Ally: cheese and grape jelly, are you fucking psychotic? Why would you do this to us?
Emily: it's just like the --
Lou: what the fuck is happening?
Emily: it tastes like the bacon is a little candied
Siobhan: I don't like grape-flavoured jelly
Ally: what is wrong with you?
Murph: Dude
Siobhan: oh my God he's crying
Lou: I'm not Murph, I don't stuff the whole thing in my mouth at one time. Brennan you've been silent.
Brennan: I move through life as a person, who I would say, for a person whose whole livelihood is based around adventures, I'm not a very adventurous person. Siobhan famously roasted me about I get the same hamburger every day. And in my head, sometimes I think --
Murph: every day?
Siobhan: every day, he gets the same hamburger --
Brennan: that restaurant closed down, so I don't --
Siobhan: yea because they made up, they pretended their meat was good, and in fact, it was bad.
Brennan: it was worse than they said it was, but I still liked how it tasted. The, uh, in my head I will imagine sometimes what a risk would be like, what a change would be like. And in my head I go "that change would be not my favorite." But then I go "am I a coward and closing myself off to new experiences?" And every time I expand my horizons, I get slapped in the face, and it is not fun. I will stick with plain breakfast sandwiches.
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Can we get an angsty scenario of Rufus having a nightmare about Sephiroth? Or Sephiroth tormenting him in his dreams? (Post-rebirth after Rufus goes nuts and empties his gun into the Glenn/cloak thingy)
This was going to be shorter, but then the Rufus angst sneaked up on me and now we have p a i n ; enjoy
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Regret wasn't acquainted with regret; after all, his veins coursed with the blood, sweat, and tears poured into Shinra's relentless pursuit of power and profit. To suggest he harbored regret for his actions in Wutai that day would be overly optimistic and insincere, even for him.
The aftermath had indeed been uncomfortable, he conceded—sitting through the debriefing with members of SOLDIER and the Turks alike, rehashing the events in excruciating detail as Sephiroth’s glare bore into him with a scathing intensity.
For the first time in Rufus’ memory, Sephiroth sat alone. Typically, Angeal and Genesis flanked him, but fate had intervened, and Rhapsodos had deserted, swiftly followed by Hewley, leaving Sephiroth to occupy his seat utterly alone.
How was Rufus to know that Sephiroth had any connection to Lodbrok? All he had been aware of were the desertions of SOLDIERs Glenn, Matt, and Lucia following the mission to Rhadore years ago, when Sephiroth was still a young boy.. Rufus didn't doubt that Sephiroth had formed some attachment to them; after all, he had read the reports detailing how Sephiroth had defied orders and had been aboard the stolen chopper en route to the rapidly vanishing island. The reports contained snippets of additional information, mentioning a child named Rosen and alluding to Sephiroth facing consequences after his betrayal, but beyond that, the details remained sparse.
Even if Rufus had been privy to the full extent of the situation, he wouldn't have cared—or so he told himself. Glenn's death had been a calculated necessity, a sacrifice to uphold the order Rufus desired and nothing beyond. How could he have possibly known that the anguished cry that followed the gunshot had been Sephiroth's? How could he have fathomed that Glenn held a significance to the SOLDIER far beyond their shared mission years ago?
He often wished that Sephiroth could’ve seen his perspective, as maybe it would’ve been a pathway for Sephiroth to comprehend that forming attachments to people only led to pain and suffering—a lesson Rufus had learned all too well. After all, he had long ago relinquished any desire for a bond with his father, and his mother was only a distant memory. Rufus was intimately familiar with the unfortunate bond he and Lazard shared, both tethered by the same father. He admitted that he longed connection sometimes (and only sometimes), for closeness. It often gnawed at him, knowing he had an older brother who had grown up in vastly different circumstances, yet could potentially offer understanding.
But that had been years ago. Lazard was long dead, just as Sephiroth and Glenn—proof that people died, reinforcing Rufus's belief that nurturing attachments was futile and stupid. Sephiroth served as a poignant example, his rapid descent following Genesis's and Angeal's desertion serving as a reminder that friends were enemies.
Rufus lamented it. If only Sephiroth forgone friendship, perhaps he would have been spared the anguish, and maybe he would still be alive if the Nibelheim incident had been avoidable in any way.
It had been the reason Rufus felt compelled to keep Sephiroth at arm’s length when everything had still been ordinary. He returned Sephiroth's occasional smiles and waves, and often engaged in the small talk they shared at events. Though jealousy had once gnawed at Rufus's feelings towards Sephiroth, particularly when they were children of similar ages and he could sense his father's pride as he read about Sephiroth's achievements in magazines, time and maturity had gradually eroded those emotions.
Rufus awoke swamped in his silk bed sheets, sweat clinging to his bare skin like a second skin. His first instinct was to seek out Darkstar, who lay peacefully asleep at the foot of the bed, undisturbed and softly snoring.
Then, his gaze fell upon Sephiroth, whole and alive seated beside him. Rufus blinked, momentarily stunned by the sight of the long-deceased SOLDIER, before shifting his attention back to Dee—so much for keeping a guard dog.
"This is a dream," Rufus declared, his tone more a reassurance to himself than to the apparition. "I'm dreaming, and I'll wake up any moment now."
"Shall I pinch you?" Sephiroth grinned, the expression far too unsettlingly lifelike for Rufus's liking.
Rufus shook his head, his hand instinctively reaching for the gun tucked beneath his pillow.
"That won't work on me," Sephiroth stated matter-of-factly, his gaze following Rufus's movements beneath the sheets. "Unless you're trying to frighten me, but I assure you, it will be equally futile."
"What do you want?" Rufus echoed.
Sephiroth leaned in, and for a fleeting moment, Rufus could swear he caught a whiff of that unmistakable scent—the bitter tang of mako and blood that clung to him. Rufus reminded himself that this was merely a dream. "I want Glenn back.”
Rufus shifted uncomfortably, putting some distance between himself and the apparition. "You know I killed him," he admitted bluntly.
"Something you regret?" Sephiroth's question was calculated.
"Of course not," Rufus snapped.
Sephiroth hummed thoughtfully, then rose to his feet, his body outlined by the moonlight filtering through the windows, casting a shadow against the backdrop of the green glow of Midgar below. "Then you won't mind if I do the honor," Sephiroth remarked, "If I bring him back."
"You can't resurrect the dead," Rufus rolled his eyes—look at him, arguing with the dream apparition of a man long gone. "I'm sure you'd love to, considering the many you've lost—yourself included."
"But I'm not dead," Sephiroth countered, his smile aunting and subtle. "And neither is Glenn. You'll be working with him soon enough, with me, with her."
"Her," Rufus echoed.
Sephiroth took a deliberate step towards the shadowy corner, his movements slow and calculated as he kept his gaze focused on Rufus.. "All born are bound to her," Sephiroth's voice resonated throughout the room. "Should this world be unmade, so too shall her children."
He slinked into the shadows, gone in the blink of an eye.
Rufus released a series of tense sighs, struggling to contain the rising panic as he buried his face in his hands. Darkstar, sensing his distress, lifted her head and rose to her feet, stretching her body before padding over to him and offering comforting licks.
It was in that moment that Rufus realized: he had been wide awake the entire time.
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