Tags and trigger warnings: Emetophilia, vomiting, sickfic, mild hurt comfort.

Summary: In which while out with Zack, Sephiroth comes to the realization that he is sick.

Posted to Ao3: November 24th 2021

______________________________________________________________________________

"We still have a bunch of stuff to get," Zack murmured as he stared at the list in his hand. From where he's leaning back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed Sephiroth merely gives a soft hum.

It is a struggle for him to maintain his usual composure when he feels as awful as he does right now. It's incredibly warm at the moment, leaving him feeling as though he were boiling inside his own skin, his clothes beginning to stick to his skin from the light sheen of sweat coating it, almost smothering him.

His stomach is killing him, practically in knots, a sharp ache streaking across his stomach every few moments or so. There was a strange heaviness settled in his stomach, almost exacerbating the ache, as if his breakfast from earlier was sitting in his stomach like a rock refusing to digest.

It's violently churning, the contents of his stomach practically sloshing inside of him as wave after wave of dizzying nausea and it takes everything he has to suppress the nauseated hiccup that tries to leave his mouth.

Opening his eyes slightly Sephiroth takes a deep breath, in an effort to calm his upset stomach. He has no clue what was wrong with him at the moment but his mind pointed to either food poisoning or a case of the flu, neither of which he'd be surprised by truthfully.

His joints ached and felt weighted down entirely different compared to the normal soreness he experienced after a rigorous training session. He swallows thickly in an effort to clear the saliva rapidly flooding his mouth, it feels strangely heavy on his tongue, and tastes almost sour which only turns his stomach further.

Sephiroth's stomach makes a loud, harsh growling noise, a deep ache punching him in the gut and causing him to grit his teeth slightly. This was starting to become more and more irritating, having evolved from a nuisance into an actual problem the longer he stood here.

For once he wanted nothing more than to lay down in bed if only for a moment, but he also knew that, that wouldn't fix the issue considering he was sick, not just tired or exhausted. He looks up wondering briefly if he should just go to the bathroom and try to throw up, but knows that while it would temporarily ease his nausea if only for a moment it wouldn't do much.

He notices Zack staring at him looking slightly shocked and he meets the man's eyes. "What is it?" Sephiroth asked, blinking slowly, almost lazily.

Zack shakes his head, looking a bit flustered to have been caught staring. "Ah, n-nothing. Just you sounded hungry," Zack murmured looking away briefly.

Sephiroth was always pale but under the lights of the store Zack can't help but think he looks even paler somehow, his normally sharp almost piercing turquoise eyes seemed glazed over hazy and unfocused.

Sephiroth simply stares at Zack for a moment with a scowl, then looks up towards the nearby clock on the wall of the shop. It's been quite a few hours since Sephiroth had eaten anything, it was lunchtime now in fact, and yet his stomach was still heavy, feeling incredibly full from breakfast. The thought of trying to put anything else inside of it at the moment has him briefly closing his eyes as his stomach seems to flip inside of him, a loud, wet gurgling noise coming from it as his nausea seems to skyrocket.

Swallowing rapidly Sephiroth opens his eyes once more and sighs softly. "There are still a few things we need to retrieve from the list, afterwards we'll find something to eat," he murmured.

Zack chuckles, not surprised, and gives him a smile. "Right, right. We better get on that, I'm starving," he said cheerfully although he does briefly look up from the list when he thinks he hears Sephiroth give a small snort.

But when Zack looks at him, his expression is as neutral as usual.

~~~

"Is...that all you wanted?" Zack asked as he looked across the table to where Sephiroth sat. They'd stopped at a random cafe that Zack often visited in the few moments he had free time and could get away from the hustle of everything.

While there were quite a few people outside at the cafe around them, they thankfully seemed to be minding their own business, allowing the two men to enjoy their meal in peace.

While Zack had gotten some food it seemed that Sephiroth had only wanted some tea.

"This will suffice," Sephiroth sighed as he picked up the small cup of tea.

Zack gave a shrug. "If you're sure that's enough," he chuckled before picking up his fork. As he begins eating he sneaks the occasional glance at Sephiroth, noticing how he pauses, closing his eyes, the smallest grimace of pain flashing across his face. If Zack hadn't been watching he wouldn't have even noticed.

It is then that Zack notices a few other things, Sephiroth's hand that gripped the teacup had the slightest of tremor to it and now that they were outside he could also see the fine sheen of sweat dotting his face. They're all rather small details and if Zack hadn't been sitting so close and didn't know Sephiroth as well as he did he may not have noticed.

Zack opens his mouth to say something but freezes his eyes going a bit wide when Sephiroth's stomach makes a harsh, sickly growling noise as if snarling at him.

"That...was your stomach wasn't it?" Zack asked, making sure to keep his voice low so that no one else would hear him.

Sephiroth said nothing, not even acknowledging Zack as he brought the cup of tea back to his lips once more and it takes everything in him not to gag as the almost sickly sweet scent fills his nose. That is his first clue that he should probably stop while he's ahead.

His second clue is a lot more direct. The moment he takes a sip of his tea the sickly sweet taste coats his tongue, Sephiroth had often drank this tea in the past it normally had a soothing yet subtle sweet taste. This time however when Sephiroth drinks it, it feels as if he's drank pure sugar, it is a struggle to force himself to swallow.

The liquid dripping down the back of his throat like syrup as he slowly puts the teacup down.

A few things happen in the next few seconds, a low sickly growl comes from Sephiroth's stomach and his entire body goes incredibly still. Zack sees Sephiroth's eyes widen ever so slightly as the little color left in his face seems to drain away, if Sephiroth didn't look literal seconds away from throwing up all over the table Zack may have joked that he looked like a mildly startled cat.

Zack gets to his feet glancing around to make sure no prying eyes were looking their way as he walks over to Sephiroth's side of the table. Just as Zack reaches his side, Sephiroth's body jolts slightly and he makes a soft strangled gasp as a low gurgling noise comes from his throat. Sephiroth's eyes widen even more as he quickly places his hand over his mouth, pressing his lips into a thin line as the almost rancidly sour contents of his stomach fills his mouth in an instant.

"Hey, can you stand up?" Zack asked him quickly, his voice low and a scowl on his face. Zack glanced around briefly at the nearby people milling about but no one seemed to be noticing them yet, which meant they needed to move fast because he really doubted that Sephiroth would want all these people to see him in such a humiliating state.

Sephiroth is quiet, his form still as he takes careful shuddering breaths in through his nose. Then he slowly nods.

"Okay," Zack muttered to himself, nodding. Good, this was good. Zack's eyes darted up the road to the nearby alley leading to the back door of the cafe, he could take Sephiroth there at least then he'd be away from all the prying eyes while he was being sick. "Come with me," Zack told him softly.

Sephiroth shakily lowers his hand from his mouth and slowly gets to his feet his head lowered, his long hair almost shielding his face as his body jolts again, although this time more noticeably, with a barely suppressed heave, that sharp pain twisting violently at his stomach as it forces more of its contents into his mouth.

Zack begins leading him towards the alley, stopping when Sephiroth suddenly stopped walking, making Zack look back at him with wide eyes. Sephiroth is just standing there, his head bowed slightly and his eyes closed, his hand curled into a fist at his side shaking slightly.

Seeing his shoulders shake with another suppressed heave Zack grabs his arm and begins halfway leading halfway dragging him into the alley, just as Sephiroth stumbles forward slightly his body lurching forward with a loud gurgling retch, his eye snapping wide open. He reflexively covers his mouth with his hand as if trying to stop the thick surge of pale and green vomit that pours from his lips.

His attempts do little to stop it however the lumpy wet oatmeal-like slurry coating his hand, dripping through the cracks in his fingers as it splatters onto the concrete.

Stunned Zack can only watch for a second or two as he wetly coughs, each one ending on an unproductive gag that has threads of drool dripping from his mouth and tears gathering in his eyes from the force. Shaking away his shock Zack grabs Sephiroth's arm once more doing his best to ignore the loud, wet rumbling burp that leaves his mouth followed by another surge of thick lumpy vomit, the mess almost congealing into a small pile as it splatters heavily on the floor.

And Zack can't help but cringe slightly when he can clearly make out what the other man had more than likely eaten for breakfast. "Okay, okay, here lean against this," Zack told him as he guided him to one of the nearby brick alley walls.

Sephiroth grimaces as he places one hand out to steady himself, pain streaking across his stomach as his head pounds in time with his heartbeat, the once pleasant sunlight feeling as if it were stabbing him in the eye.

He feels Zack gathering his hair back away from his face as he opens his mouth allowing the threads of drool to drip from his lips and onto the pavement. As much as he hates being so unsightly in such a public place like this his body clearly wasn't giving him any option in the matter, so he figured it was best to just get it over with and at least empty himself out so that he could avoid further humiliation.

Honestly, he isn't sure if it's the fever or his shame that's making his face feel warm but he does know one thing he really, really doesn't feel like going to see Hojo to get looked at today.

Even though his mouth is open in anticipation Sephiroth still isn't prepared for the violent, guttural, gurgling retch that tears its way from his throat making him lurch forward. The noise sounds as if it's clawing its way from the very pit of his stomach bringing with it a near fountain of that same thick lumpy vomit pouring from his mouth.

Zack can't help but stare with an almost morbid curiosity, he's never seen Sephiroth in a state like this, his eyes squeezed shut, tears gathering on his lashes and rolling down his pale face, and when Sephiroth briefly opens his eyes only to close them again Zack sees that they're glassy with tears. His face pinched in what seemed to be pain as vomit continued to pour out of him not even giving him the chance to breathe.

"There, you go get it all up," Zack said with a soft almost awkward chuckle as gently rubbed his back with his free hand, his other hand still holding his hair away from his face. Although Zack pauses for a moment a scowl on his face as he notices something he didn't notice before in his panic, the heat practically rolling off of Sephiroth's skin which clearly pointed to a fever.

Gasping and coughing Sephiroth takes deep almost greedy breaths of air in between the hiccups still bubbling out of his mouth. There is an enormous puddle of vomit at his feet, but Sephiroth tries his damndest to ignore it as closes his eyes for a moment, shaking his head slightly as he wipes his mouth with his clean hand, severing the threads of drool from his lips.

With a loud sigh, he leans forward resting his forehead against the cool brick of the wall. He's sure it's absolutely filthy but considering his body felt as though it was trying to kill him he could care less right now.

"You still don't look too good. Are you alright?" Zack asked hesitantly as he released Sephiroth's hair allowing the long silver strands to spill down his back once more. After the incident with Angeal and Genesis, he'd established a friendship of sorts with the man still there were times where he felt a bit uneasy.

Sephiroth gave a soft hum and sighed again. "Ah yes, I noticed."

Zack gives a soft snort feeling a bit more relieved. "Well, at least you're feeling well enough to make jokes. Did you just start feeling sick or..."

Sephiroth shakes his head slowly taking a deep breath, while the nausea has eased up ever so slightly and that heaviness is gone there is now a hollowness to accompany the ache still settled in his gut. His head is killing him and he can't remember a time in recent memory he was ever exhausted as this. "Food poisoning or the flu I believe," he muttered, taking deep breaths.

There is a disgusting rancid and bitter taste of bile coating his mouth which is incredibly unpleasant. Wiping his mouth again Sephiroth steps back and turns to Zack.

"Do you need any water or anything, the cafe is right there after all?" Zack asked him with a slight smile as he glanced toward the mouth of the alleyway.

"Thank you for the offer but I would prefer to simply leave if possible," Sephiroth murmured, and although his expression is relatively neutral Zack can tell he's clearly exhausted.

"To go to Dr. Hojo?" Zack asked, figuring he should probably get looked at considering how sick he seemed.

Sephiroth closes his eyes for a moment and shakes his head before opening them. "Considering we've retrieved what we needed to, I'd prefer not to stay here longer than we need to." While Sephiroth is well aware that Zack is simply concerned about his well-being he'd prefer to put this unpleasant incident behind him as soon as possible and simply get some rest.