#fvii remake

[mmhue]

[richieee707]

Puppy sketches ✨️ 💕

[dispadaperisce]

Rebirth Cloud Strife is Sephiroth software running on Zack Fair hardware.

Sephiroth: Zack's POV

Sad wet cat. Exhausted, frustrated. Will cry Right Now if you raise your voice. Hasn't been eating or sleeping. Wants his mommy, his friends, and a blanket. Needs to be adopted.

Zack was face-to-face with Sephiroth through much of this to see and remember this.

Sephiroth: Cloud's POV

Pretty smile. Soft-spoken. Chatty with lots of little jokes. Patient and willing to instruct. Protective and ready to step in. Kind and almost sweet. Self-insert fanfic love interest.

Cloud was ALSO face-to-face with Sephiroth through much of this to see and remember it.

In fact, I think the only part of the Nibelheim flashback up to the point of reaching the reactor that Cloud didn't experience firsthand was the Materia Guardian fight (last image) because he took Tifa and ran out of the cave. So yeah, he absolutely made that Herbal Essences commercial shit up in his head based on what Zack told him later.

Cloud's Memory of Nibelheim

Cloud is an unreliable narrator, yes, but only because he's inserted himself into Zack's place in his memory. He was still there for all this, though, he still witnessed it, he was just a trooper instead of a SOLDIER.

But also, in recounting this flashback which we see from Cloud's POV, he unabashedly admits to looking at Sephiroth like this:

Cloud states at the beginning of the flashback he was 16 at this time, so yeah, that is the face of a boy who has just developed the biggest crush on his hero...who has not only turned out to be everything he thought he was, but MORE.

Cloud knew Sephiroth was a badass and the hero of the Wutai war, and maybe he's heard a few things from Zack that "Seph is pretty cool," but the Nibelheim mission is the first time Cloud sees Sephiroth in action personally.

And Cloud's whole flashback focuses on Sephiroth's jokes, smiles, and conversation. There are a few points where of course he talks about how Sephiroth took down fiends, but even those focus strongly on the things he says to Zack during or after the fights.

And there's one scene Cloud talks about that takes a few minutes of the flashback but has nothing to do with mako or fiends:

As they cross a bridge over a ravine and the rain starts, the bridge breaks. Everyone hangs on for dear life (including Zack and Cloud), and there's a moment where the scene focuses in on Sephiroth as he takes stock of the situation. He sees that the bridge will give, and is the first one to let go, presumably so he can hit the water first and be ready for the others when they fall.

Which he is. One of the funniest parts of this scene (even though it's played serious) is that he falls into like five feet of FLASH FLOOD water and just stands up like it's fucking nothing. And I know it's meant to convey that this man is literally B u i l t D i f f e r e n t but people are flailing and screaming and he's just Superman standing in the middle of it.

Anyway, this is Sephiroth's face when he tries and fails to save the other trooper in the flash flood. Screenshots don't do it justice because the expression does shift a little into horror as he realizes this man under his watch is probably going to die because he failed to save him.

The scene cuts to two hours later, and we see Zack, Trooper!Cloud, and Tifa sitting on dry land waiting. Sephiroth finally returns.

He doesn't come from a path. There's no visible walkway over there, though there may be one around the bend. He comes from the water, from the direction where the trooper washed away, and when everyone looks at him expectantly, he gives a sad shake of his head and says "He's in fate's hands now."

This wasn't a necessary to explain what happened in Nibelheim. It could have been glossed over with a "we lost one of our number along the way," but it not only goes into detail about how the trooper was lost, but Sephiroth's actions during and following the incident.

Death of a Hero

Cloud is 16. He's just met his lifelong hero, who turns out to really be everything he dreamed he would be.

Cloud has no father, no brothers, and by all accounts he's not well-liked in Nibelheim. His mother does her best, but she's obviously struggling as well. I would argue that once Zack comes along, Cloud develops a pretty big crush on him, but even ignoring that, Zack is probably the second purely positive masculine influence in Cloud's life.

The first is Sephiroth, who Cloud idolized long before meeting Zack, but who crystalized Cloud's idealization by turning out to be exactly what Cloud hoped he'd be.

And then in the span of a week...it's gone.

Sephiroth is probably around 22 or 23 at this time. He's been holding his shit together by a thread since the beginning of the Genesis War. He's abandoned, alone, and slowly collapsing under the weight of all the people he just keeps failing to save. He's been called a monster all his life, and even referred to as a non-human cyborg on his first ever mission at like, 14 years old. He's clinging to this tiny bit of resolve and telling himself he's not a monster, only for all of his waking nightmares to come true when he finds out his genetics are basically alien.

Why wouldn't he suddenly see all of humanity as his enemy? Wasn't it humans who kept him in a lab most of his life, who let his friends degrade, and who psychologically tormented him since he was old enough to think? When Jenova is suddenly presented as an out, as a savior, sure, he's going to break into a thousand pieces and go crawling to her.

For Sephiroth, it's the moment of catharsis. For Cloud, it's the beginning of a nightmare.

The man he traveled halfway across the world to emulate, who he just watched take such kind care of not only Tifa and Zack, but him, is now burning down his town. Sephiroth is razing Nibelheim to the ground, killing his mother, murdering his neighbors in cold blood. By the time Cloud reaches the reactor, Sephiroth has (he believes) killed Tifa and her father, and fatally wounded Zack.

And now Cloud, who is 16 years old and has just lost everything, has to be the one to personally kill his hero. And he does, because even though Cloud's sense of self was too weak for him to be approved for SOLDIER, he's as physically fit and strong as any other candidate. Strong enough, while fueled by anger and grief, to both wound Sephiroth with Zack's sword and then throw him down into the lifestream.

Mako Poisoning

It's little wonder Cloud cracked under the strain and went virtually comatose from the SOLDIER process. Because that's exactly what Hojo did to him, it's why he looks like a SOLDIER and is capable of moving and fighting like one. He was exposed to mako in a way they already knew he couldn't handle, right after a severe mental break.

SOLDIER candidates undergo screening to make sure they won't lose their sense of self and suffer mako poisoning from exposure to what's basically a puddle of the lifestream. Zack made it through the process because he had a very strong sense of who he was and what he wanted, which is also why nothing Hojo did really affected him in the four years he and Cloud were captive in the Nibelheim lab.

Cloud didn't have that. If the Nibelheim incident didn't occur, he might have developed that sense of self thanks to Zack and Sephiroth as influences, but he didn't have the time. His world was turned upside down and everything he thought he knew was torn to shreds, and then he was exposed to high amounts of mako.

Cloud also received some type of Jenova cells. I assume S-cells, since that's what's encountered in the Shinra Mansion basement, while I also assume every other SOLDIER received regular Jenova cells during the procedure. I don't think we're far enough in the remakes yet to know if anything was changed from the original, but this bonkers essay isn't about Jenova cell types. It's about identity.

Cloud's identity was fractured by the time he was exposed to the process, and he completely lost himself.

Zack Fair vs. Cloud Strife

The Cloud who tells the story of Nibelheim in Kalm is the newly-awakened, newly-minted Cloud. Until only a few weeks previous to this point, he was semi-comatose and being dragged around the world by Zack, who defended him fiercely but was unable to help him recover.

This Cloud is distant and defensively abrasive. That he cares--and he does care--isn't immediately obvious because of the way he brushes everything off, but it rarely takes much more than a little bit of friendly prodding before he huffs and gives in.

This Cloud does want to help. If he didn't, he wouldn't, and nothing could make him. But he's very against putting himself out there first, and needs to be strongly invited in. Even when he's frustrated about his friends wasting time, he indulges them. In fact, there are several things he participates in which he clearly enjoys, even if he won't show it.

This is not the personality of Zack Fair, and never has been. From the day Cloud and Zack met, Zack has inserted himself into things whether he was wanted or not. Zack doesn't wait for an invitation, he's the one doing the inviting.

Identity vs. Memory

It's been talked about since FFVII's original release how Cloud took on Zack's identity, but a lot of the conversation stops there. The end of Crisis Core adds something to the conversation: why Cloud woke up.

In the final scenes, when the army has caught up to them, Zack hides Cloud and goes out to face him. There's a brief moment when we see this from Cloud's POV...he's reaching for Zack, trying to stop him, almost like he knows what's coming. It doesn't appear that Cloud has done any such thing in the last year, and this is actually his first autonomous movement since the escape.

If there's one thing that sits at the core of Cloud Strife's personality, it's loss. In the original FFVII, as Tifa walks him through the lifestream, it's stated that he and Tifa were never close as kids and weren't really friends despite being neighbors. She didn't even seem to think of him much until he left town (a sort of "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" situation). Cloud did like her though, and seemed to have a crush on her at least as far as when he turns 14 and leaves town, but was strongly affected by it not seeming to be reciprocated.

This feeling of loss is probably exacerbated on his return to Nibelheim, where he keeps his face hidden in shame and watches Tifa gush over Zack. By now he's been denied entry to SOLDIER, and Tifa is fawning over everything he's not. He is still nothing to the people of his hometown and has nothing to show to prove any differently. His shot at being known--which ultimately leads to what he never seemed to have in life: acceptance--is gone.

And then, within days, so is everything else. Loss is a strong constant, and Cloud knows when he's going to lose something.

When Zack is laying in the rain dying, Cloud wakes up. Not fully, but enough to crawl to him. He's awake enough to understand what happened, and awake enough scream in grief.

He's still muddled by the mako poisoning, certainly, but now he's moving. He's spent a year listening to Zack talk about his life and about their future, and with nothing else to guide him anymore, he follows that. He goes from near-comatose to stumbling into Midgar, not following the drive of Reunion like all the other weak Jenova cell recipients, but following Zack's plan.

Then Tifa shows up. But I'd argue it wasn't Tifa herself who made Cloud snap back into consciousness, but what she represents. It's been five years, but Cloud's own last memories are of Nibelheim, it's destruction, and Zack being killed. Tifa represents the last truly conscious moments Cloud has when Zack was still alive.

There's been a lot of fuss over Tifa being Cloud's reason for coming back, but at this point, Cloud hasn't even spoken to Tifa in around seven years, and he's certainly never been close. Zack, however, has been his friend since a little after he became infantry. Zack has helped him break out of captivity and has carried his near-lifeless body across the world for a year. With all this trauma all piled up, it makes sense Cloud's ongoing mental breakdown would give him laser focus on a familiar face.

And given the depth of his grief, it also makes sense Cloud would protect himself by overwriting all the things that hurt him. If he's a SOLDIER 1st Class, then he was never rejected. If he was the one dispatched to Nibelheim with Sephiroth, then Zack was never there to eventually be gunned down over.

Taking Zack's memories as his own is exactly how he fulfills Zack's dying wish: to be his living legacy. But he didn't take Zack's identity...he knows he's Cloud Strife and that he comes from Nibelheim, the only time his brain has rewritten is the painful stretch of loss and devastation from meeting Zack onward.

Waking Up in Pieces

Cloud can't fully be Cloud Strife as an idea, because that would mean acknowledging the full truth of Cloud Strife's history. But he also can't fully be Cloud Strife as a person, because that would mean being the same weak boy who let all those horrible things happen.

He also can't fully take on Zack's identity, because Zack needs to be fully erased to protect himself from the truth. That leaves him somewhat in a bind, because he has to be somebody.

The Cloud presented in Remake and Rebirth is reticent, but not unkind. He's defensive by necessity, because everything he is at the moment revolves around keeping away further loss. He doesn't smile much, but he does joke a bit and is fairly soft-spoken, by comparison to some of the others. He also has a tendency to let his strength speak for itself; he doesn't really start fights, but he finishes them when they come at him.

Within Remake and Rebirth, Cloud has taken on Zack Fair's memory to fill in his gaps, and is actively molding his personality into someone quietly powerful and competent who will take care of his people and protect whatever he can: Pre-Nibel reactor Sephiroth.

Thank you for coming to my random Tuesday morning TED talk.

A final thought on Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, given Cloud's issues:

On Cloud and Aerith:

No, I don't think Cloud loved Aerith in the romantic sense. Cloud assimilated Zack's memories, but not his emotions or personality. And no, I don't think Aerith loved Cloud romantically, either. The similarities between Cloud and Zack end with their meetings and them both (allegedly) being SOLDIERs.

But you don't have to love someone romantically to be close to them, and I do think Cloud was becoming close with Aerith and did care about her. There was no reason for him not to; he's slowly opening up and allowing a lot of people into his life (against his better judgement), Aerith is no different. However, Aerith is also a traveling companion on an extremely stressful quest, and it makes sense they would grow close quickly.

On Cloud and Tifa:

Within the game timeline, no, I don't think Cloud and Tifa are romantically in love. I don't think they had the time or the opportunity to be.

I think Cloud had a childhood crush on Tifa that dulled after seven years of no contact, but certainly has the potential to rekindle once he recovers himself and the threat of Sephiroth is over. And I think for Tifa, Cloud is just a face she recognizes and the last remaining tie she has to the life that was stolen from her.

I think Tifa is laying all of her past hopes and dreams on Cloud's shoulders, because every other supporting pillar for them is gone. She's so desperate to keep this one last piece that she overlooks everything Cloud does to her own detriment, even when he nearly kills her and drops her into the lifestream. Her heartfelt scream of "Don't take him, too" at Sephiroth during that chapter hints at this, even though not five minutes ago Cloud's sword was only an inch from gutting her before she dodged.

By the time Advent Chlidren rolls around I think the potential is there. Tifa seems to have found herself again but Cloud still hasn't.

[ittybittypixel]

“A Mother's Embrace”

[shr0uds]

[otomiyaa]

Arranged Amusement

Rufus x Fem!Reader

[Fic Reupload] - Another old fic I got reminded of by AO3 comment. This one was written for @thelaughtercafe

Summary: You are about to get married to Rufus Shinra. For business, not love. While the two of you have been rather distant, something comes up that finally breaks the ice... (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 2.8K

Marriage. As the president of Shinra Electric Power Company it was only natural that Rufus was going to have an arranged marriage, full of benefits for both sides - though mostly his - rather than meet an elegant lady at the nearby club or at the park.

Not that Rufus would even visit the club or the park, so marriage for love was already at the bottom of his life goals by the time he was appointed to be Vice President of the company. It mattered not. 

He chose his ideal woman purely strategically and from a business point of view, and that was how you came into his life.

As the daughter of the CEO of Enyo Marine Ltd., your marriage would award Shinra with the collaboration of Rufus’ deepest ambitions: besides space, they would now expand to both the surface and depths of the oceans.

Your engagement was made public a while ago and gave you some time to pre-invest in your future relationship. Rufus was determined to succeed his father in style, with a wedding of royal level and the attention he deserved.

However with the murder of his father, that succession was here rather soon and unexpected, and all of a sudden you would meet your fiancé a lot more often than ever as wedding arrangements were in progress for the both of you.

“There, signed. Now go make it happen~” Rufus chanted as he placed his signature hastily and sent his assistants out on errands again. You eyed him from your comfortable position on the sofa. A book was placed in your lap and you had barely exchanged a word with the man you felt quite neutral about.

Yes, you were about to marry him, but from the few, very few times you already spent together, you figured he was not a person you were going to love. 

Not that you expected you would. Also for you, it was purely an arranged marriage for business benefits, and besides, the marriage came with wealth and luxury in tenfold.

While you never had a bad life at your family’s mansion, being cared for by Rufus and his staff was quite something else.

“I apologize. We finally meet again, and here I am. Busy with work, and our wedding,” he said, eyeing you from his desk.

“That’s alright,” was your short and indifferent reply. You already knew this was what your whole life was going to be like anyway, from this point on. It was already surprising you were both in the same room now for longer than thirty minutes.

A cold and icy silence was what filled the room for the next couple of minutes. That was until he was the one to break the silence.

“You know what? Perhaps it won’t be so bad for us to go out sometime. I can cancel the meeting of this afternoon,” Rufus said. 

You raised your eyebrows. Oh? Go out? “Anywhere you would like to go?” he suggested. You were impressed by his efforts to get closer to you, but at the same time you understood that your marriage was getting rushed, so he most likely was trying to make this less awkward for everyone. Including the two of you. 

“Where I would like to go...” you wondered out loud. You rubbed your foot with the other as you lounged comfortably on the sofa with your legs stretched.

“I know you are not familiar with our city’s cuisine, so perhapsー”

“ーa pedicure.” 

“....What?”

You glanced at him and boldly said it again. “Where I would like to go.. I would like to go somewhere for a pedicure,” you said, clenching your book in your hands. You felt bad to interrupt him when he was talking more than ever before, but the surprised expression on his face was kind of worth it.

“Together?” he asked, squinting his eyes. You nodded.

“I have never been to a pedicure before,” you confessed. Not that you needed to, since you were not that spoiled you had other people take care of your body. However since coming here you kind of understood that common people would visit pedicures, even if they were not from a wealthy family.

“And it could be good for us. Before the wedding,” you said. Convenience. Not a bad idea if your feet were in great shape for the wedding, right? Rufus nodded slowly.

“If that is your wish, not a problem.”

You smirked. Although he was busy and seeing you rarely, ever since the start of your engagement you knew it was Rufus’ trait to pamper and spoil you rotten. It may not have been him personally, but he would always send his people after you to tend to you, to get you the most delicious meals, to deliver the most magnificent flowers, and to give you everything you wanted.

So this too, he could not refuse. You kind of expected him to send you by yourself after all, which you would not have minded. In fact, you were kind of hoping he was not coming along since a pedicure-date was kind of odd after all. 

But in the end you did go together. Of course the selected pedicure was the best of the best, and they made you feel like royalty as they took care of your feet while you enjoyed the most delicious wine by Rufus’ side and discussed business with him. Well, this wasn’t so bad.

“Did you take a look at the guest list for the wedding?” Rufus asked. You nodded.

“I did. No remarks from my side.”

“Alright, I was considering whether we should invite your uncle.”

You frowned. “Rather not,” you muttered, but Rufus gave you a look.

“We are going to be a new family. It might not be so bad to restore ill family relations.” 

You sighed. “I understand. However my thought was that ー hahahaha!” You jolted when the treatment on your feet started to tickle all of a sudden, and you quickly covered your mouth, sadly after that embarrassing burst of laughter already echoed through the room. 

“......?” Rufus almost looked offended by your sudden outburst so you very quickly pointed at your foot that was being scrubbed right now.

“Ticklish!” you said. “Just.. a little ticklish, I apologize. That was rude of me,” you admitted, and the lady who was scrubbing your foot sent you an apologetic look.

“That is alright. So, your thought was?” he asked. Ah right.

“Actually, I was just thinking that my uncle - whahah!” you laughed again when it felt once again ticklish, and you gulped.

“.....I will think about it,” you said shyly when you felt his eyes on you. Meanwhile the poor lady apologized over and over for tickling you by accident. 

It was your first pedicure after all, so you did not expect it to tickle this much. They were definitely not the last times you laughed suddenly into Rufus’ face, but with time he seemed to get used to it, and if you were not mistaken, you were sure you could spot a very subtle smile when you let out the most embarrassing giggle again.

“I am so sorry for being so ticklish,” you whispered at the woman who felt just as ashamed and guitly for making you laugh.

“T-that is alright, it happens!” she replied. You blushed like crazy to see the way Rufus smirked at you.

“Well, that was interesting,” he said as you both finally headed out. 

“.....” There was only little you could say to that, but fortunately Rufus did not mention it again. He quickly moved on to other topics, and soon you were home again, and you stepped out of your shoes and enjoyed how soft and smooth your feet felt. 

You sat down on the couch and felt your silky smooth sole with your finger, and you wiggled your toes. Well that was just a luxury.

“You are staying?” you asked in surprise when Rufus sent out one of his assistants to get you both a pot of tea. 

“I am,” he said, approaching you with firm steps. “There is something I would like to check,” he said, sitting down by your side, and you were too slow to react when he gently took your ankle and pulled your foot in his lap.

“Check wh-whahahah! Hey- hahah! T-that tickles, hehey!” you giggled when his fingers fluttered against your bare sole. He stared at you with a serious expression but there was this slight tug at his lips as he took in your reactions.

“I thought so. You really are rather ticklish,” he observed with much interest. Your eyes widened and you threw your head back when he tightened the grip on your ankle while his fingers scribbled at the ball of your foot.

“O-obviously haha! Now quihihit ihihit!” you giggled, but Rufus was surprisingly persistent. 

“Usually you are quite the serious type. I have not heard you laugh like this before,” he said. 

!!! He was the serious type! You just.... went along with the vibe! You tried to tell him something along those lines, but Rufus brushed the soft skin of your sole with both thumbs and lightly fluttered his fingertips against the surrounding area.

“HAh-I gehehet ihihit! Ahahalright, stahahap!” you giggled.

“Get what?” he asked. What a tease! Who would have thought.

“J-just ー Nahaha not thehehere!” you laughed when his curious fingers moved towards your toes where he scribbled lightly at the sensitive skin. If a pedicure already tickled by accident, then this was just... torture. 

“Rufuhus! Plehehease hahaha!” You turned and twisted, but your foot couldn’t go anywhere. Rufus was tickling the ticklish areas curiously and tried different and various spots, but all resulted in the same hysterical laughter, though sometimes louder, and sometimes pitchier.

He was silent while he tickled you, watching you with those piercing eyes. And then finally he stopped. He released your foot which you quickly pulled back, and you gasped for breath.

“I did not perceive you to be the ticklish type,” he said. You blushed and glared at him.

“I did not perceive you to be the tickly type. What was that for?” you panted. Rufus looked at you with a cocky smirk and he shrugged.

“It is nice to see you lose your composure. I have to admit, I was never tickled before. It was amusing to see what it could result in.” 

You looked at him and were still flustered by the sudden tickle attack, but you also felt motivated to tease him back. Your serious facade was dropping hard along with your lost dignity, and you slowly moved towards him.

“You... have never been tickled before?” you asked. He shook his head. 

“Would you like to try?” 

Oh. The way he looked at you when he said that... You must admit, you did feel a little tingle in your chest right there.

“...... Yes,” you whispered, moving closer towards him. He stayed in place, and for a moment you really thought this was going to be the moment. Your moment. Tickle Rufus, for real? Watch and hear his laugh as he did to yours?

That was nothing more than a little fantasy in your mind it seemed. You let out a cry in shock when Rufus grabbed you right before you could reach for him. You saw a flash of the ceiling very quickly as you were pushed on your back on the couch, then Rufus came into your sight, looking smug, cocky and a little bit.. tempting. You gulped.

“Y-you said Iー”

“I said you could try. Try, and you failed. So....” Rufus hummed, and he lowered his hands.

“So now, I will try some of this,” he said calmly, sliding his hands down your torso until they stopped at your sides. There, he dug in slightly, and you jerked at the sudden ticklish sensation. 

“HAh-! N-noho!” you yelped, but Rufus already started to tickle you just as relentlessly as he did to that single foot of yours, except now it was your sides and he was leaning right above you, with perfect view all over your most embarrassing facial expressions and with your pitchy laughter closer to his ears. You couldn’t stop blushing. So embarrassing!

“Does that tickle?” he asked. The menace.

“Hahahaha! Y-yes nohohow stohohop!” you laughed. There went your perfect image. His perfect calm, composed and professional wife-to-be. You were literally barking in his face, all because of some silly tickling. You couldn’t believe this was happening!

“How about this?” He squeezed your ribs and you twitched, attempting to turn to the side, but he moved you back and pinned you down while he continued to explore the ticklish spots on your ribcage.

“Hehehehe! It tickles- ahhh ahaha! Nohoho!” you squealed. He just kept tickling you. Your laughter was only increasing, not decreasing, and it went from bad to worse when he managed to gather your grabby hands into one of his.

“These are in my way,” he muttered, and he pinned them above your head, leaving your torso completely exposed. You stared at him in surprise and smiled nervously.

“Mercy,” you whispered. He nodded slowly.

“Mercy, yes yes. Later,” he said, and he brought his hand to your exposed your armpit and poked the area experimentally.

“HYEah!” you shrieked. The smirk that appeared on his face was a demon’s alright. 

“Found a good spot,” he said before he started to dance his fingers around the sensitive area of your armpit.

“HAHAha! Nohohoho not thehehere! Hehehe R-Rufus ahah! I cahahan’t!”

“You can, I am sure of it. Ah yes, please place it over there,” Rufus said when his assistant entered again with the tea. 

Your eyes widened in shock as you suddenly had a temporary spectator, but Rufus kept you busy with more and more laughter by continuing the armpit tickling without pause. When he released your arms, you thought it was to grant you mercy, but it was only so he could tickle both armpits while you clamped your arms down and howled.

“Hahahahahaha!” Something merciless and sadistic started existing in this moment and you felt nervous that Rufus was so determined to tickle you to death. How much more did he need to humiliate you?

“Pleh-plehehease! HEhee!” you shrieked when his wiggling fingers aimed for your stomach next. He poked at the spot and dug into your belly, nodding when he seemingly approved with your response to them.

“Cahahan’t breheheathe! Rufus-hehehe!” you begged when he even moved his fingers under your shirt where they wiggled against your bare skin. You squirmed weakly and shook your head.

Earth to Rufus? He was so into it that he barely seemed to notice your reactions, except when you sobbed loudly because of crying and laughing at the same time. 

“O-oh!” He raised his hands all of a sudden. “I apologize.”

You had never seen him look so guilty before. You wheezed tiredly and pulled your shirt back down. 

“Are you.. crying?” 

You couldn’t help but giggle, both from the remaining tingling feeling on your body and his funny reaction.

“Tears from laughing too much is a thing, Rufus. And as I can see, tickle monsters are real too. Pffff." You sat straight and recovered from the relentless tickle attack.

“....I got carried away,” he admitted. You nodded.

“You did. I-it’s alright, just.. a breather or two wouldn’t be so bad next time.” You gulped when you realized you said ‘next time’ and you quickly looked away, blushing like crazy.

The vibe suddenly felt so much different than before the pedicure and tickle torture. You sighed and covered your chest, feeling the way your heart was racing. He did not seem appalled by your hysterical laughter either, which gave you such a nice feeling of relief.

“So... It’s an arranged marriage, but we can have some fun this way, right? We can arrange our own amusement,” Rufus said, making you tingle even more. He really said this? You looked at him and rolled your eyes fondly.

“Arranged amusement, heh, really? Well what I would like to arrange next is for me to tickle you,” you said. Now Rufus was busy again all of a sudden as he straightened his clothes and got up.

“Perhaps another time. There are some things I need to do,” he said in a hurry. You smirked. He had never been tickled before but his reaction made him appear a little flustered. Were you really flirting with your fiancé? 

“Rufus?” you said, and he turned around again. After all this you saw him in a new light, and you smiled. 

“I did have fun,” you said. Rufus’ gaze softened and he nodded. 

“So did I,” he admitted politely. He then left and it was amusing that after you got tickled to death, he was the one to leave the room, completely flustered. You chuckled. This marriage could get interesting after all... 

[foxtrottcantfindshit]

Ready for my assortment? Thinking lots about Turk Vincent but also >:) valenwind plagues me

[vctmsoflove]

it’s just in my nature

details under the cut

i feel the need to add that these drawings came to be bc i was shopping and they had this section at bershka with the skirt and the dress and all i could say was: they got my girl aerith