songerein | closed 🌠 safe and sound, alive under the stars

[He just glances at the snowcouple, shaking his head in mild disbelief.]

I'm a bit amazed they even came this far... Hopefully they don't try to come inside.

[Once at the door, he'll start to change from his skates to his boots, patting off the snow that had accumulated over them.]

I doubt they'll want to.

[They really, probably should not.

She'll give him the space he needs to take his skates off and change, all while blocking his path away from the door because no more funny business, mister!

But as soon as he's done, she's stepping right up into his space again and staring up at him, her eyes eager and sparking with some anticipation, but before they head in...]

... Hey, Eustace.

[Her voice is soft. So, so quiet against the wintery silence, her cheeks pink both from the intimacy that this calmness allows, and from the chill.]

Thank you again. This was fun.

[Even if she did get a bit impatient there at the end... but it was all just for play.]

Been a while since we've been able to do something like this.

[He's not going to run!!! He's ready to head inside to do that little surprise...and then see her surprise.

But just as he's about to reach towards the door to have them go inside, he stops when Tifa approaches...and smiles softly, hand now moving to take hers instead.]

...I'm glad. I know got a bit carried away there... [A small laugh as he shifts closer towards her.] But it's true it isn't often we get to do this.

[Just play around, have fun. Relax.]

Been so busy lately.

[Stepping even closer, pressing her body flush to his, seeking whatever warmth he can give her. She is still just wearing her dress after all, her discarded jacket still near that little flowerbed they made for themselves. She'll grab it later, she has other things on her mind right now.]

Let's make time to do this more often? Not even dates, just... this.

Mm...

[His eyes soften as he begins to brush his fingertips against her cheek, feeling the warmth of that flush.

And as he leans in, his touch firming to brush back against her hair, he stops when he feels something softer and wider that isn't her hair. Blinking, he pulls back just a bit so he can look and...

...

A quiet smile as he reaches over and pulls the flower from her hair, bringing it between them so she can see.]

This reminds me of something...

[Her eyes close when his fingers find her cheek, leaning into the exchange of heat between them, but...]

Hm?

[She feels something being pulled from her hair, just above her ear, and she opens them again just in time for the glow of the starflower to shimmer in her eyes as they follow it. They go wide in surprise because where did that come from—did he do that or did she?—but it quickly softens when she remembers...]

... Yeah?

[A memory that feels so long ago now, when really... it wasn't. It had been a December night just like this one, quiet and calm and so very peaceful. Of course, on the inside, it wasn't so. It had been a time of confusion, a time of unresolved feelings, but...

He had pulled a flower out of her hair just like this.

She brings her gaze up to meet his.]

I'm forgetting how that all ended, though...

[No. She remembers it so very well, but she'd rather remember this one instead.]

Well...

[He remembers it, too. How he had leaned in just like he did before, an unknown temptation that had drawn him closer to her. A temptation that almost resulted in something he wouldn't have been prepared for at the time, but after he left... Hit him like a bolt from the blue. Made him realize the feelings that had been secretly growing and became so large he didn't know what to do at first. It had been both exhilarating and terrifying, an unknown he didn't know how to deal with.

But now...

With eyes so soft and filled with love, he leans in closer, closing that distance between them.]

I can do what I wanted to back then now.

[A soft, quiet whisper before his lips takes hers, the kiss soft, sweet, but no less passionate than the others as his arm wraps around her waist to pull her closer to him.]

[It's like time stops the moment he leans in and kisses her. As if the snow has stopped falling, the world's stopped turning, and she's sure that her heart had nearly stopped in her chest too, if it weren't for that breath of him that she takes before she melts into the kiss, yielding to his lips.

Her hand finds his, fingertips brushing over the back of it before they touch the starflower, the petals so velvety, soft, and warm...

She falls into him easily enough, and her other hand tightens around his, a silent promise that she will not ever let go as she feels his ring pressing into her finger.

And when she parts for air, their warm breaths turning to clouds in the small space between their lips, she smiles.]

... Is that really what you wanted to do back then?

[His own hand squeezes hers before he breaths a small sigh.]

...Yes, though I wasn't thinking of it at the time. More of an...impulse.

[He gazes down at her, eyes deep with those emotions as he briefly thinks back.]

It was only after I parted did I realize then that I had feelings for you.

Edited 2023-12-16 06:45 (UTC)

Mm...

[Her lashes flutter up at him under the weight of those emotions. She'd been so clueless then, so caught up in her own feelings at the time that she didn't even now how he'd felt. How much she wished so, so bad that he would have leaned in to kiss her, but then regretting even thinking it for a second. She'd been so presumptuous back then, and a little bit selfish for wanting more than what he could give...

But now...]

You don't have to worry about it anymore. [A pause, and she presses up further to him.] And... I think you should do it again.

[There's a quiet laugh as he smiles against her lips.]

I think you're right.

[And in the next breath, he kisses her once more, this one a little deeper and a little longer, his hand cupping her cheek as he pulls her in even closer. As close as they can for this moment.

And around them, starflowers will bloom over the tree, the ones in the branches seeming to shimmer under the moonlight.]

[Closer, still, as her body gives a small shudder in response... if such a thing were even possible, but he finds a way. She would meld right into him if she could, give him her whole soul. Alas, this is all that they can do for now, but it's good enough. It always is with him.

Her fingers curl around that flower in his hand, and mid-kiss, she pulls the stem of it gently from between them so that she can hold it instead.

She remains oblivious to the world around them, but she swears he looks just a little more ethereal right now as she lets her eyes flutter open to gaze into his again.]

... Think I wanna keep this one.

[He just gives her another kiss, remembering the flower he still he has in that box where he keeps various little mementos of their time together.]

You should. ...I still have the other one.

[She twirls it between them, accepting the kiss and then stealing another, soft and quick but still lingering even after her lips are gone from his, though never far.]

I know.

[She remembers the day that he showed it to her, too. Told her about what happened that night. And, in some ways, a part of her always had a feeling that there had been something, but she could never figure it out. Not until then.]

We can put it with the other one?

[She nuzzles her nose against his.]

Mm...sure.

[And he is so, so tempted to kiss her here. To just continue where they left off earlier right here. But after taking in her breath, he looks at her.]

...We should take it inside. Keep it somewhere safe.

I think so, too. It's getting a little cold again.

[A complete lie. Nothing more than just an excuse to get her through that door and into his arms where she can wrap herself up in his warmth more properly. The air around them is actually quite cozy, her joy keeping the heat buzzing gently, enough that it tingles on her skin but isn't too overwhelming.

Comfortable.

And, without any warning whatsoever, she wraps her arms around his shoulders and leaps up, expecting and trusting that he will catch her.]

[A laugh as he does indeed catch her, holding her close as he steals a nuzzle, breathing in her scent and taking in her warmth.]

Hmm, carrying you over the threshold like this.

[A look up at the tree before he opens the door.]

Seems fitting for our anniversary.

I thought so. We did get married here, after all.

[She holds on tight, kicking the door with her feet just a little to open it further to allow them through. The house itself is cooler, but the warmth seeps in fairly quickly. And with a single wave of her hand, the hearth lights up with a fire, burning bright and hot already as he carries her inside.

... And as she kisses him again before whispering against his lips.]

So. What's this next surprise you've got for me? ... Or do you wanna see yours first?

[A quiet laugh against her lips as he keeps his hold on her.]

Better if I show you mine first or we may never get to it.

[And with her still in his arms he walks up towards the stairs.]

Mm. You're right. Wouldn't wanna spoil it.

[She really does have half a mind to just ignore all the surprises, the anticipation of the entire night leading them here all abuzz as it follows them up the stairs. And he really is going to carry her all the way up in his arms, is he?

She holds on, her face buried into the crook of his neck, and as they arrive on the landing of the top floor, she slips off her heels and kicks her feet, giggling quietly with excitement.

She really has no idea what it could be, but there's a heat that settles and twists in her belly as they near the room. Their room that they had made for themselves here when they spent more time at this tree.]

[...Except they won't enter the door that still remains closed. Instead he walls past it down the narrow hall towards the back of the tree where another door is. It's one she likely has never been to before given there had never been a need nor enough time spent here for her to. Not to mention it looks like a closet door.

But when he sets her down in front of it before he opens to reveal another set of stairs that spiral upwards. As he steps inside and presses his hand against a square sigil in the side of the tree wall to activate the dim lights inside, he looks at her.]

It's a bit narrow, but follow me.

[She does lament a little when he takes her away from the bedroom, and then again when he sets her down on her feet, and maybe she should have kept her shoes on for this, as she glances back to where they had clattered to the floor down the hall.

She follows him, curious as to where this door might lead. It's true, she's never been through here before—never had a reason to. And she wouldn't have known about the sigil even if she had opened this door, so when he leads her through, she has to stop a moment to stare, the lights twinkling in her big eyes as she looks up, around, and then at him, head canting with a silent question before she walks after him.]

... I had no idea this was here.

[Fortunately the steps are smooth, so it won't be too rough her. And the steps are uneven and steep in some places, so it's probably better she was barefoot.]

The magic in this tree has it so even if you see the door, anyone not a guardian will ignore it. That's because...

[When they reach a landing, with more stairs still continuing up, there is a small, shuttered window that he opens for her to see out.]

This is like a sentry tower to help keep watch.

[Tifa is careful and light on her feet as she ascends with him, making sure not to trip on any of the uneven steps as they go, and it's only once they reach the top and he opens the window does she remember—]

This was where you were... That time I found you here, isn't it?

[She moves to the window, looking down, and then out, seeing the snowcouple still sliding along the ice holding their little twig hands together, and once again, she finds herself wondering what it is he could even have planned for this because surely that wasn't the surprise, was it? Especially given how that meeting had started...]

Mm.

[Just a quiet hum as he continues to gaze out before he closes the window, the tree automatically sealing it shut before he continues upward.]

The guardian is supposed to protect the tree and its wards... And this is where they keep watch.

[And for Eustace, be able to snipe from above while remaining hidden and obscured by tree's large branches. Even though it happened what feels like forever ago, he can still remember it so clearly...

But he continues up, higher and higher.]

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