#but anyway. me Gongaga.

[icharchivist]

so one of my friends started ff7's og recently and he's been streaming to me how he advances inside the game (he played the remake, ended up hating it and thought the problem was that ff7 must suck, and then i started to ramble and it got him curious to try the OG instead. he's having much more fun so far)

i noticed a worrying pattern from watching him play, that he doesn't explore every houses or talk to every NPCs, and while in some places it's okay, in others well...... i get to worry.

so i told him "once you go to Gongaga take Aerith and Tifa with you as you explore the town" like i always do

and he laughed because "isn't Gongaga a meme" and once again i have to go :) yeah, anyway,

but so he went to Gongaga rn and he almost skipped all of the houses. And i had to go "no. you check all the houses. Please." and he was like yeah yeah

and so we reached Zack's parents' house and the moment they dropped "Do you know a guy in Soldier named Zack?" my friend audibly gasped like "no fucking way"

and meanwhile i was having emotions behind my screen as quiet as possible while my friend clearly was going through the motions like I See.

Friend in question has been nicknaming me "Zack Fair's most normal fan" so there were clearly dots connected

but man. I love doing that. Me making sure everyone who plays the OG gets the ultimate Zack Fair experience---

[rocketbirdie]

Weird thing that bothered me about Rebirth and I want to hear other people's thoughts.

Um... Why did they gentrify Gongaga? I can't be the only one who feels cheated by the chummy suburban development vibe in Rebirth.

OG Gongaga is an isolated village deep in a jungle. It's possible to completely miss the first chance to visit, because it's practically unheard of. All the young folks fled to the big city. A reactor blew up and killed most of the inhabitants, leaving the town in a state of decay. The houses are falling apart, the people are desperate, it's derelict and miserable.

An understated theme in the OG is how life is difficult without modern technology. Avalanche sets out to destroy these reactors without considering the consequences for their own futures, thinking "well it won't be easy but i'm sure it'll be fine." Gongaga is the story's way of showing you just how fine everything is going to be— despite being in a lush rainforest, long since violently cut off from Shinra's influence, these people still suffer immensely.

I wanted to see it in hd so bad honestly. The splintered rotting wood, the furskin rugs, the dirty brick walls. The unspoken yet unignorable trauma. The mournful purple twilight that quietly hangs over the whole village. I wanted to see the survivors' spiteful determination to make things work without mako.

Instead we got a squeaky clean Crisis Core rendition of Gongaga, with its down-to-earth upbeat stardew valley soundtrack and generic hard workin' country folk. The houses are like... twice the size i expected them to be. Neat and tidy, no holes in the roofs, no dishevelled interiors. No sign of struggle. Everybody is content at worst.

The reactor may as well have never exploded. Nobody talks about it. We hear some bullshit about Shinra trying to "make amends" or compensate people for the damages, and that's about it. Apparently everybody's just fine with this, because all of the original version's resentment and grief is gone.

Don't even get me started on the barker stationed at the town entrance. "Come experience nature's bounty!" Man... why are we treating it like a goddamn hippy tourist attraction. OG Gongaga would have had someone knock this kid's teeth out.

Idk I'm just sad. The melancholy is what made Gongaga so memorable despite its bump-in-the-road identity. I wish we could have gotten that instead of one big callback to CC.

[dangoulains-devotion]

on this late night i am thinking incredibly hard about how, when faced with a choice between preventing a new friend from harm + clearing up a misunderstanding and choosing the path that would potentially find him a cure for his catatonic friend, zack recalled marlene's words of saying that aerith liked cloud, and of course she did, because he (zack) wasn't there. hadn't been there for a long time

and after recalling these words and grasping at the ribbon tied around his hand, zack ultimately decides that by taking the right-hand path he can, with some luck, fulfill two of his own desires - 1) potentially seeing his friend cloud healed and healthily awake again, and 2) making sure that aerith will be able to be happy when she wakes if he succeeds the first part. he has not and will not let go of his adoration and love for her, but if cloud is seemingly what makes her happy in this bizarre world he's found himself in, he'll choose that option in a heartbeat, because her happiness means the world to him even if it means accepting that he's not the focus of it anymore. he just loves her so much . oh i'm in pain. zack fair the man that you are

[michi-chelle-draws]

inkuary 2023 - day 3

[autistickaitovocaloid]

miku it's len they put bugs in him

[tadpoles-and-daydreams]

Has anyone tagged @snake-spotted yet? How do I do that is there a form I need to fill out or..... /J

[lecliss]

Why is there a no commentary playthrough of crisis core reunion on tv??? Just the whole ass game.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Inspired by recent events - how would modern AGSZC handle long haul international travel? The airports, the flights and the inevitable jet lag

♯ Angeal always tries to find the positive and bright side of everything, so he's game for anything. He’s the one making checklists, planning every detail, ensuring everyone’s luggage is in order, and being just a little neurotic (just a little) he sees it as part of the fun and a way to ensure everything goes smoothly. Even jet lag can’t dampen his spirits! He views it as just another part of the adventure.

*Angeal kicks the door down*

Angeal: To whoever had the audacity to go up to the packing checklist I've helpfully pinned to the fridge and write 'calm down Angeal', I just want you to know that I'M FUCKING!! CALM! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO CALM IN ALL MY LIFE—HEY! GENESIS YOU GET BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN WHY I FOUND A WHOLE BOTTLE OF LIQUOR IN YOUR LUGGAGE? WE'RE GOING ON A BUSINESS TRIP, YOU DONUT, NOT TO A RESORT. IF I GET ONE WHIFF OF ALCOHOL ON YOUR BREATH I'M THROWING YOU FROM THE AIRPLANE!

*Sephiroth and Zack are watching from a distance*

Zack: Why is Angeal screaming at the wall?

Sephiroth: Don't look, Zack.

♯ Genesis loves traveling and views every aspect of it as part of the vacation, thanks to his aesthete heart. Packing is an artform to him, creating playlists for the car ride to the airport is essential, selecting books, and planning which episodes of his dramas to catch up on during the flight. Jet lag would be a downer for him, but he's rarely sleeping on vacation anyway, preferring to be out partying. But once he's back needs at least two days to recuperate.

*Genesis is sitting in the briefing room with sunglasses and a cocktail. Zack is fanning him*

Lazard: Commander, this is ridiculous. Your vacation ended two days ago.

Genesis: On the contrary, director. I'm still on vacation.

Lazard: Your theatrics are disrupting the workspace.

Genesis: No they're not.

*Sephiroth and Angeal walk in and immediately slip and fall on the sand that's scattered on the floor*

♯ Sephiroth is convinced that no one in the world hates taking trips more than he does. Work trips are terrible, and the 'getting there' part of vacations is dreadful no matter the 'distractions' he brings to keep his mind busy. Honestly, he'd be a happier person if teleportation were more widely used so he could just appear at places randomly. He's a homebody who loves the comfort of his own space and values his sleep, so jet lag hits him hard.

Zack: Hey, how are you—

Sephiroth: I haven't slept in 22 hours and if I don't drink something caffeinated and release my anger within the next minute, then I will be forced to enlist the help of the shadow that's been following me around all day to tape your mouth shut.

Zack: What shadow?

Sephiroth:

Zack, panicking: WHAT SHADOW?

♯ Zack loves trips, partly because his upbringing in Gongaga made him eager to see the world. He's just happy to be there, though he hates packing and always forgets to bring essential stuff like his underwear and toothbrush. But that's what Angeal is for! Jet lag is nonexistent to him because he can and will sleep through anything, as long as he has a comfortable enough space. The only thing he can't deal with about trips is the sitting still part... yeah, he needs to stretch his legs or else he starts to lose his mind.

*In the airplane*

Genesis: Are you alright? Your eye is twitching and your knees are shaking.

Zack: I can't take this anymore.

Genesis: Read a book.

Zack: I hate reading.

Genesis: Watch a movie.

Zack: I can't focus.

Genesis: Then do one of the two things I do when I'm bored—either poke Angeal with a back scratcher until he explodes or challenge Sephiroth to an arm wrestling match.

Zack:

Zack: Somehow I feel like Sephiroth breaking my arm is the safer option.

Genesis: It is.

Zack: Alright.

♯ IF Cloud survives the motion sickness, he will not be a happy camper during the trip.

Cloud: I feel like I'm gonna throw up.

Sephiroth: Ginger is known to reduce nausea and prevents vomiting. Consuming ginger in the form of tea, candy, or even chopped pieces can be effective to combat nausea and vomiting.

Cloud: Do you have ginger?

Sephiroth: No.

Cloud: Then why the hell would you bring that up?

Sephiroth: It's always nice to learn something new, Cloud.

Cloud: *visibly annoyed*

Sephiroth: I realize I've made a mistake. I'm in the splash zone.

[strayheartless]

Nice Cloud things that are pure headcanon but I like to think about (AGSZC friendship):

When Genesis first gets to know Cloud they bond over their mythology knowledge. Gen finds it fascinating to listen to Cloud about Fenrir and the old Nibel gods. Likewise Cloud is very interested about how Genesis worships the goddess. They end up doing some joint ceremonies together because their the only strongly religious people in the friend group.

Cloud is actually an excellent artist. He drew a lot when he was a kid and is mostly self taught. He bought some books when he got to midgar about colour theory and proper techniques and uses art as a way to destress often.

Following that he doesn’t really show his Sketch book to anyone, but Angeal has seen some of his art after they found out they had watercolours in common. It’s nice to sit with him and paint from time to time.

Cloud twirls his hair when he zones out or is comfortable enough to stim with people. When he was little he used to sit with his thumb in his mouth and his other hand twisting his hair. As an adult he usually only stims around Zack and his mom… though he has been known to let his guard down around Angeal too.

The first time he had a conversation with Sephiroth he very bluntly told him that he had split ends. He was later mortified but Zack and Genesis were on the floor Laughing.

He leans his head on peoples shoulders when he feels really safe. The first time Zack experienced this he actually cried. They’d all been talking after dinner and suddenly Cloud had plonked his head on Zack’s shoulder and closed his eyes. No one’s allowed to call it sweet or adorable. Cloud will murder them.

Kunsel once caught Cloud taking dog treats to the K-9 unit kennels. When asked why he liked it in there cloud replied “they don’t treat me differently. To them I’m the greatest person ever because I scratch their ears and feed them. I don’t have to perform.” Kunsel had to take a minute to compose himself in the brake room after that.

There is an older gentleman in the slums who stops to talk to Cloud every time he patrols. Cloud doesn’t really know why this man likes him so much, but he often finds himself helping the man carry his shopping bags and fixing his porch light. Cloud gets two days off a week and eventually he saves one of those every week to go and have tea with the man.

Cloud keeps most of his valuable things in Zacks spare room after a couple of cruel Cadets strung the contents of his footlocker across the parade square. Zack thinks of the room as “Clouds room” anyway, and he’s there most nights.

Cloud never used to like his birthday as a kid. His mom always used to try her best to make it special but Cloud felt guilty that she made herself bend over backwards just to make him a cake. With the first pay check he gets as an infantryman he sends her a gift on his birthday and hers to thank her for loving him.

Later when he’s friends Zack, they go on a trip to Gongaga and then Nibelheim to compare notes on backwater upbringings and to be spoiled by both mothers. Claudia makes him a cake and Cloud tells her he loves her so much.

[roeyliteratiforever]

(Rebirth Spoilers) I am so tired of shippers in the fandom trying to cheapen Cloud and Tifa's kiss, and say "Cloud only kissed Tifa because he was rebounding." Rebounding from what?! Cloud has known Tifa almost his whole life and has had feelings for her for such a long time at this point! He knew Aerith for what a couple of weeks?! I'm not saying that Cloud and Aerith don't have a cute bond, but I'm tired of people trying to to cheapen Cloud's feelings for Tifa or acting like she is some rebound. If she was such a rebound for him why didn't he kiss Aerith?? Someone was trying to tell me that the almost kiss between Cloud and Tifa in Gongaga was also him rebounding "because he was so hurt because he though Aerith still has feelings for Zack" (which yes she does she will always love Zack but that's not the point) Cloud and Tifa had a moment in Gongaga after he thought he nearly lost her and stayed up all night watching over her to make sure she was okay and then they have a heart to heart where Cloud opens up to her and gets vulnerable for the first time ever with anyone! Cloud has never opened up his feelings to anyone else, and in that moment he wanted to kiss Tifa because that's how he felt not because he was rebounding! Look it's fine if you ship Clerith that's valid, but it's so annoying when shippers try to gaslight us into thinking Cloud doesn't really have feelings for Tifa or she is just a rebound when clearly that is not true! Cloud kissed Tifa because he loves her and always has! If you really think Cloud is the type of person to use someone that has always loved him like that then I really don't understand why you would want him with Aerith anyways.

[prismaticpichu]

What Zack's nighttime routines/ brushing habit facial care routine if any? Shower routines? Does the boy floss regularly?

Does he have tinnitus or jeep any special white noise/rain etc to sleep?

*Zack glances up from the sink, freshly-brushed teeth flashing in the mirror as he plops his toothbrush back into a cup*

Zack: Heya, friend!! Excellent question!! As you can see, I’m currently in the middle of nightly bathroom scrub-up. Lemme show you around! 🪥💙

*opens the medicine cabinet, picking up his hairbrush*

Zack: This is my handy dandy brush-o-matic!! Keeps the spikes nice and spiky. Me and Cloud actually use the same exact brand, as a matter of fact! The kind that works the best riiiiight after a good shower. Speaking of which!

*he reaches behind him, grabbing a small silver bottle from the shower ledge*

Zack: I used to tease Seph all the time about his 2-in-1 rosy vanilla chinchilla-champ shampoo & conditioner… but it smells SO GOOD. Guy lent me all his extra bottles!!!

*he puts the shampoo back, reaching for his razor next*

Zack: This here’s my all-star shaving equipment! A litttleee bit worn out… but it does its job!! And it does a great one considering I try to keep my face as smooth as possible. Well—now, anyway! For the longest time, I always wanted to grow a stubble. Would always get so frustrated with how long it took. Really just wanted to look like, erm… Angeal. But then he kinda got up and left and, well… things happened, and… uh… Yeah I’m just gonna put this… back now—

*he fluffs his pillow, nestling into the thick cocoon of covers, letting out a yawn*

Zack: As a young squirt from Gongaga, it’s hard for me to sleep without the sound of the rain beading against the window. So I always keep my “dreamy drizzle” playlist shuttling on my PHS as I go to…

*he lets out another yawn, a content smile on his lips as he snuggles deeper into the covers*

Zack: …Sleep… ૮ – ﻌ–აᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

[rocketbirdie]

thoughts on gay cloud strife?

too many, actually........

He strikes me as the kind of guy who would pretend to have a crush on a girl because that's what he's supposed to do, right? And he doesn't understand why people make such a big deal out of it. love songs, romance movies, steamy novels, apparently everybody else is feeling some kind of feeling that Cloud just........ doesn't have access to. But he plays along with it. it's what's expected of him. It's not like there's any other options, as far as he knows.

but he's not interested in girls and he knows it, he just doesn't see anything odd about his obsession with SOLDIER. With Sephiroth. With these strong, confident men in their sleeveless tops and baggy pants and badass combat boots.

And when he finally gets to meet a real SOLDIER for the first time (Zack in CC), it's almost comical how Love At First Sight the scene is. What with its tender emotional orchestral swells and glittering snow and pretty-smiling hair-swooshing face reveal. Suddenly Cloud's got the giggles and he's trying to act all cool. then they're hanging out every chance they get. Cloud's inviting Zack to his hometown to meet his mom. somehow neither of them realize what's happening.

and it's over before it can even begin.

By AC, there are so many people who love Cloud dearly— whose love he feels unable to reciprocate because he never got the opportunity to learn what love is. He doesn't know that love is supposed to be more than just a sense of obligation. The way he sees it, he got a tiny taste of it one time, and it ruined his life and took the life of someone that, in hindsight, he loved.

[zaxxusu]

Happy Mother's Day

(a monologue, a kind of letters - originally published in 2014 on my old RP account that has been deleted by Tumblr, reposting here in modified a bit)

𝟣𝟧 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜

Mom, you scare me! No ghost under my bed, I know it! Okay, okay, I'll go sleep. Mom? You still there? Well, I have a dream... I wanna be a hero I'm gonna save the world! Hey, don't laugh! I mean it. I wanna make you smile and proud. Mhh... love you too, Mom. Good night.

𝟣0 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜

Sorry, Mom, but I must go. I wanna achieve my dream, and it can't be attained only in this small village. I wanna see the world. I wanna make many friends around Gaia! Bet you'd be all worried. Just pray for me and I'll do my best to make the goals. ...Wait! What's that? Come back with my wife? Hey, hey... I'm just 13! I'm back after I'm success. I promise... See me!

8 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜

How's Gongaga? Pops still alive and kicking? Is he seeing mushrooms from below already? Sorry for writing only now. I meant to write earlier but work stuffs here really extreme. Either you do nothing at all, or you do too much. But let's face it, there's never too much for me, anyway! Nah, I'm SOLDIER now. Already 2nd Class and gonna make it 1st soon! Which should be easy, hehe. I met a few great people. The great Hero Sephiroth gives me few trainings. Have you ever heard his name? He's the Hero of Wutai war! Soon, I'll be dispatched there and be a great hero too! But Angeal is my mentor, he's 1st Class too like Sephiroth! And I'll always be remembering his words, that if I wanted to be a hero, I have to embrace my dream and honor. He's on vacation right now. He said hi to you, Mom. And Kunsel! He's my friggin' stalker... but in a positive way! I mean... we're best friends! Well, he knows what he does, and I have a feeling he purposively remains in 2nd Class to have an eye on all that happens inside Shin-Ra. So yeah, I get along great with everyone. How's Sotetsu by the way? Tell him I don't forget him.

6 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜

Mom? There are so many things happened, I wanna help my friend. But I'm not strong enough to do. It is complicated... Though, not gonna give up and it'll be alright. Just like Pops always says: "If it's not alright, then it's not the end yet!" This one, Mom, praise your son! Well, I met a girl... at the church in the city slum. She's like an angel. Her hobby is tending flowers--bet you'd love her! I bought a pink ribbon for her, for a memento. She said she'll always treasure it. Then we went on a date! My first date! I also met another country boy! He's from Nibelheim and a Chocobo. ...No! I'm not talking to animal, not anymore! >////< His name is Cloud and his hair looks like Chocobo--all spiky and messy. He should try my shampoo or visit you, letting you mingle with his hair. Afterall, it's you who make me look the way I do haha.

5 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜

It's been a while, Mom. New season, new responsibility. I made 1st Class, but somehow, I'm not happy with it. I command an army now, rookies, so I can't let it make me down. And Sephiroth is my partner now, he trusts me. In short, I'm doing my best as SOLDIER--just as Angeal taught me, embrace my dreams and protect my honor. He's gone, Mom, but he's always in my heart. By the way, remember the girl I met in the church? It's a next level. I'm serious with her, Mom. Her name is Aerith. Well, she is... A bit spoiled, picky, clumsy ...and also can't cook. But I love her! Pretty is just a standard and normal is overrated--I love her with all of her quirks and flaws. She matches my energy. Whenever I spend my time with her, I feel respite. So, I can always keep up straight thanks to her. Will pick her to meet you, but not in the near future, I guess. Still working hard, saving money, building flowers wagon--she and I start this business. You must laugh but I'm selling flowers as a side job. We have a dream to fill Midgar with flowers. This city is opposite of Gongaga. I miss the greens, water, fresh air. So yeah, gonna make everyone here happy with the flowers!

𝐹𝑒𝓌 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜

Dear, Mom. How many seasons have passed? I wish I could knock your door, see your face right now, and apologize for everything. Sorry for not being a good enough son for you. Ha! A bit melancholy suddenly? I'm not homesick or so! Home is... where the heart is, isn't it? Just so you know, I still have my friend, Cloud. I won't abandon him whatever happened. I'll be fine, don't worry. Because if I wasn't, then how could he? I'm still in the road to be a hero. I'm not giving up in this rough and dire. I finally find a meaning and purpose. I think it's because of you and pops raising me--and my late mentor, honor to him. So, thank you, Mom. Pops, too. Say hi to him. PS: Oh, and... I dunno what Cissnei--that girl in the black suit--told you, but she isn't my fiancee! I still have my heart for my flower girl. And I'm on the road to fulfill her 23 wishes. Just to make that sure.

[meteorshcts]

starter for @askaeristheflower

Zack was not ready to die for his country.

For one thing, it wasn't even really his country. Shinra had simply annexed the whole Gongaga area, and there was basically nothing they could do about it. Gongaga had had its own army, sure, but it was nothing compared to the size of the Shinra army. Zack had gone to the capital city of Midgar to enlist, of course, because he had wanted to be a hero and defend his homeland.

For another thing, the fact of the matter was that Zack had no love for Shinra any longer. His hopes of somehow making things better for Gongaga had long since been abandoned when he had started looking into some things. Stories that didn't add up. Orders from the top that he knew were lies.

Angeal was dead, listed as a traitor, and Zack wanted to know why.

Unfortunately, he had turned over too many stones in his time, talked to too many people, and now Shinra was about to get rid of Zack too. He knew this was the case, even though the media hailed him as a hero for it. He was ending the long, bloody war with the merfolk. He was turning over a new leaf for Shinra. He was...heading for his own death.

He wasn't going quietly, of course; he had pushed back on the orders as much as he could have. But the orders came from the king himself, who didn't care to have his own son die, and there was basically nothing he could do about it. To continue to defy his orders would just get him killed anyway, and some other poor schmuck would be put in his spot.

He had also secretly acquired a potion from a local potion shop, one not affiliated with Shinra as far as he knew, for an underwater breathing potion. It wouldn't keep the merfolk from tearing him to pieces, but at least he wouldn't drown. It was potentially a bad idea, but it did give him a chance to get away, if that were possible.

Dressed in his military whites, Zack adjusted the stupid hat over his carefully styled black spikes, trying still to look rakish and cool. He knew it didn't matter, but this union would be attended by a lot of people, so he might as well go out looking his best. Well. He'd probably go out looking terrible and waterlogged, but it was the thought that counted, or something.

"Lookin' good, man," Kunsel said quietly from Zack's side. Kunsel was also in his military whites, but dressed down a bit from Zack's very formal attire. He wasn't the focus of the event, after all -- that was Zack. "You sure you don't want me to cause a distraction and you can get outta here?"

"No," Zack replied, sighing into the mirror. "But, yeah. I'm sure. They'd just hunt me down and probably put you in my spot. No point in both of us dying."

Kunsel said nothing. They both knew it was true.

Ten minutes later, the royal guard showed up to escort Zack to the ceremony, where he would be wed to the killer empress of the seas, the bloody Queen Aeris.

--

Zack had thought going in that he was about to marry a stranger, and that was still true, but he realized quickly that he had seen her before. He recognized that face, even standing where he was at the end of the pier. She hadn't been dressed quite so beautifully, and her hair had been tied up differently, but it was definitely her, the girl he had given directions to in the castle courtyard just yesterday.

He squeezed his white gloved hands together in front of him. He wasn't afraid to die, but he was kind of afraid she wouldn't kill him before eating him, and that seemed...unpleasant, to say the least.

The wedding was to be pretty stock standard for a Shinra wedding, with an officiator waiting with Zack while the Empress walked the pier -- an aisle, as it was. Many of Shinra's finest were gathered, and nobody looked particularly happy. But if Zack made one wrong gesture, he knew he would be killed instantly. So he followed the motions.

At least she's hot, he consoled himself, studying her slender frame and the flowing, gossamer gown she wore. She was decorated with pearls and seashells, and she had forgone the typical white dress for one coral colored, and the effect was stunning. The color complimented her green eyes, and the dress accentuated her curves. She was gorgeous.

Too bad she was here to kill him.

[closedrop]

Okay now that I’ve thoroughly processed the ending of Crisis Core, I have some thoughts

- I’m kinda upset that I was wrong about what was gonna go down because honestly I would’ve found it really interesting to see like the mako reactor blow up(?) is that what happened in Gongaga? And then Zack have to see that happen or something. It’s alright though I can deal without it ig…

- I didn’t actually realize Genesis liked poetry (cough cough LOVELESS) when I got my first impression of him and said “he seems like he’s into poetry so that’s a plus” and then when I realized I was right that was really funny.

-Speaking of Genesis liking LOVELESS he HAS to have read that book more times than anyone else imaginable. It’s just not possible for anyone to have read LOVELESS more than he has. Simply impossible. You can’t do it.

- I am still a big fan of all the little details that cause the future in Crisis Core, like Aerith’s bow and her dress too, Zack’s limit break, Zack helping name 7th heaven. And even foreshadowing like LOVELESS, because especially in Act I where it says “Three friends go into battle. One gets captured, one flies away, and the one that is left becomes a hero.” (Even though the game touches on this a little where Rothy and Genny discuss it) it can clearly reflect onto the fates of Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth. Although Sephiroth in his and Genesis’ discussion of Act I says that Genesis is welcome to have the role of hero it is actually he who becomes the hero I believe? That or he’s the one who flies away. It’s unclear to me because there can be multiple interpretations but here’s my take basically. *Ahem*

Scenario 1: Rothy is the Hero because he’s the only one from the AGS that appears in FFVII so hence “the one that is left” and he’s known AS A HERO before he kinda goes mad and kills a bunch of people. And that makes Genesis the one who flies away, this could be evidenced by how he is a deserter who worked with Hollander to try and stop the degradation orrr something like that but yeah.

Scenario 2: Genny is the Hero because of how Sephiroth and Angeal both died technically (idk the lore is weird there, Sephiroth like died but then he came back to life in FFVII because he was preserved or something?? I forgot- anyways-) this makes him the one remaining though, and Rothy flies away, as in he dies I guess. And also in the cutscene where he gets thrown with the masamune or something I guess he kinda like willingly throws himself down there using his singular wing (iirc) so that could be interpreted as flying away.

And Angeal… ehh let’s not dwell on it and say “being captured” just means he like kinda was killed by Zack or something. Sorry this kinda turned into my interpretation of LOVELESS mb

- IIRC Genesis basically created the idea for Banora white apple juice? Which is insane to me because how did nobody think of this before him?? Like, what’s with this child inventing apple juice? Let’s go?? I guess??? Good on him???

- I literally watched Zack go through the stages of grief throughout the whole game like at first iirc was like whaaat? SOLDIER and Shinra wouldn’t do this, naaaaah. Then it was how could they do this??! And just cover it up too!?? For why! And after that it was, him like (iirc) begging Cissnei to let him and Cloud go on since they didn’t do nothing but escape from testing that Hojo was putting them through in those test tube thingies. After this Zack is all depressed (not like he wasn’t before but he is super depressed now) because he feels like one, he can’t save anyone, and two, like he’s just been living a lie (especially after finding out about Lazard’s betraying Shinra), after that he continues to be tested on what he believes in choosing to in the end not to back to Shinra and instead protect Cloud then finally accepting his fate and knowing that the price of freedom is steep (haha reference TvT) and goes in to fight that whole army I guess which he most likely knows is going to get him killed, but he fights anyway for his freedom. And yeah that’s the stages of grief. You got Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, “testing” apparently according to Google, and then acceptance.

- This game made me like Sephiroth “Rothy” Sephiroth a little bit more than FFVII did because I got to see the side of him that shows before he’s lost to the madness. It’s interesting especially when you realize he is how he is in FFVII because he’s found out what made him. Poor guy 😔

- The probability of the “Silver elite” Sephiroth fan club being run by any of Angeal, Sephiroth, or Genesis is really high, especially when you consider the fact that they have information that nobody outside of those people would have. And the “never before seen” photos of Sephiroth/“photos that only not your average fan” could see. That information being though, the part about the training room and how apparently they’d like shoot an apple off the head of one of em. (Thin k it was Rothy slicing an apple offa Genny’s head? IIRC?) if I recall, it was said that they would SNEAK to be in the training room. Implying that nobody else knew about it other than them. It’s either that or they were really bad at sneaking. But the mail from Silver Elite said something along the lines of them sneaking to the training room to use as their personal playground, and if I recall Sephiroth says something similar in his flashback, saying they’d like sneak to use it when the seconds are out. (Sorry repetitive but yeah) so either it’s run by one of them OR that chairperson is very good at getting interviews with them.

Yes I joined all the fan clubs what about it? I’m a dedicated fan of all of them. Or something like that.

Idk I probably have more thoughts but it’s late and I’m tired soooo that’s all I have for now

[zmediaoutlet]

fic: the spare bedroom

the nostalgia bug has got me good, y'all. And man, it's so much easier to write for a new fandom, haha. For the four of you who might see this --

title: the spare bedroom pairing: Cloud/Barret rating: E length: 5000 tags: Game: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024), Gongaga (Compilation of FFVII), Friends With Benefits, Size Kink, Oral Sex

summary: After getting out of the desert and making their way to Gongaga, everyone splits up. Cloud comes to check on Barret.

(read on AO3)

Cissnei's house is nice enough. Small. A few beds, like maybe desperate folks have crashed here before. A kitchen. Maybe Tifa'll cook something, if they're lucky. Pay back their host for her generosity. From the burn marks on the stove they better not rely on Cissnei to provide.

Barret's not hungry, though. He's tired but he doesn't want to sleep. Piece of shit of a day, worse than just about any he's had in four years. He sits on the bed shoved against the wall in the back room and rests his elbows on his knees, trying to figure it. Between the plate getting dropped and losing his team and the reactor back in Corel blowing and his arm being shot to bloody broken bits—yeah, he's got a list. Previously he'd had the ranking pretty well defined. Maybe on some later day he'll feel less like a sorry sack of shit about the whole thing but right now, every time he closes his eyes he sees that holding shack at the prison, and he feels the hot dust under his fingers, and in his ears, his best friend saying—

"What are you doing," Cloud says. Barret jolts, opens his eyes.

"I'm bo-ored," Yuffie says, from her slump in the living room around the corner. "This town was supposed to have materia."

"It isn't just going to appear midair. I thought you were a hunter. Go find it." Barret snorts. Kid doesn't even sound like he's trying to be rude. Perfectly practical, that's our SOLDIER. Yuffie makes some whiny noise—Barret is truly not looking forward to Marlene being fifteen—and Cloud sighs, and like he's making a great concession says, "I think I heard the GYC guys talking about training with magic. Maybe you can convince one of them to hand something over."

"Really?" she squeals, and then, calling like to a distant friend, "Materia, never fear! You shall be mine!"

Running sneakers on the stone, the front door slamming closed. Barret tips his head back against the wall, watches the afternoon light coming in through the strange stone-hewed windows. Town's nice. Peaceful. If it were some other day he bets he could enjoy it.

Cloud appears in the archway. His lips part on seeing Barret and then he shakes his head. "Figures. Last place I look."

"Ain't everything in the last place you'd look?" Barret says. He stretches his boots out on the stones. "'Cause you'd stop looking then, right?"

Those big, pretty eyes narrow. "Right." Cloud studies his face and Barret lets him. Nearly all his awful secrets are out in the light, now. Don't make sense to pretend otherwise. Anyway, the rest of 'em didn't abandon him in the desert or kill him where he stood, so he figures little fearless leader here isn't about to run him through. Though, really…

"You need something?" Barret says. Better to head those kinds of thoughts off at the pass. "We ain't moving out already, are we?"

Slight head-shake. "Mission break. We don't even know if that reactor's the right place to look. Everyone needs some downtime."

Barret's got enough going on that he thinks he can be forgiven how it takes him a few seconds. Cloud's looking at the ground, his arms folded over his skinny chest, and Barret stares at him in silence until he sees how the kid's ears and cheekbones are going that telltale pale pink. He'd laugh if he didn't feel like his guts had been torn out and left all over the desert. "Don't know if I'm gonna be good company for that, man," he says.

Cloud rubs the back of his neck. "You're never good company," he says, after a second, and Barret's surprised enough to snort. Cloud's mouth tilts, barely, and then his jaw firms. "That was—messed up, today. It shouldn't have gone down like that."

"My best friend shouldn't have been mown down in a hail of bullets by Shinra goons? With it being my fault?" Barret shrugs. "Yeah, guess I'd agree with that."

Strangest look on the kid's face. He blinks hard, shakes his head. Barret frowns—he knows he sounds bitter but he didn't mean to make the kid cry, damn—but after a few seconds Cloud says, softer than he normally says just about anything, "I can't imagine." He stands there, quiet, while Barret takes a full breath, deep in his lungs, trying to clear out the thick tense fucked-up misery that's solid there, all of a sudden, his chest full of iron ore and sandstorms. Then Cloud steps forward, hands loose at his sides, cheeks pink, chin lifted. "Let me help take your mind off it."

"Cloud—" Barret starts, but Cloud gestures vaguely to the rest of town, interrupts with: "Yuffie's out chasing materia; Red's mushroom hunting; I think Cait's charging; Tifa and Aerith are… I don't know, they're doing girl stuff." He tips his head to the side, toward the real bedroom. "I'm betting that door locks."

Barret sighs. "You thought of everything, huh?"

"I try," Cloud says. He sucks his lower lip into his mouth and lets it out slow through his teeth, so it shines in the dim light. Nervous and doing a hell of a job of hiding it, and it might even work if Barret hadn't seen his badass act fail about fifty times by now. "I don't know how to make it better. Maybe it doesn't get better. But there could be an hour that didn't suck."

Damn if the kid hasn't had a 180 in personality from the day they met. Barret's heart's still lead, but—hell, the kid's right. He doesn't want to feel like this anymore. "Long as you promise it won't suck," he says. Feels heavy coming out but, damn, he's trying.

Cloud steps forward between his boots. "Or what," he says, dry.

Barret reaches out, flattens his hand over the kid's chest. The tank's thick wool, surprisingly soft. "Ain't got the energy to mess with you, man," Barret says, more honest than he means to be. Cloud's eyes change, quick as that. He gets a little nod. Barret curls a finger under one of the leather straps on Cloud's armor and tugs. Cloud leans down slow, bending at the waist, pausing for some reason when his breath touches Barret's skin—meeting Barret's eyes, checking, like Barret's some virgin that needs to be gentled—and Barret holds there like a stone until Cloud reaches whatever internal decision had to get made and sinks down the final few inches and kisses him, close-mouthed. Sweet.

He is sweet. Clumsy still, even if they've done this already. Barret holds him by the small of the back over the thick leather brace and lets Cloud take the lead, the weight still dragging at him, but distracted at least—the kid's skin smelling like salt and river-water and the jungle green they waded through to get here and also that weird sharp tang that's always around him, the mako seeping up somehow through his pores. His girl-soft mouth and his girl-soft skin, the touch of wet against Barret's lower lip, his hands warm even through the leather gloves when he frames Barret's jaw, when he sucks in a shuddery breath through his nose, when he makes this tiny deep sound in his chest, like he's tasting something he's been wanting for a while.

Barret's gut wakes, slow. Like it's remembering that he's a man and not just a hollow thing for grief to fill. He presses Cloud's mouth wider, licks his top lip, and Cloud shudders, lets Barret kiss him—deeper—his hands sliding from Barret's jaw to clench in his vest. Then he breaks away—mouth red, wet—and blinks at Barret, and then pulls at his vest, hard, that unnatural strength hauling Barret upright before he's ready so he stumbles forward into the kid, who catches him like it's nothing, and pulls again, until they're in the bedroom, the door slamming behind Barret's back as Cloud pushes him up against it. Cloud has to lift up on his toes and Barret has to bend to get their mouths together again but damn if it's not worth it, with the kid better every time, making those little noises like he's surprised, like he's learning something, like he didn't know he could like it. Hot as hell and not the first time Barret's thought it and certainly not the last, with this warmth building up in him. He was dead ten minutes ago and now he wants—damn, he wants a lot, too much, shit he can't do with responsibility about to come knocking any second, in the bedroom of some stranger's house, with a door that—

"No lock," Barret says, fumbling behind himself. Shit, shit—

Cloud stares up at him hazily, breathing heavy. "Fuck it," he says, rough. "You're a doorstop, right?"

"Screw you," Barret says, surprised into laughing, and Cloud smiles at him and then hooks his sword off that magnet on his back, leans it against the wall—careful like he always is, like the thing that cuts dragons in half will get chipped if he doesn't treat it nice—and then pushes right back in and kisses him, wrapping his arm around Barret's neck, pulling him down enough that it's easy, and then his other hand skimming down Barret's belly to his belt to the front of his fatigues, gripping there, small but firm.

Hell of a lot bolder than he was before. Barret grunts, dips and kisses the kid's jaw, lets his hips curl forward. He's not all the way there but Cloud's curious, feeling the length and the thickening girth and it feels—damn, just right, muffled pressure that's not enough to go crazy over but that feels—like a strong hand gripping his and pulling him out of swamp-muck. His nuts don't mind, that's for damn sure. He drags his fingers down the center of Cloud's back, pressing through the leather, kisses there under the kid's ear and grips his ass in a big handful, squeezes, gets a sweet tiny gasp against his jaw that makes him grin, all unexpected.

"Shut up," Cloud said, and then before Barret can protest that he didn't say nothing at all, he immediately says, "Do you want to—like before?"

Fucking the sweat-damp tunnel between Cloud's thighs, the kid squirming and panting and overcome under his bulk, so hot he's half-surprised the room didn't catch fire. Something that'll be good dreams, as long as he manages to keep his sorry ass alive. Still—"Don't think we can screw up Miss Cissnei's bedroom like that," he says. Regretting it sincerely but also somewhat glad to see Cloud pull back and blink, confused. "Made a mess, creaming you up."

His cheeks are about the color of one of those hibiscus outside, speaking of catching fire. "Right," he says. Just barely unsteady. Barret squeezes his ass again, pulls him in closer against his thigh, and Cloud half-stumbles and—yeah, he's hard too, stiff enough through the uniform that Barret could probably just get the kid to ride his leg, desperate and dizzy with it until he made a mess of himself. And that'd be fun as hell, especially if excuses had to get made about ducking back out to the river for a swim, but Barret's more selfish than that, and, anyway—

"Right," Cloud says again, harder, and then licks his lips, and drops without so much as a by-your-leave to his knees—drops, all at once, hitting the floor with a thud—and reaches for Barret's belt, and Barret's too shocked-stupid to stop him.

Belts aren't complicated and neither are trousers and Cloud's got him unzipped in record time, and that's also when Cloud gets to find out that it's been a long journey and there hasn't been much time for worrying about the delicates. He takes a deep breath and curls his hands into the waistband. "Commando, huh?" He flicks his eyes up.

"You complainin'?" Barret says, spreading his boots. Goddamn, that's a sight.

"I figured you'd need a special sling for this thing," Cloud says, cool as a mountaintop like Barret can't see his ear-tips glowing red under the mess of his hair. He pops the bracer on his right wrist and drags the leather glove off with his teeth, and it's ghostly-pale fingertips on the low of Barret's stomach, dragging down the trail from his navel to the bush he's let grow kinda thick and then touching the root, curious, feeling him all fat and ready. Ready—damn, feels like he could hammer nails—but he doesn't have to wait much longer, with Cloud's fingers peeling back the v of the fatigues and pulling down just enough that his dick—ah—pops free, hanging heavy but hard enough that it's standing out from his hips. Cloud curls his left hand around it—the leather strange and battered-soft—hefts him, fingers barely meeting his thumb—and frowns, and lifts up higher on his knees, and then dips and—presses his lips to the side, over the vein, dry, the heat just—

"Yeah," Barret says, thoughtless, and Cloud glances up at him hot-faced and then closes his eyes, licks instead, his lips dragging stutter-soft up the side of Barret's dick. "Cloud. You done this?"

He holds there with his lips just under the head, bangs hiding his face. Barret fits his hand around the back of Cloud's neck, something twisting so hard and vicious in his gut it almost hurts except that his nuts surge like he could shoot right now, no warning. He slides his thumb up over the soft hollow spot at the top of his spine, feeling the soft puffs of Cloud's breath over the head of his cock—quick, warm. "Wet your mouth," he says, quiet. Tiny space between their skin—he hears the slick noises, Cloud sucking his lower lip—and Barret closes his eyes tight but then opens them again, because hell if he's gonna miss this. "Gotta relax your jaw. Don't try to fit the whole thing. You suffocate, there'll be hell to pay."

"You'd bring me back," Cloud says, absent-minded, and Barret uses the grip at the back of his neck to pull him away—Cloud blinking up at him, startled—but he has to curl down and kiss the kid for that one, knocking his mouth open and really licking inside, pushing his jaw wide, feeling him—wet, yeah, slick and warm and good, and then he stands up again and brushes his thumb over Cloud's smooth cheek and watches him sway softly under that tenderness—what in the hell, every minute's like meeting a new merc—before Cloud licks his lower lip, and bolsters Barret's dick high, and bends to fit his mouth around the head.

Wet shock. Slick, hot—god, there are times Barret prefers this to pussy, of whatever gender. He's too big and most never offer, much less try. Cloud's tongue slicks smooth and strong under the head and Barret grips his hair, presses his hips hard back against the door not to fuck in and maybe actually cause an injury. Little grunt and Cloud pushes down another inch, pulls back, coughs. "Good," Barret says, like a dumbass. "That's good, baby."

"Don't call me that," Cloud says, but he must not mind too much because he licks a sloppy kiss there at the tip and tries again, sliding the tight ring of his lips down and down, the inside of his mouth—he sucks and it's the silk inside his cheeks and his tongue sliding and a hint, ow, of teeth, but with how hard he's trying even that's a kind of harsh hot thing that's swirling tensely at the pit of Barret's belly. Cloud switches hands, gripping with the bare right instead and sliding his left down to hold Barret's nuts, and he laps right at the slit, pressing hard, and Barret—damn, he's trying but he's mortal, isn't he?—fucks his hips forward, chasing it. Knocks into Cloud's throat, makes him yank back, coughing—and Barret does feel like a piece of shit, says, "Damn—sorry, sorry—" but Cloud, being a crazy-ass, says, "Shut up," and kneels up gripping Barret's hips and forces his mouth down. The angle's all off and he hasn't done this or at least hasn't done this with a cock as big as Barret's and he only gets maybe halfway down, but that's insane-making enough, Barret's cockhead threatening the pit of his throat and feeling that tight spasm, his hips pushing forward because he can't not under that demand, closed up in all that heaven. He's so turned around he tries for a second to grab with his right hand, forgetting somehow that it's been gone for four years, and ends up leaving his gun-arm laid heavily over Cloud's back, clanking against his iron pauldron. It's a mind-bending handful of seconds buried about as deep as anyone's managed in years before he remembers he's not supposed to kill the kid and he pulls Cloud away by the hair, his dick emerging into the horrible cold air slick and furious, calling him a fucking dumbass for not leaving it right where it belonged.

Cloud coughs once, slurps spit and air. Barret tips his head back and there are—fuck—tears in his eyes, his face red, his eyes furiously blue. Looking up like it's a challenge and like he's got not a thought in his head, all at the same time. Barret keeps his head still and pushes forward, his dick standing straight out from his hips, lets the cockhead kiss Cloud's mouth. Lets him lick at it, soft-pink and wanting. Pushes past, sliding the sticky-wet along Cloud's bizarrely soft skin, watching the fat dark of it smear along the pale cheek and past, dipping under his ear, brushing the soft ends of his hair until Cloud's lips are pressed to Barret's skin, Barret's nuts against his chin. Barret slides his own fingers against the underside of his dick, brushing Cloud's jaw. Cloud tips his head forward, forehead against Barret's belly. Kisses, careful, at his sack. God, if it were possible. If there were a dozen nights where Barret could hold his head just so and coax him and open his throat, feed in—all the way, past the constriction, in—

He can't wait. He spits in his palm and wraps his fist around his dick, and from lack of options—even crazed-headed as he is he's careful, careful, with the gun, nudging Cloud back with the muzzle against his collarbone—Cloud's eyes opening wide, darker, his jaw dropping—so Barret can feed the head in—just the head, jerking himself, Cloud watching and gripping Barret's hips and then his nuts and then just holding there, cupping Barret's sack and slurping and suckling and licking soft and sweet at the cockhead, this hot urgency in him, wanting it bad enough that he'd choke if Barret let him. Fuck, Barret could choke him. He wrings at his dick, that coil turning in and in and in on itself, tighter and hotter and clawing its way out of his nuts, and he should warn Cloud, should pull him back, should say at least—should say—except it's one of those things he knows, down somewhere deep past every other thing, that no, that this is going to be—that he will—

He bites his lip hard so he doesn't yell out. His hips jerk, once. He follows the pumping release, fisting up and up and up, drives—in—just barely, Cloud gripping his hips and then wrapping his hands over Barret's hand, holding it, letting him pump inside. Cloud's mouth opens and he gasps wetly and Barret watches the white shine on his lip and wrings his dick viciously to pull out another gob of it and then chases that right into Cloud's mouth, forces it back inside when he seems like he might lose it over his chin, and Cloud holds the back of his hand and closes his lips over Barret's thumb and sucks it clean, blurry-eyed, good. Fuck, he's good.

Barret stares at that, for a few seconds. Maybe for eternity. This insane fucker, acting like Barret's giving up the lifestream itself. His tongue pushing hard along the ridge of Barret's thumbnail. How he swallows, and gasps weird around Barret's wet thumb, and then swallows again. Then Barret's brain logs back in, or at least halfway, because he rips his hand away and grips Cloud by the bicep and hauls him bodily to his feet—fucks his tongue into Cloud's mouth for a stolen second to taste himself—bitter, god that's bitter, salt and bleach and Cloud's tongue—and then turns them around, slams Cloud back against the door and goes to his own knees, less gracefully but no less happy to do it.

"What," Cloud says, raw-voiced—god, god, because Barret fucked him there—and Barret says, "You gotta help, baby, can't do this one-handed," and Cloud stares down at him before he fumbles at his waist—rucking up the wide back-belt, peeling open his uniform, and there's—sweet, standard issue Shinra grunt white boxer-briefs with his little dick standing up so hard in them, pushing forward the cotton desperate enough that there's a damp spot at the tip, pink skin shining through the wet. Even kneeling Barret's too tall for this, though—he fumblingly helps Cloud push the trousers and briefs down to his mid-thigh and then picks up one leg, hauls Cloud's knee over his left shoulder to lift him higher—one boot thudding against his back, the other scrambling to brace on the stone floor—and it's awkward, yeah, but at that moment the bed feels a mile away and anyway he can just—"Oh!" Cloud says, as brainless as he's ever been. Barret slurps down, down, to the base—easy—while since he's had the pleasure but it ain't the kind of thing you forget. "What—Barret—"

Barret pulls off, kisses the inches of bare white thigh by his cheek. "Gotta stay quiet, you don't want the whole village coming to see," he says, and when he glances up Cloud's covered his mouth with his gloved hand, staring wide-eyed like Barret's something he never expected to see. Barret'd laugh at how fussed he is—wet-eyed and pink-faced and fluffy-haired as a chick—but it's more fun to grip his tight little ass with his good hand and push him forward into Barret's mouth. Stiff pole of it, leaking all over the place, salt and clean skin and again that strange metal flavor, a tang, somehow all off and weird and addictive all at once. Good mouthful, his nuts a sweet smooth package pulled up so tight to the base he seems ready to shoot, with thirty seconds' worth of decent attention. Barret wants to do him better than that, though, to give back even half of all that good—"Suck," he says, tapping two fingers against the metal back of Cloud's glove. A blink, confusedly hazy. "C'mon, now. My mouth's busy."

Slurped right in, after that. He ducks back down and laps at the smooth sack—truly, he'll never be over how the kid seems to be entirely hairless from the nose down—and kisses Cloud's belly and the knobby little turn of his pelvis where he's too skinny and bites real careful just under his navel, makes Cloud's cock jerk like it's on a damn lead up against the underside of his chin. His fingers are getting what he'd bet would be the gold-star VIP treatment at the Honeybee, Cloud sucking as eagerly as he did dick, and goddamn, if Barret were younger they'd have a real issue on their hands. Even so his nuts are interested, wanting another try.

"Good," he mumbles against Cloud's belly. Another jerk—his dick's pearling clear, oozing. Barret pulls his fingers out of Cloud's mouth and gets a stuttery little gasp, and then a choked noise when he applies them to the red dripping head, smears all the wet around. "Cover your mouth," he says, and Cloud doesn't quite obey but slips his own fingers inside, biting, and that works, too—well enough that when Barret slips his hand around and presses against his asshole the only sound is a chest-deep grunt, not something that'll get shouted to the village and the whole jungle, besides.

Cloud ain't a princess and he's so desperate he don't need coaxing; Barret rubs the wet around, feels him tight, flexing, and doesn't ask before he pushes his middle finger in, quick and all-at-once to the knuckle. Cloud jerks and Barret slurps his dick back in, sucks in little pulses to match his finger fucking in, and Cloud's naked hand fumbles to Barret's shoulder, grips his vest so tight Barret hears a stitch pop. Insanely hot inside. Maybe hotter than other people—those mako treatments, again?—and the ring of muscle clamping hard—and easy, damn, so easy, Barret scrubbing his finger along that front wall where all the good stuff happens and Cloud's breath going strange and high and whiny around his fingers, his thigh flexing over Barret's shoulder and his hips not knowing whether to push back or crush forward. Barret makes it easy for him, encourages the thrust, letting him rock between Barret's hand and his mouth. It feels nice, anyway, right, his lips tight, letting Cloud rock against Barret's tongue pushed flat and hard up against the base, his taste leaking all over 'til Barret's sure he'll only taste that salt-and-metal for days after. He can feel Cloud quickening, though, his tiny noises going deeper, his hips getting desperate, and he crushes his finger in hard and pulls Cloud all the way up against his face, his beard grinding against that smooth sweating skin, his nose crushed in against his belly, sucking, demanding, and—yeah, Cloud's breath stops and his whole body seizes and his bootheel bruises Barret's back and he—shoots, right up into the back of Barret's throat, quick jets that Barret swallows down right away before he pulls back, slurps soft at the head, gets those last few drops. Slippery as mercury.

Cloud's head is tipped back against the door. Fingers still in his mouth, his chest heaving. Barret kisses his cockhead, all flushed and wetly red, and his belly, and then, watching carefully, he tugs his finger out of Cloud's body and then presses back in with two. Thick—he knows, his two fingers are thicker than a lot of men's dicks—but Cloud swallows them up without a whine or a flinch, his body clamping tight but just—taking it. He missed his calling, Barret thinks, and then feels bad for thinking it but—not that bad, really.

"You're so good, baby," he says, meaning it about as sincerely as he's meant anything, and Cloud's eyes open up above and his head drops down, his chin against his chest, meeting Barret's eyes. Not protesting at all. Tilting his hips when Barret grinds his two fingers thick into that spot, his pupils huge and his lips open and everything about him seeming to say—go ahead. Go ahead, make me.

If only. Barret kisses Cloud's belly again, right at the root of his softening dick, and pulls out his fingers and then stands up, bracing against the door to do it. His knees crack, gun-shot loud. Cloud blinks at him, looking up of a sudden with Barret so close, and then gets one of those tiny, goofy smiles.

"Don't you say a thing," Barret says.

"Hm," Cloud says. He looks to the side, where one of the high windows is pouring in that syrupy late afternoon light. "Maybe we can get you a potion, later."

"Man, what'd I say," Barret says, and Cloud grins and then turns back and goes on his toes and kisses him, quick. Just this brief unselfconscious peck, not asking for another thing. He drops back to his heels and he's not smiling anymore but his eyes are soft, and Barret chucks him under the chin, gentle. Dumbass, crazy kid.

He zips up. Cloud gets his uniform back together. In less than a minute, other than how Barret's mouth tastes like cock and metal, looking around the bedroom, no one'd suspect a thing.

Cloud pulls his discarded glove back on, clicks his bracer back together. Twists his wrist back and forth to check the fit. Says, looking down, "You good?"

Barret takes a deep breath. He feels—he doesn't know. It's still this shitty day but it's not worse. His bones feel looser in their sockets and his brain feels somewhat clear and he doesn't—regret at least one thing that happened today. "I'm good," he says. Not exactly true but maybe there's not anything truer.

A steady look, sidelong across Cloud's shoulder. "Good," he says. A little soft. The tip of his tongue touches his lower lip and he swipes one gloved thumb across his mouth, like he's trying not to think about it. If he keeps doing that it's gonna be hell on Barret's composure. But then he settles his shoulders, and picks up that big-ass sword and lets it clank heavily into its place. Looks more like the badass merc he's meant to be. "I'm going to check on the others. If nothing's going on maybe we can rest here, tonight, go on to the reactor in the morning."

"Sounds good to me," Barret says. He opens the door—no one waiting in awkward silence in the rest of the house, thank the planet—and follows Cloud to the entry. Watches Cloud reach for the knob and then grabs his arm. "You—" Cloud lets himself be held still, looking over his shoulder. Barret clears his throat. "You meant it, huh. 'Bout having my back."

Cloud looks at him entirely clear-eyed. No weird tenseness or like he's thinking of ten other things or brooding on whatever dark-ass secrets he keeps locked tight. Just this kid—man, Barret amends—standing there with him. For a minute, steady as a mountain. He nods, once.

Barret swallows. "Hope you know it goes both ways."

A slow breath. "I'm counting on it," Cloud says. Means it, too.

Barret nods back, something settling low at the base of his spine. Something steel-forged, solid. He ain't got a lot of best friends left. He'll do what he can, for this one.