#lots of clarret in this

[vinjaryou]

Talking about FFVII Rebirth spoilers under the cut, whee

FINALLY decided to suck it up and do the Gold Saucer date scenario in Chapter 12 - I was putting it off forever doing side-quests and whatnot, because sorry but fandom has really started to dampen a lot of this game's later things for me, whether it be with untagged spoilers or general stupid (mostly shipping) discourse.

Thank fuck, I did not get the Tifa date.

I am in the Clarret timeline~ and honestly it was so fucking cute and touching. The more chill version of his theme that plays once you open the door and talk to him up until you leave the hotel is so pretty, and oh god. The play is so much fun. I love this entire crew and how they were all in the audience (even Vincent, just chilling on his lonesome like a loner lol), and Barret's so goddamn emotional. I love it so much.

I love this entire crew so goddamn much, which is why what happened afterward hurt that much more.

but goddamn that boss rush at the coliseum? SEND HELP I made it through by the skin of my teeth lol

also having to go find everyone before Dio.

Vincent. VINCENT. You absolute dork, I love you to bits and pieces. "I call the coffin."

[imacetra]

So, my younger brother wanted to give FFVII a try.....

@itscalledequivalentexchange has never played the game before. He knows a little bit about it because I yell about the game and characters a lot, but he doesn’t know shit other than what he saw in Advent Children.

So this is how his first round of gameplay went. (anything i said will be in bold)

- "It's not every day you see one in a group chat like AVALANCHE. Wait fuck, I mean group."

- "This is too much work."

"Do you want ME to play?"

"No."

- -random battle- "Noooooo, fuck you, I didn't want this!"

- "I'm using my boyfriend's sword. Stabbing people in his memory."

- "I wanna hear the fucking victory music."

- -Barret joins the party- "Did he just come inside me?"

- I had to yell at him for a whole minute JUST to help him find the first item box. Then he goes "Oh, I see a shiny box!"

- -gets a phoenix down- "What's Phoenix Down? Is my Phoenix Down? Whose Phoenix is down?"

- -Barret shakes his fist- "Is he trying to flex?"

"No, he's shaking his fist at ShinRa."

"It looks like he's trying to flex."

- He hit the elevator button at least five extra times and got mixed up. Then he accidentally went back INTO the elevator when he was on the right floor.

- "Cloud you fucking-- you have great hair but--" -random battle- "FUCK!"

- "Oh I forgot Barret was here."

- -doots along to the victory fanfare-

- -gets jumpscared by a random battle transition-

- -Barret gets shot- "Oh you don't mess with bear!"

- "How is he not bleeding?"

- -sees Jessie- "Oh, I thought that was a parrot."

- "I'm very tired."

- "Which one is the OK button?"

"The circle button. 'O' for Okay."

"But. I don't want it to be okay."

- -criticizes the ladder mechanics for being "dangerous"-

- -sees save point- "A question mark? They must still be in the closet."

-i blink a million times-

"Oh, it's the save point!"

"GOD DAMMIT"

-hysterical laughter-

- -sees my save file- "Daddy?"

-i choke on my own spit-

"What's Daddy?"

"THAT'S WHAT I NAMED BARRET"

- "Okay, new save file. I don't wanna save on Daddy."

- "I can shoot and stab. That's two different people."

- "I hope I don't push Sephiroth's buttons."

- -sees materia- "Is that an emerald?"

"No, it's a--"

"A potion?"

"No, it's a materia."

"Oh. Restore materia."

- Barret: -tells him to set the bomb-

"WHY WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH A BOMB???? I'M CLOUD!"

- "ANYWAYS, BACK TO THE CLOUD"

- -cloud has his bad brain times-

"WHAT THE FUCK?! OW MY EARS! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!"

- "I think I’m an old guy now."

- "Go easy on me! This is my first day on the bomb squad!"

- "Is that a crab? I'm so confused."

- "What did you do to Barret?"

- "Is he legally satisfied?"

- "That looks like an infinity sign, are you making him (Barret) immortal?"

- "Stabby McStabberson, look out for the butt."

- "Bigshot? More like Big HOT"

- "Should I be focusing on what I'm doing?" -dies-

- "Game over. My first dead of the game."

- "This is a true victory."

- "New Game? Fuck that shit. Continue."

- "Daddy? No. I'm not in the mood for Daddy." -picks HIS save file-

- "Okay this is NOT my first day on the bomb squad."

- "Run, baby run. Look out for a gun."

- -sees the magic option for the first time- "I can do magic now? I'm gonna be the best wizard of oz."

- "No, don't hurt the bear! He's a big softie on the inside. But you're not supposed to know that. Oh, sorry Barret."

- "Good job Barret."

- "Since Barret did a good job, he gets a gold star sticker."

- "Barret is best boy. Cloud is a good boy, but it's his second day on the bomb squad."

- "I don't know how long Barret's been here, but he's been here."

- "Don't worry Cloud, maybe you'll be best boy if you beat his bestness."

"Wait, are you saying they need to fight to see who's best?"

"No, they need to earn good boy points."

- -burps- "Excuse my language."

- -limit break lights up-

"Cloud's ready to be gay!"

- "Let's break the ice between us."

"You're literally making ice."

"No, I'm breaking ice with ice."

"There wasn't ice to begin with!"

- -I save his ass by grabbing the controller and using a phoenix down on Cloud, then potions on him and Barret-

"Oh, what do potions do?"

"They. Fucking. Heal. You."

"Oh. I thought Phoenix Downs did that."

-I put my face in my hands-

"Like, I thought there were different kinds of potions. Like a stabbing potion, and other potions…"

Me, sobbing into my hands, "He's so fucking stupid…"

- "I'm going to use my hair to lightning you."

- "You interrupted my bonding moment with Barret! I was ready to ask him for a hug!"

- "Go faster! You gotta be Sonic! But you're not Sonic, so I guess I can't judge you."

- "There's no fucking time for the victory dance!"

- "This is called stress! And it's not fun!"

- "6 minutes!"

"More like 69, hehe."

"Yes. That would make me less stressed."

- -enemy uses Beam Gun- "No, I don't want Bean Gum!"

- "Cloud's marrying the Buster Sword because that's the closest thing to Zack."

"He can marry Barret."

"Well he's not facing him, is he?"

- "I will STAB THAT!"

- "I'm tired, and I'm stressed, and I did not ask to be on the Bomb Squad."

- -forgot Jessie downstairs- "Where the hell is she?!"

"You left her downstairs!"

"Why does she need ME?!"

"BECAUSE HER FOOT IS STUCK"

"DAMMIT"

- He has a minute and twenty seconds left and he's going after Jessie

- "Hi stairs, I'm back. You're gonna explode, but it's not my fault."

"You're probably gonna explode too."

- I've never seen the game when you run out of time so this is exciting

- Me, laughing my ass off, "You're fucking dead, oh my god."

- "Who knew being a Cloud would be so stressful?"

- "Okay we gotta do this! We're smart this time!"

"Are you sure?"

- "Oh, I see her foot being stuck now. Ohhhhh."

- "You fucking left without me, you fick! ….What's a fick?"

- "I ask for SO much, and this is what I get."

- -Cloud jumps across gap-

"You got some good jumps. I wish I was in gymnastics."

- "We got 7 minutes! We can't lose this! I'm gonna burp, and I don't wanna do that."

- "Third day on the bomb squad, or was it the fourth? Fuck, I don't remember."

- "Stab me in my nugget."

- "How much things are we gonna blow upppppppp?"

- "Oh that was a nice somersault, you got good gymnastics."

- "Do you see the fire on your butt? There is no fire on your butt."

- "Toot toot gotta get the snoop snoop."

- "Could never came-- Oh he said Cloud, not could. Could never came."

"You said Could again."

"Shit."

- Barret: I'm takin' it out of your pay, hotstuff!

"Wait, hotstuff?"

"Yeah, Cloud and Barret are boyfriends."

[rauhallinen-hauki]

(edit: turns out that as of the time of posting this I'm actually early-misread june as july- but we can celebrate Barret and ff7 on this blog everyday anyway so its ok :) )

Sorry for being so incredibly late! romancingbarretweek 2022, prompts by @romancingbarret

july 3 - post-game -Barret x Cid: vacation at costa del sol after the main saving the world adventure is over.

july 4 - fighting side by side - Cloud x Barret x Aerith

july 5 - co-parenting|Marlene - Bareeve: the idea of bringing an actual "Caith Sith" to the team is brought up and approved. Marlene discovers the joy of owning a cat.

july 6 - hurt/comfort|hometown - Barrifa: venting conversation about their shared traumas involving their

hometowns being destroyed, somewhere in the valleys near Nibelheim and Corel.

july 7 - relaxing - Clarret: taking a nap together

july 8 - AU|canon-divergence - Barrifa: FF7 retold as an spaghetti western au

july 9 - free day- Barret x Cid: dancing :)

Once again, sorry for the delay but hopefully my love for Barret and FF7 shows trough. Thanks a lot for this event!

[up-sideand-down]

Not a date + vacation fic.

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

47. Not a Date AU

34. Vacation AU

There was no ship in your ask, so I'm going to fill it in with one of my Otps: Clarret.

Cloud and Barret were very busy men: first trying to rebuild after ShinRa, Sephiroth, that whole Meteor thing and after...they were busy. Cloud had a very successful business to run. Barret was working to find cleaner energy solutions. They had shit to do...and very little time for themselves. Their friends noticed. The kids noticed. Most of Edge noticed. As an intervention both of them were sat down and presented with tickets to an all-expense paid vacation to a private formerly-owned by ShinRa seaside resort in Wutai (courtesty mostly of Yuffie with the bribes and threats provided by Cid and Vincent). They are not thrilled with this. Nor are they thrilled that Tifa and the kids have already packed for them. There is a lot of protests from both men as they are ushered to the Highwind by Nananki. They don't make it entirely unsigned either. Tifa and the kids hug and kiss them goodbye. They grumble goodbye back, still not happy. They had shit to do!

They pass the flight mostly by bitching and grumbling to each other. It takes an embarrassingly long time for the thought to come to them: is this...a date set-up from the others. Is this a blind date vacation? No way. They're not interested. They're busy. They got shit to do back home, no time for love life and love interests. Married to work right? But then again...a few days off can't hurt. Right? I mean...Cloud sometimes falls asleep over delivery orders and Barret gets more sleep in transports than he does at when standing still. Are they...a little overdue. Just...some napping. Maybe read one of the books Marlene and Denzel said they liked. Splash in the ocean. By the end they've come around to the idea of a small, super tiny vacation. But it is not a date. No way. They agree on that.

The Highwind more or less abandons them once they disembark with all their luggage. They both scowl at Cid's wave goodbye. Their rooms are nice, a bit cozy, the Beach is lovely and has private chairs and umbrellas for them. The place is short-staffed, but Cloud and Barret don't really care. For a few hours...they have that teeny, tiny vacation they talk about. A nap, a book, a quick swim, another nap, a very strong alcoholic drink...and then it happens. The ultimate reason Cloud and Barret haven't had a vacation in years: they get bored.

They split up to find their own forms of entertainment. Cloud heads to the buildings to find shit to fix. Barret heads to the beach to pace up and down and clean the messes he finds up. In the surf and on shore...there's so much damn trash. He could fill up bags with the shit that washes on shore. Where the hell is it coming from? Cloud finds that short-staffed means a lot of shit just isn't being maintained well. He starts up fixing things, but there's so much just fine-tuning shit that he doesn't have patience for. He's a hit it until it works kind of guy. Or build something to take care of it. They're back to usual stress levels in under 20 minutes.

It takes complaining to each other that evening for problems to be solved. Cloud figures most of the trash is being washed in from inland. Maybe a river or stream. Find it and find a way to filter the trash. Good search and delivery mission. Right up his alley. Barret hears the list of maintenance stuff and realizes its all very similar to the problems he had with Seventh Heaven in Midgar. He's done it and it's all pretty easy. They make a deal to swap jobs tomorrow. The plan goes beautifully. Cloud finds trash river not far away at all. He rigs up a temporary netting system that a resort staff member can swap up and out with a pulley and winch. The resort handles it after that and Cloud goes trash hunting on the beach. Barret walks and fixes all the little things Cloud left behind. Water filters, tightening screws, a bit of plumbing to unclog some drains. Stuff he was beginning to teach Marlene back home. They're back out to repeat their tiny vacation plans again...until they get bored.

Their vacation follows that pattern for the week. Vacation, get bored, find job to do, foist job off to the other, and then get back to vacation. Their grumbles turn to jokes, crossed arms turn to pats on shoulders, and stress wrinkles turn into smiles. When the Highwind returns Cloud and Barret seem a lot more relaxed (despite only having about 12 hours of true vacation between the two of them) and a lot closer. No one says anything, but Cloud and Barret do hold hands as they walk back home. Marlene points it out but Barret and Cloud just say it's the risk the others took sending them off on a damn vacation. They had shit to do...and now that shit has to wait. But they say it smiling at the other.

[greensaplinggrace]

Hi! I really liked your other Cloud whump fic and I was wondering if you could do more hurt/comfort! With a claustrophobic!Cloud & maybe a bit of Clarret? Thanks in advance! :)

Barret goes *hard* in this fic, and I’m so sorry for that XD. I actually think he’s the softest character in the whole game, but I kind of wanted to hit their dynamic with a sledge hammer, instead of the delicate chisel and saw I usually prefer. Hopefully it’s still as in character as possible for being thrown into an extreme scenario (that also happens to take place in the beginning of the game when he’s a *lot* more suspic). I hope you like it! :)

*TW for panic attacks and ptsd flashbacks

-If you want to send in a prompt, the guidelines are here!

---

“It’s just down this hall, right?”

“Third door on the left!”

“Yeah, got it. How’s our rear guard looking?”

“Oh he’s looking real fine.”

“Enough with the gossiping!” Barret snaps, racing to catch up with Jessie and Biggs. Behind him the sounds of a fight ring on, but he’s more worried about securing their escape than checking out the merc’s flowing blonde locks. As his own damn team should be, too. “Can we get this door open or not?”

Biggs shakes his head, still working the lock slowly. “It’s seeming less and less likely.”

“Then how the hell are we gettin’ out of here?!”

Biggs curses, yanking his hands away from the door, and stands roughly. He’s quick to pocket his tools, glancing around desperately for another escape. 

“The intel said this was the right way out!” Jessie huffs.

“Well, clearly we got double crossed!” 

“I don’t know, Barret. If we got double crossed, the entire security system would be down on us. Right now it’s just the monsters we picked up outside.”

“Yeah, but-!”

“We’ll discuss this later!” Barret interrupts, trying frantically to think up a fallback plan. They hadn’t been provided with the actual layout of the building. Just some vague instructions with some shady details, and he’s beginning to suspect there’s a lot more going on here than they’re prepared for.

“Well how are we getting out, then?!” Jessie demands, leaning forward with her hands on her hips. She’s got a scowl in place, hair bouncing wildly as she pulls back and whips her head around to look at the door again. “I could blow it up, I suppose-”

“No bombs, Jessie!”

Barret snorts. “If the security ain’t on our asses now it would definitely be up in arms once we blow a hole in the wall.”

“Has everybody forgotten that we’re fifty stories up?! Blow out the wall and the ladder goes too!”

“So we kick the door down!” Now that is an idea Barret can get behind. “No explosions and no destruction! We could just-”

“Don’t.”

As soon as the voice comes out from behind him, Barret realizes the sounds of fighting have stopped, and he knows exactly who Biggs and Jessie are smiling at. He scowls, turning to see the merc standing next to them as if he’d been there all along, expression blank as ever.

“What?” Barret snaps aggressively. He glares for equal measure, but the merc is entirely unfazed. Freakish as always, face cold and distant. It sends shivers down Barret’s spine.

This is a man that can’t be trusted, he knows. Someone who doesn’t care for anything. No emotions or fears, throwing himself into life or death situations like it’s a job - like it’s a game. Instead of an ongoing fight for their planet’s very survival.

“Kicking the door will trigger the alarms as well,” he says, and Barret snorts in response.

“And how would you know that?” Maybe he’s the damn double crosser. Playing at the friendly mercenary while sucking innocent people in need dry of money. Hell, maybe he still works for Shinra.

Maybe Tifa was wrong.

The merc blinks at him for a moment, expression fluttering strangely, and it makes a different kind of uncomfortable feeling settle in Barret’s gut.

Just like he said: shifty. Shifty as all hell.

But Barret trusts Tifa’s judgement. Trusts that she’s got Avalanche’s best interests at heart, despite her doubts, so he pushes the feelings aside and greets his teeth against the surge of wounded pride.

“Then how the hell else are we gettin’ out of here, Mr. Expert?” Though he can’t quite keep the mocking tone from his voice. Hell, it’s not like the merc gives a shit anyway.

“The elevators.”

“The elevators?”

The arrogant little shit gives him a look like he’s lost a few brain cells just being in the same vicinity, and Barret has never been hit harder with the urge to punch a smug look right off someone’s smarmy face. Luckily for the merc, Jessie speaks before he can follow through with it.

“This building doesn’t have any working elevators,” she says, “our inside man told us they were all down due to-”

“He lied.”

“Oh come on!” Biggs explodes, “So we really did get double crossed!”

“I’m telling you if he’d betrayed us he would have triggered the alarms!”

“Hey!” Gaia, sometimes Barret feels like the dad of the world’s oldest teenagers, “Enough, we’ll talk about this later, okay? When we ain’t seconds away from getting caught with our pants down.”

“He wasn’t double crossing you, he was lying,” the merc points out unhelpfully, and he’s got Jessie up in arms again just like that.

Barret cuts an irritated hand through the air to silence them, then looks pointedly at the merc. “Where are these elevators?” He asks calmly. Because he’s got a team to keep safe, and if Jessie and Biggs are able to can it about their double crossing inside man, then Barret can sure as hell take the merc’s lead for a few minutes until they’re all out of harm’s way.

The merc gives a sharp nod that practically screams military before turning to backtrack down the hallway. They follow him over fallen monster bodies and the charred remains of some beast, struggling to keep up as the blonde basically dances over the corpses he’d cut down. For someone so small the kid sure moves fast, and he’s turning abruptly down another hallway before they can do anything about it, disappearing from view.

There’s a beat as Barret turns the corner where he thinks - knows - that this is it. This is the moment of betrayal. The merc will be waiting around the corner with a raised sword or a group of Shinra soldiers, ready to end it all.

But then they do turn around the corner, and all he sees is another long, empty hallway with two elevators at the end. Cloud is standing in front of one of them, looking it up and down with a pinched expression, and as Barret finally gets close enough to get a good look at it he knows exactly why.

“Hm,” the merc grumps, and Barret is hard pressed to agree with him, “I thought they’d be bigger.”

He hears Biggs bark a laugh out from behind them, Jessie springing to their side at the same time. She grins lasciviously and gives the merc the type of once over that should never stray from the pages of a porn magazine, and Barret almost has a mind to reprimand her about sexual harassment in the workplace before he remembers who the hell he’s dealing with.

“There’s no way we’ll all fit,” she crows delightedly.

Barret sighs. “Well we’re going to have to make it work.”

“No way,” Biggs laughs, “we’re splitting up-” he raises his hands defensively against Barret’s look of reproach, stepping towards the elevator furthest from him with an apologetic wince, “-no offense man but I’m not keen on dying squeezed between your 700 pounds of pure muscle and Jessie’s knife elbows.”

Barret opens his mouth to argue, but before he can Jessie jumps over to the same elevator, babbling a mile a minute. “If we split it evenly we won’t be in any danger, alright? We’ll protect each other. Biggs and I are both average sized, so we’ll go together, and you can go with Cloud! Since you’re big and he’s tiny.”

Barret doesn’t even have to look at the merc to know he’s burning holes in them at the words, but he barely manages a cut off “you can’t-” before they’re both piling into their elevator and waving smug, cheery goodbyes through the quickly narrowing doorway.

And then they’re gone.

Barret scowls at the descending elevator, but the short, irritated breath released next to him has his eyes shifting to the merc. He looks stoic as always, only slightly more tense than usual, but Barret swears he heard the guy sigh.

“Let’s go, then,” he says, stepping into the small space of the second elevator.

“I’m the one calling the shots here, merc.”

“Whatever. Just get in, we don’t have all day.”

Barret’s lips thin angrily, but he refrains from responding. Instead he shoves himself into the elevator, jostling the other man roughly in the process, and slams a fist against the button for the lower floors. 

“I’d better get my money this time.”

Barret grits his teeth, breathing out slowly as he focuses on the doors sliding closed in front of him. “You’ll get your damn money, merc,” he hisses, “now shut the hell up.”

The merc doesn’t even flinch at his tone. He steps further back into the elevator, away from Barret’s bulk, and crosses his arms in front of his chest. He lowers his head, too, and Barret is reminded of the time he’d fallen asleep during their first mission not too long ago. 

He scowls. “You’re a damn freak, you know that?”

The merc just ignores him. Probably already conked out, despite the rattling, rickety descent.

Barret snorts at him and shifts to lean against the wall. “Some super soldier,” he grumbles to himself, watching the numbers tick down excruciatingly slowly.

It’s about when they reach level fifteen that the merc actually opens his eyes again, looking up at the numbers with a slight frown.

“What, this ride goin’ too slow for you, Shinra?”

He turns to Barret with narrowed eyes, opening his mouth to say something, and is almost immediately cut off with a jarring click of the teeth as the elevator slams to a stop. He staggers, eyes widening in alarm, but Barret doesn’t see much more before he’s sliding gracelessly to the elevator floor.

“Shit!” Barret bellows, slamming a fist against the worthless thing as it rattles violently, knocking his sideways, before finally calming down again.

He huffs, hauling himself to his feet, and stares at the elevator doors incredulously. “What the hell was that?!”

There’s no answer from his current companion, but Barret could care less at this point. This is not a good place to be trapped, he knows. They’ve essentially put themselves in a kill box and served themselves up to the police, who could literally be arriving at any moment.

“We’ve got to get the hell out of here,” he grunts, squeezing his fingers between the doors and attempting to pull them open. They screech as they part, grinding against a solid concrete wall, and he kicks at it experimentally. “Shit.”

So much for that plan, he supposes.

He hovers by the door for a second, trying to formulate a solid backup strategy, and for the first time notices the merc’s glaring silence. He hasn’t said anything since they stopped. He hadn’t even moved to help open the doors, and Barret’s earlier suspicions come flying back with the force of a freight train

He tries to keep them at bay. Tries to remind himself that he doesn’t have to like the guy - that Tifa recommended him - but that’s hard to do when it was the merc who led them here and allowed them to get trapped. Who now stands silent and unhelpful behind him, mako eyes glinting in the dim, flickering lighting, like a statue dedicated to everything wrong with the world.

He whirls around, fist clenched and gun raised, ready to tear the traitor apart, only to see wide, vivid blue eyes instead of narrowed challenging ones. A chill, closed off expression and slack lips.

“What the hell?” 

Barret hesitates uneasily, then steps forward and lowers his gun a fraction. The merc doesn’t even blink at the heavy weaponry pointed straight at him.

“Hey merc,” he snaps out, huffing as he still gets no response, “if this is some kind of twisted prank or trap, you’re gonna have hell to pay.”

Still nothing. Barret swallows roughly, gun lowering even further.

“This some kind of weird SOLDIER ritual that I don’t know about?” He asks, but this time the words are weak.

Those are not the eyes of someone planning a betrayal. They look startlingly similar to the eyes of someone having an episode.

He lowers his gun completely, feeling foolish for having raised it in the first place. Even if the merc had been a traitor, bullets in an enclosed metal space wouldn’t have done anyone any favors, least of all him.

He closes his eyes for a second, calming the sting of anger he can still feel in his heart, and opens them again with a clearer mind. Then, for the first time since they’d entered the elevator, Barret takes a good look at the merc. Actually looks at him, like he would one of his own instead of the enemy, and realizes with dawning horror that the kid’s terrified. Fingers white with the pressure of squeezing stark bruises into his arms, eyes wide and shoulders taut like a bowstring. His whole body is screaming discomfort.

How had he missed this?

“Damnit!” Barret curses loudly, and it’s only because he’s looking so closely that he catches the minute twitch of the merc’s fingers at his outburst. The subtle way he leans back, lips parting with short, heavy breaths as the rise and fall of his shoulders becomes harsher.

It’s looking a lot like a panic attack to Barret, but it’s hard to tell with such innocuous cues. The merc would appear frozen in place to anybody who didn’t know better. Hell, he’d probably just appear stoically uninterested.

And he’s completely out of commission. Barret doesn’t think the kid’s even capable of speaking right now, with how tight his muscles are, throat working soundlessly.

“Gaia, you’ve got it bad, kid.”

Barret intentionally softens his stance as he approaches, steps light but telegraphed. Open, easy movements that get him halfway across the elevator before the merc’s gaze snaps to him. There’s a hesitance in the flash of expressions across his face, as if he isn’t quite sure what mask to put on, that leaves a strange sort of vulnerability in the sheen of his eyes.

Confusion. Blank, empty confusion.

Shit. This is worse than he’d thought. 

He should have known - hadn’t even considered -

“Hey,” Barret tries, tone low, and the eyes find his lips like moths to flame, but it’s obvious the merc’s not seeing them.

“Can you hear me, Cloud?” 

Still nothing.

“Can you see me?”

Cloud actually blinks once at that, brows furrowing, and a fraction of the fear fades for a moment, something like recognition entering his eyes. Barret grasps at the opportunity.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Tifa…”

“Tifa?!”

“Tifa’s friend. It’s - Barret,” he gasps, voice raspy, and Barrett reels a bit at the sound of his name on Cloud’s lips.

“Right, that’s me. Do you remember-” and Barret realizes that was the wrong thing to say as soon as Cloud expression changes, entire body snapping to face the solid concrete wall blocking their exit.

His breathing picks up again. Nails digging crimsons crescents into his skin as he staggers away from the walls, spinning in the center of the enclosed space and sucking in air like he’s drowning.

Barrett moves without thinking, reaching out to steady him, but Cloud whirls around with wide, panicked eyes and lashes out. His forearm connects with Barret’s chest in a savage thud, knocking him clean to the other side of the elevator.

“Don’t touch me!” Cloud yells. “Don’t-“ he curls inwards, heaving, and presses himself to the opposite wall.

“Okay.” Barret steadies himself, then raises his hand and gun as a show of peace. “Okay, I won’t touch you. I’m just right over here, and I’m staying perfectly still.”

Cloud shakes his head frantically. “There-there has to be another way out. You- the, the roof-”

“Roof wouldn’t be a good idea.” Especially not with Cloud incapacitated the way he is. And Barret definitely isn’t fitting up there, that’s for damn sure.

“So…so we’re trapped?”

“For now, but it’s probably a simple power outage. We just have to wait.” He leaves it at that, even though it’s almost physically painful to do so.

Nothing he says is going to reassure Cloud at this point, so he just lets the guy tense up against the wall, breathing shakily. He looks an absolute wreck, face wet with tears and hair matted in sweat. Paler than the moon and trembling like a leaf, he appears such a stark contrast to the usual Cloud that Barret almost has a hard time believing it’s the same person.

Except Barret more than anybody knows what PTSD can do to people, and he hates the damn group with a burning passion, but he can acknowledge that any SOLDIER worth a damn has probably got some traumatizing memories locked away.

Maybe Cloud isn’t so unfeeling as Barret had assumed.

But claustrophobia?! It’s a hell of a thing, and Barret would be furious that the kid hadn’t told him if he didn’t know the exact reason why. A leader is supposed to be someone you can turn to - somebody you can trust to always have your best interests at heart - and he’s failed miserably in that department, former enemy or not.

Cloud had been subtle about it, too. Good enough at hiding his reaction that Barret had taken minutes to notice. That’s not even counting the first elevator ride, even though he absolutely should. Nobody sane sleeps like that in an elevator unless they’ve got issues with it, and he damn well should have noticed something was up right then and there.

He’d been purposefully obtuse; willfully ignorant about the truth right in front of him again, and it had nearly cost him a second time.

Of course, the fact that Cloud had been so good at hiding it is a bit concerning, and Barret is beginning to get the sneaking, sickening suspicion that Cloud has been having a lot more of these episodes in his presence than he should be.

And he’s never bothered to help with a single one.

Tifa’s going to have his head for this.

She’s the one who recommended Cloud for the jobs, but Barret doubts she knows a thing about this.

Does anyone?

Barret looks up when he hears Cloud shift, watching on with dread as the other slides numbly to the floor. The look in his eyes is enough to make Barret feel as if he’s been doused in ice water, and the panting is only getting louder, more panicked and sharp. Interspersed with small, terrified whimpers that push at every single protective instinct Barret has. The ones that tell him to keep his family close and to never let them suffer. The ones that usually include Jessie and Biggs and Wedge and Tifa and now, apparently, Cloud.

Gaia, not this damn brat.

He can’t think about this right now, though. Not while one of his team is lying prone on the floor of a kill box that could start running again at any moment, no matter which particular member of his party that person is. So he pushes it all from his mind and focuses on the problem at hand.

He can deal with this later.

“Cloud, hey,” he soothes instead, voice almost a whisper, “I need you to breathe.”

Cloud chokes. Claws at his chest and kicks at the floor, head shaking wildly. “I can’t-!”

“You can.”

“It’s-it’s too small. There’s no air. I-!”

“There is air!” Mako eyes flick to him in surprise, latching on desperately, and Barret continues on in a calmer tone. “I need you to listen to me. There is air in here, but you have to breathe.”

“I can’t-”

“In,” Barret interrupts, waiting patiently through Cloud’s startled, bleary pause for the strangled breath he sucks in afterward. “Count for four seconds and hold...then out again.”

He slides forward a bit on Cloud’s ragged exhale, and pushes even further when Cloud doesn’t protest the movement. He’s watching Barret like a hawk, but Barret has the feeling he’s not seeing much.

“In,” Barret repeats, “and out.”

Cloud struggles to follow the instructions as Barret finally manages to sit directly in front of him.

There’s not a single doubt in Barret’s mind as he grabs Cloud’s hand, guiding it to his chest.

“Breath with me.” He locks eyes with Cloud. Watches fear turn to confusion and distrust, powering right on through it. “In and out,” he instructs, sucking in a long, deep breath to show that there’s air. When he exhales, he watches Cloud do the same, eyes drifting to their overlapping fingers.

It goes on like that for a while, the elevator still remaining stubbornly in place. Cloud’s fear doesn’t seem to fade, but he slowly, methodically works away the panic, breathing in rhythm with Barret until his whole body doesn’t shake on every exhale. Until he’s almost relaxed again, eyes beginning to droop.

The way they sit is almost casual, now. As if they’re chilling on a weeklong vacation and not recovering from being trapped fifteen floors above the ground. With the press of silence between them, the urgency of the moment wearing away, Barret finds himself struck again by the absurdity of the situation.

Cloud Strife. SOLDIER. Ex-Soldier. Mercenary. It doesn’t matter. 

If he told the Barret of even ten minutes ago what they’re doing right now, he’d be laughed right out of the room.

He sighs, ready to pull them back to their feet and forget this ever happened, for the sake of both their pride, and looks over to see that Cloud is shaking. Then he’s gasping, shoulders heaving, and Barret has a brief, panicked second to think Cloud is having another attack before he realizes the other is crying. Actual, tearing sobs that wrack his entire frame as he crumples in on himself like a marionette with its strings cut.

That heated, protective surge of anger that he’s only ever felt for his team instantly comes back in full force, and Barret doesn’t even think before he’s pulling Cloud against him. Wrapping his arm around the smaller figure and pressing Cloud’s face to his shoulder, carding his fingers through soft, downy hair.

Cloud shakes against him, fisting desperately at his shirt and burrowing violently against him like the touch is too little. Not enough. And Barret tries to hold him tighter; to contain it all as it all comes spilling out of him. Loud, reckless weeping and the desperate need for comfort.

And as they sit there, Cloud cradled in his arm, Barret gets the feeling that they may never recover from this, after all. But damn the pride and the image and the stupid, ridiculous facade. Like hell is he going to let another one of his family suffer for any longer than they have to. Even Cloud. Especially Cloud.

[butchrocket]

the clarret tag has been dead for many years and im upset im just now getting into final fantasy 7 and i like those two together a lot

[ffviirarepairweek]

Thanks for the excuse to write more Clarret/Boud and ClotiVin! I'm on Day 3 for prompts and I'm excited to start posting~

Awesome! I hope you’re having a lot of fun!

[freykugel]

Frey Replays FFVII for the 50th time

Oh boy here we go. With the new trailer for FFVII Remake I’m simultaneously hyped and disappointed. I love this game dearly to death and I’m so excited for new content and new fans. But at the same time I’m dreading the already deeply entrenched fanon characterizations becoming canon in the remake. For example Cloud losing his hilarious sense of humor and kindness to be SAD SAD SAD ANGST ANGST, Aerith no longer being sassy as hell to just being generic animu waifu, and Sephiroth just becoming Cloud’s new yandere boyfriend.

And while I admit to being frustrated about Remake personalities, I’m also your local Boo-boo the clown, putting my clown shoes, clown nose, and clown make-up. I’m a fool first and foremost.

So I bought FFVII again on the switch (good deal, I literally have NO space left on my tiny PSX memory card--1MB!!!!-- and I want 100 save files).

It’s been 22 years and Cloud, this asshole, STILL tells me to attack the robot scorpion when the tail is up. Y’all at Squeenix are lazy as fuck.

So Cloud is a canon certified Good Boye™. You cannot proceed without saving her. I mean, SURE you can say he ignored her and went back because she has 1 of the 2 passwords but in this household Cloud always saves her the first thing. He talks big, acts big, but he’s baby.

GOD you’re such a smug asshole, Cloud. Clarret is truly canon.

As a babb Cloud was a scrappy little punk. I mean, it could definitely go either way in that Tifa misunderstood his childhood. Being bullied and targeted by the townspeople meant getting provoked and Tifa was always in that bubble that told her he was starting them. But I can also definitely see him picking fights. Probably more in that Journey-Into-The-Center-Of-Cloud’s-Mind plot. Tifa is canonically not a good reliable narrator, haha. And I need a refresher.

Aw Wedge. You were gone too soon. Probably not canon because only I’m annoying enough to talk to everyone, but good to know people can see right through him. Cloud is definitely just putting on the cool and stoic persona to hide how lonely he is. And also how he perceives a SOLDIER should act like.

The famous promise scene. Missing are the bits where Cloud is like, “???????WHAT???????” Oh Tifa, you never needed a hero. But Cloud will always be there to help you out in a jam. Scene here to establish that WOWZERS they are childhood friends (honhonhonhon).

For the low, low price of 1500, you too can hire an ex-Shinra SOLDIER as a mercenary for hire. I get that it’s the slums and also the beginning of the game so you can’t expect millions but damn. Tifa’s also so desperate to keep Cloud here.

Y’all just leaving a little girl alone at a BAR, telling her to manage a BAR, while the adults go blow up a mako reactor. Great!

Cloud is so eager to show off what he knows. When you’re at the beginner hall all these people are asking Cloud to help them out and he just puffs out in pride like HELL YEAH I ALREADY KNOW THIS SHIT LET ME BESTOW THIS KNOWLEDGE UPON YOU. I’LL EVEN DO IT FOR FREE. He’s trying so hard to look cool.

Pretty damn early right off the bat we know something’s wrong. That part of Cloud who very much was at the Nibelheim reactor blaring sirens of deja vu. For a first playthrough everyone (including me) would have forgotten this by now. I’m just, //chef’s kiss// mwah. 

Also, by the way, just the fact that you have to jump across this gap onto a freaking pipe to get through the reactor... OSHA would like to have a word with you, Shinra.

So. Um. Any of y’all able to do this in one go?

I’m assuming that rumors of Cloud have spread fairly quickly. I guess it’s fanon that SOLDIERs aren’t allowed to quit and get put down by the Turks considering how nonchalant he is about it. But that’s still a lot of company secrets being let go so I dunno. A SOLDIER who is determined to quit and is good at their job might be able to get away. Who knows.

First-ish appearance of Inner!Cloud. Just looking in from the outside, giving Cloud a push. Also Cloud is a hardy boy holy shit. Surviving huge drops like nothing.SCRAPED KNEES? HELLO? Nothing too deep to say here other than establishing Inner!Cloud.

SQUEENIX. I BEG OF YOU. LET US HAVE DIALOGUE OPTIONS. LET CLOUD BE AN ASSHOLE.

Aerith is so bold. She’s such a flirty person and she’s so cute!

RIGHT OFF THE BAT. THIS LADY IS READY TO STRIKE DOWN THE MONSTERS IN THE CHURCH. SHE’S BEEN LIVING IN THE SLUMS ALL HER LIFE SHE CAN HANDLE THIS SHIT. I just realized I missed getting a screenshot of their first meeting because I told her to run. I didn’t even get a flower, oops. But she just skedaddles on her way.

GOD AERITH you’re so cute. Cloud just finished up explaining that the Turks did a lot of dirty underbelly work and you joke like this. SO CUTE!!

I’m actually quite heart broken?? They fixed this one.

More screenshots about my girl Aerith being all casual about danger. I guess to be fair she was mostly talking about the Turks and whatever the hell was happening in the Remake trailer were vague ghostly spirits, but psshaw. 

GOD the foreshadowing. This is good shit. This isn’t the conversation that someone who achieved his dream of becoming SOLDIER should be having with his mother. Even as a baby Shinra foot soldier he’s so reticent. In subsequent playthroughs these scenes are SO IMPORTANT but the first run it always flies over the head. 

Cloud trying to skip ahead without Aerith, trying to sneak but she ain’t taking shit. I LOVE HER SO MUCH YOU GUYS.

IT’S HERE. MY FAVORITE RANDOM ENCOUNTER. A FUCKING HOUSE.

Ahh, here we are. Establishing that Cloud has super fucked up memories. Missing is that white noise and flash right before saying he’s First Class. And Aerith also holding her cards close to her chest. Something’s not quite right~.

OH BOY HERE WE GO.

WALL MARKET.

But unfortunately I have to cut this short at the best part so stay tuned for the next episode of DRAGON BALL Z.