raisedbymoogles (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
raisedbymoogles) wrote2021-10-20 11:32 pm
raisedbymoogles) wrote2021-10-20 11:32 pm
ficbit - adopted!Wutaian Sephiroth
backstory: once upon a time a kindly old Wutaian man took one look at a teenage supersoldier and went 'yoink, mine now' and because he was a daimyo he got away with it.
look, i don't know where this is going, i don't know IF it's going anywhere, i wrote this while i was sick with the 'rona and it probably doesn't make much sense anyway.
Mahouishii Haruhito was in the south walled garden, watching his grandchildren play with the children of his retainers, when Sephiroth finally tracked him down. “You sent for me, Father?” he asked.
“Ah, son, come sit, come sit.” Haruhito beckoned, and Sephiroth obeyed at once, sitting on the bench next to the older man with another man’s width of space between them. Haruhito didn’t give the slightest indication he’d noticed. “The weather’s warming up, isn’t it? The sun feels nice on these old bones.”
Sephiroth’s gaze flickered to him, and not for the first time Haruhito was put in mind of a half-wild chocobo - nervous but willing to be convinced. “…yes, it is nice to see the sun again,” he agreed carefully.
“Have you been terribly bored, cooped up inside during the storm season?” Haruhito tried to ask it in a teasing manner, and was rewarded with a brief smile. “You’ve always been more of a one for outdoor activities, I know.”
“I’ve been using the time productively, Father. Studying history, calligraphy, sumi-e…” Sephiroth gave Haruhito another one of those cautious glances, paused, and dared a bit further. “I will be happy when I can take my chocobo out for regular riding,” he admitted, and at Haruhito’s chuckle of agreement his shoulders relaxed a bit further.
“Well, then, tell me when you plan to go out and I’ll come with you,” Haruhito offered, and Sephiroth agreed. “Now then, I didn’t just call you here to check up on you. I suppose you know that once planting season is finished I must travel to the capital to meet with the shogun and other daimyo.”
Sephiroth nodded. “Yes, Father. Elder Sister Takeko told me.”
Haruhito couldn’t help but smile at the mention of his eldest daughter. Beautiful and accomplished and deadly with a blade - she, along with her younger sister Yuko and the three beautiful grandchildren they’d given him between them, were his pride and joy. And now I have another blessing: this son from a foreign land, who turnd his back on the foreign army and ended a war because I asked it. Our Sephiroth. “Takeko is just as much daimyo of our province as I am, with Yuko at her side. She will guard this land well in our absence.”
Sephiroth, halfway to nodding in agreement, froze in shock instead. “Our…”
“I want you to come with me, son,” Haruhito said, as gently as he could. “I think it is time.”
All his work coaxing the boy to relaxing was gone in an instant; Sephiroth was very still, the stillness of a rabbit under the hawk’s shadow, and not for the first time the daimyo in Haruhito wanted to march on Midgar immediately just to find the men who’d hurt his boy and put the fear of Lord Leviathan Himself into them. “…yes, Father,” Sephiroth managed at last. “Only…”
“Only?” Haruhito repeated. Sephiroth only tilted his head away, looking very much like he wanted to hide behind his hair if it weren’t tied back in the local fashion. “Sephiroth… please, speak to me as your father, not as your lord. Let me know what’s on your mind.”
Sephiroth did not fidget as other men afflicted with nerves might. He did not twist his hands or babble. He merely took three very deep breaths, while Haruhito remained patient, then said, “Your choice to adopt me was - not universally accepted.”
That fell a touch short of the ‘speak to me as your father’ mark that Haruhito set, but it was closer than before, and Haruhito took it as the victory it was. “Men will cling to the past, and their prejudices,” Haruhito admitted. “But familiarity is often the antidote to such poisons. When you first came to live with us, villagers ran and hid from you, did they not? But now their children run to you begging for sword lessons and for a ride on that magnificent bird of yours.” There was another victory - a real, honest smile on his boy’s face. “Now, I know you turn twenty this year,” Haruhito continued. “You’re no longer a boy under my wing but a man in your own right, and a commander of men besides. Those old fusspots at the capital will simply have to get used to you.” He grinned crookedly. “Besides, we might find a young lady or five who take a fancy to you. You’ve become quite the handsome young man, you know.”
“Father-!” Sephiroth protested, but it was an improvement - none of that terrible frozen anxiety, only embarrassment.
“No? Well, are you the type to prefer a young gentleman? By all means,” Haruhito corrected himself easily. “Your sisters are such a force of nature together that one begins to feel a bit outnumbered.”
“Father, please!” He was actually blushing, the poor boy, and Haruhito felt a little guilty for teasing him now. But the little ones playing in the garden had spotted them now, and came charging over to demand Uncle Seph’s attention. Haruhito watched with a little pang as Sephiroth pulled himself together and turned back to the children, with only a calm smile and kind words for them.
“Father,” Sephiroth said, all dignity with two small boys hanging from his sleeves, “it seems I am needed elsewhere, with your permission?”
That overly-formal tone, like a retainer. Haruhito hoped it was a little bit of a tease on Sephiroth’s part, so he responded in kind. “Go, then, with the blessing of Lord Leviathan.”
Sephiroth bowed, and the children thus reminded did likewise before towing Uncle Seph off in an excited cloud of chatter. Haruhito watched them go, tucking his hands in his sleeves - the sun was hiding her face, and his hands were beginning to feel the chill.
His boy wasn’t wrong, he admitted to himself. His adoption of one of the Shinra devils had ruffled some feathers across the island. But worrying rumors had reached his ears, like dark clouds forming on the horizon, and Mahouishii Haruhito felt certain the Shinra clan wasn’t done with their island just yet. If that future came to pass, he wanted his son on the front lines as warrior and commander, and he would need all the support he could get.
…and besides, the father in him wanted to rub in the faces of some of those sour old lords just how fine a man Mahouishii Sephiroth had become.
(notes: 'Mahou + ishii' = 'magic stone,' aka Materia. Specifically it's a reference to Leviathan's summoning Materia. The Mahouishii clan has a long and semi-mythologized history that's tied very closely to the history/mythology of Leviathan.
'Haruhito' - 'Haru' means spring. 'Hito' .....means a lot of things, because Japanese, but in this context it just means 'man'.)
look, i don't know where this is going, i don't know IF it's going anywhere, i wrote this while i was sick with the 'rona and it probably doesn't make much sense anyway.
Mahouishii Haruhito was in the south walled garden, watching his grandchildren play with the children of his retainers, when Sephiroth finally tracked him down. “You sent for me, Father?” he asked.
“Ah, son, come sit, come sit.” Haruhito beckoned, and Sephiroth obeyed at once, sitting on the bench next to the older man with another man’s width of space between them. Haruhito didn’t give the slightest indication he’d noticed. “The weather’s warming up, isn’t it? The sun feels nice on these old bones.”
Sephiroth’s gaze flickered to him, and not for the first time Haruhito was put in mind of a half-wild chocobo - nervous but willing to be convinced. “…yes, it is nice to see the sun again,” he agreed carefully.
“Have you been terribly bored, cooped up inside during the storm season?” Haruhito tried to ask it in a teasing manner, and was rewarded with a brief smile. “You’ve always been more of a one for outdoor activities, I know.”
“I’ve been using the time productively, Father. Studying history, calligraphy, sumi-e…” Sephiroth gave Haruhito another one of those cautious glances, paused, and dared a bit further. “I will be happy when I can take my chocobo out for regular riding,” he admitted, and at Haruhito’s chuckle of agreement his shoulders relaxed a bit further.
“Well, then, tell me when you plan to go out and I’ll come with you,” Haruhito offered, and Sephiroth agreed. “Now then, I didn’t just call you here to check up on you. I suppose you know that once planting season is finished I must travel to the capital to meet with the shogun and other daimyo.”
Sephiroth nodded. “Yes, Father. Elder Sister Takeko told me.”
Haruhito couldn’t help but smile at the mention of his eldest daughter. Beautiful and accomplished and deadly with a blade - she, along with her younger sister Yuko and the three beautiful grandchildren they’d given him between them, were his pride and joy. And now I have another blessing: this son from a foreign land, who turnd his back on the foreign army and ended a war because I asked it. Our Sephiroth. “Takeko is just as much daimyo of our province as I am, with Yuko at her side. She will guard this land well in our absence.”
Sephiroth, halfway to nodding in agreement, froze in shock instead. “Our…”
“I want you to come with me, son,” Haruhito said, as gently as he could. “I think it is time.”
All his work coaxing the boy to relaxing was gone in an instant; Sephiroth was very still, the stillness of a rabbit under the hawk’s shadow, and not for the first time the daimyo in Haruhito wanted to march on Midgar immediately just to find the men who’d hurt his boy and put the fear of Lord Leviathan Himself into them. “…yes, Father,” Sephiroth managed at last. “Only…”
“Only?” Haruhito repeated. Sephiroth only tilted his head away, looking very much like he wanted to hide behind his hair if it weren’t tied back in the local fashion. “Sephiroth… please, speak to me as your father, not as your lord. Let me know what’s on your mind.”
Sephiroth did not fidget as other men afflicted with nerves might. He did not twist his hands or babble. He merely took three very deep breaths, while Haruhito remained patient, then said, “Your choice to adopt me was - not universally accepted.”
That fell a touch short of the ‘speak to me as your father’ mark that Haruhito set, but it was closer than before, and Haruhito took it as the victory it was. “Men will cling to the past, and their prejudices,” Haruhito admitted. “But familiarity is often the antidote to such poisons. When you first came to live with us, villagers ran and hid from you, did they not? But now their children run to you begging for sword lessons and for a ride on that magnificent bird of yours.” There was another victory - a real, honest smile on his boy’s face. “Now, I know you turn twenty this year,” Haruhito continued. “You’re no longer a boy under my wing but a man in your own right, and a commander of men besides. Those old fusspots at the capital will simply have to get used to you.” He grinned crookedly. “Besides, we might find a young lady or five who take a fancy to you. You’ve become quite the handsome young man, you know.”
“Father-!” Sephiroth protested, but it was an improvement - none of that terrible frozen anxiety, only embarrassment.
“No? Well, are you the type to prefer a young gentleman? By all means,” Haruhito corrected himself easily. “Your sisters are such a force of nature together that one begins to feel a bit outnumbered.”
“Father, please!” He was actually blushing, the poor boy, and Haruhito felt a little guilty for teasing him now. But the little ones playing in the garden had spotted them now, and came charging over to demand Uncle Seph’s attention. Haruhito watched with a little pang as Sephiroth pulled himself together and turned back to the children, with only a calm smile and kind words for them.
“Father,” Sephiroth said, all dignity with two small boys hanging from his sleeves, “it seems I am needed elsewhere, with your permission?”
That overly-formal tone, like a retainer. Haruhito hoped it was a little bit of a tease on Sephiroth’s part, so he responded in kind. “Go, then, with the blessing of Lord Leviathan.”
Sephiroth bowed, and the children thus reminded did likewise before towing Uncle Seph off in an excited cloud of chatter. Haruhito watched them go, tucking his hands in his sleeves - the sun was hiding her face, and his hands were beginning to feel the chill.
His boy wasn’t wrong, he admitted to himself. His adoption of one of the Shinra devils had ruffled some feathers across the island. But worrying rumors had reached his ears, like dark clouds forming on the horizon, and Mahouishii Haruhito felt certain the Shinra clan wasn’t done with their island just yet. If that future came to pass, he wanted his son on the front lines as warrior and commander, and he would need all the support he could get.
…and besides, the father in him wanted to rub in the faces of some of those sour old lords just how fine a man Mahouishii Sephiroth had become.
(notes: 'Mahou + ishii' = 'magic stone,' aka Materia. Specifically it's a reference to Leviathan's summoning Materia. The Mahouishii clan has a long and semi-mythologized history that's tied very closely to the history/mythology of Leviathan.
'Haruhito' - 'Haru' means spring. 'Hito' .....means a lot of things, because Japanese, but in this context it just means 'man'.)
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(Anonymous) 2021-10-20 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)!!!!!!
LORD DAD THE BEST OF ALL DADS OMG YOU WROTE A THIIIIIIIIING
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(Anonymous) 2021-10-20 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)...I mean lets face it, Hojo was a low, low bar.
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