Just for while company is here. Angeal doesn't want to see you in all your glory. Come on, try walking upright." Sephiroth held out his hand so Cloud could use him for balance, though he seemed to not need it as much anymore; Cloud had been practicing a lot, and was getting the hang of his new balancing act.
***
Sephiroth looked out the corner of his eye at Angeal as they walked back to the office together. Cloud had been quiet over lunch, which wasn't too surprising. He had a lot of issues to get over; that much was obvious.
"Thanks for putting pants on him," Angeal said gruffly, leaning back against the wall of the elevator.
"No problem. I haven't been making him wear them at home-he's not used to clothes and doesn't like them."
"I guess he wouldn't be."
"I've got some shoes for him. They're more like ballet slippers with a thicker sole than proper shoes, but I want to be able to take him outside and let him walk around. It'll be a while, though. He's just learning to walk standing upright." Sephiroth ran a hand through his hair and stared at the changing floor numbers. He hated this dancing around the actual point of the conversation. It wasn't a social skill he excelled at.
"I noticed he was having difficulties. Why can't he walk?"
"He never learned. They... apparently most people don't want them walking like people."
"And you do?" Angeal raised an eyebrow at him.
"The vet I took him to the other day said it would be better. Easier to respect him. For other people, too, I hope. When we were out, complete strangers would try to touch him. It scared him."
"I overheard what you said to him. Did you really mean it?"
"About not letting anyone touch him if he doesn't want it? Of course. I think it'll take a while for him to understand, but he's not getting used like that again." The elevator came to a stop on the forty-ninth floor and they stepped out into the bustling hall. "I know you don't approve, but he's in a better situation now. I..." he paused and led Angeal into an empty conference room. "I never really thought about how cats were treated up until now. The vet, Dr. Gainsborough, she told me stuff I had never even considered. I didn't buy him with the best of intentions, I'll admit that, but now that I've gotten to know him a bit, I want to give him a better life."
"He seemed smarter than I thought he'd be."
Sephiroth nodded. "He's learning to talk. Dr. Gainsborough said that he just needs practice and encouragement. I've been working with him in the evenings, and I try to talk to him about whatever I can think of. She said that eventually he should be able to carry on a conversation."
"You're looking forward to that, aren't you?"
Sephiroth looked at Angeal. "How...?"
"You're not much for conversation with people. Apart from Genesis and me, I don't think there's anyone that you've opened up to. And the opening up you do with us is usually under duress. But if it's someone who isn't going to judge you for being strange or not knowing the proper social protocols? I think you'd be a bit excited."
He tried to shrug it off, but Angeal had hit the nail on the head. He often felt like a third wheel when he was out with Genesis and Angeal, and making new friends wasn't something that came naturally to him. But Cloud was different. Cloud didn't know to judge him. "Yeah, I guess."
Angeal gave his head a tired shake and sighed. "I don't really know what to think about this, but I feel better about it than I did this morning. He is more intelligent than I had expected him to be, that's something."
"Does this mean you're not calling me a rapist for the moment?" It didn't really matter what Angeal said, though. He may have convinced Cloud that he wanted it the other night, but that didn't mean he hadn't done something wrong.
"Not at the moment. Well, I've got to head to the training room. I told the puppy to stop telling everyone he sees-not that it'll do much good. I expect the entire company knows by now."
"I don't care. I-" Sephiroth paused and thought a moment about voicing the idea that had been forming in his head since he first spoke to Angeal. "I'm not going to hide this. I was a part of the problem with cats because I didn't know any better. I expect that's the same with a lot of people. Things aren't going to get better for them unless someone starts letting people know what's going on. Ignoring them and disapproving of their existence doesn't change anything."
Angeal snorted. "I guess I can't disapprove if you put it like that. Good luck with your newfound activism."
"I'm not going to be an activist," Sephiroth muttered while he headed for the door. "I just have a better chance of having my voice heard and maybe making a difference." He left before Angeal had a chance to say anything else; he didn't really want to hear what noble spin Angeal tried to put on it.
***
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Chapter: 4/6
Author: xpaperplanex
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~4000
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud
Genre: AU, hurt/comfort
Warnings: dubcon, smut, cat!Cloud
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work.
Summary: What was meant to be a relaxing weekend for Sephiroth to blow off some steam turns into something much larger.
Previous: | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Check out the wonderful scene that xiaa drew, here!
***
Cloud clutched at his arm as they walked down the hall to the apartment. Sephiroth was certain that without the support, Cloud would have fallen a number of times by now. He was managing; however, Sephiroth was glad he didn't bruise easily. Cloud's tail was very enthusiastic about helping him to balance, and he had been whacked with it more times than he could count.
"Almost home," he said. "It's been a long day, hasn't it?"
Cloud nodded his head.
"Can you say 'yes'?" Sephiroth bit back a chuckle when Cloud's head drooped and he let out a tired sigh. "Fair enough. You've done far better than I might have hoped for one day."
He set the bags down so Cloud could keep hanging on to him while he fished out his keycard. When he got the door open, Cloud immediately dropped to the floor and started wiggling out of his clothes.
"Can't get out of those soon enough, hey? You did a good job keeping them on for so long." Considering the fuss that Cloud put up about putting them on, Sephiroth was rather amazed that he hadn't had to do any emergency re-dressing. He was so glad, though. Not having clothing on would make Cloud even more vulnerable to all the people who thought they had the right to touch him. "You'll get used to them, and you only have to wear them when you go outside the apartment."
Cloud finished escaping from the terrible fabric and ran off. He poked his head into every room before heading to the couch, where he curled into a ball and shut his eyes. Sephiroth went to the linen closet and got a light blanket, setting it next to Cloud on the couch in case he got cold. He dumped the bag of toys on the counter; he would go through them later and take the wrappings off for Cloud. For now, he grabbed the book by Dr. Gainsborough and lay down at the other end of the couch with his head on the armrest.
It was dark in the room when Sephiroth woke, feeling disoriented. There was a weight on his chest and he moved his arm to shove it off before pausing. It was the cat. He vaguely remembered waking up as Cloud crawled on top of him to sleep. Instead of pushing Cloud off, he wrapped his arm around his waist and rubbed his back. Cloud purred and snuggled up closer, his leg rubbing over Sephiroth's groin in the process.
Sephiroth shut his eyes and breathed deeply. Sure, he had been planning to spend the entire weekend much like he had last night, but rubbing up against him accidentally was not approaching him for sex. Despite what his dick might think.
"Hey, are you hungry?" Sephiroth asked loudly, hoping to wake Cloud up and get him off of him.
Cloud's head shot up off his chest immediately and he let out a loud 'meow'.
"Okay, then. Get up. You have to get off before I can make dinner."
Cloud rolled to one side and fell of the couch, landed gracefully on all fours, then took off for the kitchen. Sephiroth picked the book up off the floor and followed at a more sedate pace. He had a couple of salmon filets and figured that rice and some frozen vegetables would make it a proper meal. Better than the drive-through hamburgers they had had for lunch, at any rate. He was certain that he could still feel the grease running through his veins.
When Cloud was more confident, and when he got used to wearing shoes so Sephiroth wouldn't have to carry him across the parking lot, Sephiroth would insist on restaurants serving his cat. He marvelled at the sheer novelty of being turned away from a cheap diner. Novel or not, however, it was ridiculous that they wouldn't let Cloud in; he was perfectly well behaved and clean.
Cloud was bounding around the kitchen excitedly, managing to always be underfoot or right behind him when he turned around. Clearly the day hadn't been too tiring. "Do you want one of your new toys while you wait?" Sephiroth asked.
Cloud wiggled in excitement. "Ya!"
"All right, what would you like?" He grabbed the Cat Emporium bag and took out the things that weren't toys, then offered it to Cloud. "Just pick one for now."
Cloud dived eagerly into the bag and rummaged around, picking up toy after toy and discarding them-Sephiroth began to think that perhaps he had gone a little overboard with the toys. Finally, Cloud hauled out a fuzzy squid-like thing with pom-poms and bells on its tentacles and uttered something that sounded similar to 'this one'.
"Okay, let me cut the tags off, then you can play." Sephiroth made quick work of the packaging, then tossed the squid down the hallway. Cloud went tearing after it and Sephiroth winced when he heard what sounded like a body hitting the wall at a high speed. "You okay?" he called out.
There was a muffled yowl and Cloud came flying back out to the living room with the squid in his mouth. Reassured that he hadn't injured himself, Sephiroth returned to making dinner.
He flipped through the section on speech in Dr. Gainsborough's book while he was cooking and began thinking of some simple things he could ask Cloud to get him talking. It didn't seem to take much, though; once Cloud realized that Sephiroth wanted him to speak, he seemed willing enough to try.
***
"This is salmon, rice, and broccoli," Sephiroth pronounced the words clearly and pointed to each one when he set Cloud's plate in front of him. He considered having Cloud try to say the words, but he didn't want to keep food from him as a way of getting him to do things. "Be careful, it's hot."
Cloud excitedly thumped his tail on his chair and leaned over to sniff his meal. He peeled off a small section of salmon and tasted it before clacking his teeth at Sephiroth like he had at breakfast.
"Does that mean it's good?"
"G-g-" Cloud stumbled over the difficult sounds.
"It's okay," Sephiroth said, reaching over to pat his back. "You're doing really well talking, and we can practice more later. For now, eat your dinner before it gets cold."
Cloud didn't really seem to care for broccoli and spent more time rolling it around on his plate than he did eating it. At least until Sephiroth picked up a piece of his and chomped down on it exaggeratedly.
"It's good," he said around his mouthful, "You should eat yours."
Cloud raised one eyebrow-the skepticism was plain as day on his face-but he bit off a small chunk.
"Good boy, make sure you eat it all."
The rice was less easy. Sephiroth refused to never have anything that couldn't be eaten with his hands again. The book said that Cloud could learn the dexterity needed to use utensils, even if he would prefer not to. So he had given them both spoons and hoped Cloud would be willing to copy him.
Cloud held the spoon awkwardly, and Sephiroth quickly switched his to his right hand so it would be clearer. "Like this. Put your thumb here, yes, just like that. And then you scoop."
Sephiroth demonstrated a few times, then watched as Cloud gave it a shot. Most of the rice fell out of the spoon on his first try, but he did a bit better the second time.
"That's it. You're doing a good job. It'll get easier, don't worry."
Cloud pursed his lips and frowned at the rice that was getting everywhere, but nodded determinedly. Perhaps tomorrow they could try with cereal for breakfast. That would be easier to scoop. Cloud seemed to be getting rather embarrassed about the mess he was making, which Sephiroth supposed made sense. Cloud liked to be very neat while he ate.
"Don't worry about the mess," he said. "I'll clean it up after, no problem." He wasn't sure if Cloud was neat because he may have been punished for being messy in the past or if he just liked being neat. But a bit of reassurance couldn't hurt.
Cloud smiled, but gave up on the spoon for a while in favour of more salmon.
***
It had taken coaxing, treats, and sincere promises of no showers ever again to get Cloud to go back in the master bathroom. But once he was in, and Sephiroth gave no indication of taking him into the shower, cleaning him up went fairly well. He wasn't sure how familiar he should be when wiping Cloud down with a wet cloth, but since he hadn't done a very good job washing him in the shower, he thought he might as well do it properly. Cloud held still while he washed him, and though Sephiroth felt Cloud's penis begin to harden under his touches, he didn't seem to want anything more.
When he was clean, Sephiroth broke out the new toothbrush and toothpaste. "Have you had your teeth brushed before?" he asked.
Cloud nodded, looking unhappy, but he opened his mouth.
"I'll be gentle, I promise." He tasted a small bit of the toothpaste. "Not bad, maybe I'll have to switch. Want to try some?" He held out a little dot on the end of his finger and let Cloud lick it off.
"Beh-er."
"Um, better?" Sephiroth hazarded a guess.
Cloud nodded.
"Better than what you're used to?" From what Dr. Gainsborough had said, Sephiroth wouldn't have been surprised if they dumped baking soda in the cats' mouths.
Cloud nodded again.
"That's good. I'm glad it's better. Maybe it won't be so bad." He held the back of Cloud's head gently and began brushing, starting with his back teeth. "Poke me if it's uncomfortable."
Cloud kept trying to lick the toothbrush, and working around his tongue wasn't easy, but Sephiroth got the job done. At least Cloud wasn't kicking up a fuss about it. He didn't really want to have to spend too long on simple chores.
"Good job." He ruffled Cloud's hair and gave him a kiss on the forehead when they finished. "Not so bad?"
"Nyo."
"You can go wait in the bed then while I get my teeth brushed. Don't go to sleep yet, though. I want to put some cream on your scars, and we can practice talking for a bit."
Sephiroth quickly tied his hair back in a braid and brushed his own teeth. It had been so long since he had had someone in his bed. For years now, he had just gone to the cathouses for sexual release. It would take some getting used to, but he was looking forward to having someone curled up against him at night.
***
Sephiroth sat down at his desk Monday morning and stared distractedly at the screen displaying his inbox. Cloud had been so upset in the morning when he said he had to go into work. He was planning to go back for his lunch break to check on him and so they could eat together-Sephiroth hadn't yet thought of what he would do for Cloud's lunches most days. He wasn't like a pet that could be fed just once or twice a day.
Feeling like the morning couldn't go by fast enough, Sephiroth clicked on a report about the escalating situation in Corel and began reading. Apparently some of the miners were getting vocal about the reactor being built there and now there was evidence that AVALANCHE had taken an interest in the site.
By the time he finished reading the report, he was in a foul mood. Shin-Ra didn't need another battleground to start spreading their already thin troops over. The war with Wutai was draining enough of their resources as it was, and eco-terrorism was becoming a real problem. At least there was a lull in the fighting in Wutai; Sephiroth wanted to get Cloud settled in before he got called back to the front. He'd also need to find someone who would take care of him while he was gone.
Those were probably all things he should have thought of before buying Cloud, Sephiroth though wryly. It wasn't like he worked a nine to five job with occasional business trips. But it was too late now. Sephiroth was thoroughly enamoured with Cloud and selling him to someone else wasn't going to happen. He'd find ways to deal with his work schedule.
There was a knock at the door and Sephiroth called out, "Come in." He glanced up at who it was. "Morning, Angeal."
"Good morning." Angeal shut the door behind him and sat down in one of the visitor's chairs. "Is it true, Sephiroth? The rumours are flying all over the office. Fair can't keep his mouth shut about it."
"Is what true?" Sephiroth asked cautiously. What would Angeal's student know about him?
"That you got a cat-hybrid."
"Oh, that. Yes, I got him on Friday and spent the weekend getting him settled in." He would have preferred to tell his friends himself, but Sephiroth had decided that the best way to handle it would be to act like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Acting like he was embarrassed would only make people's reactions worse. "How did Fair of all people find out?"
"Have you lost your mind?" Angeal burst out of his chair. "I didn't believe it. I knew Fair was just making nonsense up, but... How could you do something like that?"
Now was the time to use the not-quite-true excuses he had given himself when he was trying to decide. Angeal disapproved of the very existence of cats, claiming it was immoral. "Something like what? Provide a home for an abused creature? Offer him proper care and affection instead of just renting him out for a night and then forgetting him?"
"Oh, please," Angeal scoffed. "Is that what you tell yourself? It isn't right. I thought you knew that."
"No, what I tell myself is that I wanted Cloud. I like cats and prefer them to humans. Cloud struck a chord with me and I felt bad for the situation he was in. That's all there is to it. I don't have to justify who I'm attracted to to you."
"Sephiroth, cats can't consent. What you're doing is rape."
Sephiroth shook his head, balking at that description, but he didn't want to argue it further in the office. "At least meet him before you say stuff like that. I haven't touched him since I brought him home; the vet I took him to said to wait until he comes to me. If he never does, I'm not going to force myself on him. But meet him. Watch him interact with me, and then tell me you think he's not capable of consent. Please?"
Angeal gave him a hard look that told Sephiroth it wouldn't be easy to change his mind. "When?"
"I've got to check on him at lunch; you can come then. Or after work. And I was going to bring him into the office tomorrow because the cleaning service is coming to the apartment during the day, but I'm not sure how he'll act then. I think he might be nervous around lots of people. It'd be better to see him at home."
Angeal didn't look happy, but he nodded. "Fine. I'll go meet him with you at lunch."
***
"Cloud, I'm home," Sephiroth called as he pushed the door open. He heard a thud and Cloud came careening out of the hallway and towards the entrance. But he skidded to a stop when he saw Angeal standing there. Fear was evident on his face as he looked back and forth between Sephiroth and Angeal.
"This is Angeal," Sephiroth said. "He's my friend. Don't worry, he's not going to hurt you."
"Why is he naked?" Angeal asked. He sounded like he was about half a second from walking out the door.
"Just hang on, he's scared. I'll get some pants on him in a minute. It's okay, Cloud." Sephiroth crouched down and rubbed his hand over Cloud's head. He remembered the clerk at the Honeybee saying that it had been two men who had hurt him. "Angeal's just here to say 'hello' and have lunch with us. No one's going to hurt you."
Cloud clung to him when Sephiroth picked him up and carried him to the bedroom. His entire body was shaking. Sephiroth grabbed the pants that Cloud had worn on Saturday and pulled them over his legs and carefully worked his tail through the hole. "There you go. Just for while there are guests over. You don't have to wear a shirt." He held Cloud's chin so he was looking straight at him. "Cloud, no one is going to touch you if you don't want them to. Do you understand?"
"Nyo."
"No, huh..." Sephiroth sighed and stroked Cloud's ears as he tried to think of how he could explain it. "At the cathouse, you had sex with the customers, right? Even if you were scared, or tired, or just didn't want to?" As he said it, Sephiroth felt a growing sense of revulsion at the way he had treated Cloud the night he rented him out.
Cloud nodded slowly. "Haa to."
Sephiroth smiled at the fact that Cloud had very nearly gotten the 't' sound right, though he skipped the 'd' entirely. Hard consonants were tricky for him. But his words were nothing to smile at. "You don't have to anymore. I'm not going to take your food away, or hurt you, or punish you some other way if you don't want to have sex. With me, or with anyone else."
"Nyo?"
"No. And if someone touches you or tries to touch you, I want you to tell me so I can make them stop. Will you do that for me?"
"Ya."
"Thank you." Sephiroth supposed that was one benefit to not being as intelligent as a human-it was easy to replace the old way of doing things with new ones, even if the old hurts were never quite forgotten. That was, of course, assuming Cloud actually understood and would tell him if anything happened. But that could be dealt with gradually. "Now, are you hungry?"
"Ya!" Cloud wiggled out of his lap and turned on the spot, frowning at the pants he found himself wearing.
"Just for while company is here. Angeal doesn't want to see you in all your glory. Come on, try walking upright." Sephiroth held out his hand so Cloud could use him for balance, though he seemed to not need it as much anymore; Cloud had been practicing a lot, and was getting the hang of his new balancing act.
***
Sephiroth looked out the corner of his eye at Angeal as they walked back to the office together. Cloud had been quiet over lunch, which wasn't too surprising. He had a lot of issues to get over; that much was obvious.
"Thanks for putting pants on him," Angeal said gruffly, leaning back against the wall of the elevator.
"No problem. I haven't been making him wear them at home-he's not used to clothes and doesn't like them."
"I guess he wouldn't be."
"I've got some shoes for him. They're more like ballet slippers with a thicker sole than proper shoes, but I want to be able to take him outside and let him walk around. It'll be a while, though. He's just learning to walk standing upright." Sephiroth ran a hand through his hair and stared at the changing floor numbers. He hated this dancing around the actual point of the conversation. It wasn't a social skill he excelled at.
"I noticed he was having difficulties. Why can't he walk?"
"He never learned. They... apparently most people don't want them walking like people."
"And you do?" Angeal raised an eyebrow at him.
"The vet I took him to the other day said it would be better. Easier to respect him. For other people, too, I hope. When we were out, complete strangers would try to touch him. It scared him."
"I overheard what you said to him. Did you really mean it?"
"About not letting anyone touch him if he doesn't want it? Of course. I think it'll take a while for him to understand, but he's not getting used like that again." The elevator came to a stop on the forty-ninth floor and they stepped out into the bustling hall. "I know you don't approve, but he's in a better situation now. I..." he paused and led Angeal into an empty conference room. "I never really thought about how cats were treated up until now. The vet, Dr. Gainsborough, she told me stuff I had never even considered. I didn't buy him with the best of intentions, I'll admit that, but now that I've gotten to know him a bit, I want to give him a better life."
"He seemed smarter than I thought he'd be."
Sephiroth nodded. "He's learning to talk. Dr. Gainsborough said that he just needs practice and encouragement. I've been working with him in the evenings, and I try to talk to him about whatever I can think of. She said that eventually he should be able to carry on a conversation."
"You're looking forward to that, aren't you?"
Sephiroth looked at Angeal. "How...?"
"You're not much for conversation with people. Apart from Genesis and me, I don't think there's anyone that you've opened up to. And the opening up you do with us is usually under duress. But if it's someone who isn't going to judge you for being strange or not knowing the proper social protocols? I think you'd be a bit excited."
He tried to shrug it off, but Angeal had hit the nail on the head. He often felt like a third wheel when he was out with Genesis and Angeal, and making new friends wasn't something that came naturally to him. But Cloud was different. Cloud didn't know to judge him. "Yeah, I guess."
Angeal gave his head a tired shake and sighed. "I don't really know what to think about this, but I feel better about it than I did this morning. He is more intelligent than I had expected him to be, that's something."
"Does this mean you're not calling me a rapist for the moment?" It didn't really matter what Angeal said, though. He may have convinced Cloud that he wanted it the other night, but that didn't mean he hadn't done something wrong.
"Not at the moment. Well, I've got to head to the training room. I told the puppy to stop telling everyone he sees-not that it'll do much good. I expect the entire company knows by now."
"I don't care. I-" Sephiroth paused and thought a moment about voicing the idea that had been forming in his head since he first spoke to Angeal. "I'm not going to hide this. I was a part of the problem with cats because I didn't know any better. I expect that's the same with a lot of people. Things aren't going to get better for them unless someone starts letting people know what's going on. Ignoring them and disapproving of their existence doesn't change anything."
Angeal snorted. "I guess I can't disapprove if you put it like that. Good luck with your newfound activism."
"I'm not going to be an activist," Sephiroth muttered while he headed for the door. "I just have a better chance of having my voice heard and maybe making a difference." He left before Angeal had a chance to say anything else; he didn't really want to hear what noble spin Angeal tried to put on it.
***
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