#but i was like no.... i want to see seph Down Bad

[queernoctis]

@sephesisweek Day 01 - Infatuation

[rottenpumpkin13]

Can we hear about the day Lazard snapped from the firsts shenanigans?

The Day Lazard Finally Snapped

• It all starts when Angeal and Sephiroth are passing through the Skyview Hall when they spot Reeve with a baby in a holder strapped to his chest.

Angeal: Hey Reeve! I didn't know you had a child.

Reeve: I don't. This is my assistant's baby. I allow her to bring him in on occasion since childcare is hard to find. She asked me to watch him while she's in a meeting, but⏤

Sephiroth: What kind of mother abandons her child?

Reeve: ⏤but I have to meet with the editor of Architecture Weekly in ten minutes.

Sephiroth: What kind of mother abandons her child with a strange man who works for Shinra?

Angeal: I'm sorry to hear that, director.

Reeve: Wait, could you two watch him? It'll only be for an hour.

Angeal: I don't think⏤

*Reeve hands the child to Angeal, who is now sweating bullets*

Reeve: Great, thanks! By the way, I'm supposed to be locating some materia that went missing from the inventory this morning. Do you mind finding them for me? Here's the list.

*Reeve hands Angeal the list, Angeal hands the baby to Sephiroth, who holds it like a bomb with his arms outstretched*

Angeal: Reeve, I really don't think we⏤

Reeve: Great! See 'ya!

• Reeve literally sprints away. Angeal looks back at Sephiroth, who has now strapped the baby to the carrier on his chest. Angeal looks down at the list.

Angeal: Three Ifrit summons, sixteen fire materia, nine ice materia, thirty chocobo lures, four petrify materia, and seventeen lightning materia.

Sephiroth: The baby is crying because it wants its mother. I feel a strange kinship with this child.

Angeal: Why would someone need thirty chocobo lures??

Sephiroth: There, there. Don't cry because your mother abandoned you, rejoice because your father isn't Professor Hojo.

*Angeal grows exasperated and turns to Sephiroth*

Angeal: Seph, it's hungry. We need to feed it.

Sephiroth: Where will we find someone with functioning mammary glands on such short notice?

Angeal: FORMULA. GET THE FORMULA IN THE BABY BAG.

*The baby cries more, Sephiroth holds it closer to him*

Sephiroth: You're upsetting our child.

Angeal: IT'S NOT OUR⏤*Angeal takes a deep breath*⏤It's not our child, give it the baby formula, and let's go. We still need to find the culprit behind the stolen materia.

Sephiroth: Do you mind if we stop by Professor Hojo's lab first? I want to show him what competent fathership looks like.

Angeal: No. And you're acting insane. Here, give me the baby.

Sephiroth: I have only had this child for three minutes, but if anyone tries to hurt it or take it away I will kill everyone here.

Angeal: When this is all over, I'm signing you up for art therapy and getting you a cat.

• Lazard is away on a business trip and has left Genesis in charge. He's supposed to be getting work done, but instead he's sitting in Lazard's office with his feet up, reading a romance novel.

Genesis: I don't understand why Lazard complains all the time. This is the easiest position in this company.

•There's a violent crash right outside the office, followed by Zack's voice going "Wow! I didn't know the ceiling was that easy to break."

*Genesis gets up at the speed of light. He runs out and sees Zack and Cloud with tennis rackets*

Genesis: What are you doing? I thought I sent you far away on a mission to Cosmo Canyon.

Zack: We got back early! And since Angeal's busy there's no point in training. Plus, my mission report can wait until Lazard's back.

Genesis: And what's Strife doing here? Last I recall this is the SOLDIER floor, not the Infantrymen Who Look Like Baby Chocobos floor.

Cloud: Could've fooled me. I saw you and thought this was the Sephiroth Is Better Than Me So I Take It Out On Bad Poetry floor.

Genesis: Listen here⏤

*Zack jumps between them*

Zack: We were just playing some tennis! Where's the harm in that?

Genesis:

Genesis: Zack where's the ceiling

*They look up and six ceiling panels are missing*

Zack: We're playing pro tennis.

Genesis: Goddess.

Cloud: But we lost all of our balls and now we can't play anymore.

Genesis: Hm. Have you tried substituting them with something else?

Cloud: Like what?

Genesis: Materia are round and large enough to work.

Zack: Good idea, but we don't have any to spare.

Genesis: I have some.

*Genesis pulls a key out of his pocket, walks across the hall, and unlocks a supply closet where he pulls out a crate full of materia*

Zack: Woah! How many do you have in there?

Genesis: Three Ifrit summons, sixteen fire materia, nine ice materia, thirty chocobo lures, four petrify materia, and seventeen lightning materia.

Cloud: Why does the box say Property Of Shinra Electric Power Company? Wait, did you steal this??

Genesis: There is no such thing as stealing if your victim stole it from the planet.

Zack: Why thirty chocobo lures??

Genesis: Do not presume to question my actions.

• Sephiroth and Angeal have no leads on the missing materia, so they decide to go ask the turks for any information they have. They walk into a conference room where Tseng and Rufus are talking.

Tseng: WHY do you have a baby??

Sephiroth: Two men cannot raise a child without being criticized.

Angeal: We're babysitting.

Rufus: How may we help you?

Angeal: A crate of materia went missing from the inventory. Reeve asked us to locate it. Any chance you have an idea where it went?

Rufus: We were just going over the security footage, actually. A stunning, beautiful woman was seen entering and leaving with the stolen materia.

Tseng: Come take a look.

*They walk over and watch the security footage*

Sephiroth:

Angeal:

Angeal: That's GENESIS.

Tseng: Impossible. I had no idea Rhapsodos was a master of disguise.

Sephiroth: He's not even in disguise. He wore that dress to a Loveless performance yesterday. *said while he rocks the baby to sleep*

Rufus: Sephiroth, would you mind accompanying me to meet my father? I'd like to show him what adequate fathership looks like.

Sephiroth: Gladly.

Angeal: *exasperated* We'll get the materia back from Genesis, don't worry. There's no need to get involved, and we'll make him promise not to do it again.

Tseng: Actually, the issue is much more annoying. You see, the crate he stole contained faulty materia. We're not sure they even work, but if they do there might be some...explosive consequences.

Angeal: Don't worry, knowing Genesis, he's hording the materia somewhere until the search dies down and hasn't actually used it yet.

*The baby hasn't fallen asleep and is wide awake*

Sephiroth: Of course, how could I be so foolish? The baby needs to be tired out through playtime and proper enrichment first.

*Rufus takes a box of ammunition from his coat pocket and uses it as a rattle. The baby laughs*

Tseng: Sir, I don't think that's an appropriate toy for a baby.

Sephiroth: Nonsense. I had that toy when I was younger and I turned out fine.

Angeal: No the fuck you did not.

• Zack and Cloud's tennis match with materia is going smoothly. Genesis has made himself the umpire and is officiating the match. They're in Lazard's office so no one catches them slacking off.

*Cloud hurles a fire materia toward Zack at top speed. Zack shrieks and ducks*

Genesis: Five love.

Zack: No fair! He's just aiming it right at me!

Cloud: Because you're my opponent. That's how tennis works.

*Cloud sends another chocobo lure Zack's way that hits him right in the face*

Genesis: Six love.

Zack: WE GET IT, YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH LOVELESS. SHUT UP.

Genesis: ......

Cloud: I really need to get back and start getting ready for patrol tonight.

Zack: Nooo, come on! Just one more try! I'll beat you, you just watch.

• Cloud sighs and readies himself. Zack grabs a lightning materia and serves. Cloud hits the materia when it reaches him. Except this time it fuses with the tennis racket and starts hissing and billowing smoke. Cloud panics and lets the tennis racket drop. It starts glowing and vibrating.

• All of the littered materia on the office floor start emitting the same low whistle and vibrating, all at once.

• Genesis senses the incoming explosion. He grabs Zack and Cloud and dives under the desk.

• Lazard comes back from his business trip early. He's in the elevator thinking about the decision to leave Genesis in charge. He had initially meant to bequeath Sephiroth the responsibility, but felt for Genesis. They're always placing him second next to Sephiroth, constantly berating and expecting the worst from him.

• He thinks it's unfair. Genesis is one of the most competent SOLDIERs in the program. He's hardworking, responsible and authoritive. There's no doubt in Lazard's mind that everything is running smoothly in his absence.

*Lazard opens his office door*

• The three Ifrit summons went off and are raging, smashing the walls and ceilin. The fire materia also went off and now everything is on fire. It's shooting fire balls and one of them burned the office door clean off, shattering the glass. The ice materia has caused a raging blizzard inside the office and everything that isn't on fire is freezing over. The lightning materia is causing firework-like explosions to go off.

• Lazard stands there for a good five minutes, petrified (literally) (the petrify materia hit him)

• Once the last blast of lightning goes off and things seem to have quieted down, Genesis, Zack and Cloud poke their heads up from under the desk.

Zack: Hey, director! We didn't expect you back so early!

Cloud: How was the business trip? Have fun?

Genesis: My, my, director, that suit makes you look dashing. Have you done something to your hair?

• It's a poor choice of words because half of Lazard's hair is on fire.

*Angeal runs in*

Angeal: Genesis, you crook. Did you use Lazard's access card to steal all that materia?? Do you know how mad he's going to be when he finds out? He's already in trouble with upper management because he left you in charge.

*Zack points to Lazard in the corner, Angeal turns around*

Angeal: Oh. Oh no.

• And then the chocobo lures go off. Thirty grown chocobos come speeding into the office, two of them knocking Lazard to the ground.

• And then, as if things couldn't possibly get any worse, Sephiroth runs in with the baby.

Sephiroth: Angeal, how dare you abandon me and our child??

Angeal: Oh my god.

• The Firsts and Zack are sitting in the briefing room when Tseng walks in.

Tseng: Good morning. As you all know, Lazard has taken a medical leave. I'll be taking his place while he's away.

Genesis: How is he? I tried to visit him in the hospital yesterday, but apparently the mere mention of my name sent him into another cardiac arrest.

Tseng: He's sedated and fine. Don't feel discouraged. Two Seconds went in to visit him this morning, but all it took was one look at a SOLDIER uniform and he started screaming.

Angeal: If he quits, it's on Zack, Gen and Strife. Sephiroth and I were busy hunting materia and babysitting.

Sephiroth: No. You were looking for the materia. I was taking adequate care of the baby and giving it the attention its mother denied it.

Tseng:

Tseng: Sephiroth

Tseng: Sephiroth why do you still have the baby?

*They look over and sure enough, Sephiroth has the baby in a carrier strapped to his chest*

Sephiroth:

Sephiroth: I'm the most competent adult in its life.

[ariseur]

May I request a headcanon for Sephiroth with an S/O who loves to sing?

sephiroth with someone who loves to sing hc’s 𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪

sephiroth (ffvii) x reader

┊ ˚➶ notes ｡˚ 🎼

i wrote this while watching ‘isle of dogs’ and now i wanna cry a little bit 😞

┊ ˚➶ warnings ｡˚ 🎼

mentions and two to four bullets of post nibelheim sephiroth, intended lowercase, lmk if i missed anything 💕!!

. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄

❥ getting started right away, i think this would be like heaven for both pre nibelheim and post nibelheim sephiroth.

❥ when i first read this request, i couldn’t stop thinking about this one image where sephiroth’s just flat out-tired and he comes home, utterly collapsing into your arms until you finally give into his pleas to sing to him. and when you finally look back down at him, you see him all tranquil resting his head on your lap— hair splayed out beneath him in an almost ethereal manner. so great, now you have a 6’1” / 185cm first class SOLDIER sleeping on you. i almost imagine sephs like a really big cat in this scenario— .. or any scenario, really.

❥ i think it soothes him to a great degree, even hearing your voice while you speak to him is an honor in itself. so after a tiring day, your voice is just what he needs.

❥ god forbid you’re insecure about your voice or you think you don’t sing well, this man will prove you wrong and he will leave no room for argument. it’s not even like he means to be so stubborn, he just doesn’t understand how anybody could find your voice unappealing for you are the siren and he is the sailor— waiting to be lured into your trap for one sliver of hope once more.. except you wouldn’t eat him.

❥ i love the idea that sephiroth just appears around random corners, or like, he’s so quiet you don’t notice when he’s right behind you. so i just imagine you’re singing or muttering your favorite song while you’re completing whatever mundane task, before turning around and seeing your tall ass lover just admiring you lol. it gets kinda creepy, but he means well i swear. he’s just a tad bit awkward 😭

❥ if you have any career related to singing or if you desire to, sephiroth is your biggest fan!! if you’re already employed as a singer or musician, he will show up to all your performances and just absolutely admire you in awe. if it’s at a club, he might not go considering he’d be recognized— you know, considering he’s labeled as a war hero and an icon of shinra. so he’d feel bad regardless if he went or not because he really wants to support you, but he doesn’t want to steal the spotlight from you because god knows you deserve it.

❥ if you wish to pursue a career in music but you don’t know where to start, he will help you!! he’ll ask everybody and anybody for advice to give to you or to see if they can pull a few strings to get you in somewhere. he’ll want to support you the best he can, after all— you’ve supported him all this time as well, haven’t you? it’s only fair that he does the same, whether you guys were together or not i’m sure he’d still want to support you in whatever way he can.

❥ while post-nibelheim seph still loves your voice, he doesn’t care all that much as he would before nibelheim. he’s too busy plotting revenge on the world, you know, because this planet IS his birthright after all. he’ll still encourage you to sing; he promises that once he has control over this world— the world that he believes was promised to him, he’ll put your face everywhere for everyone to see and come to your shows as he wants them to witness your glory and talent before them.

❥ i’d like to think there’s at least a sliver of humanity in sephiroth after the events that took place in nibelheim, and i believe he only wants to be loved after so many years of being deprived of genuine affection and adoration. so i’m imagining that one day, he uncharacteristically falls into your arms ( and if you had met him pre-nh then i’d imagine you’d tear up at least a little bit thinking sephiroth still has some of his sweetness left in him ), and asks that you sing him something, like how you used to. and sephiroth falls asleep in your arms, clutching your waist as he buries his head in your stomach with a tight hold. just like how he used to.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈ ｡ﾟ

“what was that song you sung to me last night?”

you cocked your head at SEPHIROTH’s inquiry, hands still carding through the silkiness of his hair. it was an odd sight to see. the war hero, sephiroth, draped over your body as he rested his chin on your shoulder as he interrupted the quietude, his velvet words almost blending in with it.

“what song?” you asked. you felt small puffs of his breathing on your shoulder as you patted his back. you could tell from his soft breaths that he was tired, almost coming out in sighs rather than deep breaths. you didn’t even have to look at him to guess that his eyes were probably drooping close with just your voice alone.

“i’m not sure,” his voice trailed off into a quiet amused chuckle, his full body weight resting on you, “that’s why i’ve asked you.”

sephiroth could feel your eye roll, even from where he was positioned. and at first, he believed you would’ve given up on trying to recall the song and would instead lay in silence with him, which wasn’t so bad either way.

but then your voice began— and it was like you casted a spell on him. his eyelashes fluttered with each lyric that left your lips, melodies that echoed in his brain constantly only in the form of your voice. hell, he’d even hear a sweet song on the television and he’d imagine it was you behind the microphone, singing those sweet tunes to him as you looked at the camera. it didn’t help how you rubbed his back so soothingly, he could already feel the serenity of sleep overtaking him as the soft whispers of your voice got to him.

he finally let his forehead rest against you, closing his eyes as he made a note of a promise of only to sleep for five minutes— although you both knew that it definitely wouldn’t be just five minutes, not after the day he had. your words faltered for a moment as you let a sweet chuckle slip past your lips at the man before you, trying to stifle your laughter as he groaned at the vibrations in your chest, clearly grumpy in his half-sleepy state.

you kept singing, lulling him into a state of sleep in which he’d dream of you, your voice only fueling his idea of you as a divine being come down unto to bless him, for what reason he doesn’t know— but he’ll enjoy it for just a little bit longer.

[icycoldninja]

He always leaves (Sephiroth x Reader angst)

Your peaceful, dreamless slumber was interrupted by the sound of your bedroom window sliding open. Shocked, you opened your eyes, effectively ripping yourself from sleep. Squinting in the darkness, you could make out the faint outline of a tall, lithe male figure with a large wing protruding from his back crawl into your room through the window. You let out a long sigh of relief as soon as you realized who it was.

"Seph...you're home." Sephiroth chuckled, neon green eyes glowing in the darkness.

"That I am. Did I wake you?" You nodded, yawning loudly. "Yes, you did. Trying to cram that huge body of yours through a window was a bad idea." Sephiroth let out a series of quiet little giggles in response to that.

"Perhaps next time I'll enter through the chimney," He remarked, making his way to his side of the bed.

"That'd be something," You laughed, sliding back the covers for him I welcome. "Bring me a present and I'll leave some cookies and milk out for you." Sephiroth smiled, tossing his hair over his shoulder and sliding down into the bed.

"No need, I am your present." You snorted, scooting closer to him so he could wrap his bulky arms around you.

"What," He continued, a tinge of laughter in his voice. "Am I not enough for you?

"You're more than enough for me, Sephi," You assured him, burying your face in the wall of warm muscle that was his chest. "More than enough. I don't deserve you." Sephiroth hummed in response, the vibrations rumbling in his throat like a cat's purr. You sighed contentedly, nestling deeper into his hold, enjoying the comfort that it brought. Sephiroth held you for a while, one hand absently drawing circles into your back while you squeezed him with all your strength. Eventually, a question came to mind.

"Will you stay with me?" You had to ask, not caring if you asked it every time he came home, you just had to know, even if the answer would hurt you. Sephiroth let out a long sigh, knowing full well that he'd answer you one way or another--either through his actions or his words.

"No," He finally admitted, tightening his grip around you guiltily. "No...I'm not staying for long." You nodded sadly, continuing to smush yourself against him as hard as you could, taking in as much of him as possible; busying yourself with holding him so you didn't think of the tears welling up in your eyes.

You missed it, you missed the times when he'd stay with you all night; you missed waking up and seeing his face, having his voice be the first thing you hear in the morning. You missed the feeling of his soft, fluffy wing flapping against your chest to wake you up, you even missed the warmth of his strong arms wrapping themselves around you when you wanted to sleep for 5 more minutes.

Nowadays, Sephiroth disappeared in the middle of the night, claiming that the orders from his "Mother" called him away, compelling him to go to faraway places where he would complete mysterious tasks. You knew his work was important to him, and respected that, but you wanted to spend time with him, more than just a few minutes.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," He muttered into your hair, fingers stroking long lines down your back. "I promise, this is the last time." You sniffled, knowing that this was a lie, a lie he told you every time he came home, but that didn't matter now. Having accepted reality, you just wanted to spend time with the man you loved, however short it would be. And so, you held onto him, as tightly and closely as you possibly could, until the warmth of his body pressed against yours lulled you into a deep sleep.

When you awoke the next morning, your bed was empty, just as you'd expected. Sheets were ruffled and all the blankets had been wrapped around you in an attempt to mimic the heat of a human in order to keep you from noticing his departure. You felt tears burn behind your eyeballs as you saw the many black feathers strewn about on your pillow--knowing that you shouldn't be saddened by his departure, or even surprised. After all, no matter what he promised you, no matter how many sweet nothings his whispers into your ears, he always leaves.

[cherrycola27]

false god

Series Warnings: Mythology!AU. Language, alcohol, drinking. Military inaccuracies. Mutual pining, unrequited love. Allusions to and eventual smut. Minors DNI. 18+. Individual chapter warnings will come as needed. Banner Credit @thedroneranger

Masterlist Previous Part Next Part

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Chapter 3: Roses and Gold

"Minthe? What are you doing here?" You repeat as you take a seat at your breakfast bar.

"I came to see you, silly!" She sing-songs as she flits about your kitchen.

"What's wrong? What bad news have you brought me?" You huff, hoping to get straight to the point. "Why do you assume it's bad news? Can't I just come to check on you. It's been a while since you've been home and Hecate, and I are worried about you. Now, where do you keep your wine glasses?" She pivots.

It's always bad news

"Second cabinet to the left from the stove." You instruct her. She claps her hands before bringing down two of them and pouring both of you a glass. "I know that mortal stuff doesn't do it for you, so I brought a bottle of Dinoysus' special blend." Minthe chirps as she sets the glass down in front of you.

You thank her and take a long drink of the maroon liquid.

"So, spill, I want to hear all about this Rooster you're crushing on." She presses you.

You almost choke on your wine when she says his name. "Bradley is a coworker of mine. A colleague. A friend." You tell her.

"A friend—huh. So, I guess you were just being friendly when you saved him today." Minthe chuckles. You glare at her.

Just a friend

"Come on, Hay. I'm your best friend, you can tell me." Minthe takes a seat beside you and hits you with her pleading puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, maybe I have a few feelings for him." You relent.

"Yes! I knew it!" She whoops.

"It's just—" you trial off. "It's just what? Hades you, more than anyone deserves to be happy, especially after what Persephone did to you." Minths grumbles.

"Minthe, I know you never liked her, but I'm the one who hurt here. You saw the burn marks yourself." You remind her.

"Yes, but I don't think Little Miss Spring is as innocent as she claims. She did something, I just know it." Minthe huffs out.

Minthe was nothing if not loyal. She'd been wary of Persephone since the first day she'd met her. Never fully trusting her. And after what happened between the two of you, Minthe was one of the few still in your corner. She and Hecate had been your support group, and they were currently watching over the Underworld in your absence.

"Minthe, do you really think Persephone had me burn her on purpose? Do you think she chose to be scarred for life? " You counter.

"I don't know. All I do know is you were so in love with her, and you had never lost control of your powers like that before, and you would never hurt someone you love." Minthe finishes before downing the rest of her drink.

"But, that's in the past. Tell me about Bradley." Minthe shifts the topic.

"He's kind, smart, and funny. He's genuinely a good person. He reminds me a lot of Persephone, in the best way. But at the same time, he's different. He doesn't shy away from the pain he's felt in life, he over comes it. He doesn't let his scars, mental or physical ones keep him from being his true self. Bradley is just—he's different." You sigh. It's been so long since you've let yourself feel like this.

"I think he sounds wonderful. Maybe he is your soulmate." Minthe takes your hands and squeezes them. The smile drops from your face and you pull away from her.

Soulmate, ugh, you hated that word

"Minth, he's not my soulmate." You tell her. "You know I don't even believe in those. Not after Seph." You sigh.

"Persephone isn't your soulmate. She wouldn't have said those things about you if she was." Minthe defends.

"Even if she wasn't, I've been wandering Earth for three thousand years. If I had a soulmate, surely I would have met them before now. 'Soulmate' is a stupid word made up by the Gods and mortals to give them hope that there is someone for everyone, when their really isn't." You almost shout at her. You sigh and take another drink. The wine warms you from within and calms you.

Good job, Hades, push away one of the only friends you have left

"Sorry. I just—" you shake your head.

"It's fine. You have strong feelings about it. You're allowed to have them." Minthe reassurances you.

There is a long pause. "Hades, I know you think that you don't deserve to be happy or have someone in your life who cares about you, but you do. If you like Bradley, you should pursue him." Minthe tells you.

"How would I even begin to explain to him what I am?" You ask her. "I don't know. But I'm sure you'd figure it out." Minthe offers.

"He's just so good. Too good for me. I'd never be able to live with myself if I hurt him. I mean, what if he saw my true form and it terrified him. I don't think I could live with him calling me a monster or being afraid of me." You sigh.

That would be a fate worse than death

"Hades, you can't let fear hold you back." Minthe takes your face in her hands and kisses your forehead before hugging you. You lean into the hug. It really is good to see her.

"Now for the bad news." Minthe says as she takes a step back.

Of course

"Ah ha! I knew it!" You proclaim as you jump up from your chair. "I knew you were coming with bad news. What is it this time? What's got Zeus' lightening bolts in a twist?" You ask her.

"It's not about Zeus or the other Olympians, Hades. It's about you." Minthe settles into a seat across from you with a serious look on her face. You sit back down. You've never seen her look like this. She almost looks afraid.

"You know how we have assumed that you were still immortal after being cast off of Olympus because you reincarnate every time you die?" Minthe began.

"Yes." You nod your head.

"Well—Hecate and I were visited by the Fates a few days ago, and they took us to the lifeline temple." She continues. "And the Fates showed us your lifelines."

"Lifelines? That's impossible. I only have one. Everyone only has one." You tell her.

"That's what we said. But apparently, when all the Gods were cast off, their lifeline split into thousands of pieces. Each time they died before completing their quest, a line would snap. But they would reincarnate because another line was there. When the Gods completed their worthiness quest, the lines fused back into one unbreakable line." Minthe tells you. The gears start turning in your head.

"And because I haven't completed my quest, I never got the unbreakable line of immortality. I've just been burning through the lifelines." You say.

"Exactly. And for the others, it wasn't an issue, but because you've been on Earth so long, you've used several of them. But that's not the bad news." Minthe cringes and takes a long drink of her wine.

"Well, what's the bad news?" You press her. She hesitates.

"You only have one lifeline left. Hades, if you die again, you become a permanent resident of the Underworld, and not as it's queen. Your death would be the end of the line for you with no chance of reincarnation." Minthe drops the news on you. You suck in a breath as the realization hits you.

You aren't immortal, like you thought. You'd been so careless for so long, and now you only had one life left.

"Okay. I guess I'll have to be careful then, won't I?" You say.

Careful, sure

"Extremely careful. Hades, the next time you're home, I want it to be because you're taking back your rightful place as queen. I know you said you were done trying to complete your quest, but you need to. Please." Minthe begs you.

You promise her that you will. She gives you a smile and hugs you once more before she leaves. After she's gone, the scent of mint still lingers.

"Well, you two, it looks like Mommy is going to have to tone it down." You say as you look at Cerberus and Hydra, who are curled up together on the ridiculous large pet bed you bought for them. Cerby cocks his head to the side, while Hydra holds eye contact with you. You throw your head back and laugh.

"Who are we kidding? We all know that I don't know how to tone it down." You shake your head laughing before going to grab them some food for the evening.

Maybe dying wouldn't be the worst fate

It might be freeing

You get Hydra squared away with her dinner before opening the pantry to get Cerberus his. That's when you see it. "Oh no, Cerby, it looks like you've got just enough for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. I'll have to head to the store across town to get you a refill tomorrow." You tell him after giving him a head scratch. Even though he didn't have three heads, Cerberus ate like he did. While your fur babies ate dinner, you decided on a quick bite yourself.

After all of you had your bellies full, you showered before tucking into bed. Hydra and Cerberus curled up at the foot of your bed and the three of you drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, you woke up early for a quick run. Cerberus came with you while Hyrda preferred to stay home. After a quick shower and breakfast for the three of you, you opted to slip on a simple blue sundress and tie your hair in a ponytail. You weren't in the mood to match pants and a shirt today. You slipped your feet into some sandals, grabbed your keys and headed out.

You made a day of your pet food run, stopping to get your nails done and to pick up some groceries. You were missing home a little extra today, so you decided to pick up everything you needed to make moussaka for dinner when you got home.

When you arrived back at the parking garage for your apartment complex, you knew you didn't want to make two trips to bring everything in, so, using all your strength you gathered all of your groceries and pet food and headed to the elevator. Someone had just gotten on, and the doors were about to close when you shouted, "Hold the elevator, please!"

You had a hard time seeing over the giant bag of dog food, but you could just make out a hand holding the doors open. You dashed through the doors and let out a sigh of relief as you leaned the bag against the wall. "Thank you so much." You breathed out.

"No problem, Hades." You froze when you heard his familiar voice. You dropped the dog food and turned around slowly.

"Bradley? What are you doing here?" You asked him. He chuckled and leaned against the wall. You gave him the once over. He was in gym shorts and an old UVA shirt.

"I could as you the same thing." He fires back. "I live here." You tell him matter of factly.

He nods approvingly.

"So I ask you again. Why are you here?" You asked, praying that his answer wasn't along the lines of him visiting his significant other.

"I live here too." He shrugs.

"Wait—what?" You look at him with wide eyes.

"So we've lived in the same apartment complex for almost two months and didn't know?" You're shocked.

"Looks like it. I live in 1113." He tells you. "No shit? I live in 1013. You're my upstairs neighbor." You both laugh.

Oh, good grief

"What are the odds. Hey, do you need some help with that?" He gestures to your things. "If you don't mind, that would be great." You say just as the bell to your floor dings. Bradley picked up the massive bag of food and follows you down the hall.

"So you have a dog." He says as more of a statement than a question. "And a cat." You tell him.

You pause outside your apartment door and unlock it. You're just about to tell Bradley to set the food by the door, but he marches inside right past you.

"Careful!" You warn him, but it's too late, Cerberus is bounding towards Bradley. You're waiting for him to start barking, but instead, you hear the sweet sounds of Bradley talking to him.

"Oh, who's a good boy, you are. Is that your food? No wonder it's such a big bag because you're such a cute, big boy, aren't you!" Bradley scratches Cerby's ears and pats his head.

Never one to be left out, Hydra weaves through his legs and begins to purr. "Oh, aren't you a pretty thing!" Bradley praises her.

Obviously, your animals like him, why wouldn't they?

You drop your keys on the table and chuckle at the sight.

"What are their names?" Bradley asks you as he moves to sit on your couch, and they both join him.

"Cerberus and Hydra." You tell him.

"You're kidding? Your call sign is Hades, and you have a dog and a cat named Cerberus and Hydra?" He laughs.

"Well, if you didn't notice, Cerby, my Rottweiler is a tripod, and Hydra is a six-toed cat. So, they fit." You laugh as you start putting up groceries.

"How long have you had them?" Bradley asks you.

"About three years. I was in South Korea on a detachment. One night, we went into the city and stumbled upon an animal fighting ring. We called the cops and helped get the animals safe and relocated. Cerberus and Hydra wouldn't leave each other, and no one wanted to take both of them, so I did. It cost me a fortune to get them here, but it was worth it," you say.

"Wow, that's amazing." Bradley says. He thinks that he likes you even more now. You shake your head and roll your eyes as you unpack your groceries.

"Are you hungry?" You ask him. "I could always eat." He responds truthfully. "Well, I'm making dinner. Would you like to stay? It's the least I could do after you helped me." You tell him.

"I'd love to." He smiles as he takes a seat at your kitchen island.

You begin to flit around the kitchen, chopping, mixing, and sautéing. Bradley watches you with wrapped attention. You grab a bottle of wine and pour a glass for each of you. Even if you can't get a buzz from it, you enjoy letting the fruity notes dance across your taste buds.

"So what are you making? It smells amazing." Bradley asks you as you're layer the dish into a pan to bake.

"Moussaka." You tell him. "It's Greek comfort food."

"Greek?" He quirks an eyebrow at you. "Yeah, I'm Greek. First-generation American. My whole family is from Greece." You tell him. It's not a lie, but it's not the whole truth either. "Kolasi is Greek for inferno." You continue.

"That's amazing. Is that part of the reason why your call sign is Hades?" Bradley asks. "That and I used to have a pretty fiery temper back in day." You reply.

Bradley nods his head and takes a sip of his drink. "So your whole family is from Greece. That's pretty cool. Do your parents live around here, or are they back home? Do you have any family around here, or is it just you?" He continues trying to make conversation. You stand in front of the oven and freeze. He sees your shoulders tense up and knows that this is a touchy subject for you.

Your voice drops. It's barely above a whisper when you say, "I—I don't have any parents, and I don't have any family around here. It's just me."

"Oh." Bradley breathes out. There's a pregnant pause. "I get it. It's just me, too. I lost my dad at three, and my mom when I was nineteen." He tells you. You sigh. Bradley thinks you're an orphan like he is. Maybe that's for the best. Honestly, he isn't totally wrong. You stay with your back to him for a long moment.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean to. You're just—an enigma, Hades. I feel like I only know you on a surface level. I want to know more about you. Especially if we are going to be working together." Bradley tells you.

No, you don't

"Well, there isn't much to know about me. I joined the Navy at eighteen, graduated at the top of my class in the academy, and in Top Gun. Thirteen confirmed kills, but I've never been in one squadron for too long." You sigh. "That's about it."

"If I wanted to know your Naval career, I could have read your file. Tell me something deep about you." Rooster prods.

"Deep? Hmm. I have a lot of tattoos. Does that count as deep?" You chuckle.

"I mean, it's not ocean deep, but it isn't as shallow as a puddle." You both laugh at Bradley's comment. "What tattos do you have?" He continues.

"I have the rose and dagger on my arm. Kardiá tis fotiás on my ribs. It means 'heart of fire' in Greek. I have a poppy behind my ear, and then I've got a thigh sleeve of every place I've been stationed." You explain to him. You decided to leave out the details about your last tattoo. You didn't need him asking questions about it.

"Is that deep?" You ask him as you take your moussaka out of the oven and grab a few plates.

"Yeah, and now I feel like mine is stupid." Bradley snorts. "You have ink?" Now it's your turn to quirk a brow at him.

"Yeah." He slides the sleeve of his UVA shirt up and flexes his bicep to show you the Roman numerals etched into his right arm.

You gingerly reach out and trace the black numbering. "Thirty-two?" You question him.

"My mom was into tarrot cards and fortune telling. Thirty-two is the number for strength. I got it for her after she passed. The last thing she told me before she died was that she loved me and to be strong for her." There's a thick tension between the two of you as his words settle around you. "I don't think that's stupid at all, Bradley. It's sweet." You smile at him as you rub a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks. I've shown you mine. Does that mean I get to see yours now?" And just like that, his somber tone is gone, and his happy personality it back.

"Rooster, are you trying to get me naked?" You joke with him.

"Only if you're offering." You smirks. You shake your head and shove a plate at him before you can do or say something stupid.

He digs in a groans when the food hits his tastebuds.

"This—this is one of the best things I've ever eaten." He tells you appreciatively.

"I'm glad, I think I do a pretty good job with it." You smile at him and revel in his praise as he scarfs down his first plate before sheepishly asking for seconds, which you happily give him. Gods know you cooked more than you could ever eat.

After both of you finish dinner and polish off the rest of the wine, you pack up some leftovers for Bradley. He insisted on helping you with the dishes, so the two of you found yourself side by side working on them. Well, if you were being honest, the two of you were goofing around and playing more than you were cleaning. You were blowing bubbles and splashing each other and giggling like children.

"I hope you know that you're not going to be able to get rid of me now." Bradley tells you. "What do you mean?" You ask him.

"I'm like the neighborhood stray. You've fed me twice. You're stuck with me now." He tells you with a goofy grin. You throw your head back laughing, and Bradley swears it's the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. He loves the way your wide smile curls over your face and how your nose scrunches up and how the tips of your ears turn pink. You look so at ease.

He could get used to seeing you like this. Happy and carefree. It's a stark contrast to the rigid pilot he sees at work.

Soon, the two of you finish up, and you dry the last plate off before handing it to him to put in your cabinet. You turn to toss the dish towel on the counter, but slip on some soapy water the two of you had splashed on the floor and lose your footing. Bradley immediately reaches out for you and grabs your waist to steady you. Your hands attach to his biceps as you regain your balance.

It takes you a moment to catch your breath, and when your brain catches up with the rest of your body, you realize what an intimate position the two of you are in. You can feel the warmth radiating off of him, and his plush, pink lips are right there.

It would take hardly any effort on either of your parts to close the distance between the two of you. Your heart is screaming for you to do it, but before you can, Bradley clears his throat and drops his hands.

"Are you okay?" He asks. "I'm fine." You say in a deflated tone.

"Well, it's getting late, I should probably get going. Thanks again for dinner." He says as you walk him to you door.

"No problem. See you at work on Monday." You call as he walks into the hallway.

"See you Monday." He chimes back as you shut the door and lock it. You press your back again the cool wood and sink to the floor. Cerberus and Hydra both walk over and look at you with knowing eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, you two. It's not going to happen." You tell them.

"It's not going to happen." You repeat, this time as a reminder to yourself. You could let yourself be friends with Bradley. You could even let yourself have a crush on him. But you could never let yourself cross that line.

It's better that way

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[thecapricunt1616]

The Bear & His Honey Chapter 3

Inspo: Quote - “All the lights couldn’t put out the dark that’s running through my heart ”  Summary: (18+ ONLY FIC!!!) Winnie & Richie meet for the first time, have a conversation about their love for Taylor Swift over a cigarette while Carmen fights through a panic attack in his office. W/C: 3,000 A/N: Oh my WORD!! I am so excited for this chapter, I hope you all like it!! I’m hoping my Carmy and Richie are doin’ it for ya! I’m feeling this pacing for the moment, but I promise there will be a time jump at some point. I just want to have the relationships build a little and have you guys get to know Winnie outside of who she is with Carmy!!  Warnings for BTC: Abuse (Verbal, Emotional, Physical), Swearing, Self Harm, Cigarettes, Mentions of alcohol, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Disassociation, Negative self talk, bad coping skills. (0 smut though, wow!!) 

𝒞𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀 𝒪𝓊𝓉 𝑀𝓎 𝑀𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉!

Chapter 2 Here!

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

“Don’t worry missy, mommy isn’t forgetting about you” I brush my hand over my cat, Persephone’s, supple fluffy white tail. “Jus’ give me a second ok?” I leaned into the mirror, finishing applying a mauve lip liner to the edges of my lips before filling them in with gloss. I give myself one final lookover, smoothing down my pale, buttercup-colored cardigan. I look like I should be freezing my ass off, but thanks to my fleece-lined nude tights- I am warm as can be. 

I head into the kitchen, Persephone weaving in and out of my legs as she usually did getting a giggle out of me. “Poor starving fluffy baby mm’?” I coo, grabbing her dish from the cabinet and emptying one of her favorite shrimp-flavored Friskies lil’ soups into the bowl, and setting it down for her. She dives right in and I scratch her head lovingly. “There, that is your bedtime snack ok? You got it early, so when it’s really time for bed later, don’t try and tell me I forgot somethin’ yea?” I go grab my ‘purse’ from the bedroom which was just the tote I’d gotten at Taylor Swift's concert a few months ago, as well as my white pleather platform boots, and sit in the entry hall, putting them on. 

I look at myself once more in the hall mirror, adjusting the white bow tying back my long locks that I’d curled. “Love y’ baby, Mama be home soon, be goods ok?” I called to Seph’ who was still chowing down in the kitchen. I slipped on my fur cape shawl-type garment over my shoulders and stepped out of my apartment. Locking my door, I headed back down a few blocks to The Bear. I put on my headphones as I walk, humming softly to the music blasting through them. 

As I approach the alleyway, I see light puffs of smoke coming out into the street. I hurried my pace, hoping it was Carmen out for a smoke before I showed up. But when I finally see around the corner, it's not Carmen, it’s some other man. Older, wearing a brown leather jacket. He nods in my direction and his lips move, his voice completely drowned out by the music that was still blasting in my ears. I pull my headphone away from my ear lightly “Sorry, wha’dya say?” I asked, taking them off and putting them in my bag.  

“I asked if you were in your Fearless Era? Nice sweater” he said and I smiled wide. “Shut up- you listen to Taylor Swift?” I walked up to him, leaning a few feet away on the brick wall. “Hell yeah! My daughter loves her, you saw the show too?” He takes another drag of his cigarette and I smile with an enthusiastic nod. “Mmhmm!!” I say proudly “Can you believe She played Death By A Thousand Cuts and Mad Woman?! Those are like, my favorites from those albums!” 

He blows the smoke past me and nods with a smile. “It really was fuckin’ fantastic. Broad puts on such a crazy show it was fire.” I looked closer and realized he was wearing chef's clogs “D’ you work here?” I questioned. Another nod “My cus’ owns it. You been?” He asked and my eyes widened before I let out a laugh, a real laugh. 

“I’m here for - for him!! Actually. He umm..invited me for a drink.” I said a shy smile dancing on my lips and my cheeks heating slightly.

“Holy shit” he laughs. “Holy fuckin’ shit” he shakes his head in disbelief. “What?” I giggle. “He has a secret girlfriend or somethin’?” I joked and that got another chuckle out of him. “No, no. Absolutely not- I just am- in shock and awe.” He snorts, taking another drag. 

“Why’s that? Am I ugly or somethin’?” I teased “oh no no quite the opposite actually, surprised he was able to talk to you. Kid gets all quiet around pretty girls.” I shrugged. “Hes….shy. But very funny.” I added. “Funny? Wow. I can’t wait to tell Sug’ t’morrow. Wait so how did you- how did he ask you out?” He questioned.

 I took a deep breath, a sheepish smile on my face “ok, so- he didn’t - he did ask, but he did it by making me ask. He was like ‘oh so you only go out with guys that have xyz’ and I was like ‘no you askin’ me out player?’ And he was like ‘nope but we can go out’ he’s such a dork” I smile at my feet and he snorts a laugh, rubbing his chin like Carmen does. 

“Yeee’ that’s Carmen’s style. He's very indirect- with girls that is. With family though- god. He’s too honest most of the time” I look back up at him. “So… how does this whole thing work, like- so Carmen is your cousin, and who is Sugar?” I asked “oh, yeah Sugars my cousin too, but she’s Carmy’s big-sis. That’s why if you decide to start comin’ ‘round more often don’t be surprised if you see her bossin’ him around even though he’s technically the boss” I giggle a bit. 

“Ohh no I saw it already. She’s- she can be scary. But she’s very pretty, so that makes up for it. She came in tellin’ him off about cups earlier” I said and he chuckles “Yeah. She was the torment today, it’s usually Carmen but he was ok for the most part. Except at the end of the day, oh! Shit!! Oh my god you” he said and I looked at him, confused. “Me?” I question, pointing at my chest. “You. Yeah you. That’s why he was sooo fuckin’ dead set on hauling everyone’s asses out the door at 9:40. Oh and that’s why he had Marcus deep clean the bar. I see.” He took another drag of his cigarette. A heat brushed my cheeks.

 Is he nervous to see me? 

I take my bottom lip between my teeth in thought. “How’d you meet?” He asked, bringing me back. My gaze meets his again, “ah- we met today? Actually? Well, I think I’ve seen him like- around, because I’ll take walks on my breaks so he’s probably been out smoking. But I was gonna come by the restaurant for lunch and he was in need of a light so, I gave him one. And then he found I work at the bookstore and figured that means I’m smart or something and with his pretty eyes he just… managed to rope me into editing your dessert menu” I said and he laughed. 

“That’s one thing about Carm’ this place?” He taps the brick with his finger “Is him, he will do anything to make something perfect about it. So I guess consider yourself smart since he trusted you to even suggest he does anything differently. That’s so much trust with him, he must really like you” he said and I blushed, my eyes meeting my boots again. 

Really like you. 

“So are all you Berzattos this charming, or is it just you and Carm?” I teased and he laughed, his head falling back “Oh, I like you” he pats my arm before stomping out the butt of his cigarette. “Here, you don’t have to walk all the way around - let me just let you in the kitchen” he dug keys out of his pocket, unlocking the large metal door. “Just realized, never got your name.” He said, opening the door and holding it ajar with his foot. 

“Winnie” I reply, and held out my hand. He shakes it, his hands were cold from the weather but his touch was gentle. “Richie” he said and I looked into the hall that leads into the kitchen, my heart beginning to hammer in my chest. “Well I’ll leave you kids at it. No fuckin’ in the kitchen it’s spotless “ he said, breaking the tension in my chest and earning a laugh from me. “No promises, know where he is?” I asked and he nodded with his chin down the hall “2nd door on the right, his office. He’s probably finishing up paperwork n’ shit.” He said and I gently kissed his cheek on my way through the door, a friendly gesture. 

“It was very nice to meet you, Richie.” I said sweetly, his cheeks were bright red. “You too, Winnie. Hopefully we see you around more- Carm can use the attitude adjustment you gave ‘em this afternoon a little more often.” He joked and my cheeks were the ones that now felt hot to the touch. 

He actually listened to what I’d said about being good. 

I nod “I’ll work on it” I said and he nodded with a smile, “night.” He said “g’night! Be safe!” I replied as he shut the door. 

The kitchen was completely silent, the only sound was the buzzing of the lights. It was literal night and day. The bookstore was always quiet unless we were doing story time for littles, and at night it was just as quiet. 

“Carmen?” I called out, my heels clicking as I made my way down the hall. “Hellooo? Hello hello?” I called, hoping he’d open up the office door. My heart picks up again, I feel it in my throat. Pounding, booming. I try to swallow the thick thumping, but it doesn’t help. I hear a hard thump against Carmen’s office door, causing my eyebrows to furrow. 

I get up to it, leaning in and I hear Carmen breathing, heavy and uncontrolled. I speak up, trying to find my confidence. He had invited me here. He wants me here. 

He trusted you to even suggest he does anything differently. That’s so much trust with him, he must really like you…

Richie’s words of encouragement bounce around in my mind. 

I took a deep breath, gently tapping on the door with my French tip. 

“Carmen? Carrrm? Ya’ in there? Hellooooo? I hear you breathing in there… Ok, well guess what- I just met your cousin Richie, and apparently? He listens to Taylor Swift too. So, unless you open up this door? I’ll like- totally go right back out there and flirt with him - and, you’ll positively 100% lose your super-duper smokin’ hot date to your awesome, super friendly cousin-“ 

Carm POV;

**10 minutes before Winnie shows up**

I lean against the office door, eyes screwed shut, so tightly my forehead was beginning to cramp up as my hand shakes uncontrollably next to me, my wrist cracking with every violent flick. I was desperately trying to feel something, but my entire body was numb. My chest heaves up and down rapidly, tears burning my eyes and I roughly rub over my forehead and cheeks. Clawing at my hair and pulling tightly, to feel something, anything at all. “Fuckin - get it together, fuck!” I muttered, desperate, my nails digging into my forearm so hard that if I had any mind to me at this moment, I’d realize I was drawing blood. She would be here any second, the first - first girl, the only girl I have ever had the balls to ask out, and of course one of these - these - episodes.. Just had to come on - right now. I bump my head against the door in a futile attempt to ground myself, but it doesn’t work. I still feel fucking nothing. 

All of a sudden, per usual to this bullshit- I’m transported back to New York, to Noma, in the bathroom, hurling my guts up before my regular night shift. The pang in my stomach though, was merciful compared to the fucking hell on earth that place was.

 Then, I was on line, making Julianne cuts to a carrot for the 3rd time since the previous 2 were ‘obviously done by a blind ape’, or ‘disgustingly amateur’ as per what I can only presume is the words of the demonic human incarnate of every, single, sin, in any life, I’ve ever fucking lived, coming back in this one to haunt me in to my grave. 

 “You fucking stupid sack of shit” he seeths in my ear. “You are pure shit. Hear me? You are nothing motherfucker, you are a fucking shitstain on my name. I swear, at this rate? You get outta’ here? You are done, Hear me? DONE!!!” he barks in my ear so vociferous that it circumscribes the furthest corners of my mind, my knife slipping when I twitch slightly at the pain of the volume in my ear and it shreds into my skin, deep. 

I hissed at the sting before the fire of pain, my hand jerking away on instinct and dropping the knife. It clattered to the floor loudly and before I could react he grabbed the collar of my whites brutely, dragging me somewhere, my feet stumbling and tripping over each other as he towed me like a ragdoll, before he was violently throwing me to the floor of the bathroom in a pathetic, bleeding heap. “Fucking pussy” he growled, digging his chef's clog in my side just enough to knock the remaining wind out of my lungs. “Clean yourself up, pathetic moron. There's fucking work to be done, or did you overlook that? You slothful, utterly useless, piece of garbage.” The door to the bathroom slams, and I’m left alone, my blood leaking into the tile. At least he didn’t spit on me this time. 

My first thought isn’t if I need stitches, or of the unbelievable pain coursing through my hand and wrist - of course not, why would I ever think of myself first? Instead, it’s of the fact that my blood pool has already grown so large that it’s leaking into the grout of the restroom floor. And if it stains with the remnants of my stupid mistake, I am fucked, done, and utterly screwed. I scramble up, wincing lightly as I try to take a breath, a sharp ache going through my left lung where his shoe had dug in. 

Suddenly, I’m ripped through the walls of space and time, the soft hum of the heater meeting my ears, as the sound of the sweetest voice I’d ever heard makes its way through the door, She’s here.

“Carmen? Carrrm? Ya’ in there? Hellooooo? I hear you breathing in there… Ok, well guess what- I just met your cousin Richie, and apparently? He listens to Taylor Swift too. So, unless you open up this door? I’ll like- totally go out there and flirt with him - and, you’ll positively 100% lose your super-duper smokin’ hot date to your awesome, super friendly cousin- I also brought my book since you were just sooo interested earlier. Maybe you can take some tips from the bat-boys for your flirting skills, handsome.” 

Her voice was like a tether, gently tugging me back into my body. It’s as if my soul snaps back into my physical self all at once, her words ringing through my mind like soothing white noise, not registering a single thing she’s saying, but relishing in the fact my feet were on the ground, and I was beginning to be able to feel them there again. I try to find focus on the sound of her sweet, sweet voice.

My face finally relaxes, and I force my eyes open. I’m back- Back at the bear. I let out a shaking sigh of relief, my entire body was trembling. Blood felt like it was pooling back into every one of my limbs in a tsunami. I suddenly felt so heavy, like I could just sink into the floor in a heap and die there.

“J-J-J” I stutter out, biting down on my cheek so hard I felt a sting of pain and the taste of metal filled my mouth, so embarrassed that I’m succumbing to my old habits, especially in front of her. Forcing a deep breath into my lungs, finding my head, find your head, find it, find it Carmen. 

I inhaled so deeply it felt for a moment like my lungs could pop like balloons, before focusing all of my energy into letting out the breath as controlled and light as I could, which finally centered me enough to be able to find my tongue. “Just One sec. M’ sorry” I managed to get out, rubbing over my face roughly to get rid of the remnants of any stray tears, before wiping my hands on my shirt and turning to open the door. 

Before my mind and my….brain? Could process my actions, I was pulling the door open, pulling her into my chest, and nuzzling my face into her neck. I held her to me tightly, as if we were hanging off the very edge of the earth, and she was my only tether to reality. I took a deep breath, my knees feeling weaker at the intoxicating scent of her, Jasmine, rose, orange? Maybe grapefruit…and…Honey.  

“Thank y’ for comin’, Winnie, I need a fuckin’ drink, now.” I mutter quietly into her supple skin.

Read Chapter 4 Here!

[rosy-crow]

Yeah, after watching the teaser, I’m really starting to think Square is doing the Arcane thing.

I’ve been talking about it with @altocat for a while now, and I feel like it’s starting to get real. So, this is just gonna be my final theory for the story until proven otherwise.

Spoilers for Arcane: League of Legends, but for anyone that doesn’t know, basically Arcane adapted LOL and developed one of their most iconic villains, Jinx, into a very well-written character with a story that showed you exactly who she was and why she eventually lost her mind. Before this show, she was probably about as developed as Seph was in the OG.

Even though Jinx is more flamboyant and emotionally chaotic, she and Seph are weirdly similar villains from what I’ve seen. Seph reminds me a LOT of Jinx and vice-versa. I’ve even drawn them together and compared their designs—it’s funny how mad villains in video games tend to have key similar design points, even down to hair-styles and clothing, but I’ll save that for another post lol.

Anyway, from the FS teaser it looks like we have a big climax in that ultimately leads to this scene with Seph and Rosen, who have been set up to be mirrors of each other.

All I know is that the trailer showed Rosen telling Seph to make a choice about which life he wanted to save (Japanese version made this a bit clearer), and the other lives in danger are Team Glenn. Seph is gonna have to choose between them, and….well, since we know Team Glenn lives….uhh…and also….

Rosen’s dog is trying to alert the others of something. Seph made a choice or did SOMETHING, and I thiiiink it’s gonna result in Rosen’s death. Whether it was intentional or an accident, we don’t know, but it’s clear this is when sane Seph when was still good and caring, even if a little psychologically stunted and conditioned because of Shinra. He’s been consistently this way throughout the First Soldier and doesn’t change until Nibelheim.

But I get the feeling everything went wrong with Rosen. That’s why Glenn is at odds with Seph years later.

This is also why we’re getting Arcane vibes. If it’s a misunderstanding or rift caused by Seph’s intentions to save his friends…well, that’s very familiar to this notorious Arcane scene:

Basically, Jinx…or Powder, as she’s known here, makes a drastic decision to save her friends and sister from genuine danger. However, her own talents are her worst enemy, and she causes twice as much destruction as the enemies her friends were struggling with. Almost everyone ends up dead, except for Powder’s sister. It was a horrific mistake and creates a massive rift between Powder and Vi (that’s the sister).

Vi also cements the idea in Powder’s mind that she’s a “jinx” or a curse of sorts. A complex that Powder had already been struggling with, and one she later embraces as her persona.

Glenn and young Sephiroth have been established to have a bit of a brotherly relationship so far, with Glenn being the down-to-earth and honest older source of influence. There was also the whole arc between these two revolving around Glenn initially calling Sephiroth a “cyborg” as an insult to say the kid was modified and different, not a “normal human.” This lowkey came off like a deliberate reference to Sephiroth’s later meltdown over not being human, yeah?

So you guys see what I mean, the themes here are similar to Arcane and Jinx’s psychology. If Seph makes some fatal mistake or a bad choice to save his team, and they walk in on this? Or get the wrong idea? Yeah, it’s gonna turn what was supposed to be an act of heroism into something much worse. It’s also gonna be the perfect reference to Seph’s later big moment in canon…errr, Nibelheim itself, where he just embraces inhumanity and finally goes berserk against everyone’s expectations, traumatizing the main protagonist and his eventual rival in the process.

Again, the theme of “tragic mistake paralleling or foreshadowing a villain’s first deliberate act of cruelty and evil” would be VERY similar to what happens with Jinx in Arcane.

I’m not saying SE is doing this on purpose, really, but the shared themes of identity collapse and “monsters you created” between Arcane and FF7’s main “mad villains” are interesting. Their stories obviously will play out differently, but it wouldn’t surprise me if The First Soldier ultimately culminates in a life-altering decision that Sephiroth makes, one that does NOT end well and births that conflict between him and Glenn.

That’s my theory for now. These teasers are convincing me more and more. We’ll see.

[altocat]

Angsty Gen and Seph dream I had that I figured I’d share below:

This was probably inspired by a fic I have been reading where Sephiroth was warned by Hojo that if he didn’t succeed in Nibelheim and actually kill Genesis, he would be considered no longer useful as Shinra’s weapon, but only for Hojo’s research as a lab rat like he was as a child. A very BAD outcome lol.

In the dream, canon diverged and Sephiroth actually was pulled away from the library mid-breakdown by Zack and they planned to escape, but Shinra was evil as usual and bombed Nibelheim like they did Banora. Zack was seriously injured and barely crawled away with his life, but Sephiroth got taken back in by Shinra, also barely aware of what was happening thanks to the impact of Shinra’s ambush.

I don’t even want to say what went down with Hojo afterwards but it was…bad. Hojo being the sick dad of the year he is, just got everything he always wanted. Sephiroth failed the mission so yeah…

But good news, Genesis found Zack! In the dream it was so sweet and pleasant to see, but Genesis actually came to his senses and realized that Sephiroth had rejected him in the reactor because he thought Gen was trying to use him for his cells. Gen had this big epiphany and was thinking “Oh shit I fucked up. Seph thought I was pulling a Shinra and trying to use him.”

Gen realized that what needed to happen was that they all escaped Shinra and Gen could find a cure for his degrading that way. He also was saying something about Zack being Angeal’s worthy successor iirc? Anyway. My favorite thing was seeing Gen redeem himself and save Zack, then decide to be a real hero by saving his friends and standing against Shinra.

So he rescued Zack and they decided they needed to go get Sephiroth. It was a longgg process in the dream because Genesis was still dying actually. But holy shit the angst was brutal because Gen did NOT fucking care. His degradation meant nothing. He had to get Seph out of Shinra and burn the whole place to the ground if it killed him.

Alto it was sooooo sad though. The end part destroyed me😭

Basically Gen finally broke into Shinra, fucking wiped the floor with Hojo, and saved Sephiroth’s life, who was barely functional by that point but ALIVE at least, and Gen was able to tell him he was sorry for everything and that he only ever wanted them to be equals, friends, even if they were both monsters. Once Sephiroth understood what Genesis had done and realized that they were still real friends, he forgave him and it was all made well but…well…you can probably guess….

Genesis didn’t survive. Zack and Seph made it, but Genesis had put all his energy into getting through to Seph. For him it was worth it because of the reconciliation and knowing that when Sephiroth was back to normal, he would avenge them and destroy Shinra. Gen died a hero. Aaaaaa!

It hurt so much but I loved this au that just randomly invaded my dream?? I’m only wondering now if Cloud survived the Nibelheim bombing 😐

If I had skills I would write this into a fic but since I don’t, I just wanted to share on the Sephcanons blog as an au headcanon!

Hhhhh Anon you're so creative. That was a sudden whirlwind flash of feels there lmao I'm losing it rn

[yan-snowcave]

Makura -> Desmond;

They mostly have nothing against him and are even getting a better impression of him the longer they hang out (+ the rest of the squad.) They affectionately call him "Short" & "Short King" like the rest of the gang or when they really wanna tease him they call him "Bambi." Though when someone who isnt in the close to him or someone who isn't from the squad dares to call him short Makura will be ready to throw some hands. If its a frequent occurrence, where the same person does it over and over again they will threaten to eat the person.

During the "Manipulation/Demon Prince" routes they will be a bit more aggressive and annoyed with Desmond for trying to cut Milo off of them. On these routes Desmond also earns the nickname "Vorspeise" [Translation; Appetiser.] Which Makura only uses when they are pissed at him or wanna threaten him.

Desmond -> Makura;

Doesn't really have anything against them and is slowly growing fond of them, he's also one of the few who get away with calling Makura "Cringy" "Furry" and such. Strangers who call Makura that though get threatened or lose a few teeth. Desmond also uses these terms often when defending Makura from people who call them a demon.

["We all know that they have a dangerously manipulative side to them but calling them a demon? Isn't that going a bit too far, I mean...Huh? What?! No, I'm not defending them! They're just a weird Furry with anger issues! Oh shut it, V!"]

Makura -> Seph;

Likes Seph a lot for being one of the few humans who belives in Demons, Cryptids and co (& for showing Makura proper respect as a prince.) They also enjoy having someone who they can talk with about some of the books that contain information about demons, beasts, cryptids and such.

Though they are a little bit terrified of him for having some very old books which do contain pretty accurate descriptions on how to kill low ranking demons and even point out a few weak spots for higher ranking demons & beasts (they did try to burn some of them but they are all fire proof...)

Makura also sees him as a future in-law after they mentioned him to their 'siblings' and saw some of them show clear interest in Seph.

Seph -> Makura;

Had a crush on Makura in the early stages of meeting them but it soon fizzled out, he still has some left over feelings but stomps it down as best as he can. Especially after Makura started dating Milo, he never would step on another Monster Lover's toe. So he decided to help Milo out instead by basically being his go to Demonic Information Source and Wingman.

Seph was also one of the first friends Makura invited back to their home land and even got a tour of their home and the nearby town. He was also very excited about the amount of demons & beasts who wanted to eat him but Makura stopped all of them, much to his dismay.

Makura <--> Valli;

Since they laid eyes upon each other they both knew that the other would be their platonic partner in crime for any dumb shit they wanna pull. They had so many close run-ins with the police, it really made their bound stronger. If they someone had to get rid of a body the other would help cover it up. They also have sleep over nights sometimes where they talk about rumours and have improvised therapy sessions.

[Makura would still use her to start the Manipulation route, they would feel a bit bad about it for a day or two before forgetting all about it.]

Makura -> Ryan;

Mostly had no real opinion on Ryan, they bounded back then a bit after they both drunkenly confessed that they had dated Eris and how much it sucked. They also had a short period of time where they were in a "Friends with Benefits" kinda relationship until Makura laid their eyes on Milo and his Soul and decided that he's the one.

After seeing Ryan bully Milo, thinking that he was causing their chosen Soul to corrupt (and reminding them of how their 'Twin' often got bullied by other demons.) They stepped in and felt a deep disgust and growing hatred for him.

[In the Violence routes they might feel a bit more positive in the long run for basically giving Milo a motivational jumpstarter in the form of sending Poison after them. And the whole hurting Milo thing.]

Ryan -> Makura;

He didn't believe Makura at first when he heard them confess that they ate Eris in a fit of rage but in the back of his mind the alarm bells were starting to ring. This only got worse until a few weeks had passed without him seeing Eris anywhere, not even in the class they shared.

This all led up to the moment where Ryan dragged Makura into an empty hallway, where he confronted them about what truly happened to Eris. Makura, being fed up with him, revealed their true form ready to devour him like they did with Eris.

But Ryan in his desperation to stay alive offered up his soul in exchange of not being eaten. They of course accepted the offer and since that day Ryan was invisibly chained to them. He has many regrets and his hatred & fear for Makura grows every time he remembers them using his urge to Survive against him.

Makura <--> Eris

Since the moment they met, they both knew they disliked each other but still dated mostly out of Selfish reasons. Eris to try and create her "Perfect Love" while Makura was after her Soul hoping that a Soul as corrupted as hers would be a perfect power boost that they would need in the long run.

Their relationship grew worse & worse over time until it all accumulated to the moment where Makura decided to break things up. Seeing Eris as more of a nuisance & danger really then anything else, she was of course not pleased with her "Perfect Love" trying to escape from her and stepped up her game, causing her to tip the first stone to her early demise.

Eris decided to go after the one person Makura loved more then anything, their 'twin' Remor. Who just returned home from a recent heart surgery. Everyone knew that he shouldn't be stressed unnecessarily, including Eris who used this to her advantage. Trying to get Makura back onto her leash all the while implying that she would harm their cousin if they didn't obey.

This of course enraged Makura but they held back, not wanting to risk and call it a bluff when they knew that Eris wouldn't have a problem with acting out her plan. That was of course until one day she stepped too far and causing Remor some problems which almost sent him back to their Orhan Harvester Boyfriend and his Back Alley Surgeon.

After that incident, Makura cornered Eris in a room and showed her their true form. Cackling rang around the room as Eris felt fear overtake her, the last thing she felt was a sudden sharp pain ripping into her flesh before everything turned to black.

[local-flower-girl]

Hello!

Could you write for married Sephiroth accidentally physically hurting his wife when he was on the verge of losing it? (Still sane, like he’s having split personalities between good and bad)

Thank you so much!

Fractures of Our Love

Sephiroth clasped tightly at his forehead, releasing a lengthy groan of intense pain and discomfort. Over the course of an hour you had noticed his steady decline, peering up from your book intermittently to observe his pained expressions. His migraines happened every so often but recently the attacks were becoming more frequent.

“Is it the headaches again?” You asked, a concerned look evident upon your face.

“I’m fine.” He replied stubbornly. “Please don’t worry about me.”

You placed your book down upon a nearby table, peering over at him sympathetically. He stood up, leaning unsteadily against the wall, his eyes shut and his brows drawn into a troubled frown. His back was hunched, tilting his neck down towards the floor.

“You should stay away from me.” He ordered, unable to meet your gaze.

“Why would I do that? I’m here, let me help you.”

You felt completely helpless since the only thing you could do was comfort him. As you approached him, instinctively you placed your reassuring hand upon his arm. He brushed you off harshly, pushing you away.

“Don’t touch me!” He shouted coldly. “You… I… I can’t…”

He struggled to find his words, manically grasping and tangling his fingers within his silver locks. His agitation and unusual aggression caught you off guard, however you were determined to stay calm for his sake.

“Seph relax. Let me go get you something to ease the pain.”

It killed you to see him in so much agony and suffering. You wanted to do everything in your power to nurse him back to health. You hurried to the bathroom, opened up the medicine cabinet and rummaged through the assortment of ointments and remedies. When you found what you needed you rushed back to the kitchen to fetch him a fresh glass of water. Back in the lounge, Sephiroth was sat upon the edge of the sofa with his head collapsed within the palms of his hands.

“Here take this.” You offered kindly.

He stood up, aggressively snatching the bottle of pills from you. His hands shook and trembled as he struggled to remove the lid. He grunted lowly out of frustration but eventually managed to get the bottle open, placing a tablet within his mouth. You carefully passed him the glass of water. As you watched him guzzle down the liquid you noticed the running beads of sweat dripping down the side of his face and neck. The wisps of his hair clung to his face and beneath his eyes were the dark shadowed signs of extreme exhaustion and torment.

“You’re burning up!” Your hand slowly reaching out to touch the side of his face.

“I said don’t touch me!” He abruptly moved out of your reach.

“I’m only trying to help… you need to calm down and take it easy.”

“I fucking can’t!” He spat.

It was a level of venom you had never seen before. His outburst had you shaken to your very core. Your whole body flinched as he threw the empty glass down towards the coffee table. The forceful scatter of broken glass flying up into the air. He grabbed onto your arm forcefully, his fingers uncomfortably digging through the fabric of your clothing. The vile look of anger and hatred upon his face crushed you. Fearful for what he would do next you looked deeply into his resentful eyes. You could clearly see that it was not him. It was as if he were possessed by some evil, unknown entity. A fractured, disjointed and pale imitation of the husband you knew and loved dearly. You were terrified, yet at the same time stood your ground in hopes that he would come back to his senses. You winced as you felt the sharp sting of a cut upon your face, and the sudden sensation of warm blood pouring down the side of your cheek. From the wreckage of his uncontrolled temper a small shard of glass had inadvertently sliced through your skin. Sephiroth’s eyes immediately softened, a look of genuine concern and fear emerging upon his prominent features.

“What have I done?” He said, his voice now a fragile murmur.

His grip upon your arm relaxed as his hand slowly came up to caress the injury upon your cheek. His thumb gently rubbed at the trickles of blood.

“I… this is all my fault.” He sobbed in remorse.

He pulled you into his bust, wrapping his arms around you in a loving embrace. Resting your head against his chest you could hear the heavy thud of his heart pounding rapidly.

“I’d never hurt you… I didn’t… I wouldn’t…” He whimpered incoherently.

“I know you wouldn’t. That wasn’t you.” You soothed, softly running your hands up the length of his back.

“I’m a monster!”

He broke down, his vulnerability rising to the surface. The watery tears building up upon his long, dark lashes.

“You’re no monster. You’re my husband. The man I love.” You reassured.

“But I… what if I…”

“I trust you and we’re in this together. I’ll always be here for you.”

He peered down at you with the burdensome look of guilt and shame. You leaned your weight upon the tips of your toes, reaching up to place your hands on either side of his face. Affectionately you rested your forehead against his. In response his tender lips pressed gently against your own. His shaky fingers interlacing between the delicate strands of your hair.

“I love you with all my heart.” He whispered.

“As do I.”

You held onto him tightly as he wept.

[crisiscutie]

Hello, I'm the creator of the Irregularity AU here!!! I gotta say you made the AU more amazing. I actually didn't meant that Y/n went back to multiple crucial points in the FF7 timeline therefore gave birth to many small worlds of the FF7 universe (Like the theory where your different choices can create alternate realities and in another world,you went the other way)

She only went back to the start of FF7 Remake since it's the timeline that was reversed but still what you wrote is much more amazing. It's interesting that Y/n went back to many important points in time of FF7 timeline like CC or Pre Nibelheim

FF7 Remake is complicated, there's the theory of multiverse (Example: Zack lives bitches!!!). I watched an analysis of the game on YouTube once and it actually made sense in a way. Aerith and Sephiroth somehow sent their consciousness when they were in AC timeline back to the past and their past vessels,specifically the start of FF7's main story therefore we got FF7 Remake. In a way it does explain how Sephiroth and Aerith seems to know more than they should've had, meaning the reality had been tampered with in some ways

I noted that Sephiroth wasn't even physically present in the entire game yet somehow he killed President Shinra,bc he was encased in mako energy at the Northern Crater. Then how did he does it? FF7 Remake is like a fever dream

Anyway great job you did there with writing Irregularity AU!!!

Ah, okay, my bad. 😅 I want to watch that analysis! I will try to search for it! And alternate reality is what I love about the remake. Lots of interesting things the writers are trying to do differently so it wouldn't be the same story with pretty graphics. I'm excited for the new things they'll come up with for the next two games in the remake trilogy. But at the same time, the OG game was full of interesting, major events so I'm worried some important moments will be cut or altered too drastically... But anyways, thank you! I still love your AU, so I came up with another scenario for it! And I see the other spicy AU you got cooking up in my inbox too~! 😏

Content Warnings: Physical Abuse, Blood and NSFW themes, slight non-con under the cut (i mistyped the last word with an n)

༻❁༺ A new opportunity to remake.

Within your AU, I like to think that the darling, having traveled so far back in time, will be lulled into a false sense of security, because Sephiroth is just a cruel mastermind. Eventually, she'll believe she has escaped him. As she's presented with a new chance to reintroduce herself to Cloud, she wouldn't notice the sudden darkness forming in her room as she stares at Cloud from her window. She's made a terrible, terrible mistake in assuming her security... When Sephiroth steps out from the darkness of her room, she's filled with dread as she slowly turns to watch his menacing prowl toward her. The possibility of meeting Cloud again, which she had been so eagerly anticipating, had been cruelly taken away from her.

Cloud will remain in the area with unease, as if something should be happening, but he couldn't figure out what.

Now with AC Sephiroth and 7R's Seph's conscious as one? He'll dispense a cruel, eternal punishment on the darling.

༻❁༺ Not the reunion she wanted.

He'll summon Masamune and kick her down, and put his boot down right on her lower stomach. His eyes will soften with delight as he rambles about how happy he is to reunite with his darling once more. Pride will radiate from him, as no matter how much time or space shifted, it couldn't prevent their reunion. He'd then ramble about his darling's womb, how he couldn't wait to plant his corrupted seed within it, to start his dynasty to rule time and space as he puts more weight on her lower stomach... Then, with a wicked smile, he watches his darling squirm in terror and discomfort, before mockingly questioning her ability to escape him this time as Masamune draws the slightest hint of blood from her delicate neck.

He'd remember how, (in the AC timeline), his darling hung around Cloud and his friends, daringly interacting and smiling at other men... It's a shame that Sephiroth needs to correct his darling before she could greet Cloud this time. Did his darling really think the warmth caress of his touch was inferior to any other? The cold steel of Masamune draws more blood, threatening to turn the darling's stinging cut into an agonizing wound at any moment.

Before she can ask how he caught up with her, his darling will hear him chuckle, saying no matter how much she ran, he could always catch her.

Before his darling knows it, he's eye-level with her, his soft, glossy lips almost brushing against her own as he slowly spreads her legs apart. He'll lovingly trace her inner thighs while staring her down. She can try to kick and move, but his magical prowess prevented any movement. She can open her mouth, but only quiet whimpers will come out. As Sephiroth plants a tender yet passionate kiss on her lips, tears will spill down her cheeks. After all what she's done, it meant nothing. This is only the start of her eternal punishment...

Meanwhile, Cloud lets out a heavy sigh, feeling a strange emptiness as he leaves the area and continues his mission.

Side Note: I still like to think Aerith assisted with the darling getting away from Sephiroth initially considering how she would be her best ally.

[freelanceexorcist]

I tagged one of my moots, but is it OK if I complete this myself? No? Too bad, I did.

FFVII spoilers and absolutely obnoxious length under the cut.

Character: Sephiroth, Compilation of FFVII and FFVII Remake trilogy

Do you project onto this character?

Not that I’m aware of.

2. Did you always like this character?

I discovered FFVII not long after Crisis Core came out, so I was late to the party. I was more into his aesthetic at first, but after taking in CC, I really went off over the complexity of the character. Back then, a lot of Big Bads in the media I consumed were straightforward villain types who were just there to menace everyone and be defeated at the end without much development. He was among the first antagonists I encountered who deployed the duality of being a bad, bad man who used to be a good one until he crossed a line he couldn’t easily come back from.

3. What first drew you to this character?

Not gonna lie, it was how he looked at first.

4. Did you initially dislike/hate this character?

No.

5. If this character were a woman, would you honestly still like them? Or in reverse, what if they were a man?

I think I would. I like well-rounded and complex characters. One of my other favorite characters is June Osborne from The Handmaid’s Tale (show canon). She’s a good person deep down and is nurturing to those who need her help, but when it comes to Gilead and its architects, she is ruthless to the point of being terrifying at times. She started out as someone who just wanted to go along to get along, both before and after the fall of the US, and life turned her into a badass.

6. Do you have any nicknames or pet names you use for this character?

I distinguish between the two apparently separate versions in the Remake trilogy as Glenniroth and Jenovaroth. Does that count? I also refer to teenage Sephiroth as Baby Seph.

7. Does the character’s age matter to you?

No.

8. Does the character’s looks/design matter to you?

Absolutely. How can it not? He’s absurdly beautiful.

9. Does this character remind you of anyone you know? Does that affect how you see them?

Not really. I’ll have to think about that.

10. Do you see yourself in this character even without projecting?

I’m nowhere near that awesome.

11. How did you “fall in love” with this character?

Same way you fall in love in real life. You see someone and you’re like “damn.” Then you get to know them better and you’re theirs for life.

12. If you could write effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what story (s) would you write for this character?

As a matter of fact, I have an AU fic in the planning stages that works on the premise that he is removed from the library before he snaps but not before learning a thing or two about his past that really pisses him off. Vincent will be involved in this, but I’m not sure how yet. Because he doesn’t snap and burn Nibelheim, Shinra does it for him.

Professor Hojo’s plan all along was to destroy the town, imprison the survivors and experiment on them, and that’s why he got there so quickly and was seemingly immediately ready to get started. Anyone else in the town would be killed to keep them from telling anyone what they witnessed. He wanted Sephiroth to lose it and do what SOLDIERs do best and destroy shit. When that didn’t happen, he had to improvise and call in a strike team to get the job done (with President Shinra’s blessing of course). The cover story would be that the town was attacked by monsters that were infecting the villagers and the attack was the equivalent of the army nuking a city to contain the zombie apocalypse. With deepest regret, we must announce that our beloved Sephiroth was lost to us in this attack.

Sephiroth’s lack of mental break and survival was a lucky break for Hojo, because he would be able to get his S-cell samples directly from the tap. So orders were given to take him down, severely wounding but not killing him, which would make him easier to handle. He’s ridiculously strong and fast, but he’s not immune to nor can he dodge bullets.

So truss him up, stick him in a mako tube and give him a cocktail of drugs that act as a sort of Lotus Eater Machine where he’s stuck inside his head living the life he though he would have lived if he had successfully deserted from Shinra. It would keep him docile because he would think it was real. But as with any similar scenario, he would eventually realize that none of it is real and that would snap him out of it. He’d bust out, find Zack and Cloud on his way out the door and off they’d go, but not back to Midgar. Zack would head there, but Sephiroth would take Cloud north because he heard that the healers up there know how to alleviate mako poisoning.

Yeah, it’s a work in progress…

At this point, I was thinking of having Sephiroth as the protagonist who travels the world along with other characters he scoops up along the way and Aerith as the deuteragonist in Midgar with Zack, Tifa and Avalanche. Eventually the two groups would meet up.

It’s going to be a series of multi-chapter stories patterned after the “seasons” of a TV show, and each chapter being the “episodes” connected by a story arc. I don’t know how many there will be yet, it will end when I run out of story to tell.

13. If you could draw effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what scene (s) would you draw for this character?

Probably scenes from the premise described above.

14. Are you physically attracted to this character?

How can you not be? He’s a total smokeshow.

15. Are your thoughts surrounding this character usually sexual, non-sexual, or a mix of both?

Mix of both, but mostly on the non-sexual end of the spectrum.

16. Have you ever cried when thinking about this character? Genuinely?

No. Not yet, anyway.

17. Have you ever felt physical pain over this character? (ex: physical heartache).

No.

18. Do you prefer to see this character suffer or know peace? Angst or comfort? Both?

Oh, both, but with peace being the ultimate outcome no matter what happens.

19. Does this character serve as a stress ball/ security blanket for you? Something you run to after a bad day to feel safe or happier?

Definitely.

20. Do you feel affectionate towards this character?

I’ll have to think about that one.

21. Are your feelings about this character platonic, romantic, or familial? All of these feelings at once maybe?

Familial toward Baby Seph. I just want to kidnap this kid, send him to school, encourage him to make friends and play video games while I make him lots of pasta as my army of robot snipers protects him. Eat some more pasta, Baby Seph, you look thin.

I suppose my feelings toward the adult version are platonic even though I find him ridiculously attractive. I don’t imagine myself with him, but when I get the occasional hankering for seeing him paired up, I’m partial to Sephiroth/Aerith, maybe Sephiroth/Genesis if the canon dynamics are preserved and I’ve even seen Sephiroth/Tifa done very well.

22. Do you think you will always love this character?

It certainly seems that way now. I’ve loved him since 2007 or so even with very little new content and I seriously doubt there will be no new content after the trilogy ends because Square Enix can practically print their own money thanks in part to him.

23. Has this character permanently altered or impacted your psyche in a way you won’t forget?

If that’s a way of saying I’ve got permanent Sephiroth brain rot, then yes.

24. Do you ever dream about this character? If so, describe a dream you once had about them.

I can’t say I have. I don’t dream much and when I do it’s usually about me and my mom fighting. They say dreams about dead loved ones are them coming back to visit, and it’s just like her to use the opportunity to give me a hard time.

25. What kind of fan-fiction do you read about this character? If you don’t read fan-fics about them, why not?

Gen fics, but the occasional pairing as well. I’m partial to ones that take place pre-Nibelheim and show the “slice of life” scenarios with or without the rest of the Himbo Holy Trinity or Zack. AU fics where Nibelheim is averted and his life goes in a different direction. AU fics where he does do a Face-Heel Turn but works with various other main characters because he’s acting out of Enlightened Self-Interest (the fic Epiphany on AO3 does a great job of portraying him this way but unfortunately it appears to have been abandoned by the authors).

I tend to avoid the ones where he’s portrayed as the usual monstrous villain. I can get that from canon and I haven’t seen many where the author goes outside the lines.

26. If you look for this character’s name on AO3, what tags are you including or excluding?

Sephiroth Needs a Hug, Sane Sephiroth, AU, Alternate Timeline are usually included. I exclude many of the pairings, but only because it makes for more efficient scrolling when gen fic is what I’m most interested in. I don’t bother to exclude the rare ones for that reason, because there aren’t many of those.

27. Do you like to ship this character with other characters or do you prefer not to?

When I get a yen for it, I’m partial to Sephiroth/Aerith. I’ve even seen Sephiroth/Tifa done very well. I could even get into a Sephiroth/Original Character ship if the OC is an actual functional character and not an obvious self-insert. Nothing against that, I’m just a little allergic because of all the blatant Mary Sues running around back in the day.

28. Do you get defensive about this character? If yes, then why?

Sometimes, but I keep it to myself. It’s just aggravating when people seem to deliberately misread him and act personally offended when he gets any kind of character development because they want to stay forever mad at him for killing Aerith. Like, any new developments for him don’t negate the existence of the original game, folks. I don’t even bother checking if anything on TV Tropes gets updated regarding him, because that place is crawling with those types. And don’t even get me started on those people who accuse you of Draco in Leather Pants-ing him anytime they see a take that isn’t “he’s evil and I hate him!” And then there are the folks who feel the need to point out his bad deeds any time they see a fan gushing over him. We all saw the same media, chief, we know what he did. Do you want us to call 911 over it?

29. Do you affectionately bully this character?

Sometimes.

30. Are you especially sensitive about this character?

A little bit, but I keep that to myself as well.

31. Are you ashamed of liking this character?

HELL no. I wear my Sephiroth brain rot like the Medal of Honor.

32. If you could make this character a meal, what would you make them?

Shrimp scampi. I hear he likes seafood and pasta. I’ve also heard that if you and someone else both eat something with a lot of garlic, you won’t smell each other’s garlic breath. If we have to shack up until we could sound the All Clear on the breath front…

33. Are you “blinded by love” for this character or do you accept any flaws they may have?

Mass murder aside, I embrace his flaws. Flaws make for a well-rounded and complex character.

34. Does this character inspire you with little things in your daily life?

The opposite happens, actually. You know those posts I make sometimes where I have Sephiroth losing his shpadoinkles not because of anything he read in the library but because he finally had enough of That Fuckwit from Field Services’ emails and Teams messages and ridiculous demands? All of those have happened in my professional life. If you hear about a small town in Southwestern Pennsylvania burning to the ground*, it’s because I stopped writing posts like that.

*No, I would never do something like that in real life. Most likely not. The fate of hundreds is in your hands, Fuckwit from Field Services.

35. Has this character ever prevented you from sleeping because you can’t stop thinking about them?

Nah, thinking about the plot bunnies hopping through my head that were inspired by him is my melatonin.

36. Do you feel a spiritual/soulmate connection with this character?

No, I tend not to do that with fictional characters, even ones I’m as obsessed with as Sephiroth.

37. Is your love for this character a secret from people you know in real life?

Yes, but mostly because no one I know in real life knows who the hell he is. Most of them have heard of Final Fantasy, but that’s about as far as it goes.

38. Do you tend to joke more about dying or killing for this character? Both? What causes the distinction?

Neither. I mostly joke about him losing his shit because of fictional versions of one or two incredibly aggravating and demanding work colleagues. For the sake of me continuing to receive a paycheck and staying out of prison, this will be my outlet when Janice and Keith are on a roll.

39. Do you feel lovesick over this character?

No, he’s not real.

40. Are you very empathetic towards this character? When they feel a certain way in the story, do you feel those emotions too?

Yes, definitely.

41. Do you prefer to interact with this character directly via self-insert/reader type content? Or do you enjoy seeing them mostly with other characters in the story and/or your OCs?

I don’t consume much Sephiroth/Reader content, but I’ll have to check it out. As for OCs, the story I’m thinking about will have three prominent OCs and yes, they will also be products of Project S. In my idea, there were originally 10 S-types including Sephiroth. Two of them didn’t survive infancy and four were lost in various battles during the war. The remaining three are scattered to the four winds when the story starts. They and Sephiroth are connected in a way that they can sense each other but can’t pinpoint a precise location. I’m playing with the idea of a romance between him and one of them, but whether that gets included depends on how it will enrich the plot or move it forward.

42. If you could, would you write this character a song or poem?

I suck at poetry or songwriting, but get me speculating about something related to him or his place in the story and I could go on for hours.

43. What type of weather makes you think of this character?

Hot weather, because I HC that he doesn’t like it. Which made me come up with the following scenario of the Himbo Holy Trinity and Zack goofing off on a message forum one day:

Angeal: Seph, you need to take a vacation. How about a few days in Costa del Sol?

Sephiroth: Too hot.

Zack: hot damn…

Angeal: And my band ‘bout that money, break it down

Genesis: Girls, hit your hallelujah

Zack: Woo!

Sephiroth: *posts video of Uptown Funk* And if I have to have that song in my head for the rest of the day, so do all of you.

44. Which season makes you think of this character?

Hm, I haven’t thought about that.

45. Do you feel as if you are intimately familiar with this character?

A little. Enough that I can recognize subtle things about him.

46. How much do bad interpretations of this character upset you?

Not upset so much as aggravated. Some takes seem so deliberately bad that it’s so obvious they’re comically exaggerating his bad traits just so they can continue to hate him for killing Aerith.

47. Does this character ever make you laugh sincerely?

@rottenpumpkin13 ’s takes on his and the boys’ shenanigans sure have me laughing out loud most of the time!

48. What’s your favorite physical/design feature for this character?

I love the Remake trilogy’s design for him. Everything about it is just *chef’s kiss*

49. What’s your favorite personality trait in this character?

Pre-library, the way he showed such kindness and protectiveness to the people whose safety he was responsible for. The look on his face after he failed to save that security officer and the way he shook his head after he put the mission on hold to look for him and had to report that he wasn’t found was heartbreaking.

50. Link your fav song, playlist, aesthetic board, fan-fiction, reference pile, personal artwork, analysis post, meme, headcanon, or quote for this character. Whichever one (s) you are most comfortable with!

This song really makes me think of him. I deliberately chose the Limp Bizkit cover over the original version from The Who because the cover adds a new verse that I think describes him very well (apologies in advance for any unskippable ads).

No one knows what it’s like to be mistreated

To be defeated

Behind blue eyes

No one knows how to say that they’re sorry

And don’t worry

I’m not telling lies

But a verse from the original that isn’t in the cover fits as well

If my fist clenches, crack it open

Before I use it and lose my cool

If I smile, tell me some bad news

Before I laugh and act like a fool

If I swallow anything evil

Put your finger down my throat

If I shiver please give me a blanket

Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

Oh, and did you know that Behind Blue Eyes was originally written as part of a rock opera Pete Townshend wrote after Tommy? It was called Lifehouse. There were a few live shows at the Young Vic Theater, but the project was eventually aborted and some of the songs from it ended up on other albums. Behind Blue Eyes was on Who’s Next.

In the rock opera, the song was sung by Jumbo, the main antagonist, a dictator who tightly controlled the entertainment that the public consumed, and rock and roll was considered barbaric. The hero was the leader of a resistance group who embraced rock and roll and tried to push it to the masses.

Behind Blue Eyes is sung by the antagonist when he realizes that he’s seen as the villain when up until that point, he though his intentions were good. It’s described as a first-person lament.

Sound like someone we know? Sure it does.

Anyway, this is more than long enough. Thank you for sticking around if you’ve made it this far and I hope the rest of your day/evening is peaceful.

[rottenpumpkin13]

It is Halloween soon! Zack throws a Halloween party on the 49th floor (can be big, can be small, however you'd like to write it) and has decided to use an ouija board. What chaos breaks out?

(Also i was bday anon, thank you so much, your posts are life 💞)

Zack's Halloween Party

• To cease the arguments over who gets to host the annual SOLDIER halloween party, Director Lazard comes up with an idea.

• He writes down each of his SOLDIERs' names on small slips of paper and places them in a huge bowl, then summons them all to an impromptu meeting.

Lazard: Whoever's name I pull out will be the designated party organizer. Does that sound fair?

Zack: YES! I WON! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO THROW A HALLOWEEN PARTY!

Lazard: No, Zack. I mean, does my selection process sound just?

• A chorus of agreements echo throughout the room.

Lazard: Good. And the winner is *he sticks his hand in the bowl, pulls out a name, then sighs* Fair.

Zack: Yes, Director! We agreed that it's a fair process!

Lazard: No. Zack Fair, you won.

Zack: YEEEESSSSSSS!!

• A chorus of no's and groans sweep the room.

Zack: Don't worry, guys! I'll do my very best! You'll see! This is gonna be the best Halloween party ever. *he interlocks his fingers evilly* and I have just the tool to make it fun...

• The day of the Halloween party arrives. To everyone's surprise, the party's rather ordinary. There's good music playing, Halloween decorations everywhere, flashing lights, fog and candy bowls stationed everywhere.

• Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal step off the elevator. Sephiroth is dressed like a grim reaper with Masamune fashioned as a scythe, Angeal is a zombie, and Genesis is a queen? king of hearts.

Angeal: Huh. Look at that. No one who knows Zack personally would've ever guessed he would be responsible enough to pull this off.

• Angeal snatches a candy bowl from Sephiroth's hands.

Genesis: I know, right? It almost makes you feel bad for underestimating him.

• Kunsel (dressed like robocop) and Roche (hippie) walk by carrying Skelesis Bonesodos.

Kunsel: Where are we hanging Skelesis?

Roche: Zack told us to hang him by the dancefloor.

Genesis: Son of a bitch.

• Angeal fails to notice Sephiroth nick an entire platter of spaghetti and meatball eyes from a passing server.

• Zack (dressed like a pirate) comes bouncing up to them

Zack: Arrg! Hey, guys! Sweet party, huh?

Angeal: Yeah, actually. I'm impressed. It's just a regular party without any crazy additives.

• Zack pulls out a Ouija board.

Zack: Or so you thought!

Genesis & Angeal: ZACK, NO.

Zack: Zack yes!

• Genesis snatches the ouija board away from him.

Genesis: I refuse to compliantly sit here and watch you damn us all by bothering the spirit realm. You have no idea how dangerous it is!

Angeal: Are you serious? Ghosts aren't real.

Zack & Genesis: Yes they are.

Angeal: No, they're not. And I'm not letting you mess around with anything paranormal. I don't want a repeat of last time.

• Collective flashback to the time Zack purchased an EVP recorder and refused to shower for a week because the ghost insinuated that it'd possess him in the bathroom.

Zack: Oh, please! That was ages ago. Besides, how cool would it be to have a real entity at my party!?

Genesis, sarcastically: So cool! One minute you're doing the Monster Mash and the next we're calling a priest!

Zack: I'm not gonna get possessed!

Angeal: You're not gonna summon anything! Ghosts and demons aren't real! Right, Sephiroth?

• Everyone turns to see Sephiroth working his way through another bowl of candy.

Angeal: Give me THAT!

Sephiroth, chewing: Honestly, it wouldn't hurt to try to use the ouija board.

Zack: Ha-ha! You rock, Seph! I knew you'd be on my side.

• Zack and Sephiroth high five.

Genesis: I give up. Summon the demon, damn us all to lifetime of paranormal prosecution. What do I care? It's not like anyone listens to me any—*he looks across the room*—HEY! KUNSEL! STOP PLAYING CATCH WITH SKELESIS BONESODOS! YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK HIS HIP!

• Zack leads the four of them to a vacant office room. They sit down in a circle on the floor and sets up the Ouija board in the middle of them.

Angeal: This is the stupidest thing I've ever done.

Sephiroth: Don't say that. I would argue that purchasing that questionable, over-priced plant from that man in the slums that turned out to be plastic was the stupidest thing you've ever done.

• They all place their fingers on the planchette and slide it around three times.

Genesis: We're going to die.

Zack: Shhh! Oh great spirits that reside in the Shinra HQ! Make yourselves known...please—pretty please? I really want a party ghost!

Sephiroth: Do you gentlemen think a person's soul can become trapped within the sword that kills them? I often hear Masamune whisper to me in the middle of the night.

Angeal: And you mention that NOW?

Genesis: Ho-ho! I thought you didn't believe in ghosts!

Angeal: I don't. I believe in Sephiroth inevitably succumbing to psychosis due to years of trauma.

Zack: Guys! Shhh! You're gonna distract the—

*The planchette moves on its own*

*Everyone screams*

Angeal: WHO DID THAT? WHICH ONE OF YOU MOVED IT?

Genesis: IT WASN'T ME!

Zack: IT WAS THE GHOST!

Sephiroth: Fascinating. Zack's Ouija board has proven to be a reliable tool for demonic communication.

Genesis: I wanna leave! I'm not playing with this stuff!

Angeal: You moved it, didn't you, Genesis? You wanted to scare me and be right about the paranormal.

Genesis: Shut up! I have my limits too, you know!

Zack: Guys! Shhh! Let me talk to it!

Zack: Dear Mr. Ghost..... Or should I say Mrs. Ghost? Ms. Ghost? Wait, what if the ghost is gender neutral?

Angeal: Ghosts aren't real!

*The planchette moves again, this time right on the letter G. Everyone screams and starts panicking*

Sephiroth: Is that real enough for you?

Genesis: It's spelling something out!

Angeal: Shut up! Look!

*The planchette continues to move until it spells out GET OUT*

Genesis: YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE!

*He gets up and runs out the door screaming. Zack and Angeal follow him, also screaming. They leave Sephiroth alone at the table, snickering with his fingers still on the planchette*

Sephiroth: Suckers.

*He pulls out a jumbo bag of Halloween candy and starts eating*

[strayheartless]

lol thanks for entertaining all my witch poly posts. I told u I'd be obsessing over it

how often does the boys magic work? anyone whose "more powerful" than the other?

lol I made a joke earlier with my friend who I was obsessing the post over with. you wrote that Cloud cursed all their bullied and I was like "imagine he's sitting on the floor, voodoo dolls in hand and genesis'curse book and pouting"

HA! Omg yesssss. Cloud having a full lilo and stitch moment where Rude ad Rino comes to see Zack or Sephiroth or something and Rude finds Cloud on the floor with a jar full of spoons with sad faces on them and Clouds only explanation is “my friends need to be punished.”

But to answer your question. It’s a mixed answer. Technically speaking Genesis is the most skilled practitioner. They’ve been practicing this kind of magic for years (since they were 14 maybe) and study is Gens thing. They are not actually a vampire, they just looks like they should be so people assume theyve been practicing for way longer.

But in terms of who has more natural talent? Cloud. Cloud does things he can’t explain all the time and nine times out of ten his spells just kind of work by accident.

They all have their areas though:

For Sephiroth’s it’s physical magic, he uses his body as a conduit so things like yoga and meditation and manifestation are how he casts. He focuses on positive energy most of the time but Seph has learned his body is a powerful instrument and if you hurt his family he’s not afraid to ask the gods of war for their help.

For Angeal it’s cooking. He puts a lot of effort into mixtures and the right ingredients. Usually there are runes and things carved into gourds and pastry. If Angeal offers you food just… just be careful. He puts a lot of passion into his spells and if you choke on the first bite, stop eating.

For Genesis it’s charms and summoning. A lot of things speak to Genesis, and sometimes they don’t always want to hear it. They wear a lot of wards and make the others wear them too. Zacks constantly finding little warding scrolls in his clothes and when he asks about them Gen will say “somethings following you” which is fucking unnerving but Zacks learned Gen is more freaked out then he is a lot of the time.

For Cloud it’s pretty much anything but crystals and physical spells like spell bags and witch bottles are his go to. He tends to work closely with Angeal to grow things and with Gen to plan spells. He’s the newest as it but his sheer natural talent makes almost anything work. Problem with Cloud is he tends to forget to call the corners and cast circles so sometimes his work is a little too much. This has since been rectified by the others containing it.

Zack has a little magic of his own too. It’s called goth witch impulse control. And it works like a charm.

Gens about to set something on fire trying to banish things that bother them? Cheek pets and let them cry.

Angeals planning to poison someone? Gently holds his wrists and explains why that would be bad.

Sephs about to manifest a meteor to crush a work colleague that was rude to Zack? Brush his hair and explain why that’s called massive retaliation and it’s not actually relative to the size of the incident.

Clouds about to inflict terrible revenge on someone who was cruel to him? “Baby what happened? No no we don’t need to do that, put the herbs down just come and talk to me.”

Zack is… truely the most powerful in the house.

[isleofdarkness]

Black Magick chapter 6

In which Riah's anniversary is affecting, they learn a lot, and someone they don't know writes in the book.

Warnings for swearing, PTSD, mentions of unspecified childhood trauma

Are you all okay?

Ginny

Riah had puzzled over the question, somehow written in such a way that it sounded like a demand even through ink. The pain in his right hand, the one that had healed as a mess of broken bones but was still the more functioning of the two, had been better, so he’d been able to scrawl out;

We’re good.

Riah

If Mal wasn’t gone I would have her draw you a picture of how little we all believe you.

Uma

Slander. What changed while we were gone?

Riah

Yzla named the baby Hope. Seph brought us back a goat and a lot of seeds so Diego’s been working on building a greenhouse.

Uma

A greenhouse? Riah had no idea what it was. Apparently Diego didn’t either.

He saw it on the telly when he was six and he’s trying to recreate it. Think you can send a book on whatever the shit a greenhouse is?

Harriet

Nice to see that motherhood hadn’t tamed Harriet’s tongue one bit.

We can manage.

Riah

Cloth might be easier to get than bandages and a lot of the bandages won’t wash well. It might be better to get cloth.

Ginny

Hadie wants to know if you can remove his curses?

Uma

His curses? Riah’s brow wrinkled until it hit him- Hadie’s treasure. Children of Hades attracted valuable stuff, like the little gems they kept hidden in vases or the titanium used to make Riah’s cane. The problem was that the treasure Hadie pulled up was cursed. It would give anyone who wasn’t blood of Hades (or blessed by Hades, as Riah found out) extremely bad luck. But the curses were very simple, especially since they were on the Isle. Riah could probably do something about them.

Probably.

Riah

He wants to send you a jar of them next time so that you can use them to get money and buy stuff. Hades is worried about you lot getting in trouble for stealing.

Uma

They get in trouble for stealing over there?

Diego

Yep.

Riah

That’s fucked up, man. That place is weird.

Diego

It was, but Riah didn’t have enough time to tell Diego how else it was weird before Fairy Godmother was standing in front of him, towering over him. His heart stopped.

“Are you ready to rejoin tha class, Riannon?”

He was so scared that he didn’t even get angry about the name. After pulling his soul back into his body, Riah nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

Her eyes went down to what he was reading and his heart attempted escape through his throat, but she didn’t really look at it. Her gaze kept skirting around it until she huffed. He shut the book at quickly as demonly possible and she went back to the front of the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of his friends relax ever so slightly.

They had all lived on an Isle of violence and uncertainty for their entire lives, but that was the scariest thing they had ever dealt with.

“Someone hands you a crying baby,” Fairy Godmother started again, tapping her point on the board with every word. “Do you A, curse it? B, lock it in a tower? C, give it a bottle? Or D, carve out its heart?”

I give it to Shan Yu or Harriet Hook. Where the hell am I getting a bottle, let alone milk for a baby, on the Isle? Riah thought, trying very hard not to glare. Gods he hated this woman.

Evie was clearly thinking the same thing because she raised her hand. When Godmother called on her, she drawled “What was that second option?”

The sarcasm couldn’t have been more clear if it had taken physical form and danced around naked with a name tag, but Fairy Godmother didn’t seem to catch it. She gave a small sigh of disappointment. “Anyone else? Mal?”

Mal, who had been drawing what looked like Uma and avoiding the discussion, spared the board one glance before giving the answer they all knew Fairy Godmother wanted. “C, give it a bottle.”

“Correct.”

Hard to believe that this was the fae who’d been instrumental in the annihilation of most of the fae of old and a good portion of the other ones. Hard to believe she’d been the one to kill the leadership of the Neverfay and burn down the pixie dust tree, sending those who survived into the fay dark ages or whatever they called it. It was disappointing, really. He would think a genocide person wouldn’t at least wear that atrocious shade of pastel lavender- how did one even make lavender of all colors a pastel? Unbelievable.

“Now-” he was going to kill himself. He was legitimately considering stabbing his good leg just to get out of the hell he was in. Just a little bit of charmspeak- no, no charmspeaking Fairy Godmother. No matter how much he wanted to. “You find a vial of poison!”

I use it to get myself the fuck out of here. He thought, trying not to concuss himself against the table as she listed the options. Five hands shot up, his not included. So of course she called on him. “Riannon?”

“It’s Zachariah if you insist on using my full name,” he snapped, finally losing his cool. “And what do I do with it? E, none of the above, because I drink it just to get me out of this bullshit.”

“Profanity is not per-”

“Shut up!” He shot to his feet as the chalkboard cracked, the lights flickering and windows shaking in his rage. He vaguely recognized that this was an extreme overreaction, but shit. This was one of the worst months of his life at the worst time of a month that was, ever since he turned ten, a month where he was already going through the full shit. It was just a shitty day, nearly the anniversary, and he was about to lose it. He was already sick of her and they’d only been in class for an agonizing thirty minutes. 

She puffed her chest, giving him a look that could peel paint. “Excuse me?”

“I said shut up!” Jay was next to him- when had he even gotten out of his chair- and his hands landed on Riah’s shoulders.

Don’t touch me don’t touch me don’t touch me-

“Get away from me!” Either he was a lot stronger than he thought or Jay just wasn’t expecting him to be as strong as he was. Riah wrenched away from the concerned djinni. For a brief, panicked moment, he reached for a well of power he’d been forbidden from. The rune on his back burned, and Riah saw clearly.

If he didn’t leave, someone was going to die. So he left, spinning on his heel after grabbing his stuff and storming out.

The students threw themselves out of his way as he stalked down the halls, eyes black and skin so pale they could see his black veins. The lights flickered as he walked, making the shadows seem to reach for him. Maybe they were. He wouldn’t know.

Without even meaning to he found himself outside, his feet carrying him into the woods. Through the woods, across a bridge, and to… some sort of pond? With a weird little gazebo? And King Ben?

The sight of Ben was enough to shock him out of his haze. Oh- oh fuck. Maybe if he was really quiet-

“Oh! Riah?”

Nope.

“... Hi…” He waved awkwardly. Think think think panicked brain not working go on instinct- “How are you?”

Instincts bad.

Ben gave him a strange look, kind of like pity but… nicer? “I think the question is how are you doing? Are you okay? You look pretty upset.”

“I…” Why was his mouth so bent of embarrassing him? “Just a small issue- with a class. But I’m doing a lot better now and I’m gonna go so-”

“No,” Ben ordered. Riah froze and the boy king flushed. “Sorry. You don’t look like you’re doing that well. Do you want to sit? The water is pretty calming.”

And his feet, the traitors, carried him over to stand on the edge, next to Ben. The look he was giving Riah- it was sweet and fond and gentle and Riah did not like it. His face heated as he looked down at the water, so clear he could see the rocks at the bottom. “What’re you looking at?”

“Was I staring?” Ben chuckled awkwardly and oh gods, this was painful. He would take it over Remedial Goodness any day, though.

He hadn’t spent much time around Ben, but something about him made Riah feel… nice. Warm. Like there was a friendly campfire going in his chest, warming him from this inside. When he’d interacted with him before, he’d noted that Ben was a very physical person. He had a tendency to make physical contact, clapping him on the shoulder and stuff like that. And while he was being careful not to do it now, no doubt worried about freaking Riah out, they were close enough that Riah could feel the heat of him and that was nice, too. Part of him wanted to lean against Ben but he resisted. That wasn’t how things were done, he was sure, and he had horns. And it disappointed him that he couldn’t for… some reason?

He wasn’t angry anymore but he was confused. He didn’t understand the feeling he was getting or why he felt like it. It was weird.

“Are you tired?” Ben asked, ever considerate.

“Tired of Auradon,” Riah snarked before he could think. To his surprise, Ben laughed.

“That’s fair. Just give it some time. Change is always hard under the best of circumstances. I can’t even imagine how hard it is for all of you.” Ben gave him a smile that made something in Riah melt. “But seriously. You look exhausted.”

“Just what every guy wants to hear,” He drawled.

Ben wasn’t letting him get out of this. “The floor isn’t the best but it’s comfortable enough. Sit down for a bit. I can get you out of classes for as long as you need. Do you mind telling me what happened?”

The rune of his back was still burning as Ben basically psychologically wrestled Riah to sit, never touching him but somehow making him sit anyway. Riah wanted to get away from this weird place and the weird magick he could sense, but he couldn’t. He’d used too much in his little tantrum and even more trying to contain it. He was exhausted. So he sat. “I’m sure you’ll hear all about it at the expulsion hearing.”

Was that a thing they would do? Ben didn’t seem to think so. “I doubt such measures will be taken, so I would like to hear it from you.”

How could he be so calm? Even Seph would have gotten snappy with him by now and she was an angel. Riah groaned. “I blew up at Fairy Godmother and her utter bullshit, lost my temper, broke the chalkboard, windows, and lights with my magic, told her to shut up twice, cursed at her, almost killed Jay, left class without being dismissed, and stalked through the halls like a goddamn nightmare instead of dealing with my problems like a mature person. I’m getting expelled.”

Ben shook his head. “No, you aren’t. At least it isn’t likely. Can you tell me more about what led up to your reaction?”

“What are you, a therapist?” Ben gave him a patient look and how could this guy be so convincing without saying anything? Riah groaned again for good measure but fessed up. “She was doing her Remedial Goodness bullshit, which is just answering the questions the way she wants you too, called me Riannon instead of Riah or Zachariah because she thinks my name is Riannon for some reason, and I just snapped.” He snapped his fingers emphatically.

The boy king gave him an understanding nod. “So you got angry at her. You told her to shut up?”

“Actually, I told her to call me Zachariah if she wouldn’t call me Riah, then said I would drink the bottle of poison to get myself out of her class. She got on me for swearing and then I interrupted her and told her to shut up.”

Ben considered for a second. “Do you feel that Remedial Goodness is helping you at all?”

“No,” Riah scoffed, leaning his head back. The position was surprisingly comfortable. Who knew that sitting on the ground and leaning on a pillar could feel good? “It’s not about teaching us anything other than answering how she wants us to answer. We all know what she wants us to say and even if we didn’t, we would still choose the right answers because we aren’t monsters. Well, we are, but the stuff she thinks we’d do is beyond pale even by Isle standards. We don’t kill babies, we turn poison over, we don’t torture innocent people. Those on the Isle who do, we hate them. She should have given us some goodness test or some shit.”

After a moment of consideration, Ben nodded again. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“What.” He had been joking. That was a joke.

“A test for goodness. Something like the standardized testing for math or English. I won’t be able to get the class removed entirely but I might be able to shift the curriculum to suit what you actually need,” Ben gave him an encouraging smile. “Yeah, I think it’s a great idea. I’ll talk to you all later about how you think I should go about it. Thank you.”

What? He had shown up halfway to a panic attack, practically in a demonic form, interrupted whatever Ben was doing, confessed to performing illegal magick and disrespecting Fairy Godmother, criticized the school, and Ben was thanking him? “You’re weird.”

Ben laughed. “I can live with that.”

“You just became weirder. Why are you even here?”

Relaxing to lean against one of the pillars, Ben shrugged. “Same reason as you. I come here when I’m stressed out- I didn’t think anyone else knew about it.”

Oh. Oh no. He’d ruined this place for Ben. Ben was being so unreasonably nice to him and this was how he repaid him. By ruining the place he went to calm down. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t mind.” He sounded so genuine. Riah was usually skeptical at best, but he couldn’t help but buy what Ben was telling him. “I think someone else should know about this place. It’s a very special place.”

“The magic?” Riah asked. Ben nodded. “What kind of magic is it? I can’t quite place it.”

“It’s Endless.” Riah’s head turned so fast her nearly broke a horn. “Older than my father’s monarchy. Adam Constantine told me that before Delight became Delirium, she made a lot of places like this, magical places. The only known one is Neverland- I haven’t told anyone I found this. It’s very hard to find if you haven’t been here before and I think she made it that way for a reason.” Ben seemed to realize something and gave Riah a curious look. “How did you find this place?”

He couldn’t answer that. If he told Ben that part of his heritage he would be sent back to the Isle for sure. “How did you find it?”

“John Constantine made a charm to locate places like these before he disappeared. His son Adam gave it to me a while back- I think he wanted to encourage some rebellion. But the charm only worked once, to bring me to this place.”

John Constantine. He made a mental note to look up that name later. If this John Constantine could make a tool to find something hidden by an Endless, what else would he be able to make? What else could already be made? And if Constantine was alive, Riah could find him. If he wasn’t, he could get Nico to find him. This John Constantine might be useful.

“But you didn’t answer my question. How did you know to come here?”

He wasn’t getting out of it. “I don’t know.” It wasn’t technically a lie- he definitely wasn’t the grandchild of Delight and he had no idea if the one he was related to could find the magic of the others. It just wasn’t giving away all of the information. “Must be a grandchild of Hecate thing. You know, goddess of using magic. I guess I must have sensed it here and just followed without thinking about it.” That could also be true. Maybe it was Hecate’s fault. More likely, considering his luck, that it was the whole blood-of-an-Endless thing.

All else failed, he would say the blood was from Death or Destruction. Hell, he’d even go for the closest to the truth, Despair. Just not the real one. No one would ever trust him again if they knew the real one. Which was why he couldn’t charmspeak Fairy Godmother.

“I wonder…” Ben muttered, seeming to realize something. He looked at the water. “Riah, take your boots off and put your feet in the water like I am.”

Riah gave him a look. What? “Why?”

“The water in enchanted to remove spells. I wonder if it could remove your curse.”

Oh.

Oh shit.

He tried not to hope but got out of his boots as quickly as possible, taking off his socks and rolling up his jeans. He nearly fell of the platform for how quickly he shoved his bare feet into the water, and oh.

The water was pleasantly warm and silky, feeling more like a soft oil than the tides Riah knew from home. The warmth of it filled him, traveling through his veins and fixing everything it found. His misshapen bones stopped aching, his exhaustion faded, and most importantly, his curse relented. For the first time in his life, his lungs expanded and stopped not because of the curse, but because they couldn’t fill themselves anymore.

“Holy shit.” His amulet pulsed and he felt another surge of magic wrapping around his lungs, this one like armor instead of a noose. The curse was still there, he could still feel it writhing in displeasure, but he could breathe.

He could breathe.

“Holy shit,” he repeated. Ben’s head tilted, a soft expression on his face. Riah’s face heated and he turned away. “What?”

“The waters like you-” What the absolute fuck did that mean? “And I think they’re right to.”

Ben wasn’t usually one to just blurt things out. For some reason, that changed when he was around Riah.

Riah was gorgeous, anyone could see. A mop of soft, black, shaggy corkscrew curls, skin as white as the moon, soft jawline, glittering ruby eyes framed by thick lashes, and his soft, thin, pale lips. It was hard to keep his gaze from flitting to those lips. The more Ben looked at him, the more small things he noticed- Riah’s ears were pointed just a little bit, less than even Neverfay ears. He had freckles, faint and just barely visible, splattering across his nose. There were small scars on his face- one right at the end of his eyebrow, one across his bottom lip, one down his nose, and one almost hidden in his hairline. Small things, probably what most would consider imperfections, but Ben loved them. They made him more beautiful.

But back to the matter at hand- Riah somehow managed to remove the pieces between mind and mouth. This was why Ben had played middle man to tell Riah that the sentient waters liked him, and why he had openly supported their decision. And this way why Riah was looking at him like he’d just said the most baffling thing ever. He guessed he had.

“Oh-” He stuttered, trying to salvage the situation, “What I meant was-”

Riah started laughing. Not one note of malice, just laughing. Laughing as though he’d just heard the best news ever.

Ben hadn’t even known one could love the sound of another person laughing. But he did.

“You are so weird,” Riah cackled, enunciating every syllable. “Gods, I love that. You, sir, are awesome.”

Anxiety vanishing, Ben gave Riah his best smile. “So are you.”

“Joshua, this is Jasmine.”

“Jas? I get the feeling this isn’t a social call.”

“It isn’t. After school Jabari is going to bring you to my palace, I’m calling an emergency meeting. Spread the word to the others, it’s about those children.”

“What happened?”

“If I say it, I’m going off. Some new information has come to light, very disturbing information, and we need to discuss it as soon as possible.”

“Got it, I’ll spread the word.”

“Tell everyone to watch out for those children. What I just found out… Make sure they’re okay. We’ll speak more later.”

“Ben says Riah’s okay,” Jane met them the second they left, just before they tore outside to look for him. It had taken every ounce of charm Mal, Evie, and Jay had to keep Godmother from going on a warpath long enough for Mal to spell her. Everything was fixed, Godmother would only remember Riah leaving peacefully without answering the question. If Mal wasn’t so damn worried, she would have been fuming. They’d only been in the school for one day and Riah’s dumbass was already swearing at the headmistress.

She was going to murder him. “Where are they?”

“Ben said-” Jane paused, blinking, then corrected herself, “Well, Riah’s right behind you.”

Of course he is. Mal spun on her heel to face the idiot who had appeared behind them, ready to either slug him or comfort him, but he shoved a notebook into her arms before she could say anything. “We don’t have much time, Deenie and I have nursing. I just found out a shit ton of shit I wrote it all down I think we can use it we’ll all talk during lunch.” He pulled a crystal out of his bag and pushed it into her hand. “Make a wish you’ll see what I mean this is huge gotta go.”

Without any explanation he rushed past them, moving very fast for a guy on a cane. Mal blinked and turned again. “Get back here!”

There was a flash of magic, a kind she couldn’t identify, and Riah was back in front of her as though he had teleported. He groaned. “You had one wish and you used it on that.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Mal snapped, talking about everything he had done in the past hour. Riah gave her an annoyed look and that just pissed her off even more. What right did he have to be annoyed?

“Well, Mal, if I had a week I could maybe start to answer that. Alas, I have only one minute, so I’ll be brief- a lot.” His humor died and he glanced back at Jane, who was staring at them. “Too much company right now. Read what I wrote-” the warning bell chimed, making them flinch (it sounded way too much like the Twisted Neverfay, to the point Mal glanced around to spot the little monsters before they could spot her,) and Riah’s hand tightened on his cane. “This is major, believe me. We have to go.”

“So do the rest of you,” Jane insisted, staring at the crystal with wide eyes. “You’ll all have sex ed together after this and history after that.”

So they wouldn’t have to wait until lunch. Mal nodded and her crew dispersed, each moving to their respective classes.

Usually Mal loved geology (maybe it was a fae thing, maybe it was an ADHD thing, she had no clue,) but she couldn’t pay attention as the class broke into groups to begin identifying if sample rocks were igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic. Riah was right when he’d said it was major.

The Endless. Seven beings of unimaginable power, power over even the strongest of titans. Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, Destruction, and Delirium. Delight. The creator of Neverland, of gods knew how many other places one could only access if they knew where they were going. Places that could be used as bases, as places to hide stuff, as places to practice magic. Wishing stones, water to remove enchantments, trees from which powerful magical tools could be crafted. If they could find another one…

John Constantine. Carlos had fixed up their new laptops- courtesy of some Mister Whitmore- to not use school wifi and bypass all blocks, but it was still hard to find anything on John Constantine until she went onto the Monster Net. The stuff he did, the stuff he was capable of… If they could have this guy as an ally, they could do anything.

Both of those opened up doors to new magic, according to Riah. Full-on magick-with-a-k. Sigils, components, spells, beings with more power than even elder fae like her mother. Magick that couldn’t be tracked, like the kind he’d been using. Magick on the Isle, maybe. Magick in ways Auradonians weren’t creative enough to fathom.

The level of what they could do…

She could barely believe it.

“Now,” Snow White called, “Can anyone tell me the secret to managing a successful kingdom?” Evie’s hand shot up and Snow grinned. She already loved having her younger sister in her class. “Evie?”

“The key to running a successful kingdom is keeping your subjects happy while managing foreign relations.”

“Correct again,” she said. So far, Evie had gotten every question right. The other students seemed happy to let her carry the lesson. “Now, who can tell me how you keep your subjects happy?” Evie’s hand went up. “Yes, dear?”

Evie was beaming. “A leader has to work in the best interest of their citizens and the citizens have to be able to trust that their leader will. This is done by communicating and listening.”

“There we go.” She turned to the entire class. “You have to listen to your subjects, for they outnumber you. Does anyone know what consent of the governed means?” Evie again. “Evie?”

“It means that a government is only legitimate if it has the support of the citizens,” Evie recited. “The people surrender some rights and freedoms for the guarantee that their government will protect them and their civil liberties. If the government doesn’t protect them by not working in their best interest, the social contract is broken and the people have every right to revolt and regain what they surrendered.”

“Right again,” Snow praised, making Evie’s smile even brighter.

Maybe Auradon didn’t have the imagination to guess what she was thinking, maybe they didn’t know how horribly the social contract had been broken, but Evie was smiling for more reasons than met the eye. Her mother’s lessons had covered this and this class confirmed it- when the social contract was broken, citizens had the right to revolt.

The social contract had been broken. The Isle had the right to revolt.

Most of the cars in the school’s shop were client work. Audrey pointed out which one belonged to which person, pointing to almost all of them. All except one.

In the corner of the room, on top of a frame machine that had so much rust it couldn’t possibly work, sat an old junker van. The paint was faded, worn through in some places, there were so many dents he couldn’t count them, rust on almost every panel, and some of the panels were even missing. But the frame looked intact, he’d fixed up worse-

“Audrey?” She’d instructed them to call her by her first name, something most of the Auradon kids refused to do but he had no problem with. “What about that car?”

She followed his gaze to the junker and shrugged. “It was here before me and no one ever asks about it, I assume it’s just scrap.”

If no one wanted it… “What if someone fixed it up?”

She shrugged, giving him a look as if she knew what he was hoping. “I suppose who ever managed that would get to keep it. Seems fair, si?”

Basically, if he was willing to put in effort, he could get them a car. Not just a car, a van. Excitement welled up in his chest. “Fair. I’ll see if I’m up to it.”

Part of Neverland had been used to make the Isle, Riah knew that now. That was how the Twisted Neverfay existed, how the shadows of Pan and his Lost Boys called out to the children at night, why there could be so much in the woods but no one dared approach them. He’d never known until Ben had said it, but it explained so much and opened up so many doors. If part of Neverland was used to make the Isle, what else was there?

There was Devil’s Bayou somewhere no one knew, probably in the woods. Maleficent’s realm, according to Uma, had been made into Doomed. Chernabog’s mountain, but no one had the balls to get close. There must have been more, so much more- had they been sitting on top of a goldmine without knowing it?

As he listened to Sweet and Claudine took notes, he wrote to Uma and Harriet for other places. Ursula’s cavern, Salazan Grum, the Elephant Graveyard must have been hidden somewhere, there were so many that must have been hidden somewhere. So much magic none of them had noticed. How had none of them noticed it?

Probably no one had thought Auradon would be that stupid.

They all knew there was magic on the Isle. Magic inside of them that none of them could release, sure, but there were places where it snuck through for them. The ocean, giving the cecaelias and mermaids magic. The shadows, bending to the will of the Facilier sisters and, once he grew into his power, creating doorways for Hadie. Words still held weights, debts. The moon and stars, filling Ginny Gothel with strength and telling Reza secrets that saved lives. The life in even those without magic, a magic that could never be stolen from anything for as long as it lived. Hell, Hades fucking Olympian lived (un-died?) there. They all knew there was magic on the Isle. Most just didn’t know there might be a lot they could use.

He was talking himself in circles. The point was, he thought, that Auradon’s no-magic barrier wasn’t effective in the first place, and now he knew that there might be enough magic hidden on the Isle to overpower it. King Beast had really been that stupid.

He barely even noticed the time passing. It felt like it was only seconds before the bell (gods, he was going to curse that fucking bell) trilled. He and Claudine stayed in their seats, having sex ed in the same room, and he noticed Doctor Sweet making his way over to them, but everything else in the world disappeared when he looked down at the book. In an unfamiliar, spidery calligraphy, someone had added something.

The Dark Kingdom.

The fucking what?

Riah

No response.

Who the fuck wrote that?

Riah

No response.

Hello?

Riah

Finally, someone answered.

Narcissa went into labor and we had to leave the room. All of us left. I don’t know who wrote that.

Uma

Claudine reached over and flipped the book to a random page just as Sweet stepped up to the table. He gave them a kind smile. “Riah, Claudine. How are you two doing?”

“As well as can be expected, sir.” He quite liked Doctor Sweet and even if he didn’t, he would rather have the man as an ally than an enemy. No matter how bad the anniversary was effecting, he was going to be nice to Sweet. 

Sweet chuckled. “There’s no need to call me ‘sir,” you know.”

“I don’t want to offend.” Adults could be weird like that. They wanted to be called sir or ma’am for whatever reason and they got angry if they weren’t.

“You wouldn’t,” Sweet reassured. “I’ve been called far worse things than my name.” Claudine winced in sympathy. “Are you two understanding the material?”

“Yes,” Claudine said, smiling ever so slightly. “You do a wonderful job of explaining it.”

“That’s great.” It felt like he was x-raying them with his eyes. Riah resisted the urge to squirm. Why the analysis? “I just want to make sure you two know that you can always come to me. All of you can. If you need help with class, or food, supplies, books, whatever, feel free to ask. No matter what, okay?”

“Okay.” Claudine sounded a lot less confused than Riah felt.

“And stick with the black shelf.”

What? Claudine gave him a confused look and turned back to ask Sweet what that meant, but the doctor was already walking away. Riah blinked, equally mystified, then shook it off and turned back to the page.

Only to find the key Sweet used to open the closet tucked between the pages.

Evie had plenty of news on some “social contract” and “consent of the governed,” which she was definitely going to have to explain to them later. Jay had gotten the name of a rock shop- the place where the geology teacher got all the fancy rocks and gems- and learned that they would also buy stuff. Mal’s head ached from all of the stuff she’d learned about this whole magick-with-a-k thing. Carlos was fixed to get them a car. Claudine had three pages of notes on medical shit that Ginny Gothel could use to save lives. Riah had information on the Isle and the actual key to the medicine closet, apparently given to him by Doctor Sweet.

In short, they all had a shit ton to talk about.

Claudine and Evie alternated taking notes as the six passed a notebook back and forth, writing everything they had learned and the progress they had made. Mal wasn’t even that pissed at Riah anymore, not with the goldmine he’d found. Her crew had done so well. They were never going to hear the end of this once she finally got to praise all of them about it.

So much was going right, despite a few small setbacks. Realizing that made anxiety twist in Mal’s gut.

With all of this going so well, the other shoe was going to be heavy. When it dropped, it was going to kill someone.

And she didn’t know when it was going to drop.

[sunsetsnz]

reassurance

summary: seph is having a hard time with the flu, and jonathan is there to console him through a particularly rough moment.

notes: sfw, some swearing. there isn’t actually much snz in this (technically two?) but there is plenty of illness/whump/comfort if you’re into that <3

-----------

Seph reaches for his water bottle in its usual place on the nightstand to attempt a sip. He winces. The cool water is momentarily soothing, but with his inflamed throat and swollen lymph nodes, swallowing is torture.

He's curled up in a miserable ball of infection in his own bed, head pounding with dull congestion, stuffed up to hell and back, shivers and aches running through him like tremors before an earthquake. He hasn't had the flu in quite a few years, and it's hitting him like a fucking train.

The arm nestled around his shoulders belongs to one Jonathan Dempsey, who’s watching this with quiet concern and trying his best to be subtle about it. His slightly bushy brows furrow when Seph swallows and whimpers, visibly in pain. His free hand reaches up to tuck a stray braid behind Seph's ear.

“I'm sorry, I know it hurts…”

Seph’s heart sinks in his chest. He feels so utterly pathetic right now he could cry, but he doesn’t want to look ridiculous in front of Jonathan.

“It’s dot your fault,” he croaks. Fuck, talking really hurts too.

They've been trying to watch a shared comfort movie in bed with the lights dimmed, at Seph's request, because anything bright physically hurts. Except it's not helping much tonight…nothing seems to be. His head is swimming too much to concentrate, he's shivering and sweating and nothing feels comfortable no matter what position he's in. He just feels…absolutely wretched and useless.

“I know,” Jonathan murmurs. “I just wish I could do more for you.”

With a weak sigh, Seph buries his aching face in his boyfriend’s fisherman sweater. It’s about the only thing bringing him any kind of comfort right now. Jonathan hugs him to his chest, rubbing his nose on the fuzzy sections of hair where each twist braid begins.

Seph loves having such a human pillow for a boyfriend, always wearing soft clothes and down to cuddle…but being touched and held in this state is reminding him just how gross and repulsive he looks and feels. It’s not the first time Jonathan has seen Seph ill, but he’s never been this bad in front of him before.

The irony of all this is not lost on Seph, either. He’s fully aware of how stupid these feelings are, considering his own kink, and how into Jonathan’s sneezes, allergies and colds he always is. It’s certainly never put him off. But he still can’t help the way he feels about himself, and it makes him feel even more pathetic.

The truth is that he honestly doesn't really want anyone to see or perceive him like this…even Jonathan. Especially Jonathan.

Yet here he is, lying in his partner's arms, snotting and breathing his contagiousness all over him. Shame and disgust begin to bubble up inside him as he thinks about how disgusted by him Jonathan probably is right now.

He starts to pull away from the embrace, and is met with a perplexed look.

“What's wrong?”

“I—” Seph's voice catches dangerously. Wearily he closes his eyes, knowing he has no strength to keep his emotions at bay right now but still trying to fight it anyway. “I just—”

Sitting up further, Jonathan nods for him to go on.

“I feel disgustig,” he eventually chokes out, hot tears pricking his eyes.

Jonathan looks confused again for a fraction of a second. When he realises that Seph means it literally, his face falls. “Wait, what?” He reaches out, touching Seph's knee. “You’re not! Oh, Seph, of course you're not.”

Humiliated by his own vulnerability, Seph turns away from him. “I'b sorry. You shouldd't even be anywhere near be right now...”

“Please don’t say that.”

“Sittig here, breathig all over you…it's gross. I'll make you sick, too.”

Shaking his head, Jonathan frowns. “You know I don't care about that.”

Back still turned, Seph's shoulders slump, voice cracking as the first of a stream of tears spills over and escapes down his cheek. “Well I do.”

Jonathan's entire being softens. Taking a second to pause the movie, he turns his full attention back to him with gentle determination. “Babe, look at me.”

For a moment, the only response he gets is a sniffle.

“Please…”

Wiping his eyes, Seph reluctantly half-turns his body to face him again. His warm brown skin tone is almost ashen, nose running helplessly, teardrops clinging to his eyelashes. He looks so miserable, it's breaking Jonathan's heart.

“You are not disgusting, Seph. Not at all,” Jonathan urges softly, cupping his damp cheek in his palm and brushing away a stray tear with his thumb. “I don't think that, and I'm not letting you believe that either, not for one second. If you don't want me to touch you, that's completely okay, but if it's because you think I'm grossed out, then you're astronomically wrong.”

Seph briefly meets his eyes, a shaky breath escaping his parted lips. “You're dot just sayig that?”

“I'm not.” Leaning in, Jonathan presses their foreheads together, their noses, their lips. “I love you, no matter what condition you're in.”

This seems to be exactly what Seph needed to hear, because his eyes flutter closed with an exhausted sigh. Wordlessly his fingers wrap around Jonathan's wrist, another tear streaking down his cheek.

Jonathan smiles gently, closing his eyes with him. “It's okay to be sick, y'know. It's okay to feel shitty. You're not superhuman, and nobody expects you to be. Least of all me.” He presses a kiss to Seph's burning forehead, murmuring against his skin. “You helped me feel less embarrassed and gross about the things that are out of my control — I'm gonna do the same for you.”

Seph simply nods, letting Jonathan hold him while he calms down, which is answer enough for Jonathan.

As emotions begin to wind down, he reaches for the handkerchief that lives in his pocket and dutifully dabs at his lover's tear-stained face and leaking nostrils. The motion seems to stir up Seph’s oversensitive nose, though, because his breath starts to hitch.

“Heh—heh—!”

Quickly Jonathan clamps the handkerchief over the twitching nose before him, right as Seph explodes into a messy double sneeze.

“—yyISSHUHH! T’ISSCHH-uhhh…”

Jonathan cringes as Seph clutches at his throat in pain once more, shuddering and sighing. Gently he mops his nose for him a second time. “There you go.”

Finally, after allowing himself back into Jonathan's arms and having pressed play on the movie once again, Seph finds his words.

“Sorry for beig such a mess,” he muffles, curling against his chest. Breaking down like that was embarrassing…but he can work on being more okay with that, after he recovers from this nasty flu. Despite the humiliation, it did feel good to let it out to Jonathan and to feel so safe and comforted in return. If it had to happen in front of anyone, he's really glad it was him.

A soft hum comes from atop his head, where Jonathan's chin rests gently. “No more apologising, okay?”

For the first time tonight, Seph's mouth quirks up into the tiniest of smiles. “Okay.”

“Good.” He can't see Jonathan's expression, but he can hear the smile in his voice too. “And no more talking for a while. I can hear how much it hurts to talk, so…rest your throat, love.”

Nodding against his chest, Seph murmurs sleepily in agreement.

“One last thig,” he whispers, reaching up to grasp Jonathan's hand in his own.

“Mm?”

There are many words floating around Seph’s tired mind, all of the sentiments he wishes he could adequately express sitting on the tip of his tongue: Thank you. I'm sorry. I don't deserve you. But he settles on the most important one, the only one that truly encompasses everything he wants to tell him.

“…I really love you.”

He feels Jonathan pull back just a little, and looks up to see that half-grin of his that feels like a patch of warm sunshine all on its own. It's not going to cure him tonight, but it sure isn't hurting.

“I love you too. And I'm not going anywhere.”