Title: Kissing games

Author: Enide Dear

Pairing: ….I went there. CidxSephiroth, Valenwind

Rating: Pretty cute

Summary: How could Cid and Sephiroth possibly end up together…. From a logical time perspective, this makes little sense, I'm afraid. Then again, from a logical time perspective, the Remnants are two years old, so….

Author's note: Maybe Sephiroth will forgive me for the squid now?

Sephiroth was used to sneak attacks, back attacks, double attacks, feint attacks, unexpected attacks – it was the essential part of his training as well as an inbred quality to his person.

Maybe that was why he was so taken off guard by the frontal attack.

It happened in the huge dining hall shared by all ShinRa employees; Turks, Soldiers, desk workers, pilots, lower executives, assistants and professors from the science department and many more. Right there, in bright daylight, in front of everyone.

With so many people coming and going the General registered but didn't much bother with the sight of a short, blonde, scowling man approaching him, though he vaguely recalled the young man as being on of the fastest rising stars in the newly formed Space Program.

Not until the man slid in between him and the table, put a surprisingly strong arm around his neck, and harshly pulled them together for a long, lingering kiss.

At fist the General was too stunned to react, though he distantly registered that the dining hall had gone utterly quiet with slack-jawed shock. The coarse stubble against his own smooth skin, the oilstained fingers entwined in his long silky hair, the strange unfamiliar taste of tobacco, tea and someone else's hot tongue in his mouth…

Then, to his horror, Sephiroth realised that he enjoyed it.

Appalled and furious he grabbed the man's arm from his neck, twisted and slammed the blonde face first into his lunch plate.

"Ow, Gods fucking damn it!" The pilot – Highwind something, Sephiroth seemed to recall – squirmed but couldn't get free with less than breaking off his own arm, something he was obviously reluctant to do. "I lost a fucking bet, a'right?"

"A bet?" Sephiroth pressed a bit harder.

"Yeah, yeah, 'pparently even with my modifications an airship can't make it down a bloody volcano crater. Yet." He added with a bit of wounded pride. "Can ya let me go now?"

"No, I need you to explain this. You rebuilt and subsequently crashed a ShinRa airship down a crater on a bet?"

"Yeah."

"And as a consequence of this, you had to agree on kissing me?"

"Yeah."

"You are either a very, very, very stupid man, or possibly a very brave one."

"I'm a fuckin' Highwind, is what I am!"

"I guess that answers it, then. So. What did you and your…buddies…think would happen to you know?"

"Probably that ya'd eventually let me fuckin' go, and give a guy a chance ta get this damn chilli out of my nose."

"Hm. Tell me, if you'd won the bet, then what?" The general made no move to let go, although he was very aware that the entire dining hall was watching them. It was most certainly a good thing they weren't close enough to hear.

The pilot muttered something.

"Louder, captain."

"I'd get ta kiss Valentine." The blonde muttered into the chilli depths.

"Who…oh." Sephiroth threw a glance at the Turks' table; they, like everyone else, were watching the scene with a sort of fascinated horror. One of them really stood out, with his jet black hair and sad eyes and beautiful features.

"I see." Sephiroth smiled. "I will let you go –without breaking your arm – on one condition."

"As long as it doesn't involve me bein' all bent over like this again…"

Sephiroth ignored that.

"You will go to your Valentine. And you will kiss him. Right here, right now."

"What?!"

"Well," Sephiroth kept smiling. "Let's just say I like to watch."

The pilot muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'pervy voyeur bastard' which once more made the General consider the possibility that the man was suicidal, but nodded. He massaged his shoulder when Sephiroth let him go, looking red faced and embarrassed and much more nervous than he'd been when he'd approached the General.

"A word of advice, Highwind? Wipe the chilli off first."

Grumbling, the blonde obeyed and then scuffled slowly towards the gaping Turks, all eyes on him. Not even amongst that high strung, volatile group was what the pilot done considered within limits.

Sephiroth grinned to himself as the black-haired Turk yelped when he was caught in the rough embrace, but really didn't hold it against the gunman that it took him quite a few seconds to recover enough to pull his gun at the pilot. The blonde was a damn fine kisser, after all.