songerein | open 🌠 you see the shadows

Entry tags:

open 🌠 you see the shadows

Who: Tifa Lockhart & you!
Which: Open log + interactive dream
Where: Around Reverein, Mount Nibel
What: Mount Nibel Incident dream, and a couple of dream board postings.
Warnings: N/A for now

✨ i. "the day mom died..." — interactive dream

[There's a winding, rocky path overlooking the town of Nibelheim below, but where it should be clear, the mountain the path leads up is shrouded in a fog that only grows thicker with each passing moment, with what the eyes can see morphing and twisting in and out of view, almost as if the entire landscape isn't sure what it should be. There's an unshakable sound of static in the air, and a rumbling underfoot that isn't too threatening, but it's noticeable enough that it makes itself known.

On one ledge of the path up the mountain are four children. Three boys, whose faces fade in and out of clarity, and a girl with long, dark-brown hair, all looking up at the mountain as they talk, but their words are cut out by the static.]

"Mt. Nibel is scary. Many people have—there."

"—one crosses that—alive."

[The girl turns to face them all, revealing a much younger Tifa, not a day older than nine-years.]

"How about—died? Did—pass through—?" [Tifa wanders past the boys watching her, up the path.] "I'm—"

[Two boys follow while one runs the other way, threatening to bump into any dreamwalkers as he rushes back in the direction of the town. If Tifa is followed, they'll reach a bridge that she crosses fearlessly and without a word, but like the rest of the mountain, it fades in and out of view as well. There, the two boys who remain rush off, leaving Tifa to venture up the rest of the mountain alone.

...

But they stop upon seeing someone new. Someone who might be able to help?]

"Please, you have to stop her! It's dangerous up there! We're going to go back down and get Mister Lockhart."

[And off they go together without another word.]

** ( ooc: Because Tifa doesn't remember this event in full, I fully encourage anyone to have your character influence the setting as much or as little as you'd like! )

✨ ii. freeloading reindeer

[Having done some work on the communal gardens already, Tifa's grown handy with a hammer and nails. Not that she wasn't already proficient enough, but there's a difference between fixer-uppers around a bar that she knew like the back of her hand and building wooden flowerbeds and fences, and the latter has allowed her to at least learn some proper techniques in woodworking. Hell, she's even started learning how to sand and polish, so something like this should be a piece of cake.]

There. I think that's the last of it.

[She'd been hauling wood around all morning, the large planks thrown over her shoulder before she sets them down out in the middle of the farm where there's plenty of room to build out. It's nothing but a pile of wood and a bag of tools, and whoever else has come all the way out here with her, and around them, the reindeer will be grazing and curiously watching from afar, still not sure if it's safe to approach.]

So, it was a new stable for them and a fence, right? Gotta say, biggest thing I've ever built was a flowerbed so this'll be new to me.

✨ iii. new year's noctaere

[It is a little terrifying going up against the Noctaere, especially when she knows little of what to expect upon entering the dreamscape, but Tifa was never one to sit back or sit still for very long. Not when there were threats that needed to be taken care of. She might not be the most experienced partner in the dreamscapes, with her skills in dreamotion magic leaving plenty to be desired, but she can pack a punch when needed, and it has come in helpful in a lot of cases.

That isn't to say she's completely useless at magic, but she'd prefer to let her fists and feet do the talking if it came down to it. Which it will.

And just before stumbling into the dreamscape, she looks over to whoever has volunteered for the job with her, and gives a firm nod.]

You ready?

** ( ooc: if you have a preference for the dreamscape, then please let me know in the subject line! Otherwise, I'll randomize which one we end up getting! )

✨ iv. wildcard

[None of these prompts work? You know the wildcard drill! Feel free to leave something else below, or contact me via PM or @ crystariums if you'd like to plot out something! Tifa can be frequently found at the communal gardens, at the edges of the forest training, and just in general wandering around Reverein, so she's easy to bump into. Also okay with any of the dream board postings!]

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[Just a small hum of affirmation.]

I believe so. However...

...

[His voice trails as he second guesses how much he should say right now. There are things he knows for certain. That none of this is meaningless and if he had to make a choice he knows which he would make. However, whether it's the right choice in this moment...that's what makes him hesitate.

The question of "are they ready" is one that's going to loom over their heads for a while.]

...No, nevermind.

[Tifa sets her fork down.]

No...? What is it?

[If they're going to get through this and come out on the other side on normal terms, then they need to at least be honest with one another... says her, the one who can hardly be honest with herself right now, but... this is a good start.

She at least wants to hear what he thinks and has to say.]

[...

He looks at her for a moment, pondering how much he wants to say or even should say. So it takes him a little while before there's a small exhale and he finally speaks.]

...I think it's safe to say that regardless of how it came to be, what we think and feel for each other is genuine. Nothing so far has been meaningless. [Including last night.] I don't normally do things halfway to begin with, so once I make a decision I stick with it.

[Another pause before he continues.]

However, as I mentioned, neither of us are ready for our own reasons. For me, although I'm not against them I've never been in a relationship nor ever planned to have one. It's mostly been for practical reasons, but for the longest time I was not emotionally in a place where it could happen.

I feel the same is for you... [He looks at her for a moment before he lowers his gaze.] ...But because we're from different worlds, I might be an additional complication.

[Hell this is all complicated, but when he can pretty much guess that Tifa has someone else she has feelings for, it just makes it even worse. So he's not going to directly bring it up since that's up to her, but he's acknowledging the giant cloud shaped elephant in the room.]

Edited 2022-01-19 03:25 (UTC)

[She can sense that giant Cloud-shaped elephant in the room, looming over her like it always has. He wouldn't be wrong to think it—it wouldn't be her most well-kept secret, but when he says it like that... That he would be another complication tacked onto the rest, it makes her stomach sink. It was exactly what she was afraid of, were she to ever force herself to move on. Cloud wasn't here, so why should it even matter?

It does. It matters a lot, but that didn't mean that she didn't think she felt something towards him... Or else she would have said no to all of this.]

Yeah, probably...

[She isn't going to deny it outright, so Tifa quietly agrees with a nod of her head, and she picks up a piece of fruit to eat but pushes her plate away. She's suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.]

That's why I think we should just press pause, you know? Figure all this out, and if it's... something we both actually want. Or can do.

[Figure out how much of her own feelings are genuine, and how much of them are just her missing Cloud, and trying to fill that hole that he's left.]

[He remains silent, knowing that that's how she'd answer...but somehow dissatisfied by it. But he just mentally shakes it off, thinking that this may be a good thing for him. It means he has more of a reason to put a hold on what he feels and keep it from spreading further.]

...Then I suppose there's nothing more to be said. But. [Another small pause before he taps the table.]

Should something change—should the person you're waiting for appear in this world before we make a decision, then forget about me.

[She tries to keep her expression even and steady, but there's a twinge of disbelief when he says it out loud. Tifa was never going to get her hopes up of Cloud ever coming here, and even if he did, who's to say it would be the one she knew? The one in Camelot left her feeling lonely and made her question everything she thought she'd figured out about him, and to have to go through that again here? If she had the choice, Tifa would rather wait until she returned home to Gaia.

But why does that hurt so much coming from Eustace? Was that the answer they were both looking for from having this conversation? She doesn't think she wants to forget about him. Not after everything they've had to go through together.]

And if he doesn't...?

[Tifa can only hold her breath on something for so long before she runs out of air.]

[His gaze never left hers, and at her question there's something that simmers beneath his cool, blue eyes, an emotion that he's been trying to keep from growing and keep it to himself.]

...Then I'll make you forget about him.

[He said it before. Once he makes a decision, he commits. And at least at this point, he knows he's attracted to her enough to actually have this conversation. All that's left is to ensure this is the right thing and not an impulsive decision.

However, if he were to make an impulsive decision, the look he's giving her hints that he'd make good on his word right now.]

[It's almost as if he commands her attention with that look, and her tiny sliver of resolve crackles underneath it. Her eyes say everything the rest of her can't say: that if she could, she would forget. Never permanently, but sometimes, that loneliness can become too much that it hurts, and forgetting—even for a little while—seemed like the only thing that would fix it. She did, for a night, along with all of the other things that troubled her...

...

And Eustace was true to his word before he had even said them.

After several moments of her staring unblinkingly and bewildered across the table at him, Tifa catches the breath that had lodged itself in her throat, and she pushes back from the table. It's the only way she'll be able to step back from this before her own restraints come undone, and if they're going to be careful about this, then she needs to make sure that they don't.]

I, um... I can get started on cleaning up.

[She hasn't even finished her food!]

[He only watches her, seeing her expression changes and blanks. He can tell his words had an effect on her, his message carried with little to no misunderstanding. He doesn't know much else what she's thinking beyond that, but he does feel a little bit of satisfaction by it.

So he just remains silent, not saying anything accept for a quiet sound of agreement as he just holds out his plate to her before he stands to take care of the dogs.]

[This is a whole other different kind of awkward... It's nothing like what they had to go through when they came out of the box, or after the cave. Whatever it was then that hung between them, it's so much more palpable and real now. It's been acknowledged and accepted, but when they try to turn away from it, it rears its ugly head.

Tifa comes around the table to fetch his plate and, feeling her fingers graze over his, it sends a jolt through her, like he's just tapped into his magic again when she remembers his words, and the way he said them, and how he looked at her—]

Oh my—what!?

[Whatever food is left on his plate suddenly bursts into flames. It's a good thing he was holding it out to her because he might have incinerated his face along with the leftover crumbs of bacon, and she has to throw it under the tap in the sink to put it out. It wouldn't be the first time that she's had to deal with sudden fires while cooking, but certainly the first time where finished food burned like that... The flames are snuffed out quickly enough, and the smoke clears even quicker, but she stands there at the sink, mortified, at the charcoaled plate.

What in the world just happened...]

[He's also caught in surprise by the literal jolt he feels that runs from where her fingertips brushed against his skin and up his arm. He can hear the crackling and buzz around his ears as he stares first at the fire wide eyed and then to Tifa's quickly retreating back as she rushes to put it out before he snaps back to attention and follows after her.]

Are you all right?

[Yeah sure the food burned but the plate could have become heated and hurt her hands or maybe even the jolt he felt carried over or something else.]

Yeah... I'm fine.

[No burns, at least. She wrings her hands, shaking off the static and the water that she's splashed across herself in the commotion. She was more worried about the fire spreading, and considering that they're in a tree... That wouldn't have ended well for anyone.]

That's never happened before...

[Was that her!? Or whatever it was that snapped in the air between them in that moment? At any rate, she isn't sure she wants to know what that was, so she doesn't ask.

As for the plate... Tifa lifts it from the sink to show off its blackened surface, and the charred food falls from it.]

Sorry. Couldn't save it in time.

[He just shakes his head as he stands near her, frowning a bit at the sight.]

It's fine, it can always be replaced.

[Meaning if something had to be burned, he'd rather the plate than her hands.

...Although the plate was original to the tree... It would be a shame to throw it out so he just tilts his head slightly in thought.]

Since it was dreamotion that damaged it, it can likely be reversed in the same way.

[Dreamotion... When he says it out loud like that...]

Maybe we can give it a try later...

[When she isn't feeling so on edge. Or he can.

She'll get to work cleaning up the dishes, allowing the tap to drown out her clearing her throat. If it was fire, it was most likely her own emotions that enveloped the plate, and she can only hope that it's not going to become a problem between them going forward. If they're going to try and keep things as normal as possible, then that needs to include not accidentally freezing things or setting them ablaze.

And once that's all done, she looks down at herself, at the clothes still covered in dog hair from the night before.]

I should probably head home and get cleaned up, though. Get some fresh clothes. But I can come back later if you need help with anything.

[Doesn't that just mean they're perfectly balanced? If she puts things on fire, he can douse it with ice. If he freezes things, she can melt it. Perfect, fated matched—

But he's going to give her some space, since it doesn't take him too long to piece together that the incident happened between them. Though why is a different matter and he's not going to presume too much. Though if it had any relation to his own little jolt... So while she's taking care of their dishes, he'll clean up after the dogs.

And when she makes that offer... He looks up at her.]

...If you want.

[They did just say they need some distance, so he isn't sure how often she'd want to visit in the time being. Or how comfortable she would be.]

[She doesn't look back over at him, instead turning her back as she continues to occupy herself with cleaning up.

It isn't just about what she wants... and whether or not it's something that he wants is part of the question too. Sure, they did agree to put some distance between them, but she never intended to make it so that they rarely saw one another. She's not sure she could live with that.]

Guess we'll see.

[It's said through a defeated sigh, and the disappointment in her features is masked by a smile when she faces him at last, and she only briefly makes eye contact with him before she's acknowledging the dogs, some of whom have wandered up to say their goodbyes.]

You keep him out of trouble while I'm gone, okay?

[Whether Eustace notices that sigh, he makes no motion about it. That question of want... He's not going to let his own preferences sway her. So he just remains expressionless while the dogs just bark and wag their tails, although at least a couple whine because they want her to staaaay they want to plaaaaay.]

Better leave before they start begging. I can...

[He actually starts to say that he'll walk her home, but then he stops and glances away.]

...I can clean up the rest until you get back. Watch where you step on the trail, the snow might have thickened and be deeper than it looks.

Don't worry. I'm not totally in thrall of them... yet.

[Unlike someone else in the room. She grins a little wider, and bends down to give them pets and scratches before reaching for her coat. And just as she's about to reach the door, she pauses, her door on its handle. There are so many things she wishes she could say to him right now, but it's for the best that she doesn't, or at least waits for a better time.

She can't, however, leave in good conscience without thanking him one last time.]

Thanks again, Eustace. I owe you, big time.

Edited 2022-01-20 22:58 (UTC)

[Just a slight shake of his head.]

It's fine.

[At this point he really can't leave her alone. And if he had to, he would do it all over again. Even though he doesn't say it, the way he looks at her with a slightly softened expression hints at it.]

See you later.

[And he'll hold open the door got her as he leaves and watch her for a bit before closing it behind him. Leaning against it, he'll just briefly close his eyes and sigh, thoughts in disarray before he feels the tug at his pants and he lightly smiles at the dogs who try to distract him.]

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