No need to say any of that. Sephiroth only nods, and gets up to his feet again. For a bruise like that... With a cut like that... "Did you have to go far?" is what he asks about instead, as he goes back to the first aid kits he's set up. While he hadn't expected it with Angeal on the case, he had still prepared for the worst. It's a simple matter, to get what he needs, return with a bit of cotton and a bottle to clean everything up.
Zack is making a face, and Sephiroth can't quite tell if it's in response to the question or the sight of the medical supplies. "Got us going all over the plates," Zack complains, fingers curling along the edge of his seat. "I think he was probably trying to make it hard for us to follow after him. But Angeal - jeez, he didn't hesitate in the slightest in where he was going."
"Well, it is Angeal," is all Sephiroth says. He doesn't think most people are aware of just how sharpened Angeal's senses are, or Genesis for that matter. Not him, either. The way that Genesis can hear a whisper across a crowded room, how Angeal can track down anyone if you give him enough time...
Angeal has always told him, in private of course, that none of them are infallible. Too much noise, a million different sounds clashing against each other, puts Genesis's teeth on edge. If someone were to just dump a bomb filled with different powders at the right intersection, Angeal would get mixed up on just where his right mark was. And Sephiroth? Well, he's more than aware of his own limitations. Sharp eyesight like his only has so many places to go, in the crowded and claustrophobic streets of Midgar.
But no one else needs to know that about them. All they need to do... is underestimate the bosses of Midgar's underworld.
Not even Angeal's little protégé, cute and eager and trusted as he might be. So Sephiroth simply follows up with, "Now hold still." While he's rarely ever needed it, Sephiroth has been in this business long enough to know that it stings, even if mostly from the experiences of other people.
Very predictably, Zack does not stay still, although he does a rather commendable job. His head stays still, which is really the most important thing here. It's just the rest of his body that wiggles impatiently in the face of careful fingers cleaning away dirt and germs from his cheek. "Ugh I never should have let him get that cloooose," he grumbles. "This is - it sucks."
"A learning experience," Sephiroth tells him, taking in the clear redness that lays beneath everything else. It'll look uglier when a day has passed. "Does it hurt that much?" Does he need to worry about loose teeth or a dislocated jaw? Not that it seems likely, with how much Zack is still talking, but...
Zack wrinkles his nose. "What a learning experience, but I guess that's just like him." They both know who he's referring to. "But no - it's fine. You know, I wasn't thinking that you'd be here waiting for us, when we first left!"
"And why is that?"
There go Zack's hands again. Sephiroth think he might come to like that aspect of Zack, the way his hands are so expressive. Genesis has a similar energy to him, in everything he does, although there's no doubt he'd make a face at being compared to someone like Zack. "Well, I thought you'd have other things to do. And I didn't know that you knew first aid? I mean, it's you, so you must be in high demand."
"Even I have my days off," Sephiroth tells him, putting down the cotton so that it can be discarded later. "And I had made sure I would have some time today... because of a job I took last night." It's always wise to have a recuperation period after meeting with Genesis. Just in case. "I would have cancelled even if I had."
Zack stares at him, hands going still. "Really?"
"Of course." And then, on a bit of rare whim, Sephiroth leans in and does something he used to see Angeal and Genesis do one another a million times before early on in their territory claim. He presses his lips, gently, to the wound there along Zack's face. "I was going to wait for you both no matter what."
When he pulls away, Zack's face is red all the way to his hairline. "Oh," is all he has to say.
A very cute reaction, really, although Sephiroth is left to wonder if perhaps Angeal is rubbing off on him in some terrible ways. Before he can press much more on this, or Zack can say anything else, Angeal's voice rises up from behind. "Alright, I think that's as good as we're gonna get. Everyone's staying here tonight."
Technically, Sephiroth knows that Angeal means the people most likely to be targeted by anyone left over by the most recent 'hunt' - in other words, the person who was originally targeted, and then the two men responsible for getting into a violent scrap to emerge victorious. He doesn't let that stop him from following right after Angeal, however, until they're all situated in the boss's little suite and both of them are working at the kitchenette together.
"You're a real heartbreaker, you know," Angeal says mildly, as they both start assembling some thick sandwiches that will go into the warm oven. Thick ham, salami, pastrami, olive slices, various cheeses... It's enough to clog someone's arteries. Angeal seems to love it for nights like this.
This isn't the first time Sephiroth has heard a comment like this. Usually it's from people with a bit more bitterness to their bite. "Is this about Zack?" he says back, well aware of the scene behind them: Zack and Skuppo, the former energetically telling some story or another. Something silly, an event from one of his shifts at a bar, Sephiroth thinks. "I'm not sure I want to hear that from you."
While he may be a crime boss, Angeal still has the decency to look at least a bit embarrassed. "I have a weakness for puppies, what can I say," is all he manages weakly.
"I suppose he is a rather cute puppy," Sephiroth agrees, lips teased into a smile. Certainly all the exuberance of one, the sheer energy, and maybe even a bit of sharp puppy fangs to get him where he needs to be. "And yet you can't bring him home to Genesis."
"That's because Genesis gets territorial," Angeal says, waiting for Sephiroth to top the sandwiches with a bun before he tugs the foil up over them so that they can deposited onto the tray. "And, even worse, I'm trying to train the puppy. Genesis has a bad habit of undoing all of that if I take my eyes off of him for five seconds."
"Are you referring to me as a puppy...?"
Angeal actually laughs, and Sephiroth can spot Zack and Skuppa glancing over in curiosity at the noise. "Oh, no, I knew from the day we laid eyes on you that were you a cat."
One of these days, he really is going to interrogate Angeal on just what qualifications he assigns animals to people... But then, Sephiroth has thought that for years, now, and it somehow always slips his mind. Either way, he waits until Angeal has finished closing up the oven before he speaks up again. "He does seem rather fond of you."
All Angeal does is shrug. "It's just because of how I'm the boss," he answers, settling with his back against one of his little counters, watching Zack get right back into his energetic conversation with Skuppa. "Admiration mixing into attraction. But you he's really fond of."
"It's just because of how I'm your most famous earner," Sephiroth shoots back casually. "Attraction mixing into admiration."
They stare at each other.
"I should never have let Genesis teach you how to be sassy," Angeal says, as though he is free of having anything to do with influencing Sephiroth down this particular path. "Anyway, I'll probably start sending him your way a little more. Your turn to use him as your errand boy, for whatever you'd like."
His turn, is it? Sephiroth thinks he can understand why that is. Why Angeal is choosing now, of all times, to do so, after he's already seen Zack running around. Helped patch him up, after a rough spot. He closes his eyes, considers it.
"I'll see what I can do, then."
The food is delicious, because of course it is when Angeal has had a hand in making it, and the bed is just barely large enough for all four of them to clamber onto it. Angeal especially is a problem, broadly built as he is, but they manage well enough. No doubt the bed will see far worse than him barely hanging onto the side, and Skuppa to the other, leaving Sephiroth and Zack to make up the middle. Snug, but... not that bad. A good thing, really, that he both likes the heat (although never as much as Genesis ever does), and that there is a decent air conditioner in HQ.
Sleep comes easily enough for him in such a situation, reminded of the times when it was him and Genesis and Angeal finding warmth with one another. At the same time, he awakes just as easily when that warmth is disturbed.
Angeal is gone. He'd noted that some while ago, in the hazy space between sleep and consciousness. That much is normal. And yet it had been Zack's movements that had dragged him all the way into awareness, clumsy movements against the mattress as he'd done his best to be delicate. Sephiroth stays still, waits until the weight is off of the bed completely and the soft pad of bare feet has stopped, before he slides open one eye.
Even if the room were completely dark, he'd still be able to see through it, clear as day. Something done to him in the labs, he thinks. But he doesn't even need it, with the small little lamp that is set there on the floor right by where Angeal sits with his legs crossed and various paper in his hands. Sephiroth isn't exactly in the best position to see all the fine details, of course. Nonetheless, he can take a decent guess at what they are: maps of various parts of Midgar from the city overall to the sewer system, notes written by the various workers on things they've noted from enemies or ShinRa, updates on repairs to various parts of the Market. Angeal runs Wall Market like he'd run his own house, keeping an eye on every little thing that might affect him and his own.
And there's Zack, rubbing at his face, shuffling over to him until he can flop down onto the floor besides Angeal. All the other man does is adjust, making it easier for Zack to lean against him with his cheek smooshed against his shoulder. Midgar never really sleeps, never really stops making noise... but tucked away in HQ, in Angeal's suite, it's easy enough to hear Zack's sleepy murmur. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Checking to see what gangs and groups were related to where we took down the idiot who touched one of our own."
"Mmgh. Way too many words. Explain 'em all to me? Like I'm an idiot."
"That's because you are an idiot." But he says it fondly, mouth to Zack's hair, ignoring the protests. "Alright, so there's a gang over here..."
Sephiroth closes his eyes, and goes back to sleep.
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Zack is making a face, and Sephiroth can't quite tell if it's in response to the question or the sight of the medical supplies. "Got us going all over the plates," Zack complains, fingers curling along the edge of his seat. "I think he was probably trying to make it hard for us to follow after him. But Angeal - jeez, he didn't hesitate in the slightest in where he was going."
"Well, it is Angeal," is all Sephiroth says. He doesn't think most people are aware of just how sharpened Angeal's senses are, or Genesis for that matter. Not him, either. The way that Genesis can hear a whisper across a crowded room, how Angeal can track down anyone if you give him enough time...
Angeal has always told him, in private of course, that none of them are infallible. Too much noise, a million different sounds clashing against each other, puts Genesis's teeth on edge. If someone were to just dump a bomb filled with different powders at the right intersection, Angeal would get mixed up on just where his right mark was. And Sephiroth? Well, he's more than aware of his own limitations. Sharp eyesight like his only has so many places to go, in the crowded and claustrophobic streets of Midgar.
But no one else needs to know that about them. All they need to do... is underestimate the bosses of Midgar's underworld.
Not even Angeal's little protégé, cute and eager and trusted as he might be. So Sephiroth simply follows up with, "Now hold still." While he's rarely ever needed it, Sephiroth has been in this business long enough to know that it stings, even if mostly from the experiences of other people.
Very predictably, Zack does not stay still, although he does a rather commendable job. His head stays still, which is really the most important thing here. It's just the rest of his body that wiggles impatiently in the face of careful fingers cleaning away dirt and germs from his cheek. "Ugh I never should have let him get that cloooose," he grumbles. "This is - it sucks."
"A learning experience," Sephiroth tells him, taking in the clear redness that lays beneath everything else. It'll look uglier when a day has passed. "Does it hurt that much?" Does he need to worry about loose teeth or a dislocated jaw? Not that it seems likely, with how much Zack is still talking, but...
Zack wrinkles his nose. "What a learning experience, but I guess that's just like him." They both know who he's referring to. "But no - it's fine. You know, I wasn't thinking that you'd be here waiting for us, when we first left!"
"And why is that?"
There go Zack's hands again. Sephiroth think he might come to like that aspect of Zack, the way his hands are so expressive. Genesis has a similar energy to him, in everything he does, although there's no doubt he'd make a face at being compared to someone like Zack. "Well, I thought you'd have other things to do. And I didn't know that you knew first aid? I mean, it's you, so you must be in high demand."
"Even I have my days off," Sephiroth tells him, putting down the cotton so that it can be discarded later. "And I had made sure I would have some time today... because of a job I took last night." It's always wise to have a recuperation period after meeting with Genesis. Just in case. "I would have cancelled even if I had."
Zack stares at him, hands going still. "Really?"
"Of course." And then, on a bit of rare whim, Sephiroth leans in and does something he used to see Angeal and Genesis do one another a million times before early on in their territory claim. He presses his lips, gently, to the wound there along Zack's face. "I was going to wait for you both no matter what."
When he pulls away, Zack's face is red all the way to his hairline. "Oh," is all he has to say.
A very cute reaction, really, although Sephiroth is left to wonder if perhaps Angeal is rubbing off on him in some terrible ways. Before he can press much more on this, or Zack can say anything else, Angeal's voice rises up from behind. "Alright, I think that's as good as we're gonna get. Everyone's staying here tonight."
Technically, Sephiroth knows that Angeal means the people most likely to be targeted by anyone left over by the most recent 'hunt' - in other words, the person who was originally targeted, and then the two men responsible for getting into a violent scrap to emerge victorious. He doesn't let that stop him from following right after Angeal, however, until they're all situated in the boss's little suite and both of them are working at the kitchenette together.
"You're a real heartbreaker, you know," Angeal says mildly, as they both start assembling some thick sandwiches that will go into the warm oven. Thick ham, salami, pastrami, olive slices, various cheeses... It's enough to clog someone's arteries. Angeal seems to love it for nights like this.
This isn't the first time Sephiroth has heard a comment like this. Usually it's from people with a bit more bitterness to their bite. "Is this about Zack?" he says back, well aware of the scene behind them: Zack and Skuppo, the former energetically telling some story or another. Something silly, an event from one of his shifts at a bar, Sephiroth thinks. "I'm not sure I want to hear that from you."
While he may be a crime boss, Angeal still has the decency to look at least a bit embarrassed. "I have a weakness for puppies, what can I say," is all he manages weakly.
"I suppose he is a rather cute puppy," Sephiroth agrees, lips teased into a smile. Certainly all the exuberance of one, the sheer energy, and maybe even a bit of sharp puppy fangs to get him where he needs to be. "And yet you can't bring him home to Genesis."
"That's because Genesis gets territorial," Angeal says, waiting for Sephiroth to top the sandwiches with a bun before he tugs the foil up over them so that they can deposited onto the tray. "And, even worse, I'm trying to train the puppy. Genesis has a bad habit of undoing all of that if I take my eyes off of him for five seconds."
"Are you referring to me as a puppy...?"
Angeal actually laughs, and Sephiroth can spot Zack and Skuppa glancing over in curiosity at the noise. "Oh, no, I knew from the day we laid eyes on you that were you a cat."
One of these days, he really is going to interrogate Angeal on just what qualifications he assigns animals to people... But then, Sephiroth has thought that for years, now, and it somehow always slips his mind. Either way, he waits until Angeal has finished closing up the oven before he speaks up again. "He does seem rather fond of you."
All Angeal does is shrug. "It's just because of how I'm the boss," he answers, settling with his back against one of his little counters, watching Zack get right back into his energetic conversation with Skuppa. "Admiration mixing into attraction. But you he's really fond of."
"It's just because of how I'm your most famous earner," Sephiroth shoots back casually. "Attraction mixing into admiration."
They stare at each other.
"I should never have let Genesis teach you how to be sassy," Angeal says, as though he is free of having anything to do with influencing Sephiroth down this particular path. "Anyway, I'll probably start sending him your way a little more. Your turn to use him as your errand boy, for whatever you'd like."
His turn, is it? Sephiroth thinks he can understand why that is. Why Angeal is choosing now, of all times, to do so, after he's already seen Zack running around. Helped patch him up, after a rough spot. He closes his eyes, considers it.
"I'll see what I can do, then."
The food is delicious, because of course it is when Angeal has had a hand in making it, and the bed is just barely large enough for all four of them to clamber onto it. Angeal especially is a problem, broadly built as he is, but they manage well enough. No doubt the bed will see far worse than him barely hanging onto the side, and Skuppa to the other, leaving Sephiroth and Zack to make up the middle. Snug, but... not that bad. A good thing, really, that he both likes the heat (although never as much as Genesis ever does), and that there is a decent air conditioner in HQ.
Sleep comes easily enough for him in such a situation, reminded of the times when it was him and Genesis and Angeal finding warmth with one another. At the same time, he awakes just as easily when that warmth is disturbed.
Angeal is gone. He'd noted that some while ago, in the hazy space between sleep and consciousness. That much is normal. And yet it had been Zack's movements that had dragged him all the way into awareness, clumsy movements against the mattress as he'd done his best to be delicate. Sephiroth stays still, waits until the weight is off of the bed completely and the soft pad of bare feet has stopped, before he slides open one eye.
Even if the room were completely dark, he'd still be able to see through it, clear as day. Something done to him in the labs, he thinks. But he doesn't even need it, with the small little lamp that is set there on the floor right by where Angeal sits with his legs crossed and various paper in his hands. Sephiroth isn't exactly in the best position to see all the fine details, of course. Nonetheless, he can take a decent guess at what they are: maps of various parts of Midgar from the city overall to the sewer system, notes written by the various workers on things they've noted from enemies or ShinRa, updates on repairs to various parts of the Market. Angeal runs Wall Market like he'd run his own house, keeping an eye on every little thing that might affect him and his own.
And there's Zack, rubbing at his face, shuffling over to him until he can flop down onto the floor besides Angeal. All the other man does is adjust, making it easier for Zack to lean against him with his cheek smooshed against his shoulder. Midgar never really sleeps, never really stops making noise... but tucked away in HQ, in Angeal's suite, it's easy enough to hear Zack's sleepy murmur. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Checking to see what gangs and groups were related to where we took down the idiot who touched one of our own."
"Mmgh. Way too many words. Explain 'em all to me? Like I'm an idiot."
"That's because you are an idiot." But he says it fondly, mouth to Zack's hair, ignoring the protests. "Alright, so there's a gang over here..."
Sephiroth closes his eyes, and goes back to sleep.