“You know, they don't give out prizes for being in the VR simulator the longest. Have you ever heard of a taking a break?”

Genesis voice cuts through whatever Noctis is focusing on, unceremoniously hitting the stop button with raised eyebrows. It's not like he's been waiting to use it or anything. No, definitely not. But it's fine. He stretches his arms above his head and yawns, plopping down onto the bench with a grin. “I've seen you around. Second Class, right? That's pretty impressive. Maybe one day you'll be good enough be First Class. Maybe. But look, don't kill yourself over it. Most people need to learn to be content with where they're at.”

The body of the president was still warm when Genesis found it slumped in the chair of the Shinra Corporation’s office. He was too late. He had wanted to kill the president for so long, but it seemed that someone had beaten him to it, which was unlikely, as with the high level of security it wouldn’t have been possible for anyone ordinary to even get into the office in the first place. Yet the president was dead. “Hmpf.” A little unhappy sound rolled over his lips as he grabbed the president by his jacket to throw him to the floor, he didn’t have much time before either Shinra’s lapdogs or the Avalanche scum, that was currently storming the building, would show up, but he couldn’t leave without finding out who had stolen the pleasure of killing the president from him.

Examining the dead body it seemed that the president had died from a single stab wound, a pierce right through the heart and seeing the shape of the wound made Genesis pause. He knew only one blade that could leave clean cuts like this. Masamune. But it couldn’t be. Sephiroth was dead, he had been killed in Nibelheim shortly after he had refused to cure Genesis degradation with the help of his cells. He hissed when his left shoulder, which he had once injured while sparring with Sephiroth, started to hurt, because even though it had not been Sephiroth’s blade to hurt him, thinking of his former friend always triggered the painful memories of the injury and everything that came after. Holding a gloved hand to his throbbing shoulder Genesis stood up, his gaze wandering out of the window that overlooked almost all of Midgar. “So, my friend. You are still alive, huh?” He shouldn’t be surprised, with Sephiroth being the most experienced and skilled fighter in all of SOLDIER, plus, he had always been the hero Genesis looked up to, finding out he was still alive seemed like another gift of the Goddess. A fond smile appeared on his lips as Genesis left the room to go find his old friend.

From that moment on it had been pretty obvious that his friend had been alive the whole time, he had just not paid any attention to the signs, the most prominent one being the hooded figures that all turned out to be Sephiroth copies. And following them, in hope of them leading him to his friend, he ended up at the North Crater. Of course he knew the stories of the crater being the result of the meteor, which had been used as some kind of spaceship by Jenova, hitting the planet, but that Sephiroth was supposed to hide here? It didn’t really seem like a fancy place to stay, but all the signs were guiding him there.

Luckily for Genesis the descent into the crater was easy, with him still having the wing that resulted from him receiving Jenova’s cells, but once his feet hit the floor he was overwhelmed with how powerful the lifestream felt down here. It almost took his breath away. Almost. But then Genesis saw him. Sephiroth stood with his back to him and this time he could feel this was not a cheap copy, this was the real Sephiroth; his long hair still covering his back, him still having this amazingly powerful presence about him. Genesis’ heart was about to burst out of his chest with longing.

Rivals to lovers || Accepting

It's not that Genesis doesn't want to see Clive, but moreso that he's embarrassed. What kind of dominant is he? He can't even communicate with his Eikon long enough to do anything meaningful. The more he tries, the more frustrated he gets. The more frustrated he gets, the more distant his Eikon becomes. It's a vicious cycle that he's having a hard time breaking. He knows that Clive just wants to help, but how can he?

So he sighs, stepping aside to let Clive into his room. It's small, only big enough for him, but such a thing is typical in the Hideaway. “It's not you…I'm just…I don't know. I'm tired of trying and amounting to nothing,” he mutters as he moves to sit down on his bed. His cheeks are flushed red from crying, eyes a little bit bloodshot. Barnabas robbed him. That's what it feels like, anyways. Genesis doesn't think he'd wish this on anyone.

"Could I see it?" It's a strange request, and not a request he'd ever make of someone he wasn't comfortable enough with, clearly.

Genesis was just minding his own business, flicking through Loveless for the millionth time as he sits there in the lounge. He hums to himself, glancing over when he feels Sephiroth approach and tug on the sleeve of his coat.