#soft sefikura for once

[ragepups]

[phoenixcatch7]

Deep in my ff7 rereads so here are my favourite fandom fics, hands down.

End as you mean to begin <- 130k+ of time travelling cloud parenting the remnants, seeking asylum in a war torn wutai to keep all four of them out of shinras hands while sephiroth is absolutely Going Through It in midgar. Great Genesis characterisation and cloud mothering his way to an international incident. Bonus gender hijinks, hilarious misunderstandings and zack. Unfinished.

The fear of falling stars <- 500k+ and soon to be completed. Cloud and insane!Sephiroth time travel back to their shinra days and I cannot emphasise enough how much cloud is Not Doing Well. Gorgeous wordplay and top tier banter. Utterly unhinged blood enemies to ??? to ?????? to lovers sefikura. It's E rated and probably the tensest I've ever been reading fic lol, it is not lighthearted! But it's incredibly well written and the characters are phenomenal (zack my beloved) so if you've got strong nerves (and like a quarantine pairing) I'd definitely recommend it.

Voice of the gods <- 170k+ of almost idyllic gods and avatars au. Slow, soft and full of world building, it's a lovely relaxing read of cloud getting anointed the envoy of sephiroth, god of war, and slowly growing into his role and joining the ranks of envoy. Lots of side characters take larger roles here, and sephiroth himself is a darling without losing his sharpest edges. Unfinished.

I CAN FIX HIM (series) <- possibly my favourite sephiroth characterisations ever. 130k and growing of pure shaking this man like a doll in a perfect mix of almost delirious crack and gutting angst (often both at once!). Very good writing, every single funny moment hits like a truck and keeps building until you're choking with laughter. Bonus points to ROADTRIP! for being utterly, utterly insane. I cannot emphasise enough just how GOOD every single character and their dynamics are written.

Just anything ff7 written by AimeeLouWrites, if you've been in this fandom for any length of time you'll have heard of her. Great concepts, great executions and aus for DAYS.

Five hearts to make him whole <- 130k+ of time/dimension travelling cloud getting sent to a world of soulmates - and his alternate self bagged all four soldier firsts. Alternate cloud also died violently a few years ago and boy did those soulmates (not) take it well. Our cloud, of course, was not read in on any of this. Shout out to the emotional support chocobo! Unfinished?

Shall I find rest <- another soulmate agszc (?) dimension cross but this one is 100k+ of post AC cloud and Tifa waking up and deciding to make it everyone else's problem. They're so done with all the drama. Bamf nibel duo to the end and Tifa is the mvp. Unfinished.

Advanced release <- 250k+ and it's sephiroth receiving the original game in a strange packet that appeared in his room. It spirals into a messy and painful exposure of conspiracy, lies and inevitable tragedy. Video game logic is a running gag and zack remains the only actually stable person in the whole sorry mess but he's also Having a Terrible Experience. Really well written!!! Unfinished.

On broken wings <- 160k+ of pure post AC sephiroth redemption from his pov. Him struggling to find his place in a new world and experience real human connection evolves into MOOGLE EMBASSY need I say more?? Unfinished.

With Great Power Comes Meddling Fucking Gods <- 470k+! Poly WEAPON cloud gets yoinked back to the past (feat agzs), dies for a few days and misses his family SO bad but he is determined to change the future for the better. Probably the most healthy and mature cloud ever lol. Unfortunately for him, insane!sephiroth is pulling a inner hollow and gaia herself isn't talking. If you like symbolism, whoo boy!! The dream sequences are a DOOZY (and drowning in eroticism). Wonderfully written, the divide between sane!sephiroth and his counterpart is really cool to see. E rated at times but it's absolutely DELIGHTFUL and WEAPON cloud is such a treat. And I cannot emphasise enough the symbolism. Zackkura (kinda) and slow burn! Unfinished.

A brand need not be seen <- 180k+ in a world of soulmates where the four firsts have clouds name on their wrists. Trooper cloud is tentatively, desperately hopeful. Then a smoking hot op af adult cloud appears, with no names on his wrists at all. It's a really cute flirty fic despite covering shinra politics, identity crises, huge self worth issues, lots of trauma, and finding your own place in the world. Unfinished.

Memory's struggle <- 250k+ of cascading time travel. Basically everyone goes back, which goes great XD. Everyone... Except cloud. I read this a while ago but I do remember poor cloud just getting loved and spoiled by literally everyone and freaking out about it lmao. He was so confused! Unfinished.

Additional edit:

A solitude of space <- a wonderfully soothing 90k complete of sephiroth getting resurrected and moving to stardew valley to become the farmer. It's sooooo peaceful and following him as he grows into his own person and experiences real normality and community is lovely, if a touch angsty. Eventual sefikura with cloud moving to the farm when he's not doing deliveries. It's just. Really nice. I think I cried at the end. Finished!

One-Winged Angel's Self-Saving System <- 55k+ sephiroth enters the Chinese fantasy Scum Villain world in place of the scum villain himself! (He's the third person to take on that role, but who's counting?) Reborn into a plant body he's set loose on an unsuspecting world with a completely different magic system (sentient swords! Immortality!), with only the guide of a mysterious hallucinated ai. Freedom to make his own choices! Aroallo seph rep! He messes up the plot so bad, recruiting accidental love interests with kill counts and resurrecting long lost immortals. It can get a bit heavy but it's really fun and sephiroth has no intention of ever going back. Unfinished.

The SOLDIER General's Self Saving Shizun <- 73k+ of the opposite of the last fic: the scum villain (the 2nd) gets isekai'd into sephiroth! Shen qingqiu, aka the modern world native shen yuan, fails to resurrect into his prepared plant body and wakes up in a new fictional world, once again as the villain. With his limited memory of the games and his immense knowledge of cultivation (scum villains magic system) he tries to get a grasp on his new life while evading hojo, the president, his new subordinates and the war front while cultivating to immortality - something shinra is VERY interested in. When I tell you these two fics have a GRIP on me. I've written so many fic ideas around them. It's actually insane. The first thing he does is completely redecorate his rooms and buy a whole new wardrobe, which is totally not suspicious XD. Unfinished.

The fifth act <- 160k, it's a good ol' time travel fic - with a twist. The truest exploration of ripples in a pond, or how kindness, when true, can be returned in most unexpected ways. Or maybe how a single act of good can change the world.... Or maybe it's about how you must never turn your back on an enemy. Cloud has people to save and people to kill, and only time will tell which is which. Complete.

Of Things That May Be Only 'Verse <- another series! At 250k, it's about sephiroth resurrecting, only to, uh, slip and crack his head lol. This sends him spiralling through a vision of a cosy life he'd never dreamed, and when he wakes up? He wants it so bad. But that means behaving. Slow burn sefikura redemption, side Cid/Vincent (vincid?) which ngl did convince me of the ship, domestic fluffiness and found family galore! And the whole series is complete!!

Little seph <- a 160k series about the AC sephiroth revival going wrong. Stuck in the body of a kid, post AC sephiroth is a feral kitten carefully domesticated with the power of pancakes, wing preening, and deeply uncomfortable sleepovers. He's a brat, a pest, a murder machine, but he just wants to be part of a family even if he pretends he doesn't. Eventual sefikura, and overall just a very good read. Fully complete!

We are no heroes <- 70k series, about a secretly time travelled sephiroth desperately trying to save his friends and finally, maybe, rest. When I tell you this had me SOBBING. I was BAWLING. Extremely good, zack is best boy. This man is just so tired. Beautiful descriptions. And, again, complete! Yay!

[mikussabbath]

YOUR FAVORITE SEFIKURA FICS?!?!👀👀

I’ve really taken my time with answering this because I have 400+ Sefikura fics in my bookmarks, and I ended up going through all of them. It was very hard to decide. This ended up becoming more of a rec list, because I really find it hard to narrow it down when there are so many fics with this pairing that have brought me joy. Here are my very most favorites—I hope you’ll enjoy them too.

One shots:

Without Mercy, Without Grace by BloodyWar2411 - Probably one of, if not my most favorite sefikura fic ever. The banter, the dynamic, the inclusion of Angeal, Genesis, and Zack… it’s just so wonderful. Angeal is the time traveler this time, and drags Cloud back with him, which changes many, many things. This one will never get old.

The Brightest Star in the Universe by modeoheim - (Technically a two-shot but shhhh). Sephiroth is an alien who crash lands in Cloud’s backyard. Cultural differences, shockingly wonderful emotional vulnerability, interesting world building, and really fun smut due to Sephiroth’s alien appearance—this one has it all. And lots of feelings. God the feelings these two develop for one another are so amazing.

Shelter From The Light by AsreonInfusion, TekkaWekka - I hesitated between putting this one here and in the pwp section, but there is a fair bit of plot, so I’ve left it here instead. Vampires are a weakness of mine, and this fic really does them justice. There’s something wonderful about the fact that the situation depicted here very much should be fucked up, and yet it somehow isn’t. One of those fics that has me imagining what would come after, how their relationship would continue to build. Lovely.

i’m bunkered with ashen soul by shivadyne - Very, very fun world here that’s been built. Cloud is a vampire, old and powerful, but Sephiroth, as a dragon, surpasses him in both respects. There’s something wonderful about Cloud willingly giving himself over to Sephiroth to be a part of his hoard, who immediately starts doting on him and indulging Cloud’s whims. One of those fics that makes you itch for more.

Alone Together by Up_sideand_down - This one has a super, super unique concept, in which Sephiroth and Cloud are both shoved into one body by Hojo. The hijinks that ensue with that are interesting, but the closeness they crave once they’re separated is wonderful.

That Deep Dark by modeoheim - Haunting and dark. Sephiroth really, truly feels like something very far from human. I like to interpret this one in a sappier light, but the ambiguity of it is amazing. Godly Sephiroth deciding that Cloud is His is really wonderful.

corsetry by silentsaint - I am not sure why this fic stands out so much to me. Or rather, I’m not sure how to describe the way I feel about it. One of the most beautiful uses of long, elegant descriptions and wordplay. The dynamic between these two, with Cloud all wrapped up in a wedding dress… there’s something about this that’s ethereal in and of itself, and it’s uniquely compelling.

Rushes and Reeds by corvidkouhai - Short but sweet. The vibes here are immaculate. This piece, and the energy it captures, really inspired my kelpie fic I wrote for Sefikura week. Always a sucker for mermaid/mermaid adjacent fics, and this one does such a lovely job with Sephiroth’s ethereal inhumanness.

Like Mother, Like Son, Like New by jukeboxhound - This is definitely more of a character study of Sephiroth, but it’s wonderful all the same. It all leads beautifully into seeing Cloud and Sephiroth together. I have a weakness for hair washing, so this is one of my favorites for that reason, but also for the softness that’s here in spite all of the acknowledged hurts Cloud and Sephiroth have caused one another.

Inter-Dimensional Life Strategy Seminars (Attendance Mandatory) by dustofwarfare - Crack but very fun and very amusing. Probably not as fun unless you’re familiar with all of the series that this plays with, but it’s quite funny if you are. My love for Sephiroth and Cloud hating Dr. Phil knows no bounds.

Longfic/chaptered fics:

Telling Time With a Broken Watch by CloudStrifeIsMySpiritAnimal - I wish I could provide you with a link to this one, but it’s sadly been deleted. I think about it all the time, though. I don’t think I’ve seen any other fic be able to go as dark and deep with the enemies dynamic and still somehow pull it back on track toward something resembling a healthy romance. The mental bond was amazing, the banter and humor was great. I miss this one a lot.

Rectify by unknownlifeform - Do I have to explain why I love this one? I kept up with weekly updates for around a year and I swear it was always the highlight of my week. Sephiroth is a God and Cloud is rather blasphemous, which is a wonderful dynamic in and of itself, but this goes so far beyond that. It’s. I don’t have words. (And also I still think about the Saferoth smut in this fic. We were truly blessed with that).

The Little Guy by TokiMirage - One of, if not my most favorite longfic for this pair. A time travel fic in which Cloud is Very Done and decides fuck it, he’s not getting involved at all. Time to be a janitor. And yet somehow, of course, fate brings him back to Sephiroth time and time again. Cloud’s personality and characterization here is great—he’s SO sassy and Sephiroth is drawn to him because of it.

What Is My Life by NightmareDaybreaker - This one is still ongoing and I’ve been following it since the very beginning, which has been such a treat. The story sees Sephiroth coming back to life post-AC, but there are so many twists and turns and the plot is so fun that it feels really unique. The characterization is wonderful, I love the banter, and the way the sexual content is written is to die for—awkward and silly in the best of ways, and it feels so very real and intimate and soft. I adore the way that feelings are portrayed in every part of this fic. There are also multiple pieces of art with each chapter, done by the author. They’re all really wonderful, and I love the way they draw Cloud and Sephiroth.

Cadet Strife’s Adventures in the Big City by Munchkin47 - Fun, sweet little soulmate AU. Cloud is so very sassy, and there is so much sexual tension throughout. It’s really wonderful seeing Cloud grow from half-rate trooper to SOLDIER Third. Very fun.

Patience is a Virtue by Iciseria - In which Cloud decided to work as a lab assistant instead of a trooper after failing the SOLDIER exam and everything changes. This fic is… so fucking soft. It’s crazy that it manages it in spite of the setting. One of those wonderful fics in which Cloud gets to know who Sephiroth really is, who in turn feels Seen for the first time in his life.

Call it Magic by kzam - All of kzam’s fics are just… so wonderful. This one plays with some very interesting dynamics in regards to the connection that Cloud and Sephiroth share. As always with kzam, the world building is really phenomenal, and is worth the read alone.

Deep Waters by unknownlifeform - Look. I’m a sucker for mermaids/mermaid fic. But this stands out even from my usual love of that sort of AU. Sephiroth is a big scary abyssal mer, and him and Cloud kind of hopelessly, awkwardly fall in love. The cultural + size difference is superb, and the plot itself is super riveting. Love this one.

Your Wings by WindsOfTime - Cloud is such a bamf in this one dear god. Takes the usual boring CEO premise and turns it on its head. Cloud is Sephiroth’s assistant, yet he is very much the one in charge. And then there’s the wings and the bigger plot and Angeal, Genesis, and Zack… this one is very, very fun.

PWP:

Rumour Has It by AsreonInfusion - Saferoth tentacle porn and the very start of Feelings. Need I say more?

Reverb by Carressa - One of my favorite smutfics for these two. It plays with some really, really interesting dynamics in terms of how Reunion and puppet!Cloud can be used sexually, and yet somehow is still soft for it? There’s a lot of love beneath the surface here.

Mukbang for Monsters by Fictional_Nympho - This one is a really interesting combination of fun tropes, from camming to monsterfucking to top Cloud, oh my! Really just a whole lot of fun.

Blinded Love by Gregora - Starts off as anonymous sex, but then feelings get involved. Sephiroth has a tentacle dick which is very fun. It’s a source of insecurity for him and very appealing for Cloud—the dive from anonymous sex to feelings in this one is really lovely.

Hazy by esama - Even though this one is a pwp, the plot is super compelling. Time traveler (maybe?) Cloud who’s forgotten most everything except his instinct to kill Sephiroth. Which turns into fucking Sephiroth. Lots of humor, neat dynamic/setup.

The Plan, and How It Went Wrong by XpaperplaneX - While technically this is a bit bigger than what I’d consider a pwp, it is filled with wonderfully written smut, and that’s kind of what the whole plot revolves around. I’m a sucker for pretty men in pretty clothes, so I love the games Sephiroth and Cloud play with one another in that regard.

[rabid-heart]

Through the Threads of Space and Time (I’ll Always Love You)

Kicking off Sefikura Week!

For @sefikuraweek 2021. Day 1 - Prompt: Meeting In Another World

After living and dying countless times, Sephiroth and Cloud finally find paradise, with each other. But all good things must come to an end.

Rating: Teen and Up

Warnings: Some implied sexual content and a description of a serious injury.

Read on Ao3 here.

--- 

It took them far too long to come together. They had danced in a battle across the threads of time and space, the clash of their blades louder than any words or feelings they might have wished to share. At the start, there was nothing more than bitter rage and anger – how could Cloud feel anything else toward the man who seemed destined to destroy every world he awakened in?

But then something changed. It might have been the hundredth meeting – might have been the thousandth, for after years and lifetimes, it was hard for Cloud to keep track – but this time, when his sword cut through Sephiroth’s body, the man did not look at him with shocked arrogance or disdain. Instead, those green eyes were glazed with tears of longing, of hope, of relief, of thanks.

When Cloud awoke the next time, he was haunted by those eyes and the ghosts of unspoken words that swirled behind them. Over the following lifetimes, over the repeated sight of those green eyes, Cloud had tried to push the dangerous thoughts away – the traitorous what ifs that kept him up at nights, that made him hold his sword with just a little bit more uncertainty. He had stubbornly convinced himself that there was no other path to follow. And why wouldn’t he? In all the lives he ever lived, there was only one constant: Sephiroth would destroy and Cloud would be his executioner.

Maybe he was tired. Maybe there was a part of him that thought to simply try something new. Or maybe the thought of seeing those eyes grateful for the death that Cloud had given them had vexed Cloud’s last nerve. Because at one point, finally, the warrior had had enough.

When he let go, stepped back and let that long silver blade pierce straight through him, Sephiroth’s green eyes were not thankful. They were not triumphant either. They were afraid. They said, pleaded, begged, please don’t leave me alone.

In the next life, that was all Cloud could think about.

In hindsight, the fact that it took them this long, this many cycles, this many lives, to get to this point was ridiculous. Cloud and Sephiroth were tied together, irrevocably, inescapably. It was a fact of the universe as was the force of gravity. No matter how far they were at the start, they would always collide. But this was a different type of collision – not of swords, but of lips and limbs and bodies and hearts and souls. It only took one night together for the realization to sink in: this was what they were meant to be. For there was no one else in the world that understood the dark crevices of Cloud’s mind and cherished him for it. And in turn, there was no one else in the world that Sephiroth knew would never truly leave him. It was perfect.

But the Planet itself seemed to disagree. It clawed its way between them, tried to tear them asunder, tried to set them back on the fated paths they were always meant to walk. It was too late, though. Cloud now knew what paradise felt like and it was waking up to silver hair and dazzling green eyes and warm arms. And if Sephiroth kept one thing from his repeated reincarnations, it was obsession. They would never stop fighting for each other, even if it would tear the strands of the world apart.

In the end, they had decided to run – find a corner of creation that would be theirs and theirs alone. And it is here that Cloud finds himself now, in a meadow of wildflowers and late summer breezes and clear blue skies. He feels like he once did as a young child, without worries or care, warm inside like nights by the fire with a mug of hot cocoa. He is walking as he does on some mornings, listless and barefoot, letting the flowers and tall grass graze through his fingertips. In the bed inside the house up the hill, Sephiroth is still sleeping.

Cloud rarely wakes before the man, but when he does, he walks. Because it is in the hazy morning light that Sephiroth looks the most human, asleep with his hair falling out of the tie that had come undone during the night. When Cloud sees that profile, feels the soft breath on his forehead, hears the steady heartbeat under his ears, it is just shy of overwhelming. The sight never fails to awaken something in Cloud: the mounting of a thousand promises, of heartfelt devotion, of the desire to remain there pressed into that man’s chest forever. Because in those mornings, he is reminded that he loves Sephiroth so much, that he can hardly breathe for it.

So, Cloud gets up and walks, for fear of drowning. He knows now that Sephiroth does not mind. He even understands, watchful eyes always assessing, always knowing, always wanting. He will stay in bed until Cloud is ready to come home, offer the fond and sleepy smile that he has now learned to give so freely, and allow the blond to climb onto his lap and show him just how much he loves him. It is a ritual now that feels even more exhilarating than the battles they used to perform (though every once in a while, they dig up their blades from storage and enjoy a dance or two, for old times’ sake).

Cloud thinks about that routine now and looks back at the house, anticipation and excitement and joy curling in his heart. He begins to make his way up the hill, when he notices dark shadows rumbling over the grassy fields, green cracks of lightning shooting through the sky. The edges of the world around them begin to dissolve, like sand in water, and as the air begins to thicken with smoke, so too does the fear grow in Cloud’s heart.

They’ve found us.

He runs, bare feet pounding hard against the dirt, still wet from the morning dew. Though it has been many years since he called upon it, the old speed still has not left Cloud, and it only takes seconds before he crosses the threshold into the cottage. He tracks dirt in as he makes his way to the bedroom, and belatedly thinks about how Sephiroth would chide him for the messes he makes.

“Sephiroth,” Cloud breathes, standing in the doorway in his mud-covered feet. The man in question had still been asleep when the blond had wandered in, though Sephiroth was now groggily starting to stir under the sheets. Cloud moves to the side of the bed, shaking him more urgently. “Get up, we have to run.”

“Run?” Sephiroth counters cautiously, still blinking away the sleep from his eyes. As a by-product of no longer spending the days fighting, the former General had begun indulging slow rises, among other comforts he had not enjoyed before this life. It is almost endearing, seeing him this way, vulnerable and confused and still unbelievably handsome all the same.

But Cloud does not have time for this, not if he wants to keep this life he’s built alive another moment. He takes the other man’s face in his hands, brings it close, their eyes locking, and says, “The Planet, it’s come for us, Seph.”

It takes a moment for the understanding to dawn. When it does, Sephiroth shoots off the bed. He moves toward the closet, pulls on a shirt and some pants, and states, “Get your things. I’ll get your swords.”  

Cloud does as he is told. He shoves a bag full of some of clothes, and rushes to the front closet to grab their boots. By the time he returns to the bedroom, Sephiroth has retrieved First Tsurugi and its accompanying harness from the storage closet in the basement. Cloud does not bother with the harness, simply grasps the combined blade. “Can you get us out of here?” he says, pleadingly.

Sephiroth closes his eyes for a moment, trying to dust away the cobwebs of the old magic he used to wield so effortlessly. After he had created this space for him and Cloud, he hardly practiced the art anymore. Most of his god-like abilities, he had abandoned, and if his wing ever made an appearance, it was only in bed and at Cloud’s request. The reduction was a sacrifice he had been willing to make for a lifetime with his love. But neither of them had counted on this.

The man tries to conjure a portal to another world, but the threads of the spell slip from his fingers. “I’m sorry, I’ll need time.”

“We don’t have it,” Cloud says, slinging the bag over his shoulder and moving closer to the silver-haired man. “But maybe we can buy ourselves some.”

Sephiroth nods and wraps his arm around Cloud, holding the smaller man as to him as tightly as possible. He conjures his wing and a moment later the two of them are in the sky, soaring far away from the cottage they had lived in for nearly countless years now. As they fly, Cloud watches as the dark shadows and green tendrils begin consuming the entirety of the peaceful meadow, swallowing their home whole.

Cloud tries not to let the feelings overwhelm him now, but they are there, building armies in his mind. Despair, for one, which is ironic and terrible and cruel in itself. But there are others, like fear and anxiety and desperation, too. He had thought that they successfully escaped from it, the cycle of repeated lives and lies and deaths, the dreadful fortune the wheel of fate continued to turn and turn for them. He had thought that they had defied destiny itself. But despite all their strength and power, they had failed. And now, they could lose everything. That alone was enough to break the dam of his tears, and Cloud finds himself crying soundlessly.

Destiny, it turned out, was a stubborn mistress.

“Cloud,” Sephiroth whispers, pausing for a moment mid-air. He notes the dampness of the shoulder of his shirt. “You’re crying.”

“I’m fine, keep moving,” Cloud whispers, curling into his lover tightly.

Sephiroth opens his mouth to say something, but lightning strikes suddenly through the sky, and the next thing Cloud knows, they are falling. He sees Sephiroth’s eyes, wide with a fear that the man rarely shows, and Cloud knows own his eyes mirror the same expression. The inevitability begins to sink in as gravity takes over. And still, Sephiroth grasps him tightly, shifting their positions to brace their fall, and before Cloud can protest, they land in the dirt, hard and with a sickening crack.

For a moment, there is silence, and Cloud wonders if he had briefly passed out, if this is all just a terrible nightmare, if he will just wake up and be in that bed that he had made with his own two hands, in the arms of the man that he loves more than the world itself. But unfortunately, when the blond opens his eyes, only the latter is true. Sephiroth is still holding him, but his breathing is ragged, as if he is trying to stifle the pain that keeps rising out of his throat. Quickly, Cloud rolls off of Sephiroth and surveys the damage. The man’s wing had torn into shreds from the lighting strike, the bones of it broken and jutting through the feathers from the stun of the fall. He looks at Cloud now with watery eyes that still hold such fondness, such resilience, such power, such grace.

Like a fallen angel.

“Are you alright?” Sephiroth breathes, reaching out to Cloud.

Cloud just sobs in response, moving to cradle Sephiroth’s head in his lap. “Oh, Seph, I’m so sorry, I—”

“It was my fault. I shouldn’t have stopped.”

But he did, because Cloud was crying and Sephiroth, for all his logic and strategy and intelligence, loves him far too much to not try and comfort him. It is so bittersweet that Cloud apologizes again anyway, pressing kisses to that perfect face. He can taste the hint of salt on his lips, but whether it is from his own tears, or Sephiroth’s, he does not know.

“Is it bad?” Sephiroth asks, half-jokingly.

Cloud hates it, hates that the man has tried to develop a sense of humor to entertain him over the years, hates that he is using it now. But he leans forward and presses his forehead against Sephiroth’s and says, “No, it’s fine.”

Sephiroth closes his eyes, because he knows Cloud and knows well enough when he is lying. “Then you have to go.”

“No.”

“You are running out of time.”

“I am not leaving you.”

“You have to.”

Cloud shakes his head furiously. “No. No. I’m never leaving you. I’m never leaving you, ever. I’m yours and you are mine and we are never going to be apart, ever again.”

“If only that were true, my love,” Sephiroth murmurs back, and reaches a hand up to tangle in those blond spikes.

“I’ll make it true,” Cloud says. “With everything I have.”

But as the words leave his lips, they both can feel it, the dark shadows approaching. They had ages here, in this world they created, days and months and years folding into each other. And somehow now, with only minutes left until the end, Cloud feels that all that time is not enough. He wants more. He wants forever, an eternity. He wants Sephiroth, the only thing that had filled the empty chasm in his soul, the only thing that makes him feel real and whole.

Sephiroth looks at him, and Cloud swears he can see the man’s heart breaking. “You must go, Cloud.”

“No.”

“They’ll take you. They’ll take you and take me and in the next life, they won’t let us be together, not again.”

“Then I’ll make them,” Cloud fires back, and in his eyes are anguish and fear but also devotion and steel, all the things that make Cloud so utterly irresistible and utterly unbreakable. Sephiroth wants to believe him, wants to believe in that strength that had challenged and defeated him again and again, wants to believe that it may be enough. He looks at that sunflower hair, that freckled face, those dazzling eyes, and thinks that there cannot be anything more beautiful to believe in than this. For if there is something more stubborn than destiny, then it had to be Cloud Strife.

 And Sephiroth himself never went down without a fight.

“Then I will find you. In the next life, I promise, I’ll find you,” he says.

Cloud responds, “And I promise, I’ll save you.”

Sephiroth seals the vow of meeting again in another world by pressing his lips against Cloud’s, fierce and full of all the longing in a heart that he had thought lost all capability to love long ago, in a heart that he knew belonged to this man, forever. Then, the darkness descends upon them, tumbling through their bodies and ripping their souls apart and away, leaving nothing behind at the edge of creation, except the ghosts of that kiss and the last words they whispered to each other.

I’ll always love you.

[footballandshenanigans]

FF7Remake - My rant on some of these fans...

Grr...so...I’m actually a long time FF7 fan, I have played the OG,remake,crisis core & Dirge Of Cerberus.. and I sometimes glad that I am not a part of the fandom. I’ve been reading a lot of piss poor takes on some of my favourite characters lately and some of them really piss me off. Especially from the smooth brained community on Twitter.

1. On Stanning a ‘Morally problematic’ Characters

Seriously...people can stan ANY characters, and that includes villains. Stanning them doesn’t make you justify their actions. GTFO with that logic. If you can’t stand people loving a really good, 3-dimensional FICTIONAL villains, you can always stan Winnie the Fucking Pooh..I mean, at least in Pooh’s house you can eat honey in your safest space, dancing naked under the rainbow, and being the most wholesome ‘Unproblematic’ goddess of shining light. Hey, it’s your choice.

2. On Shipping

I don’t care about shipping. I find it stupid & immature. Lately I’ve been seeing stupid fights between Cloti & Clerith shippers, also stupid discourse about Sefikura. Godfuckingdammit...what year is this? 2005? and some of you bully others because you don’t like their ‘ship’? Hell..we Sephiroth fans only ship Sephy with US anyway...cause we’re jealous like that..we do not give a shiiiite about your mediocre protags. You know that there’s this motto: Live and let live. Please use it. Why do you have to care about others’ kinks anyway?

3. On Grey areas

Heh..again..the whole FF7 characters are morally grey. Yep...you heard it right. And that includes the ‘UWU Puppy best boyfriend Gary Stu Zack Fair’...But..but..Zack is the most wholesome character ever!! He’s soft, adorable, friendly, so friendly he slain the Wutaian troops with a smile! I bet that 90% of you did not play Crisis Core. Once you decided to join Shinra as a SOLDIER, you are MORALLY GREY. End of story.

4. On Vincent,Lucrecia & Hojo Hullabaloos

I’ve seen some fans questioning why Lucrecia picked Hojo over Vincent..oh sweet summer chile..I have some realistic theories for you - cause I have witnessed these scenarios in real life:

-Sometimes, looks aren’t everything. Lucrecia was a young woman in science & she got her own ambitions. If you played DoC, you will come across the cutscene of Lucrecia & Grimoire Valentine,talking about Lu’s thesis and how she wanted to prove herself to the science world. This happens all the time in real life. Do you know how difficult the situation for female scientists? or Engineers? or any other field dominated by Men? Yep. Lucrecia got something to prove. And she was taking the advantage by marrying Hojo & participating in Project S.

-She had a lot in common with Hojo than with Vincent. It’s shocking but it’s true. They are both scientists. People with the same interests usually will end up liking each other so much more, despite looks. Look, I know a lot of new fans are young, and they mostly care about looks, but once you get older, you will be attracted to people with the same interest & the same vibe as you, trust me on this...you will.

5. On Sephiroth ‘redemption’ theory

I’ve seen plenty of hot takes regarding the theory. But some of you do not want to see this happen. Let me guess...you still think Sephiroth in a Black/White manner...you’re having a hard time to accept the fact that Seph is a Grey character. He did the unjustifiable bad things, yes..it was his choice..but do you ever think WHY he act the way he did? Do you ever think that he was one of the biggest Shinra victim? He never asked to be born & experimented. By the way, most of us long time Sephiroth fans do not want to see ‘redemption’ in a classic sense..we do not want him to be retconned into this suddenly ‘wholesome, asking for forgiveness’ character. We just want him to be playable for some time and having his own character arc (A glimpse of his childhood,his time in Wutai & upbringing in Shinra..just to understand him better), and a closure about who he really was. A special son of Lucrecia. He’s already dead anyway, the thing he needs the most is peace & coming to terms about himself & just be happy running around in the lifestream.

There..I said it. Thank you for reading.

[aimeelouart]

Listen. LISTEN. When I say I’m stressed I mean I am s t r e s s e d. And stressed means I write painful things. So here you go and I refuse to apologize.

From @im-totally-not-an-alien ‘s prompts #45

7) Cloud winds up in the home of happy Sefikura and is drawn in by the sound of a crying baby.

He can't help but coo and care for them, saddened that these are the children he will never get to have, but greatful he got the chance to meet them anyway. He finished changing a diaper when this worlds Sephiroth quietly complemented his diaper skills from the doorway.

Baby Mine — 1474 words, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife, ambiguous angst

The painful staticky buzzing faded away and Cloud sucked in a much-needed gasp of air, working through a quick breathing exercise to quell the nausea that always accompanied his transition between dimensions. “Mmmfh,” he grunted, forcing his sticky-tired eyelids up. He would have to risk sleep again soon.

No immediate danger. No sounds of battle. Just the quiet rush of air from a nearby vent and the soft coos of a baby. Blinking away the haze of his exhaustion, he spotted the baby in question in an elegant white bassinet swathed in soft purple blankets. Even as he listened, the coos turned to whimpers, then to the whining hiccups that he knew from experience preceded a wailing fit.

Cloud was too tired to really think, so he just acted, padding across the soft white carpet to the bassinet. Baby-fine silver hair and teary, unmistakable blue eyes greeted him. “Oh,” he said softly, his voice suffused with wonder. Under other circumstances he would have been (had been) alarmed and disgusted, but there were no mako tanks and sterile cages here—just a soft, lovingly-constructed nursery done up in white and gray and purple.

“Hello there, sweetheart,” he said. “I bet I know what the problem is, huh?” With his enhanced sense of smell, he could easily tell that the baby needed a change. He didn’t think he was too far off about the baby’s parentage either, considering the way they quieted down at the sight of him.

He knew, somewhere in the fog of his physical and mental weariness, that he really shouldn’t touch someone else’s baby, even if that someone was a version of himself. But then he looked at the soft slope of the baby’s nose and saw his Ma, and...he couldn’t leave the baby to cry, not when he was perfectly capable of solving the problem himself.

He’d be gone in a few minutes anyway. The others might not even notice he’d been there.

“I wonder if you’ll get to meet Gramma Claudia,” he whispered, lifting the whimpering infant from the bassinet with steady, experienced hands. “She would love you. You’ve got her nose, did you know that?” The changing table was nearby, set up in a way he found inherently logical. It took barely any thought to go through the motions of changing a diaper. Along the way, he discovered that his counterpart had a daughter.

He didn’t (couldn’t) stop talking to her the whole time. “My goodness, it looks like the version of your daddy that I knew really missed out, huh? I bet you’re gonna grow up and be just as strong as him. You’ve got his hair already, little lady. I hope you grow up to be a rebel and cut it short. Though, hmm, maybe not, if you inherited my hair. You’d look like a little dandelion.” He smiled, tickling her chubby belly once he’d fastened the clean diaper shut. “A pretty little dandelion, but I’m going to guess that you won’t like that comparison so much when you’re older.”

She cooed at him, waving her arms happily. It didn’t take any thought at all to scoop her back up and cradle her against his chest. For a second, his eyes burned. He wished he could go home.

“Thank you,” said a familiar voice. “You are quite good at that.”

He reacted without thinking, dropping into a high crouch and holding the baby safely to his chest, turning to angle his shoulder toward the voice so he’d be ready to take any blows on his back while curled over the fragile little life in his arms.

Protect, his instincts screamed.

But then his eyes landed on the silver-haired man leaning against the doorframe in sweatpants and a tank-top and he knew he was being ridiculous. This was the baby’s father, and she was clearly well-loved. He didn’t need to shield her (or protect himself), but the instinct was too deeply ingrained in him to stop, even if this man was so clearly different from most versions Cloud had met.

The other Sephiroth didn’t miss a single thing. His eyes swept quickly up and down, cataloging every nuance in Cloud’s posture before they returned to his face. It was a little startling to see round pupils in mako-green eyes, but that alone was enough to relax the tense line of Cloud’s shoulders. He lowered his hand from where it had gone to grab his sword and thought it a little concerning that he couldn’t remember shifting the baby to one arm.

Gaia, he really needed to sleep.

Sephiroth’s eyes were strangely sad. Cloud couldn’t understand why he was so calm, much less sad. A stranger was holding his daughter. Why wasn’t he hostile? Why had his first reaction been to complement Cloud’s diaper-changing skills? Absurd. The man was clearly still a warrior. He should have known better.

As if he could hear Cloud’s thoughts (he couldn’t; Cloud checked), Sephiroth said, “it’s alright, Cloud. I think Claudia would know you no matter what form you took.”

In a split second, Cloud’s throat closed and his eyes burned and even as he wondered why are you taking this so well, he also thought Claudia, and his heart broke a little in his chest. “Well,” he said, coughing when his voice came out in a strangled rasp. “Well. I…” He didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t know what he could say to that. “Don’t...worry. I’ll be gone in a minute. I just…”

“It’s alright,” Sephiroth repeated, though something uncomfortably like grief flashed through his expression. “She’s happy, so I’m happy.”

Cloud glanced down. Claudia was drifting off in his arm, tiny eyelids staggering up and down as she listened to the steady beat of his heart. Well. Fair enough, he supposed.

Sephiroth’s voice turned hesitant. “Did you...was she…?”

“No,” Cloud rasped, unable to look away from the daughter that wasn’t his. Or, perhaps, unable to look at her father. “No...it...didn’t take much to guess.” He laughed, quiet and unsteady and so, so tired. “Or maybe I would just recognize her in any form she took.”

Familiar tingling had started in his toes, slowly creeping up his legs. He was running out of time. He moved back to the bassinet and carefully put little Claudia back down, tucking the soft lavender blankets in around her. She drifted off to sleep as he gave in for just a moment and brushed his fingers across her rosy cheek.

“I’ll be gone in a minute, don’t worry,” he murmured, then turned and was startled by how close Sphiroth suddenly was. It took everything he had not to stumble back into the bassinet.

“Thank you,” the other man said. He reached out, pausing for a second when Cloud flinched, and carefully tucked his hair behind his ear. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Cloud looked away, breath frozen in his chest. The tingling had spread up to the base of his spine. He had a few seconds left before the burning started. “No,” he managed to say, swallowing past the painful lump in his throat. “No, there’s...nothing anyone can do.”

He probably would have reacted very badly to the arms that came around him, had he not seen them coming. He didn’t understand it, he did anticipate it. Humans were such strange creatures, and this Sephiroth was unquestionably human, if also stupid enough to hug a cross-dimensional visitor with unknowable intentions.

“I’m sorry,” Sephiroth whispered into his hair. “I wish I could help.”

Cloud shook his head into the man’s collarbone, holding the rest of his body absolutely still as the customary burning sensation began to sear through his veins. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“I do. I do. I love you in all your forms, Cloud Strife, with everything I am. No matter where you came from, it hurts me to see you suffer.”

He should have stayed quiet, but his cynicism slipped through with the pain. “Stupid of you,” he said.

Incredibly, Sephiroth laughed, sliding one hand up to cradle the base of Cloud’s skull. “Perhaps. But I believe I shall do it anyway.” Lips pressed chastely against his temple, which was so utterly baffling that Cloud couldn’t figure out what to feel about it. “You are the strongest person I have ever met, Cloud. Whatever this is, I know you will best it.”

Misplaced trust, thought Cloud, but he couldn’t have said the words aloud even if he’d wanted to. Black, burning pain licked up through his throat and into his head. The last thing he felt before he faded into the spaces between universes was Sephiroth’s forehead pressed to his.

Hopefully the next world would make a little more sense, but he would settle for it being a safer type of painful.

[unknown-lifeform]

Cloud Strife?

favorite thing about them: I have a big soft spot about characters who went through a lot. He was such an earnest kid in CC and BC and it's so sad to think of how Shinra messed him up. I want to give him a hug

least favorite thing about them: there are those times when he seems allergic to communicating with others and it's sort of frustrating to see. This peaks in AC, where I get why he was isolating but he also shouldn't have been, but he also does it in the main game at times. I just want to shake him and ask what he's doing sometimes

favorite line: I'm super bad at remembering quotes lmao sorry

brOTP: Cloud and Tifa. I love them being bffs. But honestly give Cloud all the friends

OTP: Sefikura so good. They've got it all, the enemies to lovers, the size difference, the mind bonds, what's not to love

nOTP: I don't like to romantically ship Cloud with any of the female characters. He just vibes too much as gay to me. My allergy for ship wars may also have something to do with it

random headcanon: he did the bare minimum of schooling as a kid. Nibelheim was so small it didn't have a proper school, just a teacher who'd tell children how to read and count and little more. Cloud didn't even really like classes. Sometimes he skipped them, sometimes he really had other things to do like helping his mom. As a result he knows very little about things like history or science, most of what he knows he learnt as an adult

unpopular opinion: I've seen people complain about how AC!Cloud feels out of character, but personally I find the transition pretty understandable. During the game he didn't really have time to think about anything too much - he had his identity crisis, then he got out of it thanks to Tifa, and then he had to run around trying to save the world. He was under a lot of pressure. AC happens two years later, during which Cloud had all the time to sit and think about what happened, to fully wrap his head around what happened. He had been in emergency mode through the last part of the game, but after the world was saved all the grief and self-blame hit him hard. I find it a very logical progression of his character to have him hold on during a crisis but break down once he no longer can repress things

song i associate with them: House on a Hill by the Pretty Reckless has just the right flavor of Cloud angst imo

favorite picture of them: I don't really keep pictures of characters so I don't know how to answer this one

[azure-steel]

‘Ship Bias’

Send ‘Ship Bias’ and I will share up to 5 Ships I have a bias for for my muse!

Oof, it’s gonna be hard to pick just 5... lol. I’ll do my best but these ships will be blog specific, I hope that’s okay~

Also under a readmore because I have a tendancy to ramble on like a mad woman about this sort of thing xD They are also in no particular order. 

1 - Sefikura - Now I understand that this ship is not everyone’s bag. But both Cloud and Sephiroth are absolute faves of mine, (Almost equal in fact, and the only reason I didn’t take Sephiroth up as a muse myself was because I know that I wouldn’t be able to do his character justice lol) so I suppose that it was sort of a natural thing for me that I’d ship these two together, however there are 2 blogs that my Cloud has romantic/sexual connections with so I’ll talk about both of them here.

@blackwinged-silversolace - Firstly, the way in which Nemain writes her Sephiroth is nothing short of INCREDIBLE and if you ain’t following then you need to get on that pronto! But this particular ship hits all the buttons I have for the typical toxic and domineering relationship that’s happening here. Less a romance than it is a means of control over a lesser power. But also there’s conflict within them both which I absolutely love. Cloud attempting to fight an insatiable craving to simply give in to Sephiroth’s call to arms in his fight to obliterate the world as they know it, and ultimately failing. And Sephiroth’s battle against what he feels he wants and what he knows he NEEDS. It’s just a concoction of abject co-dependency that neither of them truly want but slip into anyway and I just adore how much power this relationship holds when it comes to battling against forces much stronger than they are. I love it!

@neko-mun-rp - Unlike the above, this ship could possibly the polar opposite, where Sephiroth has caused so much damage but found the strength to vanquish the demon controlling him and work on becoming a better man despite the devastation he’s already caused. Cloud has the ability, in this ship, to see past the monster Sephiroth once was and fall for the man that he was always meant to be in the light of Seph’s redemption. Because Cloud knew him once, before Jenova assumed control and he now feels he has a sort of responsibility to aid Sephiroth climb out of his despair and lead the life he’d once always dreamed of. I had my reservations about this sort of ship actually working for me, but it just... did, and I am absolutely here for it!

2 - Cloti. 

@oflockhearted - I’m gonna be super honest here okay? I’m a bit fussy with my Tifa’s because Cloti can sometimes cause a little bit of contention depending on how people want to view this relationship in canon. Cloud did not treat her very well, I understand and accept that he made a few errors of judgement and perhaps took advantage of the fact that Tifa would always be a constant in his life. I get it, I don’t need reminding, but he did have his reasons, and those reasons were also valid. But with this ship in particular, I feel like Cloud can... I dunno... let himself go a bit. There was no true build up for this romance to work, the pair of them just sort of fell into the pattern on their own and I feel like they mesh together perfectly. Because Cloud still has his moments of doubt and feels that Tifa could do so much better than him. But she’s always there, building him up and making him stronger and I like to think that he does the same for her when she needs reminding that she’s amazing~

3 - Cloud and Maru

@primalvessel - Okay, so this was possibly the first proper established ship that I gained here and one that I feel so invested in that it has to be one of my all time faves. These two, initially, seem like a bit of an “Odd Couple” given that Cloud is quite a solitary creature, a lil sombre and a bit recluse where as Maru is the polar opposite of this with his playful, bubbly and excitable nature. They met under some rather extenuating circumstances, and Cloud somehow helped Maru get away from a life of slavery even if he did that in a roundabout way. But I think that in doing so, you know, giving Maru that push rather than just taking him by the hand and leading him away, that he forced Maru to gain his own footing which furthered the respect Maru has for Cloud as a whole. But, of course, the more time they started to spend together after coming into contact again after that instance, feelings started to develop. Because there’s something about Maru that brings out the best in Cloud, he forces him to see the brighter side of any given situation, and of course, who doesn’t like a soft kitty purring on their lap of an evening? I love them, alright? So so much... ;o;

4 - Clerith

@pulchralilium - I had my reservations about this ship for a long time, NOT because I like Cloti and have that irritatingly immature view that one cancels out the other (THEY’RE NOT REAL PEOPLE. JUST SHIP WHAT YOU LIKE OKAY?!) but due to both Cloud and Aerith’s close connections to Zack. There was something a lil too convoluted about the implications there that made me feel that they could never really work as a couple. Boy... was I wrong. This ship has torn my heart in two, in all honesty, because both of them are so strong but in different ways which makes them, possibly, the ultimate POWER couple. Where Cloud’s strength lies mostly in the physical, Aerith is so emotionally powerful that they compliment one another so well, that, as a unit, they sort of become this glorious WHOLE. Interactions on wire have helped me see just how good they are together, how much Aerith adores him and just how protective he is over her. Because Cloud is Aerith’s shield, and ain’t nothing getting to her without getting through him first! So much love for Clerith, so so much~

5 - Cleifer (Cloud x Seifer) 

@hyperionswrath - Just throwing this one out there now because, again, I have so much love for the toxic, manipulative and controlling ship. Though despite all those negatives I’ve just listed, there is NOTHING non-consensual about this relationship. Seifer likes to think he has absolute control over how this relationship develops, and to a degree he does, but Cloud is there of his own conviction. It’s an unlikely match considering the popularity that is StrifeHart, but this, for me at least, really works for these two. A romance built on hatred and resentment that boils over and becomes something new, something intense and exciting that both of them just want more and more AND MORE... ugh... I live for this, and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t think about these two a whole FUCKING LOT! 

[makoeyedmerc]

Coming soon - Fate’s Design. A Sefikura fic with Remake elements.

First chapter was written for @ffseven Sephtober prompt Monster. (Short teaser under the cut, will be posted in full tonight.)

Everything was green.

The world was silent, energy swirling and pulsing around Sephiroth with an ethereal glimmer as agony tore through his body, radiating outward from the ragged hole in his gut. He sank lower into the vast sea of green, too wounded and weak to move, and fancied he could discern sinuous, reaching shapes in the ebb and flow surrounding him and his macabre cargo. Impressions of fire and lightning flickered and arced across his vision, the bright emerald glow slowly being extinguished by a menacing crimson aura until it was all he could see. An eye?

‘Sephiroth.’

The weight of that one word made him shudder, his broken body twisting under its sheer power. It was the voice of Jenova, a presence more vast than anything he had ever experienced before—it had been a mere whisper weaving through the back of his mind at first, mere nudges pointing the way to him, telling him where to look, what to ask. Then an itch gnawing at him that wouldn’t go away, a need to know, a compulsion to keep picking, to see, to dig, and dig, and DIG. It had driven him to madness trying to uncover every gods-forsaken secret in this backwoods hellhole, until the only thing that had been left to him was a horrible, burning rage that threatened to consume him, and everything he touched. Shinra really thought they could keep me an ignorant puppet forever. Even at that moment, as his life slowly seeped out and stained the mako dark, Sephiroth wanted to laugh at the utter absurdity that he had ever thought himself human. I am a monster. Alien. Ancient.

‘Sephiroth.’

His manic laughter stuck in his throat, and he seized up with a silent scream of agony, arching under the strain as it felt like every cell in his body tried to pull apart at once.

‘NO.’

Something long and thick that Sephiroth couldn’t see reached out to him, soft sinuous coils looping around his ruined abdomen. They burned, melting into his skin as if trying to become a part of him. What is happening? He couldn’t scream.

[s-ephiroth]

Day 2 of Sefikura Week is up here!

But also below as well, because I feel like it.

-

Cloud took the sword along because it was all he had left to fight with and all Zack had left behind, but that was pretty much it.

He paled whenever he heard the voice and ignored Sephiroth the best he could; the initial confusion on how in Gaia he was trapped in a blade, the explanation and soft pleading for understanding over a wild story of mind influencing aliens and life long lies.

(He ignored the sobbing even if it reminded him of terrible nights in the aftermath of the labs and tore him up inside.)

It wasn't without reason and it would be alright as long as he could fend off beasts and Shinra troops alike. But it didn't mean it was easy to hear a lullaby meant for him at night — one that Cloud himself had taught — without feeling at least something.

Maybe it was because he didn't have the time to properly mourn the loss of those good things they used to have together. In a moment his hometown had been on fire and in another he had lost consciousness in that reactor, without a proper conversation in between.

"I remember," Sephiroth rambled on as Cloud was trying his best not to break, "that time when I called you 'baby bird' and it just stuck until near the end. I also completely failed to tell you that I figured out I had a wing, back in the mansion. I wish I had been better, to let you touch it. You had me at my worst with all of Hojo's attempts on enhancing me further, after all. There was little that would actually surprise you, except—"

"Please stop trying to talk to me," Cloud said, firmly.

Sephiroth fell silent all at once, leaving him to his own thoughts, to the mourning he had yet to do. To his own misery.

For days after that, he made not even a single sound, to the point Cloud thought he was truly gone for good; just a memory in the back of his mind to bother him sometimes. An echo and nothing more.

But the old Buster started dropping black feathers whenever it cut something down and Cloud knew immediately he was mistaken. He just knew it.

He eventually picked one up and pressed it against his cheek, eyes closed and heart all over the place.

If only he had pressed on further instead of believing things weren't falling apart slowly, maybe… Maybe things would have been better. Maybe they would have dealt with things together and no one in Nibelheim would've died. He would've brought Sephiroth over for dinner and finally brought up the news to his mom that he didn't need any older girlfriend to take care of him. He already had Sephiroth.

He should've taken better care of Sephiroth.

"It's not your fault," Sephiroth offered quietly, "It's my burden to bear alone and I'll gladly take all the blame while paying the price for it."

"Not yours, either," Cloud said as he realized it, "It's just… it's Shinra. And life… They made you into a mess and I didn't know what exactly to look out for. It sucks."

"It doesn't matter. I know you and I know that you're blaming yourself for it even if you say otherwise. Don't do that. Just… let it go. It's not like we can fix any of it anymore, now, can we?"

"...I guess not."

They fell into silence for a long moment before Sephiroth sighed.

"I wish I had told you that I love you more often," he said, "Or at least taken you away from the barracks permanently under the guise of tutoring, just to sleep together more often. Now you're out there and I'm here, and all I have of you is your voice."

"You're not missing much, really. I'm a mess, the world's also a mess… Everything that comes out of me is mako colored… It must be better to be a hm, caged bird in a sword getting a free ride around?"

"I'd prefer being free to pass on, but I'm grateful for the sentiment."

Cloud pressed his forehead against the blade and sighed. Surely, he was still upset for Nibelheim, but he didn't want to be alone, even if things couldn't work out ever again. If the only positive human contact he was going to get was a former war criminal's — because really, that was what Sephiroth was — spirit trapped in a sword, he'd simply take it.

“Is it too selfish if I have you stay?” He eventually asked.

“I’d take it as revenge for all the days I made you miss curfew.” Sephiroth laughed, more of a nervous little laugh than anything else. “So, what’s the plan?”

“I catch a chocobo and we head back to Midgar.”

“Oh. You want to take down Shinra, baby bird?”

“I— Yes, but I don’t think I can. But I was stationed in Midgar for a long time before, so at least it’ll be a familiar place to start with. Maybe—”

“Do it.”

Cloud raised an eyebrow at him. Not that it had the desired effect when Sephiroth couldn’t even see him or had a body to properly react at that.

“It won’t give back my body and it won’t give back all that you lost, but at least it’ll bring some closure… to whatever this situation is.”

“Maybe you’re right. Let’s go.”

Sephiroth listened for footsteps as Cloud got up and started going, falling quiet for a few minutes before a realization hit him. Nibelheim was a mountain town. The most Cloud had travelled had been from there to Midgar and from Midgar to a lot of chocoboless places.

“Cloud.”

“Hm?”

“...Do you even know how to catch a chocobo?”

The way Cloud answered him, he could almost see the shrug accompanying it.

“Not at all. I guess I’ll just figure out when I find one.”

Baffled, Sephiroth fell silent once again.

[jotun-appologist]

Sefikura week, day 2 (puppet) entry.

His booted feet had yet to touch solid ground. All of the rest of avalanche seemed to be suspended in the air alongside him, as though there was no deeper to fall. Or, alternatively, they were held in place by the enemy's sheer will power alone. Probably both. There, in the middle, a heart shaped dias was visible. The planet’s core. A subtle pale glow weakly tried to escape from it. And there, floating above…

Sephiroth stood, green eyes a cold, glowing blaze of insanity. His full height was drawn, arms spread languidly out to either side in a condescendingly grandiose, yet somehow... welcoming, gesture. He continued to hover above them… rather melodramatically

“I'm glad to see you have returned to me already, Cloud.”  He all but purred, as he spoke, the force of his very presence sent them all flying back, smack, on to the jagged cave wall.  Cloud felt his head crash against a hard chunk of cold, sharp stone.

“I came to kill, and, hopefully stop you.” Cloud stated, a little dizzy from the impact.

“Is that what you think, Cloud?” The no longer even remotely human creature began to chuckle at him. “My precious little Cloud.” The purr came, and chuckling grew into fully, deep laughter. “To fight me? You?” The laughter died down, the smirk fading to non-existence. “Come.” The creature beckoned. It's tone was stern. Demanding. Cloud felt himself lifted towards the center dias. The heart of the planet itself. It throbbed and pulsed and beat like a real heart, here, deep within in the green mists of the lifestream.

“The fuck er’ ya doin’ just posin’ like some fuckin’ arrogant piece o’ shit? Leave the moody fuck there alone and fight like a man, damnit!” Cid hollered at the top of his lungs.

“Hmm? And why should I just leave him alone? Especially for you, some meaningless fodder caught up in his little “quest” to find me?” The smug creature replied, smirk turned so razor-sharp it could probably kill.

Cloud growled at him, feet now in contact with the heart's attached dias. He tried to lunge forward, but his feet wouldn't budge. Pressure increased, on his form and in his mind. He fought against it, but his body was firmly planted here, right beside his enemy, faced away from those he held dear.

“You bast-”

Thud

“Why must you speak to me in such a way? Do you not see everything I've sacrificed to have you here?” The taller male hissed. Cloud rubbed at the red handprint on his cheek, eyes wide. “So ungrateful. You'll need to be broken of that.”

“Yo, spiky, I don’ know what he's tryin’a say but, kick in his fuckin’ freaky ass, yeah?” Barrett called, attempting to struggle through the telepathic force that held him pinned.

“Yeah! You can beat that big ol’ meanie!” Yuffie cheered.

“C’mon! I believe in you.” Tifa urged, quieter. Calmly, Vincent added,

“This nightmare is something to surpass. Once you prevail, it will end and the world will be at rest. Keep fighting.”

“Don't listen to them. They're only holding you back from your true place. Your true purpose.” Sephiroth purred.

“Stuff the melodrama up your ass and leave me alone.” Cloud retorted, clearly ...not interested. Long, deft fingers gripped his chin, turning his face. Blue eyes met acid green.

“Mouthy puppet.” The monstrous entity crooned, the corners of his pale lips curling up. From this close, the ethereal and haunting beauty of his rather… effeminate... face was particularly distracting. Or maybe that had to do with the vice grip constricting his mind. The voices saying to look, to stare, to lose himself to that intense gaze. “That's too bad. I was planning to be much gentler with you today.”

The smug bastard grinned, and squeezed the blond’s jaw so hard it left bruises on the chilled flesh. A sharp pain erupted just under Cloud's scalp, another blossomed in his gut. The former caused by a bid for control, the latter a harsh punch that knocked the bitingly frozen wind from his gasping lungs.

“Are you ready to behave now?” The words fell from cruelly twisted lips, soft, almost gentle. The pain under the blond's scalp had burrowed down, deep into the center of his skull, dulled out into a pressure. Warning, caressing, patient. He nodded. Once, twice. “Say it out loud, then.”

“I-I’m ready.”

“To?”

“T-t-to be… behave.” The pressure softened further, gentle and silky and pleasant now.

“Hm. Good. That's very good.” The silver monster slid a hand from the blond’s already healed jaw, up to caress one delicate little cheek. “It's so much easier when you cooperate with me. As you're supposed to.”

“Hey! Let him go!” A voice called. The blond ignored it. It didn't matter as much as the voice caressing the whole of his mind, the shell of his ear.

“You hear that, puppet? They want to come between us.” The voice ghosted out, sending shivers down his spine. “We can't allow that, you know.” The blonde panted. It felt like a vice on his head, but it felt good and he just…

“... Can't…. Allow…”

“Yes, that's right. Now then, why don't you be a good boy and eliminate them?”

[lettersofsky]

Dooooo you do Sefikura? Any kind is good. So many flavours.

I went with a Guardian Angel AU. Hopefully it turned out ok!Ko-Fi

Cloud stared at the crumpled form of his charge, gazesweeping over wounds to gauge whether Sephiroth needed his attention or not. Hedecided that there was nothing that the other couldn’t heal and moved away fromhim; settling on a patch of grass a few feet away, uncaring of the carnagesurrounding them.

His charge remained where he lay for several minutes, chestheaving as he fought to get his breathing under control. He watched the humanfor a few moments, quickly growing bored of the sight and turning his gaze awayfrom his charge. His gaze caught sight of the souls of deceased, some risingfrom their corpses, others remaining stagnated unable to ascend like theothers.

Those souls were not any concern of his, he would ignorethem unless they posed a direct threat to his charge and even then, he wouldnot fight the human’s battles for him. Cloud would only intervene on hischarge’s behalf if it appeared that the human was unable to handle hisopponents; such as the battle that had just occurred.

It was a foolish thing, sending one child against a wholeplatoon of warriors and beasts. The only reason his charge had survived wasbecause Cloud had intervened, unwilling to watch his human be tossed aside bythose who cared nothing for him.

His charge shifted on the ground, pulling himself to hisknees and looking up at him with a tired expression. Cloud raised his brow atthe human, waiting for the other to say something to him.

“Thank you,” The human stated, voice trembling withexhaustion. “Your help was appreciated.”

Cloud scoffed, turning away from his charge once again tofocus on those approaching their position. “Your death wouldn’t benefit me,” hesaid in a firm voice, gaze narrowing when he identified one of the arrivals ashis charge’s keeper. “They’re coming to retrieve you.”

His charge sighed, exhaustion visible in his every movement.The human didn’t try to lift himself to his feet, remaining in his kneelingposition until his allies approached him. Cloud’s wings snapped up when hischarge’s keeper gripped his arm harshly, pulling the metallic-haired child tounsteady feet.

Cloud almost sunk his blades into the man’s chest butmanaged to catch himself before he did so, dismissing his blades from his graspand relaxing his posture. Killing the man would not benefit his charge, not yetat the very least.

He followed them closely as the man led his charge away fromthe battlefield and back to the helicopter they had arrived in, a calm, steadypresence behind the child’s back. Sephiroth was deposited on a seat in thehelicopter and ordered to remain there before the elder man moved away fromhim, writing something down on a clipboard.

Cloud seated himself next to his human, pressing close tohis side and stretching one large, feathered wing to curl around him. He kepthis gaze trained on the other’s in the transport, watching them as the vehiclestarted and returned them to the Shinra building.

He ignored the way Sephiroth’s fingers pressed into hisfeathers; the touch was nearly non-existent, his charge not wanting to drawattention to his actions. Cloud was aware that the touch was grounding for hischarge so he allowed it to continue.

They arrived at the Shinra building soon enough and Cloudfollowed Sephiroth closely as the human was led back into the ScienceDepartment. He remained with his charge through his examination and back intohis small room, sitting on the human’s bed with his back pressed to the wall.

Sephiroth barely glanced at him as he went about his routine,more concerned about removing the dried mud and blood from his hair thanCloud’s presence in his room.

Cloud closed his eyes, spreading his focus around theScience Department. There was nothing else to do for his charge until the nexttime the Doctor expected too much of the other.

Cloud shifted, wings pressed against his back, watchingSephiroth destroy another platoon of warriors alongside his SOLDIERs. The warwith Wutai had dragged on for years and now his charge was leading the assault onthem.

Long gone were the times he needed to help his human, nowSephiroth was more than capable of holding his own and had his own companionsto fight alongside him. The young man didn’t need him anymore.

So why did Sephiroth continue to demand his presence?

It didn’t make sense to Cloud; all his previous charges hadbeen all too willing to see him go when they no longer needed him, he had noidea why Sephiroth wanted him to stay around.

He remained though, watching Sephiroth grow into hisposition and become more at ease with interacting with other humans. He wasglad that his charge had grown so much, he’d come a long way since his days inthe labs.

Cloud cocked his head, gazing at the carnage of thebattlefield below. The last of the enemy had been finished and Sephiroth was nowmoving towards him, stride tired as he passed the bodies of the dead.

He blinked at his charge, unsure why the human had decidedto turn to him instead of those he was fighting with. It seemed that Sephiroth’scompanions also had that question as they stopped him before he could reachwhere Cloud was standing, forcing the man’s attention to them and their plansto continue.

Cloud sighed, turning his gaze away from his charge andfocusing on the souls dispersing below him. It was a familiar sight after beingat war for so long, death was currently a common occurrence in his charge’sday-to-day life.

He turned his gaze back to his charge, noticing thatSephiroth was being led away by his friends. He slowly followed them, wings restingagainst his back.

He decided not to follow his charge into the tent they wereusing for strategy meetings and the such, bored by their words. Instead heroamed the camp, moving between groups of SOLDIERs and Infantrymen to listen towhat they were speaking about.

Most of them were speaking about their lives back home,talking about their families and significant others. No one was talking aboutwhat was happening here, all of them trying to ignore the horrors they sawevery day.

He observed them for several minutes before turning away andmoving back to where he could feel Sephiroth, returning to his charge’s side.

Cloud was surprised to see that Sephiroth’s companions hadleft, leaving the General to his own devices. His charge lifted his head to lookat him when he entered the room, dragging his gaze over his form with tiredeyes.

“You’re back,” Sephiroth stated, slumping back against hismattress. “I was beginning to worry.”

Cloud shrugged, seating himself on the edge of the mattressby Sephiroth’s feet. “I was checking on the rest of the camp,” he told thehuman, spreading one of his wings over leather covered legs.

Sephiroth hummed softly, shifting his legs under the weightof Cloud’s wing. “Anything of interest?”

Cloud shook his head in denial, “nothing more than usual.”

There was several minutes of silence between them untilSephiroth broke it with a soft question, “you’re not going to leave, are you?”

Cloud sighed softly, turning to give his human hisattention. “I’ll stay as long as you want me too.” He answered, fixingSephiroth with a level gaze. “I won’t leave until you ask me too.”

Sephiroth sighed softly, relaxing at his admission. He hesitantlyreached out to twine their hands together, fingers curling around Cloud’s own.

Cloud felt his face soften at Sephiroth’s action, wingsfluttering against his back. He gripped the other’s hand tightly, rubbing histhumb over the back of his human’s hand.

Sephiroth’s eyes fluttered shut a few moments later, hisbreathing evening out as he fell into unconsciousness.

Cloud watched his charge sleep, relieved that the other wasresting. No one was getting nearly enough rest during the war, he was glad hishuman was able to get some kind of rest.

Cloud closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, zoning outas Sephiroth slept.

His charge was safe for the moment and still wanted himaround for some reason or another. That was more than enough for him at themoment.

[s-ephiroth]

Sefikura Week [Day 2]

Prompt for today is Puppet! And as such, the usual warnings for stories with puppet elements go here. There are also implications of self-harm and a nod here and there to zombie-like biology.

Proceed with caution or don’t proceed at all if any of those things cause you any sort of discomfort.

[On AO3] || [Ko-fi]

Necromancy

Sephiroth wins, but there’s a catch.

When the fight is long done and the dust resulting from it has long since settled down, when there’s nothing of the world left, he takes the pieces of what used to be Cloud Strife and keeps them safely close to himself as he prepares for the long trip through the stars.

Search for a new home, search for a new Planet.

The empty shell of what used to be Gaia fades so many light-years away behind him, behind the trail of Lifestream following his lead. He’s tired as he finds his final destination; all the way east of the previous Planet and west of a beautiful, glittering constellation. A place where the wind will blow gently and everything will start anew.

Sephiroth allows the Lifestream to touch it, to merge with the new Planet’s already existent (but fading) life force and take over; creating life wherever it was missing it, without having to worry about a wound to heal.

And just as the new world takes proper shape, he locks himself away and places the pieces of Cloud together with the utmost care, intending to bring back to life his perfect puppet, the one who will lead the humans into not going back to the old ways of mako and experimentation as he pulls the strings behind the curtain. An oracle of a god.

On the seventh day, Cloud Strife comes alive again, willing to obey his every order.

Sephiroth adores every single part of him, from his messy golden hair to his bright, blue eyes to the tips of his fingers in hands that look so small when resting on the palms of Sephiroth’s own. He loves the soft sounds of his breathing when Cloud is too tired to remain awake with him through the quiet night. He loves the gentle reverence with which Cloud regards him and, in turn, he’s loved.

He is loved so deeply that Cloud breaks away from his strings in an attempt to praise him even further.

And once that happens, Cloud begins to think, starts to question; inquiry after inquiry until he’s no longer satisfied with the vague answers Sephiroth gives him and starts to seek knowledge out on his own. He remembers what he has lost. He remembers the fire, the blood and the pain. He recalls a long sword being thrust through his chest countless times and grows restless, doubting his trust in Sephiroth.

The places where his old scars used to be open again by themselves and the despair eats him alive until he’s no longer singing love songs, until he’s no longer touching gently.

Until he’s no longer breathing.

Sephiroth picks up what remains of him and settles down to work again, fixing Cloud up as though he’s nothing but a broken automaton constructed from scratch, a beloved wind-up doll of beautiful, delicate yet fierce features.

Cloud breathes again.

He has no clue of what happened to him, but he’s ready to serve once again, offering guidance to the humans by day and entertaining his god by night. He fits in his strings just well, passing forward the message Sephiroth wants him to and returning home whenever he’s summoned back.

Cloud offers him those small, gentle smiles once Sephiroth has satisfied his urges with him, finding the simple reward of obtaining a similar relief to be good enough. Sephiroth thinks he likes him just like that, all the willing gentleness serving as a proof of the actual prize conquered long ago. No longer opposing him and never to oppose him ever again.

(Unable to show that defiance of his true self.)

The most beautiful, precious thing in the entire universe.

Sephiroth breathes life into him and earns back love. No one interrupts them or questions anything.

Well, except for Cloud, once his love grows enough for him to take a dip into (dangerous) sheer curiosity; once the inquiries come again and are rewarded with false answers, false promises. Detours.

“Will we be together forever?” Cloud asks, but Sephiroth isn’t sure of his answer anymore when he says “Yes, we will.”

Cloud breaks again, such a fragile little thing.

“I brought you into this world and I’ll always love you,” Sephiroth tells him once he’s up again and can breathe, not a memory of the past left to spoil any of it; all completely erased when Sephiroth adjusted his hold on him, tied back the strings he’d pull on once more.

So please, please I beg, love me too.

Cloud loves until he remembers again, injuring himself in his personal guilt and regrets and leaving Sephiroth to deal with a messy, bloody scattered puzzle again; to assemble him back piece by piece until everything is only love, love and love.

(Or is it nothing but a self-indulgent illusion?)

And Cloud breaks, his body unable to deal with the truth that he’s been dead for a long time without returning to the Lifestream even once. He shatters as he's no long supposed to exist, so long gone back when they traveled through the stars, and he’s put back into the shape of the doll Sephiroth liked the most, reanimated into life to play house together.

The cycle repeats, endlessly.

Sephiroth knows he doesn't have any true control over it but he keeps the game up regardless of it, sewing the corpse back up to its former shape and healing the wounds until the scars disappear back into smooth, pale skin before he’s able to breathe new life into his puppet.

“It's good to see you, Cloud,” he says to the doll who doesn't suspect the truth of his own fate, at least not yet.

“I’m glad to see you, too, master,” comes the reply, as it's fit for the occasion.

And so, Sephiroth prepares himself to pull on the strings until they can no longer endure holding Cloud upright, once more.

(Again and again and forever.)

[s-ephiroth]

Sefikura Week [Day 6]

Theme for today was Meeting In Another World, so crossovers it is. A lot of them because I couldn’t pick just one, whoops. I hope it’s enjoyable ( o v o)b

[On AO3] || [Ko-fi]

I.

Cloud woke up somewhere he didn’t know.

Not that he recalled much aside from his own name, but the place definitely felt unfamiliar to him. A man in blue armor with a horned helmet helped him up, instructed him on the ways of the new world, took him to others who came from many other different worlds; dressed strangely to him and just as memoryless as he was.

They had all been summoned to fight for two opposing gods, the cause for their memory loss left unexplained. Simple pawns in a giant chessboard.

And then, on the peak of the conflict, Cloud met him again.

He appeared in a flurry of black feathers, leather and silver hair and Cloud just… knew. He suddenly had memories of fire, of death and conflict, fighting for his life, breaking down under that man’s touch like a porcelain doll that shouldn’t be alive, should never have been brought into life again afterwards.

(Cloud wondered if his enemy had memories of him as well.)

“Sephiroth,” he said, a name uttered with a blanket of complicated emotions covering it.

“Hn. So you remember,” Sephiroth replied, apparently undisturbed by any of it.

Cloud wasn’t sure he wanted to remember.

II.

He found himself in the strangest of the places, a big room with a weird apparatus in the center. Somewhere that wasn’t home, with three people dressed in a strange manner.

Sephiroth wasn’t there.

Regardless of it, Cloud could feel him, poking inside of his head and calling him to a place he couldn’t go to; the heart of a Planet he apparently wasn’t even on. He felt his fingertips tingle with the very impossibility of Reunion.

“The heat!” He shouted in pain. “Inside my head... No, stop... Sephiroth— no!"

Either come here or stop calling me to you.

Someone was saying something about him being unstable, but Cloud couldn’t focus. He had to leave, had to go somewhere, anywhere, where he couldn’t be reached by Sephiroth’s powerful influence over him or else, those people, those strangers… they could be in serious danger rather soon.

In that world, he eventually found out, there was a flower girl too. She was just like his friend, but she couldn’t recognize him.

III.

Leon told him, once Cloud had the courage to tell him his own story, that he was an idiot for engaging in such a quest.

Cloud’s wing twitched but he said nothing to that accusation, for two things: One, it sounded a weird plan even to him and two, he was mostly sure that it’d work, that he’d be able to get some answers while also solving a big problem.

It was an idea he’d been unable to shake off his head even since he started remembered the occurrences from other worlds, other times, with perfect clarity. It was part of why he’d sealed a pact with Hades, hoping that it’d pull Sephiroth out of hiding and into fighting him so they could deal with their long lasting personal issues for once and all.

Only when he felt the Masamune's blade resting dangerously against his throat and soft feathers brushing against his arm as Sephiroth dragged him away, — in front of his friends, nonetheless — he realized how wrong he’d been about that.

IV.

Cloud would have laughed, if only he wasn’t in pain and lacking that much control over his own body.

I was thinking about fighting you, not about ending up in a bondage session.

He knew Sephiroth could hear his thoughts through their connection, knew the man was grinning when he touched his face gently, getting closer to him to whisper something against his ear. It provided Cloud a strange feeling to be distracted with as he kneeled there, useless in his bonds of swirling dark clouds.

Cloud was starting to grow tired of that kind of encounter, which ended with him being stolen away from his companions and to somewhere else within the time it took someone to blink.

“Now, would you care to tell me why you keep ending up in other worlds?” Sephiroth asked in a mocking tone. “Do you think it’ll stop me from tracking you down? Hn, puppet?”

“Not your puppet,” Cloud said, as he managed to react to that, unsure if it’d been out of his own will or because he was given permission to do so.

“Keep saying that, while I pull your strings.” There was that laugh again, echoing as Cloud’s will was taken into full control again, in recognition that there would be no answer to that question anyway.

Oh, well. Sephiroth would find other uses for him.

V.

When that kid — no matter if he had told him he was a… what was that he called his job again? A record keeper? Cloud still considered him a kid, anyway — approached their group again to inform them that they’d be going in a special painting to retrieve some things and a couple adventurers, Cloud thought nothing strange about it.

Surely, the magic painting acting as a portal of sorts was one that depicted his world and of course he was looking forward to seeing old companions who had traveled with him in his journey, who shared precious memories with him. But still, he didn’t think all that much of it, constantly afraid something would definitely happen if he celebrated a little too much.

He watched as the others celebrated Tifa’s arrival in that way he was avoiding to, waving his simple “hello” at her, still unsure if it was a good thing that they had been taken away from their original conflict to fight another. (Again, as he could recall it.) She’d thrown herself at him for a hug, happy to have a friend she knew in that strange situation.

The Black Mage who had been traveling with them decided to head back to the Royal Archives — the headquarters they all ended up at after exiting such paintings — so they could carry on. It wasn’t safe to travel in groups with more than five people, he’d learned.

They faced an enemy only those with magic could reach and Rufus. He didn’t remember his original fight against the Shinra heir feeling so difficult as that one did. Thankfully, it was the last battle to deal with inside the painting.

After the dust of the conflict settled down, mako green eyes met his.

Oh no, not here, not again.

“Hello, Cloud.”

Cloud turned on his heel and walked away.

VI.

“Our goals no longer differ,” Sephiroth said from somewhere behind him and it felt as though the man was closer to him than he really was, “After all this time I thought it wouldn’t happen.”

Cloud didn’t turn to look at him, staring at the town from a privileged spot atop the Archives. He heard a sound break the silence, a rustling of clothing and something metallic against what he supposed was Sephiroth’s belt.

He had appeared without the Masamune and despite the kid and the moogle’s efforts, it hadn’t been retrieved. They gave him a little dagger just so Sephiroth could fight, which Cloud found more than simply amusing. Sephiroth’s expression of disgust mixed with gratitude would be forever engraved in his mind; something to laugh about whenever the times grew too dire.

“So you remember, too? The other worlds?”

“I do.” Sephiroth’s voice sounded even closer, then. “That wing looked rather good on you.”

“I still don’t get why it keeps happening,” Cloud said, choosing to ignore that… thing Sephiroth had for wings, just so things wouldn’t get more awkward than they already were, “This uh, thing, in which we keep popping up anywhere except back home.”

Sephiroth sat beside him with a quiet hum, causing Cloud to finally turn to look at him; a question bothering him, no matter how silly it seemed.

“You lost a bet or something?”

He turned his gaze away as Sephiroth chuckled warmly, gave a negative reply to his inquiry and chuckled some more. A leather clad hand took Cloud’s own, squeezing it just gently. He felt his nemesis — now an ally due to the circumstances of that world — move a little closer to him, leaning in to whisper something.

“If I had lost a bet, I think I’d have ended up on your bed, naked. And we wouldn’t fight because you’d just accept it at this point, wouldn’t you?”

“Or... I’d push you out of my bed, for all the shit you pulled on me,” Cloud shot back, biting on his lip to keep the effect of Sephiroth’s breath near his ear well hidden.

“You’re too good to do that to anyone, Cloud.”

His teeth grazed Cloud’s ear, stealing with it a bit of composure.

“Y-you’re an asshole.”

“Maybe. Now, let’s just enjoy this truce a little, shall we?”

Cloud had a feeling that he’d wake up somewhere he wouldn’t remember getting to, again.