Chapter Text
‘Today’s special: Mystery meat!’
The exclamation mark did nothing to ease the ominous feeling of anything served in the mess hall being labeled ‘mystery’. Zack scrunched his nose at the sign, but grabbed a tray anyway. The special of the day was always the quickest option, and he was starving and only had fifteen minutes to wolf down some lunch after spending most of his break in the VR room. Once he had his plate of undeniably mysterious ‘meat’ stew he peered out over the dining area until he spotted some familiar faces and started zig zagging his way over between the tables.
“Hey, Fair,” Kunsel said and elbowed the SOLDIER next to him so they could move over and make room for Zack.
“Hey Kuns.”
He plopped down in the chair and groaned as the newly formed bruise on the back of his thigh protested at the impact with the stiff plastic.
Kunsel raised an eyebrow at him.
“Putting in extra training again?”
“Yeah.”
Zack grimaced and started digging into the pile of gray sludge, listening with half an ear at the ongoing conversation around the table. Unsurprisingly, the new cadets that had been recruited the same morning was the topic being discussed. Zack hadn’t watched the trials. He had been working his ass off all year to finally make the promotion to First, and now he had the goal within his reach, so every spare moment was spent training rigorously. Fresh meat was the last thing on his mind. Although, as he shoved another bite of his wobbly lunch into his mouth he briefly reconsidered that priority.
“Poor batch this year,” Roche said. “Barely any of them could even hold a sword properly.”
“Did you see the blond omega?” Another Third, Zack couldn’t remember his name, asked.
Roche scoffed. “Yeah, I can't believe he was admitted. It has to be a PR stunt.”
“I don’t know, man, I saw his materia score,” Luxiere mused.
Zack huffed through his nose. It was the same every year. An omega or two always managed to pass the rigorous acceptance trials, and there was always some beta or alpha who felt the need to whine about it. It was stupid. Designation didn’t matter, that’s what the trials were for. There were three areas that were tested; physical fitness, swordsmanship and materia, each earning the hopeful recruit a score that needed to be above a certain limit to be accepted. Everyone who managed to pass had earned their place in the SOLDIER program.
He didn’t bother to argue though. It would die down on its own after a couple of weeks anyway, after turning into a competition into who could get into the omega’s pants. It always did.
The watch on his PHS told him he now only had eight minutes left. He quickly threw in a few more mouthfuls.
“Slow down,” Kunsel chided. “You’ll never make it to First if you choke on minced cockroaches.”
“Aw, shit Kuns, don’t call it that.” Zack made a disgusted face and pushed the tray away, before getting to his feet. “I gotta go anyway. See you later?”
“Sure, just leave the tray, I’ll get it for you,” Kunsel waved him away while shaking his head.
Shooting his friend a grateful smile, Zack headed out again. Angeal had set up a training session with Genesis, and he didn’t want to be late. Couldn’t be, unless he wanted burn marks on his Second Class uniform, if Genesis’ did good on his promises. Zack didn’t want to test it.
The building was brimming with activity, as always on recruitment day. Fresh faced cadets looking lost as they tried to find the way to their barracks, SOLDIERs ogling the new cadets, administrators chasing recruiting officers who hadn’t filled in the paper work correctly, recruiting officers trying to run away from the administrators. It was always chaos, and usually Zack found it fun. This year he mostly found it annoying, and cursed silently as he made his way through to the training area.
He made it to the allotted room just in time, only to find Genesis already waiting for him, leaning against the wall with a pinched expression. On the floor next to him was a wooden box. Zack’s heart skipped a beat. The redheaded commander was known for his short temper and Zack knew from experience that having his mate as a mentor wouldn’t help one bit if he lost it. He’d like to see any of the alphas or betas that complained about omegas in SOLDIER do it to Genesis' face. While he was the only omega that had made it to First class, few others could compare to his skill, especially in materia wielding.
“There you are,” Genesis said impatiently. “Let’s get started, I have other things to do.”
“Sorry,” Zack mumbled even if he knew he had actually made it on time. Showing up after Genesis counted as late by his book. “Recruitment day, the hallways were crowded.”
Genesis didn’t dignify his excuse with an answer, merely held out his hand.
“Show me your set.”
Zack fumbled off his bracer and removed the materia he had slotted, and the ones in his broadsword, discreetly trying to rub off the smudges on his trouser leg before handing them over. There was a pause while Genesis carefully examined them, one by one. He gave Zack a reproachful look.
“None of these are mastered,” he pointed out.
Zack cringed. Materia wasn’t his strong suit. He favored his sword both during practice and out in the field, and as a result all of his materia were underleveled, especially for First class. Which was why Angeal had set up this session.
“I know, I just… don’t really feel it,” he tried to explain. “It’s so much easier to just use my sword or hand.”
Genesis huffed. “Brute force you mean.” He held up a battered-looking barrier materia against the light. “You don’t care for them,” he chided.
Setting the disappointing materia aside, he opened the wooden box he’d brought with him. Inside were several colorful orbs, shining from meticulous care. In comparison, Zack’s materia with its slightly greasy surface looked worn and unkept. Which they admittedly were. In lieu of using them as intended, Zack had a tendency to use them as fidget balls when he was anxious or just bored.
Genesis held out one of the materia from the box.
“Here, use one of mine this session,” he said. “Before our next one, you’re going to level up at least one of your own to mastered.”
Zack nodded, sighing inwardly. Even more extra practice. He supposed he could chip off another hour of sleep.
Genesis snapped his fingers and pointed to the practice dummy in the middle of the room.
“Start with a level two spell.”
The materia he’d been handed was fire. Zack could sense the heat even just holding it in his hand, and slotted it in his bracer with more care than he handled his own. With a deep breath, he held out his hand and started pulling up mana. It took a lot more than he’d expected, and when the heat surged forward it knocked off his balance, making the spell hit the ground instead of the dummy.
Genesis snorted.
“First class, huh?”
The heat spread to Zack’s face. Genesis motioned to his casting hand.
“Again.”
For all the fuss he made about having other things to do, Genesis kept Zack in the practise room for just over two hours. When he finally decided he’d had enough, Zack was dripping with sweat and trembling slightly. It was just as well, he suspected his mana level was too low to throw even a measly scanning spell at that point. But at least he’d hit the dummy each time in the end, and even managed to pull off a Firaga, even if it wasn’t all that impressive.
Genesis didn’t comment on his progress.
“That’s it for today. Give me back my materia.”
Zack was too exhausted to even respond, he just enquipped the mastered fire materia and handed it over. He threw a look at the time. Shit, he was already late for hand to hand combat with Kunsel.
“Hey, thanks a lot for today, I really appreciate…”
“I’ll talk to Angeal about our next session,” Genesis interrupted. “Remember, at least one mastered materia until then. You’re going to need to practice every day.”
He didn’t wait for a response, just whirled around and exited.
It would be awkward to follow right after, so despite being late Zack waited a few minutes before leaving, and hurried to the close combat training rooms where he was supposed to meet Kunsel.
The Second was waiting with his arms crossed and a frown on his brow.
“I know, I know,” Zack said before he got a chance to open his mouth. “I’m late, but I’m here now.”
“This is my only free afternoon this week, Zack.”
Shit, he remembered that now.
“I’ll make it up to you.”
Kunsel sighed.
“It’s too late anyway, you were more than fifteen minutes late so a couple of Firsts claimed the room.”
Zack swore under his breath, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that. Those were the rules, if you booked a training room and hadn’t started your session within fifteen minutes after the appointed time, it was up for grabs. He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the black spikes.
“Shit, I really need to practise.”
“Are you sure?” Kunsel gave him a concerned look. “You’ve been pushing yourself way too hard Zack.”
He had to push himself hard if he was going to make it to first class. If nothing else, the session he just finished with Genesis proved that. Ignoring his friend's concern, Zack clicked his tongue while he was trying to think of a solution. He perked up.
“Why don’t we just go behind the barracks? There’s a lot of empty space and no ones ever out there anyway.”
“Zack..”
“Please? I’ll buy you pizza from Donny’s,” Zack widened his eyes into his best puppy impersonation, and Kunsel sighed in defeat.
“Stop that. I can’t believe you’re an alpha,” he muttered.
Zack grinned and slapped him on the back as they walked out together.
“Don’t be sexist, dude.”
He was right. There was not a soul in sight behind the barracks, and even if it smelled a little funky, the dry, even ground made it well suited for hand to hand combat practice.
“Are you really sure? You really look like you should take a break,” Kunsel looked at him up and down with his brows knitted together.
Zack fell into starting position, hands raised.
“I’m fine, you’re just worried I’m gonna kick you ass,” he teased.
Kunsel rolled his eyes.
“Fine, have it your way then.”
He copied Zack, and soon they were moving around in a wide circle, gauging the other and looking for an opening. Maybe Zack’s movements were a little slower than usual, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. Besides, for all that Zack considered himself a designation equalist, Kunsel was a beta and…
The crack rung in his ears before he even felt the pain.
“Holy crap, Zack, I’m sorry!”
Something wet crept over his lips and a coppery taste filled his mouth. He blinked away the black dots that filled his field of vision, trying to re-orient himself. He was on the floor, with Kunsel crouching down beside him.
“Ah didn’t eben see you bove,” Zack slurred.
Kunsel swore. Then waited. Zack probed his tender nose and winced.
“Aren’t you going to heal yourself?” Kunsel asked.
Oh right. Zack shook his head.
“Oud ob bana.”
Kunsel frowned and mouthed the muffled words before he understood what he’d tried to say. Then he let out a little ‘ooh’ and held out his hand.
“Just give me your materia then. I’ll heal you.”
Good plan. Zack reached for his bracer. It was empty. Fuck, he’d forgotten to reslot his own materia after training with Genesis. He wiped off some of the blood that had collected under his nose with his hand and sighed.
Kunsel eyed his empty bracer and exhaled heavily through his nose.
“Where is it?”
“Training roob B14,” Zack mumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and make the bleeding stop.
With an “I-told-you-so” look that could only refer to his insistence that Zack had been too tired to train, Kunsel got to his feet.
“I’ll be right back.”
When he was alone, Zack closed his eyes. He didn’t bother getting up from the ground. Aside from the pain in his face, it was actually kind of nice. The sun was warming him, the heat soothing his sore muscles, and with his nose broken he couldn’t even sense the foul smell anymore.
Shit, if he enjoyed lying knocked out on the ground this much, maybe he really did need a break,
It would all be worth it once he made it to First though. It had to be.
“Are you okay?”
The voice that had spoken was soft, and unfamiliar. Zack propped himself up on his elbows and sought out its owner.
A blond cadet had rounded the building, and apparently stopped in his tracks when he saw Zack on the ground. Not that Zack could blame him. It must be a pretty conspicuous sight.
The cadet wasn’t very tall, with a slight build, and crystal blue eyes that looked over Zack with reserved concern. Even if he couldn’t smell anything at the moment, Zack didn’t need to feel his scent to know he was an omega. Had to be, with those delicate features. Zack did his best to give him a disarming smile.
“I’m fine, just a broken nose from training.” Thankfully the slur was gone, and Zack gave him a thumbs up to drive the message home.
The cadet snorted. His spiky hair shimmered like gold in the sunlight and bobbed as he tilted his head.
“Alright.” He hesitated. “Do you… need any help?”
“Nah, my buddy’s getting healing materia,” Zack said. “What are you doing back here, anyway?”
He bit his lip and looked around with an annoyed little huff.
“Looking for barrack C,” he muttered. “Everything looks the same here.”
Shit, he was cute. Zack fought back a laugh at the sight of him pouting. If he wasn’t drenched in sweat and covered in dried nosebleed, not to mention stressed to pieces, he’d offer to show the way himself. Hell, he was tempted to offer anyway. But he suspected he’d made enough a fool of himself already, so he pointed instead.
“You almost got it, just go back around and take a left instead of right, and you’ll find it.”
“Okay, thanks.” The cadet started turning around, but paused and looked over his shoulder. “Sure you don’t need any help?”
Zack managed another smile and hoped it wasn’t too terrifying.
“I’m sure. See you around!”
“See you.” The omega shrugged and left.
Zack watched him leave, deciding it was not creepy. He was just making sure he took the right turn this time. When he was out of sight, Zack laid down again. His bones ached, and he was almost tired enough to take a nap right there on the ground. Almost.
It only took a little while longer before Kunsel returned with his materia.
“Shit man, you’re gonna owe so much for this,” he complained. “Someone had already turned it in as lost, and of course that stickler Stacey…”
He stopped, and looked around with wide eyes.
“What’s that scent?”
Zack sat up, reluctantly, he’d really appreciated his impromptu rest.
“You only noticed now? It always smells like this, I think someone has dug down trash or some…”
Kunsel rolled his eyes and held out a hand to help Zack stand.
“Not that,” he said. “Was someone here?”
“Oh, yeah, a cadet. Omega.”
Kunsel snorted.
“Yeah, I can tell. Shit. The alphas are not going to give him an easy time. Alright, hold still.”
Zack did as he was told, and a cool, green hue washed over him as Kunsel cast a healing spell. It helped with his soreness, too. He huffed a relieved sigh.
“Better?” Kunsel asked, and when Zack nodded he continued. “Good, now let's go to Donny’s. You owe me like ten pizzas.”
Zack laughed.
“Stacey, huh?”
She was one of the administrators who handled the materia storage at Shinra, and guarded it with the same possessiveness a dragon did its hoard.
Kunsel grimaced, and Zack laughed again and threw an arm around his shoulders.
“Definitely my treat, then.”