closed 🌠 follow the arrow that points to your heart.

[starshower]

Who: Tifa Lockhart & others.
Which: Closed.
Where: Home, the Starflower Cafe, around town.
What: Catch-all for November.
Warnings: N/A at the moment, will update if any come up.

Comments

⚡ eustace.

[starshower]

[Tifa can't recall the last time—if there had been any—when she had woken up so overheated in bed. Sure, the month so far has been a crazy one, with giant pumpkins terrorizing their home and their café, and then a doggy date out at the park with the dog population of Reverein. In her sleepy stupor, she wonders if it's all finally caught up to her and perhaps her dreamotion had gone haywire in the middle of a dream, but as soon as she rolls over for her morning cuddle and she realizes what it is that's making it so hot under the covers, she is the first to bolt upright in the bed.

Her hand shoots to Eustace's sweat-sheened forehead, but it isn't the temperature that sets her off. It's the way that he has leaves in his hair? Or that some of his hair has turned to leaves!?]

What? Eustace?

[It's so fast, that panic immediately spiking, that the dogs all lift their heads from their spots on the bed and the floor, whining and barking quietly at her that something is wrong with dad!! Something very, very wrong.

A fever of some kind? Only he's never been sick, and let's not talk about the way the leaf crinkles like it's real when she reaches out to touch it... making that spark of panic set in, unsettling her stomach.]

You're burning up, too.

[She mutters it under her breath and tries to at least shake him into some form of awareness, gently. If it weren't for the leaves, she may have left him to rest, but—]

Wake up.

[flamekthunder]

[It takes a bit, but eventually Eustace groans a little as he rolls onto his side.]

...Five more minutes...

[A rough, sleepy grumble as his brows furrow and a cough follows. Why does he feel so...tired? And his body is aching...and hot...

For now, he's still stuck in-between that state of sleep and awake, feeling as if a weight was smothering him.]

[starshower]

[Honestly? It's already a little strange to see him so... she doesn't even have a word for it, it's so odd, and Tifa's own brows furrow in response to his before she's leaning in, pressing a kiss to the side of his head, and asking:]

Do you wanna explain to me why you have leaves for hair?

[That should hopefully do the trick!?]

[flamekthunder]

Leaves...

[...Nope.

Just another sleepy mumble before he seems to doze off.]

[starshower]

[...

....

She doesn't say anything else, so instead...

.......

She's going to try and pluck one of the leaves from his hair, only to discover that it is, indeed, fastened right in there as if it was a part of him rather than simply being stuck—]

Ah... shoot.

🗝️ sora.

[starshower]

[Well. These pumpkins certainly are... something. The last thing that she expected when she showed up to the café that morning was to find pumpkins the size of cars sitting in the middle of the room with all the animals surrounding them, confused and rightfully worried for their home. There are these giant orange gourds in the center of it all, and no explanation for them? She would be terrified, too. Never mind that Mirabelle greets her in a panic immediately, as soon as she opens the door.

And it only gets worse from there. Worse and worse and worse until the pumpkins completely block the front door of the café, and when she hears a jingle of the bell—]

Sorry, we're, uh... closed?

[Except they're not? She just doesn't know how anyone is supposed to squeeze through to get inside... Poor Sora, greeted by a pumpkin and not the happy, excited faces of the dogs.]

[oathkeeper]

Holy crap, what the heck happened here?!

[When Sora comes across the café he is not expecting to see giant pumpkins that have basically blasted their way through the walls. He was here only yesterday so he has no idea how these pumpkins got here and how they got so big seemingly overnight. The poor café?!]

Tifa?! Are you okay in there!?

[Have Sora bouncing up and down as he tries to get a glimpse of her from over the top of the massive pumpkin blocking his way.]

[starshower]

Sora?

[Tifa's voice comes from the other side of the pumpkin, as do a couple of loud, helpless barks.]

I, uh... remember when we picked out those pumpkins from the patch?

[There's a loud CRACK as the stem of one starts to grow, and Tifa yelps out loud.]

[oathkeeper]

Ahhh?! Oh- What the!

[Sora watches in shock as the stem starts to grow wildly out of control!]

Uh, yeah! But how did they start growing this big?! We've got to do something about this before the entire café is one big pumpkin?!

[And that means Sora's summoning his keyblade because he has every intention of cutting this thing down to size!]

Stand back, Tifa! I think I can cut it up!

[starshower]

Careful—!

[Because there's another sudden, thundering crack that startles the dogs and the birds hovering over the giant pumpkin, and a new stem starts to curl and coil and spread down towards Sora at a pace that should never be natural for anything to grow at. At the end of it, there is already the beginnings of the pumpkin spreading.

Almost like it's trying to protect itself.]

🌼 aerith.

[starshower]

[It's like she gets rid of one, only to have two more of these massive pumpkins show up, and now that it's been a couple of days, they have now moved from the main part of the café into the kitchen, making it nearly impossible for her to get any work done. Impossible enough that she has turned the Starflower into nothing more than a coffee shop, at least until they manage this problem... if anyone can even get into the building.]

It's almost like they've learned...

[She mutters to herself in the kitchen as she watches from a distance as another one sprouts out of nowhere on the ground outside the café's front door before turning to sigh at Aerith.]

One step forward, two steps back... Never thought I'd be defeated by a bunch of pumpkins.

[inheritedearth]

[This whole thing has really gotten out of hand! Aerith heaves a sigh of her own as she joins Tifa in the kitchen, bracing her hands against her hips as she shakes her head, shooting a glare at the very pumpkin that had just popped up out front.]

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I've never wanted to see a plant stop growing before. This is ridiculous!

[There has to be something they can do about it.]

You can't give up— you're not defeated yet! There's two of us, right? They may have us beaten by the numbers, but if we put our heads together, we have to be able to come up with something.

[starshower]

The least they could do is keep to the gardens...

[It's mumbled as she runs a hand over her face and heads back into the kitchens as if she'd be free of them there, but no. There it is, that giant pumpkin in all its glory sitting right in the center. It stands taller than she does and even dwarfs Eustace...

And a couple of the corgis—Briallen, Aerona, and Melody—stand at it, all three of them sniffing and whining.]

Like what? Every time I get rid of one, more just show up in its place. Payback for serving nothing but pumpkin for the last week, you think?

[That last part is tacked on as a bit of a dry joke.]

[inheritedearth]

We could think of it extra supplies!

[They've already been serving plenty of pumpkin, and maybe people are going to get tired of it, but they have to do something with all of these! She frowns, pressing her lips together for a moment.]

I tried giving the pumpkins a talking-to, but they're very stubborn.

[Does she mean that literally? Probably.]

You know what would make you feel better, Tifa? Smashing a few of them!

[starshower]

[Tifa definitely thinks she means that literally. Mirabelle certainly had a few choice words to say to the pumpkins when they first showed up, only for one of its stems to come out and whip at her. Since then, she refuses to go anywhere near them, claiming that they are out to get her.

Which leaves them to take care of these enormous gourds... a shame, because if anyone could control them, it would be the resident fairy.

But when Aerith　suggests that—]

Smashing them?

[Ah, shoot. What if they heard her!? She pauses, staring at the giant in the kitchen, waiting for it to strike, but... nothing.]

Won't that just make them angrier?

💙 lyria.

[starshower]

[Well. Put down "riding a cloud" on the list of things Tifa did not expect to do today—or things that she would attempt to do. She'd heard rumours about it and thought, why not check it out with Lyria? These little clouds have been popping up around town lately in the form of fog thanks to the cooling weather, little bouts of them here and there but never big enough for them to be a problem... but trying to actually figure out how to ride one?

They stand outside the door of their house while Eustace is asleep, recovering from his cold, Tifa having rushed Lyria out when she had seen some rolling in.]

So now we just... have to figure out how to get on it.

[Reaching out, she touches said cloud, large enough to fit the both of them, as it drifts by, but her hand goes right through it just as she expects it to.]

[azuresong]

[ As strange as "riding clouds" sounded, Lyria seemed packed with eagerness to even attempt the feat. She shifts in place, watching the low clouds roll by with a twinkle of enthusiasm in her eyes before redirecting said enthusiasm to Tifa. ]

I've never ridden one before... but being on an airship made me feel like I was!

[ She'll try to touch one too when she stands on her tip toes, her arms streeeetching and wiggling her fingertips to feel the airy sensation. ]

Maybe we have to make it solid? Like cotton candy? Oh! [ Lyria pauses, ideas rolling from her mind straight to her lips. ] Or we could make ourselves weightless!

[starshower]

How do we do that, I wonder?

[Lyria's enthusiasm is infectious, so it works to dispel some of the wariness and doubt in Tifa's expression, replacing it with a warm and curious smile. Even a little whimsical because how often is it that anyone gets to float around on a little cloud?

She waits for one to approach a little closer, and she carefully hops up onto the railing of the balcony, swinging her legs over and giving it a very tentative poke with her foot, and—]

Oh!

[Rather than go through, the cloud gives a little wiggle from the bump and starts floating the other way.]

[azuresong]

[ Lyria is always in awe of Tifa's abilities. Whether it was cooking or something more physical, her eyes watch her swing easily up on the balcony and... ]

Ah!! It... it didn't go through! [ THAT WAS AMAZING? ]

Does that mean it's solid? Can you get on top of it!?

[starshower]

I have no idea how I did that...

[She's staring at the cloud in complete disbelief, too. Maybe it was just a matter of... getting close? Showing the cloud their intention? She doesn't know.

Glancing back at Lyria, Tifa reaches out her hand to her.]

Only one way to find out.

🐝 vanitas.

[starshower]

[All the types that she could have picked, and Tifa goes straight for the ice for several reasons that will remain unsaid as they make their way to the freezing lake in the lands just outside of Reverein. With the weather cooling down, the outskirts of town are cool enough that she's confident they'll at least find something, and they won't have to go very far to find them. At least, if not the ice, then she hopes to find some nice blue water bugs...?]

Been a while since I've been out here...

[Tifa remembers this lake well, as they come up to it, she pauses, shivers, and looks around.]

First time I was here, I was attacked by those little... gumdrop things...

[darkcharge]

[ Vanitas isn't opposed to going out with Tifa. She's strong and dependable. Vanitas doesn't feel the need to be constantly watching what she is doing. So while he doesn't really have any interest in being out here, hunting down whatever - as he didn't fully pay attention to what she was saying of course - there are far worse ways of spending a day. ]

You mean the ones that make you want to be all affectionate with someone?

[starshower]

[Well, there are a few reasons that she invited Vanitas out here—reasons she won't say until later lest he shy away from them, so she's just thankful that he's come out at all.]

So you know of them?

[darkcharge]

It would be hard not to, considering how long some of us have been here.

[ Several years for Vanitas now. He also remembers them being pesky things. ]

[starshower]

[Of course he has. What a silly question that was.]

Well, let's hope there's no falling through the ice today.

[She just skirts around it like it's nothing and proceeds to kick her foot against the bank of the lake, and though it is iced over, it doesn't look iced over enough to be safe to walk on.]

Looks like we'll have to go around, but there should be some lurking. Could even crack some of the ice and see what we find?