Nations - Expectations
September 14th, 2009 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skerenTitle: Expectations
Arc: Nations
Fandom: FF7
Characters: Sephiroth, Cloud
Words: 604
Rating: G
Warning: The AUness!
Arc summary: It's an alternate universe where Sephiroth is a king, while Zack, Cloud, Vincent, and Rufus are his harem slaves, who he has renamed as gems.
Note: smokyglass (of LJ)'s long involved comment made me pause and think, then reread all my old chapters of this. At which point you finally get a new chapter. Thank you for your enduring patience with me.
“My King... I...” The blond looked away from him, and he felt an odd sense of vindication. Why had his Gem kept such a thing secret from him? Why did he think that he ought not be aware?
“Sapphire. I will take no excuses about this.” His tone was mild, and he knew that even then the warning in it was clear.
“There are always those that might hear my King.”
“I will have my answer.”
There was silence, the blond staring at the ground as the king stared at him. When he finally spoke, his voice was very quiet, and it was clear he’d lost his resolve to silence. “What did she tell you?”
“She told me that I had my answer, and that I no longer had to fear so keenly for the safety of my Gems because they were mine in a far deeper way than before.”
”Because of the ceremony.”
”Yes, because of the ceremony. What happened that day Cloud? What did the Gods do?” The blond twitched when he spoke his given name. Good.
“They... invoked Binding. It wasn’t meant, nor the symbols used... Please forgive me this, it was not what was intended in any way.”
”Was it everyone in the ceremony Cloud?”
The young man’s voice got softer still. “Yes.”
”Reno of two lands, my gems, my Queen, the Priestess, you? All of you?”
”Yes my King.” His voice, at this point, was barely audible.
“You were not going to ever tell me.”
“No my King.”
”Why?”
The silence that followed that was stifling, but he would wait. He would have this clear, and then the blond would be punished for keeping it from him. Binding or no, he would ever be his Gem, and his other Gems would remain with him ever after as well.
However, he wasn’t without awareness that the blond was afraid, and he moved to him, resting his hand on his hair to stroke it. He wouldn’t strike him. No, there were more effective ways to make him see his errors. “Tell me Sapphire.”
”I was afraid.” He held his silence, waiting. Sapphire seemed to realize why and his tone was forced as he continued. Was he afraid now? “I was afraid that something would change, with you. Not... Not that you would turn me away, or hurt the others, but... do you still trust me my King?”
Unfortunately, he could not immediately reassure. He had to think about it. Clearly, his Priest hadn’t intended this. Clearly, he hadn’t had these designs for several years. No, he would have determined something, found something. The blond wouldn’t have defended the castle so well with his magic. The blond wouldn’t be terrified if it were anything but an accident. But he’d been tied with two who had nothing to do with him. Tied to people he didn’t particularly care to be, no matter how advantageous this might yet become.
Did he trust?
He wasn’t entirely sure, but the blue eyes that looked up at him were filled with a spirit that he didn’t wish to shatter, and he knew that he could do that. He could break him irreparably. “I do Sapphire, but never again will you do this to me. Never again.”
When the blond folded to his knees to show how thankful he was, he decided that being soft wasn’t always the worst way. He would see, however, if this softness and the man’s value were worth trust he wasn’t certain he’d wished to continue giving.
Either way, they were his forever now, so the point was, of course, moot.
Arc: Nations
Fandom: FF7
Characters: Sephiroth, Cloud
Words: 604
Rating: G
Warning: The AUness!
Arc summary: It's an alternate universe where Sephiroth is a king, while Zack, Cloud, Vincent, and Rufus are his harem slaves, who he has renamed as gems.
Note: smokyglass (of LJ)'s long involved comment made me pause and think, then reread all my old chapters of this. At which point you finally get a new chapter. Thank you for your enduring patience with me.
“My King... I...” The blond looked away from him, and he felt an odd sense of vindication. Why had his Gem kept such a thing secret from him? Why did he think that he ought not be aware?
“Sapphire. I will take no excuses about this.” His tone was mild, and he knew that even then the warning in it was clear.
“There are always those that might hear my King.”
“I will have my answer.”
There was silence, the blond staring at the ground as the king stared at him. When he finally spoke, his voice was very quiet, and it was clear he’d lost his resolve to silence. “What did she tell you?”
“She told me that I had my answer, and that I no longer had to fear so keenly for the safety of my Gems because they were mine in a far deeper way than before.”
”Because of the ceremony.”
”Yes, because of the ceremony. What happened that day Cloud? What did the Gods do?” The blond twitched when he spoke his given name. Good.
“They... invoked Binding. It wasn’t meant, nor the symbols used... Please forgive me this, it was not what was intended in any way.”
”Was it everyone in the ceremony Cloud?”
The young man’s voice got softer still. “Yes.”
”Reno of two lands, my gems, my Queen, the Priestess, you? All of you?”
”Yes my King.” His voice, at this point, was barely audible.
“You were not going to ever tell me.”
“No my King.”
”Why?”
The silence that followed that was stifling, but he would wait. He would have this clear, and then the blond would be punished for keeping it from him. Binding or no, he would ever be his Gem, and his other Gems would remain with him ever after as well.
However, he wasn’t without awareness that the blond was afraid, and he moved to him, resting his hand on his hair to stroke it. He wouldn’t strike him. No, there were more effective ways to make him see his errors. “Tell me Sapphire.”
”I was afraid.” He held his silence, waiting. Sapphire seemed to realize why and his tone was forced as he continued. Was he afraid now? “I was afraid that something would change, with you. Not... Not that you would turn me away, or hurt the others, but... do you still trust me my King?”
Unfortunately, he could not immediately reassure. He had to think about it. Clearly, his Priest hadn’t intended this. Clearly, he hadn’t had these designs for several years. No, he would have determined something, found something. The blond wouldn’t have defended the castle so well with his magic. The blond wouldn’t be terrified if it were anything but an accident. But he’d been tied with two who had nothing to do with him. Tied to people he didn’t particularly care to be, no matter how advantageous this might yet become.
Did he trust?
He wasn’t entirely sure, but the blue eyes that looked up at him were filled with a spirit that he didn’t wish to shatter, and he knew that he could do that. He could break him irreparably. “I do Sapphire, but never again will you do this to me. Never again.”
When the blond folded to his knees to show how thankful he was, he decided that being soft wasn’t always the worst way. He would see, however, if this softness and the man’s value were worth trust he wasn’t certain he’d wished to continue giving.
Either way, they were his forever now, so the point was, of course, moot.