[OPEN] A time for celebration!

[theheroics]

Who: Aerith, the cast, and all of her CR!
Which: Open Party Log
Where: The Starflower Sanctuary and Café (with permission by the courteous Tifa)
What: It's Aerith's birthday, so it's time to celebrate!
Warnings: General shenanigans


Despite how bustling The Starflower is on any normal given day, this day in particular seems a little bit more lively.

With general contribution to various vendors and pulling some strings here and there, the cafe has now blossomed into a flower wonderland!



Each guest is greeted with their very own paper flower upon arrival, small enough to be worn as a hair accessory or pinned somewhere on your clothing. (Though some may already be crumbled when received- they were done by hand, after all!) Once equipped, the flower is known to give off a feeling of happiness or light heartedness.

There is also a cake seated at the center of the room, surrounded by all different types of delicacies- both from more heartier meals to a light snack! All are free to mingle, eat, drink, and shower the birthday girl in gifts! However, if you're looking for a little something more to do, look no further than the stations set up on either side of the room for your enjoyment:

Posterboard Doodles 🎨
Sitting against one of the empty tables is a blank canvas in need of your words! Use the brightly colored markers and crayons available to write a heartfelt message, draw, or whatever you like! Leave no space unmarked!

Materia Cornhole (!?)
Is that... actual materia? Don't ask too many questions, just enjoy a friendly competition! (Note: being inebriated has shown to provide better results.)

Party Animals 🐶
You thought you'd come into this café and not get swarmed with animals? The furry friends of this fine establishment have risen to occasion with their festive gear to play alongside all the party goers!

But be warned, just because a party is going on inside, doesn't mean the troubles from the outside can't creep in...! Love is in the air, after all! ❤️

Comments

[ambitiousblond]

[Rufus and the nearest corgi share a look before looking back at her. He gives the corgi one last scratch behind the ears as he straightens up once more to look at her, not bothering to dust any of the dog hair which had gotten on his clothes.]

I think they figured out I can never resist a pretty face. [He had never been able to resist Dark Nation's puppy eyes and he hadn't been able to resist the corgies who were now gathered around him.]

I hope you forgive me for crashing for a bit but while I'm here I have a feeling there are some things you wanted to ask me last time we ran into each other.

[starshower]

... Yeah, while we're not getting chased by an axe-wielding skeleton. Or on Shinra's rooftop.

[She doesn't mean for her voice to come out with such a sharp edge to it, but... could anyone really blame her? Rufus Shinra, the new president and enemy number two was petting her dogs. Rufus Shinra is standing in her café.

Who is... apologizing to her for even being here.

Her arms unfold themselves and drop to her sides, and she huffs out a sharp sigh, only some of that tension leaving her.]

I don't even know where to start...

[ambitiousblond]

We can start with a drink and go from there.

[The questions he's sure that she has for him aren't going to be easy to answer so wine was probably the best way to start the conversation.

He goes over to the table, looking back at her as he spots two bottles of wine, picking up two glasses for them.]

Red or white?

[He picks up the bottle of red wine for himself, not bothering to look at the label.]

[starshower]

[She eyes him warily.]

Red's fine.

[Weird enough that she was talking to him, but now he's offering to pour her wine...? Barret's head might have blown off if he were here to see this right now, she thinks to herself.]

Let's grab a table by the window. [She casts a quick glance in Eustace's direction while he's distracted by Aerith.] More privacy.

[ambitiousblond]

Red it is.

[He's just taking the bottle for them along with the glasses as he follows her to the table. He sets the glasses down on the table, pouring them both generous glasses before taking a seat.

He takes a drink from his glass before speaking again.]

Ask me anything you want- if I can answer, I will. But I will give you the same warning I gave Miss Gainsborough- once you know, there is no going back.

[starshower]

[Well, if that doesn't fill her with a sense of absolute dread, she doesn't know what would, and as she sits down and takes the glass, she grips the stem of it tight that it creaks between her fingers.

Where to even start?

An awkward, heavy silence falls over the table that not even the sounds of the café can fill before her shoulders finally rise and then slump with a breath.]

... You know stuff that we don't, then. Am I right?

[ambitiousblond]

I do.

[He hears laughter somewhere in the cafe but he doesn't look away from Tifa, noticing how she grips the stem of her wine glass.]

From what I can determine, about two years more than you do at this point, if the last time you saw me was the rooftop.

[starshower]

It was. ... Not exactly our greatest moment, was it?

[Or his, but she told herself she would try to be a little less judgemental and hear him out.

She throws back a sip of her drink, realizing that yes, she's definitely going to need the wine. Maybe another glass soon.]

Before I ask about specifics... what's the nature of our relationship to you now?

[ambitiousblond]

Not really, looking back at it now.

[He had thought it was his greatest triumph- his father was dead and he had ascended to his rightful position but he hadn't realized the truth of just what he had inherited until it was nearly too late.

Rufus takes a minute to consider his answer as he drains his own glass.]

I would say we're tentative allies at the very least. We helped each other with a common enemy recently and I'm grateful for that assistance.

[starshower]

[Tifa lifts her eyes to him, and they round out with surprise.]

A common enemy?

[Gaze flickers through the café for a moment, before she lowers her voice lest Eustace's ears pick up on any of this.]

... You mean him? Sephiroth?

[ambitiousblond]

Yes.

[Rufus refills his glass before holding out the bottle in a silent offer to refill her glass as well.]

I can't say if it will be the last time we see him in whatever form he returns but to move forward I have to trust that it is.

[There is so much to rebuild and he desperately wants Jenova to stay gone so that he can end his father's legacy once and for all.]

[starshower]

[She gives a small shake of her head at the offer, but with a grateful, albeit crooked, smile along with it.]

... What do you mean when you say "move forward"?

[Maybe she's thinking too much into it, as she tends to do, but...]

Did something happen?

[ambitiousblond]

[He places the bottle down between them.

This is hardly a place to talk about Meteor, about everything that came after but there is no avoiding the truth when she asks directly.]

We still have a lot to rebuild, after Sephiroth. Defeating him was one thing but dealing with the aftermath is another.

It's not going to be easy but I don't think anyone has given up.

[starshower]

[His answer gets a small twitch at the corner of her lip. Whether that's a smile or not, something born out of relief or not, not even Tifa can tell. Hell, she can't figure out what she's feeling at all at the moment still. But it's at least good to know that people are working hard to climb out of adversity... out of the aftermath of whatever transpired.]

It must have been really bad, then.

[She folds her hands together, her knuckles going white from her grip.]

And what about Shinra... after all that?

[And the question she isn't asking: what about you?]

sorry for the late tag!!

[ambitiousblond]

[Rufus isn't going to deny it when she mentions how bad it was, it was rather an understatement.

He hears laughter in the background, not looking away as he idly swirls the wine in his glass.]

We still have our part to play, things that only we can do. I had to face the legacy my father left behind in our world and know that it's not something that can, or should, be carried on to the future.

no worries!!

[starshower]

[Tighter, her hands become, the sound of laughter behind her at such odds with the heavier mood at the table. So heavy that one of the corgis, Briallen, comes trotting over when she senses that something is off, and while she doesn't growl or make a sound, she does stare at Rufus with cautious eyes.

Tifa casts her a quiet glance, a silent bid for her to back off a little. That everything is... well, not fine, but not as bad as it looks. She's trying. She's really, really trying.]

A part to play... by fixing everything that you and your father did to the Planet?

[It's so hard to let go of that anger, especially when one of the reasons behind it is sitting across from her, but once again, she has to remind herself that Rufus is trying just as hard as she is. That there is a future that she doesn't know about still, and it involves him being a part of it.]

[ambitiousblond]

Yes.

[There was so much to put right and atone for, it was truly a daunting task but he had never been one to back down from a challenge.

He glances over when he hears Aerith laughing with Zack and Cloud, his expression distant for a moment before he looks back at Tifa. He can sense the anger there just under the surface but Tifa is still at the table talking to him, willing to at least listen.]

I know some things can never be truly put right, no amount of money can buy atonement for our sins but I fully intend to do everything I can nonetheless.

[starshower]

... Then, I guess that's all we can really ask for.

[She'll take some solace in knowing that he at least is aware of the things he needs to make up for, and that money will not be the way to do it. How, she doesn't know, but if they've all come together in some way, she'll trust her future judgement on that.]

I don't want to know what happens or how, and I don't know how I ever do forgive you, but...

[She gives a small nod.]

There are bigger things to worry about in the end. I know that.