Chapter Text
Because having the chance to beat the shit out of each other with swords, with materia, and with fists on the regular wasn't enough, the alphas of ShinRa's infantry had developed over time all sorts of small challenges and tests to pit themselves against each other to see who was the toughest, the coolest, or the most dominant.
"Strife, come ref this!"
Cloud was three chapters deep in the book he had to read for his tactics class - a novel, for once, about a small unit of guys stuck in enemy territory with dwindling morale and supplies. He didn't look away from his paragraph, lying on his stomach on his bunk, and answered loudly, "Fuck off."
Someone laughed, and then the first voice - his buddy Imran - whined, "C'monnn."
"Strife," hollered someone else across the room, "Don't be boring!"
"Cloud!"
"Striiiiife."
"We need you!"
Stubbornly, Cloud finished his paragraph, then dog-eared the book and climbed out of bed with a sigh. A couple members of the room packed with alphas ribbed him as he went to the two in the center of the room, surrounded by the others.
It was like a fight club, except actual fighting was prohibited outside of combat-designated spaces. The hotheaded alphas of ShinRa's Infantry Division found ways around it.
As the rest of the boys crowded around, Cloud positioned himself between Imran and Elias, the challenger. Cloud knew all the rules to these games.
"Tip Over?" he asked.
Both boys nodded enthusiastically, planting their feet and bending their knees such that they were stable and had a low center of gravity. Cloud explained the rules even though everyone here probably knew them by heart. "Feet can't move. If you take a step back, you're out. You can go on tiptoes or back on your heels. Groin shot and you're out. Pull hair and you're out. No fists or you're out." Dryly, Cloud glanced at a boy behind him, eagerly watching. "Hit me, and you're out."
Oooooh, some people cooed, and Kasper at least looked apologetic. Cloud had a black eye for a week after that incident, and one of his other friends in the room had tried to beat up Kasper for punching Cloud, which escalated into a bigger fight and… it hadn't been pretty.
Cloud stepped back. "Go!"
Immediately Elias, one of the biggest and strongest alphas around, reached out and pushed. Imran caught his hands, though, and they struggled, snarling into each others' faces. As the guy by the door cheered them on, Cloud kept his gaze on their socked feet for any small movements.
Imran jabbed Elias' shoulder with the heel of his hand, as close to a punch as they could get without punishment.
Smack - a heel bash across Imran's jaw, and then a devastating push to his chest. Imran's back bowed as he nearly fell over…. Except his feet hadn't moved, and now he had his fists in the front of Elias' shirt. The other alpha was now bending forward, and he had no choice but to tow Imran back up or they'd both fall over.
Their fingers clasped together after that, their biceps bulging, teeth bared.
Then Imran smashed his forehead into Elias' nose, and the alpha fell to the ground clutching his face.
Cloud held Imran's hand above his head, the boy beaming even as he blinked the pain of the headbutt away. Then Cloud dropped it and went to his knees beside Elias.
This was the tricky part. Take an alpha who'd just won a battle - fine, whatever. Take an alpha who just lost a battle - they were often desperate to reassert themselves and save some face. They'd even fight the person trying to help them.
The rest of the boys mostly left this part to the less aggressive alphas or a beta, which was why Cloud so often was roped into refereeing. That, and no one really would get into his face to question why he declared someone the winner.
"Hey." Cloud grabbed Elias' shoulders, tense and drawn in. "Elias. You need a potion?"
The other alpha snarled at him, moving his hands to reveal a blood-smeared face. Those eyes were wild, pupils narrowed into pinpricks.
Cloud did not back down. "Hey," he said, a bit more softly. "You're covered, man, come on." At a gentle touch to his hands, Elias' erratic breathing began to slow. He nodded and Cloud helped him to his feet.
"Damn, dude," came a voice over his shoulder, "That's a lot of blood!"
It was a lot of blood, but it wasn't Cloud's problem, and he flopped back onto his bunk while pretending not to notice the three or four boners that had appeared from the obnoxious display of masculinity and alpha-ness.
He resolutely ignored his own cock's half-hardness and went back to his book.
Some of Cloud's COs and instructors took advantage of Cloud's… unique talents. One of his favorites, Lieutenant Patel, asked him to deliver a dagger to one of his drillmates. It wasn't really appropriate for a CO to go to someone's bunk.
They were separated by gender identity, and the recipient - Renée - was a girl and an omega besides. Not just any alpha could be trusted to deliver it without unnecessary weirdness.
"Thanks, Strife," Lieutenant Patel said, clapping him on the back. She smiled at him. "Have you fixed your posture problems in your hand-to-hand, by the way?"
A few minutes later, still grumbling, Cloud turned down the hall that held all the girls' barracks. Alphas, betas, and omegas all cohabitated here, like on the boys' side (all the non-binary folks shared one or two large rooms with bunk beds, and from what he'd heard from his one friend, it was the most comfortable place to sleep in the whole infantry).
It just happened that all fifteen of the boys in Cloud's bunk were alphas… which probably was on purpose, now that he thought about it, or perhaps not. The other dozen or so boys' rooms were all mixed, though.
Renée was, what, in room E? The fifth one had about eight girls in it at the moment, and Cloud knocked on the open door politely, his head poking inside. The alphas wouldn't have liked it if he'd barged in.
Eyes flicked to him, a few mildly hostile at first until they realized it was just Cloud Strife, and then they relaxed.
"Delivery for ya, Renée," he said, holding up the small bag with the carefully-wrapped dagger inside.
"Oh! Come in," she called from the top bunk across the room.
Cloud did, and when she gestured for him to climb up, he toed off his boots and crawled up there, blushing slightly.
"Renéeeeee," cat-called another one of Cloud's peers. She made a kissy face at them.
"It's not like that," Cloud said, waving her away.
Whether Renée wanted it to be like that or not it didn't matter - it was not. She tucked her dreads over one shoulder and smiled at him, her teeth gleaming white when contrasted with her dark skin. Cloud passed over the dagger and watched curiously as she opened it up.
She smelled… really nice. The sheets smelled a bit of sweat but mostly of fruity body wash and shampoo. She wasn't wearing scent blockers - most folks around here didn't bother, since they all exerted them off before noon anyway. He, like most people, was sensitive to the smells of those around him. He could smell aggression, anger, arousal, and more, depending on how close to someone he was. The smell of an unmated omega around his age always made him a bit dizzy… and yeah, okay, maybe an omega's bed really wasn't the safest place to be sitting.
Most of Cloud's alpha friends would be extremely jealous to see where he was right now.
The dagger was pretty cool; it had a spot in the handle for materia. "Ellen," Renée called; an alpha girl who'd been pouting as she watched them out of the corner of her eye snapped to attention.
"Yeah?"
"Toss me a Blizzard?"
Renée caught the tiny blue orb, and as she popped it in the hilt Cloud considered the possibility of Ellen nursing a crush on Renée. Small lines of brilliant blue color spread up the blade. Cloud touched it - ice cold, like the doorknob of his home back in Nibelheim during the depths of winter.
"I'm really going to practice hard with this," she said. Damn, she smelled fucking delicious. "I'll be able to slice a throat in the blink of an eye."
"That'll be awesome," Cloud encouraged.
"Maybe I can practice on you?" She held the blunt edge of the blade to Cloud's neck, making him swallow thickly. "Want to hit the training room later?"
In these parts, that was code for want to hook up after a half-assed attempt at training?
It was time to go.
"Oh, I'm actually hanging out with Zack Fair tonight. I should probably get going anyway."
As he climbed back down, two girls cleaning their rifles on the floor giggled at them, and Renée said sourly, "Shut up."
"Bye, ladies." Cloud got a chorus of goodbyes back and escaped into the hallway.
Truthfully… Cloud was decently popular around ShinRa. For a 'broken alpha,' it was awfully surprising.
It'd been the opposite in Nibelheim. Where an alpha was supposed to be loud - he was quiet. Aggressive - passive. Excitable - subdued.
The folks back home had very particular, outdated ideas about the ways alphas, betas and omegas were supposed to act. Cloud, who did not fit that mould, was shunned.
So, he'd tried to overcome his faults, turning bitter and so, so angry - he'd swung it all in the opposite direction, trying to be the most assholish, aggressive alpha around.
It hurt to think about those dark, friendless days. He was happier now, being just… who he was. It was just a happy coincidence that many folks in Midgar seemed to like who he was too. There were tons of people like him out there in the world but he just hadn't met any before joining the military, which tended to attract extremes of every stereotype and those that, well, stray outside them a bit.
Zack had gotten it into his head that Cloud was the most popular alpha in the Infantry. He even greeted Cloud at the bar that evening that way - standing, opening his arms, and announcing, "Hey, it's the most popular alpha in the Infantry!"
"Zack," Cloud admonished, stepping in to the hug and letting the SOLDIER squeeze him. Zack was so tall that he could drop his chin on the top of Cloud's head, and he did so.
"I just speak the truth."
Plopping onto the stool beside Zack's, Cloud sighed, "I'm not that popular."
"Would I, the most popular beta in SOLDIER, be talking to you if you weren't equally as cool as me?"
Zack had been playfully boasting, but Cloud frowned, looking up at Zack like he might cry. "...I hope so," he said pathetically. "You're my best friend."
Zack's frantic I was kiddings made Cloud laugh, unable to keep up the act any longer.
"And I dunno about you being the most popular beta either. You've got Angeal to compete with."
Zack flagged down the bartender and handed Cloud a drink - his favorite, gin and tonic. After taking a sip of his own he resumed the conversation. "Angeal doesn't count."
"Uh-huh."
"He just doesn't!" Zack sounded flustered. "You and I, Spike, we're lucky. We appeal to everybody."
For Zack that was certainly true. Betas, about fifty percent of the population, were ideal friends and partners. Generally speaking - and these were very basic stereotypes - they weren't as knotheaded as alphas or as willful as omegas. The kinds of pheromones they gave off invited companionship, safety, understanding. There was a saying about how everyone fell hard for a beta at least once.
In Cloud's case most other alphas did not find him to be a terrible threat and did not try to knock heads with him. Omegas felt safe around him, sure that Cloud was talking to the real them, and not just suffering their company because he wanted to knot them. (That was largely due to being raised by a single female omega his whole life, and experiencing firsthand how terrible self-arrogant alphas could be to omegas and to women sometimes.)
Cloud definitely wasn't everyone's choice of partner. A lot of people really wanted the kind of alpha Cloud just couldn't be - someone to snarl at anyone who would glance at their mate, who was aggressive and possessive, the type to hold you down and fuck you full of cum and all that stuff.
True, he did have some admirers in a romantic sense, but as far as friends went… just about everybody liked Cloud. Or, at the very least:
"You don't have any haters."
Zack leaned in, then, now on his third drink. Cloud's breath caught, like it always did when Zack got too close - dammit, Zack. "And if you do," he said dangerously, "I'll beat 'em up for ya."
"Thanks," Cloud said, smiling shakily. He sipped at his cold drink to cool down.
"By the way," Zack said, grinning widely, "I totally smelled you when you came in the door."
"What!" Cloud's head whipped to the side. "Really?"
"Yup." Zack leant in and inhaled deep, scenting Cloud in public like it wasn't even A Thing, and nodded. "Trees! And like… sap?"
"Dude." Cloud's cheeks hurt from smiling. Betas, unlike alphas and omegas, couldn't just immediately smell someone who wasn't wearing blockers - they had to get close to them first and form some kind of bond. If Zack could smell him now - that was good!
With fake watery eyes and a hand clenched in his shirt, Zack warbled dramatically, "We've come so far since I first took you out to that bar…"
"...Speaking of. Is that why you invited me out today?"
Zack froze, then looked a bit guilty. "Mmmaybe."
They turned around on their stools to face the bar, and they waited.
It did not take long.
They got close in the first place because Zack, after realizing how Cloud worked, had invited him out so Cloud be his wingman. Yeah, Cloud had helped Zack score quite a number of hookups, but they were real friends now.
A woman approached them. Cloud smiled politely; Zack offered a more suave grin. "Having a good night?" The - sniff - alpha asked. She spoke to Cloud, not to Zack.
"Mm," he agreed. "The music's been good."
She leaned into his space a little more, and already Cloud knew this was not going to work for him. He gave Zack the signal behind his back and Zack said, "We're actually waiting for someone, so…"
Even the most knotheaded alpha did not mess with a famous First Class. Zack's short sleeves showed his muscular arms; his previous grin was now a frown.
With a brief, awkward apology, the woman left. Cloud turned, thunked his elbows down on the counter, and sighed, "Sorry, Zack. I'm not feelin' it tonight."
"What's up?" Zack looked concerned, his glowing eyes trying to catch Cloud's.
"It's…" This feeling had been building for awhile. "It just gets annoying."
Zack read between the lines. "She was the really intense kind of alpha, huh?"
"Yeah."
The ones who got off on dominating other alphas, who were only interested in fucking him for the novelty of it. Sure, alphas mated with other alphas all the time, but it was a bit rarer. (Both Cloud's parents had been omegas.) The worst, though, were the opportunistic omegas.
Dominating an alpha? That was one of the most common kinks out there, and well - Cloud and all the other more chill alphas out there seemed like easy bait.
"This is going to sound really pathetic," Cloud said, already cringing, "But I wish I could find more people like you, who like me for… me, I guess."
"Aww. Spike." Zack gently punched his shoulder. "Seriously - you've got lots of people like that, I think. Forget sex - but you have a lot of friends, yeah? They like you for you."
Cloud thought of all the guys back in his bunk room. Yeah… they did. He nodded, Zack gave his shoulder a squeeze, and to change the topic Cloud said, "So you think I'm the least, uh, 'hated' alpha in the Infantry - what about SOLDIER? Who's the most popular alpha?"
"Genesis, duh."
"I'd believe it." Many of Cloud's friends were in Red Leather.
"And the most popular omega in SOLDIER…"
"Sephiroth," they said in unison.
Without question.
"What's he like?" Cloud asked, casually, to not arouse suspicion.
Zack flagged down the bartender for another drink. "...Awesome," he decided on. Cloud knew they were close. "Really. He's a good guy. Well - he's actually kind of a dick, but like, in his own way? Which I like?"
Just this little bit of information had Cloud quaking a little bit already.
"He's kinda like you," Zack decided. "He doesn't like it when people are into him for the wrong reasons."
Woah… like Cloud? His motivation - his crush?
"R-Really?"
Zack studied him. "Yeah," he said, smiling slowly. "Maybe I'll introduce you someday."
The thought was a little terrifying.