It was an envelope. A rather large, square, formal looking envelope. It had arrived early that morning, and was still sitting on the front room table. It wasn't really an interesting looking envelope except for one thing. On the back, where the envelope was sealed, was the perfect, red imprint of a woman's lips.
At first, Cloud had tried to dismiss the paper kiss as a mistake. But when he turned the envelope around again, there was the unmistakable name of his lover printed on it. Cloud had felt a twinge of curiosity, thinking of what it could be, and whom it could be from. He had started to frown. Over the course of the day, the envelope would never quite leave Cloud's mind. At odd moments, visions of the paper kiss would float up and make his curiosity grow.
By the time the day was over, Cloud had had enough of his curiosity. In fact, if asked, Cloud would've said that his feeling of curiosity had jumped to feelings of anger and jealousy quite a while ago.
When Zack walked into their suite of rooms, the first thing to greet his eyes was the massive scowl on his lover's lips. The second thing that he noticed was the rare sight of narrowed eyes gone colder than an arctic blizzard.
Zack stopped so suddenly that the person who was following him into the room ran into his back. Or would have, if it had been anyone else but the General. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and pushed Zack the rest of the way into the room, closing the door behind them. Sephiroth took a seat on the couch and leaned back, crossing his legs. Looked like the shit was about to fly, and he didn't want to miss any of the excitement. Cloud tended to throw things when he was angry. With deadly *in*-accuracy. Sephiroth was glad he had nothing else planned for the night. This promised to be amusing.
Zack cleared his throat, "Ah, Cloud. Something wrong?" Zack was frantically going through the past few days to see what he could've done to piss off his lover so badly. When he couldn't come up with anything, he suddenly became very, very nervous.
Cloud's voice, when he spoke, was hard as diamonds. "What, is that?"
Zack followed Cloud's pointed finger to the table. To the envelope on the table. He blinked at the General. The General shrugged his shoulders. Zack looked back at Cloud and tried a smile.
"That's an envelope." Cloud continued to scowl. "Snookums?"
If anything, Cloud's expression got even colder. Zack knew he was in serious trouble if the silly nickname couldn't even get a roll of the eyes.
"What," he enunciated quite clearly, "is that *on* the envelope?"
Zack took a second, longer look at the envelope. A horrible suspicion started to grow in his mind. It couldn't be. Could it? The General had promised that he wouldn't have to attend that year. The Mighty Bastard had promised!
Walking over to the table, Zack picked up the envelope and turned it over. He immediately saw what had upset his lover so badly. Zack raised his eyes to Cloud. "I can explain."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Okay. Go ahead."
"Just let me make sure it's what I think it is."
Zack opened the envelope and took out the simple card that was inside. Zack started to swear under his breath and turned to Sephiroth with an accusing glare.
"I thought you'd arranged it so that I wouldn't have to go this year."
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I thought I did."
"So what happened?"
Sephiroth shrugged. "How should I know."
"Dammit."
Zack looked up at a pointed cough from Cloud. Some of the anger had disappeared from his eyes, and the more usual curiosity was starting to blaze forth.
"What is it?"
Zack sighed and threw himself into a chair. "It's an invitation."
"To what?"
"The annual Shinra ball."
"Are you actually going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to keep playing twenty questions with you?"
Zack almost smiled at Cloud's tone. Cloud was just so *cute* when he got snippy; with his narrowed eyes and pouting frown. Zack could never win against that pout. Somehow, Cloud had not yet found out about the power of his pout. Fortunately for his continued health, he was able to suppress the amusement.
"Every spring, Shinra has a ball for its execs and officers. It's the biggest social event of the year. It's boring as all hells, though. I haven't been able to successfully avoid being invited yet. I asked *him*," Zack pointed to the smirking Sephiroth, "to get me out of it this year."
Sephiroth piped up. "You should ask him why he finds it so boring."
Zack groaned and slumped in his chair. "Since you find it so amusing, just tell him yourself."
Sephiroth turned mischievous eyes to Cloud. "Shinra knows how most of the officers and younger executives are single, so he invites all the young, eligible women in the city. The ball is the city's biggest meat market of the year."
Cloud cast a neutral look at Zack, "Doesn't sound too bad." His eyes narrowed again, "Still doesn't explain the kiss on the back of the envelope."
Sephiroth grinned, "That's because you have to realize that your lover there seems to be incredibly popular with the young women. They flock to him like there's no tomorrow."
Cloud turned his narrowed gaze to Sephiroth, "Oh? Really?"
"Um hmm. According to the gossip, after Rufus and myself, Zack is *the* most eligible bachelor in Shinra's organization."
"And the girls don't flock to the two of you?"
Zack stifled a snicker.
Sephiroth's grin turned positively evil, "Nope."
"And the kiss on the envelope?"
Zack sighed, "I met the personal assistant of President Shinra at last year's ball and I think she liked me."
"Really? I never would've guessed."
Zack winced. Cloud raised an eyebrow. Zack wondered when he'd learned that particular trick from Sephiroth. Not that he didn't do it well. It was just that Zack saw that eyebrow gaining the same power that Cloud's pout had.
"Does this mean you have to go this year?"
Zack scowled and shot Sephiroth a dirty look, "Yeah."
Cloud pointed to the invitation Zack still had in his hand, "Will *she* be there?"
Sephiroth snickered, "Probably."
"Well, hell."
Suddenly, Cloud looked very dejected. Zack took one look at the slumped shoulders and dropped head, stood up, and went to wrap his arms around Cloud. After a moment, Cloud's arms came up to wrap themselves around his waist.
"What's wrong?"
Cloud's answer was muffled against Zack's chest. "Nothing."
Zack leaned back and tilted up Cloud's chin with a finger. "Tell me."
Cloud looked up with his big turquoise eyes and shook his head. "It's nothing."
Zack let a hint of command enter his voice. He hated it when Cloud kept his feelings bottled inside. It just wasn't healthy. "Tell me."
Cloud sighed and raised a hand to fidget with a lock of Zack's hair. "It's silly. You'll laugh."
"Have I ever laughed at you before?"
Cloud sent an exasperated look at Zack, "Yes."
"About anything important?"
Cloud looked down again and admitted, "No."
"So I won't laugh now. Tell me."
"I'm afraid you'll meet someone you like better than me there." Cloud looked up with an achingly vulnerable look on his face, "I know I'm not the greatest catch in this world."
Zack's eyes softened. "It is silly. I love you. Seeing a lot of pretty young things in a dead boring ball isn't going to change that." He leaned down to give Cloud a gentle kiss. "Besides, you're prettier than any of them could ever hope of being."
Cloud blushed and buried his face in Zack's chest. "Thanks."
"But?"
"I still don't have to like it." Zack smiled at the petulant tone.
A throat cleared itself, and both Zack and Cloud looked over at Sephiroth. He was watching them both with a quirked eyebrow. "All done?"
Cloud blushed again, and Zack gave him the finger. If Seph didn't want to see the mush, he could get up and leave. Sephiroth smirked and blew Zack a kiss.
Zack had a thought, "Hey Seph. Is there any way we can get Cloud an invitation?"
Sephiroth shook his head, "Nope. Only officers, execs, and unattached girls and their chaperones."
Zack and Sephiroth locked gazes. Zack raised an eyebrow in question. Sephiroth looked thoughtful for a second, and then nodded. They both grinned at the same moment, and turned their gazes on Cloud. Cloud, who had been watching the both of them with a puzzled air, quite suddenly started to feel quite nervous.
"What?"