[Final Fantasy VII] Il Sogno Galleggiante Part Four

[grownupneko]

Title: Il Sogno Galleggiante
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Sephiroth/Cloud, Zack/Cloud
Genre: Historical/Romance
Warning: Badly abused Italian, OCs, Assassin's Creed cameos, graphic sex and all that good stuff.
Chapter: 1/1
Comments: Conte Sephiroth holds extravagant parties in the floating world of Venice, however, this attracts all kinds of scoundrels, including a group of thieves led by Cloud Strife. Can Cloud resist the decadent nature of the Conte's lifestyle and remember his goal?


Il Sogno Galleggiate

IV

Cissnei was in the church, dressed in her finest. Cloud did his best not to meet her eyes, but she made a beeline for him. She curtseyed to him, he bowed and blessed her, and then she began.

“I don't know where you've squirrelled away my fiancé,” she said, tapping her fan against her palm menacingly. “I want him back. It's not right for him to be here. And I know what this place is. You never fooled me Cloud Strife.”

Cloud felt a cold sweat break out on the back of his neck. Cissnei was one of his greatest fears. She was fiercely intelligent and she was tied to Zack more strongly than he ever could be. She was going to be his wife. No matter how they played around now, no matter what Zack said to him about his feelings, it didn't matter because one day Cissnei would stand at the altar in this church and get married.

“I have no idea what you mean,” Cloud said. She bared her teeth in a sweet smile that set Cloud's skin prickling.

“Oh? Angeal isn't an expert con man then? He's just a priest?” she asked. Cloud was glad the rest of the church was empty. He grabbed her arm and dragged her behind the confessional.

“Listen to me, Cissnei. Zack is currently helping us with one job. If we get caught, he goes to the gallows too,” Cloud let go of her arm. She was watching him with narrowed eyes.

“You're in love with him,” she said. Cloud looked away, folding his arms.

“I'm learning not to be... but it takes time. I was with him before you were on the scene... I never thought I'd have to give him up,” he said. Cissnei grabbed his jaw and forced him to look at her.

“Move on, Cloud. Zack is... He means well, but he can't say goodbye. You need to do it for him. Otherwise you're condemning both of us to a loveless marriage that will only end in heartbreak,” she said. Cloud nodded. He knew that Zack was attracted to Cissnei. He'd seen the man flirting with her, then guiltily moving away when Cloud walked into the room. He'd seen that Zack often thought with what was in his pants and not with his head.

This marriage was going to happen and Cloud didn't want to play at being Zack's mistress.

“I'll... I'll make it clear to him,” Cloud said, feeling the weight of finality in his gut. Cissnei nodded.

“I'm sorry, Cloud. I just... I bought my wedding clothes yesterday. I have all the clothes of a married woman but my groom still hasn't come around to the idea that it's going to happen. You're the only one I know who can make him see sense,” her fingers tightened on the fan in her grasp.

Cloud nodded and watched her walk away, long red hair tumbling down her back.

It's time to fall in love with someone else, isn't it?

*

Cloud's weapons training wasn't alone. He was thrilled to find out that Zack had been sent along too. The older boy wasn't going to be in Cloud's lessons though, instead he'd been sent to a different teacher. Even so, it meant they could walk to and from their lessons together, talking animatedly about whatever it was they had done that day.

Cloud had to be slightly more secretive than Zack about what he was doing, but it never seemed to bother the other. He found Cloud's talk about reading and Latin and priest duties just as enthralling as Cloud found the gossip from the tanner's shop and the stupid things that Zack's master had done that morning.

Once they were at training, however, everything was different. Zack went to a group class and Cloud was sent for one-on-one training with the master of the school. His training was in the central courtyard that only had one entrance and exit. The courtyard had a series of criss-crossing paths across it, in between them were densely planted roses. It had been designed to promote the use of footwork in fencing, and Cloud had already been tripped up more than once and sent tumbling into the flowerbeds to have his knees and back shredded by the thorns.

Ezio, his teacher, was a tall gentlemen with a lithe build and grace that seemed to be built into his every movement. He was also Cloud's most hated adversary. The man seemed to like nothing more than to send him hurtling through the air into the rose beds.

“Straighten your posture,” Ezio said, sounding bored. Cloud hissed as the man whacked him across the back with the flat of his blade.

“I'm tired. I want to stop,” Cloud whined petulantly. Ezio whacked him with the sword again.

“Straighten,” he repeated. Cloud tiredly straightened his back.

“Yes, Signore Auditore,” he replied. He saw the man's eyes light up with slight approval and tried to ignore the rush of pleasure that caused. I hate this man, he reminded himself.

“Let me see if you've practised your footwork. I don't expect sloppiness just because you are tired,” he said. Cloud raised his sword and attempted to attack Ezio, keeping his footwork as careful as he could. As usual, he didn't land a blow and the man tripped him up within seconds, sending him sprawling into a thorny bed of roses.

Ten years later and Cloud straightened his posture, letting out a flurry of strikes that forced Ezio back against the wall. The man didn't allow a single blow to land, but Cloud could see sweat forming on his brow as he attempted to defend all of Cloud's attacks as well as land ones of his own.

Finally Ezio's back hit the wall and the man dropped his sword in surrender.

“Well done, Cloud,” he said, having the nerve to not sound breathless. Cloud was panting and wiping his sweaty brow on the back of his sleeve. His muscles cramped a little and he leant down to massage them a little, hissing through his teeth.

“I can't teach you much more. A lot of my other techniques are secret and beyond what Angeal would be prepared for you to learn,” Ezio said. Cloud nodded, still desperately trying to get his breath back.

“Tell him not to send you along any more. I'm done with you,” Ezio said with a shrug. He then turned on his heel. Cloud straightened his back.

“Have fun with Signore Leonardo,” he said with a small smirk on his face. Ezio glanced back over his shoulder.

“And you have fun with Signore Fair,” he replied. Cloud's smirk fell and he fumbled to find words in response. Ezio had already left and Cloud winced, pulling a rose petal out of his hair.

*

Cloud didn't have time to talk to Zack before Angeal was bundling him up in expensive clothes and pushing him out of the door. Apparently the Conte had arranged another party and had sent an invitation to Cloud's fake address in the city. Cloud felt jittery. He'd had no time to prepare for this.

“Be aware Cloud,” Angeal said to him before letting him go. It was the first time that Cloud had done anything without back-up and he was more than terrified. He was even more terrified by the Conte's way of wrapping him around his finger. Zack had been right before. Cloud did feel a strange attraction to the man.

He decided to forego a carriage and instead got a tacked up horse. It was a fine beast and Cloud ran it through the streets at a pace fast enough to bring a sweat on it's skin. He knew that the Conte had been attracted to the idea of him being a country boy, from outside Florence, who didn't know the ways of the city. He figured this trick with the horse would only make the Conte even more enamoured with his persona. A carriage would have been a city person's decision.

He saw the paupers swarming where the party was, the cheap prostitutes and the beggars hoping to pick up whatever was dropped for them. He pushed the horse through them all and dismounted only when he knew he could move no further into the party without crushing someone.

He let a servant take the horse and straightened his clothes. He then scanned the crowd, looking for the Conte. The man was stood before the canal and Cloud was surprised to see that, without the mask, the man had a young face. He could only be in his early thirties! His grey hair was obviously just an unnaturally premature ageing.

Something stirred in Cloud's gut when green eyes that almost glowed ran over the crowd to land on him. A smirk that Cloud remembered from the night before ran over the Conte's face and he raised his glass in salute. Cloud nodded and made his way towards the man, butterflies in his stomach.

He just had to charm him. He didn't need to conduct the robbery tonight. That was his job. He could do this... He just had to get a grip on his nerves.

“Greetings, Signore Luca,” the Conte greeted. Cloud felt his cheeks warm under the weight of the stare. Unlike the night before, Sephiroth appeared to be openly admiring him. Cloud felt the need to squirm. It was strange. Zack had looked at him with desire on many occasions, but it had never felt like this. Cloud had never felt all at once too hot and yet completely laid bare.

“G-Greetings, Conte,” he replied, bowing. The Conte bowed his head also, sipping from his wine goblet after. Cloud never felt so aware that he was tricking someone before.

“Do you like the party I have thrown for you?” the Conte asked. Cloud looked around, wide-eyed. All the opulence of Venice was displayed before him, dancing girls, banqueting tables, fountains of wine, and it was all his? He turned his gaze back to the Conte to find the man was regarding him with amusement.

“Is that a yes?” he asked. Cloud felt all the colour rush to his face.

“Yes, Conte. It's wonderful,” he replied. The Conte nodded and gestured for a servant to come over. Cloud found a wine goblet forced into his hand.

“I don't understand what I have done to deserve such a party though,” Cloud said, sipping from the wine glass. It was rich and fruity, with just the right amount of body to still be acceptable to his pallet. It was good wine. Cloud resisted the urge to guzzle the whole glass.

“For Venice, it is normal for a party to be thrown at the drop of a hat,” the Conte replied and Cloud took another enthusiastic sip of the wine. He tried his best not to meet the Conte's eyes.

“Then perhaps I should not be so flattered that you threw one for me then?” he asked, his eyes flicking to Sephiroth and then away again. The Conte was smirking still.

“If you enjoy yourself, I think it matters not for what purpose the party was thrown,” he replied. Cloud swallowed more of the wine.

“I wish to dance. Can you suggest a partner?” Cloud asked. The Conte's eyebrows raised and he gestured to a short blond woman.

“Her name is Elena. She is particularly quick footed,” the Conte said. Cloud smiled and finished off his wine. He took the Conte's hand, putting the goblet in it. His skin felt warm where it brushed against the man's and he forced himself to make the contact linger despite his embarrassment. He then walked towards the girl, Elena.

She turned out to be as quick-footed as Sephiroth had claimed. After a brief introduction arranged through a network of acquaintances, Cloud managed to get her to dance with him. He was particularly proud of his own dancing abilities, and Elena proved to be a partner worthy of him. She had no problem with even some of the more improper dances and Cloud found himself laughing as a lively Volta began to play.

“I am afraid I cannot dance another step,” Elena said, her cheeks warm. “But it was a pleasure to share so many dances with you Signore.” With that she was swept away by a man with vivid red hair and strange markings on his face. Cloud watched as they left and then began to meander through the crowd.

Wine seemed to be forced on him at every occasion and he found himself becoming lost in a blur of colour and entertainment. He stumbled a little and felt a steadying arm around his waist. He saw a few strands of silver drift before his eyes before he was righted.

“Please be careful Signore De Luca,” the Conte said. Cloud felt the arms around him withdraw and he turned to see the Conte. “Did you have fun dancing?”

“You were right about Elena. She really is an exquisite dancer,” Cloud said, smiling. Sephiroth nodded.

“Elena and her brethren are all very well trained in everything that is important to me,” he said. Cloud frowned.

“Brethren?” he asked. Sephiroth gestured for Cloud to walk with him and Cloud did so, taking Sephiroth's arm for support as he did.

“A group of devoted bodyguards of mine called the Turks,” the Conte replied. Cloud's mouth felt weirdly dry. The Turks were famous throughout Venice as a lowly group of thugs who would do just about anything to get a job done.

“A-ah,” Cloud replied. “I see she's deadly as well as a good dancer then,” he replied. Sephiroth smirked and began to lead Cloud away from the crowds and towards a barge on the canal. Cloud allowed himself to be led, caught up too much in the Conte's illusionary world that he could find no protest convincing enough to stay in the crowd.

“Indeed. Perhaps we should go downstairs onto my barge. I believe you had a business deal to discuss with me,” Sephiroth said smoothly. Cloud found himself nodding. He didn't notice the way that the Turks all simultaneously began to move through the crowd towards the barge, effectively blocking off all attempts to escape anyway.

He stumbled onto the boat and nearly broke his neck getting down the stairs into Sephiroth's lodgings. He began to laugh as he caught himself nimbly at the bottom and leaned back against the wooden wall. Sephiroth smiled.

“You truly are a jewel,” he said, leaning forward. Cloud pressed himself back against the wood and turned his face away. He had always known that it would be up to him to seduce the Conte, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. He felt a warm hand against his cheek and it was turned towards the Conte.

“You turn away from me in shame because I find you beautiful? I find that hard to believe,” Sephiroth said. Cloud felt his tongue was tied in knots. Sephiroth moved back and then opened the door to his quarters, allowing Cloud inside.

The room beyond was small but furnished with beautiful furniture. Cloud stared at the sheer amount of Chinese silks, Burmese teak wood and exotic trinkets scattered throughout. He walked forward, his mind already itemising what he wished to take with him when they moved in on the Conte. He heard the door click shut and turned.

He was surprised to find the Conte so close behind him. The man caught his wrists in a tight grip and held them as he leaned in. Cloud couldn't breathe, never mind move. The man himself was as exotic and intoxicating as his wine and trinkets and Cloud had never been so happy to sleep with someone for a job before.

His eyes closed as Sephiroth's lips brushed against his own. Gentle at first, but then more and more devouring. Cloud arched up against the man, trying to free his wrists. Sephiroth didn't let go though, his hands tightening instead.

“Ah...” Cloud let out a quiet noise of pain. Sephiroth drew back, his eyes heavy-lidded with pleasure.

“No 'Hail Mary's, Cloud?” he asked. Cloud shook his head, leaning in for another kiss before he realised what the other had said. He then felt a thrill of panic go through him and he began to struggle, to pull away.

Sephiroth's strength was superior though and Cloud found himself hurled backwards onto the bed and then pinned by the man's bodyweight. Cloud felt his heart pounding hard against his chest as he writhed and hissed and tried to break free using every trick that Ezio had ever taught him.

“You know, I wondered who it could be, ripping off my citizens so well. It took me years to get hold of you. Years of sending my Turks on missions to chase a group of con men all over Venice,” Sephiroth said, his thigh settling between Cloud's own and forcing him to be still if he didn't want to accidentally end up a soprano.

“I didn't expect you to be so exquisite looking,” Sephiroth's lips trailed over Cloud's neck and he couldn't hold back the shiver it elicited in him. Cloud tried to hide his reaction but he knew he hadn't managed it when Sephiroth smirked.

“I've never had a thief in my bed. I wonder if you know more tricks than the country boys I usually pick up,” he said. Cloud felt his cock twitch at the purr in Sephiroth's voice.

“I'll show you every trick I've got so long as I avoid the gallows,” he tried to reason. Sephiroth began to laugh at that.

“It is up to you to avoid your date with the executioner,” he replied and Cloud felt his lust dampened by the thought of an imminent hanging. Sephiroth leaned over them, studying his face.

“Prove yourself worthy of life and I'll let you go. One night and I will forget everything about your little group of renegades beneath the Church of Our Virgin Madonna,” he promised, leaning in so that his lips brushed against Cloud's ear. “One night of doing whatever I wish to you and you will be free. Otherwise my Turks will be there in minutes and your friends will face the hangman's noose with you.”

Cloud felt his throat close. Zack, Tseng, Angeal... No, they couldn't face that just for Cloud. He closed his eyes and turned his face towards the Conte, his cheek brushing against the other's as he pressed his lips to the man's cheek.

“I hope you rot in hell,” he hissed. It turned into a moan though as Sephiroth's thigh began to rub against his groin. He couldn't deny the man seemed to know exactly what to do to turn him on, even with all this talk of death lingering in the air. “I'll do what you ask. One night in return for your silence.”

Sephiroth didn't release Cloud's arms. He instead pinned them above his head with one hand and used the other to slip some shackles from under a pillow. They were secured around Cloud's wrists and Cloud tried not to imagine how long the Conte had known about who he really was, how long he'd planned this night.

Sephiroth's weight on him lessened and Cloud opened his eyes. Sephiroth was walking around the room, his eyes watching Cloud. He soon returned with a jar of oil and a knife. Cloud immediately began to scoot back but Sephiroth's hand on his ankle prevented an escape.

“It is not for use on you. I wish to remove your clothes. Due to your being tied up, this will remove them much more adequately than tearing,” Sephiroth said, demonstrating by cutting the buttons off Cloud's jacket and then starting to shred the fabric carefully from his body.

Cloud became hyper-aware every time Sephiroth's skin brushed against his own. He felt his nipples hardening and wondered when he'd become this easy to please. Sephiroth seemed pleased though and, once Cloud's torso was completely bared, he leaned forward, taking one hardened nub into his mouth and biting down on it.

It wasn't hard enough to draw blood, but it was hard enough to hurt. Cloud's body shuddered and he tried to move away. His cock was swelling in his pants and he didn't know why. He'd never even considered this kind of sex before, but somehow, with this man, it seemed that his body wanted it.

Sephiroth pulled back to admire Cloud's body and began to shred the clothes on his lower half. Cloud felt his face heat when Sephiroth's gaze fell onto his hard cock. The man didn't mock however, but instead ran the cold flat of the knife along it. Cloud's heart was in his mouth as he stayed very, very still.

The man discarded the knife then and leaned forward, kissing the tip of Cloud's cock. Cloud let out a quiet moan. Sephiroth nuzzled his cock for a moment, seeming lost in the sensation of it against his lips before he took it into his mouth. Cloud cried out, his hands gripping the silk above his head hard.

Sephiroth sucked on his cock with the pure intent of getting him off. Every swirl of the man's tongue, every movement of his hand in juxtaposition to his mouth, drew Cloud more and more into the man's thrall. He began to buck up against the man's mouth and Sephiroth hummed in pleasure at his lack of control. He eventually pulled away.

“You will not cum until I deem it acceptable. Hold yourself back,” he ordered. Cloud whimpered and buried his face into the silk pillows. He heard slick sounds of Sephiroth oiling his fingers and tried his best not to watch. He obediently spread his legs and felt a finger probe his entrance.

“Hmph. You're far from virginal,” Sephiroth commented and Cloud's eyes widened as two fingers were roughly shoved inside. He cried out, his back arching as he tried to wriggle off those two fingers. Sephiroth put a hand on his neck though, holding him down and starting to pump the fingers in and out.

Cloud swore and cursed at him, refusing to acknowledge that his cock was leaking or that Sephiroth was steadily sliding against that place inside him that made him see stars over and over. He growled and tried to bite the man when he leaned forward to kiss him. Sephiroth withdrew his fingers when he did that though, and only reinserted them again once Cloud let him kiss him.

He began to feel like a puppet. The Conte knew every button to press and what reaction would be received. When he drew Cloud up, so he was sitting straddling the other's lap, he seemed to know that Cloud would try to club him across the head with the shackles and instead of acknowledging it, he turned Cloud's movement against him, hooking the chain between the two cuffs to a hook on the wall that left Cloud stretched almost painfully, his entrance suspended just above a considerable bulge in the Conte's trousers.

“This hurts,” Cloud snapped, trying to unhook himself. Sephiroth pulled down on his hips though preventing him from unhooking himself. The Conte then began to run hands over Cloud's body, his large hands sliding over Cloud's ticklish sides and making him squirm.

“Are you going to be a good boy and ride me, little thief?” Sephiroth asked. Cloud snarled at him but couldn't resist rubbing his cock against the other when his backside was spanked. His eyes were wide as he felt the skin warm. Sephiroth did it again and Cloud's breath caught.

“Oh, you're just too perfect,” he said, undoing his trousers and pulling out his cock. He slicked it up with oil as Cloud watched. If Sephiroth had been his lover in other circumstances, he'd have wanted to taste the man then. His cock was swollen and thick, with an enticing bead of precum dribbling down the end. Cloud didn't even notice he was licking his lips until Sephiroth's thumb brushed against them.

He met the man's eyes and his breath caught. The Conte was looking at him like he was something to be owned, some valuable that should be kept locked away and secret. Cloud felt something in him submitting to that desire. Wouldn't it be nice... just for a little while... to be taken care of?

To have the weight of being a thief taken away from him? To no longer be the person who's lover was going away to get married? To no longer be the one who's parents died of the Plague? To no longer be the little boy who got beaten for merely existing?

“Yes,” Cloud whispered, his voice husky. Sephiroth didn't know what he was saying yes to, but he heard the broken emotion in the word. Seconds later he plunged into Cloud's body, his hips jerking upwards in a claiming movement that left Cloud struggling for breath.

He rode the Conte with all the enthusiasm he could muster, groans and pleas and sighs escaping from his lips as he desperately bounced up and down on the man's cock. His shoulders ached, his thighs were sore, his own cock was woefully neglected, and yet Cloud could feel nothing but pleasure as he drove the man's cock into him again and again.

Sephiroth came with a quiet groan that seemed to slip out by accident and Cloud felt his body flooded with the man's seed. He gently lifted himself off the man's cock when he felt he'd softened, semen dripping out of his stretched hole as he was held suspended over the Conte's hips.

He almost cried when he felt the Conte's hand on his cock, jerking him off roughly until he came so hard that he blacked out. He came to when the Conte was removing his shackles. He was still straddling the man, although he'd since sat up.

Once his hands were free Cloud immediately began to beat at the man's chest, tears coming to his eyes. The Conte let him for a few moments before he caught his wrists and held them to one side, kissing him instead. Cloud sobbed against the man's mouth.

“You're free to go,” Sephiroth said against his lips. “But remember what you have waiting for you here. Remember this opulence, remember how you gave yourself to me, remember forgetting for even a short while what you are. And remember never to cross me again.”

---> Next Part