#floofcanons

[prismaticpichu]

As gentle as Sephiroth is capable of being, I still think that my man would look… mortifying when sopping wet. To the point where people actively run away upon catching sight of the 7ft-tall soggy waffle and the oily glint to his waterlogged coat as he squelches down the SOLDIER floor, a slippery river ribboning behind him with every wade he takes. Distracted cadets would slip on his trail; SOLDIERs would mistake him for a possessed swamp creature before recognizing the shimmering SOLDIER belt around the First’s waist. And Sephiroth himself would remain utterly silent, focused, as he clomps through headquarters and makes his way to the elevator, vanishing like vapor into the labyrinth of stories overhead.

…whereupon Angeal, Genesis, & Zack blow-dry his hair and let him dry off in peace <3

[prismaticpichu]

Sephiroth, except he inadvertently stumbles across a venomous letter that Zack composed but never wound up delivering. A letter that’s directed to him, no less, and details how Zack never wanted to speak to him again. Or see him. Or even hear his name uttered from any other SOLDIER, because they didn’t know how laughably wrong they all were about Sephiroth’s status as a hero.

And it’s here that Sephiroth pieces together when exactly this letter was written:

The night of Angeal’s funeral, wherein he and Zack got into a violent fight over the circumstances of their mutual friend’s death. When Zack slammed him against a wall and tearfully screamed that Sephiroth was a vile, cowardly traitor. When he screamed with all his raspy might that he hated Sephiroth, and that he always would. When Sephiroth lost control and struck Zack so hard that the young First he vowed Angeal he would do anything to protect crumbled to the floor and didn’t get up. When he screamed at the crumpled, heartbroken SOLDIER that he took his best friend away from him, and that Zack should never touch the Buster Sword again had he had any respect for the mentor he never deserved to have to begin with.

When Zack peeled his injured face off the ground, glared at him, and choked through bloody lips that he wished Sephiroth was the one he had to kill.

“…Seph? Bud? Everything okay?”

Snap back to the present, and Sephiroth is still standing there. In Zack ‘s room. Wherein a simple favor to grab a PHS charger from his best friend’s nightstand drawer took far longer than it should have, alerting Zack that something was amiss.

And his face blanches upon seeing the crumpled, blood-spattered letter in Sephiroth’s hands.

“Oh my god… I still?…. Shit… Seph, I… I didn’t even realize that was still… Gods, that’s from so long ago, I don’t even—“

Yet, rather than letting Zack plunge into the same trench of guilt and horror, Sephiroth interrupts his friend before he can fall too far.

Not with words.

Not with force.

Not even with a familiar, anchoring hand on his shoulder.

“…Seph?”

Instead, as he envelopes Zack in his arms, Sephiroth simply stops the plummet by pulling his mortified friend close, drawing him against his chest. As does the letter remain clutched in gentle hands as Sephiroth rests his chin atop Zack’s head, closes his eyes, and simply cherishes the connection they have now: healthy, inextinguishable, fire-forged. Like a phoenix risen from the blaze that’d threatened to destroy everything that once stood before it, and one whose wings would now burn in even the most torrential of rain.

“…It’s all right,” Sephiroth murmurs, and balances out the force when Zack’s arms wrap around him in turn. “…It’s all right now.”

Tangible proof that not every friendship had to end in rot.

[prismaticpichu]

AGS are chilling at Costa Del Sol when a beautiful shell washes ashore. Genesis rushes to claim it, thrilled to have such an exquisite addition to his seashell collection. As Angeal coughs up the sand Genesis kicked up, Sephiroth glances up from the hole he’d been digging to study his friend’s findings. He agrees that it’s quite the wonderful find, then asks if he may hold it; Genesis, too elated to even consider being selfish, happily hands the shell over.

As soon as it touches Sephiroth’s palms, however, the shell twitches—and out pops a little hermit crab, its beady eyes blinking at Sephiroth with all the awe and curiosity of a baby bird meeting its mother for the very first time.

And, much like the mother of a newly hatched chick, Sephiroth falls in love.

Instantly.

Every time Genesis or Angeal try to hold the crab, it retreats into its shell: shy, frightened, unfamiliar. And only comes out once it’s back in Sephiroth’s hands, its spidery legs dancing happily on the leather terrain, extroverted as can be.

The two play for the rest of the vacation.

And while Sephiroth has to eventually say goodbye, knowing good and well that ShinRa HQ is no place for a little crab with an entire ocean to explore, his new friend makes sure Sephiroth left with a memento of their bond:

Its beautiful, beloved shell.

Sephiroth brings it to his office. Angeal helps him clean it. Genesis gets to admire his friend’s treasure every day thereafter.

[prismaticpichu]

platonic SZC is peak <3

Zack gets to be both a role model and looked after by Sephiroth; Cloud gets to be both a trainee to Sephiroth and Zack; Sephiroth gets to be adored by two little brothers; Cloud is loved for who he is and not for his rank in SOLDIER; Zack & Sephiroth get to tell Cloud this 24/7, to which Zack randomly switches courts and teams up with Cloud in showering Sephiroth with heaps of love and affection; then, in retaliation, Sephiroth teams up with Cloud to smother Zack under boatloads of love and hair ruffles and appreciation~!

Just good feels all around. I love them sm 💚💙💛

[prismaticpichu]

Zack, except he’s cupping Sephiroth’s face, holding him steady. A thin drizzle of tears trickling down his cheeks as he presses their foreheads together and murmurs that he’s not going to let him go, that everything’s going to be all right. Murmuring for the both of them.

[prismaticpichu]

Sephiroth, with his astronomically acute senses, being able to detect thunderstorms long before they happen, as well as the painful drops in pressure and deafening thunderclaps.

Angeal, Genesis, & Zack just find him huddled in the bathtub.

[prismaticpichu]

Sephiroth, except he notices that Zack no longer packs his cherished plushie with him whenever Zack sleeps over. He decides to gently press his friend on the matter; initially hesitant, Zack eventually discloses his qualms about growing up too slowly. That he wants to take the puppy wheels off and be taken seriously as a Gaiaforsaken adult. Sephiroth considers all of this, listening intently to his best friend, before asking Zack if he can show him something. Despite being confused by this cryptic response, Zack easily agrees—and watches as Sephiroth eases himself up from the sofa, makes his way to the kitchen, ferrets around in the cabinets, and returns to Zack thirty or some seconds later with a small, worn, but love-laden cloth. A confused Zack gently asks What Is It, already sensing that the cloth holds an almost sacred significance, to which Sephiroth reveals that he’s had this cloth since he was 3 years old, and that a late Professor who used to work in the labs had given it go him as a child. Tightening his hold on the cloth, Sephiroth brings it close to his chest, sighs, and lets his eyes momentarily flutter shut. As they reopen, a quietly smiling Sephiroth asks if this makes him any less of an adult, to which Zack returns a heartfelt chuckle and asks if he can go snag something from his quarters. Sephiroth says he’ll have a movie ready by the time he gets back zᶻ ૮˶- ﻌ -˶ა⌒)ᦱ

[prismaticpichu]

Just need Zack & Sephiroth to be nestled up together, a warm blanket sheathing them both and the soft glow of the TV puddling on their faces as Zack shares with his cherished friend an old Gongagan phrase that expresses everlasting love, friendship, and probably has to do with metaphorical snakes or mushrooms.