#ffvii ficlet

[secondarysefikura]

Sephiroth kidnaps Cloud marries him in a secret ceremony(only Jenova is there to witness their union) before taking Cloud somewhere very hidden for them to live, where Cloud’s friends can’t find them. Sephiroth wants Cloud to be a very devoted wife, but of course Cloud isn’t going to immediately listen and behave as soon as Sephiroth brings him home. So he makes sure to correct any and all times that Cloud misbehaves threw “punishments”, really bad punishments. Cloud tries or even succeeds in trying to make a run for it and leave Sephiroth? Well then once Sephiroth catches him and drags him back home kicking and screaming he’ll break his legs(but if he’s feeling generous he’ll only break one). The two of them are preparing a nice dinner together and Cloud all of then sudden grabs one of the knives and tries to stab Sephiroth? Well the that’s either a broken wrist or a broken arm. Sephiroth wants them to take a bath together or go lay down in their bed but Cloud refuses? Well then when Sephiroth does get Cloud to sit in the tub or lay in the bed he’ll do so with a few broken ribs. Cloud screams at him and calls him such horrible names like monster? Well then, he’ll show Cloud how much of a monster he can be. Due to their connection which allows Sephiroth to read Cloud’s mind, if Sephiroth doesn’t like what Cloud is thinking of, ie Cloud’s friends(especially Tifa and Aerith) and ideas of escaping then he will be punishment severely for it. It gets to the point where Cloud is terrified to even think of his friends, or even so much as glanced out a window. Sephiroth does of course show a more softer side to his poor wife, especially when it gets to the point where Cloud is terrified to do basically anything out of fear that he will be punished for even the smallest mistake. Sephiroth is able to ease Cloud’s fears and help get him settled into his new role as Sephiroth’s wife. Eventually when Sephiroth leaves their home for hours so he can finally get his hands on the black materia, Cloud is always waiting by the front door to give him a kiss on the cheek before he leaves, like the good wife he is.

Sorry this took so long! I wanted to write a little ficlet for you!

Cloud keeps his wedding vows short and sweet: 

“I will never be your perfect little wife,” he growls. 

Sephiroth merely laughs. 

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.” 

— — —

When Cloud makes a break for it two days later, Sephiroth drags him back home by the hair. 

“That’s a broken leg.” Sephiroth says calmly while Cloud tries to escape his hold. 

He only planned to break one, but Cloud swears at him so he decides to break the other to make the lesson stick. 

Not that Sephiroth truly expects the lesson to stick (things are never that easy with Cloud, after all). Case and point a day after Cloud regains the ability to walk and he lunges for the knife Sephiroth is using to prepare carrots for dinner. Before Cloud can even touch the knife’s handle, however, Sephiroth wraps his hand around Cloud’s wrist and bends until Cloud cries out. 

“I’ll break the other one too, if you try that again.”

Cloud doesn’t try again, instead retreating to their bedroom to sulk with his broken wrist clutched tight to his chest. 

Much to Sephiroht’s surprise, Cloud listens well at dinner. He even refrains from biting when Sephiroth kisses him. It’s a nice change of pace, although it doesn’t last long. Despite Cloud’s earlier obedience, bathtime is still a hellish experience filled with kicking and screaming. 

By the time Cloud is ready to be taken in the bath he has more broken ribs than non-broken ribs and he’s whimpering pathetically everytime his body is jostled. 

When Sephiroth fucks him that night, Cloud can’t stop crying.

— — —

Eventually Cloud starts to settle into his role, even if he occasionally has little tantrums where he calls Sephiroth rude names and needs another punishment for acting out. There are no more mad breaks for freedom or attempted stabbings, just the occasional rude word or bitter cuss.  

Although just because Cloud isn’t actively trying to run away doesn’t mean he isn’t thinking about it. And Sephiroth punishes Cloud for those treacherous thoughts just as harshly as he would if Cloud had acted upon his desires. 

“Why are you thinking about her?” Sephiroth murmurs as tries to decide where to break Cloud’s leg this time. 

Cloud shakes as if he doesn’t deserve the punishment he’s about to receive. 

“Not the legs, please.” 

Sephiroth thinks it's really cute how Cloud hates having his legs broken. Perhaps that's why it’s his favourite part to break. 

— — —

The turning point comes when Cloud stops doing anything. Then, whenever Sephiroth checks Cloud’s thoughts, he notices they are consumed with frantic panic. 

He’s looking at me. Did I do something? What did I do? Do I apologise? Did I think of her? Should I beg? No, I didn’t mean to look out the window. Does he know it was an accident? Do I tell him I made a mistake? I want to be good. Why can’t I be good? I can’t…why am I bad?

It breaks Sephiroth’s heart to see Cloud suffer now that he is being good, so he goes about rebuilding Cloud rather than breaking him down. He peppers Cloud with kisses, ensuring not a single inch of skin doesn’t feel the soft curve of his lips. He mutters sweet nothings into Cloud’s ear and tells him how much he loves him. He washes Cloud’s hair when they bathe together and feeds him sweets from his hand.

With time, fear is replaced with adoration.

— — —

“Huh? You’re leaving?”

“Just for a little.” Sephiroth promises, “you’ll barely even notice I’m gone.” 

“As if I won’t notice,” Cloud smiles mischievously, “things will be too peaceful without you always getting in the way while I’m tidying up.”

When he gets home, Cloud comes to greet him with a kiss on the cheek before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the kitchen. 

“Come on, I tried my hand at some baking. Let me know what you think!” 

The slice of cake set down in front of him looks a little dry, but not too bad for a first attempt at baking. 

The taste, however….

“Cloud, this is horrible.” 

“Is it?” Cloud asks, stealing Sephiroth’s fork so he can try some himself. As soon as the cake touches his lips his face scrunches up in displeasure, “Ugh, yeah. I think I remembered the recipe wrong. I could have sworn mom used one of the big spoons of salt, but maybe it was the tiny one?” 

“I’ll bring you back a cookbook.”

Cloud grins and kisses him again. 

— — —

Months later, Cloud kisses him on the lips when he gets home.

“You got home at the perfect time. I just put the muffins on the cooling rack.” 

“How lovely, what kind?”

“I made those pumpkin ones you really liked last time.” 

Sephiroth smiles; he truly has the perfect wife.

[theghostavocadoe]

you wanted asks about headcanons so ok the remnants are somehow resurrected and they go looking for sephiroth, only to find him living happily and quietly with his husband cloud strife in a nice townhouse in kalm. they kick the door open ready to throw hands but sephiroth says: "welcome home, boys." and cloud says "have you eaten? i'm making pasta."

what do they do

In his utter confusion, Kadaj uses his powers to read the minds of those around him and figure out what the hell is going on. Is it an illusion? A dream? Some sort of elaborate prank? No, it's real. It's very, very real.

Apparently it had been years since the Remnants first walked the Planet and then died. Somehow, within that time, Sephiroth came back, befriended Cloud, and then married Cloud.

Yazoo was the first to play along to this family dynamic. He spoke up for the three of them; "We haven't eaten yet. Sorry for being late."

Cloud and Sephiroth looked shocked for a total of three seconds before smoothing over their expressions. The three blended into their little makeshift family while simultaneously investigating why this change occurred.

Turns out, Mother was not needed anymore. Since Sephiroth is home, she's more of a distant memory. As for the trio of brothers, Sephiroth and Cloud had been expecting them this whole time. They knew they would come back. They prepared for the door to be kicked down and for all hell to break loose.

What they weren't expecting was for them to fit in so quickly. While dinner was being made, they explored the house. They found rooms made preemptively for the three of them, though they were a little empty and bare.

Sephiroth ended up catching Kadaj alone in his room. That's when the barrage of questions began, demanding an explanation from Sephiroth. He answered each question calmly, patiently, carefully keeping Kadaj from tearing the room apart.

Kadaj held it together long enough until Sephiroth said two words: "I'm sorry."

There was a lot of yelling. And a lot of crying. Kadaj didn't know how to feel. Hurt, betrayed, happy, despaired, angered, relieved- It was all too much. So he left, locking himself in another room.

Yazoo and Loz said he would come around eventually. Sephiroth trusted them.

Dinner was ready, so they ate, sans Kadaj. However, halfway through, the young man ended up silently creeping into the room and joining the meal without speaking a single word or meeting anyone's eye.

Even in his silence, it was clear that this was his way of trying to be a part of the family. He was accepting their unspoken offer. Cloud and Sephiroth smiled to themselves the whole night.

Yazoo was the first to yawn after dinner was done. Turns out three rooms weren't needed; the three brothers were accustomed to sleeping in a giant pile to conserve warmth while traveling, so they all ended up fitting into one bed.

As they fell asleep, Loz muttered to the three of them, "We're home."

[icycoldninja]

Not sure if you do Nero the Sable or Weiss the Immaculate or any DEEPGROUND character but! Could you do fluff for Nero? If not it's okay!! And if you aren't sure maybe try Vincent<3 Whatever is easier for you!! XD

I know next to nothing about DEEPGROUND and characters related to it, but I am happy to do some Vincent fluff! Hope you like it!

My turn (Vincent x Reader fluff)

"Get off me." Vincent, a man of few words, uttered the first sentence he'd made for exactly 45 minutes. Up until this point, he had been sitting on the couch in silence with you draped across his lap like a large cat upon its owner.

"No," You replied calmly, nonchalantly, as if your conversation was nothing more than a discussion on what to have for dinner. Vincent let out an unhappy grumble at you, but said nothing more for the next five minutes.

"...Please?"

It was hard to believe this word even came out of the mouth of Vincent Valentine, one of the oldest Turks alive and a borderline goth, yet it did, and you were left speechless because of it.

"Well...uhh, ok," You stammered, sliding off of him in sheer astonishment. "Since you asked so nicely." You honestly expected him to get off the couch and stalk off somewhere to be alone and brood like he always does, but you were pleasantly surprised by what he did next. Instead of abandoning his adoring lover on the couch, he stood up, stretched, and then proceeded to climb into your lap the way a child does to a mall Santa.

"Uhh...Vincent?" You mumbled in confusion, as he nestled his head into the crook of your neck, his hair tickling your cheeks as he did so.

"What?" He replied, voice muffled now.

"I thought you wanted me to get off you," You responded with a shrug.

"I did," Vincent told you, throwing an arm around your shoulder and pulling himself even closer to you, if that was even possible. "It's my turn now."

[strayheartless]

Angst prompt:

Kunsel finds out the truth about Zack...when he's sent to find out what happened to that battalion of missing troopers.

… I asked for this. I must remember I asked for this as I write this from under a blanket in the fetal position.

***

Screaming at the sky feels dramatic, but right now Second Class Kunsel Zelda doesn’t care.

Using his enhanced strength to break Roche’s nose, when he points out they’ll likely be getting a promotion out of this, feels like too much of a reaction -A mistake even- but he really doesn’t care.

There’s other bodies in the pit but they could rot and fertilise this barren waste of desert for all he cared. All Kunsel could see was the body they’d dragged from the bottom. The one wearing the first class uniform. All Kunsel cared about was the bloodied broken body at his feet and the choking guilt and grief trying to crack his chest cavity in half.

He’d failed. Zack had been counting on him to find him… to find them and he’d failed. Again.

The evidence all pointed to a Turk cover up on a massive scale. This would have been a big job, ten maybe fifteen Turks all in one place… somebody would have noticed. Though out here there wasn’t many to notice a group of men and women in suits dragging body after body into a giant hole in the ground. Maybe he was wrong, maybe it was just Reno and a crane.

Somehow that thought makes Kunsel furious.

He’s shaking so bad his teeth are clacking together and it’s defiantly not the 100 degree heat.

“HQ wants us to wrap this up and burn the bodies,” second Class Adams says coming up behind him, looking at his phone.

“Anyone of you touches this body and I will kill you where you stand, do you understand me Second Class Adams?”

Adams flinches and looks up at Kunsel Shocked. He knows it’s because he’s not the confrontational type. The second Class that’s never climbed up the ranks. The soldier who just wants to work in the background. Kunsel Zelda, the second class soldier with first class clearance simply because he doesn’t wait to be told no. Nobody expected violence from him. Nobody expected aggression from the man who was best friends with Zack fucking Fair.

Because Zack fair didn’t do needlessly violent people.

“Sir, may I ask, who-“

“That’s classified.” He snapped.

“But you know who that is don’t you.” It’s not a question. Still, it sets Kunsel alight with the need to get in Adam’s face and snarl at him about who exactly lay at their feet. There was a sheet across the body now but he should know. They should all know who sacrificed himself for something larger than all of them.

Angeal had once said that the price of freedom was steep. Kunsel wished he’d slapped him right there. Because what a stupid thing to say to a starry eyed kid who just wanted to be a hero. A stupid, air headed, hyperactive idiot who believed that he was indestructible as long as he believed that to pay the steep price was to receive the desired result.

Such a naive idiot! A idiotic fucking dumb ass who payed a price that was too damn steep.

Kunsel doesn’t get in Adams face. Instead he crumpled to the ground and sobs with such force that his throat feels like it’s being torn apart. He cries and screams in rage and sadness because this isn’t RIGHT!

He should be here! He should be here helping Zack put this right. He should be standing beside him looking off at the skyline and mumbling about ‘what would Angeal do’ while Sephiroth stands in the distance looking like he always did when he saw death. Silent, deadly, but with that echo of great sadness behind his eyes.

Zack should be here. Cloud should be-

Kunsel’s head snaps up.

“Has a body been found that matches the description the professor gave of the escaped specimen?” He says as though he hadn’t just been balling.

“Er…” Adams looks through the list of bodies and their identifying features. “Not that I can see sir,”

“5’7, chipped back molar, childhood clean break on left femur and ulna indicating a fall from hight. Any bodies with DNA matches to the western region, Nibelhiem?”

“No sir, not a one from that area, not even neighbouring villages” Adams says puzzled.

“There are no neighbouring villages to Nibelhiem Adams the closet town is several miles out by plane. It’s isolated.” Kunsel walks down the line of Bodies that have been pulled out, then watches as the last are lifted. Not a single one looks like Clouds when he orders the shrouds to be lifted.

“He’s not here,” he whispers to himself. It should make him happy but all he feels is crippling worried. Not here means somewhere else, which means either he escaped, Zack left him behind (Kunsel scratches that one off of the list immediately,), or he was recaptured…

Kunsel looks towards Midgar. The sun was going down on them here, they’d have to move out soon.

“Cloud…” he whispers, “where the hell are you man?”

[professional-sephiroth-scrungler]

~Short Angst Drabble~

The rare times he shared a bed with Genesis were some of the times he actually slept well, slept peacefully. Sephiroth wished those moments could’ve been fit in more but between their busy schedules, the war in Wutai, and anything else that came up, it was difficult to say the least. But the lulls in their schedules did have somewhat of a pattern and that became the closest thing to routine they would get.

It had been a while since Sephiroth had gotten a semblance of good sleep and tonight was supposed to be a night they were spending together. He rolled over and felt the other side of the bed for Genesis. It was cold.

He had forgotten in his sleep deprived haze… Genesis had been MIA for several weeks now. The sterile whites, grays, and blues of Shinra Tower felt at least a little warm when Genesis was around. But now, even his own bed felt uninviting. And he was cold; so cold…

Sephiroth wraps himself up in the blankets tighter and rolled away from the empty space. He reaches for his PHS on his nightstand and flips it open, scrolling to Genesis’s contact. He hesitates for a moment before pressing CALL. He doesn’t dare let himself hope, especially not at this time of night but still, anxiety and desperation rush through him for Genesis to pick up.

He doesn’t.

He never does.

[chthontoya]

Cloud is a werewolf AU. Strifesodos week "Rot". @strifesodosweek

Warning, if you do the math, you'll notice there's an underage relationship, but that's not what story is about at all, thank you.

TW: cannibalism, death of secondary character, child neglect mentioned

Werewolfs are old almost extinct race with a curse on them left by Gaea for their traitorous nature. Strifes are the last family alive. To be precise, Cloud is the only one left. Cloudia died few years prior as a lone wolf without her mate. Even after she burnt her fur coat to stay with Cloud and grow him up, she couldn't live for too long. Cloud is traumatized by his mother's death and own wild nature, he is gloomy and sarcastic.

This has consequences for every SOLDIER with J-, S- or G-cells. All Genesis' clones die. Many of SOLDIER first and second class die too, most are in coma. The whole company is in chaos.

Date: early Autumn. Cloud as his initiation into adulthood kills Jenova completely (details later).

Genesis himself flew to help Jenova from the Eastern continent at her first call but was too late. He fell before an abnormally large black wolf and fainted from psychotic pain caused by Jenova dying.

Genesis condition was terrible. He wasn't tending his wounds properly after Angeal's death. Cure was barely working on him and most of his regenerative abilities depended purely on J-cells which all were mutated, similarly to cancer. With Jenova's death all Genesis unhealed or mutilated wounds opened anew.

Genesis wakes up in a cosy house in a small room with old but well kept wooden furniture. It's warm and smells with dry fur, which is a lot around him.

Through a headache, foggy feeling and hurting in the whole body, Genesis finally realises what have woken him up. The commotion outside, well heard even through a closed window. People fighting and screaming but two persons in the centre of attention: a blond man with a heavy looking black wolf fur on his back and much older one who looks like a victim and a villain in the same time.

The crowd is forced apart and people leave, what seems to be, the main square. The blond man with the coat comes closer to the house, accompanied by a beautiful woman of the same age.

Genesis finally meets Cloud properly. He's overwhelmed with how heavenly Cloud looks, and the man's aloof attitude doesn't worsen the situation but gives some exceptional charm. Genesis himself doesn't notice how he calls the man an angel. Cloud, though, looks like he's used to it - Genesis couldn't memorize his name during past weeks and was calling him this way.

The name "Cloud" is so unearthly that Genesis see it as a sign from Goddess.

Cloud tends Genesis' wounds and says the SOLDIER is lucky he wasn't killed by the black wolf. Or that Cloud found him earlier than any other predator.

Cloud have taken Genesis in and with help of local medics and nurses, he was able to heal the SOLDIER at least a bit. Cloud isn't going to release Genesis anywhere, until Genesis won't be able to leave the place through Cloud (physically fighting him).

Cloud explains the commotion that was outside: one of a local drunkheads, a widower, the last night almost lost a daughter to the local wildlife because he was too drunk to properly close his house. Cloud is full of killing intent talking.

Nibelheim is dangerous by itself with aggressive and powerful creatures roaming in mountains and in the mansion. O-whisps, hypnotic lights, make locking up in a house for a night a mandatory, especially for families with children.

The worst thing around Nibelheim however is the black wolf. The creatures have been seen only at night. There's always one in each generation. They are big, strong, drink mako like it's water, can use magic (presumably because of mako), and they eat people. There was no a generation in Nibelheim that not suffered from the bad wolf. At least, they rarely eat children for some reason.

Genesis has to stay for a few more days. Genesis learns more about Cloud, his family. Cloud is a hunter but he also watches the town's children in his free time which is a lot (the hunting isn't main priority for the town and Cloud earns enough money for a small/average family while living alone in his family property).

Both man find each other enchanting, but despite absolutely shameless flirting atmosphere between them, both proceed with care. Genesis doesn't stop calling Cloud an angel. The SOLDIER can't help but feel happy and needed when Cloud respond to his poetry reciting as if Genesis talked normally, even if there's so much salt and poison in the sarcastic responses that it makes Genesis wonder.

To the deep amusement of the Cloud's only friend, Genesis trains Cloud to use active-effect materia who is really bad at it. Cloud's problem, to Genesis' surprise, is that he tries to fully skip materia while drawing at the livestream. Cloud himself refused the training, knowing how bad he is. Genesis persuaded Cloud, though, promising to gift one of his summoning materia if he won't hate the time spent.

However Genesis wouldn't be himself if he would have not messed up here too, being a product of ShinRa, albeit not of the sorts they needed him to be.

The life with Cloud would be a good end for still gradually physically degrading Genesis. Cloud wouldn't hold him in the house or near, as soon as he is healed enough. They proved already that they are fine in mundane life together. And obviously for anyone staying around, Cloud and Genesis are romantically attracted to each other.

But it wasn't enough for Genesis. The SOLDIER, the Bloody General of Wutai craved revenge. And he hated himself for this.

With time Genesis was becoming more and more agitated, especially with rumours about few ShinRa SOLDIER first class sent to investigate the reactor.

So Genesis left. Slipped into the night during one of Cloud's hunting hours and decided to not to return until he'll make a hell for ShinRa.

Genesis is flying above Nibel mountains when he hears human screams and gun shuts. Genesis comes down. And he sees it.

The black wolf. A big, coal black creature, could easily bite off Genesis' head by the neck. Enraged. Blue mako eyes were glowing in the night. How much mockery of the "SOLDIER visit card".

The beast's nuzzle in blood and flesh. Seconds ago it had half of its head deep into some Nibelheimer's guts. Its paw, as soaked in blood, is on the place where the victim's hip bone should be. Judging by mess around the paw, the beast just squashed human there with its weight, maybe not even intentionally. The beast snarls.

The man's friend was now behind Genesis' back, and Genesis stops the other from firing again. The situation changed for the townfolk to act as mindless before. The morning is close and the beast might run away but to give the civilian a chance to escape, Genesis would have to engage it into the battle. Well, it's something Genesis is famous for.

The beast snarls warningly the moment Genesis gets out the rapier. The snarl intensifies when materia in the weapon start resonate. They launch into each other. Fire and blizzard power fill the air immediately.

In pure kill or die situation, Genesis would have died. Luckily for him, he just needs to hold off the beast long enough and this means he has enough power to spare on defence. They lock again and again. Air full of magic: smell of melt water, ozone and fresh dirt.

Finally Genesis sees an opening and slashes harshly at the beast's front. The creature howls agonizingly. It looks even more enraged now and somehow betrayed.

The beast runs away.

Genesis sinks down to the ground. The healed wounds hurt from the inside. The bitch on his shoulder burns especially viciously.

Genesis looks down. The beast's dead victim is the drunkhead from the scandal at the first coherent day in Nibelheim. Genesis wonders if Cloud will take his daughter in now, when both of her parents are dead.

Cloud. Should Genesis see him? Panting the SOLDIER gets up. He should've said his goodbyes properly, not fleeting like with Angeal.

The thought of Angeal makes Genesis get up, panting from the pain, and go back to the familiar house. The light from morning sun isn't warm but pleasant.

Genesis lands in the backyard. He opens the door and goes inside. There's so much blood. A lot of it. Too much. It was as if Cloud returned with a deep injury. Genesis doesn't like his conclusions.

A click of Cloud's gun. A grunt to get the fuck out and never return. A sound of a slight uncharacteristic for Cloud trembling in the hand, as if fighting with himself.

Genesis finally rises his eyes at Cloud. Yes. Deep shoulder-chest cut of his rapier is there and still bleeding even through rapid healing - Genesis isn't "Bloody" for his hair colour. Genesis laughs hystericaly and leaves. Of course, he fucking would. Injuring his dear people engraved into his soul like a rot that started from a seed.

Genesis gets on Cloud's roof to finally say his goodbyes. In autumn air of Nibelheim some red orb slips to the flue of Strife's house. Genesis sets off into the brightening sky.

P.S.: Okay, knowing it's a much shortened version of what I planned for a first of seven chapters, I really was too harsh on myself expecting me to write it all in a month, planning included.

P.p.s.: Yay! I'm finally not late for the event, even if it less than what I was hoping for

[nsuyeula]

So I was taking photos of all the Costa Del Sol outfits for future drawing references and noticed this small charm on the back of Aeriths swimsuit 💕

[goddessofroyalty]

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII

Verse: Cloud is the Remnant’s carrier

Opened the scribble book to write another thing and found this in there that I kept meaning to type up and forgetting to. It’s also been long enough where I feel like this isn’t in the spoilers territory (which it still kind of isn’t because of how the game actually ended vs this being if Zack’s universe did get merged with the main one)

Tags: mpreg, omegaverse, implications of science fuckery

----------------

It’s weird returning to Elymira’s house after everything.

Aerith and Cloud aren’t upstairs comatose in their recovery from what happened to them. Instead they are right there in the living room – Aerith leaning on Cloud to whisper something in his ear that makes his eyes go wide and glance up at the stairs and back at Zack.

She seems to know what happened in the alternative timelines before they collapsed in on each other so Zack figures she is just telling Cloud about how Zack looked after them both. He pays it no mind how she puts her finger in front of her mouth in clear indication for Cloud not to say anything before grabbing hold of Tifa’s arm and leading her upstairs. She probably wants to show Tifa something in her room. Five years ago Zack wouldn’t have assumed the two of them would be friends but they seem to almost share thoughts at times with how close they are.

It’s nice to know Aerith isn’t as alone anymore.

“Thank you again for looking after my Marlene,” Barret says to Elmyra, drawing Zack back into the conversation as Cloud leans against one of the walls.

“It’s no bother,” Elmyra says. “She’s a sweet girl. A pleasure to look after. Unlike some other children.”

She looks over at Cloud at the comment and Spike just shrugs his shoulders not even meeting her gaze. Zack feels, far from the first time, like he’s missing out on something important.

“Well what do you expect with where they came from?” Barret jokes. “Ain’t no way they weren’t gonna’ be handfuls.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Elmyra says with the same awkward humor and Zack is about to ask what it is they are talking about when footsteps rush down the stairs.

“Daddy!” Marlene calls, throwing herself into Barret’s arms and the tough guide façade of his immediately melts as he wraps his daughter into a tight hug.

“Oh my baby girl I’ve missed you so much,” Barret practically sobs. And it’s sweet to see just how much he cares about his daughter.

The two eventually separates and Marlene goes over to where Cloud is. Waiting for him to kneel down to her height so she can talk to him at mostly the same leave.

“I made sure they were safe,” she says.” Nobody came after them.”

A flicker of surprise crosses Cloud’s face before it settles on a serious one.

“Thank you.”

Marlene nods at it before returning to her dad. She clings onto his leg before finally noticing Zack.

“Who are you?”

“What do you mean who am I?” Zack asks before remembering this isn’t the Marlene he lived with while waiting for Aerith and Cloud to wake up.

He kneels down in front of her because while she may not be the Marlene he remembers she clearly also likes when people talk to her at her level instead of down at her.

“I’m Zack Fair,” he says holding out his hand. “And, well, I don’t know if you will understand but I come from a world where things happened differently.”

“And you knew me?” Marlene asks, curious but firm.

“Sure did! I was kind of like you’re… uncle Zack.” Or close enough to it. And he kind of likes the idea of being called that.

“Uncle huh?” Cloud says and Zack’s a bit surprise he has any comment on it. “Want to meet your nephews then?”

“My nephews?” Zack doesn’t remember there being any other kids staying with Elmyra and even with all the timeline confusion he’s pretty sure he would.

Aerith and Tifa returning downstairs clarifies some of his confusion. Aerith carrying one crying silver-haired baby and Tifa two, more settled, ones.

“Wha-?”

“They’re mine,” Cloud says as he takes the baby off Aerith so she can relieve Tifa of one of the other two. His tone short in the way he talks when he doesn’t want more questions asked. “Hojo.”

“I-“ Zack doesn’t know if Hojo is a better explanation than the one he had immediately thought of when told that Cloud had three silver-haired babies. “Shit Spike.”

“No swearing around the kids!” Barret snaps like this situation doesn’t deserve much stronger curses than shit.

If Zack could he would revive even piece of shit scientist just to kill them himself. Hell, he might see if Aerith can pull some timeline strings so he can go kill some other version of the fucker to see if it will make him feel slightly better at not being able to prevent the asshole from ever getting his hands on Cloud.

Cloud just shrugs.

Zack supposes that’s the only response to give. What else is there to do with three babies clearly made from Sephiroth’s DNA? Give them back to Shinra for whatever lackeys of Hojo’s that are left alive to poke at and try and turn into the next generation of Shinra Super SOLDIERs?

“Okay.” It’s not like Zack’s gonna’ just leave them for Cloud to deal with alone even if it’s clear the others don’t plan on it either. “I’m not sure what to do with a baby but I’ll be the best uncle around.”

And maybe doing that will relieve him of his guild for everyone he failed.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Onomastics

⏤ crisis core: final fantasy vii.

⏤ fluff; ;in which a certain baby boy needs a name.

⏤ wc: 900

⏤ a/n: i like to hc that genesis's parents aren't complete assholes. so i wrote this fluffy scenario as a small writing exercise :) p.s. i'm pretty sure his parents' names haven't ever been revealed in canon, but i read somewhere that they're called Uriah and Seraphina so that's what I've been calling them in my head all along

✏︎ on·o·mas·tics (noun): the study of the history and origin of proper names, especially personal names.

⏤

“Angeal?”

The red leather creaked as he leaned back, sinking into the chair and bracing his head on his open palm. The name reverberated back into his pool of thought, stretching and molding itself as he considered it. No, he thought, Angeal Rhapsodos doesn't sound right either.

A miffed huff from the female voice at the armchair redirected his attention. Seraphina Rhapsodos sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, balancing a notepad on her knees where she now crossed off the name from the list.

"I know, I know," she furiously scratched the pen against the paper, "but it's the name Gillian suggested and I don't have the heart not to consider it."

The corner of Uriah’s lips quirked upward at the sight. She wiggled her bare toes, scratching her head with the back end of the pen and entangling her messy, brown hair with the utensil.

Seraphina had been a sight to behold for the past two days. She had foregone her fashionable clothes and finery for whatever garbs she saw first, briskly throwing them on. She didn't want to waste even a second away from the baby.

Gillian had a complicated pregnancy and an even more tumultuous delivery. The culmination of monitoring the surrogate's unstable health, then worrying for the child's life had drank up all their attention up until they welcomed the baby. A healthy baby boy.

A nameless, healthy baby boy.

"Maelstrom?" Seraphina suggested.

Uriah immediately grimaced. "Maelstrom Rhapsodos. He won't be able to spell his name."

"Wallace?" She tried.

"Goddess no, that's horrid."

"Azariah?"

"No. Remember my late uncle Azariah? He was a drunk with a gambling addiction."

Seraphina looked up, pulling a face. "What in Gaia's name does that have to do with…" She shut her eyes, breathing deeply before shaking her head. "Nevermind. What about Constantine?"

Uriah pulled one leg up on the chair, continuing to flip through one of the many books littering his desk. "Sera, dearest, if you want our son to be bullied, kindly refer back to your mother's suggestion."

"Wha—?" Seraphina slammed the notepad on the coffee table, uncurling her body as she sat up. "D'Artagnan Rhapsodos sounds very noble!"

"And batshit insane, might I add," Uriah smirked.

"Fine then!" She rose to her feet, crossing her arms and delicately stepping over the books strewn on the floor. "What about Gibson? Plain and Simple."

"Gibson?" Uriah choked on the name, clutching his copy of LOVELESS. "The boy's not even three days old and his mother is condemning him to a lifetime of being called Gibby."

"You're insufferable," she threw her head back, attempting to drown out her husband's laughter.

"I still think it should have a religious connotation," he flipped through the book, scanning it for any possible names. "It'll sound fashionable."

Seraphina paced the room, her head still reclined as she traced her eyes over the patterns on the ceiling. "Hm…I'm trying to recall the chapter titles in that religious text…Matthew, Joshua, Peter…"

"Boring, bland, flavorless," Uriah echoed. He leaned forth, propping his elbows on the desk.

"Psalm, Chronicle, Leviticus, Genesis, Exodus, Roman—"

"Wait, go back," Uriah snapped his fingers.

Seraphina froze in place, leveling his widened gaze as she turned to face him. "Exodus?"

"No, before that!"

"Genesis?"

A sharp knock at the study door interrupted their banter. It creaked open as a nurse peeked her head inside. "Ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt. You ordered to see him as soon as he woke up."

Seraphina's previous frustration dissipated quickly, being overtaken by pure joy as she gasped. "Yes, yes! Where is he?"

The nurse opened the door, making way for another one, who held a bundled ball of red blankets in her arms, gingerly meeting Seraphina halfway.

"Hello, my darling," Seraphina's voice was a hushed lullaby as she reached for the baby. Her hair fell over her eyes as she looked down, taking the infant in her own arms and immediately rocking him.

Uriah rose from the chair. "How's Gillian doing?"

"She's doing much better, sir," the other nurse answered. "Professor Hollander says she'll be free to go home tomorrow morning, if all goes well."

"Nonsense," Uriah waved his hand dismissively, approaching his wife. "Tell her she's welcome to stay until she fully recuperates."

Once the nurses took their leave, Uriah and Seraphina were left completely alone with the baby. Seraphina couldn't hold the tear that spilled down her reddened cheeks.

The baby looked utterly peaceful. His eyes were partially opened, the faint glow of the Mako meeting her gaze, which in turn was wrought with joy. Soft cheeks. A twitching nose. Small hands clutching the red blanket, and a tuft of russet hair peeking out from his little cap.

"Genesis," Uriah's soft voice whispered. "Genesis Rhapsodos."

Seraphina looked up, finding her husband smiling at the baby, a glint of wonder in his eyes as he looked from her to his newborn son.

"Alright," she nodded shakily. "Well then. Hello, Genesis…" She giggled. "Aren't you the most darling thing?"

A muffled coo was the baby's reply.

Uriah rested his hands in the pockets of his trousers, leaning back on his desk. He watched her sink into the plush seat, rocking Genesis in her arms.

Uriah reached for the nearest book behind him.

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess," he began to read to them. "We seek it thus, and take to the sky…"

[allthatmay]

OMG hope you don't mind me running away with this... (seriously it really got away from me)

Genesis' Most Elaborate Prank:

Sephiroth was thirteen minutes early to his meeting. He'd calculated the moment of his arrival exactly, wanting to ensure that his favourite seat couldn't be usurped by one of the Turks—as usual.

The red-headed one, Reno, seemed to farm some quiet delight from inconveniencing Sephiroth in the most unusual of ways, although how he could tell his antics bothered Sephiroth was a mystery. Sephiroth, after all, was not known for his transparency; theories abounded that he gave his first smile at age thirteen, which could very well be the truth, for all he knew.

"Ah, Sephiroth. You're as punctual as ever."

Director Lazard strode in the meeting room, flanked by the Turks—Tseng, Rude, Reno, and Cissnei. They settled at the end of the table next to Sephiroth, giving Reno the unfortunate opportunity to flop down in the seat beside him, limbs sprawled carelessly, smile crooked and teasing.

"Hey, Sephy," Reno cooed, fluttering his fingers in greeting.

Sephiroth simply inclined his head and took a short sip of coffee. He wished he had opted for an extra shot of espresso.

"Knock it off, Reno," Tseng said.

Reno idly saluted him.

Next in the room were Scarlet and Heidegger, bickering with each other. It was an unfortunate insight into how the rest of the meeting would go; Sephiroth prepared himself for the worst.

"Oh? And where are the other SOLDIERs, darling?" Scarlett asked when she caught sight of him. "I thought all of the First Classes were to attend today."

Sephiroth weighed the truth on his tongue. "Busy," he curtly replied.

"A shame. I do so love putting them in their place."

Heidegger chortled. "As if you could, witch."

As Scarlet lunged to wring Heidegger by his neck, Palmer scuttled in through the door, followed by Reeve. Reeve, upon seeing the commotion—Lazard chatting with the Turks; Reno smiling at Sephiroth; Heidegger and Scarlet in a fight to the death—sighed long-sufferingly and sat in the farthest chair he could, directly beside the president's. He and Sephiroth briefly caught each other's gazes.

"President Shinra will be arriving shortly," Reeve intoned. "Do settle down, all of you."

"Gods damn you, woman, I shall have your head!" cried Heidegger.

"And I will crush you with the might of my machinery, you hoplophile!"

Reno, at Sephiroth's side, leaned toward him with furrowed brows. "I think we've got a problem here, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth considered him. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Reno got close enough to whisper. "You're in my seat."

That was It. Sephiroth stood abruptly, coffee in hand, completely finished with whatever was happening. Reno, having derived a response from Sephiroth, looked entirely too pleased with himself. Both he and Tseng made to speak, but were silenced by the arrival of the president—at last.

President Shinra ambled into the room like he knew they would wait however long he bade, although it simply wasn't true—not in Sephiroth's case, anyhow.

"Sephiroth," he said, entirely neutral. "Sit down, please. We are about to begin."

Yet he made no mention of Cissnei playing games on her PHS, or of Scarlet and Heidegger competing to strangle one another. They all stopped acting out by the time Shinra reached his seat, so Sephiroth simply sat back down, hoping to accelerate the proceedings.

"Now, let's get started," Shinra said. "Reeve, in regards to your new proposal on public housing—"

"Oh, I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat with somebody!"

The sudden, shrill burst of music interrupted the President, who frowned. He looked around at them all, as if he expected them to be singing.

"What is that?" Shinra asked. "Is that a phone?"

Reno gave a shit-eating grin. "Uh, yes sir, yes it is! Sephiroth, you wanna silence that, bud?"

Sephiroth blinked at him. He removed his phone from his pocket and stared down at it as the music grew even louder in the open space, entirely certain now that Reno was right—it was his phone. The screen flashed 'Genesis'.

"Ah," Sephiroth said. "Excuse me for one moment." He picked up the call without bothering to leave the room. "Genesis, I'm in a meeting."

Genesis sounded almost giddy when he spoke. "Yes, I know, of course. What, dearest, you think I butt-dialled you? How precious."

Sephiroth frowned. "If you know that I am in a meeting, why—?"

"Why else do you think? I thought everyone should hear how very much you yearn to dance with somebody."

Sephiroth rose from the table, turning his back on the array of watching eyes. "I presumed that was Zack's doing."

Genesis scoffed. "Zack's pranks have been lacklustre since he convinced everyone I was a mermaid. So, do you?"

"Do I what, Genesis? I told you, I am in a meeting."

"Do you want to dance with somebody? Feel the heat with somebody? Perhaps someone very handsome, and magnificent, and very good with his tongue..."

Sephiroth didn't allow his control to slip. "Perhaps when I am done."

There was a silence on the other end of the line. Then:

"Boo, you whore," said Genesis, and hung up without another word.

Somewhat confused, but pleased with his apparent win, Sephiroth settled back into his seat. "Apologies. Genesis has poor timing."

"He has great timing, if you ask me," replied Reno in delight. "Do you sing it in the shower?"

"I am more partial to 'A Total Eclipse of the Heart', if you must know."

While everyone gaped at Sephiroth, the phone burst to life for a second time: I wanna dance with somebody! Sephiroth immediately hung up. It rang again, and again, with no sign of stopping; so Sephiroth, without an ounce of hesitation, lobbed it through the reinforced glass window.

"I'll pay for that, of course," he said.

Yet with the way Reno was looking at him—like he'd just discovered a whole new trove of irritating gimmicks—Sephiroth couldn't help but feel like he was paying for it now.

(ok that was it! it's not perfect but omg it was fun. hope you enjoyed.)

Angeal’s most elaborate prank: Switching the salt and pepper shakers before setting the table. Also knock-knock jokes.

Sephiroth’s most elaborate prank: Putting out a wet floor sign on a dry hallway and gaslighting people into thinking it’s slippery

Genesis’s most elaborate prank: Changing Sephiroth’s ringtone while he’s the bathroom to I Wanna Dance With Somebody, setting his volume to max, and calling him 35 minutes later while he’s in a meeting.

Zack’s most elaborate prank: Notoriously dubbed “The Day Everyone in ShinRa Was Convinced That Genesis Was a Mermaid.”

[sakuranightmarez]

FF7 & FF15 fanfic recs

So shit is sad right now so I'm revisiting a couple comfort fics from the Final Fantasy 7 and 15 ao3. I thought I'd share my comfort fics I reread so others have a chance to love them too.

Final Fantasy VII recs

Haunted cloud strife doll that drinks all your pepsi by digitalcactus

Time traveling Cloud is a haunted doll that won't stop trying to kill Sephiroth

A Swordsman's Virtue By Gothams_Only_Wolf

AU where younger Cloud is raised in a Nibelheim where people aren't considered adults until they create their own armor via needlepoint. This creates a patient, SOLDIER aspiring BAMF Cloud who takes Hojo down via legal process, tries to kill Tseng on the regular for implying he'd rather be a Turk and finds love with AGSZ.

Shinra's Guide to Survival By Gothams_Only_Wolf

"No one drinks my Ma's coffee unless you're a Strife, through blood or marriage, you're my significant other or the Silver General himself."

Strifes grow the best coffee in Nibelheim and Cloud will cut down anybody who touches whats his. Eventual AGSCZ

Patricide is Harder than it Looks By tunafishprincess

Cloud comes back as Sephiroth's son and this leads to adorable shenanigans. Fic is hilarious and there's some funny comics inside to go with it.

Final Fantasy XV recs

Plastic Syndrome Type MT by nightxshade

FFXV Fancomic of Ardyn messing up the Cloning process and Verstael throwing a fit.

Manners maketh the man by Saito

aka Ignis has secret rage issues and Noctis creates him a Demolition room as they grow up together. It keeps many nobles alive.

Walking Disaster by LuckyLectio

Series of ficlets where Prompto is the harbringer of chaos and nobody is prepared for him. First fic has Cor almost dying during Prompto training many times. Last fic has Prompto critiquing Ardyn's novel choice as he keeps escaping his kidnapping.

When an Unstoppable Force Meets an Immovable Object by ChaoticFairy

Ignis and Prompto are 'secret' assassins and finally meet. Ignis decides he needs to protect Noctis from Prompto and what follows is a series of attempts on Prompto's life via food allergies, poison, sharp edges and eventually leads to a love confession Ignis/Prompto.

A Red Letter Day by Hallowed_Skies

Aldercapt made a big mistake targeting Ardyn and Verstael's clone baby. During a live broadcast King Regis is ready to popcorn Verstael reminds Niflheim not to fuck with his family.

Edited 9/18 because I'm an eejit who apparently put FFVII BEHIND XV. Also added another FFXV fic

[secondarysefikura]

Wanted to add a bit more to the Cloud and Sephiroth dating before Sephiroth went insane since Cloud does get his memories back with Tifa’s help. Cloud having to process that Sephiroth was in fact not lying all those times he claimed they dated. They really were dating, and they were also each other’s first love! Sephiroth was the even the person Cloud had his first kiss with! And from what Cloud can remember the relationship was good, Sephiroth never tried to coerce him into doing anything he wasn’t comfortable with, they were both just happy to have each other. Upon finding out that Cloud remembers their relationship Sephiroth is very happy and thinks that Cloud will finally join him and they’ll be together again! But obviously Cloud is not going to take him back, he loved him and maybe deep down there’s a part of Cloud that still does, but he’ll never willing be with Sephiroth after what he did. And of course Sephiroth is blaming everyone else but himself for this.

I think I ought to write a little ficlet for this!

When the Lockhart girl repairs Cloud's mind, Sephiroth feels a slight twinge of hope.

He'd rather the girl had failed, of course. Although he knows that with time he will be able to sneak past Cloud's new mental security and control his puppet once more, it's still incredibly frustrating to be blocked from Cloud's mind. And for the one to have stolen Cloud's mind away from him to be the damned childhood friend?

Tifa Lockhart will suffer a thousand deaths before Sephiroth forgives her.

Still, despite all the downsides of Cloud's mind being repaired, Sephiroth can't deny that he's not entirely upset by the outcome. Because with his memories returned to him, Cloud can no longer deny that they were are dating.

It could almost not matter that he can't control Cloud anymore because Cloud remembers that they are in love. Cloud remembers him--their joy and their happiness and how perfect they were--and Cloud will be his again!

"I don't belong to you," Cloud growls.

"What?"

If Sephiroth was capable of it, he thinks he might cry.

"I don't care if we dated once; I'll never join you, and I most certainly will never belong to you!"

Cloud is....lying. He's lying or confused or just spewing whatever nonsense his so-called friends forced him to say!

"You don't know what you're talking about," Sephiroth says very carefully as he slowly approaches, "You remember everything Cloud--you know that we are dating."

Cloud doesn't move from where he's planted his feet, even as he subtly shifts his weight as if he's preparing for a fight.

"Were," Cloud corrects, "We were dating. Like, past tense, no more, never again! The moment Nibelheim started to burn we broke up."

Sephiroth doesn't respond, instead closing the last bit of space between them as he wraps his hands around Cloud's wrists while leaning in for a kiss.

It's a beautiful moment, even as Cloud knees him in the groin.

"What the hell! Were you even fucking listening to me?" Cloud demands when Sephiroth stumbles back.

Truthfully, he stopped listening the moment Cloud stopped making sense. They're dating, and there is nothing Cloud's "friends" can make Cloud say or do that will ever change that.

"Do not worry," Sephiroth promises as he unfurls his wing, "I will deal with those who get in our way. Soon your "friends" will be gone and we can continue our life together."

"Don't you fucking dare!" Cloud screams.

Sephiroth merely smiles.

Soon. Soon he and Cloud will be together again.

[theghostavocadoe]

At least one of the Remnants (or multiple your choice) helping Cloud with his delivery service so they can make some money?

(and also because they do worry about their "big brother" but they'd never admit that aloud i think)

Phone calls in the morning were a common occurrence when owning a business. Cloud had gotten used to answering each call with the same barely-there enthusiasm and getting onto business. This morning was one of such occurrences as he scribbled down some notes on where to pick up and drop off today's deliveries.

When he set the phone down and turned around, his heart nearly leapt out through his throat when he came face to face with the tall, imposing shadow that definitely was not there before.

"Good morning," Yazoo greeted.

Cloud was still clutching his racing heart. "Sweet Minerva. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Yazoo tilted his head like an owl. "Apologies, that wasn't my intention."

Cloud had to take a deep breath before he continued. He knew Yazoo had a tendency to make little to 0 noise, but he usually wasn't one to approach Cloud first thing in the morning. "Then what was your intention?"

"I heard you over the phone," Yazoo replied. "I want to make an offer."

Suspicious. "An offer?"

"I will help you with 30% of your work today," Yazoo began, "And in return, I get 30% of the pay."

Even more suspicious. The remnants usually had no need for money since they often lie or steal their way into getting what they wanted.

"You're asking for money? That's not like you."

"We're trying to be upstanding citizens." Not him. We. Meaning the other two were planning on helping Cloud at some point as well.

Cloud couldn't help the squint of suspicion that crossed his face.

Yazoo tilted his head in the other direction, lips slightly turning into a frown. "What, you don't believe me? You wound me, Cloud. We're doing our best to--"

"Alright, alright." Cloud waved him off. "You can help."

Yazoo smiled. "Excellent."

-

Yazoo's idea of "helping" turned out to be "looking pretty to borderline seduce their customers into buying their services." Cloud had no idea where they'd learned such business practices, and he wasn't about to ask.

Part of him felt a little bad. But to be fair, he asked the same stuff on his own delivery trips. Here's your package, sign here, consider buying our subscription service for saving on future purchases, blah blah blah. Yazoo just happened to have the advantage of being a tall, slightly imposing, mysterious, beautiful, gender-ambiguous person batting their eyelashes at you to give you the impression that you had a chance with such an individual if you did what they wanted.

It was also quite convenient to have Yazoo around when a difficult customer made a scene and received a sharp glare that immediately shut them up.

Every customer he'd asked before and had been rejected from was suddenly pleasant as a flower and signing papers for their subscriptions. After their fifth customer had closed their door, Cloud turned to Yazoo.

"Are you using your powers?" He asked.

Yazoo shook their head. "No. You'd be able to tell if I did."

Hm.

"I'm just using my natural capabilities to get what I want. Is that a crime?"

Well, legally speaking, no. But morally...

"Okay, fine. I trust you. But lighten up on the flirty glances, alright? Don't give them the wrong impression on what this service actually is."

Yazoo giggled as they sauntered back over to their bike. "As you wish, Cloud~"

-

Despite their teasing, Yazoo did take Cloud's words to heart and held back on the flirting. Their methods still had just as much effect. By the time they were done, Cloud had made twice as much gil as he usually does on a delivery trip.

On the way home from their final delivery, they stopped at the corner store to buy a few goodies with a portion of their spoils. After that, it didn't take long to make it back to Seventh Heaven.

Once the door to the building was pushed in, the two were immediately assaulted by the younger kids. Marlene tugged at Yazoo's coat and asked what he brought, to which the taller crouched down and handed her a bundle of lollipops. Denzel stuck to Cloud while watching the altercation and giggled when Marlene happily sprinted off with her treats in hand.

Cloud portioned out the money he got from the trip and took out what he guessed to be was 30%, and then handed it to them. "Here's your salary."

"My salary? Does that mean I get PTO?" Yazoo joked as they took the money and began counting it.

"No." Cloud blinked. "How do you know what that is?"

"President Shinra once gave me a job offer. I refused, naturally." Yazoo folded the money and slipped it into one of their pockets. "It came with a lot of documents that I ended up throwing out."

"Smart."

"I'm happier with this job anyway. Thank you for letting me help. It was more fun than I thought."

Cloud smiled and gave Yazoo's shoulder a teasing jab. "Don't get used to it. Your siblings might swoop in and steal your spot."

"I'll be sure to wake up earlier then."

And with a grin, Yazoo headed off and up to their room.

[zimithrus]

63 and 14 for the mashup prompts! 👀

Rules: Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story.

14. Bodyguard AU 63. Everybody Knows/Mistaken For A Couple

I'm gonna go with Clack/Zakkura for this one! Tis my fave and the easiest for me to write lol! 🥰

Zack always wanted to be a hero - it was his greatest dream for as long as he can remember! But he had no idea that once he became a hero the publicity would absolutely skyrocket! Like, he thought the crowds of people and fans flocking and ogling over Sephiroth was bad, but for himself? Someone much more happy, bubbly, friendly, and approachable?

Good Gaia he was drowning in fans!

So much to the point that even leaving the Shin-Ra compound to go buy groceries required an infantry escort to keep them off him. So, naturally, he was assigned a near 24/7 escort with how often he needed to leave the compound. Among this escort was a cadet named Cloud, who seemed very small and timid at first glance, but get too close and those eyes would go sharp and he'd practically start growling. Try to skim a touch of Zack? Cloud would promptly knock them back and bark about space and distance. He was very serious about his role and about keeping unwanted touches and sights off Zack, which, Zack appreciated, because as nice as he could be, some of those fans just got too crazy! Like that one time when a fan actually managed to tackle Zack and almost knock him to the ground, but Cloud was able to catch him and promptly raise hell on that fan! "Back up!" He growls at them. "You could have hurt him! I said back up! Don't make me get the mace!!"

So, the fans starting calling Cloud 'Zack's little Pomeranian', but learned not to get too close or he'd bite!

And over the course of time, Zack and Cloud having been paired together for a long time, grew close and formed a fast friendship, and eventually the fans started talking (as they always do) and eventually rumor got out that the puppy and his Pomeranian were an item. Zack's constant flirty teasing when they were out in public definitely didn't help that! Of course, it would get denied and brushed aside by Cloud, telling them it's not like that, but you better keep your distance!

Though one sleepy morning, Cloud and Zack cuddled up to each other, tangled in the sheets and each other's warmth, Zack smiles.

"If only they knew just how gentle my little Pomeranian could be after a few treats and pets."

Cloud rolls his eyes at that, "Shut up," he huffs and kisses him.

Ahh thank you so much for the ask!! This one was so much fun!! II hope I followed the prompts well! 💚💚

[strayheartless]

The wobble:

Flo copes? Flo copes…. *sigh* this can’t be how I get back into the writing game. It just can’t be.

CW for: apparent panic attacks that are actually mild serotonin syndrome.

+++++++++++

Angel face: sosmthandh wrong. Don no whdkt I’m doing orsn wfy.

Mr perfect: Angeal?

The Hero: my love, are you well?

Angeal face: Idntknw.

Mr perfect: do you need assistance?

Angel face: ??

Sephiroth placed his phone in his pocket and got out of his seat, cutting Heidegger off mid stride.

“I apologise gentlemen, there is an emergency that requires my attention. Lazard would you inform second Class Fair that his training mission has been cancelled?”

Lazard blinked a few times in confusion but nodded, looking down at his phone to see if he had gotten the same alert the general had.

“Yes alright,” he replied looking concerned. “Is everything alright?”

Sephiroth strode to the door, reaching for the handle. “I’ll tell you when I know director,” and with that he was out of the door and bypassing the elevator in favour of flinging himself over the emergency stairs banister. He catches himself at the forty-ninth floor and darts across the hall as quickly as possible.

Their offices have always been next to eachother, Sephiroth’s at the end of the hall, Genesis at the head. Angeals office sat snuggly between the two in a rather witty (on Lazards part) recreation of how their friendship often worked; Angeal being the buffer between he and Genesis’ more destructive behaviours. He had expected to walk in and find Genesis already there, but the dull click of heeled boots on marble flooring told him that Genesis must have been out.

Turning he caught sight of the red head looking harassed and slightly winded.

“Did you run here?” The general asked

Genesis huffed a stray hand out of his face, “I was in sector three.” He complained. “Since you were to busy to deal with the weapons factory infestation, I had to deal with it!”

Sephiroth stared at him. “You’ve been in my office again?”

To Genesis’ credit he didn’t so much as flinch at the accusation. “Get better locks. Now can we please check on Angeal?”

Sephiroth nodded curtly as they both headed for the door, nothing was likely to stop Genesis from searching through his files when he was bored. Given that it was one less thing of Sephiroth’s own mounting ‘to do list’, he wasn’t about to push the matter. Besides he doesn’t think it really matters given what he’s just opened the office door to.

Angeal is sat at his desk, hands hovering over the keyboard. He’s shaking badly and seems to be staring through, rather than at, his computer monitor. Sephiroth notes the palor to his skin and the fact that, as they round his desk, nothing totally life shattering seems to be displayed there.

“‘Geal?” Genesis calls, kneeling next to the man’s chair. “Love are you well?”

“I- I don’t-“ he can’t seem to finish a sentence so Sephiroth places a hand on his shoulder as the distress seems to speed his breathing up. He did not really know what else he could do. As Genesis reached to turn the monitor off and take Angeals hands he almost feels as if his presence is more of a hinderance than a help.

“Darling, I’m going to coach you through some breathing exercisesc can you look at me?” Genesis cooed, tilting his head to see Angeals face clearer. “Sephiroth dear, will you grab some water for us?” Sephiroth stumbled to do as he was told, feeling completely unprepared to deal with whatever this was.

While Gen coached Angeal, he grabbed the glass pitcher from atop the coffee table and filled a glass with water. Maybe Genesis thought he was better off out of the way during this, maybe he was right. However as he came back and handed the water to Angeal, the usually solid Commander slumped into his chest while Genesis rubbed his hands soothingly against his knees.

Sephiroth’s natural reaction was to place a hand on Angeal’s shoulder but he didn’t feel the urge to push him away like he usually would. Angeal seemed somewhat delicate and in reality Sephiroth felt a small amount of pride that he had leaned on him specifically. Genesis let his lips twitch up at the sight but didn’t point it out.

“What happened here Hm?” He said, not unkindly. His voice was still that soft coo that let Angeal know nobody was mad at him. Sephiroth imagined it was the voice mothers used when soothing their children… though how he knew that he was unsure of. He absently moved his hand to Angeal’s head and began to stroke his hair as he listened to it.

“I-“ Angeal sucked in a breath and leaned heavier on Sephiroth. “I was- I was working and all these emails started piling in an-“ Genesis placed a hand on his face and absently stroked his thumb across Angeal’s cheek.

“It overwhelmed you?” He prompted.

“N-no. I mean- I don’t know. I- how did you know to come here?” Angeal suddenly sat up away from Sephiroth who let his hand fall away. He looked between the two of them confused.

“You sent us a message?” Sephiroth said making his own confused face and looking across at Genesis who’s face was concerned.

“Did I?”

Genesis pulled his phone from his coat pocket and showed Angeal the text massage.

“I don’t remember sending it.” He blinked at the screen.

“That’s okay, it’s likely you were dissociating and have lost some time. We’ll figure it out.” Genesis looked at Sephiroth again and the worry was plain on his face.

“Angeal,” he said, keeping his tone as neutral as possible. “Are you functioning at optimum levels?”

Genesis rolled his eyes. “Nicely handled,” he deadpanned. He placed a hand on Angeal’s forehead and tsked when no fever became apparent.

“Well it could simply have been a panic attack.” He muttered. “But you’ve never had one before.”

Angeal blinked blearily. I looked as though he needed a lie down.

“You think I should go to Hollander?” He shudders a little making Sephiroth reach out and grip the back of his neck reassuringly. Angeal reached around to hold onto his wrist greatfully.

“I think it’s up to you dove.” Gen nudged his cheek with his knuckle.

“I think I just want to go to bed,” Angeal replied meekly.

Sephiroth gripped his neck again.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” He said.

[ladyemberswrites]

AeriSeph

[A little Au where Sephiroth doesn't go insane and actively tries to escape from Shinra's hold]

Bitter accusations sat on her tongue, but in spite of herself she swallowed them, her throat tight, her heart hammering angrily against her ribcage, her mouth dry as the blood coating his dirtied hands. 

How many innocents had fallen beneath the weight of his hands and infamous blade.

"I left Shinra" he swiped his bloodied nose with the back of his gloved, blood stained hand. 

Aeris blinks at the admission. Too good to be true. Why would he, as he is and what he is, why would he leave. A change of heart? It seems too implausible. Then again, she frowns at herself, but it's not as if she knew him. She's heard the stories, the rumors that float around the slums, but that doesn't mean they offer any amount of truth.

"Why?" 

"I'm no more than a dog to them, probably less than that…." He paused glancing at her with those inhuman eyes that shot chills up her spine "but what does it matter, I knew that from the start" he wipes his still bleeding nose with the back of his hand again.

"Of course they didn't take my resignation lightly." 

"So….you…." 

"I ran President Shinra right through. Though I have no idea if the blow killed him or not. Don't know if they'll come after me or just let sleeping dogs lay" 

Aeris placed her hand across her mouth, to think….? She grimaced at the thought of imagining cool sliver tearing through weak human flesh. 

".....I don't know anything now that I left. What do I do now? Where should I go? I have no masters any longer?" 

Aeris sighs. It's getting late. Nights were dangerous for a young girl like her to wander "How should I know that?

"I don't know." He stops again to look at her, she can't pinpoint what he's thinking "you're a cetra-" 

"Half-cetra." She feels the need to point out, but has no idea why he's brought it out.

"Your kind are considered wise beyond human integrity. I don't know, I thought perhaps you might hold the answer I search for" 

Aeris isn't sure whether she should feel commended or insulted. Commended that he thinks a simple flower girl like her could soothe whatever existential crisis he was currently having. 

Insulted by the assumption.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help you, General-" 

"Sephiroth. I am no longer employed by Shinra" 

"Right" she pushes some hair behind her ear "but in all seriousness I doubt I have any wisdom to offer you, I'm just a simple flower girl, I'm no wiser than anybody else here" 

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