Chapter Text
Cloud doesn’t even remember a time when he wasn’t obsessed with Sephiroth Crescent.
It has been such a huge part of his life for so long that he literally can’t think about anything else. His entire existence revolves around this man, one of the Planet’s most beloved actors.
Cloud is just one among many, but he thinks he’s special. He supports Sephiroth’s career in every way he can. He goes to see Sephiroth’s films in the theaters, buys them on DVD once they come out, buys all possible merch and attends meet and greets as often as he can.
By twenty-one, Cloud is well-known online for being the noisiest Sephiroth fan, and he carries the title with pride. He even studies screenplay and movie-making in the university, just to have the possibility to work with Sephiroth in the future.
Cloud’s friends know about his obsession, of course, but he has long since learned to tone it down when he’s not alone. No one else seems to get just how happy he gets when he watches Sephiroth’s movies. No one seems to understand how his life got a meaning, a direction, after he found out about Sephiroth’s existence.
Online, though, Cloud hides behind a nickname and can be as unhinged as he wants. And he is, with fellow fans.
When Cloud is alone, he doesn’t care about anything else than Sephiroth. He takes care of his studies, of course, but when he’s safely in his dingy apartment in the poorer part of Midgar, he pulls up the videos he has specifically built to jerk off to.
Recently, Cloud has been too busy to properly focus on Sephiroth, and he’s antsy and anxious. He wants to desperately ditch his studies and spend the entire evening touching himself and fucking himself with a dildo.
But if he wants any choice whatsoever to even orbit near Sephiroth, he can’t half-ass his studies. He has been doing fine so far, and he’s almost done with his final work. Just a while longer, and he’ll have his degree.
He barely hides his groan as he focuses on typing on his laptop again. Tifa, Aerith and Zack are sitting at the table with him, quietly talking to each other while studying.
Cloud doesn’t even want to be there. But he promised, and it does help—when he’s at home, he can’t concentrate.
His leg bounces and his dick twitches in his pants as he continuously clicks on the folder where he has gathered Sephiroth’s photos. Fuck, he needs to jerk off so badly. Maybe if he does it quickly in the toilet will help and he can finish the study session easily? He hopes so, at least.
Cloud locks his computer, grabs his phone and earbuds, and leaves the table without a word. His skin is tingling and his heart pounds against his chest. Soon, soon. He’s almost there.
The restrooms are empty as Cloud steps inside. He chooses the farthest stall from the door, slips and locks it. Then, finally, he puts the earbuds on, chooses a video and shoves his hand inside his jeans.
Jerking off in public isn’t new to him. He’s excellent at keeping it quiet in places like this.
Cloud moves his hand on his length, twists and rubs the tip, curls his toes inside his shoes. All the while, he listens to Sephiroth’s voice in his ears, just talking, saying nothing important—just separate scenes from his movies and interviews Cloud loves the most.
He increases his pace, twists more and squeezes his dick. He’s learned a long time ago he likes it rough, so getting that pressure turns him on even more.
When Cloud comes, his mouth opens into a silent scream and he arches his back. Then he slumps against the toilet seat and pants, post-orgasm glow making his entire body throb.
Still, it’s not enough. He needs more than this, so maybe he really has to go to that one kink club in Sector 8—he can hide his appearance behind a mask, and he can ask for a Sephiroth role player specifically. Cloud lost his virginity to one. It’s not the same as getting fucked by the original, but he takes it—he has nothing else.
Once Cloud’s breathing has evened out, he wipes the cum away and tucks himself back in. Outside of the stall, he checks his appearance from the mirror. His blond hair is messy, like it always is and there’s a flush to his cheeks. He can’t do much to hide it, though. Zack will instantly figure out what he did, anyway. He and Tifa have been around Cloud the longest, and but even they don’t know just how deep Cloud’s obsession goes.
He returns to the library and is instantly alarmed when his friends look at him.
“What?” he says and slumps back down.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t yet noticed it,” Zack says in disbelief. “You have the notifications on for his profile, right?”
Cloud’s heart jumps to his throat. He didn’t even check his notifications after leaving the library, in his haste to get release. He grabs his phone again and unlocks it—and sure enough, there’s a notification that Sephiroth has made a new post on his STREAM account.
Cloud taps it open. What could it be that causes his friends to look at him like that?
The newest post has been up for five minutes, and it already has thousands of likes and shares, and even more comments. The post involves an official-looking image, and as Cloud reads the text on it, his mouth goes dry.
There are times when you just have to accept you might need help.
So that’s what I’m asking you for today. I have officially opened up applications for a permanent assistant position.
Requirements:
You must be eighteen or older
Preferably education in movies or something similar (either graduated or close)
You love movies
You have good organizational skills
You have a driver’s license
You work well while pressured
Must have good chemistry with me
What you get
An apartment beside mine
A salary of 5,000 gil a month
Paid lunches while on set
All traveling expenses will be covered
Entry to possible galas and events
Excellent healthcare benefits
The position is full-time and around 50 hours a week. Only the most passionate applicants will have a chance to handle it. Do you think you’re up for it?
Send your applications to [email protected] by June 15th, 2007.
Cloud is extremely aware his friends are now staring at him. He knows what he looks like. He reads the post over and over again, and there already are comments asking where he is—he’s that well-known.
He ignores his friends, likes and shares the post and writes a reply.
makospike86
What an amazing opportunity! Definitely going to apply!
The message is instantly reacted with likes and laughing emoji, but Cloud doesn’t care. He doesn’t even think about continuing to study.
“I have to go,” he says, slams the lid of his laptop down and stuffs everything back into his backpack. He wants to do this home. He needs it to be the best fucking application ever.
He has to win the other fans. Sephiroth will definitely get a flood of applications, and the longer Cloud takes, the fewer chances he has.
“Figured as much,” Tifa and Zack say in unison.
Cloud flips them off, laughing, and then practically runs out of the library.
***
Cloud’s apartment is themed after Sephiroth. The walls are covered with movie posters, the shelf is lined with photos from photo shoots Sephiroth sometimes does. There are even a few where Cloud stands beside Sephiroth and looks ridiculously happy; the higher-tier meet-and-greet packs have that option.
Even the apartment’s colors match: silver for Sephiroth’s hair, green for his eyes and black for his choice of clothing—usually Sephiroth always dresses in black.
That’s why also Cloud mostly dresses in black.
He almost stumbles over his own feet as he sits down at this desk and takes out his laptop again. He already knows how to make proper applications, he did several of them for his internship. He hadn’t been able to get on anything Sephiroth had been working on, and it had been a sore disappointment.
But now Cloud has a chance. He has a chance to be Sephiroth’s personal assistant. He would get to be alone with the man. Sephiroth would see him, recognize his existence. He wouldn’t just be one of the fans that always showed up in meet and greet.
Cloud would personally take care of Sephiroth’s daily tasks, help him manage his life. He would be able to support Sephiroth in a way he has always wanted.
He opens his resume and cover letter, and spends the next few hours meticulously working on them. He crafts them both with care, emphasizing his work ethic. He probably overestimates his own abilities, but he would be able to pull off anything Sephiroth would ask of him, he’s certain of that.
Cloud can barely stay awake when he’s finally done. He reads them both over at least twenty times. Usually he would let Aerith read through them—she’s the best to catch typos and other stuff like that—but Cloud is too impatient. He can’t waste any time. So he makes the last cursory check over both letters, and then opens STREAM in his browser.
Sephiroth hasn’t posted anything after the job application, but the notes on it are ridiculous, and Cloud is painfully aware that getting picked up from among the applicants is extremely unlikely.
Still, he has to try. He clicks his email and starts to type a message.
Hello! Here is my cover letter and resume for the assistant’s position!
Best wishes,
Cloud Strife
[cover letter] added / [resume] added
Cloud swallows and sends the message.
He stares at his email for fifteen minutes, but he doesn’t get a response.
It’s not a surprise, but Cloud feels like shit anyway. He drags himself to take a quick shower, eats a yogurt and then crashes to sleep.
***
Days pass, and Sephiroth doesn’t react to Cloud’s email. He doesn’t even know if it ever reached Sephiroth.
Sephiroth is very tight-lipped about the recruiting process, and he doesn’t speak about it in his later posts. Instead, he mentions heightened tensions between Wutai and Midgar, and how they should all strive for peace.
Most of the commenters think he’s just fishing for morality points, but Cloud knows better. He knows Sephiroth does care. He had donated a lot of money to different charities too.
Then the rumors start. Some users on STREAM post that they’ve been interviewed by Sephiroth for the position, but gotten turned away.
Cloud becomes obsessed with those updates. He spends most of his free time camping his STREAM account, and this time he starts to feel even more shitty when he gets asked, quite a lot, if he got an interview.
Humiliation burns in Cloud’s throat when he’s forced to admit that, despite his dedication, Sephiroth is seemingly very uninterested in him.
That activates a few trolls, and Cloud gets nasty anon messages making fun of him.
But Cloud is used to hate. He doesn’t like it, but he has been online long enough to handle it.
Still, Cloud doesn’t even try to hide his disappointment. More and more people tell about their experiences—some can’t even get an interview, just a standard rejection email.
Yet, Cloud’s inbox remains empty.
Zack, Tifa and Aerith don’t ask Cloud about it, but he knows they’re pitying him, and he hates it. He doesn’t need pity.
He does start to feel angry—at himself, at Sephiroth, at Sephiroth’s fans. Was he too late with the email after all? It only took him hours to write it!
Two weeks later, when there are only a few days left before the deadline, Cloud has all but given up hope. More people have gotten rejected, but they all say that Sephiroth isn’t mean. He just hasn’t found what he’s looking for.
On June 16th, Cloud is sprawled on his sofa and watches TV without really paying attention to it. He should be doing his final work for school, but he hasn’t even glanced at school stuff for a week. He knows he has to study extra hard later, just to catch on up his schedule, but he doesn’t care.
Sephiroth never replied to him, and now the deadline has gone by and he was thoroughly ignored. It burns so bad. Cloud did everything right, didn’t he? He is the best among them all, why didn’t Sephiroth see that. He doesn’t want to update his STREAM and tell his followers that he wasn’t even grazed with a rejection.
Cloud gets up, only long enough to retrieve his bag of chips and soda from the kitchen, and then slumps back down. Maybe he’ll just watch Sephiroth’s movies for the rest of the evening. He could dedicate tomorrow to studying since it’ll be Sunday.
His phone starts ringing, and he glances at it. He doesn’t recognize the number, so it’s probably another telemarketer.
But Cloud feels like lashing out, and telemarketer is a perfect opportunity for that. He picks up his phone and presses it on his ear. “Hello?”
“Cloud Strife?” a deep voice on the other end. A voice Cloud recognizes all too well.
“Y-Yeah, that’s me,” Cloud says, his heart suddenly going on overdrive. Is this really happening? He straightens on the sofa and shoves the bag of chips away.
“It’s Sephiroth Crescent,” the man says. “I apologize, it has taken me a lot longer to go through the applications than I expected. Are you still interested in the position?”
“Yes!” Cloud shrieks, almost falling over. “Of course I am! It would be an honor!”
Sephiroth chuckles. “Good to know. Are you free tomorrow around three in the afternoon? I’d be really interested in meeting you and talking for a bit.”
“I am, yes,” Cloud says quickly. “Where do you want me?” Only after the words escape his mouth he realizes how suggestive they sound, and his face erupts with heat.
Sephiroth doesn’t seem to notice, though. “I’ll send you the address to my apartment. See you tomorrow.”
“Okay, thank you so much,” Cloud says. They end the call and soon later Sephiroth does text his address.
Cloud still can’t quite wrap his head around it. Sephiroth does want to interview him. That means his application was so good it stood out among the hundreds—thousands—Sephiroth had definitely gotten. And, judging from the posts he has read, no one else was interviewed at Sephiroth’s home. Always at the Jenova Agency. It has to mean something too.
Cloud uses the rest of the evening for taking a proper shower and then going through his clothes. He doesn’t own any suits, but it’s okay. He chooses black pants and a black, sleeveless turtleneck shirt. He knows they look good on him. He sets them aside for tomorrow.
In the end, he’s too nervous to sleep properly.