Tomowowo

Guess what: IT’S ME! Your friendly local Boomchick. My writing will benefit the Athens Queer Collective, my local POC-led LGBT group! You can give them a look and donate along here:https://athensqueercollective.org/donate Oh, my fic? Well, I’ll be starting something new!

Untitled Good-Monstrosity Sephiroth Fanfic!

Summary: Sephiroth is not human. There is no doubting that now. He fell in two pieces into the reactor all those many months ago. And yet there he is again. Appearing between one heartbeat and the next, while Zack floats hopeless in Mako. There he is, opening the tanks and setting Zack and Cloud free. There he is, chuckling “there is no rush” and smiling an indulgent smile. [or] “All these moments and memories, precious and fleeting…they’re like rain rolling off his back.” Sephiroth has always loved the rain. Read along live while I write for the next 12 hours HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kp-TH0RzpMMulHekifI-xcjBJNd83Ipc78LNunWFad0/edit#  

[image description: With his back to the camera, the Other Sephiroth looms. Before him, Sephiroth is on his hands and knees, struggling to rise. But he is looking up in surprise and alarm. Between them, armed with Masamune, his hand out protectively, stands the Other Cloud. Fractured, and empty, but standing. Feathers fall around them, the moment sudden and stark, and fraught with horror. End image description]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 25: Disorientation

He couldn’t seem to focus. Couldn’t seem to catch his breath. He was awake, he was fairly sure. It felt like he was awake. Like time was linear. Like his body was real. Like the hands on him were solid, and warm, and safe.

Cloud’s voice, and the sawing sound of rope being cut, and a sudden rush as blood flow returned from his cramped legs. Someone was behind him. The sound of more sawing. The vast thing behind him slumped out of its bonds. His wing. Yes. He had that right now. They hadn’t cut it off, even though they should have. That and— 

“Talk to me.”

Cloud’s voice. Sephiroth swallowed. Squinted his eyes open. Cloud was a blurry smudge in a world that didn’t love him. In a planet he would always be separate from. In a life he’d chosen anyway.

“Cloud.” His voice didn’t sound like his own. Fuzzy and strange.

“Well, he’s got that one down.”

Genesis, speaking from behind him. A hand on the massive abomination of a wing at his back. Brushing over where the ropes had held it still.

“Is he hurt?”

[image description: Sephiroth kneels, ropes tied around his arms, his legs, his torso, and even the massive wing sprouting from his shoulder. He is smirking and amused, turning to look over at Cloud, laughter in his eyes despite their exhausted dark circles and his hollow cheeks. Cloud’s expression is serious and grim as he works on tying something behind Sephiroth’s head. It is not a loving moment, but fraught and dangerous. Behind Cloud’s serious face, there is pain in his eyes. end image description.]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 24: Sensory Deprivation | Forced Mutism | Blindfolded

“Spike!”

Zack flung himself off of the tree he’d been perched atop of, watching for any movement.

“I have the strangest feeling they might be here.” He heard Genesis drawl, voice dripping with sarcasm behind him. 

He didn’t mind. If anything it just made him happier. Genesis was being sarcastic again, and Angeal laughed despite himself, and Aerith heaved a sigh, and they were okay. They were okay . Not perfect, not back the way they were before, but they were okay.

Cloud perked up where he’d been climbing doggedly. Picked up his trudge into a jog, then a head-long sprint. Zack saw his smile. His relief. Took in at a glance the two strangers with them (Vincent and Tifa according to their conversations). Glanced to Sephiroth, worn down, exhausted, ragged as he’d never seen him before. But there, and alive, and—

Gods it was good to see them. After the silence, and Tseng’s message, Zack had thought—

He shook it off. Flung himself at Cloud with a wild laugh. Watched Cloud put the breaks on, eyes going wide.

They tumbled to the ground together, Zack laughing and squeezing his friend, and Cloud spluttering between indignation and amusement.

[image description: A collage of images by artist @tomowowowo, featuring Sephiroth and Cloud in various positions and situations, as well as images of Aerith, Zack, and Vincent– Each image is a small, cropped portion of a larger illustration. The text over the image reads “Boomchick & Tomowowo’s Whumptober 2020 Three Fourths Point.” End image description.]

We are entering the final week of Whumptober 2020!

Tomo and I have been working non-stop to put together an unforgettable story out of this 30 day challenge. Catch up now on:

Den of M[arionettes] 

Illustrated by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Summary: A chance at happiness leads Sephiroth towards devastation. A twist of fate throws Cloud Strife’s life off course. Their friends’ lives hang in the balance. 

Can anything good come from a calamity?

[image description: A pair of images. In the first, Sephiroth sits, cross legged, beside Vincent at a small campfire. His left hand– the metal prosthetic– rests over a sleeping Cloud’s shoulder. A little possessive, perhaps, but mostly affectionate. Cloud is curled up slightly, and Tifa is asleep beside them. Vincent is speaking to Sephiroth softly, his expression calm and still. Beside him sits a suspiciously-wrapped bundle. In the second, Sephiroth is bent. On one knee. His head is bowed, his eyes shadowed, his posture stooped. Cloud kneels beside him, holding his prosthetic metal hand in both of his own hands. His worry and concern are clear, and painful. end image description.]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 23: Exhaustion | Sleep Deprivation

“Come on.”

Sephiroth’s voice. Cloud gripped the side of the cliff. Spat again. Blinked the tears out of his eyes.

“Give him a minute,” Tifa objected, her hand still on his back, steady and cool. He was too hot. He was burning hot, and the world was swimming, and that was not his favorite way to climb a mountain.

“I would if we had a minute.” Sephiroth objected. “Stay with him. I’ll go ahead.”

“No.” Cloud growled. Clawed his hands. Forced himself to his feet. “We’re going together.”

“You’re sick.” Tifa said, her hand still steady on his back.

“So’s he.” Cloud nodded ahead of them to Sephiroth. He wasn’t looking at them. His gaze was fixed on the towering mountain. On the distant lights of the reactor.

Behind them, the helicopter was landing in Nibelheim.

[image description: Sephiroth and Cloud are seated across a table from each other. On the table are two plates of food, partially eaten, and Cloud’s mostly-drunken water glass. Cloud is hunched over, his hands pressed on either side of his head. His eyes are squeezed clothes, tears gathering on his eyelashes. Sephiroth has turned from Cloud, staring down at his own water glass with a look of horror and betrayal. The background is stark, and the dripping lines from the top indicate impending doom. end image description]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 22: Drugged

Sephiroth’s first impression of Nibelheim was that it made him hungry. 

Not for the stew Angeal had put together on his mother’s fire out of their foraged herbs and hunted meats, augmented by his mother’s kitchen. 

Gillian had not had enough bowls for them all, but had passed them what she had. Sephiroth had sipped the concoction from a mug. It had been delicious. Hearty. Better for being under a roof. For watching Gillian gently touch Angeal’s back, and Angeal not pull away. For hearing Zack loudly proclaim ‘I don’t get it. I’d love a wing.’ and Genesis laughing ‘see? He gets it, Angeal.’

No. Not for anything anyone could cook. Not for anything he could eat.

But Nibelheim did make him hungry.

So hungry.

Cloud’s steps lagged beside him. He paused. Looked to him. Face still too pale, eyes still a little unfocused, but remarkably recovered in comparison to the near-catatonic body he’d carried to shelter the day before.

“Cloud?”

“Sorry, I’m good. Just…”

“Hm.” Sephiroth looked to the rickety town gate. The name spelled out above it. It was nothing. It should have been nothing. His eyes were drawn towards the mountain towering behind it.

“How does it feel,” he asked, not really tasting the words as they left his lips. They were empty. Hollow. Starving. “Coming back to your hometown?”

[Image description: An image drawn all in blues and whites shows Sephiroth and Cloud, both huddled up in a small stone shelter in a snowy wasteland. Cloud is in Sephiroth’s lap, curled tight, his hands held close to his face as he shivers there. Sephiroth is holding him close with his right hand, his left absent underneath the cloak he wears to stay warm. His expression is strained as he stares into the meager fire he’s built up in their shelter, and his lips are pressed against Cloud’s scalp, his affection as clear as his fear. End image description.]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr —————-

Day 21: Hypothermia

“It is genuinely unfair,” Cloud muttered into his scarf, “that snowstorms exist.”

“Mm.” Sephiroth’s face was tucked behind his own scarf, his eyes narrowed against the driving snow, flakes landing in his long, dark lashes.

No, no, no Cloud told himself, dragging his eyes away and shoving his hands deeper into his own armpits in his too-thin-for-this jacket. Don’t go all dreamy about his eyelashes right now.

He should have remembered, of course. That at this time of year there was no guarantee of nice weather this far North. But he’d let himself relax on the long trip here. The days of walking, jogging, racing across open, empty land. He hadn’t been prepared for how fast he was now. He hadn’t really opened up to run since his last trip to the labs. Not except that one sprint through the woods when he’d heard fighting.

Now he’d had a chance to experiment. Or, no, that wasn’t really it.

He’d had a chance to play . And Sephiroth had played with him. Sprinting through forests at Cloud’s side. His incredibly long stride eating up the ground. Pausing only if he got too far ahead, hair whipping around his jawline as he turned back to wait. Smiling.

[image description: Standing out in the lush green of a fresh wilderness, Cloud and Sephiroth stand, facing each other, dressed in traveling clothes and with a backpack full of gear. Their hands are linked, fingers twined together. Unlike previously, Cloud is not touching Sephiroth’s prosthetic hand. He is holding onto his right hand, as tightly as he can. He and Sephiroth are smiling at each other, sharing something deep, and new, and powerful. A moment just for the two of them. A silent promise before a new beginning. end image description]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 20: Lost 

Aerith:

“Oh,” She breathed, staring out at the field that stretched below her. “Oh, wow .”

“That’s quite a sight.” Genesis agreed, pushing his bangs out of his face, the new grey streak in his red hair an unsettling highlight. “I mean, we’re in the middle of nowhere, exhausted, and filthy, but that is quite a sight.”

Aerith elbowed him, refusing to let his dour attitude spoil her fun. This was the best thing she’d ever seen. Standing atop the small bluff, looking over the field before her. The flowers, and flowers, and flowers.

“Whatcha got?” Zack called up from behind them, from where he was walking with Angeal.

“Want to go down in style?” Genesis asked in a whisper.

Aerith felt her grin grow. Lifted her arms in answer. Genesis’s hands gripped her waist, Beat his wing hard, just once, and they were flying down the steep cliff face together. Sweeping over the flowers in slow spirals.

“No fair!” Zack’s voice followed, full of laughter, even as Aerith shrieked in a combination of delight and terror, clinging to Genesis’s coat.

[image description: Deep underground in the Mythril Mines, Sephiroth kneels. At his right side lays his prosthetic arm, detached and on the ground. At his right side lays a bloody, squirming tentacle. His left arm is bleeding again, as he clamps his hand down over it to slow the bleeding. He is turning behind himself. Approaching him from the tunnel are Genesis and Angeal, both sporting wings. Their expressions are deeply concerned as they take in the blood. But Sephiroth just looks stressed and horrified to have been caught. End image description.]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 19: [Alt.] Found Family

“Aim higher for this one,” Genesis advised, lifting Aerith’s hand a touch.

Aerith was panting, sweating, but her eyes were alight. She nodded, holding position after Genesis released her arm.

“Good.” Genesis said. “Now fire.”

Lightning sliced through the air. The piecemeal training dummy that Zack had painted a scowling mud face on exploded. Zack whooped in delight. Cloud elbowed him in annoyance at the sound.

“Oh, you have the touch for it!” Genesis praised.

“Hah…” Aerith was beaming, panting, staring at the completely obliterated bundles of sticks and rocks. “Let’s go again!”

“Hot.” Zack called over to her.

“Down, puppy.” Angeal chuckled.

Sephiroth watched them.

——————

“Elbows in, Spike!” Zack called over the ringing crash of their swords.

“I’ll put my elbows in you!” Cloud replied, launching off a tree after being tossed lightly aside.

[image description: An illustration of an outside scene, with wild bushes growing up in the background. Sephiroth stands straight and startled, hands lifted up away from his waist. He wears a long cape and casual clothes, with gloves. His left hand– the prosthetic one– is covered in cuts and slashes. Glued to his side is a furious, scowling Aerith. She is gripping Sephiroth in an extremely tight hug, glaring towards the camera in protective fury. She is small in comparison physically, but her determination burns. End image description]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 18: Paranoia

“Well, we all know where to avoid, right?” Genesis had said, spreading out the world map from his library across Angeal’s table.

“Kalm,” Angeal and Sephiroth had dutifully chorused.

“What?” Zack blinked. Looked between the three of them with his visible eyebrow furrowed. “Why? What’s in Kalm?”

“Generally, Shinra spies waiting to pick up anyone who’s trying to escaped from Midgar.” 

“What, seriously?”

“Seriously.” Sephiroth smirked. Chuckled. “Never go to Kalm.”

“Boring town anyway.” Genesis said flippantly. “What’s the plan?”

—————

“So,” Aerith said slowly. “Camping trip?”

“To start,” Zack replied happily, wandering towards the wall beside her. “But again, don’t know when or if we’ll ever come back. So if you don’t want to come—”

“Zack. I told you. I’m coming.” She threaded her arm through his, stepping a little closer to his side. “Now where are your big scary Soldier friends?”

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 17:  Dirty Secret “I don’t know how to begin.” Sephiroth said, sitting at the table and staring listlessly down at the journal he’d asked Zack to bring back for him.

“You could go with the whole ‘I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve called you all here today.’ That’s a classic.”

“Zack,” Angeal sighed. “Not right now.”

“I… didn’t call you all here. It’s Angeal’s apartment. I assume he invited–”

“It’s just a saying.” Angeal interrupted quickly. “Less joking, puppy.”

Sephiroth’s eyes were so tired. Even his confusion sounded weary. Angeal had never seen him so tired. So dispirited…

Cloud had bounced back quickly from the mako addiction. No doubts about that. He sat near Sephiroth, nursing his cup of tea. Sometimes his eyes wandered off to look at something on the wall, but he came back quickly now. When Zack had first carried him into the apartment, Angeal had thought…

Well. They’d lost people to the Mako before.

Now he and Genesis were both looking at the book. The gun in the room. The only thing Sephiroth had asked for since. They kept glancing up to each other, as if the two of them 

“Just start at the beginning.” Angeal encouraged, fighting the urge to reach across the table.

So far Sephiroth had reacted badly to any attempts to touch him.

[Image description: A close up image of trooper Cloud Strife. He is wearing a light scrub top, lying on his side. He holds in both hands the face of another Cloud, broken and cracked, barely holding together. The other Cloud’s face does not appear to be fully flesh or fully human– It holds its shape like ceramic– but it is in mid-expression. Brows twisted, lips parted. Tears swell in the broken Cloud’s eyes, despite the fact that they have no pupil or iris. Cloud holds the broken face close to his chest, curled up with it. They are alone together. End image description.]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr ————-

Day 16:  Hallucinations Cloud got sick on      On the tenth day No, the twelfth— 

No. No. Hold it together. Be stronger than you are.

Cloud was sick. He knew that much. Cloud was sick, and right now he was alone, but Sephiroth would come back. Sephiroth would rest his cool metal hand on Cloud’s too-hot face, and speak softly to him, and that would help. Sephiroth always knew exactly how many days it had been, so Cloud could ask him. He didn’t have to count. He didn’t have to pace.

He just had to curl in his corner and breathe in through his nose, out through his mouth. He just had to stay calm.

‘Never liked… mako tanks.’ the face in his hands whispered, sorrowful and distant.

“Sorry,” Cloud told it. “Me neither. But at least it doesn’t leave needle marks.”

‘Hold as tight… as you can.’  The face in his hands warned. ‘You’re starting to… drift.’ 

“Why?” Cloud asked, curling tighter, staring into the face’s empty eye. “Why is this happening?”

‘The mako… poison…’ 

Cloud stared at the broken face, dazed. It was his face, wasn’t it? It was his face. It was supposed to be—

He turned the face around. Looked at the smooth, empty interior. From this side he could see straight through that blank eye. Like it was made of mesh.

He brought it up to his face like a mask.

[Image Description: A drawing of Cloud and Sephiroth, both shirtless, standing before a softly glowing green background. They stand apart from one another, holding eye contact, both of their expressions pained and sorrowful as they hold eye contact with each other. Sephiroth’s cut-short hair falls loose around his bare shoulders. His left arm has been replaced with a shining black metal arm, laced through with green mako energy. Cloud is holding the metal hand to his face, pressing his cheek against it. Sephiroth glances in agony to Cloud’s right shoulder where there is a hand-print scar, black, and streaked through with red, like lava under the surface. A similar scar marks the center of Sephiroth’s torso where Genesis stabbed him. They both look… hopeless. End image description.]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr ——————-

Day 15: Possession | Science Gone Wrong  “It is not so much that I mind the work or the outcome.” Hojo said conversationally.

Sephiroth said nothing. Watched, dispassionately, as one of Hojo’s surgical machines ripped the bone of his forearm. As another inserted the metal screw at the end of a thick metal bolt. He watched it twist into his body with grim acceptance and did not let the pain show.

“It is the lack of responsiveness that I object to.”

Sephiroth felt the Other moving in his mind. Closed his eyes to focus. To try to stop it.

‘Stubborn,’ the Other accused, the thought flowing through him like one of his own.

“For all intents and purposes the re-attachment should have been a full success.” Hojo was saying. “And yet the decay set in almost immediately. Now why do you suppose that was?”

Sephiroth’s back arched up off the table as the metal drilling down into his forearm went deeper. He felt his neck tense, his tendons tighten, but he did not scream.

‘You hurt no one but yourself through this.’ The Other was joyless in his mind for once. Almost sullen with disappointment. He had been ever since Sephiroth had cut off the arm.

[Multiple warnings apply. Please check tags if you have concerns, either on this post or on Ao3!]

[Image description: A dynamic moment. Sephiroth is standing behind Cloud, his left hand resting on Cloud’s right shoulder. It could be a tender moment, but something has gone wrong. Sephiroth’s hand is too tight. Cloud is tense, twisting towards him, mouth open in a pained exclamation. Sephiroth is gripping his own arm tightly, his brows deeply furrowed and startled and afraid. His shaggy shoulder-length hair sways with his attempt to move away. Under Sephiroth’s left hand, Cloud’s shirt is starting to smolder and burn. end image description]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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*~ Two Bonus Images at End of Chapter~* Day 14: Branding   Cloud held the fractured half a face in both hands, carefully. Held up as if it were on a body roughly his size. Because it would have been. The reflection had looked so much like him before… 

  Well. Now he looked like one eye, most of a cheek, a few locks of hair, and half a mouth.

  The mouth was the most recent addition. Cloud had pieced together the face over a month of dreams. Finding splintered fragments of him in the middle of nightmares. broken like porcelain, but they still felt like skin, and hair.

  The mouth had come much later. A single visit in the middle of the night during Sephiroth’s long, stretching absence.

  "You’re back!“ Cloud had cried, carrying the rest of the reflection’s broken face wrapped carefully in his jacket.

  The reflection had shaken his head. Whispered "thank you,” and then he’d reached up. Clawed his own fingers into the hole in his head. Tore off one last chunk of his face. Then he had vanished again, just as abruptly.

[image description: A warm illustration of Zack and Aerith. They are standing close together. Aerith is holding pink ribbons and Zack’s black eyepatch, clearly working on something. Her hair spills loose around her shoulders. Zack is watching her, fixated. He is turned with his missing eye towards the viewer. His eyelid is stitched closed over the empty socket. In his left hand he holds one of Aerith’s flowers, slowly lowering it from his face. The only color in the image is the blush on both of their cheeks. end image description]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3

Read from Beginning on Tumblr

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Day 13: (Alt. Prompt) Falling

“So,” said Zack happily, “What did we learn?”

“If someone attacks you and they seem good at grappling, try tapping out.”

“And how did we learn that?”

“Zack—”

“Hooooow did we learn that?”

“I tried to put you in a headlock and you tapped out.”

“And?”

Cloud sighed heavily. “And you reversed position and got me in a headlock.”

“Yeah I did!”

————-

Fuck, thought Zack Fair to himself, wind screaming in his ears, whipping his hair up into his face.

[image description: A pair of images. In the first, Cloud is standing before Sephiroth, wearing a cozy hoodie. Sephiroth is seated before him, face is pressed into Cloud’s chest. He has one hand gripping the back of Cloud’s hoodie. Cloud is gently resting his face against Sephiroth’s head, his expression one of soft concern. In the second image, Cloud is cradled in Sephiroth’s arms. Cloud is fast asleep, curled up against Sephiroth’s chest. Sephiroth has a tender expression on his face, and has just pressed a soft, sweet kiss to his forehead. end image description]

Den of M[arionettes] Whumptober 2020

Art by @tomowowowo, story by Boomchick

Read on Ao3 Read from Beginning on Tumblr

——————–

Day 12: Broken Down

“You’re sure you’re steady enough?”

“Quite certain, Cloud. My legs are quite sturdy. Would you like to feel them?”

“Don’t flirt with me, I’m walking you home from medical!”

“Alright. When shall we reschedule for? Friday?”

Cloud snorted. Ducked his head. His hands shoved in his pockets, his stride shorter than Sephiroth’s— One and a half steps to Sephiroth’s every one. But they walked side by side.

Sephiroth hadn’t asked him to come down. To walk back with him. To do anything, really. But Cloud had shown up anyway, when Sephiroth finally replied. Replied to the backlog of 54 messages, sent over the last 11 days, while he had been floating and—

He yanked his thoughts away from that like pulling on a Chocobo’s reins. Glanced down to Cloud, walking by him with his chin tucked and his hands in his pockets.