Raising Yazoo

Rating: R
Category: AU (Rabid Tiger AU)
Pairing(s): Yazoo/Andy (OMC)
Warnings: Badly executed teen romance.
Summary: There are many different types of education.
Notes: Birthday fic for orasa!

This story has an accompanying illustration by Animama

Zack managed to get himself seated, looking and feeling like a boated toad – an extremely heavy one. He perched his cup of tea on his ponderous belly, then looked across the room at Andy, who was seated on the couch, being stared at by Ralph. The decidedly not-cute and already large amphibian that Miki had claimed as a pet at age three was now a huge and very ugly monster with narrow suspicious eyes and teeth better suited to a dragon. Nose to tail, Ralph was eight feet, and fond of wandering into the house to glower at strangers. Currently Andy was the subject of his disapproval. Ralph had never bitten anyone, but he had a habit of raising his upper body onto his toes and craning his neck to stare into one’s face that was quite disconcerting.

“So how is Baby Bird doing?” asked Zack.

“Good,” said Andy, trying to keep body parts out of snapping range.

Zack had worked out an arrangement with Andy, secretly hiring the boy to tutor Yazoo. Sending him to school would be a disaster. It just was not a practical option, and someone would likely get hurt. Hiring him a tutor openly would also be a disaster; Yazoo did not respond well to any sort of authority. However with Andy he would let the barriers down and ask questions. Yazoo wanted to learn, he just needed the proper set-up. So Zack had taken Andy aside and made an arrangement with him; three sessions a week, for whatever length of time worked. Zack had a feeling the two were likely doing more than studying books, but he was satisfied that there was nothing going on other than a little necking and groping. Andy had already been given ‘the talk’ by Sephiroth, which had consisted of lifting the boy up by his shirt, staring into his eyes, wings raised threateningly, and snarling into his terrified face; “If I so much as have a nightmare about you having sex with him, I swear by the Life Stream I will render you impotent for the rest of your flaccid weaselling existence.”

Zack picked up his tea and sipped it, then distracted Ralph with a bit of scone, drawing the mighty amphibian away from Andy, who was much relieved.

“How good?” asked Zack.

“Well his grasp of mathematics is amazing, as well as biology and other sciences. He’s performing at a university level, to the point of where he’s teaching me. He’s doing less well in subjects like geography, but I suspect that is due to lack of interest. It bores him, so I’ve shelved that subject. His reading, however, that’s something else entirely. There is definitely something very odd going on with his brain and the way he perceives words and letters.”

Zack knew exactly what Andy was talking about, and nodded. “It has something to do with the genetic tinkering Hojo did in Baby’s brain, and since Yazoo is his clone it makes sense he would have the same problem.”

“So… Sephiroth is illiterate?”

“No he reads beautifully, writes, too. But after they made the final adjustments on his skull they had to teach him all over again. Well, make that I had to teach him all over again. The Weapons Department and the Bioengineering Department didn’t think it was an issue. If Yazzy is doing what Baby was doing then he’s mixing his letters up as well as the order of the words, but Baby seemed to get over it without much effort.”

“Hopefully Yazoo will as well. I never had anybody ask me to read them a book on quantum theory before.” Andy shook his head, smiling. “He’s brilliant. It astounds me how brilliant he is. He could be absolutely anything he wanted. I can’t believe someone would just… use him as a weapon.”

“Welcome to the ego that is Hojo,” said Zack. “The man honestly believed the entire universe existed for his amusement. He kept telling himself he was a sparkling intellect, but if he was then he’s the only one who noticed.”

“Well Dr. Shinra showed me some of his research. If you forget he was performing these experiments on humans then they’re pretty funny. Oh! I found this while I was digging through different Shinra files, so I saved it and printed it out. I thought you might like it.”

Andy handed Zack a large photograph, and the moment Zack saw it he began to laugh. It was himself, seventeen years of age and a newly-minted corporal, clad in an ill-fitting and sodden uniform. He had a huge cheesy grin on his face, his black hair dripping wet and hanging lank, posed next to his mildly amused commanding officer. Sephiroth was equally drenched, and both were covered with a liberal coating of mud from the knees down, just arriving back in camp after a quick survey of the area. Although Sephiroth had the demeanour of a greatly miffed Persian cat, Zack was surprised to notice the affection in his cold eyes as he looked at him, amused at his young underling’s boundless energy. Zack suspected the picture was taken by one of the many press photographers that were in and out of their camps.

“I have to get this framed,” said Zack. “That way I can prove I did once have a waist.”

Yazoo walked out of his bedroom, dressed like most of the local teens; jeans, sneakers, and his much loved t-shirt that featured the happy face with the bullet hole in the forehead. He moved quickly over to Andy, taking his hands.

“Am I pretty?”

“Prettier every time I see you.”

“Let’s go down the hill to the beach, I want to see the full moon. Bring the books; we can look at them down there.”

“In the dark?”

Yazoo showed him a flashlight. “We have this, and we can build a fire on the beach.”

“Okay. Sounds like fun.”

Zack watched the pair leave, narrowing his eyes as the two youths ran into the darkness and down the hill towards the beach. He had a feeling Yazoo was up to something, but Yazoo was always up to something. Why should tonight be any different? Zack turned his attention to his enormous belly.

“The problem with having babies,” said Zack, “is they don’t stay babies. One day aliens land, take their brains out, fill them full of hormones, and they don’t give the brains back until the kid is somewhere in his twenties.”

He looked towards the bedroom, and the large body flopped on the bed, visible through the open doorway. Miki had come home with a slight case of the sniffles, which had somehow transferred to her mother and mutated into bronchitis and a fever. The Great Sephiroth was currently a snoring, hacking, fever-ridden wreck. It was the first time Zack had ever seen him catch a cold, and had to admit that the timing could be better. Zack had two weeks left before he was due, and had been having faint, ominous pains on and off for the past day. He was envisioning his husband sleeping through the entire event, and Zack did not fancy the concept of delivering a baby on his own.

“Admit it,” he said softly. “You did this on purpose.”

***---***

Yazoo and Andy reached the beach, and Yazoo took off running, tearing down the damp gleaming sand, sparks of light from the phosphorescent creatures dwelling there lighting his way. Andy jogged after him, unable to keep up, chasing him until he was a mere speck in the distance, but never quite out of sight. He never left Andy behind, never forgot about his presence and abandoned him. He came racing back, damp, hair wild, eyes bright, catching him, pressing close, wanting to be held, and Andy was all to happy to give him what he desired, closing his eyes, smiling.

Andy had put a lot of thought into how he felt about this relationship, and how he was responding to it, and had realized that he needed what Yazoo was offering, which was unconditional affection. Yazoo didn’t care he wasn’t attractive, or popular, or how intelligent he was. He wasn’t using him to get better grades, or as a henchman to take the fall when he screwed up. Yazoo did not have a deceitful bone in his body, at least not the kind that formulated long-term and complicated plots. He was absolutely and utterly basic, the way an animal was. He liked Andy. That was all there was to it. If he did not like Andy, then Andy would know it. There was no second-guessing, no hidden agenda. When he had called Andy ugly, he did not mean it as an insult, it was merely a blunt observation. When Andy called him an asshole back, Yazoo had simply accepted it as his own personal opinion. In many ways, Yazoo was the purest soul Andy had ever met; there was no malice to him, no schemes, no evil. He was only interested in here, and now, and what he felt inside. Andy knew this would be the finest relationship of his life, and he was starting to hope it would last forever. His dad would crap lightning bolts when he finally found out his only son was in love with another boy. His mother however would likely fall to her knees and thank any gods who cared to listen for not condemning her beloved but homely boy to a life of utter solitude.

Yazoo snuggled closer, slipping his arms around his unlikely suitor, then kissing him. There was a new intensity to the kiss, a passion that had not been there before, and a quiet growl in his throat.

“I don’t want to study tonight,” he said.

Andy felt the hairs standing up on the back of his neck, and his knees began to quiver. The part of him that was a sixteen-year-old hormonal teenage boy had nightly fantasies about this moment. However the part of him that had read the files on Sephiroth and what he had done to the town of Nibelheim was less excited. Maybe he was misinterpreting what Yazoo wanted.

“Well,” Andy said quietly, “what do you want to do?”

“Come on. I’ll show you.”

They made their way down the beach, to a small grove of trees, and the secluded little clearing embraced by them. Within the privacy of the trees, planted centuries ago to form a natural gazebo for some lord or lady, Yazoo had set up a single lantern, a candle within a shade of green rice-paper, and it cast a gentle glow over the blanket laid out on the ground. Somehow Yazoo had managed to get hold of a bottle of white wine, which was set up next to a picnic basket full of various things, including a can of whipping cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup.

Andy just stared, trying to imagine how Yazoo would have managed to set all this up. Zack and Sephiroth kept a very close eye on him, both justifiably worried about Yazoo getting himself into some sort of a mess, and pregnant topped the list. But teenagers are crafty animals, and genetically-engineered ones with genius IQs especially. Yazoo knew what he wanted, and he knew who he wanted to give it to him. He had planned this evening out to the smallest detail, and, knowing Zack would pick up on any hidden agendas Andy may have had, Yazoo had simply not bothered to mention his plan to his intended lover. Andy felt his nerve begin to flee as Yazoo nuzzled close, nipping his neck.

“Yaz…”

“Mmm?”

“If we get caught…”

Yazoo shrugged, snuggling close, laying his head on Andy’s shoulder and blinking at him with eyes that were unexpectedly innocent.

“You’ve taught me everything else. I want you to teach me about this, too.”

“You could have picked someone with a little more experience.”

“I want you.”

Now that was a phrase Andy never expected to hear in his life, at least not directed at himself. And he never expected to hear it from another boy. Once he had rather hoped it would be the much-coveted Linda Boyd whispering those words to him. But Yazoo was beautiful, too, and far more accessible and warm, pressing close, his hands coming to rest on Andy’s waist. Andy felt his resolve begin to crumble with the speed of a sandcastle in the encroaching tide. He tried to fight the inevitable.

“Yazzy,” he said softly, “I don’t think…”

Yazoo smiled, and with the same teasing tone he had so often used on Loz, said “Well if you don’t want to use the orange-flavoured condoms, I’ve got…” He leaned close and breathed into Andy’s ear, “wild cherry.”

Cleary Yazoo had been through his older brother’s drawers. Andy closed his eyes and surrendered to the invitation.

“Well… I guess if we have condoms, it’s okay. But if they want to know what we did, let’s just say we worked on your reading comprehension.”

Yazoo shrugged, and pressed close for a kiss, parting his lips invitingly. Andy kissed him, slowly and uncertainly drawing Yazoo close. Why oh why was his life so complicated? What did two guys do together, anyway? He had studiously avoided asking questions about the mechanics of male/male love because he had a funny feeling Sephiroth would take steps to ensure it became a moot point.

“Let’s go sit on the blanket,” said Andy.

Yazoo hopped up to let Andy catch him and carry him to the blanket. At least, that was how it was supposed to work. A boy of Yazoo’s size would not have weighed more than one hundred and twenty pounds. Of course, most boys of Yazoo’s size had not been specifically created to withstand the amount of violence he had. With his bone and muscle density twice what it would have been in a normal young man, Yazoo weighed a whopping two hundred and forty pounds; a weight Andy was utterly unprepared for. So when Yazoo hopped lightly into his arms, Andy caught him, and was promptly pulled forward flat onto his face with all the grace of a collapsing sand bag. Yazoo and Andy hit the ground with a thud and lay in an untidy heap.

“Let’s not do that again,” said Yazoo, staring up at the canopy of leaves.

“You won’t get any argument from me.” Andy raised himself up and looked down into the beautiful green eyes, their expression soft and affectionate. He was so damned beautiful. And of all the people in this world Yazoo could have picked, he wanted him. How did a loser like him get so damned lucky?

They made their way onto the blanket, Andy flopping onto his back, Yazoo lying beside him, pressing close, resting his head on his chest. It was a heavy head, but not too heavy, at least not yet.

“You’re so beautiful,” said Andy. “I never thought I’d have anyone beautiful in my life.”

“If they saw you the way I do, you would.”

“How do you see me?”

Yazoo snuggled closer. “It’s not easy to explain. Things like outer appearances are so irrelevant. My attraction is based on physical things as well, but at another level. Most people are… stained… tainted in someway. They are filled with thousands of flaws and imperfections, and I see them all, lurking in their bodies. I smell it. I hear it. It sickens me.”

Andy wondered if he dared to think he understood what Yazoo had just told him. “You… hear it?”

Yazoo nodded. “There are sounds the body emits that warn of impending illness, and a stink from the pores. Usually it is faint, distant, but in some cases it is so awful I don’t know how people can bear it.”

“So… you can tell if someone is sick or physically unsound. The way dogs trained to sniff cancer can.”

Yazoo shrugged, unimpressed with an ability that seemed so pedestrian to him. “Others may not see you as beautiful, but to me you are flawless.”

Andy just stared at him, utterly astounded. It wasn’t the most romantic thing he had ever heard, but romance was in many ways over-rated.

“Yazzy… do you have any idea how many lives you could save?”

“No. Don’t care. I brought you down here to fuck me.”

On the other hand, some romance was a good thing. Andy smiled. “Well how about I open the wine, pour us a couple glasses, and we take it from there?”

“Sounds good to me, Chip.” Yazoo sat up, pushing his hair back behind one ear, looking thoughtful. “It’s funny, though, that you think I could save lives. I was bred to be a weapon.”

Andy picked up the wine bottle, wincing when he saw the label. He didn’t know a lot about wine, but this was clearly out of someone’s private reserve, not the usual cheap hooch that proceeded teen matings.

“Well, look at it this way,” said Andy, twisting the corkscrew into the cork and struggling to open the bottle. “You still are. It’s just now you’ve finally fallen into the right hands.” He fought with the cork, which erupted suddenly, and Andy belted himself accidentally in the nose. Yazoo crossed his arms and gave his soon-to-be lover a look Loz was most familiar with.

“Maybe in the future you should just leave the bottle opening as well as the heavy lifting to me.”

***---***

They lay together on the blanket, a second one pulled over their naked bodies as they lay close, the only sound that of the ocean waves.

“Is that what you thought it would be like?” asked Andy softly, staring up at the canopy of leaves.

Yazoo pressed close, his eyes closed. “I’m not sure what I thought it would be like. I had no idea. I don’t think I was expecting it to be… profound, in a way. I was expecting something more purely biological.”

“For some people it is,” said Andy. “People like Sheldon do it with anyone they can.”

Yazoo shook his head. “I’m not doing it with anyone other than you. But… I understand my brother better now, the way he wants to protect Zack, the way he would defend him even to the cost of his own life. I see now where that feeling comes from. My only regret is these stupid rubber socks.” He picked up a wrapped condom and looked at it. “I wanted to feel your semen inside me.”

Knowing now how incredibly sensitive Yazoo was to stimulus, Andy could understand how he would feel as if he had been denied a small piece of their love-making. He smiled and kissed him.

“Yeah well if you get pregnant my mom and your guardians are going to nail me upside down to a tree, and I have no idea to how my dad would react. Besides, I think there’s a lot of stuff we both want to accomplish, and ‘teen parents’ isn’t on that list.”

“You’re right. But in ten years you’re going to marry me and give me children.” He smiled evilly. “We’ll make Loz babysit.”

Andy had never met Loz, or else he would have objected to the idea. “I bet I’ll have the most interesting office Christmas parties of any doctor ever. Not to mention the PTA meetings.”

Yazoo sat up, looking up at the trees, detecting the faint sound of the first few drops of fine rain. The blanket slid down his naked body, coming to rest on one hip, artfully draping him, transforming him into living sculpture.

Andy just gazed at him. How could anything alive be that beautiful? Better yet, how could anything that beautiful be in love with him?!

Yazoo picked up the bottle of wine, examining it. “Still half-full,” he said quietly. He turned his head to look down at Andy. “Want to help me finish it?”

***---***

Andy walked Yazoo up to the door of the small house, the two pausing before the steps that led to the narrow porch. They turned to face each other, taking each other’s hands, and drawing close to kiss, tasting wine and chocolate on one another.

“I wish you could stay the night,” said Yazoo.

“We’ll get that chance,” said Andy. “Someday. I promise.”

They kissed again, and then reluctantly separated, Andy turning to walk away, Yazoo watching him as he disappeared from view. Then Yazoo turned, and abruptly found himself face-to-face with Zack. He gasped, startled, opening his mouth to speak, but no words coming out.

“You get your ass in the house and into the shower now,” Zack growled quietly, “because if your big brother wakes up and catches a whiff of you, Andy will be in small scattered fragments all over the yard.”

Yazoo’s eyes became large, and he felt fear grip him in a way he had never had before.

“But… how…?”

Zack tapped his own temple with one finger. “Empath, remember? Also SOLDIER First Class, with all the funny alterations. Come on, get inside, you smell like a whorehouse and your brother’s nose is sharper than mine.” Zack took him by the arm and led him indoors, shaking his head. “Yazoo, I swear…”

“Are you angry with me?” The voice was small, frightened.

Zack stopped, closing his eyes and sighing. “No, Baby Bird, I’m not angry.” He turned to face Yazoo, looking into the green eyes set in the delicate china-doll face. “I just want you to be okay. You haven’t had much of a chance to learn who you are; I want you to have that opportunity. And your brother never got a chance to be a teenager. I did, I understand how hard it is to not be a kid and not be an adult either, and I understand this is a time for learning adult things. I just don’t want it to backfire on you. It’s my job to keep you safe.”

Yazoo stared at Zack, trying to process what was being said to him. Zack led him into the bathroom and began running him a bubble bath, while Yazoo slowly began undressing.

“I understand that idea now,” said Yazoo quietly. “After Andy and I… I suddenly understood that feeling. Caring. Protection. But I don’t understand why you feel it for me.”

“It’s a perfectly natural feeling, Baby Bird, for an adult to care for a youngster. It’s how we survive as a race. Some of us, however, like Hojo, are born without compassion. If he had any, he would have raised you as a child instead of a piece of military hardware. C’mon, into the bath, let me get those clothes in the wash.”

Yazoo got into the bath and watched Zack gather up his clothes, taking them to the laundry room, returning in a few minutes to seat himself on the floor, looking at the impossibly pretty boy in the bath.

“Let’s not tell Seph,” said Zack. “Okay?”

Yazoo nodded.

“Are you all right?” Zack asked softly.

Yazoo nodded again. “I just wasn’t expecting all the emotions that came with it. I’m not good with emotions.”

“Pretty scary, huh?”

“A little. But… I really like him.”

Zack picked up the sponge and began squeezing warm water over Yazoo. “I like him too. I think you chose well. But please be careful, okay?”

“We were. I brought condoms.”

“Well thank the gods for that. But keep in mind that condoms can break.”

“They didn’t. But one slipped off, does that matter?”

Zack felt his heart and his baby lurch, panic enveloping his entire being. Then he caught the wicked gleam in Yazoo’s eyes, and the tiny, evil smile. Zack growled as he sat the wet sponge on his head.

“Take your own bath, brat.”

He left the bathroom, walking wearily into the bedroom, one hand on his stomach. The pains were back, though he didn’t think he was in labour. “Only two more weeks of this crap, Zack, just two more, just hang in there.”

Sephiroth was in bed, a large, solid form, sound asleep, running with sweat. Zack undressed, and slid into bed beside him, closing his eyes as he felt yet another pain. Soon there would be another child in the household; another child that would one day become a teenager.

He’d never survive it.