brainstorming: TAM

hey what's up gamers i am SUPER back on my bullshit and this time it's even MORE NICHE

so we're going to take the think about me universe, and we're going to come up with a scenario that doesn't really fit anywhere in the timeline and we're going to create some borderline gay SOLDIER bonding. we're doing some ACGSZ up in this joint and we're doing it right

so i remember a year or two ago watching this video about various drugs you could make at home, and the one that intrigued me the most was this shroom drink type deal…it apparently tastes like liquid bread but envokes a mellow feeling and makes you feel super bondy with whomever you're with. SO, GIMME MY BULLETS

• this takes place sometime between when cloud and zack get together, but before pretty much everything else. if only we had more time basically
• (why'd i crunch the TAM timeline so much?? i could've stretched it a little bit but anyway)
• the five are coming back from some training patrol, except a huge blizzard is sweeping in, and they've closed up the plate so zack and cloud can't get home. they stay the night at sephiroth's (since he has the extra bedroom) but the next day the blizzard hasn't let up, so they're all snowed in
• zack has to call aerith all "i'm sorry baby i have to stay here with these weirdos, i'll be home as soon as i can. call these numbers if you need me" and she's all "okaayyy i'll be lonely and i'll miss youuu but i'll live"
• gen calls them all over to his place with a shitty look and is like "I know exactly what we're doing today"
• angeal immediately says "no" before anything else can be explained and gen is like i promise it has nothing to do with weed
• as he holds up a bag of mushrooms and a shopping bag of mystery goods
• sephiroth is immediately a little on guard as he's the only one who's done psychedelics with gen and it wasn't the best trip? 
• gen says it's something new he read about and he thinks that they can all have a good time with it, and this intention alone is what allows angeal to let him continue to the kitchen and make whatever he's making
• he brings out mugs of the stuff--cloud is nervous but curious, zack is also apprehensive, sephiroth and angeal are more resigned to their fates

so basically once the stuff kicks in it ends up being a big touchy group hang out, and everyone lets their guard down. by a whole lot. and i mean a WHOLE lot. cloud's much less inhibited and more chill (most of his anxiety is gone? miracles exist). zack doesn't seem to be too different but he's a lot more relaxed around everyone, and everyone is the key word here. gen is his usual high self--meaning he runs his mouth more and is a little sillier. sephiroth doesn't seem too different at first, but his guard is down too. and he just goes with things that normally he would flat out refuse. angeal has a similar reaction to zack, but he'll also just go with the flow more and is less exasperated

• everyone takes turns trying to braid sephiroth's hair. gen is trying to coach zack, but he's not that good at it himself. they all comment on how well kept it is, and sephiroth basks in the attention. scratching the top of his head makes him content, and he's coaxed into purring like a cat
• gen and cloud get close on the couch, and gen just sorta goes on about something technical (poetry, music, loveless, whatever) and cloud is a good listener. but sephiroth comes over and says "hey. don't talk to him like that." and gen's like hey what the fuck and seph just pouts and goes "you only talk to me like that" (WHICH IS TRUE AND GAY). gen pats the other side of him and just continues to go on
• zack uses angeal as a pillow a lot. cloud uses zack as a pillow a lot
• they just open up about odd stuff?
• they ask cloud what his biggest dream is ("you've done SOLDIER, that's old lhat now. what's next dude") and he just blurts "what if i became a model" and they all go with it. gen gets out his makeup kit, because "what kind of queer twink would i be if i didn't have a makeup box". except he can't do it very well. sephiroth has to help
• it still doesn't come out great but they laugh it off. angeal helps cloud wash his face
• they test their strengths by picking each other up (angeal and seph are the strongest, as they can carry zack and genesis at the same time)
• like they all kind of just hang out close to each other, in ways that they normally wouldn't
• cloud hugs angeal at one point and just won't let go. so zack hugs him too as if that'll solve anything
• gen decides tehy should jam, although it ends up being an abstract thing between him and seph
• cloud starts making food and one by one everyone comes in to try and help by touching and ghosting in the most useless and gay way possible. sephiroth starts surprisingly, then zack comes in, then angeal comes in, and then it's too many cooks in the kitchen
• (gen does not help. he really can't cook)

ther'es so much more i could go on with here, just with little conversations and cuddling and stuff but you get the idea

a couple more things that are more momentum based

• toward the end of the night when people start falling asleep, ange and gen are the last ones awake. gen's basically like "hey we're both high, why don't you kiss me again. please" and angeal has to really think about it long and hard but it's hard to think long and hard when you feel so warm and fluffy, and so they kiss. just a little. and it makes gen happy and fall asleep. and angeal loves his friend even though his friend is hopelessly in love with him. but he gives him this one small favor
• everyone kinda falls asleep on the couch, but in the middle of they night they all end up migrating somewhere. seph, gen, and cloud end up on the bed. zack and angeal stay on the couch, until zack's long puppy limbs are too much to deal with, so angeal takes gen's throne, i mean, his beanbag chair. another swap happens when angeal gets water and cloud goes to the bathroom. cloud gravitates to zack, letting angeal get int he bed with seph and gen
• in the morning, gen is the first up and playing with his bass. zack is up next and offers to make breakfast. they're sober, but mellow
• the snow eased up significantly overnight, so zack's all "after breakfast we'll go home"
• the thing is the party disperses kinda anti-climactically, as these things tend to happen in real life
• seph slinks out almost unnoticed--gen notices, but lets him go. this is status quo
• when angeal wakes up he excuses himself and heads upstairs
• so it's just cloud zack and gen eating toast and eggs in silence (cloud's attached to zack's hip) while listening to morning radio
• and then they just. leave

and yeah they don't really talk about it much! but it did make them closer, and the next time the band has rehearsal, they're all a little more in sync with each other in a natural sort of way. bonding

and later, after the events of everything, zack and gen are on duty somewhere and zack just up and says "hey remember that time when that blizzard hit and we just stayed at your place and got high? that wasn't too bad" and gen's like "yeah…it wasn't, was it?" like even though they were way more touchy and closer than they could be sober, they all still appreciated the experience together. so…it good

it's WAY LATE and i gotta sleep but that's what i got for you, hopefully i can make good on it!