songerein | ( closed ) show me your smile, this time for sure

Who: Aerith Gainsborough & Cloud Strife
Which: Closed Log
Where: Not far from the chocobo ranch.
What: Cloud and Aerith have both had a lot on their minds, so naturally, the best course of action is to put themselves to work and try not to think about it!
Warnings: Emotional damage? Emotional damage.

[For some time now, Aerith has found herself with much more on her mind than she would like to let on— with each familiar face that has shown up here, her suspicion that she's clearly missed something has grown steadily stronger. Then there were the unfamiliar faces, and the way some of those reacted to seeing her. People who had known her during a previous visit to this world, yes, and she'd made her peace with that, but now there was Cid, as well, and the look on his face when they had met and the fact that he seemed to know so many of her friends hadn't sit right with her. Before that, Cloud and Tifa had both spent some time asleep and returned, and both of them seemed— well, it's not that they themselves were different, but something had changed.

For once, she had chosen not to pry. If they wanted to tell her what had taken place, they would do so in their own time, but it had been just unsettling enough that she had finally caved and taken Rufus up on an offer he had made her months ago and asked him to tell her what he knew.

She still hasn't decided whether or not that was a mistake. What she learned had helped some pieces to come together, but certainly not all. She'd been making an especially focused effort not to think about it, not to let those unresolved feelings and the further questions it raised intrude on her every day life, but it turned out that was a lot harder than she thought it would be.

Today, she had decided that chocobos would help. She'd seen her share of them in certain sections of Midgar, but a chocobo ranch was an entirely different story, which meant that she needed to bring an expert with her for this particular task. Cloud was probably the best-suited to this kind of thing— he wasn't the only boy she knew from the sticks, but she felt like the birds probably felt some kind of kinship with him because of his hair.]

Alright, country boy!

[She's bright and energetic as always, though there's a strange sort of edge to it today, just slightly forced. She puts a hand on her hip as she looks to him expectantly, leading one of the chocobos from the pair they had borrowed along by the reins as they reach a reasonably flat expanse of ground.]

You ready to go digging for some buried treasure? I'm not getting left behind on this one.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Trailing closely behind Aerith was Cloud, somehow finding himself a part of this treasure hunting trip. It wasn't that he was against it either. If anything, he'd realized only recently that he quite enjoyed the times he'd been able to ride on the oversized birds. And using them to hunt for treasure wpuld be no different.

It would also be a good enough distraction from the other things weighing on his mind. Cloud hadn't quite opened up to others about what he'd experienced during his brief stint away from the dream world. That had never been his strong suit, after all. And with Zack's confession still weighing in his mind, all he could do was distract himself in the meantime as the two of them slowly navigated where to go from here.

Which led him to meet Aerith's gaze. He hadn't checked up on her since he'd learned of Zack's feelings. And he didn't know if Zack had spoken to her since. The both of them had an inkling that she knew more than she was letting on but neither of them had been able to confirm it.

What he does notice though was that there was certainly something off with how Aerith carried herself today. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it could be so he plays along for the meantime. It was her own business and if she wanted to tell him, she would. Experience has taught him that much.

For now, he stops to make sure the bird's saddle is secure, checking his first before looking back to Aerith, making a gesture with his habd as he moved towards her chocobo waiting for her permission to allow him to do the same. It seemed like he knew a lot about riding them, far more than he lets on.]

It'd be more worrying if you got left behind this time. Think you'll be able to find something valuable out there, city girl?

[A ghost of a smile graces Cloud's lips for the briefest of moments, unable to hide his competitiveness. It may have been small, but it was certainly there.]

[She takes a step back as he approaches, gesturing towards her chocobo's saddle with her free hand. He's the expert, apparently— of the two of them, at the very least. If he wants to inspect her bird's gear, she's not about to stop him.]

Living in the slums all these years means I'm pretty resourceful, you know. We do our own kind of treasure hunting there!

[Without the help of a chocobo.]

If our friends here find something, then I'm not afraid to help dig for it. You never know what you'll find. You know what they say! One man's trash...

Is another man's treasure.

[He finishes her sentence as he finishes tightening the saddle around the chocobo so it wouldn't jostle around when they get started. Happy with how everything else looks, he takes the steps aside for Aerith to get on. Which he could help with if she needed.]

Guess we'll see if they find anything. Still gotta see if their training is up to snuff.

You've got it!

[She nods firmly in affirmation. They're on the same page! Not unusual, but especially comforting right now, she finds.

As he steps aside, she moves to grab hold of the harness and pull herself up— not exactly smoothly, but she does manage to do it without needing to ask for help. Climbing and scaling things isn't outside her realm of experience, even if cliffs had been a big ask.

She lets out a sigh of relief as she settles into the saddle, giving the chocobo's neck an affectionate pat.]

I'm sure they're looking forward to showing us their stuff. They've probably been working hard! You're pretty good with them, though. [Don't think she didn't notice.] Did you get to spend a lot of time with them where you grew up?

[Once she gets onto the chocobo, Cloud makes his way over to his own. He gets on without much trouble, having a bit more practice with the motion. Once settled, he urges the chocobo into a slow walk.]

Not back in Nibelhiem. There are chocobo around the region, but I never got a chance to ride one until recently.

[It had started off as a necessity before realizing that he actually had a knack for it. A part of him enjoyed racing chocobos, and he'd even picked up a couple of things from the other jockeys. Even out in the wild, Cloud had picked up a few of the bird's quirks and tells.]

We had to wrangle a few of them to get out of the area outside of Midgar.

[He turns to Aerith as he says that, knowing that was the first time he's mentioning anything from back home.]

[Her eyes widen slightly before she leans forward and cracks another smile, looking him over at an angle.

She'd had her suspicions, but this was the first time he'd actually confirmed anything.]

I knew you were different!

[Her intuition rarely lets her down.]

I knew things happened while you were gone. Tifa, too, I think.

What gave it away?

[His tone is joking, as if trying to brush it off.

It wasn't that he was actively hiding it. But he had made it a point not to talk about it outright if he could avoid it. It made the things he'd been told seem almost real, tangible even if it hadn't happened to him yet. He was skeptical then, but it had become a hard pill to swallow now.

Cloud still hadn't fully subscribed to all of it just yet. But he couldn't deny the things that had transpired back home either.]

You know, you did pretty good riding chocobos from what I saw. Could say you looked like a natural.

Oh, you know. Just a hunch!

[He can brush it off all he likes; if he wants to tell her more, she's sure he will in his own time, but the opportunity to tease him helps her to feel a little lighter, a little more herself.

She settles comfortably into the saddle, giving her chocobo an affectionate pat on the side of its neck before cueing it to start moving forward now that they're both mounted.]

A natural, huh... I do like the sound of that. Maybe I have the same knack for animals as I do plants. I am a woman of many talents. It doesn't surprise me that you get along well with them, either.

[The chocobos begin trotting across the plain, occasionally sniffing and looking around for buried treasure. A few times, they seem to have found something, but walk past the area without so much as a fuss to a certain direction.

This isn't the first time he's heard something like that. Was he really lacking that much self-awareness?]

I never saw myself as much of an animal person. Didn't even know how to deal with the cats in the slums when I was looking for them. Chocobos seem easier, if I'm being honest.

Weeeell...

[She draws the word out as she prepares to clarify, shooting him a cheeky smile as she gives her own chocobo a scratch behind where she's pretty sure its ears must be.]

It's really more because you have the same hairstyle. They probably think you're one of them!

[With that said, her chocobo starts off at an easy pace— keep up, Cloud!]

( closed ) show me your smile, this time for sure

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